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H- that was his brother, lived *n' died without any clew to any more. But this 'ere story had it that the Cap'n had a belt full ^yhen lie left Portland tO| come home, the last time, 'u' must 'a' brought it to the island. „ "So whilst ,the crick wuz gittin' otiE' of his back, Sim he purposed to do some prof table nleditatin'. " Didn't seem to him the Cap'n would 'a' hid his money in the house, -f'r Aunt Folly would hev found it (she was a master hand for findin' out things that didn't belong to her, \Aunt Polly was). Over *n' above that, Sim concluded the Cap'n wouldn't take it to the barn. That hail been burnt down since the Bascoms' TH£ BETTER CHOltJE. SToo little do we-gaze on nature's face-- { Too much have dwelt ia colleges and towris^ :Where^nn pursue? the miserable race ' Of wealth and mere book learning. The ' muse frowns " - ! ' On him whose footsteps Ver the breezy downs . Seldom have pressed; on?1 need is solitude^ For the harsh dissonance of the city' drowns .Those dreams of yirtue,-lev«14«ess and good, • Which in the breast' of youth, however stifled, brood. .'Let us arise and shake aw:iy the dnsi_ " Of brick and pavement from our flying feet, lAll. former visions from remembrance thrust. .. • , • j And even forget that once we trod the | street. . • Up in the mountains haply we may meet iThose glorious fancies that still sliun the throng; o • ] The rill's wild music, tremulous and sweet, , . - Will lend a softer c-adenCe to our song. . The cataract's .curbless strength may teach us to be "strong. Arid flowers ,;and perfumes aiTd :u-ht ainted air " • . Aad: fwests green with dark cathedral glooms,:; . - And the fleet birds, whose rnissioij is to bear '-. . . , ' . Nature's true ai'usic on their outspread plume's,-* * And; mossy banks arid - oferhatvgfng blooms : . Y. - Of frailiiiK honeysuckle--these shall teach j Ocrr tongues to breathe the passion that, i •eomfnthes , . ,.•••• •£**' i The inmost-Spirit, and-we shall learn a'-i "speech Wide-general enough all human hearts to j i reach. --Sports Afield. ! MKT WISCONSIN'S EARLY DEFENSES. TI1K OLD SETTLERS WHO STORK. THANKFUL 'TILDY. Iw&r- H E storekeeper's horse had compli­ mented his ostts by running away. lie had scattered his load over several rods of highway, and reduced the wagon to kindling wood; but he had also demolished a fence with which a "cottager" had Undertaken to close a path that had been free for a generation, and the old Bettlers who met at the store to talk it over were not so sympathetic as they might have been. "Aain't nothin' so bad, but it could bo wus, Isaac," asserted Cap'n Pomer- oy, who was deaf and dogmatic. "The hoss might 'a' missed that air fence," he argued, with the confidence of one who is seldom contradicted. "He might 'a' slewed into the main road 'n' tramp­ ed on a young one, whereas, you bein' selec'maJi, he's saved you V Pilsbury the job of havin' the fence took down, consequently!" . time, anyhow; seemed's if/an old sailor "d rut her hev his belongin's outdoors, where the' was' landmarks, as it ware, 'n' when Sim got it narrered down to this, he 'lowed he could spot the place. "That wuz a'big boulder, right anigh the stone wall where Sim had been a-diggin' for woodchuck.' It weighed three ton. mebbe. No livin' man could 'a' got under it to hide anythin! But Sim wouldn't let that stump him, a'ter he made up his mind. He dug. round the aidges a little, 'n' found some angle­ worms 'n' saw-bugs, 'n' made a big hole down in the lower ro'theast corner o' the rock. " 'Tildy didn't say nothin' ag'in his foolishness. Fact is, I cal'late, she didn't know the whole of it. Prob'ly Sim didn't tell her he wuz aimin' to oncover the univarse, their part of it to find buried treasures. I know he didn't give her no warnin' when he touched the thing off. f'r he told me so. She wuz '/in the butt'ry, gittin' ready to churn, when lie lighted his fuse; and laftj down behind the stone wall. "Well, sir! Sim done a good enough .iob, that time. That air boulder went off like the crack o' doom 'n' busted into more 'n forty million pieces. Sim could hear 'em a-rippin' an' a-tearin' for an hour, seemed to him. 'n' he didn't hardly dast to git up 'n' lind out what he had done. When he did wipe the dust out of his eyes 'n' peek over the wall, he see that one piece o' rock had knocked down the ehimbly, 'n another Jiad sailed clean through thtr butt'ry winder--'n' he wuz jest narvin' himself to go in 'n' pick up his wife when, lo 'n' behold! she stuck her head out. "She looked kind o' onsettled, what with a cut on her forehead 'n' the skim milk runnin' out of her hair, 'n' I guess fur a minute Sim thought he wuz goin' to git his come-uppance. But she wuz starin' every which way 'n' didn't seem to see him. Sim thought she wuz gone looney. He wuz gittin' ready to ask her, when all of a sudden she p'ints him to a streak of somethin' that wuz licketty-splittin' out o' sight. "'Ain't that nice, Sim!' she says. 'You've broke up that old woodchuck, ain't ye?' "No!" Uncle Aaron added crustily, a moment later (one of the small buys had asked a question and spoiled his climax). "No. consarn ye! Tae' wa'n't nothin' under the boulder."--Detroit Free Press. Forts that Formed Bulwarks of feafety Against the Indians. ^ The project to have Uncle Sam assist /the suffering . manufacturers of the Lower Fox by taking water from the Wisconsin at Portage City revives memories of old' Fort Winnebago, which for sb many years guarded the portage, says the New York Sun. This portage between the Fox and Wiscon­ sin rivers was midway between Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, ou the great waterway, which, till the advent of railroads, was the highway from the: great lakes to the Mississippi. After the war of 1812, when all the north­ west territory fell into the hands of the United States, Uncle Sam erected three forts on Wisconsin territory in order to make good his rights to his new do­ minion, and hold in awe the savage tribes which had been closely affiliated with British interests, and still had something more-than a Strong leaning in that direction. illy two forts were originally in­ tended. Fort Howard at Green Bay, and Fori Crawford at Prairie du Chien. These were constructed juit as soon as the general government had time to draw a full breath after the three years' struggle. Fort Winnebago came later. John Jacob Astor was the man who-had it built. The Winnebago tribe of In­ dians had an annoying habit of hap­ pening about the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin about the time the AstorS' fur traders were passing and levying tribute ou the voyagers. Astor had no intention of dividing profits with these marauding aborigines, and ho brought such influence as he had at command to bear on the government to secure the erection of a fort at the port­ age, with a strong garrison to over­ awe the savages. His "pull," as a modern politician would call it. proved strong enough, and Fort Winnebago was erected. All three forts are redolent with mem­ ories of old-time army men, who, in after years, came to world-wide. fame. Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, Gen­ era! Harney, General Twiggs, General Abercrombie, Randolph Marey and many others well known by the old pioneers, and many a story of them is left behind to be told and retold. Many of the commanders were transferred from one post in the territory to an­ other. serving for a time at'all. But it is usually with some one fort that their names are most intimately associated, as Taylor with Crawford, Twiggs, Har­ ney and Davis with Winnebago, Neil and Marcy with Howard. Fort How­ ard had as commanders in its early his­ tory several heroes of Chippewa and Niagara, as Colonel Miller and Colonel Neil, the latter especially being held in kindly memory by the old settlers. Taylor was in command here for a time", and some of his household goods, which were disposed of by the Taylors, rather than move them to posts farther west, are still preserved in old farnl- "That don't pay me for ten bushel o' corn," the storekeeper ventured to sug­ gest. "Hey?" "Ten bushel o' corn!" the storekeeper repeated. Then, as Cap'n Pomeroy snarled disapproval, and the others seemed equally ready to question his public spirit he hastened to add: "Oh, I'm glad 's you be that the fence is down; I don't begredge the corn, not any to speak of. I ain't a-goin' to say I'm glad I lost jit. though; can't expect me tew. can ye?" "Hey?" "'Tildy Peters would hev," another speaker put in. He had entered so quietly that the storekeeper jumped aside, surprised, and thereby gave him an opening to the most coveted corner, close to the cracker;barrel. It was a place that the storekeeper found it safer to reserve for a toothless pa­ triarch. but.since the thing was done he made the best of it. "What's that about 'Tildy, Uncle Aaron?" he inquired. "Oh, th' ain't no great of a story about her. It wuz her gin'ral disposi­ tion, 's ye might say, that made me ' epeak up. 'Thankful 'Tildy,' everybody called her." "She'n'her man lived over on the old , ^ , . Bascom place. Lived there til! some- i Ul«-' ^eiusel distnet-and having a wheres 'bout 'GO. 'n' then they moved j lengthIrom east to west of about^ three out West, *ri' last I heard of 'em Sim | thousand miles. Unluve equatorial tor- found a gold mine 'n' they waz big «« ' ests ^e trees' of the Siberian tiagas are lies. Among the junior officers a t .the -Thi ^<-<1-the -1 him to grass. First round ,«nd knock­ down for Harney. The next went the same way and the next, and so on for a half dozen. In short, the whilom pu­ gilist received one of the neatest, eom- pletest and most scientific thrashings' li$ had had for many a day. • Finally, when time was called, he refused to respond, but said, meekly: "Captain, I have been an officer long enough. I should like to be reduced to the ranks again." j Harney. responded with a laugh and, a handshake, and ordered him back to. his quarters with a warning not to be caught, in trouble again.a- The story, leaked out among the men, with whom their bluff captain was more of an idol than ever. Fort Crawford was full of romance of the Taylors. When old "Rough and, Ready" became the hero of Buena Vis­ ta and Palo Alto, and later was elected President, old residents used to recall with delight stories of his tern as com­ mandant of Fort Crawford. Major Taylor, as he was at that time, built the second Fort Crawford. It was while he was in command there that Lieu­ tenant Jeff Davis wooed and won Miss Knox, Major Taylor's daughter, which wooing gave rise to so many romantic stories, including, an elopement, a hot' chase by the angry parent, and other exciting incidents. Fpr many years the very window from which Miss Knox escaped into the arms of her waiting lover was pointed ou.t. It made no difference that the story was denied in general and in detail, that it was pointed out that there could have been no elopement, as the young lady was visiting friends in Kentucky at the time, where the marriage took place. It bloomed perennially for many years and seemed to have more lives than a Canada thistle. <• Several good stories of General Tay­ lor, are, however, i'etained, showing the peculiarities of the old hero in those early days. For years old-timers re-, called incidents illustrating Taylor's rough and homely ways. Among other things, Taylor was a strict disciplinar­ ian, and as his temper was not of the mildest, he was accustomed at times to take the matter of punishment into his own hands without waiting-for the us­ ual proceedings as laid down in the rules and regulations. Among other methods then in use in the army by of­ ficers for punishing men was a habit of seizing the victim by the ears and worrying him as a dog would worry an antagonist. This was called "wool- ing" a man. It must be admitted that Major Taylor was very much given to this particular style of punishment, and it was his habit, when anything did not suit him, to jump on the offend­ er and worry him severely. One day, when the troops were drawn up for parade, one of the front rank men happened to be a German, a new recruit and unable to understand a word of English. It also liapened that a front profile view of his figure show­ ed pronounced aldermanic proportions. DRUNKENNESS A DISEASE. THE WHALE WAS DESPERATE. Acknowledgment of the Fact in the ^ " "Anetrian Heichsratli. • Medical men generally have for y^ars been of theopiniomthat drunkenness as it exists to-day Is a disease--cheated,, perhaps, by moderate, indulgence, but, ultimately becoming as niuclua part off the human system as any other disease, Of the blood. The flrst instance^in which h legislative assembly has treated the drink habit as a.disease-Tendering its' victim a source of danger to the state has just been provided by a bill now about to be introduced to the Austrian Reichsratb, This bill proposes to treat the persistent drunkard as a 'person who is mentally incapable and likely to inflict injury upon the community, not only by actual violence, but by his ex­ ample. It is therefore proposed that the authorities shall keep hinv under control, both during good behavior and for such a longer time as in the opinion of competent physicians will serve to wean him from his craving fdr strong drink. This bill is the result of a long con­ tinued series of efforts by the medical profession of Austria. The ground has been taken that the position of the drunkard in social life has not been hitherto, properly V,estimated. It is argued that he should- be regarded more as a lunatic than is at present the case, and that he should be treated ac­ cordingly. There has always existed a feeling that the Waving for drink, with its consequences, ought to be treated' as a mere bad habit, a temporary and, recoveraJble error,. not really ft form of mental disorder. This, there can be but little doubt, is a false reasoning, for* evidence has multiplied in recent years that the victim to alcohol is subject to disease, just as much as a maniac or lunatic. The bill to which reference has been made may be taken as fairly represent­ ing medical opinions on this subject. Modification in detail may, perhaps, be found advisable as time goes on, but the profession will probably approve the bill on its general outlines. Tne at­ tempt to repress the excessive drinking habit and to treat it as an ingrained vice, which has albsorbed all traces of a. resisting will, certainly deserves a fair trial. Every precaution will be made to render the preliminary investigation as searching as possible, and no person­ al privileges will be lost, by detention. FICTION OUTDONE. Transformation of Motion. Let us suppose a stretched cord or wire fixed at both ends, and let a sharp blow be given to it. The hand or other instrument which imparted the blow7 was set in motion in order to do so and its motion was one of translation; but the cord which has received the blow, and to which some .of the motion has consequently been transferred, cannot change its place, fordt is fixed. We know well enough what will happen. It will commence vibrating, more or less strongly, and rapidly according to the strength of the blow it lias receiv­ ed,--We ha-ve, therefore, here seen mo- Siberia's Great Forest. Siberia, from the plain of the Obi river on the west to the valley of the Indighirka on the east, appears to be one great timber belt, averaging more than one thousand miles in breadth from north to south--being fullv seventeen hundred miles wide in any toads in the puddle. I s'picion gold mines must lay on top o' the ground out in that country. Sim never would 'a' dug fer one--not in his right mind, he wouldn't mainly conifers, comprising pines of several varieties, firs and larches. In the Yenisei, Lena and Olenek regions there are thousands of square miles where no human being has ever been. fort was Randolph Marcy. While there his wife bore a little daughter, who long afterward became Mrs. George B. MeClellan. It is, however, about Winnebago and Crawford that the cloud of romance hangs heaviest. When, in .1828, Major Twiggs was ordered to the portage with three companies of the First in­ fantry to build the fort, he had as offi­ cers of his little battalion Captain Harney, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis and Lieutenant Abercrombie. The fu­ ture president of the Confederate"! States left his impress on the fort in | the shape of a dresser and clothes j press, which was heartily appreciated | by the army housewives and received j its name, which it retained until years | after, while its inventor was busy-mak- i inuc history on a larger scale. j The name most connected with Fort Winnebago is that of Captain Harney, bluff and dashing, whose stem "sense of justice and rough good nature made him the idol of the old frontiersmen. Of him many a story is told. Of these, two, illustrative of his character, are worth telling. An Indian had been brought before him for some offense, and was condemned to be whipped. The prisoner made an appeal to Harney for a reprieve. Ilarney was rather proud of his prowess as a runner, and feeling in a mood for a race took the Indian down to the river bank, where there j jor's ire and escape without a wooling. bulge out like a turret on a® ironclad. This day; as soon as Taylor glanced over the line, his eye caught this dis­ turbance of its symmentry from a mili­ tary point of view. "Get back there into line," he roared with the usual embellishments in the way of exple­ tives common in those early days. The new recruit, not understanding the or­ der, and impressed with the idea that he was doing very well, indeed, stood stock still. A second order had no more effect. Astonishment at the sup­ posed audacity of the man held Taylor for a moment, then, running up, he seiz­ ed the poor fellow by the ears and be­ gan "wooling" him. Not understand­ ing why he was so used, sore and in­ dignant, the soldier struck out heartily at his tormentor, lending him in a heap on the ground. For a few minutes there was intense excitement. Officers came running up with swords drawn and would have cut the daring man down where he stood, had not Taylor, recov­ ering from the effects of the blow, roar­ ed out the command: "Let him alone! Let him alone! He will make a good soldier." Tradition says that the man justified his officer's prediction. Another time Taylor was balked in his favorite punishment, but the man did not escape so easily as the German recruit. A soldier made a bet with a comrade that he could excite the ma- 'Lazier 'n' Sam Hill, he wuz, al'ays i The long-stemmed conifers rise to a plannin' out ways to save work, 'n' lettin' tilings go while he figgered on 'em. Didn't hev no downright bad habits, ye know. Jest plain lazy wuz what ailed him. His part o' the place looked like Poorhouse Corner. Hers wuz different, mind ye, 'n' so was she. Never no hens roosted on her while she wuz inventin' a aig-gatherer, I bate ye! "You'd 'a' thought she'd worried about Sim's bein' so easy goin"; but ye can't tell nothin' about Women-folks. For all she wuz so spry," nobody ever heerd her find fault. It wuz all t'other way. If he did somethin'--or didn't do somethin'--that stirred up a muss, she al'ays fished 'round till she found a blessin' in it. "1 r'collect her proceedin's one time, 'n' I guess 't wuz the only time, that Sim did somethin' like work. 'Twixt one thing 'n' another, he kep' it up for nigh a fortnit. Fust it wuz to git rid of a woodchuck that had growed up fond o' garden sass. Sim didn't have. no state fair election o' vegetables--'when the woodchuck sot in, but putty soon they begun to look, like the fag-end o' desolation. The critter wouldn't touch anything, with p'ison in it. Sim tried him, "faithful. looked as though th' only thing to do wuz to dig him out. "I d'know whether you ever started to onearth a woodchuck? I hev; it's easier talked about than-done. A good smart woodchuck d' burrer to Chiny, if you could head him straight down. Sim followed this one's trail 'bout thirty foot, rn' then he didn't 'pear to be any nearer the woodchuck's bedroom 'n' he wuz at,first When Sim> quit diggln', 'count o' takin' a crick in his back, I f'r one didn't feel to blame him. « 'T wuz jest about the time he quit that a story got 'round consarnin' old Cap'n Bascom. Some says it started With a shipmate o' his, that knowed certain, that the Cap'n brung home a good deal o' money from his last cruise. He had money, wasn't no doubt o' that, but 'when he died the only vallybles that wuz; found on him wuz a sliver |X"peiioa 'n' a snuffbox. Jim Bascom. height of one hundred and fifty feet and stand so closely that walking among them is quite difficult. The dense, lofty tops exclude the pale Arctic sunshine, and the straight, pale trunks, all looking exactly alike, so be­ wilder the eye in the obscurity that all sense of direction is lost. Even the most experienced trappers of sable dare not venture into the dense tiagas without the precaution of "blazing" the trees constantly with hatchets as they walk forward. If lost there the hunter rarely finds his way out, but perishes miserably from .starvation and cold. The natives avoid the tiagas and have a name for them which sig­ nifies "places where the mind is lost." Millions in It. A German who had vainly tried to make a fortune in many ways at last fell ill. But on what the doctor declared i to be his deathbed an idea with millions | in it struck him. He sent for a lawyer j and dictated a will, in " which he be­ queathed vast sums of money to his wife, his family, and various charitable institutions. The lawyer, a notorious talker, spread the tidings, and great was the chagrin of numerous acquaint­ ances to think how they had neglected to pay court to the dying millionaire. Our strategist was not so ill as the doc­ tor supposed, and presently he recov­ ered. Then it was that fortune-hunters begged him to invest their money, urged him to accept loans, and gave him a credit.second to none in the city." At first he coyly refused these flatter lng testimonials, but was gradually forced to- relent and, having lived clover for a considerable time, lias just failed for an enormous sum. No More Escapes, After filling the post of prison warden for ten years Brjuschini adopted the profession of grave digger. "What led you to change your occu pation?" inquired a friend. „ "The cir&umstance that in my new employment I have no escape to fear." --II Papagallo. was an unobstructed course, and told him if he passed a certain point named ! before Harney could catch him he was to go free. Mr. Lo was to have 100 yat us' start. At the word both bound­ ed away. They tiad" hardly gone the distance given to the Indian as a liandi- c-a i. before it was apparent that Harney ha.i not mistaken his powers. He was gaining on his victim at every stride. As* he was about to seize the Indian the latter turned and ran across a frozen pond. Harney sprang after. It hap­ pened that the ice was thin. The In­ dian was iight and the captain heavy. He had taken barely a dozen sjteps be­ fore the ice cracked and down he went, while the redskin went off at top speed. Dripping with his Unexpected bath, as soon as lie could catch his breath Harney roared to the sentinel to shoot the Indian. The order was promptly obeyed, but the soldier's aim was so disturbed by suppressed laugh­ ter that the ball went wide of the mark, md before he could reload the tricky savage was out of sight. Another time Harney had occasion to punish a soldier of his company nam- 1 Hewitt for some infraction of discip­ line. Hewitt had quite a reputation s a puglist. As he was being led off for punishment, he turned to Harney, crying: "If you'were in the ranks, or I an officer, you wouldn't treat me this way." The taunt was-too much for Harney. Casting aside the articles of war as not meeting the occasion, he ordered the guard to turn Hewett loose. Then turning to the man he said: "Y'ou fol­ low .me." Leading the way to a secluded spot behind the buildings, Where there was a nice bit of level ground, Harney stopped, took off his coat, and said to Hewett: "Now, my man, just consider yourself an officer for the time being." The soldier did not need a second invi­ tation. With a look of satisfaction in his eye, lie quickly stripped, intending to take prompt and sufficient revenge for all past punishments. There was no hesitation on either side. Both toed the scratch promptly. Hewett led out, I but somehow his blow fell short, and J return he received a facer that sent j The bet was promptly taken. The next day, just before parade, the man who laid the wager rubbed his ears thor­ oughly with soap. When the line was formed he was intentionally awkward. This, as lie expected, brought Taylor down to where he was standing on the jump. Rushing up to the soldier, he in­ quired what in blankety blank lie meant by such actions, and at the same time seized liis ears for his favorite practice. But the soap proved true, and Taylor could secure no grip. Again he tried and again his fingers slipped. By this time those who were in the vi­ cinity who were in the joke were near­ ly bursting with supressed laughter. Taylor recognized that he had been tricked, but he was too angry to join in the laugh that was threatening to throw his officers into apoplexy if they had to hold in much longer, and ordered up a file of men and sent the joker to the guardhouse. Taylor left Fort Crawford in ISr.ti. As the danger from the Indians grew less the commands were withdrawn and in time the reservations were sold and the buildings fell into decay. Fort Crawford was the last to succumb, and a portion of its old buildings is still standing, veritable relics of the days that Mere. It was an odd coincidence that when the order was issued for the sale of the Fort Winnebago reservation in 1853 it was signed by Jefferson Da­ vis as Secretary of War, who, as junior lieutenant, had helped build the fort a quarter of a century before. tion of translation changed into mo­ tion of vibration; but a similar and quite as familiar transformation takes place which is invisible. Let us take a coin, or any small piece of metal, and rub it well with a cloth or handkerchief; in a short time it will become warm, and if the friction be still continued, even unpleasantly hot. The visible motion of the hand has been transformed into the invisible intermo- lecular vibration which we call heat That heat is a form of motion has now become a scientific truism, but it was not so at the commencement of the present century, when it was still sup­ posed by many to be some intangible kind of substance named "caloric," proofs to the contrary being almost simultaneously given by Davy and Itumford at the end of the last century, that of the former consisting in melting two pieces of ice, carefully insulated from external heat, by rubbing them together; that of the latter in causing water to boil by the sole means of keep­ ing it in continual motion. ^ "It is hardly necessary to add," says Rumford, "that anything which any in­ sulated body, or system of bodies, can continue to furnish without limitation, cannot possibly be a material substance; and it appears to me exceedingly diffi­ cult, if not quite impossible, to form any distinct idea of anything capable of being excited and communicated, In the mannet- heat was excited and com­ municated in these experiments, except it be motion." Narrow ̂ Escape- pf a Barkentino from a-Leviathan. The yarn spinners are telling •whale story on the water front which proves that the steam schooner Sunol of local, fame is not the only vessel that has col- liaed with a whale. There is a rumor ex­ tant that the nine-fathom buoy Is. not so intact tw it used to be, but that does not deter Jack from telling an Odd story of the accident that befell the good barkentine Handa Isle, which arrived at Sydney on Sept 2, while the crew of the steamer Alameda were looking for a jolly good time ashore. The Handa Isle dropped irTto Sydney Harbor in tow,of the tug Hope, her port side ban­ daged up and a trifle compressed at the bilge. The barkentine was leaking, and badly, too, and her skipper "said that had the vessel been laden with coal inst(»:id of lumber she would have taken a dive to the abysmal depths of Davy Jones' mysterious locker: It was on Saturday 'ifternoon, at about 1 o'clock, while the Handa Isle was hauling away "from Mercury har- bor; With a fair northwest breeze astern, Whentjvo whales were observ­ ed puffing a few points to port. One was an ugly looking "bull," with a nose like the bow of a river barge. He was about sixty feet long and as full of sport as a 2-year-old colt. According to the story of the skipper of the Handa Isle, - the whales started to cross • the vessel's bow, when it suddenly seemed to occur to the: bull. .that the Isle was looking for trouble and that he had bet­ ter give battle. When about a cable's length from the ship lie made a swim at her full tilt, and before the barkentine's crew could grab something solid to hold on to the leviathan struck the craft amidships and the concussion was like that of a submarine earthquake. Though the Handa Isle is a vessel of 200 tons and was loaded with 250,000 feet of lumber, she trembled from truck to keel and shook like a dying sea mon­ ster. The other whale dove under the keel, and was not seen again, but the bull's nose must have been rendered very sore, for the poor fellow drew away in a dazed condition, and the sea turned crimson from his blood. Suddenly his tail went up'and his head went down and that was the last seen of him. The skipper of the Handa Isle made an investigation of the ship's well, and oc sounding found that his ship was leak­ ing at the rate of about one foot per hour. He called all hands to the pumps and remarked that had the other whale struck the keel too the craft would surely have gone to the bottom'. It was discovered on examination that the ves­ sel had a large dent in her side, though her timbers are the strongest. The cap- tain gave-ordfrs to jettison part of the deck load, so as to lift - the- damaged part above the water line. The pumps were kept going while the lumber was thrown overboard. The jettisoning of the deck load did not do much good, for the crew had to remain at the .pumps all night. A breeze sprang up and sail had to be shortened, for the leak gain- 0ed on the pumpers. Finally the skip­ per clewed up and went to work to cover the damaged sides with some hides that lie had in his cargo, and by ingenious labor he managed to partly stop the inflow of water. The tug Hope sighted the Handa Isle off Sydney on Sept. 1. flying signals of distress, and took her in tow. The build­ ers of the vessel, Bigelow & Co., of Auckland, have written to this city stating that in their belief the yarn A Girl'8 Sudden Fancy for an Old Man o't a- Reception. Somefimes you meet wdth such stbrie3 as that of Col. James P. Stanford in ,«». play or a novel wliilch unfolds what Is seemingly an utterly improbable train of events. To Col. Stanford it seems like a terrible nightmare; so much so, indeed, that he is said to be* ruined in body and mind. He left his young bride of two months some forty- five years ago Jo go to South America. News soon came saying that she wafl dead. He wrote many letters and got no answers. Then he met with reverses and disappointments, and it was many years before*he saw the United States again: For the last twenty years he has been a lecturer on the lecture courses of the towns and smaller cities. At a reception given to him in Mor- ristown. Pa., recently, he met q young woman to whom he took a great fancy. They became so friendly that the lecturer told her the sad story of his. early life. He had meant no more than to touch a girl's sentiment with the story of a young bride's death. But she supplied it with a sequel as aston­ ishing and calmly cruel as the climax of one of Thomas Hardy's short stories, and the mere telling of Which would, wring the heart of the least sentimen­ tal of ^maids. . "Isn't it strange?", she said. "My grandfather's name was the sa'me as yours, and he left his bride to go to South America,, But he, and not his bride, died." - • A few direct.questions and the long lost father knew the truth. He led the young wonian to one side and asked: "Is your grandmother still living?" When the young woman, who was as yet quite unconscious of what the an­ swer meant to the charming, gray-hair­ ed man before her, said that his wife was dead he nearly swooned, and since that moment his friends speak of him as being no longer himself. He has met the daughter who was unborn when he left his young wife, and who is now a mature matron of 44, but seems to be unable to recover from the shock of the news about his wife--of the thought that she had lived so many years after he supposed that she was dead. He has cancelled all of his lecture engagements, and wilt retire to his home in Wheatou, 111., and his daughter and granddaughter will do all in their power to make his last days comfortable. Turtle-Egg Butter. The Amazon and its affluents abound in turtles, says Dr. Kidder, in his "Bra­ zil and the Brazilians." In September and October, the ruontlj.s when the eggs are deposited, the streams will be fairly speckled with turtles, paddling their clumsy carcasses up to their native sandbar. They lay from eighty to one hundred and twenty eggs every other year. Turtle egg butter is a substance peculiar to this part of the globe. --When __tlu> turtles come spun by the Isle's skipper is tin th.--San Francisco Bulletin. gospel Haydn's Joke. Humor seems inseparable from'gen­ ius, and Haydn dearly loved a joke. Giving concerts in London, where he had an enormous success, he had no­ ticed that during the symphony, espe­ cially in the tranquil andante, the la­ dies sitting in their chairs were sleep­ ing. "I" will give you something to make you sleep better," he said to him­ self. He lost no time in writing a new symphony, which began with a tran­ quil andante. After much "pianis­ simo" all at once there came out the whole orchestra "forte," with all the bass drums, and after that the pianis­ simo came again. Having written this composition Haydn rubbed his hands, thinking about the effect of it. The re­ sult surpassed all his-expectations; the respectable matrons began to sleep af­ ter the first soft sounds of the andante, but suddenly--bum! And in the ranks of the audience: "Oh!" "Ah!" The la­ dies jumped from their chairs and were perfectly awake; by the platform "Fa- pa Ilaydn" stood tranquil and beat time, but from his fine smile nobody could understand whether this was the effect of inspiration or only a joke. Who Is She? "Now, the . modern woman," began Shifter, "is really attracting more at­ tention than modesty will permit " "If the fool men would mind their own business there would be no trou­ ble," replied Mrs. Snifter. "That's it!" responded Snifter. "I am impressed more and more every day with the forwardness of the mod­ ern woman; and I tell you,. Maria " "There's certainly room enough in the world for all." "Yes, my dear, but the modern wom­ an----" "Y'ou called her that name before." "Yes; I say the modern woman 1s destined to destroy all that is lovable in the very thought of woman " "It seems to me that there is not that sympathy between men and women that ought to exist " "Ah, my dear, I have thought that, but know that the modern woman has rendered such a thought distasteful "But cannot men be gentlemanly, I want to know " "Ah, my dear, you do not understand beaches to lay their eggs, so great are' their numbers that the noise of their shells striking against each other in rush is said to be sometimes heard at long distances. Their work commences at dusk and ends with the following dawn. During the daytime the Inhabitants I collect these eggs and pile them up in heaps; like the stacks of cannon balls seen at a navy yard. These heaps are often twenty feet In diameter, and of a corresponding height. While yet fresh the eggs are thrown into wooden canoes or other large vessels and broken with sticks and stamped fine with the feet. Water is then poured on, and the whole is exposed to the rays of the sun. The heat brings the oily matter of the eggs to the surface, from which it is slcimmed with cuyas and shells. Af­ ter this ii: is subjected to a moderate heat until ready for use. When clarified, it has the appearance of butter that has been melted. It al­ ways retains the taste of fish oil, but is much prized for seasoning by the In­ dians and those who are accustomed to its use. It is conveyed to market in earthen jars. In earlier times it was estimated that nearly two hundred and fifty millions of turtle eggs were annually destroyed for the manufacture of this mautelgo. The government now regulates the tur­ tle egg harvest, so that there may not be such wholesale destruction. There are some extensive beaches which yield two thousand pots of oil annually. Each.pot contains five gallons, and re­ quires about,twenty-five hundred eggs* which would give a total of five million es "What?" "The modern woman " "Who is. the modern woman?" "Eh? What?" "Who is she?" "Why--er--huh?" "That's what I thought, Snifter. To ask a man what he's talking about is to find out he is an idiot" And somehow Snifter hasn't thought so much about the modern woman since his wife gave him that setback. Honestly Won. "How did you get the title of 'gen­ eral'?" asked a hero-worshiping girl. "I cut my way to it," was the proud reply. "On the field?" "No, in Bill Wiggins' hotel. There was only two men in our town in Ken­ tucky that had ever been in the army at all, so we cut the cards to see which should be 'general' and which 'colo- nel'."--Washington Star. r Look Out for It. The rain descends upon the plant And makes itejgrow the taller; But when it strikes the summer pant It's apt to make that smaller. A Steady Thing. Visitor--What has become of your os­ sified man? Museum Attendant--He's got a better job at a cigar stand in a hotel. Visitor--Selling cigars? __ Museum Attendant--No; they use him to scratch matches on.--Judge. A Suiwcme Test. (Iu a quiet corner at reception) She You say you would he willing to risk your life for me? He--Only try me. She--Then go down to the supper room and get me something to eat- An Extraordinary Sentence. In Morristown, Pa., recently, an un­ usual sentence was imposed upon three offenders. They were accused of as­ sault and battery and were released on their promise to accompany tlfelr -ac- r euser to church on each of the twelve next succeeding Sundays, p Animal, Longevity. A carp taken in Germany six or seven years ago had a ring through its lower jaw, on Which it was recorded that the bearer was placed in a particular water in 1810. This appears hardly credible, hut there is little -doubt that many carps have lived for upwards of a hundred years. Until some eight years ago the eldest inhabitant of any English collection of birds was a black Vassa parrot from Madagascar, which died after a resi- dence°of forty-four years in the Re­ gent's Park Gardens. Geese are naturally a long-lived fam­ ily, and there are several records of birds of this species attainingJo sixty, or seventy years. * In 1S88 the Philadelphia Zoo had a cockatoo known to be more than eigh­ ty-five years old. A parrot died six years ago in Paris at the reputed age of one hundred and three years. " In France ravens have been known to live /Over one hundred years. Women could do their marketing more intelligently if butchers sold string sausage by the yard. .. What becomes of all the quinine peo­ ple buy?. They dou't take it The world has observed that nearly every reformer is a dead beat No Terrors in Moving-. For the Oklahoma housewife moving day has none of the terrors that It brings to those who live in more con­ servative places, for there, very often, the house itself is carted away witnou; even disturbing Its mistress in her household occupations. It seems a little queer to look out of the window and see a house being taken along by trotting horses, while a woman is un­ concernedly preparing the family meal over a hot cooking stove, but it Is not an unusual spectacle down there. When adjacent towns are laid out in new countries there is'sure to be a duel be­ tween two of them, and one kills tha other. When a certain village becomes victorious the inhabitants of its oppo­ nent put their houses on wheels, hitch teams to them and join the iOTifemy's forces, without taking the trouble to disturb their good wives. Modern Courtship. Met him; he is a charming companion. Met.him again--in love with him. Met him again--no loifger in love with him, but he is in love with me because I am so beautiful. Met him again--he is still in love with me, not only because I am so beaoitiful, but because I am also so good. Sorry for him. Again I met him --he is colder than he was. Think he has forgotten my beauty and my goodness. I, however, am inclined to think that I am in love .with him after all. How lucky he is, and how angry mamma will be! Mamma proved to be strangely pleased. Makes me angry, for I know she is not a good judge of "a young girl's heart. Flirted with him outrageously to make mamma angry--didn't succeed. Engaged to him--glad. Married to hins --sorry. Craue that Lifts 150 Tons. It is said that the largest crane in the world Is at the Krupp iron works. It lifts and turns a weight of 150 tons. m