SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
YOL. XI.
Mexico ia seriously considering plana
for building a navy.
The assessable personal property in
New York City is set down at $1,800,-»
000,000, but only nbaut one-fifth of that
amount is actually taxed.
W. 11. Mallock declares in the Forum
that Scott and Dickens are not only read
by many people, but they are read by
more people to-day than they ever were
before.
In the consular district of Picdras Ne
gras, Mexico, there is not a single Amer
ican commercial house. Trade is en
tirely in the hands of Mexican, Blench.
German and English houses.
Augusta, Ga., will realize in 1893
irom her canal, in water rents from the
people and amounts paid by the facto
ries for water power, at least $90,000
or per cent, on $2,000,000.
The Boston Transcript declares that
American engineers have every reason to
congratulate theinsalves over the fact
that several large bridges on the line of
the Transandino Riilway, in South
America, were built by American com
panies in the face of Eaglish competi
tion.
A "culinary academy" has been
formed among the leading cooks of
Paris. The members are thirty in num
ber, aud they meet once a month in an
establishment in the Passage , Saulnier,
under the leadership of a cook attached
to one of the most celebrated restaurants
in Paris.
According to one estimate the total
value of the crops of the United States
during 1892 >vas 63,000,000,000, of
which the largest item was $750,000,.
000 worth of hay. The animal products,
including meats, dairy products, poul
try and eggs and wool, arc placed at
at £965,000,000 more.
The Sau Fraucisco Examiner relates
how a St. Paul (Minn.) man has bad his
gold plate attached by a dentist for
debt. This not only interferes seriously
with his dining, but ho cannot even
guash his teeth in disapproval. The
only teetfc ho has have the misfortune to
appertain to the gold plate aforesaid.
The fame of Kentucky as a liorse
breeding centre has penetrated even to
far Japan, a number of line auiinats hav
ing been purchased there by an agent of
the Mikado's Government, whic'.i leads
the Chicago Times to remark that it pays
to get a reputation for a specialty estab
lished for a given district. Then buyers
come direct to that market.
The Philadelphia Record is horrified
to know that two thousand people be
come insane in New York every year
owing to the noise and confusion inci
dent to life there. There are no statis
tics at haud, retorts the Ne-v York
World, to show how many are made
insane by the dullness and monotony of
village life in Philadelphia. "People
who move there from the cities arc said
to die oil rapidly."
France lost a valuable citizen a few
days ago, says the New Orleans Picayune,
in George Hachctte, the publisher, who
between 1867 and 1878 brought out
16(50 volumes. Every work he believed
useful for instruction he published re
gardless of financial considerations, lie
had the monopoly of railway station
libraries, and exercised over them a
supervision which was equivalent to a
vigorous censorship, but it was an en
lightened censorship, and those who
protested against it had little sympathy
from men of education.
The eight-hour-a-day proposition for
domestic servants and various other
schemes for getting the British Parlia
ment to interfere between servants and
employers, which have been urged by
the London Domestic Servants' Union,
have failed to make even a favorable im
pression in a critical examination before
the Royal Labor Commission. The com
mission gave a long" hearing to a repre
sentative of the unian, but the case fell
to pieces under questionings. The im
practicability of the eight hour idea ap
plied to domestic servants was very
clearly demonstrated. It also appeared
that the union itself was very weak, and
that the vast majority of domestic ser
vants seemed to be well treated and quite
content. The investigations showed that
the servant is far better oil in regard to
facilities for legal redress than is the
employer. The union had a proposition
to substitute a system of paying servants
"in kind'' but its representative was
"not quite prepared to suggest a system
fo take the place of money wages." The
Conclusions arrived at by the Commis
sion so far are that the relations between
employer and domestic servant must bo
of a give and take character, and any in
terference by the Legislature would do
more harm than good.
THF. CHILDHOOD OF THE HEART.
Ob, the rosy day* of childhood,
How blissfully they sped, -
When not a charm had vanisheJ,
And not a wonder fled!
The year was full ot promise then.
The tongue was full Of praise-
But X think the cup is sweeter now
Thau in the childish days.
Ob, the laughing world of childhood,
Of ignorance and ease!
The lightest touch could quicken,
And the least pleasure please;
Yet the upward pat!is are dearer,
With all the thorns they bear,
Than a garden of a hundred flowers
When Ignoranoe is there I
Ob. the beating heart of childhood—
That little heart of show,
That doubt has never entered,
Nor sorrow has brought low I
Trust me, not all the rapture
Its eager life can spau
Can shadow forth the perfect love
That warms the breast of man.
—Dora Read Goodale, in Harper's Weekly.
A DOMESTIC REVOLUTION.
UKE MARPOD was
neither better nor
J»lggi| worse than the gen
fi era ' 1-1,11 °' oaortals,
BlfPlllb " D< * rs ' ara b Mar
poc*' k' s w *^ e ' was i
88 wor 'd Roes, a
very fair sample of a
var woman. Luke Mar
pod was a f armeri
hence Sarah Marpod was a farmer's wife;
both hard-working, unsophisticated
people, conscientiously pursuing the
straight path of life, while, on the other
hand, a little keener insight into human
nature and its motives might have
shielded them from many a blow, and
materially aided their right economy.
In spite of hard work they advanced
slowly in the acquisition of home com
forts. Disappointments and misfortunes
accumulated with pitiful rapidity and
lroze the fountains of domestic happi
ness. Before marriage the happiest of
couples, they looked with sanguine hope
to the future, not expecting great re
wards, but trusting in Providence and
loving each other fervently.
They never had a lover's quarrel and
the idea of post-nuptial disagresments
dawned not upon their youthful imagi- I
natiom A comfortable home, content
ment and love was all they bargained
for; all they 'ought, and surely fate
might yield this to any one who means
well and thinks honorably.
Thus they thought, and thus they ex
pected it would be, but the path of life
runs continually into the dark. What
jagged rocks may pierce the feet of the
traveler on this highway no one can fore
tell. We can only judge by the light of
the past, and t j people of limited ex
perience this light is a line so narrow as
uot to reveal the rocks and thorus on
either side.
Lultc Marpod was simple, honest and
narrow-minded. Mrs. Marpod was
was simple, honest and narrow-minded
also, and perhaps the trouble lay in this
very uniformity of tastes and tempera
ment.
Luke's little farm was mortgaged at
the outset, and the few hundred dollars*
that Sarah received from her father
disappeared in a twinkling and left no
trace or footprint. Their first season
was a bad one; crops were a general lail
ure and weeds and creditors arose on
every side.
The neighbors, who always liktd
Luke's conscientious good nature, began
to look askance at him, for they saw the
tables turned, and, paradoxical as it may
appear, found it much more convenient
to be Luke's creditor than bis debtor.
As time passed without bettering their
condition and creditors became impor
tunate, Luke and Sarah took to brooding
over their troubles and occasionally find
ing fault with the ways aud means of the
other, which might never have led to
anything serious had the second year's
crop proved a good one and helped to
make up for the deficiencies of the first.
This, however, was not the case, for,
whereas, the year before the drought had
baked the soil and scorched the growing
blades of wheat and rye, the second year
it began to rain in April—a very good
prognostication, everybody thought, of
a bountiful harvest, but Pluvus, having
other aims in view, refused to recognize
limits and give the farmers time to plow
and sow. Through April, May and June
the rain poured down incessantly, day
after day, until at last all hopes were
abandoned aud the Marpods entered
upon their second year of infelicity.
Luke, who began to think that the
cause of all his troubles lay in his mar
riage, was rash enough one day to hint
the same, and received a retort from his
spouse that roused his latent dignity of
marital lordship. Words were ex
changed, and the result of their first pro
nounced disagreement ended by Luke's
sla'nming the door behind him, and go
ing hastily across the lot after the cows.
That night he whipped the dog for let
ting the brindle heifer escape through
the bars into the cornfield, had trouble
with the same member of the bovine
genius at milking time, and rose wrath
fully to his feet after extricating the
cow's hoof from the milk pail, to swear
an unmistakable oath for the first time
in his lift* Then he beat the animal and
made such a hubbub that Sarah came in
hot haste to remonstrate on his brutality.
"Shut up; mind you* business, will
you?" shouted Luke, as he hurled the
milking stool after the cow and chased
her around the yard.
Tht same evening Mrs. Marpod, con
doling over the loss of milk, gave vent
to her indignation at her other half's
carelessness, and the quarrel was re
newed with rigor.
These first storm clouds in the do
mestic atmosphere soon cleared away,
but each had discovered the other's lack
of infallibility, aud accordingly, while
Luke lost a little of manly pride, Sarah
lost also in gentleness of disposition.
For more tliau ti month all went well,
hut aggravating thing* will happen, es
LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1893.
pecially during harvest time when
reapers and mowers art constantly get
ting out of repair; Luke one day went
to cut wheat in A field from which every
stone and stump had been carefully
eradicated. The sky was lowering and
he wished to finish before a storm.
Around and around the field went the
horse, faster and faster fell the grain be
fore the sickle. Luke's blood was
warming with hope, 'when suddenly,
smash—chunk—chunk went the ma
chine and the horses were jerked vio
lently tack upon their haunches. The
big cast iron seat hurled Luke clear
across the sicklo-bar into the grain.
Scrambling to his feet he found that
a sad ncciiient had happened. A large
stone hail been lifted to the surface of
the ground and left for removal. lie
had forgotten all about it, and hence a
serious loss of time right in the busy
season.
It took several days to obtain repairs,
and in the meantime the rain came on
apace, levelling the wheat to the ground
and causing great damage. Luke be
came gloomy, and Sarah could not help
speaking regretfully of the loss her hus
band's forgetfulness bad incurred.
Everything was propitious lor a
quarrel and the quarrel came. Mutual
recriminations became frequent and
seldom did a day pass without unlovable
scenes between the two Marpods. The
neighbors began to make comments.
Gossips took occasion to condole with
Mrs. Marpod respecting the unreason
ableness of her spouse, and, seeing her
take their sympathy kindly, grew bold
enough to betray all the rash things
Luko had been guilty of prior to his
marriage, acts which ought to have been
burled long before in the graveyard of
oblivion, so extremely remote was their
connection with the present.
Poor Mrs. Marpod I She took them
to heart and at the next opportunity
burled them at the head of the aston
ished Luke. lie owned up to every
thing, not even trying to soften his
wito's too serious interpretation of his
escapades, as he might easily have done,
for the sinfulness was more against con
ventionalism than morals. lie was in
no mood to extenuate, and declared
coldly that he didn't "care a cent about
it"and that he "would do the same
thing over again for all of meddling
neighbors and ill-natured wife." Life
gradually lost it charms for the Marpod?.
Through perpetual clouds and storms
they pursued their gloomy pathway to
the grave.
Sarah bud begun to think seriously of
preferring charges against Luke for
cruelty and praying for a divorce, when
an event happeued that tempoianly dis
missed the idea from her mind and made
Luke more solicitous and tender. A lit
tle girl was bom to them, and because
it was in the spring time of the year tuey
named her Flora. She came like a ray
of sunshine to bnghten the hearts of the
parents and show them their dependence
ou each other for happiness, but by the
time Flora was able to toddle around by
herself and lisp the names of papa and
mamma the parents had resumed their
old fault finding habits, and having once
resumed them they were not long in re
gaining their former facility in the use of
sarcasm aud taunts.
Lune in the first place found fault
with the mother's method of nursing and
declared it a miracle if Fiora did not
prove a weak, sickly child. He was sure
that so much fussiug would ent<ender a
frail constitution, yet as she grew older
she seemed as strong and robust as a
child ever is that breathes pure, country
air.
On the other hand, Mrs. Marpod de
clared that Lu'te's example was enough
to contaminate the family, aud that seeds
sown in so young a miud would some
day bring sorrow upon their heads.
"Mercy on me, man!" she would
shout, "don't touch that child with
those dirty hands of yours. If you don't
know how to be civilized, you had bet
ter not try to bring up children."
One day, atfer a quarrel had been
brewing between the parents for some
time,they came to an understanding that
something muse be done at once. They
seemed tacitly to agree that the time had
come for them to separate forever. Dis -
passionately they sat down to discuss
terms, and to an outside party all evi
dence of ill-temper had passed away.
There was no question as to the di
vision of property. Luke was willing to
do more than Sarah wished, but regard
ing little Flora both were keenly sensi
tive. After discussing the matter for
sometime they agreed to hitc'i up the
team and drive to town to see Lawyer
Hobbes.
Not wishing togo before a court,they
decided that Mr. Hobbes should draw
up all necessary papers and arbitrate as
to the possession of the child. By this
decision they were willing to abide. So,
with Flora on the seat between them,
they drove to town.
In sad and faltering accents they told
Mr. Hobbes how matters stood. Mr.
Hobbes, a benignant gentleman, with
long, white locks that had never been
put to shame by a single mean act in all
his life, and whos heart was as tender as
a child's, tried to remonstrate, but both
Luke and Sarah were sure that the old
life would be revived and that it would
be better to separate kindly; and in this
they stood firm; so Mr. Hobbes, much
troubled, entered upon the business.
Little Flora listened with open-eyed
wonder throughout the discussion.
At last she seemed to comprehend, and
the tears coming to her eyes, she toddled
to her father, and grasping his coat in
her tiny hands, lisped plaintively: "I
want to stay wiv 00, papa," and then
turning, she ran, and burying her face
in her mother's lap she sobbed out: -'I
luv oo and want to stay wiv oo."
Mrs. Marpod's eyes awam with tears,
Luke's lips worked convulsively, and
Lawyer Hobbes brushed something from
bis eves.
Raising her head, she laid her face
against her mother's cheek and mur
mured : "I luv oof bof, I want to liv wiv
oo bof."
The long silence that followed was
broken suddenly by Lawyer Hobbes.
"The little girl is right I" he cried, em
phatically. "She ought to lire with
both. Luke, confound your pete, you've
got a good wife to be proud of ; and you,
Mrs. Marpod, have a husband to be
proud of; and by gosh," cried Mr.
Hobbes, becoming red in the face and
striking the desk a heavy blow with his
fist, "I'll have nothing more to do with
it. I tied the knot when I was magis
trate, and it looks as though you had
lost confidence in me."
Flora ran to him, and smiling eagerly
through her tears, cried out: "Yes, yes;
I want 'em bof."
That settled it, for Luke rose to his
feet, and taking Sarah's hand in his mur
mured: "I'll 'low that it's been all my
fault, and if you'll forgive me I'll never
get mad again."
Mrs. Marpod, on her part, protested
that it was she who had been to blame,
but Lawyer Hobbes scolded both and
sent them home as lovingly as posaibla.
Flora, who is uow a handsome young
lady, has a slight remembrance of the
event mentioned, but just the tenor of it
she does not recollect. She would nol
believe us were we to tell her how serious
that trouble was, so great has been the
revolution. —Chicago News.
A Race With a Waterspout.
The British steamship Amur, Captain
Rouse, from Caibareln, dropped anchoi
off Gloucester, N. J., on a recent nighl
and her outward appearances foretold
the thrilling experiences she had with
the elements. When on the southern
edge of the gulf stream, the steamer
had an escape from destruction by a
waterspout, which fortunately passed
under her stern not many yards from the
ship.
The first seen of this monstrous dis
turbance was in the shape of a heavy
cloud on the horizon directly to the
windward. But as it drew near it ap
peared as though it would overtake the
ship and send all on board to the
bottom. It was a desperate struggle to
get out of its way and the ship already
in a disabled condition, the engineer
stood by with the engines wide open,
realizing it was a race for life. Nearer
and nearer the dangerous water column
drew to the ship, but by the time the
noise of its approach met the ears of the
crew the ship had gotten north to a place
of safety. It passed the Amur's stern
with a deafening noise. It quickly
parsed and disappeared.
The same evening the wind freshed
up and by midnight was blowing a gale,
the ship driving directly under the
waves and sweeping from he' decks
everything movable. The tarpaulins on
the hatches were washed away, ports
were scaled and boat coverings torn
away. A tremendous sea from the
northeast still continued and decks were
started through the immense pressure
brought about by thu<(reat quantities of
water that was being continually
shipped. Everyone on board were more
or less injured through tho ship's terrific
rolling, and Captaiu Rouse pronounces
it the worst passage he ever experienced.
—New Orleans Picayune.
Antiquity of the Saw.
The saw is an instrument of high an
tiquity, its invention being attributed to
either Daj Jalus or to his nephew Perdix,
also called Talos, who, having found the
jaw of a serpent and divided a piece of
wood with it, was led to imitate the
teeth in iron. In a bass-relief pub
lished by Winckelman, Dtelalus is rep
resented holding a saw approaching very
closely in form to the Egyptian saw. St.
Jerome seems clearly to allude to the
circular saw, which was probably used,
as at present, in cutting veneers. Thero
are also imitations of the use of the cen
tre bit, and even in the time of Cicero it
was employed by thieves. Pliny men
tions the uso of the saw in Ancient Bel
gium for cutting white building stone;
sornii of the oolitic and cretaceous rocks
are still treated in the same manner,both
in that part of the Continent and in the
south of Eugland. In this case Pliny
must be understood to speak of a proper
or toothed saw. The saw without teeth
was then used just as it is now by the
workers in marble, and the place of
teeth was suppliei, according to tho
hardness of the stone, either by emery
or by various kinds of sand of inferior
hardness. In this manner the ancient
artificers were able to cut slabs of the
hardest rock, which consequently were
adapted to receive the highest polish,
such as granite, porphyry, lapis-lazuli
and amethyst.—Scientific American.
Paoger In Feather Spring Rifles.
Army authorities are in great fear that
the new magazine rifles now in use in the
British army will bo the cause of the
death of many soldiers, because it goes
off so lightly that a man, after being
shot, may in the death spasm pull the
trigger and shoot some of his comrades,
or that even the moving of the bodr may
discharge the weapon. It is therefore
ordered that two men shall be detained
from each company to fol low the line in ac
tion,and when a man falls to immediately
remove the magazine from his rifle and
carry it away. The opponents to the use
of the new rifle say that this looks to
them to be a very clumsy arrangement
and one likely to counterbalance the 'ra
pidity of tiring gained by the use of
these feather spring weapons. New
York Press.
The Duration of a Dream.
Those learned and scientific gentlemen
who have gone into the subject declare
the longest dreams hard I; last a few
minutes. The following instance lends
support to their views: One evening
Victor Hugo was dictating letters to his
secretary. Overcome by fatigue the
great man dropped into a slumber. A
fow moments afterward he awoke,
haunted by a dream, which, as he
thought, extended over several hours,
and he blamed his secretary for sitting
there vaiting for him instead of waken
ing biin or else going awuy. What was
bis surprise when the bewildered secre
tary told him that he had only just
finished writing the last sentence dictated
to law.
BREAD FOR ALL WHO ASK.
K DAILY EA RLY-MOBNINO SCENE
BEFORE A NEW YORK BAKERY.
Human Wr.*cltS Shaffllng Pa*t a Bfjj
Bakery Door in Ijoclc Step tor
Stale Ijoavea—A. Weird Spectacle.
THERE is a weird sceno every
morning, while the tired city
is fast asleep, at Broadway and
Tenth street, which tells in
eloquent silence of the depth of human
woe and misery. It is probably known,
but not always remembered by persons
who have loving families, cheerful
homes, downy beds and well-stocked
larders, and who live in an air of luxury,
that there is a half-starved army in this
city against which the doors of organ,
ized charity are closed. It lives—no one
knows where, and it comes out on the
streets, like rats from a hole, after dark,
seeking food and everything that it can
devour. It is only the night workers
who see the big city when the lights are
turned low who catch a glimpse of the
starving army, and the sight is not
pleasant.
It was between 2 and 3 o'clock in the
morning the other day. The wind came
piping with a North Dakota chill
through East Tenth street, and nearly
ripped the tattered clothing from an old
man who came stumping along Fourth
avenue with a feeble step. He stopped
at the Tenth street corner. The lamp
light showed the skin peeping through
his clothes in many places. He sank a
little deeper into his rags after a quick
glance up the street and moved slowly
toward Broadway.
"Just wait for a little while," said
Policeman McConoell to a reporter who
was on his way home after his night's
work, "and you will see the strangest
gathering that you ever looked at in
this town."
The old man kept moving until he
reached the bright light which shown
cheerfully from the windows of the
Vienna Bakery, midway on the block.
He looked wistfully at the scene of good
chier within, then leaned against a lamp
post with head bowed low, violently
trembling from cold and hunger.
"He's the first on the line," said Mc-
Council,"and he's not missed the honor
for over a year."
The policeman's remark was vague,
but in a little while the explanation
came. The solitary tramp soon had
plenty ot company. Men with want and
poverty stamped on every feature of
their gaunt faces and every shred of
their eloquent rags turned into East
Tenth street from Fourth avenue and
Broadway. They came singly and In
groups, and fell in behind the first ar
rival.
At 3 o'clock the line extended around
In of Onu-e Church, and there
were over 200 meu standing closely
together, waiting, apparently, for some
signal to march. It was a sileut crowd.
There was not a word spoken above a
whisper. Some of the men were drunk
and hardly ably to stand, but they were
held in place by their comrades in
misery. One fellow dropped on the
walk and rolled into the gutter. No
one disturbed him. Not even the po
liceman.
There was a flutter of excitement
along the line as tho doors of the bakery
were thrown open with a loud bang and
several bakers in white cap 3 and aprons
rolled a half dozen big boxes filled with
bread on the sidewalk. The bakers
handed out the bread to the men, and
the line moved slowly along with the
shuffle of the lock step, well known,
apparently, to many of the gang. To
every man was given a loaf of bread a
day old. There was more than enough
togo around and some got two loaves.
The long wait in the open air seemed
to have added an extra pang to the
hunger of the men, and almost every
one took a revenoas bite from the loaf
as soon as it reached his haud. They
acted like hungry wolves in sight of
prey, and to many of them the dry
bread appeared fit for a kingly feast.
Some sat down on the curb, broke off
large chunks of tho loaf and fairly
crammed it into their mouths until every
morsel of it was gone. Others, after a
few bites, stowed the bread away among
the rags which covered their bodies, and
a few hurried away without tojehing it
at all. In fifteen minutes the street was
deserted and no sound was heard save
the merry song of the bakers as they
piled up big btacks of bread for their
customers with the feeling that steals
into the human heart when a good act
has been performed.
"That's the best object lesson," said
Policeman McConnell, as the last bundle
of rags moved away, "of what rum will
bring a man to if he sticks at it. Most
of these poor chaps come here night
after night, and many of them
have told me it's the only food they
have had in twenty-four hours. Tho
gang is made up of ex convicts who
have lost even the desire to steal, and
drunkards who have reached the bottom
of the ladder. Among the latter are
men who have been in good circum
stances, and there is one who about ten
years ago owned a large whelesale gro
cery in Washington street. This charity
is a godsend to them, and it's all the de
cent treatment they get during the day.
They are kicked and shunned by every
body, sheek shelter wherever it can be
found, and most of them will wind up
in Potter's Field. No questions are
asked hero if these men are worthy ob
jects of charity. They are all half
starved and drunkards without homes,
and thieves have to eat as well as any
one else. Although they are a hardened
lot there has not been the slightest dis
order on the block during the years that
they have been coming here."—New
York Recorder.
Queen Victoria has given order* for
exteusive decorative repairs to be car
ried out in Holy rood Palace, and the
office of works is now engaged in clean
ing and restoring the ceilings and walls
of Queen Mary's audience chamber and
■upper room and the adjoining corridor.
Terms—Sl.oo in Advance; 51.25 alter Three Months,
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
The glow worm lays luminous eggs.
Banana flour has been produced in
small quantity in some parts of Australia.
Nutmegs in the quantity of two or
three drachma will cause both stupor and
delirium.
Oyster shells laid on the hot coals in
a stove or range will loosen clinkers on
the firebrick, so that they may be easily
removed.
It is stated by an actor that the elec
tric lamp used as footlights is harder on
the eyes of the performers than either
gas or candle light.
Numerous experiments to determine
the best fire-resisting materials for the
construction of doors have proved that
wood covered with tin resisted the fire
better than an iron door.
The main elements in the make-up of
the world are oxygen, nitrogen, hydro
gen, chlorine, carbon, fluorine, phos
phorous, silicon, sulphur, aluminum,
calcium, copper, iron, lead, potassium
and sodium.
Oysters come nearer to milk than all
most any other common food material
as regards both the amounts and the rel
ative proportion of nutrients, the food
values of equal weights of milk and oys
ters being nearly the same.
It is somewhat singular that, notwith
standing the great advances made in
chem'stry and metallurgy, no other more
sati?factory silver alloy has yet been dis
covered for coining and other purposes
than the alloy used 800 years ago.
The best lighted city in Earope is
Milan. American machinery only is
employed in its two central stations. A
curious feature of the system of distri
bution is that the wires, instead of being
carried on poles, are suspended from the
brackets under the eaves of the houses.
In summer at Paris the Siene delivers
to the two parts of the bridge Pont-
Neuf about a hundred cubic inches of
water every second, moving with a force
of 3500 horse-power. Every hour
360,000 cubic metres of water pass un
der the arches of the bridge, or 8,640,-
000 cubic metres in a day.
A liomau has offered King Humbert
a novel instrument of warfare. This is
a projectile, which on being shot from
a cannon and striking au object will
produce a luminous disc of 100,000
candle power, and thereby expose to
view an enemy's position by night at a
distance of from three to four miles.
A miniature thunder factory has been
constructed for the science and art de
partments at South Kensington, Eng
land, with plates seven feet in diameter,
which, it it believed, would give sparks
thirty inches long, but no Loyden jars
have been found to stand the charge, all
being pierced by an enormous tension.
M. Bonrdel'e? Chief Engineer of
French lighthoudts, has perfected a sys
' 'jm by which he can project a force of
2,500,000 candles by means of four lenses
instead of twenty-four, as previously,
and by a novel system of rotation make
the "flash" every twenty seconds. This,
the inventor claims, is the finest result
yet achieved anywhere.
Electric light baths are among the
latest inventions. The necessary parts
of such a bath aro a cabinet which will
inclose.the entire body except the head,
and fifty electric lamps of sixteen candle
power, or 110 volts, arrauged about the
body in groups, with a separate switch
for each group. The light is thrown on
a section at a time, making the patient
frisky and browning the skin like an
ocean bath.
C. C. Jennings, formerly Superin
tendent of the Brush Electric Light
Company of Buffalo, N. Y., has pat
ented a system of telephonic communi
cation, by means of which barbed wire
fences can be utilized between railroad
stations, farmers' houses and large
ranches. The patent involves the use of
a portable transmitter or telephone,
which can be attached to the barbed
wire at any point, and by which mes
sages can be received or sent to railroad
stations or other places at which there
are regular telephones.
Has a Fingpr-Reduc n? Patent.
The Patent Office has granted a pat
ent on a device worthy of the ancient
Greeks. It is a system of finger-taper
ing and joint-reducing bands. The idea
is to make thimble-shaped bands of thin
and pliant aluminum in sets of various
sizes to fit the fingers and thumbs, and
by wearing them at night gradually pro
duce the slender and tapering digits so
much admired by the fashionable half of
the i?orld. The aluminum bands are
provided with rings which are crowded
down on the outside so as to compress
the fingers and drive the blood back to
any desired state of diminutiveness. The
letters patent do not state whether the
use of this new device is attended with
pain or not. It is said these bands have
been thoroughly tested by several of the
best known women of fashion in Wash
ington and New York, and they speak of
them in the highest terms of praise. The
leading merchant in cosmetics and toilet
articles in Chicago is forming a stock
company to buy the patent and boom
the tiuger taperer at the World's Fair.
The patenteo says his idea will go like
wildfire, as have so many other inven -
tions to pioduce beauty, and he thinks
his patent is worth at least $50,000. —
Chicago Herald.
Immense Dininy Hall for Stndent*.
An immense dining hall for students,
to be known as the Mensa Acadamica,
was opened in Vienna, Austria, the other
week. In it 2000 students can dine
together. The intent of the institution
is to enable students to eat together at a
minimum cost, instead of being com
pelled by reason of their small me ans to
obtain their meals in cheap and low re
sorts. The privileges ot the Mensa
Academica are restricted to regular sub
scribers, and the rates are foi dinner,
f2 .50 a month; for breakfast and din
ner, $3.25, and for breakfast, dinner
and supper, $4.75 * month.—Chicago
Times.
NO. 13*
BEHIND THE MASK.
Life U not what it might hav* haw.
Nor are we what we would!
And we most meet with miea.
And part la aareleae mood.
Knowing that each retain* mrniw.
In cell* of eenaesnbdued,
A little lurking secret of the blood—
A little serpent secret rankling keen-
That makes the heart its food.
—Owen Meredith.
HDXOB OF THE DAT.
V
Out and dried— Hay.
The Irish Sea—•'Say."
Trying work—Experimenting.
A race across the Atlantic—The Eng
lish.—Life.
Hard pressed for money—The produc
tions of the Mint.
Many a man has made a goose of him
self with a single quill.—Texas Sittings.
Even the highest-priced surgeons will
give cut ratea when asked to.—Philadel
phia Record.
The office boy who was taken on trial
was let go because he proved too much
of one.—Puck.
Contrary as it may seem, it's the tailor
who makes sales, and the tailor who
makes tales.—Life.
The man who salts away money does
not thus prevent his heir from being
•'too fresh."—Truth.
The stereopticon-man is never blamed
as a turncoat, although he is continually
changing his views.—Puck.
Don't judge hastily. What may seem
to be very ordinary drum-majors are
often leading musicians.—Elmira Ga
zette.
Mr. Hownow—"Miss Passee, what is
your opinion of the coming man?" Miss
Passee—"That he is very, very slow."—
What's Odd.
Imogene—"Ob, stop your flattery, or
I shall put my hands to my ears."
Alonzo—"Ah, your lovely hands are too
small."—Fun.
The chrysanthemum is a most worthy
flower; but, for the best of reasons, the
verse-makers fight shy of singing its
praises.—Puck.
Now, children, you must very good
to-day, for your father has hurt his hand,
and if you are naughty he cannot whip
you.—Fliegende Blaetter.
Some folks not only count their chick
ens before they are hatched, but also
spend in advance the price of the pros
pective eggs they are to lay.—Truth.
There was one Nsw York hackman,
the other day, who failed to overcharge
his customer, but he died on his box be
fore he got to his destination.—Truth.
The boy stood on the burning deck-
But who could blame him, please.
The price of coal had gone so high
It was either this or freeze.
—Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Judge—"Did your wife pick a quarrel
with you I" Victim —"No, she don't
seem to have much choice about them;
any kind suits her."—Chicago Inter -
Ocean.
First Girl—"He said your hair was
dyed." Second Girl—"That is false."
•>I told him it was false, and he said
that was worse than dyeing it."—Phil
adelphia Record.
When a girl gets so she can play mu
sic in which she crosses her hands, ihe
stops referring to it by name and title,
and calls it "a little thing by Batoven."
—Atchison Globe.
"There is one thing sure," said the
editor, who was reading the new re
porter's long article; "you are in no
danger of being troubled by a shortage
in your accounts." —Washington Star.
"He'll be heard in the world," "'<l his
mother,
"He'll be heard, It Is easily to tell."
Aud he was, quite beyon.l any other.
When his college class starte.i its yell.
—Washington Star.
Tommy—"Paw, what is a special
providence!" Mr. Figy—"lt occurs
when some other fellow is the victim of
a misfortune that would otherwise have
happened to yourself."—lndianapolis
Journal.
"How do you feel now J" asked a
Texas lawyer of his client, a condemned
murderer, who has just been reprieved.
"As playful as a child, my boy." Lawyer
(slapping him on the back) —"Ah, I see
you have just skipped the rope.'"—Texas
Siftings.
Idaho's Frecions Stones.
Collections being made in Idaho afford
unusual opportunity for studying the
geological nnd mineral production. The
exhibit for Custer County contains a
beautiful specimen of onyx. Indications
are that an agate field exists in the
county. Bappbires have also been fouad
there, one lot of which sold for $llOO.
But recent efforts have failed to produce
one for the exposition.
A sample of rock has been received
from Lewiston, the exact character of
which has not been determined, but
which appears to be a variety of jaspar.
This specimen cuts glass more readily
than the diamond, and is ,so hard that
ten minutes' grinding on an emery wheel
has scarcely any effect on it. It is varie
gated in color, with pink and green
tints. It is quite small, and efforts are
being made to secure a larger one. Ths
value of the rock is not known.
The variety of opals will be very large.
There two mines in Latah and one about
forty miles from Boise City. They are the
genuino tire opals, and are said to be of
a very superior quality.
Petrifications are very numerous in
the State. The chief specimen in this
department is a sample from the petrified
forest ia Custer County, near Challis.
This distinctly »hows the bark a«d wood
of a conifer, a species of pine. The
stump from which it was taken is four
teen feet above the ground, twelve feet
in diameter at the top, and fifteen at the
base. The bark is si* inches thick. It
was discovered about five years ago.—
New York Times.
The walls of Babylon are said by
Herodotus to have been 350 high aid
100 feet thick at the base.