THE SCRANTON TMBUtfE- AYEDNESDAT, SEPTEMBER 27, 1809.
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'A
1 The Dead Man's Hand. 1
:3t
KHLSALL nn n brilliant shoe
story vvilter nnd a novelet
with a future. Although he
made n KKd Income from his
pen he had some relatives on
his hand, bo he kept l'sa than
hnlf his earnings for himself,
nnd lived In second-rate lodglngr, shar
ing his sitting room with nnot.ier man
Totson West.
West was n Journalist, a man of con
siderable learning and ability; on artis
tic matteis tin authority; but ho wis
by nature unobtrusive and retiring,
and to us The Pioneer, apart from his
excellent work, he was chlelly notevvoi
thy for hi undisguised admiration for
Kclsall and his tales. It was a pleas
ure to see a man bo appreciative of
another. They lled together some
four years, and then Kelsall was
struck down vv 1th fever. He took a
chill when he was recovering and died;
nnd there was no one who knew the
innn personally or through his writ
ings but was sorry.
It was a terrible blow to West lTt
had nutsed Kclsall with more tha'i a
woman's care all through his Illness,
nnd he was nearly heart-broken when
lie died. Some of us tried to rhei r
him, but our vNlts were not welcome 1
and neer icpeated And so he llvol
n lone and solitary man, nursing his
grief and di Inking
Then a most singular thing hap
pened West, who went In fot solid
truth 01 what he took for It, and wno
we did not think capable of wilting .
line of fiction to save, his life, sudd
lj came out as a storv wiltcr and
In a ery short time bid fair to equal
Kelsall in I exultation. And he dldn t
seem a bit proud of It. but vns moio
annoyed thnn anything else when It
was referred to. as a matter of fact,
he published bis tnles undei1 a pseu
donym This did not Insure sec-ecy,
and i month after bis first story ap
pealed we of The Pioneer knew that
'Caleb Haidcastle" and Tolson West
vveio one and the same man.
Hefoto long West tluew up his Jour
tinlltli woik nnd confined himself tp
his tales
They weie Jut the antithesis of Kcl
sall s blight wi Kings, nnd yet theif
weie those who knew of the relation
ship of the two men, who said they
deter ted Kelsall's Inlluenre in them,
and eeu his humor, thpugh most
guiesomely motamoiphosed Sim in
deed went so far ns to bav that West
was palming of Kelsall's unpub'ishel
work as his own; in no other w.iv coul 1
thev acount for his outbuist as a
rlnl
All the while, West, instead of being
elated Ijv his sudden good foitune,
seemed to grow more depressed and
leserved, till at last he became abso
lutely misanthropic. He would shut
himself up In his sitting looms for
days at a time. His meals weie left
outside his door, he slept In the loom,
nothing wa seen of him, and nothing
beaid but the Intel mlnable "click" of
his tpewiltei.
Hut his talcs' The fairly can led
u awav "ith tlnni. Never lnee
Svift was tlieio sifti cau.Hle wit and
1 tin F.ttiip; neei since Poe such,
il mdonmeiit to the grateque and the
ti rilble His plots were daring to tem
r mil befoie long It was iiunored
h it n ibis a' count home of the mag-a-me
were I of using them.
1 v .is sitting In my renin ore night
v Ik n n note was brought to rat'
!.. Hoi's snko come. T Wet
1 wis s-omewhat miipiIspiI. ns much
t . revive the note Itself as nt Its emo
tinnil wordini,, for I scarcely reckoned
nvsif .iiniint, his friends Indeed, I
did in i know he h'ld any
r- Hing bo had met with an accident
I put on m lint at once and made
tialght for bis looms. III lindladv
nut me at the door.
'I was to take you up directly you
rim. si." sh' said; and then copflden
tt lh "and ' m mote than glad Mi.
A ot has sent fei vou f don't know
wlat has iurii over him of lite"
Is he 111. then?'
N s , ipstwlp not ns I knowb of.
but T haven' seen him for a ween. He
hasn t been out of his loom since last
ihur'dav."
l; this time we had i cached AVet's
rto.'i Mis I'arpei knocked and called
H
Mr netheli. sir"
Tit d or wes Hung open nnd West
st iod on the thiei-hold He almost
diagppd me In and then slammed the
fl oi In ids landlady's face. He looked
nt me for a moment In a nervous. lies,
luting way then rat down, bulled
fri fjee in his hands nnd burst Into
t an-
i' 'me. come, man " I said, "what th
d itkens I? up0 You've got a beastly
fit of the blues, anyway. You've ben
ovtrw mking yourself."
He made no reply; so to give him
time to lecover h!muelf T walked
a' uirul the room, nitlng details ns X
did o The plnco was dirty and un
tidv in the Inst ilegiee, and It hnd evi
dent v bcivel as a living and sleeping
1'ioin foi some time. Unwnslied plate
nnd iups weie rcaltcred among th.
hi nk-i ind papers empty spiilt bottles
were thrown about the flnoi, nnd ,i
'umbler beside "It IJv It was the tvP'1
writer with i blank bluet of pipr In.
It and all aiound weie Innumerable i
Hheeiu of tyi r-w mien copy, on th!)
sofa wero pillows, rjgs and blankets,
. and thie fireplace) way chaotic; with cln-
W West had Bomewhat recovered by
this time and ame tow aid me. He
was terribly changed Never robust
at his best, he now looked Ilka a
hroken-down old man All life seemed
to havo left his drawn and bloodless
face his eyes glittered with nn un
natural light, his hair was jlreaked
with gray. His clothes woio ditty
and disheveled, nnd I doubtJ If he
had washed for a week.
"Hethell," he said, as he canto up to
me, "I'm glnd you've come I don't
think I could havo stood It for a day
longer"
"Stood what, old chap? Your room?
T don't think I could either. Why
don't jou open tho windows and havo
the place cleaned? You ought to get
out for some fresh air."
Ho looked at me In a piteous w,;y.
"I can't. lUthell; I can't. Would
to heaven ' could."
"Nonsense man!" I Bald th ai cheery
a tone as I could assume "eomo out
with me. You can tell nis about It
then," nnd I made, as If for the den-.
"Don't leavo me, Hethell," ho cried,
clutching my arm. "Don't leave me,
for pity's Bake! I can't go out. Sit
down with me here."
Seeing It was useless to do anything
but humor him, I did as he asked me,
HENRY A. HCRIHQ, IN TEMPLE BAR. j
He seated himself opiiosltc on the sofa,
and when ho spoke he toyed aimlessly
with the rugs and blankets.
"Now West," 1 said, "tell mo nbout
It. No humbug, you know."
He glanced fearfully around,
"Do jou think we are alone?" ho
asked.
"I'd stake my last dollar on It," 1
replied.
West leaned forward.
"You're wrong," he
hoarsely, "Kelsall's here.
1 don't know w bethel
whispered,
It was tho
gruesomeness of the thought or the
man's way of saying It that affected
me, but I felt a cold shiver tun do'.vn
mv hack.
"Nonsense, West," 1 said, after a
moment's pause, "you mustn't get
Ideas like that Into our hend. You
ought not to have kdpt this room on;
you brood too much."
He got up from the sofa nnd stood
over me with the uneat thly light In
his eyes.
"I tell you, Hethell, Kelsall's here.
Don't contindlct me," he suld fiercely.
Then he resumed his seat
I saw it wns no good In Hating him,
so went on.
"Well, I'll take your wotd for It,
West. Put why should you he unhap
p If It Is so? You liked Kclsall hot
ter than any other man "
Ho sat theie lingering the rugs His
face twitched spnsmodlcall.v and he
staled at the wall behind him At
last he snoke.
"I'll tell .vou, Hethell, I think I should
go mad If I kept It to mself nny long
er You never looked upon me as a
likely believer In ghosts, did vou "
"No You always seemed matter
of fact enough."
West laughed hatshly
"So 1 was till Kelsall died Di otl
know, man, I loved him. I would have
died for him when he was living: now
1 hate the very thought of him. hut
I nni literally djlng fot hir.i today.
Cute him'"
He hissed out the last wotds and
then sat glowetlng at the dead lire,
seemingly unconscious of my patience.
"fJo on. West," I said nt length, " I'm
waiting"
He looked up dazedly, and tlifn
passed his hand over his forehead, as
If to gather his thoughts.
"Yes, yes. I ienienibe, 11 diel
'n this room, on this vetv sof.i, and
I alone was wirn him. In his last
dajs when he knew he wea goiii'?, we.
discussed the futute. and I begged h .-.i
to come buck te me ft out the grave.
He piomlsed, aid he made me swe'ir
by all I held sacred that wmvi he came
I would do bis bidding I swot nnd
he has come "
Again he glanced furtively around
the loom
"You have seen him then and spoken
to hlm?"I asked
"No, I have neither seen him nor
spoken to him."
"Then how In the name of foitune
do vou know he Is heto?"
West spiang up.
"Know he Is here man," pointing to
the litter of copy on the table. "Know
he Is hete' There's evidence for vou
Do you see that pile of typed stuff?
Hvery word of It was written today
by Kelsall."
He was mad statk mad, 1 could not
doubt It. Yet possibly I mlgnt do
something to lestnre his reason.
"How do you make that out, West?"
I said as calmly as I could, "If jou
have never .seen him'"
He was now quite composed mil ie
sumed his old seat.
"It was about a month nf"i Kel
sall's death," he went on, "that I I tst
knew it. I was working at th tvpe
witter which he had left to nr. making
out my (list notice of the academy for
the Pioneer, reeling thltsty. I got up
for a dilnk. I walked acioss o the
sldeboaid theie, and while I was stand
ing bv it. 'dirk, click' went thp type
writer. I tinned around nmaed nnd
there weie the letters dotting down
one nfter the other, just ns thnugn
some one was woiklng It T tell ou
1 was scared, and I stood thr- with
my ejes like to burst from their sock
ets. On It went, line by line, nnd then
suddenly stopped. It was sow time
before I had coinage to go neat it. but
when T did nnd looked nt wha' bad
been wtltten, I was stunn d I just
went to the window nnd opn,-1 it. tot
following on my report was the be
ginning of a tale written bv th it tjpe
writer, a tale the like of wn rli nn me
living cnu.d have written Y.ni know
it. It was 'The Dead Man' Hind'"
I knew It well. It was the one that
had started West on his cnieer.
"When 1 had In a measure tecovered,
1 took out the sheet and lead It. and
wns wondering what on caith, or under
It. It nil meant, when a few Impatient
click'.' of the machine made me look
up It was Instinct, I suppose, or was
It some uncoutiollablu Impulse that
made mo Inset t another slippf I did
so, on went the typewiltet, guided by
a master hand, nnd the next folio of
that tale was tprd. Hy that time I
had grown us-ed to tho situation, ana
ns fast as the sheets were finished I
Insetted others, and within the hour I
held in my hands the manuscript of
tho best short story that was ever
written. When It was finished the ma-
(nine lerused to wrlto mote; and I
spent the temalnder of the evening und
all that night In marveling over the
htiange occurrence
"I will ndmit that when I had got
over my first fear of the supernatural
element In It, my feedings were of un
bounded satisfaction. That It was Kel
sall's tale 1 was lltmly convinced, for
ho had promised to communlcato with
me. and this, I gatheted, was his onlv
means of doing so. Likely enough Iip
would again show his presence In the
pamo wav. and it seemed he Intended
doing me a good tuin by providing me
with literary matter which would en
able me to eat n money nnd renown
On the other hand, did he Intend mo to
use this for publication; nnd, If so, wan
I Justified In attaching my own name
to It?
"After much thought I sent It to Cun
llffo, with whom 1 had been In deep
Iprrcspondenco for Kelsall when he
was ill. He liked It, and asked for
more of my work, which I was able to
send; for during that foitnlght another
tale had been written by the tyjie
vvrlter, and one quite, as strong as the
former.
"Hero was a Btrokn of unexampled
good luck; and after i had convinced
inysolf that It was likely to continue I
threw up my Pioneer work nnd de
voted myself entirely to the type
writer. But befoie lone I was con
scious there was a terrible obligation
attached to Kelsall's bequest. I could
not leave tho machine when It was
writing or about to write. Some In
visible Influence constrained me to
stand by it; whenever I essayed to
leave the room or lie down to rest I
was held back by nn unseen, nll-coin-pelllng
power, nnd It was Blowly forced
upon me that I wns Kelsall's slave.
"About a month after I left The Plo
ncrr I became conscious of nn added
horror. Kelsall's presence gindunlly
made Itself felt. Hefore then I was able
to move freely by the typewriter, even
when It was working, and could use It
nt other times If I wished, but slowly
nn icy-cold horror has crept Into that
chair, nnd there It sltB. I know It Is
there, though I can see nothing.
Hethell, I tell ou It Is a living hell for
mo to feel that shadow from the grave,
and never to bo able to leave Its side
when It wills. It Is there now"
I did not believe him, for I felt con
vinced ho was suffering from a terrible
monomania; t.o 1 went to tho chair, de
termined to show hltn how gioundless
were his fears, yet his words had made
such an Impression on me that I ap
proached It with a ccitaln amount of
hesitation. I sat down in It; there was
nothing.
"Thete. West," I said. "It's nil pure
Imagination on jour iiart. Come and
trj it yourself."
"No, no!" he almost shtleked "I tell
jou he Is there. He Is there to me If to
no one else. I would not sit In that
collln-thalt for heaven itself. Kelsall's
In It."
1 shrugged my shouldeis and lesumed
my former seat.
"Yes, Hethell," West went on. "Kel
sall sits theie and wiltcs, and with an
ever-Increasing demand upon me and
what he now writes Isn't lit for print.
Head that."
He grabbed hold of a handful of copy
and gnve It to me.
I lead a page, und that was enough.
It simply nude my Ilesh cicep. It might
have been written by a soul In purga
tory, for of all the fiendish honors the
brain of man ever conceived this wns
surely the most terrible. To think such
things was awful, but to lead them Im
possible. I let the paper fall fiom my
hands In sheer tenoi
"And I have to stand bv for days at
a time nnd see that, and woise than
that," continued West. It's beyond
human endurance. Yet If 1 tiy to es
cape, this Invisible power holds m-
back. Oood Clod' what shall I do?"
I must say I felt for the man. In
credible as; it may heem, I was begin
ning to bdicve In his story, for the evi
dence he had Just showed me seemed
Insunnountnble Could any living be
ing have wtltten what I had Just read'
They weie Indeed the thoughts of one
from the nether wot Id, and eveiy word
West had spoken seemed to come fiom
his very henit. Yet, how could I help
him In his tenlble position''
"What do vou want me to do?" I
asked.
"I don't know, Hethell, ' he suld
weatllj, "but It has eased my mind to
tell jou all. Suiely jou, with your cool
head, can devise something. Think It
over. Yet, staj , I was forgetting It
did not occur to me that If you enme In
when the tj pew titer wns woiklng, your
ptesuue might counteract Kelsall's In
fluence At any late, you might try
Come in tomoirow morning and drag
tne out by main force, and break this
Infernal spell. Will jou "
"Ceitninlj I will, West Hut whj not
now V
"I cannot, I haven't the strength for
the stiuggle. I'm dead beat. I haven't
slept two houis at a stietch fot a week.
I feel better now. though, after this
talk with you nnd I think I could
sleep."
"Right you are. West. I'll come as
soon as 1 can tomorrow. I would not
leave jou now, but for the ofllco wotk,
but I'll not go till jou'vo hnd a good
squat e meal. You'll let me ling for
Mrs Hatpei, won't jou."
West nodded listless)-.
The landlady enme In reply to the
bell: In a quarter of nn hour West was
sitting down befoie a substantial meal
Hut he wouldn't eat. He took a few
mouth ful" and then pushed the tiav
away Impatiently, and nothing I could
say would Induce him to have more
He diank off some brandy and then
threw himself on the sofu I saw a
good P,"o made, urianged his pillows
and wraps, and then left him, icluct
nntly enough.
It was 2 o'clock befoie I left The
Pioneei office. I was mote than half
Inclined to return to Mr. Harper's, but
hesitated to disturb the house, and
possibly West, nt that time of the
night. So I went back to my rooms
nnd tiled to get a few houis' test.
Put I could not sleep, for my mind was
bllhj' with West.
Now that I was away fiom his per
sonal Influence the utter Impiobablllty
of his htoiy fotccd Itself upon me Yet
could I say It was Impossible? The
nppearance of a friend In spirit from
after death was firmly believed In by
many Hut even If Kelsall could have
vIMted West would he have tumbled
and tottuied his ft lend In this way?
He was the kindest of i)vn when liv
ing nnd 1 knew he w.is attached to
West nnd much nppreclated his devo
tion. And could he xos,sibly have wtlt
ten the hoirois I hnd lead? ' fn.'t yet
If be had not wtltten them
who had' Could West have done
It? Impossible. Aftei all. what
I had learned only confirmed what
some believed that the tales were
really Kelsall's. If It wero not so. what
could be done. The mere fot clng of West
ft om his room would not brenkthep d!
Kelsall would follow him and what
then? How would It all end? Weal
"He is Wise Who
Talks But Littlef
This is only a half truth.
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llood'i l'llli euro liver llli tlie lion Irritating and
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would go mad under the strain If he
were no so nlieady.
With my brain full of these conflict
ing' and dlsttesslng thoughts. I at last
dozed awav. I di earned I was In
West's loom. Theie was no one thete
but myself myself and the typow titer.
Vj I l'ji.ked at it the keyswerepi it U
down by the invisible hand, and the
letters shuck the papei. I was dtawn
toward It by the unknown foict that
had mastered West I tried to hold
back, but it drew me like a magnet,
nnd as I came neat" the machine I
knew Kelsall was theie. I could feel
his ptebence, cold, told In death; and
the inviblble fingers moved and tho
letters came down. I looked over and
lead what thej' weie writing, und as
I lead my heart seemed to stand still,
nnd I shrieked aloud Hut I could not
move uvvny. Then I had to stand, just
ns West had done, bv that Icy horrpr,
and lead what moital man had never
read before. Then I could bear It no
longer; I was going mnd' With a ter
ilble crj I burst from the fiendish
room and awoke, and found myself
standing by my bedside, trembling In
everj- limb, with sweat upon my face.
I went Into mj' sitting room and stir
red up the dying fire, made myself a
stiff glas-s of hot spirit nnd then turned
Into bed again. This time I soon fell
asleex, and though vague thoughts of
West and Kelsall flitted across mjr
brain I slept long after my usual hour.
It was eleven o'clock when 1 reached
Mrs. Harpet's.
"Well, how is Mr. West this morn
ing? Did he have a good night'" I
inqulied
Mrs Hatper shook her head.
'"Deed sir, I don't know how he Is.
Ills bieakfast has been standing out
side his door .since 8 o'clock, and he
won't come for It; and It's little enough
he f.Icpt, I'm si. re. Iakely he ha 1 an
hour or two after vou went; but he
was at It again toon after I went to
bed, nnd I don't think that horrid typer
of his lias stopped once before daj'
break I'm used to It now, nnd It
doesnt' wotrlt me; but I could hear It
in my sleep, and on It went, "cllcketj'
elack' the whole blessed night."
I went upstaiis and knocked at the
door.
"West." I called out "West, let me
In It's 1 Hethell."
Ther was no reply. I repeated this
and hammered loudly, still without e
sponse. I but st open the door nnd en
tered. The room was In seml-daik-ness
the blinds down and tho cur
tains diawn The candles on the table
had burnt out, and the grate wns full
of dead ashes And West he wns sit
ting at tho table In the very chulr ho
said he dared not use. bowed over
tho t) pew i Iter, his fingers still on the
keys!
"Wake up, old man," I said, touching
him gently.
Ho did not move. I put my fingers
on his hand: It was stone cold. He
was dead.
A letter of the machine still touched
tho caper 1 looked at what he hnd
been writing. Oieat heavens! it was
a continuation of the horrors ho had
shown mo tho night before.
THE GREATEST CHESS PLAYER.
Paul Morphy and His Achievements
at Home nnd Abroad.
Tudor Jenks In St. Nicholas.
Tho gieatest of chess players was
yet a boy when, having easily von
tho championship of America, he cross
ed tho ocean to meet the exnertn of
tho old world. Hefore the end of his
twenty-first year ho returned In tri
umph, having defeated all who ven
tured to meet him on even terms, and
having In vain offered a challenge to
meet any player at odds.
When, In 18S8, the American chess
players wrote to tho holder of tho
championship, the Hngllshman, How
ard Staunton, nnd Invited him to visit
America and play their boy champion,
Paul Morphy, of New Orleans, foreign
chess players were amused, To them
this bold young player seemed a new
Ivanhoe, advancing to strike his lance
point against tho shield of the veto-
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ran Hi Ian de Hols Gllbett While their
feeling was paitly amus ment, it was
partly liritatlon. Staunion r tinted a
brief note In a London paper, for w h eh
he edited the chess column. sjln?
that If Mr. Morphy wei'j "deslious to
win his spurs among th chess ehtv
nlry of Kurope" he must cross the
ocean and enter the list"
The Americans had confidence In
their plnjer, und l ilsed money to pay
his expenses. Thev nad lo.it ned of his
exploits from Paulsen, a noted chct.s
player of Iowa, und had been Paulsen's
prediction that Moipav would win
tho Ameilean tou.-auiiient more than
fulfilled. Hefore that contest little was
known about the Louisiana boj
Murphy's gtanlfwtlie- vvns Spanish,
n native of Madrid, who had i migrate J
to tho United t-'ta: s Paul's f,ahcr
was a successful lawyer and became a
Judge. Paul learned chess nt ten jears
of ace, and by the time he wns thir
teen ho was winning many .games
from the stiongest playets of his own
city When the little player was
twelve, Ml, I.owenthal, a celebrated
champion, camo to visit Judge Mor
phy, and was glad to test tho skill of
tho lnfnnt phenomenon. They played
tlueo games, Paul won two, nnd the
grown-up expert could secute only a
draw game. Hut he did not care to
bo a professional player. He went to
school and college until he wns eigh
teen, nnd played chess only ns on
amusement, until there was a tourna
ment In New Yoik during 1837. Like
a tiny Julius Caesar, Paul came, play
ed and conquered. No one could stand
against him.
Much good Ink nnd paper has been
wasted upon tho question why Staun
ton und Morphy did not play, and that
Staunton, for one icason or nnother,
avoided a match. Tho Hlrmlngham
tournament wns won by I.owenthal,
who bent Staunton twice. So It may
bo argued that Morphy was moro tlnn
a match for the Kngllsh chnmplons.
Crossing tho Kngllsh channel, ho de
feated the Prusslnn, Harrwltz, tho
strongest player In France, and Andei
sen, nlso a iPrusstan, who won tho last
International tournament; tUen, re
Sons
?
ell Our $10 Suits for
turning to Hnglnnd, he beat the presi
dent of the London Chess club seven
gnmes out of eight, tho first having
been a draw.
Having thus scoted a victoty like
that of Admiral Dewey at Manila,
Motphy pli)ed no moie setious
matches The rest of his tour abroad
was meicly one of triumph and sight
seeing. At a banquet given to him
In Pails his bust wus crowned with
laurel, and everywhere lie was hailed
as the unquestioned champion of the
woild. After his loturn to America
the pioud chess players of his natlvo
land gave him a rosewood chess board
with gold and silver chessmen.
A HAT OF SPUN GLASS.
A guest at one of the leading New Or
leans hotels put In an appearance In tho
olllce wearing a very peculiar-looking hat
At llrtt gluncu It teemed to bo mode of
finely woven brown straw, but closer
scrutiny showed that tho material was
evidently something else. It was passed
around among a, group of friends und
they all took a guest, Ouo thought It
wns prepare u silk uud another thought It
was asbestos
"You are all wrong." said tho gentle
man; "It Is made of t,pun glass You
can hco It has conslcletablo elasticity,
nnd I fancy It would bo about ns hard
to bicak as an ordinary Panama. I
value ilio hat chiefly as a curio," he con
tinued, "for It In too hot to be vvotu with
much comfort. It was made several
years ago by nn old Alsatian nt Pittsburg,
Pa , who Invented a process for spinning
and weaving glass, his Idea being to pro.
duco a non-lnflammablo fubtlo for win
dow curtains nnd other draperies. It was
found, hovvovcr, that the stuff couldn't be
made attractive to tho eye It was too
stiff und ungraceful and the expense wns
prohibitive for theatrical drop curtains
tho one purpose to which It might have
been ndnpted Anyhow, ho gnvo up tho
undertaking nnd this hat wns one of tho
lait things ho made. I had backed tho
enterprise to a Hinall extent, so tho hat
stunrts mo In nbout $1,100. It Is the most
expensive article of Httlro that I pos
sens. I don't know anything about Its
acoustic properties, but I prcsumo cno
might talk through it tho samo us
through any other hat." New Orleans
Tlmcs-Dcrrocrat.
"
$10
artists and made by
is frequently asked
Mucklow,
CLIMBED MILLIONS OF STEPS.
You know how tiring It Is to climb up a
flight of steps, even when they ire veil
mado and nicely upholstered, but 1 10
chances aro that you have never given
tho 'bus conductor a thought, although
ho probably climbs more btulrs than nny
other Individual in tho world An oblig
ing London 'bus conductor bus gono Into
tho matter, anil, being nn adept at fig
ures, us tho majority of "bus conductois
are, ho quickly evohed the following In
tel estlng facts
"There arc" lie said, "nine htons fiom
the platform to the top of tho 'bus, rnd
It is rather underrating it to bay that I
climb that flight of steps twelve times
nn hour during tho fifteen hours I nni en
duty every day; twenty would bo nearer
tlm mark, but to be on the safe sldo v e
will put It down as twelve.
"Nino steps nt twelve times un honr,
fifteen hours a da), soven days a week.
43,300 a month, or GW.oin a year. Tho
number of times I step oft tho 'bus mil
on again nnd the incidental number of
steps I climb llko any other Individual
In the ordinary course of life brings the
nnnual total up, I reckon, to 00,004 steps
a year.
"Itecn at this Job long? I've been
working this route Just twenty-one years
bo that I've climbed qulto 12.COil.000 steps
during that time I don't notice It now
hut I did nt the (list go off." New York
Telegram.
The Hoy's Wishes.
Hoys haven't alwavs n great imagina
tion, but most of them have a good deal
of tcnnclti A man wishing to mnko
himself pleasant to the little In other of
his betrothed, told him to wish for some
thing and ho would give it to him.
"A box of chocolates " said the boy
"Whit else'" usked tho enorous '.over
"Another box of chocolates."
"Oh, but wish for something else. Your
little stomach couldn't hold nil tbeso
chocolates."
"Well, then." nnsvveied tho boy. "an
other stomach "Household Words,
Rl'nY LH'S-AiuI a clear complexion
the pride of woman Have you lost these
chnrms through Torpid Liver, Constipa
tion. HllloUKtiess, or Norvousntss? Dr
Akiicw's Liver lills will restoro them to
you 10 Little "Ilutilos" in n vlnl-10 cent
Aot like a tharm. Never gripe. Bold
by Matthews Bros nnd W. T. Clink.
-4.