Valuable Jewell Seldom Worn.
A jeweler says that valuable family
, jewels are almost never worn by their
owners; they are kept in safe deposit
vaults and are not used more than
lialf a dozen times in half a century.
have them copied and always
appear wearing the imitation jewels,
which look quite as well. "Why," he
added, "a lady would not dare to ap
pear always in the valuable gems she
is known to possess; she would be
robbed and perhaps murdered for
them."
Repairing a Mark Into* ft.
To mend a mackintosh procure a
small tin of india rubber cement or
dissolve seme strips of pure india
rubber in naphtha or sulphide of car
bon to form a stiff paste. Apply a
little of the cement on the surface of
a strip of the same material of which
the mackintosh is made, which can he
purchased by the yard or iu remnants
from tho waterproofers; also apply a
little cement to each side of the torn
part, and when it begins to feel tacky
bring the edges together and place the
patch nicely over and keep in position
by putting a weight over it until quite
hard, which will he in a few days.
Tim Rich llan'i Wire.
The man of wealth marries a woman
who is beautiful and gracious; one
who will hear his name proudly. Her
home is handsomely appointed. She
fits into her environment as a statue
In its niche. At her command are ser
vants, horses and carriages—or auto
mobiles, in this mechanical generation.
She is privileged to trade upon credit
and dress for her position in life.
But too often her pocketbook con
tains less than the woman in moderate
circumstances, whose husband has a
salary and gives his wife a stated sum
to live upon. The rich wife, if asked
by members of her club for a dona
tion, must consult her husband first.
She has no ready money, and frequent
ly is obliged to ask him for paltry
amounts. She is humiliated and be
comes embittered; her dignity is low
ered. Sometimes she employs deceit
with which to obtain resources from
him. And her thought of her hus
band's parsimony soon kills all her
tenderness. —Susan B. Anthony, in the
Independent.
The Vanity of Women.
"Take hold of a woman's vanity,"
said a married man, "and you can lead
her where you will."
He gazed dreamily, smiling to him
self, into his lemonade glass. Then
he resumed;
f' "My wife discharged her servant
girl last month, and said that in order
to have the work done well she would
do it herself thereafter. And, by jove,
she did. She cooked and washed the
dishes, and ruined her temper and
spoiled my happiness, for I can afford
to keep one Bervant, and I hated lu seu
■lier doing all that unpleasant work.
But I could say nothing to make her
stop until I thought of her vanity, and
as soon as I thought of that 1 knew 1
had her.
" 'Jaife,' I said at breakfast one
morning, 'your hands don't look like
they use to. Your fingers are rough,
and your nails seem to be ragged and
discolored. Do you manicure them as
carefully as you used to?'
" 'Of course I do,' said she; 'and they
look all right, too. There's nothing
the matter with my hands.'
"'I know better, Jane,' said I. 'This
. rough work has told on them. 1 doubt
if you will ever get them back to
their former fine condition.'
" 'Oh, you're talking foolish,' cried
my wife, frowning, and I said nothing
more. But when I got back home that
night a new servant girl was in the
kitchen, and my Jane sat before her
dressing table with her manicure set"
—Philadelphia Record.
flirt. nil Blnckmnittin.
A webb of poetic romance always
has been woven about the "village
smithy," but it has remained for a
sturdy blacksmith in the neighborhood
of I.eeds to introduce the daughters
of the smithy into the romancer's
dreams. This blacksmith has eight
daughters, and hha reaied them all
by the side of the forge and anvil. At
present four are at work in his Bhop.
The other four wielded the hammer
for several years and then left the
business to take up the duties of ruu
► ning homes of their own. Every day
these four daughters of the master
smith are to be seen at the anvils fol
lowing the trade of their fathers.
They are up early and spend the work
ing hours in making gas hooks—broad,
bent nails which are used by plumb
ers for fastening gas pipes to walls.
It is not such a hard task, yet the
work requires great patience and en
during strength.
The heavy part of the work is per
formed by a machine worked with the
foot After the mechanical device
has finished its labors the fair black
smiths, with sleeves rolled up, put the
finishing touches on the hooks wiUa a
hand-hammer and get them ready™or
market. The gills are fond of their
work. Thay toil on a piece-work
J basis, and the ingenious blacksmith
I calls each a "full
American.
Two flown* anil a Hat.
A dainty gown is of white voile with
narrow strappings of white glace to
outline the deeply-pointed skirt ilounc
es, and a pleated bolero effect on the
bodice finished off in the same way
and cut short enough to allow a
glimpse of a soft fulness of ecru
batiste. This is eventually caught
into the close bondage of a waistband
of white glace, whose bow ends at
the back give something of the effect
of the fashionable coat tails. A col
lar of ecru batiste and lace also puts
in an appearance, and there are
touches of brown on the white silk
tie, where .brown velvet baby ribbon
is threaded through tiny circlets of
lace and divided by minute blossoms
glinting with gold.
Another graceful frock is of tur
quoise-blue cambric elaborated with a
design of the most diminutive leaves
embroidered in white, and forming a
trelliswork all down the front of the
skirt, while at either side its points
are edged with rufflings of Valencien
nes lace, and the skirt is further
trimmed with stripes formed by
embroidery and lace. The deep col
lar of white lawn and lace is fastened
with a smartly knotted tie of white
silk embroidered with spots of blue,
and the accompanying hat is a pic
turesque affair of black straw with a
long scarf of pale blue satin drawn
round the corner and tied at the back
in a bow whose ends fall to the waist,
while curving under the wide brim at
the left side is one pure white ostrich
feather. —New York Commercial Ad
vertiser.
JiiNtic* to Stepmother*.
Most abused in the public estima
tion of all the members of human so
ciety is the stepmother. It is there
fore with a certain thrill of satisfac
tion that we read in the daily chroni
cles that in the slow evolutions of
justice one stepmother at least has
been vindicated. She is not the terror
that tradition would have her to be;
she is not heartless; she is not cruel;
she is not selfish more than are most
mortals. She is simply a good, aver
age woman, doing her best as she sees
it. Such is the typical stepmother
whom novelists and other perversely
developed idiots have taught us never
theless to loathe.
In this case the stepmother had an
excellent opportunity to prove her
self devoid of narrow maternal preju
dice. It was one of those families
in which there are three brands of
children, to use a common commer
cial term. On both sides it was a
second marriage. The husband had
his particular exclusive set of children,
and his wife hers. Then there was
a set that jointly belonged to them
both. Now, to this meritorious step
mother's view, each of the exclusive
sets was as ungovernable and as mis
chievous as the other, and both with
equal viciousness pitched into the
third. The set that was joint property
had put out of joint, so to speak, the
noses of all the rest.
The stepmother of tradition would
have shielded her own exclusive
children. But this stepmother was the
real thing; hence the difference. She
found it intolerable that the youngest
set of children should be the victims
of both the older sets, and she said
so, and" declared that she herself was
at. the mercy of the latter. The law
rteppcd in at her request, and it is to
be hcped that its intervention will les
sen the hardship of her lot.
In many savage tribes the step
mother is held in superstitious rever
ence and fear, and yet the simple wife
has less liberty and more drudgery
than with other races. We, with our
civilized pretense of chivalry, treat the
stepmother nearly always ungenerous
ly. In most rases she has more diffi
cult duties to perform than a first wife,
and it is not at all certain that she
does not as often perform them well.
There have been stepmothers, and
there are many in the world, who were
or are among the sweetest, most pa
tient and most devoted of womankind.
Many a good man can look back and
trace his soundness of character and
his success in the world to a good
stepmother. Honor to her, we say,
as much as to the other kind of moth
er, where she deserves it.—Philadel
phia Times.
iiiiiif
Tartan plaids are the latest novelty
in dress goods and silks.
Jeweled studs caught together with
tiny jeweled chains are to fasten thin
white waists.
Silver tissue is employed as a back
ground for many of the fine laces and
embroideries.
Wash belts, with harness buckles of
brass, are a smart accompaniment
for shirt waist suits.
Ruffles and neckwear of accordion
plaited chiffon edged with petals of
flowers are very dainty.
The new cameo patterns appear on
sach buckles of shell. Buckle, sash
pin and brooch form a set.
Alexandra clasps for stocks have
medallion centers, with two flat
hooks on each side, through which the
ribbon is run.
An all black shoe is extremely
smart. It is made quite plain, with
out any stitching or trimming, of
patent leather.
Bits of red coral strung between
links of gold compose a long fan chain,
which would be effectively worn with
a thin white gown.
The garniture on some beautiful
new evening dresses tonrfists of large
roses of silk an-J applique or chiffon
linked by CJld garlands.
A lion's head in rose gold has tiny
iiamond eyes and teeth and hold 3 a
large diamond between the wide open
Jaws. This fierce little object is a
[ novelty In brooches.
HINTS
Tutting Down Matting.
A housekeeper, who has made the
experiment discovers that matting
may be sewed like carpet and put
down better and easier than in the us
ual wav with matting tacks. Undoubt
edly this method would increase the
wear of the matting if it were neces
sary to take it up often. One or two
liftings of matting are apt to tear it
unless the greatest care is used.
To Wa*li Hug*.
Light fur rugs can quite easily be
cleaned or washed at home. To dry
clean, well moisten some sawdust with
benzoline, and rub this well in, chang
ing as it gets soiled, says Home
Chat. If washed, make a nice suds
with soap jelly and hot water, in
which you can comfortably bear your
hand (a heaped tablcspoonful to a gal
lon, and a teaspoonful of borax. Let
it soak in this for half an hour. Souse
up and down in this, then wash in a
weaker suds, with only half quantities
of soap and borax, and rinso in luke
warm water. Press out as much water
as possible, or run through a wringer;
well shake, and hang in the shade to
dry. When half dry, rub well' between
the hands to soften it, and again well
shake.
Lent her for Decoration.
Leather has not been for many cen
turies so extensively used for decora/-
live purposes as it is today. With
what might be termed the renaissance
in household art that began about
25 yeare since came a more
general appreciation of rich Spanish
and English leathers that were found
on antique pieces of furniture.
As a result leather has become more
beautiful and it is admirably adapted
for the facings of walls as well as for
the covering of various pieces of fur
niture.
In many instances these leathers are
reproductions of the old Cordovan.
Many kinds of skin are used, as some
are too coarse of grain to become flex
ible enough or to take the finish de
manded for certain purposes.
A successful dining-room has re
cently had its walls completely cov
ered with an old yellow leather illum
inated with dull gold and bronze. The
leather is applied in panels and tacked
on with large dull bronze-headed tacks.
The frieze is of stamped leather,
which is a bit more brilliant in tone.
Over the mantel is a panel of plain
leather, emblazoned with the family
crest. The furniture in this room is
of old walnut unholstered in the old
yellow leather, the coat of arms on
the back and seat.
The library in this same house is al
so done in leather. The color used, an
old dull red. The chairs are covered
with embossed leather; the table, a
massive affair, is completely encased
in leather. —Chicago Record-Herald.
L/}
KSC/PSS
Rice Omelet —To one cupful of cold
boiled rice add one cupful of warm
milk, one tablespoonful of melted but
ter, one teaspoonful of salt, and a lit
tle pepper; mix well and add to tliem
three beaten eggs; put a little butter
in a frying pan and when hot turn in
the rice mixture, let cook slowly; put
in the oven for a few minutes; when
it is cooked through fold it in half;
turn out on a hot platter and serve
at once.
Cheese Pudding.—Take a cup of
grated or chopped cheese, a cup of
bread crumbs and a cup of milk, one
egg beaten, a teaspoonful of butter, half
a teaspoonful each of salt and mixed
mustard and a dash of cayenne. Fill
a buttered baking or pudding dish with
alternate layers of cheese and bread
trumbs. Mix the egg, milk and seas
oning together and pour over the top
and bake until it is set like custard.
This will require about fifteen minutes,
serve hot.
Camelon of Beef.—Mix together one
pound of chopped beef, yolk of one
egg, one tablespoonful chopped pars
ley, one tablespoonful of butter or beef
dripping, two tablospoonfuls of bread
crumbs, one and one-half teaspoonfuls
of lemon juice and one-half teaspoon
ful of salt and a little white pepper;
form into a roll seven inches long; lay
this on a piece of greased paper; wrap
the paper over; place the roil in a
baking pan and bake in a quick oven
half an hour, basting three times with
melted butter; remove from the oven,
place on a hot platter and serve with
a brown sauce made with the fat in
the pan.
Cucumber Soup.—Pare three good
sized cucumbers and two onions; cut
them in slices crosswise. Cover with
a pint of boiling water and simmer
slowly until soft, adding more water
if needed. Rub the vegetables through
a sieve, pressing hard to obtain as
much of the pulp as possible, using the
water in which vegetables were boiled
to soften the pulp. Return to fire. Put
a pint of milk and a pint of clear stock
in double boiler to heat. Rub two level
tablespoonfuls of butter and two of
four to a smooth paste and stir into
the liquid. Stir until smooth and
creamy, then add the vegetable pulp
aud water. Season to taste with salt
and pepper and a little nutmeg if. you
like and cook five minutes and servo
with croutons.
SHORTLIVED FIRE HORSES.
Impossible to Keop Tliem In Sesionsl
Condition for the Ward Strains.
The rush of a fire engine along the
street is something that will causa
even the most blaso citizen to stop
and look. There is something inspir
ing in the sight of the great horses
tearing along. The horses appear to
be athletes of their kind, and many
stories have been written about them
and the keen perception they have of
their duties. It will surprise most
persons to know that these horses are
not athletes in the meaning that they
are always in condition and hard train
ing, and also cause surprise that their
lives are comparatively short. Jacob
Durrenberger, the superintendent of
horses, who looks after the fire horses
of the city of Buffalo, says that most
of these fine-looking animals are soft
as girls. The very confinement they
have to undergo in being ready for a
call at any moment takes them out of
training, and while they are good for
a short spurt they are never as hard
ened as the average old hack that is
pegging around the streets all day in
front of some sort of a delivery wagon.
The very best horses obtainable are
bought for the service and many are
rejected after being a few days in
training. Speaking of these animals,
Supt. Durrenberger said:
"lit does not take long to teach the
horses to discern just what is wanted
of them, and many even get to know
what calls directly concern them. But
big and strong as they appear, and as
they are, they are not the equine ath
letes many folks imagine. Down town
they have many runs every month, and
in the outlying districts the calls will
not average a dozen in the same time.
The animals in a suburban engine
house have more chance for exercise
than those in the heart of the city.
The runs are always heart-breaking,
and it is queer that most of the ani
mals first break down over the back.
The big engines are very heavy, run
ning into the thousands of pounds,
and even with three horses pulling
them it tells across the back in a very
few yearß. That is how most of them
go, and when they are unfit for the
fire service they may yet be most
serviceable animals for lighter work.
"They know their business, and, as
far as a man can judge, take a great
delight in making the runs when the
gong taps. One horse will teach an
other, and two old timers with a raw
recruit will help him along and push
him into place if he appears to be let
ting the excitement of the occasion
get away with him. While the down
town runs are never very far, they
are made at great speed, and the
wrench, for instance, when a big en
gine slips from a car track is a greater
strain on the horses than most people
Imagine. In the outlying districts the
horses have longer runs, but fewer of
them, and geneially the apparatus is
lighter. But whether in the outlying
districts or downtown all of these ani
mals are in confinement.
"When they make a run they run
hard, but they do not get enough ex
ercise to keep their muscles hard, and
they are flabby. For instance, they
are taken out and ridden up and
down the block for half an hour at a
time, but that is scarcely as much ex
ercise as a man In prison gets daily to
keep him in only average condition.
These horses have the hardest kind of
pulling to do when they are called on
for work and a very lazy existence in
between. The result is that the strain
of their pulls and runs breaks them
across the hack after they have been
but a few years in the service.
"Once in a while one hears of some
old fire horse that has been years in
the service, but the chances are that he
has been a giant among his kind, or
thait, although working in the depart
ment, he has been doing some other la
bor than pulling a big engine. I know
that the general idea is that the fire
department horses are the best ath
letes of their kind, but a little think
ing over these facts about hard runs
and no exercise will convince any one
that they are using up their vitality
every time the gong is rung. Then,
again, they often have to make long,
jold waits when a big fire is actually
In progress, and that is not good for
them. If a horse is fairly intelligent he
will learn his lesson in a very few days,
and anything a horse learns he is
proud to do and show off. Hence the
seeming avidity of the engine horses to
jump at the tap of the bell. There are
horses who can tell, almost before the
harness has been snapped on them,
whether the call is for their district or
not, and the excitement will die away
ou them as soon as they know they
will be returned to their stalls."
Buffalo Times.
Don n Fly Catcher.
The keeper of the carnivora house
at the Zoo led a group of visitors to
the outdoor quarters of the lions.
"Look at that fellow over there," he
6aid. "It's interesting to watch him
catching flies."
The lion lay beside a little puddle
that the rain of the night before had
made. He dipped his paw into the
sticky mud and then extended the
member and lay very quiet. The paw
served as a flytrap. Flies lighted on it
and stuck fast; buzz all they would,
they could not get away. And the lion,
after a dozen or two were collected,
calmly crushed them and prepared
his paw again.
"He does that every year," the keep
er said. —Philadelphia Record.
VIR Arizona.
Arizona exceeds in area the follow
ing ten states combined: Rhode Island,
Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ver
mont, Maryland, West Virginia and
South Carolina.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT,. •
Poverty is the reward of idleness —
Dutch proverb.
Tolerance is the charity of the intel
ligence.—Lemaitre.
There is a remedy for everything but
death.—French proverb.
Better be alone than be in bad com
pany.—Spanish proverb.
It is easy to threaten a hill from a
window.—ltalian proverb.
No one is poor but he who thinks
himself so. —Portuguese proverb.
Kindness in ourselves is the honey
that blur,ls the sting of unkindness in
another.—Landor.
I repeat that all power is a trust,
lad mat we are acountable for its
•xertise; that from the people and for
the people all springs, and all must
exist.—Disraeli.
Gcd lias delivered yourself to your
care and says: I had no one fitter to
trust than you. Preserve this person
to me such as he is by nature, —modest,
beautiful, faithful, noble, tranquil.—
Epictetus.
Liberty in business, with a free com
petition, will encourage enterprise, but
we are coming to a. time when compe
tition is lost and combination is tak
ing its place, lu politics, we are com
ing to tbe time when liberty leads to
a compromise between conflicting self
intoiests at the expense of the com
munity.—Arthur T. Hadley.
CO-OPERATIVE TELEPHONES.
Wl.colinln 111.(over. How to Got a Sor
vice at Cheap Itatca.
The rebellion in Wisconsin against
high telephone rates and the forma
tion of co-operative telephone ex
changes to fight the high-priced cor
poration has forced the old company
ouL of business. The movement start
ed at Grand Rapids. The telephone
rates were high and the company
wouldn't lower them, protesting that
it couldn't afford to. A few of the
kickers decided tfien to run a telephone
service of their own.
A company was organized, with a
capital of SSOOO, divided into 100
shares, each share representing the
cost of the installation of a single in
strument. Each stockholder was al
lowed to hold oniy one share for every
instrument rented by him, and the
ownership of the stock was absolutely
confined to renters of telephones. Div
idends of 1 per cent were to be paid
on the stock monthly. Starting with
83 telephones the exchanges grew till
it had 300—a telephone for every 17
inhabitants of the place. Experience
proved that by charging a monthly
rate of $2.25 for stores and $1 for resi
dences, after payment of the original
SSO subscription, the company could
give service and increase its dividends
to 11-2 per cent a month.
Thus its patrons had to pay month
ly only $1.50 for business service, after
deducting the dividend, and only 25
cents for residences. For each instru
ment the operating expenses were $9
a year. It being a small town with
public opinion unanimously demand
ing cheap telephones there was no dif
ficulty about a franchise for stringing
wires and there were no expensive un
derground conduits to be built. And
the more the service grew the greater
was its value to the subscribers. Of
course, the original company could not
compete with these profitless prices
and the company could not buy up the
co-operative exchange, because stock
could be held only by users of tel
ephones. As toon as a subscriber
ceased to rent a phone his share was
canceled.
The old telephone company tried
every means to oust the newcomers,
but it could not be done. It offered
telephones rent free for three years,
hoping to win away enough of the co
operative subscribers to compel the
rest to go back to the original plan.
The new company replied by showing
Its members what would happen to
them after three years and the co-op
erators stuck together. The result has
been that the old company has gone
out of business and the co-operative
company Is constantly increasing its
service.
Besides Grand Rapids, Wausau, Mer
rill, Mansfield and several other towns j
now have co-operative telephone ser
vice. There is a group of these towns
in the Wisconsin valley and long-dis
tance lines between them are now
ing projected.—Municipal Journal.
Lnmp Hoys of London.
Owing to the new acetyline lamps,
which appear today for the first time
on 1200 omnibuses, a certain group of
street characters familiar to London
ers are lost from v'ew. These are the
agile lamp boys, posted at various
points aiong the principal routes over
which the omnibuses run. Their chief
duty consisted in clambering swiftly
up the 'bus and dextrously removing,
sometimes while the vehicle was in
motion, the old oil lamp, whieh is to
be happily seen no more in oar midst.
The new acetylene lamp will require
no attention en route, and for the con
ductor to light up it will only Be
necessary for him to turn a small
tap. Before the 'bus leaves the com
pany's yard in the morning an official
places a cake of carbide of calcium in
a small slot beneath tile lamp, and be
yond filling a small tauk with water
nothing else is required to provide tho
powerful new illuminsint.—Westmin
ster Lfaxette.
Precaution.
"Do you think you can give my
daughter the surroundings to which
she is accustomed?" asked the parent.
"Well," answered the young man, "I
won't guarantee that. You see Ciari
bel has talked the maUer over and says
she's tired cf the neighborhood."—
Washington Star.
a. THE WRATH OF THE BIE.
-When She Leave* the Prevent Ilrfenre
le, t- - live the Hereafter.
The bee, essentially so pacific, so
long-suffering, the bee which never
stings (unless you crush her) when
looting among the flowers, once she
has returned to her kingdom with the
waxen monuments, retains her mild
and tolerant character, or grows ag
gressive and deadly dangerous, accord
ing to whether her maternal city be
opulent or poor. Here again, as often
happens when we study the manners
of this spirited and mysterious little
people, the provisions of human logic
are utterly at fault. It would be nat
ual that the bees should defend des
perately treasures so laboriously
amassed, a city such as we find in
good apiaries, where the nectar, over
flowing the numberless cells that rep
resent thousands of casks piled from
cellar to garret, streams In golden sta
lactites along the rustling walls, and
sends far afield, in glad response to
the ephemeral perfumes of calyces
that are opening, the more lasting per
fume of the honey that keeps alive the
memory of calyces that time has
closed. Now this is not the case. The
richer their abode the less eagerness
they display to fight around it. Open
or turn over a wealthy hive; if you
take care to drive the sentries from
the entrance with a puff of smoke, it
will be extremely rare for the other
bees to contend with you for the liquid
booty conquered from the smiles, from
all the charms of the beautiful azure
months. Try the experiment; I prom
ise you impunity, if you touch only the
heaviest hives. You can turn them
over and handle them; those throb
bing flagons are perfectly harmeless.
What does it mean? Have the fierce
amazons lost courage? Has abund
ance unnerved them, and have they,
after the manner of the too fortunate
inhabitants of luxurious towns, dele
gated the dangerous duties to the un
happy mercenaries that keep watch
at the gates? No, it has never been
observed that the greatest good for
tune relaxes the valor of the bee. On
the contrary, the more the republic
prospers the more harshly and severe
ly are its laws applied, and the work
er in a hive where superfluity accu
mulates labors much more zealously
and much more piitilesly than her sis
ter in an indigent hive. There are
other reasons which we cannot wholly
fathom, but which are likely reasons,
if only we take into account the wild
interpretation that the poor bee must
place on our inordinate doings. See
ing suddenly her huge dwelling-place
upheaved, overturned, half opened, she
probably imagines that an inevitable,
a natural catastrophe is occurring,
against which it were madness to
struggle. She no longer resists, but
neither does she flee. Admitting the
ruin, it looks as though already, in her
instinct, she saw the future dwelling
that she hopes to build with the ma
terials of the gutted town. She leaves
the present defenceless to save the
hereafter. Or else, perhaps does she
like tho dog in the fable, "the dog that
carried his master's dinner round his
neck," knowing that all is irreparably
lost, prefer to die taking her share of
the pillage, and to pass from lite to
death in one prodigious orgy? We do
not know for certain. How should we
penetrate the motives of the bee, when
those of the simplest actions of our
brothers are beyond our ken? —Maur-
ice Maeterlinck, in Harper's Maga
zine for August.
Wliat Tan tern Cost Tradesmen.
As a manager of a huge supply es
tablishment of the "stores" order, let
me say that unless you were in the
business you would And it impossible
to realize what an aggregate amount
customers of the "tasting" kind —1 do
not now so much refer to legitimate
tasters, who sample butter and cheese—
cost a concern like tills, and much of
this tasting is nothing but barefaced
pilfering, says a London tradesman
to London Tit-Bits.
Not to speak of the articles these
people take —the offenders are general
ly women, lam sorry to say— the ar
ticles such as raisins, nuts, biscuits, a
grape or two here, and a strawberry
there, hundreds and hundreds of them
will half-covertly help themselves to
a peach, an apricot, or a blood orange,
and when they have several children
with them, all scattered about a shop
and doing the same thing, the matter
becomes serious. It happens in scores
of cases that the articles taken in this
way exceed the value of those bought
by fourfold. If a word Is spoken to
these people, their indignation, mock
or real, is a sight; nothing can exceed
their effrontery.
It has become a serious question—
one that is going to be debated with
others ere long by West End trades
men—for it is calculated that we lose
a total of many, many thousands a
year by these tasters. We regard wo
men who deliberately allow their
children to take expensive fruits in
this way, and then refuse to pay, as
almost creating a tendency to shop
lifting.
"Silly ltllly,"
"Silly Billy" is a term often used by
mothers when chiding their children,
yet how few know the origin of the
term. The Duke of Gloucester,
nephew of King Georgo 111, of Eng
land* was feeble-minded and was
called "Silly Billy." A funny story
is told about a visit he made to a
lunatic asylum. "Why, here is 'Silly
Billy,'" said one of the loonies.
"Gracious," exclaimed the Duke,
"that man knows me!" A keeper,
who did not know who the Duke was,
remarked: "Yes, like all lunatics, he
has his lucid intervals."
Rock salt is mined and prepared
for use In the States of New York,
Kansas, Louisiana and California.