Freelaoti Tribune Established 1888. PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY, DY THE TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY, Limited Orrics: Main Srr.i: ;:T Above Centbe. FKEELAXD, PA. SLIiSCHJfTIOJi HATES: One Year C-1.50 Nix Month. 75 Four Mouihs 50 Two Months 25 Tho <iiite which tin: subscription is paid to is on too address label uf each [| ■ r, tilt) chanc of which to a suhse juent 'late be comes a receipt for remittance. Keep the ligures in advance of til" present date. Re port promptly to tI.U ofllue whenever paper Is nut received. Arrearages must he paid when subscription is discontinued. Male nil ru u-t, wikrt, cheeks, tic., payable . to th -Tri'jun Prinlin] Company, Limited. I The lime seems to bo not far dis- I taut when English will he the lan- | guage of the people inhabiting the eu- i tire valley of tho Nile. Commissioner General I'eck is like- j wise indulging a propensity for ex- i pansion. He has secured 2?, 000 square feet more for American exhib- ! iters at the Paris Exposition. The government of the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has directed i that the pupils in all the official schools shall ho taught to write and perform | ail manual (asks as well with one baud as with the other. It was a Chicago man who, having purchased a kaleidoscope, brought it back the next day and indignantly ex plained he had tiied to play on the blamed thing for an hour, and had not been able to get a tune out of it. The young couple who have just finished a journey around the world on bicycles, found that niueteeth cen tury instruments of civilization and sixteenth century adventures in bar barism may go together. It must have been exasperating to wheel nt top speed over abominable roads to escape missile-throwing Chinese. It is easy to dart away from crowds who throw stones, but bad loads are try ing to the temper. It is impressive that the best road they found in all the world was the 600-mile road to Calcutta, built in the forgotten ages by the Delhi mogul. This is a valu able contribution to knowledge. The mogul aud his dusky Macadams little dreamed what strange vehicles would spin over the great road centuries after. The act requiring the liavv depart- 1 ment to build four more monitors was i passed before the lessons of the war j had shown the defects of this class, j says the New York Commercial Adver- ! tiser. Since the craft must be built j it is well that they be the best of their j kind, Thus it is gratifying that the j plans are to be changed, and the new monitors made much larger and ' better than the ol 1. They are vnlun- ! lde only for harbor defense, but they | can go to sea at a pinch, and can j make a'long voyage if they do not j have to encounter rough weather | ships on the way. However, the I country is not likely to build any | more, as we are not likely to have any more scares about attacks on the j coast. The Spanish war has shown that the place to defend our coasts is i out at sen, wherever an enemy's fleet can be found. The development of mines of ore and sulphur in Sicily has always been the cause of many strikes, on account of the low prices paid to the laborers. The government of Home obtained re cently from the Chambers a law guar anteeing financial support to sick or wounded and lame miners. The pro prietors of the mines announced that they would decrease the wages of the workmen in a sufficient propor tion to meet the extra expenses im posed upon them by the operation of the new law taxing property for the support of invalid laborers. The miners in the Province of Girgentito the number of about a thousand have struck work, and, at last reports, the strike was still in progress; fortu nately this time it was not accom panied by tile violence and bloodshed which too often marked the labor troubles of Sicily. That is a novel and an interesting experiment in rural postal delivery which the Postoflice Department has decided to try in Maryland. A travel ing postoflice, in the form of a wagon drawn by horses, is to be driven over a route running through several small towns, making connection with a rail road at the end of its circuit. The driver acts as postmaster, collecting and delivering mail at boxeß along the road and selling stamps and money orders. In the more thickly settled country districts of the East this extention of the free delivery sys tem ought to prove a success. KISSING THE ROD. distant days of childish joy- Ob, days of childish pain, 'Tis sweet when Fancy I employ To win vou back again. The school bell, with its charming call. The leafy truant niche Appear: and, best and worst of all, The littlo willow switch. No wizard's wand was ever raised More potent or more grim Above some aprite, spellbound and dazed, Than that /'.the. lingering limb. How my wild pirate nicod would melt As I began to twitch With saintly yearnings, as I felt The littlo willow swltchl SIN THE BALLOON CORPS.I to stand tho BR'imaffiitjjfyylffT newc:)lu^lonB ' ovor twenty years ago, soon after France •; ' ■ was forced to sur render Alsace and Lorraine to Ger- J ! \ many, a good many people of those pro- H viuces came to Eng \ land rather than swear allegiance to the Emperor "Will iam. Among them was an old soldier, who told mo the following story in broken English that I will uot attempt to transcribe. "Yon are mistaken," said he, with some vexation. 44 1 am not a German. Because I speak German, that does not make German my heart. It is all French. I'm an Alsatian. W'o Alsa tians aro more French thau the French themselves, because from France we long had brotherhood and equality and freedom. 44 1u the great war I was in the French army. Did I fight in many battles? No, I did not fight at all. But for all that I was in six battles under fire, aud sometimes in worse danger than the men who fought. In the balloon corps I was twice wounded. "You think that was strange? You think there was no danger in the re connaissance with balloons, eh? But if you saw how fast the Germans shelled our balloons as soon as they stopped in the air! "Stopped—how stopped? Why, stopped at thejend of the rope. You don't suppose war balloons go loose, do you? "Weli, if you saw how the' Germans fired at them, aud how they brought their long-range guns to bear on the ground where the end of the balloon rope was, then you would know whether there was danger for the meu of the balloon corps. "I do not speak of the officers that went up in our balloons to view the enemy's lines. Any one may under stand the risks they ran, when rifle halls and shells were screaming to pierco the balloon aud bring its car tumbling down. No, I speak more of the risks we privates had from the German fire on our standing ground. "Could they see us? No; but they could see the balloon. They're not fools, the Germans. When they could i see the balloon, they could quickly | calculate about where its ropes touched the ground. Oh, that terrible Ger ; man artillery! Skrei-i-i-i! I think I | hear the shells shrieking again. Often ! we had to stay in ono place for an I hour, two, three hours, losing more j by death aud wounds than the sarao I number of soldiers ou outpost duty. But the most terrible of all was what j happened to me nt the end. "It was toward the latter part of August, ten days after the traitor, Bazaine, had cooped us up in the for tification of Motz. The order came from my squad to go out far, far toward the German lines, send up our balloon, and get a look at what the enemy were doing. "Por ten minutes after we had sent np the balloon, there was no firing at it. Thero it floated a thousand feet high. It was pressed toward the Ger man lines by the breeze,, which seemed stronger above. "I stood near the cylinder, or drum, from which we bad let out nearly ali the 1-ope that held the balloon from rising and blowing away. This ropo slanted £, toward the Germans as it went up. "I had hold of this rope; my two hands were above my head grasping the rope. I was resting like this, when all of a sudden the German artillery opened fire. "They had not calculated the bal loon's position very perfectly, but they got ours well. First, five shells flew over the woods at the balloon. Those were all timed to burst, as they did, almost'together. But uone'of their fragments hit the balloon; tlioy had burst too far behind and below it. "While I was watching these ex plosions, a far bigger curv ing over tho wood, as if flung from a mortar. It fairly struck the -windlass drum on which the rope was wound, burst the same moment, and seemed to kill or wound every member of the Squad except me. "Though I was not hit, I was half stnnned by tho concussion, and of course I should have been thrown to the ground if I had not held on by the rope. I did not know I was holding on, you understand. I was too much dazed to know what had happoned or what I was doing. IknewL was alive, and that was abont all. And I clung to rope as if it was to save mo from drowning. "When my fall senses came back, I felt that my feet were oil' tho ground. I looked down. Tho earth was a hun dred feet below mo. Next moment it seemed nearer, and I saw why. The balloon, carried swiftly by the wind, had already lifted- ma over the wood. It was drifting toward the German camp. " "All this occurred so quickly that I was more surprised than scared. Some how, perhaps because I was lifted so easily, I had a sort of confidence that What dreams of conquest and of gore AVere swiftly made to flee As I WR3 meditating o'er That kind, re'entless kneel And felt, though I could not descry. The bnnucring beauty whioh Was, lino by line, imprinted by The littlo willow switch. When wo the flashing sword extol And hail tho mightier pon. And cheer the gun whose echoes roll Fierce o'er the paths of men, Let's not forgot another source Of good results, so rich; That mighty civilizing force, The littlo willow swltchl I should be as easily set down. But where? How long could I keep my hold? The balloon might rise above the clouds, with me daugling a thou sand feet below it till I must drop from exhaustion. 4 'l must have something on which my feet or legs could press. The seu satiou that they were weighing me down was hideous. I lifted one leg as if to clutch it round something Arm. You kuow how a man will do that when he is holding on by his hand and beginning to lose his grip. It is au unconscious movement. Well, my leg touched the trailing rope—the rope which passed down in front of my body, and which followed slanting behind me, just as the rope above slanted up from mo to the balloon. "At touch of the rope I instinctively threw forward my legs, but failed to hold the rope between them. With that, a great shout came up from a brigade of our infantry over which I was passing. The soldiers, I suppose, had not quite understood the horror of my situation till they saw the move ment of my legs. "With the sense of being watched by thousands I felt a certain new strength come. I thrust forward my left leg till I felt the rope inside the thigh, then I clutched with the right leg and held the rope. Then I kicked my right foot round and got a better hold. This gave a good deal of relief to my hands. Then I looked down. 4 'Directly beneath me were the spiked helmets of a German regiment. All were gazing upward. Fifty thou sand enemies looked steadily as me. They had stopped, overcome with wonder. "Hide firing between the outposts must have ceased as I was dangling ( over their ground, for shooting seemed ( to break out afresh and distant as I . looked down into the faces of a squad- j ron of Uhlans. "Tko Uhlans pointed in amazement , at me with their lances. One must | have raised his carbine to fire at me, , for I distinctly heard a loud cry: "No! Do not shoot. We will fol- j low and capture the balloon, and tho officers in it. If you kill the man he f will fall, then his weight will relieve t the balloon, and up it will go again." i "Up it will go again! Again! It j was well for me I understood Ger- ] man. Tho balloon must then be fall ing, and quickly, too. Hope and strength revived me. I understood , better than tho Uhlans what was hap pening. "My officers, away tip above, wore releasing gas. They wero risking • capture to savo me. They were try- ' ingto put mo so near the ground that I could drop safely. "Looking up, I saw faintly for an instant their white faces gazing down and back at mine. They waved their shakos at me. "They were indeed trying to save the poor private soldier! God bless them for brave men and honest oA'i s ceys! I resolved to drop when within thirty feet of the ground, aid thus save thorn.' "The balloon as it descended, must hove reached a breeze of little speed, for the Uhlans, whom I had heard and sometimes seen clattoring further and further behind, were again galloping beuoath mo. Every man was looking upward. All were taking ditches and hedges in their strides. With the ex ! citement of tho chase they bogan to yell. Their leader silenced them with an angry command. "They now carried their lances i pointing straight up by their knees, ' every butt in its socket. I had the , thought that I must, when I fell, be impaled 011 t.hoso glittering points. I ■ was incossnntly turning, and grow ; more and more giddy. I attempted to 1 seize the rope with my teeth, and failed. Expressions of pity came from the ■ galloping Uhlans. "'Poor man!'said their leader— [ 'poor fellow! Here, Fritz, try and put up your lance in the loop. Then gallop a little faster, and you may help him down!' "The loop! I had forgotten the loop, they will haul down tho balloon and capture my two lieutenants. I must drop. "Drop I did, right upon tho back of ono of tho Uhlans! Tho shock t brought him and his horse both under f mo to the ground. The man was ) badly hurt, but I'm glad ho didn't die, for he saved my life, though not as he meant to. "I remember being clutched by hands, and lifted. I remember an angry shout cf, 'lt's gone up!' The balloon, freed from my weight, had risen instantly, carrying the loop be yond my captors' reach. "Thou I must have lost my senses for half a minute or so. "When I came to there were only t two Uhlans with me. Doth were look s iug intently upward, and toward , where was a sound of musketry not . far away. The Uhlans were shooting r vainly at tho vanishing balloon. My lieutenants were waving their signal I flags in derision. "*- T hat becamer of the balloon and 1 my officers Ido not know to this day. t The Germans kent me orisoaer tilt the end of the war, and I came away to England as soon as I knew Alsace was no longer part of dear France." TUMBLED INTO WEALTH. Charles A. Cliapln Made lilch by a Pres. cut From Ills Creditors. Charles A. Chapin was a merchant in a small way in a little village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (where alone in Michigan is iron ore found). In course of time Mr. Chapin failed in business, and turned over all of his property to his creditors and was left penniless in his*old age. At a meet ing of his creditors in Detroit it was by one of them remarked that "Any way, Charley Chapin is an honest man, and I do not feel like turning him out 011 the world naked." Among the property turned over to these credi tors was a quarter-section of timber land that, if cleared, rocky though it was, might be made to produce a liv ing for the old man and his equally aged wife. This tender-hearted cred itor proposed that they should deed back this land to Mr. Chapin. This was done, and in clearing up the land iron ore was discovered on it, and in course of time the discovery became the celebrated Chapin mine, of Crys tal Falls, Iron County, Mich. Mr. Chapin leased the right to mine ore to a Milwaukee (Wis.) company, with a provision that not less than eighty thousand tons of ore should bo taken out each year, and on that a royalty of iifty cents a ton was to be paid out to him. This royalty of not less than SIO,OOO a year was duly paid to Mr. Chapin for many years, making him a very rich man, and he finally removed to Niles, Mich., where he doubtless still lives. During one of the periodical depressions that over take the iron business Mr. Chapin re duced his royalty, and I believe it is now fixed at twenty-five cents a ton. The output of the mine has been enor mous; some years it has been over eight hundred thousand tons, and last year and this year it has been over four hundred thousand tons, giving a royalty of over 8100.000 a year. Coster Courtships. There comes a time in the history ot every knight of tho barrow when his heart is softened and subdued by the power of the tender passion. He loses interest in sport, and no longer finds satisfaction inpummolinghis "moke." If his passion is of moderate dimen sions it finds an outlet in "treating." He takes his adored one down the Whitechapel road and buys her sponge cake, ginger beer, apples, bauauas, chocolate, milk scones, ice cream, and anything else she may have a fancy for. When her appetite has gone and she can eat no more they turn to shooting galleries, Edison's phonograph and cocoanut shies, which exist perma nently in this neighborhood, and con clude the evening by dropping in at a music hall. dJßutifhis lovo is very deep these things are forgotten. Ginger beer and three shot a penny can no longer sat isfy his cravings of his heart. Eeal love is by far a cheaper affair. Under the influence of tho grand passion 'Arry and 'Arriet wander down dark turnings together, he with his arm twined lovingly around her neck, un til they reach an open space whereup on some philanthropic society has planted garden seats. Here they sit very close together in one corner of the seat—thero is another couple in tho other corner—gazing silently at the stars until it is time to go home. And provided no other and bigger coster comes along and demands the girl, nocompauying his request with the threat of a "bash on the jaw," the marriage will be celebrated iu a very short time. They don't believe in long engagements in the east end. He will propose and she accept, even though he is only eighteen years of age aud rejoices in a salary of St a week.—Loudon Mail. Dangeroua Probing. She had concluded to take out a life insurance policy and ajjpeared before the examining physician, "What's your name?" he asked in his crisp business way, and she looked indignant as she answered. "Age?" "I didn't come here to answer im pertinent questions, sir. I came to be insured." "But we must know your age in order to fix the rate." "What rate?" "Tho amount you must pay annually for being insured." "Thirty-three, then," she snapped, "You must be accurate or it will in - validate the policy." "Forty; but I must say that I never heard such impudence." "Weight?" "I don't lcuow, neither does any one else. Just as though that would make any difference." "Married or single?" "Single, thank heaven. Not but what I've had plenty of chau " "Of course. Any insanity in your family?" "Sir!" aud she tried her best to con geal him with a look. "I guess that you don't want to be insured." _ "And you guessed it right the first time. I don't propose to he a family encyclopedia for you or nny other gossip monger," and she flounced out with n vigor that mado the doctor think that she was a pretty good sub ject after all.—Detroit Free Press. Objected to the Kpltaplia. A dispatch says tho city of Gratz, Bosnia, has confiscated all of the monuments erected in the public ceme tery over the graves of the German soldiers killed iu their encounter with the Bosnian military during the late racial strife. The only objection raised by the municipality is that the in scriptions on the monnmeuts were in the German lanauacra. i ******** XMMMMMXXXMXM XX KM# I GOOD ROADS NOTES, f Practical Road Building;. The following practical suggestions, from the Municipal World, concisely explain tho principles of road con struction, dealing especially vitli the formation and care of gravel roads. 1. Every good road has two essen tial features: (a) A thoroughly dry foundation. (b) A smooth, hard, waterproof surface covering. 2. The foundation is tlie natural subsoil "the dirt road," which must be kept dry by good drainage. 3. The surface covering is generally a coating of gravel or broken stone, which should be put on the road in such away that it will not, in wet weather, be churned up and mixed with the earth beneath. That is, it should form a distinct coating. 4. To accomplish this, (a) The gravel or stone should contain very little sand or clay—it should be clean, (b) Tho road mu.it be crowned or rounded in the c,' Hire so as to shed the water to the open drains. (c) Ruts must not be allowed to form, as they jjrevent water passing to the open drains, (d) The open drains must have a sufficient fall and free outlet, so that the water will not stand in them but will be carried away im mediately. (e) Tile under drains should be laid wherever the open drains are not sufficient and the ground has a moist or wet appearance, with a tondency to absorb the gravel and rut readily. By this means the foundation is made dry. 5. Do not leave the gravel or stone |ust as it drops from the wagon, but spread it so that travel will at once pass over and consolidate it beforo the Tall rain,3. 6. Keep the road metal rnked or scraped into the wheel or horso tracks until consolidated. 7. tirade and crown the road before putting on gravel or stone. 8. If a grading machine is available, grade tho roads which you intend to gravel before the time of statute labor, and use the statute labor as far as pos sible in drawing gravel. 9. A fair crown for gravel roads on level ground is one inch of rise to each foot of width from tho side to the centre. 10. The roads on hills should havo a greater crown than on level ground, otherwise the water will follow the wheel tracks and create deep ruts in stead of passing to the s!de drains. One and one-half inches to the foot from the side to eentro will be suf ficient. 11. Itepair old gravel roads which have a hard centre but too little crowu and high, square shoulders, by cut ting off the shoulders, turning the material outward and placing new gravel or stone in the centre. Do not cover the old gravel foundation with tho mixture of earth, sod and lino gravel of which the shoulders are composed. The shoulders can be most easily cut off' by means of a grad ing machine. 12. A width of twenty-four feet be twefen ditches will meet most condi tions, with tho central eight feet graveled. 13. Wherever water stands on the roadway or by the roadside or wher ever the ground remains moist or is ' swampy in spring aud fall, better drainage is needed. 14. Look over the road undor your charge after heavy rains and during spring freshets. The work of a low minutes in freeing drains from ob struction or diverting a current of water into a proper channel may lie come the work of days if neglected. 15. Surface water should be dis posed of in small quantities; great ac cumulations are hard to handle and are destructive. Obtain outlets into natural watercourses as often as pos sible. 10. Instead of having deep, open ditches to uuderdrain tho road aud dry the foundation, use tile. 17. Oive culverts a good fall aud free outlet so that water will uot freeze iu thera. 18. In taking gravel from the pit, see that precautions are taken to draw only clean material. Do not let tho face of the pit he scraped down, mix ing clay, sand aud turf with good gravel. There is a tendency to draw dirty gravel, as it is easier to handle. 19. Gravel which retains a perpen dicular face iu the pit in the spring, and shows no trace of slipping, is generally fit for use on the road with out treatment. Dirty gravel should be screened. 20. Plan and lay out the work be fore calling out the inon. 21. When preparing plans keep tho work of succeeding years in view. 22. Call out for each day only such a number of men aud teams as can bo properly directed. 23. Iu laying out the work, esti mate on a full day's work from each man and see that it is performed." Specify the number of loads of gravel to constitute a day's work. Every wagon box should hold a quarter of a cord. 24. Make all returns clearly, show ing who have dono their work and who havo not. 25. Make early arrangements for having on the ground when required, and in good repair, all implements and tools to he used in the perform ance of statute labor. 26. Do all work with a view to per manence and durability. KoikU nntl Itoad Machinery. The first thing to ho observed in building country roads is to afford protection agaiust water. A dirt or gravel road properly built and main tained can bo mado to shed water like a roof, and if the use of narrow tires and the wearing of ruts could be pre vented, our country roads might be excellent. Water always rnns down tall, and this should be taken advan tage of in road building. If the road be properly crowned, that is, if its middle be properly raised above the sides, the rain and meltiug snow will naturally run off into the ditches, On the other hand, if the middle be worn down by travel, the water collecting there will soon form n puddle, ann ruin the road. In the same way, ruts formed by narrow tires afford a trough for the collection of water, and con tribute to its destruction. SCIENTIFIC PARAGRAPHS. For the mysterious and much-dis oussed sea coast sounds known as "barisal guns," or "mist pouffers," Professor Cleveland Abbe suggests that the causes doubtless vary. They may bo prodnoed by the drum fish, by breakers dashing 011 rocky cliffs, by the cracking of rocks in ledges, or by geuuine earthquakes at the ocean bottom. One of the later marvels of little things is tho taking of pictures through the leus of an insect's eye. We are filled with astonishment, says Mr. F. W. Saxby, when we reflect that from a dragon liy's liead we could obtain 25,000 perfect lenses, so minute that a million of them would not cover a square inch, and yet each he capable of yielding a recognizable photo graph. According to Messrs. Bono A: Yv'iU son, in a paper to the Chemical So ciety of London, acetyleue gas, when exposed iu sealed glass tubes to the sunlight, is gradually decomposed, and a faint brown deposit is observable at the end of two or three days, This ■deposit is being investigated, but it appears to be a dense hydro-carbon. Something useful may yet be made of this discovery. The flashes of blufsh-white light seen in tho dark when pieces of sugar are rubbed together have been studied by Mr. John Burke, an Eng lish physicist. By rotating a loaf of sugar on a lathe against a hammer, he has obtained almost continuous luminosity, enabling him to observe and photograph the spectrum. The light appears to be a result of some change iu the crystals, and not to be duo to heating or a chemical action between sugar and air. Water is contaminated by lead pipes, says Heir Lieubrich, a German chemist, through the joint action of the oxygen of the air aud carbonic acid, but tlys action is greatly re tarded if the water contains bi carbonate of lime. This, however, does not entirely the dis solving of load. Thq quantity of lead taken up while the water is in active circulation is extremely but it is liable to become very Doticeable in water that has stood iu pipes all night, aud to ensure complete freedom from lead it is recommended that carbonate of soda be used in quantity sufficient to fix the carbonic acid with out rendering the water alkaline. While progress in civilization lias brought greater care of human life, there is yet a prodigal waste. Dr. A. Hill, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, Htates that one-fourth of all the diseases that destroy life are absolutely preventible, and that if tho practice of hygiene were only 011 a level with its theory the average , longevity would be raised at ouee from fifty to sixty-five years. Tho greater 11 umber of diseases over which the individual has control are due to mistakes in eating and drinking. Ouo purpose yet to attain is a more exact i knowledge by every cilizen of tho | causes and properties of preventible diseases, but it is hardly surprising that the knowledge is still so slight when even medical men hardly re alized the coutagious character of cou sumption twenty years ago, although one-third of the cows in Euglaud aro tuberculous aud half the milk sold distributes the bacillus of tuber culosis. WORDS OF WISDOM. Full of courtesie, full of craft. lie that cannot obey, cannot com mand. He does not possess wealth, it pos sesses him. Approve not of him who commends all you say. • A good man i 3 seldom uneasie, au ill one never easie. By diligence and patience the mouse bit in two the cable. All things aro cheap to tho saving, dear to the wasteful. Ho that goes far to marry will cither deceive or bo deceived. All things are easy to industry, all thiug3 difficult to sloth. If you would be reveng'd of your enemy, govern yourself. Do good to tby friend to keep him, , to thy enemy to gain him. Marry your son when you will, but your daughter when you can. Ho that is rich need not live spar ingly, and 113 that can live sparingly need not be rich. Avarice and happiness never saw each other; how then should they be come acquainted? The poor man must walk to get meat for his stomach, the rich man to get a stomach to his meat. —Poor Richard's Almanack. An Ex-iluler in "Want. Ex-President Fretorius of the Transvaal is n now instance of the ingratitude of republics. He recently petitioned the Town Council of Pre toria to hire his cart aud team of mules to cart gravel, on tho ground that he is growing old and needs mouey. According to tho best authorities, there has never been a raco of men who were ignorant of the use of lira STRAITS OF ENGLISH FARMERS. I'll if ul Strairclofl to lloli] Kglates Owned by Families For Generations. Mr. Eider Haggard, in the course of his farming reminiscences in Long men's Magazine, says that few people except those who are more or less be hind tlio scenes know the straits to which the English owners of land, and especially of entailed land, have been put of late years, at any rate in East Anglia. "Even if they are totally unencum bered, most of such properties barely produce enough to pay outgoings and keep up 'the place' upon a very modest scale. And if they are encum bered, as is the case iu eight out of tea of them, either with mortgages or with jointures and charges in favor of younger children executed on a scalo of liberality dictated by prosperous times, then the position is bad indeed. In nearly every instance the history is the same—a long and pitiful struggle on the part of the sinking family, then at last foreclosure, ruin, and sale at any sacrifice. Who does not know cases of parishes where the properties has been held for centuries by a single family? But long as the day may be, at leugth it comes to an end, aud the lands which they owned from father to son for so many generations, the home that their forefathers built and the woods that they planted, are put up to auction ami sold for whatever tlicy will fetch. Well, as it has been with them, so in the fulness of appointed time it shall be with those who sup plant them, for against this ultfrnato fate the hoarding of moneys and the laying of field to field are no defence." !Muak-Itntß. Bare old Captain John Smith, in his quaint History of Now England and the Summer Isles, published in London in 1624, gives probably the first written account of llie musk-rat. Ho says that "bheinussascusis a beast of the form and nature of our (Eug lish) water-rat;" and he adds, "some of them smell exceedingly strong of musk." These animals may be caught in almost any sort of a trap baited with sweet apples or parsnips. Musk rats have very strong teeth, and can use thein 011 wood effectively, so it is wise to protect all corners and cracks in your wooden traps with pieces of tin or sheet-iron. They have good noses, and can smell an apple a long distance oft". Place your traps iu the shallow water at the edge of the mill pond or stream inhabited by these rats, and they will doubtless find it without difficulty. Youug musk-rats are very gentle and playful, aud maybe handled with out fear; they do not grow fierce with age if reared in captivity and accus tomed to gentle treatment.—Harper's Hound Table. Our Trailo With Uuffsia. With Eussia, the commercial Eussia of tba Baltic getcing access to Ameri can markets through that sea aud get ting American exports iu the same way, the volurno of business, though not large, is steadily increasing. The imports amounting in 1892 to $3,000,- 000. In 1891 they were $1,600,000. In 1896 they were $2,100,000. But while they have been declining, the exports ot American goods to Eussia, and especially since the adoption of the present tar ill law, have been in creasing aud are now $2,000,000 greater than they were six years ago. The chief importations into the United States from Eussia, through tho Baltic ports, are raw wool, goat skins and llax, of which Eussia produces an abundance. From Russia, too, bristles to the ami some hempand jute are iuniortod. —New York fc^un. "Women Hohl Novel Contest. A novelty in the way of a horse hitching contest took place at Areola, 111., recently, which had the effect of calliug out almost the entire commun ity to witness it. The nuique contest was the outcome of a prize offered by (diaries H. Hickman, a local harness dealer, to a woman who suould hitch a harnessed horse to a buggy iu the least time. There were six entries, and each woman went at the task with as much unconcern as the average hostler, and the time made iu each case was remarkably fast, considering tho space in which the women were compelled to work, the immense crowd taking up every iucli of spare room. Miss Watson, a young woman from tho country, won first ill 2.30 Hat, while Mrs. Alfred Lonely was a close second, with a mark of 2.33.—Chicago Times-Herald. TIIO Kaiser's Clmst Protectory. A Berlin newspaper says tho orders of decoration borne by the Emperor of ! Germany are worth a little over $230,- 000. His principal and most valued decorations are the insigua of the Black Eagle, the Order of St. John, of the Garter and of tho Toison d'Or. Iu all he has over 200 crosses, stars, badges and other insignia. It is said that he takes them with him 011 all his journeys and voyages, his hunting ex peditions excepted. Tho coffer con taining the decorations is iu the con stant care of an officer of # tho court, Who accompanies the Ivaiser every where. On returning to Berlin the coffer is locked up with the crown jewels in the treasury. A Chinese ilrltle's Custom. Chinese briilea, when putting ou their bridal garments on the eventful morning, stand in round, shallow basket.! during their lengthy toilets. This is supposed to insure theui placid and well-rounded lives in their ucw homes. The .Spanish Ktcarlal. The Spanish Escurial is built in the shape of a gridiron, 610x580 feet. There are three large churches iu the inclosuie, oue containing tho tombs of most of tho Spanish Kings and Queens.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers