Florida oranges are being shipped
to Europe, where hitherto the Italian
fruit has reigned supreme.
The Supreme Court of Missouri has j
decided that the law which provides :
for the selling of vagrants' labor at I
auction is unconstitutional.
The only instrument used purely
for punishment in English jails now- j
ad ays is a crank handle weighted
heavily with lead and working heavily
inside a box.
The Commissioner of Indian affairs
advocates the instruction of Indian
women in household duties. Bucks
r eceive education in the trades, but
the women receive little attention.
The macadamizing of a piece of
road in Ohio increased the value of
the adjoinining farms $4.50 an acre, I
while the cost was less than $1 an
acre. The American Cultivator thinks
that some one ought to go all through
the country preaching the gospel of
good roads.
The so-called Russian thistle, which
has become such a pest in the North- i
western States, is not properly a this
tle at all, but an annual, nearly allied
to the saltworts. It has done more
than $2,000,000 damage to tho crops
last year. It was accidentally intro.
duced seventeen years ago, in some
flaxseed imported from Russia by a I
man in Scotland, South Dakota. It
is estimated that it will cost fully $2,-
000,000 to eradicate it, and the New ,
York Tribune, learns that the Depart
ment of Agriculture has been ap- j
pealed to to take the matter in hand.
A weather prophet, named A. J.
Pevoe, of Zingsem, N. J., predicted
last spring an extremely drv summer. |
His own faith in his prediction in
duced him to plant potatoes on the j
edge of a swamp, where at planting
time the water was all around them.
In ten weeks after he was eating new
potatoes of good Hize, while all his j
neighbors' potatoes were burned up
by drought. But that prognostication
of the future, observes the American
Cultivator, is not valuable to a man
who did not happen to have a swamp
to plant potatoes in. The practical I
knowledge that does most good is to
know how to deepen soil and cultivate j
it so that good crops can be grown
independent of tho churactcr of tho
season.
The New York Financial Chronicle,
a leading paper of its class, thinks
that better times are ahead. It says:
"Slow hut evident progress appears to
bo making towards the revival of our
industries. Fivcry indication con
tinues as favorable as could Vie ex
pected. The close of the year is al
ways the quiet season. Work, too, in
many and prominent departments can
not start up again before spring opens.
Notable instances are the building (
tra<ie, which received such a serious i
set-back during the summer ami fall,
and railroad expenditures, which were
at the same time contracted withiu tho
smallest possible compass. These de- !
partments of our activities relate to
operations which cover a vast field of j
enterprise, touching very many |
trades, and vet but little new move- I
ment in them can be anticipated for j
several months. In face of these facts j
thcro have been undoubted signs of
an increased movement of iron, !
especially in the Wert, with a better
tone in the markets. The demand for !
general merchandise, too, is alau
widening."
The English sparrows have j>roved u
nuisance in the cotton country, for as
soon as the pods open they pick out
the cotton an 1 carry it off, and some
planters have lost, as they claim, hun
dreds of pounds in this way. There is
one mnn, however, on the Mississippi
that has not lost much, relates the
Chicago Herald. When he found the
sparrows were committing depreda
tions ho procured a quantity of wheat,
soaked it in sweetened whisky, and
strewed it along the rows. The spar
rows found it and thought they had a
picnic. Ho they had, but io fifteen or
twenty minutes thero was the tipsiest
lot of English sparrows ever seen on
the face of this earth. They rolled
about on the ground, fallingon their
sides and backs, kicking their heels
into the air like a parcel of drunkards,
all the. while uttering the most comical
aqueaks. They did not have long to
squeak, however, for the l>oys gathered
them up and threw them into bags.
The first day they gathered two bushels
of drunken sparrows. Three or four
dayH later the experiment was repent
ed with almost equal success, and from
time to time since. They made excel
lent potpie, but the survivors have
evidently come to regard the planta
tion as hoodooed, for now very few
come about it.
I j WINTER SONO.
1 I Bincr me a song of tho dead world,
Of the great frost deep and still,
I Of the sword ot lire the wind hurled
j On the iron hill.
Bin# me a song of the driving snow,
j Of tho reeling cloud and tho smoky drift,
Wboro the sheotod wraiths like ghosts go
[ Through the gloomy rift.
fling mo a song of the ringing blade,
Of tho snarl und shatter the light Ice
makes,
Of the whoop and the swing of the snow
shoe raid
Through the cedar brakes,
fling me a song of the apple-loft,
Of the corn and the nuts and the mounds
of meal,
Of the sweeping whir of the spindlo soft,
And tho spinning-wheel.
fling me a song of the open page,
Wtaorsthe ruddy gleams of tho firelight
dance,
Where bends my love Armitage,
Reading an ol 1 romance.
fling me n song of tho still nights.
Of the large stars steady and high.
The aurora darting its phosphor lights
In the purple sky.
—Duncan Campbell fl<ott, in Scribnor.
THE RYNARI) GOLD REEF
COMPANY, LIMITED.
BY WALTER BEBANT.
Idear old
j boy," said the
sure T wish it
could be with
\/ojj) l))i(A my heart
I HS?v vo ttny
have," replied
I - ■ - ijy
"Well, but
Reg. consider; you've got no money."
"I've got five thousand pounds. If
a man can't make his way upon that
, he must be a poor stick."
I "You would go abroad with it and
dig, and take your wife with you to j
Wash and cook."
"Wo would do something with |
tho money here. You Hhould stay in ,
London, Howie."
"Yes; in a suburlmn villa, at Sliep- !
herd's Bush, perhaps. No, Reg, when |
I marry, if ever 1 do I am in no ;
hurry I will step out of this room in- |
to one exactly like it." The room was I
a splendid drawing-room in Palace '
Gardens, splendidly furnished. "J •
shall have my footman and my car
riage, and I shall—"
"Kosie, give me the right to earn all I
these things for you !" the young man !
cried impetuously.
"You can only earn them for me by '
the time you have one foot in the I
grave. Hadn't I better in the mean
time marry some old gentlemen with I
his one foot in the grave, so as to be
ready for you against the time when
you come home? In two or three
years the other foot, I dare way, would 1
slide into the grave as well!"
"You laugh at my trouble. You
feel nothing."
I "If the pater would part -but he
1 won't— ho says he wants all of his
I money for himself, and that I've got
to murry well. Besides, Reg,"—here
I her face clouded and she lowered her
i voice—"there are times when he looks
I anxious. We didn't always live in
I Palace Gardens. Suppose we should I
lose it nil as quickly na we got it. Oh?"
I she shivered and trembled. "No I
; will never, never marry a poor man.
Get rich, my dear boy, and you may j
aspire even to the valuable possession
of tliis heartless hand."
She held it out. He took it, pressed
it, stooped and kissed her. Then he
dropped her hand and walked quickly
out of the room.
"Poor Reggie !" she murmured. "I
wish -I wish—but what's tho uso of j
wishing?"
Two men—one young, the other 1
about lifty— sut in tho veranda of a
small bungalow. Jt was after break- |
fast. They lay hack in long bamboo j
chairs, each with a cigar. It looked j
as if they were resting. In reality
they were talking business, and that !
very seriouslv.
'Yew, sir, said the other man, with
something of an American accent. "I
have somehow taken a fancy to this
1 4 , i healthy."
th. } ,I °u t kn ° W '' rve h,MI mor
than one touch of the fever here."
"The climate is luvely—"
"Except in the ruins."
"The soil is fertile—"
"I've dropped five thousand in it, t
ami they have not come up again yet." '
"They will. I have been round the
estate and I see money in it. Well,
sir, here's my offer: fivo thousand
down, hard cash, as soon us the papers
are signed."
Reginald sat up. He was on the
point of accepting this proposal when
a pony rode up to the house, sad the
rider, a native groom, jumped off and
Rave him a note. Ho opened it and
rem It wusfromhis nearest neighbor,
two or three miles away : "Don't sell
that man your estate. Gold has been
found, lie wlioie country is full of
gold. Hold on. He's a,, assnyer. If
he offers to buy, he quite sure thnt ho
baa found gold on your land. F (> "
Ho put the note into his pocket, gnve
a verbal message to the boy and turned
to his guest, without betraying the
least astonishment or emotion.
"I beg your pardon. The note wan
from Bellamy, ray next neighbor.
Well? You were saying—"
"Only that I have taken a fancy
perhaps a foolish fancy—to this place
of yours, and I'll give you, if yon like,
all that you have spent upon it."
"Well," he replied, reflectively, but
with a little twinkle in his eye, "that
teems handsome. But the place isn't
really worth the half that I have spent
upon it. Anybody would tell you
that. Come, let us be honest, what
ever we are. I'll tell you a better
way. We will put the matter into the
hands of Bellamy. He knows what a
coffee plantation is worth. He shall
name a price, and if we can agree
upon that we will make a deal of it."
The other man changed color. He
wanted to settle the thing at once as
between gentlemen. What need of
| third parties? But Reginald stood
I firm, and he presently rode away,
quite sure thut in u day or two this
planter, too, would have heard the
news.
A month later the young coffee
planter stood on he deck of a steamer
homeward bound. In his pocketbook
was a plan of his auriferous estate ;
in a bag hanging around hiR neck was
a small collection of yellow nuggets;
in his boxes was a chosen assortment
of quartz.
"Well, sir," said the financier;
"you have brought this thing to me;
you want my advice. Well, my ad
vice is, don't fool away the only good
thing that will tver happen to you.
Luck such as this doesn't come more
than once in a lifetime."
"I have been offered £IO,OOO for my
est ate."
"Oh! have you? Ten thousand?
That was very liberal—very liberal,
indeed. Ten thousand for a gold
reef!"
"But I thought as an old friend of
my father you would, perhaps—"
"Young man, don't fool it away.
He's waiting for you, I suppose, round
the corner, with an iuvitution to din
ner, ready to close."
"He iH."
"Well, go and eat his dinner. Al
ways get whatever you can, and then
I tell him that you HCC him—"
"I certainly will, sir, if you advise
it. And then?"
"And then—leave it to me. And,
young man, I think I heard a year or
two ago something about you und my
girl ltosie."
"There was something, sir; not
enough to trouble you about it."
"She told me—Rosio tells me all
her love affairs."
"Is she —is she unmarried?"
"Oh, yes, and for tho moment I be
lieve she is free. She has had one or
two engagements, but somehow they
have come to nothing. There was the
French Count, but that was knocked
on tho head very early in consequence
of things discovered. And there was
the Boom in Guano, but he fortunately
smashed much to ltosie's joy, because
she never liked him. The last was
Lord Evergreen. He was a nice old
chap when you could understand what
he said, and Rosie would have liked the
title very much, though his grandchil
dren opposed the thing. Well, sir, I
suppose you couldn't understand the
trouble we took to keep that old man
alive for his own wedding. Science
I did all it could, but 'twas of no use."
| The financier sighed. "The ways of
Providence are, inscrutiblc. He died,
' sir, the day before."
"That was very sad."
"A dashing of the cup from the lip,
sir. My daughter would have been a
Countess. Well, young gentleman,
about this estate of yours. I think I
| seo away I think, I am not yet suro
—that Ido see away. Go now. Seo
this liberal gentleman and come here
in a week. Then, if I still see my way,
yon shall understand what it means
to hold the position in the city which
j is mine."
"And—and—may I call upon Rosie?"
"Not till this day week, not till I
have made my way plain. 1 '
"And so it means this. Oh, Rosie,
you look lovelier than ever, and I'm as
happy as a king. It means this. Your
father is the greatest genius in the
world. He buys my property for
£60,000 —sixty thousand. That's over
£2OOO a year for me, and ho makes a
company out of it with £150,000 capi
tal. He says that, takiug £IO,OOO out
of it for expenses, there will l>ea profit
of £SO,OOO. And all that he givos to
you—£Bo,ooo, that's £.'looo a year for
you and £90,000, that's two more, ray
dearest Rosie. You remember what
you said, that when you married you
would step out of oue room like this
into another just as good?"
"Oh, Reggie"—she sank upon his
bosom—"you know I uever could love
anybody but you. It's true I was en
gaged to old Lord Evergreen, but that
was only because he had one foot, you
know, and when the other foot went in
too, just a day too soon, I actually
laughed. Ho the pater is going to
make a company of it, is he? Well, I
I hope ho won't put any of his own
I money iuto it, I'm sure, because of
| late all the companies have turned out
so badly."
"Rut, my child, the place is full of
gold."
'Then why did he turn it iuto a
company, my dear boy? And why
didn't he make you Hticktoit? But you
know nothing of the city. Now, let
us sit down, and talk about what we
shall do; don't, you ridiculous boy!"
Another house just like the first.
The bride stepped out of one palace
into another. With their five or six
thousand a year, the young couple
could just manage to make both ends
meet. The husband was devoted ; the
wife had everything she could wish.
Who could be happier than this pair
in a nest so luxurious, their lifo so
padded, their days so full of sunshine?
It was a year after marriage. The
wife, contrary to her usual custom,
was the first at breakfast. A few let
ters were waiting for her—chiefly in
vitations. Hhe opened and read them.
Among them lay one addressed to her
husband. Not looking at the address,
she opened and read that as well:
! DEAR UP.OINAUD—I venture to ad
| dress you as an old friend of you/ own
| and schoolfellow of your mother's. I
am a widow with four children. My
: husband was the Vicar of your old
parish—you remember him and me. I
| was left with a little income of about
two hundred a year. Twelve months
ago I was persuaded, in order to
double my income—a thing which
seemed certain from the prospectus—
to invest everything in a new and rich
gold mine. Everything. And the
mine has never paid anything. The
company—it is called the Rynard Gold
Reef Company—is in liquidation be
cause, though there is really the gold
there, it costs too much to get it. I
have no relatives anywhere to help me.
Unless I can get assistance my chil
dren and I must go at once —to-mor-
row— into the workhouse. Yes, wo
are paupers. I am ruined by the cruel
lies of that prospectus, and the wicked
ness which deluded me, and I know
not how many others, out of my
money. I have been foolish, and am
punished. But those people, who will
punish them? Help me, if you can,
my dear Reginald. Oh, for God's sako
help my children and me. Help your
mother's friend, your own old friend."
"This," said Rosie, meditatively,
"is exactly the kind of thing to mako
Reggie uncomfortable. Why, it might
make him unhappy all day. Better
burn it." She dropped the letter into
the firo. "He's an impulsive, emo
tional nature, and ho doesn't under
stand the city. If people are so fool
ish. What a lot of fibs the poor old
pater does tell, to bo sure. He's a
regular novelist—Oh! hero you are,
you lazy boy !"
"Kiss me, Rosie." He looked as
handsome as Apollo and as cheerful.
"I wish all the world were as happy as
you and mo. Hoigho! Some poor ,
wretches, I'm afraid—"
"Tea or coffee, Reg?"—Londor
Strand.
A Double Fish.
A double fish, or rather two fishes
joined together by a growth similar to
the connection between the Siamese
twins, was caught at Crevo Coeur Lake
recently under peculiar circumstances.
William Schaefer, of the Grand Bill
iard Hall, and his friend Billie Ben
nett, before going on a fishing trip to
Crevo Cceur, made a friendly wager,
by the terms of which the one who had
the least success should, on their re
turn, entertain the other at a dinner.
The score stood fifty-one to fifty in
Billie's favor, when Schaefer's line
tautened and he landed a jack salmon.
On examining the fish he was astound
ed to learn that his catch was a freak.
There were two fishes, perfect in every
way, between >hom there was u
growth which bound them together.
The growth was just below the gills.
"That ties us," said Bennett.
"I guess not," Schaefer replied.
"I have two fishes here. This makes
me fifty-two to your fifty-one."
"But you only caught one," argued
Bennett.
"How's that? I caught them both,"
urged Schaefer.
"Hod" Stevens, the superintendent
of tlio lake, wus asked to decide
whether the piscatorial dual should be
counted as a unit or more. Stevens
listened to the arguments of both and
acknowledged his inability to satisfy
them on the point, uiul suggested that
the matter be left to old John Morgan,
who had been a fhliermau at Crevo
Cmiir Lnko since '49. Morgan, after
hearing both sides, decided in Schae
fer's favor.
"But," said Bennett, "we wero
only to count fish caught with a hook.
Now, only one of these fish bit at the
bait. The hook was only in one
fish's mouth."
•'Makes no difference. T'other one's
hooked on to the one Schaefer hooked
und he won."—St. Louis Republic.
Checkers In Hie Street.
Checkers seem to have as great a
fascination for the longshoreman as
they have for the country storekeeper,
only the longshoreman plays without
checker-board or checkers. That is,
he hasn't a regular outfit. Of courso
he has to have some sort Hort of outfit,
but this he makes himself. You can
see him any day along West street, or
Front, or Washington, at tho noon
hour, absorbed in the game.
He takes a platform against which
wagons back, and chalks out on its
floor a checker-board, making each
alternate square very white with chalk
and leaving the others blank. For
checkers one side uses grains of com
and the other beans or white pebbles
—it depends on where the game is
played. And they go on at the game
with all the energy and absorbing in
terest their big bodies can command.
Sometimes you see twenty couples
in one block eager over tho contest.
They play well, too, for long practice
has mado them perfect, and a small
stake adds to tho excitement of the
play. The loser usually has to pay for
the glass of mixed ale that every long
shoreman wants with his midday lunch.
They have champions among them,
too, and when these big players ore
pitted thoro is always a crowd to look
on and opplaud. Hut, of course, every
reader has seen all this for himself.—
Now York World.
A New Kind of fashion.
"Confidence cushions" are tho pil
lows that stand in u corner near the
I fireplace when they are not in use,
and that afford a resting-place when in
use, for the lowly individual who likes
to sit at his friend's feet. They are
big, square and frill-less, covered with
denim or mohair plush. —New York
World.
An Aged Doctor.
Dr. Frederick And roe, of Mitchell,
South Dakota, claim i to be the first
authorized practitioner of medicine in
the immense region west of tho Miss
issippi and north of the Missouri. He
is a native of Massachusetts, is now
nearly niuety-ono years old, and set
i tled Dubuque in 1831.
THE MERRY SIDE OF^LIFEy
■WOnrES THAT ARB TOT,D BT\THE,
FUNN7 MEN OF THE PRESS.
Sticky, Hut Not Stuck—Wonted Ito
Know —Very Belf-com|W nceat—
Most Decidedly, Ktc.. KU;. '
She loved him very tenderly, >j
He loved her not a bit, /
Yet fete decreed thnt on this niirht
■I bey side by side should sit.
"Say something sweet, deer," sid the maid ']
And through her colored KIRHHDS .
She eyed him fondly as he breathed }
lho single wori—''Molasses !'• J
-—Boston Budget. 1
WANTED TO KNOW. /
"Which would you rutl-r be, n
knave or a fool?" asked Idiotfcus.
t know," replied 'Cynicus.,
"What has been your experience?"
J udgc. J
THE MAIDEN'S PRAYER. I
"All flesh is grass!" shouted f the
minister.
"Keep off the grass," prayed J the
girl who had a perfect horror of {get
ting fat.—Puck.
TIME WILL TELL. *
"Yon have faith that your husband
will become a great artist?"
Wife "I can't tell yet, you see ;he
has only been dead ton years."—Chi-
Migo Inter-Ocean.
PETTY CASH.
Spacer—"lt pays to send stamps
with a manuscript."
Liner—"Doesn't that tempt the
editor to return it?"
Spacer—"No; to use it."—Truth.
VERY HELP-COMFI ACENT.
Flora Fairchild (of Philistia)
"Beauty's not everything, Mr. Daffo
dil ; it generally makes people vain."
Narcissus Daffodil (poet)-—"I don't
think I'm vain, Miss Fairchild."—
Boston Budgtt.
TFIE REIGN OF THE SHORT STORY.
"Are you fond of short stories?"
asked Binx.
"No," replied Banx. "I hear too
many of tliom. Nearly everybody I
meet wants to borrow money of me,"
—Washington Star.
MOST DECIDEDLY,
Jinks—"l don't believe thnt acritio
reads half of tho author's books he
criticises."
Binks—"The author is more con
siderate. He reads every word of tho
critic's criticism."—Puck.
HIS POCKETS NEVER TOUCHED.
Scrini]on —"No, sir, I respond only
to the appeals of tho deserving poor."
Paughper—"Who arc tho deserving
poor?"
Scrimpin—"Those who never ask
for assistance."—Elmira Gazette.
WHAT THE WORLD AWAITS.
Inventor —"Well, I think my for
tune's made if I succeed in what I'm at
now."
Friend—"What are you trying to
invent?"
Inventor—"A non-explosive, un
loaded pistol."—Puck.
WELL-EARNED REST.
Lady (to polite laborer who has of
fered her his seat)—"Oh, no! Keep
your seat, my good man; you have
been working hard all day."
Polite Laborer (sympathetically)
"Take it. Ma'am. Thrue, Oi'vo bin
carry in' th* hod all th' day; but you've
bin slioppin*.Puck.
THE OREATEBT PHYSICIAN— LOVE.
Mr. Fainte—"Miss Rosalie, I un
derstand that you have l>een attending
the lectures on How to Treat Ordinary
Illnesses?"
She-"Yes."
He (drawing nearer) —"Can -can
you tell 1110 what you would do for a
broken heart?"— Vogue.
TIIE PROMONTORIES.
"The promontories of the ladies this
full are quite striking."
"Promontories? What mean you?"
"Why, simply the high capes they
are wearing. Isn't a high cape a pro
montory?"
And then they "rounded the horn."
—Brooklyn Standard Union.
NOT AN UNUSUAL HEAD.
Young Officer (to veteruu) "lsn't
it peculiar that when I first graduated
I wore a number seven-and-u-half for
age cap, the next one was n seveu-and
a-quarter, and now I wear a seven?"
Veteran —"Not at all; I have often
seen young graduates of the military
academy uiketed in that way."—
Tudge.
OVERHEARD IN THE OFFICE.
"I'm not fond of scrapping," said
the desk sponge, during a midday
silence, "but I'm compelled to do a
good deal ol licking nowadays for the
boss."
"Yes," returned the mucilage bottle,
"and he calls on me every now and
then to paste something in the back."
—Truth.
TTIF. DIFFERENCE.
Mistress "iVhat km 1 of pies are
these, cook?"
Cook —"Some av 'en is appul an' I
some is mince."
Mistress—".Rut I told you to mark j
them so they could he told apart; and
they are all marked 4 T. M."'
Cook "So they be, mum— 4 'Tis
mince'-an' 4 'fuiu't mince.'"—Judge.
HER CONCLUSION.
Mrs. Bings "Mrs. Nextdoor told
nie you ooce wanted to marry that
Miss Upton. She wouldn't have you,
1 nreaume."
I Mr. Bings—"Did Mrs. Nextdoor say
Miss Upton refused meV"
Mrs. Bings—"No, she merely re
' 'marked that Miss Upton had always
been a very sensible girl."—New York
Weekly.
SURE.
"A green Christmas makes a fat
graveyard, they say. I hope this one
will be white."
A green Christmas mav make a fat
graveyard, but I'll tell you something
that both a green and a white Christ
mas make lean."
"What's that?"
Your pocketbook." Brownina'e
Monthly.
A CLUE.
"Have you heard of Jack the
Slasher?" said the Washington man.
"No," replied the visitor, who was
gently pressing his handkerchief
against a scratch in his face. "What
did you say the name is?"
"Jack the Slasher."
"H'm'm? I don't know him, but I
guess I've met him. That must be the
barber who tried to shave me this
morning."—Washington Star.
HARD TO PLEASE.
Wife—"Tell me honestly, John. If
I should die would you inarry again ?"
John (desiring to please) "xMarry
again? Of course I wouldn't. Such
an idea would never enter my mind."
Wife (angrily)—"Oh, you wouldn't?
You don't find marriage pleasant, I
suppose. No doubt you are sorry you
married me. Oh, you wretch !"
John (still desiring to please)—" You
don't understand, my dear. I was
joking, of course. I meant that I
would marry again "
Wife (more augrily)—"You would,
eh? You are in an awful big hurry
to get married again. Perhaps you
wish I was out of the way. I know
you would be glad if 1 died, you
wretch I"—Judge.
A LOVER'S MIHCALOITJATION.
"I'll take this seveuty-five-cent bot
tle of perfume if you will take off this
cost mark and put on one wilh 51. 60
ou it," said a young man to the clerk
in a drug store.
"All right."
It was done.
"Great head," soliloquized tho
young man. "Minnie will notice that
cost mark and love me for spending
my substance so liberally for her. Jt
never hurts a young man's chances for
the object of his admiration to think
he regards her worth getting the very
best far."
Tho bottle of perfume was sent, and
an evening or two later the donor
called in person and casually prox>osed
marriage.
"James," said the girl.
"What is it, Minnie, dear?"
"You sent me a bottle of perfumo?"
"Yes. Did you like it?"
"It was good perfume, James, but
it wasn't worth any dollar and a half.
Seventy-five rents is the regular price
for that perfume, aud I can't say that
I have much use for a young man who
is so careless of his money as to pay
for an article twice what it is worth."
"But, Minnie—"
James was going to explain, but on
second thought ho refrained. It oc
curred to him that a girl might liko
him less for deceiving her than for ex
travagance. So he put on his hat and
departed, resolving to try different
tactics when he found another girl.—
Harper's Bazar.
WISE WORDS.
Tho breath of prayer comes from
the life of faith.
I It is laziness of mind which takes
away the taste for good books.
The blue heaven is larger all
the clouds m it, and much more last
ing.
Liberality consists less in giving
much than in giving at the right mo
ment.
One seldom repents of having said
too little, often of having said too
much.
A man is born for great things
when he has tho strength to conquer
himself.
Nothing else is so pleasant as a good
an l beautiful soul; it shows itself in
j every action.
Modesty is to merit what shading is
Ito the figures in a picture; it gives it
[ force autl expression.
What is more glorious than to be
conquered, or rather to be willing to
be conquered by the truth.
Perhaps to suffer is nothing else than
to live more deeply. Love and sor
row are the two conditions of a pro
found life.
Modern Science Applied.
A London city magnate who daily
diives to his place of business has a
phonograph in his carriage into which
he pours messages, short letters, in
structions and other matters of im
portance. When ho alights the ma
chine is handed to the head clerk and
ho takes his instructions from it.
Both the telegraph and tho telephone
are about to encounter a new rival in
tho telautograph —an instrument for
transmitting messages in haudwritiug
by means of electricity.—New York
Herald.
A Curious ( optic Sleeping Custom.
The Coptic patriarch of Alexandria
is never allowed to sleep more than
fifteen minutes at any one time, and
if the attendant should allow the holy
one's nap to extend beyond the allotted
time the peualty is decapitation. Upon
being aroused at the end of each quar
ter hour the Patriarch arises an 1
spreads his rug upon the floor, kneels
upon it, bows his head three times to
the east and then again retires. —St.
Louis Reuublic.
BEAR VERSUS ALLIGATOR.
4. FIEBOE FIGHT IN A LOUISIANA
BATOU.
While Drinking Bruin Is Attacked
by a Huge Saurian—A Duel to the
Death.
WALTER D. KLAPP givei
in the New York Post a
vivid description of a
fierce encounter between
a bear and an alligator which he wit
nessed while hunting with a friend in
Louisiana. Kays Mr. Klapp:
While lazily enjoying our siesta we
were suddenly startled by a loud
crashing in the bushes on the other
side of the bayou. Snatching up our
rifles, we rushed to the water's edgo
just in time to see a large black bear
come out of the cane brake and walk
leisurely to the opposite bank. He
was evidently thirsty, and had sought
the cool waters of the bayou instead
of the easier obtained but hot and
stagnant lake water. As he had not
yet caught sight of us wo concluded to
wait developments before attempting
to secure so enviable a prize.
Tho bear climbed into a low tree
that grew out of tho side of the bank,
and proceeded to crawl out on a stout
limb overhanging the bayou. Hia
weight bent the thick limb till it
dipped into the wnter, and the bear
squatted himself 011 the interlacing
branches and began lapping vigorous
ly. 80 eagerly did he drink, and so
intently were we watching him, that
neither noticed a fierce swirling of
the water just below, until a long black
snout shot suddenly from beneath tho
surface and two gleaming rows of
teeth closed on the outstretched muz
zle of the bear. The shock of this
unexpected onslaught was so sudden
that tho bear had no time to clinch
his hold on the tree, and so ho tum
bled headforemost into the water, and
turning a complete somersault, fell ou
his back at some distance from tho
alligator.
In falling ho had jerked himself freo
from the alligator's teeth, and now he
began to make frantic efforts to swim
to shore. But the alligator, with one
flirt of his tail, was npon him again,
this time seizing him by a forepnw
and crushing it like an eggshell. We
could hear the bones crock. The bear
uttered a terrific howl of pain and
rage, and with his other paw gave the
alligator a blow which sent his long
body dying through the air for a con
siderable distance. This short respite
the bear utilized in paddling violently
for the shore, for ho was at a deadly
disadvantage in the water against the
lightning speed of the alligator in hi*
native element. If he could only gain
the shore, it would soon be "his pic
nic," for tho alligator cannot turn
around, his little stumpy legs being
too far apart.
Like a flash the alligator caught the
bear by his hind leg. They were now
in a place where the water was shallow
over a hidden sand-bar, so the fight wai
a little more even. With a vicioui
snarl tho bear turned on his back, and,
bending double, caught tho alligatoi
by the soft white flesh of his throat.
It was now the bear's turn to bite, an J
bite he did with such good will that
the blood spurted in streams and tlie
alligator, letting go tho foot he had
been chewing, emitted a series of liowlt
that made the woods ring. Then the
light grow fiercer. The alligator heal
a loud tattoo with his tail on the bear'i
tough hide ; but they were at such close
quarters that he could not give it swing
enough to break any bones. He was
gradually working around to a better
position, however. and suddenly
planted a vicious blow square on the
breast that sent the bear flying head
over heels into deep water. He was
up in a second and both rushed to
gether. The bear again sought the
alligator's soft throat, and with his
sharp teeth tore great mouthfuls of
bleeding flesh.
Now, wo thought, the victory will
surely be with the bear. He certainly
did seem to have the beet of it. The
alligator used what breath had not
been squeezed out of him bellowing
like a bull. The sounds he uttered
were BO full of rage that the water-fowl
and small animals near the bayou fled
in affright. The two struggled back
and forth. The water was lashed into
foam by the furious beating of the
alligator's tail. Btraining and strug
gling, this way and that, suddonly the
writhing mass of ferooity slipped off
of the narrow strip of sand and was in
deep water again. Now the conditions
are reversed and the advantage on the
side of tho alligator again. With a
snake-like twist of his litho body
ho slipped from tho boar's
clutches and, wheeling around, tho
long, powerful tail flashed for an in
stant in tho air and descended with
crushing force Mil on the back of tho
bear. Tho thick backbone snapped
like a rood. With the cry of a human
being in distress the bear rolled over,
limp and lifeless, ami sank to tho bot
tom liko a stone, and tho flght was
over.
The victor, apparently lifolcss,
floated motionless on the surfuco of
the water—an alligator always floats
when dead—so we wero preparing to
leave, when a low moan rccallod us
and wo found him in great pain anj
slowly bleeding to death from his la
aerated throat. The water for many*
yards around was dyod orimsou witiii
his blood and his moaning was pitiful!
to hear. We deemed it an act otf
mercy to kill him, and a well-directed
bullet in tho eye soon put an end to
his sufferings.
Upon drawing hira out of the watet'
and measuring him, ho was found to
stretch a full sixteen feet from tip to
tip, one of the largest known.
Since the reduction of cnl> farea in
London the rotio of patronage to
population has risen from 14.G to
•eventy-aevca.