t * ' : r
Opinions of Great Papers on Important Subjects.
Age of Retirement.
E HTC rapidly In the telephonic age. It has been
truthfully said that we can crowd much more
work Into the day than our most industrious
forbears did. Invention has given us many
bauds. Time and apace have been conquered , so that
the modern man of 60 has accomplished infinitely more
than the man who lived to the patriarchal age , and , from
this point of view , has earned the rest which Ma grand
father would not have dreamed of enjoying at threescore.
Whether this be so or not , many of the finest achieve
ments in business , statesmanship , literature , in all ac
tivities , have been wrought by men long past 60. No
strong man will accept 60 as the arbitrary limit of his ambi
tion and working ability.
Writers who have discoursed most knowingly oh the
obligation of the aged to leave the active scene have not
undertaken to fix the year for retirement The youth who
6s anxious to push his way" into the working world thinks
4hat a man Is old at10 and should be preparing to go on
She retired list In the fierce competitions of modern life
it IB probable that the age of retirement is gradually fall
ing. The theory is worth the investigation of the curious
statistician. Asked when he considered a man to be in the
. { > rime of life , Palmerston replied : * "Seventy-nine , but as
I have entered my eighty-third year , perhaps I am myself
a little past it" Such Is the view of old men on this delicate -
cate subject
Many men retire too early , and , like the old war horse ,
yearn for the march and the battle. The habit of work
holds us to the accustomed cares and tasks. This ex
plains why the great lawyer or the multi-millionaire mer-
rihant remains at his post long after his prime. The powers
of men whose lives have been very active are likely to de
cline rapidly in retirement , the result of idleness and
ennuL
"Nothing is so injurious as unoccupied time. The hu
man heart is like a millstone ; if you put wheat under it , it
grinds the wheat into flour ; if you put no wheat it grinds
on , but then 'tis itself it wears away. " Philadelphia
Ledger.
Mistakes in Life.
NE of the most unprofitable ways of spending time
is the practice , to which many persons are ad
dicted , of brooding over the mistakes one has made
in life , and thinking what he might have been or
achieved if he had not done , at certain times , just what he
did do. Almost every unsuccessful man , in looking over his
past career , is inclined to think that it would have been
wholly different but for certain slips and blunders certain
'hasty ' , ill-considered acts into which he was betrayed al-
'Enost unconsciously and without a suspicion of their cense
quences.
As he thinks of all the good things of this world honor ,
position , power and influence of which he has been de
prived in some mysterious , inexplicable way , he has no
patience with himself ; and , as it is painful and humiliating
to dwell long upon one's own follies , it is fortunate if he
does not implicate others friends and relatives in his
fUsappointinents. Perhaps , an education has never been
free from mistakes mistakes , indeed , of every kind---he
Imputes the blame to his early training , In which habits
.of thoroughness and accuracy , or , again , of self-reliance
and independence of thought , may not have been implanted.
'Perhaps a calling was chosen for him by his parents , \vith-
out regard to his peculiar talents or tastes and preferences ;
or , if he was allowed to choose for himself , it was when
his judgment was immature and unfit for the responsibility.
The result was that the square man got into the round
bole , or the triangular man into the square hole , or the
round man squeezed himself into the triangular hole.
Now , the fact is that , in all these mishaps , there Is
aothing exceptional. They are just what befall all , or In
part every man who Is born in a civilized country. No
circumstances under which any man has been born and
-fitted for a career have been entirely happy. . . . In
rlew of these considerations , It has been justly said that to
see a man , poker in hand , on a wet day , dashing at the
coals , and moodily counting the world's mistakes against
'lyn , is neither a dignified nor engaging spectacle ; and our
sympathy flags with the growing conviction that people are
f EXPLORING THE NIGER. 1
-I 4 *
In connection with certain French
military maneuvers In the Sudan the
question was raised not long ago of the
practicability of revictualiug an army
In the region south of the Sahara by
means of the Niger. Theorists disa
greed. Lieutenant Hourst , who had
come down the river , said it could not
be done. Captain Toutee , who had
gone up , said it could. There was but
one way to settle the dispute. Cap
tain Lenfant was ordered to take ten
thousand boxes of provisions and
two thousand of equipment to
* he mouth of the Niger , load
the material into bateaux , deliver seventy -
onty tons of supplies on the bank at
JMiame , whence it would be borne over
land to Colonel Perez at Lake Tchad ,
and with the remainder to revictual all
posts along the river from Say to As-
ongo , the latter about two thousand
miles up and above the last important
rapid.
For this tremendous task Captain
Lefant was assigned two lieutenants
and about forty negroes , but was able
to hire natives at necessary points en
route. He was required to fortify a
base of operations at Arenberjf.
What the intrepid soldier undertook
when , with twenty bateaux , he began
the ascent of the river , can best be un
derstood when one realizes that the
Niger for a thousand miles falls over
rapid after rapid. Its waters are torn
to seas of foam by innumerable rocks ,
qnd the channel is often lost among
-dividing islands. Many of these rap
ids are in deep gorges , and in some
-of them the river falls one hundred
times as rapidly as the Mississippi in
ilte usual flow.
Starting up stream at low water ,
when the rapids are at their worst ,
'Captain Lenfant urged his boats for-
"ward with oars and sails and setting
poles. Guided by negroes who proved
themselves trustworthy , competent ,
and at times even heroic , and aided
constantly apt to attribute a state of things to one pap
ticular condition or mischance , which , sooner or later , must
have happened from some inherent weakness and opennesi
to attack. It may be noted that , where men themselvei
attribute ill success or mischance to separate distinct mis
takes as , for instance , to the choice of a certain adviser ,
or the engaging in some special speculation those whs
have to observe them trace all to character. They see that
if failure had not come at such a juncture , it must havi
come at some other from certain flaws in the man's na
ture that mistakes glmply mark occasions when he wai
tested. We see in a career a hundred chances thrown
away and wasted , not all from accident , though the acton
looking back , does not know why he chose the wrong hi
being the last to remember that a crisis Is the occasior
for hidddn faults and predominating influences to declan
themselves , so that his mistakes were , in a manner , inev
itable. William Mathews , in Success.
On the Use of the Imagination ,
a practical age the imagination is apt to get less that
Its due. We want naked facts1 , or we think we do , and im
aginative people insist upon clothing them in gay ap
parel ; consequently whenever we lose sight of a facl
we suspect the imagination of having run off with it , and
raise the hue and cry with a fine indignation against th
deceiver. Yet to the art of living , as to every subordinat
art , imagination is the one Indispensable quality. Foi
lack of it we fail not merely in sympathy and courtesy ,
in toleration , in all the minor graces , but even In actual
truthfulness of thought and demeanor. So far Is it from
reality to consider imagination as the enemy of fact thai
without it no fact can be properly apprehended , much lesj
shared with our neighbors. The greatest fact of social lift
is the fact that we are all different , and it follows from
this that without the power to picture a different mind
from our own we are incapable of communicating the
simplest feeling. . . . If you define imagination as th
faculty of seeing what is not there , you may take away it |
character without contradiction ; but this is the pervers
description of statisticians ; the poet that lives In each ol
us knows better. . . . And if we come down to the
amenities , the small change of life , the imagination calls
to us ceaselessly for employment Formal courtesies ara
base money , passed about among stupid people only until
they are found out ; the courtesies that will stand ever ?
test , and pass current in all emergencies , must be th
fruits of a genuine traffic between mind and mind , in
which every interest is active and every want is taken
into account And this can only be got by sending the
imagination on its travels for us. London Guardian.
The Chief Language.
ITH the increasing intercourse of the nations
the old question of a universal language cornea
up at least in the German mind affording a
topic of discussion. The tendency toward a
common tongue is and has been for years most strongly
marked by the spread of the English language. Mulhall's
statistics of a dozen years old ( being the latest available )
show the spread of languages for the first ninety years of
the last century. At the beginning of the century the
languages of Europe were spoken by 161,000,000 people.
In 1S90 they were spoken by 401,000,000 , an increase of
nearly 1GO per cent The four principal languages in 1801
were French , Russian , German and Spanish. The French
amounted to 19.4 per cent and the Spanish to 1G.2. Eng
lish-speaking peoples amounted to only 12.7. But in 1850
the standing was :
English , 27.7 per cent ; Russian and German , each 18.7
per cent ; French/12.7 per cent ; Spanish , 10.7 per cent , and
the remainder divided between Italian and Portuguese.
The number of English-speaking people had grown from
20,520,000 to 111,100,000 , German and Russian-speaking people
ple from about 30,000,000 to 75,000,000 each , and French-
speaking people from 31,450,000 to 51,200,000.
The English language had risen from fifth to first place ,
and was spoken by at least 50 per cent more people than
any other European tongue. Of the increase of about 91-
000,000 English-speaking people , about 70,000,000 were in
the United States. Indianapolis News.
by numbers of friendly blacks pulling
on long tow lines , he conquered the ob
stacles without an accident All the
way up he sounded , charted and photo
graphed the dangerous places , and
made a report which would enable an
army to follow where he had , gone.
At Arenberg he divided his stores ,
and having assigned his white aids
their tasks , went on against the rising
flood to Niame , put the seventy tons
ashore , and then , with his chart to
-guide him , shot the rapids down stream
to his base. At the falls of Patassi ,
where his colored guide , Lancine , took
the boats through in turn , they were
carried seventy-three hundred feet in
three minutes and twenty seconds , and
accomplished in a few hours what had
taken a month in ascending.
On the second trip Captain Lenfant
was seriously ill ; but although there
was a hospital only a few hours down
stream , and the nearest up-stream
doctor was sixty days ahead , he fojught
off the fever and accomplished his
mission.
On his route and in a canoe trip on
the upper river he collected a mass of
valuable information , charting the
floods and examining soils and crops.
He visited cities that were populous
three centuries ago , and are just recov
ering from the prostration which fol
lowed when the slave trade swept
away their people. He found them
Say , GaoGao , and many others eager
for commerce with the outside world.
ANCIENT ENGLISH INNS.
Some Have Been in Existence for
Nearly n Thounnnd Years.
Somehow one always hears with re
gret that one of England's famous old
moss-grown , ivy-clad Inns is about to
be demolished. The Old King of Prus
sia hostelry Is the latest to pass into
the housebreaker's hands. This old
inn Is in Finchley , and from 1757 ,
when the place was built , until the
present day the license has been in
the keeping of one family perhaps
a record in the licensing annals of
England.
The Old King of Prussia la a pic
turesque half-timbered house , and
many a noted highwayman has par
taken of its hospitality. The grand
father of the present proprietor wa
quite a noted character , having van
qulshed several notorious highwaymer
on Finchley Common. It is on record
that he once had an encounter witi
Dick Turpin.
Round and about London and iti
ever extending suburbs there may stil
be seen inns and taverns of great agi
and interesting associations.
The Angel Inn , Highgate hill , datei
back to the time of the Reformation
Originally it was called the Salutation
Inn. It is built entirely of wood.
Another famous inn is the Bald-
faced Stag , , at Edgeware. Nobody
knows when it was originally , .built ,
and it would seem as though each suc
cessive proprietor has endeavored t
place his mark on its architectural as
pect , for many parts of it have evident
ly at different times been rebuilt ID
the stables , it is alleged , Dick Turpin
had his horse's shoes turned , so as to
make his pursuers imagine he had gone
In an opposite direction.
Among the very oldest of suburban
London inns are the Plough , at Kings-
bury Green , and the King James and
Tinker Inn , at Enfield. The first ii
said to be 850 years old , and the latter
was reputed to have been first built
as an inn and under another name 91)3
years ago.
Its present name Is derived from an
encounter which King James I. Is said
to have had with a tinker at the dooi
of the inn. The tinker's conversation
so pleased the king that he made tin
mender of kettles "a knight with flv $
hundred a year , " the records of Enfield
Inform us. London Daily Mail.
Made No Diff rence.
"I suppose Lizzie Oletimer is glad ii
is leap year , " said the soft-spoker
Heloise.
"I don't suppose It makes much dif
ference to her , " replied the mellow * '
toned Irene. "She has been jumping
at very chance she saw for fifteen
years. " Judge I
Entire Wheat Bread.
Scald a half pint of milk , add water ,
* alt and yeast Then add slowly ,
beating all the while , five half-pint
cupfuls of whole wheat flour , knead
ten minutes , using another cupl'ul of
flour. Put this dough in a bowl , covei
and stand in a warm place , 80 d.greei
Farenheit , for two hours or until vorj
light Then mold carefully into twq
loaves , cover again for one hour and
bake In a moderately quick oven foi
forty-five minutes.
Almond Custard.
One quart of milk , two cupfuls ol
sugar , one-half pound of almonds ,
blanched and pounded fine , four eggs ,
and four teaspoonfuls of rose water
Btir over the fire , until as thick as
cream , then set in the oven until ilrm.
Just before serving cover with whip
ped cream , tinted delicately pink with
etrawberry syrup or red currant jelly
Dinner Bonbona.
Delicious dinner bonbons are inada
by chopping peanuts or almonds very
fine , mixing them with the white oj
an egg , a little sugar and just enough
Bherry to flavor , and pressing tha
paste Into the cavity made by remov *
Ing the stones from fresh prunes 01
flates. The fruit is then rolled in pow
tiered sugar.
Bacon Soup.
Cut two slices of bacon Into small
lice. Put them in a kettle and fry
brown with an onion , sliced , and two
tablespoonful of flour. Add a quarl
of boiling water , two cold boiled pota
toes , a cup of stewed tomatoes and a
little celery. Season to taste. This la
a quick and economical soup and very
nice for a change.
Raspberry Trifle.
Line the bottom of a deep dish with
thin slices of sponge cake and squeezi
over this a little raspberry juice. Covei
the cake with a thick layer of sweet >
ened red or black raspberries. Put a
layer of cake on top of this and mor
berries , and when the dish is three-
quarters full pour over all a thin
boiled custard.
Chocolate Bread Pudding.
Chocolate Bread Pudding. SeaS
two cupfuls of bread crumbs In two
cupfuls of scalded milk , add two-
thirds cupful of sugar , two squares of
chocolate previously melted , and one
teaspoonful of vanilla. Mix well and
bake in a buttered dish one hour.
Mincemeat.
Mincemeat One cup chopped meat ,
three cups chopped apples , one cup su-
par , one and one-half cup raisins , one
ind one-half cup currants , one-third
: up molasses , one cup liquid in which
meat was boiled , two teaspoons each
salt cinnamon , cloves and allspice ,
cne-half cup vinegar.
Fruit Jumbles.
One pound of sugar , one pound of
butter , one pound and a quarter of
flour , six eggs , half a pound of currants -
rants , a little soda and nutmeg. Mix
the butter , sugar , spices and eggs ,
then the currants , next the soda , and
lastly the flour.
Coconriut Biscuit.
Grate two ounces of cocoanut , mix
with a quarter of a pound of powdered
white sugar , and the whites of three
sg'gs , previously beaten to a stiff
froth. Drop small pieces of this mix
ture on paper , place in a baking tin
In a slow oven for about ten minutes
Lemon Pie.
Lemon Pie. One lemon , using rind
ind juice , one cup sugar , one cup wa-
ier , one tablespoon flour , three eggs.
Bake In rich crust and cover with
meringue.
Hints for the Housevrife.
Before chopping mint for sauce ,
sprinkle it with sugar. It will then
be chopped fine easily and quickly.
A woolen cloth is far better than a
brush for polishing a grate , for it does
the work more cleanly and produces a
tofter gloss.
After ironing shirts , etc. , place them
by the fire till perfectly dry , for this
quick dry insures their being as stiff
ELS possible.
It is a good plan to partially fill
valuable china vases with sand or to
place shot in them , for thus they are
rendered too heavy to be easily upset
Remember that stored blankets and
other woolen articles may be kept from
toonths if some well-dried yellow soap
oe cut up and scattered in their folds.
To serve stewed figs with whipped
. . ream , put each fig on a small squaru
Df sponge cake neatly cut and pila
whipped cream on the top.
Drain oysters on a napkin before
making a stew. Rub the saucepan
with butter , heat very hot , put in the
> ysters , and turn and stir until well
plumped and ruffled before making the
itew proper.
Telegraph wire of galvanized iron U
much better to hang clothes on in
winter than rope , as the clothss will
aot freeze to it Have It hung by a
lineman and It will never "give , " no
natter what the weather may be.
To clean painted walls ds-olve two
mnces of borax in two quarts of water
ind add one tablespoonful of ammo-
iia. Use half this quantity to each
Bucket of water ; do not use soap ,
IVash a small portion of the paint at
i time and rub dry with clean cloths.
Child Training.
Should humility be taught in the
public schools ? Are the children of
the present day too proud to perform
the tasks that their fathers and moth
ers performed when they were chil
dren ? These are pertinent questions.
They are becoming more so every day ,
and it will not be amiss to consider
them. Educators are beginning to dis
cuss the matter with great serious
ness.
Recently a prominent Eastern school
man in a public address said : "Our
fathers did chores , our sons refuse to ,
but put the energy into football. Our
girls decline to do housework. We
have not the virtue of frugality. We
should teach it"
Undoubtedly these statements are
to a certain degree correct It is to
be doubted , however , if the school is
the place to correct these faults. At
best nothing can be done in the schools
more than to supplement the work of
the home. Children cannot be taught
frugality and industry at school un
less these things are also impressed
upon them in the home. Wasteful and
indulgent parents are to blame. If
parents with two or three children
cannot train them properly , how is a
teacher with twenty-five or fifty chil
dren unded her control to be expected
to correct their faults and at the same
time instruct them in their studies ?
The whole trouble lies in the indulg
ence of parents. Every one has ob
served the difference between children
In different homes , but enjoying prac
tically the same material advantages.
Families of the same wealth and the
same station in society show a marked
difference in the way they train their
children. In one family the children
will be respectful , industrious and
well behaved. In another way they
will be the opposite.
One trouble is that parents want
their children to have things better
man they had them , when they were
young. Their children must have
more advantages , better clothes , less
work to do and more pleasures. These
ambitions on the part of the parents
are certainly unselfish. The result ,
however , often is that the children
are selfish. '
Parents should cultivate humility on
the part of their children. It should
be humility without fear , however.
Work should be provided and the
tasks should be performed. Teachers
should not be expected to do every
thing. Let the children be properly
trained at home. The Home Maga
zine.
Why Don't You ?
Why don't you answer your friend's
letter at once ? It will have double
value if written promptly and will
take no more time now than by
and by.
Why don't you make the promised
visit to that invalid ? She is looking
for you day after day , and "hope de
ferred makes the heart sick. "
Why don't you send away that little
gift you've been planning to send ?
Mere kind intentions never accomplish
any good.
Why don't you speak out the encour
aging words that you have In your
thoughts ? Unless you express them
they are of no use to others.
Why don't you try to share the bur
den of that sorrowful one who works
beside you ? Is it because you are
growing selfish ?
Why don't you take more pains to
bt self-sacrificing and loving in the
everyday home life ? Time is rapidly
passing. Your dear ones will not be
with you always.
Why don't you create around you
an atmosphere of happiness and help
fulness , so that all who come in touch
with you may be made better ? Is not
this possible ?
Why don't you follow in the steps
of Him who "came not to be minis
tered unto , but to minister ? "
Why don't you ? Classmate.
How to Avoid Wrinkles.
Our grandmothers used to date the
period of their lost girlhood by the first
wrinkle , but the woman has to be seen
nowadays who would have the courage
to say that with her first wrinkle
comes old age. She would tell you she
is proud of that little faint line.
But , as a rule , ill health is answer
able for those disagreeable little lines ,
and , indeed , when they are many in
number , they are disfiguring.
Many are the methods that have
been tried to make the skin smooth
and fair again.
A number of these methods are good ,
but. as no two skins are alike , each
requires a different treatment
There is a good deal in the way yon
wash your face. Instead of washing
it downwards , as ninety-nine out of
every hundred do , it should be washed
upwards , and gentle friction given to
the parts most likely to wrinkle.
Spraying the face with soft hot wa
ter at night is good.
The best plan of all is to nourish the
body with good , wholesome food ,
which will , in its turn , nourish the
skin and fill out the face in the parts
where wrinkles generally come. Face
powder only deepens the wrinkles.
- i Staininsr Floors. . .
Hard floors require oiling and rub-
oitiK twice a month to make them pre
sentable , and every year or two they
will wear off , so that a new coat of
stain and varnish will be required 00
the worn places.
The reddish , yellow or brown tones
of the stained floor can readily ba
matched with home-made stain com
posed mainly of turpentine , into which
is mixed a portion of burnt amber ,
yellow ocher or burnt sienna , accord
ing to the tone of the old stain.
Combined stain and varnish is not
desirable on old floors , and is not par
ticularly pleasing on new ones. It la
always best to apply the stain first , In
a thin coat , with a flat brush , and af
ter allowing it to dry a day , go over 4
the entire floor with a coat of hard-oil
finish , or better yet , a coat of spar
composition. When mixing the stiins ,
they should not be too thick with the
coloring-pigment , nor laid on too thicfe
with the brush.
Where floors are worn in the mld
die , leaving the edges nearly as good
as new , the color of the stain must
be carefully matched , so that a patchy
appearance may not be the result
At a hardware or paint store the
ray umber , burnt umber , burnt sienna
or yellow ocher groand in oil can be
had in small cans , or the dry powders
may be used. Clear turpentine will be
all that is required to thin the ground ,
color or act as a medium for the dry
colors , which will appear much darker
when mixed with the turpentine. If
the turpentine should be very thin ,
however , a small portion of Japan
drier may be added to lend more of 3
body. Woman's Home Companion.
Marry for I < o ve.
In many of the letters that come to
me the cry is , "I think I am hi love ,
but am not sure. Would you advise
me to many ? "
My answer invariably is , "No. " Mar
ried life where love and friendship
reign supreme is undoubtedly the best
state for both men and women. But
even at the best married life does not
always run smoothly. It is Inevitable
that there should be many little hitch
es when two people who have grown
up in a totally different environment
are suddenly brought together for
weal or woe.
Now , it takes the deepest and most
abiding love to smooth out these rough
spots , and when there is not that love ,
things do indeed get in a muddle.
So many young people think they
are in love , when in reality they are
not in love at all. That is , they are
not in love with the real person , they
are in love with a pretty face , a fasci
nating manner or something equally
unstable.
What I want these young people to
do is to look into it seriously and find
out just what they are in love with.
Let them go carefully into the loved
one's virtues and faults lovers can be
analytical if they try and if weigh
ing all the pros and cons , they can
then say to themselves , "I cannot live
without this man or woman , life
would be a barren waste. " Then I
say , "many , and marry as quickly as
possible so as not to lose one precious
moment of the greatest sweetness that
life can offer. "
But , oh , lovers all , be very sure of
yourselves before you enter on thls
compact to "love each other" as long
as you both shall live. Beatrice Fair
fax in Spokesman's Review.
Health and Beauty Hinta.
Direct sunshine gives gloss to hair
of any shade ; but fair hair it renders
like burnished gold.
Unrefreshing but sound sleep nearly
always shows that the blood does not
leave the brain by the veins at the
normal rate. Soaking the feet in hot
water , and using a high pillow will
be beneficial. In many cases a daily
saline draft or similar medicine will
prove useful.
When hot fomentations are required
the newspaper comes into play. Place
the papers on a stove , lay flannel
cloths wrung out of water as hot as
can be borne on them , and when well
heated through and through lift up
and wring out in dry towels to save
the hands from being burned.
A slice of lemon used as a soap at
the toilet works wonders on the skin.
The acid searches out the hidden
grime that may be contained In the
pores and cleanses these tiny pipes as
soap could never do. No polisher for
the nails can excel hi efficiency this
same lemon juice , which takes out all
stains from the corners of the nails ,
polishes up their horny texture ; makes
them shine and softens the thin skin
at the roots so that the half-moons at
the end show up well.
Greasiness of the skin Is an unpleas
ant condition , and is by no means easy 'J
to cure. All rich and greasy foods
should be avoided. The face should
be washed in rain water , or , if this
be unattainable , in water softened by
the addition of borax. The soap used
should be of the purest and contain no
glycerine. Wash the face occasionally
with white vinegar diluted with rosa
water.
What He Promised.
Mr. Spratt I suppose you do not
remember that you promised to obey
ne when we were married ?
Mrs. Spratt Don't you know , John ,
: hat a woman who could marry you
would be equal to any kind of fool-
shness. Boston Transcript
Milan , Italy , not Lyons , Francej is
low the greatest silk market