fnm reacca.
Many 'fame In this State have en
tailed more labor than wtus cheerfully
bestowed in piling stones taken from
the land, atone fences being seen for
mile, yet,; right v alongside of these
fences of stone the farmers hare driven
fetlock deep In mud for yea re, when
they cool have need the atones to bel
ter advantage on the roads than in any
other manner, as they were encum
brances. Now that the stone breaker
quickly reduces the stone for the pur
pose, muddy rqada should be covered
with stone. Philadelphia Saturday
Post
Good Boads in Iowa.
Keokuk Gate City: Lee County last
seaaoo began the construction of per
manent road i Improvement with the
macadamizing of tine Main street ex
tension out of Keokuk. The experiment
has proven very satisfactory and the
building of. bard roads will become a
fixed policy. ' The Supervisors of Scott
County are moving in the same direc
tion. The coming year the $23,000 now
In the road fund will be expended in the
improvement of country roads and the
approaches to bridges. The Supervis
ors also contemplate building a stretch
of brick highway, the manufacturers
having offered the brick at cost for that
purpose.
Cyctlets for Good Roads.
Cyclists now seem to be the most
influential class of people in the world.
Legislation in favor of road improve
ment has been successfully promoted in
many of the States, and the free trans
portation of cycles as personal baggage
by railroads has been largely secured,
either through influence brought to bear
upon railroad managers and traffic as
sociations, or by the enactment of laws
making such transportation compul
sory. For Improved roads .Massachu
setts expended $4(0,000 in 1805, $00,
000 In 1S00, and will probably spend
fSOO.UOO during the year 1S97. The
convicts are at work upon the public
roads of North Carolina, and are doing
excellent work at small cost. The na
tional government has shown Its inter
est in the good roads question by issu
ing a bulletin from the agricultural de
partment, showing that muddy high
ways effect an annual loss to the Unai
States of $250,000,000.
The necessity for better roads is uni
versally admitted, and the question has ;
become to be one of finance. The road
tax has Been doing its work ever since
civilization taught mankind how to use
the shovel and hoe. But the road tax
has not made much headway in making
permanent roads. Put a few millions
a. year into Improving the thoroughfares
of a State andin ten years there would
not be a mile of highway legally laid
out In that State but would be convert
ed into a permanent stone road. This
amount would not be a material in
crease of taxation in many of the States
when considered in connection with the
direct lose sustained in the hauling of
farm produce through the mud. There
are times when the demoralized condi
tion of the business of this country may
be traced directly, to bad roads. Strin
gency in the money market may be at
tributed at often to bad roads as to any
other cause. Hard times, dull times,
labor unemployed, fluctuating .prices,
reduced railroad earnings, are often the
results of bad roads. There are cer
tainly arguments sufficient in number
and force to show the benefit of good
roads to every class of people, and
cyclists are keeping up an agitation of
the subject which seems to be Irresisti
ble. Physical (strength.
No war slave chained to the rower's
bench of a Roman galley was more
helpless than he who is lound to his
couch by the cords of 'disease. To at
tain the largest measure of success a
man needs luugs like an ox, a stomach
like an ostriot, .a heart like a stag,
nerves irke a' buffalo, and muscles like
a race horse. We-Uster had a frame
like Hercules. Chiy was tall and stal
wart. Charles James Fox, pronounced
by Burke the most brilliant debater
the world ever saw," and by Walpole
the meteor of Parliament, was a prodi
gy of endurance. After his speech on
the trial of Warren Hastings, which
was long, and to any other man would
have been prostrating, he was seen
bunding the ladifes Into their carriages
and chatting as if he had never known
fatigue.- O'CounelL the Irish orator,
who boasted that he could drive a
coach and six through any act ever
passed by Parliament, was a giant and
an athlete. He it was thai called Wel
lington a stunted corporal But there
wax do point to that sarcasm. Welling
ton was only of middle size, but he
was called the Iron Duke.
Napoleon said thai the first requisite
of good generalship was good health.
Washington was from a boy noted for
his gteagth. A spot Is still shown
near Fredericksburg where It Is said
he flung a stone across the Rappahan
nock Rlrer. Logan, the greatest vol
anteer soldier of the rebellion, had the
complexion of an Indian and the eye
ef an eagle. lie bad also the strength
and saiarance of an Indian as well as
tte ambition ot the eagle. Pascal says
ttat tbe natural state of the Christian
la dlaetif. , Jfint Oat is Maspbemy
tr-t p nature of tainga. Big, bur
fy U ir yr0 a ttaaa angina under a
yMr, eri tsah in stature,
r tii wutoaaa of aick-2r-tlnpa
otdta-
v ) 6 a a tax
One must make the most of the phy
sical stuff that nature gives him.
Cicero found that his stomach was par
alyzing his brain, heart, and vocal
chords, lie find to Greece and jjut
himself in training In tho gymnasium.
In two years he returned with thews
of steel and voice of thunder.
With all thy gettings, first get
strength. It adds no strength to the
tired beat to drive the spur into his
sides. Stimulants are but spurs to
prick the jaded body to greater exer
tions. No man can climb to the ton
on a coffee urn. or float upon the fumes Comrades in the Western Society of
of wine. Quinine will onlr twist hislthe Army of tne Potomac met in the
limbs and twist hi brain so that, he
cannot climb. Gluttony Is a foe to sue- UM-agof recently, for the regular quar
cess. Pie has been the cause of many. I terly meeting of the society. The ln
a man's failure. Lack of sufficient ! .erest centered in a paper read by Col-
sleep will sooner or later san a man's
vitality. Exercise means appetite ant'
strength.
What a Woman Can Do.
"I do as much traveling as the next
man," said the drummer whose terri
tory covers the principal States in the
Union, "and I never ride on a scalp
er's ticket. It is not a matter of con
science with me, but I had an expe
rience that closed me out in that line
of business.
"It happened Just after one of the
national conventions, when thousand
of people were getting back East.
Through the miscarriage of a check I
was short, and at Chicago I bought
transportation of a scalper to Detroit
When I went to the depot it was to
find a long line working Its way past
the ticket office, and I'm satisfied that
SO per cent, of them had mileage tick
ets originally purchase of some one
else. Right ahead of nie was a pretty
lady. Three busy detectives were iu
forming the holders of scalpers' tick
ets that to sign any name but their
own would be forgery, arid that the
company would prosecute every such
offender. Speaking after the mannei
of men, that little woman never turned
a hair. With the pen In a -kid glove
that hid a plump hand which nevef
trembled, she siened a lonz German
name, smllms-lv assm-wl th nwnt thut
it was her own name, and passed : Gettysburg In the early morning of
through the gate. Her supreme uenVJu!j' 2' wlth lem th!in 10'"" rn'n ln
carried her through. A woman can do Its los during the two days
such thintr ' ' uy - an(l 3, was 4.001 men and 340
"I had traveled miles to every vard ' 'nifcloM d officers, of which nuin
she had ever traveled. The name , only auS were reported miss ng
-o t ( , . ' The two brigades of Hays' division
ivi mftu il.iu uutr lt-Lu-r wuere uern
had four. The agent made one pro
test, and I weakened. The detective
grinned at me, I went Iwick to tho
scalper, told him my story and received
$1. All the profit he had was f 0 and
the ticket back again. He made me
think he was a generous fellow at that.
It took me two days to get on the road
again, and from that time to this I
have dealt with regular ticket agents."
Detroit Free Press.
Pitched Too High. !
Singers know how hard It is to sins
with proper effect when tones a re pitch-
ed too high; and they frequently com
plain that many of the old tunes are
written so high that they cannot be
sung. The real trouble is this: The En
glish "concert tri-tch" is half a tone
higher than the "French pitch" of the
continent, and dates back to the re
pair of the Westminster Abbey organ
in 1821, for the coronation of Georg
ly ,
"This raise of pitch hJis." says an En-
glish writer, "destroyed by overstrain
thousands of young English voices and
uas i or years law a neavy tax on or-,
ehestras which were compelled to have'
two sets of instruments when they
were to work with foreigners. Now
that the Philharmonic Society has
adopted the French pitch, the confu-
sion in London Is said to be indcsorlb-
able; but it would cost so much to alter
the instruments of the military bands
that the war office has refused to au
thorize the change."
It will be seen, therefore, that tunes
written before 1821, were written to be
played on lnstnimnti keyed lower
than the present pitch, and that in low
ering the pitch to met4 the needs of
the voice, persons are fiimply singing
the tunes as they were written, and as
It was Intended that they should be
sung. Piano makers, reaching after
brilliant effects, have carried the pitch
up so high that the human voice can-
rw,- enfnlif , ! 1 , , T. C I .
,u ,w .r nwu-umenifl,
now lly nav" Kt P were they' in tne Century General Horace Por
have hard work to get down again to ter"s "Campaigning with Grant" deals
the natural compass of the human with the "Siege of Petersburg and
volcc.-The Christian. j R,Mn ou Washington." General Por-
' '-Farmers in Japan. . ter relates the following anecdote of
Japan Is one vast garden, and as you trallt:
look over the fields you can Imagine
that they are covered with toy farms
where the children are playing with
the laws of nature and raising samples lrom 8 P"1"1 UiL JU,m's 10 a on
of different kind of vegetables and tLa APPolnatt0X Rlv('r- A '"aH ff in
grains. Everything bona diminutive rison had bppn tuUdl tor its de
scale, and the work Is as fine and ac-i feut"?1 flnd tbe ""''""mding officer,
curate as that am.liwl to n r ii,.n I wishing to do something that would
vase. hat would an Illinois or an
Iowa farmer think of planting his corn,
wheat, oats and barley Jn bunches and
then, when It is three or four Inches
hlgh, transplanting every spear of It on miuuurT a m oi.ssiui ignor
in rows about as far apart as you can I flnoe th fa! that ,t0 tbe l'D tne
stretch your fingew? A Jan-nose far-' PP"n of nt'isic was a lacking
mer weeds his wheat fields Just aa a
Connecticut farmer weeds his onion
bed, and cultivates his potatoes and
barley with as much care as a Long
Island fanner bestows on his aspara
gus and mushrooms or bis flowers.
The Sort of Man.
"I'll bet that man down there In the
corner near the door eats his pie with
a knife."
"Whyr
"You see be Is nslng a finger to cut
tbe pages of bis magaxlnc." Cleveland
Leader.
Only AltaraatlT.
"Hubby, what la the deuce did jam
mean by totting that note I endors'
ttip yws go prntatT
'"Why, dmm, tbat wm ft other wai
I patJ tba tfc&"-4atrott Fit
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the Rebellion Tell of
Whistling Bullets, Bright Bayonets,
Bnrstinic bombs, Bloody Hat ties.
Camp Fire, Festive lings. Etc., Etc
Deeds Ione at Gettysburg.
j ''!ubroom of ,Le Sherman House, In
' "ei iuompson. entitled A Scrap
of Gettysburg." As scenes in the mem
orable battle were recalled the veter
ans glowed with enthusiasm. Colonel
Thompson was presented by the chair
man as a member of the society and a
soldier in the Twelfth New Jersey vol
unteers. He was in Colonel Thomas A.
Kmythe's brigade of General Alexander
Hays' division of the second corps. He
held the rank of captain, but was act
ing major of the regiment during the
battle, ne gave a vivid portrayal of
the events which occurred before his
eyes as the two great armies surged
back and forth. His command was
stationed on the left center, the right of
the division resting on Ziegler's Grove.
He also compared the action of the
two divisions of the Second corps
those of General Hays and General
GlbJxn showing that General Hays'
division, consisting of two brigades
and one regiment, was confronted with
four brigades "of Heth's division and
two brigades of Pender's division,
while General Gibbon's division was
confronted by the three brigades of
Pickett's division.
In relating what was accomplished
by his division he said:
An army or an army corps may suf
fer great loss and yet not accomplish
the task assigned to it. Not so with the
Second corps at Gettysburg what It
i was given to do it did.
It arrived at
were confronted and engaged with four
brigades of Heth'B division and two
brigades of Pender's division. The en
emy left on the field 3..100 stand of
arms. Over 2,000 prisoners and fif
teen battle flags were captured. The
killed and wounded in the six brigades
which confronted Hays' division were
more than double the killed and wound
ed in the three brigades of Pickett. No
enemy crossed the line of Hays' divis
ion excepting as a prisoner of war.
There were many minor incidents
wlllc h occurred during the great battle
bat a interesting. In the cartridge
boxes of the enemy's dead were found
cartridges with England's Tower of
London stamp on them.
The soldier who reached the foremost
point in front of Hays' division was a
"'rdless youth, a mere ly, and next
to him a North Carolina colorbearer. In
death the Iioy still grasped his rifle and ;
the color-bearer his standard.
A Confederate major, terribly wonnd-
(m1 with buckshot, was brought within
the llne' IIe bepwd t0 1:1,(1 llpon
the ground, and, after his pain had
been somewhat relieved by a dose of
morphine, he noticed our division flag,
a blue trefoil on a white field. He
stated that before the column start ed
they were addressed by their officers i
and told that they would have to meet
f,otbinf fn Pennsylvania mill-
tia, and added: "But when we saw that
old clover leaf unfurled we knew what
kind of green militia we had to contend
with." Then, turning his head a Unlet j
his eyes, on which the shadow of death ;
was settling, rested upon the graceful
folds of Old Glory. An expression of
gentle sadness came over his face as he
said: "After all. after all, this la the
glorious old flag."
Colpnel Thompson's paper evoked
great Interest, and he was frequently
interrupted with applause. The paper
was ordered printed ln full, to be pre
served In the archives of the society.
A Disappointed Bandmaster.
Earthworks had been thrown across
the neck of land upon which City Point j
,s loca,(,(1- TWs Intrenched line ran j
afford the getieral-in-chief special de
light, arranged to send the band over
to the heaUcpiarters camp, to play for
him while ho was dining. The garrl-
book.
About the third evening after the
band had begun Its performances, the
general, while sitting at the mess-table,
remarked: "I've noticed that that band
always begins its noise Just about the
time I am sitting down to dinner and
want to talk." I offered to go and
make an effort to suppress It, and see
whether it would obey an order to
"cease firing," and my services were
promptly accepted. Tbe men were
gorgeously nnlformed, and tbe band
see mad to embrace every sort of brass
Instrument ever invented, from a di
minutive cornet-a-piston to a gigantic
donble-baaa born. The performer who '
played tJM latter tnetrument was en
caged wi tela Ma ample twists, and
looked lib a au ataadtaf taatJe tbe
of a wC-lywCX Tk bread-te
4 1 tosMasMCsr wm gmZzt wKk ac
vigor of a quack-medlclne advertise
ment, his eves were riveted uixm the
music, and It was not an easy task to
attract his attention. Like a sperm
whale, hp h.iii come nn to blow, and
was not going to be put down till he had utes to the Century an artiele entltl.-d
finished; but finally he was made to , "The Miracle of the Greek Fire." de
understand that, like the hand-organ icribing a ceremonial ln the Church of
man. he was desired to move on. With
a look of disinheritance on his couuten-
ance, he at hist marched off his band
to its canin
nn n,v return flip eeneral said: "I
fear that band-master's feelings have
been hurt, but I didn't want him to be j Now the time of the miracle ap
wastluir his time upon a person who has proaches. A flame from heaven Is to
no ear for music." A staff-officer re
marked: "Well, general, you were at
least much more considerate than Com
modore , who, the day he came to
take command of his vessel, and was
seated at dinner In the cabin, beard
music on deck, and Immediately sent
for the executive officer, and said to
him: "Have the instruments and men
of that band thrown overboard at
once!"
He Bloktrd Mis Life.
He had worn the gray In the days of
civil strife, and now he was iu gay
New York with thousands of other Con
federates to honor the memory of the
coiiijueror and frieud of the South, Gen.
Grant. Some who wore the blue were
gathered around him as he told the
story. Said he:
"It's the story of a hero well worth
tellin'. It was on May li, a lovely day,
iu 18UL Gen. Grant was after us hot
and heavy; but he struck us at a strong
point, and the stormin' columns were
engaged In a deadly cross-thin'. I'.ulk'ta
whizzed around like snowllakes do In
blizzard tiims in tlu-bc pans. Your
lines melted away under the storm of
musketry, grain; and canister that
swept the interveuiu' space. You didn't
stop to remove jour dead and wounded
from the sinokiu' field. At ouce our
skiruihsb line was thrown out to watch
your movements, and wan located at a
point where the slaughter was most
fearful. Our men had uuMlly dug rifle
pits to protect them from the sure aim
of the Federal sharpshooters, and dead
and dying men were heaped up even
to the edge of those pits.
"In one of the pits were found four
or live members of Company H, First
Uegimeut South Carolina Volunteers.
An ungainly, angular, red-headed lad
was among them. Hu name was John
M. Mcliolls, and he hailed from a little
Carolina town in the beautiful Pied-
uiout licit. The wounded had been
lylu' for hours unattended. The tun
beamed hotter and hotter upon them,
and they were sufferin' terribly from
Pain, loss of blood and thirt Not fif-
teei. feet from the rifle pit protectin'
the South Carolinans lay a mortally
wounded Federal officer.
'"Water, water!' he cried. "Will no ; them that? He would be torn to
one give mi? water? Just one drop, pieces." Intelligent Greek assure you
that's all. I'm dying for want of that It Is a symbol, that "holy fire" Is
water.' : the same thing as "holy water." The
"As the day wore on his cries, Instead j Latins will have nothing to do with
of subsldin', grew more pitiful, and It : this, one of the mwt venerable ccretno
was evident that he was sufferin' more tries and the most apimiliug scandal of
and more. Finally Nlcholis cried, with ; the Christian world.
the tears stream In' down his cheeks:
" T.oys, I can't stnud this any longer.
I'm going to take the inr fellow my
canteen of water.'
"Everjixxly tried to dissuade him. To
show him the danger of this undertak-
in someone stuck u hat on the end of a
ramrod and held it above the pit for an
iiiHtant. Instantly dozens of bullets
from the guns of the Yankee sharp
shooters passed over their heads as a
reminder that the Y'anks were still In
the ring.
"In the meantime the dyln' officer
moaned on. 'Water, water. Just one
drop, somebody, please. Only one tluj
drop.'
"The tender-heart ed boy could not.be
scared out of his determination. After
makin' three unsuccessful attempts he
at lat succeeded ln tiearin' the little
embankment. Once on the other side It
was an easy matter for him to throw
himself flat upon the ground between jor Vienna, are the inventors,
the furrows of the cornfield where the I 11 nitJi of an air-tight India rub
battle had been waged. He crawled ber containing first, a steel bottle
slowly along and got as near to the i holding sixty liters of pure oxygen at a
dyln' man as the protectin' furrows I Pressure of 100 atmospheres, and set
would allow; then, breakin' a stick ion11y. a Rbxss bottle (protected by a
from a sumac bush, he tied his can- I ont' containing 42T) ruble centl-
teen to the end of It and handed it Into j meters of 5 per cent, solution of caustic
the sufferer's hands. Talk about grat-!Boda- J' means of a haudacrew out-
itude! I never heard gratitude ex
pressed as that Federal officer express
ed it. Not a man who heard him had a
dry eye. The boy soldier returned as
he had como, amid a hailstorm of bul
lets. When he reached the edge of the
pit he yelled to his comrades to clear
the track for him, and with a mighty
leap he was among his friends once t
more without so much as a brier two D(m" UpH (one a sguare one),
scratch to call to bis mind his heroic I After strapping the apparatus on to
act. Tbat was the kindest and bravest ! "lH chest, the user lets some oxygen in
deed I saw durln' the whole war. It 10 ,,,e ,aK, breaks the caustic soda
was no act of Impulse, but a deliberate- 'K'tle, takes the mouthpiece Itctwec.n
ly calculated risk of his own life to ul "l and put on a nose clip, so as
give aid and succor to his enemy." i
A Btnrr of the Peterannre; Mine.
General Horace Porter tells the fol
lowing anecdote of the explosion of the
Petersburg mine ln his "Campaigning
with Grant." In the Century: A sur
geon told us a story, one of the many
echoes of the mine affair, about a pris
oner who bad been dug out of the crater
and carried to one of our field hospitals.
Although his eyes were bunged and
bis face covered with bruises, he was
in an astonishingly amiable frame of
mind, and looked like a pugilistic hero
of the prize-ring coming up smiling In
the twenty-seventh round. He said:
"I'll Jest bet you tbat after this I'll be
th! most unpopular man In my real,
ment. Yon see, I appeared to get start
ed a little earlier than tbe other boy
that bad taken pases with me aboard
tbat volcano; and Ml waa oomin' down
I met tbe rest of iem s-goia p, and
they looked se If they bad Had
sou red on me, and yelled after ma.
1tnggltr n " -
ft tbe Heariati rfy.Wftj;
J&a wheat fly Mi tbe wHtf txtx '
GREEK FIRE.
Ceremonial in Jerusalem that
Mr. Richard Watnou Glider contrib
the Holy Scpulcher at Jerusalem on the
Saturday before Eater Sunday. The
j' attention that is now directed towards
the Greek church by ev-nts in the Last
1 elves this a special timeliness. Mr.
Glider says:
1A WAr,rtitiii!,.Mt.wl til ttlU f.V!iV-tttt
world. As a preliminary to this sa
rred manifestation tlM-re Is a new, wild
outburst of cries and screams. We are
told that It is the Jerusalem worship
ers, who pound with their fists their
fellow-Chrititiaus of Jaffa, and drag
and jerk them away one by one from
the window where the celestial fire is
to appear,
The noLse swells like a tempest. A
burst of sound- the clanging of bells
and stricken U-irs of metal! A flash
at the Greek window. The fire has
come! One wild rush, one hlgh-pitch-
pd, multitudinous scream, still the ex
cited clanging, and out sprlugs tin
light over the frantic human mass
leaping from band to hand, as If each
flame were' lightning and music
Around and up and over and through,
till flame Is added to flame, spreading
from candle to candle, and floor to gal
lerv. Now a priest appears on the roof
i of the Sepulcher Itself, and tbe flame
runs round the top like a crown of fire
Higher It springs, drawn by a rope up
to the people at the base of the dome.
It illuminates the most distant anil
;luugeon-like vaults, the cliapels above
and luiow, every vantage ground
where the spectators have stood or
crouched on the floor, or in temporary
lodgments in mid-air.
On and ou sounds the clangor and
the shouting; men, women and children
are mad; they pas their hands over
the flame is it not from heaven? how
can it do hurinV and then draw their
hands over their fact, taking the celes
tial touch in ecstatic adoration. Over
a path made dear for the runners from
the window already the fire Is on its
way to the ends of the earth.
The Armenian patriarch declared to
us later, and without hesitancy, that
j the Greek patriaix h simply had a lamp
Ion the tomb projwr, which he blessed.
This kindly old Armenian said to us
tlmt it was not miraculous. It was ru-
riwir.iil Hint , .r.tn I ni.l 1 1 iHulti.r u-na
j told by tin; Greek patriarch that he
i told the people tlmt it was only a sym-
lsl, and not a miracle. I asked the vis
itor whothcr this was true, and was
answer!: "No! How could he tell
j At the lM-ight of the frenzy, as the
: flame leaped through the rotunda and
lighted the encircling cliapels, making
more rich and glittering the altars, the
gorgeous vestments, the whole ecclesi
astical paraphernalia, tin; arms and
uniforms of the troops, nud the many-
colored costumes of the mad and mot
I ley crowd, the thought flashed upon
j me: Was there ever anything ln all
Christendom so Ix-autif id and so blas
phemous?
Purines Poisoned Air.
Firemen who have to enter smoke
and miners who have to breathe after
damp will not need to fear these dan
gers when a recent Viennese Invention
comes to be used by them. It Is called
"pneumatophor," and enables a man to
Inhale uoxioua fume wlih Impunity.
Chevalier de Walcher-Fysdal and Ir.
iOaertner, professor at the University
side the bag, the oxygen can le let Into
the bag at intervals, as rvpdred for
breathing, while tbe turning of anoth
er handscrew breaks the glass bottle
inside and allows the caustic soda to
flow out and be absorbed by the net
work of knitted strips of dimity In the
bag. Then there are an India rubber
breathing tube, with a mouthpiece and
to breathe only through his mouth. lie
inhales pure oxygen, while tlic canstk
soda nbsorlm the carltonlc acid he ex
hales, and thus sets the oxygen free to
be rebreathed. This makes It suffice
for more than half an hour If he Is
moving, and altout an hour and a half
If at rest. New York Press.
Average Length or Hainan l,lfe.
The question, what constitutes a gen
eration? must be admitted toliave dif
ferent answers, according to the coun
try to which it Is aplled. It is calcu
lated by atatlstidaus that about thirty
three years constitute the average term
of human Ufe for all the Inhabitants of
tbe globe, but sune contend that, as a
fourth to a half of, tbe human race die
before reaching the age of 2, tbU aver
age la much loo high. The Inhabitants
of mountain countries, owing, perhaps,
to tbe purity of tbe atmosphere, their
outdoor life and abstemious - habit,
have a higher average than resident
of lowlands, while these (n turn are
longer Bred than tbe Inhabitant, of
Rt, mar-jiy district. Still, however,
en orra were are eratndfctioiia. for
&3(&a.a Jama par f
dwstry Is Mow tbe level of tbe
sen. have a very lnrae -rcvntnge of
ludlvidu-ibt who have attained extrcum
old Rife. It is hKrted by s"me authori
ties tlmt the jn-opli of the rural dis
trict live longer than thoe of cities,
and an argument Is therefore drawn,
to the disadvantage of the latter, al
leging the greater nervous tension and
excitement under which residents la
cities live. The whole .subject, how
ever. Is lxvt with ditiiculties of mich a
character thtt even the professional
statistician are unabW to give a con
clusive answer.
(2ofner
Capt. IHnde's book on the "Fall of
the Congo Aral" la to be published
soon.
When Nansen's puNisbers paid bin
$50,000 for hi !ook they showed a con
fidence that has s!m-e been fully Jus
tified. In a little over a month 40,000
copies of the work were sold.
"Ibsen on His Merits" Is the bold
title of a book lu which Sir Edward It-i
Russell ami Percy Cross Standing are
alwut to examine Into the strange In
fluence of the remote Norwegian dram-
atist over Europe and America.
Audree Hojm (Mrs. Harvey). -whose
name was formerly well known among
British readers of fiction, has written
a story of France and Pllwria which'
she calls "Ivan Alexandrovitch," anil
which she has dedicated to Mr. Glad
stone. Col. Baden -Powell la writing a vol
ume on his recent experiences in ther
war against the Matabele. He was
one of the leading officers engaged Iu
that. African campaign. The Ihjo!; Is to
be embellished with photographs, somej
of them actually taken under Are. He
means to call the volume "Campaigu-J
lng in Rhodesia."
Americans hi England and on the
continent arc hereafter to have a news
paper devoted to the news of Lhetr own
country. Arthur Pearson will start
such a publication, under the title, tho
Daily American. The Indon editor!
says his journal will contain all thij
Information iu the American papers,1
boiled diwu and served fresh.
"Ii es Modern College Education Ed
ucate?" is the Important query started
lu the April Cosmopolitan. Thla is but
the opening paper In a discussion
which Is to be taken part In by Presi
dent (illman, of Johns Hopkins, Presi
dent D wight of Yale, President Schur
man of Cornell, Prs!dent Morton of
Stevens Institute, Prof. Harry Thurs
ton Peck, Bishop Potter, and other dis
tinguished educators of America and
Eurujie. The Otsmopulltan promise a
memorable shaking up of the subjtx-t
of educational methods.
"Quack Itoctora."
Many persons have had their curioH-
ity excited by the term "quack doc
tor," and have wondered what possible
connection there could be between tho
name and the business of a pretentious
but Ignorant physician. It has geaier-
ally been connect! In the popular
iHiicy wwu uie guck, aixi an ex put na
tion made by one linguistic authority
declared that this cla of physicians
talkvl so loudly and persistently of
their nihilities that their boawts resem
bled iwnthlng so much as the juacklng.
of a difcJi. As a matter .of historic fact.
however, the tt-vnn arose In quite an
other way. In both England and this
country the inhabitants of low, marshy
region ltave always been troubled
with fever and ague. In England and
along the AthuitU: coaxt this form of
malaria was formerly termed the
"qiiHkei," and being treated by Ignor
ant persons, sometimes with medlca-
UHiiits of tlwir own preparation, some
times with charms and prayers, tho
name "quake doctor" nrose In connec
tion with this class of practitioners,
and Its corruption into "uimck doctor"
was easy and natural.
Vain of Wild Animals.
The small boy who measures the
standard of (he circus by the number
of Its elephants, Is very nearly rieht
as to method. The paehydertnata pro
boscldea Is the mtit costly animal ln
captivity. African. elephants are now
quoted at from $I,000 to $7,000: au In
dian elephant at about $5,000. Giraffes
are worth alwut the ame price as an
African elephaut on account of their
scarcity, but as the elephant Is the
most popular for exhibition purposes
Its price keeps up. A fine hlpjopota
rnus may be purchased for $3,000, a
big African lion for from $1,000 to $1,
M and a fine lioness for $800 or $000.
Bengal tigers are also worth 80O to
$!00, and camels from $400 to $500
apiece.
Dnttaay Man! go Custom.
Iu Brittany there Is wo. Id to prevail a
curious marriage cumtotn. On certain
fete days the young ladles appear In
red petticoats, wbllp wirtte or yellow
bonier around them. The nutnlK-r of
borders denote the portion the father
is willing to give his daughter. Each
white ban1 denotes silver-100 franca
per annum; each :c)tiw bund .repre
sents gold -a thotmand'f raws a year.
Port neat's Fifty Papers.
There are fewer than fifty newspa
pers published In the entire kingdom of
Portngr-I, the population of, which la
nearly ft.OOO.OOO, or about tbe same aa
that of Pennsylvania, In which tbe to-,
4 Sk I niinritwaeji n nalra.an,.k. .. ..t li a Mtl
was Mu-staawa ui nymyvnt Ul lillHUfKI IM
1,433.
Itltfa't Know It -Doctor
(to page boy) Who waa the
gentleman who cabled just nowf
Page Boy-Hnlth, air.
Doctor Whafs that? Tea should
say Mr. Bmltjx
Page Boy-Fleaaa, air, I didn't know
be waa BartatL-Jady.