Trade journals are noting the fact
that the price of wool is the lowest in
its history.
The "trusty" prisoner iu a peni
tentiary belongs, in the opinion of the
Washington Star, to the same general
class as the gun that nobody knew was
loaded.
There is one place where a woman
get's a man's pay for doing a man's
work. It is the Township of Marsh
field, Maine, and any woman who
wishes to work out her road tax can do
to and have her day's work count fo*
us much as a man's.
As an instance of the wonderful
growth of the English language, it
may he noted, observes the Detroit
Free Press, that, whereas Noah Web
ster could not find 80,000 words to put
in his compilation, the recent Century
Dictionary comprises more than 200,-
000. "
At the beginning of this year there
were 1108 submarine cables in exist
ence, of which 880 belonged to different
dominions, and 288 to private com
panies. The former possessed a length
of 10,65*2 miles nnd the latter had a
length of 144,748 miles, thus the total
length was 161,395 miles.
The, Terra Haute (Ind.) Gazette ex
claims : "Take all the noted cathedrals
and public buildings and monuments
and colossal statuary of the ancient
and modern world and group them in
the Elysian fields and one might see
the equal in beauty and radiant
splendor of the magical White City as
viewed from the top of the Manu
factures and Liberal Arts Building.
But until that is done the White City
will stand alone a peerless gem in the
dkdem of the centuries."
The annual loss of human life by
lightning shock is very great through
out the world. In European Russia,
from 1885 to 1892, no less than 2270
persons were killed in this way. In
Austria during the same time the
electric fluid killed 1700 persons. Ten
thousand persons are reported as hav
ing been struck by lightning during
the past tweutv-nine years, with 2252
deaths, in France, while in the United
States 202 deaths from lightning were
recorded in 1892. The effects of light
ning stroke are usually shock and
coma and partial or complete loss of
sight or hearing. The tissues are often
burned superficially or deeply.
Vice-Admiral Colomb, of the British
Navy, who is regarded as one of th €
leading naval authorities of tho world,
has expressed an opinion regardimg
the most available types of war ships,
particularly for the United States.
He says that wo should build battle
ships, armored cruisers and torpedo
boats, because they will bo what we
shall need in case of any war we are
likely to have. He says that if he had
control of the Navy Department of the
United States he would look at the |
Nations with whom this couutry might
go to war, and would then provide
enough battle ships to be superior to
the battle ships of any one of these
possible enemies, and continually keep
up this superiority. He would also
build fast cruisers, many of which
should be armored—vessels like the
New York for example—ami then, in
addition, fast torpedo boats as a menus
of coast defense.
Tho President of a life insurance
company has recently made public
some interesting facts concerning sui
cide. It said that in 1877, of the peo
ple whose lives were insured, 1.28 per
cent, died by their own hands. Since
then the life insurance conipanicshave
practically discontinued the policy of
refusing to pay in case of suicide, nnd
the result is that the ratio of suicides
to the insured population lias increased
alarmingly. The President whose
statements we have quot .1 says: "It
is passing strange that men will delib
erately contrive the means of their
own destruction in order to get the, !
best of a life insurance company and
leave money to those who come after !
them. Perhaps there is nothing very
strange in it, comments the Atlanta
Constitution. In this country there
are plenty of men who are afraid of
nothing in this world or in the next.
The only good thing about them is the
natural affection they feel for their
families. They belong to the utterly
hopeless and desperate class. They
see no chance of providing for the im
mediate wants of their loved ones un
less they insure their lives and step
out of the world. Free-thinking in
religion and our social conditions aro
largely responsible for this state of
iffairs. The life insurance companies
will have to change their regulations
when they find that a very large per
jeutage of their customers do not eon
lider life worth living.
THY LOVE.
After tlie noonday heat,
: ?00l shadows, soft-descending from above,
I An 1 all the bells of Twilight chiming
. \ud love—thy love .'
I After the storm nnl strire,
| Over the calm seas, swift nnd sure-the dove,
rearing the oMvo through a rainbowed
I llfo.
Sweet with thy love 1
After the darkened light,
faith that finds wings, stars and great s'nrs
above.
An 1 earth's last memory sweet with thy j
"Good-night—''
Thy lips, thy love .
-Frank L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitution, i
THE ALLIGATOR'S SERMON.)
EY A. G. CANFIELD.
IKE most Southern
k 11 gentlemen at that
11 time, RobConnell's
{T\ It X father owned
/ft \ slaves. Unlike
most Southern ln
dies, Rob's mother
| I j—v had a morbid hor-
\ ror of the effects of
the companionship
XjtTr of the slaves on her
children. She had
caused a ten-foot
nnn f mmmm f eace to be bniit
between the "great house" yard and
I he quarters of the house servants, and
hevond this fence Rob was forbidden, ■
under severe penalties, to go.
But alus! the fence only served to j
increase Rob's desire to go to the 1
quarters. A visit to Uncle Isaac's or
Aunt Esther's cabin had always been a
delight to hiin. Jt was his chiefest
joy to sit in the chimney-corner, and
while the 'possum cooked in the skillet
and the ash-cake baked on the hearth
listen to tales of spooks wandering
through lonely graveyards and "ha'nts"
infesting deserted houses until his
flesh crept.
These enticements, always strong,
became irresistible after the erection of j
that fence. Many a night after he 1
was supposed to be tucked up in !
bed sound asleep, Rob had scaled the j
wall and found his way to Uncle Ike's '
cabin.
Ono night when Rob was unlawfully j
present Uncle Ike announced that he
should start for Lake Cocodri next
morning before daylight, and request
ed his "of 'ooman" to put him up a
snack of corn bread and bacon to re
fresh him on the way.
"What are you going to Cocouri I
for, Uncle Ike," asked Rob.
"I'se gwine cotch a mess o' tish fur !
yer ma, honey. She say to me dis nr- '
ternoon, 'Uncle Ike,' she say, 'l's
gwino hah lots o' comp'ny tomorrer,
'u' I wants a nice dish o' fish fur din
ner, 'n' you's de man to cotch 'em.'
'X so I is. Ef dar's a trout in dat lake
I'se boun' fur ter hab him out'n dnr
'fo' ten erclock to-morrer."
"Please, Uncle Ike, let me go! I
can catch fish, too, and between us
we'Jd be sure to get enough."
"Oat's so, chile, case I doneteached
yer to bait yer hook 'n' frow yer line
myse'f. But whar yer ma gwine sav
'bout you gwino fishin', 'stead o' gwine
to school?"
"Oh, I'll make it all right with !
mother. She won't care, I know. I '
can get her consent."
"Well, honey, ole Ike'll he pow'ful
proud o' yer comp'nv, ef so he's yer
sholy sagaßhuato yer ma ob yer per
' tensions."
Before daybreak next morning Rob
stole softly out of the house and joined
Ike at the stables. He had not had the
slightest intention to ask leave. His
father was absent on a "camp-liunt"
for deer, and Rob was quite certain
that his mother would not let him go.
His teacher's rules against truancy
were strict and rigidly enforced ; ami
besides, Cocodri was considered a very
dangerous place.
This lake, in central Louisiana, was
I once so much infested by great alli
gators that the French called it Lake
Crocodile, and its present name is hut
a corruption of that term. Nor had
the race of saurians died out there, by
any means. Many alligators still in
habited it.
The lake was one of the best, fishing
grounds in the neighborhood, but
none except expert boatmen ever ven
tured upon it. There were strong i
eddies and counter currents in many
places—for the lake is but a broaden
ing of a river which flows through it.
A capsize was especially dangerous on
account of the alligators.
Rob knew all this, but the sense of
peril only added zest to his anticipa
tion of pleasure.
It was a glorious summer morning.
The cool breeze, laden with the per
fume of the pine-treep, blew freshly in
their faces. Rob's pony paced gaily
alongside of old Ike's mule. The old
man was full of chat. Rob would have
been happy under other circumstances,
but he was not happy now.
An uneasy sense of falsehood and
bad conduct weighed heavily on him.
| He had not only deceived and disobeyed
| his mother, but had duped the honest
■ old negro into believing that she sanc-
I tinned his frolic. He. had untruthfully
made Ike responsible fur his own esca
pade.
Besides, his father might be at Co- :
codri hunting, for the swamp about
the lake was a famous covert for deer.
Suppose they met; what would follow? <
More falsehoods, or else a humiliating j
confession in presence of all the gen
tlemen of the neighborhood. Better ;
confess now to Ike, and turn back.
But though Rob was ashamed of his ;
deceit, he was also ashamed to acknowl- ;
edge it, and went doggedly on, trying j
to quiet his conscience by repeating to
himself, "It's no harm to go fishing.
Mother won't mind when she knows '
I'm with Uncle Ike. She knows he'll
take cure of inc. And if the teacher
does whip me to-morrow, I shall have
had my fun, anyway."
But the fun would not begin. Rob
was not enjoying himself at all. At
• last he grew so uncomfortable that he
was forced to disburden his mind of
some portion of its load.
"Uncle Ike," he said, "I feel like
something had was going to happen to
[ me to-day."
"Whaffer you say dat, Marse Rob,
honey?" asked the old man, anxiously.
"T druther be gwine down to de plan
tation wid n note in my pocket fur a
whippin' dan fur you to git hurted i
longer me. Whaffer you say dat, chile?" !
j "Oh, I don't know," replied Rob,
captiously. "Only it seems to me
| we're going to have bad luck. Fish
won't bite, or something of the sort."
"Don't you be skeered o' dat,
honey. I knows dem fronts, 'n' I got
de right sort o' bait an' dis yer goad to
tickle dey noses. Yer ma sholy hab
her mess o' fish, Marse Rob."
1 j They had now entered the lake
"bottom," and had to pick their wav
5 to avoid the swinging grape-vines,
' j rotten trees, stumps, cypress knees
' J and mud holes through which wound
• j the narrow track they were follov.-
• ing.
■ If Rob had been alone he would
f j have been lost in five minutes, for the
> path was crossed and recrossed and
l * intertwined with half a hundred others
I made by hogs, deer or cattle, and all
t j looking exactly alike; but the old
negro went on without hesitation, and
I at last they emerged from the dense
! jungle on the border of the lake,
j The water shoals so much in ap
proaching the shore that it is difficult
to fish from the bank. Uncle Ike was
' provided for this emergency; he kept
I a canoe hidden among the bushes at
• the water's edge ; but it was a rickety,
' | primitive affair to trust one's life to.
U "Now, Marse Rob," said Ike, as he
- | held the boat steady, "you sot right
i i downdar, 'n' don't yer budge 'cep'n to
[ J frow yer line. Ef yer gits to wobblin'
' | 'bout 'n' jumpin' up 'n' down lak boys
• mos'ly does, dis pirogue gwine upsot,
sho, 'a' den whar'll us be?"
j Rob promised to sit still, nnd old
Ike seized his paddle and sent the
j little boat swiftly toward the centre of
the lake.
j They fished here for a while with
good success, but there was no shade
j near them, and the heat, pouring
! down from the sky and reflected from
j the water, becno** intolerable to Rob,
| whose skii* blistered in the fervid rays
; which seemed only to warm his com
panion pleasantly.
i "Uncle Ike," lie said, presently, "do-
I let's paddle in the shade of that tree!,
I can't stand this sun. The fish will 4 ,
j bite just as well there."
| Ike cast a dubious glance toward the;
| tree mentioned—a submerged monarch.
! of the forest whose top had yielded to ;
the slow decay of centuries and
off piecemeal, but which still stretched
broad green arms over the water.
"I dunno, Marse Rob; dey mought,
'n'dey moughtn't. Hush-sli! I got ai
bite!"
Another moment or two passed..
Then Rob flung his fishing-pole to the
bottom of the boat and petulantly ex
claimed :
"I'm going to get out of this sun.
Uncle Ike ! I won't be roasted alive !' M
"Des ez you say, young marse," re- >
, plied the old man submissively, as hei
! began slowly winding up his line.
Perhaps Rob's troubled conscience)
, made him ill-natured, ami the beat cer->
tainly had a tendency to make him so.
Impatiently ho snatched the paddle,
and with a few sharp, quick strokes
brought the pirogue under the shadow
of the tree.
Uncle Ike looked up in time to see,
but nol toward, tlae danger. A swift,
strong eddy swept round the 'trunk,
and in an instant*tho current' sucked
the boat into its vurtex.
At the old man'stcry of alarm, Rob
not knowing what ar where the dan
ger was, sprang impulsively to his feet.
At the same instuntthe other end of
the canoe struck against the tree. Over
the frail craft went,♦and left both its
occupants floundering in the water.
Scarcely had they 'touched the sur
: face when there was a ripple to the
right of them, a ripple to the left, a
swirl and a splash in the near distance.
Alligators were flocking in upon them
from every direction.
"Fur heaben's sake,, Marse Rob!"
gasped Ike, as soon as ho caught his
breath. "Ketch holt*,er dat limb—
swing up—out'n de water—quick,
quick!"
Instinctively conscious of'his peril,
and light and agile as a young panther.
Rob seized a branch of the tree and
swung himself clear of thebvater.
"Higher—higher—yer .ain't out o'
reach o'them varmints yit'!" cried Ike,
regardless of his own j>eril. When
Rob had reached a bough six or seven
feet above the water, Ike caught the
limb the boy had just left, and by a
powerful effort, drew himself up until
first his knees and then his feet rested
on it and he stood erect, holding to
the brauch above.
■f*He had hardly found firm footing
when the rush of the alligators made
the )ld tree tremble. A black snout
appeared here, another there, ajid one
hungry monster reared himself against
the trunk as if determined to get the
first taste.
Rob looked at them astounded. He
was in an agony of terror lest the old
man should be dragged down and de
voured.
"Come up, here, Uncle Ike?" he
cried. "Come up here, I say!"
Ike looked at the branch above, 1
looked at the swarm of bloodthirsty !
j brutes below, and shook his head,
j "Dat ar limb ain'tstrong 'nough to
jbar us bofe, Marse Rob I'se tek my
chance here.'
I "You sha n't! you sha'n't! Look at j
that fellow! he'll have yon in another j
i minute! Climb up, or I'll conic
! straight down."
I I bus urged, the negro made a spring :
upward, striking his feet against the
limb below to aid his ascent. At the
sumo moment tho alligator struck it
also. It slivered and broke while the
huge saurian fell back into the lake
with a sullen plunge and disappeared.
Death was staved off for the present,
but for how long? Would the branch
they were clinging to prove more trust
worthy than the one they had left?
There was no other available.
All the branches above them were
bore and rotten to the root. The cur
rent had swept their boat far beyond
reach, and the turmoil of the water
below showed thnt the alligators were
waiting for their prey. There the cun
ning brutes would wait until exhaustion
forced their victims to fall into their
jaws.
Rob slid Ike shouted for help, in the
forlorn hope that some hunter or fisher
might hear them; hut the gloomy
swamp swallowed up their voices, and
returned not even an echo to give them
delusive comfort.
If Rob had been so disposed, he
could have found food for reflection
in the sermon the alligators were
preaching to him on the evil conse
quences of disobedience and deceit;
but he was too full of terror and de
spair to think of anything but the ter
rible fate which threatened him.
After a while he noticed Ike anxious
ly examining the bough they were rest
ing on. When the old man looked up
his face was ashy.
"Marse Rob," he whispered. His
voice shook in spite of his brave effort
to steady it. Rob looked at him si
lently.
"Marse Rol>, die here limb erackin'.
Look dar!" He pointed to a rift nenr
where it joined the trunk. "It can't
hoi' us bofe up much longer."
Rob gazed in dumb, questioning de
spair into the negro's face.
"It can't hoi' lis bofe, but it kin
hoi' you, young marse ! Ye're little 'n'
light; it'll b'ar yo' weight. Yer mar
trus'n you to me, 'n' I mils' tek keer
on yer. I'll des let go 'n' drap."
With a wild sob the hoy flung his
arms around the old negro's neck.
"O Uncle Ike! sli3 didn't! she did
n't! I lied to you about it. Mother
didn't trust me to you—she never knew
I was coming! You shan't die for
me! I don't deserve it! I don't! I
don't!"
"Well, den, Marse Rob, you triih'n
vo'se'f tt> me, 'n' dat's de mo' cause I
ah'u'd tek kecr on yer. I couldn't go
home widout yer, V tell ole marse 'u'
mia' I lef yer to bo eat up by dem
varmints. I cudn't do it ef I had de
chance, 'n' I ain't got no chance. But
de limb 'll b'ar you up be yo'se'f, 'n'
dem creeters mought go off after dey
Rob seized tho old man more
tightly.
" 'N" den you kin swim ter lan'
eaay," Ike went on. " 'Tain't noways,
hardly. 'N' ef yer does get aafe to
Inn,' honey, don't yer try to tine yer
way out'n de swamp. Des you ontie
my ole mule, 'n' he'll lead yer atraght
home. 'N' when yer gita to be a man,
young marse, yer'll tek keer o' de ole
'oman 'n' de Chilian's, 'n' neber part
'em, far ole Ike's sake."
AH if they heard and understood,
three or four alligators here reared
their ugly heads from the water, and
1 tixed their dull, cruel eyes on their
. expected victim. The old man shud
dered violently and turned his eyes
way.
"Oh, stop! stop!" cried the boy.
"Only look to what you're going. Oh,
hold on just a little longer ! Let me
holler again. Maybe somebody will
hoar."
"Holler dez ez much ez yer choose,
honey, but I'so feared nobody won't
hear yer, 'cep'n dem varmints down
dar, 'n' 'twon't mek no sort o' def
ffunce to dem."
Bob raised his voice in a shrill, de
spairing scream. "Help ! help ! help!"
A loud shout came in answer, and
round a point of land close by swept a
four-oared boat rowed swiftly to their
rescue.
"Oh, thank God! thank God !" cried
the boy. "Saved, Uncle Ike, both
saved!"
I His exultant cry was half drowned
lin the loud, ominous crack of the
j bough. It split through half its length,
and the end drooped down toward the
water. Without a word old Ike loosed
his hold, while tho branch, relieved
from his weight, partially regained its
place.
A splash in tho water, a scream of
agony, shouts, blows, shots tired in
quick succession were the last sounds
Hob heard, as his hold relaxed and he
fell senseless into the water, to be iu
! stantly pulled out and laid in the boat.
When he came to himself, his head |
was resting on his father's knee and
his father's eyes were looking anxiously i
in his face, but no one else paid any
| attention to him. All were busy round
a body lying in the bottom of the
boat. Oh, was Uncle Ike saved after
nil?
Yes, by prompt succor and desperate
efforts, the wreck of the faithful, brave
old man was rescued from the savage
jaws of the alligators, but with one arm
gone, and a piece torn from his side.
Uncle Ike would never again be of much
service as a "hand," but he had earned
exemption from hard labor for the rest
of his life, if any man ever did.
Providentially, the neighborhood
| doctor was in tho boat—.a rough coun
-1 try practitioner who loved hunting and
I fishing much better than his profession.
But he was a good surgeon for all that.
He made a tourniquet out of a strip
from his bandana handkerchief and a
joint of his fishing Tod, tied the sev
( red arteries with a silk fishing line,
slender as a thread but strong as wire,
and was looking round as if in search
of something else when his eyes en
countered Rob's.
"Hullo, youngster!" he exclaimed,
"haul off that shirt and let your hack
Idi. tcr as well as your face. You're at
the bottom of this mischief, I'll he !
bound, and you may as well take your |
share of the penalty." 4
Riglit willingly Rob took off his
calico shirt, which the doctor tore into
bandages, and with them stanched the
old negro's wounds. Then a dose of
brandy was administered from his
master's hunting flask, and soon Uncle
Ike opened his eyes.
"He'll do now," said the doctor.
"Lucky for both of you we saw your
canoe floating bottom upward and
knew it for old Ike's. We were com
ing to his help as fast as we could
when we heard you yell, young man.
We had a scrimmage for it though. I
never saw such ferocity. 'Pon my soul,
I thought the ugly brutes would have
eaten us, boat and all. Take my ad
vice, youngster, and don't come fishing
in Rake Cocodri again until you can
manage to keep out of alligators'
jaws."
Rob took the advice and the lesson,
too, to heart. Henceforth, ns boy or
man, he never let a lie pass his lips,
nor even let his silence mislead any
one.
His friends sometimes laughed at his
excessive punctiliousness. Rob let
them laugh and would shake his head
seriously and say.
"1 got enough of telling falsehoods
when I was a boy. If you had come
as near to being eaten up alive by alli
gators, for not sticking close to the
truth, as T did, I reckon you'd hold
fast to it. for the rest of your lives, as
T mean to do. "' —Youth's Companion.
| SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
Lions, bears, goats and other ani
mals take to the tobacco habit.
The largest stationary engine in the
world is used to pump out the zinc
mines nt Friedenville, Penu. Its driv
ing wheels are thi* '"-fivo feet in di
ameter.
The electric railwa> has penetrated
even the fastnesses of the Tyrolean
Mountains, a road twenty-seven miles
long being projected between Riva and
Pinzolo.
The carbon of the food, mixed with
the oxygen of the air, furnishes fuel
for the body, which evolves the heat
in exactly the same wuy that a fire or
candle does.
That fragile and paradoxical wonder,
the "snow plant," which is found in
the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is pro
nounced by western botanists as prob
ably our most remarkable plant.
Lightning is zig zag because, as it
condenses the air in the immediate ad
vance of its path, it flies from side to
side in order to pass where there is
the least resistance to its progress.
The British Admiralty lias directed
that all ships fitted with 300 and 400
ampere dynamos are to be specially
swung for the purpose of ascertaining
the effect of the dynamos on the ships'
j compasses.
In Baltimore, Md., a pneumatic de
vice for the front of street cars has
been patented, the purpose of which ia
to push obstructions, such as the
• bodies of persona, out of the way with
, out harming them.
A method has been discovered by a
French inventor for the preparation of
iron so that it can bo alloyed with
other metals generally, and' particu
larly with copper and zine, to produce
a white alloy, which the inventor terms
"iron silver."
The intensity of confined sound is
illustrated nt Causbrook Castle, Isle of
Wight, whero there is a wall 200 feet
deep and twelve feet in diameter, lined
with smooth masonry. When a pin is
dropped into it the sound of it strik
ing the water, 182 feet below, can be
distinctly heard.
A bridge of concrete is being con
structed over the l'ennypack Creek at
Pine Road, Fox Chase, Penu. The
outside surface will be pebble-dashed
and outlined in imitation of pointed
stone work, so that when completed it
will present the appearance of a hand
some cut-stone structure.
Four electric lights, each powerful
enough to illuminate a "sphero of
water" eight feet in diameter, are to
be placed as many feet under the sea
off the pier of Atlnntic City, N. J.
Each light will he enclosed in a globe,
which in its turn will be in a ease of
,glass that will protect the heated globe
from the water. Fish will not only bo
'visible as they dart across the lighted
mass of water, bt will also be attract
ed by the lights.
Hedges for Shady Places.
It is often desirable to have hedges
along lines where large trees are already
growing. Evergreens are wholly un
fitted for these situations; only decidu
ous shrubs can be employed. Among
the best of these are tho various varie
ties of privet, They stand dry ground
better than almost anything else. It
is not so much the shade which injures
the hedges in these situations as it is
the drying of the grouud by the roots
of the trees. When we imagine the
enormons amount of moisture trans
piring from thousands of leaves of
frees, wo can readily see how dry the
ground must, be which has to supply
this moisture. But those who have
practical experience understand this
without even a thought of the philoso
phy involved.—Meehan's Monthly.
Price Paid for Slaves.
It is very curious to read in on old
Roman history of the price paid for
slaves in the palmy days of the Empire.
As a general thing, a laborer could be
bought for about SBO of our inonev,
but after a province had been conquered
| or a great victory won, hundreds would
sometimes be bought for $5 or $lO
each. After the siege of Jerusalem by
Titus, the price of slaves fell to st. i
Skilled laborers and artisans brought
more. A gardener was worth about
SOOO, a blacksmith, $700; a good cook
often broughtssooo, an actor or actress
SSOOO, and a physician, slo,ooo.—New
York Journal.
jNOVEL ARMY RAFT.
MADE OF INFLATED OX HIDES
AND VERY BUOYANT.
The I'neful Invention of a Itußßlan Army
Officer—The 11!]> of the Beeves Slaugh
tered to Support an Army on the March
I tilised as Boats to Cross Streams.
Substitute for Pontoons.
A Russian engineering journal put>
lshcs some details describing a novel
Method of crossing rivers upon rafts
supported by Inflated ox hides. Some
Interesting experiments were recent
ly made by the Russian military
authorities which showed that the
system will be of great service to an
army in the Held.
Leather bags made from ox hides
are each susceptible of supporting a
weight equal to two or more men
upon tho surface of the water.
Droves of cattle that accompany an
army to be slaughtered for food fur
nish a ready supply of hides neces
sary In the construction of floating
rafts. Although the subject may be
somewhat technical, it seems Inter
esting to know how it is possible to
make these air sacks in the field.
When the ox is killed the head is cut
off close up and a slit made in the
skin of the chest. Then the skin is
4) 3JJ
TUB WAT THE BERT IS SKINNKD
cut above the knees and the legs un
lolnted at the knees. The skinning
commences at the neck and by means
of incisions at the proper places and
taking out the internal organs dur
ing the process the hide is generally
drawn off intact. To close the open
ings of the hide, small slita like but
ton-holes are made through both
thicknesses near the edge. Then the
hide is turned, the hair inside.
Wooden pegs are put through the
slits and the openings wound with
several turns of beef tendons, which
are held in place by the pegs. The
skin is again turned, the hair out
side. Before closing the lait opening
a hollow bamboo peg Is introduced in
the leg and the hide inflated with a
bellows or the mouth.
The raft timbers arc Hi to 12 feet
In length and 2 to .1 Inches in diame
ter. The inflated hides, four to eight
In number, are tied to the corners of
the raft. Figure 3 represents such
i raft transporting Russian troops.
Oar locks are made to support the
oars. The raft is floored for trans
portation of Infantry and artillery.
An air sack made of o* hide weighs
ilmut twenty-flvc pounds, and can
:arry a weight equal to the animal
that It was taken from. A raft sup
ported by four hides will carry ten
men and rise six Inches above the
water. With six hides it will carry
twenty men and project three to four
Inches above the water. Four of
AN isrr.ATKD nina
these men can do the rowing. The
hides can be used as soon as made
Into air sacks, but to preserve them
my length of time they should be
well salted and dried for three or
four days In a ventilated shed and
the fresh side coated with a mixtur*
of tallow and tar.
These Inflated hides are so buoyant
that a large number of soldiers and
pieces of artillery can be transported
•cross rivers and other bodies of
water, an I at much less labor and
expense than is involved in carrying
t heavy pontoon bridge.
Kgg-Btea)lng Hens.
In Captain Ilendire's "Life His
tories of North American Rirds," the
hen of the Canada grouse is reported
is a confirmed egg-thief. A number
of these birds were observed in cap
tivity to rob one another's nests fre
quency.
Two liens had their nests near to
gether. about two feet apart and as
each laid every other day, one nest
wou'd be vacant while the other was
occupied. The hen that laid last
would not go away until she had
stolen the nest-egg from the other
nest and placed it in her own.
A hen was once seen to attempt to
steal an egg from another nest twenty
feet distant. She worked for half an
hour or so, but did not succeed in
moving the coveted egg more than
eight feet—the way being uphill.
The egg escaped her and rolled back
a foot or two so often that she gave
up the task in disgust.
One evening the observer found one
hen on the nest, and knew that she
was beginning to set. as all the other
hens had gone to roost. Slipping his
hand under her he found three eggs,
Ihc nest-egg, an cgtshe had Just laid,
find one stolen from a neighboring
best.
He took two out and held them be
fore her, when she placed her bill
pver one and tried to pull It out of
Ms hand. As he refused to let her
have if, she placed her bill over the
remaining egg and pushed it hack out
of sight, as much as to say, "You
have two, and that is all you can
have." she pleaded so hard for the
other eggs that he took theui away
with much reluctance.
THE OLD LOVE SON<£
riay p slowly, sing it lowly,
* Old familiar tune!
Once it ran in dance and dimple,
Like a brook in June ;
Now it sobs along the measures
With a sound of tears ;
Dear old voices echo through it,
Vanished with the years.
Hippie, ripple goes the love song
Till, in slowing time,
Early sweetness grows completeness.
Floods its every rhyme :
Who together learn the musio
Life and death unfold ;
Know that love is just beginning
Until love is old.
riay it slowly, it is holy, /
As an evening hymn ;
Morning gladness hushed to sadness
Fills it to the brim.
Memories home within tho rausio
Stealing through the bars ;
Thoughts within its quiet spao€3
Rise and set like stars.
—The Campus.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Weeds of woe—Two for five.
A noted composer--Chloroform.
Court martial—A soldier's wooing.
A green-goods man—The vegetable
vender. —Truth.
A man is known by the company that
blackballs him.—Ram's Horn.
A secret is a plant that waits to hear
the leaves of gossip.—Ram's Horn.
The still watches of the night—Thoso
which have not been wound.—Truth.
An escaping prisoner seldom begs
pardon for the liberty he takes.--Troy
Press.
You can't tell by the blossoms which
of the apples will be wormy.—Texas
Sittings.
It takes either a good deal of push
or a pull to get through the doors of
life. —Truth.
The Toy Pistol— 4 'l'm loaded." Tho
Trigger— 4 'Don't get gay or I'll firo
you."—Chicago Record.
A man attempting to live in style on
a small salary is like n dog fighting
without front teeth. Puck.
Miss Elderly— 4 'What would you do
if I told you my age?" He—"Multiply
it by two."—Brooklyn Life.
There is a language of flowers, as, for
instance, when a barefooted boy step!
on a thistle.—Minneapolis Journal.
"What's the matter with the horned
horse?" asked the tiger. "It has the
gnu-monia," replied the lion.—Puck.
There is a tied in the affairs of the
men which, if taken at the knot, leads
to strangulation. —Thomasville Times.
"How much do you Jove me, my pretty
maid?"
"How much is your fortune, kind sir? ' sho
said.
---Chicago Record.
Young Author—"Don't you like to
see yourself in print?" Debutante—
"No; I prefer silk."—New York Jour*
nal.
These are the times when a good
many of us have to sit down and think
to find out where wo stand.—Troy
Press.
Van Wither—"Miss Gladys is n
lovely girl, hut sho has no heart."
Von Miner—"Yes, she has—mine."—
Vogue.
"Has man n perfect organ of speech ?"
"Yes." "Has woman, also?" "No;
hers is made without stops."—Harvard
Lumpoon.
4 4 Why did they name that paper
The Ladies' Friend ?" "I suppose be*
cause it makes such good curl papers."
—Statesman.
Why express surprise that a young
man should get giddy when a pretty
girl violently turns his head. "—Phila
delphia Times.
"He is flippant. He can't be serious
if he tries." "Yes, he can. He is very
serious when he tries to be funny."—
Brooklyn Life.
Money may be the root of all evil;
but it is a root, nevertheless, that
bears many flowers of everlasting
beauty.—Puck.
The fitness of things is well main
tained when the impatient diner is
served with food prepared in a chafing
dish.—Buffalo Courier.
4 'Falser sings beautifully, but they
tell me he can't tell the truth."
"That's right. He's the most truth
ful 4 lyre'iu the State."—Detroit Free
Press.
Dinkle—"lt h a strange thing to me
how a short man always wants a tall
girl. " Duukle— 4 'Humph ! It's a
strange thing to me how a short man
wants any girl. I'm blamed if I do
when I'm short. "—Buffalo Courier.
Colonel Wellington de Boots-- 4 'lt
is almost impossible for you, Miss
Nprytelv, to imagine what a huge
amount of work I have to do, for I am
not only commander of the regiment,
but also its Major, Adjutaut, andgo<#-
ness knows what !" Miss Sprytely—
"Your our trumpeter, too, Colonel?"
—Tudy.
Why Car Wheel* Wear Out.
A car-wheel wears out because the
metal of which it is composed comes
iway in thin scales. A microscopic
examination shows that the continual
jarring has a tendency to destroy the
coherence of the particles, and thus
gradually disintegrates the whole,
j -.ar-wheels long in use become so
brittle that a stout blow with a heavy
aammer will sometimes cause them to
ay into fragments as though they
were made of gluss.—New York
lournal.
Bullets of Precious Stones.
Bulletß made of precious stones aro
rarities in warfare. But during the
recent fighting on the Kashmir fron
•icr, when the British troops defeated
•he rebellious Hun/.as, the itptivet*
wed bullets of garnets encased in lead.