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The reckless youth on the blcyclo is
now taking his turn at being terror,
ized by the danger of being run down
by an automobile.
George McDermott, a comedian, who
died in England the other day, is cred
ited with introducing the word "jingo"
to the language by means of a song
which he sang iu 1877, when the Brit
ish fleet went through the Darda
nelles.
A movement has been started in
Georgia to perpetuate the memory of
Eli Whitney by converting into a
country club the scene of his labors
near Augusta, where he perfected his
cotton gin. An organization has been
perfected, and a charter for the club
secured.
We have a strong conviction that the
time is not far remote when the apple ]
will be recognized to be a staple of
life quite as important as any of the |
cereals, and when Its market quotation |
will create as much interest in the af- j
fairs of nations, observes the New j
York Independent.
Domestic servants in Switzerland j
are becoming scarce, as many of them
emigrate to the United States. The
labor bureau has applications for 1021
servants, but oDly 402 could be found.
Servants object to the continuous la- I
bor of housework and to ,>oi " a de- j
prived of their free Sunday.
The report which Senator Mitchell
makes of his observations of public
feeling in Europe during a two years'
residence there, from which he has
just returned, is not pleasant In sub
stance It is that while the English re
spect Americans and are much more
friendly toward them than they used
to lie, the Continental peoples, and es
pecially the Germans and the French,
manifest a positive and rather bitter
dislike toward us. The Senator is fa
miliar with the languages of these na
tions, and he says abroad did ho see iu
period of his stay abroad did he see in
the press of either a kindly allusion to
his own. The feeling approaching ani
mosity he attributes mostly to com
mercial rivalry and a sense that the
Americans are gradually engrossing
the trade that formerly belonged to the
Continent, and are bound to do so
more and more, and to encroach on the
Continental markets.
Clocks AVlth "Wheel*."
"Clocks are certainly queer things,"
said the man who was tinkeriug at
the hall clock in a suburban house the
other day. "They get cranky spells,
just like people. Sometimes they really
act as though they were bewitched.
A friend of miue had a little clock that
bad behaved itself und kept good time
A>r years. One day it took a notion to
lay off for a while, and they couldn't
get it started again. My friend's wifo
was cleaning the room several days
afterward, aud she took the clock and
laid it down flat on its back on a
chair. It started to go at once, and
ticked away at a great rate, but as
soon as she placed it on end it stopped
again. Well, they set it, nnd for a
time It acted all right as long as
It remained on its back. But It soon
got cranky again and refused to go.
The other day, just for fun, they
turned it upside down, nnd would
you believe it, that crazy clock started
off again. Now It only runs when it it
standing on its head, aud they are
wondering what new foolishness it
will develop next"—Boston Becord.
Howitzers are steel breech-loading
weapons, weighing 2500 pounds, and
having a length of six feet ten Inches.
Roughly speaking Britain produces
for export a little less than twice as
much per head of her population as
the United States, France or Ger
many.
NlDty-ix per cent of all deaths
from whooping cougti and 00 per cent
of deaths from measles occur in chil
dren under 5 years old.
rAAAAAAAAA.AAAA AAAAAAAJVAAJi
AN ADAPTATION OF EXODUS. >
4 Why There Were Many Plagues in the Captain's Quarters.
4 >
q ItV OWKXIIOLES OVERTON. ft
To a certain sort of mind a saint is
only to be known as a saint by the
halo above his brow, and the Prince of
Darkness himself would be devoid of
identity without a pitchfork and
cloven hoof. To such as these the
knight-errantry of Drayton and Bart
lett may seem problematical; but a
knight-errant is one who succors beau
ty in distress, and who rides abroad
redressing human wrongs. Whether
he employs an obnoxious insect rath
er than a sword, as Drayton did,
or whether he rides a S. C. govern
ment mule, as Bartlett was wont to do,
13 neither here nor there.
Bartlett was riding the aforesaid
mule shortly after the time my story
■begins. He rode it up the line, its long
gray ears waggling evenly and rest
fully, and came to a halt in front of
the set of quarters where Drayton and
he roomed. Drayton was sitting on
the porch, his feet on the railing, his
chair tipped back, and the visor of his
cap pulled down on his nose. He
pushed the cap to the back of his
head as Bartlett came slowly up the
steps.
"I wish you woud get a horse," he
complained. "If you could just realize
the figure you cut on that old ele
phant!"
"That's a mule," corrected Bartlett,
his arm around a pillar and letting
his heels dangle as he perched on the
railing. "It's also a very nice mule.
It is no longer a shave-tail, but has
reached years of discretion. The mo
ment man or animal does that, his ap
preciative country straightway has
him inspected and condemned. Horses
may do for some, but not for one who
has the duties of post quartermaster
to perform. And, besides, I believe in
the infantry and scorn a horse."
"The scorn," observed Drayton,
"of the fox for the grapes."
"Don't rub it in," said Bartlett, de
jectedly; "I'm miserable enough as it
is."
"Thought you looked rather triste.
I'm all sympathy. Go on."
Bartlett released his hold upon the
pillar and folded his arms on his breast
in an attituue combining stern endur
ance and precarious balance. "The
Collinses are going to rout the Law
rences out."
Now, the Collinses were the family
of Captain Collins—wife, mother-in
law on both sides, and three small
children. They had that morning ar
rived in the post. Collins was in com
mand of Troop L, which had been
moved on some weeks before. If he
had been well-disposed his entry
should not have put the whole garri
son, below his rank, in the throes of
fear of a progressive "turning out."
For there were empty quarters into
which he might have moved exactly
as well as not, and no one have been
any the worse off.
"But Collins won't see it that way,"
Bartlett went on. "He ranks Law
rence, and his wife, ranks him, you
bet; and its the wife and the mother
in-law who are going to have the Law
rences' set or bust"
"Throw them a few buckets of paint
and calcimine, byway of sop," Dray
ton ventured to suggest.
"Did," said Bartlett, briefly. "Of
fered them half the quartermaster's
department, and a carpenter, and a
blacksmith, and a farrier, too, if they
happened to need one. Told them they
could have any or all of tne colors of
paint in the rainbow, if they'd just
be good —but those three Graces are
going to have the Lawrences' house."
Drayton opined, with a little of the
placidity, nevertheless, with which we
all bear one another's burdens, that it
was a very great and very profane
shame. "There's that poor little wom
an with those little bits of kids, and
Just moved into those quarters, and
got them all fixed up so prettily, and
her garden started, too. Then, those
Collinses; They're a mean lot of cat
tle, anyway." He made a gesture of
disgust, which turned the visor around
over his left ear, and was silent for a
minute through sheer wrath.
"1 told Mrs. Lawrence they would be
serpents on the wood cutter's
hearth—"
"Serpents, now?" asked Bartlett;
"they were cattle before; and you
sailed that" —he pointed over his
shoulder —"an elephant, whereas, In
point of fact, it's a mule."
"I told her," continued Drayton,
unmoved, "that it wouldn't pay. I
know all about the Collinses —served
with them in Texas. I was sitting on
Mrs. Lawrence's steps—l know that
I usually am, so you can save yourself
—I was sitting on her steps when the
Collins outfit drove up. The ambu
lance stopped in front of the C. O. s
house, next door, and Collins jumped
out and went in. The rest of them
just waited. All would have been well
if Mrs. Lawrence hadn't become
tender-hearted in a most unnecessary
way, and hadn't chosen to disregard
any advice." He assumed the look of
prophecy fulfilled. "I told her to sit
still and not get excited and do some
thing rash; gave her the benefit of
my knowledge and experience. But it
wasn't any use. She made me dry up
and hang on to the kids, while she
ran down to the ambulance and invit
ed the whole caboodle to come in and
rest and refresh themselves. They
came. You can bet your life they
came—or they wouldn't have been the
Collinses. I saw Dame C.'s weather
eye taking in the house. I could see
she liked It, and I knew there'd be
trouble. Mrs. Lawrence kept them to
luncheon —the whole seven of them.
'Asked me, too; but the kids were
raising Cain, and the abode of peace
was transformed, so I lit out."
"Well, I guess she's sorry now—if
that's any comfort to you. For the
Collinses are not only going to have
those quarters, but they're going to
have them quick. Even the C. 0. got
at Collins. But it wasn't any use.
'My wife likes tae quarters,' says he.
And that's all."
They sat in meditation for some
time. Then Drayton spoke.
"I like those quarters, too. I'm go
ing to have some of them myself," he
said.
Bartlett did not understand, and
Drayton undertook to explain.
"Well—see here." He took his feet
down from the rail, in his earnestness,
and straightened his cap. "It's like
this. You and 1 have got one room
each in this house, haven't we, same
as the most of the other bachelors?"
Such was the case. "And we're en
titled to two rooms each, aren't we?"
Bartlett agreed that they were. "And
we've been keeping these ones because
we've been too lazy and good natured
to ask for more, haven't we? Well we
won't be lazy and good natured any
more. If the Collinses move into the
Lawrences' set, I'll vacate my room—
turn it over to you—and I'll apply for
the upstairs floor of the Lawrences
house. Oh! I'm entitled to it, all
right," he chuckled. "I know my
rights as a citizen of these United
States and as a first-lieutenant of
cavalry. The Collinses, the whole
sweet seven of 'em, may have the low
er floor. It's all they can claim under
law. That's four rooms, including the
kitchen. I dare say they won't mind
living like that any way. They're
pigs."
"Pigs, too?" asked Bartlett.
Drayton went on unfolding his plan.
"Once I have tha' top floor, you watch
the interest in life I'll provide for
them. I'll make their days pleasant
and their nights—particularly their
nights—beautiful. I'll have suppers
up their every evening, and do songs
and dances until reveille, if I have to
hypothecate to pay my commissary
bill, and if my health breaks down.
You watch!" He stood up and began
to button his blouse, "So you are
warned. If the Collinses move in. such
is my devotion to them that I'll move
in, too. And I'll put in my formal ap
plication for those two rooms. No
other two in the post will suit, either,
you understand."
And It all came about exactly as lie
said. There was a hegira of Law
rences and an ingress of Collinses,
and great was the letter's wrath when
they found Drayton taking possession
of the upper floor. They protested to
everybody in general, and to the com
mandant and the quartermaster in
particular. And the commandant and
the quartermaster said they were
sinry, but that Drayton was certainly
within his rightj. He had applied for
the quarters in virtue of the general
turning-out that D troop was causing
Ing the post, and he was entitled to
occupy them. There was nothing more
to be said.
"I caa't pretend to be sorry forthem,
exactly," Mrs. Lawrence confided to
Drayton, when he advised her not to
try to settle in her new quarters very
elaborately; "I'm oniy human, after
all, and my house did look so sweet,
and my ""S'den—. But I'm sorry for
you. I think those children are the
very imps of evil."
Drayton nodded. "There are others,"
he said.
It was emigmatical, hut Mrs. Law
rence looked doubtful and ready to he
hurt. "You don't mean mine?" she
said.
"No, my dear lady," Bartlctt reas
sured her, "he doesn't mean yours.
He thinks yours are all that tender
infancy should be. I don't know what
he does mean, however. And prob
ably he doesn't know himself."
"Don't I?" queried Drayton, enigmat
ical still. "Don't I just?"
"Perhaps," said Bartlett. "you mean
Jimmy O'Brien. I saw you hobnob
bing with him today. Would it be
Jimmy now?"
Drayton would not commit him
self. But is was Jimmy and one other,
nevertheless. Drayton had come upon
him when he was playing duck-on-a
rcek all by himself, near the sutler's
store. The duck was a beer bottle, and
Jimmy was pitchiug stone 3 at it. with
indifferent aim. The father of Jimmy
was first-sergeant of Drayton's troop,
and so the lieutenant felt they had
enough in common to warrant a con
versation.
It began by a suggestion as to a
better way to throw a stone, anil it
ended with a bargain struck. "Then,"
said Drayton "if I promise to pay you
two bits for every centipede, four bits
for every tarantula, ten cents for every
lizard, a nieltel for every toad and a
cent for every big spider, you will
catch all you can and bottle them for
me?"
Jimmy nodded solemnly.
"And you won't say anything about
it to any one?" A quarter was pressed
into a chapped and grimy hand.
The very nextmorningbeforeguard
mounting, ne clambered up the stair
way to Drayton's rooms. Drayton was
only Just dressing. He had kept late
hours. Bartlett had helped him, and
until 2 o'clock they had alternated
pacing heavily to and fro with drop
ping weighty bodies on the floor.
The Collinses were kept awake.
"It's a question of endurance, be
cause we are two," said Drayton; "but
I expect we can hold out."
He inspected Jimmy's first catch.
There was a centipede, two lizards and
three toads. Jimmy's pockets bulged
with bottles. There were also five
large and unpleasant spiders.
"Good boy," said Drayton, and paid
as per schedule.
Mrs. Colline and the mother-in-law's
nerves were not calmed, any way, by
the wakeful night. It was the harder
for them when they found three large
toads in their rooms that day. To
have a toad hop at you from a dark j
corner is not nice. It is still less to !
step on one and crush it It gives a 1
peculiar sensation. Mre. Collins found !
it ss>. There was a lizard in the milk i
bottle, and another on the back of a j
chair, whence it climbed into a moth- J
er-in-law's hair. Big spiders infested '
the place.
Toward noon Drayton came down- j
stairs carrying on the end of a pin, j
and examining it critically, a centi- j
pede. "Large, isn't it?" he asked, with j
some pride; "I killed it myself at the ,
topof the stairs. They always come i
in families of three. The other two j
will be along pretty soon, I suppose." j
The mother-in-law shuddered. "You
and Mr. Bartlett made a great deal of
noise last night, Mr. Drayton," she re
proached.
Drayton looked concerned. These
government quarters were so thin
floored, he explained.
"Did he always stay up until 2
o'elpck ?"
He admitted being of a restless dis
position and given to insomnia.
"All right," ho reported to Mrs.
Lawrence, shortly after. "You just
rest on your oars. We'll have you
back in those quarters before the kids
have had time to do much damage
to the place. I should say that a fort
night, at the very outside, should see
Mrs. Collins suing for another set —
any other old set. Bartlett will let her
have them. He's an exceptionally
obliging Q, M., as Q. Ms. go. That's
his reputation."
It (lid not run a3 smothly as Drayton
might have wished. The women ol
the Collins family did not surrender
without giving fight. They attacked
Drayton himself first, but were met
with an urbanity which parried every
thrust. It was the thinness of the
walls and floors, and that was mani
festly the government's fault. As for
his insomnia, the blame of that lay
with the doctor, he should think. He
did not like staying broad awake un
til nearly dawn any better than they
did. Of course, however, he would try
to control his restlessness. The at
tempt met with failure, though, and
the women appealed to the command
ant. The commandant was urbane,
too, but the insomnia of his officers
was evidently not a matter to be
reached officially.
It was plain that the insomnia
aroused the supicions of the Collinses.
But the insects did not. They had
never—not even in Texas —seen a
house so overrun with reptiles. There
were lizards in everything. Therewere
frogs and toads in dark nooks. They
hopped into your lap when you were
least expecting it. They were always
getting under your feet and—squash
ing. Spiders spun webs and dropped
from the ceiling and the walls. And
as for more venomous tilings! A day
hardly passed that Drayton did not
kill a tarantula or a centipede some
where around. They seemed to
emerge only when he was near. The
wrath toward him was tempered with
unwilling gratitude to a saviour. There
had also been a garter snake on the
front porch. And one terrible day
they had come upon Drayton, sabre in
hand, standing in the front hallway
beside the decapitated body of a rattle
snake. They neglected, in the excite
ment, to notice that the body was not
wriggling.
Jimmy had that morning produced a
newspaper package. "Here's a dead
rattier," he had said. "I didn't know
as you could use him. But I found
him, and you can have him for a
dime."
And the rattler had proved the best
investment of all, as well as the last
straw. Captain Collins had carried
him on a stick out into the road. Then
he had gone to the commandant and
Bartlett. He was heavy-eyed for
want of sleep. The whole family was
that way; and Drayton was. too. In
all humanity he asked the favor of be
ing allowed to change has quarters.
Any other quarters would ao, provided
there were fewer insects. He was not
particular at all. He asked so little,
in fact, that Bartlett took pity on
him. He renewed his offer of paint
"Now," he said to Mrs. Lawrence,
"you can come hack to your own.
They'll move out tomorrow. I've just
been inspecting the premises, and
there hasn't been much harm done.
They are still the best quarters in the
post. The kids have knocked a few
holes in the walls and the woodwork' 3
a little scratched. But I'll give you
some paint, too."
Paint was Bartlett's idea of the
panacea for all earthly ills. He had
not much else in the world, being a
second-lieutenant; but he had paint,
and he was liberal with that.
The Collinses moved next day,.
Drayton waited until the last load of
furniture was gone, and the three
women were taking their final 100 l
around. Then he came down the stairs
holding out, at the length of his arms,
two centipedes on the point of two
large pins. He exhibited them.
"These quarters are too much for
me," he said, "I'd rather have a corner
of a housetop alone, than a wide up
per floor with crawling things. I'm
going to go back to my own room."
A fierce light of suspicion broke in
on Mrs. Collins' mind then. "I be
lieve, Mr. Drayton, that the whole
thing was a put-up job."
"Do you? Do you really?" asked
Drayton, smilingly, deprecatingly.
"But consider, my dear lady, consider
the centipedes."—San Francisco Argo
naut.
DEFICIENT EDUCATION.
I'm really sorry for the man
Who's bred to idleness.
He passes through life's little span
A picture of distress.
Alas, he may not even know
What joy it is to shirk,
He is indeed a man of woe
Who hasn't learned to work.
But sadder is the busy one
Who hurries through this life
And never stops to tliink of fun
Amid the hustling strife.
He is the mourufullest of men—
You see him every day—
Who feels like loafing now and then,
But doesn't know the way.
—Washington Star.
HUMOROUS. _
Riter—Have you read my last
poem? Reeder —I hope so.
The ?hotograptier—fiut this picture
uoesn't look like her. Astute Assist
ant —Of course, not; but it looks like
she thinks she looks.
Wigg—Yo#ng Gotrox Is an imbecile.
He hasn't even horse sense. Wagg—
He doesn't need horse sense. He
rides in an automobile.
"Some people say," remarked the
talkative barber, "that barbers are
too fond of conversation." "O! that's
all wrong," -epljed the man In the
chair; "it's soliloquy they're land
"What does the teacher say when
you don't know your lessons?" asked
Willie's father. "She says I must be
a chip of the old blockhead," replied
Willie. And then something hap
pened.
"I know all the tricks of the trade,"
declared the loud-mouthed lodger.
"You don't suppose I've been board
ing 20 years for nothing." "No," said
the landlady icily. "I'm positive you
haven't"
"For a man who doesn't work," said
the housekeeper, "you have a pretty
good appetite." "Yes, ma'am," replied
Hungry Higgins; "dat's why I don't
work. If I did, dey wouldn' be no sat
lsfyin' me."
Smith—l suppose you are one of
those who claim the world owes you
a living. Laziman —Yes; and the
trouble Is collections are bad. It's
as much as I can do to scrape together
a bare existence.
Two bulls were once in love with
the same heifer. In the midst of
their dispute a man was seen ap
proaching. "Aha!" exclaimed the
heifer, who played no favorites.
"Here is away out of the difficulty.
Y'ou may tons up for rue." Thus is
feminine wit always equal to an
emergency.
"I was getting mrasurod for a suit
of clothes this mawning," said young
Mr. Sissy to his pretty cousin; "and
just for a Joke, y' know, I awaked Sni
pon if it weally took nine tailors to
make a man. He said it- would take
more than nine tailors to make a man
of some people. I thought it was
quite clevah."
"You are the sunshine of my life!"
he exclaimed. She smiled encourag
ingly. "You reign in my heart alone!"
he continued. She frowned. "I could
not wed a man who mixed his meta
phors like a weather prognosticator,"
she said, haughtily. Ho realized at
once that his case was hopeless, and,
putting on his mackintosh, he stag
gered out into the moonlight.
NO MORE BIC CITIES-
Improved Rapid Transit Will So the
Municipal Solvent,
In an effort to picture the future of
great cities as afflicted by the devel
opment of rapid transit, Mr. H. G.
Wells contributes to the London Fort
nightly Review a fascinating article
on the England of 200 A. D. It is tho
second of a series of serious scientific
anticipations, the first of which placed
the speed of railway journeys for
the near future at 100 mile or more
an hour, and of omnibuses, cabs, etc.,
at 30 miles or more. "
Mr. Wells believes that the influ
ence of this rapid transit will be not
to condense population, but to spread
It out all over the land. Huge towns
and cities will all but disappear, and
the inhabitants will oetake themseves
to the country again. Hitherto the
great cities have been confined, he
points out, within a radius of about
eight miles from the centre; horse
traction and bad train services have
compelled it Soon the radius will be
30 miles.
"And is it too much," asks Mr.
Wells, "not expect that tho available
area for even the common daily toilers
of the great city of the year 2000 will
have a radius very much larger than
that? Now, a circle with a radius of
30 miles gives an area of over 2SOO
square miles, which is almost a quarter
that of Belgium."
The social equivalent of the season
ticket holder, will, he suggests, have
an available area with a radius of over
100 miles, or almost the size of Ire
land. "Indeed, it is not too much to
say that the London citizen of the
year 2000 A. D. may have a choice of
nearly all England and Wales south
of Nottingham and east of Exeter as
his suburb, and that the vast stretch
of country from Washington to Al
bany will be all available to the active
citizen of New York and Philadelphia
before that date."
Mr. Wells' picture Is indeed delight
ful. He gives Englishmen a London
city of a sort, a Lancashire-Yorkshire
city, and a Scotch city, consisting
chiefly of business premises, while the
whole of Great Britain will be dotted
over with houses very different from
the modern "villa" each In its spa
clous garden. It will be much less
monotonous, Mr. Wells says. There
will be more life and more character,
and each district will grow in its own
particular way. The postofflce will de
liver nearly everything that every
household waDts.
PEARLS OF THO'JGHT.
A haggling woman is nearly as odi
ous as a mean man.
It is bettor to be called proud than
to be named a sycophant
A woman may overcome a man's
dislike, but his contempt never.
The best friend a young girl caD
have is a level headed, loving father.
Health is a touchy possession; dis
ooey one of its commands and off it
goes.
Nothing makes a vain old man so
' wroth as to pay him the respect duo
his age.
Keeping one's grievances to one's
self is an excellent proof of mental
equipoise.
Advers'ty is a less severe test than A.
perversity, where domestic happiness *
is concerned.
Until you are sure a stranger will
not bore you, brace you or babble, tell
her no secrets. V
It is not what we see, but what we
remember perfectly that helps to wid
en our mental vistas.
There is ever a battle waging be-
tween an idler and time, the object
being to kill each other.
It is wiser to speak one's own lan
guage correctly than several others
badly, as so many smart persons do.
Doing all we can to promote our
friend's happiness is better than to
continually drink to his prosperity.
They build better than they know
who marry upon the basis of genuine
respect and cameraderie. Love burns
out, friendship Increases. —Philadel-
phia Record.
LETTER-COLLECTING MOTOR CARS.
A Dream Into tlic Future Which -liny lie
Henllzed. '
"In the postal service the govern- m
ment annually appropriates $310,000
for horse hire, and by horse hire is if
meant that the department allows car
riers S3OO a year each for what is
called mounted carrier service," said
a postal official to a Star reporter this
morning.
"There are 20 mounted carriers in
Washington and they may be observed
riding around the streets in their lit
tle wagons collecting mail. Whether
this is a satisfactory way of solving
this problem is a matter of opinion,
but it has evidently been found to be
as economical a system as could be
devised for the money, and on the
score of economy it may be indorsed.
For other reasons, however, it cannot
be commended, and it is antiquated
and scarcely befitting the great sys
tem it represents.
"It would probably cost twice the
amount to maintain a uniform system
as to carriage and horse service in
the cities where mounted carriers are
utilized; but if it cost $2,000,000 the
present high standard of the adminis-
tration of postal affairs would be ma
terially Increased as to appearance and
undoubtedly as to service performed
by these carriers. The little wagons
are of better appearance than those in
use some years ago, but out of a sum
of only S3OO a year a carrier cannot
be expected to supply much of a rig
as to vehicle and horse.
"The idea of collecting mail on foot
belongs to a past generation. It must
be collected now by men in vehicles
to meet the demands of the times. A
decade hence it will be collected, in all
probability, by m n in automobiles.
The system is so extensive, and the
specters of a deficit so ever present in
the minds of the officials in all
branches of the service, that reforms
and measures affecting thousands of
men and involving the expenditure of
millions of dollars are necessarily
eopsidercd and experimented with be
fore adoption.
"Nevertheless, deficit and economy M
to the contrary notwithstanding, the vi
day is rapidly approaching when
Washington will see the last of the
little jaunting cars with their little
horses driven by the men in gray,
going from hotel to hotel, po6tbox to
postbox In the street and hasten ttfe
day. In their stead will bo automo
biles, or some form of artificially pro
pelled carriage, which will skim over
our smooth streets, especially adapted
for that kind of vehicle, and the mail
V ill be collected and deposited in the
I ostofiice in half the time at present
i onsumed. The change will be decid
idly radical and decidedly welcome,
but it will probably not be realized in
the very near future unless the price
of these vehicles is materially low
ered." —Washington Star.
The Windsor Dwelling Dooms.
It is a popular error to suppose that
the dwelling rooms at Windsor are 4
very sumptuous. The private apart- ~*- j
ments are scarcely worthy of an or
dinary country gentleman's seat.
Queen Elizabeth is responsible for a
great number of them, and they were
built rather hurriedly by her orders.
She had taken refuge at Windsor from
the plague which was raging in Lon
don, and her maids of honor and at
tendants revolted at the uncomfort
able condition of their rooms, which
were low, dark and cold. The Queen
herself was furious because her dinner
was invariably served up stone cold,
but being of an inquiring mind she
discovered that the kitchen was nearly
half a mile from the dining room, and
straightway built the present kitchen,
which is very large and commodious.
Elizabeth built the Octagon library,
which she is still said to haunt, and
where she was frequently seen, it la
said, last year.—London Chronicle.
Graphite, of which lead pencils are J
made, was first discovered In Siberia w
in 1842, where one mine has since 1856
yielded 33,000 hundredweight of
graphite.