ONLY TO
HEARHER
VOICE
ACAIN
Only to hear her voice again.
Its sweet tones soft and low!
It charmed me when 1 heard It then
A little while ago.
And still I feel It o'er me steal—
It will not let me go.
'Tis but the echo of her song.
The shadow of the sound
Of that dear voice for which I long
That follows me around,
Yet find it well In that sweet spell
To know my heart Is bound.
Only to hear her voice again.
Beside me fondly near.
In tones of tenderness as when
She held my love as dear.
When Joys have left the heart bereft
How precious they appear!
My heart Is now a harp held mute
Till her voice touch the strings;
If to her ear response be clear
True harmony it brings.
For. as ahe will, the harp Is still
For, as she will, the harp is still.
Folly's Fire.
BY ELIZABETH CHERRY WALTZ.
(Copyright. 1H01, by Ilally Story Pub. Co. I
The old grandmother was dead and
the baby, Angela, had followed her, as
If the loving creature had beckoned to
her from heaven. The winter had been
long, the debts heavy and work scarce.
Aurelia, with feverish eyes and scar
let lips, had sewed and toiled. Law
rence, her husband, was sullen and
discouraged. His tasks were Irksome
and to him there seemed little com
fort at home. Hie trembling hands
and shifting glances begged pitifully
for a change, a relief of mind and
body.
In the spring news came to Aurelia
of the death of her grandmother's
brother, a wealthy bachelor. He had
willed the grandmother some money,
and it fell to Aurelia as her heir.
When she heard of it she went to
Lawrence at the forge and sat down
on (he bench near him. It was a long
time since she had sat there—almost a
year
"That money is coming to me, Law
rence."
"Well?"
"I have been counting on what I’d
do. I'm going to give you five hun
dred dollars for granny's keep."
“I grudged her nothing,” he said
doggedly.
"Oh, 1 know, but you felt the bur
den. I'm going to raise it a little. I
want you to rent the shop and get
away. ( want you to be free and to see
life 'thout so much hardness. That's
what I'm going to do.”
"Oh. but it’s your money!”
"I'm going away, too—and see how
It Is to he free. You go your way
and I'll go mine. If you want to come
back, maybe you will And me here,
patching, sewing, tailoring, mending;
then rnayhe you will not."
He glanced up and down the road
with a relief on his face that did not
escape her scornful eyes.
"It might do us both a deal o’ good
to get away,” he said, cautiously, "but
I I
“That money is cornin’ to me."
I did not like to propose it. Since you
say so. I'll be off as soon as I can find
a man to take the shop. We can come
back In a year.”
"In a year and a day,” she said more
lightly; “if I am not hare, I will send
a letter and so must you. Now you
are free.”
In a year and a day be was at the
forge again. Re was stalwart and
merry Life bad gone well with him.
The old postmistress shook her head
as she handed him a letter.
“So the times have gone good with
you, Lawrence?”
"And gayly,” he replied. “I am yet
in my youth and can enjoy. The
towns are full of sport for a man who
loves a light heart and good company.
But I promised Aurelia. She is,
doubtless, well amused somewhere. Au
relia was handsome and can take care
of herself.”
There she was in the doorway.
The old woman scowled at him while
he read:
“I am Indeed well off, content, but
will come If 1 am called. I enclose
another sum of money. If you would
roam farther go for another year and
a day."
Adversity came upon him in the
next year, adversity and sickness. His
bold and gay friends fell away and he
was near to beggary. But he would
not return until the time was up lest
he not be able to hear from Aurelia
and not be bidden home as ha now
desired. He went to and fro over the
county selling nostrums and wonder
ing what had become of Aurelia.
On the day set he came into the
village. A great coach and four block
ed the street and at his old shop door
he met Aurelia in gorgeous array and
with the scorn of a princess in her
bearing.
"You see I keep my promises," she
said, gayly, “and how goes the world
with you?"
She was so splendid that his heart
beat madly.
“Aurelia! What luck has come to
you?"
"The favors of the rich. And I am
beautiful, they tell me. I do not be
lieve you knew it in those old dayB.
Now here is money and you shall have
another year's freedom. Go and be
merry, also."
“But, Aurelia, I-” he stammered.
She mounted into the coach laugh
ing gayly and was soon away. Only
the old postmistress was left to cackle
at him as he stood like a man in a
dream.
“Burned by Folly's Fire—always the
wages of the foolish."
The year went by slowly enough.
Now Lawrence was not content with
the inns and taverns or cottages, but
haunted the houses and castles of the
rich. He saw wealth and splendor,
but he nowhere saw Aurelia—nor any
ope who was so lovely. The old life
catne back to him with its industry,
its simplicity, its stern duties. He
saw it in a new light. How pure, how
innocent, how lovely was his child
wife! How long she had gone about
her duty uncomplainingly, while he re
belled! Now that he had seen the
world he knew all that other life
meant. But what of Aurelia?
A year and a day! It seemed an
eternity. Once more he walked into
the hamlet. The cottage looked fami
liar, its dooryard bright with the gay
ilowers the traveler admired, the win
dows open and white-curtained. And—
could he believe his eyes?—Aurelia in
her old print gown, there she was in
the doorway!
He could not speak from excess of
emotion. He leaned against the great
tree in front of the gate and waited for
her to come out to him.
"I see you have discarded your fine
array,” he said coldly.
She smiled ratiher sadly.
“I left it all at the castle of my
godmother.”
"And now?”
"Here is money for your wanderings
again."
"I do not want it.”
"What will you, then?”
"The old life, if—I can, the old
thought, the old work—and the old
love.”
She smiled brightly.
"So you have roamed enough. Well,
it is a good thing to come home after
being long away.”
"And you—where have you been and
how long since your return? What
of the conch and the splendid gowns?"
"They were my godmother's loan for
a short time.”
He looked at her perplexed.
"A short time? How long were you
away?”
"Foolish one! Not at all. Why
should I go? I have spun and brewed
and baked. I have seen the world
from my window and door here. Wom
en are not so varying, Lawrence. I
did not care to follow fool’s Are—not
I. sir.”
"And now?”
"Your place is ready. I fancy you
will rove no more—at least, not soon.
Is it not so?”
RECORD OF EARLY BOOKS.
First KnglUli Book Wan Not Printed In
England,
The first book printed in the Eng
lish language was not printed in Eng
land. William Caxton, the English mer
cer, carried on business in Bruges. In
1469, he began to translate into English
the "RecuMl des Histoires de Troye,”
and to supply the great demand for
copies of the book he set himself to
learn the art of printing. The “Re
cueil,” the first printed English book,
probably appeared in 1474, and may
have been printed either at Cologne or
in Bruges. In 1475 Caxton printed an
other work translated from the French.
Its title was "The Game and the Playe
of the Chesse.” This was the second
printed English book. Caxton left
Bruges in 1476 and set up his press in
Westminster, England. Such is one ac
count but other authorities hold that
the book on chess was printed at West
minster and was the first book printed
in England. The Encyclopaedia Brit
annica says: “At what date Caxton
brought hi3 press to England and set it
up at Westminster is quite uncertain.
It was probably between 1471 and 1477;
1474 is the date of the Game and Playe
of Chesse; but the tradition that this
work was printed in England may not
be correct." However that may be, it
was the second book printed in the
English language.—Montreal Herald
and Star.
A Remarkalito Story.
An article in I^a Science pour Tout,
informs us that a Chilian botanist has
discovered a plant that coughs when
the slightest particle of dust alights on
the surface of one of its leaves.
Strange as this may seem, it is not at
all, for upon sufficient provocation it
appears the leaf of this same plant
turns red and spasmodic tremors pass
over it in sucession, while It gives out
a sound precisely like sneezing. The
so-called respiration of plants is well
known to botanists, but when it comes
to coughing, blushing and sneezing it
would seem that a special examination
should be made both of the plant and
the botanist reporting the phenomena.
From standing (train to I.oaf.
A Great Bend (Kan.) correspondent
of the Kansas City Journal writes:
"Standing wheat in the field at noon
today, harvested, threshed, ground into
flour, baked into bread in large quanti
ties by a bakery and sold around town
for 6 o’clock supper was a record
breaker in this county this afternoon,
in quickness of conversion of standing
wheat in the field to the bread plate.
A combined harvester and thrpsher is
doing work in California style near
town. Several bushels were taken to the
Moses Mill and Elevator company,
ground into flour, thence the flour went
to the Moore bakery, was made into
bread, baked and offered for sale ii
quantities.
Tannine leather.
The slowness of the process of tan
ning Is largely due 10 the difficulty
with which the tannin penetrates Into
the hide. As the penetration pro
gresses the outer part of the hide be
comes converted into leather and is
thereby made impervious, consequent
ly the rate of penetration decreases.
Months of soaking in the tanplt are
therefore necessary for thick hides.
God does not pay weekly, but pays
at the end.
He who plants fruit trees must not
count upon the fruit.
It's hard to catch hawks with
empty hands. (With empty hands
•wen may no hawks lure.—Caucer.)
I SEEKING THE SOUTH POLE.
n , —
The two most important exploring
expeditions which have ever been fit
ted out for the South Polar seas will
btart from England and Germany this
month—the English In the Discovery
and the German in the Gauss, both of
them new ships especially constructed
for an Antarctic exploration and
equipped with everything needful for
the most complete and varied scien
tific observation, even including a cap
tive balloon and an electrical plant.
The two vessels are about the same
sixe—170 feet In length and 35 feet in
breadth ,and have displacements of
about 1.500 tons. They are strongly
built of oak and sheathed with green
heart. The bows are steel-plated, and
made with a great sheer, so that they
will tend to ride up on the ice and
break it with their weight. They are
rigged for sailing, but carry auxiliary
steam engines of about 400 horse
power, and the screws and rudders are
so arranged that they can be hoisted
out of the water in case of danger
from ice. The living rooms in both
vessels are amidships, the stoke hole
there was originally a uniform fauna
throughout all the seas of the globe,
which is now surviving only at the
poles, having been superseded in the
warmer regions of the ocean by newly
developed forme.
The North pole, chiefly for geograph
ical reasons, has been much more suc
ressfully and continuously attacked
than its southern counterpart. The
cause of this is plainly shown by the
two diagrammatic maps.
The North pole is closely surround
ed by large land masses, all of them
inhabited and fairly accessible. The
Antarctic continent (if it is a contin.
ent) lies in the midst of a great ocean,
the nearest land being the narrow ex
tremity of South America, many hun
dreds of miles away. So that while
the North pole has been approached
to within about 225 miles, no human
being has ever been nearer than about
700 miles to the South Polar axis.
It seems at first rather surprising,
notwithstanding the many geograph
ical difficulties, that an enormous re
gion of this sort, full of fresh material
ma engine room Deing pinreu ngm
ift, while the whole lower hold is util
ized as a coal bunker. Captain Scott
commands the English expedition and
Dr. von Drygalski the German.
It is expected that the commanders
of the two expeditions will work to
gether and follow a system suggested
by Sir Clements Markham, president of
the Royal Geographical Society, which
divides the region into four quadrants,
two on the Australasian side and two
on the Cape Horn and Cape of Good
Hope side. The first quadrant, from 90
degrees east to 180 degrees, he names
Victoria; the second, from 180 degrees
to 90 degrees west, in which the only
known land is Peter Island, is called
the Ross Quadrant; the third, from 90
degrees west to the meridian of Green
wich, is Weddell, and the fourth, ex
tending from the Greenwich meridian
to 90 degrees east, about which the
least is known, is called the Enderby
Quadrant. The English expedition
will confine its operations to the Vic
toria and Ross Quadrants, the Ger
mans taking Weddell and Enderby.
The great unknown region comprised
In these four quadrants covers millions
of square miles, extending over prac
tically thirty degrees of latitude. It
is continually modifying the atmos
phere of the whole southern hemi
sphere, and yet we know almost noth
Ing about its meteorology. It is one
of the most Interesting volcanic re
gions on the face of the globe; recent
volcanic rocks are present everywhere
and active volcanoes are quite numer
ous, and we are entirely ignorant of
its geology. It is one of the two great
world centers of magnetic phenomena,
and yet we know scarcely anything
regarding the magnetic conditions
which prevail, not even with any cer
tainty where the southern magnetic
pole is located. It is by all odds the
grandest field for ice study now exist
ent, and yet no one has studied the ice
there. The mysterious ice barrier ris
ing out of 250 fathoms of water and
stretching Its perpendicular face for
hundreds of miles through the frozen
seas like a gigantic wall—perhaps the
mb face of the greatest glacier in the
world; perhape the edge of an enor
mous island of ice anchored over the
pole; perhaps. Indeed, something still
more remarkable than either of these
—is certainly one of the greatest nat
ural curiosities in the world.
The region has a fauna and flora of
Its own apparently very similar to that
of the Arctic world. The few fossils
which have been picked up indicate
that there was a time when it was
crowded with plants and animals. The
life of the Antarctic seas is very varied
and numerous. The tropical oceans
which now separate the two poles
seem to present an effectual barrier
to any communication, and it is a mat
ter of much Interest to discover whaf
the Arctic and Antarctic identity ol
life forms is due to. Various specula
ttons have been put forward; one ol
these Is that deep, cold currents tra
verse the warmer waters of the ocean
and form hidden roadways, as It were
by which the two polar faunas ar«
connected. Another theory Is that
i lor me explorer aau sciential, snoum i
I still, at the beginning of the twentieth
| century, be practically untouched, es
pecially in view of the great activity
i there has been during recent years in
; North Polar explorations, expedition
after expedition going out every year
| —nine, for instance, being planned for
1901. But, apart from the purely geo
graphical reasons, in the absence of
closely surrounding populations and
lar^-e land masses, the climate and
j temperature conditions of the Ant
I NORTH POLAR REGIONS—FARTH I
DUKE OF ABRU2
arctic render it the most inhospitable
and dangerous region on the globe;
much more so than the Arctic.
The weird and fantastic quality of
the whole region is well described by
Henryk Arctowskl, a member of the
Belgica expedition. He says:
“The silence which broods at times
over this unknown world is singularly
impressive, but occasionally a moun
tain of ice collapses with a thundering
crash. One could hardly believe one's
eyes when these changes in the fairy
like scenes occurred were it not for the
dull rumbling growl of the disrupted
glaciers. In fact, this realm of eternal
ice is so different from anything one
has seen that it appears another world
altogether. In sober truth, I do not
believe that in any fable the human
imagination has described what we
have seen here." In view of the great
interest which attaches to the expedi
tion of 19G1, and the very radical
changes which their explorations may
bring about In Antarctic geography, it
will be of interest perhaps to go over
briefly the history of the region and
our present knowledge regarding it.
When the belief In the roundness of
the earth began to gain ground the old
geographers decided that an Antarctic
continent would be necessary to pre
serve the symmetry of the earth. Ac
cording to Pomponius Mela, between
the "real world" which he knew and
his hypothetical Antarctica there lay
an intensely torrid zone, scorched by
the sun and enveloped in mist, over
which it was Impossible for man to
sail. And he accounted for the volume
of the Nile by supposing it to rise in
this southern continent, pass under the
waters of the torrid zone, and again
come to the surface in South Africa.
As commerce was gradually extended
In all directions these fantastic notions
were one by one dispelled, and al
though during the middle ages the idea
of an antipodes, or antichthone, as it
was also called, was considered hereti
cal and rejected by the church, geog
raphy was being gradually perfected
on the basis of Ptolemy's great work
Through the perseverance of Princs
Henry the Navigator, who sent oui
vessel after vessel, the southern limil
of Africa was fixed, and It was clear
ly shown that whatever land lay to
the south had no connection with it.
An antarctic continent appeared on
Schoner's globes In 1515.
Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch ex
plorers worked away at the Islands just
south of the known continents, and
many of them were named as portions
of a great antarctic land. Cook, In his
second voyage, 1772-5, sailed around
the globe between 40 degrees and 60
degrees south latitude, discovered the
great ice barrier, and finally settled
the much discussed question of land
connection between the continents and
Antarctica. Cook reached a south lat
itude of 71 degrees 10 minutes, the
highest then attained. Here he found
immense fields of ice, which extended,
unbroken, for miles. Whales, blue,
brown, and white petrels, and a few
sooty albatrosses were the only ani
mals seen. The Russian expedition,
commanded by F. G. von Bellinghau
sen, 1819-21, reached 69 degrees 53
minutes in longitude 92 degrees 19
minutes. James Weddell, in 1823,
sailed with two vessels on a sealing
expedition. He reached a south lati
tude of 74 degrees 15 minutes in longi
tude 34 degrees 16 minutes west. At
this high latitude, exceeding Cook’s
by three degrees, he found the sea
open and only three icebergs visible.
Many minor expeditions followed
these, and a number of new islands
were discovered and named. Among
these minor expeditions may be men
tioned those of Lieut. Wilkes of the
United States navy, and a French ex
pedition in charge of M. D’Urville.
The next expedition of leading im
portance was that of Sir James Clark
Ross, 1840-3, and, Indeed, the only one,
up to the two which will start this
month, with anything like a satisfac
tory equipment, which has ever at
tacked the Antarctic seas. This was
a purely scientific expedition. Its chief
purpose being to study the magnetic
1ST NORTH 86D. 33M., CAGNI,
ZI EXPEDITION.
elements In the southern hemisphere1,
and to locate the south magnetic pole,
which Gauss had placed at about 146
degrees east longitude and 66 degrees
south latitude. (As determined by the
Borchgrevink expedition, the south
magnetic pole Is 73 degrees 20 minutes
south latitude and 146 degrees east
longitude.) Sir Joseph Hooker, the
famous botanist, then plain Dr. Hook
er, accompanied the expedition. Its
ships were the Erebus and Terror. Vic
toria Land was discovered and named;
Mounts Erebus and Terror, the former
an active volcano, 12.400 feet in height,
were discovered. The ice barrier from
150 to 200 feet in height, was followed
for 250 miles, but no opening could be
found. Ross subsequently reached 78
degrees 9 minutes and 30 seconds
south latitude in longitude 161 degrees
27 minutes west. Since this expedi
tion until the voyages of the Belgica,
1898-9, and the Southern Cross, 1898
1900, the Southern Arctic was left al
most exclusively to sealers. Borch
grevink, of the latter expedition,
reached a south latitude of 78 degrees’ -<
50 minutes, exceeding Ross by about
40 minutes.
