The
Scrap Book
Knocked Out In On Court.
A quaint story about a guest who
had beo invited to sup with Mr. C.
H. McCormlck, the Inventor of the
reaper. Is told In the book "Cyprus
Hall McCormlck."
very dignified and self centered
military officer was taking supper with
the McCormlck family. The first
course, as usual, was cornmeal mush
and milk. It was served in Scotch
fashion, with the hot mush in one
bowl and the cold milk in another.
The practice was so to co-ordinate the
eating of tbem that both were finished
at the same time.
The officer planned his spoonfuls
badly and was soon out of milk.
"Have some more milk to finish your
mush, colonel," said McCormlck. Sev
eral minutes later the colonel's mush
bowl was empty, at which McCormlck
aid. "Have some more mush to finish
your milk." And so it went, with milk
for the mush and mush for the milk,
until the unfortunate colonel was hope
lessly Incapacitated for the four or
five courses that came afterward.
Faith.
Better trust all and be deceived
And weep that trust and that deceiving
Than doubt one heart that It believed
Had blessed one's lite with true be 1 lev
Ins. Oh. In this mocking world too fast
The doubting- fiend o'ertakes our youth!
Better be cheated to the last
Than lose the blessed hope of truth.
Frances Anne Kemble.
On of the Lost Ones.
The father of Senator Dolliver of
Iowa was n Methodist circuit rider in
the early sixties In northern West Vir
ginia. One Sunday morning he was on his
way to preach at oue of bis several
appointments when he met a young
fellow trudging along with a mattock
on his shoulder. Mr. Dolliver. anxious
to do good at nuy time, stopped his
horse and said: "Good morning, my
son. Where are you going this fine
day with a mattock on your shoul
der r
The young fellow answered: "1 am
going over here to dig out a fine big
groundhog. Where in thunder are you
going?"
"I am out looking up some of the
lost sheep of Israel." replied the minis
ter. The young fellow's face lighted up.
and he exclaimed. "There's a big buck
over here at Uncle Billy's, and I'll
bet that's oue of them!" National
Monthly.
His Fast Friends.
A teacher In a New England gram
mar school found the subjoined fucts
in a composition on Longfellow, the
poet, written by a fifteen-year-old girl:
"Henry W. Longfellow was born in
Portland. Me., while his parents were
traveling in Europe. He had many
fast friends, among whom the fastest
were Phoebe and Alice Carey."
He Drew the Line.
Old John was a lawyer's confidential
clerk, and he had the pernicious habit
of going to a neighboring saloon every
morning at 11 o'clock and taking a
small glass of whisky. He was not
proud of this habit; bence after the
whisky he always took a clove.
But one morning it happened that
there were no cloves on the bar, and
John, after having considered the mat
ter, ate a small raw onion from the
free lunch tray. That would destroy
the telltale whisky odor, no doubt, as
well as the clove had always done,
and, so thinking, he returned to his
desk.
It was a double desk. At it he and
his employer sat face to face. John
on his return was soon aware that his
employer noticed something. The
man's nostrils quivered, he sniffed,
and finally, with a grimace of disgust.'
he broke out:
"Look here, John; I've stood whisky
and clove for nineteen years, but I
draw the line at whisky and onions!"
Her Bargain.
A man who was detained at the
' house for a part of the day banded his
wife, who was going downtown, a
quarter of a dollar and requested her
to get him three cigars for It. When
he returned she handed him the pack
age, remarking exultantly:
"That shows that women can beat
men all hollow when it comes to mak
ing purchases. I found a place where
I could get eight for a quarter Instead
of three. Isn't that going some?"
And the poor man. as be took his
medicine, merely remarked:
"It certainly is. dear." Oil City Bllz
sard. Dessert Was Expensive.
A business man asked a young wo
man of his acquaintance to lunch in
a department store lunch room. Pull
ing out bis watch In the middle of
the meal, he suddenly remembered that
be bad au important engagement and
bad only a few minutes to catch a
train.
"Order what you want for dessert,"
he told the young woman as he hand
ed her a ten dollar bill, "and you can
give me the change when I see you
this evening."
He kept his appointment, and In the
evening the young woman banded him
an envelope. "Here's your change,"
he said. He placed the letter in his
pocket and didn't open it until the
next morning, and as he did so 85.
cents dropped out.
He Is still woudcrlng what the young
woman had for dessert. Philadelphia
(Times. ...
HOTEL SPOOF.
He.ry Lauder's Joke on an English
Newspaper.
"I'U tell you a story about Arthur
Roberts and me." said Harry Lauder,
the Scotch comedian. "The pair of
as were in Manchester when we saw
on the sporting page of the Guardian
a paragraph that Bald:
"In consequence of the number of
unsupported challenges recently for
warded to this paper we give notice
that in future only genuine challenges
can be accepted for insertion in our
columns. As a proof of good faith
each challenge must be paid for at the
uniform rate of 1 shilling.'
" 'Arthur.' said I, 'here's a chance for
a joke.'
"'How?' said he.
"I read the notice to him, and then
and there we concocted a challenge of
which I shall never cease to be proud
a hotel spoof challenge. Of course
there is no such game or sport as
spoof. Spoof is a word very few peo
ple have ever heard of. To spoof is to
get off Impromptu nonsense on the
stage. Well, our challenge ran:
"'Hotel Spoof. Harry Lauder, hear
ing so much talk about A. Roberts be
ing the champion spoof player of Eng
land, will play Roberts a game of ho
tel spoof for 500 a side, catch-as-catch-can,
over eight flights of hurdles, bath
room barred. Address, money and
man, H. Lauder, Comedy Theater.
Manchester.'
"That was the challenge, and we had
no idea what it meant after we had
drawn it up. Nevertheless we carried
it boldly to the Guardian office. The
clerk read it in a dazed way.
" 'One insertion, please,' said Rob
erts, planking down a shilling.
"'Excuse me,' said the clerk, 'but
what is spoof?
"Roberts glared at him.
" 'None of your nonsense with me.
young man, be growled. 'What is
spoof? You'll be asking what chess
or whist is next.'
"And the following morning, directly
under the editorial notice that 'only
genuine challenges could be accepted
for insertion.' appeared our little para
graph about hotel spoof." ,
She Gave Him an Answer.
A business man said to his wife at
dinner: "Here is a riddle for you, my
dear. Why is a husband like dough?"
The answer to this riddle was, "Be
cause a woman needs him." The busi
ness man expected his wife to give the
riddle up or else to guess that answer.
But his wife said calmly:
"Why Is a husband like dough, eh?
Well, I suppose it's because he's sn
hard to get off one's hands."
His Treat.
In the course of a railway journey
one day Queen Helene visited a small
wayside station, where she was met
by the mayor and corporation In all
the glory, of their robes of honor. An
elegant luncheon had been provided.
SOUGHT FOB A HANDKERCHIEF.
but the queen, wishing to hasten on
her journey, requested a member of
the deputation to get ber a glass of
wine. Ubis was nromntlv broucht but
wDIIe drinking It a drop fell on ber
traveling dress. Her majesty at ouce
opened her hand bag and sought for a
handkerchief to remove the stain
whereupon the worthy mayor, mlsuu-
derstanding her action, murmured
humbly: "Ah. no, your majesty! 1 as
sure you it's alt paid for."
Anticipation.
It has been well suid that no mun
ever sunk under' the burden of the
day. It Is when to-morrow's burden
is added to the burden of today that
the weight is more than a man :uu
bear. George Macdonald.
Wanted All of Them.
Rivers had been detained by a bus!
ness meeting at the club, and the hour
was late when be reached home. "So
it's you. is It!" exclaimed Mrs. Itivers.
who was wide awake. "You've got
some plausible excuse, too, of course.
You were detained downtown by some
necessary. Indispensable. Important,
unavoidable, unescapable. urgent, es
sential and absolutely compulsory and
inexorable business! Of all the flimsy,
transnnront. riinnhnnoUS
"For heaven's sake. Lena." interrupt
ed Rivers, whipping out his notebook,
"wait a minute and let me Jot down
those synonyms. 1 don't know where
you got tbem. but I can use every one
of them. Now go ahead again, dear.
but please talk a little slower." Cbica
f Tribune.
A Sweet Singer.
It was 3 o'clock in the morning as
Mr. Younghusband crept slowly up the
stairs. Everything was peaceful in
the house. Opening the door to his
room noiselessly, he stepped upon the
tnW of the family cat. Naturally
pentratlng yowl resounded through the
nijriif. -jonn. - saia nis wiie. awasen
ing. "don't you think It's rather late tc
be singing? The neighbors might com
plain."
SLAVERY AT BETHLEHEM.
Men Required to Toil Eighty-four
Hours a Week.
Out of every 100 men 29 work seven
days every week. 43, Including these
29, work some Sundays in the mouth,
51 work twelve hours a day. 25 work
twelve hours a day seven days a week
and 46 earn less than $2 a day.
These are the grim figures which the
United States bureau of labor gives us
of the working shifts of the Bethle
hem Steel company as drawn from the
company's own books, says the Sur
vey. They are not figures which would
help enact a high tariff or would give
a man, say of Lincoln's intelligence,
much assurance as to what civilization
or prosperity are to mean for the peo
ple of the United States of America.
The pay Is that of single men. the
hours are those of lodgers rather than
of fathers and husbands who can par
ticipate in household living; the week
ly schedule is that of a work engross
ed citizenship, which must leave to the
leeching and loafing elements in the
community the responsibility for car
rying on town and county and state.
These were the conditions we are
told which provoked the strike at the
Bethlehem works which started Feb.
4. The men with shorter hours, high
er pay and more intelligence claim
that they feared that the encroach
ments of overtime and Sunday work
were leading to a twelve hour and sev
en day schedule for the whole force,
therefore they protested, therefore the
protesting committee was discharged.
therefore the strike. There Is evi
dence, then, not only of bad working
conditions, but of despotic repression
at the bottom of the Bethlehem situa
tion. '
The government's inquiry, begun by
direction of Secretary Nagel March 17,
was made by Ethelbert Stewart, spe
cial agent of the bureau of labor, one
of the most experienced economic in
vestigators in the country, whose find
ings will carry conviction.
The part of the report dealing with
wages, taken from the January pay
roll, shows that a large percentage of
the laborers working twelve hours a
day seven days a week earned only
12 cents an hour. This is 4 cents an
hour lower than that paid by the steel
corporation mills in Pittsburg and low
er even than by Jones & Laughlln. the
chief independent competitor In the
Pittsburg district. Those working for
12 cents and under 14 cents in January
numbered 2,010, or 28.7 per cent of the
total number ou the payroll,' while
1,528, or 10.6 per cent, received 14 cents
but under 16 cents an hour. The total
number shown as receiving less than
16 cents an hour (not including appren
tices) numbered 4.221, or 40 per cent of
the total number on the payroll.' while
5,383, or 58.0 per cent, received less
than 18 cents an hour.
Commenting on the report. Commis
sioner Neill said: "These are condi
tions of labor which may be termed
shocking, but they are not conflated to
the Bethlehem Steel works. Blasf fur
nace work is necessarily a continuous
process, requiring operation twenty-
four hours of the day every day of the
week, and for this reason three shifts
of eight hours each offer the only plan
of relief. Three shifts of workers
would not only give reasonable work
ing hours to those employed, but would
by rotation of shifts leave workers free
the greater part of the day two Sun
days in three."
Unionism or Socialism.
The American people may well con
sider whether trades unionism is not
the conservative movement of labor In
contrast to and as a bulwark against
the political program of socialism.
Again, at a sharp crisis in the destiny
of the American Federation of Labor,
organized workingmen feel shut up to
choose between the alternatives of pro
tecting and promoting the trades unions
against the legal and otber efforts, to
destroy them and the resort to a radi
cal political movement to control legis
latures and courts, which is more than
likely to end in a class conscious social
istic party, such as is steadily gaining
power in Germany. France, Italy. Aus
tralia and England. Between these al
ternatives we may all have to choose
by turn, as some or others of us must
decide upon Industrial and public poli
cies which tend to develop either of
these attitudes of the working majori
ties. Graham Taylor in Survey.
Home For Pressmen.
Following the lead of the Interna
tional Typographical union, the Inter
national Printing Pressmen's and As
sistants' union will erect a home at
Royerville, Hawkins county, Tenn.
The referendum vote taken in Septem
ber last empowered the International
officers and board of directors of the
International Printing Pressmen's and
Assistants' union to proceed with the
arrangements for the establishment of
a sanitarium for sufferers from tuber
culosis and a borne for the superannu
ated. The site is a tract of 519 acres,
beautifully situated In the Allegheny
mountains. It has been famous as a
health resort for fifty years.
Indorse Union Labor.
At the meeting of the southern tex
tile conference, composed of manufac
turers, women's clubs and representa
tives of organized labor, held recently
at Memphis. Tenn.. the constitution
was amended, making it mandatory
on all officers to use the union label
on all printed matter Issued by the
conference. This will include reports
and literature to be distributed nt the
sessions of the legislatures of the
southern states. This is probably the
first instance that a convention where
manufacturers with an equal voting
strength with the representatives of
organized labor have ever declared In
favor of the labor union.
My Double
A Girl Graduate Sees Herself In
Another Body on Three
Occasions.
By DONALD WALLACE.
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.
I remember well the night I received
my first shock. I received another lat
er that affected me more than this one.
but in a different way. The first was
In the nature of a surprise; the second
was a terror. .
I was but eighteen at the time and
was going home to my aunt, with
whom I lived, having just finished my
education.- The journey was a long
one, and I had somewhat broken down
my nerves from bard study. 1 did not
like to stay overnight at a hotel alone,
but did not feel like taking a sleeping
car. I was rather a timid girl any
way and had not been used to going
about without a protector.
I reached the hotel about 9 o'clock
and went Immediately to bed and to
sleep. I was awakened in the night by
a noise In the hall. Several persons
passed hurriedly and were talking rap
idly. I have always been afraid of
fire, especially in a hotel. 1 got out of
bed, went to the door and opened it.
At that moment I received my first
shock.
Standing in the open door of the
room directly opposite mine stood a
girl In her nightdress peering out anx
iously, Just as I was doing. The cor
ridor was lighted, and I could see her
plainly. The marvelous feature was
that she was myself. There was not
the slightest difference between us.
We were both in nightdresses, the hair
of both was worn in a braid hanging
down the back, and ber face and figure
were replicas of mine.
Both gave a little scream of surprise,
and both drew back into our respective
rooms. I shut my door and groped my
way to my bed. All thought of dan
ger was put out of my head in this re
markable apparition of my other self.
The physician in charge of the sem
inary I had attended had warned me
that if I did not give up study 1 would
break down. But, desirous of being
graduated with the class as well as
at the bead of it, I bad disregarded his
warning. Now, it seemed to me, I was
paying the penalty of my obstinacy.
My mind must be giving way. It was
long past midnight when I bethought
myself that on opening my door I must
have looked into a large mirror. 1
would have got out of bed and satis
fied myself of this, but feared to find
the contrary, and if I did I would not
get any more sleep. So I comforted
myself with the assurance that I would
In the morning find a mirror opposite
my door and dropped into slumber.
I was called early for the train, and
when I left my room looked for the
mirror. Alas, there was no mirror
there, but a door just as I bad seen it
in the night. I had no time to make
investigations, needing to go down to
breakfast and to the station.
By the advice of my physician I
spent July and August that summer at
the seashore. By September I was
much improved and spent the month
in the mountains. This restored my
health, but did not relieve me of an
uncanny feeling at having seen myself
or my other self at the hotel during
my homeward Journey. Two years
passed during which 1 bad gradually
driven the matter out of my. mind when
I saw the vision again.
Singularly enough, 1 saw. it under
circumstances somewhat similar to
those connected with its first appear
ance. It was the second summer after
the one during which it had first ap
peared to me, when I was at
Springs. I had a room in an extension
of a hotel, facing another extension.
One morning on arising I went to a
window, and there at another window
in the other extension stood my dou
ble. We were both, as before, in night
dresses and wore our hair plaited on
our backs.
Nothing could have induced me to
remain at that hotel for another day.
I was with friends and surprised tbem
by announcing that 1 would leave by
the next traiu. They wondered, ex
postulated, pleaded, but to no purpose,
One of tbem. a girl of my own age.
with whom I was very intimate, beg
ged me to tell her why I vvaB leaving
and what was the matter with me. for
It was plain thnt I had received n
shock of some kind. I would not have
told her for the world. I declined to
tell any one but my physician, and I
wished to consult him as soon as pos
sible. I was sure that I suffered from
some kind of mental breakdown, and
I only hoped that lie would find means
to arrest its progress.
On reaching the city I sent for him
to come to nie a't once and told hlrn of
this second vision of myself. He tried
to reassure me by telling me that I had
seen some one who looked very like
me. I refused to be comforted. I bad
seen myself or my exact counterpart,
I told him that only one of my own
flesh and blood could so closely resem
ble me and that I had no sister or even
cousins so far as I knew. Besides, if
this vision were a real person I would
see her In a different dress from my
own. The doctor explained ' this by
saying that as I had seen her at night
and in the early morning I would nat
urally see her in the dress I wore my
self, both of us wealing nightgowns.
I tried to consider this within the limit
of coincidence, hut It was impossible
for me to believe that two persons
could be so identical in appearance
that they should meet twice and both
times, see each other in a nightdress.
No; 1 had seen this vision first at a '
time when my physician had warned
me that I was breaking down. I had
been overstrained. What had I been
straining? My mind; therefore it was
my mind that had been giving way.
This reappearance of the vision would
naturally denote that my mind , was
again giving way. I shuddered. . I
saw myself confined In a lunatic asy
lum, a mental wreck.
My friends to whom my malady be
came known used every argument to
disabuse my mind, some of them assur
ing me that my vision was a real per
son closely resembling me. Others
averred that people In a disordered state
of the system were liable to see all
lorts of things. A theosopbist declared
that I had seen my spiritual . self at
moments when It bad been lifted out
of my bodily self. To this person I re
plied that when I had seen the vision
I was very well fixed in my own body.
I consulted two specialists in brain
diseases, one of whom told me a great
deal about the cerebrum, the cerebel
lum, the dura mater and other sub
stances of which the brain is com
posed and their reciprocal relations,
nothing of which I understood. The
other told me that I was myself pro
ducing an image of myself. He ad
mitted that the first vision might have
been caused by a disordered system.
His advice was for me to drive the
matter out of my mind. Occupation
and amusement would assist me to do
this. ' '
Young Dr. Penrose did more to re
assure me than any one else. While
he did not claim to explain my trouble,
he told me that it was of no impor
tance. He pronounced me In excellent
health and assured me that a time
would come when I would look back
on my fears as entirely uncalled for.
It was not so much his words that re
assured me as his personality. He
had such a cheerful and at the' same
time sympathetic manner. He evident
ly believed what he told me. Since he
was the only person who could reas
sure me I made frequent visits to his
office and found every excuse to call
for him to come to my home. The re
sult was a love affair. Whether his
reassurances affected me because the
little god had from the first wounded
me or whether I loved him because he
gave me comfort no one else could
give 1 don't know.
I engaged myself to Dr. Penrose in
the spring, and that autumn I came
of age. I knew I was to be paid some
money when I was twenty-one which
had been in the hands of a trust com
pany. Whether it had been left me by
my father or my mother 1 did not
know. I had no remembrance of either
of my parents. I had lived with my
aunt ever since I couid remember any
thing and had understood from her
that both my father and my mother
had died when I was very young. I
had arranged" to be married as soon
after I came of age as 1 could get pos
session of my property. My llunce was
a struggling physician, with nothing
but his income from his practice, and
we needed my inheritance. .
A few days before I was twenty-one
I was notified by the trust company
that any time I would call on or after
that date, prepared to sign receipts, my
property would be turned "over to me,
but they would like me to name a day
and hour-1 would be there that they
could have present such persons as
might be necessary.' I replied that I
would call at the bank at 2 o'clock
on the afternoon of the day I came of
age.
I had come to rely on Dr. Penrose
for matters of importance, and as we
were to be married within -a few
weeks nftet getting possession of my
fortune I asked him to accompany me
to the bank and see that nothing was
done that sh'-ttM nc;t he Ioi:e. On tlie
day appointed we went together to the
trust company, were received by one
of the officers connected With it and
shown into a room where we were
asked to wait a few minutes. Present
ly we were ushered into an apartment
in the center of which was a long table.
There, standing on the opposite side of
the table, was the apparition I had
seen twice before. I staggered. Dr.
Penrose caught me and steadied me.
"My double!" ' I moaned, shutting
out the apparition.
The doctor saw what I saw a girl
the exact image of myself, but dressed
differently.
"Good!" he cried. "If that is your
double you have been frightened at a
real person."
A gentleman present said:
"I am told that you two young, ladies
need to be introduced. You are twin
sisters and inherit share and ' share
alike In the estate of Wilbur Langford.
both being his daughters and heirs."
My sister on seeing me had shown
the same evidence of shock as myself.
We looked at each other for some mo
ments: then both started with one ac
cord around the table and met in an
embrace.
Of that domestic trouble which sep
arated our parents, one taking my sis
ter, the other myself, of their subse
quent early death our mother of a
broken heart it is not necessary that
I should give an account here. My
sister and myself having been brought
up separately, the trustees were in
structed to bring us together when
we came of age and received our In
heritance. It was some time before my twin
and myself could be torn apart In
order that we might sign papers spread
out on the table to receive our signa
tures. The business having been fin
ished, we left the bank with our arms
about each other's waist, telling of
out experiences after our two former
meetings. 1 She, too, had suffered, but
nothing like myself, since she felt sure
I was a real person.
At my wedding my only attendant
was my sister.
FREE LABOR WINS
Problem of the Convict Worker
Nearinrj Solution.
TO BUILD PUBLIC ROADS.
Recent Legislation In 8everal States
. Does1 Away With Prison Factories.
. Movement For Reform In This Di
rection Spreading.
The nroblem of convict labor that
much vexed question which has been ,
so fruitful a cause of controversy la
finding a solution at last. Before long
the prisons of this country will cease .
to be factories, competing Industrially ,
with citizens, says the Brooklyn Eagle.
Free labor has won the fight.
No longer will the Jailbirds of Vir
ginia devote their activities . to the
making of boots and shoes at Rleb-
so much a day to a big company en
gaged in that branch of industry.
Henceforth they will crush rock, witb
the help of machinery, and build pub- '
lie highways.
Such Is the new law. In Georgia
likewise. In obedience to recent legis
lative decree, all convicts have been
withdrawn from competition with free
labor, and their employment will be
restricted In future to the making of
roads.
Convicted evildoers in the south are
used largely for farming on tracts ac
quired for the purpose by the states,
the produce being sold and the pro
ceeds turned Into the public fund.
Thus in Georgia and elsewhere In that
section of the country the agricultural
malefactor has been accustomed to
compete with the citizen farmer, to
the considerable detriment of the lat
ter. From this time on, however, he
will not be permitted to do so In either
of the two states above mentioned.
These are merely steps In a move
ment which Is rapidly spreading all
over the 'United States. Illinois and
Washington have recently adopted the
same radical measure of reform, and,
It Is beyond a doubt that a majority
of the otber states of the Union will
follow their example before very long.
Illinois has been using ber convicts
to make furniture, shoes, brushes, bas
kets and stove hollow ware. From this
rime on. however, they 'will operate
rock crushing plants which have been
established at .Toilet - and Chester,
where quarries are located convenient
ly in the neighborhood of the peniten
tiaries. In the state of Washington tt)e prin
cipal' employment of criminal offend
ers has been in the manufacture of
jute bags for wheat, but under the
new law their activites will be applied
whr.tlv tn rl viTi c- th irnort rroiri-4 nroh-
lem.
Meanwhile many other states' haVl
the same problem under serious con
sideration, the question at issue being
whether the prisons shall continue to
be operated as factories for the pro
duction of various kinds of merchan
dise competing with the output, of free
labor. ' ' . ;- ' '
The penitentiaries of many states
within the last few years have been
equipped with improved machinery,
thus converting tbem into' first class
factories. But the prison manufac
turer, employing what is In effect- slave
labor, at an extremely low cost. Is eas
ily able to undersell . all competitors,
either driving them out ' of business
or forcing them to reduce prices and
wages, - ( ' .'
The seriousness of this Competition
may ! Judjred-when it Is t-oii: iiiered
that an army of over 50,000 workers Is
regularly employed all the year round
In prison factories of the United States.
These operatives will produce- $33.
000,000 worth of goods during the pres
ent year. ' .
Among the most obvious effects of
prison labor are loss of employment by
large numbers of people, a serious re
duction of wages and a lowering of
the quality of goods produced by citi
zen workers. Incidentally dreadful
.... 1-,. i. ..... :..:... ...i ........ ml,..iu,i-
IUI U!"lll'! flit- IIIIJII -ir-,1 ii,mi imniina
of that class which deserve the great
est sympathy unci consideration, being;
made up principally of widows, or
phans and other almost helpless indi
viduals who can earn only a pittance at
be.st. Convict snbor has thrown them
cut of work by thousands. ,,
it bus taken a long time to work out
tb's convict problem. Experience has
shown that enforced idleness demoral
izes prisoners. The nonproductive
labor' of the old fashioned treadmill,
now happily obsolete, was eiiuui'y ob
jectionable. As for the- modern prac
tice of leasing malefactors to contrac
tors at so much a head per day. it is
a system that gives rise to many
abuses. At best it is modified slavery
the convicts being sold to the highest
bidder.
The true solution of the problem
seems to be found under the system
known as "public account." by which,
the labor of the convict is employed
exclusively for the benefit of the state
Or Its civil subdivisions. The move
ment to carry this idea Into effect la:
, rapidly spreading, and before very
long It ia certain to be adopted In one
shape or another by every state of the
Unlon. ' - ' ' '"''. : .- - , ' , -
Home For Marble Workers.
A home la to be established In Cali
fornia for the aged and Infirm mem
bers of the International Marble -Workers'
union. President Frederick
McQlade of the San Francisco onion
ban been selected to report upon an
eligible site. It Is considered probable
that the home will be located In tbe
vfclalty of Monterey.
