the Columbian; bloomsburq, pa.
OLD TIME RAPID TRANSIT.
EATING POWER OF TOADS. IP
A UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT.
am u
Earns a Salary of 4,800,000
a Year.
HAS ?0,000 SERVANTS.
The Czar at Managing Director of the
Vaat Russian Empire Receives
I $400,000 Every Month by Special
Messenger from the Treasury
. Has 100 Palaces.
The czar earns a bigger salary than
my other man In the world, for the
ubllc exchequer of his country pnys
ni the sun of $4,800,000 per annum
r acting as managing director of the
tssian cniplro, with Its area of 8.000,
) Hquare miles and its population of
.1,000,000 persons.
But, considering the crushing
'irtht of care and responsibility
fhich he bears on his shoulders, his
enumeration, high n it Is, does t
appear excessive. li s salary is .;ld
klm In monthly Installments of $400,
KH each, which are sent to him by a
special messenger from the treasury
bunding in the form of a check on
the national bank of Russia, Just as
an office clerk receives his monthly
wages; with the difference, however,
tli at the czar's talent and industry
exercise no Influence on his paymo.it.
At the same time, he is expected to
maintain a certain standard of living
which he would be unable to do In the
style required of him If he did not pos
sess a private income of three or i ir
times as big as his official Bulary. Ho
Is the owner of over 100 estates, all
of which supply him with private rev
enues, but he is also the possessor of
100 pnlaces and CHStles, which have to
be maintained In imperial stylo at a
great expense to their owner.
-lie has more servants than any one
else in the world, for a veritable army
of over 30,000 domestics, cooks, pn;;,e3,
but ors, grooms, pardeners and so
forth is employed on his hundred or
more estates. He possesses over 40
residences which he has never seen,
a score of homes which he has viewed
externally, but never inhnbited, even
tor one night, and another score in
each of which he has slept on only
occasion.
His private stnblea contain over 6,
000 horses belonging to him, and the
kerds of cattle feeding on his own
kinds are estimated to number over
M.000 head. His wealth is enormous,
yet there Is no doubt that he extracts
iry little pleasure out of his life of
perpetual toil and worry. !
He habitually rises at 6, and eats a
Jaaracterlstlcally English breakfast of
heun and eggs, bread and butter with
armalade specially and privately
e ared for him, and tea. This pre
lection for Enriish manners and cus
cr.s Is common to both the czar and
e czarina, for both like English
re best, prefer using English to their
i;ectlve mother tongues, and are
igrced upon the necessity of educat
ing their children according to Eng
lish method.
Immediately after breakfast the
czar begins to smoke some of the
heaviest brands of Havana cigars,
which he continues to puff almost con
tinuously till bedtime, notwithstand
ing the fact that his doctors have
warned him again and again that ex
cessive Indulgence In this habit is ex
posing him to the worst dangers of
nicotine poisoning. By 7 o'clock in
the morning he is at his desk, perus
ing an enormous heap of state docu
ments sent to the palace for his in
spection. The variety of subjects with which
he is called upon to deal Is astonish
ing, for he Is not merely the emperor,
but also the father of his people. No
order or instruction or communication
of uny kind can be dispatched from
any ministry or state office in St.
Petersburg to local or subordinate au
thorities unless It bears the signature
of the czar, indicating his assent and
approval.
Every communication sent from
the ministry of war to the representa
tive officers commanding several hun
dred garrisons throughout the Rus
sian empire, every dispatch sent to
the captains of Russian warships all
over the world and every circular Is
sued by the ministry of the Interior to
the police and to all varieties of local
authorities have to bear the czar's
own signature. Success.
No "Swear Words."'
It is Skid that not a single "swear
word" is to be found in the Japanese
language.
That means that the Japs have no
need for such words. And no wonder!
For they think it is very silly for any
one to get angry. "What's the uiie?"
they say. "There's no use kicking
about things we cannot help."
The Cholera Epidemic.
In the cholera visitation in 18G6, the
proportion of deaths to each 10,000 In
habitants in the various cities of Eu
rope were as follows: London, 18;
Dublin, 41; Vienna, 51; Marseilles, 64;
Paris, 66; Berlin, 83; Naples, 89; St.
Petersburg, 98; Madrid, 104; Brus
sels, 184; Palermo, 187, and Constan
tinople, 738.
Perfume a Protection.
Lion tamers frequently perfume
themselves with lavender. There is,
It is said, to be no record of a lion
ever having attacked a trainer who
fad taken the precaution of using this
perfume.
The title-hunting heiress is never
satis fled until she purchases a gold
brick.
A. W. Payne of Bangor, Me., is
eredlted with being the oldest prac
ticing attorney in the United States.
Four Miles an Hour was the Time
Made on Stage Coaches.
In the middle of the elghteeith
century English stage coaches were
covered with dull black leather, stud
ded with broad-headed nails by way
of ornament and possessed oval win
dows with red frames. On the pnnls
of the coach the nnmes of the places
passed through were painted In large
letters, and the roof, which had nn
iron rail around It, rose in a curve.
Tho speed of the ponderous vehicles
was often but four miles an hour.- An
advertisement regarding the Beehive
coach, which ran between London pkI
Manchester, is worth quoting. It r-nd
thus: "In order to Insure safety anil
punctuality, with respectability, no
large packages will be taken, or fish
of any description carried by this con
veyance. The inside of the coach is
fitted up with spring cushions and a
reading lamp lighted with wax for the
accommodation of those who wish to
amuse themselves on the road. The
inside backs and seats are also ft' ,jd
up with hair cushions, rendei.ng
them more comfortablo to passengers
than anything hitherto brought out In
the annals of coaching, and to pre
vent frequent disputes respecting
seats every seat Is numbered. Persons
booking themselves will receive a
card with a number upon It, thereby
doing away with tho disagreeables
that occur dally In the old style."
A fenture of one promoter's scheme
was that each mail coach should be
properly guarded by retired soldl-a,
who would naturally be acquainted
with the use of firearms; but this lilea
was not adopted, and the contractors
at first supplied guards nnd arms
often of a worthless charncter. Ulti
mately, however, the postofnee under
took to appoint Its own guards, but
thf-se were at first so zealous that
Pennant records (1792): "They shrot
at dogs, hogs, sheep and poultry as
they pass the road, and even In
towns, to tho great terror and danger
of the Inhabitants." The mail coach
was luxurious when compared with
the old stage coaches. A coach was
often called "a God permit," because
the advertisement stated that the
Journey would be "performed if God
permits."
In 1836 the mall coaches had proba
bly reached their prime. According to
a historian, "eight or nine miles an
hour had hitherto been their highest
speed, and now, with vehicles of light
er build, the speed was advanced to
ten miles an hour, and even more.
While the fastest mail coach on the
road traveled at the rate of ten miles
and five furlongs an hour,, a private
coach accomplished within the hour
rather more than eleven miles. This
was the coach between Edinburgh and
Aberdeen, of which Capt. Barclay of
Ury the celebrated pedestrian was
the proprietor. Besides coachman t id
guard, it carried fifteen passeng.i,
four Inside and eleven outside, while
a mail coach carried four In and four
out, or eight altogether."
Restored to Relative After 17 Years.
Julius Spears of Saline county, aged
20 years, has Just been restored to his
relatives, after having been separated
from them ever since he was 3 years
old, and having never, as far as he tan
remember, heard of them. Young
Spear's parents lived In Illinois.
One night Willard Spears, the fath
er, disappeared, taking his youngest
child, Julius, with him. He went to
Arkansas, and luter came to Missouri,
locating near Camden. The father
die! several years ago, leaving his son
without any knowledge whatever of
his family connections. While in
Bedford, 111., a short time ago, a man
! from Marshall met a family named
Spears. Conversation revealed f"at
they were relatives of Julius Spears,
and the old mother has recently had
restored to her the son whom she
thought she had lost forever. Kansas
City Journal.
Understood His Business.
Gen. Adna R. Chaffee told the fol
lowing story recently, as illustrating
, the unconscious humor of many Irish
! men: "A true son of the Emerald
Isle had applied at a recruiting sta
tion in Buffalo for enlistment in the
army. The officer in charge asked
him Jokingly, if he knew anything
about drilling. 'Drillln', was it ye
said, sor?" replied the Irishman; 'an'
shure I've worked In the New York
subway fir two years. Drillln' bedadl
Auk me another, sor.' "
Natural Mourning.
Fifty years ago the British minister
at Dresden, Mr. Forbes, had three lit
tle dogs of the Pomeranian breed, one
black, one gray and one white. When
the court was in mourning he went
out with dog No. 1, when it was in
halt mourning with dog. No 2 and
when all was going well with dog
No. 3.
Only Parrot Talk.
Abroae Austin, an English music1 in,
bad a parrot On one occasion ie
late duke of Edinburgh, son of Qu 'en
Victoria, spoke to it. Thereupon .he
parrot angrily said, "You're a snob!"
to the horror of its loyal owner and
the delight of his royal highness.
Lion and Unicorn.
The lion is the emblem of England
and the unicorn of Scotland. On the
union of Sootland and England In
1603, one of the lions was removed
from the British coat of arms, and the
unlooro substituted.
He Wen the Race.
After the battle of the Boyne King
James escaped to Dublin and inform
44 Lady Tyroonnel that her fellow
iountrfmen had run away. "If they
nave, sire," she replied, "your majes
ty seems to have won the race."
One
Was Made That
Act-
, ually Lifted Itself.
POWER FROM STEAM.
Gen. Benjamin F. Butler Wanted to
i Know About the Movements of
the Eenemy While In Virginia
and Ordered the Machine to be
r Built.
' Wellman Serrell tells about an air
ship MaJ. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler,
commander of the army of tho James,
ordered to be built soon after the 10th
army corps moved Into Virginia.
All the commanders desired to
know what the enemy was doing, and
Mr. Serrell says that "when the as
tronomer Gen. Mitchell commanded at
Port Royal during the Civil War, the
matter was discussed with his chief
engineer officer, who brought forward
the proposition to make a machine
wit jut inflation, and exhibited a tin
mon d that wound up with a string
and handle and spun like a humming
top and would fly into the air 100 feet
or hiore vertically, according to the
force exerted upon It, and would car
ry a bullet or two if the itrlng was
pulled hard enough."
Gen. Mitchell died, and, upon Beeing
what the tin toy did, Gen. Butler ex
pressed the belief that a machine
could be built to navlgnte the air.
Drawings were made, the theory be
ing "to Imitate the little tin model and
add to Its gliding planes. The draw
ings," according to Mr. Serrell, "show
ed four fans to lift, two above an en
gine, two below, and two fans to pro
pel and steer, one in front and one be
hind; the rear fan on a shaft that
moved in a horizontal segment, so as
to change the direction of the push,
and make the rear fan not only a pro
peller, but a rudder at the same time.
Across the machine was to be a
horizontal shaft, on which on either
Side of the machine were to be glid
ing planes and automatic balancing
balls. These were to slide in and out
so as to maintain an equilibrium.
The body of the machine was to bo
about 62 feet long and shaped like a
thick cigar. It was to contain fuel
and water and a high-pressure bo. r
and engine. From the middle of the
body a weight was to be hung, so ar
ranged that It m'.ght be lifted or low
ered like the legs of a bird. Private
subscribers offered to pay for the ma
chine, and Mr. Serrell says:
The first thing done was to make
a fan 18 Inches in diameter, rotate it
at different speeds and see how much
It would lift. It was found that very
considerable weight could be lifted,
and to try what could be done on a
large scale, a fan about 32 feet in dia
meter was made, the blades of the
thinnest sheet iron that could be pro
cured, and rotation by belt was pro
vided. Contrary to expectation, when the
fan was first rotated at great speed in
a foundry that had a high roof, the
weight that could be lifted was much
more than the wheel Itself, some 600
pounds or more, aud then within 40
seconds of time the wheel and the
weights would drop back to where
they started from-, It mattered not how
fast the fan was driven.
It was found after a long Investiga
tion that the fan wheel of any size,
when rotated In one place, set up a
downward current of air that soon be
came nearly or quite as fast as the
pitch of the fan, hence it would lift
nothing.
When, however, the fan was mount
ed at the outer end of a long boom,
which revolved around a mast, so as
to constantly bring the fan Into new
air, its lifting capacity never deserted
it and bore a certain ratio to the veloc
ity, and data were accumulated for
proportioning the machine.
The questions Involved seemed to
be the site of the fan, the shape of
the blade, the power required, the
weight of the engine, boiler, fuel and
water to develop the power. There
were no dynamos or storage batteries,
liquid air engines or sources of pow
erful energy using light-weight ma
chines, and the only prime motor suffi
ciently reliable was the steam engine.
It is true that carbonic acid had
been liquefied some years before then,
but no one knew how to harness It.
Having determined the probable
force wanted, the question remained
of how to get and maintain pressure
enough upon the piston of the engine.
A great many experiments were made,
but the "needful force of steam was
Dot reached before the coming of Ap
pomatox." Science.
To Make a Compass of Your Watch.
Get the number of hours from mid
Bight, divide by two and point the
hour at the sun so that the shadow
of a match or lead pencil falls directly
across the center of the watch; 12
o'clock will be north, 6 south, 9 west
and 8 east. Suppose It is 9 a. m.;
number of hours from midnight Is 9;
one-half is 4 1-2; point 4.30 at the
sun so the shadow of a match or lead
pencil falls across the center of
watch, and 12 Is north, 6 south, 3 east
and 9 west. Suppose it is 6 p. m.;
number of hours from midnight 18;
one-half 9; point 9 at sun and 12 Is
north, 6 south, 3 east and 9 west.
Also, when the sun 1b hidden on a
cloudy day, take a lead pencil or stick
that Is well sharpened and place It
on the thumb nail. By looking closely
you will see a faint shadow, which
will give you a very good idea of the
direction of the sun and may be use
ful to one lost on a cloudy day. For-
est and Stream.
To manufacture tobacco grown in
Canada a factory is about to be open
ed In Winnipeg.
Makes Little Discrimination, If His
Prey Is Alive.
Tho toad Is a gross feoder. He sal
lies forth usually after sundown In
search of his prey, which Includes
pretty nearly every variety of Insect
nd worm, and experiment proves
that In 24 hours he will consume In
lect food of a volumo fourfold the ca
pacity of his stomach In other words,
he enn fill up four times. Of anglo
worms ho does not seem very fond,
though his gluttonous habit extends
to them If they are too temptingly
abundant, as after the earth haB had
a good wetting. Ants appear to be
his chief delight, with cutworms and
thousand-leggers next In order. Then
come caterpi,.are and bettles. Grass
hoppers and crickets furnish but a
mall part of his bill of fare, and spid
ers still less. He has no use, appar
ently, for dead prey; but when an In
oct or worm comes near him In mo
tion he makes for It eagerly. A cut
worm which has discretion enough,
when in his neighborhood, to keep
curled up may easily escape; but as
soon as it begins to crawl, let It be
ware. His method of capturing a bug
Is to dart out his tongue, which, by
the way, reverses the usual order of
nature In being fastened In front and
loose behind. It Is coated with a glu
tinous secretion, and when it strikes
an object Is fastened firmly to it and
conveys it into the toad's mouth. If
the object, like a big worm, for In
stance, Is too large to go unassisted
into his gullet, he uses his forepaws,
like a greedy child, to stuff It down.
Most of the viands which the toad
loves are, In their living state, pests
of the farm and garden. It is hard to
say Just where to place ants In this
classification. Nearly all students of
nature, as well as persons who have
nothing but the traditions of their
childhood to guide their Judgment,
have acquired a certain affection for
the ant. Its seeming Intelligence, its
artlstlo or mechanical insect. Its un
tiring industry, its courage, Its care for
Its dead and wounded, its nice domes
tic economy and its habit of providing
against tho "rainy day," all tend to
give it a sort of human claim upon
us. ' Still, the fact cannot be Ignored
that the ant Is an active distributor of
plant lice, that it detsroys lawns,
spoils garden walks, Infests dwellings
and makes itself a common nuisance
In the kitchen and pantry, driving the
dainty housewife almost to distraction.
In the same category with ants, as to
human regard, might be placed honey
bees, which the toad will eat when
he gets a good chance. One of his
tricks Is to station himself at the en
trance to a hive and capture the be
lated home comers. As the toad does
not spring Into the air for his food,
however, any aspirant may avoid this
danger by raising his hives well above
the ground.
Cat Adopted Orphan Coons.
Col. L. L. Hawkins yesterday so
cured a new prize for his collection of
weird and wonderful exhibits at the
city museum, in Portland, Ore. The
doughty Colonel has excelled himself
in his latest acquisition, and, if one
desires to see such a bizarre thing
as a pussy cat mothering a litter of
young raccoons he may be gratified
at the city hall. AH previous happy
family records have been broken by
an old mother cat rejoicing in a fam
ily of two baby coons and her own
proper kitten, which Col. Hawkins se
cured at Beaverton and has now com
fortably Installed at the museum.
A few days ago some boys killed a
female raccoon near Beaverton, and
upon beating the bush discovered her
nest with four little ones In it clamor
ing for their mother. The baby coons
were taken to the home of Mrs. B. L,
Griffltts, near by, where a cat was
rearing a family of four kittens. The
kittens were given to another feline,
in which the maternal instinct was
strong, and the little coons substitut
ed without protest from the mother.
In a short time two of the little wild
kittens died, but the other pair thrived
In their new environment, and the
story of the cat with the coon family
ber me something of a sensation in
the neighborhood.
C'il. Hawkins heard of it and made
the twenty-mile drive out and back
for the purpose of bringing the won
der to Portland. Mrs. Grlffltts finally
consented to lend the family to the
museum, and as an evidence of good
fait'' one of the kitten was brought
ah g with the little coons to complete
the picture ' of mixed domesticity.
Portland Oregonlan.
Grant's Marvelous Memory.
Gen. Grant's retentive memory was
simply marvelous, more especially to
those most closely associated with
him from day to day. In the midst
of absorbinng thought, and with ap
parently unobservant manner, his
ear and eye seemed to hear and
notice everything, and two weeks or
months later the slightest details had
not escaped bis attention or memory.
This power was unmistakably de
monstrated In a game of whist with
his guest, MaJ. Gen. Doyle, of the Brit
ish army, between Baltimore and
Fortress Monroe. Two staff officers
completed the players. With Gen.
Doyle at his right, It was simply
amazing to discover Grant's ability to
discover strategic points.
Ho never failed to remember every
car I that bad fallen, whence it came
and who was to deliver to him all re
ma nlng, which he scooped In as a
matter of course, although he never
seemed In the least absorbed in the
game. He was Indeed an enigmatic
composition in this as well as in other
respects. National Magazine.
If wishes were mules beggars
might have more kicks coming..
HI 1 1 0
Watery Wastes as Dreary as
Any on Land.
BETWEEN OCEAN LANES.
Generally 8upposed that Every Part
of the Sea Haa Been Traveled,
fiut 8ueh le Not the Case Much
Remains that Has Never Been
Explored.
Oceans, like continents, have their
deserts. On the high seas there are
vast spaces whose waves have never
beisn parted by the prow of a sailing
vessel or Is shed by the propeller of a
steamer. Immense solituilos where
the flap of a sail Is never heard nor
the strident cry of a siren; vtrmtdie
deserts, whose silence is broken only
by the howling of the wind and the
roar of waves which have been vain
ly pursuing one another since the day
of creation.
Theso deserts He forgotten betwixt
the narrow ocean highways traveled
by vessels. In such waste places of
the sea a disabled ship, driven out of
Its course by a hurricane, may drift
Tor months, tossed by the ceaseless
ground swell, without being able to
ball assistance; her only chance of es
cape Is the possibility that some
Dceanlc current may drag her Into a
more frequented region.
It is generally supposed that by rea
on of the universal Increase of marl
Lime traffic the sea is everywhere fur
rowed by vessels. That is a mlstnke.
The gradual but constant disappear
ance of sailing ships made the ocean
more of a desert than before. Sailing
vessels had their established routes
in accordance with winds, currents
and seasons; the gaps between tho
gaps betwoon the routes taken by
autward-bound and home-ward-bound
ships aro often considerable.
Moreover, the capricious elements
not Infrequently played the mischief
with nautical Instructions, and an a
result the field of operations for ocean
shipping was vastly extended.
This Is no longer true to-day. The
liner goes straight ahead in deflanco
of wlJ and wave. The ports between
which she plies are great Industrial
or commercial centers, whither come
numerous railways, serving as pro
longations of the lines of navigation.
Freight cars carry their loads of mer
chandise to the lesser portB and the
cities of the interior. The railway
has killed coastwise navigation.
The ocean highways are, therefore,
anything but numerous. The most
frequented of oceans is the Atlantic.
Apart from polar seas we see that
In its northern part there Is only one
desert zone a d ready waste of wa
ters between the routes from Europo
to the United States or Canada aud
those from Europe to the Antilles. In
the south, between the routes from
South America or the western Ameri
can coast and the routes from South
Africa, extends a desert occasionally
traversed by the steamers of the lines
from Cape Town and Mozambique,
which, when the coffee season Is at Its
height In Brazil, cross the Atlantic
for cargoes at Rio Janeiro or Santos.
The Indian ocean is frequented only
In the north by lines out of India and
Indo-Chlna, and a little In the west by
liners from Oceanlca, which call at
Colombo and then make straight for
Australia.
Two lines, each with a steamer a
month, follow a slender lane from
Australia to Cape Town. The Pacific
Is the Sahara of the great seas. Sav
ing only the steamships from the far
cast to California and British Colum
bia, a line from Sydney to San Fran
cisco and a one-horse line (with sail
ings four or five times a year) be
tween Tahiti and the United States
save for these mere ribbon-like streaks
the Pacific Is a desert.
Only a few native canoes ply dar
ingly from Island to Island in archi
pelagoes girt round with coral reefs
veritably ocean graveyards, the terror
of seafaring men. Le Matin.
Cultivating Sponges.
An Mnteresting investigation now
being made carried on In Florida by
the Bureau of Fisheries has for Its
object the discovery and development
of methods by which the valuable
sheepswool sponge may be cultivated
artificially.
The method which promises the
most satisfactory results, says Dr.
Everman in The National Geographic
Magazine, is that of using cuttings.
Large sheepswool sponges are cut In
to small pieces, which are fastened to
an Insulated wire fixed in the water,
so that the sponges are supported a
few inches above the bottom. These
small bits, placed at close Intervals
along the wire, soon heal and form an
organic attachment to it, and very
soon begin to grow. It is too soon to
predict Just what the results will be,
but the indications are so far very
encouraging, and It Is believed that
the time is not far distant when the
sponge fisheries of Florida will be
vastly Increased In productiveness and
value.
Takes Two Days to Ascend. '
The Alps comprise 180 mountains
from 4,000 to 15.732 feet high, the lat
ter being Mont Blanc, the highest spot
in Europe. The summit is a sharpe
ridge, like the roof of a house, of
nearly vertical granite rocks. The as
cent requires two days' time and the
assistance of six to eight guides. It
was first ascended by two natives.
Jacques Belmat and Dr. Packard, on
August 8, 1786.
Imports of palm oil into the United
States increased from 8,081,252 pounds
in 1901 to 87,822,806 pounds in 1903.
The 1902 Imnnrli wsm t mn
' 083,606.
A Lectionary of Reading In Pales
tinian Syrlao.
Our search for manuscripts In tha
Coptic convents of Egypt was not re
warded by any brilliant success,
writes Agnes Smith Lewis in tho Cen
tury. But several years earlier I suc
ceeded In obtaining from a private
source a manuscript to which I desire
to draw the attention of tho American
traveling public.
It Is leetlouary of readings from the
Old Testament and from St. Paul's
epistles, written In Palestinian Syri
ac; that Is, In the dialect of Aramaio
which was spoken in Galilee during
our Lord's earthly life and for two
centuries afterward, the tongue which
"bewrayed" St. Peter. It bears the
same relation to the Edessan or liter
ary Syrlac as the Doric of ancient
Greece did to the Attic, or as English
does to Scotch. This manuscript Is
absolutely unique of Its kind, be
cause, although three other copies of
a lectionary in the same dialect exist,
one In the Vatican Library and two
at Mount 8lnal, they contain a text of
the Gospels, while this one provides
us with lessons from tho other books
of the Bible.
Several leaves have been torn from
the bixik, one from tho middle and
about eight from the end. The dealer
confessed to having sold these piece
meal to passing travelers. The leaf
from the middlo has turned up In
Germany, having been detected and
edited by Dr. Frledrlch Sehultliess in
the "Zeltschrlft der Deutschen Mor
genlaiulisehen Gesellschnft," vol. IvU
page 2G3. Its text exactly fits tho gap
left In the manuscript purchased by
me. It Is of some importance for
the history of Syrlac literature that
we siiould know the date, and that
will probably be found written on one
of the leaves which have been lost
fioui the end.
A Doctor's Rules for Old Age.
It Is the theory of Dr. James Saw
yer, an English physician of note, that
there need be no trouble about attain
ing tho uge of 100 years, if a few sim
ple rules for health are faithfully ob
served. Here are the principal re
quirements ho makes:
Plenty of sleep. A full supply of
fresh, pure air, night and day. Eat
but little meat, but eat fat food of
some kind, probably rice, corn meal,
nuts, etc., would do as well as fat
food of some kind, probably rice, corn
meal, nuts, etc., would do as well as
fat meat. Fat, he says, feeds the cells
that destroy the germs of disease in
the body. Exercise is another essen
tial, and country life is recommended,
on account of purity of air, and
against excitement and giving way to
temper, and encourages frequent rest
days or holidays.
They are good, sensible rules, any
how; although they cannot insure the
observer that he will a hundred yeara
there is no doubt but that their ob
servance will add several years to the
lives of those who practice them.
Kuropatkln.
Gen. Kuropatkln's hold over men I
due to his reputation for absolute
fearlessness. Five years ago he re
ceived the information that the great
powder magazine at St. Petersburg
aud that at Toulon, France, were to
he blown up within twenty-lour hours.
Th .' General was in bed when he
ho. i.rd the news, but he at once got up
and started for St. Petersburg with
out losing a moment. He summoned
all the staff of the magazine and went
00 a round of Inspection. He found
everything In order, and as a proof of
his satisfaction ordered every one in
the magazine to take three days' holi
day and to leave at once. He then
collected a new garrison and a new
staff and set a ring of sentries all
around the magazine. The conse
quence was that nothing happened to
the St. Petersburg magazine, but that
at Toulon was blown up the next day.
Leap Year Proposals.
By an act of the Scottish Parlia
ment, passed In the year 1228, It was
"ordonlt that during the reign of her
Maist Blesslt Mae .tie. Margaret, Ilk
maiden, laldee of balth high and Iowa
estalt, shall hae llbertie to speak ye
man she likes. Glf be refuses to tak
hlr to bee his wyf, he shall be mulct
in the sum of ane hundrldty pundls,
or less, as his estalt may bee, except
and alwais, glf he can make It ap
peare that he Is betrothlt to anlther
woman, then he schale be free."
But the ordinance stipulated that
the lady should propose marriage only
during the leap year, as allotted on
the Gregorian calendar. At that time
the custom became quite common, as
Is shown by the number of proposals
recorded In Scotland, and especially
by the number of unwilling bachelors
who were fined for refusing to marry.
Egg-laying Competition.
The 100 hens of pullets entered for
the annual laying competition at the
Hawkesbury College, Australia, re
cently all started off scratch on their
year's race. There were eighty-nine
competitors from all parts of this
state, seven from America, two from
New Zealand, and one each from
Queensland and Victoria.
One of the Lost Cities.
Speaking of lost cities, what has be
come of Pithole City? In 18C5 it was,
next to Philadelphia, the largest post
office in the Statu of Pennsylvania,
with a population of 16,000. There is
a small post office called Pithole, but
tho city has disappeared and on its
Bite Is a flourishing farm.
The genius ho Invented the hairpin
must have groaned when he thought
of the centuries that bad waited tor
him In vain.