WEATHERJPRANKS Oddities of Atmosphere, Cloudt, Fogs and Lightning. THIRSTY WINDS OF THE ALPS. They Drink Up AH Moisture So Quick- That Everything Becomes as Dry ( Tinder —Ancles Lightning and the ( Ship f the Bay of Chaleur. ud caps form on mountain tops wueo a current of moist air ascends the slope of the mountain, for the air cools as It rises und the moisture in it condenses. On the flat top of Table mountain, near Cape Town, a strong southeast wind produces a horizontal sheet of cloud known as the "tablecloth." This cloud often appears to pour over the •teep leeward side of the mountain like a mighty cataract The "spread ing of the tablecloth" Is a sign of bud weather. At a little distance from the mountain a second cloud often forms A similar pair of clouds often seen near Cross fell. In England, are known as the "helm and bar." The helm, or helmet forms over the mountain when a violent wind known as the "helm wind" Is blowing. The bar appears t: mile or two to leeward. At Callao, on the coast of Peru, sail ors often encounter a foul smelling fog that deposits a brown slimy coat Ing on white paint and metal and hence la called the "painter." Another remarkable fog on the Peru ▼fan coast is known as the "garua." It occurs in a region where rain Is unknowu and supplies sufficient mois ture © support vegetation. i Red fog 9 frequently occur off the northwest coast of Africa, between the Canaries and the Cape Verde is lands. They are sometimes so dense as to make navigation difficult. The color is owing to dust that the trade wind brings from the Sahara desert Certain valleys in the Alps are pf ten visited by a very warm and dry Wind known as the "fohn." The effects of this wind are particularly striking In winter. The snow melts anil evap orates as if by magic; woodwork be comes as dry as thul ". and great pre cautions are necessary to prevent the occurrence of the disastrous tires known as "fobn tires" that often d<- •troy whole towns and villages. No cooking is permitted while the fohn Is blowing, and not even a pipe or a vtte may be lighted. Many per tuffer with "fohn sickness" when this wind prevails. The Chinook 1 western United States Is similar v iracter and origin to the fohn. ear. but not expensive. hungry in a town in Belgium. Some Loud Noises Cannot Be Heard Experimenters in vibration have found that no sound, no matter how ? loud it may be, can be heard unless it lasts longer than one-fortieth of a sec ond. They have found that both the number of vibrations and the duration of sound influence its audibility, prob ably the latter more than the former. This means that there are untold num bers of piercing sounds with infinites imal vibrations and short duration oc curring every moment about us. For- j tunately we are unable to hear them, else we should be driven crazy in a short time. The ear apparatus is so constructed that it records only those sounds that last one-fortieth of a sec ond or over. —Chicago Tribune. FIGHTING FROM BEHIND BRUSH. o I£U, by American Press Association. Cremation fn Norway. There is in Norway a law dealing with cremation. According to the act. every person over fifteen years of age can be cremated after death if he or she has made a declaration in the pres ence of two witnesses. For those? un der fifteen a declaration on the part of the parents is necessary.—London Standard. WORRY. Do not worry; eat three square meals a day; say your prayers; be courteous to your creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise; go slow and go easy. Maybe there are other things that your special case requires to make you happy, but, my friend, these I reckon will give you a good lift —Abraham Lincoln. Same as Being Away. Neighbor's Little Girl—When did you get back, Mrs. Browne? Did you have a nice time? Neighbor—Why, I haven't been away, my dear. "Haven't you, really? I'm sure I heard mother say you and Mr. Browne had been at Loggerheads for a week.' —National Monthly. GOOD HABITS. Good habits bring a personal freedom that it is impossible to ob tain otherwise. The man who has the habit of doing anything that he ought to do with clocklike reg ularity is saved from a galling bondage of uncertainty, hesitation, energy wasting debate with him self, renewed day after day and growing more of a burden as life advances. Descriptive. *l* she homely?" "Well. I wouldn't say thafr exactly. But after taking one look at her no one would ever think of asking why she bad never married." Detroit Free Press. Curious Laws In India. Some of the old laws of Nepal. India, were curious. Killing cows ranked with murder as a capital offense, for in stance. Every girl at birth was mar ried with great ceremony to a betel fruit, which was then cast into a sa cred stream. As the fate of the fruit was uncertain, the girl was supposed never to become a widow. To obtain divorce from a husband a wife had only to place a betel nut under his pil low and depart. In Nepal the day is considered to be gin when it is light enough to count the tiles on the roof or distinguish the hairs on a man's hand against the sky. —Exchange. rtais eat Store Stock. August Schmidt was acquitted at Greensburg, Pa., of embezzlement Blame for the $2,460 shortage ol goods in the store of which ne was manager in Monessen, was fixed on the hordes of rats that infest the build ing, according to a half dozen wit nesses. The rodents killed twenty seven cats and a weasel, bought to ex terminate them. Clerks in the store testified that a half crate of eggs would be destroyed in a night and that seven teen barrels of flour had been eaten by the rats in a short time. President Will Not Take !>tump. President Wilson announces that he will make no speaking tour during the campaign. He believes his duty is a Washington. More GlcDetrotters Happy Again. The Whirc Star liner Cedric has al rived from Europe with 1,460 passes gers, 848 of whom were Americans. Family Ate Toadstools. John Snvder of Sharon, Pa., and family nearly died from eating toad stools in mistake for mushrooms. Potatoes For England. New Brunswick has decided tr a gift of 100,000 bushels of pc England. vs erring even. Susie's grandmother had been scold Ing her. Susie felt indignant, but had been taught never to "atjswer back." However, she got even. Taking her kitten in her arms, she thus solilo quized: "Kitty, I wish one of us was dead this minute. Not you. kitty nor me. kitty, but one of us three in this room." —Exchange. Bullet Wounds. The entrance wound caused by the modern small arm buljet Is not a grewsome spectacle. It is small, and its appearance has been compared to that produced by the bite of a certain parasite insect. Often there is but little external bleeding, but this is no to be taken as a danger signal. ;u might be popularly supposed.—Londo Telegraph. TURRET FORT AT ANTWERP. Photo by American Press Association This shows the effect of the forty-two centimeter siege guns used by the Germans. The Drummer. "I sometimes think." remarked the regular patron, "that the snare drum mer should be the best musician ia the theater orchestra." "He usually is." said the drummer. — Chicago Tribune. Madison and the Constitution. It is generally understood that James Madison was the chief author of the constitution of the United States. Be yond a doubt the great instrument was the joint product of the entire con vention, but from the best accounts Madison was the man who put it into shape as we have it today.—New York American. Her Mean Brother. She—Aline's twin brother annoys her dreadfully. He—How? She —You see. everybody knows they are twins, and poor Aline can't pass for only twenty four because he tells people he's thir ty !—Exchange. Dog Spooks. The phantom dog specter was one of the hardest of old English supersti tions. Almost every county had its black dog which haunted its lonely spots and was the dread of every na tive. Most of them were regarded as devils, but some were held to be the spirits of human beings, transformed thus as a punishment. Lady Howard, a Devon notable of the days of James 1., for instauce. was said to be com pelled to haunt Okehampton in the form of a dog as a punishment for hei cruelty to her daughter. Thair Novelty Wearing Off. Elderly Sister—So Mr. Hembrldge said I had teeth like pearls"; And what dW you say? Young Brother—Oh. nothing; except that you were gradu ally getting used to them—London Standard. Sporting Note. Speaking cf mollycoddle games, how would you like to play cricket on the hearth ?—Judge. Capitals and Armies. Twice the United States has lost its capital to a foreign foe. bnt neither time did it produce much effect upon the war. The first time was when Howe's redcoats swept into Philadel phia after the battle of Brandywine. The other occasion was when anoth er British army seized and burned Washington. What Howe ueeded to end the war in 1777 was not Philadel phia, but Washington's army, and that he didn't get. A country's army is worth a dozen capitals. The British captured America's three largest cit ies, Boston. New York and Philadel phia, but that availed them little in the long run.—Philadelphia Ledger. A Phil May Anecdote. One winter night an old hawker en tered the bar of the Old Bell tavern. Fleet street, and offered the customers sets of three studs for a penny. Phil May said to him: "You are just the man I want!" He took only one stud and gave the hawker a five shilling piece. The bar maid said to Phil May: "I believe. Phil, you would give your coat to the first beggar who asked for it!" "Well, miss," replied the artist, "there would be no harm in that. St. Martin gave his coat to a beggar, and he was a better man than Pliil May. I am only a wicked sinner!"— London Tatler. More Than One Trafalgar Square. The Scotland Yard examination which would be taxicab drivers have to undergo in the knowledge of London is no mere matter of form. "If." asked the inquisitor recently of a candidate, "a fare hails you in Trafalgar square and asks to be driven to Trafalgar square, what would you do?" "I should drive him around a bit and drop him on the other side of the square." re plied the candidate. And he was turn ed down, for he did not know that London has three Trafalgar squares besides the finest site in Europe—one in Camberwell. another in Chelsea and •till another one in Stepney.—London Chronicle. Fort Sumter, four years Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, resisted every at tempt at its capture. For 280 days the fort was actually under fire. "The du ration of the three principal and eight minor bombardments was altogether 157 days and 110 nights. The total weight of metal thrown against the fort from land and sea aggregated 3.5C0 tons, and of this great mass the fort was actually struck by 2,400 tons. The number of projectiles fired against the fort was 40.058.—Philadelphia Ledger. The Hourglass. Instead of being obsolete and simply an Interesting relic, the hourglass iu various forms is a twentieth century necessity. A machinist authority points out that for such purposes as timing hardening and tempering heats in twist drill manufacture, where sec onds or minutes must be gauged accu rately, nothing serves like the hour glass with the right amount of sand. Accuracy to fractions of a second can be had much more easily than by watching the hands of a watch. BRIDGE OVER THE MAAS. Photo by American Press Association. Thi is n'te of many bridges blown up by the Belgians to biuilcr th ycogp mi of the Germans. _ . , , Austrian Noblewoman In Rata j cf Red Gross Nurse { 1 o • i "5P I I Photo by American Press Association* ARCHDUCHESS AUGUSTA. NO UNDUE DELAY OF SHIPS England Assures U. S. That Vessels Will Not Be Held Back. Washington, Dec. i.—Sir CocM Spring-Kice, British ambassador, de livered to the state department a not* giving assurances that Great Britaia 1 does not intend to delay America* shipa unduly in searching them for I Providence MPlionaire Ac cused by Girl Photo by American Press Association. COLONEL CHARLES ALEXANDER. Miss Jessie E. Cope of Los Angelesw Cal., who brought about the indict ment in Chicago of Colonel Charte* Alexander of Providence, R. 1., undat the white slave law, tried to sue him in Rhode Island, but without succesa. She went to Providence in August, ra maining for a month, and laid her al legations before William H. Thornier a local attorney. He advised her thai she had no basis for action. Mis Cope has / been arrested on a chargft of offering bribes to federal officers if they would assist her in her prosec* tion of the Providence banker. Two Puzzles. Mrs. Bowns—How do you expect rae to buy things for you to eat If you don't give me any money? Mr. Bowns —And how do you expect me to earn money for you If I don't get anything to eatV—New York Journal. USE YOUR STRENGTH. In the assurance of strength there is strengih, and they are the weak est, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers, —Lord Bacon. J5