England produced live new noveli
for every day of 1897.
In 1890, according to the census,
the foreign-born of the United States
were: Germans, 2,784,894; Irish, 1,-
871,500; English, 900,002; Scotch,
242,281.
Russia has the most rapidly increas
ing population of any country in the
world. The growth during the last
hundred years hns been a fraction less
than 1,000,000 auuually.
Murder seems to be decreasing in
France, simply from the fact that it is
not a paying industry. Statistics from
Paris show that for twenty-one mur
ders the perpetrators only averaged
#IG each.
The general impression that women
have only recently beeu employed in
business houses is not correct. Miss
Emetine E. Woodbury, who has just
died, was for nearly fifty years the
bookkeeper in a Boston business
house, and she succeeded another
woman who had held the same place.
The delta of the Danube ia about to
be drained and rescued for agricul
tural purposes by the Roumanian
government. Nearly 750,000 acres of
fertile land will be made available.
The enterprise is the greatest of its
kind ever undertaken, and at least five
years will be required to carry it to
completion.
Rear the complaint of the London
Graphic thus: "Our society seems to
have degenerated into what may be
defined as a fortuitous concourse of
pretentious atoms. Pretty women
and rich men form a combination
which is not rare, and a great centre
of civilization as London is should be
able to produce something more strik
ing than that."
Much has been written about the
usefulness of music in the treatment
of disease. That it has a certain effect
is undoubted, and a recent suggestion
is that a pleasant-toned music box
would probably prove as effective as
sleeping potions with a large class of
nervously deranged patients. The
use of music in the nightmare or
"night terrors" of children has been
a subjeot of experiment. Cases pecu
liarly obstinate to all other treatment
were at once benefited, and after a
time apparently cured, by having
pleasing airs played on an instrument
during the approach and first hour or
two of slumber.
The Rev. Charles A. Berry reports
to his British friends that during his
recent visit to this country he was
most impressed by the frank, manly,
reverent speech of American Chris
tians when discussing divine things,
their zeal for their own particular
church, minister, and denomination,
and the thorough efficiency of their
Sunday-school work. He is reported
to have said that, on the whole, it
was well that tho Olney-Pauncefote
arbitration treaty failed, for it would
not have been popular or had tho
support of the masses. He believed
it better to wait for public sentiment
to gather force, so that it will reso
lutely bac*k up any treaty constructed
on similar lines.
Corn flour used ill adulterating wheat
flour is made like wheat flour, explains
Farm News. The corn is crushed be
tween rolls, and the flour is dusted
out as the meal runs over a bolt. This
meal is crushed and rebolted several
times,until nearly nil the starchy part
of the g:'ain is in the form of fine
flour. This corr flour is mixed with
and sold as wheat flo.tr. Consider
ing that corn costs the miller about
one-fourth as much as whe.tt, there is
a wide margin of profit in mixing the
flours. How much mixed flour i< now
put on the market is not known, but
the evil lias grown to magnificent pro
portions. This matter recently came
up before the National Board of Tra le,
at the meeting in Washington, in the
form of a resolution, urging Congress
to impose a tax upon the manufactur
ers of mixed flours, and to require
that such flour shall be plainly branded
"mixed flour." The New York Pro
duce Exchange has taken an import
ant step toward correction of the evil
of mixed flour, by a very simple pro
cedure, which we believe, if adopted
by all the other inspection markets,
will be more effective as to results de
sired than the tax regulation plan.
The exchange at New York, through
its flour committer,has instructed the
inspector that flour containing any
foreign substance oliall not be graded,
and that packages containing such
flour shall not receive the brand of
that exchange. It is to be hoped that
other exchanges will act in the same
manner.
London loses more inhabitants
fire every year than Paris or Berlin
together. The Londou firemen save
on an average about 100 lives ever*
year.
A recent writer says regarding the
notorious maelstrom that the inhabi
tants of the Lofodens are not in the
least afraid of it, but fish right in the
middle of it.
Everything points to a continuance
of utir excellent export trade in beef
cattle, with England, our best buyer,
requiring greater numbers each year,
notes the American Agriculturist.
Sweden has its Klondike, with a
similar forbidding climate. The dis
covery in the northern part of the state
of new gold fields is announced. At
the Bommelinsel there is already an
English co.npany with nearly 100
miners.
The 79,000,000 pounds of tea im
ported into the United States in ten
months had an average value of only
13 cents per pound. What a lot of
refuse stuft' there must be consider
ing the average priea fanners are
obliged to pay over the retail counter,
exclaims the New England Home
stead.
Ex-Governor Morrill of Kansas once
said, that his ambition was to create
in Kansas tho largest orchard in the
world aud leave it as a monument to
his memory. That hope is about to
be realized, as he has turned his farm
over to a man with the stipulation
that 65,000 fruit trees, mostly apples,
are to be planted there.
For the benefit of a conductor who
had suffered au accident which en
dangered his earning ability, the Con
solidated Electric Railway Company
of Santa Barbara, Cal., gave the gross
receipts of its line for one day while
he was in the hospital. His case ap
pealed to his fellow workmen and the
public, as he had been a faithful em
ploye aud was the sole support of liis
mother. The other employes of the
company on the same day gave their
day's earnings to him, and patrons of
the road and conductors ring up sums
ranging as high as S2O. Tho car re
ceipts amounted to $327.05.
Lord Charles Beresford has been
making some plain speeches in Lou
don. He declared the other day that
the boys who robbed orchards aud
were generally mischievous aud bad
made the best soldiers when they
grew up, and later, at a banquet, he
said that money was everything in
England. It would buy access to
what is known as the very best so
ciety; and let anybody goto England
with enough money, no matter whether
it had bean gained honorably or dis
gracefully, there was no door which he
could not hope to enter. He prophe
sied the ruin of the country unless the
dominion of money was overthrown.
The retirement of the Rev. Dr. John
Hall from the active pastorate of the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian church has
excited widespread interest among
members of all the religious denomi
nations, says the New York Sun.
"Dr. Hall has long been regarded as
one of the conspicuously representa
tive men of the metropolis. The quali
ties that have raised him to his pres
ent eminence are well known. Perhaps
the most distinguished one is his man
liness. Although he oould not be de
scribed as a brilliant preacher, there
was always a strong personality be
hind his spoken word, aud this made
him effective at all times. Although
parson of the most democratic of
church bodies, Dr. Hall has taken
precedence over his brethren of the
Presbyterian ministry. There was a
real truth in the humorous descrip
tion of him as the Presbyterian Bishop
of New York."
Says the New York Post: ''Medical
circles are inclined to pooli-pooh the
reported discovery of the sex secret
l>y Dr. Samuel Schenk, professor iu
the Vienna university. Nevertheless
it is exciting wide interest, in view of
Dr. Selienk's position as an embryolo
gist and the importance attached to
the announcement even by the Aus
trian government. The professor, so
far, has only stated that for many
years his experiments were limited to
the lower animals, that by a system of
nourishing the .female he produced a
disposition to bring into the world
male young only, but that recently,
by advising wives what food to take,
boys or girls had been born just as
desired. This disposition, however,
when established cannot be changed.
The offspring of tlib same parents
henceforth will be all mates. Profes
sor Ohlshansen, the well-know gyne
cologist, thinks the whole thing
impossible, lilso Professor Vircliow
holds to the same opinion.
IN HONOR OF_WASHINGTON.
Land of the Westlthoußh passing brief the record of tldneage,
Thou hast a uamo that darkens all on history's wide page!
Let all the blasts of Fame ring out,—thine shall be loudest far;
Let others boast their satellites,—thou hast the planet star.
Thou bast a name whose characters of light shall ne'er depart,
'Tis stamped upon the dullest brain, and warms the coldest heart;
A war-cry fit for any land where freedom's to be won,
.Land of the West! it stands alone,—it is thy Washington!
*-Eliza Cook,
OOOOOOQOOQOSO3OODOOOOQOOGQ
| WASHINGTON'S |
8 KINDLY WAY. §
© General Greene's Daughter and the Groat O
X President. 5
0030003900003333000000C000
Martha Littlefield Phillips, who
■was the'granddaughter of General Na
thaniel Greene's youngest daughter,
contributes to the Century "Recollec
tionsof Washington and His friends,"
taken down from the lips of her grand
mother. She quotes the following ac
count of her grandmother's first meet
ing with Washington:
"The second great event of mv
early life,'" said she, "was my first in
terview with General Washington.
But a faint suggestion now survives of
the love and reverence for Washing
ton which inspired the children of the
Revolution. These sentiments were
exceptionally strong in my brothers
and sisters and myself, because in ad
dition to the sentiment of patriotism
was the personal regard we held for
Washington as our father's intimate
friend and immediate commander.
"My mother had deeply imbued me
with the honor in store, and had
drilled my behavior to meet all the
probable requirements of the occasion.
I was.for examble. to i ise from my
seat for presentation to General Wash
ington.and after tendering him my
profoundest courtesy, stand at ease,
and modestly answer all his possible
questions, but at the same time keep
religiously in the. background, where
all the good little girls of that day
were socially referred.
"The eventful day came, and I was
taken by my mother to Mount Vernon
to make the longed-for visit. We were
graciously welcomed by Mrs. Wasli
ington; but my heart was so thick with
fluttering, and my tongue so tied, that
3 made but a stuttering semblance of
respouse to her kiudly questions. At
length the door opened, and General
Washington entered the room. I felt
my mother's critical eyes, and ad
vanced with the intention of making
a courtesy and declaiming the little
address previously taught me; instead
of which I dropped on my knees at
Washington's feet, and burst into
tears. All the resources of dramatic
art could hardly have devised a more
effective coup. Washington stooped
and tenderly raised me, saying with
a smile, 'Why, what is the matter
with this foolish child?' The words do
not have a tender sound, but language
may not convey the gentleness of his
manner and the winning softness of his
voice, as he wiped away my tears with
his own handkerchief, kissed my fore
head. and led mo to a seat as lie
might a young prisoner. He sat be
side 1110, and with laughing jests,
brought down to the plane of my ap
preciation, banished my sins from my
eyes, rescued me from humiliation,
and brought mo back to composure.
He guarded me from my mother's out
raged eyes, kept me with him while
in the drawing-room, had me placed
beside him at the dinner-table, aud
with his own hands heaped all the
good things on my plate. After din
ner he took me to walk in the garden,
aud with an intelligent stooping to my
intellectual stature, and a sympathetic
understanding of my emotional state
and need, he drew me into talks on
the themes of my daily life, aud won
me into revelations of my hopes and
fears. It has always impressed me as
a (plaint and pretty picture, that of
the famous warrior, statesman, and
patriot turning from great affairs, and
lending himself to the task of making
the happiness and charming the con
fidence of a shy and frightened child.
And so proud ai.d happy was the little
girl thus made that, seventy-five years
afterward, she lives with tears of joy
in her eyes, to tell the story to her
granddaughter."
"How about Mrs. Washington,
grandmother? How did she impress
yon?" I asked.
"The fact is," she replied, "I was
so absorbed on that occasional with
General Washington, I paid vory
little attention to his wife. She took
small note of children, and the only
recollection that comes to me of her in
that first interview is that she was
handsome, of dignified carriage, and
was dressed in a rich figured silk,
with an embroidered apron around
her waist, and a dainty kerchief folded
about her neck and shoulders."
Waflhlngtor/A Ancestral Home.
AVasliiugton Hall, in Durham
County, England, which was lately
sold under the hammer, with the ad
joining grounds, for $2025 was the
ea- 'y home of the ancestors of George
Washington. The building dates
from the early part of the seventeenth
HOME or WASHINGTON'S ANCESTOKK.
century, and it was erected by William
James, Bishop of Durham.
It is of stone, having mullioned
windows and boldly projecting
porches. A large outstanding chim
ney is at ou'e end of the house. The
building is now fast falling into ruin.
The Washington family occupied the
(dd manor for five centuries before
the hall was fcuilt.
William D. AVessiugton's name ap
pears as a witness to the charters of
the Bishop of Durham between 1260
and 127-i, and Washington Irving
has traced to the Wessingtons, oif
Durham, George Washington's an
cestry.
Ceneral Washington's Courtesy.
In the Century there is an article
by Martha Littlefield Phillips, giving
"Recollections of Washington and
His Friends." The author is a grand
daughter of the youngest daughter of
General Nathaniel Greene, and she
tells the following story in the words
of her grandmother, concerning a
visit of the latter to Washington at
Philadelphia:
"One incident which occurred dur
ing that visit was so comical in itself,
and so characteristic of Washington,
that I recall it for your entertainment.
Early in a bright December morning,
a droll-looking old countryman called
to see the President. In the midst of
their interview breakfast was an
nounced; and the President invited
the visitor, as was his hospitable wont
on such occasions, to a seat beside
him nt the table. The visitor
drank his coffee from his saucer; but
lest any grief should come to the
snowy damask, he laboriously scraped
the bottom of his cup on the sauoer's
edge before setting it down on the
table cloth. He did it with such au
dible vigor that it attracted my atten
tion,'and that of several young peo
ple present, always on the alert for
occasions of laughter. We were so
indiscreet as to allow our amusement
to become obvious. General Wash
ington took in the situation, and im
mediately adopted his visitor's method
of drinking his coffee, making the
scrape even more pronounced than
the one he reproduced. Our dispo
sition to laugh was quenched at
once."
Naturally.
"George Washington's opinion al*
ways carried great weight," remarked
the philosopher.
No one making any reply to this, he
went on as follows:
"That is not strange, however, see
ing that a single syllable of his name
was a whole ton."
Washington.
Brightest on history's page,
Of any clime or age.
As chieftain, man and sage,
Stands Washington!
THE MESSAGE OF THE SEA.
I stood beside the troubled sea,
In musing mood, one day,
The billows came and scoffed at me,
And, roaring, rushed away:
My heart was far across the blue,
I wondered If my love were true,
And,wondering, turned away.
But, as I turned, a fairy boat
Came bobbing o'er ihe sea—
A dainty little wave.tossed note
Came floating unto me
Then flashed the glad thought through mj
mind:—
"In yonder waif perchance I'll find
A word from her to me."
"Ah, welcome, little messenger?"
in eager tones I cried,
"And do you bring me joy Crom her
Across the foniny tide.'
The roaring billows seemed to say:—
"Wo bring you word from far away
Across the trackless tido."
I picked the missive from the sand
Upon the beaten shore;
In haste I opened it nnd scanned
The message that it bore:—
"A fool sends greeting o'er the sea
To the fool who gets these lines from me"—
That was the word It bore.
—S. E. Kiser, in Cleveland Lender.
HUMOROUS.
It is a long head that knows no
turning when a pretty girl passes.
Money talks. Perhaps that's wbj
they put a woman's hend on the silvei
dollar.
Father—l am going to tan your
hide. Son—l don't like those "skin"
games.
Age may not be garrulous, but it is
sure to tell on a woman in the course
of time.
The city sidewalks a' - e used by pe
destrians, but the crab has a side-walk
of his own.
A stupid man compliments a wom
an's pretty teeth, but a clever man
makes her laugh.
The belle in the choir often brings
more young men to church than the
bell in the steeple.
A man always tries to follow th«
straight and narrow path when it
comes to shovelling snow.
The man with plenty of push is
usually successful, but he isn't in it
with the man who has a pull.
Surprises are in store for young
married couples who think that they
understand one nuother thoroughly.
Laura—l've learned one thing since
I got a wheel. Bessie—What's that?
Laura—That beauty is only skin deep.
Martha—Speaking of Miss Mint
drop, hasn't she a red head? Martin
—Sbe did have before she came into
her uncle's property.
Timmins—-Every once in a while 1
find myself repeating one of my jokes.
Simmons—That's (pieer. I never heur
any one else repeating them.
"I'm sorry the critics were so se
vere on your play, Mr. Thespis."
"Oh, that doesn't hurt me. There
wasn't bu idea of my own in it."
Hill I think your friend is
overworked. Jill—What makes yon
think so? Bill—Why, I understand
every man in town lias borrowed
money of him.
Penelope—Oh, there are lots of
good fish in the sea. Kathryn (who
came home from the season unen
gaged)— Yes, but why don't they come
out on the beach?
"Next time I'm coining out to Bev
erly's I'm going to take a camp stool
with me." "What for?" "Last time
J went I sat down on a little thing
that turned out to be a tea-table."
"Mamma," said little Georgie, "I
don't think it was a dove that Noah
sent out of the ark." "But the Bible
says it was, dear." "I know, but
I think it means a carrier pigeon."
Crimsonbeak—You never hear any
one speak of the white horse aud the
red-headed girl now. Yeast—No; I
guess the white horses have all died.
"Perhaps it's the girls who have
dyed."
"You passed me yesterday without
a word," he said reproachfully. "For
give me," she murmured. "And have
you no word of explanation?" "Two,"
she answered, "a borrowed wheel and
a mouthful of gum."
She —Do you believe there is any
thing in charms? He—Well, they say
there is a good deal of paint mixed up
in some of them; but I can see at a
glance that yours are genuine. May
I? She could only nod.
Tourist—What's the name of that
noble mountain? Native—Dunno as
it's got any. We call it"the moun
tain." Tourist—No name for that
grand eminence? Native —Wot's the
use of its havin' a name? It's the
only mountain here.
"Oh, papa," exclaiued the dear
girl, her sapphire eyes brimming with
unshed tears, "how can you say that
society is hollow?" "Why shouldn't
1?" retorted pa, with a coarse laugh,
"why shouldn't I, when I have to pay
the bills for feeding the gang that you
have here at your blowouts?"
The Moone and the Itoat.
In the state of Maine there are a
number of beautiful lakes, some of
them so large that small steamboats
carry passengers from one end of the
lake to the other. Recently, while
crossing a lake, a moose was seen
swimming in the same direction the
steamboat was going. The captain
got a rope ready, and when alongside
the moose threw it over its head. The
moose naturally was frightened, and
swam faster, towing the boat. He
suddenly turned about and almost up
set it. The moose headed for the
woods on a low point of land, and the
captain saw that if he did not cut the
rope the moose would wreck the boat.
The rope was cut, aiid the moose
freed from his burden, soon struck the
shore and disappeared ii4 the woods.
An Oklahoma lawyer 'named Crank
has petitioned the court \to change his
name. I
GECRCE WASHINGTON'S SEAL.
'Valuable Relic Owned by a Chicago
Man.
A Chicago house painter owns the
identical seal with which George
Washington signed Major Andre's
death warrant. The fortunate posses
sor of this valuable relic is Bushrod
D. "Washington, a direct descendant
from Augustine Washington, third
I
WASHINGTON'S SEAL.
, child of Augustine Washington, father
of the President, who inherited the
seal from his father, Bushrod Wash
ington, great-graud-nephew of the
General. History soys that this seal
was used when George Washington
sent peremptory command to General
Lee to make the trip across the Del
aware. Not being able to lay his
hands at once upon the seal of the
I oflfioe, General Washington tore his
private seal from his watch chain,
{ dipped it in molten tallow and mado
j the impression on the order.
Where Martha Washington Died.
The room in Monnt Vernon where
Washington died is the chief point of
j interest in the old mansion to all
| visitors. It is a fair-sized apartment
on the second floor, with two wide
windows, thinly draped, between
which stands the bed. The four rather
slender bedposts reach almost to the
ceiling, supporting the frame of a
j canopy, not now in place. The bed,
the table, the hair-covered trunk, tho
surveyor's tripod, cloak and chair in
| this room are all originals, and have
suffered badly from the surreptitious
i knives of relic hunters,
i By the way, not even Washington's
i biographer and namesake escapes this
' fate. Washington Irving's gravestone
in the little Sleepy Hollow graveyard
of Tarrytown was so chipped and
broken by vandal hands that a few
i years ago it had to be replaced by a.
new stone, a fac-simile of the old one.
Martha Washington did not die in
the same room as her husband, but in
a room in the garret, under whose
sloping roof the heat was insufferable
: in summer and the cold not slight in
: winter, lighted only by a dormer win-
I dow.
The lower corner of tho door of this
i attio room is cut off. This was done
i for the convenience of the cat which
was Mrs. Washington's sole companion
in her lonely vigil of eighteen months
after the General's death, a companion
I which the old General himself had
I ofteu petted.
It was the custom of the familj- to
shut up for two years a room in which
a death had occurred, and this was
the reason why Martha and her cat
, moved to the shabby and stuffv little
garret.
Washington's Hand.
George Washington's hand was de
scribed as that of a giant. On the last
occasion of General Lafayette's visit to
this country he remarked to Mr. Cus
tis when referring to a former visit.
"Yon were holding to a single finger
of the good general's remarkable hand
—the greatest feat you conld perform
at that time."
Washington was the champion jumper
ol his day. In one match he covered
twenty-one feet three inches, easily
| beating all competitors.
The Original Hackwan.
•'Why don't you branch out?" asked
! little George of th? cherry tree.
"I wood leave this place," answered
tho cherry tree," if I had some way to
move my truuk."
"If that's all that detains you," said
the em'oryo father of his country,
"I'll see that you get a hack." And
he went over to tho woodshed in
Reareh of his little hatchet.—Chicago
News.
An JEiainpl" of Virtnon* Power.
To George Washington nearly alono
in modern times had it been given to
accomplish a wonderful revolution and
yet to remain to all futuro time tho
theme of a people's gratitude and an
example of virtuous and beneficent
power.—Lord John Russell.
Washington'* Book l'late.