3?e Bondrxr 4 ...
Cootlaicl
Story.
Dy HALL CAINE.
CHAPTER III. (Continued.
That night when they had returned
to the hut wherein they slept, or tried
to sleep, they found that some well
meannlg stranger had been there in
their absence and nailed up on the
grimy walls above their beds, a card
bearing the text, "Come unto Me all ye
that la lx) r and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest" And bo ghastly
seemed the irony of those words in that
place that Jason muttered an oath be
tween his teeth as he read them, and
Sunlocks threw himself down, being
unbound for the night, with a peal of
noisy laughter, and a soul full of
strange bitterness.
The next day after that, the sixth
of their life together, rose darker than
any day that had gone before it, for
the wounded band of Michael Sunlocks
was then purple and black, and swollen
to the size of two hands, and bis bod
ily strength was so low that, try at
bravely as he might to stand erect,
whenever he struggled to his feet he
fell to the ground again. Thinking
. nothing of this, the warders were for
strpplng him up to Jason as before,
but while they were in the act of
doing so he fainted in their bands.
Then Jason swept them from him, and
vowed that the first man that touched
Sunlocks again should lie dead at his
feet.
"Send for the captain," he cried, "and
If the man has any bowels of compas
sion let him come and see what you
have done."
The warders took Jason at his word,
and sent a message to the office saying
that one of their prisoners was mutin
ous, and the other pretending to be ill.
After a time the Captain despatched
two other warders to the help of the
first two and these words along with
them for his answer: "If one rebels,
punish both."
Nothing loth for such exercise, the
four warders set themselves to decide
what the punishment should be, and
while they laid their heads together,
Jason was bending over Sunlocks, w ho
was now recovered to consciousness,
asking his pardon in advance for the
cruel penalty that his rash act was to
bring on both of them.
"Forgive me," he said. "I couldn't
help it, I didn't know what I was do
ing." "There Is nothing to forgive, broth
er," whispered Michael Sunlocks.
And thus with stammering tongues
they comforted one another, and with
hands clasped together they waited for
the pnniHhment that had to come.
At length the warders concluded that
for refusing to work, for obstinate dis
obedience, and for threatening, noth;ng
would serve but that their prisoners
should straightway do the most peril
ous work to be found that day at the
sulphur mines.
Now this was the beginning of the
end for Red Jason and Michael Sun
locks, and if the evil chance had not
befallen them, God alone can Bay how
long they might have lived together at
Krlsuvlk, or how soon or how late
they would have become known to one
another by their true names and char
acters. But heaven itself had its pur
poses, even In the barbarity of base
hearted men, as a means towards the
great end that was near at hand. And
this v.-as the way of Its coming.
A strange change that no one could
rightly understand had lately come
upon the natural condition of the sul
phur mines. The steam that rose from
the solfataras nad grown less and less
week by week and day by day, until In
some place it had altogether subsided.
This was a grave sign, for in the steam
lay the essence of the sulphur, and if
it ceased to rise from the pits the sul
phur would cease to grow.
Other changes tame with this, such
as that deep subteranean noises arose
from parta of the plain where no fls
sures had yet been seen, and that foot
steps on the earth around these places
produced a hollow sound.
From these signs, taken together,
the Captain had concluded that the
life of the mines, the great infernal
fire that raged beneath the Ktirface,
was changing ground, leaving the val
ley, where It had lived for ages, for
the mountain heights, where the low
grumblings were now heard to come
from beneath the earth's crust of lava
and basaltic rock.
So, taking the counsel of his people,
be decided to bore the ground in these
new places in the hope of lighting on
living solfataras that would stand to
him against the loss of the dead ones. !
And it chanced he was In the midst
of many busy preparations for this
work when the report of the warders
reached him, and the boring was still
uppermost Id his mind when be sent
back his answer as he came upon the
flogging and stopped it.
Thus It happened that the first
thought that came to the warders was
to send their prisoners to one' of the
spots that had been marked on the
hillside for the test of bore and spade.
So, in less than balt-an hour more,
Jason and Sunlocks, lashed together,
arm to arm and leg to leg, were being
driven up the mountain to the place
assigned to them. They found it a
hideous and awesome spot. Within a
circle- of two yards across, the ground
was white and yellow and scaly, like
a scab on evil fish. It wai hot, to that
the hand could not rest upon it, and
hollow, so that the foot made It shake,
and from unseen depths beneath It a
dull thud came up at Intervals like
nothing else but the knocking of a
man buried alive at the sealed door ot
his tomb.
Beneath this spot the heart of the
olfatara was expected to lie, and Ja
son and 8unlocks were commanded to
open it. Obeying gloomily, they took
the bore first and pierced tne scaly
surface, and instantly a sizzling and
bubbling aound came up from below.
Tbon tbey followed with the spades,
but scarcely bad they lifted the top
crust when twenty great Assures
seemed to open under their feet, and
they could see lurid flame rushing In
wild confusion, Ilka rivers of Are in
the boweli of the earth.
It we a a'.-t at which the ctouUei
heart might have quailed, and Jason
leapt back to the bank and dragged
Sunlocks after him.
"This is not safe," he said.
"In with you," shouted the warders
from their own safe footing of four
yards away. With a growl from be
tween bis clenched teth, Jason stepped
back into the hole, and Sunlocks fol
lowed him. But hardly had they got
down to the fearsome spot again, when
a layer of clay fell in from it, leaving
a deep wide gully, and then scarcely
a yard of secure footing remained.
"Let us stop while we are safe," Ja
son cried.
"Dig away," shouted the warders.
"If we do, we shall be digging our
own graves," said jason.
"Begin," shouted the warders.
"Listen to me," said Jason. "If we
are to open this pit of tire and brim
stone, at least let us be free of these
ropes. That's but fair, that each man
may have a chance of his life."
"Go on, ' shouted the warders.
"If we go on like this we shall be
burnt and boiled alive," said Jason,
"Get along," shouted the warders
with one voice, and then an awful light
flashed In Jason's eyes, for he saw that
out of revenge for their paltry fines
they had resolved to drive two living
men to their death.
"Now, listen again," said Jason, "and
mark my words. We will do as you
command us, and work in this pit of
hell. I will not die in it that i know.
But this man beside me is weak an'', ill,
heaven curse your humanity; and it
anything happens to him, and I am
alive to see It, as sure as there la
strength left in my arms, and blood
In my body, I will tear you limb from
limb."
So saying, he plunged his spade into
the ground beneath him, with an oath
to drive it, and at the next instant
there was a flush ot blue flarne, an av
alanche of smoke, a hurricane of un
earthly noises, a cry like that of a dy
ing man, aud then an awful silence."
When the air was cleared, Jason
stood uninjured, but Michael Sunlocks
hung by his side inert and quiet, anil
blinded by a Jet of stream.
What happened to Jason thereafter
no tongue of man could tell. All the
fire of his spirit, and all the strength
of all his days seemed to flow back
upon him In that grca: moment. He
parted the ropes that bound him as if
they had been green writhes that he
snapped asunder. lie took Sunlocks in
his arms and lifted him to his shoul
der, and hung him across it, as if lie
had been a child that he placed there,
lie steped out of the deadly pit, and
strode along over the lava mountain
as If he were1 the- sole creature of the
everlasting hills. His glance was tcr
riffic, his voice was the voice of a
wounded beast. The warders dropped
their muskets aud fled before him like
affrighted sheep.
CHAPTKR IV.
TIIROrC.II THK CHASM OF ALL
MEN.
It was still early in the morning;
a soft gray mtst lay over the moor
lands, but the sun that had never Bet
in that northern land was rising
through clouds of pink and white over
the bald crown of a mountain to the
northeast. And towards the rising Biin
Jason made his way, striding on with
the red glow on his own tanned and
blackened face, and its ghastly mock
ery of the hues of life on the pallid
cheeks anil whitened lips of Sunlocks.
From his right ankle and right wrist
hung the rings of his broken fetters,
and from the left ankle and left wrist
of Sunlocks trailed the ropes that had
bound them both. Never a moment
did he pause to breathe or think or
question himself. On and one he went,
over lava rocks and lava dust, basaltic
rock and heavy clay, and hot blue
earth and scorched and withered moss.
And still Sunlocks lay over bis right
side and shoulder, motionless and un
conscious, hardly breathing, but alive,
with his waist encircled by Jason's
great right arm, and his waist-belt
grasped tight as with the grip of a
talon by Jason's bard right hand.
Before long, Sunlocks recovered some
partial consciousness and cried In a
faint voice for water. Jason glanced
around on the arid plain as It bis
eyes would pierce the ground for a
spring, but no water could ho see on
any side of him, and so without a word
of answer he strode along.
"Water, water," cried Sunlocks
again, and just then Jason caught the
side-long glint of a river that ran like
a pearl chain down the black breast
of a mountain.
"Water," cried Sunlock again and
yet again, In a voice of palu and deep
pleading, not rightly knowing yet
where he was or what bad chance had
befallen him.
"Yes, ye, one moment more, only a
moment, there there there!" whisp
ered Jason.
And muttering uch words of com
fort and cheer, he quickened his pace
towards the river. But when he got
near to it he stopped short with a cry
of dismay. The "river bubbled and
smoked.
"Hot! It is hot," cried Jason. "And
the land Is accursed."
At that word, Sunlocks utered a low
groan, and his head, which had been
partly lifted, fell heavily barkwards,
and bis hair hung over Jason's shoul
der. He was again unconscious.
Then more than ever like a wild
beast ranging the hills with its prey,
Jason strode along. And presently he
saw a lake of blue water far away. He
knew It for cold water, "fused. Ice-cold
water, water to bathe the hot forehead
with, water to dilnk. With a cry of
Joy, which there wa no human ear to
hear, he turned and made towards it;
but just a he did bo, softening as he
went, and muttering from his own
parched throat words of hope and com
fort to the unconscious man he carried,
a gunshot echoed through the moun
tains above his head.
He knew what the shot was; It was
the signal of his escape. And looking
dawn the valley, he bsw that the
guards of the settlement were gather
ing on the'T pontes in ! ",
the plIa that h must traverr" iff
reach the wa'sr for which Sunlocks
thirsted. f
Then "Water, water," came aguiu in
the same Imut voice aa ueu.,
whether with his cuiai ear uc t,u
that cry, or in the torment of his dis
traught sense It only rang out lu tils
empty heart, no man shall say. But
all the same bo answered it from his
choking throat, "Patience, patience."
And then, with another look down
ward, the look of a human stag, at the
cool water which he might not reach
and live, he turned himself bark to
the mountains.
What happened to him then, and for
many weary hours thereafter, it would
weary the spirit to tell; what plains he
crossed, what hills he climbed, and in
what desolate wilderness he walked
alone, with no one for company save
the unconscious man across his shoul
der, and no eye to look upon him save
the eye of God.
And first be crossed a wide sea of
lava dust, black as the raven that flew
in the air above it, and bounded by
hills as dark as the earth that were
themselves sand dirfts blown up into
strange and terrible shades by mighty
tempests. Then he came upon a plain
strewn over with cinders, having a
grim crag frowning upon it, like the
bank of a smelting house, with its
screes of refuse rolling down. By this
time the suu had risen high and grown
hot, and the black ground under bis
feet began to Bend up the reflection
of the sun's rays Into his face to
scorch it.
And still the cry of "water, water,"
rang In his ears, and his eyes ranged
the desolate land to find It, but never
a si a of it could he see, and his
strong heart .sank. Once, when he
hud mounted with great toil to the
top of a hill, where all behind him
had been black and burnt and blister
ed, he saw a wide valley stretching In
front of him that was as green as th
grass of spring. Aud he thought that
vhere there was grass there would
surely be water, streams of water,
rivers of water, pools of water, sunny
stretches of- sweet water lying clear
and quiet over amber pebbles and be
tween soft brown banks of turf.
So at this sight his heart was lifted
up, and bounding down the Ullslde,
over the lava blocks, as fast as he
could go for his burden, ha began to
sing from his cracked throat in hla
hoarse, and quavery voice. But when
he reached the valley his song
stopped, and his heart sank afresh,
for It was not grass, but moss that
grew there, and it lay only on big
blocks of lava, with never a drop oi
moisture or a handful of earth, be
tween them.
(To be" continued.)
ABOUT MEXICAN INDIANS.
L'ader Jlare' Selection Thr tirow Cj
to lie Our Socrlnrn.
There Is great hope for the IndlaD
peoples of Mexico, says a writer in
the Boston Herald. They are. for the
most part, clean of blood, with a ner
vous force which makes them, on be
ing educated, go far. Many eminent
men there are of mixed blood, and It
is worthy of note that the Indian
blood gives gravity, mental pol.se and
great will power. The Indian Is loyal,
a good friend, a tremendous enemy,
and sometimes none too enamored of
the ideas of the white race. Down
deep in his heart is something abor
iginal, Intense and sound. We have
lost something in the United Stata.-i
by holding the Indian at arm's length
socially. Indian blood is good blood,
and renovates the white race. Yon get
good brains in the Indian because
they are not vitiated, and are not too
far removed from the strong old lift)
that nature prefers, and In which nhi
eliminates weaklings. Mad the Ger
man philosopher, Nietsche, visited
Mexico ho would have found some
types of his "over-man," bis natural
superior being among the Indians. Na
ture Is a rough nurse, but she makes
men and women who delight in living,
and who live long. Our urban civili
zation and daintiness and comforts de
stroy real manhood and womanhood,
and so do flourish dentists, doctor,
faddists and mllk-and-watcr reform
ers. Nothing but the sun and air, the
free life of nature, produces the best In
physique and in character. The In
dians grow up without coddling, and
their strength of body is equaled by
their vigor of mentality. It Is a great
thing not to be nervous, to breathe
deep, to have plenty of quick-moving
blood. One is amazed at the power
of application of Indians of culture;
they get fatigued only after Intent
work. They have stamina. It is a
goodly sight to see coming down Into
warm-country valleys from the Sier
ras, the Indian women, straight, clear
eyed, uncorsetcd. Maidens with Una
and eloquent eyes, walking as the
Greek goddesses did; their every mo
tion graceful, and. If gowned In civil
ized manner, fit to adorn a drawing
room. Some of the tribes have many
handsome women; you look at them,
and all accepted civilized standards
fall away. Contrast the erect and se
rene Indian maidens on the country
roads of Mexico with the parlor darl
ings of civilization, under the care of
the specialists, leth yellow with gold,
with a hundred arts of the toilet, and
nerves easily tired and Jangled.
Uniform Trio oa Hook.
American publishers have decided
that after May 1 of the present year
they will Bcttle upon a net price at
which books will be disposed of for
sale by the retail stores. English pub
lishers announce that a similar step
to enforce a uniform' price on the mid
dlemen In that country will be at
tempted. tleratalrra'ii Stamp.
Jerusalem has Its own Hebrew can
cancellation stamp, says the Jewish
World. Hitherto all manner of stampt
have been current In payment of out
ward bound malls. Now, however, the
Turkish stamp Is the order of the day,
and Jerusalem In Hebrew neat,
square characters forms part of ins
"postmark" which cancsla ths stamp.
MOW M'llK FOR -( KK.
Aa Oakland (Cal.) physician, who
-as been experimenting for several
years, claims tout cancer may be cured
through the medium of X-rays. He
flst tried the effect of the X-ray oa
himself, and succeeded, so the report
states, in curing a cancerous growth.
Later he treated others with remark
able success. Referring to his method
anu system, he says; "When the X
ray was discovered, I was merely inter
ested from a purely scientific stand
point. I secured a machine, and after
placing a lead mask over my face, en
tirely covering ft where I was afflicted,
I began a systematic treatment; I
found relief from the beginning. Now
I am thoroughly cured. My theory is
that the X-ray kills the molecules
which constitute the primal '4 cells,
where cancerous life actually begins.
It frequently takes thousands of these
molecules to make a single cell of the
tissue. The deterioration or decay of
the molecules, I Judge, may cause can
cer. It probably does. The X-ray has
the effect of drying up these atoms, and
in time prevents the Bpreaa of cancer.
Cltimateiy It kills the disease. I am
positive when I Bay the X-ray can cure
cancer.
MRIIJGK INDF.R WATER.
We think of a bridge as a structure
made to carry ua over water, but a
very peculiar bridge is being construct
ed over the Mary river at Marybor
ough, Queensland, in that it is being
designed so that its surface will be
submerged several times during the
year at the seasons of high water. The
country on the banks of the Mary river
lies so low that the approaches would
have to be extraordinarily long to be
entirely out of the water during floods,
and this would have involved an Im
mense expense, so It was decided to
disregard the floods and build the
bridge for use during low water and
employ bouts during the comparative
ly short time that the water would
cover the bridge. The bridge will clear
by twelve feet and six inches at or
dinary high water. The highest flood
level la thirty-three feet, so that at
times the bridge will be submerged by
more than twenty feet of water.
THE KI.Kt TIUM'IIOKI.
The "elcctrochord" of Lieut. George
W. Breed, formerly of the United
States Navy, is designed to sustain the
tones of the piano as in the flute or
violin. A row of delicate electrical
contacts is connected with the key
board, and with a row of little electro
magnets in front of the strings, bo that
while any key is pressed the corre
sponding magnet keeps its string in
continuous vibration with very beauti
ful flutelike effects. A knee swell
throws the attachment into action,
and when this Is not being pressed the
piano has its usual tone.
1IOI.DKII FOR TYI'EWRITFR COPT.
The machine here Illustrated has
been patented In this countiy by Josef
Jerabek of Vienna, Austria-hungary,
for holding typewriter copy in conveni
ent position and automatically indicat
ing the line on which the operator la
reading. It comprises a frame for at
tachment to the desk on either side of
the typewriter, supporting the copy
roll and line indicator directly above
and slightly at the rear of the machine
carrier. The roller has a roughened
surface to enable It to grip the sheet of
paper, and at one end Is a toothed
wheel, which serves as a ratchet for
rotating the roller. At the right side
of the machine In front of the support,
Is an adjustable key, which is intended
to be placed at the right of and in line
with the typewriter keyboard. Beneath
the key is a screw, which can be raised
and lowered in its post to adjust the
AUTOMATIC LINE INDICATOR.
fail of the lever to correspond with the
distance between the lines of the copy,
the rotation of the roller depending
upon tl3 length of stroke of the lever.
HOMK I Ill TH1NU8.
The biggest cheese ever manufactur
ed was called the "Canadian Mite."
Its weight was 22,000 pounds, or about
ten tons. It was twenty-three feet In
rircumference nnd stood six feet high.
It was made as an exhibit for a how
in Ontario. A little more than 200,000
quarts of milk, the daily produce of
10,000 cows, were required for Its
manufacture.
The weightiest ham placed before the
public was that seen in the British
section of the Pari exhibition. It
turned the scale at over fifty pounda.
The biggest match factory In the
world Is the Vulcan match factory, at
Lldaholm, Sweden. It employs over
12,000 men, and manufactures dally
900,000 boxes of matches. The yearly
output requires 600,000 cubic feet of
wood, 250,000 pounds of paper, and 40,-
000 pounds of rye flour for pasting the
boxes. Three hundred of the most
complete aud Ingenious pieces of ma
chinery of Swedish invention are used.
The heaviest pike an angler ever
caught was landed from the Thames by
a Mr. Page of Rapcap Bridge, in 1898.
The giant fish weighed more than
thirty-eight pounds.
Nanking, in China, is the biggest
walled city in the world, and la one of
the most wonderful cities of history.
It was over 600 years old at the birth
of Christ. ,
The Devonshire emerald Is the larg
est In the world. It was purchased by
the present duke's father from Dom
Pedro. It measures two Inches in
diameter, Is of the finest color and of
fabulous worth.
ARCTIC FIRE OKI IX.
In the American Museum of Natural
history in New York city can be seen
some new and interesting household
utensils from the Arctic regions. ,They
belong to a hitherto unknown race of
Eskimo dwelling on a bleak and sup-
THE NOVEL DRILL,
posedly uninhabited island In the
north end of Hudson bay. These peo
ple have been termed a lost tribe
from their primitive condition and
mode of life. One of the most startling
objects found among their effects wa3
a crude and primitive fire drill, used to
start a flame. This ancient method of
producing fire by friction is the same
that was used 1,000 year3 ago. A stick
of wood swiftly turned In a slot under
a steady pressure produces a cone of
dust, which gradually springs into a
blaze.
AKTISF-l'TICH.
Since the general acceptance of the
germ theory of disease, the class of
remedies called antiseptics has become
a very important one. This class In
cludes all those agencies which have
the power to destroy or at least to ar
arrcst the growth of bacteria.
Many of these, salt and heat, for ex
ample, were employed as preservatives
of food long before the germ theory
came Into existence, and therefore be
fore an explanation of their action was
possible. The two agencies mentioned
afford examples of the two forms of
antiseptics those which kill the
germs, such as heat, and those which
only prevent their growth and further
development, such as salt.
There is no hard and fast line be
tween the two classes, however, for the
difference is often one of degree only;
a substance which in concentrated
form will kill the germs, being then a
true germicide, may in more dilute
solution, act only In a repressive man
ner upon the growth of the bacteria.
All antiseptics are not of equal pow
er, nor do they act upon all bacteria In
equal degree. Some antiseptics are
hrmless to man; others are virulent
poisons, which must be used with the
utmost caution.
The most commonly employed anti
septics are, In ihe general order of
their strength, the salts of mercury,
especially corrosive sublimate, and of
silver, peroxide of hydrogen, carbolic
acid, creosote, formaldehyde gas,
chlorine, thymol, salicylic acid, ben
zoic acid, chloride of zinc, quinine, bor
aclc acid and borax, alcohol, sulphate
of iron, common salt, sugar and gly
cerine. Heat, cold, sunlight and air (oxygen)
are nature's antiseptics, and most ef
fective ones tney are, when acting un
der favorable circumstances.
In addition to their use as food pre
servatives (most of them should never
be employed for that purpose) and as
disinfectants, antiseptics have a wido
field of usefulness in surgory, although
they are now less freely employed than
formerly, as it has been found that, If
the instruments are clean, washing the
wound with sterilized water will an
swer the same purpose as deluging It
with antiseptic solutions.
The Instruments are boiled, and the
surgeon's hands are cleaned with soap
and alcohol, while the water used for
washing the wound Is previously boiled
or distilled.
As to the value of antiseptics given
Internally, physicians are not agreed,
some regarding them as most service
able In the treatment of typhoid fever,
diphtheria, and certain other Infectious
diseases, as well as of intestinal Indi
gestion, while others think all such
attempts at internal antiseptics are fu
tile. Twenty torpedo-boat destroyers and
torpedo-boats will be turned over to
the government by contractors within
the next few months.
The library of Heidelberg university
has Just acquired twenty-seven Bhects
of a Septuaglnt Code, written In un
cials,' of the sixth or seventh century,
on papyrus, containing the Alexan
drlnlan translation of chapters IV to
XIV of Zacharlah, and chapters I to
IV of Malachl.
If you would polish a fool apply a
varnish of flattery.
TRAINING THE CHILDREN.
Volas ttaa Child To Voaag
l7 lloctars mad Sciential.
Children of this generation, says an
educational observer of things, are
educated in a manner as different from
that pursued by the previous genera
tion as a hippopotamus diters from a
flea. With our fathers the earlier a
child was taught his or her letters the
better it was considered to be for his
or her mind. Children were taught to
read as young as possible and pushed
in their studies as rapidly as might
be thereafter. Lately, however, the
medical fraternity and scientists have
advanced the theory that this system
wai bad in the end for the develop
ment of the mind and (within certain
limits) and the later a child was taught
its letters and to read and write the
better. There would seem to be some
thing In the theory, when you take
into consideration that of all the ani
mal kingdom man Is the slowest of de
velopment and requires longest the
fostering care of its parents. A child
of 5 cast out upon the world to fend
for itself would most probably fare but
ill. And, from immature years,. but lit
tle muscular exercise should be re
quired, else stunted growth inevitably
results. If too early work stunts the
growth of an infant's body, by analogy
it seems not improbable that a like
effect may follow a too early working
of the Infant's mind. Certainly his
tory shows that some of our brainiest
men have developed late in childhood,
and I have in mind a certain statesman
of world-wide reputation, who, up to
the age of 9, was looked on by his fam
ily as a hopeless dullard and an im
possibility mentally. On the other
hand, the kindergarten and primary
school had one great recommendation
that this generation of mammas were
loath to give up, and that was that for
a certain number of hours a day it re
lieved them from the care of their
young, a blessing not likely to be
thrown aside. Besides, it was felt
that while too much education for the
infant was bad, none at all was bad
also. Under the conditions a com
promise system has grown up. Chil
dren receive what might be termed an
objective education. They are taught
what things are by handling and ob
serving the thing. They are taught car- .
pentry and manual arts and similar
things, but of books nothing, save
what their elders may tell them. As
far as it has gone, the system seems
to have worked famously. Utlca .
Globe.
SAYS THE BOERS WILL WIN.
Opinion of Capt. Turner Recantlr Ar
rived from South Africa.
Capt. Francis John Turner, recently
arrived In this country from South
Africa, talks interestingly of condi
tions there. There is no peace in sight,
he says. The Boer cause never looked
so bright as at the present time, and
although the burghers are sickening of
the bloodshed that is darkening the
soil of the two little republics, they are
determined never to sign a peace un
less absolute independence for their
countries is granted. On that one con
dition, and that alone, will the Boers
lay down their arms, and the treaty of
peace must be signed by two world
powers as sponsor for Its observance
by England. The reports of De Wet's
insanity are absolutely baseless. In
stead of being cither physically,
mentally sick ne Is as strong and vig
orous as he ever has been, so much
so, in fact, that the general is avoiding !
the British traps and continues to har
rass their generals by his rapid move
ments. Capt. Turner bears the marks
of the bloody conflict raging in South
Africa; a little finger he left at the
battle of Abraham's Kreel and a burst
ing shell crippled him temporarily,
while a bursting charge of lyddite tore
a jagged hole in his left cheek. He
took part in the battles at Ladysmlth,
Helpmakar, Poplar Grove, Bloemfon
teln water works. Vet river, Klip river
and San river, and with Gen De Wet
he swept through the Free State, tak
ing part in a number of that general's
successful raids. Utica Globe.
Growth of tha Nutmeg
Nutmegs grow on little trees which
look like pear trees, and are generally
not over twenty feet high. The flow
ers are much like the lily of the valley.
They are palo and very fragrant. The
nutmeg is the seed of the fruit, and
mace Is the ttiln covering over the
seed. The fruit Is about as large aa
a peach. When ripe It breaks open
and shows the little nut inside. The
trees grow on the Islands of Asia and
in tropical America. They bear fruit
seventy or eighty years, having ripe
fruit upon them all the seasons.
A fine tree in Jamaica has over
4,000 nutmegs on It yearly. The Dutch
used to have all this nutmeg trade,
as they owned the Banda islands, and
conquered all the other traders and de
stroyed the trees. To keep the price
up they at once burned three piles
of nutmegs, each of which was as large
as a church. Nature did not sympa
thize with such meanness. The nut
meg pigeon, found In all the Indian
islands, did for the world . what ths
Dutch had determined could not bw"'"CT
done carried those nuts, which are
their food. Into all the surrounding
countries, and trees grew again and
the world had the benefit.
Records Kepi In Chimney.
The city ot South Norwalk, Conn.,
keeps a part of its records In a
chimney. This unique "safe" is found
at the municipal electric lighting
plant. The space usually utilised is a
soot pit In tha base of the S00-foot
brick smokestack has been utilised for
keeping the records and books of tk
flant
'