Bellefonte, Pa., May 10, 190I. THE PLOWMAN., First in the field before the reddening sun, Last in the shadows when the day is done, Line after line, along the bursting sod, Marks the broad acres where his feet have trod, 8till where he treads the stubborn clods divide, The smooth, fresh furrow opens deep and wide, Matted and dense the tangled turf upheaves. Mellow and dark the ridgy cornfield cleaves. Up the steep hillside, where the laboring train Slants the long track that scores the level plain, Through the moist valley, clogged with oozing clay, The patient convoy breaks its destined way. At évery turn the loosening chains resound, The swinging plowshare circles glistening round, Till the wide field one billowy waste appears, And wearied hands unbind the panting steers. These are the hands whose sturdy labor brings The peasant’s food, the golden pomp of kings. This is the page whose letters shall be seen Changed by the sun to words of living green. This is the scholar whose immortal pen. Spells the first lesson hunger taught to men. These are the lines that heaven commanded toil Shows on his deed—the charter of the soil O gracious mother, whose benignant breast Wakes us to life and lulls us all to rest, How the sweet features, kind to every clime, Mock with their smile the wrinkled front of time ? We stain thy flowers—they blossom o’er the dead— We rend thy bosom, and it gives us bread. O’er the red field that trampling strife has torn Waves the green plumage of the tasseled corn. Our maddening conflicts scar thy fairest plain. . Btill thy soft answer is the growing grain. Yet, O our mother, while nncounted charms Steal round our hearts in thine embracing arms, Let not eur virtues in thy love decay, And thy fond sweetness waste our strength away. ? —Oliver Wendell Holmes. ———— A YANKEE GOLD-MINE, Gold has never been found in the quartz that abounded in a certain portion of the State of Massachusetts, but as old Squire Strayter recently said : ‘That doesn’t prove that there’s none there. No gold was found in California till ahout 50 years ago, though that country had been almost three centuries under the Spaniards—the most persistent gold-hunting race that the world ever knew. Before the California dust was found, New Hampshire had a re- spectable place among gold-producing States ; if there’s gold in New Hampshire, why not in Massachusetts ?’’ Strayter himself had been one of the Ar- gonauts of ’49 before he came of age, and for all the years that followed he had been of the opinion that had he not been recalled to the old homestead when his father died he would have become rich through finding precious metal. In the very gulch in which he was working when the fateful black-bordered letter reached him his asso- ciates afterward found ‘‘indications’” from which several fortunes were evolved. A shelf in the Squire’s room, in the old farm- house, was covered with bits of ore from that very gulch, and one piece had been handled contemplatively and often. Like a loyal son and brother he had done his full duty on the old farm. He had married and reared a family that everyone respected ; he had been a good citizen, and at times a magistrate to the entire satisfac- tion of his neighbors ; but in his dreams by night and by day his mind went back to the California gulches, with their golden sands and rusty quartz. In the hilly country near Strayter farm there was scarce- ly a reddish-white ledge that had not been chipped by the little hammer which he habitually carried. His neighbors laughed at him for his hobby ; sometimes he laughed at himself 3 but habits strengthen with age, so, when the old man’s wife had passed away and all his children except his daughter Raye, who kept house for him, had married, and the land of the farm had been leased for enough money to support the father and daughter in the simple manner to which they were accustomed, the Squire’s gold-hunting fe- ver was indulged until it became chronic. Even Raye became infected by it, and found a possible gold mine a delightful subject for her own day dreams. Suddenly there came to Raye and her father a week full of excitement. The ’Squire had previously found a thin seam of quartz that looked remarkably like some of his California specimens ; he had sent some of the rock to a Boston assayer, who Teported a trace of gold. By the very mail-coach that brought this report came Ethan Overford, son of one of the 'Squire’s schoolmates who had gone West before the war and became a cattle king and million- aire. His son had come east to purchase an estate for his father, who wished to pass his remaining days amid the scenes of his ~childhood. Young Overford, who bad inherited the money-making faculty, called on his fath- er’s old friend, and, with the mauners of a gentleman, and also the peculiar Western quality of frankness, made himself heartily welcome. He called again to consult the ’Squire about desirable building sites that might possibly be purchased ; then he ac- cepted a special invitation to all the next day for the purpose of looking at the ’Squire’s promising quartz vein, having ad- mitted that he had dabbled with some suc- cess in Colorado gold “prospects.” On the | fourth day he reappeared to ask whether the ’Squire ‘knew any trustworthy local stonemasons, for his father talked of build- ing a mansion of the rough stone of the country. He was back again in twenty- four hours to show a letter from his father. On the sixth day he again strolled out to the Strayter farm, with no excuse that he could put to words, but by that time the ’Squire suspected, and Raye knew, the cause of his frequent visits. nid, It was dreadful ; it was also delightfal. There had been no old farm, for Raye, besides being hand- some aud clever, bad been a woman several years, and her father was as well-to-do as any of his neighbors. She had always said ‘‘No,’’ never with much regret, and always on the ground that her father de- served her entire attention ; but never be- -fore bad an admirer come in the dress and manner of a man of the world, and with a moderate fortune of his own and another fortune in prospect, nor had any one brought into the home so many quiet re- minders of the great outer world in which New Englanders above all other people are persistently interested. : there came a day when, after a lon political chat with the Squire, Overfor suddenly and formally changed the subject of conversation’ bY asking permission to pay ‘his addresses to Raye. lack ‘of suitors at the ‘‘You’re the son of an old acquaintance, ”’ said the "Squire, ‘‘and ’tis plain to see that you're very much of a man, and ’tisn’t strange that you should admire Raye, but I don’t believe in poor men’s daughters marrying rich. I’ve seen some cases of it, and they all turned ont bad.” **But, ’Squire,”” argued the young man, ‘‘there’s less difference than you imagine. I don’t pass for a rich man out in Colorado. Besides, money counts only for what it buys. Your house contains more comforts and pretty things than our place on the ranch, and your daughter probably has bet- ter clothes and more refined society than my sisters have.” : ‘‘Perhaps—perhaps, ’’the ’Squire replied; ‘‘but young men, when they marry, don’t stick to the simple ways of their parents— not if they can help it, as ’tis plain to see you can. My other gals have been as well off asthe men they married; their hus- bands’ folks and friends couldn’s throw it at em that they hadn’s anything but what their husbands gave em. Neither Raye nor any of her folks could ever stand: that sort of talk, even if they didn’t hear it, but merely knew it went on behind their backs. You’re too much of aman to lose your head and heart over any one gal—even one as smart and good-looking as my daughter. There are nice gals in every set, and ’tis only fair to yourself, and to your wife that is to be, that you marry some one who's used to plenty of money and to ways of spending it.”’ Overford protested earnestly, though respectfully. The Squire listened kindly, but remained obdurate. As Overford walk- ed away Raye came upon the piazza and looked reproachfully at her father. ‘You overheard what was being said ?"’ queried the Squire. “No,” Raye replied, ‘but I could imagine it——1I had to send him to you-— and he has gone without saying good-by.”’ ‘‘He hasn’t gone far, pet, and what I said isn’t going to keep him from coming here. He’s a pleasant acquaintance; I wish we had more of the same kind. I hope his father and the family will come into the neighborhood; if his sisters are anything like him they’ll be good company for you.” Raye did not answer, nor did her counte- nance change. Her father put his arm around her and said tenderly : ‘You wouldn’t enjoy being a poor gal married into a rich family. You’ve heard talk about some such gals, haven’t you 2” “Yes,” assented Raye, but her expres- sion remained fixed, even after her father bad kissed her. True to the Squire’s prediction, young Overford soon called again; his excuse was that he thought he had heard the sound of rock-blasting, and it really made him feel homesick. He found the Squire at the ledge, looking at some newly fractured bits of quartz. ‘Your eyes are younger than mine, ’’ said the old man, ‘‘and you know far more of this kind of business than I do. Take this magnifying glass and see if you find any signs.” ‘I can’t see any free gold,”” Overford re- plied after closescrutiny; ‘‘but that proves nothing. Let me send some specimens to an assayer who has done a lot of work for me. Gold has no end of ways of hiding in rock; not all assayers find it, even when it’s there.’’ ‘“That Boston man found it,’’ said the Squire, ‘‘but I've wondered about ten times a day whether I didn’t accidentally get one of the little California bits with my own by mistake. I often compared them with one another.’ The young man interested himself so greatly in the matter that he carried a small sack of the rock to New York within a few days, and when he returned he brought {rom a prominent assayer a report showing more than a trace of gold; the proportion of precious metal was very small—too small to justify working, but Overford insisted that the outlook was cheering. Said : ““This report is so much better than that from Boston that it seems to promise richer rock as the depth increases; that’s the way we should regard it if the vein were in Colorado. Why not drill farther back on the ledge, make a large blast, open up a big breast of rock, and get still’ another assay ? I’ll help you at the work, and—I shall feel justified in asking for a recon- sideration if you suddenly find yourself owner of a paying gold mine.”’ The Squire’s face wrinkled shrewdly as he drawled : “You Western men have a marvelously ractical way of putting things, and——"" Rhen he stopped, for his heart was dancing recklessly. He half repented of his deci- sion; for Raye’s sake might the vein prove, if not a bonanza, at least a profitable pro- ducer! Together the two men worked for sev- eral days, and the young man noted with great satisfaction that when he accom- panied the Squire to midday dinner his flannel shirt and reddening complexion did not lessen the welcoming look in Raye’s eyes. Near the close of the fourth day a great cartridge of giant powder was lower- ed into the hole, the wire of the battery was carried to a safe distance, and Over- ford said : ‘‘Here’s hoping ! Let’s shake bands on it. Now touch the button !’’ - The Squire’s hand trembled so violently that twice his finger missed the button; bus immediately after the third attempt there was a mighty roar, the earth shook, and the Squire hurried forward so rapidly that the younger man conld not overtake him. Both men stopped an instant at the edge of the little cliff created by the blast; then both scrambled to the foot of it and began to scrutinize the face on the rock. . ‘See anything—see anything? asked the Squire eagerly. film nhig j ‘“There’s a possibility,’”’ Overford re- same quality—these joints, where the vein has been broken for ages, and into which water has crickled and stayed, ought to show the free gold, if there is-any. Have you a magnifying glass with you?’ The Squire hand shook so that it could scarcely find his pocket; meanwhile Over- ford was stooping over the debris and pick- ing up small bits of partly decomposed quartz. He took the glass, examined sev- eral specimens and suddenly placed one of them and the glass in the Squire’s hands saying : : ot ‘Look at that!” : Quickly the Squire looked. He saw some bright Specks; they were tiny, but they were yellow. : ‘‘Hurrah!”’ he fairly shouted. ‘Thank Heaven! How many dollars—how good is that?’ the Squire asked- ‘I mean, how rich ought it to run tothe ton ? The grains are dreadful small.” ‘Yes, but if there are even two ounces of them to a whole ton of rock—two ounces of freeing-milling ore—you’ve struck a re- ‘markably gi in a country where labor is cheap, machin- ery and good fuel near at hand, and tans- portation charges almost nothing.” Then: Overford resumed his search, and the Squire, on his hands and knees and with his spectacles on his nose, assisted with ‘said Overford. the p vious question, however, you're rich enough plied. ' ‘‘You see the rock is not all of the | thing, considering that it’s | ‘‘what on earth are you talking about ?”’ such success that he himself soon found bits of glittering ore. Suddenly he arose to his feet and said : ,'I must go home—at once?” Raye must know of this.” ‘‘Mayn’t I go with youn ?"’asked Over- ford. The Squire looked keenly into the young man’s eyes an instant and replied : **Come along! Iowe much of this to you, but remember that this isn’t a gold mine—not yet. : “I shan’t take advantage of your kind- ness,’’ said Overdorf; nevertheless, he was as happy as the Squire himself when Raye’s eyes brightened over the gold and then melted as they looked gratefully and im- partially at both men. ‘Now, Squire,’’ said Overford, after a few blissful moment. ‘‘business is busi- ness, and as I’ve had considerable exper- ience in this line, let me offer you a little advice. You can’t do anything with your find unless you’ve about ten thousand dol- lars’ worth of working expenses. If you haven’t the money, you can do one of two things—form a company and sell stock, or sell a quarter or third interest—keeping the controlling interest yourself—to men who are in the business and know how to work such a property. You’re welcome to any assistance that my experience and ac- quaintance can give youn.”’ “I thank you—thank you. I must ac- cept it. Which of the two plans would be the better ?* ‘That of selling an interest; it's the fairest and safest way. There's never been a great gold yield from any New England mine, so bank what can you get, and afterward take your share of the profits. Let me take some specimens of the rock— the worstas well as the best—down to New York, and see what assays and offers I can get you. My services won’s cost you anything,and—well, you know I’ve per- sonal reasons for wishing you to make a fortune out of your find” Overford returned to the ledge, collected more specimens, and hprried to the city. In three days he was back with reports by three different assayers showing a possible yield varying from eight to thirty-five dollars to the ton of rock. Still more to the. point, brought a letter which the Squire read aloud as follows : LYMAN STRAYER, Esq Dear Sir Having seen some of the rock prospects, and having also examined the assayers’ reports and consulted our old friend and custom- er, Mr. Overford, we are willing to invest some money in the property on condition that we shall have ex- clusive control of developing and op- erating, yon to have access to the works and accounts at any times, either in person or by agent. If such conditions should be satis- factory to you, we will pay fifty thousand dollars for a third interest in the mine. We have placed a cer- tified check for the amount inthe hands of Mr. Overford, the same to be given to you upon your signing papers (also in Mr. Overford’s hands) specifying above mentioned agree- ment. Yours Sincerely, Quick & TRUETT. “Fifty thousand dollars!” gasped the Squire staring joyously at his daughter. ‘Fifty thousand dollars,”’ murmured Raye. ‘Now, you dear man, you must take a long rest and a long look at the world.” ‘Not I!’ exclaimed the old man, whose face had hecome twenty years younger in asingle minute. ‘‘I’ll do some more pros- pecting at once—yes, this very day.”’ ‘Go easy, Squire; take a rest,”’ suggest- ed Overford, as he displayed the check, which the old man and his daughter de- voured with their eyes. ‘‘Bless me! If ever I get fifty thousand dollars so easily I shall think I've done enough work for. one day.” 3 +I really do suppose, Overford,’’said the Squire, somewhat sheepishly, ‘‘that I'm acting like a fool, but Iassure you that goldmines are scarce in this part of the world, and so are big checks. Do you ad- vise me to accept this offer ?"’ “Indeed I do. Out West it’s the rule to accept whatever cash can be gotten ont of a gold proposition. All that you or any other man knows of a gold property is what is in plain sight, so take the check, sign the papers, and hope for whatever else may be got out of it.” Squire took the check. Raye brought pen and ink and leaned over her father as he signed the agreement; thensbe looked gratefully at Overford—only an instant, yet long enough to make the young man ridiculously happy. ‘‘Now Squire,’’ said Overford, as the old man dropped his pen and again contem- lated the check, ‘‘turn about is fair play. 've helped you to open and sell your mine, 80 why won’t you pack a few things, and run out to Colorado with me, and look at a few prospectholes of my own? A man who’s smart enough to find gold in this part of New England ought to be worth mil- ‘lions , to me and to himself, in Colorado.” “Id like nothing better than to be turn- ed loose in a gold country,” the Squire re- plied; “‘but I can’t leave Raye.’ “I didn’t ask you to leave her,” said Overford, looking appealingly at the girl, who quickly vanished, ‘‘Take her with you; a young woman of her sense and spirit and character would enjoy so great a change quite as much as you. Besides, I’m impa- tient to have her meet her prospective sis- ters-in-law, and my parents.’’ The Squire smiled quizzically as he re- plied : x ‘“You Westerners people.”’ : : ‘‘There’d be no West if we weren’t,” ‘‘Returning to the pre- ‘are very persistent now, arn’t you, to allow me to try to be- ‘come your son-in-law ?”’ : ; ‘There are lots of other fine gals in the world. Sure you won’t change your mind some day ?”’ - *'Not till the end of eternity.” ‘‘H’m ! Well, I don’t suppose it matters much what you may do then.” The Strayters went West; afterward all the Overfords came East to the wedding, but before that event the Squire bad‘ operated a little, and successfully, in mining prop- erties, 80 he was once more a young man in feeling and longed to go West once more and ‘‘grow up with the country,” and so returned to Colorado and worked and pros- gored to his Hiking. A few months after is daughter and her husband had return- ed from a long honey-moon trip in Europe, and the two men sat together one morning over their mail, the Squire remarked that the prrchasers of an interest in his New England mine had not yet paid anything on account of his share of the profits. ‘“H’m,” said Overford, absent-mindedly, his attention being engrossed by some min- ing reports of his own from a confidential agent, *‘I never sent on the pay-rock I promised.” “Son-in-law.”’ exclaimed the Squire, Overford started violently. The eyes of the two men met. The Squire's lance was searching, and Overford looked wun- comfortable. ‘‘Son-in-law.”’ continued ‘the Squire,’ who had learned much of the ways of tricky dealers in mining property, “I do believe you ‘salted’ that mine !”’ ‘‘Father-in-law,’’ the young man re- plied, *‘I connot tell a lie, especially after it has been detected in advance. I did salt it from the very first. The day we fired the big blast I bad two pockets full of small bits of Colorado pay-ore, which had een carefully selected from a New York mine-broker’s specimens to match your quartz in color and general appearance. After the blast I slyly sprinkled them where—well, where they would do most good.” ‘‘And in that way you helped me, an honest man, to swindle the firm that paid me fifty thousand for a third interest.’’ ‘Ob, no; not swindle. The buyers haven’t complained have they ?’’ ‘‘No, that makes the operation no less dishonest. I must return the money,’ sighed the Squire. ‘It has trebled in my hands since I’ve been here, yet I hate to let the fifty thousand go.” ‘Don’t pay it if you feel that way.”’ “But I must. I can’t feel honest again until I’ve done it.” “Must, eh? Well, if you’re in such a hurry about it, pay it through your daugh- ter. ‘‘Son-in-law,”” said the Squire sternly, ‘‘do you mean to tell me that my daughter was a party to that shameless fraud ?”? *‘No. ‘‘Then what do yon mean ?”’ “Simply that your daughter Raye’s hus- band was the real and only purchaser of your supposed gold mine. Quick & Truett were merely my agents.’’ The Squire pushed his hat to the back of his head and sprang toward Overford as if tostrike him. Suddenly he dropped his hands, looked into the manly, smiling face before him and muttered : “You're a cute one—a mighty cute one.”’ Under the circumstances I had to be. Do you blame me, considering what was at stake ?”’ The Squire grasped both hands of his son-in-law and replied : 3 .*‘God bless her! No "—The Saturday Evening Post. High Society Lures Women to Drink. Girls in Seminaries Told that Total Abstinence is Weak and Vulgar. “If there is any one feature of the drink- ing custom which at this time is occasion for alarm, it is the appalling increase of inebriety among women.” This statement was made by Joshua L. Bailey, president of the National Temper- ance Society of Friends, to a large audience of Friends, and caused much surprise. “I was told a few Jays since by a pupil of one of our most fashionable young ladies’ seminaries,’’ continued Mr. Bailey, ‘‘that their principal, in counseling them to avoid extremes, declared it was just as vulgar to be a total abstainer as 1t was to drink to excess; that one was indication of a weak character just as much as the other. What must be expected as the results of such tuition, when these young girls enter so- ciety and become members of the fashion- able set? DRINKING IN HIGH LIFE. ‘‘Intemperance among fashionable wom- en, as I have learned from some of their own class, is much more observable, even in Philadelphia, than it was some years ago. In New York a social leader, who refused to allow her name to be used be- cause of her family connections and her personal relations to the ‘400,’ says that the drinking evil among women of the highest circles has reached an alarming state. *‘It is nothing unusual, she declares, to see in leading hotels and cafes beautiful and handsomely-dressed women of Fifth ave- nue absolutely pour down cock-tails and other mixed drinks. Nor is New York the only American city where such condi- tions: exist. Workers of the W. C. T. U. of Chicago report finding hundreds of women drinking in the saloons at all honrs of the night. * AN INCREASING VICE. ‘‘The increased use of liguor among women is asad but generally admitted fact in Great Britain. Dr. Haywood Smith, a noted English specialist, furnish- es facts and figures to prove that British women are drifting towards inebriety. He asserts that the vice is increasing with more rapidity among the rich and well-to-do wom- en than among those of the lower strata of society. Headds: ‘In this so-called up- per class drunkeness is epidemic.’ “I have long believed, and each year strengthens my conviction, that the drink- ing customs of society stands more than other impediment in the way of all moral, social, industrial and religious progress.’ As They Chose. While waiting for the train the bride and bridegroom walked slowly up and down the platform. : “I don’t know what this joking and guy- ing may have heen to you,’’ he remarked, ‘but it’s death to me. I never experienc- ed such an ordeal*"’ “It’s perfectly dreadful,’’ she answered, “I shall be so glad when we get away from everybody we know.”’ ‘‘They’re actually impertinent,’’ he went on. ‘‘Why, the very natives—’ At this unpropitious moment the wheezy old stationmaster walked up to them. ‘‘Be you goin’ to take this train?’ he asked. : ‘It’s none of your business,” retorted the bridegroom, indignantly, as he guided the bride up the platform, where they con- doled with each other over the impertinence of the natives. . : ; Onward came the train, its vapor curling from afar. It was the last to their destina- tion that day, an express—nearer, nearer, it came at full speed, then in a moment it ‘whizzed past and was gone. “Why in the thunder didn’t that train stop I? yelled the bridegroom. *’Cos you sed ’twarn’t none of my biz- ness. I has to signal if that train’s to stop.”’ : nd as the old stationmaster softly strok- ed his beard there was a wicked twinkle in his eye.—From the London Spare Moments. Fifty Cases Smallpox. Reported at Barbour Mills, Lycoming County. Over fifty cases of small pox are raging at Barbour’s Mills, a lumber village in the northeastern part of Lycoming connty. Dr. Richter, a representative of the state board. of health, returned yesterday from an official investigation. He has found that since the discovery of the first case hundred cases, with prospects of many new ones. Of the cases at Barbour Mills, none are varantived and many have walked along the : highway before they were entirely. well. pis om ——~Subscribe for the WATCHMAN. several ‘weeks ago there have been over a: — Forests—Their Destruction and Repro- duction. Independents of the joys of true religion, domestic peace, and ‘‘the reciprocity of kindly intercourse with friends,’ our high- est idea of delight was a pedestrian tour in ‘the White Mountains and in the forests of Maine. We still find pleasure when we revisit those regions to find rest from physi- cal work, but it is tinged with melancholy. Not long ago in a little walk of seventy- five miles in New Hampshire, our eyes were pained by the glare of the sun from bare stony or sandy hille where formerly they looked with delight on noble forests of pine, maple and beech. : For eleven years we stayed a few weeks in every summer at a cottage standing in a valley one thousand five hundred and forty three feet above the level of the sea. The valley was surrounded by eleven lofty mountains, some of them above four thoun- sand feet in height. They were covered from top to bottom with virgin forest. ‘The brotherhood of venerable trees’” had succeeded each other from the creation of the world, the place was difficult of access; but the covetous eye of the lnmberman was upon it, and all through that region the forests are rapidly disappearing. In a fine article Mr. Frack French des- cants on the result of wood pulp-making which has become an enormous industry. ‘And the small spruces which escape the ripsaw are ground up by the pulp mill, while those that escape the paper maker are destroyed by the chemical manufactur- er.” This forest destruction already shows baneful results in the wasting of water, the cheapest motive power the world will ever know. Once it was ample to turn millions of spindles in Lowell, Fall River. and Man- chester ; now it has become so variable that steam has had to be substituted. A reaction has sprung up against the ex- tinction of the forests at the demand of mere commercial utility. The aridity of ounce fruitful soil, the fearful and fitful se- verity of the sun’s heat, the inconstancy of the streams, the diminution of rain have combined to reinforce this call. The scar- city of water in the cities will also soon add to these reinforcements. There are hundreds of thousands of acres in the East- ern States which cannot be profitably tilled. If the men who own them would plant them with trees, in twenty years the wood would pay them more by far than they could possibly gain as farmers. Many are findivg this ont, and great sections filled with young trees can be found. The Division of Forestry in the Depart- ment of Agriculture will undertake to re- forest a large part of the Conemaugh water- shed at Johnstown, Pa. This is done at the request of the Johnstown Water Com- pany (which controls five thousand acres of land) that the Division of Forestry de- vise a plan by which the area can be re- covered with timber so as to prevent the too rapid rush of the rainfall. This was the cause of the frightful catastrophe in May, 1889, which swept away over ten millions of dollars of property, and cost so many lives. Yet that was only an exaggerated example of the floods that have occurred there since the forests were destroyed. The Minnesota forestry plan has recently attracted great attention. The forestry board of the State being authorized to ac- cept lands deeded to the State, with the approval of the county commissioners act- ing as a connty hoard of forestry, the State engages to protect them from fires, exempt them from taxes, and reseed them. When such lands begin to yield an income, one- third is to go to the State to reimburse it for fire protection and loss of taxes (this is divided in this way: one quarter goes to the State, one half to the county and one quarter to the town,) and the re- maining two thirds to any educational Sys- tem or institution in the State which the donor of this land might designate ; if not, then to the common school system three quarters and the State one quarter. At a recent convention experts on this subject presented papers representing Mich- igan and Wisconsin. Coming nearer to our present location, the forests of northern New Jersey and their relation to the water supply were thoroughly discuss- ed. These forests cover 2,069,819 acres of land, of which about 80,000 are deciduous, and 1,200,000 coniferions. The forests of northern New Jersey are practically all de- ciduous, and mainly oak and chestnut. The coniferious are in the middle, and es- pecially in the southern parts. Thirty-one per cent. of the area of northern New Jer- sey that relates to the water supply, is in forests, notwithstanding there is a popula- tion of four hundred and fitty to thesquare mile; and there has been no decrease in this area since 1860. Seventy per cent of the population of the State depends upon pub- lic water. Each ten years adds half a mil- lion of people to that class. As forested areas show from five to six inches less evap- oration than deforested areas, it would fol- low that the cities of New Jersey and New York can increase their water supply better by planting their gathering grounds with forests than by extending their works at enormous expense. As this was too gener- al a statement to settle the question, Mr. Vermeule, who brought the subject for- ward, doubted whether the plan would give the success that might be expected; ut he did maintain that the quality of the water supply would be greatly improved, and the yield of the streams made more ‘uniform by the presence of a considerable ‘area of forest. il While the destruction of forests for busi- ness purposes has wrought terrible havoc, at this convention Mr. Ayres, of the Unit- ed States Geological Survey, affirmed that in Minnesota in former years ten times as much pine was destroyed by fire as was cut by all the mills; and these fires when they get under way, as has been found in New Jersey, are quite unmanageable. He held ests, who was also present) that prevention and the suppression of incipient fires were the only means of protection. Lumbermen generally, from fear of loss, aim to cut all | the trees ‘as soon as possible. As soon as this is done the dry tops scattered every- where invite fire. ' Pin , Bad as the situation is, it is by no means as bad as it might be. There are 70,761 square miles of territory in the United States that have been dedicated to Congress for forest preservation. This is more than the whole territory of the six New England States. In the State of Washington the forests are Bulong the most continuous in the whole land. e trees have a thick- ness of twelve to fifteen feet, and average 250 feet in height, their tranks often shoot- ing up 100 feet without a branch. Accord- ing to the report of Mr. Gannett, Chief of the Division of Geography and Forestry, since lumbering began in the State of Washington 36,000,000 feet of lumber have been ous, but within the same period of time 40,000,000 board measure have been destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of $30,- 000,000 to the people of that State. a To all lovers of trees the forestry exhibit of our ernment at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo will be worth: the journey to that:city. It will be principal- ly photographic, the display embodying (with the chief inspector of Canadian for- | ee EEE sixty framed bromide prints enlarged from photographs, with twenty colored and un- colored transparencies. These will show the various methods of lumbering, their effects on forest production, the effects of forest fires, the relation of the destruction of forests to the flow of water in streams, and the supply of water for irrication. Chief types of trees and forests will be il- lustrated, also the value of preserving cer- tain types of protective forests for the bene- fit of large areas of agricultural lands. The mammoth big trees, the giant red firs, the white firs, and the sugar pines of Cali- fornia will be shown by colored transpar- encies six by ten feet, the largest ever made. Fourteen colored maps of the United States will show the distribution of forest types and species and of rainfall; also the location of State experiment stations. Nineteen large slabs, four feet high and and six inches thick, with the bark attach- ed and one surface polished, will show the size, quality, and character of timber trees of commercial value in the whole Appal- achin forest region, which begins in north- ern Maine and extends down through the country west of the Ohio River almost to the southern extremity of the United States.— Christian Advocate. —————————— How Rubber Bands Are Made. Process Is 8imple and the Business is One of Large Proportions. ‘“The little elastic rubber band that is nowadays used in various businesses in place of twine seemsa simple sort of thing, but there are few, if any, of the multi- tudinous articles made out of rubber for which there is such an enormous demand, especially in the United States,’’ remarked a wholesale dealer in rubber bands in New York to the writer the other day. “In this country the number of rubber hands sold in one year amounts to about 400,000 gross, or 57,000,000 single bands. At least 60 per cent of the goods are made in New York and the rest are produced in factories located in New Jersey and New England. In New York there are a half dozen fac. tories devoted partly or exclusively to the manufacture of rubber bands. “The process by which the bands are made is simple. The rubber in a liquid state is molded into tubing of sizes suit- able for forming the small and medium varieties of bands. When the tubing is ready for use if is put into a rapid running machine having knives, which cut or slice the rubber into bands. The larger bands are cut by machinery from flat sheets of rubber and joined together with the aid of heat and a pressing machine. ‘‘Rubber bands are made in only two colors, black and brown. They range in size from one-quarter of an inch to six inches in length. The smaller bands are one-sixteenth of an inch wide and the larg- est are one and one-half inches wide. The smallest bands are worth 24 cents per gross, while the medium-sized bands sell at from 48 to 96 cents per gross wholesale. Large sizes cost from $1 up to $6 per gross. “The greatest consumers of rubber bands are druggists and grocers. They use the smallest and medium sized bands in place of twine for putting up small packages. The large flat and expensive hands are nsed by court officers, lawyers, bankers and mer- chants for filing documents and papers. No rubber bands are imported into this coun- try, but a few American rubber bands are exported to the West Indies and South American countries.” — Washington Star. The Mysterious Sunday Discase. Many people are seemingly well during the week, but afflicted with all manner of ailments when Sunday comes around and on Monday they are all well again. I real- ly dread the approach of the Lord’s Day, for with the day there come to many of my flock colds, sick headaches, pain in the side and nausea, while numbers complain of ‘that languid feeling.” Sunday before last I spent really an anxious day, for there happened to be ab- sent from the services quite a number, for the best of reasons, of course; a rushing in the head, a touch of sciatica, cramps, tooth- ache, hardness of hearing, catarrh, torpid liver, inflammation of the membranes, lumbago and, worse than all, that tired feeling.”’ Then, what greatly distressed me the next day was that Mrs. Henry Van Blarscom had issued invitations to an ‘at home’’ for that evening, and the fear well- nigh paralyzed me that but few would re- spond, seeing many of her invited guests had been absent from the Sabbath services. Imagine then, if you can, my profound surprise to see on that Monday evening so wholly unexpected, so general and com- plete a recovery, and when I made inquiry concerning the Sabbath ailments only two were able to recall what had really been the matter with them the day before.—A Minister in Christian Intelligencer. World's Biggest Apple Orchard. Ex-Gov. Morrill of Kansas to Have 64,000 Trees on 880 Acres. A force of 100 men, most of them veterans from the National Soldiers’ Home, began setting out 27,000 apple trees on the farm of ex-Gov. Morrill in the southern part of Leavenworth county, Kan., last week. When these trees are planted, which was May 1st, there will be 64,000 trees set out in one compact hody of land, making it the largest distinctive apple orchard in the United States, and, so far as is known, in the world. Three years ago ex-Gov. Morrill pur- chased 880 acres of land and, with the aid of Francis Goble, a horticulturalist, started to plant the largest apple orchard in the country. The land and capital are furnish- ed by Gov. Morrill, while Mr. Goble acts as superintendent. They are to share the rofits equally for fifteen years and then joey Morrill is to have all. They expect in one good fruit year at any time after the next three years to make enough money to pay for the entire expense of planting and caring for the 64,000 trees. Alleged Shortage Reported. There is a shortage of $5,000 in the ac- counts of R. G. Campbell, great finance keeper of the Order of Maccabees. An in- vestigation will be made in afew days, when the great camp meets at Oil City. Friends of the official state that the greater portion of the alleged shortage is tied up in 1nvestments. Big Railroad Yards. The New York Central railroad company will expend two hundred and forty thon- sand dollars in building a round house and making tracks in their new yard at Clear- field. = There will be 38 tracks occupying all the ground vacant between the new ‘brick works and the county home farm. The yards will be the largest in central Pennsylvania.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers