The number of Mormons in the
United State® has more than doubled
in a decade. In 1890 there were 144,-
000; in 1900 there were more than 300,-
000.
Consul Haynes writes from Rouen
that the American 'shoe for men is
far superior in appearance and comfort
to the French article, which is hard
and boxy.
The Virginia legislature has ap
propriated SIOO,OOOO to modernize the
C&pitol, but it is provided that there
Shall be no change in the general
architectural plan. The construction
of the capitol was begun in 1785, after
a model sent from France by Thomas
'Jefferson. Altogether the capitol has
tost $150,000 so far.
In 18S3 the volcano Asama of Japan
exploded. It was one of the most
frightful eruptions of modern times.
It sent down 8000 feet a torrent of
mud and fire from five to ten mile®
broad, that overwhelmed forty two vil
lages. Historians have never been
able to determine how many lives were
actually lost by this explosion. The
total ran into the thousands.
Recent experiments show that the
dolphin, when pursued, can go through
the water at the rate of thirtVtwo
miles an hour. This is great speed,
but for a short distance the salmon
can do better, since it has frequently
leen known to swim at the rate of
(forty miles an hour. Among the
Smaller fish it is doubtful if there is
one more swift than the Spanish mack
erel.
Paris has an Anti-Consumption Dis
pensary, whose establishments are sit
uated in the most thickly populated
districts of that city. Patients are re
ceived, cared for. and given advice as
to the precautions to be taken to stop
the progress of the dread disease. In
addition the society has several san
atoria outshle Paris where consump
tives are treated by the "open-air
cure."
The camera promises to become as
indispensable in business affairs as
tho typewriter. It is now being used
in the reproduction of documents, sta
tistical tables and other papers whose
duplication by hand would be labor!
ous and expensive. In a very brief
period the camera reproduces these
things with absolute correctness and
with much labor saved. This is one
of the directions in which photography
has great value.
It is only within tho last six or eight j
years that the Massachusetts railroads j
have suffered seriously from trolley j
competition. Up to 1894 their rev- j
was larger from their passenger busi
ness than from their freight. All thia :
has changed, states the Boston Com
mercial Bulletin, figures showing ar.
excess in revenue from freight in 19Q1
of over $6,0000,000, while in 1894 the
excess in revenue from passengers
was $3,440,526. An encouragement tc
the steam roads, however, is to be
found In figures showing that tho elec
tric street railway lines have steadily
been carrying fewer passengers per
mile since 1895, while the former have
recovered some of their previous losses
during the same time. It is now gen
erally admitted that while the street
railways of Massachusetts made quite ;
considerable inroads into the business 1
of the steam lines when electricity
first became an important factor,
which 'has only been during the past
eight or nine years, it would seem that |
the latter have proceeded to make 1
v?ome recovery of lost patronage and j
that the street railway has become
lees rather than more threatening.
In a recent report to his govern
ment embodying his conclusions rela
tive to American business methods,
the British consul at Chicago laid j
much stress upon the comparatively |
early age at which a man in the'
United States is relagated to the ranks
of the superannuated. Inquiry and ob
servation load the consul to believe
that when a man roaches the age of
forty-five he has great difficulty in
finding employment in. Chicago, and,
indeed, in any American city. This he
considers a grave defect in an other
wise admirable business system. He
says: "There are many men in good
positions over that age who will, in
all probability, retain them for some
years to come and then retire; but a
new-comer of that age has littlo
chance of employment, as he cannot
expect to learn new ways. A man
who is out of work at that age is re
gar tied with suspicion, especially when
trade is good, because if he had
proved that he was worthy of his posi
tion —which should be a good one
after many years of service—he would
not have been forced out; or If he
had been, some other firm who had
com® into contact with him in busi
nes would try to secure his sorvicea."
i AN ADVENTURE IN THE UPPER SEA. <j
By JACK LONDON, Author of "The Son of the Wolf," Eto. J
I am a retired captain of the upper
Rca. That is to say, wflien I was
a younger man (which is not so long)
I was an aeronaut and navigated that
aerial ocean which is all around
about and above us. Naturally it is
a hazardous profession, and naturally
I have had many thrilling experiences,
the most thrilling, or at least the
most nerve racking, being the one I
am about to relate.
It happened before I went in for hy
drogen gas balloons, all of varnished
Bilk, doubled and lined, and all that,
and fit for voyages of days instead of
mere hours. The "Little Nassau"
(named after the "Great Nassau" of
many years back, was the balloon I
was making ascents in at the time. It
was a fair-sized hot air affair, of sin
gle thickness, good for an hour's flight
or so and capable of attaining m M.
altitude of a milo or more. It an
swered my purpose, for my act at the
lime was makiug half-mile parachute
jumps at recreation parks and coun
try fairs. I was in Oakland, a Cali
fornia town, filling a summer's en
gagement with a street railway com
pany. The company owned a large
park outside the city, and of course
It was to its interest to provide at
tractions which would send the towns
people over its line when they went
nw t to get a whiff of country air. My
contract called for two ascensions
weekly, and my act was an especially
taking feature, for it was on my days
that the largest crowds were drawn.
Before you can understand what
happened, I must first explain a bit
about the nature of the hot air bal
iooD which is used for parachute jump
ing. If you have ever witnessed such
u jump, you will remember that di
rectly the parachute was cut loose
the balloon turned upside down, emp
tied itself of its smoke and heated
arr, flattened out and fell straight
down, beating the parachute to tho
ground. Thus there is no chasing a
big deserted hag for miles and miles
across the country, and much time, as
well as trouble, is thereby saved. This
maneuver is accomplished by attach
ing a weight, at the end of a long
rope, to the top of the balloon. The
aeronaut, with his parachute and tra
peze, hangs to the bottom of the bal
loon, and weighing more, keeps it
right side down. But when he lets go,
the weight attached to the top imme
diately drags the top down, and the
bottom, which is tho opon mouth, goes
up. the heated air pouring out. The
weight used for this purpose on the
"Little Nassau" was a bag of sand.
But to return, On the particular
day I have in mind there was an un
usually large crowd in attendance, and
the police had their hands full keep
ing the people back. There was much
pushing and shoving, and the ropes
were bulging with the pressure of men,
women and children. As I came down
from tho dressing room I noticed two
girls outside the ropes, of about 14
und 16, and inside the rope a youngster
of 8 or 9. They were molding him by
the hands, and he was si niggling, ex
citedly and half in laughter, to get
away from them. I thought nothing
of it at the time—just a hit of childish
play, no more; and it was only in the
light of after events that the scene
was impressed vividly upon me.
"Keep them cleared out, George!" I
tailed to my assistant. "We don't want
any accidents."
"Ay," he answered, "that I will,
Charley."
George Cuppy had helped me in no
and of ascents, and because of his
coolness, judgment and absolute reli
ability, I had come to trust my life
In his hands with the utmost confi
lence. His business it was to over
took the inflating of the balloon and
to see that everything about the par
achute was in perfect working order.
The "Little Nassau" was already
SUcd and straining at the guys. The
>rachute lay flat along the ground
> A beyond it the trapeze. I tossed
iside my overcoat', took my position,
and gave the signal to let go. As you
ttnow, the first rush upward from
the earth is vory sudden, and this
time the balloon, when it first caught
the wind, heeled violently over and
was longer than usual in righting. I
looked down at the old familiar sight
of the world rushing away from me.
And there were the thousands of peo
ple, every face silently upturned. And
the silence startled me, for, as crowds
went this was the time for them to
ratch their first breath and send up a
roar of applause. But there was no
hand clapping, whistling, cheering—
only silence, And instead, clear as
a bell and distinct, without the slight
est shake or quaver, came George's
voice through the megaphone:
"Ride her down, Charley! Ride the
balloon down!"
What had happened? I waved my
hand to show that I had heard, and be
gan to thlnlc. Had something gone
wrong with the parachute? Why
should I ride the balloon down Instead
of making the jump, which thousands
were waiting to see? What was the
matter? And as I puzzled, I received
another start. The earth was a thou
sand feet beneath, and yet I heard a
child crying softly, and seemingly
>*ry close at hand. And though the
"Little Nassau" was shooting skyward
like a rocket, the crying did not grow
fainter and fainter and die away. I
confess I was almost on the edge of a
funk, when, unconsciously following
np the noise with my eyes I looked
me and saw a boy astride the
handbag which was to bring the "Lit
tle Nassau" to earth. And it was the
same little boy I had seen struggling
with the two girls—his sißters, as I
afterward learned.
There he was, astride the sandbag
and holding on to the rope for dear
life. A puff of wind heeled the bal
loon slightly and he swung out into
space for 10 or a dozen feet, and baok
again, fetching up against the tight
canvas with a thud which even shook
me, 30 feet or more beneath. I
thought to see him dashed loose, but
he clung on and whimpered. They
told me afterward, how, at the mo
ment they were casting off the bal
loon, the little fellow had torn away
from his sisters, ducked under the
rope, and deliberately jumped astride
the sandbag. It has always been a
wonder to me that he was not jerked
off in the first rush.
Well, I felt sick all over as I looked
at him there, and I understood why
the balloon had taken longer to right
itself, and why George had called of
fer me to ride her down. Should I
cut loose with the parachute the bag
would at once turn upside down, emp
ty itself, and begin its swift descent.
The only hope lay in my riding her
down and in the boy holding on. There
wan no possible way for me to reach
him. No man could climb the slim,
closed parachute: and even if a man
could, and malte the mouth of tlio bal
loon, what could he do? Straight out,
and 15 feet away, trailed the boy on
his ticklish perch, and those 15 feet
were empty space.
I thought far more quickly than It
takes to tell all this, and realized on
the instant that the boy's attention
must be called away from his terrible
danger. Exercising all the self-control
I possessed, and striving to make my
dclf seem very calm, I said cheerily:
"Hello, up there, who are you?"
He looked down at me, choking back
his tears and brightening up, but just
the the balloon ran into a cross-cur
rent, turned half around and lay over.
Tbsi set him swinging back and forth,
and ho fetched the canvas another
bump. Then he began to cry again.
"Isn't it great?" I asked heartily, as
though it was the most enjoyable thing
in the world; and, without waiting for
him to answer, "What's your name?"
"Tommy Dermott," he answered.
"Glad to make your acquaintance.
Tommy Dermott," I went on. "But
I'd like to know who said you could
ride up with me?"
He laughed and said he just thought
he'd ride up for the fun of it. And so
we went on, 1 sick with fear for him,
and cudgeling my brains to keep up
the conversation. I knew that it was
all I could do, and that his life depend
ed upon my ability to keep his mind
off his danger. I pointed out to him
the great panorama spreading away
to the horizon and 4000 feet beneath
us. There lay San Francisco bay like
a great plac id lake, the haze of smoke
over the city, the Golden Gate, the
ocean fog-rim beyond, and Mt. Tam
alpias over all, clear-cut and sharp
against the 3ky. Directly below us I
could see a buggy, apparently crawl
ing, but I know from cxperienco that
the men in it Were lashing the horses
on our trail.
But he grew tired of looking around,
end I could see ho was beginning to
get frightened.
"How would you like to go in for
the business?" I asked.
He cheered up at once, and asked,
"Do you get good pay?"
But the "Little Nassau" beginning
to cool, had started on its long de
scent, and ran into counter currents
which bobbed it roughly about. This
swung ;he boy around pretty lively,
smashing him into the bag quite se
veraly. liis lip began to tremble at
this, and he was crying again. I tried
to joke and laugh, but it was no use.
His pluck was oozing out, and at any
moment I was prepared to see him go
shooting past me.
I was in despair. Then, suddenly, I
remembered how one fright could de
stroy another fright, and i frowned up
at him and shouted sternly:
"You just hold on to that rope! If
you don't I'll thrash you within an
inch of your life when I get you down
on the ground[ Understand?"
"Ye-ye-yes, sir." he whimpered, and
I saw that the thing had worked. I
was nearer to him than the earth, and
he was more afraid of me than of fall
ing.
"Why, you've got a snap up there on
that soft bag," I rattled on.
"Yes," I assured him, "this bar
down here is hard and narrow, and it
hurts to sit on it.
Then a thought struck him, and ho
forgot all about his aching fingers.
"When are you going to jump?" he
asked. 'That's what I came up to see.
I was sorry to disappoint him, but I
wasn't going to make any jump.
But he objected to that. "It said so
in the papers," he said.
"I don't care," I answered. "I'm
feeling sort of lazy today, and I'm just
going to ride down the balloon. It's
my balloon, and I guess I can do a3 I
please about it. And, anyway, we're
almost down now."
And wo were, 100, and siniring fast
And right there and then that young
ster began to argue with me as to
whether if was right for mc to diaap
jioint the people, and to urge their
claims upon me. And it was with a
happy heart that I held tip my end of
it. Justifying myself in a thousand
diSWont ways, tlil wo shot over a
grove of eucalyptus trees and dipped
to moot the earth.
"Hold on tight!" I shouted, swing
ing down from the trapeze by my
hands In order to make a landing on
my fet..
W skimmod past a barn, missed a
ffieeh of clothesline, frightened the
bnmyard chickens Into a panic, and
re up again clear over a haystack—
tJl this almost quicker that It takes to
tell. Then we came down in an or
chard, and when my feet touched tho
ground I fetched up the balloon by a
couple of turns of tho trapeze around
an apple tree.
I have had my balloon catch fire in
mid air, I have hung on the cornice
of a 10-story house, I have dropped
like a bullet for 600 feet when a para
chute was slow in opening; but never
have I felt so week and faint and sick
as when I staggered toward the un
scratehed boy and gripped him by
the arm.
"Tommy Dermott," I said when I
had got my nerves hack somewhat.
"Tommy Dermott, I'm going to lay you
across my knee and give you the great
est thrashing a hoy ever got in the
world's history." ,
"No you don't," he answered,
squirming around. "You said you
wouldn't if I held on tight."
"That's all right," I said, "but I'm
going to, just the same. The fellows
who go np in balloons are bad, un
principled men, and I'm going to give
you a lesson right now to make yon
slay away from them, and from bal
loons, too."
And then I gave it ta him, and if it
wasn't the greatest thrashing in the
wcrld, it was the greatest he ever got.
But it took all the grit out of me,
left me nerve broken, that experience.
I canceled the engagement with tha
street railway company, and later on
went in for gas. Gas is much the
safer, anyway.—New York Independ
ent
GUAINT AND CURIOUS,
In Siberia a winter rainbow some
times lasts almost all day. It is
caused by fine particles of snow sus
pended in the air.
Unique properties are possessed by
the River Tinto, in Spain. It petrifies
the sand of its bed, and if a stone falls
in the stream and alights upon an
other, in a few minutes they unite
and hecome one stone. Fish cannot
live in its wators.
In the city of Heidelberg, Germany,
there is a building called the Church
of the Holy GhoEt, which is unique
in its way, being the only church in
the world in which the Protestant and
Catholic services are held at the same
time, a partition wail through the cen
tre separating the two congregations.
The members of the United Metho
dist Free Churcn, Overton, near Wrex
ham, England, have hit upon a unique
idea of raising the wind. It was de
cided to have an egg service, and mem
bers of the congregation were invited
to bring eggs. Over 1000 wbicb were
placed in and around the pulpit,-were
brought and readily sold.
In the centre of a field at Waverhill,
Suffolk, England, is a large flat stone
covering the grave of a mare which
die,d in 1852, inscribed as follows:
"Polka. She never made a false step.
Ecclesiastes 3, 10th verse." A refer
ence to chapter and verse shows the
following: "For that which befalleth
Iho sons of men befalleth beasts, even
one thing befalleth them; as the one
dieth, so dieth the other." This is
probably the only instance of a text
from the Scriptures appearing on a
memorial stone to an animal.
The monies of tho Hospital of St.
-can de Dieu, Ghent, in their spare
moments have decorated the walls of
the hospital with exquisite pictures
formed entirely of stamps. In these
pictures are forests and streams, pal
aces and cottages; birds of gorgeous
plumage perch on ora.nehes, gaily-col
ored butterflies flit about, snakes and
lizards glide, and animals of all kinds
figure in the landscapes. The monks
have already used no fewer than 10,-
000,000 stamps in this unique form of
art.
"TonloritilAlton!lnn !
Some inventive genius has found a
new use for cool air, and the patrons
of a down-town barber shop are enjoy
ing the fruits of his discovery. The
invention is nothing less than the sup
plying of cool air to those who are in
the barber's chair, and during the heat
ed summer months barbers' chairs will
probably become well-patronized re
sorts. The air is compressed into a lit
tle tank by a small pump that is run
by a hydrant stream. From the tank
a pipe runs along the shelf on which
is kept the supply of tonsoriai neces
sities. In front of each chair a tap is
made, and from this runs a flexible
tube to which is attached a small noz
zle that is controlled by a pressure of
the fingers and closes automatically
when the pressure is released. When
you are warm go to the barber shop
and you can keep yourself cool while
being shaved. Incidentally bottles,
with receptacles to fit the end of the
nozzle, in which is kept the bay rum,
witch hazel, and other tonics, are used,
the air taking the place of the old bulb
arrangement to spray the tonic. In the
barber shop mentioned the air la
pumped from the ice house, and la
mighty refreshing.—Pittsburg Tiling.
Th Trfltli or It.
Knleker —Jonee Is a charitable fel
low. Ho has ondoired beds in three
hospitals.
Booker —That's not philanthropy;
It's foresight. He's juet bought an
automobile.—New York Bun.
A DRAMATIC MURDERER.
ASSASSINATION OF A RUSSIAN OFFI
CIAL THAT WAS AUDACIOUS.
Tlio Nihilist Student, Stepond Valevano
vitch liulmascliefr, Killed 31. Sipia-
Kuiuo, 31 ininter of the Interior, in a
3faniier Which Was Prodigiously Cool.
Owing to the secrecy always ob
served here, with regard to state trials
and during the investigations of the
political police, the particulars rela
tive to the assassination of M. Sipia
guine, minister of the interior, have
leaked out only this week, writes the
St. Petersburg (Russia) correspond
ent of the New York Mail and Express.
They recall to memory the manner of
preceding of the Nihilists who killed
Czar Alexander Ii in 1881, several
chiefs of the Russian police and sev
eral other high officials.
The murder of Sipiaguine slfbws a
prodigious audacity and coolness on
the part of the assassin. At 1 o'clock
in the afternoon an elegant carriage,
drawn by two blooded mares, arrived
in front of the staircase of the council
of state. In a carefully studied atti
tude the young student revolutionist,
Stepane Valevanovitch Balmascheff,
was reclining aimlessly in the car
riage. The usher on service at the
gate hurried to the droska and respect
fully opened the door of the vehicle.
Without making a move, and with a
haughty tone, as if hardly deigning to
open his mouth, as it becomes a bril
liant lieutennt, Balmascheff said to the
usher:
"Say, my man, Is the minister of the
interior here? I come with a message
from his Majesty, Serge Alexandro
vitch." (Even grand dukes are re
ferred to as "Majesties" in Russia). At
these words the usher's face became
still more humble.
"I ned to see the minister immedi
ately," Balmascheff went on. This
was said with the tone of a man used
to command, so much so that the ush
er had no longer any doubt. He an
swered: "No; his Excellency has not
yet arrived."
"Well, if it is so, I shall find him at
home yet," said the young man.
The carriage wheeled around and
went toward the Morskaia street. But
it had hardly gone more than a few
yards when it returned and stopped
again in front of the Palace Mariynis
ky, the "envoy extraordinary" declar
ing that, after all, he preferred to wait
there for the minister. The gate was
opened immediately, with a great
noise, by the usher. Balmascheff
stepped from the carriage with a quick
and perfectly military manner, keep
ing his large portfolio under his arm.
The usher murmured in the ears of the
lackeys: "That is a message trom his
Majesty!"
Balmascheff took off his military
overcoat, glanced in the mirror, freed
his right hand from its glove, opened
the portfolio and looked at the envel
opes, while putting in a convenient
place the revolver which was in tin*
portfolio.
One or two minutes passed. Balma
scheff became uneasy, fearing that
Sipiaguine, instead of coming by the
door where he was waiting, should
come this time, like the other minis',
ters, by the main entrance of the Pal
ace Mariyinsky. Then the whole plot
would have miscarried. But the min
ister's carriage arrived. The usher
rusher forward and said: "There is a
message for your Excellency from his
Majesty."
Sipiaguine entered the anteroom
vestibule. To meet him the "heavenly
missionary," as the nihilists call him,
advanced, and presented to the minis
ter a big package, enveloped in heavy
paper and difficult to open. Balma
scheff then carefully placed himself in
a position favorable to his attack, and
also calculated to avoid any unfor
tunate interferences on the part of the
servants.
"What is the matter?" the minister
inquired, with astonishment, trying to
open the envelop.
"That's the matter," quietly an
swered Balmasebcff, while taking from
within his portfolio a Browning revolv
er of an expensive make, which never
misses fire. The weapon is of a flat
tened form, easy to carry in a side hip
pocket. At the moment he fired, from
below upward, so that the bullet, after
having gone through the body, should
not touch other people present, but
should lodge itself in the ceiling.
The revolver was charged with
smokeless powder. There was a sharp
report, and the minister fell at the
feet o? Balmascheff, who remained
quiet and tried to tranquilize the
frightened servants..
Don't be afraid, by brethren; you
shall not be hurt," he said. "Remem
ber that only the enemies of the peo
ple are thus treated."
Balmascheff made no move to es
cape; his coolness and calm were ex
traordinary, according to the reports of
ocular witnesses of the tragedy, and
can be found only in men capable of
thinking and feeling.
Balmascheff's examination after the
arrest, nonplussed the authorities. "1
am Stepane Balmascheff. I have
killed Sipiaguine; you know it; I have
nothing more to tell you. All your
questions are mere curiosity, which I
do not want to satisfy. I do not recog
nize to you the right to try me, since
you are an interested party. This is
why I refuse to furnish any explana
tion."
As to the motives of his deed Bal
mascheff declared:
"Ask ail Russian citizens why, up to
today, they have not themselves killed
Sipiaguine. It is clear why, as I could
do it, I have killed him."
Balmascheff,who has been executed,
was 21 years old, the son of a man well
known and esteemed throughout the
Volga districts, and who was lust end
ing sentence of deportation to Viatka.
When Balmascheff was a student at
Kieff, in 189!), he was arrested. Ho
finished his military service and en
tered again the Kieff university, where
he was under police surveillance,
since he was loved by and very influ
ential among the students, who were
so often deported, imprisoned and even
flogged by order of Sipiaguine, the
minister of interior.
VOLCANOES OF THE PHILIPPINES.
Intorontinfj Information in Keport of G.
K. Becker or Geological Survey.
Of interest in connection with the
recent volcanic eruptions in the West
Indies is the report of George P.
Eeeher on the geology of the Philip
pine islands, which has just appeared
in Part II of the 25th annual report
of the United States geological sur
vey, and which contains a review of
everything hearing upon the geology
of these islands. The report deals in
general with the geologic and econ
omic features of the islands, from ex
tant reports on the subject, and from
studies in the field, so far 1 as they
could he carried on during the dis
turbed period of IS9B-'99.
In many respects the Philippine
islands closely resemble the West
Indies, especially in being the scene
of violent past and present volcanic
energy. While it was possible to visit
few of these mountains, owing to the
hostility of the natives, much valuable
information from local and other
sources wa3 collected. Forty-nine of
the eruptive mountains were located
among the islands, and their altitudes
and the dates of their eruptions ob
tained. Conspicuous among them is
Mt. Apo, the highest mountain the
Philippines, which rises 10,761 feet
above the level of the sea. At Cami
guin de Mindanao, one of the most in
teresting volcanoes of the group, a
cone nearly 2000 feet in height lias
• risen since 1871 over what was for
merly a lalce, the basin of which was
presumably an ancient crater. Mayon,
or the volcano of Albay, is said to be
the most symmetrically beautiful cone
in the world; and the famous Taal
volcano, situated on a small volcanic
Island in the lake of Bonbon, is read
ily accesible from Manila.
The accounts of the eruptions of
these and other volcanoes of the
group bear a striking resemblance
to those of the recent outburst of
Mt. Pelee in Martinique. Of an erup
tion which occurred in the year 1641,
near Jolo, the report quotes: "The
darkness and atmospliereic disturb
ance were so great that the people of
Jolo could not perceive whence came
the stuff which fell from heaven upon
them." And in one of the numerous
eruptions at Taal, loud detonations
like discharge® of artillery we're
(heard. Incandescent stones were
thrown out, and a great fire ran like
a river across the island. The fire
then shifted Into Lake Bonbon, throw
ing up water and ashes in immense
masses. "The water grew hot and
black, fish were strewn on the beach
es as if they had been cooked, and
the air was so full of sulphurous
smells and the odor of dead fishes
that the inhabitants sickened." At one
of the eruptions of Albay, that in
1814, 1200 lives are said to have been
fnst.
In drawing comparisons between
the volcanoes of the Philippines and
those of the Dutch East Indies, Mr.
Becker notes that "Papandayang, in
West Java, had a great eruption In
1772, destroying 40 villages. Galling
Gung in 1822 destroyed 114 villages,
arid it Is some measure of the viol
ence of the Krakatoa explosion of
18S3 that over 36,000 people per
ished."
An the Woman Judsod.
It was to be the humblest of wed
ding trips—evidently just a ride on the
trolley from the tenement that had
been the old home to the tenement
that would bo the new one. When the
parting between mother and (laugh
ter seemed Imminent a mercifully in
clined truck blockaded the car and
gave them a few minutes more to
gether. The daughter had made con
cessions to the land of her adoption
and wore a hat, but the mother clung
to the kerchief of her native Italy. The
truck showed signs of resuming the
journey. The motorman clanged the
hell continually, and the mother, rec
ognizing that the time had come,
walked to the side of the car with the
bride, kissed her passionately and ad
dressed a few words to the bride
groom. "She is saying that if he is
not good to her daughter she will stab
him," said the passenger who under
stood Italian. "Oh, them dago women
are terrible," said the woman covered
with paste jewelry. "They have no
feelings at all."—New York Sun.
Obey the PollceniHn.
"Sure, an' this is a nerve-splittin'
job," said the big blue-eoated patrol
man who pilots people across Broad
way at Dey street. "But it would be
rale alsy If people'd only do as they
are told. Whin 01 halt th' cars an'
trucks an' beckon to the people to
ci oss, half o' thim stand lookin' this
way an' that, till Oi have to let teams
go on, an' thin they make a- rush un
der th' heads o' th' horses or right In
front o' th' cars, an' it's a miracle a
lot o' thim don't get run (loWn.
"Oi've nlver had an accident at my
crossing, an' no thanks to th' people
tlilmselves, for it s bU3y they kape me
a haulin' thim from under th' care an'
trucks.
"Now, If they'd just do as they're
told, thero'd be no danger. Whin a
cop stops th' traffic it's as safe to cross
as if there were no electric cars or
trucks, an' whin th' people are told to
come on they ought to come, an' no
foolln' about, if they value their limbs.
Th' way to cross Broadway safely Is
to obey th' policeman."—New York
Tribune. „