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XXOXM^^} ering jtlie two stations from Is were separated from ff them going dfiWtt the il the curves aFa speed ileaMu Ilftur. and the *<^Mrtb€> grade at a iiwapi jver hour, n tcrjfftll 'McGee's.' Ihe low separated the en. [tere, [r at- lease removed from both (Mir hearts: Of COMPANY of members of the train dispatchers' convention were relating anecdotes and one remin­ iscent chap'gave the fol­ lowing- 71 "Some half a dozen years ago, when I was working the afternoon cm the Union Pacific Railway at i>eerer. .one of my oidtime friends fc»m ther East, who-was on his vacation aawf risiting friends in the Rockies, •aM' upon- me. When I* got things straightened out so that I could leave drains in charge of my operator, I wetit «vat to spend an hour with my Eastern friend to show him the interior decora- tasos of one or two of our notable i>ub- Sfie baiUMsgs. Previous to going out •wrfii Ore Easterner I issued running course, my curiosity was great as to the manner in which the engines got. by each other, and after 'IVlc'Gee's' re­ ported the east-bound engine passing his station I took my hat and left the office to breathe some fresh air into my lungs and to wait until the engine arrived. In half an hour she slowly puffed into the shed and I went up to her and, gentlemen, I was never more pleased to meet the friend of my most tender recollections than I was to greet that dirt and grease besmirched engi­ neer, and as he alighted, torch in hand to 'look her over' I greeted him warmly and said: 'Well. Mike, it was too bad you broke that piston gland and had to take down one side and block her up, otherwise you might have been home with the old lady three hours ago, •orders to "a disabled passenger engine j but I'll fix you out with another engine vtWcfe had been compelled to give up j an^.rnn you back__iaj,..LeadviIle ilghfr-j vttffiara^vif the run near Leadville, in the moun-I without any cars as-soon as you are ! reniaiifable taias, and to return to Denver for re | ready.' 'All right, my boy, I'm much gales. I fixed them against all regu- ! obliged to you, and I'll be ready as Ear trains, and it started eastward ; soon as we can get a bite to eat.' the same time that I descended '"Ah, by the way, Mike, where did upstairs with my friend. j you meet pushing engine 37?' j Tj-Miat we saw or did is neither here | " 'Let's see. Oh, j^es, we met them ('.OiiE- 'there and does' not necessarily en- | at Charcoal-spur. Just, as we got there 2rt SbIo the recital of this yarn. Suf- | the blocking came out of the 24, and I tece 6o say that we parted company sifter an hour's pleasant chat, et ct^iern, and I returned to the office while he de ported for his hotel, promising to meet cie at a designated hour the following When I returned to the office my ^•ecator informed me that he had just •started helping engine 57 down the fieovmtam to come up with a freight tram, and that he had fixed them against all east-bound trains. As it is the custom of the dispatcher every mo- mentor so while on duty to glance first at the clock and then at the train sheet, f saw that it was 0:35 a. m„ and also Eioted the absence of the pushing en­ sile being recorded upon the sheet. After aa admonition to the operator that he must train himself to make a irecurd on the sheet of all trains the instant he started them. I then sat •down and involuntarily picked up tli.* •order book and read the order the ope- raior had issued to the pushing engine <3Hring my absence. ""Uirectly I read the order I discover­ ed that he had made no provision for rSfee two empty engines to meet each -ofeer, both of them having orders to =rtin regardless of all trains. You can Imagine my feelings, and a description '•af how-I felt is useless. I said: 'Jim, jvtu hare .not arranged for those two to pass each other, have you?' reply was: 'No; I had forgot- the No. 24 which you start- but one intervening two stations from were separated from eac&them going the «£ other speed "T gixtes, said to the fireboy that I thought I heard something9 coming down the mountain, and told him,to go and turn the gate and w(e would go in the hole and replace the ;blocking on the 24.' " 'How long had you been in on the spur track, when the engine passed you ?' FAR-MING IN GREAT BRITAIN. Not Mnny CJianses Shown in tlie Re- notftu for the Year. ! A parliamentary paper has just been issued containing the agricultural re­ turns for Great Britain during 1S04 and showing-the acreage and produce of crops, prices of corn and number o.f live stock, together with summaries of agricultural 'statistics for the United Kingdom, British possessions and for­ eign countries. The returns are pre­ ceded by a Report signed by Major P. G. Graigie (director of the intelligence hud statistical department of the board of agriculture), and by a colored tnap of Great Britain, in agricultural divisions, prepared by the ordnance survey department. The map appears for the first time with the returns now Issued and is an interesting and useful addition to them. In the last year. as in the case of the yearly returns since 1887, statements have been furnished by the occupiers indicating the total Vxtent of the land under crop, bare fallow, or grass, which is farmed by its owners or by tenants, respectively. Last year, of>the 32,030,- 000 acres returned, 4,(543,000 acres, or 14 per cent., were reported to be farmed by the owner?. As compared with 4,- 672,000 acres farmed by owners in 1S93 the difference shown is too small to be of any material consequence. The mountain and heath grazing lands for Great Britain were returned as 12,451,- 000 acres, of which total Scotland re­ turned more than- three-fourths. The "cultivated" land of Great' Britain in 1894 embraced 32,630,000 acres; an ag­ gregate less by 14,000 acres than that returned in 1893. This is relatively a ver^- small variation, and one to which, owing to various causes, no statistical importance attaches. The amount of arable land was 16,165,000 acres and of pasture 16,465,000 acres. A .comparison between the crop area£ of 1894 and 1893 discloses the fact, now somewhat unusual, of an Tncfease of the area under wheat in Great Britain, amounting in the aggregate to 30,000 acres. This, however, is a recovery of less than one out of every ten acres iti' TSTiSr lor it roiiows the loss of 322,000 acres of wheat in that year. This wheat exten­ sion of 1894 was, however, by no means uniform. Barley was more largely grown in 1894 than 1893, the net ad­ vance in England, however, being only 14,500 acres, or less than 1 per cent. In Scotland the increase oT barley acre­ age was 3 per cent., or upward of 6,000 acres. .Oats show an advance of more than half as much again as the entire extension in wheat and barley together, bringing the total under this cereal up to 3,253,000 acres In Great Britain--the largest extent yet returned under this crop. Rye has made a remarkable ad- Oh, about half a minute, I think. ' vauc0 iu area in ls94- ^ in«'ease fssfdlsion !«le, ;and 'Reacting. u®y boy. TTiSO <*I£ee*s a ed nu s,' the rated the en- would have it, the operator was seated at the key and an- «-wered his call the second time I made It. As quickly as, I could send the words over the wire I said: 'Stop En- gia»t5 57 west quick!' His key opened -ami remained'so fully a minute, when ihe closed it by saying: 'It was too late; went by like a flash just as you catEed me, and, although I jumped right out through the window and did not wait to go through the door, I amid not catch them with my red light, Cor they never looked back.' . '"-My operator was a silent listener to all this and as I glanced at him I could sscarcelly suppress a smile, even though far# own mental suffering was as great - as.'lfis. He was a$ object of abject dis- • Sreas.-arijrd his eyes hung way out on his s£ij£&k-f5 ilikft doorknobs on a colonial TJiere was one "blind" side- McGee's and Buena Vis- long for the telegraph company contemplat- t place. There was I could do to avert a to be inevita- was dis- 1 said: 'Well, thing, and you two engineer At the rate of are running, as in- time .they passed the they will meet about fourth miles west of Mc- ?ngine 24 will come around rS&»e curve first, just as the helping en- ipne 5s Upon them.' I called up the "Operator at McGee!s and said: 'Go -diown the track to the*curve and see if can find out anything about those • eaagrnes. I think we have got them in 'Smable.' Some fifteen minutes later lie called vase and informed me that he had gone stll the way to the bend and climbed a -which gave him a view of three •miles, and that .he could not see any foeadiights, nor hear anything working - sfceam. Just as he closed his key and I leaned' my head down upon the train fe&eet to try and overcome the suffocftt^ • sensation that had complete posscs- afflrsa of me, the operator at McGee's • sastid: "There's something coming west iffi®#',' and then left the wire open for a ssimite and resumed by saying, 'It's l&n^ine 24, and they went by like a EWK&et/ ;The sigh of relief which es­ caped from-me and the light that came Into poor Jfhi's face as his eyes slowly t»esmmed- their former position was satisfying^^xnd a ^reat load was And say, me boy, he was fanning her, i too! You know that Fdggy Tom is a little reckless, and he goes around them curves too fast and you ought to speak to him before the old man gets ofi to him.' " 'All right, Mike. But, say, where j wo u l d y o u h a v e m e t t h e 5 7 i f t h e b l o c k - i ins: had not come out of the 24?' " 'My God!' cried he, as the torch ! dropped from his hand. 'Did he run by a flag order to meet us?' " 'No, Mike, but the boy upstairs was trying his hand at dispatching during my absence and did not make a meet­ ing point for you and Foggy Tom.' , Feeling the natural pride socprevalent among dispatchers that he can tell where any train will be at any minute on his division, I wanted to learn from Mike at what point ho thought the two engines would have collided if he had not stopped; so I put the question, and his reply was: 'We would have met two and a quarter miles west of Mc­ Gee's, on that big bend, and there wouldn't have been enough left of the engines to make toothpicks with. And there would have been a broken-heart­ ed widow and two sweet, little blue- eyed lassies waiting; for the whistle of the old 24, which they listen for each night, and which they never again would hear.' "He wiped away the tear that ap­ peared, and I silently retraced my footsteps to the office, and ever since that eventful night, when my heart stood still for many long and tiresome minutes, I have never left any train dispatching upon my track for others to perform." Distribution of Fishea. A singular fact iu connection with distribution of fishes is that no streams flowing northward into Lake Erie from Ohio have brook trout in them natural­ ly. and only one has them artificially. All of the Michigan streams emptying into Lake Erie have trout in them. There are two St. Joseph Rivers in Michigan, one entirely in the State and the other having its head waters there. being 34,OSS acres, or nearly 02 per cent. Beans.have again declined, while peas cover an area greater by 15 per cent, than iu 1S93. The cultivation of potatoes lias decreased. Only 375.701 acres are reported as bare fallow--a smaller figure by at least 53,000 acres than was returned in 1891, hitherto the smallest fallow year on record. In the several classes of grass, including clover, sainfroin and rotation grasses, as well as perma­ nent pasture, whether for hay or graz­ ing, the aggregate for Great Britain falls slightly below the figures for 1S93, but the extentof the grass area which has beeii-cuffofSiay in Great Britain shows a considerable recovery. The breadth of permanent grass cut for hay in England increased by 572,- 000 acres, or nearly 10 per cent. Flax shows an exceptional increase, and hops have also been more extensively cultivated, while small fruit of all kinds continues to claim larger areas. Orchards also are apparently extend­ ing. The live stock returns show that the horses used solely for agriculture have diminished by 8,570. Unbroken horses and mares kept solely for breed­ ing continue to increase in number. The diminution in cattle is shown in every class, and the decline iu sheep and lambs has continued. The Irish crops continue to show a still increas­ ing acreage in corn and oats, and a de­ cline in wheat and barley. Clover and rotation grasses show an inc while a slightly diminished acreage i returned under permanent pasture. T area under flax has again begun to ri in Ireland. There is a reduction showi in the area devoted to potatoes in Ire land, and an Irish increase of 20 cent, iu pigs. The statistical tables a pended to the report are very volumi ous and important.--London Times. sport In the end: Just imaging a bub: ble twelvednches across! You oaju blow ! them lu tliis way by putting them upon a big Iron ring (very carefully, of I course), /while the nietal is wet with j the prepared solution. Get a ring that is quite "rusty--that assures a gQod re- j suit. A string of bubbles two or th£ee inches in diameter can be kept Intact t for ten or twely^ hours.' v t, -M. Izern has communicated to the; Academy of Sciences a new method for obtaining soap bubbles'lasting. a much ' longer time than those obtained from the sohp water generally used. He has | recourse to a resinous soap made by-tlie following formula: Pulverize together ten grammes of pure rosin and ten parts of carbonate of potash; add 100 parts of water and boil, until complete solution, which may be kept in stock to be diluted for use with from four to five times its volume of water. It can be kept indefinitely, even when exposed to the air. The bubbles produced are very persistent and, consequently, can be made useful in the study of the phe­ nomena relating to thin laminae and in making photographs in which soap bubbles play a part. FIVE HOURS WITH A SWORDFISH. Stoj'y -of a, Boston Fisherman with Which an Affidavit. Should Go. Jol'in Troy, fisherman, of 57 Charter street, Boston, -arrived in New. York the other day aboard the three-masted, schooner. Katie C. Wilbur, Of St. .Tonhs. N. B., and spun the following tale of the sea: , ' '. "I am one of the crew of the fishing boat Iolanthe, of Boston, Walter Mar­ tin, captain; On Thursday last the Ioianthe, was Off Chatham, Mass.; and five of her fourteen-foot dories, at 3 a. m., put off to set trawls for fish. There was one man in each dory. My trawls parted, so I rowed in to get the buoy aboard. I got it ii^ and was placing my oars aft, when a twelve- foot swordfisli, prowling on the bot torn of the sea, got tangled iu the buoy line and started ahead like a streak of lightning. I was nearly pitched into the sea and the dory half filled with waicri T saved liio TraTs, but one of the trawl nets went overboard. I dared not move forward to cut the line for fear the dory would upset, so I had to sit still and le? the fisli have full fling. I hallooed at the start like dear lite for help? but no one paid any attention to my c'riGS. "Tirat sword'fisli towed me for five hours before it let up. Once It came to the top,, gave a leap of twelve feet into the air, and then shot under the water again sideways. The wrench carried off the dory's gunwale. At the end of the five hours the fish came to the top again and died, of worry, I guess. They say that's what always kills the swordfisli. Then I cut the line, losing seven fathoms of rope and one of my two anchors. The other an­ chor I dropped to see how the tide was going. It was running westward. Then I began to row, going by the sun. I pulled all of Thursday afternoon and night, all of Friday and Friday night, and about 1 a. m. Saturday was so tired and thirsty that I anchored in sixty-eight fathoms of water and tried to get asleep in the bottom of the boat. I had had neither food nor water since I left the Iolanthe. I couldn't sleep, and in an hour's time heard a fog horn. I raised my head and saw two lights bearing down upon me. I stood up and hallooed as loud as I coulfl. I tried to, but I couldn't break the anchor,, line. Again I shouted to keep off. Then the captain of the vessel spoke to me and asked me to come aboard. I did so. They gave me some tea and then 1 fell asleep. I was told she was the Wil bur. bound for New York with timber. I was picked up forty miles east of Chatham. I am very thankful for my rescue. I thought time and again it' was all up with me. It's the second swordfisli I've had dealings with. Once on the Grand banks we caught one in a net, but seven men couldn't land him." --Boston Journal. Slighted Queen. In the "Life of .Tames Mobiles" may be found a pathetic story of a man named Damer, the scion of a royal house, who. in the latter part of the RAILWAY CONDUCTORS'IN DIXIE. A Great Cliange Ndtlceablc to Travel­ ers from North' of the' Potomac. ' If you travel much in this country you will be struck with the difference •in the manners"of a railway conductor. At the north and in the west he is as uncommunicative an official as a police­ man. He never smiles or relaxes for si moment when,, on duty. ;He knows no one in the discharge of his duty, which he goes through with military exact­ ness: On rare occasions he wiil nOd to a commuter, but the nod is not to be takftn as any evidence of relaxation of official routine. He is*addressed as '^Conductor," and seems to- have, no name beside that. He is a human number, in short. The moment you cross the Potomac everythlug is differ^ ent. The conductor is called "Captain," he knows everybody, has something pleasant to say, and is a railway knight errant, ever ready to succor a dis­ tressed maiden or an old lady in diffi­ culty. He will stop the train between stations, if he catches sight, of an old lady driving down the road, suspected of wishing to board the train, and will help her out of the carriage, bundles and all, and say: "This way, grandma, to the ladies' car," find her a comfort­ able seat, and inquire about the health of her entire family. • Then he jerks -the bell for the train to move on. He knows every inmate of every farm or "plantation on his run. ; He calls the re­ spectable looking old-time darkies "Un­ cle" and "Mammy/'- and cracks a joke with them about being a runaway cou­ ple. The "generals," '-"judges," "colo­ nels" and "squires" .'receive particular attention, and are for him when there is any promotion In the company to' a man. Often he Is an old soldier, and runs up against an--old comrade, and then dire threats are made about put­ ting him off the train if he doesn't "hand put that ticket right away." He will pop down alongside the prettiest girl on tlie train and commence talking about the next picnic or county fair; always friendly, pleasant and provin­ cial, but never vulgar, he is a terror to the occasional tough or drummer who gets noisy or loud, and' is not afraid of anything that wears clothes. If there is a washout and a delay he -knows where there is good fishing, and offers to pilot the passengers to the perch. If there is an accident, lie has nerve, sense and forethought, and comes out un­ commonly strong as an emergency man. He lias no cast-iron rules about tickets, provided no fraud is evident, but he is as smart as*a whip in detecting the free rider. 'IJake him all in all, he is a dandy as a conductor, and makes more friends for tlie road in one trip than the other kind do in a year.--Washing­ ton Post. New Goods 1 Call, examine goods att< In a Tiger's Jaws. Lord Hastings, with his staff of offi­ cers, was on a tiger hunt. A splendid animal had been sho4\ Every oye sup­ posed it to be dead, and with the rash­ ness born of inexperience and excite­ ment Major S. rushed up to it. - At-that moment the tiger recovered himself, and with a roar of mingled rage and pain turned upon Major S. The young man discharged his pistol at the brute's head, but with no effect. The weapon was knocked from his hand and sent flying a dozen yards away. The tiger bore tlie man down, seized him by the right shoulder,\nd lifting him bodily from the ground started toward the jungle. The other men were powerless. No one dared shoot tor fear of hitting the man. The brute, seeking probably to get a better hold of his victim, gave him a shake and an upward fling, as a cat might toss a mouse, and caught him by the thigh. This liberated the major's right arm, which, protected by the padded clotli of his coat had not been injured. lie reached to his liip pocket, drew forth his second pistol, and placing the wea­ pon to the tiger's ear, fired. "I never felt calmer in my life," he said after­ ward. The animal dropped dead, but in dy­ ing his jaws closed convulsively, crush­ ing the muscles and tendons of the ma­ jor's thigh. Lord Hastings and his brother officers hurried forward to con­ gratulate the major on his coolness and lucky escape. Save for tlie injury to his thigh, which resulted in slight lame­ ness, Major S. was none the worse for his ugly adventure.--Youth's Compan­ ion. Able Swordsmen. Elephants are completely disabled one blow from the Arab's two-han sword, which almost severs the liiu leg, biting deep into the bone. This , feat is varied by slashing off the trunk, Ihe two streams rise in the same hills, leaving it dangling only by a piece of almost within a stones throw of one skin. A Ghoorka was seen by the late another.« One flows westward through the State and has an.abundance 6T trout in its upper waters. The other flows south into Ohio, and its waters reach Lake Erie through iconnection with the Maumee River. There are no trout in it, and it is the only stream in Michi­ gan that has no trout. This creek is the outlet to a vast spring or lake, which n.early a century ago appeared on a m in that part of the State in a single night. The t^out the creek now contains are the result of artificial stocking, which was done a few years ago. Artificial Noses and Ears. rh(£**making of artificial noses and ears has become a good business with­ in the last few years. A nose is first modelled to the proper shape in paper- mache, and then it is waxed and var­ nished to the tint of the complexion of the noseless person. Ordinarily it is fastened on by mpans of a pair of spectacles, to the nosepiece of which it is firmly attached. In some cases, however, where the remaining stump.is large enough, it is clamped in place and the spectacles are not necessary. An ear is made in much the -^aipe way, but it is far more difficult to attach. ^Sfost frequently small springs fitting into the ear duct are used, but they are likely in the end to seriously impair the hearing. Laurence Olipliant to behead a buffalo with a single blow of his kookerie. And Sir Samuel Baker, a man powerful enough to wield during his African ex­ ploration the "Baby," an elephant rifle weighing twenty-two pounds, once clove a wild boar with his hunting knife almost in halves as it was mak­ ing a final rush, catching it just be­ hind the shoulder, where the hide and bristles are at least a.span thick. Sir Walter Scott relates how the Earl of Angus, with his huge sweeping brand, challenged an opponent to fight, and at a blow chopped asunder his thigh bone, killing him on tlie spot. There is a story current in Australia that Lieutenant Anderson, in 1852, dur­ ing an encounter with bushrangers, cut clean the gun barrel of his adversary with his sword. And at Kassassin it ..is related, that ofie of Arabi Pasha's soldiers was severed in two during the . midnight charge.. But, In the opinion of experts, this is vei'y improbable, even had the new regulation saber then been in use.--London Globe. I_ The Latest in Soap Bubbles. I Make a fluid in this way: Get a cake of palm oil soap, shave its parings as ; thin as possible and drop in a big bot­ tle filled with distilled water. Shake the mixture very vigorously; then filter through gray filtering paper and mix i the remaining fluid with one-third of its | bulk of pure glycerine. Before using j shake well. Get- a small glass funnel ; about" two Inches in diameter, connect ' it with a tube of India rubber and you ; can blow bubbles with thi& apparatus | that will surpass the rainbow itself in brilliancy and beauty. Yes, there Is a F L O U R . -- ' D o a ' t P new friends every tlay W l It costs you nothing to tr> t ss atne war- y H) lit, ^uone, when the queen, ever mindful of Iter old and tried servants, hastened to ward him with extended hand aih^a word of kindly greeting. He took the proffered hand and held it for a moment, while he gazed with a smiling though puzzled expression at the queen. Then he said : ' "I know that face. I know it as well as I know any face, but--pardon me, madam--I can't for the life of me recol­ lect where I have seen it!" "Poor Damer!" said the queen, with a sorrowful smile, as she turned away. "Poor Damer!" The old man looked after her for a moment, and then asked a passing gar­ dener who the lady might be. "Why,-the queen!" v Damer laughed. "I'm afraid," said he, "her majesty will think I have forgotten her." He Had a -Shampoo. Barber--Poor Jim lias been sent to a lunatic asylum. Victim (in chair)--Who's Jim? Barber--Jim is my twin brother, sir. Had long been broodin' over the hard times, and I suppose he finally got crazy. Victim--Hum! not unlikely. "Yes; he and me has worked side by side for years, and we were so alike | we couldn't tell each otherlfpart. We ) both brooded a good deal, too. No i money in this business now." I "What's the reason?" "Prices.too low. Unless a customer j takes a slmmpoo or something it doesn't I pay to shave or hair cut. Poor Jim, I j caught him trying to cut a customer's throat because he refused a shampoo, so I had to have the poor fellow locked up. Makes<nie very melancholy. Some­ times I feel sorry I didn't let him slash all lie wanted to. I might have saved his reason. Shampoo, sir?" "Y--e--s, please." Old. English Mills. The last miller of Dee is dead, but the Chester Town Council has voted to buy and preserve the mills in order to con­ trol the flow of the stream. The orig­ inal grant of the mills was mad® by ! lot of trouble in getting your scientific King Edward YL l Dipe and liquid ready, but think of the A Cabh Business. A boy at a crossing begging some­ thing of a gentleman, the latter told him that he would give him something as he came back. "Your Honor," re­ plied the boy, "you would be surprised if you knew how much money I lose by giving credit that way."--Household Words. LiOciil Color. "Wliat made you write this story in red ink?" asked the editor . "You see, it's a story of New York, and you've been kicking for more local color in my work." "Yes--but---- "Well, that's the way New York look­ ed to me when I was there."--Washing­ ton Evening Star. / Value ol'Britain's Fisheries. The value of the sea fisheries of the United Kingdom last year reached the total of $100,000,000. Seventy-five per cent., of the enlist­ ments in the regular army last year were of Americans. She--What made you so late-coming home night before last? He--Humph! You have been a iong time remembering to ask me. Yes; JI thought I would give you time enough to get up a good ex­ cuse.--Indianapolis Journal. REAKS OF ICE IN THE ARCTIC* 1 . • -- -- j i ̂ Enormous Barriers Built Up Alons the Coast of Baffin Land in Winter* "I suppose tl|at"you have never heard of spinning tops on the ice." said Dr. Frank Boas. "It is a sport quit€ popu­ lar aniopg the Esquimos in Baffin land, where I spent Some time a fe& years ago. Baffin land, as you probably know, is to .the westward of Baffin's bay. The tops used by these Esquimos are not--like ordinary peg tops, but rather resemble teetotums, being disks of ivory, with pegs stuck through them. Of course, In that severe Climate the. ice in winter attains a thickness of five or six feet sometimes and is exceedingly hard. * "I need hardly say thai the top-..pin- ning is done on fresh-water ice, from which the lii^-h winds have blown away the snow. It would hardly be possi*- ble to spin tops on the salt-water ice, which is always rough. When the sea ice is forming in the fall of the year, the motion of the waves breaks it up constantly, so that it is really an ag­ glomeration of small particles. The salt oozes out of it and melts the snow that falls on top. . This process is con­ tinued many months, so that there is ho sharp dividing line between ice and snow. 11 would not be possible to skate on the sea ice. However, the Esqumos do not. indulge in the amusement of j skating, because the cold is too severe j- to make such sport agreeable.' . . I "Perhaps 'the oddest phenomenon of j freezing in Arctic regions is what might be called the sea wall of winter. Ice forms along the shore, and the bulk of it is added to at,every floodtide. Thus veritable mountains of ice are built up along the coast, so that a landing from the sea is practically impossible except at flood. No description that I could give you would convey to your mind ! an adequate notion of the spectacle ex­ hibited by this ice barrier extending I along the ocean front. "The biggest piece of ice I ever saw . was seven miles long and three miles'! wide. It was a berg, its height above \ the water being about sixty feet. Con­ sequently its total thickness must have been at least 500 feet. I had a narrow escape from losing my life on account of it, for ngy boat got becalmed on the j lee side of it, while the great mass bore j steadily down upon me, being pushed along by an undercurrent. Fortunate- j ly it ran aground before it reached us, j and so we escaped. I know of no j more beautiful and impressive spec- j tacie than a great iceberg, showing j prismatic tints in the sunlight, while cascades of water run down its melting J sides, in which huge caverns yawn."-- ' "St. Louis Globe-Democrat. " I Of My Lady's Fiddlestrings. Four little slaves my lady has, AH obedient to her will. With a potent wand she rules them^ To her highest bidding school them; When she takesdn hand her bow, Straight they sing loud or low; Willing choristers, until She commands them to be still. When my lady's heart beats happy All her little slates rejoice; Sing they then with exultation, As in joyful-emulation v Of the lark that from on High , Fills the ,earth with melody, ' 'Twixt their music and lark's voic®. Hard for mortals to make choice. When she sighs? in melancholy, / Plaintive then and sad their glials} Wailing as for lost salvation, -As for sins past expiation; \ '• • : Moaning like some wounded thing, Sobbing, sighing, whimpering, Shrieking now in bitter pain, Sinking now to sobs again. Thus their music changes ever ,- WTth the changing of her mood, Now in minor chords "of sadness, Now in joyous paean of gladness. Would she but, as them, rule me, Great ipy happiness woiild be, Daily, hourly, renewed, Bound in such sweet servitude. --New York Tribune. ' y--'- --- -Cltolly in Clover. ; Mrs. Westside--I hear that Cholly Knickerbocker is going to get married. Mr. Westside--Yes, he lias only three more days. „ "Papa," asked little Willie, "isn't a Little Tommy (who lias'been reading cynic a man who is tired of the world?" about an execution)--The last three "No, my dear; a cynic is a man of whoifi | days they give him everything to eat the world is tired."--Chicago Times-' that he calls for, don't they, pa?--Texas Herald. Siftings. There are ou an average 200 carrier pigeons officially kept in every Geniiau fortress. Cause for Embarrassment. "What," asked the indulgent bus- I band, "are you going to do with an in- j consistent woman, and how are you | gc-vig to teach her never in the most , provoking circumstances to make ' threats?" , All of which means that his wife had ' been telling them something tha amus- ' ed them, but not her. She lias not lived i in her present house long. One of the i things that she believes in--and ̂ i very j good belief it is, many husbands will j say--is that the woman who is at the ' head of the bouse should do her own ! marketing. She dropped in at her ! butcher's in the afternoon, when she ! was on her way to a matinee at the opera, and gave an order. Another of i her principles is to pay spot cash for everything slio buys and to run no ac­ counts, but oil this day she had for- ! gotten her pocketbook " I did not ask them to charge it to j me," she said. "I did not want them to do that. I explained that I had forgot- ! ten my pocketbook, and that they were ; to send the purchase to my house, and i oil the next, day when I came again I would pay them. And would you be- I lievc," she said, opening her eyes, "that I t h e y r e f u s e d ? A n d I s a i d t o t h e m : j " 'Very well, then, send it around, j c o l l e c t , a n d I s h a l l n o t c o m e h e r e t o j buy any more.' " So far so good, but-- "And do you know," she said, with ! the most innocent smile in the world, | "that I went there the very next day, and have been going there ever since, j b e c a u s e i t ' s t h e b e s t s h o p a n d t h e m o s t j c o n v e n i e n t . A n d t h e y l o o k e d v e r y f u n - j u y w h e n I c a m e i n a n d g a v e m y o r d e r s j as.usual. I think they must have been embarrassed." Relief. Because I would, I climbed the sunny slopes of maidenhood. Youth's pathway was so fair, so fresfi, so free: So far, so high, life's hilltops looked to me, I thought not of the future--did not care To think about it--whether it were fair Beyond the summit; every moment, glad To keep,the buds around me; for I had No doubts, no fears, believed that Gad was good, Believeu in heaven and immortality, Because I would. * Because I must, ~ ' - i&iai- I leaned to-day upon my staff of trust; The hilltops are not far; I soon shall see The other side burst forth. It cannot be That I have climbed so far and all for naught, Oh, no! Some glorious glimpses I have caught, And cannot help but take the down- ptretehed hand; And cling to it as tottering I stand. Oh! tell me not that I am empty dust; -- My spirit is--Belief! I hold to thee, Because I must. --Julia H. May, from "Songs From tha Woods of Maine. Trying.* There are some cases in which a correct musical ear causes its posses­ sor a deal of discomfort. "I suppose you heard Squire Samp­ son's daughter's voice pretty loud in the hymns, my dear?" said Parson Fay, inquiringly, to his wife at tlie close of the morning'service. "I used to think when she lived here before her marriage that her voice was very strong but not--er--not exactly reliable as to pitch." "Mr. Fay," replied the minister's wife, ..while a flush rose to her thin checks, "I suppose she that was Ara­ bella Sampson thinks she is praising the Lord when she sings,and far be it from mo to say that she doesn't; but I must say that it's all I can do to praise -Him at the same time." In Dreamland. Are you dreaming sweetly, my little pet, Of the daytime joys you cannot forget? Or do fairies lead you to scenes afar Where the queen and lier royal household are? I am sure there is music as sweet and clear As your own glad laughter, my baby dear, For they caught it up from your lips to­ day As the merriest music a heart could play. And the flowers in bloom in the fields out there 1 have often seen in a form more fair, For the fairies selected with taste all wise The colors you wear in your cheeks and eyes. And the sun is shining as softly there As the gold agleam in your silken hair. Is it all a vision? I'm sure 'tis true, And the fairies have gathered their joys from'you. Oh! the sleep is sweet where the dreams are filled With the simple song you have gaily trilled. And the starflowers glow with a new de­ light When you winder out in the fields at night. • ' *« ' 9 Oh! little one, sleep, when the nights are kind, In dreamland seek for the joys you find; May they glow and glitter, and each pur® star Reflect yon forever, just as you are. --George E. Bowen. Some Schoolboy Answers. Here are some school boy answers to examination questions: "A point," wrote one boy, "is that which will not appear any bigger, even If you get a magnifying glass." "Two straight lines cannot inclose a space unless they are crooked," said another who may have had Irish blood in his veins. "Parallel straight lines are those which meet at the far end of infinity," Is equal to some poetry. "Things which are impossible are equal to one another," is common sense, even though it is not exactly mathematical.--Living Church. Ditty: My True Love'a Eyes. M y true love's eyes Are a surprise To p^t an end to ranging; Come weal, come woe, They vary so-- One can but \yatch their changing! Sometimes they sliine With light divine-- Twin deeps where moonbeams hover--' Anon they seem Like stars agleam, With laughter brimming over. My true loye's mouth Is as the south Iu time of blossom, sunny; A rose in death Bequeathed its breath, And bees have lent it honey. But, O. her heart Is still the art, The magic, fresh and living, That wins the free Her slaves to be By its own gift of giving! -Florence Earle Coates iu the Independ­ ent. Water Power and ^Electricity. - r A project is -said to be on foot In Lower Canada to furnish electric light­ ing to Levis from the Chandiere Falls, which are 95 feet high, and will give 500.000 horse-power. The distance Is eight miles from Notre Dame de Levis. These falls, though less in height, are. greater in volume than those of Mont­ morency, which, with height of 140 feet, afford only 300,000 horse-power. Mamma--What are you shaking the life ouc of that,poor cat for? W7illie-- I heard pa say that the kitty had $20 in her last nighjL I was only trying to shake some of it out--Current Litera­ ture. . • ;•••• A Little Good-?iig;ht Song. Good night to you, dear! You are weary, And the moon o'er the mountains de­ clines; -The wind blowing westward sighs dreary, And wanders and wails through tho vines. You have listened so oft to the tender Sweet story--so tender and true, What grace to it all could I render Out here with the roses and you? Good night to you, dear; yet I linger Like one near a spot that is blest, And toy with the ring on your finger, And kiss the red rose on your breast. And good night, and good night, dear, and never . Good night!3- Love has ever his way; But I love you forever and ever, And I kiss you good night and good daj. --Atlanta Constitution.