RURAL FREE DELIVERY. Paitma*t«r-Ganer«l Gary 1* Taking a Grant DM) of InUreit In the Matter. Postmaster-General Gary is taking a great deal of interest in the matter of the extension of free mail delivery in the rural districts. The Department was given $50,000 with which to make experiments in this line during the present fiscal year, and those already (Tied have proved very succeasful. lu Great Britain the free delivery of letters was begun about fifty years agp. All mails are delivered at the oflcsa of the addresses without extra charge, the rural postmen making a daily walk of from fifteen to eighteen miles, and receiving a compensation of 18 shil lings, or about $4.50 per week. Pen sions are granted in case of permanent incapacity after ten years of active duty. Kural po3ts are believed to be .self-supporting. In 1830 rural delivery was establish ed in France. Even the most outly ing hamlets of the country received at least one free delivery per day. The postmen have a right to retire on a pension after serving fifteen years and reaching the age of 4">. Eight hours is the maximum time of employment. In the German Empire a small charge of from 10 to 20 pfennings (2 to -1 cents), according to weight, is made for the delivery of mails in the rural districts. The hours of service of foot carriers are from eight to nine daily. in Austro-Hungary a small extra charge, ranging from *4 cent to I*4 cents, is made for delivering letters and small packages in the rural dis tricts. The service is not self-support ing. Rural free delivery prevails all over Belgium, the pay of the carriers be ing graded according to the cost of the living in the localities where they serve. Their average trips are sixteen or eighteen miles daily. Participation in political campaigns is forbidden, and their tenure is secure during good behavior. After a certain term of ser vice they are entitled to a pension. in Switzerland, the home of tbe Universal Postal Union, there is at least one free delivery a day in every hamlet. The system lias been in operation since 1848. Why Una t lieu;i in Tnun. The civil war that raged in our land a third of a century ago operated in a dimetrieally opposite manner on ihe two sections of the t'nited States known as the Southwestern and the Northwestern States. In the former, composed chiefly of the State of Tex as. all access to outside markets was cut off to live stock. The i'nion forces pat rolled with gunboats i lie Mississippi River, and no herds could be taken across to feed tbe main rebel armies; cattle could not be shipped to Cuba for fear of almost certain cap ture by war vessels on tbe Gulf pas sages. and they could not be safely driven north or west. So Texas's 3,000,000 cattle multiplied like vermin in an army camp, upon the ranges of Texas, where they ceased to have a cash value and became only an article of barter, seventy-five head be ing exchanged for a good saddle horse and 100 head for a two-horse wagon. The stows in the grazing regions ex changed goods and wares for them, lixing a ridiculously low scale of prices for the live stock, payable in goods, &c„ from the store. This state of af fairs continued until two years after tbe war closed. In the Northwest tlie supply of live stock was depleted to feed the Union armies, and for two or three years af ter the close of the war remained scarce and dear in price, so that the masses of laboring men and factory operatives could scarce afford beef up on their tables oftener than once a week, and then it was of the cheaper cuts of the carcass. rituatiß of tbe World. The Suez Canal is about JOO miles in length, and cost $1,000,000 per mile for its construction. The Corinth Canal is 4 miles in length, and cost, com pleted, with its approaches, $1,000,000 per mile. The proposed Nicaragua canal will cost per mile, with its ter minals and approaches, certainly not less, and probably more than the sum named. The canals of Suez and Cor inth are real maritime canals, built without locks, upon the sea-level. Tho one, that of Corinth, is situated in the temperate zone, where the rainfall is 37 or 40 inches per annum. The other, thai, of Suez, is located in a region without rain. Neither of these is threatened in its course by streams liable to sudden and perilous floods, so common in the tropical reigion of Central America. These two great works afford no real parallel to the Nicaragua project, either as to cost or feasibility. The one work parallel to this undertaking is very near, very like it, both in place and circumstance; it is that of tbe Panama Canal across tbe Isthmus of Darien. A Maddening' Hide. For an 'hour and a quarter a mine engineer near Bourne, Ore., was whirled around with the fly wheel, In to which he had fallen, but when he recovered consciousness after the wheel was stopped it was found that lie was not seriously hurt. The wheel was a twenty-foot one and was mak ing 125 revolutions a minute. Divorce Court at Home. Judge Macdougall, of Toronto, Ont., urges that the Dominion of Canada should have a divorce court of its own, to which the humblest citizen could appeal, and have hia case heard with out going, as now, to the Dominion Parliament, where the great expensa is almost prohibitive to him. LUCKY LARRY LONNIGAN, A Fairy Skttrj for the C'liildlivr. Sure, childher, 'tis a laing toime since I tould yez a fairy shtory. An' it's wondherin' I am if I iver tould yez about Lucky Larry Lonnigau. Be me aowl thin, an' he was tli' caution to cats. Egobs, sorra bit of bad luck 'u'd Bet upon him at. arl at arl. He lived in that paart of Oireland that yez can't find en the map. Whin he was a young lad about six teen the fureht of his good luck fell up on him, an' the way of it was this way: Egorry, an' a vi'lent, cra6s woman was his mother, always boxin' his ears for na thing at arl, an' so wan day whin Larry med the innercint observashin that divvle a bit more wood would be cut up, th' ould woman raiched out her oogly roight hand an' gev' him a cuff. "An* is It a cuff ye gev me?" says he, rubbin' his ear, an' wid that he leps out of the doo-r an' starts fer tewn. New some byes would ha' cried at Fesavin' the cuff, but Larry was not theoryin' kind, but bein' of a shrewd tlmperamintality he noticed that the cuff had a handsome button in it, an' he thought he'd take it an' sell it to the jewelery man that I tould yez about one toime. An' egobs! the jew elery man gev him two shillin's for it Well, Larry felt that rich that he wint to the fair at Lantrim. in the county of Buscobble. 'Tis the fltie booths they do be bav in' at that fair, an' Larry soon spint the whole of his money until he had but a happeuny. An' wid that he bought a beautiful peach. An' thin he tharght what a big omadhaun he was to be spindin' arl his money upon the belly of him. For It was cakes an' pies an' sweets was inside of him till ye could not rist. Well, he wint on atin' mechanical loike an' wid his moind annywhere but in his head till he kem to the pit. 'Twas the fursht paich he'd iver aten, an' the pit surprised him. But he'd liaird till of the fortunes made in pits an' wid out so much as sayin', "Here's an' aisy dear, to you," he wint down in the pit widout a light. 'Tis as brave as u sparrer, he was. Egobs! childher, 'tis lucky he was, for he found that at the bottom ol' the pit was a mine of soft coal; coal that soft it would plaise yez to bump ag'inst it, an' he kem up to the mouth of the pit, an' seein' an English capitalist handy, he sold him the roight to mine in it for noine hundhred an' no-inety noine yairs for a hundhred thousan' pounds. CHARLES BATTELL LOOMIS. Tale ofTwol'ltlzmi CHAPTER 1. "Hoskins, lend me a dollar, will you? I want to buy some postage stamps. 1 came away from home carelessly this morning, with only 25 cents in my pocket, and that went for lunch at »i>©n." "Sorry, Lusk, but I've got only enough money to pay my carfare home." CHAPTER 11. A few hours later. They met again—accidentally . At the box office of a theater where a sparring match was on the bill of fare for the evening. "It seems to me, Hoskins," stiffly re marked Lusk, as he threw down a sil ver dollar and picked tip the bit of pasteboard the ticket-seller gave him in exchange for it, "that this is no place for a man who has only enough money to pay his car fare home." Having exchanged the dollar lie held in his hand for a similar pasteboard. Hoskins turned to his friend. "Lusk," he said, in a tone of mingled sadness and repioach, "if you paid out all the money you had for lunch, and couldn't even buy a postage stamp, what the St. Louis are you doing here?" What She Needed. She was looking over a fashion pa per when he entered. "Trying to make up your mind what you ought to have?" he asked. "No," she replied; "I know what I ought to have." "What?" "Money." It is always unsafe for a man i* Jest with his wife upon any subject con nected with raiment and Bach things. Ha knows that now. A GERMAN CYCLIST BRAKL lugeumty on a My I*B Mountain Tliut Made Some vioiei'U'aiN st»»r«. "We Americans traveling abroad are apt to be very proud of our reputation for cleverness," said a tourist who went bicycling in Europe last summer. "And no doubt we have reason to be. But I am going to tell you how I had some of the conceit taken out of me. "We were going through Switzerland Itnd had reached the close of the llrst day's descent toward Geneva. The road had been too steep to coast with out the aid of a brake, and as we were afraid to use our breaks for fear our tires would not last us through our trip, we back pedalled all the way. "As we were sitting after supper on the veranda of the lodge, discussing the fatigue of our unusual exercise, and dreading the morrow, which meant more of the same sort, our attention was suddenly called to a cloud of dust descending the mountain side. Then we saw a cyclist, coasting as nice as you please, towing a good-sized sapling by a rope tied to the rear of his wheel, which acted as an effective brake with out Injury to the tires. One of the boys ejaculated: 'Well, why didn't we think of that?' The rest were simply dumb. That man was a German. I HOW take off my hat to our German brethren or the wheel." Mount Vfrnon'ii Cmird. Edward Parker, the little old color ed man who occupies I ae sentry-box at the tomb of Washington at Mount. Ver non, lives In Washington. That is. his family live here, and he comes over by special permit .of the organization which has control 01 the old home of the first President of the United States. For years the tomi> of Washington has been constantly before this old colored man's vision. He has never missed a day from that dingy sentry box since Mount Voi ::..i! passed in'.o tho charge of the l.idies. and before that, dating from Ist I. lie had livej on the place. lie was a slave of .John Washington, and Is the last of the old servants now living. Every other Saturday Parker comes over to Washington, always carrying with him an old-fashioned carpet-bag, so common in the days of reconstruc tion. The following Monday morning he may always be seen a half-hour at least before the first train starts for Mount Vernon, waiting around the cor ner of Pennsylvania-ave. and Thlr teenth-st. He has never missed the first train since the electric cars began running to Mount Vernon. Before that the first boat to Mount Vernon, on alternating Monday mornings, al ways found him a passenger. Parker is, indeed, a character. lie assisted In burying the last person consigned to the vault in Washington's tomb. After that the key to the vault was thrown into the Potomac. This was in the early fifties. SumetliiiiK lilLc a Srnroli. A Welshman who was in London when extensive sewering operations were in progress lost bis watch. He reported the matter to Scotland Yard, and the officials said they would leave no stone unturned to find the missing timekeeper. Shortly afterward Taffy again visited the metropolis and saw street after street turned up. He was told that in all thirty-six miles of road were in the same condition. He rushed down to Scotland Yard and exclaimed to the wondering inspector: "I didn't think I was giving you all tiiat trouble. If you don't find th« ivatch by Sunday, i wouldn't break up my more streets." Stone lloul Sole*. An inventor has hit upon a method of putting stone soles on boots and shoes, lie mixes a waterproof glue with a suitable quantity of clean quartz sand and spreads it over .the leather sole used as a foundation. These quartz soles are said to be very Jiexible and practically indestructible. Hrttcr Than l ata. A savant has discovered how to slay mice and rats by means of a bacillus, which he has named after himself, and which is supposed to be far more fatal than the cat. J TP tif) Itun't Tuhac ee • ffaOME persons say J© Si it is natural for i g; J them to lose flesh [J •< ' during summer. J But losing flesh is losing g; ground. Can you aif'ord •< to approach another win- >• g: ter in this weakened con- ;2 g; dition? [g ,•< Coughs and colds,weak ; g: throats and lungs, come g; quickest to those who are >g • thin in flesh, to those eas- [• g: ily chilled, to those who g; have poor circulation and [g •' feeble digestion. ► • j Scott's I j Emulsion [] • of cod liver oil ivith hypo -2 phosphites does just as [• *; much good in summer as [2 •« in winter. It makes flesh Pg 2 in August as well as April. 2: You certainly need as [2 • strong nerves in July as in [g 2' January. And your weak [• g; throat and lungs should rg • be healed and strength- [g 2 ened without delay. U • ' All Druggists, 80c. aniljl. • < SCOTT .ooo,ooo in one year and a half. '-c Keep Cool! Ice 4,6,8and Cream jggSj\lO quart is quickly sizes on made with a hand. - Lightning Freezer. SCREEN DOORS, Window Screens, Poultry Netting Hammocks, Porch Chairs $1.50 and up, Coal Oil stoves of Nickless make, Gasoline Stoves. HARVESTING TOOLS in abundance. Brick for chimneys, always on hand. Nails, steel cut, $1.45 per keg. Western Washer, $3.50, best made; Building paper, 35c per roll, 500 sq. feet; Poultry Netting, 1 ft. to 6 ft. wide, i-2ct. sq. foot. Jeremiah Kelly, HUGHESVILLE. Onr Declaration of War Has been in effect for a number of years and our Bombardment of High Prices Has created havoc of late in the sale of MOWING MACHINES, DRILLS, HARROWS, PLOWS, LUMBER WAGONS, BUGGIES, and ROAD WAGONS all at the lowest cash price. i PHOSPHATE, ThiJty tons of different grades will be sold at a low figure. W. E. MILLER, Sullivan County, Pa. Reasonable Bargains FOR THIS MONTH. We always carry out our promises lo the very letter. Our promises to the public ia to sell high grade merchandise at lower prices than any other store in the country. Our constantly increasing businesa is proof. Positive that our promises have always been kept we have determined that more than ever we shall keep on increasing and increasing our reputation for being the greatest popular priced store in this section. We give you special bargains in Clothing, SHOES and Ladies' Coats and We have a very large stock on hand and will sell this month at cut prices. It will pay you to make your purchase now. We have a full line of Ladies' Slippers at bottom prices. Also Ladies' Skirts, Wrappers Shirt Waists and Corsets. Prices cheaper than you can buy the materia Ladies' Capes at half price. Come and see them while they last; it w pay you. » Come and see: it will be to your benetit. The prices we are ofl'n now when vou see then) you cannot help buying. I The Reliable Dealer in Clot JfICOP rCI Boots and Shoes. HUGHESVILLE, I