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AMERICAN WAli S111P.3 IN 'HIE HARBOR AT KEY WEST "It seems strange to me," remarked the dramatic critic of the Daily Har- bjnger to the night editor of the Morn­ ing Rainbow, who had joined him at a late supper in a restaurant, "that news­ paper men have such a predilection for marrying actresses. I suppose that we shall be hearing of Treadwell's seeking a divorce sometime within the next six months. He wAs niarried this evening to Grace Wright, who used to be at Payson's," "Well," said the night editor, "from what I know about it that divorce won't come very soon. She saved his life,at Lake George last summer.--De­ troit Free Press. > COULDN'T FIGHT US IS THIS TREACHERY? NCLE SAfl: SPANIARDS WOULDN'T HAVE A GHOST OF A SHOW. What Uncle Sam Could Do in Event of War--Heady to Fight on Short Notice --Would Sweep Cuba and Speedily End the StniKsle. ..j, rn DOVE : ROCK : DAK |HE girl had never been to Lake George before, and it was hardly her fault that she irretrievably iu- ; jtorcd her social standing before she had been at Hoi-icon Ferry two hours. Grace Wright was an actress who had entered the theatrical profession as a chorus girl. She had now reached the sank of an in&euue in one of the popu­ lar theaters. \ Everybody a I Horicon Ferry goes to the landing to inquire for mail and to iee wliat manner of people are going ap the lake. The lnorniiig and evening J «tean®er arrivais are the two incidents 4if the day, and John Tread well was as carious as the rest of the' little colony •which dwelt on the point of land which Jots out into, the upper lake. He was hcidlng a flaring red parasol over the head of liis richest aunt, when he saw Grace' Wright hastening over the gang plank. Before he could beat a retreat the girl had nodded to him, and he was compelled to acknowledge her saluta­ tion with a perfunctory dip of his hat. The next moment the girl had given her baggage to a porter, thereby pro­ claiming her intention ot' becoming a guest of Horicon Ferry's one hotel. "1 did not know," said Miss Jemimah Pettingill. sister of John Treadwell's mother, recently deceased, "that you had any acquaintances among the ho tel people." "Well," replied the young man, ner­ vously twisting his mustache, "a ftilow •who is a reporter on a New York news­ paper, as I am, is bound to meet a few persons who are not eligible to the ham­ let set at HoriconVerry." "1 trust, nephew," said Miss Pettin­ gill ,"that you will remember that it is decidedly-improper to mingle your bus­ iness and social acquaintances. She is rather handsome, too. Has her moth­ er with her. Evideutly makes some pretense to respectability." "Aunt Jeremiah," said the young man. "the young woman is a member of Mr. Payson's company. She Is a girl of sterling character. She has been on the stage almost from childhood." From that day John Treadwell had no peace of mind at Lake George. He was at Horicon landing principally be­ cause his aunt had told him Jo come, auti iuciueutaiiy because the rainily ot his fiancee, Agnes Shelton, had a cot­ tage there. He thought rather guiltily of the evenings when he had called on Grace Wright, and of the talks they had had upon literature and the uplift­ ing of the str.ge from its present sor- jowful plight. They had read the same book, and had spent many an afternoou at the picture galleries. That was in the days when he was struggling for lore existence upon a paper whose principal stock in trade consisted of niggardly pay to its reporters. He was glad in those days when the weekly payday arrived, and brought with it the blessed assurance that he might have breast of veal, with green peas, for at least one dinner of the week. { ^Then somebody discovered that he could write, and he found himself upon a paper whc.j his weekly space bills ran above the three figure mark, and he was hailed by that proudest of Park Row titles, "a good man." Then he fell into the good graces of his aunt Jemi­ mah. That meant receptions and af­ ternoon teas, and an introduction imo one of the "smart" sets of New York. That is how he met Agnes Shelton. She thought that his life was "so inter­ esting," and 'so fascinating." and he, who had almost forgotten the days when he was a drudge and a pack horse, never told her anything to the contrary. She had money enough for two. He saw* his opportunity and availed himself of it. They were en­ gaged. Grace Wright saw him once or twice after his rise in fortune. It was very , easy for him to tell her that he could find no time to call upon her, for men who are under the beck and call of a city editor have little time that they may call ..ieir own. She saw him for the first time in months at the landing at Horicon Ferry. ' The principal occupation of the so- called "society" element at Horicon Landing consisted in making life unen­ durable to the majority of those who came there. There were three distinct estates--the hotel set, the Justin set. and the Hamlet set. Anybody who had either owned or rented a cottage for three years in succession was entitled to the rank of'Hamleteer." He had flic right to snug anybody wh<5 came within sight of the little cluster of cot­ tages at the end of the point. There was also an overgrown country farm but received a look which was a Sibe­ rian wiiiter. Grace" Wriglit spent her days in rowing her. mother about among the islands of the lake. There is an amiable tradition that in this body of water,tliere are 365 islands, one for every day in the year. In leap year, so the stpry goes, an additional island appears, which is again lost to view on the{.last day of December. There were islands enough for everybody, and the mother and .daughter managed to steer clear of, the aristocracy of Horicon Ferry. „• ' John Treadwell saw the two occa­ sionally, and greeted them by touching the rim of 1U« hat. It i6 the unwritten law, at Horicon Ferry*; that a Ham- leteer must be greeted by removing the hat and describing with It a, considera­ ble arc; one of the Justin set may be greeted by raising the hat; and a guest of the hotel is to be' Ignored and snubbed. Treadwell's salute was a fee­ ble compromise.- a . < n "You needn't trouble yourself to speak to me any longer^" said the girl to him one day. "I think that I can adapt myself to the present situation. I sup­ pose that if I had gone to Justin's you might have treated me with ordinary civility." . In her heart she said: "I can hardly blame him. He has a career before Municipal Monopolies In Germany. Among the odd things about official life in Germany are the monopolies that are granted for all sorts of business. People have the exclusive privilege of doing things here that everybody else has the right to do without permission in other countries. For example, chim­ ney sweeping is a monopoly, and the man who controls it has to be paid for sweeping your chimney twice a year whether he sweeps it or not. You may employ somebody else, or you may not liav^your chimney swept at all, but he and he alone has the legal right to do the business, and he will call upon you every spring and every autumn for his fees. He never does any work, him­ self. He is an important, and usually a wealthy individual, and in Nurem­ berg is said to enjoy a revenue of $7,-> 500 a year from his privilege, but out of this total he is compelled to pay a gang of boys who do the sweeping for him. The number of drug stores in every town is limited by law--one to every 1,000 of population--and they have to pay a heavy license to the city. There­ fore they charge high prices for pre­ scriptions and get rich. One of the restrictions upon the drug business--and it is an excellent pro­ vision--requires all drugs and medi- "DRAGGED THE PROSTRATE FORM INTO THE BOAT.' him. If I loved him less I wonld have married him when he asked me two years ago. There was one day in the calendar when all differences of social standing were forgotten. That was Dove Rock Day, On that day the great rock, which rose from the middle of the bay, near Horicon Ferry, was piled high with driftwood; it was the funeral pyre of the season which was gone. The material for the conflagration was gathered from the islands "and from the wooded shore. The Hamleteers, the boarders ar\*Justin'-s,7and' the guests at the hotel a 11-joined in transporting the supplies for the last spectacle of the declining pear. tj-i John Treadwell that year was master of cerembjtaies, directing/' the move­ ments of tne navy of transports, which all day long was busy • conveying logs and packing boxes tb the rock. In the center of the pile were trunks of giant trees, placed on end and held in place by smaller logs. In the Center was a pocket filled with light kindling wood, covered with pitch and tar. This was the mine from which was to. ascend a tongue of flame. ffnih!5$//and hotel viewed Dove Itock witlitprjde when the work of the bonfire builders' was done. The night was, falling when from the point a flotilla of boaik swept towards tbe'roek. There was a el an k nig of row­ lock chains, and thi? oars rattled against cedar-sheathed btills. Craft which for weeks had been dodging each other, were moored side by side. The slow beating of the oars kept tb<f half moon of boats from drifting toward the rock. A single bOat shot out from the swing­ ing group and grated upon the edge of Dove Rock.1, A gleam of light shone cines intended for use Internally to be put up iu round bottles. All drugs and chemicals which are not used internal­ ly as medicines must be placed in hex­ agonal bottles. Thus it is impossible for any man who is in his right mind to poison himself by mistake.--Berlin Letter to Chicago Record. DISEASES IN COURT BIBLES, Military Campaign Outlined. Washington correspondence: IIATEVER the Span­ ish populace may think, the Spanish rulers know that Spain would be powerless to con­ duct a successful war with the United States. This country has "got the men, got the ships and got the money, too." Spain, hasn't. The United States has a population of 70,000,- 000 and Spain has a population of 17,500,- 000. The United States is one of the richest countries on earth; Spain is practically.'.; bankrupt. One squadron of the United ; States navy (the North Atlantic) is su- j perior in strength to the entire navy, of S p a i n . • . . • • / ' * . • , ' ; • - By the Spanish system of naval no­ menclature what is reckoned by the Amer­ ican and English system as a first-class cruiser is called a battleship. Thus the Vizcaya and the other ships of its class are known to the Spaniards as battleships, but by the British and American stand­ ard are only first-class cruisers. Spain has only one ship which would be reck-v oned as a battleship according to the British and American standards. That is the antiquated Pelayo, not an effective , vessel. In comparing the naval forces of i I°wa and Massachusetts; armored cruis the two countries this difference in classi- I ers Nffw "iork and Brooklyn; second-class fication should be borne in mind. Ac- \ battleship lexas; the cruisers Detroit, West Indies, the American navy would be able to leave enough vessels to assist the forts, and the land forces in the pro­ tection of the seaboard, and could concen­ trate an overwhelming force against the part of the Spanish navy left in the West Indian waters. Here is a list of our available vessels in the Atlantic: The battleships Indiana, cording to the Spanish system of rating Spain has eight battleships to our five, while according to our higher standard we have six battleships to her one, and that one "no good." With its regular army and organized militia the United States could put into PBKPAUIXG TO I)nOP SUI1MARIXR MINES. the field immediately an army of 150,000 men, and the full lighting strength of the "enrolled" militia which might be called upon in case of need is over 10,000,000 men. The army of Spain on a war foot­ ing is about 200,000 men. In order to send to Cuba the 150,000 men with which she has been prosecuting her unsuccessful war there she has been obliged to resort to conscription and has sent out regiments composed of mere boys. Her legitimate military resources are exhausted, and in the event of a big war a levy "en masse" is all that is left her. This, she claims, would give hqr 1.000,000 men. But even if there were not such great discrepancies between the po\:ers ol' the two nations Spain would Marblehead, Montgomery, Essex, Alli­ ance, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Colum­ bia and Minneapolis; gunboats Nashville, Wilmington, Newport, Vicksburg, Annap­ olis, Castine, Bancroft and Helena; dyna­ mite vessel Vesuvius; torpedo boats Por­ ter, Foote, Dupont, Cushing. Ericsson and Wiuslow, and the monitors Amphi- trite, Terror and Puritan. Meantime, in the Pacific ocean the Unit­ ed States has the battleship Oregon and the cruisers Olympia, Boston, Raleigh, Petrel, Baltimore and Bennington, the coast defense vessel Monterey and some old vessels. A portion of this force only would be necessary for a descent upon the Spanish possessions in the Philippines, where the insurgents are still in the field. All this is giving Spain the benefit of every doubt as to . her ability to make a fight. The probability is that there would be only one conflict, and that a short one, off the harbor of Havana. Then it would be all over. The most effective fleet that Spain could send over would consist of the armored cruisers Emperador Carlos V, Infanta Maria Theresa, Vizcaya, Almirante Oque- don, Cataluna, Cardinal Cisneros and Princessa de Asturias. It takes 8,400 tons of coal to give these seven ships their normal coal supply. The fleet would use up its first 8,400 tons in getting across the Atlantic. To coal it three times when operating on this side of the water would take 25,200 tons. Where is Spain going to get that amount of coal? The coal with which she supplies her blockading fleet now in Cuban waters comes from Philadelphia and New York. She has little coal stored in Havana and has encroached greatly upon the store she had in Porto Rico. Spain herself gets her coal from England. She could not supply it to her transatlantic fleet. 1 if case of in case certain cables are cut and to just what points dispatch boats must be sent. They know, too, about coal supplies, dry docks, fortifications, guns, depth of water, etc., throughout Spanish America1. In fact, the Navy Department and the War Department have together prepared a complete military campaign. Every de­ tail is arranged. It is known just what the fleets are to do, just what the army is to do, in case of war. No precious days will be wasted in preparing the plan of campaign, in deciding what is to be done. All that has been'attended to. The plan is complete and perfect. Every ship, ev­ ery regiment, every transport, vessel, ev­ ery man will be sent to its or his proper place the instant the word of command is' given by Congress. For some time the Navy Department has been gradually concentrating our fleets in southern waters. Ships,have been ordered home from all parts of the world, even from the far Asiatic station. The Mediterranean station has been aban­ doned. Every American vessel has been recalled from that sea and is now this side of Gibraltar Straits. If the directors of the Spanish navy have had any hopes of catching American warships in the trap of the Mediterranean, where they might be captured or destroyed at leisure, they have reckoned without their host. This country now has no warships in the Med­ iterranean. If there should be a war the militia of the various States would play an impor­ tant part in it.„ Months ago the War De­ partment sent out secret agents to make reports upon the State militia--the num­ ber of men that could be put in the field, their drill, discipline, equipments, bat­ teries, field outfit, etc. Having amassed ail possible information, the authorities here know what they can depend upon. They know, for instance, that within 24 hours, in addition to a part of the regular or Federal army, 20,000 militiamen can be on the railway trains en route for the seaboard. They know that within 48 hours 40,000 men can be on the cars. They know that within ten days, counting reg­ ular troops and militia, 75,000 men can be mobilized at the seaports. In all 100,000 trained and equipped soldiers are availa­ ble for the offensive or defensive opera­ tions of the Government. from beneath the shelter of a cap; then house, not far from the Hamlet, kept f'ie dame from a tofch flaxejl high in by the venerable Mrs. Justin. A few, | the uir- John Treadwell, his face il- and only a few, of those who stopped j lumined by the jet of tire above his ~ ' by the ' J 1 ~ * *" at Justin's were recognized Hamleteers. Those who stopped at the hotel were considered beneath social recognition. They belonged to a class iliat never came to Horicon Ferry for more than one year. After the strictest sect of Hamleteers •was Miss Jemimah Pettingill, a cot­ tager. It was her pride that in all the ten years she had been coming to Lake George no hotel guest had ever dark­ ened her threshold. By right of senior­ ity, 6be was the social law giver of Hor­ icon Ferry, and Grace Wright had not been at the hotel more than three days before she was obliged to assert her antbority. One of the Hamleteers, who had once seen the young woman ira minor Shakspearean role, insisted up­ on inviting the girl to give an open-air ' reatRmg. There was a brief, slu..p straggle, and the project was aban­ doned. Grace Wright and her mother were permitted to go their own way. They did not seem even to be aware of the fact that they had been socially ostra­ cised. They cared not for Hamleteers, the Jastin set,' nor the guests of the betel. A young dry goods clerk, who head, turned to1 the crescent of boats and bowed. He hurled the torch into the center of the giant tlnderbox an.l turned to go. But lps foot caught upon a root and he lurched'forward. In. try ing to save himself he half turned, then fell upon the rock."', FrtSin the top of the pi«e of 4in^ers burst, a blinding flood of light. ^Beneath, its. glare those who sat in the' halfLUine ot boats Could see that a tl»In «tream of biood wa> trickling down from, the right temple of the man who lay stretched'upon the rock. The pile of timbers began to settle. A blistering heat .compelled th^, specta tors to pull back from the nest of Smes. A pine log rolled from the side of the] volcano of wood and fell, snap­ ping And snarling within six inches of Treadwell's feet Vhy doesn't somebody pull out to tKje rock?" yelled a voice far back in the semi-circle. "Why don't you do it yourself?" came the response in half a dozen keys. A light shallop shot out from the landing near the hotel. Some one close­ ly wrapped in a cloak dragged the prostrate form Into the boat and slOw- Microbe9 Poison the Books Kissed by the Thousands of W itnesses. Queen Victoria's magistrates are re­ volving the question whether or noi the Bibles used in administering oaths can carry infection and spread disease. The matter was first brought up by a physician summoned to testify in a London court. When the clerk hand­ ed him the Bible he kept for the admin­ istration of oaths, he refused to take it. He explained that in his judgment the cover of that book, long in use in the court and having been kissed by thousands of lips, was pregnant with thousands of microbes and thus might be the means of conveying infection. He asked permission to disinfect the cover and then expressed his entire willingness to take the oath in the usu­ al manner. The magistrate was at first startled at this novel proposition, but finally, seeing that the witness was a sensible man of science, he consented. There­ upon the physician took from his satch­ el a small vial of plienlc acid, opened it and poured some drops therefrom on the dingy leather cover of the Bible. He then spread the liquid over the en­ tire cover by means of liis handker­ chief and, having rubbed it well in, he took the required oath. The incident created widespread com­ ment and the physician Was bombard­ ed with letters and queries on the sub­ ject. He made a public statement in which he maintained that the time- honored custom of administering an oath in courts of law was contrary to the elementary principles of hygiene, and that it was, in fact, one of the most dangerous practices of modern times. "No one," he insisted, "would consent to drink in a public house where only one glass is used, and why, then, should anyone consent to kiss a book which thousands have kissed before him?" ... Naturally, many persons have fol­ lowed his example. Almost daily some witness asks the Judg£ if he may dis­ infect the Bible before he puts his lips to it, and vials containing disinfect­ ants are becoming quite a common sight in English courts. Some magis­ trates refuse to grant the desired per­ mission, claiming that every article in the court is clean and as it should be; others, on the contrary, grant permis­ sion, though they grumble a little at THE CAST OF A DIE. This Form of Gambling as Old an1^aii^ According to Antiquarians. It has long been \ known that the method of deciding a wager by the cast of a die is of great antiquity. Aborig­ inal tribes in almost all of the divi­ sions of, the earth were accustomed to gamble with dice. Antiquarians have found these implements in their explo­ rations in the mounds, etc., which mark nearly every portion of the habitable globe. Now It has been demonstrated1 that the ancient Britons were addicted to this habit and that they prized their dice boxes and dice very highly. A number of other curious relics were picked up iu some recent explorations in the lake dwellings in Glastonbury. From the remains of animals and from shells found i'a these lake dwell­ ings It is concluded that these ancient Britons, whoever they were, lived on oysters, oxen, horses, sheep, deer, dogs, cats, beavers and swine, which is not a bad variety for a mixed meat diet; They also had quern stones for grinding wheat. They also had spindle whorls of stone for making bread, needles made of bone and combs made of horn. A dice box was apparently one off their most precious treasures, for one of these was found carved-oat of deer- horn. with two neat bands around it. As if to make sure that there was no mistake about the use to which this instrument was to be put the,dice them­ selves were found inside of it. No coins, however, were found, though some small crucibles, which it is con­ jectured were used for melting gold were discovered. The first skuli 'found was that of a .young man who had.evi­ dently been decapitated, for It was stuck on the top of a pole. The~second skull found was that of an old man who had evidently led a rough life for numerous healed-up scars on his skull bore eloquent testimony to this fact. The general belief of antiquarians is that the owners of these two skulls were killed in the last fight of the lake dwellers, and this theory is borne out by the finding of numerous slings, with liaBd baked earth the size of walnuts as ammunition, while only one iron spear was found. It is supposed that the lake dwellers had only slings, while their adversaries had spears and also probably bows and arrows.--Chicago Chronicle. Chronological Eras. The year 1898 comprises the latter part of the 122d and the beginning of 'the 123d year of the independence of the United States of America. It cor­ responds with: The year 0011 of the Julian period. The year 7400-7407 of the Byzantine era, the year 7407 beginning Sept. 1. The year 5058-5050 of the Jewish era, the year 5050 beginning at sunset on Sept. 10. A The year 2051 since the foundation of Rome, according to Varro. The year 2045 since the beginning of the era of Nabonassar, which has been assigned to Wdmesday. the 26th of February of the 3907th year of the Julian period; corresponding, in the no­ tation of clironologists, to the 747th; ' and in the notation of astronomers to the 74Gth year before the birth of C h r i s t . v ' - The year 2G74 of the Olympiads or the second year of the 009-tli Olympi­ ad, beginning ^iu July, if we fix the era of the Olympiads at 775% B. C. The year 2210 of the Grecian era, or the era of the Seleucidae. The year 1014 of the era of Diocle­ tian.*' The year 2o58 of the Japanese era and the 31st year of the period entitled Meiji. The year 1315-1310 of the Mohamme­ dan era, or the era of the Hegira, the year 1310 beginning May 22. Jan. 1, 1898, was the 2,414,291.st day since the beginning of the Julian peri­ od--Providence Journal, The Couit of Inquiry held its -essions in Government Bui.ding in iln fo iground; Fort Tayioris in the distanc.; on the left. still be at tremendous disadvantage in trying to carry on war across 3,000 miles of ocean against an en^my lighting within easy distance of its base of supplies. The transportation and maintenance of troops in large numbers in a distant coun­ try is an undertaking fraught with diffi­ culty and involving a tremendous ex­ pense. To maintain a powerful fleet of warships 3,000 miles from home is also an operation calculated to deplete even a well-stocked treasury. The supplying of food, medicines and military stores for the Spanish army in Cuba has been found so difficult and ex­ pensive from Spain that it lias been done to a considerable extent by purchase in this country. If there were war with the United States no further supplies could go from this country to the stranded army and to convey stores and supplies from Spain if it. is difficult in times of peace, what would it be with armed merchant men and swift cruisers sweeping the ocean on the lookout for prizes? Every supply ship would have to sail under convoy of cruisers able to beat off the cruisers of the United States. Spain's navy could never carry on a war and sup­ ply sufficient cruisers for convoy duty at the same time. The United States could easily land an expeditionary force In Cuba. The ease with which filibustering expeditions land there is proof of it. A strong expeditionary force joined with the army of Maximo Gomez would soon sweep the island. Meantime the harbors of the United States are fairly well defended with mod­ ern forts armed with modern ordnance. Even if the Spaniards did, at some unde­ fended point, succeed in effecting a land­ ing, any force which they could land from a fleet would bo speedily overwhelmed. Then there is the United States fleet, war with the United States the coal to maintain her fleet on this side of the water would have to come from England. Now coal is a contraband of war, and a British ship carrying coal to the Spanish fleet would be liable to capture. That some coal would get to the fleet from England is undoubted, for there never was a block­ ade yet in the world which was absolute­ ly effective. But it is also a fact that enough could not escape the vigilance of American cruisers to keep the Spanish fleet supplied, and what did get through would cost the Spanish Government enor­ mously. War Plans Well Laid. If war should come between Spain and the United States, this Government would be able to move in the field of naval and which could both help in the defense of . . . . , . „ t h e c o a s t a n d o p e r a t e a g a i n s t t h e S p a n i s h what they consider a wilful waste of { 1)0ssessions in t'he Wost Indies. If the Spanish fleet came to the coast was spending a week's vacation at the j ly rowed out of the zono 'of blistering •ferry, smiled Upon the young woman, J heat. time. Scientists approve of the phy- sician's conduct, and the general pub­ lic is so worked up over the matter that a league is being formed with the object of purifying all the court Bibles In England.--Chicago Chronicle. Some people who are only iXiSilicious think they are witty. the American fleet would meet it off the point it aimed at and in all probability annihilate it. If tli£-Spanish fleet con­ centrated in the West Indies, the North Atlantic squadron would meet it there and try the arbitrament of battle in those waters. ',If the Spanish fleet split up, part eomiuK wn the coast and part going to the DRILMNO NAVAI, CAPF.TS IX COU DOCK. military operations with a celerity, a com­ pleteness of organization, an effectiveness which would astonish the world. The navy of the United States is now practi­ cally on a war footing. Not only have our lighting ships been equipped with am­ munition and fully manned, but every possible preparation in the way of coaling and opening of lines of communication has been made. Our naval authorities know now, and have known for-months, j«st how cable communication may be estab­ lished to various parts of the West In­ dies, just what it will be uecessary to do The most elaborate detailed plans arc oil file at the War Department with regard to the mobilization of the militia, on dif. ferent bases, according to different de­ grees of necessity, as well as to problem:) of subsistence, transportation, clothing, ammunition, etc. _ . Without any excitement or haste, or any pressure from the President or members of the cabinet-, the various bureaus of the two military departments of the Govern­ ment have for a long time been making preparations for active operations. It is a matter of professional pride with the chiefs of these bureaus to get all the bus­ iness under their charge as near as possi­ ble to a state of perfection. The result is, that without wanting war, seeking it or expecting it, Uncle Sam is to-day pre­ pared to anmze the world with the rapid­ ity and effectiveness of the blows which he will strike if -it become necessary for him to move. His officials believe that if we became involved in trouble with Spain the war will be over in sixty days. They also believe that a state of pre­ paredness is the best guarantee of peace. PUBLIC DEBT STATEMENT. Nation Owes $1,010,104,210, a De­ crease of $1,507,122. The monthly treasury statement of the public debt shows that the debt, less cash in the treasury at the close of business for February, amounted to $1,010,104,210, a decrease for the month of .$1,597,122. This decrease is accounted for by a correspond­ ing increase in the cash. The debt is re­ capitulated as follows: "Interest-bearing debt, .$847.30(5.080; debt on which interest has ceased since maturitv, $1,327,070; dc1)t bearing no in­ terest, $380,974,009; total. $1,235,008,419. This amount, however, does not include $585,252,933 in certificates and treasury notes outstanding, which are offset by an equal amount of cash in the treasury. The cash in the treasury is'classified as fol­ lows: Gold, $204.003.971: silver, $511,- 858,834; paper, $107,504,958; bonds, dis­ bursing officers' balances, etc.. $33,084,- 002, making a total of $8ri<5,571,700, against which there are demand liabili­ ties outstanding amounting to $031,007,- 503, leaving,a net cash balance of $225,- 504,203." ', The Old Coppers. What becomes of all the old copper coin? There are 199,900,000 old copper pennies somewhere. Nobody knows what has become of them, except that once in a while a single specimen turns up in change. A few years ago 4,500,- 000 bronze 2-ccnt pieces were set afloat. Three million of them are still out­ standing. Three million 3-cent copper pieces are scattered over the United States, but it is very rarely that one is seen. Of 800,Q£)0 % cents, which corre­ spond in value to English farthings, not one has been returned to the Govern­ ment for coinage or is held by the treasury. Congress appropriates about $100,000 yearly for recoining the silver coins now iu possession of the treas­ ury. These are mostly half-dollars and are not circulated, because there is .no demand fdr'tlieni. Not long ago the stock of them amounted to over £5.-v 000,000. but it is only about half that now. The money set aside for recoin­ ing is not intended to pay for the cost of minting, but it is required to reim­ burse the treasury of the United States on account of the loss which silvc*- pieces have suffered by abrasion. The loss amounts to $30 on every $1,000, and it has to be made good in order to set the treasurer's account^ straight.--At­ lanta Constitution. Torpedo for War. The invention of a new torpedo far ahead of Maxim's is claimed by R. Delos Noble, of Saucelito. He says that dynamite can be used in It, and that by an arrangement of compressen air and spiral springs it is harmless until it strikes either water or some object fired at. Noble declares that Ills torpedo can be fired with ordinary prlsmal or any lower grade of slow powder, and can be shot from any of the guns now In use without fear of premature explosion, and that with 175 to 200 pounds of powder he can throw it, loaded with 900 pounds of dynamite, 11% miles. •*" The inventor says that his torpedo differs from Maxim's in trajectory, being flatter, and as tne caliber is smaller he can get greater speed and more accuracy at less expense in fir­ ing and fully one third better results from the use of dynamite or nitrogly­ cerin than from gun cotton. He has tested ills invention in an old-style 50- caliber rifle with the best of results. A Whale's Weight. According to Nilsson, the zoologist, fbe weight of the Greenland whale is 100 tons, or 224,000 pounds, or equal to that of 88 elephants or 440 bears. It is finally said of every man that |ie either acts or looks like Napoleon.