.iijim,,! igBEaaawrBWSayJi&a i , .nil i iP"TMiiijirv"-i-i"imTiV"1M'fliffT FfflSSJSBMpaMSSBBBBBBBBfiBEEs9BpBB8BxBBBEfiBSHK 4 Biggafrlf. ESTABLISHED FEBRUARY S. 184a Vol , Xo. SW.-Entcred at PltMnug Tostofflce IoemfcerlS87, as second-daw matter. Business Office Corner Srnithfield and Diamond Streets. News Rooms and Publishing House 78 and 80 Diamond Street, in New Dispatch Building. FASTFRV ADVERTISING OFUCE, ROOMS, TRIIirXXnillT.DING. NEW YORK, wherscom rvlca' li.ea orTIIE DISPATCH can alwavs te round, foreign adT-rtlsere appreciate the corcvrnlencp. Home dTert!wrii and friends of THE DISPATCH. hile lu Sew York, are also made welcome. 7777: pISPAZVHUirwlnrliionix&nt Brentann't, I Unto-x beuarc, .Vew Iw-Jt, and 17 At U flftem. Fans, France, tottere anyone whn has ten disap pointed at a hnttl newt stand na obtain u. TERMS OF THE DISPATCH. TOtTACZ rn'-E TS THE UNITED STATES. DAn.T DiFrATcu. One Year. I A CO Daily DisrATCH, Per QHter... 1 00 Dailt DisrATCB. OneMonth 70 D mlt DisrATCU, Including Sunday. 1 year.. 10 00 DtlLYtttsrATCII. lncludlngSundv, Sm'tbs. 550 Daily DisrATCH. Including Sunday; 1 ni'th.. 90 SrxiiAY Dlf FATCIt One Year J 50 Wiekxt Dispatch. One Year 1 25 The Daily DisrATrn Is delivered by carrltrsat IS cent per w eek, or. Including Sunday Edition, at S3 cent per week. PITTSBURG. MONDAY, NOV. 23. 18(1. THE BOND QUESTION. A correspondent in our Mail Pouch column asks bome questions, concerning the proposed bond issue, vihich led him to a conclusion against the issue. It is by the discussion of just such questions as these that intellieent action will be reached on that subject. The first question Is, how those people will be affected who have already paid for street improvements "in case there is on issue of the bonds and the curative legislation is not favorably passed on by the courts." They will be affected exactly us they 'ill in case there is no issue of the beads and the curativp legislation is not upheld. Under the peculiar construction tif our laws, the man who pays his assess ments to the city promptly, says good bye 10 his money whether the law under which lie pays it is upheld or not That this places a premium on delaying and holding back theTayments, and imposes a penalty on those v ho are quick to pay up, makes no difference to the legal logic by which this conclusion is reached. If the curative lrgislation is not sustained the man who has paid for his own improvements will have in addition to pay for the improve ments of others. The only difference that the bond issue will make to him is that if the bonds are negatived he will have to piy the whole sum in the years in which the payments fall due; while if they are voted he will have the payments extended over a series of years. To the question ls to what time next rear and tiic ear after these payments Jail due, we answer that they are scat tered at various dates, the payment on each contract being fixed at two years p.ftr its completion. Our correspondent 1 hi nks that there is a margin of time which w ill justify the postponement of the deci sion and suggests the 2,000,000 should not lie placed in the hands of the city govern ment "nearly two years before it is xveded." As the proposition forbids any bonds to be issued before the payments become due, this argument is inapplicable. The enforcement of that provision is in the hands of officials who can be relied upon to carry it out honestly. There might be, as our correspondent suggests, pome room for procrastination; but is there any better course than for the peo ple to decide in advance what course shall be taken? The whole question turns on whether the peopie prefer to pay what has to be paid by one or two heavy tax levies and have done with it, or by payments ex tended over a series of j ears. The latter course involves the payment of interest, but that consideration is softened by the fact that, on a great share of the bonds and perhaps all that will be needed, the rity can pa interest to itself by investing the sinking fund money in the bonds. If the people will bear in mind that the ques tion is simply between one or two big lavment3 and an extension of the pay ments o er a series of years, they will decide the matter rightly. For nothing can be plainer than that the way the majority of the people wish to pay this money is the right way to have it paid. waterway rnorosiTioNs. Two ship canal piopositions have re rently been given prominence before the public, which indicate at once the import ance which that general subject is assum ing in the disposition in some quarters to undertake the task at the wrong'end. One of thete propositions is that of pro viding an internal waterway along the coast stating the project in its broadest form.this project would contemplate start ing the sheltered coast route at Boston, to connect Massachusetts Bay with Long Is land Sound by a canal in the neighborhood of Buzzard's Bay, thence by New York harbor and a ship canal to the Delaware river, and from the Delaware to Chesa peake Bay by another canal. From Chesa peake Bay.probably by the Elizabeth river, s connection must be cut to the North f arclina Sounds thence from the Cape Fear ; h -m- to the Southern lagoons with a canil acro-s Florida. The other proposi tion is that to be urged by a convention of lake carriers, called at Detroit, to meet T-'ecombr-r 1", viz : the deepening of the connecting waterways on tne lakes, such us the r-an'.t Sic, Marie, the St. Clair river and the channel in the Detroit river to 21 f t ft. The cost of this work is estimated at less than 5,500,ooo. Bach of ihpse propositions has itsmerits; but the trouble is that in a systemized Echeme of wateiways they would come far behind others. The coast line scheme would of course be immensely costly, and a compared with the building of ship raials to connect the rivers and lakes, it is far interior in importance. It is urged on two grounds, first to afford a route to commerce sheltered from ocean storms; second to secure to small war vessels the means of transfer from one point to an other without coming in contact with the ocean war vessels of an enemy. The first purpose is minimized in importance by the fact that the broad ocean affords to commercial carriers a more roomy and ' ciienp loute tlian any canal can furnish; while the work of the Hjdrographic and Sisnal Service reduce the- danger of ocean storms to coastwise carriers almost to a minimum. The strategic value of the route is much decreased by the fact Jliat it would be- open to the enemy's fleet- at suih points as Massachusetts Bay, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and to on down the coast Moreover, neither the commercial nor naval purposes to be attained by sucn a route equal in magni-; tude those to be served by the no more costly canals connectuig the lakes with the Ohio and upper Mississippi rivers or with the seaboard. The project to be urged at Detroitwould be easily worth spending twice the esti mated cost on if it were not for one thing. That is that it would give the waterways connecting the lai-.es a depth that could not be rivaled by any of those leading off the lakes, except at a prohibitive cost. That would confine the traffic to be bene fited by the improvement to the lakes alone, and that is cot the way to establish the standard of highest usefulness. The proper method is to determine the depth of water that can be given to all the main waterways, and to keep the lake channels well up to that standard. To build a ship canal from the lakes to the seaboard, for instance, twenty-one feet in depth, would be plainly impracticable. To build one fifteen or sixteen feet deep would be more possible. If the canals of egress from the lakes were fixed at that depth, the same depth should be adequate for those linking the lakes together. The Detroit convention is also expected to urge an American canal from the lakes to the seaboard. This will command the approval of the supporters of internal waterways, but it should be made a part of the entire system. The canals from the lakes to the ocean, and from the rivers to the lakes, stand on the same basis, and should work together both in securing their con struction and yi their operation when built. THE FIGCIins FOR IT. The trade results for the first 12 months since the tariff act went into operation with the exception of the sugar duties, in which the change exists for only six months are .shown in mass by the follow ing statement: 1SD0-91 1S9-!K). Imports rtutiftblc.....$427.36I,'6o $it2ob,720 Imports' free 397,332,107 279,239,671 Total $524,716,507 $813,409,391 In these figures there is a general refu tation of the theory so actively preached by the free traders, that the McKinley act was a universal raising of the tariff duties for the purpose of shutting out foreign trade. Hot only has the total of foreign commerce not been diminished but it has been somewhat increased, and the most salient feature of the increase has been an expansion of $123,000,000 in the imports free of duty and a decrease of 107,000,000 in the dutiable imports. In other words, the effect of the tariff act Is exactly tbat which TnE Dispatch has always held up as the true American policy the enlargement of foreign commerce on the staples which cannot be economically sup plied at home; and the enlargement of the domestic production of those which can. This effect is actually more pronounced than is shown in the figures. The totals include the imports of sugar for the six months during which they were duti able. Takine 53,000,000 from the dutiable goods and adding them to the goods free of duty, on account of the change in that staple, and we have the result of an in crease of $18,000,000 in the free list, and a decrease of 165,000,000 in the dutiable goods. This gives a very different picture of the McKinley act thau that which is drawn by our friends, the free traders. 'Whether the portrayal of the statistics or of the free trade imagination is the most accu rate the public can decide for itself. news rnosi xownKKE. Tery interesting news is often obtained by going away from home; but nothing more striking in that line has been pro duced in a long time than some informa tion which comes to Pittsburg by the route of a special telegram to the New York Post It is that a movement is on foot here by which the iron and steel manu facturers will make a concerted assault next year on the Amalgamated Associa tion with the intention of wiping that powerful union of iron wdrkers from the face of the earth. This, if there were the slightest reason to give any credence to it, would promise some exceedingly singular proceedings next year. It would necessitate the iron manufacturers voluntarily courting a pro longed suspension of work during a season in which all the indications promise an active demand for their products. It would represent them as willing in a politi cal contest, where the policy of protection was under discussion, to engage In a national assault on organized labor, and to belie the claim that protection is for the purpose of maintaining the wages of labor. Finally, it represents them as ready, simply fromantagonism to one of the fore most and, at the same time, conservative unions in the world, to turn prosperity into staenation, and not only lose their own profits but to create general discon tent, which would be most injurious to their own interests. All of which is a possible view to be taken by a rabid free trade journal but to anyone who knows the iron and steel in dustries of Pittsburg, it is nothing more than ridiculous. The majority of the iron masters of Pittsburg prefer the uniform and reasonable settlement of wages which is made annually by negotiation with the Amalgamated Association to the constant succession of disputes which -would arise under any other arrangement. There are examples of mills which on account of especial disputes have been made non union; but while these examples have ex isted in some instances for years, there has not been any general tendency to fol low it There is also an element among the iron manufacturers who annually de clare that they will fight the scale; but as this declaration has been invariably fol lowed by signing the scale at the ap pointed time, that sentiment cannot be re lied upon to undertake any such gigantic fight as the one rumored. It is safe to say that the above story is wholly without foundation, and that un less unforseen complications arise the scale of wages will be settled next year with as little friction as it was last sum mer. A PATENT OFFICE JUGGLE. The granting of a patent on the Ber liner application, after it had been kept hanging in the Patent Office for a term of years by the pretense of an interference suit, corroborates all that has been said in advance of the use of that means to pro long the monopoly of a patent long past the life which it was intended the patent laws should give. It is said that the delay might have been prolonged still further, but that the Patent Office officials de clared that an addition of fifteen years' monopoly additional to the Bell Telephone Company was the full extent to which they would permit themselves to be used. To balance this there is a report that the Bell Telephone Company has still another "interference" of sixteen years' standing in reserve. Rumor also says that notwith standing the successful working of the game, the Berliner patent is open to con test both on the ground of prior accom-pli-hment of the same purposes and a Euiopean patent to Berliner of some years ago, "which limits the life of the patent in tiiis country. Be these things as they may, the import ant fact is impressed on the public beyond dispute that the purpose of the patent laws has, by a juggle in the governmental office, and by the knowledge, if not the connivance, of the Government officers, been defeated and reversed. The purpose of the patent laws is to stimulate in vention and promote improvements. But here is a case in which an important improvement was delayed and held dor mant solely by the machinery of the Patent Office, in order to prolong the monopoly of- an already immensely wealthy corporation. The purpose of the patent system is .not only defeated, but the governmental office, supposed to be established for the service of the people, serves instead the corporation which con ducts the scheme. This is not, as The Dispatch has here tofore said, the only example in which the patent laws in actual operation defeat the purpose for which they, exist in theory. But it is enough to demonstrate the ne cessity of a radical reform in the patent system by which such incongruities and contradictions shall be uprooted. Tigers' bones, pulverized, are used as a tonic in Cbina under the belief the strength of the animal Is thereby imparted to the person who absorbs them. The Piatt and F&ssettcomblnatlon.bowever, failed to cany out the theo-y In tbe recent New Yorlc elec tion on account of their deplorable inabil ity to get the bones of tbe tiger. The gubernatorial campaign in Alabama is getting very active if reports can be cred ited. One candidate is reported a having addressed a meeting at Blue Creek mines, and after leading in a dance afterward, "kissed the boss miner's wife once." But bis rival was not going to let him get ahead in tuat-way, and tbe latter also addressed a meeting, led a dance and made the grand stroke of "kissinjr tbe boss miner's wife twice." So Tar as reports of this rivalry in dicate, the boss miner's wife is bearing np bravely, but the correspondent discloses the fact that "the boss miner himself is weary." This last fact suggests a doubt whether tne vigorous style of personal campaigningmay not be fdund in the end to have its draw backs. Miktsteb Kyait is stated to be in "Wash ington "for the purpose of facilitating the negotiation of tbe reciprocity t eaty with Mexico." One would suppose that the place for him to do that work is in Mexico. Must the United States Minister labor with his home government in order to get reciproc ity adopted? "Chicago's big barley syndicate has bought 250,000 acres of North Dakota land on which to raise barley for matt purposes. Tbis is a direct result of tbe McKinley bill's Increase of the duty on barley," remarks tbe New York Frets, which is sometimes more enthusiastic than discreet in its protection role. We don't believe that the protective policy has any part in the creation of a great 250,000 acre estate under the control of that modern successor to the feudal barons the syndicate. The creation' of such grave de partures from the American system is due to corporation favoritism in transportation, and should not be saddled on the tariff. Mb. IoxATros DojraEiii.Y recently de clared in Cbicago that he is "tired of news paper fakes." Possibly tbis tired foeling on Mr. Donnelly's part maybe increased by the fatigue which the newspapers have dis played over Mr. Donnelly's scientific and literary fakes. A desckiptiok of the condition of affairs in Brazil, by the Chicago Inter-Ocean, gives the following unique view: "A revolt has taken place in the extreme southern prov ince, though the socond anniversary of the lepnblio has been celebrated with the usual fetes and enthusiasm at the capital." Tbe idea that the celebration of a republio is all that is necessary to satisfy i epublican de sires, although representative government has been abolished, and a military dictator ship founded in its stead, is remarkable, in this country of enlightenment. Such a stun ning view of republicanism beggars com mentary. There are people who are mean enough to say tbat perhaps Congress, in passing that act forbidding the printing of pictures of coins, had a prevision of the exceedingly poor coinage work that was to be done under the law. The Illinois horse doctors, in session at Chicago last week, settled an important point of professional ctiquotto by enacting tbat no one of tbeir profession shall fur nish news, information or prescriptions to tbe press. As many of the veterinary ex perts have heretofore been employed in ed iting and preparing veterinary columns in tbe agricultural and weekly newspapers, the care for the healtb of live 6tock, ind ca tcd by tbis action, iesolves itself into a boomerang for the horse and cattle doctors. In view of the revision of creeds that is going on, some of tbe Pennsylvania politici ans should make tbe most of the opportunity to strike out that piece or mugwump parti sanship known as tbe Eighth Command ment. TnE mine owners at Denver passed a resolution against treating silver as "a com modity." This indicates their conviction that silver, on its commercial value, will not realize all they hope to get out of the Gov ernment, But the mine owners are not clear-sighted enough to seo that if they got free coinage all that the silver coins would be worth would be the commercial value of the bullion in them. TirE Ohio Democrats claim that the new ballot law helped to defeat them. Yet all the kicking over the "Kangaroo ballot" be fore election was done by tbe Eepubllcan politicians. Director Genebax, Davis, of Chicago, denies that he has attempted to influence the choice of a Secretary of the Awards Committee for the World's Fair. As Mr. Davis goes on to say tbat if he were to make the choice he would select Bobert P. Porter, tbe rest of the country will join in an earn est recommendation that Mr. Davis continue his policy of non-interference. rOINTS PURELY PERSONAL. "Wilfred Laukieb, who was dined in Boston the other night, is called the Blaine of Canada. " It was through the influence of Bishop Phillips Brooks tbat tbe Salvation Army was allowed to parade tbe streets of Boston with music Bismarck is what iu Germany they call a "chain-smoker;" that is, he smokes from morning till night without a break, lighting one cigar with the end of the other. "William Bayne, who was the first South Carolinian to propose tbe name of Wade Ilampton for Governor, is now desti tute and partly insane at Greenville, S. C. Some exacting and precise persons are criticising poor Phoobe Couzins for writing her book, "Twenty Years in Public Life," without Intimating to what 20 years she al ludes. General Booth is having a good time in New Zealand. The Premier says that the emigration proposal deserves a full and fair trial, and New Zealand should afford the op portunity for it. Jdstice Field is the linguist of the United States Supreme Bench. Besides be ing a classical scholar, he speaks French and Italian fluently and reads Turkish and modern Greek. It has been positively asserted that an appreciable number of Mr. Gladstone's col lars disappear annually in the wash, ab stracted, it is believed, from the basket of the laundress by devotees determined to possess themselves, at any cost, of a memo rial of their idoL 4 Miss Alice Longfellow, daughter of the poet, is said to be the best amateur pho-' tographer in America. Her favorite field of operations is along the Massachusetts coast, and her snap shots there, taken in the storm iest weather, are attracting the attention of publishers, aud her illustrated songs wULp a feature of a now book of sea - - ,, ; THE, PITTSBURG DISPATCH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, THE SABBATH OP THE PURITANS. IWKITTXN TOE TUI DISPA'TCn. The other day I saw a set of Clarendon's "History of the Great Eebellion" which once belonged to Bobert Southey. Sou thoy's name is in it. Southey was not a very great man, but he had the privilege of knowing several particularly great men. Wordsworth and Coleridge have no doubt bandied these old books. Southey's Clarendon is bound in calleo. His wife, they say, had been & dress maker, and after they were married she dressed up all the books. He used to call them hia calico library. One of the disadvantages of modern methods of book making is that the books are all alike. 1 mean in tho cut of their clothes. The editions come out in regiments, and the individuality of the single volume is lost. Your copy of Browning is exactly like your neighbor's. There is not only a loss in individuality but in pride of pos session. One of the great Joys or life is to possess something that our nolghbor cannot buy for love or money. Half of the delight of ownership is lost when the people who live next door have the same things that we have. A Spray of Leaves as a ISook Mark. The only refuge for that considerable portion of us whose desires have to be squeezed into the corners of small pocket books is to' make ourbook unique by turn ing down the corners of the psges, thumb marking the covers, and scribbling over the margins. I have greatly increased the value of my copy of '-The Sabbath in Puritan New England" by adding to it a bookmark in the shape of a little spray of leaves Irom a New England church yard. This green branch grew in Diixbury, just over where the steps went up 200 years ago info the Puritan meet ing house. The old meeting bouse has long since gone the way of its seventeenth-century companions. Only the inequalities of the ground show where it stood. But there it did stand once, and where this sprig of green came from ascended the ancient steps. There walked Elder Brewster, who first had charge of the Duxbury congrega tion in the days when neighboring Plymouth was the only other Puritan parish on this side of tho wide water. Along that old path came John Alden and FrtscMla, and after them, meditating perhaps upon the singular outcome of his extraordinary courtship, followed Miles Standisb, the Puritan Cap tain. They and others who made their ad venture in the Mayflower came over the ground wherein grew this little branch of leaves. One of the most remarkable of Elder Brewster's successors in the pastorate of Duxbury was Parson Robinson. Parson Robinson was always in an anxious frame of mind about his salary, Mrs. Earlehas a chapter in her hook about the minister's pay. The Puritan ministers took what they could get. They were commonly willing, as one of them expressed it, to ",try to scrab ble along" with their poor people. They got pretty small salaries. Cotton Mather said that there were only two cheap things in Now England ministers and milk. Tbe parson was sometimes paid in kind. Meal, lumDcr, beans, cider, pumpkins, patchwork, bed quilts were sent in for the support of the preaching of the Gospel. At weddings and funerals the ministers were presented with gloves. The Rev. Mr. Elliott, of the North Church in Boston, roceived during his ministry 2,940 pairs of gloves. Troubles of the Early Pastors. The parson was sometimes paid in cash. The cash consisted of wampum, heaver skins and leaden bullets. The wam pum was often found to be sadly chipped. The parson did well if he got his pay at all. The Rev. Mr. Sprague, hearing that his con gregation were 'thinking of making an in crease in his salary, sent in a solemn peti tion against it, "as I am plagued to death," he said, "to get what is owing me now." Mrs. Earle makes no mention of Parson Robinson. The old Duxbury traditions rep resent Robinson as making a demand?regu tarly every year for an increase of salary. Tbe congregation, it appears, granted the good man's desire, and annually increased his stipend. They got ahead of the parson, however, by never paying It. When he de parted they were eight years behind in his salary. Robinson seems to have been a dis agreeable, discontented old fellow. Once they gave blm 30 acres of land in Weecher ton. Tbat, they thought, would satisfy him for a time. "Parson," they said, "we hope that you will at last be satisfied. We have given you 30 acres of land in Weecherton." "Weecherton!" he cried, ','30 acres in Wee cherton! Why, if you were to mow it with a razor and rake it with a flne-tooth comb, you wouldn't get enough from it to wintor a grasshopper!" Finally they bad to put the old man out. They locked up the meet ing bouse and told him he would have to go. Singularly enough, he went. The old meeting house at Duxbury rises into sight as ono reads "The Sabbath in Puritan .New England." We get back 200 years and keep the Lord's Day with our fore fathers. Just now, when some good people are trying to bring that old past into the present, and to establish the Puritan Sabbath herein Pittsburg it is worth while to take the sort of journey which this book makes possible, and to discover what manner of day that old day was. How the Dine Lnwg Were Enforced. The Sabbath began on Saturday after noon. Everybody must "surcease their labor" at 3 o'clock, and spend the rest of the day in such preparation for the morrow "as the ministers shall direct." All good people occupied some part of these hours in teach ing their children tbe Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. And not only their children, but their servants. Ono perplexed parson wrote back to Eng land of the difficulty of getting servants who "enjoyed catechising and family duties" "family duties" meaning prayers. Thus prepared, the Puritans awoke on Sabbath morning. Tho Sabbath was a day of rest and religion. Whatever did not agree with these purposes of the day was an of fense, punishable by law. In 1670 John Lewis and Sarah Ciiapman, lovers, were set on trial for "sitting together on the Lord's Day under an apple tree In Goodman Chapman's orchard." An old soldier in Dunstable for "netting a piece of an old hat to put in his shoe," to ease a sore foot, was fined 10 shill ings. Captain Kemble, of Boston, sat two hours in tbe public stocks for his "lewd and unseemly behavior" in kissing his wife on his own door step, be having on a Lord's Day morning returned from a three-years' cruise. The New Haven Sabbath laws set forth that "Profanation or the Lord's Day shall be pnnished by fine, imprisonment, or corporal punishment; and if proudly, and with a high head against the authority of God, with death!" A Delightful Wedding Custom. A little before 9 o'clock on Sabbath morning the tooting of a solemn horn or the measured and funereal beating of a drum summoned tbe faithful to the meeting house. Slowly and sedately they wended their way across the meadows, those living at a distance riding on their farm horses, with their wives on a pillion behind tbe sad dle. Moie fancifully dressed the women were than fits our notion of the Puritans with ribbons and colors and great hats, against which sober church councils legis lated in vain. One delightful custom made it "the thing" for the new bride and her young husband, upon their first appearance in church after tbelr wedding, to wear their wedding finery, and in tbe midst of the ser mon to rise In tbelr plao s and circle slowly about, affording the gratified congregation a view from every side. Tho meeting-house green was set out with horse blocks. If the meeting house wero remote from the dwellings of the congre gation, as it often was, a "ro-house" beside the church, with a fireplace in Ii, made a tbawing-out resort for tbe frozen congre gation between the services. The stocks, the whipping post, the pillory and the cage also adorned the green. The door of the meeting house was covered over with all sorts of bills and Notices, and further adorned with wolves' heads, nailed there by the man who bad killed the wolves and pie sented them at the meeting house for the usual reward. Inside were raftered walls, and sanded "floors, and rows of bencbes sometimes without backs ana tne conspicuous pulpit. Tbe rafters were festooned with dusty spider webs. Up above, where the parson's corn was stored in the meetinghouse loft, the squirrels -were busy at their dinners. The sun shone in through unshaded win dows. Stoves, even in the fierce New Eng land winter, were as forbidden as organs are in Covenanter churches. Ibe Days of Long Sermons. People were seated in the Puritan meet ing houses according to tnetr importance in the community. Sometimes the chairman of the seating committee, after arranging tho precedence or the congregation, found it prudent to move away into another parish. The men sat at the ends of the seats ready to rush out In attack on beseiging Indians. The bovs were gathered into a place by themselves, often on the pulpit stairs; where the tithlng-man kept his stern watch overthem. It was a great misfortune to be a boy in the days or the Puritan Sab bath. Every meeting time one or more or these wretched beings suffered expulsion from the meeting bouso and got a sound thrashing on the nearest horse-block; the sermon droning onto the swish, swish ac companiment of the tithing man's rod. Even during the nooninir, in some of the stricter parishes, the boys were kept rigid ly still, and wero required to read over aloud the notes which they had taken of tho morning sermon! The congregation felt that they were not gottiner their rightful deserts if the "long prayei" failed to be one hour in length, and the sermon two hour more. They com plained of many things, but never or the length or the sersom. They did not, how ever, reel compelled to stay awake during the sermon. Tl-at, Indeed, was too much for human endnrance. But the parson must do his dutv. and the titning-man. with bis long roci, with a knob on one end lor the men, and a squirrel tail at the other for the moi tender women, must keep the sleepers as wide awake as possible. Then the same long exercising of piety in the afternoon. And after that, in the houe of tlfo minister, the good man repeated the afternoon seimon to his mmilv. All day long, the Fame unbendine, glim severity, "nis Majesties Tithing Man entered com plaint aaalnxt Dora and Susan Smith, that on the Lord's Day during Divine Service, tbey did smile!" Tbis little green spr.iy grew in tiiumph over the level site of a Puritan meetinghouse. That, perhaps, Is tbe besc thing about it. It means that na ture is bound to outlive everything that is unnatural. The Puritan Sabbath, like the 8cribs and Pharisees' Sabbath belonesto the failures of the past, with a great many other duvices lor making people good by ma chinery. Tho past is welcome to itl The present can got on very well without it. One of Eugene Field's Stories. Cbicago Daily New. James Whitcomb Riley went to Europe last summer. On the return voyage an in cident happened which is well worth telling of. To beguile the tedionsness of the voy age, it was proposed to give a concert in the saloon or the ship an entertainment to which all capable of amusing their fellow voyagers should contribute. Mr- Riley was asked to recite some or his original poems, and of course he cheerfully agreed to do so. Among tbe number present at this mid ocean entertainment, over which Rev. Myron Reed presided, were two Scotchmen, very worthy gentlemen, en route from the land o' cakes to the land of biscuits upon a tour of investigation. These twain shared the enthusiasm with which the auditors npplauded Mr. Riley's charming recitations. Thev marveled that so versatile a genius coufd have arisen fiomaland reputed for uncouthness and savazery. "Is itno wonderfn', Donal'," remarked one of these braw Soot?, "that a tradesman suld be sic a bonnic poet!" "And is ho Indeed a tradesman?" asked the other. '"Deed he is," answered tho other. "Did ye no hear the dominie intryjuce him as the hoosier poet? Just think of It, mon just think o' sic a trade poet dividing his time in making hoosieryl" A Governor's Kissing Campaign. New Orleans New Delta. Governor Jones, of Alabama, who is on a campaigning tour, finds his lines cast in much more pleasant places. True, he is being called upon to do the kissing, hut the babies are all girl babies, or at least tbey were, and they run all the way from 18 to 10 years of age. At Blue Creek, in that State, lie held a meeting tbe other day, spoke to tbe miners in the afternoon, danced at a ball tbat night, and upon some of the ladles intimating that they would like to kiss blm, he announced himself always at the service of tbe people of Alabama, and did his duty in a manner which earned for him the united support of the Blue Creek suffragans and a curtain lecture Irom his wife. Gov ernor Jones seems to be running a smacking race, and even if he should be. defeated bo will have nothing to complain of. He is conducting a canvass into which any man would throw bis whole soul, and has inaugu rated a new political departure which will serve to greatly mitigate the horrors of a protracted campaign. Canvassing will be come verv popular, especially among the young men, but we venture the opinion that very few married mon will effer for public office that is, if their wives have anything to say about it, and tbey generally do. A Life of UnDroken Anticipation. "If I ever get back to London again," said a premiere danscuse, "I'll never go abroad, as an understudy anyhow. You don't know what It means. Take a girl who has been used to doing something, who has been at the footlights with little Intermis sions every night formontbs and years, who is considered pretty well up in her profes sion, who is still ambitious, put her where she may be called upon any night to face a foreign public and never gets a chance to appear and you have my situation. Tho salary? Of course, tho salary goes on: but no amount of monev can siitisfy me in such a life of unbroken anticipation. The strain of always beins prepared rorthe unexpected is worse than that which comes from nightly work. I would not accept a minor part in the piece and here I am itb nothing to do, on half pay, waiting for my chance. If that woman would sprain her ankle, or but it is too wicked to even think or profiting by somebody's misfortune let alone sigh for the opportunity. An understndv! Oh, bow I wish, as I walk Broadway, that I was back in London!" English Capital and Chile's War. Philadelphia Public Ledger. Although war is destructive, and to some people ruinous, it makes the fortunes or others, as wo saw during tbe Rebellion, 30 years ago. It is quite likely, therefore, that English capitalists engaged in the nitrate business made money out or the Chilean conflict. They paid ror labor in paper money worth 30 cents on the dollar, and cot gold in payment for their products. This would have adjusted Itself In time, the wages ris ing in proportion to the decline in the value of paper money, hut during the transitional period there were great profits to be ob tained by the capitalists. It is said that they instigated the rebellion in order to bring about the war, but that is probably an infer ence from tbe profits the war brought them and their liberality in supporting tho'Con gresslonallst party after the rebellion had started. A Sermon in Cloaks. Dry Goods Economist. Looking backward over the many efforts of manufacturers to acquire reputation for their aptness in hitting the bull's ey e in their styles and materials for cloaks, and noticing how well they did for a time, only at last to fall, it is wonderful that mills have the cour age to make them. Among the handsomest fabrics over made were tho gold and silver beaded cloakings introduced more than 20 years ago. They sold at $6 to $7, and went off like hot cakes. The manufacturers increased their output, and in a little while as many eases of them were jobbed at $3 25 and $2 B0 per yard as there had been pieces sold at the higher figure. DEATHS HEBE AND ELSEWHERE. MBS. SCHLEY, mother of Captain W. S. Schley, of the cruiser Baltimore, died at her home In Bal timore Saturday. She had been IU for, several weeks. Geoeoe Moselli, a well-known resident of Stcubcavllle, died suddenly Saturday night of heart disease. Deceased was a native of Germany and leaves a wlfeaud Are children. James F. Brooks, a prominent citizen of Staf ford Springs. Conn., whose health had been fail lmr for several months, is dead, agutHS. He held the patent on tbe Brooks road roller, which Is sold In all parts of New England. Mas. Francis -. Ceook, daughter of Bev. Dr. Ebeneier Brown, a prominent Methodist clergy man, died at her home In Baltimore Friday night, aaed 67 years. She was connected with many charity and church organizations, and was the first president of the Woman's. Christian Temper ance Union of ber city. Petsk Wilson died at Charlestown, Masi., Sat urday morning. Hr served In the-United States Navy 45 years, and also In the Texas Navy before the annexation of the Lone Star State to the Union. He served through tbe Mexican War and the War of the Keoeulon, and was pensioned a few years ago for long aud meritorious service. ' 189L THE WESTERN COAL FAMINE. Operator W. P." Bend Says That It Is "More Serious Than Generally Supposed Ap peals From Country Towns for Sup pliesEffect of the Strike In Indiana. W. F. Eend has been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune upon the scarcity of coal. He said: "While in Pittsburg in the early part of thewHekl read in the public papers a Qia- patch to the effect that there was a coal famine in Chicago. This report i regaruea at the time as hurnly sensational orat least an exaggeration of the true facts of the situ ation. "On my return home, however, I And tbat this nnblie renort is not only true but falls far short of describing tbe great scarcity of soft coal here and elsewhere throughout tne Northwest. Figuratively speaking, manu facturers, railroad purchasing agents and large coal consumers are begging and Im ploring on their bended knees the bewil dered coal operator and coal dealer to let them have a supply of coal that will keop their industries and Interests from suffering sei lous loss and inj ury. "Mnny or tbe appeals for coal are coming in the shape of the most urgent entreaties. On my desk there is now a stack of letters and dispatches from dealers at various places in several States clamoring for fuel. To illustrate their general tenor I will re peat the words of distress from, a coal dealer in Indiana. He cries: 'For humanity's sake I beg of you to send me some coal. The 5eople oi my town are famishing for fuel.' 'he tone of many otder letters and tele grams is no less earnest. Railway general managers In many vases are sending dis patches urging forward fuel and expressing tears that unless shipments are increased at once their trains will be forced to stop. Iu fact, there is not bituminous coal enough at present to satisfy the enormous aud phe nomenal demand. The coal dealer Is fairly at bis wits' end trying to care for the vari ous large industrial nd other interests re quiring coal for their operation. The Present Production. "The production of coal is now greater than ever before in the history of the coun try, but great as it is the demand is much in excess of tho output and of the means of transporting it to market. The causes or this condition of things are numerous and complex. The general scarcityof coal ar fects most of the Northwest, but in our local market this is greaily intensified by tbe striko in the coal regions of Indiana. Avast quantity of this coal is sold in Chicago. The lute sudden strike in the extensive coal-producing region of Brazil, lnd., shuts out the shipment of that coal Irom tho market and forces those who have been using It to pur chase Illinois and other coal in Its stead. "In Ohio and Western Pennsylvania there is now a home market for nearly all that can bo produced in those sections, and little of this Eastern coal can be spared at present for the West. The failure of gas, or its great ly diminished supply, in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana has foiced its abandonment bv manufacturers in Pittsburg, and In fact almost everyplace in Pennsylvania, and in such places in Ohio as Dayton, Columbus and Springfield, and in Indianapolis and al most nil the manufacturing towns in Indi ana. The coal required to take the place of natural gas umonnts to a vast tonnage. The stocks or coal in Cincinnati laid in last spring and summer from shipments down the Ohio and Kanawha rivers from Pennsyl vania and West Virginia are about depleted, and that city has not now a week's supply ahead. Tho Ohio river has been low for months, and no coal has been or can be floated down its stream to Cincinnati, Louis ville and other places getting their supply in this way. The railroads everywhere are taxed to their utmost limit in moving the crops of tbe country and other merchandise required for general use. A Scarcity of Miners. "This vast traffic requires vast quanti ties of coal for locomotive purposes. Cars for the transportation of coal are insufficient and, as a consequence, almost every colliery in the country is nnablo to give the full com plement of cars required to keep it in full operation or that will enable its operators to take care of the orders pouring in upon them. There is in most places also a scarcity of miners. During tbe last two or three years comparatively few miners have come here from Great if ritain or from the Conti nent of Europe. In England, Scotland and Wales during the period I have named tho hours of labor have been reduced and rates of wages have been greatly increased. As a consequence the Inducements offered to miners to immigrate to this country are not what they used to be, and the supply of skilled miners from abroad has of late grown less for the coal fields of this coun try. "There are other causes not necessary to particularize operating upon the coal situa tion and upon the coal-mining industry af fecting the supply and demand. I can add, however, that the prosperous condition of the country causes an increased consump tion of coal as, well as of other commodities for domestic and other uses. Suffice, it to say, bituminous coal is now wanted, and wanted badly, and especially so in Cbicago. So far, while the wholesale prices have stiffened and have undergone advances in various quarters, .there hns been no dispo sition to Increase tbe retail rates in the Chicago market." Tending Toward Annexation, St. Louis Globe-Democrat. British statesmen, when they take the trouble to speak about reciprocity between Canada and tbe United States at all, say it will inevitably lead to annexation. The Canadians, apparently, are getting ready to accept this eventuality. POLITICAL POINTS. Mb. llAKKisoxmay have shot one duck, but Mr. Fassett missed one tigor. iV. Y. World. From present appearances Foraker, be of the unshaken hand, will get the worst snub at tbe hands of the Ohio Legislature that he ever had. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Sevextt-itve Republican papers in Ohio, favor Sherman's electi6n. Thirty-one sup port Judge Foraker. Additions to the former list are reported daily. Springfield Republle-Ttmes. Governor Camfbell, of Ohio, thinks that Major McKinleys chances for securing the next Republican nomination for President are better than those of Harrison or Blaine Governor C. has Just grappled with the Major, and he appreciates his wrestling qualities. New York Horning Advertiser. Tbe contest for the Speakership is squarely between Judge Crisp and Mr. Mills. Tbe other candidates do not command much at tention. They will not be heard of after tho first ballot. Indeed, it is probable that several of them will announce their with drawal before the meeting of the caucus. Savannah (Ga.) Newt. Mills' views on silver are affected by his temporary geographical position. In the South and West he points with pride to his vote in Congress for free coinage. In the North and Eat lie hedges on the question. Let him define what his attitude would be as Speaker, elected by a majority divided on this particular question Philadelphia Press. We don't see the name of Boston in the list of cities that aspire to have tho Repub lican National Convention, and yet Boston is the Hub of the Universe. Extreme mod esty seems to be one of our failings, how ever. Boston Herald. You are "awayofl"' in your intimation that modesty has anything to do with Boston's not aspiring to have the convention. You are "away off" geograph ically and hence aspiration would be use less. The Springfield Republican brings forward the statement that, as Governor Russell was born in January,-1857, be will be 35 years old before the meeting of tbe electors of the President and Vice President, and will therefore be constitutionally eligible. But still "tbe young Massachusetts statesman will have to wait," responds the Syracuse Standard. Yes, he will have to wait, but will have abundance of company, among all that throng or other good men, whose ohief claim to eligibility is the constitutional one, or ago. Surely Governor Tillman does not intend to give Thanksgiving Day tbe cold shoulder, and yet be has not issued his proclamation or paid the slightest attention to the forth coming event. He ought to be thankful for the favors that have been bestowed upon him and bis administration during the past year. The day will doubtless he celebrated with or without his endorseniont, but it would be good for him to tell tho people of the State why, in his official Judgment, they should be thankful. Cftarfeiton IS. C Ifeics and Courier. Perhaps tbe Governor of Georgia thinks Thanksgiving a "local issue" this year and himself not "In it" because he's out at the Alliance Convention and otherwise "out." r OUE MAIL POUCH. A Good Way to Give Thanks. To the Editor of The Dlsoatcbi Can you find space in your valuable jour nal for a suggestion of one way to celebrate a day which tbis year should be for us, as Americans, peculiarly one of thanksgiving? Our harvests have been phenomenally plen tiful, and our tables. In accordance with the grand old custom handed down to us by onr Puritan ancestors, will shortly be spread with a bountiful repast. Throughout the length and breadth of our land this feast will be laid, to which practically all will in soma way be invited, the poor as well as the rich, the prisoners and outcasts even, as well as those more favored. On the other side of this l'ttle world of ours, in Russia, that grim land or terror, there are to-day, not thousands, but millions, famine stricken; trying to keep their little spark of life by devouring pounded grass, stubble, anything, and winter a Russian winter at their door. They have appealed to their Government, tbe Czar listen', it will cost, he says, 40,000, 000 roubles and over, he heads a subscrip tion, hlg guard du corns give up their cham pagne, and tnen he turns to France and raises an enormous loan for his army, even while the pitifnl cry is coming from mill Ion; it is hard to grasp, millions ormen and women and, saddest or all, from tbe little ones begging their parents lor the food tbey have not. We have so much, cannot we, the youngest yet the richest of all nations, stretch ontonr hands in brotherly love to the starving. Cannot each State raise a fund for food: can not we spare the gleanings of our harvest for those who have none? Cannot some society, like those great-hearted ministers in time or war and pestilence, the Red Cross Society, be persuaded to add famine to their mission, and take charge of the gram sub scribed that it may reach the sufierers. It mattors not from whence the cry of dis tress comes can America shut her ears against the dving and not do something for tbem in HU Name. X. Pittsburo, November 20. The Coming Bond Election. To the Editor of The Dlspatcb: Touching the $2,000,000 bond issue, a ques tion or two arises and the answers will prove interesting to many who have already patd their as-essm'ents for street and sewers under the acts of 1837 and 1SS9, and also to others who have contracted directly with Booth) & Flinn for the paving of publlo streets. Such citizens are practically simi ilarly Interested in knowing how tbey will be affected, or just wbat will be their status in case there is an isue or the bonds, and tho curative legislation is not favorably passed upon by tho courts. Personally, I am not innocent enough to believe that any part or these payments will ever be refunded to those who promptly paid, but they will also havo to help by their payment of addit ional taxes to pay for the other local im provements. AVhat is the need of the bond issue Just now? Six hundred thousand dollars falls due the next year. Wbat time next year? One million four hundred thousand dollars the following year. What time? Are the citizens anxious to place $2,C00 000 in tbe hands of tbe city government by an issue or bonds nearly two years before tbe money Is needed? What is to prevent Booth, Flinn et al from waiting the three months that may pass before tho courts act on the onrative act? They will be all the more interested then in securing the proper legal construc tion upon the act tbat will enable the col lection of assessments from the local proper ties benefited. I have read tbe address of my valued friends Gourley and Morrow care fully. Alter thinking over thematter I fail to see the ground for either alarm or baste. The worst that can come is tbat the contractors may have to wait, or that they will grow im patient and sue tho qlty. Well, wbat if they do? It will not cost anymore to hold a public vote then than now to pass upon this ques tion. We had better not cross our bridges until we arrive at them. Manv things, if let alone, will right themselves. W. H. Dalt. Pittsbcro, November 21. Annoyances In Theater Galleries. To the Editor of Tbe Dispatch: There is hardly anyone who is not more or less, in some way or another, annoyed by some nuisance. But I think when tbe peo ple pay for an evening's enjoyment they should not be annoyed. I am a frequenter of our theaters and when I go unaccompa nied I generally goto the 23 cent gallery, a place tbat should be kept just as clean and free from all nuisance as tbe other part of the house. But it is not. The most abom inable of these nuisances, and the one of which I wish to speak, is this: That several first-class theaters hire out to a man a portion of tbe gallery. lie is allowed to sell peanuts, chestnuts, soda water, root beer and candy. That part may be all right, but tbe man has two or three boys who stand around from the time the doors are open until tbe curtain rises; also between tbe acts, and shout, often at tbe top of their voices, "Peanuts, chestnuts, candy," etc. But that is not all, tbey will commence at one end of tbo gallery and pnsh their way through be tween people and the row of seats ahead, carrying large baskets. This Is most annoy ine. Theso boya are generally very dirty and their baskets quite greasy. The people pay the price asked by tbo managers of these theaters, but tbey do not pay to be annoyed, and have their freshly shined shoes trod upon. Now thl3 Is a nuisance that should be stopped, because the class that goes into the 25 cent gallery is. com posed of respectable, hard working men who cujoy the play quite as much as tbe Feople who can afford to occupy the boxes, have often, net only in this town, but in others, noticed that if there was a joke or a good impression made upon the stage that it is caught first of all in the gallery. This nuisance is not permitted in any other part of the house. Why should it be allowed In the gallery? A. L. B. Pittsdcro, November 20. The Telephone Monopoly. Baltimore Sun. People who were expecting to be delivered from the grip of tbe Bell telphone monopoly in January, 1891, will be scandalized to learn that through an abuse of our patent laws tho monopoly is likely to last some 15 years longer. Bellner invented a transmitter, and in 1877 applied for a patent for It. Drawbaugh's application for a patent on his device covered to some ex tent the same ground. The two applica tions were declared by the Patent Office authorities to "interfere" with each other, and action on them not being pushed by the Bell Company, wbich had bought out Ber liner and Drawbaugh, the "Interference" has not been ended till now. Now the patent is Issued, andon Beiliner's invention which is necessary to a good telepoone the telephone monopoly expects to live U or 15 veai a loneer.. A natent Is a leeal monopoly: The law creates it. When legal monopolies go beyond limits there ought to be new laws to correct them. When the Sheriff Sold Out Gould. Philadelphia Times. In the parlor of an old-fashioned inn near Moscow, Lackawanna county, Is to bo found a relic of Jay Gould's early experiences in this part of the country. It is nothing less than tbe famous financier's first bookcase and library. "I purchased that library at the time Jay Gould was sold out by tbe Sheriff at Goulds "boro," said R. Gersbacher, its owner. "That was many years ago and Jay is a rich man now, but be wasn't worth a cent then. I wasn't much on books for tbeir value, but when the Sheriff cried out $t5, third and last time,' I Just yelled $i6, and the library was knocked down to me. I paid tbe money and took the books and case home. "Nobody cared for Jay then, but later on when he began to rise in the world these books became quite valuable, and I sold a number or them, receiving $600 for tbe same. But tbe rest are not for sale. I will keep tbem as long as I live as a memento of my bidding on Jay Gould's goods." A Common Sense Philanthropy. There is a philanthropic scheme suggest ed by some people who are interested in tbe regeneration of mankind tbat ought to engage general public attention. What is proposed is to establish an institution where immediate relief can be had In supplies for so much immediate work. This on a proper basis would enable the pollco to rid the city of all classes of vagrants. The present leniency toward this class is due to tbe knowledge that it comprises a large number of unfortunates who are able and willing to do something for an honest living if tbey could find something to do. Such an. insti tution would become a sort of clearing house for tbe hospitals, reformatories, sec tarian charitable institutions and employ ment agencies, and might In time be made almost selt-supporting. CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS- In Zululand, women are architects and builders. The oldest American theater is la Savannah. There are nearly 6,000 pieces in a modern locomotive. England possesses 1,900,445 square miles of African territory. Apples were worth from 12Jc to 25c each In the reign of Henry VII. On an average the letters received for the Emperor of Germany number COO a day. There are nine telegraph lines in opera tion In Slam, having a total length of 1,730 miles. Superstitious barbers think that the money earned by shaving dead men is lucky to gamble wltb. -, It is still possible to purchase land in New Zealand at 10i. the acre, or to rent an acre at Cd. uer annum. There were 280,657 births and 150,333"-: deaths in the United Kinzdom in the qnar- ? ter ending September 30. . j The Fresno county (Cal.) jail is said to -be invaded by spooks, who keep up no end of a row and rapping at night. Phosphorus is now being made by elee triclty. The principal manufactory is In Birmingham, where it is anticipated fully 1,000 tons will be made annually. An Arizona farmer has a tame Tattle snake to guard his premises instead of a dog. Tbe report does not say whether the snake sleeps in the farmer's boots. An owl flew down one of the Circuit Courtroom chimneys at Palmyra, Mo., re cently, perched himself in the unused pipe hole and listened as if he had been admitted to tbe bar. The growth of the Argentine Bepublio in the past 30 years has been remarkable. According to recent statistics the popula tion of the Republic is now 4,000,000, as against 1,350,000 in 1S6L Slavery still exists in Portugese India. A Brahmin, at Ka'loda.possesses a village of 32 huts, where every soul is as truly his slave aud property as in the olden days; and re cently a Portugese, traveling Irom Goa,spoka openly or tbe slaves on his estate. --In Boktan they talk of a band of Eng lish crusaders who strayed away from tbeir leaders about 1150 A. D., and settled in Kurd istan, mingling their blood wltb tbe native stock, so that it is dangerous for Britons to be too severe about tbe faults ot tbe Kurds. There is a tract of land in Levy county, Fla., in which three holes have been dug 30 feet apart.and each excavation has laid bare parts of the skeleton or a huge animal. Tbs diggers take it ror granted that the bones all belong to the same creature, and are won dering what sort of a beast it was whose re mains underlie the country. The fruit growers of California have bad the shrewdness to develop tbeir region beyond most others. Some 300 car loads of raisins of fine quality have been shipped East this fall. In 33 counties oranges are growing, and there are altogether 4,000.000 orange trees with 1,000,000 in bearing. Be sides this, California has already 3,000,000 lemon trees. Queer antics, like those caused by laughing gas, are produced by a dose of tbe powdered seed of the laughing plant. Under the influence of this Arabian plant any per son can be made to laugh, dance, shout and otberwlseact boisterously. This condition lasts about half an hour, and is usually followed by a deep sleep. When the person awakes he has no recollection of his con duct. A comptometer, the new machine for counting, has bfeen received and sec at work in the Pension Department'at Washington. It was patented in 1883 and is manufactured by a Cbicago firm. The instrument looks like a mahogany box 8x12 Inches wide and four or five deep. A key board occupies the upper side, and by tapping the keys tbe total appears in an indicator below. Bellboys at the first-class hotels make more money than mechanics, while the earn ings of many of them will far exceed those of many professional men. The pay is small, seldom amounting to over $20 or $25 a month and board, but the tips are what count. There Is one bellboy, or rather bellman, for ho is over 30 years of ace. at tbe Fifth Ave nue Hotel, who makes $200 a month, in addi tion to which be gets bis meals at tbe hotel. There is a monopoly of funerals in Paris. The idea which led to the establish ment of the great company which enjoys the privilege was that enough money might be made out of the costly funerals to permit of a great many for little or nothing. The funerals are divided into ten classes. The first six only are remunerative. Tbey vary from 8,000 francs to 100.COO francs. The eighth class costs 22 francs; tbe ninth, 8 francs, and tbe tenth is free. There are about 35,000 annual free interments. A Canadian woman and not a "pro fessional faster" kept alive by medical art has lived 35 days without food. Matilda Grapin, 53 years of age, living near Montreal, lost ber reason some time ago, and one day was missing from tbe place where she wai employed as a servant. Nothing was heard of ber until last Thursday, when a farmer working in the fields found ber under a tree. She was nothing but a llvin skeleton. For 35 days she bad existed without food, her only sustenance being water from a brook. She may recover. Diamonds, according to an exprrt's classification, have sex as well as other at tributes not known to common folk. "Here," said a jeweler,"is a specimen tbat will prove to you that there is a difference or sex in gems. That is wbat is called the female, a multiplying diamond." He held the gem under a strong magnifyingglass and pointed to four or five smaller diamonds clustered about one of tbe facets at tbe edge of the table of the stone. "Tho malo gem,-' the jeweler said, "is sharp pointed and never gathers these embryo gems." Thenumberof locomotives in the "United State is about 30,000 one to every five miles of railroad, and of cars of all kinds 1,109,000, of which 27AO are passenger coaches. The locomotives cost $150,000,000. the cars $500,000, 000, making the approximate cost ot tho rolling stock $1,500,000,000. Each year a freight engine hauls 35,000 tons, and a pas senger engine pulls 0,030 passengers. These railways employ 725,000 persons, nearlv all men, who provide a living for nearly 3,000,000 people,.or about one-twentieth of the whole population. i ItHTNKLES AND BHYMELETS. "Willie," said the visitor, "wny are your eyes so bright?" "I teeps wlnkin my eyelids all time. That teeps 'em wubbed np an slimy, " said Willie.-' Uarpefs Bazar. She reclined in the shade, And my heart filled with pride As I saw that my poems Were close by her side. Then I glanced once again. And I almost could weep! My poems lay near ber But she was asleep. Kate Field's WasMnoton. Tinkle I wonder where His Sa'anic Maj esty gets the fuel to keep np a perpetual fire? Dlnkle He certainly doesn't have far to go for his Btyx at any rate. Brooklyn Eagle. The sunlight falls on stnffed fottballs And 'sanguined 'ievens fierce and gory: The long light shakes o'er frauds and fake And undergraduates bowl for glory. Kick, cullies, kick. Send the Dig sphere a Dying; Answer cripples. Dying, dying, dying. .Veto York Heralri. Mrs. McSmith I always have a present ment whenever there Is going to be any sickness In the family. , Mrs. Bumpns-So do I. Every time Mr. Bumpus brings home a fry in a box, be is sure to haTe a sick headache In the morning. Brooklyn Cittvm. 'Ton admire Miss Sweete very much, I hear." I do." "I suppose you will try to get to be better ac quainted with her now." "No. I probably shouldn't admire her ir I were better acquainted with her. "Sew l'ork Press. He often was told in his wife That a treasure to him had been given; Yet 'twould be the Joy of his life Could be "lay ud his treasures In heaven." Sparks. Sappy I say Chagpy; I've wather got the ldejh that I nevah could be"an acub, dontcher know? Chappy-What'a the weajon. deah boy? Sappy Why, old fellah, dontcher see, there's wule I've wead someweah that weads, "think twice befoab you ahct." Tbat would wuln me; It's moab than a fellah can do now to think wunth. sad I should Just explah if I bad to think twice. o Jore!-.Rtoi Courier. I ' ' - . ' .", - fc - J tdk i,isLfi,4i iswstJiair aHu&,. 43!7l!HwaHHnHHHfliEMHf$iIW
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers