From Chicago comes a loud protest against street parades, which arg char- , notorized as a nuisance. J Old English silverware is much in demnnd in the United States just now, and genuine pieces, especially those ol historic interest, fetch high prices. "Weather forecasts in Great Britain grow more accurate every year, and the meteorological council announce with pride that eighty-four per cent, of those given last year were success ful. Three years ago nearly seventeen per cent, of the storm warnings were not fulfilled, but now the rate hut fallen to seven per cent. The park policemen of San Francisco use the lariat to stop runaway horses, and all are experts with the rope. The Captain of the Golden Gate Park squad says his men "can stop a horse within a distance of fifty yards without tlu ►lightest danger to themselves," and he implies, though he doesn't distinctly say so, without danger to the runaway or its rider. The Chinese are the most lightly taxed people in the world. They have no Chancellor of the Exchequer wor ried over budget-making. All the land there belongs to the State, and a trifling sum per acre, never altered through long centuries, is paid as rent. This is the only tax in the country, and it amounts to about $3 per head yearly. Two little girls, Gertrude and Ethel Hedger, who are wards in chancers and heiresses to 8100,000 each, were recently arraigned as vagrants in i London police court. Their fortunes are so securely locked up in chancery that by no process of law can any o) the money be obtained until the chil dren are of age. They are at present practically destitute, and unable tc procure decent surroundings, clothing or education. The beauty ot the elm is more thai skin deep, says the New York Post, anc a high light of forestry gives it the first rank as a shade tree, both for street? and parks, because it is likewise strong, vigorous, nnd can be grown in so many places. The leaves are so tough thai dust has little eflect on them. Certain kinds of maples also have a good stand ing for shade, beauty, and rapid growth, though the soft maple is use less for heavy shade. Oak trees, tlu English and the Turkish, though rarely seen as shade trees in our streets, take high rank for that use. Hays tho V*rr "York Tribune: "J1 may not bo flattering to our vanity, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that Europe does not take nearly as much interest in America ns America takes in Europe. This has long been indi cated by tho paucity of American news in the European press; and it it now forcibly brought to our attention by the indifference of Europe to the greatest Exposition that has ever beer held. The average European classet the United States with Australia, Madagascar, South Africa and othei out-of-the-way countries, whose do ings can have no possible interest foi him. This being so, the wonder ii not that there have been so few Euro pean visitors to the Fair, but that any one in this country should have cx pected them lo come." As a result of his investigations, Pro fessor McGook estimates the army ol tramps in the United States at 45,845 Practically all of them are in the prim* of life and in good health, with noth ing to prevent them from earning t livelihood, three-fifths of them having trades by which to support themselves and nine-tenths able to read and write And yet they arc loafers and non-pro ducers, refusing to assume the obliga tions of citizenship, and are a men burden to society. At a conservative estimate, their maintenance costs tin public 53.50 a week, eighty-four cent* of which is spent for spirits and to bacco; and if to this is added polic: and hospital charges, the expense h increased to $1.40 a week, as much as it costs to support the most dangerouf criminal. The aggregate sum thm required to keep the tramp army in motion is $0,1611,000 a year, a sum double the cost of the Indian bureau, and more than one-quarter of the an mini interest of the public debt. Worse than this, the army is a con slant menace to public morals am public health, the greater that it is al ways in motion, in that of those win are ill by far the larger proportion suffer from exceedingly loathsome am contagious diseases. Tho tr rn > , vii is thus a most pressing one, not ,ni because of its demoralizing c-fV -ct i up on industry, but because of tin- im > and physical dangers to whi'di it . v thy wwkin# population, SWING HIGH AND SWING LOW. Swln/ar high nntl swing low, while the breezes j they blow It's off for ii sailor thy father would go : And It's here in the harbor, in sight of the j lie hath left his wee babe with v& and with me • "Swing high nnd swing low, While the breezes they blow !"' . -A Swing high and swing low, while thebreezes they blow It's oh for the waiting ns weary days go ! And it's oh for the heartache that smiteth mo when I sing my song over nnd over again . "Swing high nnd swing low. While the breezes they blow!" "Swing high nndswiuglow '—thescasingeth And if wnileth anon in its ebb and its flow ; ' Au I a sleeper sleeps on to that song of the j Nor rocketh lie over of iniue or of mo! "Swing high an 1 swing low, While the breezes they blow "JL'was off for n sailor thy father would go !" —Eugene Field, in Chicago Herald. A LOVETEITER. DV* s. A. WEISS. QUIRE MADDOX lw en * breakfast, v\ rending the leading • county newspaper,! nn( * l 'l U) bing with * .* toast and indigna k * Lz? tion . at n fierce 0,1 ybi ",M, itorial attack upon £'.<\ owu political , nonsense nnd id-, ur V ioey!" he exclaimed, ' 1, -wJ nt length, as he con temptuously tossed aside the paper. ' 1 ''Here, Eva, child, another cup of coffee!" As his daughter received the empty cup, he noticed something of an ex pression of sadness on her usually bright face, and his conscience re proached him as being the cause of it. Since the death of his wife, whom he had tenderly loved, his (laughter had been dearer to him than anything on earth, and he did not like to see her looking unhappy. • What is the day's programme, EvieV" he asked, quite mildly. "Hadn't you better drive down with me to Chester and see the Lyne girls while I call on my lawyer?" "No, thank you, papa. The Lyne I girls are coming here to tea and cro- ' quet this afternoon." "Ah! And who have you to meet them ?" Eva s hand was a little unsteady as she poured out the coffee, and her | aunt, Miss Maddox, quietly answered j for her: "Young Mr. Moffit and his sister, ' and the Harmon girls and .Tuck River ton, and Mr. Patton will bring a ! friend with him." The squire's brow darkened. "Wasn't Jack Riverton here yester day?" "No, not yesterday." "Well, the day before then. Seems to me he is always here. Pity his father don't keep him more closely to his desk in his office, or that he can't find some other place than my house in which to pass his superabundant leisure. And I don't see," he added, irritably—"l don't see why he should liave been invited here, when I have 1 already expressed iny objection to him." "He is not particularly invited,"his sister answered. "It is only the sec ond meeting of our little croquet club all that we can find to amuse us i* this dull country neighborhood. And, of course, you can't blame him for coming with the rest." Eva's soft, dark eyes had filled with tears. 4 'Papa," she said, with a little tremor in her voice, "why do you ob- 1 ject to Mr. Riverton? Everybody likes him but you." The squire hesitated a full half min ute, as he make a pretense of care- | fully buttering his egg. "J have nothing against the young I man's character," he said at length, still more impatiently, "hut I don't like him personally—that is, his ways. ' I wish to hear and see no more of him I if possible. I object decidedly, Eva, I to your accepting the attention which j he has recently been paying you, and I must request you, Matilda, not to ' encourage his visits here." "I am sure I don't encourage him," j Miss Matilda replied, bristling a little, well aware in her own mind that Mr! Riverton needed no encouragement \ from her. "But I can't understand, brother, what you can find to object to in Jack Riverton's manners. Every one says they are delightful, and you never found fault, with him until lately." 4 'That is just it. His manners have entirely changed of late. When a man comes courting my daughter"—this in a very possitive tone of voice— 4 'l like him to appear as a man, and a man of sense and busin< ss. He should come to me in the first place and say frankly that he wishes my consent to his ad dressing my daughter as he—er— finds that he—er—has a regard for her, or | something plain and simple of that I kind. But Riverton is n spoony, and ' is making a fool of himself. If' there ' is anything that I thoroughly despise it is to see a tall young fellow like that languishing around a woman, making sheep's eyes at her on all occasions— even in church —and dawdling about for hours in the moonlight, repeating poetry and calling her darling and dearest, and other such baby names. It's disgusting!" Here Eva, whose cheeks had been gradually assuming the hue of the damask rose which was pinned at her throat, suddenly leaned back in l]ci chair and lmrst into tows. | Slio knew now that papa must hnvo | overheard that talk between herself nnd Jack, when they sat in the moon* light under the drooping roses right I beneath his open window, i And she had never dreamed that papa could be mean enough—no, she would j not sny that—but unfeeling enough to I listen. As she softly cried, with her dainty i handkerchief pressed to her eyes, she heard her father's concluding words: j | 11 When you find a innu making love ; in this idiotic way, you may be posi- j five of one thing—that the love is only skin-deep, and that lie will make an I indifferent, if not a bad husband. For i this reason I object to Mr. Jack River- j erton courting my daughter." That evening, in the quiet twilight interval lietween tea and croquet, Eva j took occasion to convey to Mr. River- j ton a warning hint of what her father i ; expected of them iu the future, i Jack knew—as did most of the! | squire's acquaintances—that despite a | "good heart at bottom," the old gen : tleman was apt to take up absurd and unreasonable prejudices, and to stick to them with tenacious obstinacy— , especially when he found himself op posed. Rut on this occasion the young man's spirit rose in high rebellion, and it took all Eva's influence to pacify him. "No, Jack," she said, with a gentle , firmness, in reply to his excited re marks, "you must not speak to papa at present. It would only make mat ters worse while he is in this mood. We can do nothing hut wait nnd see if in time he won't yield to more reason able impressions." "In time!" repeated Jack, im patiently. "Why, Evie, he don't change his views on any subject within I five years' time." ' "Well," she said, with a sigh, "1 suppose we shall have to wait, even if it is as long as that." f One day the squire, returning from his morning ride, found his daughter and his sister seated in the pleasant j little sitting-room opening upon the garden. Eva's white fingers were deftly fashioning some rose-colored ribbons into dainty knots and loops. "What are those for?" her father | inquired, as he seated himself in his j own big arm-chair and unfolded his ! paper while glancing admiringly at the j silken stuff. "To wear at the lawn party this I evening, papa. And you will go with i i us, of course?" ! "A lawn party? Ah, I had for- > j gotten! Well, where is it to be—at ! j the Lyens'?" "At the Rivertons'," Miss Maddox said. | He scowled as he roughly shook out his paper. i "I don't wish to interfere with your j j pleasures or enjoyments, Eva," he j said, "but I would rather that, you should not go to this party at the I ! Rivertons'." j Hlie knew that when lier father ex pressed a wish, it was intended as a command, and her hands dropped listlessly into her lap, crushing the j crisp ribbons. Tears forced them ' selves between the long lashes, and i I she presently rose and quietly left the *! room. > | Then Miss Maddock looked up from t her own work, and there was some • ' thing unusual in her expression, t | "Archibald," she said, gravely, "I j have something to sav to you. J I would warn you not to carry this j ' matter too far, nor to he too hard ( upon Eva and Jock Riverton, lest you I drive her into open disobedience and ' even an elopement." "An elopement!" His sister took from the little work- ! *' v ox which Eva had left on the table a i folded letter. "I found this here, just whero you I 1 see that she keeps it. Perhaps 11 i i ought not to have read it, seeing that \ it is a love letter; but, under the oir- i cumstances, L consider it my duty to let you know the contents. Will you read it, or shall 1 do so?" Tho squire replied with a sort, of inarticulate grunt, which his sister interpreted in her own way, and accordingly commenced reading, aloud: 44 'My own precious angel, Eva—' " "Bah!" said the squire, with an ex pression of unutterable disgust. 44 4 sinoe a cruel and relentless fate at pres ent forbids our meeting, I can but take this unsatisfactory method of communicating with you, and telling you. my own dearest dnrlihy. of how unspeakably and unutterably dear yu are to me, " 4 'The fool!" muttered tho squire. 44 4 Oh, my soul's beloved—' " "For heaven's sake, Matilda, spare ine any more of that sickening and ; idiotic stuff! Why, it's worse even that I would have thought Jack River ton capable of. What were you say ing about an elopement?" j "It is this," answered his sister, ; glancing down the page: | " T find that 1 cannot exist apart from | you, and since your unfeeling father—' " j "Humph!" ] * 4 4 —will not consent to our union, we must j take our fortunes into our own hands and defy any earthly power to kern us ! asunder.' ' 1 "The rascal!" cried the squire, I starting erect in his chair. I But his sister put out her hand, deprecatingly. I ''Hear the rest, Archibald!" | "Not another word! The idea of a rascal and idiot like that presumiug to court my daughter—" I "But at least hear the last lines: " 'Good-night, my soul's beloved ! May I angels fan you to slumber with their fn j ernwo-ladeu wings! and in your dreams : think of your own devoted " 'ARCHIBALD MADDOX.' " ! There was a blank, bewildered pause. "What does this mean, Matilda? ; What hitter is that?" i His sister quietly handed it io him. ; "It is one which you wrote over , twenty years uio to tho woaaau #hom I you loved and married—Eva Chesney. Your daughter found it a few days ago among Home old letters and papers in ' the attic closet.*' I The squire looked over the faded , and torn sheet as one in a dream. I "I would not have believed that I could ever have written in a style such i ns this," ho said, in a strangely sub- I dued voice. "And yet you were a devoted hus band and made your wife a happy ; woman." | He rend the letter through, and a ! moisture gathered in his eyes. ! "We are apt to forget—apt to for i get!" he muttered, as he refolded it. Just then Eva entered the room. "I must put away my work," she said, apologetically, and there wero ! traces of tears in her eyes. Her father put out his hand, and drew her gently to her former seat, j ".Sit down, dear, and finish your 1 ribbons. 1 will take you over to | the Rivertons' this evening." And Eva never knew until after her l marriage to Jack Riverton what had | caused so sudden a change in her father's views and sentiments in regard ' to that subject. SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. The average woman lives longer than the average man. j All medical authorities hold that fruits are essential to prolongation of life. Attempts have been made to coun terfeit meteorites, because they ore so valuable, but without success. • According to the tracks found in a stone quarry in Connecticut, a bird with a foot eleven inches in length in habited those parts. Dr. Brown-Sequard says that press f ing in the neighborhood of the ear, es i pecially in front of the right one, will l stop a lit of coughing. The hydrographic office at Washing ton is disposed to attribute the heat • and drought in Europe this season to ! the scarcity of icebergs in the North I Atlantic. The Chicago Common Council has 1 empowered the Mayor of the city to negotiate for the erection of garbage I crematories of a capacity of 100,000 j tons a day. Criminals are usually of weak phys ! icttl organization. In 1885 sixty seven per cent, of the men in French | prisons and sixty per cent, of the women were sent to the hospital at some time during the period of incar ceration. The narrowest part of the Strait of Florida, through which the Gulf Stream flows at the rate of five knots an hour, is fifty miles wide, and has a ■ mean depth of 350 fathoms. If this were stopped uj> Ike climate of this country in winter would be totally ■ changed. A recently constructed submarine boat, destined for the French Navy, is moved by electricity, carries a crew of twelve men, and can remain under i water for two hours. It is planned to lodge under an enemy's vessel a tor ; pedo powerful enough to break a big steamer in two. A. D. Risteeu, in a recently pub lished paper in the Astronomical Jour nal on a new method for determining the direction of the sun's motion tlirough space, concludes that he has obtained results which not only show the reality of such motion, but that its rate is 10.9 miles per second. ..fter two years' trial with pine, oak and greenheart in tho Suez Canal Com pany's arsenal basin at Port Said, it has been found that while the pine and oak are almost entirely destroyed by the "tarct," or borer worm, the greenheart has suffered no injury whatever. This wood is a native of British Guiana. Experiments with a bicycle fitted out with a small chemical tank and fire axe are being made by a South Boston fire company. The bicycle has cushion tiros and with its whole outfit weighs about sixty pounds. The tauk holds about two gallons of chemical, Avhich amounts as an extinguisher to about twelve pails of water. It is popularly supposed that the sudden downpour which usually fol lows a bright Hash of lightning is in some way caused by the Hash. Me teorolc gists have proven that this is 1 not the case, and that, exactly to the i contrary, it is not only possible but highly probable that the sudden in ! creased precipitation is the real cause of the flash. A Curious Indian Relic. Not long ago there was dug up in Ash laud a curious stone with some dim and crude inscription upon it. It be | ing shown to an old Oregon pioneer he pronounced it a temanewas stone, • worn as a breastplate by the ancient Indian priests. | It has holes in the upper corners by i which it may be hung upon the priest's neck. It carries upon it a picture of the sacred wigwam, and at one end of th* wigwam stands the totem pole, on the top of which a little flag was hung that warned the evil spirits off while the priest performed his divine func tions in the sacred house or wigwam. This temanewas may coincide with I*the breastplate of the Ephod, worn by the ancient Hebrew priests, so that tha picture of the wigwam on this stone may represent the primary an- I castor of all the temples ever dedi i anted iu the world, and all flags and liberty poles of nil ages and countries may possibly be the lineal descendants <>l the original totem represented on the stone. Probably this Ashland ! 'done is the only one of the kind now in existence. Ashland (Oregon) Tid ings. I Of the 208,000,000 nativaa of luilia but 2,000,00:) etiFi speak English, thft I language of the ruler* - | THE MERRY SIDE OF LIFE. STORIES THAT ARE TOLD BY THE FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. The Accent Not Important—A Nice Distinction—How to Gain Peren nial Youth, Ktc., Etc. Bome put the accent on the qui, _ And others on the nine ; No odds, just so it stops the chills From creepln' tin yer spine. —Kansas City Journal. NEW. —"May I make you unhappy for life?" She (blushinglv) "Oh, George! You may ask papa. "—Truth. HOW TO OAIN PERENNIAL YOUTH. Gertie—"How old is Maud?" Ethel—"She lias been twenty-three ever since a lire in her house burnt 1 up the family Bible six years ago."— Chicago Record. A NICE DISTINCTION. Timmins— "Can your daughter play the piano?" Robbins (wearily) — "I don't know whether she can or not, but she does." —Chicago Record. TAKINO THE WIND OUT OF HER BAILS. Early— 1 'Doesn't your wife ever scold you when you get in late?" Bird—"Don't give her a chance. I blow her up about going to bed with the cliickeus."—Kate Field's Washing ton. TOO NICE FOR ANYTHING. "Do you think that the lady who is moving in above you is nice?" "Oh, dear, yes. Why, she noticed that baby had two teeth before she had been in the liouso two hours,"—Chi cago Inter-Ocean. DR/ 3 no MEASURES. Mrs. Younglove—"lf I wasn't afraid baby was sick, I do believe I should spank him!" Younglove—"Well, let's make sure. You begin spanking, and I'll go for the doctor."—Puck. HIS TRADE. His Honor (to prisoner at the bar) "Did you ever learn a trade?" Prisoner—"Yes." His Honor—"What trade?" Prisoner —"I learned to trade horses."—Truth. A CAUSE FOR APPREHENSION. "That Miss Flipp has had her head completely turned by the flattery she has received here." "Poor dear! How does she manage to keep her boDnet on straight?"— Chicago Inter-Ocean. RAW A SAMPLE PACKAGE. "Mrs. Deepthink is a woman of very simple tastes." "Yes; I noticed that when— "You have never met her?" "No; but I was introduced to her husband."—Chicago Inter-Ocean. LOGIC. Mother —"1 m sure I don't know who you took your laziness from, Johnnie. It must have been your father." Johnnie—"Not much. Pa's got all the laziness he ever had."—Judge. HASTY CONCLUSIONS. Uppen—"Hello, old fellow! How did you eujoy your trip to England?" i Cummings (explaining)— "I haven't i been to England. I'm wearing this I ill-llttiug suit of clothes becauso I got it at a bargain."—Chicago Tribune. OVERHEARD AT BAR HARBOR. He—"Give me a kiss. She (decidedly)—"l won't." He—"You shouldn't say 'I won't' jto me; you should have said 'I prefer j not.' " rthe—"But that wouldn't be true." . —Life. TOO MUCH BENT. | Raynor— "The best thing to do with your boy, it seems to me, is to let him follow his natural bent." Shyne—"His natural bent? Great Scott, he rides his bicycle three fourths of his time already."—Chicago j Tribune. A MATTER OF TASTE. "I say," inquired the lady bug; "why don't you dress in the prevail ing colors?" j "Bah!" answered the potato bug; "lavender doesn't go with my com plexion, and these Paris greens simply Inake me sick."—Puck. A LAST RESORT. Clerk—"l can't sell this silk at all, ' sir. As soon as I tell people the price they sny it is not worth it." Floor-walker—"Well, we've got to get rid of it, somehow. Mark it up a t'.ollar a yard more and put it on the bargain counter."—Puck. A HIGH STANDARD. Hoggs—"A man should possess a pertain degree of intelligence before lie can vote profitably." Foggs—"What would you fix as the standard ?" Boggs—"Being able to distinguish between a two and a five."—Truth. YOUTHFUL LOGIC. Governess— "You see, my dear, the Antipodes live on tho other side of the earth, and they are only going to bed When we are getting up." | Little Emma —"Then, Fraulein, I suppose my brother Fritz, the student, Is an Antipode, eh?"—FJiegendeßlaet tcr. NOT IN THE BILL OF FARE. Au epicurean uoblenwn called one day on a banker of his acquaintance, | and remarked in the course of convcr- | sation: "I have just been dining with a poet, who treated us at dessert to an excellent epigram." When his visitor had gone, the banker, a "self-made man," sent for his cook and asked him: "How is it you have never yet sent any epigrams up to my table?"—La Propaganda Mercantile Industrial. HIS GREAT WORK. "Well, Tillinghast, what are you doing now?" "Just now, Gildersleeve, I am en gaged in rewriting some of Shakes peare's plays, to adapt them to the de mands of modern theatre goers." "Ah! What arc you doing with them?" "Introducing sawmills, ore crush ers, pile drivers, tanks, and the like." —Truth. CRIMINAL HISTORY OF A DECADE. 1. "In the Gloaming." 2. "Silver Threads Among tho Gold." 3. "My Grandfather's Clock." 4. "White Wings." 5. "Sweet Yiolets.'' 6. "Annie Rooney." ■% 7. "Down Went McGinty," N 8. "Comrades." 9. "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay." 10. "After the Ball."—Chicago Eu- I cord. THE DINNER HOUR. "Yes, sir, I maintain that the great est danger to this country lies in tho ignorance of the foreign laborers who are flocking to our shores. Now look at those men working on the street there. What do they know about the great questions which confront the public?" "Well, now, as I was watching them a short time ago, I was struck with the fact that they seemed to be thoroughly alive to the main issue of the hour." "You were! How? When was it?" "The dinner gong had just rung." —Detroit Tribune. AN ESTIMATE OF ORATORY. Tho candidato for Congress had been making a speech in one of the towns of his district where he was not j well known personally, and in the evening, while waiting for a train, he strayed into a butcher shop, and with out saying who he was, began to pump the butcher to find out how he stood. "Did you hear that speech this after noon?" ho inquired, after some general talk. | "Yes," replied the butcher, "I wan I there." "What did you think of it?" "Pshaw," said tho honest butcher, "I've made a better speech than that a hundred times, trying to sell fifteen cents worth of soup-bone." The can didate concealed his identity>—De troit Free Press. Notable Epitaphs. I The Brooklyn Eagle, having been I requested to furnish "a few short j epitaphs," responds with the follow | ing. "In a work on epitaphs we find I an admirable selection of very brief ; ones on stones found in English ehurcli- I yards. One such stone is in Leaming ton Cemetery, where the epitaph ol J. T. Burgess, formerly editor of the Leamington Spa Courier, is one word, 'Resting.' In Worcester is a stone erected over the grave of the departed auctioneer of that city, on which 'Gone' is inscribed. In a Sussex graveyard, in addition to the initials of the deceased and the date of death, a stone has inscribed in large letters tho words 'He Was.' Two of the strangest as well as tho shortest epi taphs are 'Asleep (as usual),* on the tombstone of a large individual by one who knew him well, and 'Left Till Called For' is carved 011 a gravestone in Cane Hill Cemetery, Belfast. A photographer has this inscription over his grave: 'Here I lie, taken from life.' On the tomb of Charles the Great, first Emperor of Germany, are two words only, 'Caralo Magna.' " The study of epitaphs furnishes much entertainment. Here are several, not as short as those quoted by the Eagle, but quite as unique. At Wolstanton, England: Mrs. Ann Jennings. Some have children, some have none *. Here lies the mother of twenty-one. On the tomb of Shields, the Irish orator: Mere lie I at reckon, and my spirit at niso is, With the tip of my nose, and the ends of my toes. Turned up 'gainst the roots of the daisies. In a New England churchyard this appears: Here lies John Auricular. Who in the ways of the Lord walked per pendicular. And this memorial to John Mound is raised, not in Ireland, but in old England: Here lies the body of John Mound, Lost nt sea and never found. An Orang Outang Out for a Stroll. It is a most interesting sight to watch an orangoutang make its way through the jungle. It walks slowly along the ' larger branches in a semi-erect atti tude, this being apparently caused by the length of its arms and the short ness of its legs. It invariably selects 1 those branches which intermingle with those of a neighboring tree, 011 ap proaching which it stretches out its long arm, and, grasping the boughs opposite, seem first to shake them as if to test their strength, and then de liberately swings itself across to tho next branch, which it walks along us before. It does not jump or spring as monkeys usually do, and never ap pears to hurry itself unless some real danger presents. Yet in spite of itH apparently slow movements, it gets along far <yiicker than a person run ning through the forest beneath,-* Chicago Herald, HUNTING FOR BIG GAME. THE PERILS OF ELEPHANT SHOOT ING IN SOUTH AFRICA. Laws for the Protection of Klepliants —The Heaviest Tusk in the World at the Fair. THE heaviest elephant tusk in the world, bo far as known, is at tho World's Fair in the Cape Colony exhibit. It is seven and a half feet long and weighs 158 pounds. At the thickest part it is about six inches through. The mate to it, which is a little lighter, is in the museum at Cape Town. Thero is an elephant tusk larger thun this, be longing to the King of Siain, but it is not so heavy. The elephant who carried these monstrous tusks more than 800 pounds of ivory, or twice the weight of an average man—was killed in the Zambesi country, South Africa, some years ago. He was about fourteen feet high and was a genuine king of the for est who would have dwarfed Jumbo himself. Elephant hunting is the first of all sports with the gun, but the slaughter of these great animals has been so pro digious since the Arabs and other traders have sold breach-loading rifles to the tribes throughout Africa, that many fear their speedy extermination. However, Robert Lee, who is one of the men in charge of the ('ape Colony exhibit, and who has traveled much in tho elephant country, thinks that tho great beast will hold on for many gen erations yet. Africa is so vast, many regions arc so difficult of access, and the elephant is so tenacious of life, he says, that man cannot kill all his tribe as lie has slaughtered the buffalo in America. "Elephant hunting is extremely dangerous," said Mr. Lee. "I know of no other sport in which tho hunter is so liable to become tho hunted. I am not a sportsman myself, and I have never tried to kill an elephant, but I was once with others who thought they would accomplish such a feat. "In 1887 I accompanied Colonel Carrington's expedition into the coun try north of the Transvaal. While rid ing along through an open country wo saw a herd of elephants. I think there were about twenty of them. We came close enough for a shot. Tho Colonel called for his elephant gun and blazed away at the elephants. In stantly tho whole herd darted toward us, trumpeting fiercely and really presenting a most, terrifying appear ance. None of us paused for uuother shot, but turned our horses and gal loped away as fast as we could, the elephants in full chase. So far as we knew, the Colonel's bullet had missed entirely. "My horse was not an especially good one, and I brought up the rear of that flying column. An elephant, de spite his awkward appearance, can run very fast, and I began to think of my sins. My horse stepped into a hole, stumbled, fell aud threw me over his head. I wasn't much hurt, and I jumped to my feet instantly and seized the horse's reins. The animal wasn't much hurt, either, and I got him to his feet and was on his back and off again in about fifteen seconds, I think. I don't know how close the elephants were to me when I fell, for I never looked back, I overtook the rest of tho party, and when wc stopped the ele phants were to be eeen no longer. People who arc fond of a chase with plenty of danger in it should hunt the elephant. I don't care for it myself." Mr. Lee says ho has seen many herds of elephants along the Zambesi River, and they are still more plentiful further north. Though Cape Colony has been settled about as long as the United States, there are still some elephants in a portion of its mountainous region, known as the Knysui country. They arc supposed to be about five hundred in number, and protected by the Gov ernment. Elephants are said to grow larger south of the Zambesi than uorth of it. There are considerable herds in the country of Kahma, King of the Bow longs. This man is the most advanced of all the South African kings or chiefs. He has provided a set of game laws for his country, and they are rigidly enforced. Hence in the largo territory over which he rules the ele phants are increasing in numbers rather than diminishing. Khama, nat urally a man of good disposition, is .largely under the influence of a Pres byterian missionary, a Scotchman, nnd a very enlightened and a liuinano man. "I know Khama very well," 6aid Mr. Lee, "as I accompanied one of the expeditions of the English into his country. He -is a remarkable man in appearance, as well us in character. He is at least six feet four inches tall, and enormously fat. He received us kindly and asked us many qnestions. He was greatly pleased with our clothes, and discarded his African at tire in favor of a suit like ours." Proper Sitting Position. "A proper sitting position." 6ays somebody, "requires that the spine shall be kept straight, aud that the support needed for the upper part of the body shall be felt in the rigi*. place." Therefore, sit as far back w possible in the chair, so that the low:* end of tho spine shall be braced at the back ol the seat.—Now York Times. Big California Rose?, N. W. Scudder lins upon hii desk a mammoth rose of the Houehtv Concha variety. It measures six inches across, while exactly two feet of tapo is re quired to find the circumference This extra large specimen was grown upon a hush which has yielded some forty blossoms almost as large ay this Petalumft (Cal.) Courier.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers