)
n.
,
L
"
4
f\1 Wild Flowers.
' , hearse kfhwn by name they dot the
ground
, ' . With motley colors , starry forms ,
' j tn them the sunset "klml nro round
" ' ' . That follow "Her storms :
\
, And blurs or crimson , blue and sold ,
" ' : I'hp-Ir ! graceful chalices unfold ,
WIIllo 'mill the lend leaves plio and
. . ' pent
F , } JIumbl they live and die conlenl.
i ; , HuA'c oaks above them lift their heads
AntI droll the acorn , shed the leaf ;
t' ' . Who harvest held far round them sheds
Plenty In ! many a sheaf ,
" . \ntI they , hlllt fragrant , brighten eurlll ,
1" I"ow In the shadows where thoro's
iii' (1carth
" . ; Of pain or pleasure , love or lire ,
Far from the world'/I mllll , ceaseless
k Htrlre
r. 1'h'y f'PMlt no message , act no part ,
'flley have no works to show :
4. ( . Deep hidden hero they touch no heart ,
And do ] not ask to know :
, Yet It ono meet the eye ot man
, Jt t all unfolds the muster plnn-
'l ' he power that painted this fair
. . bloom ,
For man can have no futile doom.
-Chllrh'H W. Stevenson , In Now York
Ohservcr.
.
. The City of Silence.
Ancient Greece , IllllHlretls of years
\ ago , waR divided Into several independent .
pendent states. Ono of these was
r Sparta end the men of Sparta were
wonderfully ! strong and brave , and so
' yarlllt\ that all the neighboring cities
hn states were much In fear of these
fierce men , who fought for the love of
flghtlng.
"
Now , about twenty miles south of
Sparta there was another city , called
Amyclae , whlgh was still free , al
though constantly In dread of being
captmcd t : by Its northern neigh bars.
Irhero were constant report " that the
IJpartans , were coming , . and the pee
pie were , , In such an excitement every
lime these false reports were spread
that at last the leading Amyc1acans
passed a law forbidding anyone to
/'lonUon / : Sparta } by name on pain of
.
llcnth.
But at last the Spartans diG come ,
md ! , although some 01 the Amy clae .
urns heard of their approach , they
Were afraid to # give warning to their
friends , for fear of the punishment
Ihrcatened.
So the Spartans attacked the city ,
which of not In state
\ \ was , course , a
U defense , and It was taken ! and the
people ( made captives to their ene
mles. :
That was a time when strict obedience .
tncc to a law caused dire results ,
,
was It not ?
Secret of a Water Light.
If you were to announce some evenIng .
Ing that you : could stick a lighted
candle Into a glass of water until It
'vas ' submerged almost up to the
ivlck , and that the candle would Dot
t.o out , but would burn down to the
"ory end of Its wick Instead , wouldn't
lverybodY laugh at ; ) 'ou1 '
Get a candle ; drive a very small
.
.d l
.
. "
The , Candle In the GI. . . .
nail Into the bottom nd. The candle
; shoUld bo about three Inches long.
, Fill a glass with water ; light the candle .
Idle and sUck It Into the glass. The
candle \ floats and the nail weighs
.
.
, , > o , t : " , _ : J- < " , "
. .
crown ! the end , which results In the
candle ' floating perpendicularly . as
shown In the illustration.
But what Is to prevent It from burning .
Ing down to the surface of the water
and Ing out ?
'fhnt.ls the secret of the trick , and
not one person In a hundred would
think of the true cause , which Is very
I
simple and natural.
The candle loses its weight as It
burns ; the remaining portion , growing
lighter , keeps rls\ng \ to 1he top , pulling ] .
lug the nail up with It ; the water
maintains the same distance from the
wick It had In time beginning of the experiment -
periment , and the candle burns merrily -
rily away until ] It reaches the end of
Us wick , when there will still be
enough tallow left to support the nail
-If It Is small enough-and then it
Is your turn to laugh. ,
Trick With a Tumbler.
Cut an orange Into halves find from
one hat remove the pulp , leaving the
i
. ,
Position of the Orange.
peel entire In the form of a hollow ]
hemisphere or cup. With a penknife
or a toothpick bore two hole In the
bottom of this cup and put'it Into a
tumbler , forcing It down about haIr
\Va ; ) . .
The tumbler should be a little
smaller than the orange used , so that
you will have to squeeze the peel-
cup a little In order to get It In.
Then It will press firmly against
toe glass and stay where you put It
Instead of dropping to the bottom.
Put the cup In right side up , that Is ,
with the yellow peel below , and pour
red wino Into It. The wino will run
through the holes , and you must keep
on pouring until the level of the wino
In the glass just touches the bottom
of the CUll. Now fill the rest of the
glass above the orange cup with
water , and await results.
Soon you ; will see a thin red jet
of wino rising like a fountain through
the water from one of the holes. At
the same time , though you cannot see
It so wen , a colorless stream of water
flows downward through the other
hole.
The two liquids dC not mix much ,
but merely exchange places , so that
In a few minutes the lower part of
the glass , below the cup , will contain
the water , and the upper part will bo
filled with water.
This Is as It should be , because
water Is heavier than wino and naturally -
orally goes to the bottom. The curious .
ous thing Is that the wine and water
do not ntic , but each selects one hole
for Itself. It Is mC thc trick wIth the
candle burning In a lamp chimney ;
with a partition at the top , so that
cold fresh air goes down on one side
while the hot air and smoke escape on
the other.
Oil may be substituted for the wine ,
or you may fill the bottom of the
glass with water , and then pour In
milk or some thin-colored s'rup. ;
.
A Burled City.
You will find a city ; burled within
two words in one of the lines ] of the
following stanza. It Is a city far from
this country. Can you ; tell what It Is ?
Vain Is this Orient beauty's smile ,
Too far these weary tra , 'lers roam ;
Hope kindles not at fairest wile
Which falls t. bring tlC ir western
home.
.
,
' ' " , .
' " -
.
J
' "
. " . , . - , - ,
- - ,
. ) '
Rule of the Incas ( '
I
The government of the Incas Is said
to have been the most enlightened despotism .
potlsm that ever existed and about
the nearest approach to a Utopia
which has yet been reached by any
people , says the Scientific American
There was allotted to each man free of
charge a dwelling site and an extended .
cd area of land for him to tin and
cultivate for the maintenance of his
family. The surplus of products from
this tract , left over from the Imme-
< lIate needs of the owner , was given
as a tribute to the Inca government ,
and used for religious , charitable and
other purposes at their sovereign city
-
of Cuzco. Under their wise and just
civic administration , crime and public
corruption and theft were not known.
In Cuzco It Is stated that a resident
with 100 bars of silver and gold piled
up In his house , left It wide open , only
placing a small stick across the door
as a sign that the master was out-
and nobody went4in. Agriculture was
a chief pursuit followed. Cotton ,
beans , maize and cocoa were raised
by the coast people. On the plateau
the domestication of the llama and alpaca -
paca was the favorite occupation.
The whole tribe was divided Into
numerous clans. The powers of administration .
ministration centered In the elective
dignitaries , a military leader and the
head of the religious system. There
was also a council of chiefs. None of
these offices was hereditary and could
not be occupied by sons unless they
When the time came for adieus , her
majesty mingled with her guests , the
emperor following closely ; and as
Mrs. Conger got beyond' me I stepped
aside for roya1ty. Imagine my aston-
Ishment when the empress dowager
turned , took mo by both hands ,
stroked my arm and Inquired how I
liked ! China and how long I would remain -
main , concluding by asking me to
come and see her again when I returned .
turned to visit Mrs. Conger ! I did
not lose my" equanimity , but studied
this most remarkable woman at closest .
cst range.
Could she of dignified mien , deep-
set unflinching eyes , rare smile and
melodious voice be the most despotic
female sovereign In the history of the
world ? Has she two distinctly oppo- .
site natures ? Is this the secret of her
marvelous power ? Born In obscurity ,
the daughter of a minor officer , a
favorite concubine -of the harem ,
young and Inexperienced , she reached
were especially chosen for the post- ! : . . _
tion The succession of the chief Ine'
,
did not fall upon the shoulders of his
child. This was due to the clan organization .
Izatlon , which governed the affairs at I
state A man could not marry a woman -
an of his own clan , but had to select
one from another. This was the main
unit for holding the tribe together.
Woman had no choice .In public ) af- ,
fairs , but ruled supreme In the home.
She was admitted to esoteric societies ,
of which there were many. They also
practlc d healing and became priest-
esscs. Many complicated and elabor-
ate ceremonial and religious rites
were observed and feasts and offerings -
Ings of some kind were of almost dally
occurrence , and the preparation for
the observance of these occupied a
great deal of the time of the people.
Contrary to statements hitherto made ,
the sun was not the chief object of
worship , but the moon , stars , thunder ,
lightning and natural objects and phenomena -
nomena attire Included In the religious
code. In Cuzco some forty different
shrines existed.
What height . Inca culture might
have reached had It been allawed to. ,
follow a natural course of develop- Y
ment Is one of conjecture , and - specula-
tion. Judging from their cyclopean-
architectural remains and from the .
splendid examples of their technique ,
which Is so strikingly displayed In
the specimens obtained , It seems most
likely that they would have kept
abreast of the ancient Mexicans.
I Great Woman Rules China JI.- JI.J " .
J 4.
4
the pinnacle of authority by incredible ;
ability , shrewdness and daring.
Through aU the Intrigue of the Chi-
neso court since she first usurped the
throne she has borne a charmed life ,
and her enemies have arisen only to
disappear with terrible swiftness ,
while her autocracy remains unchal-
lenged. With relentless will she has '
stripped the emperor of the last vestige .
Ige of the legitimate authority , which ,
for a brief period , he had exercised
under the wise guidance of Kang Yu
Wel , absolutely controlling his every ;
word and act , as well as the earthly
destiny of 400,000,000 of subjects.
And this most fascinating hostes.s ,
urging us to "stay longer" and "coma
again , " annihilating conventionality
and precedent , was Tsl An the Great ,
woman ruler In this land of Confu-
cuts , where to be a woman , according
to the philosophy of the Great Sage ,
Is to be despised among men-The !
Centur- ; t
f
II II Geniuses in the Home II I
. '
Should , geniuses marry ! For sure !
Especially warders who sing
In metrical mca5ures-gd onto the pleas-
ures . .f ±
or something like this In the sprlng-
"Adelhert Montressor l\tcSwnt ,
The stair carpet's out on the grass :
O ! why tIe you falter ? For what
Did I marry a poet , alas ? "
( AtIelbert l\Iontressor , poor bard !
He raises the dust In the 'urtI.
As he swipes the Ingrain to the musical
straln-
"B'gee ! but this grilling Is hard. " )
Should geniuses marry ? You bet !
Especially sculptures who "skulp "
For what can be better than marital fetter -
ter
'fo smash all his dreams Into pulp ?
"Augustus De Lnncy Souplne ,
Please give that Apollo the go :
I think you are awfully mean : '
The stovepipe hal tumbled you know. "
( Augustus de Lancy , poor wight !
He pounds the stovepipe with delight ,
As be lilts a soft lay In cadence bO gay-
"Great Scott ! but these joints , - are
tlht.It It )
,
.
Should I'cnlusc marry ? Why ccrt !
specially ' fellows who paint ;
For what could be nicer , more fitting ,
suffieer
Than this ? Do you follow my plaint ?
"J Ultramarine Angelo ,
The water pipe's burstetI once more ;
Quit painting and hasten elow-
The bah1:1 : afloat on the floor. "
( J Ultramarine plugs the hole
With his finger while fretting his soul :
lack , ! the waves creep and he'sloak -
lug knee deep
As he squats there , alone In the coal. )
Should geniuses marry ? They must !
Especially musical ones ;
The violin player , the piano slayer , a
As well RJiI the leaser small guns.
"Olle Dulley Corneto Van Squeak ,
The butcher , the baker arc here :
I wish you would go down and speak ,
And tell them we've gone for a year. "
( Olle Bulley Corneto he dumps
Out his notes-hut , alas , they're not
trump ;
He rips out his hair antI dissembles In
air
And into the next county jumps )
- Iorace Seymour Keller In New York
Herald.
a