If there are any blowholes in Amer
ican armor plate Spain can't prove it.
Of 8700 American war pensioners
residiug in foreign countries at the
time of the last report, teu only re
sided in Spain.
•'Billingsgate," to describe bad
language, is no longer a correct term,
the vocabulary of London's great fish
market having been improved by the
exertions of the London City Mission.
It is said that a patient in a Dela
ware hospital had thirty-one epileptic
tits in two days and "apparently ex
perienced no unpleasant effects from
them." This seems to be a clear case
of the survival of the fittest.
The Loudon Saturday Review says:
"The lesson of all our conflicts with
America was that the American soldiers
and sailors shot markedly better than
our own and won astonishing victor
ies. It looks as if the old lesson holds
good to-day."
No higher tribute could be paid to
a warship's crew than that paid by
Captain Evans to the men of the Iowa:
"So long as the enemy showed his
flag they fought like American sea
men, but when the flag came down
thej- were as gentle and tender as
American women." In that pregnant
sentence is the whole philosophy of
military heroism.
The recent establishment of a whale
oil manufactory on Notre Dame Ray
calls attention to the fact that whaling
is now a paying venture off the coast
of Newfoundland. Recently seven
whales, worth nearly §IOOO each, were
captured by a company of Norwegian
whalers. A company has been formed
to carry on the industry. This ought
to make the old fishermen around
Amagausett prick up their ears. Pos
sibly the old shipyard of Cold Spring
Harbor, which fitted out the whalers
of the last century, may resume busi
ness.
The Philadelphia Commercial Mu
seum says that Porto Rico is well
adapted by soil and climate not only
for tbe growing of cotton, but for the
manufacture of cotton fabrics as well,
though for the growth of the plant it
will he necessary to engage native
labor or to secure help from Cuba.
Of the more than one thousand streams
upon the island sixty are navigable, I
and many of them could be utilized to
furnish power, which is an important
consideration, siuce all the coal used
must be brought from this country;
and all the chief towns are connected
by railway, though communication
with the interior is only possible by
ox tJanis.
In speaking of the recent popular
war loan the Baltimore American says:
Not siuce the wonderful alacrity with
which, in July, 1871, the French
peasants and the working people of
Paris went down into their stockings
and subscribed in a day 8*400,000,000
to meet the first installments of the
big war indemnity with which the
German invader was bought out of
France, has there been so impressive |
a demonstration of the latent resources
of a great nation, or of its patriotic j
confidence in its Government. It will
be to European Governments as signi
licaut a proof of the enormous re
served strength of the American peo
ple as all our military and naval suc
cesses put together, brilliant though
they are. The wealth of u nation and
its ability to raise money within its
own territory on moderate terms is a
main element in its fighting capacity.
More and more is the machine en
croaching upon the fields where
formerly the handworker held full
sway, says the Dry Goods Economist.
This not entirely new observation is
suggested by our latest advices from
Paris as to fall and winter styles. It
seems that trimmings of nil kinds will
be profusely used in costume and gar
ment decorations, and that this style
lias been brought about largely by the
dressmakers in an endeavor to bring
into popularity something that could
nut be produced by machines. Judg
ing from present reports, however,
they reckoned without their host; for
the modern mechanical devices are
capable of reproducing even the finest
and most delicate designs wrought by
the cunning hand of the seamstress or
maker of embroidery. Of conise,
there are some applications and figures
that cannot be made on machines; but
nevertheless such a high state of per
fection has been attained in this direc
tion that there is but precious little in
hi 3 liue that the machine cannot re
produce with a fidelity to handwork
that is startling, and so close is the
imitation in many instances that on'y
tho export eye can detect the differ
6 nee.
LIGHTS OUT.
Flow orten In our little boat
Ou summer evenings wo would float;
Careless of time, oT east and wost,
Ceasing from idle talk and jest,
As o'er the waters restless flow,
Drifted In cadence sweet and low,
That plaintive bugle call-
Lights out!
flow through the old fort It would ring,
Strange echoes from t-e casemates bring;
While we would wait, our oars at rest
Upon the river's peaceful breast,
And watch the yellow lamp-gleams die
At the silvery warning sigh
Of that plaintive bugle call-
Lights out!
From far-off camp, from land of fears.
O'er wastes of distance, parting, tears,
Comes the familiar sound of old,
Our life In darkness to enfold.
Alone, upon life's troubled sea,
The fateful message comes to me.
Of that plaintive bugle call—
Lights out!
-Gertrude F. Lynch, in the Chap Book.
THE PYGMY BANDIT.
*£
iv\>rN • (
_/* OHN, I see you '
ave growing |
y . somewhat curi- !
Eg oils about mj 1
stuffed eagle?" 1
V ' remarked Baud- J
gr.g' _ g hurst, the detec
-783*117 smile, as he j
caught my eye
/y wandering for '
the fiftii time to 1
the big bird perched, with outspread '
wings, on tlie top of his bookcase. )
"Have another cigar, and T will tell
you how I came by him. The tale is
odd and will interest you, I think.
"It happened in 1845. The great 1
and populous State of Missouri was
then little move than a thinly settled 1
wilderness. Traveling was done
mainly by stage and saddle. There
were u few main roads, leading for
long distances through woods and '
prairie; but for the most part the 1
country was wild and uninhabited. J
"Father, at that time, lived about 1
forty miles from the present site of St.
Louis, in a little frontier community
called St. Regis. I believe the name
has been changed since. I haven't
been back there for half a century.
Father was storekeeper and postmas
ter. I was his only child, and, at the
time I am telling you about, was a kid
of fourteen.
"One day the mail carrier rode up :
to the store in a state of great excite
ment. He tumbled oft* bis horse and
came into the store, pale, aud hardly
able to speak.
"'What's the matter, Corrigau?'
asked my father.
" 'Matter, sor? The mischief's to
pay! An imp of satlian dropped upou
me out av the clear sky, sor, an' vvid
a pistol to each wan av me ears, towld
me to drop the mail bag in the road
au' ride for me life, widout wance
lookin' behind.'
" 'And you obeyed?'
" 'Av course Oi did. Whin the evil
wail himself has the drop bn a man
loiko that, do yez think it would be
healthy for him to stop au' palaver?
No, sor! Oi cut loose the mail-bag,
and the lien 1 dropped off me horse's
Hank, an' the fates he praised! Oi'in
alive to tell yez tho tale.'
"'Did you not get a glimpse of the
mau?'
I "'The man? No, sor! Oi'm tellin'
yez it wasn't a man at all! It was a
foul lieud or Oi'll ate me head. How
could a man light upon me horse's
back from behind, widout a sound av
warniug?' The first t'iug Oi knew,
the imp had his shootin' irons in me
ears; an' whin he sphoke the echmell
av his voice was like sulphur. U-r-r-r!
Worm, worra! Tim Corrigau's no
coward, plaze God, whin it comes to
d'alin' wid man or baste. But tbe Old
Scratch liimselt's another thing."
"The news spread like wildfire
through the little community that
burly Tim Corrigau had been robbed
of the mail. Twelve or fifteen men
and boys soon gathered at the store
and a party was made up, headed by
my father, to ride back to tho scene
of the robbery and see if any trace of
Tim's 'fiend' could be discovered.
Tim himself, at first, refused to go.
Ho was entirely demoralized by super
stitious fear. Bui upon promise of a
body-guard and a safe place at the |
rear, he finally consented to be one of
the party.
"i'lie mail bag was found at tho ex
act spot indicated by Corrigau, ripped
open and rifled of all its valuable cou- j
touts, consisting of several packages j
of value and enclosures of money. But
uot the lightest trace of the thief could
he discovered. There were no prints
of a horse's hoofs, save those of the
animal ridden by Corrigau himself.
Neither o >;i! 1 a man's footprints be
found, nor a trail in the bushes beside
the read. An old Indian fighter i:i
the party searched long and carefully,
but even his trained eye failed to dis
cover a sign. Tho affair was a mys
tery, and Tim's theory of the agency
of tho Evil One began, covertly, to
gain some ground.
"This strange highway robbery,
howevor, was only tho first of many
of a similar character which, from that
timo on, amazed and terrified the
pioneers throughout that section. The
paymaster of a lumbering gang was
mysteriously pounced upon and re
lic veil of §SOO in small bills. A farmer
returning from the gristmill lost the
little roll of money that represented
nearly all his season's earnings. A
surveyor separated from the rest of
.lis part felt suddenly a death-like
grip about his neck that tightened re
lentlessly until he lost consciousness.
When he recovered lie found his in
strument, his watch, and his little
store of cash all gone. It was getting
to be as much as a man's life was worth
to venture alone into the woods.
"In every case it was noted that the
mysterious assailant attacked only
solitary victims, and that lie always
pounced upon them, silently, from
above and behind. It was enough to
make a man's blood run cold to reflect
that at any moment this mysterious
creature, man, beast, or spirit, might
light on his neck and chcke, shoot, or
stab the life out of him. As yet there
was no record of murder against the
creature, but who could tell what he
might do if resisted or unduly pro
voked.
"After three different mail-carriers
had been robbed, tbe postofiice officials
sent a detective to St. Regis to look
into the matter. This man, I remem
ber, was an object of the greatest won
der and admiration on tho part of our
entire community, none of us ever
having seen a real, live detective be
fore. Ho lodged with father during
his stay in St. Regis, and thus I was
brought into intimate association with
him. The result of that intimacy, 1 j
think I may say, was what determined
my choice of profession in life. But
I am digressing—or anticipating.
"The detective scoured the woods
for days at a time. He lay in conceal
ment at various points of the post-road
between St. Regis and the station on
tho river where the mail was delivered
to the carrier. He even risked carry
ing the mail himself a few times; but,
as he told me, laughingly, the strain
of that constant twist of the neck was
too much for him.
"So long us the detective remained
in the vicinity there were no more rob
beries nor assaults. The clever man
discovered nothing positive, but he
puzzled out a clue which he gave to
father for what it was worth, when he :
was obliged to leave on other business.
Tbe clue was this: i
"Near the spot where the surveyor
had been overpowered the detective
found au eagle's feather. Most men
would not have given this slight cir
cumstance a second thought. But a
detective is a man to whom everything
possesses significance. My friend put
the feather in his pocket and pon
dered over it. He reflected ilint the
approach of the bandit was always, ap
parently, through the air; that he
dropped silently down upon his victim
from behind aud above, as a bird of
prey might do. Was it not possible
then—putting two aud two together—
that the creature, whatever it was,
might ho something in bird form?
"I saw that my father was inclined
to smile at the suggestion when it was
made to him, but I treasured it in my
mind, for I could not help feeling
somehow that it came startliugly near
the truth.
"No sooner was the detective gone
than I foil to working out his cine. To
be sure. I was only a boy, but I was
active and inquisitive and very desir
ous of doing something to prove my
self worthy of the detective's friend
ship. Besides, the postofiice authori
ties had offered a reward of three hun
dred dollars that would lead to the
discovery of the mysterious highway
man, or five hundred dollars for his
actual capture. Such an incentive as
this was enough to sharpen a boy's
wits ns well as u man's.
"The thing for me to do, I con
cluded, was to keep a sharp outlook
for eagles at all hours of the day.
With this purpose in mind, I spent a
large share of my leisure time on top
of a cliff about three miles from St.
Regis, commanding a wide view of the
valley in which tho village lay.
"llie detective had been gone about
a week when, one afternoon, ns I lay
upon the cliff, I saw a shadow sail over
the woods below ine. Looking tip
from my place of concealment, I be
held, almost directly over my head,
the form of a great eagle outlined
against the sky. It was sailing over
me at a considerable height, but I
could see it plainly enough, and there
was something so odd about its ap
pearance that I was struck with amaze
ment. On either side of its neck there
hung down what looked like a black
streamer. The effect was as if tho bird
were wearing a muflier, tho end of
which trailed below its breast.
"The eaglo was di if ting away from
me over the valley, and its body for a
time was between me and anything
that might be clinging to its neck.
But finally it made a turn,and I could
dimly see, although the distance was
now too great for accurate observa
tion with tho naked eye, s sort of ex
crescence on the bird's back, directly
over the trailing streamers. How I
longed for a good field glass or tele
scope! I was almost wild with curi
osity, yet could do nothing but con
jecture over the strange appearance of
the bird. Of one thing I was almost
positive, however, and that was that
the object which was now fading away
in the distance had been directly con
nected with every one of the recent
mysterious robberies.
"The very next day word reached
us at St. Regis of a murder and rob
bery that had taken place in the next
township. A trapper, returning from
the settlements with a considerable
sum of money, realized from the sale
of his pelts, bad been attacked in the
open roadway, and having, undoubt
! edly, attempted to resist his insidious
| assailant, had been fatally stabbed at
the base of the neck. His money was
gone and his body when discovered
lay in tho road where it had fallen, j
There was no evidence of a struggle,
no foot-prints other than those of the
victim himself, but in tho dust some
body had found and picked up another
; eagle's feather. I learned this fact
incidentally, and it settled in my mind
the real nature of tho unknown as
| sailant.
; "From that day I never went into
the woods without my rifle; for father
had given mo a little rifle to use in
hunting squirrels and wild turkeys.
My thoughts dwelt constantly upon
the mysterious eagle, and I was always
; on the lookout for the great bird,
i "Weeks passed. Excitement wag
running higher than ever over the un
! canny bandit of the woods, foF bolder
' aud mere frequent assaults were con
stantly reported. Quite a number of
settlers had moved away from sheer
terror aud apprehension. The State
had taken up the matter and increased
the reward for the villain's capture by
another 8300. It was just after this
had been done that my odd adventure
befell me.
"I had been out after wild turkeys
—ostensibly, at any rate—and was
coming home with an old gobbler slung
over my back. As I approached the
road I heard the thud of a horse's
hoofs, aud, as had become customary
with me, hurried forward to see the
rider pass, with a vague hope that the
mysterious eagle might choose that
very moment to swoop down upon an
other victim.
"A familiar proverb says 'it is the
unexpected that happens.' But every
rule has its exceptions aud every prov
erb as well. This time it was the ex
pected that happened. I had a pre
sentiment that I was about to behold
something wonderful and strange—
and I did. Hardly had I come insight
of the horseman (and there was still a
thin, concealing veil of foliage be
tween me and the open road) when a
great waving shadow came drifting
Along the highway. I glanced up ond,
with my heart iu my mouth, saw a
huge bird descending with set aud
motionless wings. But I saw some
thing more, something that almost
froze the blood in my veins. A minia
ture man sat astride of the eagle's
neck, his fierce little face set with vin
dictive purpose. To this day/ I can
see the baleful gleam iu his' small,
blazing eyes. Iu one hand ho carried
a glittering, naked knife. The other
hand was extended as if to grasp iu
anticipation his victim's hair.
"When the eagle was almost direct
ly over the unsuspecting horseman,
the pygmy bandit threw one leg over
the bird's neck, sat sidewise nnd
poised himself, ready to drop upon his
victim's shoulders. Instinctively and
with a motion as quick as thought my
rifle sprang to my shoulder. .Tust as
the dwarf let go his hold aud dropped
thero was a ringing report, and the
eagle, pierced through the heart by
my bullet, fell simultaneously with his
pygmy master. Both struck the Hanks
of the frightened horse, and the ani
mal sprang forward iu a wild, snort
ing gallop, so sudden and so endan
gering to the rider that he did not
even venture to turn his head to see
what bad occasioned it. Iu a minute
more horse and rider were out of sight
around a bend in the road.
"The eagle rolled iuto the dust and
after a few spasmodic flutteriugs lay
still. The pygmy bandit, springing
to his feet, glared about him for a mo
ment with mingled rage aud terror in
his weazened and contorted face.
Then, with a cry, whose utter despair
and piercing nuger I shall never for
get, he darted into the bushes on the
opposite sido of tho road nnd disap
peared.
"Hardly knowing what I did, I
bounded after his disappearing form,
but the sIV creature was too quick for
me. In tli® tangled underbush it was
useless to pursue a being who could
dart unobstructed along a rabbit path,
and I soon gave up the chase as vain.
"Leaving my wild turkey concealed
in the bushes, I carried the dead eagle
to the village and told my story. At
first there where none who would be
lieve me, but when I led the way to
the spot where the tragedy had oc
curred, and the old Indian-tighter had
examined the small footsteps in the
dust, and iu the soft mud of a spring
hole iu the woods, which the dwarf
had crossed in his flight, doubt aud
cavil gave way to wonder and con
gratulation, and I beenme at once the
hero of the community.
"Although I had not captured the
pygmy bandit, I had solved the mys
tery that surrounded him and de
stroyed the unique means by which
he approached and surprised his vic
tims. From that day the terrible
little man disappeared utterly. The
last of his strange crimes had been re
corded.
"I received one thousand dollars for
my amateur detective work. Half of
it I offered to the man who had puzzled
out tho necessary clue. But he would
not touch a cent. 'No, my boy,' he
said, 'you deserve nil you have earned
and more, whether you actually cap
tured the pygmy bandit or not, for
you fixed him so that he is better than
dead to the world. He has ceased
from his crimes and retributive justice
has been spared the unnatural job of
disposing of such a human freak. You
are a born detective, lad, and my ad
vice to you is to go into that profes
sion for all you are worth.' And I
have."
"Good advice!" I cried, as Sand
hurst censed, "and in some respects
tho most remarkable introduction to a
profession I ever heard of!" Detroit
Free I'ress.
Degeneracy of Grout Names.
According to the London directory
a singular degeneracy seems to be
born of great names iu A. D. 1898.
Oliver Cromwell is a manufacturer of
clock hands; Martin Luther sells sec
ond-hand furniture; John Milton is a
carpenter; William Pitt is a shoe
maker; J. Fenimore Cooper is agreeu
grocer; Henry W. Longfellow is a
broker. Iu Paris the same degeneracy
of groat names is noted. An examina
tion of Bottin's directory will reveal
that Bobespierre isachcese merchant;
Moliere is a tailor; Victor Hugo is a
dentist; Chopin doctors sick horses
Donizetti is a glazier; one Boilenu is
a pork butcher, while another is 1:
maker of leather straps. We might
even find that the same deplorable
state of degeneracy exists in New
York if we had tho hardihood to delve
in the directovy of the metropolis.—
New York Mail and Express.
Venice, Italy, has 140,000 inhabit
ants. Of these no fewer than 40,00(
are enrolled as recipients of relief—
that is to say, nearly one-fourth of the
peculation are paupers.
1 GOOD ROADS NOTES. 1
The Modern Macndatn Hoad,
A writer in Industries and Iron re
marks that Macadam at first tolerated
stones large enough to pass through a
riug two and a half inches in diameter,
but afterward said that "any stone
which exceeds an inob in any of its
dimensions is mischievous." He did
not lay foundations, either, as Telford
did. But the modern practice differs
iu this respect, as also in the use of
some sort of binding material to hold
the stones together. Industries and
Iron continues as follows:
"Among the earlier modification of
Macadam's system which have since
been adopted with varying success
may bo mentioned that of Thomas
Hughes, who laid a foundation of
gravel and lime 011 which he placed an
ordinary macadamized road. As the
substratum was less liable to work to
the surface than soft soil, the road re
tained its form longer and was less
productive of mud. Another modifi
cation was that of Mr. Baylis, who
first laid a three-inch bed of two-inch
cubes, which were allowed to become
nearly consolidated by the traffic.
Upon this he laid another three-inch
bed of similar cubes, covering the
v.hole with a thick gravel blinding.
This was followed in his suburban
practice. Iu roads for towns Mr.
Baylis laid a six-inch bed of granite
cubes at one operation, covering it
afterward with a coat of clean gravel
or road-metal screenings.
"Another modification was that of
Joseph Mitchell, of luverness, who
introduced a system of concrete mac
ndnm. This consisted of granite cubes
of the usual macadam size spread over
the road to the required thickness. A
strong grout of Portland cement and
sharp sand was then well raked in,
and the road was rolled to a uniform
surface, lloads thus made were found
to possess greater solidity, nnd to be
less productive of dust and mud than
ordinary macadam. They were conse
quently more durable, but nfteratime
the surface was found to wear irregn
lurly, owing principally to its rigidity
and the difficulty of securing uniform
ity in the admixture of the materials.
"A good suggestion for the founda
tion of a macadam road is a bed of
slag or hard fouudry refuse from six
inches to oight inches thick, which
docs not choke, but always affords a
natural drainage. We believe this
foundation has been tried with a fair
amount of success in some of ourirou
lnakiug districts. In place of slag a
layer of stones of the same thickness
might be used, but should not be
rolled, as they then bind better with
the surface layer, while rolling would
close up the interstices and impede
the drainage. Upon the bed thus
formed a coating of 15 inch metaling
is spread, increasing from a thickness
of two inches at the curb to three
inches or four inches at the crown.
The wholo is then run with a hot mix
ture composed of two pounds of pitch
to thirty gallons of tar, and a propor
tion of dry, sharp sand and fino
screened gravel, which should set firm
and rough on cooling."
XVliat IVill 11 Tiros Will Hear.
Testimony on the value of wide
tires comes from all sections of the
globe. A correspondent of a paper in
Sydney, Australia, describes a road iu
which heavily-laden wagons with nar
row tires sank "half-spoke deep, and
in places to their wheel hubs," and
yet a load of five tons, enrried on six
inch tires, snnk but two to four inches
in the worst places. In dry weather
he says the roods are cut up by narrow
tires until the dust is a foot deep, and
then the rain will not make the dust
set hard again.
A good material for roads is gravel,
"but no gravel roads will carry loads
of ten and twelve tons on three-inch
aud four-inch tires. An experienced
teamster will not speak about the ton
nage his team can draw. He will say,
'I think the road will carry five tons,'
or more, as the case might be. I have
heard road superintendents say that
enormous sums of money could be
saved annually if broad tires were
used. The only objection I have heard
raised against the wide tires is that
they do not fit iuto the ruts cut by the
narrow ones,which makes the draught
heavier upon the team. That is partly
truo; but the ruts would not bo cut if
all the wagons had wide tires. Port
able engines varying from six to eight
horse-power, aud weighing five tons
and over, are drawn by lighter teams
than wagons which, with their loads,
would not weigh more. This is owing
to the broad tires always used on en
gines. The ash pans on ongines are
seldom more than about ten inches
from the ground; but owing to the
wide tires these engines seldom bog
deep enough to allow the pans to touch
the ground."
ltonil Legislation Iu Vermont.
It is felt in Vermont that the good
roads cause has received a set-back,
but efforts nre being made to revive it
and secure favorable action from the
next legislature. The State highway
commission which existed for several
years possessed little authority, but
served a good purpose as a bureau of
information. Iu 1894 their powers
were enlarged, public meetings were
held in each county, road officials and
citizens were interested in the work,
improved methods of maintenance
wore adopted, and the roads were kept
in better condition without increase of
expense. The legislature of 1890,
however, abolished the commission,
thus leaving the movement without a
head aud causing demoralization. Iu
the fall, a sample road under govern
ment supervision is to be constructed,
at Vcrgeuncs, nnd it is hoped that it
will be followed by revival of activity
in highway improvement.
Solillers Appreciate Cooil llnaile.
The good roads movement may re
ceive an impetus through the experi
ence of our troops in Cuba and Porto
Rico, where the highways are so
wretched as to be scarcely worthy the
name. General Roy Stone, the au
thority on roadmakiug, is at the front
and has been teaching our boys prac
tical work along this liue. Upon their
return to civil life it is fair to pre
sume that the thorough appreciation
of good roads will bear fruit in a de
termined effort to secure such in their
respective sections.
Experiment With Wide Tires.
It will give to bicycle liders who
have scoutod wider tires some satisfac
tion to know that iu a series of experi
ments made by the Missouri Depart
ment of Agriculture it was fouud that
it required much less trouble to pull a
loaded vehicle having wide tires than
when narrow tires were used. This
was fouud especially true ou poor
roads. While the use of wider tires
is growing among American riders it
is a peculiar circumstances that in
England tires are being made narrower.
Good Honda In Porto llico.
General Miles must have considered
the advantage of a good road when he
selected a lauding place in Porto Rice.
Leading to tho capital is a macadam
road sixty miles in extent. Perhaps
the experience of cycliug bas some
thing to do with it, for, like Captain
Sigsbee, the head of the United States
Army is a devotee of the wheel.
Age Veneration in Africa.
There is no section of the globe in
which veneration for age is carried to
such a great extent as among the in
habitants of West Africa. For the
men who have been successful in
trade, in the pursuit of war, the hunt,
in the councils of state or iu any other
way have distinguished themselves
above their fellows, the respect shown
amounts almost to adoration, and pro
portionately so when they have at
tained to advanced age. The younger
members of society are trained during
their childhood to bestow the utmost
deference on age. They must never
come iuto tho presence of aged per
sons or pass by their dwellings with
out taking off their hats and assuming
a crouching gait. When seated iu
their presence it must always be at a
respectful distance. If they happen
to approach near enough to hand au
aged man a lighted pipe or a glass of
water the bearer must always fall upon
one knee.
Aged persons must always be ad
dressed as "father" or "mother."
Any disrespectful language or deport
ment toward such persons is looked
upon as a misdemeanor of no light
moment. A youthful person carefully
avoids communicating any disagree
able news to such persons and usually
addresses them in terms of llattery
and adulation. And there is nothing
which a young person so much de
precates as tho curse of au aged per
son and especially that of his own
father. —San Francisco Examiner.
The 11 or*cs of Manila.
Mr. Wallace Gumming writes of
"Life in Manila" for the Century. Mr.
Gumming says:
Among the first things to impress a
stranger are the horses. Descended
from horses brought from Mexico,
they have become much smaller,while
they are also much more shapely. Iu
fact, I huve never seen a better-look
ing breed. There is nothing of tlie|
pony about their shape, though
size they range between forty-eight
and fifty-two inches. At first it looked,
absurd to see them ridden by big men
whose stirrups hung down to the
horses' knees; but I soon found out
that they easily carried a rider weigh
ing two hundred pounds. Tho for
eigners have a jockey club, which
holds two meetings a year at the beau
tiful turf track at Santa Mesa. To
avoid sharp practice, members of the
club only are eligible to ride. This
necessitates a scale of weights start
ing at one hundred and thirty-two
pounds and rising to one hundred and
fifty-four pounds. It demonstrates
the speed aud strength of these minia
tures horses that- a mile has been run
in two minutes and ten seconds by a
pony carrying one hundred and fifty
pounds. Only stallions arc used. No
body walks; everybody rides; and on
any special fiesta thousands of car
riages fill tho streets. I doubt if there
is a city iu the world that can turn out
half tho number of private vehicles iu
proportion to tho population.
Temperature In Forto llico.
The highest recorded temperature
in Porto Rico is 117 degrees Fahren
heit, but sucli heat is phenomenal,
the mercury rarely rising above
ninety-seven. This is "pretty con
siderable hot," sure enough, but tho
prevailing northeast winds alleviate
the discomfort amazingly. The rainy
season is not identical with Guba's,
but begins with August and ends with
December. The heaviest rainfall re
corded was in 1878, when it aggregat
ed eighty-one inches. The average
annual precipitation is sixty-four and
a half inches. The average yearly
rainfall in New York for the past six
years was a trifle more than forly-two
inches,—New York Press.
Geological Camps.
The summer geological camp origi
nated in a Cincinnati womau's club,
and has been developed iuto au insti
tution by the Johns Hopkins Uni
versity. Experts or professors, as
the case may be, first select a proper
locality. Then tents are erected by
the students, and the camp is run ou
the Bame lines as one would be in the
Adirondacks. Several of the party
take turns in attending to the cook
ing, while the rest dig, collect speci
mens, sample rocks, etc. When it
rains and the campers are obliged to
remain under shelter, tho time is de
voted to cleaning and labelling the
specimens, comparing notes and re
pairing tools.—New York Tribune.
•BUILDING UP BIG CUNS.
Changes in tlio Method of Making Can
non and Armor.
E. B. Rogers, of the United States
Navy, has an article in St. Nicholas
on "Big Guns and Armor of Our
Navy." Mr. Rogers says:
Not so very long ago all fcuns were
cast by pouring moulten iron into a
mould and then lettfng it cool slowly;
but it was found that guns made in
that way were not strong enough to
stand the tremendous strain of the
largo charges of powder required to
send a shot fast enough to enable it
to pierce the steel armor of a modern
ship of war; so the old method of
casting was abandoned as the armor
became stronger, and now nearly all
modern cannon are what is called
"built up."
First a long steel tube of the finest
and strongest metal is made, and
around this are placed, or "shrunk
on," successive cylinders or rings,
one over the other, with tho greatest
care and nicety, first the "jacket" and
then the "hoops." So nowadays a
great gun, iustead of being one piece,
as it used to be, is composed of many
parts. The process above described
is called "assembling" a gun,and in the
place of the short cast-iron cannon of
former days shaped something like n big
bottle we have the long, graceful
steel rifles, which look not unlike
gigantic watch-keys. They vary iu
size from the small rapid-fire guns a
few hundred pounds in weight, to the
groat tliirteen-incli "Peacemaker," as
it was fondly called, which tips the
scales at sixty tons—l2o,ooo pounds.
All these modern guns are breech
loaders, ami after the shot and powder
have been placed in the powder-cham
ber, tho breech is closed by a steel
"breecli-plug,"which is shoved into tho
gun and by a short turn is screwed
ti<#t into the breech.
Tho shot or shell has alsc under
gone a change. The round cannon
ball most of us are familiar with has
given way to the "projectile," which
is made of steel, hardened according
to the work it has to do, and in those
which are intended to pierco armored
ships the metal must be so hard that
the projectile can be fired through
steel armor of a thickness equal to
one-eighth more lhau its diameter,
without its bein broken or materially
injured; for instance, an eight-inch
projectile, according to this rule, must
be capable of piercing a nine-inch
steel plate.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
It has been estimated that tho heat
of comets is about 2000 times fiercer
than red-hot iron.
If t he weight of the body be divided
into eleven parts, eight of those parts
will be pure water.
Air in its pure state is composed
thus: Nitrogen, seventy-seven per
cent.; oxygen, twenty-one per cent.;
other compounds, two per cent.
The most wonderful astronomical
photograph in the world has been pre
pared by Loudon, Berlin and Parisian
astronomers. It shows at least 08,-
000,000 stars.
An argillaceous earth named "tfol,"
which contains free gelatinous silica,
is largely used iu Northern Africa by
the Arabs as a substitute for soap iu
washing linen.
Every ton of Atlantic water when
evaporated yields eighty-one pounds
of salt; a ton of Pacific water, seven
ty-nine pounds; Arctic and Antarctic
waters yield eighty-five pounds to the
ton, and Dead Sea water, 187 pounds.
M. A. Mouneyrat has found that a
mixture of acetyleue and chlorine, ex
posed to diffused light, always combines
to form acetylene tetrachloride with
out explosion, iu the absence of free
oxygen or any gas that might produce
oxygen.
Naval Cadets.
The number of naval cadets ia
limited according to the following
rule: Each member of the House of
Representatives is entitled to name
on 3 candidate to represent his district
until he graduates, resigns or is dis
charged. In addition the President
has the privilege of appointing one
and ten annually at large. The ex
aminations lor admission ore held each
year, one in May and the other in
September. The requirements of each
candidate are: He must be between
fifteen and ninoteen years of age; he
must be physically sound and able to
pass a creditable examination in Eng
lish grammar. United States history,
geography, arithmetic and algebra, as
far as the theory of quadratic equa
tions and their practice. The pay of
a naval cadet is SSOO a year, beginning
with the date of admission.
A Battle For a (tucket.
A battle in which a bucket was the
only prize was fought at Bologna in
1325. Tho people of Modeua had
made a raid upon that city and had
carried away, as a trophy of
tho bucket belonging to tho publid
well. The expedition of tho Bologuose
to recover this bucket forms the basis
of tho famous poem of Tassoni, "The
Rape of the Bucket."
"Their captain, who no worthier spoil
could show
Than this same bucket conquered from tlio
foe,
Caused it in form of trophy to advance
Before the troops, sublime upon a lance."
—Detroit Free Press.
The Unabashed It ride.
A Boston minister was once perform
ing the marriage ceremony for a
couple in his church. Tho bride
groom was manifestly scared and his
responses were scarcely audible, while
those of tho bride, who was perfectly
self-possessed, were clear and distinct.
In the middle of the ceremony the
bride gave the bridegroom a sharp
nudge with her elbow and said in a
shrill whisper:
"Louder, man, louder!"— Detroit
Free Press.