Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1893 — Page 4

THE WITCHING HOUR. feow for hours hsd blown and drifted, And the rack went scudding bj; Spectrally the branches lifted Naked arms against the sky. fVhat cared we though time was flitting, What cared we though winds made moan. In the twilight Bitting All alone? She within a rocker cozy, I upon a hassock 1.. w, Watching o’er l er face the rosy Cupid dimples come and go; For the lover firelight heightened Ev ry blush with ardor bold, And her locks of brown wire brightened Into gold. Like the fabulous “Jack Horner,” Of the merry nursery page, Gleeful from a dusky corner Grinned an idol gray with age; And methought his dark lips mut'ered, What I longed there to avow: “Tell her,” were the words he uttered, “Tell her now!” Then there fell a silence sweeter Than when air is stirred with song, Than when strains in mellow meter Bwim with rhjthmie sweep along, In her eyes a look beguiling Bade me not to breait the spell; Something told me in her smiling All was well. Slowly grew the firelight dimmer Till the angles of t e room, Lighted by no ruddy glimmer, Melted in the shrouded gloom; And not e’en the ancient idol Saw love’s apotheosis Or the presage of a bridal In a kiss. —[Clinton Scollard, in Munsey’s Magazine.

SAVED BY LIGHTNING.

The effect of the electrical phenomenon on the nerves of linely strung individuals is not unlike that communicated by a sudden and severe fright when the controlling power of the brain seems entirely cut off from action. In persons of stronger nerves the effect is not so great unless at some former period the nervous system has been serverely shocked, and even stunned, by the force of an electric current. No person has had more frequent demsnstration of this fact than myself. I am strong and robust by nature and would scorn the idea of being nervous. I have several times been placed in peeuliarly dangerous positions, whe.e condderable nerve and pluck were required for the right performance of ray duty, tnd on all such occasiotis.l have acquitted myself to the satisfaction of all my friends. But brave and strong as lam tn the face of most dangers, I am weak ind helpless in a heavy thunderstorm. Since a certain memorable night in 1883 I have been absurdly susceptible to ihe influence of electricity in any form, tnd it is an easy matter for me to predict t rising storm long before it has come up oy the condition of the atmosphere and die effect it has upon my nerves. I was telegraph operator at a small way itation on a northern railway. My duties consisted in signalling the trains that passed by my door, selling tickets and icting as operator. These combined duties kept me busy, tnd as there was scarcely a house within two miles of the station, the quietness as the place would have been unbearable bad I been at leisure to notice it. But when my work was finished, late in the ifternoon, I always fouud a short time to devote to reading before the evening express came in, and this was soon looked Forward to with genuine delight by me is a relief from my other duties. The cqpre.cs was not always up to time, ind I frequently found myself waiting antil 8 o’clock before she arrived, reading, walking and otherwise passing the time as pleasantly as possible. . I was engaged in the former occupation rather earlier than usual one warm, sultry afternoon iu August. The weather had been so excessively hot that I had been compelled to lay iside all superfluous garments and to do my work in my . shirt sleeves. It was just such a day as always closes with a aeavy thunderstorm. About 3 o’clock the atmosphere began to change. A few clouds appeared upon the western horizon, and the sounds of lis tan t thunder could be faintly heard. A gentle breeze swayed the pines and rustled the green leaves of the tall oaks. [ thought at the time that it had a mournful, ominous sound, and as the distant cry of a loon fell upon my ear an unaccountable shiver ran through me. I laughed at my own fears and arose from my feet to dispel all gloomy forebodings, and began to lock up things wound the freighthouse before the storm was upon me. When this was finished, ( returned to my seat and watched the Dlouds scud across the now dark heavens. In a little while the rain began to descend in torrents, pattering upon the tin roof of the Btation house like leaden bultets. The thunder pealed out with heavy reverberations, and the lightning was fairly blinding. I closed up my instrument in the office uid did not approach it again until the storm had passed. To have tampered with it in such tempest would have been folly. The lightning, as it were, played with the wire and the keys in an unpleasant manner and made me move farther away from it. For half an hour the storm continued with unabated fury, and all along the track little rivers of rainwater were surging and rushing. The afternoon had grown suddenly dark, and it was impossible to discern an object twenty yards off. The usual time for the arrival of the evening express had passed, and still no indication of her coming had been received. This did not seem strange to me, is there was some danger of the track beiDg washed out at different crossings, and it was probable that some delay would be caused. 1 felt the lonesomeness of my position extremely that night When I glanced out of the window into the murky darkness and heard the fitful rush of the wind through the pines and tremble at the heavy crash of the thunder, T was forced to admit that I did not enjoy the situation. Twioe I went out on the platform to see if I could hear anything of the coming train, but on each occasion I was met with such a blast of wind and rain that I was only too glad to seek the shelter of the house again. When the small office clock struck 9,1 could stand it no longer, but donning my cloth cap and coat I opened the door to sally forth again. As I did so the shrill shriek of a woman greeted my astonished At first I concluded that it was the work of the wind, but a second time the jj rose above the storm, clear and distinct. There was no mistaking the sound. It was the cry of a woman in distress,

and came out of the storm not far dis tant. I started along the platform with an answering shout, and had not gone far before I encountered a woman staggering along the track. “What is the matter?” I inquired ia as loud a voice as I could command. “For heaven’s sake, come quick 1” she shrieked wildly. “Come quick 1 The train has run oil the line! All are lost—my husband—my child —dead—dead 1” The horrible situation flashed over my bewildered senses in a moment. Just around the curve was a deep crossing, and the rain must have washed down the embankment in time to wreck the evening express. This woman was the only one saved, and she had managed to crawl up to the station for assistance. I helped tho woman up on the platform, and told her to hurry into the station house and wait until my returu. Then, with lantern in hand, I started on a run toward the scene of the disaster. It was barely a quarter of a mile to the crossing, but it aecmed ages to me before I reached it.

All was quiet; not a moan nor shriek of any kind could be heard. The storm still raged around. I looked down the embankment, expecting to see a heap of broken, twisted iron mixed up with the dead and dying passengers. I then examined the crossing and found the line in good condition. A small slip had been caused by a large current'of water, but everything—so far as I could see—was in perfect order. What could it all mean ? And in an agony of fear and dread I stood still and thought. In my excitement I had not asked the woman where the accideht had happened, but took it for granted that it was at the crossing. It might be half a mile farther on, or it might be a mile or more, I reasoned. But, at all events, it would be better to return to the station at} get the right place from the woman’s own lips. So I turned my face in the direction of the station once more and began running with all my strength. As I hurried along I glanced occasionally at the line to sec: if it was in good condition. When I reached the new switch, which was used for sidiDg trains, I suddenly stopped. The switch was turned. I could not believe it possible thnt I had been so careless as to leave it in such a condition. If the express should come along when it was turned, nothing could save her from being clashed down a steep embankment. While I was still wondering at the strange condition of things I heard the long, shrill shriek of th» belated and, as I supposed, wrecked express. The next moment the headlight of the engine rushed in sight around the curve and made a long path of light along the line. There was evidently no accident, but there would be one in a few moments if the brake was not turned back.

This could be done in one way only—by reaching the station before the train reached the switch, and turning the heavy lever thnt connected the two. Could Ido it? I started for the station on a dead run. Ido not know how I reached it. I was dimly conscious of running blindly through the darkness, stumbling against the rails, and finally leaping upon the platform, seizing the iron lever desperately in both.hands. I heard tho heavy bolts fly into their sockets, and then before I could “key” it the heavy wheels rumbled over the switch. It seemed for a moment thnt the heavy pressure would jerk the lever out of my bands, but I clung to it tenaciously, and finally the last wheel rumbled over the fatal place. The evening express did not usually stop at the station, but merely slowed up to see if there were any passengers. But before I could recover from my excitement the long line of block carriages were brought to a standstill and the guard was hurrying toward me. “Jim,” he said, “take this pocknge and lock it u p securely iu the safe until called for. Be very careful of it, for it is something valuable. I will explain later.” Then, without waiting for a reply, he shoved a small, heavy parcel into my hands, blew his whistle and leaped upon the train.

The next moment the long line of carriages was swiftly flying southward, and I was once more alone. By this time I felt so thoroughly exhausted by the excitement and strain upon my nerves that I reeled into the station like a drunken man. I dropped into a chair, completely bewildered. The parcel lay before me, but I took no notice of it, my thoughts being busy with the strange events of the evening. There were no signs of the woman who had started me off to find the wrecked train. In fact, I felt too tired to search for her. She had sent me on a wild goose chase and came near causing the death of many people, and to my mind she seemed to deserve punishment little short of death. The storm was still raging withont. The thunder shook the station to its foundation, and the wind helped to make it seem like a cradle rocked with invisible hands. I remained seated in my chair, staring blankly at the wall for probably ten minutes. A thousand thoughts and conjectures flashed through my brain during" that time, and then, as I involuntarily turned my head, I started back with a nervous jump. In the doorway stood the woman who had told me about the accident. “Good heavens !” I cried, “what is the meaning of this?” She smiled, displaying her white teeth. “The meaning of what?” she asked in the quietest manner ]>ossiblc. I jumped from my chair. “Of what?” I shouted. “Of telling me that the express had jumped the track—that your husband and child were dead. That's what, madam.” She laughed softly. , “ That was a ruse to get you to leave the station,” she replied. “ You are such a home body that I couldn’t get you to go in the storm unless I resorted to a trick. But you came near defeating my purpose after all. You turned that switch back in its proper place just in the nick of time.” “Yes, and you turned it wrong in the first place, didn’t you?” “Yes, I did.” “You she fiend!” I cried, as I gazed on her in utter abhorrence. “Don’t call me hard names. It makes me think that you don’t appreciate my company, and I’m so sensitive!” “Do you know what woull have happened if I had not turned that switch into its proper position?” Another light laugh. “Oh, yes, I know,” said she. “I don’t think you do." “You want to draw me out, I see. Man, if you hadn’t righted that switch a dozen or more mortals would have been hurled into eternity, and you would be tried for murder. I had no grudge against you, and sho.uld have preferred to have the train wrecked near the crossing, but as that couldn’t be, I thought I’d throw her off near the switch. But

you saved her aad 'Cifft'e near balking my plans. That stupid guard, who imagines himself so clever, arranged everything so nicely that he will be surprised tomorrow when you tell him the whole story.” “Are you crazy?” I asked. “No, my dear. I was never saner than I am at this moment!” “Pray what are you driving at then, I’d like to know?” “I will enlighten you. You see that little parcel on the table, which your friend the guard let you keep for him?” I laid my hand on the parcel and gave her a sinister look. “Well, what of it?” I asked. “It contains a sum of money anywhere between £3,000 and £10,000.” “Indeed?” I said contemptuously. “Yes. It was to be sent to Edinburgh to-day, and ,as two or three of us got wind of the affair we concluded to stop it. By some strange mistake on our part the guard heard of our little plan at the other end of the roud, and so to balk us he left it here with you. At the same time I concluded to play a double game and get the whole treasure for myself. For that purpose I called you out and turned the switch in order to wreck the train and so get hold of the money. You interfered ana saved the train, but not the parcel. It is now in your hands, and I will ask you to hand it over without demur.”

She made one step toward the desk, but I leaped toward it and grasped the parcel in both hands. “Never!” I shouted. “This goes into the safe, and I warn you to get out before I pitch you out.” “Ha, ha, ha, ha!” she laughed derisively; “what pluck! I didn’t think you would make such a fight over mere money. But this will bring you to your senses.” Throwing back the cloak which enveloped her small form, she stood before me a wiry looking man, with piercing dark eyes. In the right baud a jewelled pistol gleamed in the lamp light, and the hand that held it was as cool and steady as possible. I glanced into the small burrcl of the pretty plaything and shuddered. “You needn’t be frightened,” continued my strange visitor in the same easy tones. “I don't care to commit murder if I can help it, but don’t drive me to desperation.” At this I recovered my self possession and began to think of a way to get near onough to grapple with this desperate villain. In such an encounter I know I could easily handle him. A sudden, heavy blust of wind, followed by a blinding flash of lightning, fairly stunned' us for a moment. “That was a terrible flash,” I said, noticing that my companion slightly paled. “You are not afraid of thunder, are you?” “Afraid? No, you idiot!” he replied. “But give me thnt money, or I’ll send a bullet through your head.” “One moment!” I cried. “Not a”—-

The sentence was never finished. There was a peal of thunder that seemed to rend the heavens in twain, and then a brilliant streak of fire flashed between us. I felt the building tremble, heard a confused murmur of strange noises—and then a blank. When I awoke to consciousness, daylight was just breaking in the east. The sky was clear as on a summer morning, and the fields and woods were vocal with the sougs of birds. But in my office everything was changed. At my feet lay the stranger of the previous night, with a little dark spot near his left temple. The heavy timbers of the station were burned and cracked, and my papers were scattered all about. The work of the thunderbolt had been effective, but on the table lay the money untouched. When the guard came, I handed him the property. The stranger was identified as a notorious thief, and I was duly rewarded by tho company for my work in saving the money. Butsince that terrible shock a thunderstorm has been to me the most undesirable thing on tho face of the earth.—[Ex.

A Revolving Grand Stand.

P. P. Cuplin, of West Bend, lowa, has intended a device which he believes will make racing even more popular than it now is. It is a revolving grand stand, a contrivance that will save the investor in pool tickets the irksome labor of craning his neck and straining his vision to see how his ducats are being carried. The grand stand is supposed to revolve as tlie races go, and the occupants are always facing the horses in their journey to the wire. The inventor’s idea for the mechanical contrivance of a revolving stand is to have it set in a basin filled with water, but he discreetly withholds particulars as to the application of power, but says that it is just as practicable with a stand of 50,000 chairs as with one of 5,000. The judges’ stand is to be constructed as an ordinary elevator. The cage will be gradually raised when the horses start until such a height is reached that the judges may see the horses passing behind the stand through the open space between the roof and the main part of the stand, or between the upper and lower sections, if the stand comprises two stories.—[Chicago Inter Ocean.

What Squirrels Can Do.

The general impression that squirrels •live altogether on grains, acorns and nuts is not altogether correct. Squirrels will suck eggs and kill young chickens and small birds with as much ferocity as a weasel. These peculiarities are not often noticed in the squirrel, because the animal is not bold enough to venture on extensive depredations in the day time, but farmers' wives who find egg shells in the nest instead of eggs, or discover half a dozen young chickens with their heads bitten off, should not always lay their crime at the door of the weasel. —[Chicago Mail.

The Value of Imperturbability.

The trials of a man collecting bills sometimes take an annoying turn. One of those pleasant gentlemen stepped into an office, and, seeing the debtor talking to a number of lady friends, waited till he had leisure. Whereupon the debtor turned to the collector with a very pleasant manner and said: “I will loan you this much to-day. Come again when you are hard up,” and smiled one of those smiles that crack a looking-glass.— [Hartford (Conn.) Post “I got my start in life through picking up a pin on the street. I had been refused employment by a banker, and on my way out I saw apin and—” “Oh, thunder! Wnat a chestnut. I’ve heard of that boy so often. The banker was impressed with your carefulness, and called you back and made you head of the firm.” “ No. I saw the pin and picked it up, and sold it for SSOO. It was a diamond pin.”—[Harper’s Bazar.

IN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

BOMKtfftlNG ABOUT THEM AND THEIR PEOPLE A Delightful Climate—Trees Are Always Green—Habits of the Natives— In the Family Circle. If the United States is going to enter npon a career of foreign acquisition it could find no fuirer domain than the little group in the middle of the Pacific. Think of a climate the outside variations of which cover not over thirty degrees—from sixty degrees to ninety degrees on rare occasions. Here trees are always green, taking on a new life while still throwing off the old. There is no sere and yellow leaf—no dying year there. Watch the guava trees, and while on one side the fruit is mellowing into yellow ripeness on the other side will be green fruit interspersed with white blossoms. In all Honolulu there is but one brick chimney and that was buit by newly arrived New England missionaries before they had learned to tear out of their minds their bleak winter. In the lowlands and the fertile valleys there is an infinite variety of products that would be profitably cultivated were there a market assured to them. Rice was ilibluded with sugar in the list of products accorded free entry to the United States. As a consequence the nearby reed-grown shores have been partitioned off into trim rice beds, with intervening banks by the thrifty Chinamen, and tneir tender, vivid green is the brightest feature in the lovely landscape seen from the heights of the neighboring mountain. On the mountain sides a brilliant scarlet berry on a small, dark green, small leaved bush will attract an observant eye. Break open the berry and imbedded in each half will be found a white seed with a line running lengthwise through the flat exposed surface. In this unfamiliar guise it will not take you long to recognize coffee, which is indigenous to this soil. Some exports have been made of this product and it is found in the Honolulu groceries under the title of Kona coffee. Connoisseurs have pronounced its flavor and aroma equal to the Mocha. It could doubtless be cultivated to advantage. Successful experiments have aiso been made in the cultivation of the olive. Limes grow in great profusion and to a fine size. Efforts have been made to raise lemons in the islands.

It is curiously asserted that after a few crops of lemons the tree runs into a lime and yields only limes after that. As the lime is the preferable fruit this cannot be called an unfortunate tendency. Pineapples abound and the tamarind can be had by those who like it. Mangoes are especially plentiful and good. Many other tropical fruits have been successfully grown here, though not on a large scale. There are plenty of noble groves of cocoanut trees along the seashore, one of the iiuest being at Waikiki, the beach near Honolulu. A quarter will induce a diminutive kamalii (boy) to walk up the slender stem and twist off the nuts beneath the tuft ol graceful palm leaves at the top. Garden vegetables of fine quality are to be had in Honolulu all the year around, thanks to the thrifty foresight and labor of the Chinese gardners. These can be seen daily with broad pagoda-like basket hats on their heads, a tough, elastic stick like a long bow across 'their shoulders with a great bucket of water hanging from each end, passing between the rows of vegetables and plentifully besprinkling them. They carry these vegetables around from house to house in flat baskets, which are substituted for the sprinkling baskets at the end of the yoke stick. Of the people of these islands it can be truly said tnat they are the most amiable, careless, irresponsible people in the world. The nearest approach to work of any of them is in their employment as cowboys on the stock ranches. They are wonderfully expert horsemen and also become adept in the use of the lasso. A native man, or native woman for that matter, is never so happy as when on a spirited horse, going at hand gallop, decked out witli flowery leis and streamers o:.' bright colored cloth, in screaming conversation with a whole troop of companions. They ride their horses to death, they kill their babies with neglect and improper food, and yet it cannot be said that there is a grain of conscious cruelty in their nature. The household sits on mats around the calabach and all dip their fingers in the common supply, bringing them out with an upward and outward twist, followed by a downward and inward twist and to the desired haven of the mouth. In a family circle there is not unlikely to be an old crone who puts in almost all her waking hours iu a monotonous chant, which is carried on steadily through all the clatter of small talk by the others. These old women are possessed of prodigious information and have been industriously drilled and trained through early life iu these chants, which are a recitation of the traditions of her people. These old women, in fact, constitute the archives and take the place that scrolls and bound volumes fill with more civilized people. —[Washington Star.

The Trans-Saharan Railroad.

While still in the air, it is quite certain that something will come of the recent agitation in France and Algeria in favor of a Trans-Saharan railroad as a strategic, political and commercial necessity. We know that the French have made Algeria one of the best mapped parts of the world; that they have built 1,700 miles of railroad in the colony, and that Algeria is looking across the desert to the rich central and western Soudan as a source of trade, capable of enormous expansion, which may be drawn to her marts. The outline of the plan is to build a narrow gauge road from Southern Algeria through a series of oase3 to Timbuktu, and to connect this point by rail with Senegambia on the southwest and on the east with the fertile regions of the central Soudan, as far as Lake Tchad. Three projects for this railroad have been studied by order of the French Governments. The Russians have proved in Central Asia that desert railroad building is practicable; and while the Saharan railroad project has not yet passed the stage of inquiry and discussion, there are indications that the work of carrying it into effect will not be long delayed. It will be required, however, to establish proper influence over desert tribes like the Tuaregs, who seem at last on the verge of more hopeful and pleasant relations with the white race. The proposed line from Ain Sefra is in greatest favor, and is likely to prove most practicable.—[Engineering Magazine. Ope' single mahogany tree in Honduras yielded mercantile lumber worth 110,0*1.

PNEUMATIC TUBER.

’t'helr Extensive Use In liondon, Paris, Vienna and Berlin. In an article on “ Progress in Pneumatic Transmission,” in tne Engineering Magazine, William Allen Smith gives tho following facts regarding the use of pneumatic tubes in Europe. “ Pneumatic tubes for local transmission of telegrams are now used in all tho principal cities of Great Britain. At present about fifty miles of such tubes are in operation, requiring an aggregate of 400 horse power, and transmitting a daily overage of over 105,000 rhessages, or over 30,000,000 annually; more than half of these in London. The lengths of tubes vary greatly; the average length is about 630 yards; the greatest single length in London is 3,992 yards. The tubes are of lead, laid in cast-iron pipes, for protection, and are usually of two and onequarter inches inner diameter; some tubes of one and one-half and some of three inches inner diameter are used. As a general rule, with the same air pressure and diameter of tube, the speed varies inversely as the length of tube. In tubes not over a mile long the usual average speed is twenty-five to thirty miles an hour. The carriers are of gutta-percha, covered with felt, with a buffer at the front end, and an elastic band at the back or open end to hold in the messages. An ordinary carrier weighing two and threequarter ounces holds a dozen messages. The marked success of the British pneumatic service led to the adoption of similar systems in Paris, Vienna and Berlin. The pneumatic system of Paris was put into operation in 1866, and has grown steadily, so thut to-day in Paris tubes are used almost dxclusively for transmission of local telegrams and letters demanding quick delivery. A small stamped envelope, the petit bleu, costing 50 centimes, or 10 cents, is used for the message, which, dropped into a special post-box, is delivered anywhere in Paris within an hour, often in 25 minutes. In Vienna the “tube-post” was established in March, 1875. The nine districts of the city are connected with a central station. ' The “tube mail” is dropped into special post boxes, collected every half hour, forwarded to the central station and distributed. Pneumatic envelopes cost 15 kreutzers (about 6 cents), ordinary letters 3 kreutzers. “The letters” are delivered within one hour after mailing. The Vienna system consists of a main circuit of 5.34 miles, with three branch lines; total length, 7.2 miles.

In Berlin the Prussian postal authorities began in 1832 discussion of measures of rcilef for the overcrowded local telegraph system, and a pneumatic line was opened in 186) between the'Central Telegraph station and the Exchange building. The beginning of the present extensive “tube post” at Berlin dates from 1876, since which time it has been enlarged, until there are now over 28 miles of tube-line in the city with 38 stations. “Tube-letters” are to-day delivered in Berlin more quickly than telegrams at a cost equal to 7-i cents, and “tube postcards” at 6i cents. The tubes in Berlin arc of wrought iron, and have ail inner diameter of 6 > mm., equal to 2.55 inches. The system is operated by eight steam engines, aggregating only 128 horsepower. The British tube lines are laid on the radial system; that is, the different lines radiate from centres to the various branch stations to be reached. In Paris, Vienna, and originally in Berlin the various stations were connected by a series of polygons, around which the motion is uniformly in the same direction. A study of the two systems, for connection of a given number of stations under ordinary conditions, leads to the following comparative results: I. The polygonal system will require about 20 per cent, more tube length than the radial. 11. The polygonal system allows much greater use of compressed air for forwarding, as the passage around the polygons is always in the same direction. Rarefied air need be used only for the return passage in the links connecting the polygons, or for the return from a single, isolated station. In the radial system, rarefied air is used for half the passages. This shows greater economy in working for the polygonal system. 111. The time consumed in communicating between stations is less in the radial than in the polygonal system. In the latter, time is frequently lost by sending a message almost completely around the polygon.

A Remarkable Cave.

A gentleman of Waycross, Ga., who has just returned from a trip to Decatur county, says that while he was there he was the guest of J. A. Connell, who owns vast acres of land. Mr. CoDnell went with him to a place on the estate where there is a remarkable waterfall and cave. The gentleman says: "Arriving near the falls one cannot but be impressed with the beautiful scenery, the trees and flowers trailing up the hillside. A stream of water, which is fed by natural springs and augmented by the rain, ripples down the hillside for miles, and here the water jumps oil and falls perpendicularly eighty-three feet over a ledge of rock into a natural basin which nature has formed at the foot of several high hills. After the water reaches the basin it runs about ten feet and disappears abruptly in the earth underneath a ledge of rock. In the side of this rock there is an opening large enough for a man to crawl in. Taking a lantern we entered through the opening and found ourselves in a large cave. AVe went about seventyfive feet and found an underground river flowing gulfward. In the cave there is a faint light at midday. At a certain hour of the day, Mr. Connell says, that if a newspaper is held at the opening of the cave it will be carried in by a current of air, and after a lapse of six hours the current drives the paper back again. Standing just below the cataract at midday, with a spray enveloping us, a rainbow as beautiful as any that has ever spanned the heavens was seen. This rainbow is a daily exhibition.”—[Atlanta Constitution.

Explaining a Natural Wonder.

The presence of fish in the higher mountain ■ lakes has been explained in some cases. It is well known that water fowls will distribute yellow perch by carrying the sticky eggs on their feet. Trout will go anywhere there is water enough to float a chip, and pickerel get moved about from place to place the same as perch do, but bass do not become distributed except through man’s handiwork, or by goiDg up a water course deepenough to swim.—[Pittsbur« Dispatch. The consumption of cheese in Paris reaches »uch as 25,u00,000 pounds per annum.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The rapid growth of the League for Good Roads since it was formed by General Roy Stone and his associates, in the opinion of the New York Sun, “is the best proof that there was need for its formation, and that there is a widespread and deep public interest in the beneficent reform which it has undertaken to promote. There are already branches of it in a majority of the States and in hundreds of countries; it has already prompted several of these branches to begin the work of road improvement; it has secured the co-operation of sundry influential agencies which have never before acted together; piles of letters of inquiry are received at the office of its secretary, and its expenses have been covered by voluntary subscriptions. It is’the purpose of the League to influence the State and county authorities in the matter of road reform, so that desirable laws upon the subject may be adopted by the legislatures of the several States. Its method of procedure is yet to be drawn up. It must, after all, strive to secure the adoption of systematic and economical measures of legislation. The expenditures, including the cost of labor, in roadmaking by local bodies are enormous, running up to at least a hundred millions of dollars annually forthewhole country; yet there is hardly a State of the Union in which there is any methodical road-making, or in which there is any-large stretch of decent country road. With good country roads the marketing of farm produce would be facilitated; the waste of horse-power and of vehicles would be reduced; the attractions of rural life would be increased; the business of railroaders and shippers would be benefited, and hundreds of others desirable public objects would be subserved.” Wool.- sorting in California has been done largely by Chinese in the past. The California Wool depot has now set the fashion of employing girls only to do this work. The concern has hitherto had white men on its pay rolls, but could not continue its regular rate of wages in the face of Chinese competition. Announcing a reduction, it lost the services of the white laborers, and advertised for girls to take their places. There was no trouble about filling them. The girls are succeeding very creditably as sorters and grinders, and they promise in course of time to be more nimble-fingered than the Chinese, if not quite as industrious. “Of course,” says the manager, “I notice the loss of the men when it comes to the work of bailing and trucking the wool to different parts of the warehouse, and it will require the employment of assistants to the girls to do this work. However, it is not a difficult matter. While I would much prefer the men to do this work, I am better pleased that the girls haVe been given the opportunity to go to work instead of Chinese.” A company has been formed in Tacoma, Wash., to extract gold by a secret process from the sands of the Pacific Ocean. Gold has been found in the sand of the ocean beach at many places along the Pacific coast from the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Southern California, but only in small and widely separated stretches does it exist in sufficient quantities to pay for working it by processes so far known. It is believed the gold so found does not come from the land, but is washed in from some hidden reef in the ocean bed. The company has secured exclusive right to work many stretches of the beach in Washington, Oregon, and Southern California. At one of these places, Beard’s Hollow, there are believed to be two gold-bearing stratas, one thirteen inches below the surface and nine inches thick, and the other thirty inches below and thirteen inches thick. Platinum and rhodium have also been found in jwying quantities in the ocean sand at this point. “If you could stand on the moon,” says an astronomer, “the earth would appear to you sof o be sixty-four times larger than the sun appears to the residents of this mundane sphere; this because the earth has eight times the diameter of the moon, therefore she must necessarily show the moonites sixty-four times as much surface as the moon shows us. The sun, on the other hand, would appear no larger to you from your observatory on the moon than it does from our globe. The earth’s atmosphere being blue it has been decided that the earth must appear as a blue ball to all outside onlookers. What a glorious sight it must be to our lunarian neighbors to look upon a bright blue swift-revolving ball sixtyfour times larger than the sun!” Only twenty-two miles of the Panama Canal remain to be dug, if faith may be put in the statement made by officers of the original company. Intelligent Americans wno have been employed on the canal say that there are forty-seven miles to be completed, the whole distance from ocean to ocean, not a mile of the canal having been t actually finished. The dredges threw up the dirt on either side, and when the pile reached a certain height it fell into the ditch. This was the case all along the canal as far as the work progressed. One of the workmen says that not twenty-five feet can be called finished work.

A monument of coal, fifty feet high, ten feet square at the base, and four feet square at the top, and of unique con strustion, is to be exhibited at the Chicago Fair, by a leading coal company of Pennsylvania. It will be constructed in sections sixteen feet long, and put together at Chicago. Pieces of coal will he selected that will show, when placed in position, all the connecting minerals tljat arc found in the mining of coal. Some parts of the coal will be left in the rough state and others will be highly polished. One single piece of coal already prepared weighs almost two tons. Among the many measures inaugurated by Mr. Gladstone's administration is a scheme for teaching the elements of politics in all scholastic institutions controlled or supervised by the Government. Hitherto this branch of education, to -which so .much attention is paid in this country, as well as in Switzerland and France, has been entirely neglected in primary schools of Great Britain, and the children have been allowed to grow up in comparative ignorance ‘of their duties and responsibilities as citizens. The town of Okanagon, Ore., would seem to be a good place for the sportsman. The Okanagon River is full of trout and it is the home of thou.sands of canvasback and teal duck, and wild geese. Within an hour’s walk from the town the mountains are overrun with deer and other game, while a few mi lei further back are large numbers of mountain lions and bears.

The average housewife takes pride in having a big kitchen. She should see the one connected with the big restauraut at the World’s Fair. It will be an immense affair and in it enough food will be cooked daily to supply 100,000 persons. Sih Edwahd Sullivan estimates that 50,000,000 persons, an actual majority of the whole people, depend upon agriculture for a livelihood in the United Kingdom.

RELIABLE RECIPES.

Cbeam of CAULiFOWEn.— Take some white cauliflowers, wick off the green leaves, divide in flowerets, wash and parboil in salted water for ten minutes; drain and put into a saucepan with four ounces of butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg; cover, and let simmer slowly until thoroughly done; then rub through a colander, and mix with two quarts of veal broth, thicken with four ounces of flour cooked in butter; stir and boil ten minutes, skim and press through a very fine sieve; return to the stewpan, stir steadily until boiling hot; add a pint or more of boiling cream, two ounces of fine butter, and a tablespoonful of sugar; mix well without boiling, and pour into a soup tureen over small round crusts of bread slightly fried in butter, and small flowerets of cauliflower kept for the purpose.—[Deliee. How to Stew a Ciiicken Properly. —This is the way in which a chicken should be stewed: Cut it in pieces a suitable size for serving before placing it in the pot. Separate the thigh, leg andwing joints, divide the breast into not less than four compact pieces, and separate the neck, back, etc. Place the gizzard, heart,, wings and drum sticks in the bottom of the pot or kettle, then put in the neck, back and other bony pieces, reserving the second joints and breast for the top. Use a pint of boiling water for each fullgrown fowl, cover closely, and after it has stewed a quarter of an hour, add a tablespoonful each of flour and butter stirred to a smooth paste, with a little water, to each pint of liquor used in the ' stewing kettle. Keep the kettle simmering unceasingly until the fowl is tender, which can be ascertained by examining the pieces on top. If these pieces are founds to be sufficiently cooked those beneath, will be also, as in placing the pieces in* the pot or kettle those requiring thegreatest amount of cooking were put at the bottom, so they would be subjected to the greatest heat. When the fowl has stewed until perfectly tender, drain; into a bowl all the liquor or broth from, the stewing kettle, and set the kettle with the pieces of chicken undisturbed in it upon the stove where it will keep, warm. If the broth is too oily, skim, from it a portion of the grease, then add a spoonful of flour, stirred to a smooth; paste with a spoonful of sweet cream or milk, and season sharply with salt and’, pepper, as this broth or gravy must season the entire fowl. After seasoning thegravy pour it over the chicken in the kettle and simmer gently for about ten minutes, then serve chicken and gravytogether on the same platter. A chicken one year old will stew an hour, and; each year added to the age of a fowl necessitates an additional hour’s stewing. Pursuing essentially the same recipe, the stew can be varied by adding oysters,, mushrooms, truffles, celery, parsley, etc.,, or by using less water and more cream or milk, and also by browning the pieces of the chicken in the skillet, either before or after they are stewed. By these slight and seemingly unimportant variations plain stewed chicken can be converted' into chicken sauce, chicken fricassee, chicken marengo, and so on, until a. dozen or more different dishes known by fanciful foreign names can be manufac* tured from one innocent chicken.

The Lumnious Compass.

The lumnious compass recently intro duced in the French Aavy consists of an ordinary Thompson compass. During the day it is employed in the usual way, but at night a vertical line of light is thrown from the binnacle light upon the interior side of the compass box, between the card and the glass, by means of acombination of lenses and mirrors. This line is, for the time being, a fixed line, and bears a known relation to the direction of the ship’s keel. From, another combination of lenses and mirrors above the center of the card a second rav of light is thrown upon the interior side of the compass box, and. this, after suitiable adjustment, moves around as the card moves. This line being of different length is easily distingushable fromjthe other, and it maybe temporarily set so as to bear any desired, relation to any point on the card. In steering the helmsman has simply to move his wheel so as to keep the two luminous lines in the same straight line —[Chicago News Record.

Gold-Plated Ship Bottoms.

This is the latest novelty promised for scientifiic display. An English scientist describes how this is possible without cost, and how beneficial the plan would be. It is simply the joining of ordinary .copper sheathing to the negative pole of a galvanic battery, and in amalgamating the whole external surface of the copper with mercury. “Under the influence of the electric currents passing traces of the precious metals, gold and silver, will beprecipitated from the water upon the sheathing, and will be there held by the mercury as amalgam.” The idea that gold tracings exist in the waters of the ocean is not new, and there seems to be no scientific objection to the Englishman’s theory. He thinks the amalgam on the“copper sheathing would keep a ship’s bottom tree from barnacles, and that enough precious metal could be obtained to repay the expense of securing —it. [New York News.

Mining For Fossils.

Not the least important industry sustained by these deposits of past ages in' Texas is that of mining for fossils for scientific purposes. In the gypsum beds are found the remains of gigantic batrachians from 10 to 15 feet long, like frogs with short tails. Only a few millions of years ago these creatures were very plentiful, judging from the number of them dug up. In some parts of the same state large amounts of what is called “fossel brushwood” are unearthed. This is actually the spiny frills that grow like fins along the backs of giant lizards which lived in the distant permian epoch. Some of the spines are four feet in length. These reptiles were carnivorous and so exceedingly fierce that the myriads of them which existed anciently in Texas must have rendered things most unpleasant for other occupants of the country.—[Washington Star.

Can a Fish be Fiozen?

Somebody told Dr. W. T. Herring that it was impossible to freeze a fish todeath, but he was not fully convinced and decided to test the matter the first opportunity. Last week he tried, putting two young carp in a jar of water and allowing it to freeze almost solid, except about a tablespoonful of water about the- little fish. The fish did not seem to mind it nuich, and as soon asthe ice thawed out they swam around as lively as eves.