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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1900)
Jephthah's Daughter: A Story of Patriarchal Times. By JULIA MAGRUDER... Coptrichted i860, 1801 and 18MJ bt Robert Bonner's Sows. ft ft ft ft T-acr-nc -ac -sir-ary»» CHAPTER VI.—(Continued.) Now, as the host of Jephthah inarched down the streets of Mizper, while all along the people cheered and shouted as they passed, behold at Jeph thah's side, in front of them, there rode the young man Adina, and not behind, as was his wont. And by this token all the people knew that he had won glory for himself in battle, and that Jephthah strove thus to show the favor which he had toward him, and with the noise of their shoutings, “Long live Jephthah, the Gileadite!” were mingled cries of "Long live Adina!” And as these sounds came even to the ears of Namarah, behold the flush upon her cheeks grew deeper and her eyes yet more glorious. And ever the aoldiery pressed onward, followed by the shouts of triumph from the crowd. And Jephthah, the mighty captain, rode a night-black charger, while that of Adina was white as milk. Both men were clad in gleaming armor, on which the rayB of the setting sun made blazes of vivid Are, gilding the silver of the old man’s beard, and burnish ing the gold of Adina's thick curls, which seemed a part of his shining helmet. And ever, ns they rod^^he eyes of both were turned towaru ihe house of Jephthah, for Jephthah had vowed a vow unto the Lord, and had said: “If Thou shalt without fail de liver the children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” And he looked to see what it should be. But the young man Adina, who knew not of Jephthah's vow, and had said naught of the tidings sent to Nama rah by the carrier bird—that being a secret between the maiden and himself —^jnew that Namarah would be pre ferred for their coming, and rightly thought that she would come to meet them. And now, as they began to come nigh to the house, behold, the great doors were thrown open, and forth there came the maiden Namarah, clad all in white and gold, and after her her maid ens, with timbrels and dances. But Namarah came first, with her head erect and all' her face made glorious with joy. The childish timidity she was wont to show had vanished now, and she faced the band of soldiery a royal princess in her bearing. She felt'hhrseif a queen; indeed, for happy love had crowned her. And as she came, behold the two men who were at the head of the great host drew rein and suddenly checked their horses, and all the soldiery halt ed. All eyes were on the beauteous face of the majestic maiden, hers only seeing the faces of the two men who led the host Her gaze sought first the face of Adina, with a treacherous fealty which she could not control, and as their looks met thus, behold the joyousness of his heart gleaned forth • into his eyes, which met hers, with a look that thrilled her soul with rapture. For a moment she was blinded with ec stasy, and saw naught before her but light, supreme, bewildering; and then, with the reflection of that light upon her face, she turned her raptured gaze upon her father, and suddenly the i great light became a great darkness, which likewise cast its reflection upon her; for the face of Jephthah her fath er was as the face of a man in mortal throes, and behold the hand that held the bridle shook and fell, and his body swerved in the saddle, so that he would Imve fallen, but that the young man Adina, seeing the maiden’s sudden change of countenance had looked to ward its source, and was just In time ‘' to put out his hand and stay Jephthah in his place. Then Adina dismounted and ran to Jephthah's side, and while the maiden Namarah herself laid hold on the bridle of his horse, the young man as sisted him to the ground, and with Namarah’s help led him into the house. The eyes which had but lately looked such ,jQy into each other, exchanged, now looks of pain and horror, for it was quickly passed from mouth to mouth that the great captain had been seized with mortal illness, and that the Joy of his victorious return and meet ing with his daughter was like to cost him his life. dui je|iuiuaii, wucu ue ueura enese words, denied and said: “It is not as ye say, 0 men of Israel; nevertheless the hand of the Lord Is heavy upon me this day. Cause to go out from me all save the maiden Na marah and the young man Adlna." And when they had so done, behold Jephthah rent his clothes, and said: “Alas! my daughter; thou hast brought me very low; and thou art one of them that trouble me; for 1 have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I capnot go back!” And Namarah said unto him: "My father, if thou hast opened thj mouth unto the Lord, do to me accord lng to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lore hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even the children of Ammon.’ 80 spake she, and her voice was flrn I and clear, but her face went deadly pale, even as the face of the young man Adina put on a ghastly pallor; and as he stood before her in his shin ing armor a great trembling seized him, so that his armor shook and sounded. And as she looked on him and saw his grief, behold her heart bled for him. and for all the visions of her happy love; and she turned to him and threw her arms about his neck. And Adina clasped her to him, careful not to hurt her tender body against his mail-clad breast, and it seemed unto them both that the barrier that had come so suddenly between their two souls was even as this barrier between their bodies—hard and cruel and im passable. But there was no barrier be tween their lips, and as they softly touched and trembled on each other, they knew not whether that moment’s ecstasy was of pain or Joy. And Jephthah sat and gazed on them, and as he looked he was no longer the mighty man of valor, but a creature sore stricken, so that his hands shook for very weakness, and feeble and im r^itent tears fell down upon his beard Tnd trickled to his armor, while his face was changed and piteous to be hold, and he looked, all at once, an aged man. Turning her eyes toward him, and seeing him in such unhappy case, Na marah slipped from her lover’s arms, and went and knelt beside her father, circling his neck with her tender arms, and calling him all manner of caress ing names, while she kissed him with deep lovingness on his forehead, his cheeks and his lips. Then did she loosen his heavy armor, and remove each piece in turn, beseeching him to take comfort, and avowing toward him an affection more fervent and dutiful than ever she had shown him in the past. But Adlna spake no word either with or againBt her, but stood where she had left him, with his right hand holding the elbow of his left arm, which was raised toward his face, his chin sunk in his palm. He was still in complete armor, only he had re moved his helmet, so that his sunny curls were uncovered. Right goodly to look upon he was, In the majesty of his stalwart youth, but his ruddy skin was ashen white, and in the great blue eyes, which had so lately glowed with so luminous a love-light, there was now the shadow of great despair. And ever his eyes were fixed upon the maiden, following each movement that Bhe made, and the hunger of his soul was in them. CHAPTER VII. When Jephthah, at her bidding stood up, that Namarah might lift from him the weight of his heavy armor, he turned and looked upon Adlna, and a great cry broke from him, and he sank backward into his seat and covered his face with his hands. But Namarah bent above him and drew away his hands, kneeling on her knees before him, and holding them in both her own. “Nay, grieve thee not, my father,” she said, tenderly. “Let it be done to me according as thou has vowed.” “Thy life is mine, and vowed to me!” burst forth Adlna, hotly, taking a step toward her, as if he would wrest her from her father. But the compelling eyes of the maiden Namarah arrested him, and he turned, and began to pace the apartment with the angry strides of a caged beast. “Ah, woe, my daughter,” Jephthah spake, “that thy father, who hath so loved thee, should bring thee now such hurt. It had pleased me well that thou shouldest wed Adina. It was but the morning of this day on which I dreamed these dreams, and to what are they come? Alas, my daughter, why earnest thou forth to meet me, so con trary to thy wont and usage? Thou wast ever affrighted before the soldiery and held backward when they came about the door.” “I was even bold and fearless, my father, against my usual wont, because happy case. Namarah slipped from her that love had made me so, and in the presence of my lord, Adina, I had but one fear only, lest I might fail of my honor to him—who knew not my ways as thou knewest them—and appear un loving and ungracious in his eyes. At these words Adina’s motions grew more gentle and he checked him in his walk, and came and stood near by, his chin sunk in his palm, as be fore, and his eyes, with a most mighty tenderness in them, bent upon Na marah. “But. how knewest thou, my daugh ter, that the victory was won and thy father's host returning, seeing I sent no messenger before me, but made haste myself to bring thee tidings?’’ Then Namarah turned her fair face upward, and said: “Adina, speak. Let it be known unto Jephthah, my father, that the thing that is come upon us was partly of our own doing—thine and mine.” Then Adina, softened, mayhap, by the sight of the old man's suffering, and more yet by the nobleness and submission of Namarah’s spirit, an swered, and said: “These words be true, O Jephthah, for it was even I that sent unto the maiden tidings, by which she gained the knowledge of our approach.” “But how sendest thou these tid ings,” said Jephthah, ‘seeing that I gave thee no leave to take a mes senger?” “Therein the fault was mine,” Na marah said, “if fault there be—for, were it not the will of God, naught that was done or is to be were pos sible—seeing that I gave unto Adina one of my carrier birds, to send me word of thy triumph and return, and the bird, in truth, brought me the tid ings this morning. Seest thou not then therefore, oh, my father, that this thing that is befallen us was to be?” Then Jephthah bowed his head upon his hands and uttered a mighty groan. “How sayst thou, my daughter, that we shall be delivered? Knowest thou not that according to my vow thou must be offered a burnt sacrifice?” As he spake these awful words, the maiden’s face grew whiter still, though the courage of . her eyes faltered not, and through all the body of the young man Adina there ran a great shiver that again made to shake his armor that it rattled and sounded, seeing which, Namarah rose and ran to him, fearing lest he might even fall to the ground, so greatly he tottered and trembled. Taking him by the hand, she led him to a place beside her fath er and gently pressed him to a seat, while she herself sank back upon her knees before them, holding a hand of each, and as she lifted up her head and looked at them, it seemed unto the father and the lover both that her face was as the face of an angel. "Hearken to me, O thou to whom my soul best loveth,” said Namarah, “for there is a voice within me that seem eth to me to speak, and that most dread and sacred voice salth to me what it shall comfort thee to hear. ‘I will deliver thee,’ the voice crieth con tinually, and shall we not believe thi3 Heavenly voice? Let us, therefore, be comforted, and take courage and pray continually for deliverance from the terror wherewith we are aiflrighted. For what is it that thy soul feareth O Adina, and O Jephthah my father? Is it not even the thought of parting?’’ As Namarah spake these words, the spirits of the men who listened to her grew suddenly more calm, and the faith and courage with which her own heart was animated seemed to be in some sense imparted to them, so that Jephthah turned unto Adina, and spake unto him in these words: “Let not thy soul within thee hate me, O Adina, for my heart is sad even unto death. Forgive me the harm that I have done unto thee through ignor ance, and let it be with us both even according unto the words that this maiden hath spoken, and let us take comfort and have hope. Let us together pray continually for the deliverance that she feeleth to be in store for us.” And Adina answered, and said: “It shall be as thou sayest, O Jqph thah, and the God of power hear our prayers.” Then Jephthah caused him that he knelt in front of him, at the side of the maiden Namarah, and as they ’ rested so, Jephthah lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And as their heads were bowed together, the short golden curls of the man beside the long dark tresses of the maiden, Jephthah rose, and softly left them; and when they lifted up their heads, behold they were alone. (To be continued.) Misunderstood Patriotism. Prof. Alfred B. Adams of New York was a soldier in the civil war, and took part in the Red river campaign un der MaJ. Gen. Banks. “At one place," he said recently to one of his classes, “we surprised a southern garrison and took many southern prisoners. They were guarding a mountain of cotton bales which were intended for ship ment to Europe on account of the southern government. Gen. Banks promptly confiscated the cotton and transferred it to his flotilla. Each bale was stencilled ‘C. S. A.,’ and over this the northern soldiers with marking brushes wrote in huge characters, ‘U. S. A.’ I was on guard at the time, and one of my prisoners, a handsome, bright-eyed young southern oflicer, said, ‘Yank, what's tljat writing there?’ I looked proudly at him as I replied: ‘The United States of Ameri ca over the Confederate States of America. Can’t you read—U. S. A. over C. S. A.?’ He looked at me quiz zically. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Do you know, I thought it was United States of America Cotton Stealing associa tion” The next question he put to me I didn’t answer.”—Pniladelphia Post. Church'* Moat PiwhIdi Need. Mrs. De Silke—“I wish to give a me morial of some kind to the church. In memory of a relative. What would you suggest?" Struggling Pastor—"A—er —an appropriately decorated—er—new church furnace, madam, and a—a few tons of coal.” Dentistry Antony the Ancients. The manufacture and use of false teeth is undoubtedly a practice of great antiquity. The ancient Egyptians were no mean dentists. Jawbones of mum mies have been found with false teeth in them, and also with teeth filled with gold. a a the Old Block. “James, you ought to control little Jim better.” “Mother, we can't; he’s too much like you.”—Indianapolis Journal. „ World’s Longest Riser. The Nile is the longest river In the world, 4,300 miles. The Niger is 2,500 miles and the Zambesi 1,600 miles. JflT JP Debased Attitude of Fusion Leaders in Their Hypocrisy. A GREAT BEATING OF TOM-TOMS But It Is All for Political Effect—No Manhood, No Sense of Future, No Sqare Toed Business — All Hypocrisy and Foldcrol. After more than three years of self humiliation and abasement to the rail road companies, after accepting every j favor offered and begging on their j l ended knees for more; after more ! than three years of the most abject j and blind servitude, the populist state officials have commenced to make capital for the next state campaign by a wanton and foolish persecution of their benefactors. The fact that they have allowed three full years to elapse before making any move, that rates established have not been interfered with, that the assessments fixed before they came into power have not been changed, is sufficient evidence of the insincerity of the present bluster and house-top persecution of the railroad interests. There is probabiy no great, at least no permanent, danger in it to the companies. There will be a great beating of tom-toms and a whole lot of orders and suits that will not be enforced or brought to trial until after election, when they will be quietly dropped. The pop state officials have been goaded on by the World-Herald, the anger of whose editor has been aroused by the neglect of the populist party to recognize his power and hu mor his ambitions. He has turned state’s evidence against his co-con spirators and is loudly demanding their persecution at the bar of public opinion. And the poor, little, weak, cringing, venal populist state officials under the stinging lash of their par ty press are being driven, halting, half resisting, half-yielding, bel lowing steers from a cornfield. Leer ing and grimancing at the railroad companies to assure them they do not mean it and to save their passes, they drew down their faces when they turn toward the people and attempt to look serious and severe. Next to farming the railroad interests of Nebraska are by far the largest and most important m the state. They are as much a part of the state as any other interest and are of the greatest importance. They should not be the sport of politicians nor the target of irresponsible dema gogues. Common sense would suggest that an interest of such magnitude and importance should be dealt with m a manly, square and business'-like way. They should receive open and exact justice, they should not be an royed by childish interference, but l'ke all others they should be required to do right. But there is no manhood, no sense of justice, no square-toed business in fusion politics. It is all deceit, false pretense, sneaking hy pocrisy and folderol. The populist state officials may annoy and hurry the railroad companies for effect, but they will not do anything that will benefit the people. If they steal anything from the corporations it will be coined into political buncombe for their own use and while the companies may suf fer the people will not be in the least benefited.—York Times. Teller’s Endorsement of Gold, Senator Teller is, of course, opposed to the financial bill which is before his chamber, the principal purpose of which measure is to put the gold stand ard in the statutes. He dislikes the bill for several reasons, but chiefly on this account. Yet he unintentionally, and perhaps unconsciously, says a good word indirectly for it. “Is there any necessity for this legislation to increase Aifierican credit?” he asks. “I would like nj ask .the Senator from Rhode Island (Aldrich) whether there in any trouble with American credit. Is there any other country which can sell its securities at such high prices as we can? All our bonds are higher than are those of any other country. Nobody is questioning our honesty. And yet we have legislation here the avowed purpose of which is to strengthen our credit and relieve tax ation.” The Colorado senator paid a fine tribute here to the merits of the gold j standard which he opposes. He passed j a glowing eulogy on the repuoiican l party which he has left, and which he is in the habit of denouncing. It is the gold standard which is the cause of the advancement in the credit of the United States. It is the republican party which is responsible for the gold standard. “Is there any other coun try which can sell its securities at such prices as we can?” Not one. Our iuw luieiusi. guveruuieiiL uuiiuh rule higher on the markets of the world than do the British consols, which are Europe’s gilt-edge securities. “Nobody is questioning our honesty.” The sen ator is emphatically correct here also. Moreover, nobody will ever have a chance to'question the nation’s hon esty while the republican party re mains in control of its government. Teller is unquestionably correct on both points. The credit of the govern ment is the highest in the world and its honesty is undisputed simply be cause the republican party is now, has been for some time past, and is likely to be for some time to come, in com plete charge of its affairs. It is a pity that Teller left the re publican party. The senator is a man of character and ability. No other man who has ever been on the silver side has as much brains as Teller, ex Jones, of Nevada, and Jones has abandoned that cause, and has come \ back to the republicans. Telier win be compelled to do the same in the very near future. His state is drift ing back to the republican party, as is Bhown by the fact that in the recent ■ ounty elections it chose 181 republi can officials, as compared with only eighty-one democrats, and only 216 of all the non-republican elements of the state in combination, and these num ber eight distinct parties or fractions. Taller is out of place in the Bryanite aggregation. In his present affiliations f he can never have any influence on the country’s politics. He is cut oil from all connection with the forces which control the nation's destinies, and make it glorious and prosperous. Moreover, he is putting himself in a false position, and is liable to have his motives and ideas misunderstood. Though ostensibly an anti-republican and an anti-gold standard man, he has just furnished an impressive tributa to the beneficence of the gold standard and to the financial sanity and cour age of the republican party. Products of the West. The total wheat production of the United States in 1898 was 675,148,000 bushels, of which 85 per cent was rais ed in the west. The production of corn for the entire country w'as 1,924,000,000, of which the west raised 1,440,000,000, or 75 per cent. The oat crop amounted to 730,906,000 bushels, of which the west produced 72 per cent. The farm value of cattle, sheep and hops for the entire country was $1, 389.972.000, of which the west owned 11.055.410.000, or 76 per cent. The west also produces practically ell of the gold and silver, most of the copper and zinc, and a large share of the iron and other metals. It is also a remarkable fact that almost one-half of the total cotton production cf the country comes from west of the Mississippi river. Plenty of Gold. It only takes a few words to dispose of the charge that there Is an insuf ficient amount of gold in the country, and that is constantly increases in value. From 1492 up to 1871 the world’s production of gold was 19,087,823 pounds. Since 1871 the total produc tion has been 13,420,035 pounds. From 1492 to 1871 the annual pro duction was 50,485 pounds. For the last twenty-eight years the annual av erage has been 462,963 pounds. it would seem that there is no dan cer of a scarcity of gold. Expansion of the Currency. The total circulation of bank notes on February 28, 1900, was $249,434,878, being an increase of $6,532,511 in one year. The high water mark in the cir culation was reached in 1882, when the amount was $361,880,764. From that time to 1891 there was a steady decline to $167,577,214. During 1893 it was increased by the panic scarcity in the currency, and further expan sions were made in the three following years when the banks subscribed' lib erally for government bonds. Prosperity In Wisconsin. In 1898, the semi-centennial of Wis consin's admission into the Union, there were in the state 10,417 manufac turing institutions, capitalized at $246,516,404, and employing 116,269 l ands. The total annual output was valued at $248,456,164, or a little more than the total capital stock. Since that time there has been an increase in the number of establishments, and the number of hands employed. Frtiglit Shipments Increasing. For the week ending March 12, 1898, Chicago made a new record, having shipped by lail 158,232 tons of freight. This was while the Leiter wheat ship ments were in progress. This record was broken during the last week in February, 1900, when the freight shipments by rail amounted to 212, 312 tons. Sheep Values. It is recorded that a farmer in Ful ton county, Ohio, recently sold 25 head of sheep for $800, being an average of $6 40 per head. The farmers there say that under the Wilson bill period that number of sheep would not have brought to exceed $125, and that the owner would have had to look around e long while for a purchaser at any price. Coal Expansion. In 1870, three years before the "crime” was committed, the United States mined 36,806,560 tons of coal end Great Britain mined 123,682,935 Ions. Bi 1899 the United States mined 244.000. 000 tons, and Great Britain 234.000. 000. The Bond Crop. The late John I. Blair, of Blairs town, N. J., it is said, listened two hours to a New York promoter who wanted to sell him $100,000 of bonds in a new corporation, then asked: "Are you done?” The man had about talked himself out and frankly said so. Then the aged millionaire re marked: “I’ve got all the bonds I want. The printing press is always busy, and the only crop that never fails is the bond crop.” Tne “LilyV* Soldier Husband III. Captain Hugo de Bathe, Mrs. Lang* try’s youthful husband, has been dan gerously ill at Cape Town. He is a member of the staff of General Kitch ener, by special assignment of Lord Roberts, and displayed courage and soldierly qualities in the battle of Co lenso and in other engagements in which he has participated. He accom panied the staff on its entry into Kim berley, and it was there he was taken ill. An Old New Woman Lawyer. A new aspirant for legal honors is Mrs. Catherine V. Waite, a western woman, 71 years old, who will soon go to Denver and establish a law of fice there, with her husband as a part ner. Rumor says that Mrs. Waite is by no means a poor woman, as she is the owner of large tracts of land, many horses and a block of real es tate in Chicago. Her husband was at one time a Judge in Idaho. Baa llo n< Fruit to Him. Charles Major, who less than two years ago, was a struggling lawyer at the Shelby county, Ind. bar, and who was made wealthy by his book, “When Knighthood Was in Flower,” has just paid >17,000 for a farm near Shelby ville. Try throughout life to make friends. Enemies will make themselves. And the- truest companion is he who most enjoys solitude I ODOR OP OYSTERS SAVED HIM It Reminded the D/tnjf Reprobate .t Home and Boyhood Days. The story was told by a railroad con tractor over the black coffee of a cer tain Bohemian table d’hote in the old quarter. “I never fully appreciated that proverb about finding a man’s heart through his stomach,” he said, “until a couple of years ago, when I was doing a bit of construction work on the Texas and Pacific, out beyond Alexandria. One day a strapping big fellow we all knew as ‘Chicago Pete,’ who was bossing a shovel gang, was struck by a falling derrick and had half a dozen ribs crushed in. He was dying when they brought him to camp and with the party came a country preacher, who happened to be riding by at the time the accident occurred. I made the poor fellow as comfortable as I could in my shanty and the par son undertook to administer spiritual consolation, but he soon found he had a rather difficult job. ‘Chicago Pete’ had been a pretty tough customer all his life and had most of the traits that decent folks can get along with out, but he entertained a supreme con tempt for death-bed reformations and told the preacher so with a picturesque embellishment of profanity that made the good man’s hair bristle on his head. Nevertheless he stuck to his task and for upward of an hour he pleaded with the sufferer to repent be fore it was too late. Finally, when he was about to give up in despair, my^ cook next door began to fry some oysters which I had secured that morning as a special treat, and as their faint odor drifted into the shanty Pete suddenly opened his eyes. ‘Them oysters reminds me of home,’ he said. ‘When you were a boy?’ asked the minister, taking the cue as quick as lightning. ‘Yes,’ said Fete, ‘my mother used to fry oysters that smelt just like them do.’ ‘Then think of her now, my dear friend!’ the minister cut in. ‘Think of your poor old gray-haired mother!’ and between the redoubled odor of the oysters and the earnest ness of his appeal Pete was actually shedding tears in less than five min utes. ‘Will you join me in prayer?’ asked the preacher presently. ‘Yes,’ said Pete, ‘if you’ll leave the door open so I can keep on smelling them oysters,’ and a little later he passed quietly away in the odor of sanctity and hot grease. That’s a true story, boys, and wherever may Peter be, I trust that all is well with him. He was a good fellow at the bottom and he died like a Christian and a gentle man.” BOYS WHO LACK GOOD MANNER They Never Give Cp Their Seat la Pub lic Conveyances to Ladles. Nine out of ten of the boys and young men who travel up and down the ele vated roads of New York are absolute ly void of good manners as are a lot ot, wild Indians—probably more so. It is so seldom that one of these will get up'and give a lady a seat that when it does occur the event creates sur prise. Scores, yes hundreds of times, have I seen old and middle aged wom en hang on to a strap mile after mile, while some unlicked whelp of a boy has sat in front of her in stolid indiffer ence. Nor were these always loafers or boys going to their work—fully as often the selfish fellow will be a well dressed schoolboy or one whose man ners otherwise will Bhow a decent bringing up and good manners at home. They don’t care, that’s all. They have been taught it by somebody. Time and again I have seen a mother sit complacently with a half grown boy or girl beside her, while other women stood up. Did she care? Did Bhe sug gest to the boy that he should arise and give his seat to some poor old woman? Not a bit of it. She had paid for that seat and meant to keep it in the family. In such cases I have always hoped that she might be clinging to a strap the next time, while some other mother’s darling kicked his feet against her dress and stared at her in complacent selfishness. There is prob ably not a city in America that can compare with New York for the num ber of street car hogs to the square foot. This don’t mean the boys only, by a long shot.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. - ii . The lee Cream Burned. 1 A few years ago a famous actor was asked what was the most amusing thing—not down on the bills—which he had ever met with in his long theat rical experience. He replied that once in a play in which he appeared, an Ice cream freezer, presumably filled with cream, was among the properties dis played to the audience. It was not practicable to equip the freezer with real ice cream, so its place was sup plied by cotton. One of the actors had occasion to cross the stage with a flam ing torch, and a spark from the torch must have fallen into the freezer, for, to the joy of the audience, which greeted the casualty with enthusiastic applause, the ice cream was Incon sistent enough to burn up then and there, thus inflicting a serious blow upon the "realism” of the performance. —New York Mail and Express. German Doctor'# Invention, In Germany a doctor has taught his patients how to "massage” rheumatic Anger points by thrusting the hand into a deep glass partially filled with I mercury, which presses on them. The hand is dipped in and out of the glass about thirty times at each treatment, and the swelling is thus reduced.— Washington Times. Salesgirls Warring on Slang. The salesgirls in a New Jersey town have started a crusade against the use | of slang. -f