&?e Bondman .
By HALL
CHAPTER VI. (Continued.)
The coming of Michael Sunlocks
startled him out of his tipsy sleep of a
quarter of a century and his whole
household was put Into a wild turmoil.
In the midst of it, when be was at Ms
wit's end to know what to do for bis
prisoner-guest, a woman, a stranger to
Grimsey. carrying a child In her arms,
presented herself at his door. She
was young and comely, poorly but oot
meanly clad, and she offered herself to
the priest as his servant. Her story
was simple, touching and plausible.
She bad lately lost her husband, an
Icelander, though she herself was :
foreigner, as "her speech might tell.
And hearing at Husavik that the priest
of Crimsey was a lone old gentleman
without kith or kin or belongings, she
had bethought herself to come and say
that she would be glad to take service
from blm for the sake of the home h
might offer her.
It was Greeba, and simple old Sir
Slgfiis fell an easy prey to her wo
man's wit He wiped his rheumy eyei
while she told her story, and straight
way sent her into the kitchen. Only
one condition he made with her, and
that was that she was to bear herself
In his house as Iceland women -hear
themselves in the houses of Iceland
masters. No more than that and na
less. She was to keep her own apart
ments and never allow herself to bo
seen or heard by a guest that was
henceforth to live with him. That
good man was blind and would trouble
her but little, for he had seen sorrow,
poor soul, and was very silent.
Greeba consented to this with all
earnestness, for it fell straight la the
way of her own designs. But with &
true woman's Innocent duplicity sh
showed modesty and said, "He shall
nver know that I'm in your house, sir,
unless you tell him so yourself."
Thus did Greeba place berself under
the same root with Michael Sunloclts
and baffle discovery by the cunning of
love. Two purposes were to be served
by her artifice.. First, she was to be
constantly by the side of her husband,
to nurse him and tend him, to succor
him, and to watch over' him. Next,
she waa to be near him for her own
sake, and for love's sake, to win b1''
4iac to her some day by DM"t". -dear
than those that ? Z
, , t th j. -i. she had decided not
?f r .rf.VjP1ierself to hjm In the mean
time, for he had lost faith In her af
footion. He had charged her with
marrying him for pride's sake, but ha
should see that she had married him
for himself alone. The heart of bin
love was dead, but day by day. un
known, unseen, unheard, she would
breathe upon it until the Are in its
yncheg lived again. Such was the do
' sign with which Greeba took the plane
of a menial In the house where her
husband lived as a prisoner, and little
did she count the cost of It.
Six months passed, and she kept her
promise to the priest to live as an Ice
land servant In the house of an Iceland
r.iaster. She was never Been and never
Ieard, and what personal service was
tailed for waa done by the snappish
old man servant. But she filled the
old house, once so muggy and dark,
with all the cheer and comfort of llfo.
She knew that Michael Sunlocks felt
the change, for one day she heard him
say to the priest as he lifted his blind
face and seemed to look around, "Ono
would think that this place must be
full of sunshine."
"Why. and so it Is," said the priest,
"and that's my good housekeeper's
dolntf.'
"I have heard her step," said Mich
ael Sunlocks. "Who Is she?"
"A poor young woman that has late
ly lost her husband," said the priest.
"Young, you say?" said Sunlocks.
"Why, yes; ;oung as I go," said the
priest
"Poor sou'.!" said Sunlocks.
It cost Greeba many a pang not to
fling herself at her husband's feet at
hearing that word so sadly spoken.
But she remembered her promise and
was ailent. Not long afterwards she
heard Michael Sunlocks ask the priest
if be had never thought of marriage.
And the priest answered yes, that he
was to have married at Reykjavik
about the time he was sent to Crimsey,
but the lacy had looked shy at his
banishment and declined to share It.
"So I have never looked at a woman
again," aald the priest.
"And I daresay you have your ten
der thoughts of her, though so nadir
treated," said buniockj.
.1 ,1. -1 1 . ,t I .1 A 1 . . 1. ..
wen, co, ( uiu uie priest; yes.
-jou were cnapiain at Reykjavik,
tint looking to be priest or dean, and
marhnna hlahon some day?" nnM gun
lockK." i
"Well, maye so; such dreams come
In one's youth," said the priest.
"And when you were sent to Grim
tmj there was nothing before you but
a cure of less than a hundred souls?"
said Sunlocks.
"That la to," said the priest.
"The old story," aald Sunlocks, and
he drew a deep breath.
But deeper far waa the breath thnt
Greeba drew, for It seemed to be the
last gasp of her heart.
A year passed, and never once had
Oreeba spoken that her husband might
bear har. But If she did not speak,
aha listened always, and the silence of
her tongue seemed to make ber ears
the mora keen. Thus she found a way
to meet all hla wishes, and before ho
had asked be was answered. If the day
tras cold he found gloves to his hand;
11 he thought to wash there waa water
beside him; if he wished to write ti e
pen lay near bis Angers. Meantime ha
never beard more than light foot
fall and the rustle of a dress about
him, but as these sounds awoke pain
ful memories be listened and aald
nothing. x
The summer bad come and gone In
which h could walk out by thi
' priest's arm, or lie by the hour within
sound of a stream, and the winter bad
fallen In with Its abort days and Ions
nights. And once, when the snow lay
h!ck on the ground, Oreeba heard bin
Mr bow cheerfully be might cheat
time of naif a weary hour of dayt
Coetlaaei
Sivy.
CA!NE.
like that if only he had a fiddle to be
guile them. At that she remembered
that it waa not of money that hail
placed her where she was, and beforo
the spring of that year a little church
organ came from Reykjavik, address
ed to the priest, as a present from
someone whose name was unknown to
him.
"Some guardian angel seems to
hovar ground tis " said Michael Sun
locks, "to give us everything that we
can wish for."
The joy in his blind face brought
smiles into the face of Greeba. but her
heart was heavy for all that. To live
within hourly sight of love, yet never
to share it, was to sit at a feast and
eat nothing. To hear his voice, ye;
never to answer it, to see his face, yet
never o touch it with the lips that
hungered to kiss it. wag an ordeal
more terrible than any woman's heart
could bear. Should she not speak?
Might she not reveal herself? Not yet.
not yet! But how long, oh, how long?
In the heat of her Impatience she
could not quite restrain herself, and
though she dare not speak, she sang.
It was on the Sunday after the organ
came, when all the people at Grimsey
were at church, in their strong odor
of fish and sea fowl, to hear the strange
new music. Michael Sunlocks played
it, and when the people sang Greeba
also joined them. Her voice wat low
at first, but she soon lost herself, and
then it rose above the other voices.
Suddenly the organ stopped, and she
was startled to see the blind face of
her husband turning in her direction.
Later the same day she heard Sun
locks say to the priest, "Who was the
lady who sang?"
"Why, that was my good housekeep
er," said the priest.
"And did you say that she bad lost
her husband?" said Sunlocks.
"Yes, poor thing, and she Is a for
eigner, too," said the priest.
"Did you say a foreigner?" said
Sunlocks.
"Yes, and She has a child with
also," said the priest. -'
"A child?" said --'.". And then
after a pause 0-ded, 'th more in-dlffere--Toor
"lrl! Pr &rV"
. earing this. Greeba fluttered on tho
I verge of discovering herself. -'If only
I could be sure," she thought, but she
could not, and the more closely for the
chance that had so nearly revealed her
she hid herself henceforward in the
solitude of an Iceland servant.
Two years passed and then Greeba
had to share her secret with another.
That other was her own child. The
little man was nearly three years old
by this time, walking a little and talk
ing a great deal, and not to be with
held by any care from going over every
corner of the bouse. He found Michael
Sunlocks sitting alone in his darkness,
and the two struck up a fast friend
ship. They talked In any fashion and
played on the floor for hours. With a
wild thrill of the heart, Groeba saw
those twain together, and It cost her
all she had of patience and self-command
not to break In upon them wlfi
a shower of rapturous kisses. But she
held back her heart like a dog on the
leash and listened, while her eyes rain
ed tears and her lips smiled to tho
words that passed between them.
"And what's your name, my sweet
one?" said Sunlocks in English.
"Michael," lisped the little man.
"So? And au Englishman, too.
That's brave."
"Ot's the name of your 'Ittle boy?"
"Ah, I've got none, gweetbeat"
"Oh."
"But If I bad one perhaps hts name
would be Michael also." '
"Oh."
The little eyes looked up Into the
blind face, and the little lips began to
fall. Then, by a Budden Impulse, the
1'ttle legs clambered up to the knee of
Sunlocks and the little head nestled
close against his breast.
"I'l be your 'ittle boy."
"So you shall, my sweet one, and you
shall come again and.sk with me and
sing to me. for I am very lonely some
times, and your dear voice will cheer
me,"
But the little man had forgotten hla
trouble by this time and scrambled
back to the floor. There he sat on hla
haunches like a frog and cried, "Look!
look! look!" as he held up a wbito
pebble in bis dumpy hand.
"I cannot look, little one, for I au
blind."
"Ot's blind?"
"Having eyes that cannot see, sweet
heart" "Oh."
"But your eyes can see, and If yon
are to be my little boy, my little Mich
al, yor eyes shall see for xay eyes
also, and you shall come to me every
day and tell me when the sun Is shin
ing, and the sky Is blue, and then we
will go out together and listen for the
birds that will be singing."
"Dat'a nice," said the little fellow,
looking down at the pebble In hU
palm, and Just then the priest cams
Into the house out of the snow.
"How comes It that this sweet llttl
man and I have never met before?"
said Sunlocks.
"You might live ten years in an Ice
land house and never see the children
of Its servants," aald the priest
"I've heard hla silvery voice.
though." aald Sunlocks. "What la the
color of his eyes?"
"Blue," said the priest
"Then his balr this long, curly hair
It must be of the color of the sun?"
said Sunlocks.
"Flaxen," ssld the priest.
"Run along to your mother, sweet
heart, run," said Sunlocks, and, drop
ping back In bis seat he murmured,
"How easily be might bave been my
son. Indeed."
Kneeling on both knees, ber hot facs
turned down and her parted Hps quiv
ering, Oreeba had listened to all this
with the old delicious trembling at
both sides ber heart. And going back
to ber own room, she caught light of
herself In the glass and saw that her
eyes were dancing like diamond and
all her cheeks a rosy red. Ufa and a
gleam of sunshine seemed to bave shot
Into ber face In n Instant, and wall
she looked there came over her a
creeping thrill of delight, for she
knew that she was beautiful. And bi
cause he loved beauty, whose love was
everything to her, she cried for joy,
and picked up her boy, where he stood
tugging at her gown, and kissed Uiui
rapturously.
The little man, with proper manly
'uuifTeiouue to But ii einiearuielll-,
wriggled back to the ground, and then
Greeba remembered, with a flash that
fell on her brain like a sword, that her
husband was blind now, aud all the
beauty of the world was nothing to
him. Smitten by this thought, she
stood a moment, while the sunshine
died out of her eyes and the rosy red
out of her cheeks. But presently it
came to her to asW berself if Sun
locks was blind forever, and if noth
ing could be done for him. This
brought back, with nangs of remorse
for such long forgetfulness, the mem
ory of BOTM Uiiii, u.u upiniiecuiy in
Husavik, who had the credit of cur
ing many of blindness after accidents
in the northern mines where free men
worked for wages. So thinking of this
apothecary throughout tht day and
the next, she found at lata a crooked
way to send money to him, out of the
store that etlll rem'ned to her, and
to ask him to come to Grimsey.
(To Be Continued. 1
Unappreciated Flower.
The New York Times teils a story
about a distinguished gentleman of
that city who came home from a pub
lic dinner the other night and woke
up his wife by exclaiming: "Got boo'
ful bouquet for you, darling; right off
the gov'nor's table boo'ful, boo'ful
flowers." "Well, put them In some
water on the table and get to bed,
dear," said bis sleepy wife. Next
morning, when his wife examined her
husbands "boo'ful" floral offering she
was shocked by the discovery that it
was a big bunch of artificial flowers,
and they looked very much if they had
been rudely snatched from some girl's
bat
Society Wtui Kane n laundry.
. About a year ago Mrs. Alfred Scher
merhorn, a society woman of Brook
lyn, lost her fortune In speculation,
nearly all of her swell friends mani
fested such strong disposition to drop
ber acquaintance that Mrs. Srhermer
born took the initiative by dropping
theirs, and being a woman of sense
began to look around for some means
at self-support. She hit upon the idea
of operating a laundry and opened
such an establishment in Southhamp
ton, L. I., where the faithful among
nei former friends are helping to make
the venture a success.
Wine nt SV400 Drop.
In the famous cellars of the Hotel
do Ville at Bremen there a dozen cases
of holy wine which have been pre
served for 250 years. A merchant fig
ures out that if the cost ol maintain
ing the cellars, payment of rent, inter
est upon the original value of the wine
and other incidental charges are con
sidered, a bottle of this choice Ma
derla has cost no less than $2,000,000,
ecch glassful $270,000, and a single
drop could not be sold without loss
under $200.
A Blow at Bis Pride.
Two Spaniards who had been absent
from Cuba for several yeais recently
sailed up the harbor of Havana and
walked through Its renovated streets.
"Does It not give you pain," one trav
eler was overheard inquiring, "to see
the stars and stripes waving over Mor
ro castle?" "No," replied the other,
looking earnestly at him. "What pains
me to the quick is to see that the
Americans havo in two years done
more for this Island than the Span
iards did in almost 400 years."
Ignorant Sophmoree.
The professor of English at Will la ma
college reports that he put test ques
tions to forty sophmores of that insti
tution to ascertain the extent and
character of their reading. He found
that ten could not mention nix nlava
of Shakespeare, that thirty-four could
not tell wno raistaR was, that thirty
Ave could not name a slnsle nmm ol
Wordsworth's or Browning's aud thai
fourteen could not tali who wrote "In
Memorlam." "
Vermont Deed to Bar Clrenee.
Not until twenty years ago were cir
cuses allowed to exhibit in Vermont,
but the circuHes used to skirt three
sides of the state closely, and It waa
most gratifying to the proprietors to
see the way In which the men, women
and children of the Green mountains
used to troop across the border Into
New York, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire to enjoy the fiats forbid
den them at home.
The Tortarlng Peed Hag.
One of the animal tortures of the
day is the feed bag that is pulled over
a horse's nose, as if it were a muzzle,
and supported by a rope or strap over
bis head, asserta an observing writer.
When the breathing holes become
clogged with oats or corn on a hot and
humid day the victim's suffering must
be Intense. Besides, it Is poor econ
omy, as a horse wastes nearly as much
au he eats by the act of tossing the
bag up to get a mouthful.
Ooa rani's aaoklng aaS Drinking-.
Paul Kruger smokes almost Inces
santly and for many years drank
amazing quantities of beer daily, but
only on once occasion did he ever
taste alcohol. That was at Bloemfon
teln after the signing of an alliance
with the Orange Free State. On that
occasion Oom Paul took off a bumper
of champagne, and he liked it so well
that be bas never tasted It since.
WeiMla lament for Hire.
There are three or four shops In
Philadelphia where costtimis for wed
dings and funerals may be hired at a
reasonable rate. The renting of mas
querade costumes and of men's even
ing clothes Is a business as old almoat
as pawn brokering, but this renting
of wedding and funeral clothes is said
to be something new.
Began la (travel I'lt.
Congressman Charles B. Land Is, the
Indiana orator, la another self-made)
statesman. These are his own words:
"I pitched bar ! worked In a
giavsl pit In my youth, and attended
eollog only whan 1 reached manhood."
pr
SCIENCE
READS LIRE ROMANCE.
"Yes," said a Chicago business man
to a reporter; "yes, we think we bave
hit upon one of the greatest inventions
of this age of invention, and when the
busy world is introduced to our
phono-typograpb it will stop a mo
ment in amazement and admiration.
That may sound to you like a clause
out of a circus bill, or a chapter from
a Chicago novelist's novel, but it is a
true bill, nevertheless. You are aware
that for a long time there have been
efforts to combine in some way the
present style of typewriter and the
plmiiograpn, but until now these ef
forts have Invariably failed, A year
ago we discovered in Chicago a young
mechanic who bad solved the problem,
as we believed, and we put money
back of our belief, and told him to go
ahead with his machine until he had it
where he thought it ought to be ready
to be offered to the world. It is hardly
that yet, for the best machine is sus
ceptible of improvement, but we think
we have a good thing.
"Of course, I can't give you all of
the details, but I think I can make
clear to you the general working prin
ciple of the phono-typograh. As its
names Indicates, it is a typewriting of
sound. That has been the idea in all
other attempts, but it was not found
practicable, because the sounds were
words, and there were too many words
to reduce to machinery, as It were. The
phonograph and the telephone princi
ple got the Bounds all right, but each
sound was a word and that could not
be put in'type. Our man, however, hit
upon a separation of the words into
letters, and that brought his field of
operation into the limit of twenty
six souuds. For punctuating marks we
use spaces, but as yet we have no
capitals. The machine, of course, is
electric, and tile operator talks into it
as Into a telephone, except that he
spells out each word and as the sound
of the letter strikes upon the disk it
is reproduced upon the corresponding
letter, which In turn is printed exactly
as the ordinary typewriter would print
it.
"At first blush the spelling out of
each word would seem to entail more
time and labor than the old style of
typewriting, but a very few hours will
show any person that our phono-typo-graph
will do the work of two people
In half the time they will consume by
the existing methods. We are willing
to admit that our machine is not per
fect in all its details, but as far as it
goes, and It goes a good long way, it is
a world beater. A newspaper friend
of mine has one on trial on which he
has written a hundred words a min
ute, and averages seventy-five right
along. He doesn't know anything
about typewriting of the old kind,
either, and doesn't have to, as gllbness
of tongue takes the place of nlmbleness
of fingers. We hope to have them on
the market within sixty days, but are
in no especial hurry, as there are some
small details we want perfected before
coming up for judgment. No," con
cluded the gentleman in response to a
query", "there Is no stock for sale. We
know a good thing when we see it."
Kx.
HATCOCKN OK SALT.
At Salton in southern California, ex
ists a basin' of land between 200 and
300 feet below sea level. About 1,000
acres of the depressed area are cov
ered with a deposit of salt, which C. F.
llolden describes in the Scientific Am
erican as one of the sights of Califor
nia. The salt is first thrown into
ridges by a peculiarly shaped plow,
drawn by a dummy engine with cables,
and then is piled into conical heaps
before being carried to the drying
house and crushing mill. The expanse
looks like a field of snow. About
2,000 tons of salt are removed each
year, hut the supply Is perennially re
newed by the deposits of salt springs
which flow into the basin. In June
the temperature of the air reaches 150
degrees, and only Indian workmen can
withstand the heat and glare.
HKLLOWS roR ROCKING CHAIR.
In the accompanying drawing is
shown a rocking chair with an air
compressing and discharging appar
atus which in intended to aid In keep
ing the person who sits in the chair
cool. The arrangement consists of a
set of bellows, which are so made that
they can be fitted underneath an or
dinary spring rocking chair, together
with an ice chamber and adjustable
discharge pipes. One portion of the
bellows is secured to the under side of
the chair seat and the opposite end en
gages the frame on which the rockers
rest, In order that the motion of the
chair when belns rocked may open
and close the bellows to receive and
discharge the air. In the lower por
tion of the bellows Is located a sliding
I
drawer, which can be drawn out for
the Insertion of a cake of ice of any
desired size, and the air circulates
around this in entering the bellows,
being then discharged through the
nozzles attached to the ends of the
arm rests. As these nozzles are ad
justable the currents of air may be
ulioclbd toaii uy puiUuii of face
or upper portion of the body.
ARTIFICIAL CALF FEEDER.
What an awful disappointment it
must be to a calf to wake up some
morning and find its mother missing
and no warm breakfast waiting, and
bow disgusted it must feel when the
farmer comes in a little later with a
pail of skimmed milk, straddles the
calf's neck, inserts his finger in its
mouth and tries to convince it that
drinking is the proper method of feed
ing from that time on. Happy would
be that calf If the farmer would pro
vide it with the feeding arrangement
here shown, and happy would the
farmer be if he did not have to waste
his time in teaching the calf to drink.
The calf seems to get along fairly well
until the farmer undertakes to with
draw his finger and make the calf go
it alone, but then rebellion rises and
cn upset pail is the result in some
eases. . Once Introduce the calf to this
device and he may bunt to his heart's
content without upsetting the milk.
The arrangement consists of a reser
voir, suspended from the wall, with a
tube leading to a block underneath, on'
which is mounted a rubber nipple. As
the nipple is screwed on the block it
may be removed as soon as the feeding
is finished, or the entire feeder can be
taken down if desired.
GROWTH or COKE INDUSTRY.
A report on the growth and present
condition of coke manufacture has
been issued by the census office, says
the Black Diamond. The report says
the manufacture of coke is a compara
tively new industry In this country. In
1850 the value of coke produced was
$15,250, while in 1899 it was $35,585,
445, including by-products amounting
to $952,027 in value, or an increase of
over 100 per cent in ten years, from
1889 to 1899. This extraordinary
growth of the coke industry bas only
kept pace with the growth of tbe iron
manufacture.
According to the report the modern
tendency of industry to concentrate In
a comparatively small number of ea
tablishents is strikingly exemplified in
the coke Industry, where there is an
increase of only 10.6 per cent in the
number of establishments reported, as
compared with 1889, while the increase
in tons of coke produced is 96.2 per
cent and in the value of all products,
115.7 per cent.
A capital of $36,502,679 has been in
vested in the manufacture of the prod
uct. The value" of the output was $36,
585,445, to produce which involved an
outlay of $7,085,736 for wages, $19,
665,532 for raw materials and $2,184,
968 for miscellaneous expenses.
Pennsylvania leads the six chief
producing Btates, with 26,920 ovens in
operation and an output of 13,245,594
tons of coke out of a total of 19,640,
798 tons, or 67.4 per cent of the total
output.
HOW TREKS BREATHE.
F. Schuyler Mathews, in a recently
Issued work on "Familiar Trees and
Their Leaves," says: "The greatest
sphere of usefulness which a tree oc
cupies is connected with its life. It is
a great air purifier; it absorbs from the
atmosphere the carbonic acid gas
which is poisonous to us; It holds and
slowly dispenses moisture which the
parched air needs; it gives out the
ozone (or oxygen in an active electro
negative condition) which is particu
larly conducive to our health; and It
niodinis heat which would otherwise
be overpowering. Step into the thick
woods from an open space on a very
hot day, and Immediate relief is ex
perienced from the Intense heat. This
is not wholly the result of shade fur
nished by the trees; much of it pro
ceeds from the modification of the air
through the broatbing of the tree
leaves.
"I have estimated that a certain
sugar maple of large proportions which
grows near my cottage puts forth In
one season about 432,000 leaves; these
leaves combined present a surface to
sunlight of about 21.600 square feet, or
an area equal to pretty nearly half an
acre. Every Inch of this expanse
breathes In life for the tree and out
health for the man, while it absorbs
In the aggregate an enormous amount
of heat and sunlight"
For very minute writing, pen made
from crow quills bave been found to
do excellent work.
"I suppose," he ventured, "that you
would never speak to me again If I
were to kiss you?" "Oh, John!" she
exclaimed, ' why don't you gel over
the habit of always looking at tba dark
aide of things?"
A man's Idea of a phenomenon Is an
other man who never loses his collar
button.
HE KULES HIS STATE.
HERE IS AN AUTOCRAT WHO
RULES AS HE PLEASES.
Yoaa Potentate f ho to ae Abeotata am
Our fwrttsm, H to Viv4er1t4 PieuiH
IV Grand Dak of Mecklenonrc
Senwertn. Frederick Francis IV., Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who recent
ly upon attaining bis majority as
sumed the reins of government, shares
with the Czar of Russia and tbe Sultan
of Turkey the distinction of being one
of the three only absolute monarcbs
left In Europe. He rules bis little
principality without any restriction of
constitution of Parliament. His word
is law. ' He appoints all officials, levies
just what taxes he chooses, and spends
them as he wills, and there Is no
one to question his right. He has tbe
power of life and death over his sub
jects; may fine them, imprison them,
draft them into his army, cut off their
heads or burn them, decorate them, en
noble, them, or dower their daughters,
just as the niood strikes bim.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin bas been
ruled thus ever since tbe days of
Prince Nlklot, who died in 1160. The
family claims to be the oldest reigning
house in Europe, though there are sev
eral that dispute this distinction no-
FREDERICK FRANCIS IV.
tably the House of Orange, of which
the young Queen of Holland is the
bead.
HATCHING ALLIGATORS.
Tea Inches Long When They Emerge
from the Egg.
The casual observer would be very
much surprised if you were to ask him
if be saw any resemblance between a
bird and alligator. Palaentological
evidence, however, demonstrates that
our every-day barnyard fowl and tbe
scaly denizen of the Florida swamps
are descendants of identically and the
same progenitor. But let the casual
observer be handed the egg of a com
mon fowl and that of an alligator, and
he will be much puzzled to tell you
which will hatch a tasty chick and
which a lusty "nigger guzzler." Pos
sibly be did not know that alligators
(aid eggs, and if so, perhaps he will
be interested in hearing what a profes
sor of the Johns Hopkins university
has been doing. He secured some
fresh alligator eggs and kept them in
an incubator for a couple of weeks; at
tbe end of that time he noticed a curi
ous squeaking sound coming from the
inside of the eggs the sound which
tells the mother that her babies are
about ready to appear and should be
helped out of the mess of earth and
leaves which constitute their nest and
in which they are buried. During the
act of hatching the professor tells us
tbe little creatures were quite savage
and would snap at his fingers. The
newly born alligator is about ten
inches long, and it is marvelous how
he can be stowed away in so small an
egg.
or In Examination Papon.
"The grind of going over examina
tion papers," said the principal of a
down-town school yesterday, "bas its
compensation If one has a sense of
humor. Some of the answers are stu
pidly funny, while others are uncon
sciously witty. One of the questions
in the papers I went over this morn
ing was: 'Name some of the causes of
dyspepsia.' One boy's answer was
'Eating green apples and drinking beer
between meals.' Another answered:
'Drinking ice water and after-dinner
speaking.' Isn't that delicious? A
third boy said dyspepsia was caused
by going in swimming on an empty
stomach. Another question was:
'Name some of the vital organs of tbe
human body.' One answer was:
'Heart, liver, lungs and lights. These
are the eternal organs.' "Philadel
phia Record.
Highest Telegraph Palaa.
The highest telegraph poles in the
United States bave just been put np
in Beaumont, Texas. So far as known,
they are the highest of any in the
world, the top being 150 feet above
tbe ground. They were erected on the
opposite banks of the Neches river by
the Western Union Telegraph Com
pany In order to string Its cable across
the stream. Tbe span is 144 feet In
length. This height Is necessary to
admit tbe passage of ships through
the drawbridge, their masts being 1H
feet tall and more. This aerial spaa
waa preferred to laying a submarine
cable, for It Is expected that Coavgreas
mar nt some future day have the
Neches river dredged, and this would
ruin tha cable, it Is also muck tba
ebatper.
