"WHEN THE WIND BLOW 3
When the wind blows—wind of the north;
Wind of the wild, dark, raging se3,
Lashing its foam to a furious froth
Where never a star in the heavens be,
Shut from a world of ceaseless snows,
Somewhere, safe, when the north winl
blows,
Gold Hair doth sleep 1
When the win 1 blows—wind of the east,
Wind of a dawn that is chill ani gray;
Of a driving rain when the day hath
And boats steal up like ghosts from the
bay;
Close to the mist that looms and grows,
Somewhere, safe, when the east wind
blows,
Blue Eyes doth sleep!
When the wind blows—win iof the west.
Wind from the way of the redden ng
sun;
Rocking the great, wide world to rest.
Greeting the young stars one by one;
Where the scant of tho pine tree conies
and goes,
Somewhere, far, when tho west wind
blows.
Gray Eyes doth sleep!
When tho wind blows—wind of tho south,
Wind of a bloom and a nightingale's
thrill;
Stealing the smile of her rod rose mouth,
Breathing a kiss over forest an I tail!;
Hu-hod, while tho silvery river flows,
{Somewhere, O sweat, when tno south
wind blows—
Dark Eyes doth sleep!
—Virginia Clou', iu Boston Transeripfc.
STELLA'S OPPORTUNITY
EY HELEN EVKIISTOX BMITII.
fhgu HAT is tho matter,
fir\/\f Stella? You look as
yA V if some misfortune
bad happened to you.
The girl addressed
was a tall, stately
J oun S creature, still
i Q * ier "teens," with
WvA n striking face and a
manner which,
lv\\j though not awkward,
was a I ttlo too ab
rupt ond energetic to
be graceful. She re
plied :
"I am discouraged I"
"What I You? I didn't suppose you
ever could be that; and I don't see why
you should be. I'm sure if I was getting
§ls a week, in a steady situation, with
hours only from nine until five, I should
think the world very charming."
The last speaker was a slender, deli
cate woman, in her early twenties, and
the work on her lap and lying about be
trayed her occupation to be that of dress
maker. She sighed as she spoke, aud
did not stop her busy stitching while
she talked.
44 1 know, dear," said Stella, ruefully,
4 'it does seem ungrateful of me to tind
fault with my position; but thou Ia n
not so good and patient a3 you; an I
then, too, I am constantly seeing men
advanced while I stand still. My salary
is the same as it was two years ago; yet
during that time almost every cleric in
Mr. Cruikshauk's office has been pro
moted, and there isn't one of them wh )
is any more faithful or clever tha i I.
They have had chances to show their
capabilities; I have not. Mr. Cruikshank
treats mc nicely—that is, he is courteous
and all that—but he never expects any
thing of me beyond my daily rouni of
taking shorthand notes of his letters and
instructions, and then typcwiiting the n.
I lind, indeed, that he gives me the most
important of this sort, of work to do,
because I make so few mistakes; but
that is as far as I can get, and it don't
satisfy me. My father wa9 a man who
advanced rapidly, and would huve be
come wealthy had ho live 1 longer. 1
am like him in energy and will, and I
think, too, in c;car business perceptions."
While Stella was talking she was walk
ing about the room putting away a few
things and getting ready to go out.
44 Your chance will coine, Stella. It
must. You ha7c grounded yourself so
well, and are always so ready for every
emergency. I think if you were asked
to go to Alaska to-night you could be
off before I could get my mind made up,
and while I should have to take a trunk
you could go with only a grip-sack."
Stella laughed.
41 Yea, I suppose I could, for I am al
ways well and strong, and don't need to
carry both thick clothes and thin to be
prepared for all changes of weather, or
to burden myself with an alcohol lamp,
a hot water bag, and all the rest of the
traps that would be absolutely necessary
for a frail little thing like you. Ileally,
Kitty, I am ashamed at having been tor
a moment discouraged, when I look at
you and see how hard you work, and re
member what you have to contend
ogaiust, and all without a murmur."
So saying the tall girl bent to kiss her
companion's pale cheek, and turned with
quick, firm steps to go to the ollice,
where she was always 011 time—not a
moment too soon or too late.
Arrived at the office of the great
Anglo-American Polyglot Insurance
Company, S'.clla was surprised to see
the American head of the lir.n, who
usually by no inean3 manifested the
promptness which he rc<juireJ of bs
subordinates. Jle sat forward in his
chair, letting his elbows on his desk,
the tips of the lingers of both ban Is
pressed tightly togetner as he held them
erect and slightly waving in the air be
fore his face, his whole bearitig that of
a man who is brimful of an impatience
which he is striving to control.
Stella removed her hat and short
walking jacket when her arm stoppoJ,
as if suddenly petri ied, with hand, half
way toward the hat rack. Mr. Oruik
fchank wa9 saying:
"I lind that the prox'cs which I must
have for the directors' meeting in Cni
cago on December 17, are not likely to
get here unless I send some one ex
pressly to letch them. In order to do
it the messenger must start in an hour#
•ime, go to Liverpool, Loudou, Exoter
and Edinburgh and return on tho fast
steamer which leaves Liverpool on De
cember 8, and is due here on the 15th.
Will you go, Tracy?"
"I can't possibly, sir," said the man
addressed. "If you had only told mo
last night—"
"That will dol Last Dight is a dead
•log. You, Denning?"
"I could take to morrow's steamer,
sir."
"Too late! Fraacr, what's to hinder
you?"
Mr. Cruikshank was waving his hands
violently by this time.
"Nothing, sir, only—"
"Only! 'Only' never get 3 there! You,
Johnson?"
. "My wife is sick, sir. I cannot leave
her."
Mr. Cruikshank looked rapidly around
the room, glancing at tho clock, where
the minute hand seemed to move with a
terrible velocity. Apparently ho did
not see Stella, though his eyes rested on
her a fraction of a second in their rapid
sweep, so he was greatly surprised when
she stepped quietly forward, saying iu
her low, clear voice:
"May J go?"
The man looked up sharply into her
face, aud his own cleared.
"Think yon can? All right! I'll send
down and get a berth for you. My car
! ria.'e is at the door now. Jump iuto it,
Igo home and get your trap*, and drive
I down to the pier as fast as possible. I
will meet you there witii written in
structions and some English money. You
have just one hour and live minutes."
While he was speaking Stella had
been resuming her hat and jacket, and
she was out of tho door by toe time the
last worJ was spoken. A few minutes
more and she was in the room she had
90 lately left, exclaiming:
"My chance has come, Kitty I I start
for E iglaud in an hour."
Kitty rose hastily.
" A'hat can Ido to help you?" she
asked, her face flushing with generous
pleasure.
' "Nothing," replied Stella, "only to
write and let my mother know; and don't
work yourself iuto a fit of sickness be
fore I get back."
While talking Stella was putting into
her satchel a few toilet articles, a change
of underclothing, a night-dress, a pair
of rubber shoes and a waterproof cloak.
"Good-bye," she said. And with a
warm kiss the friends parted.
Arrived at tho stQainer, Stella was
met by Mr. Cruikshank with a rug on
his arm and in his hands a guide-book
and a well-filled purse.
"I thought you'd need the rug," he
said, "and as this is your first trip you
might not think of it."
'Though not handsome, Stella was very
pleasing in appearance, l'hc severe liues
of the dark blue business suit, relieved
by touches of narrow gold cord, which
she always wore wheu at her work, were
becoming to her tail, symmetrical figure,
ami clear, healthy complexion; and so
was the little hat of dark blue velvet,
with a bunch of gold acorns, which rest
! cd firmly ou her abundant coils of chest
nut hair. She looked alert, but much
calmer and cooler than her employer.
"Yes." lie said, as if answering some
unseen objector, "I think you'll do it,
and if you do I'll—" App.areutly he was
about to promise something, but thought
better of it.
"I will do it," she sal 1 firmly, with
out awaiting the conclusion of Mr.
Cruikshank's sentcace, while a rich
glow mou ited to her cheek, and the
light of courage and self-reliance came
iuto her eyes.
"Yes, I think you will. I've watched
you a good while, and I know that you
have social tact and sound business jorig
in jut. You may depend upon it that,
though I probably should rot have
thought of you had veil not olfered, I
| should not have accepted your oiler to
|go had I nit alrea ly kao vi yoac qnli
| ties and qualifications. In this envelope
you will find full instructions; but, of
! course, your success will depend ou the
use you make of then. Good-bye."
i An I shaking her baud cordially, Mr.
j Cruikshank ran o;f the gaug plank at the
last moment.
Notwithstand(rT:j tho season, the
weathei was pleasant during ra>3t of
the voyage, nnd Stella passe 1 much time
on deck, enjoyingto the full tho bracing
air nnd tho scuse of freedom from care
of every sore. She knew that she had
been intruste I with an important matter.
She must secure, and that quickly, tho
powers necessary to enable Mr. Cruik
shank to act for the E lglish directors in
a grave emergency. Soma of these di
rectors, us s had gathered from their
correspondence, were distrustful, aad in
the words applied to Carlyle by his
mother, sbghtly modified, "gey ill to
deal wi;" out during the voyage Stella
would not allow herself to dwell upon
this, aud, on the whole, she telt herself
e jual to the task she had undertaken.
The morning of December 5 found
Stella lauded in Liverpool just in time
to allow her to call upon tne two di
rectors who resided in that city, and,
without waiting for dinner, to citch the
j train which, rushing up the 2J'J miles to
London, would get her there ou time to
meet the directors before business hours
were over. If curious looks were cast
at the quiet", self-possessed young girl,
traveling alone, and proving her ability
t > do so, she was too earnest to heed
them. Every instant was of conseq lence
to one who nad yet to travel abm; 8J)
miles, to points as distant as Exeter and
Edinourgn, m33t the direc;ors of those
two places and get back to Liverpool in
time to t ike the "Servia" on tho after
noon of December 8.
In Loudon Stella waisubjectel to
some delay, but, by dint of heavy
"tips," was able to catcii an express
tain to Exeter on tiio evening of De
cember 6. There was no sleeping car.
By telegraph she secured a room at the
hotel, which she reached not long after
midnight. A few hours of sound slum
bei, a successful visit to the two Exeter
directors and a hurried mcnl prece led
the long journey to Eliiiourgb. Her
heart leaped at the historic name, but
shu had no time to linger upon its ui
sociatlons. To sec the Edinburgh di
rectors at their own houses before break
fast, catch the train back to Liverpool
and board the tug which carried passen
gers to the "Servia" just in time to se
cure her passage in her, was all that
Stella could do; but she did it.
The homeward voyage proved an ex
ceptionally stormy one, even lor Decem
ber, but the "Servia" reached New York
on the 15. As Stella stepped ashore the
was met by Mr. Cruikshank, into whose
hands she gladly delivered tho so-much
desired proxies.
The hour was a little late for arriving
at the office; but, feeling that the delay
was excusable under the circumstances,
Stella presented herself at her desk, as
fresh and serene as if she had left it only
the day before. Another young woman
was occupying her chair. Stella turned
and met the smiling gaze of Mr. Cruik
shank's second in command.
"It's all right," he said, reassuringly,
"The best typewriter and stenograpbei
we ever had has proved herself to b
worthy of a big advance. See!" And
he showed a cable dispatch from the
chief of the London office, recommend,
that "Miss Uardenburg be promoted tc
the place of second assistant in the New
York office, with a salary of SIBOO a
year."
For the first time Stella felt frightened.
Her good fortune seemed too good to be
true.
"But," she stammered, "are you 9ure
this i 9 right? Have I earned it? Shall
you not be sorry?"
"Yes, you have indeed earned it. No,
we shall uot be sorry," answered the of
ficial reassuringly. "A woman who does
as well as a mau is worth as much as 3
man. You have always done, in tho
most thorough manuer, everything you
had to do; and so, when your oppor
tunity came, you could profit by it. Go
home, now, and take a week's rest.
You are more tired than you know."
"lam not tired," she answered, "but
I will go home and tell Kitty." Ai
Stella turned to go down tho stairs, she
said to herself, "It shall go hard it I am
not able, before long, to put an oppor
tunity iu poor Kitty's way. She is just
as ready fortheui in her line as I am iu
mine."—Demorest's Magazine.
Turtle rower.
A paper published in Saigon, in
French Cochin China, gives an account
of a singular experiment recently made
in that colony with a new means of mo
tive power. A French resident at the
town of Hatien, a port on the Gulf o(
Biam, conceived tho idea that it would
be perfectly practicable to make the im
mensc turtles, which are not uncommon
in those parts, and which ewim with no
little rapidity, do service in drawing tho
small fishing boat 3. Ho purchased two
large turtles at a cost of $25, and fitted
them out with harness and reins. Then
he obtained a light, open boat, about
fifteen feet long, and attached his turtles
to it by means of traces. Holding hi 9
reins fast, he set out on a little trial voy
age with tho turtle team. Tho creatures
paddled along very prettily, at a rate
somewhat exceeding the ordinary walk
ing of a man. As they directed their
coarse toward tho open sea, and as the
weather was calm and beautiful, and the
voyage exceedingly pleasaat, it did not
occur to tho Freuchmin to make any
| very thorough test of hi 3 ability to guido
the animals. Much delighted, indeed,
with the success of his experiment, ho
kept on aud ou, until he presently noted
that the sun was setting. Tho interested
nav : gator then attempted to turn his
team about, but tho turtles resisted any
such movement. They had evidently
made up their miuds to go to sea, aud
they would not bo dissuaded from their
purpose. Tho driver pulled his reins un
til he upset his turtles in the water; bat
as often as they regained the uso of their
fiipper3, they set out again for tho
middle of the sea. Night settled down
rapidly. Luckily the invoitor of the
new means of marine traction had
brought with him a pair of oars, and a9
a last resort ho took a knife, cut his tugs
and let his sei steeds, harness, reins nnCj
all, go their way. Then lie rowed back
laboriously to his village, lamenting his
expenditure on the turtles, and resolving
not to try any further experiments in
navigation.—New York Dispatch.
Trees i:t French Cities.
One of the chief beauties of the larger
French cities, and second only to their
edifices and monuments, are the trees. (
Tho almost inter ninable vi9tus of chest- |
nuts aud acacias stretching along the
broad and well paved avenues as far as
tho eye can reach, their bending
branches almost touching one another in
an endless arc'i of verdure, form not
only a delightful perspective for the eye,
but serve to add beauty to cities already
beautiful, and grac3 and symmetry to
whatever might be harsii and forbid
ding. This, however, is not the result
ot nature's handiwor.c alone, for scienci
and art have lent their aid. Tno plant
ing, as weil as the maintenance of the
trees in French cities, is an item of no
little importance in the annual budget
prepared by tho municipal council,
which does not look upon their preserva
tion as of lc9s consequence than tho re
pairing of tho roadways or the lighting
of the streets.—London Times.
Buildin; in Bermuda.
Bermudians have very little trouble in
building an ordinary house. A man
scrapes enough lucre together to buy a
little piece of laud aud then borrows or
begs a cross cut saw, a hand saw and an
ice chisel. He takes oil the thin surface
of soil and gouges into the coral rock
with his chisel. Then he commences to
saw into the porous limestone and pres
ently has a collection of white blocks
about two feet ioug, eighteen inches wide
and twelve inches thick. When he has
takeu out enough of them he has a cellar
ready, ana he uses the blocks for walls.
Not much timber is required and the
process in very simple. But only a Ber
muiian or an Englishman can do all
this, for no foreigner is permitted to
own real estate on these islands.—-New
York i'less#
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
The length of the alimentary canal is
ibout thirty-two feet.
discovery of a leucitc-bear
ng rock has beea made at Harden, New
South Wales.
The least distance do'.ermincd for the
sxed stars from the earth runs into bil
lions of miles.
The molten metal in a Bessemer con
verter is 5000 times fainter than the
light of the suu.
Found, traveling in air, from suu to
earth, would require about fourteen
fears to accomplish the journey.
Platinum can now be drawn into wire
itrands so fine that twenty-seven twisted
together ean be inserted into the hollow
of a hair.
A new arc lamp has a pair of carbons
which meet at a point like the strokes
of the letter V. It is at this point that
tho light is produced.
A mixture of two parts of pounded
ice and one of common salt will reduce
the temperature of a body surrounded
by it from fifty degrees to 0 degrees.
Professor L. 11. Bailey, in his report
to the Cornell University, formally es
tablishes the commercial value of electro
culture for certain wiuter crops, and es
pecially for lettuce.
An interesting invention is that of an
incandescant lamp in which the plug
carrying the leading-iu wire is made up
of a composition which unites with the
glass to make an air-tight joint.
Light, proceeding with 10,000 times
the velocity of the earth in its orbit,
gives us some idea of distance, when wo
iearn that its flight from the sun to our
globe occupies rather more than eight
minutes.
An excellent method for waterproofing
the surface of a wall is to cover it with
solutiou of soap. After twenty-four
hours a coat of lime solution is applied.
This process is repeated several times,
and is claimed to make the wall perfectly
water-tight.
Sea serpents, flying dragons, birds
with teeth, connecting links between
birds, tishes and reptiles, animals so
large and clumsy that a second brain,
located near their tail, was necessary to
properly direct their movements, all
these have existed in past times, and
have left the traces of their bodies in the
rocks for our instruction in these latter
days.
The water spider, which spends most
of its tiins under water, carries a bubble
of air for breathing on the under side of
its body, aud when this air is exhausted,
it comes to tho surface for more. It is
enabled to carry tho air bubble bccausn
the under side of its body is covered
with tiny hairs set so close together that
the surface film of tho water does not
pass them.
It is not land vegetation merely that
is large in the Northwest, but the plant
life of the sen. Among the shoal of tho
British Columbia coast tho algaj and
kelp, which on the Atlantic side of tho
contiucnt seldom grow to be more than
six feet long, arc found thirty feet in
length, and at the ebb and flow of the
tide their long, leathery leaves are often
seen in parallels along the surface, likf
exaggerated lily pads.
A Unique little try.
One of the unique industries of ICey
West, Fla., is the catching and curing
of sponge?, and there is not anything
about this queer animal that one of tho
pray haired old colored sponge fishers
cannot tell. The sponges grow in beds
on tho coral reefs from a nucleus very
much as coral doc 3, and tho complete
growth occupies but seven or eight
months. The sponge fishing fleet of a
score or more of small sloops go outo7cr
the beds and drag for tho sponges with
an iron claw at the end of a line. Then
from the brown mass ol oozy, sandy
Bpongcs the dliferent kinds arc sorted
out and laid on racks in tho sun to dry.
Then the sand and coral and shell are
worked out and the • 'trimmer" with a
pair of shear 3 trims tho edges and irreg
ularities off, after which the sponges aro
ready for shipment, unless they are to
be bleached for bath sponges, for which
purpose only a compiratively small num.
her are used, for it is to the various arts
and trades that most of them go. Tho
coarsest grade is the rough brown "grass
sponge," then comes a close fibred,
tough variety called a 4 'glove sponge,'*
but the fine soft variety thilt make a man
iu a bath tub smile i 3 tne "lamb's wool,"
and it is this kind that is bleached to a
snowy whiteness and sent to the drug
gist trade.—Washington Star.
A Trick ot tho Eye.
By cutting three strips of white paper
of the same length exactly, with one ol
them half as wide as tho others, one of
neatest tricks of optical illusion can be
produced. If those of the samo width
are laid crosswise, the narrow strip
placed iu the centre, it will invariably
seem as if the broad strips were con
siderably shorter than tho narrow one.
The illusion is enhanced by laying the
piecos of paper on a black surface. By
placing tho three strips in the form of an
inverted "N," and using the narrow
strip for the diagonal line, the latter in
turn will appear much shorter than the
other two. To an unpracticed eye the
illusion will seem very remarkable in
deed when it is demonstrate 1 that a.I
tho strips arc of the same length.—S:.
Louis Post-Dispatch.
American Coal is Cheap Abroad.
Within the past few years Amorican
coal has almost entirely replaced tho
English fuel used on the Island of Mar
tinique, West Indies. Tho average con
sumption there amounts to about 5J03
tons a mouth, nearly all of which goes
from Philadelphia. The price deliverc 1
is £5.00 per ton, against £'5.33 for Eng
lish coal. Within the last year or two
quite a large trade in soft coal for West
Indian poiuts has been built up at this
port, and it keeps on increasing at n
very satisfactory rate, —Philadelphia lia*
curd*
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
RELICS OF A RACE ABOUT
WHICH LITTLE IS KNOWN.
Mounds of the Mississippi Valley—CHlT
Homes of the Colorado and the I'aluros
of Central America—Giant Structures In
tho Forests of Tropical America.
A Queer l'eople.
Americans have become so accus
tomed to the oft-repeated assertion
that this is a new country that the idea
that America may have its own an
tiquities comes as a novel suggestion.
To most American people Europe and
Asia contain the only remains of
former races, and when Americans
wish to study antiquity in its ruins
they go to Italy, Greece, or Asia
A MOUND BUILDER'S ARCH.
Minor. But the researches of tho
last few years have demonstrated be
yond a doubt that on this continent
there are ruins which rival in extent
and grandeur those of the once proud
cities of the East, and perhaps equal
them in antiquity.
The Indians found hero at the
coming of the Europeans were not
the ilrst inhabitants, says the
Globe-Democrat, for from the great
lakes of North America to the
Patagonlan deserts, everywhere may
lie found abundant and impressive
evidences ofa former civilization. In
the valleys of the Ohio and its tribu
taries, along the banks of the Mis
souri and the Mississippi, are mounds
and earthworks, some constructed
for purposes of fortifications, others
as places of sepulture, and others
again for religious purposes or as
places of worship.
In Colorado and Arizona, the great
canyons cut by the rivers through tho
mountains and deserts, were once the
homes of prosperous tribes whose
numbers may he julged from the ex
tent of the ruins which once com
posed their habitations. Further
south are the Pueblos, great com
munes in which, under a common
roof and sheltered by a common wall,
many families lived together under a
primitive form of government The
mound builders and cliff dwellers
disappeared, leaving only the traces
of their existence to arouse interest
and awaken speculation In the minds
of historian and antiquarian; hut the
Pueblos, in decadence, wo still have
with us.
Further south, In Mexico, Central
America, and Peru, the destructive
hand of the Spaniard was not able
to obliterate the striking evidences of
a former civilization. Everywhere In
these countries are to be found the
remains of mounds built for purposes
of religion, of temples, of palaces, of
roads, constructed with the nicest re
garjb-to the peculiarities of the cli
mate; of irrigating canals whichcon-
A WAYSII'K SHHI.NE.
verted wide tracts of sterile sand
Into blooming gardens; of cities which
once contained their thousands of in
habitants. The Spaniards took for
granted that the temples which they
saw, the idols which instantly ex
cited their religious prejudices, the
pyramids on which some of theircom
rarlos taken prisoners in war were sac
rificed, were all the work or the Az
tecs. Later investigators have found
excellent reason for believing that
these structures were the creations of
a previous race, who, perhaps, had
been driven from their homes by the
Aztec invaders. This view isstrength
eno 1 by the fact that some of the
cities were in ruins; some of the gor
geous temple shrines were already de
serted at the coming of the Spaniard,
and so long had they been desolate
that the Aztecs or Mexicans knew
nothing about, them or their builders.
The character of the pyramids,
most of which were evidently con
structed for religious purposes, is very
diverse. Some, like the pyramids of
the sun and moon in Mexico, are
simply mounds of earth, closely re
sembling the huge pile which formerly
rose iu the north central part of this
city. Others are mounds, similar in
character, but having at the top a
temple more or less ornate and ex
tensive, the elevated plateau which
formed the summit evidently fur
nishing an assembling place where
the worshipers might greet the ris
ing sun. St ill others, while preserv
ing the pyramidal form, were pyra
mids only in shape, being terraced
with successively retreating stories,
each providing suites of chambers,
which were, doubtless, appropriated
to the priests and servants or the
temple. One such structure in Cen
tral America, considerably exceeding
100 feet, in height, consists of seven
stories, the various terraced ru mis of
which must have furnished nccu.'w
mo<lation9 for a host of attendants.
Grand even in its ruins, when the
Riant structure was in perfect repair
and the long stairways leading to the
summit were crowded with ascending
and descending worshipers the sccno
must have been impressive beyond
description.
But the pyramids are not the only
ruins of former powerful nations.
Palaces of extensivo dimensions arc
to be found covering acres of ground,
and the enormous blocks in their cy
clopean walls, rivaling in size the
great stones of Baalbee, cause aston
ishment as to the means by which
such masses were cut and transport
ed from distant quarries. Great
walls, extending sometimes for hun
dreds of yards and containing mill
ions of cubic feet of stone; obelisks,
monolithic statues—all, both in their
construction and workmanship, give
evidence of great advancement in
architecture and mechanics. The
principles of the arch were not Known
to these builders, the nearest ap
proach to a perfect arch being a
structure closely resembling the fa
mous gateway of lions at.Mycenae
Neither did they often make use of
the circular forms in the construc
tion of their buildines, though occa
sional illustrations may be found;
massiveness, perfect solidity, were
the distinguishing features.
The statues found in Gopan and
well known to the reading public
from the researches of Stevens and
the elaborate illustrations of Cather
wood, are heroic in size, the smallest
of the fourteen there found being
eleven, the largest sixteen feet high;
but all are alike in one respect, that
eacli is carved with an elaborateness
of design and particularity of detail
that excite the utmost astonishment
as to the tools with which the work
was done, for as yet no traces of iron
have been found in these ruins, and
the copper Implements were too soft
to have had much effect on the stone.
Not only in their architecture
A MOUND UUir.IJEH'B ROUND TOWER
and sculpture, but also in their
painting, these mound and temple
builders excelled, for, although the
colors are faded, the work shows no
little artistic taste and skill of execu
tion. The subject is generally a bat
tle or a procession, sometimes evi
dently triumphal in character, show
ing that conquests in / merica before
the advent of the whites were com
memorated in the same way as con
quests in the days of Trajan or the
military monarchsof Nineveh. Above
all, as evidence of a high grade of
civilization, are the innumerable
hieroglyphics everywhere to be found
on these ancient monuments. None
of them have as yet been deciphered,
but they indicate a written language,
iossibly a literature, perhaps as com
plete as the annals which cover the
obelisks of Egypt or the slabs of
Nimroud. Thev have nothing in
common with the Aztec picture paint
ing, which they antedate possibly
hundreds of years. When their mean
ing is deciphered, as in time perhaps
it may be, the annals of prehistoric
America will be unrolled for oin> in
spection and the vexed questions,
who were t lie mound builders,
whence they came, and what
were, their adventures during their
long migrations, who were their
leaders and what dynasties of
kings ruled when the-m great pyra
mids were erected, may all be an
swered The prehistoric civilization
of which these ruins arc the visible
trace reached its highest point in
Central America, where are found its
most remarkable remains. In the
last lifty years the ruins of over TOO
cities have been identified ts such,
and as each, judging from the indi
cations, possessed a population of
from 5,000 to 20,000, the dentity with
A NICAKAGUAN PVKAMID lIESTOHED.
which these regions' were peopled
must have tasked even the incredible
fertility of a tioplcal soil. Until
lately these cities were unknown,
most of them being located in forests
almost impossible to penetrate, in
fested with poisonous insects and
reptiles, and rendered doubly perilous
by the malarial diseases which al
most invariably attack unaccllmated
strangers. In such adistrict of Hon
duras are found the ruins of Copan,
once a great city, but a ruin even in
the time of Cortez, who passed within
a few miles, tint heard nothing of it.
The palace of Copan is a gigantic ruin,
too by 1,000 feet, in extent, with a
wall 25 feet thick at the base, coror ,
posed of enormous stones brought by
unknown means from a quirry two
miles distant. Close by the palace
is the temple, built upon a walled
terrace 624 feet north and south by
800 from east to west, and rising ovei
100 feet above the river which flowi
by one of its sides. Over 26,000,000
cubic feet of stone were employed in
the construction of this great monu
ment, while idols and altars, col'
umns and sculptured stones innum'
erable are to be found on every hand,
The time is coming when our
knowledge of the mysterious builder!
will probably bo greatly increased,
and one of the most puzzling ques
tions in American archicology will
then be solved.
WALES. /
A Rich and lleautlful Country and an In'
duHtrious People.
Wales is only 145 miles long and sev
enty miles broad, but it compares favor
ably in sizo with Palestine, the home ol
the most religious races, and with
Greece, the land of the most cultured
of nations. According to its size, Wales
is the richest region on the globe, ex
cept the State of Pennsylvania. The
Iron and coal kings of nearly every
lund are Wolshmen. The scenery ol
Wales is grand. There are no drives in
the world superior to those thsough
Bettws-y-eoed, Pontaberglaslyn, and
Dolgelly, no valleys more beautiful than
than those of Llanrwst, Clwyd, Llan
gollen, and Abergavenny.
The Welsh are one of the oldest ol
the earth's nations. The tombs of their
kings dato back to times before metals
were used. The tradition Is that the
Welsh are the descendents of Gomer,
the grandson of Noah. Tho Welsh lan
guage is full of force, lire, and pathos,
of movement and action. It has a rich
old brogue like the Irish. It has no
more gutturals than the Gorman. Wales
is- the lund of strange customs, the
most remarkable of which is the
Eisteddfod, dating back to the fourth
century. It was a literary congress,
wh re bards, historians, and harpers
competed for royal prizes, and was au
exposition for improvement in the im
plements of peace and war, in domestic
manufacture and means of personal and
homo comforts. This was probably the
origin of tho World's Fair.
According to tradition tho Indians of
NorLh America are of Welsh origin.
Prince Madoc brought their ancestor.*
over in the twelfth century. The Welsh
in America are strongest in the coal an I j
iron regions of Pennsylvania. In these r
areas there aro more Welshmen to the
square foot than in Wales Itself. The
Welshman Is thrifty, owns his house,
and puts something by for a rainy day.
Those immense coal Holds in Pennsyl
vania, which to-day are more valuable
than gold mines, owe no small part of
their value to the skill of the men who
in other days came from Wales. The
same may be said of tho great Iron and
steel districts. Much of tho present
wealth of Pittsburg comes from those*
who took their first lessons in iron
making in the great wot ks at Dowlais
and Mcrthyr-Tydvil.
THE LONE STAR STATE.
It Hum u Larger Area than Mont Person*
Are Able to Conceive.
Of the vast area of the larger Western
States peoi lo who have not visited them
and traveled over them have no com-*
prehensivc idea. Texas, the largest ol >
tho United States, has an area of 282,-
290 square miles. To the casual reader
theso figures may mean very littlo; they
show, however, that tho Lono Star
Stato is moro than ilfty-four times as
large as tho State of Connecticut. If it
wer • posslblo to mn a railroad train
from l onnectlcut to Texas and back in
a day, and if tho train could take the
entire population of tho Nutmeg Stato
as given in tho last census at every
trip, and upon its return to Connecticut
there should be as many persons in the
State ns there was boforo the train loft
w.th its cargo, and if each wore placed
upon an acre of land upon his arrival in
Texas, the train would bo obliged to
mal*o 224 trips or to depopulate Con
necticut *24 times, before accomplish
ing its mission, and then there would re
main in Texas 703,808 empty ac.es.
If tho entire State of Texas woro
plant d with corn, and tho hills were
two feet apart, and tho rows were three
feet apart, and if every man, woman
and child in tho State of Connect!
were set to work in the field to hoe tTo
corn, and each person woro able to and
did hoe two hills in five minutes, it
would take this army of laborers 7
yeais 280 days and 7 hours to hoe every
hill of corn in the State, laboring con
tinuously day and night 335 days each
year.
Tho man who tears that ho could not
elb w his way around in tho crowded
West without chafing the nap of hie
< oat-sleeves may gather some so'aco
from the statement that the entire pop
ulation of theglobo, 1,400,0 iO,OOO souls,
divided into families of live persons
each, could he located in Texas, each
family with a house on a half-acre lot,
and there would still remain 50,( 00,000
vacant family lots.
Died for II 1m Whiskers.
This statement may savor of exaggera
tion, but there are men in San Francisco i
to day who remember ail the facts, says
the Si.n Francisco Examiner. Warsaw
was his name—Captain Warsaw, of the ■
Pacific Mail Company. May bo you re
call the man now. He was command-1
of the Japan when she was burned in
the eastern seas about twenty year?
ago. Well, Qaptain Warsaw had won
derful and they were dfefei
to him than tho apple of his eye—than \
life itself, one might as well say while
cue is about it; for ho shuffled off hie
mortal eoll tooner than have them
shave I while yet he was in the flower ol \
his career.
The Captain mot a girl one day—ae
captains will—und the Captain fell in
love with her. Later on he told hor
about nis passion, and, like the girl ic
ihe "Bab Ballads," "shereciprocated it.'
"Will you marry me, then?" said the
Captain. "Life is a blank without you.'
"I'd like to," said tho girl, "but,
whereas I love you, I cannot attach my.
self permanently to a pair of whiskers.
Shave them and I am yours."
"But I could not think of such a
thing." protested the Captain.
"Well," said the maiden, with a shreg
of hor pretty shoulders, "you pays your
money and you takes your choice.
Which is It to be? Me or the whiskers?'
" Whiskers," murmured the mariner,
with a sigh, and having withdrawn to a
respectful d.stance, he blew his brains
out. i
4h! Thoso were the
when whiskers were whlskerii