One of Its advantages is that tire J Marconi ocean telegraph can't get. fouled with Davy Jones's locker. In Germany teachers are forbidden by law to pull the ears of their pupils, it having been shown that many cases of deafness had resulted from the practice. South American countries could de .ive a good revenue and greatly sys tematize affairs by not allowing any one to start a revolution without hav ing first taken out a license. The butcher who has been ordered to pay SIOOO for calling a neighbor a "blister" probably does not share the proverbial view of the relative value of silence and speech. At SIOOO a word speech is golden indeed. The Philadelphia Inquirer remarks that if the truth were known, there is more real enjoyment, more real happiness, in the humble home than under the roof of the millionaire, who is harrassed by business cares and who must fight his way. The latest suggestion touching the keeping of a house free from flies is to establish a colony of wasps in the kitchen, allowing them free egress into the dining room. If the flias do r.ot go (lie family will, so that's a solution to the fly nuisance anyhow. It is three years since Russia took possession of Port Arthur, at the head of Liao-Tung gulf; yet the other day there was launched from a shipyard tnere a 27 1-2 knot torpedo boat. Quick work, indeed, and calculated to create shivers of apprehension among the "Yankees of the East." The energy in the quantity of coal mined in 1900 is estimated by a writer in Cassier's Magazine as equivalent to (he work of 3,000,000,000 men during i the year. This triples the natural en- : orgy of the race—in fact, more than i triples it, for it is as if the work of i two able bodied men were added to I the sum of human energy for every man woman and child. And these ad- i ditional workers —the coal units — i make no demands for food or clothing, i Cleveland, Ohio., has abandoned the old system of prosecution and fines for the abatement of the smoke nuisance, because it did not seem to lessen the | evil, and It has adopted instead an i educational and persuasive plan. Un- , tier the latter there are now said to be ; 200 improved furnaces in operation, ] and all- new boiler-houses which are • being erected are equipped with smoke j consumers. The railroads entering | the city have also been persuaded to attach similar appliances to their lo- j nomotives, which are proving econom- , ical and helping to purify the city's at- , mosphere. The Alfred Millenary suggests to ( (he London Standard a connection be tween the work of the great king and (lie traits of the American people. It says "Alfred was one of the first rul ers to embody in concrete acts the thought that the common people have a right to be consulted about the great business of government. When for eign force threatened his eotintry with destruction, when lawlessness threat ened to sweep away civilization, he appealed to the people, and they heard and followed him gladly. He was one ot the first rulers to reduce to every- | •lay practice that conception of liberty regulated by law which the American nation has so conspicuously and suc cessfully applied to human affairs. He saw that human rights were greater than the will of kings, and in the light of that truth he lived and acted." The doing away with the cutting of 1 the hair of convicts is a gratifying proof that those in charge of New York state prisons are open to the ar- 1 guinents of progressive penologists. To the average citizen such a change may seem of the slightest significance. 1 or, if anything, only the disuse of a time-honored measure of discipline. It is, however, as striking an action as the abolition of the lock-step last spring, and both arise from the desire to make each prison a reformatory, and not an institution for branding men who have made missteps. The hair-cutting process was a relic of seventeenth or eighteenth century prison methods, when actual branding of prisoners was also the vogue. Its abolition will make it easier for con victs to obtain employment on dis charge, as well as help them to retain their self-respect during their confine ment. The aim of the modern prison is to correct by discipline, to strength en physically, to train intellectually, and to awaken morally, exclaims the New York Post. Hair-cutting, the lock-step and striped suits are all hin drances, and not helps, in thj a under taking. ' i'he Americas papa who has let a foreign title into his family is very likely to be prouder of the buby than of his son-in-law. As the Chinaman does not desire to be assimilated, and as the American population does not desire to assimi late him, there in no real reason foi philanthropic worry. Twenty years ago hardly 20 perce"' of our man-of-war's men were nativ* born, and not 50 percent even naturfti ized citizens. Today fully 90 percent are American citizens, and nearly 70 percent are American born. It would be a good thing in man> ways for the King of Siam to visit this country. It would broaden popular in telligence and compel recognition that Siam is entitled to something moro than the mere remembrance as the country of the celebrated twins. Few people have any idea of the juantities of valuable articles which annually find their way to the dead letter office in Washington. At the annual sale of dead letter goods the purchases included watches, rings bracelets, spoons, coins books, cloth ir.g, fancy work and too many othei things to name. It is asserted by the Municipal Journal of England that there is no country in the world where the loss of life by fire is more frequent than in the United States. Lax enforce ment of fire escape and building regu lations is blamed for this deplorable state of affairs. The force of the ar gumeut is better appreciated when it is remembered that American fire de nartments are the best equipped ant} trained in the world. From May to November there is to be held at Cork, under the patronage of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and under the management of many of the most influential men. an In ternational exhibition. The project has already received widespread sup port. The exhibition will occupy 4> acres within the limits of the city of L-ork, and its aim will be to "present a full illustration of the produce and manufactures of the present age." Ground has been broken for the St Louis exposition. It was frozen ground the air bit shrewdly. May ill omens be absent! Philadelphia. Chicago Omaha and Buffalo suffered so serious reactions after their big fairs that many of the residents of those cities were sorry after the "booms" had passed that they had ever undertaken the colossal tasks of such exhibitions May St. Louis be more fortunate! But it cannot be denied that after an enor mous show a dreary reaction is prac tically inevitable. Surely this is the century of evoiu tion. According to the Butchers' ant' Packers' Gazette, a large bologna and sausage manufacturing concern in the United States has received a consign ment of the new paper envelope de signed to supersede the ordinary cas ing used for bolognas and sausages. The consignment came from Germany It is claimed that the envelopes an preferable in every way to skins, art fheaper and much more satisfactory from a hygenic standpoint.* Black as the outlook in Germany is (here is nothing to justify the belie) .hat it will terminate in a general col apse, three or six months hence. Manj nterests have reached a point beyoort which a further decline is impossible The worst feature of the situation is •.hat it promises to endure at least a (rear, exclaims the Berlin Zutraveu Meantime extreme conservatism is the watchword. Loans are granted with reluctance. Operations of all kinds au orought to a halt. Corporate and pri vate business enterprise keeps close tc shore, investing and spending only where necessity demands. The Children's Aid society of Nefl York has entered its fiftieth year. This society is the pa.ent from which al kindred organizations of the counlrv have sprung. It maintains nineteer. day and eight night schools and hai distributed $10,000,000 during its ca reer of philanthropy. The societj seeks out the children who are not at tending the public schools because o! the poverty, shii'tlessiiess or ignorance of parents, and when it gels then trained to cleanliness and some meaa ure of regularity it transfers them t< the public schools when possible. Its schools are ali of an industrial char acter. They have a( present an enroll meut of over 15,000 children and ar average attendance ot one half that number. To make it possible for the&« children to attend it lias been com pelled during the past year to extend relief to 7S>B3 persons. { CLOUDS. I 0 By W. X. * | The whole scene was drear and des ; o'late, and a pale face pressed against the window pane looked out upon it with sorrowful eyes, seeing in the gloom of the landscape and shadowy skies the symbol of her future life. The face itself was not remarkable; there was no special beauty-of outline, no dazzling complexion, no solft-col ored wavy hair. It was white and slender, and would have been spirit less only for the restless eyes and blood-red lips. The forehead was broad and thought-impressed, with brown hair brushed back and closely braided from the" face which happiness might have beautified, but which was now undeniably plain, and tinged with the cold gray hue which pervaded earth, air and sky. Annie Raymond stood for an hour looking persistently out, not on the dreary landscape alone, but into her drearier future. Since her mother s death, which occurred duringherchild hood. she had experienced no bitter trials; but little, trifling troubles haj made her daily life unlovely and un pleasant. The family was large and in very moderate circumstances, and, like all poor people of the present day, strug gling to make one dollar show for two, and so appear richer than they really are. Jane, the elder sister, took charge of the house and ruled the younger children with a rou of iron. The two girls who came next were both mar ried, and struggling with large fam ilies and poverty. A brother next younger had left home and was seek ing his fortune —a hopeless task. Then came Annie, age 21, and then sisters younger still. The father was a grave, hard-working man, who usually dozed away the time he spent at home. Annie's life had been monotonous enough thus far. There was house work in the mornings, and in the after noons the sisters sewed for a fur nishing store in the village, barely earning a sufficient sum to clothe them in the plainest apparel. But they were sprightly, intelligent girls, and were received in the so ciety of the village upon an equal foot ing with those who were better sup plied with this world's goods. There had been a time when Annie indulged in rosy dreams of the fu ture, but her life was too monoton ous, so lacking in incident, these were soon dispelled. Her older sisters fur nished striking examples of what her own life would be. Should she choose sir.gle-blessod ness and become a cross, unhappy old maid like Jane? or follow in the foot steps of Sarah and Sue, and be a sick ly, task-burdened wife, with scarcely an hour's peace and quiet? Neither picture looked inviting to a young girl who had a passionate longing fcr the luxurious and beauti ful things of this life. So she grew graver as she went about the same simple, homely tasks day after day, and Jane's reproving voice grated more and more harshly upon her sen sitive ear, until it seemed as if shs must cry out like a hurt child under the pain of her life burden, and she was only dumb for very shame. For her sisters seemed happy in a certain degree, and was her life hard er to bear than theirs? "They never think," she said; "I do; so much the worse for me; but I can not make them understand how terri ble a life like theirs seems to me, it is so utterly devoid of beauty, and even comfort." But during the previous winter a change came over the spirit of her dreams. George Hastings came to Glenville, and from her first acquain tance with him her life brightened. He was only a merchant's clerk, but capable and energetic, and a favorite with his employer. When Annie met him first she only saw a rather small and uninteresting appearing young man, who conversed agreeably. When sne saw him for the second time she thought be had fine eyes, and before the evening was over she confessed that his smile was beau tiful. Then, as their acquaintance pro gressed, she found their tastes were very similar in many things. After this he often called upon her evenings, and read aloud to her while she was busy with her sewing. Num berless little attentions followed, rendered in a tender, delicate way, and for a time was supremely happy. George was slowly but surely ap proaching a declaration —she was cer tain of this—and as she thought it over in her mind, doubts began to creep in where contentment had reigned. She loved him so well, she could have died for him, and without him life would be utterly desolate. But he was very poor, with only a small sum as yet laid aside for a rainy day. Would her life, after all her tender dreams, be different from Sue's or Sarah's, if she married him? Jane, seeming to understand An nie's dilemma, lectured long and elo quently on the subject of marriage. George Hastings was a fine young man, she told Annie, who would make his mark in the world yet, if he wasn't such a fool as to mairy and burden himself with a wife. A wife was a fearful drag to any man. Single life for either man or woman, was tho only true and noble life to lead, and any woman who married because she was tired of taking care of herself, was a moral coward. So, pondering upon Jane's words until she was nearly demented, Annie stood looking out upon th« clouded skies in the chill November after- noon, and thinking desolately of the clouds hovering over her sky-life. "Will it be always so?" she asked herself bitterly, as she turned away. "Oh, 1 am so tired oi the clouds of sorrow'. Will the sunshine of joy never come?" At this moment one of her younger sisters came in with a letter for An nie. In some surprise—for it bore a city postmark—she opened it. With the early heat of summer a lady had come to board at Glenville, in search of country fare and country breezes, for she was a confirmed in valid. She look lodgings across the way from Mr. Raymond's, and seemed to fancy Annie from the first. She now wrote, asking Annie to come and live with her, as nurse and companion and offering a sum which seemed princely in Annie's eyes. She decided at once togo, for she longed for a glimpse of the world without, but she would wait until she •saw George in the evening, for his opinion might influence her in some degree. So, when he came, she hastened to impart the news. "Don't go, Annie," he urged. "You know —you must have known for a long time —that I love you dearly. I've only waited to tell you because I had not a suitable home to offer you as yet. But I'm saving for that pur pose every day, dear, and when we can see each other so often it will not be so hard to wait a little longer. Stay, and promise me you will be my wife jast as soon as I can provide for you properly." "George," she said, "you know I love you, but I am too much of a coward to bind myself to be a life long slave, like my sister, Sarah, for instance." "Sarah was sickly Lefore she mar ried, I believe," he answered quietly, though his manner betrayed some sur prise at such an outburst from the usually mild Annie. "Yes," reluctantly. "And peevish and fretful, too." "Yes," responded Annie, slowly. "You are neither." Annie burst into tears. "She was unhappy," she said, "and so am r I." George was puzzled. He used his powers of persuasion to the utmost, but she was inexorable. She would not consent to an engagement, and she would goto the city as a compan ion to Mrs. Reade. So, vexed with her obstinacy, but thinking it best to give her her own way, since he could not well do otherwise, he bade her good by. Annie sobbed herself to sleep that night, and cwo days after—for there was slight preparation needed —she set out for the city. For a time she was delighted with her situation. Mrs. Reade was very captivating in manner, and treated Annie almost like a sister. Annie had intended to save her earnings, but, under Mrs. Reade's advice, she found ample opportunity to invest them in the purchase of better cloth ing than she had ever worn before. Bye and bye her situation became less pleasant. Mrs. Reade was very capricious, and sometimes hard to please. Another truth dawned upon Annie's mind about this time. Her mistress was a neglected, unloved wife, and though she had everything that wealth could procure, she was very unhappy, as much as either Sue or Sarah. "Oh. dear!" Annie sobbed to herself one day, when her patience was sev erely tried, "everyone has more f-r less trouble, and after all, poverty isn't the hardest thing in the world to bear. If I were at home now I could marry George and be contented with the inevitable outfit of six silver spoons and two feather beds, and feel much happier than either of my sis ters." However, she determined to remain as long as she could bear with Mrs. Reade's unhappy temper and the un pleasant familiarity of the servants, thinking she would at least save her money and have something to begin life with if she, ever did marry, which seemed very doubtful to her now. Spring came on, and as the weather grew warmer Annie began to have fearful headaches, a new thing for her. She grew tired of the senseless look ing rows of brick and brown-stone and longed for the pleasant woods near her home, with their fresh, green leaves and early flowers. She felt if she could only have Jane to scold her it would do her good. She grew home sick for the very home she had de spised. Mrs. Reade complained that she was growing heedless and Annie knew it was very tune. One morning she woke feeling too ill to rise. Mrs. Reade's bell rang re peatedly, but Annie was too ill to heed it and lay dimly conscious of what was passing around her. She knew they were holding a consultation over her, and afterward that they were re moving her to some other place, she was far too sick to care where. After a few days of burning fever her senses returned, and she found herself in the hospital, with every thing new and strange about her. As soon as she was able to sit up she procured writing materials of her nurse, and wrote home. By this time Mrs. Reade had roused herself to write also, and, thoroughly alarmed, Jane set out to find her, ac companied by George Hastings. George met Annie quietly, but Jane scolded and cried over her until Annie felt that her sister really rated more for her than she had ever knowH. They took her home, a shadow of former self, but more contented In mind than she had been in years be fore. But it was not until she was quite as well as ever, and had fallen readily into the old routine of daily labor, that George spoke again of love. He cams to see her the same as before, and brought her trifles in the way of flow ers and books; and one evening, when they were sitting in the dusk a/id gloom of the twilight, with the cloudy November skies frowning without George said: "Do you think, Annie, yuu could marry a poor man, after all?" "Oh, George!" deprecatingly. "And do you think you are brave enough to bind yourself to be a life long slave like your sister Sarah?" "Not to a husband I did not love. &nd who cared but little for me. That would be a fearful bondage for me, or to any other woman." "But I love you and you love me. Don't you think that makes a great difference? "All the difference in the world, George." "Then do you not think you could make up your mind to marry me?" "I think I could if you asked me." "Oh!" with a laugh, and that was all. Not a word was spoken by eithsr for some time, but he took her hand and drew her silently to his side. At last he spoke: "Confess, Annie," he said, "that you are disappointed. I am not the hero you expected as a husband, am I?" "No," she answered, "but you are i true, noble hearted man, and that is better. I forgot in all my senseless (lay-dreams and plans for the future that I wa3 only a woman, and a very foolish one at that. You have excel lent judgement and sense, but. you are just my age, and, not so wise, I am afraid of you. I know you have faults, but so have I; and if you will have patience with mine, I can bear your? without a word." »Ve shall have trials, too, dear," lio said, "but we shall help each endure them, and that will make them so much easier to bear. The lesson of the past year has not harmed you, Annie; you will be more contented all your life for it." "It may have done rne good, Georges; but » don't think that I'm one wmt better than I was a year ago. I have the same faults still. "Neither am I oetter than I was then, Annie; but I think we under stand each other more fully, and I love you, faults and all, as I never could love another." So at Christmas time they wer«j married. And the finery in which Annie had indulged the winter before, with slight remodeling, served a good purpose as a wedding trousseau. Hor father came forward with the spoon? and feather beds, and Jane exerted herself wonderfully, saying it was a pleasure to help Annie, she was so grateful for everything. The little sum which Aniiie had saved from her earnings helped to fur nish the pretty little cottage which George's increased salary enabled hirn to rent; and tnough everything about it was very plain, it was neat and tasteful and homelike, and George and Annie were happier in it than many a pair, who have all that money can buy could ever dream of being. And busy with her daily cares which love light ened, Annie forgot to mourn ove: clouded skies. —New York News. CCVERNMINT'S TINY HELPERS. Tliey Are Foreign*)*-* ami Work Without W»*M. The most wonderful staff of assist ants in the world is employed by the department of agriculture of the Unit ed States. These assistants are ul foreigners and it may be suggested that they have been imported in defl ance of the contract labor law. But none is likely to object, for are doing a great work. As the result of the labor of one clus of these employes, it will be possi ble to put 75 tons American growt figs on the market this year. This is due to the flg-fertilizlng insect which was imported from Syria and without which it was impossible to make a singie fig tree yield fruit. It was only this insect that could transfer the pollen in such a way that the trees were fertilized. Another employe comes from China The original home of the San Jose j scale has been found, after long in vestigation in the Orient, to be ir northern China. The beetle thai preys upon it is being brought now ir considerable numbers to the United States for distribution to orchards The scale was found near the Greal Wall, where no foreign nursery stoel of any kind had ever been introduced Its natural enemy keeps it in suel check that the native fruits grow sue cessfully. After eight years of effort success has been reached in the introduction into the United States of a caterpill..i from Italy that preys upon the bla. fe scale, a serious enemy to olive arc citrus trees in Ca'ifornia. This scaie is a native of the region from whict the caterpillar has been introduced and along the shores of the Mediterra nean the latter keeps the scale in sub jection. A beetle has been introduced fron Hungary that is a natural enemy to several destructive plant lice whicl have been accidentally imported ini< this country from Europe. A fungus disease of grarshoppen has been imported from South Africf and experimentally used in different parts of the United States through the summer of 1900-1901. In some locali ties it has taken hold successfully, THE GREAT DESTROYER SOME STARTLINC FACTS ABOUT THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE. Six Powerful Indictments Against the Uu of Beer by Soldier*—lt Impair* Hit Mental and Physical Strength—l'reilis poses to Disease. , Our first indictment against beer is thai it lowers the soldier's moral nature and thus weakens his efficiency to meet the de< mands of his high calling. Modern warfare demands intelligent alertness, coolness, self-restraint, strength and precision of muscle and protracted en. durance in action. Among the experiments performed in Professor Kraepelin's labor atory was one which shows how alcohol affects that precision of muscle which is an essential requisite in the man behind the guns. The subject held down, with a finger of each hand, two Morse keys, one of which he was to release on a given sig nal, the right hand upon one signal, the left upon another. After taking alcohol the suDject would often it-lease the keys a little sooner than he would in his normal state, but lie released oftener the wrong key. Muscular movement was jprecipi tated without proper control. The cool head and steady eye and nerve necessary to the unerring marksman are sacrificed by the use of alcohol. Our second indictment against beer for the soldier, therefore, is that it impairs his physical strength. For a modern mili tary authority to ignore this testimony of science that alcohol weakens physical strength is utter folly. A famous military authority said: "The army moves upon its stomach." That being true, it is very important to learn Sow the alcohol in beer will affect the pro jess of digestion and its organß. In the very elaborate experiments on the effect of alcohol and digestion reported by Chit tenden end Mendel, in the American Jour nal of Physiology, they found that the di j jestive process took from one-half to three ! quarters of an hour longer when alcohol I was g'ven with meuls than it did when it was not. ! Recent experiments made by G. Roscn feld, of Germany, to ascertain the effect af alcohol on the liver, showed that alco hol caused an accumulation of fat in the liver which may appear as fatty degenera tion or fatty infiltration and that it also diminished the amount of glvcogen in the liver. Since glycogen is the substance which is burned or oxidized in the mus ':les to afford muscular energy it is easy to see why alcohol weakens the muscles. Third indictment—Beer will hinder the soldier's digestion of his hardtack. Other vital organs affected by the strain of military life are the heart, kidneys, iungs, etc. fourth indictment against beer in the :anteen—Science and experience show that alcohol instead of helping any organ of the soldier's body to do its best work has the power to injure any one of them, al though not necessarily every organ at the same *ime. Military statistics show that the propor tion of men killed or fatally wounded in battle during the war is only a small frac tion of the large number of soldiers who die of diseases, largely epidemic diseases. Experimenters have found that alcohol greatly increases susceptibility to disease and diminishes the ability to resist dis ease germs. This is true not only of large amounts of alcohol, but of what is called its moderate use. The most recent experi menter oil this point, Laitinen, says: "Alcohol, under all circumstances, in creases the susceptibility of the animal body for infection, whether it be giveu be fore or after the inoculation and whether in a few large doses or in numerous small ones extending over a long time." Fifth indictment again*t beer for the soldier—Alcohol predisposes tn the dis eases that are more to be dreaded by the soldier than bullets or bayonets. All this, perhaps you say, may be true of taking too much, but the limited amount Df beer the soldier is allowed to drink in i post exchange or canteen ought not to be forbidden lym because some one else has drunk too much. Under the most careful regulations there is no guarantee that the men who patron ize the canteen will confine themselves tr» small amounts, and even if they should scientific research to-day shows small amounts to be harmful. Sixth indictment—The little alcohol in leer has the power to create an uncontrol ible and destructive appetite for more.— New York Voice. Madness-Producing Drink, The coal region foreigner has a reputa tion for lawlessneus which comes from sto ries of murders and assaults committed by him, of fights at wedding celebrations slid at chirstenings and of rioting on pay lay nights. For all these performances polinky is to blame. It is necessary in or ler to enjoy the pay-day night carousal properly for the foreign coal miner to be trunk and he achieves this condition with polinky. The men who invented polinky ivere too short of cash to buv whiskv ilone, and beer did not have sufficient ef fect on them. So polinky was invented, and it has served its purpose, producing ibout the most devilish fighting drunk that tvas ever possessed by man. The receipt is simple. First is needed a wash tub. Sometimes this is not so clean as it might be. but that is a trivial mat ter. Half a keg of beer is emptied into it, and into the beer is nut about a gallon of whisky, rank, raw whisky. Some spices are added to taste, and the mixture is thor oughly stirred. Serve in anything, and re plenish to suit the thirst. Given a proper quantity of nolinky, a christening or a wedding feast which starts it 8 will become lively at 10. and will pro duce a fight at 11. and, with little effort, a murder at 12. If not the murder then there will be a general free fight in which all sorts of weapons are used except the polinky tub. So demoralizing arc these pay-day fights and the consequent murders and injuries that the police now stop them in the in cipient stage wherever possible, and in the last year or so they have become less fre quent. Hut they still prevail in many o£ the smaller coal villages.—New York Sun. Makeii the Senses Fail. Inebriety is a condition of diminished and defective consciousness of the rela tions of time and surroundings. The mem ory is unable to accurately record events, and the senses fail to give correct impres sions: the brain cannot co-ordinate or dis criminate such impressions, and a state of anaesthesia is present which often deepens into imbecility. The inebriate is thrown out of harmony with his surround ings and the organism is both mentally and physically enfeebled, and he becomes unfit for normal life and living.—Journal of Inebriety. The Crusade In Brief. Potter County, Texas, has voted out its saloons. As well add wood to fire to extinguish fire as to drink alcohol to quench thirst. Arc you not interested in the downfall len? If you are, see what you can do to uplift those that are down. Alcohol deadens the mind striving after accomplishment, and in the end destroys the brain's capacity for real activity. Five hundred young women X. J., have joined a society anu pledged theuiseivcs not tomal ' V n man «Kn drink*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers