"I always quote tue American army
as being to my views the best army in
the world," writes Lord Wolseley to a
naval and military journal in the Uni
ted States.
The new service uniform for the
United S f atcs army will include knick
erbockers in place of trousers. This
reversion to the style of long ago,
coupled with the very general use of
knickerbockers in athletics, may fore
shadow the passing of the vogue of
long trousers, which without any
special recommendation have held
sway for a eentur„
Official figures of emigatiou to Sibe
ria and the return of former emigrants
to European Ilussia, for the year 1901,
show that the total movement to Sibe
ria is 128,700, comprising 91,700 emi
grants, 25,000 pioneers or intending em
igrants and 9000 peasants seeking
work. There returned 55,000 persons,
Including 31,000 emigrants, 18,000 pio
neers and 0000 workingmen. The re
turn movement is stronger than it was
in 1900.
Some new and striking metaphors
were sprung in Congress during the
•losing days of the session. Represen
•etive Corliss, of Michigan, for in
stance, asked: "Shall the wheels of pro
gress be shackled by the cable octo
pus?" One critic suggests that an
eight-armed cephalopod would have a
difficult task if lie should undertake to
shackle a wheel at the bottom of the
Pacific. Senator Proctor spoke the
other day of "holding out the butt end
of the olive branch."
In Russia no man may enter a Gov
ernment establishment without remov
ing liis hat, a rule which has caused
some troublt, it appears, since the es
tablishment of the Government spirit
shops. There have been disputes be
tween the officials behind the bars and
the customers as to the removal of the
headgear, with the result that the ques
tion was submitted to the Minister of
Finance. That official has caused no
res to be issued warning the public
.gainst any disrespectful demeanor
while in the State public houses.
The new treaty of commerce and
friendship with Spain entirely restores
amicable relations with that country.
It provides that the citizens of cacii
country shall enjoy equal right in the
other as to residence, travel, protection
of person and property, the administra
tion of justice and taxation and exemp
tion from military service and forced
loans. This is a happy and a rapid end
ing of the late unpleasantness. It is
certain that with the return of amity
there will follow a return of profitable
trading between the two countries.
As it operates to-day the parliamen
tary regime of Japan does not possess
any serious dangers because it was ef
fectively shackled by those who created
it. First, suffrage is restricted, and
second, the ministers are only respon
sible to the mikado. To be an elector
it is necessary to be twenty-five years
of age and to pay 810 direct tax, li
censes not included, and to be eligible
for election the same tax is required,
and it is necessary to be thirty years
of age. Thus in a population of forty
millions there are scarcely 300,000 elec
tors, and but 300 persons who are elect
ed to public office.
Remarkable among the recent public
gifts is the $4,000,000 given by Joint M.
Burke, a retired merchant of New York
City. The money is to found and main
tain a home in the borough of Manhat
tan for worthy men and women who,
through no fault of their own, have be
come unable to support themselves.
Notwithstanding much fluent and flip
pant talk to the effect that 110 capable
and prudeni person need ever come
to poverty the fact remains that many
such persons do. Mr. Burke's charita
ble recognition of this fact docs credit
alike to his head and heart, comments
the New York World.
"Years had elapsed since I saw the
house with the seven gables supposed
to be tlie one which inspired Haw
thorne's immortal story and being in
Its vicinity recently 1 went to see it
again," says a writer in the Boston
Herald. "But 1 wish I hadn't, for that
venerable domicile lias been touched
with the canker of modern improve
ment. Electric lights, a furnace and
bathroom and kitchen boilers serve to
render the old-time home of Salem's
watchmaker 'comfortable,' but an aw
ful paradox in the opinion of the antl
quartan, not to say romancer. I won
der what Hawthorne would say to the
changes there. If this is really the fa
mous house one wishes it might have
been preserved as America's foremost
prose writer described It in that classic,
ziud as Miss Ingersoll left it when she
•eparted this life."
-EA.LOVERS.
Come, let us fare together
Into that clear blue world—
The tide that no fate can tether
With the sails of our souls unfurled.
Let us drift into any weather;
Come, let us find a path,
Such as the mermaid hath
With pebbles and shells impearled.
We will float down the foam-swept spaces,
We will hide by the crystal walls
Till they creak 011 our cool, moist faces—
With a rush as of waterfalls,
Or, like tears, in love's tempest driven—
Love with us, there alone; —
Half the world for our own
And the whole of heaven!
Beggars, we may not borrow;
Spendthrifts, we cannot pay;
But come! There's no bright to-morrow
As dear as our sure to-day!
Look! not a cloud to shade us,
Nor a boat sail that's near nor far.
And we are as God has made us.
Woman and man we are.
> SAVING OF PETES.. |
How He Found Something Nicer to Take gij
A Than Ipecac.
I
¥RS. MINNA SCHMITT stood
at the kitchen door of Mer
riam's big house and looked
at the changingwcst. Every
moment the light was growing fainter
and duller, and still Peter Burns did
not come in to the supper that had been
waiting for him over two hours. This
was strange of Peter, and it would
have been not only strange, but suspi
cious of anybody else, after having
been " Tectioneerlng" all afternoon,
1 with the old Judge, Mrs. Mcrriam's hus
j band.
1 Mrs. Schmidt did not like the Judge.
: The worst men, in her eyes, are those
who always seem so nice and pleasant
\ to everybody, and between times get
j drunk and abuse their wives. If such
j men were only mean all the time peo
| pie would not blame their wives for
\ everything that goes wrong, as the vil
lage did Mrs. Merriam, when she had
the old Judge bound over to keep the
peace. Since that time the Judge had
been obliged to live at the village hotel,
and Mrs. Merriam was left in the big
house. Now, when the Judge wanted
to see Mrs. Merriam, he drove up to the
j gate and whistled for her. Then Mrs.
! Merriam put on her best dress and
went driving with him, for the Judge
was really very pleasant when he was
In a "good temper," as Mrs. Merriam
! herself would have put It. Every even
ing she made Peter drive down to the
j hotel to see that the Judge got to bod
; without his boots. The Judge paid
| those of liis bills that he could out of
| his practice, and Mrs. Marriam paid
: her own out of the place and the "sum
mer guests." Sometimes she paid an
odd one of the Judge's.
; Minna could not see but what it was
much bettor so, though whenever she
went to the village she had to hear
something about women who wear the
j "pants" and like remarks, which passed
for wit thereabouts. But Minna, who
had had a sharp, and happily short,
! married experience of her own, loftily
! ignored these supposed jokes, for her
j German tongue was too slow to risk an
j swers. The delectable Peter himself,
j who made possible the harmony of the
i present conditions, was Irish. lie
drove the Judge home one day when
• the Judge's driving was a bit uucer
| tain, even for a horse that could find
j tile way home alone. Peter had put up
| the horse and looked after things that
: evening, and he had been doing so ever
| since. Now he was the one person who
| was able to travel cheerfully the somc
j times slippery patli between the Inn
| and the house at all times.
And still he did not come In. Minna
| bethought herself that, she ought to go
i over to the slatdos. To-morrow would
be Sunday, and Peter often needed a
stitch put i?i somewhere. It was not in
Minna's quick fingers to see any one
untidy 011 Sunday if she could help it.
So she went over to the stables—not
that she was curious or, even worse,
worried. Things did look queer. The
road-wagon was standing in the drive
way, tlie cushion left shiftlessly on the
seat, and Peter's host coat lying across
It. After a moment Minna's sharp ear
heard deep breathing, and there, at the
bench, inside the door, lay Peter, fast
asleep. Now Minna could not believe
that any man would go fast asleep
without ids supper unless there was
something wrong. But she was used to
doing things, not standing and looking
at them. Site took the cushion off the
seat, and along with the coat carried
it Into the carriage shed. Something
hard in one of Peter's pockets struck
her hand, and she knew it at once for
a bottle. It was almost empty and the
contents were not to be mistaken.
Then she tried tlie other pocket. Be
hold, another bottle!
"That camel of a Judge." she mut
tered. "He has five stomachs and he
does not rest until everybody is like
tiiin." The zeal to save woke in her,
and she did not ask herself whether
she had that fine zeal for every waver
ing soul, or only for Peter's. She took
the bottles and hurried to the kitchen
with them.
Mrs. Merriam met her at the kitchen
door. "Where Is Peter?" she asked.
Minna marched past her and tragic
ally held up the two bottles in front
of her.
"Minna," gasped that lady, "what—
what have you been doing?"
"I?" screamed Minna. "Peter, you
mean."
"Peter! Oh, Peter, Peter, you too,
Peter!" wailed Mrs. Merriam, as she
sank down in a chair. "But wait; this
Is tlie first time, and there is still hopes
for him. I hnvc it!" And she hurried
to her medicine shelf and came back
with a bottle with some brown stuff in
it "This will make him with he'd
Come! for the world's ways grieve 113;
Hot are the burning sands,
The hours and the days bereave U3;
Clasp with me gladsome hands
And go by sweet height, and hollow,
Where never a milestone is
To point the way to the bliss
Our sure feet find and follow!
We will buffet the waves and boat them.
Rest with them, cheek to check,
Rush with them, meet them, greet them,
Flee from them, when they seek,
Lips, with their passion glowing,
Living, loving anew,
Shall we spare them a kiss or two,
From our Jiearts' wild overflowing?
Nay, if we leave behind 113
Loads too heavy to bear,
Fetters that strain and bind us,
With tlie rags that we used to wear—
Out of life's fret and pain,
Taking the way that is nearest,
What matters it, heart, my dearest,
If we come not back again?
—Madeline Bridges, in Life.
never touched any election whisky in
his life. Run and slip them back,
Minna."
Minna obeyed, and then milked the
complaining cows, grown restless wait
ing for Peter. And when everything
was well done she went up to her room
and cried a bit. In the morning she
was up earlier than usual. There
seemed to be no use in waiting for
Peter to drive her to early mass this
morning. She trudged aloug the damp
road from which the late August sun
had not yet drawn the dew. And her
feet somehow felt very heavy.
"It is a damp morning," she said,
looking against the shining mist. Here
and there a dead leaf fluttered in front
of her. The sun was soft and warm,
and the gleam of the trees deep and
dark in the glittering moisture, and ye<
it all kept her thinking that winter
was near, and that she herself was
thirty-fie. As she passed a little
house on the road where old Anse, the
choreman, lived with about a dozen
grandchildren, she heard a child's fret
ful cry. "Must be it's sick. I'll have
to ask Anse."
When Minna came out of the church
she had a start that mast surely have
given her a nervous shock had she
been of less hardy libre, for there was
Peter waitiug as usual.
"An' why didn't you wait for me,
Mrs. Sclimitt?" he asked.
"It was a good morning to wall;,"
said Minna most quietly.
He helped her iuto the cart, and then
lie said slowly, after they were started:
"It was a very hot day yesterday,"
and he switched the lines to chase the
! flies off the backs of the horses—"a
I very hot day."
But Minna was silent. After a little
Peter went on: "We went over a tur
l-ible lot of country yesterday, the
Judge anil I. I'm thankful we had a
right good supper over to Ilarneck's, so
boin' tired an' restln' me a minute, 1
fell asleep. It's too bad you milked the
cows and did that work."
"Oil, that didn't make much differ
ence," said Minna. But there seemed
to he something that did, so after a
bit Peter went on again.
"The Judge is a turrible man to
drink and treat all rouu' when he goes
'lectioneeriug. He gimme a couple o'
battles to treat the boys for him, hut I
met old Anse in the road this mornin'
an' lie told me one of the children was
sick an' he didn't feel very well him
self, an' so I gave him the rest."
Peter had the flattering sense that he
was clearing himself without admit
ting the suspicion, which is really a
very delicate thing to do. So he was
the more surprised to see Minna Jump
around in her seat and fairly scream
at him:
"You did what?"
"Gave it to old Anse for the child."
"Oh," she moaned, "for the sick
child. It'll kill It."
"But it was good stuff," said Teter
blandly. "The Judge paid a dollar a
bottle for the bit of a bottle."
"But it's had; I know it's bad. Hurry
up and tell Anse it's bad." Peter only
stared at lier, ami almost held the
horses at a standstill. "Hurry up,"
she said, and rattled (lie whip iu its
socket. At this ominous and unaccus
tomed sound, the horse plunged for
ward so suddenly that Peter had to
pull them to their haunches to keep
them out of the ditch.
"I'll not drive a step, I'll tell ye," he
said, "until 1 know what for," for
Peter could not stand bothering the
horses when he was driving. Then
Minna- began to cry and Peter as well
as the horses was bothered.
"But, Mrs. Scliniitt," he said, "sure
an' you're always such a sensible
woman "
"What's the use to be a sensible
woman when a man's so foolish? It's
all your fault." And Minna cried
more.
"Well, then, if it is, I'll be driving
on." said Peter. "An' you'll he tellin'
me how it is that it's my fault." Then
he lifted the reins, hut he d:d not start
the horses. Minna looked over the
field while the tears rolled down her
cheeks. Then she stole a glance nt-
Feter's face, calm and maseulinely un
relenting. There came a trot behind
I her. McGolriek's mules were coming
I up the road behind them, and she and
I Peter standing still like that! So she
began hurriedly:
; "I was afraid you'd get like the
| Judge, too, so we thought if you did
get good anil sick you'd never do It
again, and we put some ipecac iu It, a
j whole ounce "
"In what?" asked the hyper-iano
-1 cent Peter.
"In tile bottles of whisky," gulped
Minna.
Teter whistled and the horses flew.
"Ipecac's bitter isn't it?" But Minna
did not notice. She was crying so
hard. "Guess I oetter tell Anse that
it's cheap 'lectioneerlng whisky and
the Missus will send him somethin'
better." Minna smiled so gratefully
that Peter fell to wondering what he
could do next to please her. When he
cam? out of Ause's he was chuckling.
"The baby's all right. But Anse is
bavin' a time!" Whereupon Minna
giggled hysterically.
To make sure, Minna herself took the
basket and the port wine which Mrs.
Merriam sent. When she came back
she walked rather slowly up the drive
way, trying to decide whether she
should stop and tell Peter. When she
came to the stable door Peter was
pitching straw for bedding. He did
not seem to be getting much on his
fork, and presently he looked up as
if seeing her there was the most unex
pected happening. lie pulled his hat
down and came toward her. Leaning
against the doorpost he regarded the
prongs of his pitchfork intently. About
that time Minna found her basket
handle very interesting, and she began
to rub her forefinger thoughtfully up
and down its strands.
"The baby's nil right, Peter," she
said, after a while. Peter looked at her
meditately as If somehow she were
saying something else.
"Mrs. Sclimitt," he said then, "I've
been tliinkiu' about how worried you
got about them bottles. It's kind o'
nice to think people care enough to
worry about you. Now, I've been
thinkin' that there might be nicer
things to take than ipecac, and some
times it's the nice things that are best
for a man, don't you thiuk so?"
Peter stopped and dug his pitchfork
into the ground. Minna's literal Ger
man mind had become unwary.
"What would you take, then, Peter?"
"Well, now, Minna, if 'twere left
to me I'd take you."
Iu spite of Mrs. Merriam, who
pointed out precedent and evidence to
prove that Minna had strangely invert
ed her opinions, Minna agreed with
Peter—just to save him, to he sure.—
New York Sun.
Snakes in Dutch Guiana.
"Speaking of snakes," said a mining
engineer, "I do not think there is a spot
on the the face of this earth to equal
Dutch Guinea in that respect. There
they have large snakes and small
snakes, red snakes and green snakes,
amber-colored snakes and golden
snakes, snakes harmless aud snakes
deadly, round-headed snakes and flat
headed snakes, and snakes ranging
through the entire list of colors from
mud gray to a striped orange and red.
"If you are a tenderfoot in the coun
try, before you leave Paramaribo for
the gold fields iu the jungle the natives
will warn you against the snakes. On
the way to the fields, 400 miles up the
river in a canoe, you can shoot a dozen
or more water snakes if you are watch
ful. Oiico in camp aud accustomed to
precautions, before you get into your
hammock at night you turn it Inside
out to oust a possible parrot snake that
may have taken kindly to your bed.
During the night if you are called upon
to leave camp you pick your way
along the jungle trail with a lantern
held low to light every inch your feet
traverse. In the morning when you
come to the embers of your camp fire
you will find a bunch of snakes curled
up around one another to keep off the
chill of the night in the warm ashes.
And so it is, snakes, snakes, snakes.
Throughout 40,000 square miles of
jungle it is one continuous snake para
dise.
Tlie Preservation of Westminster Abbe.
At a recent meeting of the Society of
Antiquaries in London Professor Letli
aby read a paper on "Westminster Ab
bey and Its Restorations."
Referring to the coronation of Ed
ward I. he said the accounts showed
that a great stable was built in St.
Margaret's Churchyard, temporary
halls were ret up in the gardens of the
palace for the people, a wooden passage
was built from the palace to the church
and the new tower above the choir
was covered with boards, and a wood
en Uoor laid down in the choir, show
ing that these two last portions were
not then completed. He traced the
story of the vandalism in the shape of
restorations which has been going on
since Henry 111. work—the destruction
of the palace buildings, the painted
chamber. St. Stephen's chapel, the star
chamber, etc. He said that similar
work was still under way, and that un
less tltis system of so-called improve
ments could be arrested the original
abbey would soou be a thiug of the
past.
A Itecnrri-Hreaklnc Nairn*,
Joseph! Andreszkswerownitzka is the
name of a young Polish girl who ar
rived In this city on the Haverford
from Liverpool last week. She has the
longest name of any immigrant that
ever came to Philadelphia, and when
tliey told her so as they examined her
at Washington wharf, she smiled with
gratification. "I thought my name
would be the longest," she said. "I
thought you would tell me that, for
that is what I have been told by every
body since I left borne." Miss Andre
szkswerownitzka Is bound for St. Paul,
where a place as housemaid hns been
engaged for iter In a hotel. She was
advised to change her name, on ac
count of its awkward length, but she
replied: "No, Indeed, I will not change
it till I get married." Philadelphia
Record.
It Is said that the New York Centra]
will lie obliged to raise Its tracks ele
ven Inches nil the way between New
York and Buffalo, in order to get in
the new stone foundation.
The Land of Shut-Yonr-Eyes.
There is a laud you may not know,
Although so close it lies.
I'll tell its name—but whisper low—
'Tis the Land of Shut-Your-Eyes.
To find it? Why, just lie quite still
When dusk begins to creep,
And close your eyelids with it will—
Don't take a single peep.
And first you know you'll not be here,
But in a wondrous place,
Where Jabberwoeks and Pinquins queer
Will smile up in your face.
Where Brownies, Gnomes and fairy folk,
With Goops and Injuns, too,
Will crowd around you thick as smokc-
And whisper jokes to yon.
There never was a land GO strange,
Nor yet more nice to see.
Each time you look the people change;
They couldn't queerer be.
And oh, the funny things they do!
The way they jump and prance! •
Don't let them lay a hand on you
Unless you love to dance.
They dance all flight, the funny things,
They caper and they smile,
They fly—although not all have wings—
They chatter all the while.
To know them is a great delight,
So. children, if you're wise,
You'll pay a visit'every night
To the Land of Shut-Your-Eyes.-
—Chicago Record-Herald.
llow to Make Squirt-Guns.
One-legged Barney, as we boys used
to call him, was the railway bridge
tender as a means of livelihood, but
his profession was making squirt-guns,
pop-guns, eorn-flddles and whistles for
the lads of the town. Ills little round
house upon the high grade near the
river was only a short way from a
thicket of willows aud elder bushes.
Prom morning till night he would
sit by his door, his red signal flag
propped against his knee, and his
wooden leg resting on a stool, where it
Berved the purpose of a carpenter's
A PUZZLE PICTURE:.
Old woman, old woman, shall wo go a-shearing?
Speak a little louder, sir, I'm very thick o-hearing
Old woman, old woman, shall I kiss you dearlv'.'
Thank you, kind sir, 1 hear very elearlv,
Find the old woman's son and a cow.
bench, while Barney whittled away
waiting things for the boys.
Squirt-guns were favorites with us,
for the river was near at hand, but
Barney's squirt-guns of elder would
crack after a little. So we demanded
better ordnance for our midsummer
warfare. "Wall," said Barney,'"bring
me down an ole fisliin' pole an' we'll
see." That very afternoon half a dozen
poles were turned over to Barney.
They were common 10-ceut bamboo
rods, but well-seasoned by many a
Ashing excursion. Barney began by
cutting off a joint about an inch in
diameter and eight inches long, like
Fig. 1 in the accompanying illustration,
one end being left closed and the other
open. Next he cut from the little end
of the rod a straight, slender joint
about three Inches long and one-third
inch in diameter in the centre, like Fig.
3in the illustration. Like the big joint
this one was open at one end and
closed at the other. Barney cut a hole
through the closed or jointed end of
(5) fm(2 c ==a flfir 3
FIG 4
FIG s
V S? AKOVi
HOME-MADE GUNS.
the little piece with the small blade
of his penknife. Then he cut a hole
in the closed end of the large joint,
this hole being large enough to permit
the small piece, or nozzle, to slip
through up to the joint with a little
hard driving. Barney then cut out
two little half-disks of wood, which
together would At closely into the open
end of the large joint or reservoir.
These bits of wood were over half an
inch thick and made of pine They
were hollowed out so that when they
were placed together to form a perfect
disk there was a hole over oae quarter
of an .uch ,n diameter la the centre
(see Fig. 2). This was to give play to
the driver or piston, which was the
next thing made It consisted of a
piece of hickory, one foot long one
fourlli of an inch in diameter through
out its length, excepting at the top and 1
bottom. The top was broadened out
to lit the palm of the hand, and the
lower portion was left a little larger,
that II might be wound with cloth until
it fitted the inside of the reservoir
snugly (see Fig. 4). The next thing to
do was to soak the wound end of the
driver in linseed oil, insert it in the
reservoir, put the two cap piece in
place, and the squirt-gun was com
pleted, as you see it in Fig. 5. All that
remained to do was to stick the nozzle
in the water pull out the driver till
it struck the cap, and the machine
was loaded for an attack upon any sort
of an enemy A squirt-gun of this kind
when once well soaked would last all
summer or longer
The little pocket arrow gun shown
in the illustration was simply a joiut of
bamboo with one end open, and the
other closed, an oblong hole about one
half inch wide and two inches long
near the closed end, and a spring made
of hickory to fit the opening. The ar
row was Inserted in the muzzle, and to
send it kiting one simply had to hold
the gun in the hand, pull back the
spring with the finger and then let it
fl.t
Barney's whistles were usually made
of willow, but sometimes he would
make a monster from a smooth piece
of poplar. For lusty, deep-voiced whis
tles, Barney selected straight willow
branches a bit over one-half inch in di
ameter Cutting the branch into pieces
six inches in length, he put these "to
soak In a pail of water. After an
hour or two he would take out one of
the pieces, cut a circle around it at the
centre, and begin softly hammering the
bark with the back of his knife, mak
ing sure to pound every portion of the
bark which he intended to remove.
When the bark was thus loosened
from the wood Barney grasped it in
his fat right hand and slowly twisted
it around until it was perfectly freo
from the •wood. Then he slipped it
off. Beginning about an inch from the
end of the now exposed piece of wood
Barney would cut away the wood on
one side and toward the hack until he
had whittled out a depression fully
an inch and a half long and over a
quarter of an inch deep. Next he
cut a silver off the upper side of the
piece of wood left, at the end—just
enough to permit the entry of air after
the bark was replaced. Butting the
bark hack in place. Barney cut a suiull
opening in the hark and above the air
chamber now made by tile depression
in tlie wood and the bark covering it.
This opening was just back of tn
piece of wood that formed the mourn
piece of the whistle. Sometimes be
fore slipping the bark in place Barney
would drop a pebble in the air cham
ber. Then when the whistle was com
pleted it would warble whenever
blown. One peculiarity of Barney's
whistles was that after they had dried
the bark seemed to have grown back
to the wood and they lasted ever so
long.—Chicago Kecord-Herald.
Jnmcs Settled It.
Two boys in a rural Scotch district
were one day dscussing what sign it
was when the cuckoo is heard for tlio
first time in the year. One of tnem
said it was a sign of getting married,
while the other said it was a sign that
you were going to be rich. A farmer,
overhearing them, said, "That cannot
be true, because I have heard it many
j limes, and 1 am not married yet, and
1 am certainly not rich." Just thou u
I local worthy, known as "Dal't Jamie,"
j was passing by, and the farmer said:
"Jamie, can you lei! us what sign it is
When you ileal the cuckoo for the first
time?" "Yes," said Jamie, as he took
his pipe from his mouth; "it's a sign
you're not deaf."
About Old IronMidcs.
Old Ironsides was a title popularly
conferred upon the United States frig
ate Constitution, which was launched
at Boston, September fiO, 1797. She he
came greatly celebrated on account of
the prominent part she took in the
bombardment of Tripoli in 18<H and
for the gallantry displayed by her of
ficers and men during the War of 1812,