i Bellefonte, Pa., October 11, 1901. KILLING FOR SPORT. A pretty picture they make in the boat, Drifting along by the river side; He at the oars, while her fair white hand Trolls at the stern in the ebbing tide. Hark ! for a rustling sound is heard ; A timid deer has come down to drink ; A gentle creature with great brown eyes, Standing alert on the river's rink. A bullet whistles along the air ; It has struck the beautiful arching neck ; The blood flows over the smooth, round breast, And begins the silvery stream to fleck. The creature struggles in agony, Asking for help with appealing eyes ; Half-rising, she staggers and falls again, Then mutely suffers and slowly dies. What heart could have wrought the cruel deed? Who quenched the life of the harmless thing ? Alas ! it was done by the fair white hand, And simply for sport, this suffering. — The Zoophile. MARY'S BIRTHDAY. Mary sang softly as she busied herself about the supper. The steaming kettle voiced a tender accompaniment to the song, the fire crackled merrily in the stove aud rich odor of coffee and browning bread filled the room. The singer sang as one whose heart was light, and this was indeed true of her, for love dwelt in her heart, and gave joy and content to a life that contained much bard work and few luxuries. Yetshe had many things for which to be grateful. Her husband was a sober industrious man, who was kindness itself and with him and the baby her little kingdom was complete. Work was even a pleasure to her for by ‘this means she was helping her husband to buy the modest little home that held so much happiness. They had both labored long and indus- triously to this end, and now their united efforts were crowned with success. John was to make the payment on the home to- day, and to-night they would sleep be- neath their very own roof. How they had both looked forward to this hour, and talked aboutit, and worked for its fulfillment, denying themselves many things, that it might come to pass. On the morrow the event was to be cel- ebrated in a becoming manner, for it was also Mary’s birthday, and John had said when he started to work this morning, that he would bring home some little extras for dinner on the nexs day, it being her birth- day, and the house paid for. They must tarn the morrow into a sort of holiday. After the dinner with the little extras they would go to the park and listen to the music. A breath of fresh air, and a sight of green grass and trees, and the bright flower beds would do them all good John said. Mary felt her heart grow lighter as she thought of this. She had been raised in the country; and the trees, grass and flowers would seem like old familiar friends to her. She dearly loved them all. They seemed a part of her childhood. She paused in her work long enough to kiss the baby, who sat in his tall chair and soberly watched the preparation for supper. He was a good quiet little fellow, with large earnest eyes that seemed full with perpetual wonder- ment. Father will soon be here, little one,’’ she said, gladly. After the caress she went to the cup- board and got an onion, which she began to cut up for the steak. She liked the meat better without this dressing but it was a favorite dish with John, and to-night it shouid be just as he liked it, Was he not planing for her pleasure and happiness on the morrow? She had also prepared some small corn cakes to be haked,crisp and brown, because he was fond of them, and would always say, when she made them, that they re- minded him of those his mother used to make when he was a boy. ‘‘It is not his birthday, to be sure,”” Mary said smilingly, as she busied herself about the room, ’’ but he shall have just the sort of supper he likes.”’ She got out of the cupboard a new glass stand of preserves that John had bought only a few days before and set it ou the table along with a pot of blooming gera- niums, which would brighten up things a bit. Then ina spirit of mischief, she stuck one of the clusters of scarlet blossoms in her dark hair, just like she used to when she was a girl, and John came a wooing. She smiled to herself as she recalled those times and remembered how eagerly she used to await his coming, aud how the glad currents of her life thrilled at the sound of his approaching footsteps; indeed her foolish heart had not yet gotten over its impulse of gladness whenever he came from work home, to her and the haby. She might expect his return at anv moment now and so she placed the baby’s chair at the window that he might be the first to wel- come his father when heshould come. John had a way of pressing his face against the window-pane, and making grimaces for the baby’s delight before he came into the house. She knew that he would be a little later than usnal on account of the business he was to attend to in regard to the last pay- ment on the house, and the few purchases he was going to make for the morrow, but it was now full time that he was at home, for he had said that he would quit work earlier than usual on this account, and she had delayed supper somewhat ; bunt it was now ready, and she was anxious to have him come and enjoy it while the things were good. Warm food was never half so tempting after it had stood. “I wish I badn’t hurried things so much, ’’ she said regretfully, as she set the coffee-pot on the stove hearth where it would keep warm. “I thought John would have been here before now. He must have missed his car. I took such care with his supper, too, to have things just as he would like them. I do hope he won't be very late,” she added ; and_went to the window to look out once more. * John, with his arms well filled with bundles was on his way to take a car. He was a little late, but as he passed a millin- er’s shop he suddenly paused before the window, and stood as if debating some- thing. ‘‘She liked that one best with the blue fixin’s on it,” he said to himself. ‘‘It re- minds me of one she used to wear when I was couartin’ her, only this ain’t half so pretty—at least it don’t seem so to me. I’ll go in and price them, an’ if they don’t ask too much for this one, I believe I'll buy it for her.” It proved not to be an expensive affair ; indeed the soft-voiced little milliner made John believe that he was securing a won- derful bargain, and when he had come ont of the shop he had added another bundle to his load. **Won’t she be surprised when she opefs this package,’’ he thought, as he hastened on! ‘‘an’ she’ll be pleased too, though she’ll give me a scolding for buying if, an’ say it would have been better to have saved the money for something else. But the house is paid for now,an’ she’s been workin’ an’ savin,’ an’ doin’ without things long enough. I know she wanted this hat when she saw it the other day,only she wouldn’t let on if she did. Said she was an old married woman now, an’ didn’t need such things. The idea! Why, it don’t seem any time since I married Mary, an’ yet the youngster is a vear old this month. How time does fly when a fellow’s hap- 1 John just did reach a car in time to get aboard, and then he was lucky enough to find a vacant seat in one corner of it. The other passengers made quite a motley crowd, and John amused himself with studying its variety. The people of the working world, to which he belonged, were going to their various homes, and the most of them looked tired and hungry. Two Jews, with many shrugs and move- ments of the hands talked volubly of some transaction they had taken that day. Then there was a fat Irish woman with a large basket in her lap piled high with market- ing her round face rising above the parcels like the full moon over the tree tops. Next to her sat a couple of girls, whocalled each other Maggie and Susie. They chewed gum incessantly, and talked in a loud voice about some misunderstanding between Jim and Josie ; the fault seemingly being that Josie was inclined to be ‘‘mashed on another feller,”’ to Jim’s evident perturba- tion of mind, and cultivation of the green- eyed monster. There was also a good-nat- ured negress, with a bright colored turban on her head, and a basket of laundry in her arms ; several German men and women, fine, massive creatures, with pleasant, stolid faces, exquisitely fresh even in the city’s sooty atmosphere, and a number of others with no pronounced types of nation- ality. For a number of squares others got aboard, and scon the platform was filled with a larger sprinkling of working men, with grimy hands and faces. Most of them carried their dinner pails, as John did. Still further along the car was stopped, and a poorly dressed woman of middle age got aboard. She seemed disappointed when she reached the door and found that the seats were all taken, for she looked tired and feeble. There was a pathetic poverty in her appearance, yet a certain air of re- finement. No one made an effort to give her a seat until John happened to glance in her di- rection, when he immediately got up and motioned for her to come and he seated. There was an inherent spirit of chivalry in his composition, and he had been taught from boyhood a certain defference toward women, especially aged ones. Now they always recalled to him his mother, and:-her early teachings, and he instinctively arose” when he saw this woman standing at the door. ! She shook her head when she saw him and drew back. ‘Oh, no, sir,”’ shesaid gratefully. ‘You bave so many bundles to carry. Don’t give up you seat to me. I can stand.” John smiled pleasantly, and telling her to sit down, stepped out onto the plat- form. ‘‘You have a pretty good load to carry this trip,” he said a little later to the con- ductor. ‘“Yes,”’ he answered. ‘‘Youarecarrying a pretty good load yourself in the way of bundles. How’s your wife and the kid ?”? “Well and hearty,’ responded John. “You never saw anything grow like the boy does. To-morrow’s Mary’s birthday, and I thought I would take a day off, and rest up a bit. We've hoth been working pretty hard of late.” “I’m going to lay off for a day or two next week, myself. My wife’s set her head on making a visit to the home folks, and I thought I'd rig up a fishing pole,and go along, too, I’ve heen promising myself a holiday for the past year, and that’s the best medicine a man can take, now and then. ‘It’s what he onght to take,’”’ answered John ; “but a fellow gets careless, and thinks he’ll rest a bit when he gets more time, and the first thing he knows the hest part of his life goes by, and he’s worn out his health, and has to spend all he’s made trying to get it back again.”’ ‘‘That’s about the way of it,”’ said the conductor with a laugh ; and turned to speak to someone else. : John shifted some of his bundles so that his left arm would be freer. The car was going slower on an upgrade now, and by getting off a little distance be- yond, where the track curved, he could save considerable time, and reach home much earlier than to go on to the next crossing, so he grasped the iron rail at the side of the car and swung himself off. He had not thought to look ahead ; in- deed, at this point one could see hut a little way beyond, and the noise of the car ‘he was on drowned the sound of the oue ap- proaching on the parallel track. He must have heard the cry of warning the conductor gave, for he looked back as he stepped off, and at that moment the gongs of both cars rang shrilly. It was all so unexpected, so sudden, so terrible, as these things usually are, that it was almost over hefore one could realize what was happening, but several of the passengers’ eyes were dimmed with tears, and the poorly-dressed old woman sobbed alond, when next they looked on John. ‘Poor Mary ! poor little kid! What a birthday it will be them,’’ the conductor said.— Henry Cleveland Wood. Will Live on a Farm. Col. Bryan Lays the Corner Stone of a New Home. Last week was the seventeenth anniver- sary of the marriage of Col. William J. Bryan and his wife,and also the fourteenth of their arrival in Lincoln, Neb. They celebrated the event by laying the cor- ner stone of a fine new home they propose to erect on the Bryan farm, in the southwest suburb of Normal. The house at No. 1625 D street, Lincoln, the Mecea to so many Democrats in past years, is to be sold and all of the family ef- fects removed to the farm. : Thesite chosen for the house is on a high knoll overlook- ing the city. Mr. Bryan will merely put- ter about the place, the actual farming be- ing done by a hired man, and expects to live the remainder of his days in his rural retreat. . ——‘‘Don’t you miss your husband very much now that he is away ?’’ ‘Oh, no! At breakfast I just stand his newspaper up in front cof a plate, and half the time I really forget he isn’t there.”’— Tit-Bit,. isi The Proposed Constitutional Amend- ments Two proposed amendments to the Consti- tution will come before the people at the November election, for their approval. One of these amendments, known as the ‘‘Reg- istration Amendment,’’ is in the interest of personal registration. A second amend- ment was introduced to prepare the way for the introduction of voting machines. The amendments were passed hy both the Legislature of 1899 and 1901, but hefore they become operative, they must be ap- proved by the people. The amendments are as follows : AMENDMENT ONE TO ARTICLE EIGHT, SEC- TION ONE. And at the end of the first paragraph of said section, after the words ‘‘shall be en- titled to vote at all elections,”” add the words, ‘‘subject, however, to such laws re- quiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact,’’ so that the said section shall read as follows: : Section 1. Qualifications of Electors. Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections, subject, however, to such Jaws requiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact. 1. He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month. 2. He shall have resided in the State one year (or, having previously heen a qualified elector or native born citizen of the State, he shall have removed therefrom and returned, then si months,) immedi- ately preceeding the election. 3. He shall have resided in the election district where he shall offer to vote at least two months immediately preceeding the election. 4. If twenty-two yeas of age and up- wards, he shall have paid within two’years a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least two months and paid at least one month before the election. AMENDMENT TWO TO ARTICLE EIGHT, SEC- TION SEVEN. Strike out from said section the words “but no elector shall be deprived of the privilege of voting by reason of his name not being registered,’’ and add to said sec- tion the following words, ‘‘but laws regu- lating and requiring the registration of electors may be enacted to apply to cities only, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class,”’ so that the said section shall read as follows : Section 7. Uniformity of election Laws—All laws regrlating the holding of elections by the citizens or for the registra- tion of electors shall be uniform throughout the State, but laws regulating and requir- ing the registration of electors may be en- acted to apply to cities only, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class. SECOND AMENDMENT. Strike out section four of article eight, and insert in place thereof, as follows : Section 4. All elections by the citizens shall be by. ballot or by such other method .as may be prescribed by law; provided, That secrecy in voting be preserved. The Registration Amendment has the Promotion of Ballot Reform and the Merit System in Pennsylvania at the behest of which it was presented in the Legislature. While the present amendment does not ac- complish personal registration, it opeus the way for succeeding Legislatures to enact laws that will require this form of registra- tion. The Philadelphia “Public Ledger,” in commenting editorially upon the two pro- posed Constitutional Amendments which will come before the people at the Novem- ber election, bas this to say in its issue of October 1st: THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. Interest in the November contest should not cause citizens to overlook the fact that two Constitutional Amendments are to be voted on. One of these emanates from the Union Committee for the Promotion of Bal- lot Reform and the Merit System in Penn- sylvania. It proposes to amend the consti- tution so as togive authority to the Gen- eral Assembly to prescribe personal regis- tration of voters in cities. In its present form the Constitution provides that all laws regulating the holding of elections or for registration of electors shall be uniform, and that no elector shall be deprived of the privilege of voting by reason of non-regis- tration. The latter viause was obviously intended to protect voters whose names had been negligently or maliciously left off the list by assessers. Experience has demonstrated that the system of assess- ment in cities is susceptible of grave abus- es. Too many of the assessors neglect their duties. or perform them improperly, while the principal cause of complaint is the as- sessment of the names of persons who are disqualified or mythical. In the country precincts the electors are well known, and padded lists are rare, but in the crowded cities, where person may dwell for years in adjoining houses without becoming ac- quainted, and where there is a large migra- tory population, the present system offers abundant opportunities for fraud. The amendment recommended by the Union Committee on Ballot Reform provides that laws regulating and requiring registration may be enacved so as to apply to cities on- ly, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class. The reason for authorizing the application of personal registration to cities, without extending it throughout the State, is that the country districts consider that they do not need personal registration, and are averse to the expense whichsuch asystem would impose on them. The adoption of this constitu- tional amendment does not enjoin personal registration, but it empowers the legisla- ture to introduce it at the discretion of the law makers, and subject to the retained constitutional restrictions. No better evidences of the necessity for personal registration and of its practicabil- ity need be sought than the experience of New York, where elections are often close and temptations to fraud strong. In New York city registratrars sit for several days in advance of the general election for the purpose of enrolling the names of persons qualified to vote. Minute description of the physical appearance of the applicant is recorded in a book kept for the purpose as a check upon personation at the polls. The work of registration is done with order and care, and by representatives of the princi- pal political parties, so that partisan ad- vantage and fraud are minimized. The introduction of such a system to Philadel- phia would not usher in the millenniam, but it will conduce to fair and honest elec- tions. There is another Constitutional Amend- ment to be submitted at the November election. It provides that elections may be carried on by other secret means of vot- ing than the ballot. The adoption of this amendment would permit the General As- sembly to authorize the use of voting ma- chines, of which there are several varieties. Certainly no geod citizen should fail to cast hie vote in favor of the personal regis- tration amendment. support of the Union Committee for the | Compulsory Education Law. Attention to the new Compulsory Edu- cation act has heen frequently called in these columns, but it will be some time be- fore school hoards, teachers and the public will be familiar with its workings. Attor- ney General Elkin has announced it as his opinion that the law is now in full force and effect, although unfamiliarity with its provisions has somewhat interfered with its usefulness. A valued contemporary gives the follow- ing information bearing upon the subject : ‘“Under the new law, irregular attendance, unless due to mental, physical or other urgent reasons. is not to be tolerated. The school board of any district is given power to reduce that pericd of compulsory at- tendance to the point of seventy per cent. of the entire number of school days, hut no lower. The act applies to all children be- tween the ages of eight and sixteen years, but provision is made that it shall net ap- ply to any child above thirteen years of age who may be regularly engaged in work. ‘“Teachers and parents are made liable to punishment by fine and imprisonment for the violation for the provisions of the new law, but notice must be given to parents by superintendents or school board secre- taries of their liability to the penalty, and parents shall have opportunity, by com- pliance with the requirements of the act within three school days to avoid the im- position of the penalty named. Bat ab- sence on the part of the child after notice, without proper excuse, subjects the parents to all the penalties without further warn- ing. ‘‘Habitual truants or incorrigible chil- dren are to be proceeded against as disor- derly persons, and school authorities are given full power to prosecute such cases, either with or without the employment of attendance officers, and such truants or in- corrigibles may be sent to the reformatory or placed in the care of a Children’s Aid Society. ‘“The act also provides for a census of school children by borough and township assessors, once a year. The Superintend- ent of Public Instruction may withhold one-fourth of the State appropriation from any school district which neglects to en- force the act. “It will be seen that the act is more sweeping than its predecessors which are repealed. It should result in a decided de- crease of the number of absentees from school, if thoroughly enforced and enable ‘many children to gain instruction who would otherwise be deprived of that priv- ilege.”’ Bathing In Japan According to Law. Foreigners in Japan are complaining about the bathing regulations made by the Japanese authorities. A writer in the Kobe Herald is especially bard on Japanese prud- ery. He says: *“To show how little these decency reg- ulations are understood by those responsible for their enforcement, and also as a bright and shining example of unswerving devo- tion to duty, the case of the Suma police- man deserves to hé put onrecord. He was seen the other day disporting himself in the biiny decorously clad in a suit of for- eign pajamas. Where he obtained them is something to wonder about; perchance they were a legacy of treasure trove, or he might have ordered them from his tailor, but anyhow he had them on and thought they were a bathing suit. ‘‘Now what followed is very instructive and has the merit of heing absolutely true. No sooner had the spectators managed to control their mirth at the sight of the po- liceman in pajamas than he moved them to fresh convulsions by gravely walking ashore, divesting himself of his pajamas on the beech, wringing them out and drying himself with them. Havingcompleted his tcilet, he took his pajamas on his arm and strolled away naked as Adam, but clothed in a complacent consciousness of rectitude and armed with the knowledge that he carried out the decency laws as he under- stood them, and had set a bright and shin- ing example to those who had the privilege of witnessing his performance.’ Young Man Nearly Eight Feet Tall. The tallest man in the world, as he claims, has been visiting different places in Maine and has attracted great attention. His name is Edward Beaupre, and his exact height when standing in his stocking feet is 7 feet 10} inches. Beaupre is twenty years of age, and comes from the province of Assiniboine, Northwest Territory. He is still growing, and says he expects to to reach the eight-foot mark. He says he is nothing but a boy, but there is enough of him to make a dozen boys of ordinary size. He weighs 367 pounds, and is a well built young chap. He wears a No. 21 shoe and a No. 21 collar, and everywhere he goes he attracts attention. In all the ho- tels where he has ever stopped he has never fonnd a bed long enough to accommodate him, ro two mattresses are placed length- wise on the floor, and on these he stretches himself out to sleep. Beaupre says he did not begin to grow until he was seven years old. Then he shot up, and when he was sixteen year old he was seven feet in height. He says his parents are of ordinary height, his father being 5 feet 8 inches, and his mother an inch shorter than his father. Beaupre is a greater eater, smokes every- thing in the shape of tobacco, and is never sick. He takes great pride in believing that he is the tallest man that lives. Spanked Out of a Death Stupor. Doctor Saved a Would-be Suicide in Good Old Nursery Fashion. Piqued because his fiancee broke off her engagement on account of his intemper- ance, Frank Johnson stepped into a clothes closet at the home of her mother, Mrs. Kate Seaman, of Cortland, N. Y., and drank laudanum. By the time the doctor arrived Johnson was in a stupor, and he began to spank him vigorously. Johnson responded to the treatment and was able presently to swal- low the medicine offered him. ‘It saved his life,” said the doctor in ex- planation, ‘‘and it afforded me vast satis- faction to spank him.” . Slow Death By Lightning. The death of J. Andrew Cullum, of Ridge Spring, Lexington county, Ga., from a stroke of lightning received two months ago, is remarkable. Mr. Cullum .was one of the most remarkable men in that coun- ty. He was one of the largest fruit grow- ers and poultry fanciers of the State. In the laster part of July he was struck by lightning. His shoes were torn off and there were burned places on his left side. Mr. Cullum was picked up unconscious, but soon rallied, and in a few days was out again. But the spots burned by lightning would not heal. Carbuncles formed on the burns and sapped his strength and life. ——Subscribe for the WATCHMAN. A Shade Tree Menace. : The Elm Tree Beetle is Much in Evidence. As usual, that pest of one of our finest shade trees, the elm tree beetle, is very much in evidence. Glance at any of this species and numerous punctures in every leaf and the hosts of larvae at the base of the trunk tell the old story of destruction, with which we are all acquainted. The beetle is destructive in Europe also, but not to the same extent as in this country. The beetles come from their hibernating places about the time the leaves first make their appearance and lay their eggs on the under side of the leaves in rows of from six to twenty each about the first of June. In about a week the eggs are hatched and the young larvee at once begin to feed upon the leaves, puncturing everyone until the foli- age looks as if it had been riddled with shot. They eat voraciously about ‘three weeks, when, having attained their growth they descend to the ground and seek shelter under any substance like grass or leaves that presents itself. Here they undergo their change to the pupa form, and in ten days emerge as full-grown beetles. This second crop begins on the foliage like the first, but never does as much damage. In due time they lay their eggs and start an- other brood. In favorable seasons there may be as many as four distinet broods. Between them the foliage has a hard time of it. The injury inflicted by the larvae causes the leaves to turn. brown and die, eventually drying and falling to the ground. The winter is passed in the beetle stage wherever shelter can be found. The harmful elm beetle can be controlled easily if proper measures are taken and at the right time. Two or three sprayings with arsenical poisous will do the business. Spraying the foliage, when it appears, with London purple or Paris green will kill great numbers of the beetles. Begiuning the work when the tiny punctuces first make their appearance, and hefore the eggs are laid, a second spraying should he made about the time the larvae emerge from the eggs and a third about ten days later. On large trees it is almost impossible to spray all the leaves, and some will find their way to the ground. The work can, therefore, be aided hy using a compound of whale-oil soap and hot water around the base of the trees at intervals as long as the larvae are to be found. ; It deserves to he stated that the Euro- pean elm is much more generally attacked than the American variety, the leaves of the former being thinner and smoother and more acceptable to the beetle. But, when hard pressed, the beetles attack all kinds, so that, after all, there is not much choice in the varieties. : Telegraph to Klondike. A Line 2,200 Miles Long Reaches to the Gold Fields. The following dispatch from Vancouver, British Columbia, under date of Tuesday, is of considerable interest as a news item, and besides may have a local connection, since the Collinses referred to might have easily have been the famous brother from this county, who had extensive railroad and telegraph contracts in various parts of the world. Some of the county’s oldest citizens recall that previous to their rail- road adventures in Brazil, the Collins brothers had connection with extensive work in the far northwest, but are unable to say whether or not it was the project referred to in the following : *‘The outside world is now connected with the Klondike by telegraph. The All-Canadian Government telegraph line from Vancouver to Dawson was completed at 4:20 o'clock to-day. The first dispatch to go through was a message of congratula- tion from Gov. Ross, of Klondike, now at Vancouver, to his legal representative at Dawson. “The line is 2,200 miles long and part of the route is taken by an abandoned line originally projected for the Collins overland route in 1865. It was to connect America with Europe, when the successful laying of the Atlantic cable killed the enterprise. The line starts at Vancouver and touches Asheroft, Quesnell, Hazelton. Telegraph Creek, White Horse, and Dawson, and con- nects at the Alaskan boundary with the projected American Government line from St. Michael’s. A branch line taps Fort Simpson for the convenience of incoming Dawson steamers.’’ Nicknames of American Cities. For years Buffalo's claim to the name, Queen City of the Lakes, has been hotly contested by Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and even Duluth, but no one could lay claim to the Bison City, by which it has often been designated. It now adds anoth- er name to its list, which will probably not be disputed—the Rainbow City, in def- erence to the Exposition. Chicago, during the period of the World’s Fair, was known as the White City, in acknowledgment of the staff on its fair buildings, but the title did not survive the close of the fair, and it has reverted to its former name Garden City, although it is more frequently refer- red to as the Windy City, St. Louis bas, perhaps, the largest number of nicknames. It has been called the Iron City,the Mound City, the Beer City, the American Frank- fort and the new Vienna. Years ago Rochester, N. Y., was entitled to the name Flour City, on account of its large flouring mills, but that industry has long since fol- lowed the course of empire and gone West, and it can no longer claim that distinction. It isknown, however, in these days as the Flower City, on account of the large nurs- eries surrounding it. Syracuse is known as the Salt City, although it is no longer the leader in that industry. Pittsburg is the Smoky City, and Cincinnati and Cleveland might lay claim to the same. Among the names which have heen longest associated with American cities are: Gotham for New York, Baked Bean City and the Hub for Boston, Quaker City for Philadelphia, Monumental City for Baltimore, Crescent City for New Orleans and City of the Golden Gate for San Francisco— Mechanical Engineering. One Tombstone fof Two Wives. “I used to say I'd haunt anybody who called me a ‘relict’ in case I hecame a widow,’’ said the girl who bad just come back from the South to a writer in a Wash- ington newspaper, ‘‘but now I have seen something which makes ‘relict’ sweet to my ears, though it was not of a widow it was written. I’d rather live a relict twen- ty years than escape that title by lying be- neath such a tombstone as I saw down South—in Savannah, I think it was. It was a tall, white marble slab, and on it was chiselled : ‘Sacred to the memory of Jane Jackson’ —1I don’t quote the real names, you under- stand—‘beloved wife of John Smith, and Louisa Jones, his ‘second wife, heloved also.’ ; “If Jane and Louisa don’t haunt that man for his stinginess, it’s because they can’t; that’s all.”’—Buffalo Commercial. In West Virginia. The Experience of a Minister in the Mountain Wilds. A Baltimore young lady, just hack from a vacation tells this one : Way back in the mountains of West Vir- ginia a Presbyterian minister some time ago fell in with some people who seemed to be well fitted for the missionary efforts on which he was bent. He had been riding nearly all day, and latein the afternoon came upon a cabin, set in the midst of a woodland. Near the door was a spare, straight haired woman, who ®gazed at him curiously. The minister spoke to her cour- teously and made some inquiries regarding the neighborhood. Her husband was a hunter, the woman said. ‘And is he a God fearing man ?”’ asked the preacher. “I reckon so,’ came the slow reply, ‘‘cause he always takes his gun with him.” The visitor hastily changed the subject aud inquired if there were any Presbyte- rians in the neighborhood. ‘I dunno,’’ said the woman simply; “but there's a lot of skins hanging up in the cabin; you can look at them and see if yon can find any.’”’ A Sunday school organized in the same district has old men and young lads in the same class. Wishing to test the knowledge of her scholars the teacher began by asking each one who made him. An old man at the end of the bench didn’t know, the next man didu’t, and no one did until a small hoy declared he knew, and said ‘‘God.” “Well,” cried the old fellow first ap- pealed to, ‘“’taint been so very long since he was made.”’ Russia’s Vast Grain Area. Fertile Plain in Siberia Twice as Large as Japan. The Trans-Siberian road has been engi- neered so that it runs through the richest part of the territory, writes Rev. Peter MacQueen in Leslie’s Weekly. The name Siberia stands for all the Asiatic dominions of Russia, except Transcaucasia, Transcas- pia and Turkestan. It is at present divid- ed into the following provinces : Western Siberia, including the governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk, in the basin of the Ob river. Itsarea is 42,000 square geograph- ical miles. The southern part of these regions, lying immediately east of the Urals, stretches far south toward the Khirgiz Steppe borderland and the region known as Baraba. Over an area twice as large as Japan this West Siberian plain is composed of black earth, and has scarcely a rock or stone. This black earth or cherno- ziom, is the real treasure of Siberia, and makes the western plain the granary of Russia. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley are grown in large quantities; crops of many fold were reaped last year. The two things .that militate against the crops are the late frosts and the want of snow in winter. But when I rode through the wheat fields in June the land seemed as rich and prosper- ous as Dakota. For hundreds of miles, even up as far north as Topolsk, at 59 de- grees, I saw. nothing but grain fields grow- ing green. Winter wheat is seldom sown, but spring wheat is sown from April 10. Frosts in the wheat area generally begin in September. The land is tilled by fallow system ; that is, one section is sown without fertilizing for 10 years, and then allowed to lie fallow for 10 years. A Lake of Ink. The most unusual curiosity in this strange, uncanny land by the Colorado river is what the naturalists in California call a lake of ink. The scientific journals in Los Angeles and San Diego have dis- cussed time and time again what the lake of ink really is. It is a great pool of a black fluid, that resembles black writing ink more than anything else. It is about an acre in area. The surface of the lake is coated with ashes from the volcanoes to the thickness of about half a foot, and the explorer in these parts who is not looking ous for this freak of nature would be very apt to walk into it. Surveyors baye found that the lake is some 300 yards deep in some places, but no bottom can be found in others. There is nothing but theory as to the source of the supply of the lake, but no one seems to know the component parts of the acre of black fluid. The Indians say it is composed of the blood of bad In- dians who are suffering in their hell amid the volcanoes. Samples of the lake have been brought to Yuma and J.os Angeles for tests and examination. It is good for com- mon marking purposes. Cotton goods that bave been soaked with the strange black fluid keep their color for months, even when exposed to the sun, and the goods have a stiffness that is somewbat like weak starch. A gallon of the lake fluid was sent to the Smithsonian Institu- tion the other day for analysis.— Indianap- olis News. for Good Roads. Some sage has said that the civilization of a country is shown by its roads. This being true, it is to he hoped that the agita- tion now making head in different parts of the country will not cease until we are as well provided for in this way as the best of the ancients. Of course, our railroads sur- pass all their facilities for transit, but if our ordinary roads were to be left as long without care as some of the prehistoric highways tbat have been discovered in various parts of the world, they would look like ‘‘the roads in Scotland before they were made.’”’ But there has already been progress, and the methods of Macadam, whom Scott referred to as the ‘‘Colossus of roads,”’ are being applied in a modified form in every part of the country that boasts of gravel pits. Road building has become a science worthy the attention of the most skilled engineers, and experts are already abroad in the land. The Province of Ontario has for some years past heen setting an example that might be followed with profit in all our States. The govern- ment employs an engineer to oversee road building and to teach the art to all mu- nicipalities willing to learn. In this coun- try the agitation has heen left largely to interested parties, the bicyclists and auto- mobile interests, but the good work is growing, as shown by the convention re- cently held in Buffalo.— Harper's Weekly. Agitation The Parson’s Lucky Day. A few days ago the Rev. Mr. Babcock, a Wesleyan Methodist minister of Convere, Ind., brought his wife to Kokomo for treatment from a specialist. He had no money to pay for an operation, but after he lett friends made up the amount and the operation was performed. Friday the Rev. Babcock returned and, not finding his wife at once, went out in the suburbs to an auction sale of lots, in which one lot was given free. The minister drew the free lot. On returning to the doctor’s office he found his wife’s sight completely restored. She had heen blind ten years. ——Subscribe for the WATCHMAN.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers