I ilB 11$
Lead the World in Size and
Method of Construction
PART TAKEN BY ROADS
imw Invention to Salt Condition
Longest llrltlgo at Cnlpo, 111.
Brooklyn Mort Expensive Struct
Bre In World -Changes Mnat No
ticeable In Smaller Construction.
To the railroad must be given the
oredlt for furnishing the Impetus
.hat has resulted In the marked ad
fmncos of the past half century. Es
eeially Is this true In the United
ttutes, whose unprecedented growth
rould have been Impossible without
.he aid of Its transportation lines.
The railroads, In their constant
ndenvor to Improve, their u needi
ng effort to give the American peo
ile a service unexcelled In the whole
vorld for comfort, speed and cheap
ness, have so Increased the weight of
.heir rolllug stock and train loads
.hat the light structures which did
tervloe when the first transconti
nental road penetrated to the Paclfio
Ooast have become obsolete and ut
rly Incapable of meeting the de
nands of standard modern carriers,
rhus stronger and better bridges
lad to be built.
Co-extenslve with the develop
nnt of railroading has been that of
he Iron and steel Industry. The two
lave co-operated In a transforma
lon that Is one of the marvels of the'
tfneteenth and twentieth centuries.
America, the land of big things,
HMseBses more striking examples of
d vanned bridge construction prob
ibly than any other country. It has
ha longest metallic structure across
iay river In the world that over
be Ohio River at Cairo, 111., oxceed
ag In length the renowned Tay
Bridge In Scotland by 83 feet.
The Cairo bridge was finished In
il9. It is 10,680 feet precisely
wo miles In length, though orlgt
tally, with the timber trestle ap
iroaches, which have since been
led In and replaced by solid em
istnkments, there was almost four
niles of continuous bridge work.
A bridge with the longest single
pan ever built is one by an American
Inn across the St. Lawrence River
tx miles above Quebec. It is de
4gned for both railway and wagon
raffle and contains a central suan
i.800 feet in length and 150 feet
.oove me water, permitting the un
betructed passage of the largest
ssels afloat.
In drawbridges, too, Amorlca loads
he world. There was opened at
)maha recently a center pier dou
de drawbridge each swing span of
fhlch Is 625 feet long.
This excessive length was neces
ary on account of the shifting chan
el of the Missouri River, which Is
onstantly undergoing changes in Its
ourse, and the new bridge was de
igned to provide as much as possl
le for the future vagaries of the
tream.
In the common types of steel
'ridges the truss, the cantilever,
ie suspension, etc. it cannot be
ld that there have been any ex
raordlnary changes since these
irpes were first introduced. Beyond
elng successively strengthened and
nproved in minor details so as to
ike care of the greater loads they
re called upon to bear, these struct
res remain practically unaltered In
lelr general outlines.
Bridge engineers to-day confine
'lemselves chiefly to the study of
'.reuses and strains, the provision of
laxlmum strength with the mlnl
lum use of material, and conse
uent minimum cost. Every pin or
olt that can be dispensed with is
much saved.
It Is In the smaller bridges that the
reatest changes have occurred in
went years. In movable structures
ver navigable waterways the devel
opment has been revolutionary In its
.at lire.
The old 6tyle swing or draw
ridge is being rapidly superseded;
t least where the channels are not
xcesslvely wide, by the roller lift
ridge, an Improvement on the pivot
ascule type which had its origin la
ie feudal days when the spans over
astle moats were raised up on end
o shut off communication with the
utsldo world.
The original design of the roller
ttt consisted of two movable leaves
'hat met In the center of the stream
ind were rolled up and down from
lers on either shore. Single-leaf
Jraws, however, are now being built
".n many instances where this form
f construction is best adapted to lo
cal conditions.
Its advantages over the center
pier bridge are overwhelming, in
that it leaves unobstructed the full
width of the river or canal. Vehi
cles or cars cannot fall into the wa
ter when the lift is open to vessels.
It is more rapid and econonomical
of operation, saving delay and ex
pense. Concrete, reinforced by steel, is
becoming more and more a popular
material for the construction of per
manent bridges over small streams
and ravines. Their advantage over
iron structures lies in their greater
permanency, and In their economy
both as to first cost and mainten
ance. The ordinary form of modern
bridge construction is known as th
truss, and various modifications oi
the truss element (the rigid trian
gle) are in mora general use than
any other type of span up to, say
160 feet In height The corumo
highway and railroad bridge Is al
most invariably a truss.
PHILIPPINE RAT CATCHERS.
Bounty for the Capture of the Ani
mals In Manila.
The Manila rat Is much more In do
mnnd than Is tho lluffulo rat. Slnoo
the American occupation of tho Philip
pines rat. catching lias become a big
industry. It has thrived so much un
der a paternal form of government
that 150, 00(1 of the nnltnais wero
caught In Manila during the last year.
Incidentally, that, meant 150.00D
deaths In the rat colony, for the only
good rats In Manila are dead rats.
This wholesale slaughter of rats la
carried out under the direction of the
Philippine Board of Health. It H
one of the means used to prevent the
much dreaded Asiatic plague.
"Although It Is nn established fact
that rats are carriers of the Infec
tion of the dreaded Asiatic plague, yet
comparatively few Americans In Ma
nila are alive to tho Importance which
the Board of Health authorities at
tach to the trapping of rodents, or
are aware that the city has an organiz
ed corps of seventy-five rat catcher,
and that they trap about a hundred
and fifty thousand rats a year," said
the doctor. "Such Is tho case, never
theless, and, were It not for this rat
brigade. It would be difficult to say
where the pest would stop.
"The corps of rat catchers Is divided
Into seven sections, one being assign
ed to each of tho health stations
Each man, who in turn hires small
boys to do the actual work, receives
a monthly salary of 10 pesos, which
Is nnd, In addition, three centavos
UVb cents) for every rnt he catches.
This bounty amounts to about six
pesos a month an average Manila
clerk's salary. A rat catcher must bo
InduMrious. Ho Is hired by the dis
trict medical Inspector, and If he falls
to corral a certain number of animals
he is promptly succeeded by a new
aspirant.
"This Oriental professional resorts
to many Ingenious ways In attempting
to fool the officials and incidentally,
increase his revenue. When the trap
ping was started the officials were
none too strict, and it was soon no
ticed that some of the trappers were
making quite an amount of money.
Investigation revealed the fact that
oftentimes one rat was made to do
duty several times, being kept on tho
grounds earning bounty for its captor
until decomposition set In. To remedy
this the inspectors now make each
trapper bring his rats to the station
every morning, and there the right
front foot Is chopped off and the rat
Is labelled with the street nnd the
number of the house from which It
came. All rats are then taken to tho
crematory.
"Hut the clever native found a new
means of evading the law. He con
ceived the Idea of starting a rat farm,
and before the authorities were aware
of It the business of breeding rodents,
Ir. order to collect the bounty, assumed
goodly proportions.
"Once a month an auditing Is made,
at which time all the trans which are
furnished by the authorities must be
accounted for by the catchers.
"One of the principal acts in this
rat drama Is enacted at the water
front, where every precaution is tak
en to prevent rats from coming ashore
from ships arriving from plague Infect
ed ports of Asia. Cargoes are closely
watched, and while they are being dis
charged tin funnels are placed on the
hawsers to prevent, the rodents from
reaching the wharf." Buffalo Express.
Strange Origin of Fashions.
The custom of powdering the hair
dates back as far as the sixteenth
century, and was first introduced by
the nuns in French convents. Those
who had ocasion to leave the cloisters
for any reason were wont to powder
their hair, so as to make it appear
gray and give them a venerable look.
The fashionable dames were so
etruck with the novel effect of white
powder on dark hair that they soon
appropriated the device as one of tho
arts of the worldly toilet. Out of thU
grew the use of tints in the hair. The
Roman women often used blue pow
der, and later, in 18C0, Empress Eu
genie set the fafahlon of using gold
powder,
Rome under the empire of Greece
during the time of Pericles were selz
ed with a mania for golden hair. The
belles and fops of the day devised
several methods whereby black locks
might be changed to golden yellow,
but bleaching did not always succeed.
Consequently, quite a trade was es
tablished with the fair-haired tribes
beyond the Alps, who sold their locks
to Latin merchants, to be worn on
the heads of Roman dandies.
Many a dame dampened her raven
tresses In the strongest of muriatic
acid and sat In the sun to bleach her
hair to the coveted yellow, says the
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.
There were some cunning devices In
vogue among tho belles of the old
world for giving expression to the eye.
The most reckless of them were wont
to place a single drop of that deadly
poison, prusslc acid. In the bottom of
a wineglass and hold it against the
eye for two or three seconds. Or,
more rashly still, they would take n
email quantity a piece not lnrger
than a grain of rice or an ointment
containing that mortal drug, atropla,
and rub It on the brow. Each of
these was supposed to give clearness
and brilliancy, expnnd the pupil and
Impart a fascinating fulness and mel.
lowness to tho eye.
Property Destroyed by Fire,
Nearly two hundred millions of doV
lars property is destroyed by fire an.
nually In tho United States.
Armand Gautler, a French physician
contends that a strict vegetarian diet
is Impossible for white races.
THE COLUMBIAN,
5IANI1CU.KT OK THK IlLIM).
Invading Mnnv Fields of Industry
and Turning Out Oood Work.
"Don't pity the blind man em
ploy him. The blind do not want
charity. They simply ask Justice."
This Is the keynote of the gospel
which Charles F. F. Campboll, sup
erintendent of the experiment sta
tion for the training of tho blind nt
Cambridge, Mass., Is everywhere
preuchlng. Mr. Campbell Is the son
of the blind Dr. Campbell, of Lon
don, whose achievements In striking
out new lines of occupation for the
blind are well known. He spoke in
New York, urging the Imperative
need not only of finding occupations
for the sightless, but of employing
them when they are trained.
"Employment bureaus for tho
blind," he said, "are a prime neces
sity. At present, even when a per
son wishes to employ a blind man
and woman or to buy their handi
work, he seldom knows how to go
about it. We need greater co-operation
between the blind and the rest
of the world. It is one thing to know
how to cane a chair, quite another to
get chairs to cane. What Is urgently
needed Is an employment bureau
and handicraft shop that shall be
run co-operatively by New York,
Boston and Philadelphia.
"The definite purposes for which
the experiment station wns estab
lished were threefold to determine
what Industrial occupations other
than those already named the blind
could profitably engage In; to estab
lish such Industries on a business
basis, and to enable blind persons,
when possible, to become wage earn
ers In shops or factories or soiling
agents.
"We began in a very small way,
testing different trades with blind
people of average or less than aver
age mentality. Our purpose, you
see, was not to pick out specially
gifted people and exploit them, but
to discover remunerative occupa
tions which even defectives could
follow successfully.
"One day I saw a Swedish woman
working at a little loom. Next day
I set a blind girl to work at a loom.
Rug carpets without pattern or color
scheme have been made by the blind
for many years, but this was the
first attempt to produce artistic re
sults. Now wo have an expert de
signer, a woman, to supervise the
work, which Is taught by an In
genious employment of a piano key
board. Wo are turning out rugs,
portieres, table covers, draperies,
centerpieces, etc., which no woman
of taste would be ashamed to use in
her house.
"Another Industry that promises
well for the blind, nnd it is the di
rect fruit of tho Cambridge experi
ment station, is mop making. Mr.
Campbell expects to 'wlpo up the
floor,' literally as well as metaphori
cally, with the mop which a blind
man has Invented."
Miss Pheobe T. Cousins,
formerly the most famous advocate
of woman suffrage, is heartily in fa
vor of the open saloons on the Sab
bath. She claims such a measure
would tend to reduce crime.
CZAR'S BODYGUARD OF SPIES.
Amid a Complicated System He Has
Cause for Uneasiness.
Some of the most valuable and
least suspected spies that guard the
Czar are women of high rank, who
frequent the aristocratic salons of
St. Petersburg and Moscow, and
even go as far afield as the Siberian
cities of Tomsk, Tobolsk, and
Irkutsk, says L. S. Farlow in Har
per's Weekly. There are also spies
among the Imperial Guards; and
for these men the entire army and
reserves of imperial Russia are ran
sacked. Among them one finds men
from tho Don and Dnieper Cossacks,
the Mohammedan forces from Ka
zan, the Caucasian provinces, and
even from far Kashgar in Central
Asia, as well as from the Imperial
Preoabrajensky and Pavlovskl
Guards. The unquestioning and
doglike fidelity of these men Is won
derful. They are absolutely fearless,
of great physical strength, and men
tally of unusual acumen and fore
sight. There are nearly one thou
sand of these military guards con
stantly employed In and about the
park and palace of Tsarkoe-Selo. '
One might suppose that the Emper
or Nicholas would sleep peacefully,
surrounded by this amazing human
network ot protection. Yet revolu
tionists penetrate the royal apart
ments, and leave letters of sinister
menace and warning, which must
often suggest to the unhappy mon-
arch that It might be as well for him
to do away with this far-reaching
system of espionage and mingla
freely with his people. i
BLOOMsBURG, PA.
CONSECRATING A HOUou.
What Orthodox Hebrews Fasten to
the Doorpost.
A dozen families of Orthodox Jews
were busy moving Into a new Illicit
tenement house on Sheriff street, In
the heart of the East Side, when a Tri
bune reporter was passing. His atten
tion was attracted by a ceremony,
which seemed to renter about the
doorpost of one of the ground lloor
Hutu.
An aged gray headed patriarch was
tacking h little case to the upper right
hand doorpost, a hairbreadi.. from the
edge. It was of tin, about three
Inches long and half an Inch wide, and
while fastening it securely In place
the old man seemed to be muttering
a Hebrew prayer.
After the ceremony was ended tho
reporter began to ask questions.
"Yes. It Is a religious rite," tho
the old Hebrew answered. "One of
the most Kacred of our religion tho
fastening of tho me.uzah. No homo
Is blessed without it, and one might
better die at onco thun attempt, to
live in a flat that did not have a mez
uzah on the doorpost."
Some of the niezu.nhs one finds In
tho East side are of glass. Others,
more elaborate and expensive, are ot
carved wood. Still others are nicely
turned, with knobs at either end.
Great care Is taken thnt unclean hands
fchall never touch them. They are
not allowed to fall Into the hands of
non-Jews, If that can be prevented, for
fear they will be mistreated.
According to a rabbi with whom tho
Tribune reporter talked, the obliga
tion is derived from the Biblical pass
age: "And thou shalt wrlto them on
tho doorposts of thy house and with
in thy gates." The custom has been
known since the time of Josephus. and
at one time the mezuzah was supposed
to be a powerful factor In warding off
evil spirits. In the Middle Ages the
practicing of writing the names of cer
tain favored angels, In addition tn
the passages, crept In. Mninionlde?,
the great Jewish teacher, put a stop
to the Innovation after a vigorous cam
paign, in which he preached thnt
inoso wno liven in nouses so branded
would huve no share In the futuro
world.
Policy, Chinese Fashion.
It Is a curious thing, says the Ha
waiian Star, that here in a community
where the Chinese gambling game of
che-fa has flourished for many years
comparatively few outside of those
who are devotees at the shrine of the
goddess of'chance have even the faint
est Idea of how the game Is played.
( he-fa is a very simple game. In
deed, and in Its very simplicity lies
the difficulty which the authorities
here, as elsewhere, find in suppres
sion. It needs no apparatus or "lay
out" as do roulette, faro and other
games of chnnce. It does not even
need a pnek of cards or a supply of
chips.
Simply judgo as a gambling game
and conceding for the moment that it
Is played on the square, che-fa has its
allurements, for it is. on that bnsls.
a game in which every player has an
equal chance and the bank simply col
leets a percentage of the money stak
ed. Unfortunately for the nlnvers
however, there Is not the slightest !
reason for doubting that the came n !
ordinarily conducted Is as crooked as
mo traditional tiogs hind leg.
There are 3G characters In a che-fa
ticket, each representing some fa
miliar object. The lion, tiger, moon,
mouth, silver money, gold monev. box.
centlped, dog, rat are among thoso,
out many or tne characters represent
things which are not generally dls.
cussed In polite society. A person
who wishes to play the game seeks
an agent and gives him what such ha
wishes, from Ave cents up, at the same
nme indicating what character ho
chooses. The character Is marked off
on the agent's ticket and the fortune
seener receives a slip acknowledging
his bet or stake. Should the nnrti,..
ular character prove at the drawing to
ue me winning number the lucky play
er wins 30 times tho amount of his
stake. Thus -If he stakes five cents
he wins $1.50, or If he plunges heavily
with, say a dollar, he wins $30. But
ho does not get all that, he wins.
There Is the agent to be considered
and he collects 10 per cent or tne
amount of the winning, so that the
man who won $30 would receive only
$27 from tho hands of the agent.
It Is one of the odd traits In the
Chinese character that make che-fa so
popular with them. They are devoted
believers In dreams. If a Chinaman
earns of a rat, for instance, he will
lose no time In seeking a che-fa agent,
and backing the rat to win, and no
number of recurrent losses seems to
upset the Chinese faith in this heaven
sent sign for success. Of course, it
Is apparent that if a ian played on
every one of the 35 characters he
would In all probability win, but his win
would be a loss, for he would only re
ceive 30 times the amount or the sin
glo bet on the winning character less
tho agent's commission of 10 per cent.
Such is the game of che-fa. Boar
lng only the dream portion of It, It
does not seom to possess any partlc
ular allurements, and to some persons
even tho chance of betting that their
dreams will come true does not seem
attractive. Possibly the average
American does not have the same kind
Of dreams as does the mild-eyed Chink
That can easily be Imagined from the
casual glance at a Chinese meal and
a reflection on the possibilities oj
what even a simple Welsh rabbit can
accomplish.
Inventors In Connecticut.
Connecticut, not necessity, seems 1 1
be t BtoUer of Inventions, as mot
of tseeful inventions are madt
them
....... l1in..ll.A ill, TT...tl,..l
I lull inn II II M II I in' , ii in I 1 1 ii j . I 1 1 - ii ill I
In the very midsummer of life, nnd lie left
I. 1.. i ii .. i taut 'l'l. .1. ..... ....; i:
1113 ItllllllJ vl."fl,i' 'i
Tin1 doctor' I'rrtili-
ento showed tlmt
death resulted
fro mi t y p h o lil
fever. The doctor
himself sulil to a
friend: "Tlmt
mini was a suicide.
He bad h splendid
const I tu tion . I
could luive pulled
til in through If his
stomach I):m I been
sound. Itnt he
ruined lilsxtoitunii
bv busty meals,
n,,., t..l.,..l In
vals of business and by neglect of symp
toms which have been warning him a
year past, that his stomach wns failing
In Its duties."
The symptoms of a disordered stomach
nre, among others, vnrlslile apiietile, Miur
risings, heartburn, undue fullness after
en ting, dull headache, dingy complexion,
discolored eye, fluctuations In physical
strength, nervousness, sleeplessness de
pendency. No person will have all these
symptoms nt once.
The restoration of the stomach to sound
health, begins with the first dose of Dr.
Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery. The
cure progresses until flic functions of the
stomach nre in healthy operation. Then
the nerves nre quiet mill strong, the ap
petite healthful, the sleep restful, tho eyo
bright, the complexion clear.
"I'lense sccent my thanks for the ticiicfH
which my elillil received from your im-ill-clne,"
writes Mix Y. A. Murium, of Silicn,
Mo. "lie hml lieen tnitihlcd for netiily a
year Willi liver complaint, Imlliroslliiti nncl
constlpnlion. I trave him your 'liolilen
Medical Discovery ' and ' Pleasant Vellels,
anil they illil him irreat good. I iravc him
the 'UNcovery' almut elirht months, and
several vials of the ' Pellets.' Ho aeeins to
ls perfectly well now."
If you want a cure accept no substitute
for "Golden Medical Discovery."
CwVdtp T,"',t,, ORKHNAL Little Liver
Vi w'v''r' " ,,J' 111,1
Ver. ricrcM over 40 years niro.
have heen much Imitated hut
never equaled. They're maile of imrelv veg
ptahle. concentrated and retlned medicinal
Iitinclphis. evtracteil from native American
roota ami plants They seelllv relieve mid
cure foul, loiiilil ami deraiiKed stomachs.
Livers anil Mnwcls anil their attendant dis
tressful ailments. One or two a laxative,
three or four a cathartic.
Vast Valuo of Farm Products-
The farm products of this coun
try for the present year aggregate
$6,450,000,000 in value, according
to statistics issued fioin the Depart
ment of Agriculture the other day.
Of the immense total wheat count
ed for $525,000,000, oats for 282,
000.000, potatoes for $138,000,000,
barley $58,000,000, tobacco $52,
000, oco, sugar cane and beets $50,
ooo.ooo, dairy products $625,000,
000, beef cattle $062,000,000, sheep
and swine $283,000,000, com$i,
216,000,000, hay $605,000,000, and
the balance represents the value of
horses and mules and other pro
ducts cf the farm. The products
of the dairy and poultry amounted
to as much as the iron industry.
In the history of the world no
country has ever before produced
from soil such value in that time.
It is small wonder, in view of the
facts, that the farmers want batiks
and other conveniences and utili
ties. They produce the wealth and
Have just claim to the right to con
trol it in part. But the exhibit does
not reveal the vast wealth of the
farmers. Thty have paid off their
mortgages, improved their standard
of living and hold at present lands
of the value of more than $20,000,
000,000, horses and mules of the
value of $1,450,000,000 and agri
cultural machinery and implements
to a figure beyond the dream of
avarice.
In the lace of the exhibit how
absurb appears the preteuse that
the prosperity of this country de
pends upon tariff taxation ? As a
matter of fact the tariff policy of
the dominant party retards, rather
than promotes the prosperity of the
couutry. Upon the items of cloth
ing, machinery, implements and
othed tariff burdened articles which
the farmers consume it is safe to
estimate a tariff taxation within the
year of the aggregate of a billion
dollars. We don't say that that
amount of their earnings went into
the treasury in the form of revenue.
But it went into the pockets of the
tariff pampered manufacturing bar
ons in the shape of enhanced pro
fits and unearned bounties and the
farmers are foolish for permitting
such robbery. Ex.
Boy Wanttd.
A boy sixteen years old with fair
common school education is wanted
at this office to learn the printing
trade. Full particulars as to work
and pay will be given on applica
tion, tf
HUMPHREYS'
Specifics cure by aetinR directly on the
lick parts without disturbing the rest of
the eyatoni.
No. 1 for Fevers.
No. 2 " 'Worms.
No. 3 " Toothing.
No. 4 " Diarrhea.
No. 7 ' Coughs.
No. 8 Nourulgis.
No. 0 " Headaches.
No. 10 " Dyspepsia.
No. n ' Suppressed Terioda.
No. 12 ' Whites.
No. 13 Cronp.
No. U " The Skin.
No. 15 " Rheumatism.
No. 16 " Malaria, '
No. 19 ' Catarrh.
No. 20 Whooping Cough.
No. 27 The Kidneys.
No. 30 " The Bladder.
No. 77 ' La Grippe.
In small bottles of pellets that fit the vest
pocket. At Druggists or mailed, 2So. each.
Medical Ouide mailed free.
?w Vo??"' " Co"Cor- WUttam John Street,
CV 000 BOO opL
MVTtHll fifflffc
I 1 thiamin! R ij
ims PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AMERICA
A Most Remarkable Evidence of Pro
gression. Within tho Inst docado there l.avo
been so mnny ndditltins of depart
nionts of education that training in tin?
chosen linos of oiio'b vocatiou la an
absolute necessity. The time, bas
gone by when "Ignorant, Belf niinin
men" are possible. There can inner
bo any more bucci'hhI'uI uneilueaii ,1
men or women In this country. Mm,,
ey getting will alwuys be a ruliii;;
jiastilon with Americans, says Mis.
John A. Ixigau in the Now York Amer
ican, but the standard of requisite
knowledge hns been raised nnd hemB
decreased the opportunities for suc
cess of untutored mlnd.H.
State nnd national governments ami
phllanthrophy have provided for iiio
free education of tho public, while ex
perience, native Intelligence and travel
have Inspired persons of means with
the highest ambitions for tho educa
tion nnd training of their sons, daugh
ters nnd wards. In every community
tho educational Idea prevails ami
seems to Inspiro old nnd young with
an Insatiable desire for knowledge.
Statisticians have estimated that
tin - arc In the I'nited States 18,00(1,.
(KM students engaged In tho various
kcI.juIs In the business of acquiring an
education, some for tho love of learn
ing, n majority for the purpose of fit
ting then ti'lves for useful careers.
Including all educators, from the
university nnd coirrgo presidents down
to t ho "district sc'.iiiiiimanns," thero
are moro thau .100,(101) men and women
engaged niinunlly In teaching the stu
dents In our various educational Insti
tulions. The facts seem to Justify
tho statement that the teachers in
American schools nre second to uono
In tho world.
Discovering the North Pole.
There Is a popular belief in tho ex
treme Northwest that tho north pule
will bo discovered by a inusher, an!
not by any scientific polar expi u
This liehei i uaaiM im the conviction
that a gold stampede will event. .ally
be started toward north latitude ill)
degrees, nnd that mushors will rush
In where Arctic explorers havo fcaro.il
to tread. So completely unknown to
fame Is this uowconier in tho raoo lor
the polo that to tho majority of peo
ple, tho name suggests nothing but
cereal breukfust food.
Gilbert Parker, the novelist, who
finds his most congenial thenio In
French-Canadian life, has made hi
readers familiar with "Marcho-t'-en'."
the cry with which drivers of dog
teams urge forward their panting uui
mals. French-Canadian trappers were
among tho earliest whito men in thn
far northwest, and American prospec
tors on tho Yukon soon learned to
goad their dogs on with the same cry,
without, however, understanding the
French which, In their mouths, -as
rapidly corrupted to "Muchon!" to is
day an Alaska dug driver's equivalent
for "Gee up!" Dog drivers generally
run with the teuni, and therefore from
"Mush-on" has come tho noun mush
er, used nil over Alaska and the Yu
kon territory to designate a trallsman.
Tho musber Is generally prospector.
Btampeder and trailsman all rolled
Into one, anil Alaska trails are such
uncertain qunntuties that he has fr
quently to make his own precedents
over nowly frozen sea aud trackless
feuow. The musber achieves most of
his stampeding to new gold fk-liU
during the arctic winter, for then the
rigid sea becomes a highway and
mighty rivers need no bridging. Sun
set Magazine.
Ice For Heatinrj.
The use of ice for heating purposes
is one of the oddities of our modem
civilization. Often it happens that a
train carrying fruit from tho South
to tho Northern market encounters a
cold spoil while en route. If the tem
perature goes below a certain point
the perlshabl'j merchandise will be
ruined. But It hns been ascertained
that such a misfortune may be pre
vented by covering the fruit car with,
a coat of Ice a thing easily accom
panied by turning a hose upon It and
allowing the water to freeze until
the whole Is enveloped In a glassy and
glittering blanket.
It may. Indeed, be appropriately
called a blanket, Inasmuch as it pre
vents the radiation of heat from the
Interior of tho car. The Ice being a
good non-conductor, the warmth is re
tained and the fruit, or possibly It
may bo vegetables, goes on Us way
unspoiled even by zero weather.
Cars used for transporting oranges
and other fruit from California to tho
East are often provided nowadays
with large cylindrical "ice stoves," as
they might be called, at each nd,
which, while useful In summer time
for refrigeration, are filled with lco
during a cold spell In winter. When
the temperature outside Is at zero or
below, the Ice, at thirty-two degrees
Fahrenheit Is relatively warm and thuit
the "stoves' described act as heaten.
The Salt In the Ocean.
If the ocean did not havo salt It
would freezo somewhat more rapidly
than It does now, but there would be
no very marked difference. The ocean
Is prevented from freezing not so
much by Its salt as by Its size and by
Its commotion. On account of its sizo,
largo portions of It extend into warm
climates at all seasons, and by rea
son of Its great depth It Is a vast store
house of beat. Its currents distribute
much warm water among the cold.
St. Nicholas.
A Novel Institution.
France has a unique Institution call
ed "The Prop of Milk." for the main
tenance of lufantg (or the lint
months.