Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1896 — Page 4

TUMBLE-DOWN FARM ALAN-MUIR

CHAPTER VII. ■Willie's behaTior after this last interview puzafled me. From being communicative he suddenly grew reserved. He would tell me nothing; and when I asked liim a few questions about Miss anity. lie fenced and parried in a way that was surprising, considering his frank, easy •character. One hot afternoon I strolled np the old road, and. rambling into one of the fields adjacent to Tumbledown Farm. I eat down under a hedge. How easily one drops asleep in warm weather, and how narrow the space seems that divides sleep-, lag from waking! I must have slept an txrar. when I found myself listening to a conversation which was being held on the other side of the hedge. "How long must this waiting go on?" A man's voice, harsh and bitter, echoed Ike question. Then —"As long as I choose; as long as need be." Just like an old door grinding rusty hinges. “Anyway, waiting on here, is dreary." I heard a woman say. sighing as she spoke -—“dreary as death." “Dreary as death!" the other retorted, in a note of odious mimicry. “Well, dreary or cheery, here we stay until " “Until when?" she asked eagerly. “Until we are signaled that the line is dear." “I wish it had never been done!" the ] woman said. “Or that it oonid be undone. Can it be undone?” “What?” cried the other; the word j leaped ont like a sudden snarl from the ! month of a dog. “I mean—l mean- —” “I mean,” broke in the man's voice, "that this kind of talk won't da D'ye j tear? Remember, once in your life you vexed me before. You know what followed; or perhaps you forget?” “As you please, then,” the woman replied. “Remember, I say we ought to 1 leave England.” “We can't leave England.” “We might if we tried. I know what i will happen if we stay on here. Some day—by accident—somebody will catch eight of ”

“Catch sight of what?” the other demanded impatiently. “Of Joseph Bamitt.” This she accompanied with a sort of deadly laugh, half-hate, half-terror. “Joseph Barnitt is not careful,” she continued, in a timid, hesitating way. He drinks too freely ” Here she was interrupted by an imprecation, but whether it was meant for her•elf, or for Joseph Barnitt, I could not tell. “He does, father; he drinks madly. Some day he will be found out. And if !>eople begin to ask questions about Joseph Barnitt, how long will it be before they ask questions about Mr. Hardware? Sometimes after supper Joseph Barnitt •ings very loud; and he swears, if he is out of temper; and he forgets what at other times he knows is matter of life and death. And—now, father, don’t be angry!” “Tell you what,” he growled, “I have *ny suspicions about you. I don’t care for this kind of talk about Joseph Barnitt and Mr. Hardware”—with a furious emphasis on “Mr.” “Why can’t you speak plainly? Oh, turning pale, are we? Are you hiding anything from me? Let’s look at your face.” I suppose during the silence he searched her with his eyes. He soon spoke again, and in a less uneasy tone. ”No; t you wouldn’t dare. You know Joseph Barnitt too well. You know what the cold muzzle of a revolver feels like put against the temple. You know what the sharp point of a knife feels like held against the breast.” She said nothing. “Joseph Barnitt”—that horrid laugh

•gain!—“has schooled yon well. No; we need not be afraid. You are too careful of your delicate skin. But let me tell you, my moping lady, when Joseph Barnitt cannot look after you, old Mr. Hardware can. There is life in the old dog yet. No more of it!” he cried fiercely "What I have said, I have said. Let us go home.” The voices ceased. When I peeped through the hedge I saw old Hardware hobbling across the field with his daughter at his side. "Who this Joseph Barnitt can be is a puzzle,” thought I. “Not her husband, I should say—certainly naf her husband. He and the old man are in a hand; when one does not look after her, the other will! “And so, ma’am"—l was thinking of Miss Axford now—“you were wrong after •1L The gin was not for the old man. ■But what a puzzle the thiig; is! One thing is dear,” said I, “Willie must know all this. The woman is no fit wife for him. Accordingly when we met I told Willie. My story made ‘an impression on him, as his blanched cheeks plainly showed. Depend upon it,” said I, summing uay •tory up, “this is a black secret —a black aecret, Will.” “The Hardwares have something to conceal,” he replied pettishly. “Some “family disgrace, debt, a drunken son.” The talk of these two did not square with debt,” said I. “Nor with drunken «ons, either. However, the worst I wish Will, that I may be wrong—and you right" "Thank you, doctor,” cried Will, kind and frank as ever. “1 shall remember all yon have said, and be prudent. Only do sne this kindness; never breathe a syllable about Miss Hardware and her father, and this odd conversation. If you promise to keep all this secret, I shall promise to take no decisive steps without conaulting you.” “Bargain’s struck, then.” And we shook hands and parted. CHAPTER VIII. A morning or two later a letter came to Willie Snow. The hand was strange, and Willie’s mind was full of his sweetdiearfc 4 * With trembling fingers he drew forth a little pink sheet, then read the abort, sweet note; "If you like to meet me this evening, one iMur earlier than usual, you may. Of «ourse this is private. Don’t come unless yon really wish.—Yours, S. H.” Poor Willie had no head for business that day. His brain was swarming with a multitude of delightful ideas. Fuji of lmpes and dreams, he walked up to their meeting place. Vanity stood waiting at the gate as ••■at, and he remarked that she was dMftimi with particular care. They shook atnoMly. WUlia, ia dread of the I ‘gw’*- - : Maw®!®® ’ '■ '

I opening of the conversation, put a ques--1 tion with an air of gayety. “Why does Miss Vanity Hardware sign ! her notes S. H. ?” “Because Miss Vanity is not Miss Vani ity; Miss Vanity is Miss Susan.” This ! odd answer she made pretty and witty. “Then,” said Willie, “why did she ever ■ get such a name?” “Well', you see,” replied Susan Harts- ! ware, “she was so good, sir, and so demure. and so unconscious of her own merits, and blushed so. sir. when spoken to. that at first they called her Miss Modesty.” “Ah.” said Willie, “that was a pretty name!” “Quite so. sir. But, as time went on. the young thing liked pretty gowns and Paris gloves and ribbons, and she looked people straight in the face; then they called her Vanity.” She smiled, then put the matter aside, and spoke seriously. “I sent for you because I have a great deal to say. I have been thinking over our last conversation. Do you really love me?” "I do." Willie replied, speaking with a seriousness like her own. “Do you really believe that you love me enough to marry me. and iive with me all your life long?" “I do.” Willie said, as a man says "I will” in the marriage service. “And you consider me the woman that would make you happiest?" "Happier!” Willie answered, with a deep expressive sigh—“happier than tongue can tell.” “Take me, Willie,” she said. “I am yours; yours this hour and ever more.” “O, \ anity!” he cried, in an almost girlish ecstasy, “how happy you have made me!” He tried to take her hand, but — “Don't,” she said, putting him back. “We are not making love. We are talking about something that will affect otir whole lives. I will change the whole course of mine for you. Can you do so much for me? Can you give up your country, and all your prospects in England, all for me?” “If necessary, I can; but will that be npeded?” The lad spoke with his own frank-spirited air. “Judge for yourself. If we marry, we must leave England. You must begin life in America or one of the colonies. You will have to break with all your friends, and come away—with me only.” “I can give up home and country and prospects for you,” he said, “but may I not know why?” “Not now. Not until all hag been done." she replied. “Remember, Willie, you ask me to marry you. 1 tell you what our marriage will involve. If you ask me to explain myself, I cannot explain. But see, you can go your way, and I shall go mine.” He said nothing. “More than this,” she said, regarding him with a resolute and searching look, “you must keep the face of our engagement a profound secret. No one must know why you are leaving England. We must be married privately, and we must leave England that day.” “But, A anity ”he said, “your father —are you going to leave him?” .“I am.” , “Secretly?” “Yes.”

“Have you no scruples in leaving him in this way?” Willie ventured to ask. “None.” Willie stood and pondered. “I have just one word more,” continued Vanity. “There must be no delay. If we marry, it must not be later than a month from this day.” She had said her say. He still remained silent, trying to review the strange and disordered succession of thoughts that passed through his mind. Vanity’s face was a little turned aside. She thought he had given her up, and he saw a quiet tear fall from her cheek into the grass. Her whole look and attitude were sad, and her sadness conquered him. “Vanity, living or dying, I am yours forever and ever!” he cried. “And until we meet, you will think no evil of me?” “None,” he cried fervently. Then for an instant the vision changed. The menacing, resolute woman, imperious in her beauty, vanished; love trembled on Vanity’s parted lips, and she assumed an air of most languishing softness. A dying look—a playful look—a coquettish 100k —which was it she gave? He could not tell, so quickly had she flown away.

CHAPTER IX. After his last parting with Vanity, Willie Snow spent a sleepless night, it was no easy matter to comply with Vanity’s demands, and, at the same time, maintain in the eyes of the world the appearance of a rational being. There lived at this time in Hampton a man named Clock. You call that an odd name, perhaps; but behold, his other name was Gracious, the whole amounting, as I am a baptized Christian, to Gracious Clock. His father, who was a brewer’s drayman, loved liquor better than his life, drank strong ale morning, noon and night, took to French brandy and drank himself to death in no time. He used to call his son “my Gracious,” and at other times “Gracious me.” The last name stuck. Gracious Me was a little man, with one even and one limping leg. His daily dress was a show for shabbiness, his red eyes and red nose made him the picture of a dingy drunkard. He was a man-of-all-work in a furniture shop. I never found out why Nancy Steele suspected, at this particular time, that something very important was going forward between Willie Snow and Miss Hardware. Knowing that mystery hung around the Hardwares, she resolved to set a watch upon the house. But who was to keep the watch? “Gracious Me,” said Nancy to herself the instant that question presented itself. A rat is happier in a sewer than he would be in any clear daisy-bordered brook; and Gracious Me, who would have felt excessively uncomfortable if Nancy had sent him on any mission of charity or mercy, relished this undertaking beyond measure. All Gracious Mp saw and heard, and his adventures at Tumbledown Farm came to my ears after a time. His instructions were to keep himself out of sight of the Hardwares, and for several days he skulked behind hedges or lounged in the fields in the neighborhood of the farm. About 10 o’clock one night he crept slowly into the farm garden, with a lie in his

month, ready Tn case he should he surprised. The parlor window was close beside the front door, ami as Gracious stood on the step, he heard a great voice inside roaring a aomg drnnkcnly. At last, pulling his hat over eyes, he knocked at the door. A woman's voice cried “Hush,” and all was silent. Next he heard a bustling in the passage, the light withiu was extinguished and the door was opened. “Who are you?" inquired a woman's voice. Even in the darkness Gracious recognized Miss Hardware. “Is this the road to Hampton?” asked G racion*. "Don s the hill—straight as you can go.” replied Vanity, speaking impatiently, but more from fear than haste, and Gracious returned to the village pleased that he had anything to tell. Nancy listened to his report with great interest, and praised his sagacity and diligence. Next night found Gracious Me prowling about the farm once more. It was cloudy and dark, and heavy rain began to fall; so that after shivering up and down the road for half an hour rhe little man resolved to break off his watch for that time. Just as he turned for home, a beam of light fell across his path; he looked up and saw that it shone through the Hardwares' parlor window. Stealthily he crept into the garden and up the walk, and falling on his hancs and knees the reptile crawled forward and slowly raised his head to bring his eyes up to the line of view. One flap of the shntter had fallen open, and the greater part of the room lay exposed to view. No person was to be seen, and the old man's long blue cloak hung against the door. Two lighted candles stood on the table, and beside these a huge gin bottle, with a tumbler half filled close to it. While Gracious was making these observations he heard a shout, and immediately the parlor door was flung open and a man staggered in. He wassail and ot powerful build, decidedly handsome, with an appearance of intelligence and even of good breeding. He reeled into a chair, and snatching up the tumbler drank its contents greedily and filled the glass again. Then he threw himself back and sung something in a foreign language— French, Gracious thought it must be—and at last called out in a loud angry voice: "Vanity!" ‘‘Yes," was replied from another room, and Vanity entered. “Where have you been this half hour?” asked the stranger ferociously. "Sitting in my room.” Vanity replied, “listening to the rain.” “O—for company?" cried the other with thick pausing speech. “That’s—that's flattering to me. Anything but my company—anything but my company now. Hail, rain, snow, thunder or lightning—anything but me! What's made the change, I say? What's made the change?" Vanity stepped to his side as he spoke, cast her arm round his neck, and then seated herself on his knee. “Don't be cross,” she said. “Put that bottle away for to-night, and go to bed. What was the song I heard you sing just now ?” “It was—it was—your song—and mine. Suppose we call it our song, and sing it together as we used to do.” He commenced again in a loud voice and shouted out a few words. “Hush, hush,” Vanity said, raising her head tearfully, “you will be heard outside if you sing like that; softly—softly—listen.”

(To be continued.)

Colorado Mines.

The Silver Pick mine, a gold property of San Miguel County, has netted its owner over $30,000 a month for the last twelve months. One of the mist important mining enterprises ever undertaken in Colorado is the big San Juan tunnel to tap the Silver Lake basin district. Tills tunnel will be six miles long and will require about nine years for its construction. It has just leaked out that a big strike was made a few days ago in the Lone Star property at the head of Myers avenue, Cripple Creek. In sinking a shaft from thirty-five to seventy feet fifteen tons of ore were taken out which will average SIOO per toil. The ore carries both sylvauite and free gold. The Chicago tunnel, which starts in Poverty Gulch and runs east under Globe Hill, Cripple Creek, is {rushing work and is now in a distance of 1,200 feet. This Is one of the older tunnels and has been worked only spasmodically. It now appears that fibe compauy means to drive it forward until some of the rich veins In the hill are opened. The recent accident in the Anna Lee mine has In no way impaired the resources of the Portland Company, which has declared its dividend of 2 cents per share, amounting to $60,000, as usual. It is only just to the management of the company to say that everything is being done In all the workings of the company to prevent any recurrence of the sad accident which caused the loss of so many lives.

A correspondent of the Denver Republican has this to say of the Salida gold fields; The sooner the people of Salida and vicinity realize the fact that a ten-foot prospect hole is not a mine and that systematic development only can be expected to yield returns, the better off will be the newly-discovered district and the sooner the fact of its true worth be established. It is the universal opinion of every surveyer and geologist who knows anything of the formation of the region that depth is required to achieve the desired result. The most practical men are of all least discouraged, and these men are, as fast as their means at hand will permit,_ developing their claims in a systematic manner and are sanguinely hopeful of the final prosperous outcome of their efforts. There is more ore blocked out in the Smuggler-Union vein than in all the other mines of the State combined. In this great property there are thirty-two miles of drifts, shafts and winzes, and the vein shows more actual value than does any other single vein in the United States. It has a block of ore opened by twenty-three levels, shafts and winzes 7,000 feet long, with an average depth of 1,000 feet long, the width of the vein matter or ore between walls being from three to five and a half feet. With the development that has been done 1,000 men could be put at work, and they could not exhaust the ore body in fifteen years. The main tunnel is over 7,000 feet in length. The ore carries gold and silver in about equal values, running from one to three ounces In gold and from sls to S3O in silver to the ton. It Is low grade, but with the mill, tram and transportation facilities every bit of it is pay ore. It is capitalized at $2,500,000 and within the last thirty days it has declared a 5 per cent, dividend. The best good luck is immunity from bad luck.

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.

ITEMS OF TIMELY INTEREST TO THE FARMERS. Orchard Craw With Clover— Trouble With the Milk—Seeding to Crass at Slight Ezpense. ORCHARD GRASS WITH CLOVER. Orchard grass goes with clover much better than timothy, though most farmers have got in the habit of seeding timothy and clover together. The orchard grass will not make a ]>erfect sod If sown alone, as its habit is to grow in bunches and spread after the first year. When sown with clover, the latter, as it dies out leaves not only room but plant food, which the orchard grass avails itself of. Orchard grass and clover are both ready to cut together, and if cut early, as both should be. two and even three crops may be grown on rich land in a season.—Boston Cultivator. TROUBLE WITH THE MILK. The food is generally the cause of trouble with the milk.and. not knowing what this is, it is difficult to guess the reason for the difficulty. With good hay—clover is the best—and cornmeal, with an equal quantity of bran, if desired, and good shelter and water, any cow should milk and give no trouble np to six weeks of the next calving; but feeding has very much to do with the behavior of the milk, and especially so in the winter. Exposure to cold will cause trouble with the churning of the cream, making the butter white and brittle, so that it cannot be gathered or worked easily. Too much cold at the time of churning, too. will cause the same trouble, as will also the freezing of the cream. Bitterness in the cream may result from weeds in the hay, or from a disordered condition of the liver, by which the bile is absorbed into the blood, and. consequently, gets into the milk. If this is the case, give one pound of Epsom salts in two quarts of gruel.—New York Times. SEEDING TO GRASS AT SLIGHT EXPENSE. A Connecticut, farmer, who gives no clue to the character of the soil, nor the kind of farming he is engaged in, asks advice about seeding clover to grass field that has been in hoed crops for two years, but for which be has no manure or fertilizer unless be buys on credit. If be has use for the fodder, a crop of oats and peas, and clover grown therewith, for plowing under in the fall, would be a good order to follow before seeding down. If this plan is adopted, I would advise the use of 500 pounds of bone and 200 pounds of muriate of potash per acre, when the oats and peas are sown. Sow lVi bushels each of oats and of peas as early as the ground can be worked; plow the peas under, and sow the oats and 15 pounds of common red clover seed after plowing, and harrow lightly. Unless the ground is quite dry, the clover seed should only be bushed in. If he has no use for fodder crops, I would advise that he plow under four inches deep, lVs bushels per acre of soy beans, sown broadcast about May 25. If the soil is of fair quality, this crop should give a good manuring for seeding down by the middle of August. This manuring alone ought to produce good grass, although it would be improved by the use of 200 pounds of muriate of potash and 300 pounds of fine bone.—American Agriculturist.

INVESTIGATE HOG CHOLERA. If hog cholera is a germ disease, as It is alleged to be, the most legitimate way to fight the disease is through the germ itself. By this we mean that the germ must be summarily destroyed or effectually kept within bounds. An intelligently planned quarantine is without doubt a great aid toward stopping the spread of the disease; but, at best, any stieli system can only approximate perfection. The great trouble is that when the average man’s hogs are discovered to have cholera he is ready to throw up the sponge,as the saying goes, and pays but little attention to the hogs. People are permitted to come and go without any reference to the fact that they may carry the disease with them to other herds. Such heroic measures as stamping out whole herds of sick hogs with our present ability and facilities for distinguishing one disease from another, is, in our opinion, entirely out of the question. It is our belief that traffic in diseased hogs should be brought entirely to a standstill. There should be cultivated a neighborhood sentiment that would stand back of the law upon this point, and make it impossible for to carry diseased hogs from one point to another, thus endangering the hog stock of whole communities and making it an absolute Impossibility to find a final stopping place for the disease.— Nebraska Farmer. ASPARAGUS CULTURE. In the spring when we commence to cultivate the asparagus patch, the earth should be thrown from the top of the crowns and a very liberal dressing of ssme high-grade commercial fertilzer, rich in phosphoric acid and ammonia be applied at the rate of at least 800 pounds per acre on the crowns,then the earth should he thrown back upon it with a large two-horse plow, rolled and harrowed to make a fine tilth and then wait for the genial sun to make it grow. When the stalks are up about five inches, take a chisel made for that purpose and cut three inches under the ground; then it should be nicely washed .and packed ig bunches four inches in diameter and eight inches long, securely bound with raphia, the butts of the stock cut evenly off with a sharp knife. When finished they will weigh about two and a half pounds, and you will have something that will be fit to send to your kitchen to be prepared for your own dinner, or you can send it to market and .get a good paying price for it. In the rearing of young plants, I would recommend to plant the seed in drills about two feet apart, and use a kitchen seed drill, and sow about as thick as you would radish seed. Keep them well worked and clean and they will be ready for transplanting the next spring. Young patches are subject to the ravages of the beetle, and I would advise the use of insectcides, Paris green or JU>ndon purple for their extermination.

As far as varieties are concerned, I do not think a grower would go amiss in planting Early Defiance, Barr’s Mammoth or Palmetto. Ido not know anything about the merits of Donald's Elmira. I would let Coroner's Colossal severely alone;it was. good in its day. but better varieties have supplanted it.—B. F. H. Clark, before the Horticultural Society at Dover, Dei. WHAT TWENTY-FIVE HENS DID. Knowing that you are interested in presenting facts In regard to poultry keeping, below I will give you details of what a small flock of twenty-five hens did from November, 1894, up to date, November, 1895. The flock were White Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks, and were kept in limited quarters. They averaged, by my egg record book, in which I keep a strict account of all eggs laid, and keep track of everything concerning my fowls, about one hundred and forty eggs for the year. The Leghorns laid the most eggs, but during the moulting season I find the Plymouth Rocks laying some, while the Leghorn hens had stopped, though they are fed the same, but not together. From these hens I raised 113 chicks, and only kept the very best of the pullets of both breeds for layers and breeders. I sold eggs and chickens to thl. amount of $99.99; total cost of feed (not including table scraps), $35.50; cleai profit, $04.49. almost $2.58 per head Do you consider that a good showing! I have had Plymouth Rocks to average 151 eggs, besides raising some chicks.—lndiana Farmer. - - GOOSEBERRIES. The gooseberry requires a low, cool soil to produce the best results, although some very good reports have come from plantations situated on higher soils. Soil should be of a loamy sort, and one which is in a condition to hold plenty of moisture and at the same time be cool and protected from the hot winds. Gooseberries require a very rich soil, and therefore plenty of farmyard manure should be applied. Before planting, plough deep and make the ground loose and fine by aid of spading and Acme harrow. Takeasmucli pains in the preparation of the soil to get it fine as if you were making a seed bed. Plant in rows seven feet apart and four feet apart in the rows. Set plants with a spade, digging the holes quite deep and setting the plants well in the ground, firming the soil about the roots. They can be planted in the late fall or early spring. In planting like the above, cultivations can be carried on both ways, and much labor saved. The first year low crops can be grown between the rows, and the crops made to pay for the expense of setting the plantation. Our two common varieties, the Houghton and Downing, are most extensively planted, and are both good, hardy varieties. The Houghton is pale red, and small in size. The Downing is a large green variety. Prune to keep the bush open, and to admit a free cir- . culation of air, as an absence of fresh air is apt to start mildew. Always keep as much new wood as old. Gooseberries should be mulched to keep the temperature of the soil cool about the roots, thus preventing it from becoming hard and baked. The gooseberry is easily propagated by either layering or by euttiugs. The lower branches can be covered with dirt in the spring and the following spring they will be rooted enough to separate from the parent plant and used to reset. The euttiugs are made from new wood in the fall after the wood is matured. They are buried in sand in a cellar and then planted in the nursery row and allowed to grow by themselves another year. They then will have a fine root, and make splendid plants for a new plantation. While it takes a longer time to procure plants by the cutting method, they are much better, having more of the small fibrous roots,lnsuring a much better catch. There Is a growing demand in the larger cities for gooseberries, but one must not wait too long before placing them upon the market. They sell much better in the green state than when ripened. The expense in setting an acre is soon made up by the crop. The gooseberry is a tremendous yielder, and the prices are good, compared with other small fruit. They probably rank next to the strawberry in bringing back quick results—Prairie Farmer.

His Own Executioner.

At St. Pierre-le-Palud, in the Canton of Abresle, near Lyons, lived, says a Paris correspondent, a handy man, halt carpenter, half mason, and 42 years old. His wife died seven years ago, and he had lived alone ever since. Some time ago he said an idea he was going to work out would astonish the whole country. His idea, it now appears, was to construct unaided a guillotine and to be his own executioner. He had got two vertical beams nine feet high. The knife was a hatchet carefully sharpened, and a mason’s sledge-hammer, weighing a stone, was adapted to it. Nothing could be neater than the grooves, pulleys and adjust : ments. A semi-circular groove was arranged to keep the head well under the hatchet. Deparcieux lay on his back with his neck in the semi-circular cutting in a cross plank. He set a heap of straw on the place where he calculated the small of his back would be and placed his feet against a wall. This done, he let go the knife by means of a cord that he held. In the fall it severed his head clean from his body. The strange suicide was not discovered for some days after it was committed. Neighbors began to wonder what had happened to Deparcieux. As his dog howled fearfully, they determined to enter the house. Going from one room to another they discovered nothing unusual, but when the dog was liberated from the kitchen it rushed down to the cellar and again began to howl. The neighbors following, found there the guillotine and the guillotined.

A New Submarine Boat.

A new submarine boat is about the shape of a whale, twenty-six feet long and between five and six feet in diameter through the middle. It consists of three sections of high-grade metal securely bolted together. The boat is propelled by a screw, and has a speed of about seven or eight knots an hour. The motive power is an electric battery. : .

The Curse of Cold.

The fact that in their second great “trek” they ldt upon a land rich with gold reefs has never been regarded by the Boers as anything but a terrible misfortune. Tffiey learned of the existence of the gold long ago, and as long as they could they kept this knowledge a profound secret, not in order to profit by it themselves, but to prevent the rush of immigration which they feared, and which would bring upon them once more, and in an aggravated form, all the social and moral ills which they had made such sarifices to avoid. Ido not think thete is another nation in the world in which it would be possible to find even a small minority capable of taking such a lofty and abstract view of natural gold deposits on their farms. But the Boers seem to have been practically unanimous among themselves in this attitude. Even after the unhappy secret was out, they strove desperately by means of laws against gold digging, to stem the irresistible current. Some of the English papers are ungenerous enough now—or, perhaps, a fairer term is ill-informed enough—to reproach the Boers with the fact that their Government has been getting rich by heavy taxes levied on the output of gold mines alxnrt Johannesburg. It is true that the Transvaal Government does levy such a tax. although It is lighter by far than the royalty exacted by the Chartered Company on the mines in Matabeleland and elsewhere in its dominions. But it is also true that the Boers only resorted to this device when they expended every possible resource to prevent mining altogether.—New York Times.

Railroad Fog Signals.

A London paper contains an account of the eleaborate precautions taken by an English railway company to prevent accidents on nine miles of its main line in thabcity, when one of the heavy fogs peculiar to the metropolis settles over it. On this nine miles of road there are nine stations, including the main terminus. At the largest of these there are forty-eight signal posts, the second in size has twenty-nine, the third has thirty-four and all nine have 157. Whenever a fog settles down a man is stationed at every one of these posts, and the engineers get their running instructions from these men, no dependence being placed in the usual signals. To man this section of track for six hours, from morning until noon, costs the company $65. When a fog man furnishes his own refreshments, he is allowed eighteen cents a shift, so that the expense to the company for food for a single shift would be nearly $24. If reliance were placed in torpedoes about 5,000 would be required in six hours, and their cost would be equal to or even more than the expense of the fog men, while the English engineers prefer to have the latter. Very few collisions have occurred under this system of operation,in spite of the pitchy darkness of a London fog.—Washington Star.

Points About Eggs.

The inspector can detect preserved eggs at once, and can also name the “icehouse,” “pickled,” or “salted” egg when it comes up. The icehouse egg is shrunk, its yolk is dark and it has a dull ring when ticked. The shell of a pickled egg Is mottled and gives a metallic sound and the yolk is dark, and a salt egg has a shell which looks as though the salt had eaten into it. A pickled egg is apt to burst when bodied, for the lime fills up the pores so that the steam is confined. A “blood egg” is bright red when held to the light. In “yellow rot” the yolk and white solidify together and the egg shows yellowish red. A “watery egg” has an air bubble which floats on top, no matter how the egg is held. A“green”egg is pale before the light, and show’s a dark yolk. When broken the yolk Is seen to be a dirty green in color. A frozen egg shows a crack reaching from one end to the other, and a double-yolk egg has two cloudy spots which swim around inside when the egg is turned, and a rotten egg is dense black before the light.—Chicago Record.

Reindeer Benefit Alaska.

Among the guests at the Arlington is C. O. Oret, now of Juneau, Alaska, but formerly of Indianapolis. In talking of Alaskan affairs, he said: “The people of that territory are waiting very anxiously, and many of them impatiently, for the disputed boundary line question to be settled. They do not intend to submit to Canadian rule if they can help it, nor do they favor Great Britain having any part of the gold fields. They are also interested in the measure to purchase a large number of reindeer, and make the natives self-supporting by raising those animals, although the section that will be immediately benefited is far north of Juneau. The Alaskan Esquimaux are much more intelligent than those of the Atlantic coast, and are industrious as a class. They learn readily, and will make good citizens, if proper efforts are made to civilize them. They are peaceable, and regard white men as their friends, which makes the question of dealing with them very different from that of dealing with the Alaskan Indians. If the reindeer are furnished in sufficient numbers, those people will be self-sup-porting.”—Washington Star.

Vault Built For Endless Ages.

When the Bank of the United States was established in Wa sbington nearly 100 years ago, steel vaults were unknown, bo the vault was built of brick. The old building is now occupied by Riggs & Co., as a bank. Recently it was decided to put in a steel vault, and last week a force of men were set at work on the old vault with crowbars and blasting powder. After five days’ work and the removal of many tons of brick, the vault is apparently as impregnable as ever. It was built in two parts. The inner shell was.-square with an arched ceiling. Outside of this brick were laid in cement to a thickness of nearly four feet, making the interior in the shape of a cube. At the comers of the arch the brick wall was allowed almost double its thickness elsewhere. The brick were as hard as stone, and the cement by long standing had become practically indestructible. The old vault has protected Almost countless millions of wealth in its time, and even now, after the present work, it Is still in a condition to furnish absolute security.—Chicago Times-Herald. The Greenland whale is said to some times reach the age of 400 years.

The Spirit of a Will Prevails.

Surrogate Fitzgerald has written an opinion of much value and interest in deciding to admit to probate the will of Mary A. Buchan. TUie will was written on two sides of a sheet of notepaper, and the lack of punctuation and some co. fusion as to capitals show that the woman was not possessed of great education, or was writing under some unusual difficulties. It is possible, however, to make out the main design of the testator. Surrogate Fitzgerald carefully reviewed the evidence. One of the witnesses who was interested in sustaining the will swore that the legal requirements were fulfilled in the signing and publication of the will, but the other witness, who seemed to have a leaning toward the other side, gave testimony showing that it was not properly executed. Surrogate Fitzgerald says: “The statute in reference to wills was enacted to effectuate, not to defeat, the wishes of competent testators who act without constraint in respect to the disposition of their estates.” He shows by many citations from the reports that when the circumstances indicate a purpose to make a will in a certain way the courts favor such an interpretation of the evidenceas will not lead to a miscarriage of justice. In some cases the execution of a will has been proved, even where thesubscribing witnesses, for some corrupt purpose, deny that it was properly executed. The New York State courts have permitted the publication of a will to be shown from circumstances where there was no direct or positive evidence by the witnesses. The decision is another indication of the unwillingness of the courts to disturb the will of any person because of the lack of overwhelming technical proof of all the facts required to be shown. Surrogate Fitzgerald's review of the cases on the subject will be of great value to those who practice probate law.—New York Tribune.

The Quinine Trade.

Quinine extracting has undergone a vast change within the past thirty year. The extraordinary demand for the drug incident to the war raised its price for a while up to over $3 an ounce. Two great Philadelphia firms at that time had a monopoly of its manufacture. Three firms, with New York.as their central sales places, are now engaged in the manufacture of sulphate of quinine and its cognate salts. The duty lias been removed, and foreign quinine, competes in this market. Despite the fact that foreign manufacturers can. get the need bark at their own doors, and that American manufacturers are compelled to buy their hark in London or Amsterdam and pay freight to this, country, the product of the latter has still preference among American physicians. Still vast amounts of foreign quinine find a market here. Three years agoforeign manufacturers found themselves overloaded with the drug, and sought an outlet for their surplus here. Over 3,000,000 ounces were entered at this port, which was an increase of three-quarters of a million ounces beyond the importations of any previous year. It wrought much disturbance, and the price was hammered down until twenty-seven cents pelounce was touched. That was lowwater mark. It has taken nearly twoyears to absorb that surplus, but tradeis on a natural basis again, and prices have risen to thirty cents per ounce, the highest for years. The value of the total product made and marketed throughout this city amounts to about sl,o9o,ooo.—New York Mail and Express.

10.000,000 Tons of Coal.

A prominent New York coal merchant. while showing a Pittsburg friend about New York on the occasion, of the latter’s first visit to the metropolis. took him to the top of one of thevery highest buildings in town and pointed out to him the different objects - .[ of interest that could be seen. The Western man took in the beautifuE view of the bay. and then looked northward over miles and miles of roofs and chimneys, over the vast expenseof street and park, business buildings and dwellings, and then turned to his friend with the remark that the most astonishing thing to him was that it. was so clear. Not a blot of smoke marred the landscape. Clear and brilliant in the sun of a brilliant winter day, New York was clean and neat,and the greatest possible contrast to thedingy and grimy eities of the West, 1 where the use of coal is not restricted to certain kinds. New Yorkers have made a study of the combusion of coal, and have learned how to get the most out of it with the least dirt and smoke. The enormous amount of 10,000,000 tons of anthraeite coal is now burned every year in New York, and this is not at alB remarkable when it is considered to what an extent the use of coal enters: into the everyday life of the people. The coal dealers of New York are legion, and the business has grown to immense proportions. The ease with which coal can be shipped to New York and unloaded in order to get it to the market with the least posible handling has contributed, to a great extent, tothe success which New York coal merchants have attained.—New York Mail and Express.

Power of a Lightning Stroke.

It is no doubt interesting to express the force of a stroke of lightning in horse-power. During a recent storm which passed over Klausthal, Germany, a bolt Struck a wooden column in a dwelling, and in the top of this column were two wire nails 5-32 inch in diameter. The electric fluid melted the two nails instantly. To melt iron in this short time would be impossible in the furnace now in existence, only be accomplished with thd'am of .electricity, but a current 200 amperes and a potential of 20,000 volts would be necessary. This electric force for one second represents 5000 horsepower, but as the lightning accomplished the melting in considerable less time, say 1-10 of a second, it follow® that the bolt was 50,000 horse-power.

New Motive Power for Ships.

George W. Price, an old sailor, who is living at Providence, R. 1., has made an invention whereby the pitching and tossing of a ship by means of a swinging cargo may be utilized to store up energy in the shape of compressed air which is to be used to propel the ship.