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RUNAWAY A .' '• ••-. •• ' • wmkmmmmam Wm -> ' • T ' minals of that m • f _ . . . . fT^HERE bare lately been turned I out of the Southern Pacific Rail- -A- road shopfe at one of the big ter- road on the Pacific , .Coast, four of the largest consolidated pattern engines in use. designed espe­ cially for mountain work, whose plans and specifications were drawn by prob­ ably the only lady expert mechanical life®- engineer in America, if not in the world. How she attaineu her present position is one of the railroad legends of the road for which she works, but I believe the story has never been In print. A number of years ago, about fifteen I believe* some lucky prospectors "lo­ cated" mining claims away up in the almost inaccessible fortresses of one of the mountain ranges of the West and the phenomenal riches of the lead amply repaid the heavy expense of ^ the "mule train" that was used to H9«|: "pack" the output to the railroad. Eventually the prosperity of the first proprietors brought other adventur­ ous spirits to the lucky spot and later * rich syndicate bought out all the smaller claims on the ledge and estab­ lished there the great mills and smel­ ters of the Calumet Mining and Smelt­ ing Company. Then the Southern Pacific people awakened to the importance of the en- Hl H terprise, and after a series of consul­ tations with the syndicate in the course of which a very handsome financial •proposition was made by the miners, a •branch road was surveyed up through .the canons to the site of the now rap- Idly growing town. The difficulties were almost insurmountable, but at ' 'last the work was done and a very crooked and dangerous piece of track ;was the result. Its grades were pre­ cipitous in the extreme; its curves sharp to the last degree, and its road bed so narrow in some places that if a car became derailed it was either de­ molished against tue rock wall on one i or went to the bottom of the gorge Ithe other, there to lie and rot and away. Once over the cliff the cost tsing an ore car would almost [ for a new one, and the company am made any effort to recover the pkage. point on the short road had al- been dreaded by the trainmen, was the sharp curve at the ih to what was called the sec- crossing. It had been a prolific of wrecks and the rocks below idge were strewn with the bro- lbers and bent and twisted iron "of dozens of ore cars that had plunged over the sheer sides of the deep gorge. This second crossing bridge was at the foot of the heaviest grade and from there the road wound through the beautiful Silver Creek Valley to the "Junction," where it join­ ed the main line of. the Southern Pa- :. i" -v V At the point where\the level tracK commenced, hardly a stone's throw from the second crossing bridge, the company had built a short siding for the use of the giant consolidated en­ gine that was used to push the long trains of ore cars up the mountain, and just across the main "track i from the siding stood the little cottage where John Clarke, the engineer, and his daughter, Jessie, lived. Miss Jessie at that time was nearly 16, and for the last three years had been her father's housekeeper. All her life she had been intimately associated with railroad men and for the three years that her father had been run­ ning the big "pusher" she had had no other companion than the old engineer, his fireman and a little brother, sev­ eral years her junior. All her spare time she spent with her fathe$about the engine, and had made it an enthusiastic study until, at 16, she knew its mechanism about as thor­ oughly as did her gray-haired father In fact, it was her boast that she could j"run the consolidator as good as Dad •»y." ; A short time before the incident hap­ pened of which I am about to tell you, % tourist delayed by a wreck at the bridge had spent the day at Clarke: cottage. The little housekeeper had made the day very pleasant for him by piloting him about the valley, and on leaving he had given her a pair of powerful field glasses. They were her dearest earthly possession, for with them she could see her father's engine as it crept down the mountain for near­ ly an hour before he would arrive at The long stretches of road as it wound around the crags up the canon, now tor a mile in sight, then disap­ pearing among the rocks only to re­ appear- still further up the mountain, (Were always an Interesting study for the girl, and, but for those field glass­ es, the young lady's practical knowl­ edge of railroading and her unparal- leled nerve, the Southern Pacific would have had one. wreck that would have cost many lives. One August evening Miss Clarke was ing through the field glasses the of the sunlight on the brilliant isrtz rock at the farthest point up e mountain, where the track could seen from the valley and only a rt distance from the big mills of the hill. Her father and his an had gone to the junction'for supplies and were to return on "mall," now nearly due. Her iir- ier was "playing fireman ' and i a big bunch of waste was rub up the bright work about llie big engine. The twilight si'ence in the valley was only broken Dy the occa­ sional hiss of escaping &team and the steady, monotonous "pound" of the uir- purrp on the engine, wnica her father had forgotten to shut off before he lef!. Sp.c had just noticed It and was about to go to the/engine, and Shut off the fteam, when, as she.took one iast look, she was almost paralyzed by the sight of a long train of ore cars creeping a r p u n d t h e c u r v e . T w o o r t h r e e o f l i e laborers at the mines were rill on tnem, but hand brakes would never stop that heavy train and as it olowly gained in speed she saw them leave the train. Then she thought of the little passenger train that would be there in a few minutes and in another moment she was climbing into the cab of the big engine and telling her little brother what to do. "Open the switch, Johnnie, and when I get out on the main track shut it and run down the track and flag number one. Tell dad I'm up the hill to catch a runaway." Johnnie did as he wsfs told and the powerful engine rolled out of the sid­ ing, across the bridge and was soon tearing up the hill at full speed toward the now rapidly approaching train. As she left the siding her one thought had been to save the passenger train from an awful collision, but as she crossed the bridge she thought of a little story her father had lately told of how he had once caught a runaway train with his engine and had stopped it before it could do any damage. She would try It now despite the awful danger. If "Daddy" could do it, she could. For nearly four miles up the hill the big engine fairly flew, . then, as she reached a long stretch of straight track where the view was clear for nearly a mile, she shut off the steam and grad­ ually the locomotive stopped. Jessie looked up at the steam gauge. The pointer indicated only 100 , pounds DUE TO WILSON LAW. Now the speed of the train material-ly decreased, but the big locomotive rolled and rocked like a ship at sea as she safely rounded the dangerous [miners> STRIKE IS CHARGED mm curve and shot out on the high bridge, and then came another shock for the sorely tried girl, for standing in front of the cottage, almost hidden by a dense cloud of black smoke, stood the little passenger train with its load of lususpecting travelers. Here again the girl's knowledge of •ailroad craft came to her, and. she :new that no power on earth could top that heavy train in time to avert ,i collision; but she could signal to them. A brown hand reached for the whistle cord, and in a second more the deep valley was resounding to the hoarse roar of the duplex whistle giv­ ing three loud blasts--the railroaders' signal: "Back up." 0 The signal was just in1 time, as the passenger train backed out of the way, the big consolidator and its string of ore cars rolled heavily by, the train now under control, but still moving with sufficient force to have done con­ siderable damage. „As the train passed the siding, Clarke and his fireman climbed on'the cars and soon stopped them; and as Jessie jumped to the ground she almost alighted on a tall, gray-mustached old gentleman. He was Charles Archer, Vice President and General Manager of the Southern Pacific, and a man who never failed to recognize and reward merit; and it was at his hands Miss Clarke received the education that fit­ ted her for the position she now occu­ pies, and who placed the lady's name on the "merit roll" of the Southern Pacific Railroad, at a salary of $1,500 per year, work or play, as long as she lives.--St. Louis Post Dispatch. THE DRUM ON SHIPBOARD. It the Plays an Important Part in Daily Routine of Duty. "The Last of the Drums" is the ti­ tle of an article written by Lieu tenant Con Marrast Perkins for St. Nicholas. Lieutenant Perkins says: In the navy as well as in the army, the drum is hallowed and glorified by traditions of victory; and from the day Paul Jones ran up the first flag of our country, with its liberty-tree and its motto, "An Appeal to Heaven," down to the present, a man-of-war's drum­ mer, though the smallest mite on board, has always played an Important part in the daily routine of our nation's floating bulwarks. From the rolling of "gun bright- work" tn the morning, and the long- drawn, solemn beat to "quarters," to the last Incident of the day--"taps," or "extinguish lights"--the drum retains its place here; and the little Marine- druntJier, with his baby face and red coat, is the last to carry his drum proudly at the head of marching men, and to blend its martial rattle with the blare of the trumpet, which has usurped tr.e place of the fife. These boys are enlisted at Washing­ ton, and are taught in the music-school at Marine headquarters, after which they are drafted to the several Marin# /}' SHE COULD SEE HEB 'FATHER'S ENGINE. -- pressure. Keeping a close watch on the track ahead, the. intrepid girl left the throttle, andj opening the fire-box door, replenished thet fire. Just as the last scoopful of coal was thrown in and the door closed the runaway shot around the curve into view, and, start­ ing the engine back, the girl watched closely for a chance to catch the now rapidly moving train. * hi Down the heavy grade went engine and cars, the distance between them rapidly growing shorter. On a little piece of straight track, a little over a mile from the dangerous bridge, Jes­ sie decided to take the last desperate chance, and as the engine reached the desired point, only a few feet ahead of. the flying ore cars, the girl gave the engine a light touch of the airbrake and then, with mighty impact, the heavy train struck the engine, then the airbrake lever was sent to the "emer­ gency notch," but so great was the- speed of the train that even that did but little to slacken the speed and that awful curve at the bridge was almost insight. • Jess'e almost lost her nerve as she thought of that deadly place. She knew the big engine woul<^ never round it at its present rate of speed. Suddenly the escape valve of the en gine opened with a mighty roar, tell ing her the powerful machine was straining aqd quivering under the pressure of nearly 200 pounds of steam, and then a favorite axiom of her fa ther's came to mind: "If air won hold 'em, give 'em steam." One supreme effort of the strong young arms and the reverse lever of the black giant was thrown over, the sand pipes \Vere opened and ,.with steady hand Jessie opened this tbrot tie, throwing a mighty force against the heavy train. stations at navy-yards, or distributed to vessels In commission all over the world. They are enlisted sit from 14 to 16 years of age, and are bound over to serve In the Marine Corps until 21, when they are honorably discharged. While serving on men-of-war, they swin& in hammocks and mess with the Marine Guard, and in all respects are treated as If they are men; in action |hey serve at the great guns as pow­ der-boys--'"powder-monkeys" as they are sometimes called. The duty of a powder-boy Is to pass charges from the magazine to the battery. Drummers are distinguished from the private soldiers of the Marine Guard in full-dress uniform by a scarlet tunic with white facing and shoulder knots-- the only dress in our service like the traditional red coat of "Tommy At­ kins," the British soldier, which has been worn by the army for nearly 300 years. As a joke upon this distinctive­ ly un-American uniform, it Is related that when the British were seen ap­ proaching Bladensburg, during the war of 1812, a wag in the American ranks shouted. "Great Scott! boys, here comes the music. I gtiess^TVon't wait for the army I" J Everything Else. feacon--I hear your friend has been very unfortunate. Egbert--Yes; he failed in business. "What was the cause?" -"Expensive wife." "And did he lose everything?" "Everything but the wife."--Yonkers Statesman. fO ITS EFFECTS. . i 1 Pernicious Wilson Measure Abolished Protective Duties on Coal and the Wastes of Miners Were Reduced as a Result--Bryan for Free Coal. Strike Worries Democrats, Special Washington correspondence: The extensive .strike among the min­ ers in the great coal producing sections calls attention to the part the reduction in coal tariff has played in the wages of coal miners. Mr. William J. Bryan, whose name and theories are to be especially prom­ inent in the approaching State cam­ paigns, was one of the nicest earnest and active members of the wing of his party which demanded the removal of the. entire duty on coal, saying in a speech in Congress, Jan. 13, 1894: "The duty on coal is indefensible. * * • The duty on coal is nothing but a subsidy, which the people along the sea coast are compelled to pay to the transportation companies. * - * * Take the tariff off from coal, so that the New England manufacturers can buy it for less, and they can manufacture more cheaply, and then, by cutting down the tariff on the products of their factories, we can Compel them to sell at a lower price to the people of the South and West." This close relation between the Wil­ son tariff law and the present strike is the subject of much comment among tariff students and members of Con­ gress generally. That the reduction which that law made in the tariff on coal caused great reductions In the wages of miners is easily, shown, and that the drop in wages was practically coincident with the reduction in duties upon coal Is gen­ erally recognized by those .iamiliar with the subject. • President RSitchford, of tfie United Mine Workers' Association, In a com­ munication to the New York Herald, dated July 3, says: , "A miner's wages in the Western Pennsylvania field ranges from 54 to 47 cents per ton In thin veined districts and from 30 to 28 cents per ton in the thick veined. In 1§93 the mining rate in thin veined districts was 79 cents and thick veined 65 cents per ton. Dur­ ing the same year the rate in Ohio and Indiana was 70 and 75 cents respect­ ively. Now it is 51 cents, with a re­ duction proposed in Ohio to 45 cents per ton. This ratio holds good in a general way all along the lines; Illinois, a por­ tion of Iowa, Eastern and Central Pennsylvania and the Virginias are all equally affected." These figures indicate a reduction in rates for mining of from 20 to 30 cents per ton since 1893. It was in August, 1893, that the Congress which framed the Wilson tariff law met and the work upon the bill which reduced the coal tariff 35 cnts per ton was be- •?un. It was promised that the bill would take the entire duty off coal, and lie bill, as framed by the Ways and deans Committee, and passed by the louse, did remove the entire rate of 75 ents per ton and placed coal upon the free list. The Senate, however, re­ stored a part of the duty on coal, mak­ ing the rate 40 cents per ton and the bill, when it became a law, reduced the tariff rates on bituminous coal 35 cents per ton, the rate under the Mc­ kinley law having been 75 cents per ton, and the rate named by the Wilson law being 40 cents per ton. The fact that the entire reduction of wages which miners are complaining of has occurred since the beginning of work upon the Wilson tariff law, and that the reduction is nearly the same as the reduction made in the tariff by that act, is of itself a remarkable coincidence and would probably warrant the as­ sumption that the tariff reduction caused the reduction in wages. It is not necessary, however, to mere­ ly assume this or to depend upon mere theory to indicate that the reduction in tariff caused reduction in rates for mining. It is susceptible of proof from facts known to every man interested in or acquainted with coal mining and coal operations of the past few years. Before the passage of the Wilson tariff bill a visitor to Newport News, the seaboard tex*minal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, might have seen at any time from four to a dozen coasting vessels lying a<t the docks awaiting the arrival of coal trains from Virgin­ ia and West Virginia, loaded with coal destined to be shipped to New York and New England. No sooner had the Wilson tariff taken effect than all these vessels disappeared as complete­ ly as though they had been engulfed in midocean. mustbe consumed. Whatever Increas­ es the number of mills and gives em­ ployment to mill hands, increases work for the miner, but whatever re­ duces the number of mills In operation shortens the number of hours or di­ minishes the number of operatives, is as much against the interests of »*the miner as it is against the interests of the mechanic. The suspension or re­ duction of work in factories, business establishments of various kinds, and industries of all sorts, in all parts of the country, resulting from the opera­ tions of ' the Wilson law, caused a great reduction in the demand for coal and combined with the depressing ef­ fect of importations to still further re­ duce the demand for the labor oS the miners and the prices paid for their services. While the amount of coal actually" imported is only about four million tons a year, or sufficient to throw out of employment about eight thousand miners, the loss in markets to American mines by the suspension of manufacturing was much greater. The present strike of the coal miners is looked upon with great alarm by Democratic leaders here. It calls at­ tention directly and pointedly to the fact that their legisla­ tion is beyond question responsible, for the reductions of wages, all of which, according to President Ratchford, have occurred since the inception of that legislation. Not only is the Dem­ ocratic party responsible for the re­ duction of 35 cents per ton whieh caus­ ed this reduction in wages, but many of the men now most prominent in its councils and as its leaders urged and even demanded a removal of "the en­ tire duty on coal, placing it absolutely upon the free list, whieh would have doubtless still further reduced the wages of miners. A. B. CARSON. A Satisfactory Feature, No feature of the new tariff bill will prove more satisfactory than that by which it is proposed to collect thirteen million dollars per annum in taxes up­ on stock, transactions. This proposi­ tion, wljieh came to-the surface in the closing days of the tariff discussion, will insure to the tariff law an ample revenue to meet running expenses, and will collect the thirteen million dollars thus raised from a class of business men who can well afford to contribute this sum to the expenses of the Gov­ ernment. The amendment places a tax of 2 cents a share an all purchases of stock of a par value of $100 or less, and a stamp tax upon the original Issues of stock, omitting, however, building as­ sociations and other organizations of this chax-acter especially managed in the interests of the people. A "Conservative" Tariff". In the tariff hearings before the Ways and Means Committee which framed the Dingley bill last winter we heard a great deal about the "conservative spirit" shown by the manufacturers who were asking for increased protec­ tion.--Minneapolis (Minn.) Times. All the talk about a "conservative" tariff was in the Democratic newspa­ pers, which adopted this term as a new cloak whereunder to hide their free trade sentiments. Manufacturers have always been anxious for the enactment of a tariff that would be "conservative" of their interests and of the interests of the wage earners whom they em­ ploy. democrats Not Free-Traders. There are a great many editors and a few public men who have deceived themselves into believing that the Dem­ ocratic party' is a free trade party. We need not pause here to inquire how so confusing an error got afoot. It is suf­ ficient to say that the time has coone to correct it.--Constitution, Atlanta, Ga. We are very glad, indeed, to hear it, and gladly do our part toward correct­ ing the misapprehension by giving the above Democratic statement the widest possible circulation among our ex­ changes and through our various press services. The Return of Prosperity. Like sunrise, prosperity cannot be ex­ pected to reach all parts of the conti­ nent at once, though its occurrence in one quarter may be considered as fair evidence that it will not be long, in reaching all--Syracuse, N. Y., Post. The check to the immediate and uni­ versal return of prosperity consists in the enormous stocks or foreign goods that are now in our markets, all of which must be consumed before there can be an active demand for American goods made by American labor. AN ENGLISH COUNTRY DOCTOR. Incidents in the Life, of the' Famous Physician Hudson. • Doctor Hudson, who practised in the midst of the "stocking" district of Eng­ land, was known as "The Evening Mail," because he rarely made pro? fesslonal visits, unless specially sum­ moned until after his dinner, three o'clock. His partner who. did most of the day-work, was characterized as "The Morning Post." They had a prac­ tice so extensive as to require the ser­ vice of thirteen horses a.nd two dis­ pensers, or makers of medicine. The late Sir Benjamin W. Richardson, who was Doctor Hudson's aid for several months, tells in his "Chapters of Med­ ical Life" several anecdotes illustra­ tive of this country doctor's character and practce. The first time Richardson accompan­ ied Doctor Hudson, flve-and-twemty vis- Its were made between five and ten o'clock, p. m., and at every house of importance at which the doctor called a table was spread with refreshments --biscuits, sandwiches, port and sherry. Doctor Hudson was a stem-looking man with a .course voice and a.n abrupt, jerky delivery. He had a kind­ ly spirit which sometimes was the dupe of his heart. Once while riding through a village he was called in to see a girl who was very poor. She had all the symptoms of death. The doctor was tpucjhed, and used all the means at his cpmriiand to restore her. Then he galloped home, to procure the best remedies for her case.. He found that the dispensers were well acquainted with the. character of the case, and one of them remarked that it was only that "Hysterical Har­ riet," who would cure herself with a peppermint drop. Whereupon the doc­ tor became angry, asserting that hys­ teria had nothing to do with the ill­ ness; that the girl was dying, and would probably be dead before the medicines arrived. The dispensers worked rapidly, and a special mes­ senger was sent off with the medicines. The doctor passed a restless night, thinking of the poor girl, and rode off the next morning before breakfast to see her. He found her singing at the wash-tub, and she had not touched his physic! It was a splendid Illustration of "the mimicry of disease." A nervous, lonely man, with a gen­ erous, sensitive heart, but of a sad na­ ture, lived near the doctor's house. One day the man committed suicide, and the horrified neighbors supposed that his body, according to the custom, would be buried outside of the church­ yard; but to their surprise the rector granted burial ih the consecrated ground. Then it was rumored that the rector had given his consent to the erecting of a stone by the doctor at the head Of the suicide's grave, and that the doctor would also furnish an appropriate epitaph. There, were no flowers or other ar­ tistic designs, such as fashion then en­ joined, carved upon the wide grave­ stone; but, cut deeply, were to be read the full name of the deceased, and the date of his death. Just beneath were two words: "Judge not!" The vil­ lagers were brought to a stand by the admonition, and were ever after dumb on the subject of this man's death. It doesn't amount to much if a di­ vorced man has a living wife, but it is mighty Important if a divorced woman has a living husband. The reason for this transformation scene was simply this: The rate of duty on coal under the McKinley law was such as to exclude foreign coal from New England or Eastern ports, but the reduction of the rates to 40 cents per ton by the Wilson law per­ mitted Nova Scotia coal to enter the northeastern Atlantic ports at such low rates that the West Virginia coal could not compete with it. The Nova Sco­ tia coals are cheaply mined, and as many of the mines extend under water, it is practicable to load the coal directly on vessels and thus place it in any of the Eastern United States ports at very low prices. The result of this reduction in the tariff was that the Nova Scotia coals took the place in the East of that from the West Virginia mines and that the West Virginia mine-owners and opera­ tors were compelled to seek a market elsewhere. Railroad rates to the West were reduced and coal which had formei-ly gone to New England went West and came Into competition with the coal of Ohio, Indiana and Illi­ nois. The price of coal in the Western markets tumbled; then followed a rate war between railroads and between mines and mine-owners, a ̂ reduction in wages for mining at the East, fol­ lowed by reductions in the West, un­ til miners' wages became lower than they had ever been known under the protective policy of the Republicans. Other causes, also resulting from the Wilson law, have operated with equal certainty in keeping down the prices which it was possible to pay for min ing. The activity ami prosperity of the miner primarily depends upon the activity and'prosperity of the manu facturer, since machinery is moved by National Kxtravasrance. When a nation baa a foreign trade worth from a billion and a half to two billions of dollars annually, it is a na­ tional extravagance of the most reck less kind to permit ships of other coun­ tries to monopolize the carrying of all this commerce. Japanese Protection. A special dispatch from Berne, Swit­ zerland, says that the Bundesrath has refused to ratify the commercial treaty with Japan, owing to the prohibitive duty placed upon clocks and watches, And this is the same Japan that so re­ cently protested against certain protec tive features of the Dingley tariff! Political Paragraphs. The evidence I have obtained from all sections of the country, from the press, from callers personally and cor­ respondence, all points in one direction an actual improvement in trade and manufactures."--Secretary Gage. "No gentleman will remain in the People's party if the idea once gets abroad that Populism and Hessianism are synonymous terms."--Thomas E Watson, late Populist candidate for Vice-President. The anti-trust proposition has been omitted from the tariff bill in order to save the time which would be occupied in Its discussion, and the proposition will be pressed by the Republicans in the Senate as a separate measure. The silver orators will be materially embarrassed in the coming State cam paigns by a recent publication which shows that the silver coinage of the world has much more than doubled since 1873, the total now being more than $4,000,000,000. The publication in question is made by the New York Journal of Commerce, which Is a very conservative and accurate,publication, and shows that the total addition to the world's stock of sliver money since 1873 is $2,498,000,000, of which $2,124,000, steam, in the production of which coal {000 is .full legal tender silver. Why He Is Jolly. A reporter of the New York World tells of a certain butcher who is a very jolly man. The reporter had seen no particular reason why this butcher should be so peculiarly happy, since he was not conspicuously prosperous. So he resolved to find out by "Interview ing" the butcher; enterprising journal­ ism is balked by nothing. Why is it that you are always so fine and jolly?" the reporter asked him. "Why am I jolly? Oh, I don't know; good digestion, perhaps:" The reporter could get no more sat­ isfactory reason out of the butcher, but just as he was about to give it up he heard a voice break in. It was that of an old colored woman: Any help for the poor to-day, Mr. Leypoldt?" . ! , v~ "Why, yes, Mrs. Rushmore, I guess we'vp got a little something for you to­ day." V.'-; " The butcher cut off a good bit of beef and-put It in the old woman's trembling hands. • V '• "God bless you Mr. Leypoldt?" she said. I.;: "Oh, that's all right." She went out. The reporter asked him if he knew the woman. Oh, yes," said the butcher. "A hard­ working woman as there is, when there's work to do." 'Are there many of them who ask you for meat?" - "Many of them? Bless you, sir, you ought to stand behind this counter for a day! No, I don't give meat to everf beggar that would ask it--I shouldn't have any to sell; but if I know one that is worthy, why, what's a scrap of meat anyway?" When the reporter went away, he knew why the butcher was always so find and jolly. Modelled on Fishes. The shapes of fishes have often been studied with a view to determining the best shape for boats with regard to speed.- There are many fishes whose fins, or a part of them, shut down into gutters, so that when closed and not in use they make, no projection beyond the body, but fold down Into these/depres slons flush with the surface, and offer­ ing no obstruction whatever to the rap­ id passage of the fish through the wa­ ter avhen swimming at speed, driven by its tail fin used as a propeller. The slime with which every fish is coated which is in various ways essential to comfort and existence, helps it to slide more easily through the water. In fact, the fish, studied by men for ideas in modeling, is not only speedy, but is, as one might say, always black-leaded and ready for racing. The Cause of the Trouble. "Wires ain't working," said the op erator tersely. * "Can't take your mes sage." "What's the matter? Storm?" de­ manded the man with the message. "Worse than that," replied the op­ erator. "What?" "Just received a cablegram in Rus sian and it has twisted the wires all out of shape."--Washington Star. The most pronounced type of bicycle enthusiast is the man who would rather talk about his wheel Jthan ride it. Edward Bellamy's "Equality" has al­ ready gone into a second edition. Arthur T. Quiller-Couch--or, as he is teter known, "Q"--it is Said on good authority, is to finish Robert Louis Ste­ venson's "St. Ives." - Self-Culture, a Chicago magazine re­ sembling- the Chautauquan, is deserv­ edly attracting increasing attention aa "magazine of knowledge." Robert Johnstone Finley, manager of the McCIure newspaper syndicate, died in New York, aged 29 years. He was associated with Albert Shaw in building up the American edition of the > Review of Reviews. Some, titled friends of John O'Hart, of Dublin, have undertaken to collect funds for the support Of the Irish au­ thor's declining years. John O'Hart has spent his life in compiling his vol­ umes on "Irish Pedigrees" and "Irish Landed Gentry When Cromwell Came to Ireland." The report of Julian Hawthorne, who was sent to India by the Cosmopolitan to investigate the horrors of the plague and famine, is deservedly the leading feature of that magazine. Mr. Haw­ thorne makes some startlingly sad rev­ elations and corroborates them with photographs. r ' Since the subsidence of the "Trilby" craze there has been no fad book that has sold up Into the hundreds of thou­ sands merely because "everybody is reading it." But a glance at the current Bookman's lists of best-selling books shows "Quo Vadis" at the head of al­ most every list throughout the country. E. F. Benson, author of "Dodo," •Limitations," and other popular stor­ ies, has written a novel, entitled "The Vintage," on a subject of public interest at this time, the Greek war of inde­ pendence, to begin serial publication in few weeks. Mr. Benson Is familiar with his ground, as he has passed sev­ eral winters in Greece studying. Albert C. Stevens, editor of Brad- street's and associate editor of the Standard Dictionary, has been engag­ ed during the last three years in the preparations of a "Cyclopedia of Fra­ ternities," which will go to press some t'me this year. This will embrace the so-called secret and semi-secret socie­ ties in the country, national and inter­ national. Charles Ffrench, Secretary of the Chicago Press Club, has just brought cut an imposing volume that is sure to be of interest to all Chicago Irishmen. Xt is a "Biographical History of the American Irish in Chicago," and is is­ sued by the American Biographical Publishing Company in the Howland Block. The book is a fine quarto vol­ ume of about 600 pages, and is sold by subscription. Its pages naturally con­ tain the live? of many of the brightest and most forceful characters in the his­ tory of Chicago's development. As a whole, it is an imposing record of what American-Irish energy and enterprise have accomplished In the commercial capital of the West When the future historian of Chicago comes to perform his task he will find no small portion of his materials in biographical volumes like that which Mr. Ffrench has com­ piled. In the White House. Congress first assembled In the new Capitol on Nov. 17, 1800, and John Ad­ ams, then President, took up his abode in\the Executive Mansion," writes ex- President Harrison of "The Domestic Side of the White House" in the Ladies' Home Journal. "Neither the Capitol nor the Executive Mansion was fully completed. The proportions of the house seemed to Mrs. Adams as 'grand and superb.' The, plan was taken from the palace of the Duke of Lelnster in Dublin. 'If they will put up some bells and let me have wood enough to keep fires,' wrote Mrs. Ad­ ams, *1 design to ba pleased.' But, though literally in the woods, no one could be found to cut and cart lire- wood. The few cords of wood that had bee^ provided had been expended to dry the plastering. A Pennsylvania wagon, secured through a Treasury clerk, delivered a cord and a half of wood, 'which is,' wrote Mrs. Adams, 'all we have for this house, where twelve fires are constantly required, and we are told the roads will soon be so bad that it cannot 1M drawn.' "The society ladies were 'impatient for a drawing-room' in the Executive Mansion, and this when Mrs. Adams had 'no looking-glasses but dwarfs' and 'not a twentieth part lamps enough' to light the house. There was no inclos- ure, and she made a drying-room for her clothes of the great east room. The original cost of the White House is said to have been a little more than $300,000, and something more than that amount was expended in restoring it (after its destruction by fire in 1814), and in the building of the north and south porticos." A Fake. Yeast--What do you think of that man Blobbs? He reads the future, you know. Crimsonbeak--Reads nothing! I was with him last night until late and do you know what the last thing he said to me was? ' "No; I can't imagine." "He said: 'Your wife won't say a thing to you to-night.' He's a fake!"-- Yonkers Statesman. JPut Where They I>id the Most Good, "Mister," said the small boy to the druggist, "give me a bottle o' them pills you sold father day before yesterday." "Are they doing him good?" asked the chemist, looking pleased. "I d'no whether they're doin' father any good or not, but they're doin' me good. They just fit my air gun!"- Odds and Ends. •» , . An Omitted Opportunity. | "Your friend may be a poet, but he certainly does not keep up to the times with his productions." "In what has he failed to be timely?" "He has not written any verses be-, ginning 'At midnight in his guarded tent the Turk lay dreaming of the hour.' " -- Pittsburg; Chronicle-Tele­ graph. I '