TECHNIQUE. I take a little bunch of words and let 'em in ft row, I take a little hit of ink and mark 'em down just so; I take a little time and pains and then I have a verse That pturts nlmiit as this one does or mny- he slightly worse. (And then I go hack to the start and criss and cross and scratch, I vaccinate my words until I find me some that mit;h The pretty thoughts thnt dart about like silver fish and sliine, But Deed a piiticnt, watchful hook to get 'em ou the line. My thoughts melt into words sometimes not always now and then, '.And I can feel 'em coming down my arm and through my pen, I only hnve to push it o'er the paper and it spells For you and all mr other chums the things my fancy tells; Just like a hoy with building blocks, I move my words about When 1 have something in my mind and try to work it out, Until in orderly array I get 'em in a row Just as I think they ought to be and write 'em down just so. lAnd so just with some words I paint the pictures thot I think The boys and gills who live in me and set 'cm down in ink, And sometime there's a tear in it, and sometimes there's a smile, 'And there is many a grassy bank and ninny a vine grown stile; And many a hue that you would know if you could he with me, To look right where my pen is now and I could help you see; I merely tnke a lot of words and place 'em in a row, And build such pretty things if I can get em down just so! J. V. Foley, in the Xew York Times. IN THE CLUTCH OF A BLIZZARD Ey ERNEST McGAFFEY. The snow had fallen softly and steadily for days. The strawshed was a Chinese pagoda, the haystacks re sembled Swiss cottages, and the sta ble, with snow packed deep about It and a heavy mantle on the sloping roof, could hardly be distinguished from a huge drift. Every morning the prairie chickens perched on avail able corners of the stacks and out buildings, and In the hedges the quail and rabbits sheltered themselves as best they could from the wintry blasts. .John looked on the landscape with keen Interest. Toward distant Tar klo the timberllne loomed black as night. To the northwest rose Satter )ee's grove, a dark speck against the tky, and for the rest there was only a wonderful whiteness. Still the snow fell, and higher and still higher rose the drifts. They wound about the lender trunks of the young walnut trees like enveloping wraiths of foam, and among the tall cottonwoods to the south they broke in misty billows, urged onward by the wind. It was hard work now feeding the tock and poultry, chopping and bringing in wood and looking after things generally on the farm. Satur day night the wind freshened about 12 o'clock, and John felt shivery un der the old fashioned comforters. In the morning he found his uncle and Mart Earr talking In whispers by the kitchen stove. He heard Barr say: 'I didn't much more than get back, and if this keeps up we're In for it." He started to go outdoors, but his uncle's sharp "Wait a while!" kept him from leaving the room. He tried to look out of the windows, but could see nothing but a whirl of flakes. It began to be bitterly cold. Back f the stove was a pile of wood, which rapidly found its way into the fire, and it was evident that a new supply must be obtained if thoy wished to keep alive. John's grandmother had already been warned to stay in bed, and with a lighted lantern at her feet she was burled under blankets and was quite comfortable. ' "Step out on the stoop, John," said Uncle Tom. "See what you think of a blizzard. Hold on to my hand," he added, as the boy started for the door. 1 John took his uncle's hand and crossed the threshold. He found himself in a blinding maze of furious snows. He held his disengaged hand up before him, and could not see It for the revolving drifts; he was stung and cut by fine icy needles, which filled and even choked the air, and he instinctively felt for the door and got Into the house again, gasping for breath. The first thing he said on recover ing his breath was, "What'U become of the buckskin?" His uncle looked grave. "The pony will have to take his chances with the mules. Mart fed 'em all last night, and be tried to get to the sta ble this' morning, but he barely got back. 'We've got to wait till this storm clears, if she blows a week." The tears came Into John's eyes as be thought of the pony, but he knew the bUzzard must be a serious mat ter when ,Mart Barr or his uncle could aot get to the stable. They sat down to a good breakfast, and the' hot coffee heartened John up, and he began to feel the novelty of the adventure. He took his grand mother her morning's meal, and re turned to the room below. The louse was a small story-and a-half-frame, with no sheltering trees er outbuildings near at hand. Up ataira - were the bedrooms, three in number, and down stairs the single large room served as library, sitting room, dining room and kitchen. It was warmed by a squat, good sized kitchen stove. Pretty soon Uncle Tom rose, tied a lobtesllne round his waist, and, went ut into the swirl. Mart Barr held the other end of the rope, and In a ftw seconds'Uncls Tom returned with a stick of wood' from the woodpile. This he sawed Into stove lengths with a hand saw. The wood was dried in the oven and piled into the stove and eaten up like tinder. Then Mart put on the life line and made a dash for more wood. After this grist had been de voured by the kitchen stove, John begged and Insisted on being allowed to go for a stick. The woodpile lay south of the house, hardly fifty feet away, and you could nofr miss It, al though you could not see It. After some persuasion Uncle Tom fastened the clothesline with a firm grop about the boy, the door was opened and out he darted. The instant he emerged he seemed to be wrapped in a suffocating blan ket and pierced by Innumerable bits of glass. The time spent in reaching the woodpile occupied only a few sec onds, but he almost fell before reach ing it. He seized a cord stick and half ran and was half hauled into the house. He was speechless from even that short exposure, and for a few seconds fairly numb. His uncle looked at him. "You can't go out again, John," he said. "It's as much as Mart or I want to do to tackle that blizzard." And with the rising of the wind and the plunging of the drifts it seemed to the boy's Imagination that the storm was besieging the housj. The thin and fragile window glasses were re-enforced with wood, there being no shutters, and snow fine as the finest sand crawled in at every crevice and was sifted down like pow der on the beds above. The grand mother's bed was brought down from up stairs and placed close to the stove. -John distinguished himself by finding an old cross-cut saw in that corner of up stairs called the garret, and the men sharpened it up and al lowed him to help saw the sticks they brought In. Outside the wind raved and tore at the cottonwoods and walnut trees, breaking off branches and moaning away in the distance. The winds piled up the snow against the house until the men were sheeted with it when they rushed back from the woodpile. Three days and nights the carnival of an Icy ghost dance kept' up, and three nights they had but fitful snatches of sleep In the intervals be tween the hurried races to the wood pile. At last the strength of the storm was spent, and Wednesday it cleared, bitter cold. The men and the boy hurried to the stable. The stock were all alive, but weak.. They had eaten the feed left In their boxes and mangers, and then broken their hal ters and got at some of the "slue grass" which formed the roof of the stable. The snow had so completely covered the low structure In many places that they had not suffered un usually from the cold. Every chicken and turkey on the place had frozen, but the hogs had burrowed Into a strawstack in their pen,, and were squealing vociferously for feed. Away to the river bottom the trees rose dark as scaffolds, and a great white sea stretched in all directions as far as the eye could reach. The air was still, but nipped sharply at the boy's bare cheeks. It was his first blizzard. To the northwest he saw the Sat- terlee windbreak, and wondered how it weathered the storm. And as a solitary hawk, strong of wing and gray as the drifts beneath him, swung high over the prairies, he turned to the house. Youth's Companion. What's the Score? By C. M. IULDWIX. Unleash the doggerels of baseball. The season Is open with the usual eclat. The baseball reporter has rubbed his facile pen on the seat of his pants, and ground out something like this: "Smiling Harry came to the bat for the local gladiators. He was a gdod waiter and got three counterfeits, Lanky Jim, who was handling the damp spheroid for the opposing nine finally unwound his superstructure and put the Joy pebble to the liking of His Merrlness. Smiler pressed against the little comforter for a one- sacker out into right ' truck farm, Smiling Harry tarried not long on the initial sack, but when Lanky Jim was not sitting up and taking notice im mediately drug his anchor toward the second depot, which he larcenied in safety. The Long One showed symp toms of taking on a sky-pilot at this time and Lonesome Jim, the next bat ter, reached the first oasis via the charity route. However, his nar,row lankshlps took a caucus with himself and Handsome Ike whiffed the ozone, the understudy for the Singer build' lng occupying the box for the visitors putting Ike to sleep with three of his fadeaway knockout drops. In the meantime Smiling Harry and Lone' some Jim performed a twin pilfer and were safely occupying second and third refuge when the smoke cleared away. Hank the Bite put a fly in Lanky Jim's ointment by aeroplanlng to the Midway Plalsance, Smiling Harry ambling on to the lowly thatched cottage on the put-out." From Puck. Absent-Minded Alderman. A Lynn (Mass.) alderman at a re cent aldermanlc meeting inquired what had become of an order he had introduced some time before calling for an arc light on Willow street The city clerk, after digging into bis files, informed him that the order had come before the board nearly a month previous anJ that he bad voted against K. The Power of Man Over Plants. By OR. H. W. WILEY, Chief Chemist iiHtmiiiiitiiiiiiii We all know what education and environment will do for the child in the way of molding his character, forming his mind and shaping his future life. A few illustrations, it seems to me, will show that a similar change may be produced in plants themselves. In fact, a great dlbtlnc tlon has long been recognized be tween wild and cultivated plants. It Is a matter of universal experience that under cultivation plants change their character. One remarkable illustration of this fact is the sugar beet. In the wild or uncultivated Btate .the sugar beet is indigenous to Southern Europe, es pecially along Its Mediterranean coasts. Under cultivation It has been converted from a plant containing only three or four per cent, of sugar to one which contains from twelve to sixteen per cent. This has made It possible to utilize the beet for the production of sugar to such an extent that the amount of Btignr which Is now produced from the beet Is equal to that which Is pro duced from the sugar cane. The factors which are active In the production of changes In plants are soil, sunshine, rainfall, cultivation, fertilization and selection. It is through the scientific use of these factors that man produces the modi fications he desires upon plants, whether they be for the production of foods or drugs. In regard to the matter of drugs, It Is Interesting to know that comparatively little has been accomplished In the way of modifying the medicinal properties of plants by use of the factors above mentioned. Nearly all our medicinal drugs of vegetable origin are derived from the wild or practically wild plant. It has only been of late years that the possibility of Improving the medicinal composition of plants by human agencies has been realized. A drug of very high potency, which possesses violently poisonous proper ties In fact, is hydrocyanic or prusslc acid. This acid naturally exists in many plants, notably in the kernels of peaches, apricots and fruits of that description, and in the root of the plant known as the cassava. Cassava is a source of large quantities of Btarch, and especially of that food product which Is so highly prized, known as tapioca. It is Important that the plants se lected for the manufacture of tapioca be free from hydrocyanic acid, or as nearly so as possible. It has been observed that by pushing the cultiva tion of the cassava plant northward just as far as It can grow and have a sufficiently long summer to produce maturity, tae quantity of hydrocyanic acid Is diminished. , Within the past two or three years systematic Investigations have been made toward the selection of cassava plants of a low content of hydrocyanic acid for the purpose of planting, and securing by selection plants contain ing less quantities of this undesirable medicinal substance. Extensive ex periments looking, to this end have been made in Southern Mississippi and in Florida. Heredity In Plants. It Is a well known principle that qualities in plants, as In animals, are largely hereditary. This is the key note of what is known as selection in the improvement of plants. By chemical analysts those plants are se lected which have the largest quanti ties of the desirable constituents or the smallest quantities of undesirable constituents, and these plants are used for the propagation of others. One of the earliest and most extensive experiments of this kind was con ducted under my supervision, in col laboration with the late Mr. A. A. Denton, in the Improvement of the sorghum plant. A series of experiments was con ducted extending over eight years, with the idea of increasing the con tent of sugar in sorghum for the pur pose of securing a plant which would be suitable for the manufacture of sugar. In this experimental work there was .selected by analysis the best typical cane, that is, the cane containing the largest quantities of sugar, and by comparison, the small est quantities of undesirable qualities, and the seeds of this cane were used for the work. In regard to plants which produce drugs, it has been noticed that when they are brought from their native environment and planted in green' houses, the quantity of the drug which they produce is usually dimin lshed. The cinchona tree in captivity does not by any means produce the quantity of quinine which is found In it in Its native forests. On the other hand, other constituents of plants, whether desirable or undesirable, may be Increased in quantity under such conditions. The improvement of plants of all kinds by the means which are in the bands of the scientific worker has become a very important part of agri cultural research. The Department of Agriculture at Washington and nearly all the agricultural expert ment stations of the several States are engaged actively in this work It is extending to all kinds of field crops, even those of staple character. Particularly may be mentioned the work in the improvement of Indian corn, which has been vigorously pros ecuted by the agricultural experiment station of Illinois, and the work in the improvement of cotton, which has been practiced under the direction of the scientific men of the Department of Agriculture in the Southern States. As Is well known, there art two of the Department of Apiculture. iiiiii iiiiiiiHti' great varieties of 'cotton, known as sea Island and upland. The sea Island cotton has the longer and better fiber and brings a much higher price In the market than can be secured for the upland. The improvement of the sea island cotton and the extension of its growth to the mainland are, there fore, highly desirable. The sea island cotton, when first Introduced to this country, was a slowly maturing variety, and It was difficult to secure proper seed. There fore the first step Indicated was the selection of those plants which ma tured their seeds earliest, in order to get a variety which would ripen well near the coast or on islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Success attended the experiments, and a variety of sea island cotton was produced capable of much wider extension than the original. A longer and better fiber has been developed, as well as a more hardy plant and one producing a larger yield. In regard to the methods of Im proving Indian corn, It may be said the not only is the Indian corn bred on account of Its composition and character, hut also on account of its physical appearance. Work of this kind has been very extensively done at the Kansas Agricultural Experi ment Station. Mr. Luther Burbank has produced some very remarkable transformations of plants by the use of the factors which have been mentioned before In connection with cross-fertilization and other means of Improvement. The Magic of Cross-Fertilization. The idea of cross-fertilization Is suggested by Nature herself. The birds and bees carry the pollen from plant to plant, and often affect cross fertilization In this way. This Idea has been worked out in a scientific manner, sat-hat systematic cross-pollenlzatlon or fertilization has now become one of the most Im portant means of modifying plant life. These modifications may be good or bad. Those that are bad are aban doned, and those that are good are retained and propagated until distinct tvpes or varieties are established. The human hand, In other words, takes the place of the bee or the bird. It may be possible to produce almost any kind of variation In a plant by patient and scientific effort. Those qualities In plants which are most useful and are most beautiful may be developed, modified and Increased for the pleasure and the benefit of man. Thus progress may go on almost with out limit. A systematic and scientific cultiva tion of drug plants In the United States with a purpose of adapting them to practical use is an undertak ing of recent origin. The Department of Agriculture has begun these In vestigations because of the fact that the natural supply of drug plants In the United States is rapidly being ex hausted. Among the plants which have been experimented with may be mentioned licorice, capsicum, sage, belladonna, caraway, anise and cori ander. Especially In our Southern States Is It evident that there are many ad vantages of which the grower of drugs may avail himself. The long growing Beason, warm summers, and the abundant rain supply are favor able to the growth of drug plants of many kinds. In addition to the drugs already mentioned there have been cultivated, with an intent to domesticate them, a number of drug plants heretofore growing wild. Golden seal is a plant of value as a drug, and Its use has been of such a character as practically to exhaust the natural supply. The forests of the country have been searched far and near for the plant growing in a wild state. ELECTRIC TRACTION PROBLEMS Beginning: of Another Era of Revolution and unange in Transportation. The world Is In the beginning of annother era of revolution and change in its systems of transporta tion, says The Cincinnati Enquirer. The growth of electric systems and their development in the line of trans portation have been little short of marvelous. The employment of hun dreds of millions of dollars In capital in its various branches and the work given to hundreds of thousands of men could never have taken place ex cept in this age of expansion of knowledge and capital. The use of electricity has scarcely commenced, but already the early plants established' for light and power are antiquated and Inefficient as compared with those that can now be installed. The great railway sys tems of the country are now seeking the most advanced methods of em ploying this force in order to equip their roads and thus gradually sup plant the steam power now employed. Many of the roads are met with an awkward financial problem instead of a mechanical one in the situation presented to them. There is do (loubt that electricity can be produced and supplied at the minimum cost to cities, districts or roads, within a radius of 200 miles, at the mouths of the coal mines. Roads that pass through or close by such coal mines derive Immense rev enues from the transportation of the coal to the cities and the districts. To establish and use an electric sys tem for their own roads with power derived from plants at the mouths of the coal mines is an Ideal economy as For a number of years this plant has been under observation in the testing gardens at Washington, and some of the points which seem to be necessary to successful cultivation have been established. Evidently plants which grow in the shade of the forests could not be expected to be come used to growing in the open, at least without years of cultivation; hence, the use of artificial shade in the cultivation of such plants Is high ly necessary. This Is also true, as Is well known, of the pineapple, which grows best In the shade of the live oak or in artificial shade in Florida. Growing in the Shade. In France the truffles are found to grow only under the shade of certain trees, such as oaks and walnuts, and certain kinds of mushrooms flourish In the greatest abundance in the for ests. In the cultivation of mushrooms it Is necessary to have a dark .cellar or cavern, as the mushrooms do not grow artificially In the full light. This Is an Important point to keep under consideration In the cultivation of wild drug plants. The cascara Is another plant which has been cultivated both In Washing ton and In South Carolina. Profes sor Sargent, of Harvard University, Btates that at the Arnold Arboretum the cascara maintains an existence after some years of transition, but eventually dies. Senega, snakeroot and purple coneflower are other drug plants to which particular attention has been given. The above are sufficient examples to show that the cultivation of drug plants may result In a very profitable Industry, but it must be conducted in such a way as to preserve and In crease the valuable Ingredients of the plants, and It requires the highest de gree of scientific skill. If the youth of our country can be got to take an Interest In the mar velous possibilities of country life, es pecially In the application of science to the Improvement of plants and the development of new varieties, rural life will become much more attractive than it is at present. There is a gen eral Idea that only mediocre talent is required for service on the farm and In the garden, but It Is evident from the achievements already made that the highest talent can find opportun ity for expression In these avenues of activity. Youth's Companion. Tears of Blood. The belief that certain Individuals are able to weep tears of blood is of such antiquity that the German equiv alent for "bitter tears" is "blutlge Thranen," "bloody tears." There seems, however, no outhentic instance of blood being actually secreted by the lachrymal gland. Micas has published a very Inter esting article on real and false tears of blood. It is a clinical study on conjunctive hemorrhage. Some years ago the author was consulted about a boy aged twelve years, who from the slightest cause, such as laughter, or Bomettmes apparently for no- cause whatever, wept tears of blood an occurrence often . repeated several times a day. The lad was tale and enervated from constant hemorrhage. The source of the bleeding was the tarsal conjunctiva, which was cov ered with fine papillae, and light cauterization with the . galvano-caut-ery resulted In a cure. This case led the author to study the literature of the subject. He found that In none of the cases cited Is It certain that the blood did not come from the conjunctiva or from the lachrymal passages. He feels that It Is unwise to deny the possi bility of a sanguineous secretion from the gland, but that examples In which other sources cannot be shown to be present must be exceedingly rare. Introducing Her Resolution. "Johnny," said Mrs. Lapsllng, put ting on her wraps, "I've been in the house all day and I need the fresh nir. If you'll mind the baby a while I'll go and take a preamble around the block." to their own operation. But what an object lesson it is for the cities and towns to which they carry their ton nage of coal! While in the State of Colorado there soon will be In oper ation a plant upon their order, fur nishing light and power for a district of 150 miles radius, the great cities of New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, In dlanapolls, St. Louis, Chicago and a hundred lesser ones are still carry' lng their electricity on the coalcars to the cities, instead of having it more cheaply brought to them on a wira direct from the mines. The railways may as well accept a situation which will force Itself upon them and. while it will revolutionize existln systems, will only do so because '.t Is the best thing for the people, t'.is country, and possibly lor the roads themselves. Somewhat Rough on Society "Man." At dinner one evening a . well known actress wamost amiable to a very young lieutenant who sat next to her. He was mightily pleased at being on such good terms with a live actress. Suddenly she said, in her artless, pretty manner: "I am taking a boy's part In a new play and I have been watching you ever Blnce we were Introduced. You don't mind, do you?" . It is figured that a successful phys ician must have a clientele ot ISO famllis, or about 730 Dersona. A French chemist has Invented a tablet which, If dissolved in a glass of water, will give off as much oxygen to clarify the air in a room as though a window had been left open for an hour. A scientific labor of the utmost im portance and Interest is about to be commenced from Shanghai. This Is a magnetic survey of Chiria, and Dr. Edwards, of the Carnegie Institute, Washington, D. C, who is to carry It through, Is at present In Shanghai preparing for the work. In describing his latest Journey in Thibet, ended during the present year, Dr. Sven Hedin says that the greatest result achieved Is the dis covery of a continuous mountain chain 2000 miles long, stretching east and west, and which, taken as a whole, is the most massive range on the crust of the earth. Experts have held that the so-called "cat'' of the ancient Romans and Greeks "allurus," the wavy tailed one was not a cat at all, but a kind of weasel. The mummified Egyp tian animal, however, was a genuine cat, even If certain peculiarities about its teeth make it difficult to regard It as a near relative of the modern domestic puss. commission of coal supplies have shown that the present Inefficient con sumption of coal in Great Britain leads to a waste of from 40,000,000 to 6(1,000,000 tons per annum, and It is also responsible for the greater proportion of smoke and dust from which they suffer. Thirty per cent, of .the total British consumption of coal might be saved by employing the best known means for such purpose. There Is being constructed for the structural materials testing labora tories of the United States Geological Survey, a vertical compression test ing machine of ten million pounds capacity. This machine, having a gross weight of over 200 tons and an extreme height above foundation of about eighty feet, Is the largest ever constructed The machine was pri marily acquired for- the purpose of testing large blocks of stone made necessary by the Ftudy of the build ing stones of the country, as request ed by the supervising architect. The Flag. By ELLIS O. JOXES. "If you ever decide to settle down here and go In for politics," said the Politician, "the first thing you should do Is to get up a good speech on the fag. Many an orator has made a reputation and concealed his Ignor ance by an apotheosis of the flag." "The flag! What's the flag?" in quired the Man from Mars. 'Oh, of course, I quite forgot. You don't know what the flag Is, do you?, Well, you see, the flag the flag that is to say, the flag Is well, the flag Is a kind of emblem. It stands for what we are." "What do you mean by that?" pur sued the Man from Mars, with grow ing Interest. "What does it stand for?" "The flag," replied the Politician, blandly smiling, "Is very meek. It can't talk back, and accordingly it stands for almost anything. That's what's I'm trying to tell you. When ever you make a speech in favor of a proposition do it in the name of the flag. If you are opposing the same or another proposition, you be gin by denouncing it in the name of the flag. In both cases you at once cease talking about the subject and continue to talk exclusively about the flag, saying anything commenda tory that comes into your head. "But suppose what you say is not nip " ancrcpstpri thp, ATfln from Mars. "That's not the point," replied the Politician. "Ynn must commend the! Ann. liaAaiie. Ika npnrtla will tint" ll (S- lleve ill of it. If what you say is false, it can't be helped. On the oth er hand, if you are going to stick to the truth all the time, there is no need of the flag at all. You must un- ment." "Yes: but what is it?" "It is the emblem of an argument." From Judge. , The "Sisters" and Their Money. "Most o' the breddren, I'se pleased tn sav. has been tollable lib'ral." a bit ster when the result of the collection eret to state oat da sistans nas Deen dess de diverse. Dey has contributed ..'..I. n.ittitn' . tn Hp flpwHn fund I'FalT.f n n f J.n tan'f irnt tin TT1 ntlilV Slstahs. lemma ax yo': Whuh does vo' nutt vo' 4 money? De Lawd knows " ttr i- ... I 1. i. . I I iK.nM runted Brother Tarr. rising in his firm, "nat'a all rleht 'bout de Lawd ToVia In flpan'l nuta Hall TTintlPV. hilt ! isn't yo' glttin" slightly spectacular in : axin de infawmatlon lor yosei: "assah, dess a little spectacular?" A Toast. The latest thing in toa:ts comes M i .. O s t ,nrtA lr r n ropnAnrlod Ui. uA nt-hni a twalvo Hon rrVi t ara v UU LiaiUiS luab aw vujju u v w we give love, to their beauty admira tion, and to their hats the wliole ulde-l vallt." New York Times.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers