THE FOUR SUN BEAM.
iaaoaaaa una aartawara oaa aaw
MftHMMOInlMlnr,
I 11 Uwl tLeir oowree abouU be Meat.
"Le aa try," tsar ail wfalaaareil. "mum Elrjd
M tola
at to wt oar m pleasure all U day
Ukroafh
Twa nil la the ee at Ux west."
Oae ears raw m ran ia at low eottae door.
Aral played '-tiuie-and-aee" with a etukl on the
Boor.
IBi baby langhed loud in bit git.
AafeBaaa wuhdeUgnt Ms strange pliymate
ao briybt,
Tfce Hit a l, a . 4a gr esping In Tain lor tba light
Taat aver before tbera would Sea.
Oa erapt to a couch where an fnvelid lay,
And brought mm a dream of tba sweet summer
. '
It btrd-aoD'4, and beau y and bloom.
Till pain w g tun aud wrery uure.t,
and in fincy, ha roamed tbrougii tba ecea-s ba
lored M t.
Far away from tba dim. darkened room.
f De at-le to tha bart of a flower I hut wu ad.
And loved and careeaed bar natil ede ui glao.
And iitted her white face again ;
For love brings ooaiant to u,e lowliest lot.
And find . lowetuiug sweet in tba dreariest
spot.
And uglitem all labor and pain.
And oue where a little blind girl aat alona
Not abaring tba niirt b of ber flutrfel owi, shone
ua nanaa that w -re folded and tale.
And kUerd tha poor ayea tbat had never known
aajbi.
That never would gaze on tba beautiful light
Till angels bad 1 (td tba rati.
At la wben tba aba lowi of evening were fail
ing And tba inn. their great father, hi euildreo
vara calling.
Four aaubeam paaii into the West.
AH said. "We uavelouud. tbat la leaking tba
pleasure
Of other i. we fill to tbe fu'l our own measore."
Then softly tbey aauk to their rest.
THE HEROIC COWARD.
Jim was a coward. He bad always
been a coward. Id youngest toddling
childhood he bad been vanquished,
after languid, hostile demons atlon
on bis part, by a sitting hen. At
school be fulfilled to tbe letter any
act of humiliation bis fellows pro
posed, even standing up to be knocked
down by ten of his classmates, who
threatened, iwith a keen sense of
irony peculiar to boybocd, to "licit"
him if he refused. A passing thun
derstorm threw him into a shaking
palsy of terror, and tbe sight of deep
water caused a remarkable agitation
of his knees. Yes, Jim was a coward,
and his cousin, Molly Gaines, who
"THUS THEY COMB BACK, HOW."
was the belle of the district, only
laughed when Jim solemnly perpetrat
ed his initial and only act of boast
ing. He had said: "To purtect yo'
bonah an' happiness against every
evil" Jim's manner and speech,
which was ordinarily unpolished and
provincial, rose to the dignity of tbe
occasion "I wuld give my wuthless
life" She knew Jim haa a ways
been a coward, and it would be quite
safe to pri diet be would always re
main one if be lived. But Jim is
dead, and tb following is a brief and
Imperfect narration of the manner
in which he elected to account for
himself to the posterity of Dolby
rille During tbe war Dolbyville, whose
political iTii porta nee consisted of a
aiding and two or three log shanties
without special pretension to any
architectural dissimilarity, was fre
quently pasted and repassed by the
troops of both armies. Jim was a
native of Doltiyville and lived with
his father in one of the cottages. In
another lived Molly Gaines with her
mother. Jim's father was a patri
otic sou-hron of hot Mood, and en
tere i tbe list at first call; but Jim
was timid, fearful of tbe smell of
gunpowder, and refrained from active
participation, preferring to suffer the
approbrious epithet of 'sneak,"
wbicb was liberally bestowed on him
by the octogenarian postmaster of
the next village, and the contempt
of bis fellow-man generally. Jim
was i ot a philosopher and could not
plead in extenuation of his neutrality
that the martial slaughter of bis fel
low was a crime, tbat tbe arbitra
ment of tbe --word was a survival of
the most irrational of barbaric insti
tutions, tbat Hie sacriflre ot any
human life was immoral. Jim was
slmplv content witb being a coward,
accepting without speculation the
obio.uy which that condition in
cited. ot even the taunts of Molly
Gaines could rouse tbe Inslnct or
battle in bis s ul.
Daring the war Molly's mother was
gathered to her fathers, and was
burled with the passing comment of
the two remaining neighbors. Then
Jim toiled late and early at tbe few
sterile acres which afforded him and
Molly an unvaried livelihood of corn
cake, sweet potatoes and bacon; some
time eorncake and sweet potatoes
without the embellishment of b icoc,
yartlcularly wben a hungry foraging
party Deseed that war. Sometimes
Jim's Winchester, which was not bia
tat belonged to Mollie's brother, who
bad aiao offered up his body on the
titer of the cause and bad left this
weapon as Mollie's safeguard against
fseaeatic invasion of Yanks, woke
C echoes of tbe woodland Jim wu
earn w weal a) an Wwnwa, B W V Wa w
i.xm o. raDMt or pbeeeant
Use day Jim waa hoeing potatoes
I) n trtd open Dear the booee wben
i:.Ijr eameout to him in troubled
t:n :-
, 'CV Jim, I'm ekeered!" she aaid.
" "L Lrmi o what?" be asked, with -
x -.r ftJiaa f V text labor.
StxKZrtKi&itr, aa'
vt J m tzk'KU tin
v l;?r yfTtrKSh
f fiA'iriW. .
"Well, what did they aay?" be
asked, iu bis slow way. a ter waiting
in vain for ber to proceed
"They said tbey was coiuln' back,"
she vouchsafed.
"Who was tbey?" interrogated
Jim, bis face paling in apprehension
of this threatens-! aoaiicilary visit.
They was M-. stiya men, I recKou,"
she replied.
Our fellers, eh?" be said straight
ening up and leaning heavily on his
boe handle Come on back to tbe
house. Molly, Don't be skeered. 1
reckon they wunt do notbio'."
Of tbe two it would have been
manifest to the most casual eye
that he was the more "steered." but
be sho .ldered tbe hoe arid accom
panied his cousin to their shanty,
which was distinguished from the
others by a climbing roe running in
scraggly luxuriance oter the door.
"There they come tack now, the
same fellers flveot'em:" she cried,
as they reach -rt the door. Jim's face
lost its last trace of color,1 but be
pulled ber inside and shot the bolt
"What we going to do, Jim?" she
asked, retreating to tbe fireplace and
fingering ber apron nervously.
Jim apparently did not bear. He
was shaking cartridges into tbe cylin
der of his Wiucbester, and muttering
WHICH Was FOLLOWED BT A HOWL OT MM.
to himself as in an act of Incantation.
"Hey, the e." came the words,
accomiianie. by a loud Hounding on
the door. "Open up"
For answer went the sharp crack
of Jim's Winchester, which was fol
lowed by a howl of pain, some ple
thoric curses, and sound of footsteps
in rapid retreat. Jim went to the
window, and raising the sash high
enough to admit passage of his rifle
barrel, again spoke with decisive
leaden emphas s: and wben tbe smoke
cleared from before the pane beheld
one of tbe retreating party of five
stretched at length in the potato
patch, while another limped pa o
full. in tbe rear of the surviving
quartette. They became lost to view
in tbe hrush, and Jim waited. Pres
ently from the rear of tbe house
came the deep-throated summons:
"You cowardly sucker in there,
come out and fight like a man: If
you don't we'll burn tbe shanty, an'
you an' the val with it. D'ye hear?
Give you jest' three minutes!"
There was no window or opening
in the rear of tbe shanty; tte logs
were thick, and Jim could &urn no
leaden death messenger to this chal
lenge He was In a trap He sbo k
two more cart idges Into bis Win
chester and looked at Molly.
"Oh, Jim, don't go." she pleaded,
meeting the gray eyes full of gravity
that were bent on ber from beneath
Jim's frowsy slouch hat, "I ain't
askeered to burn."
'To purtect yo'honah an' happiness
against every evil I would give my
wuthless life," came from Jim's
blanched lips.
Mhe found no laughter in her soul
now at these grotesquely sententious
words, which broke in husky mono
tone on ber hearing like a prayer.
"Well, what do you say in there,
you feller? Time's up!" rang the im-
"1 SAID I WOULD OIVB MY WUTHLSS LITE
as' I DOSE IT."
patient admonition through the logs
of the shanty.
, Jim became sublime His stature
grew Promethean. His head struck
the stars. The moment of his ap
pointed heroism had coma
! "I'm comiu' out," he called, shov
ing back the bolt
"He's com in', toy. Fall back a
little an' give him a show," said t e
deep voice in commaud.
"Jim, don't. Please, Jim!" she
pleaded, catching bis arm. He
brushed her off gently. "They're
I four to one." she urged. "Don't
go!"
'Bolt the door be lod me," he said
alowly. as be passed out.
She cowered back in the room and
covered her face with her hands, wait-
: ing for it to begin, "and wbeo it be
gan it would b over. Jim drew back
. t e hammer of bia rli e and turned
tbe corner. Then four carbines
! barked witb one voice, and Mollle
i fait a watffht fall airalnst the aide
wall ot tba bouse. Then came tba
abarp, dear utterance of a Win
chester, then again, again,stlll again,
fine arbln answered, then the bush
of nature foil upon the afternoon and
a thrush in tbe maple at tbe bouse
door trilled out a fragment f eong.
Tba frttrbMawd elrl beaid a feeble
rjtrpts at tie door, and In tbe ei-
of Mr , aniiety, wbleb
kar' terror, sbe draw
tc3 tU Karl and nunc It wide.
?r? tajr. km vkte tad al
rtn trLlrtatr&t aetata water.
J 3, create aartilaaily w tie
right hand tha trusty Winchester
bieediDg.sbattered, he crawled to ber
feet like a faithful old dog. lit
, raised to ber again the grave inquiry
of bis gray eye in which the light of
a passing exaltation o h s spirit tri
umphed ovr the shadow of the
death which alread) darkened iheiu.
; and bis lips moved in the contortion
! of a smile that broke into a baiting,
; articulate murmur:
; "I said that to purtect yo
honab an' happiness against every
evil 1 would give my wuthlss
life an' I done it."
Thus Jim. in the crimson glory of
his "wuthless" life's blood, passed
to the Judgment reserved to bim
j from the Leginningof things.
1 The song bird shivered out his
sweet fragment of Heaven, tbe dead
perfume of the climo ng rose rilled
the oom, and the setting sun flood
ing through tbe narrow door wrapped
. the still t gure of Jim la the rib
splendor of a god. blue and Gray.
Men Have "Funnv Wr" Too.
roe nine peculiarities or women
are a lruitful topic witb some mascu
line writers Tbey continually run
ml i print witb such questions as:
Why does a woman always want to
know if her hat is on stra gbt? Why
does sbe keep you waiting ten min
utes after she's de lared she's all
ready? Why does she this, that and
tbe other? Here's a counter blast
irom a woman wrltei in the New
York Journal: When does a man al
ways nave lengtnenea ana orten pro
fane interviews with bis collar but
ton? It looks like an Inoffensive sort
of an article to an'outsider. Why
does be ru-n through his dressing
and throw everything all over the
r oin, because he's In such a hurry
be ' knows he'll be late" aud then
spend a good Hve minutes filling and
lighliqg bis pipe? Why does be
never put together and fold up a
newspaper? Why when a pretty
girl praises another man's " harm
ing manner," does be say the girl is
"soft?" Why does he declare tbat
handsome and popular young actors
are 'sticksr" Why can be never, by
any possibility, rind unytbiug he is
sent to look tor in closet or drawer?
Why is h i headache or toothache so
much worse tban anybody else's ever
was? Why is it alway his liver ttat
does not work, Instead of the Welsh
rarebit and mince pie that hate
worked? Why will he go out after a
rain without overshoes and then
preach about the vaoity'of women?
Why does it rain too hard to go to
church, but not to hard to go to a
dinner or theater or club on any suc
ceeding stormy day? Wbv does he
suppose, when be notes women's
"funny ways," that women are not
at tbe same time i.ot clog bis own
funny ways?
Coat or CivlllxtnK Africa.
The pea eful p rtltion of Africa,
of which so much has been said, is
evidently going to be carried out
amid a constant sputter ot little
wars. Even tbe reaceful partition
ers are falling foul of each other by
accident, for want of frontie s
marked as clearly on the surface of
tbe continent as tbey are upon the
maps at home The mistake French
troops made In British territory on
Christmas Eve, British police have,
it is alleged, repeated on French soiL
And tbe strong tribes already in pos
session are not going to be ousted or
crushed without a struggle. On Jan
uary 12, two days after a French
column bad calmly appropriated Tiru
buctoo. its commander and a detach
ment which had gone reconnoitermg
with him were simply wiped out by
the Tuaregs. The serious disaster
which Fodi Silah Inflicted upon Brit
ish troops on the Gambia on Febru
ary 2i Is another proor that, despite
all treaties and International pre
cautions, tbe slave trade me ms to
die hard. Fifteen men killed and
forty wounded, with tb.' loss of ar
tillery and the repulse of a gun-boat,
make up a heavy bill for a single
raid. Yet whatever it costs to wipe
Africa clean of slavery, it is tbe
amends civilization is bound to make.
Tbat Morocc has at last yielded to
the ultimatum of tbe Spanish court
is accepted as a sign ot the close ot
the Melilla difficulty. Tbe flames of
religious war are happily not to be
rekindled there. lie Wew of Reviews.
Feminine Measurement.
Ten thousand women having been
measured by scientific authority, it
is discovered that English women
a e tbe tallest, tbe Americans next,
and tbe Fr neb last- American wo
men, however, bad the greatest
weight, which will surprise a good
many, while the English came second,
and the French again last. The sa
vants who made inquiry into these
delicate matters did not regard tbe
age of the ladies, nor did tbey meas
ure their waists. Singularly enough,
Arner.cans are said to have the larg
est waists an i the narrowest chests,
while women of the Latin races have
precisely tbe reverse. Tbe Viennese
ladies and women of the lower classee
are pro erbial "lacera," but tbe pull
ing of the corset string doee not seem
to impair tbelr health, or in anv way
affect their appearance, beyond giv
ing them figures renowned II song
and story. A superb pair of ah ul
ders, tbe deen-boeomed beauty of tbe
peasant girl and a tapering walat as
sociated with youth and re lnement
are characteristics ot tbe worueu of
European centers, it will be con
ce ed by tatltice that these women
live quite as long as A me lean wo
men, whose average shape represent
no such specific charm of outline.
Boston Herald.
v. .' Ivory.
All ivory ornaments ean , be whit
ened if carefully brushed with soap
and water, rlneod In plain water, al
lowed to drain a little, and then
la d, for ae long a time aa re ulred,
In tbe ana aad air.. Tba eaa haa a
taeoltar Ueacbluc arrnorty with to.
; prl to iTorf. .
REAL RURAL READING
WIU. BE FOUND IN THIS DE
PARTMENT. at Hod of CoastrarUB a Sawrlai Itau)
trt . ta W etch to Kraporaie TtuMA fa
Late Planter That Caa Ha taaae far -
Cart for
A BoBM-Mada Kn.it E-aporatr.
The process of evaporation is tbe
cheapest known method of preserv
ing indefinitely, for luture use or fo
ruarket, su:b fruits as rasplierries,
blackberries, cherries, apricots,
piums, or apples, says the Orange
Judd farmer. Id a season of plenty,
it enables one to pre rve In a con
deuaed and readily available foim,
fruit which would otherwise be sold
at a low price, or all-wed to decay,
some excellent forms of evaporators
are upon tbe market, and may be ob
tained ready to set up for Immediate
use However, when several acres of
berries are to be evaporated, or fruit
Is etarxirated for other parties, it is
test to put up a building especially
no. 1 giTBBioa vigw or etipobatob.
for the purpose, and to a person skill
ful witb tools the expense need not
be great. The ex erior of a con
venient and cheap iorm of evapora
tor Is shown In F ig. I. This Is large
enough to evaporate 100 bushels of
raspberries every twenty four hours.
The building is eight feet wide and
twenty-two teet lor.g. The sides and
root may be simply boarded up aud
down, or finished as elaborately as
desired.
If possible, lo'-ate tbe fruit drying
bouse upon a sldehilL Build tbe
foundation wall at the end farthest
from the bill nearly Ave feet high.
Make tne side walls two feet thick
which will give the enclosure a diam
eter of four feet. F'or a building of
this sle a common box ca-t-iron
stove, one foot s juare and two and
a half feet long will, with dry wood
for fuel, furnish all the beat neces
sary, but it requires almost constant
attention, and tbe hear, will not be
unlfor.D. Hence. If possible, put In
one of the low-down, anthracite coal
base-burners.
An inte.ior view of tbe evaporator
isgienin F ig. . The evaporator
chutes are builtdirectly over the fur
nace room, and their sie should cor
respond to the size of the sle es or
trays, the largest of which are four
feet square When these a e uni
formly covered with a bushel of
berries each, it requires considerable
strength to handle them quickly, as
tbe little drop door: should not re
main open longer tban Is absolutely
necessary, lest too much heat escape.
Tbe drop doois, n, are five Inches
wide, aud each space will admit two
sieves. Tne strip to which the doors
are hinged is one and a half inches
wide.
Two chutes are shown' in the
sketch. Often three are erected side
by side. The wire for a four-foot
square sieve of tbe best galvanized
material, costs about 75 cents. It
comes In rolls of different widths. A
long box aiiout one foot deep will
prove convenient to throw the evapo
rated fruit Into direct from ttie
sieves, from which it Is readily shov
eled into hags, hoves, or other recep
tacles This room should be well
lighted, and racks may tie placed
along tbe walls for holding picking
trays, baskets and other things wben
In use.
Homemade Potato Planter.
J. N. Frye in tbe Ohio Farmer de
scribes a potato 'plan er which Is
very simple, and yet does its work
completely. It consists of a frame
supported on machine wheels, which
can be bought for price of old Iron.
Wheels with a r m of cogs are pre
ferred.
The shoe is made ot quarter-Inch
tteel, eight Inches wide at heel and
tapering off narrower, and cut or
bent so nethlng the shape of a corn
planter shoe or hoe. Tbe rear should
be spread apart (tbe two being first
OaTBaUDB rOTAlO PLAVTIB.
riveted together) to aa to allow tbe
potato to pass through to tbe ground.
This shoe la supported by four braces
riveted to tbe shoe aad bolted on op
polte aideeof tbe frame, Una allow
lofflt to win.
Tbe e&aln, which ean ba takaa op
or Wt ot at will, pulktbeeboa aad
aiao lajulatai tta dijcli of f'nH
no. 2. intkbiob view of evapoiiatou.
The driver sits no tbe tor, wbict
should boid at beat one bushel.
Tbe bo i is raised above the axle,
thus allowing room for the driver's
feet, and make it ea rr dropping.
The marker is ad ustab. and can 1
changed to either side without get
ting off.
, The plan for getting the potatoes
; the projr distance apart is quite
, siu.ule aiso. A short piece of fence
j wi;e with a ring lnt on each end is
) lent down over the rim of the cog
wheel: a bolt Is placed through tbe
r ugs and liween two cogs, tbeu tbe
; l i put on tight. The number of
I olio needed w 11 de(eud upon tbe
it Lance apart that ui. wish to
j.ant. Now fasten a spring on tbe
frame so tbat it will touch tbe-e
' bo'ts, and the dropper is told just
wben to drop Anyone who can
handle tools fairly well can build
this dropper. It will cost not to ex
ceed Tba laaponaara of Thinning Croia.
1 am satisfied tbat but lew farmers
know tbe importance of thinning.
They seem to think nothing needs
thinning but corn. One bought some
iaspberres of me and said: "Come
look at my vines and tell me what is
tbe matter with them; tbey are a
good kind but won't bear." Hooked
and saw at once 1 said: "How
many stalks have you in eacb hill?"
He laughed and said aiiout forty. I
said: "What is the use of carrying
your brains around wiih vou If you
don't use them?" There are ten
strawberry plants whe e there should
tie one as a ruin. (,ne good, thrifty,
well-formed blackberry or raspberry
stalk Is worth a doen over-crowded,
thriftless, limbless ones. I once
planted a big potato whole to get big
potatoes, and got a big hill lull ot
little potatoes. It would have been
all the same if I hao Ranted a big
ear of corn whole in a hill and ex
pected big corn. Potatoes should be
thinned to one or two eyes before
planting. Few farmers do it To
thin my crop as I ought has taken
more nerve than anything I have un
dertaken on the farm. W. I An
derson In Farm and Home.
Harral Cart.
Some time ago a correspondent of
tbe liural New Yorker told about bis
barrel on wheels, which he used for
carrying swill and slops Irom tbe
kitchen door. As a barrel cart af
fords a universally needed conveu-
lence, tbe journal mentioned gave an
illustrated description of an arrange
n.ent made In the West: ,
As will be seen, tbe hooks can be
placed on any barrel. All the opera
tor bas to do is to back up his wheels
and "catch on." It Is a great con
venlence in hauling heavy barrels.
The Hoy on tbe farm.
If you don't know how to keep the
boy on the farm, try the plan of riv
ing bim an interest in the business,
if he doesn't like the hard work and
drudgery of general farming, make
for bim a specialty. Give him a fair,
honest chan e. Buy a do cn straw
berry plants of the best varieties, as
Buback, Leadc, (Swindle, and
others, have the boy make a rich
bed, i-et the plants, cultivate be
tween the rows keep the runners off
the, first year, pick the fruit and
market it. i ou will be surprised at
bis awakened interest in the farm if
there Is any fa mer in him. It this
plan is impracticable, give him a
chance at the poultry business by
buying a half-do.en pullets, and a
cockerel of one of our advertisers.
See thit the son builds suitable
poultry quarters that may be easily
enlarged as his interest Increases.
The joultry industry is the equal of
any branch of spec alty farming; you
cannot alford to sneer at it If the
son's interest wan ants It, send him
to the agrii ultural college of youi
State. You will have then started
bim on the right road. If there is
the inborn farmer in him he will
there see and learn enough to whet
his appetite with a desire to
know all there Is to be
known concerning farming. You
will then have done your whole
duty. If the sou doesn't like farm.
Ing under such conditions It is hird
ly likely bis interest can be aroused
In other ways and he should be al
lowed to work out bis own salvation.
farm Noim.
Half a teaspoon ful of sugar scat
tered over a d ing fire Is belter than
kerosene, and bas no element of dan
ger. TiiKitK Is no reason why every
farmer should not keep bees. Honey
costs nothing, and is a valuable pro
duct, considering tbe price it usually
brings In comparison w.tb the small
expense Incurred In Its production.
A daiky writer says you bad bet
ter begin dalr.iing witb two cows and
a strong desire to tboroughl v learn
the business tban witb ten cows and
a eon Orient feeling tbat you can suc
ceed aa well aa old bands in tbe busi
ness. Aw apple grower thinks tbat In
tatting an orchard we should get
such apples as are best suited to our
oil and climate, and are In demand
In tba market, . and not All oar
orobanu with oalr such aa rait oar
t
C1BT FOB CaBHVIHO IX31S.
TME PANTHEON AT PARIS),
The iliewrto BaHdiai Wawrw
Caraaww
away -a.
The Pantheon, or llepuMiran Val
halia, as it bas been called, wbeie
President Caruot'sremaius we e laid
suuday. bland on tit Genevieve's
Mount, in tbe ' Latin quarter, tbe
bigbeit point in i aris. with tbe ex
ception, perhaps, ot the hill of
Monuiartre. The first building
that occupied this mount was a
church, built bf order of Clovis, the
first of the Merov.ogiau Kings, and
dedicated to rt Peter an I M Paul
A religous community lie ing after
ward attached thereto, it became a
celebrated abty, where M. Gen
evieve, the patron saint of Paris,
was buried In 512. The present ed
ifice, which is a reprodu tion of the
Church of r-t Peter's at Borne, was
designed by tbe great Architect
Sou.l'ot. The first stone waa laid, at
tbe suggestion of Mine, de Pompa
dour, by Louis XV on September 6.
17h4. Tbe cost of the oullding waa
defrayed by a lottery. During the
revolution V e cbuicb was seculariz
ed and devoted to tbe same purpose
as at present. It was afterward re
consecrated as the Church ot St
Genevieve, but on May 24, 1885, it
was again secularized and placed, as
a national monument under the
control of the minister of fine arte.
The plan of tbe building Is a
Greek- cross. Tbe portico, to which
a flight of It st'-ps, occupying the
whole breadth, gives access, presents
a front ot six outer fluted Corinthian
columns, tiO feet In bight These,
with 1 internal columns support a
triangular pediment 129 feet In
breadth and 22 in bight
On entering the splendid building
the visitor is irresistibly impelled to
take off his hat for, despite the
absence ot the altar, and even of
seats, the place seems to retain some
thing of its wbilom odor of sanctity.
Attention is speedily attracted from
tbe Imposing proportions of tbe
building to tbe frescoes, which are
some of the finest examples (if mod
ern art in the world. All the figures
in these frescoes are life-size. Fxjual
ly Interesting are the vaults, which
extend under the building n an Im
mense scries. In tbe center are two
concentric circular passages, which
thunder a triple echo to the slightest
sound.
During the Commune in 1871 the
Pantheou and all the quarter were
within an ace of being blown up.
The Place du Pantheon, on account
of Its elevated situation, was occupi
ed by the Communists and transform
ed Into the most formidable strong
hold on the left bank of the Seine.
Numerous barricades were construct
ed In the l ue Sou ,ot and ail tbe
other streets leading up to the build
ing. These thoroughfares were torn
up and the paving and t oblilestonei
utilized for me construct! .m of tbe
obstacles which were furthei
strengthened by the Iron railing!
which surrounded tbe church, beams,
carts, and everywhere else that the
insurgents could lay hands upon.
Desperate men took posiesslon of
the surrounding houses, and camped
and held high level In the Pantheon,
In tbe convenient vaults ot which
tons of gunpowder were stored. It
was resolved to sell the position
dearly, and, if tbe worst ame to the
worst to fire the stock of powder and
blow themselves aud their assailants
to kingdom come, or to whatever
other place they happened to be c ar
ried bv the force of the explosion.
But one Hue night the red legs scaled
the badly guarded fortifications
and spread over the city with such
rapidity that the besHald plans ot
the Communists were frustrated and
the Pantheon, with other splendid
monuments notably the Louvre
Museum.wlth Its p iceless contents
which it had been their Intention tc
destroy, was liai'piiy saved
Monotony or Aapecu
Many of tbe Chinese villages arc
constructed of mud, though a good
quality of brick may be had for tbost
who can afford it The houses have
no outside windows and but one open
ing, which is the door. The open
ings for light are upon Inner court
or back yards, and are without glass.
The caves are made to pro.ect so as
to keep out the rain, an In doing so,
exclude much light as well, iillndt
made of slats are sometimes used,
and thin, light paper pasted over the
slats serves to keep out some of the
cold air and let in a little light Tbe
bouses are Invariably one story high,
aud at tbe bottom of this custom is
a superstition thatblgh hous s would
interfere, with the spirits of the all
("Fung Chui") arid oiTsud iheili, thui
bringing disaster upon the house or
village. A Chinese village has noth
ing In common with those ot this
country; there are no gardens or
lawns: tbe bouses are compact bud
died together, and pre-ent from a
distance the aspect of a me.e dead
wall. One peculiar aspect of Chi
nese cities and villages is tbe absence
of all steeples, spues or pinnacles of
any kind. While Mohammedau
countries have the mosque, with 1U
bashing domes and graceful minarets,
and European and American centres
of population are marked by lofty
towers and eplree, Cblua la almost
absolutely without any of those strik
ing ar. bltectural points. Tbe result
is great monotony and dullness of as
pect m
Hti Attempt on tbe Queen' Life.
Not leee tban tlx attempts have
been made on tbe life of (.ueen Vic
toria. On May .10, 142, by John
Francis; on May 29, 1850, br llobert
Pate; on Mar if. 1849, by Hamilton;
evidently a dangerous month for tn
Wueen. Earlier In bar reign, June
10, l MO, by Edward Oxford; oo July
a, 1842, by beat; aad later, on Feb
ruary 2, lei, by Arthur trVoan.
It vcn ttii icai aata, ttan
wwuld ba nobody to make eoaapUlal