Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1892 — Page 6

gljeJrmocrotkSentiiifl RENSSELAER, INDIANA. J. W. McEWEN, - - Puiiashee.

MEAT FOR THE MILLION

HOW IT IS SUPPLIED BY CHICAGO’S BIG THREE. C»n«e« Which Have Lo<l to the Enormous Growth of the Dressed Beef Business—lt Seriously Injures the Business of the Retail Butcher. Dr.-ssed Beef.

a—.■ HAT Chicago is the greatest meat -J market in the world, everybody l knows, yet few < have a conception of the vastness of jjßvChthr dressed beef SgrfSjU business done in Western metro °' 3 ' ° Some idea of the {enormity of the k^ J *j/j|dr< ssed i.eef trade jt/lin Chicago, writes i a corresp undent, may bega'nedfrom

the state:meat that 87(1,WOO.'ll 6 pounds < f dressed beef were forwarded from this market in IH9I, while 1,260,000 cases of canned meats were shipped during the same period. As the dressed beef business was only founded about twenty years ago, its rapid growth is remarkable. The father of the industry was the late George H. Hammond, of Detroit, but Aimour A Co., Swift A Co., and Nelson Morris A Co. are now the recognized leaders in the trade, among which they are known as the “big three,” because of their gigantc operations. Messrs. Swift and Mor. is do, in addi-

tlon to their domestic trade, a large export business, but Armour’s house confines its attention solely to the home markets, in which it has immense interests. All of these dressed beef shippers have their own refrigerator cars, the number owned by each ranging fiom 2,500 to 4,C00 cars. Naturally, these houses named are the heaviest buyers of the cattle arriving daily at the Union Stock Yards, where they take probably three-fourths of the cattle sold for slaughter. In addition to these purchases in Chicago, the concerns noted buy the majority of the

ONLY FIT FOR CORN-REEF HASH.

stock marketed at Kansas City and Omaha. As is well known, ah cattle are sold by live weight, except fin the case of milch cows or calves. The purchaser, therefore, has to be a better judge Of quality than of quantity, hence it Is not surprising tnat the buyers for some of these big houses command a larger salary than many a bank president earns. The classes of cattle shipped in may be defined as follows: First, the “expbrters,” which includes cattle suitable for Eastern markets, as well as for English ports. Second, the “dressed beef” steers, designed for the dressed

beef business. Third. “butcher stuff," composed of light steers and the better grade of cows. Fourth, “canners," which includes everything not good enough for butchering. Then, as an extra class, there are the range cattle, many of which are either put on to feed or taken by the dressed beef men for a second-grade beef;" while an enormous number of them,' and more especially those-trom Texas, are put into cans. The movement of cattle is almost entirely eastward. San Francisco, which is a large market, draws quite a number es cattle frdm California aud the adjoining States, but otherwise there-.js ■& con- , Usual movement toward the East, beginning at the Gulf of Mexico, extending to the barren plains of Arizona and from the sage brush valleys of Nevada aerthward into Montana, from which dietant pointe the work of shipping is a tebartons task. Prior to the introduction of the palace stock cars cattle in transit were unloaded at suitable halttag stations situated from 300 to 500 mitea apart, where high-pric<*d hfcy was avppliM .» feed the Stock, But within the past four years improved stock cars haw bean introduced, in which cattle «M be rue poetically any distance, as tiry era oonatrueted to allow the Mtianate to be ted and watered without ■WKS# aSStt 1- •' ’ «%-

unloading. Ou their arrival In Chicago the cattle bought for shipment are driven over to the shipping divisions, where they are loaded into cars and forwarded to their respective destinations. The dressed beef men generally allow their cattle to remain In the pens over night, driving them to the slaughterhouses next day after purchase. Arrived here they are driven Into large pens, thence along narrow pas-

ISSIDE REERIGERATOR CARS

■ sageways into separate compartments j just large enough to hold one bullock, where a man standing on the narrow I foot-path alove adroitly knocks the ani- : mal out of time by a well-directed blow lon the skull. Between each compartI ment and the slaughter-house is a liftj ing door which slides up mechanically, ' and through this aperture the steer is dragged by mean s of a chain passed ' around his horns. He is then properly : bled and is passed a'ong the iron runs

THE COOLING-ROOM.

to the floorsmen nnd skinners. All the work in the slaughtering department is done by trained experts, each one having a single division of labor to perform. No part of the animal is wasted. The hides are removed so carefully that they bring a higher price than the common butcher’s hides; the guts are thoroughly cleansed and sold for sausage casings; the contents of the entrails are converted Into fertilizing substances; the livers and hearts are sliipped with the beef to different markets, where they are sold ito good advantage; "the bladders are dried and disposed of to druggists and other parties; the stomach makes tripe; the tongues are always in demand; the horna sell readily to the comb and knife-haft makers, while the shin bones are usually in good request for knife handles and backs for tooth and nail brushes.

The knuckle-bones are prepared for making acid phosphate, and for this design have a fair merchantable value. The blood is all utilized for different commercial purposes; the ox-tail trade is now a regular part of the traffic; the heads, after being trimmed, are sold for glue stock; the fat taken from the interior' of the bullock is converted into oleomargarine, under which name it is sold to fair advantage. Neatsfoot oil is made from the feet and the hoofs are ground and mixed with the other fertilizing substances. It is this advantageous utilization of the refuse and offal of the bullock that has been largely in- | strumental in the wonderful success of the dressed beef trade in Chicago. I The processes of dressing and cleaning the carcasses of the cattle slaught- : ered for the dressed beef trade are most interesting. After leaving the main slaughtering house, from which place, by the way, the visitor is glad to escape, I the carcAsses are taken along tne iron runways into the immense refrigerators, where they cool off in a temperature of 36 degrees Fahrenheit. One is impressed by the degree of cleanliness maintained in the establishment-after passing from the blood-stained floors of the butchering department. There is

IN THE TARDS.

not a speck of dirt noticeable in Ihe big chillinarTooms, the floors of which are covered with fresh, clean sawdust. In addition to the lot number attached to the carcass of each animal is a certificate of inspection placed there by one of Uncle Jerry Husk’s inspectors, who is stationed at the lifting door, through which the bullock is admitted to the slaughtering room, and who is a recent adjunct to the packing houses, where national as well as State inspection is enforced. The carcasses remain hanging in the ■ chilling-rooms from thirty-six to fortyj eight hours, after which they are run i out to the loading platforms, cut into ■ quarters and put in the refrigerator cars i ready for transmission to Eastern points. The care are kept at the same temperature as thre'.cdoling-rooms, and ! are iced twenty-four hours prior to using, i the process being-repeated, next mom- : ing. A "gang of expert cutters under . the charge of a competent foreman can | load eight care in an hour, Or an aver- , age of one car every seven and one-half ! minutes. Considering that thirty-eight carcasses are hung in each car, divided into quarters, the fore and hind quarters being placed at separate ends of the compartin' nt, this is pretty rapid work. Between Chicago and New York the

refrigerator cars are Iced three times, a corps of experts being stationed at the supply-houses along the various lines of road for this purpose. A train load of dressed beef starting from the Chicago yards on Monday will arive in New York the following Friday, and the Brooklyn or New Jersey householder may have for his piece de resistance at six o’clock dinner Friday night a tender, juicy roast of beef that six days previous was part of a lively steer cavorting around in the pens adjacent io the -Chicago slaughterhouses.

The dressed beef business can only subsist, in a wholesale way at least, at the great central markets of the country. The system is to a great extent an enlarged butchers' business, as it is supported by a host of retailers, who, instead of being butchers on the old style, have become merely meat cutters. In San Francisco there are no butchers, the city drawing its retail supplies of animal food from the hosts of meat cutters who buy their geo is from day to day from the wholesale slaughterer. So it is with the dressed beef interests in Chicago. So much meat is forwarded daily north, south, east and west, to be distributed at the different points where the beef, veal, pork or-mutton is in demand. The work is thoroughly system- , atized, for those engaged in it must be ' prepared to meet the demands of their customers. The “big three" have ! wholesale supply houses in every city of any size in the country, and it is said that within the past six months cne of the trio has established upward of one hundred of these depots in the principal cities of the United Kingdom, where the dressed beef interests are rapidly growing. This industry has naturally created a revolution among the repril butchers’ trade. All the butcher has to do now is to repair to the sTaughter-house, select his beef from lhe refrigerators, or contract for a daily or weekly supply to be sent him. At outside points he eallsat the refrigerator where the meats are unloaded from the cars, and there makes his. purchases. Formerly the’ retail butcher who did his own ki'ling had to have a much larger capital invested in his business than is now required, nor could he get his supplies so reasonably as he is now enabled to purchase them. In the first place, he had to employ a trained butcher to kill and dress his stock, which assistant was idle a good share of the time. If he killed at the yards the hi les had to be shipped back .to Chicago, the offal could not be utilized, and if his trade called only for fine meats he had to dispose of the rough stuff and least desirable parts of the animal as bed he. could. Under the prt sent system he can do a larger business on a much smaller capital; he need buy only that which can bo sold fb advantage, and he can make arrangements to have his particular grade of meatsleft hanging in the big chilling rooms to suit his own convenience. Every one who has visited the great packing houses at the Chicago Stock Yards has heard of the old joke told ■ anent the hog that the < nly part of him wasted is his “squeal.” The steer is not provided by nature with a squeal, and lie loses little breath by bellowing, so that the waste with him should be somewhat less than with the hog. The perusal of the following table will show in what proportions a 1,200 pound steer will dress: Pound«.| Pounds. S'des 660 Hoofs 5 Hl<l4 Hfl Sneeibreadß 2 Tallow 60 Rtnewe 4 Fortillcer 2 Liver 10 Heart 4 Totil >Ol Tongue fl Weight of steer... .1,2 0 Dried blood 4 Net 161 Har 1 bones 4 Horns 2 Waste 339 What chance has the old-style method of local butchering against this perfect system? Where the blood was allowed to run away, the head partially

DRESSING

neglected, the hoofs and shanks thrown to the hog pen, the entrails went the same road, and waste was apparent in every direction! Is it any wonder that the dressed beef trade, built up on this reversed order of things, has made such remarkable progress? It is a division of labor as well as a division of products; it finds for the producer a ready market at any and all seasons, and it undoubtedly benefits the consumer In all parts of the country, by giving him cheap as well as good 'beef that he could not obtain under the old system.

A Simple Way to Avoid Dust.

Here is a hint in regard to the prevention of dust that is well worth attention. Dutch artists of old, who had a perfect terror of dust, always chose, it possible, to have their studios in close proximity to a canal. If this was not practicable they got over the difficulty by keeping a large tub of water in their studios, most of the dust flying about the room being caught'in this receptacle. The neighborhood, of a river, the substitute for the Dutch canal, may not always be desirable at the present time, but a bowl of water, especially in these days, when we rejoice in any excuse for multiplying the bric-abrac in our rooms, is within everybody’s reach.

Lotus-Eaters.

Lotus-eaters, according to Homer, a people living ot the northern coast of Africa, visited, in his wandering by Ulysses, who endeavored to detain his companions by giving them the lotus to eat. Whoever eat of this wished never to depart. The Arabs call the fruit of the lotus the “fruit of destiny,” which they believe" to be eaten in paradise. The lotus is a shrub two or three feet high, and its fruit, yvhich is produced in great abundance, is a dwarf the size of a wild, plum, and has a pleasant, sweet taste.

Ancient Idiosyncrasies.

In tak.bg medicine due regard was formerly paid by the superstitious to the positions of the moon at the tinje —different yarts of the body, they supposed, being under its influence according to the zodiacal -sign through which the planet happened to be passing at the time.

ED PARDRIDGE.

Said to Bo One of the Nerviest Mon on the Short Side of the Market. One of the first questions asked by a Chicago Board of Trade man on , reaching the floor of the exchange is usualiy: “What’s Ed doing this morn- , ing?” Of course he means Ed PardI ridge. No man in the speculative

EO PARDRIDCM.`

Hutch.” once said of Pardridge that he was the nerviest man on the short side of the market who ever traded in grain. This opinion is now sharep by a large proportion of speculators the world over, and wherever there is a speculative market for grain the operations of the Chicago plunger are the subject of daily comment. What manner of man is this who can play with hundreds of thousands as other men play with dollars'? To ■ one who has heard/much of Mr. Pard- ' ridge there comes a feeling of disap- I pointment upon seeing him for the : first time. He does not dress like 1 a prince, nor has he the manners of ■ a “high roller.” On, the contrary, he is one of the most ordinary looking of men: no one would look at him twice j in a crowd. His face gives slight in- I dication of his character. He looks , as if he might be a fairly well-to-do proprietor of a crossroads store. There : is no particular style about his clothes, his trousers bag slightly at the knees, ' and are innocent of the crease which fashion prescribes for them. He affects nothing gaudy in neck-wear, a 1 plain black “shoestring tie” or soft summer silk tied in a plain bow knot are good enough for him. His most pronounced character- I istics—nerve and dogged* determina- i tion—would never be guessed from the , guileless expression of his face. He ' spends most of his time during the ; session of the board on the main floor of the exchange, close to the wheat pit. He always has anywhere from five to a dozen brokers to execute his orders. Mr. Pardridge is a native of the I State of New York, and for years was identified with the dry goods bust- i ness, first in Buffalo, and later, early ; in the seventies, at Chicago. As a ( dry goods merchant hi was eminently | a success, a substantial fortune hav- j ing been built out, of his Chicago I business, and he was reckoned a wealthy man long before he began paying attention to the grain market.

Woman’s Thrift.

“If men were as economical in their social relations as women are we would not be such a nation of spendthrifts,” said T. B. Bose, of Minneapolis, at the Lindell. “1 was impressed with the force of this idea to-day by an observation begun in a cable car and pursued through a drygoods establishment and a restaurant. I saw two ladies chatting together intimately on a car, and when the conductor approached them to collect the fares one of them had no change. The other offered to pay for her companion's ride, but the latter wouldn’t submit to the proposition. Instead she borrowed a nickel from her friend, Remarking as she did so that she would break a bill as soon as she got down town and repay her. My curiosity was excited to see if women really dealt that way with one another, so I followed the two after they got off the car. They flrsj entered a drygoods store, where the borrower made a small purchase and as soon as she got her change she handed her friend five cents, which was leceived without the slightest protest. Then they went into a resto get lunch. Each gave separate orders and the bill of each amounted to thirty cents. They marched up to the cashier and each paid her own bill. Now, these are small transactions, but they are indicative of the difference in the character of men and women. Had the objects of my observations been men instead of women, the man who offered to borrow a nickel for car fare would have insulted the other, and one of them would have ordered that dinner for both and paid the bill, which, I may as well say, would have amounted to dollars instead of cents.” —St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Proud and Patriotic.

All tffie talk about Chili has at least proved that she is a brave and valiant little nation, ready to fight and die in defense of her flag—a flag somewhat like our own,, composed of red, white and blue, with a lone star in a blue field. Their hymn is the out-gushing of this patriotism, its musical air the symbolism of its valor. In regard to the national hymn, Chili gives an example that would be well for other nations to imitate, and that is the outward respect and reverence shown upon its performance, whether in a private parlor or public assembly. Upon the first chord being struck all present rise and remain standing until its conclusion. Upon all occasions of ceremony you hear its stirring strains. On Chili’s Independence Day, after the diplomatic dinner at the “Moneda,” the President and Cabinet, with the diplomatic body, adjourn to the opera, where, in the ■ meantime, a vast assemblage has gathered. As soon as the President and his guest appear in the boxes the curtain rises, the proscenium is beautifully decorated with flags and streamers, singers and chorus are formed in a semi-circle on the stage, the orchestra strikes up the prelude, the whole audience rise frog! their , seats', the prima donna and tenor ' advance to the footlights, each with a Chilian standard in the left hand, j the prima donna sings the first verse, the chorus take up the “Dulce patria,” ! after which the tenor sings the second veise. The applause, the waving of hankerchiefs by the ladies, and gen- I era! enthusiasm, is something a stranger present will never forget.

“Trapping” Steam.

Wessay that we "shell” peas when we unshell them, and for the same Reason of contraries, probably, we ipeak of a steam-trap when it is a

world to-day is sp well known as the unassuming, diffident, quiet little man whose operations hi.ve been the wonder of pro- . fessional speculators for the last two years. B. P. Hutchinson. known familiar 1 y as “Old

One of the most useful of recent philanthropic movements is the organization of boys’ clubs in many of the principal towns of New England, which provide for lads who are not properly cared for at home a pleasant, well-guarded place of resort. A few rules are given for the guidance of those interested in the work: First, do not have more boys than you can take care of. Second, begin with a few whom you can rely on, and enlarge that number slowly. Third, if a boy behaves so well that you want to see him again, give him a ticket to return with. Take the ticket away at his first act of disorder (not the •second). Fourth, you can have for amusements, jackstraws, dominos, tee-tc-tum games, pari ir croquet, checkers, chess, but not pool.billiards or cards. Fifth, the bait by which you will take them the most easily is to be found iu the pictured papers, old and new. It is better to have these bound in volumes. The boys will be utterly indifferent whether they come from Boston, London or Paris, whether they be old or new. Theircost need not be great, therefore. Pick up old tiles at auction rooms wherever you can find them, and harass your friends until they have emptied their attics for you. With such appliances you can bring your boys together and keep them in some order. If then you have a hearty working force of people who want to “enlist them on the side of order.” you can do so. You can enlarge your club by classes, lectures, evening schools or what you will.

It is to the trade guilds of Borne that clubs owe their origin. So numerous were they that even the slaves of great houses formed societies of their own. The purely social clubs of the Roman Emp re were formed chiefly of Romans employed in the more distant parts of the universe, in older to lessen the feeling of isolation which their exile involved. Notwithstanding that military clubs were prohibited by the state, they were tolerated among the officers of regiments employed in foreign service, as a compensation for the social disadvantages entailed in a long residence abroad. Another form of the social club was the ladies’ club. Although we are accustomed to look upon ladies’ clubs as institutions especially characteristic of pur own times, they are, in fact, far older than English civilization itself. Ladies’ clubs of Rome were very numerous, and met for religious as well as social purposes. The most distinguished of them was known popularly as the “Senate of Matrons.” Its title was derived from an imperial edict. Attached to it was a debating society in which momentous questions of etiquette and dress were discussed with becoming gravity. Sometimes the fair women so far condescended as to interfere in municipal questions, and when a man who was so fortunate as to gain their good will died, the ladies erected a statue of their hero.

A candidate may think he is buyin’ a man’s vote, but he ain't, he’s only rentin’ it. Wimmen suffragists ain’t good for much else. Gettin’ elected once ain’t a shore sign of havin’ the dose repeeted. Farmers ain’t got no bizness tryin’ to raise crops in the politikle feeld. When a congressman is as big in Washington as he is in his own deestrick, he begins to hanker fer the White House. The difference between a partyzan and a pattriot is the partyzan gits the Government job. A man never gets too old to vote. Gettin’ drunk on the Fourth of July is a mighty poor kind of pattriotism. . The Prohibishtfn party uses so much water it gets a washout two or three times a year.—Free Press.

William Waldorf Astor, who is or is not the head of the house, always wears his overcoat collar turned up about his ears in winter, even on days that are clear and bright His eyes are usually bent upon the ground. Occasionally he wanders into Delmonico’s with a preoccupied air, sits down at a table in a far corner, and eats an extremely modest lunch flanked by two bottles of ginger ale. He does not look up at all, though the eyes of half the people in the place are upon the man who owns $200,000,000 worth of property. Wjien he has finished his lunch he tips the waiter liberally, pulls on his overcoat, turns up the collar, tilts his hat very far down over his eyes, and wanders forth with the Astor air of preoccupation.—New York Truth.

Rabbits are becoming a pest in California, as well as in the northern States of the West, and rabbit drives, similar to the wolf drives in Kansas, are resorted to as a means of abating the nuisance. A- drive near Traver resiilted in the destruction of several thousand rabbits. Stars Have tittle Stars. Ur/nUshas four satellites, Saturn has eight, and Neptune one.

trap Intended to catch, the water and let the steam go free. Be that as it may, however —and they say that a rose would smell as sweet by any other name—steam-traps are very useful and sensible affairs, where there are long lines of pipe between boiler and engine. or heating apparatus. They save cylinder heads or pistons being smashed by the 'water, which is either carried over from the boiler or formed by condensation of the steam against the cold walls of the pipes. They stop the hammering which is hoard in steam-heated buildings where the steam comes a long way, particularly if it comes on horizontal lines. If they are properly constructed and mounted they will return to the boiler the water of condensation, and thus prove cpal savers, for the hotter the feed water is the more cheaply steam can be made. Furthermore, it is much better to run back into the boiler the water that has dropped its scale or other deposit, than to introduce new feed with new quantities of material which tend to coat the sheets.

Boys’ Clubs.

An Old Institution.

Jedge Waxem’s Political Proverbs.

An Astor’s Way.

Great Sport.

RELICS OF THE DRUIDS.

Interesting Reminders of a Departed Aga and Religious System. There are in England a number of indent ruins which are believed to be relics of the druidical age. The most important of them is Stonehenge (from the Saxon Stanhengist, banging or uplifted stones), a very remarkable structure, composed of large artificially raised monoliths, situated on Salisbury plain, two miles from the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire. When entire, it consisted of two concentric circles of upright stones, inclosing two ellipses, the whole surrounded by a double mound and ditch circular in form. The

STONEHENGE OX SALISBURY PLAIN.

outer circle consisted of thirty blocks of sandstone, fixed upright at intervals of three and a half feet, and connected at the tip by a continuous series of imposts, sixteen feet from the ground. The blocks were all square and rough-hewn, and the horizontal imposts dove-tailed . to each other, and fitted for mortice-holes in their under sides to knobs in the uprights. About nine feet within this was the inner circle composed of thirty unhewn granite pillars from five to six feet high. Inside this circle was the ellipse and again a second ellipse and inside the whole a large slab of blue marble, supposed to have been the altar of sacrifice. If this is indeed the remains of a druidical temple it stands an interesting relic of a departed age and a religious system of which little remains but the most meager apd unsatisfactory tradition.

In the Blue Ridge.

An important North Carolina in,lnstry is the collecting aud preparing of roots and herbs for s ile to wholesale ‘druggists and exporters. This industry gives employment to over thirty thousand people in the Blue Ridge. On the Atlantic slope of the Blue Ridge grow no less than two thousand two hundred varieties of plants known to materia medica; this fact coming to the notice of two Shrewd business men of Statesville, they began the business of collecting, preparing, and exporting them. It is interesting to go through the imwarehouses of this firm. There are forty-four thousand square feet of floor space in all, and on this are stoied several hundred tons of roots, herbs, barks, gums, and mosses, some varieties in lots of many tons each. The yearly businfess of the firm amounts to one million five hundred thousand pounds. This mass is bought in by collectors or sent in by country merchants who act as agents for the firm. A certain knowledge of herbs, how and what season to secure them, is a necessary outfit for the collector. The greater part of the gatherers live in mountains in small log cabins of one room, and pursue their novel calling in the shadow of the deep cliffs, under the mighty forests, on the open summits of the lofty peaks, or in the deep gorges of the great Appalachian chain. In these almost inaccessible solitudes the ginseng, snake root, lobelia, blood root, mandrake, unicorn root, and scores of other varieties are found in abundance. These the mountaineer collects, takes to his cabin, and dries. When he has a sufficient cargo for his large, canvas-covered wagon, he hitches up his ancient mules and transports it over the mountain roads to the nearest town or settlement, where he exchanges it for tea, sugar, snuff, and tobacco.

Story of an American Oak.

Cpncerning the American oak growing in the imperial gardens at St. Petersburg, this story is told: When Mr. Dallas was in St. Petersburg as American Minister, he was one day visited by a tall, awkward American, who, being requested to state his business, immediately said that he wanted to see the Emperor. He was assured that obtaining an interview with the Emperor was no easy task, but not being disposed to take a refusal, he was requested to leave his name and return in about a fortnight, when his_ application would probably be Cons’idered and determined. A week or so later the American Minister was surprised by a visit from the tall American, and beginning to assure his visitor that an interview with the Emperor could not be obtained, the American responded that he had already seen the Emperor and had just called in at the embassy for the purpose of saying good-b.y, as he was on his way home. Mr. Dallas was dumfounded, and inquired into the particulars, when ho found that the man actually had, by sheer force of bras?, succeeded in passing the guards at the palace and seeing the Emperor. “I gave him a present, too.” “What was it?” inquired Mr. Dallas. “An acorn from Mount Vernon from a tree that grew over Washington’s tomb. The Emperor planted it in the garden with his own hands. I followed him out and saw him plant it.” Strange as the story was it was true, and the oak now growing in the imperial gardens at St. Petersburg sprung from the acorn carried thither as a present to the Emperor by the long, awkward American.

The Rhinoceros' Horn.

The horn of the rhinoceros is nothing more than a protuberance composed of agglutinated hair. Cut it in two, and, examining its structure under the microscope, it will be found that it is made up entirely of little tubes, resembling hair tubes. Of course, these are not themselves hair, but the structure is the same. The horns of the African rhinoceros sometimes grow'to the length of four feet From them the Dutch boers make ramrods and other articles

OUR BUDGET OF FUN.

HUMOROUS SAYINGS AND DOINGS HERE AND THERE. Joke* and Joke'et* that Are Supposed t« Have Been. Recently Porn- Saying* and Doing* that Are Odd. Curious and Laogliable. Hl* Idea of It. Miss Tomax—Do you think it possible for a man to love two women? Van Cure—Not if either of them should catch him at it. That’* the Ulrl We Want Mrs. Bumpus—l don’t think you will do. because you are not as tall a girl as I want. Katie—Phwat difference does that make, mum. so long as I do me work? Mrs. Bumpus—Well, you see, I want a girl tall enough to light the gas without standing on a chair. A Mistake Somewhere. Sophie—l hear Mr. Geizenfluke drinks to excess. Mr. Janes —No; I guess there must be some mistake. He told me he drank XXX’S. He Wasn’t Snowed Under. Eastern Man—l heard you were snowed under for about six weeks last winter; was that so? . Western Man—No: snowed over. Easy to Prescribe For. Druggist—“ What did that man want?” Clerk—“He wanted something f r the g ip.” . ’ Druggist—“ What did you give him?” Clerk —“Don’t know; didn’t look! Everything is good for the grin.”— Puck. ' Man’s Ueusoninff.

She—“ You men are so changeable! Before we were married you didn’t go to the club every night.” He— “l couldn’t, my dear, when I had to call on you every night. I’m not away from home any more now than I was then. ” Her Stationary Ago. Her Father—“ But, my boy, surely you are too young to marry Aurelia. How old are you?” Her Suitor—“ Eighteen, sir.” Her Father —“And she is 24—t00 great a disparity. Why not wait half a dozen years? Then you’ll be 24, and she’ll probably be just about the same age as you.”—Smith, Gray & Co.’s Monthly. Her Way of Putting It. “There was a cake-walk at the Auditorium last night,” observed Amy to her friend Mildred. “Yes,” replied the high-school girl, “I believe there was a biscuit pedestrian contest or something of that nature.”—Chronicle-Telegraph. A Queer Place. Mr. Sharp (the tragedian)—“Denver is a queer place to play in.” Mr. Flat (the comedian) — “How so?” Mr. Sharp—“l was doing Richard there last week and when I came to the lines: ‘Who has seen the sun to-day?’ everybody in the audience got up and shouted: ‘We are all subscribers! ’ ” —Exchange. Not Many Like Him. ' He is a man original, For it lias been his way To keep his tongue from wagging when He’s got nothing to’ say. —Detroit 'lrlbune. She Still Lecture*. Mr. Tile—Your wife used to lecture before she was married; hasshe given it up now? Mr. Milds—Well-er-yes, that is in public. . Mistaken Identity. A Texas man is the owner of a very fine imported Kentucky jack, and stockmen are continually calling to see it. One day he happened to be upstairs when a friend called to see the animal. His little son called: “Father, come down, a gentleman wants to see you.” “What did you say, my son?” shouted the father. “I said come down—a gentleman wants to see our big donkey.”— Texas Siftings. ■ Blowing His Way. Young Man (who eats onions) — Which way is the wind blowing thia morning, Cholly. Cholly—My way, I guess. Preparation. Facetious Caller (who finds his friend exercising with the dumbbells) —“What’s the matter? Getting ready to write another spring poem?” Literary Aspirant—“No; I’m getting ready to sell one.”—Washington Star. Not a Booties* Wooing. Charlie—Edith Grigson is a nice girl, but her father is a regular old pirate. Chappie—A pirate? How do you make that out? I know from experience that he is a free-booter. — Exchange.

Considerate Pupils.

Professor A. Cz Reese, of Carrollton, Ga., has been teachings school fifty-six years. He says he has taught nearly 5,000 pupils, and never has had but two die in school time.

It Was the Style.

Tn the days when wings and powder were fashionable, ladies are said to have paid, as much as £2OO for having their hair dressed for special or state occasions.

A Small Army.

The theaters in London regularly employ over 12,000 people.