THE MILLENNIUM,
The happy time is coming;
When we'll all ride In the air;
Change our motors for new airship
And have plenty space to spare,
IWhen we'll have no labor trouble
And when capital will cease
Yom piling up Its riches,
But both pass the kiss of peace.
Tee, the time Is surely coming
When all living will be cheap,
Meats and epss lie fresh as springtime
No culd storage crop to reap.
iWhen the poor but honest people
Will be happy without fall,
.'With a law that's most Impartial,
And trust magnates go to jail.
There's no doubt the time is coming
When e'en Beliool boards are at rest.
When no one will swear off taxes,
But lust nav what Lhev're assessed.
Kay, In this wondrous tune that's com'
ng,
Where no noslous germs will lurk,
The people will see likely
Legislatures do real work.
Baltimore American,
The Verdict of the
Book
By Emma E. Manning
It wa9 a queer place, that second
fcand bookstore. The battered vol
umes or all possible shapes and sizes
ntlpor And RD WPTO mallY Of
those who came to examine them,
prey to Interest In some one subject
that was often almost a mania, books
and callers were alike largely shab
by, and aueerne3S reigned In the store,
When Dorothy Clarke entered the
place as an attendant she had thought
the room spooky and tne dooks aisa'
greeable ghosts, but the feeling wore
away, especlaly as not all the books
were ancient and not all the callers
eccentric. Alert, well-dressed men
eame with others, searching for vol
umes on practical subjects. Bhe had
teen employed six months, when a
young man of good appearance walked
briskly In during Mr. Templemore's
lunch hour. Bowing formally, he ad
dressed her with courtesy.
"Have you any old-time medical
works?" he asked. "You see, 1 am a
doctor, and I like to pass a part of
my leisure hours reading what phy
sicians thought about medicine gener-
atlons ago. That will hardly appeal to
sou please pardon me."
She led the way and swept her hand
along the proper shelf.
"Whew!" the exclaimed. "Ancient
IWisdom by the yard."
' His laugh rang out cheerfully, aft-
' er which he was Immersed in mvestl-
' gatlon for twenty minutes. In the
end be purchased an inexpensive
treatise and departed. He was only
one of many customers, and she for
got him In a few moments, but It was
not his only call. Those battered old
Ibooks, warriors of past battles with
disease, had such a fascination for
blm that he came often. His pmrchas-
. es were few, but he examined large
ly, often asking questions in his po
lite way.
An acquaintance was established be
tween them in a degree, and then she
tad a surprise icne Sunday at
church. Without warning a friend in
troduced her to "Dr. Clifton." She
lifted her eyes and saw tue young
man of the bookstore calls.
After that they met often. He made
hat church (his, land, always cour
teous, sought her presence persistent
ly. Her mother noticed the fact, made
Inquiries, and saw no reason to ob
ject. Twice he took Dorothy to some
place of amusement, though she was
not certain that she enjoyed herself
jxeatly. She was of two minds as to
(Dr. Clifton, and he was himself re
sponsible for her doubts. Brief as
their acquaintance was be had half
assumed an air' ot proprietorship
(Which she was not ready to concede,
and other things partly offset his un
deniably good qualities. Her mind was
a scale in which she was weighing
aim.
' "Miss Clarke,"' said Mr. Templemore
file afternoon, "have you sold that
jopy of The London Dispensatory,'
printed by John' Allen in 1720?"
"No, sir," she answered.
"Misplaced by some customer prob
ably. Will you look along the
tielves?"
She searched, but the volume was
dot found. The proprietor betrayed his
Vexation.
' Another book thief!" he grumbled,
and it was worth more than the $25
I asked for it It was rare, rare!
Somebody was tempted beyond his
powers of resistance."
(With this he began 1 unpacking a
case or books, but he left Dorothy
(thoughtful. Two weeks before Dr. uilf
ton had discovered "The London Dis
pensatory," and grown enthusiastic
over it, but had shaken his head at
the price. Twenty-five dollars, for a
(book not of practical use looked large.
In spite of that he came day after
Bay, taking the volume down, reading
greedily, and sighing as he replaced
t. Once, too, after replacing it on the
helf, he had gazed at its caver and
fallen Into a deep study that lasted
several minutes. Clearly, he longed for
the ancient treatise.
I Now it was gone. Dorothy won
deredbut it seemed absurd. The
doctor's social position ought to make
aim free from suspicion, she argued.
. Mr. Templemore was not to be con
soled. "The London Dispensatory" lay
fieavily upon his mind, he still had
period 8 of searching for It, and spoke
of it oftener than he hunted. Mean
fwhlle, Dorothy considered very seri
ously. Now that it was gone Dr. Clif
ton came no more to the store, and
lie recalled that, previously, he had
odme only , during the proprietor's
lunch hour. Her wavering ended, and,
(though she assured herself that it was
only a coincidence, she told Mr. Tem
plemore everything.
,. ."Hump!" he murmured. "Thank
rou! still, I think the young man is a
regular doctor, and It is hardly prob
ablebut I thank you!"
A week passed, and then Dr. Clif
ton appeared when Mr. Templemore
was present, walked to where he Btood
by Dorothy's side and held out a
book.
Dorothy looked and grew startled.
"The London Dispensatory" was
back. Very likely her face expressed
unspeakable things, for Clifton sud
denly broke into a hearty laugh.
"Ha, ha, ha! Pardon me, Miss
Clarke, but it's too good to carry fur
ther. Let me own up, right now, that
I'm a nephew of Mr. Templemore, and
that I've Indulged in an Innocent plot,
after arguing long to make him agree.
Frankly, I wanted to see If you would
betray mo if I seemed to be a thief.
You have stood thn fast nohlv Dnm-
thy. I'm proud of you; it was grand
loyalty in you not to mention my in
terest in this book!"
She flushed and then turned white.
Here was the old, objectionable ele
ment in the man. the implied nos-
sesslon of her; while the trick exas
perated her. She drew back a pace.
her eyes flashing.
"You make some mistakes, sir!" she
restored, "and one of them is your as
sumption that I have not told Mr.
Templemore. I told him all. It Is my
duty to help protect his interests, not
to work against them."
Clifton grew downcast before what
ne heard and suspected, but Mr. Tem,
plemore was clearlv delighted.
"There you have It, young man!" be
exclaimed. "You asked me yesterda if
sue nad tola, and possibly mv choice
of words seemed like no, but if you
win recall them you will see that I
evaded direct rpnlv. Aa fnr hia hnnb
Miss Clarke, that foolish fellow asked
my leave to his carrying out his
scheme of bogus theft. I oblected. nt
first, but he said he wanted to test
you, and It occurred to me that It
was a good chance for me to teat vou.
also. I am greatly pleased. If you had
remained silent when one of my vol
umes was stolen it would have been
otherwise, but you have been faith
ful to the interests of your employer,
ana mat is a splendid thing In this
world. Thank you kindly. Ml3s Clarke.
Now, I'll let you young people settle
your own matters."
It was Dorothy who did the "sot.
tllng." She had been placed In an un
comfortable position by the doctor's
stratagem, and she gave hlra no
chance to repeat. Now, when he reads
his medical books he sometimes
thinks of her, but he goes no more to
ino aiure. uoston jFOSt.
A MOUSE'S PULSE.
The difficulties nt a eiri.
In
Counting It.
How many know whether A. mnliflo'a
pulse beats fast or slow? How many
know that it beats ten times as fast
a mans; in other words, that it
makes ten pulsations while a man's Is
mawing one? Owing; to the difficulty
of registering such ranid beats tha
exact rate has only recently been as-
iniaiucu, um it was Known in general
max tne smaller the creatura. t.ha
naore rapid Its heart throbs, and, con
sequently the higher Its pulse. Says a
writer in Cosmos (Paris):
mere nave been noted, for inatanpa
30 pulsations per minute In the ele
phant, 40 in the horse. BO In
and mule, 70 In man, 90 la the dog, and
150 to 200 in the rabbit.
"The difficulty of counting the mil.
sations of the heart when their num
ber exceeds 150 to 200, and the almost
insurmountable difficulty of recording
such beats with apparatus In current
use, In very small animals, have nre.
vented physiologists from making ex
periments on tnese latter. This lack
of data, however, has Just been fliinii
by Mr. F. Buchanan. . . .This author
had been led by theoretical considera
tions to SUDDOse that in the montta rho
number of pulse beats could not be
less wan 600 per minute. To vpthv
the exactitude of his deductions, he
took the electrogram of this animal?
that is, the electric variation produced
In it by the cardiac contractions. He
did this easily by diDDincr the fnra
and hind leys of the mouse, which was
suspended by an abdomlnn-rtnraal
bandage, respectively in solution ninir.
ing the parts of unpolarizable elec
trodes, and connected with an electro
meter. The latter, we sunnnap. vn
the capillary electrometer of Llppmann
or some other Inventor, in which the
difference of potential is measured h
deformations of a meniscus of mercury
terminating in a very fine glass point
dipping into sulfuric acid. The oscilla
tions of the meniscus were ohotoexanh.
ed on a band of paper moving regular
ly with a known velocity.
'His results were as follows: Tn
three mice weighing 29 to 35 grams,
me 'aeart oeais were 520 to 675 a min
ute. In two comDarativelv voum?
mice (about eight weeks) weighing 17
ana zi grams, the contractions warn
720, 780; and, finally, , In an albino
(white) mouse welehlne 15 eramn.
there were 680 contractions. The aver-
gives 670 beats per minute.
"The respiration of the mouse la
equally rapid; Buchanan has noted 140
to 160 per minute. The ratio of the
number of the heart beats to the num.
ber of respirations Is thus about four,
as In man and most mammals. Thus
the mouse's heart beats four times as
fast as the rabbit's and ten times as
fast as a man's." Translation in the
Literary Digest
- Losing His Nerve,
Bus Driver Ain't re satisfied with
runnin' over people? Yer wants to
run over the 'oases now?
Tart Driver (indlenantM I
run over anybody for a long time.
Bus Driver What! Are ve eettin'
nervous? London Opinion.
ALL ABOUT THE HELLO GIRLS
LABOR COMMISSIONER
He Says There is No Use lor Short Girls; That the Companies Wan
Olrls Who Can Reach Some Require Girls With a
Calm, Clear Eye and Good Appetite
If you have any trouble In getting
your telenhnne calls throneh hlnmo
Labor Commissioner Nelll of the De
partment or Commerce and Labor, and
probably you wont be far out of the
way. Every hello girl In the country
will he busy trvlnar to And out Innr what
tne commissioner has said about her.
Only a few of them are aware that ho
had dissected and analyzed them In a
report 200 or 300 pages long for the
instruction of the United States Senate.
but these few have served notice that
they will insist on seeing in cold type
lust what he has found out ahnut thorn.
The commissioner has left little for
the hollo girl to find out about her
seir.
Look here, Cora," exclaimed one
of the Washington telephone girls who
had got hold of an abstract of the re
port. "He says we gotta have a calm,
clear eye and a steady gaze. I know
I gotta clear eye, dear, but am I calm?
uo on, am I, really? (Hello, Hello.
Been waiting? five minutes? Well, I
can't help that; wire's busy). And a
good appetite and a healthy, rosy com
plexion. What you think of that,
Cora? Say, honest, I always wonderei
how I got the lob so easy. But look
at this passage about the companies
nandin' us men escort? to take us home
nights. That must be a government
Joke; honest, it must be, doncha think
so?"
Complaints from hollo girls that they
had to walk up too many flights of
stairs to their work was chiefly respon
sible for starting the Commissioner on
his investigation. He finds that the
telephone girls as a whole have no
ground for complaint on this score. He
nails them right down on this proposi
tion, giving the exact number that
have to climb stairs and the actual ef
fort that is expended. Says the Com
missioner: "Of the seventy-three exchanges re
ported upon by the agents of the bu
reau it was found that thirty-three,
which were located above the first
floor, were not provided with elovators.
Of these exchanges fifteen were located
on the second floor, requiring the
climbing of one flight of stairs; ten
on the third floor, requiring the climb
ing of three flights of stairs. The max
imum number of operators affected ty
such lack of elevators, therefore, being
required to climb one flight of stairs
was 60; those required to climb two
flights of stairs 108, while 75 found It
necessary to climb three ftlirhra p
stairs."
The Commissioner finds that there is
no use of Bhnrf. elrla tt-vlna- tn ,.,..
- tj - - - - ' -" w ucwuig
telephone operators. .
None of the companies employ
short girls; they want girls that can
reach " he said. "The rirl vhn la un
der five feet hasn't any show."
The Commissioner finds that very
few of the companies take elrla with
out first subjecting them to a physi
cal examination, in some cities the
girls object to this, but the.n will h
surprised to learn that they were ex
amined witnout-knowing it.
"In one cltv where the trra into--
viewed said that no physical examina
tion or test had been made," says the
Commissioner, "it was ascertained that
the applicants are interviewed by a wo
man wnose exact height is known, and
In talking to the armlinanta mm k
comparing the level of the eyes with
her own tell within a fraction nt on
Inch the height of the p-ih k
whom she is talklne. Exnerta in t-.M
lines interviewed the fc7':-Tlcants'"ana
ascertained their exact Dhvalcai
tlon."
Some of the comoanles. hoslH
quiring of their candidates a calm, clear
eye, a good appetite and a rosy com
plexion, demand that they shall have
a steady hand and a firm set jaw; also
that they shall not be easily pycOnhio
Of 6152 applicants the Commissioner
found that 2229 were unable to qualify,
544 being too small, 53 too old, 436 too
young, 11 refusing to work on Jewish
holidays; 6 declining to be vaccinated,
and 1G9 being lacking- in personal ap
pearance. The Commissioner figures that the
average working life at the switch
board, is only three yearn. He finds
that in no other industry In the United
States are so great precautions taken
to insure the health of the employes.
He has discovered that in the good oli '
summer time the hello girls, that Is
the few of them that are sick, suffer
from digestive complaints, probably
too much ice cream and candy.
The girls of many exchanges get
their luncheons right in the company's
office. "Hygienic luncheons," the com
panies eall them, and they say that
these luncheons prevent the afternoon
"dulness and headaches" that raise
hob with the service when the "peak
of the load" Is reached. By the way,
any Senator who reads Mr. Nell's re
port will be qualified to talk telephone
with .the oldest hello girl in existence.
"Peak of the load," "side reach," "up
reach," "JackB" and "split trick" are
only a few of the expressions that go
to make ap. the telephone girl's busi
ness vacabulary.
The Commissioner finds also that
many of the companies, especially the
New York company, "is engaged in a
system of welfare work among its em
ployes." rney nave libraries and par
lors where the girls may lounge dur
ing the rest hours; also boat ride ex
cursions, theatre parties and art muse
NEILL OBSERVES THEM
um parties under the supervision of a
competent teacher.
This uplift feature of the report,
particularly the theatre party sugges
tion, has made a hit with the telenhone
girls in this city, and the companies
tnat haven't got onto this wrinkle yet
are sure to be Informed of it
Some of the hello girls also ; may
want to know of their employers why
they aren't furnished with roof gardens
for lounging places The Commission
er finds that some companies have suoh
gardens and he recommends that more
of them be established. The Commis
sioner hands out this compliment to
the girls: "The loyalty and esprit de
corps among telephone girls is greater
than in any other industry in the
country,"
Mr. Neill takes the part of the tele
phone girls against a peevish public.
He says that the average switchboard
girl has a hundred telephone call sig
nals to watch. As each oaJl rompa In
a light flashes on a signal cap. Many
signal ugnts glow simultaneously and
there is a clicking sound in the niwr.
ator's ear every time the receiver is
moved up and down. With all this
confusion in front of her the linlln HH
has to contend too with a supervisor
who stands behind her and calls out
the numbers to other operators when
she falls behind in her work. She is In
fear also of the monitor cutting in at
any minute and reprimanding her.
Under the rules of the companies she
Is allowed to say only "Number,
please, no matter how much she is
abused. When the neovlsh nnrtv ha.
gins to scold and asks why in thunder-
auon ne hasn't got his number, he Is
delaying her with the other calls that
are coming in, and is not only lessen
ing his own chance of getting quick
service, but Is delaying other peoplo
and making it hard for the switch
board girl.
The Commissioner adds that if the
people who put off their morning tele
phoning until 11.30 and their afternoon
telephoning until 5 would only remem
ber that these are the heaviest hours
of the day. the "oe&ka of thn Ua
they would get better service and make
uie easier lor the girlB.
Some of the hello elrln mo v ha cm.
prised to know "that spasms of rush"
that last for only a few minutes are
regarded as fun by them.
"They really enjoy the excitement
and exMiaratlon," says the Commls
sioner.
The Commissioner regards 225 calls
uu uuur as uie oreaKing point of efflcv
iency for a girl, although she hanrti.a
sometimes as many as 600 calls an
nour.
rne Commissioner has found thn
92.7 percent of the hello girls are ua
married or "conjugal condition un.
known," 4 percent are married and 2.7
percent are widows. New York Sun
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
Stephen Phillips, the poet, was once
an actor.
Grote. the historian, was. by Drofes-
slon, a banker.
William Makepeace Thackeray was
born in Calcutta, India.
Swift. Byron. Lamb and Oowner all
lived in dread of becoming Insane.
A baby born amid the floods at At.
fortvilel, Paris, has been named Mo-
The author. Frank Danbv. in nrl-
vate life is Mrs. Julia Frankau, well
known as an art critic.
Bulwer-Lytton beiran work ayprv
day at sunrise, and it was nearly noon
before he would see any one.
There are more visitors to th birth
place of Burns than to that of Shakes
peare, tne register books show.
It Is exDected that aluminum polna
of low value will be In circulation In
France by the end o this year.
The American system of office tow
el service has caught on In several
English cities, including London.
George Washington is not thoiieht
of as aa author, yet his writings fill
more than twelve octavo volumes.
An electric driven screwdriver, an
electric portable hammer and an elec
tric window washer have been in
vented. The Rev. famuel Rkrono vi- nt
Laneham, Nottinghamshire, has seven
sons and they are all urlests of the
Church.
Stanley Weyman. the novelist, i S
years old. Hia first novel was "The
House or the Wolf," published twenty
years ago.
In his novel "Lourdes. Emila Zo1
makes the statement that the deaf
and dumb recovered their hearlna
and slslit.
Attached to a tombstone in a Har
les ton (England) undertaker's shop is
a card which reads: "You may tele
phone from hero."
rEARL8 OF THOUGHT.
Perhaps the most noticeable thing
the matter with our civilization is
that it isn't civilized.
Bad habits are not necessarily ones
that give us pain; sometimes they
only pain other people.
One of the delights of cold weather
Is the purely negative Joy of having
no song and dance from mosquitoes.
When the aeroplane industry gets
fairly on its wings some enterprising
man will be starting a summer resort
in Mars.
We can't be too careful of our po
liticians. If something grave should
happen to them we might all die of
sheer Joy.
Some men make calculations " and
plans so smooth and slick that they
slip up on them and get the smash of
their lives.
It Is all right to have great plans
for tomorrow, but the essential thing
is to have fine plans for today that
are In brisk operation.
Plenty of persons would like to be
good if It did not entail some self
sacrifice and wise If it did not coun
sel giving up of foolishness.
Waiting for something to turn up
Isn't very exhllaratlnc. and the wait
ers would doubtless be wildly sur
prised should the expected happen.
The eelflsh individual doesn't con
sider himself well equipped In any
line until he feels assured that he can
get the best of other people everv
time.
No matter to what town you go you
are certain to find there the superla
tive of one thing or another and some
times of both. From "Pert Para
graphs" in the Trenton True Ameri
can, NO SMALL CHANGE IN ALASKA.
Its Use, They 8ay, Means Smaller
Wages Why Robbers Are Caught.
"No pennies, nickels and dimes go
In Alaska," said John Hoover of Fair
banks. "When I first went to that
country I saw bartenders look curious
ly at a dime that some tenderfoot had
tossed on the bar and then sweep it
off on the floor with their hands. I
wondered at this contempt for real
money and asked some questions
about it, discovering that no one ever
took nickels or dimes and that noth
ing could be bought in the Klondike
for less than 25 cents.
"Take the ordinary sack of tobacco
for instance, which we get here for a
nickel. There they cannot sell it for
a quarter hardly, so they make it two
for a quarter but will not sell one for
15 cents.
"It is common cause among those
people up there. They do not want
nickels and dimes introduced, for in
troductlon of small change would
mean lower wages and lower prices.
Ordinary shovellers get $4 or $5 a
day now and other labor is paid in
proportion. They do not want to re
ceive lower wages.
"Of course it is true that they make
money on the side, almost every work
er does. There is a tendency in min
ing to follow the rule that nuggets
belong to the man who uncovers them
even If they are found on the claim
of the employer. , I have seen men
pick up nuggets worth from an lnslg
niflcant sum to $108 in value. The
game up there Is worth playing. I
have had this bag half filled with gold
dust several tlmesa nd lost it; but I
expect to keep right on till I make a
strike."
Mr. Hoover has with him one of the
leather bags that the dust is carried
In in Alaska. It Is about twelve Inches
In length and flat and is about four
inches across. It ties with a thong.
"This looks as if an elephant had step
pod on it," he said, "but it has had the
dust in it up in the Klondike all right.
"There are mighty few robbers in
Alaska. It doesn't take more than four
years to try a criminal and give him
proper punishment up there; and be
sides, he can be caught. There is only
one way out and that is guarded. Be
sides, gold dust is as easily identified
as different kinds of cloth or cattle. An
essayer or a banker in Seattle,, for in
stance, will tell you whether your gold
is from one creek or another. There is
sometimes 10 .per cent, difference in
the value of the gold from streams
running parallel on different sides of
the same mountain. A holdup man who
acquires gold dust would have to ac
count for It when be went out, and it
could be traced easily." From the
Des Moines Register and Leader.
Rlo's Dock System.
Rio Janeiro proposes to construct
the greatest dock system in South
America, if not In the whole western
hemisphere. The plans call for about
ten miles of docks, in addition to the
two miles already provided for. The
idea Is that the additional docks
shall consist at first of three great
piers built at a distance of 1,115 feet
from each other. Completed, these
docks will have a frontage of 63,320
feet, or about twelve miles. The ad
ditions planned wilt cost about 19,
000,000. Gratitude for Refusal.
One ot the most singular wills ever
recorded was that of a British sailor,
who requested bis executors to give
his wife a shilling to buy hazelnut.,
as she had always preferred cracking
them to mending his stockings. More
subtle, however, was the sarcasm ot a
will nrnvpri tn 1ft3fl. 1n which a wtfa
received $2,500, but was only to enjoy '
it after her death In order that "she
might be burled suitably as my wid
ow." A French merchant bequeathed
a large fortune to a woman of his ac
quaintance to show his gratitude for
her refusal - to marry him twenty
years before.
Prof. Herdman, lecturing at the
British Royal institution, and describ
ing how to tell the age of a fish, said
the lines on the scales of the herring
are lines of annual s-rowth. The num
ber of lines on the bones are another
indication.
While a leaf of gold Is so thin that
it is impossible to measure Its thick
ness, scales have been made which
weigh it accurately. One leaf weighs
one-fifth of a grain. It is so light
that a breath will blow it away. Held
to the light, It Is translucent and
greenish.
Swelling ground cannot be held by
(timber; means must be provided for
relieving the pressure of the ground
from time to time. It will cause little
trouble If spaces are left between the
lagging, through which the pressure
may be eased at Intervals by remov
ing some of the material. Expedients
such as packing with straw are valua
ble only until the swelling becomes
sufficient to pack tightly the cushion'
ing substance. When this becomes
packed solidly it transmits the pres
sure to the timbers. Scientific Ameri
can. The first Edison medal of the Amer
ican Institute of Electrical Engineers
was awarded to Prof. Ellhu Thomson
for his achievements In electricity, on
the occasion of the anniversary din
ner of the Institute. This medal was
founded by friends of Mr. Edison, and
is Intended to commemorate bis work.
Sclentlflo American.
The blue rays eoiitted by the mer
cury vapor lamps have bacterical
properties which are being experi
mented with for the Durnosa of mak
ing use of them in the sterilization ot
drinking water. It has' been demon
strated that a lamp of nine amperes
and 135 volts, suspended in an ordi
nary cask was very effective In puri
fying the water. All bacteria (Includ
ing the coll bacillus and Ebertn's
bacillus) within 12 inches of the lamp
were killed in two minutes. A long
series of experiments proved conclu
sively that one minute suffices for
complete sterilization in ordinary
cases, and two minutes when the wa
ter is very greatly contaminated, eith
er naturally or artificially. The water,
however, must be clear, in order that
the rays may pass through it The el
evation of temperature la only a frac
tion of a degree and the water, after
treatment, is harmless to plants and
animals. Hence it appears practicable
to sterilize the water supply of a city
(after clarification, if necessary) by
distributing powerful quartz mercury
vapor lamps in the reservoirs or the
mains in such a manner that every
particle of water shall remain two
minutes within a few inches of the
lamp.
COMMISSIONS GALORE.
Wallace Is Glad to Oblige His Nelgh
bors. "Hey!" shouted Mr. Wallace's nelgh
bor as Mr. Wallace hastened past his
house on the way to catch the sub
urban train. "I'm not going in town
today, Wallace; will you, bring me
half a dozen big screw hooks big
enough to swing a hammock with?"
"Sure, Mike," said 'Mr. Wallace,
pleasantly. "Anything else?"
"Not a thing," said his neighbor;
"unless you'll stop by Miller's and
see if he's got my trousers cleaned.
If he has, bring 'em with you."
Mr. Wallace wended his way to
ward the station. As he passed Mrs.
Pitkin's home that worthy lady
caught sight of him and ran toward
him gladly.
"Oh, Mr. Wallace! Mr. Wallace!"
she cried. "Won't you bring me out
a nice watermelon? I've tried to get
one here, but there are none to be
had. Get a nice big one for about 20
cents."
Mr. Wallace continued his walk to
ward the station, revolving things In
his mind. He did not like to carry
watermelons.
On the' way he was stopped half a
dozen times by as1 many people. One
wanted a half dozen cigars; another
wanted some washers for his garden
hose.' Still another desired greatly'
and above all things a half gallon can
of green paint
Then Mra. Wallace quit When he
came home that night it was with set
Jaws that he marched to his home.
To all who reproached him for1 his
neglect he replied firmly:
"I'm sorry, you know; but fourteen
people gave me commissions to exe
cute and I forgot yours."
But he did not explain that he had
forgotten all the fourteen deliberate
ly and designedly- forgotten them.
That was a matter he considered
strictly his own business. Galveston
News. "
Point of View.
Senator Beveridge, apropos of the
old-fashioned snowy winter, said the
other day:
"Show, of course, has Its disadvan
tages from some points of view.
"Snow Is beautiful in Its season,"
Solomon said that But I know an old
Indianapolis man who, on hearing
this remark ot Solomon, grumbled:
" 'Oh, yes, no doubt it was beautiful
to you 8i!ttln' with all the wives and
lasses of Jerusalem .beside you; but
if you'd been a poor stonecutter you'd
never have said any such thing." '
Detroit Free Press.