THE COLUMBIAN, BL00M56URG, PA. fill KB: M M Positions Held in Which Error Aeans Loss of Life. RESULT OF ONE MISTAKE If Man In Washington Failed to Press Telegraph Key at a Certain Ti.na the Lots to Slipping Would be Enormous. Other Places of Grave Importance. Scattered throughout every city and tn many of the smaller ones tire hun dreds of men earning small salaries and fining huge responBllllitk'S. They ire the men who "dun' not make mis takes." A slnglo blunder mido i.y them nifiy result In '-'rent loss of bie and vast damage tr properly. In almost every rent business en terprise there Is s. me one man who. while not being considered nmotig the Important men In the works, would disarrange the whole mii hlnery of the establishment if ho were to make even the smallest mistake In the perform ance of his duties. Suppose, for Instance, that one of the minor officials in the weather burenu at Washington should fall to press a telegraph key at. certain stated j intervals each clay. This duty may seem unimportant. yet were he to fall In It the entire j shipping business of the Atlantic , coast would be difiarrn nged and vast j Bums of imoney would be involved. Th! official is the one who takes the time j observations for the bureau every day. j At a certain time he watches a li:tle I star creeping slowly across the field j of an instrument called the transit, and when It reaches a thin line made by a cobweb stretched across the lens he presses a key. I Each time ho touches the key he regulutes and udjusts the clocks by ; which the time for the entire Atlantic ; coast la set. Captains of the outgoing steamers set their watches by this and if they mads a mistake even of a few sei-ond their calculations would be badly out of the way by the time they reached the other side. ', Some time ago, in England, a ter rific explosion occurred at the powder mills at Koss. The loss or life was : appalling and the loss of money great. Vet this accident would not have hnp peued but for the can le-sncss of a man who received something like $0 or $S a week. He was stationed nt the entrance or the mills. His work was to makeji thorough search of every per son wfoo entered, and to prevent any ne carryiug In matches or pieces cf --etal. j The workmen were provided with I, essing-rooms, where they wer ibllged to change their clothing and .nit on soft felt siloes instead of tha ne3 they wore out of doors. j The watchman had been In tho ser vice of the company for a long- time, and was reliable. Hut one day he failed to notice that a new workman, unused to the routine of the plant, hud failed to remove his shoes nnd put on the felt slippers. A spark from the nail in the shoe.? of this man caused the explosion. The responsibility upon the shoul ders of railroad men is well known and thoroughly appreciated. The switcfanisa In the tower carries the lives of hundreds in his hands. The watchman ut the otherwise unguarded railroad crossing is security for the lives of scores. Especially the latter la not a well-paid workman. Usually be is a veteran in the service, a man who has given his best years to some , other branch of railroad work, who has been injured and now is being pro. Tided for by a position as watchman. Upon him dopends the safety of Btreet car passengerB and pedestrians. Suppose there was a fire at Van Buren and State streets. The police man who discovers it sends in the alarm immediately. This alarm, which rings a certain number of bells to how the number of the box, is re ceived and noted in the electrical bu reau. It then is the duty of one of the employes to resend that alarm to the flrehouses. Should he make a slight mistake and Instead of ringing the box which calls for State and Van Huren - streets, should turn in an alarm at Madison and Halsted, there would be "some doings" und a spectacular fin ish. At four places in England and at many in other European countries there are men who perform important duties on a pay of $1 or So a week. These are the men who guard the great dura. Every day of their lives they are supposed to make a thorough inspec tion of the walls and to repair and re port even the slightest sign of a leak. One would think that such u mo not-, onous duty, performed year after year, ' would make these men grow cureless or forgetful of the Importance of their missions, but that does not seem to have been the case. Four years ago the watchman at tho great Scroby dam, in Lancashire, saw a tiny leak that would have escaped the notice of most men. ' lie reported it immediately, and the experts who were sent to make an examination reported that If ho had not been so prompt another twenty four hours would have brought 20,000,. 1 000 tons of water sweeping the valley. This would have meant a loss of hundreds of lives and millions of dol lars worth of property. ' In the same way .flaws have been discovered in the great Merton dam at Sheffield, and each one would have brought a terrible calamity. One of these accidents was prevent ed by the discovery that a small etone.bad bulged about an eighth of nn Inch. Chicago Tribune. A FIRE THAT WON'T GO OUT. Phenomenon Exhibited at Railway St tion In Scotland. It Is not generally known that in Scotland, not more than three miles out of Glasgow, there is a lire raging at n railway station which has been going on for months, and notwith standing that tons of water have been poured pon this insidious lire, it cannot be put out. Several months ago a waste piece of ground close to the station was want ed by the railway company as a siding". The level of this ground was too low, so truckloads of refuse were "dump ed" on it to bring It to the necessary level. A large proportion of this re fuse consisted bf rotting vegetation, and In the course of a little time it heated to stn4h an extent that com bustion set In and started not only a smoldering- fire but flames actually burst through the ground. Attempts were made to quell this fire, and It was thought, after several weeks of hard work and tons of water that It had been put out. What was the surprise however, to seo It break out afresh in another place and near er the station. Fears then began to lie felt for the safety of the station buildings especially as the main dou ble line to Important coast and coun try towns led through it. Fresh energy was then brought to bear, and much more water was pour ed on this tire, which seemed to have its stronghold In the bowels of the earth, but from the volume of steam nnd smoke issuing from Innumerable crevices it was seen that the tire de mon was resisting' all efforts, and was slowly creeping nearer and nearer to the foundations of the railway station. It was now whispered nnd soon le enme known that the station had orig inally been built upon a sort of shale, which came out of the mines In the near nelghlKirhood years Rgo. These shale mounds have been known to take years burning right through, und the stench from them is anything but plensant. The Are gained ground every day, un til by and by it reached beneath one of the platforms, and any day there after might be seen the novelty of a crowd of people waiting on a platform from the chinks nnd crevices of whb-h were arising In many pi ices jets of steam from the fire below. Such a volume of water was kept continu ally playing upon It that actual flumes were prevented from showing above ground but any casual observer could see the evidences of the great heat bo low. In time it was oliserved that the foundations of the station were set tling and cracking and twisting In many places, and all sorts of efforts had to be resorted to to keep tho buildings from being permanently In jured. At this present moment, a3 these lines are being penned, the fire has reached under the main line of the track, and It is one of the curiosities of the neighborhood to see the jets of steam and smoke issuing from between the sleepers. It is now n foregone conclusion that the fire cannot be extinguished, and it is being left to have its own sweet way and burn itself out. When this will happen nobody knows, as there is a large part of the foundation of the station not yet reached and as this has been going on for many months, It Is quite probable that this fire In the bowels of the earth will go on sap ping under the station until the build ings tumble about the passengers' ears. TIt-ISits. Freight Car as a Lock-Up for Tramps "A novel Jail delivery occurred near my home recently," remarked a suburbanite. '1 live in an Incor porated town within ten miles of this city. We have a Mayor and a town council and all that sort of thing and consider ourselves a very progressive community. With the coming of cold weather the authorities voted to con duct a crusade against tramps, and the town sergeant was Instructed to take Into custody all members of the gentry In question who Invaded the town. For want of a better jail the law officer imprisoned the tramps he arrested in a freight car that had stood on a railroad siding for many months, until their cases could be dis posed of by the Mayor. He secured the door of the car with a padlock. When darkness arrived one afternoon only a few days ago three tramps were. Imprisoned In the car. When the town sergeant went after them the following morning he was greatly sur prised to find that prisoners, Jail, and all had disappeared. During the night or the early morning tin engine had backed in and moved away with the car. That Is the last we heard f the prisoners, but I'm curious to know when and where they secured their release." Washington Star. Brainwork Doesn't Kill. In the lecture on longevity delivered last week before the lluynl College of Physicians, Sir Hermann Weber, him self an octogenarian, gave official sup port to the doctrine which we recently set forth In this column that brain work does not kill, but rather the re verse. A few of his instances are Sophocles, Plato, Galen, Cicero, Moltke, Bismarck, Mommsen, and Gladstone, to whom we might add Ilobbns, Carlyle, with Spencer and Kelvin among living men. The facts are that brainwork increases the sup ply of blood to the nerve colls, nnd promotes their nutrition and health. Mosso, an Italian, laid a man on a delicately balanced table, and showed that the head end sank whenever the subject did a mental sum or any other brainwork. The Increased weight of his bead was due- to , the life-giving blood. The truth Is that brainwork, as such, never killed anybody. London Chronicle. in hi its Some Tribes This Death to Both. Aeant AN AWFUL TEST OF NERVE An Eyewitness Describes the Famous Duel Between Indian Chief Car penter and a White Named Price. A Wonderful Shot, After Being Des perately Wounded. "What Is tho Indian method of duel ling?" asked the deputy sheriff. "That depends upon the tribe. There are some tribes where a challenge to a duel means Inevitably that both men must die. When nn Indian feels aggrieved he demands n combat. The day for the samo is fixed far In ad vance and Is made the occasion of a lit tle celebrntion. The entire tribe as sembles. Tho braves sit in a circle, behind them their squaws nnd the young bucks. "The offended man Is nrmed with a rllle or a shotgun. Tho challenged principal Is unarmed. At a word, both men arise and face each other, the un armed man baring his breast to tho bullet of his adversary. With eyes riveted on the littlo round hole nt. the end of the barrel pointed at him, the doomed man must face the protracted ordeal of expecting deatli at any in stant without the least sign of weak ening. The executioner may hold his gun us long as ho pleases in order to try to break down his enemy. lie may raise it nnd lower It or hold it steadily on tho man under the fright ful strain. Hut not even with an eye lid must the unfortunate betray his anxiety. At last the gun cracks and the bullet speeds Its way and the vic tim lies dying. The slayer hands the weapon to n relative or a friend of the deceased, nnd is put through the same ordeal. "Somo of the tribes have learned to fight according to the code of the white man, however, among these the Choctaws or Cherokees, which reminds me of the famous duel In July of 1883, when the celebrated Choctaw chief, Carpenter, fought near the Pine Creek Indian agency with a -white man named Price. Chief Carpenter was a splendid type of Indian, tall and straight and comely, and he had been well ed wuted and had natural talents nnd natural Instincts that put him head and shoulders over his Indian associates. "As usual, this trouble was started by a disagreement over some trivial matter which caused a dispute and ended In that the white man called his red brother a liar. Throughout the trouble the big Indian had remained perfectly calm although considerably angered, nnd as the Insult fell he gazed coldly into the eyes of Price and said: " "Your blood shall wash out that word.' ' 'Whenever you're ready say the word,' cried Price. 'You can do your washing right here and now, if you please.' " 'Not now, sir, but to-morrow morn ing when the sun peeps over the top of that wild plum tree you must be here, and without fail.' "The report of the duel spread far and wide, nnd nt an hour considerably before sunrise a large crowd had gath ered on the duelling ground to witness the encounter. Price was the first on the field and for a time it looked as if there would be no Carpenter. But true to his Indian blood the chief dis dained coming too soon at the appoint ed place as much as be would have feared coming too late, and It was just as the first rays of the sun stole over the soft green of the tree that the red man stood in place. Not a word was spoken by either man. Both drew their pistols and, raising the weapons, they fired almost simultane ously. Carpenter reeled, but with a mighty effort checked a tendency to spin round and, staggering, Fred as the cratrk of his opponent's pistol sounded for the second time. This time Price Jumped high in the air aad landed on his face, stone dead "With a wild shout the crowd press ed forward to surround the lucky chief, but before aid could reach him he fell senseless. Price had been shot through the heart, clean as a whistle, a remarkable shot considering the con dition of the Indian when he made it; and a shot Carpenter could have made in the first place, without a doubt, had lie been as determined to kill as Prico proved himself when his bidlet buried itself In the Indian's breast." Diplomacy Speaks English. The question raised at The Hague international court as to the language in which tho Veneuela arbitration is to be conducted marks the steady pro gress of English speech. A couplo of centuries ago there would have been no such question. Latin as the In ternational tongue would have been used us a matter of course; It was the acknowledged medium of statesmen, scholars and travelers. Then, In the elghtenth century, by reason of tho pre-eminence of Louis XIV., French succeeded Latin and reigned us the language of courts, diplomacy and travel. Its international status was first challenged at the Berlin congress In 1870, when Disraoll, prompted by his Insufficient French, proposed and, with Bismarck's support, made Eug llsh the medium of tho deliberations. At the Czar's peace cougress Eng lish -was widely used, and now In the Venezuela arbitration Great Britain, Go-many and Italy maintain that the documentary pleadings shall bo in English. The last commercial treaty between China und Mexico was also la English,. London Chronicle. In FALLACY OF NICARAUGUA ROUTE. Three Objections to Panama Canal Are Dealt With. It may be Interesting to refer to tho throe objections whloh have been raised by tho advocates of the Nicara gua route. These are tho greater dis tance from our Atlantic and (Julf ports to San Francisco the obstaclo to the passage of sailing ships caused by uncertain winds In the (Julf of Panama and lastly tho health ques tion. As to tho first, the objection Is ap parent rather than real since the time lost on the longer sea route will lie full compensated by the gain In time required to traverse the canal, to say nothing of the saving In cost due to lower insurance rates, which will prob ably bo only about one fourth as ranch ns by Nicaragua. "ailing ships would require towage throughout tho cut Ire extent of the Nicaragua route, nnd the same dis tance at Panama would carry them nearly or quite to a point where winds might bo expected. It Is true that the winds In the Gulf of Panama are certain, but sailing ships have used the route for hundreds of years, find ing It to lie the best for trnns-s'hi-ment of their cargoes across the Isth mus. In tho matter of health the route by Panama enjoys nn unenviable no toriety, but It must not be forgotten that the record has been largely ag gravated by the disturbance of the surface soli in the construction of the railroad and tho canal. As the excavations have now passed through this layer, nnd have reached the much less dangerous soil below, a marked improvement may be expected, especi ally when the requirements of mod ern sanitary science are rigidly observed. In fact the actual experience of the New Panama Canal Company more than justifies this ex pectation. After our good work ac complished In Havana we may count on an equal success on the Isthmus. The apparent superiority of the condi tions In Nicaragua is probably duo In no small degree to the absence of population between the lake and the Atlantic coast. In fine, now that the problem has been thoroughly studied, anil that the facts are known, and that fortune has enabled us to secure the better route we have good reason to rejoice that hasty action was delayed, and that no mistake has been made In the selec tionGen. II. L. Abbot, in the Engi neering Magazine. Kitten Baptized with Pomp. OtT the shores of tho Position's M. Pierre Eoil, novelist and Academician, has had baptized, with mock pomp nnd ceremony, his ship's kitten. The af fair took place on I'ee. 8 on Imurd the French guardshlp Vnutuur, which the novelist commands as Capt. Vlaud. In honor of the event, the Yautour was bright with bunting. Flowers cover ed guns and gunrooms. The captain's quarters were gayly ornamented, and i crowd of guests was on board, among them being the commanders of the English and Hessian guardshlps, the French consul general, the Husslan naval attache, M. Coquclln, the aotor, nnd ladles. The cat's sponsors were Mme. Houx wife of the commander of the Mouette, and the Vlcomte de Sali-gnae-Fenelon. Aft of the ship wns erected an altar to the great Scandi navian deity Odin. The ceremony was opened by a burlesque sympathy of Komberg, executed anyhow by Pierre Eotl and his ojtti'ers, an em bassy attache acting as conductor. The newly born kitten was In a dainty basket well wrapped up in warm wad ding. The grand priest of Odin, all .obed in white, handed Mme. Itoux a mysterious horn, at the Round "where of the head of the kitten emerged from the basket. Then the trio from Iteyer's opera "Sigurd" was heard, and, after an Invocation addressed to Odin the grand priest baptized the kitten "Belkis," which, being inter preted, means "pretty girl." A short poem was next recited, and then M. Eotl entertained his guests at lunch on board the Vautour. I.ondon Dally Telegraph. Achievements of the Negro. Forty years ago the negroes of the South did not own a square foot of ground, nor a roof to cover them. Now there are 130,(XH) farms owned by ne groes, valued nt $330,000,000; 150.000 homes outside the farm ownership, valued nt $205,000,000, and personal property valued at $105,000,000. So, starting from nothing, here is an ac cumulation of nearly $800,000,000. When tho work begun not 1 per cent, of the negro adults of the South could read or write. To-day 40 per cent, can do so. Fifty per cent, of the chil dren are attending school, and with more facilities more would attend. There are 8UO colored physicians in practice, 300 lawyers and 30,000 school teachers. There are 300,000 books In the homes of colored people and they own und publish 450 news papers and magazines. Chrlstiun Work. When a Man Sneezes. It appears that many savage and semlclvlllzod races of, tho orient have some curious customs regarding the sneeze. When the sultan of Monona topa sneezes, for Instance, the fact Is mnde known from the palace by a cer tain signal. Instantly every subject within 'hearing of this signal sets up a shout, the cry is taken up by others, and so extends until it runs through tha confines of his empire. When the sultan of Senaar sneezes, on the contrary, every woman in his harem or within hearing turns hor back on him and makes a sign of con tempt by smiting her lips with hor handH disgusted that so mighty a per sonage should have to sneeze like an ordinary mortal. Medloal Record. : fill 0 A Comparison of the "Little" Country and Russia. THE WEAKNESS OF RUSSIA The Surprising Progress Made by Jap an is due to the Intense Loyalty of Her Subjects to Their Ruler, the Mikado. Would Give All Their Mon ey if Needed. While liussla's essential weakness, in the utter discredit with which her promises are regarded by the nations, in the internal troubles wiilnh are as sailing her and In her financial depend ence upon those who distrust her, is becoming patent to all, dispelling the dread with which her mere size has heretofore dominated the Imagination of the world, the gmwth In strength and resource of what we still perverse ly call "little" .lapan, is by no means the least of the surprises which that empire has of late years been spring ing upon the people of the west, says the I'.odon Transcript. She Is to-day rich in everything which IIushIii lacks. Her honor unstained, no promise she has mnde has ever been broken. No internal troubles can vex a govern ment like that of the emperor whoso throne rests upon the well-nigh Idola trous affection of his people; and ns for wealth, no other nation can compare with it In the readiness with whhft that people would lay every dollar of their savings at his feet should war be declared against their giant antagonist.- Nor Is .Japan's wealth by any means Eolely of this sentimental sort. She 13 rich not merely In the honor nnd pa triotism of her people. Kelutlvely she may be said to be one of the richest countries In the world, surpassing every other except perhaps France In the rigid economics of life and In the proportion of tho savings to tho earn ings of her people. It Is only In the aggregate of her wealth that she Is distanced by the nations of the west. It Is. however, when we come to con sider the marvelous development of her resources since her emergence Into the world that her growing. If not her present, agility to cope with her giant antagonist becomes at once manifest. An estimate of this growth Is now made possible bp the recent publica tion of the "Flananchil and Economi cal Annual of .lapan," Issued by the de partment of finance nnd printed In English. To the eye It lit but n colum nar array of figures, yet to the stu dent of modern history It is nn array eloquent with Its surpassing record of progress. Beginning with the year lsos, the date of the restoration of the emperor to power, there is no field of industrial or commercial enterprise which does not bear witness to the rejuvenated energy and ambition of the nations. Leaving out of account the Islets having less than one vl (two and one half miles) of coast line the empire of Japan comprises 487 islands, with vnn area of 102,000 square miles. I'pon this area, about equal to that of our Atlantic coast states from Maine as far south as North Carolina, despite the fact that only one-twelfth of the land Is arable, there Is subsisted a population of 45,000,000, increasing to day at the average rate of nearly 1, 000,000 per annum. It was not so long ago that the United States thought it self the greatest of nations when It 3 population reached that figure, and the nation would have been greatly wroth should any one have applied to it then the diminutive with which Japan Is so often designated. Nor, with our waste fulness and extravagance, would it be in any way possible to support hore so vast a number on bo limited un area. As to the aggregate of the nation's wealth, while no such claim as the above can be made, yet if the com parative tables of the revenue and ex penditures of the government for the thirty-five years of Japan's new era may be taken as an index of the growth of the nation's wealth, the exhibit is a surprising one. In 1808 tho total revenues of the , empire amounted to only 33,080,313 yen i$13, 544,050), while those of the current fis cal year have reached the sum of 251, 081,001 yen; the annual expedltures during the same period increasing from 30,505,080 yen to 244,752,340 yen. Even more signally illustrative of the growth of the nation's wealth is the relative expenditure in certain depart ments. The civil list, for example, while calling for only 250,000 yen ($125,000) In 180H, now Involves an ex penditure of 3,000,000 yen. Japan's "coming out" has cost a penny ulso, tho appropriation for tho department of foreign affairs mounting from 111, 071 yen in 180S to 2,125,000 for the current year. In the meantime, the cost of the maintenance! of the army and navy has grown from 1,000,000 to upward 00,000,000, the latter sum be ing tho appropriation of the current year for these departments. As proof however, that the nation has not given her exclusive devotion to these expen sive modern playthings, the depart ments of public Instruction und of communications bear ample witness, the cost of the former having leaped from 57,700 yen in 1808 to 4,001,283 yen in 1903, while the htter, opened In 1871, and then administered at an ex pense of 121,708 yen, now requires nn appropriation of moro than 21,000,000. A Profitable Play. , Itostand's Cyruuo de llergerac must come near to being tho most success ful play ever written. In Paris alone it has had 075 representations, and Its total receipts in that city for that num ber or peiTormanocs was 4,180,000 francs, or an uverinre of B.02U franca I (about $1,145) a performance. lix. AN ITALIAN TRAGEDY. Dramatlo Crime Almost Perpetrated Near Milan. Extraordinary Interest has been aroused by the discovery tho other day of one of the most remarkable crimes that have over occupied public attention. A certain Angolo Vecchlo wns well known hero oa a sportsman nnd dog breeder, nnd he wns lately rewarded by the Government for hav ing organized two very successful ca nine exhibitions. ' He founded and di rected a newspaper devoted to pport, nnd hnd also some success ns a paint er. A few days ago, Indeed, he pub lished a Isiok about dogs, with splen did colored Illustrations drawn by himself, A short time ago Vecchlo hired a small house In the country, and to this place ho enticed a friend of his, Signer llerretta, a man of wealth and owner of the Important Trcirolo ken nels. Vecchlo had told his friend tlmt ho hnd some pictures to show him. but this was merely a ruse. As soon ns llerretta wns Inside the hou.se, Vecchlo liound him with leather straps, and pointing a revolver nt ' his head, threatened him with Instant death un less he signed a document which was presented to him. On reading it Ber retta found that It was a will, duly drawn up In proper legal form and phraseology, by which he bequeathed to Vecchlo 10,000, or a third of his fortune. Yielding to the threats of his cap tor, llerretta signed tho testament, but ho had not even then learned the f ill det.tlla of the plot of which ha wps the victim. Vecchlo next com pelled him to write a letter to his mother, In which he was to declare that, he had committed suicide. Hav ing obtained these documents, Vec chlo went out, leaving tho execution ' of 'he remainder of his nefarious plans to a servant, who had been Instructed to drown llerretta in a bath which had been specially Installed In the villa for tho purpose, and then, when night had fallen, to throw him Into the neighboring river, so that It might be thought that he had committed suicide. , For reasons which are not as yet quite clear the servant did not carry out his orders. He may have been unable to do bo, or possibly be was smitten with remorse; at any rate, he untied Berrettu nnd accompanied him home. Slgnor llerretta at once com municated with the police, who ar retted Vecchlo's servant and his broth er. Vecchlo himself has escaped, hut he Is believed to have gone to Genoa. Correspondence Ixnidon Telgraph. Ingenious Life-Saver. The life-savers attached to Fncle Sam's stations on Fire Island encoun tered great difficulties and dangers in crossing the Great South Bay to the Long Island shore, either by water craft or ice-craft. Still, naturally enough, they had 11 longing to visit family and friends when the great Is-' land sea was choked with drift ice or partly frozen over. These ingenious people long ago realized the needs of a vehicle capable of traveling on eith er Ice or water safely, and about thir ty years ago they launched the first "scooter," a boat cons'! ructed to travel on both lie and In water. It was a small boat, made fast to a sled, which was pushed on the Ice nnd rowed on i the water. This crude modo. of travel j with the wind against or across the I boat, made the trip one of tremendous I exertion. In tho course of time a sail I was tried, at first square rigged and very small, but It was used only when the wind was fair. Then a special boat was built winch was partially decked, and the sled wns 'made lighter until at last tho scooter of the present day came about, with nothing left of the sled but the bottom of the runners, shod with Iron, or better still, as ex perience has shown, with brass. And so has developed the wonderful "scooter" of the Long Island lakes and bays, a swift ice-boat that will sail In the water and from one element to the other quickly without a Jar Country Life In America. Russia Dominates Asia. There caii be no doubt but that Bus sin has been holding the "whlphand" over China, and, In general, the whole of Central Asia ns Tar south at the Indian border rulers in substance if not in name quietly pushing for ward to consummation her gigantic schemes for political und commercial dominance In Asia. Already her trad ers, her spies, her military officials nnd dfploma lists have threaded the wilds of Turkestan, and even Tibet, and, hitherto, other Inaccessible re gions of Central Asia sowing sedition In ono spot conciliating the native tribes In another, blinding the Chin ese Government and tho world at large ns to her real Intent each und every step a part of a carefully thought out and pre-arranged plan formulated years ago in ltussiau chancelleries, to undermine British inlluence, which Is the only barrier liable to obstruct Kusslan policy. Gunton's Magazine. The Kaiser's Artistic Taste. The refusal of the German National Gallery to purchase Prof. Kampf's "The Sisters," which was the picture of the season, still excites German connoisseurs. The cause of the re fusal is the Kaiser and his often ex presed belief that art should express only that which H cheerful and pleas ant. According to the commonly ac cepted story, during the exhibition the knlser was being piloted around by Prof. Knmpf himself. When he reached tho picture his majesty want ed to know who had painted those two miserable little girls. Kampf admit ted ho had done it. The kaiser made no comment, but notice of the kefuual of the gullory to buy tho picture fol lowed few days laur.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers