The czar's Finnish subjects •will help along hit disarmament scheme by emigrating. The only trouble they find is in knowing which country most unlike Russia. Oar exports of manufactured goods average $1,000,00(1 a day. There were 201 working days during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, nud during that time the total exports were $207,000,000. This was a gain of $26,000,000, or 14 per cent, over the corresponding period of the pre vious year. Dr. Carroll reports that the people of Porto Kico want a territorial civil government as soon as possible. They aught to have it, and doubtless will have it, as soon as it seems practicable tv> give it to them. But that is a task for Congress. The administration has nothing to do but to continue the mil itary system until Congress acts. A London bookf-eller has ju9t been sentenced to nine months imprison maut for selling indecent French books, in sjjite of his counsel's plen th-tt a book in a foreign tongue could not corrupt the morals of her majes ty's subjects. Though this was the first successful prosecution on record where the book was not in English, the court would not allow an appeal. The possibilities of the invention of liqiid air are to the present view lim itless. Steamers and engines and fly ing machines can carry their liquid air machines with them and manufacture their fuel from the atmosphere as they go. Coal and other expensive fuels :au ba kept for ornamental parlor use, *nd liquid air engines generating elec tricity will supply all the heating and lighting of the world. Instead of drawing on the limited coal mines for our force, we shall draw on the com- j paratively limitless heat of the sun. j It may be that we shall in an infini- i tesimal degree accelerate the cooling 1 off of the world; but that is a subject none of us is quite altruistic enough to worry about vet. ..- -- An interesting side issue of the in- ! teruational differences centring in Samoa is the known but futile ambi- j tiou of Germany to secure possession of the" Tonga or Friendly Islonds, j which are small but numerous, and 1 lie some 350 miles southwest of the ! Samoau group. Germany's threat to annex these islands furnishes circum- j stautial evidence of her desire to out wit Great Britain aud the United States at Apia; but the promptness of British action,in sending a cruiser and reachiug a thorough understanding with the king, appears to have settled German schemes. The natives of the Friendly Islands, being Christians ! aud dominated by missionary influence, are much more readily dealt with thau are the Samoans. - ». There is a wonderful difference be- | tweeu the Japan of today and the Japau to which Commodore Perry made his famous expedition fifty years »go. The effort of Japan then was to j exclude .all ideas of progress and to | have as little dealing with other na tions as possible. Foreigners were regarded with great suspicion and were often subjected to cruel treat ment by the Japanese authorities, Probably no other nation ever made as much progress in the same length of time as Japau has made in the last half century. The extent of this phe nomenal revelation in the character and condition of the Japanese was 1 not fully appreciated until the war J with China. They then exhibited a ' force aud prowess which won the ad- I miration of the world. It was made evident that Japan must be rauked among the great nations, and that she was to play no mean part in the world's affairs. The skill of marine architects and the ingenuity of scieuce have—for first-class steamers at least—con quered most of the dangers of the sea. But the danger of colli sion in fog and darkness remains a fearful hazard of the most skil ful navigator. There is hope now that this danger also may disappear, thanks to the labors of an ingenious invent-or. The government has search ingly tested a new instrument called the eophone meaning "sounding down"—by the use of which an opera tor may precisely determine the di rection of any sound, however faint or distant it may be. It is believed that with such instruments in use the man on the bridge, in thickest fog or densest darkness, need never be in doubt as to the direction or distance of an approaching ship's whistle or the roar of breakers, and need nevep, therefore, suffer collision or run his ship ashore. If the device shall prove to be all that the government's experts think, its invention is one of the best gifts of our time to ocean travelers. It is amusing, but significant—this sudden friendliness of the South American republics, so-called, toward the United States, considering how free they used to feel a while ago to gibe at us and bother our citizens when they went a-visiting. Persons interested in the suppres sion of the fashion of wearing feath ers and birds as ornaments in milli nery are rejoicing at the course taken by the Kansas Legislature in passing a game law which contains a clause to the effect that persons selling for mil linery purposes birds' feathers or skins of birds shall be fined. A member of the French Academy who has written and said much about beauty has recently declared that the woman of the future will surely be come ugly, because her life will tend to eradicate the purely feminiue char acteristics. In her competition with man she will become more masculine as her mind becomes fitted to hei work or her amusements. It has been suggested that oue ol 'the ways of celebrating the twentieth century in England should be by ap pointing women as consul and agents general. As an argument in favor ol this, it is pleaded that the imperial and colonial institute • are of no use tc women who are visiting London from the colonies, and that a place that would give information and guidance that would be of help to such visit on would become most popular. The latest article of export from this country to Europe is river shells for the manufacture of pearl but tons. The manufacture of the cheaper grades of pearl buttons bj factories locate ! in lowa and Wiscon sin has of late years almost entirelj done away with the importation o! such goods. Some three years ugo the supply of shells was so largely in creased that the price fell from S2O tc $8 a ton, and European manufacturers are reported as saving that the Amer ican shells are superior to anything that can be obtained on the other side at the prices at which they can be im ported. What shall we supply Europe with next? The emperor of Germany has indi cated in numerous ways his desire tc be viewed as a leader of men. He has shone as a ruler, as a military organ izer, as a painter, as a composer o music, and has insisted on his right te be considered a prelate of the church. Ingoing a step further and inventing a new mustache, he has the support of the illustrious precedent. His roya uncle, the Prince of Wale*, provec his vastuess of intellectual resource at oue time by setting every man in England to wearing a beard the shape of half a salad spoon; and in the thin Xapoleou's day a loyal Frenchmai would have as readily gone barefoo to the opera os he woulel have failed t< wax nud elongate his mustache and "goatee" iuto an isosceles triangle o! stilettoes. The state department at Washing ton is in receipt of au edict issued it February by the Empress Dowager o ! China commanding the suppression o; ! outbreaks of violence against Chris tians in many provinces of the empire Among other things, the empress says "We treat the preachers of all religioni as good citizens, and no prejudice ii tolerated. Though each has a distiuo doctrine, t'ae common aim is to induct people to be good. All evil and crim< are not only prohibited by our laws but are also prohibited by the Chris tian religion." This certainly soundi well, but concerning the sincerity o the empress in denouncing crime wi must withhold judgment pending thi fate of the imprisoned young emperor whose death by slow poison is so con fldentlv predicted. These many years the writers o railroad stories have diligently incul cated the theory that the locomotivi engine is not a thing, but a creature that it has likes and dislikes; will g< for one man and not for another; an« that the tie between it and its driver i; a quasi-sacred thing not to be med died with without good reason. Then has also been a theory among me chanics that n locomotive needs peri ods of rest between trips, like a horse Two railroads—St. Paul and Atchisoi —have defied both of these theories and propose to run their locomotive; on much longer trips than has beei customary, changing enginemen a' proper intervals, and having one sue ceed another on the same machine They propose, too, it seems, to keej their engines at work as steadily a possible as long as they are fit togo Their plans will tend to break up mucl of the iatimacy between the drive and his machine, but if the breakag< goes uo further than that, the plai will doubtless «keep in use. lioom fijioom! Doom! m „_. Ouue more the salutes rtnt out.' I Like the fhoet of a battle-shout, H * w " tnm ' ■ b. o d H Thosewho are sleeping and those whe /, rjjj fought tor their attire land. • fin . . Boom] Boom! Doom I /mil And the iklu were m bright that day, - IUIH In mlghTto for the [fsjj And M blue aa they ere toiler; '■ |H But the ranks ere thin end the comrades a Ml lew. ■ fH A ndtbe hand at the trigger trembles, too, ra IB And their steps are slow, and their lock* 111 ■ salutes to4n* Mill Room! Doom.*. Boom!' {,« Over each grafts-grown tomb I.IH - w !£ re . ,h ? old ) [I graveyard is not /; // I unlike many an (r J I other which one see along (KJT the New Eng land country f~ side—a quiet, unfrequented *. U a T spot, whose I [§oj grassy carpet, ■ />! spread softly over tlie lying mouucls, ///VI 4 is fringed at the // if edges by the If I* a< deeper tints of a , ?" hedge of ever greens. It is, perhaps, a quarter of a cen tury sin;-e the closely woven sod has been cut by the sexton's spade, ex cept, at rare intervals, to give room to some belated wanderer, who, leaving no kindred behind him, has been fain to creep to the silent companionship of his ancestral graves. One may stray at will, fearless of intruding upon the expression of some private grief. Those who lie there have been so long gone that, to the young even of their own blood, they have be come scarcely more than names, and if there still survive some contempor aries who loved them, the point of view of these has so shifted with the passing years that the sad, backward gaze of the mourner has be come the hopeful onlook of the watch er for an immortal morning. Only for the babe, dead it may be, a hun dred years, must the eye sometimes fill with gentle moisture as one won ders how angelic ministry can have quite compensated for the loss of the bitter-sweet of human love and pain! It was the morning of the thirtieth of May, 189—. Here and there in the old graveyard, tiny flags had been planted, each marking the lastteuting place of some veteran soldier whose memory was to be publicly honored by the ceremonials of the afternoon. Upon one of the mounds thus desig nated was standing a fair little girl dressed in white. Her eyes were large and blue, and waving masses of yellow hair fell about her shoulders, half veiling the delicate rose of her rounded cheeks. Around her on the grass was scattered a profusion of cut flowers mingled together without dis tinction of species or color. With the late daffodils and early roses, the purple pansies and spotless lilies-of the-valley, the drifting lavender and white snowballs, were heaped butter cups aud dandelions from the field and dewy violets from the brookside. The child's fingers were so busy with the blossoms that she did not notice the slow approach of light foot steps which hesitated and advanced by turns. Suddenly, at the rustling of an eddy of brown last-year's leaves, she locked up to see another child stand ing a little apart and gazing at her with eager, wistful eyes. The face of the newcomer was jet-black, the clustering wool had been drawn tightly from her low forehead and ifPtjgpi " y/Jl-A "A FAIR LITTLE GIRL DRESSED IN WniTE." tied in tiny braids with bits of bright ribbon, and her bare, dark feet aud ankles showed below the skirt of her coarse blue stuff gown. "Polly Williams!" cried the first child. "How still yon must have coma! Do you know that you almost fritrbtftned mn? Her) J am making ■ltfSftlr a wreath for Grandpapa. Isn't it pretty?" "It's riglit purty, Miss Marie. Yo've got a heap o' flowal.s, ain't yo'?" "We have so many in the garden, you know, and, besiden, I got up early and gathered wild ones. I wanted the very prettiest I could find for Grandpapa, because be was such a good man and a brave soldier. I never saw himf of course, because he died a great while before I was born; but Grandmamma always tells me about him, and there's a picture of him—dressed all in his soldier clothes —so splendid! He was killed in the battle of Gettysburg" —the syllables followed each other with slow exact ness—"when they were tryiug to keep a hill away from the enemy—'Round Top' was the name of the hill—and Grandpapa was a captain, and he was going right up in front of his men, and then, all at once, a ball struck him and lie fell dead. The soldiers buried him there at first, but, after the war was over, Grandmamma and Uncle Joseph brought him back. See, Polly, his name on the stone!" The two little heads, the black and the fair, touched each other as the children drew together tracing the few simple lines of a brave man's epitaph. Suddenly a sob broke the stillness—the eyes of the black child were drenched in tears. "Why, Polly, what is the matter?" questioned Marie, anxiously. "Are you crying for my Grandpapa? I don't cry for him even my own self; for Grandmamma says that his soul went right up to heaven in a chariot ot fire, just like Elijah in the Bible." "I ain't cryin' along o' him, Miss Marie. It's somethin' else. I don' s'pose as you ever heard tell that my Gran'ther was a soldier, too?" "Why, no, Polly! Was he, truly?" "He 'listed in the Fifty-fourth. They was all cullud men, 'ceptin' the off'cers; an' young Marse Shaw, he was the cunnel. He was a beyntiful man, so gentle-like and kind-spoken, Imt not afraid of anything in this worl'. And the men they loved him so, they'd follow him anywhere. An' so, one day, when they was tryin' to FBR THE« NO Moßg-THE CANNON'S ,A, THE- RIOT OF CHARGE- OR SALLY; • Jfoo (& No MORE- THEY REEL FROA.THE SHOCK OF STEEL ; V - MOR THRILL WHEN THE DRUH BEATS RALLY"? LOW THEY LIE INTHF: WARW EARTH'S BREAST, \\ 0 BREATHE NOT ©F WAR ABOVE THEAL M THEY CO{JQUERED PEACE*ANDA LAURELLED REST AND THE WHOLE BROAD LAND T> L°VE TKEN- take Fort Wagner, the cunnel he went ahaid, a callin' the men, with the guns firin' right in their faces. Gran'ther, he was jus' ahind the cunnel—there was a man as tole Granny about it— an' jus' the minute their feet touched the wall, there come a shot as struck 'em bof down. Lots of the other men was left daid all aroun', an' they was buried all in one big ditch togedder; an' de cunuel's folks—they was a high toned white folks, too—they ain't never took his body away, 'cause they say they leave him where he want to lie, along wid his black boys." Marie's eyes were flashing. "O Polly! that was splendid! I can't understand why you cry. I should think you would be so proud and glad." "I is, Miss Marie—l is proud and lt lt ain't that. But, don' yo' see? when Memorial Day comes roun' every year, an' all the folks is march ing' an' the band a-playin', an' the chillen goin' aroun' the graveyard with flower-baskets—den I ain't got no gravel" Marie's listening face grew strange ly pitiful. The flowers dropped from her hands, and she cast her eyes thoughtfully upon the ground. Sud denly she raised them again, the brightness flashing like sunshine from behind a cloud. "I know, Polly!" Her voice had a triumphant ring. "I've thought what to do. You shall stay right here with me. I've got more than enough flow ers for a half-dozen wreaths. You shall make one for your Grandpapa, too, and I'll give you half of my grave!" A look of wondering gratitude and delight shone from the black child's AT LITTLE ROUND TOP, GETTYSBURG. features, transfiguring them to some semblance ot the inner beauty. Almost involuntarily the small, dusky arms and the rosy, dimpled ones wreathed themselves together, and the children —descendants respectively of the two races whose hearts' blood was mingled in the defense of the Republic, and children alike of Him who "Chooses neither black nor white To be promoted In the sky"— kissed each other across the shared grave.—New York Independent. Youth and the I>ity. There is no real waning in the re spect which the day commands—base ball games and bicycle runs to the con trary. The youthful participants in these recreations are not lacking in consideration for the fallen dead or for the veteran survivors of the war. But the war naturally brings to them no such sense of personal sorrow as it brings to those who actually felt or witnessed its sacrifices and had its suf fering ineffaceably burned into their memory. Softened Memories. Time has softened the memories of the war. The grief felt for those who died a generation ago has been as suaged. Poignant grief for individu als has been changed into admiration for the heroes, and those who crowd the cemeteries on Decoration Day, if they do not shed tears at every grave as they did years ago, pause and pay a tribute to the memory of all of the brave heroes. These tributes take the form of patriotic exercises in the cemeteries and special services in the churches as well as the decoration of the graves. The Voiceless. Nay, grieve not for the dead alone, Whose song has told their hearts® sad story; 1 Weep for tho voiceless who have knotvn The cross without the crown of glory! Not where the Leucadlnn breezes sweep O'er Sappho's memory-haunted billow. But where the glistening night dews weep On nameless sorrow's churchyard pillow. —Oliver Wendell Holmes. ORICIN OF DECORATION DAY. Many Claimants For the Honor of In augurating the Custom. The custom of placing flowers on the graves of soldiers is of very great antiquity. One ancient writer men tions the fact that on the birthday of Alexander the Great certain Greeks in Alexandria were accustomed to visit his mausoleum and place flowers on the threshold. The custom of plant ing flowers on graves is of an antiquity almost as great, and has been prac ticed in all purts of Europe for many centuries. The practice being once established, a local application of it in particular cases was easy and na tural. During the Civil War in this country the women of both North and South instituted a custom of going regularly on a certain day, generally about the Ist of May, to the cemeteries with bouquets for the graves of the soldiers who had been killed in battle. The intenso devotion of the Southern women to the lost cause led them to continue this practice after the war had been ended, and little by little it became universal in this country. In 1869 General John A. Logau, then commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, announced May 30 as the day on which the graves of soldiers should be decorated. There is, however, a controversy about the fact of the custom originating iu a particular locality, some claiming that it sprung up spontaneously in almost every section of the country at once, practice of planting flowers on graves, and, considering the universality of the custom, there is no reason to be lieve that the custom, as claimed by some, originated in or was peculiar to the South, even during the early days of the war. An Kagle That Went to War. Almost as famous as the President after whom he was named, "Old Abe," the great battle eagle of the war be tween the North and the South, still perches in the National Museum at OLD ABE. Washington, though he died seven teen years ago. The celebrated bird, of which tho accompanying picture is a faithful likeness, is a bald eagle and was captured in Wisconsin in 1861. He was given to Company C of the Eighth Regiment of Wisconsin Volun teers. He went to the war with his regiment and was present in every battle iu which the regiment fought— thirty-six in all. Old Abe was car ried into battle on a perch beside the color-bearer, but would soon spread his wings aud soar above the smoke and strife, hovering over his regiment and screaming at the top of. his voice. When the battle was over he would re turn to his perch and rest contentedly. He was wounded several times, and on a number of occasions he rendered valu able services to the army by announc ing the approach of the enemy long before the scouts had time to reach headquarters, it is said. After the war he was presented to the State of Wis consin. He became the chief attrac tion of the national army reunion, and became, perhaps, the most famous bird in history. He died at the age of twenty as the result of injuries re ceived in a tire. Sorrow For the Thinning Ranks. We honor the dead aud respect the Union and are filled with sorrow as each year passes and reduces the num bers of those who battled for liberty and union. The services observed generally throughout the United States show most conspicuously that patriot ism is not dead and that the new gen eration, born since the war, is mind ful and appreciative of the accomplish ments of the one that is passing away. * "TAPS, LIGHTS OUT."