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: ' f m THE PLA1H&1ALER J. VAN SLYKE, Editor And Pub. Sjheney. ILLINOIS WHEN TWILIGHT FALLS. WbentwlUght fall* it in the beer WIwiUvmdinm-Tiittorabmpoult . To cx me to in in radiant gufa*, . And satisfy our longing eyes, To bead above the listening ew * Afl'l wiilsi-er to us ctom That bear u* from life » oare<t Kporh ' And j our b^fc-h balm, in o or tbe heart When twilight. ffcUB tbe moidm drenMH( Bh« tie'er has lo v«d;« n I ye o there seeMig . Her i<tfla11o'e.- in ih* room, , • Betride ber in the friendly g:oom, • Aid thereupon his sht-dowy breast,'11 fche «oba her little griefs to rest; She ie 1« iiitc 'tis her heart that singl-- , Of comfort that his presence brings. She ne'er has lookt d upon his MM; And yet at any time or place, If In this life they ever meet. Will re ogt.ition be complete ; V And in tho luture blrsc though dtrii, lie waits for her mid s e for liiin; And still fo* him her spirit cull-. In that drei.m-hour wi.en twilight foils. THE MISSING LINK. It was a cold night in December l fead visited an old friend who lived about six miles from the city, in an Ober-For?tel; w) had been sitting to­ gether until ia&e in the warm, cozy room, oyer a glass or punch. un- fortunately. one of the buggy horses of my fiie^ hiuTbecome lame a few and as I ,had to transact i Isooo fwad nut that they were law­ yers. Their conversation was about a murder case which was to be tried at the district court. One, a band- some gentleman with a gray beard and gold spectacles, was thoroughly convinced of the guilt of tbe defend^ an1* "The defense was altogether faulty from tbesta t" he said. The younger one--his sharply cut, intelligent profile seemed familiar to me notMed. '-Th<:-> proof o? alibi was venture^ indeed; button the other side yuu must not l'orget that there was not one direct witness of the murder. And 1 must confess 1 am somewhat mistrustfufOf purely circumstantial evidence '* ^ "But let me tell you, my dear Dr. Bergmann;" said tbe stout one, "the case is as clear wa the sun.A And if a dozen witnesses had been there the fellow would not be more certainty, convicted. No doubt he isjthe mur­ d e r e r . " , ' v ^ S ' I addressed my yis-a-vis: "I oe- lieve we haVe met before.Vd'oCtor?" The young lawyer recognized me; we had had soriie business together some time before. !'I asked nim for dv- j ticulara: "W^iat i& this case about? 1 have not regularly read the papers recently." , n "wb, it is a very'interesting case. uv tiuo iiid pO$l* t-ion is indicted for the murder and robbery of the cashier pf his former Arm. a direct p^x>f, it is said, can-days before, ana as i, , . . . . ..v. Important business in the city the | KL™°i.l„h_C ' next morniog, 1 had no other alter- "" " native but to walk home. It was bitterly cOid, and so dark that one could hardly see tbe hands before the eyes. A sharp east wind howled ovejr the gloomy ba ren fields, and 1 was heartily glad when the yellow gaslights of tbe suburbs ap­ peared. Under the first lamp post I stopped to look at ray watch, which was a matter of some difficulty, as one of the panes of the lamp was broken, and the flame, blown by the wind to j all directions, was liable to be e<.- tinguished any minute. At last I succeeded in recognizing the hand, j It showed three minutes to twelve: j When I looked up again, 1 involun- [ tarily started. Close before me stood ; a man. I had not heard the least j noise of steps; it was as if he had sud­ denly risen out of the ground. J j looked for a moment silently into his f face, but this moment was enuugh I to press his countenance upon my j memory. He was a tail, lank man, •ciad in a wornout black coat, on ' which some of the > earns were open, j His face was exceedingly lean and pale, the eyes were deep in their i cavities, and around the chin hung a gray, unkempt beard. lie lifted his shabby bat and said in a tone whose politeness astonished : me: "May J ask \ou for the kind- : ness. sir, to tell me how late it is?" j J naturally was carelul not to pull out my wiuch again "Three min­ utes before midnight," I replied. He dence. however, is grave enough. The defense has, tried to: prove an alibi; but, unfortunately, there is a missing link, jos* the critical hours in which the dee3r ;was: committed. Well, here we are Already at M." The train stopfykd^ and we gjt off. "Will you accompany me to the court house? or must .you attend to your ! business right away??' aaked>tbe law­ yer. 1 stood undecided fo^ a mo- ! ment It was lust aftejrWo'clock, so : early I would hardly Jta&mv business j friend. can get a ! seat." "The court room will un- doubtedly be ,y$flr ^1* bp* I will do ! my best." ;I .•••• j I succeeded In pushing myself into ! the overcrowded court room, but ! j bad to be satisfied with a seat from I which I could see little more than I broad backs and high ladies' bats. It was a low hall, badly lighted, And ! worse ventilated; the atmosphere was stifling. [ Perhaps this was the cause why ! that uneasy, foreboding feeling op­ pressed me more and more. The ! court bad notyetbeen opened. Loud j confusion of noises filled the hall. Suddenly deep silence prevailed. I hear^ steps--the court entered. The presiding Judge opened tbe session. : A few minutes later tbe district at- torney took the ioor. Although I | could see nothing of the action. I I (ould hear every word; and I followed i the argument of the speaker in j breathless suspense. 1 had seldom thanked me w.th the same politeness ! heard a better one. How terribly with which he had formerly spoken, lifted his bat again ana disappeaied in tbe darkness as noiselessly as he had come. Hal? an hour later 1 smiled in my co^y bed-Vooui about my causeless lear, and a week afterward 1 had for­ gotten tbe adventure. I was very busy about that time and a large contract which I had to till in the next few days for a firm in tbe neigh­ boring city M. o cup ed my whole at- tention. About 'wo months had passed wheu I bad, in the night a very strange dream, after I had just returned irom a business trip to M. I found myseif on the summit of a steep precipice. Far away on the . . . , . .. ... hori-ou, I saw the tower of M. l.om- cr or hea«l> ?rotn the convincing he spoke! With what clearness he arranged and explained the testimony of the witnesses! With what skill he wove out of these insignificant /threads ,a ne* from which there seemed co escape for the murderer! l<6r the defendant was the murderer; he must be the mur­ derer. No one, in the. court room doubted it afiie: tbjs.criishing speech. Tbe attorney for the defendant also did his be$t. Hot in ^the proof of alibi, by whtcli he triefj vo save his client, tbef jwost important link was missing It was ptoved that the crime was cdAAitted; abclit mid­ night Several witnessed hfjff. unani­ mously stated that about that time ing up. Beside me stood a tail, black figure, suddenly it stretched out its arm and pointed with a com­ manding n otion to the far-away city. The dream was s tuple, but it was so exeedingly vivid that I could not get rid of the thought of it the fol­ lowing (J a)'. *• Wi 11 it come again?" 1 I murmured when I retired on the evening. And the dream came again, ^ tbe same dream I had the night be- fore; 1 again stood on the mount, and the mysterious figure again pointed At tbe city M. Next morning at the breakfast table 1 narrated this strange dream to mj wife. She was kind enough not to laugh at it, i>ut gave me a very sen>ible explanation. "That you dream or M.," said she, "is very natural * l ou just returned from there and moreover ireni a very im- pcrtaut business transaction. And as far as concerns the black figure, well, of such ghosts one dreams Oi ten." "But it is strange that I have the same dream two nights in succession," i replied'. "Well, this is natural enough. You just told me tbat you were thinking all day about you.' dream." I drank a cup of cof­ fee with a feeling of relief. The ex­ planation of my wife was so sensible, j It was a pity that I could not pie- vent the dream from coming in the | third night and:more vivid than ever ' before. In the gesture of the black figure this time was something threatening, terrible--I was bathed in cold perspiration when I started up from sleep with a cry of terror. . j "You look like a corpse," ex- • claimed my wife when I entered the dining room next morning. "Has anything ha. pened to you-'" I tried to smile, but I tear I did not succeed well in the attempt. | "Just think, I had the dream again fe, last night," I said slowly. f My wife locked at ine silently. ••Either I will become insane or something terrible has happened in ffARENTAI. EXPERIMENT.. of OttMun LUw aft* s* i>a»u ' In (/a. A month after our first baby yrks born, we resolved to settle by experi­ ment a question which we had dis­ cussed for months, namely, whether a child's tendency to violate the rules of grammar is innate, or is acquired through* the sense of hearing. My wife declared tbat all children, no matter what their surroundings, will say, "Me wants sugar," until they are taught that it is proper to Bay, "I want sugar;" while I contend that a child would speak grammati­ cally from the beginning If it wefe not permitted to hear any ungram- matical talk. , , . We had little difficulty In making the experiment thorough. We were living in a little cottage three miles from the nearest viflage. We had but one servant, an old negro who did outdoor work exclusively, and slept in an outhouse.' Our only regular visitors were the doctor and the minister.both well educated men; and we resolved tbat our boy should not be within earshot when anyone called whose ability to speaks pure English could be disputed. ^ Of course we. set a good example ourselves. We refrained from baby talk; used only tbe most polished bnsriiMffA in t.ho n««on«« nt fjn« and took particular pains to repeat before him in grammatical style those expressions which are usually the first in a child's vocabulary. For instance, when he was leaa than a year old, he would sit in l?Vt( mother's lap staring at us while I reD marked, seriously and with great dis­ tinctness, "I want no water;" and my wife would say, in an equally im­ pressive manner, "No; I do not want any." Then when we thought that the little fellow must have gained some idea of the proper use of negatives, my wife would offer a suggest.on of this sort: "William, the cups are empty;" and I would proclaim tbat "my bands are cold." We know it would be useless at that time to try t > teach him any­ thing, but I cherished an abiding faith that the memory of our polished conversation would remain with him. My wife had no such faith, but she adhered loyally to her agreement to make the experiment as thorough as possible. When our boy had passed his fifteenth mbntb, we began to look forward anxiously to tbe result of the experiment. We were sure tbat never in bis brief life had he heard au un- grammatical sentence, and we agreed that his first expressions would for­ ever settle the question involved. When he was sixteen months old he began to name articles of food with some distinctness. A month later he could couple two worda 'JLhen came the climax. He was justeigbt- een months and twelve days old when he launched his first sentence, and 1 may add, knocked my pet theory into a cocked hat. It happened at the breakfast table. My wife was telling me that little Willy's appetite seemed to be failing lately, and was trying to temp him with a spoonful of jam, when he leaned back in his high chair, made a wry face, and said with a terrible distinctness, "Me don't want no dam.'" My wife was generous. She did not laugh aloud. She did not say, "I told you so." But she was right. Tbe tendency to violate the rules of grammar is born in man, just as the tendency to commit sin is born in him.--W. L. Kiordon, m Youth's Companion. BAFFLES COUNTERFEITERS. oil ce in which the cashier bad been j working alone. i The defendant, during the whole j transaction, bad steadfastly main- I tained tbat he was not at all in tbe ! city at thnt^time. But be could cot . prove it by ^ single witness. Under these conditions it was certain that tbe argument of his attorney would have no force. I "Defendant, you have the last word; have you anything else to say *" asked t.e Judge, amidst a dead • silence. At this moment the gentleman in front of me moved a little to tbe side, and 1 could see tbe defendant, but not his face, for it was turned to tbe Judge "As true as there is a God 1 am innocent," said he, with a calm, deep voice, whose tone affected me strangely.: He slowly turned and looked sorr wrully through the long lines of tbe audience. "There is but oue> maniotbe world whose testimony "can save me, and--" be suddenly stopped. "Tbe^e is the man," he crjed t out, anil bis out­ stretched bhnd pointed at me. Like a stroke of lightning it flashed through my bhiia 1 recognized the man: be was tbe, sa&e that I had met in thai iJeeember night, tbe nigbt of the murder.1 "He is innocent/' I shquted. My testimony 'brought the missing link in tbe chalbf for proof of not guilty. ; , The man at the tYme 6f Ihe crime was lully three miles from the city. A half hour later he Was free. And, strahgdy etiW^h. ' the mo- ment he recogrti/ed ihe the hands of tbe clock in the court room pointed to three uuinutea to 'twelve. ̂ Wash­ ington Star, superstitious *' she did ndt conclude the sentence. The maid entered tbe room with tbe maiL "Well, there it is. A iettler irom M."- "v ery well, but what then? Open first?" I opened the envelope , With trembling fingers. I was sure I , that 1 must have received an unfor-1 $r. '"lunate message. I ^ •'Well?" "ub, my business friend requests '1 jiie to see him aikmt a transaction." My wife laughed outright. "And therefore the triple dream! Well, iee that you get off. The train leaves in an hour. Hut 1 hope you Will bring home unother face." But it was strange, when i boarded e train, I felt more anxiety than ver. 1 took a paper and tried to f*etroleum. The rapfdity with which tbe world moves nowadays is illustrated by i be fa1ct that there are men now living, and plenty of theio too, who can re­ member when petroleum jgras gath­ ered from the surface of the springs in Pennsylvania, and was sold in ounce phiais as rock-oil, an admirable specific for rheumatism. Its scarcity was its most effective commendation, for. as soon as it became plentiful, nobsdy thought of rubbing it on his joints. Tbe ^nti e system of pe­ troleum wells, tbe immense petroleum trade, have 411 sprung up within the recollection of a single generation. Le(t-HandiHlnngs. A French, physician mentions a curious case ol left-handedness. One child in a certain family was left- banded, and a second appeared at the age of 1 year also to be left-bauded. it waS thee learned that the mothei always carried her child on her left arm. She was advised to carry her id, but it was impossible to .get my i child on her riirbt The infant, hav- 'thoughts together. Again and a^ain { ine its right arm free, began to grasc tbe black figure appeared before me. j objects with it. ;\nd soon became I divided the Coupee with three gen-1 right handpd. * »> • - ®:;! the Unlucky Opal DeHet the Imitative Skill of the moderns. The kind of opal, tbe hydropaneof Mexico, loses its beauty and lecomes dull and colorless when exposed to water. Tbe same stone, says tbe Westminster Review, it is said, can be restored to its color and beauty by subjecting it to a certain degree of heat. A writer on the subject says that the opal is always much more brilliant ou a warm day, and that a sharp dealer will always hold one in his hand a short time before showing it to a purchaser. In ancient times the opal was most successfully imi­ tated by a glass paste, whicb could only be distinguished ftom the real gem by the most careful experts. The art has been entirely lost, for tbe best counterfeiters fail to produce a stone that in the least ba i es the connoisseur. The tlnest opal of modern times, says. King, was one which belonged to the hmpress Josephine, and whi h was called tbs "Burning of Troy," because of the in­ numerable red flames blazing upon its surface, while the reverse was per­ fectly opaque. In the troublous times that followed the Napoleonic period the gem was lost sight of. and there is left no trace of it. There are two wonderful opals among the French crown ewels, one of which is set in the clasp of the imperial cloak. The Einpress Lugenie Is said to have a most superstitious dread of them and would not wear an opal for any persuasion. Queen Victoiia does not share this feeling with her. She, on the coutrary, admires the gem very much, and has given to each of her daughters, on their marriage day, various pieces of jewelry set with the iridescent <xem. There are many varieties of opals, coming from al­ most as many quarters of the globe. The opal found in Hun­ gary was thought to be harder and more durable than those found in Mexico and South Anierica, but since tbe better development of the mines in those places stones have been found quite the e^ual of Hungarian gems. Hb Was a Sneezer. Three shabby girls and a shabby man got into a north-bound car at the postoffice the other day, and soon after the man sneezed. He and the girls were strangers to each other, but the sauciest of the three girls laughed when he sneezed. The man took no special notice of her, but soon he snee/.ed again and again, and then all three of the girls giggled and so did the man. In the next three blocks the man sneezed half a dozen times, and at each sneeze tbe sauciest of tbe girls said something and the others laughed. By this time the other passengers were in­ terested, and everybody awaited the man's sneeze. He kept it up at in­ tervals for the next half mllo, and everybody in the car roared at each extfoston. Xftw paswojrersfot In to find the whole car in oonvoliion. Staid pemms at lint, tried not to laugh, hut when the man's face twitched as his sneeze hung fire aud the sauciest girl cried "Watch htm go off," even they had to )uin in tbe fun. Passengers came and went, but the man and the three girls remained. Everybody came in sober and went out laughing, and after the thing bad been going on for three miles the who got in at the post, otllce were in doubt whether the man had fever or was only an exellenf facial contortionist Changed Her Tann. Some time ago a tourist stepped into a pcsta'.teiegraph office in one of our country districts, and going up to the counter wrote an address on a letter. He was about to leave, when be caught sight of a lady in charge, and lifting his bat bowed politely to her. But the Ittdy had lofty ideas of her official positipp, and thus addressed the departing gentleman-- "I must) say, it's a piece of imper­ tinence to oome to this otfice to sim­ ply scribble an address." The intruder courteously re­ sponded, saying that he had hoped such a thing might be permitted in ccitrnorCiInaTj"liiiouiiioLuLK^s, buoouao if no person was to be admitted for such a purpose he was quite prepared to send a telegram. He then proceeded to fill up a form, and handed it over to the lady, filled up in tbe,following manner:-- "T'he lady-clerk at this office wfn- tonly ignores every rule of, civility." The lady was struck dumb when she read the message, which was ad­ dressed to tbe Secretary of the Gen­ eral Postbfflce, and bore a well-known name. The gentleman observed her ex­ treme confusion, and relenting, quietly said-- "I don't think I'll trouble you to send that ie egram, unless you par­ ticularly wish; but I will express Cbe hope that you will be a little more careful as to your language in the future." - Tbe lady-clerk did not fail to learn the lesson thus taught her as to her deportment in the discbarge of Quty. For the Complexion. An A rican traveler, yeary an^ ex_ hausted, was hospitably received one evening in tbe kraal of a Hottentot prince. Early next morning he was about to record the events of the previous weeks, when he perceived, to his dismay, that the ink In his travel ing case Was all dried udi With a sigh of disappointment he packed up again his writing ma­ terials, when his eve fell on closed glass standing on a bamboo shelf, which on closer examination, proved to be a genuine ink-stand nearly full to tbe brim. Delighted at the discovery, he sat dowu and worked at his diary. Suddenly he was disturbed in his occupation by a young negress, who, springing toward him, snatched the ink-stand from the table in passion­ ate haste Her horrid screams soon attracted the other members of tbe royal fam­ ily to the 8pot, and now the unsus­ pecting stranger was made aware that he had committed the heinous offence of laying sacrilegious hands on tbe carefully guarded provision of ink, which the wealthy aunt of the mon­ arch had purchased from a European trader as a toilet preparation for im­ proving the complexion. The ill- starred explorer was forthwith put on his trial and sentenced to deat&. His life was saved only through the energetic intervention of the captain of a man-of-war lying at anchor in the bay, who propitiated the irate aunt by the gift of half a pint of black ink. Petroleum Brtcks. Something ot an industry has been established in Italy in the production of fuel bricks ot crude petroleum, the bize aud being similar to the coal briquettesf extensively used in France and Germany. The mixture is made in the proportion of one liter of pe­ troleum, 10 per cent of resin, 150 grammes of powdered soap^ and 333 grammes of caustic soda. Tbe mix­ ture is heated and stirred at the same time. Solidification begins in abot& ten m.nutes, and tbe opera­ tion is then watched with special care If there is a tendency to re­ main liquid, a little more soda is added, the mixture being stirred con­ tinuously until the mass becomes nearly solid. Alter this the thin paste is poured Into the moulds, these being placed for ten or fifteen min­ utes in a drying stove, the briquettes are then cooled, and are ready for use in a few hours. As a matter of economy, as well as to Insure greater solidity, the addition of 20 per cent, of wood sawdust, and 20 percent* of clay of sand is practiced in some cases. The advantages of these for marine use. as compared with coal, are the absence of smoke and a large reduction in the bulk of fuel which must be carried.--Kew York Sun. A Liynn Aristocrat in Maine. Some of the Maine girls who go off into the world "to hoe their own row," often put the old folks all in a flutter by writing home that they've got a "big" beau, and are coming home with him on a visit, according to the Lewiston Journal. The parents at $o promising a daughter are apt to think they've got to make a great sbQW, whether they are used to it or not, in order to help along the girl's chances. In trying to do this, of course they usually make a mess of it In a Maine village, the owners of one of the best residences in town who were to be absent for a few weeks, were astonished beyond meas­ ure to receive an application from the village cobbler, who lived In a very plain way, for the use of their house and its furniture for*a short time. They were in no mood to agree to tjie proposal, but out of curiosity In­ quired tbe reason. The occasion was that Hetty Ann was coming home from Lynn.and her beau was coming, too. He belonged to one of the "first families," the cobbler said, and they wanted to be living in a style to suit him. MAKING ROOK OAND# to teJwtty Cliui*ru<sr Whtiih tively Little In Known. Bock candy is a crystallized sugar §)rlp, which, after boiling and being kept at a certain temperature, forms itself onto strings suspended across the interior of circular copper pot& Tbe first process In its manufacture is the boilng of tbe sirup. About four barrels of the finest grade of RUgar, with about sixteen gallons of water, is first put into a circular cop­ per boit r, about five feet in diam ter and about three and one-half feet in heights Inclosed around tbe sides and bottom of the boiler are a num­ ber of coils of steam pipe, Which, when turned on, causes the materhil to boll and form itself into a sirup. Water is also applied to the sides of the boiler to prevent tbe sirup from sticking. After the material has boiled for about one-half hour, it is run off through a number ot fine sieves at the bottom, and passes down through a tour-inch hose to the copper candy pots below. These pots are circular In form, being about two feet in di­ ameter across tbe top, and tapering down to ®ne foot at tbe bottom. The sides of each pot are perforated with small holes, ranging from one-half inch t,n nnn inpli mrant. »v»»<.....u • > • • ' } v •! « ' UXJii/OW holes a p ece of cotton cold is run, the ends of which are fastened to the outside by a small piece of plastei: of Paris The pots are then filled up to the top with the boiling sirup^ whicb holds aoout five gallons and of forty pounds weight, and carried away by two attendants to what is called the hothouse. This hot-bouse is made entirely ot brick, and is about fourteen feet square and about one foot in thick­ ness, each side being fitted uf with Bhelves, made of heavy planking. Und rneath these shelves, attached to tbe side walls, are a number of 2-inch steam pipes, whicb, when turned on, furnish the required heat. The attendants plac^ the heated pots Bide by side on these shelves, where they are left for two or three days in a temperature of at'ont 160 degrees, tbe heat of which causes the best part of the sngar -to crystallize onto the strings. After the expiration of three days a crust of crystallized sugar is formed on the top of each pot of about one- eighth inch in thickness. The in­ terior sides and bottom also have a crystallized coating of about one inch, while the inferior part remains in a liquid form. The pots are then taken out of tbe hot-house, the plaster scraped off, and the uncrystallized liquid pouied off into into a tub, where' it is re- melted and filtered and run into bar­ rels, to be sold to 11 [Uor and soda water dealers. The pots are then taken and rinsed out with water to take th; sirup off the candy, and then taken to the draining-room, where tbev are placed bottom up in an inclined position, one against an­ other. in a trough, and l9ft to drain about one day in a temperature ot about 70 degrees, which dries and al­ so gives the catndy a glossy appear­ ance For yellow rock bandy the liquid is colored with burned sugar. About rtighty pounds of sugar and three gallons of water is mixed together and plac ed in a shallow circular cop­ per pan, about three feet in diame­ ter and placed over a hot fire, where by boiling and constant stirring, it is allowed to get thick, Mack and burned. When properly burn d it is taken out and placed in a tub and diluted with water. It is then run through fine brass sieves, and is ready lor use. v An Intense smoke issues from the burning sugar, causing tbe attendants to wear respirators. The red rock candy is colored with No. 40 carmine; after draining, t be contents of the pots are knocked out onto boards about two feet square. This is done by an at­ tendant turning the pot upside down aud whacking the sides with wooden mallets, causing the candy to fall down into a heap. The strings are then separated from each other and weighed out and pacxed into from five to forty, pound ho^es. Twenty- one hands turn out about 1&2,324 pounds of ropk candy and 106,359gal­ lons of rock candy sirup yearly. The material is sold principally to confec­ tioners, liquor dealers and groe#$& -- Scientific American. No MAN has the right to put his arms on the table when he dine?. Every man does it. You soou become awfully tired |if the good man wbo "takes ̂ n^nteresf' in you*^ .W.:'. |, New Material for Making Joints. Engineers have long regarded red lead as tbe one reliable substance for the making of joints, but a new ma­ terial has appeared, which is said to be both less expensive and more ef­ ficient. While possessing all the good qualities of red lead as a steam, water, aud gas joint make , it is more cleanly and more elastic, aud sets more quickly under heat Being close-grained, it is non-porous to steam, water, and gas, and it re­ quires so little time to harden that steam can be turned on the moment tbe joint is made. In remaking a joint the cement can be scraped off with a knife, and no chipping off with a chisel, as with red lead, is re­ quired. It is a plain putty, which can be carried in the band or pocket, and if more is mixed than is needed for present use, what is left over can be worked up again at any future time. Carrier Pigeon*. Germany has for years possessed the most efficient pigeon service in Europe. At Strasburg there are (i,00 birds, at Metz eoo. at Thorn 1,000, and they are kept by tbe hundreds at other centres, such as Mainz, Cologne, Kiel and Danzig. Tbe whole frontier is counected by pigeon post with tbe military headquarters and with towns in the interior. The servi e is supported by an appropria­ tion of about $9,000 a year. The practical u*e of the pigeon post was fully demonstrated at the siege of Paris in H70. Since then it has be­ come a recognize! part of the mili­ tary oiganizations of all European couu tries except Great Britain. Hussia has now on her Polish frontier alone 3,000 birds, and appropriates yearly *10,000-for pigeons; the Fr«n:h appropriation is twice as large. A M A N that forgets a good deal tbat has happened has a better mem­ ory than he who remembers a great deal that never happened. P£Oplk who are always wishing they bad something to do for tbe Lord might as well stop looking sour to begin with. • , . THE MECHANISM 6^ WAKtlNQ. A OtMriptloa «l Os MhiielM M the Work They Do. The chief musfles concerned In walking, says the London Hospital, are those in the calf and back of the leg, which, by pulling up the heel, also pull up the bones of the foot con­ nected with it, and then the whole body, the weight of which is passed Dn through the bones of the leg. When walking, the trunk is thcown forward so that it would fall down prostrate were not the right foot planted in time to support it The • alf muscles are helped in this action by those on the front of* the trunk and legs, which contract and pull the body forward, and the trunk slanting forward when the heel is raised by the calf muscles, the whoI% body will be raised and pushed forward and upward. This advancement cf each leg is effected partly by mus­ cular action, the muscles used being U) those on the front of tbe thigh, bending it forward ou the pelvis; (2) the hamstring muscles, which slight­ ly bend the leg on the thigh; (3) the muscles on the front of the leg, which raise the front of the foot and toes, preventing the latter, in swing­ ing forward, from hitching in the. ground. 77iieu due foot has reached the ground the action of the other 'has not ceased. There is another point in walking. The body is constantly supported and balanced on each leg alternately, and therefore on only one at once. Hence there must be sjme means for throwing the center of gravity over the line of support formed by the bones of each leg, as it supports the weight of the bjdy. This is done in various ways, and hence tbe difference in the walk of different pe jple. There may be slight rotation at the hip joint bringing the center of gravity of the body over the foot Of this side. This "rocking" biotioo of the trunk and thigh is ac­ companied by a movement of tbe whole trunk and leg over the foot planted on the ground, and is accom­ panied by a compensating "outward movement at the hip. The body rises and swings alternately from one side to tbe other as ios center of grav­ ity comes alternately over one or tbe Other leg, and the curvature of the spinal bones is altered with the vary­ ing position of tbe weight Blown Up. During the recent railroad strike In Southern California, a train started out irom San Diego with an eLKlneer who boasted that he would make tbe trip if he had to fire tbeengii.e him­ self, and use dynamite instead of coal. The singular accident that occurred before the train had gone five miles will make him superstitious for the rest of his life. Tbe fireman thus tells the story: We were getting up a good speed, and had just struck the down grade there by the Big Timber Jim--tbe engineer--was smiling all over to think how we had pulled out the first train lor three days, and not a coupler thrown, either. We were going down that grade like sixty miles an hour, and every­ thing humming. } was shoving in tbe coal at the rate of a load every ten seconds. We had struck the level and were nearing the r.var bend, but Jim never slackened ufi He nodded to me to keep her hot and I did. I remember as I slid the shovel along the footboard and slung the door open, I thought that shovelf ul of coal looke t kin i of queer. But 1 didn't stop to screen it! In it went, and the next minute Jim and 1 felt the whole thin^ rfre in the air, just like one of those horses with wings you've read about Well, boys, the engine just went clear up off the rails as much as three feet and all that time skimming through the air like a red-hot can­ non-ball. Then she came down with the pilot in the ties and the biggest roar, like a mad elephant; and when I got my senses, there 1 was holding Jim by the leg, and both of us sit­ ting in the ditch, he with his arm, broke and three ribs smashed, and I with a leg fractured and ear gone. It was a close shave Train it piled up on the track, but no o< hurt much, only shook up. What do you think that was I shovelled in that raised us? A load of dynamite some fiend had mixed in with the coal before we started. And I got tbe whole of it at one shovel­ ful. Jim says coal is fast enough for him. 1 agree with him. Dynamite is too hasty. A Lover's Catechism. ' "In the long rubber of connubial life." rubs must come, and the prob­ lem is to foresee them and avoid them while it is yet time. An Italian writer advises the swam to cross-examine the nymphs's uiaij, If she has one, and her farmers, if she is a landholder, and her coachman and her late governess. But there is a trifling want of chivalry in such an inquest Better and more openly fair it would be to print von the back of the lists of dances used at balls) a Lover's Catechism. Questious could be asked about tastes and ideals. Thus, "Do you prefer town or coun­ try?"--a very important question, whereon may turn domestic tran­ quility. "Are you a ladyof decision, or do you like to make up your mind at the last moment?" This is momentous. There are wives and husbands who lay plans as deep and as much oeforehand as any Moltke, and who are excessively an­ noyed if any change is made in their programe. Others enjoy the sensa­ tion of not being committed to any­ thing, and if a train starts at > p m. do not know at 5 p. m. whether or not thef mean to take it --The Sat­ urday Review. No^rprislns. A young woman, lately returned from Euroie, was talking with a friend about her expeilence'j. If she is correctly reported by the Boston Transcript it must be admitted that a foreign tour is not of necessity a liberal edu at ion. She .was telling about the wonder­ ful smoothness and pleasantness of the homeward voyage. "It is a little surprising tbat you should have had clear weather and nothing else," remarked her friend, who felt obliged to say something. "Not at all," answered the young lady. "I was told that the captain swept the sky with his telescope tbe first thing every morning." DAN DAWSON'S VOICE WAS SOFT Bat Bit Grip Wm Hard as Iron aaal'* Polleenaan Poond tt Ottt. The dual development of the late Dan Dawson, the poet-athlete, never was better shown than in an episode described by a Philadelphia who knew him* "Dan Dawson was the last band In the world to pick a quarrel," he said, "and the last man to quit onej I was walking with him in the suburb* of Philadelphia one ntght, smoking and talking about some poems be had in contemplation. Some sortj of a row broke out across tbe street from us. Ivow, Dan always sniffed a battle afar off. He ran across ^ibe street and found a big policeman drubbing a man who wasn't bigger than a minute. "Dan had the softest poetry voice in the world, and he turned it on and .said to the policeman: 'Don't do that' His tone was a coax. "The copper paid no heed to him and went on with his duty.' " 'Don't do that,' he repeated. It was said so quietly, so softly. The man in brass buttons turned around on him and thundered. 'You keep your mout' shut and gittell out o* dis, 'r I'll give y' a chuck up in de lug au' ruu ye in.' lie began opera­ tions on the little man again, but again Dawson Interposed: 'Don't do that I sa .' And with that be caught the policeman by the triceps' with tbat grip of his. He learned it when, as a boy, he was handling iron lails in the Pennsylvania mills. He put his four finger j into one side ot the policeman's arm and histhumb into the other, and then he shut them down like a pair of forceps. His face was pretty white and his lips tight shut, and when he opened them, at the policeman's grunt ot pain, be said, 'Don't do that' The accent was on tbe 'don't' " 'What shall I do?' said the blue- coat " 'Go about your business. Take care of those rowdies on the corners up there, and don't be pickin' on a man because you know you're big enough to best him.' "The policeman gave the little man one parting admonition^by way of a bluff, and went off down the street straightening out his arm. Dan walked on, talking aboufc&ia poems." • • .,,.jV • The Ghost of Theodorlc. ' In the town of Ravenna they show a piece of masonry, the remaius of a doorway, and a del.cate pillared win­ dow, builton to a modem house, which is identified (but wrongly, I am told) as Theodor c's palace, by its resemblauce to tbe golden palace with the looped-up curtains on the mosaic of the neighboring church. Into the wall of this building is built a great Koman porphyry bath, with rings carved on it. to which time has adjusted a lid of brilliant green lichen. There is no more. But The- odoric still haunts Ravenna. 1 have always, ever since I have known the town, been anxious to know more about Theodoric, but the accounts are jejune, prosaic, not at all answering to what that gieat King, who took his place with Attila and sigurd in the gieat northern epic, must have been. Historians represent him generally as a sort ot superipr barbarian, trying to assimi­ late and save the civilization ne was bound to destroy: an Ostrogothic King trying to be a homun Emperor; a military<organizer and bureaucrat exchanging bis birthright of Valhalla for Heaven knows what aulic red- tape miseries. But tbat is unsatis­ factory. Tbe real man, the Berserker, try­ ing to tame himself into the CiBsarof a fallen home, seems to come out of the legends of his remorse and vis­ ions, pursued by the ghosts of Boeth- lus and >ymmachus, tbe wise men he had slain in his madness.--Vernon Lee in Macmillau's Magazina > v. •|£!" I t i hr'r : v Water for Jerngnl^np. The Turkish Ministry of Tublic Works has determlned'uppn the re­ construction ot the ancien{j water conduits of Jerusalem, dating: jfjom the age of King i^olouiori^" 'By this leans it would betpossi^ WccMv^y , «;U0 cubic metres of waters daily to the Holy City. Of thi^ Jt is'p'f<rt)6s<?d, to give l,o00 metres iaWav free of charge to the poor of Jerusalem, the distribution to take place at the Mosque of Omar, the Holy Sepulchre, and other places frequented by the pilgrims. The new conduits are to be joined to the ancient aqueducts of Arob, and are to be carried through a tunnel 3,570 metres in length. The total outlay in connection with these works is estimated at 2,tOO,OuO francs.--London Standard. At the Center of tbe Eartb. Speculate a little on what would be the probable condition of some of the common substances if they could be taken to the center of the earth--• say to a distance of 4,000 miles straight down under your feet. Prof. Leslie says tbat water at the depth of 3<>i: miles, would be of the density of quicksilver, and that air at a depth T)f only thirty-four miles woulo\be as thick and heavy as water. It is true that we are ignorant of the laws of compression beyond a depth of a paltry few thousand feet but it is be­ lieved that water at the center of tbe earth would be as dense as lead, and tbat a block of steel four feet square would be reduced to the size of a child's ABC took! Didn't Mind Converts. There is one delightful anecdote touching .the King of Ava's reply to tbe request of an Ameri an mission­ ary for leave to try to make converts among the King's subjects. The King told Dr. Price that be granted his request and tbat he might preach his religion, but whenever his sub­ jects were converted by it he should cut off their beads and send them at once into the paradise of which the doctor had told them.--The Athe­ naeum. An Immense Profit* The walls of Paris are doomed. No other large city in Europe is sur­ rounded by a wall, and as the one round Paris occupies a space compris ing no fewer than 12,000,000 square yatds, or one-eighth of tbe total area bf the capital, tho State will derive an immense profit from its removal and the sale or the ground which it stands upon. A > . :