The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

* "tff " ^ ^ V, v» ** rv ^i^p?^- - ^ v ? ?r ~* f,r &*"' /, \ > & •t / fm *-«? <w ^ gujbsiam SVIN o^- V\M^JS> P/NATA WHjMACHTy/IAN I * TO GATHER DATA OF INTEREST. Officers of Leading Railroads Ar».^. Soon to Hold Conference. Director George Otis Smith of tfc* United States geological survey has Invited officers of the leading railroads of the country to a conference oii a co-operative plan by which it is ex­ pected the railroads will be able to save thousands of dollars a year. The plan also contemplates most effective assistance to the government on the part of railroads. The scheme, which has already been approved by a number of the en­ gineers of the big lines, is one for the gathering of facts as to the amount of water flowing in the rivers of the country under certain conditions" and in different periods of the year. Nat­ urally, the railroads have been chief sufferers from floods in the baBlns where their tracks lie. They have suffered not only from damage to their own property, but they have been sued by other corporations and private citizens on the ground that their bridges and culverts were the causes of flood damage. The railroad authorities have felt that many judg­ ments against the roads might not have been rendered if they had been, able to produce authentic figures on floods. But they have not been able to do this. The national conservation commission has been advtsed of the proposed plan and whatever results come from it will undoubtedly be considered by the commission at its joint meeting with the governors of the states, or their representatives, in Washington in December. IN MAINE ft A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND FOR 81R NIMROD. X" the Thirst for Adventure Is Abroad In the Great Woods. is Ii F AN American, who had not seen much of the world, should awake on Christmas r:orn while a German, French, English, Ital­ ian, Swiss or Danish Christmas celebration was in progress in his vicinity, he would imag­ ine himself within the exclusive confines of a home for the mentally incompetent. The American Christ- mas is a matter-of-fact festive occasion. People begin buy­ ing presents a week before; they pre­ sent them Christmas morning and the next day return to work, the entire affair forgotten until the following brings the season around again. Not so in the countries across the water. They observe every tradition In the mother lands; they plan for weeks and the festivities which mark the birth of Jesus Christ are carried on for a week or more. The Christ­ mas tree in Germany is allowed to remain decorated far into the next year, extending over a period of sev- eral months. Unique ceremonies grace the Danish, French, Swiss and Scotch Christmas celebrations and that which the Teu­ tons foster have been handed down from ages. In Mexico one of the treas­ ured customs is the breaking of the Pinata, a tradition being connected with the little ceremony which ushers in Christmas day. A queerly con­ structed efflgy of a woman is hung up in a corner of a room and a child blindfolded, armed with a stick, pro­ ceeds to dislodge the old woman from Her position close to the ceiling. When the feat is accomplished the presents contained under the covering of the dress of the figure are distributed. The beauty of that little game is the uncertainty attending the possibility of the woman being dislodged and second, the uncertain­ ty as to whether the less favored of the family circle will draw any presents from the treasure store beneath the skirts of the woman. Christmas, of course, is observed only in Chris- ,tian countries, but some heathen, in fact, nearly all of them, have one day or another on which to receive and send presents to their friends and others who are not friends. In countries ruled .toy absolute monarchies, the rulers are sometimes afraid to open their gift receptacles for the rea­ son that oftentimes treasonable persons inclose i fancy little bombs not marked in the invoice. Of • coarse such undesirable persons do not have any | more Christmases to celebrate, affairs being ar- j ranged in that manner if they are caught. J While the Christmas idea is practically the | same in most countries of the globe which ob­ serve the day, there is a great variety of presents and a certain nation's desire for gifts made in wide variance to that which the next door neigh­ bor believes in. Germans as a rule give the chil­ dren presents, most of which are made In this country, while Americans are always particular about buying the babies toys marked "made in Germany." A Frenchman told a clever little story at a Christmas banquet in Paris a year ago, which ran along on that line. He was enamoured with a beautiful young lady whose home was on Rue de BouJevarde. She was of artistic taste, so he stud­ ied her desire In painting creations for three weeks before Christmas. At last he came to the conclusion that probably as oil painting by a noted French artist might please her. He took special pains to hunt out a store where he might procure one. He did and put several weeks' salary into the gift. He had it delivered Christmas morning and re­ ceived a cordial note of thanks from the young lady, who unfortunately had not thought to pur­ chase anything for him. This, of course, was em- • barrassing to both parties, hut that evening while fondling the creation in his presence she hap­ pened to scah the back of the portrait. It said: "Hade in Hoboken, N. J." She was in the midst of thanks and an embarrassing explanation of Why she hadn't sent him a present, when she .noticed the birthmark of the oil painting. She stopped, and< they haven't spoken to each other Ance, according to the story. .sAll of which goes to show that the value of a gift more than the spirit which the giver exhibits JB.EI FOR, CHILD MODELS IN P/SBM proportion to population Is the biggest national distributor of gifts. There are many concerns in Ger­ many, England and France which con­ fine themselves exclusively to the manu­ facture of gifts such as are exchanged only during the celebration of the birth of Christ. Besides being a holi­ day which should be devoted to worship of Jesus Christ, it is a day which is 1 looked forward to by merchants as a ' big source of profit. In other countries, as In America, there are many small Christmas trage­ dies enacted because of the dislike which some folks take to gifts and be­ cause of the thoughtlessness of others in omitting some of their friends. Some make it a rule, and advertise it well, that they have decided to confine gifts to the Immediate family circle, so that none will take offense if they receive no gifts from their hitherto cherished friends. Of course the ones who are notified of the change in the routine are careful to scratch off the names of the friends who have eliminated them so that when Christmas comes there is no needless embarrassment. The poets once sang: "It is not the gift, but the spirit of the giver," and also "Don't look a gift horse in the A Master of Railroading. Excepting, perhaps, Porflrio Diaz, there appears no more amazing figure on the modern horizon than this same Harriman. It is useless to try to de­ fine him or analyze or explain him. To get a faint idea of this man's measure spread out the biggest map of the Uni­ ted States that you can find, make a pin prick inside the diminutive circle that represents the city of New York, and then look out over the expanses that lie between it and Puget sound on the north, Chihuahua and Sonora and Durango on the south, and think what concepts, what visions of accom­ plishment were growing in his mind from the time as a poor dominie's son he left school and went to work, and through the long years when he sat in a broker's office and fought the cease­ less battle of Wall street finance. Many men dream by night and axe Alexanders of the imagination by day. Here is one who, amid the moiling of the market, where every flying minute is a fight for life, mastered in some mysterious way the subtle science of railroading in its infinite detail, and mapped out meanwhile a field of ac­ tion which, now that the action Is in progress, makes Alexander seem like a petty Greek adventurer. lie took a course of railroad training in the af­ fairs of the Illinois Central, and when. In the very midst of national demorali­ zation, he stepped Into the railroad arena and gave $60,000,000 for the derelict that was known as Union Pa­ cific, a draggled creature of the rail­ road market-place that every philan­ dering speculator had had his will of, men laughed, as the cynic courtiers of Italy did at credulous Columbus.-- Harper's Weekly. Haihe is still the nlace of big1 game, and the open bunting season finds many hunters scouring the woods for a chance shot at the moose, deer and bear to be found there. The hunting camps of to-day are much more ac­ cessible nowadays than they were 10, 15 or 20 years ago. With the aid of such skilled guides as Maine produces in abundance there is no reason why the sportsman should not get a fair share of the glory. In order to be successful as a big game hunter there aije a great map? things to be remembered. Questid^js are frequently asked on the subject which one would suppose every man and boy knew, and it seems absurd to state that there are people who have an idea that all that is necessary to get big game is buy a rifle and go into Ahe woods. Although there are large quantities of moose and deer throughout the vari­ ous hunting sections of Maine, one must not expect they come out to be shot at. Your quarry Is naturally timid and must be approached very careful­ ly If you wish to get within shooting distance. I have seen men go into the woods with khaki and corduroy clothes that rustled and sang, and sounded like a firecracker every time a branch or twig hit them, with the results that although there were numbers of signs all around they never caught sight of the game. Then again there are men who while on the trail will a^ the most inoppor­ tune moment insist on speaking in a loud tone of voice--they seldom catch up with their quarry. When in the neighborhood of game it^ is a good idea to forget that you have a tongue in your head and entirely convey your ideas by signs. I have known several instances when the snapping of a twig under foot spoiled the labors and anx­ iety of a long and tedious hunt. The bear found in New England are of small variety, and common black bears are timid creatures and will not show fight unless wounded. They live on berries and are very partial to carrion. Dr. Fales, the well-known Massa­ chusetts sportsman, when he was in the Provinces early last month, went out with an Indian hunter named Sam Glode and had no great difficulty In "calling" a fine bull moose. An otherwise good authority on big game, A. J. Stone, has denied that the bull ever takes any serious notice of • • - 'ff; the spurious call of the cow and asks: "How many of these hunters have heard the call of a cow moose to give them authority to decide how pep. fectly the birch bark horn in the hands of their guide Imitated tfe#- cow's call?" But probably innumerable reputable moose hunters in Maine and Canada have listened to the genuine call of the cow moose, not once, but time and time again, at various distances and under different atmospheric condi­ tions. # The first step in learning to "call" a"'- moose is mastery of the real call--of * A Maine Bear. the "call" of some mate-seeking cow. To master the "cg.ll" one must have all ear for music, some knowledge of mimicry and* considerable experience in woodcraft. The "call" Is reproduced through a megaphone-like horn of birch bark. To be successful one must under­ stand not only how to imitate the dif­ ferent kinds of calls, such as the plain low, the whine; but also where and at what time of day to call and how to vary the call as the bull approaches or when he is near, but hesitates to come out into the open, where he may be shot. Nothing Is easier than to start a distant bull, as he Is at this season on the qui vlve for some hint from a lovesick' cow, and he will generally start toward any unusual sound. The nearer he comes the harder it is to fool him, and if he at last boldly marches out to his death the caller may be sure than he Is a master play­ er on the bark call. Studying Rivers te­ la taken into consideration by some persons. The young man, probably, was sorry for the abrupt termination of his friendship with the young lady, but perhaps it was for the best. That was his version of it, anyhow. Most English speaking nations celebrate Christ- mastide just as we Americans do, but each has its little self-made variation. In Italy they celebrate with a grand dance, as a rule, and they take great pains to be attired In gaudy raiment. The Danish are very deliberate about their Christmas festivi­ ties and great fetes and gifts are the order of the day. The Swiss are fervent in their worship of the Saviour on that day and the little children dressed for gala affairs parade the streets in or­ der that their parents may look at them and com­ pare them with the "kids next door." Many persons who have read much history and who have been able to persuade themselves that the present century Is all wrong as to the date of the birth of Christ, are skeptical as to whether we should observe the sacred day when we do. Estimates as to when Christ was born extend clear from June to January 26. Prior to the fourth century Christmas was not observed on December 25, for there waB no period of uniformity In observing the day among the early churches. The skeptical persons who have studied the thing from end to end say that on December 25 It rained in Judea and then attention is called to the Biblical statement that shepherds were watching their flocks when Christ was born. Now how could they watch their flocks when.it was raining? is the argument of the unbelievers ^ that December 25 is the correct day of feast. One person who is not skeptical declared that perhaps they didn't have sense enough to come in out of the rain in those days. But of course that is no argument. The chances are the calendars have been changed so much that the original December 25, if hunted down, would be found flirting with May 1. Of course the correct day upon which to worship has much to do with the feeling of Christians in the matter, but at the same time. If the event is properly observed the time of observance is but a detail. . Many good churchmen who seldom attepd church on Sundays find Christmas an excellent day to attend church because it only falls on Sun­ day once in seven years and it doesn't break in on their weekly holiday morninjg nap. Millions of dollars are spent ehrery year in every country of the globe for presents. It is'declared in mercantile circles that the* United States in mouth." There are dozens of little Chrlstmastide axioms of that kind which are used and misused toward the end of the year. That first saying has been cleverly shifted about in this manner: "It is not the gift, but the price which the giver putteth into the gift." The proper Christmas spirit as told from the pulpit is far from that which many follow out in selecting presents. Mother countries exhibit less interest in costly gifts than does America. Travel- f , tttM| a.- era in countries of the old world have been sur refersm w /.I'ui!..'.., '. i. 1! "O. K." Railway men--conductors, engineers and brakemen--are so accustomed to communicate with each other by means of gestures that the habit of looking for such dumb signals be­ comes a kind of second nature. In this connection a western railroad of­ ficial tells of an amusing Incident in that part of his state where It Is so common for cattle to be run over that the manager of one "Jerk-water" line required his engineers to report all such accidents, with full particulars as to place, time and clroumNtaiios. One day a rum plaint wait i<t«l¥sd at headquarters (hat a valtialil« «uw had betm HUM nil a daf KM by a certain mittlna Tltw fsrred to llw pnipw' d»|mi Ihh'MI, fcwl UNCLE SAM'S SURVEYORS BUSY MEASURING STREAMS. The Work Often Compels Them to Take Grea£ Risks in Securing Facts Needed in Conservation Movement. prised at the great number of Christmas presents which are home-manufactured. Several weeks be­ fore the glad event, the families sit themselves down in their rooms and start, secretly, work upon the Christmas gifts. In the country districts of cer« •aiti parts of America thiB custom is still retained. Long a Temperance Worker, "Mother" Stewart, who died recently, was M years old. She devoted her life to the temperance canse. Mrs. Stewart established the first W. C, T. U. In Ohio at Osborn In 1873. In 1876 she visited England and organized the first W. C. T. U. In that country. Following the civil war she lectured ex­ tensively In the southern states on behalf of ths war sufferers. Five years ago "Mother" Stewart became Inter­ ested In the; teaching of Alexander Dowle and visited Zlon City where she remained one yenr, since which time she lived with friends at HlcHs- ville. Until five years ago she resided in Spritg- field, O., where she led in many temperance ciu- sades. Scarcely a woman in America could boast of the praise from pulpit and press like "Mothet" Stewart englnnMr had falbd lit «t|( it ft It noeldniil Ai'i'HiillitNit I"' ""Mi 1*1 and win ht< hs>| muiltH tu It port lit# malliM "I didn't IIHM* I Mil III " M •aid. "Than vim hM|| "Y««, autl \ Hi* f ov«»r tut !»•»* limb, Iml «h* ' feat for m»« mm nlnad •• tludiiil sbM til all H§lil Weekly. 'Mil iH I! • m 'tit See* Great Future For Siberia, More than 500,000 persons emigrated from Eu­ ropean Russia to Siberia In 1907. Vice-Consul Chan- ler of Dalny reports, and of this record-breaking number fewer than ever before returned to their homes. Every colonist arriving In Siberia receivea 37 acres of land free, paying no taxes the first three years and only half the regular taxes the next three. Siberia imports $10,000,000 worth of goods by caravan from China annually, almost entirely tea, while Siberia exports to China only $750,000 worth of articles annually, and many of these originate tn European Russia. THE RULE OP THREE. Men Who Work on Skyscrapers Are a Generous Lot. tThese airy crews are a generous They earn high pay. When storking full time they make $27 a week, and, like their rough brothers o<lt on the plains, they £re quick to give of their earnings. On Saturday afternoons when vthey line up at the window, the Sisters Of Charity always there, and quarters and % dimes jingle merrily into their little tin boxes. Behind fhis generous giving is a su­ perstitious belief that amid risks like these it is well to propitiate Fate all you can. For Fate is a relentless old machine, and when once Its wheels begin grinding, no power on earth can stop them. The "Rule of Three" is centuries old. Yon may hear of it out on the ocean, in the steel mills, to the railroad camps, and down in the mines. And you find it up here on the jobs in the skies. "Believe It?' said an Old foreman. "You bet, they believe it." "Do you?"I asked. "Wfell," he said, "all I can sfj^is this: It may be a spell or it may be because of the way the whole crew is expecting it. But anyhow, when two accidents come close together, you can be sure that the third Isn't very far off."--Ernest Poole, in Every­ body's. Mi Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the city ot small homeB for large families, and is far tnous for the scarcity of cheap and ill- ventilated tenements. Down in the "Neck" even at this day you can rent a three-story house with marble stoop, marble window sills and caps, marble door sills, caps and jambs, marble vestibules, marble fireplaces and raanr tela, mar hie wainscoting, etc., for,, a few dollars a month. THInw Wars life. "Are you an *' asUwd IM romantlo ymm* lady as alia wafhM W|i<, the platform In ths ItHuniiuliva anil smlltui on the inau iuttkltifl nut uf lbs cab window, "Yes'm," waa itin mirt reply, "You hold thu llv««a of all ut aengers In your hand." "Exactly, miaa." "And you feel ths fsarful respoaai> bility?" "I surely do." "And you will--will--" "Just so, miss. I've got a two-dollar dog back in the baggage car that I'm taking home, and I shall take the most extraordinary precautions to keep the whole train on the rails and right end up until we reach Chicago." Railroad to Do Farming. president Hawks of the Detroit A Mackinac railway says the company is planning to operate a contlnuoua farm along its right of way next sea* son. It is proposed to cultivate the land each side of the track, planting a di­ versity of crops. The company will also operate a 40 acre model farm at Emery Juno- tion. •Kiey can JWJ believe they " .---Virgil. • Proof Positive. "Sir," announced a doctor's new servant, "there are two dumb men in the waiting room who wish to consult you at once." "What! Both dumb? Are you sure?" "Well, sir, they said so!" <£-.vV; Cheerfulness Meana Health. Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health. Repinings and murmurlnga of the tjeart give imperceptible strokes to those delicate fibers of which the vital parts are composed and wear oat tfce machlne.-*-BoT«e. Suspended in a swaying box under a steel cable that looked no larger than a spider's web, a young fellow held a telephone-like apparatus to his ear and occasionally wrote a few notes while a turbulent Rocky mountain atream brawled below him. If the cable had broken, or if he had fallen from the tiny box in which he sat, the younu man undoubtedly would havn IMHMI drowned, for even the MroiiMfHt swimmer could not hope to Hv« III such a swift stream, lashing llNnlf tnMi (uam against countless liMUldara, A taw houra later ths aame young Mlu* »a« wadltiM br«iu*t-deep In the Htld IMM «f a lakf, Movwral miles dls- Mltl AiimIIikI' M**pli«iu<<-llke appa- NlMK »a« nl l»l» «**r. and he was wmt lMnn III* wliii'ltiiM fans of a float- lh§ tsMiidltig In it mutant that awam ult Mitt mil fan# Ha waa one of the WMIM* Ift ths hydrographic I nit i It »il «li»* KMnluaW al aurv«y and, (H Hiiiiiiitiii Willi thmiaauda of other tumt§ totalis, who mi'*» dully risking Htalt llVKH III tli« service of Uncle MNIII III lh«* vartuua departments of «Mv»rHHieiil work, ha waa not inclined in llilnlt uf aha dangsr of hia call- In* It la tlimuiih the work of such ex­ pert hydroaraphers that the cry: "(lonaerve llu» nation's resources." be- coinea aomethlng more than empty worda. The hydrographers who are measuring all the streams are en­ abling the empire builders to tell just how much water can be depended on for Irrigation purposes in the west. Without the work of «uch men, and of the topographers who have displayed equal skill and courage In making topographical maps of the country to AN UP-TO-DATE PLAINT. Backward, turn backward, O Time, In thy flight! ik* Give us an autoless day ana a nignt. Give us a "yellow" sans headlines to scan, . , A rustleless skirt and a hustlelesa man, A babe teddy-bearless, a mlcrobeless klM. A fistic fight fakeless, a stralght-froni less miss. , ^ A slggleless schoolgirl, and--better tnan that!-- A summer-clad college man wearing a hat! I know. Father Time, that I'm asking too much, . But turn to a day ere a dinner was luncn, Swing back to an age peroxldeless ror An eon ere "rats" made their rendesvfcus there-- . An old-fashioned breakfast without Shredded Hay, A season when farmers went whinelens a v day> w • A bur* moving-pictureless--ah, what a treat! A gumless girl town, and a trolleyless i street; „ I'm asking too much, but I pray, Daady Time, For days when a song had both substance and rhyme! --Bohemian Magasiu*. be irrigated, the government would not have been able to go ahead with ifs vast reclamation schemes that are making homes for thousands In the west. The government is by no means confining itself to the west in hydro- graphic work, as something more than 70 stations are being operated throughout the entire country, where stream measurements are kept. Streams are measured in accordance with their size and relative impor­ tance. After measurements have been continued for several years--or enough to determine the regimen or general behavior of the stream--the work is discontinued. Engineers are depending more and more upon the figures obtained by the government hydrographers, as it is realized that the failure of many large power, irri­ gation and other projects has been due to the fact that plans were made without sufficient trustworthy infor­ mation in respect to the water sup­ ply. While there is a vast amount of sci­ entific detail connected with stream measuring, the field work of the hydrographers is in itself compara­ tively simple. The streams to be measured are divided into three classes--those with permanent beda, those with beds that change only dur­ ing extreme low or high water, and those with constantly shifting beds. Special methods are necessary for each class In determining the flow. There are three methods of determin­ ing the flow of open-channel streams --by measurements of the slope and cross-section and the use of certain formulas, by means of a weir, and by measurement of the velocity of the current and the area of the cross-sec­ tion. The slope method Is only gen­ eral and approximate, and the most common use of this method Is In esti­ mating the flood discharge of a stream when the only data available are the cross-section, the slope as shown by marks along the bank and a knowl­ edge of the general condltlon8. * *"***-•*•--1--- v»vr<viiwiAni Quite Contented. The motorist was stopped by a po­ liceman, the light on the car being in­ sufficient. He gave his card to the officer: "John Smith," read the man In blue. "Go on with you! I want your proper name and address. We've too many Smiths about here. Now, look sharp!" "Then," said the motorist, "if you must have it, it's William Shakespeare, Stratford on-Avon!" "Thank you, sir!" replied the police- mad. "Sorry to have troubled you." And he carefully entered the particu­ lars in his book. In a Calmer Frame of Mind. "Mamma, why should I buy my Christmas presents early?" "Well, child, one reason is that yon won't spend so much money for them if you do it now. You can make more judicious selections, don't you know? --Chicago Tribune. Didn't Want It Strong.. Howell--In union there is strength Love Is sweet. 'In tpet a good bit of I Powell--Give me noa-union buttor It is taffy I every time.--Judge. « \!<k -I;ii isS "Mi At « K .