S Famous Monarchs That Rivaled the Mighty Samson. AMAZING FEATS OF MUSCLE. Tha Emperor Maximianus Could Lift Three Men With On Hand Augus tus the Strong of Saxony Carried a ; Horse and Itc Rider on Hie Back. Curiously enough, n large percentage of the notably strong men of history have been of royal blood. One of the earliest of theoe royal athletes was Maxlwluuus, called "Mnxlininnus ller tules" because of his great strength, lie was the son of a peasant and hud an enormous physique, lie became a common soldier and was flnully mudo emperor by acclaim -of his fellow sol diers (luring n stormy period of Ilo man history. Mnxlmliuius' strength " was prodi gious. It was said that on foot he could run down a fox, that he could lift three men with one hand and that by ''pplng the wheel of a chariot with one finger be could resist the pull of three horsos. Like most men of great physical strength, Maxlintanus was n heavy eater. History records that his daily allowance was forty pounds of meat and eighteen bottles of .wine. . Augustus the Strong of Saxony was another of these royal Samsons. He would often seize two of his courtiers, grasping one with his right hand and another with his left, holding them up at arm's length and playfully twirling them about. On one occasion the horse ridden by one of his attendants became balky and refused to budge. .After some mili tates of coaxing the king dismounted, placed his Herculean shoulder under tho horse's chest, grasping It by the fore legs, and calmly walked away with both horse and rider. This re markable performance was witnessed by a number of courtiers and attend ants. King Richard of England ("Coeur de Lion") had tremendous strength. Dur ing his captivity In Germany he gave a terrible demonstration of his physical powers. The son of one of the ward ens was a youth locally renowned for his muscular strength and In his as surance Invited the royal captive to an exchange of buffets. The youug man by a cast of the dice won the right to tho first stroke and struck the king a staggering blow on the side of the bead. It was thon the king's turn, and be landed a blow just behind his op ponent's ear so heavy that the man was Instantly killed. This Incident is used in Sir Walter Scott's famous historical novel "Ivan ooe," where King Richard, the "Black Knight," and the Jolly outlaw Friar Tuck have an exchange of buffets, without, however, any fatal result. Dom Pedro I, emperor of Brazil, Is also on the list of royal strong men. On the occasion of a carnival be ar ranged matters so that he was stand ing on the bow of the royal barge be tween two of bis stateliest courtiers. Suddenly in the midst of the festivities the king reached out, grasped a court ier with each hand, and, after holding them for a few moments squirming in the air and bogging to be released, he ' relaxed his grip and allowed them to drop plump into tho water, amid the frantic applause of the huge crowd that had assembled to view their monarch.- The king joined heartily in the general hilarity, but what the drenched courtiers thought about this exquisite Joke is not recorded. Teter the Great of Russia, like Char lemagne, possessed great physical as well as mental power. His years of work as blacksmith and ship carpen ter had so developed a naturally pow erful physique that he was believed to be the strongest roan in Russia. The story is told that a certain blacksmith in a little country towu had boasted that he was the only black smith in the world who could lift his own anvil. The emperor, hearing of the blacksmith's boast, disguised him self as a workman and with a single companion set out for the blacksmith's irlllage. On learning qf their errand aside his tools and, grasping the anvil avith his brawny hands, lifted it, with great effort about a foot from the floor. Then Peter took hold of the anvil, talsed it a foot, two feet, three, higher and higher, till he finally swung it to bis shoulder and calmly walked away with it Charlemagne was said to be the most powerful man physically of his time. One of his favorite feats of strength teas to break the heaviest horseshoe by gripping it with one hand. . A worthy successor of Peter the Great was the late Czar Alexander III.. ,who was one of the strongest men In the world. He was often called "the Russian Samson.".. The czar's regular .visiting card was a Russian coin some what ' larger than our silver quarter, which he would bend almost double with his powerful fingers. Alexander was also fond of breaking horseshoes," and It is said he -sever found, one he could not break In two. He could take two fresh packs of cards and by gripping the' ends wlth. his hands tear them straight down through the middle.' ? ; . - ' It 13 said that on one occasion's, wo-, man companion expressed a wish for a bouquet bolder, in .which, to place a large bunch of roses. ' The czar, took a pewter tankard from' a table nearby and with a few movements of his pow erful hands fashioned It Into a rough bat picturesque and quite efficient bou quet holder.-W. R. C. Latson la New York Tribune. L THE WITCH'S CURSE. . V A Bucksport Legend of Colonial Daya In Maine. Close by the road on the outskirts of the old seaport town of Uuckspurt. on the Penobscot river, Is a small family cemetery. Within Its inclosure sleep the Bucks, the blue blooded folk who first settled the town and bequeathed it their name and a legeud. The largest and most conspicuous monument in the cemetery is a tall granite shaft, which Is In plain sight of the highway. On one side Is the In script Ion: "Col. John Buck, the Founder of Bucksport, A. D. 1702. Born In Haverhill, Mass., 1718. Died March 18. 1705." .. On the other side Is the single word "Buck," and also something not wrought by the marble worker. On the smooth surface of the pedestul Is a curious outline, which can be easily Imagined to be a foot of normal size. Tho people who say that it Is a foot believe in the legend which' has oft been told in Bucksport. The story is that Colonel Jonathan Buck wns a very harsh man and the loading spirit In his day and genera tion. He was the highest In civil au thority,' and his word was law In the community in which be resided. He was an out and out Purltun, nnd to him witchcraft was the Incarnation of blasphemy. Thus, so the story goes, when a certain woman was accused of witchcraft, at the first clamorlugs of the populace Colonel Buck ordered that she be imprisoned, fthd later she was sentenced to be executed as a witch. The execution day came, and the woman went to the gallows, cursing her Judge with such terrible words that the people Bbuddcred, but the magistrate stood unmoved. All was ready, and the hangman wns about to perform his duty, when the woman turned to Colonel Buck, and, raising one hand toward heaven, she said: "Jonathan Buck, listen to these words, the last my tongue shall utter. It is the spirit of the only living God which bids mo speak to you. You will soon die, and over your grave they will erect a stone, that all may know the spot where your bones lie and crumble to dust. "Upon that stone the imprint of my foot shall appear, and for all time, aft er your accursed race has vanished from the face of the earth, will tho people from far and near know thnt you murdered a woman." She then turned to her executioners, and another act transpired to make a part of American colonial history. The "witch curse" had been almost forgot ten until the monument was erected to the founder of Bucksport. It had been in position hardly a month when a faint outline was discov ered on It. It grew more and more dis tinct, until some person mnde the dis covery that It was the outline of n foot The old legend was revived. They said that tho "witch's curse" had been fulfilled. An attempt was made to remove the stain, but every effort only tended to make It plainer. The Imprint of the foot Is there today as plain as ever. Amateur photogra phers have taken pictures of it, and a visit to the Buck cemetery to see tho "witch's foot" is one of the pastimes of every summer visitor to the pretty lit tle town. New York World. Encouraging the Boy. , "Son," remarked Mr. Erastus Pink ley, "I done heard you talin' 'bout beln a great hunter." "Dat's what I said," answered picka ninny Jim, "Pa gwlnter hunt lions." - "An' you mentioned beln pr ahtlc explorer." "Yassir." "Well.'jos' by way of practice befo you tackles any lions lem mo see If you kin get de cow out'n pasture wifout beln' hooked, an' den as de winter comes along you kin train foh do north polo by wadln' out in de snow to de wood pile twice a day. An' don' lemme hyah no mo' 'bout not lncour ngln' yob. youthful ambitions." Wash ington Star. Tha Way to Hia Vote. Lord-Beacousfield's skill in picking np stray votes was well known. An Illustration of it is given in a book by Henry W. Lucy. . At- the time that the imperial titles bill was pending there was a certain pompous little Irishman, Dr. O'Leary, who seemed manageable and was de sirable. One evening In the lohbv , Disraeli laid a hand familiarly on his snouiuer. "Dear Dr. O'Leary, the resemblance Is most striking," he said. "I really thought I saw again my old friend Tom Moore." The vain little gentleman was cap tured. Ha Hits Back. There had been a domestic spat at breakfast "You monster!" snapped the matron, who was always scolding. "You are not like, my two' former husbands. They were tender men.". "I never doubted that they were tender, Maria," ventured .the meek man, "when you kept' them In hot water all the time." And he Just cleared the front porch two yards ahead of the rolling pin. Chicago News. '. T, .. . . Pat'e Service. Clergyman Pat, there's a hole in the roof of the church, and I am try ing to collect money sufficient to re pair it. . Come, now, what will you contribute? Pat Me services, aor. Clergyman What do you mean, Pat? You are no carpenter. Pat No, but If It rains next Sunday Ol'U sit over the hole. Pearson's, . - - How poor are they that have no pa tience! What wound , did aver heal but by degrees? Shakespeare. 0WER0FWATER. Under Certain Condition It Is Preo r tieally Irresistible. When a uiun goes in swimming at the seashuro and slaps the water forci bly with his hand or takes a back diva from a pier and lands squarely on his back he realizes thnt the unstable liquid offers not a little resistance. Yet, says a writer lu the New York Tribune, it would surprise almost any body to see what water will do under certain conditions. A stream from u Hrcuiuu's hose will knock a man down. The Jet from a nozzle used in placer mining In the west eats amy a largo piece of laud In a day, toyV with great bowlders as If they were pebbles and would shoot a man over the country as though be were a projectile from a cannon. There is a story of an eastern black smith who went west and made a bet that he could knock a hole through the Jet of one of these nozzles with a sledge hammer. He lifted his arms, swung the sledge and came down on the ten inch stream with a force hat would have dented an anvil. But the Jet, never penetrated, whisked the massive hammer out of the black smith's hands and tossed it several hundred feet away into the debris of gold bearing gravel beneath a crum bling cliff. After this the blacksmith left out Iron when be spoke of hard substances. There Is also a power plnut near Durango, Colo., where a United States cavalryman one day thought be bad an easy Job in cutting a two Inch stream with his sword. He mnde a valiant attnek. The result was that his sword was shivered in two and his wrist broken. A little thinner Jet of water descend ing 1,600 feet to a manufactory at Grenoble Spain, and traveling at the moderate speed of 100 yards a second fractures the best blades of Toledo. Of course some people will not be lieve such K'tries without having Been the thing, and one may think it a proof of the scle" title Imagination to say that an Inch thick sheet of wnter, pro vided It hnd sufficient velocity, would ward off bombshells as well as steel plate. - Nevertheless many persons while traveling have seen a brakeman put a small hydraulic Jack under one end of a Pullman car aud lift twenty tons or so by a few leisurely strokes of the pump handle, and the experience of riding every day in a hydraulic ele vator tends to remove doubts of the magic power possessed by water hitch ed to a machine. SIMPLE FAITH. A Burly Burglar's Confidence In an Editor's Businees Acumen. A man who. admitted that he came direct from state prison' tried to sell to the city editor of a New York news paper a weird and startling story of a missing will which he declared bad been revealed to him by a fellow con vict He was a burly fellow with a prognathous Jaw, aud be bad lost an eye in battle. The mere look of him would frighten a timid citizen Into tremors. Mr. .White, the expert in criminology, cross examined the man as follows: "Why were you In Auburn?" "Highway" (meaning, of course, high way robbery). "I suppose you were wrongfully con victed." "Nub; dey had me right." Such engaging candor made Mr. White feel that the man was truthful, and he was greatly disappointed when strict Investigation disclosed the fact that the story of the missing Will was all fictitious. . The man was disap pointed, too, at the failure of his ro mance, but he went away from the newspaper office in cheerful mood, with some remark about better luck next time. A week later Mr. White was sum moned to the reception room of the newspaper, and there be found his friend, the burly highwayman, . his shoulders broader, his single eye fiercer than ever. But bis visit was quite friendly, although somewhat tinged with business. He evidently believed he could rely on Mr.. White's good faith and business acumen. Fixing Mr. White with his glittering eye, the strong armed one plucked him by the sleeve over to a corner of the room and there in a loud, hoarse whisper In quired: "Say, couldjer do anyt'lng wit' a cou ple o' watches?" Harper's Weekly. Biminl and the Fountain of Youth. Blmlnl was a fabulous island firmly believed In by the Indians of the An tilles, though they could give no fur ther clew to its location than that It lay aome hundreds of leagues north of HIspanlola. On this Island was the famous fountain of youth, giv ing perpetual health and vigor. It Was the search for this fountain that led Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto to Florida, on the outskirts of which the Island was generally sup posed to be situated. . - Concerning His Kissing of Her. Only one person with a mean dis position would have figured out this little prose poem. It runs as follows: Which do you think Is the greatest Blur? DID be kiss her? ' Did HE kiss her? ' Did he KISS her? Or, Did be kiss HER?-Cleveland News. . The Great Need. . "Miss Dolly, you know the old' ad age' - j . . "I don't want to hear anything about add-eg s," she Interrupted. "What we girls want Is soma subtract-agss." Woman's Home Companion. -. GAVE THE ANSWER. A 8'oldier Who Followed the Orders of General Jaokson. Illustrative of the exuspuratlng ease wlib which chickens occasionally "come home to roost" is this siury from "A Soldier's letters to Charming Nellie." On a day lu June, 1802, lu the early part of the civil war lieueral Hood of the Texas brigade halted each regi ment In turn and gave his orders. To the Fourth he said: "Soldiers of the Fourth, 1 know as little of your destination as you do.. If, however, any of you learn or suspect It, keep it a secret. To every one who asks questions answer, '1 don't know.' We are now under the orders of Gen eral Jackson, and I repent them to you." General Jackson also gave strict or ders against foraging, but apples were plentiful, anil It was contrary to nature for hungry soldiers not to eat them, and so it came nbout that on the march to Staunton General Jackson came upon a Texan sitting on the limb of nn npple tree busily engaged in filling his haversack with the choicest fruit. The general reined In his old sorrel horse and In his customary curt tone asked: "What are you doing In that tree, sir?" "I don't know," replied the Texan. "What command do you belong to?" "I don't know." "Is your command ahead of you or behind you?" "I don't know." Thus It went on, "I don't know" giv en ns answer to every question. Final ly Jackson asked sternly: . "Why do you give me that answer to every question?" " 'Cause them's the orders our gen eral gin us this morn In', an' he tole us he got 'era that er way straight from ole Jackson," replied the man in the tree. Disgusted wtth a too literal obedi ence to his own commands, but yet not caring to argue the point. General Jackson rode on. A ONE NIGHT CONVERT. Incident In the Temperance Career of Father Mathew. In 1843, when Father Mnthcw was crusading for total abstinence in Lon don, he created no small amusement for a large party at the hospitable mansion of nn Irish nobleman by bis attempts, partly playful, but also part ly serious, to make a convert of Lord Brougham, who resisted good humor edly, but resolutely, the efforts of his zealous neighbor. The Incident is re lated by Katharine Tynan In her biog raphy of Father Mathew. "I drink very little wine," salt! Brougham, "only half a glass at lunch eon and two half glasses at dinner. And, though my medical adviser told me I should increase the quantity, I refused to do so," "He was wrong, my lord, for ad vising you to Increase the quantity, and you were wrong in hiking the small quantity you do," said Father Mathew. "but I have my hopes of you." And so, after a pleasant resistance on the part of the learned lord. Father Mathew Invested his lordship with the silver medal and ribbon, the inBtgnia and collar of the "new order of the Bath." "Then I will keep It," Bald Brougham, "and take It to the house, where I shall be sure to meet old Lord the worse for liquor, and I will put It on him." The announcement of this intention was received with much laughter, for the noble lord referred to was notori ous for bis potations. Lord Brougham was as good as his word, , for on meeting the veteran peer he said, "Lord , I have a present from Father Mathew for you," nnd passed the ribbon, rapidly over his neck. "Then I tell you what It is. Brough am. I will keep sober for this night." was the peer's unexpected response. And he kept this vow, to the amaze ment of his friends. Tha Fare. This Is how a driver of the prison van, known as Black Maria, distin guished himself. A would be wit on the causeway balled blm: "Got any room inside, Robert?" "There's room for one," replied the driver. "We kep' it for you." Not entirely disconcerted, the wit made another shot. "What's your fare?" be asked. The answer entirely extinguished him. "Bread and water same as you had before!" Pearson's Weekly. Tha Great Cirous. The famous Coliseum In old Rome, massive as It was, was a mere toy In comparison wtth the great circus, which filled the valley between the Palatine and the Aventlne hills. The Coliseum is said to have been able to seat 80,000 people, while the seating capacity of the great circus was, at different periods, 150,000, 250,000 and, lastly, 380,000 spectators. The great circus was probably' the most stu pendous building ever erected for pub lic spectacles. New York American. Wasn't a Beauty, Tired Traveler (to barber) Spending the night In a sleeping car doesn't im prove one'a beauty, does It? Barber I ' don't know what you looked like when you started, but I guess you're right Harper's Bazar. Reasonable Enough. "What's your objection to the farm, mister r "The land appears to be sunken." "But that's owing to the heavy crops." Washington Herald. : GOOD BUSINESS. The Thrifty Young Man Found a Prof- (table Inveetment. A millionaire, hoping to encourage his young boh in ways of thrift, prom ised to g've him 2 per cent a month In terest upon any money that he might save out of his allowance nnd deposit in the paternal treasury. The young man was getting 5 a week for pocket money and promised to show his ap preciation of bis father's affectionate offer. He begau to make deposits without delay and kept the practice up with remarkable regularity. The old gentleman noticed presently that the deposits exceeded the whole of the boy's allowance, but accounted for this by supposing that he had saved some money previously. Besides this, he received money frequently from his mother. So the fond parent rejoiced in the saving disposition that his sou wns displaying. This continued until the boy's de posits assumed such dimensions as to demand nn explanation. It then turned out that most of the money be had been depositing bad been borrowed. Inasmuch as he was drawing Interest on his deposits at 2 per cent per mouth and was paying only 10 per cent per year for them he bad found tho busi ness decidedly attractive and profitable! Pearson's Weekly. ' THE DEVILFISH. Ha la Not a Man Eater, but a Gently Reared Monster. Contrary to popular belief, the devil fish is not a man enter, according to an official publication Issued by. the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, after an authoritative Btudy of the sub ject by Dr. Theodore GUI, associate in zoology In the national museum. "The food of the devilfishes," he says, "so far from being large nnlmnls and oc casionally a man or so, as has been al leged, appears to be chiefly the small crabs, shrimps and other crustaceans and young or small fishes. Rarely does one prey on large fishes." Dr. Gill says that in a number of re spects the young devilfish grows up under nursing and training remarkably like that of a human being. It Is nour ished, for instance, from Its mother's milk. It Is a peculiarity of the devil fish, ho adds, that, Instead of laying many thousands or millions of eggs, it normally has only a single young one at a birth. A baby devilfish is some times as broad as fire feet and weighs twenty pounds or more. Dr. Gill adds that devilfishes move about from place to place in a sort of submarine flight, speeding themselves along by flaps of the long winglike fins. Day Dreams. If you have a particular piece of work to do, get it done. Don't wait for the.mood to strike you.. Don't dream! There are more pre cious hours" wasted in day dreams than any of us would care to think about if we counted them. The queer thing about day dreams Is that so few of them ever amount to anything. The dreamer Is only semiconscious when building his air castles, so, as a rule, they have no practical foundation. While you are at work, keep your mind on what you are doing, and do not let it wander off to whnt you would like to be doing. Ouly by keep ing your mind on what yon are doing now can you bring It fresh and keen to the things you like doing best when the time for doing them comes. Think ing too much about even great happi ness takes the "edge" off it. The best time for day dreams Is after you have gone to . bed. New York American. Tha Better Part. A delightful little story is told of Prosper Merlmee, the French author. Ha 'was once guest at a royal hunt, when bares, pheasants and other game were driven before the emperor and his followers, and the servants picked up the victims of the sport Among all the members of the hunt ing party Prosper Merlmee alone had no trophy to display. "How does this happen?" asked some one. - . . "Where game is so plenty the merit of a marksman seems to me to He In hitting nothing," replied Merlmee, with grave courtesy, "so I fired be tween the birds." Old People NebdVINOL It strengthens and vitalizes Vinol tones up the digestive organs, aids assimilation, enriches the blood, and rejuvenates every organ in the body. In this natural manner Vinol replaces weakness with strength. Wa are positive It will benefit every old person who will give It a trial. U It don't we wlU refund their money. Stoke & Feicht Drug Company Reynoldsville, Pa. . BALD HEADS COT WANTED Baldness Is Too Generally Considered I Sign of Advanced Age. ' A bald headed person does not have an equal chance with one blessed with a healthy head of hair, because baldness la too generally accepted as an indication of age. Many large corporations have estab lishsd an age limit, and refuse to take men over 35 years of age as new employees. Almost 6$ of bald headed people may regain a good head of healthy hair if they will follow our advice and accept our offer. We have a remedy that wa poaitively guarantee to grow hair on any head, unless tha roots of tha hair are entirely dead, their follicles closed, and the scalp has be come glared and shiny. Wa want people to try this remedy at our risk, with the dis tinct understanding that unless it does exactly what we claim it will, and gives satisfaction in every respect, we shall make no charge for the remedy used during tha trial. IV I - .1.. 1 I ..11.1 . about, and with this offer back of our state ments no one should scoff, doubt our word er hesitate to put our remedy to an actual test. We want everyone who Is suffering from any scalp or hair trouble, dandruff, failling hair or baldness to try our Rexall"o;" Hair Tonic We want them to use it reg ularlysay until three bottles have been used and it it does not eradicate dan druff, cleanse and refresh the scalp, tighten the hair in its roots, and grow new hair, we will return every cent paid us for tha remedy for the mere asking. There is no formality expected, and we exact no obli gation from the user whatever. We are established right here and make this offer with a full understanding that our business success entirely depends upon the sort of treatment we accord our cus tomers, and we would not dara make the above offer unless we were positively cer tain that wa could substantiate it in every particular. Two sizes, 50 cents and i.oov Stoke in Feicht Drug Company Store, Reynoldsville, Pa. 30 Years Experience in the manu facture of Gasoline means much to the motorist. In the use of Waverly Brands 76- Mo tor Stove yon are guaranteed tha greatest posaible efficiency instantaneous, power ful, clean explosion free dom from carbon deposita on epark plots or In cyUa dera ready ignition. Your dealer will supply you. Waverly Oil Works Co. hHmhiihi Pittsbartf, Pa. M Something In Store for You In the way of the latest and moat sani tary devices in PLUMBING that you have yet seen. If you are to Install modern plumbing in any building you will do well to visit our store before contracting for the work. Our plumb ing contracts are figured on the basis of Al goods, At work and moderate prices. Let us know your wants and give you an estimate. C E. HUMPHREY Plumber w o O. V a o a a, a o t-l a. on T3 h w w x it o to o "3 rv
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers