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NEW YORK SNAKES.
Twenty-Five Rinds In the State and
Three Are Poisonous.
Edwin C. Eckel of the New York
State museum at Albany has compiled
facts which show that in New York
state 25 kinds of snakes have been
found, or can reasonably be expected
to occur. Of these several are only
varieties, says the New York Sun.
The list of snakes is as follows: Tho
worm snake, ring-necked snake,
blowing adder, green snake, black
snake, racer, pine snake, milk snake,
brown snake, De Kay's brown snake,
three species of garter snakes, copper
head, masasauga or prairie rattlesnake
and the banded rattlesnake. It is of
so ire interest to note that only tho last
three of the above list are poisonous.
Of these, the copperhead is found usu
ally in marshy or swampy land, while
the banded or common rattlesnake is
commonly an inhabitant of rocky hills.
The masasaujji is a smaller species
than the banded rattlesnake and has
never been found in this state except
in one swamp near the Gene ve river.
Both the copperhead and the rattle
snake are much rarer than Is common
ly supposed, the latter being practic
ally confined to tho Adirondack region
and to those parts of Orange and Rock
land counties which fall within tho
highlands of the Hudson. Deaths
from their bite are very rare, probably
not exceeding, in this state, one caso
in five years. The copperhead, while
smaller than the rattlesnake, and
therefore lens venomous, is generally
regarded as the more dangerous of tho
two species. This is due to the fact;
that the ratt! vnake will, in general,
give warning of his intention to strike,
while the copperhead lies silently and
motionless until his victim is within
reach of his fangs. Though frequently
one sees In print descriptions of meth
ods by which poisonous snakes can bo
differentiated from harmless species,
few of the tests commonly given can
be applied at a safe distance, and some
of them are not applicable to all of
our poisonous snakes. For example,
it has been often stated that the pois
onous snakes have many small scales
covering tho tops of their heads, while
the harmless varieties aiv covered with
a few comparatively large plates. This
IK true as far as tho banded rattlesnake
is concerned, but 'both the masasauga
and the copperhead have the large
head-plates like harmless snakes. Tho
thickness of the body 13 also, to soma
degree, a sign of a poisonous snake,
but the harmless blowing adder also
possesses this peculiarity. The head
of the poisonous snakes is very mark
edly triangular, looked at from above,
while the neck is comparatively thin
and well marked off from both body
and head. In the harmless species on
the contrary, the head is more cr less
unmarked.
OUR COAL SUPPLY.
Our Bituminous Flclili the Most Ex
tensive In the World.
The 194,000 square miles of coal fields
bdonging to the United States give It
A supply averaging one square mile of
coal field to each 15 square miles of
territory. The meaning of this may be
seen when it is remembered that th 6
ration for Great Britain is 1 to 20 and
for France 1 to 200 With the exception
of anthracite coal beds covering 500
square miles in eastern Pennsylvania,
but averaging 60 fact in thickness, and
excepting also one or two small
patches of coal in Colorado and New
Mexico, the above*figures refer to bitu
minous or soft coal. The eastern por
tion of the United States contains five
great coal beds: First, the Appalachian
field, extending from the northern
boundary of Pennsylvania to central
Alabama; second, the Illinois-Imp ma
field, which extends into northwestern
Kentucky; third, a field 150 miles wide
extending southward from central
Jowa, covering Indian Territory and
sending one arm acrors Arkansas and
another in central Texas; fourth, a line
of strata in Texas from tho northeast
ern corner of the state to the Rio
Grande river; fifth, the central Michi
gan field. The western fields do not lie
In large continuous sheets, but consti
tute small, Isolated pockets averaging
25 miles in width and 50 miles in
length. Such beds may be found
throughout, the entire Rocky mountain
region from Montana to New Mexico,
numbering in all 45 distinct beds in
Colorado, Wyoming and :h two states
mentioned. To the west of this group
of detached llel.ln we find Idaho, hav
ing four small beds, Washington four,
and California five.
THE LUCKY BARGAIN.
I have a friend, without whose face
(God keep his face from sorrow free!)
The world would be a dreary place
For weary me.
To please him is my chief delight;
I'd rather die than give him pain,
Yet this I've done in my despite,
And shall again.
My friend is kind when I am cross,
Nor ever cross when I am kind;
lie rules the sullen waves that toss
My toiling mind.
| A CULPRIT CORNERED. |
"?r S Herbert French was leav
/\ ing a street car, in which he
had ridden for about twenty
minutes, a loud exclamation
caused him to pause.
"Hi, sir!" shouted the conductor,
you've left something behind."
French knew lie had left nothing;
but lie was not the man to lose the
chance of obtaining anything for the
sake of a lie.
"Here you are. sir." and the con
ductor thrust a parcel into his hand,
j French gave the conductor a dime,
and a few minutes later was at the
house in which ho lodged, and ascend
ed to liis room. Here lie examined the
article which Fate—or the car con
ductor—had given him. It was a
I square, bulky package, enveloped in
I brown paper ami tied neatly with a
I piece of red tape. There was no ad
-1 dress on the cover, and. openiug It. ho
j found a quantity of closely-written
| manuscript, inscribed in a Arm and
I clear handwriting, and headed "The
j Maze of Life."
1 It was a story, lie could see at a
! glance; and no name or address was
; upon it. lie threw it on one side,
; with a quiet laugh.
I "Not much fear of that being adver
| Used for," he sai l aloud. "Some poor
I beggar of an author forgot it, I sup
! pose, who hasn't got a dollar to bless
himself willi—like me.*'
• Herbert French was an individual
who for years had existed in the man
ner which is commonly called "living
lon his wits." That is to say ho could
I turn his hand -or his bend—to nearly
i everything, but practically skillful at
i nothing.
1 Once upon a time he held a good
position In a large business house; but
i Ills name became mixed up in some
j underhand practices, and he had to go.
| He had drifted from one thing to an
| other, as many a man does, and now
| he was a canvasser for advertisements
i for a so-called "society weekly," run
Iby a broken-down journalist. There
i was a certain amount of money to be
! made at the work, and French spoilt
bis scanty earnings like a prince. How
I ho managed to live was a puzzle to
| many people and often a puzzle to
I himself.
j Ills landlady, with whom lie settled
! promptly, regarded him as an estlma
' bio lodger, and was loud in her praises
of the "littery gent, on the third front "
Those of whom he occasionally bor
rowed money referred to him in quite
' a different fashion.
I For a day or two, French watched
; the advertising columns of the news
i papers in the hope of finding a reward
; offered for the manuscript in his pos
i session. None appeared, however, and
; the little pile of foolscap lay in his
j room almost forgotten for some weeks.
1 Then one night he picked it up and
\ glanced curiously at the first sheet. He
! read it and turned to the second, and
as he did so his interest was aroused.
| It was seldom he read anything except
! the police reports, but "The Maze of
i Life" laid hold of him at once. Page
after page he eagerly devoured.
The fire in his room sank lower and
lower, and finally sank out in a feeble
: splutter. A neighboring clock chimed
1 the hour of two. but still lie sat leaning
over the table, bis eyes gloaming with
; eagerness as he turned the sheets over,
i Now and again he would pause and
j wips bis forehead with his handker
chief. As ihe faint streaks of dawn
shimmered coldly through the win
j dow panes he came to the end.
I "Good Heavens!" he murmured ns
he sank hack, exhausted. "What i
story!"
He gathered the manuscript togeth
er again.
"Who wrote it, I wonder? It's a mas
terpiece*—a work of genius! The poor
devil who lost it—what a blow!"
Then came the thought: "What to do
with it?" He knew the honorable
course open to him—to advertise it.
But I-lerbent French always preferred
to take the orposite course to the lion
] orable one.
i Next day an idea struck him. Ir
scared him at first in its insolence, and
i he put it on on side as impossible and
i too risky. Thinking it over later, it
. lost its tearfulness. It was risky, cer
• iainly; but he had grown callous to
I taking risks, especially where money
i was the Inducement. And it might, be
. thought, be possible for liini to carry it
j through unscathed.
! "Why not liave 'The Maze of Life'
published as bis own work? That It
| would be accepted by a publisher of
j repute on its own merits he felt sure,
i a work that throbbed * itli genius, tliat
i gripped the reader from the first cbap-
J ter and held him spellbound to the end.
I could not go begging. And the chances
J of the real author coming forward?
What then? lie preferred not to dwell
{ on that.
Yes, lie would risk it, and if he was
! discovered he would brazen it out. to
? the end.
I He took the manuscript to a type
! writing esHh'ishmeut, aim a few days
i later it was relumed with a neaily
! typed copy, lie burned the original,
i and lalt much safer when this was
j doii'2. Then lie despatched Hie type
His gracious spirit gives me joy;
What can X give him for his grace?
A little, useless, battered toy
Of time and space.
A box of prayers with broken wings,
Of shapeless hopes and wasted hours,
Of half a hundred worn-out things
And faded flowers;
Wherein one blossom lives and makes
A light, whereat his lips will part
And smile for kindness, as he takes
The proffered heart.
—N. S., in the Spectator.
written story to one of the foremost
publishers iu the city.
The weeks that followed were tortur
ous ones to Herbert French. At times
lie regretted having taken the step he
had done, and wished he had never
seen "The Maze of Life." He would
laugh at his fears, aud picture himself
the author of the day. A mootli slipped
by aud a polite note reached him from
tho publishers to the euect that their
render had reported favorably ou his
work and they would be happy to ne
gotiate for its publication.
Three months later the literary
world was in a state of excitement. On
every hand people were talking of the
new book which had been launched
upon the sea of literature with such
signal success. The critics had, with
few exceptions, spoken of "The Maze
of Life," by Halifax Flanders, ns a*
work of genius. Edition after edition
had been Issued, and still the book
sellers clamored constantly for more.
The book was discussed by all classes,
by the mechanic as well as by the
professional man. learned men and
women, and one and all joined in vol
uminous praise of the who had
written it.
But who was Halifax Flanders? No
one seemed to know. Paragraphs were
appearing in the papers daily setting
forth in one quarter that the author
was a lady of the best society, and in
another that "Halifax Flanders" was
the nom de plume of a man of letters
already famous under his owu name.
The publishers would give no informa
tion beyond stating that the author
desired his Identity to remain un
known.
And what of French? He had in
tended to change the title, but some
fatal influence compelled him to retain
the original name. "Halifax Fland
ers" lie regarded as a cleverly con
ceived nom de plume—a name that
would attract by reason of its uncom
mon sound.
But if he had been unsettled before
(he book appeared, ids agony was ten
fold worse now. As the sale of thc
bcok increased by leaps and bounds,
his fears of exposure rose accordingly.
"Don't under any consideration di
vulge my real name." he had said to
1 le publishers; hut dally he expected
the author to come forward and hold
him up ns a thief and a fraud.
One evening he was sitting In his
room when his landlady tapped at the
door.
He started up guiltily.
"What is it?" he shouted, a nervous
apprehension selling him.
The landlady entered, closely fol
lowed by a young woman in walking
costume.
"If you please, sir," blurted out the
former, "this young woman called to
see you, and although I told her you
wasn't going to see anybody, she
would follow mo up the stairs, saying
it was very important business," and
she surveyed the visitor with an eye of
disgust.
Herbert French rose from his chair.
"It's all right, Mrs. Coowber," he
said; "you may go."
"Won't you be seated?" he asked the
young woman, when tiiey were alone.
"Thank you," was the answer, in a
pretty feminine voice, "I've come from
the Bulletin to interview you, if you
will allow me."
The man turned pale.
"How did you obtain my address?"
he asked, with a quiver in his tone.
"I will tell you later on," responded
the interviewer. "You are Mr. Hali
fax Flanders, aren't you?"
"I am," came the strained reply.
"But that is not your real name—ls
it. uow?" queried the youug woman.
"Isn't it Herbert French?"
"Herbert French! How do you
know ?"
"I got it from the same source
whence I obtained your address. I got
it from Miss Jerning's typewriting
agency, in Nassau street. I see
you recollect." The answer was given
in .t taunting manner that stung
French to the quick.
"What is it you want?" lie raved.
"Who are you? What do you want of
"Pray calm yourself, my dear sir,"
interrupted the other. "If you will
resume your seat, 1 will tell you what
I want with you. Come now, sit down."
Like a child he obeyed. There was
something in the keen eye of his visi
tor that forced obedience.
"Now, Mr. French, I will toll you
who I am. My name is Nellie Searle—
a name which I suppose you dou't
know. It is I. and not you, who wrote
•The Maze of Life,' now so famous.
Don't, interrupt," as French began
speaking; "listen to me first. I wrote
that story—wrote when I was nearly
starving. Not a friend had I in the
whole world—not one. Night aftc
night, after I had tolled uselessly
through the streets looking for work.
I have sat in my room writing for
dear life, every word I wrote being
like a drop of my own life's blood ooz
ing away. Then at last I finished It:
| i was almost destitute then. You
; know the rest of my story. Dou't lie.
[ man! What's the use? Somehow I
left rny manuscript in the street car,
when I was talcing It to the publishers
—one of those things one does through
trying too much to be extremely care
ful. You found it—liar, you must liave
done so—and you kept it. I applied
to the office of the car Company, X
searched the newspapers, expecting
to discover that some honest man had
found and advertised it; but it never
came back to me. Gradually I gave
up hope, and then I saw the book for
sale, with 'Halifax Flanders' on It as
Ihe author. X knew then how I had
been cruelly robbed. I had obtained a
situation on the Bulletin in the mean
time "
"But how did you discover me?"
jerked out the cringing man.
"Yes, you may well ask. Yesterday I
ran across a friend whom I had lost
sight of years ago. She had set up a
typewriting agency—yes, Miss Jerning,
you know her—and from her I gath
ered who it was that had robbed me.
It was you—you cur—you thief—whom
I have come to interview for my paper.
To-morrow that Interview will appear.
All your knavery will he exposed to
the world. You nearly killed me by
stealing the child of my brain, the
child I've wept over aud neavly starved
over, and now I'll have my revenge."
She ceased, and the man looked up
into her face.
"How do you think you can prove
that you wrote the story?" he gasped.
But the woman turned to the door,
and was gone.
Next day the Bulletin came out with
an interview with the great "Halifax
Flanders" set in double-loaded type,
and an exposure of his infamy. Peo
ple smiled increduously when they
read it. and wondered how such a wild
statement could have squeezed itself
into the columns of so reputable a
journal.
A few hours later the evening papers
contained the news of the suicide of
(lie author of "The Maze of T.lfe," a
man named French, who had hidden
liis identity under the peculiar pseu
donym of "Halifax Flanders."—New
York Weekly.
Father Tlmu's Own Clock.
"The transmitting clock at the Na
val Observatory, Washington, is the
absolute monarch of American time
keepers," writes, Evander Mclver
Sweet in the Ladles' Home Journal.
"Every day in the year except Sunday,
by oue pendulum stroke it speaks di
rectly aud instantaneously to every
city and considerable town between
the peaks of the Rockies and tne pines
of Maine, saying to them that on the
seventy-Hfth meridian it is now high
noon to the fraction of a second. A
duplicate mechanism, stationed at the
Branch Naval/ Observatory on Marc
Island, performs a similar service for
the people of the Pacific slope. Aud
by this one clock at the national capi
tal (together with its duplicate on the
Pacific), is set nearly every timepiece
in the United States and Ouba, most
of those in Mexico and many on the
border of Canada. A number of
clocks—from three to 3000—in nearly
every city aud large town are wired
together into a local family, and, by
means of a switch key at the telegraph
office, are put into direct contact with
the parent clock at the national capi
tal. So that the instant the electric
touch is given from Washington every
clock in the circuit—whether it be at
Boston, Minneapolis or New Orleans
begins a new day in perfect accord
with its mechanical deity."
CAuaeft of Former Kuropeim Supremacy
A thousand years ago, when Con
stantinople was the capital of the
world, the eastern trade reached Scan
dinavia by this route, Kiev being the
outpost of the Greek economic system,
aud Nogorod the northern emporium,
says Brooks Adams in the Atlantic.
Within the northern commercial thor
oughfare lay the cradle and liot-bed of
western civilization; beyond lay deso
late wastes, impenetrable alike to the
trader aud the soldier. These wastes
cut Europe oft' from the Pacific coast,
a region singularly favored both in
soil and minerals. Europe, on the
contrary, has never been remarkable
either for the fecundity of its soil or
the wealth of its mines. It reached
high fortune rather because, before
railroads its physical formation lent
itself in a supreme degree to cheap
transportation.
A tongue of land deeply indented by
the sea and penetrated throughout by
navigable rivers, It could market what
it had when the treasures of Asia aud
America lay inaccessible. This ad
vantage Europe retained until within
about twenty years, and the new in
dustrial revolution has been at once
the cause and the effect of its loss.
Observations.
A real home is less picturesque than
an ideal one, but a deal more comfort
able.
Many will ask Tor your candid opin
ion, but none will thank you for it.
Egotism and cowardice have the
same mother.
No world-wise woman ever assured
a man that she was "always the
same."
Unless tile Sphinx has broken si
lence the riddle of woman is yet un
solved.
Man's first thoughts need revision;
not so woman's, which are intuitions.
Woman hns put more spokes in the
wheel of destiny than man.
Take a good look at a girl's mother
before you commit yourself, is very
respectfully submitted to wooers.—
Philadelphia Record.
C'HUHO of LLU* Dellciency,
A home for indigent lawyers has
been established in Madison, Wis.
This would seem to indicate that not
enough rich men iu Wisconsin are
leaving defective wills.—Boston Com
! meroii.l.
FATE OF THE T. F. OAKES
POSTED AS LOST THE SHIP TURNS
UP AFTER NINE MONTHS.
Ono oT tli© Most Ifemitrkiible CHAPS K?er
Known in Marino History—A (irevsoine
Yarn of Storm :ind Calm ami Sickneot
Heroic 0 r the Skipper's Wife.
Ono of the most remarkable cases
of a vessel being posted at Lloyd's as
missing and then turning up was that
of the sky sail clipper T. F. Oakcs, the
first American iron square-rigger ever
launched. She left the port of Hong-
Kong on July 4, 1896, for New York.
Her usual time from China to Sandy
Hook was about 125 days. After she
had been out about 250 days, and was
not reinsurable, she was posted. Her
agents had given her up as lost, and
the relatives of her skipper, Captain
Edward W. Reed, and his wife, who
accompanied him on the voyage, had
gone into mourning. The nautical
world was startled when, on Monday,
March 22, 1897, the old iron ship ap
peared in the port of New York, 260
days out of Hong Kong. She brought
as grewsome a yard of storm and calm
and sickness as was ever spun in fore
castle or cabin. The missing ship
came in tow of the oil-carrying steam
ship Kasbek, which sailed from Phil
adelphia on March 13 deep laden for
Fiume. When she was about three
liunfced miles southeast of Sandy
Hook ono of her officers who was on
the bridge, saw a blue light gleaming
through the frosty air, thick with
spoondrift, The tank bore down to
ward the signal, and when she was
within hailing distance of the Oakes,
Captain Muir, who had been sum
moned from his cabin, shouted across
the troubled sea: 'Heave to, you are
moving too fast for us!' A feeble
voice returned this strange answer:
" 'We can't do it; send a boat to us.'
"The Oakes was on the starboard
tack, pitching into the swells with
only her fore, main and mizzen lower
topsails set. Captain Muir lowered a
boat with three men, in charge of
Chief Officer Helsliam. The scant
sail of the clipper forced her bar
nacled hull through the seas at less
than two knots, and the muscular
oarsmen of the tank, by hard rowing,
were able to overhaul her within half
an hour. Before dawn Helsham was
alongside. A voice from the siil;. said:
'We want a tow.'
" 'What do you want to pay?' Hel
sham asked. Then the voice, which
was that of Second Mate Abrams, re
sponded, 'We'll settle that by arbitra
tion; six of our crew are dead, twelve
are sick in the fok's'le and only two
of us can move about ship.' Helsham
returned to the Kasbek. reported the
clipper's condition to Captain Muir,
who shouted to the Oakcs : 'We'll
stand by you.'
"The British sailors got out a nine
inch raanila hawser and bent it on a
two-and-a-half-inch line. The lino was
passed through a hawser pipe astern
and got afowl of the propeller. About
125 fathoms of it spun and slashed
around the propeller blades, and the
outboard part of the tail shaft. The
propeller was jammed and the engine
came to a stop before Chief Engineer
Stevens could shut off steam. Tho
tank was to windward of the square
rigger and drifted directly into her
course, The chief engineer tried to
start the ship again by using the aux
iliary turning engine, which broke
down. The iron prow of the Oake3
would have pierced the hull of the
Kasbek if her sailormen had not
hoisted on her three pole masts fore
and-aft sails which she used in emer
gency. As it was, there was only a
boat's length between the two ships
when the Kasbek backed out of the
Oakes' course. The tank was helpless
about eight hours. A westerly gale
sprang up and the Oakes vanished be
low the horizon. Tho chief engineer
uncoupled tho propeller shaft and
forced it aft until the propeller boss
was clear of the stern post. He and
his men had been unable to free from
the tail shaft the two and one-half
inch line, which had been jammed
about it. After uncoupling the pro
peller shaft there was a space of about
an inch between the separate flanges
of the couplings, and into this space
the chief engineer fitted pieces of
tough oak; the shaft was thu3 made
an inch longer, and that inch was
enough to loosen the line on the tail
shaft. It was practically adding a
wooden section to the shaft. The en
gines were started, and the Kasbek's
captain decided to save the old clip
per if he could. He came in sight of
her late in the afternoon. A gale per
meated with snow was howling out of
the north. It wds too rough to launch
a boat, and the Kasbek stood by the
crippled ship nearly two days. The sea
had subsided somewhat, and the port
life boat was loaded with flour, tap
ioca, potatoes, lime juice, whisky and
medicine. The Kasbek steward gave
up all his provisions. Captain Muir
had surmised that there was scurvy
on the ship, and this promoted him to
send the antidotes. As Chief Officer
Helsham said later, 'The only able
seaman 1 found aboard the Oakes was
Mrs. Reed, the wife of the captain.'
"Captain Reed said that #very foul
except his wife was sick with scurvy,
of which five seamen had died.
"He himself was only slightly ill.
The second mate's legs and feet were
swollen nearly twice their normal size,
and he and the third mate were un
able to go aloft. The Chinese steward
was too weak to work ship, and a
good deal of the labor had fallen on
the skipper s vigorous wife, who is a
lineal descendant of the Revolution
ary heroine. Mollie Stark. She did al
most everything except go aloft. Her
chief duty was at tho wheel. The Kas
bek's men were made sick by the
spectacle in the Oake3* forecastle.
Twelve utterly i.elpless men 'ay In
their bunks in various stages of de
lirium. Some had lost all their teeth
They were nursed by the sailors ot
the Kasbek until the ship- got into
Sandy Hook. The Kasbek's able sea
man furled the old clipper's sails, and
she was taken in tow. After she got
into quarantine Captain Reed, his
wife, and those of his men who were
able to talk, spun the yarn of the
hapless ship's protracted voyage.
When she sailed from Hong Kong her
crew were in good health. The skip
per wa3 recovering from a paralytic
stroke. This affected his tongue, and
he was unable to talk so his men could
readily understand him. He gave his
orders to his wife, who has a good,
deep sea voice, and she, in turn, gave
them to the men. In the China sea
the ship was struck by two typhoons,
which blew her out of her course.
Captain Reed had intended to sail by
way of Cape of Good Hope, but he was
so far off his course that he decided to
make for the Horn. He had very little
lime juice and vegetables, but plenty
of 'salt horse.' He had expected to
make the while voyage inside the
time it took him to reach Cape Horn.
Light airs and calms held him back.
Ho lost his Chinese cook by pneumo
nia, and in December, IS9G, scurvy
broke out in the forecastle. Seaman
Thomas King died of it on December
2G. Thomas Olsen succumbed in Janu
ary. Thomas Judge died on February -
17. He wrote a letter in his delirium,
in which he said that he believed the
captain was giving the seamen some
thing to make them swell up. and he
believed that the mate and the young
Chinaman aft knew something about
it. Mate Steven G. Bunker and Sea
man George King also died in Febru
ary. On March 1 only the skipper, his
wife and the second and third mate
were able to work. The wife kept the
log, as neither of the mates wetv'alde
to work because of swollen hands. A
brisk gale sprang up. and the.crippled
mates went aloft to furl the main
topsail. Captain Reed's wife said that
at this period of the voyage she began
her hardest work. 'The captain came
to me. she said, in telling the marine
reporters her experience, 'and asked
me to take the wheel while ho helped
those on deck. I did so. It was bitter
cold and I was not prepared for the
weather, hut I stuck to the wheel
until my husband came aft and re
lieved me until 1 could go below and
get a big ulster ot his to wrap myself
in. I was steadily at it that day from
7 o'clock until noon. I was pretty
tired before I was relieved. I went
back to the wheel after I had a little
rest and something to eat.'
"Mrs. Reed worked gallantly for the
helpless sailors, making broths and
gruels of oatmeal for them. They
begged for salt meat, but, as that
would have added to their illness,
they were not allowed to have it.
"Llodys' agent in New York read of
the heroism of the skipper's wife and
found that the story was not exagger
ated. Lloyds decided that the hero
ism was worthy of recognition, so they
authorized Captain Clark to send her
a medal." —S. A. Wood, in Ainsles's
Magazine.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
"An open door will tempt a saint,"
This rather unusual proverb was en
graved on a key-ring, the property of
a man found drowned in the Lea, in
England.
The colors of a kingfisher become
dull after death. No one who has seen
only the stuffed bird can form any
idea of the brilliance of its plumage
v/hen alive.
Professor Lewis of Berlin has found
among 300 laborers who constantly
handle copper, eight men whose hair
had in consequence obtained a green
ish tinge, which no washing would re
move. Tile phenomena has been
known, he says, 250 years, but it takes
several years to produce it.
More animals are lost to the stage
through fear than viciousness. The
show people dread a timid lion or
leopard, not only because in its panic
it is likely to injure the trainer, but
because it is unreliable, and may take
fright and spoil a performance at any
moment from the slightest causes.
A monster conger eel, measuring
eight feet, eight inches in length, two
feet four inches in girth, and weighing
148 pounds, has been caught on the
beach at Snettisham. near Huntstan
ton, England. The fisherman's atten
tion was attracted to it by some sea
gulls hovering over shallow water,
where the eel was captured after a ,
long struggle.
One of the curious and suggestive
details in the latest report of the
Swiss factory inspectors relates to the
attitude of the operatives in a certain
factory in regard to an improved ven
tilating apparatus. They objected to
it because it would breed rheumatism.
Two years later the same laborers re
fused to go to another building be
cause it lacked the ventilating appara
tus.
A man with two brains is surely a
novelty, yet Dr. Charot, the French
specialist, inclines to the idea that
Mandi, the lightning calculator and
human phonograph, is so blessed. This
phenomenon made his first appearance
at the Paris hippodrome, and he is
certainly a new attraction to the al
ready long list of "stars" at that house.
His memory for figures is mainly au
ditive. One of his feats is the addition
of six lines of six figures, a multipli
cation of six figures by six figures, the
division of si:: figures by five figures,
and the extraction of the square and
cube root cf fivo figures all at once-