V-v The first appropriation bill to bo intro duced at the approaching session of Congress - , . gross v.ill be one to carry forward the ' expenditures on account of the war with 1 Spain. By the explicit terms of the bills passed at the last session , making provisiOn - . iOn for the army and navy , authority to T expend the money appropriated expires on Dec. 31 , so that it will lie necessary to prepare and enact , before the holiday recess - , cess , legislation extending the period to June 30 next. th - end of the iiscal year. This is the view of Chairman G/innon of the House Committee on Appropria tions. The President and Secretary Alger have agreed to make the same reeommenda- tion in regard to the proposed increase of the regular army. Secretary Alger , in his' annual rei rt. and the President in turn , in his annual message to Congress , will * recommend that the standing army be placed on a permanent peace basis of , 1QU.000. The President's decision to ad- voreilo an army of 100,000 is taken as an indication that he thoroughly appreciates - ' the necessity of properly garrisoning the ne\v possessions and dependencies with j i United State * * troops. In his annual report the Secretary of \Var will recommend an increase of the numerical strength of the mili'-iry academy - ' emy to not fewer than HOO cadets , and he may decide to ask an increase to 700 , . which is the maximum capacity of the . building. The number of cadets at West . Point now is . ' 570 , but if the army is dou bled in strength.it will be necessary to double ill'- number of oiHcers. and for the same r-'ason the number of cadets. The Government has decided to investi gate'the race troubles in South Carolina in respect to the interference with the - duties of Federal officers. This is the only " extent to which the Government can go , -as it is considered that the other difficul ties are merely local , and therefore not wiihin the province of the national gov ernment. The investigation will be con ducted by the Department of Justice. " * * A , heavy and continued demand exists -lor American corn in south Africa , according - . cording to United States Consul General _ Stowe at Cape Town , who has made a "special report to the State Department on rilic .subject of American trade in that sec- tion. Corn is quoted at $3.52 per htni- * dred pounds in Cape Town and § 4.44 in Johannesburg , and the supplies do not sat isfy the demand. President Mi-Kinky has practically completed his message to Congress , for while it is not all -written the remainder is carefully outlined. It will deal almost exclusively with the war and -will give the reasons lor the pronounced advocacy of expansion by the administration. Atten tion is also called to the necessity for an increase in the regular army. According to a. ruling made by the Post- olfice Department the postmasters throughout the country are prohibited from passing out mail matter to children while going to and from school. The department - ' partment made this ruling on .account of the numerous complaints made of mail matter lost by children. _ s The positive statement by Chairman Dingley of the House Ways and Means Committee that there will be no revision -of the existing war revenue law short of a year , renders it certain that the Govern ment will have an unusually large amount > f cash to expend during the next twelve months. There are evidences that the influential people behind the monetary commission ! will bring pressure to bear on the Presi dent to call nn extra session of Congress in the early spring. They want the cur rency reformed on the lines laid down by the Indianapolis conference. * * - Attorney General Griggs has rendered a decision that a person may draw money on a check without a revenue stamp pro vided the check be payable to himself from his own funds. . * " " " " The first < tate dinner of the season was given at the White House Wednesday evening , when the President and Mrs. McKinley entertained fifty guests in hon or of the Anglo-American commissioners , It is said that the bookmakers at Chi caL'O the past season lost § 250,000. Kliey Grannan has been heating tht bookies at the California race tracks. The percentage of the Chicagos this .year is the best since the twelve-clul league started. It has been figured that during the Na tional League season 173 times pitchei > were driven off the slab by opposing bats- men. .Io < - ky Dick Clawson will get a salary from WtirneyPaget of $7.500. besides lieing paid the regular sum for winning i I . ami Iqsing and outside mounts. A few years ago Dick thought he had a good joh when he was picking strawberries at 50 cents a day. The total membership of the League of American AVheelmen is 78,077. Pennsyl vania has 17.702 and New York 17GS ( . Massachusetts is third. James Daly > fxBv.iTah. > . who was Cor- bett's sparring partner several years ago. lias been appointed bo'Ijig instructor'of the Buffalo Athletic Crub. si ml will retire from the ring. It is generally agreed .that it was a la ( ,1 , mistake- abolish tin- lining system in the National League-last season , and in 185) ) ! ) 'it Is apt to cost ajijlayer a bit of his sti I pend if. he darefc uriaunpire to put him off .t the field. ' 'i .M THEY DREW STRAWS And Jim Hart to Tend the Cattle While Unrry Helped Whip Spain. Upon the edge of Cataract Canyon , ID Arizona , forty miles north of the nearest town , Williams , "Jim" Johnson Bits in a grazer's cabin and waits foi the return of his "nard , " "Harry" J , Sellers , who is a member of Troop A , Rough Riders. "Harry" and "Jim" have been partners for twenty years , and they now own a big herd of cattl which they graze on the Arizona pla/ teaus. In order to keep drinking water foi llieir cattle in the dry months of the year , they have dammed up part oi the canj'on , and there they keep enough melted snow to water theii stock all summer. It was in April that Sellers rode down to Williams to buy provisions and get his semi-annual supply of news of the world. When he heard that the Maine had been sunk and that Major Brodis was trying to get up a regiment of cow boys , he put spurs to his horse to tell "Jim" the news and to get ready to gc to the front. "Jim" listened , and then ' took down his rifle and begun to clean It. "What are you doing , Jim ? " inquired Harry. ' "Going to jiiie , " said "Jimas he continued the polishing. ! "Now , look here , Jim , we can't both go. Somebody's got to' look after iho cattle. Let's draw lots to see who goes. If he's killed the other man will have the cattle. " "Jim" agreed , and two straws were procured. "Jim" got the little stra v and had to stay at home. It nearly broke his heart when Harry rode off to war. Harry has written him several letters describing the "fun" at La Quasina and San Juan in order to cheer him. A Picturesque Career. One of the strange and picturesque careers of the present day is that of the j present chancellor of Korea , Gen. Clar ence Greathouse , who , although a Kentuckian - tuckian by birth , is the personal advis er of the King of Korea. Greathouso won a State reputation in Kentucky while yet a young ma as attorney gen eral , and in 1S70 moved to California and soon became the counsel for sever al big corporations. He also practically founded the San Francisco Examiner , but soon retired , taking up journalism again , however , when Cleveland was first nominated , and doing such excel lent service that he received as a re ward the post of consul general at Yokohama. Being something of a bon vivant , a capital raconteur , and having a taste for Oriental life , he soon be came popular with the Japanese. In 1893 , while at Seoul on a visit , he met the King of Korea , who was greatly attracted by the fascinating and ac complished American , and offered him a position at court , at first as minister of postal affairs and afterward as chan cellor. In the latter capacity he has been able to render his sovereign many services , among others that of detect ing and punishing the conspirators who had prepared to blow up the King and all his court. The general , who is now ( about 55 years old , still dresses in 'American style , but lives in oriental splendor in the government or royaj house. Swallowed a Hole. The other day Jimmie , 4 years old , found one of those bone-rknined circles which , I believe , ladies call eyelets , and , while playing in the garden , swallowed It. The family were in the house busily engaged with a work on entomology , when Jimmy ran in , with mouth wide open , and eyes distended to their ut most capacity. His mother caught him by the arm , and trembling with that deep anxiety which only a mother can feel , inquired : "What is the matter ? What has hap pened ? " "Water ! " gasped little Jimmy , nearly scared to death. It was brought him. when , after drinking copiously , he exclaimed : "Oh , mother , I swallowed a hole ! " "Swallowed a hole , Jimmy ? " "Yes , mother , swallowed a hole , witij a piece of ivory around it ! " Another Liorig-Felt Want. "It's no use talkin' , " said Mr. Corn- tossel , as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "This gover'rueut ain't run right. " "What's the matter ? " asked the neighbor. . "There ain't enough people to do the work. They're tryin' to put too much onto the war department. When it was decided to have a war , the war de partment applied fur men an' got 'em ; it went ahead an' licked the Spaniards an' wound the business up in a few months. War was easy. But if they want to open up an office that won't have anything but busy days an' all kinds of trobule , let 'em make arrange ments fur a peace department" Washington Star. Divorc by Canilles. When a Burmese husband and wife decide to separate the woman goes out and buys.two little candles of equal length , which are made especially for this use. She brings them home. She and her husband sit down on the floor , placing the candles between them , and .light them simultaneously. One candle stands for her , the other for him. The one whose candle goes out first rises and goes out of the house forever , with nothing but what he or she may have on. The one whose candle has survived the longer time , even by a second , takes every thing. So the divorce and divi sion of the property , if one can call that a division , are settled. Amrita Bazar Patrika. It's always tough on the tight rope walker when he steps from the strait and narrow path. Satan never gets tired of jollying people ple who Imagine they are prize beau- .ties : AND NOW THEY'RE MAKING EGGS OUT OF MILIC. THE BATTLESHIP ILLINOIS. flic Will Be One of the Most Power ful Vessels in Uncle Sam's Navy. The battleship Illinois , which was re cently launched at Newport News , Va. , will be one of the most powerful ves sels in Uncle Sam's navy. Her dimen sions are : Length on load water line , 308 feet ; beam , extreme , 72 feet 2 . inches ; draft on normal displacement of 11,525 tons , 23 feet G inches ; maxi mum displacement , all ammunition and stores on board , 12,325 tons ; maxi mum Indicated horse power ( estima ted ) , 10,000 ; probable speed , IG'/i knots ; normal coal supply , 800 tons ; coal sup ply , loose storage , 1,200 ; full bunker capacity , 1,400 to 1,500 tons ; comple ment of officers , 40 ; seamen , marines , etc. , 449. The main battery will consist of 4 13- inch breech-loading rifles in Hichborn balanced turrets , oval in shape , and placed in the center line of the vessel , and 15 6-inch rapid-fire guns. The sec ondary battery will consist of 1G G- pounder , rapid-fire guns , 4 1-pounder , rapid-fire guns , two Colt guns , and two field guns. She will carry four tor pedo tubes. The 13-inch guns have an arc of fire of 135 degrees on each side of the center line , and the G-inch an , THE BATTLESHIP ILLINOIS. arc of 90 degrees on the broadside , with the advantage of those on the upper deck of a direct fire ahead and astern. Any injury to or near either of these six-Inch i guns will be confined to its own ii i compartment , as a 1 % steel splin ter bulkhead separates each of these guns from its neighbor. Four powerful electric searchlights are also provided two on top of the forward charthouse and two on each side of the after military mast all hav ing an elevation of 25 feet above the water line and commanding a complete all-round range. Russian Marriage Ceremonies. In Russia there are some quaint mar riage customs. The ceremony , as per formed by a priest , includes the bless ing of bread , after which he .loins their hands , asking each in turn whether they will vow to be good to each other and to keep house well. A wreath of wormwood is then placed on their heads , symbolizing that even amid the happiness of married life there is a possibility of bitterness , and a conclud ing benediction is pronounced. A strik ing custom follows. The priest drinks their health in a gilt wooden bowl , and Is imitated by husband and wife , the former of whom subsequently dashes It upon the ground , crushing it under his feet and shouting terrible impreca tions : "Let them be trampled upon and confounded who maliciously en deavor to create ill-will and do ill office between us. " Yet another quaint and somewhat characteristic Russian cus tom follows. On reaching home the bridegroom orders his wife to take off his boots , at the same time saying there is a whip in one and a purse in the other. Upon the fortune of her first choice the poor wife forecasts the se verity or liberality of the man to whom her life is committed. Mutilation , ol" Teeth by Savage * . Mutilation of the teeth is practiced by mauy of the savage or uncivilized nations of the world. In the Malay Archipelago the natives file their teeth into points like those of a saw , or pierce them with holes into which they rnsert studs. The Macassar people sometimes pull out two front teeth , in order to supply thei" place with teeth of pure gold or silver. Some African tribes knock out their front teeth on the ground that they do not wish to look like wild beasts. On the Upper Nile four front teeth are always knocked out , but farther south only the two up per incisors are dispensed with. . The Sunda Islanders sometimes blacken all the teeth , but two with burned cocoai nut , covering the two cxcepted teeth with tin plates of gold or silver. The same tribe are in the habit of employ ing their old women to dress up the teeth of the youths and maidens ai wooing times. The canine teeth are filed to a line smooth edge , and the body of the tooth made concave , or they will notch the edge of the teeth like a fine saw as an additional mean * of beautifying. It Looked Biuf. A certain young lady , against whom appearances certainly looked dark , once had an amusing experience of un just judgment. She went out on a stormy day , and was uuforunatq enough to have her umbrella turned in side out. Her two sisters were equally unlucky , and on the following day the young lady volunteered to take the three umbrellas to be repaired. Promising to call for them before she returned home in the afternoon , she went about her business , part of which was to do some shopping in a large city establishment. On rising to leave the shop , she mechanically put out her hand to take possession of an umbrella that was close by. It looked like her own , and for the moment she had for gotten the accident. She was soon brought to her senses. "That is my umbrella , " said a sharp voice at her side , and a hand was laid on her arm to detain her. Apologizing for her thoughtlessness , she left the shop , did the rest of her business , and called for her umbrellas. In the street-car she met an indignant pair of eyes. Where had she seen them before ? They scanned first her face , and then the burden she carried. "Three of them ! " muttered the owner of the eyes , and it was evident that she referred to the umbrellas. "Three ! She's din no bad the day ! " As she spoke she grasped her own umbrella tightly , and moved farther away from the dangerous young lady. The color came into the cheeks of the latter. The speaker was her friend of the morning , and she evidently believ ed that the umbrellas had been stolen from different establishments in the city. And the worst of it was , it look * cd as if it might be so. Only One Way. An exchange tells a story of a judg * who could not control his temper , and j so could not control other people. One day there was unusual disorder in the court-room , and at last the judge could endure it no longer. "It is impossible to allow this pen sistent contempt of court to go on , " he exclaimed , "and I shall be forced to go to the extreme length of taking the one step that will stop it ! " There was a long silence ; then one of the leading counsel rose , and with jusi a trace of a smile , inquired : "If il please your honor , from what date wiU your resignation take effect ? " Victoria's Views Broader. Queen Victoria , as she grows older , becomes broader and more liberal 01 ; many questions , especially coucerninj ; the observance of the Sabbath , much to the distress of many of her worthy subjects. Last spring , in going to and from Riviera , for the first time in her life she traveled on Sunday. Double-Entry Bookkeeping. The double-entry system of book keeping , now in common use , was first practiced in Italy in the latter part of the fifteenth century. If Justice is like most women , she drops her scales every few hours to get in them and see how much , she weighs. "LOBSTERINV A ProGtable Industry , Althoncli cult to Follovr. One of the most profitable industries down on the coast of Maine is "lob- sterin' . " It is a laborious occupation , and those who follow it have to endure much hardship and exposure and many perils from the sea. Lobsters are jcauglit on rocky bottoms in "traps" or "pots , " which are made of hickory sap lings after the fashion of a crockery crate. At the two small cuds holes are arranged Avith spikes of flexible wood running to a focus , so that the lobster , tempted to enter by a bait hung from the center , finds it impossible to get out. The most common bait are cod fish heads and fish which are too plen tiful and unpopular to be salable in anarket. The pots are submerged in two or three fathoms of watet with stone sinkers , and their location mark ed by short logs of wood fastened to jthem by ropes and allowed to float on the surface. 1 Twice a day , at sunrise and sunset , the pots are visited , and the lobsters are taken out and thrown into a chest In the boat , with a lot of seaweed to keep them fresh and give them "some thing to chaw on. " After the pots have all been emptied the lobsters are all taken to a large "float" at some con venient spot , where they are trans ferred to a tank and kept until called for. Lobsterers who are convenient to ( towns sell most of their catch in the local market. Those who are working at distant and isolated spots along the coast are visited every week or ten days by tugs fitted up with large tames or reservoirs , capable of holding from 10- 000 to 15,000 lobsters. These vessels patrol regularly up and down the coast , and when their tanks are full drop in at Boston or New York and unload. The life of the lobsterer is lonely , as well as dangerous. He generally lives alone in a cabin on a rocky island , cooks his own meals of fish and bacon , and spends his days catching bait for his traps. Nearly all of them have lob ster "farms , " where the undersized lob sters and those with spawn are impris oned in salt water ponds to grow and breed. The law protects the traffic by imposing a heavy fine upon the sale of small ones. Chicago Record. RECENT INVENTIONS. Hook-down caps are ventilated by eyelets inserted in the front of the cap to correspond with holes formed in the front-piece to admit air to the forehead and interior of the cap. To assist in holding wearing apparel while darning holes therein the materi al is stretched over a flexible metal ring , the ends of which lap each other and engage one of a series of catches to expand the ring to the proper size. For locking the wheels of baby car riages while standing , a new device consists of a rubber band attached to the body of the wagon , and having a hook on the loose end to engage the rim of the wheel and prevent it frc'ji turning. A handy device for florists' use is a hooked rod for picking up single flow er pots without the necessity of mov ing a large number , a sliding bar on one side of the rod closing the aperture be tween the hook and the end of the rod to grip the edge of the pot. To facilitate the opening o paper bags two notches are cut in the mouth of the bag on either side of the center , or two ears are placed in like positions , to extend past each other , in order that they may be grasped separately to spread the mouth of the sack. Merry-go-rounds are being built in England in which the animals jump hurdles fixed at intervals around the course , the horses being suspended from rollers running on a circular over head track , undulations being formed in the track of the proper shape to lift the rider at each hurdle. An English inventor has patented a life-saving vest to be worn on sea voy ages , which is shaped bke an ordinary vest and may be worn as such , inflat able pockets being provided , which are filled with air through a mouthpiece | carried in the pocket and attached tea a tube connected with the interior of the vest. The Royal Arms. All unknowingly , for the most part , the members of the congregation of old St. Paul's Church , in New York , gaze every Sunday at the arms of the future King of England. On the canopy of ! the old-fashioned pulpit , which is one of the pepper-box style of a century ago , are the three ostrich feathers , and the crown that for many generations have coistituted the arms of the Prince of Wales , the heir to Britain's throne. The feathers stand out gracefully in the center of the oak canopy. They are all carved wood , handsomely gilded , and form an attractive ornamentation to the pulpit. It is argued that these royal arms survived the storms of revolutionary days. An incensed mob traveled through New York City when hide- peudence had been declared , destroying - ing every sign that represented the monarchy from whose chains they had cut themselves free. Nothing was re garded as sacred by this mob. When its tour was over the royal arms were hard to find in New York City. Some few signs escaped the ruin , but not for long. They were smashed as soon as attention ( vas called to their presence. The relic in St. Paul's Church was passed unnoticed , and has survived to is day. The New Paris Telescope. We gather from an article in La Na ture that M. Gautier , the well-known optician , "is making good progress with the construction of the giant telescope intended for the great exhibition at Paris in 1000. The aperture will be 1.23 meters (49.2 ( Inches ) , and the focal length meors (190 ( feet 10 while the estimated cost Is francs. An equatorial mounti ! instrument dome for sncb a gigantic considered impracticable , , may well be and accordingly the telescope itself be rigidly fixed in a horizontal pos tlon , and will receive on supports of masonry ceive the Kglit of the h-a.venly bouies after reflection from a movable plane mirror two meters in diameter. The plane mirror Is thirteen inches taiclr kilogrammes , and It and weighs 3,600 is curious that of twelve disks cast .or the purpose , the first one turned out to- be the best. This has been in process ! of grinding for seven months , and is- not yet finished. There will be two objectives , one pho-j tographic and one visual , which willj be easily interchangeable at will. Ic is expected that a magnifying power of 0,000 will be usefully employed , andj that occasionally a power of 10,000 mayj be used. As the highest power availa ble in the largest existing telescope fioesj not exceed 4,000 , the new instrument , if it be the success that everyone will ) wish , should have a wide field of use fulness. Nature. The English author most popular in Holland is said to be Ian Maclaren. Dr. A. Thesleff , a Finnish scholar , who has spent several riionths among the gypsies of Northern Sweden and Norway disguised as one of their class , ' will shortly publish a work on their language , life and manners. Constable & Co. are to publish a com plete library edition of Smollett'a works in the same general style aa their recent edition of Fielding. Itwill consist of twelve volumes and will have an introduction by W. E. Henley. Mrs. Craigie , who is still called on her title pages and the announcements of her plays "John Oliver Hobbes , " is engaged upon the sequel to her lasl novel , "The School foi" Saints , " and is also at work upon a historical pla which will be called "Gwendolene an < J Locrine , " but neither of the works will be before the public for some time to come. Wemyss Reid declares that the orig inal of Rochester in "Jane Eyre" was the brother of Charlotte Bronte's friend , Ellen Nussey , and was a West' riding merchant who had all the unpol-j ished force and dogged egotism which sometimes marked the Yorkshire mag nate in those days. "Charlotte , " Mr. . Reid adds , "idealized him into Roches ter and planted him in the midst of cir-j cumstances of which his own life knewj nothing. " The death of Mrs. Lynn Linton calls attention to the circumstances that many of the most famous women nov elists come of a clerical stock. Jane | Austen was the daughter of a Hamp-j shire rector , the Brontes were the daughters of the vicar of Hawortb , Olive Schreiner is the daughter of a South African missionary , and Mrs. Humphry "Ward is the granddaughter of the Rev. Thomas Arnold , the famous headmaster of Rugby. The sixpenny editions abroad of the ! best books of well-known modern au-j thors seem to have hit the popular ! taste. Rider Haggard's "King Solo-j mon's Mines" ran to 100,000 copies andj is being reprinted. This was followed , by "Treasure Island , " which has done almost as well , and now Cassells are announcing Mr. Quiller Couch's "Dead Man's Rock , " a book of adventure that' ' is less known , but which is likely to rival the popularity of its two prede * cessors. Mme. Patti's Burglar Alarms. Visiting Mme. Patti's superb castle in Wales , a guest not long ago had a very curious experience. He chanced to open his window in the middle of the night , and , to hjsfmr rise , bells began - gan to ring in every quarter _ ± lie grounds. ' N _ Very much scared , but realizing that he had , after all , only set a burglar alarm going , the guest descended to re assure the household , when he instant ly found himself in danger froma - dozen roving dogs , who had obtained their freedom and were growling and' snapping in the ugliest manner. At breakfast next morning he learned- all about this curious fad of Mme. Pat ti's and wondered at it. The singer has a great dread of burglars. Some time ago a gang of these gentlemen from London attempted to obtain ad mittance , but were defeated in their object , and since that date Mme. Patti has set up every kind of burglar alarm that exists. The queer part about one of these is , however , well worth noticing. Her largest dog , an enormous brute , who might be relied on to cope with a I'rttle army of thieves , is kept rigorously chained in a patent kennel , bnt the chain Is so arranged that should any one attempt to open a window or a door in the castle the dog is released and free to rove at his pleasure , it be ing presumed that he would at once make for the burglars and do his duty. The idea is ingenious and , as the guest discovered , not a little dangerous. " \Vhcii They Are Loud. Bilkins Who was it wrote "Action speak louder than words ? Harper I don't know , but I'll bet the thought occurred to him while he waa trying to sneak upstairs at 3 o'clock in the morning. Papa's Affliction. He I suppose if I were to kiss you you'd scream and bring your fathei downstairs in a rage , wouldn't you ? She Oh , papa is very deaf. , . \v * / \