FREELAND TRIBUNE. rUBUfUD KVEUT MOMDAY ASD THURSDAY. rilOS. A. BUCKLEY, EDITOR AUD PROPRIETOR. OFFICII: Main Brnr above Centre. sunscmFTiON rater. One Year ~..J1 60 Six MdHtba— 96 Four Months 60 Two Months ...................... 26 Subscribers are requested to obscrro tho date following the name on the labels of their papers. By referring to this they con toll at a (Banco how they stand on the books in \hla office. For Instance: (irover Cleveland adjunct© means that Orover is paid up to June 28,18QK. Keep the figures In advance of tho present data. Report promptly to this office when ycrar paves la not received. All arrearages must bo paid when paper Is discontinued, or collection wIH he made In the maaner provided by law. Tho New York Advertiser maintains that the frying pan is responsible for at least 5000 ailments that flesh is heir to. It costs $10,000,000 a year to gov ern New York City. The total ex penditures of the National Govern ment in 1850 wero no larger. Tho century is old ; only bix years remain to it. But this is quito suffi cient to work mighty changes iu tho map of Asia, aud perhaps in that of Europe, also. Tho arrival of G, 718,000 hogs in Chicago during tho past year would teem to indicate to the Now York Ad vertiser that that city is gettiug tho (at of tho laud. Since the year 1891 more than 11,000 claims, aggregating $10,000,000, have been made for laud taken from tho In dians. The sums paid sinco 1709 un der the act passed that year for what aro called depredation claims will amount to moro than one hundred billion dollnrs. According to tho Bold Estate Becord, office buildings which cost upward of $1.50 a euhio foot ten years ago can now bg erected for from thirty to forty cents a cubic foot. This great sav ing, duo to tho inoreasing uso of (.team and mechanical devices, must finally result iu a marked reduction of cents. Football playing is not only cs. teemed an excellent advertisement for a college, but somo preparatory schools aro said by tho Now York Sun to havo gono to the length of enticing good players from rival schools by tho offer of frco tuition. This means a good deal, sinco tuition in a fashion ablo preparatory school costs a nrotty mm. The gypsy moth which is taking possession of New England is an im migrant from France. It reached New England in 1870, nnd has sinco multi plied in an alarming way. Its cater pillars are very destructive, and New England would like to havo a Fodcral appropriation of $2<00,000 to uso in preventing it from interfering with in terstate commerce. Deputy Sheriff Hall, of North Caro lina, stood in that Stato and killed au escaping prisoner who was ucross the lino in Teunessco. According to a recent decision of the Supremo Court of North Carolina ho seems likely to escape punishment, as ho was not in Tennessee when ho committed tho crime, aud the crimowas not com mitted in North Carolina. A little less than 2000 miles of rail road wore built iu tho United States last year. That is almost tho low water mark in railway building, though tho years 1805, 1800 aud 1875 mado likowiso a meagre showing. For ftvo yenif now the additional annual mileage ftas shown a steady and rapid decline. In 1890, 5070 miles were built; in 1891, 4282, and in tho three ensuing years, respectively, 4178, 2G33 aud 1919, bringing tho record down to January 1, 1895. But uil signs now indieato that the bottom has has been reached, and that tho busi ness will again resumo its normal vol ume and activity. It is of great im portance to tho prosperity of the coun try ut largo that this form of industry ho not impeded or prostrnted by ad verse and ill-considered legislation, as it sometimes has been, and it is to be hoped that all artificial obstacles to its resumption will ho speedily re moved. There are in tho United States 179,072 miles of conplot-cd road, 54,800 of which has been laid ID tho last ten years. Between this and tho yenr 1900, with any luck ut all, we ought to reach tho 300,000-milo lime, and aro quite likely to do so. It looki now as if steel rails would eoou be turned out at sls per ton, a fact which in itself will impart a powerful impulse to railway building and all tho indus tries allied with it MY VALENTINE. Thou art my soul's Bslovcd for ayo, My heart's perpetual Vulontinoi Tids little echo gives the sign, Of lovo that novor shall decay. So over rings this roundelay Within my heart that sings to thine; Thou art my sours Belovod for nye, My hoart's perpetual Valentine. My life grows stronger day by day, Because thy lovo is mixod with mino ; My soug grows sweeter, moro divine, Bocausothy faith has shown tho way, Thou art my soul's Beloved for ayo, My hoart's perpetual Valentine. —Lvmau Whitney Allen. DOCTOR JACK'S VALENTINE. EY LOUISE CHANDLER SIOULTON. / HEBE wcro half a -AlrJ ft dozen of the girls * "JO together pretty vff 'Srayl creatures, in tho very first season of their long dresses— \i:\ " 10 eldest not quite ■? sixteen. They wero u " braids and puffs —pL and fluffy curls— ( C all loops and ruffles and ribbons all ttnilos and dimples. It was the Saturday beforo Valentine's Day, in a certain year of grace, of which I will not givo you tho pre cise date, but less than ten years ago and more than five. Of tho half-dozen girls two aro busy teachers now, two ure married, one is playing mother to her brother's littlo brood of orphan children, and tho sixth, not less happy than the rest, has gono on to tho next country, where they tell us sho will novor grow old, never he sick or sorry any more—happy Bertha, whom, surely, God loved. But that day in February nono of them thought much about tho futuro —the present was enough, with its fun nnd frolic, its wealth and all tho pleasures which girlhood holds dear. Tho six wero passing tho long day to gether. Two of thorn wcro sisters and belonged in one house, and the rest had come there to bo with them, for they wero all going to make val entines. They had made funny ones and foolish ones—tender ones, with just a little dash of satiro in them— poetic ones and prosy ones—and at last it was dinner time, a feast of all tho things that schoolgirls love. Boast turkey was there, and cran berry jelly and sweet potatoes aud 6quasb, and then such pie 3 and pud dings and nuts and raisins. How could they hold it all? Ah, thoy wcro hungry girls. At least they wore all hungry girls but Nellie Hunt, and sho 6caicely ato any diuuer at nil, sho was so busy thinking. Sho was Bertha's sister, and this was her homo and Bertha's, and it was to tho girl's own room that tho littlo party went back again after thoy had eaten and praised Mrs. Hunt's dinner. "What uro you thiuking about, Null?" Bertha asked, sitting on tho arm of Nelly's chair. "These valentines," Nelly answered, siowlv. "Weil, surely thoy need not make you sober—they are absurd enough." "iTes, nnd it's just liccauso they aro so absurd that they mako mo sober. I was wondering why wo couldn't just as well havo said something to help somebody—so mako somebody think to do somo good." "Nolly's horoics!" cried Kate Green, flippantly. "Miss Hunt as u moral reformer 1" Nellie blushed from her pretty cars to tho roots of her snuuy hair ; but her eyos shone eloar and thero was a ring of earnestness iu her voieo as sho unswered: "You can laugh if you will, but I mean what I say, and I'm going to try an experiment. I will writo one hoy a Valentino, tueli as I think a girl ought to write, and send it." "So you shall," Bertha said, gently —Bertha always was a peacemaker; "and we'll all go away and see mamma and tho baby whilo yon writo it. When it'sdouo you must call us." "Yes, and you must show it to us," cried Kato Greou, as she went away ; "that's only fair. Wo promised this morning to show caeli other all wo sent, and wo sha'n't let you off." And then tho five fluttered away like a flock ol birds, aud Nelly %vus quite alone. Her task was harder thau sho had imagined. It is only the old, perhaps, who are sago in counsel by naturo. At any rate, to give good advice did not como naturally to pretty Nelly. But sho had au idoa of what sho wantod to Bay, and at last she got it said. Sho had written aud rewritton it, nnd fiuallv concluded that sho eonld do no better, and thou copied it into her neatest handwriting before she called the others. It was a little stiff, to ho euro, aud preachy and high flown, but it sounded like a lofty ef fort aud a completo success to the lis tening girls. This is what it6aid: "MY VALESTISR—YOU will havo plonty of lino spoocho-t anil praises, and, perhaps, ol laa and fanoy, from others, so that I shall not give you those—l, who havo but oa-> In terest In you, namely, that you should bo tho hi st hoy nnd tiio best man, which it Is possi ble lor you to hocoiue. 11 you aro Bullish, II you are laloluut, II you aro moan, you will never be happy m your own sooloty un til you hnvosuulc so low that you don't know the difference betweengoodness uul baduoss. But II you set out to bo a gentleman, nnd a man of honor, and a faithful worker, you will tic good dootls and live a happy lifo, and bo worthy tho everlasting e-toom ol "Youn YAI.KNTI \K." Nelly read it wfth rising color and a littlo quiver about her mouth, which Bertha understood; but sho read it with a firm voieo and a careful, delib erate acocnt. "Then," sho said, when sho had fin ished. "I shall burn up all r-he rest of my valentines, and send only this ono, for it is what I mean, in earnest, and as old Aunty Smoko says, 'Kf ft don't do no good, it cuu't do no harm." "To whom shall yon Bond it, dear?" Bertha asked goutly, a little subdued by Nelly's epistolary success. "I hadn't made up my mind," Nelly answorod, thoughtfully; "they all neod it." "Oh, send it to Jack," cried Ivitty Green. "Ho boards with us, and he neods it—bad enough. If ever a boy was full of his pranks, Jack is, and if ever a boy tormented a girl's life out, Jack does mine. A color clear and bright as flamo glowed on Nelly Hunt's cheeks. Had she had dark-eyed Jack in her mind all tho while? She only answered, very qulotlv: "I don't mind. I would just as lief send it to Juclc. That is, I'll send it to him if you'll promise, on your sa cred honor, never in any way to let him know who wroto it." "Oh, I will—trno as I live and breutho I'll novcr tell him, and never lot Mm guess, if I can help it." "And all you girls?" Nelly asked, with tho pretty pink glow deepen ing in her cheeks. "Will you all promise?" And they all promised, for there was a sort of honest earnestness in Nelly's nature to which they found it natural to yield. So tho valoutino was directed in Nelly's most neat and proper manner to "Mr. Jack Green," and was dropped into tho postoflieo with tho rest of tho valentines tho girls had written that day. On tho fifteenth tho six girls wcro all together at school, comparing notes and exchanging confidences. But Kitty Groou drew Nelly aside, and said, while they walked up anil down tho hail together, thoir arms around each other as girls will. "I saw Jack get it, Nelly." Nolly's pretty cheoks glowed and her eyes Bhonu like tho stars, but sho asked no questions. Indood they wero scarcely necessary, for Kitty was oagcr enough to tell her story. "Ho got it, don't you think, along with half a dozen othors, and ho read them all beforo ho came to this one. I know this, you know, by the shapo of tho envelope. When ho camo to it I saw him read it all through, and then I saw him go back and read it again. I heard him say to himself: " 'That's an honest letter from soino little saint.' "Then ho came up to me and held it toward me, whilo I pretended to he vory busy with my valentines. Then he spoke: " 'Do you know that handwriting, Kit?' "I felt like an awful little liar, but I had promised you. I stretched out my baud for it, and said, carelessly: " 'Why, ain't it Suo's?" "Sue is his sister, you know. So ho thought I did not know who it came frbm, and ho changed his mind and put it into hi 3 pocket, and went off. When I teased him afterward to let mo see it, ho said: " 'No; there aro somo things a fol low would bo a cad to show.' "So I saw it hit home, aud well it might. It was a tremendous letter, Nelly." And Kitty ended with a hug and a kiss, and a look of that loyal admira tion which a girl can give another girl now aud then. When tho Bpring came Jack Green went away from Cheater, aud did not como back thoro any uioro. No doubt Nelly lluut would havo forgotten hid very exi.stcuco but for tho valeutinc, which she could not forget. Sho lined to blush, as sho grew older, to think how "bumptious" it was, as sho used to call it to horsclf. What was she, that sho should have undertaken to proach a sermon to that boy? • What if he remembered it only to think hoiv presuming it was, and to laugh at it? But, luckily, ho did not know from whom it came j and with that thought she cooled her blushes. Nolly was twenty when Jack Green came buck to Chester again. And now ho came as a physician, just through Ilia studios, aud anxious to build up a practice. Soon his fame grow. Ifis pationta were among tho poor at first, and he cured them ; and thou richer people heard of it, ami sent for him. But, while ho took all patients that came, ho uevor gave up his praotico among those who most needod him. Ilia praise was in all their mouths. There had never been any doctor liko this one. Nelly was Miss Hunt now—for Bfrtha had gone away from lior into tho next country—and Nolly's grief had mnflo her goutlo heart yet moro gontle, and her helpful spirit yet more helpful. Toward night, ono summer day, she had gouo to seo uu old woman who had boon her nurse once, and had found her very ill—quito too ill to bo left alono, and certainly in need of a physician. So Nelly tore a leaf from her memorandum-book, and wroto on it a few lines, bogging Dr. Greon to come at once, and then callod to tko first passer-by and cntrcatod him to tuko it to tho doctor. It was scarcoly half an hour beforo Dr. Greon came in quietly and gravoly. Ho tended to his patient with that careful consideration which made all those poor souls whom he visited adoro him. Then ho turned to Nolly. "Who will stay with her to-nightV" ho asked j "for indeed, sho, hardly ought to bo left alono." "I bhallstay," was tho quiet answer. "Then come to tho door with mo, ploaso, and let mo give you your di rections. " Nelly followed, and stood there, in tho soft summer dusk—a pretty pio turo—with tho wild roso flush dawn ing in her cheeks, and a new light kindling her bluo oyes. Sho listened carclully to all his injunctions, and then turned as if to go. But ho put out a hand to detain hor. "How very much I owe to you," he said. "You, how?" And a deop, doop crimson dyod Nelly's luce uud throat. In that moment eho thought of her "bumptious" valentine, which had not crossed her mind before for a long time. Ho looked at her with a smile in his oyes, hut with a faco that preserved all its respectful gravity. lie took a red leathor case out of his pocket, and from tho caso ho took tho very old valentine, which Nollio romoinbcred so well. Then ho produced tho brief note sho had written that afternoon; and still thero was light enough loft in tho day to sco them by, us ho held them sido by side. "Your hand has maturod somewhat sinco this valcutiuc was writton," he remarked, quietly; "but somo of these letters I should know unywherc. No ono could deceive mo." "I did lot supposo you had kept that foolish thing," Nollio said, with a pitiful littlo quiver in her voice, as if sho wcro just ou tho point of bursting into tears. "I am so ashamed." Hr. Jack looked at her a moment, as sho stood thcro in tho wauinglight, a lovely, graceful girl, from whom any man might bo proud to win cyen a passing interest. So this was tho wo man, tho thought of whom ho hau car ried iu his heart for years! If ho had over done any good thing, ho was paid for it in the satisfaction of that hour. "Are you sorry," ho asked, Blowly, "that you havo helped ono man to bo his best solf? Thoso words of yours wcro to mo lilto tho voice of my inmost soul. Siuco then this paper has never loft me, nor havo I ever erased to strive to bo worthy of the esteem of my uuknewn 'vuloutine.' If over I boeu gonerous instead of selfish, brave instead of cowardly, strong instead of weak, it has been because I havo re membered tho words writton here, and meant to livo iu their Bpirit. Aro you sorry for that? or do you grudge mo tho dear ploasuro of thanking you?" "No, I'm not sorry, nor dolgrudgo you anything; but it was a girl's freak, aud I urn not worthy of so much praiso and honor." "It was a good girl's intention," ho said, almost solemnly. "Lot us bo thankful that it succeeded." Nelly went back to the bedside of tho old woman with a fluttering heart. How strango it scorned to think this sick woman was old enough to havo outlived all anxieties oxccpt thoso about her pains aud her supper. Had not sho been young once? and had no ono ever looked at her as Dr. Jack lookod? Tlio next morning ho camo again. His medicine, a night's slcop, Nelly's caro- something seemod to havo given tho poor old patient a fresh lcaso of lifo. There was no need that Nelly should stay with her any more; but she went to see her daily, and it was curious how often Dr. Jack's visits happened at tho same time. Ouo night tho doctor had left his horso at home, and ho and Nelly walked away togotkcr. They walked about tho lingering sunset, aud tho soft south wind, aud ovon tho old women; for Nelly, woman-like, was struggling desporately to keep Dr. Jack from saying what sho dosperately wanted to hear. But at last it came— a half-blunt, half-awakened speech, yet with Dr. Jack's honest heart iu it. "I'vo lived all thoso years just to earn your esteem, and now I And I don't euro a thing about that unless I can wiu also your love." I think Nelly's auswor must havo satisfied him, for sho is Mrs. Jack Green now; and that valentine worn aud old, but choicely framed -always hangs over tho doctor's study table. A Loa! Baric J Twenty-Arc Years. Twonty-fivo years ago Timothy Mouahan, of Batk, Steubou Uounty, purchased a farm near Portago Bridge. Ho has lived on tho farm ever since. Ou part of tho property was a pioco of heavy timber, which Monahau cleared off twenty years ago. In a fiold where this timber stood Monobau was dig ging a ditch a few days ago. To do this ho had to dig through a doposli of gravel four foot doop. At tliat depth ho uncovered what ho at first thought was a big stono nearly rouud, but ou striking it with his pick to looscu it ho was surprised to soo tho pick poss cluar through it without making any resistauoo. Monahau thou picked up the supposed stouo aud his nmazomout was groat to find it to ho a loaf of bread. Tho loaf was iu perfect couditiou, even to tho crisp, brown crust. It was as soft, light and moist iusido as if it had just corno from tho oven. Tho loaf broke iu two as ho was removing it from its bod in tho gravel. Ho fod Jialf of it to his dog, who ato it greedily. Tho other half of tho loaf Monahan carried to his house, whero it is now, a wonder to tho neighborhood. Monahan de clares that tho ground whoro tho loaf was found had never boon broken dur ing his quarter of a century on tho place.—Buffalo (N. Y.) Times. A Wonderful Mirage. At Port Huron, Mich., early risers tho other morning wcro treated to a wonderful mirage, which showed in tho clouds even to tho most minute detail a strip of tho Cauadian bunk of tho St. Olair River thirteen miles long. Tho city of Saruia was so plainly do pietcd that even the principal resi dences wcro rccognizablo. Thoro, too, was tho imago of ferryboats plying ou tho river, tho novel sight of big chim neys pouring out smoko and appar ently located far nbovo tho earth. Tho most wonderful part of tho spectacle was tho arrival of n train in Sarnia. This train appeared to break into tho mirago from tho east, plowed its way through as if running on the most solid foundation, and then oomplotely disappeared at tho westeru end of the sky picture. The mirago lasted forty fivo minutes, and was soon by thous ands of people io tho streets.—Chi cago Herald. THE MERRY" SIDE OF LIFE, STORIES THAT ARE TOED BY THE FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. A Great. Great. Question—A Disap pointment—A Hopeless Suit—ln 101)3 At a Guess, Etc., TCtc. It's when tho baby yells nt night, anil tho lira has Rono out. An