) ) THE GOODLY COUNTRY. I've never seen a hill but looked at me with grave content, Good-naturedly and cheerfully, whichever way I went; Though it were bleak and bare and brown, it shouldered to the sky, 'And looked at me in quiet peace when 1 went slowly by; But any building, be it house, or temiiled place or mart, iVill face a man with chilling brows that set him far apart. I've never seen a country road that did not have the time To loaf beside the forests where the blossomed vines would climb, To coax me softly, lazily, to rest with it awhile 'And see the comfort it could tind in creeping mile on mile; But city streets they blare at yon and will not If't you stay;' They hustle you unceasingly. und drive your dreams away. I've never seen the sky that shields the country-side at night An ebon velvet drapery looped up with gems of li(jht That did not seem to bend to me all friendlywise and bless And pour a balm of comfort on my heart in its distress; But when the city has its night the glare beats in vour eye, And look whatever way you will, you cannot see the sky. I've never seen a country road, or brook or hill or tree, That did not have a kindly word to speak or sing to me; They never crowd us to one side, they never sneer nor frown, Nor view us strangerwise as do the streets are! walls of town. And so sometimes I think that this may be the bidden plan To show us how much, better God could make the world than man. Chicago Evening Tost. lllll UWOER THE COUNTERWEIGHT, tttit By ALBERT W. TOLMAN. Among his friends Harvey Monroe, jolly, good hearted commission merchant in one of the cities on the great lakes, was known as "The Late Mr; Monroe," a title that Indicated his only serious failing. Harvey was a thief of time.. To be sure, his pecu lations generally extended to no Ijiore than two or three minutes, and often could be measured on the sec , end dial. Still he was never just on time, and his acquaintances formed the habit of appointing their inter views five minutes earlier than they .wished to see him. By that means they succeeded in keeping him fairly punctual. On November 7, 1903, Harvey met .with an experience that effectually cured him of procrastination. At 10 that evening he had an im portant business appointment at the railroad station with a customer who ,was to stop off an hour between trains. To reach the station it was necessary for the merchant to cross' the river which split the city in twain end served as its harbor. Leaving home five minutes late, as usual,, he arrived at the Horton street bascule bridge Just as it was raised to admit a tug, towing two barges. A little ear lier and he would have avoided this delay. : The river presented a long black Vista, lined on each side with gloomy .wharf ends and storehouse. At in tervals it was spanned by bridges sparkling with misty white electric Btars. Now and then a red and green lighted tug, churning asthmatically along with tow of bargo or schooner, whistled at this bridge or at that. Up tilted the swlngingends, while the ponderous counterweights sank into the dismal pits below. , Through went the tug. Down dropped the bridge as the weights rose, and the clogged streets emptied themselves of vehicles and pedestrians until the next'shrlll whistle split the spans once more. Like most chronic procrastinators Harvey Monroe was always in a hur ry. It seemed to him that the span was kept raised unconscionably long. Growing impatient he ducked un der the street barrier and leaned over close to the abutment to see where the barges were. The bridge tenders, buay with their duties, did not ob serve him, and no other foot passen ger was near. Deceived bv the black ness he made a false step. The next! instant he was falling beside the granite abutment! A few feet below he struck on his inds and knees on a cement ledge, he shock was violent, but a thick cushion of slush and drippings from the bridge broke the force of his fall.' Down he slid, clawing desperately for hand-bold, but finding none. Sud denly he shot perpendicularly feet' first into a narrow chasm, bringing lip neck deep in ice cold water. He tad dropped into the pit containing the iron counterweight that balanced the bridge. ' The suddennes of his catastrophe tnmbfounded Monroe, although be ad suffered no injury beyond being J taken up and bruised. But the cold ater in which be was immersed soon recalled him to himself and empha ' sized the need of immediate action. By feeling about,he discovered that be was in a triangular space with bard, slimy cement on two sides and a mass of steel on the other. He Jhust get out at once. Just aa he thought of shouting for help the machinery began to clank and grind overhead, and the counter weight slowly lifted, brushing past blm in Its ascent to the position it oc cupied when the bridge was down. 'As it rose, the water, which bad al most touched his lips, began to fall, and soon was no higher than bis knees. The commission merchant realized that be must lose no time in letting bis position be known. He threw all bis breath Into vigorous shouts for belp, but as the roadway of the bridge settled into place above, it sealed the pit wltb a lid of wood and metal which prevented his cries from being beard. Hurried footsteps passed overhead; the (rumbling of wheels echoed through bis prison, but his frantic shouting, muffled by the inter vening roof, attracted no attention. Slipping, stumbling on the slimy bottom, Harvey splashed round his cell, talnly fingering the chill walls In hope of discovering some way of es cape. But, higb as be could reach, the bard cement.afforded not a single ledge or crevice, and In that pitchy darkness be could not tell bow mock farther the walls rose above him. He had no means of ascertaining, for there was nothing to give him a foot hold. Harvey realized with sudden terror that deadly peril threatened him when the counterweight should next descend. In grouping round his dungeon he had lost his sense of po sition, and could not be Bure of the corner into which he had fallen. So far as he knew, it was the only spot that had not been occupied by the tons of metal now suspended above his head. When the bridge was raised again and the weight fell, what chance had he to avoid being crushed to a jelly! Cold and fright set Harvey's teeth to chattering; his legs shook .so that he could hardly stand. Unless he could make his cries audible to the bridge-tenders or some pedestrian the next whistle, signifying that a tug was approaching from up or down river, would mark his doom. At all hours of day and night theharbor was a busy place, and no very long period could elapse before the dread ed signal would be heard. As the horror of hla situation dawned fully upon him a wild wave of unreasoning terror swept over the unhappy merchant. Almost crazed, he hammered the walls with his lists, dashing round and round through the icy water, and making the well re verbrate with his cries. Then he be came more calm. Of what use to wear himself out thus vainly! He must save all his energies for an at tempt to gain the notice of some ap proaching pedestrian. He stood In the middle of the pit in dead silence, broken only by vague sounds from outside and the gentle lapping of water against his dungeon walls. Presently he heard a faint tapping of feet on the plank walk ap proaching the bridge. Now was his opportunity. At the top of his lungs ho screamed hoarsely for help. The feet stopped, as if their owner had heard his voice and was trying to locate It Hope buoyed the prisoner up. He .redoubled his shouts, listen ing painfully at short intervals. Then to bis bitter disappointment the steps passed hurriedly on. Despair smote Harvey. Of what avail to try again if those cries that, had almost burst his throat bad ac complished nothing! But death was sure if he remained silent. Perhaps the man above had been deaf, and the next would have better ears. He waited, hoped, trembling. All this time the dread of an ap proaching whistle hung over him. Again and again he seemed to hear it, faint and penetrating, and at every suspicion his hair bristled. The bridge lifted often at that hour. Al ready it bad remained down much longer than he had supposed possible. Any second might herald his doom. There was little prospect of attract ing the notice of the bridge-tenders) snugly ensconced in their house on that cold night. Would another, pe destrian never come? Waiting there in the centre of the pit Harvey forgot the freezing water in w-hlch he stood, forgot his smart ing bands' and numbly aching joints? All else was overshadowed by the nightmare of those tons of iron sus pended averhrs head, ready at any instant to descend and crush out bis life. He knew tfint men had fallen into these wells before, and that their bodies had been taken out unrecogniz able days and weeks afterward. Was that to be his fate? On a sudden another footfall sounded above, firm, unhesitating, rapid. Evidently its owner was bent on business. A thought of his own appointment, of his friend waiting in the comfortable station, consulting his watch and wondering why he did not come, flashed through Harvey's mind, and be rememered that it was his fatal habit of being behind time that bad involved-him in this predica ment. All this shot through the mer chant's brafn even as he raised bis voice to shout again. This time the passerby, apparently preoccupied with his own-thoughts, was not arrested by the faint cries under him. Without hesitating the footsteps passed on and died away. Monroe had been almost deafened hy the echoes of bis own clamoring. Strange that no one else could hear it! Then, almost paralyzing brain and body, came .the thing he had so long dreaded. A faint whistle penetrated his dungeon. He knew that ta the open air outside It was the lou4 screech ot an approaching tug. All would be over ere many seconds had passed. . Just then rapid footsteps above again fell on his ears. Evidently some one waB hastening to get across before the bridge should be raised. Monroe, grasping at the faint hope ot rescue, set the pit ringing with his cries. Overhead came a creaking, a clank ing. They were starting to raise the draw. The footsteps stopped sudden ly. The man had been too late to cross, and nniBt wait until the tug had passed. The roof of the merchant's prison slid harshly back. The counter weight was descending. Whatever he did must be done within the next few seconds; Could he make the man above appreciate his peril, so that he in turn might cause the bridge-tenders to understand-in time to check the counterweight? Harvey's, voice rose in a hoarse shriek of agony, strange in his own ears, hardly that ot a human being: "Help! Help! Stop the bridge!" The pedestrian above, astounded at the cry rising so unexpectedly under his feet, started back, and stood for an instant petrified. Then realizing that a life was at stake, he screamed to the bridge-tenders: "There's a man in the pit! Stop the bridge!" Monroe, flattening himself against the cement wall, awaiting with trem bling knees the doom that he feared could not be averted, saw in the dim light admitted by the sliding back of his dungeon lid the black threatening mass of the great counterweight over head, and dropping slowly, remorse lessly. He heard the shout of the man above. Would the tenders un derstand in time? Down came the weight, lower, low er. Three seconds more and It would surely crush him. He groaned In de spair. Then it stopped, so close to his head that he could have touched Its slimy bottom with his finger tips, and he knew that he was saved.- Youth's Companion. ISIXG UP OVH TIMBER SUPPLY. Three Times as Much Timber Used Each Year as the Forest Grows. Every person in the United States Is using over six times as much wood as he would use if he were in Eu rope. The country, as a whole, con suines every year between three and four times more wood than all of the forests of the United States grow In the meantime. The average acre of forest lays up a store of only ten cu bic feet annually, whereas it ought to be laying up at least thirty cubic feet in order to furnish the products taken out of it. Since 1880 more than 700,000,000,000 feet of timber have been cut for lumber alone, in cluding 80,000,000,000 feet ot conif erous timber In excess of the total coniferous stumpage estimate ot the census In 1880. These. are some of the remarkable statements made in Circular No. 97 of the Forest Service, which deals with the timber supply of the Unlfed States, and reviews the stumpage es timates made by all the important authorities. A study of the circular must lead directly to the conclusion that the rate at which forest products In the United States have been and are being consumed is far too lavish, and that only one result can follow unless steps are promptly taken to prevent waste In use and to increase the growth rate of every acre of for est in the United States. This result is a timber famine. This country Is to-day in the same position with re gard to forest resources as was Ger many 150 years ago. During this pe riod ot 150 years such German States as Saxony and Prussia, particularly the latter, have applied a policy of Government control and regulation which has Immensely increased the productivity of their forests. The same policy will achieve even better results in the .United States, because we have the advantage of all the les sons Which Europe has learned and paid tor in the course of a century ol theory and practice. Lest It might be assumed that the rapid and gaining depletion of Amer ican forest resources is sufficiently accounted for by the increase of pop ulation, ft is pointed out In the circu lar that the increase in population since 1880 is barely more than ball the increase In lumber cut in the same period. Two areas supplying timber have already reached and passed their maximum .production the Northeastern States in. 1870 and the Lake States In 1S90. To-day the Southern States, which cut yellow pine amounting to one-third the to tal annual umber cut ot the country, are undoubtedly near .their maximum. The Pacific States Will soon take the ascendancy. The State of Washing ton, within a few years, has come to the front, and now ranks first of all Individual States In volume of cut. New York .Evening Post. With Few Exceptions. Wilton Lackaye says that while on a downtown "L" train one1 morning recently be chanced to overhear por tions of an -interesting conversation between two young women ocduplnf adjoining seats. "I see by the paper," observedopt of the young women, "that Mr. Blank, the octogenarian, Is dead. What on earth is an ' octogenarian, anyhow?" "I don't know, I'm sure," was tha reply, "but there's ono (Aln certain they're a sickly lot ot peeple.. "You never hear of one unless bo Is dying." Llpplncott'a, Alaskan roads are bard to bulldi thawtac follows cutting of the sol Cubii's Custom - omen and Their Homes. By Mrs. C. To the (independent American wo man the ,1ife ot her Cuban sister Is simply incomprehensible.' It is dull, uninteresting In fact, in many in stances aggravating. From childhbod to old age she rarely does as she likes, but Is a slave to antiquated customs. As a child, a servant ac companies her to school and calls for her In the evening, and her plnymates are few. When the marriageable age Is reached, her courting Is done in the presence of others, for the young man who calls on the Cuban senorlta really visits the entire family, aa at least one of them always remains In the room, which Is brilliantly lighted, and its occupants are In full view of anybody passing along the street. Even If the girl talks with her lover through the grilled window some member of the family Is always near by. If he takes her to a place of amusement she is always properly chaperoned. After they are engaged the vigilance of the parents Is In creased, and the young couple are never for a moment left to them selves. A young man may be fond ot a girl, yet In no position to marry, liit after he has spoken to her father, which he must dp early In the court ship, be Is expected to visit her home every night and enjoy her society along with the rest of the family. If they should go to a dance, with the family, of course, the girl dances every set with her escort. To the American woman this style of courtship seems particularly exas perating; for nowhere are there more romantic spots than around Havana. In fact, everything throughout the Island suggests the romance of lovers wandering about free to enjoy each other's company, unconscious of the existence of the rest of the world. Yet there such pleasure is denied them. The Cuban girl of the better class is usually pretty. The beauty of her clear, olive skin is hslghtened by sparkling black eyes and very white teeth, while her head Is crowned by a wealth of coal black hair. Her whole make-up suggests happi ness, but from an American point of view she never really attains It. I am told that occasionally one is brave enough to break down customs. , Finally this courted In the presence of the family girl marries, and unless the young husband is wealthy, even the joy of a wedding trip 13 denied her. She at once settles down to a life of Inactivity, and, ns the result, ?rows fat, and Inside of five years has ost every vestige of her girlhood beauty. She Is usually the mother of a large family, and be It sold to her fcredlt she makes a devoted mother. She Is the picture of domesticity and rarely leoves her home. Domesticity does not always bring happiness, and unhappy marriages are not uncom mon. Divorces are unknown, and when separations occur the unfortu nate couple simply live opart and neither can remarry. This seems to be the swinging back of the pendu lum to the other extreme, as com pared with the loose divorce laws of some of the States, both Bystems re sulting In Immorality. One has but to visit the big orphan asylum in Havana to learn something of Cuba's moral depravity. At the entrance there Is a large turn-table, on which a child may be placed and "turned" into the Institution. The good sister receives it and no questions are asked. The Cuban matron has little to say In the management of her own house hold, as the family literally board with their cook, who has sole control of the cuisine. When a cook Is en gaged she Is paid so much per month ten, fifteen or twenty dollars, as the case may be for her work. She at once inquires bow much is allowed for the marketing, which she Is to do each morning. On being told, she figures out how much she can save from the amount, and if the graft amounts to say fifteen or twenty cents per day, Bhe Is likely to accept the position. She rarely sleeps at the house, and usually has a family of her own who are fed from the larder of her employer. Early breakfast Is light fruits, rolls and coffee and at noon there Is a meal known as late breakfast, which resembles the Amer ican luncheon. When this is finished the cook spends a few hours at her home and returns at five o'clock In time to prepare dinner. A half grown girl is employed to wait on the table, answer the doorbell, etc. In some families male cooks are em ployed. If the meals do not suit the master of the bouse be adds more money to the marketing allowance. Meanwhile, the wife enjoys life in a rocking chair, reads a little, and does needlework occasionally. She powders her face with a coarse pow der until she becomes positively ghastly. Even the children are sent out wltb a coating of this ugly stuff to mar their otherwise pretty faces. Many of the boys are sent to the United States to be educated, and only the other day the president of the Lehigh University told me that be welcomed both the Cuban and the Porto Rlcan, as they made excellent students. The girls, however, rarely bave the same advantages, and are sent to Spain, where they are educa ted in convents and retain their old Spanish customs. It by chance one marries an American of the right sort these ideas of seclusion vanish and the real woman comes to the surface. I saw an evidence of this in the inter ior of the island where I met a charming Cuban girl, the bride of a few months. Her husband was the typical American business man de leted to her aad but bullae. Ske Fettered R. MILLER. was rapidly learning English tnd be coming Amerlcnnized. One day she came to my room, her. arms full of bundles, her eyes dancing with de light, and her pretty face wreathed with smiles. I soon understood that she wanted me to examine her pur chases, and so In true American style we discussed her bargains. Before the Spanish-American war the women of the higher and middle classes were never employed outside their own homes, but since that time a few, forced to it by poverty, have broken the customs and accepted po sitions. Many, however, even though they may be pitifully poor, refuse, and marry in poverty and rear a tam ily under the same conditions. The native woman makes a splendid dressmpker and does some wonderful work in copying from fashion u-oks without the aid of patterns. If by chance you should give her an old dress to copy, be Bure It Is not darned or patched, for If such be the case your new gown will be sent patched or darned in the same identical spot, even though new goods must be cut away. She in a born imitator and copies to the letter. The cigarette factories employ a large number of women, and a visit there will destroy the romantic Idea of Carmen. These girls are for the most part slovenly, rouged beyond all reason, and many of them smoke as they work. None of them presents the trig appearance of the American working girl. It must be taken Into consideration that their hours are longer and pay less. In the busy sea son, I am told, they sleep sometimes on chairs at the factory In order to be at work early. There is no child-labor law in Cuba, and many little girls who should be at school are employed in these factories pasting stamps, packing cigarettes, etc. The fore man explained that the children worked from necessity, as they were orphans, their fathers having been killed in the late war. Havana Is a theatre-going town, and here one finds the Spanish and Cuban actress. She differs little, as a rule, from the American player and loves publicity. At the Ablsbu Thea tre one evening I saw two little one act Spanish plays. They were some what like the delightful comedies which made Koslna Vokes famous. Three of these are given each evening at this theatre by a stock company, who have been playing there each night for three consecutive years. Tickets are sold by the act rather than for the entire evening, and one may come to any or all the plays. An orchestra chair may be obtained for the sum of fifty cents for each play. Standing on the lower floor is sold for thirty cents per act. For the first pluy our tickets were blue, and for the second, when we sat on the oppo site side of the theatre, they wera pink. These slips were taken up at the close Instead of the beginning of the performance. The crowd usually comes in for the second play, which begins about 9 o'clock, and in which Senorlta Esperanra Pastor, the star, usually appears. This lady Is viva cious and graceful. She dresses a part well and Is a comedian of ability. The Cuban home is built for cool ness, and the patio, which Is filled with beautiful plants and often adorned with a fountain, is the cen tral feature, and all the rooms open on it. If the house is two stories (the majority are one) the living room Is on the lower floor while the sleeping rooms are above. If the family should own an automobile or carriage It Is kept In the front hall. The horse Is often stabled In the rear and adjoining the kitchen. There are no chimneys on dwellings in Cuba, and no provision Is made for heating the houses. Hot water is a luxury, as the only fire Is in the small charcoal stoves on which the cooking la done. All garbage is re moved at night, and one Is spared the nauseating garbage cart so common in our cities. Few private houses have bath rooms. A house on the Prada will bring from $100 to $200 per month, while a most ordinary dwelling in a good neighborhood will rent for $50. The ceilings are very high at least fifteen feet. Carpets are not used, as the floors are of fan, cy tiling, which is kept scrupulously clean by mopping each day. The furniture Is made of mahogany, with cane seats, or is of the wicker va riety and rocking chairs predominate. Upholstered furniture is never used. The windows bave grilled iron bars, many ot which are fashioned In fancy designs. Glass panes are rarely found, but Inside shutters are used to shut out the sunlight during the day. The typical bed in Cuba is of iron, and decorated at the bead and foot with medallions of painted scenery inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A mat tress is not often used, and sleeping on woven wrre springs with only n thin quilt between the sleeper and the springs is not the most pleasant sensation. However, after a few nights one realizes the comfort of cool beds in the tropics. At Santiago they never use feathers in pillows, but fill them with a species of grass which bears a small seed. The mice, are fond of these, and one night 1 was awakened by something moving under my head. I soon discovered that it was a mouse enjoying the seed. As the majority of rooms in Cuban hotels have two beds, I simply trans ferred my quarters to the other side of the room and did not disturb ths little animal at his midnight lunch. Leslie's Weekly. AVJYEHB EXCELSIOR BRAND Oiled Clothing and Slickers Make you comfortable in uncomfortable weather. Our Excelsior Crack -Proof Brand Police Coat in a great favorite, vuc vi uur spcciililir for general ue. Ileal era everywhere carry the "Nawycr" Con!a ami Sllckera If not with yottra, write for catalog and prices. H. M. SAWYER ft SON, Eul Cambridge. Mail. 1 Time to Repent. The prophet up in York county who declares that the world will come to an end in 1914 Is evidently not entire ly without compassion, lie Is willing to give the Inhabitants a reasonably long time to mend their ways and get their affairs in order. Philadelphia Bulletin. 27 " 1 " Ways to Raise Funds. i In Guatemala whenever money la.' badly needed one or two millionaire are sentenced to death, and their es tates confiscated. This is less hu mane than the Wall street method, though no more effective. NO RELIEF FOR 15 YEARS. All Sorts of Remedies Fall: io Cure Eczema .Sufferer Tried Cuticura nnd is Entirely Cured. "1 have had ecema for over fifteen years, and have tried all sorts of remedies to relieve me, but without avail. 1 stated my cane to one ot my friends nnd he recommended the Cuticura Hemedies. I bought them with the thought thnt they would be unauceexxhil, ns with the others. But after lining them tor a few weeks 1 noticed to my surprise thnt the irritation and peeling of the nkin gradually de creased, and finally, after using five cakes of Cuticura ttoap nnd two boxes of Cuti cura Ointment it disappeared entirely. 1 feel now like a new man, nnd 1 would gladly recommend these remedies to all who are afflicted with skin diseases. David Blum. Box A, Bedford Station, N. Nov. 6, 1905." Women Chosen Lawmakers. Nineteen women holding seats In Congress. 'What do you think of It? Not In any little congress of wo men's clubs vf anything of that sort, but. In the lawmaking body of a na tion. Not one in 10.000 persons in this quarter of the globe knows this Is a fact, although there Is really no reason why they should not know it. Thpse women have won congression al honors and assumed the duties of lawmakers in Finland. At the elec tion held In that country only a couple of weeks, ago the Socialists developed surprising strength and, consistent with their pretensions, they nominated a number of women for Congressional seats. This forced the other parties to do the same thing. When the ballots were count ed it was found that 19 women hhd been elected, nine o! them Socialists. They have taken their seats and promise to make good lawmakers. To fully appreciate the Importance of this, It must, be borne In mind that never before have women or a wo man been elocted to the national law making body of any country. Wo man's National Daily. How Marbles Are Made. Most of the stone marbles used by boys are made In Germany. The re fuse only of the marble and agate quarries is employed, and this Is treated in such a way that there is practically no waste. Men and boys are employed to break the refuse stone into small cubes, and with their hammers they acquire a mar velous ' dexterity. The little cubes are then thrown Into a mill consist ing of a grooved bedstone and a re volving runner. Water Is fed to the mill and the runner Is rapidly re volved, while the friction does the rest In half an hour the mill Is stopped and a bushel or so of per fectly rounded marbles are taken out The whole process costs the merest trifle. Philadelphia Record. COFFEE COMPLEXION Many Ladies Have Poor Complex ions FTom Coffee. "Coffee caused dark colored blotches on my face and body.' I bad been drinking It for a long while and these blotches gradually ap peared, until finally they became per manent and were about as dark as coffee Itself. "I formerly had as fine a complex ion as one could ask for. "When I became convinced that coffee was- the cause of my trouble, I changed and took to using Postum Food Coffee, and aa I made it well, according to directions, I liked It very much, and have since that time used it in place of coffee. "I am thankful to say I am not nervous any more, as I was when I was drinking coffee, and my com plexion is now as fair and good as It was years ago. It is very plain that coffee caused the trouble." Most bad complexions are caused by some disturbance of the stomach and coffee Is the greatest disturber of digestion know:. Almost any wo man can bave a fair complexion if the will leave off coffee and use Pos tum Food Coffee and nutritious, healthy food in proper quantity. Postum furnishes certain elements from the natural grains from the field that Nature uses to rebuild the nervous system and when that Is in good condition, one can depend upon a good complexion as well as a good healthy body. "There's a Reason." Read "The Road to WellvUle," in 5ks. i