KgIS , fj.-f TJ'W ff THE PHTTSBtTRG 23H3PATOH, MONDAY, 'JOHB 29, 1891 jgirafoJj. ESTABLISHED FEBBTJABY 8. 1S46. Vol. 48, No. 1C Entered at Pittsburg Postoffloc. November Is. UK. a eecond-chua matter. Business Office Corner Smithfield and Diamond Streets. News Rooms and Publishing House 7S and 80 Diamond Street, in New Dispatch Building. EASTERN ADVERTISING OFFICE. ROOM 3. TMBTJNE BUILDING, NEW YORK, where coin fine files orTHE DISPATCH can always bo found. Foreign advertl-ers appreciate the convenience. II omoKlrertiw and friends of TUB .DISPATCH, v hlle in New York, arc also made welcome. TUB DISPATCH is rantlarlsr onSaUat Srmtano's, f Cnion Sgvarc, Mw Krfc and B Ave de VOvcra, Juris, Prance, rchert nnyam who h-zs Seen aisap mut4 at a hotel newsstand can obtain it. TEEMS OF THE DISrATCIf. i-oetagz nax cr thb exited states. DAILT DISPATCH, One Year S CO DACY D3FATCII. Per Quarter S 00 DilLY Dispatch, One Mouth 70 Daily Dispatch, Including Sunday, 1 year.. 10 00 Dailt DisrATcn. Including Sunday, S m'ths. S SO Daily Dispatch, Including Sunday, 1 m'tb.. 90 fccxDAT DisrATCH. One Year. 150 Weeklt DisrATCU One Year 1 25 The Daily DisrATcn Is delivered by carriers at jr. cent pr week, or, including Sunday Edition, at It cent per w eefc. PITTsBUEG, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1991. a rounoAX COMPACT. An Ohio correspondent elsewhere devel ops, from the political gossip of that State, an interesting account of a treaty between McEnley and Harrison. Mr. McKinley waives Prcsidental aspirations for the terra of at least two years; while the Ad ministration turns in its forces to aid him in his present canvass; and as a result Sec retary Foster's hand controls the throttle of the machine. All of which is very interesting and not altogether improbable without'having any very great importance as affecting the romination next year. Early In the pres ent year McKinley indorsed the modvs rirendi, by which, together with Mr. Blaine, he permitted it to be understood that the President's candidacy come? first ' it Is possible. But aspirins B .olicans can easily sub scribe to such agreements. The basis of all these bargains is that they hold so long as the President is a candidate. But tlic President is not a candidate. He may think he is, but he is not; and the latest inside gossip from "Washington is to the effect that the perception of that faot lias begun to penetrate even the Presidental circle. Events will have a great deal more to do with naming the next Republiea j candi date for President than any such com r. 'ts. If Mr. Blaine's health keeps him from the field, and if McKinlcy wins a creditable victory in Ohio, he will be desig nated by the logic of the situation as the Republican leader. If he wins the victory and blaine is in the field, he will be a ' strong 7econd, but a long dlstanco behind the Secretary of State. If he does not win this year, he will be a dead duck next year. It is, therefore, his present task to carry Ohio If compacts like that rumored will help him, he can make them with full con fidence that before the convention of 1892 is over he will be fully released from agree ments regarding a renomination of Presi dent Harrison. NOT SO ABSUKD, EITHER. A correspondent in yesterday's Dis patch writing from the sphere of the Bal-m-'ceda influence in Chile, noticed the claim of the Congressional party that the President of Chile is a usurper, and dis missed with the phrase "which is absurd." It is not well to expect too great political insii&t from a woman who is traveling in Chile: but with reference to a correct view of the Chilean straggle, it is worth while to notice that the claim is not absurd at alL A usurper Is one who, in the exercise of governmental power, seizes and exerts powers to which he is not entitled by the Constitution under which he holds his position. If President Harrison should uudertake to exert by Presidental decree the powers of Congress, this country would have no difficulty in recognizing him as a usurper. But that is what Balmaceda has done by his own statement. He justifies it by the plea that the Con gressional party had refused to supply his Government with the necessary "revenue. But, however the original quarrel may have arisen, that is a power which repre sentative government places in the bands of the legislature. The right to authorize taxation and raise revenue involves the right to withhold it Consequently all of Balmaceda's subsequent steps in arresting members of Congress, raising money by arbitrary decree, calling together a Con gns of his creatures and establishing a military despotism, are indisputably acts of usurpation. A delegate of the Congressional party in Chile is in this country trying to secure a recognition of belliger ent rights from the administration. It is not the business of our Government to take sides in the quarrel; but the policy of Mi id neutrality is not to be preserved by taking it for granted, as somopf the organs of the administration have done, 1'iat the Congressional party are mere bels. If our professed championship of -publican institutions is worth anything, ' -stover sympathy we show should be on ti side of. the party that is upholding the n?'.t5i of representative government A CRIMINAL CURIOSITY. In a magazine article of a good many years ago, Irichard Grant White recorded a singular case, in which the body of a beautiful woman with several marked physical characteristics was identified by the relatives of no less than three missing girls, with the result that all three of the girls turned up alive, and the identity of the dead woman remained a mystery. The case of the girl recently discovered drowned near Tarrytown copies that to a certain degree and then goes beyond It with a1" feature of unique character in criminal history. First the body was Identified as that of a variety actress supposed to be missing; but the actress, as in the earlier case, was presently discovered at Coney Island very much alive. After the lapse of a few days the new feature of the case appears in the shape of a young man who identi fied the body as that of his wife, "who had disappeared two years ago. The identifica tion was complete and the mysterj seemed to be partially cleared up, when the young man's parents appear on the scene, dis close the fact that he had given a false lis rue and residence, and that the morning before appearing to claim the body of the dead woman he had left his living wife sound and well at his home in New York. Whether this remarkable step on his part indicates insanity or a secret connection with the crime is the question that is puz ziug the police authorities Altogether the case is one that can be recorded- among the curiosities of crime. kl The identification of a dead person with the living is surpassed in morbfd interest by the act of the second Identifier in claim ing 4he dead woman as his wife, with a wife living, in representing his child by the living wife as the motherless child of the dead woman, and in giving a descrip tion of the latter which proves knowledge .concerning her, In connection with a tale about her the falsity of which was certain of detection. It looks like a case In which insanity and criminality are about equally mixed. AN DirKESSrVE LIST. The record of deaths by drowning in the rivers around the city during the sum mer months of the past three years, which appears in the local columns of this issue, tells an eloquent story. The total of deaths during the period named Is 184,',of which an even 100 were furnished by the two cities. The fact that the vast ma jority of these deaths occurred whila bJitbing makes the lesson complete. It has long been plain to the dullest ob servation that the banks of our rivers af ford very dangerous bathing places. Nevertheless it cannot bo expected that a population of 400,000 people will swelter through the heat and dust of the summer without efforts to enjoy the purifying and cooling effects of a bath in the rivers. The alternative which the conditions of life in Pittsburg offer to the vast majority of our workers is to endure the grime and heat of our summer or to hazard the perils of being drawn by the river currents under barges or into deep holes. The results of the alternative are seen in the hundred deaths that river bathing has cost In the past three years and one month. It is one of the points that is not credit able to Pittsburg, that with the confessed need for free public baths the workers of the city have had their want unsupplied all these years. The roster of deaths caused by this lack gives the neglect a terribly grave character. OTHER INVESTIGATIONS REQUIRED. The statement comes from Washington that the conduct of Mr. Drew, the Bank Examiner, In connection with the Keystone Bank failure "is now under Investigation" and that "his longer continuance in office will depend on the results of the investi tion." According to the statements of the Con troller of the Currency, Mr. Drew's course was sufficient to call for his retirement from office. But according to the same .statement the Controller himself is a proper subject for investigation. For his allegation that the Examiner left the defal cation in the Keystone Bank unreported for three weeks includes the statement that after that remarkable proceeding the Controller left him as as a practical guard on the bank for three months. The asser tion is as severe on the Controller as on the Examiner. It presents such a remark able combination of official negligence as to naturally arouse the suspicion that it is put forward only as the alternative to a confession of worse delinquencies. If the investigation is confined solely to Mr. Drew, it will confirm the general opinion that there has been an agreement to make him the official scapegoat It re--mains to be seen how he will stand it THE CONTINUED GOLD EXPORTS. As will be seen by a circular of Henry Clews in our financial columns, the re neweoVexports of gold present a far from roseate outlook for the long-looked-for up ward movement in stocks. It is not satis factory, either, that at a time of the year when the bank reserves in New York are generally enlarged in order to stand the drafts for the crop movements they should be drawn down by the continued outflow of gold to Europe. Former explanations of this phenomenon fail to explain its re newal; but there is no doubt that if the drain caused by the expenses of American travelers in Europe and the large purchases- of foreign commodities were checked, we would soon be in a position to demand gold from Europe. This aspect of the financial situation makes it a very unfavorable time for stock bubbles. There is also a prospect for tight money in the fait But if legitimate business interests look ahead there is no reason why it should interfere with them. Banks which profit by the experience of. the past two or three years and steer clear of speculative loans will be able to meet legitimate business demands. The more strictly the line is drawn between specula tive kiteflying and the regular operations of trade the stronger will be the barrier against the extension of speculative panic into the realm of commerce and industry. It is interesting and also surprising to learn from certain quarters that some of the "Western Senators who are interested in land cases have found Secretary Noble so ob noxious to their schemes that they will use their influence to drive him out of office. The allegation that the Secretary of tho In terior has backbone enough to bo obnoxious to anyone is sufficiently startling; but, -n 1th the recollection that ho removed tho agent who procured the evidence against the Ben sonland ring, tho assertiotfthat the Senators at whoso orders he did it are now working against him is an even more sensational il lustration 0 the ingratitude of Senators if yon believe it. The fact that a New York snake charmer was bitten by one of those Gila monsters, and still livos, indicates that there is mora of the fiat principle in the alleged poison of these reptiles than in tho value of the silver dollar. Tnn difference in the point of view, not to allege an absolute partisan inability to tell the truth, is illustrated by the simulta neous assertion of a New York Republican organ that "tho alleged canal investigation grows duller and less important with each succeeding investigation," and of a Demo cratic organ that "all the corruption that baa ben unearthed is Republican corruption." It is difficult to harmonize these statements except on the theory that tho Democratic organ lied, or that tho Republican organ re gards tho exposure of Republican corruption as a dull and unimportant matter both of hich are on the whole entirely conceivable hj potheses. The statement that Mexico has stopped bull fights in the arena is matched by tho fact that in this country the exports of gold arc making bull lights in tho stock ex changes exceedingly unsuccessful. It is the regular season of the year for Democratic organs to indulge in paragraphs like the following, which we quote from the Bo3ton -Globe: "Pretcmaturally 'protected' Pennsylvania is threatened with yet another bitter war between capitalists and laborers in the iron districts." The appearance of tho report this year Is a remarkable illustration of the force of bad habit. If the esteemed Globe bad taken the trouble to read the Pittsburg papers it would have learned that wages in the iron industry for the next year are being settled without even a note of discord. But tho free trade habit is invet erate. Or course the city must use smoke con sumers at its pumping stations. Is it not for the public interest to have fuel saved and the city given a chance for light and a pure atmosphere? Tho smoke must go. The fact that one of the Republican aspirants for the seat of the late Congress man Houk, of Tennessee, is named Meek, arouses Democratic Jeers to the effect thai his name is typical of the change which- will come over the Republican spirit In the Fifty second Congress. Bus in that case it should be a warning for the Democrats. There is high authority to the -effect that 'the meek shall inherit tho earths. Scapegoats are 1 fashion now; but it may be remarked thai; Drew is not the only man to be blamed for the Keystene Bank smash, nor Andrews tho sole cause of last' year's Republican wreck. Mrs. Jenness-Mim.eb's business mis fortune at this time points out where shoN made her mistake. Shso devoted her ener gies to dovising less restrictive feminine garments for women;- while the trend of events shows that if she bad turned to tho. designing of gowns for? Judges she would 1 have hit tho fashion. "Uncle Sam wants to-settle that hat trim mings bill for $5,000,000. That is a tidy little sum for hat trimmings, but the chances are that the old gentleman will have-to pay dol lar for dollar. After all it seems as if that -apparently futile trial of the railroad magnates was not without its result. The Presidentof the New York and New Haven road now announces that all the cars of bis road will be equipped for steam heating before winter. "Would that tho Pennsylvania Railroad managers conld say as much! Perhaps it is wise to ran the principle of extreme partisanship until the election of Judges. Then again, past history suggests that perhaps it is not. The season when the colleges are firing degrees of LL.D. in volleys at publio men, has arrived. "When wo take, notice of the legislators who have been hit by the dis charge, It arouses a faint hope that they will doctor tho laws so as to bold good against corporations and corporation di rectors. That Harvard victory contains a locally tragic interest in the intimation it conveys. that Captain Bob Cook's-system is broken. The American golden eagles are again taking flight from tho American shores, 375, 000 of them, valued at $3,750,000, having left the country at the close of the week. Is the national bird on tho national coinage to bo convicted of inclvismT .GOSSD? ABOUT OUE BETTEES. Henby Ikvtng's two sons will follow the example of their distinguished father and go upon the stage. Ex-Senatoe Taboe will build a magnifi cent residence which holn tends shall eclipse anything else in Denver. Prof. Goldwin Smith suggests the formation of a club in Toronto where liter ary workers can meet and fraternize. The proprietor and manager of the New Orleans Picayune, one of the best known newspapers in the South, is a woman Mrs. Nicholson. She personally .supervises her business. Young Me. Harrison, the Irish M. P. who came over with tho Parnell delegates, is the. mildest mannered of men. lie has made hosts of friends in America by bis suavity, his intelligence and his modesty. Tho American girls pronounce lilrn the hand somest Irishman, who has come across the sea in a decade. Prof. "W. K. Brooks, of Johns Hopkins University, who has Just published a mono graph on the oyster, probably knows moro about this favorite bivalve and its habits than any one else in this country. He has made apecial study of his subject in five different States, and has spent much time in wading about in the Chesapeake to form a more intimate acquaintance with the shell fish. John Hamilton Brown, theinventor of the segmental wire-wound cannon that bears bis name, lor the trial of whiob Con gress has lately appropriated $10,000, livos in Greenville, X. J., where he is constantly busy in his shops over his inventions. Captain Brown will be remembered by tho public as the long range rifle shot, who, with his own standard military rifle, made the best score at one thousand yards at Wimbledon with the American team in England in 1SS3. Mrs. O'Shea Parneli. will always have a hold on Queen Victoria on account of the kindnesswhich Mrs.O'Shea'8 grandfather. Sir Matthew Wood, showed to the Duke of Kent. Shortly before the birth of the Queen Sir Matthew made the Duke of Kent a very largo loan, so that he and the Duchess were able to live in England instead of in Ger many. And so" it happened that Victoria was of English birth. Fully appreciating the fact that it would have been difficult to get the English throne if she had been born in Germany, Victoria has shown her gratti tude to Sir. Matthew "Wood by showering every kindness upon bis granddaughter. DISTBIBTJTIVE CO'OPEBATION. "Why Such Stores Succeed in England and Not In America. Distributive co-operation has been, per haps, brought before tho publio most promi nently through tho succoss of the so-called co-operative stores in England, says F. B. Thurberinthe July Forth American Review, but such stores, strange to say, in this coun try have not been a success, although other forms of co-operation here 'have succeeded admirably. The reason, however, is proba bly found in the different condi tions. In England the retail trade had crown into a syBtem of long credits. Many landed proprietors and others received their incomes only at long intervals, and this led retail merchants into the 'habit of selling a large portion of their trade on longtime, which inevitably resulted in considerable losses from bad debts; so tho dealers had to raise their margins of profit upon all their customers to a point which would still leave a living. This was virtually making tho cash-paying customer support the customer who did. not pay at all; ana when this abuse became extended the persons with fixed in comes who paid their debts naturally object ed, and the result was the formation of soci eties for co-operative distribution on an economical cash basis. THE ITAIIAN QUESTION. A Kentucky Colonel "Who Sides In 'With Uie Blawsted Foreigners. Detroit Free Press. A. Detroit traveling man met a Kentucky Colonel recently on a train headed toward Toledo, and as traveling men are liable to do, ho made the acquaintance of the Ken tuckian, and they got to talking about the late Italian racket. "It isn't all over, either," said the drum mer. "I noticed only a day orso ago that a lot of Italians in New York bad beaten a doctor almost to death for refusing to take a drink." "Is that sot" exclaimed the Colonel, ex citedly. "Of course it is," asseverated the drummer. "By gad, sir"' and tho Colonel slapped his band down on his leg with a thwack "why didn't they kill him?" His Ambition. Satisfied. New Tork Recorder. Parnell has home rule at last. WHY? The wife who makes the home-made shirt, The bore who stays and stays. The maiden fair who dyes her hair. The hen that nererlays. The college man with mandolin. The girl who "never plays," The chestnut nend (by Satan screened), Those Emerald paper Jays. The g Irl you love who don't love yon. The man with fours you ralte. He who regales you with the tales You heard in baby days. The man who borrows for a day And never, never pays," , The humorist, the man of whist. The hypocrite who prays. The man who lies about the siie Of fish he ne'er displays, He "on the brink" who hates to think That advertising pays. And many more that I might name Beneath the sup's warm raj s. Why don't they flee from wrath and 6ee The error of their ways? Ibm Mateonin Clothier and Furnisher. THINGS IN GENERAL. The Reading Habit and How It Slay Degen erate Into "a Vice A, Good Oroundfor Divorcq A Baker's Dozen Volumes for Summer Perusal, WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCH. The reading habit can hardly be classed with the opium habit. or with the swearing habit, as-deservingaplaceamong the grosser vices of mankind. Indeed, there are some who win even deny that the reading babit is a vlco at all. They will maintain that it ought, on tho contrary, to be encouraged and extended. Such are the curious vagaries of opinion which make 'life interesting! Read ing is still taught, I believe, even to innocent little children in primary schools. There is a difference, however, betweon reading and the reading habit, as there is a difference between drinking and the drink ing habit. Even the Eaints have been known to alternate petitions with potations. It was among the Pilgrim Fathers, and at one of their most solemn assemblies, that tbo meeting began with gin and ended with to bacco. Smoking is not essentially perni cious. It is selfish and gluttonous smoking which is an offense against morals. Read ing is not necessarily a vicious practice. Some most excellent people read, and read a great deal, and ere not ashamed. It is sel fish and gluttonous reading which deserves the reprobation of all decent people. A Victim of the Habit. And that is what I mean by the reading habit. Tho victim of this unfortunate habit Is never satisfied unless he is reading some thing. Whenever and wherever ho sits down, in a streetcar or in a steamcar, in the breakfast room or the parlor, out go his bands after a book or a paper read, read, read. No matter what; advertisements will do as well as anything else. And no remem brance afterward of what he has been read ing; no more impression made upon the mind than the magio lantern picture makes npon the canvas sheet. This is not search after knowledge, nor the exercise of a liter ary taste, nor the enjoyment of a literary pleasure The victim of this monomania gets no more good out of the pago than the printing press did. The reading habit is nothing but a habit. It is a vice. It is an other way of chewing gum. The reading habit ought to be a good eonnt In an indictment for divorce. Who will live with a roan who cares more for pages and paragraphs than bo does for. his wife and children? He keeps selfish silence, culti vates unsociability; might as well be asleep, ormadeout of wood, sofaras his contribu tion to the pleasure of the household goes. By and by he gets so that be can't talk, even whon he wants to. Finally he doesn't want to. He has become a newspaper deaf mute. national Thinking and Conversation. Tho best amusement in life is rational con versation, -and that depends on rational thinking. But reading habit discourages conversation, and stops thinking. Tho vic tim of this habit lets the printer do bis talk ing and his thinking. The more one reads the less one thinks. For, surely, thinking is not a game of folio w-my-leadcr. There is no real thinking without independence. No body is thinking when be is only holding a book in his hand and letting somebody else think for him. You can't think with your eyes. We are all the time thinking and giv ing out, Just as we breathe. But it is possi ble to cultivate the act of taking in at the expense of the act of giving out. Great readers are very often mere prisons of knowledge. There may be a good deal of useful Information stowed away in their brains, but nobody gets any good of it. Set these bookworms to teach, and they make a failure of it. They can't even talk. Yes; and the reading nabit blinds people.-1 You can't see the world through the covers of a book. You can'tseo your wife across the breakfast table through a newspaper. Put that down and look about you if you want to gee anything. Who shall say hard enough words about the vice of reading? It is the enemy of social life; it destroys domestic happiness; it makes people deaf, and dumb, and blind; "it interferes with patriotism and religion. Stop it; don't read. Follow the wise counsel of old Omar, burn the book. A Little Judicious Temperance. That is, burn somo of the books. Don't read too muoh. "It is the reading babit that I am trying to discourage, not tho habit of reading. Somo people may need to take a pledge of total abstinence in this matter,' as the only way of breaking up the reading habit. But for most people, I hope, a little Judicious temperance will suffice. After all, moralize as we may, we can't get along without some books; wo can't live rationally without a sight of the daily paper. But in modera tion; that is what I want to say. Not self ishly and not gluttonously; a little, and that of the best; and if read aloud, so much the bettor. That will inspire thinking and en liven talking. That will change the vice into a virtue, I don't believe that a man can well con fine his reading to bis ledger, or that a woman should be content with the literature of her engagement book, or of ber cook book. Here is the warm weather coming on and you are beginning to pack your box and your bag. Put some books in. Vicarious Beading Not a Sin. It is all right to read, if you read for some body else's benefit. With that purpose and intention you will never be in danger of be coming a vicious reader. The Professor of Things in General, for the sole profit of the students who attend his Monday lectures, has Just finished reading the last of a dozen novels! Well, no; not all of them novels, somo of them books of -stories; but not any of them to be put on the same shelf with tho Encyclopedia Britannica. Twelve books of fiction. Because if people are to read, even a little, and in tho summer, they want to know what to read. And they can't find that out Just by visiting a book store, unless they are exports in the art of choosing books. And not everybody is that. Tho stores are crowded with books, bad, indifferent and good. And we want the good. But how shall we know the good? Why, if we can get somebody to taste them for us first, and tell us, that would solve tho problem, wouldn't it? And so the Professor of Things In General has spent a wcok book tasting. And here, as the result, are a dozen books which hehas personally investigated, and to whose merits he can make affidavit. Thoy aro not any of them particularly pro-foundbooks.- For who reads Buckle's "His tory of Civilization" in a hammock? But they are all of them worth reading. A Glimpse of the Dozen. "Gallegher and Other Stories" is by Elehard Harding Davis. Most of these stories have been printed in the magafctnes. There Is plenty of local oolor in them Now York City local color. Mr. Davis is tho editor of J3ar per't Weekly. "In the Heart- of tho Storm" is by tho author of tho "Silence of Dean Maitland." A good many peoplo will remomber that re markable story, and everybody who read it will want to read this. "A New England Nun, nnd Other Stories," is another magazine book. Mary E. Wil kins, author of "A Humble Romance," is the author.. A lot of short stories about pictur esque Yankees, character studies, with the scenes laid out of doors, breezy, homely, funny, pathetic, interesting. "Zodak Pine" is by H. C. Bunner, editor of Puck. Six short stories, tho first and second being the best, but all wtfrth reading. "The Hudder Grangers Abroad." Every body knows who wrote that, and what sort of writing it is. This book needs no com ment. "On Newfound Biver" is a Southern story by Thomas Nelson Pago; begins and ends well, and is good all the way through. "Balaam and His Master" is another South ern book, six stories in it, by Joel Chandler Harris, betterknown as the author of "Uncle Eemus;" dark-complexioned heroes. "Felicia," by Fanny Murfreo, appeared in the Atlantic; a pretty good story if you don't mind a sad ending. "At the foot of tho wall lay a mass of blue and silver, blood-stained nnd contorted, and a faco and figure muti lated beyond recognition." "Fourteen to One," by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Don't get it unless you geta pocket handkerchief with it. "Flute and A'iolln," by James Lane Allen; more Southern becnes; tales of Kentucky. Six stories; that seems to be the standnrd number. .Many rpaders will remember "TliQ White .Cowl,"' tha.tTjrappts. story which came out In one of the magazines. "Khalcd: aTale-of Arabia," -is Mr. Craw ford's latest. The author has moved into another country, andbas made himself do llghtfnUyathomeinit, as usual. The book begins in the third, heaven, and tho reader continues in that state of felicity to tho end. "Tourmalin's Timo Cheques" is F. Anstey's last book. Yon remember "Vice Versa," and tho others; queer, and funny, and quite unique. So is this. Never such a plot In any book! There are 12 books, a round dozen, every one readable, interesting, profitable, and worth packing in yonr gripsack Put in "Colonol Carter, or Cartersville," for good measure. The Professor of Things in Gen eral is of the opinion that the habit of read ing such books as these is not likely to be of any serious barm to anybody. THE EXPLOSION AT B0ME. Art Treasures Ixrat Forover The Havoo "Worse Than Was Supposed. The explosion of the powder magazine at Borne on April 23 worked irreparable havoo among the art treasures of the palaces and churches. Ada M. Trotter, in Chambers'1 Jour nal, draws a graphic picture of the disaster, and cites many incidents not covered by the news reports. One instance of courage al most rivals the fable of the sentinel found at his post at Pompeii. When the sentry who guarded the magazine was ordered to leave tho spot, he hurried out with gun and baggage. He threw himself fiat on tho ground when the explosion took place; and when it was all over, though horribly' in jured, tookup bis gun and walked back to his post, whero he was found by tho first rescuQ party. 'The King, who, as alreadv said, was one of the first on tho field, fonnd the bravo soldier, dusty, black in the face, with the clothes almost torn from his body, but with his gun, presenting arms. It is said the hero is to be presented with a gold medal for valor, by request of the King. The damage done to Home has not yet been correctly estimated. In tbo eye of the artist and tourist it 1b apparently incalcula ble. We hear that the rare vases of the Etruscan collection in the Vatican gallery have shared tho fate of the windows of Borne. Nearly all the galleries, palaces and churches are closed for repairs. Some have suffered more damage than others; and it seems as thongh the most valuable of the stained-glass windows are most hopelessly wrecked. The streets glitter wth crystals; so do the aisles of such churches as one can still enter. Only a week ago we were luxuriating in the beauty of St. Paul's fuori I muri. We could not tear ourselves away from that su perb nave with its five pillared aisles, radi ant in the gorgeous flames of light shed from tho colored windows beyond. Baising our eyes we confronted the gaze of these stately Apostlos in their robes of purple, crimson and gold, their grand heads looking with in effable peace, ineffable dignity across the shadowy aisles. And now! all are a memory, for of St. Paul's not one window remains to tell posterity of the beautiful works of art our eyes that day bad seen. And Moroni, the artist who created these stately figures, whoso cunning hands designed these treas ures of St. Paul's alas! he is now but dust, and has carried his secrets with him to the grave. So it may readily bo seen that an Eldorado of gold could not repair the damage done to Borne by this terriflo explosion. THE LIGHTS OF PABIS. Slow In Using Electricity bnt Now Bapidly Coming to the Front. Paris is now on the eve of a revolution in her lighting system, says Albert Shaw in the July Century. Gas lighting was Arsf intro duced in England, but Paris followed In good timo and with a splendor unequnled elsewhere. In like manner America, Ger many and somo other countries have been earlier in the use of electric lighting; bnt Parisians, with their superior taste and skill in all matters of municipal arrangements and appointments, are destined to make by lar tho most brilliant use of the now illnmi nant. Within ono year, or within two years at the farthest, it is confidently claimed that Paris would be incomparably the best lighted city hi the world and that electricity will have superseded gas in publio nse. In 1S7S, at tho timo of the Universal Exposition, the municipal government ordered the ex- ficrimental illumination of tho Avenue do 'Opera and several open spaces with elec tricity; but the new system was not ripe for largo use, and the experiment was soon abandoned. Its principal effect was tho stimulus it gave to tho ga3 company, which invented and put into use certain large compound burners using 1,400 liters per hour, and giv ing a most brilliant light. Tho great elec trical improvements of the past decade were exhibited in tho French exposition of 18S9, and -were studied with the utmost care by the Parisian authorities and municipal en gineers. Undoubtedly the displays at tho exposition had the most pronounced effect in stimulating the new zeal Paris is showing for the appliances of the electric age. TJHDEB EUSSIA'S THTTMB. How the Czar's Government Is Blaster of the Financial Situation. New York Telegram. "The English money market to-day is in a very peculiar situation," said a London banker at tho Fifth Avenue Hotel last night. "It is almost impossible to tell the way things aro tending. With all the cry of more gold by the Bank of England, she has moro gold in her vaults than ever before. , "You see, Bussla keeps an enormous bal ance on deposit in London subject to check. She will not put it there on any time, but, in order to have the financial world under her .l.nn.1. ..rill Anlt. r1,?of nn .all fnnnmn rew a check lor it nnd took the gold from England there would be a financial crisis all over the world, the like of which has never been seen. You may say that tho condition of tho money markets of tho world is at the mercy of the Czar of Eussia." A Champion of Something. Seattle Telegraph. A progressive romancer in tho Gibraltar Parmer relates how he onco felt a; snako under his feot and "sprang to one side, drew a revolver and shot the reptile through tho head. I measured the length of my leap and found it to bo al feet, a fair cxamplo ofsido 'wise activity." Yes, very fair. As tho largest recorded standing Jump straight ahead is about 14 feet, tho Gibraltar Parmer can realize what a superior liar it has caught. Cleveland's Personal Attractions. Chicago Tribune. "What is there so very attractive about Grovor Cleveland?" inquires a testy Hill organ down South. Well, there is Mrs. .Cleveland. And then there is the attraction of gravitation, wnicn no exemplifies in his own person to the extent of about Sod pounds. What more do you want? DEATHS HEBE AND ELSEWHEEE. E. F. Babbage, Gntde. E. P. Babbage, the widely-known guide to the St. Lawrence River region, died of heart disease at Alexandria Bay, N.' Y.. Tuesday. 51 years old. He had acted as guide for 19 years. For ten years of the time he was In the employ of tho Boyal Mall line of steamers. It Is said that he Vnew every Island, bay and headland of the river between Toronto and Quebec. For six seasons pst ho has published an annual entitled "Years on the Bt. Lawrence; the TcoplB I Hare Met and the Things I Have Seen." The edition for 1531 -nas published on the day of his death. Ho was a very fat man, weighing over 350 pounds. William Vickers. Yesterday afternoon "William Vickers, a resident of Glenshaw, died suddenly of heart dis ease Mr. Vickers was in his 72d year, and had been a resident of East Deer township for a num ber of years, and was well known In that section. Ho was the father of George E. Vickers, the well known political writer of the Philadelphia Press. and of Jllss Portia Vickers, of the faculty of Curry University. J. Wesley Lang. JlEADVlLLn, Juno 2S. J. Wesley Lang, ono of tho County Commissioners of Crawford county, died Saturday evening after a brief Illness at his home In Woodcock township, aged 71 j ears. In 1841 he was elected Register and Recorder of Clearfield county, and on November 4, 1&D0, Mr. Lane was elected County Commissioner of this county on the Democratlo ticket after au exciting canvass. s . Obituary Notes. Db. BEiMAMrx C. Milieu, an eminent Chicago physician and a member of the Pension Examin ing Board, dledrrlday. Ann II. Tbabk, one of the pioneers of Buchanan County, la., died Friday night at his home In Inde pendence, aged 65 years. He was prominent as a horseman, and years ago attracted attention as the ownerof Sleepy John, which ho afterward sold for (10,000, then considered a phenomenal price. .Tahob H. Fuller, pressman of the Chronicle TeUgraph, died on Saturday at Altoona, wliere ho had cone witn nis jamuj- ieu uj- gu, mr uij benefit of his health. The remains arrived In th s city at inldntRht and were conveyed to his late resi dence. No. 10 Henderson street, Allegheny, where the funeral will take place to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. - MORE HUMAN THAN BRUTE, Short Stories Illustrating the Sagacity of Animal Pet A Colored Woman Makes Friends With a Battlesnake A Dog That, Fishes for Crabs. I have seen mention Id the Forest and Stream of one dog that caught suckers nnd another with a preference for catfish, says a writer in that periodical. I do not for a mo ment doubt either of these dog-fish ing stones, for I once know two dogs that took great delight in catch ing crabs, not soft crabs, bnt lusty, hard ones, capable of making a good fight. When about 12 years of age I used to spend my vacations at a large farm on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Besides myself there was another boy and two dogs at this bouse. One of the dogs was a largo New foundland and the other was one of those medium-sized, puzzling combinations of short hair and no particular color probably an all-around dog, as concomed his breed lug. Ono day I noticed tho large dog wading about In the shallow water at the foot of tho yard and evidently searching for something. I found that he was looking for crabs. When a crab was discovered he would prance around it, and, after making several at tempts, seize it in his mouth and bring it up on the beach, and then play with it, much as a cat doe3 with a mouse, until the poor crab was either dead or helplessly exhausted. He seemed to do this for tho mero sport of the thing, barking all the time in a tono that denoted exoitement rather than anger. Ho never ato the crabs after killing them. The crabs fought back to tho best of their ability, and it was often dlffloult to say which had tho tightest grip, dog or crab, for the crab would fasten on to some portion of tho dog's mouth with both of his powerful pinchers and it would require much shaking before no nuuiu urop OH. A Woman's Pet Battlesnake. Not long since Sion Parish, living on Bird- ong, Tenn., killed near his spring a rattle snake, says a correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. It was brought to town, stuffed and hung in front of Priestly's pro scription case in his drug store. A peculiar ity about it was that it did not give the usual warning when Mr. Parish approached. After it was killed this was accounted for by dis covering that it had been wonnded some time in the past, a scar being plainly visible. After it had been hanging in the drug store Jor some weeks, a colored woman named Pettigrew went to Mr. Priestly's to have a prescription filled, and while waiting no ticed the snake. All at once she beoame vis ibly affected. She held it in her hand, passed her hand over it with great tenderness, while the tears welled up in her eyes. She mado inauiries in regard to its history, and then related the following: "WhenlwasalltUogirll lived with my parents on the place whero Mr. Parish lives. Upon oho occasion I went to the spring, which comes out of the side of a sandstone bluff, after the milk that wo kept in a box pear by. In lifting It out I spilled somo on the ground. I had occasion to set the bucket down, where I left it for a few moments. When I returned I noticed a small snake.not over a foot long, drinking the milk. Upon y approach it ran under a largo sandstone rock. The next day and the next I poured milk out, and concealed myself and watched it come out. This was repeated for weeks, until it got quite gentle. The next spring or summer I left milk on the ground, and it came out. It appeared to know when I was coming, and became so gentlo that it would allow me to handle it. I have played with it for hours at a time, and watched it grow year after year until it was as large as my wrist and longer than my arm. "Upon one occasion, about the time I usually went down, my father came by the spring for a drink, having bis hoe with him. My pet, thinking I was near, came out, but when it saw my father started back. My father struck at it with his hoe and nearly severed its tall from the body. I met him npon his return and he told me of the occur rence and warned me to be careful. I was then a crcat blcr iirl and ktinw that it who n rattlesnake and dangerous, but knew that it would not barm me. I was afraid to tell the family that it was my pet, for fear they would kill It. I went to the spring and traced it under the rock by the blood, but could not see it, I placed its milk where it conld get it. For a week It did not touch it. One day I thought I conld detect that it had drank some. I laid down by the rock and called it. After two or three weeks it came out and renewed its friendship. I nursed and petted it during the entiro fall, until the wound healed. I never heard it rattle and for a long time did not know what the rattles were for. I left the neighborhood four or five years ago and had almost forgotten- the friend and playmate of my, younger days. I recognize it by this wound on its tail. I am sorry I did not carry it with me." Pensioned an Aged Horse. In 1867 there was born on the farm of La forest Ellis, at Sidney, Me., a sorrel colt, and could the horse talk ho would furnish a story that wouldcomparo in a measure with "Black Beauty," says the Somorville (Mass.) Journal. The colt grew well at his Maine home, and at the age of 4 years Charles and Manson Ellis, brothers of his owner, took a fancy to the colt and bought him, paying $300. They took him to Boston, and used him about two years as a driving horse. About that time the fine qualities of the horse attracted tho attention of Springer Brothers, and they wished to purchase him, whioh they did, paying a large sum. jioryears dacm remained witn them, and when, at the age of 34 years, his owners wished to have him spend the remainder of his days as comfortablv as possible, made arrangements with Mr. Ellis, his first owner, te have him go back for the rest of his life to the farm where he was foaled. Mr. Ellis says that he is perfectly at home, and can open the stable door and untie his halter the same as when a colt. He seems as happy as a schoolboy. Jack In his old age is well pre served, as no always had tho best of care. If others who have such raltbful horses would be more careful to have them used well when they become old, It would bo onlyjust to be kind to them for the years of service" they have given. The Cat's Tenacity of Purpose. Two curious instances of tenacity of pur pose in animals have been brought to light by the pulling down of old buildings in Lon don, says a foreign exchange. In each case the animal is a cat. The workmon, in pull ing down part of the late Boyal Naval School at New Cross, S. E., discovered under tho floor of the old gymnasium the bodies of a cat and a rat in close proximity. The bodies are an inch and a half apart, and so placed in a wedge-shaped cnl do sac wider at the top than at tho bottom that the cat cannot reach the rat. There was absolutely noth ing to prevent the escape of the animals ex cent the cat's unwillingness to leave its prey. Tho skeletons were covered with dust, andhave undoubtedly been years in the position in which thoy were found and photographed. Exactly the samo discovery of the skeleton of a cat and a rat together under a floor was made .when, in order to construct the People's' Palaco, Some old buildingswere torn down. A Dog Saves His Friend's Life. "Old Huckleberry," has a dog, Skipper by name, an animal of tbo mongrel breed, but a dog nevertheless that knows a thing or two, says a writer in the New York Telegram. I wns at the Captain's place, at the foot of West One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street, tho other evening, watching a crowd of protty young women from the Casino Com pany disporting themselves in tho water In gay bathing dresses, when a maltese kitten of an inquiring turn of mind walked delib erately out on to the float whero the bathers congregate and sat down near tbe edge of tho float. Skipper, with the sagacity of a St. Bernard, saw his little feline companion's danger, and running down to the float caught pussy by tho back- ot the neck and started back to the bathing houses. He dropped tho rescued cat down at tho feet of his master, wagging his bushy tail, and, looking up at tho Cuptafh. as much as to say: "I have saved the cat; I'm a hero." A Dog's Love for a BelL, That dogs become quite attached to other things thanmenand places is clearly pi oven by the conduct of Will Thornton's pointer dog Leo, says the Talbotton (Ga.) 2tew Era. Before the Thornton House was burned Leo made that hotel his headquarters, and al ways appcareilthere regularly at meal times to bo fed. Several weeks after the burning of tho hotel the bell which had been used on tho Thornton House was placed on the Wes ton House, and the first time this bell rang after its removal Leo was seen to run over to the Weston House, whore he showed unmis takable signs of joy at the familiar sound of tbo bell, lie had never shown any fondness for any person at tbo Weston House, and the fact that he has deserted his owner and taken up at the now place since the first day the bell was put up proves beyond a doubt that his attachment for the old bell caused him to change his residence. Dogs for the Battlefield. The Prussian Jager battalions have a num ber of dogs on trial, all of them being thoroughly trained to 'seek out wounded soldiers in the field, says a foreign exchange. The experiments so far have had excellent results. A number of men hide In a wood or behind hedges, lying on the ground face downward, and with orders not to move. As soon as the dogs are let loose they begin tho .search. When they find one of these mon they place thelrforepaws upon the prostrate body and begin to bark, an exerolse whiohis continued till the bearers appear and carry the man off, whereupon the dog starts afresh. Iiunners, Flyers and Swimmers. A PonTLASD, Mich., man has a chioken that has a comb, spurs and all the trappings of a rooster, including the ability to crow, yet lays an egg every day in the week. A Cadillac, Mich., smart Aleck tied a tin can to a dog's tail the other day, and the brute showed his superiority of mind in time of trouble by taking the can in bis teeth and trotting off with it. A colored man of Orlando, Fla., is respon sible for saying that a large mud fish fell from above during the heavy rata, coming very near striking blm on the bead. Ba states that he picked It up and had it cooked. A hive of bees swarmed in a corset that bad been hung out to air in North Atchison, Kan., last week. The owner of the corset tried to coax the bees off by beating a tin pan. but they settled down to business, and she had to go without her corset until her husband came home at night and smoked tho invaders off. Two Florida men killed an alligator and pulled it out upon dry land. They went off some distance, and upon their return they saw somo 23 alligators around the dead one. They watched their movements for some time, and finallysawtbe live alligators carry the dead one Into the water and some- dis tance from the shore. "Mischievous mice nearly ruined me about a week ago," said Oscar Yost, a retail grocer of Mt. Vernon, 111. "I had several boxes of matches on a shelf with Jellies and sugar, and in searching for the sweets the mice got after the matches. Thoy gnawed through the box into the matches. The matches be came ignited, and In the scare the mice Jumped from tbe shelf, drawing tho matches with them, and all fell lu a heap into an empty vinegar barrel. The next morning I found two mice in the barrel, one dead and the other badly burned. I don't know why I left the barrel there, but it was a lucky thing for me." OTJB, BOYAL VISnOES. -X Something About Prince George, of Greece, Who Saved tbe Czarowitz's Life. New York Commercial Advertiser. The advent of the young Prince is looked forward to with something more than the interest which attaches usually to members of tho families of foreign rulers, from the manly part played by the Visitor in the late attempt upon the life of the Czarowltz in Japan. Prince George is tbe second son of the King of Greece, and was born in Corfu, Ionian Is lands, June 12, 1809. According to tho un written law of monarchies, as a second son he was assigned to the navy. After a thorough course of study in Greece and at tho naval school in Copenhagen be received the grade of Lieutenant in the royal Greek navy July 19, 1839. From the official reports of his Instructors and superior officers, he has made tbe tor pedo service a special study, and holds a bervetrank in this department of his pro fession. It is unofficially stated that one of the reasons that governed Prince George in bis determination to visit this country was tbe chance to see the torpedo station at Newport. Prince George speaks English fluently, and is generally spoken of as a self-contained, level-headed young man, who takes after bis mother, Queen Olga, both in feature and personal characteristics. Queen Olga is tho daughter of the Grand Duke Constan tino of Bussla, and was born August 22, 1831. She married King George of Greece October 15, 1867. Prince George's elder brother, tho heir-apparent to tho throne, was born in Athens, July 21, 18E8. Prince Constantino, married tbe Princess Sofia of Bussla, Octo ber 15, 1889. A prince was born to them last -year, iiora the above it will bo seen that tnere aro three lives Detween Jf rince ueorga and the throne of Greece, and If tho author ity of native Greeks can be deponded npon his position in the navy will depend upon his own efforts. '. A CYNIC'S 'VTE'W OF IT. What a Man Who Failed in Life Thinks or Ambitious Yonng Graduates. Detroit Evening News. A Battle Creek man puffed on a corncob pipe and lazily speculated as he saw a grad uating procession pass his store: "But then I suppose it is all natural enough. I can, myself, look -back to Just such an happy state of existence as those people appear to bo enjoying. I read an essay at my class graduation entitled 'Upward and Onward.' It was full of noble thoughts, and everybody predicted for mo a bright and prosperous future, Just as friends aro prophesying and hoping for these young people. I stood on the rostrum and looked out on the wide world with all the confidence and assurance of a full-fledged graduate. "But after a while I settled down to life and raised a family. I have never been con stable in my ward, and my name is not known outsido of the corporation, except by a few with whom I tried to do a credit busi ness, and they are tryinghard to forget it. Is life all it is painted? Well, you wait about 20 years, and interview the same carriage load, and you will get some ideas that will come under your own observation, knowl edge and experience." UBS. BEECEEB'S BIBD3. How She Easily Cared for Fifty of Them of Various Kinds. If you are methodical in tbe treatment of your birds, you will find that all there is to do is accomplished easily and quickly, writes Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher in The Ladies' Some Journal. Some years since we had a largo cage, the entire height and width of a window in the sewing room, and between two and three feet deep. In this cago we had 50 birds of different kinds. After one week's experience in caring for them we allowed one-half hour every morning to clean the cage, feed nnd bathe the birds and mako them happy. Taking out the gravel pan and putting a dozen bath tubs in its place; the pans, perches and feeding-cups wero now tuken out, cleaned and the cups filled with the proper variety of food for each different kind of bird. This cleaning was all done by the time thoy had finished bathing. Then, removing tho bath tubs and wiping tbe bottom of the eago dry, tho gravel, perches and feeding cups were returned to their proper places and tho work was done. That was all tho birds needed till tbe next morning, unless, onco or twice a week, they wero given a bit of lettuce or egg, or a little raw beef. Inebriate Department WeU Established. Chicago Herald The necessity of interviewing ex-inebriates passing to and from Dwight has caused the addition of another departmnnt to some Chicago papers. With two years of the Gorman idea in Chicago it may become nec essary to annex Dwight. A Beal Nobleman. Boston Herald. And now Barpn Hirsch is reported to have como to tho rescue of a tottering financial house in London. Next to the Old Lady of Threadncedle street, the Baron seems to carry tho biggest purso In Europe. PEOPLE COMETO AHD G0IHG. Thomas Deegan, of the Sterling Boiler Company, returned to Chicago last evening. He says tho iron buslnes continues to be dull, but it can't last much longer. The sup ply of pig iron in tho country is about used up, and n boom in the near future is sure to come. Chicago is lively enough getting ready for the World's Fair. Captain "W. S. Spurgeon, of West Point, passed through the city last evening on his way East from tho West. The Captain was off on his vacation, and said he would visit Washington before he returned to the mili tary acadertiy. General Passenger Agent O. O. Scull, of the Baltimore and Ohio roafl, was in tho city for a short timo yesterday. Ho returned to Baltimore, last evening. Mr. Scull thinks this will be a good summer for the excursion business. Henry Phipps,'a son of Major Phipps, in charge of-tho- Allegheny Arsenal, loit for Now York last evemng on a pleasure trip. James W. Beis, of Hew Castle, and "Will iam Bodgers, Jr., of Springfield, are stopping at tbe Monongahela House. W. E. Kice, of Warren, and Colonel E. D. Meier, a St. Louis brewer, are at the Du. quesne. 3Irs. Judge Wilson, of Clarion, is among the guqsts at the Seventh Avenue Hotel. Dr. Beisinger, of Uhiontown, was in the city yesterday visiting friends. James At well went East last evening. CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS: A frenchman has invented a steam phte'ton. The greater part of the ocean bed is pitch dark. A woman in Elko, Ga., has a crazy quilt containing 7,200 pieces. Germany publishes more periodicals than all the rest of Europe, A child bom without eyes is attracting the attention of New Yorkers. New York has a Turkish restaurant that is Oriental In every particular. A Detroit manufacturing firm will make steel wagon wheels, with hollow felloes and spokes. Tobacco merchants handle a larger amount of ready money than any other class of businessmen. South Dakota now has the largest arte sian well in the world. It shoots water MO feet from the surface. Twenty Saginaw, Mich., boys have organized a World's Fair club, and are sav ing np money to go to Chicago. Brussels, an inland city, is ambitious of becoming a seaport. The plan is to build a ship canal from the North Sea. A Florida man left at a DeLand news paper office an orange twig 6 Inches long, which had a cluster of IS oranges. A woman at Ardmore has sued her husband for the recovery of her falia teeth. Shebithim-andhe took them aw ay from her. Makers of porcelain in Limoges, France, send their most artistic products to tho United States. American taste, they say,.la the finest. A determined fisherman at Groverville, Ga., catches alligators with a hook not an ordinary hook, however, but an iron affair attached to a strong pole. A well-known professor at Tale has confessed to a superstition. It consists in putting on and taking off his clothes in a regular way. The right shoe, the right leg of his trousers, the right sleeve to shirt or coat, are always put on first because of a, foolish idea that somehow or other mishaps would follow favoring the left shoes, sleeves and legs in such a way. Saginaw Bay was at one time the greatest fishing grounds of the great lakes, but is no more. Tho cause of the falling off is traceable to sawmills and salt blocks. Every winter tho salt blocks throw some of their refuse matter upon the ice and into the river, and this in time finds it way to the bay and is washed upon tbe spawning and feeding ground of the fish. The Milan museum has recently come into the possession of a remarkable clock. This unique timepiece Is mado entirely of bread crumbs. A poor Italian workman, made it. Every day he set aparta portion of his modest meal In order to carry out his curious project. The bread crumbs saved by bim he hardened by the addition of salt, ana at last bis tedious task is completed. Some two weeks ago, at Joliet, I1L, Charles Hammond was working on a build ing when a large stone fell from the second, story to the basement on top of his head, driving a piece of the skull, two inches long; and three Inches wide. Into his brain, and splitting tho cranium from ear to car. Tho man was given up for dead. A surgeon, however, replaced the piece driven into tho brain and the man is now recovering. A curious wedding took place recently ia Ashley, Northamptonshire, England. Tho contracting parties were a man aged 75 and a woman aged 77. The bans had been pub lished in church 6 years ago, but they sepa rated and married different people. The wife of one and the husband of the other dying, they found themselves at liberty to renew their old engagement, and have now married, presumably for the last time. The foundling hospital wheel or chair was a well-known institution in France, serving, until a comparatively few years ago, as a general receptacle for outcast children. An infant had but to be placed by anyone wishing to rid themselves of the little crea ture upon the chair, a turn given to tha same, and Immediately, as if by magic, the embarrassing object has disappeared within and another chair awaits the newcomer. During the course of a trial against tha Texas and Pacific Bailway at Honey Grove, Tex, for damages, the fact was brought to light that there aro two mules In this county over S3 years of nxe. Tho animal bqiuuy ir Marshal Galbraltb, ono of the wealthiest and best farmers in the county, and have been in his possession since before the lata war. They were used tho present season to work a crop, and show little evidence of their remarkable longevity. Progressive hammocks is the latest craze. The one getting up tbe affair swings a lot of hammocks in shady places, and then gets a lot of pretty girls to swing in tha hammocks and rigs up a bell. The yonn-j fellows pay so much to get in and then pick a hammock. Every time the bell rings they are obliged to move to another hammock. After that they vote for the best conversa tionist and have to pay for each vote Any young man found with powder or a long hair on his coat is soaked with a heavy fine. Mademba, King of Segon, Africa, who -was elevated to his present position by Colonel Archinard, was formerly In tho French telegraph service in Africa. Ma demba is a native of the country over which he at 'present rules, but was formerly con troller of telegraphs at Senegal. Before ac cepting his regal state ho made it a con dition that his name should continue to bo Inscribed on the list of telegraph servitors, and that his situation of King should be con sidered as subservient to that of his original employment. A "Bone Circulating Library" is an at tachment of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City. In this room, which is fitted up with shelves, cases, etc.. Just as any other library room, are hundreds of thousands of human bones of all sizes, shapes and forms. Tho bones, which are numbered and labelled, are" placed in order on tho shelves and in tho cases, an attendant being always on hand to act in the same ca pacity as a librarian. It is his duty to keep track of the bones lent: to enter them upon books, and to seo that they ara returned un injured. MIDSUMIIEK MJBTH. TATE OT CHArrlE. Here lies a chappie age 19, In Texas on one Sunday He wore a llk hat Just two hours. They bnried him on Monday- Clothier and FvrnUhtr. A "Washtenaw county paper wants to know how It is that the papers are allowed to pnb lljh marrlago notices when there U law against advertising lotteries. At a social gathering a young widow did not engage In tripping the light fantaatlo toe. A gentleman approached her and asked: 'Are yon not going to dance this evening?" "Not until after midnight." "Why not before?" "Because to-day 1 the nnnlversary of my second husband's death." Texas Silings. A country reader wants to know if tha State law which provides that fish shall not be caught in any other way than bj;hook and Una will prevent tho traveling' fakirs and doctors from catching suckers In the usual way. Detroit Jour nal. The noisy Fourth draws nigh apace,. . " The nervous people flee In crowds for some scclnded place, - , From patriot racket free. The small boy hoards his pennies, and Exults without bis host. Some of him will be minus hands. Some may give up the ghost. , Chicago Times. "Can you cook?" he asked. "Can you keep the flour barrel full?" she queried in reply. , They will not wed this June. Somemlle JjurnaL Small Boy (whose auntie takes summer boarders) Auntie, teacher says that it's exercise that makes peoplo and animals strong. Anntle-Your teacher Is right, my dear. Small Boy Then, I think that the cow this beer steak was made of must have had lots of exercise. Pharmaceutical Era. Mr. De Goawa I hope, Miss Moveleigh, I shaU see you at the seaside. Her Mother (Interrupting) Well, I hope you won't. She's got a bathing ult that Is simply out rageons. Washingin Star. "Such men as you," said the good philan thropist, sadly, "are the raw material out of which the rumseUer builds his fortune." "The raw material!" answered the dilapidated old hummer, shaking his fist at the saloon down whose front steps he had Just been kicked: "no, shir! I'm I'm th' finished output, jhlrl" Chicago Tribune. j Simpson I wonder what kind of a line It Is that Bodkins uses when he goes ashing. It always breaks just a he Is landing the blggest fish you eyersaw. Snlffer-lt's nothing but jam.' " Detroit Pre Prut. . I V I t A r I 4 'j J M A. - ;i&L -.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers