HORRORS OF THE
COMING WAR
Washington, D. C Special.) Kvery
-over of peace and progress will hope
ihat the conference at The Hague of
Ihe trusted representatives of the civ
.llzed nation of the world will retult
.n tangible and lasting Improvement of
the sad condition of afTalra with whch
we are all so familiar. The conference
jlscusifes three main lines of improve
ments: First, the diminishing of ar
maments; secondly, the conduct of war
tin more humane lines than has hither,
to been the case; and thirdly, the cre
ation of courts of arbitration for the
?ttlement of International quarrels. If
the men and women who are weighted
with the Intolerable burdens of "armed
peace" were to more fully realize the
incalculable waste which the existing
military system Imposes on them they
would cry halt to the economic ruin
of their country. It Is appalling to
near that In the event of a war be.
tween the dual and triple alliance 15,
WO.OOO armed men would be set In mo
tion, whose dally expense would be $20,
0O,ft"0.
The book which Is stated to have
been the Immediate cause of the meet
ing to bring about the universal peace
4hows plainly the awful effect of a fu
lure great war. The author Is Johann
von Bloch, a Russian high offlcUl, who
nas had access to the Russian minis
tries of war and marine, and has evl
lently been permitted to give publicity
to the valuable statistics and other
material which have been unreservedly
placed at his disposal. For eight
fears M. von Bloch worked at his task,
ind six thick volumes crammed with
ill manner of detail as to the art and
:onduct of war, and the effects of mod
ern war on the nations conducting it,
arc the result of his labors. His dry,
elentlfle method of marshaling his
facts and figures, his freedom emotion
md passion, are as convincing In their
vay as the perfervld appeals to our
Christian and moral feelings which we
ire In the hnblt of hearing from the
smlnsaries of the peace societies.
M. von Bloch begins his work with
in elaborate Inquiry Into the carrying
powers of modern infantry projectile
ind the development of modern rifles
ind explosives. He explains the com
plete revolution which he reveals Is a
terrible tribute to the diabolical Inge
oulty of the human mind. I-t us look
it what the revolution means, using,
for convenience, the European measure,
I. metre being 3.3 feet, a millimetre
0394 Inches. Owing to the high tra
leetory of the old rifles, It was possible
to have clear space frue of danger be
tween the marksman and the object
timed at. but the frightful swiftness of
the newest projectile almost abolished
trajectory, so that nothing the height
of a man can escape until it has reach
ed a distance of 600 metres from the
rifle's mouth.
And Invention In this direction has
cot had Its last word. Experiments
re now being made with a flve-mllll
metre bore rifle, the bullet of which
will not rlfie much more than five feet
from the ground until it has reached a
distance of 1,100 metres. In 1S70, dur
ing the Franco-German war, the bullets
3t the chassepot and newdle guns-were
unable to pierce a human skull at the
distance of 800 meters; the modem
rifles accomplish this at ft distance ex
ceeding 2.000 meter. At the distance of
100 meters the bullet of the modern Ger
man rifle pierces 38 Inches of dry pine
wood, which Is reckoned as equivalent
to five men standing one behind the
other.
Another factor which will make the
wars of the future still more terrible
ia the use of smokeless powder. M.
von Bloch shows that the Introduction
of this explosive will transform the
conduct of war in the field. Formerly
the clouds of smoke marked the posi
tion of the enemy. In future wars his
whereabouts will only be known ap
proximately by the direction from
which the sound of the flriag comes,
and as volley firing cannot hoard clear
ly at a mile's distance, It follows that
a detachment of soldiers may be In
volved In the greatest danger without
knowing In what direction the peril
Ilea. And It will be remembered that
formerly the smoke of battle hid part
of the horror of battle.
The author of thl work on the war
of the future gives special considera
tion to an examination of that terrible
new engine of destruction the small
bore rifle. The most modern of these
devilish weapons will fire 78 shots a
minute. A bore of five millimetres Is
quite common at the present time, but
efforts are being made to reduoe the
bore to four and eventually to three
millimeters. The five-millimeter rifle
has so small a cartridge that the ordi
nary Infantry soldier can carry 270 of
them. During the Russian-Turkish
war the full complement was M. If the
bore Is still further reduced, It will en
able the Infantryman to carry S75 cart
ridges. That Is to say, he will be able
to fire seven times as many shots as
the soldier of twenty years ago, before
he requires to have his cartridge case
replenished. Taking all these points
Into consideration, low trajectory, and
swiftness, smokeless powder, qulck-flr.
Int. and the ability to carry about a
larger supply of ammunition than for
merly, M. von Bloch estimates that the
new rifle which will be used In the war
of the future Is forty times more dead
ly than the German needle gun of W0.
And what does this mean from the
point of view of the national econo
mist. It means that among Inventors
there will be feverish exertions to reach
some degree of finality as to bore and
projectile, and that as soon aa this Is
reached the European power will re
arm their Infantry at a cost of $710.000,.
000. Fom the point of view of the mill,
tary strategist. It means that the per
fection of weapons will enable the con
tending armies to produce so Intense
a fire that they will mutually destroy
one another.
In the same way M. von Bloch dem
onstrates the effect of the artillery of
the future. The use of Improved steel
in the manufacture of cannon enables
the modern heavy gun to be fired with
an explosive four times as powerful aa
that of 1870. In K70 a shell burst Into
19 to 30 fragments. The shells which
will be used, should a Ru rope an war
break out In the future, will burst Into
240 fragments. Shrapnel formerly burst
into 37 fragments; now Into 340. The
old bomb, filled with about two-thirds
of a pound of gunpowder (ordinary)
produced 42 fragments; the same bomb
filled with pyroxillan ia shattered Into
1.204 splinters, and every one of these
splinters is driven with a far greater
force and to a longer distance than was
formerly the case. In 1870 a bursting
bomb was deadly only In the immediate
neighborhood of the point where It
burst. The splinters of a modern shell
fired at a distance of 3.000 yards deal
death and destruction within a circum
ference of 1.200 yards.
No more terrible writing can be im
agined than that in which M. von
Bloch attempts to describe the battltta
of the future. He demonstrates that In
all of those cases where the opposing
forces are approximately etual In
strength and where neither of them has
any special advantage of position, the
Issue of the battle cannot be decided
without awful slaughter. M. von P.looh,
however, Is perfectly convincing In
what he says about the duration at
the battles of the future. Hitherto It
has rarely happened that a great bat
tle has lasted longer than one day. In
the future a battle lasting three or four
days will tie the rule. The reasons are
obvious. All the elements of future
battles are so absolutely unknown.
They will be carried on by ootrteJ
bodies of troops over vast' areas of
ground. There will be strategies and
counter strategies. Artillery may be In
action for two days, and the opoHlog
forces still be Invisible to one another.
And finally the science of field fortifi
cation has been so developed that an
army defending Its position will have
a great advantage over the attacking
force and be able to prolong lihe defense
indefinitely.
The 9cout's Occupation Gone,
The most pitiably cheerless men in
the west today are those who have
elven the greater part of tholr lives to
scouting for the army, and oocaslonally
for a cattle company or a band of min
ers, who have endured a generation of
savage hardships and have braved all
the dangers of the plalns.and now, griz
zled and gray, realize that their occupa
tion Is gone forever.
There are scores of old fellows in the
territories. Several hundred of the
younsrer scouts have become vaqueros,
sheep herders, express messengers and
guards, cattlemen, railroad men, min
ers and prospectors. Electricity and
railroads principally have made scout
ing obsolete, and since the. Apaches in
the southwest and the Sioux in the
northwest have been beatn into peace
ful relations with the white Bottlers
there has been no domand for the serv
ices of the old-time scout In every
town of any size In the west one may
see some of the veteran soouts poor
n nurse, tattered In person oanng
about the saloons, telling vlslotrs from
the east of the glories of the frontier
before civilization and railroads spoiled
it all. and half-heartedly building hopes
of the day when something unexpected
may traiutptre and scouting be called
nto demand again.
Like the knight in the band as Rich
ard the Lion Heart, who thanked Go
he was not a clerk, the true scout of
the western plains has few. If any,
counterparts. Along with the rangers
of Texas he is one of America's most
characteristic and picturesque types. It
Is hard In these days to realize ham
great a part the scouts of the '4Qs aad
'50s Played In the settlement and civil
ization of the plains and the Pacific
coast
The earlier scouts, like KH Carson
and Jim Bridger, were originally trap
pers and hunter, born and reared in
Issouri, Tennessee and Kentncky.who
had a fondness for adventure. They
had pushed their way across the her
der of civilization and had gone upon
the plains of Kansas, Nebraska and
Texas for big game and ewciteoveat
The Mexican war of 1847 and the move
ment of troops through Tnras and on
the Rio Grande brought scouting Into
the army service. When the era of oa
teams and excited gold seekers headed
toward California began In W there
as a great demand for scouts at very
profitable wages. Hundreds of young
mea with a smattering of plain Ufa,
exnertnes in firearms aad a lfttle
knowledge of Indian ways, became pro
fessional scouta
No emigrant train would leave flt.
Joseph, Mo., or Leavenworth Kan., on
Journey of four or frve month to
the Pacific ocean without an aonnm
panylng scout or guide for at least a
nart of the way. As the chain of army
garrisons was extended oxrt upon the
plains the war depart rrv fit employed
more and more scout for the troops.
and scouting became a sort of science
the plains, in which there was ooro-
petition In experience. During the
Apache and Sioux wars in 1STT, 1878
and 17 the government had about MOD
scouta on the army pay rolls.
'Calty" Is still a weight In use In the
treaty ports of China. When the Chi
nese first sold tea to the Europeans
the7 Inclosed It In little lacquer case j
wlileh eacn weignea a "osnu ana in
due time were caiiea tea cauiea, ana
at last via caddies.
AGRICULTURAL.
MIDSUMMER WEED DESTRUCTION
Geo. O. Turner, Hastngs, Neb.: To
eradicate cockleburrs and other weeds
I would take a good sharp plow with
counter and chain, or hook, on same;
plow the ground about four inches deep
and sow to barley or oats. Then I would
plow again and sow to winter wheat
for two or three years in succession
plowing early each time. Tou cannot
kill them with a corn crop.
"Zeb," Eldorado, Kan.: I do not know
of any easier way to eradicate cockle
burrs, eta, than to put your ground In
wheat, rye or oats for two years. Plow
In July; a harrow will do the rest M1U
let would do if you could use so much
hay. It Is that or pull them befor
they ripen their seed, which contains
more back ache than most western
farmers enjoy.
Edwin Snyder, Oskaloosa, Kan.: Mid
summer destruction of weeds Is an im
portant subject A little neglect now
means the seeding of the ground for
perhaps several successive crops. The
earth Is said to be the natural mother
of weeds and the stepmother of useful
plants, and seems to manifest a nat
ural mother's solicitude for her off
spring, and only the foster mother's
afTeotlon for the useful plants, which
causes the farmer constant, anxious
care.
In the Infancy of the human race a
handful of savages had their few
simple wants spontaneously supplied
by the spontaneous productions of the
earth, and on a few tropical Islands a
sparse population Is still enabled to ex
ist without regular systematic work.
A very large part of the farmer's
work In the growing season must neces
sarily be devoted to the destruction of
weeds, In order to protect the growing
crops.
"From early morn to dewey eve" the
warfare must go on or the harvest will
be small or a total failure.
The average farmer looks upon weeds
as a wholly useless and unnecessary
element In the economy of nature.
Nothing grows in vain. I believe
that If all the weeds and so-called use
less plants could be entirely exter
minated the earth would soon become
a barren waste. Barrenness begets it
self. If a piece of land could be kept
entirely free of all growing vegetation
and submitted to the burning sun and
wasting rains It would soon become en
tirely free of all growing vegetation
and absolutely unproductive. The spon
taneous production of weeds Is one of
the wlso provisions In the economy of
nature for the preservation of the fer
tility of the soli. Yet, not only are they
not needed, where growing crops occu
py the ground, but they are fatal If left
unchecked, and the good farmer Is in
constant warfare to hold them is
check.
It is a hundred times easier to kill
young weeds than after they have at
tained considerable growth. If fields
could be given a light cultivation after
each rain weeds would never trouble,
but that Is Impossible In seasons like
this, when continuous rains keep the
farmers out of the fields for ten days
at a time. Midsummer, then, finds our
fields luxuriant with an almost tropical
growth of weeds.
Hoeing is a slow, laborious process,
hut an absolute necessity to rid the
fields of the rampant growing sunflow
erL horse weeds and cockleburrs. It
is too much work to undertake to clean
out crab grass and smaller weeds with
a hoe. I always, every season, go
through my corn field with the , hoe, in
July or August, and cut out cockleburrs
and other coarse weeds. It is the only
effectual way of getting rid of them.
My pastures I always mow In August,
to kill ragweed and the like, which
spring up whore stock Is kept.
I consider the mowing machine and
scythe Indispensable In the midsummer
battle wKh the weed a The trim ap
pearance of the pasture after the mow
Ing pays In looks If nothing else, I
sow rrass seed and clover seed In the
spring without any so-called nurse
crop. The midsummer mowing of this
la a necessity to prevent the weeds
from choking out the tender plants.
Upon the whole I am glad weeds
grow. If they did not we would cer
tainly have no useful plants. Their ex
termination necessitates a careful cul
tivation of growing crops. Their
growth upon waste places does no harm
but holds the fortuity of tho soil for
future useful crops.
Artemus Paul, Luce, Neb.: I suppose
that the question of weed destruction
Is Intended to apply to those varieties
of weeds which do not yield readily to
the ordinary methods of cultivation.
The worst and rnpst common weed of
that kind which we have In this coun
try Is the wild sunflower, which is a
very rapid grower and soon becomes so
firmly rooted that the corn cultivator
wilt not take It out. I have had twen
ty years' experience farming In this
county, and have never had a badly
Infested Held. I find that when yej
fields are once free from these weeds it
Is not difficult to keep them so. I have
a farm of 320 acres to look after, and
I find that one day's work of ten hours
In each year Is sufficient to destroy all
the sunflowers which have come from
seed that has drifted In or have been
transported from adjoining farms. They
should be cut close to the ground when
In blossom with a sharp scythe or core
kalfe. Fields may sometimes be seen
In wbloh tho crop of small grain Is
smothered and rendered worthless by
the dense growth of sunflowers. With
such a field the weeds should be cut
with a mower when In blossom, and
when dry should be raked and burned
to get them out of the way. The ground
should be stirred with the disc harroa
in the fall or early spring, so that al!
seeds lying on the surface may be
covered by the soil and germinate early
In the spring. The ground should ht
plowed some time in May, which will
destroy the young plants, when corn oi
some ether cultivated crop Bhould be
planted on the ground. It Is my ex
perience that sunflowers growing in
the draws on the unbroken prairie will
disappear when the ground Is fenced
and pastured with cattle. Cattle do
aot like these weeds as a steady diet,
but a limited number of the tendei
heads will be eaten with a great relish.
W. M. Settles, St. Paul, Neb.: This is
a very important subject and inter
ests every farmer of the west where
eorn is grown extensively. The cockle
burr has not aot much of a hold in this
part, ae yet but there are some farm
ers who have them. When I bought my
farm six years ago, it was fairly well
seeded with them, but I told my neigh
bors I would clean the farm in three
years, and so I did, to their surprise.
I teil you they are a hard weed to
fight I used every possible means to
get the advantage of them, and with
dry years to help me I have a clean
farm now. I had to pull them all out
of the corn and stubble after harvest
each year, and I go over the farm yet
In search of them. Wild morning glo
ries, sunflowers and sand burrs can be
kill by early afll plowing, say as soon
after harvest as possible, If fall plow
ing Is all right for the crop which will
follow. In these parts it seems that
we have too much wind; our soil blows
away when real dry. If Put to rye It
does all right Rye pays very well most
years, but this year our ryo winter
killed, as also did the winter wheat.
One should mow the road, the fence
line and odd corners about the prem
ises after harvest. I like to see a farm
clean and neatly fixed, but they are few
and far between In this country. It
seems that most of the farmers strike
for town as soon as they have a few
spare momenta, which gives the weeds
somewhat the advantage of the farmer,
for a farmer cannot do very much run
ning to town and farm many acres In
the crop growing time. Homestead.
New Rural Mall System.
The United States postofflce depart
ment has officially adopted and com
menced to operate a postal wagon,
which Is intended to replace the major
ity of the star route postofflces In the
United States. The star route offices
are those of the fourth class and the
postmasters in charge of these have
been paid a percentage on the postal
business transacted. As fast as possi
ble these wagons will be Introduced
throughout the United States. Kach
state will be divided Into circuits, these
circuits being of the length that a wa
gon can cover ia a day. The postal
clerks In charge of these wagons issue
money orders, register letters and
transact a general mail business. The
mail is delivered either at the houses
of the people along the route or placed
In what is called a rural free delivery
box near a residence. The postal clerk
has one key to this box and the occu
pants of the residence the other. In
this war the postofflce corns to the
people instead of their going to the
postofTioe.
The inventor of this postofflce wagon
Is. Edwin W. Sbriver of Westminster,
Md., who was for years a purser on the
Iron steamboat line between New Tork
and Long Branch. Mr. Shrlver has
been appointed postal clerk of the wa
gon which pegan operations last Mon
day. It is estimated by the postofflce de
partment that about 40,000 of the minor
rural postofflces will be done away with
by the use of these wagons.
Compiling a Dictionary.
Nearly everyone has had the bright
Idea that it must be a tremendous lot
of work to get up a dictionary, but
few have any notion of the real size of
the task. When Johnson got his fa
mous dictionary started he calculated
that, with six assistants, he could
complete the task in three years. It
took htm nine years Instead. He re
ceived the small recompense of $7,500
and had to pay his assistants out ol
that.
Webster worked St years before hU
dictionary made Its bow to the world
Webster was very puncMIlous In his
definitions, and so painstaking that it
was a wonder he completed the work
when he did.
The words which give the compiler
of a dictionary the most trouble are the
little one-syllable Saxon words. Their
history extends back Into the Saxon
period, and their meaning has become
twisted In many directions. Words
with pedigrees are the hardest to trace.
When a new dictionary Is projected
one man Is selected as editor-in-chief
and he appoints his subeditors. Then
appeals are sent out to literary people
in general for voluntary contribution
In the nature of rare and curious words.
There are over 1,000 people who have
ofered their services In the case of o
dictionary now making. These words,
written on slips of paper, are filed In
thousands of pigeon holes. Over six
tons of clips have been put away.
This means 6,000,000 words, but only
1,000 will be printed. The amount of
work necessary to properly sort these
Is evident.
A Presbyterian clergyman, It Is said,
has been experimenting by working In
mines, foundries and brickyards. H
announoes his conclusion that "If can
didates for the ministry would work fo
a year among those who toll with theli
hands, they would be better able to fli;
the pews In their churches with work
Ing men."
ClfATJT cTAnirc
wl
INDIAN TORTURED.
This Is the story told by "Doc ObIJa,"
i reliable Navajo Indian, of the horri
)le tortures his tribe inflicted on Bine
Vimalgo, medicine man and sorcerer:
"When the spot sickness (smallpox)
:ame upon the Navajos they knew that
there was magic That was why our
nen were dying and our young wo
nen's faces were pitted.
"Bine Nimalgo was a bad Indian. He
leserved to die. His medicine was bad
(nedlclne. We bad long known that;
;his was only why he had been driven
ut by the tride long ago and lived
iway from the tribe. He had his re
enge. "It is not true that the sick went to
aim to be cured. They would not do
-hat. He did not cure people, but made
.hem ill. They feared the bad medi
cine. "Bine Nimalgo was very strong and
rery wicked. He had a magic bow and
irrow, with which he could shoot from
eery far away the spot sickness and
Jther bad things Into his enemies, and
ae hated everybody because he was
jad.
"He alone had the bow and arrow.
Wany had tried to find them, but they
xmld not. He had well him them.
There was bad magic in the cache, so
.hat no one found it. By night he shot
:he arrows and we fell ill.
"It was this that made hundreds He
lown, and many of them died. When
they felt the bad medicine in them
they covered their faces with their
olankets and sat waiting. They died
ravely.
"We could not find the bows and ar
rows and the tribe was dying. And the
Navajos are greatest of all the Indian
people. This is known.
'This is why they went to the hogan
hut) of Bine Nimalgo. There were
even squaws and five fighting men
K'ho went I do not know their names,
out they were all Navajos. They did
aot fear death for themselves, they
ivent for the tribe.
"I have said that the angry one was
tar off. The chosen twelve went to
nls place. I de not know their names.
"They reached the hogan and danced
the death dance a long time; they tied
Bine to a tree, that ho might see the
Jance. It was a dance for him.
"Then they told Bine Nimalgo how
jne by one he had slain the young men
and the babies. And one by one as
they told him this they broke the bones
In him broke them In short pieces, be
ginning with the little bones and after
ihat the great ones that do not break
easily,
"He lived long, for he was a very
strong man. The bad medicine made
him strong.
"They took off his scalp, for he was
in enemy. They cut off his ears.
vVhere he has gone they will know
ilm by these signs. I think they cut
iway his arms and legs. They danced
;he death dance and sang to him his
ad deeds while they did these things.
"I do not know the names of the
rwelve who did this.
"When they were weary they fired
:welve bullets into the body.
"Then they cut the thongs that held
:he body to the tree, and they put Bine
.nto the hogan. His legs and arms and
ill the parts of the body they put in
;ogether. Then they set fire to the higan
md sang and danced about it and It
ourned very fast. The fire ate up all
:he bad medicine. The ashes were
clean.
"This Is the true story. Whatever
ilse has been told is a He."
Doc OWJa was with difficulty induced
to tell his story. A small bribe that
looks large to an Indian was tho In
ducement finally offered. He believed
firmly that the sorcerer was guilty and
his punishment Just.
Of course, ObIJa, like all the rest of
the Navajos, knew who the guilty
twelve were, but he will never reveal
their names.
MENTAL PICTURES.
"D4d you ever notice that when an
idea becomes fixed In the mind It Is
very difficult to change it, especially
In the case of extremely sensitive and
highly nervous persons?" asked a
Brooklyn expert on nerves. "Not long
ago I had a visit from a man who was
afraid he was losing his reason because
of a very simple persistence of a cer
tain thought or idea which he could
not shake off. The history of the case
Is one often found in cases of hypo
chondriasls developed from using the
telephone. My patient for about a
year's time had occasion to telephone
every day to a trade customer in New
Tork Manhattan, if you like. The
New Yorker had a peculiar high tenor
squeak to his voice, and somehow my
friend got to picturing him as a little
chap with a thin face. This habit
gretf day after day until the customer
took S. real shape and form in the mind
of my patient all based, of course, up
on his voice. As he talked over the tel.
ephone there was always mentally pic
tured that little chap with the thin
face and squeaky voice. Well, one day
my patient called at the office of his
New York customer, and aa he walked
Into the place he saw a tall, fat man
weighing nearly 300 pounds he could
scarcely believe his eyes. When the
fat man opened his mouth and talked,
my patient says, the squeaky voice
with which he was familiar sounded
strange and unnatural. He told the
owner of the absurd voice, In view
of his sice, about having pictured him
as a thin little person, and there was
a good laugh over tho odd difference
of the reality.
'But the next day when my friend
used the telephone and the squeaky
voice came to him, he had to struggle
to get away from thinking of his fat
patron as being little and thin. Hi
talked the matetr over with his wlft
nd laughed about It, but soon then
came a time when he forgot all about
the actual existence of his customer,
and the little thin faced ohap wat
again talking to him over the wire.
Then It was that he came to see me.
He feared, he said, that his mind wai
giving away, because of the persistence
of the odd picture of the thin man.
I thought the case was easily disposed
of, and told my friend to go to Nen
York every day for a week and visit hlf
fat customer. This be did, but every
time he telephoned the squeaky voice
would bring up the mental picture
formed before he had set eyes on its
owner.
"I was in despair and my patient was
growing gray from worrying when I
hit upon the happy expedient of plac
ing a photograph of the fat man on
the telephone, where che eye of the
patient could rest upon it as he talked.
The result was the disappearance for
ever of the thin chap. My patient, in
looking at the picture of the owner of
the squeaky voice, got his mind work
ing upon the same lines that would
have been followed had he met the fat
man face to face the first time he
heard his voice. These cases are com
mon every day. We form queerly op
posite pictures of men and women we
hear over the telephone and never see,
but in the great majority of instances
the impression is a momentary one, and
It is seldom that the mistake is ever
forced upon us in the startling way de
scribed by the patient I told of.
"The telephone, by the way, has pro
duoed very many queer cases of neu
rasthenia that remain unaccountable
excepting on the hypothesis that the
new habit brings them into existence.
I have had many patients who had to
give up the use of the 'phone alto
gether where it had been used to a
great extent before."
THE FIRST REAL NEW WOMAN.
Here is the real new woman at last.
Others have called themselves new wo
men, but none have proven their right
to the title except by word of mouth.
While other women have talked, Mrs.
Mary Walling has acted.
Mrs. Walling is a mining prospector.
She lives in one of the wildest por
tions of Southern Colorado. Her home
is in the San Juan valley. She lives
alone In a rough cabin, built by her
own hands, on the summit of Gold
HM, opposite Buena Vista, the most
picturesque city in Colorado.
The cabin is perched like an eagle's
eyrie, 3,000 feet above Buena Vista and
10,000 above sea level.
Mrs. Walling spends all her time In
looking for the gold she Is sure she will
find some day. She says she will have
plenty of use for it when she finds it,
for she will build a home In New Eng
land for the dear old mother she left
behind there. The mother's picture
hangs in a rude frame in front of the
cabin.
Mrs. Walling has one companion and
protector, hei- dog Sport. Sport is get
ting old. When he dies the woman
prospector will be lonely indeed.
Mary Walling is a pleasant-faced ro
bust woman of forty. She is as strong
as a man. She wears short skirts that
reach an inch or two below her knees,
and stout leather leggings. She seldom
wears a hat, and for that reason, per
haps, has an unusually abundant mass
of hair. "",
She fellB trees and cuts them Into
firewood. She carries a pick and shovel
when she goes, prospecting. She Is a
skillful hunter and her gun provides
her with all the meat she needs. She
carries water from a spring a mile dis
tant. She needs few groceries, and
these she carries In a bag on her back
from Buena Vista, five miles away, over
a path so rough that a man could
scarcely follow it empty-handed. She
often carries a bag of flour up the
steep mountain side. Sn
Despite aft these masculine aceom
plishments there are man feminine
touches in the rough cabin that Mary
Walling built She has transported
the vivid Indian pink and the moun
tain rose to flower pots that were once
cases of blasting powder which she
found occasion to use in her mine. She
has pressed wild flowers and framed
them and there are skins of animals
that she has killed upon the floor for
rugs. ' .'. t .
FINGER-PRINT TESTS.
Ia detective novels finger prints left
by criminals, preferably in blood, play .
an important part; but truth seems
stranger than fiction in the fact that
the finger-print system of Identifying
criminals in India has been made so
perfect that it would enable any Intelli
gent person in a few minutes to dis
tinguish the Individ nal, If necessary,
from all other persons now living la
the world, or, if data were available
from all other persons who have lived
since the creation of man. The system
Is simplicity Itself, and there la none,
of the elaboration of process of the
costly and delicate machinery required
for the anthropometric system, All
that la needed is a piece of tin, a sheet
of paper and some printer's ink. The
ink impressions of the ten digits are
taken and filed in the proper compart
ments of the proper pigeonhole, and II
Is on the classification of records and
their distribution Into the pigeonholes
uim.1 me nun.cn oi ine system aepenas.
Every finger mark shows line of th
"loop" or "whorl" type and br a
simple table of the combination of tht
types in the ten digits. 1,024 main class
es are made. These are again subdivid
ed according to minor details, and th
subdivision can be further divided, ad
Infilnltum If necessary; but with tht
table before him any person of ordi
nary Intelligence can place hi finest
on the corresponding card to a record
In his hand within five minutes, no m
ter how many thousand cards therf
may be. It Is calculated that UM
chances are about (4.000,000 to 1 aMlnaf ,
any two persons having single anger!
Identical, and the chanos srslast aV
ten fingers being Identical go tksjofj
mathematics altogether.
I