Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, May 29, 1901, Image 2

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    fREILMD TRIBUNE.
ESTAIiLISIIEI) IBSB.
PUBLISHED EVERY
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY,
BY TIIE
TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY. LimitcJ
OFFICE; MAIN STREET ABOVE CENTRE,
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
FREELAND.—The TRIBUNE is delivered by
carriers to subscribers in Freoland at the rutu
of 1 -Hi cents per month, payable every two
months, or Si 50 a year, payable in advance
The TRIBUNE may he ordered direct form th
carriers or from the oftleo. Complaints of
irregular or tardy delivery service will re
ceive prompt attention.
BY MAIL —The TRIBUNE is sent to out-of.
town subscribers for s!.sa year, payable iu
advance; pro rata terms for shorter periods.
The data when the subscription expires is on
the address label of each paper. Prompt re- j
newals must be made at the expiration, other
wise the subscription will be discontinued. 1
Entered at the Postofflce at Freeland. Pa., I
as becoud-Class Matter,
Make all money orders, checks, etc. t payiblt
to the 2'ribune l'r.n'in<j Company, Limited.
The annual report of Connecticut's !
Labor Commissioner shows that there
are 1400 absolute distinctive manu
factories in the State, which produce
not less than 2340 different articles.
The belligerent English sparrow has
friends in the State Senate of Illin- j
ois. for the bill to repeal a law giving '
a bounty for killing sparrows was j
passed by a vote of tliirty-five to nine, j
Progressive Japan i* building a new
palace. And the best indication of the j
island empire's progression consists in
the fact that the entire framework of
She royal structure is built of Ameri
can steel.
' Canada still lias a wild herd of buf
falo. Traces of the existence of the
animals were found in the woods at
the west of Slave River. It was as
certained that the buffalo was being
mercilessly hunted and destroyed by
the Indians.
A new word is needed for people j
who pay for rooms and food in hotels. |
The term "guests" is ridiculous. They j
are customers. They arc purchasers, j
They are buyers. But they are not
guests, for guests do not pay for hos
pitality; they are asked to do to hosts |
the honor of accepting it at their i
hands.
Nearly two thousand families
which have been deserted by the hus
bands and fathers are being aided at ;
present by the Chicago Bureau of j
Charities. Is there any wonder that
an agitation in favor it Uic introduc
tion of the whipping post for the pun
ishment of those who abandon their
families to bo a charge on tlie chari- |
table should have been started in that
city?
Cut in the Mississippi Valley a mur
derer who deliberately killed liis wife
and three children was sentenced to
twenty-one years in prison. He ex
pressed liis thanks to the jury and the
judge with emphasis and warmth, j
iWhy not? Ilis friends have already
begun a crusade for his pardon. They j
will probably be successful. Human I
life is not precious in all parts of the
New World at all tiAcs.
There is reason to believe that the
movement of population from the
country.to the city is subsiding and
that farming is becoming more popu
lar. It ought to. Farming properly
followed is as sure and good a busi
ness as any other. It may be a slow
process of acquiring a competence,
but it is the most certain and the most
independent one. With industry and
economy a comfortable living can be
made by cultivating the soil, with
less labor and risk than by any other
honest method known. Stick to tlie
farm, advises the Agricultural
Bpitomist.
Cavalry horses are not being given
away nowadays. Bids were opened at
Omaha the other day for 400 horses
for the newly organized Fourteenth
Cavalry at Fort Lcvenworth. The
bids ranged from .$l3O to .$l3O a horse,
n pretty stiff price, but what was the
Quartermaster's Department to do?
The cavalry must have good horses
and good horses come high. It will be
some time before the cavalry can be
equipped with automobiles. The im
pulsive persons who have had tears to
shed over tin decline and fall of the
horse were decidedly premature,
thinks the New York Sun.
The experience of the German army
in China tends to prove that both
American and Australian horses are
unsatisfactory in that country. They
are of good blood and breed, but suffer
sadly from the long sea voyage and
the luuiccustomeil food, as. uufortun
ately, only green forage la usually ob
tainable. Mongol pou it a arc prdving
the most useful.
TWO VISIONS.
Two visions by men's dying yes aro
seen,
Both so unlike, both freighted with
despair.
The lovely shade of what they might
have been,
The unclean, gibbering ghost of what
they were.
I —Theodosia Pickering Garrison, in the
"New" i.ippiucott.
; Bailiara's Guest.;
* *
BY HELEN FOREST BRAVES. j
"Company for dinner!" cried little
1 Barbara, in despair. "Oh. Lisette,
| what shall we do?"
It was a sunshiny day in early July,
i with the great clusters of tiger lilies
| all in blossom i-i the garden, the cher
j ries beginning to turn crimson on the
trees, and the roses flinging their sub-
J tie fragrance on the air, as if they fan-
I cied themselves blooming in some Per
sian vale. The thermometer stood at
180 in the shade. Squire Dulcimer's
haymakers were dotting the sides of
the distant upland, and all the win
| dows of the little cottage were wide
I open, to admit whatever stray whiffs
of cool wiud might be roaming athwart
the blue air. And little Barbara had
ripped her musiin dress apart, and was
sitting, Turk-fashion, on the floor, con
sidering how best she might combine
the breadths into something more
modern, when Lisette. her sister,came
\ flying tumultuously up stairs, like the
. wild little sprite that she was.
j Barbara was small and dark, with
! blue-black braids of hair, solemn eyes,
a crimson dot of a mouth, and the
prettiest of round, dimpled chins. Lis
ette was tall and slender —a sort of
human lily, violet-eyed and transpar-
I ent-skinned, with shining yellow curls,
gathered into a net, with a sweet, bird
like voice, not unlike that of a linnet.
And these two girls, with their little
brother Benny, were all that the old
doctor had.
He had married late in life, this odd,
eccentric disciple of Galen, and lost his
wife when Benny was a baby; and ever
since tlie young things had grown up
by themselves, like the wild roses on
the edge of the woods.
"Do!" repeated Lisette. "We must go
down and set the table; that's what we
j must do."
I "But there's nothing in the house for
1 iinner!" cried Barbara, tragically
I slasping her hands, as she rose out of
j ihe whirlpool of pink muslin on the
floor. "Oh. dear; oh, dear! Why don't
i people stay at home when they aren't
j wanted? Who is it, Lisette. anyhow?"
1 ,-v " nnswered
Lisette. "Some traveling book agent
l suppose, or some sliabby-genteel
medical man, from nobody knows
where, who thinks he is entitled to
come here just because papa is an M.
D. I only caught sight of the hack of
his coat, but it had a dreadfully seedy
| look."
"I do think papa is too bad." sighed
Barbara. "I was going to have the
whole day for dressmaking, so as to
look decent at church next Sunday,
for Mr. Dulcimer and his sister are
coming hack, and one doesn't want to
look like a native Patagonian. I was
! going to give papa bread and cheese
and a glass of home-made root beer.
Papa don't care what he eats. But he's
so particular about his guests. And I
sent the last half dozen of eggs
to the store to exchange for
| three spools of sewing silk and
a paper of needles, and told Benny
to carry the pot of chicken soup
to poor old Mrs. Gumbo, who is sick
and poor and all alone in the world!"
"Charity begins at home," dolorous-
I ly quoted Lisette. "Couldn't we catch
a fowl?"
"As well try to catch a wild zebra
of the wilderness," said Barbara. "One
would think tney were every one of
'em trained racers by the way they
run."
"A meat pie?" suggested Lisette.
'There's no meat to make it of,"
said Barbara, brusquely.
"There's the remains of day before
yesterday's steak," said Lisette. "We
might mince it up fine."
"Oh, Lisette—dear Lisette!" cried
Barbara. "I'm so sorry, but I gave the
steak to a tramp yesterday, between
two slices of bread and butter. He
looked so hungry, and he said he had
had nothing but raw turnips to eat for
two days. And when I was looking
for white roses this morning I saw
the two slices, with only one mouthful
bitten out of each, flung into the
. bushes. And, oh, Lisette, there was a
black bottle beside them. And I'm
afraid he wasn't a nice, honest tramp!"
"Then that settles the meat pie busi
ness," said poor Lisette. "Couldn't
we make the white pigeons into fricas
see?"
"My white -doves into a fricassee?"
almost shrieked Barbara. "Oh, you
cruel, cruel heartless, marble-soulod
thing. Why don't you talk of making
me into s fricassee and be done with
It?"
"Barbara, don't speak so loud!" said
Lisette, energetically. "We'll send to
Widow Millctt's and borrow for din
nor!"
"What?" said Burhara, fairly as
| founded by the magnitude and origi
nality of her young sister's idea.
"Send Benny," said Lisette. "Tell
her we'll return it next week. Write
a note, and say that papa has invited
a gentleman to dinner, and that we
haven't a mouthful fit to eat in the
house. Mrs. Millett is an excellent
cook; she always has something nice,
i and you will see that this will help us
out of our dilemma."
"Yes!" sighed Barbara, "but there's
• my muslin dross. Why couldn't the
man stay awaj until I had modeled it
over, like the plate in the fashion mag
azine?"
"Never mind the fashion magazine,"
said Lisette, "but run and set the table
as fast as you can. And be sure that
you put on the very best cups, and re
member to turn the cloth so that the
darned spot will come under the tea
tray!"
And down sped little Barbara, with
cheeks as red as cherries, and black
braids breaking loose from their pins
in a confusion of shining jet; while
the guest, sitting composedly out up
on the porch, had had full time and op
portunity to comprehend the entire sit
uation.
"I seem to have arrived at an inop
portune season," said he to himself. "I
am sorry now that I accepted good old
Doctor Bloom's cordially proffered hos
pitality. But I am rather too substan
tial to vanish down into a crack, and
too real to float up in a puff of vapor,
like the genii in the children's story
books, so I must just remain here and
abide until the end of it. But I'm glad
they arn't going to make little Bar
bara's pigeons into a fricassee."
Three minutes afterwards, whey,
little Ben. the youngest of the family,
rushed whistling out with a covered
basket, he was deftly intercepted by
the stranger.
"Where are you going, young man?'
questioned he, in a low voice.
"To the Widow Millett's" said Ben
ny, "with a note."
"Don't go there," said the stranger.
"Go across the woods to the hall, in
stead—it is but a few steps further—
and give ibis card to the old house
keeper there. And hard ye. Tommy—"
"Benny, sir. please," explained the
lad.
"Benny, then—don't let your young
ladies know uiat you haven't obeyed
their orders. I'll make it all right
with them, and here's a silver dollar
for you."
Benny darted awny. with his face all
smiles, and just then up came the old
doctor himself, apologizing for having
been so long in finding the dusty old
volume which he carried under his
arm.
"But I always Jose track of time
when I get among my books," said he.
Barbara had just come down stairs
after a hurried toilet, which had added
a pink ribbon bow to her dress and a
cream-colored rose to the heavy black
braids of her hair, when she found,
Lisette in the little dining room.
"Barbara," cried Lisette, "just look
here? Is it enchantment that has been
at work?"
For upon the table was spread a col
lation of cold boiled ham, sardines
glistening with their fragrant oil,
chicken salad, iced sponge cake, white
grapes, and strawberries as large as
lady apples. On the floor two or three
long-necked claret bottles protruded
from a pail of powdered ice, and a
slender roll of French bread was cut
In slices on a napkin In the centre of
the board, while half a dozen pates de
foie gras, in their metallic cans, stood
opposite.
Benny's hlg eyes, watching them
from behind the lilac bush that shaded
the window, grew preternaturally
bright as he noted their amazement,
and at the same moment the doctor
shuffled in, all unconscious of his car
pet slippers and carelessly buttoned
dressing gown, and ushered his guest
into the presence of his daughters.
"Here's Mr. Dulcimer, Lisette," said
he. "Barbara, little girl, here's our
neighbor, the young squire. Dulcimer,
let me present you to my girls—Blonde
and Brunette, as we sometimes call
'em, ho, ha, ha!"
And in the midst of their consterna
tion and perplexity, Lisette and Bar
bara were obliged to assume the part
of gracious and undisturbed young
hostesses.
They all enjoyed their impromptu
lunch in spite of the mystery that sur
rounded it; and when Mr. Dulcimer
returned to the hall, they all walked
half-way through the woods with him.
"Do you kno\y, Mr. Dulcimer," said
Barbara, with sparkling eyes, "I fan
cied you a haughty aristocrat, who
wouldn't notice his humble neigh
bors at ail!"
"I hope you are disabused of the idea
now," said the young squire, smiling.
"Oh, entirely!" said Lisette.
"And believe me," said Mr. Dulcimer,
holding Barbara's slim, brown hand In
his a second or so longer thanwas ab
solutely necessary, "I should never
have forgiven myself, if, through any
law of stern necessity, I had eaten up
your white doves in the shape of a
fricassee."
And he disappeared into the woods,
leaving Barbara and Lisette looking
with amazement into one another's
"Lisette!" cried Barbara, breathless
ly, It is possible that he could have
heard what we said?"
And then Benny was called into the
witness box and made to own up that
the elegant luncheon came direct from
Dulcimer hall, and things seemed
worse than ever—
"We arc rightly punished," said Bar
bara, bursting into tears, "for our in
hospitably. And I never—never shall
forgive either myself or Mr. Dulci
mer!"
But she did. She forgave both crim
inals before the young moon, now
hanging over the hills like a thread of
silver, had widened Into its full shield
of luminious pearl.
"We are friends." she smilingly ack
nowledged, to Mr. Dulcimer.
"So far so good," said the young
squire. "But may I hope that one day
we may be somethig more?"
And Barbara blushed celestial red,
and said "she did not know."
So Mr. Dulcimer leaves the solution
of that problem to time. But it is more
than probable that the question will be
settled to suit him.—Saturday Night.
! GLOVEHAKERS' SECRETS.
HOW THEV COVER THE HAND THAT
ISi NOT PERFECT.
M.i Olnv. Mnnngp-atn roimttint
( I'lunga in hliHileH, 1 11011711 So Slight hm
to Krtrupe ('imk i 1 !••! Observers l lie
Miigic-lunit Conntuntly U*e Fake Gloves.
The work of the glove cutter is not
the simple, easy work it is often sup
posed to be. An expert can cut only
three pairs in two hours. He cuts al
ways to measurement, and the gloves
he makes are not always the smooth,
even production usually known as a
kid glove, it is the stock gloves that
come in this way, but the man who
makes gloves to order has a variety of
hands to fit. says the New York
Times.
In the first place, the expert glove
maker. who knows all the ins and outs
of the trade, says that every man,
woman or child should have gloves
made to measure if an absolutely per
fect fit is to be guaranteed. There is
is much difference in hands as there
is in faces, and no one who is particu
larly fastidious can buy entirely satis
factory ready-made gloves. This is
notwithstanding the fact that three
lengths of fingers can be obtained in
every size of glove and every size is
made for both thick and thin hands.
But aside from the individuality of
the ordinary hand, there are many
hands that have unusual peculiarities
which must be fitted. There are many
people who have one hand larger than
the other. One man, for instance,
wears a 7 3-4 on one hand and a No 8
on the other. One man has a thumb
that is twice as large as the ordinary
thumb on one hand, while the other
is of normal size. The victim of good
living and gout has an over developed
linger from that aristocratic disease,
and there are people with no fingers
at all.
All this is in addition to the peculiari
ties of hands which have met with ac
cidents from machinery, trolley cars,
or any of the numerous destructive
agencies into wuich the hands may
chance to fall. There is a firm up town
which, in addition to its regular work,
makes a specialty of fitting gloves to
hands which are peculiar in conforma
tion by nature or accident.
In making a glove to order a dia
gram Is taken of the hand, as one is
taken of the foot by the shoemaker.
The work has to be done with great
care and the eccentric gloves are as
perfectly fitted as the normal ones.
The number of gloves that can be
cut from one skin depends upon the
size and quality of the skin. The finest
skins are those of the kid and one
skin will make but one pair o£ gloves.
It is the kid of the goat from which
the skins come. Lamb skins are used
sometimes, but while this skin may be
soft and elastic, it is not a good wear
ing skin.
The mere process of making a kid
glove is comparatively simple. The
skins are bought with the hair on. The
first process is the tanning, which
leaves the skin white. It is then ready
for the dye, after which it is shriveled,
shaved, and then it is ready for the
cutting. From the cutter the glove
goes to the stitcher, who can sew a
pair of gloves in from 15 to 20 minutes.
Then the glove is bound, the button
holes made, the buttons sewed on, it is
hemmed and pressed, and the product
is ready for the market. A French
glove establishment has a manufac
tory for all its stock gloves on the
other side, and only makes gloves to
order here.
Gloves are made to order frequently
to match certain costumes. The dye
ing is a particular work, and requires
a careful mixing of colors to get the
required shade, but a pair of gloves can
be dyed, cut and made inside of three
hours. A pair of gloves can bo made
to order for as small a sum as $1.50.
This is not the best glove, of course.
There are few gloves made that vary
greatly from the regular stock except
as they fit the peculiarities of the hands.
People who have such peculiarities of
the hands take quiet shades in gloves.
Many gloves, however, have been made
since the pale pastel shades came into
vogue to match them. While there is
little variety in the ordinary style of
gloves, there is one glove that must al
ways be made to order, and that is the
monogram glove. These gloves have
been used more or less for some time by
people who have plenty of money. One
of this year's brides had all the gloves
for her wedding outfit made with em
broidered monograms on the back in
place of the ordinary stitching. The
embroidery for these gloves cost $2,
aside from the cost of the glove, and
there are comparatively few people
who can afford them. As to their
beauty, thero is said to be a groat dif
ference as regards the letters. Some
letters present a much better appear
ance on the back of the glove than
others. For instance, the girl who has
"A," "H," or "M," for an initial need
not hesitate if she has the money, for
the gloves with those letters look well
on the back of the hand.
Gloves are made occasionally with
stitching to match some color con
trast that appears in the gown or with
the contrasting colors In the embroid
ery of a monogram. Occasionally a
woman brings in jeweled buttons to be
put on her gloves, but, as a rule, she
will have a pearl or metal button of
some kind. To the careless observer,
it seems that gloves are always of the
same nondescript shades, but the glove
expert knows that this is not the case.
Every shipment of gloves brings
shades that vary a little. Perhaps this
is only a shadow of a difference, but a
glove bought one month cannot be
matched exactly the next. For people
who like to know what the future will
.ring forth, it may be said that in the
matter of gloves, looking ahead sever
al months, as the manufacturers do,
the suede glove is going to be the glove
for spring wear. The manufacturers
have tested the public taste as far as
may be, and it is for this demand that
they are preparing.
There is another style of glove that
comes to the manufacturers' hands. If
the shoes for the theatrical trade come
from Broadway, che gloves are a Four
teenth street product. Large quanti
ties of all sorts and kinds are made for
different theatrical productions. These
are in all fancy designs and colors.
These gloves are for special produc
tions. For society plays the gloves are
of the ordinary varieties and bought
from the regular stock. One pair of
gloves made for a comedian were mis
mates. The one glove was an ordinary
man's glove; the other was (10 inches
long. The length of the wrist was
worn up the sleeve. In the production,
as the man drew off a yard or two of
glove, he brought down the house.
The magician's marvelous gloves al
so come from the regular shop. The
ordinary glove which he develops by
his art into a mammoth affair a foot
long and then contracts to the size of
a baby's hand may be borrowed from
some one in the audience, but the big
glove and the little glove, which are
so mysterious, have come perhaps
from the very same glove shop, only '
they were made to order.
Another feature of the glove manu
facturer's work is that, making gloves,
he can also mend them. When he says
that he will mend gloves he does it
somewhat as a guarantee of the good
wearing qualties of his gloves. If
every one to whom he sold gloves
came in to have them mended he would
have to give up his regular business
and mend only. But they do not.
There is about 1 percent of those who
buy gloves who bring them back for
repairs. It is not expected when they
are sold that they will rip or tear, but
if by chance they do they are mended,
and the mending is more satisfactory
than anything that the amateur can
do at home.
"But to have well-fitting gloves one
must take pains to put them on care
fully," the glove man says in conclu
sion. "Put the glove on slowly for the
first time, be sure that all the seams
are straight, or, no matter what the
glove is, it will never fit or present a
really satisfactory appqarance."
KEY COLLECTING,
The New und Strange I ml of a I'Yminlne
Traveler.
Key collecting is tue latest fad to at
tack young and enthusiastic American
visitors to European shores. The ob
ject of the craze, luckily, is not preda
tory, but artistic, but it is also very
insidious in its effects. Indeed, it ap
pears that by the time the seriousness
of the craze becomes manifest there re
mains neither courage nor disposition
to combat it.
In the Puritan Miss Marie Overton
Corbln explains that the first key germ
to assail her was in one of the doors
at an old London show-place. It was j
just a plain medieval iron key. and j
was apparently attending strictly to '
business; but it surely was magnetic
for she looked and longed, and then
and there determined to possess it.
Fortunately, the man in attendance,
she alleges, was corruptible, and as
his love for his queen was so profound
that a coin bearing her profile seemed
far more desirable than a bit of rusty
iron, the matter was soon adjusted.
The moment that key was hers its
iron entered her soul, and from that
day the mania became so dominant
that she could not enter a cathedral or
any historical buildingwithoutpeering
behind the doors to see if the old keys
were in their locks.
Were any one to ask for a descrip
tion of this or that abbey, memory
would bo sure to play her false; but
let them ask for a description of their
keys, and they would receive an ac
curate account.
No doubt the distinct mental pho
tography was born of covetousness,
for in many instances the vergers
would not listen to entreaties or deli
cately suggested bribes, and there was
nothing to do but to come keyless :
away. The old verger at Shake
speare's church, Stratford, was so sus
picious after her overtures, that he
gathered up every key in siglit, and
then followed her closely while she
made the usual rounds.
Many of Miss Corbin'a specimens,
however, were not "annexed," but
gathered from the scrap heaps of lock
smiths; others passed into circulation
through the hands of contractors for
the tearing down of famous buildings.
A few drifted away from direct lines
of descent of family heirlooms and be
came attracted to the growing mass
in the collector's hands.
"One must have an ever-watchful
eye and a sort of penetrating instinct
to collect keys," she contends. "It is
also well to have energetic and enter
prising friends —and to exercise a wise
and discriminating lack of curiosity as
to their sources of supply or methods
of workings."
Pretty and Novel.
The man who wishes to send some
thing uncommon in the way of a bon
bon box to the young woman out of
town, says the New York Times, se
lects, if she glories in a beloved ca
nine, a dog hamper or traveling bas
ket, exactly like the real article, with
the dog himself perched on the top
with a traveling rug and a shawl. Or
if that is rot appropriate, he can send
her a small trunk exactly like the big
one in which she has taken away her
pretty summer clothes, even to a gen
uine lock with a key. That is sure to
be appropriate, for the woman travel
ing can never get away from her
trunk.
THE GREAT NILE DAM.
Importance oT tlie Work That Has Just
I'een r IniHhcd at ANKOIIHD.
From the ages of the dynasties ot
shepherd kings and Pharoahs a "low
Nile" or a "high Nile" has meant
dearth or plenty In Egypt. In propor
tion as the river spread its fertilizing
waters in flood times along its banks
the crop of the season was assured. IE
for one or more years in succession its
volume fell short famine stared the
people in the face.
Imperial Rome depended largely on
the granaries of Egypt for the daily
bread of her populace, but in her great
constructive days she failed to insure
the constancy of supplies in grain and
other products of Egypt's soil which
is confidently anticipated by the ap
proaching regulation of the rise and
fall of the ancient river.
Just two years have passed since A
the foundation stones of the great Nile
dam at Assouan was laid. It was bed
ded on a high portion of solid rock
and was placed by the Duke of Cou
naught. Across tne river, a mile broad
there, the massive wall has been stead- *+
ily built up of ashlar granite, weld
ing together the rocks which form the
dangerous first cataract. The length
of the dam is about GOOO feet. Ks
strengtli had to be designed to hold in
reserve for purposes of irrigation a
great mass of water.
When the river is in flood its waters
will gush through the massive sluice
gates. In the autumn months the sluice
gates will be closed until the reservoir
thus formed is full and ready to bo
distributed by channels over the agri
cultural land on either side. When
the water is most wanted in August
and April for the crops of corn, sugar,
cotton and rice the supply in the low
er river will be increased from the
reservoir,and thus a fairly even sup
ply of water will be afforded through
out the year. A canal with numerous
locks is to be constructed to give pas
sage to the Nile steamers and other
traffic.
Commercially, the value of the dam
to Egypt in the future can hardly bo
estimated. Its immediate effect, ac
cording to the Egyptian government's
engineer, will be to bring under culti
vation 600,000 additional acres of land.
This is in addition to putting certain
districts and levels Deyondtheordinary
risks of flood and drought. An area of
5,000,000 acres, now in fair cultivation
will be converted into land of the first
efficiency in crop producing qualities.
Over the whole area Sir William Gars
tin, the secretary of state for public
works, believes the value of summer
crops will be increased by as much as
S3O an acre. Egypt's resources for
growing corn and cotton will thus be
immensely enhanced and are likely to
bring her forward as a competitor in
the world's markets.
From the engineering point of view
the stupendous nature of the undertak
ing will be realized from the effect it
will have of creating practically a lake
144 miles long impounding more than
1,000,000,000 tons of water. At some
periods of the year, it is said 900,000
tons a minute will gush through the
sluices. The dam will raise the river
about 65 feet" above its usual previous
level. It is broad enough for a car
riage road to run along its top.
Nowhere else in the Nile valley, says
Sir Benjamin Baker, who has carried
out the work, were to be found such
advantages of site, sound rock, nu
merous islands and shallows in which
to work. The openings of the sluices
are to be lined with cast iron one and
one-half inches thick, so as to effectu
ally guard against the destruction from
the constant impact of large volumes
of water at high velocity. The width
of the base of the dam has been made
such that the pressure on the solid
granite masonry will be less than that
on any of the other great dams of the
world.—Baltimore Sun.
Tlio Dtiyn of IJIR Hook*.
"The day of big books has gone by,"
remarked a New Orleans dealer the
other evening, speaking of some re
cent fine publications. "Up to a few
years ago nearly all the art prints and
handsome illustrated editions of stand
ard works were either folios or some
thing almost as large. There's a beau
tiful set of Dickens, for instance, print
ed in 18S6. The illustrations alone
cost fully $50,000 and it represented
high-water mark in mechanical excel
lence at that period. But look at the
size of the volumes! They are almost
as big and heavy as standard cyclope
dias! At present the tendency is just
the other way, and the majority of the
really fine books that nre being pub
lished arc small and light. The usual
cover measurement is from 5x7 to oxß
inches, and most of the standard nov
els are coming out in that size. One
reason why big books' have gone out
of favor may strike you at first blush
as rather foolish, but I'm assured of its
importance by publishers who have
made the trade a lifetime study. The
big book can't be read in bed. It's too
heavy to be held when one is in a
reclining position, while the small
compact volume can be handled as
easily as a magazine. The great, mas
sive folios of the old times made nice
ornaments for the center table and
came in handy for the younger chil
dren to sit on at table, but to really
read them was a job for an athlete."
—New Orleans Democrat.
Am UMtial.
"Ah, I hear your lawyer won your
suit."
"Yes."
"So you got your money?"
"No."
"What?"
"The lawyer got that, too."—Ohio
State Journal.