There is another fine ship afloat ia
the United States navy today, and her
name is Maria Theresa.
The endless seething of the Drey
fus cauldron recalls the famous aphor
ism that "unsettled questions have
no pity on the repose of nations."
Sa itiago de Cuba is becoming so elean
and American-like that the Spaniards
remaining there already feel as if they
were in a foreign country. If they stay
much longer they won't be able to
recognize themselves except by the
sound of their own voices.
According to advices received in
Washington, the governor of Sierra
Leone, Africa, lins offered a reward of
SSO for the arrest of the persons who
murdered three American mission
aries in that province last May. The
governor's extravagance in this matter
is positively reckless.
Gen. Herbert Kitchener has sug
gested the establishment of an unsec
tarian college and a medical mission
in Khartoum in memory of General
Gordon. No more appropriate inaug
uration of the blessings of peace and
civilization in the newly reclaimed
Soudan could be imagined, thinks the
New York Commercial Advertiser.
The British government and public
are in a mood to listen to Kitchener,
and the name of Gordon is a talisman
to attract support to any practical ob
ject linked with it. The college will
be conducted under British manage
ment, and will be mainly for the sons
of sheikhs. Probably some of the
sous of the dervish enemies receutly
slain will be trained in this college to
appreciate the beneficent changes
wrought aud to share in their further
spies l .
The figures of the patent ofHce for
1897, when contrasted with the report
of that office seven or eight years ago,
are doubly interesting. In 1890 'inly
twenty-seven factories were engaged
in cycle making, and less than 2000
workmen were employed. The out
put was valued at a little over $2,500,-
000. In 1895 the number of bicycle
factories in this country exceeded 200,
an aggregate capital of more thau
§100,000,000 was invested, upward of
50,000 workmen were employed, and
at least 800,000 wheels were turned
out. Last year the production of
machines is estimated at considerably
over 1,000,000. "In 1880," says the
report, "a large proportion of the cy
cles used were imported mainly from
England. -Iu 1897 the export of cy
cles and parts of cycles to England
amounted in value to $2,128,491, and
the total exports amounted to $6,902,-
736."
As it is impossible to believe that
the entire population of the Upper
Nile region is composed of medicant
priests, there is some difficulty iu ex
plaining why it is that the foes whom
the Sirdar has just encountered with
results so satisfactory to himself are
always spoken of as "dervishes."
That word, of course, is not a tribe
or race name; it means any Moham
medan who has vowed himself to a life
of poverty and crime, explains the
New York Times. Poorer material
for an army thau the dervish properly
so called, could not be imagined, and
yet we hear of thousands and thou
sands of them fighting with much
vigor and determination, and making
it necessary for one of the ablest gen
erals now alive to devote two years tc
advancing a few hundred miles across
a desert. There is something wrong
here. Either these men are not "der
vishes" or else travelers and dictiona
ries have misinformed us stay-at-home
people in regard to the meaning of
that term.
In Switzerland, where the railroad
system is controlled by th« govern
ment, passenger rates have been re
duced to a basis that seems incredibly
low to an American. There railway
tickets are sold by time and not by
mileage. On application a nontrans
ferable ticket, good for fifteen days,
will be issued to a person. The cost
is $11,58. During these fifteeu days
the holder may travel as much and as
long as he likes over the entire rail
way system. The lake steamers are
also available, a second-class railway
ticket giving the right to a first-class
passage on any one of the steamers.
One may travel for an entire year foi
slls. These tickets are rigorously
personal, and each has the photo
grajih of its holder attached. No
baggage, however, is carried free. No
allowance is made for tickets uuused.
On the Franco-Swiss frontier all vex
atious questions, demands and delays
have been done away with for mem
bers of the French touring club.
Their bicycles are admitted free of
charge. There is no longer a charge
for permit of entrance. The wheel
is treated simply as ordinary baggage
A new trick pen has an explosive on
the point to startle would-be users. It
will be devoted to writing snappy
paragraphs.
More than 20,000,000 acres of land
in the United States are owned by the
aristocracy of England. The heirs
of Viscount Scully own 3,000,000
acres in Illuois, lowa, Kansas, and
Nebraska.
Pupils in the public schools of Co
penhagen, Denmark, are required to
take three baths a week in the public
school building, and while they are
bathing their clothes are sterilized in
a steam oven. The Danes object to
the regulation on the ground that it
makes the childreu discontented with
their home surroudings.
The advocates of woman's rights
have reason to e~ult today. A woman
who started life as a slave has
made herself the acknowleded ruler
of the countless millions of China.
This queen not only rules but gov
erns. In the apotheosis of Tuen, the
oldest nation of the world betters the
most a.lvanced theories of the newest.
The civilized nations of the globe
have just been taught the Buperb effi
ciency and great practical value of
this government's sigual service. Its
work iu the West Indies by serving
the regions threatened by the recent
hurricane with twenty-four hours' ad
vance notice of its approach was the
means of saving thousands of human
lives and protecting incalculable mil
lions of property.
The Greek government has prepared
a bill to establish an "Antiquities-
Gendarmerie," the special function of
which will be the guardianship of the
national Greek antiquities, including
places where no excavations are at
present in progress, in the interest of
the Greek people. Every man who
shall be admitted to this corps is to
possess a certain degree of necessary
culture, in order that he may under
stand what is oontided to his observa
tion and protection.
In western Austria they push the
equality of the sexes to a conclusion
that would satisfy even the most ar
dent "equal righters." In that land
the men act on the principle that if
women demand men's privileges they
must take with them men's responsi
bilities. Accordingly, a bench of
magistrates have charged a woman
with her husbaud, and what
is more, they have sent her to prison
for a month because she steadfastly
refused to contribute to the domestic
comfort of her life partner. A philos
opher once remarked that human be
ings should have a care for what they
wished, for that thing would surely
come to them.
The Utica Press Bays: As to the fi
nancial part of it (the war), the situa
tion is nyt less gratifying. Nothing
moro than inconvenience in using
stamps is experienced from the special
war revenue taxes. The people are
not complaining of their burdens.
The war loan bond issue was not hall
big enough to accommodate all the
would-be investors. Another and an
other of the same size would bo as
quickly subscribed. The resources
of the United States have not been
tested to a tenth of their capacity.
What has been done has not noticea
bly interfered with the usual run oi
affairs in any community. The wai
has been ouly an interesting and some
times exciting incident in the United
States. The foreigners who wondei
at American achievements in this wai
should visit the couutry and see for
themselves how really limitless its re
sources are.
The almost marvellous growth ot
trolley railroads in this country is
graphically presented in some current
figures, comparing mileage in this
country with that in countries beyond
the sea. Communities here may be
contrasted with countries there. For
instance, Allegheny county in Penn
sylvania has 314 miles of electric rail
ways. Other communities may be
as well or better supplied, but it it
instructive to note that Allegheny's
mileage is more than one-fifth of thai
of all the trolleys on the continent oi
Europe. It is greater than that of
all the electric lines of France, mort
than three times that of the lines in
England, Scotland and Wales, and
nearly one-half that of Germany,
which latter country has about one
half of the entire mileage of 1422
miles of Europe. France follows Ger
many with 246 miles; then comet
Great Britain with 97, followed by
Switzerland, Italy, and Austria-Hun
gary with 90, 82, and 66 miles re
spectively. The mileage of other
oountries is small, running as low as
less than two miles in Holland aud
Portugal.
THE CULTURED MAID.
Since Betsy came from gay New York You can not dim electric lights,
Most everything is changed, To give your nerves a show;
They've turned the farmhouse laelde oat The doors are now all port-aye-airs,
And fixed and rearranged. You're bound to whisper low;
I stood the new-style capers But ohairs are stuck on sep'rate mata
Till the buddiDg social queen With waxed floors in between;
Fitted out her father's parlor Ob! you can't make love in parlors
A la Louis the fourteen. A la Louis the fourteen.
The chairs are made so very frail You can't drop in promiscuous like,
You dare not draw a breath. To ohat a little while;
And all so stiff you can't forget You've got to wenr your Sunday duds
She's now E-llz-abeth. To chime In with the style.
And in place of that old sofa, So I must give up Betsy,
Where at ease I used to lean, For she, as Mistress Green,
Stands a spindle-legged divan Might want my parlor furnished
A la Louis the fourteen. A la Louis the fourteen.
—Charles M. Bryan, in Puck.
r^MCE^FOrX.GX)LDTITNB.'I
A Stirring Incident of Life Among the Australian Gold-Pioneers. |J»
Bad luck! Hard work, sand and
auu in profusion, water alarmingly
scarce and gold scarcer! Such is the
lot of the Australian gold miner.
True, there are exception 4, when gold
can be picked up for the trouble of
stooping and food and water freely
purchased at reasonable prices. But,
being exceptions, these cases only go
to prove the rule. And so there is
nothing surprising in the fact that
three diggers, with whom we are now
concerned, found themselves on the
very edge of the Great Victorian des
ert in West Australia with pockets
none too full and themselves often
empty. They toiled patiently on
against persistent ill-luck,hoping that
each day might bring the turning
point in the tide of their affairs which
would lead to fortuile.
An Engishman, boyishly hopeful;
an Irishman, humorously despondent,
and an Australian with a strong an
tipathy to discuss his ancestors' ori
gin—his grandfather had journeyed
from England at the expense of the
government—made up the party.
Their camp lay at place called "Brook,"
in the neighborhood of Mount Weld.
To the east the great sandy deserts
stretched right away as far as the eye
could reach in billowy sandhills
clotted with spinifex—lonely, arid,im
penetrable. To the north lay low
ranges and stony plains, unknown,
but seemingly gooil for gold. Thither
they daily journeyed looking for likely
spots, with variable luck—mostly in
different.
On a certain day the Irishman, hav
ing wandered farther than his wont,
was led by tickle fortune into the
midst of a perfect paradise of reefs.
Kindly-looking quartz grid-ironed and
iutersected the country for fully a
square mile.
Pat stood aud looking round pulled
thoughtfully at his scrubby beard aud
muttered:
"Great Christopher! Here we've
been toiling to the time of three
or four weights a day when
within two dozen miles there lay a
sort«of natural Bank of Eng|and,
stuffed full of gold and ours for the
asking!"
Selecting a likely-looking rock of a
dark ferruginous color, he gave a con
venient corner n crack with the poll
eud of his pick. Off flew a fragment,
which he examined carefully with the
aid of a pocket lens.
"Good gold!"
But where there was quartz as rich
as this, Pat knew that better could
not be far. This would prove to be a
"stringer" or "gash vein," one of
several overflowings of a great parent
reef running through them all. He
was light. Only a few minutes' walk
brought him to a thick reef of quartz
running north and south and crossing
all the others. This was the "parent."
Selecting a conveniently crumbled
part, Pat kuocked off a corner. Even
before picking up the severed rock he
could see the gold shining in bright
beads.
"Be me sowl," he said, "that's koind
stone!"
With a crack he knocked off another
lump and broke it in two. Pat gasped.
It was simply permeated with particles
of gold. This was enough for Pat
O'Lochlin. That gold in unwonted
abundance was here he now felt sure.
The next thing was to secure it for
himself aud his mates.
Twenty-four acres is the full exteut
of oue mau's claim. This must be
pegged out with four small stakes, a
notice put up and the fact registered
at the office of the neighbouring war
den. In case of two claimants, the
one who first succeeds iu registering
his title is, ipso facto, in possession
of the miner's rights over the claim
in question.
Having made certain of the value of
his find, Pat looked for pegs with which
to mark the ground. He soon secured
four from a dead malga tree, two of,
which he rammed into the ground at
the proper distance and proceeded,
with the remaining couple over his
shoulder, to step out the number of
yards necessary to cover a full claim.
As he walked he wnistled and men
tally patted himself on the back as the
cleverest digger in the colouy. Iu
fact, Pat felt at that moment as proud
as though he himself had put the
gold in the reef and made the rest of
West Australia ns veil. Such is the
miner's way. When gold is scarce he
curses his ill-luck, the country, the
sun, the absence of water —anything!
But, when his claim is rich, yielding
ounces a week, and he finds himself
on the high wAy to fortune, he never
then suggests that plain strength and
Stupid uess might account for his luck,
or that anyone but the miner himself
is accountable for the fact of gold
being goKt or its presence in the par
ticular fpot where he has found it
HerejPat had come, all by himself,
anch mrther than anyone else had
ever dreamed of penetrating. No
one, lot a man in the country, had
aver (inspected what Pat,of course, so
he told himself, had well known for
long—that this was the spot of spots,
the only claim worth calling a claim,
an Eldorado, a miner's ideal, a para
dise, in short, Pat's claim. Who but
Pat, clever Pat, would ever n:»ve
thought for a moment of looking for
gold in this wild wilderness, where
man had surely never trod before?
Surely no one!
No one. So far as Pat knew, no
one. Half the distance had been
paced, and Pat grew more elated as
he walked. He saw himself and liis
chums each twice a millionaire. It
was so easy.
They would be all alone. Among
them they might take up the greater
part of the reef, and then they had
only to work for it—for they had none
to disturb them.
Suddenly Pat's auriferous specula
tions came to a full stop with his feet.
His keen buslinian's ear had detected a
sound. A rattling pebble, a crack of
a dead, dry twig. Pat knew he was
not alone. Then, peeping out from
the scrub, he saw a face. He was
beiug watched. A few strides brought
him to the intruder, who sprang to his
feet at Pat's approach. For fully a
minute they stood and stared, each
just as much astouished as the other.
Simultaneously tney found speech,
aud each inquired of the other what
he was doiug on his claim.
The dialogue then became involved.
The stranger threw down the two
pegs which he also was carrying and
offered pugilistically to "fire" Pat
out if he didn't shift. Pat, without
shifting, summed up in a few well
chosen words his opinion of the
stranger. The stranger responded by
comparing Pat to several unpleasant
animals. This was merely preliminary
and to show independence. Having
done so, Pat felt able to propose with
ont prejudice that, as each seemed to
have found the claim simultaneously,
a partnership and division of profits
would be the fairest and most amicable
way out of the difficulty.
"Your claim, indeed! Geordie
Maxwell, ye are. Ye think I don't
know ye! Well, we've got to know
all sorts iu this uncivilized laud! Sure,
what do yer mean?" he said. "Wasn't
I here at the same instant as yourself
and before? Haven't I two pegs
down and two with me, like yourself?
Half it I've got, aud half it I'll have,
friendly or otherwise. So think of
that, Maxwell!"
Maxwell pushed Pat roughly aside,
consigning him and his half to unde
sirable localities. Said he:
"It's the whole hog with me, at
nothing!"
"Let it be nothing,then!" said Pat,
and., striding on with his pegs, he
placed them at the corners of his
claim. Maxwell did the same. Both
then placed the necessary notice, and
Pat made the best of his way back to
camp, as he came, on foot. He had
five miles togo aud could get there as
soou as the interloper, of that he felt
sure.
But Pat had not gone far before he
heard a muffled, scrambling noise be
hind aud turning saw his rival,
mounted on a native pony —a brumby
—close on him. It was a matter of
time. The brumby could go. Pat
knew that. And he was on foot, with
his rival on horseback and the first at
the warden's office to get the claim.
Pat bemoaned his luck. Then drop
ping on his knee and pulling his re
volver from his belt, bethought him
evilly of the advantages to be gained,
of the bad luck he had met hitherto.
Was he to starve because meu, with
brumbies hiddeu in the bush, spied ou
him and wrested from him, by a quib
ble of law, what was rightly his own?
Was he to lose his hard-found fortune
or ?
No! He slipped the revolver back.
Pat would none of it—not in that
way. lue first at the warden's office
should win. A pony could gallop;
but there was a camel-pad right down
to the township, and—well, Pat had
an idea. Scarcely more thau three
quarters of an hour had e'lasped when
Pat dashed into camp, covered with
sweat and dust.
"Pat! What's up?"
"A dhrink, boys! A dhriuk! Theu
perhaps I'll speak."
They gave him a pannikin of witer,
at which he took great gulps, while
they gazed astonished at a lump of
quartz he handed them in exchange.
"Pat! Where did yer get it?"
"Never yer miud! Tell me"—Pat
was still gasping—"have yer set eyea
on Geordie Maxwell this hour?"
The old Australian looked serious,
turned over the plug of tobacco he
was chewing, spat and said:
"George is gone. Passed on his
gray brumby this hour ago." Then,
after a pause: "He meant getting
there."
"Gittin* there, is it?" said Pat,
jumping to his feet. "Gittin' there!
Yer don't gather my meaning."
"I do!" said the Australian.
"Theu yer mean he's getting there
first? Look at the spec'men. There's
tons aud tons of it. Getting there
first? Well, so he may, but we've
got to be there before him!"
The English lad —he was scarcely
more than a boy—pricked up his ears.
"Is it gold yer've found, Pat?"
"Good gold," the colonial answered,
curtly. "Good gold as ever I see. But
Geordie's gone. There's no catching
him. Did yer come across the claim
together like?"
"We did," said Pat.
"Then," mused the colonial, "it's
ours as much as it is his by right anil,
who's to say, not more? But the
brumby is liis as well, aud there's no
catching that, for we've not got a one
in the camp. There's no catching
him."
"I think " the Englishman be
gau.
"No use! Thinking won't stop
George. Some years ago he might ha'
been stopped . . . my father . . .
I've heard him say . . . Well, he
knew meu! Still, Geordie's gone."
"I'll catch liim, I will! I rode a
quad in England—l was a 'pro,' you
know. But I rode big machines for
shillings a week anil made the pace
for worse meu than myself who earned
their pounds. I've got my old ma
chine in camp. It's a veteran, but I
can push it, I can!"
Pat stood up and smiled, for this
wan his idea: The bicycle against the
horse.
"Here, bring it out!" The lad was
stripped to his waist already—it didn't
take him long. He had little to shift.
He took his bicycle from willing
hands. With a leap and scramble he
was into the saddle.
"Mount Margaret, you say?"
"Mount Margaret. And luck to
yer!"
The English boy knew well the im
portance of saving himself. He had
done liis share of pacing for many a
record bout of 50 or 100 miles. He
was out of breath to start with, but
that was from pride and excitement.
It was like old times again. He would
race and win gold for his partners and
himself. He had not done much for
the partnership as yet, but now he'd
show them that Englishmen.
But, steady. He must get his wind.
The path was smooth—worn smooth
by camels' feet —but dangerously uar
l'tnv and winding. But what did that
matter to a "steerer" who could guide
a "quad" at 30 miles an hour without
swerviug from a chalk-line? This
was not half so bad as taking a triplet
round the Olympia course in London,
and that he could do right easily.
Steady! Steady! You're not at the
Crystal Palace now, with half a dozeu
multicycles ready to take you on and
shield you from the wind. Steady!
But keep on riding. No time to lose.
Phoo! the sun! Awful! He wished
ho had kept his shirt ou. Plug,plug!
And so close on an hour passed. Now
comparatively fresh, now seemingly
done; slow now, theu fast again, and
still there was nothing on the horizon
but sauil and sky.
Stay! There! lxight straight ahead.
No, it was gone. Yes, there it was
again —a cloud of dust. A tiny cloud,
but full of hope for the boy, for,as he
weut, it traveled still before.
Ha, ha! The dust grew near. Took
shape. It was the horse and on it, no
doubt, Geordie Maxwell, the man he
must pass. Was his horse beat? Why
was he going so slow? Bide, ride!
but still steady, steady, for there was
distance to be traveled still.
Just then the pad ran round the great
Salt lake that lies to the uortli of
Mount Margaret. The bicycle came
close and closer, but the horseman
seemed at a loss. At length they
came together, and then the cyclist
saw his advantage. The edge of the
lake, for some way round, was crusted
with salt, a coating thicker thau ice,
but not so strong. Could oue get over
this, miles might be saved aud the race
wou. Maxwell hail tried and failed.
His horse was too heavy for the salt
and sunk in, almost helpless.
The English boy took stock. The
brumby did not sink over much, but
just enough to check his speed.
Geordie had wasted much valuable
time in taking this short cut. Still,
the salt which would not bear the
horse would carry the bicycle and its
rider. So, while Maxwell wallowed as
best he could to firmer ground, the
cyclist sailed ahead, taking a cut across
a corner of the lake. Then all seemed
safe, until, looking, the lad espied
another cloud of dust. Yes, there were
two. The one was Maxwell's, who was
following as best he could, and the
other came along the track from the
west. They met and stopped.
A change of horses. Maxwell had
swopped with one of those belonging
to the newcomers. Now ride, if ever
you did. No matter the sun. No mat
ter the dust and sweat which cling
round your eyes, half blinding you.
Ride, Englishman, ride! The fresh
horse drew on and on, but Maxwell
was urging it beyond its strength,and
the knowledge that he was d6ing so
seemed to make him more than ever
frantic. He could not save himself—
he could not save the horse. He must
have the claim—no matter who had
to suffer.
Gradually the horse caught up and
turned aside among the rocks, and
then another short struggle and it was
past aud on the track again, this time
ahead. But still the cyclist kept close
at his heels, looking now to the right,
now to the left, anxiously watching
for a chauce to pass.
Did Maxwell know the chance must
come? Did he feel his horse giving
way and see that the cycliist had set
tled down to ride "for ever," as he
himself would tay? Perhaps he did,
for,galloping ahead for a few yards,he
palled up and,leaping from the saddle,
rolled a great rook right in the path.
The cyclist saw it just in time, but had
to dismount, To verge from the nar
row path meant rocks and broken
limbs and buckled wheels. So the
horse still kept ahead.
Again another rock rolled in the
path. Dismount once more. Then
on again. And so again and again.
How long could this go on,and which
would tire first? But, stay, the pace
had beeu hot, and the brumby, not
ovev fresh at the start, was tiring. So
was the Englishman. A few more
scrambles on and off, a few more lift
ings of the machine over obstructions
placed in his way, and he would ba
done.
Maxwell slackened pace again. He
was going to dismount. Once more he
was going to block the way, or, if that
failed, tackle the cyclist as he passed
by. The lad was desperate. He
could sfand a fair race, but if it came
to a fight he meant having the first
blow. So he whipped out his revolver
and spurting till he was close to the
horse, let fly a heavy bullet right be
hiud its shoulder, and the animal
dropped with a crash, stone dead.
An hour later he had putin his ap
plication and obtained the necessary
papers for a reef claim; aud should
you travel that pad from Mount Mar
garet to Mount Weld you will hear as
you pass along the thunder of the five
head of heavy stamps pounding the
quartz and yielding three nice fat
cakes of gold fortnightly for the
plucky men who found the claim aud
made it their own with the help of a
bicycle. The largest shareholders are
an Englishman, boyishly hopeful; an
Irishmau, humorously despondent,
and an Australian, who still has an nn
tipathy to discuss atavism.—The
Wide World Magazine.
FITTINC UP TROOPSHIPS.
Important Preparation* Now Under WHS
In tlio Navy.
The fitting up of troopships is one
of the most important preparations
under way in the navy department.
The unexpected call to send soldiers
to Santiago found the government
with no suitable transports for troops,
aud to this fact was largely due the
horrors of the returning ships loaded
with sick and wounded. The main
tenance of garrisons in distant islands
makes it necessary for the government
in the future to have regularly equip
ped troopships instead of hastily pick
ing up merchantmen aud cattle freight
boats, as early in the war. The plans
already made indicate that the troop
ships will have every reasonable pro
vision for the health and comfort of
soldiers at sea. The Mobile, for ex
ample, will be lighted with electricity.
It will have a large distilling appar
atus to furnish pure water.
will be ample refrigerator room to
keep meat and vegetables fresh. The
messroom of the men will be so ar
ranged that the tables can be folded
against the walls and the room used
as a gymnasium, for which purpose
there will be proper apparatus.
The bunks will be supplied with
mattresses as well as '•'inkets and
may be folded against the'sides of the
ship, affording a roomy promenade.
These quarters will be provided with
bathrooms. The ship will be fitted
with a hospital haviug seventy-six
cots. The hospital will have a com
plete dispensary, an operating room
and at least two bathrooms. There
will be an opeu-air promenade for the
men and awnings to protect invalids
while taking an airing. There will
be accommodations for eighty-four
officers and a bathroom for about every
twenty of them. Among the vessels
to undergo this transformation are the
Michigan, Mississippi, Manitoba, Mas
sachusetts and Minnewaska. The Ob
dam, Panama aud Koumania may also
be used. It is the aim of the govern
ment to have some of the finest troop
ships atloat, and it has excellent boats
among its transports for that purpose.
The troops who sail in these refitted
ships will have little cause for com
plaint.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
Chinese coinage in the shape of n
knife has been traced back as far af
2240 B. C.
The leaning tower of Pisa was built
in the twelfth century, and is thirteen
feet out of perpendicular.
A canal connecting the Mediterra
nean with the Red sea existed as earlj
as 600 years before the Christian era.
Its length is ninety-two miles.
From China $450,000 worth of hu
man hair is exported annually. It
comes mostly from the heads of male
factors, paupers and dead people.
An Elizabethan seal-top silver spoon
weighing one ouuce anil a half was
sold in Loudon recently for $100; that
is, SIOO an ounce. This', is a recort?
price for old silver.
The Victoria lily of Guiana has o
circular leaf from ti feet to 12 in diame
ter. 5t is turned up at the edge like
a tray, aud can support, according tc
its size, from 100 to 300 pounds.
The sea-cucumber, one of the curi
ous jelly bodies that inhabit the ocean,
can practically efface itself when in
danger, by squeezing the water out ol
its bodv and forcing itself into a nar
row crack, so narrow as not to be vis»
ible to the naked eye.
The Horrible Part.
"Oh," she said, "I had a horribla
dream last night. Aud—and you were
a part of it."
"I?" he exclaimed.
"Yes; I dreamed you and I were
alone together upon a deserted
island."
"Well," he replied, as he arose to
go, "if that's your idea of a horrible
dream I guess I may as well be say
ing good-by."
"But wait," she cried, "until you
have heard all. You were standing on
the beach waving your coat as a sig
nal for help."
When he left three hours later a
great changa had come into hie
—Chicago News.