HARD LUCK FAILS TO TURN.
.
*
Col. Bill Sterrett Relates a Pathetic
Stony in His Experience.
"It does beat all , " remarked Colonel
IBill Sterrett of Texas , as he gazed into
'the wood fire in the house press gallery ,
"how far some people will go to skin
other people.
"I remember a case where I was In
dulging my appetite for poker in a
, game where there wa'ii't no more limit
than there was Christian charity. A
party named Gibbs was in the game too.
It came along to a place where there
was a big jackpot I was losing * regu-
Jar and Gibbs was winning regular , and
I looked at him kinder baleful two or
-.three times. Finally this Gibbs party
; says to me : 'Bill , you don't know
.nothing . about this game. I kin outplay
jyou and I kin outluck you. You can't
ahold 'em against me. '
"That made me kind o' sore and I
isays ] : 'Mebbe I can't but I'll bet you
-j$10 I've got a better pair than you have
JJust at this identical moment before the
" 'You're on , ' says Gibbs , putting out
\ -jft couple of blue chips. 'What you
" 'Pair , of kings , ' I said.
" 'Huh , ' says Gibbs , pushing the chips
over to me , 'take the money. '
"Then I stuck out my chest and
-opened that pot Gibbs trailed along
-tfujd we drew cards. Gibbs took three
4and so did I. There was right smart
Icbips In the pot and I bef fifty. Gibbs
praised me fifty. I had garnered two
Imore kings. I hiked it back and we
( went along as if we owned the treas-
| ary , until finally I called and threw
jclown my four kings. 'Dot gast ye ,
. 'Gibbs ' ' ' . time. '
, I says , 'I.got you that
" 'Hold on , ' says Gibbs , showing four
. .aces , 'I'll take that myself. '
"Now what do you think of that ? He
ad them two aces all the time and
t'tgive me that ten without showing them
-land then goes out and gets me for all
jtlie chips I've got" Washington Letter
dn New York World.
HIS PROUDEST MOMENT.
On "the day that Washburn's novel
listed among the "six best sellers"
Jialf a dozen of his old college chums
jgatherod in his rooms to congratulate
.him. "Well , old man , " said one of
ithem , "I suppose this is the proudest
vday In all your young life. " t
"Not quite , " said Washburn , musing
ly. "There was one prouder. "
"When was that ? Tell us about it"
"Well , . boys , said Washburn , "that
jfirst summer we were out of college I
jfisbed round for something to do for a
ilong time before I found it I was , 'on
fmy uppers , ' with only a quarter of a
dollar left ; but I had kept my football
mppetlte , and I was still hard as nails
when I saw a sign , 'coal-heaver
wanted. '
it
"That looked good to me , and I ap
plied. The boss looked me over , and
. said I'd do , so I went to work , forty
dollars a month , twelve hours a day ,
: shoveling coal out of cars into wag-
-ons. The yard was five miles from
imy house , and I walked down every
! Muorning and back every night
"My back used to ache and my head
; get dizzy with that endless up and
idown , up and down with the shovel ,
,1 over the side of the car , but I stuck to
, ithe job one whole month , during which
rtiiue and for three weeks after my
iback never stopped aching nor did the
3soreness go out of my shoulders. But
I stuck to it Then I got a letter , offer-
ling me a berth as a reporter on a local
jpaper to which I had applied.
"I drew my pay and left A week
. y Hater I happened round that way- and
Hooked up the boss to say 'howdy. '
" 'Washburn , ' he said , 'I'll give you
forty-five dollars a month to come back
tto the job. '
" 'Whafs wrong ? ' I asked.
" 'Well , I've had three different fel-
Slows In the car this week , every one
ihusky working men , and every one has
quit on the second day because he said
. .the work was too hard. Say , I'll give
; you fifty to come back. '
"I didn't go back. My shoulders
'were still aching. But that moment ,
-when I found I had really held my
own successfully against three other
chaps on plain old muscle-taxing work ,
the proudest of my life. "
They Knew.
She was a particularly fervent sped-
r ttnen of kindergarten teacher , and
-counted as a privilege her opportunity
rte do a little summer work in the
c slums. Her first lesson , she resolved ,
should combine the love of our dumb
friends with a suggestion for the true
cobserving of things. She began with
; an engaging but earnest smile.
"Now , children , I want you to tell
* ine what kind of clothes the kitty
- wears ! " Dead silence.
"Why , children , don't you know what
r-kind of clohes the kitty wears ? "
The enthusiastic young woman had
Knot anticipated such unresponsiveness ,
Ibut nothing daunted by the blank
* faces before her , she went back to
rthe beginning and tried , the gentle art
.of Instilling the right answer into the
rminds of her pupils by the method of
elimination.
-"Well , my dears , does the kitty wear
rfeathersshe asked.
Then a small boy in the front row
'leaned forward and inquired earnestly.
but with a touch of contempt , in his
roice , "Say , teicher , ain't you never
'Been a cat ? "
There Is always a disposition in those
who hav& them to claim that gray
\ ihairs are more a mark of smffering
i than of age.
* * ' *
-lo
Opinions of Great Papers oci Important Subjects. ?
eff f * % > & * % > & & * & * & * & * & & * p&fa& $ *
THE OLD GOVERNMENT CLERKS.
iTJCH of the thought that used to be given
to a consideration of "what to do with our
boys" has been transferred to the problem
of the old men. What Is tobe done with a
man when he is old and feeble ?
In the stone age , and among savages in
more recent times , .the question was an-
wered by disposing of him in a mode which was the
reverse of sympathetic and humane. We cannot revert
to that system. Indeed , the difficulty to-day is , in the
opinion of many persons , that we are too sympathetic.
Take the case of the clerks In the departments at Wash
ington. The law directs the secretaries to discharge them
when they become incapacitated , but the law is not
obeyed. So kindly disposed are people in these latter
days that few if any old men are turned off. As a Con
gressman said recently , in discussing the condition ,
"Under the operation of the civil service regulation , with
Its wide-open door at the entrance , there is no other
outlet , except resignation , than a door wide enough to let
a coffin through. "
Under the old spoils system , whenever there was a
change of administration the President was accustomed
to "turn the rascals out" There was a general removal
of officers , and the newcomers made a pretty clean sweep
of clerks. Now , although we are told that the Govern
ment service ought not to suffer by being made an asy
lum for those who are no longer able to do all that is
reasonably required of them , the old men stay , and every
one regrets that it seems expedient even to consider
what shall be done with them.
How to promote Government efficiency without working
hardship and doing violence to every kindly human sen
timent is the problem with which Congress is now strug
gling. All sort of remedies have been suggested , such as
summary dismissal at the age of 70 , a pension system ,
and a progressive reduction in salary , beginning at 65
and growing less as the usefulness of the clerk dimin
ishes. Youth's Companion.
A GREAT LESSON FROM FRISCO.
was Sunday in Golden Gate Park , San
Francisco. Thousands of men , women and
children , destitute , some suffering , all close
to the most sublime tragedy this country
has ever witnessed , gathered about a simple
old man , whitehairedpeacefulfaced. . There
were men there who had not seen the inside
of a church In years ; there were those who had deemed
prayer weakness and religion sham. There were those who
had scoffed and those who had forgotten the days when
they had knelt at mother's knees , and then slipped off
to bed , feeling , somehow , that somewhere there was a
Great Sheltering Hand that would care for them. Then
these words were read , words as grand and as impressive
as God's out-of-doors :
"Other refuge have I none , hangs my helpless soul on
Thee ;
Leave , oh , leave me not alone ; still support and com
fort me. "
And thousands of people joined in that simple hymn
and sang the sorrow from their breasts ; sang till heaven
seemed closer ; sang till Hope found place in aching
hearts ; sang to the glory of the Almighty and in a
belief that whatever Is must be for good ; sang for the
THE GREAT ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS EXORCISING THE FURY OF THE MOUNTAIN.
AFTER GRADUATION. \
In reply to the question , "What be
comes of college girls ? " a certain col
lege president says , "Why , nothing un
usual or sensational happens to them.
They scatter all over the country , and
become active and useful members of
society. " Then , says the New York
Sun , the president produced a class-
book of a class that 1m been out of
college ten years , and let the record re-
Teal the History of the members.
There were one hundred and forty-
five in the class when it was grad
uated. . One-third of the members have
traveled abroad , and all but thirty
mention teaching and tutoring. About
fifty-five have done graduate work at
other schools and colleges , and up to
the present time forty-one husbands
tave been acquired.
"Married , oa the hottest day you ever |
better days that are to come. And the white-haired
preacher knelt in the grass and prayed as only a man
can pray who has unshaken Faith in a just God. He
prayed for Hope , for light , for guidance. And he told
his God that the people still trusted and believed , and
were sure that all would be well.
No great organ pealed , no silken clad congregation
passed out of a church. These people wore blankets ,
rags , the cheapest garments , to hide their nakedness.
But they were nearer to that Inscrutable Providence
that rules the earth , that governs the tides and the life of
the sparrow , than ever before. There were no stained
glass windows , but the setting was nature's own , a haven
for a multitude In time of peril.
And Hope was born on th'at Sunday. And there was
new courage to do and be and to face calamity with
stout hearts ; to set face toward duty and to again do
men's work ; to build better , cleaner , saner , finer , as they
sang :
"All my trust on Thee Is stayed ; all my help from Thee
I bring.
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing. "
St. Louis Chronicle.
THE RUSH TO EUROPE.
HE filling up of the passenger steamers of
the thirty lines plying between Europe and
this country and Canada , on this side of the
Atlantic , was never carried on so vigorously
as during this year.
The demand for rooms for summer travel ,
never "so large before , shows no sign of
abating. Even the July sailings to the ports where the
tropical sun roasts everything in'its path are all taken.
This is not because torrid temperatures are sought In
the middle of the year ; it is the only way left to those
disappointed in a northern passage to get to the mild
zones of northern and central Europe. Forty-eight hours
on a railroad train from the disembarking port sun
baked and scorched by the winds from Sahara desert ,
will bring the American pleasure seeker to the mildness
and exhilaration of Switzerland , Germany , Great Brit-
tain and the Scandinavian countries of the north. This
atmosphere will repay the gentleman and gentlewoman
for the discomfort of a long , dusty and hot railroad jour
ney in the semi-tropics.
All the lines are adding new steamers but the demand
keeps ahead of the supply and thousands of Americans
who would like to make the trip to Europe In pleasant
weather are obliged to stay home for lack of suitable
accommodations. Utica Globe.
GRAFTERS IN CHARITY WORK.
HEN Kansas was suffering from the visita
tion of grasshoppers the whole country
united in raising money and contributing
food and clothing for the sufferers. Many a
mean man was developed then. The contri
butions were so generous that opportunity
was afforded for graft And more than one
man now rich laid the foundation of his fortune in the
cash or goods which he stole from the relief fund. Much
the same thing has been noted in a smaller scale in the
San Francisco case. It is about the smallest business in
the world. Salt Lake Inter-Mountain.
AN INVOCATION TO STAY THE RAIN OF ASHES.
Throughout the ruined district such scenes as this were frequent Before the sacred images the priests , sur
rounded by fugitives , said prayers for the cessation of the eruption. These services were often held in the midst
of the rain of ashes.
saw to the best fellow , " records one
girl.
"Married a lieutenant in the United
States navy , and since then have lived
in a trunk in various places as near
the seacoast as possible , " writes an
other.
"Have achieved neither fame nor
matrimony , " is the pathetic record of
one , "but belong to many societies ,
most of them respectable.
"After two years of nervous ex
haustion , got married , and am now
emulating 'The Commuter's Wife' in
building a house and garden , " writes
one young woman.
Another , with several degrees and a
sense of humor , frankly states her
present occupation is nursemaid and
housekeeper and "an advanced course
in measles. "
"A model aunt endeavoring , to show
four sisters how to bring up children , "
modestly states another graduate.
"TUe most enthusiastic naturalist In
the State of Vermont" sums up ona
lucky girl.
One young woman writes tersely ,
"My native town can boast of but one
sane college woman , and my. family
questions that"
Bookbinding has been the occupation
of one graduate. Another , whpse spe-j
cialty is surgery , has performed a diffi-1
cult operation on the maharain at thq
palace of the inaharaja of Orchha. 4' '
third has written books and music and
learned to ride a bucking broncho. A
fourth , who has really achieved fame
as an artist , modestly writes that sba
has been "doing a little illustrating , \
bear shooting and chaperoning. " And
a fifth has evidently made up her ,
mind that she is to be a spinster , for
she has adopted a little girl.
There is one thing about the history
of this class that is worth noting.
Nearly every member of it has been
busy In one way or another. The record
reveals neither idlers nor Invalids.
Tivo Lovers.
Two lovers by a moss grown spring ,
They leaned soft cheeks together there ;
Mingled the dark and sunny Lair ,
Aad heard the wooing thrushes sing.
O , budding time ! *
O , love's best prime !
Two , wedded , from the portal stept ;
The bells made happy carolings ,
The air was soft as fanning wings ,
White petals on the. pathway slept.
0 , pure eyed bride !
O , tender pride !
Two faces o'er a cradle bent ,
Two hands above the breast were lock
ed ; .
These pressed each other while they
rocked ,
'Then watched a life that love had sent.
O , solemn hour !
0 , hidden power !
Two parents by the evening fire ;
The red light fell above their knees
On heads that rose by slow degrees ,
Like buds upon the lily spire.
O , patient life !
O , tender strife !
The two still sat together there ;
The red light shone about their knees ,
But all the heads , by slow degrees ,
Had gone and left that lonely pair.
O , voyage fast !
O- vanished past !
The red lig"ht shone upon the floor
And made the space between them
wide ;
They drew their chairs up side by side ;
The pale cheeks joined and said "once
' more. "
O , memories !
O , past that is !
George Eliot.
As a Beam O'er tlic Waters.
As a beaaa o'er the face of the waters
may glow
While the tide runs in darkness and cold
ness below ,
So the cheek may be tinged with a warm
sunny smile ,
Though the cold heart to ruin runs darkly
the while.
One fatal remembrance , one sorrow that
throws
Its bleak shade alike o'er our joys and
our woes ,
Towhich life nothing darker or brighter
can bring ,
For which joy has no balm and affliction
no sting
Oh ! ' this thought in the midst o enjoy
ment will stay ,
Like a dead , leafless branch in the sum
mer's bright ray ;
The beams of the warm sun play round
it in vain ,
It may smile in his light , but it blooms
not again.
Thomas Moore.
WORLD'S SUPPLY OF PINS.
Complicated. Machine Has Greatly
Simplified , the Manufacture.
Though the demand for pins the
world over is enormous , the mills of
the United States practically supply
the entire demand , says the New York
Herald. Formerly pins were expen
sive , but now they cost a mere trifle.
In 1905 the 75,000,000 people in the
United States used 60,000,000 gross of
common pins , which is equal to 9,500-
000,000 pins , or an average of about 12G
pins for every man , woman and child
in the country. This is the highest
average reached anywhere in the use
of pins. Ten years ago we used only
about seventy-two pins each.
In a single year the total number of
pins manufactured in the United States
was G8S89,260 gross. The total num
ber of pins manufactured in the Unit
ed States during 1900 , the census year ,
was 68,889,260 gross. There are forty-
three factories in all , with 2,353 em
ployes. The business has grown rapid
ly during the last twenty years , for
although there were forty factories in
1880 they produced pnly half as much ,
employed only about half the capital
and only 1,077 hands.
There has been a considerable in
crease in the number of women and
children employed in pin factories of
late years , which is an indication that
the machinery is being improved and
simplified and that its operation does
not require so high an order of mechan
ical skill. Hooks and eyes are a by
product of pinmaking and are produced
at most of the , factories from material
that will not do for pins. The output
of hooks and eyes in 1900 was 1,131,824
gross.
The automatic machines which turn
out pins and hooks has minimized the
cost of t&eir manufacture till the cost
is practically only that of the brass
wire from which they are made. A
single machine does the whole business.
Coils of wire , hung upon reels , are
passed into machines which cut them
into proper length and they drop off
into a receptacle and arrange them
selves in the line of a slot formed of
two bars. When they reach the lower
end of the bars they are seized and
pressed between two dies , which form
the heads , and pass along into the grip
of another steel instrument which
points them by pressure. Th/y are
then dropped into a solution of sour
beer , whirling as they go , to Jbe clean
ed , and then into a hot solution of tin ,
which is also- kept revolving.
They here receive their bright coat
of metal and are pushed along , killing
time , until they have had an oppor
tunity to harden , when they are drop
ped Into a revolving barrel of bran and
sawdust , which cools and polishes them
at the same time.
America Imported $ -118,004 worth of
ordinary needles , most of them from
England , last year. Hairpins and safe
ty pins and other kinds of pins are
manufactured In a similar manner.
We made 1,189,104 gross of hairpins ia
1890. Both needles and hairpins arc
manufactured to a greater extent la
Europe than plain pins. Safety pins ,
however , lire decidedly American , and
of these we make on an average 1,000-
000 gross a year.
INJURY TO WATCH FROM FALL.
Moir.ture Bad for Timepiece *
Breaking of a Sprliifir.
"Do many persons allow their watch
es to fall ? " recently asked a customer
of a well-known jeweler.
"Half of those brought fln for repair
have suffered In that way , " was the re
ply ; "it is the most frequent accident
Accidents of this kind happen most fre
quently to men , on account of their
having the watch attached to a fob.
The number of watches Injured by falls
increases when this fashion comes in ,
and it declines when the mode /of / at
taching watches is in vogue. But there
are manj- other ways of allowing
watches to fall. " ,
"Who handle their watches most
carefully , men or women ? "
"I cannot say , but women are more
accustomed to attach their watches to
their clothing or to a chain worn
around the neck , so tnat they are In
less danger of falling. "
"How is it with children ? "
"Girls are more careful than boys ,
and their watches fall less frequently.
Some boys will allow a watch to fall
threeor four times a day ; others seem
to play with it as with a football. "
"Does a fall always harm a watch ? 'r
"Most assuredly , and a little fall
may be as injurious as a great one.
Moisture is very bad for a watch ; at
times it penetrates where it could
scarcely be expected. More than once
u caressing father , who has allowed h s
child to play with his watch , finds that
It begins to rust. The breaUi of the
child has affected it , or perhaps It has'
been taken into the mouth. A frequent
case for repair is the breaking of the
spring , which will happen to the most
careful person. " Horological Review.
Bridge Han l < ongreat Span.
There is now under construction
across the St. Lawrence at Quebec a
cantilever bridge which when com
pleted will contain the longest span of
any bridge yet erected , not even ex
cluding the great cantilevers of the
Forth bridge in Scotland.
The structure is of the cantilever
type , and consists of two approach
spans of 210 feet each , two shore arms ,
each 500 feet in length , and a great
central span , 1,800 feet In length. The
total length of the bridge Is 4,200 feet ,
and although in extreme dimensions it
does not compare with the Firth of
Forth bridge , which is about one milo
in total length , it has the distinction of
having the longest span in the world
by ninety feet , the two cantilevers of
the Forth bridge being each 1,710 feet
in length.
The total width of the floor is eighty
feet , and provision is made for a dou-
jle-tracked railway , two roadways for
vehicles and two sidewalks. In a can
tilever of this magnitude the individual
members are necessarily of huge pro
portions , the nuiin posts , for instance ,
jelug 325 feet in length , and each
weighing 750 tons.
Spoke Apache.
"When I was serving my time as
' &ouse' on the surgical side at Dun
ning , " said an active physician , "the
county sent a man over to us to have1 a
badly cracked skull patched up. The pa
tient's card was a blank except for the
due detail of the injury. Just what na
tionality the man might be none of us
could imagine. When we had lifted
the piece of bone that was pressing on
the brain he made an address ten min
utes long , a < ad not one word could any
body comprehend. During his recovery
he must have been seen by 100 visitors
first and last , and no one could under
stand a word he said. One day we
had an army surgeon visiting us who
was going to show us an operation that
was his particular stunt. After the
operation we showed him through the
wards. As soon as he came near our
convalescent mystery the patient began
his customary address. You can i'm-
igine our surprise when the Colonel be
gan to jabber back. It then was learn
ed that our patient was an Apache , the
letsam of some Wild West or medicine
show. "
How the Kaffir Smokes.
"The Kaffir smokes oa his stomach. "
said a tobacconist , "using the earth for
a pipe. This benighted savage , when
the tobacco hunger seizes him , selects.
a piece of clayey soil about a foot
square , and puts a curved twig there-
n , so that both ends stick out. Then ,
he builds a fire over the place , and
when the fire has sufficiently hardened :
the clay , he draws out the twig , and a
channel , a kind of pipe stem , is left.
One end of the channel he hollows into
a bowl. The other eod is his mouth-
jiece. He puts his tobacco in the
bowl , drops a live coal on top , and ,
lying down , falls to. The Kaffir SUCKS
away vigorously , and very black and.
strong are the fumes that enter his
large mouth. He will not use an or
dinary pipe. He likes his own way of
smoking best He is ,1 suppose , the ;
only smoker whose pipe is the earth. "
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The average man has more respuct
for a thief than a deadbeat And
thieves are not held in high esteem.
Any man who is completely wrapped'
up in himself ia a bundle of conceit.
