Bellefonte, Pa., August 23, 1907. ine _ FOR A MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY. Lord Jesus, Thou hast known A mother's love and tender care ; And Thou wilt hear, while for my own Mother most dear 1 make this birthday | ¥ prayer. Protect her life, 1 pray, Who gave the gift of life to me; And may she know from day to day The deepening glow of Life that comes from Thee! As once upon her breast Fearless and well content I lay, So let her heart, on Thee at rest, Feel fears depart and trcubles fade away. Her every wish fulfill; And even if Thou must refuse In anything let Thy wise will A comfort bring such as kind mothers use. 1 cannot pay my debt For all the love that she has given ; But Thou, love's Lord, will not forget Her due reward-—bless her in earth and heaven, ~Henry Van Dyke, in the Outlook A ————————————— THE FATAL GUM. Zeke Scraggs bad been workiog out on the dry patch, where it was a long ways be- tween drinks, and lnkewarm water from a canteen no particular comfort. He com- plained, and I produced a discovery in the shape of a tinfoil-wrapped package of chew- ing-gum marked ‘‘Lily Sweet.” “If you chew a piece of that when you're dry, Scraggsy,’’ 1eaid, ‘it will stave off thiret for some time.” Mr. Scraggs received the offering in hie large palm, and poked it with the fore finger of his other band. *‘Yaas,”! he said; “‘Y-a-a-s. dangerous.” ‘Dangerous?’ “Horrible. You don’t ketch me min- glin’ myself with no ‘Lily Sweets.” I con- sider the lily of the field how she grows. Bat it's You wouldn’t believe that anything that I sounds eo innercent conld be the tee-total ruin of a large, dark-complected tin-horn, with a pair of muss-taches like Injuu-pol- ished buffler horns, would you?"’ Like anybody else, I said I wouldn't. “Well, it wae,” said Zeke. ‘‘Il youn could see that gam, and compair him to this here package of choon’-gum, you wouldn't ever guess that either one could do much of anything to t'other; yet I can a tale relate of that combination that would make each particler bair stand up-ended like the squills of the frightful porky- pine.” ‘Rats!’ said I, being but a youth. “You got any hairs that’s particler by pature? No? Well, then, I'll spread this terrific osculation of the connimgalated forces of Nature belo’ you, as Charley saye. My kind of varrative is the plain, unvar- pisbed tale. Folks that tell a varnished tale is apt to sit on the varnish before it’s dry, any they'll stick to it, come cold fact or red-hot argyment; whilest I'm always willin’ to prune, cross-harrer, revise or alter accordin’ to my victim's feelin’s. That is, of course, if they go to corner me, which, between gentlemen, is a low-cut outrage. But this business about the gaw is dead straight. I bad relinquished all amusements and was livin’ quiet in order to eave money, hefore I got acquainted with the facts. “First place, comes a female missionary out to the ranch, and she was a corkin’ fine-lookin’ nice young woman, too, who tackled me on the subject of chewin’ ter- backker. She had me all taugled up in my own rope and double lift-sided front and back before the clock struck one. “I tried to arger that nohody wouldn't care whether I chewed terbackker or grass, 80 long's I was happy and doin’ no harm. Bat that turned ont not to he trne. She said so. “Then I tried to reach her womanly compassion by tearfully expoundin’ how I'd wiss my cut of plug a day: I never touched her. Hers was a new religion, It had a different figger on the back from any I'd had dealt to me before. Seems it weren't a sin to chew, but it was the con- trol I'd lost over myself that put me in the hole. I had just to git command of my mind and everything wonld come at me, like a North Ca’lina town’s nigger's dogs | # chasin’ a three-legged cat up an alley. ‘ ‘But, ma'am,’ says I, ‘I’ve kuvocked off before; an’ as for control over my mind, durin’ the hull spell me an’ Star Plug was separated, friends bad to hold me to pre- vent me goin’ in an’ robbin’ my own grip. Control of my mind,’ says I, fightin’ noble, ‘why. you could 'a’ sicked a burglar on me, an’ he couldn’t bave found no such thiog on my person. [ didn’t have no mind. I walked up an’ down, day and pight, in that man’s town, likea ravin’ maniac stupefied by his halloocinashuns. All that passed beneath my shinin' dome was: ‘Oh for a chew! Oh for a chew! Oh for a choo-choo-choo-choo! Whoeep! Breaks!” And when the cars went over the switch or a cayuse cantered up, they said: ‘‘Terbackker, terbackker, terback ker,” to my famished ears. All I wished was that the houses was built of plug, and all I thought of was that I conld get ear- net wits an axe. That's all T could think —f ‘‘ ‘But you must use the control!’ says she, eager. ‘ ‘Yon mean, ma'am,’ I says, ‘that I must seek ont a quiet place, clinch my fists, grind my teeth t> a feather-edge and strain my suspenders to the bustin’ point in one calamitous effort to think I'm not thinking?’ ‘‘ ‘Precisely!’ says she, victorious. ‘You Western men have such a ready grip on essentials that it is a delight to be your guide,’ ‘* ‘Well, Uncle Tom aud the dogs a- bitin’ him! says I to myself. ‘Lead on!’ I took off my hat aloud and bowed to within two of my noses to the und. ‘To be able to loller so gentle able a guide straight to perdition isa joy,’ says I. ‘I nit the class of roominants two weeks. will not use terbackker. No!’ says little Zekey Scraggs. ‘There's my hb on it, ma'am.’ ‘‘And she turned pink with joy. She was an awfal nice little gal. Only she was so jam-full of knowledge that it was bard for her to understand things. ‘‘Having put up this job on mysell, I went to our Er and called for my time. I knew I'd need bright lights and excitement for a while. I begun to feel al. ready that a chew wounldn’t go bad. “There was the storekeep’ gazin’ fixed] at a book; his lips was movin’, but 4 seemed in a kind of raptare. When 1 hol- lered to him, he jumped all over and bark- ed at me likea dog. At the same time he grabbed up a cigareet, stuck it in bis month, took it out, looked at is aod fired it down again. “A light broke on me. ‘So she got you, oO Hoppitty Hippitty Y tty Hippitty Yer- hoop!’ says he. ‘That's just what she's done! I'm three days out. Not a smell of smoke in three days! My soul has gone away and won’t have any more truck with me. 1don’t know wholam, nor why. I’ve been trying for an hour to find out bow much three and two make. Take our money and leave me to my fate.’ “‘With this pictare in my wind I broke for town. Halfway there] was chawin’a latigo-strap like a woll. When I bit the street, 1 jumped through the drug-store door. + What you got for a man that's quit chewin’?’ 1 to the boss, ‘Franky Frenchman's Fool-Killer,’ says he—aod with that he turos his head and expectoriates satisfacterily iuto the epittoon. “Seeing him, I near died of a broken heart. i “The next crack will be at your ex- peuvse,’ I told him. ‘You hike out some- thin’ for my case,’ I says. He shoved me out a package, just like that.” Mr. Scraggs poked my gift. ‘Just like that. I put the whole bizzee in my trap and chomped on it like a lion. I waiked around the town, chompin’ on it. 1 waved my jaws till my face ached. Seem- ed to me like I'd never done anythin’ in all my life but bite Injy-rubber. And then I pushed madly for the first stud- ker game. “When I got there, nothin’ was movin’. This bere tin-horn I mention was polish- ing his muss-tache with both hands, whilest be talked to a few bavgere-on. “1 became ashamed of that choon’-gum and I stuck it under the table, very sly and surreptishus. I felt like a mau again. ‘Fire the engine up!’ tays I. ‘Gimme five stacks to practice on.’ “The gam hopped gleeful toward the table ve the drawer a yank. She stuck. He cussed and pulled harder. She came open with a jerk and a kind of long, sticky s-m-aaa-ack, followed by strings of gray. “The arose from where he’d sot on his backbone and looked at the drawer. ‘We're not doin’ any business to-day,’ says he, showing me my little eagle-bird. *¢ ‘What's happened to the trade?’ says ‘He simply p’inted to the hunk of gum (which I bad most unforchinit jammed ag’in’ the drawer). + My wildest fancies bave got exceed- ed,’ says he. ‘Do you want to hear a weird and willful tale of woe?’ £4 40f course not,’ I says. «+All right,’ says he. ‘I'll tell you.’ “ iWell,” says he, ‘here’s the way she comes up. I'ma lost one in the wilder ness out at a telegraph station. Isee where I get my talents buried in a napkin made of soleleather, hence I get handy witha deck of cards in front of the louvkin’-glass. My work is so good after a while that I lose my whole salary to myself, and yet watchin’ careful all the time in the lookin’ glass. I'm fie to handle the steamboat trade, But I aims higher: I buy me a tick- et to Noo York and hunt up a place where they hew to the line, let the chips fall where they will. ‘What's your noo box o tricks?” says the Murphy that run the joint. tiWell,” says I, ‘nothin’ new, but the good old reliable line. The world is my oyster, as Hamlet says, avd I've got openers.’’ “dH 'm,* says he, makin’ a fat man’s shift in bis chair and pushin’ his seegar into the other corner of his face. “I want you to understand this is a dead-straight game run here, my bucko—yet you look good —s'pose I've come iv an’ laid thirty cents or so on the king, coppered. Lift the joker out of that deck nn’ le’s see what happens.” ‘He threw me a pack and I riffled and boxed "em. st 4 “Why, you lose,” says I, much sur- prised as the king come out opea on the tarn, «+ 2 and not so worse,” says he. ‘‘Play on!" “+ I «lid em out of the box to the last card. “You ouly lost your footin’ cnce,” says he. ‘* The way you beat my corner lay was a little obvious. Exercise your ittle finger till it's soopler. You can handle a role tonight. But micd this,” says he as he grunted himeeif on his feet, ‘this is a dead-straight house. Ifany- buddy ketches you bein’ technical, we jump you, from me to the cop on watch. You et five per cent.”’ “+ Well, sir, that was the loveliest little bower of rose-huds you ever smelt! Checks was joolry. We didn’t have change for nothin’ below a fifty-dollar bill. Oar line of customers was these tur’ble knowin’ young men of the world, who'd stood the terrific experience of a college careerin’. They was a darin’ outfit. They was so fast they couldn’t belp talk about the pace they was hittin’, avd what they didn’t know about the game of faro was my basi- ness. It wae like bein’ knocked down in the street by a strong man and have money pushed into your clothes. I did things at that table that never happened before in a civilized community. I was so youthful, you kuow, and it was a constant problem to me whether they'd etand for biting off the corner of a card to make things come my way. “ ‘I yun in rhinecaboos that 'ud make a heathen Scandabonian farmer fall off his bay-wagon, but them men of the world simply contributed yallesbacks—ol, good old yallerbacks!—beautiful to the eye; soft to the touch, so encounragin’ to the feelin’s! 1 reckoned I'd buy the durned old Western Union an’ get even with the cuss who used to pound it to me from up the line—Ouch! vanished dream! Sweet vision stuck to earth by that con-cussed, svappy, sttiugy, bouncy, mud-colored foolish food fer flighty females you see before you! “At this p’int,”’ said Mr. “he shot his fingers at my gum, breathin’ hard an’ glitterin’ his eyes. 4 ¢ Yes, sir!’ says he. ‘There lies the cause of my roon! And such a fiddlin’, triflin’ stuff to wreck a man!’ He got some of his breath back. ‘You orter ask ‘How?’ says he, ‘and I reply, ‘‘By contractin’ the babit’’—not of goawin’ it’—he adds hasty, ‘but steppin’ enit. Here was I sit- tin’ on sunset clouds and floatin’ over the beautiful scenery, till there comes a cold blast of the winds of chance, and from that moment m, 2 in life was strewed with the discard from rosy lips. For two solid weeks I did nothin’ but couff my feet or a shine-stand to get rid of the day’s gatherin’ of gam. Them Eye-talians used to grin in a way that made me want an open season on furriners, as 1 cantered up to ’'em, smicky-smacky, smicky- smacky, trailin’ soft gray hairs behind me like a retired minister's whiskers. ‘ ‘They'd look up at the sky aod make dago remarks, whilest they curried my feet with a brick, till the cold sweat of mortification melted my b'iled collar. And once a oodle actor goat, with a red, white blue hatbaod, gay aod told me not to nee such paaghty worde about these tributes {rom the mouth of beauty. I swatted the air where he'd been when I started to hit him an’ be took me by most | he of my trousers and torned me ten somer- sanlts. How was I to know he was Hon- est Mike, the Deck Hand, who chucked the villain over Brooklyn Bridge every night and Saturday matinee? “Well, I'll cut it short. No natter where I fleed, the fiend pursued me. went to the opery one night, to get my frazzled nerves soothed by the champion elpers of the pack, For two solid bours lived untroubled, not even worried hy the show, as I conldn’t understand a word .| of it an nobuddy on the stage had com- plaints too deep to sing about; but comin’ out, me enemy waited on the edge of astep and I landed astride of a stout lady's peck, beggin’ her pardon and fightin’ a half-dozen men for five minutes. When I explained, even the stont lady laughed. i “The hossat my joint cussed himself into asthma, wondering what the sticky etofl, tracked all over his new seven-dollar- a-yard carpet, was. * ‘Bat | ain’t agoin’ to weary you with trifles. e day the hoss tipped me off that there was a hunch of alum-eyes due that evenin’; he said they was fellers that bad took the collegecourse, but recovered, and that the bowlegged elephant song and dance that extracted movey from our regu- lars wonld be looked upon with reproach by the newcomers, I got nervous. Playin’ ag'in’ them little first-crow roosters Lad been bad practice. I soaked wy hands in warm water and prepared as best I could, but when I saw that gang before me I knew why they was called alom-ejes. They puckered my soul up, my hands got too wet with sweat for business—you know your fingers bas got to be not too diy, to slip, and not too wet, to stick, if you're turnin’ out high grade work. “Well, I was excited, yet it was a reel pleasure to be up against 1eel men. “I had a babit of running my fingers over the rung of my chair, to keep em in right shape. 'Twas a thiog nobuddy could complain of, and the game just held on to its bat and flew. How much money you bad was the limit, and to put my little bank on the other side of the river, quick, was the idea of the alu eyes. “I forgot everythin’. I was fair holler- in’ inside for jog. My buckers bad a good square chance to catch me at it, if they could, and I was baulin’ money when— well, Fortune bad patted me on the back with one band, while she got ready with a black-jack in the other. In my state of feelin’ I put a heel, a chewin’-gum-covered- heel, on the rung of that chair and took it off again, without noticin’. As the play stood, the outfit had me whipsawed. I drug my fingers over the rung of that chair, tbat chewin’-gum-covered-rung, without noticing ; then I wiggled my fingers ina Chinee ketch-as-ketch-can over the box and raised em with a playin’ card firmly stuck to each finger. Zhen 1 noticed, yes ;and everybody noticed. Silence fell six feot deep. One of them alum eyes says : ““That may be wagnifercent, but it ain't Hoyle.” ‘And I excused myself by ducking un- der the table and jumping over the banis- ters. ‘Once on the street, I hooped her for the corner. My play was to wait till the crowd went out and then see the old man, who bad a rubber-band ov my roll. “ ¢T thought I'd peek around the corner until all was clear, then rush the boss with wy hard-luck game of talk, extract a little of the juice of the root of evil from him, then fold my legs like a jack-rabbit and silently lift mysell through the breeze, back to the sage-brush —back to where the prairie-dog aud the owl and the rattlesnake live in harmony together—never expecting the rattlesnake, so long’s there's plenty of young dogs and owls. *“ “The game must have busted when I took the fence, for here come the bunch of alum-eyes right up the street. I had the curiosity to wait and hear what they was talkin’ about, as I had a corner to duck behind when they come close. Well, I waited, and I didn’t hearnothin’ I'd care to write home to mother. They made me so cussed mad, I overstayed my time. Just when they got within range, I started to hop swiftly backwards. But I didn’t. No. My feet had grew fast to that sidewalk. Seems the city bad been mending the block pavement,as usual,and some horney-souled son of toil bad spilt a square of coal tar on the sidewalk. e to the middle of the coal tar district, of course—you can chew coal tar, you know; I've done it. ‘30, as I remarked, I didn’t gracefully side-step. Exactly not. I gave one yank and landed with my knees up in the air. Them feet was riveted fast, you het, and my joints just had to yield accordin.’ 8 «What is this we have?’ eaid one alaom-eye. ““There was a gas lamp on the corner. They knew me by my face. “i Are you going to deal flagstones with vour feet 2’ asks one of them. ‘“‘Let’s pull down the blinds. It was their whirl at the bat. They brought all the folks, inoludin’ the old man and Tom- my the cop. “They yee-hooed on my feet till I bad to holler for mercy. Then they sat on the curb and rocked and hollered like the pack of fools they were. They tried to lilt my shoulders up, but found that m’coat had took a violent affection for the sidewalk, too. Some of em didn’t even try for the curb-stone then. They rolled around on the sidewalk and kicked their legs, whilest I frayed my vocal chords readin’ their cus- toms and habits to "em. “But I wasin a rannin’ noose; the hard- er I cussed at 'em, the worse they laughed. “4 «Ain't he the slick one though !'’ says the old man, holdin’ on to his stummick with both bands. ‘‘Don’t do nothin’ more to him for a minute, boys, or the coroner will be sittin’ on me.” “Every time I gee-nashed my teeth an’ tried to reach 'em they waltzed on one leg and shrieked. There must ‘a’ been nig thiree hundred fools watchin’ and bavin’ the time of their lives. Little messenger- boys was there, the night-watchmen took a p, ladies with a past improved the shin- n’ present, the dago shoeblacks heard the racket and come runnin up and hollered, *‘Choon’-gum extract ! Ten’ a cent !"’ ‘And there I lay, flat on my back, with my knees in the air, scart to move, because I conldn’t wiggle a finger without the crowd throwin’ a fit. Ob, murder! Le's cutit ! They unlaced my shoes and snak- ed me out of my coat, and instead of bein’ ead at them pathetioal shoes and coat lying in the coal-tar, the hoss fell over sideways and the rest was too feeble to stop me as I broke away. I made that block in two stocking-footed leps. ‘I bad a hundred or two in my pants. 1 t three dollars’ worth of coat and shoes from a second-hand store for filteen dollars and a promise that if anything hap- pened I wouldn’t mention the shop to the police. Then I come here, far from the grading crowds, far from the lady with the eveloped jaw-swing, and I get—1tbat.’ ““Here,”” raid Mr. Seraggs. ‘‘be p’inted brow off with his white bandkerchief, and says : ‘Have we come to this? “1 swallered bard and looked at him. ‘‘“‘Have you such a thing as a plog of ter- backker in your possession ?’ ‘““‘Yes,’ says be, surprised. ‘I bave.’ ‘Well,’ says I, ‘ruther thav to farther add to your troubles, I'll break my word I! toa lady—gimme that plog! We haven't come to this—this bas come to us.’ “So I explained, and he opened his stock exchange. I reckon he was right about the bad effects of chewin’-gnm. too, or may be what's a medal winner in N’ York ain’t art west of the Missouri. Anyhow. you don’t bear me kickin’ about that nice missionary young lady. II cared for joolry, I'd be wearin’ that tin-horn’s diamon’ chest pro- tector right now. Gum has different ef- fects on different people. 'Twas [atal to bis constitooshun.’’—By Heury Wallace Phillips, io Collier's. Doubling Our Navy. Within three fiscal years from July 1st last, says the Washington Times, the United States Navy, according to the present plans and progress of work, will he more than donbled in the pumher of vessels of all spe and strength. The number of battle- ships will have angmented within that time from 1% to 27 in number, with a still great- er increase in strength. This does not in- clude the two new battleships that are now being designed with the intertion that they be made larger thao any fighting craft now afloat. The battleship section of the ‘avy has been increased nearly 75 per cent. in strength and exactiy 50 per cent. in num- ber since July 1st last, up to the present time, six new battleships having been add- ed to the fleet within that time. Three wore will he added within the next two months—the Kausas, Minnesota and Ver- mont—in time to participate in the James- town Exposition, and three more—the South Carolina, Michigan and Nebraska— within the next two vears. The New Hampshire, Idaho and Mississippi will be completed shortly afterward, and then will come the two new monsters which are boped by the Navy Department to prove a surprise to the fighting world. Rear Admiral Evans at Hampton Roads is in command of the biggess fleet of bat- tleships that ever entered American wa- ters. It comprises 15 hattleships, and the four battleship divisions will be made com- plete with the addition, within a few weeks of the Minnosota, now being put in readi- ness at the Norfolk yard. Later, the Massa- chusetts, which is undergoing repairs, will join him and then the new battleship Ver- mont, aud then the Kansas. This will give him 19 firstelass modern battleships, rang- tug in tonnage from 10,288 to 16,000. Aside from these, Admiral Evans will have at the Exposition at different times abont 20 Sraifers, torpedo boats and other smaller craft. The battleship strength of the ravy, as it now stands, numbers 18, the Oregon and Wisconsin being in dock for repairs and general overhauling at the Bremerton yard, Paget Sound. According to the present plans of the Navy Department, the first line of sea de- fense of the United States will be made up of 25 battleships by the close of the next fiscal year. Whether the possibility of a war with Japan or any other country with- in the next few years is respousible is not koown, but certain it is that word has gone from the White House that work must be rushed with all possible speed on all ships under construction, especially those of the larger types, with the view of bav- og each completed at the earliest possible ate. To expedite all construction work with- in a year from May 1st, the Bureau of Con- struction will be clear of all contracts now let or under contemplation, exceps those for the battleships South Carolina and Michigan, two colliers, a number of de- stroyers and the two 20,000 ton vessels. Plaster and Acoustics. In a paper upon this subject Nussbaum, the noted German architect, calls attention to the fact that in cases where good acous- tics are required immediately on comple- tion of the room, the choice of the ceiling aud wall plaster is of some importance, es- gecially where a soft timber (tone color) is esired. Thus, in concert halls, for in- stance, mixtures of lime and sand or ce. ment, lime and sand are out of place as a Plasteriag, only a mortar of plester of Par- s promising the desired effect. Sand should uot be added to the upper layers of this mortar, and a careful smoothing of the surface should not be neglected, so as to avoid all roughoss and irregnlarities. Plaster of Paris prepared entirely with- out sand has a favorable action ; it ia best made of gypsum burnt to white heat. The strongly elastic, delicate surface of this plastering is particularly advantageous for the reflection of the sound waves and for obtaining a soft timbre. With regard to the transmission of heat and sound such plaster is also of advantage but the period of drying for it and the ma: sonry underneath must be taken as higher than for plaster of mixtures of lime and sand or lime, cement and sand. The latter disadvantage, however, is offset by the fact that paint or coverings of veneer fabrics, wall paper, ete., can be applied immediate- lr after the drying, while the alkalies of the lime, and especially those of the ce- ments, may cause injury to such, often very valuable, furnishings as soon as the plaster becomes damp. The latter circum- stance may be brought about by the forma- tion of sweat even where all other causes of dampness are kept off by proper arrange- ments, while the conversion of the alkalies into carbonates in the interior of rooms takes place exceedingly slowly, because a certain percentage of water, not inconsid- erable for cements, is required in the mor- tar for the process. ‘‘Prevention is better than cure,’”’ says the familiar proverb. So familiar indeed is that proverb that we lose its force. We need to be reminded that prevention is better than care because it saves us time, money and soffering. We also need the reminder that prevention is agreat deal easier than cure. Many times disease which might have been prevented cannot be cured at any cost. About one-sixth of the deaths of this country are due to consump- tion. The use of Dr. Pierce's Golden Medi- cal Discovery has saved thousands and thousands of men and women who suffered from obstinate cough, bronchitis, ‘‘weak lungs,’ bleeding of the lungs, and similar ailments, which, il neglected, or unskill- fully treated, lead to consumption. Ninety- eight per cent. of those who give ‘‘Golden edical Discovery’ a fair and (faithful trial, are perfectly and permanently cured. The is nothing “just as good’’ as Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery. a to my chewin’-gom aud wiped bis white How Linen is Made The waking of linen is ove of the most ancient of crafts. Thousands of years ago, before the great pyramids were built, Egypt was famous for her flax and exported the cloth made from it to every port of the Mediterranean, which then comprised about all the known world. The earliest men- tion of flax by any author occurs in the ac count of the plague of hail, oue of the es which Moses brought upon the pti os because they would not let the chosen people go. (Exedus ix: 31.) The Bible is fall of reference to the making of linen. King Solomon brought horses out of Egypt and liven yarn. In Isaiah men- tion is made of “that work in fie flax,” which was the principal en ployment of the Egyptiaus ; in Josboa we ark told that Rabab coucealed the Hebrews spies “with the stalks of flax, which stie bad laid 10 order upon the roof ;’ and in Proverbs is the much-quoted reference to the sirtuons woman who °* seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with ber bands.” The wrappiogs of the Egyptian mum- mies were invariably of linen, aod the dur- ability of this antique fahiic is shown by the fact that, though it was woven two or three thousand years ago. portions of it are strong and in fairly good condition to-day. According to Herodotus the clothes of the Egsptiane were almostalways of linen. He says that they had long linen shirts or robes, [ringed at the hottom, and that this fringe was made of the thrams or the ends of the webs; and the ancient writer must have been correct. for thrums used for this purpose can be seen on many of the mom- my cloths now in different museums. The Egyptian priests,of whom there was a great moltitnde, for this old and mysterious country was a land of temples, were obliged to dress in either linen or cotton, for wool was deemed a profane attire, not snitable for hols men. An ancient writer says, “Flax, that cleanest and best production of the field, is nsed not only for the ioner and outer clothing of the most holy priests of the Egyptians, hut aleo for covering sacred obiects.”’ Except that it was woven oo band looms this ancient linen was probably made very much as it is to day. The flax was pulled up by hand and laid in bundles in the sun todry. It was threshed to free it from seed and the bundles were laid in the river for tour or five days to rot so that the fiber might he separated easily. It wae then stacked up to dry and finally backled,spun into thread and woven into both fine or coarse cloth. Sometimes these were plain and sometimes they had curious figures woven with gaily colored threads. Through the succeeding centuries linen was grown and wover in much the same way wherever the climate was suited to the production of flax and wherever the people were sufficiently civilized to indalge 10 any sort of arts and crafts. With the introdoction ol machinery, cotton, on ac- count of its cheapness, almost superseded linen ae an article of clothing, but the lat- ter retained and etill retaios its popularity for table and bed linen. To havea frou supply of beautifully patterned tablecloths of Irish damask is the ambition of every good housekeeper to-day. For it is well known that the very best damasks are manufactured iv Ireland, which, by reason of its damp, moist climate, is peculiarly well fitted for their production. The flax can be raised there to equal if not to excel any country in the world, and the water esves some pecnliar property that makes it unrivaled for bleaching. So it often happens that large quantities of linen man- ufactured in other countries ate seut to Ire- land to be bleached. A field of Irish flax in flower, with its thickly growing, long, gracefally drooping stems tipped with their delicate blue bells that sway in every breeze and seem always on the point of ringing out some message from the fairies, is one of the prettiest sights in the world. When the Irish crop of flax is ripe it is pulled up by hand, just as the ancients used to do, though in Aus- tralia and parts of this country it is ma- chine mowed like grain. This flax is then huried in natural bogs, tbat abound in every part of Ireland, or in ponds, for the process of rotting, or retting as it is techni- cally called. This takes any time from ten days to two weeks, according to the weath- er and the condition of the flax. In Bel- gium the flax is put to rot in a slow run- ning river at Courtrai, which system is «aid to be superior to the Irish and gives the Belgian flax a world-wide reputation. But in Ireland the government very sensibly refuses to allow the rivers to be used for this purpose. When the flax is taken from the water it is spread out on the grass to dry. This early stage of the mavufacture of linen is not a beautiful process to watch or even to be within smelling distance, for the ap- ravee of the crop is sodden and unsight- y aud the odor is overpowering. hen the flax has been purified somewhat hy ex- posure to the sun and air it is either built up into stacks or carried off to the scantch mill, where the fiber is cleared of refuse. It is then ready to se d to the great mills in Belfast, where hy various stages of prep- aration the last vestiges of bark left hy the scntcher are removed and the flax is ready for hackling, as the process of drawing it out into fibers iscalled. It is then spun into thread aud reeled. The most interest. ing process of all is seen in the great weav- ing sheds, where on hundreds of loows are woven all varieties of linen, from the plain fabric intended for ordinary wear to the beautiful figured desigus produced hy the Jackuard machines. Having passed successfully through all these processes the linen is ready for its fi- nal stages, bleaching and finishing. And in this operation Ireland is preeminent. Most of the Irish mills are surrounded by immense bleaching grounds, where thous- ands of yards of linen are strotched on the thick turf to slowly whiten in the sun, an operation that takes from six to eight weeks. The largest linen mill in the world is on York street, Belfast. It employs some four thousand five hundred operatives and man- ufactures linen of all grades. These beautiful Irish linens will last for years if they are well taken care of, but they thould never be ironed with a very hot flat, as the heat from the iron makes the threads brittle and weak. The Europ- ean housewife takes great care of and pride in her linens, and itis not uncommon for her to use the same tablecloths and sheets that formed a part of her grandmother's dowry, and she confidently expects to leave them in good condition to her daughter. ——————— —— About Beads, Do you know how the pretty colored glass beads are made that are so much need for necklaces aud fancy work? The pro- cess is very interesting and curious. First the glass is melted in a pot, and while in this state is colored. It is then taken from the pot by two workmen, who expand the mass and form it into tabes by blowing into it down their blow pipes. Then, while it is still soft, they draw the tubes out to great length, while the tubes, of course, get more and more slender as fbey grow fouger. Ob cooling, tlese are br up into lengths of about a foot— twelve inches—each. Next these lengths are “‘annealed,”’ or toughened, aud cut evenly into sbort bits. After this the roughly cut beads are mixed with ashes and sand, then pot into metal cylinder over a brisk fire, and turned round aod round very rapidly as they soften with the beat. Then they are thrown into water and shak- en until all the ashes and sand are cleaned away, leaviug the holes free ; and finally Yiey re Survadd on Li hgh for packing and selling. is e process through which the common beads go be- fore they are fit for use. Beads of finer quality undergo a great deal more cutting pul polishing before they leave the fac- ry. The Black Locust. Through the courtesy of Professor H. P. Baker, forester in charge of the Iowa ex- periment station, we are able to present the following facts relative to the black lo- cost, a tree covcerving the growing of which a good many inquiries are being made : hile the lccust is found in prac- tically every state in the Union, it is only pative to high slopes and ridges from Penn- sylvania to Georgia and westward to the Indian Territory. In many ways it is one of the most vala- ble trees that can be grown in the northern states. If allowed to shift for itself, the locast is quite likely to come to destruc- tion through a small insect called the lo- cust borer, which hores through the trunk and branches. It is safe to say, however, that the damage from this source can be entirely done away with or greatly reduced by proper planting and management. When the small trees are put on to good, well draiced soil and caltivated so that they are kept growing rapidly and cut as soon as they are of size for posts, there will be a very small per cent. of damaged trees. The borer enters the trees most easily when the growth begins to decline, and it is for | this reason that they should be kept grow- ing rapidly and cut when of proper size. e tree is easily grown from the seed, which is borne in small pods that ripen early in the antumn. The seed may be gathered as long as the pods remain on the tree and may be left in the and stored in a cool, dry place, or, if the seeds are re- moved from the they should be bur- ied in moist sand in a cool place. Germination and growth may be greatly hastened by soaking the seed for twenty- four hours in water which is at first several degrees below boiling point. Alter soak- ing, the seed shculd be planted at once, as they will fail if allowed to dry out. The seed should be planted in the spring in good garden soil in rows about filteen inch- es apart if hand cultivation is to he given. | The seed should be sown thick in the row | and covered lightly. Daring the first year | the seedlings will make a growth of from | one to two feet and will be ready to trans- lant to their permanent location the fol- | fowing spring, when, in order that they | may form straight trunks, they should be set about four by four or three by six feet apart. They can be grown by themselves or with other species, such as the osage or- avge, hardy catalpa or Russian mulberry. The tendency of the locust to sprout may be entirely prevented if a row or two of some other tree like the Russian olive, backberry or cottonwood surround the grove, as the locust sprouts will not grow in the shade. The locust should he plaot- ed on good, well drained soils. On wet, undrained soile its growth is slow aud the tree is short lived. [In the west it succeeds well ou sandy soils. On good soil and with proper cultivation a three to six inch round post may be grown in fiom six to ten years, while after catting the stomps will send up sprouts which make extreme. ly rapid growth and produce a good crop of three to five inch posts in from four to eight years regardless of the borer. Famine Scenes In China. Pitiful tales of the famine in Chiua, where 15,000,000 natives in the bugger stricken provinces along the Yang-Tee Kiang river have undergone the ravages of slow starvation until death or the relief ex- editions delivered them from their suf- erings, are told in letters just received at the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York from William H. Gleysteen, who headed a relief expedition from Pekin. Describing the scenes as he viewed them from a launch on the Grand Canal, Mr. Gleysteen says that at stops along the canal swarms of women and children surr unded the boat and begged for food. Mothers held up their skeleton babes and bared their shrivelled breasts as evidence of their great need. Reaching the center of the district, at Chinkiang, Mr. Gleysteen found the streets lined with men, women and children, all begging and many dying. The Chicese had sold ail they bad that they might keep from starving. Beams were torn from buts and sold, and in one pawn- shop which he visited he found over 10,000 guvs and thousauds of shoes in pawn. | Clothing. bedding,all were sold or paws- | ed, writes Mr. Gleysteen. People lived on | leaves from trees, on certain weeds and on | barks of trees, which were ground five, I | saw long rows of trees without a bit of | bark on them. Finally men began to | migrate. A mau would put afew things | he still owned on a wheelbarrow, perhaps his wife pulling, be pushing and struggling children at the side. Hundreds of thous- ands of such families left home and went to the cities, where concentration camps were formed. Mr. Gleysteen said the work of relief was principally effected hy employing thous. ands of Chinese in canal digging. Pay- ments for work alone were made in tickets for flonr. Hundreds of women found em- ployment in the canal trenches, and many of them worked better than the men.— Ex. S—— Memory of Sleepwalkers. The memory of sleepwalkers is oc- casionally prodigious under the influ- ence of the dominating impulse that moves them. There is an instance of a poor and filiterate basket maker, who was unable to read or write, yet in a state of sleep he would preach fluent sermons, which were afterward recognized as having formed portions of discourses he was accustomed to hear in the parish church as a child more than forty years before. Quite as strange a case of ‘unconscious memory” Is referred to by Dr. Aber- crombie. A girl given to slee ting was in the habit of imitating the violin with ber lips, giving the preliminary tuning and scraping and flourishing with the utmost fidelity. It puzzled the physician a good deal, until he ascertained that when a child she lived in a room adjoining a fiddler who often performed on his violin in her hearing.—Pearson’s Weekly.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers