HABIT.
The river curves a channel to the sea.
The channel holds the river in its way.
So Habit carves the course of Destiny.
77c are tomorrow what we will today!
Harper's Bazaar.
: LIONS AND AN AUTOMOBILE.!
[ A South African Sketch.
> BY B. C. BRIOHAM.
It is greatly in favor of the auto
mobile iu South Africa that it is not
Bubjeet to the fatal "horse sickness."
or to the ravages of the tsetse lly. As
yet, however, horseless carriages are
not very numerous there. One of the
Brst was brought into the country by a
young English ranchman, named Al
bert Hill.
In addition to its tank a twenty-gal
lon can of gasoline or oil was trans
ported, which for a time added materi
ally to the weight of the outfit. Hill
himself, however, weighed not more
than 116 pounds; and his entire out
lit. excluding fuel, was kept down to
less than 30 pounds. The young ranch
man possessed the nimbleness which
is one of the advantages of light
weight, and this agility stood him in
good stead, as will be seen.
There were rivers and creeks to be
crossed where there were no bridges.
Hill's method in these exigencies was
to wade across in advance, and pull the
automobile over with a lino.
A little after sunset one evening,
while he was passing beneath some
mabolo trees, a leopard attempted to
drop upon him, but miscalculated his
speed and landed in the road behind.
The animal was as much disgusted,
either with its ill success, or with the
gaseous odor of the machine, that it
sneaked away without further effort
to molest the ranchman.
At another time, while he was pass
ing a swamp which the road skirted, a
buffalo charged out alter him. For
fifty yards it was nearly a drawn race,
when the motor carriage showed the
tetter speed and pulled away.
These, however, were but unimpor
tant incidents, soon over; the real ad
venture of the trip befell Hill after en
tering Mashonaland. He was now in
a tract of country which was remote
from settlers' ranches. At a little
past noon one day he was crossing a
kind of grassy marsh. In the wet sea
son such depressions are shallow lakes,
the shores of which are marked by an
irregular fringe of m'pame trees. The
road was here merely a trail over the
beaten-down grass, but there were
neither stones nor logs to obstruct the
traveler; and the Little Ajax, as Hill
called his small motor carriage, was
puffing forward at a lair rate of speed
and approaching the fringe of wood.
Suddenly the underbrush immediate
ly ahead teemed -with autlered heads,
and the next moment the solitary scout
found himself in the midst of a herd
of duiker-bok, not fleeing from him,
but rushing upon him, running madly
out into the open marsh. As many as
200 of the animals dashed bjf him as
he was passing through the thin fringe
of trees.
In his astonishment at this unex
pected stampede, Hill did not, for the
moment, reflect that the cause of it
must be near at hand; but the cause
disclosed itself promptly. Not forty
yards awaj* stood a number of large
lions that had evidently been stalking
the duiker-bok. He had hardly taken
Ai this startling sight, when he heard
a tremendous roar a little way to the
left, and saw another lion even bigger
lhan the others that had just killed
a buck, and was standing over its prey.
There was no time to unstrap his
carbine, no time for anything. The in
stinct which prompts the locomotive
driver, when he sees a head-on col
lis-ion coming, to shut off and jump, led
Hill to give one convulsive shove at
the steering lever and leap clear of the
vehicle. His idea was to get into the
fringe of timber and climb a tree; but
he had already passed most of the
trees. The nearest was a large old
trunk that had fallen partly over and
lay at an angle of 45 degrees or
less, its top lodged in another smaller
tree which had arrested its fall, and
acted as a prop to bold it up. He made
a dash for this inclined tree, and rap
up 15 or 20 feet to where a large
branch rose certically. Twisting his
body nimbly around this branch. Hill
glanced back to see what the lions
were doing.
Luckily for him, they were being en
tertained by the motor carriage. The
machine was still going, and seemed
fully to occupy their attention as a
new and very dubious sort of game.
The movements of the little automo
bile were somewhat laughable. The
hard shove to left which Hill had
given the steering handle caused the
machine to describe a vagrant circuit
out on the veld beyond the trees.
There were thorn bushes, thin, dry
grass and numbers of stones in the
open; but the Little Ajax was accus
tomed to such obstructions, and
waddled its way merrily over them, de
scribing a circle and coming round
again, as if looking for its master and
loath to leave him behind.
The lions were clearly mystified,
alike from what they saw, heard and
smelled. They backed off and came
round in the rear of the machine, eye
ing it with doijbt and disfavor. Wben
It turned they doubled to the rear of
tt again; and the big lion with the
buck, when he saw it coming in his
direction, seized his prey in his mouth,
and with an angry growl bounded off
»ut of the track of the queer monstros
ity. Then he stood up and roared
Again.
Two of the other lions were not fully
grown. Apparently they did not quite
dare to spring upon the lifelike yet
malodorous creature, but kept follow
ing it, charging close up behirid It at
one moment, then falling back.
The other larger lions or lionesses
squatted at a distance in the gras:: and
watched it.
Stones and bushes were constantly
deflec.ing the direction of the motor
carriage; and before long it ran into
j another larger busta, or clump of
bushes, that brought it to a standstill,
| although it continued puffing and
pushing at the obstruction.
For some time the lions watched it,
but grew listless or indifferent to the
performance, and went out toward the
black-maned lion with the buck.
He was not disposed to divide with
them, and greeted their approach with
menacing growls. All four then
squatted down to watch him with
snarls and envious looks, and Hill now
made the mistake of thinking that he
might get down and possess himself of
his carbine—as he would have togo
no more than 150 feet, and the lions
were now three times that distance
away.
He fancied that the gyrations of the
automobile had caused them to for
get him, if, indeed, they had ever really
noticed his escape.
But descending the inclined tree
trunk slowly proved a more difficult
feat than running up rapidly; when
part way down he slipped and slid to
the ground, making some noise. Re
gaining his feet as nimbly as possible,
he glanced hastily toward the lions—
only to see. to his dismay, that one of
the two young ones had heard or seen
him and was bounding toward him;
also that the other three ~ad started
up and were about to follow.
Nothing remained for it but to make
a dash back up the slanting tree
trunk. When about half-way up he
nearly lost his foothold, and barely
saved himself from tumbling back.
The lion was close upon him. With
an ugly growl it attempted to ascend
the tree-trunk, and thrust up a paw
with extended nails; but it lost ite
footing and fell into the dry grass be
low. A moment later it dashed up the
trunk again, but was not agile enough
to pass the obstructing upright branch,
behind which Hill was sheltering him- j
self.
The lion clung, however, growling
and snarling, with one paw clasped
around the branch. Hill could have
retreated further into the top of the
tree, but he feared that the lion might
work its body around the branch and
effect a lodgment in the top itself. He
had a strong pocket knife, and cutting
a smaller limb for a club, struck the
lion so stiff a blow with it that the ani
mal. tittering a roar, fell to the ground.
Infuriated by the blow, the beast in
stantly charged up a third time; but
Hill had now secured a good hold with
his left hand, and dealt such blows
with his club at the brute's head and
paws that again it leaped to the
ground, roaring and snarling from
baffled rage. Its outcries incited the
others to make an attack; and amidst
a horrible chorus of roars and growls
first one, then another, and soon twc
or three at a time came charging up
the tree-trunk. Only one, however,
could approach the difficult paint or
passage around the upright branch;
and whenever a paw was thrust about
the branch. Hill hammered it with the
club so vigorously as nearly to crush
it.
Two of the lions were already bleed
ing at the nose, and all four appeared
to have had enough of the effort to
scale the tree-trunk; but they had be
come wrought up to such a state of
fury tl\at Hill had little hope that they
would leave the place that night.
A fresh expedient presently suggest
ed itself, however; Hill had matches in
his pocket, and gathering wads of dry
bark or moss from the tree-trunk, he
ignited them and then dropped them
into the dry grass under the tree. Soon
a ring of fire and smoke began to
spread. The four lions finally'made off
through the fringe of trees, and soon
Hill saw the one that had killed the
duiker-bolc bounding away with the
carcass in its mouth.
Although far from certain that the
lions would not return and attack him.
Hill was forced to descend and run to
the automobile before the fire reached
it, lest there might be an explosion ot
his fuel tank and cartridges.
The Little Ajax was still puffing
away at the obstructing bush, all
ready togo on when released. Hill's,
first thought was of his carbine; but
the fire was close upon the machine,
and after a single glance about him
through the smoke, he backed out of
the bush and went on at speed. The
lions did not pursue him.—Youth's
Companion.
1 n«t ruction.
This premonition of evil I strove to
throw off with an affectation of gayety
I feign-eu astonishment that anybody
should charge the cooking schools
with never having really taught u?
anything.
"Why," protested I, "there is now
none, I daresay, who does not know
he has a stomach!"
"Truly!" cried the woman, my wife
her eyes aglow with earnestness
"And of course it was not until thej
had the people thus well grounded ID
the ruoiments that the cooking school?
could proceed to teach what was at
all transcendental!" —Detroit Journal
Wealth ami Bachelorhood.
The better ofT the men are the more
unwilling they are to marry. The prin
cipal men before the public n&w are
Cecil Rhodes, Lord Kitchener and Mr
Arthur Balfour—all mature bachelors
of large means. The inelasticity of the
marriage laws makes educated men
calculate the odds against a reason
ably comfortable life in the married
state. They have only to study theii
married neighbors to see the odds are
greatly against it. —Ixmdon Chronicle
4
Tile Buttertly's Toilet.
D how do you, pray,
i'nwL- Willis so prettily array?
Where do you find the painto from
which
To mix vour colors warm and rich?
Die butterfly in answer said:
'The roses lend me pink and red,
riie violets their deepest blue.
Ami every flower its ehoseu hue.
i
'My palette is a rose-leaf fair.
My brush is formed of maidenhair.
And dewdrops shining in the grass
Serve nicely for my looking-glass."
—Christian Register.
Tlie Little Great Man.
During the American revolution the
captain of a little band of soldiers was
giving c.'ders to tnose under him about
a heavy beam that they were endeav
oring to raise to the top of some mili
tary works which they were repairing.
The weight was almost beyond their
power to raise, and the voice of the
superintendent was often heard:
"Heave away! There it goes! Heave
ho!"
An officer, not in military costume,
was passing, and asked of the super
intendent why he did not give a help
ing hand. The latter, astonished,
turned around with all the pomp of an
emperor, and said: "Sir. I am a cor
poral!"
ask your pardon. Mr. Corporal,"
the man replied, and taking off his hat,
he bowed, saying, "I was uot aware of
the fact."
Upon this he dismounted and pulled
till the perspiration stood in drops on
his forehead, and when the beam was
raised, turning to the little great man,
he said: "Mr. Corporal, when you have
another sucu job, anu have not men
enough, send for your commander-in
chief, and I shall gladly come and help
you a second time."
The corporal was thunderstruck. It
was Washington. This goes to illus
trate that a man. though great, n*iy
always find one who is greater.
My Dog Josh.
We had hart a houseful of company
all last summer. One night our
guests had all lett us for a few days.
My sister and myself were alone in our
oQd house, with uie servants quite re
mote from us in the L of the house.
Our room wa-s on the ground floor, and
very easy of access from the piazza
and road, but wo felt quite protected,
having with us two small dogs, an
electric bell connecting with the man's
room in the stable, and a good six
shooter. We were thankful to our
sharp-voiced terrier before that night
Was over, as my tale will tell.
It was a foggy, grim night out; you
who know what seashore fogs are can
picture to yourselves the night: And
just after I had retired, my Josh, the
hero of this story, started up from his
snug quarters and barked furiously
and continuously. I remonstrated, but
he had no idea of being pacified, and
barked with such evident purpose that
he completely aroused both my sister
and myself. So we consulted as to
what had best be done, feeling sure
some mischief was brewing. We
/istened but could hear no sound, still
Josh kept on with his voice of warn
ing, and at last I touched my electric
bell to call over the man.
In the stillness of the night the clear
ring of the bell could be distinctly
heard, and as it was souniling I heard
some one run, and concluded it was
our man; but soon after he came walk
ing quietly over. I let him in, and sent
him over tne house; everything
seemed as quiet as a well-regulated
family should be, and so I sent him
back, and we again settled for a tran
quil night.
No sooner, however, had the man
gone into the stable than we were
startled by hearing three men jump
from off the roof of the piazza over
our heads! They saw that the alarm
had been given, that we were aroused,
and that their little game for that
night was frustrated, so the fog shield
ing them, they laid quite still on the
roof of the piazza till their danger was
past, anil then descended in haste.
Their plans were weil laid, and would
have been successful but for our vigi
lant little watihman, from whose col
lar now hangs a gold mcilai in token
of our gratitude.—Our Dumb Animals.
Strange Plaything* of Camp Children.
I wonder if the boys and girls who
have traveled to the Pacific coast re
member the wide, desert-like plain
over which the train seems to travel so
slowly. Perhaps they remember better
the grand old mountains that tower far
up into the clouds. One often hears
the remark. "A fine piece of engineer
ing!" and people exclaim over the wis
dom and ingenuity of tlie brain that
made it possible to cross those terrible
mountains by bridges, tunnels and
switchbacks. But you don't hear much
about the workmen who dug it out,
mile after mile, along the weary
stretches.
These men are called contractors,
sub-contractors, and men, and they
live a life quite different from the rest
of the world, particularly the sub-con
tractors and the men. The work takes
them from one part of the country to
another, wherever there is "railroad
ing" to be none, and many of them
take their families with them. They
do not sleep in a house year In and
year out, but camp near a town be
tween "jobs." When moving camp or
going on a new piece of work, the boys
and girls mount their ponies and rido
along beside the wagons, which carry
the scrapers, plows, cooking utonslL
and bedding. Often the children of the
camps do not see a town or other chil
dren for months, or sometimes years at
a time. They grow up very hardy and
strong from the outdoor life, but as
wild as deer.
I went into the tent of one of these
contractors a few years ago, and in the
farther corner I noticed two little girls
chuckling over the antics of some pet
I wondered what it was, but was afraid
to speak to them for they would
run, as they had on a previous occa
sion, so I wont, on tal.\uig with their
mother. Presently a pieicing scream
and a low sob were l'ltnded as they
came from the corner.
"What is it?" 1 crlad, running over
to them.
' Maggie dropped it, and it is dead,"
■railed one little girl. There in a nest
were three bfc'iy mice, while one lay
til-.nt in the heartbroken little girl's
prim.
"Maybe it iscn't," their mother said,
comfortingly "Drop a little water on
its head and see.''
The little girl who had dropped it
•ii?hed to the pail aad got the wate\
then she aropped it e <:iv SO carefully
on Iho tiny r.ead o r the mouse Pres
ently it squirmed, and i jumped back,
112 .'aiing it Right serenib.e out of Mag
pie r hand, but the i'vllr; girls uttered
•■xt Initiation® of delight. That night
the mother moufi' tama and carried
her babies a>vay. All i;o\t day the chil
dren ran 1 om one v»g • bush to an
ther, hunting theiv pMs. and at last
they founl '.hem. Il.ey only played
vith them litis timo. and then went
may and left them with their mother,
after carefully marking the bush so
r'ley could lino it aga'.u—Anne Shan
non Moaroe in Chicago Record
lie; aid.
llrtliy Clarke'* "Chupper."
"No," said Baby Clarke, "I tun't do
to bed 'till after chupper."
"But we had supper, baby," said
mamma. "Don't you remember? We
ate supper on the 'choo-clioo cars' be
fore we got to grandma'shhouse.l' 1
It" shook his yellow head with sor
rowful emphasis. "Vat wasn't
chupper."
"Bless his dear heart!" cried grand
ma. "He's forgotten. Boys do get
hungry so often. Let me get him some
bread and milk, Gertrude. That won't
hurt him; and then he'll goto bed like
a lamb."
Grandma suited the action to the
word, and in a trice Clarke found him
self seated before a little round table
in the high chair that had been
brought down from the attic the min
ute that grandpa and grandma had re
ceived the letter telling them that their
little grandson was coming to make i
them a visit. The bread and milk dis- i
appeared slowly, seriously, silently.
"What a quiet child!" quoth grand- |
pa. "Is he always so still, daughter
Gertrude?"
Clarke's mamma looked puzzled.
"No, indeed," she responded, "if his
appetite were not so good, I should cer
tainly tie quite alarniert. I suppose he
is tired from his first journey on the
steam cars."
"I hope it's nothing worse." sighed
grandma, settling her spectacles so as
to see him better, and beginning to
look worried.
Presently Clarke laid his spoon
down, and wiped his rosy lips medita
tively. Then mamma took him in her
lap and began to unbutton his tired
little shoes. But the astonished and
reproachful expression in his wide
eyes made her pause, with the chubby
foot in her hand.
"Oh, muvver, I don t want togo to
bed before chupper! I hssn i been
naughty!"
Grandma dropped her spectacles and
forgot to pick them lip.
Grandpa threw back his head, and
laughed and laughed!
"Well, well, well!" he said at last.
"The boy's hearty, and no mistake.
Glad to see it! Glad to see it!"
"He certainly is the beatermost,"
said grandma, smilingly donning the
"specs" which grandpa had picked up
between laughs. "But do—don't scrimp
him on victuals. I'll get him some
more bread and milk."
"He doesn't need it," said his
mamma, half laughing and wholly
puzzled. "I can't imagine what makes
him act so."
Clarke watched and listened, his
eyes exceedingly bright and his 1 i pa
beginning to quiver. And, when he
was placed in the high chair again be
fore a second bowl of br?ad and milk,
he could bear it no longer, but burst
forth in broken English, punctuated
with heartrending sobs.
"Oh. no, no!" he wailed. "No, no,
no! Vat ain't chupper. Vat table an'
me ain't chupper. Chupper," and he
raised his woe-begone face and ex
tended his short arm impressively,
"chupper is a long table —an' lots of
folks round it —an' —an' —fun!"
Down went the yellow head with a
pathetic thump.
"Dear heart!" said grandma. "He
misses the rest of them so!" And she
picked him out of the high chair and
cuddled him close, smiling through
moist "specks."
"The little chap has the rights of It,"
said grandpa, heartily. "Eating alone
ain't a genuine meal, and that's a faot.
He's hit the idea precisely. Mother,
spozen you set out some things—l
know we don't need a thing, and you're
plumb tired, —but spozen you do just
set out some things on the dining room
table, and we all draw up?"
"Of course I will, father," responded
grandma. And she really would have
done it, but just then Mamma (Jfer
trude said, "Sh-h-h!" Baby Clark«
was fast asleep.
"Dear heart!" said grandma again.
"We'll halt things right in the morn
ing."
•''V>at we will," said grandpa.
Grandparents are so indulgent!
Christian Register.
' PEARLS OF THOUGHT.
i Patience Is bitter, but ita fruit is
I sweet.—Rousseau.
For some uot to be martyred is a
martyrdom.—Donne.
Who fears to oftend takes the first
step to please.—Cibber.
Origniallty is simply a pair of fresh
syes.—T. W. Higginson.
Learning passes for wisdom among
those who want both. —Sir W. Temple.
We cannot always oblige, but we
Jan always speak obligingly.—Vol
taire.
Any man may make a mistake, but
none but a fool will continue in it.—
Cicero.
Pleasure is the flower that fades; r«-
memb.ance is the fasting perfume.—
Bouffters.
Absence of occupation is not rest; a
mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
—Cowper.
The prudence of the best heads is
often defeated by the tenderness of the
best of hearts.—fielding.
To owe an obligation to a worthy
friend is a happiness and can be no
disparagement.—J. Chanon.
Put this restriction on your pleas
ures: Be cautious that they injure no
being that lives. —Zimmerman.
Our incomes are like our shoes; if
too small they gall and pinch us, but
if too large they cause us t6 stumble
and trip.—Colton.
VALUE OF EXERCISE.
Development the of Heredity, En
vironment and Activity.
Physical exercise, like all other
things, has had its ups and downs.
When Greece and Rome hnd the upper
hand, the physical was most cultivat
ed. In the 17th century things physi
cal had a downfall. The reaction
toward physical inactivity was as great
as was .formerly its strivings after an
ideal. It was early in the 18th century
when more iuterest was taken in these
things; this interest increased until
now physical education is recognized
in the school, college and university
as an essential part in the education
and all-around development of the
youth.
Since it is through the physical that
j we come in contact with an influence
I our fellow-beings, and as so much de
pends upon physical conditions, it is
I not entirely out of place to discuss
: such a subject before a body of this
1 kind.
Development and an approach
| toward perfection are results of exer
| cise. If a growing nerve cell never
I sends an impulse over its axon it can
j not become on efficient nerve cell.
A growing muscle fibre which never
! contracts fails to develop into a
! healthy adult fibre. A growing glaud
i which never secretes its fluid does not
become a perfect gland. Without ex
| ercise there is no true growth, and
when exercise ceases degeneration sets
in. Activity is the law of growth.
Development is the result of three
factors —heredity, environment and ac
tivity. These terms hardly need de
fining here, yet for our purpose we will
say a word concerning each.
Heredity is the expression of the
structure and character of the fertil
ized ovum from which all the cells of
the body are derived. It gives us the
living material upon which to work,
and at once determines the possibili
ties, the limitations and to a certain
extent the course of training.
Environment, both of the body as a
whole and of each of its units, the liv
ing cells. This includes the external
conditions of life as well as the chem
ical and physical character of the
blood. Under it are included the food
supply, surrounding temperature,
clothing, the care of the young by pa
rents, hygienic condition of the dwell
ing, etc.
Activity of the individual cell of the
body as a whole. By activity is meant
not simply muscular activity that is
merely activity of one kind of cell—
the muscular fibre. A nervous impulse
from a nerve cell is another case of
activity. A gland cell performing its
function normally is still another case.
—Honolulu Commercial-Advertiser.
Tlioinnft .JeflVr*on> Not©.
Carrington 0. Bacon of Imboden,
Lawrence county, Ark., is the possess
or of a promissory note for $370, whicfc
was given by Thomas Jefferson, April
7, 1813, to Edmund Liacon. great-grand
father of the present holder of the
paper. The note hac. long since been
paid, but on acount of the customs
and institutions of the period wlieu it
was executed, remained in the posses
sion of the drawee and descended
through three generations to the prea
ent owner. rt t the time the note was
drawn Edmund Bacon owned a farm
adjoining Mr. Jefferson's Monticello
place in Virginia. Before the note
was paid Mr. Bacon moved west and
made his home in Kentucky. With
him he brought the note, which was
duly paid. The mails at the time were
slow and uncertain, and for this reas
on the note w-as not returned to Mr
Jefferson. This odd bit of yellow,
mildewed paper is prized by its owner
as much for its connection with the
history of his family as for beiug an
autograph of a famous man and writ
ten by the same hand that executed
the Declaration of Independence.—
Little Rock Democrat.
A Trio In Evidence.
"Authors are frightfully conceited."
"Oh, not all of them.''
'•Well, the three authors I wrote to
for their autographs all sent me their
photographs."—Chicago Record-Her
ald.
New Orleans has 300 policemen tr>
patrol TOO miles of streets.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
Smallpox, which has been unusually
prevalent in the United States and
Canada this summer, need hold no
terrors for the individual devoted to
buttermilk. Unlimited indulgence in
that wholesale beverage is said to be
a cure for dread disease.
During the recent Ashantee cam
paign the megaphone was tried by th«
British officers for giving orders, since
the columns traversing through the
African bush wer eso long that it was
Impossible to convey orders in the
usual way. The experiment was un
jungle and the winding paths prevent
ed the sound from traveling.
An instrument called the gradome
ter has been designed to enable the
occupants of any vehicle to determine
at a glance every inequality of the
ground over which they are traveling.
The new instrument may be attached
to the side of the seat of any vehi
cle, or to the top tube of a bicycle
and the grade the vehicle is ascending
or descending can be seen In an in
stant. The instrument consists of a
nickel-plated casing six inches long
containing a curved glass tube tilled
with spirits, leaving a small bubble,
which acts the same as a spirit level.
The farmers in South Lincolnshire,
England, have been suffering from a
plague of insects called the mustard
bug. which devours the white mustard
crops. Several farmers have had acres
of valuable crops destroyed by this
pest, and have been unable to dis
cover an efficacious remedy. They
have now resolved upon a curious ex
pedient. Flocks of chic ksneaermfwy
pedient. Flocks of chickens are turned
into the white mustard fields, and
since the bug is somewhat of a deli
cacy to the fowl, it is anticipated that
the pest will be overcome and that the
crops so far untouched will be saved
The glucoside of the beech tree has
recently been studied by M. Tailleur.
whose experiments can be summarized
as follows: The shoot of the beech
tree contains a glucoside and a dias
tase which, under the action of water,
give rise to the methysalicylic ether
and to the glucose assimililated by the
| plant. This reaction is localized in the
hypocotyl axis a little above the sum
mit of the root, and does not take
place in the seed or in the mature
snoot. The formation of this methyl
| successful, however, because the thick
salicylic ether is thus characteristic
of the germinative period of the beech
tree.
Mr. Stanley B. Hutt, a volunteer
with the British army in the Boer war,
states that the Orange River colony
and the Transvaal abound in prehis
toric remains, which are probably of
paleolithic origin. The heavy rains
and nature of the country make it very
favorable for archaeological research,
and he believes that a systematic ex
amination would lead to very imijor
tant finds. During his marches he
managed to make quite a collection,
but was forced to part with most of it.
because of the army regulations re
garding weight of kit. The "worked"
stones are of various sizes, although
apparently, more or less uniform in
each locality, and occur in many places
scattered about the surface. They are
especially numerous in certain of the
dried river beds.
A Problem In Pliynic*.
R. C. Mack, who has been a puzzle
to the scientific and sporting
worlds for a number of years,
is in the city and will mysti
fy any man of muscle who believes
himself capable of lifting a few
pounds. A few pounds is the real
weight of the mystery, and yet all
the champion strong men of vaude
ville and arena fame have tried in
vain to lift him from the floor.
There is something about Mack
which cannot be explained by ordin
ary rules of gravitation or muscular
force. Stood upon a pair of scales he
barely registers 125, but at his will
he can become so attached to the piat
form of the scales that five men can
not budge him. He has traveled all
over the country and experts in lift
ing, from a man who successfully lifted
a Kansas mortgage to Sandow, at
tempted in vain to lift him.
Different scientists advance their
theories for the strange power which
he has possessed from childhood, and
which is of as much mystery to him
as it is to all others. Virchow, the
celebrated Berlin savant, says that it
is nerve force while Charcot, the
French hypnotist, says that it is a
control of the occular forces. Be it
what may, he has it, and goes about
causing strong man to marvel and
lightweights to envy.—Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
To Save llie CaliforrJa KcdnromU,
Principally through the efforts of a
society organized for the purpose, the
state of California has appropriated
$250,000 for the preservation of the
great Redwood forests, near Santa
Cruz. The area purchased is not very
large, and the best Redwoods are
found further north; it is de
signed to acquire these later. This
comprises a strip of several thousand
acres in the neighborhood of Humbolat
bay, running from the ocean back to
the summit of the coast range. Two
or three million will be sufficient to
make the entire purchase, and it is
generally regarded as money well
spent.
The word antelope as used in the
languages of Europe cannot be traced
back further than the fourth century
of our era, and is probably derived
from Anthelops, the late Greek name
of the fabled unicorn.