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 <A
cold, and less slippery and more dur
able than asphalt.
PEANUTS INVALUABLE.
I FEW PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL PUT
TO MORE USES.
It In Known by n Grenter Variety of Nam oh
Than Any Other Edible That is So
Universally l'opnlar—Masquerades as
Olive Oil—Three Varieties Grown Hero.
i According to all predictions the
peanut crop of the United States is
| going to be short this year. But this
does not mean that the supply will not
be sufficient to satisfy Uncle Sam's
I small boys; for peanuts are raised in
I many countries besides our own, and
j the cost of importation is not great
enough to increase the price mate
rially.
This particular product of the
earth is known in the United States
I by a greater variety of names, per
[ haps, than any other that is so uni
! versally popular. In various parts of
the South it is the "ground nut," the
"ground pea," the "goober" (some
| times spelled "gouber") and the "pin
j dar." Over in England it is often
called the "monkey nut," and this
| leads to the inference that in Africa
. and South Africa, where it grows wild,
its edible quality first became known
to man because the monkey fed on it.
One of its names all over Europe is
the "manilla nut," and this comes,
no doubt, from the fact that it is ex
tensively grown in the Philippine
Islands. In France it is the "pis
tache de terre," from its similarity to
the pistachio nut in taste and the uses
to which it may be put.
The seods are put in the ground in
May, late enough to avoid the latest
frosts. Until a few years ago peanuts
were planted by hand, but now a ma
chine is generally used which places
them in rows three feet apart, dis
i tributes the phosphate which is almost
always used as a fertilizer, drops the
"beans," as the seeds are often called,
in groups of three, covers them with
two inches of soil and rolls the earth
firmly—all in one operation. The cul
tivation of the peanut crop is very
similar to the cultivation of potatoes,
both the "cultivator," hauled by a
horse or mule, and the hoe being used.
Late in July a tup dressing of land
plaster is applied.
The vines of the peanut begin to
bloom when they are eight or ten
inches long, the blossoms being of a
bright yellow color and very profuse.
The flowers, however, are sterile; that
is, they are not followed by seeds, as
are the blossoms of most plants, even
the potato, which, like the peanut, de
velops the edible product beneath the
surface of the soil. Nature is extreme
ly interesting in her method of provid
ing for the propagation of the peanut.
As the flower fades, a sharp-pointed
stem grows out from the base of the
plant, turns downward and buries it
self in the ground. On the end of this
stem are formed the pods, or "nuts,"
some little distance underground, and
the plant needs no human attention
whatever from the time of this pod
formation till it is ready for harvest
ing.
The harvesting takes place late in
October or early in November. Care
is always exercised to get this work
out of the way before frost comes,
though if possible it is put off until
just before the first visit of the icy
breathed visitor from the north. For
merly peanuts were taken out of the
ground by hand, somewhat utter the
manner in which potatoes are har
vested; but progressive peanut growers
now use a plow with a "peanut point,"
which is run alongside each row so as
to cut off the deep growing tap root.
After this plow workmen follow with
strong, broad forks, with which they
lift the vines and roots from the ground
and lay them on the ridge of soil that
has been freshly turned by the plow.
For a day the pods are allowed to dry
in the sun; then the vines are stacked
for curing, each stack being built
about a pole that has been driven into
the ground for that purpose. When
thoroughly cured the nuts are re
moved from the roots, sometimes by
hand and sometimes by machinery.
The latter is the quicker, more eco
nomical method, but the nuts suffer
from it to some extent, and some
growers who wish to get the highest
prices adhere to the old way of hand
picking. The machines are worked
by steam power, and both in appear
ance and principle are somewhat simi
lar to the machines used in threshing
wheat.
Besides the machine for picking the
nuts from the vines, still another has
been introduced. It is called "the
blower," and its function is to grade
the nuts and free them from whatever
impurities have been left by the prev
ious process. In this machine the nuts
pass through a very strong artificial
(blast, from the force of which the
heaviest are first released, to fall into
the proper receptacle for the first
grade, and so on. By this means about
four grades of nuts are secured; those
of the last grade—the very light ones
—being practically worthless, espec
ially as they are mixed with bits of
roots, broken shells, etc.
Most readers, probably, think pea
nuts are raised solely that they may
be eaten by boys, but this is a mis
taken notion. Few products of the
soil are put to a greater variety of
uses. Tho vines form a decidedly
valuable food for cattle. From the
kernels an especially fine oil is made,
which none but an expert can tell
from the best olive oil. This oil is
used in great quantities in the making
of some of the finest grades of toilet
soap. The kernels themselves are
used in some parts of the world in the
adulteration of coffee, and still more
extensively iu the manufacture of
cocoa and chocolate. Ground into
flour, peanuts form an admirable ma
terial for certain sorts of cakes and
biscuits, and the negroes of the South
ern States make from it an exceed
ingly palatable porridge, besides
using it as a basis for a much appre
ciated beverage. The use of peanuts
in candy-making is well known.
The annual product in the United
States varies from 2,000,000 to 5,000,-
000 bushels, and practically all of this
immense quantity is used here.
Three varieties are grown in the
United States; the white, the red and
tho Spanish. The white peanut has
two kernels only in each pod, and
this is also true of the Spanish nut,
which is considerably smaller, how
ever, than the white variety and has
a much milder flavor. The third
variety, the red peanuts, often has as
many as three or four kernels in each
shell and is larger than either of the
other varieties.
WISE WORDS.
To bo angry, is to revenge the fault
of others upon ourselves.—Pope.
Ho is the best ncconntant who can
cast up correctly the sum of his own
errors.—Nevins.
Every base occupation makes one
sharp in its practice, and dull in every
other.—Sir P. Sidney.
He who receives a good turn should
never forget it; he who does one,
should never remember it.—Charron.
Any one may do a casual act of
good nature, but a continuation of
them shows it is a part of the tempera
ment.—Sterne.
Affectation in any part of our car
riage is lighting up a candle to our
defects, and never fails to make us
taken noticeof, either as wanting sense
or sincerity.—Locke.
It is hard to personate and act a
part long; for where truth is not at
the bottom, nature will always be en
deavoring to return, and will peep out
and betray herself one time or other.
—Tillotson.
It may be remarked, for the com
fort of honest poverty, that avarice
reigns most in those who have but few
good qualities to recommend them.
This is a weed that will grow only in a
barren soil.—Hughes.
Aim at perfection in everything,
though in most things it is unattain
able ; however, they who aim at it, and
persevere, will come much nearer to it
than those whose laziness and des
pondency make them give it up as un
attainable.—Chesterfield.
Tho shortest and surest way to live
with honor in the world, is to be in
reality what we would appear to be;
and if we observe, we shall find, that
all human virtues increase and strength
en themselves by the practice and
experience of them.—Socrates.
Birds and Reptiles Belated.
Fossil remains have been found ol
birds with teeth and long bony tails,
and also of reptiles with wings; great
monsters they must have been, veri
table flying dragons.
In 1861, in the lithographic slates
of Solenhofen, Bavarin, a fossil feath
er was found which was the subject of
considerable discussion among natu
ralists. Again, in 18G2, a curious
skeleton was disinterred from the
someplace, in which most of the bones
exhibited the marks of a true bird, but
the skeleton had a most remarkable
tail, containing twenty distinct bones.
From each of these bones proceeded a
pair of well-developed feathers, simi
lar to the single feather which had
been previously found. Here was an
animal which could be called a bird
like reptile or a lizardlike bird, with
equal propriety. Its twenty caudal
segments or vertebrae were a bar to
its entrance into every existing fam
ily of birds, while it was equally out
of place among reptiles. On account
of its feathers this curious link in the
chnin between reptiles and birds was
called archieopteryx. It was about
as large as a dove.
The discovery of this remarkable
fossil, possessing characteristics so de
cidedly both reptilian and avian, has
thrown' much light on the subject of
gradual development of higher from
lower forms.—Vick's Magazine.
As to Accident Damage "Adjusters."
The News' revelation yesterday of
the scoundrelly practices of a number
of individuals, calling themselves "ad
justers," in respeot to accident dam
age lawsuits, gave great pleasure to
all the respectable lawyers in the city,
while it carried dismay into the ranks
of the shysters. These "adjusters"
are onlyj removed one degroe from
common blackmailers. They prey
upon both parties in interest. fNot
only are corporations their victims,
but also the foolish people who sign
away their rights to them.
The Bar Association ought to take
lame steps to have this traffic legally J
prohibited. It is a disgrace to the I
legal profession. The lawyers of I
the Consolidated Traction Company
ought also, on the trial of every dam
age suit, bring out the status of the |
"adjuster" and his confederate "law
yer," and hold them both up to pub
lio shame and for the guidance of the
jury in assessing damages.—Jersey
City (N. J.) News.
A Queer Cow.
Henry E. Niese, manager of the
Sugar Trust's Jersey City factory, lives |
for the summer in Morristown, N. J.
He is there rearing a cow which lately
began developing queer tendencies. :
It drinks its own milk.
When the farm maid calls at the '
stable to milk the cow she finds that i
the milk has been drunk by the pro
ducer herself. The cow is growing
fat on her own milk.
Some of the farmers of Morristown
are anxious to experiment with this
queer cow. Says one of them: "Why,
what'r the use of feeding that cow at
ally She thrives so i well on her own
milk that she need not get any out
side food at all. It will be a case of
a cow growing fat on herself without
any outside assistance."—Trenton (N.
J.) American.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
Inhabitants of Sirnu, of mixed
blood, have faces that are spotted, pie
bald, and even white on one side and
black on the other.
The electric trnmwny at Lausanne,
Switzerland, runs up the steepest in
cline surmounted by any train depend
ing on adhesion to the rails—ll.3 per
cent, in one place.
Black, blue and red ink used in
German public schools has been found
to contain microbes. When scientifi
cally developed they prove fatal to
mice within four days.
Tests of a parasitio fungus in Cape
Colony promise an effective remedy
against locust swarms, large numbers
of the insects having died a few days
after infection of a few specimens.
The advantages of acetylene for
motor-carriages have not been over
looked. The acetylene motorl|now
j being built to the design of M. Baoul
Pictet will have three cylinders, and
| will develop ten horsepower while oc
i cupying small space.
Some idea of the fine point to which
platinum wire can be drawn will be
got from the fact that threads have
been drawn, two of which can be
twisted together and inserted within
the hollow of a human hair. These
J threads aro so small that it needs a
j magnifying glass to see them.
The eminent Swiss specialist, Dr.
Yersin, a pupil of Pasteur, declares
his oonvictiou that the plague which
has prevailed in southern China since
1894, and in British India since 1896,
j is the genuine black death of the mid
dle ages, and that it will in all proba
bility reach Europe in a year or two.
Digestion proceeds more rapidly in
the horse with active exercise than
when eating is followed by a period of
rest, according to the experiments of
Dr. Tange, of Buda-Pesth. In the
dog and in man, the opposite is true,
which shows how unsafe it is to infer
results in one animal from observa
tions on another.
j In experiments at some Prussian
sugar works the use of electrolysis
alone for purifying beet root juice is
reported to have proven impracticable.
When used in conjunction with lime,
however, electrolysis completes the
action, and precipitates almost three
times the nitrogenous matters that are
removed in the ordinary separation.
The combined process is estimated to
have saved about S7OOO in treating
70,000,000 pounds of beot root.
A piece of glass may bo made irides
cent, according to a correspondent of
London Engineering, by flooding
with a dilute solution of silicate of soda,
and nllowing it to dry spontaneously
in an upright position. Washing the
plate in running water and again dry
ing may bring out the colors more
brilliantly, while blackening the back
of the glass will render them gorge
ous. The film adheres tenaciously,
and can scarcely be removed except by
etching.
Vnluablo Woods.
The economic uses of teak and
bamboo have been of lato very exten
sively commented on. Teak is said to
be the most valuable wood for ship
builders. Although porous, it is
strong and lasting. It is very light
and hard, but is easily worked. A
peculiarity of this timber is that it
contains an enormous amount of oil,
and therefore is not injurious to iron!
when used in close contact. Decay,
comes on very slowly even where
there is a great deal of dampness.
Bamboo has a much wider range of
usefulness, as it figures in almost all
of the affairs of life from culinary
purposes to the worship of the Chinose
deity. Leaves, stalk, roots, tender
shoots, indeed, every part of it, has
its uses, and the Chinese are so ac
customed to rely upon it for almost
all of the emergencies of life thnt
when they move to a new country
they are at a loss for a substanoe to
supply its place.
Si** I'* 1 '* Astronomy uml I.ongevlty.
The astronomer Denning has pub
lished a paper showing that extreme
ly long lives seem to fall to the share
of those engaged in astronomical pur
suits. In corroboration he mentions
the eminent Fontenello, who lived to
be 100 years old. Caroline Hersohel,
the sister of the celebrated William
Herschel, who herself discovered
seven comets and performed a great
deal of other valuable work, died at
tho age of ninety-eight. The older
Cassini was ninety-seven when he
died, Sir Edward Sabin was ninety
four, Do Martin ninety-three, Mary
Sommerville ninety-two, Giovanni
Santiui and Sharpe were ninety-one,
and Milet, Airy (the director of the
Greenwich Observatory), Humboldt,
Robinson and Long all attained the
age of ninety. Of those who were cut
off at the youthful age of between
eighty and ninety Mr. Denning men
tioned no fewer than thirty-two.
To Save Your Itoots. """"
A new wrinkle may be learned from
an English soldior who was noted for
keeping his boots in better condition
and making them last longer than any
of his brother officers. When asked
what he did to them to prevent the
leather from cracking and keeping it
soft and smooth, his reply was, "Mut
ton bone." When an explanation was
demanded he said: "It is nothing, I
assure you. My man asks the cook
for a knuckle bone, which he cleans
and then bakes. After rubbing the
leather with cream, he then frotles
them as hard as he can with tho bone.
Usually my boots last mo three years.
Fcnt of n Noblo Whip.
The present Lord Lonsdale can
claim to have performed the record
driving feat of the age. On one oc
casion he drove a single horse, a four
in-hand and a pair ridden by postil
ions live miles each over a bad stretch
of road in fifty-five minutes, iuoludifig
• change of vehicle.