Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1894 — Page 3

AT WAR WITH HERSELF.

The Story of a Woman’s Atonement, by Charlotte M. Braeme. CHAPTER XXIV. Sir Bertram bent forward and tried ; to look in the beautiful face, but it was averted from him. Lady Charnleigh would not let him see the happiness so ! plainly written there. *1 wish,” he said, “that you were not so wealthy, Leonie. I should have liked to prove the purity and disin- i te rested ness of my love. I wish there ; were a thousand difficulties in the way, I that by beating them down, one after another, I might show how dearly I love you. I would serve twice seven years for you, as Jacob did for Rachel, he loved so dearly. I would be content, sweet, to wait upon you all my life if I might call you my own in death. Oh, Leonie, say one little word to me!” Then the lovely face bent half shyly over him. “Do you love me so well, Bertram?" she asked, In a low voice. “You can never know how well, sweet. I might spend my life with you —I might give to your service every moment of it —fill it with thoughts of you—know no other care or interest; and yet, when I came to die, you would not know how much I loved you. It is not given to all men to tell what they feel.” “I do not think you are very deficient in eloquence,” she said, with a happy dmile. “Ah, my darling, if I were a poet, I might put my love into song—a song so beautiful, so full of divine harmony, that the world in reading it would know how I had loved you. If I were an artist I could paint you, and show to the world that form which to me is peerless. But not being either, l cannot do so. I can only tell you in plain words that I love you better than fame, fortune or life; and I plead to you, Leonie, for some little love in return. ” “I am full of faults, ” said the girl. “I am not so perfect as you think me, Bertram. You might, perhaps, be disappointed in me after all." “There is no fear of that; I know you have faults, but, Leonie, they are such as I cannot but love.” "You do not know what they are,” she said. “I am so worldly, Bertram— I love rank, wealth, position, money, gayety, life, fashion, and those things which the wise despise. I love them, and should never be willing to live without them. “Love me with them," said Sir Bertram, “and I shall not care; those are very venial faults, Leonie, in one so ‘young and beautiful as ycu. ” “I am not very patient, either,” she continued; “and in me there is a great want. I can give it no name, and know no name for it; but I want something that Ethel Dacre, for instance, has in perfection. I am changeable, as the wird—grave, gay, idle, industrious, good and wicket, all in an hour.” “I can only repeat that I love your faults, Leonie. I believe they are dearer to me than the virtues of other women. But, Leonie, sweet, have you heard what I asked you? Tell me—will you care for me, will you be my wife?” It was the question that she had heard in her dreams a thousand times. “Will you be my wife, Leonie? My love shall shield you—my heart shelter you. Do not turn from me. Never mind those lilies—if they could speak, each leaf would urge a prayer for me. Look at me—tell me, will you be my wife?” Her fair head drooped near him; the passion of his words had conquered her. She could make no answer. He took her little white hands and covered them with passionate kisses. She made no resistance. She did not not draw them from him. Then, raising the faod so beautiful in its softened tenderness, he kissed the white brow, his lips murmuring the while words so full of tenderness that she never forgot them. “Say only one word, Leonie. Tell me that you love hie —even ever so little. I will hope for more in time." “I can tell you that, ” she whispered. “You love me a little!” he cried. “Yes —just in the smallest possible degree,” she replied, with a smile of perfect happiness. “And will you try really to love me more?” “I will try,” she answered. “Do you think the lesson will be a hard one to learn, Bertram?" He kissed the fair hands again, telling her she was as peerless as a queen. She tried to hide the happiness that surged through heart and brain, thinking that it was not maidenly for her lover to see how well he” was loved. “My head is not a very firm one,” she said, suddenly, looking up at him. “It is a very beautiful one," he put in, drawing the blushing face nearer to his own. “You have interrupted me, Bertram. I repeat, my head is not very firm—my brain will not hold many ideas at once. Just now it is filled with thoughts of the ball and several other things. Bertram, "'she continued, slowly, “ask me those questions again when the ball is over, and I will give you an answer.” He looked at her in a rapture of hope. “My darling,” he cried, “how good you are to me! Oh, Leonie, shall I win you after all? The very hope dazzles me. If you sent me from you I should ” “What should you do?” she asked, anxiously. “Not kill myself,” he replied, slowly. “Death is a coward’s resource. But from my life every glqpm of brightness would die out. I should go far away, darling, from home and friends, to some strange far-off land, where nothing could remind me of you. I should lose everything that makes life dear in losing you. And no face ever charmed me save yours. You hear how sweetly the bird* are singing; there is more music to me in one word of yours than in all their song. See how fair the lilies are; there is more beauty to me in this one white hand of yours than in all the flowers that ever bloomed. Your face to me shines more brightly thafi all the stars in heaven. I believe that if I died it would be found on my heart." . A The impulse was strong upon her to tell him "that she loved him just as dearly—that he was all the world to her, the soul and center of her being—but some strange instinct made her refrain.

“A fortress that is easily stormed is never considered a great conquest,” she said to herself. “Bertram must ask me again and again—he will love me all the better in the end.” “After the hall, remember,” said Sir Bertram; “Leonie, I shall count the hours until it is over, and yet I cannot help hoping. You are too good to torture me; if you meant to send me from you, you would do so at once., You are too good and generous to be cruel.” She looked at him with a smile. How little he knew, how little lie guessed that he was the very sun of her existence—that, if anything could surpass his love for her, it was her love for him. . “See," she said, suddenly, "the lily-

cups are closing, and the dew is beginning to felL Bertram, we must go “I wonder,” he said, slowly, “how I j shall live through these hours. I could hardly do so but that I believe in the end you will be my wife. When is the ball to take place, Leonie?” “On Tuesday week—Tuesday, the nineteenth of June.” “I shall remember the date: that ball ha 3 suddenly become most important to me.” Another hour passed before they walked back over the fallen rose-leaves to the house, and then there was little doubt left on Sir Bertram's mind that Leonie would eventually become his wife. • “She is so beautiful, so peerless, so eagerly sought after, I could not expect her to say ‘yes’ all at once, but I know she loves me—she would have sent me from her if she did not” “Remember,” said Lady Charnleigh, as they drew near the long open window, “you are not to speak of this, Bertram, until “ “Until your brain is clear and the ball is over. I will remember,” he promr ised, with a smile. “You like to enteretain one idea at a time, Leonie, and no more.” “You understand perfectly. See, there is Lady Fanshawe. Have you any idea, Bertram, whether it is etiquette for a Countess of eighteen to linger among the lilies with a Saxon prince?” It was the first time she had ever flattered him, and the fair, frank face flushed hotly. “For your sake I wish I were a prince,” he said. She looked at him with an assumption of perfect gravity. “You please me best as you are,” she returned, and when he would have caught that white jeweled hand she turned away. “My dear Lady Charnleigh,” said Lady Fanshawe; “do you not think it is late for you to be out?” “Please blame Sir Bertram, auntie — he has beguiled the time.” Lady Fanshawe looked keenly at that gentleman’s face. “Has he anything to tell me?” she said to herself. “No, he looks exceedingly happy, but not as though she had promised to marry him. Whom does she like best, I wonder?” Miss Dacre looked up from her book as Sir Bertram re-entered the room; Lady Charnleigh had lingered outside, pretending to fasten some drooping roses, but in reality to hide the beautiful blushes that had not yet died from her face. “He has not asked her to marry him,” thought Miss Dacre; “he looks like a happy lover, but nothing more.” A sharp sudden pang smote her. “Does she like Paul Flemyng best? If so, he will win her.” She laid down her book and went out to where the youngcountessstood raising the drooping flowers. “How sad it is that roses die!” commented Lady Charnleigh. “Look at those lovely leaves, Ethel; they ought never to fade." But Ethel Dacre went up to her and clasped her white neck. “Leonie,” she said, “you are not really thinking about the roses. Tell me, have you been kind to Sir Bertram this evening.” The countess opened wide her lovely eyes. “My dearest child child," she said, “have you baen with me so long without learning to understand me. lam kind to no one but myself.” Nor could Ethel get any other answer from her.

CHAPTER XXV. Perhaps the time that elapsed between that night and the nineteenth of June was really the happiest part of Lady Charnleigh’s life. She was sure of her lover’s affection; she had but to speak one word to him, and the happiness of her whole existence was secured. He loved her; he had prayed her to be his wife. She had but to consent. “I will make him so happy,” she said to herself with a smile. ’‘l will make him wait a few days longer, and then I will tell him how dearly and truly I have always loved him. I have teased him enough; I will submit for the future.” She was standing in her favorite spot, the western terrace, where purple pas-sion-flowers grew in luxuriant profusion; leaning over the stone balustrade round which climbing roses and sweet woodbines clung, there came to her a dream—a dream of the day when to this home she loved so dearly her lover should come, of the long vista of happy years stretching out in the golden sunlight, of the future to be spent together, of the love that should end only with life.” “We shall be buried together," she said to herself; “we shall lie side by side in the last long sleep, in the green churchyard at Weildon, with flowers blooming over us. Neither in life nor in death shall I lose my love.” Tears filled her bright eyes as she raised them to the cloudless sky. I ought to thank heaven, ” she said, “that has made me so wondrously happy. I ought to be good, for my path in life lies among bright flowers which have no thorns." And the memory of this dream lingered always with her. She caught herself later on looking round her magnificent rooms, and wondering which should be Sir Bertram’s study, wondering which he would like best, valuing her possessions ten thousand times more, now that they would be his also. She found herself always thinking of this future that was to be shared with him. “When the limes are in flower next year,” she said, “he will be here with me.”

So with everything. She had but one date—“when he would be with her.” She said nothing to Ethel, her chosen friend, of her love. Lady Charnleigh was full of life, animation, and spirits, but she was not. one to speak of her deepest feelings; they were kept sacred. She rather avoided than sought conversation about Sir Bertram. JJS Lady Fanshawe and Miss Dacre were puzzled. Whom did she like the better? Which did she prefer?—le beau sabreur or Sir Bertram. That neither could solve the mystery satisfactorily was something to the credit of the Countess of Charnleigh. “Of course, in one way, ” said Lady Fanshawe, pensively, “a marriage witn Captain Flemyng would be very suitable —it would seem only fair that he should share the inheritance; but, looking at the matter from a sensible point of view, it would be a great pity. With her beauty and wealth, she might do so much better.” Hearing which, Ethel Dacre’s face flushed, and she felt much inclined to make an angry reply. She contented herself with saying: “Neither money nor title could ennoble such a man as Paul Flemyng;” and then Miss Dacre sailed with great dignity from the room, Lady Fanshawe looking after her with very widelyopened eyes. The nineteenth of June r«me at last, and found Crown Leighton In a state of delightful confusion. The Illumination and decoration of the grounds were oompleted, but the intorior of the mansion was at present in “magnificent disarray.” Lady Fanshawe was much.

amused. It was quite early in the morning when Sir Bertram rode over, . bringing with him a magnificent bou- ! quet of lowers for Lady Charnleigh. “I know I must not detain you now, Leonie, but remember, sweet, what you have promised me when the ball lis over. 1 shall be jealous to-night if you dance with any one but myself." “A little jealousy does most men good,” said his lady-love, as she hastened away. Sir Bertram rode off again. It was useless to remain at Crown Leighton; as he could not talk to its beautiful mistress, he was quite as well away. ! He had not been gone long before Captain Flemyng arrived and sent to request five minutes with Lady Charnleigh. “I am afraid, Leonie,” said Lady Fanshawe, “that you find so many lovers embarrassing." “No one said anything about lovers, auntie. I presume gentlemen may call on business without being suspected of wishing to make love.” And the Countess of Charnleigh walked out of the room with her head proudly erect. Lady Fanshawe's remarks were rather jtoing. ,'Captain Flemyng was in the morningroom, looking very handsome. Leonie's quick eves discovered some trace of emotion oa the high-bred patrician face. His errand was much the same as his predecessor's; he had brought two superb bouquets, one for Lady Charnleigh, and one in no way inferior for Miss Dacre.

“I have something to say to you, Lady Charnleigh,” Oigan Paul “I know that I must not detain you now, but, when all this is over, you will grant me an interview? All my future depends upon it.” His face flushed, and his eyes were full of suppressed fire. He took one of her hands in his. "I will not detain you, Leonie; but the hours will be full of painful suspense until I see you again and have your answer." She liked him so well that long after he had gone away she stood with tears in her eyes, knowing the pain she must inflict on him. “I would have done anything to prevent this,” she said. “I have robbed him of his inheritance, and now I must rob him of his peace and happiness. Oh, Paul, you should hate me!" She liked him so well that, although it was the day of her magnificent ball, she wept bitterly for the sorrow that must be his. “If he had only liked me as I like him, ” she said—“in in kindly, sisterly way, without any of this tiresome love! If he had only loved Ethel, who is worth a dozen of me! He will not reproach me, but he will go away from me looking so sad and so> wretched that I shall never feel quite happy again—he whose love might honor a queen." She was obliged perforce to dismiss all thoughts of him, for servants and assistants required hor superintendence. She was wanted in twenty places at once. It was not until the hour came for dressing that it occured to her that she was in a sad dilemma over the two bouquets. Which must she carry? “I will take a few flowers from both,” she said, with a smile, “and then I shall avoid any tragical denouement for this evening at least. ” ITO BE CONTINUED. |

HORRIBLE CRUELTY.

The “Smelling-Out” Ceremony of the Zulus of South Africa. “Smelling-out” is.one of the customs among the Zulus of South Africa and is practiced in the Matabele nation, now at war with the English. This is the course of “smelling out:” Somebody dies, or perhaps the King or one of nis wives suffers from mysterious pains, or a child is born deformed, or a murrain breaks out among the royal oxen. The witch doctors and doctresses are consulted and declare the evil to be the work of an “umtagati” or wizard. Then they proceed to name the wizard, who, by art magic, has contrived the ill in question, and who, oddly enough, very often happens to be a man rich in cattle, of whom the King or chief is anxious to be rid. The circle is formed, the doctors and doctresses, bedizened in skins and bones, go through their antics and ceremonies, calling on the shades of their forefathers and consulting the spirits by means of bones, which they tnrow like dice till at length the name of the guilty person is miraculously revealed to them. Perhaps he is sitting there in the circle before them safe in his innocence and believing himself to be a trusted servant and soldier of tho King when the isanusi creeps up to him touches him with the fateful wand, denouncing him as the man whoso spirit thought the evil thing. From the touch of that wand there is no appeal and for tho most part the victim dies within the hour. He is led away and his neck is twisted or his brains dashed out, and his name becomes a reproach. That same day also the King’s slayers start for the kraal of the muidered man, where he may have five or six wives and fifteen or twenty children, together with dependents and slaves. At night, when folk sleep heavily, they surrpund it and set it on fire. The victims rush out to fall upon the assegai or be cast back living into the flames. And so with the death of all ends the very common tragedy of a “smelling-out.” pillions of Dollars Sent to China. Congressman Hilborn, of California, delivered his maiden speech at Washington last week on the subject of the Chinese in this country. All the money they make here, he said, they send back to China. Since their first settlement in Califcrnia, from that State alone they have sent $300,000,000. “In 1880,” said Mr. Hilborn, “the total Chinese population of the United States was 105,465; in California it was 75,132. In 1890 the total population was 107,475, showing a total gain of population in the United States of 2,010. The Chinese population in California is 72,724, showing a falling off in our particular State They seen! to have turned their faces eastward. In New York in 1870 there were only 29 Chinamen; in 1860, 909; in 1890, 2,935.’ In Pennsylvania in 1870 there were 13; in 1880, 148; in 1890,

Victoria Has Fifty-five Pet Dogs.

The greatest private collection of pet dogs in the world is said to be that of her Majesty Queen Victoria of Great Britain. The Queen has fifty-live canine pets, and they live in the grandest canine style that ever was known. Their dining-room is handsomely carpeted, and ornamented with the portraits of their celebrated ancestors in oil and water colors. Soihe of the pictures are adorned with tufts of the hair which belonged to the departed pets of her Majesty. The dogs are proud of their portrait gallery, and they despise all the low-bred oftrs of creation. One of the Queen’s pleasures is to make sketches and point portraits of her dogs, and many of the pictures in her canine pantheon are from her hand. Others have been made by prince Albert, the. Prince of Wales, and Princess Louise of Lorne. Mamma—“Harry, I want you to oome in nowand amuse the baby.” Harry (aged 5) —“You’ll have to excusa me, giother; I’m not in the tedy

OUR RURAL READERS.

SOMETHING HERE THAT WILL INTEREST THEM. Tool Boom for tho Caro of Farm Implements—Sucre** hi Fruit Gardening—Action of Fro*t—Wheat for Sheep—Farm and Household Mote*. Care of Farm Implements. There are farmers who leave their tools exposed vo the action of the weather for twelve months of the year, but, fortunately, these are comparatively few. There are. however, a great many farmers who, at the opening of spring, brio? forth their tools from safe winter quarters and for six months or more expose them to the action of sun, air, and rain. Tools used one day are left in the field, or out of doors, for expected use on the coming day. Th se expectations are frequently not real'/ed because of rain or dull weather, during which these implements of iron.

CONVENIENT TOOL HOUSE.

wood, and steel, suffer con-tant depreciation. It is a slipshod method to leave tools lying about out of doors during the season of farm work, and this pra tice goes a long way in leading to the conviction that “farming doesn’t pay." No business man could afford to thus expose his machinery or stock in trade. In fact there are very few business operations in the country that could survive such wasteful practices as are to be seen on many farms. A little effort will soon establish the habit of putting tools in a safe and proper place when not in use. Thus the implements will be preserved; It will always be known where to tmd them, and much time will be saved that is now spent Id hunting them. It will wonderfully assist to secure all thoso advantages if a separate tool house Is provided, a building that is given wholly up to the housing of all the farm tools. The illustration accompanying this shows a conveniently arranged tool house, where all the implements In use about the farm may be secured when not in use. One end of the building is partitioned off and floored whore the small tools can be kept, while the rest of the build-ing-has an earth floor covered with gravel and entered by two largo doors, permitting mowers, rakes, and other machines to be ariven into the building.—American Agriculturist. Care of House Plant*. Most house plants suffer a great deal from the dry atmosphere of dwelling rooms, and syringing alone does not suit their wants. A florist suggests a new idea to overcome this difficulty. A wire frame in the shape of a bell large enough to cover the plants is made to support a tent of heavy canton flannel. Every night the flannel is dipped In water and then wrung out and placed over tho plants. If It dries on rapidly it may be sprinkled again. It is claimed with this treatment tender maidenhair ferns have been kept In perfect health. A vqjy important operation connected with*.the cultivation of plants is watering, and much care aud judgment should be exercised in, applying it, especially wheu In pots. The amount of evaporation which takes place continually varies, and therefore no set rules can be given when to water. Many plants suffer on account of being given an insufficient supply. They should be only watered when moderately dry, and then enough given to soak through all the soil in the pot, allowing It to run out at the bottom. Rain water is the best for watering, but should not be applied to the plants at a lower temperature than that in which they are growing. To prevent bad effects of moisture lodging on the foliage in winter water.ng should therefore be attended to in the morning, after which a light syringing Is beneficial to most all plants it Is desirable to keep dry over night—Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph. Action of Frost. The process of congealation Is curious and Interesting. It is well known that water, when frozen, is expanded and occupies more space than it did before, and hence that the ice is lighter than water and swim upon it. If a bottle full of water, tightly corked, be left to freeze the bottle will be broken for want of room for the expansion of the water while assuming the solid form. This property ot water, when frozen, tends every year to diminish the height of mountains. Fissures and crevices become filled with water during the summer and its expansive power when frozen detaches masses of rock, which will roll down to lower positions.

In its more moderate and minus effects, the operation of this general law is productive of a very beneficial consequence to the gardener, for the hard clods of,turned-up soil are loosened and broken into pieces by the expansion of water which they contain wnen frozen. The earth is pulverized and brought to a - finely divided condition for receiving seed. Hence the utility of turning up strong or clay soils to be acted upon by the frosts of winter, thus saving mechanical labor in trying to accomplish what the natural force can do so cheaply and well. The Bit* of a Hog. It is a serious thing to be bitten by any domestic animal, and the dancer is probably greater when bitten by a hog than by any other. This is not because there is an active, poisonous gland with hollow tooth through which the poison is pressed. That is the way a rattlesnake bites, or rather stings. The danger from the bite of a hog may be as great as from a rattlesnake, but it is the danger from bloody poisoning caused by carrying on the tusles|Qt the hog some poisonous saliva with which its mouth is filled. We call this saliva poisonous because the hog is an indiscriminate feeder, and nqt careful ! about getting partlcles Of dirt or even of excrement of

othtfr animals with its food. It fa poisonous, just as are the scratches from Anger nails, which always leave an inflamed sore, hard to be healed in proportion to its abrasion of the sain. This Is because with each scratch of the nail some of the dirt that always gathers under it is brought into contact with the blood. A cut with a clean knife heals more quickly, especially if treated at once with some antiseptic and tho air is carefully excluded. Th« Best Poultry Crosses. Opinions differ as to what breeds and crosses are tbe best business fowls. A writer in the lanc.er’s Journal has selected the Light Brahmas for roasting fowls, the Black Minorcan for eggs and the Black Langshans crossed by the -Black Minorca for broilers. The Black Minoroas used are not strictly purebred, they having an outcross with Langshan to give them extra hardiness and larger bodies Tbe Light Brahmas are used both in their purity and crossed by Indian Game But there are other Good breeds that can lie selected, notably the Plymouth Bock, th ■ Wyandotte, the iloudan and the Leghorn, with probably as goods results as this writer obtains with his selections Sucres* In Fruit Usrdenlnff* Published accounts are given of the success of small orchards planted a few years ago in Northern ( hia Among others is that of Aaron Teoplo, who ten years ago bought three acres of land, built house and barn on it, and planted it with a general collection of fruit-trees, including peaches, pears, and plums, and twenty of the most popular grapes One half of the ground is devoted to ma ket-gardening. For throe or four years he has taken premiums for tine fruit It is said that the receipts this year will exceed stoa The plum crop was over fifty bushels thisseason, and the fruit largo and highly colored. This furnishes a fine example of the brief time required to bring fruii-treos into prolltable bearing. A Strong Hog Trough. A very strong trough may lie made of sawed lumber, as shown in the accompanying engraving. For every three feet length of trough use a plank support two or two and one-

SUBSTANTIAL FEED TROUGH

half feet long, twelve inches wide, snd two inches thick. Saw out from the middle of each piece a right angled triangular piece with the sides fanning a square of the same length. Use boafcls one inch thick for the sides, and nail the trough together as usual with the triangles sawed out of the two-ineb stuff for ends. Now set the trough In the angles sawed out, but far enough away from the end piece to nail from the inside of the trough into the supports, aod put the triangle sawed from the supports for the center, and nail that after cutting enough from the bottom corner to let water run through.

Baying Cotton-Seed MeiiL There Is great difference In the quality of cotton-seed meal, and those inexperienced in its use are quite apt to be put off with feed of poorer quality. That with black specks in it is largely composed of the hull, which is nearly indigestible and of little value except to ge Into the manure pile. Cotton-seed meal mixed with the hull should never be fed to young anhnals, as its indlirestlbility makes it prove fatal in many cases. The pure meal without hull is also too concentrated for feeding, except as it is diluted with something giving a greater bulk in proportion to its nutrition. Wheat bran is one of the best feeds for this purpose Wheat for Sheep. Wheat mixed with other grains la the best food for wool and mutton I have ever ucdl have fed it to yearlings and aged ewes to a great advantage when it was worth double the price it now commands. 1 am feeding over 100 head of lambs and yearlings for the butcher. Thoir main ration has been two parts oats and one part wheat, sandwiched with barley, corn, and bran. I don’t know whether this is a well-balanced ration or not, but 1 have never had sheep improve quite so fast as they have done so far. They are in four lots, and the lambs have good clover pasture. I feed twice per day about all they will eat—Exchange. Location of an Apiary. The location of an apiary, on a farm is an easily solved problem. There is always some corner in which stock does not go, sheltered by trees, or orchard, or along some hedge, and on every farm this spot might as well be occupied by bees as by weeds; and if a season comes when the fcornfleld or stubble are overrun with weeds, owing to too much rain or other unfavorable circumstance, the farmer meyrejoice in the fact these same weeds will increase his honey crop With a little forethought and some labor what a source of plenty and profit these unused nooks would be.

Hints for Housekeepers. Mend the torn pages of books with white tissue paper. Gloves can be cleaned at home by rubbing with gasoline Tooth powder is an excellent cleanser of Uiigree jewelry. Mobtak and paint may be removed from glass with hot, sharp vinegar. Nevek put salt on a steak until it is cooked and removed from the fire Hakd putty may be easily softened by passing a red-hot iron over ft. so It can then be removed with a knife. Cobks warmed in oil make an ex cellent substitute for glass stoppers. The brown discolorations may be removed from cups used in baking by rubbing with a flannel dipped in whiting. Gum arable and gum tragacantb,.in equal parts dissolved in hot water, make the best and most convenient mucilage you can keep in the house

ECCENTRICITIES OF ARTISTS

Paintsra Who Would Not Be Limited by Ordinary Kale* of Life. There is probably no profession tn the whole range of human effort in which more eccentric things are done by its followers than in that of the painter. The following stories, oulled from various sources, indicate the truth of, this assertion, and will be found amusing as well, says Harper’s Young People: Delacroix, the painter, was walking out one day in Paris with a friend of his when he fell into a brown study. “What is up with you now?” said the friend. “I can’t get a certain shade of yellow,” replied the artist. “What sort of yellow?” ‘ Just then a cab drove past “The very thing!" the painter gasped out. “Stop! stop!" “I am engaged,” the cabby replied, without stopping. Delacroix started in pursuit, and at a steep place in the Bue do Martyrs overtook the cab. Opening the dobr he said in tones of entreaty to the passenger inside: “Do please tell your driver to stop; I want your complexion for a painting on which I am at work. There is a color-merchant close at hand. I shall not detain you above five minutes, and In acknowledgment of the service you render mo I will present you with a sketch of my picture." The bargain was struck; Delacroix got Ills yellow, and a few months later the “fare" received a sketch of his “Assassination of the Archbishop of Liege. ”

Another artist, celebrated in his day us a successful palmer of portraits, while rnuklug a counterfeit presentiment of a ludy.percolved that when he came to draw tho mouth she tried to render it smaller by contracting her lips. “Pray do not trouble yourself so much madam," he exclaimed. “If you like I will draw your face without any mouth at all." A somewhat eccentric individual was the Flemish painter, Craashock, of whom it is told that once, fearing that his wlfo had ceased to love him and anxious to dlscovor if his fears were founded on fact, ho resolved upon an extraordinary test. Ho ttoro his blouse from his chest and painted just above his heart a very vivid representation of a wound. He tf/cu painted his lips and cheeks so they presented a ghastly aspect, covered his palette-knife and his garments with Bpots of red paint, gave a shriek, and fell to the floor as If doad. The test was successful. Mme. Craasbeok, hearing the shriek, rushed into the room, and supposing that her husband had been killed or had killed himself, gave way to what was to tho supposed victim on the floor a series of very gratifying outbursts of grief. What the lady said wlion her lord and, master sat up and Informed her that ho was oply shamming, history does not record; but if sho failed to go from one extreme to the other, and give him a good scolding, she certainly missed a good opportunity, and showed herself a weman of marvelous self-control.

Dishonesty at Church Fairs.

To chargo from fifty cents to one dollar for a boutonniere which represented only the cost of picking the flowers out of the fields is robbery pure and simple, writes Edward W. Bok in “At Horae with the Editor" in the Ladies’ Homo Journal. On two different occasions that I distinctly remember where I was asked fifty centß for not five cents actual worth of flowers, I was laughingly told by the yqung lady to whom I tendered a b£ok note that, “We never give change at this fair, and gentlemen, like yourself, won’t insist upon it, we know.” It was not enough that I was overcharged, but 1 must be twice robbed, and this, in each instance, in a church and in the name of charity! Is it any wonder, I ask, that it is so difficult to induce men to attend bazaars and fairs? They know what is in store for them if they attend. They know that the innocent “twenty-five cpnts admission" represents an exit costing all the wdy from $lO to $25, in proportion to their good-nature. I am calling tlds practice by its proper name, because I think it is time that the great and noble works done for honest charity in this country should not be asked to suffer, as many of them aro undoubtedly suffering to-day, from this and other forms of abuse practiced in the name of charity. And I do not believe that the managers of charitable fairs really have an accurate realization of the rapidly growing aversion on the part of men for these events. If they had this knowledge I think they would apply the remedy without delay.

Great Is Kansas.

Kansas has farms valued at 8450,* 000,000, which produce every year $140,000,000 worth of crops. Over $2,000,000 is invested in best sugar factories, and the sorghum cane produces 1,600,000 pounds of sugar and 5,600,000 gallons of syrup. The dairy products are valued at $30,000,000.

Testing a Diamond.

Make a small dot on paper, then look at It through a diamond. If you can see but one, dot, you can depend upon It that the stone Is genuine; but if the mark is scattered or shows more than one, you will be perfectly safe in refusing to pay 10 cents for a stone that may be offered you at SSOO.

Famous Prisons.

Two famous Parisian prisons will 'Shortly be demolished. They are the Roquette, near Fere le Chaise cemetery, and the prison of Ste. Pelagie, with its sorrowful souvenirs of the reign of terror. The government intends to build a large prison In their stead.

Nice Climate.

At Great Falls, Montana, the mercury has been known to drop 25’ degrees inside t of five minutes.

Possibly.

The golden candlesticks used in the temple at Jerusalem were supplied with pure olive oil.

Word Evolution.

Neighbor was once only * nighboor or the boor or farmer who lived dearest.

HOW PINS ARE MADE.

CUT, POINTED, HEADED AND PACKED BY MACHINERY. ■■ kU.A . '-i Wonderfully Ingrnloo* MeehanUm Which Turn* Oat the Little -Bachelor** Friend** at the Bate of 7,600 an Hoar—How They Get Their Polish. Hardly Touched by Hand. The machine that makes pins turn# out 7,500 of these tiny essentials la an hour. Before the pin is finished it goes through very maDy operatlons, which areVfi escribed in tbe Youth’s companion fes follows: A reel of wira hangs over roe machine, the free end of which passes between two rollers. As the wire leaves the rollers it passes between two matched dies until 16 touches a gauge. Just as it does this the dies come together and clamp 16 firmly in a groove in their face. A 6

SEVEN THOUSAND PINS AN HOUR

the same time the machine cuts 16 off tho proper length. The gauge then moves away, and a little punch forms the head by striking the end which rests against the gauge. When this is finished the dies separate and deliver the pin into one of the great many grooves In the face of tho wheel about a foot in diameter, and just as wide across Its face as the pin is long. When the pin Is taken by the wheel it has no point, but as tbe wheel turns It rubs the pins against an outside band, which causes each ,ono to roll in its groove and at tho same time carries them past a set of rapidly moving files, which brush against the blunt ends and sharpen them roughly. They next pass against the faces of two grinding* wheels, which smooth tho points, and then to a rapidly moving leathor band having fine ornery glued on its face. This gives them the final polish, and as they leave the bahd they are dropped into a bo* underneath tho machine. After this the pins are plated with tin to give them a bright, silvery appearance. They ure prepared for plating by being first immersed In weak sulphuric ucld to remove all grease, and thon dried by being placed—a bushel or so at a time, with about the same quantity of sawdust —ln a machine called a tumbling barrel This Is simply a cask suspended on a shaft which

THE FIRST POLISHING PROCESS.

passes through It lengthwise. Two or three hours’ rolling in sawdust cleans the pins and wears away any little roughness which the machine may have caused. Plus aud sawdust are taken together from the barrel and allowed to fall in a steady stream through a blast of air. Tho sawdust, being the lighter, is blown over intu a large, room-like box, while the pins, being heavier, fall into a bln below. After this they are spread out In trays having sheets of zinc in their bottom* which have previously been connected with one of the wires of an electric battery. The trays are then placed in a tank containing a solution of tin In muriatic acid, and the other wire of the battery Is inserted In the solution. Electrical action immediately begins and deposits metallic tin on the entire surface of each pin. They are then washed in a tank of water and put into other tumbling barrels with hot sawdust When they have been dried and cleaned.on sawdust, as in the former instance, they are put into a large, slowly re-

THE FINAL TUMBLING OPERATION.

volving copper-lined tub, which is tilted at an angle of about4s degrees. As this revolves the pins keep sliding down the smooth copper to the lower side. This constant rubbing against the tub and'against each other polishes them. It was the practice formerly to allow pins of all lengths to become mixed in the different operations, and, after polishing, to separate them by a very ingenious machine, but it has been found more economical to keep each size to it-; self. From the polishing tub the pins are 'Carried to the “sticker,” where, they fall from a hopper on an in-! dined plane in which are a number of slits. The pins catch in these slits and, hanglhg by their heads, slide down the incline to the appa- : ratus which inserts them in the paper. As the number of pins In a row on the paper and the number of slits are the samo, an entire row is stuck at once by an ingenious device, which takes one pin from each slit and inserts them all at once in the two ridges which have been crimped in; the paper by a wheel that holds It In place to receive the pins. At the same time the wheel crimps the paper it spaces the rows, so that when filled with pins the paper will fold up properly; An Inpenetrablo Country. Although the Orange river has been known to colonists longer than any other In South Africa, but little more information can be gathered about it now than early in the cea-t tury. to. '%'w .' 1