Switzerland has just decided to make Snsurance against accident and sick ness compulsory on all citizens. Wheat and corn have done so well Sn Central Kansas that it is computed in tho New York Sun that the money receipts from these sources will be greater by one-third in that part of the State this season than last. "" A Parisian work on the morphine tiabit says it is most prevalent in Ger many, France and the United States, and, strange to say, that the medical profession furnishes the largest num ber of morphinists—forty per cent. As tlie English upper classes do not object to their boys being birched, it is only royal Princes and the sons of noblemen who receive corporal pun ishment in the great English schools. Bo at least says the headmaster of Harrow. Miss Lell Segcur, Superintendent of the city schools of Decatur, 111., re fused to swear to the assessor's list, or to give him a list of her taxable property. For this she was arrested and fined §lB. She believes that if Bhe caunot vote she should not pay taxes. Holland has extended the elective franchise so as to permit worlcingmen to vote. Though in most respects fa progressive State, Holland has hesi tated about this step because of a dread of the socialists, who are bred in Holland into a peculiarly bitter type which might almost better be termed anarchists. Newspapers of the City of Mexico report that a stock company is being formed in that city with a capita! of $60,000 for the purpose of elevating *'tlie noble art" of bull fighting. Tho company will import both bulls aud fighters, the sister Republic being evi dently unable to supply tho genuine Bimon-pnre article. The New York World estimates that Kansas. Nebraska and Oklahoma will sell this year not less than 95,000,000 bushels of wheat at moro than half a dollar a bushel net price to the pro ducer. The other wheat-growing States will reduce even these figures to insignificance by their results. There is more gold in a good agricul tural soil than in any Klondike placer ever yet discovered. There is truth yet in Irving's story of the old Hudson Eiver Dutchman whose digging for treasure under the inspiration of dreams gave him greater wealth in cabbages than he had dreamed of in the chests of gold. A recent statistical estimate places the number of newspapers which are annually printed at tho enormous figure of 12,000,000,000. A mathema tician, apparently with considerable time at his disposal, in order to give a more comprehensive idea of this num ber, has calculated that a surface of 30,000 square kilometres could be covered with these papers. The paper alone weighs 781,210 tons. In case one machine was forced to print these millions at the rate of one a second three hundred and thirty-three years would be necessary. Placed one upon another tho papers would reach to tho height of eighty thousand metres. Assuming that a person devotes five minutes a day to reading his paper the time used by the entire population of the world in reading newspapers each year amounts to one hundred thousand years. A contributor to the New York Evening Post finds himself able, in reviewing the manners of contempo rary American men, to aver that the rising generation of boy a is a great deal ljetter bred than tho lot that pre ceded them. For purposes of com parison he classifies Americans whose behavior has come under his per sonal observation into gentlemen of the old school, surviving examples of which were still extant in his youth, gentlemen of a school which began about 1875, and the youths of the present period. He relates a number of afflicting characteristics of the School of 1875, and praises its latter day successors as being more civil, more deferential to their ciders, and better balanced, as shown in their being much less apt to fall over one another in offering attentions to casual and unidentified Englishmen who may have straggled over to this country. In this new school of hotter Ameri cans this observer sees "the influence of their mothers—those women wo knew as girls, and who were so far ahead of their brothers and husbands in refinement and culture." >. To have aeon these girls marry and bring up their sons so well has been, he says, • satisfaction and a compensation for ttny delusions. I I A-wooln* protty Patten**©, Went I. h love-sick swain. And found her in the orchard, Amidst the trees and grain. Ard then I plead with ardent words, And, when I thought her won, I seized her—would have kissed her—Ahl The conquest was not done. For with a haughty, mocking eye, Low courteseying, the maid did cry, j "Kind sir, have patience." GJ A BICYCLE RACE WITH A TIGER. J A.., I3y C. MUMFORD ROBINSON. C V 2■ " 3 V ;;'W A•- J)fir.rz, f. WAS always very wW f° n( Jof bicycling, .SA from the time when I was a small boy, and ( AAAf labored for hours iA-v with a bone shaker, to the tP if J il (j \j c> days when X be came the proud possessor of one of the first "safeties" ever made, I re veled in the enchanting pastime,spend ing hours on the back of my steel steed,thus putting my physical powers a long way ahead of my mental. In fact, X hated the sight of a book, and was never happy unless "scorching" through the country on my bicycle. My father was a doctor in an Eng lish village, and having a large family, he was thankful indeed when, at the age of nineteen, a commission was ob tained for me by a wealthy friend in a regiment about to sail for India. A grand new bicycle was my father's parting present, and great was my de light at finding that another young "sub" in my regiment was also a bi cyclist. In these days, when the bicycle has so many votaries, this may seem nothing strange; hut to realize my surprise and pleasure, yon must re member that a bicycle was then a comparative curiosity, and a bicyclist a person to be stared at and admired or otherwise. Our bicycles were, I believe, the first ever seen in India; and as wo rode together in the town, some days after our arrival, one would have thought it was the triumphal entry of some Eastern potentate. I could fill a book with the curious incidents and accidents which befell us going "up country." Our regiment was always ou the move, aud panics of one kind or another were very fre quent on our bicycling excursions. One evening, after mess, Fred and I Bigned articles to ride a ten mile race. There was a grand native road with in a short distance of our camp, run ning away for ten miles as flat as a drawing-hoard. It lay through the open plain, and then a deserted tract was reached, becoming wilder as the road proceeded, and finally swallow ing it up in an impenetrable jungle. It was on this road I intended to train. Fred had found a circular path round some native huts a short way from the station, measur ing about six laps to the mile, and there he prepared himself for the com ing struggle. After a week of such training as would make a modern athlete's hair stand on end—meat almost raw, chopped very finely, etc.—we con sidered ourselves fit for the contest; and the adventure I am about to relate occurred the evening before the race day. I was just starting for a last ride over my favorite training course, when an officer stopped me and said: "Have you heard of the tiger, Har vie?" "No," I answered. "The natives have just brought word that some tiger is marked down in a jungle about ten miles from here; BO don't go too far, this evening." "AH [right," I laughed; "I think a tiger would find it a difficult matter to catch mo—my training would tell on him." I had not seen any large wild beast as yet, and my notion of a tiger was a thin, sleepy looking animal, such as I had once seen in a traveling menag eiie. Away I rode, my comrade's caution forgotten before I had gone a mile. I started at a good pace, but not racing, as I intended to do all I knew coming home. In an hour I reached my usual halting place, ten miles from the camp; but this being the last night of my train ing, I mado up my mind to ride another couple of miles, and then do the whole distance back at a "scorch ing" pace. I rode on, and in another ten min utes found myself in the jungle. Now for the race home. Dismounting, I oiled my machine, tightened up every screw, and then sat down on a bowlder to rest and en joy the prospect. A beautiful scene it was, too! Above me rose the grand moun tains; their snowy tops blushing crimson in the setting sun; here a waterfall, like a thread of gold and silver, flashing down the mountain side and twining in and out among the masses of trees and rocks; there, a glimpse of fairyland through a junge vista. lint now the shadows were deepen ing, the crimson on the mountain tops had disappeared, and tho snow began to look gray and gbnstly. A flying fox went rustling past me, and I hastily prepared to mount; for there is scarcely any twilight in India, and I knew it would soon be dark. As I rose my eyes encountered som. thing which made mo start and nearly drop my bicycle. There, not forty yards off, was a tiger. I knew the animal well enough; but how different he looked from the PATIENCE. A-wooing cruel Pati<"nc9, Went I, a love-sick swain, And, sore of heart and of conceit, For love found only pain. Then straight I turned me round about And would have strode away, But saw the maiden s lashes drop As though to bid me stay; And while I pondered if to go There came a whisper—faltering—low, "Kind sir,—have Patience." —Richard Stillman Powell, in Puck. lean, half-starved little beast I had seen at home! He had just come into the open space from a dense jungle brake, and sat there washing his face and purring in a contented sort of way, like n huge cat. Was I frightened? Not an atom; I had my bicycle and a start of forty yards, so if I could not beat him it was a pity. Ho had not seen me yet, and 1 stood for another minute admiring the hand some creature, and thou quietly .mounted—(the tiger was directly on my right, while the road stretched straight away in front of me). The noise I made roused him; he looked up, and then, after deliberately stretching himself, came leaping with l° n g, graceful bounds over the rank grass and rocks which separated him from the road. He did not seem a bit an gry, but evidently wished to get a nearer view of such an extraordinary object. Forty yards, however, I thought was quite near enough for safety. The tiger was in the road behind me now; so I pulled myself together and began to quicken my paoe. Would he stop disgusted after the first hundred yards and give up the chase, or would he stick to it? I qnite hoped ho would follow me, and already pictured in my mind the graphic des cription I would write home of my bi cycle race with a tiger. Little did I think what a terrible race it was going to he. I looked be hind me. By jove! he was "sticking to it." I could not judge the distance; hut at any rate I was not farther from him than when we started. Now for a spurt. I rode the next half mile at a lively pace, but on again looking round, found I had not gained a yard. The tiger was on my track, moving with a long, swinging trot, and going quite as quickly as I was. For the first time I began to feel anxious, and thought uneasily of the ten long miles which separated me from safety. However, it was no good thinking now; it was my muscle and "bike" against the tiger. I could onlv do my best and trust to Providence. " Now there was no doubt about the tiger's intentions; his blood was up and on ho came, occasionally giving vent to a roar which made the ground tremble. Another mile had been tra versed and the brute was slowly but suroly closing up. I dashed my pouch to the ground, hoping it would stop him for a few sec onds; but he kept steadily on and I felt it was theu grim earnest. I calculated we must be about seven miles from camp now, and before I could rido another four miles my pur suer, I knew, must reach me. Oh, the agony of those minutes which seemed like long hours! Another mile passed, then another. I could him behind me now, pad, pad, pad, quicker and quicker and quicker, louder and louder. I turned in my saddle for a moment and saw there were not twenty yards separating us! How enormous tho brute looked, and how terrible! His huge tongue hung out, aud the only sound he made was a continual hoarse growl of rage, while his eyes seemed literally to flash lire. It was like some awful nightmare, and with a shudder I bent down over tho handles and flew on. On, on, on, I scorched, the slight est slip I knew would be fatal; a sud den jolt, a screw giving, a pedal break ing, and I should be hurled to instant death. My strength would not stand much more; the prolonged strain had told upon me, and I felt all would soon be over. My breath came in thick sobs, a mist gathered before my eyes—l was stopping; my legs refused to move and a thousand fiends seemed to be flitting about me, holding me back! A weight like lead was on my chest; I was dying. Then a few moments which seemed a lifetime, and then—crash—with a roar like thunder tho tigor was on me and I was crushed to the ground. Then I heard shots fired, a babel of men's voices, and all was blank. After many days of unconsoionsness and raging fever, reason gradually re turned, and I learned the particulars of my dcliveranco. A party of officers had started with a shikaree (nativo hunter) to a trap which had been prepared for the tiger. They were talking of our coming bi cycle race, as they went along, and ex pecting every moment to meet me on my return journey. As they passed a clump of lmshcs I came in sight. whirl ing along in a cloud of dust, which hid my terrible pursuer. They soon, however, saw my awfnl danger. The lingo brute, mud with rage, hurled itself upon me just as we reached thetn. My friends stood almost petrified with terror and did not dare to fire; but the shikaree sprang quickly to within a yard of the tiger, and putting I his rifle almost to the animal's ear, I fired twice and blew its brains out, just in time to save my life. I was drawn from under the palpitating body of my dead enemy, everyone present believ ing it was all up with me. Making a litter of boughs they car ried me into camp, where I lay for many weeks, lingering between life and death. Tho tiger's skin now adorns my study, as my first and last prize won in a bicycle race.—The White Ele phant. How Ton Is Adulterated. Adulterated tea, which is being sold all over the European continent, is described in a German medical paper. Thiß preparation has long been known in Russia, where it is sold under the name of "rogogeski." It is made in the following way: The manufacturers of this adulterate buy in the tea houses the residue from the teapots—leaves which have already been used—and mix these leaves, while still moist, with other leaves and very little genuine tea. The mixture is heated with an addition of extract of caramel and campeehe wood, in order to im prove the color and the taste. The weight is also increased by the addi tion of sand or soil, and just before being dried, the leaves nro rolled be tween tho hands. The adulteration is so difficult to recognize that a chemical test is necessary to prove it. If tea prepared in this way is dipped into a cold saturated solution of cop per, the blue color of this solution will not be changed, not even if the adulterated tea is allowed to remain in it for three or four months. If the tea is fresh and has not previously been soaked, tho solution will turn green within a short time. When Elephant. Have Toothache. It is not easy to tell when an ele phant has got a toothache, butit is best to keep out of his way when you do know it. A London surgeon, who had been for many years in India, says he would sooner risk a railway accident than meet an elephant with a tooth ache. It appears that a toothache affects an elephant in u more severe manner than it does any other animal. Ele phants have very sensitive nerves, and a touch of toothache often brings on madness. Providing'you are able to chain down an elephant and draw out the offend ing tooth, the brute is certain to be af fectionate to you afterward. Here is an instance: An elephant in Bengal, India, be came affected with toothache, but the keepers managed to secure it while a dentist drew a decayed tooth—the cause of the trouble. After a time the elephant seemed to understand that the dentist was trying to do something for his pain, and he gnve every evi dence of appreciating the attention. When the operation was over he frisked round the dentist like a young lamb. —Answers. Da Metals Became Tired ? Various instances are on record where metals, while not showing any appreciable wear, have literally fallen to pieces, and that without any as signed cause. On ono occasion a steel rail, after twenty-two years' continu ous service, on the Great Northern Railway, in England, actually disin tegrated under the wheels of a passing train. So complete was the breaking up that: scientists thought it worthy of investigation, during which it was de termined that the metal had become exhausted and had broken down, just as an overstrained animnl might be ex pected to do. This has led to further inquiry and scientists are satisfied that metals do become tired out. Fine cracks ofter appear iu steel rails and it has been supposed that they are caused by the continuous concussion of rail way wheels. This, howovor, seems to bo contradicted by the examination of newly-made rails, in which similar fino lines occur. The idea that metals be come weary, while not altogether a now one, is to an extent a plausible one, and under the careful scrutiny of scien tific societies will probably be satisfac torily explained and settled. World'. i:iKK'"Ht Fountain. The greatest fountain in tho world was turned on recently at Indianapolis, Ind., and permitted to flow for an hour. It is one of the cascades now in the course of construction at the base of tho Soldiers' Monument. The flow of water measures fully up to the con tract, which calls for 7000 gallons a minute at each of the two cascades as a regular thing, with a capacity under high pressure, however, that is inuoh greater. The combined capacity of the world-famous fountains at Versail les, hitherto the largest in the world, is 80,000 gallons an hour. They would make but feeble streams in comparison with the monument cascades, and yet the cost of running the French foun tains is so great that the water is only turned on on gala days. Turned the Cow Around. When the good ship Queen was weighing anchor for Alaska from Seat tle a few days ago a man rushed down to the purser and exclaimed excitedly: "Look here, I paid for a stateroom for myself and wife, and when I got there I found an old cow sticking her head through the window." "I am very sorry, sir," said the purser; "we are very crowded, but I will do the best I can for you. John (turning to a deck hand), go up on deck and turn that cow around!" India Rubber Streets. India rubber as a paving for streets was tried on a bridge in Hanover, Germany, a little more than a year ago, and proved so satisfactory that experiments are being made in Ber lin and Hamburg with it from ordi nary roadways. It js said to be per fectly noiseless, unaffected by heat