POISON PLANTS. Been Unsuspected Hitherto. The fatal adventure that befell some boys the other day who chewed thought were dandelions was an inci- dent of a kind inost unfortunately common, says the Washington Star. Only two vears ago five school chil- dren at Tarrytown, N. Y.. lost their lives through incautiously some roots which they took for sweet flag. Department of Agriculture, that the root in question belonged to common elder, which previously had ous. is to have special reference to the chemical and other characteristics of such of them are least known. The division of botany, under Mr. Coville, will try incidentally to sepa- rate the active principles of the poi- as to what uses they may be applied in medicine. It is hoped that this manner some new and valuable reme- dies may be discovered will be sried on guinea pigs animals for exnerimental purposes. One very important group of pois- onous plants, concerning the toxic properties of which very little has been known until recently’ includes certain Is and rhododendrons. In 1790 many cases of poisoning oc- currad in Philadelphia, which were traced to certain honey and to the eating of t ruffed grouse. It was p grouse had fe i on the he broad-leaved laurel, and than su pected $ he was derived by bees fron he blossoms same tree. , at this time the cause ti | sale of : Of rou a8 prohibited in the in The poisons laurels he Se of t occurred me 31 ] rai he al deaths n- dl i on f mar markets las 1 iaures h scien- broad-leaved n alyzed by 8 Date tist named PI ind by an Ameri- can named who have tained fro same hat which aracterizes i +1 3 1 a the Black Sea n comes the Oe m i he poison as the rhodo- i From this rhodo honey which is called “‘delli kal, and is used aiso to in- crease effects lig sold 1657 108. quanti During ten th wrote b zond 8 eat green “jlambkill The trai fami same Pois 3 is fo laurel, the narrow laurel und also in the mountain laurel, which is alarge leaved rhododendron. Deer feed on these plants with im- punity, and likewise the ruffed grouse. Thus it comes about that the of ruffed grouse often poisons people. Dogs fed on testines of deer that have eaten plants are poisoned. The toxic agent acts upon respiratory centers, inter- fering with the breathing, and in severe cases stopping it altogether. No antidote known. It only possible to try and control the symp- toms, A smudge made of the leaves of the mountain laurel, for the purpose keeping off insects, has been known to cause poisoning. he broad leaved leaved flesh the in- no the is is of Test for Real Diamonds. A real diamond is not acted on by acids or alkalies. When rubbed on a piece of silk it acquires positive electricity, and will attract small pieces of wool, cotton and paper, and this electrification will last some- times half an hour. A real diamond, if exposed to the sun’s rays for a time, possesses a distinct phosphor escence in the dark. It gives only a simple refraction—that is, it gives only a single image of a bright light when that is viewed through its facets. This last test is a very good one, and the electrification and phosphores- cent qualities afford two other good tests. file. If that affords no proof, the jeweler places the stone into a leaden or platinum cup with some powdered flour spar and a little oil of vitriol. The vessel is then placed over a char- coal fire in some place where the strong draught will carry off the nox- fous vapors evolved, When these latter have ceased risicg the mixture the vessel is allowed to cool, and the stone is then fished out with a glass rod. If it is genuine, no change will be noticeable; if false, it will be cor. roded by the acid. Traps English Sparrows, It every public spirited citizen who has va over the almost total loss of song birds through the pugnacity of the sparrow would follow the ex- ample set by Jack Durney, a down- town youth, 1% would not be very would return again in full force On the roof of a building in | back yard of the Durney homestead | a sparrow trap is erected, and in full swing night and day. Not only are the feathered pests captured by the dozen, but all the friends of the Durney family squares around | will testify to the fact that nothing | on earth compares with fat sparrows when cooked in a potpie. The trap is one into which the birds { hop to get the grain and bread crumbs plainly in sight Once in- gide the birds did know enough to come out. SPArrows feed more on a cloudy and windy day than on a still, bright day, but no matter what the | weather is it is a poor day when the trap will not yield fifty sparrows Mr. Durney says he is going to get his trap patented and then induce | the Legislature to pay so much apiece | for dead sparrows. Then he'll inake his trap earn him a fortune. the is for not ¥ The The Harp in the Ear. The majority” of people aware, perhaps, says the tepublie, that each of the provided with a many stringe but such is the case. The ful little instruments after their discoverer, ing the organs of Corti curious ear harps 8,700 wonderinlly ho] 7H named called h of thi is provided with y minute { varying length and thic larger are estin about 1-5, 000th of an inch in di ter. and, asshown by actual measu m are only 1-200th of an length, strings AN 8 re- ent, smaller ones fi their thickness been made mated to inch in lengt you that when lin is held near a pian string of that instrumer the correspond lin will also vibrate; rest, Now, the human ear have compass that any appr hich be f i 18 Of Corresponail nitesimall NO) narp is sr bop iv enwers I'he sounds thus noted stringed harp are through the the auditory yrinm. the sound insta sens 18 CO Eyes and Wrinkles talking, . othe cessful a foe to wrinkies in a tion of the The next ste wear plain vails, and when re or writing burriedly never it too troublesome to lift film away from the eyes Then avoid sudden transitions from one degree of light to another. This careful- ness, with continual massage, de ered by two fingers on the lids and brows, will abolish prevent wrinkles face sonsider the giack § YW - or Directors’ Fat Fees. The fees that direc corporations rcceive for attendance at each meeting range from $) to $15 It isa fact not generally known that there are some men in this town who enjoy very handsome incomes from this source. Of course, there are men of wealth and high business standing whose reputation for financial skill and probity makes them eagerly sought for as directors. Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller or J. Pierpont Morgan, for instance, would be welcomed in the directory of any business corporation. Samuel D. Babeock, ex-President of the Chamber of Commerce, has the rep- utation of being a director in more concerns in New York than any other man, with perhaps the possible ex- ception of Russell Sage. The presi. dent of one of the largest banks in this city said the other day that, al- though he was a director in compar. »tors of business year amounted to $2,000, ‘I know one man,” said he, “whose income from directors’ fees ranges £8,000 to $10,000 a year. Nearly all their directors $10 each for every | to the director as soon as he enters | the board room.” Mypnotiam for Drunkards. An English paper reports that at the Sussex Asylum eight cases (six women and two men) were treated for drunkenness by hypnotism. Two of the women were cured. The other cases seem not to have been success. ful. Two gther case were treated at Birkenhes 4 rpperently with sue | CO88, Y A STRANGE CASE. | Birds That Imprison and Feed Their Mates. One South African bir the Cape the butcher the ghoulish habit of killing smaller birds und. eating their brains, and then impaling the bodies of the little victims on the four incl thorn of the ‘' wait a bit” bushes. Another very curious bird is the variety of hornbill known as Tockus melanoleucus, Licht., re- garding which a paper by Dr. Schon- land, of the Albany Museum, was read at a recent meeting of the South Af- rican Philosophical Society at Cape Town. The nesting habits hornbill are so extraordinary they have been repeatedly to by various writers; but, the difficulty of finding the the birds. many details of earlier accounts are not quite correct, | while others are not touched updn at During t last four years Dr. land has examined, he said, no han seven nests altogether, he birds belongi to -called at bird ''—has extracting long of that referred ing to ts of the ow nos i 1 most of dove was | inAanner , f o to fe asiered Up agar the that for fu young. d d xd by stat y enty of a rther wqtigntion into the he hornbill. He OD esting 8 The Baby Giant. Thompson is a four-year-old t at Clar ¢ sville, Ind. So brother Hoth are the children of ie Thompson about five feet seven in LIV fixiesgan-months sid i Mra a spare built mat wo hes and thing 120 pounds a QGiIV husband William, er. weighing not pounds Eddie is years Sie orcve a short time ago from who more than than 24 pounds. He measu ree feet six inches height, and n forty ir around the waist. about the length of him, and he 64 in size IOASIITres ches a WOeRrs a fakes No, 9 oa to fit nine pounds at his birth. a most wonderful rate, until when he was of vears of age. With it all he is as lively as a cricket and a very pre*ty child, with strength far be- yond his years, His brother, Clyde, gives promise Though but sixteen months old he weighs forty-six pounds and is a most An experimental run on the new electric road built by the Pennsylva- nia Railroad between Mount Holly, N. J., and Burlington was made Monday, and the results attained were highly satisfactory to President George B. Roberts and other officials of the company. With the machinery new the trial run lacked some of the elements necessary for furnishing reliable data, but sufficient is gleaned to show that the days of steam oa railroads are looked upon as num- | bead. NOTES AND COMMENTS. the electricity Ix Argentina meat by a large scald that owns preservation 18 to be tried on Engli patents establishments in by an the will BiA Buenos | Banda Orien- up Ayres, Entre | al to kill 3, mm Hi Rios, and 200 head Salvation Army among its officers the the world {rerrit selebrated Dutch BUCCEessOr inmbers smallest Keyzer, dwarf and the egitimate of Gen. Tom Thumb, may now be seen in Amster- jam and The g the streets in uniform and leading the army meetings, in which he said to have been singularly successful now in in the 4 I | Hague parading is THE best tea in Japan is rai districts where the snow to the houses, plants will survive under such snow that are not hardy even in the South. ern States often eaves of Jy the same ruie some varieties of Japanese | will vive Vermont winte hardy in Missouri. has the greatest paperhang iawyers eries an iiave Deen the Lif Machinery WF it most * mat » INsLILIL es the imposing that remains meshes of the beams and orioles Another Government Building for any beauty of design more ugly than ever [he and Administration buildings have so completely bear sign of their original outlines, and it will be a relief to the eye when their wreckage is finally cleared away. In the entire park there are few beanti- 1 spots left. Only the natural features of the lanascape, such as the wooded island and the lagoons, retain their former attractiveness and in gigantic nelwork races i pParrows have built their nests. standing skelet the never noted and now Mining standing 3 the on is » - s coliapsed as to no fos sia '‘CANROT we post?’ Mr. Member of have a cable penny Henniker Heaton, | Parliament, and” auswers this fascinating question in North American Heview, He is the father of aresolution which stands on the Order Book of the Brit. ish House of Commons deciaring that it is advisable, at all costs, to put an immediate end to the cable mo- nopolies and operate them hereafter as a Government enterprise for the gmeral good, charging only such rutes as are necessary for the cost of maintaining and extending the ser- It is estimated that the total pital invested in the existing trans. | atlantic cable companies is $60,000, 00U, Nominally there is competition | between them, but actually there is | none except between the Anglo-| American Telegraph Company and the Commercial Cable Company The former company controls nine cables and the latter company three, There are three other cable lines in existence, but they have been abund- oned. According to Mr. Heston the cost of laying a transatiactic cabie Is about $2,500,000, The total asks he vice, i is stated 45,000,000, of the that sum Britisl shall ut the a comm i them estab! per word sult would be a ment of trade i fin crease in the immense ness of the great mass of the f both countries. CHARLES E SCH4F¥ER, who been elected resident of the of Oak: describes it “This nion of the Whether just al., thus is the first u | nited start a depa Sti rtment store nmount of capital they would be very do not ex You F SON0OWH a he collecti regions char- exhibit the Department of State will be practically the same as This exhibit w be ig, and will illustrate al period in our country's history. The exhibit to be made by the War Department will include many rare relics of Revolutionary times and of the early days of the Republic. All forms of army wagons, pack mules, ambulances, etc., many of them used on historic will be shown. There will also be models of harbors and river work, and a complete field signal outfit, includ ing field telegraphic and telephonic instruments. The Art Department of the exposition promises to be the most notable one that has been shown in America. It will not be too large to be properly seen, and the variety of exhibits will possibly ex cel any exhibition that has yet been attempted on be made by to i ii the pri fields An Explosive Fruit, A correspondent of M. Gaston Tis. gandier (editor of la Nature) seni him recently from Batavia a smal number of dry pods having the form and color of miniature cfgars about 8 centimeters (lf inches) long These little pods have the singuia property of exploding with a noise when they are placed in a vessel ol water. A drinking glass suffices. 1} five minutes or more, when it sud valves, as well as ‘he seeds that it sontains necessary to say that this burst’ ag is due to electricity. Cost of Indian Wars. Our goverament has had fourteen great Indian wars, which are estima. loss than 7, Yet the cavital of a single viduals. i JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. Wanted His Dus--Failure, of Course «-«His Apprehensionz~-~A bie Date~--Etc., Etc. iviovar Green—W he Brown? Brow Crreen—— Did fall They asked him in “Nay, nay,’’ he answered, broke I fear me, was my neck not oi the wi N DIVES HIS ATT His Aunt—1 fear 1 ave to administer a reprimand to you Charles, for your college follies. Charles—~Why, what have | His Aunt—From all that I gather you have been allowing your to interfere with Dro- gress in athletics. NT TES Ty ENTIO “hd shall done? can studies your ATTEAR “Why are they called pyram pa?’ asked Georgie, who was looklag at a picture of wonders of Ey pl. “They are called pyramids my son.” replied his father, without hes. itation, “because, you see, they ap- pear amid the general desolation of the desert.” AMID THE DESERT. those in WHAT ROBERT WAR DOING, Husband comes home later than usual from his club I'o avoid dis. turbing hus wife he takes off his boots and steals into the room on tiptoe. But vain precaution, his wife begins to yawn, Quickly determined, he goes to the cradle of his first born and begins to rock it singing siam- ber song the while. “Whatever are you ert?" “I've been sitting here a couple of hours trying to get the baby to sleep.” “Why, Robert, 1 have got him here in bed with me!” doing, Rob- London's Water Supply. The average daily water supply of London is 190,128,509 gallons. The water is obtained from the Thames, the Lee, from ponds at Hampstead and Highgate and trom springs and wells. The population of London is 5,401,800. ho daily consumption r head Is, therefore, 81.068 gallons or all purposes.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers