AN INVOCATION. fiT <3. W. LESTER. Where the ruddy sunbeams blaze Through the drowsy morning haze; Where, with shifting sheen and shimmer, Winking whitecaps gleam and glimmer, And the wooing south wind plays With the laughing summer sea;*' Take me thitlier, Memory. Where the breakers comb and crawl Underneath their gaunt sea-wall, While their winnowed spray is laving Sedges in lone crannies waving. And the gray gulls dip and call By the sleepy summer sea;—■ Take me thither, Memory. H HIS "WILDCAT"'TRAIN!"^ How Engineer Powers, in Honduras, Ran the Jaguar Special. , , s —y. TRANGE affairs happen L 7 upon the solitary railroad ltTj of Spanish Honduras. Ilold ups, collisions and runa way trains are of frequent occurrence n its fifty miles of length, but its most extraordnary incident was that in which George Powers took part. It was in the "dry season," when the banana plants were weighted with ihelr bunches of green fruit, ready for ratting. "One day"—as Powers tells the story -"the fruit steamer Breakwater an shored unexpectedly in the offing of our Caribbean Sqa harbor of Porto Dortez. Soon, at her agent's orders, there was hoisted at her masthead the lignal indicating, "Fruit, ready for a juiek cargo." And when the ship had reached the dock a fruit train was being made up. "Then we learned that the Break water was expected to sail for New Or leans with a cargo of bananas early the next morning. Extraordinary ef forts must he made to load her with a luitable shipment in less than a day's time. To hurry was decidedly untrop- Ical, but the bonus given by the rail road officials was as oil to lubricate the machinery of the 'transportation de partment,' and I was handed these or ders : " 'Engineer Powers will take Engine No. 13, with eighteen platform cars, and proceed with best speed to La Pi aiienta, load cargo of bananas, return to San Pedro, load fruit there. Report at this office after the run, and not later than 10 p. m. to-day. 'Colville, Supt. of Trans.' "Such an order meant 'hurry.' My fireman oiled 13, the only locomotive available, and the yardmen made up the train. By noon we were started, There was work enough ahead to keep us all out of mischief for the next ten hours. To cover a round trip of 100 miles, load eighteen cars with bananas and pull them into Porto Cortes within len hours would be the record for speed upon the Hondurns Railroad. "So old 13, witli throttle wide open, was soon puffing up the rough roadbed to La Pimienta at an vfnaceustomed pacOj_ The telegraph line was equally busy,'find when we ran past San Pe firo the ox-ears were already unloading their nine and ten hand bunches along ide the track in readiness for our re turn. Between 4 and 5 o'clock we whistled for La rimlenta, the ter minus. 'There the station agent hail a gang ot 'loaders' ready, and before the train had quite stopped the green hunches tvere being passed to the loaders in the cars. In an incredibly short space of time the bananas rose, tier upon tier, to a heavy load, and all the time my fireman fed the sticks of soft pine to our roaring lire-box, for we should need a good load of steam to get back to San Pedro in season. The agent sar castically asked me, 'ls the engine good for the heavy pull without a breakdown?' and I replied, "Number 13 Is about to surprise everybody by a rec ord trip.' And so we did, both because of nud in spite of an unprecedented ad venture. "At G o'clock we had loaded all the fruit In sight, and whistling for 'open brakes,' wo started for San Pedro. The down grade helped us materially. In less than an hour we had covered the distance and were taking the fruit aboard from our last stop. "Delay began here. There were few men to load the fruit, and the handling of it was slow; every bunch was thor oughly inspected by the loaders, lest they should grasp tarantula crawling among the bananas. Rut at S o'clock the train was loaded, the pitch-pine headlight was lighted, the throttle opened and the whistle shrieked its farewell to San Pedro. "Two hours only were left in which to make the run in schedule time over thirty-five miles of roiling country and witli a weight of eighteen heavily load ed ears. The 'passenger,' with her light freight, was allowed four hours for the same run. The darkness was Intense, nud the vibration of the train soon became so great that the head light was shnken into a mere sputter ing, and nt a lurch went out. The firont of the engine became the limit of my vision. "The white mile-markers were passed eoqulckly that my fireman lost his count, •ml we could uot tell where we were. But No. 13 was doing her best. Not a valve had blown out nor a rod broken. Our clattering over the track was va ried only by the frantic squealings of a fine, fat pig, sent by the agent at La Fimlenta to the captain of the Break water as a delicacy for his table, l'iggy continually squealed from its berth in an open fruit car. "In one place a large limb extended from a tree out over the track. Just tiigh enough to clear the stacks of the Where the wee, bushed ripples crooa To the stars their wizard rune, While, from out the purple ocean, Venus-wise, with languorous motion Trembles up the golden moon O'er the magic glimmer sea;— Take me thither, Memory. Where, betimes, the straining ear Phantom-like, may faintly hear Old-time voices melt and mingle With the surge upon the shingle, And the night-wind wailing drear, To the sea, the sea, the seal— Take me thither, Memory! passing engines. The pig seemed to scream more loudly than before, and we heard a new sound. "What was that?" asked my startled fireman. 'Did you hear that crash?' " 'Oh, never mind, give me more steam,' I replied, for I knew we must he nearing a steep grade. I blew the signals to release the brakes, but with out avail. "In a minute we struck the hill. It was a hard one to climb, and the en gine pulled so loudly that I did not no tice the cessation of the pig's squeals. Slowly but surely we were coming to a standstill. The brakes still seemed set. I again blew the signal for their release, but the train came suddenly to an Irresolute stop, although making herculean efforts to keep going. "The Incline had but begun. To start the train was Impossible. "I lighted a pine torch, sprang from the cab to ascertnin the situation, and had passed several cars when the most terrible yells echoed through the for est. The men from the rear of the train were shouting at me. It was im possible to distinguish what they were saying because of the yells which were rising apparently between me and them. These did not alarm mo much, for the creature screamed like a wild cat, a reckless but not dangerous, night prowler. So on I walked toward the rear of the train. "Approaching the trainmen I heard them shout, 'Look out for the Jaguar, Powers!' "Now, no wild creature is more dan gerous to man by night than a Jaguar. I halted and stared. I could now see the glaring eyes of the fierce brute as ho pawed the lifeless pig. These eyes followed me with such hostile intent that I hastened back to the cab for the tireman and my Winchester. "Of course one of us had to stay with the engine, so I left my flrefnan in charge and returned nlone, with torch In hand and rifle rendy. Tho trainmen came toward me from around the rear of tho train. They told me that the Jaguar must have been crouch ing on the overspreading limb, and having heard the squeals o< the pig, must have leaped recklessly into the passing train for his prey. The train men had disccrv(e<l him when they started to answer tny signal of "brakes oft.' Ttfk brute held them at bny. They wet* 1n the rear car, the Jaguar was In the next one, and they could not pass ever the train to release the brakes. The eighteen loaded oars, most of them having tightened brakes, had stopped No. 13 on the Incline. "I must either give up hope of getting to the port in time for londlng the Breakwater, or else kill or drive away Ike jaguar. The lire of ills eyes was intensified by tho flickering light of the torch. It was not a pleasant gri mace when the brute suggestively wiped Ids lips aud tongue with those huge paws. "The engine gave a sudden lurch. My fireman must have been meddling. It threw the animal from its balance. His tail lashed. "Handing tho torch to a man I raised my Winchester. The beast glared ferociously, and meas ured the distance to the ground. Some of the men ran. As the animal seemed about to jump I took hasty aim and pulled tho trigger. Apparently the ja guar was unharmed, but be had changed his opinion about tho jump, and calmly trotted along the tops of the bananas toward the engine. I aimed at him again aud pulled the trig ger. Then I remembered that the only cartridge in the Winchester was the one I lind fired. "I shouted to the Hitman, hut before I could make him understand the cow ardly fellow jumped from the cab and scampered into the forest. Luckily there was no other jaguar awaiting him. "I went toward the cab, expecting to find tlie jaguar In possession, and de termined to club him out with the butt of my gun, but he wns not in the cab. I blew 'brakes off,' and casually looked around. On the floor of the tender, among the wood and cntdts of water, stretched out at full length and appar ently crouching for a spring, I saw the jaguar. I jumped from the engiue. The thought of the fireman's cowardice did not then amuse me. As fast as pos sible I ran toward the rear of the train. "Ten o'clock was oppronclilng. The ship could not receive her fruit unless we started immediately. In my haste I llnd left the rifle In the cab; now I took a crowbar which one of the brake men handed me. But the plan from which I hoped most was his suggestion that I should climb upon the engine from the front of the cab and then reach in to open the steam valve, on the chance that the escape of the hiss ing steam would frighten the brute to the point of fleeing from the train. "I opened the valve—the jaguar never moved. "I then reached a heavy iron wrench and threw it at the beast with all my strength. It struck him upon the head, but he did not stir. I was startled. Climbing to the fancied security of the \ top of the cab I poked him with a long handled rod, but I could see no sign of j life. "After a close watch I descened to the floor of the cab and opened the fur nace door to have more light. The ja guar was dead. There was a hole ' through his head caused by the lucky shot from my Winchester. He had , walked to the tender in a daze and died there. "I blew the whistle vigorously. It was a welcome sound to the trainmen, > The brakes were speedily released. ! The fireman came scrambling back; 1 | opened the throttle and slowly the train went up the incline toward Porto Cor tez. "At a little after 10 o'clock that night the whistling of No. 13 approaching with her load of bananas summoned the crew of the Breakwater, whose I captain congratulated the officials of the Honduras Railroad on the remark able expedition of their fruit service. But when he snw the nine feet of ja guar stretched out in my tender and heard the story of the difficulties of the run, he remarked that the railroad offi cials should pass a vote of thanks to i me upon tlie success of the record trip of the road."—Youth's Companion. The Value of Book*. Of all the needs a book has, the chief need is that it he readable.—An thony Trollope, autobiography, chap ter xlx. Society is a strong solution of books. It draws the virtue out of what is best worth reading, as hot water draws the strength out of tea leaves.—Holmes, "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these Invaluable means of com munication are in the reach of all. In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts and pom- their souls into ours.—Chan nlng, on Self-Culture. No book is worth anything which Is not worth much; nor is it serviceable until it has been read and re-read, and loved and loved again, and marked so that you can refer to the passages -you want in it, as a soldier can seize tho weapon he needs in an armory.—Rus l:in, Of King's Treasures. I have ever gained the most profit, and the most pleasure also, from the liooks which have made mo think tho most; and, when tbe difficulties have once been overcome, these are the liooks which have struck the deepest root, not only in my memory and un derstanding, but likewise in my affec tions.—Hare, Guesses at Truth. When all that is worldly turns to dross around us, liooks only retain their steady value. When friends grow cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into vapid civility and com monplace, these only contlnno tho un altered countenance of happier days and cheer us wit lithat true friendship which never deceived hope nor desert ed sorrow.—Washington-Irving, Sketch Book, Go Reverse Wy of the Track. To avoid danger of accidents the very sensible suggestion has boon made that automolillists should race on the track with the right hand on the pole, instead of the left, as is usual in other lines of sport. Louis R. Smith, of this city, who offers tho plan, truly says that on almost all tlie racing machines the seats for tho drivers are on the righL-hnnd side, and that in driving to tho loft on n track, as is the custom, tlie operator in passing a machine on tlie outside lias to look clear across the body of his vehicle in order to figure out his clearance room. Tho same applies when an operator is traveling around a track alone. Seated on the right-hand side of the car, lie must necessarily guess how close ills front wheels are to tlie pole. The construction of the automobiles will hardly permit of a shoft iu the seat or steering gear, and for that reason the suggestion is a timely one.—Philadelphia Record. A Live Alußcum of Dreg*. A Rue do la Paix magnate is think- i lug of opening a sort of live museum of dresses, says tho London Telegraph. In galleries, to which a few privileged visitors would bo admitted by special invitation, the couturier's latest crea tions would be exhibited on the persons of u numerous staff of "mannequins." The latter, of course, the young ladies who usually show off dresses before customers. The couturier explains that a specially large staff, providing a "complex- assortment of figures," will be required for the purpose. That is to say, it would include a slim but well-developed "mannequin" for "cos tumes do sport," another with shoul ders suitable for setting off ball dresses, a third familiar with the special stage walk and deportment and so on. The expert "living dummy" is the envy of ordinary shop girls, as she gets on an average $lO a week, her board—that is to say, luncheon and dinner—and four drosses a year, made in tlie establishment in which she Is employed. An KMtinimnux Arrow. An Esquimau arrow of walrus ivory, found imbedded in the breast of a healthy Canadian gray goose shot near Spokane, is on view in a store in that city. No arrow of that sort was evoi seen In Spokane before. The bird had evidently carried it thousands 1131011 thousands of miles from the Far North,T where It was shot by some Esquimau. , -a- =s>swa Orchard Crop*. Catch croiis are good to grow in a young orchard, but they should be plowed under early in the sin'ing, that they may decay as soon as possible; their chief purpose is for fall and win ter protection, humus, etc., hut not for spring growth. Thorough tillage should not be continued longer than midsummer, for about that time orch ard trees stop growing; if stimulated with further cultivation their new growth will not ripen sufficiently to withstand cold weather. If hoed crops are raised in a young orchard they should not be planted too close to tho trees and less so With every succeed iug year. Vigorous cropping with heavy manuring may be continued for seven or eight years, but after that it should cease altogether.—The Epito rnlst. trending Apple Trees. We notice that in modern orchards there is a great tendency to head the apple trees low. This is certainly a great advantage over the old way, whore the tree tops were put ui> as high as possible, necessitating long ladders in harvesting, and making it impossible to get at some of the fruit. Such trees, where still existing, offer obstacles to both the harvester and the sprayer. In the latter operation a low headed tree is more thoroughly treated than a high-headed tree can bo. The tops can be low nnd yet enough room can be left under the lower branches to do tho ordinary work that the trees require in the way of cultivation. This means should be sought. We must do much of our work with horses, and therefore the lower branches should not be allowed to lie upon the ground, as we have seen them in some orch ards.— Column's Rural World. Electric Grnpe Cult tire. Experiments have successfully shown that electricity has a stimulating effect on all kinds of vegetation, and various schemes have been devised with the idea of making practical use of this discovery. The latest attempt is that of a wino producer at Elba, who has made use of the electrical current in grai>e culture. Some j-ears ago he planted four fields with native grnpe vines, in the midst of a district infested with phylloxera, and two of those fields were treated with an electrical current passed through the air. The difference In the developments of the grapes in tlie fields was very apparent. The fruit in the field subjected to the elec trical current was superior in quality nnd quantity, and was not affected with the phylloxera as tlie other fields were. He has made plans to carry out this experiment on a more exten sive scale, and the operations will ho watched with interest by scientists and others. Pinching Young Tiwu. Pinching is an old practice, employed to maintain symmetrical development in young trees. When a shoot length ens more rapidly than its follows, the tree is liable to grow one-sided. By pinching over the top of such a shoot Its progress Is stopped for a time, nnd the other branches grow on, thus equalizing the parts of the crown. Often the same branch will require stopping several times before the oth ers overtake it. Every time a shoot is pinched, the first effect is to cause buds immediately below to become more ma ture than would have happened had tlie branch been uninjured. Pinching, then, not only permits the other shoots to overtake the pinched one, but has an Important Influence up on the future growth of the shoot thus stopped, the operation perfecting the buds below and making tliem more certain to form branches than they would otherwise. It becomes import ant to remove or encourage these growths, according to their effect on the symmetry of the crown. A Berry Cnne Cotter. An old shovel handle and the tip of a worn-out scythe put together in tlie manner shown in the cut, make one of the best of pruning hooks for cutting llic old ennes from rows of raspberry and blackberry hushes. The back of tlie scythe is cut longer than the front part or blade so as to turn up nnd enter K - A BERRY PRTTNER. ■ . the handle above the blade to give greater stiffness. This form of haudle gives one a chaucd 10 use his strength io the best advantage, And that, too, 1 without having to reach into the I tliofhy hushes ht risk of clothing and comfort.- American Agriculturist The importance of Alaska By Harrington Emerson. ■ INCH 189G five events have occurred that wholly change conditions In Alaska for the better. 1. In that year the Klondike gold discoveries were made and in 189. and 18J_ 8 I a great rush to and through Alaska began, resulting in a I I " R doubling of the population and in an output of gold fron> I B the Yukon region to date of $75,000,000. _2. In 1808 the I J Philippine Islands were acquired by the I nited States, £i\* 1 J i n „ importance to the direct route along the Alaskan coast between North America and tlie new possessions. 1!. In 38!)!) gold was discovered on the beach at Nome, and this ■ carried .10,000 people to this part of Alaska and resulted In an output of $5,000,000 in gold annually, or more than twice as much as all Alaska had previously yielded. 4. The Alaska salmon fisheries, in their Infancy In IS9G, have grown in 1902 to great companies, capitalized lor $20,000,000 and with net earnings last year of more than $2,030,000, and em ploying 10,000 men. 5. Two railroads hnVe been constructed in Alaska, one of which is in the extreme southeast, costing $4,000,000, last year over $3,000,000 net, and the other in the extreme northeast, near Nome, a little road five miles long, which earned SSO,OOO net. 0. Coal fields foi merly superficially known have been explored and investigated, while new ones of great value have been discovered, JZ? JZ? America Versos England in Traveling Accommodations -f By William Howard Francis. HE English arrangement of seats is such that one-half the oceu- R pants must always ride backward, and the available space for J I c one's feet is usually so limited as to render necessary a nice mutual m m adjustment of tllc pedal extremetles of all concerned, /ost ex traordlnary of all are the racks for hand baggage—small arrange ments with netting bottoms—surmounted by signs whereon it is written that dis aster will follow an attempt to deposit anything other than "light articles' therein. The adjective "light" has so elastic a significance that the traveler hestitates about trusting so much as a shawl or a hat to the insidious meshes of the net. The weighty Impedimenta, such as gripsacks and dress* suit cases, which every traveler must perforce carry, become dreadful nightmares to be huddled on the floors or carried on the knees, to the dis comfort of one's neighbors or the misery of one's self. A yet more serious deficiency is in the frequent lack of the most or dinary conveniences. Many of the carriages, especially those below first class, have no toilet appliances, and unless one is so fortunate as to get a carriage with a side corridor (a partial adoption of the American idea), one , Is likely to have much needless discomfort added to the unavoidable l'a* ( t. igues of travel. It is true that certain English railway companies, notably "Ik the London and Northwestern, are doing much in the way of improvement 7 through tbe adoption of a carriage modeled in certain particulars upon t lie American plan. The compartment division is partly retained, hut a cen tral aisle running the entire length renders communication possible and per mits of a toilet room accessible to all. The carriage is yet among the lux uries, however, and is not general.—Lipplncott'n. jZ? JZ? JZ? The Chinese Language m Commerce By Charles Heuer, Consular Agent at Gera. HILE China is considered the land of promise for our mamv (Ito rt§!) facturcrs and farmers, the importance of tlie knowledge- of 1 W W the Chinese language is greatly under valued. I submit tlie @ @ details of a reeeut interview with a linguist who has given special attention to tills subject. It is well understood lhat in i order to enter into permament commercial relations with a foreign conn- try It is Indispensable to know its language. When Russian industries be- 1 gan to develop, tlie Germans recognized that in order to engage In profitable trade in that country it was necessary to learn Russian, and there is now no country where the Russian language is so much taught as iu Germany. The Chinese iaugunge is ideographic. It conveys the Idea and not tlie word for a thing, as the figure "8" represents the idea and not the yord. The Chinese have Invented more than 40,000 marks for their writing. In the opinion of my informant, it will require only about 3000 marks for mer cantile correspondence, and it will be easier to learn tliem than tbe words of an ordinary foreign language, Russian is more difficult for Americans than Chinese. It takes much longer to learn tlie spoken language, because of the variety of dialects; hut any one can learn enough of the writings to answer ordinary purposes in a few mouths, and have his knowledge per fected by a linguist within about a year. An exact instruction in one of tlie Chinese languages can lie given only by a Chinaman. This method has been adopted in Germany. Besides the professor for the theory of language, there are four Chinese linguists in tlie Oriental Seminary of Berlin, teaching the business style and the languages of Pekin. Shanghai and Canton. It is not intended to lit pupils for the diplomatic service, but for commercial work. jZ? JZ? JZ? y Thought the Foundation of Character • By Margaret Stowe. ,| | irarm MOTHER, in speaking of a college course that her daughtei I V I was preparing to take, and naming over, the list of studies ft I included in the four years of work, referred to metaphysics 1 1 all< i psychology as being "unimportant because so iuiprnc- K ■ ticahle." She would like her daughter to dip into them I £ H merely for a general knowledge of the subjects, but as to their I ■ I being of use to women after college, that, of course, was That verdict set me thinking and I wondered upon what foundation that mother built her home, and how she developed the character of her children. The majority of thinking, intelligent people are to-day grasping the meaning and importance ot these two studies as they have never done before. Tlie world is beginning to realize tlie practical application of these vital 4 principles in connection with manhood and womanhood. / The old idea that metaphysics and psychology were only poetry and romance is fast dying out, and the world of mind, of thought, with its subtle, far-reaching forces, is firmly and surely pushing its way to the front and its power is daily being demonstrated in character-building, in the home and in business. We know that we are thinking beings, and that the seed-germ of all our acting is thought. The law of thought lies at tlie root of your character, and it is the saint law of thought that is influencing the character of your child. It lies within the power of each one of us to build up a perfect character when we realize that a thought precedes each act of ours, and our actions form our habits, and our habits form our characters. So let us take heed to our thoughts. , The outer world is a picture of the inner world. If we have gloom and distress in our minds, we are relnted to the gloomy and distressful things in the outer world. If we have brightness and hopes within us, tlieu we see these blessings externalized. If our thoughts are neither strong, happy nor wholesome, we cannot expect to express health and streugtli In our bodies. t Every thought we think has a definite effect on our bodies. As sorrow y fill and distressing tilings enter your life, if your mind is allowed to dwell on them, your body becomes weakened. On tlie other hand, dwelling mentally on tlie hrigiit and beautiful things that come into your life strengthens your body. The whole world Is turning more and more toward the search after health along mental or physical lines. Intelligent physicians everywhere are doing away with the use of medicine, and are, instead, giving advice as to diet and the making of hygienic suggestions. Scientific minds are investigating this subject to-day as never before.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers