THE SCNG CF THE WORLD. Action, unceasing endeavor whether with brain or with brawn; Singing of hammer on anvil, thrust of the plow through the soil. Thought born of thought in the night time. axe-stroke in silence of dawn, Solving the secrets of science—secrets that guerdon our toil. Action, strong effort forever—this is the .lfe of our time; This is the heart-throb of manhood, the pulsing of purpose sublime. Flickered the glaive long in battles, carv ing the future of kings, CutHng the fetters of bondmen, doing God's will in his way— Now in its scabbard 't is sleeping, here on the wall where it swings, Dust on its hilt and time's sharp teeth eating its edge, day by day. Hauberk nor casque brought it harming, vet all of its temper is gone— Vanished its puissant prowess—to-day la bor rolls the world on. Tides of the amorous ocean strive for the kiss of the moon, Divers, full-bosomed and brimming, bring their broad blessings to men; Health from their restlessness rises; but, in the stagnant lagoon. Born is the pe tilent vapor—born in the death-breed'ng fen. Water, life's limitless solvent, its blessings will freely disburse; When it is stagnant and pulseless, 10, it is turned to a curse. Action, untiring and constant—this is the law of our breath: Live, then! O brothers who labor; la bor that erases is—death. —Robert Mackay, in Success. I NEVEN'S I TEMPTATION. J / / -v" ES, there are great oppor \/ tunities iu an 'oil town' 1 like this." .Tames Neven, tin; young lawyer, spoke quietly, as his habit was, but his l'ace flushed and his keen eyes glittered. "A few hundred dollars will buy an In terest iu a company formed to drill a well, aud If the well proves a 'gusher' i mau's share may yield him fifty thou sand or more a year. If you want to oe rich, Jerris, better let me invest the money you've made 011 that Dakota ranch of yours." The sturdy Westerner, Keren's class mate at college, laughed and shook his head. "Guess not, thank you, .Tim," he answered. " 'Slow and sure' is my motto. I never expect to get rich at a stroke." "As you please." said Neven, dryly. "Your cousins, the Larrabees, have more faith in my judgment. Mrs. Lar rabee gave me a thousand dollars to invest for her—as an agent, of course. She paid me twenty dollars for placing it." "I should think if success is so cer tain you would prefer to ho paid by a percentage on the profits." "N-no—well," said Neven, uncomfor tably, "Mrs. Larrabee would not con sent to that. 'lf the well proves a dry one,' she said, 'it won't be your fault; you'll do your best for me, I know.' So she gave me twenty dollars down." Hugh Jerris had risen and was pac ing restlessly about the dingy little office. "Bother investments, anyway, Tim!" lie cried. "The only reason why I came to Pennsylvania was to try to get Jennie Larrabee 10 go back to South Dakota as my wife. That's the only subject that interests me just now." Neven rubbed liis chin thoughtfully. "You know the Larrabees haven't any money," he suggested. "That thou sand dollars represented all their sav ings. You ought to look for a girl who could put some capital into that ranch of yours." "Jennie Larrabee without a cent will be a fortune to mc—if I can win her! She and her mother are well, you say? I think I'll go out to the farm and see them this morning. Good-by, Jim!" "What a fool!" muttered the young lawyer, as lip watched the burly fel low stride impetuously down the street. He meant to make money—and marry money. Then ho turned to his work again, which at this time consisted mainly in figuring his possible income from the Karns well. Neven bad invested his own savings, six hundred dollars, in the Karns we'd, which was now being drilled about two miles from town. lie had put Mrs. Larrabec's thousand dollars into the Warren well, not so promising a property, he thought, which was only a few hundred yards from the other. The drill in each well had already passed through layers of solid rock and of slate, and a current of salt water, and now was near the stratum <>:' glass-like rock beneath which oil might be found. In an hour or two he might be a millionaire or no, be would not be a pauper, in any event. Tal.cz Wright, one of the drilling crow, had agreed to warn him l.y a cipher tele gram of the chances of success or failure. If the well seemed likely to be "dry," Neven planned to rush out on the street ami sell hi; interest be fore the public board the news. A tap at the door svartb d liiin. A boy appeared- with a yellow envelope. Neven took it and tore it open. ".Sand reached," the oipcr. translated, teal him. "Dry. Better sell." Dry! All his ravings gone in a mo ment ! James Neven was not a demonstra five man. Hp paid the boy, and wher he was gone, stood staring at the floor His skin looked yellow and as if i were tightly drawi\ over ills sliatq features, but only his clenched hand! b id his emotion. Suddenly he seized his hat. Tl< rust sell at once, shift his loss up.oi somebody else! Ho opened the door It seemed that Bushhv, the town gos sip. had been .just about to enter. "Heard the news, Neven?" Bushb; asked. "The Karns is n dry well!" "Yes, so I've heard," said Never quietly. Useless now to try lo soli He turned back into his office. Bushby sat down oil the steps outside and lighted a cigar. "Neven," he called, presently, "tele graph boy after you!" Ho lounged into the office as Neven opened a see -1 ond cipher dispatch. "Warren well struck oil." It told him. "Promises to be a gusher." The strip of paper shook in Neven's hand. This luck had come to the Lar rabees! lie was ruined! Ob, if be bad only put bis money into the Warren well and theirs into the Karns! But Neven was outwardly calm as he drew a blank message toward him and told the boy to wait. Bushby, leauiug on the table, glanced familiarly over his shoulder at the di rection of the message. " 'Mrs. Sarah Larrabee.'" lie repeat ed. "Why, sure enough! It was in the Karns well you invested her money? And she's lost it? What a pity!" Neven started. Why should it not be so? The well drillers had not in corporated yet. No stock certificates had been issued. The receipts for the two sums of money mentioned his name alone, "James Neven, Attorney." No human being but himself knew pos itively whether it was the Larrabees' money or bis own that be had put Into that dry hole. lie held the pen suspended for a mo ment, facing the temptation of his life. Then hp dipped the pen in the ink. Bushby still looked on. "Invested six hundred In Karns well," bo wrote. "Dry. Heartily sorry. Hope to do better with remaining four hundred." "So it was the Larrabees' money that you put iuto the Karns?" asked Bush by. eyeing him keenly, "Yes." "You bought a quarter share in the Warren well, too?" "Yes. Cost me a thousand. That was a little venture of my own. The well promises to be a gusher." "You don't say so!" Busliby seized his hat and rushed to tell the news. In the very same moment Neven be gan to prepare for a trip to New York, lie did not care for the congratula tions of his townsmen. lie did not want to hear them express their sym pathy for Mrs. Larrabee. Besides, be wished to look up safe investments for th 1 large sums of money he would soon begin to receive. It was late one rainy evening when Neven arrived again at home and en tered the little parlor of the hotel in which bo boarded. He had heard noth ing from the place since lie left—Jabez Wright had unaccountably failed to re i ply to a request for information—but Neven felt that "no news is good news," and be could easily put 011 a bold front, for be bad now begun to think of his theft as merely a bit of "sharp practice." He looked around with disgust at the tawdry finery of tlie room. Well, it would not be bis home long. lie was going to New York to live. With liis income "Hello, old follow!" cried a hearty ' voice behind him. "Why. Jerris, is this you?" Neven said, as he turned to meet the rancher. "How did you prosper in your errand?" There was a lofty condescension in his , tore, but the other did not perceive it. , "With Jennie? She's up stairs. She's . Mrs. Hugh Jerris. Haven't wasted i any time, have I?" Neven gave liis hand with a feeble effort at cordiality. "I am sure I wish - you well. Jerris," lie said. "You are . able lo support, a wife, and needn't . care whether she lias anything of her t own or not." j "Anything of her own! Why, my dear boy. what more could she want? j Iler mother has given her half of her • in< rest in the Karns well, and " I "Karns!" gasped Neven. "It was a j dry hole." "In the upper sand. yes. But they bored deeper since you left and struck * oil. The well is yielding fifteen bun . died barrels a day. Why, Jennie is an heiress." ,- Fifteen hundred barrels a day! ; Neven stood staring at the ruddy, good 1 humored face, which suddenly took . 011 a look of pity. "What a brute I am.'.' the rancher cried. "I forgot that while investing their money so wisely you made such a terrible mistake t about your own." k "A mistake? My own? What do 0 you mean?" shouted Neven fiercely. "The Warren well surely you've i- heard? Ii was only a pocket. It ran out in a week." v Noven tried to speak, but be could ,j only mumble unintelligible words. Then lie clapped his hat on his head and rushed from the house. The first man ; | !;■•> met confirmed the story. ! "Folks thought it queer you were so j sharp for the widow and so stupid for y ! yourself. Neven." his townsman said. ,j "But Jabez Wright says you bought the Karns l'or yourself and the Warren, for the widow, and then shifted tilings (> for your own advantage when the first , t news came, and as long as that's so. , everybody's glad that yoti fooled your self. Well, if things had conic out just as you thought they would. I don't i.-Miw as you'd haw had much com fort out of your ill-gotten gains. } 'Braid you won't over get many more 1 limits in this town." - f Neven left town that night. So. as it : rhaiu ' d. did Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Jcr- I rls. But Mr. and Mrs. Jerris were re j spec ted ami happy.—Youth's Gompau- j ; ion. Ominous. •p j Prairie dogs peeking deep cover, corn Is! with thick husks and acorns that the ! squirrels can't open confirm the lei weal her prophet's pronouncements for m; a cold winter. If prophecies were fuel r. there would lie enough for all to burn, is-j —New York World. !y A Gooff Knoiiffli Argument. Plenty of noise makes a good enough >n. argument for most people.—New York 11? Press. P^JjINPVS t RJAC I 0110 company in Central Africa lias over SGOO acres of land mirier cultiva tion, producing sugar nne exclusively, nnd this territory will soon take a prominent position among sugar-ship ping countries. A novel irrigation plant is being operated in California orchards. The water is pumped by a centrifugal pump driven by a threshing machine, and is conveyed about orchards as large as 100 acres, through a foitrteen-iuch can vas hose. The hose is in sections, which are moved by a horse. By this plan the water can be conveyed with out trouble over rises, and a large area Irrigated with little moving of the hose line. Mr. Whymper thus describes the commencement of an eruption of the volcano Cotopaxi: "A puff of steam was emitted, and then a brief pause. Five minutes later a column of inky blackness began to issue, and rose up straight in the air with such pro digious velocity that in less than three minutes it was 20,000 feet above the rim of the crater. The top of the col umn was about 40,000 l'eet above the level of the sea." The council of the Institute of Min ing and Metallurgy, an English society of mining engineers, has undertaken to define the exact meaning of the term "ore in sight." In many engineering reports on mining properties the words "ore in sight" are used in rather am biguous senses, meaning, on the one hand, ore which is blocked out or ex posed 011 three sides, so that there can he no doubt of its existence, and, on the other, ore which may reasonably he supposed to exist. The labors of the council, if fruitful, will be of great value to the prospective investor in mining properties. Instead of blowing down coal in mines by means of dynamite, an Eng lishman intends to make use of a hydraulic cartridge, which is said to obviate the wasteful shattering of the coal. The cartridge is twenty inches in length. Orifices along ils sides ad mit of the application of a pressure of some three tons per square inch. The total pressure Is about sixty tons. When inserted in a hole the cartridge is coupled up with a small hand pump. It is said that in a few minutes after the apparatus has been at work, the coal breaks up and falls in great blocks. About one and one-half pints of water are used in the operation. One colliery proprietor who lias adopted the invention for use in three mines computes that each cartridge saves .*75 per week. Invention, of London, has the fol lowing: The possibility of melting carbon and maintaining it in liquid condition has been demonstrated by Dr. A. Ludwig. The heating was ef fected under great pressure in the elec tric furnace, and a curious phenome non noticed at 1500 atmospheres was a very brief failure of the electric arc. the current refusing to pass, even when the voltage was much Increased. It Is supposed that as the carbon passed into the liquid and transparent state it assumed a rare allotropic form, becoming a non-conductor, The experi ment was too brief for a study of this condition, but was made to include a sudden cooling of the molten carbon by a Hooding with water of the interior of the pressure vessel. Though minute diamonds were recognized in the gray powder thus obtained, they were too small to be of commercial value. Jiit What They Were, Writing of the early days of Cali fornia's prosperity, Mr. H. A. Yacliell says, "The outward and visible sign of this amazing prosperity was most manifest in the houses (they were al ways spoken of as residences), which, like Aladdin's palace, seemed to bo built and furnished in a single night. "On one occasion I was in a Pullman car, and we were passing through a valley dotted with most unsightly houses—ramshackle buildings, for the most part, each an amalgam of half a dozen styles of architecture, and each obviously built for show. " -What are they?' asked an old Scotchman, who was of the party. " 'They're private residences,' replied an American, proudly. 'Yes. sir, we're passing through Paradise Park. Six months ago. sir, this tract was a howl ing desert of cactus and •sage-brush.' " 'Eh, eh-h-h? Ye surprise me. Pri vate residences, ye sny?' "•Yes, sir. What did you take them for?' "The old Scotchman answered sober ly: *1 was of the opeenion that they must be lunatic asylums.' "A big fellow, evidently a cattleman from Arizona, burst into loud laughter. " 'You've hit it'.' lie exclaimed, 'That's just exactly what they air.' " Threatening England'* Sea Power. The security of England's conquests and annexations depends in no small measure oil the closure of the Dar danelles to the passage of this coun try's Black Sen fleet. When those straits are opened to the egress of the powerful Euxine squadron there will be an amalagainatiou of maritime strength formri by France. Russia, Italy and later on, by Spain also, which must of necessity put an end to the dominion of the great midland sea by England. -Odessa* Bourse (laze it e. Germany Sell* I'low* to Hiibblu. Germany sold Russia nearly .*700,000 worth of plows last yettr. The plow in use in that country has wheels at the beam tip, so it does not have to be held. Funny fide of Life* Somotiuien Lucky. "A railroad accident is what 1 always fear and dread/' Thus spoke the maiden to the youth As on the engine sped. "Nay, dear, it is not always so," Replied the gallant swain, "For it was through an accident We met upon the train." —New York Herald. Fair Client—"But, after all, the let ters seem unimportant." Lawyer—"Well, I'll go over them again, ma'am. Sometimes it takes a smart man to write an unimportant letter."—Fuck. Whore He ml.sod It. She—"How did he como to marry his ideal?" lit—"He thought she had money."— Puck. An Advanlnffe. Damon Duckling—"l was hatched by an incubator." Pythias Duckling—"l think they're better than hens. They don't kick when you want to go swimming."— Tuck. •IllßtiflAblft. "Johnson writes that he's just killed the hero in his new novel." "Well, he needn't worry over that— any jury will acquit him!"— Atlanta Constitution. UnkindW Communicative. Mr. Cash—"Clara holds her age well." Mrs. Cash—"Tes; but she tells every body else's."—Detroit Free Press. The Influence of Clothes. Jerry—"How do good clothes make a man a gentleman?" Joe—"They make him feel as if he was expected to act like one."—Detroit Free Press. An Oil-Hand Answer. "Who can tell me the meaning of leisure?" asked the teacher. "It's a place where married people repent," replied the boy at the foot of the class.—Philadelphia Record. Interesting Heading. Mrs. Richmond—'"What is your read ing circle going to take up this win ter?" Mrs. Bronxborough—"We're going to read the letters our husbands used to write us before Aye were married."— New York Journal. Politics. Smarticus—"Why is polities like a screen door?" Spartacus—"Can't imagine." Smarticus—"Because the 'push' and the 'pull' are so often 011 opposite sides."—Los Angeles Herald. H. Is Queer. "He's a queer chap." "Yes; just now lie was saying that nothing wns certain hi this world but the uncertainty of things, and you couldn't hank on that."—Detroit Free Press. He Feels It. "Docs a draft give you cold chills down your hack?" asked the Phil osopher. "It does," replied the Wise Guy, "when my hauk account is over drawn."—Cincinnati Commercial Tri bune. llcr Call. "I ran into town to-day to do some shopping, dear," said Mrs. Subbubs, entering Iter husband's office, "and I " "I see," lie interrupted, "and you just ran In here because you ran out." "Ran out?" "Yes, of money." Philadelphia Press. An t'nforlunnte. "You sny you don't believe in finding fault with the ways of Hie world." "Yes." "Then you are an optimist?" "Not at all. I am convinced that the world is so hopelessly had that there isn't the slightest use of trying to say or do anything about It."— Washington Star. A ('HIIOUSPII Conscience. "I suppose you have heard it inti mated that you made a hundred thou sand dollars last year in various quiet ways?" "Yes," said Senator Sorghum. "Aren't you going to try to stop the story?" "N'o. Of course it will cause un pleasant gossip, hut it will help my liiiancial credit."—Washington Star. This a Day ©f • Great Oppc: > ramies By G. W. Perkins, J. P# Morgan's Riehi Bower, OODOKIMsft AM interested in Young America, and I like to see our boys 8 O push ahead and come to the front. Those are days lull of op* (f AT portunities. All that a young man who has brains and yft jj wMy need to do is to take advantage of the chances offered. Nor™ Xjfeh fl are the opportunities limited to any one line or occupation. *8 They are found in every direction. It is more and more true, fi B however, that a boy must fit himself for some specialty. Therefore, lie must find out as soon as he can what lie is specially adapted for and pitch into it. Too many young men in this country don't want to work hard. They prefer to take tilings easy—stay up late at night and lie abed too long in the morning. They never can get ahead in that way. Times and conditions may change, but the old rule remains that there is 110 success without everlastingly keeping at it, 42? .C? Woir.cn Five Times Better Than Mea By Professor ?lante£azza. t, bear 3 fills;} witness ICO llrnca to a woman's SCV: lltcon. X. U Man far forgery and counterfeit coining was convicted 100 times to a woman's eleven. S\fß In France women are summoned before the tribunals four A times less often than men. In France in 1880 women delinquents were fourteen to TWITB In Italy in tile same year they were only nine per cent. 111 Algeria we have ninety-six male delinquents aud only fav.r female. In England and Wales between 183-t and 1842 there were twenty-two women to 100 men charged with the more serious offenses. In 1871 Dr. Nicholson found in the prisons of England 5213 men and 12.7 women. In Bavaria from 1802 to 1800. in a population consisting of peasants, the women who were condemned were In proportion twenty-nine to 100 men. In the prisons of Turin from 1871 to 1884 the women in respect to meu woi'9 represented by a figure of 13.07 per cent. 'faking the whole of Europe women are five times less guilty than men. The Spellbinder In Modern Politics By Col. Curtis Guild, Jr. OHE "spellbinder" made his appearance colncidently with the "dude," in the early eighties. At least the names arose at about that time. The two types of men have existed since the first spellbinder persuaded his brother troglodytes to form the first tribal government and the first dude distinguished himself from his fellows by scraping the sea-mud from his hairy limbs before gulping down the mollusks whose high-lieaped shells were to be the kitchen middens of the archaeologist. The young llepublicans who went forth converted to Democracy in the Blaine campaign, and with the zeal of new converts held their audiences "spellbound" as they wove ehaplets of rhetorical flowers about the head of the Democratic candidate, were the first spellbinders, I think, to wear the title. It was swiftly adopted, however, indiscriminately for all political speakers. yU, The spellbinders of 1894, rightly or wrongly, at least left their parly flKr conscience's sake and gave their services to their cause. Even to-day a majority of political speakers are absolutely unpaid. Of course, one hears stories of foes of SIO,OOO paid to a noted Democrat for campaign services against Mr. Bryan in 1800, and of foes of S3OO a night paid to a noted Independent who op posed Mr. Harrison. In addition, however, to Congressmen and Senators, and State and local office-holders who give their services, there are hundreds of speakers of various political faiths, who neither hold nor expect to hold public office, who would regard the offer of payment for a political speech as an in sult. Nevertheless, the spellbinder must get what comfort he can from the triumph of ids cause, for the world will not credit him with disinterestedness, and his best friends (out of politics) think liiui hired. The orator of au earlier generation lias had his day. The modern spell binder, like the man of business, the soldier, the Salvation Army evangelist, concerns himself more with results titan conventional methods, with matter rather Than form.—Scrihnor's. jZ? Emphasise Children's Virtues, Mot Their Faultk Ey Margaret Stowe. SHE more parents learn to understand their children the greater is their power of self-control and the ability to mould their If a mother lias wisdom enough, patience enough, and love j enough she can perform miracles. She can keep down in her child tendencies thai have the strength of lions aud encourage germs of virtue almost 100 feeble to cotue to the light. It is a common fault among parents to dwell too muck upon the faults of their children and too little upon their virtues. They seem to be wholly forgerful of their own sensitiveness lo public cen sure. A child that is constantly l'ouud fault with loses courage and wonders it there is any use in trying to he good, then soon returns to utter indifference. He might as well have a good time in his own way since ho is considered thoughtless and selfish, anyhow. On the other baud, let a mother try to remember the good things lie lias done or said during the day, even though it may he only one, aud when he comes to her at night for a little talk or his prayers, tell him how pleased you were to notice thorn, how happy they have made you. and you can feel sure lliat lie will always remember to g. on doing what is right, first because It is riy . and then because it pleases you aud makes you very proud of him. IVatch his face glow with pleasure at your praise and his eyes reflect iflTo determination to try harder than ever to win your approbation. 1 have seen a child's whole nature change and develop for the better under this treatment. It stands to reason that if you dwell upon the faults of children you will only impress them all the deeper upon their consciousness, making ii harder for tliem to conquer them. A fault can be put out of the mind easier and more successfully not in dwelling upon it. but by attei ipting to put it out indirectly by tilling the mind with encouraging thought. Children need encouragement as far as reforming goes. Look only for 'lie good, and when you find it emphasise il so that they may have an incentive for trying all the harder. A child is easily wounded with a sense of its fail ures, and mothers should make the effort to inspire and cheer tliem. Always send your children to bed in a happy frame of mind. Even in their sleep that impression is retained, and tliey awake in Ihe morning ready and eager to do their best. Not long ago I read of a beautiful idea. Parents would do well lo put it into practice. The thought was this: Singing, which is one of the most beneficial .AA exhilarating pastimes for children. Is not sufficiently indulged in. i It is singularly difficult to iuduce children ill Sunday-school to sing out freely, and when there are strangers present the little ones are almost sure lo he seized with a shyness that makes tliem dumb. Much of tiiis shyness would he overcome if in tile family there was a prac- j tlce of singing together in tin- evening. Pianos are everywhere, and almost all mothers can play enough to manage a few simple melodies. A "good-night song" before separating would he found to soothe away some of the cares and vexations of the day, and ih c . children would he more ready ro go peacefully to lied, their minds having been calmed and their nerves quieted by the music.—New York Journal.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers