2 HANGED BY A GHOST.
Curious Story of a Murder and the
Discovery of the Crime.
An old volume of the Quarterly Re
view mentions a crime discovered in a
most extraordinary way in Australia
In the year 1830, of which a public rec
ord is preserved and which figures
with full details in the journals of that
period.
The confidential steward of a wealthy
settler near Sydney stated that his
master had suddenly been called to
England on important business and
that during his absence the whole of
his immense property would be in his
exclusive care.
Some weeks after an acquaintance of
the absentee settler riding through his
grounds was astonished to perceive
him sitting upon a stile. He strode
forward to speak when the figure turn
ed from him. with a look of intense
sorrow, and walked to the edge of a
pond, where it mysteriously disap
peared.
On the morrow he brought a number
of men to the water to drag it. and the
body of the man supposed to be on his
way to England was brought up. The
steward was arrested, brought to trial
and. frightened at the story of his mas
ter's ghost, confessed the crime, stat
ing that he did the murder at the very
stile on which his master's ghost had
appeared. He was duly executed.—
Case and Comment.
RUNNING UPSTAIRS.
Physical Energy It Expends Quoted In
Horsepower.
To lift 550 pounds one foot in one
second requires what is known as one
horsepower. Similarly a horsepower
Is aide to raise twice that weight one
foot in twice the time, or one-half foot
In just that time. Moreover, it can
raise half 550 pounds one foot in half a
second, or two feet in a second, and
so on. Therefore when we lift one
fourth of that weight. 137% pounds,
four feet in one second, we are ex
erting a horsepower.
Accordingly, when a person who
weighs 137% pounds runs upstairs at
the rate of four feet a second, he is
exerting the equivalent of a horsepow
er. For a man weighing twice that
much, 275 pounds. It would be neces
sary to climb at the rate of only two
feet a second to exert a horsepower.
It is possible to do much more.
As a matter of fact, a horse often
exerts many times a horsepower. The
average horse can draw a wagon np a
hill where a ten horsepower engine
with the same load would fail. A horse
power does not represent the greatest
momentary strength of the average
horse, but is a measure of the power
which he can exert continuously.—New
York World.
COTTON THREAD.
Its Invention Was a Caso of Necessity
Caused by War.
Curiously enough, it was a war that
brought about the revolution in the
manufacture of sewing thread. When
Napoleon occupied north Germany ir.
1803 the supply of silk from Hamburg,
which was used in making heddles, or
the loom harness, in Paisley, was cut
off.
Unless some substitute could be
found the weaving industry of Paisley
would be ruined. Peter Clark experi
mented with cotton warp yarn and
succeeded in making thread like the
six cord sewing thread used today. It
took the place of silk in the heddles,
and the weaving business went on uiv
interrupted by the war.
Then it occurred to another man to
use the cotton thread in place of linen
for sewing, and he recommended it to
the women of the town. It was so
much smoother than the linen that the
women liked it. The thread was sold
in hanks and wound by the purchaser
into little balls, but the merchant soon
decided to wind the hank on a bobbin
or spool for bis customers as an added
inducement to purchase it instead of
the linen.
From this beginning the cotton
thread trade has grown, and now silk
and linen are used only for special
work.—Philadelphia Record.
Hypnotic Power In Animals.
An interesting instance of the hyp
notic power possessed by a good many
animals is given by a correspondent of
the Glasgow Herald. One morning out
side Elgin a blackbird was observed to
be standing by the roadside, paying no
heed to the footsteps of the passerby.
It was gazing fixedly at four young
weasels under the hedge, which were
approaching in a semicircle, apparently
to surround it. Just then a warning
cry was heard from behind, uttered
presumably by the parent weasel, and
the young ones disappeared in the
hedge. The bird still remained power
less and immovable, and only after re
peated urging did It fly to a tree near
by, when it gave forth a weak, fright
ened sound, as though still under the
influence of the terror which had ar
rested its faculties.
Overheard In a Family.
"Please shut that door!"
"You wait. I'll get even with you!"
"I never knew her to be on time."
"You're the biggest fool I know!"
"Mother, can't I have just a little
more?"
"Now, who's been at the sideboard?"
"He'll catch his death of cold."
"What makes daddy so late?"
"How could you I My new table
cloth!"
"I don't see anything the matter with
her cooking."
"Don't ever speak to me agaia!*
"Muth-her!"—Life.
. arffirysv" • , """ " ~ ,■ vi a
THE LIBERTY BELL
Photo by American Press Association.
The Panama-Pacific wants the famous relic as an exhibit
ORIGIN OF "OLIVER TWIST."
Sickens Got His Principal Characters
From Cruikshank.
The true story of the origin of "Oli
ver Twist" is not generally known. It
is this:
After the amazing success of the
; "Pickwick Papers" Dickens was think
ing of following it up by a story of
; London life, with which he was more
familiar than with English country
life. Just about that time he happened
to visit the studio of George Cruik
shank and was shown some drawings
the latter had made illustrating the
career of a London thief. There was
a sketch of Fagin's den. with the Art
ful Dodger and Master Charley Bates,
pictures of Bill Sikes and his dog and
Nancy Sikes and, lastly, Fagiu in the
condemned cell.
Dickens was much struck by the pow
er of these character sketches, and the
result was that he changed the whole
plot of "Oliver Twist." Instead of
taking him through spiritless adven
tures in the country he introduced him
into the thieves' den in London, show
ed up their life of siu, but brought his
hero through pure and undefiled.
Thus it will be seen that George
Cruikshauk, not Charles Dickens, was
the originator of the leading charac
ters that appear in "Oliver Twist"—
London Saturday Review.
HAIR AND VITALITY.
The One Acts, In a Measure, as an In
dex of the Other.
In the course of its continuous
growth the hair records the tide of vi
tality as it rises and falls in tile body.
When a bair is held up to the light it
may be seen to be smaller at some
places than at others. There may be a
space of one-eighth of an inch perhaps
where the hair is so thin as to appear
ready to break off.
Such spots iisun-ate sin sippreciable
loss of nourishment, a sleepless night
or an attack of auto-intoxication. In
the last named cases the general vitali
ty is interfered with, and the roots of
the hair, not being developed, are not
as strong as otherwise.
The bair grows until the weight is
so great that it can no longer be sus
tained by the root, and it drops out.
That is why hairs are of different
lengths. Coarse hair, havin large
roots, will grow long. When the vital
ity is low all over the body the roots
are imperfectly developed, and the hair
is likely to fail out, as in cases of ty
phoid fever.
Dandruff is a parasitic disease, and
the parasites get down around the root
©f the hair, which becomes diseased.
That is another reason why the hair
falls out.—Boston Herald.
Sand Hills of Bergen.
Bergen is so called doubtless from
the sand hills which at this point of
the coast of Holland are unusually con
spicuous and give the name of "Little
Switzerland" to the neighborhood.
These dunes are the scene of very in
teresting experiments in tir planting,
with a view to keeping tliem station
ary and preserving the valuable land
behind them from sand drift. This
slow afforestation at Bergen, on which
some thousands of pounds are spent
annually, was initiated by a very re
markable private association, the Neth
erlands Health society, which, starting
in a quiet way twenty-five years ago.
now employs from its headquarters in
Utrecht an army of workers and turns
over some £BO,OOO annually in im
provements. —London Sta>4ard-
—
Prohibitive.
"What's the matter, daugher?"
"Father, I want a duke."
"That can be arranged, my dear 1
was afraid you might want a baseball
pitcher."—Baltimore Sun.
There is no fatigue so wearisome as
that which comes from want of work.
—Spurgeon.
Odd Happenings I
In the War News J
Union workmen in England will have
no strikes during the war, having
agreed to submit all differences to ar
bitration.
More than 700 women willing to take
the places of men workers who are
needed ty the government have regis
tered in twenty-four hours in London.
The Chicago postoffice authorities es
timate that 12,000 pounds of food have
been sent to German}* and Austria by
parcel post during the last thirty days.
The death is reported of Henri Collig
non, counselor of state of France, fif
ty-eight years old and a private soldier,
although several times offered promo
tion.
When the Canadians took over a po
sition from an English regiment it was
found they were too tall for the trench
es, and the ditches had to be remod
eled.
Germans and Belgians are battling
under two small affluents of the Yser
river, in front of Itamscappelle. The
cellars and underground passages of a
battered monastery extend under the
rivers, and the Germans hold the north
ern outlet to the subterranean battle
field and the Belgians the opposite exit
GERMANS USE ROCKETS
TO GET RANGE AT NIGHT.
Aerial Illumination Has Been Under
taken With Unusual Success.
Details of a novel and spectacular
kind of night attack by the Germans,
the chief feature of which is an illumi
nation of the whole zone of artillery
fire by a vivid pyrotechnic display,
have been brought into Warsaw by
Russian soldiers from the Bzura front
This device is usually employed on
eloudy nights, when the moon and
•tars cannot be depended on to reveal
the positions of the Russian guns.
The Germans appear to be relying
more and more upon this device for
acquainting themselves with the dispo
sition of the enemy's forces, since, on
account of the protection given by
Russian aviators, German aeroplanes
have been unable to fly low enough to
be of much service as scouts. Bat
teries only partly screened by clumps
of trees or placed, with little hope of
effective concealment, behind rocks or
in natural depressions in the ground
apparently have been unnoticed by the
aerial scouts, who found it advisable in
most cases to keep to an altitude of
£,OOO feet or higher.
The aerial illumination has been un
dertaken with great siibcess. Coming
as a prelude to a heavy bombardment,
it is intended to accomplish the double
aim of revealing the Russian batteries
and dazzling and distracting the ene
my In their efforts to reply. First a
great number of rockets are set off
and break over the Russian line.
While the sky is still glowing with this
radiance larger and more powerful ex
plosives follow the rockets, bursting
Into fiery balls of red and white, which
hang for a moment motionless over the
Russian positions. In this glare every
gun and gunner, every detail of the
landscape, shows up as clearly as in
daylight. Some of "the balls of fire fall
upon clumps of trees, and to the
brightness overhead is added the fire
ofburning wood.
In a~ few seconds the illumination
fades, and the trenches and batteries
are again in darkness, but in this time
the German gunners have been able to
get their range. After a verification of
the enemy's positions by the use of
powerful searchlights there follow the
crackle of machine guns and the boom
ing of the heavy artillery.
THE PATRIOT
Scenes Aboard American
Sli ps In N:w York
- - -- rr -
v
'■ -* - '' i v frsalfj
- - ■ t T - jn
- - -
■ ■ - - •
" %:m
4:
Photos by American Presa Association.
These pictures were taken on the
Wyoming, the flagship of Admiral
Fletcher, now in the Hudson river for
the review. One of the pictures show"
the sailors at drill and the other is
view of a big gun.
OLD' ENGLISH HOUSES.
In the Days of Huts, Thatcherf
Roofs ana oiay Floors.
The habitations of English common
people for centuries consisted of e
wooden hut of one room, with the fir>
built in the center. To this but if a
man increased in family and wealth, a
lean-te was added and later another
and another. The roofs were of thatch,
the beds of loose straw or straw beds
with bolsters of the same laid on the
floor or perhaps eventually shut in by
a shelf and ledge like the berths of a
ship or by a small closet.
The Saxon thane or knight built
a more pretentious "hall," a large open
room like the Roman atrium with a
lofty roof thatched or covered with
slates or wooden shingles. In the cen
ter of the hard clay floor burned great
fires of dry wood, whose thin acrid
smoke escaped from openings in the
roof, above the hearth or by the doors,
windows and openings under the eaves
of the thatch.
By day the "hearthsmen" and visi
tors, when not working or fighting, sat
on long benches on either side of the
fire and, as John Hay puts it, "calmly
drinked and jawed" or, gathering at
long boards placed on trestles, regal
ed themselves on some sort of porridge
with fish and milk or meat and ale.
At night straw or rushes spread on
the floor formed beds for the entire
company in the earlier and ruder days,
when the "baser sort" were glad to
share their straw with the cows.—Na
tional Magazine.
SEEING THE WIND.
Easy to Watch the Air Currents Flow
ing Like a Waterfall.
It is said that any one may actually
see the wind by means of a common
handsaw. The experiment is simple
enough to be worth trying at least.
According to those who have the
experiment, all that is necessary is a
handsaw and a good breeze.
On any blowy day hold the saw
against the wind—that is, if the wind
is in the north hold the saw with one
end pointing east and the other west.
Hold the saw with the teeth upper
most and tip it slowly toward the ho
rizon until it is at an angle of about
forty-five degrees.
By glancing along the edge of the
teeth you can "see the wind." It will
be pouring over the edge of the saw
much after the manner that water
pours over a waterfall. This is doubt
less due to the fact that there are
always fine particles of dust in the
air, and in a strong breeze the wind
forces against the slanting sides of
the saw, slides up the surface and
suddenly "pours over" when it reaches
th£ top^
SAFETY FIRST BY MORALITY.
Appeal of Carnegie Steel Company to
Its Workmen.
An appeal to its thousands of em
ployees to lead moral lives as a means
of increasing their own safety when at
work and of improving their chances
for promotion has been made by the
Carnegie Steel company of Pittsburgh
as a part of a "safety first" campaign.
In a series of pamphlets which have
been distributed among the men for
several weeks, the company, by means
of charts, shows how much longer a
man lives who lives "right" than one
who dissipates, and tells of the better
school work done by children of the
workman who leads a clean life com
pared with one who does not, and how
much less liable the workman is to ac
cident because of his being more alert
and careful. The men are appealed to
Mtxictlj from a business standpoint
WANT "SUPREME COURT OF WORLD."
:: S—SaL&sJy £ | \vaLw— ,
& I * ' X V ' |
Photo by American Press Association.
To discuss ways and means of establishing "supreme court of world" for
International disputes many of country's leading thinkers will meet in Cleve
land. 0., May 12. 13 and 14. Photos show (left to right) Alton B. Parker,
William H. Taft and John Hays Hammond, chairman.
HOG IS PET ON ENGLISH WAR CHTT \
:i .
it w* m
Photo by American Press Association.
ONE ADDITIONAL REASON WHY BUFFALO
WON'T BECOME EXTINCT.
Photo by American Press Association.
A young bison born in New York Zoological park.
BOY COPS IN PARADE.
Photos by American Press Association.
Juvenile police force, feature of police parade In New York April 24.
They aid Commissioner Woods (whose portrait is shown above) in keeping
order on the east side.