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- . ' THE CAPTAIN'S LOVE. "IV "T O, I've never been sliipwreck- ed, nor been.in collision all the X ^ time I've been to sea--a matter of over forty years.- But I've carried some queer passengers in my time. I'll tell you about two who exercised a powerful influence over me; but whether for good or evil you shall hear presently. It- was in the fall of 1872, just when on the eve of sailing, that an old gen­ tleman stepped on board, and hurried­ ly approached me.' He was a tall, spare man, with iron gray hair, a.nd had a slight stoop at the shoulders. "Good day, Captain?' -said he. "I only heard this morning that you were eailing tor the United States, and I hurried down to ascertain if yoUc6uld find accommodation for myself and daughter at so short notice." "Certainly," I replied! "I shall be only too pleased to take . you. As it happens there are only three passen­ gers booked this trip, and they are sec­ ond-class, so you can have the saloon pretty much to yourselves." He thanked me effusively and disap­ peared into the saloon. 1 marveled at his precipitancy, and wondered where the daughter was to come from, as she was not visible anywhere. I gave instructions to the apprentices to have their luggage conveyed on board, and myself superintended the stowing away of their trunks in the two best appointed cabins in the ship. While so engaged I heaM a light foot­ fall behind me, and, turning round, I beheld the fairest vision of loveliness that ever brightened my saloon. "My daughter--Captain Harnott," said Mr. Brandon, introducing us. I was so taken aback by her exceed­ ing beauty that I awkwardly touched my cap. and, with the wind clean taken out of my sails, stammered: "Glad to see you. Miss." She placed her soft little white hand in my big, sun-browned paw, and, look­ ing me squarely in the face out of her laughing blue eyes, said: "I'm sure we shall be good friends, Captain, during the voyage." She spoke with a charming colonial accent"; from that moment I was her most devoted, humble servant, slave, anything you like. I went head over ears in love with her at first sight. You may smile, but recollect I was a com­ paratively young man then. Leaving them to arrange their cabins to their own satisfaction, I ascended the companion steps and went on deck. It certainly occupied them a considera­ ble time, for neither father nor daugh ter appeared on deck until the ship was well outside the "Heads," and the tug had returned to port. That voyage I look back upon as the happiest and saddest I ever made. Miss Brandon was a splendid sailor. In fair weather or foul she'd be on deck, de­ lighting me with the admiration she ex­ pressed for my handsome three-mast- ed clipper, and the childlike naivete of her questions. I used to pace the quarter deck in the morning, impatient for her first appearance. On the dull­ est or dirtiest day it was' like a ray of snnshine suddenly bursting forth from a lowering sky to see her emerge from the companion hatch, looking as fresh as a daisy, and a^thousand times more lovely. Of course, it was only natural that my mates should fall in love with her also, but she treated them with mark­ ed indifference, if not absolute cold­ ness. Her smiles were all reserved for me, and she lavished them upon me in no niggardly manner. There was a giano in the saloon, and often in the long evenings she would sing and play for my sole delectation, while I would sit on a settee alongside and gaze rapturously into her pretty face. The song I liked best was "Tom Bowling," and she infused such an amount of pathos into her expression that the tears would sometimes trickle down m$' weather-beaten cheeks as she sang. Ah! those were happy days; it was heaven while it lasted. I have scarcely mentioned her father yet. The fact is, I was so engrossed with his beautiful daughter that I didn't pay so much attention to him as perhaps I ought. At the best he was an unsociable sort of person, who seemed to prefer his own company to Other people's. When not in his own cabin, where lie spent most of his time, he was walking with his hands clasped behind him, apparently deep in thought, in the waist of the ship. Sometimes, when standing idly at the break of the poop, I have caught myself wondering If he had ever committed a crime, the remembrance of which was weighing on his conscience. I was destined soon to learn more about him. One evening, when about nine weeks out, I was sitting in the charthouse alone with my idol. The second mate was stepping the planks outside, old Jobson was at the wheel away behind us, and the watch on deck was loung­ ing about forward. Some days pre­ vious to this I had had the temerity to confess my love for her. and asked her to be my wife. She had made me in­ expressibly happy by promising, sub­ ject to my obtaining her'father's con­ sent. This, after some demur, he had granted, and that night the future ap­ peared very bright for me. We had been sitting silent for some time, too happy for words, gazing on the.setting sun as it disappeared into a glowing mass of golden-rimmed clouds on the horizon, when, to my infinite amazement, she suddenly burst into tears. jfj "Darling, what is the matter?" 1 ex­ claimed in an agony of apprehension. "Oh, Alfred, 1 have just heard such, a dreadful story from my father, I shall never be happy again. We can' never be married < now." "Never be married!" I ejaculated, aghast. n "Why?" "Because my father is a--a criminal. Ob, I feel so miserable, I think I shall throw myself overboard." "Alice, for heaven's sake don't talk like that, or you'll drive me mad. What lias he done?" "Something dreadful. Oh, dpn't speak to me any more," and she sobbed violently. ' v At that moment I was so mad I felt half inclined to go down and tear the old scarecrow out of his berth by the scuff of his neck and demand what the deuce he had done to cause my darling such poignant grief. But I didn't. Ini Steady drew her to my side and kissed her/rears away. V. "Tell me. all 'about it," I said, sooth­ ingly. ' \ "Well, my fa their as you are aware, was an agent in one of: the banks in Arlington, Victoria, and it seems he embezzled large sums of money belong­ ing to the bank to speculate with. Of course, he meant to replace it before the audit, when, the deficit would have been discovered. But he lost, it all, and that it why he tied the country." "Is that all?" said I, with a, sigh of relief. "It's bad enough, certainly, but I fall to see that in itself it forms a sufficient barrier to our union." "But that is not the worst. My fath­ er is convinced that the police may have traced him to Melbourne and to this ship. He declares he will be ar­ rested on landing." "Nothing more likely," I thought But I asked: "Has he any plan to sug­ gest?" "Yes, oh, yes, if you will only assist him. But it seems too horrible to con­ template. He says it is his only chance to escape." "What is it, then?" "That he should die and be buried at seal" she responded, with a perceptible shiver. "I don't understand." "He proposes to feign death. Then, after he had been sewed up for burial we must find the means to liberate him and substitute something else." The daring audacity of the proposal fairly took my breath away. If discov- ' pletett I stepped out tb reconnoiter. Seeing the coast was clear, I signaled him, and he crept swiftly across the passage into his daughter's cabin, whf.re he concealed himself. In the first dog watch of the same afternooh the bell commenced to toll its solemn knell for the funeral of An­ thony Brandon. Officers and men and passengejrs stood round tfre with heads uncovered as I read from the Book of Common Prayer the beautiful and im­ pressive burial service. After the funeral Brandon returned to his own cabin, which was kept con­ stantly locked, and the key of which I -retained in my possession. With my corn! vance, Alice smuggled food to him from day to day. Several 'weeks after­ ward, while proceeding ujf the Atlantic coast under all sail, we were hailed by a tug. Anticipating danger, I slipped down the companion way and convey­ ed Braaidon to my own cabin for con­ cealment When I went on deck again I was just in time to see a stout, well- groomed party clambering over the ves­ sel's side. ~ Without any preliminaries he brusquely demanded: "Get a passenger of the name of Brandon on board?" "I had, stranger; I had." He gazed at me inquiringly. „ - • "Come below, sir," said I. As we descended lie explained that he was a detective sent in pursuit of -Brandon, who had absconded from Australia with a considerable sum of money and valuable negotiable securi­ ties. When he had produced his war­ rant, I ordered the mate to fetch the logbook. Under date of Jan. 15 he read this entry: "Buried at sea in latitude 35 degrees 49 minutes north, longitude 33 degrees 16 minutes west, Anthony Brandon, cabin passenger. Cause1 bf death un­ known." He muttered something under his breath which was quite unintelligible to me. Then he demanded to see Bran­ don's effects." I led the way into his cabin. He ransacked every trunk and portmanteau; but not a vestige of paper or anything of value did he discover. The expression on his face when he lef t the ship some hours later was not par­ ticularly pleasant. When we arrived at the docks at New York I smuggled Mr. Brandon ashore Ln one of his daughter's trunks after they had been searched by Hhe customs officer. No one in the ship ever suspected the truth. Their secret remained alone with me. It was arranged that Alice and I SHAM FUNERAL OF ANTHONY BRANDON. ered, the consequences to me in aiding and abetting a felon to escape would be disastrous. I resolved to have noth­ ing to do with such a criminal proceed­ ing, but a look of entreaty from those tearful eyes made me falter in my res­ olution. "For my sake," she murmured, plead­ ingly, placing her fair white hand on my arm. Her touch thrilled me. I hes-; itated no longer, but gave an unwilling consent. Ah, what folly will not a man commit when in love! Next day it was reported that Bran­ don was seriously indisposed.. I took out the medicine chest, as in duty bound, and ordered the cabin stewart to attend him. Three days later Mr. Brandon was reported dead. When I was informed of this I en­ tered his cabin. He was lying on the under berth, pale and motionless as death. I felt the body; it was cold and rigid. If this were not death, he simu- FOR FA TOP A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. the Action bf Frost Favors Plant Growth--How to select rEirgs for Hatching: -- Better to Feed Corn Fodder in Full Length. The Action of Frost. The principle on which the frost acts favorably in improving tilth is, in the rupturing of the soil particles by ex­ pansion. The action of the frost causes to expand , the soil particles and the water with which the earth may be charged. The result is that the soil particles are broken and ^separated in somewhat the same manner as a bottle or jug in which water has frozen is broken. Tlje further result is that in proportion as fineness of soil is more favorable to seed and plant growth, so the more completely the soil is divided by repeated freezings and thawings dur­ ing the time between crops, the better for the coming crop; _ It is noted in this connection that'one need not, as in spring tillage, wait until tlie'soil is quite dry before spading, for. it is an advantage rather than other­ wise to work it so wet that it leaves the spade in unbroken clods; the more in­ terstices in the mass after it is thrown over the better. The difference in. the following spring and summer between soil that has been fall-worked as out­ lined and that which has remained un­ touched until spring, is most marked. Beds that were thus thrown up roughly in the fall come out in the following spring a mass of earth as fine as an ash heap. To overlook the gain that comes from killing the larvae of various de­ structive insects by turning up the soil before winter would be a mistake. It is known by many actual tests that they die in large numbers by winter freezing. --American Gardening. should be married quietly before set« ting out on my next voyage, and our honeymoon was to be spent on the bosom of the deep. When we parted that night she promised to communi­ cate with me when her father had se­ cured some quiet retreat in the coun-^ try. She kept her promise. Here is the letter. I have preserved it all these) years. It has neither superscription nor signature: "Dear Old Captain--Many, many thanks for all your kindnesses. My husband and I--for Mr. Brandon is my husband, though it was not known in the Arlington--will never forget them. Pray forgive the deceit we found it expedient to practice on you in order to carry out our plans. We are in fairly affluent circumstances, for my husband did not lose the money in speculation, as I thought it necessary to tell you, Dear Captain, I know I can rely on you, for your own sake, not to inform the authorities about my husband. As he died at sea, we expect to live secure­ ly, unmolested by the bank officials or the police. Good-by forever." And that was the end of my ro­ mance. No, I never heard anything more about them. Whether they lived to enjoy their ill-gotten gains or wheth^ ey they didp't, I cannot tell. But this I do know, she was the first woman that ever fooled me, and/' by heaven, she was the last I never gave another the chance. Ejrgs for Hatching. Eggs for hatching should be very carefully gathered in the afternoon of each day and placed in a basket lined with soft paper. Keep the sitting eggs in the sitting room; the temperature of the room should be about fifty degrees. It is a good plan to mark the date of the month on each egg as it is broxiglit in. To have fertile eggs the hens must be given a good range, and be fed a va­ riety of food, such as wheat screenings, cracked corn, boiled vegetables, meat scraps and above all have a grass plot of a small patch of green rye to run over. Set the liens early, make the nest in a square box that can be pushed from the laying room into the sitting room. By this arrangement the hens will not be disturbed. A little daily looking af­ ter--to supply them with water and food is all that will be needed. I would not advise any one to buy an incubator un­ less lie is going into the chicken busi­ ness in earnest. You cannot make mon­ ey in chickens taking it as a si<£e issue. If you are after eggs and poultry for home consumption, and do not want much bother, leave the incubator alone. -The American. Feedins: Corn Fodder. Instead of getting a hay-eutter for cutting all the com fodder, I would advise feeding it long, and letting the animals eat what they will. If it were fairly well cured, a large part will be eaten, if not fed too freely. Then I would gather the stalks that are left and chop them fine enough to handle well, say three or four inches long, and put them in a large box or half-hogs­ head. Then pour boiling water over the mess, and sprinkle a quantity of meal and shorts over it, and cover it tightly, and let it remain over night. Feed in the morning, and, if the stalks are eaten with a relish, I would con­ tinue the practice as long as I found it satisfactory. A trial lot can be cut with an ax and block. Of course, noth­ ing has been added to the nutritive val­ ue of the stalks, but the hot water will soften them, and, perhaps, make them palatable, so that more will be eaten.-- North East Farmer. year, can the horse radish bed be kept In condition to produce every year a valuable crop. Ventilation for Hotbeds. Lack of ventilation and keeping the hotbed too warm is much more often the cause of plants dying off than is frost. Except In the, very coldest weather, sash should be raised a por­ tion of the day to give the plants air. This will make them hardy and fit to grow when set in the open air. By confining the plants too closely they are made tall and spindling, thus de­ stroying their value for future growth and productiveness. Snow, Tliawinc Under Snow Banks. It shows-good drainage, either nat­ ural or by underdrains, when the snow banks thaw from below; It means that there is an outlet for U'ater through the subsoil, and that, as the water goes down, the warm air below which it displaces rises to the surface. A Modern Habit. Renshaw--That was a sad accident that happened to Mrs. Higgins. Flagg--What was it? Renshaw--Why, she fell out of the window. Flagg--You don't say so? Renshaw--Yes; there was a family moving in next door, and she was try­ ing to see what kind of furniture they had.--U p-to-Date. How to Move Larue Hors. Make a cage or box large enough to hold the hog, but without any bottom. To get the hog in, throw down an ear of corn, and while she is eating it let two men lift the cage and put at over her. One can do it by tipping it just right. Have a loose bottom (an old door will do very well) a little wider and longer than the cage; place this from the ground to the wagon or sleigh. Carry or drag the cage along the ground and up the slanting floor, and the hog will walk right on the sleigh or wagon herself, and there will be no lifting excepting the cage. Throw the bottom on top of cage, put a chain over and fasten to wagon. When un­ loading, just reverse the operation. Massachusetts Ploughman. Roots for Variety. As spring time approaches, which is also the farrowing time for sheep, cows and hogs, the advantage of having a good supply of roots to promote milk flow becomes,,apparent. It is not true that roots are cheap nutrition, for their bulk and weight is very largely wa­ ter. But as an appetizer and to in crease milk ilo\v they cannot be su passed. Beets and mangel wurtzel are the best roots, the latter having the advantage of being good keepers/ and • can be used up to tlie time the grass is forward enough to furnish a good bite "IN FAIR WEATHER OR FOUL SHE'D BE OX DECK." lated it to perfection. I sent for the sailmaker, who sewed the body up in my presence, When his task was com­ pleted 1 dismissed him, and, securing the cabin door MUs^e, with a sharp knife ripped open the stitches. My hand ahook painfully. What if he! were really dead? . I confess to experiencing a singular feeling of relief when the man opened his eyes, and the resuscitated Brandon sat up. I administered some brandy, which helped to revive him. Then he produced from an American trunk a dummy figure which lie had previously prepared and weighted, and inclosed it in the shroud. This he sewed up with his own hands. Not a word was spoken i by either of us. When all was com- When the String Snapped. After a terrible struggle they suc­ ceeded in getting him into the strait- jacket, but he continued to yell: "Mur­ der!" "War!" "Blood!" "Friends!" "Assassins!" and Wild-Eyed Sensa­ tions!" ' - Poor devil! For six months he had been writing the scare heads for the Daily Snipe and nature had rebelled. --Cleveland Leader. Farm Notes. The Canadian Experiment Station puts rape at the head of all green feeds for the growth of lambs in both car­ cass and fleece. .. * A reputation cannot be made in a day, but when the fruit grower makes a reputation it adds to his capital, as lie will secure better prices and will always have a demand for. nia produce. All fruit marketed should be labeled with the name' of the gvower. Grapes should be trimmed while the weather is cold. If they are trimmed in the spring they will bleed; that is, sap will run from the ends of the shoots that have been cut and the vines will be weakened. If cut now these ends will be healed by the time sap begins to flow and the liability of damage will be reduced. That such plants as "Venus' fly-trap" actually catch and squeeze to death flies and other insects alighting on their leaves has long been known, but the discovery is comparatively recent that the plants digest the softer parts of their prey by means of a peptic fer­ ment secreted by the leaves. These, then, are real instances of plants feed­ ing upon animals. Professor Plumb, of Purdue Univer­ sity, in his work on corn culture, says he finds it satisfactory to put seed corn on the ear in common brown coffee sacks, which are hung from the rafters to cure, awsfy from rats and mice. The essentials in preserving seed corn are to dry it thoroughly before hard freez­ ing weather and to keep it secure from rats and mice. Any plau that secures this will be satisfactory. A correspondent of an exchange says the best method of killing Canada this­ tles is to cut the thistle when it is in blossom, one foot or more from the round; take one-tliird salt and two- thirds saltpeter, grind fine, take a pinch with finger and thumb and place on top of each thistle stalk. After they are well withered set fire to the patch. The fire will go as far as the saltpetre has gone, which is known to be ten to twelve feet deep. A combination of vegetables and fruit enables the farmer to have something to sell every month in the year from early spring to the approach of winter, and especially if he used hotbeds. When the farmer depends on staple grain crops he must wait for harvest before he has anything to sell. A va­ riety of crops which include vegetables and fruits are also securities against total loss from drought. JAMAICA'S MONGOOSE TRIAL- DracKing Corn Stubble Land. So soon as frost is well out of the ground in spring, two, horses witli eavy drag should be run over the corn s\ubble of last year. It is an excellent preparation for plowing, lightening and drying the surface soil, so that it is turned under the furrow once begins to ferment. Land, thus treated makes an excellent seed bed for grain. The work also is just. horses need to break*them in for heavier work of plowing which must follow. a At a Literary Dinner. "I" suppose there were some bright things said at Mrs. Lionynter's literary party last night?" _ "A few." "Who got off the most interesting?' "The butler--wiien he announced that dinner was ready."--Illustrated Bits. ' ' • . No dinner tastes as good as it reads In a cook book, and a woman, never looks as well as a fashion plate. Horse Radish " for Spring Use. Horse radish needs to be dug early in spring to be of,,much value. So soon as green growth begins the root be­ comes tough and stringy. What is sti worse, is that if the roots are not dug in spring, the next season's growth par­ takes of the vtoody character, and is of little value for market. Only by taking out the old growth every spring, and leaving a few small roots deep in I the soil to make a new growth for next To Free the Island from Rats--The Pest Exterminated. The introduction of the mongoose into Jamaica marks one of the standard instances of unexpected results follow­ ing upon an attempt to artificialize the process of natural selection, and takes rank as a warning with the plague of rabbits and thistles in Australia. The mongoose was introduced from India, in 1872, in order to abate the pest of rats, which infested the sugar canes, and after performing the salutary duty it increased and multiplied to such an extent that not only the rats and mice but most of the living species of the isl­ and were threatened with extinction. Poultry suffered first, but the depreda­ tions extended to young pigs, kids, lambs, newly dropped calves, puppies and kittens. Game of all kinds was at­ tacked, both living and in the egg. The marauder ate even fish, and made such a specialty of snakes, ground lizards, frogs, turtles and laud crabs that many kinds of these entirely disappeared. Finally the mongoose developed a rav­ enous desire for bananas, pineapples, young corn, avocado pears, cocoas, yams and the sugar canes which it had been called in to protect, winding up its tastes with an appetite for salt meat. The result was a wholesale disap­ pearance of species. A few birds, like the ground dove, had the sense to shift their breeding places to the tops of the prickly cacti, where they were safe; but other animals, and the reptiles in par­ ticular, suffered so severely that many kinds were believed for years to be ex­ tinct. As a consequence, there arose yet another plague. Insects, like the ticks and "jiggers" (or cliigors), which used to be kept down by the snakes, in­ creased so overpoweringly that men and cattle were grievously infested. One could not walk without being cov­ ered with them. The victory over the island remained with the tick and the mongoose, until, within the past year or two, a fresh stage set in. The mongoose suddenly began to be less plentiful, and it was found that he had fallen victim to the tick. The results of the diminution are shown in a gradual reappearance of other beasts, birds and reptiles. Among the snakes there is a very marked in- and even the ground lizard. sup- posed to be quite extinct, has become common again. The balance of life lias begun to reassert itself and naturalists will watch with curiosity for a com­ plete reinstatement of the previous fauna. The renewed depredations of are hailed as an advent of salva­ tion, and, odd as it may sound, the In­ crease in numbers of the crocodile is taken'as „a happy omen. The Jamai­ cans are not likely to take furthA* ex­ periments in this interesting domain of natural history, bub will adhere in future to such present evils as they ve. For .them, at any rate, it -has been no ^imaginary mongoose.-'---Acad­ emy. - AMERICA'S PROVISION - TRADE. England Gets the Largest Share of' ^ the Food Supplies Exported. The exports of American bams amouhted last year to 1,30,000,000 pounds, valued at $12,000,000. and 103,- 000,000 pounds of this total were "sent to Great Britain. The other countries .with which there was considerable trade in American hams were Canada* Cuba, and Belgium. The exports of bacon to Europe last year amounted to 425,000,000 pounds, of the value of $33.- 000,000. More than three-quarters of the product was sent to the United Kingdom, and among other countries Brazil took ah important place, with imports from this country of 20,000,000 pounds; Germany following with 8,000,- 000, Canada with 7,000,000, Cuba with 0,000,000 and France with 4,000,000. The exportation of lard is*still anoth­ er important item of American com­ merce, amounting'last year to 510,000,- 000 pounds, of the value of $34,000,000. In the consumption of this article of American export the supremacy of the United Kingdom is less marked than in ham and bacon, for, although 200,- 000,000 pounds, about 40 per cent, of the total, went to England, Germany was a consumer to the extent of 120,- 000,000, or nearly 25 per cent, of the total. France followed with 32 000,0000, Cuba with 2(5,000,000, and .Brazil with 13,000,000 pounds. In this particular litem, of exports, as in other items, Cuba as a market for. American produce has lost its importance since, the outbreak of the Cuban war, and furnishes each liionth a steadily diminished market. -J The exportation of fresh beef amounted last year to 225,000,000 pounds, of the value of $19,000,000, and substantially all of this, except an in­ finitesimal portion sent to the West Indies, was taken by Great Britain. In the exportation of salted beef from the United States to foreign countries one- half only was sent to the United King­ dom, the balance being distributed among West Indian islands, Germany, Canada and South American countries, the amount exported to Cuba amount­ ing to less than $1,500 worth in a year. A very large market for American tallow, the exportation of which in­ creased enormously last year, was found in France, to which 8,GOO,000 pounds were sent. Germany took 0,700,000 pounds, the Central Ameri­ can States 3,000,000, the West Indian islands, exclusive of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hayti, 1,250,000, and Mexico, 1,800,000. The United Kingdom, at the head of the list in tallow as in other ar­ ticles of product in the provision trade, took 18,000,000 pounds, or about 40 per cent, of the total American exportation. More than two-thirds of the exports of American canned products of meats and provisions were taken by Great Britain--10,000,000 pounds of the 00,- 000.000 pounds exported^ Germany took 7,500,000 pounds, France 5,400,000 and Africa 3,500,000; 1,300,000 pounds were sent to Canada and 700,000 pounds to Asia and Oceanica. being tlie article of American commerce which, it would seem, is most widely diffused among the countries,of the earth. There is, practically, no exportation of American mutton and very little of if res li pork. The American exportation cof canned salmon amounted last year to 32,000,- 000 pounds, and the American exporta­ tion of oysters amounts to about $600,- 000 a year. The "Fast" Young Man. In the Ladies' Home Journal Edward W. Bok writes of the "fast" man, and the duties of fathers to their daugh­ ters in placing him where he belongs and warning them against him. Mr. Bok believes that if it is said of a man that "he has seen tlie world," in other words, is "fast," there is instantly a singular glamour about him in the eyes of young girls--girls au good and pure as were ever created. There is a scent of danger about such a man, and there are girls for whom danger, even of this sort, has a singular fascination. "The girls/know that these men are bad. Bu/ so long as they respect me and treat me as a lady wliere's the harm?' says the young woman when she is called to account for her company. As a matter of fact, the exact things which a man does to earn the reputa­ tion of being 'fast' are neither known nor dreamed of by the girls for whom such a reputation has this glamour. The trouble lies in the fact that our girls are brought up under a system which hesitates to call a spade by its right name. We are afraid of offending or of shocking certain fancied sensi­ bilities, whereas, in reality, we make the greater mistake of making dia­ monds out of spades and giving our girls a wrong idea of actual things. * * It is all very well to be tender in our regard for the feelings of our girls, but there Is a limit, a point at which discretion becomes a crime. And that point has been reached when girls are allowed to know and associate with such men all unconscious of the dan­ ger. When every mother or father, or person with whom the duty may rest, classes the 'fast' man wliefe he be­ longs, and portrays him in his true light, it will be better for our girls. It is high time that some of them should know that the man who leads any­ thing but a pure life buys, in every in­ stance, that experience at a distinct sacrifice to himself and at a tremen­ dous cost to the girl who marries him 111 temper is much more apparent than the reasons for it ° &W® \i; How Deer Wallc. A curious fact, not commonly known, about the gait of red deer In England h.-.s recently been published In a book on "Hunting,0" by Lord Ebrington. It appears that a stag crosses his legs right and left in walking, while with a female deer, except under particular circumstances, the prints of the hind foot will be found ln a direct line with those of the forefoot. The Benson. - Guest (to waiter)--I can't drink this soup. Waiter takes it away and brings an­ other kind of soup. Guest--I can't drink this soup. Waiter, angrily, but silently, for the third time brings another kind. Guest (again)--I can't drink this soup. Walter, furious," calls the hotel pro­ prietor. Proprietor (to guest)--Why can't you drink this soup? Guest (quietly)--Because I have no spoon.--Spare Moments. The Very lieason. Fuddy--So Kommuter wants to sell his place out in Switchville? Duddy--That cannot be. He is for­ ever cracking it up and telling every­ body what a beautiful place it is. Fuddy--Yes; that is the reason why I knoAV lie wants to dispose of it.--Bos­ ton Transcript. Sensible to the Last. "Nurse (preparing medicine for sick banker)--Will you take this draught, s i r ? . . . • < 0 Cashier /feebly)--H'm. Can you be Identified?--Detroit Free Press. Bats and the Plague. According to-.Dr. James Cantlie, In the Lancet, the disease called the bu­ bonic plague, now raging in Asia, at­ tacks rats before it makes it's appear­ ance among human beings in the same locality. A month before the plague broke out in the city of Bombay it was observed that the rats were dying by thousands: Other animals are also af- fested, but none so soon or so fatally as ratSi • "vv."'-". ' ' ' ' .> :• .•L-.,,' - v ' - 1 American Gems. Although not many precious stones of g^at value are found in the United States; yet, as Mr. George F. Kunz shows in his recent report to the Geo­ logical Survey, they include i .unonds, rubies and sapphires. In 1895 a dia­ mond weighing six carats was found in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. Rubies are found in Macon County, North Carolina, and sapphires in Fergus County, Montana. Fine gems of tour­ maline, chrysoprase and other minerals exist in various parts of the country. Electric Photographs. Monsieur De Heen,. a Belgian scien­ tist, has succeeded in producing photo­ graphic impressions by simply allowing a current of air filled with floating lycopodium dust to impinge upon a sensitive, plate in a dark room. His explanation is based upon the well- known fact that whenever air contain­ ing particles of watery vapor, or fine dust is driven against a solid object, It produces electrification, and he thinks that the electricity developed by the impact of the dust-cliarged air with the sensitive plates alone suffices to affect the latter without the interven­ tion of light rays of any kind. Inertia of the Nerves. The researches and experiments of Messrs. Broca and Richet have led them, to the conclusion that the cerebral nervous system is incapable of perceiv­ ing more than an average of ten sep­ arate impressions per second. After each excitation of the nerves a period of inertia follows, lasting about one- tenth of a second, and during this period a new impression cannot be made. According to the same author­ ity a person cannot make more than ten, or at the most a dozen, separate voluntary movements of ariy kind in a second, although the muscles, indepen­ dently of the will, are capable of maki ing as many as thirty or forty. Pigiii'j? Fire-Worshippers in Asia. According to the story told by two Danish officers, Messrs. Oloufsen and Pliilipsen, who have just returned from the Pamir country in Asia, bringing several hundred photographs of people and scenery not before visited by Euro­ peans, there exists.in that elevated part of the .world tribes of very small men, who worship fire and are entirely un­ civilized, and whose domestic animals are at least as remarkable as the peo­ ple themselves for their small size. The explorers report, for instance, that the cows they saw were not larger than or­ dinary foals, that the donkeys were of the stature of large dogs, and that the sheep resembled small poodles in size. Prehistoric Doss. A Swiss naturalist has recently pre­ sented to the Helvetian Society of Nat­ ural Science the results of a study of the remains of dogs found among the ancient lake dwellings of Switzerland, the earliest of which date from the Age oi' Stone. He finds that three different races of dogs existed there at that time, one of which resembled the Siberian sledge-dog of to-day. Later, when the Age of Bronze dawned upon the Alps, two new species appeared, one being a sherpherd dog and the other a hunting dog All of these dogs were of northern origin, the canine types of the Mediter­ ranean lands not having crossed the Alps. s Crystal Sky Columns. An explanation of a curious optical phenomenon, sometimes witnessed on frosty nights, which is called the "pseudo-aurora," is offered in Science by Mr. Goode of the Chicago Univers­ ity. The phenomenon takes the form of beautiful columns of silvery light standing over electric arc lamps and other bright lights, and sometimes ap­ pearing almost to reach the zenith. Mr. Goode sometimes the evening star has aroright shaft below as well as above, while the rising moon stands ln a broad column of light. These ap­ pearances are due to floating frost crys­ tals which keep their reflecting faces horizontal. On examination he found that the crystals concerned in the ex­ hibition were thin, six-sided plates of ice, never more than one millimetre in diameter, ]jVlieu the wind blows these little piates%re.upset, and the columns of light, caused by rejection from their surfaces, disappear.^ What Could She Do? An exchange tells of an old lady who, being seriously ill, found herself in a trying position. "You see," she said to a friend, "my daughter Harriet is married to one o' these homepatli doctors, and my daugh­ ter Kate to an allypatli. If I call in the homCypatli, my allypatli son-in-law and his wife get mad, an' if I call in my allypatli son-in-law, my homey- pa tli son-in-law an' his wife get mad; ah' If I go ahead an' get well without either of them, then' they'll both be mad, so I don't see but I'd better die and be done with it'" A funeral at a house attracts people who never go there at at any other time.