Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 290, Decatur, Adams County, 17 December 1903 — Page 6

A ROYAL BdOK BUYER. The Purchase of piderot'a l.ibrarby Catherine o f Russia. Empress Catherine! 11. of Russia was a great reader and l a lover of books. One of her services to letters in Russia was Hie purchase of the libraries of Voltaire and Diderot. She was a warm friend and admirer of these French philosophers, and their work interested her because she was eager to learn new theories of polities and government Voltaire’s library of about 7,000 volumes is now a part oi -be Russian imperial library in the Hermitage palace, and in the hall devoted to it is Houdon's statue of Voltaire. The story of Catherine's purchase ot Diderot's library is Interesting. It hi sredltnble to her tact and her generosity. Diderot named £15.000 as the price of his library. Catherine 11. offered him £IO,OOO and named as a condll ion of the bargain that her purchase should remain with Diderot until his death. Thus Diderot, without leaving Faris, became Catherine's librarian in his own library. As her librarian he was given a yearly salary of £I,OOO. One year this salary was not paid, •hen Catherine wrote to her librarian that she could not have him or her library suffer through the negligence of a treasurer's clerk and that she should send him the sum that she had set aside for the care and increase of her library for fifty yekrs. A* the end ol Shat period she would matte new ar rangements. A check for £25,000 accompanied this letter. The I.iterary Chap tn Finance. •‘I know a literary chap, good writei and all that, but with absolutely no business sense, who suddenly decided the thing for him to do was to start a batik account,” said the secretary of a financial institution. "He came in to see me about it. I asked him bow much he bad. and he said he had saved $59. I told him we rarely started accounts on such small deposits, but would make an exception In his case t* encourage thrift and school him in business. “He went through the preliminaries nervously, signed the signature t.artl pet his money in and got a nice new hank book. By that time he was all flustered. They gave him a check book, and he decided he would have to have seme money for present use. The re erlving teller Introduced him to the paying teller, and he inquired the procedure of checking out money. The paying teller explained at length. Then my literary friend went over to the desk and wrote a check for his entire $59. got the money ami went out.” Comparative Age» of luimals. S-—What is the age of a field mouse? A.—A year. And the age of a hedgehog is three times that of a mouse, and the life of a dog is three times ♦hat of a hedgehog, ami the life of a horse is three times that of a dog. and the life of a man is three times that of a horse, and the life of a goose is three times that of a man. and the life of a swan is three times that of a goose and tlie life of a swallow is three times that of a swan, and the life of an eagle is three times that of a swallow. and the life of a serpent is three times that of an eagle, and the life of a raven is three times that of a serpent, and the life of a hart is three times that of a raven, and an oak groweth 500 years and fadeth 500 years.—Philadelphia North American. Sept. 13. 1803. Doflr and Cat. The effect of a dog on a cat’s tail is well worth study. When a cat encounters a strange dog the tail immediately assumes an upright position, the back becomes highly arched, and the fur stands out straight all over the body. This sudden change dismays the dog. who brings himself to a halt, and the bro regard each other steadfastly. Rut if the dog should turn his gaze away for a fraction of a second there Is a swish and a bound, and the cat has disappeared over a fence or up a tree. Stimulated by the presence of a dog, cats have been known to climb to such heights that they were unable to descend the way they went up. Transparent Salt. Some remarkable salt formations are found extending for thirty miles along tlie Virginia river in Nevada. The salt forms mountains of crystal and is so pure and clear that tine print can be read through n foot of it. This region was evidently once occupied by a great salt lake, as dose by are some wonderful wells, one of which, seven-ty-five feet in diameter, contains water so intensely saline that a person bathing there will float like a cork. BliKffinw* Blunder. “Bliggins is very unfortunate in bis love affairs.” “Yes,” said the girl with yellow hair. “You see. Mr. Blfcrgins makes the great mistake of trying to converse intelligently when he ought to bo simply holding hands and looking as if be were stupefied with joy.”—Exchange. Illa Value ni u Witness. “As 1 understand it. you want me to go on the stand and swear to the truth of your contention.” “Heavens and earth, no! I want you to swear against me. Why. there are five memliers of the Jury who know your reputation well.”—Chicago Post. Illa Compliment. Katherine My nose turns up so dreadfully! t'holly- Then It shows very p >ot taste In backing away f-. ■ such a pretty mouth. Indianapolis Sentinel. A* ( a uni. “How much do you expert to spend for your wife's birthday present?” “About half ns much u.< I shall.”— Judge

ALONG PICCADILLY. Tbrrr the Tide of Social Londoa b'lowa to the Fullefet. Piccadilly seems cold and blatant by contrast as one charges down it. Yet even here, be the sunshine ever so bright, the visitor is crowned la the pearly haze that tones, attenuates, unifies. most if not all of London, that haze that has tantalized and defeated how many artists! Even over Piccadilly. even over this the most mundane of all London streets, it throws its saving glamour. Indeed the whole splendid avenue might serve for a studio, not for its values alone, but for the complexity of the types that throng it. It ! Is the quintessence of London, the distillation of all London humanity, to be studied nowhere so narrowly as from a bus top. Perfect Du Mauriers in tiie original approach, pass by and are left , behind or stand in groups looking from , the club windows. Phil Mays in the , life swarm beneath one. and characters ’ from Thackeray and Dickens Jostle unsuspectingly on the sidewalk. The clubs alone, which never look so thoroughly clubbable as when hastily ' glanced at from a passing bus, will store one's memory with a hundred , recognizable types. All England, all the empire, indeed, sooner or later finds its way to Piccadilly. One cannot pass ’ down it without a sight of some glittering. turbaned, alien figure, mrjestically isolated, majestically unheeded. Regent street may claim a grander sweep, and by virtue of its shops a more devoted femininity, but it is along Piccadilly that the tide of social London flows brim full.—Sydney Brooks in Harper’s Magazine. In Frozen Russia. In Russia where the cold in winter is very intense, the markets are very curious things. The meat is frozen, the carcasses of dead animals, as sheep and pigs, stand upright outside the stalls; everything, even game and poultry, requires to be thawed before it can be cooked, and the market people's dress 's as picturesque as it is warm and comfortable. Then the rivers are frozen over all the winter long, and so thick is the ice that every one can skate anywhere and any time. Stalls are put up on the ice and busy markets held there. In the Asiatic part of Russia the people live chiefly by hunting and fishing, nnd the fur of the Russian animals is very beautiful—the ermine, fox. sable, sea otter and others. At the end of the winter, when the snow melts, the huntsman pursues the elk, wearing long shoes, in which he can glide over tlie snow very quickly, while the jaior elk sinks into the snow deeper and deeper every step and is at last overtaken and killed. Ill* Two Purchase*. A story is told of a Louisiana merchant who came to New York deteri mined to secure n bargain. He wanted cheap cloaks, and after trying in vain to suit himself at the wholesale houses he bought a job lot at auction. He ex- , amined the goods hurriedly and had i them shipped home. In due time he was confronted by an excited head , salesman who said the garments were . out of style. "They didn't look that way.” said the , merchant. “But they are.” replied the clerk. , Th" merchant persisted that the c'oaks would sell, but they didn't. In desperation he returned them to New York to be disposed of to best advantage. On his next trip to New York be , again visited an auction house and bought a lot of cloaks. When he returned home and examined his purchase he saw that he bad bought the same lot as before.—World’s Work. The Hird Monopolist. ’ As Is generally known, the cuckoo lays Its eggs In the nests of other birds. , leaving them to be hatched nnd the young cuckoos reared by their foster , parents. The young cuckoo throws the other birds out of the nest and gets al! the care itself. After murdering its ’ foster brothers and sisters in the most delilierate nnd callous way it Is thence forth tended with the greatest devotion. Long after It has left the nest the great bird, apparently big enough ( to get its own living and many times . larger than its foster parents. is fol lowed about and fed by them with the I same care as when in the nest. On I, Wood. The oak is a historic wood. As enrly as the eleventh century it became the I favorite wood of civilized Europe, and specimens of carving and interior finish have come down to tis from that 1 early day, their pristine beauty enhanced by the subduing Unger of time. The early colonists brought with them ( to the shores of America their love for this wood. nnd here. tin. the oak acquired historical Interests. Im««rtt Mnwcullne Amnu niption. Mr. Ferguson—Whose character were you and Mrs. Tarrup discussing when ! I came in? Mrs. Ferguson- What made you think we were discussing anybody's > character? ( Mr. Ferguson—l noticed you were busily talking-that’s all.—Exchange. Taklna and Clvlnn. “Ton can't,” said the philosopher, “take front n thing without making It less.” "Oh. I don't know," the fool replied "Hnvi you ever tried taking a light ' from one candle with another?"—Chi cago Record Herald. A Natural Brafre. Stn-tb—l wonder what Br-wn Intend* to do with all the money he got for those historical novels In wrote. J-lt-s- He Intends to travel. He feels that lie ought to visit some of the places I he wrote about Just to see what they I are like. -Life.

TIME TO HEDGE. Bookmaker Wouldn't I.end Hone , but Gave Good Advice. Several turfmen were discussing tl sharp methods of a certain bookmak who adds to Lis income by money let' ing. He was conceded to be a ha man to deal with. “But I’ll bet SSOO that I can borru SI,OOO from him on my personal r, cognizance,” said one. “Done!" answered the crowd simc taneously, and as he could only st.il one bet they pooled against bit. Thinking he had a sure thing, he we: off with an accompanying committi to see the money lender. "Mr. Cash" (that wasn't bls name), h said, "these gentlemen have bet m SSOO that I cannot borrow SI,OOO tror you. 1 din't need the money, but yoi let me have it for a day. and I’ll di vide the bet with you.” The committee gasped, but the effee of the cool proposition was unlookei for. Instead of jumping at the chanc< Mr. Cash buttonholed his interlocuto: and said: “Did you make that bet?” “I did.” “You bet SSOO that you could borrow money from me?” “That’s what I did.” “Then,” in a whisper, “go and hedge.” —New York Press. Where There's a Will There** as Way “One of those things which go to show that where there is a will there is away is well exemplified by a happening in a certain southern city." said a well known former railroad man. "A man before his marriage had purchased a beautifully located lot in the city cemetery and paid SIOO for it After awhile he married and some tin or twelve years afterward died and was buried in the aforesaid beautifully located lot. and his grave was care fully tended for awhile by his widow When the big fair came off in Chicago and all the world was en route to that Mecca the widow took a notion she must see that show. As a result of a long cogitation over ways and means she had the body of her deceased husband exhumed and railroaded fifty miles away and reburied nt a cost of about $75, when she sold the cemetery lot for SGOO and bad a good old time at the big world's fair. Somewhat of a financier, wasn’t she?”— New Orleans Times Democrat Study Them) Don't Kill! If. instead of shooting the birds, scotching the snake, smashing the beetle and pinching the tiny lifts out of the butterfly, we were to watch any one of these creatures on a summer day the day would pass like an hour, so packed with exciting experience it would seem. Through what mysterious coverts of the woodland, into what a haunted underworld of tunnel cd banks and hidden ditches and secret passages the snake would show ■- the way. and we should have strange hearts if, as we thus watch d it through its mysterious day. we did not find our dislike of the elever little creature dying away and even changing into a deep tenderness toward the small, self reliant life, so lonely a speck of existence in so vast a world.—Success. Malayan Tree Dwelleia, The Sakais, or tree dwellers, of the Malay peninsula build their houses in forked trees a dozen feet above ground and reach them by means of bamboo ladders, which they draw up when safely boused out of harm's way. The house itself is a rude kind of shack, made of bamboo, and the flooring is lashed together piece bv piece and bound securely to the tree limbs by rattan. These curious people are rather small and lighter in complexion than the Malays. though much uglier. They have no form of religion at all—not even idols—no written language and speak a corrupt form of Malay. The Hr lode rm. The venomous lizard, beioderni. lives In tlie warm zone between the Cordilleras of Central America and the Pacific ocean. It secretes a poisonous saliva | nnd has the curious habit of throwing ’ Itself on its back when struck. Its bite' is not always so dangerous as popular I opinion makes It. and after severe pain | It often rapidly heals. Recent observa- ( tions show that the saliva is sometimes ‘ very poisonous and sometimes very In ' offensive. The poison acts by coagulating the blood and first increasing then diminishing the irritability of the nerves. Rulniau the Limit. “Don’t you think that the ideals of statesmanship are higher now then they used to be?” "Sure they are,” answered Senator Sorghum. "I’ve known the time when ssoo was considered big money. Now you can't get a man that amounts to anything to look nt less than $10,009.” Washington Star. Ill* Feellnv Faculty. "I don’t see anything remarkable In that mule." said the prospective purchaser. "except that he's stone blind.” "Yes. suh.” replied the mule's proprietor, "he filin' In his eye, but you des orter see him feel fer you wiJ bls heels!”—Atlanta Constitution. Profit With the Brasi*. “Do yen think It possible for a man who Is clever with tlie brush to make a living tbe-e days?" naked the discouraged artist. "Yes.” responded the cruel cynic, "If lie Is a bootblnek.”- I’b'lmb'lphla Record. Did you ever notice the indecision ! of n wirnnn about choosing n sent In a i street car with but few passengers?— I Milwaukee Sentinel.

Santa Claus Headquarters Best and cheapest place in Decatur to buy your Pnrirl OQ bu lIW, w ( FOR CHRISTMAS. Special prices to Schools and Churches Xmas Trees all sizes and prices. Peoples’ Restaurant Wm. Doehrman, Prop’r

Fov.r Fast Trains Chicago to St. Paul-Minneapolis. Via Chicago & North Wetseran railway. Leave Chicago 9:00 a.m., 6:30 p. m. (Northwestern Limited electric lihgted throuhgout) 10:00 p. tn. and 3:00 a. in. Fast schedules luxurious equipment, dining car srevice unequaled.For tickets,rates and sleeping car reservations apply to your nearest ticket agents or address, A. H. Waggoner, 22 Fifth Avenue, Chicago, 111. Two View, nt the Belle. A clergyman on his way to church one Sunday morning pulled up to re buke an angler. “Don't you hear the bells summoning you to church?" he asked. The fisherman put an inquiring hand to his car. Encouraged, the clergyman repeated the question. But once again the fisherman asked for a repetition. and then again, and even yet again. Flushing from overmuch bawling. the parson was about to proceed on Ids way when the fisherman spoke. "Very sorry, guv’nor," he said, “but them bloomin' liells makes such an infernal clatter that I can't hear a word you says."—London Globe. I Durable Whitewash. A very durable whitewash that will stand nearly as well ns paint is made as follows: Slake n bushel of lime with , boiling water and thiu sufficiently with ! cold water to make n good whitewash; dissolve a pint of white vitriol (sulphate of zinci in ooiling water, only . enough to thoroughly dissolve it: also | a quart of tine salt. The bushel of lime will weigli about seventy pounds, and by keeping the above proportions a greater or less amount can be made. Pride. First Young Wife—The photographer said my baby was the prettiest baby he'd ever seen. Second Young Wife—That's strange! He snid tlie same thing about mine. First Young Wife—Well. I suppose lie saw your baby before he saw mine. —Rose leaf. Ilia I'lnater. Brannigan—The doctor told me to get a porous plustber for me stomach. Druggist—Yes, sir. What sort do you want? Brannigan—'Tis little I care what sort it Is so long as ’tis alsily digested. —Catholic Standard and Times. A Urrloafe Game. “I’npn." said little Tommy Tuddells “what is the game of authors?” “The game of nuthora. Tommy," replied Mr. Tnddells, "Is to sell their books.”—Smart Set. IH* Will Power. "Ilenpeek has given up smoking, ch? 1 didn't think ho had so much will power." "He hasn’t, but his wife has.” The highest llbcrtv Is harmony with the bight st laws.—Giles.

11 Announcement. I am the authorized representative of the following well known and popular magazines: Ladies’ Home Journal, Saturday Evening Post, Success and Success clubbing offers. I 3 All persons who wish their subscriptions renewed, or wishing to subscribe, call on or address H CHARLES KNAPP, DECATUR, IND. @ ~ i | TRY THE I I BURT HOUSE CAFE I 1 FOR ALL FANCY AND UP TO DATE DRINKS. i Schlitz Beer on Tap and in Bottle I and Home-Made “Tom and Jerry” I CALL ON MOSE AND HE WILL TREAT YOU ' i RIGHT. — — gg THE RIVERSIDE LiVcry and Feed Bart] Known as the King barn, is now owned by J M. Rice. The best of care given our trade. Good covered feed yard—the finest in the city. We also buy and sell horses, and pay the highest market prices. Call and see us. J. /VI. RICE ______ First Street —— WANTED! 100 Men and 25 Teams To work on Monroe and Fourth streets paving contract. Lots of Work and Good Wages. H. P. STREICHER, Contractor. ■'■■■ ■'■■■.l ' I.« | Strike x M forhe<tb. A few days and a few dollars will pay | wonderful get rich quick interest if spent NOW at I French Lick | West Boden Springs — where the health comes from. If you 3 are repeatedly made aware of the fact that you have a stomach, liver, kidneys and bowels, it is time you put k yourself into a normal state where they will cease to F assert themselves. The waters at these world-famed R springs are natural healers of digestive ills. The going to and from is made easy and cheap; the hotels g there are marvels of perfection; climate fine, sports and 8 pleasures plenty. GO! MONON ROUTE 3 Excursion rates and good train service from all parts the country. Booklet telling all about the waters and S giving list of hotels and bearding houses, with their § rates, sent free. I FRANK J. REED CHAS. H. ROCKWELL ? G. P. A., Chicago. Traffic Manager Thousands say that McCLURE’S MAGAZINE is the best published at auy price. Yet it is only io cents a copy, SI.OO a year. Tn every number of McClures there are Six'good shorGstories, Articles of intense humorous stories, sto- interest on subjects of ries of life and action— the greatest national and always good. importance. In 1904 f McClure's will be more interesting, important and entertaining than ever. “Every year better than the last or it would not l>e McClure’s. PPPP Subscribe now for McClure’s for 1904, and get the A November and December numliers of 1903 free. Company, » i.i xinutkn Bi.ih... \i w Voa<. N. v 1