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I - P e « M ° ® * f j l a m o n d . + K' over again John Mars- * •*" ' wj) ^*n been told that his noc- *j i 1 turnal rambles would bring him into contact .with unpleasant citizens. If he had contented himself with walk­ ing upon the main highway that ran past his suburban home, his midnight walk, which he said waa absolutely necessary to fais getting sleep when he went to bed, would hare been safe enough. But there were byways In that neighborhood, some of them nar­ row, many of them with evil reputa­ tions, all of thorn very dark and entirely deserted by honest citlsens at a quarter to 1 In the morning--which was John's favorite hour for a solitary stroll--and these queer byways were his favorite strolling paths. Again, if he had had nothing,about him to tempt a footpad his friends would not have been so so­ licitous, but, for a man in which there ^ was no suspicion of foppery, John Mars- ^ carried a remarkable collection of v*luable jewelry about his' person. There Was his watch, with a circle of 7^" T brilliants and a remarkable enameled & , „*s>* miniature set in the back, presented to \ \ , f- 1>Im as a souvenir by a famous foreign J ^ ^ actre8s 'Whose life he had saved in a r*,lroaj(* wreck; there was also a won- \'Af . 'Ay. derful old intagMo bloodstone, an helr- '{*• ,'n <'*<• *OOB,» which be wore in a huge signet L >f ring, ^d lastly, there was, as a general Ii8 c S i- -'•'I A HA*T» FLEW STRAIGHT AT MS THROAT 1 thing, the Mama diamond, which ought to have been kept in a museum or a '^'safety vault, but which John Marsden ; persisted in wearing constantly as a Cravat pin. - He said he wore the Moma diamond j for luck, but no one who knew him be­ lieve^ that the man had even one super- -stiitioB. It would have been worth the while of any footpad to engage profes- .ssistance just to get possession oma diamond, and hundreds connected with that profes- that Mr. Marsden always ,--t stone in his cravat. It was derful stone, no^H* any means as a«a piget^a's egg. or even a spar­ row's, it is true, only about the size of the point of a.ml^s index finger, in fact, but of a luster so dazzling and so peculiar that the jewelers and lapida­ ries of Amsterdam, who still remember It from the days before It crossed the Atlantic, say it is unmatched in all the world. And at last the warnings of John Marsden's friends were justified. He was walking on a dark, autumn night along one of his favorite byways, with a row of blank, windowless brick walls on his right, and on his left a ditch and rail fence, when there was a sudden leap of something from the ditch, and a hand flew straight at his throat. Instantly--as if he had been expecting to meet the attack just at that spot-- John Marsden's left fist darted out and up, and there was a sound like the word "Chow," followed by another like the fall of a bale of hay on the earth. Then he leaned forward cautiously, and the next moment he was glad of his eaution. The man leaped to his feet al­ most as soon, it seemed, as he had touched the ground, and then, Instead »f drawing knife or pistol, he went at John in the most approved pugilistic fashion. Very likely, if the fight had been in a twelve-foot ring, by daylight, begun In regular form, fhe other man might have won the Moma diamond--supposing it •O have been the prize. As it was the footpad had been taken by surprise, utd, still worse, Marsden's very bony 5st had fitted itself snugly Into the deli­ cate space between the triangle of the tower j#w and the Adam's apple. The aiere fact that his antagonist had recov­ ered himself *o quickly after such a Wow assured Marsden that he had no ordinary fighter to deal with. Still, that first blow placed the other mam at l disadvantage, and the fisticuffs did aot last long. In less than two minutes Marsden's assailant was back in the SUch from which he had sprung, only aow he lay kicking convulsively and V.i'v soughing In a way that meant, as Mars- rrt 7; I ' defl knew, internal hemorrhage. fdK' ^ ^ Now. when you have been assaulted IP € on a lonely road in the small hours, and ® ; sir*.;, the assault has been with the evident Intention of stealing your valuables, you are generally inclined rather to go ISmBKmI your way rejoicing, and leave well enough alone, if you have been as for- tunate as to knock the intending thief silly. That is what most people would do. But Marsden was in many^vays unlike most people. He sat on the edge , of the roadside ditch, lifted the man's 1H| . head, and fanned his face until, in the |,, darkness, he could detect signs of re- cover.v. . "Feeling better now?" he said. The only answer was a struggle to sit up, which ended in the beaten man •HkSK stoking back exhausted. Then there was axfather pause, and Marsden began ^ f \ to be really alarmed. He had almost made up his mind to go and look for Water when the patient suddenly made one more violept effort, succeeded in sitting up, and stared at bim. •'Who are you?" were the first words ttpit came, in a hoarse, half-strangled lltiisper. "you're not a policeman?" "Ob, no," said Marsden, "I'm not a policeman." Hope 1 haven't hurt yoa badly. Now, look here, young fellow, * man that can box like you isn't a com­ mon thief. That's sure. If you had been a common thief, you would have come at me with a pistol or some­ thing."' The prostrate man said nothing. "See here," Marsden went on. "I ban easily hand you over to the police, you know. Oh, you needn't try to get up and run. I could give five yard's start and catch you in 100, as you are now. I'll let you jgo. I'll take you to my house and fix you tip ship shape," if you'll do one thing. Tell me why you have turned highway robber just to get the Moma. diamond?" At that question the man seemed to start Marsden waited a,few seconds and then reepated, "Tell me about it." "Where did yon get It?" was at first the only answer vouchsafed him. and that In ; a vehement, angry whisper. Then the man in the ditch went on: "You're right. I didn't want your watch. ^The diamond 1s mine." * "Aha!" said Marsden. "I thought so. I knew there •was something Wrong about that blessed diamond. Did you see me wearing it?" , M. ' "Did some one tell you I wore it as a scarf-pin?" - - -- v . ; "Yes." "Well, you^6fi^t go ontalklnflnthe condition you are in. Come to my house and let me, givg you a dr?nk. It isn't far." There mwt have been something very frank and convincingly honest in the ring of Jfta^sden's. voice, for the man actually did consent to go with him, even leaning on hlSiftrm fpt support on the way. ' H They Entered the house together, stealthily, for everyone efoe was in bed, and the lights all out. Marsden struck a match and lighted his highwayman friend to his own den, Where he soon found means to stimulate his powers. "I am a stranger to 'j&n, you see," said the guest; recovering after a mouthful of diluted brandy. It was-not the face of,a thief, certain­ ly. It was rather the face of a well- bred, if hot intellectual, 'man, but it was unshaven, and suggested that Its owner had fallen upon hard luck. Oth­ erwise, itwas not At ail an uncommon face. "You have treated me fairly," he said, "so far. rtMettsfr* tteff/n# where you got my abd'Xltfftell you how i lost it.'V * -r- ' v. > * "Your diamond--if it is yours," said Marsden,. "was won by the at a game of cards, i &tked $1,000 • In American money against it. ^e game was played in the smoking-room of an ocean steamer." "Was yoo were playing with?" • * > ' "Yes. A Brazilian, I believe--wore the stone in a ring." "The iippjtde^t scoundref! Anything peculiar about his eyebrow?** "One eyebrow had a cut across It tbat gave it a> peculiar tilt." "That's right--the left^ebrow. And the gentleman always ripoke as If his mouth wasfull, didn't he?" "He did. You have ^scrifted him perfectly, , He Tvas a Brazilian." "I beg •your pardon, .^a'e was my ma­ ternal uncle, Charles i^ost Froeham. My father borrowed nibliey from him to buy shares in his confounded bogus en­ terprise®, and gave him mortgages on everything we .possessed. It was un­ derstood, when the mortgage was drawn on $nr household effects, that my mother'* .^e^relry jWas not included. At my ftfraVf%^detfth - the rogue put in a legal claim for the Moma diamond, because, ̂ |»e said, ]gt w^ .set in a ring which my father woVe and not my mother's. TJio lawyer advised my moth­ er to let it go, for fear of the expense and uncertainty of litigation. In that way the Scoundrel go* possession of a WVFfY WILLION» ̂ r • dER L»«t Census of MM^ SMlptre flacH tke Population at That ftgnire. The results of the professional and •octal census of the German empire taken in 1895 have just been published by the government. The book is one of the most important statistical works that have been brought out by any government. A similar, but less com­ plete, census was taken in Germany In 1882, and most other governments have at various times, either in conjunction with the ordinary census or separately, made some effort to inquire into the classification of the population by Its occupation and social status. But no other country has entered on an Investi­ gation of this kind with anything even approximating the thoroughness and method that characterized the German statistical office, both in the drawing up of the census and In its subsequent elaboration for statistical purposes. To give only an instance, the census officials had the strictest instructions not to take the word of a householder as to the occupation and earnings of the members of his household, but to make a personal inquiry of every single member, even including small children. The whole enormous work of collecting this census was done at. a cost of not more than £180,000. According to this census, the total population of Germany on June 14, 1805, amounted to 51,770,284, of whom 25,409,161 were males and 26,361,123 Were females. The similar census taken in 1882 gave a total of 43,222,113, of whom 22,150,749 were males and 23,- 071,364 females. The population had thus increased by 14.48 per cent in the thirteen years--an increase which, it is Interesting to note, was larger In the case of the males, who increased at the rate of 14.71 per cent, as against an Increase of only 14.26 per cent In the case of the females. The decrease of German emigration' since the growth of modern German prosperity may possibly have had something to do with this fact. How rapid the increase of the German population Is may be gathered from the fact that the ordinary quin­ quennial census, taken in December, 1895, gave a population of 52,279,901. or an increase of 509,617 souls in six months. The increase between 18S2 and 1895 was greater in the towns and districts already peopled; thus, for ex­ ample in the government district of Berlin it was 39.64 per cent; in Dussel- dorf, 32.97; Dresden, 29.13; Leipsic, 29.98, etc. The town population of Ger­ many in 1895 amounted to 4A.83 per cent of the total population, as against 41.8 per cent in 1882. It had increased by 36.47 per cent over the town popui- lation of 1882, whereas the country population had decreased by 1.31 per cent. The population ©€ towns with over 100,000 Inhabitants Increased In the same period by 111.29 per cent and) amounted to 7^30,530 person*-- London Times* 11 "~v AJf iGEMfiAItWAYS h,,» mm "•<' 11 1 , l ! SUPERIORITY THE AMERICAN Ms* PEGGOTTY S HOME SO Approaching; End of the Old Shop>ln»- mortalized by Dicken». Peggotty's house, the home of "Lit­ tle Emily" and of Peggotty herself and of Ham Peggotty, Is to be taken away from its old moorings in. Yar­ mouth. It has been sold by auction; for £460 (about $2,300), and will be re­ moved from, the surroundings in which Dickens first saw it, and In which it has remained for many a year since. The home of the Peggottys is one„oi' the principal scenes in "David C«»pper- field." It was there and on the sea­ shore neafr it that "Davy" spent the happiest days of his chiidliool. and there lie played at <v.ld love with little Emil.v. Thither came the incomparable Steerforth and thence he lied w;ith Emily, and not far away he lay "with his head upon his iirui" (as David had often st mi him ne at school), but this time on the sand and cold dead. No scene in Dickens is more associated with tender feeling than the old invert­ ed boat, the prototype of which is now to be dissociated from its original site; The old time-stained hulk will be torn down to make room for trade. The moss-grown timbers, every one of which Is linked In, the minds and hearts of book lovers with some episode of the great novelist's masterpiece, wiU be torn apart and burned up, except such pieces as will be carried away by relic hunters, and a warehouse or something of the sort will take the place of the quaint old structure which gave background for a picture which for Its Intense humanity. Its power to move, Its contrast of the most selfish of vices and the most generous of vir­ tues, has few equals to be found any­ where In English literature* "I AM A STBANGKJi TO Y.oU. jewel worth as much as three times all the money he had. lent my father. When bis stock-watering tricks were found out he had to leavo. England. That was five years ago." "That was when I met him," said Marsden. "And now at last I have been obliged to come to this country and try to earn a living as a car conductor. I .can't complain of that; I was always an Idle, good-for-nothing fellow." j "H'm," said Marsden. "And youi, I uncle-I mean the Brazilian gentleman --said thifc stone was 'called the Moma diamond from the name of the negrc who found it In Brazil. Was, that cor­ rect'.'" / "Perfectly." "Now. please give me your own ad­ dress and--is your mother still living?" The would-be highwayman gave both That night he slept in Marsden's house. A month later he sailed for England, a steerage passenger, but rich, for th« eccentric- Marsden had made him a present of the Moma diamond--Pitts­ burg Press. Twin CbJckenn. * Twenty-five dollars for a pair of spring chickens Is a liberal price, yet a Massachusetts farmer rejected it. His pair of chickens, he thinks, are quite unique, for they are twins, five weeks" old, and It Is said that two chickens born from a single egg ha*e nevfer before been proved to live beyond eight days. The buff brabma hen laid rather a large egg, but no one thought much about it until one morning the farmer saw two bills instead of one trying to break out of the shell. He quickly re­ moved the egg to the kitchen, extracted the twin chicks, wrapped them in cotton batting, and placed them In the oven. For three weeks the chickens were kept indoor^ on a diet of malted milk and brandy dropped down their throats with a medicine dropper. The twins are now hale and hearty, and run about the yard as vigorously as any of their comrades. One peculiarity, however, distin­ guishes them from their mates. They are exclusive little aristocrats, and neither of them will associate with any other chicken except his twin. In What Retpecta They Are Inva!ti- able Aid* to the Life and Extension of Commercial Activity -- Ueed aa Models by Other Countries. * In making an address before flit In­ ternational Commercial Congress re­ cently, George H. Daniels, General Passenger Agent of the New York Cen­ tral and Hudson River Railway and president of the American Association of General Passenger Agents, said: One of our great writers hair said of this .closing period of the nineteenth century, that it Is an age of transporta-- tlon. Transportation underlies material prosperity In every department of com­ merce. Without transportation com­ merce would be impossible. Those States and nations are rich, powerful and enlightened whose transportation facilities are best and most extended. The dying nations are those with little or no transportation facilities. Mr. Mulhall, the British statistician, in his work on "The Wealth of Na­ tions." said of the United States In 1895; "If we take a survey of mankind, in ancient or modern times, as regards the- physical, mechanical and Intellec­ tual force of nations, we find nothing to compare with the United States." Mr. Mulhall proved by his statistics that the working power of a single per­ son ih the United States was twice that of a German or Frenchman, more than three times that of an' Austrian and five times that of an Italian. He said the United States was then the richest country in the world, its wealth ex­ ceeding that of Great Britain by 35 per cent, and added that In the history of the human race no nation ever be­ fore possessed forty<one millions oC instructed citizens. T In an address before the New Yorlt Press Association, four years ago* r referred to the future of our export trade, as follows: "One of the Inevita­ ble results of the war between Japan and China will be the opening to the commerce of the world of fields here­ tofore unknown, perhaps the richest on the globe," and urged the members of the New York Press Association to do everything in their power to assist in' Securing to the United States a portion- of the great commerce to be developed between the western nations and those two old countries of the world. At that time we had no idea that a war between one of the old nations of the earth and our young republic would be fought; at that time we had no idea that American manufacturers would be furnishing locomotives to the English railroads as well as to those of nearly every other country off the globe. No one thought four years ago that Ameri­ can bridge builders would go Into the open market and successfully compete for the building of a great steel bridge in Egypt; nor that in so brief a time American engineers would be building railroads into the interior of China ffeom her most important sea-ports. At that time- no one supposed that the Trans-Siberian Railway would be laid' with steel rails made in Pennsyl­ vania, uppn cross^ies from the forests of Oregon, and: that its trains would be hauled by American locomotives; nor that this great railway which is to stretch from St. Petersburg to Vladi­ vostok and1 Port Arthur, a distance of more than 6,0©d miles, would be com­ pleted two- years to advance of the orig­ inal expectation* as a result of the use of American construction tools and machinery. In a letter from a friend in Tokio, Japan, written only a short time ago, theVe was this significant sentence: "You will be interested in knowing that I have* hanging on the wall of my otr flee a framed picture of your 'Empire State Express,' and we expect In the near future to be hauling a Japanese 'Empire Express? with an American lo­ comotive." They have now in Japan more than one hundred locomotives that were built in the United States. In Russia they have nearly, one thou­ sand American locomotives, and prac­ tically every railway in Great Britain has ordered tocorhotives from this coun­ try since tbe beginning of the war with Spain. But it is not alone our locomotives that have attracted the attention of for­ eigners who have visited our shores, our railway equipment generally has^ commanded admiration and is now re­ ceiving the highest compliment, name­ ly, imitation by many of our sister na­ tions. Prince Michael Hllkoff, Imperial Minister of Railways of Russia, has, since his visit to the United States a few years ago, constructed a train on> much tlie same lines as the "Limited' Trains" of the New York Central and' Pennsylvania. ' be himself i®riiu lie down to s't||$*fid then resuttt# little newspaper game. If this does not sbow a sense of humor It would be difficult to say what ft does show. Then there Is the well-known fact that no sooner does a mouse trap or a cat enter a house than It h» followed by a troop of mlcei, Cats and traps draw mice as the pole draws tho magnet. The mouse loves the game of teasing the cat by stimulating the latter's hopes of capturing mice. It is considered the height of fun among mice to scuttle across a room in the presence of a cat and to disappear In a bote just as the cat Is ready to pounce. Of course, now and then a too reckless moustf pays the penalty of rashness by being caught by the'cat, but accidents of this kind are more rare among mice than foot ball accidents among men and In no way render mice shy of the game.--Pear­ son's & Th^re day'6 Vork every d i1 • Too Big for Hia Heart. A policeman in Long Island "City died recently from phenomenal growth. In other wards, heart trouble, supposed to have resulted from the abnormal growth of his body, Is suppose*} to have caused death. He was 6 feet 3 inches tall. 14 is said that he never stopped growing, and continued to grow taller ^very year. Patrolman Darcy weighed about 250 pounds, and he was not a fat man, though bis brother, a police cap- tian in the town, was the larger-man "on the force." ? so trying iuk * haiK week. If fim work t used to It,' It Is very bad taste vi tell that you always defend him. MADE A STUDY OF MICE. Tb^fHave a Keen Sense of Haaaw aarfg Love Kxcitement. Few people understand the mystery of mice- I think I can, without im­ modesty,' claim to understand mice, for I have made them a study for many years. I used to think tbat nature sup­ plied mice, wherever there seemed to be any call for them. For example, if you live in a house where there are no mice, and in a rash moment provide yourself with a mouse trap or set up a eat mice will immediately make their appearance. To the superficial obser­ ver this looks as if nature, perceiving that you have a mouse trap, proceeds to supply mice for it, or, noticing that you have a cat, sends mice enough to satisfy the animal. But this is not the true explanation. In order to under­ stand mice you must grasp the fact that the mouse is an animal with a keen sense of humor and a love of ex­ citement. With this key in your pos­ session you can readily unlock the mystery of mice. That the mouse has a sense of humor Is conspicuously shown by the way in which he will rattle a newspaper in your bed room ftt night. The mouse does not eat newspapers, neither does lie put them to any domestic use. He merely makes a noise with them, know­ ing that of all sounds the midnight rustic of a newspaper is the one which will most successfully banish sleep from 3'pur c^ps. If a mouse finds an eligible mmp^per in your bed room he self down to a night of f ty. He will rattle that morning ^nd the only "Hawaii Ut said to have taoa* tele­ phones in use In proportion t» the- popu­ lation than any other locality in the world. A newspaper printed! on the excur­ sion steamer Ophlr published: one num>- ber in 80 degree* 2 minutes north lati­ tude. It claims to be the paper pub­ lished farthest north of any on record. A series of experiments made by Benno Erdmann and Raymond Dodge show that in normal reading the letters are not spelled out separately, and one after the other, but that a short word of not more than four letters can be read1 off In less time than a> single let­ ter: The Pike's Pfe$k Power 0ompany pro* poses to develop 3,200-horse-power for distribution for mines- in the neighbor­ hood of Cripple Gbeek, Colo..The source of the water supply is Beaver canyon, andia steel and rock dam will be built having a storage capacity of 150,008,000' cubic fsett Only a short time ago, at the-request of one of the Imperial-Commissions of Germany, I sent to Berlin photographs of the Interior and:exterior of our finest cars and other data in relation to the operation of American railways. Ser eral other coutrles-have asked'for simi­ lar Information and there is a:general waking-up of foreign nations on the subject of transportation, brought: about mainly, by- the wonderful aenleve­ ments of American railways. On the principle of the sounding-­ board, which repeats a. sound at so short an Interval fhat the original and the repeated, waves Impress- the ear in unison, a device called the p.oiyphone has recently been applied to the phono­ graph for the purpose of doubling the volume of sound issuing from that In­ strument. A,v phonograph, with the polyphone attachment, has two horns, each provided with a- diaphragm and stylus. Not only" is- the sound made louder, but Its-quality Is improved. Lake Superior appears to exercise a greater effect upon the annual amount of precipitation of rain<and snow near its shores than any other of the Great Lakes. The average precipitation in a year Is about eight, inches greater on the southern than on the northern side of Lake Superior. Lakes Erie and On­ tario also show more precipitation on their southern than on-their northern shores, but the difference Is only three Inches annually. In the case of Lakes Huron and Michigan it? is-the eastern shores as compared'with the western which get the largest; precipitation, but the difference is -not; great: The distances- over, which birds mi­ grate vary between, wide limits, and are often surprisingly great. The bo­ bolinks* which, rear their young on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, Canada, and go to Cuba, and Porto Rico to spend the winter, twlcfe traverse- a: distance ex­ ceeding 2.800 miles, or more than a flfth.of. tllo olncumference offour^earth, e~:n year. The kingbird1,lays-its eggs as far nofth as the fifty-seventh degree of latitude, and is-found in the winter in. South America. The biennial pil­ grimages of the little- redstart exceed1 three thousand' miles^and' the-tiny hum­ ming bird two thousand; Madame Ceraskl, of Moscow, has dis­ covered in the constellation: Cygnus a star of between the eighth and ninth magnitude which undergoes- wonderful variations in its tight It belongs to the same type of variable stars as the celebrated Algol, but its variation is larger. Its period: la four days thir­ teen hours an*$ forty-five minutes. When at a minimum it is three- magni­ tudes fainter than, when at a maxi­ mum; In other words, It periodically loses and then regains so much light that at one time it Is sixteen times brighter than at another. In stars of this type the changes of light are sup­ posed to be caused by a dark body re­ volving around the star, and produc­ ing eclipses as it comes wlUtin our llne of sight. >•" SMOKELESS POWDER COSTLY. Half m. Million Hollar*' Worth Proved to Be Worthless. The vastly increased expense of a military establishment under the more scientific methods now employed l£ sharply illustrated in the discovery that about half a million dollars' worth of smokless powder for seacoast guns turns out to be worthless, through an unexpected deterioration. In Its quality. Military experts have suppos­ ed that the smokless powder manufac­ tured for the United States army was the best ever made, saj-s the New York Post and a contract was not long ago signed which Involved the expenditure of about $1,000,000 for a supply of It. But It Is stated that recent experiments at Sandy Hpok showed tbat the smoke­ less powder now on hand 1s worse than valueless. A ten-Inch gun was being fired with charges front a supply that had been stored for abont two years and a delayed detonation occurred, which burst the gun. a new one, valued st |30,000. An examination of the powder revealed the fact that It had undergone chemical changes of some sort and all of the supply 00 hand Is supposed to be equally affected. Ex­ perts will now try to discover the cause of the deterioration, so as to make the needed change in the fortmil'a. Mean­ while the contracts for manufacture must be- suspended, and if a war should break out It might be necessary Co use the old' variety of black powder: Ap­ parently large charges to the profit and loss account must be allowed for In estimating the cost of keeping. up> with ^tl^jjmos in. warfare; , , . REVIVES A SCANDAL* Wedding: Brings to Memory an Affair Such as Often Stirs Army Circles. One of those scandals which now and then stir army circles has-jiist had ani interesting:sequel ln<the marriage of :'wy?™.';1.,;-wsaf •. Ji-4- • Second Lieutenant Frank E: Bam- ford, of the Fifth Infantry to Mrs. M a e O ' B r i e n , widpw of the late Lieut. Michael J. O'Brien, of the sajne regiment. The scandal occurred at > Fort • McPher- son, Ga., early in 1897. Lieut. Barn- ford, while engaged to marry Miss - Nina Romeyn, daughter of Capt. Henry Romeyn, of the Fifth Infantry, paid: such .marked attention to -Mrs.- O'-Rcien. that; the betrothal was summarily broken by Capt. Romeyn. This,- of course, led to a great deal of comment, and Lieut O'Brien, meeting, Gapt. Ro­ meyn on the parade ground, accused him of circulating scandalous stories about Mrs. O'Brien. Capt. Romeyn's- reply. was a sharp slap in the fa«e. Lieut. O'Briei^-placed the matter be­ fore his-superior officers, and'Capt Ro­ meyn was- court-martialed' and sen­ tenced to dismissal from the army* but the sentence was reduced; to-a> reprl-* mand. He is now on the retired' list. Lieut. O'Brien died some months- ago in Florida. During the Chinese-Japa­ nese war he was sent by the United States- Government to take observa­ tions. Capt. Romeyn has-at reputation: as-an: Indian-fighter. i«*" A Wi(ty Pednan t. A thunder-storm overtook the Em­ peror Francis Joseph of Austria, when out shooting in 1873 with old Emperor William of Germany and Victor Eman­ uel. The three monarchs got separat­ ed from their party and lost theij. way. Thfey were drenched to the skin, and. In search of shelter, bailed a peasant driving a covered cart drawn by oxen along the high road. The peasant took up the royal trio and* drove on. "And what may you be, for you are a stranger in these ri-ts?" he asked after awhile of Emperor.William. • "I am the Emperor of Germany," plied his Teutonic majesty. "Ha, very good," paid the peasant and then addressing Victor Emmanuel, "And you my friend?" . "Why, I am the King of IiHj," came the prompt reply. •'Ha, hn, •asry good Indeed! And who are you?" addressing Francis Joseph. : "I am the, ppap^ror of Austria." said t h e l a t t e r . . . * The peasant th?n scratched fais bead, and said with a knowing wink, "Very igQod, 4ind who dp you suppose I am?" { 3Jh<»lr majesties replied they would like veryr*aupll tp know. • "Why l am His Holiness the Pspe.*' An Endless Chain. •Same weeks ago a gentleman 1 left a small package at the home of. a young lady upon, whom he was making his first call. She wrote him at note telling, him he had, left. It. He wrote her one telling.heivit was some edlblfes, and that she might appropriate it to her own use.. She wrote-again to express- her ap­ preciation. lie replied to express his appreciation of her appreciation* She retaliated with an ex­ pression of her appreaia&ion: of his apt preciatloa of her appreciation. i At the present time the expression of appreciation is going forward in arith<- mefcleal progression! ass the letters multiply, and as they coaitain something: a little more serious in its nature there- promises to be some very interesting complications resulting from a corre­ spondence, presumably for the expres­ sion of appreciationi..--Memphis Seizor Biff Ben's Tdne. Whatever complaints may be made atgainst the tone of Big Ben, the famous London clock, ami musicians say It is a terribly bad "K," at any rate, ®very one will acknowledge that the clock la the House of Commons tower la a won­ derful timekeeper, not varying a second in time all the year through. The mechanism for setting in motion the massive hammer which brings out the tone of Big Ben's sixteen-ton bell is very interesting. The striking machin­ ery Is driven by weights of about a ton and a half, which hang on a shaft 174 feet deep; and it is so arranged that after the chimes are over the hammer falls on the big bell witbin oae second of Greenwich mean time. - < Timothy's Mistake. Timothy Knockdown, the auctioneer, took his wife for a seaside trip to Margate. On the second day of their visit Mr, K. evinced a strong deslre'to return home. "And pray for what reason, Timothy?" angrily inquired his better half. "Simply because everybody knows my business down here. To-day, for instance, I have been confronted by at least forty grinning boatman who rem­ inded me that it is "a nice day for a •sale,* " sadly responded the unhappy auctioneer,--Answers. • The secret of good lQpkg is often a gqod stomach. ..i.,.1 u "•'>1 1 1 £ CORN IS KIHQ. faOwttfaig Facts Cflftraim the QfWl \ AMterioui Staple. ,• The word maize Is derived from tks Cfoeek word zea. It is not deflnjtsjgr g| known where the plant bkd Its orlglA. Humboldt asserts that it is America*. Other writers claim that it originate)! In Asia, whence it was brought into .l*! America by ,tbe Spanish explored There is nothing so far discovered fa ^ the reeords of rains of Egypt to indicats % that the early dwellers along the Nil* ever knew of the grain. In an ancient Xj Chinese book, however to be found In ^ the French library' at Paris, corn Is ^ mentioned. In Chile corn has long briCB grown, and It is called zea curaqua. There is an old Javanese legendarjf , £\'- peom, "Manek Maya," which likens J the grain of corn to a maiden's tootlv and to-day, in certain parts of the mid­ dle West, there Is a variety known as "horse tooth." , | Most of the South American Indian! know of corn. Some make a sort of beer from It. A Quicha legend sayS that Con, son of the Sun and Moon, gave maize to man. The Iroquois-say that corn was given by the Spirit of the/ South. One of the snake legends of the Moqul Indians tells of six bachelors,- Red Corn, Blue Corn, ' Yellow Corn, Gceen Corn, Spotted Corn and Blacfe CJorn. • ' It is not aiene with tlie Indians that myth and legend endure. To-day farm-' ers of New England, and, in*fact, in the newer West, have their manifold "signs" for the planting of corn. Go through the agricultural regions and you will bear them talk of planting "la the full of the moon." and the like. Among the German settlers, in certalir localities, it is believed- that in select* Ing seed-corn for the next year's coril all the stalks and refuse must be taken into the' highways and instantly de­ stroyed, but not by burning, as that would insure the presence of the black fungi, qt "smut" as It Is provincialljr termed. ' • Corn.is the great staple of the United) States. It. is the most important pro^ duct of the American continent, be it grains or the output'of mines or factor­ ies. More acres are devoted to the rais­ ing of corn than in.the annual yield of oats, wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat and- cotton combined. Corn provides more employment for. laborers, provides more work for distributers and makes basis for more industries and activities any.otheri American commodity. Yn the past thlrty-seven years the value of the- corn output has been $1&.900,000,000. Last year (1898) a <;-orn farm of 6,000' a«res in Iowa yeldejfi a net profit of $60, 000. About 3,800r acres of corn were- actually planted.' Thirty-one planters were used to put'the seed in the ground, seventy-six cultivators did the "tend­ ing;" and seventy-five wagons hauled/ the crop from field to cribs. To hold the corn cribs-twelve feet wide, sixteen- feet high and half a mile long were required.: The corn yield of the United* States for 1899 is estimated, at 2,050,- 720,000 bushels, the number of acres planted being 81,550,OQg. Corn is king. --John L. Wright, in 1 Leslie's Weekly. . " Tb»45tage. ^Phe stage eontlnues-to .form ror of fashion. One. need; scarcely take * in a fashion paper if one pays constant visits-to • the theater. Here one can/ study all the varieties of la mode and: the latest and newest designs* Each, play seems to have Its own specialty to, dress,- Its favorite color andiits-favorlte- dressmaker. , Possibly spectators never give *1. thought, to the fact that: these constant? changee of costume form.no inconsld* erabie- portion of the fatigue incurred! by an actress in a long and heavy part Dress cannot be- slurred' over now,. Gowns must be laced and buttoned up*, gloves, shoes, bats, petticoats be worni to match. It was-different in the goQdi old day«t when actresses- shuffled one gown over another and fastened' th(9kn> lightly with a buttoni The Japanese- costume is- one of the most intricate. The real- Japanese lady wears three- gowns, one over the other, a- small, por­ tion of; each showing at the neck, the* gowns- being artistically shaded; sasv. from pale pink to deepest rose, or ftoxni violet to- sky blue. The chemise* tody- must match* and' a special toiuctk di' deep contrast!ve color is, given; by. tlte* w a i s t b a n d : . . . " J . fell " >1 Nutritions ffooga. ^ Profi.. Atwater, who hiss devotee self to the study for a number Wyeal^h. declares that there is no single food, the neaiest approach to^it beiniT*^^ milk. No- food; however; contains- the- essential constituents in right propor- 'id tions, a-ndl thus we have get what we want by eombininWj^w- fe will be a shock to map $ wives to learn that b$ef and among the greatest oif, all e& mistakes. A single wheat-fl®ur will yield«$s. reti* meat as $30 spent on Sugar ranks next to- wlkeat-fiour as fen TvOuOtuiCcil food,- for of sugar^contalns as rauch nutrlmentss worth of milk. $12 worth of eggs, or ^ $40 worth of oysters.1 In proportion to their cost oysters are almost the lealrt ^ nutritious of all foods. B^ahs god^ocP tatoes run a close race for tbY thtfd place among valuable %id £heap flpofisj ^ and the fourth place fs scared between i fat salt pork and cheese .?> skimmed milk. *4j Warships lnj»reii t)y ElectMclty* 1 An Italian court recently, after a trial, ordered the removal of some * f wooden yachts, whose bottoms were sheathed with copper, from the neigh- ]%$ borhood of Iron warships anchored Uk the harbor of Leghorn. It was alleged ^ that an electric connection was estab­ lished through the ships' cables where- by the copper-bottomed ships were turned Into the poles of a galvanic bat- 1| tery, the result being a rapid corrosion of the Iron In contact with the sen water. • - ' a,". The Dewey Plant. Jr blooming plant with clusters S>| blood-red tassels depending from its glossy leaves, Is to be seen not far frc&| Broad aud Chestnut streets. It Is lab­ eled 'The Dewey Plant" In conspicuous letters. Six months ago the duplicate was seen in another part of town, with an inscription declaring it was "Admi­ ral Dewey's favorite flower!" The plant is a native of the PhU'pplnes Islands^ Philadelphia Record. Some people are Willing to let a excuse answer for gcol conduct