If LIGMR-fl,
The Awful Fate to Which the Hand-
Eome Jaguar and the Biff Black
Bear Are Doomed.
AMERICAN GIKLS AFTER TB.EH.
Channcey il. Depew Alter Becoming God
father to Some Five Hundred Chil
dren Has Called a Halt.
GENEEAL MAHONE ALL BEOEEH UP.
Eicrt etwut a TTijh Htsity Ajjtta la Ysrlcai
Scientific folk are mourning the extinction
of so many wild animals. The American
buffalo is practically cone, and it is said
that it Till be bnt a few years be'ore the
Eocky Mountain sheep .and the grizzlytear
in this country and the elephant, kangaroo
and a dozen more in other countries must
follow the buffalo. The carrying of bad
news is not a pleasant business, as has been
noted in effect by 'William Shakespeare, the
English dramatist, but when duty calls we
usually respond, and it is our sad duty to
Inform the scientific folk that still another
animal is rapidly becoming extinct and
probably will not hold out later than next
spring;, if, indeed, they are not all cone now,
says the New York Tribune. We reler to
the jaguar or American tiger, now having a
war of extermination carried on against it
by the sanguinary "Western girl.
i Of the many instances of jaguar slaughter
' by girls and young women lately we have
noted two, those of Miss Pauline Collier, of
Texas, and of the Misses Carrie and Maude
Eanies, o! Bob Creek, Col. In each of these
cases the ladies met the jaguar and subse
quently hung his skin on the icnce, to use a
popular figure -o I speech.
THE JAGCAB ISN'T A PET.
The reader who has never met a jaguar
(the fells onca of Linnaeus) may nave an
idea that it is a sort of an overgrown cat de
signed by nature to sit and howl on the
larger back fences nights, but such is not the
case. The jaguar is the most formidable
feline of the New "World, and though in
ferior to the tiger or lion of the Old "World,
it is not a beast,that can be shut iu a basket
and smuggled into the cars of the elevated
road. It delights to attack horses and cat
tle, and finds no trouble iu dragging them
down and drinking their blood, bnt when it
tackles the "Western girl its scin, as we
have already intimated, soon flaps on the
front yard fence.
Mrs. Susan Handfield lives near Fainted
Cave, Tex., on the Pecoa river. She is
married, but is still young. A few nights
ago her husband was away from home and
she was left alone with her little boy, named
Jesse and aged 8 vears. Just belore bed
time :he chickens In the barn were heard
making a disturbance, and Mrs. Handfield
sent Jesse to investigate.
IDE IXTBUDEB ON THE EOOF.
The boy coon returned, and breathlessly
informed his mother that a monstrous ani
mal was stalking about on the roof of the
J barn; like a bail-actor giving Hamlet's
soliloquy. Seizing a lantern, Mrs. Hand
' field went back with the boy. They had
just started when there was a loud crash in
the direction of the barn, and as they came
nearer they saw that the animal had broken
through tne roof and fallen inside. Mrs.
Handfield sent Jesse back after her hus
band's gun. While -he was gone she
thought that she would take a peep at the
animal, and so opened the door a little
and4joked in. She saw an immense jaguar
on top of a prostrate 2-year-old colt sucking
its life's blood.
"With a cry which caused the other horses
to tremble with terror, the great cat sprang
at Mrs. Handfield. Not ibeing as jet
thoroughly aroused, she turned and ran
toward the house. Mrs. Handfield ran as
fast as she could, but the agile beast kepi
close behind her, covering 20 feet at every
jnmp and lumping with extreme frequency.
When Mrs. Handfield turned her head she
could feel its hot breath on her cheek. It
was all the time uttering unearthly cries
and, as it were, beating the air into a loam
with its tail.
DOSE 'WITH A LANTEBN.
Mrs. Handfield had almost reached the
house when her foot caught in a croquet
wicket aud she felL The beast leaped upon
her with its month open to its widest extent
Mrs. Handfield rolled over slightly and
stuffed the lantern down its throat The
monster backed off, crunching the lantern
with his horrid jaws. The kerosene took
fire, and a moment later blue blazes began
to pour out between his teeth and singe off
his whiskers.
At this point the boy came with the gun,
having stopped while in the house to take
advantage of His mother's absence and eat
six spoonfuls of jam and paint yellow streaks
on the family cat with a tooth-brush and the
mustard pot, and Mrs. Handfield took it
and joined in the pyrotechnic display by
"giving the jaguar 'both barrels." He
rolled over, but still continued to lash the
helpless earth with his tail, so the lady
loaded up and again let him have both bar
rels, when he became quiet and died.
AN EVEEY-DAY PEBFOBMANCE.
She then went in and spanked the boy,
washed the cat, locked up what was left of
the jam, put up her front hair in papers and
vent t( bed.
We take great pleasure in giving full
credit to that able Western paper, the St
Louis Globe-Democrat, for most of the tacts
which we hat e narrated. Its enterprising
correspondent was on the ground early next
morning, measured the jaguar, and found it
9 feet long. Mrs. Handfield was attending
to her household duties as usual and seemed
composed, but Mr. Handfield, who had got
home some time in the night, was still badly
frightened, and watched his wile closely
and talked in a whisper. Tbusthe slaughter
goes on. The Smithsonian Institution
should loe no time in securing a specimen
jaguar before the species becomes extinct
lorever.
AND THE BEAE IS DOOMED.
But the American girl has also turned her
attention to the huge black bear. On the
edge of the worst siae of No-man's-friend
-nip, in ihe State of Georgia, near Adel,
lives a man named Jackson lUspess. He has
lour small children and a daughter, aged 15,
najied Margaret Mrs. Respess died some
months ago, and the care of the children has
since devolved on this daughter.
A few days ago Mr. Bespess went to
Savannah on 'business and was gone over
night. When it became dark Margaret put
the children to bed and finished up her
household duties for the day. Then she
read an hour or two in a "History of the
-American Theater," she being anxious to
goon the stage and play "Juliet," alter
which she, too, retired. At about 2 o'clock
in the morning the four children began to
cry for drinks of water, having the usual
peculiarity of childhood which demands
more drink between midnight and 4 A. jr.
than during any other hours of the twenty
four. IT "WAS NOT HEB BOMEO.
Margaret arose and went to the well, 100
yards distant The moon bad set and the
sky was overcast She could hear the wind
moan among the trees in .No-man's-friend
swamp. To her ears there also came from
the same place the howls of wild beasts, en
raged and ravenous, baffled in their weary
hunt for food. Suddenly she heard a slight
noise behind her as she was taking up her
pitcher to return. She paused aud strained
jier eyes tnrougn tne aarsrness. "U, Borneo,
Borneo! Wherefore art thou, Borneo?" she
Said, recognizing the exceptional chance
Which the occasion offered for rehearsal.
"Speak, love! What's in a name? "Hist!
reak off! Methinks it is a b'arl"
It was a bear, indeed, a monstrously large
swamp bear, and it was making directly for
the honse, from the open door of which came
the cries of the children as they sat up in
bed and pelted each other with pillows, aud
yelled for water, jam, cookies, seed, cakes,
pie, bread and butter and lumps of sugar.
THE DEED OF A HEEOINE.
Inslantlv Margaret dropped her pitcher,
and started after the bear. The ferocious
beast broke into a run, but Margaret soon
pressed close behind. Through the dark
ness they sped, the bear uttering harsh
cries, the girl silent, but firm and resolute.
On her speed depended the lives of her
little brothers and sisters. The monster's
head was already iu the open door, when
she leaned forward, and, as her long nut
brown hair swirled about her shoulders in
wild disorder, seized the beast by the hind
legs and drew him back from his prey.
He turned, and with a blood-curdling
growl reared up and let his forward paws
tall on her shoulders. She had fortunately
taken her father's hunting knife with her
when she started after the water. She drew
it from her bosom and stabbed the bear to
the heart. He fell back dead. She entered
the house, dressed the oldest boy, and while
he'held the lantern she skinned the bear and
threw his hide over the grindstone to dry.
BEAK MEAT FOE CHRISTMAS.
Before sunrise she had the carcass dressed
for market On Christmas Day the young
men ol Adel gave an elaborate dinner to
Miss Margaret Eespess, the most important
course being steak carved from the bear that
she had killed. After the dinner she favored
her admirers with the balcony scene from
"Borneo and Julie:," Mr. Fleming Hark
away taking the part of Borneo.
As we said, the jaguar has become extinct
through a foolish attempt to stand up before
the Western girl. The swamp bear, unless
better counsels prevail iu swamp-bear cir
cles, must follow the jaguar before the de
stroying wrath of the Southern girl. Scien
tists will watch its passing with interest
Following our usual custom in these mat
ters, we desire to give the credit for the facts
presented above to our able cotemporary,
the Atlanta Constitution.
Depew as a God-Father.
By some strange oversight or more
likely through lack of time, before the ex
posure, to develop his plans the prolifio
father of first-borns, Mr. Duval, who bun
coed nearly all the Bepublican members of
the United States Senate, failed to send a
pride-inspiring letter and a baptismal cer
tificate to Channcey Mitchell Depew, of
this city, Peekstill and America generally,
says the New York Commercial Advertiser.
II Mr. Depew had received the documents
they would not have excited a moment's
emotion in him, although he is known to be
an impulsive, emotional man. Nor would
he have rushed out to bis Secretary and or
dered him to send money and silverware to
his little Baltimore godchild. "Not by a
long shot," as Mr. Depew classically ex
pressed it
The reason for this apparent coldness is
that he is already godfather of more than
500 real or alleged children.,Captain Duval,
Mr. Depew's secretary, remembers at least
six ChauLcey Mitchell Depew Smiths.
Now, suppose that one of these should mace
a hit in the world of letters, art or business,
bow difficult it would be for him to prove
that outside claimants, of the same name,
are frauds.
These considerations have caused Mr. De
pew many anxious hours, "relieved only by
the determination to reform and prevent
any further possible complications. The
work of reformation is difficult, as tempta
tions are so frequently put in his way, bnt
he renewed his faith this morning in the
presence oi a representative of this newspa
per. "During the last ten years," he said, "'I
have received god-father letters at the rats
of one a week. Let me see SSweeKsina
year 10 times S2 5201 Why the Balti
more man left me out I can't imagine. I
don't feel slighted, however. In fact, I
forgive him for passing me over in his de
sire to give to his wonderful child the name
of the greas statesmen in Washington.
"What do I do when I receive letters from
the parents of my alleged god-children?
Well. I don't care to go into the past It is
painful lor all of us to dig up old memories
sometimes. So we'll let that drop. But I
don't mind telling you what I do now. Ido
nothing at all."
At this point Mr. Depew's cheery laugh
awakened the echoes throughou. the long
corridor on the west o- the depot
"Less than an hour ago." continued Mr.
Depew. "I received a letter from a man who
wanted me to be god-fathe: to his child.
The man stated that he was not Of the Balti
more Duval variety of parent, and he es
pecially requested me not to send any kind
of presents. This letter was so unusual that
it gave me a few moments of thought But
Captain Duval'settled it"
Hanged but Had Bevenge.
I distinctly remember the first hanging I
ever saw in a Nevada mining camp, and as
I put in ten 'years out there, and as hang
ings came to be of weekly occurrence, I
rather pride myself on this feat oi memory,
quotes the New 'York .Sun. A lazy, quar
relsome miner named Battebone struck a
man with a pick one day and killed him,
anl after a fair trial was found guilty and
condemned to hang. On the sight preceding
the execution he sent forme. I had once
given him a pipe, and had also writtentwo
or three letters for him, and he reasoned that
I was his friend. When I entered his pres
ence he held out his hand and said:
"Sav, now, yon don't believe I'm afraid
to hang?"
"Oh, no."
"Hain't no Idea I'll weaken?" i
"None whatever."
"Cause I propose to hang with a grin on
my face if I've got to hang. There is just
one reason why I don't want to. however,
and I want you to do me a favor."
"Well?"
"Go to the boys and state the case. There's
an old fellow down the creek named Champ
lin. A month ago I got into a fuss with
him, and he said I'd be hung inside of three
months. This thing will tickle him almost
to death. He'll say, 'I told you sol' and
he'll go on about the wicked being cut short
in their career, and all that, and I want to
disappoint him."
"But you are to hang in the morning."
"Yes, I kno it. but I don't want to, yon
see. Just go and talk to the boys and tell
'em about old Champ and get me off."
I didn't do anything, of course, and next
morning, when he was led out. he plead his
own cause, but without avail. Just before
he was swung off he saw the old man in the
crowd, and called him up and said:
"Champ, you pie-bald, knock-kneed old
cuss, you'll go aronnd bragging that you
predicted this, and you'll wear your hat on
your ear and step high. Dura your old
hide, but it's on your acconnt I hate to gol
I've got to, however, but I'll get even with
you. Hang me if I don't turn into a mule
and kick yon to death afore the year is out!"
Pive months later a speculator came into
our camp on a mule. The animal stood tied
to a tree, and when old Champ lounged up
to pick Up a frying pan, the brute shot out
and hit him in the temple and keeled him
over stone dead.
It Gave Mahone a Shock.
Ex-Senator Mahone relates that the most
remarkable conversation of which he hat
ever heard between a private citizen and the
President of the United States took place
recently in his presence, says the New York
Press. It was between General Harrison
and David T. Littler of Springfield, 111.
Mr. Littler is the Illinois member or the
Bepublican National Committee. He is a
brotber-in-law-of Governor Dick Oglesby ot
that State. He was a member oi the inter
State Commerce Commission for several
years, and distinguished himself in New
York, when the commission was malting an
investigation here, by requesting Jay Gould
to "speak up" as if he was a schoolboy.
After the usual greetings Mr. Littler said:
"iit. President, you have been kind
enough to surprise me with an appointment
at a member of the commission to locate a
iiBvy yard on the Gulf of Mexico. As I
did not apply for the appointment, never
THE
heard I was mentioned in connection with'
it, and did not know I wastelng considered
in connection with it, I am curious to know
if any friend, or any enemy, suggested my
appointment
"No," replied "the Presidentylaughine.
"No one suggested your name to me. I
made the selection myself."
"Because of my known IgnoraTice'of (he
subject for which the commission is formed?"
"Yes, there was something in that too,
for I am told that persons unacquainted
with navy affairs make the best selections of
such sites."
"Well, then, Mr. President, if ignorance
is a recommendation I am ready to serve. I
suppose I can take my. wife along."
"Oh, certainly, it is one of the pleasant
things about these commissions that the
members do take their wives along. I re
membered what a pleasant time you gave
me one day that I spent at yonr home in
Springfield and the drive we took in the
country, and I thought I would return your
hospitality."
There was more to the same effect, but
General Mahone remarks that when he
found that a man had actually been ap
pointed to office who. had not asked for the
place, had not been suggested for it by any
human being, he wanted to go out under the
shade trees in front of the White House and
ponder over it a while. "
Be loved the Weed.
One morning a man came around to the
hotel at which I was stopping in a small
town in Ontario aud asked if three or four
rofus wouldn't step down to a bouse two
squares away and act as pall bearers at a
funeral, as a large number of the citizens
had gone out of town that day on an excur
sion. We went down and found the dead to
be a woman, and as soon as we arrived her
late husband beckoned me aside and said:
"Ever so much obliged to you. We won't
detain you lone. We'll have a very short
sermon here, and yon needn't go to the
grave. Ever attend one before?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then I want you to post me. Of course I
feel bad."
"Yes."
"And I'll show It more or les"
"Yes."
"But would it be in good taste if I chewed
tobacco while the sermon was going on? I
could sit and squirt out of that open window
and not hurt anybody, but my daughter Is
agin it She says it would look sort o' cal
lus. Does the bereaved husband chaw, or
doesen't he?"
"I think not"
"Well, then, I won't; though I shall be
right alongside the window. It won't be
oyer half an hour, and I can sacrifice that
much for Mary. I can slip in a cud as we
leave the house, and slip it out afore we git1
to the grave, and, on the whole, I shan't be
much behind. Just go right into the parlor
and sit down, and make yourself to home."
GOT AHEAD OF A mTSBUEOEB.
"One of the. most difficult things to sell is
whisky," put in a salesman ot that com
modity, at a little gathering of salesmen re
ported in the Philadelphia Timet. "There
was a man in Pittsburg on whom I had my
eye for years, but I could never sell to him.
He invariably had a good excuse to put me
off. I called on him one day last week.
'Joe,' I said impressively, after we had had
a drink, 'I came to sell you some whisky.
Yon remember you promised to buy from
me on my next trip.'
" 'Indeed I should like to,' was the re
joinder, 'but I've just received 20 barrels
and my cellar is chuck full.'
" 'Well, buy a few barrets more,' I plead
ed; 'you can always find room for say five
barrels.'
"Joe took an oath that he was anxious to
buy from me, but his cellar would not hold
another keg.
"If I had the room,' he said, 'I'd give
you an order quicker'n lightning.'
"I was seized by,a sudden inspiration. I
went out, hunted up a real estate agent and
rented a cellar for a year. Then I took the
lease to Joe.
" 'Now, old man, I said, 'you've got all
the room you want I'm ready for your
order.' I got it, too."
It Got Too Hot for Him.
As he entered the car at East Buffalo he
saw ata glance that there was one seat with
a young lady in it, and he marched straight
down the aisle, deposited his grip audVver
coat, sat down and familiarly observed:
"I entirely forgot to ask yourpermisslon."
"That's ot no consequent." she replied.
"Thanks. Traveling alon, eh?"
"Almost, but not quite. My husband is
in the smoker, my father and brother are in
the seat back of us, and the two gentlemen
across the aisle are my uncles. The con
ductor, who is a .cousin of mine, has just
gone forward, but will return soon, and I
will introduce you to my aunt if you will go
back a few seat1?."
"Aw! Aw! I see!" gasped the man, and
the floor of the car suddenly became so red
hot that he picked up his baggage and his
feet and lit out for the next one ahead. So
says the New York Sun.
Swear Words in Advance. '
"Some people are close, for a fact," the
artistio liar and whilom salesman of notions
began, according to the Philadelphia
Times. "Last year I called on a new con
concern in Omaha, and by dint of unlimited
treatment to high-price cigars and drinks, I
managed to sell the proprietor a bill of un
derwear. There was barely 12 per cent
profit in it. The bill was promptly paid,
hut instead of the customary 7 per cent
Mr. L. haa deducted 10 per cent discount
He wrote a short note as follows:
Gents: Enclosed find check for. bill of the
18th, less 10 per cent Hoping this Is satisfac
tory. I am ditto, ditto, ditto. Yours, etc,
"Some strong invectives were used when
this letter was opened by my firm, but it
was a first bill and Omaha was a long way
off, so we determined to say nothing. Last
week I called on Mr. L. again and sold him
another bilL 'Look here,' I said,-when we
talked of dating, 'last time you deducted 10
per cent If you take off more than 7 per
cent in future, back goes your check!' Mr.
L. appeared satisfied.
" 'Now, tell me,' I asked, 'what did you
mean by writing 'ditto' at the end of your
letter?
" 'I'll tell you In confidence,' said Mr. L.
'I knew when your firm received my check
they would do some tall swearing and would
consign me to the internal regions; so I just
put in 'ditto, ditto, ditto,' as a mild re
joinder.' "
Philadelphia Can't Get Over It.
The street car is still prolifio of episodes,
gravely asserts the Philadelphia Inquirer.
It was a citizen of Haddonfield who had not
been to town for a few years and celebrated
the event He got into a traction car to go
to West Philadelphia, and after riding a
few squares, turned to a fellow passenger
and hazarded the opinion:
"Say. old man, I'm pretty full, ain't I?"
"Yes, my friend, you seem to be loaded
to the muzzle."
"That's so," added the New Jersey gen
tleman. "I'm so full I can't see the length
of this car. I've been looking out of that
front window for five minutes and I tow I
can't see the horses."
BEATDJG OK THE EOOPS.
The Fad of Rinks Next the Sky Is likely to
Spread Somewhat-'
Fnlladslphla Times. 1
The statement recently published that the
Manhattan Athletic Club, of New York,
bad turned its roof summer garden into a
skating rink, with real ice, seems to afford
an additional idea for increasing the popu
larity of the Schuylkill Navy Athletic
Club. If I remember rightly, the floor of
that building's room is also of asphalt, and
it could easily be flooded, and it is of ample
dimensions to permit the members to enjoy
a turn on their steel runners with a comfort
able consciousness that a warm, cozy room
waited them below.
What an improvement on a long, cold
ride in the street cars, a walk In the. bleak
air and then no right.to enters building ex
cept as a boat-club member, or on the invi
tation of one. The jdea has proved a suo
cess in New" York; and Is worth a trial here.
PITTSBURG - .DISPATCH...
EATING FQBHMLTE
Shirley Dare Hasn't' Much Sympathy
With the Vegetarians.
ULECTEICITI FOR BUTCHERS' USE.
Not Only the Humane Way of Killing, bat
the Best for the Meat.
EGGS AND MAJOR M'EINLETS LAW
fWEirriN ron the dispatch.:
The more highly organized the human
race becomes the more sensitive and de
manding it will be in regard to its food. The
men in the employ of the Hudson Bay Com
pany are allowed a ration of seven or eight
pounds of meat a day. The Esquimaux eat
their 40 pounds of uncooked blubber in the
21 "hours. ' Mr. Kipling's Hindoos diet on
baked crow and rice.' with ranoid butter in a
-liquid state.
But the man who reads and writes tor
newspapers or furnishes achievements for
the newspapers to chronicle must have
something beyond this -elementary sortmf
living, for action is translated nutriment
Other factors of the equation being
adjusted, as the nourishment Wi. s0
will the performance " be. "The
world is slowly going through its primer of
nutrition, by adopting theories of food, try
ing them and throwing them away. It often
throws a little kernel of truth away with
the rest, and must afterward grope in the
dust to pick it np again. The past year it
has been born upon some people that they
have nutritive organs who never were aware
of the -fact before. When brain, nerve and
will the power to originate and execute
have to wait upon their feeder, and are
practically palSied when it suffers, men be
gin to realize 'the interdependence of soul
and body, and give the latter a respect it
never knew before.
THE LAW OF WBINKLES.
When madam reaxls from eminent author
ity as follows and fells it in her hollowed
outlines of face and form, she too begins to
auerv what shall we eat to remain in force
and freshness: "The skin of the face,
wrinkles by the same law that aa apple
wrinkles. The pulp of the fruit under the
skin contracts as the juices dry up, and the
skin, being too large for the contents, shriv
els and lies in fold?. When the fat under
the skin of the cheeks and figure which in
youth is abundant begins to be absorbed the
cuticle, whioh so long as this fat existed re
mained smooth and even, begins to shrivel
and fall into lines, because it is no longer
fitted to the lining beneath it." ,
Not an absolutely accurate way of stating
the case, but true in its limit How, then,
is madam to retain her good looks and the
master of the house keep the free step, alert
mind and general sense of well being as
long as they have use for these things? I
think myself that people should attend a
health class once a week or fortnight just as
well as go to a Brownin? club, an art class
or a prayer meeting. The interest of the
subject would hold out longer.
THY DANIEL DIETED 027 LENTILS.
It is singular that no one has thought to
quote the example of Daniel and his diet of
lentils in this connection, and Daniel was
supposed to see into things as far as most
people. It never strikes any of the vege
tarians who cite his case that it might in
clude special reasons for the diet Probably
the meat of the Assyrian city was prepared
with no more care than that of India to-day,
where we read that ot every three Tommy
Atkinses one suffers with tapeworm from
the detestable meats of that ancient and un
changed Empire, where the very cows and
pigeons develop tastes for unclean food,
and where, as Miss Ormerod Wilson, the
entomologist, tells us, the grasses and grain
of the waysides are smitten with rust and
fungus from ground defiled by cholera
breeding pilgrimages.
A clean bred, hearty youth might for
swear such meat while at college without
being a vegetarian at heait, and there is
nothing to show that Daniel kept to his
baked beans after his promotion iu the Civil
Service, where be could eat of the King's
meat. The vegetarian question needs closer
scrutiny than it has yet received, none of
the arguments in its favor bearing rigid in
spection. For instance, the nation quoted
as living on vegetable food never omit meat
If they can get it
ALWAYS HUNOEY TOE MEAT.
The Chinese, who are a stock example,
add to their rice diet all the pigs, dried fish
and smoked geese they can raise; the Hin
doo of low caste will eat anything with a
scrap of meat on it, crow, water rat or mus
sel, and the Italian, supposed to liye in un
qualified strength and comfort on macaroni
and tomatoes, in fact flavors it with goat's
milk cheese, and drenches his food with oil,
and suffers hideous skin disorders from liv
ing on polenta and bread without meat.
The English vegetarians of to-day use
milk, butter, cheese and eggs so freely that
each family would need a .dairy to itself,
and if the kme were killed off on some pre
text there would be more beeves than
Britons in the island. The more advanced
of the sect deny the use of bread in any
shape as unnatural. For it they substitute
such fare as this, gravely proposed as a day's
ration of two meals: Three pounds, ripe fruit,
two pounds dried, four eggs.'one-quarter to
one-halt pound of cheese without asking
whether your' brother likei-it or not one
quarter to one-half pound of almonds, one
pint of milk. This is the allowance made
out by Mr. Hardinge, of Weybridge, a de
Tout believer in no meat
MUST HAVE GOOD DIGESTION.
The idea of putting so much dried fruit
into one daily requires a stronger digestion
than most people have to spare, nor is the
amendment of dried fruit soaked in distilled
water or milk much better. Crumpets are
not to be mentioned for filling properties be
side such diet. The digestion of these vege
tarians is something abnormal or their
stories are.
Witness the menu of the luncheon which
Dr. Helen Bensmore gave in London last
fall to George Meredith, the novelist of "the
fleshly school." The feast was coldly set
forthwith dates, prunes, figs, grapes, raisins,
pears and apples, berries, assorted nuts,
cheese in variety (no mention of crackers
did they eat powdered parmesan on the
blackberries?) with milk aud lime juice for
beverages. Let us hope they were not
mixed. Just before leaving we are told
that the servants handed round cups of hot
water. With a little ground mustard and
salt one can imagine the warm water serving
a useful purpose after such a monkey's re
past Oqe would feel after it as if he had
lunched off a whole grocery. One can see
Meredith taking leave soon after the hot
water in search of immediate brandy and
soda, and ordering a very large, well cooked,
beefsteak for dinner at the club that night
A BLOW AT VEGETABIANISM.
But what strikes a blow at vegetarianism
is the recent defection of Dr. Alanus, the
leader of the vegetarians in Germany, who
formally renounces the diet, declaring- that
in his experience abstinence from animal
food is the source of atheromatous arteries
a form of heart disease with which no one
wishes to be betteracquaiuted than byname.
It is no wonder, however, that the ultra
vegetarians eschew bread if it is on the
usual health order. The placard "unfer
mented bread" attracted me the other day
in the hope of something eatable, but the
loaf handed out was enough to strike cold
to the vitals at once. It was a very sad little
loaf, not half the size it ought to be for its
contents, and pale as if baked in the sun. I
can't imagine any one eating such half
baked paste who 'had a soul to save. The
proper way to have light bread is to bake it
in such heat that it rises light with its own
steam, and no common baking heat will do
this. Till we haye betterovens home tables
must be satisfied With sweet yeast bread or
that raised with baking powders, about
which there is more fuss than there la any
call for.
BAKING P0WDEB3 NOT DANOEKOrJS.IS
Some bakine powders economize by using
weaker acid than usual, but' there are few J
SUNDAY, JANUARY I,
-wbich-can be called Injurious, provided
used in right quantity. 'The, Hour is In fault
more-than the powders. A physician of
taste and experience told me lately of a rich
bater who showed him proudly his ware
house, with S00 barrels of flour stored for
use next fall. He was keeping it till it
grew old.
"Butr" the'doctor said, "you don't pre
tend that '.old flour makes a good bread aa
new?"
"No," said the baker,"but it makes hand
somer goods." ,Tnat is, it makes -whiter,
chalkier bread, with the flavor and nutri
ment wasted by a year's keeping. White
flour, extra fine flour, old flour are all detri
mental to the nutrition and richness of our
bread. Prance has held her own among na
tions for centuries against strong odds, more
by virtue of her sound bread, which is of
better quality than that of any other people
except the few who use unbolted flour as it
should be baked. I believe they had to
hang a baker or two to fix the standard, but
it has been kept up ever since, and French
bread is the acme of the baker's art We
need a rigid supervision of the food brought
to market, from the farmers' soil till it
passes our lips. T
WELL KILLED MEATS.
It is not enough that the cattle be of
healthy stuck, given pure water to drink
and grass free from fungns, and kept from
musty hay and grains. They must not be
sent to market in cramped, loul cars, which
iu transit develop disease in the carcass.
No( alone humanity, but our own self
interest demands that the flesh for onr food
should not be that of animals fevered by
days and veeks of torture and thirst on
board cars, and dying at last in maddened
agonies under the butcher's ax, but that it
be as carefully kept before it comes to our
refrigerators as it is after.
The method ot killins animals should be
as brief and merciful as the intelligence of
man can devise, for the sake of his own
children who eat of the meat If the fright
or anger of a woman can transform her
babe's mils: into acrid poison, as experience
tells, the agony and fear of a tortured creat
ure cannot but cause a similar baneful
change in all its tissues. The flabby, reck
ing quality of beef and its unnatural taste,
which no cookery can disguise, often tell a
tale which would deter one from eating, if
it were the finest flavor. Such meat must
decay sooner than that properly killed.
ELECTBICITY TOE BTJTCHEB3.
Electricity seems the best method of slay
ing cattle for food, as it leaves the blood in
a liquid state long enough to admit of
thorough bleeding, and the flesh must have
more wholesome quality and higher flavor
for being killed without pain. Poultry and
small animals may be,kiiled so easily with
outpain that there is no excuse for savoring
our dishes with the reminder of the victim's
death agonies, and thousands besides me
feel that sustenance is too dearly bought at
the price of one mortal pang of a fellow
creature. Such all things creeping, flying,
walking that have nerves must claim to be.
Killed they must be to make room for
others, or the globe would be overcrowded
and the weak perish by assaults ot the
strong. But we who think may be content
to reserve the supreme sufferings of animal
nature to ourselves and let these harmless,
useful servants after a iappy life die pain
iessly, unconscious ot their doom. There
are pangs enough in human sufferings with
out the torture of dumb innocents.
The pamphlet "How to Kill Animals
Humanely," by Prof. Slade, of Harvard
University, should be in the hands of all
who kill tor business or those who kill from
their own poultry yards or who must put
some disabled dog or cat out of the way.
Professor aud Dr. Blade's words may be
quoted here as to "there being no question
as to the effeots of torture, cruelty and fear
upon the secretions, and if upon the secre
tions necessarily upon the flesh."
LTTEBATUBE ON THE SUBJECT.
Until electric killing is possible nothing
better can be advised than the methods of
this tract of a dozen pases which describes
clearly by words and drawings how to kill
any creature painlessly and safely. Every
mother should have it to teach her children
of suitable age how to perform necessary
operations mercifully, and never allow boys
or girls to make sport of tormenting a sick
cat or old dog to death. The brochure is
distributed gratuitously bv the Massachu
setts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
in Boston, but simple decency will prompt
a small contribution with applications for
it The matter of painless electric killing
of food animals ought to be insisted on at
once as due to public health. The gain in
the quality of food will more than balance
the expense of its introduction, to say noth
ing of the better keeping of meats by this
process.
Vegetables and frnit demand rigid inspec
tion, aud roots especially should not be al
lowed to enter the markets in the diseased
state so common. It is an imposition on the
health and pocket of the consumer to buy
such potatoes as are sold, two-thirds of
which are not only uneatable but dangerous.
The use of unwholesome fertilizers not oxi
dizedas all such matters should be before
using on soil for food, is cause of much of
this decay, aud sour, undralned soil must
answer for the rest.
DANGEEOTJS FEBTILIZATION.
Fertilizing with sewage as at present un
derstood is aTisky thing. The wastes of a
city, with the poisons of typhoid fever and
other malignant diseases potent through it,
with virulent acids and gases, need purify
ing as by fire before they are fit to approach
the manufacture of food in the soil. The
relation of diseased products with diseases
of the soil, fungus of crops arM insect pests,
is a curious and interesting study for those
who would see this world a garden as at
first
Fruit, too, burrowed by insects, corky and
hard, with more woody than cellular tissue,
ill-ripening, early decaying, is far from be
ing safe food, and has contributed to the
popular idea of its unhealtbiuess. Garden
vegetables resent ill care, with a tendency
to develop dangerous alkaloids instead of
refreshing j dices. This is why cucumbers,
squash, eggplants and tomatoes occasionally
prove acrid poisons, and lettuce will drag
the eater as effectually as a dose of opium.
The protection against these evils must be
fastidious care iu choosing food. Reject all
roots scarred with the beginningof disease
or decay or eaten by worms, all that are not
tender, clear skinned and well colored
throughout. Be as particular about (the
ripening of tomatoes as you would be of a
pineapple; take none but the palest, crisp
est lettuce, and burn all inferior fruit. You
will miss a great many uncomfortable sen
sations by this fastidiousness, and the
farmers may learn the profit of growing less
crips and better ones.
WHAT WE OWE THE ll'KINLEY BILL.
As to eggs, the only food it is hard for
growers or cooks to spoil, the tariff bill has
efficiently debarred the masses that is,
most families from the possibility of in
dulging in this luxury. With the cool,
early autumn, when liens usually resume
their suspended labors, and a fresh pair of
eggs for breakfast puts strength into semi
invalids, there was surprising dearth this
year. In September, when they are com
monly a quarter a dozen, they went up to
Christmas prices, and the worst was, were
not to be had at all. At one time the largest
grocery house in Boston declared the market
swept of fresh eggs and had not one to sell
its customers at any price. I asked a good
poultry keeper the reason of this scarcity
and he said:
"I don't know, unless it is the McKinley
bill." The idea of hens being, interested
in the tariff never struck me before, and I
craved information.
"Why, yon see, it has hindered the
Canada eggs from coming in as they used,
and we can't mate up the supply."
The American hens didn't seem to realize
the opportunity at all. and resolutely re
fused to increase production for any tax laid
to protect home industry.
I will not hereafter undertake to answer
any inquiries of any sort privately on any
conditions. Three thousand letters the past
month have overtaxed time and strength so
as to make this decision imperative. Kind
ly remember this intimation, aa it will save
some disappointments.
Shibley Daks.
Look io your interest. You can buy
Salvation Oil, the great pain cure, for 25
cents.
MADE MILTOS DREAM.
The Mo'riastery of Yallomfcrosa Which
Inspired Paradise Lost.
TRAGIC STORY OP ITS FODHDIHG.
The Wondrous Panorama That Unfolds
From the Mountain Path.
A SIGHT WITH CHAECOAL BUENERS
ICOBBXSFOirDXlfCI OT THB StSrATCSl
Florence, Italy, Dec 12. That is a
sweet old tale the books tell about the origin
of Yallombrosa. It is hoth sweet and largely
true. A man of arms, about to take life in
revenge for the murder of his own brother,
suddenly filled with divine compassion for
his enemy, forgave him. This man Giovanni
Gualberto, to commemorate, his salvation
from a damning deed, built the monastery
of Yallombrosa, nearly 900 years ago. Mil
ton, in the three lines,
Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where th Etrurian shades
High overarch'd embower
made Yollombrosa endlessly live, in the
minds of men. If to the monastery's sup
pression had been added its material de
struction, it would still forever arise against
its emerald mountain-side, as millions, read
ing Milton's words, see the vision he saw in
his swift longing to again dwell with its
monks, and yearn as he yearned to know the
cool depths of its restful .shade.
THE STOUT OT A HUBDEB.
About 1,000 feet from Yallombrosa's gates
is a fountain of the purest water, leaping
from an ever-living spring. On a summer's
day in 1008 Giovanni paused at this foun
tain in search of a hermitage. His family
was one of the noblest of Tuscany, from the
royal race of the Carlovingians. He was
reared to the fortune of arms and received
the education of a nobleman of his time. In
his early life his career was recfeless and
fiery. One of bis best loved friends, Vis
domini, quarreling with his idolized brother,
Hugo, plunged a dagger into his heart and
killed him. Giovanni swore vengeance
uponYisdomini,ipursuing him in vain for
years.
At last on the morning of Good Friday in
1003, when on his was to Florence accom
panied by his bodyguard, he suddenly met
his enemy in a narrow, rock-bordered forest
path. Yisdomini was at Giovanni's mercy.
The avenging brother drew his sword and
called upon the murderer to prepare for
instant death. Without attempting de
fense, he fell upon his knees, aud with
hands outspread in the form of a cross, sued
for mercy. The mode ot prayer touched the
heart of Giovanni. Springing from his
steed he lifted his enemy to his feet, forgave
him, and dismissed him with bis blessing.
BETOBE THE CBUCIFIX.
This much is true; act as herolo and God
like as ever impassioned rhymer sung. Then
perhaps legend comes; if legend,still tender,
fitting sequel to glorious self-conquerin?.
Filled with holy awe at what he himself
had escaped, Giovanni straightway songht
the neighboring monastery of San Miniato.
He prostrated himself before a crucifix in
prayer. Long and earnestly he cazed upon
thefigure of Christ above him. Lol the im
age bent its head aa if with blessing at his
act of mercy.
Thereafter follows historic truth. Gio
vanni related the miracle to the abbott; ab
jured bis wayward career; sought to enter
the brotherhood; but was for a time dis
suaded on account of his noble father's op
position; but finally took the religious vows
of the order In April, 1004. His piety soon
became renowned. On the death of the
abbott of San Miniato in 1008, he was chosen
to succeed him, but refused the office under
a desire to seek a still more solitary retreat;
and it was at the fountain near. the peak of
the Pratomaeno mountain, where be had
halted iu bis solitary wanderings. Near the
spot, which was then called Acquabella, he
found two hermits, Paolo and Guntelmo,
who were living in huts. These joined him,
and there soon was gathered a little com
munity of monks and hermits.
BOTtfEIUNQ AND THEN 7BOSPEBTXY.
Their suffering, privations and self-inflicted
tortures were horrible. Eobbers and
wild beasts surrounded them, and both
preyed upon them savagely. Their homes
were at first low huts with a cross planted
before each, and a central place for prayer;
while a rnde wooden paling enclosed all.
The fame of their sancity became so great,
that gifts flowed in upon them from every
hand. Emperor Conrad II., the Empress
Gisela and all the court visited them aud
left generous presents. Complete ordinances
of the Benedictines were finally adopted.
The original hermitage, Eremo, built in
1013, was repeatedly enlarged, until finally
completed in 1640 as the structure stands to
day. The order of Yallombrosans, COO years
after the death of San Giovanni, which oc
curred in 1070, after he had attained the
ripe age of 83 years, had become the richest
and most powerful in Italy; and this one
old monastery held their chief treasure.
For this order Ciambue painted his priceless
"Madonna;" Perncino his marvelous "As
sumption." But Yallombrosa's dark days
came in with the French Bevolution.
STBUOK DOWN BY NAPOLEON.
When Napoleon's council debated whether
the Yallombrosans should be spared, because
they kept the wolves thinned in the moun
ains, it was asked:
"Shall we have monks or wolves?"
"Wolves!" was the answer.
The monastery and church were despoiled
of their priceless treasures; the immense do
mains were seized; -and the monks were
driven from their cloisters. Then, when
Napoleon fell and Tuscany welcomed back
the sway of the Austrains, the monks were
reinstated, but their matchless paintings,
wondrous vestments, their art treasures,
and their stores of books and priceless
manuscripts had been scattered forever.
Yictor Emanuel in I860, at the Italian dis
establishment, completed their extinction
here. The place is now used as an agricul
tural school, with a corpse of resident pro
fessors; and just above the monastery is an
observatory, one of the Italian signal and
weather stations of to-day. Beautiful as ever
is the matchless enviornment. No ruthless
hand can drive from its cloisters the forms
with which your fancy peoples it. San
Giovanni and Milton are still here. Yal
lombrosa's bells still call you and I from
a thousand leagues away, and their echoes
will never cease their melodies while Pra
tomagno mountain stands.
THE BASEST OF SCENEBY.
If you so to Yallambrosa, walk. It is
only 17 miles as the crow flies; perhaps 22,
by the entrancing way. Every mile oi it
gives changeful and bewitching views in
that most dreamful of all garden spots of
Italy, the valley of the Arno. Leaving
Florence by the Porta alia Croce, the way
leads along the right bank of the Arno.
Scores of white valieTS thread it as pearls
upon a necklace, and here and there are
crosses and quaint old shrines. At Pon
tassieve, the road diverged from the Arno,
leading over the hills; and the real ascent of
Pratomagno to Yallombrosa here begins.
Pelago is soon reached; Pelago, a crooked
little town, with bad inns aud swarms of
beggars, by a brawling stream; where of
wild nights when the wind howls over the
mountains, the old crones shudder and
whisper, "Ah, the ghosts oi the dead friars
have come back to chant their litaniesl"
Then, across blossoming spaces, past ter
races of olives and grain, winding around
the edges ot precipices above misty torrents
tumbling towards the Arno, and often
through silent arcades of firs where the sun
light freckles the way like a brown Gipsy's
face, a six-mile tramp brings you jo the tiny
lumber hamlet of Tosi. From Tosi a paved
way along which stand gigantio crosses,
leads up, up, up to the monastery; 5,000 feet
above the sea-level. In the old days' the
monts went and came on hardy little don
keys; visitors were brought In a carrozza da
buoi, or "cow.-chariot," a wicker: basket set
on a sledge drawn by thole wondrous dove-
colored oxen of Tuscany; but nowthe old
paved path has been transformed into a
modern road, and visitors may ride in car
riages from Florence to Yallombrosa's gates.
THE CHAECOAL B0BNEB3.
At Tosi I looked up the mountain and
saw away to the right, and above where I
knew the monasterv lav. lines of blue smoke
in feathery pencilings against the dark green;
oi tne massed mountain nrs.
"Those are the carbonari. They never
leave the mountain, save on feast days,"
said a kindly carrettajo. "When they come
to Tosi for wine and oil, they are so black
and dreadful our children run and hide.
But they do not harm."
So, with a vagarous impulse of adventure.
I turned aside from the paved mountain
way, and, with the cartman's son for a
guide, skirted the mountain, coming in a
two hours' tramp through dense forests of
beech, chestnut and pine, with here and
there a blackened opening where trees had
already been burned, or sunny space,
where sportsmen and shepherds snare
the mountain birds, I came to a charcoal
burner's camp, and was hospitably received
for the night Thee carbonari form a dis
tinct class among the mountains of Italy.
They generally live in the villages, the wife
and daughters engaging in the vineyards,
gathering olives or chestnuts, and often an
shepherdesses with (mall flocks. The
fathers and sons go from one forest to an
other as the owners desire charcoal made.
A NIGHT IN THE CAMP.
The landlord secures the felling and cut
ting of the trees, and the carbonaro simply
attends to building and firing the pyres
and watching day and night their
smoldering progress. In this labor
the sons share, and regular watches are taken.
The logs are stood on end in round piles
of perhaps 18 feet in diameter, covered and
chinked with mosav earth and then fired in
a central hollow which has been filled with
chips of dry timber, fir cones, chips from the
logs and dead leaves and grass. Once well
ablaze, this flaming tunnel is covered with
moss and earth, and the pile is then left to
smoulder for five or six days. When reduced
to carbone or charcoal, the carbonaro de
livers it to the owner, packed in sacks, two
sacks comprising a donkey load, for which
he receives about 10 cents, or about $2 for
each burning, yielding 40 sacks.
At this camp, an unusually large one, a
score or more carbonari were at work; and,
as the burning was to be for an extended
period, some six or eight of the carbonari
had built temporary huts and had removed
their entire families te the forest This gave
life and picturesqueness to the scene,
especially at night A few iron cressets
had been fastened to the tree trnnfcs, and the
crackle and flarings of cones and knots lent
weird colorings to the motley groups of
women with dazzling teeth aad eyes, and
men grimy and swarth beyond all descrip
tion. MELODY IN THE SHADOWS.
I could not repress the feeling that I was
at my old wanderings with my Gypsy
friends acain: and as the night gathered
close its sable wing over the majestic forest
trees above, and, one by pne some
strange instrument oi music was produced
from the shadowy huts, while melody and
dancins added their fascination to the wild.
strange scene, a thousand recollections of
days with the Joommany swept back on
Pratomagno's darkened heights. Deeper
still crew this feeling as I was shown to a
couch of fir branches for sleep. It came not
for hours, for in the gentle soughing of the
firs, the calls of the watchers to each other.
and here and there through the camp, sup
pressed tones of melody, as those who
watched grouped together and reassuringly
sang low and soft the stornelli of Italy, I
was with my loved vagabond friends by
their witching camp urea in my own loved
land.
When the morning came, after a break
fast of pan unto, bread fried iu olive oil,
and many a kindly "addiol" and "vale!"
from my grimy hosts, I found my own way
back to Tosi. On such a June morning as
that in which I journeyed, the songs of
birds, tne .uolian music ot torest breezes, so
bewitch one all the way from Tosi, that
suddenly and without warning yon are at
the enchanting mountain eerie of Yallom
brosa.
THE MONASTEBY TO-DAY.
The spot itself comprises but a few acres
of level meadow, through which runs a long
avenue of stately trees. At the end of this
avenue stand the lichened and gray old
buildings. On one side of the sunny open
ing miles on miles of firs rise in serried
ranks to the very top of Pratomagno; on the
other, thousands of chestnut trees glow in
their golden foliage. Bebind and above,
hosts of sturdy beeches climb the mountain.
There are still standing 40,000, planted by
the busy priors' hands.
The monastery itself is a huge quadrangu
lar structure, with spacious inner courts.
The ancient church, completely robbed oi
its former treasures of paintings save an
Assumption by Franceschini, and the cupola
frescoes by Fabbriui stands in the center
of the courts. Its massive square tower rises
grim and lone above the half-deserted build
ings. Perhaps a score of folk, professors,
students, signal-bureau agents and govern
ment foresters, who act as a sort of mountain
police about the'sequestered property, abide
here, surly, inhospitable, and as if dog
gedly conscious of the sacrilege in their
pretence of scholastic life. The old
Lmonastry bell still sounds the hours, but
ll speacs only to silence and deoay. The
great water basins which held the monks'
trout preserves are filled with dead leaves.
The wondrous old kitchen, a mighty trun
cated cone, where, swinging from a huge
turnspit, the oxen once were roasted, is cob
webbed, cold and fireless. The Me lata,
where an hundred cows were kept, is unten
anted. Paradisino, the ancient hermitage
on the cliff above the monastery, with its
celle, tower and church are stripped, and
transformed into a hayloft The half-ruined
mill, underaeaih which rushes the Yicano,
is deserted and still. Marvelous indeed
is it
NOTATION FOB MUSIC.
In this cell which now a stripling student
makes his camara da letto, the good monk
Guido originated the modern method of no
tation in music In these larger rooms re
posed at different times the noble forms of
Emperor Conrad IL, Empress Gisela, the
Abbess Ita, Countess Ermellina, of San
Pietro Igneo after being triumphant in his
ordeal of flame, of Popes Yictor IL, Alex
ander IL and IV., Innocent II., Pascal II.
and Leo IX., of Beato Tesoro Beccaria, the
martyr, and that grandest type of all Italian
culture and chivalry, Lorenzo the Magnifi
cent. CbristophanoLandini, the celebrated
commentator of Dame, made Vallombrosa
his haunt The famous botanist, Buono
Faggi, Mattio Bandello, Boccacio's rival in
letters, and Bern!, the brilliant humorist,
all lived aud meditated at the hospitable re
treat Dream among its cloisters and groves as
long as you may, and then go your way
never to return. The mot priceless associa
tion that remains to you, as to all men who
speak the English tongue, is that Milton
knew and loved this idylic spot For
months he was its welcome guest Yollom
brosa was the fountain of his inspiration.
Here was conceived the plan of a great and
ennobling Arthurian epic. That gave place
to a loftier, grander theme whose sub
lime motive, imagery and accomplishment
form the diadem in all that crowns the
English tongue. Because Yallombrosa was
the fostermother of "Paradise Lost," men
will ever bless the sweet old mountain-nest
Edoab L. Wakeman.
HE KTJ27Q OK THE FENCE.
A Philadelphia Man Gets Drunk and Sticks
Fast to a Picket
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Patrolman Watson, of the Second police
district, was startled yesterday morning by
the discovery of the body of a man sus
pended from one of the pickets in the
schoolhouso fencs at Q rover and Christian
streets.
An examination showed that the man was
breathing heavily. He bad attempted to
climb the fence to find a place to lie down,
and had fallen and hooked himself iu the
back. Ha was so drunk that he could not
stand, and when arraigned before Magistrate
Kane gave his name as Walker Wild, of the
rear of 13M Alter street He was sent to
prison for six hours.
VHY-LfeHTS GOOPtV-
The Usual, Cause is the Burning Oat
of the Safety Fuses,
ADYAHTAGESANDDISADTABTAGEa
How FIrea Are Often Started From Electric
Light Wires.
A GOOD PIELD FOE THE LN'TEHTOES
iwnrnxx ron thx dispatch.!
In every electric circuit there is, or should
be, a lead fuse the object of the fuse being
to interrupt the circuit whenever the current
becomes abnormal. Any abnormal current
will, through the medium of a fuse, cause
interruption of the circuit by the heating
effect of the current and subsequent melting;
of the lead fuse. When the lead is melted
air is the only medium left through which
the current can flow In that part oi the
circuit previously ocenpied by the lead.
But as air is a very poor conductor of
electricity, the current will be unable to
flow it will be dammed np, so to speak.
It frequently happens that an electric ,
generator becomes short circuited a short
circuit on a dynamo corresponding to "the -giving
away ol the dam of a reservoir of :
water; but if there is a fuse iu the circuity
the tremendous rush of current, due to tho
short circuit, instantly melt3 the fuse and
danger is thus averted. A lead fuse is then
an automatic safety device or circuit inter
rupter, and at hrst sight it would appear
cheap and reliable, and in fact everything
that could be desired for that purpose. But,
on closer inspection, it is found to be sur
prisingly unsatisfactory. The usual snaps
of a lead fuse is that of a ribbon and about
two inches long. The ends of these short
ribbons or fuses are punched to admit of
clamping screws, so that the fuse can he
readily connected in the electric circuit
HABD TO MAKE CONTACT.
The first trouble occurs right here with
these clamping screws, for lead having little
or no elasticity, the screws soon work looie
and produce a poor contact between them
and the lead. Now a poor contact means
greater resistance at that point, and this in
creased resistance causes heat, which will
soon result in melting the fuse, though the
current had not become excessive. Corrosion
is another of the many troubles connected
with lead fuses, more especially with very
thin fuses intended for light currents. If
corrosion gets in under the clamping screws
. poor contact is formed and the fuse destroyed
at a most inopportune moment Corrosion
will also reduce the carrying capacity of the
fuse, and again the fuse will "let go" when
least expected to. It is in this way that
fuses have become largely responsible for th
now familiar expression, "the electric lights
went out"
Further trouble is found in large fuses,
intended to carry verv heavy currents. Such
fuses have to be comparatively thick and
contain quite a volume of metal. The con
sequence If, that, if a short circuit on the
line should occur when the fuse is cool, it
would take some time, perhaps a half a
minute or more to heat it up to the heating
point, and in the meantime much damage
might be done to the electric apparatus in
the vicinity. Still anotherdangerand weak
point in lead fuses is their failure to
promptly open a circuit containing a high
pressure current. The failure here is due to
the fact, that when the lead melts, heavy
metallic fumes are formed through which
an electric arc is maintained. This vapor
of lead, although a poor conductor com
pared with copper, is much better than air;
so that currents having a low pressure of
only 200 or 300 volts are unable to force
through it and so maintain the circuit But
high pressure volts of 800 or 1,000 volts find
the lead vapor a sufficiently good con
ductor. 9 HOW ITEES ABE STABTED.
The result is an arc often of great magni
tude, which, if not promptly extinguished,
will set fire to and otherwise destroy all ob
jects within its reach. Even castings and
all copper connections are melted like so
much wax. And yet, in spite of all these
drawbacks and objectionable features, bad
fuses are in constant use on all electric cir
cuits. Here, then, is a rich field lor in
ventors and one that will pay handsomely
for reasonable success. Many electro-mechanical
devices have ben 'invented for
.automatically partially or wholly checking
the 'flow of an electric current under ab
normal conditions, but all have the ob
jectionable features of great cost and com
plication, as compared with the bad fuse.
Some of the weaknesses of bad fuses are
overcome by using other metals. On many
circuits copper fuses are used, but the ob
jection to copper or any o'her similar metal
is that it has such a high melting point In
order to melt a copper or iron fuse its in
spiration would have to be raised higher
than that of a red heat, so that for hours
such a fuse might be dangerously hot before
it would "let go," and this, of course, means
danger from fire.
The main features, then, to be avoided in
a fuse or circuit-"cut out" are high temper
ature, poor contacts, arcing, complications
and any considerable expense. Arcing is
ingeniously overcome by placing the f use ia -a
magnetic fluid. It is a very curious and
interesting fact that an arc cannot be main
tained in a strong magnetic fluid.- If we
take the two ends of an electric circuit and
bring them together in between the two '
poles of a horseshoe magnet and then sep
arate' the ends again, the arc, which tends to
be formed between the two receding ends of
the circuit, is instantly "blown out," so to
speak.
A SECONDABY WIBE.
Still another ingenious and very simple
device, used, I believe, by the Westiaghonse
Electric Company, to prevent the formation
of an arc, when the fuse melts, is the shunt
attachment This U simply a short piece of
fine wire shunted around the fuse, that is,
the fine wire is attached to the two eons' of
the fuse. Under these conditions no current,
or at least very little current, will flow
through the wire for the reason that it has a
much higher resistance than the lead fuse;
bnt when the lead fuse melts the resistance
through the fine wire is much less than that
offered by the lead vapor lound by the fuse,
so that all the current is then instantly
forced through Ihe wire, and this, having
very small volume, immediately melts with
out forminc a vapor, and the circuit is thus
Interrupted. The objection, however, to this
raugement is that there are two things to
replace every time the fuse is melted.
Another device intended to hasten the
rupture of the luse, and so lend promptness
to its action, is to hang a small weight fronVi
the lead midwaybetweenthebindlniricre.
Thus, when the lead softens, due to any ex-
ceuiTe now oi current, tne weight pulls the
lead away from its connections and opens
the circuit This, however, does not pre
vent arcing, and would, therefore, he unre
liable on high pressure circuits. Fusible
metal, made of equal parts of tin and lead,
is often used ior light current fuses, but this
gives very poor satisfaction, for the reason
that fusible metal has a too low melting
point about the temperature of boiling
water. The consequence is that any great
change in the temperature of the air will
cause a great percentage change in the
strength of the current needed to produce
rupture. In warm weather such a fuse is -very
apt to melt when there is no necessity
for opening the circuit, and in winter time
melting is much retarded. i
It seems to me that some sort of a carbon
fuse might offer many advantages. Another
field for invention in this line is the need of
a good magazine fnse block that, is a fuse
block containing a number of fuses which
can be easily and quiexly thrown Into tho -circuit
Delay Id replacing a melted fuse Is
a nuisance to the public, and a good auto-J
matle magazine fuse block would greatly
Improve thtfeleettie lighting service. ' ,
" ScrBS'lAMAi,"'
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