r j tI' 1 to Tree Grows The Roberts paper mill on the bank of Stony Drook In the historic Norumbega of Waltham Is one of the most picturesque little manufactories In Massachusetts. The mill site was utilized In 1798 by Nathan and Amos Upham, two brothers, who had learned their trade of paper making at the Boles hill, which was located below the Boston mills on the Charles river. A natural curiosity on the grounds of the Roberts mill Is a tree of oak spe cles, about eight Inches in diameter at the butt, and at least twenty feet In height, which Is growing between the spokes of an ordinary cart wheel. The wheel was carelessly thrown aside, as the record runs, twenty-eight years ago, and the tree, then but a mere sapling, was seen to be growing between two of the spokes. Both wheel and tree have been carefully watched since i that time and now the result is a real curiosity. AFRICAN'S FIVE-FOOT BEARD ' " - f- " For tho moBt part tho natives of west Africa extract all tho hair from tho body with tho exception of tho head, tho beard and the mustache. Our Illustration showB one eldorly gentleman whoso board, flvo feet long when braided, Is his especial prldo. IVORY MADE FROM MILK Ono of tho latest discovers of ttae synthetic chemists Is how to mako Ivory out of nothing more wonderful than cow'b milk and a very good Ivory at that, according to all ac counts. Tho original Idea was to use the new "Ivory" for piano and organ keys, becauso It preserves Its original color Indefinitely, whereas tho genu ine article turns yellow after a time. But it hus bcon found that tho new product 1b not only an efllclent sub stitute for Ivory, but can easily bo prepared so as to take tho place of amber, horn, coral, celluloid, and such like products, and, It Is claimed, can hardly bo distinguished from them. It Is In Its position as a substitute for Ivory that tho now material has Paradise for the Birds jJhMfeV Iff The Fame Islands are famous as breeding places for oca birds and their rocky pinnacles are almost always covered with guillemots and kittlwakes and other fowl. The islands, which are several miles off the northeast coast of Northumberland, England, are seventeen In number and many of them are mere rocks which are visible only at low tide. The passage between the Islands Is very dangerous and was the scene of Graco Darling's heroism In 1838 when the Forfarshire was wrecked. ' in Cartwheel caused most surprise, however, be causo It has tho appearanco of being another lnstanco of Improving upon Nnture. The new Ivory takes a very high and lasting polish, and probably will not lack a commercial field for Itself, as natural Ivory continues to grow scarcer and dearer year by year. MOST ANCIENT OF JOKES What Is said to bo tho most ancient Joke Is related In ono of the Berlin papyri of the sixth Egyptian dynasty about 3.200 years anterior to the Christian era and 1b to this effect: According to tho papyrus a certain scribe who worked In the Templo of Thoth occupied npartments where his neighbors on either side were a cop persmith nnd a carpenter These hon est artisans were Industrious work men, and made such a noise all day and most of (ho .night that tho poor scrlbo was almost driven mad. At length by n stioke of craftiness ho buttonholed ench neighbor separately and bribed him to chnngo hla lodg ings, which they did with each other This talo has kept tho world amused for 5,000 years. PIGEON CROSSES THE OCEAN Ernest Robinson of Westmount. Ontario, received word that a pigeon he had imported and which had es caped, has returned to England. It apparently took twelve days to make tho Journey. Tho distance from Mon treal to Liverpool, England, Is about 3,000 miles. The steamship route from Quebec to Liverpool is 2.C00 miles, whllo that from Halifax to Liverpool Is 2.4G0 miles. STORK DELIVERS BY EXPRESS The stork and an express wagon had a raco through Philadelphia, nnd tho stork won when a 13-pound baby boy was presented to Mrs. Anna Chutkltefl. Tho driver of tho wagon saw Mrs. Chutkites sitting on tho sidewalk. She asked to bo taken to a hohpltal;sbut a block away, with tho horses going at full speed, tho baby arrived. HOW VARIOUS PEOPLE SLEEP Tho American or tho European in order In it n i-iiml iilrht'n rest or- dlnnrlly requires a soft pillow under his bod. but tho Japanese Btrotchos himself on a rush mat on tho floor, puts a hard, square block of wood un der his head, and does not sleep well If he does not have It. In China they mako a great to do with rcferenco to their beds. These are very low, scarcely rising from the floor, hut are often carved exquisitely of wood I.Ike thn .tapnnoo tho Chi noso never nmlten his bed any softer than Is possible by the uso of rush Hints It Is n curious fact with reference to the Mopping Inbltx of the various peoples that while those In northern count! lea do not appear to be nble to sleep well unless they have lots of room In which to stretch their legs, the Inhabitants of the Tropics often curl themselves up like monkeys at the lower nni;lo of n suspended ham mock and sleep very soundly that way. The robust American will cover himself with a pair of blankets and throw his window open to tho air even In the dead of winter, and some times ho will not complain If thero Is a bit of snow on tho window sill In the morning. Hut tho'Uusslan. on the contrnry, likes no Bleeping place so well as the top of tho big sonpstonc stove In his dwelling. Crawling out of this blistering bed In tho morning he delights In taking n plunge In n cold stream, even If ho has to brenk through tho Ice to do so. In Lapland tho native crawls, head and all, Into a bag made of reindeer skin and stooim wiirni nnd rnmfort- able within It. Tho Enst Indian, nt tho other end of tho world, also has a Bleeping bag. but It Is more porout than tho Laplander's. Its purpose la to keep out tho mosquitoes rather than to keep Its occupantB warm. Tho American clings to his feather pillow, but he has long since discard ed tho old feather bed In favor of the hair or straw or felt mattress. WHEN THE PENGUIN PIPES This odd photograph shows a king pengino in tho strango attitude which he apsumes when ho Is trumpeting or "Piping." When about to "pipe" the bird takes an enormously deep breath till he swells and all his feath ers stand on end. Then ho gives tonguo, producing n Bound thnt may bo likened to a rushing wind. Lower and lower goes tho key. and then sud denly there is silence and with It tho end of tho music tho head and neck aro brought swiftly downwards as though hinged at tho base. Tho head Is held down thus for some seconds, and then nil at onco tho performance ends and tho bird again waddles about nonchalantly. SOME LONG-LIVED BIRDS It used to bo contonded thnt ravons lived longer than any other species of birds, nnd It was said that tholr age frequently exceeded a century. Ilecent Ftudles of tho subject Indlcato thnt nn authentic lnstanco of a ravon sur pasBlng seventy years of ngp Is on record. But parrots havo been known to live 100 years. Thero Is a record of a golden eagle which died at Schonbrunn nt tho age of ono hundred and eighteen years. Anothor golden englo was kept In the Tower of London for 90 years. A third died at Vienna nged ono hun dred and four yenrB. Geese and awnnfl aro tonaclous of llfo, and extraordinary accounts exist of tho great ago that tluy havo at tained, liuffon nnd other authorities havo credited them with eighty and one hundred years of llfo. CLUB FOR GRANDMOTHERS Grnndmothcrs of Chicago nro to havo a club house, whero thoy can roceivo friends and loungo, piny enrds and discuss tho latost fashions or the problem pl'iys This Innovation will bo Bponsoied by tho Mothers' Asso elation of Chicago It Is considered that tho grandmothers aro tho most neglected of a city's population, and to cheer thorn, bring kindred spirits together nnd revive enrly mennides a homo club, similar to clubs their sous and daughters attend, will be erected. pi m mJSSEA m ft WHEN CZAR. THINGS that were wont to llguro as bugbears In tho old day travel of Russia aro now but memories, The wiih of the bureaucracy have become more liberal and less rigid, ho that traveling today In that country Ih as pleasant and comfortable an In mo3t count! Ics, and a good deal less ex pensive than In ninny Besides no other country In Europe "can offer more beautiful scenery, more objects of new Interests, or plensanter con ditions of llfo nnd climate" than some parts of Russia that aro qullo ncees Hiblo to the tourist. The only dllllculty a Journey In Rus sia occasionally presents. In places off the beaten track. Is that of tho language. Hallway travel In Russia leaves much to be desired, however. For example, accommodation on ono much-traveled road hiBt summer tho demand for flrst-clnss space was so pressing that travelers were some times compelled to wait their turn for a week, whllo the demands of officials for "tea-money" Increased with the competition. This train has neither restaurant nor sleepers. Nothing Really Matters. Russia Is tho land of "Nlchevo," the country wheie uothlng renlly mat ters, oven nB Spain Is the land of tho tomorrow thnt never comes. Let the traveler renllzo this at onco nnd for nil; let him recognize tho fact that ho haB left behind him. nt tho Gor man frontier, buslncssllko habits, "punctuality, scrupulous nccuracy of statement nnd all such commercial virtues. Let him In their plnco ac cept and enjoy tho easy-going and tolerant attltudn of a peoplo which facoB life and all Its problems with n certain leisurely nnd speculative stoicism, an attitude which, after all, has much philosophy nnd n good deal of religion In Rb favor. Let h(m adnpt himself to his Slav environment nnd ho will speedily find hlmsolf enjoy ing tho humnn comedy from a now nnd InBtructlvo point of view tho pclnt of view of n raco of "thinking children," for whom tho world of ideas Is moro than all the cold facts and figures of trade. The man who must needs enrry with him on n Journey his own coun try nnd all his fixed habits had bet tfr remain at homo, for tho science nnd fine art of traveling consists In reducing our material necessities and local fads to a minimum. For nil that, thoso whofco pleasure It Is to Journey with "all tho comforts of a home" can do so today on nil the main lines of travel In Russia from Riga to St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhni, Rostov-on-the-Don, nnd Odes sa. International wagon-lits, polyglot porters, electric lifts, nnd meals Bcrved to tho walling of Hungarian music, nil nro there, combining tho crenturo comforts of a trip to Paris with a rapid impression of tho land scapes and people of RusbU. But for the mnn who can doff on occasion Iila garments of custom, to whom tho cities of men offer something more than museums nnd meals, tho byways of desultory travel In Russia open up n new and liiBplrlng field of recrea tion nnd knowledge. Espcclnlly won derful are the unfrequented beauties of tho Caucasus and tho Armenian highlands, nil that fertile and historic lnnd which lies between the Black Sea and tho Caspian; nnd tho Jour- tnoy thence, from Tlflls by rnllwny and stenmer, to Tnshkend and Fergana, Bokhara and Snmarkland. Hero, In a summer vacation's wanderings, one mny seo Europe and Asln overlap ping nnd dovetailing, their conflict of ethics and oconnmlcs nctlng nnd re acting at a thnusnnd points of absorb ing interest: nnd nil In comfort qulto Bufflclent for any senblblo man. Buying Railway Tickets. In buying tickets nt a Russian rail way station, ono toon learns also that It Is wiser to book thorn In nd- vance, for tno drawbacks or the "Nlchevo" system of philosophy nro now hero bo conspicuous as at a .ciowtled ticket office. To tho writer It has happened on nearly every rail way In RusMn, Including tho Trans Siberian at Mohcow, anil nt Khnrbln, that, utter being Informed nt the tick et office thnt no sleeping-car accom modation was available, a coupo has been forthcoming on1 tho train ns tho result of largesso to tho conductor and other douceurs. On ono occa sion, boarding tho Rovcl-Potersburg express at Welninrn station at I a. m,' I was Informed by tho conductor that thero was no room except in the cor- v mm vr V G0K3 TRAVLLING rldor, only to discover Hint every de partment was occupied by a single pashonger with a single ticket, each of whom had paid the conductor for undlstuibed privacy. Incidents of this kind nre contrary to tho Anglo Saxon's Ideas of the tltnohs of things, but they can usually be adjusted by invoking tho Intervention of nny dis interested member of the staff, say, the next Htatlon ninslcr. 'I he patience with which the avciago Runslnn. suckled In the "Nlchevo" cieod, en dures those things, Is at first a source of constant surprlso to the foreigner; not only u rnco that has home for centurloH with bureaucratic Ineffi ciency could thufl nccept them ns part of tho established order of tfilugB Im mutable. 1 remember, one hot afternoon last July, watching tho sain of tickets to passengers by a Black Sea steamer at NovorosBlsk. Thero was a surging crowd nnd but ono ticket office, with n tiny window, somo four feet high, nt which ench suppllnnt squirmed In turn, nnd inside it sat a weary clerk, apparently utterly Indifferent to time nnd tide nnd nil the things that strug gled under nn unkind heaven. In tho lntervnls of hla toll, after writing out nn officer's special ticket In duplicate with a reluctant pen, he would light a cigarette, slgliln;; heavily, and sip his lemonade ten, oblivious of tho per Bplrlng crowd. And again, when he had Issued to an ordinary passenger IiIb pnasago ticket and his berth tick et, his wife's ttcketB, nnd a special ticket for the baby, and had care fully blotted all tho endorsements thereon, tho chnngo out of n ten rouble note had to bo laboriously cal culated, and then checked on an nbneus in tho corner. WOMAN RULES INDIAN STATE Begam of Bhopal Has Governed Coun try Wisely and Well for Eleven Years. Thero havo been n few opportuni ties to know something of thnt Inter esting nnd unusual woman, tho Begam of Bhopal, who has for tho last eleven years been ruler of her country, tho small state of Bhopal, In the mlddlo of Central India. Tho Begnm was born In ISfiS, nnd tho free, Independent spirit of her fnmily Is shown by tho fact that though a girl her advent was not un welcome. When sho waB seven years old nr rangoments wore mado for her mar riage, and tho boy selected for her husband was brought to tho court and shared her studies. When tho Begam was fifteen they wcro married, and strangely enough, tho marrlago was a happy one. The Begam found In her husband a faithful friend, and It is said that she mourned his death very deeply. In 18S8 tho Bcgnm'fl eldest daugh ter died. Sho would havo been her heir, tho first born, Irrespective of sex, being in Bhopal tho heir ap parent. In 1901 sho becamo ruler owing to tho death of her mother and nt onco sot about improvements nnd reforms In all tho various state departments. Ono of the Begnm'H chief Interests was education, particularity, too, the education of girls. Sho decided, there fore, to opart nnd patronize person ally a girls' school. Tho education of girls In Bhopal was chiefly limited to a study of tho Koran and tho null monta of tho Urdu language, with hero and thero somo slight knowledge of writing lenrned from fnthorfl and brothers. But their attendance, nt schools and thejr ndvancoment In gen ernl knowiedgo was looked upon as n dangerous Innovation. Montenegrins Fatalists. It Is only In recent years that Mon tenegrins havo begun to appreciate tho services of tho hospital. Hulmo Ileaman, nfter visiting tho country In 1880, wroto Hint the people "take very llttlo caro of their children, and only tho sound and tho strong grow up. In after llfo, too, thoy nro extremely averse to sanltnry precautions or medical trentment, nnd n slclt Mon tenegrin Is almoht tjynonymoiiH with a dead man. At least, ho nt once gives himself up, and If ho recovers looks upon it as a curious freak In nnturo's laws. Tho few who reluctantly submit to losing nn arm or , leg Invnrlablyrefuee anaesthetics and converse with their friends, sinok Ing n clgnretto whllo tho knife and snw aro at work." WAN SHOOTS WIFE WHO SOUGHT DEATH Paris Stirred by Piteous Story of Love and Suffering of Couple. ParlM. State and medical authori ties hero are discussing the quoFtlon whether a husband Is Jut tilled In end ing tho Bufferings of a wlfo aftllcted with an Incurable dliteaso. Emllo llreguory, foimerly a magis trate, Blxty yearn old, tho other day fired three ihots fioin n revolver Into tho head of hit wife, killing her In stantaneously. Shu was fifty-llvu years old, and suffering from enncer of the liver. She had begged her hus band for das to put her nut of her misery. For many ears the couple had lived happily together In the villago of SnniiolH in the Department of tho Seine and Olse. A your ago, For Hours He Sat Oistracted. Madnno Breguery had an attack ot paralysis, followed by tho develop ment of cancer of tho liver Tho doctors concealed the truth about thn cancer from both tho patient and her hUHbnnd. Tvvie" Madame Breguery tried to end her misery. Thu first tlmo her husband snatched a revolver from her hand nnd thu second tlmo sho tried denth by gas. So great wns her pain that after cacl rescuo bdo begged her husband to Kill her. A few days ago thero waB a heart rending scene. Madame Breguery Implored her sister, Madamo Baron, to end her life. Thn sister refused. Frantic with pain tho sufferer called her a coward. Shu called her hus band and then for four days follow ing begged him to help her tako the only way out of pain. Driven wnll-nlgh mad by thn pray ers and Buffering of his wife, Monsieur Breguery took a revolver and shot her three times. For two hours ho sat distracted by tho body of the deud wlfo, then went to a police sta tion and told what ho hnd dono. The wife's sister praised him for hla action. Thero Is a strong sentiment hero In favor of exonerating Monsieur Bre guery. BEAR BREAKS UP A SCHOOL Pupils Flee In Panic When Bruin Saunters In Boldly Examinations Thrown Aside. ' Illoomsburg, Pa. A bear Intruded Itself bodily into tho curriculum ot tho Hoffnaglo school In Mlffln town ship, Columbia county, broke up an examination und created no end of ex citement Just as ono of tho pupils com pleted her examination and waB about to leavo tho room sho exclaimed: "What a funny dog, teacher," and pandemonium reigned when tho teach er declared It to bo a bear. Examina tions were thrown astdo and tho chil dren dashed for tho door. Tho bear beat a retreat with tho children after him, but tho chase was reversed when ho tired of running away, and turning, stnrted toward tho children. Tho schoolhouso becamo a place of refugo, m Howard Steely, ono of tho pupils, rnn homo and got his Flobort rlflo anJ gavo chase. Ho hit tho animal sovcral times and drew blood, but bruin cooly sauntered off. School was nut resumed. COW FALLS INTO DEEP SHAFT Animal Is Rescued From Old Hole of Oro Proprctor In California Mine Field. Orovlllo, Cal. After ton dnys' Im prisonment In the bottom of a forty foot prospector's holo, left In tho early days, a dredger tho other day com pleted the task of digging a cow from tho hole, which nt tho opening was only threo and n half feet wide. The uovlno was tho proporty of James EdwnrdB of Thermullto, nnd a year ago a dredger performed a similar feat for him, when one of his horses fell Into a pit on tho same land. For Boveral daya the disappearanco of tho cow mystified tho .owner, and hla son and another man weroBent on a seaich. Tho sound of breathing coming from tho holo led to tho din-covery. C i lift rAM Ml ! i ur 1 V,' fe l m M c ,!J ftm m mi JVM ft Si 1R1 m mv t m m m r"'H7nn'",y1 1-"-"" .-.. .