ftit T5 A ft EDISON ON HIGH EXPLOSIVES 8p3ulaUoni on Death-Dealing Implements in the ( torrent War. DYNAMITE THAT WOULD NOT GO OFF Chrntlcnl Compound * ( tint Will E - plode If Von Shout nt Ttirin-lloir lh Inventor Scnrrtl n Tarty of Minuter * . "It Becm * very odd to me , " laid Thomas A. EdUon'the other day la his laboratory near Orange , N. J. , "that In all thin talk of jrar.and battles and military equipments there should b no little said of what might be called the familiar performance of high explosives. I do not believe these pros pective volunteers , who are so anxious to go to war , realize the nature of the compounds which will be used for ammunition in the battles of the future. I have"een some of these compounds do very wonderful things , When carefully handled. What will they do ! during the rush and bustle of an engage ment ? Why , some of them cannot be used for practical purposes , they arc so very powerful. That Is one trouble In making an explosive for use In guns. "A gun Is an engine , lust as much BO ns Is a steam engine , and you have to work It on an economical principle. You must save your powder Just as you must save your coal In the steam engine. Hence these gun powders are BO composed that , when Ignited , they will drive the bullet along the gun barrel , gaining In power as It goes , but so nicely balanced In explosive action that the last speck of powder Is not utilized until the bullet has reached the muzzle and Is about to leave the gun. Thus , a gunIs really a heat engine. Dut , as I have In timated , the rending power of some of these explosives Is EO great that the bullet can not , so to speak , keep ahead of It. Ilcfore the bullet reaches the muzzle of the gun the accumulated gases behind It have Increased to much In volume as to overcome the lateral resistance of the barrel , and the gun bursts. Threw IlnckH nt 1) > nnniHc. ' 'You hear people talking of the dangers arising from the handling of dynamite , " continued Mr. Edison. "I never could see that It was very dnngcroun to handle , in the ordinary sense of the word , at least , I re member once taking a quantity of dynamite out In the woods near my Iron mine up thu fitato and trying to explode It by such means as might enter Into any accident likely to 'x. ' occur In general handling. We did It as an object lesson to the men as much as for anything t > thing else. We burned It , threw big rocks at It and tried other ways of exploding It , but we couldn't make It go off. We use lots of It for blasting purposes , but we ocvcr have had an accident. Of course , It produces frightful effects when exploded In conjunc tion with some other high explosive. Nitro glycerine , on the other hand , Is to be feared nt all times. I have heard of a blacksmith who placed one drop of It on an nnvll and then struck It a hard blow with a hammer. It must have been a hard blow. It blew ut the side of the shop and made a big hole under where the anvil had stood , and the blacksmith did not even need burial , nut even this IB not to be compared to Iodide of nitrogen. Its explosive power Is equal to 4,000 feet a second. That Is , If you laid a train of It 4,000 feet long and exploded one end of the train , the explosion would be transmitted to the other end of the train In one second. I don't know but that under these conditions the cumulative character of the effect wollld cause the other end of the train to become Ignited even sooner than In one second. That speed Is greater than the accredited velocity of sound , which travels I nt the rate of 1,400 feet a second. I Kxiilndcd hr n Shout. "In fact there are explosives of such tremendous power that no ono dares make but a very small quantity at a time , and I doubt If they have ever been seen outside of laboratories. I have made them , a drop at a time. But , O , how unstable they are ! .Actually , I have made explosives of this nature which have gone oft when I yelled at them. I simply placed a small drop on a table and shouted at It. It exploded In stantly. You see , the thing is in a state of very delicate equilibrium. It Is a question depending on surrounding conditions as to which It will do remain a liquid or turn Into a gas. When , as In the case just men tioned , this balance is about equal , It takes very little to incline It toward a gaseous form , so that even the sound of the voice will cause the change. A violent fit of coughing will produce the effect , and so would a heavy weight dropped on the floor. "Speaking of this explosive reminds me of how I got rid of some ministers who once Insisted on boring me In my laboratory when I had some Important experiments on hand. I treated them courteously as long as I could , but they grew more Interested as the day wore on and seemed to have no Intention of going home. Finally , as a last resort , I told them I was going to make some highly explosive material. This made them only the more interested , and they got In my way as much as they pos sibly could. I do not suppose they knew much of the nature and appearance of high explosives , for when I placed a number of drops of the material in various parts Of the room , so as to scatter any accidental explosions , they seemed not to notice it. At last , when they got crowding almost between me and the workbench , I very carelessly pushed a board off onto the floor. Well , It was worse than I bad In tended It to be. It nearly shattered the window glass and Jostled things around ronerally. The ministers seemed scared halt to death , and from the way they held Ihrlr cr you would have supposed * omc one had bumped their heads together. When I told them how It bad happened and discussed the possibility of more acci dents taking place they said It really was quite wonderful , but they guessed they had better be going. I urged them to stay and see morn fireworks , but they all bad very Important engagements , and hurried oft , A Griming Science. "But to return to the subject In hand , the science of explosives U a very In teresting one , and If some way Is found to utllltc the tremendous forces which arc engendered when the chemicals are prop erly combined nnd exploded , we may yet come to respect them more than we do at present. Our knowledge of the very high explosives dates back buta _ few years. The present war spirit may provoke enough activity in the line of explosives to cause their development not merely as agent * of destruction , but , whatIs better , In indus trial lines. Here , then , is a chance for budding Inventors. " Mr , Edison's Joke on the ministers I * In the same line with one be has played sev eral times on obnoxious callers. For In stance , a reporter from a paper whoso methods do not entirely agree with the In ventor's ideas of fair dealing recently called to Interview him. * Not wishing to bo rude to him , Mr. Kdlson asked htm If he objected to his continuing his experi ments while he talked. Of course the news paper man WHS delighted. It really added the splco of human Interest to the affair. He conducted his caller Into a little room where be had a certain form of oxygen ap paratus which charges the surrounding at mosphere In a manner very unpleasant to one not used to It. Mr. Edison did not mind It In the least , but bis visitor could not ask questions for choking and coughing. Ho shortly excused himself In a most em barrassed way and left without asking n question , all of which was rendered still more ludicrous by the apparently offended manner with which the Inventor regarded the reporter's actions. Probably that re porter docs not even yet know a trick was played on him , but he Is not likely to revisit the laboratory. co.\\tni.\iiTiis. : ; The woman who marries a man in order to reform htm has a steady job for life. It Is reported that Miss Marie Van Zandt , the American soprano , who has won suc cess In opera In I'urls and other continental opera bouses , Is to marry a Russian nobleman. U Is whispered In European court circles that Prince Albert , heir apparent to the Belgian throne , who lo now touring on this continent , Is to become betrothed to Mercedes , the sister of the little king of Spain. Princess Fuerstenberg , daughter of the late Due de Sagan , Is engaged to her cousin , the Comte de Castellane. who Is much younger than herself. Shi5 gives up the rich dowry from her late husband , who died two years ago , In order to contract the marriage. Miss Emilia Teller the senator's daughter , who recently married , was a member of a Wcllesley alumnae club called the "Satur day Afternoon Spinster's club. " There were ten members and Miss Teller's the ninth to get married. Miss Katherlne Duer , who will marry Clarence Mackay , Is a daughter of one of Now York's oldest families. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Consuelo , duchess of Marlborough , and it was while en route to visit her friend at Dlenhelm palace last year that she met iMr. Mackay on shipboard. It was love at ilrst sight , th gossips say , and In proof of It they poliu out that she refused the young Mr. Wilson of thri Tranbycroft family , while at Bleu helm , and the gallant Marquis Guy do Lucr later in Paris. This latter was probably after more "lucre. " Six weeks ago Mabel Smith , 13 years old , of 1065 DcKalb avenue , Brooklyn , who has been playing with a variety company , dis appeared from her home , and wa found a few days later at 1043 Madison street , that city , with Harry Plckford , a midget , to whom she was married January 4. Plckford Is 2" years old and had lived with his parents at 1095 Madison street In that city. Plckford Is a variety actor. Ho met the girl six months ago. She had for years been play ing juvenile parts In variety theaters , and they formed a partnership In a sketch en' titled "The Two Companions. " When th < girl disappeared the parents suspected thai she had eloped with Plckford , as It was known he was attentive to her. The police of the Vernon avenue station sent out a general alarm for her. The continued absence of the girl so preyed on her mother' ; mind that she became III. Mrs. Smith re celved a note from her daughter telling he she was married and happy. NEW ARTIFICIAL STONE. Lime. Kami nnd Hot Water Succe fuMy I'med by a Scotch Firm. A Scotch firm Is manufacturing an artifi cial stone which Is said to stand every tes1. and to be Impervious to all vagaries of the weather. The process is a simple one , and the Ingredients of the stone , chiefly limp and sand , are not expensive commodities , so that It Is believed that the artificial product will be able to compete with the real. The lime and sand , having been thoroughly Incorpo rated , are passed Into molding boxes , which may be of any convenient size or shape , and these arc placed within the converter. Water at high pressure and having a high tempera ture is then pumped into the converter to cause the necessary chemical union between the lime and sand , and the molding boxes are also submitted to a temperature of about 400 degrees fahrenhclt by the action of superheated steam. In about thirty hours the surplus water is run off , but the beat la continued , In order to remove moisture from the molding boxes , for another fifteen hours. The boxes are then removed from the converter and the stone within them la prac tically ready for use. Experiments are now in progress from which U Is hoped that other products of nature's laboratory , such as slate and mar ble , will presently be successfully Imitated. 5,000 WEAK MEN were restored last year to manly vigor by my wonderful Invention , the Dr. Sanden Electric Belt and Suspensory , DOW used the world over for all result * of youthful errord , nervousness , drains , Impotency , weak back , varlcocele , etc. No drugs to wreck the stomach. Send FREEBOOK which explains all. Mailed in plain ealed envelope , Write today. DR.IR.UIDEI , 183 S. Chit SI. , GHIGMO. - ESTABLISHED 3O YEARS MARKSMEN ON HORSEBACK The Value of Mounted Infantry Proved in the Giril War ; OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEDDY'S ' TERRORS ' e of Monntctl 9hnrtnhanter * In Dhrrfunn'n Army T > llln Shot of au IltlunU Wuoilaman Ue- fore Corinth. _ "Mr. Roosevelt's Idea of a regiment of mounted riflemen , " said a veteran of Sher man's army to a New York Sun reporter , has a good deal of merit Both Grant and Sherman found use for regiments of mounted infantry , armed with something heavier than the cavalry carbine and with * out the sabre , but Sherman had the greater opportunity to find their value. The same reason that led Grant to depart from the . radltlonal European methods In employing ' a thin skirmish line the lack of roads and bo rougher country with lt heavy under- brush made the opportunity for such an j rregular arm as the mounted Infantry. My own regiment hod the good fortune , after fighting an Infantry In many heavy battles , o be mounted. The men had , at their own expenses , gradually armed themselves with .be Henri ( slxteen-shooter ) rifle. This put them under constant call for the skirmish Inc. which was their first object In buying the guns. Being Irregular , they were not assigned to a place In the marching columns , except that "they were to be well at the front. In the Atlanta campaign they straggled a good deal , getting off the line and Invading country where the main body never went. Some of them picked up horses and mules and became self-constituted scouts. This led to the mounting of the whole regiment , the men finding their own animals. They did work that could hardly have been done by the cavalry with their equipments. i "Their rifles were effective , and they could feel of the enemy In spots where It would i bo unsafe for troops otherwise equipped to go. Often It was touch and go , and somea times they created consternation by appear ing between two columns of the enemy and giving rise to the belief that he was out- flanked , It could not be supposed that any thing less than a large force would venture , In such quarters. To have Infantry flre and Infantry organization on wings proved to be an Important advantage. The regiment was especially useful on the march to the sea , as It must always bo when an army cuts loose from Its source of supplies and depends largely on the country for support. The men were scouts , skirmishers and forag ers , according to circumstances , and when they found the enemy away from the main columns they dismounted and served as Infantry. In this way they aided In keeping the line of march of their corps , and some times of a corps on another road , free from obstacles. Among other enemies they en countered were the Georgia Home Guards , made up of confederates who were at homo on account of wounds and of all the various men who for any reason were not In the field. At times these homo guards made trouble by destroying bridges on the approach preach of the federals , and sometimes they showed flght. But the best service of the mounted Infantry In that campaign was In guarding forage trains when It was neces sary to gather supplies at a long distance from the main body. The first of Sher man's 'bummers' were stragglers from such Irregulars. A Itcirlment of Hunter * . "In the case of such troops there was no better marksmanship than In the army gen erally. Their guns were lighter nnd better , but the chief advantage was In the rapidity of their flre. There were , however , Infantry regiments here and there In which most of the men were crack shots. One Illinois regi ment In particular , the Sixty-sixth , I think , was recruited from men who were experi enced hunters , capable of hitting the bull's- eye at a distance that would tax 'the skill of the ordinary soldier to hit the target at all. The regiment had more old men than any other that I ever saw , and It was al most conspicuous for Its lack of style in drill. The men looked the hunters they were men of the woods mostly , with the long stride and rounded shoulders of the traditional woodsman. Their dress was _ dis tinguished from that of the other men by green braid. Probably everybody knows that the braid of the cavalry Is yellow , of the artillery red and of the Infantry llgtit blue. Most of them were armed with their own rifles , perhaps used long before the war , of many patterns , and not BO well adapted to the manual of arms as the army musket , but much better for fine shoot' ' Ing. This was not a new arm of the service , but probably regiments of sharpshooters , aa distinguished from squads and Individuals , were rare before the American civil war. In the main they performed the same service as other Infantry regiments , but they had the preference on the skirmish line. The con fed crates made more use of sharpshooters than the federals. Wherever It was possible In an engagement the enemy posted sharp shooters where they could command certain points , for the purpose of picking off gun ners and conspicuous officers. Such a sharp shooter killed GeneralSedgwlck when In apparent safety he was examining the ground In front of his command. It was this service that was most often required o : the confederate soldier whose aim was true. . The federals , on the other hand , trusted to the ordinary pickets , most of whom were not marksmen , 'to prevent confederate gen crals from approaching too close to our llnei In search of Information. In the event o a charge on a line of confederate works there was always a sharpshooter on duty to pick off anybody who appeared to lead and give dash to the enterprise. An Effective Shot. "It was In the battle of Corinth In Mis slsslppl that I first saw an effective shot by one of the Illinois sharpshooters. It was just before the final desperate and unavail ing assault on Battery Roblnet. It was said that the confederates who made the charge were a forlorn hope men who bad volun teered for an almost hopeless undertaking which no officer would order his men to at tempt. Unless the battery could be silenced Price and Van Dora could never enter Corinth. The men know where they were going and why , and could have little doub of their fate. They were all veterans , and the courage required of them was as reck less as that displayed by the Light Brigade at Balaklava. The most desperate of al was the chaplain of a Texas regiment , who charged pistol In band. The enemy had posted sharpshooters In the trees nearest the battery for the obvious purpose of pickIng - Ing off gunners when the assault should be made. We were lying , many Infantry regi ments , In the rear of the battery , to be used or not , according to the success or failure of the attack. While waiting for the move ment , a sharpshooter in our front amused himself by shooting at conspicuous mounted men , such as aides and orderlies , who came riding up the hill. Ho was a very uncommon marksman. The distance seemed too great for effective shooting , yet he had wounded two officer * , shot the horse of an aide and sent his bullets whistling so close to the ears of two other officers that they dis mounted In haste , though they must have knowta they would be chaffed by the Idle soldiers , aa they were. "An infantry officer who sat on a cracker box with bis back against the earthworks smoking bis pipe , undertook to warn mounted officers who came that way. Boon he called one of hU men and Instructed him s to KO to the next regiment , , the SIxty-ilxth JlllAoli , I think for i'cVl'ck shot. The soldier returned with a mail whoso aUfoptd Ihouldera made him appVar' ! anything but oldlerly. This shtrpibooker carried his rifle , not a muiket. In tiji h'and , Dice a. cart ful hunter , Instead of ojuil * shoulder. Ai he stopped to talk with vthe officer , who now itood and pointed withthli pipe toward a clump of distant treed ) h took out a piece > if chamois and slowly riibed his gun sights Ike a man about to ihMt for a prize. While the officer aiSf'the sharpshooter were talking an ordetlri" mounted on a big l horse , came tearlnfittp'trom the town. Obviously he had a tacMag * , was In haste , 01at and was uncertain white to go. He had it topped below to oik ar.tuMtlon , then dug a showy Mexican iptir Info his horse , which almost leaped up the ilope. The rider topped him with a Jerlr to speak to the ifflcer with the pipe , but"1 his question was never asked. He raited his hand to a salute , gave a gasp , clutched at the air , and fell aver , to be dragged , with one foot .In the tlrrup down the slope by the frightened horse. "After a single glance at the body of the orderly bounding -away over the rough ground , the sharpshooter adjusted hit sights with deliberation , reited his gun on the e larthworki and fired , at a spot where a juff | of smoke Indicated the marksman who had shot the orderly. It was a long shot and the chances seemed all agatnst Its be ing effective , , at least at a first attempt. After the shot a cheer went up along the line back of htm ; the men rising In dis order. Something had rolled out of a tree across the open space. "A mounted officer In brilliant trappings came up and stopped , but no shot disturbed him. There was no doubt that the some thing that had rolled out of the tree was : he confederate sharpshooter. "Without looking again In the direction of his great shot and without paying any at tention to the cheers , the old marksman took out his pipe with ostentatious Indif ference , lighted it and walked slowly back : o his regiment. Hotter Sliootlnff Now. "Such shooting is for the born marksman. , , It was discovered that most soldiers did not shoot well. They were unable to resist the temptation to flre too high. This was the case with both federals and confederates , and | It partly accounted for the comparatively few men who were hit In battle. It was only when there was work at close quarters that | the danger was really great , and even then the proportion of killed was surprisingly small. In recent years the regulars have had to do target practice , a thing positively unknown to the volunteer army. There were thousands upon thousands of men whenever never fired a gun until they were In battle. The examplcyof the regulars has been fol lowed by the National Guard In many states. The Continentals knew how to shoot , but a majority of the volunteers In the civil war knew nothing about the elevation of their pieces for long-distance firing. Except In close quarters war between the armies of the sixties was not nearly as dangerous as the roar of the battl/fleld seemed to Indicate. The loss o . 'lite and limb , too , from shells was Insignificant among nSen In line of battle. I "Tho Invasion of Cuba tiilght make the Roosevelt regiment useful'but nearly half of the 36,000 Cubans In arms are mixed cav alry and mounted Infantry , accllmatod and familiar with the cowitry. That remarka ble triumphant march , pf pomez and Macco In the autumn and winter of 1S95 made them there Is likely to be any Inland fighting. Still. It Is well that this arm of the Fervlcc should be maintained. Mounted men have acquainted with most of the territory where received too little encouragement in the state military service , considering tlio proof they gave during the 'ilvil'fyar'of ' their uso- fulncs's. There are a.j . opd naiiy riflemen in this country wh'osc "a'Ttt , Is1 true. 1 In every town , nearly , there'are rlfl-5 clubs with n long-distance range on which the record would not disgrace the crack shots of Crerd- moor. There arc also many toraemen , al though the English field sports have never been popular enough to make rough riding an object of ambition. A modern army , with ! Its bicycle corps and balloon apparatus Is Incomplete without mounted rlflemei armed with something heavier than the light cavalry carbine and capable of hitting things at which they shoot. In our former war it was the rarest thin ? for a man or , the skirmish line to be bit , although the line was in advance of the Hue of battle Only a sharpshooUr who could hit an ob ject no larger than a. single man was a menace to the skirmisher. " THIS OLD-T1MEBS. Dr. Mavrogenls , 100 years of age , who Is now living In Greece with a sister ten years older than himself , Is the last survivor o : the men who fought in the Greek war oi independence. The father of the French chamber , Henri de Lacretelle , who la 83 years of age , has retired from parliamentary life. He has represented Macon , but recently became so Infirm that he bad to be carried in and out of the chamber and appeared to be perfectly indifferent to the speeches and scenes which went on around. Levl Bradshaw , a farmer living In the wilds of Maine , hag forty living children , and , as far as he has been able to count them , 150 grandchildren also alive. Ho has been married three times , the first time being not quite 14 years old. He Is now In his seventy-first year. His eldest son , now 44 , is also a grandfather. Ninety-eight years old , but still hearty and self-reliant , John Beetle of Lancaster , N. H. , who has already led to the altan six different women , Is looking for a seventh helpmate. Mr. Beetle says a number o women are anxious to have him , but de clares that before making a selection wll carefully "look them over. " Miss Blanche Sully , who has just died In Phlledalphla at the age of 84 years , was a daughter of Thomas Sully , the famous per trait painter , and had the distinction of posing In royal robes and jewels worn by Queen Victoria at her coronation , for her father's portrait of that monarch , now owned by the Society of the Son * of St. . George , in Philadelphia. The French composer , Theodore Gouvy. baa just died at Leipzig"-Where he lived the greater part of hls'lte.4lHe | was 76 years old. His studies wer beteun In Paris , but were finished in Berilii/ and the German influence was paramount in his productions. He wrote much chamber and planfort music and also several larger works for or chestra and chorus. \ TUB DAXCElt OF IIKAL'TV. Brooklyn Life. I never read the papersfwlthout feeling BI content That both my eyes afo.twlsted and my nos < Is slightly bent : kV I'm glad my mouth IsXAut of line and thai my teeth are few , \ % And If I had a "wealtK of hair" 1 don' know what I'd Uf.- . \ Uf.OJ A "tiny foot" or "illy Hand" would fill ra with dismay , r And If I had a slender wmlst I'd sicken In a day ; I For I have noticed from the first , a strange as It may seem , The girl who gets the worst of It Is "lovely as a dream. " The papers never tell about a woman bcln , shot , ' Or mangled by a trolley car , or married t a eot , Or forced , at point of pistol , her last fifty cents to lose. But that her eyes are "limpid" and he boots are number twos. So I can live In sweet content , without th slightest fear That trouble or calamity will ever hove ; near And when I see my misfit face It's som relief to know That I'll outlive the beauties by a hundrci years oreol Mapi of Cuba at The Bee office Omaha- Council Bluffs or South Omaha. Cut coupon from page 2. Address Cuban map deoU QUEEN RECENT OF OLD SPAIN He ; Struggle to Prewrre the Throne for Her Only Son. MOTHERLY DEVOTION AMID STATE CARES ! rly Disappointment nt ChrUtlnn of Aantrln , Her Saline- qacnt SncctM unit Life In Land of Her Adoption On September 19 , 1S68 , writes Alice Gordon Oullck In the Independent , the harbor of Cadiz , In southern Spain , was filled with men-of-war gayly decorated with the rlrason and gold of the national flag. The Ity Itself was In a state of great excitement nd the people , thronging to the wharves , welcomed with shouts of acclamation the n who decided to flght for liberty and eform. The cup of Iniquity of Queen Isabella II. was full , and this demonstration was the result of a long prepared and now iuccessful revolution headed by General Prim. At this time Queen Isabella was In he beautiful watering place" of San Scbas- lan. The news of the pronunclamento was elegraphcd to her by her friends and sup- lorters In Madrid. After a short struggle In ier favor by several of the generals the will t the people was clearly shown and Isabella rossed the frontier into France. It is said hat she sat In the carriage that took her to he railway station with her face burled In ier handkerchief , 'bitterly sobbing with grief. .Her four children were with her , sabcl , Paz , Eulalla and Alfonso , who was 1 years of age. Ex-Queen Isabella little thought as she Journeyed northward to Paris , which was to be her home , that Alfonso would one day < Hurn to Spain as king. He was carefully educated in school and college In France , England and Germany. After varied and nterestlng attempts at different kinds of government a new pronunclamento by thd army restored the Bourbon dynasty , nnd Alfonso XII. was placed upon the throne nmld the shouts of the multitude who six hort years before had cried : "Afuera cones os Borboncsl" ( "Away with the Bourbons bens ! " ) In about three years the question that preoccupied the nation to the ex clusion of the affairs of state was the marriage of the young King Alfonso XII. Suitable alliances were sug gested , but ho could not even consider them , ns years before he had given his heart to his ovely cousin , Maria dc las Mercedes , daugh ter of the duke of Montpensler of Scvllla. Among the ladles of royal birth who had been proposed for Alfonso was the Arch duchess Maria Christina , niece of the reign ing emperor of Austria. It Is said she was so disturbed when she heard that the objec tions to Mercedes had been overruled and that the marriage was to occur that she entered a convent. Her rank gave her precedence , and she was made Lady Abbess. The love story of Alfonso and his young bride Is very short. Tolling bells five months later announced the death of his Mercedes after a brief Illness , and. Spain mourned with the disconsolate husband the loss of one , who bad conquered all hearts by her gentleness and grace. Wedded n Klntr. When the nation demanded that Its iovor- elgn should have a wife , the choice now fell upon Maria Christina of Austria , who , for tunately , had not taken perpetual vows in . the convent. She was married by proxy , and I entered Spain as queen In the spring of 1879. Maria Christina was not as fair in appear ance-as Mercedes. She carried herself , however - over , with queenly dignity , and , being A ell educated , soon gained the respect of the court circle. The first child was born , and although there was disappointment that the little one was a girl , she was tenderly welcomed , and the name Mercedes was given her In mem ory of the lamented young queen. Alfonso XII'died on November 25 , 1885 , of quick con sumption , In the city of Madrid. It was re ported that his Illness was caused by ex cesses. The son of Isabella II died in early manhood , and many who realized his Inher itance were not surprised. The Austrian widow and her two little girls could hardly be acceptable to the pee pie and yet there was no special expression of Espanollsmo at the time of the death of Alfonso XII. It Is said that the day after the burial of the king Maria Christina called the ministers of the government to the palace and told them that she wished to be instructed In all the affairs of state. Hitherto she had taken little apparent In terest In government matters , but from that day to this she has studied the different questions that have harassed the ministers and with rare skill and tact has given ex pression to wise counsels which have some times been followed. The birth of a son , on May 17 , 1886 , six months after the death of his father , caused great rejoicing In the kingdom and gave to the queen regent a place fn the affections of the people which , perhaps , as a foreigner she might never have secured. The child-queen , Mercedes , became again the princess of Asturlas , but Maria Christina continued queen regent , for Alfonso XIII , was born king of Spain. Devotion of the Qneeu. As he inherited a somewhat delicate con stitution , the mother has cared for him with jiost tender , self-denying devotion. Tht nursery and playroom have been under her immediate supervision , and highly educated V > vernesses have been provided , that the children might be caretuuly trained , and the young king be especially prepared for the responsible position he was to occupy , There was some restlessness at first at the thougnt of the years that must pass before ho could sit upon the throne. Spanish chivalry , however , came to the rescue ; and Emlllo Caatelar , the great orator , voiced the feelings of the majority when he said : "We cannot make war against a woman and a child. " The court of Maria Christina Is said to be one of the most moral tha Spain has ever known. The queen regen Is generous to her friends and charitable to the poor , and baa shown a strong religious nature. In San Sebastian , her summer homo In tbi north , Queen Christina throws off all cour etlquet and lives simply without display In dress or equipage. The family goes to thi seashore In the morning ; then the queen receives the minister of the day and signs such papers as may be presented. In th < afternoon a drive is usually taken over semi of the hills to enjoy the fine views , or In the valley through which winds the beautl ful Urumea ; or the family gather in th rooms of the palace to listen to music , After a few weeks the pale faces take on color , and the weary , harassed look of tb queen and mother changes to one of res and peace. Alfonso XIII , from the time when be was a few months old , Is carried by bis nurse and placed at the right hand of the queen regent on all state occasions. Today the sympathies of the clvlllsei world must be with the woman who ha endeavored so bravely to hold an unbroken kingdom for the son of Alfonso XII , Beln an Austrian , a foreigner , she must out Spanish the Spanish In expressions of loyalt and , therefore , she cannot yield ono Inch o Spanish territory at the demand of a forclg power. It Is stated that of all the Immense sum spent In India to repair the damage wrought by plague and famine , near ] everything came from Christian England an America and scarcely a dollar from th thousands of rich Hindoos and Moham aedans. Let Faces Come First. If you use Wool Soap for but one purpose , let it be for the face rather than for wool. When wool shrinks , it means only a spoiled garment. When a soap harms the face , it means a spoiled complexion. There is a particular ingredient in Wool Soap that prevents it from shrinking wool. That quality makes it especially desirable for toilet and bath. T MAM * I WISH MINI USIO MAO bath.Other Other makers haven't our secrets. WOOL SOAP It is not necessary to buy woolens so often , nor to buy heal ing lotions for a soap-injured skin , if you use thin pure soap is a white , swimming soap. In washing woolens it is a ne- g ccssity. Jn any other use it is a luxury , and it is so cheap t : that it makes luxury economical. It is an absolutely pure 2 t : soap. It is the only soap so pure that it won't shrink wool. :2 IT swirvm. "Wo < 1 Soap Is an excellent article , and every woman will be benefited by ! 3 nslng if-HELEX M. BARKKR , Treas. Nat. W. O. T. U. FREE FRE The Misses Bell's Complexion J [ OH. 1C Free this month DO NOT MISS THIS In order that all may be benefited by their Celebrated Complexion Tonic , The Misses Bell , of 78 Fifth Ave. , N ew York City , will , during the present month , give to all callers at their pailors , coo trial bottle of their wonderful Tonic absolutely free , and In order that those who cannot call or who live away from New York City may bo supplied also , they will send one bottle to any ad- drear , all charge * prepaid' on receipt of twenty-five cents ( stamps or silver ) . This Liberal Offer should bo embraced by all. The Complexion Tonic has been used for years Io personal treatment , and IB guaranteed to remove Freckles , ' Moth , Blackheads , Olllness. Roughness , Enlarged Pores , anj all Imperfections of the skin , making tha Complexion Beautiful oo matter how homely It was before. Do not fall to take advantage of this. liberal offer , and call for one trial bottle , or sen ! twenty-five cents ( stamps or silver ) , and U will be sent , all charges prepaid. The Aliases 'Bell's Book , "Some Secrets of Female Beauty , " wl II be eent free upon request. .111 communi cations are treated strictly confidential. Address THE MISSES BELL , or rat BIU TOIUTI eo A MAP Of PORTO RICO Where is San Juan ? Where is Sampson ? Where did Dewey whip the Spaniards ? What do you know about the location of the places when the fighting is going on ? WHAT YOU WANT IS THE BEST WAR MAP , THE BEE'S COMBINATION MAP. ' A. Special Map of Porto JRico. . A. Map of Cuba. A. Map of the West Indies. and' A Map of the World. The Map of Cuba ami the Man of the West Indies are each 1.1x21 inches ; the Map of the World is 21x20 inches , printed in colors from the latest maps of Hand , McNally & Company. Tnoy are accurate and complete. Tbe Bee Coupon The Omaha Bee , Map of Cuba Coupon. and 10 cents will get it. Sent Present thia coupon with lOo ( by mail l4c ) for by mall In tube , 14 cents. Map of Cuba. Map of the West Indies , t Address , Map of Porto Itico and ( Map of the World. I CUBAN MAP DEPARTMENT , The Bee Publishing Co. , Omaha.