ee WHY “Wooden Soldiers” Be Removed. The nondescript “wooden soldiers,” gracing every crossroad in the country, are to go, the Post Office department at Washington has ruled. They are to be replaced with community mail boxes of a neat design, The Postal Guide supplement states: “The Post Office department is be- ing pressed to replace these shabby guardians with some trim device which shall not disfigure the country roads. Every city now strives for beauty, de- clare those who urge the improve- ment, and the rural districts want to. look their best, too. There is little question that 15 or 20 undecorated tin boxes, some on thin posts, some on round posts, some on thick posts, some on short posts and some on long posts, are a blot on the crossroads.” One design submitted is an artistic tiny house on a shapely post, accom- modating three mail boxes, which can be built at about the same cost as three separate boxes. Must Why Schools Are Needed “Do you think it pays to give to a public school?” writes William McAn- drew in World's Work. “My boy, our community has already responded. It is building another school alongside this. My wife and I and our three children will build a third, with an athletic field, a swim- ming pool, and a farming plant. Why? Because the people want this sort of thing. It has doubled the number of children going to school here. The citizens have organized a bus service to get the youngsters from the farms. The school has become the center of community life. Does it pay? Who was the chap that praised the man who made two blades of grass to grow where one grew before? Our new farm school will tend to that and, besides, our good teachers can count up the proceeds and say ‘here are two happy hearts for every one there was be- fore.’ ” Why Philosopher Laughed Just why Democritus, a Greek phil- osopher who lived in the time of Socra- tes, was called the laughing philoso- pher is not known for certain. His moral philosophy was very stern, and taught the absolute subjection of all passions. Tradition says Democritus put out his own eyes in order not to be diverted from his meditations. Some ancient writers say that Demo- critus become so perfect in his teach- ings that he went around continually with a smile on his face, and hence the title “laughing philosopher.” But others give a different reason. They say the inhabitants of Abdera, the Thracian colony where Democritus was born, were noted for their stupid- ity, and that he was called the ‘“de- rider,” or laughing philosopher, be- cause of the scorn and ridicule he poured on his townsmen for their ig- norance. Still others say he received the name from his habit of laughing at the follies of mankind in general. How to Make Invisible Ink Ever want to use a secret ink for writing? If so, the two simplest are milk and lemon juice. Just take a bit of milk or a bit of lemon juice and put it a clean inkwell. A clean new pen must also be used, go that no trace of black will appear on the “invisible letter.” Dip the pen in the ink often so as to be sure it is writing, and after the letter is finished, do not blot it, as that will absorb some of the invisible ink and the blotted portions will not show up well when it is desired to read the message. To make either of these invisible inks visible, all that has to be done is to get the paper on which they are used good and warm and they will both show up plainly. Care must be taken when heating the paper not to burn it or scorch it. Why Turks Failed The tradition is that some bakers were working in a cellar one night in the year 1629. One happened to hear a muffled sound of digging. At that time the city was besieged by the Turks under Soliman the Magnificent. Guessing that the enemy were tun- neling a way into the city, the bakers gave the alarm. The aroused garrison was able to baffle the enemy. Event- ually the Turks were badly defeated. In commemoration of these events, the Vienna bakers thereafter molded their rolls in the shape of a crescent, the sacred emblem of Turkey. Why Pacific Is Calmer The fact that the Pacific ocean 1s fess subject to storms than the At- lantic is due to various reasons. Part- ly because of its great extent and part- ly because there is no wide opening to the arctic region, the normal wind cir- culation is on the whole less modified in the north Pacific than in the Atlan- tic. The trade winds are generally weaker and less persistent in the Pa- cific than in the Atlantic and the in- tervening belt of equatorial calms is greater. Why Maine Is Colder Maine is colder than France on ac: count of the ocean currents. Off the coast of Maine there is a cold current coming from the polar regions and flowing southward. It cools the air and makes the climate colder. Off the coast of France is the Gulf stream. This gives a warmer climate. Where a Calico Strip Makes a Woman’s Dress Human nature is not more unchang- ing than the dress modes affected by the African native. Let him who gibes at modern elvil- tzed woman's predilection for short skirts and bared arms and shoulders put this in his pipe and smoke it! In Africa the most moral people generally are those who wear the least clothing, says Major Raine in the London Mail. Until quite recently the Kavirondo of Kenya colony wore no clothes at all. But at length the government flat went forth that this practice, or nonpractice, must cease. Then each woman obedi- ently purchased herself a length of calico, that was worn shawlwise, and that only when a government officer was In the vicinity. But the people who do wear clothes are most conservative in their tastes. The cloths, or robes, must always be the same length, the same breadth and of the same material. No underclothes are worn, so that an African husband is not called upon to meet very high lingerie bills con- tracted by his wife. As for stockings, silk or otherwise, tribal women do not wear them. An African woman will take a dozen yards of calico, knot it over one shoul- der and, with a few deft turns and twists, stand arrayed in the most chic and becoming costume. Not a pin or stitch is used to connect the whole, which is a work of art. All over Africa there is an unlimited demand for calico, bleached and un- bleached. Manchester generally sup- plies the former, which is called, on the east coast, Manhamoodi, or Baftan, and is worn by the better class of na- tives; poorer natives purchase a length occasionally to wear on gala occasions. Although Japan and India are minor competitors, America has practically a monopoly of trade all through the dark continent in the latter. It is univer- sally known as Amerikani. Millions and millions of yards of Amerikani are imported annually into the African mandated areas and crowp colonies, Prehistoric Man in Asia 500,000 Years Ago The evidence of prehistoric man in northern Asia so far obtained by the Roy Chapman Andrews expedition con- sists of a collection of flints which is now on its way to America. “It has not been established how old they are, but from a report I have re- ceived from our paleontologist I am of the opinion that they are about half a million years old, or about the same age as the Pithecanthropus Erectus,” Mr. Andrews said in a recent visit to Columbus, 0O., according to the Ohio State Journal. “They are highly im- portant to science, no matter how old they are, because they constitute the first evidence of the'existence of pri- meval man in that portion of the world.” The expedition, conducted under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, Asia Magazine and a group of New York philanthropists, has produced more than ten thousand fish, reptiles and batrachisns, some fifty cases of fossils and about two thou- sand mammals, including a fossilized skuli of a baluchitherium, a sort of glorified rhinoceros, the largest mam- mal that ever reamed the earth, Madrid Now Has a Curfew Madrid has always been a city of night life. How many are those writers who have described nocturnal rambles ; through its cafes and taverns where all classes mingle! Now, however, the curfew rings at three o'clock in the morning and the police have been instructed to see to it that no establishment remains open after that late—or early—hour. This is an economic measure, as the cost of lighting is too high in a land where coal is scarce. At three o'clock, therefore. all the guitars in Madrid must cease their .strumming and the adroit wielders of the polgnard must sheathe their weapons for a few hours.—Le Figaro, Paris, Electric “Sun” for Crops Two crops of lettuce have been made to grow in the time only one grew before, by the use of electric lights as an artificial sun, according to the International Institute of Agri- culture. Five electric bulbs of consid- erable power were turned on a bed of lettuce daily for six hours after dusk. The lettuce so treated had, after only twelve days, approximately two and a half times as many fresh leaves as other heads which had been planted at the same time but which had not been exposed to the electric light. Cost of Royal Wedding With a ceremony of seven days’ du- ration and at a cost of $2,500,000, the Crown Prince Hirohito, prince regent of Japan, and Princess Nagako Kune, capped their royal romance in mar- riage. The marriage in many ways is the most significant in royal Japanese circles ag this union was the first one in 2,500 years where a royal son mar- ried according to the dictates of his heart, it is said. The prince had to fight older statesmen for her, because she is of another branch of the im- perial house. He Wanted to Know “I was reading in the paper lust aight,” said old Ork Oddways, “that a caterpillar will in a month eat about six hundred times his own weight.” “Looky here!” demanded Gap John- son of Rumpus Ridge, who had en- tered the crossroads store in the midst of the statement. “Which one o! my kids are you talking about?” Leaves Change Their Colors | in the Autumn. What takes place when the leaves turn color in the autumn and gives the foliage such brilliant coloring is de- scribed as follows: The green matter in the tissue of a ! leaf is composed of two colors, red and « blue. When the sap ceases to flow in | the autumn the natural growth of the | tree is retarded and oxilation of the tissues takes place, Under certain conditions the green of the leaf changes to red; under dif- ferent aspects it takes on a yellow or brown hue. The difference in color is due to the difference in combination of the original constituents of the green tissues, and to the varying conditions of climate, exposure and soil. A dry, | hot climate produces more brilliant foliage than one that is damp and i cool. There are several things about leaves, however, that even science can- not explain. For instance, why one or two trees growing side by side of the same age and having the same ex- posure, should take on a brilliant red yellow, or why one branch of a tree should be highly colored and the rest of the tree have only a yelloy tint, are questions that are as impossible to an- swer as why one member of a family should be perfectly healthy and anoth- er sickly. Maples and oaks have the brightest colors.—Providence Journal. Why Firefly Gives Light How is it that a glowworm or fire- fly can produce light without heat? When man sets out to make light he can only use 83 per cent of the energy he employs. The other 97 per cent goes in heat, How do animals sense coming dange. when man cannot do so? In the great heat wave of 1921 hundreds of rabbits were seen to desert their burrows on a Yorkshire moor, Two days later a heath fire broke out and burned the whole moor. In some Hampshire pine woods the squirrels deserted their homes in exactly similar fashion 24 hours before fire swept the place. Again, how is it that some creatures can do without water? A parroquet lived for 52 years in the London zoo without tasting water, and sheep seem able to get on with very little or no water so long as they get good grass. Many reptiles never drink, but a mole dies if kept for 24 hours with- out water, How Steel is Tempered Chopping a cold crowbar chunks with an ax and whittling a | | i into steel rod into shavings with a pocket- knife are made simple performances through a process of steel tempering that is credited to two investigators: in the state of Washington. steel ax and pocket knives that have been tempered by the process are al- ; leged to have actually been made to perform these seemingly impossible feats. The process consists In the use of certain chemicals in water or oil in the tempering vessel. It is declared that any kind of tool—from a blunt hammer head to a keen-edged razor— can be tempered to a perfection never before attained. How “Rook” Started The game of chess originated in the Far East, and the piece that we now see shaped like a castle, was in Per- sian, the “rukh,” or soldier. In India, where a form of chess was much played, the “rukh.” or soldier, was represented as fighting from a sort of howdah carried on the back of an elephant. This elephant piece is still to be found in some elaborately carved sets of chessmen of antique manufac- ture. But in Europe there seemed no par- ticular reason for retaining the ele- its back was alone retained, but the old Persian name was not dropped, it merely obtaining the easier pronuncia- tion of “rook.” How Athens Got Emblem How the olive tree came to be the smblem of Athens is told by Greek mythology. Two deities—Minerva and Neptune—wished to found a city on the same spot, and, referring the mat- ter to Jove, the king of gods and men decreed that the privilege should be granted to whichever would bestow the most useful gift on the future in- habitants. Neptune struck the earth with his trident, and forth came a warhorse. Minerva produced an olive tree, emblem of peace. Jove's verdict was in favor of Mi- nerva, who thus became the patron goddess of Athens. How to Make Cement An effective cement for inany sub stances can easily be made by soaking one part of glue in an equal quantity of water. The glue is removed before it has lost its primitive form, and the gwollen mass is then dissolved in one part of linseed oil with the aid of heat until a jelly is formed. This joins wood tightly and is practically water. proof.—Popular Science Magazine. How to Make Fume Oak Fumed oak is wood that has been darkened by the fumes from liquid ammonia. The ammonia does not touch the oak, but the gas that comes from it acts in such a manner upon the tannic acid in the wood that it is browned so deeply that a shaving or two may be taken off without remov- ing the color. phant, so the castle-shaped thing upon | the total crop of Iowa. In fact, a | Conductor Found the Lumberjack Too Lively The wood burned by the locomotives in the early days of the railroads was piled at points along the line and from the platforms the conductor and brake- man had the duty of throwing it aboard the tender. Educated first in the rougher work of freight train run- ning, this task was handled without complaint by most passenger trainmen, but it must have been viewed different- ly by a certain conductor who had come from the East and who soon af- ter had an experience that gave him an enduring desire to go back to more civilized communities. . This conductor came out to Wiscon- sin believing that his acquaintance with Eastern railroad operations would make him invaluable, shortly, te his new employers. He got a flying start through influence that landed him a passenger conductor's post, says the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He might have known all about the technical re- quirements of the job, but he knew lit- tle of human nature as presented in types common to the Northwest. On berjacks, rough, good-hearted fellows Pw ‘he reli in ngs on the in the fall and the other should turn who, when. {raveling gang railroad were as prankful as school- boys and with little intent to do harm. The conductor started to collect fares. The first lumberjack that he ap- proached withheld his ticket. The con- ductor could not see the joke, when the passenger only grinned response to the repeated demands for his fare. He forthwith grew angry and was for using force to compel the passenger to de- liver. But suddenly he found himself precipitated violently into a seat on the coalbox, while lumberjacks amid much hilarity stripped off his con- ductor’s uniform and placed on him the boots, mackinaw and cap of their occupation. His own clothes were donned by a member of the gang. Rare Dollar of 1804 Found in Ohio Town Numismatists throughout the United States are manifesting considerable interest over the reported discovery in Lancaster, O., recently of an 1804 silver dollar, a coin known among col- lectors as the “King of American Rari- ties,” and variously valued at from $8,000 to $12,000. This is one of the eight coins of that particular issue in existence, and with its discovery the owners of all eight are now known. Martin Hettinger, the Lancaster merchant in whose home the “eighth 1804 dollar” has reposed in a bureau drawer for many years, is said to have received it from Col. William Stevenson. The donor had requested Mr, Hettinger not to dispose of the coin, and consequently its where- abouts has remained a mystery for many years. The rarity of the 1804 dellar and the interesting history which attaches to it make it the most notable and valuable silver piece ever coined in the United States. It is said that the scarcity of this dollar was due to the sinking of a China-bound vessel, which had on board almost the entire mint- age of the 1804 dollars in lieu of the Spanish milled dollars. The first specimen of the 1804 dol- lar in the mint cabinet in Philadel- phia weighs 415.2 grains, which is the weight of the specimen just located in Ohio.—Boys’ World. Largest Grain Elevator £nough wheat to feed 500,000 per- 4ons for ome year can be stored in a grain elevator recently built at a rall- road terminal on the eastern seaboard. The structure, said to be the largest of its kind in the world, will hold 2 500,- 000 bushels. Figuring the United | States average per capita consumption at about five bushels per year, the sup- ply in this huge storehouse is sufficient to feed some of Europe’s hungry na- tions for twelve months, The quantity that can be kept in this granary is esti- mated to be about one-fifth as much as No Last-Minute Goal A townsman dropping in on a care- {ree college youth found him humped over a ponderous tome. Whereupon the following conversation ensued: “Studying?” “Yeh. Gotta.” “How?” “Geometry ain't like football.” “Huh?” “Can’t make a goal in the last two minutes.” : Dye Research in U. S. Costly Dye research in the United States since the outbreak of the European war in 1914, when German chemical dyes were substantially cut off from the world, had cost more than $20,000,- 000 up to 1920 and large sums have since been spent to perfect discoveries during those critical years. Neverthe- less 43 per cent of the imported dyes in 1922 had again come from Germany. Center for Furniture furniture factories are cating rap- idly in the South and the state of North Carolina has become a thriving furniture center in the last tive years. In 1910 that state had only 85 facto- ries producing $11.%32,000 worth of furniture, but today there are 107 fic- tories with an output of $30,280,(xx}. The pay roll has Increased five times in this industry alone, A Business Woman Wife—What's the matter, fou look worried. Husband—The books down at the office won't balance. Wife—Can’t you buy books ?—Life. dear? sone new se. John Has Largest Drydock in the World St. Join, N. B., Canada, claims the distinction of having the largest dry- dock in the world. The drydock, which recently has been opened for use, measures: Length over all, 1,150 feet; clear width at the entrance, 125 feet, with 42 feet of water over the entrance sill at extreme high tide. “Bearing in mind that the largest vessel afloat is only 956 feet long,” says a bulletin of the Canadian Pa- cific railway, describing the immense dock, “and that the naval authorities are generally in agreement in conclud- ing that vessel dimensions have now reached thelr economic maximum, it would appear that unnecessary length is provided,in the St. John drydock. However, as this dock is being pro- vided with an intermediate sill, which will permit the whole dock to be di- vided into two entirely separate cham- bers, the inner 500 feet long and the outer 650 feet long, it will be appreci- ated that this length | that it provides for the accommoda- i tion at one time of at least two mod- | his first run he encountered the lum- | i erately sized vessels, and still can be | utilized when the occasion arises as a ' single docking chamber with sufficient capacity to accommodate the largest vessel afloat. “The new drydock presages a yet ! enhanced importance for the Port of St. John. Already it has an important place in Canada’s economic life as the principal outlet on the Atlantic coast and the busiest port of winter ship- ment. Its exports amount to nearly $100,000,000 per year and its imports to $50,000,000. As the terminus of two Canadian railways, with branches ra- diating from it, it can well and expe- ditiously serve the Dominion. Its touch with the United States is ade- quate through fine services main- tained with the republic’s coast ports. It has connection with practically every country of the globe through services maintained with the United Ireland, ' Kingdom, France, Norway, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda and many other localities.” Scientists Find Brass Safest for Saucepan An important household question— che choice of a saucepan—has recently been investigated at the municipal laboratory of Helsingfors, Finland. Many kinds of metals and other ma- terials are in use for the manufacture of saucepans and other cooking uten- sils, but owing to the solvent action of some foodstuffs it is certain that chem- Ical salts of the materials used are ab- sorbed to some extent by human be- ings. . A test was made by boiling, for , three hours, two pounds of red cur- rants in a number of saucepans of dif- ferent materials, and then, by chemical analysis, finding how much of the saucepans had been dissolved in the food, says London Tit-Bits. The best figure obtained was that for brass, which was 250 times better than enamel. Brightly polished brass cooking utensils are used on a large scale in the East. Copper, tin, nickel vessels were all found good, but iron was found to be much more easily at- : tacked by foodstuffs. Tin, next to pol- ished brass, stood out as the best ma- terial for the lining of cooking uten- | sils, Souvenirs Almost every tourist Egypt buys a scarab from a native curio seller. In Peru the Quichua In- dians, descendants of the Incas, oc- casionally offer for sale small golden images unearthed from the ruins, which have much value. From the days of the Spanish conquest Peru has been the Mecca of treasure seekers, some of whom have made wonderfully rich strikes. On the plain of Chimu, near Truxillo, is a great mound said to contain treasure of fabulous value. Several attempts have been made to tunnel into it, but the sand has always poured down and stopped the work of excavation, Pigeon’s Great War Work Among the homing pigeons dis played in the recent great poultry and pigeon show in London was one that did remarkable service in the war. The Mine Sweepers’ Hope, as this bird was nicknamed, repeatedly made jour- neys from the middle of the North sea, and on four successive Saturdays ar- rived in England half frozen with im- portant dispatches, and so warned the authorities of the approach of Zep- pelins. No Billboards on Oahu Aroused by the increase in adver tising billboards which spoiled vistas of mountain and turquoise sea, the women of Honolulu notified the mer- chants of the Hawaiian islands that they would buy no goods so advertised vn the island of Oahu. Today there is not a single advertising billboard on the island. Studying the Storm “Let us be patient,” said the hope ful friend. “All this trouble will blow over.” “It'll blow over all right,” agreed Senator Sorghum. “But maybe it'll be like a tornado IT saw out West. it blew over. but it took everything in ; sight with {t.”"—\Washington Star. Some National Debts The national debt a head in the United tates is about $250. In Italy it ie over £300, in France over $1,000, an: in Crest Dritain it reaches the sum or cver $800 In Japan f(t is only a litle mare than $235. is justified in ' and aluminum who visits | AGT | Bird Life in Ecuador Is Rich and Varied Ecuador is richer in bird life than any other country of equal extent in the world, approximately 1,600 species of birds having been recorded from it, or about one-third the bird life of South America and one-tenth the bird life of the whole world, according to Dr, Frank M. Chapman, curator of birds in the American Museum of Nat- ural History, who recently lectured on Ecuador at the New York Botanica: Garden. Doctor Chapman, for the last ten years, has been conducting, on behalf of the American museum, field re- searches throughout the Andes of South America to determine the origin of bird life. In his lecture he dealt with his recent explorations in Ecua- dor, which country, in company with George K. Cherrie, he visited in the summer of 1922. The wealth of the avifauna in Ecua- dor is due not only to the diversity of the country at sea level but more par- | ticularly to the development of life | zones in the Andes from sea level te In addition to the tropical . or basal zone, there exist subtropical, temperate and paramo zones, each one of which has species peculiar to itself. | A journey, therefore, from sea level to snow line in a measure epitomizes ona from the equator to the pole. Among the interesting discoveries by Doctor Chapman and his associates was the presence on the coast of Euca- dor in mid-July of large numbers of North American shore birds—curlews, plovers, etc, the breeding grounds of which are north of the Arctic circle. It was found that these were non-breed- ! ing birds, and the fact that they con- tinued to remain in Eucador long after their associates had migrated to the north is evidence in support of the theory that migration from winter to summer quarters is prompted primarily by the desire to find a nesting ground. , Snow line, Poilus More Ignorant Than Yankee Soldiers Lieut. Col. Jean Fabry, rapporteur to the army commission of the cham- ber of deputies, has contributed a rather sensational article to Intran- sigeant upon illiteracy in the French army. Upon an average, only two out of ten of seven hundred recruits of twen- ty years of age, just received by two French infantry regiments, could be classed as educated in the ordinary sense of the word. Of the remaining eight, five upon an average knew how to read and write a little; two were able to spell with great difficulty and to write illegibly, while the eighth was totally illiterate. In order to show that these figures, which are even more depressing than our American mentality tests at the time of the war, are fairly representa- tive, Colonel Fabry points out that these recruits came from 31 different departments, mostly from the highly developed northeastern districts. They were drawn from all classes of occu- pation, but mostly from agriculture. A very large proportion of them had no idea where the treaty of peace was signed and nearly all were un- | able to say who made the laws of the country.—Living Age. Thieves’ Tradition Broken “If the prince is robbed it is by want of tact.” | That is a tradition of the ancient and dishonorable craft of robbery and . pocket-picking as practiced in Great Britain. Despite the protection accorded by London thieves, Prince George’s motor- car was ransacked the other day. The prince was robbed of a diamond tie pin and two pairs of diamond cuff links, one a “royal crescent” set, a gift from Queen Alexandra, the other a set of ! gold cuff links with the letter “G” In diamonds. A purchaser into whose innocent hands the jewels had fallen turned them over to the police.—New York Journal. Game in National Forests According to a recent census of big game in the national forests, deer ex- ceed the total number of all other ani- mals. Their number is given as 440,- 000. There are 48,000 elk, 12,000 mountain sheep, 8,600 mountain goats, 4,600 moose and 8,000 antelope. The number of buffalo is second only to the deer, being 149,000. Conservation of buffalo is no longer an issue. There will never be sufficient range for them to be hunted for sport, and they are in no danger of extermniation because they may readily be bred in captivity. Handicap The totally deaf may hear by touch, announces Prof. Robert H. Gault of Northwestern university. He has been working on this line for several years, and has almost perfected a mechan- ism by which sound waves are con- veyed to the brain through the finger- tips. Much more experimenting re- mains to be done. Deaf people must wait before becoming too hopeful. Not Possible ‘Did my wife speak at the meeting yesterday ?”’ “I don’t know your wife, hut there was a tall, thin lady who rose and said she could not find words to ex- ! press her feelings!” | “That wasn’t my wife!” Mute Witness The Magistrate—Now tell me, did Jou or did you not sirike the man? The Accused—The answer is in the infirmary, your worship.—-Sydreey Bui- letin. :