I WAYLAID! I : : It was always a puzzle to me how the partnership between Edward Chap man and Arthur Starling ever began, and a still greater wonder bow it con tinued. It was well for the credit of the firm that he was the predominant partner, for his impeccability, his parsimony' (which had ever a spice of kindness), his strong sense of justice, and his industry, were all needed to counteract the recklessness of Mr. Starling. The latter had oonie into tho firm as an adept at litigating business (a phase of the profession which Chap man detested!, and when be was con scious of what be was dolufr —which was not always the case for certain reasons—ho was up to all the tricks of common law practice. Each partner had his own staff of clerks, his own set of chambers, and Ills own lot of clients. It was rarely that any business of importance came to be intrusted to "The Flier," and when the purchaser brought the contract for a £16,- 000 purchase in the summer of 1892, it naturally came to Chapman's side of the office. The preliminary work all fell to my share, and all went smoothly. The completion was fixed by tho contract for the 2'Jth of September, and, as all waa clear, there was nothing to pre vent tho actual day being adhered to. Chapman was away with his family for the vacation, but intended to come up specially to pay ovor the £14,- 400 balance, after deducting the 10 percent paid on the signing of the con tract. On the morning of the 28th all waa In readiness. The figures had been agreed to by letter, ami an appoint ment made with Isaac Blumenthal, the vendor's solicitor, for completion to take place at 2 the next day. I had all tho papers in readiness on the morfiing of the 2*th. It was our practice to close at 5 during the long vacation; but I bad some letters for Starling to sign, and had to wait till his return to the offloe. About 6.45 I heard his unsteady footsteps com lag up the stairs. Ho looked at me hazily, and threw a wire to nut "What do you thiak of it? Are you ready?" The wire was from Chapman: "Please attend Bathlrridjje oamyfie tlon. Son seriously 111; hair death.— Chapman. "Yes," said I. "I'm all reody." "Then bo ready to cotne with me," said Starling. "Give Krvutzer figures In the morning. He can draw a check, and I'll sign it. Is the cash at the bank?" 'He bad indorsed the purchaser's check that morning for payment In, but had forgotten all about it. lie turned up at the office about noon next day. The check was ready for Ills signature, and he signed it. | But the man seemed dazod. I did not, like tho prospeot of the eampletion at all. Still, I liked less harrtng tho re sponsibility myself. "You ready?" he (mid, opening his eyes with an effort. "Then meet me at Blumenthal's at 2. Get everything fixed, and I'll attend with the caah." "Very well," said I, nod left the room. But I had no Intention of doing what ho said. I put the papers in the office-bag and slipped out to the eoliettors' en trance to the law oourte. Presently I saw Starling come praacing along out of New Square gale on his way to our bank, the Chancery Lane branch of the Union of I.otukn. I watched him go into the bank, aml presently emerge and turn to the left up Chan cery lane. Then I followed quickly. I ■Was within 20 raids of him when he crossed Holborn and went up Gray's Inn lane. 1 followed across and turned into tho lane. As 1 roauuksl the corner I heard a scuffle and a yell. Running up quickly, I saw Starling oil the ground. With two rough-looking men holding pim down and pulling him about. 1 had a stout ash-stick with a root knob In my hands, and rushed np Just as they were leaving him. I caught ono of thern—- a tall thin, man, with a bushy, red board and large, misshapen spec tacles —a sounding crack on the back of hi 3 head. He went down, doubled up In a lump, and I hastened after the other. But he was fleet, and I did not care to go far front Starling, who was lying on the pavement, with the ruf fian I had floored beside him. At least he ought to liavo been beside him. But when I returned from my futile chase of number two I could see no sign of hint. He had recoverod before Starl ing, and made the beet of his way off. But on the pavement, lay a piece of false red beard! I found Starling sit ting up, looking dazed and disreputa ble. "Have you got. the money all right?" 1 cried; "or did they got it?" He felt in his inner coat pocket. His face fell, and he looked up blankly. "Heavens!" he cried. "That red whiskered man asked me where the £14,000 was! And that's all I remember!" "What?" I cried. "DW he name the sum?" "Yes," said Starling. "Why?" I looked at my watch. It still want ed some minutes of "Have you got the number of the notes?" I asked. "No," said Starling. "Then will you go to the bank to get them?" I said "I'll be round at the office in a quarter of afi hour." "Whom are you talking to like that?" cried Starling. "I don't know what you mean. It's a bit too thick. Ab-so-lute-ly." "I beg pardon," I said. "But I've got an idea. Do go. I'll explain all to you at the office." "All right," he said. "But it brat* me, ab-so-lute-ly." I left Starling on his way to get the numbers of the notes, and turned my steps to Blumenthal's office. It was Just 2 when I got there, the time of the appointment. An old dirty-looking clork, whom 1 Itad seen before, was in the clerk's office. "Mr. Blumenthal ready?" I asked. "I've called to completa The appoint ment is for 2." I thought the old n*an looked startled. "I'll see," ho said. He passed through a green baize door, and came back almost instantly. "Mr. Blumenthal is out at lunch," he said. "I expect him back every moment. Will you go into his room and sit down?" "No, thank you," I replied. I'll wait here." Again 1 thought the old clerk looked startled, but he said nothing. "We might be checking the deeds with the schedule," I suggested. "They're locked up in the safe," said tho old fellow. "And Mr. Blumenthal's got the key." Aboil? 2.15 I saw a tall, lean man pass the window and give a searching glance within. He came along the pas sage straight into the clerk's oihoe. He stopped short when he saw me. "Who's this Mosenthal?" he asked. I took the answer upon myself. "Mr. Claybroolce, from Chapman and Starling, to complete," I said. "What's that?" he cried. "I beg your pardon," he continued; "but I've just had an accident. Would you mind malting tho completion tomorrow?" "We won't pay interest," I said. "No, that's all right," he agreed. "Very good," said I. "Two o'clock to morrow. Will that suit you? Thank you. Good day!" I found Starling in his room. He looked up as I entered. "It's, all your fault, ab-et>-lut-ly!" he said, "if you'd met me at tie bank as I told you, it wouldn't have hap pened. Now you've about boken up the show." "Look here," I said. "Never mind that now. Do you want to get the money back? I fancy I know where It Is." "Rot!" said he. "Have you got the numbers of the notes?" I asked. "Yes," said he. "Then come round to Bcnv Btneet!" I cried. "I'm going to apply for a search warrant over Blumenthal's of fice and house." "You're mad!" he cried. "Gome on," I urged. "I'll tell ytm all about it on tho way round." Of course, all tho police officials threw difficulties in the way of an im mediate application to the bench, but experience had taught me how to deal with them; and I was presently sworn and unfolding my tale in witness box, and making my application to cour teous old Sir John Bridge. "It's an extraordinary story," said Sir John. "I suppose you know you aro running some risk if you are mistak en?" "I'll take that," said I. "What I ask for is a anarch warrant for the notes specified in this list." "Very well," again said Sir John. "Yoai may as well take Burnaby with you as well as tho warrant officer. I find ho knows something of this Mr. Blumenthal." He signed the warrant and handed It over to Burnaby. We picked up the warrant officer, and ail three got into the first hansom we came across. Starl ing went baek to the office. Old Mosenthal met us at the door. Burnaby pushed him aside with a word to Jones, tho warrant officer, to keep an eye upon him, and went straight through into the inner office. Blumenthal was sitting in his office chair, making a pretense to busy him self about some patters on the desk. "Hallo!" ho cried. "What's this?" Burnaby produced the warrant, and explained. Blumenthal roared with laughter. "That's good!" ho said. "Your Mr. Starling gels robbed, and then tries to compromise me!" Now wo had not mentioned that Starling had been robbed. Burnaby looked at mo and winked. "Just open that safe," he said. "Open it yourself," said Blumenthal. There was not a sign of the notes in the safe. When wo had gone through this wo turned our attention t.o the rest of tho room. Suddenly Burnaby paused. Ha looked at the fireplace, whero only a few embers smouldered. "Allow mo to malto up your fire," he said. "Certainly," replied Blumenthal, but I thought with rather an ill grace. Burnaby went on his knees. As he did so Blumenthal rose from his chair Instead of making up the fire tho jin- I toctive thrust his arm up the chimney J —and then Blumenthal was on him. Between us we soon mastered the I lawyer. Then Burnaby said "Perhape 3'ou'd like to find the notes yourself. I don't think there's any doubt that they are there now. What a lucky shot! I doubt if I should havo thought of It, but it was funny that there should bo such a poor tiro on Buch aday." Whilo ho was speaking I had thrusl my hand as far up the chimney as i could, and, by dint of stretching, 1 felt a little niche nearly a yard up the left-hand side. In this I folt a pack et, and on drawing it down it proved to be a foolscap envelope with th notes Inside. As we ohecked them with the list, Blumenthal came to himself again. But the bracelets were on him. and h looked at us with an evil expression.— Answore. When a man doesn't meet his billi it keeps him busy dodging. -gill. Little Millionaires, Twenty little millionaires, Playing in tho sun; Millionaires in mothorlove, Millionaires in fun, Millionaires in leisure hours, Millionaires in joys, Millionaires in hopes and plans Are these girls and boys. Millionaires In health are they, And in dancing blood; Millionaires in shells and stonee, Sticks and moss and mud; Millionaires in castles In the air, and worth Quito n ndllipn times as muoh As castles on the earth. Twunty little millionaires, riaytng in the sua; Oh! how happy they mußt be, Every singlo one! Hardly any years have they, Hardly aiiy cares; But in every lovely thing Multimillionaires. —Youth's Companion. Bird That Cries Pa, Pa, Pa. This bird is a native of South Afri ca. It is as largo as a crow, with long legs and bill, wings are dark green in one light and golden in another. This species is called hadeda. They live in marshy places, and are easily tamed to live in houses, and soon go iu and out as if they were a part of the fami ly. You would think thoy were a part of it if you would hear them cry out "Pa, pa, pa," like an impatient child. Two of these birds were very fond of the fathor of the family andl followod him about all day. On Sundays they would-actually walk Into the church with hiiin, walk gracefully up the aisle and take thoir stand near the minister, who was their master. It was very funny to see those solemn lookinghlrds standing there. It was lucky they did not cry out "Pa, pa, pa," for the con gregation had already laughed quite enough. The birds would not go away until the minister was ready to go also; then they followed biim home. Jolly Dutch Children. In the whole world there are no more Jolly children than the small boys and girls of Holland. The little hoys all wear the loosest, widest and most preposterous breeches ever seen. Each pair seems big enough to hold two boys and reaches high above his waist, where it buttons to his small Bh:irt The head guar is almost al ways a small round cap. Coats and jackets they rarely wear even in the winter when at play. The little Dutch girls wear long skirts so full that one almost suspects that there are hoop skirts under them such as grandmother wore when She was a young lady. On their heads are the tightest of white caps, such as babies wear in America. Sometimes, under these caps, they have a hood or bread piece made of brass, which is kopt brightly polished and glitters splendidly through the lace overcap. Boys and girls wear wooden shoes and! make.a tremendous clatter as they play their games on the sidewalks or the pavement. One of their counting out rhymes spelled as it is pronounced. Is: Been, twee, oen Kopje the, Een, Klontje, er bij, Af ben jij. A Bargain Day. For a long time Herbert had been praying for a baby sister; and at last, when he was 6 years old, she came. Though somewhat disappointed at her limp and unresponsive state, the little fellow was delighted at her arrival; and as time passed on and she became more appreciative of his attentions, his admiration knew no hounds. But when she had attained the ad vanced age of 2 years and was "into everything," as the nurse expressed It, he was often glad to withdraw from her society, and to betake himself and his belongings to another part of the house. But, as baby's devotion to him (and Ms playthings) increased daily, the withdrawing process became more and more difficult; and Herbert, though still loyal, did sometimes complain of the unreasonable preference of his small sister for his playthings over her own. One day mamma found both children on the floor, In a corner of the dining room, each pulling vigorously at a scrap-book of which Herbert was very fond. "It's mine!" he cried emphatically. "Mine!" screamed the baby, both hands grasping the book. With a great deal of tact and sooth ing persuasion, mamma at length res cued the book, and peace was restored. That evening, after the usual good night play between the two children, mamma said: "She's a darling, precious little sis ter, isn't she, Herbert?" "Yes," answered Herbert. Then, as ho remembered the day's tribulations, he added thoughtfully: "But sometimes I have a bargain day." "A bargain day!" repeated mamma, perplexed. "Yes. Yon know, mamma, like what they have at the stores —when I'd sell her for 25 cents." —The Christian Reg ister. Why Flounders Are Flat. Although little Clarenco Beach was rather tired of living at tho bottom of the sea, where he had been sent for asking questions, there were so many strange and' new things in and around Neptune's palace that he could not help asking about them, and so he did not get over his unfortunate habit as quickly as his parents expected. One day while Clarence was out for a walk, he thought he would sit on a nice flat stone and take a rest, but as scon as he was nicely seated the stone began to swim away and Clarence jumped up just in time to escape being carried off. He was so excited that he began to ask himself questions at once, for there was no one else around to ask. "Well, I never!" he exclaimed. "I wonder now if all of the stones down here can swim, and! who taught them to swim and why they don't swim up to the top of the water, and what would happen If some one should use that kind of a stone for a sinker on his fishline?" Then the stone came swim ming back, and Clarence saw that It was not a stone at all, but a very funny fish. "Well! Well! Well!'-cried Clarence. "It's only a fish after all; but it's just as flat as a pancake!" "No such thing," said the fish angri ly. "I am as flat as a flounder, and there is nothing strange about that, either, for I am a flounder. Since you have seen fit to ask so many questions you have got to listen while I tell you why flounders are flat. And the next time you hear any one say 'flat as a flounder" yon will know all about it "A great, great many years ago, flounders were not flat at all, but shaped like any other fish. In fact, they were very graceful and well pro portioned, and they were quite vain on account of It. "One day a ship sailed over the part of the ocean whore the flounders lived, and a young girl dropped a looking glass out of her cabin window. The looking glass came down and down through the water until it fell right Into the flounders' hack yard. Mr. Flounder found it a little while later and picked it up to look at it. He saw the reflection of his own faco in the looking glass, and he thought it was somo other flounder who had no busi ness there. " 'Get out of here at once,' he cried. 'What do you mean by coming right in here without an invitation and walking about among my clothes lines?' You know all fishes hang up their clothes to get nice and wet be fore putting them on. Of course, the reflection did not answer, but the look ing glass reflected Mr. Flounder's mouth as he spoke, and he thought the other flounder was making faces at him. That made him so mail that he kicked out With both fins and his tail and he fell down on the back of Ills nock so hard that he jarred down four clothes poles. Mrs. Flounder saw the clothes dragging In the sand and she came rushing out of tho house to give Mr. Flounder a piece of her mind. " The very iifea,' she said. 'You ought to be ashamed to he cutting such didos at your age.' " 'lt struck me,' sobbed Mr. Floun der. 'That round thing tipped me up and hurt the back of my head.' Then he sat up very straight to see Mrs. Flounder with looking glass in her fin, smiling and bowing and putting her hat on straight 'Oh, this Is just lovely,' she cried in surprise. 'You are a dear, good, old Flounder-Poun der, to bring your little ,wlfey such a nice present. I declare. I never knew I was so handsome. We must go more into society so people can see how beautiful I am. I will give a party this very day!' "Mr. Flounder got up at once, and when he looked in the glass he said: 'Hum! Ah! Well, really, you know, I had no idea that I was so distinguished looking. Go ahead with your party by all means. "In a few days the Flounders had a very grand party, anil they Invited aD Immense number of fishes, nearly all of whom came. "Before long they finished playing all the games that the fishes knew, and then young Mr. Sunflsh. who had been brought up In a river where boys often came to fish, proposed that they play a game that he had often seen boys play on the hanks of the river. The game was called 'squat tag,' and all the fishes thought it was the greatest fun they had ever known. "They had bfen playing for a long time and enjoying themselves very much when Mr. Sturgeon, who Is a very fast swimmer, was 'lt' The very first one Mr. Sturgeon chased was Mr. Whale, and just as he was about to bo caught Mr. Whale squatted in a great hurry. He was so afraid of be ing caught by Mr. Sturgeon that he squatted right on Mr. and Mrs. Floun der, who were holding each other's hands and taking turns peeping in the looking glas. Of course, as Mr. Whale was nineteen million times heavier than both the Flounders, he squashed them just as flat as could possibly be, and he broke the glass into little pieces. "As soon as Mr. Whale found what ho had done, he said he was very sor ry, and offered to sit on tho edges of Iho Flounders anil squash them back again, but Mr. Flounder said he made it a rule never to bo squashed twice in one day, and Mrs. Flounder and Mr. j Whale ought to be made to go and as | sociate with a gun foundry, for lie was a regular blunderbuss. The party broke up at once and tho Flounders have never forgiven Mr. Whala for breaking their looking glass, j Neither ever tried to regain the old i shape. After awhile they decided it was the correct style to bo flat, for it was so different from the common kind of fishes, and all flounders are flat to this day."—New York Mail and Ex press. A Powerful Dredge. A "clamshell" dredge recently built I for use on the levees at tho mouth of the Sacramento river has a boom 155 feet long, and raises 25 tons of earth at each "bite." HELPS MEN WHO LOSE RICHES. The Peculiar Province of a Quiet Philadelphia Charity. More than a century and a half ago Alexander Popo wrote of "Humble Allen," who "with conscious shame, did good by stealth, and blushed to find It tame." Modern bards could not easily find inspiration In such a theme. "Humble Aliens" are not many nowa days. Charity has become an institu tion, and, like murder, it will out. Philanhroptsts are sorely distressed to avoid publicity for their benefac tions, and one cannot endow a refuge for orphans or indigent cats without a noisy flourish from the housetops. It Is curious and somewhat start ling, then, to find that right here' in Philadelphia has existed for nearly 50 years, without knowledge of more than a few persons, an association of men devoted to a unique and unostenta tious well-doing. Public ignorance of their enterprise is all the more re markable from the fact that among these men are some of the wealthi est, most influential and best known citizens in the community. Included in tho membership list are such names as Jay Cooke, N. Parker Shortridge, Lincoln Godfrey, Joel J. Bally, Justus C. Strawbridge, Isaac H. Clothier, John H. Converse, Richard Wood and others of equal standing. But it is unusual character of their beneficence that attracts inter est. All these men are wealthy—some beyond the dreams of avarice—but their purpose has nothing to do with the amelioration of the condition of the paupor. On the contrary, theirs is a society for the rescue of the de cayed millionaire. They call it the Merchants' Fund as sociation, and the 49th annual meeting was held the other day in a little old room in South Fourth street, away from the clamors of the more preten tious virtues. In a word, the plan of these kindly old gentlemen is- to relieve once wealthy companions of their early days, who have since lost their for tunes, or in other ways Buffered the vicissitudes of time. The act of Incorporation, dated 1854, says that the object is "to furnish re lief to indigent merchants of Philadel phia, and especially those who are aged and infirm, and there is a com mentary on tho Ironic whims of cir cumstance in the fact that since that time 8300,000 has been paid out in benefits. In that first year seven merchants were aided at an expenditure of $1,300, while in the year just passed 43 bene ficiaries were on the roll, and $10,200 was disbursed. Comparison of those figures might afford matter for inter esting speculation. Is tho merchant of today more reckless than he of a half century ago, or is it that the'num ber of merchants has increased, and therefore, of course, tho number of tmenccessful merchants? More than $400,000 is now in the in vested fund of the organization, and it is almost constantly receiving accre tions, so that there is plenty left wherewith to provide for unfortunate plutocrats of the future, if the supply of unfortunate plutocrats holds out. — Philadelphia North American. Virtues of the Papaw. Tho well-known papaw tree of the tropics seems to possess added virtues to those with which we are familiar. Percy Groom, writing to Nature, says that during his residence in China he made some interesting observations re garding tho papaw tree. A line of these trees stretched between the house and the river, and he was sin gularly free from mosquitoes, while other houses on the same island wore more or less infested by them. While frequently watching tliese trees he never saw a single Insect alive on them, though flies and other Insects settled In numbers upon the bain boos and banana plants not far away. The papaw trees seemed to act as a ram part to keep Insects ai a distance and mosquitoos from entering the house. His eplnion was oonsideramy strengthened by the increase in the number invading tho premises after a typhoon had felled several of the trees, making a gap among them. Mr.' Groom adds that the practice of hanging meat in the shade of the pa paw tree to render the meat tender seems to bo a senseless custom, but its wide distribution causes one to ask: Is it not possible that the papaw treo should exhale a gaseous product which either repels meat-destroying in sects or exerts an antiseptic action on putrafaclive bactoria, or. finally, is a volatile ferment? Tho peculiar rela tion in regard to temperature displayed by tho proteolytic fermont of the pa/- paw juice renders the last possibility less improbable than at first impres sion. Nuremburg's Falling Walls. Nuremberg, whose walls are report ed to be showing signs of rapid decay, was once about the richest and most famous town in Europe. The well known saying of Pope Pius II that a Nuremberg citizen was better off than a Scottish king was justified by the accounts that have been preserved of the town and its burghers. In the 15th century there came from Nuremberg thofirstwatches.knownas "Nuremberg eggs," the first cannon, the first gun lock, tho first wire-drawing machine, the clarinet, certain descriptions of pottery, and the art of painting on glas. For 800 years Its new decaying walls defended the valley of the Feg nitz against pope and emperor. Four hundred towers once topped tho walls, hut only about one-third of them now remain. Some of these towers are of very early date, but most of them be long to the system of fortification planned by Albrecht Durer.—London I Daily Chronicle. SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. In tie life of Millals It Is told how ha once painted a double rainbow with the colors In tho wrong order, and had to correct it. In one of Rossetti'a pictures, containing a sun dial, the figure is put due east instead of south of the stylus. A story is told of a modern artist who through his excessive devotion to de tail and accuracy made a curious mis take. He painted a picture of some scap V bubbles, and on each bubble ws= a f ' black cross. He was asked about the cross,' and replied that all bubbles had the cross. When the experiment was tried, however, no cross appeared. Much puzzled, the artist returned to his studio, and upon blowing bubbles here found that every one showed the curious cross. He was much surprised when it was explained to him that the "holy symbol" was simply the reflec tion of the crossbar in his skylight. Franz, tho German astronomer, pub lished two years ago an exhaustive treatise on "The Mountains and Cra ters of the Moon." In this work the latitude and longitude of each moun tain and crater were worked out, and since that time his bsek has been used in all tho observatories of tho world as the standard. Professor Pickering, A of Harvard, lias been at work recently on a new atlas of the moon and dis covered that no account has been taken heretofore of the altitude of the craters. He has discovered that the lat itude and longitude measurements of each are greatly affected by the height. All previous measurements used in the study of the moon by astronomers will have to be corrected by the new series of tables, upon which Professor Pick ering is still at work. Ever since Professor Tyndall first discovered the movement of glaciers, attempts have been made by scientists to aseertafti the exact depths of these natural phenomena by boring. Their efforts, however, have not been attend ed with very conspicuous success, ow ing to mechanical difficulties that have been encountered. But Professors y Blumcke and Hess, from Bavaria, who are well known for their studies of glaciers, have succeeded in boring through the Hintereis glacier in the Otzthal Alps, and found the ice to bo 153 meters deep. The machine used for boring was driven by hand, and some what resembled that usually employed for experimental boring in mines, bue was fitted with special arrangements for washing out fragments of ice form tho bore hole to prevent thriir freezing together again. The expenses of the in vestigation, which is of Incalculable benefit to science, were defrayed by the German and Austrian Alpine clubs. The Temple-Swift comet, which was among those expected in 1902, did not pass perihelion until tho end of Jan uary, 1903, so that it belongs to tills year's flock. Tho most remarkable of the 1903 comets is tho one discovered 1 by M. Faye in 1843. It was last oh-f* served by M. Javello at Nice in Sep tember, 1895, nearly six months before passing its perihelion. D'Arrests's pe riodicay comet is due this year. It was last observed in 1897, its perihelion date being May 21. A comet discovered by Dr. Spitaler at Vienna in 1890 is also due in 1903. Two comets, one dis covered by Professor Perrine at Mount Hamilton in February, 1890, and the other by M. Giacobini at Nice in Sep tember of the same year, may be back this year, although their orbits are not very accurately known. Another comet which should appear tills year Is that discovered by Mr. Brooks at the Smith Observatory, Geneva, N. Y., in July. 1889. It was last observed in the sum mer of 1896. Winnccke's comet, dis covered by Pons in 1819, is due late in 1903 or early in the following year. In ono of his interesting notes in Nature, W. F. Denning gives an ab- ' stract of the history of the famous red spot of Jupiter. He tells us that ac celeration of the movement apparent in this epot has been noticed for some time past. During last summer tile movement was especially intensified. The rotation period for 23 years of the spot had shown an increasing re tardation, the period lengthening from 9 hours, 55 minutes, 34 seconds to near -9 hours, 55 minutes, 42 seconds. Then, In 1891, it declined by one second, and in the present year its period is 9 hours, 55 minutes, 39 1-2 seconds. What is highly interesting to astronomers is the concurrent development of a big marking, irregular in shape and of a dusky hue in the same area of the planet. Mr. Denning suggests that thi3 second marking may have exerted an influence on the rate of motion of the red spot, which, in tho present year, ap- ■ poarod to be environed by tho new spot. The recounting of these and other de- T tails shows us the difficulties which at tend the observation of a planet like Jupiter. We are also taught thereby the need for the accumulation of ac curate details, from the mass of which the astronomy of the future may be en abled to draw trustworthy conclusions concerning the history of the orb. Automobile Comfort. The automobilist with tendency to cold feet should welcome with joy the "auto heater" recently placed on the market by a Chicago firm. It is of met al, heavily reinforced from top to bot tom, and cannot be crushed. It is cov ered with velvet carpet, and may bo carried about by means of the handles on the ends. In a perforated box or W.~ drawer is placed a cake of carbon, pre- 1 pared by a special process and formed into bricks under hydraulic pressure, after which all volatile gases are driv en off by subjection to a high tempera ture. This carbon is consumed without smoke or odor and there is no flame, or dust. A single brick will give off heat continuously for about fifteen hours.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers