Democratic Press, Volume 1, Number 24, Decatur, Adams County, 28 March 1895 — Page 6

BETTER TIMES AHEAD SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN IMPORTS AND REVENUE. William McKinley’s* Incipient Presidential Boom—Gresham’s Commendable Course in Dealing: with Spain—- •’ Protection” in Canada. Suggestive Figure®. The main feature of the new tariff law went into effect on Aug. 28. During the six succeeding months the receipts from customs amounted to $79.686,456. against only $64.75(;,541 for the corresponding six months one year before under the McKinley law. This suggests that by increasing importations the new tariff yields more revenue than the McKinley system, with its higher duties did. not counting the gala to be made from sugar duties. . These have yielded scarcely anything during the six mouths, because of large free importations made in anticipation of the tax. But the suggestion is not quite fair. The increase in importations is not altogether a matter of tariff difference. A study of the figures shows that it is due in part to that general improvement in business which is reflected in increasing railroad traffic, in rapidlygrowing batik clearings and in other ways. It is apparent also that the people have been economizing closely during the last two years and merchants keeping their stocks down, until now the time has come when purchases long deferred tuust tie made. Significant of this is the fact that during January and February the imports of dry goods increased by no less than 89 per cent, while other imports, excepting sugar, increased only 12.5 per cent. Sugar imports, for the reason already referred to. fell off $2,246,000 from last year's figures. The dry goods imports at New York amounted during January and February to $34,768,129, against $21,107.018 for the corresponding two months of last year. The gain has been in manufactures of wool and cotton. Silks and linens show a decided falling off. The cheapening of woolen goods, both foreign and domestic, by the removal of the wool duties and the lowering of duties on woolen cloths, is enabling the people to buy such fabrics in larger quantities than before. Probably the improvement in domestic silks and the cheapening of their cost during recent years affect unfavorably the import trade in fabrics of that class. New York World. Tlie Untaxed Foreigners. The tidal w ave of last November evidently gave to the New York Tribune a firmer faith in the gullibility of the people. It delivers itself of this bit of McKinleyism. which is usually reserved for the rural stump: ‘‘Still worse Is the fact that the nation's taxes are no longer paid, as they formerly were, in great part by foreign manufacturers and by importers, but have been so shifted by this same Congress that they fall in far greater proportion on the people of this country, and particularly on the working people.” How familiar this fatuous old fallacy appears! Perhaps its new sponsor will answer a few questions to which we failed to elicit a reply from Mr. McKinley when he was regaling backwoods audiences with this preposterous theory. If tariff taxes are paid in great part by foreigners, why did the Republican Congress continue $150,000,000 of internal taxes which, as the Tribune truly says, ‘‘must be paid entirely by our own people?” Why did it not raise all the "revenue from the tariff and compel the foreigners to pay the entire cost of supporting our Government? Why did the Reed-McKinley Congress stop appropriations at a billion of dollars? Why not spend two billions and fructify this favored land with the tribute wrung from foreign nations? In Germany and France we are ‘‘the foreigners." Do we pay the high duties which they are now imposing on our imports? On many articles the McKinley tariff Imposed a duty of over 100 per cent. Did the foreigners give us the goods and pay us a bounty besides for using them? , The people were not fooled last year. They were disappointed and angry. Why try to fool them now with these stupid old fallacies? New York World. “Protection” Across the Border. Though Canada has never slink quite as low down in the “Serboniati bog” of "protectionism" as the United States, the Canadian voter is, nevertheless, be ginning to find out that his tariff is an elephant for him to carry. The Toronto Globe points out that, while pig iron in Canada is taxed from 30 to 60 per cent (the tariff duty there being $4.48 per long ton on soft iron, such as is used for radiators), "it is as cheap—in many cases cheaper—to import from the United Slates than to buy in Nova Scotia. It says: “The Nova Scotia furnace men get a direct bounty of $2 and an indirect bounty represented by the low rates on the Intercolonial, yet the price of their Iron laid down in Toronto is higher tnan the price in the States by the amount of our duty ($4.48).” Under our new tariff the prices of pig iron in New York now range, according to brand, from $9.50 to $12.50, as quoted in the Iron Age of the 7th Inst.. which Journal also quotes steel rails at S2O to $22, according to section. The Iron Age says editorially that, "judging by some of the figures talked of by those who are interested in new steel plants on the lakes, low costs of production have not yet reached their limit.” And it thinks that the prospective prices of Iron and steel in the United States "foreshadow for many American collateral industries a continuance of low priced crude materials which will make j

them lively competitors In the world’s markets.” The outlook is, therefore, favorable for a considerable increase in our exports of pig iron, steel rails, hardware and all iron and steel products to our Canadian neighbors, unless they sweep away their grand ‘‘national policy" of "protection," and thus reduce the cost of production to a natural level.—Nev York Herald. Exportation of Iron. Under free wool our manufacturerhave already begun to export woolen goods io England. It now looks as if we would soon begin to export iron to Europe. Here is what Mr. .1. Bowron. secretary of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, said in Baltimore on March 13: "I have lieeome perfectly satisfied that, starting as we do with the price about $2.50 per ton for gray forge or No. 3 foundry below the free-on-board price of Middlesborough (England! iron of similar grades, we certainly ought to la- able to compete in neutral markets. It will, however. require time and patience to attain this end. for the reason that the vast bulk of ocean tonnage is in the hands of English owners, who will make freight rates to facilitate English exports and obstruct ours. "I nfortunately. American producers are handicapped by the fact that the tonnage of our exports largely exceeds the tonnage of our Imports. This fact enables the English to make the American charterer pay the cost of the round trip, and he is willing to accept a mere ballasting rate from England outward to this country. "I am afraid from this cause that it will be impossible for some time to sell any southern iron in England unless it can be shipps-d to Manchester on board cotton ships, which would lessen the freight rate. The markets of the Mediterranean and of the Baltic are not, however, subject to the same remarks except to a limited extent, and I am quite hopeful that the rates which arc now under the consideration of the southern railways to Mobile. Pensacola and Savannah for foreign shipment will enable us actually to commence exporting pig iron to Italian. Spanish and Russian ports.” An Incipient President;:,! Boom. William McKinley, who has paid very little attention to his duties as Governor of Ohio, has started south to show himself to the people, make speeches and start a boom for the Republican nomination for President next year. Mr. McKinley may succeed to some extent in the South. What will it avail him? At the Minneapolis convention he occupied the chair while Southern Republican politicians cast their votes for Benjamin Harrison. Lightning played around tin- head of Mr. McKinley until the Southern Republican politicians witli votes in the convention, but none in the electoral college, carried the convention away from him to a nominee who proved unsuccessful at the polls. Republican votes from the South in a national convention are potent to make the candidate, but they are impotent to elect a Republican President of the United States. Governor McKinley would gain more by staying at home and attending to his duties as Governor of Ohio. Presidential booms born at so early a period are liable to a nipping frost before they have passed the critical [>eriod of infancy. Chicago Times-Herald. The Income Tax. The opponents of the income tax as feet to regard the question at issue as one which involves the right of tile Government to tax the rich man into poverty. One of them says that if there is no limitation against such legislation "there is no constitutional barrier against the most demagogical class legislation under the cloak of taxation." This is a terrible picture; but it will be quite time to discuss that question when it becomes a practical one. The income tax which has passed both houses of Congress and become a law is utterly lacking in the terrible features with which the imaginary enactment of the future is endowed. It involves no hardship to anybody. It simply insists that the rich shall bear a part in the support of the Federal Government a little nearer proportionate to the benefits they derive from it than is the part they now bear. To refuse because somebody else may at some future time be treated less justly is illogical. Detroit Free Press. Gresham’s Promptness. The promptness of the State Depart ment in calling for reparation for the outrage on the Allianca comes so near satisfying the utmost demands of the jingoes that there issues from the other extreme a suggestion that the state Department may have been too hasty and that we ought to go slow in such matters. As an abstract principle it is undoubtedly true that there should be no undue haste in an affair of the kind; but it does not appear in this case that there has been any If Spain can show that the action of her subjects was justifiable, or that the facts have been misrepresented, there is nothing in the stand of the State Department to prevent it. But if such a showing can be made, it cannot be made too soon. The matter is of too grave Importance to b» dawdled over.—Exchange. Folly of the Jingo Policy. One of the most disquieting signs ot the times is the jingo policy into which protectionists are betraying the Republican party. Not content with sacrificing the Internal interests of the country to maintain the profits ot a favored few. they now proceed to court disaster abroad by an aggressive foreign policy, contrary to the wise maxims of the fathers of the republic. One would think that all the energies of our statesmen might be fully occupied for some years yet In solving the domestic problems with which we are confronted.---Baltimore Sun.

REINA REGENTE LOST SPANISH CRUISER WAS SUNK NEAR GIBRALTAR. Second Search of the Alfonso XII. Proves Succe®®ful It Is Believed the Whole Crew, 420 in Number, Have Been Lost. Divers to Recover Bodies. The Spanish cruiser Reina Regent a lies at the bottom of the sea. There is no longer any doubt as to her fate or the fate of the 420 officers and men she carried. Every man on board must have !>erished when the boat went down near the Straits of Gibraltar, for not one has been found to tell the story of the awful disaster. Aside from the little wreckage picked up and which first gave a clew to her fate nothing remains above the water but about twenty inches of her masts. It is another one of the terrible wrecks of history in which boat and crew disappeared so completely that it was only after a long search that the scene us the disaster could be located—another that calk'd fur the sacrifice of hundreds of human lives. The men must have had absolutely no chance for escape. They must have gone down with the boat almost before they realized their danger or some bodies would have been found. As it is they are all believed to be in the wreck, and divers have been sent to the scene to attempt to recover them. The ship was found by the Alfonso XII., which was sent in search of her after it was reported that wreckage from her had been picked up. She was found near Bajo Aeitanos, not far from the Straits of Gibraltar. The Alfonso XII. and the Isla de Luzon started in search of her immediately after she was reported missing on March 13, and they have kept up the search continuously since, but without success until now. The Alfonso XII. returned to Cadiz after locating her, but has started back again with divers and appliances to attempt to recover the bodies of the officers and crew. The Reina Regente was reported miss ing on March 13. She had just conveyed from Cadiz to Tangier the returning Moorish mission to Spain. The cruiser left Tangier on March 10 for Cadiz, and her whereabouts were not definitely ascertained until to-day. Pieces of one of her boats and semaphore flags were reported to have been picked up along the shore near Ceuta and Tarifa. She car ried a crew of 420 officers and men. and all hands are believed to have perished. The Reina Regente. about two years ago. came to New York as one of the Spanish squadron which escorted across the Atlantic the Columbus caravels. The Infanta Isabel, now reported to have sunk an American schooner off the coast of Cuba, and the Nueva Espana were the other ships of the Spanish squadron. The Reina Regente was launched in 1887 and was one of three second-class deckprotected cruisers of the same build, her sister ships being the Alfonso XII. and Lepanto, all of 4,800 tons, 12.000 horse power, and expected to steam twenty knots. The wrecked cruiser was 320 feet long, had 50 feet 6 inches beam, and a draught of 20 feet 4 inches. She was propelled by twin screws. Her protected deck was 4% inches thick on the slopes, her conning tower had 5 inches of annor and her gun shields were 3 inches thick. INSULTED NOW BY JOHN BULL No American to Be Consulted in Settlement of Nicaraguan Affairs. A dispatch from Managua. Nicaragua, says: “Through its minister here the British government has submitted an ultimatum to Nicaragua. It demands a cash indemnity of £15,000 for the expulsion of Mr. Hatch, British consular agent at Biuefields, nnd also the appointment of a commission to adjudicate the dr.mages sustained by persons and property of British subjects expelled from the Mosquito reservation about the same time. By the terms of the ultimatum Great Britain is to name one of the commissioners and Nicaragua another, and these two are to choose a third, who shall not be a citizen of the United States. It was also made known that a British war- I ship is now on her way to Nicaragua to ’ enforce these demands, which must be complied with in seven weeks from Feb. 27 last, the date of the ultimatum.” From all that can be learned iu Washington, Gret.t Britain’s attitude in this matter is regarded as one of great severity. It is said that Mr. Hatch, who was expelled from Nicaragua last July, was not the British consular agent at Bluefields. It is authoritatively stated that he had received no exequator from the Nicaraguan government and was not recognized by them in any official capacity. He was a merchant at Bluefields and is represented as having been active in fomenting troubles in the Mosquito reservation between the Indian residents there and the Nicaraguan government. He was expelled for this reason, and with him went a number of other foreigners, several of whom v. •re Americans. The I’nited States made no complaint of the expulsion of its own citizens, believing that they merited the punishment they received. Apparently the British. government is not disposed to take that view of the matter, so fnr at least, as Mr. Hatch is concerned. It is said hero that Mr. Hatch was fortunate to escape bo easily. There are people in Washington who are familiar with the occurrence in the Mosquito reservation. They be lieve that Mr. Hatch should have been hanged for his complicity in the revolution. and it is for this reason that great surprise is expressed at the radical position taken by the British government with reference to him. SAIL FOR THE PROMISED LAND. Two Hundred Georgia Negroes Beg n Their Voyage to Liberia. Tuesday afternoon the steamer Horsa sailed from Savannah, Ga.. for Liberia. Those on board sung a farewell song, of which the refrain was taken up by thousands of negroes on the wharves. Great crowds followed the steamship to the end of the wharves, nearly two miles away. The emigrants continued te sing until the steamer had been Jost to view. The vessel carries 200 negroes, who go to make their home in Liberia. This will be an occasion of much mportance to the negroes of the Sorth. After all the requirements of the United States laws on carriage of passengers to sea were complied with the officers of the i Emigration Society began to arrange for the embarkation of the colonists. Early in the morning negroes from all sections of the country began to gather near the

dock to tee the*r brethren start for Africa. By 10 o’clock upward of 5.000 had assembled, but none were admitted within the iackwure of the ship at the dock. The scene was pathetic. Men and women of all ages, children from 4 years of age upward and one or two cripples, all joined in prayer and hymns, making a scene never to be forgotten by those present | to see the colonists depart. SHE WAS A HEROINE. A 15-Year-Old Girl Give® Up Her Life for Two Children. Somewhere under the ice of Feconio Bay is the dead body of a heroine —Lillian McMullen, says a Sag Harbor, L. L, dispatch. She was only 15 years old, but she* sacrificed her life to save two children who were under her care. With two little daughters of George Gordon in her charge, and accompanied by a big dog, she set out to cross the ice. They were half way across when Lillian, who was slightly in advance, suddenly sank out of sight. She had stepped in a hole nearly covered with snow. The children set up a shriek, as they looked in terror at the gap in the ice. When the girl rime to the surface she was quite near the ragged edge, and she grasped it firmly. The children started to her assistance. “Keep back!” she said, firmly. “I think I can get out all right.” But her warning was unheeded. “Keep back! Keep back!” she repeated, but too late. The children tried to grasp her, the ice gave way under them and they went into the water. The elder of the children grasped Lillian's dress and sustained herself, and Lillian, still holding to the edge of the ice with one hand, grasped the younger child with the other, and held her head above the water. The children were screaming all the time, and the dog ran barking around the spot. Lillian gathered herself for an effort. She pushed the smaller of the Gordons to the edge of the ice and attempted to lift her upon it. The little one grasped the ice and the dog seized her by the clothing. Rover tried to pull the LILLIAN SAVING THE CHILDREN WITH THE DOG’S AID. child from her position, but the noble brute slipped on the uncertain surface. He, however, hung on, and a* last lifted his charge so far from the water that she was able to clamber out on firm ice. The other two girls in the water, meantime, were having a desperate struggle. Lillian tried to raise her companion upon the ice. Once, twice, thrice, she made the effort, and every time the ice broke under the strain. Her breath became labored and her movements feebler. The water chilled her through and through and her hands were bruised and numbed, but still she clung to the ice and the girl to her. Now she was beyond further exertion. “I’ll hold on fast,’’ said she to the Gordon girl. “You climb up over me. Hurry up! I can’t last much longer.” And the other attempted to reach safety in that way. The ice broke under the double weight repeatedly, and each time the heroic McMullen girl grasped where it was firm and held desperately to it. “Now make one more trial,” she said, weakly. This time the Gordon girl raised her shoulders above the water. Rover seized her and tugged gamefully. Lillian added what little strength she had remaining, and at last the second child was in safety. “Keep away!” again cautioned the little heroine. She made a feeble effort to draw herself up. She slipped back. Her numbed hands grasped the edge of the ice for an instant and then released their hold. She went under the water and under the ice, for there was no sign of her after that. The children reached home almost prostrated by their experience. Between sobs they told the story to their parents, and Rover crouched in a corner and whined piteously. REVENUE FOR EIGHT MONTHS. The Comparative Increase Is Reported to Have Been $5,180,622. A statement prepared by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shows receipts during the eight months of the present fiscal year to have been as follows: Spirits, $59,095,538, increase over the same period last year, $4,085,763; tobacco. $19,761,741, increase, $1,096,999; fermented liquors, $20,118,768; decrease, $120,099; oleomargarine, $1,108,276, decrease. $228,181; income tax, $11,818; miscellaneous, $436,320, increase, $343,324. The total receipts for the eight months wore $100,532,466, increase, $5,180,622, During February, 1895, there was an aggregate comparative decrease in the receipts of $1,701,445. The statement of the condition of the Treasury shows: Available cash balance, $184,009,305; gold reserves, $90,445,032. SPAIN FIRES AGAIN. One of Her Gunboat® Dismasts the Little American Schooner Irene. A Key West special says: “The latest report is to the effect that the schooner Irene was fired into and dismantled by the Spanish cruiser Infanta Isabel. The news was brought to this city by a vessel engaged in the cattle trade between this port nnd the mainland. The Irene is a small schooner owned in this port by Canary Islanders. She has been employed in the fish trade all winter, but within the past few days returned with a party of court officials from Fort Meyers, where an important murder trial has i been held. She afterward sailed for the fish ranch at Punta Gorda, whence, it is reported, an expedition sailed for Cuba. This point has been under surveillance by the Spanish cruiser and the schooner was followed from here and fired into. This is the report given by fishermen at the ranch to a vessel which has just arrived. The family and owner and the crew of the Irene live here. “No further particulars have been learned about the American schooner reported to have been sunk off Puerta del Padre, Cuba, by the Spanish cruiser Arcedo. No denial is made here by the Spanish agents as to the corectness of the report, but it is said the vessel was mt flying the American flag. The reason advanced for the sinking was that she would not answer signals. Diligent inquiry among ship owners fails to show any vessel belonging to this port missing.”

SIXTY WERE KILLED. AWFUL DEATH ROLL OF A MINE DISASTER. Red Canon, Wyoming, the Scene of the Most Horrible Explosion in the History of Western Mining-Two Fires Coot s Million. A Blast of Death. The details of the explosion at the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company’s mine No. 5 at Red Canon, near Evanston. Wyo., Wednesday evening mark it as one of the most horrible in the history of coal mining in the West. There ire over sixty widows and 250 orphaned children as a result of the disaster. The names of the dead as gathered from the company’s pay-roll are: Willard Brown, Charles Kazola, James Bruce, Marshall Langdon, Aaron Bull. Wm. Langdon, Sr., Henry Burton, John La par, Albert Clark, John Trester, Charles dark. Joseph N. Lesti. James E. Chirk, James Limb, James T. Clark. David Lloyd. Samuel Clay, John G. Locke, W. E. Cox, David W. Lowrey. Jerry Crawford. O. B. Maltby. George < ritchley, John T. Martin. John Dexter, Walter Miller. John Fearn, Fred Morgan. Wm. Graham. Jr.. John Morriss, W. 11. Grieves. William Morriss, Janies Haden, William Pope. Samuel Halston, Henry Scothan. George Hardy, Wm. Sellers. Jr.. James Hutchinson. Wm. Sellers, Sr., Thus. Hutchinson, Matt. Silta. H. A. Hyborn, Hugh Sloan, George Hydes. John Theby, Isaac Johnson, Wm. Wagstaff. Matt Johnson. Wm. Weedup, Baptiste Julian, John Wilkes. Gus Kazola. About thirty of the men killed belonged to the A. O. I\ W.. in which order they were insured for $2,000 apiece. It is estimated that sixty men perished in the disaster. Seven were killed on the outside. ’ The slopes and entrances to the lower workings are blockaded by wreckage, nnd several days will be required for rescue parties to reach the bodies in the mine. The explosion in the mine shook the whole country around, wrecked the power plant, a fan house, and several other buildngs. entailing heavy loss, but the death roll far overshadows other considerations. Immediately after the explosion Supt. Bradbury telephoned for physicans. Brave men tried tn descend some of the air shafts and escape slopes without success, and it was not until three hours after the explosion that a volunteer party entered the main entrance to the slopes, and soon afterwards returned with two bodies. Then reported caves stopped further progress down the slope. Then a party went down to shovel out the caves, after which the searching party again entered, and work in that line Is now going on. The explosion is described by many as most terrific, shaking the whole town and causing women and children to run into the streets imploring for the safety of the beloved ones. Though there is no fire in the mine, the explosion is supposed to have come from a blast setting fire to dust, making a dust explosion. The mine was supposed to be free from gas and well ventilated. This is the third disastrous explosion in this vicinity. In 1881 No. 2 mine. Rocky Mountain, exploded, killing thirty-six Chinese and four white men. In the spring of 1886, Union cific Mine No. 4 killed thirty-six mefl. WAREHOUSE IN ASHES. Fire Causing Nearly Half a Million Loss in Sioux City, lowa. The destruction by fire nt Sioux City, lowa, of the Western Transfer and Implement Company’s warehouse nnd the storehouse and elevator of Hubbard & Gere’s linseed oil mill Thursday caused an aggregate loss of $490,000. The storage building was an immense structure, 150 x 60 feet, including a brick oil storage annex. The main part of the elevator was five stories high, and had a capacity of 150,000 bushels of flaxseed. In bins at the time w’ere stored 100,000 bushels, and on the lower floor several thousand tons of linseed-oil cake were ready for the market. In the annex the oil was in Luge tanks, having an estimated capacity of 120.000 gallons. The huge warehouse of the Transfer company. 100 by 150 feet in size and w’ith four stores besides the basement, was filled from top to bottom with farm implements and machinery. Ths machinery was owned by about twenty implement companies in different parts of the United States. The contents of the burned warehouse were covered by insurance aggregating $31,750. The warehouse building itself was covered by $30,000 insurance in Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company. The insurance on the oil mill cannot be obtained, as the National Linseed Oil Company handles the insurance on all its plants. Franklin and Pennsylvania companies carried $3,000 each and the Commercial Union $6,000 on seed in the elevator. A Distinct Loss in Advoirdupoia, /jW j*L j ? lIL Off 4/jn] In exchanging a 300-pound PostmasterGeneral for a 120-pound successor the country still hopes to get its mail regularly as usual. Mr. Andree, the Swedish scientist who proposes to seek the north pole in a balloon, is almost a giaut in stature and his strength rs extraordinary. He is in correspondence with M. de Fonrille. the French aeronaut, and contemplates going to Paris to have his balloon constructed there. James Kemp, who has just died in Bos ton. is said to have been the first man converted by the Salvation Army in the I aited States. A member of the army picked him on! of an ash b?.r- ’ ■. ' '' bv wa. uiunk.

MISS FRANCES WIIIARO. While in England She is Taught to Ride the Bicycle. MDs Frances Willard, the great advocate of the temperance question in this country, who for years has been a constant speaker for the cause on the public lecture platform, and whose books on the subject have been widely read and circulated, returned from England recently, where she has been for some months enjoying a well earned rest from her arduous labors. She is now 55 years of age, and she tells it. She comes back to her native land, she says, a better American and a stronger woman than ever. England and English society agreed with her. She has primroses in her complexion and flesh on her restless little body. To a reporter she said: “God bless America! I love it. My stay in England was a day dream. I met most delightful people, and I came near being killed with kindness. But I have been kept crying with joy ever since I returned. I did not get the English accent nor their broad ‘a s.’ I didn’t learn to say dark for clerk, luggage for baggage, railway for railroad, train for street cars, brasses for checks, or gowns for dresses. Ido say station for depot because I think it more expressive. And I did learn to soften my pronunciation of the word American. It is a most beautiful word and I feel justified in speaking it as beautifulyl as I can. 1 have had a good rest. I am an eight hour woman. Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep and eight hours for what you will, and one day in the seven for the soul is my programne. I put in eight hours a day at my desk and had stenographers come down every morning and 1 kept them going all the time. But that sort of work didn’t hurt me. It is speaking in public that takes the heart out of ine. For ten years I made one speech a day the year around. When I went abroad I was talked out. I did very little talking while I was away and the rest was a cure.” “But who is your complexion improver and eye brightener.” - r , 'A FRANCES WILL4KB. “The bicycle.” “And you took it 1 ” “Yes, in large doses. It took me thirty hours to learn. First I began with three assistants. Then I got along with two. For a long while I rode with one and now Igo alone. I had a short blue suit, sweater and divided skirts, cap and shoes and I exercised every day, winter and warm weather for half or a full hour. It was hard work but I was determined to master it.’’ “Did you get many black eyes and blue spots ? ” “No, because I didn’t fall. I wasn t allowed. My girls took good care of me.” “How did you learn to ride the bicycle ? ” “Well, I had two rules and I rods up to them. Tlie major promise I took was. I will not fall.’ That is rule one. There is an old Yorkshire proverb, ‘lt’s dogged as does it,’ which I took for rule two. I used to repeat it a dozen times, and although it made the girls laugh it helped me. When I got my courage up to pitch I would tell the gi’l to stand aside and exert her moral influence and it sustained me. I learned to ride as I learned to walk. I define bicyling as walking six inches above ground. The pedals are six inches from the ground and the same confidence by which the child learns to walk helps the adult to ride. I brought my wheel with me. It was presented to me. If I had bought one, of course 1 should have selected an American bicycle, for I am too loyal to believe that American labor or American skill is second to any workmanship. I called it the ‘Gladys,’ because it made me so gladsome in my spirit. The day I took my first ride I gave Gladys the wiiite ribbon.” Invisible Ink. Dissolve in one fluid ounce of distilled water fifty grains of chloride of cobalt, and after the crystals have dissolved add ten minims of glycerine. Shake tiiis until it is thoroughly mixed. Write upon ordinary paper with this ink; then give it to some one who sits or stands near the stove. As tlie paper becomes warm the writing will turn blue, but will fade again when exposed to cold or dampness. Ahead on Hawks. At Lafayette, Ga.,Lum Osburn has caught up to the present date eightytwo hawks in a steel trap, so arranged as to capture the chicken catchers when they come in contact therewith, His grateful neighbors will iM,;e him up a coop of at lea*t one hundred full grown chickens as a reward for his catchings. Floral sunshades to be introduced this spring will create a sensation