4
utl
TOPICS OF THE TIMES, j
A CHOICE SELECTION OF INTER-
ESTINQ ITEMS. j
CasnsBeatt ud CrKiefasna Dawl I pon the ,
UautmtAs of the Dmj- Historical ud
Mew Kotea. j
A dat at a time is the way to live j
a happy life.
If Mr. Stead and Mrs. Gougar seri
ously desire to alleviate distress in J
Chicago they will go away. ChicagD i
Times. J
No woman- is going to raw wood
and say nothing. If she has to saw
the wood the world will certainly !
bear from ber. I
Speaking of Anarchists and the j
doctrine of dynamite it will be j
noticed that bums and bombs seem
to go together.
The regular army of Mexico go into
a fight with the latest batch of revo
lutionists at Custhuiriochi, presuma
bly over the pronunciation.
Now that Admiral Mello is out on
the broad ocean he wants to be care
ful that Mr. Vanderbilt's yacht, which
is also out, doesn't run into him.
It Is a fashion to say a girl is " as
graceful as a willow," but don't you
think the willow, with its drooping
ways, looks a little round-shouldered?
The greatest depth record d of
Lake Michigan is eight, hundred and
seventy feet. The mean depth is
about three hundred and twenty-five
feet.
It is melancholy that when a man
learns by experience not to jump
from a moving cable car on the side
nearest the other track the lesson
comes too late to be ot pra tical serv
ice to him to him.
The Boston Traveller accuses some
of its wicked local contemporaries of
having stolen its news. The idea of
stealing news from a Boston news
paper! Nobody but another Boston
editor would have dreamed of doing
such a thing.
'The poet Uiley has a great ad
miration for Kipling," says a news
paper paragraph. Now, let's have a
paragraph saying that Kipling has a
great admiration for tht; poet Riley,
and then that advertising scheme
will have been fairly worked.
A valuable discovery has been
made in the southern part of Arkan
sas. It Is aluminium ore in a new
form. It is called "rootsite." At
first it was regarded as a phosphate.
It is found In great beds at a depth
of twenty to thirty feet below the
surface.
Thieves blew open a safe in a
Colorado saloon. When a policeman
came after them they took him along
with thee sh and the jewels as part
of the booty and appurtenances of
the gin mill. It's hard sledding
when a uolic-man isn't safer than
the safe in a saloon.
Col. Wat Hahdin of Kentucky,
was recently asked if he d d not re
gard a certain fellow in Washington
who had dealt most villainously with
him as the mo t pluiierfect, unmiti
gated scoundrel he ever knew. The
Colonel studied the question with
thoughtful gravity for a moment and
finally decided: "No; I am co m
mitted to a fellow out in Ohio."
Among the sufferers from the hard
times in Italy is General Menotti
Garibaldi, son of the Italian hero.
Although the General, like the other
descendants of Gar.baldi, has a state
pension of 10,000 lire, he lost so
much money recently that he was
obliged to allow his furniture to be
sold last month to pay back taxes.
The General is a member of Parlia
ment Is Nevada recently the State
militia had their annual target prac
tice, when not a bullseye was made.
On the hame day a citl.en of Indiana
started out with an ancient revolver
and killed four people. So pleased
was be with hia marksmanship that,
despairing of ever beating it, he
turned his weapon on himself and is
now no more able to hit a bullseye
thau a Nevada militiaman.
There was a heavier loss by Are in
this country during 1893 than for
many years preceding. There were
few fires that deserved the name of
conflagrations, but the total of de
struction was very large, and the
necessity of a better system of build
ing was never more apparent foe
big blazes In Boston, Toledo and De
troit were an ill omen for the open
ing of the new year; but it is to be
hoped that the awful record of 183
is not to be repeated.
A French physician who has found
that the majority of deaths upon the
Dfttkoeld arise from the bleeding to
tola of the wounded while waiting
for the surgeon, proposes that each
soldier in the French army shall be
Uoght where the arteries of the bod
ar. and hew to arrest hemorrhages
from them. In doing this be found
a use for that most useless of arts,
tattooing; a small fly u re of some kind
being tattooed over each artery, so
that the soldier can at on e see where
to apply the ligature.
Pokek chips ha'e their own
sweet way of telling a story and they
rarely drop out of the wrong croup.
The teller of a savings bank at Salem,
Mass., adjourned to Canada some
weeks ago because of the usual rea
sons and the City Marshal, in his in
vestigations, found in a chest in the
rooms of the departed financier 2,000
tri-coiored chips and a quantity of
fine wines. There were some inci
dentals also in a number of books is
sued to depositors cf the bank, the
books being mixel up with the chips.
The revelation is quite interesting to
the depositors, and their personal
judgment on poker chips is doubtless
emphatic and useful.
The limit of profitable size in
ocean vessels has been reached in
the largest that have lately been
built Such at least is the opinion
of Charges H. Cramp, the Philadel
phia ship builder. If vessels are
made much deep r they cannot enter
New York harbor. If longer, it will
be hard to make them strong enough
to be seaworthy. The strain of
weight on a long vessel between two
waves is enormous. Mr. Cramp says
English steamers waste much room
that the best ma le A merican designs
save. His opinion is that this superi
ority of American workmanship and
skill will with a fair chance give us a
considerable part of the future steam
boat building trade.
All that Is of value in our Institu
tions depends on the supremacy of
law and on the prompt and resolute
support given by the people to law.
The lesson should be learned not only
by the class which Is liable to be
tempted by anger or prejudice to give
th rein to passion, but by that higher
class which does the thinking for the
community. Mobs take their cue
from a few leading men. A speaker
or a newspaper swavs them In times
of excitement Outbursts of disorder
can generally be traced to the Inflam
matory counsel of some one to whom
the popula e looks for guidance. In
such cases it is the incendiary writer
or speak r who is the author of the
disorder, and not the ignorant fools
who apply the torch. It is sad to
think that there Is hardly ever a mob
outbreak against law which does not
find some newspaper to justify it
Tnorc.H the dynamite bomb has
snigally failed as a political engine it
eems to be growing in popularity.
That this cowardly form of murder
Is finding more practitioners every
year the columns of the newspapers
amply demonstrate Yet the tur
bulent and half-crazed fanatics who
employ dynamite can point to no
single instance in wbichits successful
use has in the slightest degree ad
vane d the cause for which they were
working. The nihilists who assas
sinated the father of the present car
of Kussia only hastened the accession
to the throne of a monarch more
autocratic than he whom they
slaughtered. Has the Ilaymarket
bomb contributed to the wider ac
ceptance of that curious political
doctrine known as anarchy? Can
the cause of the people be in anyway
benefited by hurling explosives into
the midst of a theater filled w th wo
men and children as at Barcelona oi
by mowing down the nation's repre
sentatives. without regard to indi
vidual or party, as at Paris?
The Chicago police declare that
the "relic hunters" who swarm Jack
son Park since the gates were opened
are more like thieves and burglar
than anything else. They reoort the
most disgraceful scenes daily enacted
in the World's fair ground. The,
tell us of men, women, and girls,
well dressed and apparently respect
able, jostling against tramps and
street urchins for scraps and frag
ments of the wrecked bui dings on
Midway Plalsance; of dainty ladies
carrying off doors, shutters, tables,
window sash, rolls of matting and a J
manner of rubbish in their carriages.
They tell us that the utmost exertion
is required to keep thes.j respectable
vandals out of the main buildings,
where valuable exhibits lie about uo
packed. What a pretty tale this it
to tell of the chivalry of Chicago,
Yet we must believe the South Park
policeman, because the stories quite
surpass the imagination even of a
uniformed guardian of the peace.
One word to the police in Jackson
Park; A "relic hunter" turned thlel
should 1 e treated as a thief, not as I
relic hunter. One example will suf
fice. Kariy to Bed.
Even in great cities careful people
keep early hours.
"We bad a line sunrise this morn
ing," said one New Yorker to another.
"Did you s e It?"
"Sunrlser" said the second man,
"why, I'm always in bed before sun
rise. M New York Ledger.
BAMBOOZLING GRANDMA.
There never wae a grandma hall so goon t"
riewnisuered while untitle ber chair tie stood.
And laid his roy ebeek.
With maimer w; m?k.
against hot dear o.d fat a in loving, luood.
There never was a nioer grandma bora ;
I Jtiiuw eu-ne little boys uiui; be lorlorm,
hfceau 1 be 're none like you.
I wonder wbat 1 d do
Without a grandma a kisses night and morn T'
There waa never a dearer grandma, there T
Ha klaei her, ami he sw.olbod her snow
white hair.
llte-n & ed her runted cap.
And utNilltd in her lap.
While era&lwa, miming, rucks I her old arm
chair. "When I'm a man what things to Ton 111 bring;
A burse and carnage and a watch ana ring,
Ail grandmas are so nice
(Just hare be kiwd her twloet,
Atd grsndwss giTe a gcod boy every :hiug.lr
Betot e bis dear old f- andma could rep
This boy iuokad up, and with a roguish eye.
Then whimpered in her ear
That aobedy might hear ;
"fay. grttxKimt, bate you any mora guinea pier"
Nebraska btate Journal.
OLD ROCKET. .
" Tnat's what 1 call sinful waste,
feeding oats to a horse that can't do
a stroke of work. Just turn him out
into the wood-lot, Luke, and mind
you put up the bars."
Poor old 1 locket ra sed bis head at
the sound of his master's well-known
voice, and a gleam of affection came
into his dim, brown eyes. Iiut old
Farmer Hanks did not even glance
toward the gaunt white horse, and
Luke led the way to the ionesouie
wood-land which was henceforth to
be the animal's home. He muttered,
too, as be went, ''I hope when Igrow
old 1 won't be so mean as to begrudge
a creature a handful of oats after he's
worked hiruself out for me."
He stroked the horse's nose with
rough pity as he replaced the bars
and returned to his work in the
stable-yard
Day after day Pocket would come
down to the fence and wait for some
one to take him home his chin resting
on the upper rail and his ecs turned
longingly toward the stable. Mean
while the days grew shorter, the
scanty herbage scan ter, and the nights
colder.
It was the 24th of Decemlier, and
bitjercold. An icv wind whistled
through the leafless branches over
head, and the ground was covered
with a rough coat of Ice.
Poor old Itocket hungry and shiv
ering, leaning wearily against a iree
trunk in the desolate wood, suddenly
pricked up his e;irs and started for
ward with a joyful whinny. He had
beard the well-remembered, well
loved voice of his master, and pres
ently he saw his master's wagon on
th narrow road before him.
' ome on," said Mr. Hanks, im
patiently, "don't be all night:"
How was Ko-ket to know that he
was addressing the frisky young crea
ture lietween the shafts? He th iught
the command was for him. So he
hobbled forward at his very best
speed. Who can tell what thoughts
and anticipations wandered through
old docket's dim brain a-, he ambied
alter the vehicle! Perhaps he
thought his punishment for growing
old had come to an end, and now
once more he would enjoy the com
forts of a good stable and plenty of
foo;L
Mr. Hanks had cut down a young ce
dar to be used as a Christmas tree for
hs grandchildren. The bars leading
into the road had been let down, and
the old n an drove through without
stopping to put them in their place.
So Kocket followed along the road, and
across the railway track, without be
in detected, for time had dimmed
his master's hearing. It was dark
when thev reacned the v.llage store,
atid Kocket stood patiently behind
the wagon, n ar some other horses,
whiie Mr. Hunks made his purchas s
and chatted with his cronies within.
Surely Locket must have thought the
old times returned, as he waited and
listened:
The wind grew colder each mo
ment The young horse 1 efore the
wagon kicked, and stamped, and
shook his head with impatience, so
that when Mr. Hanks returned, with
his arms full of ackages, he could
scarcely restrain the animal long
enough to climb to bis seat
Still without observing Kocket, he
seized the reins. ( JIT started the new
horse at a great rate. The Christ
mas tree bouoded about In the back
or the wagon as though it would leap
out each moment Kocket trotted
along behind. In vain Farmer Hanks
tugged at the lines; the young ani
mal had the bit lietween his teeth
and was determined to go His own
pace. Although l ocket put his best
foot foremost they w re soon out of
sight. Still he kept on the well-re-me
m tiered road, following the trail
of t he wagon wheels homeward.
Presently there was a crash and a
shout. The crash he did not bed.
but the shout came from his old
master. Kocket hobbled on as
rapidly as his slid legs would
let him. When he came upon
a wheel lying by the roaoslde, he
stopped for an instant to sniff at
it Directly across the railway track
lay the remainder of the wagon, the
Christmas tree and packages. In
their midst lay Mr. Hanks motionless
and unconscious. The young hoie,
with the sbaftsdangling noisily at his
heels, was just disappear ng around
the bend.
old Kocket paused, and loo ed un
easily at his master, then pushed him
gently with his noc This was the
very spot where, In I ygone days, he
was in the habit of cracking bis whip
and tightening the reins, so Kocket
knew that bere his master must not
lie
For more than ten minutes the
horse eyed his master wistfully, now
and then nibbling at the fur cap cov
ering his bead, but to no purpose.
Presently a low, humming sound
reached bis ears, liaising his bead,
Backet saw approaching that great
one-eyed monster which always
brougbt terror to bis breast
On it came, Its red eye gleaming
savagely down on him and the man
at bis feet 1 Itocket waited for the
word to be given to' hasten on, but
bis ma-ter's lips were dumb arid his
eyes closed, and the iron creature
drew nearer and nearer.
It was so close now that the glare
from its eye fell red on the froen
ground Leiore him. Then suddenly
the flying clouds parted and let out a
brilliant gleam of moonlight which
diciosed to view the great white
form of Kocket his undipped mane
and tail streaming in the wind like
ragged flag.
From the iron horse came a shriek
of dismay, which the other answered
by a neigh ot defiance. There was a
noisy rattle of brake, one or two
more screams, then the monster re
treated and paused, while several
men, earning lanterns, came hurrv
ing along the rails.
They took little notice of Kocket.
but bui.ed themselves with remov
ing the wagon, tree, and packages.
They shouted to the old man, and
rubbed bis wrists and temples with
ice, until at last be raised his head
and spoke. "1 couldn't stop the
pesky creature after the linch-p:n
dropped out" be grumbled stagger
ing to his feet "Hello:" he ex
claimed, as the great unwinking red
eye caught his sight "that was a
clo-e shave. How did you come to
stop?"
"It was your white horse that
stopped us," replied the engineer.
"He was standing over you. His
mane looked like a flag of distress in
the moonlight"
'Whiter" repeated Mr. Hanks. "I
thought be was brown, but my head's
con; used by the thump I gave it
Well, brown or white," he added, "if
you will help me on his hack I'll get
home some how. I'll send bacit for
the wagon and tilings."
"See here, Farmer." said one of
the men earnestly, as he assisted Mr.
Hanks to mount Kocket "your horse
is nothing but a wrack of bones.
Now remember he's saved your life
to-nU'ht 8nd if you don't give him a
good feed fur once, you deserve to be
killed next time."
"Old? a wrack of bones?" growled
Mr. Hanks. "He's just turning foui
years, and as iat as butter."
"You're dreaming," replied the
other, "lie don't look as if he would
live to take you home."
LZ."l suppose 1 ought to laugh at
your jokes" snapped Mr. Hanks;
"but I'm too sore, Glveruethe reins
and let me go. I can't see well vet
My head's so dizzy."
"This is queer," said the man.
"He's got no kind of a harness on,
nothing but a bit of old rope about
his neck. I can't make It out"
"Neither can L" growled Mr.
Hanks, "and as I am not up to try
ing I'll just thanii you to give me
the rope."
So they put the rope Into the old
man's half benutuiiea hand, arid
Kocket, feeling the well remembered
touch, turned bis face homeward and
moved slowly on with his burden.
It was not a long distance, but it
was quite as much as the starving
creature could ace iiuplish. As th
came In sight of the house a great
hub-bub arose, and out of the gate
came (locking every man, woman, and
ehild belonging to .Mr. Hanks' family,
down to his wee, toddling great
grandchild, all crying as thev sur
rounded the old white horse, "Grand
papa is safe! He Is not hurt after
all."
"And it Is old Kocket that was
turned out to die brought you home!"
exclaimed Luke, the stable boy, in
am r.ement as he helped the old man
from his uncomfortable seat 'The
other horse cau;e ba-;k half an hour
ago with the broken shafts bch nd
him."
Mr. Bank stood looking from
Kocket to all the loving faces about
him, st 11 entirely unable to compre
hend how this thing had hapjiened.
Presently he tiegan rubbing the shiv
ering creature's cold long nose. Then
turning to Luke, he said:
"I rather think I've been ahrartiess,
wicked old master to this poor licast
He served me well, in his time, and
I rewarded him by turning hlui out
to die In bis old age. And see, he
has saved my life somehow! Take
him to the warmest corner of the
stable, Luke, and from this on, care
for him the best you know how, and
let him have all he can eat "
"I will," replied Luke, earnestly.
And he kept his word. American
Agriculturist
M iniMterinic to the Mintl.
A century ago a shrewd German
recommended to every man overcome
with sorrow to force himself each
day to study for a fixed period a
language or art whatever was most
agreeable to him. The work for the
brain on a totally different side from
its grief is stimulating, strengthen
ing. A political exile, also a Ger
man, being sentenced to a long soli
tary imprisonment, kept madness at
bay by decorating the walls of his
cell and by making lists and sketches
of people and places he had known.
He recommends a man in grief to pay
instant attention to the little pur
suits or occupations which usually
give him pleasure, arid to obstinately
devote himself to them until his
brain has had time to heal. "If we
are denied great joys let us earn
estly seek to fill their pla e by unal!
ones," be advises. People of method
ical habits should be given occupation
which will call forth their genius for
organization and system. In short
we should remember that th; brain
Is a material organ as well as the
stomach, and, when In danger of dis
ease from the excessive strain upon
it of one emotion, a counter irrita
tion from other smaller ones Is a
wholeso i e and usually success ul
treat nent
A man must have certain things
I In bis pockets, or be does not feel
comfortable wben be puts hie bands
! Inside.
OLD-TIME HOME-MADE PANTS.
rabrlnaUxJ In Forty Maura aVnor the Shead
ing of tike Hhaap.
"Late in the afternoon of one of
the last days of May in the year 'TH,
when 1 Mrs. Eunice Locke Kicbards
was a few ruontns short of 13 vears
old. notice came to Townsend, Mass.,
where my father used U live, that
fifteen soldiers were wanted.
"The training band was instantly
called out and mi brother that was
next older than I was one that was
selected. He did not return till late
at night when we were all in bed.
When I rose in the morning I found
my mother in tears, who informed me
that my. brother John was to march
next day after to-morrow at sunrise.
My father was in Iioston in the Mas
sachusetts assembly.
"Mother saia that though John was
supplied with summer clothes be must
suffer for winter garments. There
were at this time no stares and no
articles to Ikj had, sxeept such as each
family could make itself. The sight
of mother's tears always brought all
the hidden strength of body and mind
Into action. I instantly asked what
garment was needed. She replied.
'Pantaloons.' HJh, if that is all,'
said I, 'we will weave and spin him
a pair before he goes.' 'Hut' said
mother, 'the wool Is on the sheep's
back and the sheep are In the pasture.
"I immediately turned to a younger
brother and bade him take the salt
dish and call them to the yard.
"Mother replied: 'Poorchild, there
are no sheep shears within three miles
and a halt.'
' 'I have some small shears at the
loom,' said I.
" 'Hut you can't spin and weave it
in so short a time.'
" 'I am certain we can, mother.
" 'How can you weave It? There
is a long web Of linen in the loom.'
"Hy this time the sound of the
sheep made me quicken my steps to
ward the yard. I requested my sister
to bring the wheel and cards while I
went for the wool I went to the
yard with my brother and secured a
white sheep, from which I sheared
with niy loom shears half enough for
a web. We then let her go with the
rest of her fleece. I sent Hie wool In
with my little sister, and Luther ran
for a black sheep and held her while
1 cut wool off for my tilling and half
the warji, ar.d then we allowed her to
go with the remaining coafse part of
the fleece.
"The rest of the narrative the
writer would abridge by saying that
the wool thus obtained was duly
carded, spun, washed, sized, and
driea. A loom was found afewdors
off. the web 'got in' and was woven,
the cloth prepared, cut and made
two or three hours before the brother's
departure, that Is to s;;y, In forty
hours from the commencement with
out help from any modern improve
ment" Greenfield (Mass.) Gazette.
Ittinn Making.
Thomas Carlyle once said that
scarcely any book is so poor t hat some
thing cannot I e learned from It With
equal truth It may lie said that no
industry is too humble to be interest
ing. There Is nothing, for example,
more prosaic than a rope, or that en
ters into a ereater number of homely
occupations, and yet In the march oi
lalior-savln Invention, a rope-making
machine is one of the last cn the list.
So long, Indeed, did rope-making re
main one of the manual arts that the
name of the place where the work
was done has become ingrained in
popular speech; and the rot factory,
though In no way meriting the ap
pellation, is still called the "rope
walk "
Formerly it was considered a fact
worthy of note that the government
rope-walk at Iioston could turn out a
row 1,00 feet long.
A young workman In the rope-walk
saw that the twist should lx; applied
to the roK5 Instead of the strands, If
machinery was to take the place of
the band In roiie-maklng; and he real
ized fame and fortune from the con
ception. His opportunity came with
the proposition to grapple for the
broken ends of the Atlantic sub
marine cable in the sixties.
A rope fully twelve thousand feet
long was required for the grappling,
but the task of making one of this
unheard of length could not be un
dertaken seriously by any rope maker
then In the business.
At this juncture the young man,
John Good by name, came forward
with the pio'iosition to build machin
ery from his own designs, and make
a rope In one piece as long as was
wanted.
The offer seemed a bold one, but It
was accepted, the machinery built,
the rope mad?, the break In the cable
four.d and repaired, and telegraphic
communication established between
the Old World and the New.
A llarkwartl lover's I'roposaL,
Tie was in love with the girl and
she was not unwilling, but she had
given no sign.
Hs was so diffident that really she
had had no opportunity.
One evening they sat alone in a lit
tle tiower of roses.
"I dreamed of you last night" ho
said, tentstively.
"How nice," she responded, in that
exasperating way which Is so inex
presslve. "Yes?" he faltered, questionfngiy.
"Tell me what you dreamed," she
prettily commanded.
"I thought we were sitting to
gether on the banks of a beautiful
stream," he said, low and murmur
ously, "as the sun was sinking away
to rest In the purpling stars, and we
talked of birds, of music, of flowers,
and of love. Your face glowed as if
a great light shown In It but when 1
spoke of love you grew cold and dis
tant and I could feel the chill air
touching my bcart and see the buds
of hope wither in the frost of your
rllunnrnTaL T knew then how
Ims larna all I coil Id do: boW fntil
was effort but urged on by that mys
terious power no man can eiptatn
and none resists, I cast the fatsJdle
and asked you to be mine."
He stopped a moment trembllnc
"And what did I say?" she asked.
"No," and bis voice grew husky
and his lips quivered.
She put out her hand to htm softly.
Dreams go by contraries, dear,"
she murmured. Detroit Free Iresa.
The tease at SaaeU I Daaja.
IVe sense of smell is by no means
so developed In man as in dogs, cat,
and other animals, but It is often ab
normally keen In Indlvldualsdeprlved
of other senses blind, deaf mutes,
for example, can re&gnlze their
friends and form an opinion about
strangers solely by means of this
sene.
Possibly however, animals are only
fcptmitive to certain smells, while un
conscious of others that affect us If
this be the case they would naturally
lie able to follow up one particular
scent more easily than a man, this
scent to which they are sensitive be
ing to them less confused with
others.
Dogs are able to track tbelr mas
ters through crowded streets, where
recognition by siifht is quite Impos
sible, and can find a bidden biscuit
even when its faint smell Is still fur
ther disguised by eau de cologne.
In some experiments Mr. Komanes
lately made with a dog he found that
It could easily track him when he was
far out of sight, though no fewer than
eleven people had followed him, step
ping exactly in his footprints in order
to confuse the scent
The dog seemed to tract him chiefly
bv the smell of his lioots, for when
without them, of with new txiots on,
It failed; but followed, though slowly
and hesitatingly, when his master
was without either boots or stock
ings. Dogs and cats certainly get
more Information by means of this
sense than a man can; they often get
greatly excited over certain smells,
and remember them for very long
tieriods.
The Origin or Cyclones.
There has been of late a tendency
tc ward a change of view In regard to
the origin of those widespread storms
known as cyclones. M. Faye, the
I rrencn astronomer, lias lung amuvi
that they originate in the uper
regions of the atmosphere instead of
at the surface of the earth.
Kecently Mr. W. L. Dallas has an
nounced, as the result of his studies
' of the cyclones of the Indian Ocean,
j that the probability seems to him to
; I that those whirling storms "de
scend from and retreat to the superior
j layers of the atmosphere."
Much more study will tie required,
however, to settle the question, but
is surely most interesting to think
that storms should come to us In the
way suggested. The atmosphere is a
sort of ocean, at whose bottom jji
dwell, and If M. Faye's view Is cor
rect the storms that whirl over us
must first lash the air far above our
heads, just as a whirl started In water
may bore Its way down toward the
bottom and disturb the littes fishes
there.
llcautilul Snowstorm In a IlallrtMin.
A strange thing happened at a
dance given by a member of the
Kussian nobility long ago. Thenight
was bitter cold, but the cold bleak
winds did not reach the interior of
the ballroom. Here there were
warmth and comfort and the gay
dancers became overheated and they
perspired freely the air of the room
having lieen dry and like a sponge,
quickly ab-orbed the moisture from
their 'KTsons. A Kussian count be
ing uncomfortably warm, opened a
window, which admitted a currant
of cold air, and the effect was novel
and instantaneous. Immediately a
part of the moisture was turned into
little crystals, shining silver white,
ttiat floated in the air, and, to the
astonishment of all, there was a niln
iat ure snowstorm In the midst of the
gay throng. Argonaut
SlriKtilHr Fact About Gine.
It Is a rather singular Tact that
the most precious gems are composed
of the most common substanees.
The diamond is the purest form of
carbon, and Is Identical in composi
tion with ordinary charcoal without
the impurities of the latter. The
ruoy, on the other hand, is nearly
pure alumina, a substance found in
profusion In every clay bank. The
scientific name for crystallized .
alumina is corundum, and .tr- item!
comprehended under this designation
are sometimes more valuable than
diamonds of the same weight The
ruby, sapphire, oriental emerald,
topaz, amethyst, aqua marine, chry.
solltc, hyacinth, and other precious
stones are all alumina, the varieties
of color being caused by Inappreciable
quantities of metallic oxides.
A CniMiltloriAl faction.
"Mr. Dusenlicrrv," said the sick
man to his neighbor, whom be bad
called to the side of what he sup
posed was his death-ted, "we have
had much difficulty in the past and
have not been on speaking terms I
believe I am now about to die and I
have sent for you that we may settle
our differences and lie friends before
Igo."
"Nothing would give me greater
pleasure than a reconciliation," re
plied Dusen berry, as he took tlio band
of tho dying man.
"Hut remember," said the invalid
In a gradually sinking voice, "If I get
well the thing goes on Just as It did
before," Brooklyn Life.
Never lie In bed thinking that tho
cat that Is mewing at the door to
come In, will get ditcounwd and
quit Nuisances never become die-
jcouraged.
