Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1895 — Page 5

THE JOKERS’ BUDGET.

JESTS ANO YARNS BY FUNNY I MEN OF THE PRESS. No Contest--Just the Thing--The One Thing Lacking--A Splendid Man--Etc., Etc. NO CONTEST. Teddie—What are woman’s rights, pa? Pa —Everything they want, my boy; always remember that. JUST THE THING. Morton —What do you intend doing with that mouse? Baldwin —Use him for bait. Morton (astonished) —For bait? Baldwin—Yes. I am going to try to catch some catfish. THE ONE THING LACKING. “I hear. Miss Impecune, that you have the bicycle craze.” “Yes. That is, I have the craze, butT’m sorry to say that,l haven’t the bicycle.” A SPLENDID MAN. Husband—Do you think that doctor you have is doing you any good? Wife—lndeed he is. He has just told me that nothing but a trip to Europe would save me. HOW IT STRIKES EACH. Wife—That’s a perfect dream of a bonnet. Husband—Yes; but I’ll bet it cost a regular nightmare of a price.

LITTLE THINGS THAT WORRY. “What is the matter, old felliw; you look worried?” “Well, I am. I’m being dunned up hill and down dale by my creditors.” “Oh, you owe a large sum of money?” “No; but a great number of small sums—and debts are like children, the smaller they are the more bother they are.” ONLY FAIR. “This is passing strange” said the passenger as the conductor handed back to him the lead nickel. “Not so much as it is passing queer,” returned the conductor, as he forgot to ring up the next fare. THE NEW WOMAN. “Caroline I” In the darkness of nighthe clutched the coverlet wildly, “Caroline,” he gasped, “I’m sure there’s a woman in the house!” But his wife only laughed at his terror,' and with a little moan he covered up his head. trouble expected. First Doctor—What do you have to stay in your office to-night for? Second Doctor—Expect a call to attend Hadley’s family. First Doctor—Why, they’re not sick. Second Doctor—No, but I just'saw Hadley take home a chafing dish, together with a book on “How to Prepare Your Own Food.” A WESTERN VERDICT. Coroner (of Woollytown)—What is your verdict, gentlemen of the jury, as to the deceased’s death? Jury—Thet he committed suicide by not drawin’ his gupln time. NOT A FAIR TEST. Charlie came crying from school. “What’s the matter, now?” asked his father. “Teacher said I didn’t pass mv examination,” wailed Charlie, “and I’d just like to know how she could tell—she only asked me the things that I didn’t know.” SPOILING THE JOB. Jaggies—The man was lying in the street where he had tried to kill himself. I began to question him and it seemed to make h m angry. Waggles—No wonder When a man has gone to the trouble to poison himself he doesn’t like to be pumped.

AN EXCUSABLE TIP. Bilkins—Seems to me the custom of tipping is spreading everywhere. It’s outrageous! ” Wilkins—ln some cases it is excusable. “I’d like to know in what cases?” “Well, you can’t get weighed without tipping the beam, you know.” OXLY DODGE THEM. Doctor—The bicycle gives people the best exercise in the world. Patient—But I can’t afford to ride a bicycle. Doctor —Oh, you don’t need to ride one. DAY DREAMS. Farmer—Look how many blossoms are on those trees. If every blossom would bring forth an apple I would be rich next fall. Dr. Bolus—And if every apple were eaten when green, and every eater got a colic, my fortune would be made right off. A SAD CASE. De Chappie—lf there’s any one nuisance I hate more than another, it’s a fellow who is always going around introducing people. There’s Goodheart, for instance. Bouttown—What’s he been doing? De Chappie—The fool! the other day he introduced me to a man I owe money to, and I’d been owing it so long he’d forgotten all about me. Now I’ll have to pay or be sued.

Leaps of a Mountain Sheep.

No; the mountain sheep does not leap from great heights, and land either upon his horns or his feet. He knows the strength of his materials too well to try it. His horns and skull might successfully withstand the shock, but the weight of his body would break his spinal column in two or three places, to say the least of it. It is true that when hard pressed a herd will sometimes plunge down a terribly steep incline, sliding and bounding from point to point, until they plow into the "slide-rock” below; but as to leaping over a sheer precipice, I never saw any one who even claimed to have ever witnessed such a thing. The old rams often fight by butting each other terifically, and often splinter, or sometimes break off, the ends of their horns in that way.—St. Nicholas, /

AN ACTOR KNIGHTED.

Henry Irving Receives Evidence of Queen Victoria's Favor.The honor that was recently conferred on Henry Irving is one that his friends have long expected for him. Various explanations why he has not received it before have been made He was born with the patronymic of Brodribb and assumed the more picturesque name of Irving for stage purposes. As an explanation why Irving was not knighted when Augustus Harris and Arthur Sullivan had been so honored, it was said that it was contrary to precedent to dub a man a knight by any other name than that which his father bad carried before him. If a popular choice for the honor had been made among English actors for the past ten years there is little doubt that it would have fallen to Irving.

SIR HENRY IRVING.

Mr. Irving went on the stage in 1856, but it was not until his appearance as Matthias in “The Bells,” in 1871, that he achieved a success that placed him easily in the front ranks of his profession. Critical opinion has differed widely as to the artistic merit of Irving’s Matthias, but there has never been any reason te doubt its effect on-an audience. When he appeared at the Lyceum in 1873 as Richelieu he gave a performance that added to his fame, though he was severely criticized. In 1874 Irving took the boldest step in his career, and played Hamlet at the Lyceum with an original conception of the part. The critics resolved themselves into two parties and waged a fierce battle in the public prints over the merits of Mr. Irving's Hamlet. Public opinion may still be divided on that subject, though there is no doubt that Irving has admirers enough of his Hamlet to fill his, theater when he chooses to play it. His harmonious stage management added not a little to his success. In his tours through this country he has been received with favor, and by his scholarly mind and pleasant personality he has won many friends who will rejoice with him in his new honor.

Bread That Is Popular.

“Home-made bread is not a markedable article, generally speaking. People may think that a baker would be able to make a fortune as well at corner the trade. But I know differently, for I learned bj’ experience never to try to sell to the public what I wanted them to try, but to make them what they wanted to buy. Many years ago 1 thought as you do, that first class home-made bread would be a luxtiry which the public would receive with open arms. So I proceeded to make it. My agents told me the storekeepers almost refused to accept the loaves on account of their smallness. They were of the same weight as the other loaves, contained the same amount of nourishment, but, being more solid, with less air holes, they made up into much smaller loaves. “One day I was in the store when a woman came in to buy a loaf of bread. She was shown a loaf of ordinary baker’s bread and a loaf of home-made bread. ‘How much do you charge for these?’ she asked. ‘Ten cents,’ was the reply. ‘What!’ she exclaimed; ‘ten cents for a little loaf like that, when I can get a large loaf for the same price? Give me the large loaf.’ I tried to explain that they both weighed the same, placing them on the scales so they balanced each others but no, she would have nothing but the large loaf. Thatday I went to the baker and told him to stop making home-made bread. I had learned my lesson. ‘Blow it up,’ I said to him, ‘Fill it as full of wind as you can, so as to make the loaf as large as possible. If people want wind we will have to give it to them.’ That’s why so little home-made bread is made by bakers.”—Pittsburg Dispatch.

Brand New Round Game.

If you want something to wake up the company at an evening party try this: Put a dinner plate in the oven till it gets heated just enough so that it is uncomfortable to hold, and yet not hot enough to burn, of course, and put a handful of nuts, popcorn or the like on it. Then announce how the game is played, thus: Let the company sit in a circle ; hand the warm plate to one of the players and say: “Have some nuts” or “Have some corn,” as the case may be. The one you hand it to must bow and say: “Thank you. I will,” at the same time taking a nut or kernel and passing the plate on to his neighbor with the invitation, “Have some nuts,,’ etc. So-it goes round from one to the next. Each one must say, "Thank you, I will;” take one, then take the plate; say “Have some nuts;” let the next player take one, and then hand him the platei If a player drops any of the nuts off the plate or says anything but the words given he must pay a forfeit. Don’t tell anyone that the plate is warm, and the surprise of all concerned will make lots of fun. ________ According to the eleventh census, there are 2,000,000 of Irish among our people.

LIFE ON BOARD SHIP.

THE HOUSEKEEPING ARRANGEMENTS ON A MAN-OF-WAR. Something About the Messes--The Table Expenses Are Paid by the Officers--Entertaining Visitors. To you of the land who have plenty of room for all the various depart- j ments of your housekeeping affairs it may be interesting to know how the several hundred people crowded beneath the decks of a big man-o’-war manage to exist comfortably in the contracted space allowed. Generally well forward on the gun deck there is the galley, on which all the cooking for the officers and men 1 Is done. This galley is a large range fastened down to the deck with iron straps, and from early morning till sundown it is surrounded by the cooks, preparing and cooking the food for the various “messes,” or different tables aboard the ship. If it be a flagship, that is, one bearing an admiral in command of a fleet or station, the first mess in importance is that of the admiral, who has all to himself a steward, a cook and a boy. He may eat alone in his cabin or have the captain and members of his staff with him. Then comes the captain’s mess in his separate cabin, with the same complement of servants. Next we go down into the ward room, where the fifteen or twenty watch officers, engineer officers, paymasters, doctors, chaplain and marine officer are all together in a big mess, with a stew ar I, a cook and fiva or six servants or ward room boys, as they are called aboard ship. In this mess one of the officers is elected caterer, and has general supervision of everything pertaining to it —the general direction of the steward and boys and of the menu—and the grumblings of the discontented members are directed against this official. Contrary to the general idea of the civilian who visits the ship, the officers are not furnished everything by the government, but must pay for all their food from their monthly pay, and the caterer becomes the treasurer of these payments from all the officers. Of course the stewards, cooks and boys are regularly enlisted in the service and all hold minor fighting stations, at which they regularly drill, but every mouthful of food is bought by the officers themselves.

Until quite recently the officers of the messes were required to buy their own kitchen utensils and dishes, glassware and tableware, but these are now furnished bj r the government, leaving the officers only the napery to buy. The steward is intrusted with the duty of buying the daily provisions for the mess and seeing that the cook prepares them properly and that the boys serve them well. His value depends upon his knowledge of marketing, cooking, and the discipline he has among the boys,, and last, but far from least, upon his honesty, for in a large mess' he may handle hundreds of dollars in a month. The duties of the boys, beside serving the officers at meals, consist in keeping all the staterooms in order, as well as the messroom. The stewards are generally old and tried men, who have served through the intermediate stages of boy and cook, while the boys are of every grade of efficiency and every nationality. Ships on the China station generally have Chinese or Japanese boys, as they are quick to learn, generally honest and quite amenable to strict discipline. Those on the home station have Japs when they can be procured, and otherwise white or colored servants. Next in importance after the ward room officers’ mess is the junior officers’ mess, made up of the junior line and staff commissioned officers and the naval cadets, and, perhaps, of all the officers aboard ship. The members of this mess enjoy life the most; for though even crowded into narrow quarters, where they must eat, sleep and live in one room, the buoyant spirits of youth assert itself and good humor reigns. The next mess in order of rank is that of the warrant officers, which, like the junior officers, has its quota of steward, cook and boys. These warrant officers are the gunner, carpenter, boatswain and sail maker, who, while they do not carry a commission, hold important positions on shipboard and are “warranted” by the President to their several positions, on which they have a life tenure, unless dismissed by sentence of a general court martial for some serious offense against military or naval law.

Thus, having finished with the officers, who must buy their own food, and who accordingly follow their own inclination in that matter very much as people ashore do. let us turn to the enlisted men, the blue jackets and marines, who live on a ration issued by the government, each ration being of the average value of thirty cents per diem. Among the enlisted men there are also grades of rank, and the petty officers, who are given more or less authority in the various departments, generally have a mess by themselves where they live plainly but neatly and well. The other enlisted men are divided up into messes of ten or fifteen men each, and each mess has a cook taken from their own number, who prepares the food with the ship’s cook and his assistant. This ship’s cook is an important personage among the enlisted men, and upon him rests the responsibility of preparing the bean soup and other dishes that are the same for all, while the mess cooks prepare the especial dishes for each mess. The ship’s provisions of beans, flour, salt and corned meat and canned goods occupy space in large storerooms especially designed for the purpose, and the stock is quite extensive when laid in for a long cruise. The day’s provisions are served oht In the morning, and the contracted space around the galley is crowded until dinner time, when a signal is piped by the boatswain, the tables come down from the deck beams above, where they are stored when not in use, the knives forks, spoons

and agate ware dishes are set out from the chest in which each mess keeps it belongings, and in ten minutes the meal call soui ds and the three or four hundred seamen and marines and engineer force are eating their dinner, 'which if in port, may consist of fresh meat, roasted or stewed; boiled potatoes, ■ anned corn, fresh bread, coffee, with perhaps, a dessert of “duff," as bread puddingis called, or even “plum duff,” the same pudding with raisins in it.. If at sea for a long time, salt meat or corned meat is used, and perhaps hard tack instead of bread, and baked beansand bean soup often appear in the menu. In the olden time grog was served out at the mast each day at noon, but the influence of temperance societies stopped this, and now the “jackey” is lucky if he is allowed a bottle of beer before dinner and supper. On the old ships the water supply was an important thing, and water was sparingly served out, but the modern system of condensing the sea water has made a plentiful supply for all, and the time of eighty and ninety day passages is gone with the old sailing ships. In most other navies an allowance is made by the government to each officer for theentertainmentof “public visitors” while on a foreign station, or of “foreign visitors” on n home station, such as the officers of other friendly governments and navies who are officially or semi-offi-cially entertained. But in our service such entertainment, while practically obligatory according to the laws of custom and general usage, must be paid by the officers themselves, and in case of a great celebration or naval review may become quite an important expense, yet, of course, such guests are none the less welcome. The stores laid in for a long cruise are often enough to last fora year or more, and great care in the inspection and packing of such things is necessary to prevent loss by the spoiling or wetting of salt and meats. Thus the commissary department, which is in charge of the paymaster, is quite an important branch of the service. After all, in spite of the narrow quarters, shifting markets and days at sea the housekeeping of a man of war may well be taken as a model, even for those whose lot is cast on the dry land.—Washington Star.

Short Way With Intruders.

Hans von Bulow was taking infinite pains in drilling his orchestra for an early performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the musical epicures of Meiningen were reveling in the anticipation of a huge treat. A high personage at court, more impatient than the rest, expressed an ardent wish to attend one of the rehearsals. The conductor was greatly annoyed, but could not decline the honor. However, he planned a little scheme for speedily getting rid of his unwelcome audience. When the exalted lady and her attendants had taken their seats and the rehearsal was about to begin, Bulow called upon the bassoonist to play his part alone from beginning to end. The man obeyed, and began to draw from his weird instrument a series of incoherent grunts and groans which were painful to listen to when unaccompanied by the other parts. It was the most horrible solo that had ever been heard . Bulow occasionally interrupted the performance, demanding a repetition of certain particularly discordant passages with suggested modifications, and whon the bassoonist had finished he ordered him to play the whole of his part over again. This was too much for the great lady. She hastily rose and confessed to the conductor that the affair had been rather different from what she had been lead to expect, adding that “it was very interesting, no doubt, but somewhat fatiguing, ’’whereupon she took her departure. Bulow’s face beamed with satisfaction, and he gave the signal for the rehearsal proper to commence.

Careless Drivers.

When an omnibus or a cab driver runs over a passenger in London streets the possible loss of a license exercises a wholesome restraint. The private coachman and the driver of the tradesman’s cart has far less compunction in teaching an old gentleman to get out of their way by running him down. At the worst they are fined; not infrequently their fines are paid by a sympathizing employer. But no one pays a poor cabman’s fines, and the loss of a license in addition means the loss of hie means of livelihood. In Paris, we believe, the driver of a fiacre is generally allowed by the law to run over one bourgeois in the course of a year. In London magistrates are less lenient. Moreover, the law makes an unfair and arbitrary distinction between the cabman’s case and that of the unlicensed driver. The former is liable to be removed from the box for good and all; the driver of the cart may continue to go on in his wild career, though he destroys several citizens in the course of the year.

Palace Plated With Gold.

Th® Czar has a palace just outside St. Petersburg, known as CzarskoeSelo, which was built by Catherine the Great. Itisot vast extent and plated over with gold. It took nearly $1,000,000 worth of bullion to do the work, and when, owing to the dampness of the climate, it began to peel off, Catherine ordered it to be painted instead. Some Russian speculators wanted to scrape off the old gold and melt it over again, and they offered Catherine $500,000 for the job. She sent them to prison for insulting her with the proposition, and covered the palace with yellow paint.

A Humble Philanthropist.

An old philanthropist, who has j*ust died in Paris, has bequeathed the whole of his property, estimated at $200,000, to Pau, his native town? In his will he expressed the wish that he should be interred with an eighthclass funeral, the cost of which is very trifling.

HOW H. R. H. DRESSES.

Th* Wonderful Outfit of the Prine* of Wales Described. In a chatty article on the Prince of Wales and his clothes, a writer in Cassell’s Saturday Journal says: As a matter of fact, the “First Gentleman in Europe’’ does spend a great deal of money with his tailors. It should be remembered, nevertheless, that much of this is for uniforms. The Prince is popularly supposed to possess seventy military uniforms—and this total is about accurate. When we remember that a cavalry outfit may cost £l5O, as a low estimate, and that subalterns entering a line regiment rarely begin with a lower disbursement than £SO or £6O, the amount that the Prince's uni- i forms have cost him is easilyto be | gauged. The Prince, of course, possesses, for the most part, colonel’s uniforms, but as a field marshal he is compelled often to renew the terribly expensive outfit suited to that rank ; and it is in this fine tunic that lie appears at most military ceremonials, and at royal weddings, or other great occasions of state. In addition he possesses many naval uniforms and dress of a large number of German, Russian and Austrian regiments. Putting aside the question of uniforms. upon which his Royal Highness cannot spend less than three or four hundred pounds a year, we come to his ordinary dress. It is admitted universally that very few men in town manage things with more taste, or have a quicker eye for a good cloth. There are youths, no doubt, whose tailors’ bills are far larger than the Prince’s, for he is by no means extravagant, although exceedingly particular about his clothes. Nor does he, says the writer, pay absurdly fancy prices, as many people suppose, being charged at the usual rate of a West End house. This means that a frock coat may cost him twelve guineas, which most people would regard as very “fancy" indeed; a dress suit somewhere about fifteen, trousers four guineas, and an ordinary “ditto" suit from eight to ten guineas. When in town the frock coat is invariably worn by the Prince. No doubt, during the London season, he “consumes’’ a large number of these articles —perhaps two a month, of which one will be a light gray one And it is a habit of his never to wear a coat two seasons running, even if it has only been used two or three times by him. As he is in town perhaps six months in the year, his total of “frocks’’ may be set down roughly at twelve. In dress suits he is supposed to be particularly extravagant; but this is not really the case. Any man about town has five or six dress suits a year. The Prince may have a dozen, but the story told in a contemporary recently that ho had one a week Is pure nonsense. When the Prince is going to Newmarket he often wears a “ditto’’ suit with a light covert coat over It. In “ditto" suits, perhaps, his total would astonish the humble man who pays his tailor thirty pounds a year and considers that heavy. It is certain that he never wears one of these suits more than- two or three times, and his stock of them is tremendous. Of shooting suits for the autumn he has an immense variety, using a different style of dress for battue work to that adopted for ordinary work with the dogs. Here alone for country dress he can scarcely spend less than a hundred pounds a year. In the matter of hats it is a well known fact that the Prince has three a fortnight, also buying a large number of bowler and square black hats for country use. At Sandringham there is a hat room with a man whose chief duty it is to keep the Prince’s “tiles" in a high condition of polish. In the same palace a number of vast wardrobes contain the bulk of the uniforms and clothes which are not in regular use. Those large scarfs which are now worn with a frock coat often cost half a guinea. There are scores of up-to-date youths who have fifty pairs of gloves per autumn; three dozen shirts would be regarded as an absolute minimum. So far as the Prince is concerned he never wears a pair of gloves twice, and in this, and in the matter of boots, he is, unquestionably, the best dressed man in the kingdom.

McPHERSON’S DEATH.

Secretary Gresham's Account While Seated Before the General’s Statue. McPherson square, in Washington,, the government reservation that contains tlie statue of the brave soldier who lost his life at the battle of Atlanta, was always a favorite spot with the late Secretary Gresham, who was also badly wounded in that engagement. The square is near the hotel where he lived, and nearly every pleasant evening he would sit for a while before the statue of his dear friend and comrade, recalling memories of the past. On the evening of the day before ho was stricken with his fatal illness Mr. Gresham and Private Secretary Thurber occupied the bench near the McPherson statue together. While seated there the Secretary recalled the incidents of McPherson's death. “McPherson,” said Secretary Gresham, “had a nature as gentle and kind as that of a lovely woman. I shall never forget the last conversation I had with him, just after I was wounded at Atlanta. I was in command of a division, and he was the commanding General. I was lying upon the ground wounded when McPherson came up to me and inquired the extent of my injury. As soon as he discovered how badly I was hurt he ordered his own surgeon to take charge of my case, and he superintended the arrangements for removing me from the held and conveying me to the hospital. I was always very fond of him, and he was like a big brother to me. With his own hands he helped to place me on the stretcher, and as we parted he grasped my hands and said he would look for my speedy recovery. “I was carried down the road to a little railway station, where the train was to come along and take me to the hospital* I was in terrible agony, and the stretcher on which I was

resting was placed on the platform right out in the broiling sun. I think I must have remained there for several hours. Finally a guard of our troops brought a wooden coffin and placed it beside my stretcher. I observed that the officer in charge of the guard was a member of McPherson’s personal staff. I knew the box contained a dead body, and I asked the officer in charge the name of the dead soldier. 'lt is all that is left of McPherson,’ he responded sadly. I could hardly believe that such a thing could be. for I left him on the field but a few hours previous, evidently in perfect health and confident of ultimate victory. It was a terrible shock to me to have the dead body of my friend and comrade thus brought to me. I thought I would go wild with anguish, and the pain from my wounds increased with the excitement under which I was laboring. “Finally the train came along and I was placed in a box-cur with the dead body of McPherson. The only other occupants of the car were the officer in charge of the body and an Irish soldier. The only light in the car was from a tallow candle stuck up in a corner. The surroundings were intensely gloomy, and I did not much care whether I survived or not. I felt as though I wanted to go into eternity, side by side with my old commander and friend. The solemnitj' of the surroundings was by the constant efforts of the officer in charge to try and keep the sentry from going to sleep. The poor fellow nodded and nodded, until the officer became so enraged that he cuffed him over the head quite sharply. In spite of my pain and anguish, I could not refrain from laughing a moment later, when the sentry received another rap over the head and fell against the solitary candle and extinguished the light, leaving the car in total darkness.’’ Secretary Gresham always contended that the humor of the incident saved his life, for up to that moment he was in such a morbid state that it is doubtful if he could have lived through another hour.

EXTINCTION OF THE BISON.

Only Two Hundred Wild Buffalo Still In Amarloa. In a wild state the American bison, or buffalo, is practically, though not quite wholly, extinct. At the present moment there are about 200 wild buffaloes alive and on foot In the Ignited States. To obtain these high figures we Include the 150 indlvidals that the white head hunters and the red meat hunters have thus far left alive in the Yellowstone Park, where the buffaloes are fondly supposed t'kbe protected from slaughter. Beside these there are only two other bunches—one of about 20 head in Lost Park, Col., protected by State laws, 'and another, containing between 110 and 40 head. In Vai Verde County, Texas, between Devil’s River and the Rio Grande. Four years ago there were over 800 head in the Yellowstone Park, thriving and increasing quite satisfactorily, Through them we fondly hoped the species would even yet be saved from absolute extinction. But, alas! we were reckoning without the poachers. Congress provides pay for just one solitary scout to guard in winter 11,575 square miles of rugged mountain country against the horde of lawless white men und Indians who surround the park on all sides, eager to kill the lust buffalo! The poachers have been hard at work, and as a result our park herd has recently decreased more than one-half In number. It is a brutal, burning shame that formerly, through lack of congressional law adequately to punish such poachers as the wretch who was actually caught red handed in January, 1894, while skinning seven dead buffaloes! and now, through lack of a paltry SI,BOO a year to pay four more scouts, the park buffaloes are all doomed to certain and speedy destruction.

Beside the places mentioned, there is only one other spot In all North America that contains wild buffaloes. Immediately southwestward of Great Slave Lake there lies a vast wilderness of swamps and stunted pines into which no white man has ever penetrated far, and where the red man still reigns supreme. It is bounded on the north by the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers, on the east by the Slave River, on the south by the Peace River, and on the west by the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Warburton Fike says it is now the greatest beaver country in the world, and that it also contains a few bands of the so-called wood buffalo. “Sometimes they are heard of at Forts Smith and Vermillion, sometimes at Fort St. John, on the Peace River, and occasionally at Fort Nelson, on the Liard; . . . but it is Impossible to say anything about their numbers.” At all events, in February, 1890, Mr. Pike found eight buffaloes only four days’ travel from Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, and succeeded in killing one. The Canadian authorities estimate the total number in that region at 300.

Lemonade Hygienically Approved.

Lemonade drinking is to be encouraged, according to the Journal of Hygiene, which asserts that it is the most perfect of drinks, and should be substituted for tea, coffee and alcohol. To make it properly and hygienlcally this method should be followed: For a quart, take the juice of three lemons, using the rind of one of them. Carefully peel the rind very thin, getting just the yellow outside. This cut into pieces and put with the juhe and powdered sugar, of which use two ounces to the quart, in a jug or jar with a cover. When the water is at boiling point pour it over the lemon and sugar; cover at once and allow to cool.

A Barber Shop Terror.

What every man who goes to a barber daily fears may happen has happened at last in England. A schoolmaster was being shaved, when the barber drew the razor across his throat, nearly cutting off his head. He missed the main artefles, however, and the victim may recover. No cause can be found for the act.

WHITELAW REID HOME.

He Brought Whiskers From His Trip Around the World. Whitelaw Reid, editor of the Tribune and last campaign's Republican candidate for the vice-presi-dency, arrived recently in New York from a year’s trip abroad, wearing a brand new set of whiskers, grown in the land of Egypt. Advance notices had it that they had been developed as a hedge against Sahara sand. While Mr. and Mrs. Reid were encamped in the desert the whole party were very nearly overwhelmed by a sand storm. It began in the middle of the night. The first gust swept the tent from its fastenings and spread the suffocating canvas over the sleepers. Then it was swept away into the night, leaving them all at the mercy of the blinding, choking clouds of sand. The minute particles cut into their flesh, got in

HON. WHITELAW REID.

their eyes and mouths and buried them in its drifts. It flowed down their backs, filled their shoes and every foldin their clothes. The force of the blasts blew the particles even through the chinks In their trunks, and when the bags and boxes were opened later they were found to be full of sand. The almost imperceptible particles were driven between the leaves of the books in these bags and boxes. The storm lasted seven hours. At the outbreak of the storm the camel drivers, who had seen such things before, piled the camel saddles about Mr. and Mrs. Reid and covered their heads with blankets. Thon they built up a bulwark of trunks and lay prostrate while the suffocating blasts continued. The seven hours of the storm were hours of agony. Everyone in the party was almost suffocated by the sand and when it was over they arose as from the dead. The faces of all were cut and sore fr m the flying sand and their eyes were red and aching.

A Rare and Beautiful Flower.

The Holy Ghost flower, or Flor del Espiritu Santo, is found in the region of the Isthmus of Panama. There it is not a common plant, as it is found only In certain sections . It seems to thrive only in low. marshy spots and springs up from decayed logs or from crevices in the rocks. The larger and older bulbs frequent-, ly send up the leaf stalks six or seven feet in height and from these, which are joined, broad lancoolated leaves are thrown out in pairs. The plant is an annual, and In June, July and August the flower stalks up from the base of the bulb, devoting all their energies to the formation of the buds. The buds are arranged on tho stalks much like those of the hyacinth, the usual number for a well grown stalk to bear being from twelve to fifteen. The leaves are very pale green In color, as though In harmony with the delicate purity of the blossom. The blossom is of alabaster whiteness, much like the old style English pulpit. This, of Itself, is strikingly curious, but it fades Into Insignificance when one looks into the center of that strange blossom, for there, nestling in its very heart, is the perfect image of a dove. It requires no Imagination to see it. No one could mistake it for anything else, for no human skill could fashion its shape more perfectly, no artist could adorn it with more delicate tints and no perfumer could endow it with a more delicate fragrance. RJght in the cup of the blossom, with the snow white canopy about it, rests this wonderful image, its delicately molded wings drooping, half extended at its side, its gold tinted head bent slightly forward and its tiny, crimson tipped bill touching its snowybreast. An observer who saw it in its native home says: “Just as the figure of the dove itself is there, beyond dispute, so does an expression pervade the image, an expression that even the most careless cannot fail to notice, the very Incarnation of humility and spiritual purity."

The Spanish Armada Expedition.

The invincible Armada was a famous naval expedition sent by Phillip II of Spain against England in 1518. It consisted of 180 vessels, 2,430 great guns, 4,575 quintals of powder, nearly 20,000 soldiers, above 8,000 sailors and more than 2,000 volunteers. It arrived in the English channel on July 19, and was defeated the next day by Admiral Howard, who was seconded by Drake, Hawkins and Frobisher. Eight fire ships having been sent into the Spanish fleet they bore off in<great disorder. Profiting by the panic the English fell upon them and captured or destroyed a number of their ships, and Admiral Howard maintained a running fight from July 21 to July 27, with such effect that the Spanish commander, despairing of success, resolved to return home and, as escape through the English channel was prevented by contrary winds, he undertook to sail around the Orkneys, but the vessels which still remained to him were dispersed by storms or shipwrecked among the rocks and shallows on different parts of the Scottish and Irish coast, and upward of 5,000 men were drowned, killed or taker prisoners. Of the whole Armada fifty-three ships only returned to Spain, and these in a wrecked condition. The English lost but one ship.