An Indiana man has invested* $lB,- 000 in eggs and intends to hatch 2,- 000,000 chickens by means of incuba tors. The omelette trust is evidently at hand. A Swedish writer declares unreser vedly that duels have been unknown for many years in the realm of King Oscar. This must be accounted as creditable to the Swedes. France, Germany and other European countries cannot do better than to follow the ex cellent Scandinavian example. In the ambitious west the contracts have been signed for a new theatre which will be a palace of luxury in comparison with any playhouse now lr existence in the east. The seats will be so arranged that the view of the stage will be free and unobstruct ed, and the dressing rooms will be dreams. Westward the stars of dra matic empire will take their way. Every now and then one hears some thing pleasant and practical about the present Autocrat of all the Russians. His ambition to ameliorate social con ditions, and incidentally to lessen the motives for his own assassination, by investigating the actualities, is a step in the right direction. Of course, a certain proportion of the red brother hood will be more anxious to assassi nate him than ever, those, for exam ple, to whom discontent is one of the necessities. Of the many benefits for which Egypt will owe gratitude to England for generations and for centuries the building of the great dam across the Nile will rank as one of the most im portant. Of the biggest and costliest dams now in construction anywhere on the globe one is in Africa and two are in America. The new Croton Val lay dam for New York's water supply and the Nashua River dam for Boston's water supply are now rising steadily. Each of the two will cost millions of dollars and will be a masterpiece of engineering. According to the last census the total school population of the United States is 22,253,050, of which 15,341,220 are in the common school grades. Of the total about 8,000,000 are enrolled j in rural schools. The average daily attendance throughout the country is only one-hall' the enrollment. The average length of the school term va ries in different parts of the country, being longest in the north and. short est in the south. In 1900 the attend ance of each pupil was about 99 days per term. In Massachusetts it was 145 days, and 36 in North Carolina. Out of the total school revenue only 4.2 percent is derived from the income of permanent funds. The London Lancet is doing splen did work in its laboratory for the pub lic health of Great Britain, and it has been considering that the postage stamp is not too unimportant for its attention. Blood-poisoning has, with out a doubt, been traced to licking an infectious postage stamp as a cause, and the chances of a postage stamp be coming infectious are obviously abun dant. This year it was decided to re vert to red as the distinguishing color of the penny stamp. On examination it is found that one of the innocuous aniline reus was used, which is pecu liarly resistant to atmospheric action or to the action of moisture. Strong acids disturb it but little. The adhe sive material is dextrine or British gum in aK cases. A change has recently been made by the management of the London Times which, slight as it seems, is not without significance. Hitherto, when it was necessary to offer a sum mary of the opinion of the civilized world upon some striking public event, it has been the custom to give prece dence to quotations from the leading French newspapers; these were fol lowed by extracts sent from Berlin, Brussels, St. Petersburg, and some where down the line would come tele grams from Washington and New York. The relative importance of na tions, however, is a changing quan tity, and in its relations to the British Empire France no longer holds its old place. The Times now refuses to Paris its old pride of place, and right ly supposing that for English readers the most interesting expressions of opinion abroad must necessarily be those from the United States, now gives the first place to quotations from the American newspapers. On the occasion of Lord Salisbury's resig nation the new order of precedence among the nations ran thus; New York, Paris, Berlin. Vienna, St. Peters burg, Brussels, Yokohama. What a mighty change is here, when we find Japan represented in a list from which Spain is absent. Empires have their day. For Love, Liberty and Honor. ► 4 > J By W. S. SNYDER. h, fr V W VWVVVVVVVW VVVVVV Four o'clock in the afternoon. Peo ple who were going down Cort landt street stepped quickly to one side. Those who were coming up did likewise. This ac tion made a free passageway for a man who was hastening at the top of his speed to the ferry. When he came to where another street intersected Cortlandt he dodged in and out be tween the wagons with surprising agil ity and without perceptibly slackening his pace. He was a peculiar-looking man. Scarcely five feet tall, with shoulders of the breadth of a large and portly man. a large head, set upon a thick, short neck, a derby hat two sizes too large resting on his prodigious ears, and exposing a broad, bulging fore head; small at the waist, with slender legs bowed almost to deformity, and toes that lapped over each other as he ran, he attracted scrutinizing atten tion. Some of the people who made way for him stopped and gazed after him un til he was lost to sight by the filling up of the gap which had been made to let him pass. Even the stalwart po liceman, who carefully guards the foot steps of the almost constant throng of pedestrians to and from the ferry, momentarily relaxed his vigilance, as the dwarf shot by him, and rushed into the ferry house. If the people who saw the dwarf had suspected his errand he would have been surrounded as by a mob. He passed the ticket punchers be fore they had time call upon him to halt. By the time they thought of their duty, the dwarf was tapping a man on the arm. This man stoou near the gate leading ito the boat, Which was just coming in. The man whom the dwarf tapped on the arm was fully six feet tall. Ho was dressed in the somewhat worn and ill-fitting garments of a laborer. Over his right eye was a green patch. His beard was two days old. and he had been clean shaven when a razor last touched his face. His slouch hat was pulled well down on his forehead. The dwarf spoke to the man as he turned about and bent his head down ward. "But I cannot come, Jimmy," he said. Again the dwarf spoke to him in a whisper. Then tho two turned away together. They went directly to the Sixth avenue elevated station, the dwarf walking behind. When they reached Twenty-eighth street it was dark and rain was falling. They went briskly toward Fifth ave nue, where they turned up town, walked a few minutes, and the dwarf's companion paused. Wlien Jimmy came up he said:. "You must go in." "But I cannot." "She is waiting for you." The man went up the steps, reaching the threshold just as the door opened. He stepped inside. The door closed. Jimmy waited until he heard a sob just as tho door was closing. Then he hur ried away. His work was only partly done. He walked briskly, and In a llttie while ascended the steps of a resideneo on Madison avenue. The door opened before he had touched the bell. He went inside and a young woman closed the door. The dwarf followed her up one flight of stairs into a sitting room, which was evidently her own. When 6lie had closed the door she said; "Well, Jimmy? "He is with his mother." "Thank you, Jimmy. You may go.' When the dwarf had gone the young woman stood looking apparently at the figures of the carpet at her feet. But if she had ever known what the fig ures were, they were then as far from her thoughts as the date of tho dis covery that the world was round. This young woman was Elizabeth Dalow. She was not beautiful. Her face was too strong for beauty. But a novice in character reading must have seen that she would be impressive anywhere. Passing into another room, she quickly returned in a mackintosh and was ready to go out Sho passed quietly down the stairway, opened the door gently, and a moment later was walking swiftly down the avenue. Later she passed up the steps where the dwarf had left the mau with the green patch over his eye. The door opened at her touch. She, too, was evidently expected. An elderly woman conducted her to a room at the rear of the hall, smothering her sobs as they went. Before she touched the door knob she turned in response to a hand upon her shoulder. Elizabeth spoke—only a word: "Courage." Then they entered the room. Both stood looking at each other. The eyes of the elder woman were suffused with tears, those of Elizabeth were filling, but her face was no longer stern. Elizabeth spoke: "He is here?" "Yes." "Shall I see him?" "Yes." Mrs. Julia Gaylord was CO years of age. Her face was sweet, pure, woman ly—such a face as a boy who loves his mother never forgets, as a man in stinctively trusts, and is better for the trusting, as her husband had been, and who had died leaving a smile in return for a kiss that had opened for him the gates to the visible sunshine of eternal day. Mrs. Gaylord left the room, soft ly closing the door behind her. In a few minutes the door opened and a young man entered. He was neatly and carefully dressed. Tall, slender, pale, and with his eyes upon the floor, he advanced to the middle of the room. His face was clean shaven. Elizabeth sobbed, but her courage did not escape. She arose, went up to him and said: "I am glad you are here." He raised his head. He couldi not speak at first, however hard he tried. Tears came to his eyes and then ran down his face. Again Elizabeth said — and there was that in her voice to give a much weaker man strengiu: "Courage." Young Gaylord's voice came to him. He said: "This means State prison." Elizabeth shuddered, but William u.d not. For a moment he was the stronger of the two. At length she said: "Not yet!" Young Gaylord looked at her as if he scarcely comprehended. Then she added: "There is always hope." This roused him and brought him back to himself. He said: "Not for me." "Let us see. Tell me all." "Have you not heard?" "Something from my father, but per haps not all. Tell me" "In four words: I robbed the bank." "Yes, I know. But that is not all," and Elizabeth gently laid her hand on his arm. "I have come to see you," she added, "to help you, if I can. Will you not trust me? I am, I know, only a woman but, I trust, a true woman, and one who must be convinced that her ideal of true manhood is unworthy of her faith before she will give that ideal up. "My trust in you tells me that there is something yet to be uncovered, and may not one sis leal as I am claim all loyalty from you? Tell me all, William, and then I can decide f-- myself that which I cannot permit even you, under a cloud beyond which I cannot see, to decide for me. Come, then, tell me all." The young man looked at her stead fastly a moment and then said: "! will tell you all. But, why should I? It may break your heart for, sure ly, it will shatter your faith where I had rather be adjudged a felon than have it broken. Besides, you may not believe me. Your lather is the presi dent of the bank." "But I will believe you—l must be lieve you. My faith, unto the pleading of my heart, is pledged. My trust in you is immutable until you have made my mind turn traitor to yourself, and led it to doubt my own sincerity. Do, William, teil mo all." "Why should I break your heart, and destroy in you a trust which must make you miserable for life, and make you despise me forever? It is better that I should bear this burden alone, for by so doing I may retain, or at least some time regain, some share in your esteem." "William, I love you! Now, tell me all." Young Gaylord hesitated only unul ho had looked into her pleading eyes. Her hand now clasped his own. He saw her love in all its sweetness and purity unfolded as plainly as ho had an hour before seen the anguish upon his stricken mother's face. He spoke: "God forgive me if I do wrong! You remember, Elizabeth, that two years ago I was made cashier of the bank by your father. My hands were then as dean of crime as my mother's name was above suspicion. I worked faith fully. My salary was small. I do not plead tuis in extenuation of my eiror, but 1L was wholly out of comparison with my duties. The directors were close listed men. At the end of a year I asked for a larger salary. "The directors said they could get competent and more experienced men for what I was receiving. My good mother had only income enough to sus tain her properly, and my salary bare ly kept me decently. I saw no pros pect of making a home of my own. But I plodded along. Eagerness to ad vance in the world sharpens the wits. One day 1 discovered that the directors, your father included, were speculating in a mining trust. One discovery led to another, i was not long finding out that they sometimes used the bank deposits to add to their personal gains. "It was easy for me to persuade my self that if the officers could make money in 'this way, I could not fail to do so. Six momus ago I began to use my own money. I had saved nearly a thousand dollars. I went into the min ing trust. At first I made a little money, and I had SISOO. Then I went deeper. Meanwhile the bank's officers wore speculating. The trust began to go backward and I began to steal. The officers were doing the same. They could keep going because their oppor tunities were better. They had easier access to the funds. "The deposits were running low. Three days ago the officers called me into their private room. They had discovered my speculations and told me so. I confessed, and asked for three days in which to make my losses good. They knew that they were, like my self, guilty, and perhaps mis:rusting how much I knew, they granted my re quest. Then I thought of you. Your father must go with the crash. I could not drag him down and disgrace you. I determined to run away, and before I went one of the directors, more bold than the rest, came and told my mother that I was a defaulter. She would not believe him, but I was in the house, and when confronted by .thorn I confessed my guilt, but made no explanation beyond the mere con fession. This afternoon I, naving cleanly shaved my face two days be fore, procured a second-hand suit of clothing in exchange for others, and was in the ferry hcase when Jimmy found me and urged me to come back. Why I did not resist him I do not know, only that you had sent him. I simply could not go, and I returned. Tomorrow my mother will beggar herself to try to save me. If she fails— and I almost pray Heaven she may— I must go to jail." Here young Gaylord broke down com pletely. Elizabeth did not. She still clasped his hand,but sihe almost choked as she said: "And this is all?" "All." "And my father was as guilty as the rest?" Gaylord bowed his head. Then Elizabeth said: "I believe you. You shall not go to jail." "It was for me you hid my father's crime. Surely my love can save you, and in it you can never again go astray. If you could do this much for me, my womanhtid would be false hearted to falter in my duty. Wait here for me until to-morrow. I will come. I will go to your mother now." Mrs. Gaylord's pillow was wet with tears that night, but they were the tears of gratitude, and peace came to her like a ray of hope that never leaves a sombre shadow, from the Giver of every good and perfect gift The remainder of this story is quick ly told. What Elizabeth said to her father will never be repeated in words, but it had its full and perfect effect. She returned to young Gaylord the next evening, and this is what she said to him: "William, my mission has been a suc cess. I wtneved you and I know that you told me the truth. You are a free man. Before I rested last night my father, confronted with your words, confessed all. I went with him to the bank today and faced the directors with him. His head was only one of all the rest that burned, suifused with shame. I demanded your freedom, and my father then admitted that the trust had advanced again and that the bank was now as solvent as it ever had been. Even your investment had made no loss. "Indeed, there was something said about the profits gained, and I then demanded a promise from each sepa rate individual that not one penny of this gain should ever be touched by a single officer of the bank. The prom ise was made, and, William, you will promise, too? I know, my love, you will." And as he promised her, tears mingled with his own, while Mrs. Gay lord lifted up her voice from a heart overflowing with gratitude to Him who has promised to be mindful of the widow's son. William Gaylord and Elizabeth Dalow, his wife, are living in the West, happy and as nearly well contented as loving man and wife can be, she still doing him honor, and he as proud of her as an honest man can be of a pure and loving woman. If any man or woman is disposed to doubt the truth of this story of real life in all essential details, let it be said that it is true, and that there are men —for the incident is not of remote date—who can verify it almost within reach of the writer's hand. This is but one incident of its kind. Are there any more?— New York News. HOW BEETLE JEWELRY IS MADE. Iteaotiriil Ornament* ll.T'ml from the Shell* of Nicnrußiittn linen*. There seems to be no connection be tween statesmanship and fashions, at least at first sight. As a matter of fact, nearly every move in the world's diplomacy is accompanied by novelties and changes in woman's attire. The entente between France and Russia revolutionized modes and replaced the corsage with the Russian blouse. Our growing intercourse with Nicara gua has brought into the market some of the odd beetle jewelry for which that country is famous. Not alone Nicaragua, but all of the Central American republics are wonderfully rich in insect life. Both butterflies and beetles are marked by the most magnificent colorings known to ento mology. The aborigines utilized many of the beetles for decorative purposes and their Spanish conquerors adopted the beautiful ornaments. The favorite beetles the writer has found to be of three classes. One is about the same shape and size as the Egyptian scarab, though a trifle flatter and very much slronger. It is coated with a green enamel of metalic lustre which looks like a gem from, some other planet. The Indians cure the beetle by dry ing and smoking, and mount it with golden legs. Tills is set upon a disk of white stone, carnelian, milk quartz, or even porcelain, which, in turn, is rimmed with gold. This is employed as a brooch, cuff-button, or breast-pin. Sometimes the beeiie is mounted upon a thin plate of gold or silver, and is used an as ear-ring. The second class of beetles are of the same general outline as the tum ble-bug, but their wing cases are of rich, changeable purple, blue and green, with metallic lustre. The tint varies with the angle at which light strikes the surface. They are not as strong a3 the scarab, and are employed for making necklaces nnd bracelets. Three or four are fastened together so as to form a bead, and a number of these beads are strung upon elastic cord or gold wire. When around, r. snowy wrist or neck they make a wonderful striking display of color and light. A Frmul* There WHS a little kit, And she couldn't read a bit, But she chewed my daddy's paper every day. And she said, with little mews, •'l'm devouring the news," But I said, "You can't deceive me with your play." Ida. Ida Is a pretty little yellow-haired gil l, who used to live across the street from. May's house. Ida was out of doors a great deal, but was always bound to go bare-headed. In warm weather, with the burning sun beating on her, there she was, her head uncov ered. In pretty cold weather, too, shut was to be seen in the same state. Her mother would start her out with hat or hood, but in a little while she would drop it off, perhaps in a neigh bor's yard, perhaps in her own, and she would not have it on again all day. She had a sister, a little older, named Louise, also a pretty girl, but Louise was jealous of Ida when May was around, and when all of them were at May's house, Louise would send Ida home, and the little bare head would be seen out in the yard again, while May and Louise played on together. Sometimes May's papa would insist on Ida' 3 staying and the little lady would be happy to remain and play with the other, slightly larger, girls. This was some time ago. Now, I trust Louise is glad always to have Ida in her games, at home, or when they visit with some neighbor's little girl.—Brooklyn Eagle. Her Father's Profession. Jean was four years old when she began to go to kindergarten. The first day she had a beautiful time, and when she got home at night she announced proudly that "tomorrow teacher wants us to tell our whole names, our whole age and what our fathers do." Mother proceeded to Instruct her lit tle daughter on these points, and be- | fore long Jean could rattle off quite i proudly: "My name is Jean Anderson Abbott, j I am four years and three months old, and my father is a produce and com- ] mission merchant. She said it over to herself all the J way to school, but when she was j really standing before the teache,r j somehow it did not seem so easy. The j teacher asked each little girl in turn, I and they answered glibly, but as it | came to Jean's turn a great fear came over her. She could not remember I what her father's business was. j Finally, the teacher asked Marjorie, j who stood just beside Jean. Marjorie answered rapidly enough: "My name is Marjorie Rolfe Bidwell. j I am five years and one month old j and my father is professor of history ( in Harvard." Her answer gave Jean an inspira- j tion. If Marjorie's father was a pro- | fessor, of course, her father was a pro fessor, too, and he had eggs and but ter in his store; she knew that, so when the teacher asked her the ques tion, she replied promptly: "My name is Jean Anderson Abbott. I am four years and three months old, and my father is a professor of butter and eggs!"— New York Tribune. Eric'. Engine Hide. Eric stood on the garden side of the gate, watching the men who were mending the road. Behind him the flowers nodded and the fruit trees rus tled in the breeze, but Eric did not care about them. Two men were busy sweeping water over the stones, and one was driving the engine. At last the engine stop ped just in front of the gate; and the j driver climbed down, looking very j red and hot. "I say, Joe, this is warm work," he j cried, "I'm glad we've finished for i today." "Are you going away?" aslfed Eric, j timidly. "I'm so sorry!" The driver turned to him. "Are you fond of engines, little mas- I ter'! "Yes. I'm gbing to be an engine- j man when I grow up," answered Eric. "Only I shall drive a train, not a roll er." "I'd rather have my own old engine," said the driver. "I suppose it's a matter of taste," said the little boy, so gravely that they all laughed. "Well, look here, little master," said the driver. ,"If you like, I will give you a ride on my engine down to the bottom o. the road." Eric's eyes sparkled. "Oh, thank you ever so much!" he cried; "but I must ask mother first." The man nodded; and Eric bounded away, soon returning, followed by mother herself. The driver politely touched his cap. "Bless you, no, ma'am; there's no danger," he said in answer to her questions. "I wouldn't take him if there was." "Very well," said mother, "just a short ride." So Eric was lifted up and allowed to pull the lever which started the en gine, and they went puffing down the road, mother watching rather anxious ly from the gate. But, when Eric ran back, he was wild with delight. "Oh, it was lovely, mother! And we ! had to stop to let the milkman's horse go by. The horse didn't like the noise," ho said. Then, as the men came slowly up the road on the way home, looking very hot, he whispered something to his mother. She nodded, and he ran off down the garden. Hastily picking three rhu barb leaves, he filled them with cur rants, and, bringing them carefully back, gave them to the men. "But we didn't take you for a ride, little master. It was our mates here, not us at all," said Joe, when his turn came. —""IPf" The little boy looked puzzled. Then T he said, brightly,— "No, because you hadn't an engine; but if you had you would, wouldn't you?" The men laughed and thanked him; and, by the way those currants disap peared, they must have been very good.—Little Folks. Knttei (lie*. Butterflies, because of their conspic uousness and beauty and their occur rence almost everywhere, furnish an attractive and ready means for study ing the many curious and providential „w{iys in .which nature provides for her creatures. Collecting butterflies is an interest ing pursuit, and, besides, may become a profitable pastime. The most ordi- i nary collections often sell for fair prices, while those that are more elab- t orate, especially if they follow out ) some scheme, as a collection to indi cate sleeping or feeding habits, or representing the varying daily or sea sonal peculiarities of the insects, will be very valuable, often running up in the thousands of dollars. The apparatus necessary for collect ing and arranging these winged beau ties is the simplest, consisting of a few articles. The first thing is the means of capturing. Capturing is not done by hand, but by means of a net which can be made from a small hoop at- ! tached to the end of an old broom j handle. The body of the net is made / of mosquito netting and> should be J about two feet deep if the hoop is / a foot in diameter. With a little prac- f tice one can become' skilled in hand- / ling the net and may catch butterfles i rapidly and without in any way injur ing their delicate wings. ' In approaching the insect it is well j to wait until it has alighted and to bring the net close to it as slowly as ; possible, and keep it near the ground and out of sight. When very close to the prey a sudden stroke followed by a quick backward movement will bag the butterfly and fold the net over so that it cannot escape. Never touch the wings with the fingers in re moving the insect. Carefully insert the killing bottle and allow the butter fly to flutter into the bottle, and the insertion of the cork will hold it a prisoner. The killing bottle should be a wide mouthed bottle into which the butter fly can pass without injury to the wings. In the bottom"should be placed securely by means of shellac a small piece of cotton which is wet with bon- -W zine or common gasoline. The vapors ' from these substances produce an easy and painless stupor, ending in death. Do not be hasty in removing the but terfly after it lias gone to sleep, be cause the fresh air often revives it. After the insects are captured and killed they are ready to be pinned and set. For pinning always use insect pins, which are much thinner than common pins, and will not rust. They cost five cents a hundred. A butterfly should be pinned through the middle of the thorax, and in such away that the body Is at right an gles to the pin. The thorax is between the head and the point where the wings join the body. After the insect is properly pinned, it is ready for setting, and for the proc ess a setting hoard is necessary. Tho setling board is a plain, flat hoard with numbers of holes large enough to take the head of the pin. The insect is laid "j on the board back down, with the head ™ . of the pin in the hole. The wings aro then spread and pinned down to the board in such away as to show all that is possible of their surface. The fore wings should be pulled for ward so far that their hind edges may be in the same straight line, and the hind wings brought to such a position as to leave about the same gap next to the body as to the front wings. In pull ing these wings forward a pin may be used, inserting it just behind the strong vein or rib, which is plain, and thus avoiding the danger of tearing. After the wings are pinned down in the proper position it is a good plan to lay strips of paper ovtjr them to hold them straight, and after these strips are pinned down remove the pins in the wings, for if the pins are left hi the wings until they are dry the holes they have made will be eas ily seen. Jf After a very little practice this work is readily done, and no little taste and skill can be shown in arranging the wings to display the full beauty of the specimen. After the wings are thor oughly dry, which takes from three or four days to a week, the insects are ready to be placed in the collec tion. A good and serviceable storage ease can bo made from an old shirt box. When the specimen is placed in the collection case it is a good plan to write the date and locality of cap ture of every specimen and pin thifl below it, thereby adding value to the collection.—San Francisco Chronicle. As He Ileflned tlie Difference. "What is the distinction between a politician and a reformer?" "A politician," said Senator Sorg- ■ hum, "is a man who is frank enough to confess that he is running for office. A reformer wants to make people be lieve that the office is running after him."—Washington Star. In Japan every male citizen between the ages of 17 and 40 owes military service.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers