Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1895 — Page 4

WEE PRIMAL STRAW. Not when the sunlight goldens wide The heaven. like an aznre bowl, But when steals down the twilight-tide, The vagrant longing takes my soul. Then doth desire, as doth the bark That bounds the freshening wind before, Sadi out across the gathering dark To many a dim and distant shore. It is the old, unrestful strain, — The spirit with the flesh at war,— That leaped along the throbbing vein Of some nomadic ancestor. Hence, though when daylight holds the sky I walk our formal ways within. When dusk draws on. at heart am I As vagrant as a Bedouin. —Clinton Scollard, in Youth’s Companion.

HIS FRIEND'S DECEIT.

There was a dejected look on Caul Gardner's face as he seated himself at his writing table, and, in spite of himself, a sigh escaped him He had come to the parting of the ways in his existence —was now confronting the fact that the career of honor, ease and usefulness which, three or four years ago he had mentally mapped out for realization, was impossible of attainment. His hopes were dead- Only one thing remained for him to do now. But that was surely the hardest of them all! That was the primal cause of his dejection; ana that was the source of his sigh. His lip quivered, and his fingers trembled as he stretched forth his hand and took up a pen. For a moment he toyed nervously with it, as if unable to trace the necessary words on the paper before him. Then he wrote “ Deax Beexda —My heart fails me as I begin this task, but honor compels the conviction that it is a necessary one. By the time this reaches you. I shall be many miles upon my journey. It seems but yesterday since 1 settled here and opened my doors for the reception of pat lent.v I had some $lO, Oik) then, and I believed that by judicious management, it would suffice until Iha 3 made a start. In spite of energy. frugality, and 1 believe, skill, my practice has yet to be begun. My ■wailing has been in vain, and my brass plate insufficient to attract the practical attention of those requiring medical aid. Now 1 have come to the end of my resources and I must leave you—you whom I love better than life. I have made up my mind to woo Fortune in a foreign clime. I know you love me. and the recollection of the many happy hours we have spent together will, in the future as in the past, be a cheering iivcentive to me in my work. But I dare not ask you to await my return. I hope for success, but I had hoped for it at the outset, and the , future may possibly be as unpropitious, and the hopes as visionary as those of the past. No; however powerful my inclinations, justice to yourself compels me to relinquish the claim I have hitherto had upon you. Consider yourself, then, dear Brenda, under no obligations to your old love. Pray for me, and may God bless you. Ever yours in heart, “Paul.”

It was written at last. He dare not j breathe a good-by; dare not utter S one of those terms of endearment he j had been so accustomed to use. His heart was quickly sinking within him. To pause for a moment would be a fatal hesitation. He did not 5 read the letter through, but placed it quickly in an envelope and hurriedly directing it "and sealing it, de- ; posited it on the mantelpiece, out of j sight, as if he would fain forget its existence. At that moment the door opened, and Paul looked up as his friend, Mark Trevor, entered. “Come in, Trevor, and don’t mind the confusion,” he said. “I’m glad to see you, as I was just going to look you up.” • “By Jove! Then you really intend leaving us?” said Trevor, elevating his eyebrows and attempting a smile. “I thought when you mentioned it last week, that it was the outcome of impulse and disgust. But, my dear fellow, why this haste? And Miss Heathcote-Brenda ! Yon surely ” “Trevor, don’t. At times, as I think of her, my resolution wavers, and yet I know I am right in what I am about to do.” ‘ ‘But is she not aware of your departure ?” “No: neither can I tell her verbally. Her tears would make me weak and I want to spare her as well as myself the pain of saying farewell. ’ “Farewell 1 Nonsense. You’ll get an appointment out there, on landing, and in a few months at most you’ll be back again for your bride,” and ,a cloud, evidently the outcome of contemplating such a possibility, obscured Trevor’s face. A silence of some moments followed. Then Trevor resumed his gayety; his face lit up with hope and his eye scintillated wilh more than ordinary brilliancy •

“Well, well,” he said, “you know your own affairs best I suppose and after all you’re only doing what an honorable man ought to. But if I can help you in any way don’t -be afraid of commanding me. I’m at your service, Gardner, although I don’t suppose you have any commissions to give.” “Yes, I have. You can do me a great favor, old fellow. I —I—the fact is, I’m just a bit short of funds and if you could see your way to lend me, say, £50,1 should be uncommonly grateful. One never knows what may happen, you know, and all going well I will l return it in the course of a few months.” “Certainly! I’m glad you mentioned it, my boy. It would never do to cripple yourself at the outset by being short of the ready. I’ll lend it you with pleasure. When do you start?” he asked, eagerly. “In the morning, early.” “Fact is, I haven’t the money by me, but I can get it in an hour. D’Arcy owes me fifty, and promised to let me have it this morning without fail. I’ll just run round and get him to draw the check in your favor instead of mine, and—' “Thanks, awfully. It's very good of you, Trevor.” “Tut, tut; don’t mention it. Get yourthlngs putin order, and I’ll be back in an hour,” and Trevor, snatching op his hat, departed.

True to hlo word, Mark Trevor returned within an hour. “Just caught him in, my boy,” he said. “Here you are, the check's drawn in your favor, to save my indorsement.” “Thanks for all you have done for me,” said Paul, taking up the check apd putting it into his pocketbook. “I shall never forget your goodness, ” gratefully clasping Trevor’s hand in ; his. In a short time Panl was on his : way to the East India Dock. As he was about to step on to the gangway, | two men who had watched his egress | from the vehicle approached and laid hands on him. “Paul Gardner, I suppose?” said j the foremost of them. “That is my name.” “It is our duty to arrest you on a ! charge of forgery in connection with a check which you cashed yesterday, bearing the signature of - Edmund D’Arcy, and to warn you that anything you may say may be used as evidence against you.” The shock staggered Paul for an instant. “Arrest! Forgery!” he murmered, at length. “There is some mistake. Ido not understand I certainly cashed such a check, but it was not forged, it was drawn by D’Arey himsels. Good gracious I” he exclaimed. “Can it be true? Can there be truth j in those rumors after all? Can he love Brenda, and have concocted this villainous plot to ruin me?” and as a , conviction of the truth flashed upon ! him, it required a superhuman effort to hold himself in check. On arriv- j ing at the station he reiterated his innocence—but, of course, to no purpose. “May I send a telegraphic mes- ) sasre?” he inquired. “The police will lend you any reasonable assistance, if you wish to | communicate with your friends,” i was the reply. “I have just a dozen words. Wire j them to the person I name as soon ! as it is daylight : Bewar§ of Treyorj —he is at the bottom of my ruin. Am innocent. Paul to Miss Heathcote. ’ and Paul gave him her address. “You have the words? You j will not forget them?” “I can remember. They’ll do no harm anyway, they won’t,” muttered the man. “As soon as it’s daylight. Depend upon me, sir.” There could be no question as to the outcome of the well-contrived plot against him. Paul Gardner saw ! that. Unless Trevor made a clean | breast of his duplicity, nothing but impr.sonment awaited him. And it ; turned out a 3 he feared. Trevor denied every word of Gardner’s i statement, ev c n going to the length of saying that they had never met on | the day that Paul stated the check was handed over to him. His in-i tended flight and his arrest just as he was about to leave the country were construed into evidence against him. He was committed for trial by the magistrates, and eventually sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

For months Mark Trevor shrank at the thought of going near Brenda Heathcote. In spite of his craft and duplicity he could not summon the necessary courage to confront her, but eventually sought her out, and endeavored to persuade her that her impressions were false, that Paul was deserving of his fate, and that he— Trevor—was much injured by being dragged into the horrible affair. “Explain that telegram,” said Brenda, showing him the wire Paul had contrived to send her. “Explain that. I believe every word of it, and I know the man who sent it too well to think that, even in misfortune, he would make such a charge falsely against one whom he had professed to honor.” Trevor took the wire, and his face turned ghastly white as he read the words, "Beware of Tre'vor—he is at the bottom of my ruin. Am innocent^” j “When did you receivo this?” he j inquired.

“On the night or rather early morning, of his arrest. I know the reason you betrayed him, and evidently Paul did, too. The reason he wired me was to prevent all possibility of your plot succeeding so far as j your intentions with me were con- | cerned. Now go, and never seek my face again. Only remember that those who suffer innocently may make even their suffering a stepping stone to future success, while those guilty of such offences as yours must eventually sink deeper in crime.” It was a memorable morning when the young doctor found himself once more at liberty. The very thought that he was free was almost sufficient to overwhelm him ; and, as he confronted the traffic of the busy streets, he could scarcely credit the fact that he would not be summoned to continue the daily routine of prison life. Beneath his desire of vindication there lurked an inclination for revenge—and Paul knew it. Forgive ! No, he could scarcely do that. How he longed to see Brenda!

How would she counsel him to act? Should he go to her? He scarcely knew. He required time for thought. After he procured suitable clothing he repaired to one of the parks and sat down upon a seat. The thoroughfare he had chosen was well nigh deserted, and Paul was soon lost in the intricacies of thought. He had just determined that he would not visit Brenda until he could take convincing proof of his innocence, when his privacy was intruded upon. Two men, supporting the tottering form of ap elderly gentleman between them, came up to the seat. “You are ill, sir,” said Paul, making room, and assisting the old man in a comfortable posture. “Ye—yes—l—l’m very ill,” was the reply. “Can Ibe of service to you? lam a medical man.”

“Then—as—as you value —suffering humanity—follow to my—residence,” and the than brokenly whisf pered his name and address. “What is the name of the doctor attending Mr. Easton?” Paul asked of the attendant as soon as he arrived. “Barrow, sir,” replied the man. “And between you and me, sir, I believe there’s something wrong between him and Mr. Mark. He’s a broken down drink ridden beast, sir, and Mr. Mark won’t hear of any one else being called, and ” “Who is Mr. Mark?” I

“Mr. Easton's adopted son. Ha ain’t no ralatme, air," said the man, subduing his voice to an almost inarticulate whisper, “but he’s the master’s heir and ” “Enough,” said Paul. “See, take this prescription to the chemist, and bring back the medicine at once, j Then run round and ask Dr Roose | Feldter to come here instantly; it is 1 a matter of life and death.” The man set off at once, and speed- | ily returned with the requisite medi- ' cine, and then went as requested for j the specialist. When the eminent I scientist appeared, Paul, without i more ado, asked him to make an examination of the invalid, and to state what he considered was the nature of his complaint. Several minutes elapsed, then, taking off his spectacles, Dr. Feldter said: “1 see by the remedies you are employing that we have both arrived at the same conclusion. You are giving chloral?” “Yes.” “Quite right. This condition is owing to the cumulative properties of strychnine.” “So I conjectured. The patient seems easier now; may I have a word with you in private?” The two were conducted to an elegantly furnished dressing room, and in a few moments Paul announced his belief that Mr. Easton was being slowly but deliberately poisoned. The specialist looked exceedingly grave, but counselled him to take up his quarters in the dressing room and await developments. An hour after Dr. Feldter’s departure two men entered the bedroom. A cry of horror almost escaped Paul, as he saw from his hiding place that one of these was Mark Trevor, and the other, he had no doubt, was the broken down, morphia dominated medical man who was doing his bidding. The latter took a small vial from his pocket, and poured a little of its contents into a wine glass. “How long before the end now?” wliispered Trevor. "To-morrow, sometime, I will finish,” was the reply. Paul waited no longer. With a bound he entered the room, and confronted the two startled men.

“Scoundrels!” he cried, “What would you do! Poison him 1 Thank fate that my first act after liberation is to save life and not to destroy it.” “Paul Gardner!” exclaimed Trevor, starting backward, his face livid and : his limbs trembling as if palsied. ; “Yes, I,” said Paul, “back to charge you with one crime, and to save you from completing a more heinous one.” “It was he who suggested and paid me to do it,” moaned the abject I brute who sank tremblingly to the ground. Half an hour afttrward, I both men were in custody, and Paul was busy at the bedside of the invalid. For days he continued his unwearying attentions, and eventually had the satisfaction of fully restoring his patient. Nor was gratitude wanting on Mr. Easton’s part. On his recovery, Paul unburdened his own sad story, and, a week later, his name stood in his patient’s will in the place recently occupied by that of Mark Trevor. Nor was this all. A sudden fame attached itself to him, and, with Dr. Roose Feldter as his patron, his professional career was quickly established. Trevor and his accomplice were sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. On convic- | tion, the former at once made a written statement, completely exonrating Paul from the offence for which | he had suffered, and only two days i later, Paul and Brenda were together, i “Proof of my innocence, darling,” said he, producing the document. “Ido not need it,” she replied. “I knew it.”

Meat Consumption in Summer.

A greater amount of sunshine tends to lessen the consumption of meat. It was found that in England in 1893 less meat by 161,000 tons was consumed than in 1892, and the reason given for this is that in 1893 200 days of hot weather with bright sunshine took away one ounce per day of the normal appetite of 38,000,000 of a flesh eating people. This one ounce diminution of the meat ration would fully account for minimizing the butcher’s bill to the extent of 161,000 tons. Caloric from the eating of meat was not wanted, the sun being the universal provider of all the caloric needed. It is a well known fact that less food is required in the heat of summer than in colder portions of the year. In winter, with the temperature of the external air at zero, the temperature of the blood in healthy persons is 98.3 degrees,and when the sunshine of summer drives the mercury of the thermometer near to or above that mark, still the blood registers 98.3 degrees. It is evident that the force needed to raise the temperature of the whole body to nearly 100 degrees in winter is no longer required in the hot sunshine of summer.

Proved Their Claim.

Three alleged vagrants were arrested in Pendleton, Or., recently and locked up over night. The next day they pleaded before the Recorder" that they were not tramps but acrobats on their way to fill an engagement in a neighboring town, and that they were saving money by walking instead of traveling by rail. Their appearance was against their plea, but the judge said they might prove their case by doing soirie tumbling in court, if they cared to do so. The tables and chairs were cleared away, and the alleged vagrants gave a very clever acrobatic exhibition on the fiofor of the courtroom. The judge forgot his dignity and the court officers the circumstances of the tumblers being there, and all applauded vigorously, and his honor was so much pleased with the show that he held circus in court for half an hour and then released the men and chipped in to a subscription for their benefit.

He Wrote a Famous Song.

The writer of the famous song, “I’ll Take You Back Again, Kathleen,” Thomas P. Westendorf, was recently appointed Superintendent of the State Reform School at Clrehalis, Wash. Like many writers of such famous heart-songs, he is not a professional soug writer, and though he has written a number of others this is the only one that has lived long.

ELECTRIC FREAKS.

CATERING TO A RICH MAN'S WANTS IN EVERYTHING. Th« Mysterious Fore* Used fer tho Benefit of Mr. Midas in Many Naw and Surprising Ways. Electricity dominates invention nowadays. A steady stream of new ideas relating to the mysterious fluid is pouring Into the United States Patent Office. Yet this branch of research is only in its infancy. Before long, if progress continues at its present rate, the work of the world will be mainly done by electrical apparatus. Already electricity contributes enormously to the luxury of the richsays the Pittsburg Post Dispatch. The household establishment of Mr, Gorgius Midas is fairly run by bar. nessed lightning controlled by switches and automatic regulators. A complete electric plant in the basement furnishes lights and runs an elevator which has no attendant, being perfectly controlled' by push buttons. On waking in the morning Mr. Mida9 summons his valet by a push button and presently is notified that his bath is ready. His ablutions are accomplished by a mild scrub with an electric brush, which produces a pleasant tingling sensation and is healthful for the skin. Emerging from the tub, he rubs himself to a glow with an electric towel, which is woven on a loose web of very fine wires, so as to be perfectly flexible Towel and brush are connected with a small storage battery, and the current may he made as gentle as desired. This also applies to a comb that hangs by the shaving glass. Nobody has yet invented an electric razor, but that will come in time . Mr. Midas uses an electric toothbrush for the benefit of his gums, and then, feeling fit for a little exercise, he devotes five minutes to handling a pair of light dumbbells. These are also electrical and give a series of mild shocks to the person employing them. The gentleman is now ready for his breakfast. Flis coffee is drunk out of a cup of precious metal, which is readily attached to a little battery beneath the table by hooking <t on to the end of a fine wire. In his left hand he holds a small electrode that terminates another wire. The act of drinking closes the circuit and the liquid conveys the electricity to the alimentary canal and stomach. This is not excellent for digestion, but it renders more palatable the fluid taken from the cup, because the electricity stimulates the organs of taste. Having finished breakfast and read the morning papers, Mr. Midas takes and cane and starts downtown for his office. The stick has a massive gold head and would be a prize for a sneaktliief, but it reposes safely in the hall rack, which has an alarm attachment, so as to give instant notice in case a coat or anything else on it is removed. The cane referred to is itself electrical, sending Dleasant thrills through the body of the user. Mr. Midas’s wife, who is musically inclined, spends most of the morning in playing on a piano which is so contrived that Bhe receives a series of shocks while manipulating the keys, thus undergoing a treatment for rheumatism incidentally to the performance. Upstairs the children are playing with dolls that are made to dance by electricity. All this might be considered rather farfetched were it not that the patents have been taken out for every one of the devices described.

Mr. Midas occasionally has an engagement at his club that keeps him out late. He may decide to have his shoes shined. He drops a nickel into a slot, sits down in a chair and puts his feet upon two supports provided for the purpose. An electric motor actuates the brushes—first a brush that carries blacking supplied from a reservoir, and then polishing brushes. On his way home several hours later, the night being dark, Mr. Midas wishes to know the time. His watch is provided with a very small electric light bulb. In his other waistcoat pocket connected with the watch by a chain which serves as a conducting wire, is a little battery. An instant’s pressure upon a charm that is attached to the chain closes the circuit, ignites the lamp and illuminates the dial. When Mr. Midas reaches home he has no trouble in finding the keyhole. He pushes a button and an electric light shines through a round hole in the door, illuminating the keyhole. As he enters the house all is silent. The only noise he hears as he passes his wife’s room is that of the baby’s cradle, which is being rocked by electricity. Of course, Mr. Midas has an electric pleasure boat, The power for running it is contained in storage batteries concealed under the seats.

FOX RAISING IN ALASKA

Realizing Large Profits from t!ie Sale of Many PeltsFox farming in Alaska, which has assumed immense proportions, was originated by a Pittsburger. In 1879 George Wardman was traveling about the coast in the steamer Rush. He saw a valuable black fox skin sold for S2OO, and conceived the notion that farming the fox would be profitable. He got Preach Taylor, Thos. F. Morgan and James G. Redpath interested and a company was formed. The gentlemen are agents of the Alaska Commercial Company at St. George. Morgan suggested as a place for the experiment the Semedies group of seventy rocky islets, sixty miles west of Kodiak, which produced nothing but sea birds and sea lions and are uninhabited. At the seal islands of the Pribyloff jftoup the Alaska Commercial Company catch from 1,000! to 1,600 blue foxes every winter. The black fones are scarce, while the blue fox is not nearly so valuable. During the winter of 1880 arrange* ments were made with an agent at Kodiak to get some black fox cubs. He secured half a dozen, and while he was away on business the natives killed the cubs by kindness and by overfeeding them. No more of the cubs could be found, and no further efforts were made to carry out the

scheme until the summer of 1884, when about twenty blue fox cubs were caught. They were taken in a steamer to Analaska and thence in a chartered schooner, with a quantity of seal meat, to the Semedies Islands, where they were released. The islands are inaccessible except ! in calm weather, which helped the j enterprise, as it kept poachers and I Indians from catching the stock. At first it was difficult to get any right jon the land. The Treasury Depart- , ment, however, addressed a letter to revenue steamers und the Provisional Government of Alaska, to give their ! protection to the fox farmers under | the law protecting squatters, and the company has not been molested in its enterprise. The foxes eat eggs and catch birds in the summer. They are also adepts at killing sea lions, which serve them for food. They are very intelligent. They take the eggs in summer and hide them in the thick moss, which is like mattresses, and leave them until they get hungry in winter and can find nothing else to eat. If they ,hid the eggs in the dirt they would be unable to scratch the frozen ground away from them in winter, lienee the wisdom displayed in covering them with moss. The foxes have been watched during the months of July and August on the cliffs searching for eggs, and have been tracked to their hiding places. The blue fox pelt is valued at sls, and as the seals become scarcer it becomes more valuable. All attempts to catch black foxes have proved failures, as they are so scarce. Natives are hired to live on the island and watch the foxes. The latter art trapped in certain seasons, killed, and skinned. The carcasses are value* less, as the Indians, who will eat almost anything, will not touch tha fox meat. The number has multiplied from twenty cubs to about 5,000 foxes, and they have been trapped every season since they were large enough to be of value. Mr. Wardman sold his interest to Byron Andrews, of Washington. The company is in a fair way to make large fortunes from fox farming.

PESTS OF THE PLAINS.

The Rattlesnake’s Sting and the Bite of the Hydrophobia Skunk. Major Wilcox, a veteran surgeon from Fort Huachuca, told the other day of the red racer snake, a deadly foe to the rattlesnake, and who fights the latter on every occasion, says the San Francisco Chronicle. He cannot kill the rattler by a poisonous sling, but awaiting an opportunity, seizes his victim behind the head and gives it a crushing squeeze in its powerful jaws. This severs the rattleskake’s spinal cord and causes death. The red racer then swallows the rattler, poison and all. These racers have been captured while trying to swallow a rattler head first. Occasionally, while in the field, Major Wilcox treated soldiers for tattlesnake bites, and found it easy to overcome the effects of the poison. One day a private came to him with a wound from a rattlesnake’s fangs in his index finger. The major hastily scarified the wound, broke open a rifle cartridge, poured powder over the wound and exploded it. This cauterized the injured part, and so effectually dispelled the poison that only one-half the hand was swollen. The patient soon recovered . On another occasion a man cut off a rattlesnake’s head, and, desiring to preserve it, packed cotton into the dead snake’s mouth. The jaws clasped upon the man’s fingers, inflicting a wound from which he soon died.

Rancher Leonard, owner ot a vast cattle range in New Mexico, in recounting his experiences on the plains, remarked that he feared the hydrophobia skunk far more than he did the rattlesnake. The snake gives warning of its presence; the skunk does not. This variety of skunk is not only vicious, but aggressive, while the rattlesnake seldom attacks unless disturbed. The hydrophobia skunk is probably the only animal excepting the coyote, west of the Rocky mountains, whose bite induces rabies. Besides this and because of its fondness for occupying the tents of frontiersmen at night, the animal is much dreaded. Occasionally a coyote will “run mad” and bite another, and thus hydrophobia is communicated to large packs of the fleet-footed animals and they race over the prairies and mesas, making mad every flying creature in their pathway that they happen to bite. One of the amusements of the cowboys is to capture a rattler alive and set the creature drunk. With a forked stick the snake's head is held down, its mouth is forced open and whisky poured down its throat in sufficient quantity to intoxicate it. The snake will then try to coil its body as if to go to sleep. The action of the alcohol makes it “groggy”and the coil won’t coil. When a stick is shoved before the snake’s nose it ■ tries to strike, but the head and body wobble from side to side.

He Gave It Up.

A nest of rattlesnakes was discovered by an Indian in the mountains eleven miles west of Ulich, Cal. He was out hunting, and in ascending a rocky point was warned of the presence of a serpent by an ominous rattle. He discharged his rifle at the rattler, and immediately thereafter large numbers emerged from a rock pile. The Indian retreated, and securing a branch of pine tree, invaded the nest and gave battle. He continued the slaughter until exhausted, but seeing the impossibility of exterminating the reptiles, left the place after having killed forty-nine immense snakes.

Growing Force of a Squash.

President Clarke, of Amherst College, some years ago made a series ol experiments upon the growing force of a squash. When it was eighteen days old and measured twenty-seven inches in circumference, he inclosed it in a sort of- iron and wooden harness, with a long lever attached. The latter was weighed according to the growing power of the squash. Begihning with sixty pounds on the twentieth day of its existence, on the ninetieth day it lifted 5,00€ pounds.

Odds and Ends.

Kansas bas 166,617 farms, having an acreage of 30,214,456. The barley fields of Illinois yielded in ! 1890, 1,197,506 bushels. Washington, including real and personal property, is valued at $123,810,693. A Maine firm is preparing to manufacture horseless carriages commercially. The slaughter of elephants in Africa goes on at the rate of 65,000 a year. Most of the land in the Republic of Mexico is held in almost feudal tenure by 7000 families. The biggest ferryboat in the world is said to be the Soluno, plying between San Francisco and Oakland. The Humane Society of Pittsburg has decided that young girls must cease selling papers on the streets. A number of women of Cincinnati have provided, sand heaps for the poor children of the city to play on. There are five “tasters" in the sultan’s kitchen at Constantinople. They taste every dish before it is placed before the royal master. It is said that moths will not attack j green fabrics. Arsenic is used in dyeing green, and the moths are wise enough t > \ sliun that deadly drug. One of the most striking of the experiments in a recent lecture before the Royal Institute of Great Britain showed a frozen soap bubble floating on liquid air. It is the belief of oyster catchers that oysters are peculiarly sensitive to sudden jars. Ihe careful oysterman never chops wood on board lest be kill the oysters, and he dreads a thunder storm.

With a population of about thirty millions, England gets along with thirty-two judges of the first class, while Indiana, with a population of about four millions, has 178 judges altogether. Missouri furnishes the government cavalry horses at from .*45 to *75 each. In some of the Pacific States a horse can be bought for *2 or *3, and is considered to be worth less than a good sheep-dog. The Chinese believe that when telegraphy was introduced in their country foreigners cut out the tongues of children and suspended them ou the insulators to transmit the message from pole to pole. The fact appears that there is a very marked differenoe in the way temperature is borne by the eyes when it is below 2000 degrees Fahrenheit and when above that heat, t p to such a degree a man can look at tht metal in a furnace with comparative ease, but before it reaches 3000 degrees he is compelled to wear colored glasses. The latest English religious novelty is a smoking service. The following invitation has been widely circulated in Whitechapel: ‘Tf you want a smoke free, come next Sunday afternoon at three o’clock to Christ Church Hall. A free cup of tea if you like. Tobacco gratis.” In the cities of Japan there is a large class of women who muke their living by furnishing amusement to ennuied patrons. They are well educated, can converse, recite poetry, tell stories, sing songs, play the guitar and dance for the entertainment of those who send for them. London saloon-keepers must not supply liquor to police officers unless by authority of a superior officer. A woman was sum-, moned recently before the police court for serving at the same time a sergeant and a constable while on duty, and pleaded that the sergeant gave the needed permission. In the event of a wreck at sea, instinct in some marvelous way seems to warn animals of their peril. The confusion among the crew and passengers spreads like wildfire to the live stock, und even the rats come screaming on deck, evidently fully conscious that their lives are in jeopardy. Queen Victoria’s word in the matter of titles is absolute law. Were she to address a bystander inadvertently as “duke," a duke he would remain, unless she revoked the honor. There are several cases on record in which titles were conferred by a sudden impulse of the sovereign in a colloquial moment—titles which are extant to this day. A story comes from Louth, New South Wales, of an extraordinary adventure of a little boy about two years of age who wandered from his home and was lost in the bush. He was tracked thirty miles and over a rabbit-proof fence before lie was found. He spent five cold nights in the bush without food or water, and when discovered was still walking, though much exhausted.

A Wonderful Adaptation.

A friend of mine, who was for several years in the service on the Western plains, gave me a very interesting account of the wonderful adaptation of the plant and animal life of that section to their surroundings. I have never seen it laid down in .the books: “Down in the sandy, arid plains of Western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizoua, the cacti are the only plants that remain green and flourishing in ilie summer season. As they are succulent they would be greedily eaten by the herbiverous animals, such as the wild cat and deer tribe, and would soon be exterminated. “To guard themselves against this wholesale destruction they have developed a perfect chevaux-de-frise of sharp, barbed spines, that branch out in every direction, forming such a complete protection that no large animal can get at the body of the plant.” But the really marvelous fact, the truth of which my friend affirms, is the adaptive imitatiou of one of the small animals to these plants. “The horned lizard, or horned toad as it is commonly misnamed, is abundant. As it would be an easy prey of carnivorous birds, it, also, has been forced to protect itself, by a cunning fraud. It has developed spines on its head and all up and down its back and tail, in exact imitation of the spines of the cacti. And so closely h as it carried the imitation that the spines all over the body actually blossom out during the season the cacti are in bloom, the flowers taking on the shape and color of the species of cacti among which the lizard lives. most beautiful sight I ever saw,” friend, “was on a bright morning when, there was a light dew. The sandy plain was covered with the little dusky, brown animals, darting about, each in full bloom,' the deeply tinted flowers sparkling with the dew drops. Now they form great masses of color, then scatter in all directions, crossing and recrossing, a brilliant flashing of color like an Arctic aurora. It was a living, breathing, animated flower garden, to be seen nowhere else on earth. It were well worth a trip to the far West just for one hour of a scene like that.”

The Bannocks Hate the Shoshones.

“I sec that the newspapers are giving considerable space to the uprising of the Bannock Indians, and perhaps you would like to know something about them.” Thia remark was made by a muscular

I looking fellow at Holland House the other J d»y. as he ran bis eyes over the column of a morning paper. “The Bannocks,” be i continued, “occupy the Fort Hill reservation in southeastern Idaho, with the Bbo- ' shones. The Shoshones are more numer- : ousthan the Bannpcks, who, in 1894, were j 772, all told, 132 being males over eigli- ' t*en years of age, while of 1743 Shoshones, I there were 286 males over eighteen years iof age. The only purpose for which the | Bannocks appear to be preserved, accord- ! to the account given me while on a visit I to the Fort Hall reservation a few years ago, was to vex and annoy the Shoshones, ; who take more kindly to labor schools, and the use of other clothiug than blankj ets than do the Bannocks, who have apj peared to be incurably opposed to civiliza- ] tion for themselves and Indians. The two j tribes have been thrown together for many | years on the same reservation, and while the Shoshones have manifested a willingness to accept the benefits of schools and instruction in the use of implements of agriculture, the Bannocks have assumed a superiority beeanse of their refusal to be civilized, and have taunted the Shoshones as -squaws’ because they embrace the opportunities for improvement held out by the Government. The Shoshones are peaceful and industrious. There were raised and sold for the reservation during 1893 more than $15,000 worth of agricultural products, of which it is safe to assume that the Shoshones produced a very considerable share. The reports of the Indian agent show that of all the Shoshones and Bannocks on the reservation, only 140 can speak enough English to be understood in ordinary conversation. “The United States had a Bannock war in 1878. It was hot and short, and it cost $556,636.19. Twenty-four soldiers, thirty citizens and seventy-four Indians were killed before it stopped.”

Treasures From Egyptian Tombs.

The treasures which have been unearthed by Mr. de Morgan in Dashur, whose interesting explorations formed the subject of an article in a recent issue of the Journal, are now on exhibition in the Gizeh Museum of Egypt. Best preserved of the necropolitan trophies is a bronze bladed poniard which was taken from the sarcophagus of Princess Ita, who lived many centuries ago. Considering the date of this weapon, it is a marvellous piece of workmanship. The handle is made of solid gold, inlaid with Cornelian stone, lapis lazuli and Egyptian emerald. The pommel is formed of one large lapis lazuli. More intricate, but cruder, and, perhaps, less artistic, is the crown of Queen Khuomuit. It is made of solid gold, the motives being miniature lyres, also inlaid with emerald, cornaline and lapis lazuli. All these motives, all these flowers also, which link these lyres together, are fluished with such scrupulous decision and display such ingenuity of artisauship that they compare favorably with the best works of tbe modern goldsmiths and lapidaries. It would be a difficult task to enumerate here all the bigoux which have been taken from the ancient coffins. There are nearly 6000 of them. Vultures chiseled of pure gold, hawk’s heads und tiger claws, all beautifully enamelled and inlaid, and hundreds of clasps surmounted with lions, tigers, snakes and other wild animals. It will take the French Egyptologists several months to decipher the small hieroglyphics on all these ornaments, heavy earrings and finger rings which are generously inscribed. Some of them will perhaps only furnish names which will never be identified with the history of ancient Egypt. They will tell the domestic tales of births, love and marriages, but other inscriptions, especially those of the queen’s and king’s rings* will elucidate much that our historians have been unable to harmonize. They have grappled for years with the Egyptian chronology, and it is a question whether, after all, we will succeed in ever obtaining an accurate chronology of the Pliareonic dynasties.

A West Pointer Becomes a Brakeman.

The President lias accepted the resignation of Second Lieutenant Charles DeL. lline, of the Sixth Infantry. Mr. Hine was appointed in 1888 to the Military Academy from Virginia by the late Representative Barbour. He had graduated from the Washington High School in 1885, and upon his graduation from West Point in 1891 he was given the commission that he has just relinquished in order to enter the service of the “Big Four” Railway Company. Mr. Hine has long had an ambition to join the ranks of railroad men, and after graduating from the Cincinnati Law School—which he had an opportunity to attend while his regiment was stationed across the river at Fort Thomas, Ky.—and learning telegraphy he decided to break loose from the mititary service and begin at the bottom rung of the ladder in the railroad work. He had an understanding with the authorities of the “Big Four” that if he should show an adaptability for the business he should receive recognition and promotion, and thus encouraged he took the plunge during the past spring and was granted a long leave from the army, with permission to resign at its expiration. That period has now passed, and Lieutenant Hine has become Brakeman Hine, working on a local freight train running in and out of Cincinnati. Hine writes to a friend in this city that he has had three months of mighty hard work, and sometimes he has missed the comfortable quarters at Fort Thomas; but lie has kept at his new work with characteristic vim and energy, and believes he will soon pass the trying days of apprenticeship, go ahead to the position of a conductor; and then reach tue grade of a superintendent. Those here who knew him in earlier years are confident that he will win his fight.

New Explanation of Hypnotism.

Recent investigations of the operations of the mind indicate that the subject under hypnotic influence is in a partial faint. The effort required to concentrate the attention on the operator or any striking object results in a reaction similar to that produced by strong emotion in “neurotic” women, except that the collapse is partial, some of the faculties remaining active, while the operation of others is suspended. This hypothesis will account for some phenomena that are not accounted for by the theory that the hypnotized subject is in a condition resembling normal sleep.

Origin of the Jury System.

A recent English writer on trial by jury says it was derived from Normandy. But it existed in Iceland from the earliest times, where the Normans certainly did not introduce it. As the Icelanders and the North Saxons were practically the same people, it is hardly open to question that their primitive customs were as nearly identical as their language. 1