l < & % * Che Conservative 13 The Smoke Nuisance. In nil our largo cities and towns , east and west , where manufacturing is con ducted to any considerable extent the use of bituminous coal is increasing. The limitation of the output of anthra cite has forced this in a measure , but in any case the cheaper coal would for.3 its way. The dim buod atmosphere , the begrimed buildings , a certain indescrib able sootiuess of aspect , marks the phys iognomy of cities where the main de pendence is on soft coal. Even in New York , where one of the greatest charms of the ensemble has always been noted in a crystalline beauty of the air and sky , the smoke nuisance is casting its shadow. It may be said that the in creasing application pf electricity to motor purposes , whereby the economical and effective combustion of coal and utilization of its heat units can be ac complished on a largo scale , will tend ultimately to lessen the smoke volume from factory chimneys. It is true also that in eastern cities where anthracite coal will always bo used for domestic purposes smoke will not be so much in evidence as in western cities. But there is no need in any case that there should bo nearly the same amount of annoyance from this cause as actually exists. In London there has been a percepti ble diminution of the effects of smoke , according to the testimony of those in a position to inako a continuous compari son. An ordinance exists in that great city compelling all manufacturing con cerns which use coal in largo quantities to consume the gases of incomplete com bustion for that is the philosophy of smoke by specially devised apparatus. It is approximately successful , but it can never , of course , fully satisfy the fullness of the ideal. A million or so ot households burning soft coal will have their effect , whatever restriction may be placed on the workshops and factories , But something very perceptible has been accomplished , it is alleged. If all large users of soft coal in the United States were obliged by law to adopt the smoke consuming apparatus , it would bo found an economy to the user and a blessing to the health and msthetio taste of the public. The experiment is well worth the trial , specially in many of the big cities of the west , where the smoke nui sauce transforms even clear sunshine into a kind of yellow pallor , which is at times almost ghastly to the uuaccus tomed eye. The German bureaucrats have lately been stunned to learn officially , what ov ary one in business circles has known for a long time , that American pork , igainst which there has been an official war , has had easy access to the German uarket all along. Prohibition went into jffeot in 1892 under the law providing ; hat no form of American pork should DO admissible unless an official inspect- jr'a certificate accompanied it vouching uat ic naci been examined under the Microscope aud found free from tri- hiuce. Of course that for many reasons s for the most part impracticable. The working rule has been , however , that jo prescribed articles have beeu con- iuually smuggled through the custom ouses aud that English dealers buying lie American hog meat have put it on be German market as English ham aud aeon , which always command higher Drices. Nonsense , mere airy folly , is often nero amusing than the brightest wit , ud it takes a more gifted mind to ) low the soap bubbles of clover uou- enso than to strike off sparks of wit with the clash of flint aud steel. Any' ociul observer has constant occasion ! o observe the difference. Human courage is a curious compound u most cases of vanity , shame aud tern- \ jorameut , and were it not for its nega- ; ivo side , fear , its highest positive in j ieeds of heroism would not exist. To i lare is to bo very conscious of some- hing to be dared. The terrible annual destruction of forests by fire has lately been resumed in Wisconsin. In the five northern pine counties the devastation has been gen eral. A furious cataclysm of flume has reduced 600,000,000 feet of standing pine to ashes , in addition to immense tracts of hardwood timber. These year ly inflictions appear for the most pait to have been started by the carelessness of hunters. There is no means of pro viding against the almost certain con tingency except by remodeling human nature. A magazine writer recently estimated that during the last score of years ยง 50,000,000 worth of lumber had been burned up by forest fires in the United States. The most omnivorous readers are not always the most penetrating and lumi nous minds. The process of digestion and assimilation is often injured by the habit of gross feeding. This is well il lustrated by the joke of the old Quaker Indy at the expense of Mucaulay , who was boasting of the number of books which engaged his attention every day , "Why , friend Thomas , when does theo get time to think ? " The American authorities in Manila , like those in Santiago and Porto Rico , have opened the schools on as liberal a basis as possible. Paper missiles are sometimes more effective in the long run than iron and lead. An amusing item in The Straits Budget describes a masquerade ball giv en by a Chinese club in Malacca. It goes to prove that John Chinaman is not always such a fossil as ho is sup posed to be. This society item was as follows : "Li Ohin Hi appeared as a oonrtierof Queen Elizabeth ; Chi Kang Uheug as Henry n , with a pigtail ; Koii Tioug Siew as a barrister ; Chan Kooii Cheng wore a dress entirely covered with stamps , as a Liverpool indigo merchant ; Pan Chay Yan wore the kilt of a highlauder ; Leo Chim Giang was EL fourteenth century gentleman ; Leo Ohing Bong went as George III , and Oh Song Giap as the queen's coachman. But the most pathetic figure in the list is Chee Wang Cheng , who was absent. Ho was to have appeared as Napoleon Bouaparto. " One marvels how the rov- slers managed the sacred pigtail on such an occasion. A strong movement in England is stirring the question of decimal coinage to replace the very complicated and 3ifficult measure of sterling money. That has outworn its usefulness. Mer chants are beginning to see in their an tiquated coinage one reason why British foreign trade has stood still while that af the United States and Germany has made such tremendous strides. The nb surdity of using the metric system of weights and measures in international trade while still clinging to the anti quated figuring in pounds , shillings and pence is evident at a glance. An order has been issued by the Prus sian home minister complaining of the leniency of the police and soldiery in dealing with the election mobs. They are to use the edge of the sword and ball cartridge hereafter. This is in ootable contrast with the mildness of England and the United States in deal ing with election disturbances. It is man only that ever laughs , all the other animals living very seriously. Devotees of science are never so amia- Die as when they are at table. Most of Shorn are somewhat gastronomic in their mstes unless they have bad digestions. Eyndall and Huxley were wont to smile with great gusto when the butler en tered with the magic words , "Dinner is served. " A mob stoned a member of the British .egation the other day in Peking. It ana not been figured out yet just bow uany square miles of territory the apol- jgy will needs cover. A Stone That Grows. A West Gouldsboro ( Me. ) man tolls a queer story about a stone that grows. It is an egg shaped , flinty looking rock , which he picked up in a cove near his homo over 80 years ago. Then it weighed about 12 pounds and from its odd bbapo was kept in the house and on the doorstop as a curiosity. As the years passed the stone increased in size. Six years ago it weighed 40 pounds , and now it tips the scale at G5 pounds. The owner swears it is the same stone , and tells a likely story , with numer ous witnesses to back him up. Ex change.