FREELAHD TRIBUNE.
ESTABLISHED 18X8.
PUBLISHED EVERY
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY,
BY THE
IRIEUNE PRINTING COMPANY, Limited |
OFFICE: MAIN STREET ABOVE CENTRE.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE.
SI'IKCItIFTIfIX HATES
FIIEELAND. I'hoTßlnuNE isdellvered by
carriers to subscribers in Froolandatthe rate
of i-Mi cents per month, payable every two
months, or sl.sCi year, payable in advance.
The TRIBUNE may bo ordered direct form the
carriers or from the office. Complaints of
Irregular or tardy delivery oorvico will re
ceive prompt atteutiou.
BY MAIL — Tho TRIBUNE is sent toout-of
towu subscribers for 51.5'1 a year, payable iu
advance: pro rati, terms for shorter periods.
The date when the subscription expires is on
the address label of each paper. Prompt re
newals must bo made at tho expiration, other-
Wise tho subscription will be discontinued. |
Entered at the Postoffice at Freeland. Pa., J
as Second-Class Matter.
Make all money orders, checks, etc., pay able '
to the Tribune Printing Company, Limited.
•~ J 1
The most potent ally of peace at the
present time Is the deplorable financial
condition of Russia.
' Civilization seeffls to consist too
largely In the expensive conservation
of many useless lives and the wanton |
destruction of many useful ones.
After forty-seven years a fortune has J
come to an Ohio veteran for saving a
woman's life. Bread will occasionally
get a little water-soaked before re
turning to the caster.
A school teacher In Nebraska recent
ly saved thirteen of her pupils from
drowning. This Is one of those little
tilings that the superstition monger
never remembers long.
Considering the immense number of
failures that occur in the attempted as
sassinations of European royalties, one
must conclude that either the assas
sins are bad shots or the royalists are
poor targets.
The recent census of India shows
that Bengal, which has an area of 203,-
473 square miles—one-quarter less
than the area of Texas—has a popula
tion of 74,713,000, which Is eaual to
that of the United States.
Attention has been drawn to the fact
that the British Foreign Office is in the
way of talking about "American sub
jects." Not since the time of King
George 111. have there been any "sub
jects" in these parts. So there is little
excuse for the slip.
Some fifty years back Bohemia was
leading in nearly all kinds of glass
ware, from the cheap grades up to the
very best and finest, and it was hardly
thought possible that these products
would ever have to fear a competitor.
To-day Germany has almost surnassed
her rival.
One of the most perplexing positions
in which a criminal jury ever finds It
self Is when the jurymen really be
lieve that the prisoner is guilty, but
are not sure of it. In a recent case in
Georgia the jury solved the difficulty
by bringing in this verdict: "We, the
Jury, find the prisoner almost guilty."
It In the history of all navy building
In modern times that a ship has been
already commissioned before it begins
to be old style. The style In battle
sbips changes almost as rapidly as in
the cut of dress sleeves. The thicket
and tougher armor is made the greater
becomes the piercing power of projec
tiles. The two things constantly lap
and overlap one another—offense grow
lrg as fast as defense is perfected.
Hence the enormous expense, not sc
much of building a modern navy, but
of keeping it up to date.
For many ye:;rs painstaking physi
cians have sought diligently to get al
the secret of the origin of cancer, that
frightful and malignant scourge of hu
manity. It is reported with reasonable
ground for belief that this mystery
has been unveiled at last by persistent
researches with the microscope and by
the most exhaustive of tests. And
there are stories also of successful
treatment of cancer by tho use of the
Roentgen rays. If this revolting mal
ady is to be made amenable to treat
ment at last, as the mortality of diph
theria has been diminished so exten
sively by the use of antitoxin, great
will be the rejoicing.
SOME ONE BLUNDERED.
.Taelt's father and mother were hav
ing a very heated discussion at the
table one day. Tliey entirely forgot
him, and, as the argument waxed
l.creer, lie looked from one to tlie
other with real concern on ids chubby
fnce. Presently, during a lull, he
cleared the air by asking, pointedly:
"Papa, did you marry mamma, or
did mamma marry you?"— Brooklyn
Life.
THE RICHEST PRIZE.
Manifold is human strife,
Human passion, human pain;
Many a blessing yet is rife,
Many pleasures still remain;
Yet the greatest bliss in life.
And the richest prize we find.
Is a good, contented mind.
—Goethe.
▲▲▲AAA ▲▲ AAAAAA
| Senor Tuk-yoo. j
Vividly do the terrors of prison soli
tude appeal to the imagination —the
rarely broken silence, the long, drag
ging liburs, the anxious Waiting for the
footsteps of the attendant who brings
the scanty meals, and the nameless
dread as night approaches, and fainter
grow the feeble rays of light strag
gling in through the gratings of the
window.
Although a year has passed Bince my
release, I shudder even now as my
memory wanders back to the time
when those horrors were no matter
of imagination to me, but grim reality.
Amid the gloom of those recollec
tions, however, there shines out
brightly one little gleam that still
leaves a grateful warmth in my heart.
It is with a regretful longing that I
fancy seeing him now, my little prison
comrade, standing before me , and
sweetly warbling his name: "Tuk-yoo
—tuk-yoo—tuk-yoo-o-o." God bless
him!
But I forget —you have not the pleas
ure of his acquaintance (all the worse
for you), and an explanation is neces
sary.
Over a year ago it was my fate to
be a captive in the hands of the Fili
pino insurgents, and an unsuccessful
attempt at escape had brought upon mo
the punishment of solitary confine
ment in an out-of-the-way room of an
old Spanish convent. Hardly large
enough to pace up and down in, my
cell offered no other amusements than
staring at a blank wall outside the
window, or lying on a small iron bed
stead, gazing at the ceiling, contem
plating the spiders at work weaving
their webs. Down below echoed the
never-ceasing "tramp-tramp" and
"shuflle-shuffle" of the barefooted sen
try, with an occasional "Alto!" as he
challenged some passer-by. My God!
the torturing inactivity! Only a book,
or even a pencil, with which to scrib
ble on the walls —yes, even a child's
top to play with!
The misery of that first night will
never be forgotten. Sometimes I fell
into fitful dozes, only to awake again
with a weight upon my chest, as if
some goblin of the darkness sat there.
At last I slept. Suddenly I awoke
with a violent start. I seemed to have
heard the unearthly shriek of some
demon of the spirit world, and spring
ing up into a sitting position, 1 lis
tened, my forehead wet with beads of
perspiration. Again came the voice,
fearfully loud and distinct, "Tuk-yoo,
tuk-yoo, tult-yo-o, tuk-yo-o-o-oo,"
ending up with with a low purr.
With a long sigh of relief, I reached
for my matches, for the voice, if voice
I may call it, was familiar; I had heard
It before. Who in the Philippines has
not?
Striking a light, I beheld the mid
night vocalist sitting on the table,
glaring at me with indignant eyes.
Evidently he regarded my presence in
this long-deserted room as an intrusion
upon his privacy.
In aspect he was far from pre
possessing, seeming to be, in fact, a
cross between a dragon and a croco
dile, and quite as terrible to look at,
poor fellow, until you learned to know
him and he you. If.s one redeeming
feature was his size, which scarcely
exceeded that of a mouse, and this
seemed in a measure to mitigate the
ferocity of his appearance.
"Hello!' I cried; "who are you?"
No answer; ho only advanced a step
ur two and glared at me menacingly.
Either he failed to understand English
or my familiar tone displeased him.
Again I addressed him, this time in
Spanish, and with a pronounced air of
respect:
"Buenas noches, senor; will you
honor me with your name?"
These words produced some effect.
His throat swelled until it seemed
ready to burst.
"Tuk-yoo—tuk-yoo!" he shouted, ex
plosively, with a final whir that seemed
to say, "That's my name; how do you
like it?"
An so we continued conversing until
my supply of matches was almost ex
hausted, when, with a loud good-night
"tuk-yoo" and a whisk of his scaly lit
tle whip of a tail, he disappeared.
Next morning, as 1 sat eating my
breakfast, wondering if I should ever
again see my little midnight visitor,
he suddenly appeared on the window
sill with a loud shout, which I inter
preted as "Good morning."
"Ah, good morning, Senor Tuk-yoo,"
I cried; "how do you find yourself this
morning. Will you join mo at break
fast?"
No, he wouldn't join me —had al
ready had his breakfast, he gave to
understand quite expressively in his
native dialect of "tuk-yoo." Ho seemed
now to accept my presence with
equanimity; perhaps it was even with
a shade of interest that he listened to
my conversation, for the volley of
"tuk-yoos" that emanated from his
little yellow breast seemed distinctly
to say: .
"Well, you're not such a bad chap,
after ail, and, demme, I rather like
you. You're sociable, at all events,
and I guess I'll let you stay here. Well,
so long, old man—l'll be back about
dinner time." And off he went down
a crack in the wall.
And so we came to know each other.
The hours no longer dragged, and
night had for me no more honors, tor
!t was then that my little friend would
often call on me:
"Tuk-yoo—tuk-yo-o. I say, old man,
how are you?—asleep, eh? Go away;
you shan't sleep when I'm around."
"Come, come, my friend," I would
answer playfully, not in the least
meaning wh at I said, "it's time all re
spectable liiards were asleep."
"Tuk-yoo! do you call me a lizard?
I Am Tuk-yoo—Tuk-yoo —that's my
name, and don't you forget it. Tuk
yoo-o-o—that's the correct pronouncia
tion."
"Oh, I bog your pardon, Senor Tuk
yoo-o-o of course I meant no offence,"
and then he would crawl up into my
hand, laughing boisterously at the
joke.
Often, during the day, especially
when eating my meals, he would
bounce up from apparently nowhere,
and seat himself on the end of his tail
beside my plate.
"Hello, old chap, what you got for
dinner? Rice, eh?" nibbling a few
grains from my hand —"rice again, ch?
Why, how can you sit there eating
rice, with the window full of nice fat
flies?" and off he would scurry to the
window for his dinner.
One day I missed Senor Tuk-yoo.
Evening came, and still he failed to
show up. My anxiety was great. Next
morning, as I sat mourning the loss of
my beloved little companion, he sud
denly made his appearance on the sill
with a loud. Joyful shriek of greeting.
God! how happy I was! I would have
embraced him at once had our respec
tive sizes permitted it.
But he was not alone.
"Allow me to present to you Madame
Tuk-yoo, my lady," he said.
I bowed very respectfully, and mad
ame, a demure little tning in green and
yellow, received my salutation with a
low, gurgling "Tuk-yoo."
"We were married yesterday," he
Bbscrved, with a sly wink at me of his
off eye from Madame, "and we think
of setting up our household in the
neighborhood here —in fact, we three
should be as one family. Well, by-by,
old man lots of work now and less
play, but we'll make you a regular call
this evening sorry you can't return our
calls, you big, hulking fellow!"
And so they left me to take up their
new duties. Sly little Mistress Tuk
yoo!—the way she took the gay jumps
out of her rollicking mate, and didn't
know how she did it!
"Great responsibilities—hard on a
gay young fellow like me," he would
often remark to me. "Here I have to
catch the flies for both of us, and later
on when the family comes—oh, don't
say a word!"
So time passed—minutes, hours,
days and weeks. Of nights I would lie
in bed conversing with my two little
friends —they sitting on my shoulder
or on my arm, and sometimes crawling
up into my hair. Then the officer of
the guard, hearing the sound of a
voice, would sometimes open the door,
strike a match, look around, shake his
head, and withdraw again, muttering:
"Esta loco ese—loco —loco" (mad —
mad).
But one day a crisis came.
"Brr-o-o-m, br-o-o-m!" roared the
guns of the bombarding warships;
shells cracked overhead, crashing in
to roofs, and the town fell. Liberty!
Hurrah; Liberty at last! and, with the
insurgents fleeing and the Americans
entering, what wonder if, for a short
time, I forgot my two little comrades?
Not for long, however. After the
tumult came the calm, and then I
thought of my little cellmates. But—
we were to part. I was to go to Manila.
Closing the door of the room—no
longer a prisoner—I softly called:
"Tuk-yoo—tuk-yoo-o-o."
In a moment came an answer, and
I held them in my hand.
"Good-by, little comrades; you have
been dear friends to me, but now we
must part. Good-by!"
Softly I pressed them to my cheek,
and then set them gently down in their
own little corner by the window. They
wore as motionless as stone.
"Good-bye," I whispered again, as I
held the door, about to close it — "good
by."
Still no answer.
Then, as I softly closed it, I heard
them:
"Tuk-yoo-o-o-o—yoo-o-o-o-o," faint
ly, barely audible, like the cooing of
doves. —A. Sonnichsen, in Harper's
Weekly.
Itacin B Ante.
"It is a curious thing to see a rae
ing automobile in full career, its
chauffeur arrayed in leather cap and
jerkin, with black goggles over his
eyes, bent forward so as to offer the
least resistance to the wind. While
rounding curves at top speed he may
bo seen leaning far inward so as to
offset the effect of centrifugal force.
The automobile, it must be remem
bere, is unprovied with any means of
counteracting the effect of centrifu
gal force. When a railway rounds a
curve the inner rail is slightly
raised, so as to incline the cars with
in that curve. The wheels are held
on the trucks by their flanges. With
automobiles running around curves
without inclines, as they mostly do,
the centrifugal force tends constantly
to throw the carriage from its true
course. This force is counteracted
only by the friction between the tires
and the ground. When the centrifu
gal force overcomes this friction, as
Is bound to happen on slippery roads,
the equilibrium is destroyed and the
carriage, while sliding on its wheels,
is thrown without the curve. To ap
ply the brake in such cases would
only make matters worse. There is
nothing to be done but to correct the
equilibrium by counterbalancing de
vices." —Edward Emerson, Jr., in
Ainslee's.
Hlppocrates's grave was discovered
111 the courst of recent excavatUn at
Larlssa In Thessaly.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT.
There can be no victory without an
enemy.
The social card table is the college
of gambling.
He who injures his brother draws
his own blood.
One can do what he cannot do if h<
does what he can.
He shall go before his enemy who ]
can forego revenge.
Love is the larger law that will sue- j
ceed that of liberty.
If there were no listeners there ]
would be no gossips.
Some men rise in the world because
they are light weight.
Education has never yet saved a
man from being a fool.
The consciousness of duty dispels
the dread of consequence.
He who shuts his eyes when it rains
Will never see the rainbow.
The thermometer is a poor tiling at
which to warm your hands.
No man does his duty till ho haa
forgotten duty in the joy of love.
The best way to overcome error is
to emphasize the truth it ignores.
A brave retreat may show greater
courage than a foolhardy advance.
It is a poor plan to reprove a man
for walking lame by knocking htm
down.
He who would win in a race must
reckon only with the road yet to be
run.—Ram's Horn.
SNAKE, EGC3 AND A JUG.
The Moccimln's Appetite and Ilia Lack
or Seino I.oil to II Id Death.
A party of Jacksonville mechanics
were at work on the Matanzas river
some months ago raising a sunken
dredge boat. They lived on board of
the big lighter on which they worked
in a small house on the deck. One
noon their bill cf fare was somewhat
strengthened by some wild turkey
eggs which had been found by some
of the party while hunting 011 shore.
After the hungry engineers had de
stroyed a heavy dinner they left their
dining-room and returned to work.
The doors and windows were all open,
and the cook did not clear off the tabio
' for some time.
j In this interval a large water moc
| casin of near six feet crawled on
j board the lighter and wriggled into
j the dining-room through the open j
i door. 11l his prospecting lour he
j climbed the table leg, and here, with
i a snake's fondness for eggs, he went
in for a feast. One of the turkey eggs
lay alone by a plate, and the rest were
in a dish on the other side of the
table. In the centre stood a large
water jug, and right here the wily ser
pent slipped up. After swallowing
the lonesome egg, he started for the
main supper, and in ills artless man
-1 ner crawled through the handle of
j the jug. It was a rather tight fit, and
j he had to stop about half way through
' on account of the egg, which enlarged
J him somewhat. So, stretching for-
I ward, he bolted another egg, and
j thereby fastened himself.
| On each side of the jug handle was
an egg on his inside, and he could
move neither backward nor forward,
practically riveted in position. He was
soon found in this peculiar position by
the cook, who speedily killed him.
j The reporter was shown the skin of
the snake with a crease still in the
; middle from the tremendous pressure,
1 and he was also permitted to gaze on
the jug whose handle proved so fatal.
—Florida Times-Union and Citizen.
Prospect* of the Farm.
! As to capital, there must needs be
some. The farm is to be purchased
and stocked. Manufactured fertilizers
, are but temporary expedients—the
; upturned acres must be fed solidly
with composted or green manures,
for one must be generous with Mother
Earth with so many rotating crops,
and after these the timothy and red
top for the haymows. Then, there is
the farm machinery, and the best is
the cheapest. Moreover, no draft Im
plement should be used that does not
provide a springy riding-seat for the
operator—planting machines, per
haps, excepted. The work will be
better, more easily and quickly done,
enabling the farmer to husband his
1 energies as well. And not the least
among these provisions and precau
tions Is the choice of the scene of
operations. The farmer should select
his farm in much the same mood as a
general with a small force at his com
mand chooses his place of giving bat
tle to a superior, having view to abun
dance of water, good drainage, sunny
exposure, friable soil, ample pasture
and woodland. These acquired, aver
age intelligence and robust health
with a pair of willing hands and an
active brain should meet with some
degree of success, barring the advice
of enthusiasts whose hobbies consti
tute probably their larger possessions.
—Rev. Herbert M. Sylvester in Dona
tions.
Cocoanut Batter.
A large factory in Mannheim. Ger
many, is making cocoanut butter on
a large scale. This is distinct from
cocoa butter, which is the oil constitu
ent of the cocoa bean and which is
liberally present In chocolate. The
cocoanut butter Is derived from "cop
ra," or dried cocoanut. brought from
the tropics. It Is a wholesome fat,
free from the objections of the ani
mal fats used in cooking, and the
moderate price at which it is sold—
J6 cents a pound in Germany—i 3
bringing it into common use abroad.
It has the texture of butter, the color
however being white, as the German
law prohibits coloring it. Com
pounds of cocoanut that for shorten
ing are also produced to a limited ex
tent in this country.
HOW TO KEEP ECGS.
The Lnt Word on the Subject from I
Itrltisli Authority.
Eggs are best when stored in a cool,
but not very cold place—about 50 to
CO degrees is best—and with the large
end down. We gave this advice as far
back as 1872, after considerable test
ing of it to that time; all our subse
quent experience has corroborated its
soundness, says a writer in the Lon
don Book of Poultry. There is a dis
tinct percentage of better result every
way when eggs are stored in this posi
tion, if the other circumstances are
equal. The air chamber is less ex
panded when so stored, and even for
eating after some weeks there is a
perceptible difference in the "fresh
ness" of eggs thus kept. Egg 3 may
be stored in this position either in j
bran or in a board pierced with holes; j
and if the board, or the bran case, bo
covered over by a cover of blanket or ]
sacking made to fit. and a cool and -
quiet place is available, the very best
will be done for the eggs. The cover
ing over is not to keep them warm,
but to prevent draught, which in
creases evaporation of the fluid con
tents and enlarges the air chamber.
This process we want to retard as
much as possible. * * * It is often de
sired to preserve summer eggs for
winter use, and there are several
methods of doing so. Some house
keepers smear them all over with but
ter, and in France they similarly use
olive oil in which a little beeswax is
dissolved or melted. The latter is the
better of the two, butter becoming
rancid. Others bed the eggs in dry
salt, packed tightly round and over
them; kept this way they do fairly,
even for boiling, up to six or eight
months. Bedded in bran alone they
will keep well several months, draught
and evaporation being prevented.
Another plan is to pack them in sat
urated saltbrine; this way they keep
quite "good" a long while, but be
come rather hard and the white per
ceptibly saltish. For eggs to be kept
any length of time, however, there
is no doubt that the best preserva
tive medium is a solution compounded
of lime, salt and cream of tartar Dif
ferent people use slightly different
proportions; a very good recipe is as
follows; Carefully slake and then
pour the rest of two gallons of water
(other quantities being in proportion)
upon one pound and a half of quick
lime; then add 10 ounces of salt and
two ounces of cream of tartar. Stir
at intervals and leave to temper to
gether for a few days; then pour off
the clear liquor, and imbed the eggs
in it as closely as possible, keeping al
ways well covered with liquid. A jar
of spare liquid should always be ready
to fill up as required. Whatever pro
cess be used, it is important to store
or treat the eggs the same day as
laid, if they are fertile eggs. But
there is no doubt at all. and it has
been proved by many experiments,
that sterile eggs, laid by hens without
a mate, keep considerably better than
fertile ones.
Tlio Diapersal of Animals.
The manner in which animals may
be conveyed from one area or re
gion to another by what may be
called chance agencies has always
formed a subject of much interest in
the eyes of naturalists. The same
opinion may be expressed of the dis
persal of plants. Darwin found over
80 seeds in a little clod of earth at
tached to the leg of a migrating bird,
and we cah readily imagine how such
[ agencies serve to widen the distribu
tion of life. Sir C. Lyell gives an in-
I stance of a pig—an animal popularly
I believed to be anything butanadeptat
' swimming—being found far cut at sea
I bravely making its way toward some
i haven of rest. Such animals as tor
! toises may easily be conveyed on
' driftwood over long tracts of o?an.
j A recent report of the Indian Marine
Survey gives a case in point. A fe
j male leopard was brought down the
j Moulmein river, and came aboard a
I cargo steamer. Then she swam to
land and was thereafter dispatched.
Snakes were also found on the floats
; of the paddlewheels of the surveying
steamer, having been carried down by
! the flood. A lucky settlement in a
new territory thus implies the extend
;ed distribution of a race. It is in
teresting to note how greatly what
i we may call chance may influence the
extension of life over the earth's sur
face.—London Chronicle.
Hl* ThonshtfulnenK.
j Rev. Leighton Parks, relating many
j anecdotes illustrating the unvarying
j sympathy and kindness which Phillips
! Brooks showed to all humanity, notes
jin particular his thoughtfulness and
consideration for the humbler classes.
At one time a workingman was told
j at the hospital that unless he would
I consent to undergo a dangerous surgi
cal operation his life would probably
| pay the forfeit. The evening before
j the operation was to be performed the
j man and his wife went to see Phillips
I Brooks, whom neither of them knew,
and were received by him as kindly
as they had expected. He talked
soothingly to them and promised tc
I be with them the following day at
j the hospital, and he kept his word,
j "All that their imagination had con-
I o.eived of what he might be to them
I in their emergency," says Mr. Parks
| "was more than realised. What mat
j tered It to liim that they were not ol
his church, that they were strangers 1
j They had come to him in their hour
of trial, and he would not fail them."
—Youth's Companion.
Sorry Ontlook.
First Office Boy—Goln' ter de bali
games dis seezun?
Second Office Boy—Nqw, de boss
knows I ain't got enny relashuns tci
] git sick er die nor anything.—Colum
j bus (Ohio) State Journal.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
The conflict between sea and land
Is going on all over the world. On j
some coasts the sea gains steadily, on fc
others the land. In still other regions ■:
the issue is wavering or doubtful, but K
the sea is easily victor on the west E
coast of France.
The whole of the west coast ol ,
France suffers greatly from the fury |i
of tho waves, which make continual P
encroachments on the land. In some ii
districts the shore recedes as much as '
a yard per year. At Annis, where
there Is u. more resisting limestone tjjjg
formation, the recession is only a
foot a year. Even the frowning gran
ite cliffs of Brittany are gradually be- a
ing undermined by the breakers and
toppling into the sea.
Loss of fertilizer from rains cannot
be estimated. Tile water courses carry
millions of tons of plant foods to the
sea. The Nile alone pours over a 1(130
tons into tho Mediterranean every 24 4
hours. The annual loss from the
earth's soil Is greater than the entire
deposits of guano, even before they ~;j
were exhausted. Unless a large por- i-.j
tion of the fertilizer is reclaimed from w
the sea a time may come when the
world's average yield of crops will be lr
exceedingly low.
All snakes lay eggs. Some snakes fa
hatch out their eggs before depositing ,1
them. Thus there is a distinction. The j&
egg layers are said to be oviparous, I
tho others viviparous. Viper, indeed, ,:§
is derived from that reptile's supposed fl
habit of producing Its young alive, but 11
no matter what the speuies, every w
snake egg, as soon as formed, begins \J .
to hatch. Thus it matters little as to a ,
when or how they are extruded. Barr- I
ing accidents, there is very sure to be
a fine brood of young snakes at a I
very early date. While the young
snakes arc very small the mother
reptile guards them vigilantly. Upon J
the approach of imminent danger she
opens her mouth and lets her young
run down her throat.
The United States coast and geode
tic survey has organized a special bu- ,
reau charged with a magnetic survey ,j
of tho whole country, including J
Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, and Jjj
Porto Rico. Some 500 stations have g
been already occupied and the mag- a
netic elements—declination, dip and S
intensity—have been determined. |
Other special stations havo been es- j
tablished at which these observations J
will be repeated from time to time in
order to determine the secular varia- =
tions of the elements. Magnetic ob- i
servatorles of a permanent character j
will be established at Cheltenham, i
Md., Sitka and Honolulu. A new edi- |
tion of tables and charts of magnetic
elements Is In course of preparation,
and tho whole field of a magnetic sur
vey will be covered within a reason
ably short period.
A scientific party sent out by the
United States geological survey will
travel by dog sledge over Alaskan ice
bound for the Koyukuk river, 700
miles long and one of the two largest
northern tributaries of the Yukon.
Some miners in 1898 found pay dirt
up this river on the gold belt that
runs through Alaska. A large ramp
Is there now, and the miners are doing
well. Some distance below the mining
camp tho Altenkakat tributary joins
the Koyukuk, and here a large supply
of provisions was cached last summer I
for the use of the exploring party that |
Is just starting out on Its journey.
This party is to travel from the mouth
of the Altenkakat to the shores of the
Arctic ocean. It is a virgin field for
explorers. The main purpose is to *
look for now gold fields, which. It la
believed, may exist in the unknown re
gion. The geology of the country will
also be studied and geographic fea
tures delineated. The results are like
ly to be very interesting and valuable.
. An Automobile for Tanner*.
A Coloroad mail has Invented an
automobile for the use of farmers,
and, it is said, it will do tho work of
several teams of horses, says Electri
city. The motive power for this ma
chine may be either gasoline or elec
tricity. It is adapted to plowing,
cultivating, seed planting or harvest
ing. The engine or motor is on tho
forward or drive wheels, which are
joined by a long reach to the smaller
rear wheels, over which the seat of
the driver is placed. A large trans
verse bar. about six feet in length,
crosses the reach-bar at its centre-
To this transverse bar the plowing,
cultivating and other applances for
farm work may he attached.
A very important feature of the in
vention is a mechanism that allows
the operator to apply the whole pow
er to any one of the wheels, thus
making it easy to get the wheels out i
of any rut or hole in which they may jf
get stuck. The wheels may be oper
ated entirely Independent of each
other and by an Ingenious steering de
vice the farm "auto" can bo turned
within a very small compass.
Itemiti-kitblA Well llurlng,
A piece of work lu boring a well Is
reported from England that has not
many parallels, if it is matched else
where at all. The place where it was
done is Gainsborough. The hole was
begun nearly six yeurs ago. Down to
321 feet is was lined with 36-inch pipe,
and then for 286 feet more with 30-inch
pipe. When the hole had reached a
depth of 724 feet tin April, 1897), an
accident happened. The boring tool,
weighing Kvo and a half tons, and se
cured to a too and a half of cable, got
stuck. In tryiixg to loosen It the rope
broke, and 500 feet of it sank down
over the tool, filling up fully 300 feet
of the well.
The self-made man never apologizes
lor himself.