EDUCATIONALCOLUMN
NOTES ABOUT SCHOOLS AND
THEIR MANAGEMENT.
Hew Great Amount of Annoy nee
Mar Be Prevented The Hchoolhouae
mm a Teacher Country School Should
Have Scrap Hooka.
A mm i k n i n x Letwonft,
A great amount of annoyance to both
teacher and pupil way be prelected by
osing great care in the matter of as
signing lessons. The work given to
young pupils to prepare for recitation
should be simply a reproduction of
the work done by the clans while the
teacher was "assigning the lesson,"
or in other words, studying with ber
pupils. For more advanced pupils it
should be memorizing that which they
already understand, or working out
problems which will put Into opera
tion the principles and rules already ;
learned. "As the twig Is bent the tree
Is Inclined," is surely true in school
life. A definition learned before it is
understood may cause an almost per
manent bend In the wrong direction.
I have seen a boy, who had been ab
netit when the lesson was assigned to i
the class, told to commit to memory '
such and such things, and then cen
sured because he did not reroemlier
the order of the words In the answer
which meant nothing to him. Take,
for example, the first definitions in the
ordinary geography Maury's Manual,
for Instance. Tell pupils to memorize
them without any previous talk upon
them, and see what a miserable result
will follow, If you try to cave tnem
tell you what is meant by that which
you have compelled some of them to
learn, and also notice how few will
have assigned, I. e., give you the word
as It really is.
I do not forget that It Is thought we
are after and therefore thought should
be the body; but, teachers, don't neg
lect to clothe it in the best raiment pos
sible. It is quite right, In fact it is
very desirable, to have the student
give you the thought in his own words,
but then I would have you impress
upon him the Idea that writers who
.have spent years of study upon the
subject are better prepared to express
the thought than any student can le,
. and, therefore, it is very desirable tlmt
they commit to memory the better ex
pression prepared for them. Don't
be discouraged if you find parents com
ing to you and trying to impress upon
you that their children knew the def
initions, only they could not "give it
Just as it was in the book." If you are
sure that the pupil understands what
he has to memorize, insist upon it. Kv
ery thought well expressed paves the
way for the next and in recitations in
sist that the expression be well form
ed. Are you assigning a lesson in spell
ing? That is merely memory work
with the greater part of the class; but
try to teach them to train the eyes as
well as the mind. I found that having
the words written by the pupil was a
great help, and with poor spellers I
.have requested that they bring to the
next recitation each word written five
times. This I have found" to be an
excellent home task for the poor spell
er, as in this way lie is compelled lo
give proper attention to the lesson,
and in a few mouths I have always
noticed a decided improvement. He
member, this applies only to the pupil
who usually h;is a poor spelling les
son. Have him bring in the paper for
two weeks, then try him for a time,
and as soon as he shows signs of neg
lect in preparing renew the demand for
wntten work. Say to lilm pleasantly:
"Well, John, perhaps yon cannot mem
orize, but you can write." He will see
the Justice, and that lie may avoid
writing, he will memorize.
In mathematics always be reason
ably sure they can do the work as
signed. Let them do addition one
day more for task work, nnless you
are certain they can do subtraction.
A few moments taken at the close of
the school for giving one example sim
ilar to the work assigned will often
help in home or task work. Don't
assign heavy tasks, for by so doing you
only multiply work for yourself.
Would space permit, I might meniion
many devices for making home task
Interesting, but each teacher can find
plenty of her own, if she will occa
sionally assign herself the task. Nor
mal Instructor.
The Teacher' Personality.
The teacher with a winning, pleasant
personality possesses a strong ally In
her school work. I'upils are quick to
perceive and appreciate a teacher's per
sonal attractions. Refractory pupils
succumb to the power of personal in
fluenee when compulsion fails.
A teacher's personality is a subtle
combination of manner, speech, ap
pearanceher individuality. 1 visited
a school where a lady teacher of rare
ability presided. Her power over the
school was like witchery. Her boys
adored her. She was a loving compan
Ion with the girls. The little children
trusted her like a mother.
I made this teacher a study. I tried
to find ber great power. She was not
pretty, but her countenance was light
ed by a sweet, animated expression,
She was not flnely dressed, but her
clothing was the perfection of neMtu"?
and tatp. Her linlr was always be
comlngly and prettily arranged; her
manner was frank and friendly; her
voice sympathetic. - She was a living
iaaplratlon to ber school. I heard a loy,
oBe of ber pupils, say, "I would rather
"' Iteva any other teacher whip me than
to bare a word of reproof from Miss
Daring toe noon hour she remained
at bar school, aa did moat of ber schol
ars, gad aba took this occasion to learn
tko lnar Urea of ber pupils by rnlng
Kag with tbem In friendly Intercourse;
If sating htr dinner with tbeni In the
taste of a tre. By ber hearty klnd-
ness she made all feel that she had a
special regard for tiw welfare of ecb
of them.
The teacher who does not value the
Importance of her personality suffi
ciently to be neat in dress can hardly
hope to secure her pupils" respect.
Whenever teachers appear in the
school room with elbow out, with soil
ed dress fronts, buttons missing from
her shoes, hair slovenly, etc., so that
pupils make the teacher's untidiness a
subject of common remark then more
than a hint should be given them.
With no one does an attractive man
ner and neat external appearance have
greater power than with the teacher,
for the children are much influenced by
these things. School Education.
rcrap-Book Making,
Few are the schools in rural dis
tricts that are supplied with any kind
of reference hooks.
A very useful book can be compiled
by teacher and pupils.
A scrap book can be bought for a
small amount, or one made of cambric.
with board covers, and the leaves filled
with historical and geographical sketch
es, anecdotes and biographies of emi
nent men, notes on travel and descrip
tions of natural curiosities.
In my school was a large class of well
advanced pupils who became much In
terested In gleaning from all classes of
papers such extracts as were suitable.
As the articles were brought, they were
placed In envelopes properly labeled,
and were pasted In the book when quite
a collection was on hand.
An Index neatly written on first page
aids In finding the subject to be re
ferred to.
All articles should be placed in their
proper departments and blank pages
should be left for future use, so that
sketches and extracts brought In later
can be put under their correct head.
Interesting facts about plants and an
imals, pictures and s-enery and persons
of note, all found a place in our "En
cyclopedia."
Pupils will take more Interest in this
book of their own manufacture, and
refer to it more than they would to a
whole set of Encyclopediae. The Pub
lic Schools.
A Superintendent' Not to Teacher.
Teachers: The following are some of
the good points discussed at our last
grade and general meetings. Let us see
if we cannot establish at least as many
In our meetings this week. Come thor
oughly prepared In all of the work:
1. No one can consciously follow the
direction of another and succeed.
2. That widen best defines a man Is
not what he Is, but what he Is trying
to become.
3. All "realities" must exist first nt
idealities."
4. The teacher must "think" herself
into a knowledge of the art and science
of Instruction.
5. Education is "eonditloned" by the
fact of self-consciousness.
C. Life is not the absence of wrong
doing It Is a noble effort.
7. Intellect is necessary to the high
est moral actions.
8. The function of moral Instruction
Is to clinch the good habits. CJeo. I.
Miller, In Iowa Schools.
Kemember
That good use of language comes, -
From much practice.
From knowing what one wishes to
say or write.
From a desire to say It well.
From having an object In saying it.
From noting how good talkers say
things.
From keeping the eyes open.
From keeping the mouth shut wnen
there is nothing to say.
Kdncational Intelligence.
The Chicago School Board had the
Cook County normal schools offered to
them by the Connty Board of Eduea
tion; it costs $3),000 a year to maiiitaiu
It: of this the city now pays $0,000. It
was decided to accept the offer.
State Supt. Sabln, of Iowa, has divid
ed the Committee on Rural Schools, of
which he is chairman, appointed by the
National Council of Education, into
four sections with the following topics
for study: Schools maintenance; super
vision; supply of teachers; instruction
and discipline. He has outlined a series
of topics under each bend, which prom
ises a valuable study of this important
subject.
During the past year a new depart
ment has been added to the Haskell
Institute, Lawrence, Kan., namely, the
commercial department, making his
one of the most complete institutions of
its kind to be found anywhere. 1 In
establishment of this depart merit and
the increased attendance in the norm.tl
department, established a year before
it, has brought to this institute a large
number of advanced students.
The Northwest has another State In
stitution in the form of the new Idaho
State Normal School, located at Lew
lston. The institution logins work on
a solid basis. It not only has a splendid
building, fully equipped with lalora
torte. libraries, spacious recltatiou
halls and an auditorium with a seating
capacity of 700 people, but it Is fully
endowed with 500.000 acres of timber
land, nil very valuable. The school was
first opened with an enrollment of fifty
two.
Notwithstanding the fact that Chi
cago built eleven school houses last
year and rents 213 rooms In private
dwellings for school purposes, 11,000
or 12,000 children are deprived of school
accommodations. The city superl n
tendent of schools says that twenty
buildings of average capacity are need
d. These figures, however, do not
rover the Inadequacy of aecommoda
tion, for many thousands of children
In the first grade attend school only
part of the day, their places being
taken by others for the second sesaiop.
No doubt the number of children re
celvlng partial Instruction lo greater
area than those who do not attend
school at Sll.
THE WAYS OF THE MONKEY.
The Comical Little Critter Make Lota
of Trooble.
"Speaking of monkeys, " said the old
showman, "we had tbout thirty of
tbem once in a big tage with a shelf
abmg each side, up nigh, for them to
Us on, and a little dead tree with the
euils of the branches sawed off stand
ing la the middle for them to climb up
to the shelves by, and to hang on to by
their tails if they wanted to. One day
we set in on the bottom of the cage a
champagne bottle filled with very high
ly fermented root beer, and with the
cork held in with a cord tied with a
bow knot.
"The monkeys got upon the shelve
and up In the stumpy tree and looked
down on this bottle very suspiciously;
finally their curiosity got the better of
them, and they came down and moved
around the Ixtttle to Inspect it At last
they got near enough to touch it and
handle it, and finally they upset it on
Its side. Then one of the monkeys be
gan pulling on the string, with the rest
all clustered around. At last he pulled
the knot loose, anil bang went the cork
and away went the lieer.
The first rush ((f it knocked over
three or four of the monkeys uearest
the muzzle of the bottle, and It drench
ed half a dozen of them and wet all of
them more or less, fir it went through
the bunch of monkeys like a puff of
smoke.spatteringand flying In all direc
tion. An instant later the monkeys
were up the tree and lying along on
the shelves; there was nothing left on
the floor of the cage but the empty
bottle.
A number of time after that we st
bottles of beer out In the sun to ferment.
and then set them in the cage, but the
monkeys never would touch them. We
could set the bottles In, but we couldn't
make the monkeys pull the string.
There was a lady standing In front
of the cage one day who had on a hat
with a big bunch of red cherries and a
lot of flowers on the top of it. A mon
key reached through the bars and grab
bed the cherries. The lady pulled back,
but the monkey held on and pulled the
hat off and tried to drag It through the
bars Into the cage. Three or four other
visitors standing near mshed up and
grabled the hat, and they pulled one
way while the monkey pulled the other.
They flually got the hat away from the
monkey and returned It to the lady
The cherries were attout all gone, and
what there was left of the rest of the
hat really wasn't of much account. The
ladv said she would have to lie paid
for the hat, and she made for the Isix
office.
'Why. certainly,' said the man In
the box office. "How much do you val
ue the hat?'
' 'Five dollars,' the lady said, and the
box office man handed out the money.
The lady smiled; she was evidently
pleased. 'I didn't really expect you
would pay for it,' she said, and she
turned to go away.
' 'Madam,' said the man In the lox
office, and the mdy turned around.
"We'll take the hat now, if you
please.
" 'What" said the lady.
"'The hat, if you please,' said the
box office man. 'We've paid for It, and
we would like to have it-"
"Of course, the lady couldn't go away
without a hat, and the upshot of It was
that she returned the $5 and wnt
away with the hat.
"Standing In front of the cage one
day was a man who had on a ialr of
gold spectacles. A monkey reached
through and took the spectacles off the
man's now. The man was greatly sur
prised at this, but be was a great deiil
more surprised when he s:iw the mon
key, still standing close by him. push
the glasses out of the frame and put
them in his month and stow them
away, one In each cheek, and rlieu pro
ceed to twist the frames up, like s
much wire, into a small bunch. One
of our men went Into the cage and
choked the monkey until he gut the
glasses out of his month, and then he
got the frame away from him and we
returned them to ttie owner. Of course,
tlipy were not of much use to him in
that shape, but It was the best we could
do." New York Sum
Appalling Facta.
At the great naval battle oft" the Valu
River last year the Chinese Ironclad
battle-ship, Chen Yuen, was command
ed by an American, named Philo Me.
Griff en, a graduate of the Naval Acad
emy at Annapolis. Capt. McOriffcu.
who has but lately recovered In part
from Injuries received lu this already
historic battle, gives many strikingly
interesting details Illustrative of the
terrible nature of a modern naval en
gagement between iron-elads. lu a re
cent conversation he said:
"You can form little conception of the
awful character of battle inside armor
plated steam-vessels, where space and
air are necessarily much restricted and
eonftned. The din made by the impact
of benvy projectiles against the thick
metal sides is frightful beyond descrip
tion, and seems to shake one's very life.
I wore cotton in both ears, but am still
somewhat deaf.
MAs the Japanese war-ships were
faster than the Chen Yuen, we made all
steam possible to secure speed for our
evolutions. From being so closely shut
the engine-room snd fire-room became
Intolerably hot; yet the engineer and
stokers stuck to their posts, even after
the temperature rose to 200 degrees
Fahrenheit! The skin of their hands
and arms wns actually roasted, anil
nearly every man became blind from
the searing of the outer membrane of
the eye.
"One of the enemy's rapid-fire gnu-
shells struck an open gun-shield early
In the fight, and glanced down through
the port; seven gunners were killed and
fifteen disabled by that one projectile,
"Very soon I noticed that the Maxim
gun up In the foretop on our military
mast wns silent, and sa
m "TV pNii a "St!
saw a hole In tlttf V.-otker,
It After the boM. .4 V
lx men statloafntlK'ha
lend. KbocklniV Vf .l'l,m' "
srmor-platliigsrottud
tie the offlcef and six
there were found dead
mangled, all destroyed by a single shell
from a rapid-fire gun.
"Late In the action, after my hair had
been burned off and my eyes so impair,
ed by Injected blood that I could see out
of but one of them, and then only by
lifting the lid with my fingers. It be
came necessary for me to observe for
myself the position at the enemy's
ships. As I groped my way around the
protected dex-k, with one hand on the In
side of the armor-plating, a hundred
pound shell struck and came through it
about a foot and a half from where my
hand rented.
"In an instant my hand was so burnt
that much of the skin stuck to the metal
plate from the suddi u heat engendered
by the blow. I was not aware that any
fragment of the shell or armor struck
me, but my clothing was rent to tatters
by the detonation or concussion, as It
seemed."
('apt. Metirirhen adds: "Ik-spite much
which has been said of the cowardice
of the Chinese soldiers and sailors, I
gladly bear testimony that the most of
my crew aboard the Chen Yuen were as
brave and faithful as is iiosslble for
men to be."
The f'leaure or Giving.
The (Jreat Teacher, who said "It Is
more blessed to give than receive,"
knew that the man of buainess feels .in
Intense pleasure in making money. He
also knew that the pleasure, though
both Intellectual and emotional, has tin
relation to man's higher nature. It is
made up of the satisfaction of success,
the consciousness of power, the Joy of
outstripping rivals, and the delight of
"heaping up riches." But there Is not
a spiritual thrill In the process, from the
investment of the first dollar to the
clipping of thousands of coupons. The
following anecdote cou..rms the Mas
ter's maxim:
At a dinner party lu Baltimore many
years ago, at which were present among
tue guitrts (Jeorge Pea body anil Johns
Hopkins, some one inquired:
"Which did you enjoy most, Mr. Pea
body, making your money or giving it
away?"
"Well," answered Mr. Peolody, slow
ly, and Johns Hopkins was oterved to
be deeply interested In the answer, "I
enjoyed making mouey. I think It Is
a great pleasure to make money. And
when the idea was first suggested to
me that I should give money away. It
did not please roe at all. In fact, it dis
tressed me. But I thought the matter
over, and concluded I'd try It on a small
scale.
"So I built the first of the model tene
ment houses In Iuidon. It was a hard
pull; but after It wits done I went
around among the poor people llvinj;
In the rooms, so clean and comfortable,
and I had quite a new feeling. 1 en
joyed it very much. So 1 guve some
more, and the feeling Increased. And
now I cau truly nay that, much ns 1
enjoyed making money, I enjoyed giv
ing It away a great deal Inner."
It' would be a gratification to know
whether this answer suggested to Mr,
Hopkins the endowment of the John
Hopkins T uSverslty.
lie Wanted the IWst.
A little story, which emphasise t Is-
fact that there Is a great deal of human
nature where one would scarcely expect
to discover it, is told of an old Quaker.
Many years ago, when church orgs us
were regarded with disfavor by many
people. It was protmsed to Introduce one
Into a New England meeting house, one
of the pillars of which was an old man
of Quaker blood.
He was one of the most violent op
ponents to the plan, ami expressed tus
views so strongly that the person who
was collecting money for the organ,
when It was at last decided to have It,
did not venture to call upon the old
(junker for a subscription.
He met him on the street one day.
and was greatly surprised when the old
man took out a substantial-looking wal
let, ami presented him with a mont gen
eroussum to add to his collection.
"Why." stammered the young man,
I I am greatly oblige!, sir; but I
hardly thought you would care to lie
asked to contribute."
"My ion," said the Quaker, with n
suspicion of a twinkle in his serious
eye, "if thee will worship the Lord by
machinery. I would like thee to have
a first-rate Instrument."
Killed by Spider s Bite.
Harry .Moon1, a well-known Mary
land farmer, living near Itedd's Corner.
Prince Oeorge County, Md., was bitten
by a spider on Wednesday morning and
died veslerday from the effects of the
bite. Wednesday morning Moore was
at his woodpile collecting wood. A
large spider ran across his hands and
ran Inside his clothes. Moore fell the
sharp stli:g. but nothing was thought of
It nt the time. Soon after the flesh
around the bite began to swell and Dr.
Warren was called In. He could do
nothing, however, and the spelling ex
tended until early yesterday morning,
when death resulted. Moore wns over
to years of age.- Exchange,
Only Twof Them Iefl.
With the exception of Morrill, of
Vermont, and Shermnu,,of Ohio, the
great men with whom Mr. Thurnmu
was associated In the Semite have pass
ed sway. Ills death recalls the giants
with whom he served. Sumner, Wade.
Wilson, Trumbull, Conkllng, Seward
and the long line of American states
men with whose name Mr. Thurman's
Is written nt the head of the proudest
epoch In the history of the I'nlted
StHtes Senate,
. Count Tolaloi on a W heel.
Count I-eo Tolstoi, the 'unions Itnc
slnn author. Is an enthusiastic bicy
( list. So great a devotee of the wheel
has he liccome that his daughters, fear
ing thst the strain will prove too m -ch
for blm, have also purchased whiels
id accompany him on his trips I look
r-r gain, joisioi is now m and lu a
res himself, people sny
nd hides his mcuuuca.
JOE WHITE'S TOOTHACHE.
Aa4
How It Waa Cared
by Jia
Huaton.
"Gentlemen," said Judge Hoke, as he
rapped on the table with the butt of an
old six-shooter used as a paper weight,
"this yere court hex bin dooly elected
a court In and fur the town of Sandy
Bend, and fur as much of the surround
In' kentry as yearns fur Justice. I
hain't got but a few words to say
about it, but the calibre of them words
Is 40 to the pound! This yere court
kin read print at a putty fa'r gait. He
kin make out most "oris of writlu".
What he lacks on spellln' be will make
upln dealln' out Jestice. When he's
over in the Red Moss saloon, which Is
by fur the best one in Sandy Bend,
he kin be patted on the back and yelled
at by most any sort of a critter. When
he's yere as a court It must be hats off
and no foolln'. We've wanted law out
yere, and now we've got it. I'm a-goin'
to gin It to you in bunks and chunks
and 16 shots without stoppln' to re
load! Tbem as gulps down my legal
decishuns and make no kick kin cum
agin fur more, but them as wants an
appeal and a row will hev to draw
quicker and shoot faster than I kin.
"The fust case on the caret is that
of Joe White versus that long-shanked
Jim Huston. Joe White sots out on his
broncho from Star Rancbe to find some
stray hosses, and arter purceedin' as
fur as B'ar creek he ar suddenly Jump
ed by Jumpin' toothache. He gita down
and yells and whoops and jumps on bis
hat, but the ache grows wuss. He
walks around and paws and bellers,
but he can't get away from It He ar
rip-roarin' around thar when Jim Hus
ton ouma along on his cayuse from
Steer Holler and sees a sufferin' feller
critter and checks up and sez:
"'Stranger, whar ar your iicrtlckler
dyin' agony ?
" The jumpin' toothache! sez Joe.
as he rips up the sile of Cow Valley.
" 'Hev you dooly ripped and cussed''
" T hev."
"'Hev you jimmied on yer hat and
whooped?
" 'Fur sure.
'"And ye'll be found dead if some
body don't jump the jumpin' toothache
what jumped you?
" T will and be durned to you." howls
Joe, as he tries to drive hlsself into the
alrth.
"Now, gentlemen," said the Judge,
"thar's the sltuashun. It's an appealln'
sltuashun. It ar calkerlated to loosen
the heart-strings and tech tender
chords. Jim Huston ar' a sympathetic
kuss by nater, and when he witnessed
the dyln' agonies of a feller-critter all
the goodness In his soul rlz up within
him. He pulls his gun; he waits a rnln
it or two fur Joe to get steddy he takes
a sudden squint and pulls the trigger,
and what 1ms happened? Why, Joe
White jumps up and spits out that
Jumpin' tooth and begins to sing fur
joy. Jim Huston has shot It outer his
Jaw! Joe shakes hands and thanks
hint and goes away slngln', but when ho
gits buck to the ranch the boys set
him up to come over yere and demand
justice. He cuius to me and shows the
bullet bole In his cheek and wants Jim
arrested. I send fifteen miles fur Jim.
and he cums lu and not only tells me
the straight story, but has the tooth
In his pocket to prove it. Yere's the
tooth. The ball just lifted it right outer
the Jaw as handsome as you please. If
this yere court could make as handsome
a shot as thut he'd lie a proud man.
"The plaintiff and the defendant hev
each got a lawyer and them lawyers ar'
jere to whoop and boiler and alrn a
fee, but It won't be allowed. What we
want to git at Is Jestice. Jim Huston's
IntenshluH war" tender and Juicy. He
sees a feller critter a-sufferln' dyin'
agonies nn' his sole thought is lo alle
viate the sufferin'. He shoots the
tooth out by the puniest shot I ever
heard of, mid the court Is 1) Jedge of
shooiln', but he makes two mistakes.
He don't figger on the hole in Joe's
cheek anil he don't ealkerlute on whar'
the bullet Is goln' arter flulshln' up
bizness with the tooth. The plaintiff
sez that It went down his throat and he
kin feel It Joggllu' around down thar
as he walks, but If he bus any case at
all It s fur civil damages. If this court
bad a bullet rattliu' around In his liody
he might want damages from some
body and he might not. It would bo
accord in' to how It got tlnir'.
"As I said before, we hain't goin' to
hev no sH)utln' and argufyln' by the
lawyers on this case. The court has
seen the hole III Jim White's cheek and
the tooth thst cum out of his Jaw, and
he's heard the stories of both men. Joe
hsd bin Ju in i mm! by the jumpin' tooth
ache, Jim jumped the tooth. It was
sll done fur his luv of humanity. The
hole in the cheek mid the Jogglln' bullet
wag what might lie called Innercent re
sults. The prisoner will be discharged
from custody without a stain on his
character, but this court would advise
him to restrain his tender feelln's in
the future, and let his feller-critters
blow out tliiir" own grinders 'cording
to thar own iioshuiis. As fur Joe
White, the feller who rlz nil this fuss
without lawful reasons, I'm goln' to
Joggle tlmt joggllu' bullet by HiMkln
hlra pay the costs of the esse, which,
as night as I kin figger. will be fin,
and must lie paid In cash. Thar' bein'
no need to rush the law In this com
munity, the court adjourns herself fur
the day snd kin siiWqueiitly lie found
In the Bed IIoss edifice previously men
shuned ns lcadin' nil others In straight
goods."
Having the Pump,
"I have Just come from 'Mainly
St rout's,' said Mrs. Brown, dropping
wearily Into a chair and fanning henwtlf
with her wide hat "I ain't prepared to
aay 'Mandy Is touched In the head, not
yet but I do say she's certainly odd,"
"How's 'Mandy getting along?" asked
her companion.
"Hard. Wu!t,g along Just the hard
est may possible: It s discouraging try
ing to make her live essy."
"What has sh done now washed
the barn floor?"
"No. Worse. You remem!er when
Jud was here this summer he said It
was a shame for his mother to lift
water out of that old well, and being
as he was a plumber, he spent his wbola
vacation and a good deal of money pip
ing water into the bouse and putting
a pump In the sink. It was just as
handy as could be, and he went off to
the cltv feeling real proud.
"Now I was down there this morning,
and found her lugging water out of the
old well. I talked up smart to her, and
what do you think she said?"
The pause was ostensibly made for
possible conjectures, but In reality to
give weight to the coming statement
"She said she wanted to keep the
brass good and bright on the pump, so
Jud would find it Just as good as new
when he comes home. I lalsired with
her, and talked pretty plain, but I
couldn't turn her; and when we went
into the kitchen, there was the pump
wrapped up in newspapers to keep It
clean. She took them off to show me
how bright she had kept it
I told her It would be a real comfort
to her when she was laid up with a
broken back to know the pump was In
good order; and do you believe It, alio
looked at me as Innocent as a child,
and says, 'Won't It 7 1 couldn't trust
myself to speak, so I Just come off
home. I declare somebody ought to
write to Jud!" And Mrs. Brown began
to work briskly, as If to drown her uu
pleasant reflections.
HORRIBLE TORTURE.
Awful Mode of Death Vlalted Upo
Priaonera tn Morocco.
A traveler who recently was forced to
flee from Fez, Morocco, to Tangier,
describes the horrible manner In which
prisoners are punished in the former
place. The prisoners, twelve In num
iter, were brought into a square and
tied to iron pillars which were fur
nished with rings and chains. Then
from liehlud the Judge's or kadi's bench
the aultuji'B barber entered, with a glit
tering knife held between bis teeth. Ha
was followed by two others carrying
bags and two others, still, with Imskots.
containing rawhide, needles and twins.
The barber with his wife cut four
Slices of flesh from each batid of tha
criminal, cutting down to the bone.
The cavity thus made he filled with
salt from the bags, stuck bis fingers
Into the holes and then tsmnd them up
tightly In rawhide. After that both
arms were chained between bars of Iron
so that it was imisisslble for the pris
oner to bring them together. Irons were
also p,t to the feet, and thus equipped
they were driven to a dungeon, thwe to
rot and die under the most excruciating
pains.
"We liave tried it on a horse, who had
thrown the sultan," wild the barber to
my guide; "he lived three days, and bis
agonies were most satisfactory." These
robbers are expected to enjoy the ra
tion of salt five to six days, getting
plenty of food but no drink during that
time.
Therteplder-Tree.
Doctor Welwltsch, who has recently
explored the country about Cttpe Negro
In Africa, tells of a curious plant called
the spider-tree. It grows on windy
plums. Its stem attaining a diameter of
four feet, although it does not exceed
one foot in height. It puts out two
leaves, each six or eight feet in length,
and these are split by the whiffing of
the wind Into a numlier of stiff, narrow
ribbons, bearing no little resemblance
to the legs of a gigantic spider. This
resemblance becomesstartIlng when a
strong breeze puts the leg-like leaves
Into rapid motion, and the negroes
shivering' exclaim that the great
spider is stniggllng to get loose.
(Jowl Htory If Trne.
A workman In a mlue who played
luise-ball in his time once saved his life
by making a good catch. He was
standing at the bottom of a shaft wait
ing for a bucketful of dynamite-sticks
that were being let down to him. The
bucket was part way down, when ho
saw It strike against some obstruction
and turn partly over. Out fell one of
the sticks. He watched It falling In a
zigzag course a messenger of Instant
death. When It struck the hard bot
tom ttiere would tie a tremendous ex
plosion and a dead miner. But It did
not strike the hard bottom, Like a
player on the bnll -field, the workman
put up his hands and caught the stick.
Is There Water in the Sun?
Professor Janssen, the astronomer,
has recently made a visit to the ob
servatory on the summit of Mont
Blanc, to make sure that the new tele
scope which has leen carried there Is
uninjured. He took the opportunity
to search In the spectrum of the sun for
evidence of water In our great lumin
ary. He found no such evidences. The
very rare and dry air through which
the observation was made, at the top
of the mountain, gives this negative re
sult much value. But it cannot be said
that there Is no water In the sun; only
thst none has yet Wn discovered In Its
constitution.
How Old l This Tree?
An almost perfect cedsr tree was dl
covered burled at a depth of 170 feet
below the surface of the earth near Eu
reka Junction, Wash,, by well diggers
last week. Ijirgs pieces of (he trunk
and branches were taken out, and so
well preserved waa the tree that tbs
grain of the wood waa very plain. The
well was dug through soft aoU and
soapstone and a little basaltic rock near
the surf see.
Smw Wlaooasla Bird.
A new bird has been added to the list
of those found In Wisconsin. It Is
named the scissor tailed flycatcher.