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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1895)
T0PIC3 OF THE TIllEa A CNOICC SELECTION OF INTS UTINO ITEMS. Thar to aaoagh red la the star and strip to mitt the bum of uj true American, Tbe emperor himself will admit that aid IHemsnk has one mere become m bigger ua than young William. Barnum'a abow baa a woman clown. It seem strange that woman baa not Invaded tbla field before; abe often baa made a circus la tbe home circles. II. H. Holme, like many professlon ai criminal, la a total abstainer, not withstanding tbe likelihood that one of tbaae days he will take a drop too much. A Kentucky physician sbot and fn atantly killed one of hi patienta tbe other day. Isn't this sort of profession al slaughter contrary to the medical coder I notice that a gentleman by the name of Dleterlch, living at Mobile, .Via., has had lira wires, but nobody seems to be digging In his castle for family skele ton. EL. H. Holme. Aa Germany has appropriated 100, 000 marks to purchase bicycles for tbe army we ahall probably bear less talk aboat preparations for a war being afoot in that country. An editorial notice of a woman's gro cery store reads as follows: "Her to matoes art aa red as her own cheeks, her Indigo Is as blue as her own eyes, and her pepper as hot aa ber own tem per." The discovery of a "conspiracy of filibusters to overturn the republic of Hawaii" was evidently unnecessary at this stage of tbe game. News may be scarce, but It Isn't so scarce as that would Indicate. Helen Gould is traveling "out West" .under an assumed name. If Helen .-doesn't like her name and wants to -change it, we believe the matter could be arranged without much difficulty, if . aha herself favors the idea. New York can afford many private residences that cost more than $1,000, WO each, but for all that tbe recent police census shows that there are more than 80,000 children in the city who hare been deprived of school facilltlea because of a lack of sufficient school buildings. The new army regulations will make some Important changes In the meth ' od ef payment of troops, and probably .-will be found objectionable to all of ficers who command posts or com panies. Instead of sending payments to the various posts throughout the country, the rolls will be made tip at the headquarters of the army depart ment, or at the posts where there is now located a pay headquarters. These rolls will be accompanied by envel opes containing the money due each officer and soldier, and will be sent to the commandant of each post by ex press. The commandant will distribute the rolls and money to the company commanders, and they will pay the troops and make the return. An English lady was called on the other day by her footman, who an nounced that he had a grievance. Be ing encouraged to proceed, be stated i his case 'as follows: "Your ladyship 'a how visits too many philanthropic and psychological women, and that sort of thing. They give such small tlpa that I feel ashamed of myself for receiving them. The temperance wom en give no tip at all. I suppose they think we servants spend all our tips In drink. Formerly the tips used to be nearly equal to the wages. I counted on them continuing so. This Is my 'ole case, and I beg to inform your lady ship that I speak for Jemima and Su aaa, the housemaids, and for Green, the coachman.' The lady answered that she feared she must get a new set of servants, and that, whether she did or not, she wonld cause placards to be posted In all the guests' rooms to in form them that serrants were not al lowed to receive tip. She waa ready "to allow, however, a small Increase in the wages. If that was not satisfactory all might leave, and at once, if they de sired. They took her at her word. Western railroad, represented In solemn council by their general passen ger agent, hare practically refused to make any special rates for passenger trame to the Atlanta exposition. Tbe sapient agent present at the meeting declared their belief that tbe volume of traffic would not justify low rate. They assert that If under the rates they adopt business la rushing they will reduce tbe fare. This I aa If a Merchant aliould say: " I will sell tbla Ilk at 91 a yard. If tbe demand for It la lively t will make It 50 cents a yard." What merchant would Invert the law of trad tan by selUng cheapest that for which there la most demand? Tb shopman creates demand by low price; profit by great demand by exacting -hack prtcm The railroad, Instead of ,spt doth by the yard, sell transpor Udw by the mile. Their logical policy leie r&awo rate wbefl aatoa are amall, ,jn taavlatlag trade. Thee Weet-e-S,mfn vaUat oa axta- high rate at 1 V2I a promise that they alkali be rt It wd flat hnereaee aatil brtsaiV' i-f J wa be ar-ad nrir naa I ."' r& aie t r trata tta Cm tret half ef the CbJea World's Pah a local enterprise only, becaue they would not carry out-of-town rial tun al reasonable rate. The are ax parti sow that thay pat the Atlanta, axpoai Ho la to quarantine. They are alway axpart in straagMmg and affronting tfc public in killing tha gooaa that layi for them the golden egg. Notwithstanding the fact that many people trace tbe Missouri River in utuu from the Yellowstone country to tbf ball of Mexico, United States engi Beers are aaaertlng the possibility of that stream becoming only a dry ra vine, Government gauges at Sioux City, Iowa, abow that the registered measurements for twenty years ind! cate a gradual decrease, until In 1S&1 the volume of water passing that point la 20 per cent less than in 178. Civili nation has always played fast aud loose with tbe geography of a Dew country It has leveled the trackless forests aud torn up Its roots. It his encroached upon arid lands and made them fertile and productive. In notii'ig, however, ha It worked more changes than in the great rivers of this country. East of the Mississippi the great rivers haTe suffered less, aud yet the denuding of forest lands has materially affected the average depth of the Ohio. Forest lands which once were natural reser voirs of the rainfall have ben stripped. The soft loam of dead leave. ha be come Arm before the plowshare and the unveiled sun. The rainfall rushes down In the wet season, flooding the low lands no longer trickling down throughout a whole summer and through a thousand springs, brooks and creeks. In the great seinl arid West there have been the most changes. Rivers which once floated steamboats are now crossed by small boys In knee breeches. Fed from snows In the mountains, the Arkansas, the l'latto and the Kansas are almost drained be fore they cross the Colorado 1'nc east ward. Irrigating ditches have wrought great change, and every year the drain Is heavier and heavier. Eu;;! neers are at a loss to account for the decrease in upper Missouri curents, unless It be that the artesian basin of South Dakota, which has been so suc cessfully tapped. Is draining it What ever the cause, It may be safely con jectured that careless methods of hand ling enterprises affecting river are at the bottom of the appareut phenome non. Combination is the tendency of the age as several million orators have re markedand now this tendency is to assert Itself in the managemeut of the theaters. There is to be a theater syn dicate, or "trust," and, presumably, the managers will operate the dramatic stage very much as the managers of the oil trust operate In shares of stock. They will control the market for plays, stars, leading ladies, "heavies" and "supes." They will Invest even share- in the products of Mr. Ilnero's talent and Mr. Ibsen's genius and nionoi-olli:e the visible supply.' They may oven se cure the option for all America o.j such priceless histrionic commodities flu Bernhardt and Duse and Sir Ileury Brodrlb Irving. The facts suggest some amazing possibilities for the fu ture. The drama is or should Un classified in the world of art What it the syndicate movement extend to the other branches of art? A time is con celvable when the market for modern French painters will Ik? In the hands of a syndicate which will drive all com petition to the wail. A painter nor em ployed by the trust cannot hope to "sell." He must accept syndicate terms or get out of the business. Then there will be a sculpture trust and a music trust We shall buy Brahms aud Ru binstein and Dvorak by order through a syndicate, which will carefully gride prices to meet the demand. A p.etry trust would be Inevitable and could lie handled magnificently. There wonld be a catalogue number and price list for every poem. William Morris, for Instance, would rate as "Al" or "extra quality," Lewis Morris as "middling" or "Inferior." We should order poems by telephone and pay the syndicate rates or else put up with home-made poetry and run the risk of Infringing some of the syndicate patent. In the end there will be one all-comprehensive syndicate of all these syndicate. There will be an art trust Tbe prospect Is Interesting, if not alluring. But just wait until John Ruskln hears of It and takes bis pen In band! A Peddler' Percentage- An Individual called upon a jeweler In Montreal, and stated that he had managed to accumulate, by bard labor for a few past years, some seventy-five dollars; that he wished to Invest It in something whereby be might make money a little faster, and be had decid ed on taking some of hi stock and ped dling It ont Tbe Jeweler selected what be thought wonld sell readily, and the new peddler started on bis trip. He was gone bat a few days when he re turned, bought as much again as be fore, and started on tbe second trip. Again be returned and greatly Increas ed hla stock. He succeeded so well, and accumulated so fast, that the Jew eler one day asked him what profit he obtained on what be sold. "Well, I put on about five per cent" The Jeweler tbougbt that a very small profit and expressed as much. "Well," aald tbe peddler, "I don't know as I exactly understand about your per cent, but an article for wblcb I pay yon one dollar, I generally sell for five." la Qaailty Batasc-leat.-: The late Master of Trinity, London, waa asked by a lady whether a certain Borfd divine bad not "a treat deaf of Tbe reply waa: "Yea, Indeed, all of tt tad." women are each poor cooks that tasy sfteald be sshamod to leek their la the face. THE FABil AND HOME. MATTERS OF INTEREST TO FARM ER AND HOUSEWIFE. A Bile Good Maw After Klat Years' Cea-aao Per Traa PraSt ta Caerriea To Keep Usa Cold Storage. A Cheap and Darable Kilo. When 1 built my silo eight years ago, all advice was that If I was foolish enough to build of wood I must bare a stone foundation, grout bottom and no end of fixtures; but I concluded if a wooden silo would only last three years at most before decaying, so a to be beyond further use, a sill set In the ground well painted with gas tar and bedded In cement would be as durable a foundation as I should need, says a corespondent of the Country Gentle man, and so a sill was trenched In and cemented, and to the surprise of the prophets, tbe sill la still there, sound as ever, and the side walls, double celled with foot-wide cull-plne boards, are yet doing duty without a decaying spot to point to coming disso lution. This silo is 15 by 15 feet. Inside measure, and 22 feet deep, and cost less than $50 all told. The clay floor made by hard pounding, and concave In the center to avoid strain on the sills, 1 in every way as good a floor as the grout and cement one in the companion silo. The single-ceiled silo was not Invented when these silos were built and I have nothing to say against them; but I am so fully satisfied with the walls of the double-boarded ones, aud as two boards an Inch thick can be purchased cheaier here than a good enough quality of flooring and make so much stronger walls, I am still in favor of the old way of building. I was told that a double-boarded silo would soon rot out and tbe paper lining Boon dis solve between the boards, but none of these things has as yet occurred; so I begin to think that a cheap silo need not of a necessity be a poor one or a bad keeper of ensilage, for. In eight fillings, there have not been ten bas ket of waste, save on the top, and no costly silo could have been better so far as keeping the contents is concerned, that this $50 silo of mine. Profits In Chen-lea. The four cherry trees at our Roches ter place yielded the former proprietor one season $20 per tree, aa he Informed us. This Is more than any one should expect to receive from a cherry tree, and must have been during a season of exceptional high prices, says Green's Fruit Grower. These trees have borne us heavy crops every year without one penny of expense except for picking and marketing, and In addition to what we have consumed and given away these four trees have yielded an annual revenue of from $18 to $25. But con sider what an acre planted to cherry trees, each eighteen feet apart, 135 to the acre, would yield at thi rate. The amount would be $675 ier acre at $5 per tree. This would probably be more than could be realized on an average, but under a favorable yield the profit may bo largely Increased, I recall one farmer, whose farm Is largely cut up by the highway, who planted cherry trees on each side of the road as far as his farm extended, there being per haps a mile of cherry trees. These trees cost tbe farmer absolutely noth ing except the purchase price and the expense of planting. These trees bear enormous crops, and their reputation extends for many miles around. Hun dreds of people come every year to pick these cherries on snares or to pur chase them. Why not you plant like wise? Keeping l'ce in Cold Store sc. A subscriber wants to know bow long eggs can be kept In a cold storage bouse. If the eggs are Infertile, and fresh when put In, they will keep four to five mouths If the temperature Is steady. If be wishes to keep a few dozens for his own use,' he should pack tbem in dry, sifted coal ashes, or dry salt says the Agriculturist, end down, not allowing one to touch an other. Use boxes which hold six to ten dozens each. Fasten cover down tight ly, and arrange tbe boxes so they can be turned twice a week without Jar ring. This can be easily be done by any Ingenious person. Be sure the eggs are fresh and Infertile. The cocks should be removed from the flock at least ten days before packing begins. Prices for cold storage eggs depend largely upon tbe supply of fresh eggs on the market They usually bring five to eight cent per dosen less than those strictly fresh. Baa Weed in Orain Htubble. Whatever winter grain 1 sown there Is sure to be In the stubble at harvest a growth of rag weed, which will usu ally overtop the clover. If left alone it will seriously Injure the clover growth In tbe fail, especially If the stubble be pastured. It Is a good plan as soon after the grain crop Is off aa possible to go over the field with a mower set so aa to cut tbe rag weed and occasion ally some of the tallest clover. This, left to fall as It la cm, makes an ex cellent mulch over the surface jitst beavy enough iot to Injure the cUver. A better result Is that It puts thv rag weed back, and If a good rain soon comes the clover will quickly outgrow the ragweed so r&at very little of It will lie seen that fall. This will not Interfere with catting a crop of clover hay la September from Ute seeding In March, We have known folly a ton of clover to be cut per acre on land treated the, and tbe clover waa left In better condi tion for winter than If It had not been cut Managed In this way, tbe rag weed hi eat each time before It can seed, and rotare crops of this peet are the les sened. Bat If left to need there will be a troablo with rag weed la tbe eterer est year except N gacea when the eterer seeding may hare weed doee not start except where the soil I loosened la aprlag. But where the soil 1 loo asd the rag weed seed will start to grow as sooa as the frost Is ont of the ground, and it first growth i stronger and taller thaa that of clover, though after tbe clover get a broad leaf It will another must of the annual weed. Tha Cranberry Warns. Complaint are numerous this sea son that cranberries are turning red long before they are ripe, are wormy, and shrivel up until none are left This is the work of the berry worm or fruit worm (Acrobasis vacclnll). The egg for the worm Is deKslted In the calyx on the young berry Just after forming. The worm eat Into the berry, and wanders from that to other berries. When full grown it leaves the berry, drops to the grouud and burrows Into the soil, where it remains all winter, and hatches the following June or July. On wet bogs It does not thrive. When full grown It is about half an Inch long. The moth producing this worm expands wings about three-fourths of an Inch when spread; It Is of an ash gray color, mottled with white, and when at rest on a cranberry vine, with wings fold ed, Is not easily recognized. The egg hatches iu about five or six days after laid. Flowing to destroy this pest is not feasible, as the time the water should be held on the bog would destroy the crop. An application of paris green a table poon ful to a bucket of water applied with a spray outfit at the time the berries begin to set is effec tive. Fall Campaign Against Weed. Inquiries are constantly coming to us concerning the best methods of get ting rid of noxious weeds, especially perennials. Begin by sowing the In fested fields to oats In the spring, or wheat or rye In the fall. Soon after these small grains have been harvest ed, says the Agriculturist plow under the rtubble, thus checking the develop ment of the first crop of weeds. When the second crop has started on the plowed ground, go over it with a disk harrow, corn cultivator, or any other farm Implement that will kill the young weeds. Repeat this operation as often as necessary this fall to prevent the maturing of any seed or the develop ment of root stocks. Seed the field to winter grain next fall, and repeat the operation again next year. If the weeds are very persistent, as the Can ada thistle, quack grass, etc., cultivate the fallow often enough to prevent any green leaf surface appearing. Other wise the underground stems will live for a long time. This is the best meth od of treating an Infested field, and If persisted In will lie successful. Now Is the time to begin the work. Do not neglect It Tbe Hoe In tbe Corn Field. Kastern farmers have never learned to entirely dispense with the hoe In growing corn. The greater part of the work of destroying weeds and loosening the soil Is done with the borse cultiva tor and weeder. But there are some weeds In the hills so close to the corn that they cannot be destroyed by the cultivator without Injuring the crop. With the potato It Is different Earth may be thrown over the potato plant just as It shoot out of the soil, not only without Injury, but with decided advantage. But If young corn receives even a little soil over Its tender leaves it Is seriously Injured. Even when grown larger the piling of earth against the corn In order to smother the weeds Is a bad practice. It throws much of the fertile soil close to the stalk where the roots of the corn cannot reach It, at the same time removing It from the center of the rows where the plant food Is most need d. Crops in Hearlnij Orchard. Aside from using up the fertility need ed for fruit production, the growing of crops In bearing orchards Is a mistake on account of the difficulty of harvest ing the fruit without Injuring, If nat destroying, the crop. There Is neces sarily a ',ood deal of trampling on the ground when a large fruit crop is gath ered. If those harvesting the fruit crop try to avoid stepping on the crop cultivated under the tree they are hindered so much that It more than offsets the value of what can thus be grown. One crop at a time is enough, and when fruit trees bear tbe concen tration of all effort on them produces better results than dividing It. Hrna in Hot Weather. Nothing Is more cruel than to keep bens in summer time where tbey can not have plenty of shade, and that, too, where they can roll themselves in the dust This is necessary to keep them free from vermin, wblcb, when It get a lodgment. Increases very rapidly In warm weather. They should also hare ' a plentiful supply of clear water, kept' so tbat tbey cannot soil It by getting tbelr feet Into tbe drinking dlsb. With shade and plenty of water bens will go through tbelr moulting period much more quickly than If denied these es sential. A Htock Liniment. A liniment much in favor among stock owners In Koutheru New Jersey Is made as follows: Add one gill spir its of turH-ntlne and a heaping table spoonful each salt and lard to one pint of fresh milk. Boll over a slow fire for two hours, stirring occasionally. Re move from the fire, and stir continu ously until cool, when It will be like jelly. 1'se for cuts, bruises or sores of any kind. ttecond Crap Potatoes. We have many ways of making them sprout The best' way Is tr, put the potatoes la a pile for several days. They will become heated, consequently the eyes will swell up. The potatoes with the swelled eyes are picked out and pUated. Tbla way la considered the beat way. Another way la to pot the potatoes la tbe sua for aereral day be fore planting. CHINESE DEMAND FOR GINSENG Tbe Aamarica Pradact Parchaaad taadlly tt S3 U 9 Par Poaad. Passing through tb wholesale dis trict tbe other day a reporter stopped In at one of tha large bouse to ssk about prices. When ginseng was reach ed in the list the dealer aald: "What the Chinese use ginseng for la to the masses one of tbe mysteries of the age, but that they gobble up every ounce of the herb tbat the known world supplies is nevertheless a fact Because tbe most thorough Inquiry has failed to bring about a complete unfolding of the secret Is not regarded by the aver age American a sufficient reason for refusing from S3 to $5 per pound, on the average, which the celestial offera for the root "Some of tbe largest Arms in China make a specialty of handling the Ameri can export of ginseng and coin money at It. Some of our shrewdest traders have coaxed for the secret and have offered money for It but the gray mat ter at the other end of tbe Chinaman's queue doesn't seem to see It that way. 'The American ginseng Is growing scarcer yearly. The cultivated root has not the wonderful power which fixes the value of the wild article, at least It does not manifest Itself to the same degree. This fact renders the cultiva tion of ginseng rather unprofitable. It might be planted and allowed to grow well for years and years, and then be salable at good figures, but not other wise. The older the plant the more pronounced the wonderful properties of the root In view of tbe fact that It Is growing scarcer unless the demand di minishes the price of ginseng must go materially higher within the next few years. "The market here Is largely specula tive. The Chinese ginseng bouses each year send their buyers from California to the east to buy up the receipts of ginseng. These buyers have not yet put In an appearance on tbe Eastern market, and consequently this year's price has not been fixed. Dealers are paying $2.50 in Nashville for the rea son that they believe tbey can secure the usual prices for all they take In. Some advices, bowe-ver, are to the effect tbat the price will be 20 or 30 cent lower, owing to the fact that the de mand has been cut off somewhat by the war. "We encounter some funny experien ces in buying tbe root Tbe diggers are often the poorest people, and far from enlightened. Weli the root Is hard to get, aud when It is thoroughly dried the weight shrinks like a nickel's worth of soap after a hard day's washing, so the digger resorts to all sorts of decep tions to fudge an ounce or two In a pound and reap more of the precious dimes and dollars. For Instance, we have frequently gotten In root which was well dried, but suspiciously heavy. I'pon Investigation we found that many of the pieces were loaded with lead, thus almost doubling the weight of the whole lot. This was done with a great deal of cunning and Ingenuity. When the root was green It was split, and the lead melted and poured In or driven In In slugs. The root was then allowed to dry, and In the process the end seams entirely close up, completely hiding the lead, which, in a case like this, was ilmost worth Its weight In gold." Nash ville American. Eiploaive Names. He entered the outer sum-tutu of Clerk Dickey's office yesterday after noon with a shambling gait, and a shamefaced air lingering alxmt his countenance that told as plainly as words that he was after a marriage li cense. Inside the door he stopped sus piciously, but the gray hairs of Capt. Whitney at the niarruge license desk and the absence of every one from the room reassured htm. He ambled up to the window, and Capt Whitney reached for the license book. "What's yer name?" Inquired the court officer. There was a noise like a clock falling down stairs and the final crash of the mainspring as It unwinds wltb a whirr tbat can be beard for half a block. "What's that?" Inquired the captain; "spell It out." "T-c-l-i k-s 8-r-a-c-h-t-o-u-s-k-l," spell ed the prospective bridegroom. "Now, what Is ber name?" asked the captain. Mary, wltb an ewski sound on the eud of tbe name was all that was bearable, aud Tcllks bad to spell that out, too. It was worse than the first, being: "M-a-r-y G-l-c-t-c-s-y-r-l-s k a." The two name are the worst that j were ever recorded In Hennepin Coun- tr aealnst two neonle coin to t mir. rfcd, and when tbe last one bad been ? MrtMtre.tKl tinon Cant Whltnev . h.rf t0 g0 ,) rake a bromo-seltser to clear bl, mInd.-MInneaiiolis Times. Hoiley'e Sharp Retort. At tbe meeting of the British Asso ciation In I860, Bishop Wllberforce spoke for full half an hour with Inimit able spirit, emptiness and unfairness. It was evident from bis handling of the subject thst be hsd been "crammed" op to the throat, and tbat he knew nothing at first band. He ridiculed Darwin badly and Huxley savagely. Hurried along on tbe current of his eloquence, tbe bishop so far forgot him self as to turn round and ask whether Huxley was related by bis grandfath er's or mother's side to an ape. Hux ley, when bis time for a reply came, had this to say: "I asserted, and I repeat, that a man has no reason to be ashamed of having an ape for hla grandfather. If there were an aacestor whom I should feel shame In recalling, It wonld be a man, a man of restless and versa tile intellect, who, not content jrlth an tiaearivocsl success la. his own sphere ef activity, plunges late scientific qoea Uoaa with which be has no real e qoalntaaoe, only to obscure then by aa aimless rhetoric aad dletraet the at tention of his bearer. rro point at issue by euan dlareaslo-e and skilled appeele to religious pfeja. dice." ' A FENCE MADE OF SWOHDS. Blade, thai Ware Lerf o. Maor Made lata a Bteal LatMee. That the swords of hi gallant ad herent who fell on Drnmoaaie Moor should be found by a descendant ot his hereditary enemy of Argyll In fence at Twickenham is certainly a very singular circumstance. In we pamphlet "Notes on Sword, from the Battlefield of Culloden." Lord Archi bald Campbell give an account of bis discovery with ome nouf on the blades and on Andrea Ferrer. Some years ago Ird Archibald, wboee knowledge of dirks and claymores la extensive, heard that there existed such a feiic of steel. Year, passed again and then lie found the fence Ina backyard at Richmond. It I described by the Hev. It. K Corbett In bis "Mem orials of Twickenham." Twickenham House belonged to Dr. Johnson's "very uncluhable" Sir John HiwUii- Tha next Information came from Mr. Ed ward Koss, the famous rifle shot who had seen the hedge of blad.-s in situ. They were said by Dr. Diamond to have been made Into the fence of a flower garden by a Ixrd Tweedale. When Uird Archibald socircd these heroic relics he found that six inche bad been broken from the point of each Wade, while the tang of the hilt end bad also been shortened. They were welded Into two horizontal Iron bars. The paint which covered them ha. pre served the netal so well that they ars as good as on the day when they wers first forged. There are five kinds of swords a broad, double-edged blade with a heavy renter rib ("a heavy small sword"); a broad-backed sword with a single cutting edge. These are often stamped with a fleur de lis. and, ws presume, came over with Fltajames' horse or from other French sources, but some are of English make. There ars small swords, some without groove, the ribs rising In the center. Andrea Ferrara's name Is on tbe short gioovs of other small swords, a thing very unusual. There are Highland broad sword projer, vltb 1, 2. or 3 groove, or fluting. Andrea's name Is in the grooves. There are a few Hanoverian swords; two bear a crowned (1. R. Cant lie Hone. There- have been many ambitious mathematicians In all the age who have alined at tbe squaring of the cir cle, and all, even those of the present century, wltb all modern suggestions at their bauds, have been unsuccessful. The Engineers' Gazette Is authority for the statement that the oldest mathe matical book In the world, which dates some 4i0 years back, and was written In Egypt contains a rule for squaring the circle.. The rule given 1 to shorten the diameter by a ninth, and on the Hue so obtained to construct a square, and this, though far from being exact. Is near enough for most practical pur poses. Since then the amateur squar er of the circle has been a thorn In the side of the professional mathematician, learned societies, at last. In pure self defense, made a rule that all solutions of the problem sent to them should, without examination, be consigned to tbe flames. In the last century a Frenchman named Mathulus was so sure that he had succeeded In squaring the circle that ho offered a reward of $U to any one who proved his solu tion was erroneous. It was proved to l erroneous. If not to his own satisfaction, at least to that of the courts, and he had to iiay the money. Mathematicians have long Is-en convinc ed that the solution was Impossible, but It I only a few years since they were able to demonstrate this. A Ger man professor named Landman pub lished. In 1KH2, a demonstration which was accepted by the scientific world as satisfactory, so ibat would-be squar era of tbe circle may now rest from their labors, seeing that It has been mathematically proved that the thing cannot be done. Brooklyn Engle. Cast Ituuk I'pon tho Water. A sealed tin case, which, on hAua on. enexi, was found to contain a copy of MUtons "raradlse Ixt," an picked up in the lower part of the 1'enobsovt rtver, siaine, a row aays ago. Inquiry disclosed the fact that In a small town up tbe river lives an old tinsmith of lit erary tastes and some odd Ideas, and that It is bis custom to Inclose all sorts of excellent books in tin cans, tightly soldered, and so constructed u t0 n(Jt easily, and to set them adrift In the river In the hope that they will be picked tip by the residents of the many islands at the mouth of tbe river, who are not kept In close touch with culture, or else by sailors. He thinks the pe culiarity of the way In which the books reach the readers help to secure for them a readlng.-Boston Herald. Idtmaa. Litmus paper, much used in chemis try, is produced from lichens, which grow on the shores of the Mediter ranean. The llcboti are ground, moist ened and treated with potash, lime and ammonia aud converted Into dough. It Is then fermented, and afterward mixed with plaster of pari, and dried and pressed, "And the new man began Jones "What of blmr snapped Mr Jones "Well, I'm afraid tbe feminine trait will go (o him, the condlUeo be revers ed, and " "Jones, what do you mean?" "Oh, that man will be embar rassed, bashful, ssbamed In the pres ence of woman " "Good heavens! He ought to be aowP-Clcveland Plain Dealer. Tbe man who carrlea a autgte Stat Is accounted bow of worth j But la early days old Atlas was