'-
to tho Now York Times, John Beck, one of tho
best known mining men of tho stato and onco
owner of tho Bullion Beck mine, Is the head of a
company that 1b forming to manufacture rubber
from a wood that grows In this state and Idaho.
Beck Is the discoverer. For two years he has bten
conducting experiments until satisfied that his
dlacovory was of commercial value. Then he took
stops to promote tho Industry on a large scale.
Tho plant contains a white substanco, which,
when extracted and heated chemically, Ib said to
form a perfect substitute for rubber. In addition
tho flbro Is said to bo an excellent substitute for
horsohalr In filling mattresses, while the ashes of
tho weed contain a high percentage of potash. Ex
porimonts havo been made in various parts of
Utah with a view of growing the plant, and it
wa3 found that it could bo cultivated as readily
as corn or wheat. Several thousand acres aro
to bo dovotcd to growing tho plant.
AMONG THE MANY QUEER DEVICES OF
forod to the government army board of ord
uanco and fortifications was one which contem
plated tho uso of largo fish, preferably sharks, for
the propulsion of submarine torpedoes. The Wash
ington Star says: "Accoruing to the plan pro
posed a shark is to bo imprisoned In a tubo at the
roar ond of tho projectile, and is to bo controlled
In Its movements by tho active application of wire
less telegraphy. In case Hie shark became rest
loss and attempted to swim away on his own ac
count it was to bo given an electric shock, and
In .that way kopt on its course until the torpedo
had roachod its target. Another remarkably in
genious proposition emanated from the same fer
tilo brain, and contemplated the employment of
war balloons in any desired direction. In this
caso also tho birds, harnessed to tho atrial ve
hicle, wore to bo controlled in their movements by
a system of wireless telography. These balloons
woro to bo providod with torpedoes or bombs,
which could bo dropped at any desired point by
tho uso of wireless telography."
if tf
THERE ARE SEVERAL TOWNS IN THIS
country which aro occupied exclusively by
.,jroes. n 18 saiu cnat inuian territory Krs sev
eral of yieso towns. According to the Kansas
Citv Journal! "f)nn la mil ml Panftviiin nil,..
one of the promoters, and is located fifteen miles
south of Muskogee, on the Missouri. Kansas &
Toxas railway. Tho Crook nation has a number
of other negro towns, among them bsing one
known as Wildcat. It is a government town site.
Everything in the place is tho property of col
ored peoplo. Tho people of no other race are al
lowed to settle there. It is said by those ac
quainted with tho place that if an occasional
white porson chances to come in on business or
othorwlso tho word is soon passed around to
him: 'White man, don't let the sun go down on
you hero.' A hint Is all 'hat is necessary. An
other negro town is Wybark, located on the Ar
kansas rlvor, at the point where 'he Oklahoma
branch of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway
leavos tho main lino north of Muskogee. This
place Is a shack town and Is well known to com
mercial men making the territory. By manv it
is regarded. as upper 'tendom' in colored society
on account of tho location of a negro acalemv
within a short distance." academy
5C ST
THE COAL COMMISSION APPOINTED BY
tho stato of Pennsylvania recently made its
import, and this document contains much of in
terest. It is said that tho members of the com-r
?nnn0?nn?aM1Cd,tl10 con,cU,si that at a depth of'
3,000 foot tho temperature of tho earth would
amount to 98 degrees Fahronhoit, but it was
thought that a dopth of at least 4,000 feet might
ultimately bo reached in coal mining. A writer
n tho Chicago Clnoniclo, referring to file find
lLflB comrals?ion. ays: '"tIio rate oi ml '
croaso, tho commissioners thought, might for or
dinary cases be assumed to bo 1 aegreVFXenl
holt for every GO feet, but it is realUy linpoSl
WXW flxGd rate of lncrea. Tto report
of tho British association committee on under
fnrXdfimrratUreS Uurlne the st thirty ?ear3"
& vsahS ?1A1 Xrfr
ties, but that it is not easy to reduc, L l2M'
of increase applicable to all cases in J ,aw
or western America the heat at SolTlT?
almost unbearable, while at the Caiume? and Hnf
a copper mino in north Michigan Us a
is a rise of only 4 degree Pawu A, thero
of 4,400 feet, although 2 artStMnn,viept,U
resorted to, Tho temperature 5? tL o,latIon,.18
covory at the RosnhrE ?Lth? n dis-
v.umyry m .Lancashire
v ,
The Commoner
was stated by the management to be 93 degrees
Fahrenheit, but it afterward fell to 63 degrees
Fahrenheit."
Jf IT
TT WILL BE REMEMBERED THAT SOME
I years ago when tho project of the great
Siberian railroad was broached by Russia, much
enthusiasm was displayed in tho scheme, lno
claim is now advanced by tho New York Woild,
however, that tho condition of the Russian rail
way system, as a whole, Is not very satisfactory
from tho financier's standpoint. It is declared
that the federal roads in Russia are worked at a
tremendous loss, supposed to bo some $200,000,000
a year. Tho World says: "The Siberian railroad,
which would be chiefly used in case of war with
Japan, is not yet completed around Lake Baikal.
Ten millions aro asked to complete that link in
communication and $300,000 to connect tho trans
Baikal with the Manchurian road. Consul Green
er, in Vladivostok, reports that tho Ussuri line is
a financial failure. The delicits havo been consid
erable. Tho Pekin-Kalgan lino is to be built as a
'Chinese road' and to have Chinese employes, but
the money 4s furnished by tho Russo-Chinese
bank. That Russifies it."
REFERENCE IS MADE IN THIS SAME
report to tho manner in which trade condi
tions are subordinated to military needs. Accord-
'lng to the New York World, Mr. Greener says:
"The Moscow manufacturers seem to have given,
up all intention of competing with the Japanese,
who have taken complete possession of the Man
churian dry goods trade to such an extent that
it seems impossible for the Russians to dislodge
them. With regard to the transportation of tea,
the Russian importers are still shy of tho Man
churian railway, receiving tho product by other
ways, for the reason that they cannot get their
goods insured by Russian companies for transit
across Manchuria." This seems almost incredit
able, and if true it enables the observer to put
his finger upon the weak point in tho Russian
armor. Tho bear is not businesslike. And in the
end war bows to business. Meanwhile tourists
can have lots of fun with the Siberian road. A
round-trip first-class ticket from London or Paris
tr Pokin either going by rail both ways cr going
by rail and returning by steamship about Asia,
with stop-off privilegeswill soon be available for
$204. Considering the distance this is cheap
enough.
THE INTERESTING QUESTION, "WHO
reads all the books?" Js being agitated in
London just now. It is claimed that every day of
tho last year thirty-three new books were pro
duced by the literary genius of tho United King
dom, that every one of them Is on the shelves of
tho British museum, taking up a quarter of a mile
of room, but it is wondered just how many of
them will be remembered when next New Year's
day comes round. The editor of the Publishers'
Circular recently compiled some figures which
show that of the 8,381 books which appeared for
the first time last year, about 30 per cent were
Action and children's books. These new books
issued are classified by the London correspondent
for the Chicago Inter-Ocean as follows: Uke
ology 639, educational 650, novels and juvenile
works 1,859, political, social, and commercial 509
arts and science 4i8, travel and geography 172,
history and biography 482, poetry and drama 303,
year books and serials 457, medicine 1S7, belles
lettres, essays, 284, miscellaneous 687. In only
two of these divisions were fewer books pub
lished last year than in the year before; and tho
total of books published last year Nvas exactly
one thousand more than in .1902.
it ac
m np HE AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS HAS
X recently decided to build a new vessel for
missionary work in the Pacific islands. Accord
ing to the Boston correspondent for the Chicago
Inter-Ocean, the work In tue Pacific islands mun
be kept up by tho American branch for some time
yet, despite the fact that the Gilbert islands have
passed to Great Britain and the Carolines to Ger
many. The Inter-Ocean correspondent savs- "in
stead of the old Morning ?tar, which made an an
nual voyage from Honolulu through Micronesia
a tour of ten or twelve months, it is proposed to
build a wooden vessel of not above three hundred
tons, with auxiliary power, to remain in MI
cronesian waters. There aro now regular steam
ship lines from Hong Kong to Sydney touchim;
at Caroline and Marshall ports, to which Sin
plies can bo forwarded, giving the stations a
twlce-a-year service. For this purpose the vessel
need not be as large as the last Morning Star vet
she must have auxiliary steam power, to insure
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 3,
safety in frequent .calms and swift currents. Tha
children of the United' States have built four ves
sels, each named Morning Star, since 1856. Two
have been Wrecked and two have been sold after
surviving their usefulness. For these four ves
sels the children have contributed $U4,593. The
board has now on hand for a new vessel not far
from $18,000; the sum of $20,000 is to be provided.
The prudential committee is confident the Sunday
schools will respond liberally."
1? as
IT IS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN THAT AN
drew Carnegie, the steel trust magnate, was
the third man wounded on the Union side in tho
civil war. .The story is told by the New York
Tribune in this way: "The ironmaster met Com
missioner Ware during the recent international
arbitration conference in Washington. Mr. Car
negie said he thought he might get a pension.
'I shall be delighted to pass on your case,' said
Colonel Ware, who was unable to make out what
Mr. Carnegie was driving at. 'It was this way,'
said Mr. Carnegie." 'In April, 1861, th 19th it
was, I was on a train between Baltimore and An
napolis. That was while I was an operator, too.
I noticed that rebels had cut the telegraph wires
and had attached then to a stake which they had
driven into the ground. The wires were effec
tively "grounded," and I knew that no busings
could be done on that line until the wires wero
freed from the stake. - I was the boy to do it. I
jumped off the train (I could jump in those days,
too), and I hastily seized the wires. They were
drawn taut, so that when one was freed it flew
up and caught me here under the nose. When I
was able to get up my face was cut from ear to
ear and I was bleeding profusely. When I got to
Baltimore the doctors said it was a ser'ous cut.
That same day the mob assaulted the 6th Massa
chusetts and wounded several men. I figured it
out that I was the third man wounded during the
civil war.' "
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT RECENTLY DE'
cided that the old monitor boats, which
wore in such prominent use during the civil war,
are to be sold for old junk, because it costs mora
to keep them on the naval list than they are
worth. These monitors are known as tho Nahant,
Jason, Canonicus, Lehigh, and Montauk, and aro
among the last of the old navy and the first of
the iron-hull vessels to be built by this govern
ment. The Philadelphia correspondent for the
Chicago Inter-Ocean, speaking of the proposed sale
of these historic vessels, says: "One of the officers
attached to the navy yard said: 'I don't favor
the soiling of the old vessels, and think the gov- '
ernment should distribute them to the various
navy yards, where they could be put on 'view.
They are relics of one of the greatest conflicts
ever fought. The history rade by them will for
,ever live, and for this reason I think it a shame
that the old vessels will be taken apart and sold
for junk.' The Lehigh and Canonicus were the
first of nineteen monitors to be built by the gov
ernment. The Monitor of civil war fame was the
first iron-hull war vessel owned by the United
States government. She proved so successful in
the famous battle with the confederate ship Mer
rimac that congress ordered built with all possi
ble haste ten vessels of the Lehigh type and nine
of the Canonicus type."
r if '
A NAME IS WANTED THAT WILL COR
rectly and adequately describe an Inland
city which is open to the trade of the world, a
city not approachable by water, and one where
the so-called "open door" policy prevails. A
writer in the Washington Times, referring to the
search for a suitable name for such a city, says:
James W. Davidson, United States consul at
Tamsul, Formosa, who hr.s just returned from
Manchuria, where he investigated commercial con
ditions for the state department, has tried for
three months to Invent the much-needed word,
but has finally given it up. Mukden, Manrhuria,
the city which is to be opened to our trade by
the new commercial treaty between this country
and China, is the city of cities in need of jusfc
the designation Mr. Davidson has sought to coin.
It is inland, consequently tho term port convoys
tho wrong idea concerning the city. It has been
designated by the press as ,an "open port," and
the result is that 'most persons think It a sea-
F ,4. ? not only cannot hb approached by water
but It is not on the railroad. Mr, Davidson does
not approve of the term "open city," as it sug
gests a city where the moral tone Is not up to
standard. "Treaty city" '.8 not definite enough.
wic y l8 also objected -to on the ground
tnat it may mean many other things besides
city open to foreign trade."
V'
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