Michigan egg-shippers claim that
they pay more money annually for
Michigan hen fruit than is paid for
Michigan wheat.
The irony of Fate is sublime. One
of the victims of the Mississippi flood
woe a book agent who had been ped.
dling a work on irrigation.
Times and cycles have changed many
customs, and the old saying, "Hook
before you leap." is now rendered by
the cautions pedestrian, "Look before
you cross the street."
The Theosopliical Society is nourish
ing in California. It has bought forty
acres of land ou Point Lone, near San
Diego. The society intends to build
a big hotel and sanitarium aud to
spend $400,000 on the undertaking.
This unkind fling is from the San
Fraucisco Chronicle; "As soon as the
water dries off in Oklahoma the prairie
fires will set in. Oklahoma is a fine
new Territory for people that yearn
for excitement, but it is noticeable that
it doesn't get much immigration from
California."
The decision of the Trunk Line As
sociation of railways to accept bicycles
as personal baggage between States is
another recognition of the place the
wheel has won. If now the trainmen
can be compelled to nse ordinary care
in handling bicycles, riders will have
got a solid advantage.
In his sermon on last Sunday, a
prominent New York clergyman said:
"The organic church here has lost its
hold on the public mind. Women are
the only ones who hold to church
organizations of to-day. There are
but 35,000 men in the City of New
York to-day who go into Protestant
churches. This is true also of Roman
Catholics. According to the latest
estimates, it is figured that 385,000
persons attend the Roman Catholic
churches, but of that number there
are a great many who go to church
once or twice a year, and some who
never go unless they think they are
about to die."
It is not generally known that the
President and Vice-President of the
United Htates never travel by rail to
gether. It is one of the precautionary
measures that hedge about the lives of
the two foremost men in the National
Government, the idea being that if an
accident upon the rail should cause
the death of oue of the illustrious men
the other would still be spared to the
country. It was for this reason that
ex-President Cleveland invariably rode
upon the Pennsylvania Railroad when
he journeyed from the Capital to Phila
delphia or New York, and Vice-Presi
dent Stevenson traveled on the Balti
more and Ohio. President McKiuley
and Vice-President Hobart, when they
attended the recent Grant celebration
in New York, followed the same plan.
Fifteen years ago J. J. Lentz, of
Ohio, and E. E. Bobbins, of Penn
sylvania, were roommates in New York
City, while they attended the Colum
bia law school. Ou the evening after
their graduation Bobbins asked Lentz
what he was going to do. "I am going
back home and run for Congress.
What are you going to do?" "I am
going home to Pennsylvania with the
same idea. We. will meet some day in
the House." And, sure enough, when
the roll was called for the members
of the Fifty-fifth House of Representa
tive# to come to the clerk s desk to be
sworn in, Mr. Bobbins, the representa
tive from Greensburg, Penn., met Mr.
Lentz, a representative from Columbus,
Ohio, in the area in front of ttie clerk's
desk. Clasping hands, they remarked
in the same breath: "Well, here we
are."
Burdett Coutts, Hir Ashmead Bart
lett's brother, whose marriage brought
him so much ill will in London, will
be the first person born as an Ameri
can citizen to enter the House of
Lords. There have been several
Americans naturalized as Englishmen
who have received baronetcies and
knighthoods. But no one yet has had
a peerage conferred upon him. There
are still hopes, however, that the
young Harvard graduate, son of Lady
Henry Somerset, may succeed to his
grandfather's sadiy impoverished
Dukedom of Beaufort. The Duke's
oldest son, the Marquis of Worcester,
who married the widowed Baroness de
Tuyll a year ago, has just become the
father of a little girl. It is needless to
add, remarks the New York Hun, that
the Marquis is greatly disappointed,
and so, too, are the tenants on the
Beaufort estates, who dread becoming
subject to the rule of a Duke reared
by a mother professing such strong
views on the .subject of temperance as
Lady HenryjHomersut.
They com© to m© In the shadows
That ©overthe dying day,
They takr tfc'ir forms and substantia
Out of thf twilight gray;
They have .<> tangible features,
Nor any fi<rm of speech.
But they point their misty fingers
To heights I can never reach.
They bring up out of the darkness
Old-time hopes and fears,
Till the shadow faces ure fainter
Behind a mist oi tears.
The saddest things of a lifetime
Are these shades of old regret
For the dear ideals that missed us
And the joys that we didn't get.
§ BULL FIGHTS IN MEXICO. 8
S
♦\ A It ratal "Sport" Graphically Described.
*% W
Every Mexican city lias one or two
bull rings, and in at least two cities
there are doable lings where two
tights can be seen at the same time for
one ndmission fee, on the plan of the
big American circuses. Troupes of
bull fighters travel from one city to
another, just the same ns circuses,
playing engagements of several weeks
in each city and receiving a stipulated
sum for each performance.
Bull fights are held on Sundays and
feast days. It was to the Plaza de
Toros bull ring that the writer made
his way. This ling is shaped like an
amphitheatre, open to the sky. The
arena is inclosed by u plank fence four
feet high, with a rail a foot wide,
eighteen inches from the ground on
the inside, on which performers step
and vault over the fence when too
hotly pursued by an angry bull, land
ing in a narrow alley that separates
the fence from the first row of seats.
The arena is 200 feet in diameter, and
the floor is of sand, packed hard.
Back of the alley twenty tires of plank
seats rise up. Above these are the
boxes, furnished with chairs, crowded
closely together. Facing the areuu on
the first tier of seats is the private box
of the referee and his bugler, and near
by is the band stand. The amphithe
atre will seat 10,000 people. The ad
mission ranges from twenty-five cents
to $2, seats, on the sunny side of the
ring costing just one-half as much as
those in the shade. A box costs from
$8 to S2O, and will hold from four to
ten people.
The fights begin at 3 o'clock and
end at 6, but the crowd begins to
arrive an hour before the sport begins.
Mexican peons are poor, but none of
them is so poor that he cannot dig up
money enough at least every other Sun
day to buy a ticket for the bull fight.
They Bit so close together ou the
sunny side that their broad-brim, high
crown straw hats resemble circles of
toad-stools. The well-to-do and
fashionables occupy the boxes, and
there is always a liberal sprinkling of
foreigners in the crowd.
Twenty minutes before 3 o'clock
the band arrived and was welcomed
with a prolonged cheer from the
bleachers. The leader arose aud
bowed his acknowledgments, and
then the baud struck up a quickstep.
Then came the referee, and he was
cheered, too. The referee is a Gov
ernment or State official, and has
charge of the performance. It is his
duty to see that the bulls have a fair
show, to impose fines if members of
the troupe do not put up a good ttglit,
and to act as master of ceremonies.
The sport is governed by as stringent
rules as prize fighting. One rule is
that the bull must always be attacked
from the front, never from the rear or
side. To violate this rule means a
fine and an unmerciful scoring from the
bleachers, who are as sharp critics as
those who sit in an opera house gal
lery.
The referee no sooner takes his
seat than au indescribable yell goes
up from the impatient bleachers. The
referee nods to his bugler, who blows
the signal blast. The baud strikes
up. The gates opposite the referee's
box swing open aud the troupe of bull
fighters euters the arena, advanciug
to the referee's stand and bowing low.
The matador heads the procession.
He is the star performer, who finally
kills the bull, considered the most ex
citing and perilous feat performed.
He is followed by the capeadors, who
flaunt gaudily colored capes at the
hull to auger him. Then come the
bauderilleros, who, wheu the bull is
sufficiently stirred up, thrust sharp
barbs ou each side of his vertebrte
that, make him wild with rage. The
picadors follow on horseback, and the
procession ends up with three white
mules, harnessed abreast, with bright
colored ribbons flying from the harness
and strings of tiny bells jingling. The
mules draw out the dead bull at the end
of each act.
Your first thought is that ahull fight
is a tame affair. The little procession
is pleasing to the eye, and the feeling
of horror that possesses you when you
sat down has worn away. The men are
picturesquely dressed in knee breeches,
short velvet jackets, trimmed with gold
lace and silver braid, and silk hose.
They might be French playactors, and
they step nbout and bow in as courtly
a manner as a prince might. The
bleachers applaud the paraders long
and loudly. The horses are gaily ca
parisoned, and the trappings hide the
fact that they are poor, old, wornout
hacks that have been doped and
fed up for the killing. The mules
are driven out, and the arrange
themselves about the arena.
The music of the band ceases and a
hush comes over the (1000 people who
have gathered to see the sport. The
referee nods to his bugler. Before the
blast has died away the low gates
opposite the band stand fly open and
the bull enters the arena from the dark
pen where he has been confined for
RECRET. **
The prayer that never was answered,
Tae prize that never was won,
Beautiful thoughts unspoken.
Work that was left undone.
The help that never was offered,
The letter I didn't write-
All lift reproachful faces
Out of the gathering night.
And the finished work seems nothing
Beside the work undone.
And the given victory small and weak
To that which I might have won.
They fill me with vague longings,
These sad ghosts of regret.
For the only joys worth holding
Are those 1 didn't get.
—Mario Conway, in Suvunnah Press. **
three flays. Just us he passes under
the railing a dart, to which are at
tached the colors of his breeder, is
thrust into his shoulder, and the pain
maddens him. He comes bellowing to
the centre of the arena, and the bright
sunshine blinds him for an instant.
He stops and stares at the howling
mob above and around him and won
ders what it all means. The capeadors
quickly run up and flaunt their buck
skin-lined capes at him, and he charges
them, but they step deftly aside and
the bull slips and falls to his knees. In
an instant he leaps to his feet and the
contest is renewed. When hot pressed
the capeador leaps over the fence.
Sometimes the bull follows after him,
and sometimes he kills the capeador.
After the capeadors have taunted
the bull they retire and the picadors
advance on horseback. The horses,
with the right eye blindfolded, go
forward to almost certain death. The
picador swings a long lance in his
right hand and grasps the reins in his
left. The point of the lance is sharp
enough to irritate the bull but not
sharp enough to inflict injury. The
time to injure the bull has not arrived.
The picador advances to the centre of
the arena and awaits the charge. As
the bellowing black mass rushes for
ward with head lowered the picador
tries to repulse him by pressing the
lance against his neck and head. Three
times the picador must repulse the
bull if he follows the rules. But the
advantage of strength, momentum and
weight is with the bull, and often at
the first charge he knocks down the
horse and throws the rider to the
ground. Instantly the capeadors sur
round the bull and attract his attention
while the picador extricates himself
from under the fallen horse. The
blindfolded horse is whipped to his
feet and staggers about the arena,
sometimes desperately wounded.
Perhaps the bull will charge him again
and literally gore him to shreds. If
the wound is not too severe the horse
is hurried out of the inclosure, thrown
on his back, and the wound sewed up.
Then the animal is doped and ready to
re-enter the arena when the next bull
is let in. Sometimes the sharp horns
of the maddened bull mercifully pierce
the horse's heart and end its sufferings
at once. When the horse is gored and
stumbling about the arena the bleach
ers are on their feet and yelling ut the
top of their voices. They love to see
blood run.
The horses are now removed from
the arena, the bugle sounds again and
the banderilleros are introduced.
There are three of thehi and each car
ries two banderillas, a stout stick the
size of a brooiu handle and a trifle less
than three feet long. There is a barb
in one end as sharp as a trout hook,
and the sticks are wound with bright
colored tissue paper. The banderil
lero takes his place in the centre of
the liug and assumes a defiant atti
tude. He does not retain it long. The
hull charges him with lowered head.
The banderillero does not move, and
yon fancy, for an instant, that he will
be gored to death. As tlio horns al
most touch him, lie drives the bander
illas into the bull's shoulders; then,
with wondecful dexterity, steps aside
aud out of danger. It is done so deft
ly that you are puzzled, The bull
bellows with pain and tears about in a
frantic effort to remove the barbs.
Blood trickles down his sides. Two
other bauderilleros repeat the trick,
and with six barbs hanging from his
shoulders the bull is frenzied with
rage. If a banderillero fails to plant
a barb in the bull's shoulders he is
hissed, and if he misses both thrusts
he is fined. A certain number of
misses in succession, aud the little
knot of ham he wears ou the back of
his head will be cut off by order of the
referee aud lie will be compelled to
desert the arena disgraced. You ad
mire the dexterity of the banderillero,
but your sympathies are with the bull.
It is a feat that requires great nerve.
A mißstep means death.
The bull is now wild with rage and
pain, and the most exciting act is yet
to come. The bugle blows again, and
the matador, king of the bull lighters,
enters the arena and bows to tlm mul
titude, who rise to do him honor. He
advances to the centre of the arena and
faces his foe. He carries a red cape
over his sword, a Damascus blade,
three feet long. The lilood-red cape
attracts the bull's attention at once,
and he charges the matador, who must
dodge three rushes before lie has per
mission to kill. As tlie bull wheels
for the fourth charge the matador
poises his blade in the air and calmly
awaits the rush. The bull bends his
head, shuts his eyes, and comes on
with great force until within three fqet
of the matador. The sword flashes in
the sunlight and is buried between
the bull's shoulders, piercing the heart.
A stream of blood spurts over the ani
mal's back. His rush is checked and
he comes to a sudden stop. The mul
titude cheer frantically and scores of
liafs, canes find adobe dollars are
showered into the arena by the excited
admirers of the matador. He bows
his thanks. The bull totters, falls to
his knees and buries his nose in the
sand. An attendant runs up and
buries the point of a dagger deep in
the bull's brain. As the attendants
hand the hats and canes to the excited
people on the plank seats the bugle
sounds again. The three white mules
are driven in. A rope is fastened
about the horns of the dead bull and
he is drawn out. The spectators wait
impatiently for the next.
Six times was this performance re
peated during the afternoon. When
six bulls are dead the game is over for
the day. There are cowards among
bulls as well as men. The second bull
that entered promptly jumped the
fence, and could not be induced to
light. The bleachers were disgusted,
and shouted their taunts loudly, hurl
ing all kinds of epithets at the coward
ly animal. The referee heeded their
Cries, and ordered the bull returned to
a pen. This was accomplished by let
ting in three spotted steers with bells
fastened to their necks. When they
turned to go out the bull meekly fol
lowed them.
The third bull trotted in with the
majestic air of a lion, his tail swung to
one side. He was a big black fellow
with magnificent horns and full of
fight. He killed two horses in less
t huii three minutes, and almost killed
two capeadors. They escaped death
by a miraole. When the matador drove
his sword into this bull he missed the
heart, and the point of the blade
emerged from the animal's body sev
eral inches, just back of the foreleg.
Catcalls and shouts of derision greeted
the failure of the matador, but he re
deemed himself. Deftly he recovered
his sword, and at the next attempt
drove the blade in to the hilt, piercing
heart. The Mexican bleachers love
blood ami skill; they want no false
moves.
The greatest Mexican bull fighter is
Ponciano Diaz, and he is the most
popular man in Mexico with the masses.
Some of the feats he performs are won
derful. He will stand in the centre of
the arena, sword in hand, and await
the approach of the bull. By a deft
movement he places his feet between
the bull's horns, drives his blade into
the bull's heart, and withdraws it so
quickly that there is not a stain left on
the silk handkerchief he draws the
blade through. He is the personifica
tion of all that is great to the people.
There were six bulls and eight horses
killed the afternoon the writer visited
the Plaza de Toris, and his only regret
was that he did not see a bull fighter
gored.
If the troupes do not give a good per
formance the referee imposes a fine of
from #IOO to #250, which goes to the
city treasury. The bulls are bred on
purpose for the sport, and the original
stock came from Spain. The matadors
receive large salaries and a great deal
of homage. The troupes ride from
their hotel to the bull ring in open car
riages and are saluted all along the
route. A troupe of Spanish bull fight
ers once came to Mexico aud received
#IBO,OOO for eighteen exhibitions. Bull
lighting is a scientific sport and not a
hit-and-miss game. It is also very
dangerous work. At Durango, on the
afternoon the writer saw the tight in
the City of Mexico, four performers lost
their lives, two of them being killed by
the same bull. At another light the
same day a bull tossed a man thirty
feet in the air, killing him instantly.
Such accidents are wildly cheered by
the crowd, and the bull gets credit for
taking the opportunity.—New York
Sun.
I'lpmy Cocoanuts From China.
"What in the world do you call these
things?" asked a customer of a South
Water street commission man yester
day, as he carefully examined four or
live small, Rlightlyoval shaped objects.
"Guess," said the commission man.
| "Can't—give up."
"Those are Chinese cocoanuts."
! "Why, they aren't much larger than
marbles."
"They are very scarce in this coun
try. I happened to get a hold of these
through a friend of mine. He spent
the winter down in Florida, and one
day he was walking along the beach
and discovered these floating in the
water. They don't grow anywhere
around here, and the natural conclu
sion reached as to how they got to the
Florida coast was that they drifted all
the way from China of their own ac
cord. "
"What makes them so small?"
"I don't know, but you see that they
are exactly like the common cocoanut,
except in size. In China they are used
a great deal for flavoring purposes."—
Chicago Record.
Japs Want Power.
It has been written that no man by
giving thought unto himself can add
one cubit to his stature, but the enter
prising Jap does not despair, and an
ordinance has gone forth exhorting
the people to eat more freely of meat,
with a view to increasing the average
height of the race. Whatever results
may follow the method proposed, they
are certain to be a long time coming,
but it is only another instance of the
determination on the part of the
Japanese not to let the slightest
chance slip for attaining all the ad
vantages which they see, or think
they see, in Western civilization.
Greek Shoes Are Funny.
Greek .shoes are nearly always made
of red leather. They turn uj) at the
toes and are ornamented with a red
and blue pompon of floss silk on the
instep uud are sometimes embroidered
with a gold and silver thread. Unless
elaborately embroidered a handsome
pair may he bought for a dollar. The
people who weur the native coHtuiue
all of theui wear these shoes, which
are made in coarser leather for the
couutry
The l'ropnsatloii f Shrubs aiul Plants.
Herbaceous plants are propagated
by a division of the roots. Cut down
through a clump with a sharp spade,
and you get a mass of roots, thickly set
with growing points. This mass can
generally be broken apart in such man
ner as to form many small plants, each
one having root enough to nourish it.
In this way it is easy to increase one's
stock of this class of bowers. The old
plants are benefited by such division.
Shrubs, as a general thing, throw up
shoots or suckers about the main stem.
Some of these are so closely connected
with the uiaiu stem that it is not .pus
sible to remove them and have any root
attached, while others nre not attached
to the old stein, but nre sent up di
rectly from the roots. The lilac is an
illustration of the latter class, which is
easily propagated by cutting the shoots
or sprouts away from the old plants,
generally with strong roots attached.
Shrubs that do not sucker or sprout
freely, can he propagated by layering.
This process consists in bending down
a branch, preferably one that starts
from the old plant near the ground,
and inserting a portion of it in the
earth without removing it from the
parent plant. At that part of the branch
where the bend is to be which is to go
underground, half break it, or cut it
about halfway through. This not only
makes it easier to insert the branch
properly in the soil, hut it assists it in
the formation of roots. Where the cut
or break is, the flow of sap will he ar
rested, and a callus will form from
which, later on, roots will he sent out.
Meanwhile the sap from the parent
plant circulates through that portion
of the brunch not cut or broken, thus
affording nourishment while roots are
being formed. In this way one can
propagate plants whose cuttings sel
dom root when completely separated
from the old stock.
If it is desired to increase the stock
of peonies, dig dig down at the side of
the old plant until some of the tubers
are laid bare. These can be cut away
carefully without interfering in the
least with the old plant. The peony
resents any serious disturbance of its
roots.
Lilies, and other bulbous plants, are
propagated by removal of the little off-
Bets or bulbs that form übout the old
ones—The Housewife.
Care of Hairy Utensil*.
There would he less poor butter on
the market if more attention were
given to the care of the dairy utensils,
says W. .T. Eraser in an agricultural
paper. They should be washed as
soon as possible after being used, as
the longer the milk remains in them
the harder they are to clean. First,
rinse in cool water to remove the milk;
never use hot, as this cooks the milk
anil causes it to adhere to the vessels.
After rinsing, wash thoroughly iu hot
water, or what is still better, with
steam, if it is available. This scalding
is very essential, and should be thor
oughly done. After scalding, turn up
side down in a clean, exposed place,
where they will get the full benefit of
the sun, us this helps greatly to keep
them sweet.
Strainers should be given a good
deal of attention, as they come in con
tact with all the milk. If cloth
strainers are used, they are diffioult to
keep clean. A cheap grade of cotton
Hanuel, used nap Hide up, makes a
good strainer, and if only a small piece
is used, it is best to throw it away af
ter each straining.
All tin utensils should he as free
from seams as possible, heuoe, of
course, dressed tin is best. If there
are seams or corners they should he
tilled with solder as to leave no lodg
ing places for dirt. A few minutes'
work with the soldering iron will savs
much time iu washing. Wooden paile
should never he used for milk, as it is
practically impossible to keep them
clean.
Where milk is taken to a factory
the cans should be washed before they
are returned. It is a bad practice to
tako hack Hkim milk, which is usually
sour, iu the cims used for whole milk,
but this is often done nud can hardly
be obviated where the milk is hired
hauled. Of course, the skim milk
should be returned, but it is much
better to have a barrel for the pur
pose. If the cans are used for skim
milk they should he emptied on reach
ing the farm and thoroughly cleansed.
All wooden utensils, such as churn,
butter worker, etc., should be washed
and scalded after being used, aud if
placed in the BUH, care must be taken
that they do not become so dry as to
crack. From one churning to another
the churn should not be kept tightly
closed, as it will soon become tainted.
In preparing wooden utensils for ÜBB
they should be scalded aud then cooled
with cold water. If treated in this
way the butter will not stick.
Farm and Garden Notes.
The cost of support is in proportion
to weight, but in the yield of butter is
not in such proportion.
When butter is worked very dry,
the grains of salt left in it are uot dis
solved aud remaiu iu a gritty condi
tion.
If creamery butter is better than
average dairy butter it is because the
mauagemeut at the creamery is upon a
higher Bcale than in the average private
dairy. There is no gaiu in taking the
fuilk of a dozen or more second or third
class farmers and handing it over to
an unskilled creamery man to make
into butter.
Poor, dirty milk cannot appear later
in form of first-class butter. The skill
and intelligence, indispensable at n
creamery, must extend out among the
milk producers. Poor cows yielding
hut little milk can never pay theii
keeping, and no number of them, how
ever great, can render a creamery
profitable to it.
One of the reasons why diseases in
swine cause greater loss than that with
any other class of animals is because
of unnatural and detrimental condi
tions. They are compelled to slake
thirst in stagnant pools, and sleep and
eat in filthy quarters, or no quarters
at all. Even the stench of many hog
pens is a menace.
Whenever a sheep begius to lose
wool it shows its digestion bus become
impaired, causing fever. In most
cases this means that the sheep is past
its prime, so that it can no longer
chew its food as formerly. The sooner
sucli a sheep is disposed of, the better
for the farmer's profit. It is not pos
sible, even by feeding ensilage, to keep
sheep in good condition alter their
teeth fail.
It is important that cows be regularly
salted at least twice a week. If they
have salt before them all the time,
they will not eat more than is good for
them. This regular salting not only
increases the milk yield, but also
makes it of better quality. Where
cows are salted regularly, their milk
will keep sweet twenty-four hours
longer than will milk from cows that
have suffered for lack of salt.
Muck, by which in this country is
generally meant vegetable mould, is
too poor in fertility to warrant carry
ing far or much handling. As for
mixing it with stable manures we
would not advise such a practice, as
the manure without the muck is none
too efficient. There is one partial ex
ception to this rule. When a heap of
manure is fermenting it saves a waste
of ammonia to throw over the pile a
small quantity of vegetable mould,
and this when the heap is turned must
he mixed with the stuhlo manure.
Early failures to hatch eggs very
seldom come from lack of vigor in the
germ; for in this the early eggs are
superior. They more often come from
allowing eggs to he chilled before the
setting begins. Every one knows that
chilling after a few days' setting soon
destroys the life in the egg. It may
do where eggs that have never been
set on are kept in contact with metal,
which rapidly abstracts heat when the
eggs are kept for greater safety near
the freezing temperature. Dishes for
holdiug eggs should be of wood, which
abstracts heat slowly.
Though the farmer may uot want to
plow deep for spring crops lie always
likes to have soil as deep as possible.
It is an advantage to topdress even
though only poor soil is used to do it
with. We have known the soil dug
from deep wells and spread over ad
joining land to greatly help the soil
after a year or two. The subsoil was
rich in mineral fertility, though of
course, it had little or no vegetable
matter. After it had been exposed to
frost, one or two winters it produced
good small grain crops, though manure
was needed when corn, potatoes and
other hoed crops were planted 011 it.
Cur Cards.
Curse cards are a novelty which
have lately been introduced into Prus
sia, Saxony and Alsace, though they
orignated in Calvin's land. The man
ner in which tho propagandist em
ploys the curse card is said to be as
follows: He or she starts in the early
morning by filling his or her pockets
with the form in blank. When in om
nibus, tram or train had language is
heard, then the user of the profane
words is invited to fill in the blank
forms, and he binds himself for a cer
tain time to abstain from the "swear
words" or to do penance in pfennings
for indulgence in the same. In Switz
erland 39,800 of these cards have been
distributed, and, as the prospectus
gravely remarks: "111 a country where
three great European languages are
spoken the system will have invaluable
results in enabling the religious sta
tistician to estimate the prevalanoe of
violent language among the nations of
Western Europe." The benefits of the
curse card have yet to be proved.—
New York Tribune.
Development of Uganda.
The development of the native king
dom of Uganda, ill Central Africa, un
der British protection is very remark
able. The vast population of this dis
trict, which will soon be opened to the
civilized world by a railway constructed
down to the ocean, offers an ever-wid
ening market for manufactured articles
ill textiles and metals, including agri
cultural implements and industrial
tools. Uganda is going to be a cotton,
tea, tobacco and coffee growing coun
try. A steamer is now plying on the
Victoria Nyanza.
Gum Chewing Causes Appendicitis.
An operation has been performed
upon Dalton Query, of Blue Ridge,
lud., for appendicitis, but be cannot
possibly recover. Query has been an
inveterate chewer of gum, and in the
appendix was found a ball of wax al
most as luge as a hen's egg.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
An absolutely fireproof chimney,
fifty feet high, has been built of paper
at Breslau. It is the only one of the
kind.
Thirty-two and three-quarters knots
an hour is the recent record made by
the British torpedo boat Turbinia on
her trial trip on the River Tyne.
Since pneumatic, tires have come
into use on cabs in Paris, it has been
found that owing to the reduced shock
to vehicles, the cost of repair has been
lessened fifty per cent.
The dry volcanic ore along the Col
orado River, above and below Yuma,
has been found to be rich in gold, it
is necessary to roast the rock in order
to make it yfeld up its treasure.
The Y'alo Class of 1897 has bought
and presented to the Peabody Museum
a valuable meteoric stone, found three
years ago on the Smoky Hill River,
Kansas. The stone weighs sixty-five
pounds. The British Museum con
tains only two stones which are larger.
A prominent member of the Eng
lish Royal Botanic Society proposes to
devote the Sahara desert to the rais
ing of esparto grass, which is almost
as useful as wood pulp. Paper makers
have forgotten that they were once
concerned about the scarcity of rags.
It is calculated that a fluent speaker
ntters between 7000 and 7500 words
in the course of an hour's uninter
rupted speaking; many orators of
more than usually rapid utterance will
reach 8000 and even 9000. But 125
words a minute, or 7500 an hour, is a
fair average.
Strangely enough, the X rays will
not penetrate glass. Eyeglasses, if
photographed, come out black. This
proved useful in the case of a Vienna
glass worker who got a bit of glass
into his finger. By the aid of the rays
its was discovered, extracted, and tiie
workman cured.
The evening primrose—opening
about dusk—has a very light linen
yellow color for the attraction of night
flying moths, by which, almost en
tirely, it is fertilized, although it re
mains open during the day to some ex
tent, and may at that time receive
some visits from bees, but it is pecu
liarly adapted to fertilization by night
flying moths. The other species of
the primrose family (so called) are
fertilized by bees, which, of course,
are day flying. 1
The temperature at the bottom of
the ocean is nearly down to freezing
point, and sometimes actually below
it. There is a total absence of light,
as far as sunlight is concerned, and
there is an enormous pressure, reck
oned at about one ton to the square
inch in every 1000 fathoms, which is
100 times greater than that of the at
mosphere we live in. At 2500 fath
oms the pressure is about thirty times
more powerful than the steam pressure
of a locomotive when drawing a train.
COOD ROADS NOTES.
This is a great country but some
parts of it are too soft.
Material for making a road isn't
lacking half as often as is the disposi
tion to get at it.
The man who appreciates the differ
ence between good and bad roads may
be said to have "horse sense."
The cyclists in the vicinity of Potts
town, Peuu,, have been instrumental
in securing (100 tons of cracked stone
placed on the roads in the vicinity of
their town.
A writer in the Des Moines (Iowa)
Farmer's Tribune urges the superiority
of gravel roads for that State. His
reason is principally the trifling cost
of the gravel as compared with the
cost of stone necessary for a macadam
road.
The Worcester (Mass.) Road Im
provement Association has a novel
plan for awakening the public to the
need of better streets in that city.
They have offered prizes for collections
of photographs of bad streets taken
during the spring and summer, which
will be put on slides by the association
and exhibited in public next fall.
Mississippi now has a road law
which, if properly carried into effect,
and if kept in effect for a material
longth of time, will, in the opinion of
the Mobile (Ala.) Register, "probably
give the State a system of public roads
superior to any that it has ever had,
and perhnps superior to that of a
majority of the Southern States."
The ltomill Cotton ltule.
At first transportation companies
and manufacturers were doubtful ot
the advisability of introducing the new
cotton presses which turn out cylin
drical bales. They believed they could
not be packed readily, and that it would
be difficult to remove samples. The
latter objection was soon shown to be
groundless, and it was demonstrated
that the new presses packed the cotton
so compactly that it requires less space
than by the old system of square bales.
This same compactness was proved, by
actual experiment, to be a great pro
tection in case of fire. Inky water
water was also thrown over it and
would not penetrate. There is a grow
ing belief in the South that the round
bale is coming into general use.—At
lanta Constitution.
The Thread-and-Needle Tree.
One of Mexico's most curious plants
is called the tliread-aud-needle tree,
and it bears a close resemblance to an
overgrown asparagus. Along the edges
of the leaves, which are thick and
fleshly and full of tiny fibres of great
strength, very sharp "needles" grow.
If pushed back into the leaf, and cut
loose from its tough setting the thorn
may be easily pulled out, a lot of the
tough little fibres attached to the root
of thorn coming out with it. When
these fibres are twisted together with
wax a strong, smooth thread is the re
iult.
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