* remain* i noiiiie Established IBSB. POBUstfr-l) E7KKT MONDAY AND THURSDAY, TS\ THE TRIBUNE PPJfITISG COMPANY.Unite) OFFICE: MAI> S; I;i:; r AEOVE CENTRE. FttLEL.YXD, I'A. Rt'lisCltU'l ION IMTKS: One Year $1.50 hLx Month* •"['* Four M< ii hs 50 Two Months 25 Tho Jnto which tho .subscription is paid to 1b on tuo a ldro>. label of each paper, tlin chaun'o uf tvhieh to a suijueat date bo comet* a rec-ipt tor remittance, Keop the figures in tuivunco of th* p:<-*rit date, lie port promptly to this t nice whenever paper is not received. Arrearages must bo paid when subscription is discontinued. Ma '■ e all men y o rs, cJ.♦ ' ♦ tc,. payable to the Tribuu j'rint.nj C< nipauy, Even in C'iiin.i, things do move, though slowly. A Cliimsa Mandarin living in tiie vicinity of Shanghai i 3 about to establish a farm on the Amer ican plan, supplying it with American machinery and stock. Fiance will stop making faces at tho United States just as soon as she discovers that the sueceas of her ex hibition of 1:)00 d.-peuds iu large part on Am wicun energy and enterprise. Until thin we shall have to put up with some nasty newspaper talk. The fact that a wreath from Amer ica was placed at the foot of tho statue of Charles J, in London, on the anni versary of his execution with the in scription "America remembers her martyr king,'' seems to indicate that some alleged Americana are quite de void of a sense of humor. An old maid—she was only 102 ! | has died from grip, mo t modern of: diseases, in Be by, Conn. In 1815 • M#hs Hetty Purdy was engaged to a young Engiis imaj, who died just be fore their wedding day. For ei pity four years sue has lneu faithful to his memory and to lmr first and only | love. Surely, it is givon to few wom en to love so long and faithfully. The brother of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who has just died, never married. Early in life he fell iu 1 >ve with a governess, but his mother and brother opposed tho match, ami he sacrificed the girl to his family. It is interesting to note that the "Autocrat" iu the book found happiness bv mar rying a school teach ;r. Seneca's pro test over again. "Bo as I say; nut as I do." The Thrift bank, 1 united, of Loudon, is preparing to place at rai.way sta tions, largo factories, and other iL sir able positions, sumo thousands of "peuny-iu-the-slot ma bines to induce the poorer classes of the community tocultivato saving habits. In oxchauge for a penny the deposit r receives a ticket, and when the number of thesa latter anionut to the value of live shil lings they may be exchanged for a de posit book at the office of the bank. The deposits are to bear interest at tho rute of two aud one-half per cent.,and muy lie withdrawn at any time under the usual conditions. No subject relating to railways is at-■. trading more attention auiong engi neers of all kinds than that of the substitution of electricity for steam as a motive power. That such a substi tution is inevitable within a very few years, is universally admitted. With the change will come an increase iu speed more than dotibh the highest rates attainable by steam, for the abil ity to move a train of cars of regula tion si/.e at tho rate of 120 to 130 miles au hour has been demonstrated re peatedly, and is now conceded by all authorities. A recent writer in the Cosmopolitan, Prof. Sydney 11. Short, who is a recognized authority on the subject, says that if the next fifteen years witness as wonderful progress in electrical science as tho past fifteen years have recorded, "electricity will supersede steam as tho motive power for even our trunk-line railroads. The time between New York and Chicago will be reduced to ten hours, aud the conditions of our business and social life will readjust themselves to a standard of 125 miles an hour instead of 40." A l'.ciinsrk:ailfl Will. The outer uniformity about wills tn teneral. both as to parchment and penmanship, makes all the more note worthy the last testament, now at Kometset House, of the late Kir George Parker, whose (laughter has just died at Falmouth. Sir George, who lost his life at Cawnpore during the mutiny, had only a tiny scrap of paper on which to write his will, nnd when It wan made it was carried through the lines by a native, who concealed It In his car. Fragile as It Is, It will doubt less outlast S3 a curiosity at Somerset House, and almost as a bit of national history, many a bulky manuscrpt en erolled on material prepared to defy the decay of yer.r,. THE PRISONER. Grown bnt nny a youth I know. Left ly hiu here to die alone. "Vet have I lived these many years m ;buried in this tomb of tears, Chnfnod in this dungeon of the past, Y< u offer liberty and r Tho heart Is withered in my breast; It is too old for these at Inst. "Give me my dungeon to tlie end, Grief -till must he my only friend; Com] anions we have been so long I cnunet leave him now. MIICO he Is dearer far than liborty. And his tho only friendship strong. "Put back these chains and leave me hero; What have lost hopes to do with cheer? Let them remain In their sad tombs; In newer castles of the air They still would find tho old despair Aud bo a blight to nil your blooms." lie knev,- me not, this hopo of mine, This old, old hope of youth divine; And so I loft him buried deep In that gray ruin of my tears. Hound which the tempests of the years llavo almost settled into sleep. On earth I shall not seo his face Again: yet when the weary r ice Of life is nooring to its goal Perhaps before mo ho may go. The long, long way to brightly show And be the solace of my soul. —C. G. B. [J BURRA_BAGH. § Br MA no ABET C. S. MARSHALL. jjg How a lady loft in a bungalow by herself at- (t * tucked and killed singl-handed a lIUBJ tnau-eatlng tiger. HE day, which had \ | been one of tho hottest of India's N IbW.V" hot season, was ,;W- drawing ton close, "fb'!/.'■ Mi .'t'wfvS Throughout the day i 1 v iCvl'p' the heat had been wi fyr oppressive nnd {£ A overpowering, aud in the late afternoon there were no signs either of rain or of a cooling breeze. The creepers surrounding the buuga low were drooping, aud even the usually stately palms looked languid. Everything out of doors was motion less, as if paralyzed by the stifling atmosphere. "Rain, rain, rain," was the universal cry of thirsty nature. At this time we lived away up in tho Xorth Provinces, fully twenty miles beyond the Mission Station of Rhanaghat, tho missionaries thero I being our nearest white neighbors. Round us on every side was jungle, j stretching as far as the eye could see. I To the west could he seen, in bright | weather, the clear, sharp, snow | crowned peaks of the mountains more than a hundred miles away. Our beautiful white bungalow, which al ways looked so clean aud cool—al most hidden in a wealth of roses and gaily-colored creepers, and surrounded by rhododendrons, azaleas aud other flowering shrubs—was built on the slopo of a hill overlooking the little native village of Signal. My brother was in Government Rervice, and the week previously he had received notice to meet a State ofiicial at Rhanaghat. He had gone with a company of natives, taking with him his guns nnd dogs, in order on the way hack to try and rid the neigh borhood of its terror, a man-eating tiger. "Sahib," said Cliadda, one of our men, "near Botta Singavum, a village two coss (four miles) off, there one Burra Bagh" ("bagh" means tiger) "who kill plenty men; he ate one old woman yesterday. Ho has an evil spirit, sahib, for though all shikarmen asd village people plenty, plenty, looking, never can lind him. Wo burra chor by (he is a very great thief, 3ir)," That was Clmdda's account. Inquiry more than substantiated the accusations made against the terrible Burra Bagh, and it was found that, not only was he a great thief, hut a wholesale murderer to boot. Lurking amongst the dense brush wood that skirted the highway, he had within the last six months seized and devoured the amazing number of forty of the inhabitants—sixteen of whom were "running postmen." Over and over again he had snatched tho cattle watchers, leaving the cattle un touched. The natives were of the opinion that it was of little use seek ing him, as he never remained two nights at the same place. My brother, however, was determined that these awful devastations should come to an end, and he therefore organized the hunt to take place ou his way back from Rhanaghat. So he departed, and I was left alone—alone in my little home up among the hills. Fear I knew not, so accustomed hud I grown to the sights and sounds of jungle life. But on this the third eveniug of his absence, I began to feel lonely, and the ex treme heat inado mo rather nervous into tho bargain, t had finished my home letters ere dusk, aud, with a yawn, I drank the cup of welcome chakwa (coffee) which Bara, the ayah, brought me. I then retired to my loom, and was soon in lied. How Lot it was! I hnve been in what, are considered warmer parts of India since, but never have I ex perienced heat like that which pre vailed that night. My baby-sister lay in her little cot by my bedside, and her regular breathing soon made me feel drowsy. The fragrance of the roses seemed to fill the air, bearing a train of pleasant memories, and vi sions, happy visions, of thedearhome folks away in England floated before me till I was almost asleep. Suddenly a big gadal (black bat) landed on my mosquito net. I started, anil sat up in bed shaking all over. When I discovered the cause of alarm I felt foolish. Black bats were quite common, but my nervousness at see ing them was most uncommon. I lay back on my pillow again and listened to the eerie noises of the jackals holding festival in the jungle, aud the occasional screeches of wild birds. I lay awake until it was quite dark—the peculiar darkness of an In dian night. All was still, save for the low, steady snoring of Bara, the ayah, whose dusky form I could make out lying on a mat just beyond my dress ing-room door. Through the muslin curtains of the sitting-room doorway I saw Bruno, the mastiff, fast asleep, and his presence there gave me a feeling of security. But, hark! what was that noise?—a crashing in the shrubbury, then a soft, glidiug move ment among the bushes below the verandah. I was thoroughly awake now, and listening iutently. The sound ceased as suddenly as it came, aud then after a short interval was heard again. It seemed to mo now like tho tread of some heavy animal. Could any of the bullocks have broken loose? No, that was not likely. I waited, and in a minute heard a ter rific thud on the sittiug-room veranda, which seemed to shako the whole house. The animal, whatever it was, was evidently bent on mischief. The shattering and splintering of glass aud the rending of curtains next pro claimed that tho beast had entered the room. I sprang from my bed and peered through the curtains. Bruno also had leaped up, but only to meet his doom. What met my gaze fairly stupefied me with horror. There crouched a tiger of immense size! In his blazing eyes was a gleam of what seemed to me insanity. His magnifi cently colored body was motionless, and his tail moved restlessly to and fro with an almost fajciuatiug regu larity. He gave a growl of satisfac- ; tiou, and springing forward, had in n moment crushed poor Bruno's skull beneath his deadly paw. Seizing the mastiff by the back he shook him as n cat shakes a mouse, then with his claws slit up tho neck, and drained the blood. The tiger then carried him to the centre of tho room, and lying down, commenced slowly to de vour him. I oearil tho crunching ol fhe bones and the smacking of those terrible lips, pnd I turned away with horror and nrusea. I nearly fainted; but one glam.e of the little crib forti fied aud nerved me. I must, if pos sible, try an 1 save myself for the sake of my brother and dear home-folks, and not only myself/but also my help less baby-sister and tho retinue of faithful servants. What was to bo done? If the ser vants were called and informed of the situation, a panic would ensue, the beast would bo roused, and death would be the certain and speedy fate of at least some of us. There was only ono thing to do, and that I must do alone. In a drawer of my brother's dressing table lay a loaded revolver. If I could but get that, and use it rightly! I knew nothing of lirearms, but I had an idea that revolvers could only be used when near the object aimed at. I shuddered. Could I ap proach that awful beast? I clenched my teeth and softly crossed the room. I was cold now, cold as the beauti fully plated revolver which I drew from the drawer. Nerving myself I crossed the room, passed through the curtained door way, and in a moment stood behind | the monarch of the jangle, who was | now standing finishing the horrid re- | mains of the first course of his feast. What would the second courso be? He j was evidently an old animal and rather deaf, or he must have heard my movements, quiet though they were. Now or never! I levelled the revolver, took aim, and fired at the back of his head. With a roar like thunder ho turned and prepared to spring. I fired another shot, which must have entered his neck; then an other hurried one, which seemed to penetrate farther down. When the smoke cleared away, I saw him rolling over and over, writhing in his death agony, and staiuing the white palm mat with his blood. I stepped on one side and fired again—thris time behind the ear. A slight tremor passed over his limbs, and then all was still. Burra Bagh, the man eater, was dead and his victims avenged. I had accomplished un wittingly what my brother had failed to do. These thoughts pussed through my mind, and then I seemed to fade away. I remembered no more till I awoke in the centre of an excited group at Bhauagbat, whither the kindly na tives had carrijd me, all those twenty miles. When I returned home, a month later, I was met by a band of villagers, headed by Chadda, who, in the name of the people, preseuted me with the skin of Burra Bagh, which they had carefully cured for me, and, under neath ther veranda, they stood and sang, in their quaint style: Burra Bash is dond, sing O Korinda troe: No more will liurra Bagh sleep under neath thee. Bring forth blossoms, put them on white woman's head. She killed mau-eater: Burra Bagh is dead, —Wide World Magazine. Pari* Periodical*. The periodicals published in Paris number at present 2587, of which 186 made their first appearance last year. In this enormous mass, i:>olitics, properly speaking, is represented by only 141 organs. Strange to say, it is medicine that absorbs the largest quantity—namely, 206. Financial matters are dealt with in 195 publica tions, fashions in 113, law in 95, agri culture in 67, and industrial matters in 54. There are 26 journals on gas and electricity, 24 on assurance. 10 on cookery, 5 on matrimonial matters,and 25 on photography. The "Revues" reaeh the number of 162. THE PHILIPPINE PEARLS. FISHERIES CONSIDERED THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THE WORLD. rile Richest Ground. Arc In the Sola Group—Controlled by . Great London Jewelry Finn—yiother-.f-I'earl Worth One Hundred Dollars n Ton. In the picturesquely miscellaneous collection of Sultans, active volcanoes, rajahs Dyak pirates, aud so forth, handed over to the United States in the far Pacific as one result of the Spanish war, are the important pearl fisheries at the Su u Islands —pearl fisheries that, since the decline of those of Ceylon and the Persian Gulf, divide with the north coast of Aus tralia the reputation of being the most valuable in the world. The Suln pearl grounds have for some time been controlled hv men or companies with large capital, of which the chief is a great London jewelry firm. These capitalists equip aud send out fleets of from twenty to thirty moderate-sized schooners upon annual cruises, and employ in the pursuit, besides European officers aud super cargoos, many hundreds, if not thou sands, of native divers. It may be information to many that the chief revenue of the pearl fishing industry is derived not from the pearls —a very uncertain contingency—but from the pearl shells, or mother-of pearl, which brings in the market§loo a ton aud upward. As an illustration of this, while the West Australian pearl fisheries netted in one year 8100,000 from the shells, the returns from the find of pearls was valued at a little more than $150,000, or about one-third. In this respect, while the pearls found in the Sulus uro of the finest quality, the mother of pearl is sometimes characterized by a yellow ish tint, which renders it less valuable commercially than that obtained on thu adjacent Australian banks. The actual diving operations avo carried on chiefly by the natives, though of late years Europeans, with diving apparatus, have in some in stances been employed. The former method is simplicity itself. The diver being denuded of his clothes and provided with a knife and a small net bag in which to gather the shells, and having a forty-pound stone at tached to his feet, draws a deep breath, and is let rapidly down by a rope into the transparent waters. The depth at which pearl diving is gener ally carried on is from thirty to forty feet, though depths of eighty feat have been thns reached in a few in stances. Onoe at the bottom, the diver quickly proceeds to ent tbo shells from the rocks in his neighbor hood, and while filling his bag re mains under water for a period of sixty to a hundred seconds. While thus engaged the divers aro somotimes subject to the attacks of Bharks, but they find a far deadlier enemy in the exhausting nature of their work, carried on beneath the waters of the tropics. Thoir lives aro generally of short dnration after once adopting the profession. When a vessel has received its full capacity of from twenty to thirty thousand shells, it is put into the shore, where the cargo is landed and piled high on the beach for tho sun to assist in causing the decomposition of the dead fish, so that the pearls may be tho more easily obtained. During tho cleaniug and washing process great care is exercised in order to dis cover the loose pearls, which, being nearly all perfect spheres, are the most valuable for stringing or neck lace purposes; after wbicb the shells are examined for those that may re main attached, furnishing tho many quaint shapes to be seen in jeweler's windows. Fearls of value are seldom discovered in shells under four years of age—tho age being computed by tho weight of the shells—and eight years, it would seem, being tho ex treme limit of pearl mussel longevity. The pearls found in the Sulus are remarkable for their fine white color and soft iridescent sheen, and up till the present have found their principal market in London, but now that the archipelago has become an outlying territory of the United States one may naturally expect that these gems will come more into favor on this side of the Atlantic than heretofore.—New York Sun. ••Hot Tim®** Does Duly as a Direr®. Harry T. Montgomery, a private in the Thirteenth Minnesota, now sta tioned at Manila, in a letter received by his uncles, W. E. Montgomery, at Macon, Mo., relates a curious inci dent there. A merchant of the well to-do class came to the camp one day and told of the death of a friend. He said his friend's last request was that a certain one of those those "beauti ful American tunes" be played during tho march to the cemetery. The mes senger did not know the name of the piece, and the leader of the regi ment baud played a few notes from different selections until he Btruek "A Hot Time in the Old Town To-Night." The native clapped his hands aud said that was tho identical tune his dead friend wanted. It seemed a triile odd to play that rollicking air at a funeral aud the musician endeavored to point out the incongruity of it, but it was no use—-"A Hot Time in the Old Town" was wanted and nothing else. The obsequies were a big thing and the members of the band did their best to keep straight faces as they Blowly headed the procossion down the streets, grinding out as solemnly as they could our "new national an them." It was probably the first oc casion where "A Hot Time in the Old Time" did duty as a dirge.—Kansas Gity Times. Mexican school children are allowed to Bmoke during lesson time, provided they have attained • certain standard of excellency. RICHEST MAN IN TURKEY. H® 1s a Naturalized American Citizen* Whose Wealth Is Bloodstained. The richest man in Turkey is an Armenian, who is a naturalized Ameri can citizen, and lived in this country for several years, writes W. E. Curtis in the Chicago Record. If the stories told in the diplomatic circle of Con stantinople are true he came by his .money in a peculiar manner. It will remembered that the Sultan Aziz was assassinated in 187 G. For several years prior to his death he accumulated all the money and bonds he could ob tain, which he stored away in his palace as a reserve fund in case cf a war with Russia, which had been im pending for some time. The amount of his accumulations has been variously estimated from $10,000,000 to $lO,- 000,000, and was undoubtedly con siderably in excess of the latter sum. Most of it was in English, French aud German securities, that drew interest, aud were easily convertible at uuy bank in any city of Europe. Although the assassination was a mystery, it is believed to have been inspired, if it was not actually accom plished, by Midad Pasha, the Minister of Finance, from avaricious motives. He alone was aware of the magnitude of the Sultan's hoard and the place of its concealment, aud after his Sovereign's death, by virtue of his position, he took charge of the fund and pretended to deposit it in the public treasury. But it is believed by those most familiar with Turkish affairs that he retained for his own benefit a large part—perhaps one-half of it—which, for motives of self-pro tection, he intrusted to the Armenian banker I have named, and directed him to take the bonds to London and Paris and there deposit them in such a manner that their ownership could not be traced to Midad Pa?ha. It is also believed to have been the latter's intentions to withdraw a portion of this property from concealment as soon as ho felt safe in doing so. But not long afterward Midad Pasha was himself assassinated in the bold est and most astounding manner. He was attending a meeting of the Ministry, when ho was informed that a messenger was awaiting him in the ante-room with a confidential com munication that must be delivered immediately and to himself alone. Midad left his colleagues and entered the ante-room, where an unknown man immediately plunged a dagger into his heart. The palace guard, hearing his death cry and the fall of his body, immediately rushed to the room and shot the assassin before he could escape. Although the police continued their investigations for mouths, they were never able to identify the assassin or associate any one elso with the crime, but the know ing ones believe he was a ruffian im ported from the mountains by the Armenian banker referred to, and was handsomely paid to commit the deed. On the eveniug of Midad's assassina tion the Armenian merchant went to Midad's palace and informed his widow that there were concealed in a certain strong box certain papers that would connect her husband with a conspiracy against the crown and would undoubtedly cause the arrest and imprisonment of the entire family and the confiscation of the property if they were discovered. The frightened widow, already beside herself with excitement because of the assassina tion, begged him to search her hus band's papers and destroy all ques tionable or suspicious documents. He spent the night at this work, and among the papers burned that night are believed to have been the evidence of Midad's ownership in the bonds that have made the Armenian the rich est man in Turkey. Irrigation on a Great Scale* England i 3 preparing to spend §BOO,OOO a year for thirty years for a greit lalio for irrigating purposes to be made by daumiug the Nile. Of tbo results of this dam-building, Mr. F. C. Penileld speaks thus in the Cen tury: The Egypt of the map showe more than 400,000 square miles, au expanse nearly seven times as great as New England, but the practical Egypt— that which produces crops and snstains life—is barely as largo as the States of Vermont and Khode Island taken together. This is the ribbon-like strip of alluvial laud borderingon the Nile, a few miles wide on each side, ami measuring not more than 10,500 square miles. The extension planned, and to be completed in the next six or eight years, wholly by irrigation, is no less magnificent in conception than the rescuing from the Libyan aud Arabiuu deserts of 2500 square miles, or twice the Jarea of Khode Island. This will be exploitation in its truest sense, aud its accomplishment will be a verification of the ancient saying that "Egypt is the Nile, and the Nile is Egypt. As an object lesson this Egyptian enterprise shond have no more inter ested observers than in America, es pecially in Colorado, Nevada, Califor nia, and other States of the West, where the irrigation expert is succeed ing the railway-builder as a dovel opor. Fifteen Ituled Iler Life. In the Courant of March IG, 1781, we printed the following queer story, which our readers will pardon us for repeating. Some of them may have forgotten it: "Hebron, February 15, 1781.—This day departed this life, Mrs. Lydia Peters, the wife of Colonel John Peters and second daughter ol Joseph Phelps, Esq. She was mar ried at the age of fifteen, aud lived with her consort three times fifteen years and had fifteen living ohildren, thirteen now alive, and the youngest fifteen years old. She hath had three times fifteen grandchildren. She was sick fifteen months and died the 15tb day of the month aged four timrfs fif teen years."—Hartford Courant TAHITI'S WAR SCARE. Everybody Excited Except u Yankee Who Had Timber For Sale. The worst scared people of the year 1898 probably were those inhabiting tho French isles of the Pacific, espec ially in Tahiti. The people of such islands as New Caledonia, Tahiti, etc., receive news from the outside world when it is months old, and the white inhabitants, being mostly French, are easily excited. New Caledonia is a convict settlement of the French Gov ernment, where there are thousands of exiled criminals. This made an exceedingly anxious time for tho re spectable inhabitants of tho principal town, Noumea, during their war scare. At Tahiti the officers of the French transport ship Aube, hearing of the war talk between their country and England several weeks after it started, became disturbed at the movements and signaling of several foreign ves sels, and straightway ordered all har bor and lighthouse lights out, and be gan collecting and carting all stores into the country, the work being car ried on at night. To heighten the scare several of tho crew of an Ameri can ship went on a spree and started a row in the market place at Papeete, and the natives joiuiug in, the fight became geueral. Then was spread the rumor that the English had landed and were "in the fight." More than half of tho natives aud a large number of French women and children made for the country, taking their goods and chattels with them, aud have not re turned yet, thinking that a terrible war is going on. For a few days boats and cutters were kept busy taking emigrants to Morea, a mountainous island lying twenty miles away, aud tho Governor of Tahiti, the Captain of Aube and the military officers hold a council of war. This council decided to make a new fort, the soldiers being started on the work in a pouring rain, the wet season having just begun. Every thing portable from tho Aubo was landed aud her guns were mounted on tho new fort, and the vessel was prepared to be taken to tho entrance of the harbor and sunk, a la Ilobson and tho Merrimac. The man who reaped tho profit of the scare was a Yankee timber mer chant, and at last accounts he was still doing an enormous business, tak ing orders aud saying nothing. The sighting of the Ovalnu, an in nocent ship of commerce, caused in tense excitement, as she was first taken for the expected enemy. Just before this steamer turned up it had been decided at a second council of war to call out every man capable of carrying arms. However, the appear ance of Ovalnu quieted things down, and peace promises to reign once more in the principal town, but the poor peoplo who lied to the back country and the other islands will bo some weeks in learning the situation. CURIOUS FACTS. George I. of England introduced the black cockade from Germany as a mark of the servant. More women than men go blind in Sweden, Norway and Iceland; more men than women in the rest of Eu rope. Several States in New England have statutes forbidding kissing on the streets. Tho law is an old one and obsolete. A grain of fine sand would cover about 100 of the minute scales of the human skin; each scale covers from 300 to 500 pores. The utilization of grain-elevator waste for sheep and cattle food has given rise to a new industry in the Northwest. The waste brings $7 a ton. John Hooper, a man with a mania for tombstones, stole eighteen of them from Graceland Cemetary, Chicago, aud used them for bric-a-bracs at his home. ~ Some of the petrified wood found in Arizona, it is said, is so hard that steel tools will not work it, the petri fications being only three degrees less in hardness than tho diamond. The walking advertisement known as a "sandwich man" is by no means a modern idea. In 1316 a procession of men dressed to represent straw covered wine bottles used to parade the streets of Florence, Italy. Tea drinkers in London are swin dled systematically. A number of old women go about aud buy up from ser vants tea-leaves that have been used. The leaves are then artificially col ored, dried, aud sold as good tea. In Japan is a venerable camphor tree, which, it is said will hold fifteen full grown persons in its hollow trunk. According to Japanese tradition, it grew from the walkingstiok of the fa mous philosopher Kabodairs, who flourished about the year 780. The tree is certainly 1000 years old. Embarrassing For the Lecturer. Civilized people when they listen to a lecture on some abstruse scientific subject applaud even if they do not understand. But there is evidently more frankness among savages, ac cording to a story told by Captain Guy Barrows. A white man one evening tried to explain to some members of an African tribe, the Mobunghi, the wonders of the steam engine and steamship. He drew diagrams on the sand, and the audience listened and looked with apparently. intense inter est. At last ho asked his hearers whether they understood. "Yes," they replied, "they thought they did." "There was a deep silence," Captain Barrows says, "for sometime, and then a voice in the centre of the crowd expressed the unspoken senti ments of the whole assembly in one emphatic word, uttered in a tone of the deepest conviction—'Liar!'" Em barrassing for the lecturer!— Wes tminster Guzetta. OUR BUDGET OF HUMOR. LAUGHTER-PROVOKING STORIES FOR LOVERS OF FUN. A Hummer Plumber—Fleale Mistake. Cnllabau . (despondently)—"Shure, an' Oi've been leading a dog's loite lver since Oi got married." Kerrigan (thoughtfully)—" Perhaps yez wiut to the wrong clerk, Callahan, an' got a dog license iustid uv a mar riage license."—Judge. One Objection. "She rejected tlieosopby when she couldn't be assured her soul wouldn't migrate iuto an elephant." "No!" "Yes, she said she didn't care about being reincarnated if it wasn't going to reduce her flesh."—Life. Two Souls Confess. "Gladys Lucilo, I innst make n confession before ws are married. Yon know me as Guy Percy Fitz- William, but the folks at home call me Bill." "That's all right. My pa and ma call me Toadie."—Chicago Record. A Wish IleallKd. •If IIP' Poet—"l do wish something that rhymes with 'boat' would strike mel" A Stranger's Privilege. Excited New Yorker—"l want to know why in the name of all that's good I should have to pay more for a cab I hire ie front of a hotel than for ono I hire along the street?" Policeman —" 'Cause the hotol cabs is particularly for the use of strnngers in town, see?"—lndianapolis Jour nal. Willis's Llttlo Jake. Dashaway—"Yon say your sister will be down in a minute, Willie? That's good news. I didn't know but what she wanted to be excused, as she did the other day." Willie—"Not this time. I played a trick on her." Dashaway—"What-did yon do?" Willie (triumphantly)—"l said yon were another fellow."—Tit-Bits. Seir-Possessed. Policeman (who has carried a worn* an out of burning building)—"Y'onr name, please? 1 have to make a re port, you know." Resoued Woman—"Jane Alatbea Jarvis, and I'm the most grateful hu man being that ever " Policeman "That'B all right, ma'am. Age, please?" Resoued Woman—"None of your business, sir!"— Chicago Tribune. Germany has an army which costs her people #135,000,000 a year.