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PMLNDEALER J. TAR SLYKE, Editor and Pub, illinoi:- HER CHINESE PUPIL .4 WOMAN CURIOUS "T® KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT HIM. McHENRY. •! m my fe'V To Enable fiersclf to Study Him She Becomes a Sunday-School Teacher, and Visits the Opium Joint of Her Heathen Charge--What She Learned A woman who signs herself Dorothy Dare, curious to know why so many white women become fond of the Chi­ nese, -secured a position as a teacher In a Chinese Sunday school in New York, and very interestingly describes her experienco with the would-be Chris tian, both in school and in his opium joint At her request one of the worst- looking creatures in the whole school was given her as a pupil. "He was, says Miss Pare, "big, fat and greasy, and when I sat down beside him he ! moved his chair close to mine. W I was looking through the lesson books lie was making an inventory of personal appearance. "What is your name?" I asked, : stowing upon him one of my ch< smiles. "Ben Wung. What you name?' "Missy," was my reply. "Missy nice 11*1 glul," he returned, quickly. "Not tloo young, not tloo , old." , "We must attend to our lessons," I said, sevelfely. "It is not right to talk ' when all the rest are studying." He read quite well, and was a credit to his regular teacher's instructions. But he evidently was not in the humor for study, for, after a while, he shut the book with a bang, and informed me be was tired and couldn't read any lon­ ger. Thinking I had better go to head­ quarters to see what was to be done next, I rose from my chair. As I did so, Ben Wung caught hold of my dress. "Where you go?" bp asked. "To speak to Mrs. M.," I said. "You come again?" "Yes." So he released my dress and let me go. "Ben Wung won't study any more,"* I said to the teacher; "he wants to *»llr, 81* "V "MISSY NICE LI'L GLUL." |;:|#nd I am not inclined to talk to him. !&*^Can*t I read with one of the oilers?" "Oh, my dear! that wouldn't do at v ,̂ all!" exclaimed the little woman in • ' great alarm. "If you go to any of the \ others, he will leave the room and s...., never come back!" Seeing how troubled she looked over the probable los&of such a dirty, disrep­ utable sheep from her fold, I relented. "Well, I'll go back to the beast, bnt he flatly refuses to study or read, so I •won't know what to do with him." "Talk, if he wants to, :i&y dear. Who Iknows but you may be able speak .the Word in good season?" ] When I sat down by the greasy Wung again, he began: -J "Missy Molehen. All old hens come here. You nice lil giuL Yon teach next Sunday?" ^ "Perhaps." ' "I bling you nuts, candy, nice things. I bling lil black blalls; make you sleep nlice dleams." "Dope?" I whispered. yf How his wicked little eyes danee<J, as VJ he gave his chair a hitch, and pressed 'close against me! \ ' "You know dope?" he whispered. \<•,' . I nodded. ^ "You come see my laundly. I give yon pipe," he said in low tones. fj '.tf , Just then the closing bell rang, 1 ' barely had time to scribble Wung's ad- "4 „ dress before the last hymn was given out. As the pupils filed out Wung whis- gliy-ifc. pered in my ear: "You no tell?" A? f;. I shook my head and gave him a 1 sweet smile. isT:": The very next day I went to the East to find Wung's laundry. It was a r". , dingy little den, quite as dirty as Wung f, himself. When I entered Wung was |L talkin» to a customer. When she had §?;' gone Wung locked the door. Before I r, ^4? fairly knew what he was about he had 'Iff pnlled down the heavy red curtain and w:-?. Wg chair cfaae t» pot the layout OB his knee. "We smoke he said, leering at me, "and then we have nice sleep.** "No, we want/' I exclaimed, think­ ing the affair had gone far enough. As I arose from the chair he pushed me back roughly. "You stay here!** he hissed, all his evil nature flashing through his wicked eyes. His sudden movement caused him to drop one of the pipes, and as he step­ ped to pick It up I saw my opportunity. II was the work of a moment to give the creature a violent push, and in the twinkling of an eye Wung, the chair and the layout were all-in a bunch on the floor! How he swore, and how sorry I was that I could not understand the Chl- "ico shoot! ho shoot!" he implored. nese language! He was fat and clum­ sy, and the chair was lying on his head. I could not help laughing as I stepped around him carefully and made a dash for the outside door. . Imagine my dismay to find that he had withdrawn the key! And even as fumbled at the knob he was beside me, looking uglier and more wicked than ever. As he grasped my arm I drew back and said: Keep your hands off me, yoO miser­ able creature, and unlock this door at once!" Yon stay here," he begin, but went no further, for I had drawn a revolver from my pocket and had pointed It straight at his face. No shoot! No shoot!" he implored, backing away from me and presenting in his sudden and abject cowardice a most ludicrous contrast to his previous manner. "Open the door or I wilL** With fumbling fingers he obeyed, and In another moment I was on the side­ walk, making tracks for home. I confess I did not find out why white women ever become-fond of Chinamen* £ Ittl ItfSlGH ISAAC P. GRAY IS DEAD EIGHT DOLLARS PER YEAR. It Went Off. Barnnm used to tell the story of a cer­ tain showman, who combined with the ordinary circus performance a display of fireworks. At one time he advertised the "Battle of Trafalgar," with burning ships, blaz­ ing oceans, and other magnificent ef­ fects. He drew such a vivid picture of that great naval encounter that the people from the entire country side were at­ tracted to see it. When the time arrived the showman brought his guiding hand to bear on the set piece, applied the match in the us­ ual manner, and retired to await re­ sults. Several minutes passed, but no battle ensued. The showman then stepped forward and addressed the crowd. It has not went off," he remarked, and proceeded to investigate. Again the same result followed, again. It has not went off, ladies and gen­ tlemen," continued the showman. "I will now show you the great earth­ quake of Lisbon." He gathered the fireworks together and filled a barrel with them. He poured turpentine over them, and sprinkled the lot freely with gunpow­ der. Once more he applied the torch, with astonishing results. There was an explosion, and when all was over he gave a parting address. It has went off, ladies and gentle­ men, and so has three fingers of my hand. Good evening, and many thanks. The earthquake will not be repeated." PNEUMONIA KILLS OUR MINIS­ TER TO MEXICO. / - \ Contracted on« Trip to Washington-- Goes to His Post 111--Pullman Con­ ductor Finds Him Unconscious--End Comes in a few Honrs, Citizen, Soldier, and Party JUadit. United States Minister Isaac P. Gray died at the City of Mexco at 7 :G5 Thurs­ day evening. Minister Gray had just re­ turned from a trip to Washington with a severe case of pneumonia. A Pullman car conductor found him unconscious. He was carried from the train on a stretcher to the American Hospital. Dr. Bray in­ formed Mrs. Gray that he could not live the day out. He remained unconscious until the time of Lis death. Consul-Gen­ eral Crittenden remained with him dur­ ing the day. Qol. Gray had been ill all the way from- St. Louis &> the City of Mexico. JFirst News at Washington. The first intimation at Washington of the condition of Minister Gray came in the following dispatch to the State De­ partment from' Mr. Butler, charge d* affaires in the American Legation at the City of Mexico: "Minister Gray arrived here- very ill with double pneumonia, and is still un­ conscious." The news of the death of Minister Gray was received with sincere expressions of regret. He was in Washington recently, having gone there at the commencement WASHINGTON IN CAMP QUAINT OLD MANUSCRIPTS AND ORDERS. first Year of the Continental Army- General Washington's First Instruc­ tions to His Officers and Enlisted Men--Against Waste of Powder. ?'£V. §&y , *• is? ;"W6kp YOVB HANDS OFF ME, YOU MISER­ ABLE CBEATL'HE." i • ; pulled me into the inner room. Pushing a chair toward me, he said, Insinuat Ingly: \ "Yon no 'flaid me?" "No," I answered. .. "I cook some dope. We smoke pipe.' "I don't know how," was my reply. "That's lie," he exclaimed, angrily. "Eeally, I don't, Wung," I repeated; ul never smoked a bit of opium in my life." "You no tell truth," retorted Wung, as he scowled at me. "I see it at Sun day school, here and there," putting his finger as he spoke first to one eye and then the other; "you smoke dope plenty time." , And then I saw that to the heathen mind there was no difference between the heavy eyelids of the victim of in­ somnia and the flabby lids of the dope fiend. That, then, was the reason Ben Wung had taken to me so promptly. The room into which I had been somewhat forcibly ushered was a dirty little cubbyhole, containing a bed, a table and two little chairs. When the eplum was ready, Wung drew" the other The Adhesive Plaster. In one family, where there are nu­ merous sideaches, backaches, bruises, and strains, the porous plaster has come to be a recognized institution. Its putting on is generally accepted with delight, but when it comes to the taking off, the "oh, dears," and "don'ts," and cries of pain are many and emphatic. Even after the plaster is pulled off there is a layer of adhesive gum on the skin that is struggled with in all sorts of ways. Sometimes the razor is em­ ployed for scraping; sometimes a sharp knife Is brought into use, and, again, a soft warm cloth is pressed over the spot, and when this has firmly attached itself, the peeling process goes on. Those who have occasion to use this application will find immediate relief from their annoyance, if they will, after raising one side of the plaster, wet the surface of the skin with alco­ hol, allowing it to run down as the plaster is pulled a little. If any of the gummy substance remains, a bit of rag wet with alcohol will cleanse the sur­ face almost immediately. This, also, has another advantage, in that the stimulating effect of the alcohol pre­ vents any possible cold that might be taken on account of the removal of the warm plaster. This Is but a trifle, but it makes easy something that has al­ ways been a bugbear, especially to chil­ dren, and is well worth trying.--New York Ledger. Record of Daily Life. There are in the possession of David Prescott Hall, of the New York bar, a series of quaint old manuscript volumes which look as if they had seen rich ser­ vice. As they were written in the camp of the Continental army during the war of the American revolution, sometimes on the knee of the writer, sometimes on a drumhead; as they were carried about from place to place, borne off in hasty retreats or in forced marches, it must be confessed that their looks do not belie them. Nevertheless, the clever eleven short stout, sturdy books are in a very fair state of preservation and are easily legible, save occasionally at the corners, which'^are in some places frayed and worn. 6When I add that these orderly books contain the general orders of Wash­ ington to his army it will be seen that their interest and value are very great. These orderly books are in the hand­ writing of Colonel Grosvenor. On their yellow, time-stained pages one can trace the record of Washington's daily struggles to organize and discipline the army, from the day when he first took command of it under the spreading elm at Cambridge. They abound with vice to the great and common cause In which we are all engaged." The seventh order pf this day's series urges the officers to keep their men in good condition. "All officers are required and expected to pay diligent attention to keep their men neat and clean, to visit their men often at their quarters * • • they are particularly to see that they have straw to lie on if to be had and to make it known if the/ are destitute of this ar­ ticle." j. And the tenth shows that smallpox, which in those days, before the discovery of vaccination, was a terrible scourge, was not far distant: "No person whatever is to be allowed to go to Freshwater a fishing or on any other occasion, as there may be danger of introducing the smallpox into the army." Scarcity of Powder. v The scarcity of powder was one of the most distressing wants of the little army,, and we find it ordered in this first Fourth of July of our national struggle "that there be no pieces of cannon or small arms fired from any of the lines or else­ where, except in the case of necessary defense or special order given for that purpose." Our men could not afford to waste a single round of shot or powder, and this order had to be repeated more than once. Notwithstanding all Washington's cau­ tion, however, it Was found a little later that the powder was almost exhausted. The committee of supplies had made a strange mistake. They had made a, re­ turn of all the powder collected by the province, more than three hundred bar-, rels, but had forgotten to say how much of it had already been used up. There £6 0-2 CJOO 4AT, JL7P. ^o2c ONE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON'S GENERAL ORDERS. mx:, With a Difference. Two men were standing on a street corner recently, talking of the respon­ sibility of contractors for damages to life and limb by reason of building material and excavations. A police­ man came along and listened while one of the party appealed to him for corroboration. "I was saying," said the excited de­ bater, "that if a man should come along and fall down a coal-hole and brean his leg, or be otherwise injured, he has a good case of damages against the property-owner or the city." "Sometimes," put in the policeman, mildly. "I know a case of that kind where a man has got $10,000 damages," said the citileii. pulled out of a coal-hole." "And I knop/of a case where a man was pulled riat of a coal-hole," retorted the policeman, "and be months."--New York the most minute details of the situation, and give us a photographic picture of the army and its surroundings, all in the quaint language and peculiar spelling of that bygone time. One cannot help smil­ ing at these at times, but one hardly knows whether to smile or weep at the forlorn condition of our little army, which is here so vividly revealed. The loftiness and nobility of Wash­ ington's character shine out in these pages. But he often gives (JcpressWn to his surprise and sometime# to his just indignation at the conduct-pf officers and men, who found it very difficult and dis­ tasteful to submit to discipline. Washington's early experience as a soldier had taught him the absolute ne­ cessity of discipline and obedience, and he gradually enforced both in the little army of raw militia, who had to learn that bravery is not the only qualification necessary for a soldier. Washington's First Order. "Headquarters, Cambridge, July the 3d, 1875. "Parole lookout. "Countersign sharp. "Field officer for the day to-morrow, Colonel Gerry. "Field officer of the mainguard to-mor­ row, Major Poor. "Adjutant of the day, Gibbs. "General orders of his Excellency Gen­ eral Washington, esq., commander-ia- chief of the forces of the united colonies in North America. That the colonel or commanding officer of each regiment is ordered forthwith to make two returns of the number of men in their respective Iregiments, distinguishing those who are rick, wounded, or absent on furlough, and also the quantity of ammunition each reg­ iment has." On the next day an extensive series of »rders was given. Returns were to be made by the proper officers of all military and other stores, including "working tools of all kinds, tents and camp kettles." The wise father of his country thus jrged upon his troops the laying aside of all sectionaLspirit: "The Continental Congress having now taken all the troops of the several colonies which have been raised and which may bojbereafter raised for the support and defense of the liberties of America into their pay and service, tfiey are now the troops of the United Prov­ inces of North America, and it is hoped that all distinctions of colonies will be laid aside so that one and the same spirit may animate the whole and the only con­ test be who shall, on this greatajid trying •ccaaioo, be of the most essential ser- was only enough to furnish nine cart­ ridges to each man. On the 4th of August Washington wrote to the President of Congress, tell­ ing them of this distressing state of things, and on the same day he issued this order: " « "It is with indignation and shame that the General observes, notwithstanding the repeated orders which have been given to prevent the firing of guns in and about the camp, that it is daily and hourly practiced contrary to all orders; that straggling soldiers practice to pass the guards and "tiro at a distance, when there is not the least probability of hurt­ ing their enemies, and by which no other, end is answered than to waste their am* munition and keep their own companica in pregnant and continual alarms, to the of the continental army needed to have their stock of powder examined, just as a boy's pockets need a' nightly overhaul­ ing by his mother. To Respect Private Property. Two days after he attained command, Washington issued the following order: "The General most earnestly recom­ mends and requires of all the officers that they be exceedingly diligent and strict in preventing all invasion^ and capture of private property in their quarters or else­ where. He hopes and indeed flatters him­ self that every private soldier will abhor and detest such practices when he con­ siders that it is for the preservation of his own rights, liberty and property and those of his fellow countrymen; that he is now called into service; that it is un­ manly and sullies the dignity of the great cause in which we are all engaged to vicUate that property he is called to pro­ tect, and especially that it is most cruel and inconsistent to thus add to the dis­ tress of those of their countrymen who are Buffering under the iron hand of op­ pression." Thus, with an eye for detail which re­ minds us of Napoleon, did Washington day after day inspect, exhort, chide and praise his little army, until the feeble crescent of his forces grew to be a circlet of steel about the British army as it lay in Boston Town, forcing the proud Gen­ eral Howe to a precipitate retreat. Early in March Washington seized up­ on and fortified Dorchester Heights (now South Boston), riding among his troops, animating and encouraging them, and reminding them that it was March 5--the anniversary of the Boston massacre. The forts poured a heavy cannonade against our breastworks, but in vain. We were masters of the situation, the power of the British received a severe blow, and Washington took possession of Boston amid general rejoicings. Often in the days of my childhood I played among the remains of the old for­ tifications on Dorchester Heights; now the hills have all been dug down in the march of progress. On the birthday of the father of his country it becomes us all to look back to those times of early struggles, poverty, and patriotism, and to remember that ours is the work to keep the path of pro­ gress still the path of patriotism.--Flor­ ence Marion Howe Hall. ISAAC P. OB IN WASHINGTON'S DAY.J) A Dinner at Which a Toaat Met with No Applause. A venerable physician describes an In­ cident in which his father had taken part. The first blood of the Revolution hud been shed at Lexington; each colony had voted to raise its poor quota of men, and in the Colonial Congress, George Washington, a young member from Vir­ ginia, had been appointed to lead them to the field. On the evening of the same day he was invited, with Thomas Jefferson, John Ad­ ams, Charles Thompson (surnamed Truth by the Indians, and probably the last white man whom they would have sc named), and one or two others to join a dinner party, given in a "House of Call" at Gary's Ferry, a picturesque suburb of the town. The dinner was discussed with gusto and merriment until the host called upon his guests to rise, and proposed "the health of General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Armies." Instead of applause there was a sudden death-like silence. Th&Conti< '4 SKETCH FROU TRUMBULL'S PAINTING OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL hurt and detriment of every good soldier, which is thereby disturbing his natural rest, and at length will never be able to distinguish between a real and false alarm." After forbidding all persons to nass the out guards without proper au­ thorization, and declaring that any pne offending in this way will be considered as a common enemy, to be fired upon as such, the order continues thus: "The col­ onels of regiments and commanders of corps are ordered to see to it that the rolls of every company be called twice a day and every man's ammunition exam-j ined at evening roll call, and such as are found to be deficient are to be confined." In other 'words, some of the soldiers plined, unarmed men; opposed\to them was the most powerful nation on earth. It was the first time that Washington's position and the desperate venture on which they had entered had been formu­ lated into words. Washington, who had risen smiling, stood silent and pale; one by one the glasses' which had been raised were set down untouched. Not one of the startled men, who held at that mo­ ment the destinies of the coatinent in their hands, remembered to drink the toast.--Philadelphia Times. ' Much doing is nut, so important as. well doing. of the recent'trouble between Mexico and Guatemala and consulted with the Presi­ dent and Secretary of State as to the best means of preventing war between the two countries. Was In Chicago Monday. Pierre Gray, son of the dead minister to Mexico, said to a reporter at Indianapo­ lis: "Father started to the City of Mexico from Chicago Monday morning. He had been in Washington a short time a week or so before he left here to return to his post of duty, and had caught cold, his trip being in the coldest kind of weather. But he took some medicine and when he left he was in a fair state of health. He wired us from Chicago, and the next day we received a letter from him, but he did not say that he was at all ill. He went over the Wabash road direct to Laredo, Mex., without change of sleeper, going through St. Louis. We heard nothing more of him until a message said a porter had found him uncpnscious at 2 o'clock in the morning in hiB berth. I knew noth­ ing more of the circumstances." It is believed the wish to reach his fam­ ily and avoid stopping off en route among strangers led him to attempt too much in endeavoring to make the journey through in his enfeebled condition. Mrs. Gray was reported to have been too ill to ac­ company her husband at the time he was summoned by the dangerous illness of his son Pierre. It is understood now she has recovered sufficiently to accompany the body home. The body will be taken to his former home, Union City, Ind., for burial. Twice Governor of Indiana. Isaac Pusey Gray was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Oct. 18, 1828. His parents removed to Ohio in 1836. Young Gray received a common school educa­ tion and early entered on the study of the law. His poverty, however, compelled him to accept a clerkship in a general store at New Madison. In 1855 he moved with his family to Union City, Ind. In 18G2 he waB appointed colonel of the , Fourth Indiana Cavalry by Gov. Morton and organized the One Hundred and For­ ty-seventh Infantry in 1864. In 1866 he was the candidate for Congress in oppo­ sition to George W. Julian, being defeat­ ed by 300 votes. Two years later he was elected to the State Senate, where he made himself famous as president of that body by locking the Democratic members in and counting them to obtain the pass­ age of a ratification of the fifteenth amendment. He was offered the consul- #hip to St. Thomas in 1870, but declined Kit. His connection with the Democratic party dates from 1871, when he failed to get the nomination for Governor from the hands of the Republican party. He was a delegate-at-large to the Liberal Re­ publican convention of 1872 and was ap­ pointed by the convention member of the. National Committee for Indiana. His name was before the Democratic State convention 4n 1872 for Congressman-at- large and in 1874 for Attorney General, but was withdrawn both times at his re­ quest. The State convention' of 1876 nominated him by acclamation for Lieu­ tenant Governor, to Which office he was elected with "Bluejeans" Williams, whom he succeeded as Governor on the latter's death. In 1883 he received the compli­ mentary nomination of the Democratic minority for the United States Senator* ship. In 1884 he- was elected Governor against William H. Calkins, receiv­ ing the nomination by a two-thirds vote of the convention. After his last term as Governor ex­ pired he followed the practice of his pro­ fession in Indianapolis in partnership with his son, Pierro Gray, until he was called, to the Mexican mission by Presi­ dent Cleveland two years ago. In 1850 he married Miss Eliza Jaque, of Darke County, Ohio. They have two children living--Pierre, who is a lawyer in Indian­ apolis, and Bayard, who has been acting as his father's private secretary in Mex­ ico- What He Did. A man read in the paper that the fam­ ily should always be the scene of laugh­ ter and merriment, and that no meal should be passed in the moody silence that so often characterizes such occa­ sions. The idea struck him so favora­ bly that when his family had gathered round the table that evening he said: "Now, this sort of thing of keeping so mum at meals has got to stop. Yoti hear me, you girls? You begin to tell stories, and keep up an agreeable sort of talk like; and you, boys, laugh and be Jolly, or I'll take and dust your jack­ ets till you can't stand. Now, begin!** The glare that he sent round the table made the faniily resemble a funeral • party. ' « % ,. Small Coat at Telephones to greasive Village in the Catskilla. W An Instructive example of the results which may be obtained by co-operation «• and the exercise of a modicum of pub- ̂ lie spirit is presented by the little town of Stamford, in the Catskill Mountains, rfff§ New York. Und6r the stimulating in- *1 fluence of one of Its energetic citizens - the people of Stamford hare organized » a. village improvement society, the members of which make it their bo si- ness to induce the denizens of the town v > to keep their lawns well trimmed and their fences in repair under penalty of ̂ social ostracism. They have obtained •' for their town complete systems of .; sewers and electric ligMs and a supply "V m of excellent water. The methods of the society are bwt ^ Illustrated, perhaps, by its latest ^ '* achievement--the introduction of .a tele- 1 phone exchange, which costs each sub­ scriber just $8 a year. WItji a capital of $1,000, contributed by twenty per-, sons at the rate of $50 eaca, it was pos- ? sible, says the Philadelphia Record, to erect poles, string wires, purchase a' • switch-board and provide each sub­ scriber with a 'phone of approved pat­ tern, omitting only some trifling at­ tachments which are stU covered by patents. The village storekeeper, In consideration of a salary of $100, was induced to accept th| position of "Cen­ tral" and work the switch-board. An . assessment of $5 a year upon each o£ the patrons had been found sufficient to pay all the expenses of operation,' ^ Including ordinary repairs; and $3 ad- ditional from each subscriber would pay 6 per cent, interest upon the small amount of capital required to extend the service to the house of every rest* ~ dent within the radius of & mile from the center of the village." jy* There Is scarcely a village or town in this country containing between 1,000 and 10,000 inhabitants in which the methods adopted at Stamford to secure these various public conveniences could not be introduced to the great comfort and profit of its people. Wherever there is a near-by water power nature has provided a village or town with the means of producing electricity for light* 1 ing and motive power at rates far low those ordinarily charged by private corporations; and it is only necessary that tlie spirit of co-operation shall be sufficiently aroused among the towns­ people to induce them to help them­ selves. " LITTLE DANGER ON THE SEA. It Is Just About aa Safe aa Staying on the Land, Nearly 700,000,000 people carried on American steamers during the last fis­ cal year, and only 255 lives lost, of whom but 06 were passengers, Is the prominent feature of the new annual re­ port of Supervising Inspector General Dumont of steam vessel inspection ser­ vice, says the Marine Journal. This is a smaller mortality among the same number of people, we have no doubt, than if they had all stayed at home and went regularly to bed, to say nothing of traveling by rail. It proves again what we have often remarked that travel by American steamers, under the system of Inspection now enforced, is the safest that could possibly be devised. Thirty- five of the ninety-six passengers above referred to lost their lives in one dis­ aster, the sinking of the tugboat James D. Nicol off Sandy Hook, on a Sunday in June last, and Gen. Dumont states that this disaster was due solely to the fact that the tug was being navigated by a person wholly Inexperienced. It is further stated In the report that of the nearly 11,000 boilers inspected, accidents causing the loss of life have occurred to but fifteen of them, defects in upward of 700 being detected and remedied. Also, that of 100,274 new; life-preservers examined, only slxtyi four were found deficient This state-; ment shows that as great care is takei^j In the inspection of equipments to pre­ vent disaster as in the machinery em* ployed to run them and the men who* man them. In regard to the latter, no less than thirty-eight applicants for master's and pilot's licenses were rej Jected during the year, on account or color blindness, although 1,544 passe^ the tests. All of which goes to showi that the traveling public and the steam vessel fraternity as well have every rea­ son to repose full confidence in the In­ spection system as at present managed. An Odd Ceremonial. One of the queerest of all the queer ceremonies kept alive in Japan is that observed by the descendants of a na-i tive millionaire, its object being the worship of old straw sandals. They have a special reason for veneratingj cast-off foot-gear of this description^ they being the origin of the rise of the family from a condition of obscurity; to its present opulent state. It seems ttat the founder of the house was a petty tenant farmer, who was at one time so poor that he succeeded only by dint of the most arduous labor in mak­ ing ends meet After several years of a hand-to-mouth existence he began to make straw sandals in the brief inters vals of his work a-field. To the sur­ prise of the neighbors, he made no at­ tempt to sell the produce of his indus­ try,' but he kept on adding to the slowly accumulating heap of sandals. For more than two years he spent every spare moment in this manner, and finally had so many sandals on hand that he had no more room to store them. He theri hired a couple of* junks, and loading them both with san­ dals, set sail for Sado. On reaching the island the shrewd man applied td the official superintending the great* gold mine, begging that he might te permitted to present a lot of new san« dais to the miners, in return for which he desired only to receive the old, worn-out foot-gear of the men. This innocent request was readily complied with by the officer in charge, and the farmer soon left for home with Lis| junks laden with sandals. So soon as he returned he set to work boiling the sandals given hfrn, and was re­ warded by gaining from them no less than 340 pounds ot pure gold. ThSs^ was the origin of that great fortune which the founder of the family be­ queathed to his descendants, and every year since then the grateful heirs, have performed a solemn ceremony in npnor of old sandals. r ' v.; .The engines of the world can do work of 1,000,000,000 men. - i ' Engines of the World. •s of •it? J.*?