Tiie Forest Republican Is published srery Wednesday, by J. E. WENK. OSoa In SmearbaaKa k Ca'i Building ILM BTHEKT, TIONE8TA, FA. Terms, Vl.UU Per Year. Fo subscriptions received tor a shorter period i ana t hreo moat ha, Correepoadence solioitej from all parts of lb country. No notloe wtU be takes ol anonymous oommDoio.-uiooa. RATES Or ADVERTISING! Fore EPUBLICAN, One Square, ooe loch, one insertion.. I 100 Dm rquara, one inch, oos month. Sun On Square ooa inch, three months. . 5 DO One t-quara, one inch, ooa year ..... 10 UJ two bquarea, one ;nr.. lot" Quarter Column, ona year.,.., &W half Column, one year 60 U One Column, on year 1UU W Laeal advertisementa ten oeoU par Una each insertion. Marriages and rie-ith notices gratis. An btllsioryrarly advertimin-mw collected quarterly Tatnporary advertisements must be paid iu advance. Job work cash on deliver. VOL. XXXI. NO. 16. TIONESTA, PA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1898. $1.00 PER ANNUM, R ST The 1900 census blanks trill have largo Dewey aud Ilobson columns. All that Germany, France and Bussia need know tonchiug the intentions ol the United States is that they are hon orable. Siuce the Frauco-Prussiau war ol 1870 it has been the custom of the nations that win in Var to make tin nations that lose pay the expense tc the last oont. In 1881 Spain exacted a revenue of $34,000,000 from Cuba under her ex tortionate system of taxation; the esti mated revenue for 1898 is $24,775,000, but of course nothiug like that amount csn be collected. A society has been formed in Eug land for tho removal of "superfluous women from the United Kingdom to those parts of colonics where theii presence is doubly welcome," and the Princess of Wales has become a patroness. Happy indeed will be the land that has no "superfluous womon." Qa account of the requirements growing out of the arrests of women and young children, many cities Lava found the ofllco of police matron abso lutely indispensable. Moreover, they have oonstautly increased its scope on the idea that while the common pro prietios of life warranted the creation of the office, it was furthermore of un told value on accouut of the reforma tory influeuoe which it exercised. Un der proper regulations there is no rea son why this office should not beoome one of the moat efflciont in the city Government. Tho London Mail says: It is not altogether satisla qtory to find that th all-conqueriug American is not only producing as good armor as England, but , produciug it cheaper. Yet, ac cording to a German naval periodical, the British firms of Vickers and Brown were underbidden by the American firms of Carnegie and Bethlehem and by theGerraau firm of "Krupp in a tender for the armor of two new Eus sian battleships. Both American firms were $40 per ton below the lowest British tender. There is an unpleas ant monotony about them failures ol Englishmen to hold their own in for eign contracts. One thing that war always does is to bring merit speedily to the front. The junior lieutenant is likely any day to do a stroke of work that will cause his photograph to crowd his com manding general's out of the illustra. ted papers. Every day develops some new instance of daring and gallantry in a subordinate officer. And those are the men now destiued to quick pro motion. As every French private soldier in the old days was said to carry the baton of a Marshal 6t France in his knapsack, every man in army or navy, no matter how humble, has the chance to rise to any preferment the service affords by distinguishing himself sufficiently. The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world. This is a foot that is often repeated, but because of the natural disposition of the Ameri can people to belittle themselves, which has arisen by a kind of reao. . tion from the old disposition to brag and bluster, it seems to be universally forgotten. The great Eugliah statis tician, Mulhall, has completed tables showing the wealth of the nations of the world in 1895 as follows (pounds being converted into dollars at the rate of $5 per pound) : United States ..t 81.750.000,000 Grout Britain 69,303,000,000 France 47,060,000,000 Germany 40,300,000.000 Russia 33,135,000,000 Austria 23,660,000,000 Italy...'. 15,800,000,000 Spain 11,900.000,00c These figures include everything, each as farms, railways, houses and merchandise. There is one thing which specially frets and teases soldiers in the field. It is the ping of the sharpshooter's bullet. It constitutes one of the un canny elements of a war. That ounce of lead comes from a source that cannot be discovered. It may come at the most unexpected moment and it causes a nervous tension which no one can appreciate unless he has had the experience. We stay-at-homes imagine that the thick of the fight is what causes solicitude, but it is not so. In the thick of the fight a sol dier will be as cool as a piece of ice and go about his duty as indifferent to danger as a mnchiue. But when he is in camp and the sharpshooter lies in ambush and may try his skill at any moment the soldier is naturally restless and excited. We should not ilorget these things when we begin to 'pile up the gratitude which is due to the brave fellows at the front THE WAR KINC - If you're waking call me early call me early, Mollv, dear; To-morrow'H be the liveliest day of all tbe war-like year; Of all the war-like year, Molly, for me tbe happiest day, For I'm to eullst tor the war, Molly, and pocket tbe first month's pay! LaBt year tbe wore a crown of thorns, when eotton fell so low; Beneath tbe hawthorn, near tbe hedge, I saw my llvln' go; An' it gave me a ease o' tbe blues, Molly; but now they have passed awsy. For I'm to eullst for the war, Molly, and pocket the first month's pay! Bay to tbe landlord a kind word, and let him be content; There's many a dollar coming yet to pay tbe bill for rent; And shorten my clothes for William tbe ones I bare cast away For I'm to enlist for tbe war, Molly, and pocket tbe first month's pay! 1 -All night I'm half-awake, Molly; I think of tbe coming dawn, How i'll boor tbe ring of tbe dollars as I draw my uniform onl "Tbe wild March marigold shines like Ore In swamps and hollows gray," But not as bright as I'll shine, Molly, when I pocket the first moo til's pay! Bo, If you're waking call my early onll me early. Molly, dear; To-morrow'H be tbe liveliest day of all tbe war-like yeur; 1 Ot all the war-like year, Mollv; the maddest, merriest day, For I'm to eullst for the war, Molly, and pocket tbe first month's pay! - Frank L. Stnnton. mm 1 1 BILLY RILEY ANDTHE CIRCUS By. FRANCES ALIEN iIIE row of children clung with toes and fingers to the back back of Miss Dix on's desk; around her crowded a ring three deep. She enjoyed this morning sociable, with bright faces peering between the mugs of lilacs, and the light, swaying pres sure about her shoulders; but thrifty of time, she was accounting for gaps in yesterday's attendance. Patsy McGaw had .been obliged to "mind his baby;" Jimmy Fox pleaded a "sore t'roat;" Jimmy Nelson, shy of his audienoe,' gave evasive answers. Jimmy was a dear little boy, but his one-sided dimple wheeled him off the straight path so often that Miss Dixon cross-questioned him searchingly. "Oh I" he cried at last, his face flushing. "No'm, didn't ran away from school, if that's what .you're drivin' at." Thore was no mistaking his face. Jimmy was innocent for once, and Miss Dixon flushed as quickly as he had done! "I'm sureyon didn't, Jimmy. Billy Biley, I suppose you have some ex cellent reason for your absenco?" "Er-r-r " stammered Billy, trying to wind himself up to the point of speech. Here Diuny Phaleu upset oue mug of lilacs, and in the scramble to save the register, Billy's attempt at speech was lost. "Did have an excellent reason. I'd told her if she'd waited," muttered Billy, going to his seat. Billy was cross that morning. He rubbod out his drawing so furiously as to make a hole in the paper. In mar bles he broke the rules of the game and quarrelled with the other boys un til they put him out of the ring. They resented tbe more this fit of lawless ness and ill-temper from good-natured Billy . "Didn't tell no lie. She never ast me. rlhe just supposed," he was say ing while Miss 'Dixon explained the lesson. "She never thought I'd run away. She wouldn't think where I went was any excuse. She'd think it was worst of all. Where did sho say the next lesBon was? It's just as she said, I had an excellent reason, but if I told her she wouldn't think so. I'm goin' to get a week ahead iu my cipherin'." So Billy turned himself into a' mul tiplying maohine with a phonographic attachment, which ground out, at in tervals, "It was an excellent reason." Wednesday was "poetical extract" day, and in the afternoon the children hunted out note-books to copy the lines written upon the black-board. "To-day I have given you a grown up selection," said Miss Dixon, and the teacher read four lines from Em erson, ending: "When Duty whispers low, Thou must, Tbe youth repllos, I cunt" "Now tell me what yon make of it. Eddie, what does it mean?" she said. Eddie scowled near-sightedly and twisted one supple leg about the other. "It means," he said, slowly, "like when your mother wants you to wash your hands when they aren't dirty, but you do it." The children took Eddie's interpre tation sympathetically.and the teacher, too muoh in earnest to smile, replied, "I'm sorry you mind washiug so mnch, Eddie, but you have part of the idea." The lines reminded the other chil dren of "the soldier who went to the war," of "the boy stood on the burn ing deck what was his other name?" of "the Dutch boy at the dike," and other heroes. "It's like that red book of yourn.all full of golden deeds," said Johnny Mack. So in childish fashion they canght the thought of the lines, and wheu they were learned by heart the teacher told a "live" story of a brave messenger-boy, who had refused to give up an important key to burglars who threatened to kill him. "Thank yon, thank yon for the story 1" and the children marched out in a charming frame of miue. To be sure, there floated up from the yard: 'When Duty whispers low. Thou must. The youth ropllcs, I cu-a-n't," with an expostulating whine which every one recognized. "They are such monkeys, I wonder if it is all lost on them," thought Miss Dixon, planning to-morrow's work. Billy Biley had not gone out lie now pulled his books all out on his desk and piled them up again. "There wasn't anything about run ning away to circuses and not tellin'," he was saying to himself, "but some how those stories make things look different side of them. What will she do? She jiever thing tJ anybod done much of any- dy, but nobody never done nothing very bad to find out I'm not a baby boy. Guess I can stan' it" When Miss Dixon looked up Billy was figuring as if it were necessary to get through the arithmetic that night "You here, Billy?" "Yes'm." Billy was pale, but he went forward bravely. "Y-you said you s'posed I had an excellent r-rea-son to be absent" " "Yes; didn't yon?" "Yes'm." "What was it?" "W-wentto the circus." "With your parents' leave?" "Haven't any parents. Aunt's the boss of me." "Did she give you leave?" "N-no'm. Bau away." "This is very serious. At least.you are sorry, Billy?" "N-no'n," said Billy, firmly, look ing straight at her. "I ain't It had to be done. I'm 'leven years old an' never went to a circus in my life be fore. All tho boys have been. Every b baby-boy in the school has been most of 'em two or three times. My aunt woman t ever give me the money. au' what I earn she k -keeps to buy my clothes. 'Bout a week ago, comin' home from pasture, the circus-poster man drove by mo. "I see his horse's girth was hangin' V I hollered, 'Your girth's broke,' and ho jumped out aud I give him a string to mend it n' some winter greens, V he wrote on a card, 'Admit William Eiley aud lady,' n' said that would take ine inside the circus. Knew I'd never get another chance 'n I went and I ain't sorry.-" Now Miss. Dixon was a firm dis ciplinarian, unaccustomed to culprits who looked her in the eye. She was used to little boys who prostrated their heads aud shed copious tears, with perhaps the tail of an inverted eye watching her countenanoe from under cover. She looked Billy over. He was neatly if cheaply dressed. Probably the aunt who was "boss of Kim" did her best, yet his thin, square face gave an impression of having often been set grimly to bear disappoint ment alone. Billy could not read her face as he waited, glad that the thing was done and bracing himself for the worst. At last she spoke. "Billy, I see how you felt, and if you had come frankly and told me all this I think I could have arranged to let you go without running away." Billy looked blank. ' He knew Miss Dixon's word. "Why, I n-never thought you'd I d-didn't know 1 didn't s'pose you'd be so r-r-reaaonable about it" , "Billy, we teachers are glad to be as 'reasonable' as you unreasonable little boys will let us be." "Didn't mean to sass you. Perhaps I m-raeant some other word. I d-didn't think you'd take it that way, and maybe I ain't very glad I went, after all." "Ill tell you how I came to under stand, Billy. I once ran away to the circus myself." Billy sat down on the top of a desk. "I did. No, I rode away, hidden by tbe 'buffalo' which draped the old buggy-seat. I crawled out half- smothered, hoping my brothers would take me into tbe tent It wasn t con sidered proper for girls to go then, and although they were sorry, they sent me home on a market-wagon. Somehow, I have never been, and I'm much more than eleven." Billy was full of sympathy. "If I'd been your brother now what a pity I My card said, 'And lady 'T wouldn't have cost you a cent." "But I should not have liked to run away now aud leave my school in the lurch. Did you have as good a time as you expected?" "Yes'm, it was splendid. The ponies was great, and the elephant and tbe b-baby elephant And you ought to seen them ride. Bnt I was sorry I had to run away I thought I had to when you thought I was such a good boy. And I didn't like bring ing down the av'rige attendance. Now number eight is the highest" "It troubles me more to have our average standard of trustworthiness lowered. I did trust you, Billy." "And I saw some of the boys there with their folks, but I didn't want to talk about it afterward, as I thought I should. I knew they wouldn't tell." "I am glad you told me ; but of course you would." , "I felt mean not to, 'specially after them stories. And you were real " " 'Beasonable, '.Billy? But could any one have reasonably expected that little Dutch boy to stay alone in the cold and dark all night, with his finger in the dike? And could any pue have reasonably blamed the little messenger-boy if he had given np the key? Would it have been just as well if they had done no more than could be reasonably expected?" "I sh-shouldn't think it would," said Billy; "and just going to school wasn't anything extra to do, either. I think I acted mean. What shall I do to make it up?" "What can you do?" "Er I might make up the time after school. I'm ahead cipherin', and jography is review, and reading and language and those things don't count" "Oh! Don't they?" "I might learn a piece of poetry, I suppose, or," brightening, "the flower-beds n-need weeding dreadfully." Miss Dixon was convinced of Billy's sincerity. "You cannot make up a thing like that Billy. You, can only learn to do better next time. That is all I am going to ask you to do. What have you learned?" "To go and tell you when it seema as if things ought to be done thai h-hadn't ought to." "And if I am unreasonable?" "Not to do 'em," said Billy, promptly. "Very well. If yon like to work in the garden just to help the school 1 shall be glad." "I will," said Billy. "And your aunt!" "I'll tell her. She says when I gel a p-punishin' at school I'll get one at home; and if I don't get one she'll give me two." "You may tell her that I think you can be trusted next time, and ask hei to excuse yon." "N-no'm, she won't She's not that kind of a lady." But Miss Dixon resolved to add Billy's aunt to her list of friends im mediately, and did so, very muoh to his interest , Billy worked away at the flowei garden till it blossomed as the petu nia. And one morning, when the cir cus posters bad been replaoed by others as flaming as they had been, Miss Dixon found a manila paper par col iu her desk. Inside the parcel was a seed cata logue envelope, inside this a plain en velope, inside this an embossed val entine envelope, and inside the em bossed valentine envelope was a tick et to the greatest show on earth, from her "friend and pnple. Win, J. Riley." Youth's Companion. How Biddy Catches Rata. John Hamilton has a Plymouth Bock hen which has developed into quite a rat killer. The trait first manifested itself some weeks ago when one of the men about the stable found a rat's nest and threw the little rodents into the yard. . The hen spoken about was no ticed eating the young rats, apparently with a great deal of relish. Since then she has been seen on sev eral occasions under a manger, where there was a great rathole. - She would stay there for hours at a time. Some of the men about the place thought the hen was "broody," but one of the drivers insisted upon it that she was watching for rats. This statementwas laughed at, but the other day it was proved beyond a doubt. Mr. Hamilton was standing at the back door of his office, and hoard a great squeaking in tbe stable. He went to the door and just then the Ply month Book hen came from under the manger where the rathole is, and in her bill was a rat easily one-third grown. The fowl held the rodent in her beak suspended by a hind foot .The rat was squirming aud twisting at a great rate. Some of the other fowls tried to get at the captive, but the rat catcher was too quick for them. She ran as fast as she could, all the time shaking her head from side to side. The rat was trying to bite and would probably have done so if the hen had not shaken it so violently. Finally, some of the men drove the other chickens away, and the Plymouth Bock was allowed to do as she pleased. She released her hold on the rat, and when it tried to get away pounced upon it and picked out Its eyes. After that a few hard blows with the beak and the rat was as dead as could be. Wilmington (Del.) Morning News. O'Hrlen of the Navy. One of the torpedo boats to be con structed under the provisions of the last naval appropriation bill will be called the O' Brien. The boat is to be named after Jeremiah O'Brien who won the first American naval victory. Cooper's "History of the United States Navy" tells all about the daring young Irishman. The fight of O'Brien is described by Cooper as tbe "Lex ington of the seas," and the historian eayB: "It was one purely of private adventure." When the news of the battle of Lex ington reached Machias, Me., on May 9, 1775, the Msrgoretta, an armed schooner in the service of the Crown, was lying there with two sloops under her convoy, loading with lumber for the British Government The Mar garetta's captain became suspicious and sailed down the bay. Thirty-five men took charge of one of the sloops and started after the Margaretta. They elected O'Brien captain. The sloop captured the Margaretta and took her guns on board. Tho British authorities at Halifax sent two cruisers to capture O'Brien, 'but he turned the tables, took both of them, and carried his prizes to Water town, Me. For his daring and enterprise O'Brien was made a Captain of Marine of the col ony of Massachusetts. New York Sun. Oof Output of Precioae Stones. In 1897, while this country's gold production exceeded $10,000,000, the output of precious stones reached only the modest figure of $130,676. The principal items of this total were: TurquoiBe, $55,000; sapphire, $25,000; quartz crystal. $12,000; tourmaline, $9025; gold quartz, $5000. ....... TIIE MERRY SIDE OF LIFE. STORIES TOLD BY THE FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. Unreasoning Reason Occupied Uapl ant Reflection The Other Kind Hob by's Salary Forcing- an Iaane In the Negative HI Mistake, Etc., Etc Bbe said to him, her lover: "I would not hold you no. It o"ce tbe dream seemed over, Ironce you wished Jo go. "You're free at any season, At any moment tree." "But that is just tbe reason You bold me fast," said be.' Unpleasant Reflection. MissPassay "I dread tovthink of my fortieth birthday." Miss Pert "Wby? Did something unpleasant happen then?" Brooklyn Life. Id the Negative. Customer "Do you suppose you can take a good picture of me?" Photographer "I shall have to an swer you in the negative, sir." Pick-Me-Up. Occupied. Snodgrsss "The world has a place for everybody. " Micawber "Yes; the only trouble is there's generally somebody else in it." Chicago News. Tho Other Kind. "Pauline, are you one of Fashion's slaves?" "Not much; I'm the slave of a man who won't let me follow the fashions at all." Detroit Free Press. Forcing an Iaaue. He "We must devise some plan for getting your father's consent to our marriage." She "Well, we er might put bur heads together." Brooklyn Life. Ills Mistake. "That politician is a 'has been,' isn't he?" remarked the observer. "No," replied the captious friend, "he isn't even that. He's merely a 'used-to-think-he-was.' " Washing ton Star. The Parson's Rich Wife. Mrs. Greene "They must think a good deal of your husband's comfort to give him a three months' vacation." The Parson's Wife "Or a good deal of their own comfort" Boston Transcript Hubby's Salary. Jones-Brown "How much does your husband earn a week, Mrs. Brown-Smith?" Mrs. Brown-Smith "Oh, anywhere from $10 to $25 less than we spend." Brooklyn Life. The Artists' Error. "Fothcr, are generals bravo men?" asked Johnny of his father. "Yes, my son, as a rule," was the answer. "Then why do you artists make pic tures of 'em standing on a hill three miles away, looking at a battle through an opera glass?" Rather Pointed. Smith "Every time I call I find you with a pen in your hand. You must be very fond of writing." Jones "Oh, yes; regular pen holder, as it were." Smith "Isn't it wonderful how many sticks are converted into pen holders" Chicago News. Inconvenience of Using Poor. Yubsley "There is no show for the poor man in this country. " Mudge "Since when did you change your views?" Yabsley "Since that footpad pounded me over the head for not having more than half a dollar." In dianapolis Journal. Complimenting Him. "I must give you credit for having remarkably light bread," said the housewife. "We try to keep it so," replied the baker. "And you Buooeed. It is bo light that it goes up in price a great deal easier than it ever goes down." Washington Star. One on Her. "At last I have discovered it," grinned the young man at the theatre, before his best girl had yet time to re move her hat "You see before you an air ship." "Pardon me, but I see nothing of the kind." "Then look at the stage. It has wings and flies." Detroit Free Press. A Dear Girl's Conscience. "Of course," said Maud, thought fully, "if somebody steals something from you and then gives it right back again, that doesn't make you a re ceiver of stolen goods, does it?" "I shouldn't think so," replied Mamie. "What makes you ask?" "Cholly Chuggias stole a kiss from me the other evening." Washington Star. Comforts of Travel. Professional Guide (to palace-car porter) "I have an English Lord in charge, and I w&ut him to get a good impression of the comforts of travel iu this country. Here's five dollars." Porter "Yes, sab. Do you wont me to gib him extra attention, sir?" Guide "Great Soott. no! I want vou to keep away from him." New York Weekly. An Illustration. Teacher "Thomas, will you toll me what a conjunction is, and compose a sentence containing a conjunction?" Thomas (after long and solemn re flection) "A conjunction is a word connecting anything, such as, 'The horse is hitched to the fence by his baiter.' Halter is a conjunction be cause it connects the horse aud the I fence!" Harper's Bzor, SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL Straight hairs are nearly cylindri cal; curly hairs are elliptical or flat The seaooast Hue of the globe it computed to be about 136,000 miles. It is said that the castor oil plant is abhorred by nearly all members of the animal kingdom. The waters of the Grand Falls of Labrador have excavated a chasm thirty miles long. Alcohol is being nsed with mantle lamps to illuminate parts of Berlin's park, the Thiergartcu. An army physician says that he has discovered that pure olive oil taken internally will cure enteric fever. The relative size of the earth, 'as compared with the sun, is, approxi mately, that of a grain of sand to an orange. In a recent test of floor material the most durable turned out to be a tile made of rubber. An English earthen tile came next. The shoe factories use 1,000,000 kangaroo skins yearly. Australians have begun to raise aud breed kanga roos as they would sheep. Liquid (oil) fuel, in combination with coal, is nsed on thirty-seven en gines of the Great Eastern Railway, in England, including fifteen expresses. The Maledive Archipelago, west of Ceylon, embraces 14,000 coral islands, few of which are more than six feet above the level of the ocean, and only 175 of which are inhabited. Krypton will have as its density forty, with a minimum density of 22.51. "Krypton" is the name assigned to the new gas. The word means "hid den" o? "concealed," and its scientific symbol will be "Kr." How Russia Is Preparing For War. At NikolsKoye, about seventy miles from the Pacific, I stopped for the night It is a great military centre, and always has been recognized as a strong strategic point There are fortifications, ruined and dilapidated, out upon the prairie near the town, which have been pronounced to be the handiwork of Tamerlane or Genghis Khan. Suddenly, with a bump and a jolt, we came abruptly to a standstill, and I followed the izvozohik's whip to where he was pointing to the plain below. It was white with tents. How many there wore stauding there I shall never ku'ow, as the evening closed in, and wheu I had counted a thousand I lost my count in the dusk; but there were still many, very many, more. It was a summer camp, and there were anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 soldiers lying here perdu, where their presence was as little suspected, where they were as secluded, as it somewhere in the heart of Africa. I afterwards learned that this was but one of the three in tronched camps around Nikolskoye, aud not the largest The men were leading the life of soldiers on active service, and were ready for mobiliza tion, to the last button. Stephen Bonsai, in Harper's Magazine. The Saviors of Kansas and Nebraska. The hens are said to have saved Nebraska. From the stations in the interior of the State were shipped thousands of dozens of eggs every week. The money received for them was about the only clear cash that same into the household, and kept the children fit for school and the wife in presentable clothes. In Kansas the humble cow was more in evidence. Scattered over the plains are the creameries, to which every morning wends a procession of farm wagons, eaoh containing a dozen or more high tin cans filled with milk from the farms. One county has for six years received from the creameries $250,000 annually in monthly payments. It has been the salvation of tho settlers. Others have done nearly as well, and the annual value of the milk products has been from $4,500,000 to $5,000, 000. This, added p the help of the hen and the returns of the swine yard, has .been the resource upn which many a family has depended to tide over the lean years. Harper's Magazine. The Many Uses of the Banana. Immense fortunes have been made out of the banana business. Reve nues do not accrue alone from the sale of the fruit, for the leaves are used for packing; the juico, being strong in tannin, makes an indelible ink and shoe blacking, the wax found on the underside of the leaves is a valuable article of commerce; manila hemp is made from the stems, and of this hemp are made mats, plaited work and luce handkerchiefs of the finest texture; moreover, the bauana is ground iuto banana flour. The fruit to be sold for dossert is ripened by the dr warmth of flaring gas jets in the stor.jo places in which it is kept, and imnense care has to be taken to prevent softening or overripeuPur, The island of Ja maica yields great crops of this useful and money-making fruit. Invention. Government Mines In Prussia. The Prussian Government owus and works seventeen collieries, eight lignite mines, fourteen iron mines, five metalliferous mines other thau iroti and three rock suit mines, to gether with five irou works aud cigjit works for smelting the other metals, six salt works and five quarries, which have an output of a total value of more thau $.10,000,000 yearly. Be sides the above, tho Prussian State owns one colliery, that of Ibbenbuhren, in the Osnabruck district of West phalia; the collierieB of Deister aud Osterwald, iu the Clansthal district, and half the Obenkirchcn colliery in the same district. New York World. Duration of Life. The average duration of human life in European countries is greatest in Sweden and Norway, aud lowest iu Italy and Austria, THE URCHIN'S TALE. Above the sound of the traffic that roared In the neighborhood of the bulletin board Came the lisping tones of a seven-year-old. And tbe man gave becd to the tale he told; For tbe man was a man of a martial air. Though white was the drift of his snowy hair; And bis eyes grew bright and he smiled for Joy At the warlike words ot tbe littlo boy, Who spoke to bis comrade, sma'I, freokle faced, With a Cuban flag on bis tattered waist, "What stock." said the vot, "when grim war's alarms Break out In the speech of the babes in arms! "When the dlsoourse of children ts tulk ot guns And heroes are praised by the little ones. "Av, what a stock! What a sturdy stock! What fighting chips ot tbe fighting block!" Tbe seven-year-old by the bulletin board Meard none ot all this or, bearing, ig nored But went right on with his tale ot strife "De battery licked 'em, you betcber life! "Da battery done it; ahfl don't forget Dat battery was onto its job, you bet. "De udder Captain was sand clear t'roo. But be was 'fraid o' dem cannon balls, too. "He cheered up his gang, you know but nit: Dey tried dcir best, but dey couldn't hit. "An den" and the old man's eyes grew moist, And deep In bis loyal heart he rejoiced; And be bent bis bend and he proudly smiled At the epla sung by a little child, And his pulses throbbed and bis being thrilled Then he gravely thought ot tbe maimed and killed; For be bad fought, and be knew no tun's Provoked by a obarge on tbe enemy's guns. He fancied the carnage the death and smoke Of the battery charge thon the wee boy spoke: "Debattery it did all o' de work Me brudder pitched an' wui caught by Burke." Chicago Record. HUMOR OF THt DAY. She "When you married me you said you were well off." He "I was, but I didn't know it" Tit-Bits. "Were you a guest at the hotel while you were away, Blodgett?" "Guest? Not much. I paid cash. "Chicago Becord. "Say, what would you do if you had a skeleton in your closet?" "The best thing to do is to make no bones of it." Indianapolis Journal. Aworkmau was repairing a steeple directly above the big clock and strange to say he charged his employers np with working over timo. Chemist (to battered female, who is covered with scratches) "The cat, I suppose?" Battered Female "No. Another lydy." Punch. "What's the matter, Little Dick?" "Say.Mr. Higby, why don't you bring my sister more candy an' not so many roses?" Chicago Record. McDougal "Hoot, mon! ye'll soon be better." MoMinus "It's not the seeckness I'm minding; it's the awful waste. I paid atteeupance for that deenner. " Pick-Me-Up. Boyjoe "Why are yon consulting the dictionary? I thought you knew how to spell." Chinu ,"I do, I am not -looking for information, but for corroboration. "Tit-Bits. Carrie "Did John come up very close to .you when he proposed?" May "Well, I hope you don't think he went across the street and shouted his love over to me." Standard. Mistress "The servants seem to know all about the mortgage on the house." Master "Yes; they'd nat urally look np the title before they took possession." Detroit Journal. Keedick "Young Browne added the V to his name after he inherited his uncle's big fortune." Fosdick "That's quite right. Bich people are entitled to more ease thau poor peo ple." "My dog is almost as intelligent as I am," remarked Squildig. "Are you going to have him shot, or will you try to give him away?" asked Mo Swilligen. Pittsburg Chronicle Tel graph. "I understaud from a careful peru sal of history," said a young fellow with an arid upper lip, "that iu 18G1 the young fellows went to war, and I think it's the old men's turn to go this time." Denver Times. p On the brink of a creek in Ireland there is or used to be a little stone containing a carving of this inscrip tion, intended to help travelers: "When this stone is out of sight, it is not safe to ford tho river." Tit-Bits. "Every morniug on the way to school," said the little miss, "the boys catch me aud kiss me." "Why don't you run from them?" asked her father. "Because," replied the small edition of Eve, "maybe they wouldn't chase me." Chicago Post. LV'So yon are going to marry Dump er, Grace?" lauplied her best chum. "Pardon my levity, b it he's so short and you so tall and stately." "You're wrong, as you often are. A mau can't be called short whon he's worth over a million." Detroit Free Press. "So you think it absolutely ncces oary to have bicycle shoes on when you ride your wheel, do you?" asked the Cheerful Idiot "Of course," said the youngest boarder. "Then, would your wear horseshoes when you rode a horse?" Indiannpolis Journal. Her Father "I am afraid, sir, that my daughter can never be happy with man who can be engaged to her a mouth without giving her a ring." The Aspirant "Sir, I am afraid I cau never be happy with a girl whose en gagement to me will not induce jewel ers to trust me." Jewelers' Weekly.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers