LIFE OF THE MINE MULE GtUEER TRAITS OF THE BURDEN BEARER OF THE UNDERWORLD. His Marvellous liitelligcncp and Skill in Avoiding Danger—All lie Wants is a Clear Track—He Has a Certain Brava do About HI in Too. The mine mule, the sturdy burden bearer of the underworld, lias enough of the abnormal about his make-up to induce curiosity. If not admiration. In the average person's mind. In the sunless black, the unwearied night, this Krebus of the lieasts reigus su premo. Ills sinewy shoulders, just behind the long, flapping ears, tug down and up the tunnelled caverns and there seems something of the mys tic and the magician about him as he stands immovable in the deep darkness of a pasasgeway or cut-throflgh.The pit mule, as his years grow, assumes a fine indifference to trivial matters. His life has liecn so full of half-averted tragedies that he has neither the time nor inclination to bother about the , small things. Ills drooping cars would not move an inch if the cage fell five feet away from him. But ho docs not leave his stubborn ness nor his brnius behind hint. IB can knock enough front teeth out of a driver's head to spoil his chances with any girl in the county deep down in the dusk of a heading just as cosily as he would on a country road at high noon. His accuracy in gauging dis tances would make an excellent me chanic of him were he not. a mule. He has a certain bravo about him, too, which runs into a cunning deviltry as he grows older. If the lights go out he is sure to run away with a trip down a grade, aud If it does pile up iu ' a wreck the mule is almost certain to be the only thing which escapes un harmed. Many of Ihe mines in Ibe Coiinells villc coke region of Pennsylvania are shafts, running from 200 to 700 feet deep. To get the mule ou the cage is not a pleasant duty. As soon as lie smells the warm air from the pit, sometimes accompanied by slreakings of steam on account of the difference of temperature between the air from the mine and that outside, the brute plunges and attempts to escape. lie is usually put upon the cage by sheer force. Sometimes he is blindfolded be fore being dropped to the bottom. The trembling animal is taken from the bottom of the shaft to the stables. These are located at a little distance from the shaft bottom, and in the Con uellsville region are lighted with elec tricity, are coo! and very much superior to many upper world stables. The mine mule Is obliged to keep his head under very trying circum stances. and he is In a short time a much wiser animal than his brothers above ground, whose every movement is guided by rein and voice, There , is no harness worthy of the name in a mine, and never tiny rein. The mule * is hitched to a singletree, which is at the end of a loug chain or rope. There arc no holding-hack straps. The mine mule's business is to pull when he is on an up grade, and to keep out of the way on a down grade. Ills won derful sagacity is shown in his accu rate gauge of the speed of the wagons behind him. He maintains just gait enough to keep his rope well stretched and never allows it to become en tangled under his heels, nor does he get his heels caught under the wagon. Just a bit stolid one would think the mule until a mine wagon gets away. Thou ho shows his brains, tin he gal lops. sure-footed as a chamois; over the crossties, over the ditches and waterways, over tin- steam pipes he pounds, with a roar like an avalanche behind him. A clear track is all he asks. • The agility of the mine mule was well demonstrated once in the mine of Leisenring No..'{ in tin- Ciinnellsvlllc region. A gang of workmen were put ting in an air line, and had their work ing truck on one of the main headings. Suddenly the laboring men heard a low rumbling up the heading. All the trips were being switched off on to another track while the men were at work, hut this one seemed to lie coming nearer. It grew louder and louder. Oue of lite men put ills ear to the track and realized in a second that the trip was coming down the blockaded head ing. The men ran for their lives, leav ing the truck on the track. As they went they saw there was no light on the runaway trip, showing that, it was without a driver. (Inly a dim safety on the edge of the heavy truck showed .where It stood. Like thunder the run away wagons rumbled nearer, and with a crash struck the obstruction. The laboring gaug came from their places of safety expecting to see the f- \mtle crushed to pieces. Instead their lights flashed on hint quietly standing —upon their side of the truck! lie had. In one comprehensive glance, taken in tlie situation by (lie flickering light on the corner of lite truck, and had jumped clear over the obstacle—to save himself! His trip was piled behind him in a crushed heap of debris. A mule, which had been in the pit but a short time, once came tip the main heading at Mammoth slope. He had gotten away in the mine and started for flesh air and green pas tures. He had <o keep ahead of the trip being hauled up by the hoisting engines, and keep his feet free front the entangling ropes of the haulage way. He also was obliged to cross from oue track to another when the down-going trip passed him. He galloped up all the loug slope, anil wheu he reached the top jumped from the mouth of the pit just in time to escape being hit by , the fast up-coming trip. W- At another mine there is an old mule which for years lias pushed the cars Bnto the cage. As soon as tb# cage is lowered she puts her breast against the car and pushes it off, putting an other on iu the same manner. She stands by the shaft bottom just close enough to allow the descending cage to miss her nose a couple of inches, yet she has never been struck. The demands made on the mules' strength and intelligence are so indeli bly stamped on their minds that even if they be brought up to the surface for other uses they do uot forget them. When two mules are needed to haul on an especially steep grade in the mine they are hitched tandem, and when two mules that have been hitched this way in the mine are let loose in the pasture field they tramp about the meadow all day. one behind the other, in their accustomed order, nor can they lie induced to reverse their position. This is one of the after effects of their rigid training. In his own sphere the mine mule is a very ungallant an imal. He hates a woman. It may be that he wishes the Pennsylvania State law'to be respected, but whatever his reasons, he dislikes the sight of a petticoat in his domain. A hundred men may push him aside and pass in some narrow alley-way, but it is not wise or safe for a woman to attempt to pass the same quiet animal when he is not busy. He is not an argumen tative animal, the mule, aurl the only way to get along with him in the pit, as well as on the surface, is to respect his likes and dislikes.—New York Com mercial Advertiser. Peculiarity of Barbers. "1 lmvc noticed one tliiup; that is pe culiar to all liarbers in all sections of the country," said a traveling man, "and that is the fact that they never completely dry the customer's face after having smeared it with lather, dashed it with perfumeries and other sweet smelling things found in these places. Wonder why this is? Now, the most disagreeable thing in the world is for a man's face to feel wet It is worse than wet feet. It is worse than ihe welting which one ocasionally gets in a leaking boat while on a fishing trip. The mistake is not made by careless barbers. The most expert men in the business overlook this important thing of drying one's face well when the razor is laid aside. It is a bad thing for one's complexion, and is even worse in its effect on the skin of one's face. This tiling of putting powder on one's face before it is dried well is an abomination in the sight of men. One's face feels like a wad of dough, and one does not like to feel like a dough-face. Bui this same condition is met with everywhere, whether the barber is rushed, shaving a man a minute, or whether he goes about it in the most leisurely way imaginable, lie will do it slowly, patiently, deliber ately, and occasionally 1 have won tiered if there was not an element of malice in it. Barbers are ordinarily Midi polite and affable fellows, and they do so many little things in an effort to make one feel well and satis lied with the work, that one is really ashamed to say anything about one's face not. being dry enough, and so the average man will just griu and bear it rather than hurt the barber's feel ings."—New Orleans Times-Democrat. A Scientific Treatment For OcufiieftM. Mr. Ma rage has lately communicated 10 the Paris Academy of Sciences a scientific treatment for deafness which is substantially as follows: (1) Measure accurately tile auditive sensitiveness by causing the patient to listen, at a constant distance, to the sounds of a siren reproducing the fun damental vibration of the vowel sounds. The intensity of sound being proportioned to the pressure of the air the auditive acuity is—when the pressure must be u millimetres in order that the sound may be heard. The nor rnal acuity, unity, is that of the ear which hears the sound under a pres sure of one millimetre. (2) Make the patient listeu to the sounds of the same siren through a tube provided with a membrane which transmits all vibrnlions without intro ducing or suppressing any of the har monics. This is a kind of massage of the ear made by vibrations which it is destined normally to perceive. This treatment is never painful aud never produces buzzings or increases the deafness, and has frequently produced excellent results. The "KeyHtona State." Pennsylvania lias been called the "Keystone State. - ' Two explanations have been given of this name. Accord ing to tie first, the Declaration of In dependence was trembling in the bal ance, six colonies having voted for aud six against it, the vote of Penn sylvania was cast in favor of the decla ration, and thus a majority was se cured. According to the other expla nation the name was purely an acci dent. When the Itock Creelc bridge was constructed, near Washington, the stones of the great arch were inscribed with the names of the States, aud when it was finished tile discovery was made that the name of Pennsyl vania was on the keystone of the arch, and thus was applied afterward to the State. Fright Turned u Black"Htilt) Cray-. A remarkable freak of tile flood was unearthed at the Maple Hill Colliery. A big mule, the only one of thirteen to escape death, lias turned gray with fright. The animal before the deluge was coal black, but is now a light gray. Identification was established liy | means of a flesh brand.—Philadelphia Times. California's Mineral llelt. The mineral-bearing belt in Califor nia extends through its entire length, n distance of oyer 800 miles, and only a small fraction of It has yet been ex plored. lAfcIFOHNIA FRUITS. An Imlnstry Tbnt litis Been Crowing r Many Years. "Perhaps more fruit is imported from the State of California to the National Capital and other Eastern cities each year than from all other States in the i Union combined," said W. W. Lough- ! rey, a prominent California fruit grow er, to a Washington Star reporter. "I have noticed this fact particularly dur- | jhg the Christmas holidays. Nearly i all of the fiuest fruits displayed by your dealers were the products of my State. The exact state of the fruit culture in California is best told in the report of a Government field agent of the Division of Statistics who re cently visited the State and says: •' 'Few people know that the fruit in dustry of California was practically begun during the establishment of missions by the Franciscan monies. As early as 1702 there were about 5000 trees growing on the different missions. Apples, pears, oranges, limes, lemons, and olives constituted the greater pro portion of 'these trees, and as they nearly all did well they proved the possibility of fruit culture in Cali fornia. " 'ln 1830 some attention was given to the cultivation of fruit in Sonoma County, and several small orchards were planted. Several years later the planting of fruit trees began in Los Angeles and Yolo Counties, but only In a small way. It was at the time of the great gold excitement, however, in 1840, that the industry really re ceived its first impetus. While the majority of the immlgrautsto the State thought of nothing hut gold, a few of the more conservative obtained posses sion of some of these old orchards and found a handsome profit in selling their fruit at exorbitant prices. " 'Since that time the demand for fruit from our State has steadily in creased. The climate of the State is particularly favorable to the Industry, anil as a result there are many kinds of fruit produced successfully in Cal iforuia which cannot he raised iu most Eastern States. This is particularly true of the citrus and subtropical fruits which grow in great profusion with us and pay handsomely. Even the high mountain valleys are adapted in both climate and soil to the raising of hardy Northern varieties, and between these and the low valleys of the south may lie found conditions of climate admirably suited to the production of nearly all kinds of fruit known to do mestic commerce.' " A Hundred Yearn Hcncn. The twentieth century is not closing without issues to be settled, says John Bates Clark, iu the Atlantic. You know what foreign relations now mean; not a struggle to keep from lighting, but an effort to adjust trade connections and other vast, and involved interests. The very intimacy in which nations live, while it guarantees peace, makes work for the international courts. In individual morality we are not yet at the portal of the millennium; for pros perity has brought its sore temptations. Here, indeed, our gains seem to be in some danger, and in this direetioa the strongest effort is ueeded in order to save them. A certain manly quality in our people gives assurance that we have the personal material out of which a millennium may grow. Fraternity abounds where once it was rare. We can all look with toleration on our new billionaires, knowing, as we do, iiow little the excess of their fortunes really does for them. In the retrospect it seems to me as if the ship that carries our fortunes had once been half disabled by storms, but had outridden them, and were well on its way to port. More wealth, strength and virtue are yet to he attained, anil in the struggle agaiifst evils we shall gain moral stamina. There are con tests enough still in progress to give virility to the popular character. You have work before you, children of the twenty-first century; but my hope is that the area of greatest danger lias been passed, and that your tasks will be lighter than ours have been, and your strength greater. Locking tlie Gibraltar Fortress. The Gibraltar correspondent of the Military Mail describes the ceremonial of locking the fortress. Twenty min utes before first evening gun fire, the dram and fife band of the regiment de tailed for this duty parade at the Con vent and pick up the key sergeant, who takes the keys from a safe iu the Con vent and falls in rear of the band with an escort of one non-commissioned offi cer and two men, with fixed bayonets. Then, led by the sergeant drummer, tliey play with great ceremony through the main street to Casemate square, where the key sergeant proceeds to lock all the gates leading into Spain, while the drummers sound "retreat" on the gnn firing. The same ceremony is observed on his return, and he duly locks up the ancient keys securely in the safe on again reaching the Convent. Once the gates arc locked they cannot be unlocked unless by special snuetion of his Excellency, the Governor. Valuable Pebbles. Between the northern point of Long Island and Watch Hill lies a row of little islands, two of which—Plum Isl and and Goose Island—possess a peculiar form of mineral wealth. It consists in heaps of richly colored quartz peb bles,, showing red, yellow, purple and other hues, which are locally called agates. They are used In making stained glass windows, and there is sufficient demand for them iu New York to keep the owners of one or two sloops employed in gathering them from the beaches, where the waves continually roil and polish them, bring iug out'the beauty of their colors. California is the home of the orange, the olive and the lig. BEFORE HE TOOK VOGELEH'i He Could Not Touch His Wife's Dinners and They Wore "Fit For a King." Bo writes our esteemed friend, Mr. Frank Chambers, of 9 Bennett St., Chis wick: "For over two yearn I suffered agon ies from indigestion, and became reduced to a mere shadow of my stalwart self. I would return home from my business feel ing so faint that I could hardly drag one leg after the other; my dear wife did all she possibly could to tempt me with dain ty dishes, and a9 I entered the house I sniffed and thought: 'Oh, how good; I know I can cat that.' But alas! no sooner had I eaten a few mouthfuls, when I felt sick; severe pains shot through my chest and shoulder blades, my rye 3 swam and everything seemed black. I became alternately hot and cold, and got up from such a dainty dinner heartily sick of living, and feeling I was a sore trial to everybody. I may mention that I was ah- very much troubled with a scaly skin, and often boils. But one evening I no ticed my wife seemed more cheerful than usual. I questioned her and fonnd she had been reading a pamphlet she had re ceived, of men afflicted just as I was, and who bad been cured by Vogeler's Cora pound. Said 6he, 'What gives me more faith in it is that it is n\ade from the for mula of an eminent physician now in ac tive practice in the West End of London, so I am sure it is no quack thing.' "All right, dear, let's have a bottle,' said I. After taking the contents of the first bot tle I felt very much better, and deter mined to give this remedy a fair trial, and I can positively assure you that a few bot tles have made a new man of me. I can sleep well, eat anything and thoroughly enjoy life. I have told several of my friends, whom I knew were suffering the same as myself, and they all wish me to say that they are like new men. I sin cerely bless the great physician who gave you the formula of Vogeler's Curative Compound, and also yourselves for mak ing its virtues known to a suffering pub lic." The proprietors (the St. Jacobs Oil, Ltd., Baltimore.) will send a sample free to any one writing to them and mentioning this paper. Explorers have approached within 238 miles of the North I'olc, but the nearest approach to the south has been 772 miles. Qarfleld Ileadaoho Powders are espeoially adapted to tho nopds of nervous women. Chin music must be the result of the wind whistling through a man's whiskers. Best For tlie Bowels. No matter what alls you, headache to a cancer, you will never get well until your bowels are put right. CASCABETB help nature, euro you without a gripe or pain, produce easy natural movements, cost you just 10 ceuts to start getting your health back. CAS OABETH Candy Cathartic, the genuine, put up in metal boxes, every tablet has C. 0. C. stamped on it. Beware of imitations. The New York Chamber of Commerce was incorporated by George 111. on March 13, 1770. GarfleM Headache Powders! 4 Powders arc ■old for 10*. One Powder euros a headache. The poor we have always with us, but that is better than having them against ue. Are Anxious to Pay Their Fines. Among the anomalies which the prohibition law has given rise to in Kansas is a fervent desire on the part of certain Jaw breakers to pay tho penalty of their crime. At Wellington the temperance folk started to get out an Injunction prohibiting the city treasurer from accepting tho fines which are Imposed on jointkeepers every month. And the jointkeepers headed off this move by rushing In and paying their fines, S3OO each, six months in advance. t' ■ —-—=S "j*# 1 (f THE CHILDREN ENJOY *§|| Life out of doors and out of the games which the)' plav and the enjoj'- • . ment which they receive and the efforts which they make, comes the C" V J /5 greater part of that healthful development which is so essential to their V happiness when grown. When a laxative is needed the remedy which is r f // given to them to cleanse and sweeten and strengthen the internal organs 7 //V on which it acts, should be such as physicians would sanction, because its Q / if component parts arc known to be wholesome and the remedy itself free from lit every objectionable quality. The one remedy which physicians and parents, s iff well-informed, approve and recommend and which the little ones enjoy, iif because of its pleasant flavor, its gentle action and its beneficial effects, is— Vfe- Syrup of Figs—and for the same reason it is the only laxative which should V'v .<" 'V/? J"y.. be used by fathers and mothers. V,s£&' s^': "vVv v Syrup of Figs is the only remedy which acts gently, pleasantly and ' r Y".yV naturally without griping, irritating, or nauseating and which cleanses the system effectually, without producing that constipated habit which results .•■!■■■ from the use of tlie old-time cathartics and modern imitations, and against 7 \ v which the children should be so carefully guarded. If you would have them •-%.•> / ■ grow to manhood and womanhood, strong, healthy and happy, do not give , ' 4*' them medicines, when medicines are not needed, and when nature needs ( * .t'. assistance in the way of a laxative, give them only the simple, pleasant and ... gentle—Syrup of Figs. Its quality is due not only to the excellence of the combination of the - ' laxative principles of plants with pleasant aromatic syrups and juices, but -'.y also to our original method of manufacture and as you value the health of the little ones, do not accept any of the substitutes which unscrupulous deal- " jj H y ** era sometimes offer to increase their profits. The genuine article may he ) \ bought anywhere of all reliable druggists at fifty cents per bottle. Please .{ \ * u to remember, the full name of the Company— ... •' '7- .pjs CALIFORNIA FIG SYR-UP CO.-'s printed on • . X - 'Vsi - 'V.i'^'V tlle ' ro "t 0 i every pack- ~ V V * B- In order to get its ,s's WV. f-"Pr .'/>•} ' Wk rXS I \ \ '•• ••V--/T7y. J ; ; • : Wants Warm Hotel Bedclcthing. Congressman Charles F. Scott has received a demand from a Kansas woman for the passage of a law "to compel keepers of hotels or sleeping rooms to keep on each bed four quilts and one blanket, each quilt to con tain not less than five pounds of cot ton batting (not coarse hair), and to be covered with at least 14 yards of cloth (seven yards on each side), two and one-third yards long and at least two yards wide; and the blanket to weigh at least two pounds; this cov ering to bo kept on the beds from Sep tember 10 to May 1. There were 3,516 immigrants refus ed admission to the United States last | year. Dyeing is a? simple as washing when you use PUTNAM FADELESS DYES. Sold by OIL dmggists. There are on the Swiss lakes sixty-five steamers, of which the largest can carry 1200 passenger?. Send to Garfield Tea Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., for samples Garfield Tea and Headache Powders—two invaluable remedies. The Chinese have twice 6ac.kcd Moscow, once 'n 1237 and again iu 1293. FlTSpermanently mirefl. No fits or nervous ness after first day's use of Dr. Kline's Great bottle and treatise free Dr. R. H. KLINE, Ltd.. 931 Arch bt. Phlla.,Pa. Taking everything into consideration the suspension bridge is without a pier. Mrs. Wlnslow'sSoottaing Syrup for children teething, soften the gums, reduces lnflamma tiou, allays pain, cures wind colic. 25c a bottle. The total length of ocean cables is ICO,- 842 miles. I do not believe Piso's Cure for Consump tion has an equal for coughs and oolds~-.ToHN F. BOYEB, Trinity Springs. Ind., Feb. 35,1900. The woman who marries a crank discov ers that life is a grind. Garfield Tea cures constipation. Some people are so lary that even their livers won't work. VMpSalzer'S/ iPfclf- Seeds m V '"S/W£&>// BROMUS INERmiS A ewal, froduelni fmwtoMhohe!ff *rair> and i una >•" r." ;;;i v. FwliScv P/-IK<a, <BW.04I .-Mid CJ.iv.-f , , :| """' '^' Kfnirr? ( My Lungs " An attack of la grippe left me with a bad cough. My friends said I had consumption. 1 then tried Ayer's Cherry Pectoral and it cured me promptly." A. K. Randies, Nokomis, 111. You forgot to buy a bot tle of Ayer's Cherry Pec toral when your cold first came on, so you let it run along. Even now, with 8 all your hard coughing, it will not disappoint you. There's a record of sixty years to fall back on. Three sizes: 25c., 50c., SI. All druggists. I Consult your doctor. If be says tr.ke It, i then do as he says. If be tells you not j i to take It. then don't take If. Ho knows, t I Leave It with him. Wo are wining. J. C. AYER CO., Lowell. Mass. Hiiiiimmiiii iii imniiwiiiiiiii IIIIHI11 li' mnrmii IWET WEATHER S/ffS MAB& BV TM& MAKLpRi ©F ; ! U IgSSS OILED CLOTHING fjFWj HAV6 THE SANs POINTS OF EXCEkkENGE AND GIVE r ! COMPUTE SATISFACTION.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers