17 JUJL
OPINIONS OF GREAT PAPERS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS
Let Sickness Do All the lluntlny.
I" is ji good nil not to euro a disease until you
get It. Wo have nil become 80 lonrncii iniciy
in germs ami symptoms ami surgical opera
tions Unit, like the man who mills tin; "doctor
wok," wo Imagine twit wo nave em an. ah
a rule, when n man In sick, ho knows II. It Is
not necessary to keep a Sherlock Holmes watch
on our hi'iii. lost some deadly disease got Iiold of yon
mid hurry yon to tht! ullont tomb before you llnd It out.
It Is hhM Hint a little Now York girl Is dead as a result
of a bubbl" of air being driven Into her heart by a physi
cian administering antlloxln serum us a precaution against
diphtheria. This might have been the right thing to do.
No mere layman dare venture an opinion on the subject.
Hut it Illustrates (he general eagerness to "take something"
for the tniMl uppnlllng disease we nan think of, the moment
wo foul the first possible symptom. If we hoc a man slip
on a banana peel, we have an Immediate. Inclination to put
our own log In splint "Just as a precaution."
What wo want la a cheerful and optimistic outlook.
"Tho goblins" are loss apt to catch us It' wo stop watching
out. We should pay more attention to the superb health
wu are feeling In nine-tenths of our anatomy than to the
possible ache, which may develop Into a pain which could
then bo regarded as a symptom, that may be bothering our
other tenth. There is no sense In going out of our way to
meet Illness. When sickness .gets here, we will need no
careful weighing of evidence to find It out. .Montreal Star.
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Courtesy,
ui'ii living in a busy,
bustling, active age.
Home critics call It a Hellish period, with each
man earing only for himself. The llttlo nnioni-
ties, the old-fiishlon'd courtesies, are regarded
as a squandering of time, energy and breath.
They might be capitalized to advantage In
souu torm or asset tor use in iiusiuoss.
'Phis s an uufortuiial,' atlltuile, and mistaken omv short
Hlghted, illogical and prolltless. The courteous man in
business wastes nothing when he considers the sensibili
ties of his patron or client or subordinate, lie Is dally ac
cumulating n capital In good will and friendship worth far
more thun the petty prollts that might possibly have been
made In tho course of the minutes spent In courteous Inter
course. Am between two shops, or olllces, the Intending
buyer or seller or patient or seeker after counsel will in
stinctively choose the one In which in the past he has been
the more cordially greeted, or courteously dismissed, or
""obligingly served, or considerately disappointed.
That Is tho business side- of the case. There I.s a moral
wide as well. It Is a duty, whether specifically taught or
not, on the part of every man to deal gently with his fol
lows, life's difficulties come fast enough and hard enough
without being Increased by the churlishness or thoughtless
ness of others. "A.s I to you," thinks the wise and Just
man, "so you to me." Reciprocity and retaliation are
closely akin. The kindly Impulse to return smile for smile
.Is us spontaneous as the temptation to "get oven." It
.should bo even more so, more a matter of course. Wash
Ingtou Star.
Government Crop Reports.
T may lie worth while to inqulro whether tho
people of the United State get the worth of
the money they spend every your on crop re
ports. U would be well to have a specllle re-
I turn as to the cost of the crop report "service
nnd of the methods by which tho Information
used In securing the tlgures that are ultlniatelv
published by the government a.s showing crop conditions
ure obtained.
Mvury farmer who raises more grain and more cotton
than ho uses has an Individual Interest In knowing, at the
earliest possible moment, what is the outlook for the crops
while they art! growing and what is the general result
when they have been harvested. Our present system of
doullng In the Important farm products results praetloallv
In the sale of the great bulk of every commodity months
in advance of the delivery to the buyers. What the farmer
wants to know Is the probable supply that (he trade can
count upon getting, not at the harvest but during nnd at
tho end of what Is called the crop year that Is, the time
beginning with the arrival of the now crop nnd Uio be
ginning of ho delivery or the next crop.
If the farmers and factors who buy from the farmers
through the country regard tho government crop reports
ax more accurate than the reports that are obtained by tho
private agencies that gather Information concerning the
crops, it iil If the producers generally desln- the continua
tion of the government's activity In this mutter, the cost of
gathering statistics! and estimating the results therefrom
should not be considered as furnishing a .sulllclent argu
ment against the service. I'.nt, If tbo chief beneficiaries
are merely the speculators. Hie sooner the service Is cut
olT l he hotter. Chicago l'osl.
The Lewis Bunking Enterprise.
Kill I A PS the most extraordinary feature of
the colossal banking oiitorpriM- inaugurated by
K. (!. Lewis, of St. Louis, was tho evident
avidity with which the public went Into the
scheme. Lewis was the publisher of two maga
zines widely circulated In tin- rural districts.
Through those publications he unfolded to his
subscribers the details of his plan for "hanking by mall,"
solicited subscriptions for the bank's stack and invited
deposits. Within n little more than a year he secured a
capital of $2,000,01)0 from 05,000 stockholders and acquired
about ."00,000 depositors. The postolllci. authorities, who
have now put n stop to his. operations, declare that Lewis
himself did not Invest a dollar of his own money In the
concern. Instead, he loaned to himself .mil to various en
terprises lu which he was Interested vast sums of the
bank's fuuiis, some of these "investment n" It i.s said, being
decidedly Insecure.
The Inducements which Lewis held out to the people
to become stockholders and depositors wire exceptional.
The bank, doing business by mall and having few of the
expenses ordinarily Incurred by such institutions, was to
be administered economically and in the Interest of its pa
trons. It promised to afford to people living In remote dis:
Iricts much-needed facilities for safeguarding their money.
n Immense junoiint of mail-order liuslness Is done in this
country and the bank was to Increase greatly the facilities
tor carrying It on. Most rural postotliees do not issue
money orders. The new bank, by means of a system of
certllled cheeks, was to provide a safe and easy way of
remitting tunds.
I'lio eagerness with which thousands sought to grasp
Ihls opportunity to secure banking facilities is the strong
est kind of evidence of the need for such facilities. The
present disclosures Illustrate once more the imperative need
of a postal savings bank systVm In this country. It. is only
through such n system, safeguarded by the unassailable
credit of the government and accessible for the use of all,
that tho masses of the people can llnd adequate means for
protecting their money. Chicago News.
Church Work in Summer.
T has been a stock reproach of scoffers, not
altogether either deserved or. undeserved, that
for two or three months every year religion
takes a vacation and lets the devil have fr.ie
course. That has been true of some churches,
but not, by any means of all. Now there is a
general and hearty movement to swing all
Christian churches Into line for the maintenance of their
good works the whole year round. That Is what the Fed
eration of Churches is alining at, so that the reproach we
have cited will no longer be possible and that the nearly
i? 100,000,000 Invested in the churches will be kept active
working capital in summer a.s well as In' winter.
Obviously, much of the church work In summer must
be quite different from what It Is In winter. The project
ors of this movement appreciate this fact, and with wise
discretion are adapting their plans to It. A large propor
tion of some regular church congregations are out of town.
Hut there Is work to be done for those who remain, and
there Is especially an opportunity at such a time to do a
work for the multitudes who do not belong to the regular
congregations. If such work lu summer time is less strict
ly sectarian, dogmatic nnd ecclesiastical than that In win
tor and Is more widely and generously humanitarian, phil
anthroplc and evangelical In tho highest sense of that term,
so much tho better, and so much the stronger should It
appeal to the sympathy nnd support of all who love their
fellow men. New York Tribune.
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The Itrldjrc.
I stood tin tlu1 bridge nt midnight,
As the clocks were striking tho hour,
And the moon rose o'er the city
l'.ehitiil the dark church, tower.
1 saw her bright reflection
In the waters under nie,
Like a golden goblet falling
And slaking Into the sea.
Ami far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night In .lime
Tile blaze of the llaniing furnace
(Ilea ined redder than the moon.
Among the loin:, black rafters
The wavering shadows lay,
And the current that came from the
ocean
.Seemed to lift and hear them nwny;
As, sweeping and eddying through them,
Hose the belated tide,
Anil, streaming into the moonlight,
The sou weed flouted wide.
And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A Hood of thoughts came o'er mo
That tilled my eyes with tears.
How often, Oh, how often,
In the days that hud gono by,
1 hud stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky!
How often, Oh, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide
Would bear me away on its bosom
O'er the ocean wild and wide!
For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me
Seemed greater than I could bear.
Hut now it has fallen from mo
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws Its shadow over me.
Yet whenever 1 cross tho river
On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odor of brine :ron tho ocean
Comes the thought of other years.
And I think how many thousands
Qf care-encumbered men,
Faeh bearing his burden of sorrow,
Have crossed the bridge since then.
1 see the long procession
Still passing to and fro
Tho young heart hot and restless,
And the old subdued and slowl
And forever and forever,
As long a.s the river Hows,
As long a.s the heart has passions,
As long us life has woes,
The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadow shall appear,
As tho symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.
Henry Wadswortli Longfellow.
THE BLACK SEA.
A IUk and Famous "Waterway Uetwccn
Aula anil Kui'opc.
The thrashing around in the llluok
sea of the ltusslan warship Knlnz
Potemklne, whose crow mutinied and
whoso movements terrorized the cities
ami towns ulong Its banks before they
by a dozen rivers and has no tide. It
In also free from obstructions and the
terror of shoals and rocks never both
ers the seamen, in summer It is the
safest sea In the world for navigation;
in winter Ice discharged from tho
mouths of the rivers which feed it
mnkes It dangerous. The stormy pe-
LACE OF NATURE'S MAKING.
sunk tho warship and sought escape
tts.hore, draws attention to this famous
inland stretch of water. Its surface
is 180,000 miles or over 22 times tho
size of Massachusetts, or equal to that
of Now York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Louisiana combined. One Island dots
its surface, the Isle of Serpents. It Is
700 miles loug ami 400 broad. It Is fed
rlod thon is In and so severe are some
of the wind visitations that vessels
w 111 not leave port when they aro rag
ing. In one of these, on Nov. H, .1851,
forty vessels of tho allied powers of
I3uropo, then besieging Sebastopol,
were sunk, 1,100 lives wore lost and
property worth many millions was do.
stroyed.
It Is higher than the Mediterranean
by which It Is connected by tho Itos
porus, the sen of Marmora and the
Dardanelles. The straits of Yenlkale
unite it with the sea of Azov on the
north. In Its center the depth Is from
l.ROO to 2,000 foot. Odessa Is the larg
est city along its shores, with (500,000
people; Sebastopol Is Its most celebrat
ed fortress; Treblzend Is Its oldest set
tlomont; Varna Is the principal Turk
lsh fortress.
The sea was named by the nnclent
t'outus Kuxlnus (Inhospitable seaj be
cause savage tribes dwelt along its
shores. It Is known In fable nnd his
tory. The Persians, Ryzantlne nnd
tho Turks havo dominated It from time
to time. Xerxes fought engagements
nlong Its banks and tho Assyrians nnd
DiibylonlanB have figured in the fierce
contests of the long ago.
It was Russia's domineering attitude
In the Black sen which led to the Cri
mean wwr fifty years ago, in which sho
was humiliated.
into n thin string, will nil but resist
human strength to break it. In
string, braided nnd rope form, it is
used for milking up the light lack-bark
harness of the tropics.
Deyplle Its practical use, there is
no essential demand for lace bark any
more than for the edelweiss of the
Alps. It has been used by the natives
for hundreds of years, and yet is
comparatively little known to this day.
A few specimens of lace-bark articles
are believed to exist In different coun
tries of Europe. These were made
some hundreds of years ago. yet, al
though their age Is considerable, they
are said to be in a good state of pres
ervation. Scientific American.
ODD FACTS ABOUT BARRELS.
Doll-Ijllce.
She That llttlo Miss Port Is Just
like a doll, you think?
He Yes; when I squeezed her tho
othor night sho cried "Mamma!" Yon
leers Statesman.
When we pray, the words will be
after this fashion: "O, Lord, save us
irom negieci ami poverty in out age,
and keep its away from busy men.
lilve us chickens nnd n garden to tin
ker with in summer, nnd books in
winter. Amen."
Fibrous Pith, with an Agreeable Odor
nnd Textile Strength.
There are in nil about half a dozen
lace-bark trees In the world, so-called
because tho Inner bark yields a nut
ura I lace in ready-made sheet form
which can be made up In serviceable
articles of apparel. Only four of
these curious species of trees are of
much practical value. Tourists who
havo stopped at Hawaii or Samoa
recall the lace-bark clothing of the
natives clothing of a neat, brown
color when new, of remarkable
strength and of a fragrant odor, like
freshly cured tobacco leaf. The native
"tapa" cloth, as It is called, Is made
from the bark of the brusonetla pa
plrifera, but Is not usually Included
among the real lace-bark trees.
ui uie lace-oanc trees yielding u
pure, snowy lace of utility, we have
on tho Pacific side of the hemisphere
the sterqulla acerl folia of Australia
(also called "flame tree," In allusion
to Us showy red flower), and In Maori
Land the plaglnnthus betulluus. - On
11. . I A 1 A 1 -.1 It.
uio iYuunuc sine mere is oniy one
lace-yleldlng tree so far known the
lagcta Hntoria of tho Caribbean Isl-
nnds. Of the unfile tenullolla of
South America I have never been
able to discover a single specimen, do
ll -! . -- t- -
spue careiui searcn, nor uavo l ever
met anyone who has seen the tree
growing In South America.
In Its natural state tho lace bark Is
of a most delicate cream-white tint.
It Is probably a kind of fibrous pith.
When the outer bnrk Is removed It can
no uiuomod ami unwound in one
seamless piece, having a surface of a
llttlo more thun a square yard.
Washing and sun blenching give It a
dazzling white appearance. It has a
faint, agreeable odor not unlike that
of freshly split bamboo. Tho fabric
is airily light, it Is used in tho West
Indies for mantillas, cravats, collars,
cuffs, window curtains; in n word, for
every purpose that ordinary lace Is
used.
In making up shawls, veils and the
like It Is customary to piece two
sheets of laco bark together. Delicate
and apparently wenk as It Is in sin
gle mesh, n bit of lace bnrk, if rolled
Over 000,000,000 of Tlicm Manufac
tured and I'acd Annually.
Die introduction of Improved ma
chinery in its manufacture has made
the American cooperage business the
largest in the world. There are up
ward of r.00,000,000 barrels and circu
lar packages manufactured In this
country annually, and the demand in
creases so that this output must bo
steadily broadened in order to keep
pace with the growth of the business.
The largest consumption of barrels is
In the cement business, which approx
imately deninnds :i5,0()0,000 a year fo
the trade, while flour comes next with
a demand for 22,500,000; fence sta
ples, bol.ts, nuts and nails require 15
000,000, and sugar 15,00,000. Roasted.
cofiee, spices, crockery and fruits and
vegetables use up about 5,000,000 bar
rels a year each, while the glassware
trade, baking powder companies, dis
tilled liquor manufacturers and candy,
tobacco and cheese packers are big
users of barrels, averaging In each
trade from 2,000,000 to .'1,000,000 bar
rels. The consumption of barrels for
molasses, oil, lard and pork Is also
enormous, while dry paint, glue, snuff,
oatmeal, screws, castings and general
hardware articles annually Increase
the demand on the cooperage supply.
While the amount of expenditure
for barrels can be closely estimated
for a given year, It Is not possible to
say how many barrels are In actual
use. The life of a barrel Is put down
at one year by the trade, but that is
far from true. The great majority of
barrels have as many lives as a cat.
They begin as sugar or flour barrels
and are then sold lo the farmer for
shipping his produce to the market
It may be they aro returned to him
several times, carrying potatoes or
pickles to market in the first trip nnd
then cabbage or lettuce In the next,
each cargo being lighter lu weight
than the previous one, owing to the
weakened condition of the barrels.
Finally, the barrel may serve out
its life Avork as a garbage receptable
and bo burned In the end In some ten
ement house to keep out the winter's
chill. Thus it may lie said that a bar
rel serves u more useful career than
almost any other manufactured arti
cle and Its life Is much longer than a
season.
The demand for barrels is steadlly
Increaslng because modern machinery
has made it possible to make them for
the trade cheaper than nlmost any
other form of package. That it is
the most convenient form of pnekago
has long been acknowledged. Tho
ancient cooper's art was a skilled one,
and the work of cutting out the staves
and then assembling them required
long practice and apprenticeship. To
day machinery performs in a fraction
of the time what hand labor did so
slowly and clumsily.
The modern veneer machine? hava
been instrumental in reducing the cost
of barrels. Hand labor Is eliminated
here to such an extent thnt the work
of feeding the machines constitutes
most of tho requirements of tho oper
ators. Tho staves are cut to the re
quired thickness by the machines and
then pressed Into slinpo by hydraulic
pressure until they are ready for tho
assembling machine.
A feature of barrel-making in this
country Is the grading of tho circular
packages so that all tho lumber
brought to the factories can bo util
ized. One class of barrels must be
absolutely watertight, without a flaw
of any kind in their staves. Barrels
made for oil, whisky and paint trnde
must not only lie flawless but they
must have u resistance power equal
to a lateral pressure of 500 pounds.
In order to secure this the staves must
be put to a rigid test beforehand amt
they must tie cured, so thero will bo
no danger of shrinkage and dnmago
when put Into use. Lumber used for:
this work must bo carefully selected
and It must bo cured by nature's slow
but suro process.
Up Against It.
"See hero," asserted tho angry Pov
or, "you fellows sunk a friendly ves
sel." "Well," replied Itussln, wearily, "wa
don't seem to be able to sink an un
friendly vessel. Got to sink some
thing, haven't we?" Evening Bulletin.
If a woman speaks her mind freely,
her husband learns that earning tho
money to buy the necessities of lifu
Isn't half tho work of sowing and
cooking them.