Governor John R. Roberts, of Wash
ington, in a recent address in Tacoma,
gummed up what ho termed his faith
thus: "Life is a struggle; a school; a
test of fitness. No struggle, no school;
no school, no fitness; no fitness, no
future."
The amount spent annually on the
roads of the couutry equal three per
cent, on twenty-six million dollars.
Were twenty six millions actually in
vested in good roads, we would have
the finest highways in the world for
the same annual cost, and be making
money out of them besides.
An invention which English people
will not take tip is the automatio
writing telegraph. You write at one
end of the system and at the other end
a pen writes out what you have writ
ten in your handwriting. Sketches
can be transmitted in this way even
at a distanco of 200 miles. There is
fifty times as much invention in the
apparatus as there is in the telephone,
but apparently no one wants it.
The Savannah news says: "Great
advertisers lave in the history of tho
city and prosperity of their firms long
after they themselves havo "shuffled
off this mortal coil;" their announce
ments in the newspapers continue to
bear fruit after the advertisers are
dead. On the other hand, the non
advertising business man is dead to
the community long before be leaves
this life; and his business is more
than apt to die with him.
The books of the United States
Mint in Denver show that the deposits
of gold for tho last year were the
largest ever received. The total will
slightly exceed 812,200,000, and a
conservative estimate made by the
Mint officials places tho entire output
of Colorado at 8112,000,000, in round
figures. Colorado will go far ahead
of California, as it is said to be doubt
ful if California's output will touch the
$18,000,000 mark. Last year Colorado's
output was $10,500,000 and that ol
California was 817,000,000 while the
total production of tho country was
#61,717,925.
The Washington Star remarks: No
portion of the Western Hemisphere is
open to tho despoiior as China is. All
portions are reasonably safe from such
assaults. There are rich countries in
Central and South America indif
ferently officered at times, aud which
in certain circumstances would be ex
ceedingly tempting to the buccaneer
ing spirit of Europe. They have their
rackets among themselves, and gov
ernment there might be more secure
to tho local advantage. Frequent
shifts are made, and now this leader is
up and then that. But rapid and
violent as the changes may be,
no fine old land grabber with
a crown on hi 3 head ever reaches
his long arm from across the sea and
tries to profit by dissention. And
why? The Monroe doctrine forbids.
This year will have among its note
worthy anniverL_ries the one hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the death
of Isaac Watts. It will be chiefly as a
vriter of hymns that ho will be hon
ored by affectionate remembrance. Ol
his hymns, says the Youth's Com
panion, tho Christian world has chosen
a few as pre-eminent. If he had
written only the hymn beginning:
"O, God, our help in ages past," bis
name would have a sure place in the
roll of makers of verse worthy aud
destined to live. A great hymn levels
denominational barriers. While men
are talking of Christian unity, or
dreaming of it, the hymn, in its sphere
of influence, if only for the moment
when heard or sung, makes believers
one. He who has strengthened
and inspired generations, refreshing
the saints and moving those who make
no pretensions to saintliness, may well
be remembered.
The London Graphic declares that
the sale of cocoa has increased in the
British Isles enormously in the last
five years, and thinks it may possibly
supplant tea. Tea certainly has a
high value as a stimulant when some
strenuous immediate task must be
done. Lord Wolseley recommends it
for soldiers on the march, and moun
tain-climbers claim that it is tlieii
mainstay; but, allj the same, pro
tracted use of it plays the mischiel
■with the digestion of most persons and
is highly injurious to the nerves ol
many. Cocoa is sustaining and diges.
title, and has no objectionable effects.
It would be a public boom if some
houses on favorite bicycle routes would
Bet up something akin to the old
fashioned for the
autumn is bringing out the fact that
bicvcle-riders have too often drunk of
contaminated wells and aro paying the
penalty in typhoid. Cocoa, having
been boiled, would not contain deadly
microbes.
A PPiALRIE ISHMAELITE.
"VERY MAN'S HAND IS AGAINST
THE FRIENDLESS COYOTE.
FarinerH Ilavo Combined to Protect Tlielr
Herdft ami Flock it From the Prairie
Wolf'* Depredation—Tricks of If tint
era to Make Money Out of Ilia Scalp.
The one friendless, hunted Ishuiae
lite of the plains against whom is every
man's hand, is the prairie wolf—the
coyote. If he is adapted to any sphere
of usefulness on earth nobody has yet
been shrewd enough to And it out; if
be has ever done a respectable deed
it has not yet come to light. The jack
rabbit will at least furnish the basis
for a savory stew in case of need, the
buffalo was valued for its hide, the rat
tles of the rattlesnake are worth pre
serving for curiosities, but there is yet
to be discovered a method of utilizing
any portion of the coyote from his
snarling mouth to his ragged tail—ex
cept as a fertilizer. The short-grass
country is his home, the high prairies
where the gray, hair-like vegetation
that is called pasture blends with the
dirty coat of the vandal. Through it
ho sueaks and runs, now a gaunt fig
ure on the horizon, now an ungainly
shape near at hand. He is without
acquaintance with anything that is
alive, usually solitary, always with a
criminal aspect, as if he had just done
something to be ashamed of or was
contemplating a deed of the sort at the
earliest opportunity.
Once the coyote, says a writer in
tho Chicago Times-Herald, had tho
whole Indian Territory to himself.
He could snarl and fight to his heart's
content, and there was none to say
him nay. But when the lands were
opened to settlement and a family
took its place on every quarter sec
tion there was less room for the wild
creatures of the plains who had before
been undisturbed. Then the coyote
had to go out among men, and he
found that he was a very unpopular
immigrant into any of the communi
ties that ho favored with his presence.
And he earned the right to so be con
sidered honestly. He robbed the
sheepfolds, stole the chickens and
made the traveler afraid—all without
any equivalent in service.
Since the immigration of the wolves
from the territory into the farming
and stock-raising States to the north
there has been more than a desultory
warfare. The farmers have banded
together to protect the flocks and
herds aud have offered generous
bounties for the scalps of the crea
tures, a proceeding that has resulted
in tho slaughter of thousands. Yet
the supply seems none the less, and
all the sharpshooting is but a waste
of powder nud balls. Year nfter year
there are reported from 1200 to 1500
sheep killod in Nebraska and Kansas
by wolves, and tho hundreds of dol
lars spent for bounties have produced
little diminution of the plague. Some
times the bounties are not what they
are purported to be. Tho people of a
Western county found once that they
were being taxed very heavily for the
payment of this sort of expense and
that certain hunters were buying new
farms out of the proceeds of their
prowess on the plains. An examina
tion followed, and it was found that
there was in existence an end
less chain, in comparison with
which the greenbacks and gold
reserve make but a feeble showing.
At the rear of the County Clerk's
office, where the redeemed scalps were
thrown, was a convenient opening in
the wall, aud through this the scalps
were pulled in the night, to be pre
sented at the counter in the morning
for another bounty of S3 each. It was
estimated that the County had paid
for one set of scalps not less than
twelve times, and the emptiness of the
treasury was explained. The saddest
part of the happening was that the
schemers saw tho investigators at the
hole, and became bounty jumpers at
once—jumping the County for safer
climes.
1 Another curious circumstance was
■ noticed by the officers at two Counties
adjoining in Central Kaußas last
i winter. The officers of one were pay
! ing out money eveiy day for wolf
i scalps while the others seldom had
any demand for the reward. Each of
. the hunters was compelled to swear
I that he had killed the wolf iuside the
j boundaries of the County where the
j scalp was presented, and there was no
j reason for doubting the truth of the
testimony. But what could be tho
reason of the disparity in tho claims?
One day a settler's son was ques
tioned:
"Where did you kill this wolf?"
"Down near the rdgo of the Coun
ty."
"Are coyotes very thick there?"
"Well, rather, though not so thick
as they are further south."
"Over iu the other County?"
"Yes, there are more there."
"But they do not kill auy there.
Why is it?"
"The other County only pays SI for
scalps aud this pays $2. So we drive
them over tho Hue before we shoot I
them."
Tho Countv officers at ouce read
justed tho scale of rewards.
Largest Power Plant In the World.
The largest power plant in tho world
will be erected by the Metropolitan
Street Railway Company of New York
for tho purpose of furnishing power
for the 218 miles of its street railroads.
Tho plant will comprise eleven cross
compound condensing engines of 6600
horse-power each aud eighty-seven wa
ter-tube boilers of 800 horse-power
each.
Nations That Own Telegraphs*
Austria, Hungary, Belgium, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Greece,ltaly,
Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Swit
zerland own all the telegraph lines in
their respective territory.
PENALTY OF "LINGCH'I" IN CHINA.
Parricides and Matricides Never Escape
tho Sword.
In China, when a parent has met
with death at the bands of a son or
daughter, no circumstances of inten
tion or ago are permitted to interfere
with the infliction of the penalty,
which is that of the "lingch'i," followed
be decapitation. Any mitigation of
this cruel sentence would Ire considered
by tho Chinese as aiming a blow at
tho fundamental principle of filial duty
which is supposed to be the ground
work of their code. Time and again
lias the penalty of "lingch'i" been re
corded against parricides or matri
cides, oven when they happened to bo
idiots or lunatics, and therefore not
accountable for their action.
The corruption aud venality of the
great mass of officials in this empire
has become a by-word, and it is not
strange, therefore, that justice can
easily be evaded through bribery.
Thus a wealthy man who has been
guilty of killing a fellow-crea
ture, whether by premeditation or ac
cident, can escape all serious conse
quence aud receive a sentence to three
years' banishment to a spot a thousand
miles distant instead of the death pen
alty. Or, on the other band, when
tho relatives of tho murdered men are
powerful enough to make themselves
heard by the officials, and to demand
the strict observeance of the lex ta
lionis, the rich criminal may purchase
a substitute from among the beggar
class, or perhaps an old faithful ser
vant of the family may be permitted
to forfeit bis life in bis master's stead.
But never has it happened since
China bad a history that one who bad
occasioned the death of his parent or
parents has contrived to buy himself
off and escape the "lingch'i," or ox
eared knife, and the executioner's
heavy two-handed sword. So deeply
has the doctrine of the ancient sages
on the observance of filial piety become
rooted in the hearts of the people of
China that no magistrate wonld dare
to exercise leniency by taking into
consideration the circumstances that
led to a case of parricide or matricide
with the view of mitigating tho doom
fixed by law. Not only would the
magistrate incur thereby the danger
of violence from the mob,but he would
subvert the obedience due from bis
own family. A parricide not only
brings certain death on himself, but
disgrace on the district in which he
resides. In the case whese both par
ents are victims Chinese law ordains
that a corner of the district city walls
shall be pulled down as a lasting
chronicle of the shame and disgrace
of the district in having sheltered such
a monster.
Tho magistrate and local officials
are cashiered aud debarred for ever
from public employment as a punish
ment for not having taught more ef
fectively the doctrine of filial piety,
while the Goverror of the province,
with his colleagues, the Treasurer and
Judge, together with the taotai and
perfect of the district, are all degraded
several steps in rank.—North China
Daily News.
RfV. 300 Buffaloes.
"There are 300 buffaloes in one herd j
down in Texas that you newspaper
fellows never seom to liave heard of,"
said R. B. Hnlin. Mr. Hulin is "the
cowboy glove drummer" of Texas. He
went on to say:
"Once in a while I see it in print j
that the buffalo is almost extinct and
the reports always state that tho only
remaining buffaloes are a few on the
government reservation in Yellowstono
Park and a few more that are scat
tered in zoological gardens in different
cities. I have never seen n mention
iu print of the herd of 300 on tho '
ranch of Charles P. Goodnight, at '
Goodnight, Texas. I stop off once a
year to sell gloves to Goodnight and I
the eighty or ninety cowboys who ;
work for him. Hehasarancli of 35,000
acres, and 2000 acres of that are fenced [
off as a buffalo ranch. You often hear
it said that in a few years more there ]
will not bo a single specimen of the
buffalo left alive, because they do not
breed well in captivity. It may be
true that they do not increase rapidly
when they are penned up in parks and
zoological gardens, but on Goodnight's
2000 acre range they increase almost
as rapidly, T expect, as they used to
when they ran wild over the prairies, i
Goodnight started with twenty-five
head of buffaloes a few years ago and
bo has about 300, and the family is ;
steadily increasing. He will not al
low one to be killed nnd he expects in
a few years to have a big herd of sev
eral thousand. When it becomes
necessary lie will enlarge the range,
and I don't see auy reason why be
shouldn't make a big thing out of his
buffalo herd."—Kansas City Journal.
American Method the Best.
Germans are adopting American ma
chinery for their manufactories anil
American ideas as well. The English
manufacturer proclaims boldly—prob
ably for the effect it may have upon
bis workmen—that if be cannot adopt
American machinery nnd methods in
Great Britain ho will have to shut up
shop. The German and English may
be able to compete with each other
with the aid of American machinery,
and they may bo able to excel all the
world save this grent country from
which they are drawing new inspira
tions. But they cannot go the Amer
ican pace. Haviug caught up with
them we will pass them—distance
them, perhaps—for in all the world
there is no such combination of ex
cellence as in these United States of
America.—Pittsburg Dispatoh.
A Lone Felt. Want.
"What I'd like to see," remarked
the little boy, "is a cart for winter
like we have to sprinkle the stroets in
i summer. I think a cart that would
sprinkle a street with snow about
c6astifig-tiine would be a great inven
tion." —Harper's Bazae.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
An English agriculturist has suc
ceeded in tho cross fertilization of
grasses, clover, cereals and other food
plants.
During tho hot months in Venezuela
exposure of the bare head to the sun
lor half an hour means a certain fever
ind almost certain death.
C. A. Parsons, the English engineer
who makes turbine engines for ships,
lays that the new rotary engines will
souse vessels to travel Bixty miles an
hour or even more.
The proposal has been made by M.
Gabriel Viand, a French chemist, to
abtain easily assimilable iron tonics
from vegetables by feeding the plants
judiciously with iron fertilizers.
With most men the growth of the
beard is stronger on one side of the
face than on the other. It is usually
she case that the hair grows more
rapidly on that side on which we are
itronger.
The Semaino Medical publishes de
tails of the successful experiments
made in Naples by Cantani, in making
guinea pigs immune against the in
fluenza poison by vaccinating tbern
with sterilized cultures of the iuflueuza
bacillus.
A new typewriter has been perfect
sd for the benefit of blind people.
The letters are raised, and tbey arc
palpable as well as visible. Communi
sations made by this machine can be
read alike by the blind and those who
ire blessed with sight.
A new method of testing steel bul
lets has been devised in Germany*
The balls are dropped from a fixed
height on to a glass plate set at an
ingle. If properly tempered tbey re
bound into one receptacle; if they are
too Boft they drop into another.
To test the power of the telephone
In transmitting tuneful sounds, Mrs.
Helen Buckley sang two songs into a
fnnnel at the office of the Chicago
Telephone Company, and the notes
were distinctly heard in New York, by
i number of musical managers who
had assembled for that purpose.
Mr. Wragge, the meteorologist, who
established and worked the first ob
servatory on Ben Nevis, and who is
now meteorological observer of
Queensland, recently visited the sum
mit of Mount Kosciusko, the highest
mountain in Australia, for the purpose
of establishing an observatory there.
Apropos of New York's proposed
rapid transit tunnel, it is declared in
London that the health of employes
du the Underground Railway is better
than on any line in England. The at
mosphere is said to have positively
oured cases of quinsy and bronchitis
and to have benefited people with lung
troubles.
No Meeting; For Him.
"My good man," said the preacher,
"it pains mo deeply to hear you scoff,
Don't you know that there is a here
after?"
"No," replied the wicked one, "I
don't know anything of the kind."
"Well, let me endeavor to convinoe
you that there is a future existence
where all the mistakes committed in
this life will have to be aocounted for.
Toil don't know what a comfort it will
be to you if you can get this belief
;horoughly established in your mind.
Think of again meeting those who
have gone before; of "
"Say, bold onl Stop right there!
The idea of meeting those who have
gone before is tho very thing that
makes me most anxious to keep the
belief in a future existence from tak
ing hold of me. If there's to be any
meeting on the other side I want to be
counted out."
"My dear sir," exclaimed the hor
ror-stricken preacher,' 'I cannot fathom
your meaning."
"Well, if you had buried four wives
1 guess you would."—Cleveland Lead
er.
Tho Horrible ami Grotesque.
Not a few of the scenes a clergyman
Is called upon to witness are both
grotosque and terrible. An old man
had been ill for months, but clung to
life with that wonderful pertinacity
which is so common with old people.
Ho was, of course, a great burden to
his two daughters, who had to nurse
him aud at the same time earn their
own bread. One day, on being asked
bow the old man was, one of the
daughters, even while she stood by
the bed, announced, " 'E's just the
same, 'e is such a time a-dying. I
wish 'e'd 'urryup a bit, it's s' awk'ard
for me and my sister, with our other
work to do." It was terrible enough
to see natural feeling all but destroyed
by poverty, but there was something
truly awful in the scene when the old
man gasped over from his bed, "I am
a-making 'aste, ain't I? I've got no
I call for to live."—The Cornhill.
Fined Their Employer.
An important judgment affecting
trade unions was given last week at
Liverpool County Court. A master
plasterer sued the local secretary of
I the operative plasterers' union for the
! return of $25, which he was fined for
employing lathers instead of plaster
ers to do lathing work. The Judge
held that the plaintiff was legally fined
according to the rules of the union,
which the association, of which he was
a member, bad agreed to accept, and
he paid the fine voluntarily to get the
services of union men. Judgment
was therefore given for defendant.—
Loudon Telegraph.
Cloudier Than London.
Esquimalt, in British North Ameri
ca, is tho only place in the British
Empire, according to a recent climato
logical report, that exceeds London in
cloudiness. Esquimalt is also th
ilampest place in the empire, while
Adelaide, in Australia, is the dryest.
Ceylon is the hottest, and Northwest
Cauada the coldest possession that
the flag of Engl and floats over.
POISONS AND ANTIDOTES.
WHAT TO DO WHEN A DOCTOR CAN
NOT BE CALLED IN TIME.
Symptom. of Varion. Kinds of Poisons
—Simple Remedies and Treatment
Wlilcli Will Prove Kfllrlent If Prompt
ly Applied Artltlcial Respiration*
Even in the city cases of poisoning
sometimes prove fatal because a physi
cian cannot be procured in time to ad
minister the neoessary remedies, and
it w-ould be a wise precaution for every
household to have some general direc
tions at hand for an emergency. The
New York Society Sfor Instruction in
First Aid to the Injured teaches its
olasses the symptoms and remedies for
various poisons as follows:
Among the poisons known as "irri
tant" are arsenio in its numerous
forms, corrosive sublimate, sugar of
lead, white lead, the strong acids, such
as sulphnrio or vitriol, muriatic, nitric,
oxalic and carbolic; the strong alkalies,
such as soda, potaßh, lime and am
monia water. The symptoms of poi
soning by an irritant: are severe pains
in the stomach and nbdomen, nausea,
vomiting, purging, faintness, and of
ten feeble pulse and breathing. The
treatment is first to cause vomiting by
giving a tumblerful of warm (not hot)
water with a tablespoonful of ground
dry mustard stirred in it: or by push
ing the forefinger as far as possible
down the throat. The forefinger is
the best possible emetic. After caus
ing the patient to vomit freely, give
large draughts of milk, or the whites
pf a couple of eggs, not beaten. If
the poison were an acid, give also
magnesia or cooking soda to neutralize.
If an alkali, give lemon juice or a Jta
hlespoonful of vinegar.
The "systemio" poisons are opium,
piorphia, laudanum, parogorio, bella
donna, atropia, aconite, henbane or
(lyoscyamus, stramonium, prnssic
acid, cyanide of potassium, nux vom
ica, strychnia, alcohol, chloroform
and ether. The symptoms differ with
the different poisons, but as a rule
there is gradually increasing sleepi
ness, stupor, insensibility or perhaps
delirium; and stertorous or "puffy"
breathing. In opium poisoning
(which includes _morpliia, laudanum
and paregoric) the pupils of the eyes
are contracted to the size of small pin
heads, breathing is very slow, and the
face often extremely pale. In strych
nia poisoning there are convulsions,
almost like epilepsy, and the jaws ore
set firmly togother. In belladonna,
atropia, hyoscyamus and stramonium
tho pupils of the eye aro dilated, the
pulse rapid, and tho appearance is
that of fever. In aconite, chloral and
tobacco poisoning there is great pros
tration, pulsejfeeble and face pale.
|1 i.The first thing to be done, as in the
other poisons, is to cause repeated
vomiting, using thb same menus.
After the emetio has aotod freely, give
Btrong black coffee in frequent dosos.
If a cose of opium poisoning, on no
account allow the patient to go to
sleep. Keep him walking up and
down, slapping him on the back and
chest with a wet towel, but be careful
not to exhaust him. If symptoms of
collapse appear, put hot applications
on tho abdomen and logs. The symp
toms are feeble breathing, pnle face,
pinohed about the nose and anxious,
eyelids drooping, eyes dull, pulse fee
ble and skin cold.
li the respiration beoomes slower
than five or six breaths in a minute,
begin artificial respiration, and con
tinue until no longer necessary. Ar
tificial Respiration is produced by lay
ing the patient on his back, with a roll
of cloth under the shoulders. Draw
the tongue well out and tie it against
tlie lower teeth by laying the centre of
a dry strip of cloth on it, crossing the
cloth under the chin, carrying the
ends around the neck and tying at
Bido of neck. Then kneel behind his
head, grasp his arms half way between
elbows and wrists, and draw them up
and over his head until his hands
touch the floor behind. Hold them
there for fully two seconds, then carry
them back until they rest against the
sides of the chest, and press them
firmly against the chest for two sec
onds. Eepeat until natural respira
tion takes place. The method is the
same as in oases of drowning.
Permanganate of potassium is an
antidote to morphine, but coffee is
valuable in all systemic poisons.—
New York Tribune.
Ruislu'i Landless Noblemen.
Tho land is changing hands rapidly
in Russia. Statistics of land sales
show, says the London Echo, that in
a Bingle year 5,64=0,000 acres have been
sold, and of this 2,7000,000 acres
passed out of the possession of the
nobles into that of peasants, either in
dividuals or co-operative associations,
and local communes. Some pur- ]
chasers were of the merchant class.
But the important point is that by this
; continuous process the nobles are be
: coming landless, and the class of
• great territorial lords will soon cease
,to exist. The Russian census of the
present year shows that the popula
j tion has risen to 129,000,000, and it
I is tho millions who are growing yearly
in importance, not the few as hereto
fore.
Gone For a Chinese Bride.
Long Jim, as be is known, a Chi
nese laundrymauaudmorobautof Fort
Wayne, is enroute for the Pacifio
slope, there to take passage for Hong
Kong, China. Then will follow a
journey to a village in the interior,
where he will wed a girl who ha 3 been
selected for him by his parents, and
whom he has never seen. Long Jim
will remain abroad one year, after
whioh he will return her with his
bride and settle down to housekeeping
on the American plan. His wife will
be the first Chinese woman ever ven
turing' within the corporate limits of
this oity,—lndianapolis News,
VARIOUS BABIES.
Tha Now Guinea baby has a novel
method of being carried about. Its
mother puts the naked little creaturs
into a net, whioh is suspended by a
baud over her head and ears, in front
of her.
Tho Chinese child lios with its face
against its mothefs back, and this ac
counts for the broad, flat nostrils seen
in the Flowery Kingdom. It cries
continually in shrill, sharp shrieks,
but the mother placidly works on amid
the uproar.
The dimpled, browD little Jap baby
takes its first journey abroad strapped
to tho back of its mother or sister in a
seemingly insecure position by strips
of cloth meeting in the form4>f the let
ter X. ..When awake it clings like a
kitten and is never dropped.
The children 'of Tthe Aztecs travel
about in a sling on the mother's right
hip, tho strong cloth passing over the
left shoulder. The Gnaltimaliticans
bear their children on their backs, and,
as if this was not load enough, any
burden they have rests upon the head.
Some of the Australian women wqpr
a curious mantle of kangaroo skin on
their bncks, which is tied securoly at
the waist line, half tho length above
and half below. In the little bag
formed by the fullness of tho upper
part tho baby cuddles and finds a oom
fortablo nest. In other parts of the
country the child rides astride the
mother's neck.
The Italian bambino is swathed like
a mummy and bound with colored
ribbons. The babies' elder brothers
and sisters delight in carrying about
these human dolls which cannot kick.
The German baby, too, is swaddled,
bound in a long down pillow tied with
generous bows of bright ribbons. He
is carried about in the nurse's arms
whenever he moves.
Tho Africans of Cuba hold their in
fants on one hip, the child clinging by
its kneßsas a rider holds on to a horse.
Alaskau babies are rubbed with oil,
tightly rolled in a skin or blanket
padded with grass and bound with
deerskin thongs, which are undone
but once a day. If the baby cries he
is held nnder water till he is still.
French babies are borne through the
streets stretched on fine embroidered
pillows, their lace frocks spread out
to make all the display possible. The
chocolate mammas of Queensland
carry their little ones astride thoir
necks. The Dyaks of Borneo carry
the baby wrapped in the bark of a
tree or in a curiously carved chair
studded with ground shells, which is
fastened to the mother's back.
Novel Cure For Insomnia.
"No, I am not through with my
day's work yet," said a Seventh street
barber, as he turned the key in the
door of his shop a few nights ago.
"Not through?" asked a bystander
who had but a few minutes beforo left
his chair.
"No, sir," the barber continued.
"I have a customer whom I have
shaved every night for nearly three
years. It's a fact, aud that man j
wouldn't be able to sleep a wink to- j
night if I did not feo and shave him.
At least he thinks he couldn't sleep
without it.
"Fuuny, isn't it? For several
years he suffered with nervous pros
tration, which brought on insomnia.
The doctors—and he tried not a few
—did him little good. During this
time, he let his beard grow until he
had long flowing whiskers.
"One day his wife asked him if he
wouldn't feel better to have his whis
kers shaved off. He assented, and I
was called in. It was about 9o'clook,
after I had closed my shop for the day.
I removed the whiskers and gave his
head a good rubbing. That night he
slept soundly; the first real sleep he
had had for months.
"Tho next night ho suffered with
wakefulness. The night following he
was just as bad. Finally, fn two or
three days, his wife again called me in
to shave him. I did so, and that
night begot a good sleep. The result
is that I was called in every night.
"Finally, I agreed to do the work
for so much a month, and I am a regu
lar caller at his home every night. I
am the last one to see him. After I
shave him and rnb his head ho goes
directly to bed. He has had no in
somuia since I began the nightly shav
ing.
."."No, it isn't because of any particu
lar power I have over him. Any bar
ber i could do it, I suppose, but he
won't have any one but me. YOB, it
is a bore sometimes, when I want to
go away, but he pays me enough to
make it an object. I must hurry, or
ho will be worrying."—Washington
Star.
Firgfc Grain in California.
Tho first wheat grown in California
was in San Diego mission in 1778, the
Indians tilling the soil under tho di
rection of the padre. Wheat, corn and
maize were sown as early as 1780 in
the vicinity of Mission Dolores, San
Francisco. In 1804 there were 2747
bushels of grain grown. at this
mission. Probably there was grain
grown at other missions atyent this
date, and in 1812 at Fort Boss wheat
and other cereals were raised. Port
Costa is the shipping point for the
bulk of the grain raised in California
and has warehouses for storing 185,000
tous; dook frontage of 2800 feet, afford
ing facilities for loading ten large
ocean ships at the same time.
Poe'i Gold Watch.
The gold watch of Edgar Allen Poa
is now in the possession of R. W. Al
bright, of Fort Madison, lowa, and its
history is characteristic of the check
ered career of the poet. He had been
in debt to Mr. Albright's brother, a
merchant tailor, and gave soveral
notes in settlement, together with the
watch in trust. ''Edgar A. Poe" is
engraved on the gold cap inside.
PRECEPT AND PRACTICE
My grandmother used to say to mo.
My grandmother used to euy,
"Now. don't run after the boys, my girl.
But stick to your sewing, prnyl
For mon who want wives will hunt them,
dear,
Care not to bo mot half way;
For the longest chase is the iufrcst sr-ort,"
My grandmother used to say.
My grandmother used to say to mo,
My grandmother used to say,
"Now, stop your dreuming and bnste your
hem.
Dreams never wero meant for day.
Don't hurry, my girl, to llnd a lad.
Maids never have will nor way
Till sorrow and twenty are come and gon, w
My grandmother used td" say.
But I'd heard some tales and saiil one dayr
_ "Now, Granny, you dear old thing,
You met, I'vd been told, your lover at
Tho gato at the meadow spring.
And, though scarce elghtoen. you rod be
hind
To tho village six miles away,
And were married and all by Parson Phippsf
Now, what have you got to say?"
And grandmother smiled demurely, then.
Above the hurrying thread;
" 'Twas not for the lack of precept, dear.
Things happened as you have said;
For, 'Stop your dreaming and basto you*
hem,
For tho men won't run away;'
And 'Wooing will keep for'a good two
yoar,'
My grandmother nsed to say."
—Richard Stillman Powell, in Puck.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Nobody seems to care much whether
he kisses the bride at a silver wed
ding or not.—West Union Gazette.
He—"Did she say why she left her
last place?" She—"Why, the woman,
she lived with sneered at the wheel
she rides."—Pack.
"Lend me a dollar, old man."'
"Can't; only have a half." "That's
all right; you can owe mo tho othei
half."—Princeton Tiger.
Duzby—"Do you regard thirteen as
an unlucky number?" Dooby—"Cer
tainly I do; aren't they always abus
ing it?"—Bosbury Gazette.
Spendley—"Well, if my monoy
should go, dearest, you'd still have
me!" Mrs. Spendley—"Don't you be
too sure about that!"— Puck.
"Now, when you ask papa for me,
be sure to face him like a man."
"That I will. He doesn't get any
chance at my back if I can help it."—
Standard.
Mrs. Goodenongb—"Now, Johnnie,
won't you sit down and tell mo why
your papa whipped you?" Johnnie—-
"No, mam; I'd rather stand and say
nothin'."—Judge.
Guest (in cheap restaurant) —"Here,
waiter, this meal is simply vile. I
won't pay for it. Where's the pro
prietor?" Waiter—"He's oitf at lunch,
sir."—Philadelphia Record.
"I am very sorry, Captain Brown,
but circumstances over which I have*
no control compel me to say no."
"May I ask what the circumstances
are?" "Yours."—Pick-Me-Up.
"Is it true that Bakeup has been in
search of buried treasure?" "I guesß
it is. He said something to me about
diving into his wife's pocket for cash."
—Philadelphia North American.
™"I thoroughly enjoy looking at the
advertising pages after the holidays
are over." "Any special reason?"
"Yes; here anil there I see something
my wife didn't buy."—Chicago Rec
ord.
Reporter—"How much do you want
written about that dime museum freak
with a rubber neck?" Editor—
"We're short of matter to-day; stretel*
it oat to a column."—Norristowz*
Herald.
He—"l've a ripping new nangbty
story to tell you. I don't think I'vo
told it you before." She—"ls it a
real good one?" He—"lt is indeed."
She—"Then you haven't told it mo be
fore. "—Standard.
"Waiter, do you remember mo? I
came in here yesterday aud ordered a
steak." Waiter—"Yes, sir. Will you
have the same to-day?" Cnstomer—
"Yes, if no one else is using it."—
Loudon Answers.
Old Foggs—"ln this natural history,
Thomas, it states that a thrush feeds
its young no fewer than two hundred
nnd six times a day. What have yon
to say to that?" Thomas—"Wißh I
was a young thrush."—Standard.
Jaok Bachelor—"So your late uncle
left you all his money when he died,
did he?" Bob Bluffer (disgustedly)
—"No, not all. The mean old duffer
had to go and leavo two hundred and
fifty dollars of it for a tombstone."—
Judge.
Mrs. Fogg—"One can never tell
what to believe. Mrs. Jones says the
Wimpers fight like cats and dogs, and
Mrs. Brown snys they are the happiest
couple in town." Fogg—"l don't see
as there need be any inconsistency in
the two stories. Some people are never
happy unless they are quarreling."—
Boston Transcript.
"What pretty illuminated cards!"
exclaimed one woman. "That one
with the motto, 'Honesty is the best
policy,' is especially nice." "Yes,"
replied the other. "I brought then*
from Europe, and the best of it is, I
got them through with a lot of other
things without paying a cent of duty."
—Washington Star.
"3hall we shoot or hang him?"
asked the vigilantes. The methodical
man of business paused to think.
"Let us not be hasty," he said, "for
hurry begets criminal waste and ex
travagance. The first thing to do is
to learn the price of rope, com
pare it with the priceof ammunition'"
—Philadelphia North American.
Dying Millionaire—"l have been
much in litigation, always successful,
too, and I feel that I owe everything
to the lawyers. I want them to have
all my property." Attorney—"Ah!
You wish me to make a will, then, be
queathing—" Dying Millionaire—
"Cutting off all my relations and be
queathing the money to charitable
institutions."-"New York Weekly.