Attorney-General McCormick, of
Pennsylvania, has decided that life in- |
snrance policies are not taxable, as
claimed.
It is estimated that the cost of car
rying ripe beeves from Australia to
London is about 870 per head. The
cost for sheep is $6.
The French Minister of Foreign Af
fairs has formally announced that
Ikero is no French protectorate of
Madagascar, but that France has taken
possession of that country.
The gift of 81,000,000 to tho Chi
cago University by Miss Helen Culver,
of Chicago, is the largest single gift
that university has received, always
excepting the princely gifts of Mr.
Rockefeller. This gift assures a furthor
conditional gift of a million from Mr.
Rockefeller. It will go to science.
The Baltimore Manufacturers' Rec
ord says: "Florida furnishes ;tbo
country from 3,000,000 to 1,000,000
boxes of oranges a year. Georgia
ships over 10,000 carloads of water
melons every year. In tho aggregate,
the shipment of early fruits and vege
tables North and West probably
amounts to 850,000,000 u year. This
business is increasing very rapidly.
Ten years ago it was of trifling im
portance."
Methodist ministers in Chicago are
still discussing the case of the young
divine who claims that ho "uncon
sciously assimilated" the sermon of
Dr. Abbott which ho preached a few
Sundays ago, and which unfeeling
people accused him of stealing. One
of the other ministers declared that
his defense of "unconscious assimila
lation" might be all right, but that if
he had it that bad he might uncon
sciously assimilate the clothes off a
clothes lime some dark night.
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe is well in
formed on the subject of the Turkish
massaere of Christians in modern
times, and writes to a Boston papei
giving the figures collected by her
husband and herself. During her own
lifotitne nearly one hundred thousand
Christians have been murdered by'thc
Turks. In 1822 a Turkish army killed
23,000 Greek Christians on the Island
of Chios and sold into slavery 47,000.
This is the largest single item, but, as
a matter of fact, the slaughter has
been almost continuous.
As Thomas P. Wood, a resident of
Brooklyn, was crossing Park row, New
York City, on crutches one day in
March, 1894, one of his crutches
caught in a small hole in one of the
manhole covers used ly the Third
Avenue Cable Railroad Company. He
fell and was severely injured. He
sued tho company in the Supreme
Court in Brooklyn and recovered a
verdiet of 82000, which the (rial judge
set aside on the ground that the com
pany touhl not be held liable for such
accidents. The ease was appealed,
and the general term reversed the rul
ing and directed the recovery of the
verdict. Justice Pratt, who writes the
decision, holds that the public high
way is made for people on crutches as
well as others, and that if a railroad
company leaves a hole in the street
large enough to admit the point of a
crutch and thereby injury is occa
sioned to a person on crutches it is li
able for such injuries.
How tar can the human voice bo
hoard, asks the Washington Path
finder? It all depends on tho condi
tions. If wo had a pneumatic tubo
from hero to London, perfectly
smooth inside, it ia probable our
"smart set" could acquire tho correct
Bow Bells cockuey dialect first
hands without ever going abroad for
it. A man's voice calling "Bob" was
recently heard for a distance of eight
een miles, through tho Grand Canyon
of the Colorado. The walls of the
deep gorge confine the sound waves
like a closed tube. Lieutenant Foster
reports that, when in the Arctio re
gions, he conversed with a man at tho
distance of 0696 feet, or about a mile
and a quarter. It is recordod that at
Gibraltar the human voice has been
heard ten miles. When there are no
trees, hills or other obstructions to
(liflase the sound, as in the Arctic re.
gious or on the wafer, the voice, of
course, has a good opportunity to be
transmitted afar. In water it is prob
able sounds might be still farther
heard. Colladou, by experiments in
Lako Geneva, estimated that a bell
rung under water at sea could bo
heard sixty miles. Every boy knows
that when his head if uuder water, two
stones cracked together by another
boy make a sound that ia painfully
acute. Frankliu found that he could
hear this sound uuder water for a dis
tance of half a mile, whereas in open
air it would have been lost at a die
dunce of a few ruijft
iFIKE IN SNOW-SHEDS.
I
' HOW IT IS FOUGHT BY THE CEN
TRAL PACIFIC ROAD.
LAn Important Railroad Department—
The Company's Property 1 Pro
tected by Special Crewa-Their Alarm
Syßtcm-Fltzgcrnld's Kxcellcnt Run.
In the Sierra Nevada Rnnvc.
There is in California a fire depart
ment which protects property extend
ing over a distance of forty miles, and
costing a million and a half of dollars.
The property referred to is familiar to
every one who has taken a daylight
trip over the Central Pacific Railroad,
as it runs from the laud of sunshine
into the land of sage brush.
Owing to tho heavy snowfall In the
Sierra Nevada the railroad has been
ENGINEER FITZGERAT.D AND FIREMAN,
compelled to protect its track from win
ter blockades by building a series of
sheds to cover it. These extend con-1
tlnuously from the little telegraph sta
tion of Blue Canyon to Truckee, on the j
eastern slope of the mountains, a dis-1
tance of forty miles. In the winter the i
FIGHTING FIRE IN THE SHEDS.
snow protects these sheds from all dan
ger from tire, but when summer conies
the wind and sun soon melt tho cover
ing of snow and rapidly dry the tim
bers. until by July 1 the lumber in the
sheds is as dry as powder.
The forty miles of sheds are constant- j
ly patrolled by men selected for that '
purpose. Each man's beat is less than 1
three miles long, and is so arranged that
he passes over It a short time in ad
vance of every train. Situated at dis
tances of a mile apart throughout the
entire length of shed-guarded track are
placed unlocked electrical call boxes sim
ilar to those in use in the cities. <)n the
face of these are inscribed the words
"East West rock on track shed
down-train wreck—car off—slide
fire." Besides these there are thirty
four alarm boxes, which are kept lock
ed. These are used exclusively for lire.
When an alarm is rung in on one of
these a gong strikes tho uuniher of the
box in Sacramento, 100 miles away,
and on the different points where the
fire trains are situated.
In 1877, .1. A. Fillmore, general super
intendent of tlie Southern Pacific, had
occasion to reprimand "Johnny" Fitz
gerald. of the Summit fire train, who
is the oldest tire train engineer in the
service, for not running fast enough.
A few weeks later Mr. Fillmore hap
pened to be at the Summit when an
alarm was rung in from Emigrant Gap.
twenty-two miles away. lie thought he
would like to make the run. and so he
boarded the engine. "Johnny" saw his
opportunity and determined to make
the most of it. As soon as the words
"clear track" were received, "Johnny"
pulled out, and throwing the throttle
wide open let her go. In less time than
it takes to tell if. the train was running
a mile a minute. Open places in the
sheds a hundred yards in extent seemed
little more than flashes of light, and the
Cascade bridges were crossed with
such speed that the train seemed to
leap them, as a grayhound does a fence.
Mr. Fillmore sat perfectly still, except
that once or twice lie asked the en
gineer to test his air. In twenty-three
minutes they had made the run of
twenty-two miles, and when "Johnny"
turned to look at the superintendent,
expecting to get.a ripping up the back,
Mr. Fillmore said cheerily, "That's the
way to go to a fire."
Near Cisco is one of the highest
mountain ridges on the western slope
of tho Sierra. On the topmost point of
this ridge, at an altitude of nearly 8,000
feet, there is a little cabin, in which
a man and his wife and a boy live from
the time the first snow begins to dis
appear in the spring of the year until
it reappears in the autumn. This man
and boy from the point of observation
which they occupy can see thirty live i
miles of snow sheds.
Day and night, no matter how stormy
the weather, this man and boy keep
their vigil, and at the slightest sign of
fire threatening the sheds a telephone
message locating it Is immediately sent
to Cisco, from which place orders are
issued to have it extinguished. These
tires are located from Red Top, the
name by which the site of the little cab
in is known, by means of a dial In the
| center of which an arrow swings like
; the needle of a compass. The point of
j the arrow is directed toward the fire
I which causes the feather end to cover a
j marking on the dial indicating the
j name or number of the place toward
which the arrow points.
STUDY OF THE MOON.
Peculiarities Noted in Its Appearance
at Different Seasons.
lo the casual observer the motions
of the moon appear to be exceedingly
whimsical and irregular. If Its place
in tho sky is watched it will be found
that it is first north and then south
of the sun's path and west of that lum
inary. The last two motions are steady
and regular from east to west, carry
ing the moon in its endless swing
around the heavens, starting at new
moon near the sun and progressing un
til at full moon the whole visible por
tion of the sky separates the two bodies.
After this there are two weeks in which
the moon still appears to move back
ward, approaching the sun from tho
other side, then, again apparently all
of a sudden, it passes the sun and we
behold a "new moon."
The north and south motions of the
moon areen t irely di fferen t Wbile per
forming its endless journey from west
to cast there are two special periods In
which It either moves far northward
or takes up its position low down in
the south. In spring the first. motion is
i north, but afterward the general motion
j is reversed. In December you will note
i that the full moon occurs at the most
I northerly point in her course and in
June at the most southerly. Tills is
i why we have most light from the full
I moon of winter and least from that of
I summer Observations on these various
movements Indicate to us the path
which moon moves about tho earth
and also show us that that body in dif
ferent parts of its orbit is at varying
distances from the earth.
This indicates that the moon's path
j is not a circle, but an eclipse, having
; the earth in one of its foci. The moon
being governed directly ami held in
position by the attraction of the earth,
holds its primary movements in a path
around our globe, bur the attraction
energy of the sun and of the giant plan
ets. perhaps in a lesser degree, pro
duces motions in the moon which may
lie summarized briefly as a combination
of the six following movements: ill
Its revolution about tlie earth, (2) its
revolution with the earth about the
sun. p'b the vibrating eccentricity of its
orbit. U) the slow, direct rotation in the
"line of apsides." (.") the retrograde
rotation in the line of nodes and Mb
its rotation on its axis. - St. Louis He
public.
Incongruous Friends.
A pretty story of affect lon between
a cat and a rat comes from the shores
of Lake Ontario byway of the New
York World. A farmer, who is also a
shopkeeper, found a nest of rats in
pulling down an old shed, and one of
two baby rats stole into a pocket of bis
coat. It seemed so helpless and trust
ful that lie could not bear to kill it,
and kept it as a pet, feeding it with
meat and cheese, which if took from
his hand.
Its life was in constant danger from
the cat, and to save it be put it into n
large wire cage. By and by the cat
grew accustomed to its presence, and
finally the farmer one day put the cat
also into the cage, it made one or
two half-hearted attempts to catch the
rat, and then lay down and went to
sleep.
The upshot of the matter was that tho
two animals became fast friends. Now
they fairly live together. By day they
wander in company about tho house
ami shop, or lie side by side in the show
window, where the strange sight at
tracts much attention.
They ore very jealous of each other.
If any one pets the cat. the rat runs
about squeaking with anger. If the
rat is the favored one, the cat in its
turn bristles and complains. If they
get separated for any great length of
time they are sure to be soon looking
for each other, and sometimes when
they meet they fairly dance for joy.
Not in His.
"1 hardly know whether to marry or
not," said the count; "her father is in
the clothing trade."
"There Is money in clothes." said
: the duke.
! "There isn't any in mine." said the
count Indianapolis Journal.
When Jin Arab fails to make a raise
anywhere else, he can "strike" his tent.
| ARMY OF THE SULTAN
A FACTOR THE POWERS MUST
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
A Nation of Soldier* with Rrniiilcnn
Generala—'The Turkish Irrogulura
Bauds of Cutthroats Who Arc Worth
less Against Civilized Troop*
1 lie Turk as a Fighter, k
The interest at present felt in Turkish
affairs generally is intensified with re
gard to the Turkish menus of defense
against the aggressions of Europe, for al
though tlio existing difficulty may be
smoothed down without an outbreak of
war, still any untoward incident, when
a flairs are in so critical n condition, may
bo productive of serious results.
The Turkish empire lias long been de
nominated "The sick man of Europe/'
but this expression must he understood
to apply only to the political state, for,
individually and collectively, the Turks
are about as healthy n lot of people as
exist on tlio globe. The Government Is
weak and inefficient, as despotisms
old arc wont to be, but that is no sign
that it is near the end of its days, for
these Oriental despotisms have n trick
ot hanging on to life, sometimes for cen
turies after they ought to die. The
(•reck empire at Constantinople lived for
five centuries after its territory had been
reduced to the region immediately sur
rounding Hint city, and it is not at all
impossible that the Ottoman empire may
not follow its example, and it probably
OFFICERS OF Tin: J/AM.
will unless the powers show more unan
imity in regard to disposing of its estate.
But those who suppose that Turkey will
fall an easy prey to the rest of Europe are
reckoning without their host, for, lazy
and degenerate as they are, the Turks
are marvelous fighters, and when their
fanaticism is roused, they show a degree
of military aggressiveness that has more
than once dunrfounded their opponents.
During the last three centuries tlicy have
waged a dozen wars wijh surrounding
powers, and, on each occasion, their op
ponents were forced to confess that, had
the Moslems been properly commanded,
the result would have been extremely
doubtful. Their weakness has always
been the miraculous stupidity of the Ot
toman generals. Whenever they have
been led by trained officers of other na
tions than their own. their record has been
good. It has always been clear of cow
ard ice. Their fatalistic creed makes
them strangers to four; to them every
thing is "Kismet, '* or fate; and if com
manded to go forward to attack a battery,
where certain death seems to await every
assailant, they neithcr.hesitnte nor falter,
considering that, if it is their fate to be
killed at such a time and place, there is
no use trying to avoid it. Besides this,
they are a hardy race, capable of enduring
great fatigue and hardship without break
ing down, of inarching long distances
without food or rest, and all these quali
tics, in u soldier, are invaluable.
Tbe Turkish army, therefore, is a fnc
tor to bo considered in the discussion o
the fall- of the Ottoman empire, for if th
Turks should make up their minds not t
be divided up into parcels without i
struggle they are capable of offering :
very effective resistance to any propose,
plan for the partition of their country
among the powers of Europe. The area
of the Turkish empire is about 1,1500,000
square miles, or a little over one-half
that of the United States, and the popu
lation is nearly 40,000,000, or about two
thirds that of our own. These figures,
however, do not furnish a definite idea
of the strength, or more properly, of the
weakness of the country, for comprised
in the enumeration of inhabitants are the
people of all the races that were con
quered by the Turks, who constitute
more than one-half of the whole number.
Christians within the limits of Turkey
A BUGLER.^
are regarded as aliens, or rather as ene
mies, whom both the Government and the
Mussulman population would be glad to
see removed or exterminated. They are
not liable to military duty, hut, instead,
pay an exemption tax of about $1.50 a
head per annum.
Theoretically, every Moslem in the do :
minions of the Sultan is a soldier on fur
lough liable at any time to be called on to
scrv bis master in field or garrison, but
such is the corruption prevailing in every
part of the Turkish administration, both
civil and military, that any one can secure
an exemption who is able to pay for it
There Is, moreover, a system of coiiscrlp
tlou organized by law that is supposed to
he carried out in every part of the empire.
It is bused on the military system of Ger
many, for since the last Turco-ltuesinri
war the army of the Porte has been en
tirely reorganized by German officers,
who naturally adopted the plan prevailing
ill their own country, and with which
they were most familiar* The military
system consists of the Nizam, or regular
army, two classes of Kedifs, or Lund
wehr, and the Mustafiz, answering to the
Lamisturm of Prussia. At the uinitial
ronscrlptlon the ranks of the regular
nrmy are supposed to he tilled by the men
of the levy, who must serve six years with
the regular army ana nrst reserve. Tliey
then pass into the second reserve, to bo
called out only 011 emergencies. Here
they remain eight years, subjected to an
nual drill at their homes, then become
members of the third reserve for six
years longer, thus passing twenty years,
either in the army or In one of the re
serves. This is the system and, in work
ing order, it would furnish the Govern
ment with an army, in time of war, ct
nearly 1,000,000 men. But, like every
thing else in Turkey, theory is one tiling
and practice quite another, and, as a
matter of fact, there are very few districts
where the system lias been put in run
ning order, and none where the conscripts
of the year do not buy exemption from
service whenever they are able to do so.
In one case in a military district near
Smyrna, the population made a contract
with the enrolling otiiccrs that, in con
sideration* of a lump sum, paid down in
cash, the district should he exempt. The
money was paid, and the conscripting
officers returned fictitious rolls, and went
hack, rich and contented, to Constanti
nople. In another, the conscripting offi
cer was prevailed on to enroll the popu
lation of the prisons; in a third all the
beggars and poverty-stricken wretches
to be found in the district were entered
rs conscripts, while the able-bodied men
escaped.
In reality, the Turkish army is com
posed of young men. unable, under the
oppressive system of taxation, to make
l YPJCA I K unpi(n FAO
tncir living on ilie rami or in tbe work
shop, who, therefore, entered the army
voluntarily, and such conscripts as could
be secured in those districts of Asia
Minor and European Turkey where the
military system has been put in working
order.
There is another class, comprising wide
ly different races of men, who resemble
FOll SERVICE IX ARMENIA.
each other in nothing but the fact that
they are all alike, savages. The Turkish
irregulars are all cavalry, and probably
not since the time of At ilia has a worse
lot of thieves, robbers, cut-throats, mur
derers and all round desperadoes been got
together. Turks from Anatolia, Kurds
from Armenia. Circassians and Georgians
who prefer a wandering life of rapine and
murder to the iron discipline of the Rus
sian military service, Persians, the de
scendants of the Parthians so much
dreaded 2.000 years ago, Arabs from the
Red Sea Coast, Druses from the moun
tains of Syria and Palestine, negroes
froiu Egypt, fugitives from justice of
every surrounding country, escaped jail
birds, anybody is welcome to their bands
who lias a horse and arms and can ride,
steal and shoot. These are the men who
desolated Bulgaria; these are the men
who are now making Armenia n desert.
The only discipline they recognize is obe
dience to their leader; they have no sys
tem of drill and the terror they inspire
is due solely to their well deserved repu
tation as butchers. When they wage
war it is not war, but extermination, for
they make not the slightest distinction
between tbe armed and the defenseless,
killing all alike with equal ferocity. To
them an expedition is a raid, during which
neither man, woman nor child is spared,
and what property cannot he carried off
is burned. Our American Indians were
gentlemen compared with them, for the
Indians did oeeasionally spare the chil
dren. adopting them into their tribes and
raising them as members of their fami
lies. but to the natural savagery of their
dispositions the Turkish irregulars add a
religious fanaticism of the most exag
gerated type a fanaticism that causes
them to regard the murder of a non-
Mohammedan as u religious duty, an net
extremely laudable in the sight of Allah
and which will entitle them to much
credit, botji in this world and in the next.
Principles, if they can be so called, such
as these render the Turkish irregulars ob
jects of the utmost terror to defenseless
villagers subject to their raids, and have
at one time or another made their name
a terror word from Vienna to Teheran.
Along the frontiers of Hungary and IV
land they were equally hated and feared
for 200 years; the Popes of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries issued sptcial
prayers for protection against them,: the
inhabitants of Southern Russia for a qpn
tury and a half had an annual fast day
to insure, immunity from their raids. "
| Td the regular troops of any civilized
power they are contemptible. They are
:irilled with antiquated, flint-lock, smooth
bore muskets, 6 or 7 feet-long, pistols of
equally ancient pattern and sabers. One
' con-bey, with a Winchester, a pail 1 of
! good revolvers and ii horse fieet enough
to keep him from being overwhelmed by
I numbers, would be more than a match
. for a dozen of thenl. They are brave
enough, in their ferocious, brutal way,
hut the worthlessness of their weapons
renders tliem a scoff to any organized
body of troops. During the war of 1876,
one regiment of Russian foot drove before
it, 111 headlong route, over 6,000 of tIiCBO
marauders. A company of forty Rus
sian frontier guards has been known to
disperse a band of fOO. Worthless for
lighting purposes, they are valuable only
when murder and pillage arc to bo done.
They aro picturesque objects, in their
Oriental costumes, with belts stuck full
of pistols and daggers, but, In a soldier,
plcturcsqiioness is a quality of very
Mm all cousequtmce.
In nctuul wurfaro, therefore, with any
civilized power, Turkey must rely on tho
lufuutry and artillery, tho effective forco
j of theao two arms belug less than 400,-
I 000 men. Such n forco as this could offor
a strong protest to the partition of tho
Turkish empire, but even after its re
sistance was overcome, tho trouble would
not bo at an end, for boforo the division
could bo performed a enmnnien in ovory
neighborhood would bo liecesßury. Tho
fanatical hatred entertained by Moslems
for everybody and everything Christian
is almost inconceivublo by the Western
mind. When, ut tho close of the war of
1870, Bosnia wus assigned to Austria, an
A moil PRIVATE.
army of nearly 100,000 men wus needed
to complete the transfer of the territory,
although there was not u Turkish regi
ment in tho province. The Moslem pop
ulation rose en masse, the women fought
side by side with their husbands with
guns, pistols, swords, hatchets and even
pitchforks. Military operation hud to bo
carried on against every villuge, and a
year elapsed ere there was complcto sub
mission and order wus restored. In caso
a partition of Turkey were attempted,
population uprisings might be expected
in every provinco from Albania to tho
Euphrates. They would all be ineffec
tive, of course, but they would all he
bloody and costly. A knowledge of the
facts that Turkey is by no means 1: do
less, even with a bankrupt treasury u .. .1
corrupt administration, has probably
something to do with the general willing
ness to give the unspeakable Turk a lit
tle more time. Nobody believes ho will
reform, but his army is too big and its
fighting reputation is too well established
for aggressive operations to be thoroughly
undertaken.
GIANT AND LILLIPUTIAN WED.
l \F Becomes Tired of Her, and Now
They Are Divorced.
Pretty little blue-eyed Minchen Beck
er came to this country five years ago.
She was then about 20 years old, and
not more than three feet six Inches tall.
Since that time she says she has grown
IV2 or 2 inches. Minchen will he re
membered as the leading lady In the
Lilliputian company which made such
a success in this country. When Min
chen came to New York her heart was
free. Two years ago she severed her
connection with the Lilliputians, and
since that time has not appeared in pub
lic.
Some time prior to that, the little wo
man made the acquaintance of George
1101. I.TIE IME R AND MISS DECKER.
Holzheimer, a good-looking Teuton.
He is a big. blonde moustaohed man,
over six feet tall, and weighs 200
pounds or more. He wooed and won
her. Tliey were married on June 25,
1593. They settled down in their cozy
little homo, and the bride says they
loved each other dearly. But Inst
spring her big husband told lier he had
grown tired of her. They quarreled,
and Anally they separated. Minchen
remained at the home on Fulton ave
nue. while her husband took up his
abode In the neighborhood. In August
the little wife brought an action for
absolute divorce, which was granted
her* - —*
London funerals cost over $5,000,000
annually.
The commercial marine of Canada
urives employment to some 60,000 sail
ors.
A Japanese seal Ashing company has
been organized by Tokio capitalists
to compete with foreign sealers off the
coast of Japan.
An area of 5,000 square miles south
of 60 degrees north latitude In Canada
is suitable for the production of all
crops grown in England.
A Chestervllle, Me., couple recently
celebrated their golden wedding in the
very house into which they moved on
their wedding day Ofty years before.
Almost the only monument of the Ro
tnan dominion In Egypt, the fortress of
Babylon, at old Cairo, is being torn
down to make way for modern build
ings.
Kildare and Wicklow have been just
ly termed the garden of Ireland, for no
where is nature more profuse in her
display of the picturesque and the beau
tiful.
A footman in an Englism nobleman's
bouse testiAed recently that his regular
pay was $250 a year. He also testiAed
that his average "tips" amounted to
.$.'1,000 a year.
The Magna Cliarta, or great charter,
of English liberties Is still preserved
in the British Museum. The Impress of
the seal and King John's name are both
very distinct.
A Kansas district has a written con
tract with a teacher to teach the school,
chop the wood, make the Are, sweep
and And the matches for slls a mouth.
The teacher is a woman.
A mass of eels weighing 300 pounds
clogged the water wheel which runs
the electric light plant of Rlverhead,
L. 1., the other night, and the town was
In darkness for several hours.
Of the 4,914 seal skins brought Into
Tort Townsend, Wash., during the sea
son just closed 3,650 were of female
seals, ail Indication of the rate at which
the seal herds aro being destroyed.
The persons of African descent in the
United States are classified according
to the degrees of colored blood into
6.3.37,980biack5, 956,989 mulattoes, 105,-
135 quadroons and 09,936 octoroons.
A seaweed of the South PaciAc often
grows to be thirty or forty inches iu
diameter and 1,500 to 2,000 feet long.
It has no root iu the proper sense, the
nourishment being absorbed from the
water.
Down to the depth of 200 fathoms,
where daylight appears, the eyes of a
Ash get bigger and bigger. Beyond thai
depth smnll-eyed forms set in, with
long feelers developed to supplement
the eyes.
Three times as many American horses
have been sold in England this year as
were called for in 1894, and their aver- -
age price at the ports of shipment has
been $155. They are used chieAy for
draft in London.
The Bank of England has 1,160 of
ficials on Its pay roll, which amounts
to about $1,500,000 a year, and 1,000
clerks. If a clerk is late three times he
receives a warning, the fourth time he
is discharged at once.
There is a woman contractor and
quarry operator in Buffalo, who has
supplied stone for some of the most
important structures iu the city. She
is the only woman who is an active
member of the Buffalo Builders' Ex
change.
A novel document Was Aled in the
office of the county recorder at Sedallh,
Mo., a few days ago. It is a paper
wherein Mrs. Belle Asher apprentices
her daughter, Letha Asher, 9 years old,
to Mary Jane Love, "to learn the trade
and art of housekeeping."
A thorough test Is to be made in Marl
on County, Florida, as to the adaptabil
ity of tile soil for the profitable cultiva
tion of tobacco. It is estimated that
1,000 acres will be planted with to
bacco seed from Cuba and Sumatra
during the present winter.
M. Lebeau has succeeded in obtaining
pure glucinum from the emerald by
heating t'lie precious stone in an electric
furnace until the sllllcon Is volatilized.
The residue is combined with hydro
fluoric acid, and after a series of puri
fications gives pure glucinum.
Some people have been making a
count and And that not one of the Stnte
governors in the United States Is a
Roman Catholic. There are no Roman
Catholics In the Cabinet, none in the
Supreme Court, and there never lias
been one in the White House.
A Parisian had the remains of his
brother cremated. The nshes were put
in a leather bag, and sent by rail to his
brother's home. The bag was mislaid,
and a suit lias been Instituted by the
brother against the railway company
for the value of the dead man's nshes.
A Spanish illustrated comic weekly,
La Tela Cortada ("The Cut Cloth") is
printed on cloth the size of an ordinary
handkerchief. After it has been read
it can be put In water, when the ink
will wash out and only a handkerchief
remain. The price of this uovel Journal
Is 5 cents.
Experiments indicate that spiders
hnve a long range of vision. It is not
always possible to tell, however, wheth
er the lower animals perceive by sight
or hearing, or by the action air in mo
tion has on their bodies. It Is asserted
that mice are sensitive to motions of
the air which to human cars create no
sound whatever. •
Knew Whereof He Hpoke.
"Ho had the reputation of being a
good man, but I consider him the tough
est citizen 1 ever struck!"
With tills remark file cannibal chief
tain put the lid on the pot again and
added fresh fuel to the fire.