A New York Judge has refused to Jeclde between two songs in rag time. This is a sort of task that might have made Solomon himself take fright at the heightt of his judicial career. In the fact that judgement has just been given in an English Chancery case involving the property of a tes tator who died in 1838, admirers of Dickens will find a curious corrobative detail. There are more daily newspapers in Costa Rica than in any other Central American republic. The natives of the other Central American countries rely almost exclusively on weekly and monthly publications. investigation by the state veten* narian showed that the high death rate among horses in Maryland is due to cerebro-spinal meningitis. The disease is the result of poor food, bad drain age and generally unsanitary environ ment. The Philadelphia Times notes as one of the "queer things" that law officers are at work in that city looking for children togo to school under the Compulsory Education act, when there Is not room enough for the children who try to get into the schools of their own volition. Knowledge and the higer education are worth acquiring for their own sake. If every college graduate in the land for a hundred years died without accumulating property, or even died poor in this world's goods it would not constitute an argument against college education. As a matter of fact, however, any training that disciplines, broadens and enriches the mind, as university or college training does, must supply a better equipment for grappling readily and successfully with the problem of existence, whether in the learned professions or in depart ment of commercial endeavor. It is not the primary function of a college to show a man how to make money, remarks the Chicago Record-Herald. In the history of medicine a great deal of space must be given to the dis appointments of the most sanguine hopes. At frequent intervals a posi tive cure for some incurable malady is announced, and for a time the exalted hopes and confident expectations pro duce a happy effect on patients. In a great majority of cases, however, the benefits soon disappear, and the cure is consigned to the limbo of the useless. In the light of experience it would be foolish to base large hopes on the power of the shrub "tua-tua" to cure leprosy. Experiments with its effects have been few, and, although favor able, they warrant only the conclusion that the shrub should be given a more extended trial among the lepers at Ta hiti and elsewhere, states the Philadel phia Record. The New York Commercial Adver tiser remarks that it seems as if en terprising Australia were to be the first country of size which will grant women equal rights with men in property and franchise. Premier Barton of the com monwealth government recently dis tributed prizes at the Metnodist ladies' college in Melbourne, and in the course of his speech said that one cf his col leagues had prepared a bill which would be presented at the present ses sion of parliament which would put women on the same footing as men, and that, moreover, the bill would have the support of the government. In New Zealand and South Australia women already enjoy the franchise, and it has worked so well, said Mr. Barton, that its extension to tne whole of Australia is regarded as one of the most important measures that is to be carried through this year. A writer in the Forum says that pun ishment for crime has much to do with making criminals. This statement seems paradoxical, but it is an indis putable fact. Hundreds may be saved from a life of crime by the proper ad ministration of the criminal laws. II used to be thought that severity of punishment was the wise course, in deed the only method to prevent crime. Fear, no doubt, deters many; but it is not fear that must be chiefly relied upon to save men from crime. Crime existed when men were drawn and quartered, and when death was the penalty not only for murder but for many minor offences. It existed when the death penalty was inflicted in pub lic places, and when the plucking out of an eye, the cutting off of the hand, and various other kinds of torture were common punishments. No man was ever made better by being putin the stocks. Severity is useful only In cases In which reformation is hopeless, and in which absolute removal from all social intercourse is therefore neces r.arv. Portugal Is the most Illiterate conn try in Europe; 67> percent of its popu lation cannot write. In Italy the pro portion of illiterates is 53 percent, in Russia 36, In Spain 9, in Britain 3 1-2. Two of the late T. S. Cooper's paint ings have just been sold in London for 51,500 each. As he lived ninety nine years and painted for over seventy years, this is not a case where price is made high by scarcety of porduct. The Mobile (Ala.) Register advises the legislature of Misissippi to accept Mrs. Davis's offer and buy Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's late home. The house and grounds have, it is said, been neglected and illkept, only a custodian residing upon the premises and gathering what fees he can" from chance visitors. A German professor has announces that "the higher education" has had a bad effect upon German women. He asserts that gilrs deteriorate in wo manly qualities, when they devote themselves wholly to study, and ad vises that all should be trained to domestic duties before being allowed togo to college. The present population of Siberia is about 8,000,000. Asuming that its re sources are equal to those of Russia in Europe, Siberia is capable of sustain ing a population of 80,000,000. It is believed that Siberia could produce 10,000,000 tons of wheat annually, 5,- 000,000 tons of which could be avail able for exportation. The suffrage laws of Italy are very liberal, and being based upon educa tional qualifications, have proved an incentive to learning. All men above the age of twenty-one, who can read write, all who pay $4 a year in taxes or S3O a year for rent for habitation or SIOO a year rent for farms, or any one of these can vote, and anybody can go to parliment who is thirty years old except priests and officials of the gov ernment. Some woman has calculated that 20,- 000,000 mince pies placed on top of one another will make a monument of indigestion 315 miles high. What an absurd thing to do with pie! If the monument were built it would not be three minutes before the base would be undermined by boys who would bring the fabric crushing to the earth, thus distributing stomach aches and plenty to 315 miles of the pie belt. Glorious dream! Useless calcula tion! A Prohibition journal claims that fully 30,000,000 of the inhabitants of the United States, or more than one third of the entire population, are now living upder prohibition, either by State law or local option. Forty-one states of the forty-five are included in the numeration, either in whole or in part. Even Kentucky, in spite of its undeserved notoriety, has 90 out of its 119 counties under prohibition's sway. The four excepted states are Idaho, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. Complete reports of the customs for last year indicate that there was an extraordinary importation of diamonds and precious stones at the port of New York. The importations for 1901 of diamonds and other precious stones, all uncut, amounted to $ti,702,056.05 in value. The year's importations of the same kinds of stoue, but cut, were valued at $18,160,511,02. Thus the total value of the cut and uncut stones was $24,862,567.07. Many other dia monds and stones came by express packages, so that it is estimated that the total recorded imports amounted to $27,000,000, not counting those which were smuggled. This seems to be pretty good evidence that the Amer ican people had considerable money to spend in luxuries last year. German Influence in Asia Minor, which has grown greater from year to year, will become predominant when the railway to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf shall have been built under the concession just granted by the sultan to a German company. Sooner or later the rotten fabric of Ottoman power mutt crumble, and when the time shall come for a division of the Turkish spoil a steel roadway from Berlin to the utmost frontiers of the sultan's empire will be of incalculable advan tage to its German possessors. Mean while the German commercial conquest of Turkey in Europe and Asia goes on apace, and the German consul and mer chant may at no distant time be fol lowed by the German artisan and hus bandman. It is eastward that the star of German empire takes its way, and the repopulation and resurrection from its ashes of the one-time garden spot of the world and cradle of civilization would be a task worthy the ambition of a great nation, reflects the PMladel thia Record. S SENOR VALENTINO, i Twelve o'clock midnight. From far across the country comes a dull, hol low, reverberating boom —the signal gun of the Spanish forces. Slowly, almost painfully, the Cuban patriot flung back his light blanket, gazed up ward for a moment at the burning mass of stars in the heavens, then fell back again to dream of bloody charges made by the gray dragoons of Spain, and of their repulse by the Eturdy Cuban macheteers. "Surely not again, Senor Captain? One must be cool to think so lightly of a task like ourc." "Vive Cuba Libre! You are right, Pedro —we must be up and away." This time the young Cuban sprung to his feet and shooK himself as thougn that was a punishment for his momen tary forgetfullness. As the two men stand side by side in the soft mellow ligt of the moon it is easy to see that they are not of the lower caste or guajiros. a party that com prises a large division of the patriot army, but of the Cuban planter, a gen tleman of the highest degree. Both are armed with small arms alone, though meir appearance indi cates that they have seen military ser vice. "Now is the ume to read our gen eral's instructions, Pedro; the senor lays great stress upon our actions to night, and knows that at this very hour we are moving toward the forces of the enemy to accomplish a purpose, the penalty of which, if we are caught, is instant death." As the speaker ceased he drew a sealed package from beneath the folds of his sash. "Inferno!" he continued a moment later; "the general is terse and sends us out to do much against great odds. The spy, he says, is a guarded prison erin the Spanish camp, but his where abouts he knows not; and yet we are to liberate him at the risks of our own lives, and when we have accom plished this receive any reward we may ask for." "Carramba! Valentino, the terms are good. Two or three hundred dob loons will satisfy me; let us hasten." "In sooth you speak right, the job is a profitable one, but the night is ili omened. What care we for gold when the liberty of Cuba is at stake?" "Do you forget, senor, that Spanish metal will purchase the American steel with which the Cuban patriots will win their freedom?" "No. Pedro; but does not the gen eral turn over all of his spare gold to the filbustering expeditions?" "Ah, one forgets in his eagerness to aid his country. Greater though will be the fever scourge, Valentino, than all the steel and forces of Cuba. Gloria! Who can defeat us when God is on our side?" "But this spy, Pedro—why should our leader take more than common place interest in him, when first he broached the subject to me he wept like a child, and implored me in the name of Heaven to save him. Pedro, there is a mystery here." "I doubt it not, senor; and did he not mention a name?" "Ah, not once; nor did I question him, he was so wrought with grief." "See! The lights of the Spanish camp, Valentino; we will halt here; the moon is disappearing, the stars are falling, and it will soon be dark." "A fortune for a hundred brave macheteers now! Yon camp would not look so quiet and peaceful, Pedro, were my wish gratified." "There, at last Palo hill has hidden the tell tale orb! Take one more look Valentino, before we leave on our des perate game of chance." The two men gazed for a moment eastward toward the insurgent coun try, and then to the westward at the twinkling lights a mile or so off on the plains. "Will they be there —the horses?" whispered the one who had likened their task to a game of chance. "He is a true Cuban, and will not fail us in the hour of need; if he does, God pity the spy and us." "Pardon me, senor, small need to wory now; it all hangs by a thread anyway, even the rebellion. The death of Marti weakened our end somewhat, but the dreaded fever combined with the patriots should yet more than match the home tyrant." "If one of ub shduld fall tonight, Pedro, and be left behind with a piece of lead in his heart, remember the duty of a comrade and friend and send the tidings to the fallen one's home." "Condanacoin! Senor, do not talk so despondently, for God's sake. It is growing dark and the chills creep up my back like slimy reptiles. If any one dies tonight, it will be me, mark It, Valentino." "Ugh!" shudered the other. "We are both growing superstitious." "Aye, superstitious, but not coward ly. Never, as far back as the Cesped es can trace their pedigree, has there been found a coward, and now " "Hist, Pedro! Valentino had suddenly thrown him self upon one knee and raised his hrtnd as a sign of warning. He listen ed attentively for full a minute, then cautiously approached his companion. "A sentinel," he explained in a whisper. "I have a plan; to overpow er this guard and force him to betray the position of the confined spy." "Good, here are the chips—once, twice, ah, three times I go." Pedro crept away and disappeared !n the gloom. With taxed nerves the waiting Val entiDo crouched upon the earth with his stiletto barred, ready at the least call to lend his comrade asistance. Slowly, almost with the tardiness of hours, the minutes passed by. "It is accomplished," Valentino mut tered, as a low whistle was borne to his ears. Stretching his limbs to give them their former strength and suppleness, the insurgent hurried off in the di rection of the sound. He had not ad vanced far before he discovered Pedro bending over the prostrate form of the sentinel. "Have you killed him, senor?" he asked. "No, the fellow is only scared and has already given us the desired in formation. The one we are in search of is confined in a tent just outside the general's headquarters up on the hill yonder where you see the three red lights; help me bind and gag him, senor." It took but a moment to make the prisoner secure, and the two were on their way again. The general's tent was less than a quarter of a mile dis tant, but the greatest precaution was necessary in dodging the sentinels. "There, at last I believe we are safely inside the lines, senor." "Not yet, Pedro." "Arto!" (halt) cried a low firm voice of command. Both came to a dead stop, but ttio quick witted Valentino was equal to the emergency. The carabinero who had so suddenly changed the tide of events stood with his gun at his shoul der a dozen feet to the right. "We are friends, senor." "Give the countersign." "That we cannot do; but we must see the general tonight, as we have important information. Here is a per mit that has passed us thus far —see for yourself, that it is not a fraud," and the Cuban held out the letter. Taken off his guard by the apparent frankness of the man before him, the unsuspecting carabinero allowed the but of his rifle to fall to the ground, and stretched forth his hand for the paper. There was a bright flash of steel as it passed through the air. "The night has its victim," muttered Valentino as he wiped off and sheath ed his blade." 'Tis some poor mother's son, hardly beyond the limits of boyhood yet, and still it had to be done." "And a masterly stroke that did it — right to the heart, senor, without a doubt." "Come." The captain could say no more; tears were in his eyes and he wished that the hellish work was undone. He could hardly suppress a sob as he thought of the aged mother on the other side of the sea, waiting and praying for a son that would never re turn. Oh, the anguish of that mo ment! Suddenly he halted, for ahead of him, not a dozen rods, was the tent for which he was searching. Pedro remained a few steps behind to guard against surprise, and alone the brave rebel captain crept up to the canvas flap. There was a light inside; he peered in—there upon a bundle of blankets, with hands and feet securely bound lay—not a man, but the form of a beautiful girl. For a moment he could hardly be lieve his eyes. Was she the spy? "Ah!" Like a flash of lightening the truth dawned over him; he had solved the mystery. "Senorita?" he called softly. There was a stir among the blank ets, and a pale sweet face, with soft black curls clinging about it like a veil, was raised from its hard pillow. "A friend to aid you; one who has your wellfare at heart." The girl raised herself still higher, but not a sound escaped her lips. It was not necessary, the soft eyes alone told the story. Swiftly Valentino crossed to the pal let —swiftly he severed the cords that bound her tender limbs —and swiftly he caught her lovely form in his arms and dashed into the open air. It was all over iu a minute, for the Cuban had thrown caution to the winds; his only thought—his only pur pose was to convey his precious charge to a place of safety. Alas! that his haste was to prove so fatal. "Arto! Who goes there?" The sharp rattle of a carbine rang out on the still night air, and the camp was awake. "Courage, senorita, we will pass them yet. Pedro. Ho, Pedro!" "Here, senor. Hasten, the horses are in the hollow just beyond the hill." It was a race for life, and the pa triots won. Hardly were they mount ed and off before a dozen or more carabineros rushed into the hollow. "Caballo! Caballo!" they cried aud discharged their weapons. "Can you hold your seat, senorita?" the captain asked as he rode up be side her. "With ease,' she answered bravely, smiling bravely through the gloom. "They are on horses and in pursuit, senor." "I fear we are lost," interupted Pe dro. "Why so, comrade?" "Because, 1 —I —Valentino, the girl's horse is dying!" The captain lurched in his saddle as though struck by a blow. For the first time he noticed the spasmodic leaps of the maiden's steed, and the gradual lagging of its pace. Still on they sped; five —ten —fifteen minutes, and then they began to enter the hills. The wounded horse was last losing strength, but still the noble animal plungeJ on till its heart burst; and with an agonizing groan it stum bled and fel dead. In a moment Valentino had the girl on his own mount, and was dashing away in pursuit of Pedro. "Courage, senorita," he murmered softly, and pressed her closer to his breast, nestling her face among her beautiful waving curls. P i-n ggg! That fatal bullet zipped close to the captain's head, and was instantly Al lowed by a heavy fall. "Great God, in Heaven, comarada, are you hurt?" No answer. "Dead!" That one solemn word was uttered with a pathos that boded ill for the perpetrators of the deed. "Oh, ye tramplers of human rights, may your bone decay in every hidden swamp and recess of Cuba, and may the power of despotic Spain sink be neath the billows of the sea, carrying with it every vistage of the accursed nation. Dios. Oh, Pedro, my com rade —my friend." The carabineros were clos& upon the fugitives now, and with a last look at his beloved comrade the captain struck his spurs deep in his horse's flank and sped eastward. "Courage, senorita, courage," he whispered over and over again. "Yet there remains one other final resort if all others fail. I will save you— have you faith in me?" And in answer the girl would lift her face and say,— "Faith unbounded. You are a Cu ban patriot." Never before had the young Cuban been placed ia»such a critical position. If it had not been for his beautiful charge, he would have turned back and died bravely, fighting over the body of his slain comrade. But this girl with the lovely waving hair and the glorious eyes, had cast a spell over him which was not easily thrown off; she was more than life to him now. "Oh, my God, they are gaining on us, senor! See! They level their pieces—they fire!" "Inferno! The horse is struck —he is down! Cling to me senorita." The quarry was run to earth; Valen tino's last resolve was shattered; he could not now forfeit his own life for that of his companion. But blood should flow as free as water in that dark, gloomy pass before he would al low himself to be taken captive. What was that? A terrific explosion, a stream of Quivering flame shooting out from that impenetrable mass of darkness, and the foremost dragoon tumbles from his horse, as lifeless as the weather beaten rocks about hin? Cr-r-a-a-ack! 'Viva Cuba Libre!" And they are saved. * * • • The next day the insurgent band carried the general's daughter and her brave rescurer in triumpii back to the rebel camp; and with his darling—the doomed spy clasped close to his breast, the old man implored God to pour forth the blessings of heaven upon the heads of the two heroes both living and dead. And Valentino, at the head of his macheteers, led them onto victory and freedom, while in a peaceful villa back in the hills a beautiful girl, a spy, waited and watched for him, her loved one to return. —Waverly Magizine. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. A fly will survive long immersion in water and will sustain the odors of sulphur and other disinfectants without apparent injury. Only tur pentine, chloroform and ammonia can get the better of a fly. The uniform of the postman of Nor way i' 3 dark green in color, though it is said many of the men want it changed to blue. The facings of the coat are of silver braid, ahd there is a small cockade of the Norwegian colors on the band round the cap. Some months before the outbreak of the war in South Africa a consign ment of twenty thousand tumblers was sent to Cape Town. They were engraved with the motto of the South African Republic, and meant for drinking the health of the burghers in when they took Cape Town. A Russian nobleman of immense wealth has hit upon a curious method of ceiling decoration. Every ceiling in his mansion contains a fresco deal ing with an episode in the career of his ancestors, and the wnole forms what is, perhaps, a unique example of irnner-roof ornamentation. Nearly $•100,000 has been expended upon this extraordinary work. The soldier in the German army is now taught how to put together a novel form of military boat. The ma terials consist simply of sixteen lances in ordinary use and an outer cover of strong sail cloth supplied with loops, through which the weapons are placed. A handful of soldiers cannot only put it together in a very few min utes, but are able to pull it to pieces at a moment's notice. Reproductions of the ancient "Cor onation Spoon" in the regalia of Eng land are being sold in London. Itß •exact age is not known, but it ante dates the reign of Charles 11. The handle, which was o'iginally decorat ed with enamel that litis been worn away, has four pearls set in the broad est part. The spoon is about seven inches long and is used to receive the anointing oil when it is nourert fiom the ampulla. GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN PREGNANT THOUGHTS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST PROPHETS. Poem: He Understands—A True Christian Should Kxerclse Self-Control Until lis Has Gained a Mastery—One li Hindered by Brooding Over Hla Discomfort. Our censors guard us roundabout, And hedge us with their dusty creeds; They cry us wrong in hope or doubt, And howl like ban dogs at our deeds. They wail our knotted skein of life, And flout us tor our clumsy hands, Because with tangles it is rife : — But all the time God understands. Our censors measure 6tep and stride With mathematic rod and rule, And when we wander to one si