o
9
By CHARLES NORRIS BUTLER
/fuf/tor of 7/>e /?eranjpe of fVemre,"yf jfczrezzjczr/ 7hz£«f</7.s'7/iffa,m£?c.
Copyright, 1905, P'y Morris C. Butler.
CHAPTER II.—Continued.
“Yes. a vast, well-organized society,
composed of people in every profes
sional walk of life. It will be your
business to discover this band and en
ter the organization as a member.”
“And if I already know of the ex
istence of such an organization?” very
calmly asked Lang.
“Half the battle would be won!”
exclaimed the detective excitedly. “I
suspect, Lang, that you do know con
siderable about it, that’s why I ap
proach you in the matter. You are
one who undoubtedly should know
something about it—the crime you
were charged with, together with the
fact that you had command of money,
certainly placed you in the proper po
sition to know. But I know you are
not a member of the society, for I
have watched you too closely for that.
What others may think I know that
you are an honest man.”
“Thanks for that compliment,”
laughed Lang. “I am not a member,
of course. But, as you say, I should
know something about it, and I do.
While imprisoned in the Tombs, a
man in the next cell to me made me
the offer that for ten thousand, dollars
in cash he would guarantee me that
I could escape, and be furnished with
protection against re-capture. He
hinted at being an agent of a power
ful society, but I gave no heed to it at
the time, because I relied on being
able to ‘fix’ a juryman for less than
that sum, if the worst came to the
worst with me.”
“I wasn’t mistaken in you!” ex
claimed the delighted detective, rub
bing his hands together in his excite
ment. “You are the man for my
money—and it will take money to see
this thing through. I have a modest
fortune of about fifteen thousand, the
result of my savings for the years I
have been on the force. Half of this
'um I will put to your credit, if you
I-;
early to bed, sobered by his unexpect
ed offer and prospects.
All night long Denver had lain
awake mapping out the plan of action
that he wished Lang to follow; and in
the morning the detective and Lang
met as by agreement, at the office
of a detective agency.
“Lang,” said Denver, as the youth
took a seat in the detective's room,
“You have slept on my proposition;
are you still of the same opinion you
were last night?”
“I have had no occasion as yet to
change my mind,” responded the
youth. “In fact, I am firmer in my
resolve than ever. You don’t want to
back out, yourself, do you?”
“I should say not. And that being
your answer, we will consider the
; question settled for good and all. To
j start with, I am going to make a new
I man of you—physically. Your long
! debauch has somewhat run down your
natural hearty constitution. You must
be given the benefit of a course of
physical training which will enable
you to withstand hard usage and pri
vation if necessary; a thorough ath
letic training, in fact. You must be
surrounded with all the protection
possible in this great undertaking, and
as ‘a healthy body makes a healthy
mind,’ we must not fail for the lack
of either of these. You shall be taught
the thieves’ code; the art of gam
bling. ‘cardsharpery’; how to drink
and carouse, without really dissipat
i ing. Of course this won't make an
ideal man of you in the sight of the
world, but it is the training you need
in order to accomplish the ends we
have in view. Until you have been
through your course of ‘sprouts,’ noth
ing will be done towards attempt
ing the liberation of Golden, or the
following of any other clue we may
become in possession of.”
“I don’t need much schooling in
the fine arts you mention,” disap
Bound for good and all.
will enter my service for an indefinite
period of time. This will compensate
you for your trouble and risk, should
we fail in the main undertaking. If
we succeed in locating the ‘country’
and getting away with its wealth, we
will both be famous and rich. How
does this strike you?”
‘‘It strikes me as a most magnifi
. cent offer,” responded Louis heartily.
“You accept then?” asked Denver.
“I most certainly do!”
“That's settled then,” said the de
tective, as calmly as if binding an
everyday bargain or horse trade, as
he held out his hand, “Shake on it.”
Louis grasped the proffered hand and
shook it heartily, and to them this
momentous bargain was bound for
good and all.
“Who was this man who accosted
you in jail?” asked the detective.
“Simeon Golden, who was accused
of killing a ‘pal’ of his, and who was
awaiting requisition papers to take
him back to Illinois for trial,” replied
Lang.
“That clears up a mystery, and
gives a motive for the killing,” said
Denver, musing. “It was never clear
to the judge who tried the case, what
the motive was that prompted the
killing. To me now it is perfectly
plain. The murdered man knew of
the ‘country’; possibly was about to
give away the secret, and was ’si
lenced’ by Golden. He got off easy;
fifteen years in Joliet. He has at
tempted to escape a dozen times,
but failed. So this is your man?
Well, well! We will have to keep
this gentleman in view', possibly as
sist him to escape from jail, in order
to discover his confederates and thus
get in touch with the country!
“I need not further impress upon
you the need of secrecy.” said Den
ver, rising to leave, “because I think
you know that already. But as part
ing advice I mention it to you. I have
said enough to-night; to-morrow meet
me in my private room on Monroe
street, and I will give you your first
installment of money for current ex
penses and map out a plan of cam
paign that I wish you to follow.” And
with a sort of satisfactory handshake
the detective and the youth parted
for the night.
“Let me think.” said Louis, steady
ing himself against the doorway as he
watched the retreating form of Den
ver. “I have an offer thrown at me,
which virtually amounts to selling my
self for a time, and running myself
into the greatest danger. If I am
luckv—with one chance in a thou
sand in my favor—I may become real
ly rich and famous. I told Denver
that T did ”Ot cure for life; but I do!
Life lo near to me; I will live to win
the prize. I will live to show the
world that even a man wrho has had
his neck in the hangman’s noose can
make success out of life!”
CHAPTER 111.
1
The First Serious Set-Back.
With that high aim before him.
t^ang soon left the saloon and retired
! pointedly explained the young man,
i who was keyed up to the highest pitch
■ of hope, and foolishly wished to jump
! in and perform some wonderful feat
| in the detective line which would
raise himself in the estimation of the
world, and make him utterly worth
less to the case in hand.
“You are in a position to be
| shunned by ‘polite’ society, and at
j outs with the lower strata as well,”
| mildly remonstrated Denver. “High
| society is not to be your judge. That
i you have a taint on your character,
; and delude them is not enough, you
must become a truly ‘hard’ character.
Should you become known as a de
tective or even an honest working
man. you could never accomplish
what we have set out to do. Neither
can you accomplish it without due
preparation. Our paths must lie far
apart. Without being known in the
matter at all, I will supply you with
the funds necessary to live while you
prepare yourself for the struggle.
You will assume the character of a
‘sport,’ and cultivate the association
of the flashiest and most suspicious
of the light-fingered and tough gentry.
Become one—our success will depend
upon the truthfulness of your delinea
tion. I trust my meaning is made
clear to you, and that you sufficiently
I realize that brains are needed in this
undertaking?"
“If success depends upon my follow
ing your instructions to the letter,
nothing will be left undone!” replied
Lang, who at last clearly perceived
what Denver had been aiming at that
success in the detective business
works by inverse ratio.
“Spoken like a man! And I believe
you have the spirit and the nerve
to carry it through.”
“Let us begin then. What do you
suggest doing first?”
“I should advise you to Join an
athletic association,” answered Den
ver. “Learn to box. to wrestle, even
a few lessons in swords play and tar
get shooting wouldn’t be amiss. You
may never have occasion to use these
accomplishments, but if you ever do
want them, you will want them
‘bad.’ ”
“I am now taking a course of box
ing," replied Lang, “and can very
easily make it include lessons in
wrestling. As you have suggested
‘arms,’ I shall practice a few bouts,
to become expert in the use of the
short sword. The shooting galleries
will give sufficient practice with the
gun and revolver.”
"You will put yourself in training
at once.” The detective paused
abruptly, springing to his feet.
Lang and Denver had been sitting
very comfortably together upon a
leather lounge which occupied one
side of the office; all of a sudden
Denver sprang up and in one bound
landed in the office chair, and grab
bing up a pen from the desk before
which he now sat, he began writing.
Louis was for a moment at loss to
understand Denver’s actions, but had
the good sense not to ask for an ex
planation nor appear surprised. It
was soon made apparently clear, when
into the room very unceremoniously
stalked a personage, whom Louis in
stantly recognized hy intuition as a
detective.
Denver rose from his chair very de
liberately. and while acknowledging
his visitor’s presence by a cordial
nod of his head, spoke to Lang in a
businesslike tone, in a voice rather
loud, and evidently for the purpose of
being overheard by the newcommer:
“Mr. Smith, I may or may not see
you again very soon; however, if you
follow my instructions implicitly,”
handing him a note at the same time,
“you cannot go astray, and undoubt
edly will recover the property.”
Lang was somewhat hurriedly
bowed from the office, not so quickly
as to look rude, but before the visitor
had a chance to get a critical view of
him.
“I wonder who that man is?” quer
ied Lang to himself. “Some detective,
evidently, whom Denver does not
wish to see me.”
The same thought crossed the in
truder’s mind. He could add two and
two together about as well as any
body. “ ‘Smith,’ that’s kind of a
cheap name!” he said to himself.
“Evidently Denver doesn't want me to
know this fellow. Just because he
don’t want me to know him is just
the reason I should know him. That's
only another score I owe Jim Denver,
and I’ll begin the payment by watch
ing Mr. Smith!”
This was the first serious set-back.
Lang was greatly disappointed in
being hustled so unceremoniously
from the detective's office, but he par
tially understood the reason, that the
visit was unexpected and undesirable.
The slip of paper given him by Den
ver hardly enlightened him:
“Beware of Regan—lead a double
life—begin your training at once.”
With it was a check for fifty dollars.
“Since these are my instructions,”
said Lang, “and as I have nothing
else to go by, I must begin my train
ing at once. I don't understand what
object Denver has in view in making
an athlete out of me, but as he pays
the bills I can but obey orders.” And
it was well that he did so.
(To be continued.)
PRISONER PROVES UP LAND.
Then He Goes to the Sheriff to Begin
Three-Year Term in Prison.
Sheriff Nelson of Green county has
taken to the Kansas penitentiary John
F. Yates, a farmer, for the murder oi
William Hughes, a wealthy cattleman,
last July.
Yates was sentenced to three years
in the penitentiary in the District
court at Mangum three weeks ago.
says the Kansas City Journal, but was
allowed to prove up his homestead and
provide for his family so they could
live in comfort during the three years
he is in the penitentiary.
Last Saturday night Yates went to
Sheriff Nelson and said he was ready
to begin his sentence. He was not
manacled as he rode on the train on
the way to Lansing. Kan., but sat in
the seat with the sheriff as any other
citizen might.
The killing of Hughes was the re
sult of an old free-range quarrel out
in the new country. Yates was ar
rested and placed in jail. His bond
was fixed at $20,000, the judge think
ing that amount would be more than
would be raised in the county.
Yates was released on bond, how
ever, before the end of the week. A
giotip of farmers who were his friends
qualified for more than twice that
amount.
Judge Irwin announced the sentence
and asked Yates if he had anything to
say. Yates said the sentence was just
and that he would serve it.
He said, however, he lacked a short
time of having proved up his home
stead, and asked to be with his family
two weeks longer. Judge Irwin grant
ed the request.
Sereno Payne’s Snores.
Representative Sereno E. Payne, the
Republican floor leader in the House,
has claims to fame which are not
mentioned in any of his official biog
raphies. According to those of his
colleagues who have accompanied him
on sundry junkets to funerals, foreign
lands in search of Congressional in
formation and even on campaign trips,
he can snore longer and louder than
any man in the United States. Nor is
Mr Payne at all bashful of his accom
plishment, nor sensitive when his tal
ents in this direction are exploited.
He takes the pokes in good part and
now he never interferes with the plans
of his colleagues when they seek
to find him isolated in the sleepers
or on shipboard. Mr. Payne gets
annually several hundred cures for
the malady of snoring. He has nos
trums sent to him which are warrant
ed to cure after one trial. Most of
the gifts come from members of Con
gress who have spent sleepless nights
as Mr. Payne’s traveling companions.
An “Ade” to Digestion.
Among the many attempts to play
upon George Ade’s surname, the one
here given is, perhaps, one of the
test. A man from northern Wiscon
sin, who met the humorist some time
ago, tcld him how his writings had
made existence more tolerable for
him in lonely country home.
“I was a terrible sufferer from dys
pepsia.” said he, “but I read that
laughing was helpful to the digestive
organs, so when I went to the city
next time, I stepped into a book store
and toid them I wanted somethin’
amcozin'. They give me some of your
hooks, and after meals I had my ole
woman read to me from ’em. And
say, it don't make no difference how
much they criticise your books, you're
an aid to digestion, anyway.”—Success
Magazine.
The Tub Was Too Full.
While we were spending our sum
mer vacation at Point Allerton, one of
our neighbors came to visit us, bring
ing her youngest son, Chester, about
3 years old. In th? afternoon, while
watching the surf, some one proposed
to go in bathing. The little fellow
thought he would like to go also. He
did not enjoy it as well as he thought
he would.
Later in the afternoon his mother
said: “Chester, I noticed you did not
enjoy your bath; at home you like
to get in the tub.”
“But, mother,” he replied, “that tub
was too full.”—Boston Herald.
WORTH REMEMBERING.
There are three entirely different
kinds of ingredients used in making
the three different varieties of baking
powders on ..h^ market, viz: — (1) Min
eral-Acid or Alum. (2) Bone-Acid or
Phosphate, and (3) Cream of Tartar
made from grapes. It is important,
from the standpoint of health, to
know something about these ingredi
ents, and which kind is used in your
baking powder.
(1) Mineral-Aeia. or Alum, is made
from a kind of clay. This is mixed
with diluted oil of vitriol and from
this solution a product is obtained
which is alum. Alum is cheap; cost!
about two cents a pound, and baking
powder made with this Mineral Acid
sells from 10 to 25c. a pound.
(2) Bone-Acid, or Phosphate, is the
basis of phosphate baking pow'ders
and the process is fully described in
the patents issued to a large manufac
turer of a phosphate powder. The U.
S. Patent Office Report gives a full
and exact description, but the follow
ing extract is enough:
“Burned bones, after being ground,
are put into freshly diluted oil of vit
riol and with continual stirring and
in the following proportion,” etc.
From this Bone-Acid phosphate bak
ing powders are made; such powders
sell from 20 to 30 cents a pound.
(3) Cream of Tartar exists in all
ripe grapes, and flows with the juice
from the press in the manufacture of
wine. After the wine is drawn off the
tartar is scraped from the cask, boil
ed with water, and crystals of Cream
of Tartar, white and very pure, sepa
; rate and are collected. It differs in
j no respect from the form in which it
; originally existed in the grape. Cream
of Tartar, then, while the most expen
sive, is the only ingredient that
should be used in a baking powder to
| act upon the soda, as its wholesoine
ness is beyond question. Cream of
Tartar baking powders sell at about
40 to 50 cents a pound.
Such are the facts, and every one,
careful of the health of the family,
should remember this rule;—Baking
! powders selling from 10 to 25 cents a
| pound are made of Mineral-Acids;
| those selling from 20 to 30 cents of
I Bone-Acid; and those from 40 to 50
I cents of Cream of Tartar made from
j grapes.
—
IT's, a shame—
_
I
That a fool and his father's money
Ere soon parted.
That a genius can do almost any
thing except make a living.
That lortune usually has gloves on
when she knocks at a man’s door.
That many sermons cease to be in
teresting when the dinner bell rings.
That sound money is the kind that
jingles in the other fellow's pockets.
That there is no insurance against
the flames kindled by a woman’s eyes.
That a man must make his way in
the world while a woman merely has
hers
That a policeman, like a rainbow,
| seldom appears until after the storm
is over
That about the only men who get
I satisfaction by going to law are the
lawyers.
That about the time you succeed in
breaking in a pair of shoes your feet
break out.
That the man who has money to
throw at the birds is always afraid of
spraining his wrist.
That some writers never succeed in
disturbing the truth that lies at the
bottom of an ink well.
That more than 4,000 coupling de
vices have been patented, yet thou
sands of bachelors and maids are go
ing it alone.
That while the fabric of a ready
made garment may not be of the best
the fabrications of the dealer are usu
ally the real thing.
•_
I do not believe Piso's Cure for Consumpt'or.
kas an equal for coughs and colds.—Joht F.
Boteh, Trinity Springs, Ind., Feb. 15, 19001
DID YOU EVER WONDER—
Why a home for old people isn’t
called an orphan asylum?
Why is it that you seldom see an
old maid with auburn hair?
Why it is consoling to a widow to
know that history repeats itself?
Why so many people question your
answers when you answer their ques
tions?
Why it is that all of the political
rogues are to be found in the other
p.irty?
Why good-natured criticism is the
only kind a man ever dishes out to
himself?
Why a woman should have two ears
and but one tongue when everybody
knows that she would rather talk five
hours than listen five minutes?
DYSPEPTIC PHILOSOPHY.
Necessity Inows a lot of lawyers.
Some men are born cynics and oth
ers live in boarding houses.
It is always harder to patch up a
quarrel than to make a new one.
Conscience is • still, small voice
that tells us when <.e are found out.
The only spilled milk worth cryaig
over is the milk of human kindness.
We are never too old to learn, but
lots of us are too young to realize it.
The trouble with tombstone inscrip
tions is that they come too late to
flatter us.
I know a man who occasionally, in
a fit of absent-mindedness, tells the
truth, but he always tries to lie out of
it afterward.
Thst'a All.
Ee: “Well? what have you there?”
She- “Two of your old letters, my
dear.” He: “Umph! What’s the first
one—that 40-pager?” She: “One you
sent me when I had a slight cold be
fore we were married. This half-page
is the one you wrote last winter when
I was very ill with influenza. That’s
all, dear.”
Aids to Longev ty.
A man, 103 years of age, who has
used tobacco and alcoholic drinks
since bo>rhood and is still robust, says
he has always carefully avoided dan
ger—he has never ridden on a trolley
car or elevated train, and never con
suited a pbysicia-v—New York Times
Don’t forgot, that the wisest owl oc
:asionall? hoots at the wrong time.
ELABORATE ILLUSTRATION OF FAKE
STORY OF U. S. TREASURY ROBBERY
- — — rj^ -
Ail uermanv and Austria were re
cently stirred by the sensational news
that the United States treasury had
been looted by burglars in the employ
of American millionaires of every
dollar it contained. While the happy
American people were living in ig
norance of such an abominable crime,
the papers all over Germany and Aus
tria. with flaring headlines, told about
the bold “robbery ot millions from the
the United States treasury.” At the
public resorts this villainy of Ameri
can millionaire criminals was discuss
ed and for a few days excitement ran
high, even in financial circles, about
the sensational story published by the
papers of Emperor William and Em
peror Francis Joseph's realms.
Many papers even published illus
trations, showing features of the in
credible deed and a reader of the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle w'ho is traveling
in Europe has sent the accompanying
picture, taken from one of the Ger
man papers. In his letter he stated
that the paper expressed the hope that
the North American squadron that
was said to be in pursuit of the rob
bers might succeed in recovering the
stolen treasure in order to prevent an
Impending calamity that might even
interfere with the good commercial
relations existing between the old
country and the Land of the Future.
And all that excitement, which
startled otherwise cool-headed peo
ple of two nations, sprang from an
article in the Berlin Tageblatt, one of
the leading newspapers of the Ger- !
man empire.
Nobody has taken pains to ascer
tain the truth. The story was signed
by L. Triar.g, which is the nom de
plume of the correspondent of the Ber
liner Tageblatt. a well known for
mer member of the German Reichstag.
He is the real author of the story. And
furthermore the German editors who
were taken in so easily, knew that
America was the land of the million
aires; that the country was said to be
in the hands of the millionaires, and
that the building of tunnels was one
of their principal engineering feats.
All these were facts and pitfalls
for the credulous editors, who did
not take into consideration the custom
of publishing fake stories on April the
first. The same papers once before
published a story about the invention
of a wonderful apparatus by which
all sorts of movements could b# heard.
The growing of grass sounded like
the light reports of a cannon, and the
pulling in by water bugs of their feel
ers made a noise similar to the open
ing and closing of an umbrella. It
was not until the clever copyists had
been reminded that the invention was
made on April fool's day, that they
learned the publication had only been
a fake.
In geographical knowledge. not
much could be expected, and for this
reason it was easily believed that the
robber fleet’s vessels were Colombian
or Chilean cruisers, and were fitted
up for the expedition in the almost un
known parts of Polynesia or even on
the coast of Patagonia, where hardly
any accommodations may be found to •
do such work.
It must, however, be considered a
poop excuse made by those German
papers, which claimed afterward that
the story was not printed as a mere
news item, and that fake stories ap
pearing in German papers would,
more easily, be copied by the yellow
journals of America.
It may be quoted that not all of the
All Fools Day fake originated with
the Berliner Tageblatt’s correspond
ent. In a recent novel by Alfred Henry
Lewis, an unprincipled Russian noble
man, a society figure in Washington
carries out the plot to loot the treas
ury. He learns that an old sewer
runs close to the vaults. He buys a
fast yacht, employs crooks from New
York to do the work, and ingeniously
devises rubber bags to be blown up
as wanted by the man who has broken
into the vaults from the sewer. Each
bag will carry' twenty pounds of gold
and will float down the slow stream of
the sewer to its mouth at the Poto
mac. There, in dead of night, row
boats will take the gold to the yacht.
The plot is foiled only after the vaults
are broken into. Mr. Lewis is the
biographer of Richard Croker. His
story was not a joke. It was per
haps a trifle more ingenious than the
German journalist's imitation.—Brook
1 lyn Eagle.
THE CURIOSITY OF WOMEN.
How Mr. Fletcher Discovered Proof
of Its Existence.
“Woman's curiosity,” said Mr.
Fletcher, "is a quality of the mind be
yond all human understanding.”
"Yes?” said Mrs. Fletcher. "What
made you think of that.” Then, ac
cording to the New York Press. Mr.
Fletcher gave this explanation of his
profound and highly original remark.
“The actions of a woman I saw
down town to-day.” he said. "She fol
lowed a man ten blocks just to read
a placard that was fastened on his
back. She spotted him at Thirtv
fourth street. That was really the
end of her trip, I feel sure, from some
thing she said to another woman, who
was too fat to join in the chase. But
when she caught sight of that flaming
red poster tied to the man’s back, her
curiosity got the better of her, and
she set out after him.
"He led her quite a chase, across
town and down town and half-way
back to Thirty-fourth street, but she
never weakened. She tagged faithful’y
along in his wake and finally got close
enough to read that notice.
Mrs. Fletcher reflected a moment.
“What did it say?” she asked.
“It advised her to get her teeth
pulled somewhere on Sixth avenue.”
Mrs. Fletcher thought again. "Where
were you all the time she was trying
to find that out.”
“Me?” said Fletcher. “Oh, I was
following the woman. I wanted to
see if she finally caught up with the
man.”
Profit and Loss.
William Allen White tells a story il
ustrative of the tribulations of an edi
tor of a paper in the West in the old
days. Away back in the early 80’s a
notice appeared in a journal pub
lished at Dodge City, which ran as
follows:
“In view of the fact that we cannot
pay the road tax of $10 assessed
against us this year, we have been
sentenced to a certain period of con
finement by the judicial authorities of
.this state. Consequently there will
be no issue of this paper for the next
three weeks; but as the state will, of
course, have to board us, we figure
that we shall come out some $20
ahead.”—Harper’s Weekly.
- 1
Marriage Is Unpopular.
Statistics would seem to prove that
marriage is becoming an unpopular
institution in England. The registrar
general shows, in his annual return
just issued, that the marriage rate in
1903—15.6 to every 1.000 of the popu
lation—was the lowest since 1895.
The birth rate in 1902—28.4 a 1.000 of
the population—was the lowest on rec
ord, and the same has to be said ror
the death rate—15.4 a 1,000 persors.
. ..
Kansas Egg King.
J. E. Brewer, state senator from
Dickinson county and the "egg king”
of Kansas, passed through here on
the way to Kansas City, where he will
attend a convention of egg dealers.
Senator Brewer shipped 100 carloads
of eggs last year. As there are 12,000
dozens of eggs in every car, he bought
and marketed a total of 14,400,000
eggs.—Topeka News.
Argentina Abolishes Consulates.
The Argentine minister of foreJgn
affairs has issued an order abolishing
a number of consulates in Germany,
Australia. Belgium. Italy an^ Portugal
Why He Prayed for Rain.
The Rev. Mr. Livingston of Georgia
tells this one:
“A friend of mine down in one of
the small towns of Georgia.” said Mr.
Livingston, “has many proteges
among the people in the mountain
country near. Several years ago there
was a long dry spell in Georgia. At
about the beginning of it the wife of
one of the mountaineers died. The
disconsolate husband followed her to
the grave, and was the last to leave
the burying ground. His footprints re
mained, large and distinct, in the
clay beside her grave. Six weeks
afterward my friend drove out to see
how the widower was doing. He was
found sitting in the door of his cabin,
staring hopelessly at the cloudless
sky.
“ ‘Ef hit would only turn in an’
rain,' be said, T wouldn’t ask nothin’
of nobody.’
“ ‘The dry weather is bad for the
crops.’ the visitor remarked.
“ "Tain't crops,’ said the widower,
‘hit's Miss Seliny Johnson. She
swears she won’t marry me till it
rains.’
“‘Why not?* the visitor asked.
“ ‘She ’lows it wouldn’t be showin’
proper respect for my first wife to
marry before my tracks in the grave
yard is washed out. I shore do‘wish
hit would turn in an’ rain. I been
courtin’ her six weeks. Good Lord, a
man kain't wait on the weather for
ever.’ ”—Brooklyn Eagle.
He Got His Money.
“I’ll send you a check for my $25,”
she said after they had settled up the
bridge score.
“Oh, come, why not pay it now?" he
insisted to her astonishment.
“I haven't so much,” she answered,
“and I don’t want to. I’ll send the
check to-morrow.”
“Come, now, open that beautiful
gold purse and see if you haven’t the
money," he repeated persistently.
“Count it through and see.”
She was determined on account of
his rudeness; but he won out and she
handed him over the money.
“What angered me most,” she said
afterward, “was not so much his ill
bred persistence as the fact that I
really did have the money, but didn’t
want to pay it that afternoon.”—New
York Sun.
—
Royal Children Demand Honors.
Some of the czar’s children are free
of speech, unfettered of action and
fully appreciative of their exalted
rank. This is particularly true of the
Pur-haired, blue-eyed grand duchess
Olga, who has often been known to
stop her little pony carriage in the
parks of Peterhoff—the czar’s sum
mer residence—to call to order some
rasserbv who had failed to accord her
the attention she considered due an j
emperor's daughter. j
Improving Italian Railroads.
Italian railroads are busy. The
Adriatic Railway company will ex
pend $3,250,000 for new locomotives
(thirty-two) and passenger and freight
cars; the Mediterranean Railway
company will expend $2,600,000 for
eighty locomotives and 200 passer ger
cars, and the Sicilian railways $565,
000 for 450 cold storage cars.
Strength of Jap Navy.
In two years, at the outside, the
strength of the Japanese navy will be
represented by about 250,000 tons, of
rtisrUacement
HOW TO STAY YOUNG.
Growing Old Largely a Matter ef
Imagination.
How old are you? The adage says
that women are as old as they look,
and men as old as they feel. That's
wrong. A man and woman are as old
as they take themselves to be.
Growing old is largely a habit of the
mind. “As a man thinketh in hie
heart so is he.” If he begins shortly
after middle age to imagine himself
growing old he will be old.
To keep one's self from decreptitude
is somewhat a matter of will power.
The fates are kind to the man who
hangs on to life with both hands. He
who lets go will go. Death is slow
only to tackle the tenacious.
Ponce de Leon searched in the
wrong place for the fountain of youth
It is in one’s self. One must keep
one’s self young inside. So that while
“the outer man perisheth the inner
man is renewed day by day.”
When the human mind ceases tc
exert itself, when there is no longer
an active interest in the affairs of
this life, when the human stops read
ing and thinking and doing, the man
like a blasted tree, begins to die at
the top.
You are as old as you think you
are. Keep the harness on. Your jot
is not done.—Milwaukee Journal.
A Hangman's Rope.
The rope which was used to-day in
the execution of John Henry Young is
just an ordinary hem!) rope, but a won
derful story of tragic interest would
be revealed, could it but speak. Nine
teen times has one end been knotted
around the gallows beam, and nine
teen times has the noose been placed
around the neck of a condemned crim
inal.
This rope is the property of W. A.
Stewart of Cleburne, ex-sheriff of
Johnson county. Mr. Stewart had the
rope made in St. Louis in 1898, to be
used in the execution of John B.
Shaw, a white man. The rope was
made by a German and was hand
twisted, the very best quality of hemp
obtainable being utilized in its manu
facture. The rope is eighteen feet
long and cost Mr. Stewart $12.50. The
noose made to go around the neck of
Shaw’ has never been changed.—Hous
ton Post.
Doing as the Romans Do.
When Mr. Seth Low, ex-mayor of
New York, was in Rome some years
ago, he was accosted on the street by
a jovial and writty New York friend.
“Hello, Low!” said this exuberant
wit. “I suppose you are over here,
'doing as the Romans do.’ ”
“No, indeed!" said Mr. Low. “Would
you have me, too, engage in the gen
tle art of fleecing Americans?”
India's Cotton Goods Industry.
In 1883 the cotton goods Industry of
British India w'as represented by 62
factories, with 1.554,000 spindles and
15.000 looms. Now there are: Fac
tories, 205; spindles. 5.164,000. and
looms, nearly 44.000. The capital in
vested is $60,000,000. and the workers
number over 1,000,000.
Trials Refresh Heathen Faith.
From letters received by the
Church Missionary Society from Ja
pan, it seems that the severe trial
through which the island empire is
passing is finding expression in great
er earnesfress in th' performance of
heathen rites
