THE BY JOHK CLAIR MtNOT. JVith things the church may use the Jinny shop i Was cluttered full. Kich robes and vestments hung Beside the graven saints; end at the top. Above the altars, blnzcn censers swung. 'And crucifix and chalice, made of gold, And books and beads were waiting to be soM. With patience more than hope, beside the door The tradesman sat; for few there came to buy. 'A dusty sunbeam slanted to tho floor; Upon the pane there buzzed n single fly. When lo! upon the threshold there is seen A stranger's form of priestly garb and mien. "Jfy friend," ho said, "far of! beyond Hie sea As bishop nm 1 sent. From out thy store Bring all the ollicc calls for unto me. That I may make my choice and buy. Nay, more, Put on thyself tho robes and all the rest If they adorn thee well, be that the lent." Not loath to 'please, the tradesman stepped to where The richest vestments hung. The olli he pluced About his shoulders, then the amice there; The maniple, the girdle nt his waist, Jle slowly donned in turn; then o'er the whole He drew the silUen cope and Kinged stole. The jeweled miter next upon his head lie set, and on his right hand placed the ring, i And in bis left the cro.ier. Then, instead Of what he was before, a lowly thing Of trade, he stood a bishop! In the glass Before him many strange things came to pass. , No more the little shop. Instead, afar A dim cathedral's vaulted nave. There gleamed , The candles, and the incense rose. He saw The multitude of worshipers who seemed To kneel while he should bless them; and he heard The rolling organ aud the chanted word. No more the tradesman's humble lot. lie stood As one beloved and honored through the earth; Of apostolic rank, and by tho Lord Anointed for His blessed work; his worth All crazier, robes and miter signified. And so the dream engulfed him in its tide. The vision dimmed. He sighed and turned his head; He stood within the little shop alone. Tho priest a cunning rogue disguised hail fled With loot of silver, gold and precious stone. ' What mattered that? He softly closed the door; The vision bad been worth it all, and more. So runs the tale; a tale to tell again. If we but listen well. For each of us The vision waits. It will not be in vain If richly we invest our lives, and thus Employ our store. The things we teach, or sell, Or love in others might udoru us well. Youth's Companion. LEVI AND THE DYNAMITE By ALBERT W. TOLMAN. The ramshackle old powder-house stood twenty feet from tho rear brink of the Sturdevant limeroek quarry, behind a grassy rampart almost level .with its eaves. , It was a mere sentry box, seven feet square, unpainted, windowless, roofed with corrugated Iron, as a protection against blast liurled boulders. It was still called the "powder-house," although for years no explosive but dynamite had entered its battered door A ten-hole blast had just been fired in the quarry bottom right tinder it, nd the men swung down again on the drag by Micah Day, the engineer. lvi McCorrison, his nephew and ns , Ristant, was throwing on some fresh oal, when John Sturdevant, . owner f the quarry, came tip to the engine house in his new red automobile with Jtwo friends. i John thought a good deal of that fiole in the ground and well he ;mlght. Out of it had come not only .Ithat very automobile, but a ten-thousand dollar house and a year in Eu rope, to say nothing of a good living and a growing bank-account. The three men came in, laughing and Joking. Sturdevant shook hands .with Levi and his uncle. "Can you put us on the bottom without breaking, Mleah?" lie asked. "Easy as eggs," replied the engi neer. The visitors got on the drag, and iwung out over the two hundred feet of space. John's friends showed their nervousness by gripping the t chains tightly, as they looked down to where the sledges were ringing. Soon they stood saffly on the bot tom. A loaded drag was hooked on, and Micah began to hoist it slowly. Lean ing through the open window, Levi Watched the brown hats of John and - Mb guests as they moved about over the blue limeroek. Then his gaze traveled up the opposite bluff to the ten feet of earth at its top, crowned by the rampart before the powder bouse. His eyes opened wide. Surely ho must be mistaken. It could not be that the bank was bulging out. " But it was. Out spurted a cascade of dirt and small rocks, and shot downward; an instant-later it rat tled on the bottom. A yell of alarm arose, and four or five men who were barring and sledging close to the bluff dropped their tools and sprang back, with faces upturned. For just a second Levi stared stu pidly, not grasping the full extent of the disaster that impended He saw the rampart melt away and pour over the edge, until the whole side of the powder-house was revealed. ' Then the old bulldiug itself slumped, tilted, slid slowly half-way down the slope of fresh dirt and rocks, and stopped not six feet from the brink. Levi remembered what lay within those weather-beaten walls, and bis blood almost curdled in his VelnB. , " Ten fifty-pound boxes of dynamite had been stored there the day before. What would become of the men be low when that 'quarter-ton of high explosive struck the bottom! He looked at his uncle. No words , were necessary. Micah's fuce . was colorless, his cheekB fallen In.' He understood. Only the clank of the engine and the slapping of the cable broke the silence. Some one brled fnit below, and the - horror In that voice quickened Levi's pulses. At last the men down there realized the peril that threatened them. Perhaps from the farther cor VISION. ner of tho pit they had caught a glimpse of the tilted shanty on the slide. Work stopped. Quarrymen and visitors grouped below the engine house, and looked up, waiting. They' could not get out until the rising drag was dumped and lowered; for the ladder was bolted to the bluff right under the falling rocks and dirt, and not a man dared risk climb ing under that deadly shower. Even as they waited, down came a boulder, and raked out a half-dozen rounds. Day grasped the "situation. There were no empty drags below, and fif teen men must be hoisted two hun dred feet as quickly as steel and : SESOSTRIS. 0LE Lord of Lords and veT King of Kings. . X )sj He sits within the desert, carved in Btone; 1 Inscrutable, colossal, and alone, And anclenter than memory of things. . , J Graved on his front the sacred beetle clings; n Disdain sits on hiB lips; and In a frown ' Scorn lives upon his forehead for a crown. The affrighted ostrich dares not dust her wings Anear this Presence. The long caravan's Dazed camels stop, and mute the Bedouins stare. This symbol of past power more than man's J Presages doom. Kings look and Kings despair; Their scepters tremble In their Jeweled hands, And dark thrones totter in the baleful air! . Lloyd Mifflin. Z steam could take them. He pushed the Jever with a strong, sudden move ment. The cable came whirring in, and the drag shot up. Now it had reached its greatest height. A pull on another lever swung it in toward the rock-pile. The bank-man was away on an er rand and McCorrison was filling his place. "Unhook it!" gasped the engineer, and Levi ran out. The instant the drag dropped upon tho little plat form he cast off two chains. Day raised it by the third, and its con tents slid, clattering, on the pile. He lowered it promptly. Levi hooked it up again, then sprang down from the stage, and ran around the quarry to ward the tilted house. What he could accomplish he did not yet know clearly,' but he felt he must do something. If that dyna-, mite dropped on tho fifteen men penned down there, it would blow them to bits. It was a bright April morning, fol lowing a day and night of rain, and the sides of the pit were steaming in the sun. As Levi ran, his eyes were on the slide, which was still discharg ing fragments of rock and little puffs of dirt into the chasm. Coming closer, he understood the reason for the disaster. The path by the shanty door, worn into the dirt below by the grass-roots., had been gullied by a little rivulet down to a ridge of blue rock several yards long. From this ridge the ledge evidently slanted sharp and smooth under house and rampart to the brink of the pit. The water, seeping underneath the mass of earth and rock in a dozen little runnels, had undermined Its foundation, and the blast of that morning had Jarred it loose. ' At any second the whole slide might go over the edge. . Levi had now almost reached the house. Across the quarry the whlstlo screeched warnlngly. Micah had swung out the drag, and was shoot ing it down to the men below. , The young engineer was not a man to weigh chances long, especially when dfteen lives were at stake. Tho thing to do was to get out that dyo amite If he could. Careless of his own safety, he leaped down the crumbling slope. The powder-house door .was pad locked, and the key was in me pocket of Chris Ryan, the boss at the bot tom of the quarry. One quick sharp blow of Levi's elbow burst the pan els In. The building quivered sick' ingly. For. an instant Levi feared it was about to topple over and slide with him into the gulf. Then' It grew still again. There was not a second to waste. The boxes were piled in the farther corner. Planting one foot cautious ly ou the slanting planks, Levi reached in and lifted a case in his arms. His feet sank deep into tho loose dirt as he staggered tip the slide and pitched it on the grass be yond the path. Then he sprang back for another. Seven times more he did this. The building trembled, the dirt slid off in showers. A, sudden slipping of that treacherous slope might sweep him over the edge. Only ojie trip more. After that the shanty could go when it wanted to. IIo leaped down for the last box. Suddenly a mass of enrth Jarred loose from the base of the slide. The house tottered, about to Tall. Levi plunged through the door, threw his arms round the tenth case, and Jumped out. His shoulder struck tho slowly sinking frame, and 'the shock spun him round face to the brink. Down lo the edge slid the shanty, tipped deliberately over, and disap peared. Its crash on the bottom rose to him, as he staggered unsteadily, writhing, twisting his body, vainly trying to recover his balance, the box in his arms. Just as he thought himself safe, a clod under his right foot gave way, and he swung forward, still clasping the case. If he dropped it now, it would certainly fall into the quarry. If he did not drop it, he would prob ably go in, too. What should he do? The question answered itself. He fell forward at full length along the slide. As the box, clutched to his breast, landed almost on the edge, ho felt a momentary horror lest the shock might explode it. Then he found himself lying safe for .the pres ent, his toes nnd knees dug into the loose, rain-moistened earth, his eyes staring down into two hundred feet of space. Engrossed in handling the dyna mite, Levi had almost forgotten the drag. Now he Baw it slowly rising, loaded wito :vien. Every white face was turned toward him, but nobody spoke. Down the face of the cliff he could trace the dark, moistened spaces where the water had oozed, and see the little bubbles sparkling in the sun. To his left the earth moved sliglttly, crumbling into the - pit. Should the entire mass start, nothing could save him from being carried over head first. If the slope had been less and the treacherous mass under him had not been set on a hair-trigger, Levi would have tried to wriggle back. But the dry rocks that filled the earth pre vented him from striking his toes in deeply; and when he moved, there came a slight but omnious settling that frightened him. He must keep perfectly still. He glanced across the quarry. The drag was almost up. Now it was swinging in toward the rock-heap. It came to rest on the platform, and the men streamed off. Whatever might happen to him, they, at any rate, were saved. The sharp edge of the box hurt his chest, but he still clung to It mechanicall. A man burst from the engine-house door and ran rapidly round the quar ry edge, a coll of rope swinging from his hand. It was the engineer. .. Levi wondered dully if he could tf.ay ou the bluff until his uncle reached him. He was slipping, slipping. Press ing his knees and toes into the earth, he flattened himself as low as possi ble. He would not fall until the last second. "Hang on, Levi. Hang on! I'm coming!" shouted the engineer. He passed out of his nephew's sight, and presently the latter heard his voice behind him: "Lift your foot!" Although he dreaded to deprive himself of its support, Levi obeyed. Something brushed his heel, and ho heard an exclamation of disappoint ment. Micah had tried to drop a slip-noose round his ankle, and in hi anxiety bad missed. . ,: ' Suddenly the slope slid forward, and Levi slid with it. He could not repress a cry of terror. It Micah should miss the next cast! , - Inch by inch he was Blippihg over the brink. Why should he hold the box any longer? Every man was safe. He let It go, and clutched at the, solid . reek just as the noose dropped over his uplifted heel and pulled taut around his ankle. ' Benath came a tremendous roar. The box had struck bottom. Twitched violently backward1, Levi saw the Bide of the pump-house far below across the quarry crumple in, as if an unseen hand had smitten it. Then alt was hid in a cloud of smoke and flame. The cliff shook under him with the concussion, nnd the earth rushed down. A terrific gust buffeted his face. Helping himself as best he could with hands and knees he was dragged up the slide, feet first. Soon he was safely on the grass, with a dozen men round him. wringing his hand and thanking him for saving their lives. Youth's Companion. . SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING ALMSHOUSE CONCIflONS After exposing the terrible condi tions prevailing in the County Alms- 4touses in New York, Mr. James Op- penhelm, who contributes his Im mensely interesting article to the American Magazine, suggests tho fol lowing changes whereby the condi tions he describes can be ameliorated: "First, put. the almshouses in charge of the State. Centralize the control and the responsibility. Our State institutions are all modern the buildings are fitted to their pur pose, tho superintendents are trained, !nnd they are run on economic, human and scientific principles. It is esti mated that the Insane receive fifty times the amount and quality of care given to the almshouse inmates, and this at a less per capita expense. Under the State, the best experts could be secured and could be held responsible. "Second, drain the almshouses of all inmates not properly there. Put vagrants 5n jail, idiots in asylums for the feeble-minded, the sick In hospi tals. ' If this were done, Instead of fifty houses In the State, a dozen would be sufficient. This would mean economy and a concentration of en lightened effort. "Third, make the position of keeper a civil service job. Put In charge a trained man. For instance, the Woman's Reformatory at Bed ford, Westchester County, Is In charge of Miss Davis, a doctor of philosophy and an expert on dietetics. She has with her a resident woman physician and a staff of teachers. Or the Girls Reformatory at Hudson, in charge of Dr. Hortense B. Bruce, a physician. Under "such enlightened supervision, there is apt to be good housing, good food, good clothing, good care. "Fourth, do some constructive work with the inmates to make their lives worth while. This experiment has already been tried with great suc cess by the Committee on Employ ment of Infirm of the State Charities Aid Association of New York. "Fifth, and finally, install the cot tage system of buildings. That Is, a nymber of small connected buildings. Instead of one large building, with separate rooms for inmntes instead of dormitories. This will make for privacy and decency and happiness, and friends or like-minded Inmates may he housed tog6ther." WORDS OF WISDOM. Many a family tree springs from the root of all evil. Any English butler will tell -you that the proof of the pudding Is lu the heating. The courage that can only be screwed up with a corkscrew surfers a quick relapse. , Most of us ran get used to poverty more readily than to wealth. We have more practice Women also are but cl;.",dren of a larger growth. They soon get tired of their toys nnd break them. The luck of a seventh son may con sist of having to wear all the cast-off clothes of the other six. One man may admire another man almost as much as one' woman ad mires another woman's clothes. Many a man who tries to be a bull in the stock market would meet with just as much success In a china shop. A fightiDg chance is all that quar relsome people want. N No man is so rich that he doesn t want something, even if it's only a good cook. A talkative woman is always popu lar with the men because there isn't any other kind. , - A man's heart is frequently touched through sympathy, his. pocketbook through flattery. The fellow who tries to swear off generally discovers that the spltUs are willing but the flesh is weak. It is comforting to think we're as old as we feel, but the stubborn fact remains that we're as old as we are. The fellow who declares that he will never marry may eventually dis cover that he hasn't much voice in the matter. From "Dyspeptic Philoso phy," in the New- York Times. , Reward For a New Breed. All human fleas originated in North Europe, and were originally on the badger before they learned to like to live on man. Fleas are collected and preserved In small tubes of alcohol, and no mau could have believed that Rothschild's-flca fad Could ever have borne' such' valuable wisdom as to prove that the Nile flea is the dead liest of all things the world ever saw. for one flea bite will give a man the plague. It anybody can find an entirely new breed of flea Tip promises that Mr. Rothschild stands ready to receive the goods and pay the highest market price the world affords.1 Tip, in the New York Press. World's Most - fk Iff GLENN II. New Egg Renter. An effective egg beater that is op erated in a simple and novel manner Is that invented by a Connecticut man. By merely pulling a flexible cord at tached to the drum of the Implement the blades are made to revolve both ways with great rapidity. The beater consists of a hollow receptacle with a drum inside and a step bearing in the bottom for the support of the revolv ing member. The blades are bent Cord Acts as a Spring. wires, as shown In the Illustration. Around the top of the drum is wound a flexible cord. The eggs are placed In the receptacle and the cord Is pulled to its full length, thus causing the blades to revolve rapidly in the mixture.- The momentum thus gained causes the cord to rewind about the drum, and when it is again drawn out the blades revolve in the opposite di rection and tho cord winds up once more. This double action continues Indefinitely, or as long as la necessary to operate the beater to do the work. Boston Post. FIND HIS WIG! (nngJtTheregomyhatanOIJyJ!fj (-AJy UiwrjinyJiat.utWhM Famous Aviator. 1 CURTISS. Don't Give Away Your Business. If one should go into a tailor shop and ask the master tailor to give a; price on a suit of clothes, itemizing . each item of cloth, lining, thread,:, buttons, binding, cutting, fitting, sew ing and pressing, he would probably step to the 'phone and call for an officer to "get a crazy." Yet many busluess men think it no affront, and many printers accept it as a matter of course to make figures in just such a way. A recent case was a book published In this city in which the composition and lock up, presswork, binding and engraving were each done at a dlffer-i ent place at the Instance of the pub-T-. lisher, and the paper bought by him from a local supply house. ' ' : Let us all go to a restaurant with our potatoes and meat in a basket and ask to be served with a glass of water and toothpicks. It Is the only way the writer can think of for the printers to get even. Print Shop Talk, Los Angeles. . The Salmon's Ways. I have had ample opportunity of watching salmon all my life, from the time they enter fresh water till their return to the sea, and I have given close attention to the subject, and have no hesitation In stating that dur ing the salmon's sojourn in fresh water it does not require to feed. It does seem strange, of course, that a fish coming up a river In October In prlmo condition remains there for seventeen months, and returns to the sea without having tasted food; nev ertheless, It is true. Many people do not believe this, and no doubt there will be a considerable number of that opinion for many years to come. From P. D. Malloch's "Life HIstorj( and Habits of the Salmon."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers