1 ) RURAL MAIL m Wl 7c Marvelous Growth and Popularity IS of the System. I T9 AH (P to tlia present time there lie been nothing in tbo history o tun postal service of the United Stales," say the annual report of the tlrsl assistant poet ma ster-gen-ernl, "eo remark able as the growth of the rurnl free delivery system." The daily delivery of mail at the far- mer's doorby the Federal Govern ment, is no Ion per an experiment. In the words of the report, the system lie now "to be dealt with as nn estab lished agency of problem, awaiting tinly the action of the Congress to de termine how apidly it elinll be de veloped." 'I tie current month ftmin ' Mral free delivery of mail in succe ss--Jul operation from iW. distributing point radiating nver forty Htntoa ami one Territory, while other districts from Maino to Toias nre anxiously waiting for those regular visits from Uncle Sam which tiieau bo much iu n variety of ways. tlCRAti r'AMUBR, BOWIHO OKRRX, OHIO. (Twenty degress below sero.) This country is learning that ethical considerations like these are most in tensely practical, and that a study of inch problems is what the country needs for a truly larger growth. lint figures are deduced in the report to convince those to whom figures are the only tangible evidence. Ho the report sets forth that whenever the system has been started properly, it has been followed by these results: Increased postal receipts. More letters are written and received. More t-ewspapers and magazine are sub scribed for. So marked is this ad vancement that many rural routes al ready pay for themselves by the addi tional business they bring. Enhancement of the value of farm landa reached by rural free delivery. This inorease in value baa been esti mated at as high as $5 an acre in some States. A moderate estimate ia from $2 to $3 au acre. PS. JDtUVfcttlNC UAH. A general improvement of the con dition of the roada traversed by the rnral carrier. In the Western States especially the construction of good roada has been a prerequisite to the establishment of rural free delivery et.-ioe. In ooa county in Indiana a special agont reports that the farmere apent over 2(100 to grade and gravel toad to obtain rn at free deliver, OtUVlRINO MAIL To "" tUCAD PL.) IT t OS IM .LOUIilAWA. DELIVERY. Hotter prioe obtained for farm products, tho producer being brought into daily touch with the slate of the markets, and thus being enabled to take adTautage of iuforwatiou hereto fore unattainable. In the communities where it baa been tried free delivery ia considered the greatest boon that the Govern ment ever has conferred on them. One Missouri farmer has calculated that in the last fifteen years he ban driven 12, 000 miles going to anil from thepostolllce to get his mail all travel that is saved to him by the free de livery system. In the last report of the First As sistant Pontmaster-General there are some striking illustrations. There is, for example, a scene at a country store, twelvo miles from Lafayette, Ind., from which point three rnral letter carriers start daily, each making a circuitous drive of twenty-five miloa or more, without passing over the same road twice. At the particular point photographed four cross roads meet, nud twenty or more families, most of them living half a mile from the store, have each put up an individual letter box of galvanized iron, lettered with the name of the person for whom it is in tended. l'.L'IUti DF.LIVRBT MAIL IJOXKS VIC TOKIA, IU.. Into this box the carrier, whose hour of arrival ia known, and scarcely varies ten minutes, wiuter or summer, drops the letters and daily papers for each family, and collects in return their mails which nro deposited in a Government collection box, placed iu position at the same spot. The farm er's children, or suoh idle banda aa he can sparo, gather up the mail and IN ARTZOMA carry it to the bouse, and the farmer ia tuns spared a drive of twelve miles to the postoiHoe, which he would hardly feel justified in undertaking iu the moat favorable weather more than twice a week, and then at ranch per sonal iueonvenieno and peouniary loss. Uuder the rural free delivery system ba geta his mail and his paper daily without cott el tin or moot. A HCENB NEAH LAFAYETTE, 1ND. j and he la gratified properly so fot the recognition which the Govern ment has given him in bringing the mails so near to his door. llural free delivery carriers, as a rnle, "put on frills" in Indiana, which HI ate, next to Ohio, baa the lion' share of the existing experimental ser vice. Most of them provide them selves with regulation uniforms, at their own cost, and furnish special wagons, with pigeon boles and other postal appliances all for $100 a year, horse hire included. Out ia Arizona, where in the genial summer sunshine the temperature oc casionally risea to 110 degrees ami stays there, the rural carrier rarely wears any insignia of his dignity, ex cept his badge, which ia a nickel plated arrangement made to fit any kind of hat. Instead of comfortably riding in a specially constructed posta! wagon, lie as olleu as not mounts i bucking bnmno, or diives him to i buckboard, with only an umbrella fo) shade. But ho makes thirty odd inilei a day, nevertheless and the Depart ment lias just issued uniera to cm down this particular route from Tempe, five or ten miles a dav. chief! v out ol consideration for the bronco, because A rAiiniER at cnAwponnsviLi.B, ini, the carrier can probably sleep as com fortably iu his saddle as auywhere else. The hardships sometimes cn count crud by the rural carriers are shown in the photograph of n rural carrier iu Northern Ohio returning from a trip when tne thermometer was forty le grees below zero. Yet, though the First Assistant Postmaster-General reports that there are several girls acting as bonded rural carriers, few instances are recorded of their failing to make their duily trips, either in the coldest atoruia of winter or the blasting heat of summer. Oue question which has received grave consideration by the Depart ment is the insecurity and improper cuaraater of tbo mail boxes put up. Ou this subject the First Assistant l'ostnmster-General says: Iu the early days of the service, when neither Congress nor the Fost oflloe Department, as then organized, held out any hope that rural free de livery would prove more thau a tran sitory experiment, extreme careless ness was manifested as to the kind of receptacles put up as rural free de livery boxes. Tomato cans, cigar boxes, drainage pipes up ended, soap boxes and eveu sections of discarded stove pipes wore used as mail boxes, and were frequently placed in hedge rows or otbor inconvenient spot out of reach of the carrier. The Department has entered npen a xystematio effort to correct thia co dition of things, and a recommenda tion ia made that the Government pro vide uniform ' boxes and maintain them, charging a moderato rental. . Kulur't Great Ming- or Htata. Whenever theKmperor of Germany is engaged iu an important function, either imperial or royal, those near him notice that should he by any chance take the glove off hia left hand he wears on the middle linger a largo riug a square, dark-colored stone set in massive gold. The story ia that the riug ia an old heirloom in the llohenzollern family, dating from the time when the ances tors of the Kaiser the Margrafs of Nuremberg followed their leaders to the capture of the Holy Sepulchre from the Moslems. Murgraf, of Ulriob, who lived in the thirteenth century, was an adventur ous prince, aud it is believed that the ring which the Kaiser now wears oame into Ulrich's possession after a hard fought battle under the walla of Jerusa lem. It belouged to one of Saladin'a successors, and in some unexplained mauuer it found its way ou to the fin ger of the German Knight. Some one of the Nuremberg Mar grafs obliterated the sentence from the Koran which originally adorned it and engraved a Latin cross in its place, A Hard Tlilug to Uuilentmiil. One of the hardest things to under stand iu thia workaday world is how so many incompetent men get such desirable jobs. Fuck. Itaes All the Talking lleraelr. A olever womau can always give a alow man the impressiou that be lu said ft lot of brhit thiug himi !.. Chicago Beooid. AM OFFICEH'9 PARING EXPLOIT. nrlitailler.neneral J. Fran kiln Bell, Mingle Handed, Whipped Filipinos. Official reports received at Wash ington show that llrigadler-Gennral J.;Frsnklin Dell, Colonel of the Thirty-sixth Volunteer Infantry, who ia also a Captain in the Seventh Cavalry, rminADiKn-dF.NRniT, j,rnANKt.iN trtu lias performed one of the most bril liaut exploits of personal during during the war in the Philippines. . This special act of gallantry was performed by Hell, who was then a Colonel, near 1'orao, Luzon, when he was in command of some scouts ahead of the regiineut. Just as the day was dawning the parly encountered the enemy's patrol, consisting of one Cap tain, one Lieutenant and live privates. Colonel Dull was in advance of bis men and spurred on hi horse. The enemy was confused, and the men sought to run away. Colonel Dell pushed ahead alone and nnsustained charged the seven insurgents with his pistol, lie scattered the party and compelled the surrender of the Captain aud twopiivates under a close and hot Are from the remaining four insur gents, who were concealed in a neigh boring bamboo thicket. In the report it is stated that this feat was one of several heroin acts performed by Col onel Hell during the present war, and that the wonder ia that Hell still lives. Colonel J. Franklin Hell entered West l'oint from Shelbyville, Ky., in 1874, and gradnated into the cavalry service. When the Spanish war be gan be was n captain iu the Seventh Cavalry. At the beginning of the war lie was sent to the Philippines with General Merritt and had charge of the Itureail of Military Information. He wan snbsequeutly appointed a Major of Engineers aud then a Major and Assistant Adjutant-Gouoral of Volun toors. When the Thirty-sixth Hegi ment was recruited, Major Dell was appointed to be their Colonel. Time and again the conduct of Colonel licit in the Philippines has been commended by his superior of fleers, and he has been recommended for medals and for brevets. At the taking of Caloocan last February, while our troops were shelling the town, Hell, then a Major, led a com pany of the First Montana Regiment iu a clever and audauious outflanking maneuver whereby they peuetrated the town and arrived unexpectedly ou the enemy's left flank. The enemy, outwitted as well as outfought, lied precipitately. aiaral Curloalty. The living tree horse bore sketched is a natural curiosity' to be seen iu the vicinity of Datchet, near Windsor, England, says St. Paul's. It is formed of four topped elms, which stretch THB MVINO TREK HORS. over a space of ISO feet and grow to the height of sixty feet. The topi have never been touched by the shears, or otherwise influenced than by na ture' own band. Wonld Nona II I in Ilarialf. They found her hurriedly packing a valise. "Where are you going?" they asked. "To the Transvaal," aba re plied. "But I thought yon didn't believe in women going to war?" "1 don't; but if you think I am going to let any of those red-cross women nurse my Harold back to health if he ia wounded yon are mistaken. , I'm going to ba there myself. "Golden Penny. A Venerable Church. i The Seoond Unitarian Church ol Boston reoently celebrated it two hundred and iiftieth anniversary. Samnel Mather was tha first minister of this church. Afterward Increase aud Cottoc Mather filled the pnlpit, aud it was here that Emerson served hi only pastorate. The Chlneea Flag In Washington. ' The Chinese Embassy is the only one in Washington that flies tha flag of a foreign country. Queensland ia being gradually con verted into a large orohard. The Aus tralian orange in particular has a great future, a it ripens at time when Spain, Italy and California cannot provide tha fruit NEW YORK mro, Designs For Costumes That Have Do- como Popular in tho Metropolis. II New Tonit Crrr (Sneolall Willi the coming of the rnde blasts of win ter the veil becomes an important ad junct to the toilet of all lover of trim- iiess Women declare that it Is impossible AM AnTIHTIfAMY PHAPRD vnil. to feel well dressed with their hair blowing in every direction at once and an unbecoming redness decorat ing their noses and eyelids. The present style of hat is not especially COUTFITIE ron well adapted to the adjustment of elaborate veils, aud the shops nre allowing mostly tine plain tulle in black or white, aud thin nets with small chenille spots. Plata and fig ured nets in silk and cotton are also seen, and velvet spotted and line hair lines are popular. The tulle veil with big velvet dots is becoming to fine complexions, but great care must be taken in its adjustment. Three or four dots to a veil is the rule, and if one dot ia allowed to come under the eye, another to the aido of the chiu find a third well back on the cheek, or near the hair ou the temple, the effect is piquant aud striking. A protty French veil is cf light weight net, bordered with a narrow rnche of lace. Chiffon veils with and without spots are worn on frosty days by women with deliiwto skins. All the newest veiling come in eigbteen-ioch width, to tit the toque shaped hats so universally worn. Few color beside blaok, white, browns ' n.l fTi-.va ... In damaml aWlimmh navy blue aud mauve are occasionally oen ou well dressed women. " Ornamenting the Hair. One of the charm of the present fashion being eclecticism, oue may elect for ornamenting the hair other ornameuta besides fringe withont being outlawed. .Just what styles iu coiffures are most prevalent is re vealed iu the following chat by a New York woman of fashion. She aaid: "Last week I went to see my hair dresser. (She is the one who gets np those stunning coiffures for Mrs. Willie Vauderbilt, Jr., and for those beauti ful blond Levi Morton goddesses. Her quick fingers did np my look in three styles, and all of them, she assured me, wero bound to hold first place for evening attire for tha next aix or eight month. My hair she pompadourad, so to speak, al! around in a soft roll above the face aud then elaborately puffed the length of it on the crown. Jnst a love-lock or two aha permitted to stray ont on my forehead, and then aha inveigled me I into the purebase of three distinct style of hair ornaments by the shrewd device of fasteuing them in among tba coils and puffs and leaviug tha mirror and my vauity to do tha rest, i "However, they ara tba smartest little aida to beauty. Tha first ia a butterfly mad of lisse, covered with epalneant spangla and with a deli- fc j ftl ?pf R it if i sV ? a It .:rv fi F, o l M S" ill A . We cate white osprey springing In plans of antennro from his spangled wronght head. The second is a rose of black lisse, to the petals of which spangles in charming imitation of tiny diamonds, are attached like dew drops. Thia rose is to set right in the centre and ftoutof my hair, and from its stem, at the back of tha petals, springs a black osprey, rather thickly threaded with twinkling littlo rhinestones, and anything mora sweetly becoming to a woman with blond lights in her hair yon will not re this seaton. My third extrava gance was a serpent. There now! don't gasp with horror, for it is net one of those wicked-looking reptiles made of frivolous metallic-colored paillettes, but a very up-to-date and lovely ornament, having the flexible, tapering body covered wholly with breast plumage from a pheasant. She hail a wholo family of then; some covered with the blue-blank raven feathers. Thotn the blonds usurp, and a number aro made with the rich mottled plumage of the breasts of wild ducki. "Whatever ouiVn prejudice maybe, the serpents nre alrealy vigorously adopted, and so entirely fascinating did I think raysolf with my new coif fures that I have hail my picture taken in every one just as the hair-dresser completed them, in order to have an authority to refer to when I begin to do my pompadouring and pulling at home." The coiirurei for evening iviar spn&ea of are shown iu the large illustration. Cnriliirajr hi a Walat Falirle. Corduroy nn a shirt waist fabric) prouiines to be very popular. New Malarial far Tea (Inirne. Something new in material for ten gowns and wrappers is a smooth-faced cloth, glossy as satin on one side, and woolly after the manner of eiderdown flannel, ou the other. It ia less a a o r . V EVENING WEAK, clum.iy, however, than tiie latter, but very soft and pliable, and innc'u thick er than tho broad-olotbs. Dienllla Frlnca in Furor. Chenille fringe is greatly favored a a garniture. This is shown chiefly in colors, its width varying from three inches to twelve inches, according in the purpose for which it is required. Charming lloillce Fashion. In the accompanying cnt is illo.itra ted a "onnning little bodice" rbielt has just been designed by a versatile modihta in New' York. The owner describes it as follows: "My bodice i of plain and white spotted red silk, the collar toned down with Strips of black; taffeta and plenty of little clear glass buttons at the points jt straps, on tho enffa aid fclsewhtto. My only A SCD AND WHITS RILS tO-JICS T.TT3 CLX.1K CLASS HrtOJ.3. objection to red ia that it really ap pears less worn this wiuter than evvr. Yon almost might tak. for prauted that tha wholo world of woineu i in full or half mourning fron tha over whelming preponderance of dead black, gray and deep dahlia or kut berry po'pia gooa."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers