A SONG OF THE SETTLEMENT, I sing a song of the West land, Though how shall a song but fail To capture the blue horizons That swallow the prairie trail! And how shall letters and paper Imprison the broadth of life! Thev know, who travel the prairie, We know the song of its strife— The shouting nights, when the blizzard Is reeling across the plain, The lazy hum of the west wind At play with the gleaming grain. The sigh of the sleeping grassland To the low hung golden moon, The song of the waving wheat tops Ablaze with the crown of noon. The low hoarse voice of the hunter, liis eyes and their warning gleam, The creep in moeeasined sience, The old log trail to the stream. The sudden rap of a rifle. The fall of a startled moose, , The day-long wait—and at' evening The songs in the old caboose. The glint of snow through the shadows, The echo of sharpened steel. The crack of the falling timbers, The poplar's earthward reel. The ring of sleighs on the home trail, The glimmer of lights afar. The glow of the shanty firelight, The gleam of the evening star. The wail of wolves in the darkness, The children's sonft in the light. The large sweet grip of the daytime, The awe of the great deep night. But how shall letters and paper Bring aught of its life to you, The fruitless toil of the many. The scant success of the few; The hopes and fears of the prairie, Its words to the sons of men; Nay, how should a volume hold it, Inscribed with a human pen? —H. H. Bashford, in the London Spec tator. lAT THE HISH I 1 TIDE OF LOVE § 'ifii A Tale of the Soul-Flood. jijy) Ey William Arch M'Clean. <£i' IllliilllillSiiiiil VICTOR IRVINE was a man of decidedly peculiar appearance, habits ami thoughts. He was large in frame. He had long, straight hair, that fell around his head like so many strings. His little dark eyes went skipping from one thing to another. On one occasion he greeted friends with effusive politeness; on tlie next, passed them without recog nition, occupied with his thoughts. People called him a crank. They smiled when his name was mentioned, inti mating that something was not quite "right in his upper story." He was known, however, to be a man of Intel ligence, a scholar. His neighbors said he made his living with some horrid smelling stuffs he called chemicals. Victor had a hobby that overshad owed all other peculiarities, which he confided to those with whom he was Intimately acquainted. To these he Invariably explained a strange philoso phy that possessed him. He would in troduce it by speaking of the mysteri ous attraction of the sun and moon up on the great oceans; how under their Influence there was the ebb and flow of the tide twice a day. Then he would conclude by saying that the greater part of the human body was a liquid formation; that this same overwhelm ing watery composition was subject to an ebb and flow as in the oceans; and that it was a fact that he recognized flnily In his own body. There was a cause for this philosophy of Victor. His mother was of a highly nervous temperament, and very deli cate in health. Her physician had or dered her one year to the sea. She had gone early in the spring. In a cottage by the sea she passed many weeks, most of the time with her face toward the great expanse of water. As the flow of the tide came In with a roar and a boom, there was an ex hilaration in It that was conveyed to her that gave her hope and courage. It was a stimulus to her spirits. Life was richer than at any other time. Then would follow the ebb, with Its muffled break, with its subtle slipping away of waters. It brought a change to the woman. There would be a re lapse, a passing away, a tameness, a spiritlessness. Each day of the whole summer the ebb and flow of the tides brought an ebb and flow in the woman, in her spirits. In the fall a baby—Victor was born. He came at midnight at the greatest roar and rush of high tide. Then the ebb set in. As the mother lovingly gazed at her child she faintly murmured: "He came at the flow of the tide; I go at the ebb." So it proved. Thus the strange philosophy of the ebb and flow entered the life of Victor Irvine. The story of his mother's last moments had never been told him. He was, however, not grown to manhood when he tirst felt and recognized the strange influence of the ebb and flow. It came to be to him that only in the flow—a few hours at midday and at midnight—could he accomplish any thing. Then he conducted ids chemical experiments, made his analyses. With the rush of the flow thoughts, ideas, conceptions, suggestions burst tnmultu ou'sly upon him, pounding on the surf of his brain. It was a work of fever lsh intensity to grasp and save them If he failed to catch them, with the cbt they went. Work was a drudgery the remainder of the day. At the midnight flow it was his habit to put in perma nent form, in writing, the work he was engaged upon. Any treatise finished then was usually received as brilliantly scientific. The moment the ebb was on the pen became Impotent. Into the tides of this man's life floated two objects which became of absorbing; interest to him. One was a woman, the other a chemical mystery. He had come upon an element in his chemical studies that he could not sat isfactorily explain to himself. He real ized that it might be a new element. He might be the discoverer of that which would startle the scientific world. So far the element had eluded liim. Ho had not only been unable to satisfy himself of Its existence, but also what its characteristics were, or whether it might not be a known ele ment in a new form. The woman—Mary Ames—was a warm hearted, whole souled woman; a woman who, with a broad, tender, hu man sympathy read life and the vari ous species of natures that possessed mankind she knew; a woman who could see good where others saw dross. She understood Victor Irvine. She gave him credit where others had given ridicule. She respected the man, the student. She found a man who could be honest and true, a man who could love. The love of Mary Ames'became a staff for him to lean on. Through her eyes he took a new view of the earth, of mankind. He was irresistibly drawn to her. # Then it was, when the rush of the incoming flow was flooding itself through him, that thoughts, feel ings, affections for Mary possessed him. It was then, when the flow pounded on the surf of liis heart, he cried to himself, "This is life, life." Victor was so situated as only to he able to see Mary in the evening. There was always an inclination to remain late with her, which lie never yielded to. He had always gone before the rush of the midnight high tide. For this reason he had not spoltcu of the love that possessed him, had not had a chance to pour it out in a rush of words in the flow. The ebb brought him a timidity that was painful. There was an ever-present fear that she would slip away from him in the undertow. One day he came to her in the morn ing. It was a holiday. As he lingered lie felt the coming of the midday flow. Their conversation grew exceedingly bright. In the waiting for the highest tide ho was overwhelmed with the thought that he must tell Mary of the love he had for her, that consumed him. He broke out: "Mary—darling, you are so sweet— so sweet—you are so grand—so grand. I have something I have been going to tell you—tell you, dear," then he stopped. The ebb was on. He felt it. He could got no farther. He stam mered. •"The—ebb—Mary—l will tell you at another time." Several weeks passed. It was not told. It was the month of March, at the time of the vernal equinox. Great storms raged on the ocean. The tides were running high. One night, in the worst fury of the storm, Victor was in his laboratory, busy at work. He was experimenting. The element he had been hunting for had turned up. He had made several successful analyses. It seemed to him that lie almost understood the secret that had been eluding him. It was not yet 10 o'clock. It was more than two hours until the ebb. In that time the mystery would he known, the problem solved, and the world would credit him with a discovery. The flow rushing on In great surges brought other Inspirations. There was Mary. How sweet love was, how glorious! It was almost his. Would it ever be his? Life without It was a dead, empty thing. It must be his. Away out came two great waves to ward the shore of the soul of Victor Irvine. They rolled, tossed and pitched as they moved in. On one perched the secret of chemistry that he had been diligently searching for. On the other love rode. Tlie two waves were in fearful strug gle the one with the other. They raised their high heads and broke into angry fenthery caps. Tliey chased each other, one seeking to swallow the other. The contest was a wild, tem pestuous one. At last, with a roar, they went together and, breaking, flew far up the beach, love riding triumph antly in. It was then that Victor fled through the rain to the home of the woman ho loved. Higher, greater swells were rising out on the waters, following each other to the shore. As onward they came he poured out to the woman tlie tale of his life, the misery of his loneliness. Its pathetic strangeness, tlie sweetness of the love he horo her, tlie wealth of happiness there was in it. Before the ebb came ho had the answer of the woman. It was satis factory. There was no regret for the lost secret of the laboratory. As the moons waxed and waned the secret came back to the inmate of a happy home. It returned as jetsam of that night of the storm.—New York News. 1H .Jewish Exclnsiveness llrenklnc Up? "Is Jewish exclusiveuess becoming a legend rather than a reality?" asks the London Chronicle in connection with the following date from Australia which would seem to suggest an af- Urinative answer. In New South Wales, according to the recently pub lished matrimonial statistics, during the last year no less than sixty-seven Jewesses selected husbands from the Cburcli of England, while seventeen mated with Catholics and eleven found their affinities in the Presbyterian fold. One hundred and fifty-one Jews were united to Anglican wives, sixty-two to Catholics, thirteen to Presbyterians, twelve to Methodists, four to non-de nominationalists and two to Congrega tlonalists, while a solitary son of Israel is reported to have wed a Baptist Al together out of 781 Jewish marriages, 341 were more or less "mixed"—a | favorable showing for modern Anglo | I srae 11 tiam.—Baltimore Sun. (She Funny *S~ide of Life, Popular Fictlou. A dab or two of history, A fragile thread of plot, Great gobs of talk and love and gore— -5 The rest, it matters not. . j ' -Liffr , On Toast. ' - McJigger—'"The robin is a very timid jird, isn't It?" Thingumbob—"l guess so. At any rate, the average restaurant cook can make it quail."—Philadelphia Press. Feminine Amenities. Miss Thirtyodd—"l want to give ray fiance a surprise on his birthday. Can't you suggest something?" Miss De Flypp—"Well, you might tell him your age?"— Chicago News. Cupid as u Gardener. Edith—"l see th.it the charming young Widow Dashlngtou does not wear her weeds any more." Mayme—'"No; she expects to be weeded out of the widow class in the near future."—Chicago News. Eubeleda i ' o o*"- —London Punch. Scented Truuble. Mrs. Goss—"Why did they leave so early In the season?" Mrs. Sipp—"Mrs. Jones went home because her hushnnd didn't send her SSOO, and Mrs. Brown went because her husband did send her $500." Her Hlittier Life. "Do you find it difficult to attend to your social duties and keep up on the art and literature of the times?" "Oh, no. I always try to devote at least fifteen minutes a day to art and literature."—Chicago ltecord-Herald. Hard to Avoid. The Parent—"lf he would but apply himself to his books! But he will uot take the trouble." The Pedagogue—"Nay, then, if he Is so averse to trouble I can see large quantities of It coming his way!"- Puck. Brevity. "Do you think that brevity is the soul of wit?" "Well," answered the man who Is al ways thinking about money, "the bio graphers of some of the brightest poets indicate that they were very short."— Washington Star. An EmbarraßHinent. "Why don't you praise your wife's cooking once In a while and cheer her up?" "I'm afraid to try. Every time I say anything is particularly good it turns out to be something that was pur chased at the grocery." The Desperado's Doom. And how were you finally cap tured?" "1 was completely wore out," an swered the Western desperado. "By fatigue and hunger?" "No. Glvln' newspaper Interviews an' bavin' my picture took." At th. Bourilln; House. Chorus of Boarders—"ls'this all we have for supper?" Mrs. Sly—"Yes. We will have light suppers hereafter so that we can get through early and play ping-pong. Good Idea, Isn't It?" New York World. Working Him. Borroughs—"Say, old mat, can you break a twenty so I can get a five dollar hill out of it?" Markley "Sure; here you are. Where's your twenty?" Borroughs—"Oh, you misunderstood me. I thought you had a twenty. Thanks! One five will do."—Philadel phia Press THE MYSTERIOUS WOODCOCK. Disappears In Moulting Season and Then Appears Again. It la during the months of August and September that the mystery of the woodcock's life begins. This is the moulting season, when the bird changes Its plumage before beginning Its journey southward. At this time it leaves the swamps. Where does it go? That is a question which has never yet received a satisfactory an swer, although each sportsman and naturalist has k'is own opinion and many tine spun theories have been ad vanced. Some say that tile birds move toward the north; some that they seek the mountain tops, coming into the swamps to feed only after nightfall; some that they seek the cornfields. And there have been many other such theories. Probably the truth lies In a mean of all these statements. I think it probable that the birds know the loss of their feathers renders them to a certain extent helpless and more ex posed to the attacks of their natural enemies, and they therefore leave the more open swamps and hide in the densest and most tangled thickets. It Is certain that they scatter, for at this season single birds are found in the most unusual and most unexpected places. Years ago when shooting in Dutchess County, New York, I knew one or two swamps which we called moulting swamps, where, in August, we were sure to Hud a limited number of birds. These swamps were over grown with rank marsh grass and were full of patches of wild rose and sweetbrler. If we killed the birds which we found there, we were sure, in a week or ten days, to find their places tilled by about the same num ber.—From "A Woodland Hermit," in Outing. Moral* and Environment*- Slnvery was not considered wrong by the great Greek moralists, whose ethical views 011 many other topics were at least on a plane with those of modern times. In the same way the English colonists, who at home would have scouted the very Idea of slavery, soon became in the Southern States of America the most ardent and sincere advocates of the system; even the cler gymen of the South honestly refused to consider slavery a sin. Had the Northern and Western States been sub jected to the same climatic and eco nomic condition there is little doubt that, so far at least as they could keep themselves shut off from contact with the more advanced industrial civiliza tion of Europe, they would have com pletely shared the moral views of their Southern brethren. Men are what con ditions make them, and ethical ideals are not exempt from the same inexor able law of environment. Political Science. The Traction Engine on Farms. The farm hand uud the farm horse are rapidly being supplanted on the level tracts of the West by the trac tion engine. The farms are large, com prising several hundred acres, some times a thousand, and usually without trees or stones. Under these conditions the engine can do any kind of work. It is a compact little machine run by gasoline, and not at all like the ordinary attachment to a threshing machine. It runs a "gang plow," with five in a row; three or four harrows at a time; is coupled when desired to a separator for threshing grain, runs the mill for grinding cattle feed, and hauls farm wagons to market laden with grain. In fact, there is scarcely a thing about farm work that the little traction en gine will not do. A lEoyal Tiff. For a royal engageineut to be broken off after it has once been announced is an event so rare as to be almost unique. Prince Siegfried of Bavaria, and the Archduchess Annunciate, whose marriage, it is now announced, will not take place, stand almost alone among European royalties. The clos est parallel we can think of, curiously enough, concerned an Austrian Prince and Bavarian Princess, for the Em peror of Austria was intended to marry the elder sister of the late Empress, and his suddenly fnlllng in love with the royal lady who subsequently be came his wife sent quite a thrill ot consternation through the German courts.—London Globe. Wmpi Kill a Snake, "We witnessed a fierce combat be tween a snake and a wasp a few days ago," writes the Belvidere correspond ent of the Kiowa County Signal. "The wasp would watch its chance to sting the snake and then fly to a cactus. The snake would crawl to the plant, but would not strike while the wasp re mained there. The wasp made several false attempts to fly and finally in duced the snake to strike. The reptile In striking became attached to the cac tus and couid not get away. The wasp then flew away, and In a few moments returned, bringing with him several of his friends, who settled upon the snake and 9tung him to death."—Kansas City Journal. Tlio Smyrna rig In California. Smyrna tig raising has at last been successfully established in California on a large scale on the Stanford ranch at Vina, by the employment of the blastophaga as an agent for the fer tilization of the fruit. The fruit is re ported to be of an excellent quality, and the industry of fig raising and curing is now to be prosecuted on an extensive scale. This means a valua ble additon to the State's industrries and the production of an article of com merce for which there exists a market the world over. Up to date tills mar ket has been almost wholly supplied by Asia Minor,—San Francisco Chron- Md, A cotton company of Philadelphia has acquired a tract of land in the Transvaal. It is said that experiments have shown that cotton can be grown much cheaper in South Africa than in this country. A trade paper says, in answer to a correspondent, that the felt clotli of which hats are made is composed chiefly of the hair of rabbits, hares or goats, mixed with wool. These sub stances are thoroughly mixed together, and are then pressed and beaten until they adhere and form a compact, but flexible, material. The trade between Jerusalem and Kerak has greatly increased, and the number of tourists also. So the monks have organized a company, and the first motor-boat is soon to move over the waters of the Dead Sea, which have not been used for transit for centuries. The boat lias the suggestive name of Prodromos, "The Fore runner." An experiment that may result in a permanent lowering of the price of meat Is now making in northern Florida. The waste lands that extend around the gulf to the Teche country of Louisiana are being utilized for cattle-raising. Summer droughts and winter blizzards make the western country an expensive and often doubt ful field for this industry. The present high price of meat is due, in part, to the drought of a year ago, in which whole herds perished. On the Gulf lands there would be no such hazard ous conditions. A schooner has just returned to San Francisco after a six months' voyage to the coast of South America, bring ing news of the discovery of a gold mine that will rival the famous Tread well mine of Alaska. It is on an island off the coast, but the discoverers will not tell its exact situation, because they have not yet secured a conces sion to work it. The ore in the mine, of which the schooner brought nearly a ton in specimens, is of fair grade, and it is said that there is an immense quantity of it. The mine is so easily reached from the coast that it will be simply a proposition of quarrying it out The appearance of a new star in the constellation Perseus, and its rapid ex pansion into a nebula, which has been going on for some time past, have revived among astronomers the theory that some nebulae may be formed by explosion. About 1870, Professor Bickerton, of Canterbury College, New Zealand, showed that, If two stars should graze one another, the abraded parts, if relatively small, would havo so high a temperature that they would at once become nebulous, nnd that the nebula so formed would, under certain conditions, continue to expand until dissipated in space. The present ex panding nebula has been growing at the extraordinary rate of several thou sand miles a second, and is in many ways, one of the greatest celestial wonders of the time. The only place in the world where that form of carbon known as the black diamond, or bort, is found In marketable quantities is in Bahla, in South America. The substance is used for points for stone drills and saws, and is powdered and used to polish diamonds and other preclouß stones. There is a wide nnd growing demand for It. The black diamond is found with the ordinary diamonds in the Bahla fields, and brings about ten dollars a carat. The lnrgest carbon ever found weighed 3150; it was bought from the miner for $10,000; was afterwards purchased for $25,000; and was sent to Paris, where It was broken up and sold to the trade. The average size is about six carats. The annual output is decreasing as the de mand grows larger, nnd the price is mounting. It is probably only a ques tion of time when a black diamond combination will be formed to work the small area with modern machinery. The present methods are very primi tive. The Abbey's Funeral 8011. Some notable names have been added to the roll call of the Abbey under Dean Bradley. Charles Darwin, Arch bishop French—himself once Dean of Westminster—Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson and William Ewart Glad stone are among the names that have been added to the burial roll of the Ab bey under Dean Bradley's supervision, and nobody will quarrel with them. It will surprise many people, perhaps, to know that only ten persons havo been buried, in the Abbey in the last twenty years, and thnt only two of these were women—Lady Louisa Per cy and Mrs. Gladstone. These, with two poets, two architects, an arch bishop, a scientist, a queen's printer nnd a statesman, complete the roll of the great dead who have been buried in Westminster Abbey since Dr. Brad ley became Dean.—St. James' Gazette. Some Good Advice. The country editor should not fall to realize the influence he may exer cise in the shaping of public affairs, says the Spirit Lake (Iowa) Beacon. He should counsel wisely, read care fully, think deliberately and express himself in no haphazard fashion. The editor of a country paper who delivers half-baked opinions and slashes around simply to attract attention, is account able for a serious waste of oppor tunity. CRAVES AND PROSPERITY." Physician Snya tlie "Body Snatclicr" U I.rmt Busy WhenFolka Are Poor. Will ghouls haunt graveyards about Indlnnnpolis the coming winter? Commercial prosperity Is hot condu cive to prosperity In the anatomical de partments of the medical colleges. "Good times," or "the full dinner pail," means only to the head of the dissecting room that bodies will scarce. For the scarcity of subjects 1 varies, always, with prosperity. When the poorer classes are doing well they are able to bury their dead, while dur ing hard times there Is a plentiful sup ply of bodies for the medical students' knives. In Chicago, and In many other cities, where the college authorities are less reticent than in Indianapolis in discuss ing this most gruesome phase of medi cal college work, it has been stated that a body famine Is on. In Indianapolis last winter graves were robbed until families of deceased felt compelled to guard many country graveyards. The wholesale body steal ing was the result of prosperity, a young doctor says. He said: . "In hard times the Indianapolis med ical colleges have none too many sub jects, and when the supply is dlmln- ""Sk ished some other means must be re- ' sorted to. The law compels the col leges to dissect and makes some pro vision for bodies, but it is not ample. The law should provide for more than It docs. "There would then be much less fear on the part of respectable people. When medical colleges are holding out big inducements for bodies what assur ance have you that the undertaker who is employed to bury a relative has not substituted a enrgo of bricks for the body and let the college take the corpse? How do you know that the grave will not be robbed by adventur ous students the night after the Inter ment? None. "In some of the larger cities there is never a scarcity of bodies. In New York, for Instance, where there are so many thousands of very poor people. the colleges are able to sell the bodies to the students at $1 a part, cutting It into three parts. Here In Indianapolis the body is cut in Ave parts and each pnrt furnishes two students with work. They pay $o each, so the Indianapolis colleges get ?50 apiece for bodies. "I see no reason why bodies should not be imported from the cities where they are plentiful and cheap."—lndian apolis Sun. WISE WORDS. If courage is gone, then all Is gone- Everything may be retrieved except despair. All crowns are more or less crowns of thorns. Hurry not only spoils work, but spoils life also. Men are more helped by sympatic#-, than by service. " There Is no greater misfortune than prosperity in evil. Relieve distress, but do not under mine independence. If we share the burdens of others, we lighten our own. Anything which familiarizes us with evil is itself an evil. To be a man is to have "the will to do, the soul to dare." A day's worry is more exhausting than a week of work. Know how sublime a thing It Is to suffer and be strong. To know what is Just, and not to practice, is cowardice. It Is more Important to do right than to be prosperous and happy. Life's smallest nets and humblest duties flnsh with divine meaning. - Men make money; some. It Is said, I "roll In money;" how few enjoy it. f Do not think what you would like to do, but what you ought to do. Tnlklng should be an exercise of the brain, rather than of the tongue. If you take home one of Satan's relations, the whole family will follow. Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harm. Shu " Can't Talk Back." It seems an odd reversal of things in the parrot world where only the male bird is endowed with organs by which he can reproduce human speech, the female being wholly denied the power of such acquisition. "And what a harsh, unpleasant Jargon he makes of It, too," remarked a woman customer, when given this information by a fancier, adding, "Naturally!" Where upon her escort retorted, "You may bljij. sure the others make up for it in parrot talk, and probably poor Jack has to hear more than many of his human brothers In aillletlon." Then he re mained quite silent while the woman bought an expensive male bird, extra volubility warranted, and ordered the bill sent in his name. Duties of a Workliouie Porter. The porter of the Mere (Wiltshire) workhouse recently wrote to the guar dians for an increase of salary, which then stood at £l4 per annum: "I am gate porter, storekeeper, caterer, brasd polisher, assistant gardener, assistant nurse, mortuary attendant, tramp and labor master, fumigator, barber, mes senger, ladies' hairdresser, etc. I have* Just balanced my small account for twelve months, and find, after buying clothes and other necessaries for the purpose of making myself presentable enough to attend the gate, board room and church with the inmates, thnt I am minus the means to have a little relaxa tion from the monotony of workhouse life." The guardians have Increased hi* salary to £l6.—London Dally Mail.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers