TELLS OF BABYLON
I
*-IFE IN OLD LAND DESCRIBED BY
MAN OF SCIENCE.
^rof. Delitzsch Has Delved Deeply In
to Matter, and Graphically Por
trays the Habits and Cus
toms of Ancient Empire.
Prof. Friedrich Deli tz sc It, whom the
kaiser, in an access of just enthusi
asm, once described as "knowing
more about Biblical culture than the
Biblical chroniclers themselves," has
.iust delivered a remarkable lecture
on Old Babylon before the German
Orient society. The records of Baby
ion, said the professor, are of espe
cial interest now, for the destruction
of the city seems to haye been an ex
act parallel with the overwhelming
«f Messina. The godess Istar, mother
of all mankind, was much enraged
after Babylon's destruction to find
•hat Bel, the god of the earth, had
been granted so much power, and the
result was that for a thousand years
there was not anolher earthquake.
Old Babylon in those days was
smaller in extent than northern Italy,
it was a flat, rainless land, intersect
ed by hundreds of canals; and the Ti
gris and Euphrates, which then issued
into the sea, were united by a big ca
nal. Thousands of rowing and sail
ing boats, and of wicker canoes
crowded the waterways. Everywhere
was active life and a genuine cul
ture. The whole country was crowd
ed with small villages, built chiefly of
reeds, but bricks and stone were used
for important edifices. From 75 cents
to annually was the rent of the av
< rage house. Every girl found a hus
band. Severe winter frosts and ter
rific summer heat made life disagree
able, and ihp country was overrun
with lions and swarmed with myriads
of flies, while parts were periodically
swept by sandstorms.
The original civilized race of south
and central Babylonia was the Sume
rian, a tremendously gifted people,
whose women for beauty rivaled the
statues of ancient Greece. In north
Babylonia the people were Semites.
The later civilization was the result,
of a anion of the two. Afterward fol
lowed the Chaldeans, whose king, Ne
buchadnezzar, lived 1,000 years before ,
Christ. It was the original Sumerians
who invented cuneiform writing. They
were great mathematicians, and had
a sexagesimal system of counting,
with separate signs for 1 and 10, but
un zero. Prof.: Delitzsch said he had
himself found their clay tablets with
multiplication and division tables, and
their methods of calculating cubes
arid quadrates. The Sumerians went
lean shaved, whereas the Semites al
ways wore long beards and long hair.
In the third millennium before
Jurist the Babylonians were using
gold and silver as a medium of ex
i hange. This was an inevitable de
velopment, as trade and Industry were
already highly developed, and busi
ness was even carried on by com
panies and corporations. One of the
oldest institutions of old Babylon was
ihe banking Arm of Egbi & Sons.
Iiealing in stocks on margins must
have been a profitless business, as
the Babylonian rate of interest lor
loans was usually 20 per cent.
The Babylonians had no standing
army, but they had a strong militia
Their ideas on sorcery and witch
craft are largely responsible for the
superstitions on these subjects of
western countries. It is possible, said
the professor, that Christianity is al
so indebted to their heathen temples
for the towers and steeples of its
hnrches.
Vocal Training for Babies.
tables like to imitate. They try to
ropy everything older people do. In
Mb first playthings are pretty colored
lords, for instance, and when mother
holds up a bird, she sings a tone, al
ways singing the same tone to the
-ame colored bird, calling it do, re, or
mi, as the case may be, it will be
out a short time before baby will fry
o imitate the pitch, quality of tone
and syllable; and before the ordinary
child is a year old, or soon after, it
could have the scale well fixed with
•■■rice, ear and eye.
\ baby breathes naturally deep,
usy and right.
And if he learns to sing softly, eas
ily and sweetly before becoming self
onscious, the worst part of a vocal
■cacher’s work would be done before
■re baby was old enough to insist
upon doing things wrong, namely,
"breathing and voider placing.”—
Funny F. Hughey in the Etude.
I
Cost of an Education.
.'lie average yearly expenditure a
: upil in the public schools of this
ountry is given as $28.25 in the re
ently published report of the commis
- oner of education. In 1870 it was
only $15.55.
Nevada lias the highest yearly ex
penditure, $72.15 a pupil, followed by
York with $51.50. Montana with
549.40 and California with $49.29. In
the south the expenditures a pupil
range from $0.37 for South Carolina
to $20.36 for West Virginia. The new
-fate of Oklahoma spends $15.79, New
Mexico $19.46, while Arizona with
$40.41 spends $5.16 a pnpil a year
lore than Oklahoma and New Mexi
co combined.
One-third of the states spend from
325 to $10 a pupil. "Tile fact that one
'mirth s^Tid less than $15 and ono
'uurth spend more than $35 is an infl
ation,” says the commissioner, ‘‘of
'lie great variety In support of public
• Miration, and, I believe, in the oppor
iunity afforded for school training in
ct.r various commonwealths.”
ANCIENT METHOD OF HEALING
Laying on of Hands Is One of the Old
est Prescriptions Known to
Men of Medicine.
For countless ages among barbaric,
pagan and Christian peoples the belief
was current that Individuals diseased
and "curtailed of their fair propor
tions’’ could be healed by "touch,” by
the "breath,” by words and prayer, by
the wearing of amulets and talismans,
by "charms" of every conceivable and
luconceivab'e kind. These supersti
tions, under various aliases," are re
markably in evidence even in the ad
vanced civilisation of our day. The
healing of the sick by the application
of hands is of vast antiquity. It is to
be found in the records and the prac
tices of tile early Egyptians and Jews,
the Assyrians and Indians. One of the
earliest, recorded examples is to be
found in the Old Testament. We are
told that Elisha brought to life a
"dead” child by stretching himself
three times upon the child and calling
aloud to God.
Headers of history are acquainted
with the supposed healing powers of
the kingly "touch.”
It was believed for a long time that
living together and breathing upon a
sickly person would produce salutary
as well as harmful effects. Young
children and virgins were supposed to
have the power to “cure” by breathing
upon the patient and sprinkling him
with their own blood. This method of
"cure” is mentioned by Galen, Pliny
and Virgil. History tells us that the
great Barbarossa, when dying, was ad
vised by liis Jewish doctor to have 1
young, robust boys placed across his
stomach, in lieu of fomentations. The
following curious inscription, cut in
marble, was discovered at Rome by J
the archaeologist Gomar: »
To Ai sriilaptus ami Health,
tills Is erected 1 >.v
I,. Clauilins Herinippus,
Who.
By Hie breath ot young girls. Hind
115 years and 5 days, at which
physicians were no little surprised.
Successive generations lead such a life.!!!
A Teutonic writer, Hufeland by
name, from his vast reservoir of ex
perience, gravely informs us that
“when we consider how efficacious for
lameness are freshly opened animals,
or the laying of a living animal upon
any painful affection, we must feel
convinced that these methods are not
to be thrown aside.”
Curing by “words” was common in
the early ages. They cast out the dis
ease spirits by exorcism. Ulysses,
mythology has it, stopped a hem
orrhage by words, styptic words, evi
dently. Cato cured sprains by the
same means.
Various astrological signs inscribed
upon amulets and talismans—of min
erals or of motals—were supposed to
prevent and to cure diseases when
worn on the body of the sufferer.
Herbs, roots, loadstones, bloodstones,
pieces of amber, images of saints,
were also worn for the same reason.
The Huddhists, for instance, had a sort
of religious reverence for the sapphire.
They called it the stone of stones (op
tiinus. quem tellus niedica gignit).—
New York Medical Journal.
j
The Squaw Winter.
“When does the Indian summer
come, anyway?” she asked.
“Why, it doesn't always come at
all, but when it does come it comes
just after the squaw winter,” replied
her friend.
"Squaw winter! Well, I never
even heard of that before. When is
that?”
"Well, the first protracted period of
cold weather that we have is called
the squaw winter out in the country, j
After this spell of frosty weather
there are sometimes several days of
unseasonable mildness and warmth
that we call Indian summer. Some I
years there isn’t any warm spell ,
after the frost has well set in and we (
have no Indian summer. But the
squaw winters always come. The 1
years when there isn't any Indian i
summer the squaw winters just glide !
into the real hard winters so that you
can't tell where one stops anil the
other begins. It is only when there i
is an Indian summer that you can
distinguish the squaw winter.”
Evening Things Up.
In Chicago, recently, a mutual friend
introduced two men. One of them was
smoking. Very deliberately lie blew
a lungful of of smoke into the other
man’s face.
“That means trouble," gasped the
other man. pulling olf liis coat.
“Oh, no," said the offender, calmly.
“It didn't mean trouble last night
when you blew smoke in my face,"
"I never saw you before," stormed
the smokee.
"No. but I've seen you,” said the
first man. "You passed me in an au
tomobile last ni.:hi and while you and
1 were waiting in a jam you blow a
cloud of gasoline and oil smoke into
my lace that I'm tasting yet. Want
to fight about that?"
“No,” said the victim, “but VU like
to buy you a good cigar. That one
you're smoking is worse than automo
bile smoke.”
Peace was ratiiied at the corner
drug store.
Bald Heads.
Thomas, live years old, came face
to lace the other day with an uncle
he had never seen before, and noticed
that this uncle had a bald head sur
rounded by a fringe of hair—such a
head as the cartoonists used to draw
of David B. Hill. This fact, added to
(he uncle’s extreme height, and thin
ness, excited Tommy's comment.
“Say, mamma," he said, turning to
his mother, “my new uncle grew up
so fast his hair didn’t have time to
reach the top <vf his head!"
FAR iN THE NORTH
MISSIONS FOUNDED IN THE LAND
OF THE ESKIMOS.
—'I
Spread of Christianity Has Been
Marked Among People of the Most
Inhospitable Land on ttie
Earth.
Rev. Dr. It. .1. Renison, rector of St.
Paul’s Episcopal church, speaking here
before a large congregation on inis ,
sionary work among the Eskimos, said
ho considered the Eskimos were the
only civilized race in the world Dial
were secure from the encroachment
of the civilized while man and that it
therefore escaped extinction, or at
least degradation, from contact with
so-called civilization, a San Francisco
dispatch says.
Unless tlie earth shall change its
axis, thereby changing the climate of
the bleak and inhospitable north, he
said, tto nation will ever attempt to
deprive the Eskimo of his land. Thi;
peculiar people inhabit a vast terri
tory, yet. notwithstanding the vast
ness of their domain, there is only one
tribe. They speak the common lan
guage and have the same customs,
whether in the Hudson bay country or
in the Baffin’s bay regions.
The speaker was unable to under
stand why they had chosen such a
habitation, if they really had chosejt
it.
"In the brief three months of sum
mer,’’ said the speaker, "the Eskimo
hunts (he seal and walrus and en
gages In fishing to lay up a store of
food for the nine months of winter,
and when the winter comes he saws
the hard snow into large blocks and
with these builds a house in the shape
of a bee hive, pours water over it and
it freezes hard and makes a tight
dwelling, secure against the wind.
The opening of the door Is so small
that one must crawl on his hands
and knees to enter the igloo. Hushes
are spread upon the floor and seals'
blubber in a hollowed stone is lighted
and serves for lamp and cooking
stove.
“In the Baffin's bay country the pro
testant Episcopal church has the most
northerly mission in the world. It
was founded 30 years ago by Rev.
Mr. Peck, who, after learning the lan
guage, spent several years in convert
ing the people of the ice-bound land.
The first church building he erected
was built of sealskins sewn together
and when it was finished the dogs de
voured it over night. The permanent
churcli was built soon thereafter with
lumber shipped from Canada.
“Mr. Peck found these people to
have an Innate sense of right and
wwong and found them faithful and
trustworthy in all respects. Before
they became Christians the Eskimos
used to kill all their aged and decrepit
men apd used to force the old women
to commit suicide. This was done
under what they conceived to lie tlie
stern law of necessity, but since that
time the practice has been abandoned.
They are sincere Christians, or at
least those of them that have come j
within reach of the missionary influ- |
enee.”
The Mullet in Gulf Waters.
The mullet has always attracted a
goodly share of attention. His fame
is not circumscribed by the boundaries
of the gulf. Whether the visitor be
from the Atlantic or the Pacific coast
or from the shores of the Mediterran
ean or the Baltic, he wants to see, ex
amine and feast on the mullet.
He Is the best known flsn that
swims. Some have a prejudice against
him, hut like nil feelings of tills na
ture, it rests on an unsubstantial foun
dation. It cannot bear investigation,
for the mullet plays a greater part
in appeasing the craving for sea foods
than any fish that inhabits the waters
of the gulf. He is here in summer
and winter, in fall and in spring.
When the fisherman contemplates Ills
plight, when luck is against him and
a feeling of depression creeps over
him, the mullet, always ready to give
him a helping hand, rushes into his
seine and contributes to his fortune
and to the gastronomic pleasure of
Hie thousands of pc oph to whom they
are shipped. He is a regular standby.
In prosperity and in adversity lie is
always in alwndance. Pascagoula
Chronicle.
Well Guarded Trade Secrets.
There are iwo trade secrets at least
that the world at large may never
learn. One is the Chinese method of
making the bright and beautiful color
known as vermilion, or Chinese red;
and the other is a Turkish secret - the
inlaying of the hardest steel with gold
and silver.
Among the Chinese and the Turks
these two secrets are well guarded.
Apprentices before they are taken
for either trade, must swear an iron
clad oath to reveal nothing of what
passes in the workshop. These ap
prentices, furthermore, must belong
to a family of standing, must pay a
large sum by way of guarantee, and
must furnish certificates of good char
acter and honesty. Those secrets
have been handed down faithfully
from one generation to another for
hundreds of years - The Sunday Mag
azine.
The Early Drama.
• 1 suppose those fashionable ladies
of old England wore masks tit the the
ater in order to hide their blushes."
‘‘I fancy not," answered .Miss Cay
enne; "it was probably that they
might assume to be bit him: without
fear of contradiction"
HAVING FUN AT THE TABLE
Stimulating the Appetite by Cheerful
ness and Freedom from Worry
Is a Good Thing.
It is astonishing to one who has
not studied l bo subject thoughtfully
to learn bow completely under tho
control of the nervous system, or rath
er of the emotions, the entire diges-(
the apparatus is.
It is a matter of everyday experi
ence that the appetite is under tho
subjection of the feelings, although
not of the will. The Impulse to cele
brate any good news by a dinner is
founded upon the fact, that when one
is pleased and elated hunger is ex
cited. in early times this hunger was
gratified on the moment, just as tho
accompanying thirst too often is now,
hut the modern man usually defers
his eating to a suitable occasion.
Tho loss of appetite caused by bad
news or misfortune of any kind is too
well known to need more than men
tion. Worry or physical fatigue will
often act in the same way. The same
causes that destroy the appetite will
arrest or greatly retard the process
of digestion, it is a matter of common
experience that any disagreeable oc
currence during or just after a moal
will stop digestion and may bring on
a bilious attack with headache, nausea
and a coated tongue. Concentration
of the mind or anxiety will act in the
same way.
On tlic other hand, as Iho appetite
is stimulated by good news and mental
elation, so digestion is favored by
whatever promotes gnyciy and high
spirits.
jjuugu mm Kin" nil, 11kc ho many
popular Hayings, is an expression
which contains much truth. Dyspep
sia is a malady that will seldom be
found In the family where the dinner
gives occasion lor cheerful talk and
mirth; where all worry and "disgrnn
tlement," and especially ipiurrelllng,
are under a ban. I
Every member of the family should
make it an absolute rule to put worry
and all thoughts of business or study
aside for the moment and lo come to
the table prepared to lie light hearted
and gay. This is not only a moral
duty, but rests upon the very physical
reason tiiat his appefite will be belter
and his food will taste better and will
be better digested.
In this connection it gnen without
saying that bills and disagreeable let
ters should never he the accompani
ment of the morning meal, because a
day started with chagrin is u very
hard day to straighten out.—Youth’s
Companion.
Christian Burials at Jerusalem.
Until about fifty years ago Chris
tians In Jerusalem, and Frnnelseans as
well, were buried without a coflin, the
latter simply in the habit of the order.
At the grave the hood of I he deceased
was sewed shut over his fuoo, and
thus he was bedded in the earth. The
former burial place of the Catholics
was in the valley of the Cedron along
side the Garden of Gethsemane at the
foot of the Mount of Olives, where the
Jews are still buried to-day. Only a
century ago a new churchyard was
laid out on Mount Sion, the place
where King David and his success
ors are still buried. The exact spot
is unknown, although many attempts
have been made to And It. An old
tradition says that about the fifth cen
tury some workmen accidentally pen
etrated this vault. They looked in
and saw the magnificent sarcophagi,
but In trying to enter, the chambers
of the dead they were repulsed by
flames of Are bursting forth from with
in. The frightened workmen closed
the entrance to the vault, the exact
location of which has been forgotten.
Up-to-Date Polar Toys.
“Tlie latest French toys are all fur
and ice and American flags and polar
bears. Look here."
Tlie salesman took down a card
board representation of tlie white
north. Two fur-clad figures, each
holding an American flag, were la
beled Cook and Peary, and a socket
was labeled north pole. When tlie
toy was wound the two figures fenced
fiercely with their flags about the
socket unt II, finally, one of them got
fits flagstaff into the hole
Here is a new north pole game,”
the salesman said. 'This white pole
is the pole itself, and the figure in
white fur is Cook, while the one in
black is Peai ' The game is played
by throwing dice. Kach figure is ad
vanced so many degrees, according
lo the number thrown, lie wins, of
course, who gets to the top of the
pole first.” Another toy was an 10s
kimo sledge containing a fur-clad ex
plorer and drawn by six dogs. A
turn of tlie key and Ihe dogs galloped
and the explorer flourished his long
lashed whip.
Doing Fairly Well.
Mrs. O. II. I*. Belmont says ‘‘Ameri
can women do not know how to bring
up their children.” N'o doubt there is
some truth in whai she says. A large
number of the failures in life may be
traced to improper training during
childhood. There is no denying that
mothers are of the very first impor
tance; that there is great responsi
bility upon them, and that they make
many mistakes thal might be avoided
if only some expert would tell them
what to do. But Mrs, Belmont should
not be loo severe on them in their
ignorance. Shi should realize that
the American women are producing
fair average results, considering the
kind of material some of them have
to work with. The American mothers
may not know it all, but they are do
ing pretty well for a lot of blundering
amateurs.
i
WAS AN INSPIRATION
FIRST SINGING OF SANKEY'S
MOST FAMOUS HYMN.
“The Ninety and Nine,” So Powerful
an Aid in Evangelistic Work,
Was Not Planned by the
W riter.
The religious faiths of the world
have produce many remarkable and
beautiful lyrics, such as Newman’s
"Lead, Kindly Light,” the "Nearer, My
God. to Thee” of Sarah Flower Adams,
and Cowpor's “God Moves In a Mys
terious Way," Many of these were
written under peculiarly dramatic cir
cumstances, as was particularly the
case with those of t'owper and John
Henry Newman alluded to above,
writes F. Heddell in the Milwaukee
Sentinel,
Hut wide as lias been their use and
their application among Christiana ol
all creeds and sects, there is one hymn
that overshadows all others, whether
we consider its widespread popularity
or its wonderful evangelistic power.
This hymn is "The Ninety and Nine,"
by the late Ira I). Sankey, long the mu
sical associate of Dwight L. Moody.
These two men together were Hie
greatest soul winners ever known, and
the success of their united work was
undoubtedly largely traceable to Mr,
Sankoy's songs’in general, and to
"The Ninety and Nine” in particular.
Its unique origin has often been de
scribed, blit will bear repetition.
"When leaving Glasgow for Ivlin
burgh with Mr. Moody, Mr. Sankey
bought a penny religious paper.
Glancing over it as they rode on (lie
cars, liis eye fell upon a few verses
in the corner of the page. One day
they had an unusually impressive
meeting in Kdinburgh, in which Dr.
Honor had spoken on “The Good Shop
herd " At the close of the address
Mr. Moody beckoned to Ills partner to
sing something appropriate.
“At lirsl he could think ol nothing
hut the Twenty-third Psalm, lint, that
lie had sung so often; Ills second
thought was to sing the verses he had
found in the paper but how could It
be done when he had no tune for
them? Then a thought came—to sing
the verses he had found tn the paper
anyway. He put the verses before
him, touched the keys of the organ,
and sang, not knowing where he was
going to come out. He finished the
tirst verse amid profound silence. He
took a long breath and wondered if he
could sing the second (lie same way.
He tried it and succeeded. After that
it was easy to sing it. When he had
finished the hymn the meeting was all
broken down—throngs were crying
and ministers were sobbing all around
him.”
Hundreds ivc'c converted then and
there, while In siil*eqtient years other
thousands of souls were gathered In
through the singing of "The Ninety
and Nine."
Clearly the song was the result of
a sudden inspiration so far as Its mu
sical setting was concerned, and It
may be doubted if there was ever a
similar case of spontaneous and subse
quently successful composition.
"The Ninety and Nine" literally
sang its way around the world. The
simple paraphrase of the Scripture
parable appeals to "all soils and con
ditions of men," and the world's hymn
ology Is the richer for that Sunday
afternoon inspiration in the Scottish
capital which came to Ira D Sankey.
Not in Ade's Set.
The first time Mrs. Kendal, the Kng
lish art reus, went to Chicago the city
editors rent reporters over to Inter
view her.
Among them was George Ade, then
working for the Record.
“How do you like Chicago, Mrs.
Kendal?” he asked.
'Oh, 1 have not been here long
enough to answer that, but I know I
shall like it. i am so infatuated with
vour country, and I know I shall dear
ly love Chicago. I have met some
charming Chicago people.”
"Indeed,” said Ade. ‘ whom do you
knew-?”
\\ hy, I have met Mr. Armour mid
Mr Fairbanks and Mr. Illginbotham
and several others. Do you know
them?”
"Well," said Ade, "1 have heard of
them, but then, you know, all these
you have mentioned are in trade.
Good-morning." — Sati.rdav evening
Post.
A Forceful Style.
A teacher at an evening school had
before her a class in which were many
very rough lads.
"Suppose,” said the teacher.!"!
should say, ‘Look out, boys; here
comes the police!’ Would that he
correct?”
There was a silence. Finally a little
fellow said, "Xo'm; that wouldn’t be
right." *
Well, inquired the teacher, "how
should it be said?”
‘‘‘Cheese it, cullies; here comes a
cop!'” was the reply.—Tit-Hits.
His Charity.
He was poor, but otherwise honest,
and he had Just proposed to the heir
ess.
"Are you sure," she queried after
the manner of her kind, “that you do
not want to marry me for my money?”
“Of course I don't,” he replied, “I
mu anxious to marry you because I
haven't the heart to let you become an
old maid merely because you happen
to have a paltry halfjnllllon.”—The
Wasp.
THE CHICKEN AND THE CAR
Not to Speak of the Pony, the Poodle(
the Collie and Others Who Were
in the Mlxup.
\ sort of house-that-Jack-bullt motoi
case is reported In tin- Green Mag, II
says that as a motor cnr was passing
quietly through n village In New Eng
land a chicken pursued hy a cat sud
denly crossed the road just In front
of the automobile.
The sudden dash of the chicken and
cat startled a pony, driven by two lit
tle girls, one of whom had a poodle in
her lap. The poodle Jumped out In
give chase to (lie cat and fell on the
road right in front of the car, causing
its driver to pull up suddenly.
lust as this happened a collie travel
ing with Its mistress in (he car leaped
out and chased the poodle, which
frightened the pony so that it bolted
toward the car. Seeing Ibis, the
chauffeur drove toward the gutter, but
as the dogs wore lighting there had to
take another course, colliding finally
with a stone wall and totally wrecking
tin* machine.
The owner of the car brought an ac
tion for damages against the owner o(
the chicken, claiming that it was re
sponsible for (lie damage. In giving
Judgment the court argued that them
was no doubt us to the chicken having
been (be proximate cause of the acci
dent, for bad it not crossed the road
tho cat would not have scared tho
pony; bad the pony not been scared
the poodle would not have got out
of the pony trap; had the poodle not
done so the automobile would not
have stopped and the collie and tint
poodle would not have been in tho
gutter; had the collie and poodle not
been in the gutter the eat would not
have hung round to see things
through; had the cal not remained ou
the scene the chicken would not have
been trying to scale tho wall, and bad
the chicken not been trying to do this
the chauffeur would have kept his
nerve and saved the machine from ac
cident.
Yet though the clue Ken causou inn
accident the chicken's act was not in
itself violent or dangerous. This
chicken would doubtless have mad*
a tender broiler; it was gentle and In
offensive, and not being ferae natura*
its destruction of the automobile was
unconscious and free from malice.
Therefore the chicken not having ex
ceeded its common law rights the ac
tion could not be maintained and judg
ment was accordingly entered lor th*
defendant.
Bribery in Elections.
bribery, according to an expert on
(lie subject, first became a recognized
mode of securing votes In the reign of
Charles I. It was afterward improved
upon by George III., who lost no op
portunity of enforcing its claims as
a good gote getter. “If,” he wrote
to ids chief adviser on one occasion,
•'the duke of Northumberland requires
some gold pills for the election it
would lie wrong not to satisfy him."
The king was not altogether selfish In
tins matter of spending money, for
the gold pills came out of his own
medicine chest, the civil list, where
as his successors drew upon the secret
service cash for the corruption of the
voters.
In those days the British constitu
tion worked on the principles of Mr.
Quinton IMck, a wealthy West In
dian planter, who explained his man
ner of election thus: “At the last
election I spoke to iny constituents.
'Gentlemen,' I said, my opponent is
a very rich man with u large family.
1 am a very rich maA, and I thank
God thai all I care for in the world
is covered by my hat.' I put my
hat on my head, and they returned
me. That, sir. is the practical work
ing of the Dritish constitution."—Lon
don Daily News.
Smuggling Partridge Eggs.
A singular custom of smuggling by
means of a dummy baby was brought
to light liy the city customs officials
at northern station in Vienna.
Partridge eggs have for a long time
been extensively stolen from pre
served estates In Hungary, smuggled
into Vienna and sold to poultry deal
ers, who hatched the eggs in incu
bators, brought up the birds by hand
1 nnd fold *h,,ro b**1ow thp pHrps n«kprt
by more honest dealers.
A special lookout for smugglers has
resulted in the arrest of two peasant
women. Arriving in Vienna in the na
tional Slavonian costume, each of
thin carried a baby tied, according to
th< invariable custom, to a cushion
! and so closely “packed” that only the
lace was visible.
The women were noticed to be a lit
tle agitated as they passed the cus
toms, and they were followed home,
j It was then discovered that, while on«
baby was a living child the other was
a dummy. It consisted of a wax head,
partly hidden by a shawl anil a cap.
* while the cushion was filled with more
I than COO partridge eggs.
Curiosity Squelched.
At dinner the professor of history
was seated between two young ladies,
who, in accordance with their training
in the art of conversation, sought to
; draw him out upon the subject In
j which lie was most Interested. They
| did not meet with much success; his
answers were short—"Yes,” "Oliver
Cromwell,” “No.” “1492,” and the like.
Finally one of them in desperation
ventured:
“Professor, we were wondering
only this afternoon, and none of ua
could remember: How many children
did Mary, Queen of Scots, have?”
This was too much. “Madam,” said
the professor, facing her with squelch
ing dignity, “1 am not a scandal
monger.”