A shortage of 100,000 tons of wheat
in one state alone—California—is the
ill-wind which will blow good to the
other wheat states.
The Spaniards now accuse us of
firing petroleum bombs at their ships,
which they think was very unfair. We
cannot please the Spaniards. Had
Dewey shot soap bubbles at them they
would have complained of the tints,
declares the Chicago Inter Ocean.
The United Bible Societies' Com
mittee of Japan issued last year, 2557
Bibles, 12,222 Testaments, and 43,034
"portions." Is this one of the reasons
accounting for the fact that Japan is
showing so many signs of activity as
a national power, asks the New York
Observer.
In his annual message Mayor Carter
H. Harrison congratulated the people
of Chicago upon the fact that track
elevation has already eliminated much
of the danger of grade crossings, and
is "doing away with the ringing of
bells and the gentle midnight whisper
ings of the industrious locomotive."
The rate of interest in the savings
banks of France is 3 1-4 per cent.,
and the last statistics published show
an aggregate deposit of 3680,003,000.
More than half the depositors are
women, mostly belonging to the work
ing classes, and of all the adult inhab
itants of France one in four is a de
positor.
Dr. Toulouse believes that strong
emotional faculty and vivid imagina
tion are signs of mental derangement.
In a recent lecture he advised all peo
ple who, like the author aud artist,
live by their emotions to be extreme
ly cautious in dealing with the ner
vous system. Outdoor exercise of all
kinds he upholds—the bicycle espe
cially. He believes that cycling in
moderation and in the country has a
soothing influence on the brain, the
fresh air and exercise brushing away
the ill effects produced by a morbid
aud weakened condition of the nerves.
Spain's unpreparedness for war,
because she believed war would not
come, was confessed by Minister
Moret in his speech in the Cortes,says
the New York Post. Surely never was
nation less ready for the appeal to the
sword. With finances toppling, with
a government uncertain what a day
might bring forth, with an army at
home in open discontent, and iu Cuba
depleted by terrible losses, with the
fleet poorly equipped and poorly
drilled, Spain yet fronted war in the
spirit of the sad remark made by a
prominent Spanish public man to M.
Benoist, "We do not know how to gov
ern or to organize in peace or war, but
we know how to die." The ineffective
valor of the Spanish sailors at Manila
deserves the plaudits it has received.
Caught unprepared iu a way that
eeens to argue almost criminal negli
gence on the part of the Spanish ad
miral—it is asserted that his ships
had not even steam up—the men
fought with a bravery that nothi but
death could quench.
Some remarkable figures concern
ing the growth of libraries were given
by Sir John Lubbock in his address
at the opening of the international
library conference at London. The
movement to establish public libraries
did not fairly begin in England till
1857, between which year and 1860
15 were opened under the provis
ions of the public libraries act. In
the next decade the number was in
creased by 45, from 1877 to 1886 by
G2, and since then by no fewer thar
190. In London itself almost nothing
was done before 1887, but since that
time 321 libraries have been estab
lished. About 350 places in England,
containing half its population, have
now adopted the public library act,
and the number of books in these
libraries is about 5,000,000. The an
nual issues being 27,000,000, and the
attendance 60,000,000. It should be
remembered that many libraries, iu
cluding that of the British Museum,
with its 2,000,000 volumes, are not in
cluded in this list, not being estab
lished under the public libraries act
In spite of the fact that the libraries
in this country contain 11,090,003
volumes, it would seem that in pro
portion to population the English
have the larger number of books.
The English colonies also make a
very good showing, Australia having
844 public libraries, with 1,400,000
volumes; New Zealand 298, with 330,-
000 volumes; while the Canadian li
braries contain over 1,500,(100 vol
ames. These figures are, perhaps
the surest test of the advance of civil
ization that can be obtained. Doubt
less people may abuse tlieir opportu
nities when libraries are provided foi
them, but it can no longer be saiO
that the ample page of knowledge
uot unfolded to their eyes.
The many new born babies now be
ing christened Dewey will be a mighty
proud lot when they get old enough
to understand why they were so
named.
Commodore Dewey, of Manila fame,
is one of the not very numerous class
of seamen who feel at home both at
equestrian and aquatic pursuits, since
he can ride a horse as well as he can
Pacific billows. These two styles of
navigation require distinct kinds of
ability.
A number of Spanish officers are
adorned with such names as O'Farrel,
O'Donnel, O'Brien and the like. The
explanation is that their ancestors
were in the Battle of the Boyne. But
by this time the original Irish wit has
seemingly become pretty well evapo
rated out of these Spaniards by adop
tion.
The people of Atlanta, Ga., are
felicitating themselves upon the prom
ise of a Chicago capitalist to invest
8225,000 in a shoe factory in their
town, to employ some 8000 hands.
They say he has a valuable new pro
cess for making shoes for men aud
women. The plan contemplates the
establishment of a tannery at Chatta
nooga, Tenn.
Says ,the Savannah News: An un
toward incident of the war is the fact
that every amateur poet in the coun
try feels inspired with a divine injunc
tion to write something which, if it
should not be adopted as the national
battle hymn, would become immortal
as a fervid expression of the national
spirit in the crisis. Unfortunately,
the time has now passed when poetry
can be used as gun wadding. The
modern gun is a breech loaler. .
American agricultural machinery has
seemingly become very popular with
the people of South Africa, according
to the American Machinist, and the
five years just ended show a very sat
factory increase of this business there.
American [harvesters and reapers are
coming into general use, and, while
a few years ago, we only sold to that
market the cheaper and heavier classes
of implements, today we are introduc
ing our higher priced and better grades
of goods very successfully.
According to an English weekly
journal it is estimated by a compe
tent foreign authority that only 900
persons out of 1,000,000 die from
old age, while 1200 succumb to
gout, 18,400 to measles, 2700 to apo
plexy, 7000 to erysipelas, 7500 to con
sumption, 48,000 to s.arlet fever,
25,000 to whooping-cough, 30,000 to
typhoid and typhus and 7000 to rheu
matism. The averages vary according
to locality, but these are considered
accurate as regards the poj ulation ol
the globe as a whole.
It is said that the statesmen and
scholars of China are many of them
studying the Bible because it is the
classic of Christian countries. While
in former years the questions asked
candidates for literary degrees have
been limited to Chinese literature, the
Pekin examination board has this year
taken some of its questions from the
Old Testament, which is now recom
mended as a text-book. A new im
pulse appears to have been recently
given in China to the study of West
ern literature, science and polities.
Perhaps from an acquintance with
the Bible as literature some of these
Chinese savants will pass to a knowl
edge of it as life.
The signalling of weather indica
tions to Western farmers by flags on
the fast railroad trains suggested the
idea of conveying war news to these
people by the same method. The Cni
cago, Rock Island & Pacific, tlif
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the
Chicago & Northwestern, the Illinois
Central, and the Baltimore & Ohio,
have signified a willingness to partici
pate in the plan. It is contemplated
to give only the meagre information
of a victory for American er Spanish
arms, though the signals will show
whether the victory is on laud or OD
sea. A United States flag will mean
a victory for American land forces. A
United States flag with a blue pen
nant above will show a victory for the
American navy. No Spanish flag will
be used. To indicate a Spanish victory
on land, a parti-colored flag will be dis
played, and to indicate a -Spanish vie
tory on the water a blue pennant will
be flown above the parti-colored b'int
ing. The notion is that the farmet
living a dozen miles from town will be
interested in this kind of information,
and will feel grateful at being able to
get the news without the necessity of
losing time in driving to town. Thf
likelihood is that the farmer after see
ing the flag-signal of a battle, will
shift the horses from the plow to a
light wagon and start on a hunt for a
daily paver.
CUPID'S BOW.
DOWB in the gloaming, where the river Down in the gloaming tripped a merry little
makes a bend lass,
There in the lane so narrow, Picked up che bow and arrow,
Cnpid is wandering, bis bow to mend. Pointed it straight and stood in the grass.
And sharpening the point of bis arrow. In a pat.:h of moonlight narrow.
B!ng helgho! when he lets it go, Sing heigbo! wben she lets it go,
Be sure that the mark it will not pass by, Be sure that the mark it will not pass by;
For deep in each heart may be found the For deep in his heart she will send that
dart dart;
W'hioh Cupid sent when his bow let fly. "Go straight," she said, as the bow lot fly.
Down in the gloaming, when the stars were Ah, little Cupid, metblnks the tale is told,
shining bright, You are In for a time of sorrow;
Banishing gloom and sorrow. He who lays a trap, like the folks of old,
Cupid strayed in a sad and dismal plight, Will be caught himself tomorrow.
And longed for the coming morrow. Sing heigho! as your arrows go,
Sing telgho! for his bow he has let go. But be sure that your heart is safe, you
It has fallen in tho grass at his feet; elf,
And his thoughts have flown to a love of his Or the story of old by you will be told,
own. And your bow will be used to shoot your-
Whom tomorrow ho hopes to meet. self.
—lda Howe, In Madame.
112 A TUNNEL*.®*
"Miss Alice! Miss Alice! will ye be
afthur coinin' upstairs? An' sure
she's dead intirely this time!" cried
the frightened servant girl, rushing
out on the piazza, where Alice Austin
stood looking anxiously down the
road.
Alice hurried upstairs and found
her Bister-in-law lyiug still and white
on the floor.
"Bring me some water and the salts
from the bureau, Betty; she has only
fainted," said Alice, kneeling beside
the prostrate form.
Iu a few minutes Mrs. Austin opened
her eyes aud said feebly:
"Has Edward come home yet? I
feel so strangely sick!"
"We will send for the doctor pres
ently, Margaret, when wo get you to
bed. Ned will be home soon, I hope,"
aud with Betty's assistance Alice
lifted the slight form on the bed.
Three weeks before Eddie Austin,
tho two-year-old idol of the house
hold, had disappeared, and all search
for him had proved fruitless. As the
days passed on hope gave way to
despair, and the lieart-brokeu mother,
weighed down by anxiety and the
cruel torture caused by false reports
of the discovery of her boy, sank into
a state of apathy bordering on insan
ity. Daily was the cry heard through
the streets of the little village of Fair
field: "Child lost! Child lost! Large
rewards offered!" till all hearts sick
ened at the sound.
Mothers kept their little ones within
doors, dreading far less the entrance
of the Dark Angel than that fiends in
human form should steal their house
bold treasure to gratify a merciless
passion of avarice.
"Betty, you will have to take oue
of the girls and go for the doctor,"
whispered Alice, iu alarm, as she no
ticed a gray pallor, creeping over the
wan face on tho pillow.
"An' shure, miss, none of 'e:n be
home but meself. And oh, Miss Alice,
I niver can walk alone to Fairfield
this dark, dark night."
The girl looked so frightened at the
bare prospect of going that Alice said,
after a pause:
"Well, Betty, then I shall have to
go, and you must stay with Mrs. Aus
tin. If Mr. Austin returns before I
do, tell him I have gone by way of the
tuunel," she added, putting on her
hat and walking jacket.
"The saints deliver us! For Hiven's
sake, don't ye be goin' be the tuunel,
Miss Alice!" exclaimed Betty, implor
ingly.
"Don't be frightened," replied
Alice, smiling. "No train will pass
for an hour, and it shortens my walk
nearly a mile. It is just (5 o'clock
now, and I shall be home a little after
7," and, giviug the girl some partiug
injunctions about her sister, Alice ran
downstairs. Opening her brother's
escritoire in the library, she took
from a private drawer a small pocket
revolver and, opening the front door,
stepped out into the darkness.
It was a damp, cold night in No
vember. The wind moaned drearily
through the leafless trees, and heavy
clouds chased each other across the
heavens, obscuriug the moon. Cross
ing the road, Alice walked a short dis
tance and, clambering over a stone
wall,found herself in the narrow strip
of wood which bordered the railroad
cut. Following the narrow, beaten
path through the trees, she soon
reached the edge of the ravine, 15 or
20 feet above the track. The path
continued its windings down the side
of the cut, but the way was stony and
in mauv places dangerous. The dark
ness, too, prevented anything like
rapid progress.
She finally reached the bottom of
the ravine and had crossed to the
right hand track, when a low sound
among the bushes above her caused
the cold drops to spring out oil her
forehead and almost stopped her
heart's beating. Quickly crouching
down under an overhanging rock she
listened. Nothing was heard save
the soughing of the wind and the faint
ripple of a tiny rill running down
among the bushes near her. Sudden
ly the bushes overhead were stirred,
aud a stone fell directly iu front of
her. She scarcely dared to breathe,
but crouched under the rock with her
hand clasped tightly in her breast.
The tunuel was but a few rods beyond
her, but she dared not move.
"I'd like to know how much longer
yer going to keep up this confounded
tramp, Pete Johnson. It's been
nothin' but marchin' and counter
marchin' this whole cursed day," said
a low, coarse voice among the bushes.
"Why did yer enter into the bar
gain if yer goin' to back out so soon?"
muttered another man, with an oath.
, "Well, I'd be satisfied with half the
ten thousand, for I'm nigh done up
•with these three weeks' work," Baid
the first one.
"An' I tell ye I'll niver give him up
till I git the whole twinty thousand.
Tb* father's rich, and its twintr thou
sand dollars or the mother'll never
see her swate darlin' agiu."
A brutal laugli grated upon the
girl's ears; then the first speaker
whispered:
"I reckon she'll uiver know lier
boy in this little bag of bones, though
me arms is wore out wid carryin' him
the last three hours."
Alice could scarcely believe what
her ears had heard. Her brain reeled,
and she nearly fell from the rocky
ledge on which she sat as the truth
dawned upon her. Her brother's child,
her golden-haired little pet, was just
within her grasp, but two brutal men
kept watch over him. As she began
to realize the danger of her position,
her mind became clearer, and she re
solved, at all hazards, to rescue him.
She heard the men step back some
distance from the bushes,and then all
was still. She waited a few minute*,
and then, with the pistol grasped
tightly in her hand,she crept stealthily
out of her hiding place and struck a
narrow path which led to the top of the
bluff. She knew the way, and the
darkness favored her ascent. Reach
ing the summit, she looked cautiously
around. The clouds had parted, and
the faint shimmer of moonlight
through the trees enabled lier to ob
serve her surroundings distinctly. A
few feet beyond were the two men
stretched out on the gYound, their
figures partially concealed by the
trunks of two lar* j trees an 1 a clu up
of bushes. Between them Alice saw
a little baby form with its gol.lea head
pillowed on the cold, damp grass.
Creeping along behind the bushes
she reached oue of the trees, and,
standing behind it, she waited for
some minutes, hesitating what to do.
The stertorous breathings of the men
convinced her that fatigue had steeped
their senses and that they would not
readily awaken. If she should be
successful in seizing the child, she
could jiot return by the way she came.
With Eddie in her arms she never
could scale the precipitous side of the
cut, followed, as she probably would
be, by two relentless pursuers.
Again, if she should seek the sliel •
ter of the tunnel, the down express
train would soon pass through, and an
up train would follow but 10 or 15
minutes later. She resolved, never
theless, to take the latter course, and,
with this decision made she prepared
to carry out her plans. Passing
swiftly round the bushes, she stood
before the sleepiug group. The
moon at that instant shone out bright
ly and fell upon the white,pinched face
of the child. Not a moment was to be
lost. Grasping the pistol more firmly,
she glided between the men, and seiz
ing Eddie, she sprang past them, but
iu so doing struck the foot of one of
the ruffians. Darting up, he saw the
slight figure running swiftly down the
path. He sprang forward, awakening
his companion, and, with muttered
curses, they followed in hot pursuit.
With the child clasped closely to her
heart, Alice sped down the rocky
pathway. She heard the men close
behind her; stones were hurled at her,
and one struck her shoulder. Terror
lent wings to her feet, and she soon
reached the track, along which she
flew and entered the tunuel. On —on
she sped; but her breath came quick
and sbort, for her strength was fail
ing. She heard the heavy pantings of
oue close behind her. She almost
felt his hot breath. Hugging the lit
tle form more tightly to her breast
and with a despairing prayer for help,
she ran on. A rude hand clutched
her shoulder, and, with a shriek that
rau through the tunuel, she turned
and faced her pursuer like a wounded
animal at bay, raised her pistol and
fired. With a yell of rage and pain,
the man leaped into the air and then
fell with a heavy thud on the track
beside her. Alice breathed more free
ly and ran on, though with feebler
steps,through the darkness. Sudden
ly a low, rumbling sound smote upon
her ear,and toward the opening of the
tunnel she saw a faiut light glimmer
in the distance. Nearer and nearer it
came, and then the horrible truth
flashed upon her. It was the head
light of a locomotive, and she knew
that the 7 o'clock express train was
thundering down tho track.
Faint and bewildered, the horror
stricken girl had lost her reckoning.
She knew not on which track she was
and stood staring with terror-strained
eyes as the thundering mass came
tearing down the rail. Its great red
eye lit up the black walls of the tunnel
with a fearful glare. Still the girl
moved not; fright had chained her to
the spot. The monster was close
upon her; she heard its horrible breath
ings. Was she on the right, track?
The roar of a Niagara deafened her,
and, with a shriek of despair, she fell
senseless to the grouud.'
Mrs. Austin fell as'eep soon after
Alice's departure. Seven o'clock
came, and Betty bega I to be alarmed,
iAt that iustant the bell raus. Rush
ing down stairs she opened the door,
and Mr. Austin stepped into the hall,
accompanied by a stranger.
"How is Mrs. Austin?" asked the
former, anxiously,
"An' shure she's asleep, sir But
oh, Mis 3 Alice —hiv ye seen Miss
Alice?"
"No; where is she?"
"An' oh, she wint nfthur tho doc
tor, sir, and she wint be the tunnel;
an' I'm shure she's kilt,for the thrain's
jest afther goin' by I" cried Betty, ex
citedly.
"Good heavens! the tunnel!" ex
claimed Austin, turning white.
"Yes, sir. She said it was shorter
that way," sobbed the girl.
"Hush! Get my lantern, Betty,
while I run upstairs. I'll be down
directly Dana," turning to the fine
looking man he had brought with
him.
He burred to his wife's room, pressed
a kiss upou her white brow and re
turning to the hall took the lantern
from Betty, saying:
"Don't leave Mrs. Austin an instant.
We may be absent some time, but you
need not be alarmed."
The two gentlemen did not utter a
word as they left the house, but fol
lowing the path through the woods
clambered down the cut and entered
the tunnel, swinging the lantern right
and left as they walked on. Suddenly
Daua stopped. Directly in his path
lay a dark heap. Throwing the light
of the lantern upou it, the gentlemen
stooped and then started back with an
exclamation of horror, for before them
lay a bleeding, mangled, shapeless
mass of human flesh and bones.
"Some poor fellow has gone to his
doom," muttered Dana, striding away
from the sickening spectacle.
They had walked some distance fur
ther when a deep groan broke the
ghastly silence of the tunnel. Flash
ing the lantern on the other side of
the track, Dana discerned another
man's form close to the dripping wall.
As he was about to raise him, Austin
uttered a hoarse cry, and, springing
forward, the two men stood over the
prostrate form of a woman between
the tracks. A pistol lay on the ground
beside her, which Austin instantly
recognized as his own. He trembled
so violently that Dana pushed him
one side and raised the slight form.
As he did so, his companion bounded
past him and in a voice iu which joy,
pain and incredulity were blended
cried out:
"Oh, my boy, my precious boy!
She has found my Eddie!" and he
caught the little form to his heart
aud fairly sobbed aloud.
"Oh, heaven, he is dead! Gerald,
look at him!" and the father's eyes
burned with anguish as he looked on
the white baby face pillowed upon his
breast.
Dana laid Alice on the ground and
looked earnestly at the child.
"Cheer up, Ned. The little fellow
has been drugged. Listen; his heart
beats!" and, putting his ear down, he
heard the faint flutteriugs which told
of the spark of life still remaining in
the wasted form.
"And Alice, is she—"
"She is in a swoon, and the sooner
we get her to the doctor's the better.
It is quite evident that she was pur
sued by those scoundrels while rescu
ing your child, and that fellow yonder
has somewhere in his body a ball from
this pistol," picking it up as he
spoke.
Lifting the insensible girl in his
strong arms, Dana strode down the
track,followed closely by Austin, who
held his boy wrapped warmly under
his coat. After some minutes' walk
they were out of the tuunel and
reached the depot, where they drove
directly to a doctor's. For an hour
Alice lay insensible in the doctor's
office, aud when she opened her eyes
Austin whispered in alarm:
"Why does she look so strangely,
doctor?"
"There has been such a terrible
strain on her nervous system that I
fear she may have an attack of brain
fever unless a reaction takes p!-ice,"
he replied with some anxiety. "A
good hearty cry would do her more
good than any of mv remedies."
"Let her see the child. That baby's
face ought to be enough to melt a
heart of adamant," said Daua, com
passionately.
Austin laid Eddie beside her. She
looked at the little, white, emaciated
face with a troubled, sorrowful ex
pression for an instant and then,
clasping her a"ins tightly around the
child, burst into a passionate, uncon
trollable flood of tears.
By this time the news of the child's
rescue had spread like wildfire through
the town. Bells were rung, bonfires
lighted, and men, women ami children
rushed to the doctor's house,crowding
the street and sidewalks. The entire
village had turned out, and yards,
doorways and stoops were alive with
au excited populace. The crowd was
clamoring to see the little hero of
the hour, and cries for "Eddie Aus
tin" filled the air.
"Ned, you will liav to take him on
the stoop to satisfy them," said Dana,
as the shouts and cries were re
doubled.
Aus.in took tho child out on the
steps, and as the bright light of the
torches fell upon them, cheer after
cheer rent the air. When the father
raised the little inanimate form so
that all could see it, the excitement
and enthusiasm knew no bounds.
Women cried aloud for joy, boys
shrieked and hurrahed, aud many a
tear coursed down the hard, weatliT
beaten cheeks of stalwart men 1 • the
crowd. Alice stood beside her
brother, leaning on Dana's arm, but,
overcome with agitation, was led back
faiutiug to the sofa.
Roused to indiguatiou by the sight,
some one shouted out: "Death to the
child-stealer!" In an instant the
cry was caught up by the excited
♦ iii-nni' «vl«r> frantic baate
toward the railroad. Dragging tht
wounded man from the tunnel, they
would have lynched him on the spot
had not Dana, with the sheriff and one
or two others,arrived to prevent them.
The wretch was groveling on the
ground in an agony of pain and ter
ror. With haggard face and blood
shot eyes he looked up and cried
ftlond for mercy, but he saw no pity
in the white, inexorable faces sur
rounding him. A rope was around
his neck, he was dragged to a tree;
when Dana hurried to the spot.
"Untie that rope!" he demanded,
sternly.
"We'll string him up to high lieav
en first!' answered an angry voice
near him.
"However deserving the fellow may
be of death, it is not for you to take
the law into your own hands," replied
Dana.
'The deuce take the law and you,
too! What right have you to inter
fere between that man and justice?"
said the man,clinching his lists threat
eningly.
The excitement had now reached a
fever heat. The crowd had quickly
gathered around Dana, who stood be
side the wounded man; threats and
curses were freely hurled against
both, and the state of affairs began to
look alarming.
"If the man is guilty he has a right
to be tried, aud I'll shoot the first one
of you who dares to touch him!" said
Dana, coolly.
Hia quiet, commanding tone, and
still more the menacing gleam of the
pistol he made no effort to conceal,
quelled the tumult, and the miserable
man was carried to the village jail,
followed by an angry, hooting crowd,
clamorous for his death.
An hour later Eddie Austin was in
his mother's arms. For days death
hovered over the darkened home,
threatening to carry away first one
and then the other. But when over
the little village of Fairfield the sun
shone brightly, it smiled, too, upon
the happiest homo in all the land.
For a golden-haired boy, with rosy
cheeks, was playing near his mother's
chair, and Margaret looked up with a
proud, happy smile to her husband's
face as the little fellow laughed in
baby glee and rolled and tumbled
over the good-natured hound who lay
stretched on the rug before the blaz
ing wood fire. —New York News.
UUAINT AND CURIOUS.
The Spanish Armada consisted ol
132 ships, 3165 cannon, 8766 sailors,
2088 galley slaves, 21,855 soldiers,
1355 volunteers.
The l'rincess of Wales has a pair ol
opera glasses of platinum set with
rubies, sapphires aud turquoises and
valued at £2OOO.
Reed pens, split at the end like
quill j hp, have been found in Egyp
tian tombs, dating probably 2600
years before Christ.
The largest theatre iu the world is
the Grand Opera House of Paris. It
covers more than three acres of ground
and cost 63,000,00€ francs.
Goldtisli are of Chinese origin.
They were originally found in a large
lake near Mount Tsientsing aud were
first brought to Europe in the seven
teenth century. The first in France
came as a present to Mine, de Pompa
dour.
Chauncey Osborne and his brothel
John, aged residents of Nuda, Livings
ton county, are happy in the owner
ship of a sweet-toned violin made by
Oaylord Duffio in Italy in 1527. It
has been in the possession of their
family for 140 years.
A man died recently in a town not
far from Philadelphia with the remark
able record of having been injured
twenty-five times in railroad accidents.
Some of his injuries were very seri
ous, yet he lived to a good old age
and died from natural causes.
A man who went to do some gas
fitting in a Baptist church in Hones
dale, Pa., fell into the baptismal pool,
which had been tilled for Sunday,and,
not knowing how to swim, would have
been drowned had not the sexton
heard his cries and rescued him.
It is stated that the most crowded
spot on the earth's surface is the "Man
deragia," in the city of Valetta, in
Milau. Upon a spot in this place
about two aud a half acres in extent
no fewer than 2574 live. This is at
the rate of 536,000 a square mile, or
1017 to an acre.
A cultivator in Auliervilliers,France,
found a superb Lycoperdon,commonly
known as the puff ball. It measured
two metres (over six and one-half feet)
around. Iu order to develop it well,
its owner covered it with muslin and
watered it three times daily. Fresh
puff balls are eaten cooked.
The sugar crop of the world amounts
in a normal year to about 8,000,000
tons, of which the larger part, about
4,500,000 tons, comes from beets, and
the remainder, 3,500,000 tons, fron)
sugar cane. Of the latter the largest
proportion comes from the West In
dies, and a large amount from the
Island of Java.
In the reign of Edward 111 there
were at Bristol, England, three broth
ers who were eminent clothiers and
woolen weavers, and whose family
name was Blanket. They were the
first persons who manufactured that
comfortable material, which has ever
since been called by their name, and
which was then used for peasants'
clothing.
A Mixed Nationality-
The Duke of Manchester, who at
tained his majority on March 3, is half
English, a quarter German and a
quarter Spanish. His father, whom
he succeeded in 1892, at the age of
fifteen, was English; his grandmother,
now Duchess of Devonshire, is a Ger
man; while his mother is a Cuban
Spaniard,