AFFLICTED ONLY AT TIMES.
Good Reason for Capt. Bascomb's In
termittent Hearing.
When Capt. Bascomb had left hla
old friend, Capt. Somers, and the new
school teacher sitting on the south
porch, and had disappeared down the
road, the young woman spoke of him
with some curiosity.
"I understand from Mrs, Bascomb
that her husband was very deaf, 'al
most stone-deaf,' she told me, I'm
sure," said the school teacher. "But
he seemed to hear all we said with
perfect ease."
Capt. Somers leaned toward her
and spoke In a low, cautious tone, al
though there was no eavesdropper to
hear him.
"Don't let Mis' Bascomb. know it,"
he said, hurriedly. "He does seem
to hear pretty well when she ain't
round, but none of us folks ever let
on to her. She's a good woman as
ever lived, but a most tremendous
bosser and an everlastln' talker. An'
we all think that Gersh Bascomb be
gun to realize ten years ago that if
he didn't want to be harried right off'n
the face o' the earth, the thing for
him to do was to grow deef, gradual,
but steady an' he's done it, to all
Intents an' purposes, ma'am!"
.Youth's Companion.
The Manchester canal was built at
a cost of $76,000,000 to reduce freight
rates for a distance of 35 miles, and,
while it did not prove a good inter
est bearing Investment on such a
large expenditure. Its indirect and
more permanent benefits are said to
have warranted it.
Germany has 3,000 miles of canal,
carefully maintained, besides 7,000
miles of other waterway. France,
with an area less than we would con
sider a large state, has 3,000 miles of
canal; and In the northern part,
where the canals are most numerous,
the railways are more prosperous.
England, Germany, France, Holland
and Belgium are all contemplating
further extension and improvement of
their canal systems. Century Mag,
sine.
'A Country Marvel.
The little fresh air boy was com
fortably quartered in a farm house
near the salt water for his summer's
outing. The first day he strolled down
the road to the marshes and he stared
In astonishment at the cat-tails grow
ing there. Then turning around to a
native of the place who was accom
panying him he said: "Gosh; I didn't
know that sausages grow on sticks."
A Big Loser.
Mrs. Myles I see the 24-year-old
son of a London dry goods man is a
bankrupt, having managed to get rid
of $2,100,000 since he came of age.
Mrs. Styles Oh, well, boys will be
boys!
Mrs. Myles Well, this looks as If
a boy had an ambition to be a
bridge whist player. .
One to Reckon With.
There's a little girl who gave her
folks a shock the other day.
"Ma, I want a bathing suit," she
said.
"You shan't have any," ma replied.
"Then I'll go bathing without one,"
The bathing suit matter Is now be
Ing arbitrated.
Cause for Resentment. '
London Punch suggests as a reason
for Ralsuli's hatred for Cald McLean
that It was the latter who introduced
bagpipes In Morocco.
Let the nobleness of your mind Im
pel you to Its Improvement. Howard.
SOMETHING ABOUT NATIONS.
Divorces are seldom known to oc
cur in Greece. .
' The hottest region on earth is along
the Persian gulf.
The United States is the richest na
tion in the world.
The wealth of France Is estimated
at 42 thousand millions.
Most Dutch cities are several feet
below the level of the sea.
The electric chair for executions ie
need only in the United States.
There are no prisons or police In
Iceland the people are so honest.
The total consumption of coal in the
world is 60 million tons an hour.
A man who has given the 'subject
great deal of Btudy Bays that there ii
a greater variety to be found among
divorce laws of different nations than
.among the laws governing any othei
'vent.
Warts may be entirely removed by
washing the hands two or three times
a day with the water in which pota
toes have been boiled or by bathing
the wart several times with potato
water.
Nothing Is truer than that the peo
ple who are eternally clamoring for
their rights are likelv to rraw ram.
less and indifferent concerning their
amies.
PnnnlA with nnnr riieestion should
drink nn water with meals, but take
a glassful half an hour before and
drink 'plentifully an hour or so after
each meal.
Tell the "nice things" to people;
they have enough to worry them.
Laugh, and the world will laugh with
WHAT OF THE FUTURE
OF THE AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF LABOR?
mHE future of the Amer
ican Federation of La
bor?" The question was put to
Frank Morrison, secretary
of the great labor organ
ization. "If the American
Federation is the ultimate
form in which labor shall
unite to press its. case
$ I against capital that Is, to
preserve itself and prose
cute its advances in the struggle of
human development then I think I
can answer that question in a few
words." he said. "We think it Is; we
think It is an ideal form of organiza
tion, Just as we as Americans think
that our mobile form of government
in the United States is the best form
of Kovernment. No man who Is ot'-ier
than a fool, however, thinks the gov
ernment of the United States is a
perfect government. Most of as real
ize that It is very far from perfect
"That which makes this govern
ment the best on earth is not only
the greater freedom that it guaran
tees, but its mobility, its ready adapta
bility to new measures and methods,
the provision at hand by which a
change, even the most radical change,
may be effected with the only essen
tial condition that the majority of the
people want the change. There's the
rub. But no sensible man would re
move that very heavy and lagging
weight that forever clogs the way of
progress the necessity of leavening
the whole lump.
"Leaders fret because of the slow
march to a goal that seems so bright,
so desirable and so ready at hand, if
only the hand would reach out to
take it. But so did they who under
took those reforms that resulted in
the French revolution. They got rid
of the impediment, but the yeast
worked too fast, caused the batter to
run over and spoiled the bread. We
want none of that.
"Experience teaches that the steady
progress that is thoroughly grounded
in the best progress. The flag that is
slowly advancing with an intrenched
army behind It maintains its position.
By all this I simply mean to say that
the many failures of the past have
not been lost upon trades unionism,
for they teach patience in what may
seem to be slow progress and that ul
timate, complete success of the move
ment is more assured by our being
thorough as we go along. The work we
have to do is to educate. 'Organize!
organize! organize!' Is the slogan, but
organization is the first means toward
education. It Is the class, the school.
It is the first essential. It is the first
impulse of the awakening mind. The
minute the working man realizes that
he is a man and not a slave he calls
to his fellows to unite with blm for
betterment.
"United they begin to devise ways
and .means. They plan how they may
secure this and that that they know,
as men and not as slaves, they should
have that belongs to them by right.
They are at an immense disadvantage
because they are not only without
means, dependent upon the power
they are attacking, but more than
all else, they are inexperienced, igno
rant. They make mistakes and are
humiliated and their organizations
broken and scattered and they are in
dividually made to suffer and are re
duced to still more abject poverty. The
weaker among them are made weaker
and more timid still, but the naturally
strong are' developed in strength and
grow in wisdom. They see wherein
the weakness of their former move
ment lay and they go among their fel
Ufws and point it out to them. They
see even as they did not see before
that only through uniting can they
ever be emancipated from their state
of slavery.
"That is so fundamental a truth that
tt is patent. No one disputes. When
the non-union man frets at what he
calls the domination of the union he
forms a union to oppose it. This is
the amazing spectacle that this partic-
ular brand of the spirit of liberty has
reserved for modern eyes. Only by
union can headway be made by poverty-stricken
individuals against the
intrenchments and fortifications of cap
ital. Organize, organize, organize. Or
ganize unions, unite these unions to
gether into other unions, and these
unions into still other unions, one in
trenched behind and reenforced by
the others; drill, discipline, educate
educate every man to know his
rights and the rights as well as
the power of capital, to know
what to ask for and what not to
ask for, to know when to ask, to
know when to substitute the word 'de
mand' for 'request,' and finally and
most vitally, to know how to enforce
that demand. That is the American
Federation of Labor. It Is the great,
est labor organization of the world.
"They will tell you that the inter
ests of labor and capital are identical,
that they should live together in
peace and harmony; the welfare of
one Is the welfare of the other, and
all that. Of course it is. To the un
biased this is as fundamental as the
truth of organization. But the trou
ble is that capital, like labor, is pri
marily ignorant especially is capital
ignorant of this fact. It can't be
taught without demonstration. It
lacks the point of view, and no lesson
is so hard to instill as that. It is
warm and well fed and it is labor
that makes It so. The more subservi
ent and the cheaper the labor on the
one hand, the more wealth and luxury
on the other. How can the beneficiary
of such a condition understand that
the Increase of wages, the reduction of
the hours of labor, the general uplift
of his employes, is to his benefit? He
cannot see it. To him this great truth
must remain forever obscure.
The securing of right and justice
to one man betters the whole world.
Raise the level of an intelligence and
manhood of the great mass of the peo
ple and the world will be a so much
better place to live in that men will
scarcely recognize it for the place that
it was; those that had the best there
was before will discover joys they
never dreamed of. When every man is
a real man, carrying his head up with
ideas and knowledge in it, wearing
proper flesh on his hones and clothes
to cover It; when every woman,
through the means of education, en
vironment and relief from overwork
and worry becomes a beautiful and in
telligent 'lady; when children, all
children, may be properly cared for
and sent to school until they have ac
quired a good education, will not com
pensation have been rendered to the
privileged and pampered few for what
has been filched from them in the
form of their exclusive caste? That is
the whole story. That Is the end to
ward which the American Federation
of Labor' is working- and working
now with considerable speed.
"I see a time, as the result of out
agitation and persistent effort, when
no child shall be set to work, and
children and youth shall go to school
until they are 18 years of age; when
every man's child shall have the bene
fit of a high school education; when
men shall be so well paid that they
can afford to marry and rear children
and provide for them properly and see
to their education; when, because of
this, women will be taken out of the
field of competition by finding hus
bands and homes; when every man
and woman will find time to loaf a lit
tle 'and invite his soul,' and life will
mean something more than a day of
toil; when strikes and lockouts will
no longer be used as a weapon be
tween employer and employed, be
cause of a mutual respect and a bet
ter understanding. This is the good
time toward which the American Fed
eration of Labor is looking and work
ing, and I think we shall see it in our
day."
Washington. The industries of the
United States suffered less from
strikes during 1905 than in any year
since 1892.
KILL TO PLEASE SWEETHEART.
One Way for an Abyssinian Youth to
Win a Bride.
"In Abyssinia the natives will kill
white men in order to please their
sweethearts," declared Frank Mowrer,
formerly consul general to Addia Abe
ba, and just appointed consul at Leg
horn. " "It is never dangerous for a white
man to travel in Abyssinia provided
he is accompanied by a native es
cort, because those who compose such
an escort are always trustworthy, but
a man takes his life in his hands if
he goes abroad alone. Not that the
natives are ferocious, but that he
could not be sure that one of them
had not made a pact with his sweet
heart to kill a man of white skin in
order to win her for his bride. The
native who ' wins such a distinction
wears a white feather in the back of
his hair.
"Among all the 4,000,000 of popula
tion and in the entire area equal Xf
New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
jew England, there are but two
white women in Abyssinia. They are
the wives of two consular officials.
Strange to say, the national game is
hockey, but Caucasians cannot play
it very much because of the climate.
The natives work but little and eat
raw meat. They kill an elk, peel off
the skin as you would peel a banana,
drain off the blood and proceed with
the feast. Every Abyssinian is a
good butcher.
"To the lover of nature Abyssinia
is a paradise. In my journey through'
the land I saw thousands upon thou
sands of different species of birds that
were beautiful in their plumage and
sweet in their songs. Occasionally I
heard the faraway roar of lions, those
mighty beasts that promenade the
forests and seldom molest human be
ings unless they are attacked. The
Abyssinians never use a light at
night, no matter where they are, and
sit in the dark and converse. There
fore they have good eyes. And they
have wonderfully white teeth, made
so by cleaning them with the spread
ed ends of a small stick."
How a Hero Died.
Victor Hugo tells this story of hero
Ism in the recently published book of
his literary remains, "Victor Hugo's
Intellectual Autobiography." "Anatole
Leray set out for Brussels, passed
through England and then embarked
for Australia. The day the steamer
arrived in sight of land a storm arose.
The vessel capsized. The passengers
and crew nearly all succeeded in
reaching land by means of the life
boats or by swimming. Anatole Leray
was among the saved. Meanwhile in
the tumult of shipwreck) when the
pell-mell of the frightened wretches
rivals the ' chaos of the waves and
each thinks only of himself, a half
wrecked boat had remained in the
surge and was appearing and disap
pearing in the waves; three women
clung to it despairingly.
"The sea was at the height of its
fury; no swimmer, even among the
hardiest of the sailors, dared to risk
himself. They kept their eyes fixed
on their dripping garments. Anatole
Leray flung himself into the surf. He
struggled hard, and had the satisfac
tion of bringing one of the women to
shore. He dashed in a second time
and rescued another.
"He was worn out with fatigue, torn,
bloody. They cried out to him,
'Enough, enough!' 'What?' said he.
"There is still another.' And he flung
himself a third time into the sea. He
never reappeared."
Absent-Minded Composer.
The French composer Meilhac on
the occasion of the first presentation
of one of his operas entered a fashion
able restaurant and threw himself
down at a table, thinking earnestly
about the event of the evening. A
waiter brought him a menu.
Meilhac abstractedly indicated the
first dish on the bill that his eyes had
struck. It chanced that this was the
most elaborate and costly dish on the
bill, and when the waiter went to the
kitchen with the order there was great
commotion there. The proprietor was
summoned, and he and the chef de
voted themselves to the preparation
of the famous dish. Meanwhile, Meil
hac waited, absorbed. At last the dish
was brought with a great flourish, and
the proprietor, with a proud smile.
waited to observe the result. Meil
hac regarded the dish with an expres
sion of melancholy interest.
"Did I order that?" he asked.
"Certain, Monsieur Meilhac."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes yes, Monsieur, but "
"Then kindly take it away and eat
it yourself," ordered Meilhac, "and
bring me two fried eggs." The Bell
man.
Wasn't Asking Much.
A florist of Philadelphia was one
day making the rounds of his prop
erties near that city when he was ap
proached by a young man, who ap
plied to him for work.
"I am sorry," said the florist, -"but
have all the help I need. I have noth
ing for you to do."
"Sir," said the young man, with a
polite bow, "if you only knew how
very little work It would take to oc
cupy me!" Success.
The Reason.
"I suppose," said the dress suit, en
viously, to the hat, "that you are
smarter than the rest of us clothes
because you are so constantly asso
ciated with our master's head."
"Yes," replied the hat, "and, of
course, he gives me a good many
tips."
ARE PHYSICIANS' PRESCRIPTIONS
NOSTRUMS?
To one not qualified, and few lay
men are, to discriminate intelligently
between physiciahs' prescriptions, pro
prietary medicines and nostrums, it
may seem little short of a crime to
hint even that physicians' prescrip
tions are in any manner related to
nostrums; nevertheless, an impartial
examination of all the facts in the
case leads irresistibly to the conclu
sion that every medicinal preparation
compounded and dispensed by a physi
cian is, in the strict sense of the word,
a nostrum, and that the average,
ready-prepared proprietary remedy is
superior to the average specially-prepared
physicians' prescription.
What is a nostrum? According to
the Standard Dictionary a nostrum is
a medicine the composition of which
is kept a secret." Now, when a physi
cian compounds and dispenses with
his own hands a remedy for the treat
ment of a disease and it is authorita
tively stated that probably 60 per
cent, of all physicians' prescriptions
in this country are so dispensed the
names and quantities of the ingre
dients which constitute the remedy
are not made known to the patient.
Hence, since its composition is kept a
secret by the physician, the remedy or
prescription is unquestionably, in the
true meaning of the word, a Simon-
pure nostrum. Furthermore, the pre
scription compounded by the average
physician is more than likely to be a
perfect jumble replete with thera
peutic, physiologic and chemical in
compatibilities and bearing all the ear
marks of pharmaceutical incompe
tency; for it is now generally admitted
that unless a physician has made a
special study of pharmacy and passed
some time in a drug store for the pur
pose of gaining a practical knowledge
of modern pharmaceutical methods,
he is not fitted to compound remedies
for his patients. Moreover, a physi
cian who compounds his own prescrip
tions not only deprives the pharmacist
of his just emoluments, but he endan
gers the lives of patients; for it is
only by the detection and elimination
of errors in prescriptions by clever,
competent prescrlptionists that the
safety of the public can be effectually
shielded from the criminal blunders
of ignorant physicians.
Nor can It be said that the average
physician is any more competent to
formulate a prescription than he is to
compound it. When memorized or di
rectly copied from a book of "favorite
prescriptions by famous physicians,"
or from some text-book or medical
journal, the prescription may be all
that it should be. It is only when the
physician is required to originate a
formula on the spur of the moment
that his incompetency is distinctly evi
dent. Seemingly, however, the physi
cians of the United States are little
worse than the average British physi
cian; for we find Dr. James Burnett,
lecturer on Practical Materia Medlca
and Pharmacy, Edinburgh, lamenting
in the Medical Magazine the passing
of the prescription and bemoaning the
fact that seldom does he find a "final
man" able to devise a prescription
even in "good contracted Latin." '
And what, it may be asked, is the
status of the written prescription the
prescription that is compounded and
dispensed by the pharmacist is it,
too, a nostrum? It may be contended
that the patient, with the written
formula in his possession, may learn
the character of the remedy pre
scribed. So, possibly, he might if he
understood Latin and were a physician
or a pharmacist, but as he usually pos
sesses no professional training and
cannot read Latin, the prescription is
practically a dead secret to him.
Furthermore, the average prescription
is so badly written and so greatly
abbreviated that even the pharmacist,
skilled as he usually is in deciphering
medical hieroglyphs, is constantly
obliged to interview prescribers to
find out what actually has been pre
scribed. It may also be contended,
that inasmuch as the formula is known
to both physician and pharmacist the
prescription cannot therefore be a se
cret. But with equal truth it might be
contended that the formula of any so
called nostrum is not a secret since it
is known to both proprietor and manu
facturer; for it must not be forgotten
that, according to reliable authority,
95 per cent of the proprietors of so
called patent medicines prepared in
this country have their remedies made
for them by Jarge, reputable manufac
turing pharmacists. But even should
a, patient be able to recognize the
names of the ingredients mentioned in
a formula he would only know half
the story. It is seldom, for Instance,
that alcohol is specifically mentioned
In a prescription, for it is usually
masked in the form of tinctures and
fluid extracts, as are a great many
other substances. It is evident, there
fore, that the ordinary formulated pre
scription is, to the average patient, lit
tle less than a secret remedy or nos
trum. On the other hand, the formulae of
nearly all the proprietary medicines
that are exploited exclusively to the
medical profession as well as those
of a large percentage of the proprie
tary remedies that are advertised to
the public (the so-called patent medi
cines) are published in full. Under
the Food and Drugs Act, every medi
cinal preparation entering interstate
commerce is now required to have the
proportion or quantity of alcohol,
opium, cocain and other habit-forming
or harmful ingredients which it
may contain plainly printed on the
label. As physicians' prescriptions
seldom or never enter interstate com
merce they are practically exempt un
der the law. And if it be necessary
for the public to know the composi
tion of proprietary remedies, as is
contended by those who through ig
norance or for mercenary reasons are
opposing the sale of all household
remedies, why is it not equally neces
sary for patients to know the compo
sition of, the remedy prescribed oy a
physicianT Does any sane person be
lieve that the opium in a physician's
prescription is less potent or less like
ly to create a drug habit than the opi
um in a proprietary medicine? As a
matter of fact, more opium-addicts
and cocain-fiends have peen , made
through the criminal carelessness of
ignorant physicians than oy any other
means.
Unquestionably, there are a number
of proprietary remedies on the market
the sales of which should be prohibit
ed, and no doubt they will be when
the requirements of the "Food and
Drugs Act are rigidly enforced; many
are frauds, pure and simple, and some
are decidedly harmful. Of the aver
age proprietary remedy, however, It
may truthfully be said that it is dis
tinctly better than the average physi
cians' prescription; for not only is Its
composition less secret, but It Is pre
pared for the proprietor by reputable
manufacturing pharmacists in magnifi
cently equipped laboratories and un
der the supervision and advice of able
chemists, competent physicians and
skillful pharmacists. It should not be
considered strange, therefore, that so
many physicians prefer to prescribe
these ready-prepared proprietary rem
edies rather than trust those of their
owa devising.
JUST THE SAME AS CURRENCY.
Third Son Felt He Had Nothing to
Reproach Himself with.
William Knoepfel: of St. Louis, has
invented and hopes to patent a secret
plowing method for the cure of bald
ness. "A genuine cure for baldness,"
said Mr. Knoepfel : the other day,
should make a man very rich. ' Why,
men grow rich on fake cures. It is
amazing, it really is, what fakes some
of these cures are. Yet there's money
in them." Mr. Knoepfel gave a loud,
scornful laugh. "In their crookedness
they remind me," he said, "of the
third son of the old eccentric. Per-
nans vou have Tinarff trio ntorvT well.
an old eccentric died and left his for
tune equally to his three sons. But
the will contained a strange proviso.
Each heir was to place $100 in the
coffin immediately before the inter
ment A few days after the interment
the three young men met and discuss
ed the queer proviso and its execu
tion. Well,' said the oldest son, 'my
conscience is clear. I put my hundred
in the coffin in clean, new notes.' 'My
conscience is clear, too,' said the sec
ond son. I put in my hundred in gold.'
'I, too, have nothing to reproach my
self with,' said the third son. T had
no cash at the time, though; so I
wrote out a check for $300 in poor,
dear father's name, placed it in the
coffin and took in change the $200 la
currency that I found there.'" .
PUSHED THE BEAR ASIDE.
Surveyor Tells of Experience He Does
Not Care to Repeat.
To walk right up to a monster bear
and try to shove it out of the way and
then escape without so much as a
scratch is an experience of a lifetime.
Harry I Engelbright found it so a few
days ago in Diamond canyon, above
Washington, says a Nevada City cor
respondent of the Sacramento Bee.
me young man, son oi tjongreasman
Engelbright, has just returned from
the upper country, where he has been
doing some surveying, and relates his
thrilling experience. It was coming
on dusk, at the close of the day's work.
In the brush-lined trail he saw pro
truding what he thought were the
hind quarters of some stray bovine.
He walked up and gave the brute a
shove. It came to its haunches with
a snort that made his hair rise and
caused him to beat a hasty retreat
The big brute looked around and then
shuffled off into the woods. . It was
either asleep or else so busy eating
ants from an old log that It failed to
hear the young surveyor, whose foot
steps were deadened by the thick car
pet of pine needles. Later it was
learned that the same bear, a monster
cinnamon, had killed a dog earlier in
the day. The dog ventured too close
and with one blow of its paw the big
beast sent it hurtling yards . away,
dead as a doornail.
Magnifying Choir Leader's Voice.
In the old village of Braybrook in
Northamptonshire, England, is a mon
ster trumpet, five six inches in length,
and having a bell-shaped end two feet
one inch in diameter.. The trumpet, Is
made up of ten rings, which in turn
are made up of smaller parts. The
use of this trumpet only four of the
kind are known to exist at the present
day was to magnify the voice of the
leader in the choir and summon the
people to the church service. At the
present time neither the choir nor
the service is in need of this extraor
dinary "musical instrument," but the
vicar of the church takes care of the
ancient relic and is fond of showing it
to all visitors.
Painfully Exact.
A New England man tells of a pros
perous Connecticut farmer, painfully
exact in money matters, who married
a widow of Greenwich possessing in
her own right the sum ' of $10,000.
Shortly after the wedding a friend met
the farmer, to whom he offered con
gratulations, at the same time observ
ing: "It's a good . thing for you,
Malachi, a marriage that means $10,
000 to you." "Not quite that Bill,"
said the farmer, "not quite that"
"Why," exclaimed the friend, "I under
stood there was every cent of $10,000
in it for you!" "I had to pay $2 for
a marriage license," said Malachi.
you.
