EDSOPEAN ARMIES STRUGGLE FOR a SUPREMACY IN MILITARY SIGNALING. Devices That the Next War Will Bring Into Use. In all European armies now great atteution is being paid to the signal corps, and each nation every now and then vaunts itself over the others with the announcement of the discovery of some new method of signaling, says the New York Press. The really reliable systems of mili tary signaling are few, and none of them is exactly new. In our own army the heliograph and the "wig wag" system of flag signals are most relied upon. The captive balloon at Santiago was only a qualified success, but it has not diminished the ardor ■with whioh European powers are seeking to solve the balloon problem. The bravery and the efficient work of the signal service men in the war with Spain received high praise from all the foreign attaches and from our own Government, but Europe seems loath to take up our system of signaling. With every nation on the Continent of Europe military signalingisa military hobby, and each rides its own especial hobby hard, and spends great amounts of money on it., AH over Europe experiments are going on constantly in military signal ing. Every bright young officer and every crank regards the signal corps as the body which shall make his fame and fortune by utilizing his invention. And it would seem as if every King and Emperor and every field marshpi lay awake nights to think up sorie new invention for that branch of ihe service. No matter -what branch of tho ser vice has togo short on funds in a Eu ropean army, the signal corps gets what money it wants. That the sig nal service of an army is of the first importance is not to he denied, and our own corps will comj are in ef ficiency with any in the w >rld. But in Europe the corps is a fau. -'•5 ■WIGWAGGERS OF THE FRENCH PIONEERS. The German Emperor is credited •with haviug said the other day: "So important will be the part played by military telegraphy in the war of the future that the army having the most efficient system of signaling will hold a trump card which may be of most decisive influence on the conduct and success of the war." Another German authority says: "Electric telegraphy, with and with out wires, is a main branch of the service, and not ouly with the 'pioneers,' but with every troop, in fantry, cavalry, artillery and railroad ers. The Germau army, adhering to its principle of meeting the enemy on the latter's own territory, must needs possess greater alacrity in and better facilities for building electric tele graph lines than the French and Bus sians, the Austrians and Italians, who might be eager enough to keep war out of their own territory, but who are behind Germany in the rapidity of mobilization." Neither the German nor the other European armies rely exclusively upon the electrical telegraph, which may fail for various reasons, the priucipal one being that the ordinary com mercial lines, as well as the field lines ostablished in their stead or for the THE UPPER PICTURE REPRESENTS FLAG SIGNALING BY AUSTRIAN MOUNT AIN ARTILLERY. THE LOWER PICTURE REPRESENTS THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA USING THE HELIOGRAPH. purpose of supplementing tbem, may belliestroyed by tho enemy or the ele m ents, thus robbing the commanding general of the means for com-, municating with his subordinate com manders. The Germans, like other nations,, rely largely upon optical methods of signaling. The favorite device of this kind in the German army is the sema phore, which is made more efficient by Bedi's system of cones. The sema phore proper is quite an ancient de vice. It was first introduced by the French in 1794 for conveying in telligence from Paris to the armies on the frontier. As the illustration shows, the German army semaphore is . LIME LIGHT SIGNALS IN THE RCSEIVN ARMY. similar to oar railway signal poles and is worked by arms. There is also a telescope in the top which commands the mast at the next station. The mast can be inserted at any place. As to the cone, each one represents a number, 1, 2, 3or 4. If 1 and 4 are down, that means 5, and similar ad ditions are made with the other figures. Signals can also be given without the cone by moving the arms horizontally against the body, or by placing them in any other position agreed upon. At night lantern slides of various colors are placed in the ends of the cones. Personally the Kaiser has more faith in the captive balloon than in any other optical means for telegraph ing. The German captive balloon is furnished with means for photograph ing, and the parties in the car com municate with lliose on the ground by means of the telegraph or tele phone. For telegraphing an instru ment similar to the Morse apparatus, arranged in compact form, is used. The system is practically that used in this country. For the signal corps of the German army the brightest men of each bat talion and regiment are selected. They are thoroughly drilled in all the man oeuvres connected with the transpor tation, the erection and operating of the apparatuses. Each German signal station is manned by five privates, a non-commissioned officer and a lieu tenant. In the English army a similar num ber of signal men are employed with each company, squadron of cavalry and battery. The French employ eight instead of five men; the Bussians think four lueu of each company sufficient for the service. The French army employs as opti cal telegraph flags and lanterns. The flags are worked according to the naval code and Morse alphabet. French signalers are said to be able to execute 120 movements per minute. To sig nal the dot of the Morse alphabet the French hold up one flag. Two flags represent the dash of the Morse al phabet. After each letter there is a short pause, after each word a longer pause, the latter being accentuated by the flag being held over the head ct the signal man. If the telegram finished the signal man repeats th<} last word three times. If the doesn't understand the operator he raises a flag with his right hand to his bead. Of coarse, flag signals oan only be used in daytime. At night the lantern is employed when search and flash lights are not available. Signal lanterns are handled after the fashion of the flags, dots being marked by opening and shutting the slide respectively. A dash is marked by exposing the flame four times longer than in case of a dot. Thus dispatches cf twenty words can be for warded in a minute. The Austriaus follow the French method of signaling in all but the size and form of flags. To the standard colors of black, white, red, blue and yello'v they add green. Green plays also a part iu the Italian flag signals. The English largely employ the heliograph. By means of the helio graph trained signal men can commu nicate with each other at a distance of fifty miles, whether they have a tele scope or not. General Roberta once sent 1200 telegrams by heliograph in a single day. That was in Egypt, where the sun is very strong. The English mode of signaling by flags differs from the French in minor details, which are kept secret. But this secrecy doesn't amount to much, considering that the Britishers, like other nations, use the Morse alphabet. The Russians have adopted the French lantern system for distances from one to two miles. These lanterns are constructed on tho lines of bicycle lamps, having a bulls-eye lens, and being fed by oil. On long distances the Russians use lime light appara tuses constructed as follows: There SEMAPHORE APPARATUS IK USE IN TilE PRUSSIAN ARMY. are two tanks tilled with oxygen and hydrogen respectively. The hydrogen is lit and, the oxygen gas mingling with it, produces a colorless flame. A lime block placed in the flame is ren dered incandescent and its light, re flected from a mirror, is sent forward. The mirror is a -»owerful parabolic, resembling in shape the end of an egg. The concave portion is the re flector. This apparatus is so con trived that the beam light can be sent in all directions. The telegraphing is effected in the same way as the tele graphing with lanterns by the French. All the apparatuses described are, if possible, set up on natural or arti ficial elevations. The signal officers must also be careful to find a suitable background for their operations, so that the signals from the other side can be readily interpreted. There is, however, one great drawback to all these systems. As all armies use as a basis for their systems the Morse alphabet, friend and enemy aliko are capable of reading the messages sent out. Moo»e an<l Caribou Cemeteries. The Forest and Stream contains the following contribution from a Quebec correspondent concerning the habit moose and caribou have of going to the same place, season after season, to shed their antlers: "The idea of the animals seeking a definite place for this purpose was quite new to me, but lately the effi cient Superintendent of Gamo and Fisheries at Quebec, L. Z. .Toucas, Esq., has told me that they do fre quent such places, und that this habit was quite well known to him. He knew of many and mentioned several places where horns could almost cer tainly be found at any time. And not only do they goto shed their horns, but they go there to die. These places are known as cemeteries, and whole skeletons are occasionally found. This, however, would bo rare, as the bones would usually be torn tpart and scattered by bears and other carnivora;. "Mr. Joacas instanced the case of a gentleman going to a certain region for geological exploration, who asked for a permit to shoot a moose out of season in order to get a good pair of antlers. He was told that by diverg ing & little from his route he might reach a place where he would find plenty of them. He did so aud se cured five excellent specimens." CEMETERIES IN CUBA. There ii a Question as to Wlio Now Con trols Tltem. In most of the cities and towns of Cuba there is s content pending ovei the control of the cemeteries. During the Spanish regime the burial place; were managed and controlled by the authorities of the church. The fees 1 r—c r-» r—l □ 1 B»"LJ id □ □ fil OVENS FOR CORPSES IN A CUBAN CEME TERY. from the cemeteries formed a consid erable item in the revenues of each parish church. It cost all the way from seventy cents to 870 to secure funeral services and a burial in these consecrated grounds. Plots of ground were assigned to such families as de sired them on annual ground rent terms, or else "ovens" in the ceme tery walls, capable of containing a corpse, were assigned upon an annual rental fee. If the rent was not paid within five days of the expiration of any year the corpse was dragged out and the remains, bones aud ashes, thrown upon the "bone pile." In the cemetery at Havana when the Americans took possession of the city the dump pile contained literally millions of bones, aud thousands of whitened skulls. The American au thorities have ordered these horrible stacks of bones buried, aud this par ticular "sight" can no longer be seen in the island. Paupers have beeu buried with the slightest of earth cov ering. Some of the cemeteries are distin guished by beautiful tombs aud pieces sf memorial statuary, imported from abroad aud erected by tie richer fam ilies of the communities. Under the new order of affairs the city governments are claiming the cemeteries as municipal property and the church authorities are tenaciously pressing their title to them as the property of the church. Iu Cienfue gos the commanding general has al lowed the city authorities to take charge of the cemetery aud reform the past abuses. General Brooke, Governor of the island, has notified both parties to the controversy—the church ou the oue hand aud the city governments on the other—to submit their claims and proof in each case, aud the decision will then be finally rendered as to which is the owner of the cemeteries and entitled to control them. Volapuk l« Van lulling. Iu the later part of the seventies a, German linguist, Johanu Schleyer, was at work ou a world language—au artificial language made out of the principal languages of the earth. Iu 1879 he issued a grammar aud vocab ilary of tho lauguago to which he ;ave the name of Volapuk. Volapuk cc n - jisted of 14,000 words, of which about 1300ui'd root words, a third being taken from the English,one-fourth from the Romance, a fifth from the German aud the remainder from other languages. Its grammar was its chief advantage, being very simple aud regular through out, was designed to be a useful com mercial language. Its introduction marked the beginning of a craze. Ten years after the language was presented to the public there wero no less than twenty-three publications appearing in this tongue. Iu America a paper pub lished exclusively in this new liugowas established aud 5000 copies of "Hand book of Volapuk" were sold. But the FATTIER JOHANN SCHLEVER. (The inventor of Volapuk.) fad is dying out rather rapidly,though the activity of some of its friends, es pecially in the Volapuk academy iu Russia, show 110 signs of decreasing. The obstacles ;u the way of its becom ing a world language are numerous It is uot at all adapted to those whe speak the Polish and Hungarian lan guagss for instance; its great defl ciency was its inability to render the idiomatic expressions of the variou? living languages; while the idea of in duciug a billion and a half of human beings to give up their mother tougue for an artificial language is hardly con ceivable at this day. Tne Engli*!i Language in Cul»r«. Here ia au advertisement that ap peared the other day in a Havana paper: "This is without doubt one of the factories of first class and of the most universal credit, and wo affirm that no other has this credit with more merits, by the goodnes intelli gency and care employed in the preparetion and perfeotionment of his productions."—New York Tribuue. HINTS FOR HOUSEWIVES. Excellent • loor coverings. Colonial rugs are au excellent floot covering. They are much more dur able than the jute rugs of Japanes* design and are less expensive than tbe Smyrna rug. They come in large car pet sizes, iu small mats, hall strips, and the usual vane 1 dimensions. The colorings are good, chiefly iu negative tones, and the designs unob trusive. Ironing Embroidery. The ironing process for all kinds of embroidery is much alike. The table should be covered with a thick, soft flannel and a very smooth sheet, to admit of the embroidery sinking in it, so as to preserve it from unsightly flat tening. When there is much shrinking it is a good plan to begin by pinning the article by its edges to the ironing blanket wrong side up always. Cover all embroidered parts with a soft haud kercliief and iron quickly from the centre outward, to press the wrinkles toward the edges, where they are most easily disposed of. When the article feels dry on the wrong side, if it is linen or cotton, turn it and iron the plain surface, taking care that the iron does not touch the eiubroiuery to mark or spoil it. Th« ViiliiP of Experience. It is curious what discomforts house holds endure through the want of a trifle of common knowledge. A young matron, who has been a house keeper for three years,has had during that time but one cook. Lately, on getting a new oue, she was surprised to tind that broiling steak when prop erly managed need not mean tilling the house with the smell of burning fat. The new cook resorted to the simple and well-known expedient of opening the dampers of the range when she put the broiler on, sending, by this means, all the fumes up the chimney. "Just fancy," commen e.i the astonished housekeeper, "that for three years, owing to my inexperience and my cook's ignorance, we have been almost daily choked out and smoked out!" It is happenings like this that make advocates of a course in domestic scieuce at the women's colleges.—New York Post. Carp of the Refrigerator. The ice box should not be entrusted to the care of the cook, but should be looked after by the housewife herself- Cooks are not supposed to be suffi ciently well informed to know, for in stance, that a deadly poison is engen dered by putrefied milk, and a small quantity spiiled in the ice box and merely wiped up may mean cholera morbus and perhaps deuth to some tnember of the family. Spoiled meats aud vegetables breed the germs of typhoid and many other deadly dis eases, and a careless or hurried ser vaut is liable to overlook the timely removal of such offensive and danger ous agents. The flavor and health fulness of milk and butter are de stroyed by any bail odor of the ice box, aud become utterly unfit for use. To keep the ice box in a sanitary con dition it should be entirely emptied of its contents every day in warm weather and thoroughly cleansed. To cloanse, wash every portion of it, top, bottom, sides aud shelves—being careful of the crevices—with hot water aud soap; then wipe over quickly with strong soda water boiling hot. Wipe care fully, leave open to cool and air, re place ice aud close up to get cold be fore rearranging contents. This should be done with judgment, putting iu only such things as will not keep elsewhere, and reserving the lower shelf for milk and butter, the meats, fruits and odorless vegetables being put upon the upper shelf. The waste of ice from this method is small com pared to the waste in health caused by the abuse of this household luxury.— New York Journal. Cabbage Salad—Cut out the stalks and ribs from a teutler, white cabbage aud cut the thinnest leaves into nar row strips. Pour a mayonnaise dress ing over the cabbage aud serve. Cream Puffs—Melt a half-cupful of hot water, and while boiling, beat iu oue cupful of Hour, then -emove from the lire and cool. When cold, stir iu three unbea'en eggs, 0113 at a time. Drop quickly on tins aud bake twen ty-live minutes iu a moderate oven. Lemon Syrup—Put two cupfuls of sugar, one-halt' cupful of water and a few thin parings of the outside of lemon peel into a saucepan on the fire; stir until the sugar is all dissolved, and then let it boil, without again touching it, for twelve minutes; add the juici of half a lemon. Cucumber Sandwiches—Select a cu cumber that i< small and thin, that there may be no large seeds. Peel and slice as thinly as possible into ice water and let. stand teu minutes. Drain very dry and 1 lace between thin slices of bread which have been spread with mayonnaise dressing. Rice Slices—The day previous cook tender three-quarters of a teaeupful of rice, in ha'f milk ami water (iu all one pint), to which a bnlf-teaspoonful of salt has been added. Put to cool iu deep dish. In the morning slice aud dip in eg.; and brown on the grid dle. This makes a very nice break fast dish in the spring. Cougeiled Pudding—Half box of gelatine soaked iu half cupful of wa ter. Scald quart of milk; in this put three-fourths of a cupful of sugar, one-third cake of chocolate broken up. Stir in gelatine. When chocolate aud gelatine have dissolved set aside to cool. When slightly hard stir in a handful of raisins. Many gelatines will harden in warm weather without the use cf ice. Place the bowl in 'a deep one of cold wvter. AU these iecic<te have been tried and found de licious. A TEMPERANCE COLUMN. THE DRINK EVIL MADE MANIFEST IN MANY WAYS. The Reasons Why In Spite of the Violent Opposition of the Hindoos, the Knm Truffle Goes on Increasing In India— Clob Life Under Ideal Conditions. Dr. Franols E. Clark, President of the Christian Endeavor Union, In his "Travels la India." deals forcibly with the liquor problem in that country. It is a fact that hurdly requires mentioning that nfter Chris ilans with the Bible came to India, pro fessing Christians with whisky, gin and rum followed, and despite the violent op position of the Hindoos, the most temper ate people on earth, the trafflo in rum has gone on increasing. Dr. Clnrk, In this volume, gives one anecdote, as follows: In a Hindoo club In the environs of Ma dura the conversation turned on the tem perance question, and I wa3 obliged to blush in good earnest for the brunch of the Aryan race which I represented before my brothers of another branch. In the most perfect English—pronunciation, inflection, modulation, the best Bostonese—they com plained pathetically and bitterly of the evils of Intemperance which the Govern ment had forced upon them. "We Brahmans are teetotallers by relig ion, custom, birth and tradition," said one; "but the Government under which we live is forcing the liquor curse upon us against our will. Even when wo struggle to free ourselves, it Is no use. Our rulers think more of revenue than they do of our souls aud bodies, and would send us all to perdi tion for the sake of raising the tuxes more easily. Wo are trying to get a law passed to prohibit the sale of liquor in any district where throe-fourths of the people of the district or city ward petition against It. But even that the officials will not allow, and our country will bo cursed by liquor, we fear, In spite of all." "But what happens," said I, "when a Brahman drinks Intoxicating liquor?" "He is excommunicated at once," was the prompt reply, "If It Is known. No Brah man drinks Intoxicants except in a secret and underhanded way." "But do you mean to say that no liquors or wines are sold or drunk In your club?" I Inquired again. "That is just what we mean," they re plied. "No drop of liquor ever has been sold, or ever shall be sold, so long as we are In control. In fact, the question that is agitating the club now Is whether bot tled lemonade aud soda-wuter shall bo sold, and after a warm discussion it has been de cided by a large majority in the negative. We do not wish to introduce foreign drinks of any kind. Soda Is associated with whisky and brandy, and we will not have the taint of a saloon about our club. Coffee and tea nre good enough for us." When I said good-by to my hospitable temperance hosts, they asked me to write a sentiment in their club book. My senti ment was,"l rejoice that there is one club on the face of the earth where liquor is not sold, one clubhouse that does not rook with the fumes of wine and tobacco." The Making ot a .Han. I want to tell you a true story to-day about u young man who became famous. Like many another poor fellow, he was u slave of the fearful habit of drink. This is the story: One day when a rich aud talented young lndy of Itichmond, Va., was out driving, she came upon a young man who lay be side the road, drunk. Moved by pity, she alighted from her carriage and placed her handkerchief over the young man's face, then continued her ride. Some days later the young man called to see her, and said, "I am ashamed to look you In the face. lam the man you sn kindly enred for the other day. I found your name on the handkerchief, and have come to thank you for your kindness. I have signed the pledge. With my hand on my mother's Bible, I have sworn, God be ing mv helper, that I will never drink an other drop of Intoxicating liquor." He kept his pledge. Ills rescuer became his wife. He was a young man of rare talents, and it was not long before ho be came widely known as a brilliant writer His name was William Wirt. Ho became the Attorney-General of the United States, and was once nominated for the Presi dency. This little act gave to America ono of hei greatest lawyers.—Christian Inquirer. A Significant Fact. What a measure of significant meaning lies In tlie fact that so often in times oi emergency and peril, as in the case of riots and other public disturbance, one of the first acts of the authorities is to order the closing of all the saloons. This has been done repeatedly in the mining regions in recent years when riotous proceedings were on foot, and a similar measure has been adopted at various times by our military comnuindors in Cuban cities. But if the saloon fills such a necessary place in tbo life of the world as some would have us believe. If it is, on the whole, an institution that ought to be licensed and tolerated generally, why should Its Influence be so feared and dreaded in times of public peril? If It has an Inherent aud legitimate place In the natural order of things, why should its operations be suspended at any time or anywhere? If the saloon works any good in times of peace, why not in times of war? We pause fore reply. The Secret Drinker. The secret drinker is no doubt injured in the same way as otheis, and his foolish ef forts to conceal this act intensifies the in jury, which after a time breaks out in some unexpected form, ending fatally. The sudden, unexpected death of persons pre viously supposed to be well, has in many cases revealed the faot of secret spirit drinking of many years' duration, with de struction of vitality and general decadence. Life insurance companies are often aware of this fact, and appeal for help, but it la exceedingly difficult to convict or prove secret drinking In a man with a largo In surance, and more difficult after death to bring out this fact. Tho law in these cases will seldom allow presumptive evidenco; it must be direct and positive of the use ol spirits. Unmistakable insanity is present in some cases, seen in the usunl cuuniui; and wise calculation to procure spirits and conceal its effects.—Christian Work. Notes of the Crusade. Tho saloon bird may bo known by Its nest aud nestlings. It is reported that more than 2000 sa loons have been established In Cuba since the closo of the war. Tolstoi, we are told, is ateototlar and n TBgeterlan, He nover takes tea, coffee, butter, eggs, milk, cheese or sugar. There were 79,955 convictions of men and 30,784 convictfons of women fot drunkenness in Englund and Wales last year. The German Association Against the Misuse of Spirituous Drinks has issued a circular to the student 9 of Germany ask ing that the compulsion in the corps and vereln9 to drink beer be done away with. The principles of teetotalism appear to be making way steadily in Scotland, not withstanding tho enormous waste of ex penditure which still goes on in Intoxicat ing drinks among the working classes. The woman who doos not understand the art of making over her last year's bon net should never marry a drunkard to re form him. Frances E. Willard made herself popular by doing unpopular things, and she made unpopular things popular because she did them. It has been judiolally decided in Geor gia that saloons may not legally open their doors after the polls we closed on election day. _ __ -
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers