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PIRATES -- By PETER B. KYNB br P<«c B. Kjroe in afalisi qf " • 'WEBSTER-MAN'S MAN," THE VALLEY of the GIANTS,* Etc. <v- BS^SfS , RIAL MONEY. flynopirte. -- Captain Phlneas P. Scragya has grown up around the docks of San Francisco, and from mesa boy on a river ateamer, risen to the ownership of the steamer Maggie. Since each annual inspection promised to be the laat of the old weather beaten vessel, Scragga naturally has some difficulty In securing a crew. When the story opens, Adelbert P. Gibney, likable, but erratic, a man whom nobody but Scraggs would . hjre, is the skipper, Nells Halvorsen, a solemn Swede, constitutes the forecastle hands, and Bart Mc- Guffoy, a wastrel of the Gibney type, reigns in the engine room. With this motley crew and his ancient vessel. Captain Scraggs Is engaged in freighting garden truck from Halfmoon bay to San Francisco. The inevitable happ-ans; the M&Kgta tjees ashpre in a fog. A passing vessel hailing the wreck, Mr,, Gibney gets word to a towing conniwny in San Francisco that the ship ashore is tlie Yankee Prince, with promise of a rich salvage. Two tugs succeed in pulling the Maggie into deep water, and she slips her tow lines and gets away In the fog. Furious at the deception practiced on them. Captains Hicks and Flaherty, commanding the two tugboats, ascertain the identity of the "Yankee Prince" and, fearing ridicule should the facts become known along the water front, determine on personal vengeance. Their hostile visit to the Maggie results In Captain Bcraggs promising to get a new boiler and make needed repairs to the steamer. Scraggs refuses to fulfill his promises and Gibney and < McGuffey "strike." With marvelous luck, Scraggs ships a fresh crew. At the end of a few days of wild conviviality Gibney and McGuffey are stranded and seek their old positions on the Maggie. They are hostilely received, but remain. On their way to San Francisco they sight a derelict and Gibney and McGuffey swim to it. The derelict proves to be the Chesapeake, richly laden, its entire crew stricken with scurvy. Scraggs attempts to tow her in, but the Mag-' gie is unequal to the task and Gibney and McGuffey, alone, undertake to sail the ship to San Francisco. crew who still lived. Shortly thereafter tbe coroner came and removed the dead, after which Gibney and McGuffey hosed down the deck, located some hard tack and coffee, supped and turned in in the officers' quarters. In the morning, Scab Johnny arrived Iif^'a launch with their other clothes (Mr. Gibney having thoughtfully sent him ten dollars on account of their old board bill, together with a request for the clothes), and when the agents of the Chesapeake seat a watchman to relieve them they went ashore and had breakfast. After breakfast, they called at the office of the agents, where they were complimented on their daring seamanship and received a check for one thousand dollars each. "Weil, now," McGuffey declared, after they had cashed their checks, "Seein' as how I've become independently wealthy by following your lead, Adelbert, all I got to say Is that I'm a-goin' to stick to you like a limpet to a rock. What'il we do with our money ?" For the first time In bis checkered career Mr. Gibney had a sane, sensible, and serious thought. "Has it ever occurred to you, Mac, how much nicer it is to have a few dollars in the bank, good clothes on your back, an' a credit with your friends? Me, all my life I been a come-easy, go-easy, come- Sunday.-God'U-send-Monday sort o* feller, until in my forty-second year I'm little better'n a beachcomber. So now, when you ask me what I'm goin' to do with my money, I'll tell you. I'm going to save it, after first payin up about seventy-five bucks I owe here an' there along the Front. I'm through drinkin' an' raisin' b--1L Me for a savings bank, Bart." * APTER VII. •M CHAPTER VI.--Continued. ' The ship Iky in the wind, shivering. •Hip. Gibney was here, there, everywhere. One minute he was dashing •long the deck with a leading line, the next he was laying out aloft. He ordered himself to do a thing and then, with the pent-lip energy of a thousand devils, he did it. The years of degradation as navigating officer of the Maggie fell away from him, as he sprang, agile and half-naked, into the shrouds; • great, hairy demigod or sea-goblin lie lay out along the yards and sprang from place to place with the old exultant thrill of youth and joy in his work. A word, a gesture, from Mr. Gibney, and McGuffey would pounce eo a rope like a bull-dog. With the fore-royal set, Mr. Gibney ran back to the wheel and put it hard over. There being no after sail set the bark swung off readily on to her course, slipping through the water at a nice eight-knot •peed. Ten miles off the coast, Mr. Gibney hung her up in tbe wind again, braced his yards with tbe aid of the winch and McGuffey, came about and beaded north. At three o'clock she cleared the lightship and wore around to come in over the bar, steering east by south, half-south, for Point Bonita. She drew the full advantage of the wind now and over the bar she came, ramping full through the Gate with ber yards squared, on the last .of tbe .flood tide. As they passed Lime point, Mr. Gibney prepared to shorten sail dlid like a clarion blast his voice nog through tbe ship. "Clew up them royals." He lashed tbe wheel and they brought the clewlines again to the winch head. The Alp was falling off a little before the fore-royal was clewed up, so Mr. Gibney ran back to the wheel and put her on her course again while McGuffey brought the main-royal clewlines to the winch. Again Gibney made the wheel fast and helped McGuffey clew UP the main-royal; again he set her en her course while McGuffey, following instructions, made ready to clew up the fore-to'-gallan'-8'i. They were •breast Black Point before this latter •all was clewed up, and then they •mothered the lower top-s'ls; the bark was slipping lazily through the water and McGuffey took the wheel. "Starboard a little! Steady-y-yl Keep her as she heads," Gibney warned end cast off the jib halyards. The Jibs slid down the stays, hanging as they fell. They were well up toward Meiggs wharf now and it devolved upon Mr. Gibney to bring his prize in on the quarantine ground and let go his Port anchor. Fortunately, the anchor was already cock-billed. Mr. Gibney •prang to the fore-top-sail halyards and let them go and the fore-top-sail came down by the run. "Hard-a-starboard! Make her fast, Bart, an' come up here an' help me with the anchor. Let go the main-topsail halyards as you come by an' stand by the compressor on the windlass." The Chesapeake swung alowly broadside to the first of the ebb anti with the wind on her port beam. Mr. Gibney knocked out the stopper with 10* trusty hammer and away went the rusty chain, singing through the hawsepipe. "Snub her gently. Mac •nub her gently, an' give her the thirty- fathom shackle to the water's edge," he warned McGuffey. The bark swung until her bows were •Craighteoed to the ebb tide and with • wild, triumphant yell Mr. Gibney Clasped the honest McGuffey to his perspiring bosom. The deed was done! It was dark, however, before they l*d all the sails snugged up shipshape. altbOBgh in the meantime the quarantine launch had hove alongside, investigated, and removed those of the a When Captain Scraggs, after abandoning ail hope of salving the bark Chesapeake, returned to the Maggie, the little craft reminded him of nothing so much as the ward for the incorrigible of an insane asylum. Due to Captain Scraggs' stupidity and the general inefficiency of the Maggie, the new navigating officer was of the opinion that he had been swindled out of his share of the salvage, while the new engineer, furious at having been engaged to baby such a ruin as the Maggie;^ boiler turned out to be, blamed Scraggs' parsimony for the loss of his share of the salvage. Therefore, both men aired with the utmost frankness their opinion of their employer. One word borrowed another until diplomatic relations were severed and. In the language of the classic, they "mixed it." They were fairly well matched, and, to the credit of Captain Scraggs be it said, whenever he believed himself to have a fighting chance Scraggs would fight and fight well, under the Tom-cat rules of fisticuffs. Following a bloody battle In tbe pilot house, he subdued the mate; following his victory he was still war mad, so he went to the engine-room hatch and abused the engineer. As a result of the day's, events, both men quit when the Maggie was tied up at Jackson street wharf and once more Captain Scraggs was helpless. In his extremity, he wished he hadn't been so hard on Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, for he realized he could never hope to get them back until their salvage money should be spent. Godless and wholly Irreclaimable as Mr. Gibney and Mr. McGuffey might have been and doubtless were, each possessed In bounteous measure the sweetest of human attributes, to-wit: a soft, kind heart and a forgiving spirit Creatures of impulse both, they found it absolutely Impossible to nourish a grudge against Captain Scraggs, when, upon returning to Scab Johnny's boarding house, their host handed them a grubby note from their enemy. It was short and sweet and sounded quite sincere; Mr. Gibney read it aloud: On Board the Maggie, Saturday night. Dear Friends: ' ' e I am sorry. You hurt me awful with your kidden when you took the Chesapeake away from me. To er is human but to forgive is devine. After whar I done I don't expect you two to come back to work ever but, for God's sake don't give me the dead face when we meat agin. Remember we been shipmates once. "P. P. Scraggs." "Why, the pore oT son of a horse thief." Mr. Gibney murmured, much moved at this profound abasement. "Of course we forgive him. It ain't manly to hold a grouch after the culprit has paid his fair price for his sins. By an' large, I got a bunch. Bart, that old Scraggsy's had his lesson for once."<^ "If you can forgive him. I can, Gib." "Well, he's certainly cleaned himself handsome. Bart. Telephone for a messenger boy," and Mr, Gibney sat down and wrote: "Scraggsy, old fanciful, we're square. Forget It and come to breakfast with us at seven tomorrow at the MarigoUi cafe. I'll order deviled lam kidneys for three. Sr« alright with Bart also. "Yours, "Gib." This note, delivered to Captaiu Scraggs by the messenger boy, lifted the gloom from the latter's miserable soul and sent him home with a light heart to Mrs. Scraggs. At the Marigold cafe next morning he was almost touched to observe that both Gibney and McGuffey showed up arrayed in dungarees, wherefore Scraggs knew his late enemies purposed proceeding m the Maggie immediately after breakfast and working la the engine room all day Sufiday. Such action, when he knew both gentlemen to be the possessors of wealth far beyond the dreams of avarice, bordered so closei Iv on the miraculous that Scruggs . a mental resolve to play fair in the future--at least as fair as the limits of his cross-grained nature would permit. He was so cheerful and happy that McGuffey, taking advantage of the situation, argued him Into some minor repairs to the engine. About nine o'clock, as Mr. Gibney was on his way to the Marigold Cafe for bieakfast, he was mildly Interested, while passing the Embarcadero warehouse, to note the presence of fully a dozen seedy-looking gentlemen of undoubted Hebraic antecedents, congregated in a circle Just outside the warehouse door. There was an air of suppressed excitement about this group of Jews that aroused Mr. Glbney's curiosity; so he decided to cross over and Investigate, being of the opin- j Ion that possibly one of their number had fallen in a fit. He had once had an epileptic shipmate and was peculiarly expert In the handling of such cases. Now, If the greater portion of Mr. Glbney's eventful career bad not been spent at sea, he would have known, by the red flag that floated over the door, that a public auction was about to take place, and that the group of Hebrew gentlemen constituted an organization known as the Forty Thieves, whose business It was to dominate the bidding at all auctions, frighten off, or buy off, or outbid all competitors, and eventually jrather unto themselves, a* their own figures, all goods offered for sale. In the center of the group Mr. Gibney noticed a tall, lanky Jndividual, evidently the leader, who was Issuing instructions In a low voice to his henchmen. This individual, though Mr. Gibney did not know it. Was the King of the Forty Thieves As Mr. Gibney luffed into view the king eyed him with suspicion. Observing this, Mr. Gibney threw out his magnificent chest, scowled at the king, and stepped into the warehouse for all the world A If he owned It. An oldish man with glasses--tbe auctioneer--was seated on a box making figures in a notebook. Him Mr. Gibney addressed. "What's ail this here?" lie Inquired, Jerking his thumb over bis shoulder at the group. "It's an old horse sale," replied the auctioneer, without looking up. Mr. Gibney brightened. He glance*] around for the stock In trade, but observing none concluded that the old horses would be led In, one at a time, through a small door in the rear of "Hard-a-8tarboardl Make Her Fast, Bart." the warehouse. Like most sailors, Mr. Gibney had a passion for horseback riding, and in a spirit of adventure he resolved to acquaint himself with the Ins and outs of an old horse sale. How much might a man have to give for one of the critters?" he asked. And are they worth a whoop after you get them?" "Twenty-five cents up," was the answer. "You go It blind at an old horse sale, as a rule. Perhaps you get something that's worthless, and then again you may get something that has heaps of value, and perhaps you only pay half a dollar for it It all depends on the bidding. I once sold an old horse to a chap and he took It home and opened it up. and what d'ye suppose he found Inside?" "Bots," replied Mr. Gibney. who prtded himself on being something of a veterinarian, having spent a few months of bis youth around a livery stable. "A million dollars In Confederate greenbacks." replied the auctioneer. "Of course they didn't have any value, but Just suppose they'd been U. S.?" "That's right," agreed Mr. Gibney. "I "uppose the swab that owned th® horse starved It until the poor animal flggered that all's grass that's green. As th» feller says, 'Truth Is sometimes stranger than fiction.' If you throe, in a widdle and bridle cheap, I might be Induced to invest In one of your old horses, shipmate." 4 The auctioneer glanced quickly at Mr. Gibney, but noticing that worthy's face free from guile, he burst out laughing. "My sea-faring friend," he sail presently, "when we use the term 'old horse,' we use It figuratively. See all this freight stored here? Well, that's never been called for by the consignees, and after it's in the warehouse a year and isn't called for, we have tin old horse sale and auction It off to the highest fridfW, flav«sr ,, Mr. Gibney took tiiig* In a lie. "Of course. I do. I wet >£«* klddtn' you. toy hearty." (Here Mr. Glbney's glance rested on two long heavy sugarpine boxes, or shipping cases. Their Joints at all four corners were cunningly dove-tailed and wire-strapped.) "I was a bit interested in them two boxes, an' seein' as this is a free country, I thought I'd Just step In an' make a bid on them," and with the words, Mr. Gibney walked over and busied himself in an inspection of tbe two crates In question. The fact of the matter was that so embarrassed was Mr. Gibney at tbe exposition of his ignorance that he desired to hide the confusion evident In his sun-tanned face. So he stooped over the crates and pretended to be exceedingly interested in them, hauling and pushing them about and reading the address of the consignee who had failed to call for his goods. The crates were both consigned to the Gin Seng company, 714 Dupont street, San Francisco. There "were several Chinese characters scrawled on the top of each crate, together with the words, in English: "Oriental Goods." As he ceased from his fake Inspection of the two boxes, the King of the Forty Thieves approached and surveyed the sailor with an even greater amount of distrust and suspicion than ever. Mr. Gibney was annoyed. He disliked being stared at, so he said: "Hello, Blumenthal, my bully boy. What's aggravatln* you?" Blumenthal (since Mr. Gibney, In the sheer riot of his imagination elected to christen him Blumenthal, the name will probably suit him as well as any other) came close to Mr. Gibney and drew him aside. In a hoarse whisper he desired to know If Mr. Gibney attended the auction with the expectation of bidding on any of the packages offered for sale. Seeking to Justify his presence, Mr. Gibney advised that It was fflts Intention to bid on everything In sight; whereupon Blumenthal proceeded to explain to Mr. Gibney how Impossible it would be for him, arrayed against the Forty Thieves, to buy any article at a reasonable price. Further: Blumenthal desired to Inform Mr. Gibney that his (Mr. TJibney's) efforts to buy in the "old horses" would merely result . In his running the prices up, for no beneficent purpose, since; It was ever the practice of the Forty Thieves to permit no tnan to outbid them. Perhaps Mr. Gibney would be satisfied with a fair day's profit without troubling himself to hamper the Forty Thieves aqd interfere with their combination, and with the words, the king surreptitiously slipped Mr. Gibney a fifty-dollar greenback. Mr. Glbney's great flat closed over the treasure, he having first, by a coy glance, satisfied himself tbat It was really fifty dollars. He shook bands with the king. He said: "Blumenthal, you're a smart man. I am quite content with this fifty to keep off your course and give you a wide berth to starboard. I'm sensible enough to know when I'm licked, an' a light without profit ain't In my line. I didn't make my money that way, Blumenthal. I'll cast off my lines and haul away from the dock," and suiting the action to tbe figure, Mr. Gibney departed. He went first to tbe Seaboard-drug store, where he qulzzeq the druggist for five minutes, after which he continued his cruise. Upon rescuing the Maggie, he proceeded to relate In detail, and with additional details suppiled by his-own imagination, the story of his morning adventure. "Gib," said McGuffey enviously, "you're a fool for luck." "Luck," said Mr. Gibney, beginning to expand, "Is what the feller calls a relative proposition--" , "You're wrong, Gib," Interposed Captain Scraggs. "Relatives is unlucky an' expensive. Taker f* instance, Mrs. Scraggs' mother--" "I mean, you lunkhead," said Mr. Gibney, "that luck is found where brains grow. No brain, no luck. No luck, no brains. Lemme illustrate. A th levin' land shark makes me a present o' fifty dollars not to butt in ou them two boxes I'm tellln' you about. Him an' his gang wants them two boxes. Fair crazy to get 'em. Now, don't It stand to reason that them fellers knows what's In them boxes, or they wouldn't give me fifty dollars to haul ship? Of course, it does. However, in order to earn that fifty dollars, I got to back water. It wouldn't be playln' fair if I didn't. But that don't prevent me from puttin' two dear friends o' mine (here Mr. Gibney encircled Scraggs and McGuffey with an arm each) next to the secret whicb I discovers, an' If there's money in it for old Hooky that buys me off, it stands to reason that there's money In It for us three. What's to prevent you an' McGuffey from goln' up to this old horse sale an' blddln' in them two boxes for the use and benefit of Gibney. Scraggs in' McGuffey, all share an' share alike? You can bid as high as a hundred dollars. If necessary, an' still come out a thousand dollars to the good. I'm tellln' you this because I know what's In them two boxes." McGuffey was staring fascinated at Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs clutched his mate's arm In a frenzied clasp. "What?" they both Interrogated. "You two boys," continued Mr. Gibney with aggravating deliberation "ain't what nobody would call dummies. You're smart men. But the trouble with both o' you boys is you ain't got no Imagination. Without Imagination nobody gets nowhere, unless it's out th' small end o' th' horn. Maybe you boys ain't noticed It, but my imagination Is all that keeps me from goin' to Jail. Now, If you two had" read the address on them two boxes. It wouldn't 'a' meant nothin' to you. Absolutely nothin'. But with me It's different. Tm blessed with Imagination enough to see right through them Chinaman tricks. Them two boxes is marked 'Oriental Goods* an' consigned (here Mr. Gibney raised a grimy forefinger, and Scraggs and McGuffey eyed it very much as If they expected It to go off at any moment) -- them two boxes la consigned to the Gin Seng company, 714 Dupont street, San Francisco." . "Well, that's up In Chinatown, all right," admitted Captain Srraggs, "but l IOW about what's Inside tbe two "Oriental goods, at said tZc- Guffey. "They are cSMttgped to Chlnahmn, an' besides, that's what It says on the cases, don't It, Gib? Oriental goods, Scraggs, Is silks an' satins, rice, chop suey, punk, an' idols an' fhn tan layouts." "If there ain't Swiss cheese movements In that head block of yours, Mac, you and Scraggsy cau divide my share o' these two boxes o' ginseng root between you. Do you get it, yon chuckleheaded son of a Irish potatof Gin Seng, 714 Dupont street Ginseng --a root or a herb that medicine Is made out of. The dictionary says it's a Chinese panacea for exhaustion, an' I happen to know that'It's worth five dollars a pound an' that them two crates weighs a hundred and fifty pounds each If they weighs an ounce.' His rfuditors stared at Mr. Gibney much as might a pair of baseball fans at the hero of a home run with two strikes and the bases full. "Gawd!" muttered McGuffey. "Great grief, Gib! Can this be possible?" gasped Captain Scraggs. For answer Mr. Gibney took out his fifty-dollar bill and handed It to--to McGuffey. He never trusted Captain Scraggs with anything more valuable than a pipeful of tobacco. "Scrtggsy," he said solemnly, *Tm wlllln' to back my Imagination with my cash. You an' McGuffey hurry right over to the warehouse an' butt In ou the sale when they come to them two boxes. The sale Is Just about startin' now. Go as high as you thrtfji yon can In order to get the ginseng at a profitable flgger, an' pay the auctioneer fifty dollars down to hold the sale; that will give you boys time to rush around to dig up the balance o' the money. Tack right along now, 'lads, while I go down the street an' get me some breakfast. I don't want Blumenthal to see me around that sale. He might get suspicious. After I eat I'll meet you here aboard th'. Maggie, an' we'll divide the loot." With a . fervent handshake all around, the three shipmates parted. After disposing of a hearty breakfast of devilled lamb's kidneys and coffee, Mr. Gibney Invested In a tencent Sailor's Delight and strolled down to the Maggie. Nells Halvoreen, the lone deckhand, was aboard, and the moment Mr. Gibney trod the Maggie's deck once more as mate, he exercised his prerogative to order Neils ashore for the remainder of the day. Since Halvorsen was not In on the ginseng deal, Mr. Gibney concluded that It would be Just as well to have him out of the way should Scraggs and McGuffey appear unexpectedly with the two cases of ginseng. (TO BE CONTINUED.) ARE DRAWN UP WITH WATER 8imple Explanation of Showers of Fish Which Are Reported as Occasion* ally Occurring. Showers of fishes occasionally fall In different parts of the world, exciting great astonishment. Instances of this kind have occurred in England. On one occasion a shower of small threespined sticklebacks fell near Merthyr- Tydvil, in Wales, sprinkling the ground and housetops over a large area. If caught up by a whirlwind from any of the brackish ponds near the sea, in which this species of fish abounds, they must have been conveyed through the air a distance of almost thirty miles. Another similar instance occurred at Torrens, in the Isle of Mull, in which herrings were found strewed on a hill 500 yards from the sea and 100 feet above It. Such downfalls are more common in tropical countries. In India a shower of fishes varying from pound and a haif to three pounds ID weight has been reported. Sometimes the fishes are living, more frequently they are dead, and sometimes dry or putrifying. They are always of kinds abundant In the sea or fresh waters of the neighborhood. The occurrence of the phenomenon is readily explained by the partial vacuum and strong updraught produced in the center of a tornado. Such a whirling column, If passing over the surface of a lake or river or of the sea, may suck up a considerable quantity of the water along with any living creatures that may be In It. This may be carried for a considerable distance, and is discharged as a waterspout or cloudburst when the rotational energy of the whirl is expended. > Heme Brew Thirty Centuriee Ago. For originating the art of home brewing the Persians claim credit Thirty centuries ago, according to an account. King Jamshld had a great Jar of gropes. Pressure of the top layers on those beneath squeezed out the Juice, which fermented and became sour. One of the king's wives, having le&ned of the liquid in the basement, which the king believed to be, and had labeled "poison" decided to use It tc end ber life. Although she drank freely, instead of dying, she lost her despondency, and became unusually happy. The king could not understand her hilarity until she confessed. Thereafter. It Is related, both the monarch and bis court with frequent regularity "poisoned" themselves on home brew. One Order Stewed Beans. JStoart Dean, pump manufacturer, is a member of the Indianapolis Country club. Recently Mr. Dean telephoned the club to arrange for a dinner. One of the Filipino servants answered the call. "This Is Mr. Dean--Stuart Dean," tbe club man said to the servant. "I not understand good," the servant said. "1 am Mr. Dean--8tuart Dean." "Oh, yes, ye*, now I understand yes. yes," The Filipino hang ap the receiver, hurried to tbe kitchen acd said to the chef: "One order stewed beana!**--Indianapolis News. 3 "We'll One admires bis photographer almost as much as his doctor. Eafch imoreves lAa# much. . Wonderful Development ofCanada in Forty Years. Four Decadea Ago Little Considered, Today One of the Greatest Granivies and Dairying Centera.: U4 The recent announcement thit the sale of the first section of Canadian Pacific land was sold forty years ago, and when you read that the first carload of wheat wifs shipped from Winnipeg forty years ago, the changes that have taken place since then are matters of reminiscence, but yet of Interest. What forty years ago was an unknown quantity, barren because but. little production was attempted, is totjay one of the greatest granaries In the world. Then there was scarcely any farm live stock in the West. Dairying was not engaged in at all. Today there are 6,998,317 farm animals on the prairies, of which 881,899 are milch cows ; and dairying is only second in importance to grain growing, in the West. Forty years ago the shipment of one carload of grain was a notable exploit. Today, Canada ranks as the second largest wheat-producing country in the world, with 329,185,300 bushels, 90 per cent of which was grown In the three prairie provinces, of which the province of Saskatchewan produced more than half. The Dominion is today the second largest producer of oats, with 530,710,000 bushels, of which 00 per cent was grown between Winnipeg and the Rocky mountains; and the fifth largest producer of barley with 63,311,- 000 bushels, of which the prairies yielded 65 per cent. Forty years ago scarcely any of the rich soil had been brought under cultivation. The farm machinery of the time was crude ; >there were no competent advisers; government experimental farms were a blessing tbat came years later. Yet these,, hardy pioneers stuck it out, and in forty years numbers of them are enjoying their declining days in the communities they wrested from the wilderness, prosperous, contented, with their children's families gathered about them or seeking their own fortunes still further westward or northward. They have seen civilization step in to the West and the wilderness swept out. Today are thriving cities and towns where bleaching buffalo bones marked the ox trails of forty years ago. Today are mighty freight trains, each with its thousand-ton cargo of wheat or merchandise, roaring down the roads where the old carts creaked. Today are schools within walking distance of every farmhouse, churches within driving distance of every home. Today are telephones and every modern convenience linking communities over vast distances by the common bond of the spoken -word. forty years ago the Rockies were practically an Impenetrable barrier, the Pacific coast being reached from the east by ships sailing round Cape Horn. The province of Manitoba had a population of 62,260, compared with 613,008 in 1921. Winnipeg was then a frontier town with 7,987 people, and Brandon, which was regarded as a far-flung outpost of the West, boasted of a few hundred In population. In 1891 It only had 3,778. Such places as Calgary and Edmonton were mere trading posts In the Northwest territories. Buffalo roamed the prairie In their native state. Today On these plains are to be seen herds of cattle, bands of horses and droves of sheep, from any of which can easily be selected stock that can carry off premiums, sweepstakes and championships in competition with the best In any other part of the world.--Advertisement. WILL MEAN MUCH TO WORLD French Phyeiclan Claims to Have Diecovered Cure for Much-Dreaded Disease, Cancer. • positive cure of cancer; it -la reported in Paris, has been effected by a surgeon of the municipal hospital at Blols, who asserts that for some months he has been treating several patients with an entirely new formula, without knife or radium, and is satisfied they not only are cured, but declares he has definitely proved that cancer has a physiological origin In certain glands. Doctor Baronami's researches, which he has conducted for a number of years, have been the subject of numerous papers communicated to th©v French Academy of Science, while he continued his development of the gland theory at the Blols hospital. This theory is that cancer starts from trouble In the secretions of the glands In which occur, consecutively, an alteration of the globules and blood plasm. He claims the cure is effected by the application of a chemical organic treatment which not only reacts on the general condition of the patient, but heals the cancer without directly acting on It. The interest of many scientists has been directed recently to the work at Blols, where Doctor Baronaqil, 1* demonstrating his theory.* • Deep. "Did you dig the dngoat for division headquarters according to directions?" demanded the captain of engineers. "No, sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the Job. "When we got about half way down the distance required, we struck oil."--American Legion Weekly. < The Safest Way. Mrs. Catchieign h«s a mania for all manner of things sanitary. In the evening paper' she chanced upon an interesting Item, which she at once brought to the attention of Mr. Catchlelgh. "An eminent medical authority," she read, "contends that a dentist's fingers carry disease germs." • * J' Whereupon the husband offered the following observation: "In that case, my dear, there's but one safe rule--boll your dentist."-- PUiaiMBUk iddasr* - . - * Are You a Mother? Do Ypi WpmeiFf then THis'ccnnpi lis w vitaI^- • IMPORT TO YOU % . Decatur, 111.--"My first expert , •nee with Dr. Pierce's mediclnek^/ was after motherhood. My healtfc f seemed to fail and nothing gave mH : any relief. I was la a very nervong state, was all run-dowa and weaij| I could scarcely get aroand to dl. any work. I took Dr. Pleree's Fai" : vorite Prescription and the Golde* Medical Diaeovery, alternately, an4 * by the use of these medicines I wag ' restored to good health. And sine# . that time I have been a constant'. ' user of Dr. Pierce's Pleasant PoltfJ'- lets for tbe liver and stomach, oJFv ' for billons sick-headaches. I flnf very little need for any medieia# other than Dr. Pierce'a to keep m* < In good health."--Mrs. W. T Maiw» shall, 1435 N. Illinois 8t. pr „ , Your neighborhood draggist --n| • - 1 all Dr. Pierce's Family Medidnee, Ml ^ ^ tablets or liquid. Write Dr. PleroaL ,A * * Pres. Invalids' Hotel in Buffalo *, '4l$ j N. Y., for free medical advice. ' '< ^ M- Garfield Tea Was Your Grandmother's Remedy For every stomacp^ find intestinal ilL This good old-faaSc loned herb hot# remedy for constipation, stomach DM and other derangements of the sy£ tem so prevalent these days Is in evef greater favor as a family medlddj : than In your grandmother's day. '-\S. '• onight Ibmorrow Alright - " 1 -.i .. ' ' ' Sleeping Sickness is Catching.' Sudden hysterical laughter Is onfv' of the symptoms of sleeping, sicknes^ according to Professors Netter ani;^ Sicard who recently addressed th# Paris Medical society on the subject- After studying scores of cases of sleetf;. Ing sickness they have discovered thf lethargy is followed by uncontrollably spells of laughter, this suggesting thjfv" the bacilli are still active. Some case®; of this Illness have been succeeded b)i fits of sobbing, hiccoughs and slgh£ but the most typical symptom of th( last stages of the malady Is Incess hilarity. Inasmuch as the malady contagious it certainly Is safer not approach anyone who Is laughing toft heartily. ^ Meteors and Forest Fires. France has been suffering from fort* est fires of mysterious origin; the less cigarette smoker has blamed, but foresters and some mfll teorologlsts now Incline to the belief that falling meteors were the cause. 1^ one flame-swept area of a thousand acres were found great meteoric frag* ments, still hot three days after th| fire.--Scientific American. ' -tf No Reason. Jt wives only knew what stenogr* phers think of their husbands they would cease to worry.--Life. 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