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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1906)
Loup City Northwestern j J. W. BURLEIGH, Publish*!*. LOUP CITY, . . . NEBRASKA. •An Odd Cure. Are you a sufferer from ir, digest- on? Here is a curious remedy. Rev. vohn Spencer of Duluth has brought back with hiirf from Ceylon one of the most curious presents in the world. “Riding on an elephant,” he said the other day, “behind a native prince on a hunting expedition, the conversation chanced to turn on indigestion, to which I said I was subject. The prince at once pulled out a black leather button kind of thing, which he was wearing on a string round his neck, under his clothes. ‘What's that?’ said I. ‘A hy ena’s snout,’ was the startling reply. ‘What for?' ‘To cure indigestion.’ ‘How can it do this?’ ‘It is very simple. A hyena gets its living by digging up and crunching old bones. Now, it pos sesses in its snout this peculiar virtue, that when its nose approaches any thing hard, such as bones, those tough substances instantly grow soft, and enable the animal to eat them with comfort and benefit. So you will find if you keep this charm hanging round your neck the proximity of the hyena’s nose, though dried up and lifeless, will soften your food, however indigestible, to such an extent that you will never again suffer from indigestion.’ ” Educating Newsboys. Boston has an association of news boys which has begun to establish a fund for educating at Harvard one or more among them, and has raised al ready $2,000 toward the necessary amount. This lively association, says Collier’s Weekly, has already been ad dressed by President Eliot more than once, and its latest step shows how full of high ambition these boys are. There could be, we gratefully believe, no more sterling proof of opportunity and of character in America than these self-supporting youths now give. In what other nation would a boy born *n_ poverty, earning each day his food and bed, set out cheerfuly to pass the examinations of a great seat of learn ing, and, once in, to master to the full Its manifold weapons for adding to the conquests of his life? Criticise it how we will, and should, we may well glow always for our land of the free. Now, as ever, since the pioneer’s ax fought Its battle with the wilderness, is it the home of Opportunity and of her daugh ter, Hope. An ambassador of a well-known Eu ropean monarch was riding in the streets of Constantinople when one of the sultan's carriages rolled by. See ing it was guarded, his curiosity got the better of him, and when the car riage reached him he was daring enough to peep In at the passenger. •He was surprise®! and pained to re ceive a blow in the face from an at tendant in charge. Mad with rage, he demanded audience of the sultan. The jsultan listened attentively, and for a moment appeared lost in thought !At last he spoke: “My dear-, I have gone carefully into the case, and teee exactly how it stands. You are jof course, a gentleman, therefore you iwould never have committed such a 'breach of good manners as you allege jto have taken place. Therefore nc 'attendant could possibly have struck |you. The whole affair seems to be a ^product of your fancy. Let us dis 'miss it.” ( An engineer from Sunderland was spending a few days in London with s (friend, and after a busy morning sight (seeing the Londoner chose a large res jtaurant for luncheon, thinking it woulc •be a novel experience for the mar from the north. The visitor appeared to enjoy his luncheon, but kept look (tng in the direction of the door. “Whai are you watching?” asked his friend, rather annoyed. “Well,” was the quiet (reply, “A’s keepin’ an eye on ma top fcoat.” “Oh, don’t bother about that.’ 'said the other, “you don’t see me watching mine.” “No,” observed the [guileless engineer, “thee has no call to—it’s ten minutes sin’ thine went.” *— - - , Bill Wright is a country storekeepei jin Pennsylvania, and went to Philadel. iphia to purchase a stock of goods. The goods were shipped immediately anc Reached home before he did. When the boxes of goods were delivered al his store by the drayman his wife hap pened to look at the largest; she ut itered a loud cry and called for a ham, jmer. A neighbor, hearing her screams rushed to her assistance, asking the f-ause of the trouble. The wife, pale nd faint, pointed to an inscription or (the box which read as follows: “Bir. (inside.” , Gertrude and Agnes Lynch, twins and telegraphers at Omaha, are a greal puzzle to all with whom they come in contact in connection with the busi ness of the Western Union Telegraph company, by which both are employed One of them tells that their mother one day lost her distinguishing mark) adding: “She puzzled over it for a long time and finally shut her eyes and grabbed up the first one she touched and tied the pink ribbon on. So you see I really do not know whether I am Agnes or Gertrude.” The bugle which sounded the charge at Balaclava was offered for sale by Auction in London, but was with drawn, the highest bid being $5,200, ‘and the reserve price $7,500. Two Balaclava bugles, previously sold, real ized respectively 750 guineas and {$500. In Massachusetts the illegal sale of street railway transfers is made pun ishable by a fine not exceeding $50 or imprisonment for not more than 30 -fcays. From Nation*s Capital What It Costs to Keep the President of the United States—Re cent Panama Trip Inexpensive—Most Powerful Battleship in th; World to Bj Built for Our Navy—Elephant Problem Solved. WASHINGTON.—It is difficult to determine precisely what it costs his “fellow citizens” to keep the president of the United States, but it is safe to assert that it does not figure up more than two-fifths of a cent for each person in the country, man. woman and child. Compared with the cost of maintaining the head rulers of many imperial istic nations the expense attached to keeping the chief executive of this country is small. The royal families of England, Germany and Russia spend millions of dollars of government revenues every year and besides have set aside for their use large domains of lands and costly buildings. Among the presidents of republics the one who costs his countrymen most per capita is the president of Hayti. The citizens of that nation pay 17-22 of a cent each for the maintenance of their ruler, while the fellow citizens of the presi dent of Paraguay pay three-fourths of a cent each for keeping him. ine cost of the president of France is three-tenths of a cent a head; that of the president of the Argentine republic seven-twentieths of a cent a head; that of the president of Mexico three-twentieths of a cent a head; that of the presi dent, of Chili three-tenths of a cent a head; that of the president of Bolivia one-fourth of a cent a head, and that of the president of Ecuador two-fifths of a cent a head. For the present fiscal year the appropriations for the White House are something like these figures; Salary of the president, $50,000; traveling expenses of the chief execu tive, $25,000; salaries of the executive office, $66,340; contingent expenses of the office, $20,000; care, l'epair, refurnishing, purchase horses, etc., $35,000; fuel for mansion, greenhouses and stable, $6,000; care and maintenance of conservatory and greenhouses, $9,000; extraordinary repairs to executive man sion, $35,000; lighting the grounds, fuel, pay of laborers, care of greenhouses, etc., $19,500; total, $265,840. There are several minor items, such as $4,000 for the care and mainten ance of the executive mansion grounds, which make the total close to $270,000. The total appropriations for the present year are much larger than in past years, but much of this is due to the appropriation of $35,000 for repair ing the executive mansion, which developed some bad leaks after the $500,000 spent on rehabilitating it two years ago. The appropriation for repairs, etc., would ordinarily amount to about $5,000, which would reduce the expenditures phargeable to the White House to about $240,000. The item of $35,000 for care, repair, refurnishing, etc., is expended as the president sees fit and there is little limitation by the comptroller of the treas ury. That official never bothers with White House expenditures, although having autocratic sway with all other departments of the government A president of the United States never attempts to change a decision of the comptroller, but he has no trouble in changing the comptroller. ITEMS NOT CHARGED TO THE WHITE HOUSE There are a number of salaries that properly belong to the White House, although carried on the rolls of other departments. The two secret service men assigned to the White House at all times are paid by the treasury. The salaries of about 30 police officers are paid by the district. These amount, to probably $35,000 a year. If con gress appropriated directly for the salaries of these men the total appropriations for the White House would mount up to over $300,000 for the present year. There are 18 privates and two sergeants of police constantly patrolling the White House grounds. In addition there are about ten police officers assigned to duty at the White House as doorkeepers. Most of them have been soldiers or sailors in the army or navy and have been selected by the district authorities for their strict attention to duty and general good Judgment. mi How much or the appropriation or $2o,000 for traveling expenses made by the last congress had been drawn upon nobody outside the White House and treasury knows. Such matters are carefully guarded by treasury bookkeepers and auditors. The president, however, has made only three complete trips since the appropriation was made. One was to Oyster Bay, another to "Pine Knot,” Va., his country place in that state, and his trip to Panama makes the third. The Panama trip was not a costly one, as the president went on a man of-war. In Panama he was entertained at all times by officials of the govern ment and was conveyed by the Panama railroad, which belongs to the United States. The purpose of the president, it is said, is to expend as little of the appro priation as possible during this fiscal year. It is probable that next summer he may go on a hunting trip and visit a number of cities and towns, but that will not be until after congress has adjourned in March. The salaries of most of the servants at the White House—the domestic force, such as cooks, waiters, laundresses—are paid from appropriations made for the superintendent of public buildings and grounds. Col. Crook, who has been the disbursing officer of the White House for years, has charge of no funds except those for the executive force. This ap propriation is for $66,340 for this year. Col. Bromwell, superintendent of pub lic buildings and grounds, handles all the other appropriations except the $50,000 a year salary of the president and the $25,000 traveling account. The president's salary is disbursed directly by the treasury, which send* him a check at the close of each month. MONSTER BATTLESHIP FOR OUR NAVY. Either of the plans submitted by the bureau of construction and repair for the new battleship which is to be constructed, if carried out, will give the navy of the United States the most powerful battleship in the world, according to those who know what the plans are. The plans, together with ethers submitted by outsiders, are now under consideration by a special board appointed by Secretary of the Navy Bona parte. One plan provides for a vessel of exactly 20,000 tons displacement, and the other for a float ing fort of 20,500 tons displacement. Either plan, it is confidently expected, will give to the American navy a warship far more powerful than the famous English Dreadnought, which has started all governments to rush the construction of huge ships. 1 ■* ™ ,,T'—--— i The Dreadnought carries ten 12-lnch guns, while its secondary battery is inconsiderable. One the plans for the new American ship provides for ten 12-inch guns and the other for 12 12-inch guns. This second plan would give an astounding battery strength in a broad Bide fire, the most important consideration of 12 12-inch guns. The battery could be made possible by virtue of a new arrangement of turrets. In the plans for the 20,000-ton ship provision is made for ten 12-inchers mounted in double gun turrets, all on a center line, thus giving a broadside of all guns. A battery of 12 five-inch guns, to be Unown as the torpedo defense battery, is another feature. In the plans for the 20,500-ton vessel there are 12 12-inch guns in six tur rets, all on the center line. Not all of the turrets, however, will be on the same deck, provision being made for the center turrets of the group to be 45 .feet above the water line. The design also provides for 16 five-inch guns for 'torpedo defense, the battery to be protected by five inches of armor. The most serious criticism of the designs for the ship is that none of the five-inch guns can be fired astern, and only two command a fire over the bow. This would tend to make the vessel vulnerable to torpedo attack from the stern, and would make defense against a torpedo attack straight ahead diffi cult. It is expected that the plans for the 20,500-ton ship will be adopted by the department. Altogether ‘the board which has been appointed by Mr. Bona parte has seven designs to consider. The one considered most desirable will be sent to congress by the navy department in accordance with the resolution of last session providing for the construction of a big battleship, but not before congress was given an opportunity to see the plans. UNCLE SAM SOLVES ELEPHANT PROBLEM. A novel plan has been found by treasury offi cials to save the government the cost of feeding four healthy elephants several times daily during the next four months. When the officials, in en forcing the law against undervaluation were com pelled to confiscate the four elephants owned by a showman named Thompson, the problem of feed ing the animals until the next auction sale of the confiscated goods presented itself. It was solved by permitting Thompson to give bond for the safe return of the animals. He was permitted to take the animals on the road and the officials are hop ing he will make enough money exhibiting them to pay the penalty for his offense and recover the elephants. The four elephants in question are of the real circus variety that can stand on their heads, fire off cannon, waltz, and sit around a table and eat J WCLE 5flM51 a course dinner. 11 was me umuty- pari oi me eiepnanis training that wor ried James B. Reynolds, assistant secretary of the treasury, who, in an un guarded fit of official zeal, ordered the pachyderms, seized and got them on the government’s hands. As a protection to the American industry in infant elephants a duty of 20 per cent ad valorem is levied on the big beasts. The four animals were brought Into the port of New York some months ago by Thompson. He put a valuation of $0,000 on his herd, and, in order to avoid paying the duty, de clared that he did not intend to keep them in the United States, but only wanted them to stay awhile for exhibition purposes. He put up a bond and took the elephants on their way to meet the youth of America. The Thompson show got in Canada and he drew down his bond. But Thompson and his elephants came back, this time through the port of Buffalo. Bhow time was over and the value of the elephants had decreased, and they were declared to be worth only $2,500. But the memory of the customs serv ice is long, and the $6,000 valuation put on them at New York was resur rected, and that resulted i» tnelr seizure. FOR PLANT LOVERS. CHARACTER AND HABITS OF HOUSEHOLD ORNAMENTS. Different Specimens Vary Greatly in Their Requirements—Not All Need Sunlight to Attain Perfection of Growth—Care of Palms. Many do not think it is wise to have plants in their living rooms dur ing the winter, while others are care less of the wisdom of it, but would not be happy unless they had green and flowering plants in one or more rooms of their homes. To see the ' pains housewives take to have plants in their homes, often under the most adverse circumstances, leads one to believe that the love of nature and of the beautiful is deeply planted with in the character of most women. If you are going to have plants, flowering and otherwise, in your home, it is of the utmost importance to know the character and habits of each plant, if you wish to cultivate and have them flower successfully. Some should be placed where they get the direct rays of the sun at mid day, while others, like salamanders will stand any amount of heat and do best at a south window. Few plants will grow and bloom without sun shine, but there are a few which make a lovely show even in the north window. All kinds of ferns love just such a situation; sweet violets will grow among the ferns and bloom freely, filling the room with their sweet odor. The varieties of begon ias which depend for their beauty on failage rather than flowers do well without sun. We have even seen be gonias covered with bloom and per fect masses of foilage which had reached that state of perfection with out a ray of sunshine. For south windows geraniums, fuch sias, sweet alyssum, heliotropes, car nations and oxtails will give perfect satisfaction and a mass of bloom. They can also be grown in an east or west window, but geraniums particularly will not do so well any place as in a south window. Begonias, callas, fuch sias, feverfew, mignonette, all do well where they get sun but part of the day. Any of the following plants are to be relied on either for bloom or foli age, as stated. They are particularly suited to the furnace-heated, dust ladened air of our dwellings, and do not need much attention: The India rubber tree (ficus elas tica) stands at the head of decorative house plants which will stand a hot, dry atmosphere. A large, well grown specimen will have leaves four or five inches wide and nearly a foot long. It does not drop its leaves easily, some remaining on several years. The leaves should be dusted frequently. The plant requires plenty of light and water, and makes a better growth if supplied with plant food once a week. Dracoena terminalis is another very ornamental, long-leaved plant. Like the ficus, it will stand a dry atmos phere. Its leaves are a dark crimson, marked lengthwise witn a ngnier pink. The plant needs repotting spring and fall. During the winter the leaves must be wiped off with a damp sponge as often as the dust ac cumulates on them. It requires some sunshine and considerable water. Another plant which will thrive in the same situation is the screw pine (pandamus javanacus). P. variegatus is particularly desirable. It has long, narrow, drooping leaves, variegated with lighter green, almost white. It will do well with but little sunshine, but needs plenty of light. It requires but a moderate quantity of water. Most of the palm family are suited for pot culture, and do well when given a place where they are secure from freezing. They will do with little light, and for this reason are de sirable ornaments for the hall or the stairway landing. They do not, how ever, object to sunshine, and are a handsome addition to any collection of plants. They should be kept in a rather small pot. They require a peaty soil, mixed with sand, and plenty of water. Livistona chinensis is one of the most elegant varieties, but latar.la bourbonica and the dwarf pal metto (sabal adamsonii) are also very good. Other annuals well worthy of pot culture are sweet alyssum, mignonette and morning glories. 1 he latter ar6 fine for hanging baskets and for pots. When grown in a pot on a trellis a foot high, they will show a perfect mass of flowers. In the house the flowers remain out all day and are about half the usual size. Preserved Grapes. Grapes are too seedy, as well as rich in juices, to be preserved, excepting in the form of jam, either plain or. spiced. To prepare the grapes for these forms of preserving, pick from the stems, wash and press the pulp out of the skins. Put skins in one preserving kettle and the pulp in an other together with any juice that has run from the grapes. Let them cook 15 or 20 minutes, stirring often; strain the pulp though a puree sieve to re move the seeds. Add the cooked skins to the strained pulp, then measure. To every pint of the fruit allow a pound of^ugar. Cook until quite thick, stimng often. Turn into small jars, or glasses, and seal. Peanut Drop Cakes. Roast a cupful of peanuts and while they are hot rub between your hands to get all the skins that will come away. Blow these off and crush the nuts with a rolling pin. Cream half a cupful of butter with a heaping cup ful of sugar, add three yolks, beaten smooth, and the crushed peanuts. Lastly, stir in lightly the frothed whites of the eggs alternately with three scant cupfuls of sifted flour. Drop the dough by the spoonful upon a floured pan, pat into shape with the fingers and bake quickly. They are very good. Ravigote Sauce. Take a tumblerful of mayonralse and add, when chopped fine, a little parsley, chervil, and tarragon, and mix well with the mayonnaise; also a small tablespoonful of mustard and the Bame of capers. MURDER WILL OUT By Edith Austin (Copyright, 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.) I was a youth of IT when my grand father died, hence my recollections of him are quite distinct and mature. I was orphaned in my infancy and from my earliest recollection my grandfather had made me his con stant companion. He was an itiner ant preacher of western England—his circuit calling him from walled Ches ter on the west to the hovels of the charcoal burners in mid-England; and during the years of his itinerancy I followed him in the pursuance of his duties through sun and rain and winter gale. I repeat this in order to explain just how I regarded my grandfather in the light of a certain hereditament he left to me, his diary, but which he expressly forbade me opening until I had passed my twenty-fifth birthday. There were many things I witnessed and heard in my boyhood for which I could find no explanation until I brokf^ the seal of this book wherein the magnitude of my grandfather’s very soul stands revealed. The first entry in the diary is as follows; * • • * # • My beloved grandson, in this diary are recorded events writ down for thy especial edification. Without comment I leave it with thee to judge whether I have been the victim of a terrible mind disorder, or whether 1 am gifted with perceptions beyond the usual ken of man. It was In the first years of my study of the occult, long before thou hadst come to gladden thy grand sire’s heart, that I was journeying to Blore Health. When night came down fate led me to the door of a desolate inn slowly dropping to ruin in the perpetual shadow of a grove of oak. The aged host greeted me most cordially, for at his inn guests were not frequent and therefore the more welcome. In the parlor back of the denuded bar I found his old wife and his daughter, the only other persons about the place, moving silently here and there preparing the evening meal. r The daughter was young and tall and straight and strong and her hands were coarsened with outdoor work for, it appeared, she was now the burden-bearer of the family. After the supper wa6 cleared away, the aged parents entertained me with reminiscences of a past glory, of when the inn was new and the great tide of travel used to pass its door. Then in saddened tones they told of how the opening of a new thorough fare had diverted custom to other hos telries. So when the daughter was married to a well-to-do young farmer they closed the inn, perforce, and went and made their home with her. But one ill-fated day the newly wedded husband rode away to a neighboring market town and never returned. After due time the farm and tene ments passed into the possession of the next heir-at-law, a cousin of the husband; and the old couple with their dowerless daughter returned to the deserted inn, now racked and wrecked with storm and long neglect. “Thou canst see the gables of the farm over yon above the trees,” said the mother, “and we might be living there now ’mid comfort and plenty if Lisbeth would only hearken to us and wed with Garver Hallard, the cousin who succeeded to the estate. Then Lisbeth, lifting her sorrow laden eyes to a portrait of her hus band on the wall, said: “Mother, thou need’st not grieve for the rich living at the farm beyond Whitsun tide. That day I promise to give my hand to Garver Hallard an’ he still de sires It.” Then a gloomy silence fell like a funeral pall over us, and we sat about the fire absorbed in our own thoughts until there came the sound of a quick step up the pathway and an im perative knock at the door, and Gar ver Hallard entered. He was a dark, hflrd-featured, harsh-spoken man whom any tender young woman might well have shunned. I could not understand it then but I intuitively felt that he was a man with a guilty conscience. And in the light of the recent narration. I fell to comparing his features with those of the picture hanging above his head. As my gaze wandered from one to the other there came to me a sense of a presence in the room, a conviction I could neither define nor evade; and while I strove to analyze critically this impression a strange metamor phosis seemed to come over my senses and I felt myself drifting, as it were, into a state of double consciousness. Still with that sense of a divided ego, with the voices about me echoing vaguely through my brain, I thought myself riding along a country road, sunken and scarred deep with old cart ruts, a road I had never traveled before. Under the influence of this unseen force, I appeared to come to where the crumbling shell of an an cient oak spanned the path. I reached Into the hollow trunk and drew forth a spade corroded with rust, and roll ing the log away I began to dig into the damp, soft earth. In my trance I continued to throw the dirt to the right and to the left until from out the brown loam appeared the face in the picture. Then the feverish vision broke, and I emerged as from an hyp notic spell to find the old couple dis cussing eagerly with Garver Hallard concerning the wedding settlement. This synthesis of psychic sugges tions—I dared not call them* more— so deeply impressed my mind and so harassed me that I thought of scarce aught else when the next morning I started out to follow my itineracy, preaching the peace on earth of which this world knows little until the time was come for me to return to read the marriage service over Lls beth and Garver Hallard. I had stopped the night at the market town of Oswestry, a day’s journey from the inn, and when I rode away in the morning I galloped over a goodly number of miles before I gave small heed to my surround ings. Gradually I became aware of something familiar in the landscape though to my ken I had never passed that way before, and I began to think that for me memory and madness must be moving hand in hand for here was the deeply rutted cart-road I had traveled in my vision of the inn, and before me lay the steep as cent. Again, as in my vision, I felt my volition chained by some higher pow er, and in obedience to an overwhelm ing impulse I turned aside from the highway. When I came upon the fallen oak, in a tremor of mingled awe and ex pectancy, I reached into the hollow trunk and searched among the dead ✓ "'O' I Reached Into the Hollow Trunk. leaves and woody fragments for the spade which I did not doubt but I should find concealed therein; and after I drew it forth I paused to verify each stamp which time and the elements had set upon blade and handle, as I had remarked them erstwhile in my vision. As I rolled the log back from its hollowed bed I espied among the crumbling bits of bark the remnant of a glove, with the initial H embroidered upon the wrist. I hastened back to Oswestry and raised a hue and cry that murder had been committed. Accompanied by a sheriff and posse and a motley crowd of ex cited citizens, I returned to the spot —my absence of explanation un noticed in the frenzy of the hour. With the exhuming of the body an unusual phenomenon was discovered to have taken place. The waters of the little brook close by had per meated through the soil to the corpse of tne murdered man and, acting upon the tissues, had preserved it with life like features. Both I, and those with me who had known him in life, recog nized in him Lisbeth’s husband who had so mysteriously disappeared four years before. A stab in the back that penetrated to the heart told how he had met his death. When I went on to the inn to pre pare the widow and her parents for the bringing home of the husband so long dead, I found Garver Hallard, and a few guests who had been in vited to the . wedding, impatiently awaiting me. Lisbeth had been tricked out in bridal white, but her expression was that t>f deepest de spair. “In view of the news I bring, the marriage would better be postponed awhile,” I said low yet so that ail might understand. “Lisbeth, I bring thee sad tidings of thy last husband.” Then I said that the body was found and Hallard staggered back against the bar as though I had dealt him a blow. There came a great fear into his narrow eyes, his swarthy fea tures grew livid; and after I had told my tale he asked with quivering lips and voice if any clue to the assassin had been discovered; and I, bearing the glove in mind, did look him level in the eye and answer him shortly “yes.” In the confusion cf the laying out of the dead man and'the impanelling of a corner's jury, Garver Hallard escaped from the house and from the vengeance of man. But his account is with God! He keeps it, and He will settle it when the dial points the hour! With the disappearance of Hal lard, Lisbeth, as the only .heir-at-law again came into the estate that her husband haunted the earth to restore to her; and now that his body was laid in a consecrated grave, his rest less wrath seemed to find peace be yond the portcullis of the Borderland, in that Heaven, that Nirvana of our hopes, we pray. Here ended the first entry In my grandfather’s diary. Table Talk. “I once saw a man," remarked the Wise Guy, "who was so thin that they had to make an incision in his skin every few hours and blow him up with a pneumatic pump to keep him from wearing holes in his hide.” "That’s nothing,” replied the irre pressible. “I once knew a fellow who was so thin that One stroke of the razor shaved both sides of his face, his cheeks were that close together." “And I once knew a man,” said the Brave Boy, “who didn’t have any more meat on his bones than this old rooster did before he died.” “And I once knew some gentlemen,” snapped the landlady, motioning for the Sweet Thing to remove th* dishes. A man does not seek his luck, .uc) seeks its man.—From the Turkish. THE FARMER IN WESTERN CANADA. The Quality of No. 1 Hard Wheat Cannot Be Beaten. The Canadian West in the past five or ten years has given a set back to the theory that large cities are the backbone of a country and a nation’s best asset. Here we have a country where no city exceeds 100,000, and where only one comes within easy distance of that figure according to the census just taken and where no other city reaches a population ex ceeding 15,000. The places with a population over 5,000 can be counted upon the fingers of one hand, and yet the prosperity that prevails Is some thing unprecedented in the history of all countries past or present. The reason for this marvelous prosperity is not hard to seek. The large majority of the 810.000 people who inhabit Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, have gone on to the farm, and have betaken themselves to the task of not only feeding and clothing themselves, but of raising food for others less happily circumstanced. The crop of 1906, although not ab normal, is an eye-opener to many who previously had given little thought to the subject. Ninety million bushels of wheat at 70 cents per bushel—$63,000, 000; 76,000,000 bushels of oats at 30 cents per bushel—$22,800,000; 17,000, 000 bushels of barley at 40 cents per ,c bushel—$6,800,000; makes a total of $92,600,000. This Is altogether outside the root products; dairy produce, and the returns froift the cattle trade: the Deet sugar industry ana tne various other by-products of mixed farming When such returns are obtainai e from the soil it is not to be wonder d at that many are leaving the conge t ed districts of the eayst, to take upon themselves the life of the prairie farm and the labor of the housbandman. With the construction of additional railroads new avenues, for agricultur al enterprise are opening up, and im proved opportunities are offered to the settler who understands prairie farm ing, and is willing to do his part in uiiilding up the new country. This is the theme that Mr. J. J. Hi)v •be veteran railroad builder in the v^est, has laid before the people in a series of addresses which he has given at various points during the past few months, and, having been for so long identified with the devel opment of the West, there are few men better qualified than he to ex press an opinion upon it. Take care of the country, says he, and the cities will take care of themselves. The farmers of the Western States and the Canadian West, are more prosperous than ever before, and when it comes to measuring up re suits, the Canadian appears to have somewhat the better of it. His land is cheaper in fact, the government continues to give free homesteads to settlers, and the returns per acre arc heavier when the crop is harvested. Farming land in the Western States runs from $60 to $150 an acre and up, whereas equally good soil may be pur chased in Canada for $8 to $15 per acre, within easy reach of a shipping point, and much of this is available for free homesteading. The quality ol the Canadian No. 1 hard wheat can not be beaten, and the returns to the acre are several bushels better than on this side of the line; the soil and climate of that country being peculiar ly adapted to wheat growing. The fact is evidently appreciated by the large number of American farmers who have in the past two or three years settled in the Canadian West. The agents of the Canadian Government, whose address will be found elsewhere, advise us that for the fiscal year 1904-5, the records show that 43,543 Americans settled in Canada, and in 1905-6 the number reached 57,796. From all of which, it appears that at present, there is a good thing in farming in Western Canada, and that the American farm- * er is not slow to avail himself of it. A BRIDGE OF MAHOGANY. Valuable Wood Used in Mexican Struo ture for Pedestrians and Teams. As mahogany is among the mosl costly woods in the world, It may be inferred that this tropica! materia) Is not very extensively employed in the construction of buildings, etc. A bridge constructed of solid mahogany is certainly a rarity, a curiosity There is one, claimed to be the only one in the world, built of that mate rial. This structure is located in the department of Palenque, state of Chi apas, republic of Mexico. This dis trlct lies in the extreme southwestern part of Mexico, near the boundary line of Guatemala. The mahogany bridge is construct ed entirely of that valuable wood except some iron braces and nails that are necessary. The bridge spans the Rio Michol and its total length, in , eluding approaches, exceeds 150 feet while the width is 15 feet. It is used by both teams and pedestrians and though somewhat rude and primitive in construction, it is very substantial None of the timbers of the flooring were sawed, for in that region there are no sawmills, but were hewn and split. In that section of old Mexico there are several very large rubber planta tions, and mahogany trees are quite common. In clearing away the trop ical forests for setting out -.he young rubber trees the mahogany growths are also cut down and removed. As this wood is quite abundant, some ol it was used in building the bridge.— American Inventor. Wife Desertion Alarms. So many Cincinnati wives have been deserted by their husbands of late that the city council has taken steps to ward putting a check on such run aways. It has been found that mort gage loan sharks are contributing fac tors in a great many cases. A man’s ability to mortgage his furni ture with out the knowledge of his wife is a strong temptation to husbands of weak will. An ordinance has been intro duced making such mortgage of no avail unless they beaj the signature of both husband and wife. Hammocks In Sleeping Cara. In Nova Scotia the experiment hai been tried of tV-mlng a train with hammocks instead of the usual bunki in the sleeping cars. It wa.s a great succeaa.