TOPICS OF THE TIMES.
A CHOICE SELECTION OF INTER
ESTING ITEMS.
Commeata and CrttU-Utai Baaed I'paa the
Happen ins of the Dajr-iiiatorW-al and
Nrwi Notea.
Perhaps Lillian Kussell is merely
going through matrimonial rehearsals
with a view to a permanent engage
ment. Sax Fkanc isco differs from Chi
cago in that it is suppressing the
danse du ventre at the thinning;,
instead of at the close of the fair.
The H, 640, 000 of Cherokee bonds
sold will give to every Cherokee in
Indian Territory about t'iO ) in cash,
and will make times lively in the
Territory the coining sva-on if the
money is promptly distributed.
It is alleged that a manufacturing ;
plant in Switzerland will soon be able
to produce aluminum at a cost of 4.j
cents per ponmd, which fact should
greatly extend its ue. From 'in to
1 cents per pound is about as low as
it has yet been pioduced in any juan
tityin the United States.
It is expected that the tunnel and
appliances about completed at Ni
agara Falls will ue capable, when
fully utilized, of developing .at least
loc.ooo hoise power for use in manu
facturing enterprises in Buffalo and
neighboring country, as well as pro
pelling boats on the Erie canaL
Brazilians would not victual or
Otherwise help the Nictheroy for
Peizoto because he had employed
Morth American "mercenaries" in
her stalf and crew. The Hessian is
not more popular in that guise than
he was in another when we were
doing a little fighting ourselves.
The triple lynching at Kussell.
Kas., shows the Sunflower State, like i
I
many of its neighbors North and i
South, occasionally declines to awa t j
the slow processes and uncertainties
of court justice when particularly re
voltii'g crimes have been committed.
Three at once is qu.te an unusual j
iy cord for Kansas, however.
California Fut'iTGi:ovvi:u: I;y a
system of free hand computation
kuowtr omy to digital manipulators
in Chicago, that city is made to show
a populat ou of ,04.j,04.'i. If the
fellows had not been so exact in put
ting down that last 4.'i people, we
might almost think they had been
lying about it- All will be forgiven,
however, if they will cross o3 1'ren
dergast's name from the list and send
us an account of the obsequies.
Fike 1-la.vd, on the Atlantic
Coast, will soon boast the most pow
erful lignt for the guidance of mar
iners in the world. At present there
is a fl.ish light on the Island: this is
now to give way toauelectricligtit of
240,000,000 candle-power. The new
light will Cash every live seconds It
is estimated that these flashes will
be discernible fiilh t we uty-flve miles.
Its reflection, throw, i on the heavens,
w 11 be seen with ease by vessels one
hundred miles away.
A man by the name of Huuse, an
inventor of a petroleum-boat, was
fined $.50, a fortnight ago, for speed
ing his boat on the Thames. Many
of the fishermen's boats were capsized
by the wave which followed in the
wake of the boat. The boat attains
a speed of twenty-eight knots an
hour, and the inventor claims he will
make it go thirty-five, knots an hour.
He can get up steam in three min
utes, and his idea is to have the
Entrlish Government adopt It for use
as a torpedo-boat.
Apropos of Charles Coghlan's ap
parently bigamous marriage with a
younif woman named Kuehne lieve
ridge, the mother of the .atter re
marks: "It was a meeting of two
artistic hearts something that oc
curs only once in a thousand yea's."
It would be cheering if this con
servative estimate of the infrequency
of such stf ge marriages could be ac
cepted as correct Cnhapnily they
are only too common, as the vulgar
records of the divorce courts which
are called upon to set free the "two
artistic hearts" will demonstrate.
Jacksonville Florida, now one
of the most important hotel and rail
road centres in the South, has appro
priated one million dollars, to be
raised by bonds of the city, to be
spent in public improvements. Two
hundred thousand dollars is to be
used In paying off sorn ? old 1 onds,
and the rest applied to a water sup
ply, sewer extension, the river banks,
pavement, electric-light pla it, city
building and market, and pavements.
The real estate of Jacksonville is as
Mi cd at fifteen million dollars, and
the city owes nothing bat a bonded
debt of two hundred thousand dol
lar and a small floating liability.
Trait la a claa of people not
olbtrwtM objectionable to whom one
to 4e ouwWaualiy kwiined to recon
Mad tte rtttdr of toe Eofllab
language. Tba language the? use
verges on slang, but is mostly like
the "White knigbt's pudding," an
invention of Iheli own. which the
weakly regard as humorous. Their
term for the oceao is always "the
luill-pond" or the --briny deep." They
never step on laud, but on "terra
firma." They 'ya.e at the starry
flrnianieot" instead of looking at the
sky. And thev meet their friends
only upon "the BlaUo." They never
ask you to dinner, but 1o grace the
festal board." Their home is always
their "vine and fig-tree," ana their
children are only their "olive
brancbes." Such cheap wit i far
ruore tiresome than slang.
The report recently current that
Major Wilson and jarty were killed
by King Lotiengula's forces is corrob
orated by dispatches from Cap - Town.
These are to the effect that Wilson
and his entire party have U-en anni
hilated ly the savag-s. This was
aecompli-hed, however, only aster j
bard fight In which Wi'sou's force ae
iiuilie 1 itself with soldierly honor.
The Matabcl-s greatly out numbered
the wh t s. who, after a long and gal
lant resistance, were unable to with
stand the final charge of the nati es.
Those who did not die ffghting were
killed and robbed of clothing and ac
coutermenti. Whether the fate of
Wilson and his fol.owers will move
Eng. and to inte est her-elf in the
behalf of Cape C'-lony in h.s trouble
with the Matabeles remaius to be
seen.
DiMMi with tjueen Victoria doe
not seem to be an exhilarating func
tion. A woman who has Men there
describes the routine, which never
varies. The visitor is conducted im
mediately to her room. There she
remains until a quarter of an hour
before dinner, which is set for a
quarter to nine. Punctually at that
minute the (jueen enters, and the
company proceeds to th Oak Boom.
where dinner is served. There is no
general conversation. If the t.ueen
and her family siak together it s
in undertones. Aster dinner the
!,ueen addresses every guest brieflv
and retires. A ycurig attache sent
from a foreign court and thus enter
tained g.ves a still more trio my view
of the queen's hospitality in the Fall
Mall Budget. l or three hours pic
vious he was confined to his room, not
daring to walk ihro igh the corridors.
At the rendezvous tefore dinner no
o :e spoke to him. At i, inner two
guests conversed across his shoulders
without noticing him. After dinner
no one addressed him. The next
morning, excting a special inter
view, he was ushered into the pres
ence of a p ivate secretary, and in a
few words curtly dismissed.
Twice over in the history of com
paratively modern Spain have her
uuerrilla soldiers saved her nat onal
independence. Capt. Aria, who or
ganized the band that went against
the Birtians at .Meliila, is describe!
as a very tall, dark man, an athlete
of fierce asicct, "bearded like the
pard,'' but gentle of manner and
courteous of speech. 'What -ort of
a fellow s your Captain?" asked a
Spanish correspondent of one of the
guerrilla soldiers, who had just re
turned from the first sallies ugainst
the Riftians. "Es hombre: He is a
man!" was the emphatic answer.
The men, many of whom were con
victs who had received life sentences
were ready to face any danger on the
chance of securing their freedom. In
the selection of recruits, the officer
ga e the preference to those who had
been convicted of crimes of violence.
Tbey were armed with rifles and
daggers, and before entering upon
active duty were addressed by their
commander, who, handling his re
volver and d-irk, told them plainly
that any one who disobeyed orders or
turned his ba-jK on a foe would meet
instaDt death at his hands. The
"Black Watch," as they were called,
proved an immediate succe-s, draw,
ing the Moors, by clever tactics, un
der the fire of the forts, which oid
great execution. The people of
Meliila were soon able, uoder the
alert protection of tlie-e defenders,
to rest in securily against the Kill),
ans, who previously had made nightly
raids up to the very walls of the city.
The regiment was llnally disbanded,
owing to the mutilation ot a cap
tured spy by one of the convict sol
diers, an act which led not only to the
death sentence being carried out in
the case of the gui.ty convict, but to
the return to their chains of the
whole guerrilla band. "
Heine's IiiipreMsllile Wit.
Heine's sense of humor did not
leave him .until the last. A few
days before his death. Hector Berlioz
called on him just as a tiresome Ger
man professor was leaving after wor
rying him with bis uninteresting con
versation, "lam afraid jou will
find me very stupid, my dear fellow,"
he said: "the fa t Is 1 have fun been
exchanging thoughts with Dr. .'
( n one occaa on, when the doctor
waa examining bis cheat be asked
him: "Can yon whittle?" He re
plied: "Alaa! no not even tbe
piece of M Scribe."
CONSUMPTION.
Meet rateable MuccMtioua offered by the
StUrhIn Slate Hoard of Hralth.
Consurujtioo is the most common
and fatal d sease. In Michigan it
causes more deaths than any other
disease. Accord ng to the registra
tion reports, the average annual
number of deaths from consutn; t on
in th s State for the nineteen years
Ifutf-IHST, is j,(9-: but it i believed
that not more than two-thirds of the
deaths are reported, so that the
nuruoer of deaths which actually oc
cur in Michigan from consumption is
probably over 2..1O0 per year. A large
part of this mortality can and ought
to le prevented.
Consumption is now known to be a
communicable di-eae. In wni -h, fre
ijUtntly, the eoritatfium is carried
from the dried spituui of a consump
tive to the lung's of a susceptible per
son, where it trrows and multiples
and thus produces the disease. The
germ which causes consumption is
called the bacillus tuberculosis, and
it is present in tne s;.uta (spittle) of
consumptives These baeilla are
from about one twenty-thousandth to
about one ten-thou-andtn of an inch
in length, and their breadth is atiout
one-sixth of their length. Thee
b.icilia have been thoroughly studied,
and by Inoculation with them tbe dis
ease has repeated y been caused in
lower animals Interesting exri
uients have been ma e in this con
nection by Ir. 1 .eorge Cornet of the j
Berlin Hyg enic Institute, with tbe 1
dust of ro mis inhabited by consump
tives. Imst, collected from tho-e
surfaces not likely to be contami
nated directly by the spitting or
coughing of the patient, was mixed
with sterilized bou Hon and injected
into the periton-al cavity of g.inca
pigs. Forty days later the a iimals
were killed, and a careful necropsy
was made Twenty-one hospital
wards, ,n wh ch there were consump
tive patients were exam r:el in th s
wav, and from the dust of fifteen of
them, tuterculosis was -et up in the
guinea pigs experimented upu. i'n
ate houses where consumptives
lived gave similar results: where pa
tients bad been in the habit of ex
pectorating on tbe lloor, the dut
from the walls was certain to yield
infect ous cultures, but where cloths
or spittoons bal been used this was
not the case.
Th mode -t communication of this
disease is mainly from the dried
sputa from consumptives. The germs
in 'he sputa are carried into the
a.r by sweepings, and depo ted ujon
wails or contents of rooms, o find
their way to the lungs of persons.
It is evident that the only certain
preventive o: consumption is V) de
stroy the sputum from the consump
tive before it has aft opportunity to
dry and scatter the seeds. It i-i for
the consum; ttve's own safety to de
stroy the sputa, tie-au es it reduces
to a minimum the possibility of re
infection. Any person who has an
habitual cough, and raises sputa,
should hav a microscopical exami
nation of the sputa, to ascertain
whether it contains the bacillus tu
berculos s Without wa ting for
such examination, in all such cases
tbe sputa should be disinfected.
No consumptive should expector
ate 011 the floor. Cuspidors, in hotels
and other public p aces and in rooms
occupied by consumptives, should be
partly filled with water. They should
be washed twine each day in Willing
water, and the cont nts should le
disinfected with a solution of bichor
ide of mercury. Tbe cuspidor m itht
well contain constantly a disinfect
ant, such as a per cent solution of
carbolic ac d, 'Hie ounce of carlmlic
acid dissolved in a pint and a half of
water.
The consumptive should carry
pieces of cloth icach just larye
enough to properly receive one spit
urn) and paradlned paper envelopes
or wrappers in which the cloth, as
soon as once used, may he put and
securely enclosed, and, w th its en
velope, burned on the first opportun
ity. All dejecta (bowel discharge and
urine) of a consumptive person should
be destroyed or disinfected; because
it has lieen shown that the bacilli
are to be found in the ur ue of per
sons having tulr ular disease of the
urinary organs, and in the feces of
those having tubercular d sease of
the lowels, and th y may be the
f ices of those who swallow sputa
contaio ng the bacilli, tba is. p is
s.bly, of any consumptive. I'isintuct
each discharge from the liowels by
thoroughly mixing with it at least
one ounce of chlorinated lime in pow
der, orone quart of "Standard Solu
tion No. 1 "
".standard Solution No. 1" is made
by adding to each gallon of soft
water four ounces ot chloilde of lime
of the best quality, which should
contain at least 2" per cent of. avail
able chlorine. I se one quart of his
solution for the disinfection of ea h
discharge in cholera, typhoid fever,
etc. Mix well and leave In vessel for
at least one hour before throwing in
to vault or closet"
Through better systems of ventila
tion, much may be done for lessening
the micro-organisms inhaled with
the dust of floors, carpets, etc, es
pecially by having the foul -air exits
at the floor levil, ro that the general
motion of the foul air shall be down
wards, and not upwards into the
nostrils of the inmates of the room.
This is especially important with
reference to all public buildings, as,
also, that they shall constantly have
a liberal supply of fresh air
Those who sweep and dust rooms
which consumptives have occupied
might well use respirators. Much
may be done to lessen the liability to
contract consumption by having the
sanitary surround ngs as nearly per
fect as lossible, and by keeping tbe
lungs strong and healthy. Jt Is
stated that "in no less than 60 per
cent of all patients dying at I elle
rue Hospital tbeie were old tubercu
lar changes in tbe lungs, the disease
having been recovered from." S m
ilar observations have been made at
the i hlladelphia Hospital, and at
the Paris Morgue. Ir. Trudeau's ex
periments prove that rabb ts inocu
lated with the bacillus tu erculosis
and kept iu a cellar like place, ou re
stricted diet, died of the disease in
oiucbgreiiter proport n than did sim
ilar animals similarly inoculated but
kept in the 0n air with an abund
ance of fixn1. These facts empha
size the inijXjrtance of pure food pure
air, and healthful exercise.
Lxoosure to cold should be avoided.
Statistics of si --kuess and of deaths,
collated with meteorological statu
tics, seem to prove that the con
suuiptive processes go on most act
ively after times of low atmospheric
temperature, ani least actively after
times of high atmospheric tempera
ture. This makes it important that
consumptives, and persons suscept
able to consumption, should especi
I aiiy guara agaiusi me innaiauon or
cold air. It enforces ttie import
ance of having sucn ttersons spend
tbe winter an i spring months in a
climate wanner than that to which
they have lieen aecustotuel
The dusting of objects in th.:
room, the cleansing of the floor,
wails, or ccaling of the living or
sleeping roiu of a person suiter na
from 1 ulmon .rv consumpt on should
lie deferred until alter the room and
contents ha e been sub ected to the
fumes of burning sulphur.
The unwashed clothing of a con
sumptive should not be mingled with
the unwashed "lotting of another
p r-on: care shoal I be taken that the
handkerchiefs lie lioiied. and other
articles liable to harbor the bacillus
shall be d sinfecte i. and that no vi
rus come, n contact with a cut or in
jured hand.
No one should sleep in the same
room with a consumptive pitient: or
in a ro mi which has Ik-cii occupied
by u consumptive, unlc-s th" room
has been previously subjected to tho
fumes of burning sulphur. A room
which has been occupied by a con
sumptive peison may well iwith all
its coiitentsi be thoroughly disin
fected, first sulked ing it, for twenty
four hours, to strong fumes of burn
ing sulphur, and then it should for
several hours be exfiosed lo currents
of fresh air. Af er fumigation the
wails may Ik? rubbed with bread
crumbs, which should then be burned.
booms to be disinfected by sul
phurous fumes must lie vacate! For
a room ten feet square at leist three
txiunds of sulphur should be used: for
larger rooms propo tionatelv in
creased quantities, at ttie rate of
three pou ds for each 1,000 cubic
feet of air-space.
Hang up and spread out as much
as possible all blankets and other ar
ticles to be disinfected: turn pockets
in lothin inside out, and otherw ise
facilitate the access of the su'pnur
ous fumes to all infected places.
Close the room tightly, plac the
sulphur In iron pots or pans which
will not leak, supported upon br cks
over a sheet of zinc or over water in
a tub or pan. so that in case melted
sulphnr should leak out of the pot
the floor may not be burned; set tbe
sulphur on tire by hot coals or with
the aid of a spoonful of alcohol
lighted by a match; be careful not to
breathe tbe fumes of the burning
sulphur, and when certain the sul
phur is burning well leave the room,
close the door, and allow the room to
be closed for twenty-four hours.
The l.nw of tne .Jungle.
St Niiholas contains a story by
Rudyard Kipling, called "Mowgli's
Brother "' ttie tale of a child a
"man's club" who was rescued from
a tiger by a wolf, and adopted into
the wolf's family. It contains a
number of c ever ideas about animal
life in the jungle, one of which is
th s:
The Law of the Jungle, which
never orders anything without a rea
son, forbids every beast to eat man
except when he Is killing to show his
children how to kill, and then he
must hunt outside the hunting
ground of his pack or tribe. The real
rea-on fir this is that man-killing
means, sooner or later, the arrival of
white men on elephants with guns,
and hundreds of brown men with
gongs and rockets and torches. Then
everybody in the jungle suffers. The
reason the beasts give among them
'selves is that man is the weakestand
most defenceless of ail living things,
and It Is unsportsmanlike to touch
him. They say, too and it is true
that man-eaters become mangy an 1
lose their teeth.
His Opinion.
It takes some lawyers to know hew
to achieve success whether or no, says
the l)etrolt Free 1'ress , To such a
one an acquaintance applied the
other day.
"I say, O'eorgc," he said; "I've got
a ca-e I want to ask you about and
see if you will und rtake it for me."
". tate it," responded the lawyer.
The ac juaint ince did su
Now what do you think of it?" he
asked.
"1 wouldn't touch it with a ten
foot pole. "
"lsthatyour professional opinion?"
"That's just it."
"All right, I'll drop It," and he
started out.
By the way," suggested the law
yer, "you owe me i
"Wnat for?" asked the , astonished
visitor, slopping short.
"My professional opinion in the
case you have just suomittftd," was
the unblushing answer, and the daed
isitor paid It licfore he recovered hit
wits.
A ct it K.ss - Yo u a re a d i v,-3 1 a w
yer, I u iderst-i'id. i ayi Vcs,
madam; I hccu-e divwa w tout
publicity. Actress In t ce,
I'm In the wrong oillce. Good day,
sir.
llv doing good to othen you do
goo 1 to yourself.
ROBBED OF DISCOMFORT.
Horn m Wealthy LuU-ra TourUt Arrang-ed
tor m Leurthjr Orleolal Trip. j
Mr. ani Mrs. N. A. Baldwin of
New Haven; Ir. and Mrs. Morton
(irioneli of New York, and Mrs.
Baldwin's maid, have left Washing
ton ou a jourm-v which will occupy
)s3 days. Mr. Baldwin is a wealthy
private citien of New Haven, and is a
world traveler of long experience, his
win' ers lielng devoted Lo exploring
its nocks and comers wherever tin
beautiful and the novel may be
found. This year I e d'Cid' d to visit
Japan, China, and (Area, lingering"
in California long enough to en,oy
Its winter climate. What makes Mr,
Baldwin's trio remarkable, says tiie
Wasniogton 1'ost, is the fact that le
fore he left New Haven the entire
itineracy had lieen arranged, and be
knew to a minute when the train
which carries his private I'ullman
car wouid arrive at and leave every
place visited in America, both going
and returning, as well as the sched
ule of the boats and other modes of
tra isporiation which would lake him
acro-s t he l'acitlc and lie at his dis
posal on the other side Not only is
he e iUipied with a printed schedule
containing this information, but he
also has a packet of railroad and
s team boat tickets covering theentire
journey ol the party. Mr. Baldwin
had all this arra ged for him by an
otiicial of the New York Central 111
New York, and gave him a checK cov
ering the entire expense of transpor
tation in accordance with the pro
gram Mr, Boaeh arranged.
The party left Washington for New
Orleans, going over -he Miuthern
Pacific to (. alilornia. Some time
will tie spent in alifornia, and (he
I'ullman will then take a northern
route, reaching Vancouver, British
Columbia. March i On March " Mr.
Baldwin will sail on the steamer Em
press of China for Yokohoma. arriv
ing there March in. The points of
int r st in Japan and China will lie
visited and the curiosities of Corea
Investigated. Beturning, tin- trav
elers will embark at Yokohoma June
I, on the F.mpre-s of Japan, reach ng
Vancouver June 1 1 Here a private
Wagner car will be awaiting them
and the Canadian BaciMc Koad will
be taken Ihick easiw.ird. Tbe parly
wili branch o:Tand visit Chicago and
arrive home at New Haven on the
afternoon of June 11, I'-'.ti. in con
versation Mr. Ba.dwln said he would
not know a simple (iiscoiuiort of
traveling. "Ue have an excellent
cook on the car and the servant is
one of tbe tiest in ttie i'ulltnau serv
ice. We will lie just as comfortable
as we an at home, and if we desire
to stay longer at some place than tfie
schedule calls for, all 1 will have to
do will be to telegraph Mr i.'oa h
and be will arrange things satisfac
torily. Every detail of our trip has
been arranged, cur staterooms on
the steamers have been engaged, and
we will not have a single one of the
annoyan es to which those who make
long journeys are usuaily subjected.
Yes, tney are certainly getting travel
down to a science in these advanced
days."
The IiiicIo'm Di-hxllt.
It does not lie in the mouth of out.
newspaper to criticise another for
changes of policy, orof characteristics
which had made it distinctive. Put a
journal may become so important in
Its relation to a community or to the
country that an altered course calls
for comment and besides the case is
cited as an illustration. Harper's
Weekly, 'a journal 'f civilisation."
formerly justified its sub-title, its
new columns were not behind the
editorial (iej artment in dignity, and
of the high character of this paper's
editorial discussion In Mr. Curtis' day
nothing need be said. His career as
an editor is a p rt of tho history of
American journalism. For some
time before the death of Mr. Curtis
the i cws and liter, iry features of the
weekly showed signs of deterioration.
A venturesome young man was made
the executive editor of the paper,
and before long he had caused radical
changes. Mr. Curtis' editorial was
not disturied, but his conti ibutions
remained aione and singular of the
features of the old Harper's. The
new editor placed great stress upon
the doings of college boys, and a de
partment established for the discus
sion of the merits of rootball teams
and of "crack" amateur pitchers.
The literary quality of the paper fell
off sudly. Its short fiction is not
what it used to lie, much of the
verse printed is bv a writer who en
deavors to hit off incidents of the
ryme Mac line-made poetry attains
something akin to grandeur in his
performances. Some one writes each
week a conservative ed.torial on a
jHilitical or economic topic, and this
is followed by other editorial that is
only trivial or silly, bringing down
the level of the whole. Of all this
we say it is melancholy, pitiful, and
shameful Chat a vaua'-Ie Journal
should thus abdicate its place, on
coming a picture paper for the amuse
ment of young men of fraternity
chapter houses ard college clubs. It
Is too bad that a 'viurnal of civiliz
ation" should so degenerate. In
diatiajiolis New
A Mure Winner.
"Eureka!" shouted the young in
ventor. "I have got it at last"
.ot what?" asked his friend.
' The Invention of the age: a foun
ta n t en that will not write at all."
"What in the namo of common
sense "
"It's the certainty of the thing
that will make it a success. Most of
these fountain pens are so uncertain
liable to write, or not write, as the
mood takes them. As this one will
not write al all the owner will know
right where he Is at, sec?" Indlanap.
ohi Journal.
A woman can die for her friend as
well a tbe bravest Itoman knight
FLOATING VEGETABLE MATTE.
mrr Method ol Iltrt bollux Baaak
1 hrouca the WerM.
In some parts of the world, nota
bly in the Malay Archipellgo, Tart
qua lities of vegetable matter are
always floating atiout on the aem,
says the Washington Mar. On tbe
Molucca Islands the trees seem to
dispute with the waves ol the ocean
for the possession of the soil. Not
only are their roots and often por
tion,, of their trunks immeised in
water, but their branching crowna
incline in the same direction and are
bathed ly the tides. Thus the
numerous currents of the Molucca
Sc;i arc charged with seaweeds, inte
mixed with llowers, fruits, cocoa nuts,
nuts or other palms and e,en whole
trees Tbe amount of driftwood
thrown upon all shores is enormous.
Fsk mo alonrf the ArctiJ coast of
Alaska dejiend upon it wholly fy
wood supply. Natives of the coral
islands of the l'aciflc get all their
stones for tools irom the roots of
drifted trees, in whi h the stones
were found imbedded.
The carrying of seeds by ocean cur
rents is one of nature's most interest
ing methods of distributing plants
through the world. Iiaiwin, who
devot. d much attention to incstl
gatlng the matter, proved that many
kinds of s cds will ls.-ar immersion in
wat r for lo 1 days, or even more, and
si ill retain their vitality, so that
when thrown ashore they are ready
to sprout. Not a few species, which
will sink when green, float if they
have chanced to dry in-fore falling
into the stream which carries them
to the ocean. l or the very purpose
of accomplishing this distribution by
water, nature has made the husks of
many seeds practically water proof.
Among the familiar objects picked
up on tin; ocean beach are the so
called sea-lieans. It Is popularly suj
ixised that the plants which beat
these beans grow In the water. The
! lieans a e found in enormous quanti
fies oti the Florida shore and in dl
i rninlshing numbers northward along
the Atlantic Coast. They are the
seeds of various poi-bearirig vines
climbing plants plentiful along the
1 shores of the Canbliean Sea, Each
' pod. resembling an exaggerated pea
i pod, contains a number of seeds.
The latter, falling when ripe into
j the wafer, are carried bv the gulj
1 stream around the south end ol
j Florida and up the Atlantic (oast.
1 There are thr e iiiisiriant varieties,
one redd sh and flat, another more
round and gray, and the third much
I bigger and of a mahogany color,
j From u Tramp's I'liliit of I lew.
I A young man who disguised him
i self as a tramp, and coii-orted w fb
; tramps for several months, tells in
: the ( entiiry some interesting facu
! concerning them. Although Boston
i Is tbe beggar's metropolis. New i'.ng
! land as a whole is oor begging terri
tory for these vagaUmds. 'lliey o'o
i jeel tii Its District Jail system. Io
I many of these jails the order and dis
; cipllne are superb, and work I re
quired of the prisoners and work Is
the last thing a real tramp means
to undertake. Very gratifying re.
suits may be anti ipated from th if
system, lor anything wh ch brings
the roving beggar into contact with
sobriety and labor Is bound to have
a beneficial effect. I must admit,
howe'-cr, that it will bo difllcult evei
lo banish the entire tramp tribe, for
some of them are exceedingly clever,
arid when decently clad can play the
role of almost any member of so iety.
For instance, 1 tramped througrH on
nect cut and Ilhode Island once with
a "fawny man" (a peddler of bogus
jewelry.) Both of us were respecta
bly dressed, and according to m
companion's suggestion we po-ed a
strolling students, and always oifercd
to pay for our meals and lodging, but
the offer was never accepted. The
farmers considered themselves re
paid by the Interesting accounts ol
our travels and talks on pol.tics,
etc. My friend was very sharp aid
keen, and carried on a sue essful
trade in spurious lewelry with some
of the loollsh country buys when he
was not discussing the probabilities of
, the presidential election. I am sure
i that 1 could travel through New
i England lo day, If respectably clad,
' and I gratu touslv entertain d
I wherever 1 should go; and simply be.
: cause the credulity of the charitable
; is so favorab'e to "traveling gentle-
men."
j A New Locomotive.
The new plan for railroads brought
forward in France ts the subject oi
, much comment. The system alms to
; combine the features of greatest
value Id electric and steam motors io
railway Hues a system which, as
claimed In tbe account given, can lie
adopted anywhere without change of
track or rolling stock. The electric
current Is to drive the wheels, but is
not to be conveyed from stationary
machines along the line, and is gen
i crated 011 the train, tho locomotive
i being simply a traveling electric
plant
A steam engine at the rear of the
locomotive works the generating dy.
namo, this furnishing current to a
small motor pla ed on each axle o(
; the cars. The absurdity of convert
ing the uteaui Into electricity before
using the power la said to be only ap
I parent; and the double lo-s in tbu
I using the energy of the fuel la more
thanoilset by the gain in applying
rotary power direct to the axles,
avoiding slipping of the rails, and
making unnecessary the conducting
rods, cranks ana wheels, whose jar
and friction absorb a great part ot
the motive force. The new locomo
tive is said to give exact regulation
of power und an increase speed per
hour, of fifty-two to sixty -two miles,
without change of roadbed.
Fa nit la. for women, only aiplendld
mourning for bappineee.
