| WEDDED EIGHTY-EIGHT YEARS. |
Oldest Married Couple in the World—Husband is 10S,
Wife 106.
Four miles south of Elkton, Mich.,
there lives perhaps the oldest married
couple in the world.
There have been several well au
thenticated cases of men rcr.ohing 11
MB. HILLER SAWING WOOD.
greater age than the 108 years which
Jacob Hiller lias seen completed.
There have been many women who
have lived longer than Mrs. Jacob
Hiller, who is nearly 106. But prop
vbly it has never happened to any
Dther youth aud maiden, marrying
ivhen the former was twenty and the
atter eighteen,to pass together eighty
sight years of wedded life; to celebrate
heir golden wedding and live on; to
jelebrate their diamond wedeing an d
»till have thirteen years of wedded
life together after that.
Mr. and Mrs. Hiller were married
twenty years before the railroad came,
and fourteen years before "Witt Clin
ton's Ditch" (the Erie Canal), across
Now York State, was opened. The
United States, wheu they were married,
was a puny little nation, on the point
of going to war one moment with Eng
land, the next with France and in
sulted and browbeaten by both. Na
poleon was at the height of his power,
yet unsapped by the disasters in Spain
or the retreat from Moscow, the grisly
aorrors of Waterloo, six years away,
ind all unforeseen.
Yes, it's a long term of years for
tnan and wife to spend together, but
tho old couple seem never to havo tired
of it or of each other. And, sitting in
their little house like a veritable Dar
by aud Joan, they received a New
York World reporter together as they
have lived.
"I'm 108 years old," said Mr. Hiller
from the depths of his capacious arm
ohair. "My birthday was the 20th of
last October; so you see I'm pretty
well started going on 109. She"—here
he nodded toward Mrs. Hiller in her
easy chair opposite—"will be 106 next
March. I was about twonty-two or
cwenty-three when the War of 1812
broke out. we were on the other
side, you know. Wo were born at
Jamestown, back of Kingston, in Can
ida, and lived there till we were old."
"Tour children are scattered?"
"We have had eleven children," re
died Mr. Hiller, "and seven of them
ire still alive. The oldest is eighty-five
ind tho youngest is fifty-eight years
»ld. One of our daughters lives about
lalf a mile from here, and once in a*
vhile I walk over to call ou her." •
"You do not seam like so old a
iau," said the writer. And indeed
Ir. Hiller's eye is bright, and, though
.is face is wrinklfed, lie has tho ap
lenrance of energy such as one does
.ot attribute to age.
"Me?" said he with a shrill laugh.
'Why, I was eighty-eight years old
eforo I lost my fivst tooth, and I've
ut two new ones since- then. I've,
ever worn glasses in my life, and I
a thread a needle as well as you
an, if you are a woman. I don't sleep
s well as I.used to, though."
"And you, Mrs. Hiller?"
"I've kept house eighty-eight years,"
■iped up the old lady, "but I don't do
luch work now. I'm pretty feeble,
♦atty feeble. I can't walk aud I'm
jaost blind aud can't read; but I
learly love to have people read to me.
get lonesome sitting here so long,
iometimes my grandchildren come
nd read to me. Aud things are sent
0 me for them to read, and I always
eep them."
"What kind of reading do you like
■est?"
"Poetry. Jacob, show them to the
dy."
The old man promptly fished out of
7P
SIR. HILLER. m YEARS OLD. MR3. HILLER. 106 YEARS OLD
table drawer a lot of newspaper clip
ings, most of them yellow with age
nd creased with many foldings. One
112 them was Eugene Field's "Little
;oy Blue," cut from a Chicago paper.
r h ® ™. l J?r read it through slowly, old
"word 8 er n ° ddmg t0 the rhythm of
''My children are gone) t „ she
ua " fou * of them, and I' m reft a.T
aud only waiting for the words. It's
a long time. Twenty years ago I had
my burial olothes made ready, and once
a year I have them putin order.
Would you liice to see them?"
The writer turned the question
hastily.
,r When did you come to this coun
try, Mr. Hiller?"
"About the time the war began we
moved here to Michigan?"
Before the poems wer-e put away
some one spoke of hymns, and the
couple with shrill, quavering voices
sang to the old tune of"China," with
its quaint trills and runs, the words:
"Come, Holy Bp4rlt, Heavenly Dovo,
With all tliy quiukonins powers;
Come shed abroad a Saviour's love
And that shall quicken ours."
A YUKON VILLAGE IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER.
Then the old man put away the
clippings, moving easily about the
room wth a lirni and fairly quick
step. He is small and slight now,
though he may have been in his
prime a man of average stature.
Mrs. Hiller moves about but little
and with difficulty, feeling her way
around the room with thin, tremulous
fingers. Of their very simple house
work she does almost none. Gener
ally one of the grandchildren drops
in during the day to help with some
ME. HILLEU SHOVELS SNOW,
of their work. Tho rest, Mr. Hiller
himself does.
There is a little garden about the
house, aud hero, in the season, Mr.
Hiller raises a few and
weeds and waters an old-fashioned
posey bed, in which grow all the fa
vorite flowers of his wife's youth, and
a nosegay of these is generally upon
her table. Sometimes he carries her
chair out into the gcdeu, and she sits
there while he works.
At present, however, the dry and
withered stalks of the garden favor
ites peep melancholy through the
snow, as if bidding one to wonder
Whether Mrs. Hiller will ever see
them bloom again. There seems to be
no good reason v/liy her more
sprightly husband may not live to see
them once and again.
The son-in-law plows the garden
and arranges for the rougher work
about the place. The wood the old
couple burn is sawed by horse-power
into short lengths, but Mr. Hiller
splits it up for firewood, battering
away at it with short, peeking strokes
with a dull axe. All Canadians know
how to chop wood, but Mr. Hiller no
longer has strength for that.
In winter, when the deep snows
come, he gets out of doors with a
snow shovel and makes neat paths
about the house and from the front
door to the gate. The labor of shov
elling does not seem too fnuch for his
muscular strength, but his thin blood
is quickly chilled, and after a few
minutes' work in the cold be goes into
tho house to rest for a fow minutes
before the kifshen stove.
In this way the old man putters
about for half a day over a light fail
of snow, but one who has lived 108
years has plenty of time.
So they sit, the old man and wom
an, in their little house, singing the
old hymns and waiting for the mes
senger who has spared them so long.
THE BIGGEST KITE EVER RAISED.
Soared Aluft Llbo a School Boy's Toy ami
Lifted Its Owner Into tho Air.
A kite that would have served as a
toy for the youthful residents of Gul
liver's Brobdingnag has just been
constructed by a resident of South
Bethlehem, Penn. The kite is a mon
ster. If the world has its equal, no
one has ever made the fact known.
Imagine a kite as big as a two-story
house, capable of raising high in the
air an able-bodied man, who tried to
hold onto the so'aring flyer. William
H. Markle, the man who built the
great kite and raised it heavenward,
says:
To begin with the dimensions of tho
kite: It is 25 feet high and 25 feet
wide, and is of the ordinary triangle
pattern. The sticks are made of white
pine, sjx2 inches, aud are tapered
from the cross to lj inches at the
ends. At each corner of the cross
there are two-inch On
these screw-eyes are tied the four
corners of the canvas sail, which is
made of sail drilling.
The sail is sewed on the bias, and
along the edge of the canvas is sewed
a rope three-eighths of an inch thick,
with loops at the corners. These
loops are tied with separate rope in
the screw-eyes on the frame, the frame
being bolted at the cross with an eye
bolt, making it easy to tako the kite
to pieces, a very nftccessary thing, by
the way, with a kite as big as a house.
The centre bands are made of rope
three-eighths of an inch thick, with
heavy harness snaps, which are also
hdoked in the eye-bolts, in the cross
aud screw-eyes in the corners.
I used, when I made the tirst trial
of tho kite, 2500 feet of silver lake
sash cord, but found the strain too
great, and had to procure the highest
grade of Manila rope three-eighths of
an inch thick. This rope stood tho
strain of a high wind without signs of
breaking.
WORLD'S BIGGEST KITE.
In a strong breeze the pull, accord
ing to careftil estimates, was from 400
to 600 pounds. I have at different
times attached a bar a few hundred feet
from the hitching point, and allowed
myself to be pulled into the air to a
height of a hundred feet. The kite
floats at an angle of from fifty to
eighty degrees, and my weight is 165
pounds. The weight of the kite,
rigged, is seventy pounds.
It is a very easy matter to raise the
kito. With the assistance of a few
men the sticks and canvas are put to
gether, and the flying rope securely
hitched about a tree, the slack in the
rope being nerrly all taken in. The
kite is laid flat on the ground with
the top toward the hitching point, and
in a fair breeze the monster is lifted
up a little so as to catch the breeze.
It does this very quickly, straighten
ing up like a thing of life and rising
with the wind as though anxious to be
as obliging as possible. In order to
counteract any tendency that the kite
may have for tilting sideways, guide
ropes are hung at the wings, and if
necessary they can be used to keep
the kite straight while it is rising from
earth to the clouds.
Sixty Kuatian Language*.
Sixty languages are spoken in the
empire governed by the Czar of Rus
sia.
Indian Bicyclist.
Hole-in-the Day, a wild Sioux In
dian chief, is one of the most expert
bicycle riders in Montana.
MINERAL WEAi_TH_OF THE YUKON,
A Correspondent Tells of Possibilities in
the Klondike Gold lies:ion.
Owing to the peculiar climate and
other conditions, nearly all placer
mining in the Yukon country must be
conducted by new methods or modifi
cations of old methods. So far noth
ing but tho crudest of mining, with
the simplest of tools, has been done,
and there are splendid opportunities
for capital ani engineering skill,
writes John D. McGillivray in a Daw
son City letter to tho Now York Her
ald.
This is not so much of a "poor
man's country" as is generally re
ported, for no one can come here and
accomplish anything without the ex
penditure of considerable money be
fore expecting any return. Even
prospecting cannot be done with any
degree of satisfaction except at con
siderable expense.
The introduction of capital properly
directed, with appropriate machinery
and tools, will mean not only the rapid
opening up of new districts, but the
working at large profits of hundreds
of miles or even thousands of miles o:
creeks which have been located and
are now abandoned.
At preaent, it is true, there is little
aside from placer deposits proven to
be of profitable value, but coal, copper
aud other minerals have been found
in deposits that are worth examina
tion. That quartz mines will be dis
covered and opened up in this im
mense territory there can be no
doubt.«
Under present conditions not mora
than one out of fifty of the gravel
mines which have been located will
pay to be worked, yet, as costs are re
duced and improved methods are in
troduced, most of them should yield
good profits.
There have been located in the
Klondike district nearly three thousand
claims. A. small proportion—not over
one-tenth, or. at most, one-fifth of
these, it is now believed by the besC
informed miners—will pay to work by
the methods now in vogue and with
wages aud other costs anywhere near
the prevailing rates.
It should be remembered that t'na
value of this immense territory—the
Yukon country—lies not so much in
the rich claims in the Klondike dis
trict, but in the fact that gold is much
more evenly distributed over an im
mense area than in any other known
mining district in the world.
The world's attention to-ilay is di
rected, whenever the Ynkon is men
tioned, to the Klondike district, yet it
is quite probable that the Birch Creek
district, on the American side, nearly
three hundred miles below here, will
in time produce as much if not more
gold. It is so far as is known more
extensive, aud, while the placers dis
covered are of lower grade, they all
cofitain considerable gold.
Danceroug Carbolic Acid.
A Board of Health warning has been
sent out in regard to the danger of
using carbolic acid, either as a disin
fectant or as a cleansing wash for sim
ple wounds. Even in an ointment it
is not safe. Local gangrene is said to
be the penalty of too strong an appli
cation, or of a weak application too
long applied. Another point of infor
mation advanced by the board is that
carbolio acid is used in surgery as a
germicide and disinfectant, and not as
a means of healing wounds; on the
contrary it would retord or prevent
their healing if used in improper
strength.—St. Louis Globe Democrat.
Tli© Difference.
"A man," observed the student of
social phenomena, "is never satisfied
so long as there is anything {he wants;
a woman is never satisfied so long as
there is anything she can get."—
Chicago Journal.
A Chicken With Rabbit Feet.
The London Strand has a picture of
a chicken with rabbit feet. The pho
tograph of the curiosity was sent in
by Mr. Sleight, of Peshtigo, Wis.
The chicken was one of a family of
oi&e. all of whiah had rabbit feet.
CfyildreD's CoIUKD
A Tidy Ilonnekceper.
Friday is our sweeping day;
Mottior flies around
Tiil no tiny speck of dust
Can anywhere be found.
Course I have to help her
When she works so hard;
But she says X help tier best
If I sweep the yard.
Just before the bij? barn door
There's a (treat broad stone;
With tny mother's second broom
X sweep that—alono.
Papa laughs to see me sweep
'J ill I have to say:
"Cleaning house is women's work;
Don't get in my way!"
—Tudor Jenks,"in The Outlook.
A Braver I)nni-Builder.
A. man who had his doubts about
beavers being able to build dams was
presented with a baby beaver by a
hunter. It became a great pet, but
showed 110 signs of wanting to build
a dam until one day a leaky pailful of
water was put on the floor of the 01ft
kitehen. The beaver was there, and
though little more than a baby, when
he saw the water oozing across the
floor he scampered into the yard,
brought a chip ami began his work.
His owner kept the pail filled and left
building material at hand, and the
little fellow kept at his work until he
had built a solid dam around the pail.
—Chicago Record.
City Soon to Be Famous.
Open your atlas at the map of Asia
and look for the city with the long
name of Vladivostok, on the eastern
coast, north of Japan. A few years
ago it was only a little, barren, strag
gling town of a few thousand inhabit
ants, most of whom were Chinese
fishermen who lived in the deepest
poverty. Now it is a rapidly growing
city of more than 20,000 inhabitants
and it will soon become one of the
great ports and naval stations of the
world. Last week the cornerstone of
the new Russian public works was laid
with great ceremony.
The importance of Vladivostok
lies in the fact that it is at the ter
minus of the trans-Siberian railroad,
which will run from Russia,a distance
of over 5000 miles, across the barren
stretches of Siberia. When completed
it will have cost over $175,000,000,
making it one of the greatest business
enterprises of modern times. This
railroad will give Russia a great port
011 the Pacific ocean and enable her to
develop the rich coal and iron mines
of her vast territory, all of which will
add to the importance of the new city.
Vladivostok is also well located for"a
fortress,and it is expected that Russia
will arm it and make it a base of sup
plies for her ships. Two months
every year its harbor is frozen over,
but the Russian government keeps a
channel plowed through the ice with
a great ice-crusher of American inven
tion.
A Juvenile Mnrro Polo.
A boy, about fifteen years old, who
calls himself "Richard James Vin
cent, the boy globe trotter," is in
Hoboken, seeking free transportation
to Buffalo. In the summer of 1893,he
says, he left New York, and has visited
almost every country 011 the earth,
during all that time never handling a
cent of money.
He saijJ that letters of recommenda
tion and autographs which he col
lected as he traveled made it easy to
get first class transportation without
any money whatever.
"It was only in such places as the
interior of China,"he said, "where I
did not understand the language that
I met with trouble. In China I went
without u square meal for five months.
011 one occasion I called upon a man
darin and was invited to a meat break
fast.
"When I had finished a hearty meal
I gathered up the bones on the dining
table to feed my dog, which I always
brought with me. To my surprise
the servants informed me that I had
feasted on my companion. They
thought that I had brought the dog
as a present, and they killed and
cooked him so that I could partake of
the feast.
"While going through India I had
the best tinie of all. You ought to
see how I was treated. Nothing was
too good for me. Maharajahs or kings
who govern the different sections of
the country thought that I was the
son of some big ruler of the whites.
They could not understand where I
came from or my object in traveling,
so I let tliem think what they might.
"I got letters of introduction from
one luaharajali to another, and was
given all the coolies I wished to aid
me in my travels. The maharajahs
called the coolies dogs. When I
reached the foot of Mount Everest
Sourmadromahan Tajor, the mahara
jah of Darjeeling, gave me the services
of eighty-five coolies to climb to the
top of the mountain, a feat which I
thought I could accomplish, although
it is said no one ever got up further
than 1600 feet.
"The mount is 20,000 feet above
sea level. When I was up 15,000 feet
all my coolies deserted me. I con
tinued on until the blood oozed from
my ears, nost and under my finger
nails, when I was obliged to return
I was up 20,000 feet, which is highef
than any living being was ever known
to reach.
"Qumarramassar-Malish, the ma
harajah of Zanzibar-Bengal, supplied
me with eight hundred coolies togo
from Couch Bohare through the wilds
of Tirelioot to the jungles of Ulvar, a
distance of 825 miles. lam through
traveling now, and intend to settle
down to a quiet life."
The precocious youngster spent
most of the day yesterday trying to
get a pass over the Delaware, Lacka
wanna and Western railroad to Buf
falo, where he says hia friends live.—
New York Herald.
An Ant's Heroiwm.
The sun was just setting when I re
turned, slightly fatigued, from my
several miles' ride on my wheel. As
is my custom on returning home, I
took the garden hose and turned water
_into a small trench that had been dug
around a maple tree for the purpose
of holding water a sufficient time to
permit the dirt adjacent to the roots
to become thoroughly soaked.
Sitting down near by to rest, my
attention was attracted to a group of
small ants rushiug hither and thither
in an endeavor to escape. The bottom
of the circular ditch being covered,
about twenty of the ants sought safety
on a large clod of earth. At first they
were scattered about over the highest
part of the little mound, and to all
appearances were indifferent as to
their surroundings. After a little
one of the number proceeded leisurely
around the little island, and after
finishing the circuit hurried back to
his companions. It appeared that they
then for the first time realized that
they were surrounded by water. The
survey was repeated several times in
quick succession. The group of ants
gathered more closely together and
seemed to be in a state of restless
anxiety. As the water rose the circuit
grew less, the vigil more earnest and
the excitement greater with each re
tuiu of the sentinel. They rushed
about over each other iu a terrible
state of excitement, for the water was
rapidly approaching. There* was now
hardly room for them to stand on;
just a little while and that would be
under water. They ceased struggling
and settled down into motionless
inactivity, and seemed entirely re
signed to their fate.
I picked lip a little stick and laid
it across the water to the point wjjere
the ants were. They seemed dazed,
and did not instantly take advantage
of the meaus of escape offered them.
One then crawled hurriedly up on the
stick,went its full length out and over
the blades of grass to the dry land.
Without a second's hesitation he
turned and retraced his steps to his
companions. Now the smallest one
of the group returned with him to dry
land. They both retraced their steps
and the work of rescue began. The
rest seemed entirely subservient to the
will of these two. Each, with a com
panion, hurried out to a place of
safety.
The small one was much more
active, he rescuing about two to the
large one's one. Time was precious
as the water was rapidly rising: it
would soon be running around the
outer end of the stick, and the island
was melting away. One by one they
were taken out, the guide accompany
ing the rescued one to a place of safety
each time. Why they did not all fol
low the first one puzzled me, but they
did not. The smaller ant now hurried
forth with the last one. Still he was
not content,and rushed back in search
of others. The little hillock was now
melted away, and he turned to seek
safety for himself. He did not seem
as nitich concerned as before. He did
not hasten as when conscious of
rescuing others. The water was run
ning around the stick. The last
avenue of escape was closed to him
forever. He went to the highest
point and settled down perfectly still.
His previous condfict convinced me
that he now fully realized that the
case was hopeless so far as he was
concerned.
Must the bravest of them all thus
die when he could easily have escaped
long ago? He willingly risked his
own life that he might save others.
Could a more genuiue example of
heroism be found in human annals?
Could a more striking example of
brotherly love and unselfish devotion
be shown? Could a more earnest
solicitude for the life of others l:e in
stanced? I think not. Within his
own power this little insert had no
possible means of escape. He did not
fear death, neither did he die, but he
was last to escape. I lifted the stick
from the water and laid it on the
ground. He crawled hurriedly away
to his companions, whom he had re
cently rescued from the grasp of
death. Whatever I may have done
for them, I can but feel that, in his
example, the little hero ant did much
more for me.—St. Louis Globe-Demo
crat.
Her Power of Speech Restored.
By patiently teachiug the use of the
lips for utterances, Dr. Willis D.
Storer, a staff physician at Auguttana
hospital, Chicago, has restored the
power of speech to Maggie E. Lauf.
Three years ago Miss Lauf's ner
vous system was shattered by a stroke
of lightning. Since that time and up
to about six weeks ago, the young
woman bad been unable to utter a
sound. Dr. Storer trained Miss Lauf
to use her lips as he would a child,
and, after, about two weeks of lessons,
she suddenly partially regained her
voice, and with constant practice has
now entirely recovered the use of it. .