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*. . f • *<\ • w , J-vi t .**«.** *u at A to,# t+ 4 & . i$* SBf* „• v •:• v v - US tpirugftoSealet '$ I VAN tLWCE, Editor end PuWUIwr. ILLINOIS. atsr A BIRD CLOAK. Ste i|W« r««d thnt a woman of fashion tea orijwj I cloak for t he material of which «00 birds of Isradiso are slain.] •' Ftve hundred lives, God fiiven, •' Frw in the bltie air of fleavsn. Plumage of crimson and am Flashing the aun'R w«rm *p' i 4}ohl«Rlv' bright, iridescent, ' JftvebunAmi birds ovimeuoaBt ; Forone inilwoman f So proudly human! } «od hoedeth the faU of the sparrow^ ' Bat the margin of creeds in too ntrrf*^ Tb shelter these Pnradise birds Which die hv a woman's light word* "Who carom for the torture of wound*? Vlio < area if the pliminge lie found For tho wbiui of a worapa. So carelessly human! JUI gwns of the ocean or xiini ' Have never n breath so divine As one tiny bird,--with vital heart Apulse with nature.--•-doing its part ^ Of song itnd bo.nity, nor knowing whjj(> Or wherefore freedom of e&ftJh and sHERr O heart of womia Willfully buiusftl . Fiarm aod Houio. . % • STORIES BY KEPORTEBS. y. The conditions under which are- gprter secures Information are often 60 rigorour that a person unskilled in methods of extracting news from re­ luctant sources would be quickly dis­ couraged. There was a case of mystery in fjfcnu Clara County some vears ago, Which will explain the point. •" A s*oting girl had come from Ger­ many to visit her aunt and uncle in response to their warm invitation. si>,r- m ID that country she had left a hand- fomc young fellow to whom she was betrothed, and he was to follow her / mo soon as his term of military duty J*d expired. : Once here the aunt--a fierce wo­ man--compelled the girl to marry a 1 stableman in Redwood City. The ®»rl danced at her wedding, hut / locked the bedroom door against her iuishanu and com milled suicide. The case was notorious at the time, but difficult to investigate, because of the reticence of the people concerned. J A certain reporter was ordered to get photographs of the aunt and un- | i «le, and his task was uninviting, .since the two were intrenched in their house and refused all overtures Cor even an interview. • However, when all other measures flailed, the reporter stationed a man with, a kodak camera at the front r door and resolved to entice the prtfy h I from its coign of vantage. f."/ With thf^iitmost impudence he *f raised the parlor window and leaped |:C7 across the si ill. A search through the large family album resulted in finding a large cabinet picture of the Li , aunt, but none of the uncle. So the v burglarizing scribe opened a door be­ yond in hope of finding some portrait |. M the wall. || In the next room sat the old man and his wife at lunch, and their as- Conishment was extreme. The re­ in-" porter was astonished, too, because i % lie had believed that they were in the , Wppcr rooms. ;• The old man with trembling fury Reached over for a heavy shotgun Chat leaned against the chimney aorner. . > "What are you doing here?" he de­ manded, giving both hammers an v ominous click. * ~ - "i was looking for your picture?" *»id the reporter, without faltering. ^ * "Well, you thief, I am going to kill you," and with that he raised the gun to his shoulder. "You will only spoil your new car- jpet with my brains if you kill me in toere," was the reporter's quick reply, as he glanced at the old woman. At which with a sudden bound she §«mped for the gun and pushed the Ijprrel upward. •"Yes! Yes!" she cried ID alarm, •that carpet cost *30! Don't kill . the scoundrel in here! Kill him out- aMe!" "All right." remarked the man grimly. "I'll kill you outside-- march!" , The two walked down the hall to whe front door, and the man threw it atpen with an imperious gesture. T'1 As the sun's rays bounded across f ie threshold the kodak camera icked smartly, and with a wild cry,, if an infernal machine had been v'jjtet off, the old man dropped his gun and 1 ounded into the innermost re- rjpesses of his apartments. a uurglar had entered his house In San Diego and had robbed film of everything he could lay his hands | upon. " 'But,' concluded my companion, 'I was surprised to find that my friend, who is a man of good educa­ tion, spelled burglar b-u-r-g-l-a-r-e-r in every instance. "1 ventured the opinion, in a half* joking sort of wav, that perhaps the San 1 Megan to whom my friend had referred was educated in the old school, and therefore preferred to use words that were obsolete. " 'Burglarer' Is not correct and never was,' was the quick and almost snappish letort "I at once subsided, and my friend; after quite a long silence, gave the off horse a vicious cut with his whip, which, with a consciousness of hav­ ing ruffled bis peace of mind by hint­ ing that his friend had even the shadow of an excuse for his spelling, or mis-spelli|&, I thought he would rather have givpn to me, then re­ marked: *' *1 have an unabridged Webster at home. I'll look this thing up when we arrive.' kI learned afterward that a bet of $50 had that day been made on the point at issue, and this doubtless ac­ counted for the irascibility that my quite natural remark had produced in my newly made friend. But my discomfiture did not end here. "Although the property of my ben­ efactor adjoined that belonging to the rancher with whom I had busi­ ness, their dwelling-houses were fully a mile apart. When I consented to make the trip at the Horton House it was early in the afternoon. I cal­ culated that I would have ample time to secure an interview with the gen­ tleman for whom 1 was in quest and make Tia Juana in time to catch the last train to the city that night. "My friend pointed out to me that the evening was far advanced; that his neighbor would certainly have re­ tired, and, that, as it would be im­ possible for me to reach San Diego again that, niirht, I had better accept his hospitality till morning, when he promised that he would drive me to my destination and then back to Tia Juan. Seeing that the person whom I was traveling to see was an abso­ lute stranger to me, I had no excuse ior not accepting this^offer, so I did SO. 4'I did not for a moment doubt the good intentions of my companion, al­ though I must confess that as I was being whirled through the blackness of the night--the horses seemed to have doubled their speed since the sun went down--jolted over pitch- holes and carried around corners I could not see, but with which the animals were evidently quite familiar --1 could not help thinking that if I was worth kidnaping the man beside me could have me far over the border line into Mexico without the least possibility of my knowing it. "After my companion had de­ clared his intention to consult the famous lexicographer and had offered me accommodation for the night he became eloquently silent. Nor had I any particular inclination to talk, for the darkness was so intense and the pace of the horses appeared to in­ crease with everv stride they madq, that I seemed to forget everything except that I was being whirled help­ lessly onward into a region that I knew absolutely nothing about. "It was a thrilling experience. I knew that a man sat beside me, he- cause now and again I would be thrown violentlv against him. I sup­ posed that he still held the lines, yet I knew that the animals that were hurrying us onward knew better where to go than he could tell them with the reins. The clatter of their hoofs, mingling with the rattle of the light cart in which we sat, appeared to merge into one indefinite sound, until at last my imagination seemed to run riot and I fancied myself on the back of Mohammed's milk white steed, A1 Borak, speeding through space from Mecca to Jerusalem and thence to the seventh heaven. "Suddenly I was almost jerked from my seat by the animals coming to a dead standstill, and my companion ejaculated a quick, 'Here we are' «#. 'Then he alighted, lit a lantern which he readily put his hands upon and soon had his horses unhitched and put up for the night. After this he conducted me to the house. "Judging from the room we en­ tered after passing the threshold, the house was, although of rather flimsy structure, somewhat larger than rightly conjectured .to be his wife, came to anehd and all was' quiet again. "I again returned to the back of my pegasus in the hope thto time of reaching my destination and of being in a position to personally thank the Angel Gabriel for safe conduct, when to my utmost astonishment a gleam of light appeared immediately behind me and threw the grotesque shadow of myself upon the wall beyond. "I at once left A1 Borak with tho angel and came to my senses. 'John had disappeared with the lamp by the stairs almost in front of me and could not have returned without my seeing him. I had remained in my chair during his absence, so could not have got turned around. I speedily came to the conclusion that I would be violating no privilege if I turned to see where the light came from. "i coolly rose from my seat and, turning, looked straight into the barrel of a murderous looking re­ volver. Instinctively my hands went heavenward. "Behind the long, bright barrel was a swarthy, biare-footed, bare-faced Mexican. In his left hand he held a lantern, and his brown eyes glistened at me like the jacinths in the sockets of my abandoned fictitious steed. The hand in which he held his gun was as steady as that of a veteran cowboy. I neither had speech nor inclination for argument, so just stood there and hoped that the news of my cold-blooded murder would reach the ^Examiner at least one day ahead of the other papers. "If accurate, count had l>een kept of the time that elapsed it would prob­ ably have been found that thirty sec­ onds had passed from the moment I first saw the gleam of that unexpect­ ed light until now. "Not a word was spoken by either the Mexican or myself. I heard the stairs behind me creaking under the heavy tread of mine host, 'John,' who was now descending, and fully ex­ pected to be either shot or stabbed in the back the next moment What I had done to make me the victim of tuis diabolical conspiracy I did not know, but I saw, or fancied I saw, Ahat all chances of escape were hope­ less. " 'Good God. Ignacio, what in the devil are you doing!' "As his employer uttered these words the extended arm of the Mexi­ can dropped as though it had been struck with paralysis, and the cruel, defiant looic which his face had worn relaxed into one of semi-imbecility. " 4I--heard--you--tell -- Senora -- that --you--were--looking--for--a -- burglar--is--this--not--him?' rThe frightened man asked slowly' half stupidly, v "My host gave vent to a long ring­ ing laugh, and the hired man dfsap- peared as noiselessly as he had com& Theii my host told me that 'bur- glarer' was an obsolete word, and showed me to ftiy room."--San jfrin- cisco Examiner. The reporter thoughtfully closed •he door and accompanied the pho­ tographer down the street toward : those generally found in the sparsely Money in Asbblts. The Government of New South Wales spends a large sum annually in the payment of royalties on the skins of rabbits killed, the aggregate roy­ alties in the last seven years amount­ ing to over $4,000,000. T^ie fact that in one year as many as 25,280,000 skins were thus paid for has given rise to an inquiry as to what is done with the skins. An investigation into the conditiccfe obtaining in New South Wales shows that although the rabbit is doing immense harm to vegetation and fully deserves the ill repute into which it has fallen, its extermination would cause the col­ lapse of two most profitable indus­ tries, that of the rabbitt killer and the rabbit skin dealer. A killer gets 2 cents a head royalty from the Government for killing the animal, the skin of which he can sell at from 4 cents to 6 cents, and for the meat he can get from 2 to 4 cents from the canning factories. The skins are bale-pressed and exported to London, where, so brisk is the busi­ ness, the sales every six weeks aver­ age from 1,500 to 2,000 bales, each bale holding about 200 skins. It is nqt surprising, therefore, that a large number of people in Australia find rabbit-killing more profitable than farming. The skins, which are bought up in bulk in London by the hat manufac­ turers, are turned over to operators who pluck off the pelt by hand, no suitable machinery for the purpose having yet been invented. A afflssr. i>he railway station. # # # A Tew evenings ago one of our brightest San Francisco reporters told fihis; - * * "I was recently sent by my paper |jn an important mission to the south- %rn part of the State. My headquar­ ters were at San Diego, and from * fhere I made a number of trips into |he country. "I was sitting in front of the Hor­ ton House one afternoon discussing with a resident of the city the easiest Way to get to a ranch situated sev­ eral miles beyond Tia Juana, on the JMexican boundary. Presently a man <:: Ofvith.whom my companion was ac­ quainted came along and was intro- . «uced to me as a rancher whose place y -• |vas adjacent to that which I desired ;\f <jix) visit on the following day. 'The new-comer told me that he Intended to return home that even­ ing and said that if I cared to ac­ company him he would call for me Writh his team when he was ready to . fitart. I thanked him for his courte- . i0v, availed myself of the opportunity v^V. jPre8ented and later was journeying Rewards our sister republic behind a kpanking team. "The sun had fallen behind Point \ Ljoma when we reached Tia Juana and the night was an exceptionally I -dark one The drive had been pleas- i MINSTRELS' JOKES. ClMMMMr and Origin of ttt« «r th« Bon Mot*. "By-the-by," said the reporter, ad­ dressing the question generally to the group, "how do the gags ftnd 'end business^ originate--who gets them up?" "Well, now," replied Benedict, smiling, "that's a poser, sure enough; it's hard to tell where that funny business does come from, and how anything new gets into It." "A good deal of it comes from the stories the men get to telling each other at the hotel," said Mcran; "they make,'em up there and then get them off on the stage. Of course lots of it gets to be stereotyped, and the only wonder to me is that we ever GO get anything right new and fresh." "Yes," chipped in Arlington, "jokes get to be public property very quick, and if the people only understood it as well as we do they wouldn't kick about old gags. Now, for instance, we opened at San Francisco; all our gags were new and bright. Nobodv could say that they had heard them before. Well, there was a fellow at the theater who ran one of these little programs in newspaper forms. He thought the jokes were prettv good and just sat down auu look notes on them all. Next evening the little paper had all the jokes and gags in it, snd from there they were copied everywhere. After that when any­ body would hear of our jokes the chances are they would say, Oh--I saw that in some paper.' That's what makes it so hard to get new gags. I see some shows advertise, All our jokes hew and fresh--noth­ ing stale, eta' That can't be, be­ cause after a joke's repeated once everybody who wants to be smart takes it up and it ceases to be new any more." "We depend a gooa deal, too, on the papers for our jokes," said Arm­ strong, with an evident desire to give the paragrapher his meed of justice." 'Is there often anvthing of an im­ promptu nature on the end?" asked tiic icpoftet*. "Oh, yes; all the time," responded Beneaict, a smile illuminating his face as he doubtless called to mind some Instances of the past. "You take a man at the end who is a little slow about telling his gags and new things will continually suggest them­ selves to his mind. That's where the merit of some men lies. I remember was with a minstrel troupe back East once where we played at a town for three nights. The first night Billy Arlington and I--we were on the ends--got to blackguarding each other in a genteel way and things grew pretty interesting 1 would say something to Billy and he would come back at me, and then I would go for him again. The audience caught on and I never saw a thing take so well in my life. The whole three nights we were there ; I don't think we got off one old gag, and the people flocked by the hundreds to hear us." 'Nearly every man has his spe­ cialty," said Moran, "and. as a mat­ ter of course, that includes more or less jokes, good, bad, and indifferent. That tells the whole thing in a nut­ shell. Some make them up them­ selves, some have somebody to write them and some steal them out of the newspapers." '»I would willingly give a couple of twenty-dollar bills," spoke up one of the party, "for a couple of right good fresh jokes. They are the hardest things in the world to get--the lokes, I mean."-- Denver Tribune. settled sections of California. There was a lamp dimly burning on the cen­ ter table, and after turning this up and extinguishing the light in the lantern, he motioned me to a chair and then took a seat immediately op­ posite '"Well," he commenced, placing his hands upon his knees and looking me full in the face, 'how do you feel now?" "I was about to reply that I never felt better in my life, when my host suddenly started to his feet and seiz­ ing the lamp exclaimed, 'Excuse the light,' and disappeared up a flight of stairs that creaked ominously at his everv step. "When he had gone I was left in a darkness that was as absolute as that through which we had just passed. The seconiitrseemed like minutes and the minutes like hours. Soon I found myself again on the back of A1 Borak, passing the moments of my swift flight in counting the gems and precious stones in her body and happy in the radiance of her eagle- shaped wings. "'Who's there?' "It was the quick, sharp voice of a woman. "I was suddenly aroused from my reverie and was on the point of re­ plying that it was 'only me,' when the man who had gone off with the blue fur is then left on the pelt. The skin is then pared away from the fur by machinery so delicate that when the last particle is cut off the fur sometimes hangs in one flimy section. This is worked up into felt The English rabbit supplies the best fur. then comes the New Zealand rabbit and then the Australian. At one time large quantities of hats were exported from England to America, but now the Americans can dress skins as well as the English, and they make all their own hats, importing the fur from England. It is hard to understand why American hat makers do not import their skins direct from Australia, as they turn out probably not less than 65.000 hats «very<year,as against the 40,000 of the English manufacturers. He Was Insane. How sane and reasonable crazy peo­ ple can sometimes appear is by this time generally known. No doubt it has been known for hundreds of years. Probably it was known to Edmund Burke. But it is hard to apply gen­ eral truths to particular cases; and so Burke himself found it: When he was preparing the indictment against Warren Hastings he was told that a person who had long resided in India, but was now an inmate of Bedlam, could probably give him useful in­ formation. He went to Bedlam, accordingly, and was taken to the cell of the maniac, who gave him, in a long, rational, ana well-conducted conver­ sation, the results of long and various experience of Indian affairs. On leaving the cell Burke told the keeper in attendance that the poor fine | man whom he had just visited wa<i ^jant, my companion being a man of I light answered in a hushed tone-- Wt *|;<«aore than ordinary education and % good colloquial ability. We had ex­ hausted ;a good many subiects--the destruction of Tia Juana by the riv­ er's overflow a year ago last winter and its rebuilding at a point far re­ moved from its original site, the gold ifever at Alamo and the affairs of the International Company of Mexico •when my host started to tell me of a dispute he had had that day over the spelling of the word 'burglar,' •Several weeks before a friend had from a room which seemed to be ad­ jacent to that from which the femi- i nine voice had proceeded--to the effect that it was 'all ri^ht.' " 'Is that you, John?' "The man with the light answered that it was. " 'What do you want in that room?' " 'I'm looking at the dictionary,' " 'What aie you looking for?' " 'Burglar.' "The woman'js curiosity evidently being satisfied, the conversation be- The Hedgehog. The hedgehog runs the roads freely. He is a quaint little fellow, our hedge pig, having far more intelligence than people give him credit for. It is curi­ ous, as you stand perfectly still in the middle of the road, to see him run­ ning along, then stopping to sniff and whine and examine the high, strange object that hardly breathes lest he startles the little creature. Then with a gentle grunt he will pass you by. A very low, yet quite decided grunt hQ gives, and he whines as well. 4 Shakspeare, who seems to have been a most excellent out-of-door naturalist--a minute observer of life, indeed, in all shapes--noticed the hedgehog, and wrote: "The hedge hog whines at night" If any one of our readers possesses a tame hedge­ hog let him examine the eye of the creature, if he has r »»t nl ready done so. If the eye Is the index to the mind, as I firmly believe it to be, the hedge­ hog knows a great deal, and only uses his knowledge for his own special benefit.--Blackwood's Magazine. written to him <aa«l told him that! tween 'John' and the lady, whop I FEW of us give our critics the attta tion they desettt • 5 r tv-* most iniquitously practised upon; for that he was as much in his senses as any man could be. The keeper as­ sured him that there was perfectly good reason for the patient's confine­ ment. With his ' 'Irish impetuosity" Burke replied that it was an infamous af­ fair; he would make the matter public, or even bring it before Parliament. The keeper answered: 'Sir, I should be sorry for you to leave this house under a false impres­ sion; before you do so, please step back to the poor gentleman's cell and ask him what he had for breakfast." Burke could not refuse compliance with so reasonable a request. He went back. 'Pray, sir," said he to his Indian counselor, "be so obliging as to tell me what you had for breakfast." The man at once put on the wild stare of a maniac, and shouted, "Hob­ nails, sir! It Is shameful to think how they treat us. They give us nothing but hobnails!" and proceeded with a "descant wild" about the hor­ rors of the cookery of Bethlehem Hospital. At the first pause in his talk Burke was glad to make his escape. they are very numerous In that country. They are held in sacred reverence, the little children Calling them "Uncle," and setting saucers of milk for them to drink; and they are looked uoon as guardian angels. Should one be killed the slayer would suffer death in punishment. As t»ie music of the bagpipe rises and falls, the snake seems to sway slowly to and fro, and, all unconscious, is seized by the musician's confederate. In this state of musical excitement the snakes are said to be quite safe to handle, although I think I should not car© to try it myself.--Nicholas. tMiptlT KITE STORY. A Cake Missile at a Wedding. The Rev. J. W. Trout, pastor of the Broadway Methodist Protestant Church, married a couple from Kent Countv a few days ago at the parson­ age of the church. The groom was a well-dressed and middle-aged farmer and the bride was an attractive widow. She was accompanied by her small child. After the pastor had commenced the ceremony the child became extremely impatient and in a very annoying manner began tugging at his mamma's dress. She tried to pacify him and shake him off, but he held on and yelled. The minister noticed a biscuit lying on the table, and, without interrupting the cere­ mony, handed it to the child, hoping to quiet him. The ceremony ap­ proached the most solemn part, when there came a startling interruption. Instead of munching the biscuit, as expected, the child walked to the far corner of the room and with as much force as he could summon hurled the biscuit at his mother, striking her di­ rectly In the eye. She started back with a cry of pain, and the minister halted until she could recover from the effects of the blow. He then proceeded and the ceremony was finally concluded. The happy bride then took the child and administered upon him severe, but just, punish­ ment for his misconduct.--Baltimore American. A ••Mean" Pennsylranlan. One of the worst- stories of extreme parsimony on record comes from Uniontown. A young man from that place in the city recently said that some time ago he wrote to a wealthy citizen of Greene County who owned land in Uniontown asking him for his price on a lot. In a few days he received a reply in a curious-looking envelope. He examined it carefully and found that the envelops was turned inside out Making a closer inspection he discovered that it was the one he had sent the Greene County man. Since then he has had several of his envelopes returned in the same way. The Greene County citizen was too stingy to buy envelopes, though worth not less than $15,000. The Uniontown man remarked that it was not mucn wonder that some people got rich. He added that it was a pity there is a law against using postage-stamps the second time. --Pittsburgh Dispatch. One for the Chambermaid. A lady summering in the Catskills writes: "I overheard the following dialogue in an upper hall of the hotel in which I am staying, this morning: "Chambermaid--Haven't you been here a week this morning, sir? "Self-Styled Gentleman--Is it any business of yours? "Chambermaid (quietly)--1 asked so as to know about changing your bed linen, sir. "Since hotel guests are requested to report any incivility on the part of servants, I consider it only fair to the servants, as human beings, to give an occasional glimpse of the other side. My experience convinces me that very few servants who are treated with dignified kindness give occasion for complaints of incivility, either in hotel or home service."-- New York Tribune. Stopping a Runaway Horse. Professor Gleason, noted as a tamer and trainer of vicious horses, thus explains the manner of stopping a runaway horse by using nothing but a straight bar bit and lines. For instance, your horse attempts to run away. Let him go for a distance of fifty yards, then haul in your lines perfectly tight When you get ready to give the command to stop, say "Whoa!" at the same time you pull the right-hand rein, giving a powerful jerk, and repeat the word "Whoa!" Don't move the left hand but dc all the work with the right When you give the terrible jerk twist the horse's jaw to the right and if you have the presence of mind to re­ peat the word whoa at the second jerk of the lines, you will be sur­ prised to find your horse standing still. •, Self-Dlael pllne. Although no human vision can pen­ etrate the darkness of the future, yet there is such a thing as so disciplin­ ing oneself as not to be extravagantly elated by unexpected good fortune or utterly prostrated by unlooked-for misfortunes. Such discipline consti­ tutes one of the principal, and most essential elements of human charac­ ter. It enables us in all circum­ stances to persevere In the perform­ ance of the great duties of life. It becomes a source of almost boundless strength in carrying resolutely to com­ pletion the difficult undertakings upon which we see fit to enter. It enables us to bear with comparative stoicism the trials and disappointments of life when thev come upon us suddenly and seem almost beyond endurance. Hnalte-Charm ins and Snafcea. When a snake has bitten several times, the poison is quite exhausted for the time being, rendering the an­ imal comparatively harmless. It is said to be this fact which enables the Indian snake-charmers to handle their charges without danger. They tease them into anger, when they will readily bite a stick or bundle of rags, and so exhaust their venom. Perhaps it will be w di here to say a few more words in regard to snake-charmers. Many kinds of serpents, especially the hooded cobra of India,are thought to be affected by music. In captur­ ing them for exhibition, the Indian takes his bagpipe, and, stationing himself near an old well or ruin, be­ gins to play. A cobra is almost cer- I tain to make its appearance soon, for Bad Form. The news comes from Paris that it is bad form for even lovers to link arms for an evening's promenade. The occasion when a gentleman may still offer nis arm to a lady are said to be in passing through a theater foyer, at soiress, t to promenade the salon or go to the buffet and to pass to the dining-room when one has been assigned to a lady by the hostess. In New York it is not unusual for the gentleman to offer his arm through the theater foyer. Hatchlnsr. A farmer of North Mahoning town­ ship, purchased some phosphate a few months ago. It was not all used and several pounds remained in a barrel, where a aest was made for a hen. ^?he hen hatched 13 chicks in 16 days. An­ other hen was set at the same time, but it took her the usual time--three weeks--to bring out her brood* a MUmia Boy Uses His Kite tm CMefc Wild Geese. ;1 • The Southern Pacific overland .train was rumbling along between Gallon and Pomona the other evening. A party of half a dozen commercial drummers in the smoking car were telling yarns and interesting the other travelers. "I want to tell you a little story about my boy out purty near on to the desert in San Bernan- dino county," said an old sunburned rancher who sat near and had been hearing the drummAfg tell some pretty tall stories. The old man re­ moved a pipe from his mouth and began: "My boy is purty smart in his way, lemme tell you, and none of 'em gets ahead of him. T'other day be rigged up a kite. It was the biggest kite I'd ever set eyes on. It was six feet wide an' twice as long, an' on top of it my boy placed a few«re6n branches, which he'd cut from anoakwood tree. 'What's them fer?' I inquired. 'Never you mind,dad,' says he, 'I know what I'm about' And. by gosh, he did. He flew that kite up in the air ariP stood watchin' of it fer a long time, when 1 says to him: You'd better pull that thing down now an' get to your work.' 'Lemme alone, dad,' he replied; 'I'll git thar yet' And, by gosh, he did. The next time 1 took a look at him he was a hauling in on the kite line, with a smile on his face as big as a furrcr. When the kite came down near the ground I saw what he was a-smilin' aV and it was enough to make a body smile, too. Any you fellers want to guess what was on that kite?" < None of the drummers wanted to guess, and the old man continued his story: "Waal, sir, a-settln' on the top o' that kite was eleven of the purtiest wild geese ye ever saw. Yea, sir, eleven on 'em. You see, the geese was flyin' north purty thick this month and my boy had got up this scheme to catch ^em. There ain't many trees out our way, an' after a fat goose has been flyin' purty steady all dav, he gits kind o' tired like an' looks around for a place to sit down an' rest That's just what my boy was countin' on when he built that kite. By offer! n' them a place to stop an' rest an' by smearin' the top of the kite with tar, so their feet would stick so fast they couldn't get away, he did the business. By gosh, but it was fun pullin' them geese in. As fast as we could send the kite up and pull her down again we got from ten to a dozen geese, and in fom*^ays we cap- uired six carloads, an' I'm takin' 'em to Los Angeles now to sell.. None o' you smart., storytellin' fellers don't happen to know what wild geese is wuth now in the Los Angeles market, do ye?"--Pomona (Cal.) Progress. It Was the TarlK ftarlhg the early discussions on the tariff question in Congress, the late Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, speaking to a meeting in the old club­ house in Richmond, told a story which illustrated the general ignorance pre* vailing in his part of the country at that time. One of his illiterate neighbors, who had never been more than three miles away from home, started out one day on a turkey hunt He at last winged one of a flock of turkeys, and in try­ ing to make his escape the bird crossed a railway which had just been completed. The countryman, of course, stopped to examine the road, when suddenly a steam engine, puffing, blowing and whistling, hove in sight around the curve. The turkey, the curious railway track, and everything else were for­ gotten as the countryman took to his heels and made toward home as fast as he could run. When he had reached the house, fallen into a chair and partially re­ covered his breath, his wife demanded an account of the apparition which had so startled him. "I dunno what it could have been," her spous$ said, in concluding his somewhat confused 'and vague de­ scription of the monster he had seen, "unless it was that plaguy tariff that has broke loose!" Smoking In Battle. Ouida's military heroes always go into a cavalry charge with big cigars in their rnoufhs. Lord Wolseley con­ fesses that ho used to do the same-- "I have never smoked since I was in the desert 'in I885v//I once used to smoke in all action^ and in India de­ molished some twenty cigars a dav. I thought smoking injurious to the nerves, and 1 wanted every iota of nerve before I went up to .take Khar­ toum. I remember, too,, I did not smoke for a week before Tel-el-Kebir was won I used to carry a case con­ taining six regalias. After the fight was over and I had dispatched my telegram to England, I went off to find a poor aide-de-camp. I lit a ci­ gar. By the time I found him I had smoked a couple, and finally finished the whole half-dozen, and excellent cigars they were too." Safety In Grindstones. Some means for the prevention of accidents to workmen while grinding their tools at a grindstone has long been needed. A |new safety grind­ stone rest seems to fulfill the re­ quirements of such an invention. The rest, which works backward and for­ ward, is fixed parallel and in close proximity to the face of the stone. When a tool is being ground the downward pressure holds the rest firmly, but in the event of the tool or one or more of the operator's fingers ---owing to some irregularity of the surface of stone--becoming drawn be­ tween the rest and the stone, the im­ pulse of the operator is to draw his hand away. This causes the rest to fall away from the stone and releases the fingers or tool. Generous Boy. The blessedness of giving, as com­ pared with that of receiving, receives daily illustration. Says Harper's Ba- tar: A little 3-year-old, whose mother was mixing a simple cough medicine for him, watchea her curiously, and asked if it was good. He was per­ mitted to taste. "O mamma," he exclaimed, "it's iwful good. Let's keep it all for £4,, l ; > ,, Saw. , , . j . . Sodium ehlovid, or common:salt, til" a necessity of animal lifet. .Wild ant> mais of the herbivorous cites makg* regular excursftfea of fc^rfriiles tb "satt/JtetEs," or offer plw^ihere Ifc abounds. 1 1 y The human body,* contains, «^t ia - * large proportion. The blood tas'taa of it, and in greater or less quantities it is found in all the many fluids anil juices manufactured by the varibm . glands of the body. ^ ^ That its presence Is not accidental but designed is shown by the studf J of some of the essential factors of th# organism when deprived of it R»» -' > cent experiments have proved tha$ ' the white corpuscles bf the blood 1 swell and burst qiiffckly ' In1*' distilled | water. Frotoplfsnv Inactive, anfv- the cilia, or fringe-like edges 'of ceife^ tain cells, stop their motion when dek » * prived of sodium chlorid; while in i| salt solution they remain active aatf v intact . - n.-v. • • < . ' • " k It is stated that by the passage of - •salt through the body the absorption of food is stimulated,' and the activity^ of tissue-changes and growth is ior creased. It is a matter of common observat ^ tion that the swallowing of salt prqf t ' duces thirst, which is but saying thait certain organs are stimulated to ao»~"J tivity thereby, and consequently d9» mand more fluid in order to continue . their normal activity. \ ,;.V Many children doubtless suffer frofit an Insufficient supply of common salt* . especially when artificial food3 aril*; used. Such children are often weak and poorly nourished. Their diges» tion proceeds slowly, absorption ot~- digested products is delayed, an<| they become emaciated. The doctor is called, and with the order to ad(| "a pinch" of salt to the milk orothdr prepared food, the appetite improve® the digestion is stimulated, and J4; proper condition of nourishment r#U turns. i It is more than probable that the chlorine element of the hydrochloric • acid of the gastric juice is supplied . by this salt In this fact person# who live largely on a vegetable dief may find a reason for a weak digest tion and insufficient acidity, for th| mineral matter found in vegetable!! consists, for the most part, of potasll ' salts, which do not satisfy the d<fr« r; mands of the animal organism. ^ The water of mineral springs ift . chiefly efficacious in that it supplier both salt and water to the blood in increased quantity. The salt tend# « to increase • tissue-changes, and tht» greater supply of water hastens th| ,% excretion of the waste products whicl^K.l are thereby generated.--Youth's Com* panion. , ' A Man With a HI »las Touch. • If the current report is true thai Baron Maurice de Hirsch ist soon td make a tour of this country'his visit should arouse unusual interest, for as millionaire, philanthropist , sports­ man, and financier-thie Baron is more than a remarkable man. He is in many respects the man 6t fais time, hommedu siecle, as his French ad* mirers style him. Everything that he has touched has' turned into gold, so that he has long been the rival of the Rothschilds' i#™ wealth. One case in point of his Midas^like touch was the purchase at a small price of the depreciated as­ sets of a bankrupt Belgian bank ahdi the subsequent realization front them of $4,600,000 of profits. ThfiL_ Baron first became known on thift side of the water in the sotnewha& dubious role of intimate of the Prince of Wales. Next after that bi9 enor­ mous gifts to charity, amounting in 1891 to $15,000,000, awakened the in­ terest of three continents. The Baron is not^d iu Europe' for his chivalry, and the «tory of his quar­ rel with a Paris _'<Slub, though told long ago, Is timely now. When the Baron and another Hebrew, who was his enemy's son, were blackballed for membership in the.club,Baron Hirsch bought the building for a suin much in excessof its value, t The club com­ mittee, loath to leave their old quar­ ters, offered to elect him if he would relinquish his bargain. [His reply was characteristic: "Keep vour club but elect a Hebrefcr. I name the gentleman who was blackballed in my company." The club accepted the terms, and the man whose elec­ tion was thus singularly brought about is still on its list of members. --New York World. X Poor Vaulting. A beginner is apt to be appalled at the height of five or six feet when he is unused to the exercise, and he generally sprawls over the ground at first when using any force. The best practice for a novice is to use a good, stout pole, one measuring between twelve and fourteen feet in length and about one and three-quarter Inches in diameter at the thickest part, which should be the middle. A pole ot the length spoken of is entirely unnecessary for clearing such heights as a novice is equal to, and he may not need to grasp it above the middle In getting over the bar, but it is well for him to get accustomed to using a full-length pole; for, should he become at all expert, he will find that a pole fifteen feet long is about right Poles are generally made of ash or hickory; or any strong wood not too heavy. Spruce and pine have been used in some cases on account of their lightness, but unless they are largo enough they arc likely to break when an extra strain is put on them. Ath. letes should take great care never to use a pole too light for them. Unfortunate. We heard a boy preacher recently declaiming before a fairly large-sized gathering. He was perched on a chair, and with cap in hand rattled away with a confidence worthy of an older and wiser head. The following is an example of hia coolness at a very trying moment/ ' "My dear friends," he said, "it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a t needle? than for W--I mean, it is easier for a camel to g<| through the eye of a rich man--or* rather,- it is easier for a needle t6 go through the eye of a camel " ; T*7 Here he stopped, and some one; prompted him, when he repeated the quotation correctly, and shortly after "came down smiling." THE people who would have done so and so, if they had bfeen there, never get there