Bf
1
THE QUANTITATIVE THEORY.
The value of money , like that of any
thing else , depends upon the great laAv
of supply and demand. That is , the
value or purchasing power of money ,
and consequently prices , depends upon
the amount in circulation compared
with the quantity of other things to be
exchanged for mondy , and the relative
demand for each. This Is a principle
recognized by every reputable econo
mist , liA'ing or dead , but we haA'e not
room for quotations. It needs none. It
Is plain , common senst When money
is scarce , prices will be low ; when mon
ey Is abundant , they will be high. This
Is the plain , homespun way of putting
it No matter IIOAV much credit may
be used .this .principle must hold good ,
because credit to be safe , must have
money for its support , and the greater
the supply of money the more credit
can be safely carried. In February ,
1873 , the United States dropped the
standard silver dollar out of its coin
age , and made the gold dollar the unit
of value. In June of that year Ger
many formally adopted the gold stand
ard. Later in the same year the States
of the Latin Union limited the coinage
of silver , and in 1878 they stopped it
entirely. In 1874 the legal tender of
American silver coins was limited to 85
In one payment During these years
Scandinavia and some other small
countries also demonetized silver. The
effect of this was to greatly increase
the demand for gold for coinage pur
poses and to shut off a large portion
of the same demand for silver. As a
result gold rose in value , compared
Avith silver , and silver fell in A'alue ,
compared Avith gold. But this was not
the only result In gold standard coun
tries the supply of new money from the
silver source was suddenly cut off , and
toeing limited to gold alone , those coun
tries found themselves with a stock of
money that failed to keep pace with
population , business and products.
Hence , by the law of supply and de
mand , money began to rise in value , or
stated conversely , prices began to fall.
'From 1850 to 1873 prices rose about 20
per cent From 1873 , when this change
was made , to 1893 , they fell about 33
per cent , and since then they have fall
en from 10 ( to 15 per cent more. For
twenty-five years gold standard coun
tries have .been doing business on a fall-
Hug market There have been tem
porary spurts and reactions , resulting
from special causes , such as short sup
plies , or increases of the money volume
under the Bland and Sherman laws , but
the general trend of prices has been
ever downward. The inevitable consequence
quence has been the Avrongf ul injury of
ithe producer and the debtor , for the
J > enefit of the non-producer and the
creditor ; depressing business and car
rying suffering into the homes of the
poor Avherever the gold standard has
been adopted.
Valns and Price.
The blindness of the goldbug arises
principally from his inability to dis
tinguish between value and price.
Value is something in an article itself.
Price as a mere relation. It is a mere
relative term , and may be anything , de
pending upon which AA'e use as a stand
ard of value or value measuring-stick.
JTo-day the price of a bushel of Avhcat
Is about 90 cents. If , to-morrow , Ave
put 46 % grains of gold in the dollar , in
stead of 23'4as at present , the price of
a bushel of wheat will be forty-five
cents. Not because the value of the
wheat has suffered any change , but
because we have adopted a different
standard of A'alue and put another
price on the AA'heat If , instead of 23 %
grains of gold constituting a dollar , Ave
abolish the Avord dollar , and make a
"dino" consisting of two grains of
platinum the standard coin of the
realm , the price of a bushel of AA'heat
will become tAvo "dinos" or three
"diuos" more or less. If , instead of
234 grains of gold constituting a dollar
lar , AVO pass a laAv making a bushel of
corn a dollar , a bushel of wheat will
sell for three dollars ; for to-day the
value of a bushel of AA'heat is about
three -times that of a bushel of corn
If Ave can take the market figures for
it. The value of an article is inherent ,
depends upon the Avorth of its qualities
and the demands for them , Avhereas
price is a mere relation , and may be
r anything ; depending upon what stand
ard we adopt to measure A'alues AA'ith. *
You can neA'er make a goldbug see any
juerit in the bimetallist's argument un
til , you make him see this. He thinks
gold is stable because it never appears
to fluctuate. Nothing ever set up as a
standard of values could be seen to
fluctuate. Its own fluctuations would
H
always be spoken of as rises and falls
in the A'alues of other things , whereas
in the other things there may be in
reality no changes in A'alue , but merely
fluctuations in price , due to changes
of A'alue in the standard they are
.measured AA'ith. In discussing changes
in prices tAvo things must ahA'ays be
considered an article may change in
price Avithout changing in value , sim
ply because the standard of A'alues has
shrunk or SAA'elled ; or , it may change
in price because it has -itself shrunk or
SAvelled in A'alue.
-Changes in the price of any or all
commodities may arise from either one
.of These causes , or from a combination
of both. As J before said , If AVO make
46 % grains of gold a dollar instead of
234 * grains , a bushel of wheat AA'ill sell
for 45 cents , although it has suffered
no change -in value , merely a change
In price. Gold , as long as it is made
he sole standard of value , can never
fluctuate in price , because it is estab
llshed by law that 23 % grains of gel <
shall constitute a dollar ; and no matte ]
hoAv great or how small the value o ;
these 23 % grains may be , that is ifc
price. Make a goldbug see th. s <
points and the battle is half won. Ii
nine-tenths of all the gold in the worlc
were Irrecoverably'sunk to the botton
of the ocean , it is reasonable to sup
pose that the one-tenth that was lefi
would increase in value eight or nim
fold. It would increase in value a1
least eight or nine fold. But 23
grains of gold would still be a dollar
Although increased in value ninefold
it Avould appear to suffer no fluctua
tion. We would simply speak of nine
fold decreases of value in all other
things. This is an optical delustion.
It is simply due to the fact that gold
is set up by law as the standard of
value the standard for setting price.
The same things that are true of it
as above would necessarily be true of
any other article adopted as a standard
of values a measure for setting price.
Clinton Collins.
Comment on the I/aw of 1792.
It will be seen by the law of 1792 that
the unit of value was the silver dollar
of 371 % grains of pure silver. It remain
ed the unit of value until the rascally
act of Feb. 12 , 1873 , was passed , ns I
shall show by subsequent laws. The
Spanish milled dollar , as the same was
then current , was made the basis of our
monetary system. The eagle was "to
be of the value of ten dollars or units. "
The half eagle was to be of the value
of five dollars or units , and the quarter
eagle was to be of the value of two
dollars and a half dollar. The eagle
Avas to contain 247.5 grains of pure or
270 grains of standard gold , and all of
its subdivisions were to be exact frac
tional parts of the whole. That is to
say , the half eagle , or the five-dollar
piece , was to contain half the number
of grains of gold that the eagle con
tained , and the quarter eagle , or the
two dollar and a half piece , was to con
tain one-fourth as many. The dollar ,
or unit , which is the monarch of the
system , contained 371 % grains of pure
or 416 grains of standard silver. Its
fractional parts , half dollars , quarter
dollars , dimes and half dimes , were to
contain one-half , one-fourth , one-tenth
and one-twentieth as many grains re
spectively as the dollar. The ratio of
the two metals was fixed at 15 to 1.
Both gold and silver were made a legal
tender in the payment of all debts.
The coinage of both metals was free
and unlimited. The standard was dou
ble. The gold dollar and the double
eagle were not coined until after March
3,1849 , as no such coins were provided
for until then. An examination of the
law will show that the double eagle waste
to be of the value of twenty dollars , or
units , and that the gold dollar was to
be of the value of one dollar or unit
The law of 1849 recognized the silver
dollar of 371 % grains of pure silver as
the standard , because the gold coins ,
created by that act , were regulated by
it It was the standard up to 1873.
Gold Standard Never a Benefit.
The closing of the East Indian mint
administered almost at once a disas
trous check to the export trade of that
country. Her currency has been con
tracted ; she has struggled with a food
famine and a money famine at the
same time , and everything now indi
cates that the attempt to force the gold
standard upon her will fail. After a
career of unparalleled prosperity upon
the silver standard , Japan changed to
; old , and the wheels of her marvelous
progress at once felt the pressure of a
jrake ; her people are complaining of
lard times , and she is losing her gold
ibout as rapidly as she coins it In
Russia and Austria the whole industri-
il atmosphere is full of the complain-
ngs of those engaged in production , es-
iccially the agricultural classes , and
ilrnost without exception they ascribe
Jielr troubles to the attempt to fasten
lie gold standard upon them. It can
je truthfully affirmed that the gold
standard has never benefited any coun-
; ry as a AA'hole ; that it has simply en-
-iched the moneyed plutocracy at the
ixpense of all legitimate business ; that
t has been an unconscionable wrong
: o the debtor class ; and that it has left
i trail of suffering in its AA'ake wher-
> ver established. And the end is not
ret. It must be understood that the
* old standard has by no means reach-
; d the maximum of its pressure. Not
mly are efforts being made to extend it
> ver more and more countries , thus in
creasing the demand for gold , making
nouey scarcer , and forcing down
) rices , but even in the countries that
ire already upon that standard , or try-
ng to get there , the gold men are seek-
ng to intensify its effects , by discard-
ng , so far as possible , the full tender
iih'cr which circulates Avith it This is
lotably true in our OAVII country.
Who Gets These Vast Slims ?
England's greatest statistican , Mul-
uill , after the most careful and paJns-
aking calculations , estimating our en-
rgy by foot-tons , horse poAver , steam ,
tc. , concludes that the United States
5 nearly equal to Great Britain , Ger-
aany and France combined. He says :
It will be impossible to find a parallel
o tine progress of the United States in
he last ten years. Every day that the
un rises upon the American people it
ees an addition of $2,500,000 to the ac-
umulation of the wealth of the re-
iiiblic , which is equal to one-third of
he daily accumulation of all mankind
utside of the United Stites. " If we
produce one-fourth of all the world' *
wealth daily , can we not return to thai
free and unlimited coinage which we
sustained for two generations when W
did not produce one-twelfth of itj
wealth ?
Fat Man Who Failed.
General Greely has been so indiscreei
as to confirm Richard Harding Davis
in his account of General Shafter'j
bungling conduct of affairs before San
tiago. But General Greely is not tin
only military man who has found faull
with the all too fat and all too bump
tious Shafter. General Miles , the senioi
Major General of the United States
army , a real soldier , a man who knows
how to fight and who can mount a
horse without the assistance of a der
rick , saw some of Shafter's mistakes
and corrected them.
Shafter is now posing as the hero of
Santiago , and is venting vulgar and
coarse invectives against newspaper
men who have told the truth about his
stupidity. As Alger's political pet ,
Shafter was sent to Santiago , where ,
but for General Wheeler and the other
officers of courage and sense , he would
have made a fiasco out of the attack
and have turned the advance into a re
treat And It is as Alger's pet that
Shafter now endeavors to bulldoze and
browbeat his way to fame.
But it is useless for Shafter to fctrut
and swear. History cannot be cursed
out of existence by a very fat man with
a great command of profanity. The
evidence of Shafter's physical and
mental collapse before Santiago is too
strong to be denied. Shafter will be
remembered , if he is remembered at
all , as the fat man Avho failed. Chica
go Democrat
Opposed to Banks of Issue.
In a letter to John Adams , dated
Monticello , Jan. 24 , 1814 , Thomas Jef
ferson said :
"I have ever been the enemy of
banks , not of those discounting for
cash , but of those foisting their own
paper into circulation , and tlius banish
ing our cash. My zeal against those in
stitutions was so warm and open at
the establishment of the Bank of the
United States that I was derided
as a maniac by the tribe of bank-
rided as a maniac by the tribe of bank-
mongers , who AArere seeking to filch
from the public their swindling and
barren gains. "
To Mr. Gallatin , Oct. 16 , 1815 , he
wrote :
"We are undone , my dear sir , if this
banking mania be not suppressed. The
Avar , had it proceeded , would have up
set our government , and a new one ,
Avhenever tried , will do it. And so it
must be while our money , the nerve of
war , is , much or little , real or imag
inary , as our bitterest enemies choose
to make it"
In Ancient Times.
At a very early period of the world's
history nearly all nations adopted gold
and silver as the money metals. We
learn from the Bible ( Genesis 13-2) )
that Abram "was very rich in cattle ,
in silver and in gold. " In Genesis 23-
16 , Abraham weighs out to Ephron
"four hundred shekels of silver cur
rent money with the merchant. " We
are told in the twenty-eighth chapter
of the Book of Job that "wisdom can
not be gotten for gold , neither shall
silver be weighed for the price there
of. " The fact is , no other known sub
stances are so well adapted for mone
tary use. The chief properties in the
order of their importance has been
summed up by JeA'ous as follows , to
wit : 1 , utility and value ; 2 , portabil
ity ; 3 , indestructibility ; 4 , homogene
ity ; 5 , diA'isibility ; 6 , stability of value ;
7 , cognizability.
Tricky Partisanship.
We deplore the attempt on the part
of Republicans to use the war for
partisan advantage and for the pur
pose of distributing patronage and con
tracts to faA'orites. The guilt of those
who caused the sufferings of our sol
diers in camp and field will never be
punished by a Republican administra
tion or a Republican Congress. Men
never accuse , try and convict them
selves.
Honest Father of Democracy- .
Late in life , returning to the scene
of his birth and early life , in address
ing the inhabitants of Albemarle
County , Virginia , Thomas Jefferson
was able to say :
"Of you , then , my neighbors , I may
ask , in the face of the world , 'Avhose
ox have I taken , or AA"hom liave I de
frauded ? Whom have I oppressed , or
of whose hand have I received a bribe
to blind mine eyes therewith ? ' "
.Laconic.
A couple of Quakers hold the record
Cor "brief letters. One of them , wishing
to learn if a correspondent in a distant
town had any neAvs to communicate ,
posted to him a sheet of paper on which
july a note of interrogation was Avrit-
ten. The reply came in the form of a
blank sheet , indicating that there waa
aothing at all to communicate.
Actors seem to bear away the palm
tor brevity in letter writing. Quin had
i misunderstanding AA'ith Rich , the
manager of Covent Garden , which re
sulted in Quin's leaving in an uncere
monious manner. lie soon regretted
: he hasty action , and Avrote to the mau-
iger : "I am at Bath. Quin. " Rich did
lot think this a sufficient apology , and
iccordingly replied : "Stay there , and be
mnged. " Everybody remembers the
letters that passed betAveen Samuel
Foote and his mother. "Dear Sam , "
ivrote the lady , "I am in prison for
lebt Your loving mother. " Foote's
inswer was even shorter : "Dear moth-
jr So am I. "
The nineteenth of March , 1790 , was
i notably dark day in Boston. A cer-
: ain lady was induced thereby to Avrite
: he following note to the famous Dr.
Syles : "Dear Doctor HOAV do you ac-
: ount for this darkness ? " To which the
lector simply replied : "Dear Madam
: am as much in the dark as you are. "
CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES.
To Kule or Rnin Is the Chief Object
of These Organizations.
Among the curiosities of the Chinese
empire are a considerable number of
secret societies which , taking their rise
in the guilds which exist in connection
with every calling , and in every prov
ince , have become developed until their
members include an appreciable per
centage of the population , and their
propaganda has become disseminated
throughout the length and breadth of
the country. In their organization these
societies partake of the nature of the
Western Freemasonry. In the days of
their initiation they were regarded as
brotherhoods , and their announced ob
jects were the attaining of ideal per
fection. Like most things in China ,
however , the outward guise of the
guilds in question has always been
very different from the published prin
ciples , and there can be little question
but that most of the important political
movements of the past 500 years haA'e
been in a large measure due to the
action of these secret assemblies.
All these societies cultivate secrecy
to a degree that is grotesque. Then-
meetings take place as a rule in the
small hours of the early day , and the
greatest possible precaution is observed
to prevent the uninitiated attending or
learning aught of the deliberations. To
pry into the affairs of the Black Flags
implies immediate membership under
the strongest oaths , or death , and it is
'WIRE SHIRT" TORTURE.
said that the latter sentence has been
more than once exacted quite recently.
In the time of the Taipings the Triads
reserved the most hideous tortures for
their opponents , and they have been
credited with the reiutroduotion of the
horrible wire shirt , which was a favor
ite form of torture frequently exerted
for the benefit of evildoers in China
during the last century. The wire shirt
is a piece of wire netting , with a mesh
about an inch across. This is placed
under the victim's arms and tightly
fixed round his body , so tightly as to
cause the wire to cut into his flesh ,
which is squeezed through each separ
ate interstice until the skin projects a
quarter of an inch or so outside the
wire. Thus prepared , the victim is ad
jured regarding his treachery , or of
fense , whatever it may be , and he is
then shaved with a sharp knife , the
blade being drawn close over the wire
in all directions. After the operation
is completed the miserable wretch is
released , a writhing mass of flesh
wounds , which are speedily settled on
by the flies and other insects. The vic
tim hardly ever recovers. Cases have
been known in which salt or tea dust
has been rubbed into the fresh-cut flesh.
There is little doubt but that , should
these secret societies ever succeed in
bringing about a successful revolution
in China , the land would speedily be
given over to a repetition of the horrors
which Avere so common during the
earlier Mohammedan risings of the last
century.
TANDEM OF TWO BICYCLES ,
"Wheels Cnn Be Coupled by Means of
the Apparatus Shown Here.
Two bicycles can be coupled together
to form a tandem by using the appa
ratus shoAvn. The front Avheel of the
bicycle to be placed at the rear is re
moved and the ends of the fork are
clamped to the frame in front by
means of plates. The springs allow for
the play of the Avheels on rough roads ,
COUPLING APPARATUS USED.
and the turning of the head of the rear
bicycle permits curves and turns to be
made as readily as with a two-Avheeled
tandem. An advantage of this coup
ling over the ordinary tandem is that
the pOAver is applied to tAvo Avheels in
stead of one , thus lessening the strain
on the driving wheel.
A Providential Rescue.
The good ship Regular , Avhile on a
voyage from LiA'erpool to Bombay , Avas
caught off the Cape of Good Hope in a
gale. She sprung a serious leak , and
captain and CI-OAV had to take to the
boisterous sea in open boats. They
had run so far off the course of vessels
that there Avas small prospect of res
cue. "What seemed the direct inter-
A-eution of Providence Avas evident in
their case , " says Commander Fasco , in
"A Roving Commission. "
Captain Roi of the French frigate
L'Alcinune , AVIO rescued the captain
and crew from the boats , tells IIOAAit
Avas brought about. He Avas on the
deck of his vessel at the moment , as af
terward appeared , when the sinking
ship was abandoned , and remarking to
the officer of the Avatch that it Avas
time to change the course of I/Alc-
niene , he Aveut beloAV to consult the
chart.
"I went into my cabin , " he says , "for
the sole purpose of consulting the chart ,
but paused for a moment to glance at
a book that lay open on the table. There
I fell asleep , a most unusual thing for
me during daylight.
"I slept on , I knew not how long , but
when I waked it was dark and I Avaa
both cold and hungry. My last waking
thought had been of changing the ves
sel's course ; and I went on deck , sup
posing that had been done , but found
the ship still steering east.
" 'How is this ? ' I asked ; 'did I not
direct the course to be altered ? '
" 'I was told that you were going to
consult the chart , ' replied the officer ,
'and then fix the course. '
" 'So I did ; what time is it ? ' I asked.
" 'Past midnight , sir ; this is the mid
dle watch. '
" 'All right , ' I said , 'we will continue
on this course until AVC get sights for
longitude in the morning. '
"Before that Avas done we had sight
ed one boat and rescued its crew ; and
AVC kept on the same course until
found the second boat. "
Skillful Callers.
The alligator is said to be in such re
quest that it is rapidly disappearing
from the settled parts of Florida , and
even becoming scarcer in such remote
regions as the Everglades. A constant
Avar is waged against it by the taxider
mists and the dealers in curiosities.
A writer in Popular Science News
says that the young are frequently
lured frqm their lurking places by a
poor imitation of the grunts of the
mother , and men expert in mimicry
sometimes capture large numbers in a
day. The little creatures respond
promptly to the calls , and pour out of
the cavities in hot haste to see the-
caller.
" ' callers" the
The most expert 'gator
writer ever knew Avere SAvamp rangers ,
both white and black , Avho were born
and brought up AA'ithin a short distance ;
of an alligator swamp , and kneAV every
intonation of the sauriau's A'oice.
These men AA-ould make a matron
charge wildly across a broad stream by }
imitating the frightened cries of her
young , or lure a decrepit , old bull from
his cave by imitating the grunts of the ,
female. Thej' could , in fact , delude
both old and young , and often earnetf
good sums by their art.
"Natural" Spelling.
It seems incredible that any person
of intelligence can seriously ad\'ocate
the adoption of AA'hat may be called in
dividual spelling , yet Auatole France
and Francisque Sarcey agree an con
tending that the conventional rules o
spelling are arbitrary and tyrannical ,
and that people should just be left
alone to choose any combination of let
ters which may seern to them to indi
cate the word that they Avish to pro
duce. The Avorld of readers laughed
when Sam Weller maintained , in the
course of the immortal breach of prom
ise trial , that the orthography of a
word "depends tipon the taste and fan
cy of a speller ; " but it ds a little curi
ous to find two distinguished men of
letters indorsing his A'iew of the mat
ter. Whether the toleration of any
such unlimited license would not tend
to produce a confusion Avhich Avould
be a far worse eril than any occasion
ed by the existing uniformity is a ques
tion as to which there may be more
than one opinion. But the objection to
this go-as-you-please method on ety
mological grounds are surely Aveighty
enough to secure its condemnation.
Live in the Sunshine.
There is no better medicine than tut
fresh air and sunshine. When the
weather permits , live out of doors a ?
much as possible. Patients at many
sanitariums lie out of doors on cots
every month in the year. To be sure ,
they are well protected A\ith blankets
and have a hot jug or bag at their feet.
Some physicians prescribe sleeping in
the open air for their patients , and in
some cases it has proA'ed very bene
ficial. A family living in a suburban
city found it much more comfortable
during the extreme heat to pitch a tent
in their pleasant back yard and sleep
there instead of in the heated cham
bers. It seemed out of the question to
get the houses cooled off during the
heated term , no matter how hard people
ple tried. Not a breath of air seemed
stirring , with every AvindoAv open ; but
the tent Avas found delightfully com
fortable and restful.
Pointed.
Study of local peculiarities ; is one ot
the first conditions of trade success. It
is said that German pins and needles in
China have completely displaced those
jf better quality made in England , be
cause the English persist in putting
theirs up in black paper , Avhich to the
Chinese stands for ill luck , Avhile the
3ermans , understanding this , put
: heirs up in red paper. Avhich has a
nore cheerful omen. Boston Journal.
Pleasing the Birds.
A scientist once put an automatic mu
sical box on the hiAvn , and spent many
lours Avatching the robbins. bluebirds
uul other birds gathering about it. A
ooking glass put up Avhere the birds
ran see themselves in it is also very at-
ractive , Avhile a combination of a mu
sical box and a looking glass pleases
he birds more than anything else one
; ould put out for their amusement.
The War's First Volunteer.
Prescott. Ariz. , claims that it fur-
lished the first volunteer in the present
rar , and that from that place the first
ompauy started to the front. The vol-
inteer Avas Capt. O'Xeil of the rough
idcrs and a monument to his memory
s to be erected on the court house plaza
f Prescott.
Making AVar on His Foes.
Vienna has a cabman Avho has been
ined twenty times for trying to bring
icyclists to grief.
RECENT INVENTIONS
_ _ i
Collars , cuffs , shirt fronts and likej
articles usually made of linen are being ]
made of aluminium coated with AA'hita
Japanese varnish , on which designs inj
imitation of Aveaving and sewing am
marked. " )
In a newly designed fur.nace a sys-i
teui of pipes is placed inside the largoj
pipes to lead cold air into the furnace , ;
where it Is AA'armed without leaving the ;
pipes and passes out again to heat the *
rooms.
A German has patented a wind mo
tor to assist in the propulsion of a cycle,1
a frame secured to the head of the ;
wheel carrying a winged wheel whickj
is geared direct to the hub of the fronti
wheel.
, A resident of Johannesburg has ob-t
tained a patent on a step-ladder Avhichj
has projecting arms on one side Avhicl *
spring upward as the ladder is opened }
and support a handrail at the right1
place to steady the climber.
To prevent sparks from locomotives }
from setting fire to buildings a ueAAr :
spark arrester has been designed , con
sisting of a pipe running from thet
boiler to the top of the smokestack to >
force AA'ater through a sprinkler aga'nsti
the sparks.
Prismatic or plain Avindow lights , fort
use in transoms and basement win-
doAA's , are being manufactured Avith !
perforations in their surface to alloAvi
A'entilatiou , the entrance of Avater being - ,
ing prevented by the inclination of the *
openings or by external hoods.
Kerosene lamps are automatically
lighted by a HCAV electrical device im
which a battery is placed in the base-
of the lamp , AA'ith an induction coil in.
the post , to cause a spark to pass across ?
the Avick from one electrode to another !
AA'heu a SAvitch in the base is closed.
Electric treatments are given to cy
clers by a neAv handlebar Avhich has
metallic grips connected Avith a small
generator mounted on one of the
Avheels. In another form of the same
' ' AA'ith contact
deA'ice shoes are proA'ided
plates and the batteiy may be conm'ci-
ed to seAving machines or organs.
To stop a train Avhen the tract
spreads or a bridge burns a safety
brake appliance has been designed ,
consisting of a Y-shaped plate hinged :
at the bottom to the rail and held in
place by a cord until the latter is bro
ken , Avhen the plate springs up to en
gage a brake-operating lever on the en
gine.
A n < Avly patented puncture-proof
pneumatic tire has tAA'o layers of trans
versely placed metal plates molded into
the tread , the inner plates breaking
joints with the outer roAV , Avhile the
edges of the plates are prevented from
injuring the rubber by a silk cord or
similar soft packing inserted in the
tire. j
Stamps can be quickly affixed to letters - *
ters by a HCAV machine in Avhich the
stamps are AA'Otmd on a roller in a han
dled frame , to be forced across a moist
ened pad and deposited on the enve
lope , the action being obtained by a depending -
pending lever Avhich touches the em elope -
lope before the under side of the iia
chine reaches its loAvest point.
HaldaneMcFalliMme. Sarah Grand's
stepson ) has served in a zouave regi
ment , and the hero of the forthcoming
novel of West Indian life is a zouave.
The chief characters in the story are-
negroes.
Kobert ilk-hens , author of "Flames"
and other inflammatory noA'els , is
about to visit Algeria. He is at AA'orlc
upon a iieAV story , the scenes of Avhick
are laid in La Trappe and London. It is
said to deal Avith society "operatic ,
acrobatic and otherwise , " Avhatevei
that may mean.
A book revicAver for the London M : 51
seems to be surprised and indignant
because a certain publishing firm sent
him a book and a nice little readymade -
made notice Avhich Avould saA'e him the
trouble both of reading and of Avritinir.
Can it be that this scheme , which is
ancient in America , is neAv in England ?
Itudyard Kipling's IICAV book , AvhN-h
is to be entitled "The Day's Work. "
Avill be published in the autumn. The-
book is the product of the last three or
four years and contains practically all
the vigorous Avork that Mr. Kipling has -
put into his short stories during that
time. Some of the contents will be :
"The Ship that Found Herself. " "Bread
T'pon the Waters. " "The DeA-jl and the
Deep Sea , " " 007" and "The Maltese
Cat. "
Mr. Barrio , of Thrums , has Avritten
an introduction to the English edition
of Cable's "The Grandisshnos. " Any
one Avho has been in New Orleans A'-iil
recognize the force of his opening sen
tence : To sit in a laundry awf read
The Grandissimes' that is the quick
est Avay of reaching the strange city of
Now Orleans. " Mr. Cable's "reception
in London has very properly been de
scribed as enthusiastic.
A recent number of La Ilevue de-
Paris publishes letters to shoAV that
Alexandre Dumas tils was himself the
Armand Duval of "La Dame aux Ca-
melia-s , " the real heroine being Marie-
Duplessis. It adds this anecdote by
Sarah Bernhanlt : At Marly , about
1884. I asked Alexandre Dumas to giA'e
me a personal description of Arniand
Duval. "That Avill not be difficult , "
said he , smiling ; "I have only to send
my portrait AA-hen I Avas 20 years
