Last year the farmers of the Ul States received $185,000,000 more 4 their products than in 1899. If the habit of making these colossal bequests continues, private fortunes will become more and more a public snap. An attempt to prove war impossible vill never result in the abolition of war. There is, however, a growing belief that war is always impolitic. The convict who has been released because of his claim that he- has dis coverd the lost art of hardening cop per has probably mistaken that metal for brass. Many a woman would possibly feel discouraged did she realize that she carried from 40 to 50 miles of hair on her head and that some of them are burdened with the task of dressing aver 70 miles of hair every day of their lives. An international congress is pro jected, to be held shortly at Berne, Switzerland, at which an amendment is to be offered to the Geneva conven tion, to provide for the. Immunity from capture of surgeons and their attend ants serving on the field of battle un der the Red Cross. Common humanity suggests its adoption. One of the results of the Smith Afri can war has been the organization of rifle clubs in Great Britain on the Boer plan, to teach every man capable of carrying arms how to shoot at long range and to detect objects at long distances. These clubs are organized by field cornets, ana all members are on an equal footing in service, irre spective of their status in society. About a year ago the Hawaiian gov ernment undertook to burn up some plague infected buildings, and in so doing set fire to the local Chinatown, - thus sewing the seed of a crop of claims now nearly ready for harvest ing A million and a half was apro priated to meet them, but they al ready exceed $5,000,000 and are still coming in. It is a new role for John Chinaman to appear in, but as a de butant it is not to be denied that he shows considerable talent. The growing importance of commerce on the Pacific is indicated by the chart ing of "lanes" for steamers crossing that ocean. Such lanes have ftecn established for many years Setween Europe and America and have greatly diminished the risks of collision. There is still danger of collision of steamers with sailing ships, especially in the foggy region gff the Newfoundland coast, but such vessels know when they are in one of the steamship lanes and take extra precautions to avoid danger. Hitherto the steamers on the Pacific have been so few that no official action has been deemed necessary, autliougii the courses usually taken have been fairly well understood by all shipmasters. This is largely, perhaps essentially, an ultilitarian age, but that Is no rea son why the esthetic and beautiful should be ignored in government buildings and parks. Very recently Mr. Frederic Harrison, one of the leading English men of letters, visited Washington and spoke in high terms of the beauties of the cap ital of its possibilities in the future. Europeans who come to the United States and visit Washington compare it most favorably with the capitals of the old world. The United States is the youngest of the great powers in the world, but it is not too young to make its capital city take rank in architectural beauty with those of nations which were well advanced in years before this republic was born. Few people, probably, appreciate the importance of the apple crop in the United States. In value it exceeds even the wheat crop. Last year, for instance, the apple crop was 215,000,- 000 barrels, or 538,000,000 bushels. At a base of $2 a barrel, which is consid ered a conservative estimate, the crop netted $430,000,000, or nearly $107,- 000,000 more than the value of the wheat. On a percentage basis the apple crop reaches nearly 50 percent more than the wheat. Our export ol apples in the barrel exceeds 4,000,000 barrels a year, and is increasing enor mously. Our apples have a fixed value from Liverpool to St. Petersburg, and last year shippers to foreign ports ex perienced considerable difficulty in supplying the demands. This trade had grown for several years, but took an enormous bound after the Pari? exposition, owing to the fine American display and the manner arid energy In which American fruit-growers pre sented the merits of the American annle R south produces as much Iron as •e and more than 35 percent of >ll of either Germany or England. • The Czar of Russia has named ilia infant daughter Anastasla. That's a mean way of getting even with her for not being a boy. Coal is found over wide areas in India, and is being rapidly exploited, bast year there was an increase in production of 40 percent and exporta tion has now begun. The city of Washington now has SO,OOO trees within its limits, and the work of planting is going on in a sys tematic manner that should be copied by other American cities. A very rich man in New York City copied his will from an instrument :hat had stood the test in court, and then secured the assurance of eminent authorities that it would hold. Never theless the lawyers have hopes. A large emigration of peasants from southern Russia to eastern Siberia is noted as one of the results of the open ing of the Transsiborian railway Dur ing the first three months of the cur rent year about 3000 emigrants sailed thence from Odessa. The success of the recent experi ment made by a Philadelphia tug mat ter in towing two loaded coal barges from the Delaware to Havana prom- 1 ises a growth of the export coal trade to the West Indies which 13 en- | couraging. Hitherto the chronic swell off Cape Hateras has deterred a ven- i ture of this sort, but, the trip once j easily made, many other towns may be j expected to follow in the wake of this i courageous Philadelphia captain. According to the Journal of Com merce the growth of tiie cottonseed industry has been in such a ratio that now the aggregate investment is very j large, and the progress bids fair to ' continue. Twenty years ago, in 1880, j the cotton seed oil mills of the south 1 numbered' 40, with a capitalization of about $3,500,000. T;ie investment had increased in 1890 to about $12,500,000. Today the mills number about 500, with an aggregate capital of about $50,000,000. The professor of English at Williams college reports that he put test ques tions to 40 sophomores of that insti tution to ascertain the extent nnd character of their reading. He found that 10 could not mention six plays of j Shakespeare, that 34 could not tell who FalstafT was, that 35 ccv.ld not | name a single poem of Wordsworth'? or Browning's and that 14 could not tell who wrote "In Memorium." Per haps a society to encourage the read ing of standard literature by college undergraduates would do good. In the Chicago Record-Herald, Wil liam E. Curtis observes that England's j weakest spot is her inability to feed her own people. She must buy theii bread and meat, which not only drains her of vast sums of money which should be paid to lo< >1 labor, bill makes her dependent upon foreign neighbors in time <rf war. This sug gests that we ought to remember how deeply we are interested in her pros perity. While we may feel a gratifi cation in our own advancement, every- j thing that affects her purchasing power is of vital importance to us, She is our best customer. She fur nishes the largest markets for oui farmers and. although we must com pete with her mechanics wherever we goto sell our manufactured merchan dise —in Asia. Africa or South Amer ica—we must still feed the mouths of our rivals. Invention has done a vast deal to better the condition of the farmer, but comparatively little for the farm er's wife. Indeed, the very multipli cation of the possibilities for employ ing men in great, numbers on a single holding, through the development of improved implements and machinery, has seemed only to render heavier the load which the head of the domes, tic establishment must carry. A Kan sas man lias at last devised a scheme for diminishing the labor of the farm er's wife. His plan is to introduce bakeries and steam laundries in well populated neighborhoods, so that, when the harvest season 'alls for a great Increase in the number of men employed in the tields. they may be fed and cared for without the strain upon the women in the household that is now involved. The projector be lieves that there institutions can be run successfully by thp farmers on the co-operative basis, and this shoulj make the men all the readier to try an experiment which the women must certainly welcome. J ON HER OWN RESPONSIBILITY. J BY GRACE S. RICHMOND. "Two tens, four fives, five ones, and five dollars in change. Thirty in the envelope, fifteen in the pocket-book, and five in my purse. Five cents for car-fare; round-trip ticket, one dollar ten. That leaves three eighty-five in the purse." It was extremely difficult for her not to give expression to her happiness by a dance down the car-aisle. But she sat demurely enough in the last seat in the car, and set down her ac counts in a small blank book, with a hand which trembled only a very lit tle with excitement. At one of the suburban stations of the great city a bright-eyed young fel low with a strapful of school-books came aboard the train, and at once espying his cousin dropped into the seat beside her with a hearty greet ing of surprise and pleasure. "This is luck!" he said, glancing approvingly at the trim figure in blue serge, with a sailor hat set atop of abundant smooth braids of fair hair. "Going in for the day? Where's Aunt Esther?" "I'm all alone, Stuart," explained Ihe girl. "I'm going shopping." "Good; then you are in for the day. Say, Amy, want to see the game this afternoon? You can get your errands done in time if you hurry. It's going to bo a good one, our team against the Leonard Preparatory boys, you know. I'm full-back myself, and have to play, but I can get you a seat and see that you have some nice people to chum with." ' "Why, I'd like togo ever so much," said Amy, "but," doubtfully, "I'm afraid I sha'n't get through in time. You see, I've lots to do." "What, for instance, if you uon't mind telling?" asked Stuart, wonder ing within himself, for he knew the very limited means usually at the com mand of any member of his uncle's family. "I'm going away to school, and. per haps, next year to college," began Amy, unable to keep the great se cret back another moment. "The dickens you are! Good for you!" "yes, it's decided at last. An.l >Oll see, mother isn't well, and I've all my things to get myself. It's a great re sponsibility," she added, laughing hap pily, "for,"in a whisper, "I never had so much money to spend in my life before. I've fifty dollars," sho could not help telling him, in answer to the unasked question in her cousin's face. "Well, that is a lot," he said, polite ly, although his mental comment was. 'l'll wager my sisters spend that on ranuy and flowers every winter. Where do you go first?" he asked, with fcterest. "Mother likea Williams & Mcln tyre's," said Amy. "But don't you think Collingwood has the nicest things?" "Collingwood is bang-up," admitted Stuart, "but the girls say he's expen sive. Those 'exclusive styles' people jsually are. Ever try Dearborn's on Wachusett street? We fellows all go :here for neckties and golf stockings, we think it's a third cheaper, and 1 ran't see but their stuff is as goon as Woodruff and Carleton's, the swell furnishers. You might look in there." "I will," promised Amy, "for I want to use every cent to advantage." "You won't forget the game." urged Stuart, as they left the train. "I'll meet you at Stannard's drug-store at 2 o'clock, but I can't wait much if you're not on time, you know. Don't miss it. Let a few flummydiddles go and keep your date with me, if you want to see us do up the Leon. Preps, in great shape. Oh. we won't, do a thing to them—oh no! Well, so long. Amy. Two sharp, remember." Amy knew the best shopping dis trict of the city fairly well, and de cided to take a route that would allow her to pass all th e most attractive shops on her way to Wachusett street. She walked rapidly until she came to Collingwood's, but there, in spite of herself, she paused. The fascination of the preat windows, Riled by th»- mo.it accomplished window-dresser in the city, was too great to be with stood. "There's no harm at all in looking here," she said to herself. "Indeed, it's a good plan; for if I should lind just what I want, 1 might be able to duplicate it at some cheaper place," a delightful fallacy, by the way, which has been the undoing of many an old shopper. She looked at her list. "Mother said I ought to get the street gown first," she murmured. "But oh. those lovely things for evening! And she admitted I must have at least a pretty waist to wear with my old' blue silk skirt. How I would like a whole dress of that thin stuff! We could make it up over the blue —I don't be lieve it would cost much more." "Three dollars a yard, miss." said the saleswoman, as Amy pointed to a filmy, pale blue fabric dotted with white silk sprigs, anu Amy slipped away as fast as possible. "I won't even look at evening materials." she assured herself, "until i have decided on the thick gown. I must remember how father and mother have denied themselves to give me this outti,'. I'll shut my eyes as I go past the silks and organdies. But she could not do this literally, and the seductive display in the next aisle simply flaunted its daintiness and charming color at her as she passed. She turned her head ever so lightly, and was lost. Draped most artistically over a crush of delicat.;' blue silk was the sheerest of white organdies, with little wreaths of blue forget-me-nots scattered between silvery stripes. As if they could not help it, Amy's feet turned aside from the the path toward the woolen suitings. "Eighty-five cents," said the sales man, as Amy hung over the exquisite material. "It's a per fect thing, and one of our exclusive styles—you won't find it anywhere else. The pattern isn't even dupli cated in any other background. Now this rose pattern, as you see, we have in green, pmk, white and' blue, but the forget-me-not only in the white. It's very choice. "How much a yard did' you say?" asked Amy, feeling as if she could never turn away from the counter, yet saying to herself that she must be gone. "Twelve seventy-five the pattern, miss, 15 yards. You need that now for a dress, we don't sell less. It should be made up with the ruffles, you see," he handed her a fashion plate, "each ruffle edged with the blue velvet rib bon. I'll show you." And before Amy could protest he had sent a messen ger to the ribbon counter, and had thrown several y&rds of narrow velvet of the forget-me-not blue upon the folds of the organdie. The combina tion was most effective. Amy's heart began to beat very rapidly. "I couldn't aTord the ribbon, for it would take dozens of yards," she calculated, rapidly, "but —oh. of course I can't buy It —" An elegantly gowned woman, accom panied by a young daughter, came suddenly to the counter beside Amy. "O mamma!" cried the girl, "did you ever see anything so swell and so sweet as that forget-me-not stuff? Do get that!" Another salesman stepped up and threw the dainty folds Into a new po sition. "Twelve seventy-five the pat tern, Mrs. Goodale," he said, impres sively. "Exqtiiste thing, one of Mal lard's, you know his. Our man got the exclusive sale of it, it's not to be duplicated' anywhere. Nothing could be better suited to your daughter's stylo." The daughter had fair hair and long-lashed blue eyes. So had Amy. Amy looked at the salesman. He was smiling significantly, without looking at her. Amy's cheeks flushed, and ■she leaned forward over the counter. "Mrs. Goodale" had laid a possessive hand upon the organdie. Amy spoke quickly, in a low tone. "I think I will take it." Ehe snl.l. But once outside. "I've been a goose already," she thought, ruefully. "That dress is a dear, but I know mother will say I couldn't afford' It. She thinks it is vulgar to have a girl's party things elaborate while her every day clothes are shabby. Well, it can't be helped now. and I'm not sure that I want to help it. But, Amy Brentwood, do keep a grip on your pocket-book for the rest of the day." It was a most resolute and practical young shopper who sat dovn before the Dearborn display of winter dress goods. Being now on strict economy bent, to atone for the purchase of the orgaudie, she was in danger of at tempting to suit herself with goods of too little durability and worth. For tunately the man at this counter chanced to be an honest old Scotsman with daughters of his own, and when he detected the anxiety in the flushed young face, be set himself to help his customer secure the best possible value for her money. He won her confi dence, an.l site accepted his judg ment thankfully, so the dress was soon satisfactorily disposed of and Amy's purse was but $7 the lighter. The finding of a coat to be worn harmoniously with the dress took long er. and when, after searching through many "cloak departments," Amy fin ally paid sll for the only'thing she thought would do at all. she was thor oughly weary. Time was flying fast, and if she kept her appointment with Stuart she must not stop for lunch. So she ordered a cup of hot chocolate in a confectioner's shop, and while she waited for it made up her ac counts. They stood thus: Street, car and round trip ticket $ 1.15 Organdie, 12.75 Cloth dress 7.00 Coat, 11.00 Chocolate, .10 $32.00 This left a balance of $lB. Amy's courage rose. "I believe lam redeem ing myself," she thought. She went about her smaller purchase cheerfully, buying a pair of heavy walking shoes nt $2, and two pairs of 40-cent stock ings, with a most virtuous sense of being a wise and careful shopper. Still these expenditures reduced her balance to sls and twenty cents, anu she groaned in spirit aeain. "How it does melt. a"-ay!" she sighed. "And there are the handker chiefs. and the gloves, and my school waists yet to get. It did seem as if SSO would d-~ so much. A window filled with a fascinating display of French millinery caught her eye. The hat must be made sure of if she had to do without some other things, she decided, and — "I'll just look around here a little," •she said to herself,, "though I certainly can't spend more than s.">." She went in, and was at once borne down upon by one of thoso modlshly attired, pleasantly attentive milliner's assistants who are responsible for so many depleted purses. The very first hat she set upon Atn.*'s blonde head, after a moment's careful study of the deep blue eyes and fair complexion, following the girl's announcement, "I am looking for something to wear with a brown suit," was a little creation of the milliner's art which made Amy catch her breath as she looked at her self. Surely nothing so pretty had ever rested upon the head 3 of her weallhy young cousins, although they fairly revelled in dainty head-gear. "It suits mauemoiselle exquisitely well," commented the woman. "It is admirable, perfect, I would not change it a particle. I can allow other hats, visions of beauty, but nothing so adapted to mademoiselle's charming style." Amy surveyed herself at evfiry angle in th e cleverly arranged mirrors, her cheeks rosy with pleasure. "It is so small and plain it can't be expensnve," she thought, and asked the price. "Fifteen dollars, mademoiselle," said the woman, "and ridiculously cheap at that, for it is a French hat, a Camille Roger, see?" she displayed the lining. "It costs far more than that, but it is so simple it suits only the refined taste, and few have that, so it has been passed by. Madame but yesterday lowered the price, say ing it was strange that such a gem of art remained unsold." It was Amy's first experience, and the words had weight with her. It seemed out of the question at first to ray so much, when so many things were yet to be bought, but —ought she to let such a bargain slip? Her head whirled with arguments for and against the purchase. The idea of ordering a hat copied in less expansive materials and dispensing with the French trademark, a luxury most un important to a schoolgirl, .lid not oc cur to her. Still, if the saleswoman had left her alone for a moment, it is possible that the girl's judgment would have tallied even then, but sales women rarely do leave their victims alone at critical moments, and it hap pened to Amy as to many wiser buyers that, with a figure waiting at her side, and a pair of cooly observant eyes upon her. her power of impartial de cision was gone. It was in quite an unfamiliar voice that she heard herself saying, seem ingly without her own consent. "I will take the hat." She hurried along the pavements, af ter paying the fifteen dollars, —it left but twenty cents in her purse—feeling as guilty as if she had stolen the money. "I wonder when mother has had a new bonnet," she thought. "Oh, what is the matter with me? I seem perfectly paralyzed when one of that sort of clerks gets hold' of me. What am I going to do without gloves or handkerchiefs, and I never can make my old school waists respectable for going away!" "Well, you're a good one," cried a gay voice in her ear. "Where do you think yon are? You're five blocks from Stannard's. I gave you up ten mnutes ago. Did you miss Saunders street, or didn't you mean to meet me after all?" Stuart was rushing her along at a great pace, giving her no chance to explain that the was tireu and did not care for the football game after all. He had her on board of an electric car in a twinkling and was smiling at her from the platform, where he made one of a mass of young fellows in col lege and preparatory-school colors, who kept the car lively with their fun. He wondered why his usually bloom ing cousin looked so pale, but reflected wisely that shopping seemed to be tre mendously hard on the women in spite of their being so fonu of it. Amy never clearly knew how she spent the next two hours. At any other times she would have considered the chance of seeing one of Stuart's much-talked-of games the greatest pleasure that could come her way. To day she sat listlessly upon the hard seat, with the people under whose wing Stuart had placed her, and thought of her day's experiences straight through one of the most ex citing games of the season. "Wasn't it glorious?" exulted Stuart, as he met her after the game, looking all colors and damp with perspiration, but radiant with joy over the victory of his own team. "Think of it —six to nothing over those braggarts! I tell you, our men were fit to the hour, ev ery fellow of them. It wasn't quite such a walkover as we expected, though. Their forwards did splendid work; it was their back-fielders lost them the game. Wasn't that a beau tiful puat of Thorpe's down the side lines? Maybe you didn't notice that forty-yard run I made?" he added, modestly. "Oh yes, it was splendid!" Amy agreed, trying to remember the play in question. Something in her voice made Stuart look curiously at her, but only the side of a pale cheek was turned toward him. "Something's up." he thought. "I won't bother her with football jargon—she's tired. Funny, though," he considered, as he put her abroad the car for the return trip, she's such a girl for her wheel and any sport, I shouldn't think a morning's shopping could do her up." By the time the car reached their train, Stuart had talked off his enthus- I iasm over the game with the crowd on I the car. and was ready to give his 1 cousin his serious attention. As the train drew out of the dark station into the western sunlight he observed that Amy's eyes were full of tears. He bought an afternoon paper of the train boy, and unfolding it held wide-spread, ■ affecting to read as 'he carefully | screened his companion from observa ! tion. After a time he asked' gently: "Isiiet —er —anything I could help about. Amy?" The answer was a genuine little sob, wheh Stuart fervently hoped nobody heard. Presently a tremulous voice -riurmured. "O Stuart, vou won't under stand, but I must tell. I've been so foolish and so extravagant. I 1 "Fire away," whispered Stuart, en couragingly, but it was some time be fore she could speak. The train was approaching Stuart's suburban station before he had the whole story. Then he had to talk fast. "See here, puss." he said', "I don't think you've been extravagant—Jove! —when I think what 1 spend. But I know how you feel, and I see you'J rather be shot than wear that liat and that forget-me-not thing. Now, I'll tell you. You know Lydia and Nell think the world of clothes—more than they ought to, and more than likely they'd fancy these of yours. If they don't I'll send 'em back to you—l will —I swear it. Now let me have 'em, will you? I expect the fellows 'll howl to see me carrying that bandbox," he thought, "but no matter —I'll make the girls keep mum, except to mother," he declared, "and nobody but Aunt Esther need ever know. Here we are, is it. a go?" "O Stuart," whispered Amy, grate fully, "you are so good! But please, please don't let the girls take them unless they truly want them. Oh. I hope he won't hurt that hat," she breathed, a moment later, smiling through her tsars, as Stuart waved the frail bandbox at her, from the back seat of a rapidly receding trap, driven by two pretty girls. "By tomorrow I shall hear," she told her mother, when the conference was over, the bundles opened, and the sensible purchases approved. But she had not even to sleep upon her trou bles, for before bedtime a telegram arrived. "The blessed boy," cried Amy, as she read the brief but comforting mes sage: "Bargain satisfactorily concluded. Will send check tomorrow. Everybody happy. Congratulations. Stuart Brent wood." QUAINT AND CURIOUS. The sugar can was introduced into America soon after the discovery, and its cultivation rapidly spread over all those parts of the new world adaptoc' to its growth. It has been calculated that 1,250,- 000,000 pints of tea are imbibed each year by the Londoners, and some fel low with a turn for figures has figured out that if it was all brewed at one time the teapot would be big enough to take in St. Paul's cathedral. On the recent adjournment day in the California legislature a military band was blaring in the gallery, a col ' ored boy danced th e cake walk, one i speaker pro tem used a hatchet as a : gavel and another emphasized his rul ings with shots from a revolver. The latest fad among rich women of England is to have a silver model of their pet dogs and cats. The model is.* made small for an ornament while trie pet is alive, or after its death a life size and exact model is made of silver, and this takes the place of the stuffed and mounted pet formerly popular. The first Boston ferryboat began to ply over the line that is now followed by the Chelsea ferry 200 years ago. Since that time, in fair weather and ; foul, through ice and fogs and storms, i the boats have regularly continued to j cross the harbor. None of them has ever met with serious disaster, such as happens not infrequently in New- York harbor. The cinematograph for the blind !? a machine which passes under the fingers of the blind a series of reliefs representing the same object in differ ent positions—the branch of a tree, a bird or any other object. The blind person has the illusion of moving ! scenes, just as photographs passing j over a luminous screen lend the illu sion to those with sight. Silk was first used in China for writ j ing purposes in the third century B. C., I and it is still in use for official uocu i ments. Brushes are used for the writ ing, as of course, they are used in China for writing on paper. Silk has also, of course, been used in other countries for especial copies of works of value, but such work 3 are rare, while in China they are comparative ! Iy common. College Mpii In Huslneu. As a rule, great corporations seelc j college men, because, other things | pqual, they will ultimately make better j heads, better leaders; and this, not- I withstanding the fact of the general j impression that college men are not practical. The heads of such institu tions know very well that, if a man ie made of the right kind of material, a college education, although it may tem porarily prevent the development of the practical faculties, enables a man to analyze well and to grasp condi tions very quickly. The greatest draw back to the young graduate is that ho is too full of theories, too near his diploma to be of very great value; but, after the dream of his future greatness has faded a little, and he settles down to business, he will adapt himself very speedily; and, when he I once masters the details of a business, he will make rapid strides toward the top. He has learned in college how to think, how to marshaJ his mental forces; and, when he has learned the different phases of his business and how to apply his knowledge, he will be a stronger man than he would have been, without the higher education. — Success. The plague in India has been practi cally United to the native population, and in Glasgow it was last year limited to the lowest Class of the population.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers