Freeland Tribune
Established 1388.
PUBLISHED EVERY
MONDAY AND THURSDAY,
BY THI
TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY, Wei
OIVICE: MAIN STREET ABOTE CENTRE.
FREELAND, FA.
SUBSCRIPTION KATES:
One Year $1.50
Six Mouth* 75
Four Months 50
Two Mouths .25
The date which the subscrlptiou is paid to
U on the addrsus label of each paper, the
change of which to a subsequent date be
comes a receipt for remittance. Keep the
Qgures in advtince of the present date. Re
port promptly to this ofllee whenever paper
Is not received. Arrearages must be paid
when subscription is discontinued.
Make all monty orders, checks, etc,,payabU
to (he Tribune Printing Company, .Limited.
There is an effort to revive the in
terest of the masses in Oliver Cromwell.
The extent to which the Napoleon
craze was pushed will be a warning
to the public to tako its hero revivals
temperately.
The idea of free transportation of
children to and from school, which is
a part of the plan to suburbanize city
schools, lias found acceptance in the
rural schools of Duval county, Florida.
The object there is to in urease attend
ance and decrease number of school
houses.
Some new ways of adulterating cof
fee have lately come to light iu Eng
land. One grocer, by coating the
berry with sugar, raised the weight
from live per cent, to ten per cent.,
and got a shilling a pound for what
otherwise would have brought about
twopence. The berry itself is ingen
iously imitated in Germany by a treat
ment of maize, and it is said that the
imitation is so good tbat even ou close
scrutiny it is hard to distinguish from
the genuine berry.
A very remarkable state of things
exists at | reseut in the steel-rail in
dustry, observes the Pathfinder. We
know of one railroad—aud doubtless
there are many others in the same
situation—that contracted a
year or more ago for new steel rails at
sl7 or so a ton, which rails are now
being delivered by the mills at that
price, though the market late is far
higher. .Moreover, the railroad is
taking up its old rails and is selling
them back to the mills at $22 or more
a ton. Here is an instance of ex
changing old lamps for new, with a
profit to boot.
The Chicago Times-Herald, com
menting on the supposed $'200,009,000
automobile trust, observes: "The
price of antomobiles has p!a ed them
beyond the reach of the man of ordi
nary means. This trust must be,
after all, then, a case of 'benevolent
assimilation' on the part of the gener
ous und philanthropicnl makers of au
tomobiles. It is possible that the ob
ject of this combination is to make
automobiles so cheap that the mechan
ic may ride in one to ami from his
place of employment and the servant
girls may take a spin in them after the
culinary labors of the day aro ended.
Evidently even among animals bac
teria make for both health and dis
ease, depending ou the conditions aud
being iu some form always present in
healthy animals. Carefully conduct
ed experiments made on chickens
show this. Where the tests were
made the chickens were "hatched un
der conditions which rendered them
free from intestinal bacteria. After
hatching they were supplied with ster
ilized food and water, and the experi
mental conditions were such that the
intestinal tract was kept free from
bacteria. Alter a few days the rbiok
eus did not thrive, and at the end of
seventeen days they were very weak.
The tests were not continued nntil
the chickens died; but it was evident
that they could not have lived more
than two or three days under the ster
ilized plan of feeding. The chickens
were killed aud culture experiments
were made which showed that tha
chickens were free from bacteria-
Chickens raised under the same gen
eral conditions, hut with no precau
tions to prevent their acquiring intes
tiual bacteria, grew normally."
Panic on the stock txenange
Panic conditions developed on tin
Mock exchange Monday afternoon with
the imperative need of money develop
ed by the violent contradiction in val
ues. Stocks were being thrown over
without the slightest regard to the price
tliey would bring and at distressing .sac
rifice of values. No end to the help
lessness of the situation seemed in sight,
when, in the last half hour of the mar
ket some $10,000,000 was offered 011 flic
slock exchange by the concerted action
of the clearing house banks to force the
rate arbitrarily down to 6 per cent
without regard to the distracted bidding
at higher rates which was being done
by other brokers for distressed opera
tors.
BSKBHaHBBannHffIBianHHfIHBHHaHI
i A South African Soup That Failed. §
|1
|p How Zwager, a Boer of the Great Tr '• H
|| Postponed the War. ||
~1/> |] AEASSED b y
1 1 I thoughts of the up
-11 9 Bet in business
I')., I during the South
fci'sxV J | African crisis of
x I 1898, an American
***' "| named Phillips took
HI | the night train for
VWm,lfctr*4: Klerksburg, near
the Transvaal fron
tier.
A week before Phillips had seen
the "Gold lteef City" shivering in the
panic of the expected war. His
thoughts, as he stared out the car
wiudow, may have gone back bitterly
to Johannesburg, to the ridge which
has made so many sorrows, and his
own failure there. Clutched in the
hand, however, he held a telegram
from his partner, Burton, aid this
read: "Come up to Ivlerksburg next
train; big thing possible here."
ground him men were arguing heat
edly in various dialects as to where
Joubert would strike first, what
would happen to the Uitlanders, and
when it would begin to happen. The
train ran on hour after hour; it came
to a stop at last aud discharged its
passengers into the excited, question
ing crowds which tilled the streets of
Klerksbtirg. It was almost midnight,
but there was no quiet in the towns
of the border.
A large youug Englishman stepped
out of the shadows aud touched Phil
lips ou the elbow. "Here you are,"
he drawled. "It's late, but you
mustn't sleep yet, Jack. You're ex
pected."
"What is it, anyway?" asked Phil
lips.
"I don't know," replied the other,
"and I know at the same time that it
is something worth our while." He
was slower in his mental processes
than the Americau, and he now fell
into deep reflection. "It was Ather
ton who told me to get yon here.
Appears that there is something being
planned. Come along."
They turned into quieter streets,
walked for some distance, nnd came
to a house. The front of this was
darkened, but there were lights at the
reaifc al "l as they approached more
than one man came out and hurried
away. Burton held n low conversa
tion with some one at the door, aud
then returned to find his friend.
"They want to seo you alone in
there,'-' he explained, "and I'm to
wait."
Phillips went forward; a servant
ushered him through the house and
bowed him into a lighted room.
Three men were seated around a table
there, upon which lay spread n map
of Bouth Africa. In a smaller room |
behind Phillips could hear telegraph
instruments clacking feverishly and j
now and then a message would be j
brought out uud placed upon a table.
"London seems to be getting ex- j
cited," one of the three remarked.
They did not embarrass Phillips by
too close a scrutiny, but they were
taking note of him. "Sit down, won't
you," said one of them, a big man.
The speaker leaued baek almost shyly
in his chair, and turned his drowsy
gray eyes upon another, who looked i
like an ex-army officer. "You state
the case, Atherton," he said.
"Hem," observed the latter. "Well, \
Mr. Phillips, I suppose you would not j
be unwilling to accept of a good oppor-1
tunity."
Phillips smiled grimly. "I rather j
need to," he replied.
"Ah, yes. Well, no offence, you
know; but we havo been led to be- I
lieve that you are, a-hem, rather a
wild youug thing,"
The American's square jaw tight
ened, and he rose. "You might have
telegraphed that information," he
observed.
"No; sit down, please," said the
big mun, "and hear us through."!
There was a kind of fascination in his i
manner difficult to explain.
"You know," continued Atherton, I
his eyes upon the table nnd speaking
as if by note, "whether this country
is iu a healthy condition now. You
are from Johannesburg, and also know j
how the Uitlanders are being treated. |
Here in Klerksburg we believe that j
war is inevitable anil that the sooner j
it comes the better for us all. There
are, however, people who cannot un-!
derstand this situation and they advise j
delay." He nodded, perhaps uncon
sciously, toward the room where the
telegraph instruments were olickiug. j
"Not so many miles from here, at |
a point which your friend Burton
knows, there is a camp of the border I
police. It lies about two miles from j
the frontier line of the Transvaal, aud
tell miles on the other side the Boers [
have also a ramp. Very good. Now J
I need not point out to you that Africa '
is like a bin of gunpowder aud that it I
needs only a spark to set it afire. Here j
is whero that spark can bo struck." j
He put his finger upon the map. j
"Just at this point over the line is
the farm of a Boer named Zsvager. He
is an old Dutch rhinoceros, ready
euough for trouble; it would be very
easy for any one who went there, any 1
one who was rather wild and irrespon-1
Bible, to precipitate a quarrel. It j
would not need extreme measures—a !
mere quarrel, with perhaps a little '
inisusage. and the Boers there in camp |
would do the rest, for they would at - '
attack the border police as certainly
as we sit here. After that some his- |
toi v would probably be made."
Young Phillips whistled thought- I
fully. "It's rather to rich for us,"
lie said, "and cot the nicest job j
especially seeing that I'm an Ameri*
can. No, I guess not."
The big man raised himself up from
his chair, the lamplight fell upon him
redly as he stood, tall as a giant,
above the table whore lay the map of
South Africa. "An American," he
said, "that is all the better! Ameri
caus are men of our own blood and
this movement is for every man who
knowns what progress menus. It is
war .which must come, nnd in this
world we must look ugly facts iu the
face. Teople who are afraid to do
this say to me: 'But it will be too
dangerous;' they say to me, 'lt is
wrong;' but I sny to them, 'We must
look facts in the face; the Boers are
now arming with Mauser rifles.' I
say to them, 'My dear good people, I
admire your scruples, but remember
the ugly fact of those Mauser rifles.
Remember that, and then if you agree
that war must come at last, tell me
whether delay will not mean ten times
as many lives and 100 times the treas
ure.' A united Africa, that is my idea
—an Africa free for the Anglo-Saxon
from Cape Town to the Zambesi."
The dreamy gray eyes had lighted
up; the words came faster aud faster
iu the glow of the great idea. Aud as
he spoke there breathed out of this
man something mysterious aud won
derful, as out of unfathomed depths,
a spirit which oould stiffen the hearts
of other men and drive them forward,
reckless of barriers. Young Phillips
gazed at him, and the cold suspicion
melted out of his face.
"I guess, maybe," said ho slowly,
"that after alt I am a wild youug
thing."
The big man glanced at the other
men, and a little laugh all around
showed their appreciation of how
Phillips had risen to his chance. "Al
ways did like the way you Americans
could grasp a point," the leader said,
and shook hands.
The day after, Burton and Phillips
rode out of Klerksburg, and turned
their horses eastward. They left the
railroad lino upon their left, aud, as
they struck into the open veldt and
saw around them the wide cirole of
earth and sky, their spirits gayly rose
to this adventure. Darkness found
them still six miles from the camp of
the border police, but Burton knew
the ground, nndtliey pushed forward.
When they reached the camp of the
border police they were greeted with
applause. Burton knew most of the
men; a letter which he brought made
them still more welcome. They ate,
and afterward among their hosts lay
hack at ease around the car.pfire. In
visible horses champed and scuffled
! npon the plain around them; the
troopers smoked and looked up at the
watching stars until it was time to
I turu in.
! In the morning the two adventurers
: had a last word with the captain and
j then mounted their horses. They rode
to a little einiueuce aud stopped; they
were on the border line, the danger
line which needed only to be crossed
by fighting parties to mean a war. A
solitary falcon hovered high in the
untarnished blue, and before them
stretched the Transvaal, its veldt as
; yellow as a sea of gold. Old Zwager's
! farm lay like a dot in this aud over
I overything a Sabbath quiet brooded,
but here the spark could be struck
j which should set South Africa afire,
j The felt the delight of power, a sense
! of danger and daring leaped iu their
| blood aud they lode straight forward
I resolutely.
| Zwager's place was built up iu a
way usual to that region. A stone
wall encircled the squatty Dutch
buildings and served to keep the
calves ill the front dooryard. A fence
might have been easier, but Zwager's
great-grandfathers had managed it
j this way, and what had been good
! enough for them was good enough
1 for Zwager. They were admitted
through the gate by a lazy Kaffir boy
1 and, riding up to the house, beheld
I the owner.
Before the door in the sunshine sat
jan old and grizzed Boer—a Boer of
| the Groat Trek. Ho stared at them
for a moment silently, and then again
! turned his dull blue eyes upon the
distaht view. But after some reflec
| tion be removed his pipe and asked
them briefly: "What do you want?"
"We want some forage for our
| horses, first thing," Burton replied,
aud the two dismounted. Zwager re
flected somo time, and then an
j nouueed: "You can't have it."
I "O, we can't eh?" remarked Phil-,
lips. "Maybe that isn't for you to'
| sav." The correction appeared to be
' lost upon old Zwager; he sat still aud
gazed across the plain toward the blue
northward as though he expected
something favorable to come from
! that direction. For years and years
| the older Boers had been wont to
think of that free upcouutry, the uu
| tracked wilderness which could always
i be their refuge when the annoying
uproar of a rapid civilization came too
near. But nothing could come out of
it now except danger, aud they were
cut off from it forever as surely as
1 from the blue sea across which their
i forefathers had wandered two con-
I turies before for a place in which to
' stagnate comfortably. Old Zwager
' may have known this much of history
| from the homespun traditions passed
I down from sire to son, stories of old
I treks nnd battles for one's own idea of
| things, dared by men of a stubborn
I fanatic breed, like the Roundheads of
| Old England or the Puritans of the j
| New. But England and America j
; had gone foi yard somewhat, aud two
of their representatives, well up to
date, stood now before this old man
of the people who had stopped for two
centuries, and they hardly knew how
to take him.
"We want some forage," Burton
roared, with ferocious emphasis.
Old Zwager considered this de
mand once more, as though it had
been a new oue. "You can't have
it," he then replied, with undiplomatic
clearness, "because you are English
Bchelms" (rascals).
Phillips clenched his fist and
walked up to him. "Yes, now's your
chance," encouraged Burton. The
Kaffir, safe upon the wall, was appar
ently the only witness, and he, being
a native and untaught, seemed to
wonder that men of those races should
fall to fighting. Phillips put his fist
close up to the stolid face, then took
it nway again.
"Always did understand that yon
Americana were an uncertain set,"
complained the Englishman. He
strode up to the Boer himself, and
delivered au ultimatum. "You old,
dense, beastly, uncivilized mule," he
thundered, "tell the boy there to get
that forage, d'you hear?"
The ancient man never noticed
them. They both perceived with ease
that he thought they wore afraid ol
him. "O, before I'd stand that!"
Phillips taunted his companion. Pres
ently Zwager arose to his feet. "You
must now go away from here," he
proclaimed calmly, "your language is
not like the Scriptures." He went
and picked up a heavy stick and stiff
-ly advanced upon them.
They stood and watched him come,
the two strapping Saxons, and ex
changed a furtive glance. Then of a
sudden they broke in full retreat:
moved by the same impulse they slunk
back to their horses and mounted
without a word. Without a word
they left behind them Zwnger's place,
and for half a mile across tho velil
they rode a long way apart and would
not look ut each other. Finally they
pulled up, and something had to he
said.
"Er—ah—most disgusting failure,"
the Englishman remarked.
"I couldn't do it," the American re
plied, "because—" He stole a glance
at his companion, and read in his eyes
an answering horror—it was the awful
horror and hatred of their race for
"goody-goody talk." "Because," he
cried triumphantly, "I thought there
might be aome more Boers hidden in
the barn."
"Just so," assented the Briton in
relief, and came a little nearer, "My
own idea exactly." They rode along
together in dejection, knowing more
about themselves than previously they
had known. Around them the very
veldt seemed to he laughing over
something; and as they approached
the camp again suddenly they both
laughed too.
"G'ouldu't be done." Burton ex
plained briefly to the captain. "Ap
pears, you know, that there was con
cealed force in the neighborhood."
Hours afterward they left the camp,
and took the road toward Klerksburg.
They stopped once in the plain aud i
looked behind them at the border line j
and all was quiet along it. Then the ;
Englishman, doubtless with bis'
thoughts upon old Zwager, said;
"That war will come, though, assure
as the sun is up there."
"Or as sure as there is gold in,
Johannesburg," the other agreed,
"but it won't he us that will start it.
We two weren't made, I guess, to dc
dirty work."
Ho Hicked his horse again, and grin
ning cheerfully the unsuccessful ones
rode westward in the sunshine.—New
Yoik Sun.
Advice to RrltUli Officer*.
It is interesting to read what Lord
Wolseley has said in his Soldier's
Pocket Book under the head of "Ad
vioe to Officers on Service as Regards
Their Roaring Toward Their Men."
He snys: "In action, to he cool and to
seem ignorant that any danger exists j
is of the first cousequence. You must, I
at the same time, however, evince a '
lively interest in all that is going on;
come what may, have a smiling face.
Ti your men are under a fire to which
they are not replying, walk about in
front of them as they are lyir.w down.
I do not mean that yon are never to
avail yourself of cover, for wheu
skirmishing it is your duty to do so,
but under the above mentioned cir
cumstances the best troops are proue
to become unsteady, aud it is then the
especial duty of the officers to show
an example of coolness and steadiness.
When wounded, officers should take a
pride iu refusing the assistance of the
men to take them to the rear," etc.—
New York Commercial Advertiser.
Autugrupli "PIK" llo'.ikH.
One of the most amusing fads at tho
present moment is a "pig" book, in
which all aud sundry of your friends
are asked to draw a pig with their
eyes shut, and sign their names under
it. It is far more interesting than au
ordinary autograph book, and causes
endless fun. A pig seems an easy and
mild animal to portray on paper; but
the portraits of him that are drawn
under these oircamstances are like
nothing earthly, either in the animal
or vegetable kingdom. Many people
say, however, that you can tell a per
son's character as well from one ol
these drawings as from the hand
writing, and if you make a study of
the subject you will find that they are
not far wroug.—Boston Trauseript.
Hum Peilro's Juke.
A bon mot, to which fate has since
added an ironical comment, has been
attributed to tho ex-Emperor of Brazil,
on being shown one of those mechani
cal woDders which always interested
him more thau the cares of govern
ment, a wheel that made we know not
how many revolutions in the minute.
"Why," said the monarch, "it ac
tually beats our South American re
publics."—London Spectator.
OUR BUDGET OF HUMOR.
LAUGHTER-PROVOKINC STORIES FOR
' OVERS OF FUN.
Her Little Laugh—During the Quarrel—
Worm Thau War—(He Preference—
Criticism—One of Ills Needs—Wllliug
to Oblige—More Appropriate, Etc,
Her little laugh rang sweet and clear.
Its silvery music charmed mv ear;
All life seemed on the merriest plan
When she laughed at the other man.
Her little laugh again I heard.
Hut to no mirth my soul was stirred;
It made a difference, you see,
When, heartless girl, she laughed at ine.
—Chicago Record.
During the Quarrel.
Hubby (angrily) — 1 'Whatever I say
goes."
Wife (sweetly) "Of course itdois,
dear. You say it so loud that it goes
all over the neighborhood."—New
York World.
Worse Than War.
"What's the diflerence between foot
ball and war?"
"Football is war without any human 3
object in view."—Chicago News.
Ills Preference.
"Would you rather be President of
the United States or King of Eng
land?"
"I'd rather be Admiral Dewey,"
was the prompt response of the boy.
Criticism.
First Tramp—"Dose people what
complain of dere work beiu' .00 hard
make me tired."
Second Tramp—"Dey do?"
First Tramp—"Yes. Why don't
dey t'row up de job?"— Pack.
One of His Needs.
Papa—"Of course, Robinson Crnsoe
wa* very anxious to get back to Eng
land—"
Young America—"l suppose ho
wanted a shave and a hair-cut."—
Puck.
Willing to Oblige.
Applicant—"How many servants do
you keep?"
Mistress—"Three."
Applicant—"And where r you
live?"
Mistress—"Oh, we don't mind mov
ing to anywhere you may want to
go!" Judge.
More Appropriate.
"I notice thatwc have shipped move
than 400,000 barrels of American ap
ples, all fresh fruit, to Europe this
season."
"Dried apples would have been more
appropriate for swell patrons."—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I.ucky •liiutnle.
JrM'ty/M' A, K'Pr
Johnnie—"Ain't you goin' ter
school ter day?"
Jitnmie (joyfully) "No sireo, I'm
goin' ter stay home; and nil I got ter
do is clean out the pump, cut two
cords o' wood and put in atouo'coal."
—Collier's Weekly.
Advice to the UuMler.
New Drummer—"T can sell a big
bill of goods to any man on earth."
Proprietor—"That's all right, but
don't exert yourself to sell goods to
any mau who hasn't got money."
A Sly Dig.
Mrs. Heupeck—"No doubt the
ancients were considered wise because
there were fewer temptations in those
days."
Henpeck—"Why, my dear, the
proportion of women in the world
must have been about tho same."—
Life.
She If ohl* II im To It.
Downtrod—"Never write letters,my
boy, that you'll regret in afterlife."
Dewtell—"You speak as from ex
perience?"
Downtrod—"l do. In early cor*
respondeuco with her who is now my
wife I signed myself 'Your obedient
servant.' " —Tit-Bits.
A Smaller Investment.
"Just think of tho men who become
great by burning the midnight oil!"
"Yes," answered the mau who
speaks of weary accents. "Ouecould
nfiord to burn oil Those ineu didn't
have to run risks and put in their
good money burning gas at $1.25 per
thousand feet."—Washington Star.
Clerical Ordnunce,
Hobbs —"I see by the papers that
your friend, the Rev. Dr. Bang, has
joined the artillery of the church."
Dobbs—"What do von mean?"
Hobbs —"Why, he's been made a
canon of the cathedral."
Dobbs—"Hm; I didn't know that
he was such a big gun."—New York
Weekly.
Ills Vlgorouit Kick.
Stubb —"So the audience found the
•how to bo a fake?"
Penn—-"Yes, and among them was
a football captain. Ho made tho big
gest kick."
Stubb—"Good for you! But how
did.he express himself?"
Peun—"He said he wanteu hie
quarter-bact"
THE TEAMSTER'S TALE.
Undertook a .Job or Moving That Wa
Heyoiid Human Power.
"This," Haiil tlie hospital surgeon,
"is rather an interesting ease. We've
just got through ilressing his wounds,
and there is positively not an inch on
his body anywhere that isn't cut or
contused, skinned or bruised."
"Yepee," observed the patient,
slowly unclosing one eyo—the other
was swollen fast shut—and standing
out from among the bandages which
swathed his head.
"There's times when I wish I was a
millionaire an' drove a tally-ho 'stead
of a freight-wagon—an' this is one of
them times." ho added, plaintively;
and 1 recognized Big Jake, general
handler of freight and baggage in the
town.
"Why, .Take," I cried, "how did
this happen?"
"Iduu'no,"he replied, slowly and
laboriously. "All I know is the
events leadin' up to the castastroplie,
an' the begiunin' of it was Mr. Bur
kins comin' to me this nioruiu' an'
sayin', Make, there's soinethiu* down
at the house I want moved, ill's very
heavy an' unwieldy, an' 'sapt to cause
you a lot of trouble, but you an'a
couple of helpers ought to bo able to
handle it. Do you want the job?' 'I
do,' I says, 'an' I know a pair of fel
lers, an' I'll bet tho three of us can
move anything in this town, if tho
price is right,' 'Well,' he says. 'l'll
be liberal with you. I'll give you lifty
dollars if you make a success of it;
if you don't, you don't get a cent. Is
it a go?' 'Sure,' says I. 'Mo an'
them fellers will guarantee to move
everything you got in the house for
that.' He smiled kinder a solemn
smile, and says: 'Very good. Get
your helpers, an' come down to the
house as soon as you can.'
"Well, I kinder thought it was the
easiest fifty that'd come my way since
I was iu the teaming business, au' I
drove up to his door whistliu* as
chirky an' chipper as a lamb led to the
slaughter-house. Mr. Burkina opens
the door for us himself, au' leads tho
way to the kitchen. There was a tre
mendous big three-hundred-pouud
female seowlm' somethin' frightful,
an' Mr. Burkina jerks his head towards
her an' whispers: 'I want you to re
moye that cook. I've tried to dis
charge her 'most a million times, an'
if you men can only get her out of the
house oncet, I'll——'
"That was all I heard, 'causo the
cook must 've overheard him or sus
pected somethin'. Anyways, the ail
got so full of pots an' pans an' coal
scuttles an' stove lids au' kettles an'
cooks an' hats an' feet an' lollin'-pins
an' things comin' our way, thnt you
couldn't breathe. The next thing I
knew I was here gettin' patched up.
"I'm out fifty an' my time here, hill
I'm goin' to blow a couple of ceuts
more iu on the job to-morrer mornin'
fer a newspaper. The helpers is
groauin' an' sweariu' in them cots
over there, but I'm kinder curious to
know what become of Mr. Burkina iu
the excitement.—Alex. Eickotts, in
Harper's Bazar.
llritißtl Subjects ami Fleets.
British commercial enterprise has
splashed the maps of both hemis
pheres with splotches of red, and the
cockney accent has penetrated to every
quarter of the globe. The Uuion Jack
(lies from the Arctic to the equator,
and still farther south. In 18ii7 the
British Empire only included 8,329,-
000 square miles, and its population
was only 168,000,000. Now there are
11,250,000 square miles, and the pop
ulation is nearly 500,000,000. These
figures do not include territory nomi
nally belonging to Great Britain but
unoccupied, or places ocoupied by
troops but not declared to be actual
British territory, like Egypt and tho
Soudan. Great Britain protects this
Empire by the largest nnvy in tho
world. She maintains a lleet of thirty
eight cruisers and battleships iu the
Mediterranean, twolveoff the Atlantic
coast of North America and in tho
West Indies, nine in the East Indies,
twenty-eight in Chinese waters, six
teen at the Cape of Good Hope, seven
on the Pacific coast of North America,
twelve round Australia and four oil
South America.—-Answers oT Loudon.
About Capers.
"About eight thousand kegs and
barrels of capers, a small, sour berry
resembling in color and shape a grceu
pea, are annually imported into the
United States from Spain and France,"
said a wholesale dealer in all sorts of
foreign condiments iu New York City
to the writer recently. "Capers grow
on a bush, and are extensively used
by all classes of cooks in this coun
try for garnishing salnds and making
a sauce which is usually served with
boiled mutton and other meats. There
are four sizes of caper. The smallest
are commercially known as nonpareils
and the three other sizes are called
capucines, capotes and surfiues. The
smallest capers are the most desirable
and bring tho most money. Very few
capers are imported iu glass. They
are shipped to America in kegs and
barrels holding from fifteen to forty
gallons of the berries in brine or vin
egar. The work of bottliugthe capers
is doue by the wholesale dealer."—
Washington Star.
Patriotic PrußHian Plgi.
A correspondent of the Deutsche
Tages Zeitung utEidelstedt.in Schles
wig-Holstein, gravely announces that
such is the patriotism of Prussian pigs
that they refuse to eat American bar
ley. The latter does not differ in odor
or aspect from the home-grown article
which the pigs devour with avidity.
The Tages Zeitung, inspired probably
by the action of the discriminating
swine, asks: "How long will it be be
fore all American products from ham
to barley will be prohibited from im
portation into Germany on account of
their suspicious character?"—Correa
pondence New York Sun.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
In the savannahs of South Amer
ica there grows a tree called by the
natives chaparro, which not only is
not injured but actually benefited by
prairie fires. The thick hark resists
the action of the flames, and the hard
seeds are supplied with a kind of wings
owing to which they arc scattered
broadcast by the strong wind which
accompanies a fire.
Great Salt Lake is receding ou
account of the excessive drain made
upon it by irrigation enterprises.
This lair-o is not fed by underground
springs, but by the Jordan and other
rivers, and when the water of these
streams is intercepted for irrigation
purposes the water supply of the Salt
Lake is, of course, diminished so that
the evaporation which is constantly
going on is not made up by a new
supply. In time it looks as if the
lake will be only a bed of dry salt.
Professor Mansfield Merriman,
studying the United States census re
parts aince 1850, has discovered a
marked and steady increase in the
length of human life iu our country
during tho last half cqntury. His sta
tistics, which were presented at tlia
recent meeting of the Americau Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Sci
ence, show that iu 1850 the median
age of tho cutiro population was 18.3
years, while in 1890 it had risen to
21.4 years. Iu 1900, he anticipates,
it will be 22.4 years. By "median
age" is meant that which divides the
population equally, one half being
above and the other half below the
median.
Professor Arrhenius, who has re
oently investigated the causes of secu
lar variations in the temperature at
the earth's surface, thinks that they
are more probably due to changes in
the amount of carbonic acid in the at
mosphere than to variations iu tho
heat of the sun. If the amount of
carbonic acid that the air now con
tains wero diminished a little more
than one-half, the mean temperature
all over tho earth would drop nbont
eight degrees, which would be suffi
cient to bring on another glacial per
iod. On the other hand, an increase
of carbonic aeid to between two and
three times its present amount would
raise the meau temperature fifteen
degrees and renew the hot times of
the Eocene epoch.
Professor Jacques Loob, of the
University of Chicago, working at
Wood's Holl, Mass., has succeeded in
developing from the uufertilized eggs
of the sea urohin, by chemical treat
ment, living aud normal plutel or
young sea urchins. Ho is led by fur
ther experiments to believe that this
can be done with all marine animals,
and reasoning from this discovery and
from the work ot his colleagues ho
lias crime to tho couolnsion that simi
lar results are possible with mamma
lians. In the summary of the year's
work at Wood's Holl the discovery is
announced thus: "The unfertilized egg
of the sea urchin contains all the essen
tial elements for the production of s
perfect pluteus. I cousiiler it possi
ble that only the ions of. the blood
prevent the parthenogenetio origin ol
embryos in mammalians, and I think
it not impossible thnt a transitory
change in the ions of tho blood may
also allow complete parthenogenesis
in mammalians."
Hlcli Llclit*,
Love has a thousand eyes, but most
of them are near-sighted.
Of knowledge oven tho wisest man
carries only n sample case.
If a girl can't sing all she has to do
is to net as if sho thought she could.
A liberal education is ono that al
lows girls as well as hoys to run to
fires.
If a sorrow gnaw your vitals bo glad
it isn't moths iu your winter overcoat.
We pursue happiness on tho high
way, hut it is more ofleu found iu the
by-paths.
As au obstacle to success in life too
much self-control is sometimes as had
as too little.
To be obviously end anxiously care
ful regarding tho correct thing is not
the correct thing.
Second thoughts are wisest,because
by the time we get thein we have re
membered to hold our tongues.
For a woman to worship a man is
all right, but for her to let him know
it is to give him her best frump.
As soon as a doctor's prescription
makes a woman feol better she iH sorry
she wasted money getting it filled.—
Chicago Record.
Cut Off I lie Wrong I.eg.
There is an enterprising Liverpool
tailor who has never been known to
acknowledge that he didn't have any
thing a possible customer might ask
for.
One day p. customer entered the
shop and asked if he had any trousers
made especially for one-legged men.
"Certainly," replied the merchant.
"What kind do you want?"
"Dress trousers," said the man.
"The best you've got."
Hurrying into the rear of the store,
the enterprising merchant snatched
np a pair of trousers and snipped ofl
the right leg with a pair of scissors.
Hastily turning under the edges, he
presented them to the customer.
"That's the kind I want. What's
the price?"
"One guinea."
"Well, give me a pair with the left
leg off."
A month later the merchant was
pronounced convalescent aud ou the
high road to recovery.—Tit-Bits^
The Ideal Munhand.
The ideal husband is tho husband
who can be made to think he is hav
ing his own way, without the neigh
bors being made to think he is having
his own way.—Detroit Journal.