Bemorealic Watcgpoan, Bellefonte, Pa., Nov. 4,1898, S— JOHN’S SUCCESS. “You can’t tell me thet rollin’ ‘round a-gettin’ polish on, Is better fer a feller then ter be a hoein’ corn. Now my son John’s a case in p'int: he’s done so well becuz Instid of roamin’ "round the world, he stayed jest where wuz. “He didn’t go ter college, an’ he never went ter hops,’ But stayed ter hum a plantin’ an’ a gatherin® the crops. He didn’t care fer city life like, some young fel- lers duz, But seemed ter think it well enough ter stay jest where he wuz. “When some of John's old schoolmates went away ter make their pile, He stayed ter hum a workin’ calm and quiet all the while, And thet is why he’s got ter where he is ter-day, becuz He some how had the faculty of stayin’ where he wuz. “Wall, p'raps the boys ez went away a searchin’ after Fame Hev done ez well ez John has, but I doubt it, jest the same. Fer when you come ter speak of Fame you'll find him in the van ; You see thet John is road surveyor, assessor, keeper of the lock-up, fence viewer, notary public, an’ special perliceman, ez well ez selectman !” —Bayard Jones. —— BILLY’S ADVENTURE. If there was anything under the sun Billy hated it was hauling water. Not that the work itself was hard, or in any way disagreeable, but because he loved the spring and the springside so, and his mother was sure to call after him as he started : ‘‘Hurry back, Billy! Iam dying for a fresh drink I’ or *‘Make haste, Billy. We can’t do a thing, not even put on the pudding, until the water comes,’ The spring came out half way to a tall bluff, and danced down over sheer rocks richly embroidered with lichen and moss and fern. Some part of the water was led into a trough hollowed from long, slender logs, which was fixed in crotcheted up- rights some ten feet from the ground. The troughs went quite to the roadside. Billy drove his barrel underneath it, and let the spouting stream go plump into the squared bunghole. It was no load at all for merry Tom, the chunky pony. Going springward, Billy boy rode him ; coming home he walked be- side flourishing and cracking his plaited leather whip. Upon a certain October Wednesday the whip cracked so loudly as the outfit reached the spring anyone who knew Billy would have been certain he had a new and especially acute grievance. All the mile between spring and house he had been muttering, “Think they might a-let me stayed to hear the last,” or ‘‘Reckon they think a boy, a big boy, don’t keer nothin’ about hearin’ nothin’ in the world.” Still he had heard something—enough at least, to tell vaguely. So he brightened perceptibly as he drew to the spring, for other thirsty folk were there—two men in a very dusty buggy, with a tired looking horse. As he came up one of them hailed Billy : “Howdy, sonny ! Dear bless my soul, but I'm glad to see you. I’ve heen clean lost this half hour—it’s good to find my- self anywhere about Squire Clark’s.”’ “Howdy, brother Amos!” It’s funny —you gettin’ lost ! Thought you’d rode the circuit till you knew every pig track,” Billy said, beamingly. Brother Amos, the colporteur, a wornout itinerant, was a prime favorite with all the boys ; he had such a knack of fetching ex- actly the books they wanted, books that had blood and fighting in them, and good boys who did not die young of their own goodness. “It is funny, I never hit on this cross- road hefore—I’ve often heard of your spring, '’ Brother Amos returned, ‘‘What’s the good word up at the house, Billy? Any chance for travelers to stay all night ?”’ “‘Plenty—at least I reckon so,”’ Billy answered, his sense of news to tell sud- denly checking hospitality. “Reason I say that, I don’t know just how things’ll be when we get there. "I left the sheriff there—and ’bout a dozen more men—and they were tellin’ how the men they were after had stole ’hout $1,000,000 in town last night, and gone chasin’ off in a buggy this mornin’ as if he hadn’t done a thing.” *‘Dear me! Why, we came from town ! We heard nothing of all this!’ brother Amos said, turning to his companion, who Yawued and shook his head. Then suddenly he sat upright, and looked at Billy with a keen pair of eyes. The barrel was by this time underneath the spout, and filling very fast. The stranger got out of the buggy and went beside it, peering into its depths as though it were something out of the common, “Here’s a new style of water works— eh, brother Amos?’ he said with a gurg- ling Jaugh ; then to Billy : “Tell me how you get the water out ?”” ‘‘Easy enough! Don’t you see the spile there at the bottom ?’ ‘Bill y boy re- torted, over his shoulder. He was busy cutting dog wood boughs to shade the bar- rel in transit, and keep the water cool. As he turned with both hands full, a vicious fly made merry Tom dance, so the slide was in danger of upsetting. {‘Here. Give me the bushes—1I'11 fix them while you hold the horse,” the stranger said, fetching a hand out his pocket. There was a knife in it 80 keen and sharp, when it was opened it awoke Billy to covetousness. By help of it, in a thrice, the boughs were in place, though Billy boy could not understand why in the placing the stranger meddled so much with the wedge-shaped board that went into the bung. “I'll tell mother who's comin’—she’]] be sure to have a place for you,” he shouted to brother Amos, determinedly taking the road ahead of him. For the first time in fifteen years’ water hauling, ~ merry Tom had to trot up hill with a full barrel. The sheriff, riding out of the Clark gate, almost swore at sight of brother Amos’s companion. ‘““To think of ketchin’ him, when we’d about give him up 1’? he said to the man at his elbow, then spurred to the side of the buggy, crying out: ‘‘Halt! You're my prisoner! Hold up your hands I”? *“Who is your prisoner ? Explain your- self Mr. Sheriff I" brother Amos said with dignity. “You can scarcely mean me-—it is still more impossible you can mean my friend Bradley, who is a philanthropic man of means, traveling with me to learn the needs of my work.” *‘Didn’t he stay all night at the Frank- lin house, in Clearview, and leave there at daylight this morning?’ the sheriff de- manded. ‘‘Another man stayed there, too —a traveling man, with a packet of unset diamonds worth $50,000. He had them last night—the man you call Bradley knew he had them, because he looked at some of .them, and even spoke of buying. This was at 1 o’clock, at 8 the diamonds were missed. So was Bradley. Then it came out that he had been seen leaving so early. We searched the house until sure the lost stones were not there ; then as the travel- ing man was sure he had heen chloroformed and as Bradley’s room had opened on the same porch—"’ ‘‘Isee! A strong case of circumstantial evidence,’’ the man called Bradley said calmly, stepping from the buggy. “Mr. Sheriff, I do not blame you in the least Your mistake is not merely natural—it is inevitable. Now, in justice, I ask to be searched at once. Iam a total stranger. It had been arranged by letter that brother Amos should call for me at daylight. He met me at the steps of the Franklin house —unless I am mistaken anybody will ac: cept his word for truth. We have been together ever since. Ask him, please, if 1 have parted with, or thrown away, or in anyway disposed of anything.’ ‘‘He certainly has not,” brother Amos said, ‘‘Mr. Sheriff, I—"’ ‘Thank you,” Bradley interrupted. ‘Now, if I took the diamonds, cagried them off, and have not parted with them, I must have them still. Gentleman, I implore you to look for them. It seems to me I can hardly breathe until the charge is refuted.” Fifteen minutes later the sheriff was say- ing humbly, “Beg your pardon, Mr. Bradley—as you say you couldn’t a.swal- lowed them stones—there were too many, even if you’d been an ostrich. And cer tain it is, I find no sign of ’em anywhere about your clothes. You saw ’em—you know they were there, and real diamonds, wrapped in tin foil inside a pocket case of metal. Now, if I should happen to light on ’em while you're in those parts, will you help ’dentify ’em, to prove you bear no malice for the blunder?’ ‘My dear sir, don’t speak of it,”” Brad- ley murmured. ‘‘You forgot the interest I still have in the matter. It would give me the greatest pleasure to see those un- lucky stones again in the right hands.” Billy had never heard such stories as Bradley told that night on the porch after supper. Still, he did not like the man. It was late—almost 12 o’clock—still Billy could not sleep when he was snug in bed. For an hour he thrashed about listening to the 'possum hunters, and wishing himself out” with them. His own dog, Bose, answered spasmodically the barking from the woods. All at once Billy heard a low, sharp growl, then a violent yelp, as though Bose had been struck heavily. He fling up a window, but could sce nothing. Clouds lay thick over the moon ; in another hour it would come on to rain. . : Again he heard Bose, this time a sort of growling whine, that was lost and smoth- ered in a curious rushing sound, the noise of gushing water falling from a little height. *‘I wonder who can be drawing water this time of night 1’ Billy said to himself —then, as the noise kept up, he gave a little excited whistle, leaped through the window which opened on the roof of the low back porch, ran along it, and dropped softly to the ground. The water barrel set always under the big white oak, twenty yards away. Brad- ley stood beside it, with his back to the house. He had taken out the spile and held his fingers in the stream, trying to break up and deaden the sound of its flow- ing. Sire you bad to haul water I reckon you’d not waste it so free,”” Billy hoy said, clutching him by both arms. Brad- ley writhed about snarling, and tried to strike the boy with a sharp knife. Billy sprang lightly aside, canght a slide stake and delt his enemy a blow on the wrist that made him drop the knife and groan, “Boy !" he whispered hoarsely, *‘help me-—you must. They are there—in that barrel—the diamonds, you know. Help me get them out—you shall have half— think how rich they will make you—and nobody need know.’ “I’d know myself—that’s enough—be- sid2s I'd never help a man mean enough to kick Bose,’’ Billy boy said. In the dark he had managed to get the rope lines with which he drove and shaped them into the noose. Not for naught had he practiced trying to throw a lasso. It Was a near cast—so near a miss would have been disgraceful —but next minute Mr. Bradley found the rope settling over his arms and being drawn tight, while Billy yelled lustily : ‘‘Father ! Mother ! Brother Ames! Wake up and see what I’ve caught !”? Philanthropist Bradley, it turned out, was the head of a gang that had shadowed the diamond salesman ever since he left the city. All unwittingly brother Amos had been made to serve their turn. If You think after his adventure Billy was not something of a hero, you had better ask his mother. She will tell you that he never hauled ancther barrel ‘of water, Martha McCullough Williams in Boston Globe. —————————————— —The financial success of the Omaha fair is one of the most gratifying features of the enterprise At the close of last week the directors had a balance of $300,000 to their credit in the bank, but against this were to be charged some outstanding bills and the expenses of running the fair until November 1st These would reduce the balance of $140,000, but to this were to be added the total receipts from last Monday to the close of the fair. It is estimated from this showing that after paying all bills the stockholders will receive from 75 cents to 90 cents for every dollar they put into the enterprise. This is a most en- couraging showing. Taken in connection with the Nashville exhibition, which also more than paid its way, it proves that such enterprises when energetically and care- fuily managed can be relieved of the deficit feature which has hitherto been one of the greatest obstacles to holding them. — ——Lawyer Sharpsett found he would be unable to go home in time for supper. His typewriter girl having quit for the af- ternoon, he sat down at the machine him- self and succeeded, after half an hour's work, in evolving the following note, which he sent to his wife by a messenger boy : ‘atthe Office 5—30p. m ! DEar MiLLie ::: I shlal not be XXXXXXXXX hOme this evnenenig until until vrey very xxxx late do not, wait fr for mEA a A clien tow ho Has A client wtih whoM i haev an apopointment is XXXXXXXXx0 is cmoing to cnosult consultme & it wil taKe al al all équenxxxxxxevening your lvoing hugsxxx- xxxhusbnd. ?: hiraM(@) ?—Chicago Tri- bune. In Our New Island. Some Men with Lots of Cash Might Invest It to Advantage.—No Chance for the Poor Man.—And Not Very Good Prospects for a Mun of Limited Means to Invest His Funds—8omething About Land Titles.—A Very Interesting Letter. Although you may now make the circuit of Porto Liico hy railway, and visit several interior towns in a pavior car, it is infinige- ly pleasanter, if time is nog pressing, to travel over these tropical countries on horseback, or en eoche wherever practica- ble. Nothing wore delightful can be jm- agined than a saddie journey from Nan Juan to Pouce, the capital—a distance of thirty wiles as the crow flies, but nearer fifty by the windings of the old canal real, or ‘royal road.” built by the early Span- iards almost four centuries ago. The in- terior of Porto Rico is extremely fertile and so well tilled that the entire island looks like one continuous garden. It is remarkably well supplied with towns and villages, there being no fewer than seventy three with upwards of 1,000 population, besides innumerable hamlets of £rass-cov- ered huts surrounding some tile-roofed church or bodega. All the towns are con- nected by good highways, with many trav- erse roads ; and the railway, begun in 1893, follows the irregular shore line some 300 miles, and already sends several short branches into the interior. ¢ When fully completed—as it is likely soon to be under energetic American management—~Porto Rico’s railway system will include five lines, with twelve sections, about 500 miles all told ; not a bad showing for the little three-cornered island which is only about one-thirtieth the size of the state of Michi- gan, or somewhere about ninety-six miles long by thirty-six miles wide, in its long- est and widest part. Before the war there were 475 miles of telegraph in operation in | Porto Rico and a deep sea cable connecting it with the United States. Luarope aud the other Antilles. It had also a well estab- lished banking institution, whose heuwd- | quarters were in San Juan, with branches extending throughout the island ; and in 1890 a charter was extended for another bank, with the exclusive privilege of a note pesos. Though Porto Rico is ouly one- twelfth the size of Cuba, it contains fully half as many people, the larger island Lav- ing 50 much waste land, while every acre of the smaller is occupied and cultivated, The comparatively level strip between the highlands and the sea is filled with coffee groves, cotton, cane, rice and tobacco fields. Then comes a mass of irregular hills, apparently piled haphazard around cloud-capped Yunque, their upper heights Yet covered with the magnificent forests which Columbus so much admired. Flour- ishing plantations extend a long way up the sloping hill-sides and down into the green valleys that lie between, while in hundreds of narrow canyons grass grows and flocks and herds find rich pasturage. Porto Rieo is famous for its excellent cat: tle and for a particularly fine breed of horses from its monntain districts, Though the methods of farming are naturally mos primitive, and the lizy people invariably put off until to-morrow everything which should be done to-day, less than a quarter of the crops now raised by the present slip- shod methods are needed for the support of the population. Never was there a small country better equipped for sustaining it- self, independent of the outside world, than Porto Rico. On the higher grounds Euro- pean corn and vegetables are cultivated to perfection, and between the coffee, cotton and sugar plantations and the sturdy line of ancient trees, which stand out in the landscape hke a ruff around the necks of the topmost peaks, rice is grown of a pecul- iar mountain variety which does not re- quire flooding, and constitutes the staff of life for the laboring classes. There are said to be something over 500 varieties of native trees on the island, and in the Tofti- er altitudes apples, pears and other north- ern fruits might he successfully grown, Every wall and hedgerow is overrun with vines and blossoming creepers, and every Spot not devoted to artificial Crops is cov- ered with natural frait-bearing trees or teeming with flowers, sueh as are carefully tended in our northern conservatories, here springing in wild and odorous profusion, When the discoverers named this island the Rich Port they believed it to contain incalculable mineral riches. Gold, copper, iron, zine, coal are known to exist in sev- eral places, but no serious attempt has ever been made to develop these resources, Possibly under American management they may come to the front in the near fu- ture, particularly the iron and coal, which in this locality would prove more valuable if found in considerable quantities, than most gold mines. The only industry in this line which has heen pursued to any extent here are the salt mines, at Salinas, on the south coast. and at Cape Rojo, on the west. The sponge fields, too are prac- tically inexhaustible and have hardly been touched ; and there are extensive quarries of beautiful white stone, granite and mar- ble, which have heen entirely neglected for Jack of capital, but in Yankee hands would pay well. A good many Americans are already here to look up the prospects for investment of capital and the business chances for men of smaller means. They represent every ele- ment professional, commercial, manufac- taring and industrial life ; and it is safe to say that they are a shrewd lot who will make searching and conclusive investiga- tions. I have talked with several of them, and in every case they express disappoint- ment. They did not realize at a distance that Porto Rico is not in the least like our western states and territories, with exten- sive tracts of unoccupied and unclaimed lands, or even like New England and our southern states with abandoned farms and broken-down plantations ; but here every inch of land is owned by somebody and can only be acquired by the payment of a good round sum. Since Americans have taken the island, prices have advanced to an absurd extent—it being now pretty generally understood that we are a wealthy people and liberally inclined. Even the ignorant market people, Spying an Ameri- can afar off, immediately jump up on their prices for the simplest things a hundred per cent. or more. They seem to think that as a nation we are literally ““made ont of money” and have come to disburse it. There is no doubt that certain manu- facturies would do well in Porto Rico- - such as a paper mill, for instance, an ice- making plant, and others of similar nature to supply the needs of the island. There are a few good openings for well-conducted American hotels, restaurants, barber-shops, laundries, tailoring establishments, livery stables, hack and express lines ; and in the professional lines American doctors, den- tists and photographers will doubtless soon absorb most business of that nature ; while the native lawyers—who, like other Span- ish-Americans are born limbs of the law, will continue to monopolize the legal busi- ness. When the building era begins, as it is bound to do by next year at farthest, there will be work fora while for mechanics of all sorts. Probably in time the agri- issue, the original capital being 1,500,000 | cultural lands will bass inio the hands of A Geographical Game. Americans, their superior methods and 4 Trip About the Country Answering Questions conminercial sagacity being bound to event- | With Name. ually absorb the holdings of a race <o il fitted 10 compete with them as the Porto | One day my cousin (a city in Maine) Ricans. To-day, in spite of adverse cir- | said to me, “Let us go fishing for (a cape cumstances, coffee growing in this island in Massachusetts ).’’ is about the most pr ofitable industry in the “That will be fine,” T answered, laying world. Under ordinarily favorable circum- | down her new (city in Italy) hat that I stances it never fails to pay from 30 to 40 | bad been admiring, and upsetting a hottle per cent. on the investment. vems in and | of (city in Germany) in my haste. out. Where the bounties of nature are so “But I am afraid to go without a (island lavishly bestowed as in Porto Rico, there | near England ),’’ said my cousin. must he many new industries within the “Lets ask—and—(two capes in Vir reach of far seeing Americans—such as | ginia),” I answered. chocolate and cocoa factories ; utilizing the | So I ran across the street for the two palm oil nuts, castor and . vanilla beans, | who were to accompany us, while my con- with which the island abounds, as well as | sin fixed up a small lunch, consisting of the spice and dye Plants ; fruit packing es- | (Islands in the Pacific Ocean), a large tablishments, raising chickens and cgus | piece of (a country in Europe), and a with incubators (a thing yes unheard of | (town in New Jersey) for each of us ; and, here) ; and especially breweries, In the fora joke, she put in a large (river in last named line there is certainly a most | Vermont. ) excellent opening. The people consume a | _ It was a beautiful day in (a cape in New vast amount of beer, which is all brought | Jersey), and we expected to havea fine from the United States and Germany at | time.” Tfed Dick, My pet, (islands off the great expense. The fashion here is to serve | coast of Africa), and we started. it with broken ice in the glass, which of To save time, we thought we would go couise renders it disagreeably flat and through the barnyard, and across lots, but tasteless. I saw a large (cape in South America) Porto Rico is not so very hot—not a | sticking out from behind the bern, and re- circumstance to New York or Washington | fused to go near old Brindle ; 80 we went in mid summer—the average daily tem- | another way. . perature being eighty degrees ; but the fact As we were passing through the woods remains that it is extremely trying to [all of a sudden my cousin cried out ‘‘(a foreigners. cape in North Carolina)! there is a big It stands to reason that a climate in | (river in Washington) 1’ which iron corrodes in six weeks and paper | I picked up a piece of broken (a coun- is in a short time reduced to powder, must | try in Asia) to throw at it while my cou- be hard on the human frame. While the | sin eagerly snatched a (city in Ireland), natives sometime live to good old age, a | thinking it was a stone. One of the boys few instances being recorded of persons be- | had sense enough to throw a (city in Ark- ing past 100 years, people from the north | ansas) at its head, killing it instantly. are sure of having a serious time for a year | We thought our troubles were over now, or two ; and if they survive the acclimating | and were laughing and talking gayly, when process, are generally cut off long before | we suddenly saw, a few feet from us and the natural three score years and ten. coming for us as fast as its feet would carry In talking with a Chicago real | it, a (lake in Canada. ) estate man whom I met in Ponce.| This was too much. We turned our i The @ist of what he told me is as follows : | faces toward home and ran her beautiful | “I left home with the idea that Porto Rico | new cape, trimmed with (a cape in would offer some splendid openings for | Florida). men of small means, and came here ex- | We did not stop running until within a pressly to seck information in that line. | (island belonging to Rhode Island) of our And I have been disenchanted, not to say | house, where we said (a cape in Green- grievously disappointed. You know how | land) to our companions and went in the it is in the United States—that a man who | house to enjoy a cup of (an island near i has only a few thousands at command is | India.) { quite lost sight of in this age of pools and | trusts and combines and syndicated ie | partment stoves ; and [ supposed that here —_— | was one of our new possessions to which For more than a year past extraordinary { he might come and with his limited means expenditures have been made by the Bur- | begin life under wore hopeful conditions. ington railroad system in the way of But I was altogether mistaken, I find | physical improvements and the increase of | that the coffee, sugar and tobacco planta- | rolling stock, including locomotives, freight tions are of great extent, and although | cars and passenger equipment. This out- their owners are willing to part with them, | lay was charged to operating expenses. | they want any where from $50,000 up to | Had it not been made the directors might half a million. have seen their way to declare larger “Fruit farming, being a new venture, is | dividends, as the earnings would have uncertain and reliable data upon which to | justified such a course. The directors base estimates are impossibie to obtain. | have gone upon the principle of using good After investigating all these. T turned my | times to prepare for evils days. Security | attention to dairying and minor industries ; | holders will reap the advantages from these but there are unfavorahle circumstances | expenditures in the days to come. The surrounding each of them, more or less in- | property is now in the finest physical con- surmountable ; and on the whole I have | dition throughout its entire length, and {concluded to go home and be contented. | the improvements made will enable great | 1t is an undoubted fact that nowhere on | economies to be brought ahout in operat- [aos green earth does the poor man stand ing. They will far more than pay for 30 good a chance as in the United States.” | themselves. There is now no finer or bet- As an indication of what is already wo- | terequipped piece of property in the United ing on, it may be stated that there are | States than the Burlington. It is mere seven bids before the council of Ponce for a | play for its trains to make extraordinarily street railroad franchise, between that city | fast time, and with a motion $0 smooth and the port—a distance of two and a half | that the passengers do not know that they miles. The bid offers $10,000 outright, | are making more than ordinary time. | with forfeitures at the end of two years. The plans include every known form of motor, and one provides for a swinging car to be run on a single rail. The postal department has recently es- . i . tablished stations all over the island, and | This play derives the name in part bids for carrying the mails to various | from the village of Ober (Upper) Ammer- points have been called for. It is said gau, which 18 located near the Ammer Sea that a Philadelphian went by the last | in old Bavaria, its capital city. Itis re- steamer to the United States to purchase | Puted to have originated in a vow taken by machinery for an ice to plant to be set up | the population in 1634 to perform it every ata town celled Mayaguez; and rumors | ten years, in the event of their escaping are rife of large deals by American syndi- from the plague, which then prevailed to cates in Porto Rican tobacco and coffee | an alarming extent. It is performed on lands. twelve consecutive Sundays in the summer Ponce is the largest city of the island, | time, and attracts immense crowds of peo- with a population in normal times of per- | Ple during its continuance. There are 350 haps 38,000. It is a rich oid town, ex- | persons employed as actors, besides 80 ceptionally clean for Spanish-America, and | members of the orchestra and chorus, all well built. Its dwelling houses are mostly | Selected from the villagers, some of whom of wood, with iron balconies, green jal- display great dramatic power and genius ousies and windows without glass, while | in personating the Saviour and his disci- the public buildings are of brick and stone. ples. The building in which it is perform- The latter are grouped around a palm- | ed will seat from 5,000 to 6,000 people, but shaded plaza and include a Roman Cathe. | the attendance is generally much larger, lic cathedral and an Episcopal church, be- | many foreigners being usually among the sides the usual “palacio,” theatre and | Spectators. casino. There are half a dozen other —_— churches, of course all Romish, a well-kept ——There is a peculiarity about the hospital, public library and reading room, | flight of wild ducks. A flock of ducks two colleges and a military school. The flying south or north, if followed by other wide, well-paved streets are lighted, with | flights in the same direction days or weeks gas, bv an English company. The next | afterward, will not vary to exceed twenty- town in point of population is San Ger- | five feet from the path of the ducks which main, which has about 30,000, according | have preceded them, and they will alight to the latest census. 4 very interesting | in almost the exact spot where preceding place to visit is Mayaguez, on the west flights have settled. This is a coincidence coast, with a population of 12,000. Tt isa | of such continuous occurrence as to es. garrison town with clubs and gas works | tablish the theory that the lines to he pur- and the best hotel on the island. A fine | sued and the resting places have been a iron bridge, completed some six years ago, | matter of prearrangement, but how the connects the town with its port ; but. un- | plans were intelligently communicated and fortunately, the harbor is accessible only | followed throughout the pathless air must to vessels drawing not more than sixteen | remain a profound mystery until the hunt- feet. — Fannie Brigham Young. ers become as familiar with the duck —_— lauguage as they are with the habits of the Facts About Porio Rico. ———— The Prosperity of a Great Railroad. The Passion Play. The Place and Under What Circumstances it Orgi- nated. fowls. — Porto Rico is an island 95 miles long and Ham Croquettes. 35 miles wide, containing 3,668 square miles : —about half the size of New Jersey. Chop fine one cup of cold boiled ham, Vieque, an island 13 miles east of Porto | mash it till like meal and mash with it the Rico, is 21 miles long and six miles wide. Yoke of one hard boiled egg. Season to The population is 950,000, of which 300,- | taste with lemon Juice, chopped parsley 000 or more are negroes, and 90,000 native | cayenne and onion juice. Melt one table- Spaniards. Vieque has 6,000 inhabitants. spoonful of butter in a small saucepan, The principal cities are San Juan ( 30,000,) | Stir into it one heaping tablespoonful of Ponce (15,000, ) Mayaguez ( 20,000, ) Agua- | cornstarch, one tablespoonful of salt, and dilla (5,000,) Arecibo (7,000,) Fajarde | half a saltspoonful of white pepper. Add (9,000,) Naguaho (2,000,) and Arroyo | gradually one cup of hot milk and when (1,200). There are 470 miles of telephone thick and smooth stir it into the ham. lines and 137 miles of railroads, with 170 | Let it become quite cold, then shape into miles under construction. The land along | small cylinders, roll in fine dried bread the coasts and in the valleys is generally | crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crumbs level and fertile. The mountain ranges | 3gain, and fry one minute in smoking hot contain some gold, copper, lead and coal. | fat. Drain on paper and serve as a horder Porto Rico’s climate is semi-tropical, but | round a bed of boiled spinach. generally healthful. There is little yellow 7 fever and few other contagious diseases, | ——North Carolina, which pays a pen- despite bad sanitary conditions in the | Sion to needy Confederate veterans, finds cities. San Juan, the principal harbor, is | that but one in fifteen of the known sur- 1,420 miles from New York, 1,190 miles | vivors in the State are on the pension list. from Charleston, S. C., 1,200 miles from | The number of applieants 1S growing small- Tampa. Fla, and 1,000 miles from Key | er each year, instead of increasing constant- West, Fla. ly as in the case with Federal pensioners. At a special election next month Texas will vote on a constitutional amendment to permit the State to pay a similar pension to Confederates. A little more than thirty miles from the coast of Japan the Pacific Ocean has been found to be more than 4643 fathoms deep. Some officers who were surveying for a telegraph-cable found their wire broke at | Shipping Clerk (to his employer, leaving this depth without reaching the bottom. | the office) —Oh, Mr. System, haven’ you This is said to be the deepest sounding ever | forgotten your umbrella? It's raining, made, and is so deep, that the two highest | Mr. System—Can’t help it. I have mountains in Japan, placed one over the | made a resolution to have one here and other in this abyss, would leave the sum- | one at home, to provide for all emergencies. mist of the upper one two-thirds of a mile | Now if I take this one, they’ll both be at below the surface of the water. home. His System. ee ————— Wooden Meat Skewers. Made in Great Variety and Used in Enormous Num- bers. — Wooden meat skewers are made almost exclusively of hickory, and, like many other manufactures of wood, they are made in factories located in proximity to the | forests whence the wood of which they are made is taken. Wooden skewers are made mostly in the west. They are pro- duced in great numbers in Tennessee and Ohio. Hickory skewers are made in various lengths—41, 51, 6 and 7 inches and up to giant skewers 16 inches long, and all bug the 4} inch skewer, ‘which is made of a gauge or diameter of five-thirty-seconds of an inch, are made in two or more gauges, Thus the 6 inch skewer is made in gauges | of seven-thirty seconds, fifteen-sixty-fourths and four-sixteenths of an inch. So that, simple a thing as a meat skewer may seem to be, it is in reality an article that is made in large varieties. The skewers are made wholly by ma- chinery and are sold very cheap. They are put up in hundles that vary in the number of skewers contained, according to the size of the skewers, and they are pack- ed in cases that vary likewise. Thus the smallest skewers are put up 250 in a bun- dle and 80,000 iv a case. Of 8 inch skew- ers, six-sixteenths gauge, there are packed 9,600 in a case and so on. Skewers are used for other purposes than skewering meat together. Great numbers of the smallest size are used in markets in tag- ging meat for delivery. Many larger skew- ers are used in securing bagging put around quarters of beef for transportation. Skewers of the smaller sizes are those most used. The total consumption of skewers in this country amounts to bil- lions annually. Large numbers of Amer- ican skewers are exported, the greater number of those exported being of the larger sizes. We send hickory skewers to England, South Africa, South America and Australia. — That Rose House. Auditor General Mylin’s Report Says It Cost $8,- 253.01. Governor Hastings said in his Philadel- phia speech : “The Statement, therefore. that this building (the ‘rose propagating house’’) cost over $8,000 is utterly and unquali- fiedly false, and Ichallenge any practical builder who understands the value of ma- terial and labor to construct a duplicate of this building for any smaller sum than was paid for this rose propagating house, or board of public buildings and grounds of the Commonwealth, and I also challenge any man to show that the building in question cost any more than $1,800. Amos H. Mylin, auditor General of Pennsylvania under the administration of Governor Hastings, says in his report for 1896 on page 210, that ‘$8,253.01 were paid Charles H. Miller & Co., carpenter work, rose propogating house.’” These statements cannot be reconciled. If one is true the other must be false. The Gover- nor says the rose propogating house was built under the authority of the act of as- sembly of 1892, by Charles Hl. Miller. The auditor general’s report was for the following year, and the payment for which credit is claimed is for $8,253.01 to Charles H. Miller & Co., rose propogating house and for ‘‘carpenter work” alone. Were { there two ‘‘rose propogating houses,’’ the one built in 1895 for $1,800 and the other i built about the same time costing $8,253.01 more, and both built by Charles H. Miller? Olny on that assumption can the Governor and his auditor general both be telling the truth, or at least a part of it. How does the Governor reconcile his statement with that of Amos H. Mylin, both claiming to have been libelled by Dr. Swallow? Which is telling the trath 9 — How to Drink Water. There are few people, we think, who thor- oughly realize the value of water as a bever- age or who know how to obtain the great- est advantage from it. The effects produc- ed by the drinking of water, as pointed out by our excellent contemporary, Health, vary with the manner in which it is drunk. If, for instance, a pint of cold water he swallowed as a large draft, or if it be taken in two portions with a short interval be- tween, certain definite results follow—ef- fects which differ from those which would have resulted from the same quantity taken by sipping. Sipping is a powerful stimu- lant to the circulation, a thing which ordi- nary drinking is not. During the act of sipping the action of the nerve which shows the beats of the heart is abolished, and asa consequence that organ contracts much more rapidly, the pulse beats more quickly and the cir- culation in various parts of the body is in- creased. In addition to this, we find that the pressure under which the bile is se- creted is raised by the sipping of fluid. And here is a point which might well be noted by our readers : A glass of cold water, slowly sipped, will produce greater acceleration of the pulse for a time than will a glass of wine or spir- its taken at a draft. In this connection it may not be out of place to mention that sipping cold water will often allay the craving for alcohol in those who have been in the habit of taking too much of it and who may be endeavoring to reform, the ef- : fect being probably due to the stimulant action of the sipping. ——The lumber resources of Pennsyl- vania are fast passing away. There are said to remain only a few unbroken tracts in the Clearfield region, and next spring the last ‘‘drive’” is expected to be made from above the mouth of the Sinnemahon- ing, to consist of 30,000,000 feet of logs. In all 60,000,000 feet of timber are ex. pected to pass Lock Haven. ———— A Favored Class. Irate passenger (who has managed to board a trolley car that didn’t stop) --Sup- pose I had slipped and lost a leg—what then ? Conductor—You wouldn’t have to do any more running them. We always stop for a man with a crutch. Se —————— ——The heron seldom flaps his wings at a rate of less than 120 to 150 times a min- ute. This is counting the downward strokes only, so that the bird’s wings real- ly make from 240 to 300 distinct move- ments in a minute. ——Brown—-I'd join the church if it wasn’t so full of hypocrites. Towne—That needn’t deter you. There’s always room for one more. —— After serious illness, like typhoid fever, pneumonia, or the grip. Hood’s Sarsaparilla has wonderful strength-giving power.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers