Tlio value of the churches au<l the land on which they arc erected in this country up to July 1, 1307, is esti mated at $030,000,000. In the German Reichstag recently, Ilerr 11 am ni richer said that in the com ing century European Nations will be obliged to co-operate to preserve their existence in the struggle with Amer ica. An eccentric Londoner asserts that with a machine lie lias just completed he can write the entire contents of the Bible four times in a space one inch square. The writing point of the ma chine is said to be a diamond so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. Over 100,000 horses were imported into Belgium during 180 C for food for the poorer classes, 1000 being killed in Antwerp alone for the twenty shops where this meat is sold exclusively. Largo quantities are sold in Paris, both openly und in disguised form at cheap restaurants throughout the city. The expense of a medical education in Great Britain averages more than in America. To obtain a degree or qualification in any medical school in England, Scotland, or Ireland, a course of study covering a period of at least five years is compulsory, and entails au expenditure of a no less sum than 82000. _______ The Baltimore American says: "There has been during the last two years, and there still continues, a very marked movement from the West to the South. Hundrels of indus trious and thrifty men, after a hard and unsuccessful struggle in the West, have given it up and come to tlio South, to find good homes and splendid opportunities to make a liv ing for themselves and their families. They are pleased with the change they have made, and the success of the new Maryland colonics has far ex ceeded even the fondest hopes of their projectors." Beware of t!ie Klondike. This is tlio conclusion that has been reached by John 1). BleGillivray, an expert on gold, who sends a letter telling of the conditions which gold seekers are confronted with in tbo Yukon region in Alaska. Jlr. JlcGillivray had been studying the situation in Dawson City and the mines for several weeks when the letter was written. He calls particular attention to the fact that all the claims on the richest of the gold creeks have already been taken up, and that new comers must prospect for themselves or work as laborers in the mines already opened. Wages at 815 a day are a myth, he (lays, and for the poor man there is /nothing but misery. A writer in Scribner'a says that the Western Powers are beginning to view Japan's activity in navy build ing with amazement. A generation ago she had literally no navy. Even at the beginning of the last war with China her modern equipment was con fine 1 almost exclusively to a hall dozen unarmored cruisers—the best ol their class, to be sure—and fifteen gunboats. The war brought many substantial additions to her navy, and now she has no less than forty-eight sea-going vessels in commission, in cluding two first-class battle ships of 12,800 tons each. These figures are not so imposing, absolutely consid ered, except cs an evidence of quick growth; but the additional inodevD war vessels that Japan is building in England, Germany and tlie United States are of such magnitude and ex cellent construction that Charles A. Cramp, our own famous ship builder, pronounces Japan's progress to be more notable than that of any other country in the world, except England. It is quite possible, admits the New York Observer, that in devoting itself so generally to scientific pursuits and neglecting metaphysical studies, the scholarship of the age has deteriora ted in intellectuality. A writer in the London Spectator declares that the in tellect developed by the stress of modern life is a mentality in the mass, in the average man, where it does not exist in a profound form. "What seems most obvious to us in consider ing the modern world," says this writer, "is, first, the growing deurth of the rarer and deeper kinds of intel lect: and, secondly, the pressure brought to hear by the rising, eager, democratic mass on the few finer minds. Wo do not produce to-day a Kant or a Spinoza, but clever critics who write about these men, who have read every thing, and can give us all the latest views. We have not deep, con structive mind whose operations movo in a vast orbit, but we have seen eager minds which, comet-like, dart into sight, astonish by their lustre and quickly disappear." IF! IF! I If evrry boy and every girl, Arising with the sun, Should plan this <liy to do alone Tho good deeds to be done; Should scatter smiles and kindly words. Strong, helpful bauds should lend, And to each other's wants and cries Attentive ears should lend; If every man, and woman, too, Should join these workers small— Oh. what a Hood of happiness Upon our earth would fall! To*- * * \/<f Y/Vv/"w V\ V* AN EPISODE. 1 {;> ?£> /♦vtf ..-4 \.E"\ x'-i' *o"\/- \s* ./A / ■ _ HIS is a charming t " spot—for two," he i . ©I saiil, seating liim- Jv ,y pSj ■ '£/(. self comfortably at ~ I "' v fecf v 'SIl s "We areluclcy to i fin d it unoccu :§ pied," she said, ; fr ■•• "especially at one „ ' fr/'* °f Mrs. Gurdon's will be pleased. I don't believe there is a square inch of the law'i to be seen." "The whole world is here. I know, Miss Lindsay; I have shaken hands with t it." "It is one of the penalties of being j , a great author." "Or of being notorious?" "You are too modest, Mr. Holland. Have you not shored the honors of the afternoon with the Prince ami the lat est lion—just imported from South Africa, was it not?" "And felt like a martyr all the time. , But there you have the proof, Miss I Lindsay. Bon't think Tam complain ing. Fame anl notoriety mean the same—in London. And in this"—he indicated the screen of shrubbery which cut off the little nook from the rest of the garden, but did not shut out tho strains of the Blue Hungarians j or tho hum of many voices—"in this I have my reward. I forgive the lion hunters." "It is a relief to be out of it," she admitted. "Bo you know, Mr. Hol land, that these books—yes, there are more of them—are a pet idea of Mrs. Gurdon's?" "I must thank her. She is a woman of genius." She laughed merrily. "Oh, no, she is only an incorrigible match-maker— and finds them useful." "So she, at least, believes in love?" he asked, picking up the thread of a ! former conversation. "Or in marriage. It is not always the same thing, is it?" "It should be," he replied, with an air of the deepest conviction. He was looking up into her eyes. "What does somebody say?—that in woman love is a disease; in man it is an episode." "I seem to recollect that," he said. "But it is nonsense; love cannot be summed up in an epigram." Again she laughed. "I am afraid you have a very bad memory, Mr. Holland. The sentiment appears in a brilliant study of society, entitled 'Providence and Mrs. Grundy,' for which, if the title page is to be trust ed " "Ah! I remember now. Please spare me, Miss Lindsay. You don't know the evil effects of phrase-making —it saps a man's morals until lie has not even a nodding acquaintance with the truth. And you have taken your revenge." "But, really, Mr. Holland, I trusted to your—your knowledge of human nature, shall I say? i was glad, for my own sake " "For what, if I may ask?" "That, 'in man it was an episode.' It makes life so much easier to believe so." "You will let me retract in sackcloth and ashes, Miss Lindsay? Honestly, I have some reason to do so. It is three years since I wrote that miser able book. Can you guess my ex cuse?" "It seems to infer a compliment— somewhere," she said, rather doubt fully. "I am very much in earnest," he said, getting up and standing above her; and he looked it. "I didn't know you then. If I had, the thing—call it an epigram if you like—would never have been written. How could it, when ?" Here the bushes were parted, and a face—a tanned, handsome, open face it was, although just now the expres sion was not too pleasant—showed in the interstices. Miss Lindsay nodded brightly. "Come in, Balpb," she said. "Very sorry, I'm sure," said the 1 new-comer. "I didn't know, Nell " Then he disappeared. Miss Lindsay smiled. "Captain Havelock seems—out of sorts," remarked her companion, sit ting down again. "Probably he is looking for my i mother," said she. "I told him to 1 attend to her." I "He is a capital fellow," he said I indifferently. "Done something in I India, hasn't he?" "A small affair of outposts," she re- I plied, in the same tone. Only, per haps, it was as well that he was not studying her eyes very intently at that moment. "He held a fort somewhere on the frontier for a fortnight against a couple of thousand tribesmen, with only a European sergeant and fifty Hikhs under him; and he was reduced to thirty rounds of ammunition and no provisions before he was relieved, j It is quite a common thing out there. | He told me so himself." * "He is modest—as well as lucky," ] llow many homes would sunny bo. Which now are filled with enrol And joyous, smiling faces, too. Would greet us everywhere I do believe tho very sun Would shine more clear and brigUK And every little twinkling star Would shed a softer light. But we. instead, oft watch to see - If other folks are true; And thus negle *t so much that God Intends for us to do. —Lutheran Observer. *V\/* x \/* said Holland. "You and he are old friends, Miss Lindsay?" •*Vo were brought up together." "Like brother ami sister?" "Exactly. We quarrel quite as much, at least." "Anl make it up, T dare say? But I am sure the quarrels are not serious. Apropos, am I forgiven?" "Was there a crime, Mr. Holland? Really, I have forgotten." "We were discussing " "George Meredith, was it not?" "Then I am not forgiven for that unfortunate fault of my youth? You are very hard, Miss Lindsay. You have taught me the error of my ways, and yet you refuse to credit the con version! How cau I convince you? I am quite serious " "Oh, I hope not," she said. "It is too warm for anything but frivolity." He reddened a little, and nervously plucked tho grass round him. Miss Lindsay watched him with some curi osity out of the corners of her eyes: tho symptoms were not unknown to her. "There is a green thing on your coat, Mr. Holland," she went on. "Thanks." He flicked the insect off. "I have something to say, Miss Lindsay—a kind of confession. It is stupid; but I don't quite know how to say it." "Is it necessary?" she asked inno cently. "I don't like confessions, Mr. Holland, We are Low Church peo ple." "It means a lot to me," he contin ued, and again there was silence. Then he rose for the second time, perhaps feeling that an upright posi tion conduces to a proper dignity. She perceived her opening, and rose also. "Itis time we were returning," she remarked. "Don'tgo just yet, Miss Lindsay," I he pleaded, putting out a hand to de tain her. "I want you to listen to me for a moment. I won't keep you if—" But already she was half-hidden by the shrubbery, and her only answer was a bewildering smile. He had perforce to follow. "It seems more crowded than ever," she said as they picked their way through the throng. "Ahl there are my mother and Captain Havelock. Shall we join them?—l,hope you are attending to your duties, Ralph? Mr. Holland and I have been discussing Meredith—and things. Tired, mother? Oh! you must be. Mr. Hollaud, will you find my mother a seat somewhere —near tho band, if you cau? The Hungarians are so good." "Delighted," he replied. Then lower: "I may see you again before you go, Miss Lindsay?" "If yon cau," she repeated. She watched them until they were lost in the crowd, aud then deliberate ly led Captain Havelock back to the little nook. Some girls have no origi nality. But it was still empty. "Better s?l down, Ralph," sue said, taking her old place. "Thanks; I prefer to stand," he said stiffly. "It is a matter of taste—or of com fort." She gave him a swift glance. "Not up to Simla, is it?" "I'm sick of it. Beastly pack. I haven't had a chance of speaking to yon all afternoon, Nell." "Philanthropy is its own reward," she said. "P-'s not that—Mrs. Lindsay is all right. But there's that scribbling fellow who's always dangling after yon." "He is very amusing—and clever." "Is he? He doesn't know one end of a gun from the other, and I suppose he thinks that horses were invented to drag the Chelsea 'bus—or wherever he stays." "Wliy, dear boy, to be a groom is not man's chief end. And you are very rude. Mr. Holland speaks very nicely ofyon." "Confound his impudence!" and by way of relief, he proceeded to kick a hole in Mrs. Gurdon's turf. "Look here, Nell," he said presently; "I'm going off to Egypt." "Indeed! 1 thought winter was the proper season. Won't it be rather warm there'just now?" "That is, if they'll have me," he continued, pfring no heed. "I've volunteered for Dongola. Kitchener is going up to Khait im in the au tumn—at least I hope so." "In CookNboats? What fun!" "It will he—for Fuzzy and the der vishes. But you might have the de cency to eay you are sorry, Nell. 1 mayn't come back, you know." "So that is why you told me?" she asked. Dou't you thiuk it is rather crude, Captain Havoloek?" But she was not looking at him, being en gaged in tracing fancy patterns on the grass. Not that it would have mat tered; for he, on his part, was also re garding the point of the sunshade with apparent interest. "Oh, I dare say that writing chap would have done it better," he said savagely. "It's his trade. I eup pose you mean to marry the beggar, I Nell?" "His name is Holland," she tug- j gested. "I know that. You can see his por- j trait in any illustrated paper for a six* | pence. It's in them all." "Which is really no reason why ha shouldn't be addressed properly, is it? I have some idea that I have seen an other portrait in the same places, with the letters D.S.O. after the name." "You need not get nasty. Besides, you haven't told me yet if you are en gaged to him." "Well, you see"—here she ventured another glance—"he hasn't asked mo yet." j "I snppose yon will marry him, though," lie persisted. "It's natural enough, perhaps—he's a genius and all that—and of course I'm not. Wait a minute, Nell! I can't stand this any | longer, aud I'm hound to have it out | forgrod. You were always cleverer than I was; but yon know what I've i wished for ever since I was an unlicked | cub at Eton. I wasn't afraid to tell youthen. Y'ouremember, Nell?" "I remember thinking that those j lickings—which you did not get— I might have done yon good. "Well, you didn't say so! And all ' tho time I was stewing in India it was the same; aud when I was down with fever in the plains I kept shouting one; name—so the doctor told me." "It wa3 in very bad taste," sha murmured. j "Oh! Then that fort on the frontier,' with the Waziris howling round—and not five minutes' sleep on end for fear | they should rush us—and the grub ! running out—and the only idea iu my head was to see it through somehow, and get home to ask you to marry mel There, Nell, it's out at last!" She was looking at him now, hut there was a world of reproach—and perhaps something else—in her eyes, j "You haven't asked me yet!" she cried. "But, Nell—good heavens!—you don't mean to say—" And then—well, in some mysterious fashion ho managed to gain possession of her hands, aud to say the rest with out words. As for her: "You might have seen it, you foolish j boy!" she said. And that was all. Except that, a little later, she met Mr. Holland. ... * "I have been looking for yon, Miss ] Lindsay," lie said; "I have something I to say. Not going already, surely? I j may call to-night, then? I need not | tell you what it is—perhaps you can j guess—l—l hope so." "I think it would be better not to j come, Mr. Holland," shereplied, giving him her hand. "I am sorry, but— j will you oblige me by considering ths episode as closed? I am engaged to Captain Havelock."—David L. John ston, iu Chambers's Journal. Caught Fish hy tho Bushel. An abundantly stored fishing ground, where several varieties of the finny tribe can be scooped out of tho water with baskets as easily ns shovel- ■ ing coke with a pitchfork, has been discovered near Holmesburg Junction, i Tho new fishing ground is a pool located in an abandoned quarry hole near Pennypack Creek. Tho quarry covers an area of half an acre or more, aud the water, with which it was re cently filled to a depth of twenty-five feet, ran iu through a shallow and narrow ditch from tho creek. The carters, who have been engaged for some weeks in hauling dirt away from the deep cut being dug on Rhawn street to do away with the grade cross ing of the Pennsylvania Railroad n'j that point, have been dumping earth into the quarry at the rate of 100® cartloads per day. Over 30,000 cart* loads have thus been thrown into tint pool, which has consequently been growing smaller every (lay. By Satur day both the surface and the depth of the water had been so far reduced that there was hut a few square yards of it left, aud the bottom could almost lis seen. The pool was then found to be teeming with toothsome fish, which had presumably found their wny ill through the ditch from the Penny pack. The congress of fishermen and fish erwomen that Bpeediiy assembled landed eels three feet in length, carp weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds and reaches a3 large asrobust herring, to say nothing of other edible varie ties.—Philadelphia Record. cm OIT Hla Own Leg to Savo Ills life. Tattooing is not nearly as common among savages as it was before the in fluence of missionaries began to bo felt. Many of the natives of. the South Pacific islands, however, still keep up the practice. Every native boy, when he reaches the age of eight years, must submit to the needle. It is a peculiar fact that all Samoans arc tattooed alike. Devices representing animals are never used. Tho tattoo marks run from the waist to the knees in intersecting lines resembling the small checks sometimes seen iu cloth fabrics. The lines are so close together that at a distance a nude na tive appears to be olad in a pair of blue knickerbockers. As au illustration of the capacity of the Samoan to endure pain, the fol lowing incident will suffice: A boy, eighteen years old, named Mua, in jured his foot on a jagged piece of coral. Gangrene set in and he real ized'that his leg would have to be cut off to save his life. No surgeon was at hand and the boy decided to per form the operation of amputation him self. He tied a string tightly around his leg above the knee, and, seating himself on the ground, severed the member at the knee with an ordinary sailor's jackkuife. The rude flaps of flesh were bound together, covered with healing leaves, and, strange as it may seem, the lad recovered. Sa moans regard any exhibition of vie consciousness of pain as an evidence , of weakness, S?^H9ie®6!eiS!ems3siS6:sismj:| | GOOD ROADS NOTES, | A Farmer on Toll Roads. A veteran Michigan farmer, writing to tho Grand Rapids Press, says: "Toll roads do not meet the wants of the farmer; lis wants free roads, not toll roads, and wauts all who-use them | to help mate them at a cost that will not bo burdensome on tho farmer. The toll roads are too costly for tho farmer. To get the products of tho farm to market ho now pays enough taxe3 in the way of tolls to pay for the toll roads iu five yearr. at a price they could bo built for now. Though the tax is paid indirectly it is paid. Farmers, as a class, arc opposed to monopolies, aud yet they grant fran chises to toll road companies which are, on a small scale, greater monopo lies than any of the railroad corpora tions of the State. "These toll roads are not only a ! public nuisance, but the owners ol j them are the worst tax dodgers of the State, railroad corporations not ex cepted. Tho farmers in many parts ' of tho county cannot get into the city without being compelled to pay a toll", I or else drive a long distance out of; their way. Tho farmer's wife cannot ! get iuto tho city with a small basket' of eggs, or a few pounds of butter, I without payiug toll almost as much ! as she receives for what she has to j sell. "Tho farmer is opposed to high | rates of interest, and if lie wauls to borrow money and tho lender charged him fifteen per cent, for the use of it, he would decline the offer with indigna tion, and yet the same farmer voles franchises to corporations which make him pay, though indirectly, but none tho less surely, over twentv-fivo per cent, on the money used to build toll roads for his accommodation, if tho i cost of the roads was figured at what j it would cost to build them at the I present time. The railroads of the j State are required by law to pay taxes I on gross receipts, but tho toll roads ! only on net receipts. The toll-road lobbyist, when at Lansing, beats tho j railroad lobbyist two to one. Yon i truly say that it is somewhat surpric-1 ing that the farmers, in view of all the J facts, are not more generally in favor j of a system that will give better roads." Education in KoadO.liililnjj. The Ithode Island Agricultural College has made a new departure iu its work of education that deserves imitation by other institutions of that character. It 3 faculty has established a special department for instruction j in the theory and practice of road -1 making. Tho word curriculum is ety [ mologieally applicable to tho pro- I posed course of instruction, which i covers two years, aud the anuouuee j ment of the details is interesting. ! The plan is about to be put into op eration after consultation with Geu i oral Roy Stone, tho road expert of the : United States Department of Agricul | turo, and its advocates are enthusias i tic in their predictions that it will j bring intelligent industry to bear in improving the highways and byways of the tidy little commonwealth. It is required that graduates from this school shall be competent to draw specifications aud contracts, to man ago all t'ue machinery used in scientific road-builuiug, aud to be familiar with every detail of tho profession of road engineering. For instance, candidates must pass an examination which in cludes algebra and geometry ;to the extent required for admission to any college. The instruction includes i English literature, higher geometry, trigonometry, surveying, electrical | mechanics, physical geography, min i oralogy, geology and steam engineer ing. Rut this is not all. That there is no "royal road to knowledge" will he sternly impressed upon the aspirants i to tho degree of road engineer by a ; novel requirement. For one mouth each spring the students will bo ex pected to work ten hours a day at no | taal road-making, including all tho j mechanical appliances, from wielding j the pick and shovel to running tho j most elaborate machinery. While other collegians are training in such athletics as rowing, running, leaping, j baseball and football, those sturdy j youths of Rhode Islaud will bo bend j ing their backs, strengthening their I muscles and expanding their lungs in j improving and extending those liigh | ways which arc tho bands of civiliza tion. May their ways ho ways of ] pleasantness and all their paths bo j peace.—New Y'ork Mail and Express. Instruction in Road-Valldlng. The opportunities for instruction in J building different kinds of roads af j forded occasionally at fairs and insti tutes,'aud by sainplo sections that have been laid under Government auspices, have been very valuable, aud have aroused.the people somewhat to a realization of the importance of regular instruction on this subject. The Worcester (Mass.) Gazette sug gests that it would be well if the State spent a portion of the enormous sum appropriated annually for tho highway system in holding institutes of instruc tion for highway supervisors, commis sioners, selectmen, and all others who have to do with road-building. It thinks the trouble with the highway builder usually is that he does not consider'his business a profession, and needs to learn from the experience of others. "By establishing a school for instruction in road-building, the State could .do a greater service to the public than by using the amount such a school would eOBt iu building mac-, a.lam roads through the country." Ai<l From tire Hallways. In a number of States the railroads have shown a disposition to help the cause of better highways by trans porting material for road building very low figures. It is-- now reported that a railway in Indiana is hauling without charge, and dumping at any designated point along its right of way, all the crushed stone needed by tbe I commissioners of Green County. If one will do it, others certainly will fol low. POWER OF A METHODIST BISHOP. Uislitesn .Men Who Havo Spiritual llulo Ovar Many Million??. Tho Methodist Church is one of tho most highly organized, or rather is tho most highly organized, cf all the Protestant denominations. But with out going into minute detail we may say briefly that the Board of Bishops is tho highest Order iu the Methodist system. It consists of twenty-one persons who are elected by the general conference to fill vacancies by death or deposition—a bishop cannot resign. It is within the power of the general conference to enlarge this number if, in its opinion, the needs of the church require. The new bishop is ordained with elaborate ceremonies, and, Methodists claim, with true apostolic succession through the Wesleys. Of these twenty-one men, eighteen I have supreme aud well nigli arbitrary I jurisdiction over world-wide Metho dism, and two of these ore practically ] retired, thus reducing the active fox-ce to sixteen. How this supervision shapes itself into routine may he indi cated to show tho extent and charac ter of this authority. There are in tho Methodist Churolx 124 conferences, 103 of which are in this country, while j twenty-one are distributed through j | India, China, South America, Mexico j aud Europe. These conferences may ; bo called the grand division of Metlio- 1 dism. They are always subdivided into two or more districts, and repre sent from fifty to 300 or mere "charges" or churches. Each of these confer ences holds au annual session, at I j which a bishop must preside. He has associated with him iu authority on! I such occasions what is known as the "cabinet," a body composed of tho bishop and the presiding elders of tin* conference. The presiding elder, it should be said, is the chief executive |of each district conference, anil is himself a person of great authority. At each conference the bishop, in con ! sultatiou with his cabinet, decides upon, appoints aud announces the pas torates for the coming year, and from this decision there is no appeal. A Methodist minister must either take his assignment or disobey orders and practically quit the ministry. Thus, theoretically at least, theso tweiity-oua bishops havo in their arbi trary power tho location and work of the 30,000 ministers of tho Methodist Church —a power which caunot find a parallel outside of the Roinau Catho lic Church, if indeed it be equalled there. It will he observed that tho Metho dist bishops are not confined to a diocese. Eoughly speaking, each bishop visits the whole church in from j twelve to fifteen years. Tho bishop, i however, has an episcopal residence, ; though ho may not bo much at home. | Theso resiliences are fixed by the general conference, and the choice is I then made by the bishops themselves J in the order of their seniority. Thus it happenstliat a bishop often officially resides at a great distance from the scene of the work with which he is most prominently identified. Bishop Vincent's home, for example, is at Kansas City, though ho is commonly associated with Chautauqua interests. ;;;.In addition to those varied and im portant tasks within the bounds of our country, two or more of the twen ty-oiio bishops are chosen to visit the foreign conferences. These men should be carefully distinguished | from what are known as missionary | bishops, the only Methodist bishop | corresponding to the Anglican bishop i —that is, with a well-defined and per j manent diocese, aud who thereforo | correspond pretty closely to a presid- I ins elder, though ho has presiding I elders under him. These visiting i bishops travel throughout the world | anil are effective everywhere. It will he seen from this cursory I skotoh that the group of Methodist bishops are vested with more power than any body of ecclesiastics in the | Protsstant Church. As Bishop Fal lows of the Eeformed Episcopal Church remarked: "A Methodist I bishop has more power in his little finger than I have in my whole body." It only remains to be said tbat this group of men exorcise their enormous powers with raro wisdom, moderation i aud fidelity.—Church Economist. When Gloves Were Only Tor Ornament. It is interesting to recall the fact that gloves as a badge of elegant dress seem to antedate the use of gloves as a protection to the bauds. The llo maus, Greeks aud Persians wore gloves on state occasions. As early as the days of Charlemagne the glove indus try of France was started by granting to eertaiu monks the right to manufac ture gloves from tho skins of deer which were killed for venison. "Water For Typhoid. An eminent physician states that typhoid fever can be washed out of the system by water. He give 3 his patients what would amount to eight or ten ounces an hour of sterilized water. In cases of cholera, where the system secrets a large amount of fluid, enormous quantities of hot water are of great benefit. Tlie Czar's Scepter. The Eussian scepter is of solid gold, three feet long, and contains among • its ornaments 268 diamonds, 360 ru bies and fifteejj emeralds. A Maltese cat brought from Topeka, , Kan., to Shelbyville, Ind., walked back to its old home, six hundred - miles away. MADE BY EARTHQUAKE. QUEER HISTORY OF THE LARCEST LAKE IN TENNESSEE. Forty Miles Lone and From Three to Five Wide—Dates Formation tho Mississippi Kan Up Stream—A Great l'lacu For Sportsmen. Eeelfoot Lake, which lies mostly in Obion County, ami partly in Lake, is the largest sheet of water in the Btate, it being forty miles in length anil from three to five in width, it is fifteen miles from Union City, the nearest railway point. The first view n visitor obtains of the lake is one of surpass ing beauty. The roail circles around a high bluff; and, suddenly, several hundred feet below, the lake, in all its loveliness, breaks full upon tho vision, its dancing, sparkling waters away as far as the eye can reach. Just under the 1 lofty, picturesque cliffs nestles the little village of Wheeling. The lake, which evokes rapturous comments from even the most indiffer ent observer, wns formed in a few minutes by an earthquake, which, ac cording to the best authorities, oo curred between 2 and 3 o'clock on Saturday morning, November 16, 1811. There were two.terrific shocks about thirty minutes apart, and mauy lighter ones between and after. Tho earth rocked violently, a deafening noise like thunder struck terror to the ear, the atmosphere was heavily laden with something like smoke and vivid and almost constaut hashes of lightning illuminated the surrounding country; nud in less time than it takes to write it thousands of acres of land had sunk far below the lovel of the mighty Miss issippi. The Fathers of Waters rushed into the sunken country, and the suc tion was so great that for three hours the river ran np stream, and rafts and boats below tho lake were torn from their moorings and went whirling into tho seething, maddening vortex. As soon as the newly formed lake was filled, tlio river went majestically on its usual course, leaving to Tennessee one of the finest fishing resorts in th country, which is annually the Mecca of thousands of sportsmen. Eeelfoot Lake is not the only mem orable freak of the seismic monster of 1811, for it sunk thousands of acre 3 of land in Arkansas and Missouri, anil formed Open Lake, in Lauderdale County, about twclvo mile from llip ley. This lake is ten miles long by three or four in width, and is also a great resort for hunters and fisher men. New Madrid, Mo., suffered considerably by the quake, several of its score or more of inhabitants being killed and its cemetery caved into tho Mississippi Biver and the bodies were Bwept away by the current. Eeelfoot Lake is known as the hunt ers' and fishers' paradise, aud deserves that appellation, which it has borne almost since its formation, eighty-six years ago. Around its borders can be found bear, deer, turkeys anil squir rels, while within its depths abound n great variety of fish, including bass, trout, croppies, bream, perch, pike, hufl'alo, drum aud catfish. Then there is a fish in the lake known as "alligator gar," which is almost as voracious as a shark. It grows to the length of twelvo or thirteen feet, and has an immense head, armed with large, formidable teeth. The loss of several people in the lake has been at tributed to this fish. Several years ago a young man was bathing in the lake, when he suddenly threw up his arms and called loudly for help, ex claiming that something had liim. Several of his companions, who were in a boat, rowed quickly to his assist ance, but before they could reach him he was drawn beneath the surface of tho lake, and tho bloody water where he had gone down proved that ho spoke truthfully wlxeu ho ci'ied that ho was iu the grasp of some dreadful monster. His friends believed that ho was the victim of an alligator gar, as there is no other fish iu tho lake so large or voracious.—Nashville (Tenn.) Banner. The Capital Crypt. The clearing out of the old brick partition from the crypt of the Capitol, which was begun some timo ago, has been completed, and the whole place has been painted. Tho effect is even more wonderful than it promised to be. I doubt if there is anything more impressive in the architecture of this Capital City than is this crypt. It is solemnly, sombrely grand. Its grandeur disclosed for tho first time in twenty years, it seems as if it had just been dug from the earth, where it had laid buried since an ago of archi tectural splendor. There is nothing ornate about it in color or form. It is simply a forest of perfectly plain columns standing close together and filling in an immense eirole —as large as the rotunda above—the col umns supporting a network of inter lacing arches. The intersecting arches make sharp angles, though the swell of each o.rch is full and round. The vaulted ceiling thus formed is low enough, together with the short, thick columns, to give the chamber the ap pearance of great si/e anil to render it grandly sombre. I believe it would be impossible for any one to enter this crypt, as it now is, its entire out line and proportion disclosed, for the first time- without pausing at the en trance with a sense of awe aud won der.—Washington Letter. Horse Hnlr For Upholstering. Three hundred bales of horses* manes an! tails to be used for up holstering furniture have been landed in Philadelphia by tlie British steam ships Maine and Michigan from Lon don. They come from far-away Siberia and are taken from horses used by the Cossacks, after the animals have out lived their usefulness. Horses are cheap in Kussia, and, after having seen better days, their manes and tails are the only thing left of a com mercial value.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers