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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1906)
Gossip from Washington Interesting Items Gathered at the Capital—Social Leader of the White House Must Be a Single Man—Cleaning Up the Execu tive Mansion. WASHINGTON.—It is openly declared that the president has decreed that the major domo of the White House must be a single man. Those who make this assertion point to the removal of Maj. McCawley, for nearly four years leader of social functions at the White House, who_ re cently married the widow of Judge Davis, as their proof. No recem; White House ■ announcement has created has as much comment and concern in official and high social circles as the order de posing Maj. McCawley. It was upon Maj. Mc Cawley that most of the important details con nected* with the Roosevelt-Longworth wedding de volved. Maj. McCawley has held a much similar relative position in the White House under the Roosevelt regime as Harry Lehr holds in Mrs. Astor s “bOO. Without him no social iuncuon could have succeeded half so well. He is hand some. dashing, a divine dancer and as a cotillon leader his reputation in Wash ington is unequaled. And now his romantic marriage at the height of his popularity to the widow of Judge John Davis, of the court of claims, has been followed by the much discussed official announcement transferring Maj. McCawley to the Marine barracks at Washington, and placing a new major domo at the White House. ‘Beau Brummel is paying the penalty of getting married.” is what official Washington is whispering. It should perhaps be explained that Maj. Me Cawley has long been honored with the title of the Beau Brummel of Wash ington. and very deservedly, too. The incoming holder of that distinguished position is Capt. Frank Mc Coy. of the Third cavalry, now at Lewisport, Pa. Maj. McCawley was an obscure officer in the Marine corps until a little more than four years ago, when largely through the record and high stand ing of his father, the late Co], McCawley, of the Marine corps, he was chosen aide to the president. Since then he has loomed high in the social firmament at the capitol. Much interest has attended the courtship of Maj. McCawley and the famous beauty. Although Mrs. Davis is nearly 60 years old, her wonderful beauty, black hair and splendid carriage would lead an observer to place her on the sunny side of 50. She is extremely wealthy, having a fortune of sev eral million dollars in her own right, and occupies a high position in the most exclusive social sets in Washington. Her name figures among the lists of the capital’s most assiduous hostesses, and wherever she goes a murmur of admiration follows. POLISHING UP THE WHITE HOUSE. When President Roosevelt and his family come hack to Washington they will find the White House as bright and clean as the proverbial pin. For weeks the executive mansion has been closed to visitors and in the hands of workmen repairing and renovating the interior. Congress at the last session appropriated over $50,000 for this work, and under the supervision of Col. Bromwell, superintendent of public build ings and grounds, every defect, inside and out side, has been noted and remedied. The contractors have guaranteed the work for at least ten years. A new roof has been put on the entire building and the leaks in the wings and office building have been stopped. The state parlors on the ground floor have been redecorated, but the well-known Blue, Green and Red parlors still retain their colors, while in the East Room WHITE House the prevailing tints are ivory and gold. Upstairs on the second floor, where are the living rooms bf the president’s lamily, the same thorough renovation has been made. The Prince of Wales room, which was occupied by the present king of "England when he visited President Buchanan many years ago, has been •transformed into a dressing room for the president. GROWTH IN OUTPUT OF COAL MINES. According to the report of Edward W. Parker, statistician of the United States geological survey, the production of coal in the United States in 190a amounted to 392,919,341 short tons, having a value at the mines of 1476,756,963, surpassing in both quantity and value all previous records in the history of the country. Compared with 1904 the output in 1905 exhibits an increase of 41,102,943 short tons, or over 11 per cent, in quan tity, and of $32,385,942, or over seven per cent., in vglue Of the total production in 1905 77,659,850 short tons were Pennsylvania anthracite, with a value at the mines of $141,879,000. The total produe tion of bituminous coal and lignite was 315,259,491 short tons, valued at $334,877,963. The produe tion of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania in 1905 was 4,503,151 short tons more than that of 1904, wiilie the increase in the production of bituminous coal and lignite was 30,599,882 short tons. A portion of these increases in both anthracite and bituminons production is traced by Mr. Parker to the efforts of operating companies to provide a supply of fuel in anticipation of a suspension of mining in April, 1900, when the wage scale agreements in the organized coal producing states and the award of the strike commission in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania would terminate. In each decade the output of the United States has been practically doubled. The report shows that there are 620,174 men and boys employed in coal mining in the United States. * The larger part of the increased production in 1905 is credited to the great activity in thd iron industry, as is shown by the fact that the amount of coal made into coke increased front 31,278,537 to 41.412,323 short tons and that the larger increases were in the coking coal producing states and those which furnished fuel to the iron furnaces. VETERAN CONGRESSMEN BEING RETIRED. This has been a hard summer for the veterans ef congress. Early in the season old Gen. Grosven or. of Ohio, went down in defeat before a young rival. A few months later Representative Bankhead, of Alabama, the Democratic Father of the House, was unhorsed by Richmond Pearson Hobson, he who would like to have a fleet of "5,000-ton bat tleships.” Now comes Samuel Matthews Robertson, of the Sixth district of Louisiana, who is now serving his tenth term. He lost out at the primaries held recently. He was elected to fill a vacancy in the 'Fiftieth congress and stood next to Bankhead in years of service in the house. His defeat leaves De Armond, of Missouri, the Democratic Father of the House, although, in comparison with Gen. Ketcham, Gen. Bingham, Hitt, of Illinois, and 6*/ speaker cannon, he is only a newcomer. The first mentioned is now serving his seventeenth year term, but as they have not been continuous and there has been one hiatus in the record of Speaker Cannon, the 14 terms of Gen. Harry H. Bingham, of Philadelphia, make him the Father of the House. De Armond's jump into the Democratic premiership in the matter of service was made positive by the defeat of Bankhead, of Alabama, who has since been elected “alternate senator,” to fill the vacancy that may be caused by the death of either Senator Morgan or Senator Pettus, both of whom are more than 80 years old. No honor will come to De Armond by reason of his premiership unless the Democrats control the next house. In such an event he mav be designated to administer the oath to the Democratic speaker, John Sharp'Williams. OUR SOLDIERS WEAR GOOD SHOES. “Uncle Sam keeps well in mind the saying, ‘A man is not well dressed unless he wears ~a good pair of shoes,' ” said a government, inspector “for he takes care that the army is fitted out with the most comfortable and nattiest of footwear To he sure, he does not go n for upper jawed flaring soles, or twisted, ugly toes, but he pro vides the finest of leather and insists that the boots for his soldiers shall be well made His inspectors look after the shoes at every process in their manufacture, and any short cut of leather or negligently placed nails that might result in corns or sore feet are pointed out with condemn ing fingers and the boots are thrown aside. Once in awhile the style in army shoes changes and then a big batch of shoes will be thrown on the market, which merchants eagerly gobble up. The man who buys those shoes will uui. kcl a ucw army snoe, but he gets the finest shoe on the market for high grade leather and good workmanship “The United States army marching shoe of to-day has a cap and is a shoe for a man to be proud of. The cap is not only over the toe, but across the heel, and it gives just that touch of ornamentation which the well dressed man likes. “Its sole is only moderately heavy, and the leather Is the best box calf. It is eight and a half inches high. It has five eyelets at the bottom of the lacing, then five hooks, and at the top of the shoe is another eyelet, a com bination of fastenings which has been tried out and found to be the best for getting the shoe on quickly and for strength. “The garrison shoe is built on similar lines, only It is six and a half inches high and has a plain toe. Some of them have caps at toe and heel, but for the most part they are plain. “Contrary to popular belief. Uncle Sam does allow his soldier boys to wear a low shoe or Oxford, although it is never worn on the march. They are more for undress and are made of dongola kid and are called gymnasium shoes.” FAMOUS OLD FLAGSHIP NIAGARA TO BE RAISED FROM LAKE ERIE Vessel Made Memorable Through Heroic Deeds of Commodore Perry to Be Preserved as a Naval Relic. Washington.—The rate bill, pure food inspection measure and the se lection of a type for the Panama canal are among the legislative products of the session of congress just ended that have the largest share of inter est from a practical standpoint, but from a historic viewpoint the house, senate and president, at the instance of Representative Arthur L. Bates, enacted no more interesting law than that appropriating $20,000 to raise the famous old flagship Niagara from Lake Erie and preserve it as a per manent sailors’ home at Erie, Pa., as a memorial to the first victory of an American fleet over a foreign foe. The bill provides for the salvage work under the direction of the sec retary of the navy and for the erec tion of a suitable building of brick and stone for housing the vessel after it is transported to land. The site contemplated by the board of trustees of the soldiers’ and sail ors' home of Erie, who are made the custodians of the vessel, for the pro posed building is on a bluff overlook ing Lake Erie, making a most appro priate setting for carrying out the pa triotic intentions of the advocates of the restoration plan. Thereafter the naval relic is to be kept on exhibi tion free to the public at all times. The size of the building may be judged from the fact that the Niagara which was built after the same model as the Lawrence, was 100 feet straight rabbet, 30 feet beam, 9 feet hold and was pierced for 20 guns. Every American knows of the he roic deeds of Perry at the battle of Lake Erie in the war of 1812. It is one of the brightest pages in a naval history lustrous in deeds of valor. Contrary to an impression that has gained currency the Niagara did not sink during the battle. It was not until years later, when the memory of the great victory was fading into forgetfulness that the Niagara found a resting place at the bottcm of the lake. The water at this point is not very deep and the location of the wreck has been well identified. Fortunately, the fact that it has been half im mersed in sand and water for the last 40 years has kept its old timbers in an unusually good state of preserva tion and no doubt is entertained that the vessel can be successfully raised. At the beginning of the present con gress Representative Bates announced his determination to see that a relic of such value should be carefully kept. He did not finally succeed in fc rcing through the bill and getting the signature of the president till the closing week. It was not difficult to persuade President Roosevelt to give his approval. The raising of the Niagara should not take a great deal of time and the suggestion has even been made that it be rushed so that the ceremonies attendant on placing the old craft on the l-'-wn of the home may take place c- September 10, the ninety-third an niversary of the conflict. The battle of Lake Erie has always been regarded by Americans as their crowning victory on water in the sec ond struggle with Great Britain. It made the fame of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, born in Rhode Island, and one o' the greatest of our early sea fighters. • Perry not only fought both the Law rence and the Niagara with consum mate skill, but he also built them, an achievement not possible to the Daval leaders of to-day. Early in the war he was assigned to go to Lake Erie and build two brigs of war of 500 tens each and 20 guns. £o imperative was the haste that tim ber cut in the forest was put into the ships on the same day. His force was much depleted and discouraged by illness when the Brit ish lleet under the command of the brave Capt. Robert Heriot Barclay ap peared in force. Barclay was a veteran of fine abil ity, who had been with Nelson at Trafalgar, and had sustained a serious injury there. His fleet consisted of the Detroit, a new and strongly built ship of 17 guns all long except two, the Queen Charlotte, the schooner Lady Provost, the brig Hunter, the sloop Little Belt and the schooner Chippewa. Commodore Perry had at his dis posal the Lawrence, his flagship; the Niagara, Caledonia, Ariel, Trippe, Tigress, Somers, Scorpion, Ohio and Porcupine. In numbers the American fleet was the stronger, but the British ships were better fighting crafts. Only two of the Americans, the Niagara and the Lawrence, were of the first class. Furthermore, the enemy enjoyed an advantage in having the long guns, while for the greater part the Ameri can ships were equipped with caron nades, which could only carry for a short distance. Before going into the battle Perry raised on his flagship a standard on which were the words of the heroic Lawrence, for which the ship was named, spoken in his moments of death: “Don’t give up the ship.” The British commander was terri bly injured and nearly all his ships were complete wrecks. So impressed was Perry by the valor of the enemy that when the time foi; surrender came and the enemy's officers came to his flagship, the Niagara, he de clined to take their side arms. His triumph complete. Perry sent j to Gen. Harrison this modest message, I which remains a classic: "We have met the enemy and they j are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.” Milk Fed Pumpkin Amazes. Bloomington, 111. — A milk fed pumpkin is the latest development in agricultural circles. Two pumpkins, grown on the same vine, were on ex ; hibition at the Tazewell county fair. ! They stood side by side, but one was ten times larger than the other. The giant was given a pint of milk per day. a hole being cut in the vine which was attached to the stem. The milk was completely absorbed over night. The small brother attained natural growth, but the milk fed weighed 100 pounds. ARMY MARCH Gen. McCaskey Says Infantry Branch Disapproves Unnecessary Tramp. Washington.—Long marches in the infantry branch of the army, as pro vided for in recent orders, pertaining to annual camps of instruction, are disapproved by llrig. Gen. William S. McCaskey, commanding the south western division, in his annual report to the war department. The recent orders, he says, will have a decided and disastrous effect upon reenlist ments. Commenting upon the general dis satisfaction Gen. McCaskey says: “The practice marches as now ordered and the prospect of a repetition of this ES TOO LONG. summer's long encampments and tiio extended marches incident thereto are | looked upon as an unnecessary hard ship. American soldiers are thinking men and reason to the effect that while any hardship that is necessary will be endured, those not necessary will be evaded. It is believed that the infantry soldier upon reenlistment will be found in the coast artillery. “I am of the opinion that camps of instruction as now conducted are too long in duration. Three weeks in camp should be sufficient. Marches should be less than 100 miles; any thing beyond this is unnecessary and is disapproved of by the majority of officers and men whom I have inter viewed on the subject.” There Are Many Kinds of Potatoes. Hampden, Mass.—Deacon John N. Ishani, who has been cultivating two or three strains of potatoes for half a century, recently decided to introduce in his patch a few other varieties. On one seed farm in North Middleboro he found 825 named and numbered kinds, not including this year’s seedlings, re sulting from crossing native stock with a hardy South American potato. Deacon Isham, after learning what a complex proposition the potato breed er faces and being informed that not more than one in 100 new strains is an improvement over the plain every day potato which New England has produced since the days of the Pil grims. concluded that the old-time “spuds” are good enough for him. Cats Mourn; Turn Black. Steubenville, O.—Two cats owned by Hiram Jennings went into mourn ing following the death of their mas ter the other day. Jennings was found dead in an oat. field after eating a hearty meal, and by his side were the pet cats, both white. They followed his body to the grave, and upon their return to the house it was noticed that they were rapidly changing to a deep black. Within three days the felines were in deep mourning. They have refused to eat, and spend the night wailing most pathetically in the back yard. Artistic Sensitiveness. “Why are you so resentful toward that writer?" “Because,” answered Mr. Storming ton Barnes, “he once said there were moments when my work did not real ize the highest possible standard of excellence.” “Well?” “My dear sir, I welcome criticism, but I cannot endure such ignorant abuse.”—Washington Star. Close to It. “Were you ever hynotized?” “I don’t know, but I once bought a lot of things I didn’t want from a girl in a department store.” PLAYS TUNE ON A BARREL. Massachusetts Man Has a String In strument That is a Wonder. Malden, Mass.—Out of a sugar bar rel Frederick S. Hall, of Malden, has constructed a unique musical instru-' ment, supposed to be a distant relative to the ’cello, and on the one string of the contrivance the performer plays arias and selections from famous operas. Hall got the idea for the barrel ’cello one day when he heard the hol low sound made by some small boys pounding on a large hogshead. He be lieved that the hollow cavity of a good, stout oaken barrel would pro duce a good sounding-board for a vibrating string. i Procuring a ’cello string, Hall rigged it on the side of a barrel and then began his experiments. After sev eral weeks' work he has perfected an instrument that gives a surprisingly mellow tone. Friends of the musician have been calling at his studio by the score for the past few days to hear the new musical instrument. Hall has received a large offer for the instrument from a circus performer, but he refused to part with it. Hall is well known in local musical circles. He is the composer of sev eral tuneful songs and marches. BANKER BUYS WAITER A RANCH. David H. Moffat Will Install Old Friend in Home Near Him. Denver, Col.—David H. Moffat, mil lionaire banker and railroad builder of Colorado, who boasts as his friend! Thomas Gay, head waiter of the Fifth Avenue hotel. New York, desires his friend to live near him, and as the first step in that direction has pur chased a ranch of 158 acres in Routt county, near Steamboat Springs, which he is having put in shape be fore presenting it to Gay. Mr. Moffat bought the rauch for *4,800. He will spend a goodly portion of his time on the ranch with his old friend. The friendship of the two men has inter fered with Moffat’s business several times, but when a man objected to; the waiter the banker wanted nothing to do with him. Once a Denver man took an eastern capitalist to Mr. Mof fat's room in the hotel to talk over a business deal involving $250,000. They found Moffat playing poker with the waiter. They were introduced to him as they would have been to any other guest and the deal fell through on account of the attitude of the eastern man when a waiter was introduced to him as a social equal. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS GROW. Foreign Trade on Sound Basis and Collections Are Large. City of Mexico.—During the fiscal year ended June 30 the total exporta tions of the country amounted to $271,138,809, against $208,520,451 in the preceding fiscal year, a gain of $62,618,357. Imports amounted to $220,651,974, against $178,204,962, an increase of $42,446,112. Nearly $50, 090,000 in coined silver was exported and some $38,178,000 new gold was imported in the readjustment of tV currency. Exports of merchandise ^ the fiscal year increased by $2,741,919. The foreign trade of the country is on a sound basis and the customs collec tions large. During the fiscal year the United States took of Mexican exports $186, 010,052; Great Britain. $47,272,873; Germany, $20,523,156; France, $8,010, 279. Mexico imported from the United States to the amount of $145,600,313; from Germany, $20,814,557; from Great Britain, $20,344,648; from France, $16,383,255. All sums are in Mexican standard currency, the unit being one-half of the American dollar gold. STAYED IN JAIL BY CHOICE. “Eddie” Mullin Declined to Accept Fredom and Died in Prison. Cleveland. O.—“Eddie” Mullin, who for 29 years refused to leave the Cuy ahoga county jail, died at the city hos pital. He was about 65 years of age. Mullin was a familiar figure about the county prison. He was picked up by a policeman one day in the fall of 1877 wandering aimlessly about. He was talking to himself about ships and Egypt. He was taken to the county jail to await an investigation as to his sanity. He was not violent and the probate court did not investigate his case. Hugh Buckley, member of the board of public safety, was then sher iff. and he ordered the release of Mul lin. The prison doors swung open and Mullin was told that he was free. "I don’t want to be free. Please let we stay here. This is the best place I have found since I left the ship—the good ship Alice,” wailed Mullin with tears in his eyes. Mullin’s manner touched the sheriff, and he said he could stay around the jail until he found a place to work. Mullin liked the jail so well that he did not try to get a job. Sewer Good After 53 Years. New Albany, Ind.—By reviving an old water works system that w-as con structed 53 years ago at Byrneville, a village 15 miles northwest of this city, the citizens of that town contemplate the establishment of a new system. The old stone pipes that were placed more than half a century ago were buried deep in the ground and recent investigation has shown that they are as good as new. A supply of water can be procured from a stream near by and the reconstruction of the old system, it is said, can be accomplished at a small cost. Life Created by Frenchman? Paris.—Prof. Liduc, of a medical school at Nantes, claims to have cre ated vegetable life. He has been ex perimenting for ten years and he eventually discovered that, with what he described a3 “osmotic pressure,” which animates inorganic matter when dissolved to a liquid, it .is possible to produce a substance identical with living tissues. He gradually created artificial cells, which lived and repro duced. From these he claims he pro duced growing plants three and four Inches long. GREAT SALTON SEA SCHEME CALIFORNIAN SUGGESTS JOINING IT TO GULF OF CALIFORNIA. Would Afford, He Says, a Magnificent and Impregnable Harbor for United States War Fleets. In spite of the efforts of the engin eers of the Southern Pacific, who ex pect to divert the waters of the Colo iado river into its old channel, and who say that then the waters in what has come to be known as Salton sea '-'ill dry up, there are others who look with skeptical eyes upon the success of the engineering project. If the ef lort does fail, and the great sea of wafer in 'he desert grows, to what use can it be put? is the question ■some are asking, and M. R. Whitney, lor many years a resident of .Mecca, Cal., has come forward with the amaz ing scheme of connecting the Salton sea with the gulf of California, and making of it an impregnable harbor large enough to hold the fleets of the [-7 1 Map Showing the Proposed Salton Sea Harbor. world, but designed only for the fleets of the United States. Whitney is a man of education who spent much time over this plan, and, having made an extensive study of hydraulic engineering, has prepared definite plans of how the trick can be turned. He now has two books in press, both laid in the valley of the Salton sea, and both replete with in formation concerning this strangely misunderstood region. Startling as the plan is, and radical ly different as it is from all schemes hitherto proposed for the relief of the stricken valley, engineers are prac tically a unit in the belief that it can be accomplished and at a small ex pense at that. When completed, it is admitted that the finest harbor ever devised will be in the control of the United States; that very small arma ment will be able to defend the nar row mouth of the canal from all in vaders, whether by sea or land. Extending over portions of two counties, nearly 50 miles long by 20 wide, Salton sea is rising at the rate of two feet every week. No power on earth has been able as yet to shut off the torrent of water which, running with the speed of a millrace. is pour ing off the great Colorado river water shed into this rink. The town of'Sal ton is under 20 feet of water; so are Durmid and Frinks. Walters is threat ened, and, north and south, east and west, the water of this rapidly rising sea is seeking the old levels of the inland ocean. When this tank has been filled up | Brawley, Calexico, imperial, Heber. Silsbee and Holtville will be under water. The fertile Imperial valley ! will then have been wiped from the map. Over it all will lie a body of salt water varying from 300 feet in depth at the center to sea level at the edges, and from almost SO miles long by 35 wide. The barrier which holds this sea away from the California gulf is com posed of nothing but salt and sand, brought in by the Colorado and backed up by the waters of the gulf until it has formed a fragile ridge between Hardy's Colorado, which empties in'o the gulf, an j the buried sea. Here at. the head of the gulf will be established fortifications sufficient to guard the canal from all intruders, no matter how great their strength. But few guns will be needed fpr this; a disappearing carriage or so, well pre pared for the work of protecting the narrow entrance with one big gun on each carriage will be amply sufficient, according to one military officer to whom the matter has been referred. There are no mountains, at least, rone of any consequence, in the way c? this canal scheme, and the big ditch, when finished, will be as nearly level as it is possible for a canal to 0e. In eoninnetion with the Panama canal, should the latter ever become i reality, this Saiton sea harbor is pointed to by one of the government engineers as the firtishing touch to the great.scheme of uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific. With the control of the gulf of California in its hands, and this very probably will be an accom plished fact in a short time, for there is now a committee from the govern ment of Mexico in Washington looking ap an error in the treaty of Guada ioupe Hidalgo, which, if rectified, will give the United States the greater part < f Sonora and several other of the North Mexican states as well as the control of all of Lower California and he gulf—with the control of this gulf there will he provided for the United States the grandest harbor, in con junction will) the great isthmian ca nal, that has ever been devised by l iman engineers. THE CROTON DAM PARK. DEBRIS LEFT FROM BUILDING DAM IS TRANSFORMED. Landscape Artist Succeeds in Restor ing the Picturesque Valley in New York to Old-Time Beauty. In the building of the gigantic spill way at the Croton dam where en gineering skill has succeeded in pro viding Greater New York with an ade quate and pure supply of drinking wa ter, there were mountains of rock and sand and debris left, which disfigured the beautiful valley and destroyed its former picturesqueness. But the landscape artist has taken hold of the task of transforming these unsightly piles of debris and rarely is seen to better effect his skill than in the disposition which he has made of the various banks of excavated rock and sand and the huge amount of general debris, which disfigured the otherwise picturesque valley of the Croton river below the new dam. dur ing the years that the work of build ing was in progress. These banks of excavated material were necessarily of large proportions, as will be under stood when we state that before the masonry of the dam could be built in place, it was necessary, according to figures of the Scientific American, to excavate 1,750,000 cubic yards of earth and 425,000 cubic yards of rock. The greater part of this mate rial was carried down the valley and dumped into large spoil banks, which extended in some cases for thousands of feet. Although, after the masonry of the dam had been car ried up above the original level of the bed of the river, a large amount of the excavated material was used for fill ing in the excavated trench and re storing the original bed of the valley, there yet remained a vast amount of debris below the reservoir. lhe finishing touches to the Croton dam consisted mainly in the erection of a L’OO-foqt steel-arch bridge across the spillway, the laying of the roadbed of the 18-foot driveway across this bridge and over the crest of the dam from one side of the valley to the other, and the formation of an orna mental park on the downstream' side of the structure. The last-named work involved the grading down aud form ing into terraces of the debris, the construction of a central fountain, and the laying out of a series of driveways and footpaths, of which latter two lead from the fountain to the foot of the steps, by which the ascent may be made at two different points to the crest of the dam. while a driveway leads to a 150-foot steel bridge across the bed of the Croton river, whence it extends to a connection with the main road leading down to Croton Landing station. The 18-foot driveway along the crest of the dam forms a connect ing link between two macadamized roads, which follow the shore of the new Croton lake, and form a continu ous ride over 40 miles in extent. This road crosses the various arms of the lake by handsome steel bridges car ried on granite piers, and it is destined ultimately to form one of the most Section of Croton Dam Park. picturesque drives in the vicinity of Greater New York. The total length of the dam from the southerly abutment to the bridge is 1,168 feet, and the length of tin spillway front the bridge to its ter minus up the valley is 1.000 feet, rnak ing a total length of masonry of 2.ICS leet. The 1,000 feet of spillway pro vides complete security against darn ! age by sudden floods. As the water flow over the spillway they enter a ! wide channel blasted out of the rocky ! side of the hill, and they are led be neath the steel arch bridge down to a new artificial channel, which ultimate ly directs them into the old bed ot the Croton river. How It Looked to Her. The Friend—I hear you are going ; to marry young Wilde to reform | him. The Maid—Your hearing is good. The Friend—Well, if you don't sue ceed, you won’t be able to keep hiu out of jail. The Maid—That’s all right. If he | doesn’t reform, I'll not want to keei i him out—Chicago Daily News. Didn’t Learn her Age. “To-day,” remarked the pretty young widow, "is the fifth anniversary of my marriage.” “Indeed! And at what age were you married?” asked the bachelor who thought to get next to the number of years she had sojourned on earth “At the parsonage,' 'answered tho p. y. w. as she winked her other eye —Chicago Daily News. Couldn’t Be Both. “Pa!” “For goodness’ sake, what im It row?” “This book is called ‘Shakespeare's Works.’ ” “Well?” "Well, you told me they was plays.’ —Cleveland Leader. Blind. "I didn't know he was such a mean man.” “You didn’t! Gee! You ecr.ldn'l see a bunch of pink ribbon tttrougl a peek-a-boo waist.”—Houston i-nst