ed Bellefonte, Pa., March 2. 1900. THE HILLS OF THE LORD. God ploughed one day with an earthquake, And drove the furrows deep! The huddling plains upstarted, The hills were all a-heap! But that is the mountains’ secret, Age hidden in their breast; “God’s peace is everlasting,” Are the dream words of their rest. He hath made them the haunt of beauty, The home elect of his grace; He spreadeth his mornings on them, His sunsets light their face. His thunders tread in music Of footfalls echoing long, And carry majestic greeting Around the silent throng. His winds bring messages to them, Wild storm news from the main; They sing it down to the valleys In the love song of the rain. Green tribes from far come trooping, And over the uplands flock; He weaveth the zones together In robes of his risen rock. They are nurseries for young rivers; Nests for his flying cloud; Homesteads for new born races, Masterful, free and proud. The people of tired cities Come up from their shrines and pray; God freshens again within them, As he passes by all day. And lo, I have caught their secret, The beauty deeper than all, This faith—that life’s hard moments, When the jarring sorrows befall, Are but God ploughing his mountains; And the mountains yet shall be The source of his grace and freshness And his peace everlasting to me. —W. C. GANNETT in St Louis G'lobe-Democrat. A BREVET BACHELOR. There are more things in the service than brass bottons and dashing cavalrymen, and dying at the post of duty, and the rest of the stock phrases of romance. There are a few fixed principles and some prejudices which it is just as well not to run up against, because the service can take re- venge upon occasions. Ordinarily a mod- erate amount of tact and common decency will take you through until you have learned those things which are set down in neither the drill-manual nor the regula- tions. But Miss Hadley had only beauty and pure cheek. She came from some- where down the southern way—Ios Ange- les, or San Diego, or something, to visit the Strongs at Angel island. And from the moment she set foot upon the landing she began to make herself unpopular. She had bad visions of stepping ashore among a group of kneeling lieutenants, rather after the fashion of the accredited painting of the ‘‘Landing of Columbus’ or the ‘‘Jesuit Fathers.”” But the lieutenants were busy, or they were taking naps, or sit- ting on their front porches, with tbeir feet on the railings. They crossed the bay to the city daily,and graced every cotillon and function worth speaking of, and beaun- tiful girls were not new. They had never even heard that Miss Hadley was beautiful. They were in deep darkness concerning the local belles of—wherever it was down south. However, several of them met her at din- ner that night, and the rest called after- wards, as is the custom. Miss Hadley did not know it was the custom. She thought it was all on her own account, and that the post was beginning to come to its senses, which made her more arrogant. Some dis- positions thrive upon;being made much of, returning courtesy with good coin; the la- tent meanness of others warms to life as the snake on the woodchopper’s hearth. As if there was not enough unattached men to occupy her, she turned her attention pointedly to La Roche, and when she saw his wife wince she redonbled her energies. La Roche was French, and flirtatious, and clever. And, whatever else was to be said of Miss Hadley she was clever, too in a worldly sort of way. But Mrs. La Roche was stupid, and blushingly aware of her stupidity. Still, she was a good-hearted little thing, and donea kind turn to every- one in the garrison at one time or another, and it resented seeing her made jealously wretched, her pale eyes filling and her lips quivering, as the beauty drew La Roche to a remote corner and leveled her batteries upon him. Everybody was scandalized— and the feelings cf the bachelors were hart. It was just a little too insolent. So they sought a punishment to fit the crime, and this was what they devised : There was one man who had not called that first night. It was Proctor, the adju- tant. He had been over in the city at a dinner. When he came back by thefirst boat in the morning a deputation met him at the wharf and carried him off to his quarters and told him what was expected of him. “I’m not sure that I like the part, though you know,’’ said Proctor, when they have explained. They impressed upon him that the dignity of the service demanded it—al- so that it would be very good for the girl. Proctor said that it would fall through at once. “We only want it to lass a day or two,” said the deputation. On that understanding he consented. ‘But I won’t lie, you know,’”’ he told them. ‘‘You’ll have to do any of that.” ‘It won’t be necessary,’’ they assured him. ‘‘Ifshe asks—which is unlikely—we will say with one accord that you are a brevet bachelor.” You will not find the definition of that in the tactics. So Proctor went over to the Strongs’ quarters and found Miss Hadley, gotten up in the sort of a morning robe that it is not customary to display to the gaze of several hundred soldiers, more or less, in a corner of the porch with La Roche; Proctor ousted him in about ten minutes. He fought openly, dwelling upon the charms of La Roche's four small children, the details of the cunning things they said, and of the last attack of croup of the youngest; how its ‘‘Dad-da’’ had nursed it, and how the babies loved him. Miss Hadley laughed. That hurt La Roche’s self esteem, and he went home. Then Proctor started in to do as he was bid. It was a pleasant game enough. Miss Hadley could be agreeable when she choose. She was the one-man-at-a-time stamp of girl, and for the nonce Proctor was the man. He stayed all the morning, also to luncheon, also all the afternoon. Part of the time they played together on the mandolin and guitar, and for the rest they talked. Then he stayed to dinner, and until some time after taps. When of- ficial duties called him off he was back sur- prisingly soon. O! course there was the chance in this kind of thing that Miss Hadley might grow sick of him. But he took it. There was the better chance that she would be very much flattered, and Proctor believed that he was the sort of fellow who could be in- teresting for 18 hours at a streich. ‘It’s not fair,”’ Mrs. Strong protested to her husband. ‘‘You’d have thought it so if it had been me instead of La Roche.’’ he suggested. ‘‘But it’s not fair to Ella,’’ she insisted, weakly. ‘‘Ella will think it’s a good joke, which it is. He has written her the whole thing. He told me so.”’ ‘‘But is it right of us? Miss Hadley is our guest.’’ “Oh, no she’s not; it’s a mistake. We are here on sufferance. You are useful to order the meals and I to guard her against intruders on their tete-a-tetes.”” He re- minded her of episodes in proof of this. ‘‘Has she asked you about him?’ Mrs. Strong wanted to know. He said that he had. ‘And I told her that he was a brevet bachelor. Proctor himself came in at the moment and she dropped it. Now you be still for a day or two and let things take their course.” And they took it, at a hand-gallop. Miss Hadley might have guessed that one first lieutenant could never have af- forded all the fancy boxes of flowers and candies that came over for her, in Proctor’s name, by about every boat. But she did not stop to reflect, probably; and she was mightily pleased; both with herself and with him; whereupon she was still more disagreeable to everyone else. But the tiny cloud began to float across her blue sky. Theflowersand sweets were many and arrived regularly, and when they wanted Proctor at the Adjutant’s office they sent for him to the Strongs’. And yet though the week of her visit was draw- ing to a close, he was no nearer to love- making than upon the first day. She grew a trifle uneasy. It was not that she want- ed Proctor, but she wanted to know she could have him. So she condescended, in the dilemma, to speak to her host. Mr. +’~octor is a desperate flirt, don’t you think?’’ she asked. It was meant to be ligh., but it was a shade anxious. That would have been Strong’s chance to put an end to a joke that was going too far. It bad gotten away from, them, and the man to stop it refused to arise. Strong funked. He looked mean, and said shat he had never known Proctor to flirt. ‘‘He is swathed in red tape, as a general thing has notions of duty and the rest of it.” Then he went off and swore at Proctor in his own breast. Which is human nature. Proctor for his part swore at everybody else openly. “I’m so far in it now that I don’t know how to get out,’’ he said; and they grinned and suggested that he tell the truth and shame the devil. ‘‘And feel more of a confounded ass than I do now.” “*Consider—you are avenging us,”’ cooed the bachelors. He said rude things about them. They asked what he would like them to do. ‘‘Shall we come in a body the next time you are en tete-a-tete and explain, or shall we do it while you are absent, and can’t defend yourself? Anyway you put it you will look a good deal of a cad, you know.” They chuckled. Proctor sulked. ‘‘Mrs. Strong has got to do it,’ he announced. Mrs. Strong won’t. She feels about as small as you do. She goes around with the look of a stage conspirator. You might draw off gradually,” they advised. “I might make a qualified flat of my- self!’ said Proctor; ‘‘I’ve done it, as it is.”’ He departed to keep an engagement to walk around the island with Miss Hadley. When they started he made a solemn re- solve that before they got to the quarantine station she should know all. But she swung into the post as blissfully ignorant as she had left it. He had funked again. And at this point Fate came to his aid. They sat on the steps of the Strongs’ quarters, resting when an orderly brought a telegram for him, and a box for Miss Hadley. The box contained violets. Proctor was pleased to think what those little attentions were costing the other bachelors, but he glanced at his own card, lying in the purple fragrance, with loath- ing. Then he opened the telegram, and put it hastily in his pocket. Miss Hadley asked what it was. He said it was from some one he had to meet at the train to-morrow. “Which train?’’ said Miss Hadley. “The train from the east,” said Proctor. She told him that she, too, was going to the city on the early boat, for a few hours. ‘‘We may strike the same one coming back.” He thought it would be his unmension- able luck. And it came to pass as Miss Hadley had predicted. They struck the same boat. She came aboard hurriedly, just as the gang-plank was being drawn in, and she looked about for Proctor, calmly, posses- sively, as though he must, of course, be there. But he was not to be seen. So she stood and talked to a group of post people, as the boat swung out into the bay, and the foggy wind blew stiffly about them. She was not sensitive, yet she was dimly aware that they were civil beyond their wont; even there seemed a vague sympathy in their manner. But she was busy and abstracted, watching for Proctor. He might be below deck, or in the cabin. At length he appeared, from the other side of the deck, walking with—another girl. The girl glanced at her with a half- smile. She was so pretty that Miss Had- ley’s lips set, and she forgot what she had heen saying. Proctor and the girl strolled tothe stern and stood there. Then Proctor caught Miss Hadley’s amazed eye, and he raised bis hat. But she beckoned. It was as- surance, to say the very least, but he went to her, leaving the other girl. The group would have been glad to melt away, but some way is couldn’t. Then Miss Hadley’s admirable and per- fect cool cheek reached its zenith. ‘‘Who is your pretty friend ?’’ she asked. Brum- mell could not have been more superb. There was a pause. Some one might have helped Proctor out, but no one did. A snicker came from the group and turned into a cough. Then the man in Proctor came to his aid, the realization that it was all everybody else’s fault, any way— Miss Hadley’s. in particular. He looked at her in stern reproach. ‘She is my wife, Miss Hadley.’’ The very winds and screw were hushed. In the silence Protor’s eyes began to shift. But Miss Hadley’s own were on his face, and they never wavered. Somewhere in their limpid depths there was a twinkle. About the corners of her mouth there was an unmistakably amused twitch: She raised a bunch of voilets to hide it. They were the ones that had come the day be- fore. He moved uneasily and met the eyes peering above the flowers again. This time they held him. ‘I wonder’’—Miss Hadley’s voice came slowly, with a distinctness that must have penetrated even to the stern—‘‘I wonder whether it is I or you—all, who feels the most cheap? Take me to meet your wile Mr. Proctor. And he took her.”’—Guwen- dolen Overton, in San Francisco Argonaut. ere — : Meeting in May at Chicago of M. E. Conference. The Quadrennial Gatheriny of Delegates From a Pow- erful Denomination. Session Will Last a Month, New Bishops to be Chosen. Though it will not meet until the first Wednesday in May, Methodist eyes are turned expectantly to she gathering of she hosts that will compose the coming Gener- al Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. Possibly no ecclesiastical gather- ing in our country awakens so much inter- est as the quadrennial sessions of this body. While it is the representative body of a church with over 2,700,000 members and a constituency of three or four million more people who are concerned about it, the oth- er Methodist hodies who look to the M. E. Church as the mother organization are in- terested, too, in what will be done, so, al- together, some ten or twelve millions of persons will feel a greater or less concern in the actions of this conference. The sessions will continue throughout the month of May. The total expenses will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chicago Methodists promised $50,- 000 to obtain the meeting for that city, be- sides making many other arrangements for the comfort of the members. The body will be larger this year than ever before. Here- tofore the lay membership has been two from each conference where the ministerial representation was two or more. The an- nual conferences of the church have, by a large majority, voted to increase the lay membership to an equality with the minis- terial. It is supposed the general confer- ence will ratify thisaction and permit them to take their seats at the coming session. In view of this the lay bodies have elected what they call provisional delegates, who will take their seats if there should be af- firmative action by the general conference. WHAT MAY BE DONE. The general conference is the law mak- ing body of the church, and as far as heard from there are no radical changes suggested as yet. What will be brought forward when it convenes is uncertain. Likely as has been before, a proposition will be made to remove the ministerial term limit and allow pastors to be appointed each year, and to remain as many years as may be mutually agreeable to pastor and congrega- tion. Now the longest period any pastor can stay in one charge is five years, with the privilege of being returned to the same church when another five years has elapsed. If such a proposition should be made it will meet with strong opposition from the conservatives, as it is only a few years since the limit was increased from three to five years. One of the most important matters con- nected with the general conference is the election of bishops and the general confer- ence officers. During the quadrennium one member of the Episcopal Board, Bishop J. M. Newman, has died. There are at present fifteen members in active service and two on the retired list. Several of the bishops have reached the age which would indicate that before another four years roll around they could not render full service, and there will probably be three or four new bishops to elect. There are two mis- sionary bishops, Bishop Thoburn in India and Bishop Hartzell in Africa and one on the retired list, Bishop Taylor. Economy in Living. Mrs. W. H. H. Robinson, Philadelphia, is credited with having solved the problem of cheap dinners to working men. She has opened an establishment in the city near Chestnut between Twenty-first and Twen- ty-second streets, where she serves nutri- tious dinners for five cents and suppers for three cents. The diner has his choice of two meats, with potatoes, two slices of Vi- enna bread, and a cup of coffee. For this be pays a ‘‘nickel’’ but should he wish to be more luxuriously feasted, for an addi- tional cent he can have an ofher piece of bread, vegetables for two cents, butter for one cent, and pie for three cents. The place is largely patronized, and the vituals furnished are well cooked and wholesome. If Mrs. Robinson has solved this problem, and we do not doubt she has, she has ac- complished a great deal. As a rule, the science of economical living is not as well understood in this country as abroad, and probably never will be. The waste in the average American family, compared with that of an European family, is very great and would support the latter if a test were made. Where everything is so full and plenty, as in this country, it is quite nat- ural there should be a greater amount of waste, but the waste is out of proportion. In the matter of food there should be next to no waste at all, and would not be if economy were properly taught The thirst for luxurious living, among our peo- ple is one reason in this country that wrecks many a household. Economics should be taught in eur public schools, and until this be done, economy in the house- hold and elsewhere will not be properly understood. The truth is that a large per- centage of the American people are firmly impressed with the idea that meanness and economy are twin sisters. This not only belongs to well-to-do classes, but those of small weans are weak enough to think it looks big to follow such teaching. When the Almighty created she world, and all that in it is, there was no waste, and bad there been His great work would not have been finished. Usefal Hints. To stop bleeding. A handful of flour bound on the cut. A red hot iron will soften old putty so that it can be easily removed. A sun bath is of more value to health than much warming by the fire. To cure a sting of bee or wasp. Mix cummon earth with water, and apply at once. To prevent doors from squeaking. Oil the hinges with a feather dipped in linseed oil. To clean gilded frames. Gently wipe them with a fine cotton cloth dipped in sweet oil. To clean decanters. Pat a spoonful of salt in the decanter, moisten with vinegar, shake well and rinse. A FRIGHTFUL BLUNDER. — Will otten cause a horrible Burn, Scald, Cut or Bruise. Bucklen’s Arnica Salve, will kill the pain and promptly heal it. Cures Fever Sores, Uleers, Boils, Corns, all Skin Eruptions. Best Pile cure on earth. Only 25 cents a box. Cure guaranteed. Sold by F. P. Green, druggist. continually. It is pitiful at night in the desert to hear the ceaseless moaning of thirsty camels. The Diamond Mines of Kimberley. The attack on Kimberley by the Boer forces has caused considerable public inter- est in the great diamond mines which now produce about ninety-five per cent of the annual output of the world. The story of these mines is a moss fascinating one, and is even more interesting than our own California gold fever of 749. ‘ In 1750, a missionary marked a map of Africa at the point where Kimberley now is with the words ‘‘Here be diamonds ;” but it was not until the year 1867 that this source of wealth was discovered, and the great elevated desert of Colesberg Kopje, just outside the western border of the Orange Free State, began to teem with Jfe. The wilderness had been given over v0 the Griquas, a tribe or nation of mixed Dutch and Kafir origin. In 1867, John O’Reilly obtained of a Dutch farmer, nam- ed Van Niekirk, a stone which the latter bought of a little Grigua boy. O'Reilly sold the stone and divided the $2,500 with Van Niekirk, who bought another one from a little Hottentot boy, and it was sold in Cape Town for $50,000. This was the famous ‘‘Star of South Africa,’’ weigh- ing 83} carats. Prospectors began to flock to the region, and in 1869 Kimberley was formerly founded. The territory was ceded to the British authorities and be- came ‘‘Griqualand West,’ a territory of Cape Colony, comprising 15,197 square miles, and a total population of 83,375. Kimberley itself had, in 1891, a popula- tion of 28,718. The rush to the diamond fields was usually made by means of ox- trains, and "the prospectors suffered many privations, which were more than compen- sated for hy she rich harvest. The pio- neer miners simply dug and sifted, each man for himself, or for self and partner. The methods employed were the orudess imaginable, rough cradles being used. The reeults were phenomenal, and some men became rich in an hour. The first dia- monds were discovered along the Vaal River, some 20 miles from Kimberley, but in 1871 diamonds were discoverea a Tu- toit’s Pan, a short distance from that place. The crowds rushed to the new fields, or the ‘‘dry diggings’’ as they were called. The discovery of the stones was soon made at ‘‘New Rush,”’ or Kimberley which shortly became the supreme center of the mining industry. The original Kimberley mine had an area of 13 acres, and this was soon convert- ed into an enormous ‘hole, which has been extended until now it is about 1,100 feet deep. The diamonds come in what are known as ‘‘pipes,’” which run down through the layers of shale, which are stratified. Twenty years ago the mine pre- sented a most remarkably appearance, and we have been fortunate enough to secure photographs taken about this time, which was before the days of consolidation, and the mine was all divided up into small claims. The edge of the rock which sur- rounded the mine was termed the ‘‘reef,”’ and from it could be obtained an excellent view of the mine itself, which seemed at first to be a collection ot houses of cliff dwellers. It was perhaps 1,000 feet across and the whole surface was covered by hundreds of wire ropes which run up to staging at the top, which consisted of a framework carrying three sets of sheaves superimposed. It should be said that each of the newcomers to the mine staked out a claim 31 feet square. It was staked out by a surveyor, and when this was done the owners could dig out all that section of the earth as far as they could go. There was a small tax of $2.50 a month on each claim. Some of these claims proved to be much better than others, and some were worked much more rapidly than others, the result being that no two adja- cent claims seemed to be of the same alti- tude, and it made a most picturesque ap- pearance; but the accidents from falling earth were of great frequency and were very serious. Each claim was connected with the staging by a wire rope which ran over wheels about four feet in diameter, the wheels being turned with the aid of cranks by four careful workmen. The ropes run at all angles, some of them being almost vertical, where they served the claims al- most under the staging. Each wire rope was secured to a post which was driven in the claim. The bucket ran on the wire rope. At first the buckets were made of ox hide, and when it was filled with the blue earth which contained the diamonds, it was hauled up by the stalwart Kafirs, so that each claim was to all intents and pur- poses a seperate mine. The soil proved to be remarkably valuable, and the great open shaft was sunk rapidly. The claims were very largely subdivided, and even a small section of one proved to be of great value. The miners were greatly hindered in their work by water which invaded the diamond field. The reef had to be con- stantly pared to prevent it from sliding in- to the mine proper. Some of the diamonds were, of course, picked out during the dig- ging, but a large part of the work was done at the surface. At first the dry pro- cess was employed, but finally washing machines were introduced which enabled them to work abandoned piles and tailings. The Kafirs were, of course, constantly watched to prevent them secreting any diamonds, and they were kept in what was termed a ‘‘compound’’ for three, six, nine or twelve months, depending upon the agreement which they made. During this time they were virtually prisoners. They were not allowed to leave the stockade. In time methods began to change in the mines, and small capitalists were crowded from the field. The expense of raising the earth constantly increased, the depth ne- cessitating the use of horse whims instead of the old method of using Kafir labor. The reef was constantly crumbling, and the expense of working caused by the in- flux of water forced many owners of claims to sell out to larger miners. The result was that in time the methods of diamond mining became entirely changed; and while the operation was more rapid and thorough and less expensive, it could be conducted only on a very large scale. The mines to-day are nothing like as picturesque as they were, as it was found that open mining, that is, cutting ground away in great bits like stone quarries, was imprac- ticable on a large scale, so that at present time deep covered shafts and galleries have been substituted. With all the resources of modern diamond-mining machinery, the final work of picking out diamonds from a mass of pebbles calls for skill, responsibls, and, of course, proportionally high paid labor. Ever since the mines were first opened, great attention was paid to the na- tive diamond thief and to the white man whose business it was to buy stolen dia- monds from the native illicit diamond buyers. To prevent the natives from yielding to their blandishments, the latter are kept in the compounds, or stockades, and even high wire nettings crown the fence to prevent them from throwing over packages containing diamonds. The laws are so strict that if a verson should find a diamond on the street, he would at once have to take it to the police to be regis- tered before he could legally have any claim to its possession. When the individual ———— TT RR RR EEE. claims were being worked, some miners would dig into their neighbors claims in such a way that she blue ground which was so much desired would tumble into their own workings. This was one of she evils which was so much desired would sumble into sheir own workings. This was one of the evils which was naturally incidental to the existence of 3,143 sepa- rate claims within an area of 1} square miles. Now matters are entirely changed. Great companies, like the De Beers, have consolidated, with a capital of $18,000,000. Of course, the possession of the mines by one of two corporations has giving them an enormous power over the diamond market until the conditions are ripe to obtain the highest possible price. It is needless to say that the mines pay handsome dividends and there have been many enormous for- tunes made in them.—Scientific American. Big Purchase of Timber Lands in Clinton and Centre Counties. Fifty Thousand Acres Froma Point West of Keating to a Point Thirty-five Miles Eastward—Lands Cov- ered With a Healthy Growth of Timber. The State Forestry commission which has been empowered to purchase 40,000 acres each at the headwaters of the Sus- quehanna, Allegheny and Delaware rivers, recently made arrangements to buy 50,- 000 acres in Clinton and Centre counties. The lands begin at a point about eight miles west of Keating, and extend thirty- five miles eastwardly along and in olose proximity to the river. The valuable features of hese purchases are that they were bought for a very low figure and that they are entirely covered with a healthy growsh of young timber. All points considered, these lands are of the best that could have been secured for forestry reservasion purposes in the state. These lands are located as the headwa- ters of many tributaries to the Wess Branch, and form a wilderness which is now and has always been she home of the various kinds of wild animals left within the limits of she state, and area pars of she same lands, the purchase of which by a commission was noticed in the papers a few weeks ago. On the west of she purchased tracts in Centre county are about 11,000 acres, which are owned by the city of Philadel- phia, and will likely be held in conjunc- sion with them. The commission has been informed that during the past few years, numerous. fires have been purposely started by men own- ing cattle, which they have been pasturing on wild lands owned by oshers, for which they pay neither rent nor taxes. By set- ting fire to the leaves in the early spring they have not only burned the under- brush, but the timber on many thousand acres of land that wa: reproducing itself with great rapidity and which would al- ways have continued an unbroken forest if left to nature. This wanton destruction has been more noticeable in that territory between the Tangascootac and Baker’s run, and which is east of the above de- scribed reservation. The laws of the state are sufficient to arrest all those responsible for these fires, and we are reliably informed that the com- mission will in the future take the matter up and keep due watch. All offenders, guilty of starting fires either on the lands now owned by the state or on those adja- cent thereto, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. How General Lawton Died. Surgeon Beaseley, Who Stood Beside Him, Tells the Story. The following account. of the death of General Lawton has been received from Surgeon Beasely to his family who resides at Saucelito, Cal. The writer was within a few feet of General Lawton when he was struck and was one of the first to reach him after he had fallen. The letter reads : “I was at the head of our column when an officer rode up and told me that there was a wounded man over toward the river. So I cantered over in the direction given, and on my way I noticed a tall man stand- ing: alone about 20 yards away to my right. He was dressed in his yellow oil- skin and white helmet. He put his hand up and called for me to come over to him. I did so and then recognized that it was General Lawton. He told me that I had better not go over there on my horse, say- ing there was a wounded man there, but he would send a litter and have him brought to me. We were in a somewhat depressed place. I handed’ the bridle to my orderly and went across. The wound- ed man was Lieutenant Breckinridge of General Lawton’s staff. A litter came soon afterward and wish it an officer, Captain King. I helped carry the litter back to where I left my horse and found General Lawson still there. “When within six feet of him, I no- ticed a bullet splash in a pond of water about 20 feet behind him and at the same time saw him turn slightly and staggered. The officer who was with him also noticed the movement and said so him, ‘General are yon hit?” ‘I am shot in the lungs,’ was his answer. The next instants he turned quickly in a half circle and plunged forward. Captain King caught him as he fell. I put my hand on his pulse. There was none, and at the same time blood poured from his mouth. The light left his eyes, and after a few short breaths the general, who a few moments before was a strong, powerful man, and indomitable worker, a brilliant an absolutely fearless soldier, lay a corpse.’ ——Borrows—*‘‘Say, Goode, lend me a V, will you?” Goodethyng—‘No; but I'll give you one.”” Borrows—*‘All right, let it go at that. Where is i$?’ Goode- thyng—‘‘I'm merely giving you the V I loaned you three years ago.’ There is no question as to where the farmers of the country stand on the political issues before the people. If they were left to their sober senses, uninfluenced by the demagogical pleas of the protectionist who desires others to be taxed for his benefit, the farmers of the country would range themselves naturally on the side where their in- terests lie and be Democrats. Of 22,- 000 farmers who replied to certain questions submitted by the National Rural, 17,045 are in favor of leaving the Filipinos free, 19,282 favor bimetal- lism, 20,561 believe in national paper money, 20,000 oppose trusts, 18,600 fa- vor government control of railroads, telegraph lines, etc., 19,800 favor the parcel post system, 15,876 would like to have rural mail delivery, while 20,- 545 oppose any increase in the standing army. The farmers are, as a class, in- stinctively opposed to the principles and practices of the Republican party, but many of them have been seduced into voting against their own inter- ests by the false prophets of protection. Changes im Spelling. University of Chicago Will Load a Werd Shortening Contest. The Chicago Times Herald tells the fol- lowing : The University of Chicago will use and advocate the new spelling. By a vote of 20 0 16 the University congrega- tion placed itsel? on record yesterday as favoring the use of the reformed speiling adopted by she National Educational Asso- ciation in its publication. Twelve words are affected by she change. They were selected by a committee appointed by the National Educational Association to advise some most needed changes. They repre- sent some of the words used most frequently in common writing and vrinting which can be spelled more simply than previous cus- tom allows. All contain a number of si- lent letters. In the reform she words are spelled according to their sounds and con- tain no useless letters. The words which are remade by the reform appeared ordi- narily as follows : Catalogue, pedagogue, demagogue. prologue, decalogue, although, though, thorough, thoroughfare, through, throughout and programme. They wil} appear in all university publications ac- cording to the new arrangement as fol- lows : Catolog, pedagog, demagog, pro- log, decalog, altho, tho, thoro, thorofare, thru, thruout and program. The change at the university means much for the reform in spelling. The local university issues a great number of magazines and papers and influences no small proportion of the reading public. Professors and graduates who make up the congregation held a long and earnest debate over the matter and disoussed it from all sides before finally stamping it with their approval. Most of the discus- Sion favored the proposition, but a rather quiet minority appeared against it when the vote was called. Some were opposed to the admission of the new spelling, while others advised more radical changes than those used by the National Educational Assooiation. Is Coal Contraband of War ? From the New York Sun. The status of coal in time of war is an interesting problem for international law and is sare to grow in importance. To England it is likely to bea vital matter. It is generally agreed among the nations whose acquiescence constitutes ‘‘inter- national law’’ that coal, under certain con- ditions, is contraband of war. A new phase of the problem in England has alarm- ed the Pall Mall Gazette and led it to sug- gest an extraordinary measure to the gov- ernment. A firm of Cardiff coal shippers has contracted with foreign agents to send 300,000 tons of coal abroad, probably to Germany, France and Russia. Coal is wanted badly in England now, especially for the transports plying between the moth- er country and Natal and the Cape of Good Hope. Moreover, it is conceivable that the coal is being bought up by foreign maritime powers from political motives, and that in case of a sudden declaration of war England might find her navy crippled. Therefore the Pall Mall Gazette proposes that such transactions be forbidden in war time, and that the government should ac- quire the right to issue ‘‘a sort of writ of ne exeat regno against the coal and the shippers.” The proposal marks a strange return to medieval methods of dealing with economic conditions. It emphasizes again the place that King Coal has taken in modern life. It is not only the guns and the men he- hind the guns that must be considered, but the boilers and the coal that feeds them. It should make every American proud that whether it be for coal or food, for guns or men, the United States are dependent on themselves alone. Imperialism and Labor. From the Labor Tribune. This is the mere beginning of a fight in which every workman in the United States is interested. If the Democratic conten- tion is right, and Congress has no right to levy a duty on goods imported from Porto Rico and our other new possessions, then the cheap labor of those countries comes into direct competition with our own, and all that the tariff bas done for labor is threatened. If, on the other hand, the Re- publican members of the committee are right, why impose duties only one-fourth as large as the Dingley duties, which are themselves supposed to be no more than sufficient? We confess we fear the Demo- cratic contention is the true one. As the United States supreme court has declared, the Constitution extends every when that the National authority does and she Uni- ted States extends as far as the Constitu- tion. Imperialism means competition with cheap labor, and it is doubtful if such sop to workingmen as the ways and means committee is throwing out will alter the unpleasant fact. Four Old Senators Side by Side. The Washington Post has the following : Four of the oldest men in the Senate sit side by side in the front row. They are Pettus, of Alabama, who is 78 years old; Cockrell, of Missouri, whois 65; Vest, of Missouri, who is verging on 75, and Mor- gan, Alabama, who will be 70 next June. Age has dealt lightly with these four old men, with the exception of Senator Vest, who is beginning to give evidence of the weight of three score years and ten upon his diminutive form. Pettus is wonder- fully well preserved. He is known as the ‘Confucius of the Senate’’ because he looks 80 wise and is so deliberate in his talk. Cockrell is one of the hardest workers in the Senate and his constant watchfulness while bills are being considered is prover- bial. Vest used to be one of the greatest orators and debaters in the body. ——Potipie Dumplings.—To one quart of flour add two tablespoonsful of baking powder, one-half teaspoonful of salt and one beaten egg. Mix with sweeé milk as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. Twen- ty minutes before the meat is done, drop dumplings into the kettle with a spoon. Be sure and keep kettle tightly covered and constantly boiling for the 20 minutes. These dumplings are to be cooked with beef, chicken, eto. STo0oD DEATH OFFr.—E. B. Munday, a lawyer of Henrietta, Tex., once fooled a grave-digger. He says: ‘My brother was very low with malarial fever and jaundice. I persuaded him to try Electric Bitters, and he was soon much better, but continued their use until he was wholly cured. Iam sure Electric Bitters saved his life.”” This remedy expels malaria, kills disease germs and purifies the blood ; aids digestion, regu- lates liver, kidneys and bowels, cures con- stipation, dyspepsia, nervous diseases, kid- ney troubles, female complaints; gives per- fect health. Only 50 cents at F. P. Green’s drug store.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers