There are HM different kind of type
writers made in tho United States,
lint only one kind of n unecossful
typewriter.
The Jews nre much more exempt
from tubercle tlmn any other race,
and there is little doubt, snys n medi
cal writer, Mint mnch of this exemp
tion is due to the great care exercised
in tho choice and dressing of their
meat.
During prosperous times the sugiit
crop of Cuba averaged 1,(100,000 tons
annually. Tho total product of 1R9"
0(1 was" 22.1,221 tons; of 181W-97 the
product was 212,221, a deficiency thi
year as compared w ith Inst yenr of 13,
170 tons. The shortage is only one of
the penalties of war.
Heveral secret societies composed of
workingmcn in Denver, Col., have
determined to boycott the department
stores. As all of these organizations
have branches with women members,
who are the principul patrons of the
stores, a lively contest between the
affiliated bodies is expected. The
women want to shop where they enn
get the bett bargains, boycott or no
boycott.
Jeffersonville, Ind., is proud of a
veteran of the war, who lives neat
there, and is the father of nineteen
living children, all of whom were
born since the war. The eldest child
is thirty years old and the youngest
seven. Among the children are foul
sets of twins. Xewton Norris, the
father, draws a pension, but if he
lived in Canada hp would be receiving
an additional sum or adding so gen
erously to the population.
How ninny people know that tho
Dnited States produced last year one
fonrth of tho world's gold, or about
$(10,000,000 worth? And Colorado is
credited with about one-third of this
as her share. These figurcs.furnished
by Robert E. Preston, director of the
mint, tally very cloudy with those
furnished by Tho Engineering and
Mining Journal, which gives 241,'
391,639 as the world's total prodnc
tion of gold for 1897, an increase ol
more than 829,000,000 over 189(5,
The gold found in the Klondike re
gion swells the Canadian output from
$2,810,000 in 189(1 to perhaps $7,000,
000, during last year.
One of the most surprising dis
coveries of the century has just been
made by Professor W. M. Flinders
Petrie, the great Egyptian excavator.
He has found that the PharaoliB who
built the pyramids and their predeces-
aors were cannibals that this won
dorfnl people, who erected the ruoBt
splendid temples and the most colossal
monuments, and who possessed
civilization that has astonished the
intervening ages, ate the bodies oi
their dead. He has opened 150 tombs,
and from them taken many mutila
ted remains of tho victims of canni-
balism. Professor Heinrioh Brugsch,
continuing the atudy and investiga
tion, adds his opinion that the ancient
Egyptians were niaueaters of the
worst kind, and brings forward con
elusive evidenco showing that they
not only offered up human beings to
the gods, but regularly used the flesh
of human beings as food.
E. J. Berry, an expert horse grower,
in an address at a recent convention
of American stock breeders and feed
ers in the city of St. Paul, referred tc
a condition in the markets which ia oi
great interest to the horse trade ol
this country. He declared that he
and other men conspicuously engaged
in atock raising believed that the
United States would at no distant da
witness a horse famine, and that it
wonld be due partly to the hard timet
and low prices which have driven
many growers out of business and
partly to the increasing demand foi
American horses in Europe. He suiil
that horse mining, if properly attended
to by farmers, would speedily become
one of the very foremost of our agri
cultural interests, and his recommen
dation was that special attention be
given to growing horses of the grade
in demand in foreign markets, which
lie described as follows: First a well
bred eoaoh horse; second, a cab horse;
.third, the omnibus horse; fourth, the
draft horse, and fifth, the American
trotter. To these Mr. Berry might
have added the cavalry horse, which
ia growing in favor wherever Ameri
can stock has been used in that service.
There ia but little, and there will be
till less demand for poor horses, here
or abroad, but there ia undeniably a
growing market at home and in Eu
rope for thoroughly sound, properly
bred animals ancb as American
stockmen are amply able to raise.
There is no reason why this
important branch of agricultural in
dustry should not experience wide-r-'tti
and jwofltable revival. '
UNCLE SAM'S
I
Field Telegraphy and Military Ballooning: Described.
NT CLE HAM has
some littlo tricks
up his sleeve, which
in time ot war
could bo brought
into service at a
moment's notice
and which, says W.
.T. Rouse in the
New York Times,
wonld prove very
annoying to an eno
Comparatively little is known
my.
about the Signal Corps of the army
and its important work, and it is tho
purpose of this article to describe in a
gonoral way some of the interesting
things this littlo body of men accom
plish in these days of military progress.
Aerial military manoeuvres, photo
graphing from great heights and dis
tances, laying, equipping, and opera
ting telegraph and telephone lines in
time of battle at a rate as fast as a
horse can travel, are interesting mat
ters, and all of thorn are achieved by
this branch of the service.
Tho Signal Corps on a peace footing
consists of ten officers and a score or
more sergeants, together with small
detachments of enlisted men detailed
for this special service on the frontier
where instruction in tho work of the
corps is being given. Brigadier Gen
eral A. W. Oreely of arctio fame, is in
command of the corps and has his
headquarters at Washington, D. O.
The largest school of instruction at
present is at Fort Logan, Colorado.
Captain W. A. Olassford, Chief Signal
Officer, of tho Department of tho Colo
rado, is in charge and has in his de
tachment three Sorgeants and eighteen
detailed enlisted men.
In the present day, owing to the
rapid advance made in modern Are
arms, the necessity has arisen for a
means of instant communication from
one 'part of a battlefield toanothor. For
the transmission of outers, instruction,
reports. Ice., nothing is so swift as
electricity. The manner of its adnp
tion for this work is interesting in the
extreme, and the menus by which
telephone and telegraph lines are pnt
up and operated are unique and origi
nal. The aerial exploits of some
of these men outrival the wildest
dreams of fold-time aeronauts for a
balloon train is now a part of the field
equipment of the .modern United
States Army.
The country surronn ling Fort Lo
gan is particularly adapted to the uses
of It he Signal Corps for nelrt work
Its diversified character renders the
correct and practical une of the various
instrnments employed easily taught,
The high peaks immediately in the
back ground aflbrd lofty stations in
temperate weather for long distance
signaling and heliographing.
Supposing that a state of aotnal
warfare exists, we will go with the
signal men into the field aud see how
the field telegraph and telephone lines
re pnt up and operated. The tele
graph train consists of three wagons
of the usual army type, built more for
rough, hard service than for beauty,
The electrical batteries are securely
packed in wooden bins or cells in one
of these wagons, to prevent their top
pling over in transit. Another com
partment in thia same wagon provides
aate storage for the telegraph rostra
ments and necessary supplies. The
wagon ia drawn by two or four mules
a the nature of the country demands,
BALLOON nOUSE AT
The second wagon is known as the
wire wagon. It carries a supply of
ordinary galvanized telegraph wire
sufficient to erect line ten or doz
en miles in length. This wire is car
ried npon reela whioh pay it out auto
matically, onoe the line has been
started. The third wagon carries the
slender poles or lanoea, together with
the necessary insulators to support
the wire, and tools for setting the
lanoes in the ground. In boxea along
the sides of this wagon are carried the
additional ' small supplies whioh may
be needed iu oases of emergency.
The wagon train jogs along at fair
rate of speed after leaving the post,
nd no one knows, exoept the officer in
command, jnst where or when the line
is to be pat up. The order for "dou
ble time" was given, and after the
mm ki trotted short distance, the
SIGNAL CORPS.
i
order to halt was aonnded. The offi
cer in command had selected his Im
aginary line and directed the battery
wagon to be placed in a certain posi
tion when halted. The men ran to
the wire wagon and swarmed over it;
others of them attacked the pole, or
lance truck, and in an iustnnt a stream
of polea was issuing from that wagon
that could only be approached by an
army of circus employes dismantling
a big tont.
The general direction of the line was
indicated by the officer and the men
set to work. Two of them, armou
with hnge orowbars, trotted off in the
direction the line was to take. Ono
of them halted at about fifty or sixty
'
.. t . - . . a
EltECTINO MILITARY
yards from the battery wagon nnd
thrust the sharpened end of the steel
bar into the ground. The other passed
him and went twice as far, when he,
too, thrust tho sharp instrument into
the yielding soil. The first man had
now run around him, and his place,
where he had dug the first hole, was
taken by a group of men armod with
one of the lances, an insulator, and
the end of the wire, which was now
spinning out of the rear end of the
wiro wagon. In less time than it takes
to tell it, tho lauce or pole was sot, the
insulator was in position nnd the wire
was attached. Tho men wera already
at the second station, where a polo
was going up, before I had time to
make photograph. The men with
the crowbars were now far away and
going further all the time. That row
of bristling poles seemed to grow like
THIS BAMiOOX WAQOV.
magic and one could almost see them
run. In an incredibly short space of
time but little longer than it would
have taken me to walk to the edge of
the timber the line had disappeared
among the trees. While I was won
dering what would be done next, the
instrument in the battery wagon began
to tick and a message came in over the
newly constructed line asking for
further instructions. Orders were
flashed back and the line was con
tinued all the way to the foothills.
At times, in actual warfaro, it is not
only desirable but necessary for a com
manding ueneral to get lustaut news
from the very front. Of course a field
telegraph line like the one just de
scribed could not be maintained there
long. To overcome this, however, the
field telephone can be used, and, in
case its instruments are out ot ordor
FORT LOGAN, COL.
from any cause, telegraphio messages
may be sent back from the front over
it to the rear, whenoe they may be in
stantly transmitted over the military
telegraph line as described.
The telephone wire may be ad
vanced just as far to tho front, even
in actual battle, as brave men are able
to carry it. Its wire drags on the
ground and is, of course, thoroughly
insulated. It is of snlUoieut strength
not to be injured by the passage of
troops over it. The wire is carried on
a little steel cart, drawn by hand. It
is wound npon a reel that works al
most without friction, and wire can
be laid as rapidly as a man can run.
The operator in charge of the field
telephone carries a set of diminutive
yet perfeot field instrnments in
leather case at his side. These field
instruments eroNit-5id to the wire
.'TtSr
by flexible wire and commnlcation is
possible at all times, even while the
wire is being laid. Messages may he
sent and received with as much facil
ity as if the instrnments were at
tached to a solid wall in a comfortable
office.
Eminences, hills, bluffs, or other
elevated portions of land, when so lo
cated as to bo in view of headquarters
in the field, serve as admirable sites for
heliogrnph stations. Of course, unless
an uninterrupted view of tho country
is to be had, no heliographic signal
ing can be accomplished. The system
in vogue now in the Signal Corps is
the latest and most improved, in the
matter of instrnments procurable,' hut
tho method which provides for the
transmission of mcssnges by light
flanhos, is old. It is astounding, bow
ever, to nnto the fact that tclcgraphio
messages have been flashed with this
little instrument a distance of almost
200 miles. Tho system of dots aud
dashes of the telegraph code is repro
dnced by means of long and short
flashes of reflected sunlight. While
it is trne that auy operator may read
a v " rWV '
TELEGRAPH LINE
tho words spelled out in this manner.
yet the information thus gained would
bo totally unintelligible to him, as
everything is sent in cipher.
An exhnustivo system of signaling.
by means of flatts and heliogrnph by
day, and at night with rockets, bombs,
llasn-Innternsnml electric searchlights,
is in vogne. Messages cnu bo sent,
under any and all ports of conditions,
nnd in the face of seemingly insur
mountable obstacles, so that a com-
mandor may at all times bo kept fully
advised of what is transpiring in any
or all of his commands.
Military ballooning bns also ad
vanced to such a state of perfection
during the past few year that it will bt
perfectly within the range of possilnl.
ity, iu case of war.to accurately photo
graph an enemy's position, obtain ac
curate maps of his fortification, etc.,
without seudmg any one within mi
lines. There is at Fort Logan, a fully
equipped balloon field train, ready fol
service at nny moment.
The balloon train consists of three
wagons, similiar iu construction to
those described above, and which
transport the field telegraph parapher
nalia. Tho balloon itself,a huge affair,
has place iu the forward end of tin
wagon. At tho rear end there is s
large reel, upon which nre carried aov
eral thousand feet of stout cable. In
a middle compartment to tho balloon
wagon, room is reserved for the basket
and netting. Iu the second wagon are
stored the hydrogen gas tubes needed
for inflating the airship. These tubes
are constructed of steel and are as
light and as strong as it is possible to
make them.
There is a generating plant for gas
at Fort Logan, aud it is there that the
tubes are Ullod. They are shipped, in
such quantities as may be needed, to
various points throughout the country,
A supply sufficient for several infla
tions can be carried with the field
train, and if larger supplies are needod,
additional wagons are pressed into
service. The balloon ... itself is con
structed of the finest and most costly
material, gold beaters' akin being used
for this purpose. The heavy wagon is
of sufficient weight to hold the balloon
captive, and if a change of base is
necessary during an asoonsion, the
wagon has simply to be moved in the
desired direction, Telephonio com
munication is maintained through the
cable which holds the balloonto the
wagon.
As the members of the Signal Corps
are a'. so topographical engineers it is
a simple matter for thorn to prepare
aoourate maps of the country beneath
them, while suspended out of harm's
way above an enemy's camp. The
adoption of teleophotographio lenses
alrfo gives them means by which as
accurate photographs can bo made as
if tho artist wcro actually in the
fortifications.
Statistics show that it is almost im
possible to hit a captivo balloon with
musketry fire when -at an elevation of
2000 feet. The balloon is kept mov
ing almost incessantly, and iu that
lies a great measure of its safety.
Nearly all the standing armies of the
world are now equipped with balloon
corps, and the value of this sort of
aerial surveying in time of war is in
calculable, at least it is so admitted by
the military experts, and they ought
to know.
Whether or not experiments have
been made in the nse of explosives
dropped from balloons, I have not
been able to learn, but, from what oue
oan see of the use of these aerial
monsters at Fort Logan, it would not
be strange if the wildest dreams of
moderns may soon be realized and the
terrible death-dealing airship may soon
evolve, as did the Holland submarine
boat, from- Jules Verne's "Twenty
Thousaud League Under the Sea."
Acvlumi For the Ilouialiu,
Paris has, apart from two places
whero paupers oan spend the night,
fourteen asylums for the homeless,
which last year lodged 144.087 per
sons, of whom 16,557 were women and
2600 children. Among the lodgers
were 210 professors and teaohers,
eighteen students, fire authors, five
journalists, 120 actors and singers,
thirty musicians and sixteen wuiio
teachers.
rzrj WSt- I-
CRM;
r.
The flonsa Ilrtilnil the Scrrea.
My little houso behind th screen,
I keep my plnythinir therei
My shovolnnd my pall for sand,
My blocks and books and marbles and
My little rocking chair.
My plnymata on ths hassock sits,
As qulot its a ranuftei
Ho never talks tho whole dny through,
Or stirs, unless I till him to.
Within my littlo house.
Alone with mo he knows he's safe
From glnnts passing by,
And whim we play It makes hint glad,
Mow many happy tlmos we've had,
Tho rubber boy and II
He always heeds Just what I say
And knows Just what I mnan,
We don't believe that any man
Could build a finer palace tlmn
Our house behind the oreen.
Now Xork Herald.
A Note for ftnmp Collectors.
Stamp collectors will have to make
room in their albums for a new set of
Netherland stamps. Holland has al
ways been very Blow to issue stamps,
and the total number is smaller than
that of any other country in the
world. But this year the girl queen
Wilhelinina is to be crowned, and
tamps bearing her portrait will be
issued iu honor of the great event.
The Crnstneca.
Tho crustncea are almost all aquatic
tnimnls. They have no internal skele
ton, but their body is covered with a
trong crust, which serves for protec
tion as well as for strength. Their
whole framework consists of a series
of rings fitted to, and working in each
other, some forming limbs, and others
developing into the framework sup
porting the different organs. From
this renson, they nnd the remaining
iuimals, ns far as the star-fishes, who
have no limbs at all, are called "arti
culated" animals.
Their method of growth is very
curious. Other animals, as they in
crease in size.experience no particular
Inconvenience. Not so tho ciustaceu.
Their bodies nre closely enveloped iu
a strong, unyielding mail, which can
not grow with them. Their armor is
therefore cast off every year, and a
fresh coat formed to suit their in
creased dimensions. Not only is the
armor cast off, but even the oovering
of the eyes, the tendons of the claws,
and the lining membrane of the
stomach, with its teeth.
They all also possess the curious
power of reproducing a lost or injured
limb. In the former case, a fresh
limb supplies the place nf that lost;
and iu the latter case, the animal it
self shakes off the injured joint, and a
new one soon takes its place. Lob
sters, when alarmed, frequently throw
off their claws.
The decapods, as their name im
ports, are the fortunate possessors of
ten legs, five at each side. They also
possess three pairs of jaws, besides
the teeth in the stomach. They breathe
by means of branchiae or gills fixed
at each side of the throat or chest,often
erroneously called the head.
The common crab belongs to the
short-tailed decapods. Detroit Free
Tress.
TobnR-g-ntiliiK.
This sport, under different names,
is popular both in Canada and Ituasiu.
Before nihilism had terrified a great
part of the life and gnyety out of the
ltussian court, it was a popular pas
time even among members of the
iiuporial family.
As soon as the Neva was frozen
over sufficiently to bear the weight,
two immense piers of solid ice were
built at distances ot about a quarter
of a milo apart. On one side there
was a flight of steps to the top, and
on the other a precipitous descent at
about an angle of forty-five degrees.
The sport consisted in descending this
incline in n small sleigh, or toboggan.
The pilot and his one or more pas
sengers having descended the first in
cline, ascended the steps of the other
j pier on foot, and made the return
I journey. The trip was repeated back
I and forth until tho parties were weary
of the sport.
I A toboggan may accommodate three
' or four persons, but the suiuller
1 aleighs made t hold only two are
more common in ltussiu. A vory
I slight movement suffices to guide the
j toboggan or to throw it out of its
, course. The steering is doue by the
occupant of the back seat. An inex
' perienced pilot, finding his toboggan
I careening toward the right, is apt to
put too much force into hm efforts to
chauge its course, and so upset both
himself and his passengers. The to
boggan responds t the slightest
touch. A stick of wood is sometimes
used in the guiding, but it can be
readily done by the hand.
To enjoy a toboggan ride it is nec
essary to be well skilled in the art of
guiding the sleigh, or to have great
j ronfideuce iu the person who is to do
'the steering. By the time the to
boggan has reached the level, it has
required velocity sufficient to carry it
. a very long distance.
j In Canada, where some people who
are not fond of the cold weather assert
that the winters are "thirteen months
kxiq," tobogganing is a nost popular
sport. While the nights are enlivened
with balls, hops and concerts, the days
are devntHil in tiwn...i,nn!n
sions and tobogganing parties, in '
"u, ooiii sexes anu ages, join,
and which brightens the hill (dopes
and river bauks throughout the do-
Thfl (.'nrifltlinn tnlinrfiran fn.. la a
light curved Blip of birch bark.dnintlj
Indian style, which glides down the
v o'i"o miu uenrious awuincss.
and. .skillfull
....... j fjuitivui tallica Lvm
occupant far along the level ground at
41.. I T ,
unno. la some places in Uauocla
there are courses of wood erected, and
during tho long winters the sport rau '
bo frequently enjoyed.
There ia just danger enough in to
bogganing to make it exciting. An
incautious guide may npsot his pas
sengers or rnn into another toboggan.
The tlACA lieiniv fi-nm 41.1. 4 ;t
- -----D iu,, i j ,v n.Aij
mile an hour, a collision ronr result
iu buihb serious bruises. in most
Dilates illA lintlffl nltnaan I a mnm
- -VW...UV uui'v 11 an nuui-i
nntural doclivity where the nndnla-
wuub may oe amootliea tiown so that
the incline is even. Water is some
times poured down the slope and al
lowed tfl fl-AA?. in (mm,.... 1 1, .
- . , ui. .w iuu ennn 1 1 1 II
slipperiuess of the surface. Detroit
A I'reclou Hag.
I remember once finding on the top
shelf of a cupboard a package of queer
little things,over which I was puzzled.
They were about the size of half
kernel of rice, perhaps larger, ribbed
and hard, and silvery-looking, but on
being handled, shedding a dingy
powdor which left exposed a lustrous
purplish surface striped with white
lines.
Were they seeds? and if so, seeds
of what? or were-they bugs?
I was told that they were insects,
costly ones, the cochineal from which
the most beautiful red color in the
world was obtained, and that the rich
carmiuo in tho box of water color
paints was made from them.
It is wonderful thnt such a tiny
creature, a small parasite, should be
come an important article of com
merce; that the business of raising
cochineal should be the chief occupa
tion iu certain places in warm lati
tudes. The home of the cochineal is in Cen
tral America. When the Spaniards
arrived iu that country they found the
Indians using a superb color, and
soon learned about it, and kept the
knowledge a secret from the rest of
the world.
The principal place for raising coch
ineal is Oajaca in Mexico, the capital
of the state of the same name, in the
southern part of the Isthmus of Tehn
nntepeo. The people are mostly In
dians, and they understand how to
care for the insects, which require al
most as much attention as silkworms.
The plant on which they feed is a
species of cactus, resembling some
that we cultivate. This cactus grows
about five feet high, and the leaves
are thick, full of red juice and covered
with prickles. The creatnres do not
in reality feed, but pierce the cover
ing of the leaves and extraot the
juice, which by some process ot nature
converts the tiny live thing into a
solid body of dye. Thoy literally sap
the plants, so that the cactus groves
have to be renewed frequently.
Jn the suburbs of Oajaca there are
acres of gardens and plantations de
voted to cochineal culture. Two crops
of tho bugs are gathered in a year,
one in December, the other iu May.
The female cochineal are placed in
littlo nests or baskets of moss and
fastened to the best places on the
cactus, so that the thousands of eggs
may be laid when the food is suitable
for the newly-hatched inseots.
When the time for collecting bugs
for market comes, the Indians brush
them off with a squirrel's tail, or pick
them off with a blunt knife. A man
can pick only about two ounces a day.
It takes seventeen thousand coohineala
to weigh a pound.
Tho next thing ia to kill them, and
there are several methods. One is to
brush them into a basket and dip it
into hot water, and others are to put
them iu a hot oven, or on hot iron
plates, or in the scorching snn. The
different ways make a difference in
the outside appearance of the bugs,
and also iu the beauty of the dye it
self. After they are dried they will keep
a hundred years without losing their
coloring property. No one who has
examined the cochineal iusoots aud
crushed them to a dry red powder can
doubt this. And no oue need wonder
that the Europeans who first saw
them in this atate thought they were
seeds or some kind of grain.
It is nearly four hundred years
since the invading Spaniards first
knew the source of those incomparable
red dyes among the obscure Indians
of Central America. Now, from the
city of Oujaca about five thousand
pounds of cochineal are aent away
each year. That is only one plaoa
out of many, though the most famous.
One can judge of the importance of
this little creature, in learning that in
a single year over two million pounds
went to Great Britain alone.
Cochineal was formerly cultivated
only in Mexico, but now it has been
introduced into Spain and the French
possessions in Africa. Amanda B.
Harris, in Boston Bouquet.
Sh. Couldn't.
Penelope Cholly fell throih the
ice yesterday.
Marie Indeed! Then the ice can't
bear him, eiihe.
V.