THE HOUR. (COHKOM BTTLM.) Between the dark and the daylight, I'm just on the verge of obllvloi., When Aurora's just leaving her bower, And cro&sing the borders of Noa Comes a break in the nlghi'squietslumbert When bang: noes the door of the nura'ry. That is known as the children's hour. And in comes an army odd. At four-thirty on summer mornings, They banish sleep in an instant, At six in the winter oold, The) storm every protest down ; I hear from the chambers adjaoent If I try U> escape they squeloh we— The cries of our tyrants bold. Farewell to somnolence town. First, Billy calls for a cracker. If you wish a cure for insomnia, Then Lucy a "dwiuk" demands) Infallible, certain as Fate. 4nd nothing will satisfy Charley Just spend six months with three children But his blocks direct from my hands. Whose ages are three, five and eight. I turn out of bed with a shiver, But, oh! for a land beatific ! I yawn and stumble and grope, I wish I could tell you the name, And when theirdemands are ftoinplled with Where old 80l never shines till six-thirty, For fortv winks more I hope. But children abound ju*t the same ! —Longfellow Jones, in Puck. $ THE CASE OF MR. MASON. t * ? Mr. Mason seemed to all of us who tnew him at Burkville a perfectly in tensive man. He also seemed a good man to those who ha l oppor iuuities of judging. Cprtainiy he was Methodical, and that quality is geuer illy supposed togo far toward making i good business man. He had come to Burkville from— lomewhere. The fact that he talked little or not at all about his own pre vious history may have somewhat pre udiced him ia the estimation of our ntizens, for Burkville people, there is 10 denying, are inquisitive—like to mow all about newcomers. In a business way, however, he was ill that could b3 desired. He had a jood, round sum to his credit in the First National bank. He brought ex jellent introductions from several di rectors of high-standing corporations In two different cities. In a purely business sense Everett Iv. Masou was inimpeaehable. It was socially, and »nly socially, that his personality was t little overcast by his never alluding to any other place where he may have resided before he came to hang out in Ihe thriving and growing town of Burkville the sign, "Everett K.Mason, Real Estate." As anyone may remark, this was a rery notable exception to the rule (bat silence is golden. Mr. Mason, it leemed, could smile on the just and unjust, the high and the low alike, , though nobody ever saw him hilarious. But it seemed that he had made it to ' aimself JIU inflexible rule to talk only »112 indifferent and impersonal matters ivhen he was not talking business. i Nevertheless, his fate came to him it last, for all his not talking. It was a deal in Burkville real ev , ;ate that brought him into friendly re ations with Deacon Sturge, the father )f Lydia Sturge. "Well, now," said the deacon, com ing home in a good humor one after loon, "about this Mason. What's ;he matter with Mason? That's what [ want to know." "He's all right!" young Bobby felled, thinking of last election. "Keep still, Bobby," said Mrs. Sturge. "What do you mean, pa? Who said anything against this Mr. Mason? I'm sure he comes to church regularly,and you ought to know if he puts anything in the plate. What ibout him?" "Well, just this about him—lie strikes me as a good, square, up-aud iowii business man, and I think this jommunity ought to be glad to have him." True, to bs sure, some women— jhurch members, too—tried to make .is believe that Mrs.Sturge was tryiug to get a substantial, reliable son-in law when she became hospitable to this Mr. But, then, there is no end to the small malice of some women who are church members. It cau hardly be said that Mr. showed any great enthusiasm in nis way of accepting the Sturge invita tion. He came with what you may oall polite alacrity—just pleased to show his consideration for the Sturge family. When he came he smiled on s very body and on the supper, which ivas a good supper. Lydia did not take any marked dislike to him. He made himself agreeable to Mrs. Sturge. He talked cheerily with the deacon ibout the outlook for Burkville real »state. As for me —I happened to be one of the party—it struck me thet poor Mason was not nearly so de lighted with the entertainment as his let smile would have indicated, and I know that he once stole a sly look at the clock when it was not yet quite half an hour to the light going-home time. But before Mr. Mason could prop erly bring this visit to a close some thing happened. It all came of Bobby's inordinate fondness for dried prunes. Bobby would run back for the second time since leaving the supper table to the d'ming room to get more prunes. He pat on the floor in a corner, between the grand piano and the fender, and worked his jaws and flicked prune stones into the grate, unobserved by his pareuts, until suddenly he paused, looked alarmed and gave a liiTleous, strangled cough. "He's choked," Mrs. Sturge cried aloud. "It's those prunes, I know it!" Lydia got up from the piano seat, caught her younger brother by the arms, jerked him to his feet aud began thumping his back. "If you will allow me," said Mr. Mason in exactly the same even, un excited tones in wh ch he had just been unfolding a plan for the expan sion of Burkville in one particular di rection, "I think 1 see what is wrong." Then he quietly, but firmly, took Bobby from Lydia's violent hands, sot him in a straight-hacked ohair and seized a Japanese or Chinese whale bone back-scratcher which helped to ornament one end of the mantelpiece. lot m« bald vom +inajl back u far as you can, Bobby," said Mr. Mas an, placing his left hand on Bobby's re.l and perspirin < brow ami with his right adroitly coucealing the back scratcher. Bobby, half exhausted already, did as he was told, while his mouth fell open automatically. Then Mr. Mason, with the swiftness and precision of a juggler, it seemel to me,sent the butt end of the whalebone straight down Bobby's gullet. A turn of Mr. Mason's wrist and up came the whalebone again. Mr. Mason smiled it seemed rather sheepishly, as he let Bobby es cape, and turned to Mrs. Sturge with, "No cause for alarm, I assure you none whatever." It took some time to convince Mrs. Sturge that the prune stone, which had stuck crosswise in Bobby's throat,had been pushed into a proper end-on posi tion which, Mr. Mason said, "made its deglutition easy." Bobby himself would not believe it for twelve hours after. But the profuse gratitude showered on Mr. Mason and all the confusion following the incident gave him an opportunity to run away, which, I thought, he was evidently glad to seize. "Now, what do you think of that man and his 'deglutition,' " Lvdia said to ine after he had left. "Do you think he learned to perform surgical operations just togo into the real es tate business?" "Hardly," I said. "I wonder who Mr. Mason is?" she mused. "Just Mr. Mason," I said. Lydia shook her head with convic tion. "That man lias had a past life," she said, "because he is over 30. Ho never talks about that past life. There must bs a reason why he never talks about that past life. That reason must be discovered. The Fehmgericht must take a hand here." Now, I know what Lydia's Fehm gericht was. It was a half jocose club, with a membership of five girls and two young matrons of Burkville. It never held formal meetings that any body knew of, had no badges that anybody ever saw, and yet the "soci ety" boys and girls of the place were, somehow, more than half afraid of the Fehmgericht. For myself, I had never believed very seriously in the terrors of this secret organization; and yet when Lydia luentioued it in connection with Mr. Mason I could not help half expecting,half wishing,that something might come of her threat. That winter passed away, and the spring followed it and the summer. I met Lydia Sturge at tlie eouuty fair in the fall. She had been away at the seaside. "You aro particularly welcome," she said, in answer to my greeting. "You are ;ust the man." "Oh," I said, "have you found that out at last?" "It only took me one minute to make up my mind," she said, "You see, you were there when I resolved to enter seriously into this matter." "What matter —garden truck or quilts?" "Yon were there when I said it was a subject for the Fehmgericht," she went on, ignoring my facetiousness. "You don't mean about Mason? Have you remembered that all this time?" "Well, in spite of your sneers, it seems you have remembered it," she I retorted. "No, we have not forgotten. The affair has boen brought to a con | elusion, I believe, or nearly. We j want the help of some man tonight." i "If there is any slaughter in it," I said, "I beg to decline." "I think you will do very well," Lydia went on. " The west-bound limited reaches the Union depot at 10.37 p. m. It will bring a young but rather emaciated woman, dressed jin mourning. You must be there to j meet her. Ask for Mrs. Cook, carry ' her valise for her, board the street 1 car and bring her to our house." As this mission entailed no blood shed I undertook it. Before I left the fair grounds Lydia had warned me that a word of this important matter, breathed to anyone before see should give me permission, would be visited with the displeasure of the Fehm gericht; silence and faithfulness in the execution of my orders would equally merit its good graces. The young woman dressed in black duly appeared with her valise on the platform of the day coach as the lim ited drew into the depot that night. She was emaciated, as Lydia had de scribed her, but decidedly good look ing, with a chastened and subdued beauty. "Did Mis • Fox ask you to meet me?" she said, timidly. "No," I said; "Miss Fox, I believe, will not be home for more than a week yet. Miss Sturge it was " "Oh, yes,Mi»s Fox's friend. I knew Miss Fox had gone to the White Mountains afttr sho left me at the uMid*." I knew quite well that Briey Fox was one of the Fehm, and now I un derstood that the business had been turned over to her. To be quite can did, I was burning with curiosity to know exactly what the business was. All I knew for certain was that it con cerned the identity of Mr. Mason; be yond that I guessed, but my gueos seemed so extravagant that I wanted to have facts in its place. More than that it all had to do with Mason,Lydia had refused to tell me, and I thought it wise not to try to pry into the dreadful secrets of the seven. However, as the car stopi ed early in the journey and Mason himself got on, with louie other men, I thought proper to say to Mrs. Cook: "Please ltt down your veil." The warning was unnecessary. She had seen Mason and recognized him M aoon as I. Through the rest of the journey I could feel that Mi s. Cook was trembling and sobbing. But we reached the Sturge residence without further adventure. I have always thought that, consid ering my faithfulness and care in the discharge of the duty laid upon me, Lydia ought to have let me be present at the meeting between Oh, of course, they were husband and wife. But this was Lydia's original way of bringing them together. She wrote Masoa a note something like the fol lowing: "Dear Mr. Mason, be so kind as to spare one hour from your real estate transactions tomorrow and lunch with me. It will be a three-cornered party. My other guest is a friend of mine who is dying to see you, and I insist upon your coming, even if you have to break another engagement." She took good care that Mason should not get her note until the morning of the day she wanted him. Nevertheless, I believe he suspected the truth and was terribly frightened. But he cnme, and»at the close of the lunch there was a little scene—a most interesting one. Bobby, who was not afraid to help himself freely, now,was the only spectator. "And were they divorced?" I asked Lydia, when she consented to tell me more of the stor -. "Xo," she said. "Fnt tbev quar reled over some rubbish. He used to practise as a physician, bntwneu they separated by mutual consent three years it made a talk in the town where they lived. So he moved away and ti'ok to real estate. Then she saw the foolishness of it all and tried to make it up, and he was misled by lies that some divorce shark had told him. His chief aim in life for more than a year hSd been to escape from his own lawful wife and at the same time escape a divorce trial. Mason is one of those fool men who will go ten miles out of the way to avoid a 'scene,' as they call it. I had to bring him up to time sharp." "And did the Fehmgericht investi gate and dispose of all those—lies?" I asked in awe. Lydia only smiled and said: "H'in." —Denver Times. CALIFORNIA'S OLIVE OIL. An Infant Industry That Adds Grnntly to Her Wraith. The olive oil industry is likely soon to attract attention and add greatly to the wealth of California. It is now in its infancy. The young orchards are just beginning to bear.and us they show large profits many people are goiug into the business. There are now about 30,000 acres of land devoted to olives, and one-third of it is in bearing. We import from Italy and Spain about 1,000,000 gallons of olive oil annually. There is a popular belief that much of it is cottonseed oil, sent over from this country for adultera tion and brought back in bottles bear ing Italian labels. Hut the rapid de velopment of the olive oil industry in California will soon make this unnec essary. Italy markets 70,000,000 gal lons of oil, valued at 8120,000,000, annually, and the product of Spain is not much less. Last year the ship ments from California amounted to 50 enrs in bulk. This year they will be nearly double,and when all the groves in southern California come into bear ing and the superiority and purity of the American oil become known the industry will assume great impor tance. But the olive oil growers are meeting with the same prejudice that was formerly felt against California wines. People were persistent in their preference for the adulterated logwood and vinegar concoctions that were imported from France rather than the pure grape juice from California, and even now more California wine* are sold in London thau in any city in the United States. The olive was introduced into Cali fornia by the Franciscan friars, the first tree being planted at the San Diego mission about the middle of the last century. The Californians like the natural or black olives, which they consider as an article of food rather thau a relish. When ripe all olives are purple black, but the curing proc ess cau fix that color or change it to the familiar shade of green that is borne by imported fruit. The yield of an olive tree varies with its age. When eight years old it will produce about 100 pounds of olives, from which about one and one-half gallon* of oil may be extracted. toMM In Brittle. An old friend sends a clipping re lating to Mr. Alexander Sutherland's article in the Nineteenth Century ou ; the question of war being on the de : cline. The conclusion is that the loss ; of life in Europe by war during the present ceitury does not exceed one per annum out of every 10,000 of the population, whereas one in 100 would be a low estimate of similar deaths in the Europe of 1000 years ago.— New York Press. [FOR FARM AND GARDEN.] \rwWW-WWW WWV'WWWr Coarse Sandy Soils Unprofitable. Professor King's experiments de monstrate quite conclusively that sandy soils, no matter iiow rich they may be in plant food,must remain un productive where the ground water is uot near the surface and where good ihowers do not fall at regular iuter rals or where irrigation is not prac ticed. On Growing Horn*. Horns as head ornaments for bulls are now considered useless and dan gerous. The conditions existing in their wild state which required them for weapons of self-defense no longer obtain, hence a smooth poll is pre ferred, which can be obtained by nse Df a polled bull, or by use of stick caustic potash applied to the embryo corn when the calf is a few . days old by first wetting the button or young born and then rubbing with potash antil burned sufficiently to kill it— that is kill the horn, not the calf. — Homestead. One Idea of Feeding. It is pretty well established that the quality of a cow's milk cannot be im proved as far as butter fat is con cerned by feeding —that is, when the cow is being fed as she should to give the best results as to quality: but there is one thing noticeable, aud that is, under the action of the very best of food the cow's posterity will be a de cided improvement on the mother, so this proves that good cows, together with good feeding, will gradually and surely make an improvement in the herd, no matter what its present standard is, whether it be high or low. Of course, for such a thing to happen, everything must be favorable to it.—'l he Weekly Witness. America's Yellow Poultry. It is an odd fact that the great American poultry consuming public is gieatly prejudiced in favor of the yellow-legged, yellow-fleshed fowl. That it is merely a matter of fashion or fad, is amply proved by the fact that in all other countries the prefer ence is giveu to the white-meated birds. France is recognized as authority upon th? edible qualities of all the foods devotsd to the use of man, aud in that sunny laud the Hou dan stands pre-eminent. They have been bred for generations for the ex press purpose of use as a table deli cacy. They are a bird of medium weight and large breast pre tominauce; being small boned aud fine fleshed, with a small amount of offal, they are a profitable carcass for the consumer to purchase. In the great Paris mar kets huge piles of dressed Houdan and La Pleche fowls can be seen at the numerous stalls. These are reared in small flocks by the villagers adja cent to the city, and sold to profes sional dealers who make the daily or weekly tours. —Inland Poultry. Two Uncommon Apple Pests. According to Professor Lowe, there are two iusects which are quite similar to the apple-tree tent-caterpillar in appearance or lnibils and which may do damage in 1110 orchards, though not usually so abundantly as this species. The forest tent-caterpillar ordinarily feeds in the woods upon the inaple, but frequently mingles with hs relatives in the orchards and is dis tinguishable from them only by a few minor characteristics. The egg-masses are similarly placed, but are cut off squarely at the ends, instead of being somewhat slopiug, us are those o r the apple-tree caterpillar. This is caused by the eggs in the enil rows of the bunch, as well as those in the centre, being placed upright; while the end rows of the lirst described masses are iucliued. The tents are more delicate aud less conspicuous, and are fre quently lacking; the caterpillars have a row of diamond-shaped white spots along the back iustead of a single white line; and the parallel bands across tin wings of the moths are dark rather than white, and the space between the lines is darker. The fall web worm makes a tent in the fall—not in the spring—which in cludes the leaves upon which the caterpillais feed; these latter pupate in the fall and pass the winter in the cocoons. The moths which are white or slightly flecked with color, emerge in the spring. Fruit Beetle* and Borers. Fruit beetles and borers naturally do a great amount of damage in all fruit growing sections. Professor J. M. Stedmau in Bulletin 44 of the Missouri experiment station says that the bark beetle is rapidly increasing in Missouri aud that it infests plum, cherry, apri cot, nectarine, peach, apple, pear and quince trees. The damage is caused by the adult beetles making minute holes through the bark. The eggs are deposited iu these aud the larvae bur row just beueath the tough bark, de stroying the layer of new cells and killing the brauehes above the injury. Unhealthy trees are attacked lirst, but oven the more vigorous are liable to become infested. The pest is difficult to control, but may be held iu check if attention is given to removing every part of the infested tree ind burning at once, keeping the trees iu healthy, vigorous condition by cultivation and fe tiliza tion, covering tho trnuk aud large limbs with some repellaut solution, applying to the smaller limbs by means of a force pump and to the larger by means of a whitewash The l>e»t wash is made by dissolving as much common washing soda as pos siblo in six gallons of soft water and the i adding ono gallon of sbft soap, OJO pint of crudo carbolic acid and mixing thoroughly. Slake two pounds of lime i" two gallons water, filter and add the li lie water to the above mix ture. 'lO all this add one-half pound of paris green and mix thoroughly. The wash may be made ' thicker by adding lime. The same treatment will answer for borers on any kind of trees. A wash made iu this mu.iner is not expensive, is easily applied ami very effective.—New England Home stead. Tillage and Productivity. There is nothing like good tillage to bring out the full productivity of the soil. This fact should never be lost sight of, although in the discussion of fertilizers all the importance is gen erallj' attached to them. No soil,how ever rich, can do a tithe of its duty unless good, intelligent tillage is giveu to it each season. Cultivation must begin early and eontiuue late. The more the soil can be turned ovei aud pulve ized the more will its pro ductivity be increase 1. Tillage for the sake of improving the soil should be the motto more than cultivation to keep down the weeds. The latter is often the extent to which many farm ers go, for when the weeds are killed they consider their duty doue. A recent examination of the soils showed that there were vast quanti ties of plant food in them that their owners had never dreamed of. They had been indifferently cultivated for years, aud their owners classed them as medium soils, neither very good nor very bad. Some of these soils were remarkably rich in nitrogen aud potash, and yet they did not begin to yield the results obtained from soils dressed with these commercial fertili zers. What was the difference? Sim ply that the potash and nitrogen in the soil were uot in an immediate available condition, while in the com mercial fertilizers they were. The soil needed good tillage to develop the potash aud nitrogen so the plants could immediately take them up. That is about the case with all of our soils. They need cultivation to bring out their possibilities, and to make the potash aud nitrogen immedi ately available. More than this, good cultivation improves the mechanical conditions of the soil so that it per forms its functions much better. Most soils are not in a lit couditiou natural ly for our fine cultivated plants to thrive in, and they need good treat ment to prepare them as seed beds. Many are so thick that there is no drainage, and the plants suffocate or drown in them. Good cultivation breaks up the soil, pulverizes it and enables the water to percolate prop erly through it to the subsoil. Thus good tillage is essential to successful farming, and is as important to the soil itself as to the plants.—W. E. Farmer, in American Cultivator. Disease* of Sweet Potatoes. According to Professor Townsend of the Maryland station all the dis eases of the sweet potato are produced by small pa'-asitic plants cilled fungi. A fungus is composed ot two parts, viz., vegetative and reproductive. The vegetative part is composed of thread like structures which are hollow, and which grow in or on the tissues of the diseased plants. The reproductive part consists of small, round or elon gated bodies, called spores, which have the ability under favorable con ditions to produce new fungi. The spores are produced in different ways by different fungi, and some of the fungi are aide to produce spores iu several different ways. Some spores are much more resistant than others aud are capable of retaining their vi tality for several years if the condi tions for germination and growth are not favorable. Black rot —Both stem and root li able to be attacked by this disease. Causes the diseased part to turn black, as the name signifies. May attack the young sets iu the bed or it may not appear until the plants are in the field. The remedy is to discard all diseased sets, spray with Bordeaux mixture if au attack is feared and not plant in the same held where disease appeared last season. Soil rot—Attack is confined to the roots and tubers, giviug tho appear ance to thom of a string of beads of irregular size and shape. Treat tho soil with sulphur four hundred pounds to the acre, sowed broadcast and worke 1 iu. To tho sulphur may be added with advantage the same amount of kainit, also rotate crops. Soft rot—Attacks tubers, usually after they are stored. Tubers shrivel, lilack masses v;heu skin is broken and disagreeable oc'or. Avoid bruising the tubers, store in dry places at a temperature of about seventy degrees, remove and burn diseased timers as soon as they begin to decay. Stem rot —Dark lines appear on the stem just at the ground. Vine turns yellow, then black throughout, unless rooted at some node, beyond which it re mains green. Disease extends down ward, and causes upper part of tuber to decay. Short shoots from partly decayed tubers. Rotate crops and use only vigorous sets. White rot —Attncks tubers only, giviug them a white, chalky appear ance. Hotate crops and use only vig orous sets. Dry rot —Attacks underground parts only,giviug to them a wrinkle I,pimply appearance. Interior of deceased tubers becomes dry and powdery. Gather aud burn all diseased roots at the time the crop is harvested. Scurf —Attacks underground portion only, giving to them a rough, brown ish, and sometimes a shriveled ap pearance. Discard all diseased tubers in producing sets aud rotate crops. Leaf Mold—Leaves become sii-kly, brown spots appear upon their uppei surfaces, aud white spots upon th« nnder surface. Destroy all reated weeds. Spray with Bordeaux mix ture. A TEMPERANCE COLUMN THE DRINK EVIL MAO- MANIFEST. IN MANY WAYS. Dow My Bnjr Went Down—What Con* Tinted • Kiimnut Editor That a Clear Mind and Liquor Do Not Go Together —A. Terrible Example. It wns not on the field of bnttle, It was not with 11 ship at sea. But a fate far worse than either That stole him away from me. 'Twas the death in the tempting dram That the reason and senses drown; He drank the alluring poison, And thus my boy weut down. Down from the heights of manhood To the depths of disgrace and sin; Down to a worthless thing, From the hope of what might have been# For the brand of a beast besotted He bartered his manhood's crown, Through the gate of a sinful pleasure My poor, weak boy went down. 'Tis only the same old story That mothers so often tell, With accents of infinite sadness, Like the tones of a funeral boll: But I neverthousrht.once, when I heard tC, i should learn all its meaning mvsolf; I thought he'd be true to his mother, I thought he'd be true to himself. But alas for my hopes, all delusion! Alas for his youthful prldel Alas! who are safe when danger Is open on every side? Oh, can nothing destroy tills great evil? No bar In its puthway be thrown, To save from the terrible maelstrom The thousund.s of boys going down? —National Advocate. Masters Made Slaves. Edward \V. Bok, of tlie Ladles' Home Journal, says: "One thing that led me to make up my mind never to touch liquor was the ruin which I saw it bring to some of the finest minds with which I have ever come Into contact. I have seen, even In my few years of professional life, some of the smartest literary men dethroned from splendid positions, owing to nothing else but theirinduigence in wine. I have known men with salaries of thousands of dollars a year como to beggarv from drink. Only recently there applied to me for any position I could offer him one of the most brilliant editorial writers in the newspaper profession—a man who two years ago eas ily commanded one hundred dollars for a single editorial in his special Held, That man became so unreliable from drink that editors are now afriad of his articles, and, although he can to-day write as forcible editorials as at any time during his life, he sits In a cellar in one of our cities writing newspaper wrappers for one dollar per thousand. That Is only one Instance of several I could recite. Ido not hold my friend up as a 'terrible example.' He is but one of a type of men who convince I me, and may convince others, that a clear mind and liquor do not go together. "I know it is said when one brings up sucli an instance as this: 'Oh! well, that man drank to excess. One glass will not hurt anyone.' How do these people know that it will not? One drop of kerosone has been known to throw into flame an almost hopeless fire, and one glass of liquor may fan into flame a smoldering spark hidden away where we never thought it existed. The spark may be there and it may not be. Why take the risk? Liquor will never do a healthy boy or young man the least particle of good; it may do him harm. A man who will wittingly tempt a young man whom he knows bas a principle against liquor Is a man for whom a halter is too good. "Then, as I looked round and came to know more of people and things, I found the always unanswerable argument In favor of a young man's abstinence; that is, that the Biost successful men in America to-dny are those who never lift a wineglass to their Hps. Becoming interested in this fact, I had the curiosity to inquire per sonally Into it; I found that of twenty eight of the leading business men in the country, whose names I selected at ran dom, twenty-two never touch a drop of wine. I made up tnv mind that there was some reason for this. If liquor brought safe pleasures, why did these men abstain from it? If, as some say, It is a stimulant to a busy man, why do not these men, directing the largest business Interests In this country, resort to It? And when I saw that these were the men whose opinions In great business matters were accepted by the leading concerns of the world, I con cluded that their judgment In the use of liquor would satisfy me. If their judg ment In business matters could command the respect and attention of the leaders of trade on both sides of the sea, thoir de cisions as to the use of liquor was not apt to be wrong." Reformed in a Cnrlons Way. Reforms are wrought in many and curious ways, but seldom in u strangor manner than that in which a certain drunkard was sobered. This man had wandered at midnight Into a low saloon. He gave his order, and then leaned against tho bar for support. A man standing near by took from one pocket nn addressed envelope, and from another a stamp, which be moistened with his tongue. Instead of adhering to tho en velope, as the man intended, the stamp slipped from his lingers and fluttered to the floor. The tippler saw it fall, and staggered for ward to pick it up. Just as he was about to grasp it, the stamp darted in a zigzag course toword the side wall, like a scared thing. Filled with astonishment, the drinker drew back nnd intently watched the bit of paper, which, upon reaching the wall, began to ascend. As it ascended, the tippler's face grew more Intent, his body more rigid. He -aw nothing but the mysterious, moving tiling. His mind was soggy from years of cease less drinking. He thought that the ani mated stamp was a warning. At the top of the wainscoting the stamp stopped, squntted as if for a moment's rest before ascending higher, and then made a dart toward the tippler's haggard face. The trembling sot saw it stop, saw it hesi tate, and loap. He was unquestlonnlly doomed If he con tinued longer to drink to excess; the stamp had been given life to warn lilru. So it seemed to him. With a pitiful yell of foar and determination, he rushed from the saloon. From that eventful night until he died, In prosperous circumstances, recently, tho man never swallowed a drop of liquor. The moistened stamp had fallen unoa a cockroach's back, and stuck there.—Kausas Cltv Star. The tlattle In Ohio. The Anti-Saloon League is making itself strongly felt in Ohio. Last year it dis tributed large quantities of temperance literature, held tbousauds of temperance agitation meetings, and was instrumental In closing the snloons In forty-four town ships and towns. Moreover, through its influence there are many towns in which the liquor laws are better enforced lhan ever before. Notes ol the Crneade. Saloons are veritable pest houses, whoso presence is a menace .to all progress an ! civilization. In Navftjo County, Arlzonn, covering an area of 10,000 square miles, there are only nine saloons. Oood ooffee will gradually destrov liking for alcohol. In Brazil, where coffee is grown extensively, and the inhabitants drink it many times a uay, intoxication is rarely seen. So long as the licensed saloons are per* mltted to sell spirits to anyone, so long will crime, disease and pauperism exist. It Is cause and effect a 8 clearly as nay opera tion of nature.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers