fREELMD TRIBUNE. ESTABLISHED 1 BHB. PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY, BY THE TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY, LimiteJ OFFICE; MAIN STKEET AHOVB CENTRE. LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE. SUBSCRIPTION HATES FREEL AND.— The TRIBUNE is delivered by carriers to subscribers in Freelandatthe rats of cents per month, payable ovory two months, or $l 50a year, payable in advance- The TRIBUNE may be ordered direct form tha carriers or from the.office. Complaints of irregular or tardy delivery service will re. ceive prompt attention. BY MAIL —The TRIBUNE is Eent to out-of. town subscribers for sl.R'ta yenr, payable in advance; pro rata terms for shorter periods. The date when the subscription expires Is on the address label of each papor. Prompt re. newals must be made at the expiration, other wise the subscription will be discontinued. Entered at the Postofflce at Freeland. Pa. .s -Second-Class Matter. Make all money orders, checks. etx,pcynblt to the Tribune J'nnling Company, Limited. If South American revolutions had a Uttle more powder and shot in them they would not give such a continuous performance. Frenchmen are giving up the terms "rosbit" and "plum puddin'" in ad dressing British tourists; bicycles and automobiles have brought in "caout chouc" at a substitute. There has been little of late in royal and imperial annals to Inspire common people with envy of the exalted per sonages born to the purple, and cer tainly the later life of the Empress Frederick will cause nobody to long for a crown. Some idea of the expansion of the railway industry of the country may be gained from the fact that the num ber of tons of frieght hauled one mila Increased from 95,328,300,278 in the year ending June 30, IS9G, to 141,599,- 157,270 in the year ending June 30, 1000. Last year Americans consumed 2,219,847 tons of sugar, just 141,729 tons more than the year before. Giv ing to each individual his pro rata share, this shows that every inhabit ant of this country gets away with fully sixty-six aud one-half pounds of sweets every year. The conclusion that consumption is curable, reached by the Tuberculosis Congress, is of great importance. But It would he more satisfactory if there had been greater attention given to the methods. Prevention of infection Is important, but if there be a cure for consumption beyond the first stages, the world is ignorant of it. Kaiser William declares that "the noblest weapon is the sword." Lord Roberts says that the "sword is ob solete," and orders that sword drills shall he discontinued in the British army. Possibly his lordship does not class the cavalry saber with the sword. It's difficult to understand how a regiment of horse could dis pense with the saber. The cornerstone of the Indian school which the United States Government proposes to build at Riverside, Cal., was laid the other day with appro priate ceremonies on the site pur chased for the school, on Magnolia avenue, one of the famous driveways of the town. The school will be known as Sherman Institute, in honor of J. S. Sherman, of New York, chairman of the Congressional Committee on In dian Affairs. Justice Goodrich, of the New York Supreme Court, has drawn attention to the fact that the time is approach ing when it will be necessary to cut loose, in a great measure, from pre cedent and decide law cases upon their merits after analysis. The Jus tice says that there are now rendered In this country more than 20,000 de cisions in each year by appellate tribunals, and that there were pub lished in 1000 420 volumes of reports, seventy-seven volumes of digests, ninety-five volumes of statutes and 150 volumes of treatises. No lawyer can do anything with such a mass of legal matter, even if he has the money to buy it; and, since no lawyer can now hope to keep up with the law as expounded, courts must necessarily fall hack on application of recognized first principles to the case immediately in hand. Potatoes have ceasi n to bo tliio principal root crop of Ireland, if they are to he compared with turnips by weight or yield—last year, for exam ple,only about 1,542.000 tens, against 4.4420,000 tons of turnips'. It Is announced that the biological •"Union which has been maintained on "<ke Baikal for a year by the East ft Iberian Geographical Society has been closed. THE PASSING OF A DREAM. A wan and wistful hope was mine, A song was also in mv heart, . H /' Whilst thou on earth didst hold thy Feeble and fitful—often gone— - V place. And dreams there were divinely sweet, r' That somehow the lonp whirl of years That faded in the flush of dawn. Would some time bring us face to face. One day you drank that poppy draught While that dim hope clung to my hearty Which all must drink who well would Some purple gleams lit up life's sea; sleep. The sirens sat beside the surge * " I dream no more, no more I sing, And sang—ah! how alluringly. No more will pulses thrill ana leap. —Hattie Tyng Griswold, in Boston Transcript. Jo? & 8 A WAGGN=LOAD OF FIRE. § By Lewis B. Oilier. gj| ON a pleasant day in early win ter, about a year after we had settled on the I.it tic; Pc ean Creek, I yoked up Lep and Coaly, the oxen, and put them to the wagon. I was going for a load of straw to Johnson place, six miles north, toward the head of the Little Pecan. Two miles from home I came to the house where Sinclair McCarty, a boy of my own age, lived. As he was a good hand at stacking or loading straw father had suggested that I stop and get him to go with me. But his moth er told me that he had gone hunting, and had been out an hour. I drove on. Johnson would help me load the straw; but while jolting through the woods, I saw Mccarty's dogs run across the road, and knew that Sinclair was near. A few shouts brought him to the wagon. He was very tall for a boy of sixteen, very thin, and had a prominent nose. "Well, what do you think of my new gun?" was his first remark, as he held the weapon up for inspection. "Traded my saddle for her," he ex plained. Sinclair's "new" gun was an old army musket, but ho had never owned a gun before, and was very proud of It. "How does it shoot?" I asked. "Don't know. Just got my ammuni tion this morning, and haven't seen anything to shoot at yet. She's all right, though; you can tell that by looking at her." He consented to go witli me, nnd as we jogged along, he showed me his new powder-horn, which lie had made himself. It was aiarge one, now near ly full of powder. It huug on one side of him, and an ainunition-bag of un dressed deer-skin on the other. Scarcely had we left the woods when a mule-eared rabbit jumped out of the prairie grass by the road and went jiopping off, hut sat down about thirty yards away. "Now just watch her tumble the mule-ear!" said Sinclair, for with bor rowed guns he had become a fair shot. Stopping the oxen, I went and stood at their heads to keep them from run ning away. At the report of the mus ket the liig rabbit, darted off like a streak. Sinclair stood staring after it, as if expecting every moment to see it drop dead. When it had disappeared over the ridge, ho rubbed his shoulder, looked Into the muzzle of the gun, and finally squinted his eye along the barrel. "She looks all right, and the barrel's straight enough," he remarked, in a puzzled, serious way. "Don't see why she don't shoot straighter. Nearly kicked my shoulder off. too." Later, while reloading, he said; "She's a little hard on the trigger. Guess I must have pulled her up when I pulled her off." But after three more fruitless shots at "mule-ears" as we drove along ho threw the musket on the ground. "If that was what the Confederate ioldiers had to fight with, no wonder our side got licked!" he exclaimed au rrily. "Pick It up and bring it along," I •aid, laughing. "You'll need it Cnrlst mas. It makes a terrible noise," for It Is at Christmas time Texas hoys set off their fireworks. Sinclair took up the musket. "I'll trade her off the very first chance I get!" he declared, angrily. "Somebody has got to pay mo for that saddle." Sinclair was a born trader. He had a reputation among the boys for get ting the better in swapplngs, but for once he had been badly cheated, and was angry over it. "What'll you take for it?" I asked, skeptically. "Never you mind. That saddle was worth $lO, and I'll get something just as good." "Let's he traveling. We'll soon be where I saw the deer last week. You'd better put in a load of buckshot," I suggested. He poured nearly a handful of pow der into the gun. "I'll put in a load that is a load—one that'll scatter ail over the country!" he declared. "If there's a deer between here and the Big Pecan, I'll get It." Then he wad ded up a piece of newspaper and rammed It down on the powder. "You'll get kicked heels over head," I remarked, from some experience with a musket. "Let her kick,!" was his reply, as he hammered the powder till the ramrod bounced out of the barrel. "I'm going to put in ammunition enough to klil something, if she kicks me clean out of the county!" Then Sinclair went on ahead -and walked all the rest of the way, but saw neither deer nor anything else at which he cared to shoot. Johnson helped us put the straw on th frame. We threw off our coats and worked and worked, till tue wa gon disappeared and the straw on it rose high above the oxen. When finished (he huge load looked like a strawstack on wheels. The straw was so very dry and light that It would not pack well. To bind the load a rope tied to the fore end of the frame was passed back over the straw, pulled down till It cut deep, and tied to the hind end of the frame. I tossed Sinclair's coat, pow der horn and ammunition bag up to him, and reached up the musket. Then, getting the oxen stnrtecl into the road, I stepped upon the wagon tongue, climbed the rope hand over hand, and sat on the front end of the load. Sinclair put down the gun, with the pointing muzzle behind, stuck the powder horn into the straw to keep it l'rom sliding off, crawled forward and s..t by my side. He was In a good hu mor now. Night must overtake us long before we could got home, and from the smoke rising beyond the ridge we knew that the prairie was burning. At dusk we saw the fire Itself on topi of the ridge. Night had already set tled down when we rounded a point of timber and came upon the burning grass. The fire had come over the ridge in a V-slinpe, little end first. As there was no wind to speak of, the apex had stopped at the road, and the two blazing lines were now separating, one slowly burning toward us and the other from us. Coaly, a bad-tempered beast, puffed and puffed as we approached the first fire, aud tried to turn out of the road, but Lop jogged along complacently nnd refused to turn. Soon the wagon had passed the narrow front of fire, and was moving between unburnt prairie on the left nnd blackened, smoking ground on the right. Soon we overtook the other line of fire. The blaze near the road was only a few Inches high, the grass there being very short. Wo saw no danger in passing on, and to this day I don't know how the accident happened. Possibly the straw was hanging lower than we thought, but more probably the blaze had just reached a bunch of high grass or a tall, dry weed, aud running up set fire to the straw. The light of the burning prairie kept us from discovering that we were afire till the wagon had gone several yards. The first tiling we knew flames were leaping up from the right fore corner of the load, from a part of the fore end. and from over a larger part of the right side! We both sprang to our feet, shouting "Whoa!" with all our might, aud the wagon had nearly stopped when the oxen turned their heads to see what the light behind them meant. One look was enough. With a snort nnd a plunge Coaly started. Even lazy old Lep was panic-stricken. Away they went! As the wagon hounded forward Sin clair nnd I tumbled backward on the straw. The oxen were galloping with the big but light load jumping and rocking behind them. The rush of air swept the fire over the straw. Before we could get up smoke and flame were In our faces. Blinded aud con fused we scrambled to the side aud dropped off, glad to escape lu any way. When we fell, we rolled over and over In the grass, jarring ourselves and bruising out knees and elbows. By the time we had risen and recov ered our presence of mind, the oxen and wagon were a hundred yards down the road, and still running. The flames had spread over the whole top of the load, and were leaping forward. "Come on!" I cried to Sinclair. And after the wagon I ran, shouting to the oxen at every jump. Being a pretty good runner I gained on them, and had got within twenty yards of the wagon when I heard Sinclair yelling behind me: "Look out there! You'll get shot!" | Iu my frantic engeruess to stop the oxen so as to get them loese and save the wagon I had forgotten all about that old musket, half full of powder and buckshot on top of the blazing straw, hut now I stopped suddenly and ducked my head in my fright. "Don't get closet" cried Sinclair, catching up with me. "She's likely to go off at any moment!" But I exclaimed desperately, "We must do something or lose everything —the oxen, too! Let's run round to the side of the wagon!" "Xo, we won't!" replied Sinclair. "Xo telling which way that gun's pointing by this time. Keep back till she goes off. Then we can " liip—bang—boom. A stream cf flre shot out almost over our heads as the old rumy musket exploded! The buck shot whistled over us. At the llash we had both started to run. I caught my toe in the grass and fell. At the same moment a sharp pain ran through my knee. I was badly fright ened. "I'm shot!" I exclaimed, getting upon my feet. "Where?" asked Sinclair, returning to my assistance. "Here in the knee. I felt the buck shot go In. It—no. I'm not, cither"' I cried, laughing with relief as I plucked out a big grass-bur that I had fallen on and threw it away. We started after the wagon again, but remembered tho powder horn. "Ifs got two ponniJa In It," said Sin clair. "The musket wasn't a patckin' to what that powder'll do when It goes off. It'll blow everything sky-high." "O goodness! The oxen will be killed and the wagon blown to pieces!" Since the explosion Lep and Conly wore running faster, and the flaming load of straw was bouncing and sway ing down the road. We ran after It, keeping as close behind the dangerous thing as we dared. The prairie around was brightly lighted. Wisps of blaz ing straw had begun to fly off behind. Sinclair's two dogs were racing along by the wagon. The powder horn had been pretty deeply burled in the straw. The oxen must have run nearly a mile and Sin clair and I wqre both panting loudly, and I was beginning to hope that in some way there might not be an ex plosion, when the flames, which had been leaping high, shot far higher, spreading out as they rose. An instant later we heard a terrific report. The air far above the wagon was full of lire and blazing straw. Fortunately the powder, being high up in the load and confined only in the thin born, had exerted its force up ward. Aside from scattering the sur face straw and making a loud noise and a big flash it did nothing at all. Poor Lep and Coaly! They had been panic-stricken before, but now they left the road and broke into mad flight across the prairie. The wagcn load of fire bounding along behind them seemed no encumbrance. "No danger —now!" cried Sinclair, breathlessly. "Lot's catch 'em—if we can!" We increased our speed. The blaz ing straw scattered by the wagon was setting tiro to the prairie, and wo bad to keep on one side. Soon the oxen circled to the right, making straight for the ridge. We cut across the prairie, saving a few hundred yards, and were again near the wagon. "If we can—only—only over—over take 'em!" I gasped, as we ran. "Wagon's gone—l guess—but we can —we must—must save—the oxen! Won't do to —to let 'em bur—to death!" "No—that It—won't!" panted Sin clair. "And If we can—only get—get her out—before she's—she's burnt— too much—l can—trade her—for—for a " lie did not say what he wanted to trade the musket for. Soon the wagon passed over the ridge and started down the sloping prairie beyond. On reaching the high est ground wo stopped, puffing loudly. As we stood resting, with gasping lungs and pounding hearts, we watched the wagon rush down the slope. It certainly made a brilliant spectacle. The rope which had cut so deep into the straw that the lire could not get to it at first, had by this time burnt in two, so that the straw hud jolted loose and blazed fiercely. The rocking and plunging wagon threat ened every moment to turn over, but always righted itself. The dogs still kept near it. Fire enveloped the whole load now, and the flames were leaping many feet skyward. A rain of blazing straws fell from the wagon upon the dry grass, which quickly llamed up, making a fiery trail behind that cx drawn comet. At that time I was afraid that L,ep and Coaly were scorched, but as after ward appeared they were only panic stricken. Even the hair on their tails was scarcely singed. The upright pieces in front prevented any of the straw from falling forward, and so fast did the wagon keep going that the Hying wisps and the heat, too, must have been swept backward by the rushing air. Presently Lop and Coaly swung to one side. The wagon was running too fast to turn short. Up rose the hind end in the air, and over it went, liurl iug lire many yards beyond! The frame stopped on its side, leaning against the straw, and the wagon rested on the frame. The oxen had been nearly jerked off their feet They struggled wildly, tearing the wagon loose from the frame and dragged it on Its side till it turned entirely ever. They might have dragged it to pieces, but the tw'isting broke the tongue loose from the yoke. Once free they plunged away across the prairie at breakneck sliced. Sinclair and I were already running down the slope. We did not bother about the cxen; they could take earc of themselves now. The prairie grnss was burning all around the straw in a widening circle, so that ho could not get near the straw and frame, but wo righted the overturned wagon and kept drawing it back till the circle was large enough. Then we gave it r. push through the blazing grass and left it standing on the burnt ground. We then took a running start, jump ed over the prairie Are into the black ened circle and drew near to the burn ing straw and the bay frame. Sinclair gazed sorrowfully into the f.ro and thought of his loss. "She was a good guu—a mighty good gun." ho sighed. "If we'd ouly raved her I could have got a Cue trade for her from somebody. Cuess, though, I'd have kept her to hunt with. Oh, you needn't laugh! I know she didn't shoot EO overly well the Crst few t.rncs, hut that must have been be cause I didn't know how to load her. I'd never loaded a musket before. That last shot sounded mighty like it would have killed something if it had half n chance." "That's so, Sink," I said, "out don't worry about the old thing. Hunt up another one. The owner will be glad to trade it to you for r. pocket knife. It was a pity, though, that you last so much good powder. What tickles mo Is the way that wagon was saved. If we'd stopped the oxen before they up set It, as we tried to, we couldn't have got the load off, and straw, wagon and ail would bavo burnt up before our eyes, to spite of everything we could do. Lucky turnover for me." A little later, after we had rested and after the prairie Ores had opened away for us, we turned and trudged off toward home.—Youth's Companion. ELEPHANT RACING, Queer Indian Sport Which Also lias lis Derby Day. An elephants' Derby sounds dis tinctly sensational, but the idea can not sound more sensational than such a contest actually Is. The Briton is nothing if not a sportsman, despite Napoleon's historic sneer about our being a nntion of shopkeepers; and wherever John Bull goes there you may be sure to find him indulging in one form of sport or another. Thus, in India elephants are often impressed into the service of our sporting enthusiasts, and an elephants' Derby recently took place up country. Steeplechasiug with horses is excit ing enough, but when you have ele phants engaging in the form of sport well, you somehow forget that life ever seemed dull to you. Naturally, the course Is not so per fect as at Epsom. Nevertheless, there are plenty of coigns of vantage from which crowds of eager spectators, na- ' tlve and white, watch the progress of the contest and encourage the riders by their small shrieks and constant shouting. By the din alone you would know that you were in the East, even if you did not see the spectators and com petitors. The mahouts, as the native drivers are called, cling to the necks i of their mounts, urging them on by means of their sharp goads, which they apply to tho elephants' ears. To see the huge, lumbering creatures be ing driven over tho course at their utmost speed Is at once one of the most comical and exciting sights im aginable. Barriers and ditches arc constructed at intervals across the track, and, 1 though a novice would in nine cases out of ten regard the elephants' efforts to negotiate these with con vulsions of laughter, devotees to this form of racing become far too ab sorbed in the fortunes of the contest for the ludicrous side of it to appeal to them. Besides, it is just these ob stacles which provide the critical points of the race, for as the elephants attempt to got over or out of them a racer goes down and many a mahout is thrown to the ground at imminent peril of being crushed by the elephant which is immediately following. Take It as a whole, an elephant steeplechase is a sight to remember, and one you should never miss seeing if ever you get an opportunity. It out- Derhys all the Derbies within living recollection as far as excitement is concerned.—London Express. What liotlier. il the Cook. A lady had a cook who gave lior every satisfaction and she was under the impression that the cook was equally satisfied with her place. But one morning, to the lady's intense surprise, tho cook gave her the usual mouth's notice. "What do you want to leave me for, Jane?" asked the mistress. "I am very much pleased with you, and I thought you were quite comfortable here." "Yes, mum, I'm quite comfortable enough In away, but " The cook hesitated and fidgeted about. "But what ?" queried the mistress. "Well, mum," she blurted cut, "tho fact is tho master doesn't seem to 'preciato my cookery, and I can't stop in a place where my efforts to please are wasted; so I'd rather go, mum." "But what makca you think that your master doesn't appreciate ycur cookery V Has lie ever complained to you?" asked the lady. "No, mum, but my late master was always being laid up through over eating—he said he couldn't help doing so because my cookery was so de licious; but master hero hasn't been laid up enco all tlie three months I've been with you, and that's just what bothers me co, mum!"—Tit-Bits. Will TCnngostccn SuperßcC.o Grange} Thcro is every reason to suppose that before long a most delicious fruit, new to America, will dominate cur markets; already a few spccimcnts have found their way to the seaboard , cities. This Is tho mangostecu—native to the .Moluccas and extensively culti vated to Ceylon and Java, and latterly introduced to Jamaica and otacr por tions cf British West Indies. It is about the size of a email orange, spherical In fcrrn, and when tho riud is removed a juicy pulp, "white and -olublc as snow," Is revealed, possess ing a most delicious flavor some thing like a nectarine, with a dash of strawberry and pineapple combined. It promises, In a few years, to super sede the orange In popular favor, add attempts are already being made to introduce it Into the Southern United States.—Southern Clinic. England's Youthful Minister. Mr. Chamberlain at slxty-firc is among the youngest men In the llor.se of Cotnmcn3. He could very well pass for ten years younger; In broad day light and at times ho looks positively youthful. Tho last two cr three years have touched his raven locks with gray but his figure Is as slim and alert as ever. The Colonial Secretary Is a striking proof of tho truth that every man Is a law unto himself. He boasts of never having taken any physical exercise, and walks only when It Is Impossible to ride. Yet he always appears to bo to perfect "training," and a touch cf gout now and then is the only reminder the right honorable gentleman gets that flesh Is mortal.— London Chronicles A Wonderful Maid. She gave me the marble heart, She gave me a frozen stare, She gave me an icy k hand to shake, With a frightful frigid air. Oh. she was a maiden cold, And I was in deep despair, Till she gave me a shock when she gave me a lock Of her flaming, fiery hair! —Philadelphia Record. A Bald Assertion. Barber—"Your hair will be gray if It keeps on." Scantylocks—Well, I hope It will keep on."—Baltimore World. A Tendency of the World. "Why don't Bloomingboy give up his had habits?" "He's afraid people would quit talk tog about what a bright fellow he Is aud what wonderful things he would do if he weren't dissipated."—'Wash ington Star. The Girl Behind tlio Goggles. First Automobile Girl—"You don't seem much put out by your automo bile breaking down." Second Automobile Girl—"No; I am always so nervous expecting it to break down tbat I am actually re lieved when it does!"— Buck. Very Probably. "What would you do if you had a million dollars?" said one plain every day man. "Oh," replied the other. "I suppose I'd put in most of my time comparing myself with some one who had a billion, and feeling discontented." Well Done. "In designing his tombstone," said the widow of the late Wall Street broker, "I was thinking of tills in scription: 'He did well by his friends.' " "Ah!" remarked the man who knew him, "I would suggest 'He did his friends well.' "—Philadelphia Press. BitteriiegH. "There's that girl singing 'A Bird in a Gilded Cage"" said the nervous man. "Yes," answered the boarding house wag. "If I had a bird that couldn't sing any better than that, I'd open the cago and let It fly away."—Washing ton Star. Ho Enjoyed Thont. "Yes," said the weather man, "I very much enjoy these dialect cowboy stories." "You would naturally be interested." "Of course. Whenever I rend one of them, it makes me everlastingly grateful and comforted to think that we don't really uct and talk like that." A lSu.lnetiß Inspiration. "I suppose," said the duke, "that you will look about for an American girl as a wife for your sou?" "Yes," answered the earl; "and if tho present tendencies of commerce continue, I shouldn't he surprised if we had better look out for some hust ling American young men as husbands l'or our daughters." Their ret. A little man who pretended to lie very fond of Ills horse, hut kept him nearly starved, said to a frleud: "You don't kuow how much we thiuk of that horse; I shall have him stuffed so as to preserve him wbcu he dies." "You'd better stuff him now," re torted ids friend, "so as to preserve him living."—Tit-Bits. A Theory. "I wonder why children arc so quick to pick up slang?" said the small hoy's mother, disconsolately. "Probably," answered the serious person, "it is because the constant repetition of such words as 'goo goo' aud 'itchy kitchy' iu infancy gives them a deep-rooted contempt for words that are in the dictionary." Meat. They were speaking of the billion sire's insufferable pretensions. "Upon what meat does this our Caesur feed, that he lias grown so great?" exclaimed Mordauut bitterly. "Mint's meat, possibly!" observed Meltravers, trying to be cheaply witty while yet preserving the easy grace of 11 man of the world.—Detroit Free Press. Cntchinß u Feminine Fifth. "Do you really think there are mer maids in the sea?" "Certainly," said the dime-museum man. "Then why hasn't anybody besides you succeeded in catching one?" "Because nobody else was smart enough to bait a book with the latest style of Paris hat," was the answer. —Washington Star. An A'lvantagn of Matrimony. "I don't believe," said Mr. Meekton, pensively, "that married men ever get to he burglars." "Have you looked up the statistics?" "No. But It seems impossible that a married mnn would ever dare to walk into a house the way a burglar does, without stopping at the front step to wipe his feet."—Washington Star. Ad miration. "What do you think of the new cook I sent you?" asks the caller. "Well," said the young housekeeper, "she has made us admire you very much." "Why I didn't train her. I found I had no use for her after four days." "Yes; hut you sent her from your house to ours. We have been trying for two weeks to semi her from our house to some other place, but she Just laughs at usi"— Washiugtou Star,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers