WOULD FATE
Would Fate be kin'!, and give our ehildiii.ed back,
All the long vettrs which we have loft behind, " '
And bid us unfit n(tain the self same trad;
Which we have followed, ignorant and blind
Bhould we lie glad Hie mme old path to find,
With every Borrow, every loss and lack,
And everv burden for the heart and mind
Would Fate be kind und give our childhood back!
Would Grief's wild storm, Disaster's Thunder-crack,
Be recompensed by all Life's joyi combined?
Would we toil on beneath Care's heavy pac k.
All the long years which we have left behind?
Fair fruits were bitter, underneath the rind;
In bluest skies tho tempest gathered black;
Would we rejoice, should Fate her skein rewind,
And bid us walk again the self same track?
Why change the dates In Time's grim nlmanao?
8afe with the past let them remain enshrined;
Nor crave the path in Life's cramped sodiae
Which we hare followed, ignorant and blind.
We should not be more liappy or resigned,
Nor suffer less from scourge, and knout, and rack,
Briers and thorns with nettles intertwined.
If she should send us on the self-same track.
Would Fate be kind?
Elir.abeth Akers, in Putnam's.
:n m
IfllflLU m
" For Ave years I bad been confined
to my armchair by paralysis. Occa
sionally I would be carried down to
an open carriage and taken for an
hour or two through the city, or the
neighboring country. My logs well,
there is no necessity to speak of
them; one of my arms was still able
to move, and, thanks to it, I could
still eat alone. But my eyes were
good and my hearing was acute.
One day, when the time was ex
tremely dull, I fancied that I would
regain complcto calmness it I could
hear nn opera. My friends remon
strated, but I insisted. I cannot tell
how happy I was I was going to be
filled with music, good music. By an
unexpected chance they played "Le
Prophete," ono of the works that I
had always preferred.
; At last the hour came. My niece
Of sixteen was to accompany me.
Two strong men carried me to my
Chair. Fortunately we did not live
yery far from the theatre.
My nephew had thoughtlessly se
cured seats in the first circle. No
matter, my two bearers installed me
there, me and my armchair. I was
directly in the centre, Just opposite
the stage, and I saw admirably all the
theatre, from the pit and the orches
tra ciiairs to the boxes of the fourth
circle, that legendary place where you
ere not incommoded by the chande
lier you see over it. I remained
alone with my niece, who was as
much enchanted as I was. -
They played tho first act. I do not
temembor ever to have enjoyed in
my life happiness so complete, so
heavenly. The second, third and
fourth acts wore rendered in a man
ner that I thought perfect.
During the intermission I noticed
between two violoncellos an odd little
creature, in whom I felt unaccounta
bly Interested. He was a poor, mis
erable fellow, shockingly deformed,
hut his features were quite regular.
When he played all his body moved
and appeared to wrap itself around
the violoncello in a fantastic and lov
ing manner; forming a singular con
trast, his face assumed a serious and
almost austere expression, and the
light ot enthusiasm illumined his
yes.
I mused in Alienee until the mo
ment when Jean of Leyden thinks
that he should reveal his accomplices
that they must die with him. Then
a white smoke roso on the scene
through the cracks in the floor. It
excited no attention, and was only
thicker than the smoke usually em
ployed, but suddenly there was an
explosion and a flash that dimmed the
lights in the auditorium; then all the
dancers rushed toward the wings; the
tenor lifted his white robe and liter
ally took flight, and all the other
singers and choristers disappeared one
after another,
"What does this mean?" demand
ed some of the audience, already
alarmed.
Here a young woman appeared on
the stage, running. The most fright
ful terror was expressed in her face.
The poor girl, distracted, sprang into
the orchestra, screaming in a choking
Toice: "Firo!"
The audience started with one
oond. Oh, I remember all as if it
iwere still passing' before my. eyes.
The musicians stopped suddenly, but
not all together, for some random
notes broke forth, here and there, on
the air. Frantio with fear, they
rushed toward the door of the orches-
tra, but quickly returned. The re
treat was cut off. They must escape
by the auditorium.
. The auditorium! Ah, there every
thing was frightful, horrible, incon
ceivable! It was a battlefield. At
first I did not appreciate the danger,
and then I trembled and shook with
an unnatural fear. Alone with
Jeanne alono with that child who
could do nothing for me and who re
mained calm. I realized that I must
remain where I was, without being
able to stir, at the mercy of the fire,
(which would slowly advance to lick
me, to burn me alive, to'consume me.
JsTeverthe!jss, I did not lose my pres
ence of mind.
"Quick!" I said to little Jeanne,
"fly, my child, and hasten to find
some one who will take me away, if
there is time."
A young man who had noticed my
niece hurried toward her.
'Tome, little one," aaid he to the
cbiid. Without ceremony he pulled
her along bjr the hand.
9
I)Tj KIND?
mi cidc I
Ul I ML,
"But my uncle, my uncle!" cried
the girl.
"Oh, let him come," sharply an
swered two or three voices from the
crowd who were crushing themselves
without mercy at the narrow door.
They left me there.
During this time the struggle was
desperate in the orchestra chairs,
stalls and pit. There were only four
doors, each three feet wide, for this
torrent that wanted to rush out in
two seconds. The terrified people
used all their efforts to reach these
doors. Each wished to pass those
who were in advance. They pushed,
cried, shrieked and fought with fury.
Two strong men braced themselves
back to back near an opening that
they intended to pass before any one
else, and during that time no one,
neither they nor the others, could es
cape. Behind them were sobs and
Imprecations, and the crowd pushed
with blind fury.
I saw some young men who had
already felt the heat of the flume!
jump on the seats and then on the
shoulders of those nearest the door.
Thus they crawled along on their fel
low sufferers.
Meanwhile tho' scenery was burn
ing. The flames wore rapidly ap
proaching the auditorium. The heat
had become more intense. I was
perspiring freely, but it was more
from fear than from heat. Already
the spectacle was sublime sublime
and grand. In spite of the anguish
which chilled my heart, I found some
thing violently gay in those enormous
tongues of fire, frisking before me
and caressing the front of the stage.
At tho doors tho contest was be
coming more violent, more compact,
more frantic. Oh, woe to the weak!
Woe to the kind! Woe to all those
who had not yet consented to become
ferocious beasts.
1 saw a great demon, his eyes dis
tended with fear, stretch out his
hand. He seized by the shoulders
a young woman in front of him, and
dragged her backward, so as to gain
her place, at least. The contracted
Sngers ot that giant hand were driv
en into her flesh, and bruised and
scratched It. But she resisted mad
ly, fighting with all her strength and
trying in her turn to plunge her nails
into the face of the cruel man. That
dastard I knew by sight. He was
regarded In society as a polished gen
tleman. Suddenly a fireman appeared.
Why had he come? I called out. He
looked at me, .seeming to ask what
I was doing there, and disappeared.
I supposed he was coming to my res
cue. Not at all.
Little by little, however, the the
atre emptied. Some who had waited
until the last still had the courage
to draw into the corridor tho van
quished on whom the crowd had
trampled. Among them many women
were martally wounded
The fire had reached tho orchestra.
The stands were overturned; violins,
hautboys, flutes, clarinets lay on the
floor. Scarcely any one had the pres
ence of mind to take away his instru
ment. On some of the stands, still
erect, there were scores and sheets
of music already scorching. The
smoke, quite thick from the first, was
drawn toward the roof by some phe
nomenon of ventilation.
The sheets of music curled slowly;
the heat was becoming intolerable,
and a violin string broke from tho
heat of tho lire. That sound ot the
dying instrument was heartrending in
its sadness. Soon all the harp strings
snapped, one after another. This
admirable, exquisite instrument
seemed to sing i 3 death song la that
agony. A melody flew away into the
flame with its soul. After the harp,
the strings of the bass-viol broke,
with a sharp sound, like the reports
of a revolver.
At this moment a head rose In the
door of the parquet to the left. It
seemed to be a child's head. Soon
tho body entered. Suddenly It took
two steps forward, and I screamed,
It was not a child. It was the little,
deformed musician. Deliberately he
walked toward the orchestra. A vol
ume of fire stopped him. He recoiled
but appeared not to renounce some
mad project. Seizing a favorable
moment, he darted forward. H:s
arms covering his face to protect It,
he approached his place among the
musicians.. He had returned to seek
his friend, his companion his -violoncello.
I saw him take the Instru-
meat la both hands and try to lift
It over the railing which separates
the orchestra from the parquet. What
folly! I trembled violently with anx
iety. In.)lu!!tnrlly, and in a ter
rible voice, I ruarod: "Go away! Go
away!" v
Then, all nt once, he seemed to
succeed. Tho violoncello, finally ex
tricated from tho chairs which en
cumbered it, moved towr.rd him,
when, nearly at the same instant, all
the violins and violoncellos, the light
wood of which had become overheat
ed, burst into a blnzs simultaneously.
The little fellow relaxed his grasp,
tottered and fell forward headlong
into the orchestra, and upon his burn
ing instrument. For some seconds
I gasped and stretched out my arm
my one arm to the place where
I had seen that strange and sombre
figure rise. I sow him, still moving
in the midst of the flames, extend
his blackened . arms, and then sink
into the glowing coals.
Probably he did not hear me. The
fire spread all around him. He stood
on a chair, and then placing one foot
on the separating railing, he dragged
his violoncello.
I almost forgot my own situation
In the excitement. Foor little crea
ture, so braVe, and who must have
been good and intelligent, and to
whom I had never spoken! I see
hlnijf till there, before my eyes, stand
ing Tin that chair, and making those
great efforts.
The flames became more violent.
It was like a furnnce. The cornices
and other projecting pnrts of the
front of the Binge kindled rapidly
now. I could senrcely distinguish
anything more. Tho smoke blinded
and choked me. My time had come.
I was going to die.
The enemy ndvnneed slowly and
steadily. Had I lost all hope of being
saved? No, I must admit I had not.
Yes, I hoped still. My hopes were
carefully built on the death of the
poor "cellist. Since he had been able
to return for his instrument, others
would be able to enter in search of
me and carry me out.
Then, like an immense wave, an
other volume of smoke enveloped and
stifled me. Although the fire had
not yet reached the woodwork of my
box, the heat was so violent that I
began to feel my blood boiling. The
sensation of burning became terribly
appreciable. I knew I would not be
able to retain consciousness much
more than two minutes longer. The
sweat ran from my forehead and
temples down my cheeks and beard.
A brand detached from I don't
know where described a curve
through the auditorium and fell Into
the hot next me. My resignation
could not withstand that. Decidedly
Pdid not want to die. Save me!
Save me! I had no other wish, no
other desire.'
But my fury, my heartrending
cries, my frantic gestures, were all
in vain. No 0116 came. My beard
was scorching and commencing to
burn. I felt an itching sensation in
my face, on my neck and at the roots
of my hair. Now I made a great
effort and moved in my chair.
"There is still time," thought I.
I determined to rise and walk. It
was only for a moment. After in
clining my body forward, I made a
sudden movement. My eyes flashed.
I believed I was going to walk. It
was only for a moment. No, no;
my legs were not willing. They re
mained reluctantly paralyzed. My
excitement again became violent. I
tried once more. No, no, no. Now
I felt only that I was dying. It was
no longer possible to endure one
degree of heat more. Before my
cyos a blinding light; around me,
everywhere, above me, below me, the
fire. I remained passive; perhaps I
fell. I know nothing more. I was
abandoned.
Eight hours afterwards I found
myself in bed again. My little niece
in running for help had fallen and
was severely wounded in tho head.
She had been carried away fainting,
and it was only after recovering her
senses that she was able to speak.
Two men were dispatched to my res
cue, and drew me- from the furnace
Just as I became unconscious.
Translated for the Argonaut, from
the French of Camiile Debans.
RICHES IN CORNSTALKS.
Enongli Power Now Wasted to Run
All the Nation's Machinery.
Prof. Wiley,. ot the Department of
Agriculture says that Inasmuch as
every 100 pounds ot cornstalks will
yield six and a half pounds ot abso
lute alcohol it is obvions that the
ignorant agriculturist hns been allow
tng an enormous amount of wealth to
go to waste.
Say that one acre will yield from
ten to twelve tons of grain stalks, or
about 20,000 pounds, and you have
a quantity of raw material which will
produce 1300 pounds of absolute al
cohol, or 216 gallons. Alcohol at the
present time is worth forty cents a
gallon.
Ground In a wet condition and
dried, cornstalks may be kept in
definitely, and ace ready at any time
for conversion into alcohol. Prof.
Wiley says that the alcohol derivable
from the cornstalks that now go to
waste in this country would not only;
drive all the machinery of our facto
ries, but would furnish the requisite
power for all our railroads and steam
boats, run all of our automobiles,
beat and illuminate all of our bouses
and light the streets of every city
in the Union. From Leslie's Weekly.
Dodging the Spotlight.
Courtesy Is becoming so rare that
the man who gives up bis seat in a
street car feels as it he were playing
grand staud.-Cleveland
to the
Leader.
leniHKijpgk. ' ' , :
New York City. The Eton Jacket
that is made with the sleeves cut In
oue with it is one of the latest devel
opments of the Mandarin idea. This
ono is distinctly novel, the sleeves be
ing finished at the elbows with roll
over cuffs while it still preserves the
long unbroken shoulder line. In the
Illustration It Is made ot chiffon Pan
ama cloth with the collar of velvet
and trimming of soutache braid,
large, handsome buttous finishing the
front edges. It Is, however, adapted
to every seasonable suiting, and can
be relied upon not for the present
only, but also for the coming season.
The use of soutache applied in this
way is both attractive and smart, and
there are also soutache bandings that
can be purchased by the yard, which
give something of the same effect
with considerably lessened labor. The
roll-over collar, in Tuxedo style, is
always pretty and becoming, and the
Jacket can be closed or worn open as
the ocoaslon requires. Again, the
collar could be ot the same material
braided or ot silk in place of the vel
vet if a lighter effect is needed.
The jacket is made with fronts,
side-fronts, backs, side-backs and
sleeves. The fronts and backs are
finished and lapped over onto the
side-fronts and stitched to position,
and the sleeve edges are also finished
and arranged over the side-fronts and
side-backs and are stitched into place.
The sleeves, however, are gathered at
their lower edges and finished with
bands to which the roll-over cuffs are
attached. The collar is Joined to the
neck and front edges.
The quantity of material required
for the medium size is three yards
twenty-seven, one ' and seven-eighth
yards forty-four or one and one-half
yards-fifty-two Inches wide, with one
quarter yard of velvet for the collar,
soutache according to design nsed. '
Dresses Are "Loud."
It seems Impossible to be loud at
the rate In which checks and plaids
are dally increasing In this quality.
Things that seemed impossible a year
ago are counted as the extreme of
quiet dressing.
Transparent Materials.
Some of the prettiest frocks ot
transparent materials are worn over
, foundations of changeable silks.
Walking Suits.
For walking suits nothing Is so
good as a dark blue serge with kilted
skirt and slightly fitted cutaway
Jacket.
Velvet Throat Band.
A little ornament is' becoming quite
universal among exclusive dressers,
either with high or low neck, and
with or without other necklaces or
sautolrs. It is a half-Inch band of
black velvet ribbon clasped tightly
with Jewels about the throat, and
studded with many little Jeweled
slides.
Nine Oored Skirt.
The skirt that Is made with a pleat
at each gore is a well deserved favor
ite; it Is very generally becoming and
is simple withal. Just now it is being
very much worn, both for walking
and for round length, and as it can
be trimmed in various ways Is an ex
ceedingly satisfactory model. This
one is made of a prqtty novelty mate
rial trimmed with plain colored braid
that is cut to form pointed ends and
held by buttons, but bandings of
every possible sort are in vogue, and
there are innumerable ones that
might be utilized for this design. The
same fabric and one fabric on an
other are much used and can be made
to produce exceedingly novel effects.
Applied bands simulating tucks are
very fashionable, bandings put in
some geometrical form are well liked,
straight rows are in every way cor
rect, or the skirt can be finished wltli
a stitched hem only and be perfectly
in stylo.
The. skirt is made In seven gores
and is so shaped as to flare abundant
ly at the lower portion. If walking
length is desired it can be cut oft on
Indicated lines. There Is a pleat at
each seam which effectually conceals
the Joinings and the fulness at the
back is laid in Inverted pleats.
The quantity of material required
for the medium size is eleven yards
twenty-seven, six and three-quarter
yards forty-four or fifty-two Inches
wide if material has figure or nap;
seven yards twenty-seven, five and
three-quarter , yards forty-four or
four and one-half yards fifty-two
Inches wide if It has not, with six
yards of braid.
Severe Mannish Suits.
Probably there Is no more fascinat
ing finishing touch for one of the se
vere, mannish suits than a jaunty
sailor hat, tilted over waved hair,
from whose bandeau springs a bunca
of slender feathers.
Tailored Shirt Waists.
There are attractive tailored shirt
waists that are worn with a white
tailored skirt.
fi ft SCIENCE (p
The Black Sea contains less ani
mal life than any other body ot water.
The lower depths are saturated with
a poisonous gas which kills the fish.
Dr. Bernard Hollander, ot London,
has caused a sensation, says a special
dispatch, by the announcement of his
theory that insanity may be cured
by the surgeon's knife. -
The saltness of the sea is caused
by the washings out of the land sur
face of the globe, chiefly by the disin
tegrated and always disintegrating
salts of the rocks of the land.
Electricity is enjoying a wonderful
growth in Spain. Few localities exist
where the electric light Is not used,
and everywhere Industrials are adopt
ing the motor drive system. The con
struction ot electrical apparatus in
the Empire has not kept pace with
the demand, and dynamos and motors
are Imported from America, Germany
and Switzerland.
In Lelpslg, Germany, four of the
big fire fighting engines are driven
by electricity. The engine, ladder
trucks and tenders are supplied with
electricity from storage batteries.
Each machine Is equipped with two
motors of from seven to fourteen
horsepower. The machines can cover
a distance of twenty-four miles with
out recharging.
A new method of cutting Bteel Is
said to have been patented by a Bel
gian engineer. The process consists
in first heating the metal by means
of an oxy-hydrogen flame and then
cutting it by a small stream of oxy
gen gas, which unites with the steel
and forms a fusible oxide, which
flows freely from the cut. It Is said
that the cut is fully as smooth as that
made by tho saw, and Is only 1-100
inch wide.
The cause of terrestrial magnetism
Is not yet satisfactorily explained. It
is certain that the earth cannot be
considered as a regularly magnetized
body, but rather as made np of an
Indefinite number of small magnets,
the general result of their action be
ing directed north and south. The
needle, it must be remembered, does
not "constantly" point duo north, but
has its "variations," with which all
navigators are familiar, magnetism
being subject to wave-like move
ments, some of them taking hun
dreds of years to complete, and oth
ers only a few hours.
Tho density of the earth and planets
Is determined in various ways by
the "torsion balance," an apparatus
devised by one John Mitchell in the
latter part of the eighteenth century;
by the "chemical balance," by the vi
bration of the pendulum and by the
deviation of the plumb line. In these
various experiments the mathematics
are used which, for lack of space, can
not be explained here. It must suf
fice to say that, given the dimensions
of the earth, and the exact weight of
a cubic mile of water (both of which
are readily attained), It is easy, by
the aforesaid methods, to get at the
earth's weight or density, the result
being that the earth is five and one
half times heavier than a globe of
water of the same size. In other
words, the earth weighs five thousand
eight hundred and forty-two trillions
of tons.
THE BLIND.
How They Learn to Play Music by
Note.
A branch of knowledge which one
would say it would be almost impos
sible to teach a blind person is music.
It is easy to understand that a blind
man might learn to play almost any
instrument by ear, but the students
are not taught to do this. They leara
by note, and many of them become
expert musicians. Tho method of
teaching music employed by the New
York Institution was originated by
Miss H. A. Babcock, the chief instruc
tor In music, and through her help
the method has been adopted in the
majority of the large educational in
stitutions throughout the country. To
explain to beginners everything that
is on the staff and the methods ot
Its use, a cushion about the size of
an ordinary sofa-pillow, filled with
sawdust, and firm, is used. Upon
this, by means of cord and bonnet
wire, which has been twisted into tho
shape of notes, the bars are made
and the notes are arranged anl re
arranged at will, as they are held In
place on the cushion only by tiny
hairpins. Ey this ingenious method
the student masters the principles of
staff notation and gains a clear idea
of what a bar of music looks like to
seeing persons. The rests are made
of leather, the sharps of brass, sol
dered. A blind graduate in music
from this college, F. Henry Tschudl,
became an Associate and later a Fel
low ot the College of American Musi
cians. Still later he was elected Fel
low of tie American Guild ot Organ-'
ists, and at the present time he occu
pies a position as organist in Deca
tur, Ala. The students are all fond
of singing and the choir of the insti
tution is unusually good, both as to
voice and method of using It. Music
is written In point system for the use
of the blind. Leslie's Weekly.
New York City has the reputation
ot carrying more bedbugs in Its pub
1... 'veyances than any other city
i tu ,e world.
i