THE PALACE OF DOOM STRANGE LEGEND OF A MYSTERIOU3 STATUE IN ROME It Pointed the Way to a Scene of Silent and Dazzling Splendor The Vaic of the Man Who Solved the Eiilgiua of the Finger Mennuifc There stood lu Home ninny uges ago a beautiful marble statue the mystery of which attracted the attention of all the wise men from far aud near No body could remember when It had been erected and nobody knew what It meant It was the figure of a woman tall strong aud sterile She stood erect with her right arm outstretched her mantle falling In graceful folds about her figure on her face a look half smile half frown luring yet appeal ing but always holding the observer by a strange feeling that it roused of mystery glory and horror But even all that written so clearly in the mystic signs that art uses might have been overlooked by the people had It not been for a more material puzzle presented by the statue On the third finger of the outstretched hand was written in unfading letters Strike here And therein lay the mystery Years came and went and wise men puzzled their brains to find the secret Seers from faroff lands came to Rome attracted by the statue and still it stood mute cold Inexplicable One day a young man stood before it He bad grown up with the idea of solving the mystery and each day since he was a little child he had como for a few moments and stood silently gazing at the strange countenance He had learned to love the face the wise lips that looked as If they might part and tell the secret that ages had yearned to know but through these Jiges only he had been sincere in his search Faithful through all disap pointments he had gained strength and wisdom and now as he stood before the statue the sun halfway up the eastern sky shone full upon the image A strange thrill passed through the man and looking in the direction in dicated by the pointing finger he saw some yards awaythe shadow of the outstretched hand on the ground He gave a low cry and after noting the spot well he departed That night at midnight he went to the place and began to dig in the ground where the shadow of the hand had fallen A long time he worked j never ceasing his digging when sud denly his spade struck something hard Then his zeal increased and clear ing a space he saw beneath him a trap tloor with a great stone ring Grasp ing the ring he pulled open the door and started back dazzled for a flood of light burst upon him from out of the depths Quickly recovering the young man looked again and beheld a wide mar ble staircase descending from the trap door Throwing down his spade ho passed through the door down tho steps- and found himself in a vast hall The floor of this room was of marble pure white while the walls and ceiling were of the same material in many colors The huge pillars upholding tho vast dome shone like alabaster Rare paintings hung upon the walls and rich rugs lay strewn upon the floor In the center of the room a fountain stood The water in its basin was as pure as crystal but not a ripple stirred its surface and no pleasant lapping charmed the ear as it does when water falls from on high for though the fountain was apparently perfect no water rose from it to fall again On seats running around this silent Tountain were many men in rich bro cades and costly fur robes Lifelike they looked but to the touch they were as marble It was as if in the midst of life death had come and petrified these beings in mockery Around on tables and benches were scattered piles of gold and precious gems Delicate enameled vases and swords inlaid with gems added their wealth to the place But rarest of all the gems was a great carbuncle which stood in a cor ner of the room and from which came the sole light by which the place was relieved from darkness In the corner opposite to this stone stood an archer his bow bent his arrow on the string aimed at the carbuncle On his bow shining with reflected light were the words I am that I am My shaft is in evitable Yon glittering jewel cannot escape its stroke As he looked on all this In silent won der the young Roman heard a voice ut er one word Beware Then he passed Into the next room -and found it fitted up as magnificently as the one he had just left All man ner of couches were about this room and reclining on them were wonder fully beautiful women But their lips were sealed in this place of silence From there he passed on finding many more wonders rooms filled with treasures of art stables filled with fine horses granaries filled with forage Everything that could make a palace complete was there The young Roman returned to the hall I have here seen he said what no man will believe I know that of this wealth I should take nothing but to prove to them that I speak truth can be no harm Then he took In his arms a jeweled sword and some rare vases tfut sud denly all was dark The charm was broken The arrow had left the bow and shattered the car buncle into a thousand pieces Pitch darkness overspread the place Then the young man remembered the warning but too late And there he probably adds one more to the silent watchers In the magic chamber Has this story a moral Let those answer who have eyes to sea Writers of Songs Twenty Thousand Compositions Copy righted Per Year and but Twenty Genuine Hits Made National Fads in the Musical World HENRIETTE B BLANKE c ONSIDERING the fact that nearly 20000 musical J tlous are copyright ed each year at the olllce of the librari an of congress In Washington and at the same time about twenty of these be come genuine hits it Is only reasonable that the music pub lisher feels as though he has drawn a prize In the lottery when a real hit is secured There Is some doubt as to the biggest selling hit on record as condi tions are constantly changing and at the present time a song or instrumen tal number to be a hit must sell in the neighborhood of 300000 copies while THE BLUEFISH BRIGADE What Happens When the Bines Make n Charse Upon Menhaden When menhaden or herring are driven upon the beach by bluefish as they often are so that they can be carried off ly the cart load said a fisherman there is very seldom found amon them one of their pursuers and If one is found it is likely to be a fish that is diseased or that has been hurt in some way The bluefish follows to the very verge of the water but there it stops and it Is so powerful and alert a swimmer that close as it is It still easily keeps clear of the land The menhaden or herring are no mean swimmers They could come as close and keep off the shore as easily as the bluefish do but not when the bluefish are after them Then they are like men pursued to the edge of a preci pice It Is almost certain death to jump but they must do that or turn and take the chances of breaking through the pursuing line When the bluefish there may be 3000 or 4000 of them together sight a school of menhaden they go for it like a brigade of heavy cavalry cut ting and slashing snapping and biting right and left The menhaden are sim ply overborne by superior weight and few if sold te is nothing for them to do but a years ago a publication 100000 copies it was acknowledged a hit This is owing to strong competi tion and largely to the reduction in the price of sheet music When sheet mu sic sold at 50 cents a copy the publish er was perfectly satisfied if the sale reached 100000 copies and was willing to pay the composer 5 and G cents roy alty on each copy Today the composer receives 2 and 3 cents per copy and sheet music retails for S and 23 cents a copy which clearly explains why a song must sell many thousand copies to mean great profits to publisher and composer Then again in the days of fifty cent sheet music the public would i flee If they are driven toward the shore the land is to them what the precipice would be to jthe man They must take it or they must turn and try to fight their way through Many do turn and try to swim under or over or around the savage bluefish and some escape in this way and some are snapped up and some are maimed and then cast ashore and many of them crowding together are so closely press ed that they are practically forced ashore Sometimes fish that are not cast up very far flop down into the water again A high wave may set some accept a song and cling to it for months free A fish thus liberated may find or possibly years but today a song or Instrumental number may become a hit and be shelved In less than three months This applies principally to popular songs such as Everybody Works but Father and Tammany which sold faster than the printer J BODEWALT IiAMPE 4 could supply copies for a short time and were forgotten just as quickly After the Ball probably netted more actual profit than any song published during the last twenty years for the whole world was humming the refrain within a few months after it was issued In the past few years many hits have been recorded such as On the Banks of the Wabash The Blue and the Gray In the Good Old Summer Time She Was Bred In Old Ken tucky Navajo Bedelia In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree and just now a ballad When the Mocking Birds Are Singing In the Wildwood by Henriette B Blanke who by the way is one of the tAvo women song writers in the United States today who enjoy the distinction of having written a 1900 song hit the second woman be ing Miss Klare Kummer composer of Dearie Instrumental numbers have proved an important factor in music publishing the greatest successes prob ably being the marches by John Philip Sousa which were suddenly dropped by the public after the Spanish-American war and characteristic marches became popular such as Georgia Camp Meeting Smoky Mokes and Rastus on Parade These negro compositions in turn gave way to the Indian Intermezzos such as Hiawa tha Laughing Water Navajo Big Indian Chief and a score of oth ers which according to many savor very much of the genuine old ragtime The reign of Indian songs and Indian intermezzos was Interrupted by the sudden popularity of Irish songs and Irish intermezzos such as A Bit o Blarney A Sprig of Shillalah etc and then came the Mexican songs and the Mexican serenades which have been more or less popular the past six months until just recently the public decided that the Germans should have a chance and as if by magic a new march entitled Happy Heinle by J Bodewalt Lampe which Is decidedly German caught the popular fancy Music publishers realizing this abrupt change In public taste are now Issu ing German marches and German songs expecting the German craze to last until some other nation possibly Sweden asserts Its rights and estab lishes a new swing In melody that will become contagious There Is little or no jealousy shown when a melody be comes a craze as the sons of Erin en joy the melody of Happy Heinle and dance with as much vim as they did to the strains of A Bit o Blarney its fins so damaged that it cant swim and it is cast up again Weakened by its rough experience it may fall a prey to some of the bluefish yet lingering offshore It may escape New York News SERIES OF SHIPWRECKS The Most Singular Chain of Marine Accidents on Record The most singular series of ship wrecks on record began with the loss of the English merchantman Mermaid which was driven on the rocks of Tor res strait in October 1829 The officers and crew clung to the shattered vessel which was held fast upon a sunken ledge until a few minutes before the doomed ship went to pieces a passing frigate picked them up The Swiftsure as the latter craft was called resumed her northward course to be foundered in a terrific gale three days later Her combined crews were saved bj the warship Governor Ready en voy age to India May IS 1S30 The last named overtaken by a storm was stranded on a barren coast her three crews to a man succeeding in reach ing the shore After staying a week on the inhos pitable island they were taken off by the revenue cutter Comet which a few days later sprang a leak and sank in spite of all efforts to save her Fortunately a rescue ship was again on hand the four crews being saved by the Jupiter Even then however the chain of dis asters was not broken fcr the Jupiter just as she was entering the harbor of Port Raffle turned turtle and went down with scarcely a moments warn ing Her crews barely escaped with their lives to be picked up by boat sent to their aid Thus the crew of the Mermaid was wrecked five times in one voyage that of the Swiftsure four times of the Governor Ready three times and the Comet twice The Tescues had been purely acciden tal in every case none of the ships having been sailing as a consort or even to the same port Though the weather had been tem pestuous and the escapes barely made not a life had been lost Safe In a mediaeval German tale It says that the parish council of a small vil lage met one evening to discuss cer tain improvements in the water sup ply In this debate the towns one watchman entered the room quietly placed in a corner his lantern and spear and sat down to listen to the ar gument Suddenly a councilman turn ed to him fiercely Fritz he cried what are you doing here Who Is to watch that nothing is stolen in the village Fritz with an easy smile answered Who is there to steal anything We are all here An Odd House One of the best known houses in Northamptonshire England was de signed to represent the days weeks and quarters of the year It has four wings facing the four quarters of the heavens to represent the four quarters of the year 365 windows one for each day fifty two chimneys one for each week and seven entrances to repre sent the seven days of the week Pretension The world is his who can see through Its pretension What deafness what stone blind custom what overgrown error you behold is there only by your sufferance See It to be a lie and you have already dealt it Its mortal blow Emerson In England under the Tudors the man who gave to a beggar was fined and the recipient or the gift was pun ished Strangers to Fear King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Helena of haly Who Braved the Perils of Vesuvius The King and the Tourists A Polite Monarch KINO VICTOK EMMANUEL - S w TXPICAIj SCENE IN NAlLES I N and about Na ples during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius the king and queen of Italy have been prominent and pic turesque figures The peril Into which the king has gone in his anxiety to afford all possible relief and safety to sufferers from the seismic disturbances has placed him hi a most favorable light -and enhanced his popularity as a monarch When Pliny tho elder saw the smoke over Ve suvius in 79 A D he set sail for the cities at the foot of the mountain in some of the vessels of the fleet he com manded with the view to rendering as sistance When King Victor Ewmanuel learned of the desperate straits of the people living in the vicinity of Vesuvius he took a train from Rome to Naples and thence set forth in the direction of the volcano In that typical twentieth century vehicle the automobile While speeding his machine over the ash strewn country he was struck by a heavy shower of cinders and almost lost in a whirl of ashes but he did not suffer the fate of Pliny and came back alive though the fiery contents of Ve suvius had been spread so thickly in front of his motor car that lie had to abandon It and walk Danger like love levels all ranks but this Is not the first time the ruler of Italy has shown himself to be dem ocratic His tendencies in this direc tion are due in part to his wife Queen Helena who was a princess of Monte negro and was brought up without any nonsense When she became queen she was shocked at the amount of waste and extravagance in the pal ace and showed her attendants that without being less dignified it was f Vttfc o FIVE TEMON3 TOR A CENT possible to live much more economic ally The young royal couple are fond of living in a palazzina of modest dimensions and simple decorations and it was here that the king once re ceived the Premier Zanardelli The interview was in the queens drawing room and the statesman struck by its plainness exclaimed How simple ev erything is your majesty no show no luxury Yes replied the king but what would you say if you saw my apart ments Since the eruption of Vesuvius droe thousands of people from their homes Queen Helena has been at the kings side aiding and suggesting in the task of affording relief The dispatches have told how the people have kissed the kings hand and the queens gown exclaiming God sent you to us The more superstitious of the peasants have unbounded faith in the kings powers and the story is told of a wcynan who cried If thou art our king order the volcano to stop King Victor Emmanuel III was born in 1SG9 and married the Princess Helena of Montenegro in 1S9G They have three children the heir apparent Humbert prince of Piedmont born in 1904 and two daughters Yolanda and Mafalda The king and queen are de voted to motoring and have had many adventures on such trips He is but five feet three Inches in height and the queen is tall One day passing through a small Tillage a breakdown occurred and a crowd was attracted to the spot In the crowd were two English motor ists Secure as they thought in speak ing In a strange tongue they carried on the following conversation Pretty motor car Yes and the lady Is pretty too More than can be said of the man Did you ever see such a little man in such a big car I am out of brandy I wonder if he can supply me Shall I ask Per haps he speaks French I shall be most happy to oblige you said the king in perfect English Then he added Can I be of any further use to you -My kingdom Is at your disposal and It Isjiot so small as Its monarch The deuce exclaimed one while the other merely gasped The king PIANO EXPERIMENTS 1 tlnjr by Svrecnlnir the String With a Feather Open wide your piano so that the wires are exposed Over the wires place sheets of music and when you strike a tone you will find that it has a rattling sound If now you play a tune in the same manner with the sheets of music still lying on the strings it will sound as if the instru ment were a banjo Anyhow it Is a good imitation Now remove the music sheets and press down gently but firmly the keys belonging to any cord Take the simple cord C E G for example The keys must be pressed down with out sounding them and held down while some one gently brushes the strings with a feather or a straw The effect will be as If the cord were play ed far away and is heard by you as very snft tones Change the cord always presslug down the kejs without sounding them while the feather still sweeps the strings lightly In this way you may modulate or play a slow piece and the effect will be very beautiful indeed as If heard from a great distance The reason of this is that ordinarily a damper rests against each string but when the corresponding key Is struck or pressed down the damper Is raised In sweeping the strings with the feather lightly only the strings that are undampered sound the others being held mute by the dampers but If the touch of the feather is too heavy even the other strings may sound so your care must be in making a light and delicate touch Now press down a key gently and hold It Strike very hard the octave above this key but do not hold It after striking the tone When the wire of the tone struck has been sufficiently dampered so that it does not sound so loud the pressed down key will be heard to sing clearly even though it was not struck This is because every note struck is composed of sev eral notes being in reality a cord in itself and each note contained in that cord causes the corresponding note in the keyboard to vibrate or sing in sympathy If held down in like man ner The other notes that will sound under these conditions will always be the fifth above the octave the second oc tave and the third and fifth above that and these tones that sound are called overtones For illustration if C in the lower part of the piano be struck any or all of the notes that follow will sound if their keys are first pressed and held down Philadelphia Press POINTED PARAGRAPHS When you are all done but finishing you are just half done If you have time to boast about be ing worked to death you have not much to do Some people are so unfortunate that their troubles make people laugh in stead of cry A man who underestimates himself may be tiresome but he is not a cir cumstance to the man who brags People may disdain a compliment but they feel a tender little spot in them where it hit and refused to be dislodged It is a theory growing in conviction that the man who says a mean thing about another isnt as mean as the man who carries it The man who travels over the path behind you wisely looks at your foot prints and sees where you could have avoided many a pitfall Atchison Globe Tiny Trees The midget of the whole tree family is the Greenland birch It is a perfect tree in every sense of that term and lives its allotted number of years from 75 to 130 just as other species of the great birch family do although its height under the most favorable condi tions seldom exceeds ten inches Whole bluffs of the east and southeast coast of Greenland are covered with thick ets of this diminutive species of woody plant and in many places where the soil is uncommonly poor and frozen from eight to ten months a year a forest of these trees will flourish for half a century without growing to a height exceeding four inches Strange Dances Queenslands government aboriginal settlement on Frazers island holds a weekly dance for the blacks Among the bundles of old clothes sent to the settlement there are often ball gowns so the gins sport decollete dresses Neither sex wears boots The sexes have to dance separately Sydney Bul letin Shrewd Gaess Senior Partner We must be careful I not to give Billings -any more credit Hes evidently losing money Junior Partner How do you know Senior Partner I heard his remark today that life Is full of ups and downs No man ever admits that until he begins to strike the down Philadelphia Press Rejected I have called said the confident young man with a manuscript sticking out of his pocket to see whether there Is a vacancy In this office No replied the melancholy editor as he looked round the place Im sor ry to say there Is none Even the waste paper basket Is full A Change Well well There goes Miss Strong When I saw her last she was posing as a bachelor girl Thats her hobby AH thats changed now She drop- ped her hobby for a hubby Ex change NOTICE OP SCHOOL HOND ELECTION Notice is hereby Kiven to tho qualified eluctors of Tho School District of tho City of McCook also Known n 1 District Number Seventon in Ked Willow I county in tho Stato of Nobrnakn that upon tho written request of at least ono thlrtl or tho qnuliiled voters of said school district mid two thinls of tho members of tho Board or Education of said School District requostini I aud coiiHentiiitf thereto un election will be bola at tho usual places ot voting in hiiuotuuui o trict to wit Tho basomont of tho Commercial hotel in tho first ward in tho City of McCook and in tho hose liouso in tho heconH ward insakl City ofMcCookou tho twelfth day of JuueA 1900 between the hours of nine oclock a rn aud seven oclock p m cm said day for tho pur pose of votinjr on tho following proposition which is hereby submitted to the qualified elec frs of said School District Shall tho Board of Education of Tho School Dibtrict of tho City of McCook in Ked Willow county in the Stnto o Neb raska issue tho bonds of said School District iu tho sum of thirty six thous and dollars for tho punoso of building and furnishing h school houso for said School Distj rict Said bonds to bo of tho denomination of live hundred dollars each dated on the first day of July A D 1006 and to boar interest at- tho rate of not over four and one half por cent por annum interest payable seini anuually on tho first day of January and July of each year until paid interest and principal to bo payable to bearer nt tho Fiscal Agency of the Stato of Nebraska iu tho city of New York- Said bonds to bo offered iu the open market and sold to th liiirliext hiililur for not less than par value of each dollar Coupons shall bo attached to each of t uid bonds for each semi annual install ment of interest which said coupone shall be signed by tho President and secretary of said ooaru tin oi bniu ooiius aiiau mature iu uio flrar flitir if Ittltr A T fCfXt nnrl tntarnK hnfrin to run on the first day of July A D 1003 Pro vided that should t aid bonds or any part of them 1x3 sold subsequent to their dat tho amount of interest then duo shall bo endorsed us u credit upon the coupons llrst due on said bonds Said bonds to bo numbered consecutivo ly from one to teventt two and issued in threo series Series one shall consist of tho said bonds numbered one to twenty four inclusive and may be redeemed by said School District at any timo uftor tho first day of July A D 1911 Series two shall consi t of tho aid hoiidg num bered twonty flvo to forty oight inclusive and may be redeemed by said School District at any time after the first day of July A D 1916 Series three shall consist of tho said bonds num bered forty uiuo to sevunty two inclusive aud may bo redeemed by said School District at any time after the first day of July A D llril Said bonds shall bo signed by the President ami counter signed by tho Secretary of said board Shall there bo levied annually upon all tho taxable property in said School District a tax in addition to all other tuxes sufficient to -pay tho interest on said bonds as it accrues and to create u sinking fund to pay said bonds when thoy may become duo7 Said proposition as submitted on tho ballots to bo FOlt tho Proposition to Issue School Dist rict Bonds and Tax AGAINST tho Proposition to Issue School District Bonds and Tax Submitted and authorized by the Board of Education of Tho School District of thoCity of McCookalso known as School District Num ber Seventeen in Red Willow county in the state of Nebraska this first day of May AD 1905 The Boaud of Education ok the School District op the City ok McCook in Red Willow County in the State ok Nebraska Attest C W Barnes By E II Doan Secretary President In testimony whereof bv order of the Mayor and Council of the City of McCook 1 have here unto bet my hand and mv official seal in tho City of McCook in Red Willow County in tho Stato of Nebraska this fourteenth dny of Maj A D 19Jij W A Middletov seal J Clerk of the City of McCook NOTICE FOR BIDS Sealed bids will be received at tho office of tho City Clerk at tho City Hall McCook Neb raska until 8 oclock p m May li8th 190t and opened immediately thereafter for contract to construct sido walks and curbs such as tho City of McCook may cause to be built during the present municipal year with tho following material Flag stone per square foot en ont per square foot Yotrified brick per square foot Tiling slabs per square foot Curbing of tho above materials IX inches Ii iiicln s 5 inches thick per linel foot Including labor and material to be furnish ed by tlie bidder and subject to the provisions of Ordinance No 1111 The council rorves the right to reject anj and all bids T lH lts W A Miodletov seal City Clerk BEGGS BLOOD PURIFIER CURES catarrh of the stomach PVRiHKT MM SMOKING UP DIMES is many a young fellow when that same dime might be t e ncorn that would grow into the sturdy oak of A BANK ACCOUNT into whoso bran ches h e might some day climb to spy out chances in real estate and otlior things Young men quit smoking up your dimes begin TO DAY and bring your first f e w dimes to the First National Bank McCook Neb c 7 c f h I r I friiiiiwiiwiii i i in mi i mm lii This falling of vour hair Stop it or you will soon be bald Give your hair some Ayers Hair Vigor The fall ing will stop the hair will Hair Vigor grow and the scalp will be clean and healthy Why be satisfied with poor hair when you can make it rich 3Iy ar arIJ n canle 1 Uen tried the falling New hair vma i iirri Just a little curly -Mrs l M si ---- AAk Saratoga N Y gl00 a bottle All druggists for J C ATKR CO J pwen Mass Thick Hair v v x r