6
THE COLUMBIAN. BLOOMSBUfcQ. i
si
- ft.
i ?
51 f ' l
i i
1;
Siffercnt Ban m
Grucher was not eavesdropping.
Ha was titling In Ills own particular
chair In his own library road lug tho
newspaper, when the young people
came Into tho next room. If they
supposed that a few Spanish leather
strings and fringes in the way of
portieres were going to prevent their
rolces from being heard, that was
their affair.
It was young Brophle, and ho was
(Riling on Annette Grueher. An
n"t'e had a rood many callers, but
young Brophle was about the wors t
'f the lot, according to the old man.
tlis collars got on Grucher's nerves,
and his hosiery was an abomination
in his night. Tho creases in youns
Sronhic's trousers raailn Grucher's
.)row crease and his nose to wrinkle,
nd as for hlR conversation
"Mush, slush and drivel," said
'Jrucher, when he cot Mrs. Grucher
alone that evening. "1 never heard
inything like it in my life. Anything
nore maudlin, insane and lodlotie you
'an't conceive. I could hardly keep
from breaking out and telling him
nay candid opinion of him. If I
nought Annette hadn't any more
:-,ense than to pick out a pinhead
oung snipe like thr.t I'd I'd "
'irucher clincheo. his fists and gur
gled. "You mustn't be eo hard on him.
ny dear," said Mrs. Grucher." "I
hink he's a very nice young man and
I'm glad that you didn't hurt his
jelings. Annette would have been
0 mortified, poor child."
"I don't call him a young man,"
Towled Grucher. "He's a young
whiffet. Ho hasn't an idea in his
.ead beyond dressing himself up like
1 tailor's dummy. They're all alike
or that matter. There isn't a sensl
;le one In the lot. It makes me sick
o see them, and crazy mad to hear
.hem. It's nearly twelve o'clock
-ov and he's still there. I'm going
lowti to turn him out."
"Tou're not going to do anything
of the kind," said Mrs. Grucher.
And Grucher dian't.
The next morning as Grucher was
ttting In his office, grinding as he
ored to grind, tho boy brought a
dip of paper and laid It on his desk.
rucher picked It up and scowled at
t. Then he said, "Bho7 him In."
"Good morning, sir," said young
irophle, pleasantly.
"Good morning," returne'! Gruch
r, unpleasantly. "Who tel 1 you to
ome in here? You're not from Cull
i Fisher, are you?"
"Yes, sir," replied yc-.ng Brophio.
"They sent me over rtij to see If this
ittle matter In '"Impute could be ar
anged. I tK.is. It can. Can you
pare me a few minutes?"
Grucher nodded. The young man
ated himself and whisked some pa
srs from the breast pocket of his
oat and snapped one from the enclr
ing rubber band with an admirable
rtalnty of motion. Grucher watcjh
ig him, noticed that the youns
lan's collar was at least an inch
iwer than ne had ever seen it be
re, and that the young man's dress
hlle neat and well mting was not
mspicuously In the height of fash
n. Nor were the trousers' creases
v aggressive as usual. In fact, the
lung man's clothes were those of n
rson of action. So was his man
. r.
He was unfolding the paper when
'rucher waved It aside. "How do
u think it's going to be arranged?"
a asked in an ominous tone.
"By a check,' said young Brophie
v ttti a smile.
"For what amount?"
"For the amount in full," replied
.e young man.
"Mr. Brophie," said the old man,
f you can be of any service to your
m outside of this office I'd advise
r.i to get busy! I shall not pay one
nt of your claim. Not one
int. Do you understand that?"
"I understand what you say, of
urse," said young Brophle, "but
m promised to spare me a few ml:i
es and I'm going to prove to you
at you can't in fairness do any
:ing else than I propose. I under
nd your view of the matter and I
clearly that it is based on an irn
rfect understanding of the facts in
case, lo begin wttn, your or-
t. Do you care to look It over?"
"I know what It Is," said Grucher,
.nd I know what you people fur
shed. I think, too, that if Cull &
, sher have any proposition to make
me they might sen! a representa
" He was going to say some'
Ing offensive, but meeting young
ophle's steady gaze he thought bet
of it and said Instead, "Well, go
. ad."
Young Brophie laid down hs pa
re and entered Into an explanation
". the misunderstanding. He talk
lor about five minutes, verlfylna
1 points by references to certain
iedules and correspondence and a
print. When he had finished
Richer reflected a minute or two.
"Then the engineer was at fault?"
i added.
"Most . certainly," repned young
wpnle. "He miscalculated the ex
malon of the trusr.es. I figured
at the only possible explanation
m an error of that nature, go I
mt out there this morning to make
- .. There you have the measure
ments. Yon tan hold your citwnu
accountable for the loss, but we mus'
look to you, don't you see?"
"I see," said Grucher. "So you
dug this up, did you?"
It occurred to me said the young
man, modestly.
"You must have got up pretty car.
ly to be out here this morning,' said
Grucher. ,
"Not very," replied young Brophio.
"I caught a freight out to Batten
burg at 4.35, and walked over to the
bridge."
"You couldn't have got much sleep
then, Judging from t'.;e tlmo you left
my house," observed Grueher with
a smile. "Weii, he continued, "I
suppose I'll have to pay up. I may
not be able to get it bnck, but I'll
have to take chances on that. So
your with Cull & Fisher! Well, I
think Cull & Fisher have tot a pretty
good man."
To Mrs. Grucher that evening
Grucher said: "I guess I was mistsk
cn In sizing up that young Brophie
He was in the office to-day on a nat
ter of business and I think he's got
a considerablo amount of sense and
energy about him. But why does he
want to talk such rot to Annette?
And why does he wear such foolish
clothes when he comes around
here?"
"My dear," said Mrs. Grucher, "1
suppose you've forgot how silly you
appeared when you were calling on
me."
"There may be something in that,"
admitted Grucher,
The Fisherman's Pnradlso.
The fisherman's paradise In the
I'nited States is found at Miami, Fla.
There are other tarpon grounds than
Biscayne Bay, tut anglers who have
found their way to the southernmost
point of Florida year after year with
flattering regularity, and some of
vhom have landed from five to ten
huge 150 or 203 pounders In one day
contend that no such angling sport
can be found elsewhere in tho world,
nor so many fish as in the waters
which lap the shores of the various
keys which dot the bay and the Gulf
Stream. There are over $00 kinds
of fish between Miami and Key West,
and 160 of them are known as game
fish. One of the fascinations of the
gamy tarpon is that he is mysterious.
He comes in schoools whence no one
seems to know. He is sighted some
times as early as January, but, al
though he jumps and mockingly
lashes his six feet or so of shining,
silvery body in the eyes of the eager
sportsman he refuses to notice the
most tempting bait. In February he
begins to take the hook, and in this
month anglers begin to arrive on the
scene and to engage their boats and
guides for the season.
Iloine of the Corncob Pipe.
Franklin county, Mo., Is the
birthplace of the "Missouri meer
schaum," as those persons wno de
sire to give it a more aristocratic
name, have christened the corncob
pipe. Of corncob pipes during the
year 1907, the country exported 22,-
608,488. Besides these she sent out
912,000 pipe stems, 29,808 "clean
ers," and ids, auz wooaen pipes, iu
value, more than half as much as
was realized from live stock or her
grain exportations. Gasconade coun
ty shipped cob pipes to the number
of 1,856,640, valued at $26,890. and
showing a total shipment for the
two counties of 24,465,125 such
pipes.
John Milton's Cottage.
One of the best preserved historic
country houses In all England is John
Milton's cottage at Chalfront. St.
Giles, to which the blind and ageing
poet fled when the great plague
swooped down on London. That
was in July, 1665, and Milton had
Just finished "Paradise Lost and re.
ceived a five-pound note for it, with
i promlso of three more five-pound
notes if the poem sold for editions of
1.300 copies each. The cottage
stands at the top of the village, and
It is in practically the same condition
as when Milton left it. Here tho
poet received hia distinguished guests
during the latter part of Lis life.
Twilight.
The twilight is merely the top of
the atmosphere tinged with the rays
of the horizon-ridden sun. Small as
the air-particles are In their isolated
state, they cluster around the earth
in such overwhelming abundance and
crowd one another In such densely
serried ranks that they shine through
tteir aepths under the far-re 'ching
rays as an impenetrable solid surface
might do. Illuminated by the direct
beams of the rising or setting sun.
nd seen from the regions below, this
upper fc gives us tne pnenomenon oi
twilight
Green Hands.
Simply green unripe the most
natural designation in the world. It
was oroginally a nautical phrase,
r.eaning the Inferior sailors, or
"boys" as they were called, the crew
Delng divided Into able seamen, or
dinary seamen and "green" hands,"
or boys. The term had no reference
to age, but referred merely to the
skill or knowledge of the particular
ptrty.
DlKBstrous Reaction,
"I was awfully worried about
Johnny when he had that last sick
spell," said Mrs. Lapsllng, "and when
the doctor told me he waB going to
get well I went fairly deleterious
with Joy."
I SHINING ill
'
Bootblacks are glad to
very high rentals.
pay
ARE ACTUAL CAPITALISTS
Space In Hig Xew York Building l
Coveted by Man Who Is llolcgnt
Itifc the "Xlckel Shine" to Obliv
ion Kctisons for Growth of Bus-
A New York bootblack once said
that the shining of shoes was as
much of an 'art as the painting of
pictures. He looked upon his work
as a profession, and conducted it
accordingly. He studied the pro
per way to apply elbow grease as
well as blacking, developed a shine
that lasted three days, made a repu
tation, friends, nnd a fortune, fin
ally retiring, to devote his wholo
time to the manufacture of leather
dressings.
Before thnt mnn came from Italy
the bootblarklng industry was In
the hands of in n and boys, who
shouldered their kits and did much
the same work that Is doge by the
youngsters of to-day in City Hall
Park. Of course, there were chairs
In buildings but the average operator
caked boots with blacking and rub-
bod on a shine that rubbed off with
in a couple of hours.
He hnd imitators, to he sure, nnd
some did not hesitate tj couple his
name with their ow n, but his' repu
tation as a boothln k grew apace,
and his patrons demandee stations
In other parts of the town. He ca
tered to their wants and they made
him wealthy. He was reaily tho
pioneer of bootb'acklng, as it Is prac
ticed now, and each year sees an ex
pansion of the business, with keen
er competition among the Italian cap
italists engaged In It. They are, by
the way, actual capitalists, for It
takes much monev to swing the bus
iness. An indication of this was the re
cent rental by Joseph P. Day of space
in the Hudson Terminal Buildings to
a bootblack company, whlt.'a was or.
ganlzed for the purse, a .id will be
the only American concern in the
business In New York, Italians hav
ing monopolized the shining cf shoes
for a good many years. The com
pany took 460 square feet in the
mtln corridor of the Fulton build
ing, near the elevators, and 1100
square feet at the Cortlandt, and
agreed to pay $124,000 for a period
cf twelve years, or $10,400 a year.
Not less than ten per cent of the
population of Each buildings as the
Empira, Equitable, Schermerhorn,
Broad Exchange, and Produce Ex
change, patronize the bootblack
chairs in them. Heavy rentals are
paid In each of these structures and
there Is much competition among the
boss bootblacks when they hear that
one of the buildings hag space to of
fer in the corridor.
In the EqulUbU the ootb!ack
Btall rents for a yearly sum which
r..nges between $2,0?0 and $3,000,
while In the Empire, the rental is
said to be nearly $7,000. The pop
ulation of the latter is large, and,
moreover, the building
an arcade leading to
elevated. Through this
sage way walk thousands of
has
the
sons, many of whom 6t0i for a shine
or to have their hats cleaned. An
arcade is, of course, a much more
valuable stand than a place which
has no continuous flow of people.
Privileges In office buildings are
not th. enly ores of value. Take,
for Instance, the ferryboats and
ferry houses and railroad terminals.
ine Jtanan nrm wnicn lias the ex
clusive right to shli e shoes on the
municipal ferryboats runnl if to
Staten Island pays $600 mouth o
the city, or $7,200 a y-;ar. Propor
t.onato sums are paid for similar
privileges on the Erie, Lackawanna,
and other boats. On the municipal
ferry to South Brooklya, the privi
lege costs $900 a yet.r, although the
volume of traffic is comparatively
small when compared with other
lines.
One reason why the bus
iness has grown so large is to
K found in the fact that fewer per
ons shine their own ehoes. The man
of the present gene.atlon may own
a polishing outfit, but the chances
are against his using it regularly. He
is likely to argue that he will spend
less time and no energy If he puts
nimself In tho hands of the boot
black In his building. CerMnly the
work will be bet'er done than he
could do It at home, and it costs on
ly a nickel or a dime, an Inslgnlfi
cant sum.
But these coins are the ones that
fill the bootblack's till. Years ago
before he had weaned the f-.ew York
er froii. his own brushes, the boot
black rarely, If ever, charged more
than five cents lor a shine.
Philippine Pineapples.
It Is stated In Manila that with a
preferential tariff on the Importation
into the United States of Philippine
products there Is but little doubt
that the pineapple canning industry
in the Philippines could be made
one of the moskproductlve that could
be Introduced. At the present time
some of the finest pln.iapjilei; ever
grown are being cultivated in Hataan
and Bulacan, end even in the red
clay soil of Benguet there are crow.
Ing plei.ty of plants producing this
luscious fruit which is in so much de.
inand in the United Mtatei.
C'..'M HTOMOS HY MINEIt.1.
A SVrt.t, ;f Theft Practiced Evcrj
where riumlcrlnw In Siberia.
Statisticians compile tables of the
world'b production of gold yearly,
tut all admit thnt It Is Impossible to
give accurate figures because not a
little of the metal Is stolen and
never figures In the returns of pro
duction. In a country like China
where the Industry of gold mining
la poorly organized and controlled,
this source of error In the returns
of output Is very Important.
Prof, de I.aunay, In his recent
book on gold suys that the gold In
dustry In no country escapes the
evil of thievery. Gold stealing goes
on everywhere, but the extent of the
evil varies accflrdlng to the country
and tho efficiency of the supervision
over miners.
Gold from Its nature la easy to
steal and to sell. In the Transvaal
It Is estimated that fron 5 to 10 per
cent of all the gold extracted from
the ores of the Wltwaterr.rand are
stolen.
Tho goid thief is able to t-tenl on
a larger scale in such a country ns
Si'.ieria, where the miiiiTi nre more
Isolated nnd co;iuplioii ! more com
mon. There the thieves even ven
ture to tnmper sometimes with work
superintendents who for a share of
the pickings will give favorable op
portunities for stealing. According
to Dr. Levats statements in his book
on gold mining In eastern Siberia,
the quality of gold stolen from Si
berian mines Is not less than 20 per
cent of the entire output.
In 1896 4,000 adventurers drove
the mining companies and their em
ployes from the gold district of the
Zeya River and washed out a large
r mount of gold before they finally
fled on the approach of a regiment
of Cossacks. Not a particle of the
gold they ruined has been Included
in the figures of production.
it was found also In 1890 that
gold mining along the border be
tween French Guiana and Brazil,
where the placers were remarkably
rich had been carried on for
several years without any supervis
ion whatj' er.and not an oujcc of the
gold was Included in the statistics.
I'nmarrled Women and Cards.
Much doubt seems to exist on the
orrectness or the reverse of young
married women having visiting cards
at their own. A girl never has a
card of her own In the beet society.
To do so argues one of three things
either that she has become an old
maid or Is In a buslnes or a pro
fession or has adopted a quite unique
nd-"endence of character. To de-
fin" the age when a single woman
may iiave a card of her own is a mat
ter of some difficulty. One girl be
comes a mature woman at thirty.
while another remains a mere bant
ling even after she has reached that
milestone. Character has much to
say on the subject, and a great deal
aloo depends upon circumstances.
Nowadays even girls In high position
strike out In a line for themselves.
They write, paint, go In for nursing
or study miM;lc almost as a profession.
In such cases as these a girl would
havemany friendsapartfrom her par
ent's circle, and might have a card of
own while she remains In the
later twenties. But as a general rule
this flag of freedom should never be
aved before a single woman has
reached the age of thirty-five or for
ty, especially if she has a mother
alive, on whose card her name could
appear.
Switch Operated from Car.
The opening and closing of switch
es on street car tracks consumes a
considerable amount of time when
the motorman has to attend to the
work himself. The other alternative
13 the employment of a regular switch
tender and, of course, such an extra
band cun only be used where an un-
sual amount cf traffic warrants the
expanse. Some weeks ago these col
umn- contained an acount of an elec
trical device for controlling Bwltch
aa operated from the car. Now, a
Phlladoiphian conies forward with an
Invention which he asserts accom
plishes the same results by mechani
cal ineuns. In order to do this he
r places the ordinary switch by one
which is provided with bearings up-
or which they rock readily and is
thus turnml with a much smaller ex
penditure of power. Each cars Is
enul-ped with two levers or bars
capa le of being depressed bo that
they enter slots provided for them
in tho switch rails, which simple ac
tion rocks the rails upon their full
ness and throws the switch open or
shut, as the case may be.
The Groundhog Story.
February 2, or Candlemas Day,
was a favorite holiday, marked by
public gayety and ceremonies In Eu
rope during the Middle Ages. It
Is still marked there by tho closing of
banks and offices, but not otherwise,
outside of the reading of Church
services. In the Chruch Calendar It
is known as the Feast of Purification
of the Virgin, and was first insti
tuted by Pope Serglus about the year
6S 4 A. D. The popular name of the
day U derived from the early custom
of llgnting up the churches with
candles and carrying th -so in proces
s on. on this festival.
' As to the weather superstition
that gives to Candlemas the name of
"groundhog day," that lo a world
wide fable. In. Gorn.any It Is the
buditer that breaks his winter nnn
en this day to essay ihe thankless
task of weather proprecy; in France
ana Switzerland it is the marmot
In England the hodgehoc.-'-The
Housekeeper.
IE 1MB
How Precious Stones and met- j
' als are made.
A SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
It Ih (Julio Posnible to Manufacture
Dlmiioiids Much Hennery Tak
In,-- Place In the Manufacture of
Imitation Silver Difficult to De
tect Any of tbo Articles.
At the present time Sir Julius
Wernher Is prosecuting a French
man called Lemolno or alleged Im
posture, says the - London Times.
The Frenchman brought letters of
Introduction from two well-known
London men of business, and said
that he hnd discovered a method of
making diamonds. In an Initial
experiment ho produced a magnifi
cent diamond from the crucible.
The experiment was related to tho
Hoard of Directors of tho De Boers
Company, but t;.ey would hnre noth.
lug to do with it. Sir Julius Wern
her, however, advanced GO,000 to
tho Frenchman, In order to build a
diamond factory at Argeles near Pau.
Tho building nnd factory have been
erected close to a waterfall, but Sir
Julius afterwards suspected that tho
nm was a swindler. Ijer.iolno de
clares that he possesses the Becret of
nmkiftjj diamonds artificially, but he
refuses to divulge the operation or
to perform any experiment before
experts.
It has been said that there is more
than a suspicion In Hattan Garden
that largo numbers of artificial dia
monds nre being placed on the mar
ket as real gems. It is quite possi
ble to manufacture diamonds. In
deed, a famous Frenchman of Sci
ence, Molssan, made very large num.
bers by means of his electric fur
nace. His process was to dlBsoJve
lumps of sugar In molteniron, sub
jecting the solution to enormous
tressure.
Lump sugar may be said to consist
simply of water nnd diamond. It is
the case that the diamond Is merely
crystallized carbon. There are three
Kinds of carbon plumbago, gra.
phlte and diamond, the composition
of all of which Is Identical. When
charcoal Is dissolved In molten Iron,
graphite is formed.
AH' the diamonds found 1 ; Borneo,
Brazil, India, and South Africa, are
.r.ade In much the same manner
that is, by the action of great heat
and encrmoii8 pressure o t- earth's
Interior causing the beautlfu' white
stone to crystallize out.
By means of apparatus used by
men of science it Is possible to obtain
a heat exceeding 40,000 degrees cen
tigrade, and a pressure largely ex
ceeding 100 tons io the square inch;
that Is to say similar heat -nd pres
sure as is used by Nature in produc
ing diamonds. There Is danger,
however. In using such apparatus,
as was fchown when a Frenchman of
-cience, v.ns blown to pieces In 1S93.
Imitation pearls are produced In
enormous qumtltl s, and they usual,
lj consist of little hollow glass globes
filled with a substance yielded by
certain small fish. The substance
consists of lrredescent white matter
obtained from scales of the bleak,
and sometimes of the roach and the
dace. The supply of these -sh scales
varies, and great difficulty Is experi
enced In packing them without do
ing damage to the luB".rc. As the
scales are removed from tho fish they
pre hermetically sealed lu special
cans.
Afterwards the scales are very
carefully washed and put to soak In
water; a sediment forms which Is
mixed with liquid ammonia and In
jected Into tho glass glob- or bead,
so as to coa,t it. The best beads then
have the Interiors filled with white
wax or gum. To make the appear
r.nce more realistic tho little bulbs
have their glassy appearance re
moved by the action of the vapor of
hydiofliiorlc acid. It Is onl - the ex
pert who can detect such imitation
from the finest Oriental Pearls, and
they fetch high prices. It is believed
that forne specimens have ,.een made
that cannot be told from t-e real
article.
Many frauds have been committed
by men who pretended they possessed
the power to manufacture gold. One
oi the simplest Is the manufacture of
: til consisting one half of Iron
and the other of golu. The outside
Is then treated In such a way that
the whi.de resembles a common nail.
The result 1b that when people see
the pure gold extracted from r. seem
ingly coin mon iron nail they have
ll'cii avarice arous?d, and are easily
led to advance any sum which the
knave pretends to be necessary for
pursuing the koombs ou a larger
scale.
Much roguery is new taking place
in the manufacture of Imitation sil
ver. An alloy of aluminum and
zinc has been discovered which has
tho exact appearance of silver,, takes
a high polish, and possesses the same
weight. It Is very difficult indeed,
tc detect articles made from this sub
stance. A Thought.
I am coming to believe that there
Is -work for everybody Bomewhere. It
may not he the work we want, and
It may not be the place in which we
dprflre to stay, but it will supply
creature comforts, and that is a great
deal, says Home Chat. Most of us
have to do unpleasant things from
t'.mo to time, but It Is quite possible
hi do them cheerfully.
SPRING GUSHESAPPLE BRANDY
Farmer Strikes Underground Laks In
Pocket of Rock In Missouri
Regarded at "Unusual."
Springfield, Mo. What chance has
State-wide prohibition In Missouri
when applejack,' pure, undiluted appln
brandy, mellow with age, bubbles up
from the ground like n spring? When
drilling a well on his farm, seven
Miles north of here,' Joel Hazehvond
i t ruck a How at eighty feet of una
dulterated npp'e brandy of unusually
line quality. A dozen buckctfuls of
tho liquor hive bubbled up through
tho hole to-doy, and there seems to
be no diminishing' In quantity.
Because of the Federal statute
Hazelwnnd Is unable to sell bis strike,
hut neighbors with Jugs have been lu
vlted to help themselves, and dozen
have accepted the invitation.
Geologists here are uni.Me to git
any definite nrcount of the pheno
menon, though they give credence to
'lie theory of "Uncle Billy" Woodman,
tho oldest inhabitant. "Uncle Billy"
says thero was an orchard on thu
sight of Ilazelwar.d's farm before the
civil war, nnd In the year of 't!2 then?
was nn exceptionally bountiful crop.
Before the harvest till the men In
the country had gone to war nnd the. e
wns nobody left to gather the crop.
When tho apples became ripe n ter
rli'.c windstorm blew them from the
trees and practically destroyed the
orchard. The heavy rain. that follow
ed the wind washed the fruit Into the
creel:, from where they were drawn
Into some subterranean stream.
The apples, somewhere In their un
derground Journey were caught In a
stream of boiling water and cooked.
This formed the apple brandy, which
filtered Into a pocket of rock and re
mained there to mellow with age until
tapped by Hazelwand's well.
The geology of this section of Mis
souri Is such that the gathering of the
brandy In a pocket of rock Is entirely
practicable, ns the who country is
underlaid with n stratum of Burling
ton limestone. This limestone Is
eaully eroded by water, nnd subterra
nean lakes are not infrequently found,
although such a lake of apple brand
is regarded as unusual.
. COUNT LEO TOLSTOI
.UBS
Great age does not stale the Imagi
native qualities of the distinguished
Russian philosopher and writer. His
latest book on the subject of the re
generation of the Czar's empire is con.
ildered the most powerful appeal he
has ever made In favor of an op
pressed people.
SCARED BY BATTLE IN CLOUDS.
Sham Sight of Troops, Reproduced in
Mirage, Frightened Villagers.
Heidelberg. A terrifying pheno
menon in the heavens recently alarm
ed the superstitious vlllugers of Dorz
bach and Oberunzbach, on the fron
tier of Baden nnd Wurtemberg. In
tho clouds, Just before 10 o'clock In
tho forenoon, there appeared a bright
rod streak, on which could be plain!
seen a landscape, with flelUs, streams
end woods, among which two bodiei
of troops in battle formation wero ad
vrnclrg toward each other, firing vol
leys. The puffs of smoke were clearly
visible.
Half an hour later the picture sud
denly disappeared, but the excitement
nnd fear aroused nnions the villagers
lusted until next morning, when tho
explanation appeared in the newspa
pers of tho district that n sham fight
had been held by the garrison of Mer-llu-iulu-ini,
some twenty miles dis
tant, and hud caused tho mirage.
No Snow, No Pay, for Zeb't Sleigh.
Winsted, Conn. Zeb Holley, .of
Brushy Hill, near Woodbury, hiu
bought a new sleigh on the instalment
plan. Every time it snows he is to
make a payment on It. There have
been two snowfalls since ho boujrht
the sleigh, costing $20, and as he pays
only $1 for a snow storm he figures
he will be able to draw at least seven
months' Interest on the other fellow's
money.
Monkeys Apt Pupils at College.
Washington. That a monkey can
learn something new every day, al
though the only people with whom it
comes in contact are college profes;
F.ors. Is said to have been demonstrat
ed by the Department of Psychology
in George Washington University, Ex
periments have been conducted upon
twenty monkeys, and interesting dnU
are being arranged for publication.
The Highest Quality of Babies.
Washington. Mrs. Belva A. Loo',:
wood says that when' Prof. Max C.
Sthlapp told the Colony Club, of Nc:
York, that woman suffrage would lcid
to race suicide, he must have had
wheels in his bead.
"Suffrage means no babies?" b'.is
said. "On the contrary, It nieanE ths
highest quality o bubiij." 4
toot
.3
1