New Orleans has r smaller police force than other American city of cor responding aize. A French snvnnt has discovered that lears are bactericidal and may be de- : pended upon to exterminate certain j microbes. "If people will talk good times in stead of hard times," avers the India napolis Sentinel, "the latter will quickly disappear." John L). Rockefeller has given nearly 85,000.000 to the Chicago University and his what the Detroit Free Press terms, "the good taste" not to demand that it be named for him. Sir Charles Dilke, recently said in the debate in the British Parliament: "The most dangerous illusion any in habitant of the united kingdom can have is that we are a popular power. We nre probably the most unpopular of the great powers." A San Francisco woman disposed of an estate of 810,000 by writing a few lines in pencil on an old envelope. Lawyers say that the will cauuot be broken, and their opinion that women Know nothing nbont business they ro gard as confirmed anew. England is having hard times, notes the Courier-Journal. Its leading I securities declined nearly half a bill ion dollars in value during the past year Its imports fell off $88,000,000 aud its exports $H2,000,000. ltstrade in coal and textiles dwindled alarm iuglv. Navigation of the great hikes dill' ing the season of 1803 resulted in the loss of 123 lives. The number of ves sels lost was fifty-three, with an ag gregnte tonnage of 24,258, and valued at 81,040,400. Partial losses by stranding*, collisions and fires bring the total up $2,112,588. The shallow waters of Lake Erie claimed nearly half the lives lost, Lake Huron being second. John Hvde, expert special agent of statistics of agriculture, has written an interesting monogram on what lie terms "Geographical Concentration." in it he develops the fact that the pro cess of agricultural centralization works very injuriously to the Ameri can farmer, and that mauv of his vicis situdes are due to the single-crop sys tem. He shows, for instance, that while hemp is a product cultivated in Europe from the shores of the White Sea to the Mediterrauian, and that it flourishes in extensive regions in Asia, Africa aud South America, its cultiva tion in the United States is almost wholly confined to Kentucky, that State in 188 having produced 03.77 per cent, of nil tin• hemp mined in this country. Obviously hemp is caoable of being produced over a wide area in the United States, but its cultivation ; is almost wholly unknown outside of Kentucky. Mr. Hv.le makes strong plea for mixed farming, and says that j so long as American fanners persist in devoting themselves t<. the production ! in great quantities of a few things, they cannot expect to prosper. Oklahoma is going to kuo.-k very hard for admission as a State, declares ; the St. Louis Star-Savings. The Ter ritory was organized only three years ago, but in population and wealth it is ' to-day far in advance of the other Tor ritories seeking admission as States. ! The report acconipaving the Applica tion for admissiou as a Stv.te shows | that she has 2,372,482 acres of ' land in farm use valued at, 813,022, 345. In the last year the farmers liar vested 281,25' acres of corn, 222,511' acres of wheat, 100,374 acres of oats. I 21. 11l acres of cotton, 18,755 acres of i sorghuni. 14,121 acres of Hungarian millet, an 1 4125 a - res of br )om corn, j Jt almost hn large as the State of Illinois, and has r population of about ! lioO.OOO, wlii-.'h ix gr'-nt > than that of j any other State when admitted to the | I niou. Its assessed valuation of ' pr-.oer \ in 18 )j amounted to $3,878,- i wiii.-H iii 1 si) 3 Hti.il increased to ! 1 1 It has six National banks ! With deposits of ft 585,571. The Tern- I tonal Lcipiatiirf- has been attentive I t" educations matters, ami there are ! already in nearly all Ihe districts 1 school-houses, normal s-honls, col- j leges, and an agricultural hiiil nie- , chanical college Ht the lf\vn ~f Still water. In religions matters it has also kept pace with ninny of the older Statea. In the Territory there are i lho Methodist churches, twenty-tivu Baptist, twenu four Congregational, twenty-five Cutholir, twenty-four Pres- | hyterian, nix l'.piacopul, and fifty I ( iiriatiau Kndeavor Societies. This n a remarkable showing for Oklahoma and wa can scarcely beli< ve, uW i|„, Star-Sayiiig, that Congress can refuse but admission. ! HFATHER BELL. Her eyes are like the heather on the Norland hills a-blow, Aud her curving Hps of laughter like a berry In the snow, Jn a snood of crimson glenming bo, her locks of amber dwell) Aud I'm dreAraihgi breaming, Dreaming, Of ray bonuie Heather-bell. With footfall light as thistle-down she Com eth ere I ken ; Uer 9milo is like the breaking of the inoon 1 dawn in the glen A myriad fancies teeming Feed I ho flame I cannot quell ; Aud I'm dreaming. Dreaming, Dreaming, Of my bonnio Heather-bell, fler voice is like the thrush's piping carols in the corn ; Its tender echoes haunt me thro' the night tide till the morn ; Oh. her dimples shyly beaming, They have harmed mo with a ! spell ; And I'm dreaming, Dreaming, Dreaming, Of my bonnie Heather-belf. —Samuel M. Peek, in Atlanta Constitution. THE MASKED ROBBER. BY MATILDA A. WOODCOCK. /\ EW YEAR EVE bad _ again corae, and, as \ usual, a large party Tfr' / 3? [: t ''' us young pt-oph. 1 were invited to ace fe tlje ol( * vear ol,t at i I \M| lnv ancle's country *?! pA lH Iff' Beat. Right jolly f were the last hours 1 °* the old year made W *1 ■> umler that hospita- V ble roof , and tile large rooms rang with merry laughter when one of the party was unwittingly caught "beneath the mistletoe bough. " i Having wearied of dancing and games, we gathered in the large, old fashioned hall—another of our time honored customs—and then, in front of the great open fireplace, piled high with blazing hickory logs, we passed the last Lours of the old year in story-tell ing. One of the most remarkable of these stories was told by iny aunt, and I shall endeavor to repeat it as nearly i as possible in her own words: There is Always one story which comes to me on New Year Eve and seems peculiarly appropriate to that time, although it is not a joyful one. When I was sixteen, my mother 1 died, and soon alter her death ray lather sold our old home, ami removed to a large farm. I had been born in the city, ami until that time had al ways lived there. I keenly felt the change from the gay metropolis to the solitude of the country, but fortunate ly I was fond of reading and was also a great lover of nature, so that in a measure 1 was compensated for the life which i had left. I saw little of I the outside world; therefore the most trivial things became of interest to inc. One afternoon in June, when we had been living on the farm two years, I was sitting on tlm porch rending a novel and crying over the sad fate of the heroine, when suddeuly my attention was at-! tracted by the sound of wheels. I looked up quickly from my book and saw a buggy rapidly approaching our house. My curiosity was at once aromcd, and my disappointment and surprise were great when I found that, j instead of n stranger driving behind the thoroughbred little mare, Lake, one of our rough farmhands, held the reins. Presently he drew up beside the porch, and his errand was made known in a few words. There had been a runaway about a mile from us, and the gentleman who was driving had been thrown from his carriage and seriously injured. Lake saw the man fall and went immediately to his I rescue. He managed to get him to a , barn near by and, after capturing the horse aud buggy, both of which were j I unharmed, had driven over to see what could be done. It would be sev ' era! hours before a doctor could be j brought to him, and he was suffering i ; so much pain that Lake did not like I to leave hini so long alone. Just then my father came up, and, having heard Lake's slory, said thut the man should be brought at once to our house, and ordered one of the men to harness two of the horses to the farm wagon. A mattress was then laid ou it and off they started, leaving me at home to put things in readiness for the injured man. Our pretty spare room, with its fresh matting and Swiss curtains, was the one which I selected for him. It was on the ground-floor, and would therefore be more convenient than any other. Our guest, who gave his name , ns John Graham, soon arrived and was carried carefully to his chamber, j end before very long the doctor came. Having set the broken limbs, for one ol liis legs an I one of his arms were bro&en, —and applied some cooling! wash to the bruises, he left th* patient to our care. It was many weeks before he was able; to move from his bed, but be tween the doctor's skill and our care ful nursing lie slowly regained his; stren-'tii. Remember, my dears, in thos .lavs your white-headed old aunt was young and romantic, and a man lar less fascinating and baudsoiue than , John Graham under such circum stances might have turned my silly lien.l. 1 confess to you that my head was wholly turned, my heart entirely 1 given II way t. this stranger. For! weeks I was hand- and feet to li j lit. ' .\ev r a wish was 11111 red by him t hat, w r it in iny power, ! did not gratify. ' lie was very fond of roses, ami early j ever y morning X would gather the I choicest from our garden for John's room. I whs perfectly delighted when he one day told mo that my "cheeks ! put the roses to shame." It was the I tlrsl compliment he had ever paid me, ' and for days the thought of it made 1 jmc absurdly happy. At last I felt that John loved me. 1 j never moved that his eyes did not fol- j ' low every motion, aud how the light came into his eyes when I returned to him after some short absence ! This was my first love, and by it my dull ! monotonous life seemed changed into < a Paradise; The weeks glided bjh .tohn had re- I covered and would soon leave us, yet I he had not spoken of his love; bnt after a while the words came. We were sitting ou the porch in the moon light, in the same place from which I had seen him carried in on that eventful day when he was hurt. My father's consent to our engage j ment was soon gained, ns John's past i life, so far ns he could discover, was ! irreproachable, and bis worldly pros ! pects were good. Everything went on happily for the first few months, and it seemed that in our case love was to run a smooth course. I must not for get to tell you about my engagement, ring. It was one which had been handed down through several genera tions to John. Ho had always worn it on his little finger. It was a ser pent of silver, its head being formed of an enormous ruby and the tail of small diamonds. Inside the ring was written, "Time reveals all things." On the lay of our engagement John ! took it from his linger and placed it on mine with these words: ".Should aught partus, love, though years roll between, the sight of this ring will bring me to protect you." At last my cup of happiness was full, but it was destined to be emptied to the dregs. I need not go ) over those mouths of misery, when John Graham came to see me with bis brain stupefied by liquor, and tell liow I tried to bring him back, and how he would try and fail aguin. At last, it came to my father's knowl j edge, and in one of his tits of fury at the weakness and loathsomeness of my lover, he literally kicked John out of the house. It is enough for ine to say that things went from bad to worse. I could love John no longer, after he had sunk so low, and at last —it was I on a New Year Eve, like this—our en ( gagement was broken. I returned the ring, but John sent it back to me, praying me to keep it, "as a symbol of a love that had once been true." I After this, my health gradually gave j way, ami our physician advised my j i father to take me to Europe, which he did. We travelled several years and I everything was done to divert aud amuse me. At first, I prayed to die, hut I was young, very young, and as , the time passed by, life again became ' sweet to me. Another love came to i me, far sweeter and stronger than that ( old, wild passion of my girlhood, and I ' in your uucle, my dears, I found the i perfect love of womanhood. 1 I had been married a number of ' years aud was the mother of three children when your uncle was obliged to go to California to look after some mines in which bo had a large inter- ( est. As he expected to be there for a considerable time, we nil went with him, and decided to rent a furnished | house in the suburbs of h—. The j j one we fancied most was large, and j only one story high. It was hand somely furnished and had a great many acres of ground around it. At first, I objected to taking it on account of the lonely location, but the niiuier- oils attractions which it possessed soon overcame this one fault, and before long we were comfortably settled in j our new quarters. We had been liv ing there only a year, when one even ing—this also was oil New Year Eve —your uncle came home as usual, and after he had been in the house a few minutes, he received a dispatch which necessitated his starting off immedi ately, to be gone for two or three days. It was the first time since our marriage that we had been separated, and that night I did feel a little nervous. I went to the nursery and looked at. my children, sleeping peacefully, and then, taking a book, I read until I was so weary that I went to bed. My bedroom was large and had four windows. Two of them opened on the piazza, and two on a. beautiful green terrace. My dressing-table stood be tween the piazza-winilows, ami on it was my jewel-casket, containing all my diamonds, and several other valuable articles of jewelry. Usually, I kept this locked in an iron safe, hilt that evening I had taken it out, in order to get h pin for my husband to have mended in L , and I had forgotten b put it. back. After I was safely in bed, 1 remembered my casket, but eon eluded that no harm could possibly come to it in just that one nighty and thought 1 would put it "sway in the morning. [ do not know how long I had been asleep, when I was awakened by hearing a slight noise. Opening mv eves, 1 saw by the light, of a dark-lantern the fig ure of a tall man standing by my dressing-table. My first impulse was to scream, and then came the thought, "If Ido that, he will kill in ! ' Sud denly the man turned, and 1 could see that he was masked. Then I shut my eyes ami feigued sleep. Stealthily he walked to the bed where I was lying, and, bending over, looked at me, for what seemed, in my agony, to be hours. "<>, God!" F thought, "if he would only kill me now 1" But no!—he moved softly from my bed, and again walked to the dresning-table. I could hear liiin rake my jewels, one by one, Ironi the eAHkef, ami lay them gently down. At IHHI, the box WUH emptied, and yi t he did not move, but stood as it bound lv i spell. I felt rather than heard that he was once more coming toward me. Certainly this time ho would take my life, and I prayed God it might bo done quickly ; but, no ! I must suffer still more. He knelt down and put his face so close to mine that I could feel his hot breath. I was liko one petrified. My blood seemed frozen in iny veins, and had the cold steel been pressed to my throat,l should not have felt a single pang. My whole being seemed held by some terrible power. At last, he arose from his knees and. going to one of the win dows, blew a whistle three times. This is all that 1 remember. My conscious* ness must have forsaken me. When I again opened my eyes, tho bright light was streaming through the blinds. At first, I had only a va gue remembrance of what seemed to me a dreadful nightmare, but gradu ally the whole scene of the night be fore came clearly to my mind and a terror seized me. My children were my first thought. I sprang quickly from my bed, but fell heavily to tho floor in a dead faint. The strain had proved too much for me. For days I lay unconscious, only feeling a burn ing pain in my head; but through God's mercy I was given back to my husband and children—for not a hair <f my little bairns' dear heads had | been touched on that horrible night, j The subject of the masked robber was never mentioned until my health : was fully restored. One day I was in ! my boudoir, idly lounging, when my husband came in and, seating himself i on the sofa lvv my side, took a small piece of paper from his pocket-book. It looked like the fly-leaf of a book, I and was covered with writing in lead j pencil. He handed it to me, saying, j "I think, little woman, you are strong j enough to reud this." I It was as follows : | "I have come here to-night with a band of robbers intending to steal and, if necessary, to murder. While taking the jewels from your casket, I came across a ring. That ring saved you. | T looked upon your face and a flood of recollections came over me. You need never fear. I love you still. | Had us 1 am, the thought of your pure I soul has never left me, and although 1 una :i robber, the memory of you has j kept my hands clean from blood. I i shall always keep watch over you,— j shall always protect you. J. G." So the mystery was solved, and the robber, who had robbed me of not hing, was my old lover. Your uncle tried to search him out but in vain, and it was i not until many years after that, having been invited to spend a few days with some relatives of my husband's, in the western part of New York State, I again heard of John Graham. One morning, at my cousin's sug gestion, wo walked over to tho picturesque old churchyard. Wo strolled in and out among the graves; stopping now and then to read tho quaint inscriptions. A simple gray stone, 011 which was hanging a small wreath of immortelles, attracted my notice. I stopped to HUB what might I might be written on it, and then I read the name "John Graham. Died on the Eve of New Year Day, 18—. Beloved of the people. God rest his soul." T asked my cousin if she knew who this John Graham was? And slit told me that Home twenty years before a inan with a peddler'a pack had come into the town. His wares were good, and he sold a great many. As he trav ; clcd from house to house, staying, as was the custom in those times, lirsl with one family, then with another, lie became very popular, and was in dneed to take his small capi- till anil open a store. He gave his name as John Gray, and he was so self-denying, and did so many deeds of charity, that the country folk : almost canonized him as a saint. Their shrewd, minds soon discovered iu him no common peddler, and when at his death an old envelope was fouud next his heart, with the name John Graham in a woman's baud,and inside, a lock of yellow hair, carefully folded j in paper, on the outside of which is written, "My guidiug star," the curi osity of the good people was at its i height. Your uncle an.il 1 could have solved the problem, but we carefully guarded the secret, and to this day the village gossips wonder who "John Graham" could have been. I have never known how lie happened to fall into such a state of degradation as to become a robber, but t tirmly believe that by his aft r life he made full atonement for his sins. A New Year Eve never passes but that I think of John Graham,- and you will not won der that it is so, for it was a fateful time in his sad life, I felt as though it were almost a supernatural coinci dence thnt. it should have been also the time of his death.—Romance. Two Hills Alike. Young Henry Miller, of New York, got a bonanza when he was paid off the oth"r day. His wages were given to him in the shape of eight new Jss bills. He put them in his pocket, and some time afterwurd, when he took them out to examine them he dis covered that two of them were ex actly alike. The numbers of both were the same. This gives them great value from a collector's point of view. The bills were printed by the Govern ment and issued by the Southern National Bank of New York. The Government number on each is R 47b,321. The bunk number is 33-70, and Ihe consecutive bank number 10,883. When the exact similarity of the bills was noticed it was supposed that one was a counterfeit. Close examination showed it was not. The signatures on both hills are genuine. Plainly lliero was an error. Mr. Miller says that several banks have offered him a large siini of money for the bills, and that Jim Mouther.i National Rank told him he could ii% his own prhm M, | they would pu oil use. He says he will hold ihe bill'* —New Orleans Picavuue THE MERRY SIDE OF LIFE. | STORIES THAT ARE TOLD BY THE I FUNNY MEN OF THE TRESS. , Tlie Common Lot —A float on Proposal —Proximo Accessit—-Wholesome , Advice—A Matter of Doubt, Etc. Gay winter is uot joy unmixed. The married man is full of woe; Soon as lie lias the stovepipe tlxod It's time to shovel off the snow. —Truth. A BOSTON PROPOSAL. She—"l'm writing a story. Will 1 you object if T make you my hero?'' He "I'd rather be your Leander. 99 —Judge. A MATTER OP DOUBT. Bank Examiner—"Do you consider your safe is burglar-proof? Bank President "Not altogether so. Our cashier knows the combina tion."—Puck. WHOLESOME ADVICE. Grimy—"l have so much on my bonds at present I don't know what to do." Primy "Why not try some soap and water?"— Truth. DANGERS SAFELY PASSED. Sympathetic Widow "Have you been fortunate in your love affairs?" Interesting Subject— "Yes, very. I never yet fell in love with a girl who would marry me."—Life. PRECISE. "This is a somewhat free transla tion," said the literary young woman in the book store. "No, miss," replied the new clerk. "It costs a dollar and a half."—Wash ington Star. PROXIMK ACCESSIT. "Dumley always aspired to bo a j Napoleon of finance." "Did he come anywhere near the j mark?" "Yes; ho spent his last days on the Island." —Puck. ANGLO MANIA. CholUe "Ob, she is perfectly love ly ; she paid me such a compliment." Fweddie—"NVhat was it?" Chollie—"She said I was so un- American. " Fweddie —"How delightful."—De troit Free Press. SUGAR-COATED PRESCRIPTION. "Mamma, when Willie has a tooth ache you take him to the dentist to have it fi lied, don't you ?" asked Tommy. "Yes, dear," said mamma. "Well, I've got a stuinmick ache. Don't you think we'd better go to the candy store and get it filled?" — Harper's Bazar. KNEW HIS FATHER. "Johnny, suppose I should borrow SIOO from your father, and should pay him $lO a month for ten months. Ilow much would 1 then owe him?" •'Six dollars." 'How do you make that out ?" •Pop would charge you interest." Harper's Bazar. A COUNTER FAD. Primus "We hear much about the absurdities of fashion; but most fash ions have some basis in reason." Secundum (sarcastically) "What, may I ask, is the philosophy of carry ing our canes upside down?" Primus -"That's easy. It's to break dudes of the habit of sucking them." -Judge. A PRACTICAL SARCASM. "You don t look like ye'd had very good luck at dat house," said Plod ding Pete. "I got a cake," replied Meandering Mike. "Den what ver look in' so sour about?" "TWHH er cake o' soap. "—Wash ington Star. THE BILL DID IT. Mrs. A. "Wasn't it too bad about J Mr. Poore? Just as everybody thought he was recovering he received an apo- j plectic shock." Mrs. B. "Mercy! How did it happeu ?" Mrs. B.— "Nobody knows. He was found unconscious with his doctor's bill for service in his hand." —Yankee Blade. IN CHICAGO. Mrs. Weeder (to servant.) —"Liza, what did you do with the ashes in that jar on the mantel?" Liza—"Sure, mum, you tould me to carry all the ashes out, and I imp- j tied them in the ash bar'] this morn- I in'." Mrs. Weeder (angrily) —"lf you make such a mistake again I'll dis charge you ! (Tearfully.) Those were the ashes of my first husband."— Hallo. RASH LOGIC. "There's no doubt about it," said the man who muses, "there is such a thing as too much originality." "Do you think so?" asked the friend. "I do, certainly. Take the man who used to sell chestnuts on this corner, for instance. He was doing well until he got an idea. He considered it a stroke of genius and immediately pro ceeded to put it into execution." "What was the idea?" "Ho observed the effects of moth balls in connection with his winter clothes and thought he would try 'em on his chestnuts. He did so, and lost not. only his chestnuts, but his custom ers."—Washington Star. WISHED HE HADN'T TOLD IT. (Mrs. Twickenham has invited Mr. Castleton to dinner, anil they are dis cussing the salad.) Mrs. Twickenham—"l hope, Mr. Cas tleton, that you are fond of all kinds of puddings?" Castleton—"Oh, yes, Mrs. Twick enham. And that reminds me of a little incident that occurred to me last sum mer. I wafi visiting some friends of miuo in the country (all attention from the other guests), and it seemed j that some of them had heard me say that while I was very fond of all sweet meats, there was one thing I abhorred, and that was tapioca pudding. Well, one day at dinner, the hostess, a most , charming woman, said to me, 'I do 1 hope you liko tapioca pudding, be- I cause we are going to have it to-day.' j Well, of course, you know, not sup posing there was any joke about it, I I said yes, and, well, I rether dilated I upon the fact, wishing to make her I thoroughly at ease, you understand, when inwardly I was quaking at the thought of the horrible ordeal ahead of me. I noticed that t lie other guests seemed much amused, but I didn't dream it was a joke." , Mrs. Twickenham—"Then it was a joke?" Castleton —"Oh, yes, decidedly so. You see, there was no tapioca pud ding, aud it was nil a put-up job. You can imagine my feelings, and the em barrassing position I was in, after to be so polite by lying out of it." | Mrs. Twickenham —"Yes, indeed, it was most unfortunate." (fo servant, ! with emphasis) "James, bring on the tapioca pudding."—Harper's liaznr A COLONIAL TALE. In a plainly furnished apartment in ; the city of Philadelphia, some years ' before the American Revolution, sat ; Benjamin Franklin. A table, covered j with papers, was before him; but Jiis thoughts did not seem to bo upon them. He was, in fact, looking out of I a window, with the air of a man who | iH paid by the day, rather than of a I philosopher or a statesman. Suddenly, ; however, he exclaimed, "Ah! that is | the abhorism I thought of tho other j day, and couldn't recollect since. I'll just jot it down for Poor Richard's Almanac." I Hut a difficulty presented itself. He : could not find his pen. It was on the table, and it had not fallen to the Hoor. He made a careful but fruitless search through the room. Then he tried the table again, though he rea j Honed, with that force of intellect for j which he was distinguished, that if it | was on the table he should have found it there the first time he looked. At last he happened to pause before a mirror, and saw the pen resting com ! fortablo on his right ear. His obser i vations concerning this incident were more commonplace than might have been expected from a man of his originality; but they seemed to re lieve his mind. He sat down and wrote the aphorism. It was: "A.place for everything and everything in its place." He had just finished the sentence, when it occurred to him that there j was another thought which he had neglected to put in black-and-white. IHe had intended, at. various times ! since the idea first crossed his mind, to make a memorandum of it; yet, • three weeks had elapsed and it had j not been started on its journey topos i terity. But lie resolved that there ! should be no further delay; and, dip ping his pen in the ink, he wrote: | "Never put off till to-morrow what ! you can do to-dav."—Puck. A Petition Oil a Cherry Stone, | Gesa Berger, the well-known actor and newspaper man, has a picture in calligraphy that has a remarkable his | tory. It is, in size, 30x42 inches, and is the work of Joseph Loew, the most noted counterfeiter that the Austrian Government ever knew. When an application is made for a pardon in Austria the red-tape policy ! of that country compels the applicant to address the Emperor with all his titles. Emperor Ferdinand had about | forty titles. Loew engraved all of I these, together with his petition for a I pardon, on a cherry stone, j The letters were so tine that it re | quired the aid of a powerful micro ! scope to decipher them. One day when | the Emperor visited the .prison Loew in person presented a cherry stone to the Emperor, and told him what it j contained. The Emperor .made an ex ; amination and was so amazed at the | work that he gave him an lineondi | tional pardon. Not only did he par don him, buthe gave him a position as a detective to trail down counterfeiters. Loew was a well-informed man in all ' the arts and rascalities of counterfeit ers, and in less than two years after liis pardon he ran to the earth almost every counterfeiter in Austria, and died a few years ago covered with detective honors. The picture, although made fifty years ago, is in a remarkable state of preservation. Do the Sun's Kays Put Out Fire? j Last summer while making one of my regular weekly excursions in search of curious natural history spec imens I Happened upon some wood choppers who were burning brush. One of these gentlemen being a regu lar reader of "Notes for the Curious," put the following question: "Why does the sun, shining on a lire, deaden its lieat, suppress the rays and often put it out entirely?" I had never even heard a hint of the idea before, and was perfectly staggered. I admitted my inability to answer the question oti hand. Returning home I repaired to the library and consulted Brew er's Guide to Scientific Knowledge, where the answer is as follows: "Be cause the air, being rarified by sun shine, flows more slowly to the lire, and, secondly, because the chemical action of the turn's rays is detrimental to combustion." —$t. Louis Republic, SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. Eight cubic feet of snow produce one cubic foot of water. The first electric machine, a globe of sulphur, was made by Guericke in 1647. 1 In Germany there is a law forbid ding restaurateurs to serve beer to people who have eaten fruit. The apple has a larger proportion of phosphorus than any other fruit, and is, therefore, an excellent brain food. The average cost of building an English ironclad is $240 per ton; French, $275; Italian, $285; German, S3OO. , A wind blowing at the rate of nine teen miles an hour exerts a pressure of but one and four-fifth pounds to iho square foot. The newspapers report the striking of a gas well near Portland, Ind., the daily output of which is over six mill ion cubic feet. A Japanese novelty is "glass pa per," which is said to combine won derful transparency with unusual strength and tenacity. The materia! for mnking it is furnished by a Japan ese aquatic plant. Sacchaino has a rival. A new sub stance called valzin is now being manufactured in Berlin under a pat ent, and is claimed to be 200 times sweeter than sugar, and free from cer tain objectionable properties of sirclia rine. Railway mathematicians calculate that a train which can speed at tho rate of eighty-five miles an hour would require from seventy-two to seventy five seconds in which to "pull-up" or come to a standstill. It would require nearly a mile in which to stop. A new process of making rain was recently brought before tho Academic des Sciences, Paris, by M. Baudoin. His theory is that electricity main tains the water in clouds in a state of small drops and that if the electricity bo discharged tho water will come down. Several farmers who had been sum moned before London magistrates on the charge of selling adulterated milk, were dismissed <>n proof that the thin quality of the milk was due, not to added water, but to the impaired con dition of the cows, in consequence of tho great drouth. A somewhat widespread belief is that water can be heated only to 212 degrees Fahr. This is true of uncon fiued water, but under a pressure of ten atmospheres (150 pounds to the square inch) the water may be heated to 350 degrees, and under sixty atmo spheres 531 degrees may be reached. The bee works harder than most peo plo would believe. Thereabout sixty flower tubes in every head of clover, and only a tiny morsel of honey iit each, in order to get enough sugar for a load the bee must visit about six thousand different flowers, and each bee makes, on an average, twenty trips a day. lie Lives on Monkey Diet. A recent session of the Missouri Valley Horticultural Society at Kan sas City was addressed by W. 8. Mau uiug, of London, whose card is in scribed, "Fellow of the Royal Botanic Society and Hon. Secretary and Lec turer of the Natural Food Society to promote Food Reform Based on Sci ence." Mr. Manning's hobby is, as his card indicates, "food reform." H advocates that tho human family should live solely on a diet of fruit -i and nuts, and he practices what ho preaches. He said in liiH address that for eight years past he had not swal lowed a drop of liquid refreshment of any kind nor u morsel of cooked food. Ho had subsisted solely on fruits ami nuts. "My breakfast this morning con sisted of a half pound of California figs, two oranges and" two haußiias mashed up together, followed by a. tomato salad and a handful of nuts. This meal was eaten raw, as all my meals are." "What did you have for dinner?" asked a member of the society. "I have not yet eaten dinner. T eat but two meals a day. My dinner will come between 6 and 10 oclock this eveniug, and will be a repetition of the breakfast." Mr. Manning claims that an exclu sive diet of fruits and nuts contains all the nutriment that the human body needs, aud he claims also that the body fed on such a diet cannot be sick. Mr. Manning is not a crank. He h de scribed by the Kansas City Times as an intelligent, well educated, florid faced robust man. He has proved ti his own satisfaction by experience that the reform of which he is the apjstle is a good thing. A Church Made of Paper. There is a church at Bergen, Nor way, made of paper, which can accom modate nearly 1000 persons. Its ex terior is octagonal, while in the in terior it is circular in form. The re lievos without and the decorative statues within, as well as the vaulted roof, nave and Corinthian capitals, are made of papier muche, which has been made waterproof by soaking in a solution of quicklime, curdled milk and white of egg.—San Francisco Call. England's Torpedo Destroyers. Ihe Havoc, the new torpedo de stroyer of the British naval force, can steam as last as a railway train, and can turn with such rapidity in her own length that she would cut a good figure in a marine waltz. There are to be a dozen such vessels, the fastest steamers in the world, and they are cxpeote 1 to do smart service on occa sion. They could catch anything afloat, or as rapidly retreat. The war will be interesting in more way.} than one.—Toronto Empire,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers