Demo Wald,
THE REAR GUARD.
The guns are hushed. On every field once flow-
ing
With war's red flood May’s breath of peac2 is
shed, , :
And spring’s young grass and gracious flowers
are glowing
Above the dead.
Ye gray old men whom we this day are greeting,
Honor to you, honor and love and trust!
Brave to the brave ! Your soldier hands are meet-
ing
Across their dust.
Bravely they fought who charged when flags were
flying
In cannon’s crash, in screech and scream of shell;
Bravely they fell, who lay alone and dying
In battle’s hell.
Honor to them! Far graves tcday are flinging
Up through the soil peace blooms to meet the
sun.
And daisied heads to summer winds are singing
Their long “well done.”
But braver ye who, when the war was ended,
And bugle’s call and wave of flag were done,
Could come back home, so long left undefended,
Your cause unwon.
And twist the useless sword to hook of reaping,
Rebuild the homes, set back the empty chair
And brave a land where waste and want were
keeping
Guard everywhere.
All this you did, your courage strong upon you
And out of ashes, wreck, a new land ‘rose,
Through years of war no braver battle won you,
’Gainst fiercer foes.
And now today a prospered land is cheering,
And lifting up her voice in lusty pride
For you gray men, who fought and wrought, not
fearing
Battle’s red tide.
Our rear guard, ye whose step is slowing, slowing
Whose ranks, earth thinned, are filling other-
where,
‘Who wore the gray—the gray, alas! still showing
On bleaching hair.
And when for you the last tattoo has sounded,
And on death’s silent field you've pitched your
tent,
When, bowed through tears, the arc of life has
rounded
To full content.
We that are left will count it guerdon royal,
Our heritage no years can take away,
That we were born of those, unflinching, loyal,
Who wore the gray.
By Irene Fowler Brown, in the Confederate Veteran.
LETTERS OF TWO LOVERS,
From Edith Deane,
To Harold Roper, Esq.,
MY DEAREST :(—Even now, as I sit here
with God’s dear sunshine lighting up your
ring upon my finger, I cannot realize this
great, this wonderful happiness that has
come into my life.
After you had gone last night I stole up
to my room, and there, in the darkness, I
knelt down and thanked God for the price-
less blessing of your love. As I prayed, a
great and mighty peace stole over my soul,
and I knew that from henceforth my life
would be one long dream of happiness—a
happiness so great that its radiance has al-
ready cast a glow upon every object upon
which my eyes rest. The very air I breathe
seems sweeter, purer and fresher, because
of this love that has come into and glorified
my life.
My soul is athirst to do some good in the.
world; I long to smile on all whom I meet
—I want to feed the hungry, and to bring
happiness to those who are miserable and
unloved.
And then I want to be alone, so that I
can live over again in memory the words
vou spoke to me last night. I want to ses
the love-light burning in your dear ey ,
and to note once again, the softening influ-
enoe of love and tenderness upon those
proud, noble features that I bave learned to
love so well. It was the strength, the ma-
jestic nobility of your character that first
drew me towards you. Youseemed so dif-
ferent from other men ; so much stronger
and broader minded, and yet, withal, so
- courteous and gentle with women.
This morning I awoke early and lay for
a moment wondering what had happened.
‘Then there came to me the scent of the
violets that you brought me last eve, and
that I had placed in a bowl on the table
beside my bed, and I remembered.
Oh, Harold, if you only knew what that
remembrance meant to me! A rush of
happiness filled my heart and soul, and I
joke nearer to heaven than I ever felt in my
ife.
1 am longing for to-morrow, there are so
many things that I want to say toyou. We
have all the things in the world to talk
about, and you are the only person in the
whole wide world to whom I can talk with
perfect confidence; you are so sympathetic,
and you seem to understand what I want
to say even before the words are spoken.
“Till to-morrow and always,
Jane 2nd. Your loving EpITH.
From Harold Roper,
- To Miss Edith Deane.
My DEAR SAINT :—Your letter reached
me at 1 a. m. this morning. After reading
_ it I sat for an hour with my face buried in
‘my ‘bands thinking of you and of all that
_ ‘your love means to me. ;
“Edith, dear, Iam not what you think
me ; and, although I love you- deeply and
truly, I know in my inmost heart that I
am utterly unworthy of you. Please do
not place me on a pedestal, because, soon-
er or later, the pedestal is sure to fall and
break, and then your love for me would go
and my life wonld he ship-wrecked.
I want you to remember always that
your love is the guiding star of my life.
Your sweetness and goodness have roused
in me a feeling that there is, there must be,
something beyond this life. ' All the good
impulses that have lain dormant since my
mother’s death have become stirred to
fresh life, and I long to become the man
you think me, The knowledge that you
love me bas inspired me—has roused the
latent ambition within me, and made me
feel that there is nothing too great, nothing
too high for me to attain for your dear
sake. I mean to work as I never worked in
my life before,so that one day,when I have
reached the acme of my ambition, and
when my name is in everyone’s mouth as
one of America’s greatest statesmen, I shall
be able to turn to you for approval, know-
ing full well that it was you who first
placed my feet upon the ladder of Fame,
and your dear hand that guided me up-
. ward step by step.
I may possibly be detained at the House
this evening, but I trust not. Iam longing
to see your dear face, and to hear you say
once again ‘‘I Jove you.’”” So, unless you
have a wire to the contrary, will you be
near the gate under the lilacs at eight
o’clock ?
Yours always,
June 3rd. HAROLD.
From Edith Deane, .
To Harold Roper, Esq.,
My DEAREST :—It is more than a week
since I last saw you, and Iam very, very,
unhappy.
For the first fortnight after we were en-
gaged—how long ago it seems !—you came
over every evening. Since then your visits
have dwindled and dwindled, until now it
is nine days since you were over here. In
your last letter you say that you are work-
ing very bard, and that you had a great
many business worries lately ; I’m so sorry
dear, and I do so long to help you. The
longing to do something for you encircles
my whole life ; but alas! I can do nothing.
At times, when I am sitting with mother
in the ladies’ gallery, I'feel like a poor lit-
tle bird in a cage who bruises his wings by
flapping them helplessly against the cruel
bars. You life is so full you have no time
in which to sit down and think, and my
life is all thinking and all my thoughts
are of you.
Come to me this evening, dear, and let
your work go for once. I feel that if I have
to go on living much longer without seeing
you—except from the ladies’ gallery, which
is worse than not at all—I shall go mad.
I must see you! I love you !—love you!
love you !—and I want to tell you so.
Last night when everyone else was in
bed, I sat by my open window looking out
at the stars and wondering what yon were
doing, and if the same stars were looking
down upon you. (It isso long since I have
seen you that to me you seem continents,
instead of only miles, away.) AndaslI sat
thus I must have slept, for I dreamt that
an angel came to me, and in her hand she
carried a slip of paper on which was writ-
ten a poem that I had been reading earlier
in the day. The words were these :
“Because you love me I have found
New joys that were not mine before;
New stars have lightened up my sky,
With glories growing more and more.
Because you love me, I can rise
To heights of fame and realms of power;
Because you love me, I may learn
The highest use of every hour.”
“Why do you bring me this?’ I said,
raising my eyes to her face. Such a beau-
tiful face ; like the picture of your mother
that you have in the locket attached to
your watch chain. But at my words she
vanished, and the paper fluttered to the
ground. :
Then I awoke, but the dream was still
fresh in my mind, so Ilooked down for the
paper ; but instead of the poem I found
your letter, which had slipped from my
band in my sleep, and then I understood.
Although my heart may ache when you are
absent I must not complain, because you
are working and working, and because of
your love for me.
Dear, dear Harold, come if you anyhow
can. I will be under the lilacs about
eight. Yours only,
July 8th. EDITH.
From Harold Roper,
To Miss Edith Deane.
My DEAREST EDITH :—I could not pos-
sibly get over to you this evening,—and I
did not know myself until the last mo-
ment— I was unable to send even a wire.
I hope you did not wait long, because it is
damp in the evenings now and you easily
take cold.
I bave been thinking about you a lot
since I received your letter, and I think
that, like many another woman, your life
is marred because you have no definite
work with which to occupy your mind.
By definite work I mean work that must
be done. come what may. You allow
yourself too much time for day-dreaming ;
and day-dreams, though good in their way
are apt to become injurious if indulged in
to too great an extent.
You reproach me for not coming over
oftener ; but if you had any conception of
the duties and difficulties that cross the
path of a public man, you would not do so.
Since seeing you I have not had a moment
in which to think of anything but work.
A man’s life is so different from a
woman’s. If a man indulges in day-
dreams he is crushed under foot and lef$
out of the race at the very commence-
ment.
Dearest, however much I long to see you,
I cannot, until I have accomplished all the
work that I have in hand and am free for a
few hours. Try and remember that my
working means the reality of all the de-
lightful castles in the air that we have
built together. And above all, remember
that though I cannot always be with you.
my love for you is as deep and as great as
ever. :
July 8th.
Yours always,
HAROLD.
From Edith Deane,
To Harold Roper, Esq.,
DEAR HAROLD :—Many thanks for the
flowers—they are very beautiful; but I
would much rather have had a letter—just
half a dozen words on a slip of paper—to
say that all was well with you.
It seems a lifetime since I beard, I
could tear the postman limb from limb,
I hate him so, because he never brings me a
letter, and 1 want one so. Nota long one,
only half a dozen lines to soothe this cruel
aching in my heart.
1 read your speech in the Times over and
over again until I know each word by
heart. How clever you are! So clever,
and grand, and noble, that it is no wonder
you have no time to spare one thought
for me. .
I have been out a lot lately. Yesterday
I went to the Delaines to dinner, and the
night before to Mrs. Harrison’s‘‘At Home.’
I had no idea the latter knew so many in-
teresting people. A Major Hobbs, who has
just returned from Cuba, and who is a dis-
| tant consin of Mrs. Harrison’s, was there.
He asked mother if he might call, and I
rather expect him this afternoon.
(Later) I could not finish this epistle
because Major Hobbs called. I was awful-
ly glad to see him, because I was feeling so
lonely. He brought me a lovely bou-
quet of the choicest roses, and he is coming
again to-morrow.
We are going to see Julius Cmsar with
Mrs. Harrison this evening ; she sent a
message by her cousin saying that she had
a box, and asking us to join her.
Good-hye, dearest ; write soon to
Your loving, EDITH.
P. 8.—I have kissed this paper because
your hands will touch it, and your dear
eyes will read the words that I have writ-
ten.
November 23rd. E.
From Harold Roper, x
To Miss Edith Deane. .
My DEAREST EpITH,—I am so glad to
hear that you are having a good time. I
thought that you were looking unhappy
the last time that I was over at your place;
and was afraid that I did not take you out
enough.
Bas if I do not come over, you know
dear that it is not because I do not care
about coming, but because I have so much
work to attend to just now. For the last
three weeks I have been up at the House
every night ; and sometimes until far into
the morning. As you know, I am ambi-
tious ; and if I am to carve a position for
myself and make a mark in the world I
must stick to my guns, and let nothing in-
terfere with my work.
How did you like Julius Cesar? I hear
that the caste is good ; but I have not seen
it myself. You seem to be very friendly
with Mrs. Harrison. Have I met her at
your place ?
I want to send you some flowers, but
fear they would be eclipsed by the choice
hot-house specialties of Major Hobbs.
I am afraid I cannot get over until Sun-
day, when we will have a long day to-
gether.
Iam sorry I have not written before,
but I write such a thundering bad letter ;
and yours are always so interesting. apart
from them heing yours.
Until Sunday—Good-bye,
Yours ever,
November 25th, HAROLD.
From Edith Deane,
To Harold Roper, Esq.,
DEAREST,—To-day when you met me
down town you must have thought my
manner very cold and strange. I tried to
be natural, but I could not, because I felt
as if my heart was breaking. It seemed so
strange for two engaged lovers to meet by
accident after not having seen one another
for over three weeks.
It was good of you to offer to come with
us to the Denton Gallery, but although I
wanted you to come I felt that you were
sacrificing yourself in order to please me,
and that was why I spoke as I did. I
could have bitten my tongue out a moment
afterwards when I saw the look of pain
and astonishment that my nasty, sarcastic
little speech bronght to your dear face.
Forgive me, Harold, I did not mean to be
bitter ; but I was jealous, cruelly jealous,
of the work and duties that kept you away
from me.
I occupy such a tiny fraction of your life
and your work is everything. Iam only a
make-shift, a plaything, someone to be
fondled and loved when your brain is idle
and you are in a fondling mood.
Yesterday I made up my mind that I
would bear it no longer. I told myself
that you had never really cared for me and
that I was a fool to sacrifice my pride by
accepting the stray fragments of love you
choose to offer me. I determined to write
to’you then and there,saying that I wished
our engagement to end, but before writing
I unlocked my desk and took out your
letters—the ones you wrote me when we
were just engaged, and read them over.
When I bad finished the tears came into
my eyes, and I hated myself for having
doubted you. Then, this morning when I
saw you all my doubts returned, and the
nasty, bitter feeling in my heart crushed
down my love for you.
Oh, Harold ! do come over to-morrow
afternoon. Send me a wire in the morning
saying whether I am to expect you; I shall
be so unbappy until I hear.
Yours always,
EDITH.
P. S.—Major Hobbs is shut up in the
drawing room talking to mother. He has
been here all the afternoon, and I cannot
imagine what they can be talking about.
He comes every day now ; but mother is
generally out visiting, so I have to efter-
tain him. Ihope he won’t come in to-
morrow when you are here.
January 27th. E.
From Harold Roper,
To Miss Edith Deane,
My DEAR EpiTH,—Your behavior this
morning, when I accidentally ran across
you down town, proved to me what I have
long since suspected.
If you no longer care for me, please do
not hesitate to say so. I would far rather
know the truth at once and set you free,
than let you go on feeling that you are
bound to a man for whom you no longer
care, when the man you love is at your
feet. For if I have not said anything all
these months, I have not been blind, and
you yourself have often told me that Major
Hobbs almost lives at your house. And as
he certainly would not come without en-
couragement, I can only conclude that his
attentions are welcome, in which case it
would he better that our engagement
should cease.
Please do not trouble to return my
presents. I have no use for them, and
their return would only cause unnecessary
pain. .
: Yours faithfally,
January 27th. HAROLD ROPER.
By Special Delivery.
From Edith Deane,
To Harold Roper, Esq.,
DEAR HAROLD,—Our letters must have
crossed, for yours arrived this morning at
the same time that mine must have reached
ou.
y Since you desire to end our engagement,
1 shall, of course, raise no objection. For
some time past I have felt that yon never
really cared for me ; it is your work, or
rather, what yon are pleased to call your
ambition that dominates your life. Even
at the commencement of our engagement
there were times when I realized that I was
only a secondary consideration, and the
thought galled my pride. and made me the
bitter, cynical woman that I am.
I shall never love again; you have taught
me to know men too well, and the pleasure
of loving is not worth the pain. :
That you may succeed, and that your
ambition may be realized, is the parting
wish of
Yours truly,
EpITH DEANE.
Three Months Later.
A marriage has been arranged, and will
shortly take place, between Major Hobbs,
of the 79th Regiment, and Edith Mary
Deane, only daughter of George Deane, 71
Madison Square.— McCall's Magazine.
January 28th.
Baby Instantly Killed by Wagon
Running Over It.
A curious accident occurred near Belle
Vernon Westmoreland county recently,
the victim being the 16-months-old child
of Mr. and Mrs. Roy. The other children
had the little child in a baby carriage and
sat down along the street to rest, leaving
the buggy with the babe in it standing on
the pavement. By some meaus the buggy
started, and running against the curbstone
was upset throwing the child out. Just at
that moment a two-horse wagon ‘ passed
along,and the wheels passed over the child,
cutting off the whole top of its head and
causing instant death.
2.
A Land Without Women.
Members of the Gentler Sex Not Allowed on Re-
donda A Population of Quarrymen. Absolute
Despotism Exists on a Little Island in the
Lesser Antiltes Which is Owned by Great Brit-
ain. :
Many there are who have heard of that
island in the Lesser Autilles, famous for its
lime juice and sugar crop, the volcanic
Montserrat, discovered by Columbus in
1493, and indeed, named by himas well.
But how many know of its little neighbor
about fifteen miles to the northwest called
Redonda, which is too small to be marked
by even a pin dot upon the map ? Here we
find hardly an ‘‘Adamless Eden,'’ nor yet
an Eden which is Eveless, for from the
account of a returned traveller it is in
no wise a place of desirable habitation.
However, a spot on this broad globe de-
nied to women by man-made laws is some-
thing of a curiosity.
A LONELY PEAK.
Redonda is little more than a rocky vol-
canic peak rising out of the sea to the
height of perhaps a thousand feet. Until
about thirty yeas ago it was left to the
myriads of wild sea birds, which made their
nests upon the rocky cliffs. Guano was
accidently discovered, and since that time
1t has been given over to the workmen,
who have drilled, hammered and blasted
the surface to force it to yield up its de-
pesits. Later on phosphate of alumina
and iron were discovered, and this brought
miners to the islet.
The population, which consists entirely
of quarrymen and miners, varies from
ahout a dozen to 250, according to the sea-
son, and is composed entirely of negroes
under the direction of a white manager.
AN ABSOLUTE DESPOTISM.
While really a dependency of Montserrat,
one would naturally suppose that it was
governed by the hard and fast laws of Old
Euvgland, but far from that, it is a curious
form of superlative unlimited monarchy.
All power, both spiritual and temporal,
is vested in the manager in charge. This
important individual carries the entire
code of laws around in his head, which is
no doubt convenient and has numerous ad-
vantages, seeing that he can add or sub-
tract a clause as suits his fancy, while no
one may be the wiser. Then again, in case
an inhabitant commits a crime which has
no precedent, what more easy than to in-
vent a new punishment to fit it?
TWO CAUSES OF EVIL.
When a certain captain took charge of
this unique colony ahont twenty years ago
he found it torn asunder by rebellion and
civil war. Upon inquiry he found the
prime causes to be ‘rum and destructive,
deceitful women.’
Being a wise man in his day, he first cut
off the supply of rum, and afterward ban-
ished females for all time. Since this
edict went forth not a black woman has set
foot on the island, although white women
tourists have been allowed to take a peep
at this carious little speck of terra firma.
The miners come chiefly from Montser-
rat, and are expected to remain at least
three months without going home, though
many of them remain much longer with-
out expressing any desire to return.
FOOD BROUGHT FROM ENGLAND.
The islet produces absolutely nothing in
the way of crops, and all food supplies are
brought directly from England or the
neighboring islands, who ply a lively trade
by means of sail-boats. There are no
towns, no shops, no churches, no roads
worthy the name. In fact, there is noth-
ing but the manager’s hungalow-like resi-
dence and the negro quarters.
The negroes seem to be a light-hearted,
happy-go-lucky, irresponsible company,
from their behavior one must gather that
they feel the loss of their women folks very
little.
After working hard all day, many of
them in the broiling hot sun, they spend
the evening in boisterous song and dance,
having scarcely. taken time to swallow their
evening meal.
They select the largest barrack room,
close all the doors and windows tight, stuff
up every crevice, and, with reeking skin,
under blazing paraffine lamps, they dance
and shout the hours away to the music of
a concertina, tin can, hones and triangle.
Next morning far from being exhausted,
they go forth to the day’s work laughing
aud happy, like a troop of schoolboys.
Such is the place forbidden to woman,
but she may take some satisfaction in the
knowledge that the latest Gazetteer gives
Redonda just three lines of descriptive
space. ;
Big Dam Breaks; Valley is Swept.
Five Million Gallons of Water Liberated by
Heavy Cloudbursts.
The Breakneck reservoir, four miles from
Connellsville, in the mountains, broke ear-
ly last week and the 5,000,000--
gallon lake flooded White Run Valley,
sweeping away houses, railroads bridges,
barns, fences and crops.
So far as known there were vo lives lost,
but there are many thrilling escapes.
The damage is estimated at $200,000
One farmer, John Sands, rescued his
wife and children on a faithful horse.
Three houses and a store located just be-
low the reservoir were wrenched from their
foundations and whirled down the valley
for a considerable distance. Many persons
rode on the roofs of their houses to a place
of safety. !
The breaking of the reservoir was caused
by successive cloudbursts. which occurred
at midnight. The mountain streams be-
cameswollen and the pressure was too great
for the dam, which was completely washed
out, hardly a timber remaining to show
where the massive breastworks had been.
The great torrent of water followed
White’s run to Moyer, where it flows into
Mountz creek. This stream empties into
the Youghiogheny river.
At Moyer more than a mile of track of
the Pittsburg, McKeesport and Connells-
ville Railway was washed away, complete-
ly blocking traffic. Five county bridges
were washed out. Two big bridges on the
main line of the Southwest Pennsylvania
Railroad were washed out, and trains werz
not run for several days from Everson to
Wheeler.
Dead cows, horses and pigs strew the
valleys. The farms of David Lontz, Wil-
liam Bettle and Sherrick Wilson, in the
White’s Ran Valley, are completely ruin-
ed, promising crops being covered toa
depth of more than a foot with mud and
slime.
“Dutch Bottom,’’ a low district on the
north side was nearly washed away.
Many of the lots had been filled up with
considerable expense. These were washed
to the level of the creek. Gardens were
destroyed and houses wrecked.
A Thick Skinned Creature.
A whale has the thickest skin of any liv-
ing creature. Its hide in many places at-
tains a thickness of fully two feet.
/
Close of Dunkard Meeting.
Next Conference
Acted On.
in Northern Ohio, Business
The General Conference of the German
Baptist Church, which had been in session
the past week at Paxtang Park, Harris-
burg, closed Thursday night with devotion-
al services. The next annual meeting and
conference will be held in Northern Obio,
at such time and place as may be selected
by the location committee. During
Thuisday session the questions passed down
by the standing committee were disposed
of with a spirit of unanimity that has rare-
ly been known at the General Conference.
The question as to whether native con-
verts in India who had two or more wives
before conversion to the church could be
baptized after conversion was decided by
agreeing to permit them to be baptized if
they promise to adhere strictly to the
church regulations in the future.
A rule was adopted prohibiting the use
by some cougregations of beer bottles for
communion wine.
The Texas and Louisiana delegations
wanted the name Dunkard to be dropped.
This was referred to the committee already
appointed to take this matter up, to re-
port at the next annual meeting.
California and Arizona asked that: per-
mission be granted to issue clergy permits
to nersons engaged in other occupations
than farming. The matter was referred to
a special committee. A question regard-
ing the revision of the minutes in the mat-
ter of the duties of ministers of the second
degree was returned unanswered.
A greeting from the church in Denmark
was read by the Clerk, and a question for a
petition to the King of Denmark for assist-
ance for the church was referred to the
general missionary committee.
Although the Conference closed Thurs-
day night, there was a large crowd at
the park Thursday and Friday engaged in
packing up their belongings and in attend-
ing impromptu religions meetings.
Man’s Forgetfulness.
Dwelling Places Which Rise on Sites of Great
Disasters.
Much is said of the audacity of men in
building his home in spots so dangerous as
the slopes of Mont Pelee have proved them-
selves to be. Yet, says the Providence
Journal, all history affords illustrations of
calm forgetfulness with which the race
erects its dwelling places on the sites of
the most dreadful catastrophes. Vesuvius
still smokes over peaceful Naples. Lisbon
rises, beautiful and imposing, where a
‘convulsion of nature’’ once brought un-
ustterable fright and desolation. The Jap-
anese still crowd the coasts of their tide-
swept islands and the Chinese huddle
along the banks of the Hoang-Ho. It is
not two vears since Galveston was over-
whelmed by flood, yet a new Galveston is
being built on the dangerous site of the
wreckage and the people of the city are
ready to take their chances of a similar
disaster in the future. There is absolute-
ly nothing to prevent a second tidal wave
from the Gulf, yet the city pursues its
daily tasks, apparently unafraid. Men in
hazardous enterprises continue in them,
because they offer something more than a
living wage. Manufacturing processes
that require the constant inhalation of nox-
ious gases or dangerous dusts pay high
prices for labor and have no difficulty in
obtaining recruits. We live in unsanitary
houses, with death and disease staring at
us from every corner, and yet shudder at
the fine audacity of the people who are
willing to spend their days beneath the
curling smoke of a long-smouldering vol-
cano. The fact is that in the healthy dis-
tricts of the crowded cities of the United
States, where ventilation is bad and drain-
age deficient and disease germs are abun-
dant, a man is exposed to greater risks
than the dwellers on the islands of the
West Indies.
American Earthquakes.
Seismic Disturbances Which Have Affected the
United States.
’
Besides the Charleston earthquake of
1886, in which 41 lives were lost and about
$5,000,000 worth of property was destroyed,
there have been two other notable earth-
quakes in the United States within historic
times—one near the head of the Mississippi
delta in 1811-12, and one in the Inyo Val-
ley, Cal., in 1872.
The former, known as the New Madrid
earthquake, was remarkable for the length
of time which the phenomena covered.
There were several shocks at short inter-
vals for several months, and the whole se-
ries of shocks lasted about two years.
The country was sparsely settled, and no
scientific records of the disturbance were
made, but it is related that the aluvial
land of the river bottoms was traversed by
visible waves, which rocked the trees to
and fro and uprooted many. Huge fissures
were opened, and the lakes were drained
by the escape of their waters into them.
The largest sunken area is said to have
been 60 or 80 miles long and nearly
half as broad.
The Inyo Valley earthquake was caused
by a renewed movement along the great
plain at the eastern base of the Sierra
Nevada. The chief shock lasted only a
few minutes, but others of less violence
continued for two or three months.
A tremendous fissure was formed along
the base of the mountain range for about
40 miles. The land west of the fissure rose
and the land east of it fell several feet.
Owene river was temporarily swallowed
up. In the village of Inyo all the houses
were thrown down and one-tenth of the in-
habitants were killed.
Bananas Instead of Beef.
“It you want to down the beef trust,”
said a man who is engaged in the fruit
trade, ‘‘don’t eat meat. Eat bananas in-
stead. I'm not joking; I’m serious. The
banana has a staple article of food has been
too long neglected by the people of our
zone. I travelled across Nicaragua once,
and I practically lived on bananas prepar-
ed in the various ways for which the na-
tives are famous. It may surprise you to
know that the banana is the king-pin of
the vegetable world, so far as nutrition is
concerned. Itis twenty-five timesas nu-
tritious as wheat of the same weight, has
forty-five times the nutriment of potatoes,
and thirty times that of rice, the three sta-
ple vegetable products of the world. These
figures are the result of scientific investi-
gation. It is time that we turn our atten-
tion to the banana. We might profitably
take a few lessons in preparing the fruit
for the table from our southern neighbors.”’
— Philadelphia Record
——Lincoln said of a certain glib-talking
lawyer that ‘‘when he began to speak his
mental operations ceased. He reminds me
of a little steamboat that puffeu about on
the Sagamon river. It had a five-foot
boiler and a seven-foot whistle. When it
whistled it stopped.
Tea Drinking in the Mines,
Underground Toilers in Oklahoma Prefer it to Water
and Coffee.
*‘T do not know the scientific reason for
the thing,” said a traveling wan who has
recently made a trip in the mining regions
of the West, ‘‘but on my last trip to some
of the mining towns in Oklahoma Terri-
tory particularly I found that the miners
are in the habit of drinking tea almost ex-
clusively while toiling under the earth. I
asked the miners why it was, and the only
explanation that they gave was that water
and coffee made them sick at the stomach.
Iced tea. they said, was the best drink
they had been able to find, and the use of
this drink left them without any sort of
bad effect. I made the trip down into one
of the mines at South McAllister, an ex-
perience by no means without interest to a
person nos familiar with the lives the sub-
terranean toilers are forced to lead. In-
cidentally ¥ may remark that I found a
mule in the mine which had not seen the
light of day for more than six years, and
the animal, because of the operation of the
principle of disuse, was as blind as a bat.
So far as I could judge be had completely
lost the sense of sight. But his hearing
was good, and the least noise made by a
shift of his food basket would cause him to
prick up his ears in a jiffy. His sense of
hearing was marvelous in many respects,
and I guess it was due to the fact that the
loss of sight had strengthened all the other
senses of the animal. But coming back to
the subject of tea, the miners said that the
habit of drinking tea while engaged in the
mine was practically a new thing, but had
become very extensive in a short space of
time.
It has heen a great boon to the miners to
find a liquid which would appease the
throat without nauseating them, and
strengthening them at the tame time in no
small degree. Some of the more thought-
ful men told me that the use of tea in the
mines had proven of great benefit to the
men in many ways, for prior to its intro-
duction there was much suffering. If the
men drank water it made them sick. If
thev did not drink it they would almost
perish. Something was needed badly, and
tea is the best thing they have been able to
nd.
D:stroying Wild Flowers.
There is wailing among the real lovers of
nature over the destruction of wild flowers
that is wrought by the ignorant and reck-
less. We mean the utter destruction and
extermination of them in their haunts.
The New York zoological park in the bor-
ough of the Bronx abounds in native flow-
ers. Dr. William T. Hornaday, director
of the park, says that on every bright Sun-
day there are 20,000 visitors and ‘‘a hand
for every wild flower! If there is no re-
straint, five years’ time will see Bronx
Park as barren of wild flowers as Union
Square.”” The arbutus is already extinct,
and the violets, the columbines, the hepat-
icas, the Spring beautiesand the anemones
soon will be. He doubts whether the
daisies will long maintain themselves.
This destruction results, in part, from the
way in which the flowers are pulled up by
the roots, and in part from the fact that
none are permitted to go to seed. The
Springfield Republican, commenting on this
statement, sets forth that in many spots
near Springfield the native wild flowers of
various kinds have been exterminated, and
it declares that ‘there can be no doubt
that the nature study in our public schools
more than anything else, threatenes the
survival of the wild flowers.’”” It thinks
the schools should teach ‘‘reverence for
nature, respect and true love for flowers,
not the false and selfish love which results
in destruction.’” It holds, also, that the
study of nature should only be pursued
under the guidance of competent persons
who can restrain the ignorant greed of
the child.
Boy Kills a Doctor.
Dr. James Rose, of Waynesburg, died
Wednesday afternoon from injuries in-
flicted that morning by Anthony Kirchner,
a 15 year old boy, who claimed that he
was defending a comrade. Kirchner was
arrested, and was held pending an inquest.
Dr. Rose was at the stable to get his horse
and buggy. A stable boy who was getting
the animal ready seemed to the physician
to be too slow. Words passed between
them, and the physician is alleged to have
kicked the boy and knocked him down.
Young Kirchner, who was in the stable at
the time, accused Dr. Rose of cowardice,
and claims he was in turn attacked by
Rose. Kirchner hurled a beer bottle at
Rose. The missile struck him above the
eye. Rose refused to bave his wound at-
tended by a physician, and went to his
home, where he died Wednesday afternoon.
Sister Brings Suit Against Howell.
The sensational case of Franklin Howell
and his wealthy sister Jennie, the brother
seeking to have the sister declared insane
rather than leave her marry a Mr. Dean,
was recalled in court in Scranton when
Mrs. Dean filed papers in court objecting
to the account of Franklin as trustee of the
sister’s ‘estate. The papers allege that
Franklin has mismanaged the estate and
has not charged himself with all the mon-
ey that has come into his hands belonging
to his sister.
Largest Chain in the World.
Half of the largest cable chain in the
‘world has just been completed at the Leb-
anon Chain Works for the Eastern Ship-
building Company and was shipped recent-
ly from Lebanon, Pa., to. New London,
Conn., occupying four gondola frieght cars.
It is over a quarter of a mile in length and
each link weighs ninety-three pounds. The
other half of the chain will be completed
in a few months and will be shipped to
New London and linked to the first part.
Woman Arrested on Charge of Killing
Little Girl.
‘Mrs. Letitia Eagle, of Avalon, Pa., a
suburb of Pittsburg, was arrested recently
on a charge of killing Edna Varner, her
thirteen year old ward. The young girl
died on May 5th from a bullet wound in
ber breast, and it was thought she had
committed suicide, but the coroner’s jury
found that she had been murdered by a
person or persons unknown. Mrs. Eagle’s
husband is assistant superintendent of the
Pressed Car Company’s plant at Woods
Ran, Pa.
True to German Cooking.
He was a stalwart young German and as
he walked into the barn he saluted its own-
er with ‘‘Hey, mister, will you jop me ?’”
“Will I what?’ returned the farmer.
“Will you jop me? Make me work
et?’
“Oh, I see, you want a job,” said his
hearer. ‘‘Well, how much do you want a
month ? .
“I tell you. If you eat me on her farm
I come for fife dollars, but for twenty-fife
dollars I eat myeelf by Schmidt’s.”’—
New York Evening Sun.