I'M Crown of Failure.
When you havo llvivl your life,
Whn yon have fought your last goo.l fight
and won,
And "ho dny's work Is finished, and the sun
K ( on the darkoilng world rind nil Its
strife
Em the worn hands aro tired wllh nil
they've done,
Ere th mind's strength begins to droop and
wnno,
Erf the first touch of sloop hu dulled the
lirnln.
En- tlii heart's springs am slow nnd running
yon have lived your llfo,
Twere good to die.
It mny not no so,
If von Imt fight n fight yon mny not win
8 " the fnr gonl lint may not enter in
'Twere b'ttnr than to din nnd not to know
r"fimt- to din amidst the rush nnd din,
Htill striving, wlilln the heart beats high nnd
fnt
With t'lorlous life. If you must full, nt la't.
Such nnd w.ro hint, with nil your hope and
nil
Your spirit In H'i yo:th,
rii"fi, when you fit'l.
I'nr better so to dl.
Si 111 tolling uprn-il through the mists ob
scure. With nil things p nnd nothing sun.
Than to ho touched by glory nnd pawed
''.V,
To win by clinnro, tune thnt mny not en
dure, Thnt dis nnd leaven you living, while yon
drive
With wnsti'd breath to kxip Its flame nllve,
And fan, with o.'npty honst nnd proud re
grots, li'Miir-ntbninoM of the past
The wtirld forge!.
Chamber's Journal.
A NOVEL PROPOSAL.
Jiihii Raoburn, counselor nt Inw,
sat iu his office, volume of "Wait's
Practice" on UiH knee, but bin eye
wandered through the open door to
thr outer office, whore b. could see
graceful figure of bin stenographer,
Herthu Wilson, ns she bout over her
work, her pretty hands tupping the
keys of her typewriter with' unerring
swiftness ninl precision.
"A hid y, every iu.'U of her," mused
Hicburn, nt bia gaze dwelt lovingly
upon the delicate profile. "By birth
nnd breeding us wvll n in maimer;
but, thanka to the whirlgig of fortune,
coin polled to work for n living.
"If I only knew, now, how ahe
would tiko it but I wotil 1 rather not
venture than meet a rebuff and then
tin; upshot of Unit would be that I
would loe my stenographer ns well
nnd if I cannot havo her in one ca
pacity, t anrely do not want to be de
prived of hoi- in tlio othr. Dear me,
forty seems dreadfully old nnd tweiity
Uiree ohildinhly young, when I think
of the confront ; nnd yet is only sevon
teeii years' difference and a great
many people would eouaidor that no
obstacle. And alio uee.l have no fool
ib scruples about disparity of posi
tiou, for intrinsically h.r position
is it h good as my own ahe only
wants to regain it, tint ia all. How I
wish I could discover hoiiic plan of
judging her feeliuga without the dan
ger of driving her away altogether, iu
in cime th.-y wore uot favorable. Ha I
I huve it 1 The very idea nud ahe
will not auspect tha ruse. I will put
it to the tstthis very minute. "
John Rnohuvu waa a good seholnr,
an excellent lawyer uud a gentleman
iu every sonarf of the word, but iu re
gard to tho fair aes he wm moat uu
neeoiintnbly ahy.
Not thnt he waa not capable of as
incero, deop aud anient an attach
ment as any man, but the very inten
sity of feeling brought along with it a
diaeouragiug aud aggravating senso of
every real or fancied deficiency of im
pediment that might interpose a bur
rior between himaelf and the young
lady, whom ho had at first esteemed,
then admired aud Anally loved.
He touched a bell on bia desk.
Bertha waited to chock off one Inst
word and ad j tint her typewriter for the
next line, and then, notebook iu hand,
appeared at the door.
'Ooiue iu, pleaso.Miss Wilsou.'Wd'
bor employer, drawing forward a chair
erbaps a shade closer than usual.
"This is a porsoual letter, bo I will
supply the addreaa in my hind."
"My Dear Mis ," bogau Mr.
Raoburn, with a aide glouoe at his
pretty amauuenaea, who looked all the
prettier for the little bit of color that
oaine into her plump cheeks, "you
will excuse mo, I know, for oommuni
eating with you by this means, being
well aware, an you are, that my baud
writing ia -very difficult to decipher,
aud you will appreciate the fact that I
wish there to be no mistake in your in
terpretation of what I am about to
write Your mime and address, of
course, I shall add myself, so that to
all iutduts aud purposes this letter
while having the added merit of being
legible is as oouftdential as it it wera
iu reality penned a diotated by me.
"I have enjoyed your aoquaintanoe
now for a number of months" Miss
Wilson's cheeks grew a little more
vivid just here, "abort as that . time
bos apparently boou. it bus been suffi
cient to reveal to me the fnct that yon
have awakened a sentiment much
deeper nnd more lasting thnn can be
comprised within or implied by the
word 'friendship.' The disparity in
our yearn has made me diffident of ex
pressing these sentiments to yon, but
I havo finally resolved to make my
plea, with the hope thnt it will not
prove nn insuperable obstacle to my
deep, sincere nnd devoted affoetion for
you j and with the further hope
which it remains with yon to ratify or
extinguish thnt my affection in re
turned. Will yon kindly give me nn
answer, denrest friend, nnd kindly
mnko my suspense a brief one? If
fate fn adverse I must bear it like a
man ; if you grnnt my suit I will not
wish to lose a moment in hearing your
lips confirm the precious news. Please
let mo hnve a reply by tho first post
in the morning, nnd believe me, nnder
nny and all circumstances, devotedly
your friend."
"There," said Mr. Rneburn, after
treating himself to a prolouged sur
vey from behind his hnnd nt the pretty
face, now flushed and unmistakably
agitated that bent over the note book.
"You are a young lady of taste, Miss
Wilson, and I should like your opin
ion. How do you think that souuds?
Not very flowery, eh?"
"No, sir; but, what is better
straightforward and manly," replied
Bertha, with just the faintest little
tremor in her voic?, which she skill
fully concealed or fancied sha did
by a convenient cough.
"Thank you? If the lndy for whom
it is intended will only r.ignrd it as ap
preciatively I shall have little fear,"
replied Mr. Raoburn, with a very
beaming expression. "Now, if you
will kindly copy tho letter for mo thnt
will close the work for todny. And
you need not come down tomorrow,
for if tho niiawer is favornblo I shall
spend the day with my friend nnd the
office will be closed. Ho you c.ia have
a holiday nud enjoy yourself."
"Thnnk you, sir,-' another unmis
takable quiver of tho pretty chin this
time.
If Miss Wilson could have seen the
huk on her employer's face a few min
utes after she left the office, her
thoughts would have taken a very dif
ferent turn.
"Eureka! Eureka I " he exclaimed.
"I am answered! Bless her dear
little ingenuous soul, she could not
keep tho toll-title story out of her eyes
and voice. They betrayed her with
every seuteneo of the lottor. John
Bneburn, you are tho luckiest mnn
alive!"
Thon picking up the finished letter
be first pressed it rapturously to his
lips, added a hasty scrawl at tho bot
tom, nddressed and enveloped it and
took it to the poatoffioe himself ; then
weut on home, whistling like a boy.
Meatiwhilo Bertha Wilson had
reached her home, put her things away
with scrupulous care, spread her little
t.iblo and sat down for the first time
iu her healthy young life without a
morsel of appetite.
As sha sat toyiug with bar spoon
there oiunti a ring at the door, and in
another moment a letter w ith n special
delivery stamp was placed in her
hands.
She opened it, glanced at the first
few linos, then fell bock with a lew
cry, while an expression of mingled in
credulity and rapture overspread her
face ; nnd when she came to the last
few lines, written iu a hand which, be
tween natural imperfections and agita
tion was reduced to a series of hiero
glyphics has nothing short of the in
spiration of love could have enabled
her to decipher, she just cried for pure
joy.
"Dear, Darling Bertha," it said,
"will you forgive the little ruse by
which I sought to loam what I had
ventured to hope was really true
that you did care for me? I wanted
to road in your dear faoo whether such
sentiment from me would be aooept
able to you, and what I saw thore was
emboldened me to send this letter
tenfold dearer to me because your
dear bands traoed it to assure you
that you and only you were the oue
for which it was intended aud the
object of my heart's sinoere affection.
May I cnuio tomorrow? Just say one
little 'Yes.' We oan say the rest
whon we meot, Yours devoted,
"John RaEBURN."
"Tho dear, darling, wicked, deoeit
tul fellow!" exoluimed Bertha, iu one
tremendous rapture of joy aud sur
prise. "To take such a mean advant
age of me aud make me write my own
lovo letter I Never miud ! I bad the
double pleasure of reading it and bear-
iug it, and knowing that it came right
warm from bis heart. And I wasn't
so far out of the way iu applying so
many of those expressions to mvself
aud fancying how I would regard
them, Bay 'Yes,' iudeod I shall !" .
And, spriugiug up, she weut over to
her desk, selected her very prettiest
sheet of note paper, wrote on it sim
ply the words :
"Dear John; Yes. Bertha."
Sealed it, kissed theenvMopo and hml
it in the post box at the corner, with
the special delivery stamp which John
had thoughtfully enclosed to facilitate
its journey, and went back to eat her
supper to the Inst mouthful and then
to enjoy a good, comfortable, grace
ful cry berore she fell asleep with a
smile on her pretty lips. Now York
Advertiser.
Most (iorgeons Might In Asia.
A well-conducted Chinese funeral is
the most gorgeous sight in Asia. It
mny seem to us a little tinselly, but
thnt is a mere matter of taste. At the
front of the funeral procession walk
the noisy musicless musicians. Then
come men (they mny be friends, they
may be coolies) bearing the insignia of
tho dignity of the dead, if ho had any.
Next walk more men enrryiug figures
of nnimnls, idols, umbrellas, and blue
anil white streamers. After them come
men carrying pnns of perfume. Just
before the coffin wnlk bonzes, Chin
ese priests. Over the coffin a canopy,
is usually enrried. The ensket is
borne by about a score of men. Im
mediately behind the coffin walk the
children of the deceased. The eldest
son comes first. He is dressed in can
van, ami leans heavily upon a stout
stick. He is supposed to be too ex
hausted by grief and fastiug to walk
without the aid of this staff. The
other children and relatives follow this
chief mourner. They are clothed in
white lin.-n gnrmonts1 White is the
mourning color tof the Dnnes, of the
Burmese, and of the Chinese. The
women nre carried in chairs in the
Chinese funeral procession. They sob
and wail at intervals and in unison.
When the burying place is renchnd,
the bonzes begin chanting a mass for
the dead, and the coffin is put into the
tomb. When tho coffin is laid in its
final position, a large oblong white
marble table is placed before the tomb.
On the middle of it is sot a causer ami
two vases and two candlesticks, all of
as exquisite workmanship as possible.
Then they have a paper cremation!
Paper figures of men, horses, gar
ments, and a score of other things, are
bnrued. They are supposed to under
go a mnterial resurrection, nud to be
useful to the dead in tho Chinese
heaven. The tomb is sealed up or
closed, nnd an entertainment concludes
the ceremony at tho grnve. The
forms of Chinese tombs vary some
what according to the proviuee in
which they are built, and very much
according to the means of the rotative
who undertakes the expense. With
the very poor the coffiu is placed upon
the ground, earth and lime are packed
about it, and a rudo grave is formed.
With tho rich a vault is built in the
form of a horseshoe. If the dead was
of note or position the decorations of
tho grave and of the coffin are very
elaborate. Thore are a thousand inter
esting things to be said about Chinese
mourning, about the ceremonies com
memorative of the dead, and about the
funerals of the Chinese royal family.
But they cannot be put into a pnra
granh or into a column. Pall Mall
Gazette.
Memory.
"The scieneo of memory," said
James W. Dodd to the corridor man
at the Liudell, "is very little under
stood aud the more it is investigated
the farther one gets from tho solution
of the difficulty. I am acquainted with
a man who could never leuru to writo
or to calculate although a large sum of
money was spent by his wealthy par
ents in attcmpte to educate him. To
this day ha can scarcely distinguish
one letter from another, but be can
read easily from sight in some man
ner neither physician no r philosopher
con understand.
"Ho is fond of reading out lond,
and seldom stumbles over a hard word,
although be cannot spoil out the
easiest ones. Strange to say, he baa
a most wonderful memory of what he
reads and will repeat the plot of a
book with tho exact quotations of
leading incideuts and expressions,
after reading it once. His general
habits indicate mental weakness in
various ways, and the only memory be
seems to have is in regard to printed
matter. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Financial Activity.
"How is Oulleu getting along?"
"Splendidly, for him."
"How do you kuow?"
"He bos jtint suooeeded in borrow
ing ten dollars from me." Chicago
Beoord.
Great Britain and her colonics have
27,906 ships of all kiuds ; Frauoe has
15,279; Germany, 2,635 ;Kussi, 4,406 J
Italy.0,810 ; United Htat3,2a,023 ; the
world. 107,137.
STAFF OF LIFE.
HOW DREAD IS MADE IX A IlKi
BAKKKY.
Processes Throngh Which It Has to
Pass Before It Is Ready for Delivery-
Improvements In
Machinery.
ONCERS I NO bread
and its making on a
large scnle, the Wash
ington Htnr hns this
to any :
To the ancients
brend wns the staff of
life, and it is just ns
important an article
now ns then. The
main difference is that
to the Hebrew and
Chaldean authors
of the stntT of life
theory, bread meant
latter dnv theolooricnns
agree thnt tho passage of Genesis
which reads "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou est thy bread," refers not
solely to rolls and muffins, but em
braces the entire dietary system from
little neck clams to cafe noir and
cheese.
The subject of bread is not popular
ly understood. It is an entertaining
process to watch the South American
aborigines steal the poison from the
cassnver pulp and roast the latter into
bread ; to see the maiden of the
tropics as she hammers parched maize
between two rocks and frys it into
fritters, and to spy on the Astrakhan
haired housewife of darkest Africa as
she bakes the roots of manihst and
janipha into daily bread.
Bread winning is a most important
thing, and bread making is not the
least. Home-made brend is a back
number. Machine-made bread takes
the cake. The twentieth century
bakery is a thing of beauty and the
np-to-date baker is a joy forever.
Baking on scientifio principles and a
mammoth scale is a high art. The
Washington baker will tell yon thnt
his business is a progessive one. It
is an evolution. A man must lny out
his capital, take time by the forelock
and mark time to the music of prog
ress if he means to keep up with the
processi n.
- v
BAKINO VIENNA BREAD.
Bakers of ye olden times worked
sixteen and eighteen hours per day
and received about $8 per month and
board. Bakers to-day work ten hours
per diem and earn from $12 to (18 per
week. And yet it costs less to pro
duce a loaf of bread pow than then.
The reason lies in machinery and cen
tralization of force. s
Washingtonians eat 200,000 loaves
of bread daily. A 196-ponnd barrel
of standard flour will make on an
averago 200 lonven. Calculate this
for yourself and see how many acres
of wheat land, bread in the original
package, it takes to make the wheels
of local life go round.
Two of the banner bakerios of the
eity each have a sworn to circulation
of 15,000 loaves per day, and on Sat
urday they issue 25,000. One of the
bonanza bakers some time ago brought
through in fifty-eight hours from La
Crosse, Wis. , a special train of forty
cars in two seotions, each car contain
ing 29,000 ponnds of tissue-making
food. The principal local bakers carry
a stock of about 6000 barrels of flour,
and for one year the books of one
baker record the consumption of 16,
000 barrels of flour.
All the first-class bakeries use only
northern-growu wheat, because it is
harder, grinds finer and yields better
bread. Southern gTain, they say, won't
do. Nearby lard is said to be the bet t,
and is the most generally used. One
baker used last year 32,000 pounds of
the lubricant. The days of malt and
potato yeast are only memories, an&
compressed yeast is tho feature of to
day. Fourteen thousand five hun
dred pounds is the amount used lust
year in a single bakery.
The superiority of bakers' bread lies
in the fact that the proper percentage
of ingredients salt, sugar, milk, yeast,
flour, lard and water has been deter
mined by years of experiments and
experience. The ratio of ingredients
having been settled on is not allowed
to vary.
To the dear little wife who gets ber
arms and manicured fingers all gummed
up with dough this mixture process is
largely a matter of guess work. To
day she hits it and blushing honors
fall thick upon her. To-morrow she
misses it and the rolls have to be swal
lowed gently to save a fracture of the
ribs. Then the baker's flour ia selected
by an expert, and unlike the parlor
angel be is not to be roped in by florid
SFONOI AND DODOH TBOUOHS.
advertising, tinsel labels, specious
guarauteea nor poetic names.
When a consignment of flour reaches
the bread mill it is weighed in the bal
"U eat"
ancs and inspected. If not found
wanting it is hoisted to the top story
in the stesm elevator. Here as wanted
it is dumped into the mixer. This
machine bears the same relation to
bread that the hopper boy did when
yon and I were young.
It is a circular bin about eight feet
in diameter and the mixing is accom
plished by a harrow-like weapon that
swings around the circle. When occa
sion suggests divers brands of flour are
blended, as tea and tobacco men would
say, to produce a desired result. As a
rule, though, only straight flour is
used. It is pleasing to watch the great
steel comb whirl round and its teeth
plow np nnd rnke down the bed of
wheaten dust. i '
From tho mixer it passes through
steel sieves. These are cylindrical in
form and perform their task by revo
lution. This was once a tedious hand
process.
From tho sifting cylinders the
powder passes into rticeivers and then
rolls through a sbute into the dough
hoppers located on the floor below.
In the hopper is a metal revolving
machine, much like a ship's screw. As
the flour showers down from the upper
floor salt is sprinkled in and pure cold
water, pumped by steam power from a
sealed and concreted well directly be
neath the bakery, pours in. The mass
is churned and torn, the blades tear
ing through it at a high rate of speed
ORINDINO rltACRIR HEAL.
and perhnps throwing occasional
pieces of dough out upon the floor.
These sweepings are sold to farmers as
food for swine. In this way six bar
rels of flour may be thoroughly ground
in twelve minutes. This, in the days
of crude methods, was one of the
slowest and most laborious processes
in baking. Stalwart men bent over,
punched and tugged at the dough, and
pel spired there, too.
The mechanical device is in the line
of speed and cleanliness. After the
necessary treatment in the hopper the
mnterial is lifted iuto wooden troughs.
In professional parlance this bread
elect is called "sponge" and the pro
cess "rising." The apartment set
aside for the "rising" is apt to be
tilled with an odor anvthing but per
fume fill to the uninitiated scent. It
is allowed to remain in this condition
for two and one-half hours. Noxt it
is fired down through chutes to tho
floor below and falls on polished hard
wood tables. Tho kneading process is
then gone through. This is best done
by hand and in this department of the
work the ways of our forefathers pre
vail. Next it is weighed ont in batches of
thirteen and three-quarter pounds
aud tossed into a machine which cuts
it into twelve parts, all exactly equal.
Each chunk represents a loaf, aud as
each of these should by law weigh one
pound, the overweight is to allow for
shrinkage. The machine which docs
this work is a German invention, but
it is stated that the patent was bought
by a Chicagoau, and the first instrument
of the kind was put into practical
operation iu this city. It apportions
the dough after the manner of a bullet
mold. It is unvarying in its accuracy,
aud renders it impossible for tho jour
neymen to alter tho woigbt of the loaf
either from negligence or violence.
With the present machine tho jour
neyman has no authority in the pre
mises. He simply pulls the lever and
the engine does the rest. The shaping
process is next in order. Thence it is
passed along to the oveners. First it
is treated with steam to lighten it aud
glaze the crust. - After its Turkish
bath it is placed in the finishing oven
by means of pole bandied wooden
shovels, allowed to remain thirty min
utes, and then removed by the same
means. Each paddlo will bear six
loaves.
There are in Washington twenty
four modern high-classed ovens.
Those bot-nir chambers have an aver
age area of 100 square feet, and ac
commodate, as a rule 200 loaves at
each sitting. They are absolutely free
of dust and obnoxious gases and are
brilliantly lighted, so that every loaf
ii under the surveillanoe of an opera
tor. Before scienoe and bakery got
MIXING) TUB DODOH.
taugled up and interlaced the opera
tor, when be deemed it advisable to
look at bis bread, would turu on the
rays of an oil lamp or ignite a bunch
of kindling wood so that the flames
would light the interior of the oven.
That ia why iu times that are history
now baker's bread would sometimes
taste of pine and resin. In one looal bake
shop seven ovens are kept in almost
coutant ruuniug order, at a cost of
cue thousand tons of superior coal an
nually. . There are about three hundred
bakers in Washington, and propor
tionate number of apprentices. To be
graduated as a baker a three years'
course ia required. Eigbtv per oeat.
of tbe bread builders of Washington
are Germans, either by birth, breed
ing or inheritance. A small percent
age are American, native and to tbe
manor born. The land of the lily
and merry England are also repre
sented by small contingents. As a
TUB BIO CRACK RR OVEN.
rule bakers are fat and jolly, but in
nine cases out of ten are only moder
ate enters. Bakers are cleanly. Mod
ern bakeries are provided with all
means to facilitate next-to-godliness.
There is a dressing room where he
must doff his street attire and don his
sandals, cap and gown. He is robed
in fine linen. He must wash before
going nn duty and must always wash
after having been excused from work.
Bakers know how a good song couuts
as muscle on a dough batch, and sing
as they labor.
There are fashions in bread just as
in belles and bonnets. Vienna hns tha
call at present and experts say that it
will continue to be the ruling bread
because of its excellence. It contains
a large percentage of milk. The book
keeper in one of the mightiest baker
ies in town told a reporter for tbe
Star thnt during the yenr his food
factor had soaked up 25,250 gallons of
milk at a cost of overSSOOO. Chicago
bread five or six years ago was all the
rage. Now it is a dead letter. At
that time one bakery furnished the
trade with 6000 loaves. , The same
concern now bakes but twenty-eight
loaves. It was a loaf baked in large
sheets and had to be torn from its
partners a la postage stamp. Capitol
bread is enjoying a good deal of popu
larity just now. It comes in sheets of
sixteen and retails for four cents. Bos
bread, which comes in square loaves is
fairly well received. Pullman bread,
which is baked in reclaugular loaves
and by the yard, is having a run with
the Connecticut avenue population.
Home-made bread, so-called, is on tbe
decline and the biscuit loaf is advanc
ing in favor. Kye bread is a very popu-
DIES FOR STAMPING) CAKES AND CIUf'EKIW.
lar brand with the bakers themselves,
but very little is made. It is eateu
principally by the Germans. It has
no hold ou . the Washington heart.
More rve bread is baked in Baltimore
in one day than in Washington iu one
year. In northern Europe simple
crushed rye is made iuto bread and
and the loaves sometimes weigh twen
ty pounds. Off these a family will live
an indefinite period. It is said to bo
nutritious. Bakers say that the gra
ham isthe kingof breads. Iu it is found
tne grain with a flavor of sun, wind
and shower. Tho bone, sinew, meat
nud soul of the wheat are preserved.
Unkind.
Willie Wilt "Do you know au
Miss Perte, I have half a mind "
Miss Perte "Oh, surely more than
that, Mr. Wilt." lUymond's Monthly.
The Poor Cannot Eat Meat,
A high tax on butcher shops baa
just been imposed in tbe State of
Sinaloa, Mexico. It is so exorbitant
that tbe butchers have been com
pelled to advauoe the prioe of their
meats correspondingly, and now it ia
said that the prices aro so high that
the poor are utterly unable to afford
the expensive luxury, and the uso of
meat is praotioally restricted to tbe
rich. Meat is selling iu Siualoa at
from fifty to seventy-five cents a
pound. For a thinly populated coun
try, which raises a good deal mora
beef and mutton thau it consumes,
this is a most extraordinary state of
affairs. New Orleaus Picayune.
Tbe average sura in a savings bank
runs from sixty-nine dollars a year to
seventy dollars. This means the aver
age sum left for drawing iuterest.
Texas is first iu cattle and cotton,
second in sugar, sheep aud mules,
seventh iu cows, eighth iu hogs.
fi-TCV