While the British lion is waiting to Ifave the powers twist its tail, appar ently just yet that is not the end they are seeking. A Colorado millionaire celebrated his birthday by giving a SSOOO ban quet to the poor of Denver. He's the eort of man who deserves to be born again. The Anarchist who killed the Aus* triau empress says his doctrine is that no one who doesn't work should be allowed to live. This would carry a pretty general death sentence to his tribe. Princeton defeated Yale in football this season by one brilliant play. It was not the kind of defeat college men enjoy; if they must be beaten they would rather be overcome by conventional football. In some quar ters the victory will undoubtedly be called a fluke, but it was not a fluke, it was a cliauee—a chance in a thou sand—instantly seized and turned to most brilliant account. In general the two teams were evenly matched, Yale being better ground-gainers, Princeton being better at punting. Poe seized the one opportunity that offered and won the victory. In foot ball as in war, that is genius. Marseilles is the best market in the world for American cottonseed oil. The demand has jumped from 11,887 barrels in 1888 to 237,897 barrels iu 1897, and will go far over the latter figure in 1898. The failure in the peanut crop in India and elsewhere for several years is responsible in the first place for the demand for cotton oil, which displaces vast quantities of peanut oil in the soapmaking and other industries. The American oil has dealt a terrible blow to the crushers of oleaginous seeds in France, aud they are now trying to secure a re strictive tariff, which the soapinakers, in their turn do not want. The London Lancet says in regard to the work of the society for the Pre vention of Cruelty to Children: "If wo take the record for last August alone we find that it contains 2111 cases of proved cruelty. The great majority of these appear under the heading of 'Neglect and Starvation,' though nearly 400 are instances of di rect ill-treatment and assault. Iu other words, vice and poverty are tho most fruitful sources of domestic tyranny. The method of treatment adopted by the society is commenda bly judicious. Though armed with the power of a punitive law, a prefer ence is given wherever possible to less heroic measures. Of the 2141 cases referred to 1G75 were dismissed •with a warning, but it is noteworthy that out of 258 jirosecutions there were 248 convictions. General Wheeler is old but full of ideas, and his plan for higher educa tion among Cubans is excellent, ob serves the New York Commercial Ad vertiser. He proposes, in brief, that each American college give free tui tion to a few Cuban youth. The col leges are doing well in agreeiug to General Wheeler's plan, and it will be a good thing for Cuba. Wealthy Cubans have sent their sons here to be educated nearly as often as to Eu rope, but now the wealthy class are embarrassed, and the middle class are poor. No doubt many Cuban youth who would otherwise be prevented by poverty from coming here for educa tion will be able to come under this plan. Anything to spread American ideas, the English lauguage, aud ac quaintance with scientific aud me chanical progress among the Cuban people will ba salutary, The closer connection there is between Cuba and the United States the better for tho Cubans aud for civilization. The goverumont commission on tu berculosis iu England has issued its report, which is strongly in favor of public slaughter housos in all cities and towns. There is no question that the private slaughter house is a relic of days wheu sanitation and prevent ive medicine were unknown factors in life. That iu England, as here, cus tom and usage have maintained them BO long is discreditable. However, as the facts as to the spread of disease became more clearly apprehended, and as the need of warding off tuberculo sis infection is seen in its true light, the demand for the abolishment of pri vate slaughter houses will become more insistent. Clean, well-appointed public slaughter houses, where in spection will be more than perfuuc tory, are civic necessaries not luxu ries, and no municipality can consider that it has solved sanitation until it has absolute control of its slaughter houses. And this it cannot have un less the public slaughter house bo •nbstituted for the private establish ment. Maine packed about 600,000 cases of sardines this season. Possibly a few small herring may have got in among tbein here and there. A new manufacturing company of New Jersey announces that it is going to manufacture a preparation which a man can put on his face and remove his beard without the aid of s, razor. The company is capitalized for $200,- 000. A rule has been adopted in New York forbidding the employment of married women as teachers in the pub lic schools. The married women may be able to stand such a discrimination, but the blow will fall heavily upon some of the married men. A Canadian paper has a cartoon on the "unwonted activity" of England just now. Uncle Sam, smoking a "Manila" cigar, says to John Bull, striding along in sailor clothes, with a gun on his shoulder: "Whar you goiu' a gunnin', John?" and John answers: "Blest if I quite knows yet, Sammy. Maybe h'over to Frawnce. h'eaglo 'uutiug and then h'again may be h'over to Koosher, bear 'untin' y'know." A student of Spanish annals has added an interesting chapter to the history of prices by revealing from the archives of the Escurial what it cost to discover the New World. The stipends of the discoverers, at all events, did not amount to much. The pay of an able seaman was only, it seems, S2 a month, while a captain drew only $lO a mouth. As for Chris topher Columbus himself, his earn ings were at the rate of $l!20 per an num. Even iu Spain salaries have risen since those days. The United States of Central Amer ica —Sal vador, Nicaragua and Hon duras—start business as a federated republic with the usual grandiose an ticipations and performances. We wish thein well, says the Philadelphia Record. Under the managing baud of a man like President Diaz of Mex co, who is practically a king masquer ading as an elective official, the new states might be glued together by something more substantial than wittten agreements. But there is nothing in the past history of the Central American states to justify hopes for the future of settled govern ment. How much reverence have we ? Some years ago at an auction in Edin burgh two bones aunoitnced to have formed a part of Robert Bruce's anat omy, fetched S2O, and one of the ver tebno of William the Conqueror sold for $22.50. What is called "a most interesting relic" was put under the hammer at London. It was a man's garment made of blue silk and stained with blood. To this gory raiment there was a document attached, duly certified, which declared that it was worn by Charles I when on the scaf- : fold, and became the prqperty of Dr. Juxon, who attended the king during his last moments. The h story of this \ garment is then traced through i*» numerous possesors up to today* The London Times says: "A good story of the 'things ono would rather have expressed differently' type is be ing whispered about Gloucester. Some 'crank' has been writing to the local papers complaining that during the festival he is not admitted to the cathedral free, that being a place of worship. The 'crank' turned up at ! the cathedral the other day and was | told he could not be admitted without j a ticket. 'Do you mean to toll me,' he ; excitedly argued, 'that I shall re- I quire a ticket, to enter tho kingdom of ! heaven?' 'Well, no,' explained tho polite steward, 'but you won't hear Mine Albani in heaven.' And then> when the enormity of his remark dawned upon him,that steward turned and tied." One of the latest inventions is said to be a fog dispeller, an apparatus consisting of a horizontal outlook pipe, some eight feet in length and eight feet in diameter, iuto which en ters a tube from below, connecting with a blower deep down in a steam ship's interior. This blower sends a powerful stream of air into the tube, the current of air, so to speak, bor ing a hole through the fog, and in ducing a cone of clear atmospliero with it3 apex at the mouth of the tube. By the aid of this apparatus a pilot who stands with his eye at tkj glass at the rear of the tube, can, it is claimed, pick up his buoys and look out for other vessels ahead. The in ventor hopes eventually to make the fog-dispeller" effective at a range of a thousand foet. Certainly auy appara tus or agency capable of dissipating fogs at sea or on land, whether the mists be physical, mental, or spiritual, would be a boon to mankind. DEATH'S FERRYMAN. lam a farrymaa, old and gray. The weary toller who longs for rest, And the river Is deep and wide; Bravo youth and maubood proud; And whoso'er crosses by sight or by day The erring one with his sins confessed, Can never return, but forever and aye The sinless babe on the mother's breast Must remain on the other side. And the mother with sorrow bowed. The waters are cold, and the current la Some on their journey set forth alone, swift, With trembling and anxious feurs; And the mists hang heavy and ohill; Some amid wailing, with Bob and moan, And backward and forward they slowly drift, And prayers that their lives had never With never a break, and they never lift, known. Though they seem to be never still. And heartbreak and bitter tears. The heavens are dark, and the course la Man brought naught Into the world save long, death, But my boat is staunch and true; And naught can he take away; And the waves are rough, but my arm is Naked was he when he first drew breath, strong. And naked will be when he goes with Death And safely I ferry the ghostly throng On his silent, mysterious way. To the shore mist-hidden from view. Bo all are equal when Death sets froe, All are equal who cross with me, To cross to the distant strand; Beggar and millionaire; The king and vassal and bond and free, Vassal and king and bond and free, Whether of lowly or high degree, Peasant and noble of high degree, Must all cross the river of Death with me The maid and her lady fair. To enter that unknown land. —Dr. John A. Gilbert, in Cleveland Plain Dealer. ]EL CANEY'S [ jj BY FRANCIS KIfIBALL. When the colonel of the —th cavalry summoned Captain Burden to regi mental headquarters, some one at the oilicers' mess asked who he was, any way, that the "old man" had picked him from among a dozen old campaign ers for a consultation. "Nepl*R-, or something, to a sena tor," growled a grizzled lieutenant, who had seen 20 years of service and was jealous of the —th's reputation. "Fresh from a desk in the war depart ment, but all-fired anxious to smell Dago powder." "Ought to join the rough riders," added another; "they'll be in the fight tomorrow; th —th's too full already, and here's the old man asking him to supper before he's seen a tfeek of ser vice." "Tut!" interposed the regimental surgeon; "Burden's not a greeuhorn, and the colonel knows it. Reckon yon don't know what sent him out of Washington into this fever-stricken climate; do you think a doughboy'd join the righting —th?" "Come," said the adjutant, locking arms with the surgeon, for he saw the latter had something on his mind,and he, too, was curious about Captain Burden. "Let's go outside and leave the fellows to their growling;" then, when they had passed beyond the confines of the mess tent, "What was it, Johnson? The chap's no coward, j and he interests me." "Well," said the surgeon, soberly, | "it isn't my business,but I don't mind | telling you; I've a cousin in the war department, a chum of Burden's, and he wrote me to keep an eye on hiin. It was hard luck drove him out of Washington." "Humph!" growled the adjutant, sarcastically, "small pay and " "No,"broke in the surgeou." "Bur den has an income and " "Then what the deuce? Why didn't ! he stay in Washington and leave us poor fellows to do the lighting?" "If you'd been in Washington it wouldn't take much guessing," re plied the surgeon, "for if you'd been there you'd have known Miss R , and she played Burden to throw him over for a doughboy, so all Washing ton was onto it and felt sorry for the 1 captain and didn't wonder when he threw up a fat position in the depart ment aud petitioned the secretary for active service." "And the doughboy," grunted the adjutant, "eulisted for all time in the new captain's behalf. Stayed in Wash ington with the reserves and " "Not much,and that's what puzzles the wise-heads up there. He enlisted in the regulars aud lit out for Santiago along with Burden, though I reckon they didn't come together." "What's his name?" asked the ad jutant?" The surgeon fumbled for the letter, glancing over it by the light of a neighboring lantern. "Hardey," said he shortly, "and, by thunder, he's in the —th! What if he and Burden come together?" In the meautime Captain Burden, unconscious of the effect the summons from the colonel had upon his brother officers, stood before the commander of the regiment at headquarters. "Captaiu Burdeu," said the latter, noting with a practised eye the slender figure of the young officer, "you come to the —th highly recommended for coolness and courage. Tomorrow we attack El Caney; I have been ordered to call for volunteers to do a little scouting. Will you lead tlie party?" "Thank you," said Burden, simply; "it will be au honor, I " The colonel removed his eyeglasses. "Young man," said he, seriously, "the bush is full of Spaniards; you may b j killed or seriously wounded; every caution will be required." "I will do my best, sir," replied Captaiu Burden; "is the start to be made at once?" The colonel wheeled around on his camp stool. "Orderly," said he, sharply, "tell Captain Clark that I wish a volunteer of two good meu from his company to undertake a dangerous er rand near the enemy's lines. You will skirt the base of El Caney,making a detour to the north. It is unneces sary to say the volunteers will be under orders from you and are to be gov erned by your judgment." Five minutes later the tramp of ap proaching men was heard,and two cav alrymen entered the commander's presence. Captain Burden, noting them critically,started; the sharp tones of the colonel rang in his ears: "Corporal Joyce and Private Har dey, you are under orders to proceed according to Captain Burden's direc tion on a reconnoiss'ance into the enemy's lines. That will do." Burden returned the men's salute mechanically. The presence of John Hardey filled him with conflicting emotions. He had fled from Washing ton hoping to drown in the excitement of an aggressive campaign the sorrow which this man had brought upon him. Had it not been for Hardey he clinched his hands until the nails bit into the flesh. "What now?" an evil spirit whispered. "He is in your power; you may order him whitlier you will, even to death by Spanish bullets; none will know of it, for the Cuban bush tells no tales." The colonel wondered at the pale ness upon the face of the young offi cer as he passed from the tent into the darkness beyond. Could he be afraid? He dismissed the thought with a laugh. Captain Burden had come to the th with the highest rec ommendations from the secretary of war. Out beyond the shelter of the camp, Burden led his men straight into the thick, prickly brush. At times he could almost feel Hardey's breath upon his face and hear the voice whispering in his ear: "To the left, to the left! He will reach tha Spaniards sooner there." Far up the height a dozen tiny lights glimmered in the darkness—the Span ish torches about the blockhouse of El Caney. To the left the faint ring of steel told the three Americans that the enemy's sentinels were wide awake, ready to lire blindly in the darkness. Captain Burden paused. "Private Hardey," said he,so husk ily he scarce recognized his own voice, "move cautiously to the left, keeping well in the shadow of the bush; the corporal and I will detour to the right, approaching the slope further on." Hardey's hands came to a quick salute. "Very good, sir!" replied he. steadily, though he must have known he ran against the very muzzles of Spanish rifles. Then,wheeling about, he disappeared in the tangled thicket. Captain Burden pausod irresolutely, white to the very lips. "Come!" said he sharply, "to the right, corporal." A myriad of insects buzzel about their faces, the pests of the Cuban chapparal. The corporal fumed and brushed them off, but his companion scarce noticed them; his oars were strained to catch the shots from the slope of El Caney, the fusilade which would send him back to Washington. A minute passed—five—ten; it seemed as mauy hours. The heat and blackness of the brush stifled the Americans, the sharp thorns tore their clothes and lacerated their bodies. Corporal Joyce lamented the fate which had sent him to Cuba. Captain Burdeu moved forward as one bereft of feeling. He had become a machine, n !liiug devoid of seise and feeling, a human sounding board waiting to catch a rifle crack from El Caney. Suddeuly the buzz of insects, the crunching of the dry leaves and twigs under the feet of the moving men, the noise made by the passage of their bodies through the brush were drowned by the echoing report of a Mauser rifle; then another, a third and fourth and fifth. Corporal Joyce unconsciously clutched his officer's arm. "God!" he whispered, "they've riddled him, an' a braver fellow never wore a sabre." Captain Burden staggered as though the bullets from the Mausers had pierced his body. A cry sounded in the stillness following the echo of the shots; an appeal for help,and the voice was Hardey's. For an iustant Burden wavered, then,before tliecorporai could restrain him, dashed through the matted chap paral to the slope of El Caney, upon whose summit danced a hundred Spanish torches awakened into life by the fire of the sentinels. With Joyce panting at his heels, ho pushed forward, drawing his revolver as he ran and shouting aloud to Har dey to answer him, that he might gain the private's side in the dark ness. Breaking through the btish.he came upon an open space unsheltered from the Spanish guns above, to stumble over Hardey, who, resting on one el low, was keeping off five white-clothed figures with his revolver. Perhaps the Spaniards feared an attack from the entire American army. At sight of Burden and the corporal they wavered, forgetting the Mausers in their hands, that they were five to three with one of the latter sorely crippled. "Coiporal," said Bnrden, sharply, noting with qnick perception the con fusion of the Spaniards, "to the rear with Private Hardey. I will cover you." A flasu of adiniratioii filled the cor poral's eyes. "God, sir!" lie mut tered, "they'll shoot yon like a dog; "To the rear, sir!" shouted Captain Bnrden; "he's light and " Then, as the bulky corporal lifted the wounded cavalryman,slinging hirn across his shoulder like a bag of meal, Burden faced the astonished Span iards. "No," cried Hardey, struggling in the arms which would bear him in safety; "stop, for God's sake, cor poral!" Then, in an appeal of agony: "Save yourself, Burden; she will not marry me,it's yon " The sharp crack of the captain's re volver cnt short the sentence. "Bun!" he shouted; "I'll hold them off." Four times the revolver cracked ere the Spaniards, realizing 'twas but one man who confronted them,raised theii rilles. Corporal Joyce, tearing through the chappaial, heard the whiplike crack of the dreaded Mausers, then once more the sha/p report of the captain's revolver. Afterward came silence, snve for the groaning of Private Har dey and the rustle of the parting blanches. On tlie morning of July 3, after the charge on El Caney,an orderly halted before the quarters of the fighting —th. "A letter for Captain Burden," re plied he to the sentry's query, "franked at the war department, an' from a lady. I reckon he won't want to wait for it." The colonel pushed aside the tent flap. ".Surgeon," said he, "turning to the officer who followed hirn, "tell that fellow Captain Burden's dead,killed in an ambuscade. And, surgeou, you'd better take the letter and forward it to Washington."—Washington Star. PEARLS IN MAINE WOODS. Found In -anil an Invalid I'liotle Inlander Make* Money Out of Tliem. Henry Spears, an invalid from Paw tucket, R. 1., who passes most of his time in the Maine forests, going from place to place with guides and canoes, has gathered and sold nearly worth of pearls from fresh water mussels during the past season. He went to Grindstone, states the Sun, in May soon after the lakes opened. When he had fished for trout in Moose head lake for a time he went across the watershed and floated down the Allegash toward New Brunswick. When beyond Chamberlain lake, and 100 miles from the nearest settlement, he had a hemorrhage which compelled the party to lay by for a month. One day when the food supply was growing sea. i-e Mr. Spears's guides went up stream to cut some hard wood for fuel. Coming down in the canoe aud towing the wood and limbs be hind theiu, they passed through half a mile of quick water that flowed over a stony bed, and on arriving at camp they found a large number of mussels were uttached to tha limbs which h.id rubbed against the bed of the stream. At the request of Mr. Spears, some of these mollusks were opened and prepared for supper. Befoi e the guide i had shucked a pint thev had discovered three pearls, one of which was as big as a seven shot. They found tivo other pearls i:i the shells which had come down attached to the brush. From that time until Mr. Spears was able to travel the guides devoted their energies to pearl hunting. AVheu Mr. Spears and his men arrived at Cari bou the pearls were sent by express to Boston, and ten days later a check for §350 was received. They visited the place again in September, and in five days liail found a quantity of pearls that sold for 3430. The mussels from which the pearls were obtaiued are the long, dark colored species, which the natives ca.l fresh water clams, but wliic.. are clas sified in the books on natural history as Uuio vectns. The Allegash river is said to contain large quantities of them. In some places the bed of the stream is paved with shells for half a mile or more. These are believed to contain many thousand dollars' worth of pearls. GUAINT AND CURIOUS. Taxes on beards arc levied in Jap anese cities. Coins 2000 years old are in circu lation in China. Fowls are plucked alive in Malta, in the public inirkets, and in some parts of England. Hogs are fattened on oranges in Paraguay, a id oranga-fed pork is said to be very good. Bamboo pans still retain their hold in India, where they have been in use for more than 1000 years. In Hungary there are thousands of villages aud hundreds of small towns without a doctor within ten miles. In the Franco-German war every third German soldier had a map of the country through which he was trav eling. A medical authority in Berlin, Ger many, declares that not one of Ger many's professional bicyclists has a sound heart. Originally the custom of raising the hat was a sign of submission, imply ing that the person uncovered placed himself at the mercy of his foe. The town clock in the city hall of Kokonio, Ind., got out of order, re cently, aud William Brinkman, a blind man, was called upon to repair it. He climbed to the tower, at a height of 185 feet* and deftly performed the work. It has been calculated that the loss from illness averages 20,000,000 weeks of work in the year, or 2 1-2 per cent, of tut work done by the whole popu lation between fifteen and sixty-five years