| At the Other ! | Table. ! j By Virginia Blair. J T Copyrighted, IUU7, bj Jebbiu Morgan. Ij i|> ►{« y -J« *J* >J« V %« '|» »{» «|* »J« »J« »{• »J« »J. «|* •£• In the palm room of the big hotel there were just two couples. one at the Tittle table near the fountain, tlie oth er in the corner under the musicians balcony. There was no music now, for it was between lunch time ami dinner, and the couple at the table by the fountain were having tea. The couple under the balcony hail ordered a more substantial repast, Ibb ster and a bird and salad, and they ate with an appetite that showed that they had missed their midday meal. "I don't think 1 was ever so hungry in all my life," said the girl at the ta ble under the balcony. "I'd be ashamed to have such an ap petite," the man opposite her teased "Your grandmother would have lieen satisfied with the wing of a chicken. Marta." "Well, I'm not my grandmother," and Marta made a little face at him "Besides, my grandmother used to sil on a cushion and sew a fine seam and 1 have been whizzing through miles of country. And I'm ravenous, Archie." "That girl over there." said Archie, "is satisfied with a toasted muffin and tea. She's a pretty little thing." Marta twisted around so that she could get a good view. "She's a beau ty," she declared heartily. "That red gold hair is stunning. And that brown veil brings out the lights. Oh, you ought to paint her, Archie!" "I don't know her," Archie said "and 1 don't know the man." "Why, it's Billy Butler," Marta said as she took another look. "I couldn't mistake Billy's back. There's that "THIS IS ONE OP MY OLDEST FRIENDS." hunch of his shoulders and that light shock of hair. But the idea of Billy drinking tea!" "A man Amldn't drink anything but tea with that girl," Archie told her. "She wouldn't stand for anvtliiug else." "I never let you have anything but coffee," Marta said. "Good old girl!" was Archie's affec tionate commendation. "Marta, you're a wonder! And I'll bless you as my fairy godmother if you will get me an Introduction to that girl." "I'm afraid I can't," Marta said doubtfully. "Billy Butler and I quar reled dreadfully the last time lie came to see me, and wo don't speak." "Marta," Archie fixed her with a re proachful eye, "I'll bet you refused him again." "Well, if I did." Marta contended, "he needn't act so Idiotically, and he's evidently consoled." "She's a pretty girl all right," Archie enthused. "She won't make Billy half as good a wife as 1 would," Marta declared. "I was cut out for Billy." ' Why didn't you marry him then?" Archie asked. "Because he's so jealous," Marta confided. "He didn't like my letting you paint my picture, Archie. He said ,we were together too much and that girls always liked artists and that he didn't stand any chance because he was in business and all that tommy rot. So I told him he could go and not come back. But now he will mar ry the wrong girl. And I shall be an old maid." "Not if I can help it," Archie stilt ed valiantly. "We may be cousins, Marta, but if tbe worst comes to worst we can save each other from single blessedness." "X don't want to be saved,'' Marta informed him succinctly. "I always said that if I didn't marry Billy 1 shntlUln't tnnrnr nnv r>n» Put nt course 1 expected Billy to come oacK. "Of course." sympathized Archie, "a man ought never to take a girl's 'no' In earnest." "Well, Billy has," and Marta ap plied herself to the salad iu anything but a lovelorn manner, "and I feel It In my bones that I shall have to send teaspoons to that red haired girl." "Her hair isn't red. It's gold with red lights in it." "It isn't," Marta contradicted. "It is." "It's red," said Marta. "It's gold." said Archie. "There's or.ly one way to settle It," Marta said. "I'll go over and ask Billy." "But I thought Billy wouldn't speak to you." "He'll have to," Marta declared, "and while we are waiting for our parfait I'll ask the question." Before Archie could stop her she was out of her chair and halfway across the room. "Billy," she said as she came up to the other table, and Butler turned half around in his seat and stared at her. "Marta!" he ejaculated. "Wheredid you come from?" And be was on his feet in an Instant "I am at the other table," Marta ex .. a.iDir vanaervim. tie wants you to decide an argument, and If you don't mind going over I will sit down here for a minute." "Certainly, and I'm so glad to have you meet Miss Merriam. Ruth, this is one of my oldest friends, Marta Blaine." "You won't mind his going over to the other table, will you?" Marta ask ed as she sat down. "Oh, no," and Miss Merriam turned on her a brilliant glance, "not If you will stay with me. I have heard so much about you. Miss Blaine." "Oh. dear," Marta questioned, "what has Billy been saying?" "Such nice things," the other girl told her. "And now that I have seen you I don't believe they are any too nice." Marta waved the flattery aside. "Dear child," she said, "Billy will say anything when be is out of my sight. 1 can keep him straight when I am with him." "I just love Cousin Billy," said Miss Merriam. "He's the dearest thing!" Marta stared. "Cousin," she said— "cousin! Are you Billy's cousin?" "Yes." "Well, I might have known," Marta murmured. "Dear old Billy!" Then she went on:"I am with my cousin too. He wants to paint you. He Is an artist, you know. You won't mind?" "I should love it," said Ruth. "It's about you» hair," Marta told her, "that I sent Billy over. Archie said it was gold, and I said it was red. You mustn't mind my saying it, be cause really I was jealous of you. But now that 1 know you are Billy's cousin I think your hair Is beautiful. 1 was afraid 1 should have to send you tea spoons." "Teaspoons?" was Ruth's puzzled question. "Yes. for a wedding present, you know." Ruth blushed. "The idea!" she said. "Why, every one knows that Billy's dead in love with you. He has told me so a dozen times." Marta gave a sigh of relief. "I was afraid he had stopped," she said. "And 1 should miss Billy's adoration dread fully." "1 shall never stop," said Billy, who had come up behind her. Then he went on as if he had made the most commonplace declaration. "Archie says you are to come back and eat your parfait, Marta." "I would rather eat it with you," said Marta unblushingly. "I'll tell you, Billy, you bring Archie over here and we will introduce him to Ruth. lie wants to paint her picture, and he would rather talk to her than eat, and you can come over to the other table and have parfait with me and every thing will lie lovely." "Yes, everything will be lovely," Billy agreed, but Ruth said in a star tled way. "Oh!" "Oh, you needn't mind," Marta said when Archie had l>een presented and was seated opposite the red gold beau ty. "Billy anil I will chaperon you from the other table.. It will be per fectly proper, for we are engaged, you know." And, with a sparkling glance at her lover, she swept past the foun tain toward the balcony. "Well, of all tilings," Billy ejaculat ed. Then he held out his hand to Archie. "Congratulate me," he said. "I don't know what made her change her mind, but I've been working for this for a year." And. with happiness fairly radiating from his handsome countenance, he made his way across Ihe room to where the lady of his heart awaited him. Avoiding Direct Testimony. The wealthy parishoner had with him his pastor, and miles of road were thrown into clouds of dust by the plunging automobile. "Halt!" commanded the officer, but no more attention was given to him than to the flitting telephone poles. Over those poles, however, sped a mes sage, and at the next crossroads a bar rier was encountered and also another representative of the law. "Not only did he break the speed law," complained the constable when the party had assembled in court, "but he also told me togo to the devil." "You lie!" thundered the wealthy parishioner. "I never use such lan guage." "We must protect our officers from profanity," Intoned the justice. Then, turning to the clergyman, "Perhaps this gentleman, who will not make a misstatement, will tell us whether ot not the devil wns mentioned In this controversy." "Your honor," beaded the clergy man,"l and my brethren refer to his Satanic majesty so frequently that any additional allusion to him would not Impress itself upon me sufficiently to reuiemlier the incident."—New York Press. Slightly Mixed. An Australian traveling in Japan fell into a mixed company in which were an English girl and an American wo man. He made himself agreeable to the American at the start, she relates in her account of "A Woman Alone In the Heart of Japan," by remembering that Americans are accustomed to ride over Niagara falls In tubs. Then he switched to the war of the Revolution. "The w hole thing was,"he said, "that the colonies refused to send England troops to aid her In a foreign war, so the motherland resolved to subdue hei naughty children." "I guess you have confused it with the war in Africa," said the American. "The Boer war lias been so long drawn out you thought it was the same as the American Revolution." The little English girl saw there was n misunderstanding somewhere. "There was something about stamps in it," she suggested meekly, "that caused some of the trouble." "Something about stamps cause a revolution 7' demanded the Australian. "Do you mean a stampede or merely postage stamps? Did the rage for col lecting exist in those days?" But no one enlightened him on this, and be was left to assort history to ■nit himself. Home. Home! How deep a spell that little word contains! It is the circle in which our purest, best affections move and consecrate themselves, the hive In which, like the Industrious bee, youth garners the sweets and memories of life for age to meditate and feed upon! It is childhood's temple and man hood's shrine—the ark of the past and the fntnra.—Utaland. ! Romance of a Geranium Leaf.: By MARY W. MOUNT. Copyright. WOT. by l£. C. I*arceil». ins irienus declared that Herbert Wyndham would one day be recog nized as a great artist. "Genius will out," they insisted, grieving secretly over the undisguisable poverty which clung toman and studio. They were jubilant in this declara tion when Miss Ruth Greville sat to htm for a portrait. She was the first butterfly who had drifted from the gilded realms of society Into the ob scure studio hi Herkimer street. With her came a breath of luiurf from a world which had iorvg beconn» a stran ger to Wyndham. ner parents arranged with the artist for her sittings. Now and then all three turned and looked at her, settling between them the pose In which she was to be painted. The girl herself said little. She apiieared sweetly anx ious to have the portrait painted ex actly as her parents pleased. Of per sonal vanity she seemed to have none. Wyndham stirred with keen pleasure as he noticed her appreciative scrutiny of his pictures. She evidently under stood something of art. Wyndham saw behind the roses and lilies of her face in its frame of curling hair a mind to be explored. He was eager to begin the portrait. When he did his hand was unsteady. To the excitement of a first profitable order of the kind lie had longed for was added the excitement of painting a face whose kindling beauty baffled while It enchanted him. Some unformed idea of delightful chats about art had lingered in his mind, to be brushed aside like a cob web at her first sitting. She -was cold, witli a calm serenity which held him aloof as effectually as some Impassable barrier. Nothing of haughtiness tinged her manner. It seemed merely not to "WON'T vol* COM K TO SEK MK?" SHE ASKELI SIMPLY. occur to her that any social intercourse could exist between an aristocrat of Elmwood avenue nnd a dweller in this small studio at the top of three flights of dingy stairs. Her very youth took off the sting of this insolence of wealth, she was so entirely uncon scious of it. I'erhups this impalpable barrier of reserve might have been brushed aside to some extent had Wyndham been less sensitive to it. He met her unre sponsiveness with like reserve, her un comiuunlcativeness with silence. But as he painted In the lines of her graceful figure and the bloom of her face grew under his hand upon the canvas he was acutely conscious of every lovely contour and tint, madly rebellious that this girl, with her wide, intellectual brow and soft, sympathetic eyes, never vouchsafed him a single unnecessary word, never looked his way with an even momentary sym pathy. "Your hair battles me!" he declared one day, laying down his brush. Something in his tone startled her. "Are artists always so Intense?" she asked herself. She raised her hand to the ripples of her pale brown hair, where golden lights shifted and changed with a warm glow as alluring as it was im noaalble to express. Her violet eve# WlUPuiu. "Shall 1 change my position?" she asked. He rushed Into an explanation of the difficulty of painting light in hair. She looked Interested, but made no com ment. Wyndham saw what her observant eye« noted every makeshift In the studio. It hurt him to feel that she comprehended every particle of the I poverty of his life. This hurt the more . when, toward the last, he thought that he surprised a look of pity in her eyes. : He hardly expected her to tell him at parting that she meant to send all her friends to him to lie painted be cause he did It so beautifully. But she did, and she kept her word. Wynd ham's friends said that luck had come to him in a golden spoon. To Wyndham, sitting alone in his studio poring over a delicate sketch of a beautiful girl with eyes of tenderest sympathy and golden lights in her j curling hair, luck seemed to have de- j parted. All that was left to those weeks of poignant emotion was this secret sketch of a girl whose soft eyes looked Into his with an expression which the living eyes had never worn, this and a leaf of rose geranium which she had dropped upon the floor. Sh« had missed It when she left for he saw her glance at her dress and thfcu about her, as though seeking some thing In a little memorandum book in an inside pocket he kept it where h« could peep at it whenever he Jotted in a data or looked up a reference. One day the glory of life seemed to flood his world again, for Ruth Ore vllle came to his studio. A charity ba zaar wag to be held, and she had charge of tbe art table. She wanted a I might contribute some littlesketch. ll*> , promised more than that. 110 would i ' superintend llic erection of her stall and decorate it himself. She wondered at his enthusiasm. When he refused j payment for the work she was embar rassed. This had not been what she Intended Nor did she realize till afterward that a busy artist could not spend two days overseeing the erec- I tlon a lid decoration of the most beauti- | j ful booth ill the bazaar without some j pecuniary loss. She was charmed with his work and j unbent to be gracious, although she 1 j had first cast a startled glance at the distinguished looking man in evening clothes who approached her when Wyndbam became a purchaser at her stall. Because he read her thought so welt ' he made but a small purchase there, a trifle decorated by her own hands. She saw him spend freely at another booth. After that Wynrtham removed to a I better studio. lie would try to forget j her, he told himself. He did not suc ceed. Every fran-frou of silken skirts 1 upon his stairs made hts heart [>oond expectantly. One day she came. He hoped she had not noticed his pallor and nervousness when he wel- j | corned her. He feared she bad, for a ! sort of wondering interrogation flashed i over her mobile features. She wanted to have an engagement i made for some work, she said. Ills hands still trembled as he pulled out his little book and turned over Its pages. From between them ere flut j tered a rose geranium leaf. A flood of } crimson rushed to his forehead. His ! ! eyes of guilty consciousness betrayed 1 ' all the story of his love to her glance of swift inquiry and comprehension. I He saw that she recognized the leaf, but he could not conceal tenderness I with which he picked it up. "It was such a pretty leaf—so won- j derfully formed"— he stammered apol- ' | ogetically. ' She looked at him bravely, a flush fading from her own cheeks, and ex plained her errand as though the iuci dent of the leaf had meant nothing to j her. But as he wrote down a date i there suddenly rushed over her there ! membranee of his faithfulness, his proud dignity in poverty, his modesty in hard won success. She paused upon the threshold and held out her hand. "Won't you come to see me?" she asked simply. Her eyes were filled with a light he had never seen In them ! before. In their depths he read sur | render. "Come soon." she added tremulously, withdrawing her band, "for I have long wanted to say this.'' THE PERFECT LIKENESS. A Snuffbox, a Portrait and a Sur prised Monarch. It is related of Frederick 11.. king of Prussia, that he one day made a pres ent of a golden snuffbox to one of his counts. When the latter opened the lid he found the picture of an ass painted upon the underside of it. Though he scarcely relished the king's Joke, he said nothing at the time, but as soon as he quitted the king's pres ence he sent one of his valets with the snuffbox to the city and gave hitn in structions that the picture of the ass was to tie painted out and a portrait of the king putin its plnce. A few days later a distinguished j company dined with the king. Tho | count was one of the guests, and after a time he produced hte snuffbox and pretended to examine it with the air ! of a man who was proud to have re -1 ceived such a gift from the king. Tha latter, wishing to enjoy a little amuse- j ment at the count's expense, mention ed to the Duchess of Brunswick that j he had made a present of the box to ! the count on the preceding day. She desired to Inspect It, and when the box was handed to her she opened the lid and, looking Inside, cried In raptures: "Perfect! The likeness is J charming! It is one of the best por- j traits of you that T have ever seen!" Slip handed the box to (he person next to her. who was equally charmed with the likeness. From one to anoth er the box was passed, and all testi fied to the excellent resemblance which the picture bore to the king. The king, thinking thiit the ass' bead was still to be seen on the snuffbox, felt exceed incly embarrassed and scarcely knew what to make of the Incident, but at last the snuffbox, having made the tour of the table, came to his hands, and the first glance showed him how cleverly the count had anticipated his little joke and turned It ag Inst him. The Musio Critic. At the risk of making this an a t Mogy as well as a confession I venture to express the hope that I may somp day have the means to enjoy the best mu sic without need of telling three hun dred thousand or more readers why: whether Caruboncl had tears In his voice; how Slme. Sembrlch-Eames look ed and acted: whether the second so prano was off key; the basso depend ent upon the prompter; the conductor too fast or too slow, according to ac tual stop watch and metronome: how the lights were managed: whether the audience was large and appreciative or otherwise and whether the music waa good, bad. Indifferent and why.—At lantic. Left Handed Praise. "I don't seem to hear so many com pliments on my last poem." said the poetess, "as on its illustration. "You just ought to see it!' they exclaim. "It is so beautiful!' " "It's the same way with me," putin the artist. "They come and stand be fore my pictures and sigh and say. 'Oh, what lovely frames you have!' "• The Surprieed Miser, "A certain old miser, though a mil lionaire," said a Washington man, "in sisted on wearing the shabbiest kind of clothes. An old family friend endeav ored one day to persuade the i&lser to dress better. " 'I am surprised,' he said, 'that you should let yourself become so shabby.' " 'But I am not shabby,' said the miser. " 'Oh, but you are,' said the family friend. 'Remember your father. He was always neatly, even elegantly, dressed. Ills clothes were very hand some.' "The miser gave a loud laugh. 14 'Why,' he shouted triumphantly, 'these clothes I've got on were fa ther's!" " HIT HI CONSTITUTION Binds People Hand and Foot, Says Tar Heel Jurist. WOULD LIMIT PRESIDENT- Chief Justice Clark of North Carolina Declares Amendments Are Needed. Asserts Government Is Now Out of the People's Control. Chief Justice Walter Clark of the lupreme court of North Carolina, who lectured recently in New York under the auspices of the People's institute, ■poke on"The Federal Constitution. Shall It Be Amended by the Courts or by the People?" He s|>oke in part as follows, Bayfc the New York American: •The president of the United States is a very clear headed man. liecogniz itiK that as our constitution is word ed amendment of that instrument Is impossible if opposed by aggregated wealth and that in truth it has been amended from time to time by the majority of the supreme court under the guise of 'construing' that Instru ment, he has astonished the public by frankly calling on the court to 'con strue it again' to give him the power he wants." Asserting that the clause which in sisted that amendments lie ratified by three-fourths of the states was impos sible of fulfillment. Justice Clark said: "Is this always to lie the ease? Are the 90,000.000 Americans of today and the coining millions of (lie future al ways to be tied hand and foot by what five elderly lawyers shall say that the thirty-nine dead men who signed the constitution of 1757 intend ed or did not intend? "Such a system of governing is in no whit better than the augurs of old who induced the people to acquiesce in the will of those in power by tell ing from the flight of birds or inspec tion of the entrails of fowls whether the gods were propitious or not. "An easy mode of conforming t lie constitution to the popular will pre vails In other countries. In our indi vidual states also amendments are easily obtained by legislative action submitting the proposed amendment to the people or by calling a constitu tional convention. In New York, I believe, your constitution prescribes that the calling of a convention shall be submitted to the people at least once in every twenty years. "How different from the federal in hibition: Vet an examination of the United States constitution shows the most absolute need of amendment. "The history of the formation of the constitution shows that It was not fully adapted to the wishes of the people even of its own day and Illus trates also the present need of amend ing It. While the Declaration of Inde pendence was a thoroughly democratic document, the constitutional conven tion of eleven years later (17*7) was reactionary. constitution was made as un democratic as possible and only enough concessions made to insure its ratification by the several states. Had those men 1 icon gifted with divine foresight and created a constitution fit for this day and its developments it would have been unsuited for the needs of the time in which It was fashioned. k "The change in our country's condi tion makes amendment to the consti tution urgent. Corporations, which now control the country aud its gov ernment, were in 1787 a factor practi cally unknown in industry and tinunoe. The people's real control over the government Is in practice less than that which they hold In England and Switzerland and In some respects even France. In this country we retain the forms of a republic. "We still choose our president aud the house of representatives by the people, but other divisions of the gov ernment, chosen not by the people, but Indirectly, cau negative the will even of a vast popular majority. "Our government is fundamentally undemocratic in this degree. The real power does not reside In the people. It rests with those great interests' which select the majority of the sen ate and the judges. "It Is high time that we had a con stitutional convention. The same rea sons wl(ich have time and again caused the Individual states to amend their constitutions imperatively require a convention to adjust the constitution of the nation to the changed conditions of the times. Urgent as this need is, it will without doubt be vigorously re sisted by th *» Interests which now sway much of the power of govern ment to their own profit, ana benefit. More limitation should be placed upon the power of the president. "The most Important change neces sary to place the government of the Cnion in the hands of the people Is to make the constitution easy to amend. By far the next most serious defect and danger in the constitution i.s the appointment of Judges for life, subject tm confirmation by the senate. "Of what avail shall it be if con gress shall conform to the popular de mand and enact a rate regulation bill and the president shall approve it if Ave lawyers, holding office for life and not elected by the people, shall see fit to destroy it, as they did the income tax law? "Is such a government a reasonable one, and can it lie longer tolerated after 120 years of experience has deni onstrated the capacity of the people for self government? "If five lawyers can negative the will of 100,000,(MX) men, then the art of government is reduced to the selectiou of those five lawyers." Th* Wisdom of the Baa. We marvel at what we call the wis dom of the hive bee, yet there Is one thing she never learns from experi ence, and that is that she is storing up honey for the use of man. She could not learn this, because such knowledge Is not necessary to her own well being. Neither does she ever know when she has enough to carry her through the winter. This knowl edge, again. Is not Important. Gather and store honey as long as there is any to be had Is her motto, and in that rule she Is safe.—John Burroughs in Atlantic. CANAL READY IN 1914 James R. Mann's Prediction Con cerning Isthmian Waterway. EMPLOYEES ARE VEP.Y EAGER. Everybody Imbued With Spirit of In tense Energy, Says Illinois Repre sentative —Believes Cost Will Exceed Estimate by $50,000,000. The Panama canal will be finished ! in the spring of 1914 after an expend- j iture of $.">0.000.000 more 'Jhnn the orig j inal estimates of the isthmian canal 1 commission and the l>oard of consult ing engineers, according to Represent atlve James It. Mann of Illinois, who recently returned from a trip to the j isthmus with a party of his colleagues, says « Washington correspondent vt the New York Tribune. He believes thnt the foundations of the Gatun dam | are of rock and entirely satisfactory. Mr. Mann, who went to the Isthmus j at the request of the president aud speaker in order to make a special • study of the Gatun dam feature. Bald: "Conditions in I'anama are in most excellent shape. Colonel Goethals has proved himself a master mind. The organization is almost perfect. The, discipline Is good. The enthusiasm of the employees is great. Every one there seems imbued with the spirit of intense energy. l"p to the beginning of j the present year the work then; was preparatory, but now the actual con struction work Is going on. "A comparison with the work oi the French company is instructive. After the French had been at work three years, in October, 188. r >, they took out of what we now know as the Culebra cut 227,000 cubic yards of dirt. In Oc tober, 1886, they took out 172,000 cu bic yards, in October just passed we took out 820,000 cubic yards. The rainfall was about the same as in 188(1. During the calendar year 188*3 the French took out of the Culebra cut 3,037.000 cubic yards, while we re moved during the year ended Oct. 31 last 7,890,000 cubic yards. "The main excavation made by the French was not in the Culebra cut, but easy work near the Caribbean sea. Ours has been in the cut and mostly rock excavation. Mr. Itandolph, one of Ihe board of consulting engineers,! estimated the average capacity of the steam shovels at "J. 500 yards a month, while in October last one of our shov- 1 els took out 37.3fi7 cubic yards of rock and another 30,015 of rock and earth. "We saw the work at the worst time of the year, and yet there was a con stant movement of empty trains from the dumps to the shovels and of load ed ones from the shovels to the dumps. The work has now progressed to such an extent that even the lifting of the track toward the embankment is done by machinery and in short order. Dur ing the last year we have removed about one-seventh oC the material to lie excavated from the great cut. and o"r full complement of machinery is not yet installed. "I gave special study to the Gatun dam locks and spillways and brought home with me a large number of sam ples of clay and rock which I gathered by the side of these works. Major Si liert, who is in charge of the Gatun works under Colonel Goethals, Is. like , his chief, exhibiting great genius. Ap parently no move Is made without thorough knowledge of the conditions. From the borings which have been made with diamond drills it Is certain | that the foundation of the great locks Is rock. "There are numerous problems in connection with the locks and dams which are not yet worked out, but the care with which the engineers in i charge are proceeding leaves no doubt that when fully determined the plans will be beyond proper criticism. The problems yet unsolved relate only to expense and not to ability to construct safe dams and locks. "At the rate of progress already es tablished the Culebra cut can easily be excavated within six years. It is probable that by the spring of 1011 they can turn water into the new Ga tun lake. That will enable them to excavate a considerable section of the canal by dredging. There Is no rea son to driubl. unless some Improbable pestilence should seize the Isthmus, that the canal will l>e tlnlshcd and ready for tost within seven years anil probably even sooner. "The original estimate for finishing the cans! was $145,000,000. but it will lie necessary to modify in many re spects the suggested plans of the orig inal commission and board in order to insure greater safety of construction. This will add considerably to the ex pense. While we have expended enor mous sums of money, and in some cases extravagantly, upon sanitation and buildings, and while we are pay ing excessive salaries, yet the unit cost of the work is probably a little less than the estimate of the board of con sulting engineers. It is probably safe to estimate the total cost at about $200,000,000, in addition to the $50,000,- 000 paid to the Panama republic aud the French Canal company. These es timates may be increased if It becomes the policy further to widen and length en the locks. "The consulting board provided locks !•."> feet in width and 900 feet In length. It is estimated that ships 25 per cent larger than the I.usitania could go through them. We have already pro vided for enlarging the locks to 100 by 1,000 feet, which would take a ship 50 per cent larger than the I.usitania. The naval board has now recommended 110 feet width, but this would mean an additional lake or lakes to store water for use in the dry season." Barbaric Superstition. Although the Maoris of New Zealand have made considerable strides in civi lization in recent years, some of their barbaric superstitions survive. One of the most persistent Is belief In the "tohunga," or tribal medicine man. Ills patients sometimes succumb to his energetic methods of treatment. The latest case of that sort comes from Walkato. A sick girl after having been Immersed in cold water for some hours was beaten with sticks to drive the evil spirits out, the "tohiinga" after ward gripping her throat to prevent their re-entering. She died next day. ODD NAMES OF MIS Peculiar Titles Given to Some of the Black Hills Claims. WHIMS OF PIONEER MINERS. Many of the Early Prospectors Select ed the Names of Wives or Sweet hearts, Which Stand Now as Remind ers of Romances of Bygone Days. Behind the names of many of the mining claims anil mines of every min ing district in the west there lies a wealth of romance and history, both pathetic and ludicrous.' The Black Hills furnish as many and as good ex amples of the peculiar circumstances under which many claims are named as any locality In the country. One of the best known mines in the southern hills is the Holy Terror. Back In the early days this claim was lo cated by au old miner who liad work ed some years without success. The claim was a hard one to work. When the man went home in the evening after locating his claim his wife asked him what he named it. He smiled and told her, "For you, my dear," and her further Inquiry drew forth the fact that he had called it Holy Terror. An other man once named his claim Gen tie Annie for his wife, while still a third perpetuated the memory of his wife, who was a noted clubwoman, by naming his claim Silent Julia. The hills are dotted with the names of claims recalling romances of bj-gano days. Many a young, ambitious mau came here when the mining boom of the eighties was at its height, lured with hope of a fortune, and all that re mains to tell the tale is the name of Katie W. or Mabel E. or Lulu J. Many a sweetheart or wife in the faraway east was honored in the naming of a claim that its owner hoped would prove a bonanza. Some few made good. Wit ness the Annie Fraction and the Josie, both of which were named for the eastern wives of their owners. They are in the Bald mountain district and have produced thousands of dollars for the locators. In the Galena district there ia a small abandoned claim known as the Widow, with which there goes a story. Years ago a youth named Ilauley ap peared from somewhere with a few thousand aud with zeal commenced ti sink his money in a hole in the ground in the hope of a vast fortune. Back in the old home a little widow waited in vain for the golden wealth he said was sure to come and the wedding day that would celebrate it. It took but a short time for the youth's smai'. savings to dwindle away with his in experience, and. chagrined and dis heartened, he put a bullet through Ilia braiu on the site of his blasted hopes. One prospector who worked diligent ly on a claim which was staked by au outsider and had difficulty in even get ting his living expenses secured his re* venge by naming his claim Old Per simmon. Men of patriotic turn of mind have chosen names of those famous in his tory, as Washington, Lincoln, etc. Each of the presidents has been re membered. famous generals, nil of the states, seafaring heroes and heroes of the Philippines, as Dewey aud Fun ston. Indian names by the score are found, as Hiawatha, Mlnnekahta and Nauoma. Those of sporting proclivi ties chose race horses, as Nancy Hanks, Sal vat or, Maud S., Red Wilkes, Joe Patchen. Favorite authors have been remembered, as Longfellow. Burns and Dickens. One student named his group Milt lades. Mark Anthony, Attlla and Cleopatra. Oue man of a pessimistic vein chose What's Left and Some Ix>f The aver age business man in claims will choose a simple name and use a series of numbers, as, for Instance, Thomas No. 1. Thomas Xo. 2. etc. One man favored his wife by calling his claim Red Headed Woman. Two ad joining claims are known as On Time and Late. An odd ca:-e was known in the name of the Hoodlebug claim, which was lo cated by a German and au Irishman and intended by the former to be called Heidelberg. When the Irishman reach ed town to record the location he had forgotten his partner's selectiou of a name and said it was something like Hoodlebug. which, for convenience, was the name recorded. The Prodigal Son lived up to Its name by bankrupting Its locator, who returned to lowa at the behest of the father who had put up the funds for the venture. Among the names that doubtless conceal stories never known are Old Whiskers. She Devil. Crack Brain and Crank. Some of the gulches have names that refer to incidents. Two Bit was,, named because a placer miner de clared his first panful would yield about two bits. Then there are Poor Man's Gulch, Sheeptail. Blacktall, Whltetall. Crooked Arm, Poverty nnd Prosperity.—Deadwood Cor St. Louis Republic. iiiriEf! A. Sellable TO SHOP Tor all kind of Tin Roofing* ' Spoutlne and Canoral Job Work. Stovoa, tfoatara, *ano»% Furnaces. «tc. PRICES TAB LOWEST! PUTT TAB BEST! JOHN HIXSON NO- lit B. FRONT ST.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers