4)lattsmoufIi Jourmil
C W. K1IEKMAX. robll.her.
PLAITIOUTH. : NKHttASKA
A MISSIXG WORD.
BY MARION T. IOKSKY.
IIE Copleys were
spending" the
winter in Mu
nich so that Bert
might go on to
Heidelberg- and
Ethel pursue
her musical
studies u n der
good masters.
There was
another reason,
too. Their in
come was not
what it used
to be; and hav
ing1 decided
that a sojourn
In this German city was the most eco
nomical plan, they were soon busy
'Settling- themselves in a quaint old
1 A.1 1 ' 1 . -C &
uuu uu luevaniueapiau. .Margaret
found it quite possible to make the
rooms look familiar and homelike.
t TThe same pictures, books and bric-a-brac
were placed as they had been in
the colonial mansion on Mount Vernon
place, in far-away Baltimore; and It is
the household gods, after all, that rec
oncile us to the inevitable changes.
II was for her own room that she
kept her father's portrait, the unopened
brass box bequeathed to her in his will,
and the musty books which she alone
found interesting".
The months passed pleasantly and
quickly while the Copleys were mak
ing acquaintance with the city of ca
thedrals and palaces, and their daily
mail left them nothing to complain of
in their friends across the sea.
Paul Harcourt, the good comrade of
Margaret's childhood and girlhood,
had begun by writing her letters filled
with enthusiasm for his profession and
lor the work he had planned to do as
a. specialist at the great Johns Hopkins
liospital, where he had already won
distinguished recognition for the suc
cessful operation of his advanced
ideas in the department of clin
ic. He was intensely, eagerly modern,
and held precedent in veneration only
in so far as it gave the clearest reasons
for the infallibility of its why and
wherefore.
As Margaret Copley's absence lengtb-
r.Tneu ne no longer ineu to resi.ra.ii ms
pen from gliding into persona allu
. sions which should convey soms inti-
; 'nation of the hope hs now held dearer
than fame.
i i . M i r
One day she had been many hours at
the Pinacotheca, drinking in the beau
ties of Rafaelle, Rembrandt and Fra
Bartolorueo, and threw herself, tired
ani aimless, upon the lounge in her
mother's sitting room, and lay therein
calu cnjoA-ment of Ethel's skillfully
executed fantasy, when their rosy
cheeked maid brought in the letters.
There were two for Margaret and
several for her mother, who was re
turning calls.
"One from raul," she said to herself
with delightful anticipations, "and one
from Bert," with much less interest.
From the next room the melody still
rippled forth, and on a table close be
side the couch a bunch of Parma vio
lets breathed an exquisite fragrance,
which with the music and the words
of overmastering love on the written
page, blent together in a soul-subdu
ing minor trio.
v "He loves me! He loves me! Oh,
''dream of my life!" she cried, burying
hide from unseeing e3-es its supreme
ft exaltation. A new glory had com
') upon the earth, ths glory that crowns
but the one moment of hope's fruition.
She knew now that the rich promise,
all the possibilities of Paul Harcourt's
earnest, noble manhood were hers to
share and encourage. She knew now
that achievement and fame were less
dear to him than her answering love.
The Chopin fantasy rippled on, from
faintest sounds to silence.
Presently Ethel came in and picked
up the paper that came with their
mail. Scanning it over, she said, sud
( denly: 'Hre is something that will
interest vou, sister. It's about the
Historical society. It offers a thou
sand dollars for some old records.
V Margaret, are 3ou asleep?"
But no answer.
J "Gracious." said Ethel, tiptoeing'
' - away, "I thought she would wake
from the dead if anyone mentioned
old records."
When her sister was out of hearing
Margaret raised herself on her elbow
and reached for the flowers.
1 " ch nti1 laving thm ncrninst
I her flushed face, "I don't want to think
-ibout the dead past just now, but
I Lout about the radiant future'.".
Vf It was not her habit to mention get-
J.ting a letter from Bert until after she
. . , ... . , ,i .
7Viaureaa it, ioriearn snouia contain
tome confidence not intended for any
eye or ear but hers. He had promised
to confess to her if he should be guilty
of even "gentlemanly peccadillos," as
he termed his waywardness; so it wan
' not rntil she had kissed her mother
and Ethel a happier good Jiight than
usual that she sat down by her own
lamplight to read this one.
Bert had been very complaining of
late, and it was always money, money.
She had been sending him nealy all of
tier own allowance and did $ot see
now she could do more; but he first
few lines showel her that thpre was
something worse than a renewed de
mand for money, and that disgrace,
open disgrace, would be the penalty if
; it were not forthcoming.
With white lips and e3'es aflame with
indignation she read on; each word
branding shame upon her heart and
brain. It ran:
"My dearest and twst of listers: Do you
rf.cmber -m'tiai you said to me on the ocean,
ifiout helping mc out of a scrape? AVeU. I'm
In tte worst one you could imagine, sad
; Margaret, you must help me. or our good
biuc upa ;'s good Dame, will be blackened icr-
V
oiter 8uostjiTce.-A blast
the bottom of the hoie ana
ttae bottom. The explosion
ever. While att crazed with wins X took
eight hundred dollars from my roommau,
Simpson you recollect him and a dozen of us
went on a ten days' spree. I didn't know what
I was doing, Sis. indeed I didn't; and that cad
says he always despised our pretensions and
will certainly give me over as a scoundrel un
less every cent lsjrefunded In a month.
I feel more for you and mamma than for
myself.
Yours, in everlasting regret, Bert."
She sat like one to whom the death
sentence has just been read wide
eyed, dazed. Slowly the reality of it
all, its horrible truthfulness, left its
outward sign of her inward conflict.
The letter fell from her trembling
fingers to the floor, where it lay with
its flippant announcement of a great
crime flaunting itself shamelessly; a
crime whose consequences were so
brutally thrust upon her.
"This is a mere 'gentlemanly pecca
dillo,' I suppose," she said, in a harsh,
unnatural voice. "A Copley! a Cop
ley! O, my father; tha I a child of yours
should have done this thing!" and she
threw herself prostrate before Alee
Copley's unresponsive effigy. "Help
me to keep disgrace from your dear,
dear name. At any cost to me, O, my
father, it shall be kept unsullied!"
She lay there till the great cathe
dral clock struck one, trying to make
a way out of this terrible difficulty, yet
finding none. She knew that their quar
terly income was not due for weeks,
and besides, she had breathed a tow to
her father, whose spirit she felt to be a
real presence, that her sweet, timid
mother and Ethel should be spared all
knowledge of Bert's sin if she alone
could prevent its exposure.
Suddenly, like an inspiration, she
thought of what her sister had said
about the notice in the Baltimore pa
per when she had been so wrapt .in
love's young dream that she scarcely
heeded her. She took her night candle
and cautiously made her way down
stairs. There lay the paper. All was
still, the quiet sleepers unconscious of
the tragedy being enacted under the
same roof that sheltered them.
Back in her room once more, she
Bought the paragraph with feverish
eagerness, till at last it caught her eye.
A long account of the Maryland His
torical society wound up by saying:
"And thete old records, dating from
about 1033 to 1700, have never been
found. Among them is supposed to be
a list of those who emigrated to the
province at that time; and for the sake
of important work to be completed the
society offers a thousand dollars for
such information from an authorita
tive source."
"The brass box!" she cried, hyster
ically. From the secret drawer of an an
tique escritoire in the corner of the
41
Uttr, . - i'AkJl I II A II I I ' 7m.
nag j mm
s-mi ,mm ' 1 vi ! i WmmM mil
f'lfP'm mil gll
IT WAS BOWIXO
room she took a tiny key with a bit of
black ribbon tied to it and hastily fitted
it into the curious lock which she had
studied and wondered about from tod
dling infancy. In all her imaginings
she had never dreamed that, like Pan
dora's box. it held her own woe.
There were dozens of parchments,
some of which dated back to Clai
borne's time; and there, tied together
with personal letters of Sir Lionel
Copley's, was the long-missing list.
The old fascination came over her in
full force. She set books, paper
weights, anything on the curling
parchment, flattening it out on the
table before her. There were many
familiar names those of her lifelong
friends, and many of which she had
never heard. Low down the list her
eve fell upon the words, pale, dim, but
Minutes ticked off into hours and she
still sat gazing till all the page seemed
covered with valet, valet, and present
ly the odious word began to move upon
the time-worn document. It had legs,
arms, a periwig!
It was bowing servilely. Now it is
brushing a pair of top boo, and ah,
look! it is bringing toweis and the
bath.
All the cavalier blood in her veins
seemed beating, beating in an angry
surge against her throbbing temples,
and misery, the lik of which she had
not thought it possible for mortal to
suffer, laid hold upon her soul. The
shame of Bert's conduct was nothing
to this shame nothing.
"Oh, heaven!" she groaned in an
agony of spirit, making a groping ef
fort to find tfci window, "I am going
mad!"
She got the sash up and let the
damp, refreshing night air blow in
from the dark, echoing square.
"This trouble of Bwrt's has been too
wis pul In
t red from
ft irew
to the dlenity of sTreal court.V
all for
Mi Jiprse biand
mneh for me. It is only my crazy
fancy. That is not there at all."
Still moving unsteadily she opened a
a cabinet near by and took out a finely-finished
photograph.
"No, no," she said, 6ternly; "that
brow, those thoughtful eyes, that pa
trician nose, that sensitive mouth did
not come of a valet's stock. But why
am I trying to convince myself? Don't
I know it was all an optical illusion?"
Replacing the manly presentment of
the modern Paul Harcourt in the cab
inet, Margaret Copley stood irresolute,
and then, as if moved by an irresistible
impulse, dragged herself back to the.
table and leaned against it, toj'ing
with its contents while delaying tha
moment of sure conviction.
A small bronze statuette of Clio,
with recording quill in hand, weighted
one corner of the record. She snatched
it up and flung it through an open
window.
"Break into a thousand pieces, liar!"
she cried passionately, "break as you
have broken my heart," and stooping
quickly she once more saw the towels
and bath.
"Father," she sobbed despairingly,
her vehement emotion having spent it
self and left her benumbed with pain
and bewilderment, "father, I loved
him so, and I love him still. I would
give my life to keep the world from
seeing this blasting word; but I am
your daughter; I will save the name
of Copley. That day you went away
you said: 'Do what is best with
them.' Oh, is it best to sell this thing
to save ourselves, or best to destroy it
for Paul's sake?"
She fell heavily, closing down the
lid of the brass box with a metallic
crash that brought her mother and
Ethel running, panic-stricken, to her
room.
They hurriedly got her into bed and
sent for a physician.
"She has worn herself out Drer those
musty papers," Mrs. Copley com
plained, resentfully. ''My poor, dear
child will kill herself worrying over
such things."
In the delirium of fever which fol
lowed she talked so incessantly about
.Bert that the doctor ordered him home.
"I shall certainly send it, Bert,
never fear," she whispered to him
when he bent down to kiss her one
day. She thought he had just come,
but he had been there a week.
"My head is quite clear now. Go get
that parchment on the table. You
will see a list of names on it. Yes,
that's it. Seal it up and direct it to
the Mar3'land Historical society and
inclose a note telling the librarian it
was among papa's papers; he'll know.
And tell him he must telegraph pay-
, i
SERVILELT.
raent to our bank on the da. -f its re
ceipt. Send it now, and pleie don't
ask me any questions: I'm tirvd;" and
she turned her quivering facs to the
wall.
Some days later, Margaret, pale and
f.ad eyed, was '.ying onee more on the
sitting room lounge. Her own room
was a horror to her. For the first
time in her life its antiquity seemed
naught but ghostliness, and she felt
that its atmosphere would stifle her
feeble efforts toward regaining health
and strength.
Bert sat beside her, waiting to take
his mother to a choral service in the
cathedral.
"By the way. Sis," he said, careless
ly, "whose name do you suppose I saw
on that old list, or whose ancestor's,
rather?"
"Whose?" she answered faintly,
deftly holding a large feather fan at
a screening angle.
Bert leaned back in his chair and
gave one of his dare-devil laughs.
"Why, I happened to lay my magni
fying glass down on your table n
day, when I first came, and going to
pick it up later I saw under it. 'Paul
Harcourt and valet,' as big as primer
letters."
"And valet?" she queried, below her
breath; no, that was not there.
"Oil, but it was," Bert insisted, "I
swear by my eternal gratitude to you,
I saw the 'and' as plain as day through
the glass, but it was too faded to see
without, so I traced the letters in pale
ink and made them look just like the
rest. It wasn't any harm, was it?"'
On the instant the great bell rang
out its first jubilant note and she was
left alone with more music in her
heart than was pealing from tha
throats of all the choristers in ilrnich.
Kate Field's Washington,
uioncii, mri--irBieu tiiKVine Doyg'
injuries will result seriously.
t
oVjc
ol john-
Japanese Liver Pellets are
SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
One of the largest Sankirt claiet
in America is that in Boston university.
It began the year with twelve mem
bers, and is closing with eleven.
It is claimed that a college gradu
ate's chance of obtaining a fair degree
of eminence are as 250 to 1 as compared
with the men who have not been to col
lege. A report of M. Laskowski, professor
at the university of Geneva, on women
medical students, is highly encourag
ing. During the past seventeen years
175 women have been admitted to the
faculty. Fifty were Poles, of whom only
four are known to have completed their
studies.
Prof. Thomas Day Seymour, of Yale
college, who is a graduate of Western
Reserve of the class of 1S70, and was
professor cf Greek in his alma mater
for ten yeais, is to deliver the memorial
address upon ex-President Cutler of
Western Reserve at the forthcoming
commencement.
One of the Unitarian churches in
Boston is lighted by a ceiling of sub
dued glass. When this was put in Mr.
Arthur Gilman is said to have remarked
that it was the first time he had ever
heard of trying to raise Christians under
glass, adding that he now knew what
was meant by "early Christians."
It is 6tated that the Salvation Army
is considering the project of securing a
large body of land in Mexico, upon
which to settle some of the denizens of
the slums of New York and other cities
who are willing to reform, and thus
carry out in this country the plan of
Gen. Booth in London. Christian
Statesman.
The prevailing religio of Siam and
Laos is Buddhism. The Prcsbj'terians,
north, have in the Laos country 10 or
dained, 5 medical. 6 lady missionaries,
and 1 ordained native, 8 churches and
1.00O communicants; and in the Siam
mission 7 ordained, 2 medical, 4 lady
missionaries, and 1 native evangelist, 7
churches and 330 communicants.
Among the results of Christianity
in Japan there is none more striking in
its influence than the orphan asylum at
Okayaina. There is a romance in it.
Its founder was Juji Ishii, row thirty
years of age, an ex-policemaa, and now
a practicing physician. The asylum
was started with a little girl who was
rescued from being buried alive in hi
dead mother's coffin.
A bill has been introduced into con
gress by Gen. Black, of Illinois, based
on suggestions form Gen. Lew Wallace
and Librarian Spofford, providing for a
college of twenty-five persons "distin
guished in literature, science, art an4
invention," modeled somewhat after
the Institute of France, called "the
Forty Immortals." A committee of the
senate and house will name the first
five memk-rs of the college, and these
five are to elect twenty other persons.
The body will be a continuous one, and
is to be provided wLth a meeting room
in the new congressional library build
ing, with proper service, and have the
use of all the publications of the li
brary. The college is to make reports
from time to time to congress upon
language and literature. Great Brit
ain, German j- and other countries have
similar national bodies.
WELSH BIBLES.
Edition Through Wliloh the Book Went
After Its First Translation.
The date of the first Welsh Bible is
specially interesting. It was published
in the year of the defeat of the Spanish
Armada, in 15SS, and serves to re
mind us what poor provision the
English government made for the edifi
cation of the Welsh in the reformed
doctrines. Without possessing a
Bible in the vernacular, it was impossi
ble for the Welsh clergy or laity to fol
low the reformed service, though this
defect was partially remedied a few
years earlier by the translation into
Welsh of the English prayer book, for
It must be remembered that at that
time none of the people of the northern
Welsh dioceses, and very few indeed in
the south, spoke or understood a word
of English.
This edition is so scarce that there is
only one copy, and that imperfect, in the
National library. How little it was
used may be gathered from the fact
that it was not till 1620, thirty-two j-ears
afterward, that a revised edition wa.
published. After this time other edi
tions appear at intervals of from tent
twenty years down to the year 1S07,
and at somewhat shorter intervals
down to ii78, which is-the date of the
last calendar Welsh Bible in the cata
logue of the British museum. Quar
terl3 Iieview.
Something In a Name.
A gentleman registered at a Sutter
street boarding-house one day recently
under the name of Emory Yere de Vere.
He had not been there three hours be
fore a trusted porter had tested the
weight of his luggage, and the land
lady had demanded his rent in advance.
The astonished and indignant man de
ruanued the reason for this distrust,
and the landlady frankly told him that
his name was too high-sounding to in
spire trust.
"Good heavens, madame !" he said,
"it is the name I use in my correspond
ence. My true name is Perkins. See
my letter;;?"
And then the landlady smiled and
said: "My dear sir as a Perkins you are
welcome to this house and trusted; but
anything that smacks of the British
tourist short on his remittances can not
get an attic-room here." San Francisco
News Letter.
Among tha Freaks.
"I don't see w hy the manager always
comes to see me when he is drunk,"
growled the Circassian beauty.
"He probably thinks you are a snake
charmer." suggested the ossified man,
who had been slighted by the beauty.
Detroit Free Press.
A Iliff Ship.
Wife Thomas, how m:ny people
name over in the Mayflowei
Husband Seventy-threu thouincL
nine hundred and eighty-six, about;
t there are several family trees to heaj
i fioiii y, Cleveland Plain Deaier.
J. O. Phillipi onthe Missouri
has returned to headquarters
small, : ha from a trip overlthe Nebraska and
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
A RUSSIAN SCHOOL
There lived s lad in Moscow,
Named Ivanitca Pacoskow,
Who went to school
And followed rule
Of old Professar Boskow.
His comrades were Wyzlnksld
And Feodor Duchinski,
And Scarrovitcb,
And Polonitch,
And Paderowfollnkskl.
Xt took Professor Boskow
Full half a day in Moscow
To call tha roll
And name each soul
Who came to him in Moscow.
To road and write did Boskow
Next teach the lads In Moscow,
But called to spell
They did rebel.
So queer were names la Moscow.
This roused the Ire of Boskow,
Who shook the small Pacoskow.
With Scarrovltch,
And Polonitch.
And CortacnoS Penoskow.
Ee flogged them all and sent them hoc.
Did old Professor Boskow,
Till they could well
Pronounce and spell
Each proper name In Moscow.
J. T. Greenleaf , In St, 1Icholas.
WHEN ROVER EXPIRED.
Xt Gave Pane to Ills Vonnf Owner
Which I Remembered StUl.
Not long ago I heard Dr. Bealer for
merly of Johnstown, Pa., lecture upon
the flood in the Concmaugh valley.
Among other things he related was the
saving of the family dog.
The doctor's son carried the pet to
the attic when the rush of waters came,
and, when the household was about to
leave the wrecked building, the boy
begged to carry the dog with him.
"And," said Dr. Beale, "I told him he
might try, for a dog is very dear to the
heart of a twelve-year-old boy."
I felt a peculiar force in these words,
for I remembered how dear a dog once
was to another twelve-year-old boy.
The first time I saw Rover was on a
winter's day when my father brought
him home and called me out to see him.
I lifted the long-haired, Bhiny-coated
little fellow, with those almost human
eyes of his, out of the sleigh and car
riea him to the woodshed. From that
day I was his slave. A shy, retiring
boy, not caring much for the society of
other children, I found in this beauti
ful roly-poly puppy a most congenial
playmate; and our confidence in each
other never weakened.
All that winter Rover is my most in
timate friend. By and by the last
snows of March go hurrying down the
roadside gutters and winter is gone.
There comes more of business and less
of pastime into Rover'slife. Lnstead of
tearing up doormats he has to chase
chickens, and the energy ho formerly
used in hunting up bones is now turned
to driving cows.
When farming begins in earnest he
devotes himself to the horses. When
wo are mowing his interest amounts
to interference, and he is tied in the
barn to keep him away from the sharp
knives. Here he whines and tugs so at
his chain that I always leave him as
unhappy as he.
One afternoon I tie him close by the
open barn door, where he can lie in
the shade or watch us working. When
the mowing is done for that day I
scamper home to loosen him and have
a frolic.
When I get in sight of Rover I notice
the hot afternoon sunshine pours full
upon him as he lies with his back to
ward mc. I hurry, and at the sound of
my steps a slight quiver passes over his
body and I hear a choking sound. A
curious chill comes over me. lie tries
to move again. Now I see why he is
so quiet. His three feet of chain are
shortened by a dozen twists to one foot,
and every struggle draws the strap
tighter about his neck. His tongue
hangs from his mouth and he gasps for
breath; his eyes are dull and filmj-.
With nervous hands and a heartache
I loose the strap and carry him into
the shade. He gasps, looks up at me
and wags his taiL Father brings a
bunch of new-mown clover and lays
the panting dog upon it.
1 creep close to him and pillow his
head upon my lap. Presently I slip one
hand between his cheek and my knee,
while with the other I gently stroke
his silky, jet-like coat. But he pays
no attention; and as I lean over him to
V:
"I'M afraid it's iU OVER.' be bays.
speak in h's ear my hand finds his
head wet with bead-like drops. I lay
my cheek beside his, clasp my arms
about his neck and say: "Rover,
Rover," many times very softly.
After a long time I hear a step and I
hastily lay my dumb friend's head upon
the ground. My father comes up. He
looks at him, feels his paws and shakes
hi3 head. "I am afraid it is all over,"
h says. In an ngony of grief I throw
rself face downward upon the sod
tnd cry ajoud without reserve. My
mother touches my shoulder, but I do
not notico her. I have a mad longing
to gather my dead playmate in my arms
and say ho 6hall not die; I won't give
him up. In that moment there is noth
Pacific
and Ida to her mother, who firmly ao-
at Oma-
nounced that she was "going to
her till she-couldn't sit down."
ing earth dearer to KuthanheJ
If he cannot live with mo I want to dia
with him. If ho must die I will olwayal
stay by his body. lie may not be able;
to 6how his love for me, but I 6haUi
never cease to love him, never, never,'
never" ant! my voice becomes almost a
scream. '
My father tiies to quiet me, but I!
thrust him from me, and as the sobbing-,
becomes less violent he leaves thai
heartbroken boy and his dying playfel-
low lying side by Bide in the shade.
The afternoon wears away and the),
sun is near setting now. Slanting,
beams steal in under the overhanging
branches. I raise my head and look at
my dying comrade. The gasps seem
less violent. A throb of hope comes to;
me. I lean over him and call his name.,
But these quick ears are dull now. Tho
willing feet have pattered on their lasfc
errand.
More than a dozen years have gone
by since the June day when Rovers
brief life was hushed under the 'olL'
sweeting tree," yet the memory of that
afternoon is still full of sharp pain and!
keen agony; and I never see a shepberdv
puppy without recalling an orchard;
fragrant with new-mown hay, and a
sobbing boy lying under an apple tree
beside his dying playfellow. WT. B.;
Sheddan, in St. Louis Republic.
BEARS COSTLY FUR.
Tha Sea Otter, Its Home and Its Uttli
I'nderstood Habit. i
Just at present the sea otter is tha!
favorite of the millionairess, and hi
fur is the costliest in the world. I
wonder if any of the wearers of this,
beautiful fur so costly that the price
of one set would feed a hungry family
for two whole years ever stop to find
out how the first wearer was born on a
T11E 6KA OTTHB.
bed of kelp, floating out in the open
sea, on the icy-cold waters of the Pa
cific, and literally "rocked in the era dia
of the deep;" how he was brought up
on the heaving billows, and, when bed
time came, found a soft resting-placa
on his mother's breast, while sho
floated upon her back and clasped hliu
with her paws as he slept; how tha
only land he ever knew was tha
rugged, rock-bound shores of Alaska
or Washington. Now and then, when
the ocean was very rough, and before
the hunters were so bad, he used to
crawl out upon a rock and lie there,
while the roar of the breakers boomed
in his ears and the spray dashed over
him in torrents. But then, it is proba
ble that not one woman out of every
five hundred takes the trouble to learn
the life history of the creature whosa
furry coat she wears.
The sea otter is the largest of tha
marten family, and is very unlike the
animal after which the family is
named. It has a thick, clumsy body,
which, with the round, blunt head, is
from three and a half to four feet in
length. Unlike thoss of all other
otters, the tail is short and stumpy,
being about one-fifth the length of tha
head and body. As if to increase its
value, and hasten its destruction, the
skin is much larger than the body,
like a misfit coat, and lies loosely upon
it in many folds. For this reason tha
stretched pelt is always much wider
and longer than the aminal that
wore it.
The coat of the full-grown sea otter
is very dense, very line, and its color is
shimmering, lustrous black. Ever
since the earliest discovery of the sea
otter by the Russians, its fur has been
eagerly sought by them, and the cash
prices of skins have always been so
high that there is not, .in the whole
United States, a museum rich enough
to afford a good series of specimens.
Mr. Charles 11. Townscnd, the natural
ist of the United States fish commis
sion, writes me that in 1S91 the price of
the best bkins had reached 400 each,
and their value has been since increas
ing. On the northwest coast of the
state of Washington, where sea otters
are still found along a thirty-mile strip
of coast (from Gray's harbor, hatf-way
to Cape Flattery), they aro shot by
hunters from tall "derricks" from thir
ty to forty feet high, erected in the
surf half-way between high tide and
low tide, and the hunter who kills four
otters in a year considers his work suc
cessful. Owing to the persistent hunting that
has been going on ever since Alaska
came into our possession, the sea otter
is rapidly following the buffalo to the
state of extermination.
The favorite food of the sea otter is
not fish, as one might suppose from the
habits of the common otter, but clams,
crabs, mussels and sea-urchins. Its
molar teeth are of necessity very
strong, for the grinding up cf this
rough fare, and the muscles of the
jaws are proportionately powerful.
W. T. Hornaday, in St. Nicholas.
Johnnie's Sympathy.
The other day Johnnie saw a branded
mustang on the street.
"Oh, mamma," he shouted, "just
look how they've gone and vaccinated
the poor thing'." Harper's Young Peo
ple. Tho Very Opposite.
"Did you tender your resignation?
said a man to an ex-office-holder.
"I resigned by request, sir, but ther
was nothing tender about it. It was
tough, sir." Pittsburgh Chronicle.
Urr ret.
Proud Mothe Isn't my son Algy
charming?
Young Lady Yes, indeed; he's a per
fect littlo lady. Good News.
Xo Doubt About That.
Woman Is not much of a philosopher,
but she is, nevertheless, a clothes ob
server. Texas Sif tios.
we
spank
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