Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1892 — Page 6

gfreltmotrolitStirtinti RENSSELAER. INDIANA. “ V * XW. McEWEN, - - - Yukushb*.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

THE NEW BUILDING THE FINEST IN THE WORLD. New Approaching Completion-Mow Books WUI Be Handled by Masllhmry—Boom for 8,000,000 Volnmee—Great Libraries of Ancient and Modern Ties ■« Unde Sain’s New Library. An underground cable road will connect the new Library of Congress with the Capitol. It will be on a Lilliputian scale, and the little cars run upon it will envy only books as passengers. So rapid and effective will this method of communication be that Congressmen will be able to procure at the briefest notice volumes that are needed off-hand for reference or for use in debate. From a station situated midway between the House and Senate orders will be telegraphed or otherwise swiftly sent, and the books on arrival distributed by messengers. This will be a very different affair from the famous “hole in the ground* which was made seventeen

years ago to connect the Capitol with the Government Printing Office by a gigantic pneumatic tube, big enough for a man to be whisked through. It was intended for conveying public documents, but the $15,000 spent on it was wasted, inasmuch as it never worked, and it is now used merely as a conduit for telephone wires. There is no library building in the world that at all compares with the one now being erected by Unde Sam. Novel mechanical devices will constitute one of its most interesting features. Improvements of the kind have never been thought of abroad, where the great book collections are usually so managed that their treasures are to a great extent unavailable. In the Library of Congress the volumes will be handled almost entirely by machine. Orders will be sent to the bookstacks and books brought from them to the desk for distribution by trays suspended from endless chains, the latter being made to travel by means of an engine in the basement. The mechanism will be noiseless and invisible also, the carriers going beneath the floor of the great central readingroom to and fro between the Librarian's desk and the book-stacks. Every arriving tray will dump itself automatically at the desk. Likewise, in taking volumes back, each tray will spill its contents of its own accord at a certain time. For example, if a book belongs on tier 7, the desk attendant waits until the carrier marked 7 oomee along and puts the volume on it as it passes. When it gets to tier 7 the book spills out by the action of a peg and catch, and the person in charge of that tier puts it away on its proper shelf. A Great Collection. - When one learns that there are 650,000 bound volumes in the library of Congress, mind does not grasp the fact with very clear comprehension. It is easier to absorb the idea when it is explained that this number of books, placed side by side on a shelf, would stretch eleven miles. But the new

building was not planned to aooommodate only so many, the obvious expectation being that the great collection will grow enormously through centuries to come. Adjoining the central rotunda are two structures which might be compared to gigantic honeycombs, made wholly of iron Instead of wax. and designed to hold not neetar, but knowledge. These, are called book stacks, and each of the pair will contain bO 000 volumes. Each of them is 65 feet high, 112 feet long, 45 feet wide, and has nine stories. On the iron shelves, made gridiron fashion, the books will be placed back to back, with Just enough room between the book-cases to afford narrow passageways. Thus they will have plenty of fresh air. which is as necessary to books as it is to human beings. Books must have ventilation, else they will rot, and they have to be kept cool. Heat makes them decay and bad air anuses mould. Books stored by this stack system, which is a comparatively new invention, can not possibly be burned. If set afire, nothing else combustible being at hand, they merely smolder. However, 1,€00,000 volumes do not by any means represent the capacity of the building. It is anticipated that the library of Congress will be the biggest in the world some day, and provision has been made to the construction of the edifice for accommodating 5,'.00,00<) books. All binding will be done on the premises, an item which costs SB,OOO annually. There will be plenty of room also for the copyright civiaion, which requires great space for the filing away of all publications, etc., on which copyrights are granted. Copyrights are issued for a good many things besides books, periodicals, and oamphlets. They are given for new pieces of music, engravings, chromes, and even puzzles and games. The games and puzzles are not themselves subject to copyright, but the directions for them are so, toeing printed matter. Veiy commonly the man there is no need building blocks, chopped-o* anlmata.

parlor billiardtablen, or what not—and they are duly stored. Uncle Bam has enough of such articles in the Capitol at present to stock several toy shops for next Christmas. Not a little of the printed matter submitted for copyrighting is immoral and so unfit for publication as to render it liable to seizure under the laws. But, oddly enough, the Librarian of Congress has no discretion in this regard, and he is compelled to grant the copyright in every instance, so long as the material is original. A common fraud attempted is the request for a copyright on an old book published under a new title. In order to guard against this the assistants in charge of the copyright business must be familiar with everything that has been issued from the press. Obviously this is not wholly possible, but it is wonderful how near they coiqe to it, so that it is very rare for such a cheat to pass undiscovered. People offer many things for copyrighting which do not come legally within the range of that institution. Recently dozens of applications have been made for copyrights on campaign badges. The most interesting was a mlnature diaper with a gold safety-pin stuck through it, inscribed with the words, “Vote for My Papa—Baby Ruth.” The applicant was referred to the Pa'.ent Office. Library Skeletons. Every great library has its skeleton—that is to say, a collection of books unfit for general perusal, which are hidden

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

away in some corner. Unfortunately there are many works of this description which are classical, and to destroy them would be regarded by all bibliophiles as an atrocious act of vandalism. Such volumes are kept by Librarian Spofford in a little room by themselves, and none of them can be obtained without his special permission. In this curious assemblage novels of a century ago bear a conspicuous part. Their contents afford a vivid conception of the improvement in morals and refinehient

READING ROOM OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

of speech which has marked the last 100 years. A good many odd things find their way into a big library. One small collection in Mr. Spofford’s charge is kept by itself, the volumes composing it being printed on wall paper. They were published in the South during the war when paper was a scarce article.'- A pair of wooden decoy-ducks on top of a stack of books seem rather out of place, but they are accounted for by the circumstance that in a catalogue of a col- , lection purchased some time ago the words “Two De. oy Ducks” appeared at the end. This was mistaken for the title ot a book, and the du'-ks were ordered to be sent to ‘Washington with the rest. The plan of the new Library of Con-

UNCLE SAM’S NEW LIBRARY.

gress is copied after that of the British Museum, in respect to having the reading room in the middle, with the book stacks around it. Mr. Spofford will sit at an elevated desk in the center of the big rotunda, so as to overlook everything, and keep an eye on the readers. There will be space for 3GO people, seated at desks arranged in concentric circles. From behind a ring-shaped counter surrounding the librarian, his assistants will give out and receive books, the endless chains of traveling trays dumping and taking on their loads inside this ring. The four interior courts, open to the sky, are already completed as to their walls, which are faced inside with dazzling white tiles, for the purpose of reflecting the great-

WORKING ROOM OF THE BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONAL. PARIS.

est possible amount of light through the windows. The book stacks have been completed and sections of the build ng containing them have been roofed over. The masonry of the rotunda is all up, and the construction of the dome will be begun this fall. A new kind of glass is likely to be adopted for the skylights. Being formed on a sort of wire net, it cannot tumble and do damage if broken. One of the most remarkable things about this building is that it will be finished at the appointed time, four years hence, and the cost of it will come within the appropriation, which was s€.<oo,ooo. Nine lusts of famous writers will occupy niches in

the window-caps on the west front-Uok-ing toward the Capitol, but these literary celebrities have not yet been selected. The keystones of the window arches on the four faces of the structure bear sculptured heads representing the thirty-three types of races of mankind recognized by ethnologists. They were made from models and pictures at the National Museum, under the direction of Piof. Otis T. Mason. Foreign Libraries. The British Museum, though architecturally only an uncouth as-emblage of buildings, has the finest library in the world. With one exception it is the largest. In cosmopolitan interest it is without a rival, posse-sing the best Hungarian collection out of the country, the best Hutch library out of HoJi land, and, in short, the best library in i any European language outside of ; the territory in which the language is j vernacular. The Chinese books numI ber 27,( 00. The biggest library in exi istence is the Bibliotheque Nationaie at i Paris, which has 1,800,000 betmd voli umes. The oldest of great modern j libraries, it has had the aid of several l kings and other powerful personages since its formation. The beginning of I it was the collection of King John, the i Black Prince’s captive, who bequeathed it to his successor. Charles V. There is no general catalogue for the use of readers. The Vatican Library at Rome was founded in the fifteenth century by Pope Nicholas V. However, it was based on collections far more ancient, and there is evidence that a pontifical library existed from the fifth century. The present building was erected by Sixtus V. in 1588. It contains 220,< 00 printed volumes and 22,000 manuscripts. It is open to the public only between November and June, and is always closed on Sundays and feast days. There is no proper catalogue, and the librarians rely on imperfect written lists. The thiid largest library in the world is the Imperial Public Library at St. Petersburg, which claims 1,000,000 volumes. The most ancient libraries known of were those of Assyria. Only forty years ago discovery was made of the royal library at Nineveh. Digging brought to light the chambers that contained it, the floors of which were covered a foot deep with clay tablets bearing cuneiform characters, many of which were so small as lo require a magnifying glass for reading them. These were the books of that strange and warlike people ot antiquity, the tablets being inscribed with a stylus while soft and afterward baked. The library belonged to the luxurious mdnarch Sardanapaius, who was a great patron of literature. It included 10,000 distinct woiks, some extending over many tablets, methodically arranged and catalogued. The institution was open to the public. Most ot the tablets which were found whole are now in the British Museum. In ancient Egypt were many libraries, such collections being usually deposited in temples and at the tombs of kings. The books were written on papyrus scrolls. Under the Ptolemies the biggest of the libraries, at Alexandria, had 400,000 volumes or rolls. It was destroyed accidentally by the spreading of the flames when Caesar set fire to the fleet in the harbor.

But Where’s the Quarter?

“Did you ever try stamping a coin with your name and sending it out on its journey?” said Bourke Lenord, of Montreal. “Four years ago I did that. I stamped a quarter while in New York City and passed it the same day for a basket of grapes. Three days later I left the city;- I went direct to Mount Clemens, Mich., from New York and put up at the Avery House. I hadn’t been there two days before a friend of mine, and a commercial tourist, came to the same house and took rooms. I was sitting out on the piazza listening to the music that they have every evening, when he came up and said: “ ‘l’ve got something here that belongs to you, Leonard. ’ “ ‘What’s that?’ I asked. “ ‘When did you stamp this quarter?’ “ ‘Not over four days ago,’ I said, rising up in surprise. He held it out to me, and, sure enough, there was my coin. He had been in New York at the same time, and had received it in change from a saloon on the Bowery. Well, that was once. That same quarter came to me a year later while I was stopping at the Alexander House. A drummer friend of mine had picked it up in Kansas City, and had held it for me. I turned that quarter loose again upon the market, and within six months I had it again, brought, of course, to me by a friend of mine who had taken it in change from some hotel clerk down in Indiana. Well, I took it up and passed it again. From that time on until now I have never seen it, but there is no telling. I expect to run. across it shortly. A friend of mine stamped his name on one six years ago and sent it out, but it failed to return. Must have been taken up by a bank and sent to the Treasury. I don’t think it would go that long without coming back. It’s interesting if nothing else. You want to try it. ”

He Could Not Take It.

The bicycle champion lay dying. The grand physique seemed no abler to cope with the chill grasp of the dark angel than the fiagile frame of an infant. His great muscles were wasted with fever. He was conquered at last. The victor in hundreds of contests was bowing his head. Beside the bed sat a minister of the gospel, come to cheer the last moments of the expiring athlete, to lighten the pain of the body with balm for the departing spirit. He held the big, bony hand as he would that of a child, and stroked with delicate touch the hot brow. “Thou art going to a realm of ineffable bliss,” whispered the clergyman. Only a gentle pressure of the fingers told that the words of comfort had entered the soul about to take its flight. • “To a beautiful city” The preacher was eloquently impressive. “Whose walls are of pearl and whose streets” The champion moved uneasily and opened his eyes. “Are paved with pure gold.” The man was sitting bolt upright, glaring wildly. “Gold pavements” His hands clutched the air. “And I can’t take my pneumatic.” Long after death a pained expression lingered on his countenance. The newly discovered moon of Jupiter is said to be only a hundred miles in diameter. It is uncertain whether Jupiter himself discovered it until he read about it In, the American papers.

LITTLE WATEREO STOCK THERE

One of the Numerous Good Pninse About Railroad* In England. The English railroads were far more expensive to build than ours. They had to pay for the land—and land is valuable in England; and the cost of depots, etc., was much higher than here, where all the laid is given free and often a bonus in the way of city and county bonds for the location of machine shops, etc. When it is considered that the English roads cost so much more aqd get none of this assistance, one would think that it was far more difficult to pay dividends on the stock there than here, but the New Orleans <Times-Demo-crat says this does not seem to be the case. A parliamentary inquiry conducted by the British Labor Commission into the English railroads, and more particularly into the wages paid employes, Shows a condition of affairs highly creditable to them. The amount of money invested in railroads is $4,485,00.0,000, and authorized capital $5,000,000,000. It js here that the defects in our railroad system become apparent. The laws creating the British railroads keep their capital down very close to the actual cost; whereas, here the stock is watered time and time again, until often the capital of the company represents barely 10 per cent, of the money expended. “Water” is the reason why so many American railroads default in the payment of their dividends. The gross receipts per annum of the English roads are £BO,000,000; but the working expenses reduce this by more than one-half, and the net earnings amount to £43,000,000 annually. The English roads, therefore, pay average dividends of 5 per cent. (4.8 per cent., to be exact), which is far above what our roads do. Another point inquired into by the commission—and it was the matter most investigated by it—was in regard to wages. The evidence submitted showed that the number of men employed by the English companies is in the neighborhood of 350,000. This is a much larger number in proportion to mileage than are employed in this country, and proves that the British roads are better equipped—one of the reasons why there are fewer accidents there than here. It was also shows that the men had fully shared in the prosperity of the companies, and that their pay bad increased more rapidly in the last eight years than the gross receipts, the improvement in wages being 21 per cent., and in railroad business only 12 per cent., and that there had been at the same time -a material reduction in the hours of labor. Weboast a great deal about our railroads, and we undoubtedly lead the world in mileage; but it would be well to remember some of the facts brought out by this British commission: That we have too many accidents and kill too many people; that we do not pay as good dividends as the English lines, which cost a great deal more, and that American employes do not share in the increased prosperity of the roads as fully as they do in England.

For Peace or War. The growth of international arbitration has not been as rapid as the friends of peace were at one time led to hope. In spite of arguments and practical examples the United States and Great Britain are almost alone in their adhesion to the principle. The other nations still hold to the stern and tested policy of getting what they can by individual bargaining, and fighting when they cannot agree. The advantages of arbitration are easy to be understood. To say nothing of avoiding the slaughter of good, productive citizens, the financial advantages are almost wholly on the side of peace. Napoleon was a master hand at robbery and believed fully in the maxim of living off the enemy, yet in spite of all the money raised by taxation in France and the countries appropriated by France the debt had increased from 714,000,000 francs to 1,272,000,000 francs at, the end of the fifteen years of Napoleon’s government. This was, to be sure, a small increase, considering the fighting that was done, but when even the ruthless policy of Napoleon could not make war at the expense of the conquered no other may hope to be successful. Germany’ came nearest to it by collecting 5.000,000,000 francs of France and taking Alsace and Lorraine as the prize of the war of 1870, but the cost of the war in money and the still greater expense it has entailed in the enormous military establishment necessary to hold the provinces have made it a dear bargain. The expenses of a war are great. In most cases the return is nothing. The combatants become exhausted, and after spending their blood and money come to a more or less friendly agreement and settle their differences on terms that might have been had without fighting. When the United States and Great Britain came near going to war over the Alabama claims the whole amount in dispute was $100,000,000. If they had fought the whole amount in dispute would have been spent in military preparations before a blow was struck and both sides would have spent ten times that amount a year till the war closed. Arbitration in that case saved hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lives to each side, and the result was honorable if not satisfactory to both sides. It is true that England felt sore that the award went against ber —not for the $15,500,000, for she would have willingly spent a hundred times that amount in defending her dignity, but for the fact that she was declared to be in the wrong. But whatever disappointment was felt both countries have found the proceedings so sensible that they are settling the Behring Sea dispute in the same manner. Other countries, however, show no intention of laying aside the sword for the legal argument. It may. do well enough for kindred countries or in cases where the disparity of power is so great as to make war ridiculous. But between blood enemies it finds no favor. Germany faces her armies toward the French and Russian frontiers; Austria-Hungary watches for the Cossack camp fires; France snarls at England's stay in Egypt, and all the powers are ready to tty at cne another’s throats as soon as some

accident shall start a fight in any quarter. There is no thought of arbitration, and apparently nothing to arbitrate. , Possibly after the next great conflict the other powers will see the advantages of settling their differences peaceably, but it does not look as though they would come to that mind until they have experienced again the full disadvantages of war.

. French Peasant*. M. Betham Edwards, in her “France of To-day,” speaks again and again of the benefits accruing from the ownership of land by the peasantry. As a native Of England, shesedms to have been peculiarly impressed by this feature of across the Channel. She writes with special enthusiasm of Osse, “a remote Pyrenean village admirably adapted for the study of rural life.” “A beautiful spirit of humanity,” she declares, “a delicacy, rare among'the most polished societies, characterize these frugal softs and daughters of the soil.” As sordidness carried to the pitch of brutality is often imputed to the French peasant, let me relate an incident that occurred hereabouts not long before my visit. The land is minutely divided, many possessing a cottage and field only. One of these small owners was suddenly ruined by the falling of a rock; his cottage, cow and pig were destroyed. Without saying a word, his neighbors, like himself in very humble circumstances, made up a purse of five hundred francs, a large sum with such doners, and, too delicateminded to offer the gift themselves, deputed an outsider to do it anonymously. Another instance in point came to my knowledge. This was of a young woman servant, who, during the illness of her employers, refused to accept wages. “You will pay me same other time,” said the girl to her mistress. “I am sure you can ill afford to give me the* money now.” Peasant property, and rural life generally, here presented to me some wholly new features. One of these is the ai-most entire self-sufficingness of very small holdings, their owners neither buying nor selling, making their little crops and stock almost completely supply their needs. On a field dr two enough flax Is grown with which to spin linen for home use, enough wheat and Indian corn for the year’s bread-making, maize being mixed with wheaten flour. Again, pigs and poultry are reared for daily consumption. Expenditure is reduced to the minimum. Coffee is a luxury seldom indulged in. A few drink home-grown wine, but all are large milk drinkers. The poorest is a good customer of the dairy farmer.

A Sad Want of Originality. The Crown Prince of Denmark furnishes a curious example of the nomenclature practiced by royal families. The rule in Turkey was that Amurath should succeed Amuratb, and in England that George should succeed George or Henry should follow Henry. In Denmark, however, the rule has long been that Frederick should succeed Christian and Christian Frederick. This is confusing enough to write intelligibly, but it is still worse in practice. Nearly every Danish king is named Christian or Frederick, and so the difficulty of distinguishing between them is great. The present king is Christian the Ninth. He was the son of Frederick the Seventh. He will be succeeded by Frederick the Eighth, who in turn will be followed by Christian the Tenth. The mere fact that the present Crown Prince is known as Frederick, and that if he died before his father he would be succeeded in his rights by his son, Prince Christian, is nothing at all. All the sons of the royal house of Denmark are Christian and Frederick, and therefore, from the point of view of mere nomenclature, it does not matter which of them succeeds to the crown. The next two lots in crowned heads in Copenhagen would be labeled Frederick the Eighth and , Christian the Tenth, under any circumstances. In many princely German families every male who is born is christened by the hereditary name. The result of this peculiar custom may be illustrated by the fact that in the reigning house of Reuss the Henrys run up to Henry the Sixty-ninth.

Rich Without Money. Many a man is rich without money. Many a man is poor with money. Thousands of men with nothing in their pockets, and thousands without even a pocket are rich. A man born with a good, sound constitution, a good stomach, a good heart and good limbs, and a pretty good head-piece, is rich. Good bones are better than gold, tough muscles are better than silver, and nerves that flash Are and carry energy to every function are better than houses and lands. It is better than a landed estate to nave a right kind of father and mother. Good breeds and bad breeds exist among men as really as among herds and horses. Education way do much to check the evil tendencies or to develop good ones, but it is a good thing to inherit the right proportion of faculties to start with. The man is rich who has a good disposition, who is naturally kind, patient, cheerful, hopeful, and who has a flavor of wit and fun in his composition. The hardest thing to get on with in this life is a man’s own self. A cross, selfish fellow, a despondent and complaining fellow, a timid and careburdened man—these are all born deformed on the inside. They do not limp, but their thoughts sometimes do.—Selected. There is a pretty general consensus of opinion that Lady Cavendish has been making a mountain out of a molehill in her pictures of English fashionable life. When a woman starts in to find fault as a public vice deplorer it may generally be expected that unless she has a hard-headed, practical editor to blue pencil her gush she will be apt to flop over. Emmet Dalton may be getting better, but it is hardly probable he will fully recover his health—in Coffeyville.

LONDON’S NEW LORD MAYOR.

Mr. Stewart KnUl Has Been Formally Received In the House of Lords. In accordance with custom Baron Hershell, the Lord Chancellor, received Stewart Knill, the Lord Mayor-elect, in the House of Lords. The Lord Mayor was accompanied by other city officials. The Lord Chancellor commented on the opposition made to the Lord Mayor’s election on account of his creed and said that the time was past when a Catholic was debarred from holding office. The creed in which a man believed was now no barrier to privileges, rights and honors. The new Lord Mayor-elect of London belongs to a branch of the old Catholic family of the Knills, for centuries rooted in Herefordshire. His father was the architect of his own fortunes, and in time became a wealthy wharfinger. His. distinguished son was born in 1820, was educated at Blackheath school add the University of Bonn. He joined his father in his business of wharfinger, which is now his own, but in the description of his style he is named as “citizen and goldsmith.” He is in the commission of peace" for the city of London, and is a magistrate of Kent. He is a stanch conservative. His election created a nd-popery storm, in consequence of his refusal to promise that he will be present at the services at city churches and at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which it is customary for the Lord Mayor to attend. It has been felt in unprejudiced circles that the newly elect has behaved in a straightforward and manly manner, and that, while preserving

LORD MAYOR KRILL.

to himself his freedom of action in the matter of religious observance he will also observe the traditional liberties of the great city over which he will hold civic sway. A Fea-tato. “I’ll tell you a queer experiment a neighbor of mine made with a pea and a potato,” said James A. Hegler, of Sunny South, Ala. “Simpson isn’t a farmer, nor a horticulturist, nor yet a ‘grafter.’ He works in a small foundry in our town and is a core-maker by trade. That fellow is always scheming around with one thing and another, trying to invent something. I was looking over his garden fence one day last spring, while Simpson was planting potatoes, and he came up to where I was standing, holding a potato in his hand. “ ‘See this potato?’ he said. *1 said ‘Yes.’ “ ‘Well, said he, ‘l’m going to get a pea and force it into the heart of this potato. Then we will watch it and see how it comes up.’ “He took a pea out of his pocket, pushed a hole into the potato with his lead pencil and then pushed the pea into the center. Then he took the potato to the center of the garden and planted it. For months I visited that garden daily and watched the growth of that ‘pea-tato.’ It came up a most remarkable plant. I can hardly describe it to you. It was a commingling of the two, with the potato dominating the pea. Tho potato plant looked like a sweetpotato vine and ran aloqg the ground, throwing out shoots that took root. The flower of the plant was not the ordinary cream yellow one of the potato. It was a mixture of the same shape as the daisy, with white, yellow, and pink petals of a very pale hue. The fruit of the plant was much like the ordinary potato, onlj’ it was much smaller, with a skin of a cream color. It did not taste much different from the ordinary potato, although there was just a smack of pea soup about it The plant flourished well enough and did not require much care. Simpson says that ftext year he will plant several rows in that manner, as he seems to prefer the new kind to the old. I rather think that the new plant is a good one, although some other vegetable might do better.”

Curiosity ot instinct. The owner of a large poultry farm in Western Newt York lost several dozen bens in the course of a single week, under circumstances indicating the presence of rats, bub.was unable to catch more than two or three specimens of the wily rodents. The depredations continued, and at last he procured a ferret, but was warned to watch it well, as an uncaged pet of that sort would clean out his entire establishment in a couple of nights. Not wishing to run that risk, he did not slip the ferret at all, but kept it in a wire box, which he placed in a corner of the brood-house. The mere scent of their dreadful foe sufficed to drive away every rat of the neighborhood. The ferret panic seemed to spread to adjoining .buildings, and the rodents emigrated en masse. Yet not one of the fugitives could possibly have known the significance of the impending danger from personal experience; their alarm must have been the result of an instinct derived entirely from hereditary transmission. Paper Teeth. Among the many remarkable inventions at the late paper exhibit at Berlin was a set of paper teeth, which were made in 1878 by a Lubeck dentist. They have been in use for 14 years and are in first class condition. Diamonds from Meteorr. A German scientist claims that all diamonds come from meteors. Soldiers in Europe, More than 18,000.000 men stand ready for war in Europe.

OUR BUDGET OF FUN.

HUMOROUS SAYINGS AND DOINGS HERE AND THERE. Joke* and Jokeleta that Are Supposed tv Have Been Recently Born-Sayings and Doings that Are Odd, Curious and Laughable. r Sprinkles of Spice. If does not follow that a man with a husky voice is a corn doctor.—Utica Observer. < It is easy to understand why another man should not mind abuse. — Atchison Globe. Parent—What branch will make a boy the smartest? Pedagogue— Hickory.—Truth. Keep a close eye on the man whose wife is afraid to ask him for money.—Ram’s Horn. It is an odd fact that the duty of most missionaries is to go to the bad. —Philadelphia Record. When the judge pronounces sentence the criminal is apt not to think much of his pronunciation—Binghamton Leader. All sorts of vexations attend the parlor matrimonial match. Even the lamp is frequently put out over it.—Binghamton Leader. The “big guns” at the banquet are those who are tired with eloquence so as to produce reports in the newspapers.—Washington Star. “The trouble with Stunner is he runs his jokes too far.” Jasper—l suppose that is why they always seem so worn out.—Chicago Inter Ocean. The next thing a long-suffering public learns will be the fact that gas companies are putting pneumatic tires on their gas meters. Ohio State Journal. “Did you ever see Charley Timmin’s four-in-hand?” she asked. “Yes,” he answered, sadly, “I saw them last night. They were all aces. ” —Washington Star. “This is the most dangerous counterfeit I ever came across,” remarked the actor, as he felt the lath-and-canvas bridge giving way under his feet.—lndianapolis Journal. Visitor—“ Your son is in a drug store, I believe?” Old Lady—“ Yes, studying fizzleology.” Visitor—“l beg pardon?” Old Lady—“He runs the soda fountain.’’—Detroit Free Press. She—“ Must you gc soon, darling? It is only 10 o’clock, and father won’t object if you staid until 12.” He—- “ Time, my own. But that only gives me two hours in which to say goodnight.”—Life. “I suppose you visited some of the most famous galleries when you were abroad?” Mrs. Quickrich —“Yes, an’ here is some tin-types me an’*Ezra had took at one of’em.”—Chicago Inter Ocean. Shallow—“ Why, just read that sign—‘Dental Parlors.’ Isn’t it absurd to call a dental room a parlor?” DeCpe—“lt is probably the painter’s mistake. He meant drawing-room.” —Boston Courier.

“Doctor,” asked the seeker after knowledge of the clergyman, “why do people get on their knees to pray, instead of standing?” “They want to save their soles,” responded the clever minister.—Brooklyn Life. “I fell into the pond to-day, and it was up to my neck,” said Walter. “Nonsense," said Jack, “the water in the pond isn’t more than a foot deep.” “Oh, but I went in bead first,” said Walter.—Harper’s Young People. “What’s the charge in this case?” asked the judge. “That’s what I’m waitin’ to find out, yer ’onn’r,” replied the prisoner. “I had the satisfaction of bittin’, ’im,’ and I’m willin’ to pay any price that’s in reason. ” Washington Star. < Trying to please: Wife (in railway train) —It’s mortifying to have you act so. Why don’t you get up and help that young lady raise that window? Dutiful Husband—She’sso pretty I was afraid you’d be mad.— New York Weekly. Mr. Twinks (bolding wishbone) — What jer wishin’ fo’, Car’lin’? Miss Clumpah—"Taint right fer ter tell, but I wants a sealskin sack pow’ful bad. Whad’s yo’ wishin’ fer? Mr. Twinks —I’se jes’ wisbin’ d’ bone’ll brek on yo’ side ob d’ handles!— Judge. Teacher (who has been explaining the word epidemic)—Now, who can give me the name of an epidemic here in America? Remember, it is something that spreads Tommy (wildly waving his hand) —I know; it’s strawberry jam.—Chicago Inter Ocean. Employer—See here, Mr. Penn, this is the fourth time in three months I have given you a day off to attend your sister’s wedding. Don’t you think you ought to find a new excuse? Bookkeeper—But I have been telling the truth. Sister lives in Chjcago.—lndianapolis Journal.

He Had a Limit.

The dude was visiting the peniten. tiary, accompanied by an official and a newspaper man, and the party were talking to one of the prisoners. “Have a cigarette?” said the dude as they were about to depart, offering him a package. *' “Much obliged,” responded the prisoner sWkinadiis head. “I’ve stole bosses, and roobed chicken roosts, and broke intQ houses, and killed a man or two, and had four or five wives, and made counterfeit money, but I never smoked cigarettaS, and, heaven helpin’ tne, I never will. So long,” and the ceil door went to with a bang as as the one the dude wore ffi ills hair.

Business Lock.

An ingenious lock has been devised for use in business houses and offices where absolute privacy is desired. By simply turning an electricswitch, placed close at hand, the occupant of the room may Instantly admit a person, as quickly lock the door on his egress, without leaving his chair.

Lumber Drying.

One? of the latest applications of the heating properties of electricity is to the drying of lumber for planing purposes. At a large mill in Ottawa, Canada, this method has been tested with such gratifying results that a number of electric drying kilns are now being erected.