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• , \n.s J Eyea then seeing Ever at ita side. nger train No. 2 wag whirling jS||jMi of humanity over the Mohave fart, a great wide expanse of mid- fjftiaitaln apuntry wfcoee parched has exposed many MI naaihny or death fromthirst aad Ipdian y. Wearied wfth the monoto- View ot treeless, w&tarlesa plains, passengerfl gladly welcomed the ich of twilight. The sun went i» a& angry glare, outlining the oapeaks of a far-away range in forma, and gradually,aa night jna on. there were more hopeful 1 of vegetation. It waa the 24 th IffiMcecaber.and most of the out of Jortoaight ia crowned tl« qw . Of ffee fewttva Ghriri&tie aeene. /• *WkwnO* he fongt Nom can claim » MInI heart With her foii'wers form a part--'. of the that this ata battle of mmw*- the fata <« fee „„ .-«h* fcaOrd alatost ;-:«f Pel Tang, nor Knew and even more desper- against odda waa being ;'iSYMilir OP A BBAVB DBFBNSflL S1 ahadow of thajiaieite barriera ot the forbidden or mad city. Proof haaheea heaped mooatata high that tha imperial goverfcmeat w*a in active co-operation with the Boxera in the anti-foreign war of ex- %W/f ' V '̂ ̂ 4"t a. Hb ' fc-" %ouii'lM a« wooii nat native convert* who eought protoetto* gM£if3)jng... - ;iiSSF5$Se-:1S« m 'Ite" *YI" 'AiMMi i*. the littla International force cent to Mnat _ building on apendinga mer- l Christmas in the favored apota of of snnahine irnd we heard the warning the engine, and saw a scat- of cattle flying away In {rout either side of the trtack. thadagine shrieked, the train ftiTWMiiAjr and aeemad to away nly aa ita eoorae. - T|**ext moment we were boanding the tlee in an uncomfortable and manner. The criea of atar- wocoen were drowned In the roar cacaping steam, and panic-stricken looked vainly for meana of ea- 1 group of Mexicans, awakened aleep by the jar, plunged head- through an open window aa the devil were after them. The Snaily spent its speed, and the uglily frightened passengers ;ed to learn the number of the and wounded, and to tender what y could. The engine waa corn- hidden in a great cloud ot , which marked its position aboat the length of the train. When steam finally exhausted itself, a wreck was exposed. The tender the engine was upturned, and the ijfoeer sat upon a place of wreckage ly nursing an injured hand. The i&an was some distance away, hia r and whiskers singed by the hot tpour from the engine. Neither was jfily injured, and not a passenger scratched."' Beside the track, shiv- in the throes of death, lay a idsome steer--the cause of all the ittble. His neck had been twisted by iaad rush at the cowcatcher. As the eer's eye® fell upon the form of animal a smile of satisfaction d over his Wan face, as he said: "That critter must nave been in the 11 fights at some time in his career, for when he spied that red flag yonder the cowcatcher, he shook his head Vlefijusly and refused to leave the track With the rest of them. I slowed up fig whistled several times to give him * chance, but he only snorted defiantly, kicked ilia heels in the air and kapt on stubborn course. Finally he turn­ ed, and I opened the throttle wide, thinking that the best method of throwing him clear of the track. With ai*angry roar he came full at the en­ gine, his head bent low to the track. We all know the rest." The steer at once became an object Of great interest to tha relic fiend. One secured a horn and another cut |Ni| a tooth, and the next day various camera views were taken of the vali­ ant animal that had wrecked a train. We were twenty miles from tha next station, and the eaatbound paaaenger waa due within an hour. Luckily a telegraph operator waa on the train aod t|k| wlrae were haatUy tapped a? dispatcher* ma4m informal the aocident and hold tha trains hoth waya. We pasaed a oheerless night on the deoert, and Chrlatmaa morning found m a disconsolate party. Than waa no ear attached to the train, and travelers that were not provided With lunch baskets railed at the 111- lad that had placed them in so mis- arable a plight. Finally, some of them want on a foraging expedition, and down the track a few mllea they locat- ad a section house controlled by Mex­ icans. Here they appeased their hun­ ger on frljoles, chile con came and m other warm dishes of the natives. A. Wrecking train at length arrived on tie scene, but the work of repair was flow and tedious. Several yards of / track had been torn up, and it waa Boccnssry to construct a "shoo-fly" trpond the wreck. This took the (pnwtar part of the day. Meanwhile the paasengers looked on in a helpless way, aad all vowed that they had never pasaed a Christmas amid such desolate 4mMroundlng8.--C. N. Stark. - - mfanla Witl ~S*ay. Tor Chrixtmo* Tito Hopkins family matefc^ boxe^ and If there is one thing an which the independent and diverse mindad H^kins family stands as a uhit itlta that a match box fta provided for evwry room. One by one tha boxes had disawwared. The tin; ones tod failisn to pieces and the china oftsa had bstdten and for two weeks the Ho®kins family trotted to the saucer of matehea on the parlor mantel or to tha paste­ board box in the kitchen when they wanted a light Their gas bill in­ creased perceptibly, for with so much trouble aa it took to light the gas one could not tarn It off so inituittMiu- lv aa the ana trained honaeboldera into doing. OMtaaqtrant- ly inqaiattlve neighboia from beneath or above, or acroaa the way, fOasiped over the amount of company tha Bop- kinsaa seemed to ha having lately, for a regular glare of illamlnatlon stream­ ed out nightly from thalr wtedbara. It awi * qneer thing that no one aeemed able to think of tha toily neceaiity till twilight came_ Than reg­ ular remarks would be mate, and Ma­ rion would blame Allce^ and Alice would aak Tom why in the worM he couldn't take a little reaponalhtllty, and Mr. Hopkins would inquire of his wifa if there was no one In tha family who cpuld go surety for the appaaraace ot some match boxes by the next even- & THEN HIS mm FELL ON THE TABLE. lag. And then next day Alice would come home from down town and her mother would ask her if she had re­ membered the match boxes, and blank is too feeble a word to describe the expression of har face on those several oocaalons. For two waaka they said thing* un­ der their breaths in the inky dark- ness, or burned gas reekleaaly. Then one morning Marion departed for her semi-weekly music lesson down town and said the same old thing--"I'm go­ ing to get some match boxes today"-- and her mother smiled patiently aad rejilled: "If you should happen to re­ member it, dear, you might get the whole number--eight" That noon Alice came home from the north side, where she had been staying for a few days, and laid a par­ cel triumphantly in her mother's lap. "I didn't even have them sent out," aha said, gleefully. "I was so deter­ mined to tiave them here tonight I was just getting on a car wad hap­ pened to think of them by seeing * mm light hia cigar, so 1 got off. Thare art» e&ht of thefh." Mrs. Hopkina was properly glad and they laughed together over nation's declaration that morning, aad of how for tha last time they would call that blank expression into play before they ahowed her that some one in the fam­ ily had at last remembered. By and by Marion came. "I've got them," she called. "Tha whole eight" "Sixteen match boxeasaid Mrs. Hopkins, with resignation. "Choose the prettiest, girls, and we'll put the rest away for another such emer­ gency." , That evening Mr. Hopkins came in with hle face wreathed in smiles. "The young fry are so hot-headed these days," he remarked, as he com­ placently laid a knobby bundle in hia wife's lap. "I'm sorry for Tom." "What about Tom?" asked Mrs. Hopkins, aa aha fait suspiciously of tha package. "We had started home together,* said Tom's father, the keenest enjoy' ment in his voice, "and were up to Van Buren, when Tom lamped up and mada for the platform. I called to him and he yeUed hack 'Match boxea!' and shot out the door. I tried to get to him to tell him that I'd got the batch, but he waa gone. What's the matter? Didn't I get enough?" Alice exerted herself feveriahly to get the twenty-four receptacles ar­ ranged on a table before Tom's arrival, and when Tom came he didn't tor a minute understand hiB reception. Then hia eye fell on the tableful of distorted and he slowly added his quota to tha general contribution, while hia father gave an impromptu lecture on haste vs. waste. The Hopkirfs family have concluded \o give match boxea lor Chriatmas presents ""MS® nara are essentially of tha sad as a Christmaa home." la * strength has ahMft 'lift taat repetition. Tha birth of ChHat ona*- ed the flrat Chrlatmaa home. It only a stable, to ha sure, but 1 waa Joseph and Mary and tha new born babe, There are thousands upon thousands of those "elder ones" In tha old farmhouses and in the boa»e- »teada which stand back from tha vil­ lage street who now with hand-shaded eyws are looking along tha road to the four corners or down the trae-guardad walk to the swinging gate for tha homecoming of the boys and girls. Grown men and women, with children tugging at their skirts, they may be» but they are boya and gltte now aad forever to the old ooaple who await thnlr coming. Corporations, aa It haa bean aald, may have no aoala, hut aomethiag seems to touch them along ahottt Christmas, even though It necaasitatia a aubaequent month ot privation. The keeping of tha railroad rata* at Ha normal figure would not tan hack ona In tan, though the ticket took ttfa pocket moffty to the last dime. There are few railroad managements, how­ ever, that are not now sending broad­ cast notices under whoae buainaas-llke statementa of mileage ratea aad round t^p ticket pricea the man whose heart la at a farmhouse miles away reads this: "You may go home and taka Christmas dinner with the old folks and haw enough money left to take them a remembrance besidea." Christmas dinner la to ha eaten at home; this has come to be regarded aa a duty, and it is one of those dutlea hi the fulfillment of which no man or woman nor boy nor girl finds anything hut pleasure. The holiday weak la a time which la given over hy tha mod­ erns to a round of merrymaking. It Was the custom of their aneestora in Old England and in the continental countries. It waa a custom that went Into some little disuse where tha lea­ ven of Puritanism ma£e its power fait But the Puritan relaxed and with the recognition of his day of Thanksgiv­ ing by the Cavalier of the South the Puritan absorbed not a littl^ of the gay spirit of Chrlstmastide, which was the season of seasons for his southern fellow countrymen. There are now dancing and gayety at Christmaa from Baat Cape In Puritan New England to the southernmost point of California. But nowhere in all that vast country which comes between these nether­ most points of this land can there be found a place where the sacredness of Christmas dinner to the home circle ia not maintained, nor where the tia of home life la not strong enough to lead to the homestead the feet of all wanderers that they may pass the threshold in time for mother's Chriat- mas dinner. * ^ .i - H ^ ^ f % '"'K * » 1 * » $ * . 1 y k , • © 8CBNE OF PEI TANO AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE ALUED TROOPS. (1) Mine which killed forty children and thirty man and women; cart across the crater showa comparative (S) Chinese prayer temple In front of Pel Tang cathedral. Thla picture also shows a big eannon cap­ tured in the aortie. (3) Effect of the explosion of a mine. (4) The cathedral at Pel Tang, ahowlng allied troops' flag after the relief. (6) Chinese foundlings at the Pet Tang aayfum; forty of their companions were killed* by the explosion of a mine. fa** Oft eighty ro '̂hai^-' other rfatUt;;] United nae*** Charles ^ of Judga E. D. Sffl district 'wm4 Qovernor-̂ eot emphatlchl candldata aad' thit aantatlva gan, the Fuller. Lyia haa aix milea hodr'slMi stltntad. In his head and one in money waa our the tor the no torn m was a <rtdwpi§)» ijsKKri Thara are a lot of people Wh« love to wag their tall the children plainly : There t» ao Santa Claus, ^ . si* "What are pauses?" the teacher ashed the first elate In grammar. "Things that grows on cats aad doga," aaawered the smallest glrL Mo Santa Claus=~wh»t nonsansaj Down childish throat* to Y*t Miglit •• 1 Soma people are willing to ha goofl tt paid for it and others are good for aotfcing. Nobody's like old Saata CHaal ":"" With hia red and Jolly face; There's not another around tha globe Can travel so awift a pace, Hia twinkling eyea, and hia merry laugh, His chuckle of bubbling glee- Nobody else is so dear by half To Dad and Mother aad Me. He doean't forget the baby sweet As she rocks in her cradle white; He haa time to wait for the lagging feet Of his old, by candle-light He has gifts and gifts for the young and gay, Who encircle the Chrlatmaa Tree; And he has the love to hia latest day Of Dad and Mother and Me. The Croat is chill in the nipping blaat. Smooth is the icy mere; The short fleet days go hurrying paat To the last of the waning year. And natar was noee of snmmar'a prima So royally fair to 8ee Aa the rose that blooma in tha winter*a rime , |h^ #Bd Mother aad Me. --Collier'* Weekly. fought inatde the walls of Pekln. For two months to a day the French mis­ sion settlement of the Pel Tang was besieged and bombarded hy the heat artillery of the Chinese forces. The defenders of the legations, only two and a half miles away across the city, could hear daily the heavy cannonading, and by this token alone knew that "the flag was still there." No' communication was possible be­ tween theae ,:fwo::;Jltorm centers of re­ sistance through all the weary, hope- leas days. Bach knew the other was atlll holding out only by the distant grumble of big guns. The attack against the Pel Tang was more formidable than the fury which dashed and hroke against the legations In that the defendera were a handful by comparison. The losses in killed were more than twice greater, with a unique accompaikfitneht of hot' rors. The story is predominant in its qualitiee of tragedy aa« heroism, with­ out the altghteat detraction from tha splendid courage and sacrifice of those who fought inside the legation barrl- A Child'* Qumry. _ In all the Santa Claus picture*: I've seen hi my littl%day, \ He's traveling across tha snow-drifts With a reindeer before a aleigh. And thla la the thing about Jt, I'd really like to know- Does he travel in a wagon When there isn't any snow? --Newspaper Cl^pptftp. A. £«**rV Wi**. /• Since you cannot, will not, Qtve your tricksy heart. Let me murmur In your ear jo? you may Impart Write to kind old Santa Cla-- • risM ss I would woo-- . .. Bog >dm Just to aaad to aw ^ ^ Tha Pel Tang la the chief stronghold of French Catholicism in north China. It coaaists of .m l^poefag goj^lc l, a convent, foundling aay- aahooU, dwelliaga for the priests, CAVE PWBLL1B». aa "<lke ms *f OhiH A>nitit«ri«a Am rHaattv*. Although the vast aooha which infest Pakia aad the larger citlea of China ata worked ap to a state of frensy aad teaatlrtem, the groat Qitaaee popula- ttaa'padgor ia agfiiMdtaria, and natu- rally extremely peaceful. Agricul­ ture, however, ia moat primitive, and tha woader is how such an immense popttlatloa can be supported from the aoll until the great economy prac­ ticed In all thlags is understood. On the great plalft of China every avail­ able foot of land Is utilized for grow­ ing something, and every praticle of fertility returned to the soil. Waterb | are used for Irrigation, and in many f',gaaes laboriously distributed over the llelds. The great plain Is about 700 atilaa in length, and varies from 200 to 400 miles in width, occupying the northeaatern part of the empire, and Containing over 200,000 square miles of wonderfully fertile soil. It sup­ ports a population of not less than 177,- (00,000 human beings, making it the moat deaaely settled of any part of the world &f the same else, its inhabitants amountiag to aearly two-thirds of the entire population of Europe. A won­ derful feature in the physical geog­ raphy of China is the existence of a vaat region of loess in this portion of tha empire. Loess ia a very solid but fryable earth, brownish yellow In col­ or, aad ia found in many placea from 'llffW'l^1ftir#ep. The loess hills liae la terraces from twenty to sev­ eral hundred feet in height. The loess region In China Is perhaps the most broken country in the world, with ita aheer cliffs and upright walls, terraces and deep-cut ravines. Owing to the with which it can be worked, made" at the bases of straight wtMfti afford hoaiee to millions of peo­ ple In the denasly populated nothern provinces. Whole villages cluster to­ gether in carved-out chambers, some of which extend back more than two hundred feet The capabilities of de­ fease in a country such as this, while aa Invading army must necessarily be­ come lost and absolutely bewildered la the taagle of interlacing waya and tha defendant may always re- onoealed or have inahipBrbale of escape, are peculiarly aignlf- of the time, when eonaideration la heM« given to a conqueat of China. Osa aate Bsavt 'j.-:'"";" Naturallata have generally accepted the opinion that ante are aot ahle to , - termination, although there are minis­ ters in Pekin who clung to belief Ibt official assurances well Into the siege, and when convinced againat their will clutched at the ghost of the same opin­ ion still. But the Boxers did not have to blow down or force the gates of the Imperial city when they marched against the Pel Tang. The gates were opened for them and this could have been done only by direct order of the Imperial government. This evidence Is written In the wreck of the mission settlement aad the gravea of 150 men, women and children who perished la the siege. When the Boxer hordes were looeed against the foreigners in north China 3,000 residents and refugees, including native Christians, were sheltered In the buildings of the Pel Tang, the ma­ jority of them women and children. Archbishop Fevier, far-sighted in things militant, had judged aright the signs of gathering danger, and with long experience and a rarely intimate knowledge of the Chineae he placed no faith In the perfervld promises of gov­ ernment protection, and realized the magnitude of that which was about to happen. He sent repeated warnings to the legations, urging the ministers to withdraw, or to persuade their gov­ ernments to protect them with armies, rather than guards, before it should perceive any sounds that are audibla to human ears. Prof. Weld of the Iowa atate university controverts this opinion. He describes In Science care­ ful experiments made by him with four species of American ants, from which he deduces the conclusion that theae speciee at least are able to perceive sound, but whether they do It by meana of organs of hearing or through the sense of touch being ex­ cited by atmospheric vibrationa he is unable to say with certainty. He in­ clines to the opinion that they do really hear, as some individuals showed a perception of the direction of the sound, such as that of a ahrill whistle, and others, which were not disturbed when vlolentjy shaken in their glaas prisons, seemed to be "driv­ en nearly frantic by shrill soun4a." Collection of Vacuum Tabu. In London a beautiful collection la t^ng exhibited, made up of vacuum tubes charged respectively with sam­ ples of the various new gases which scientists have succeeded in obtaining from our atmoephere. When the elec­ tric spark la paased through the tubes some very beautiful color effects, re­ markably rich and pure, are obtained. Especially noticeable in effect la that obtained in passing the spark through the gaa neon, when a magnificent crimson glow ia yielded. The scientists also exhibited the ap­ paratus by which they auoceeded ia separating these gaaee from the at-, mosphere and from one another. The- process consists of fractional distilla­ tion. ' , • - Woisa Ownka hi Awtiiii Austria la the one country in tile world Which never puts a woman in priaon. Iaatead of giving the female criminal ao many months in jail she ia sent, no matter how terrible Is her record, to one or other of the con­ vents devoted for the purpose, and there kept during the time for which she ia aeutenced. The convent Is not a mere prison In disguise, for its court­ yard atonrte open all day long, the only bar to egreaa being a nun who acta aa portreaa, Juat as in other convents. Pekin early in the summer. The rank Ing officer was Lieut Olieveri, an Ital­ ian, and this command was the total number bearing arms through the sixty days' siege. In this time four teen soldiers were killed and 125 men, women and children perlBhed In the explosion of three separate mines tun­ neled beneath the building from be­ yond the imperial city wall which protected the Chinese in their work. Eleven men and women were killed by the rifle fire which swept the com­ pounds, making the total loss in killed IK). Of the wounded and maimed there were nearly 100 more. The Chi nese sappers were digging night and day. It was only a question of days before the site of the cathedral and mission buildings would become one vast and ragged crater, a huge pit, en tombing thousands. Among those killed In the explosion of the first mine were forty children at prayers in their dormitory and thirty women In the adjoining wing of the asylum. When the relief columa res­ cued the survivors on August 16, or two days after the taking of the city, and the end of the siege of the lega­ tions, the sisters had begun voluntar­ ily to abstain from food, that what re­ mained might be doled out among the children, the refugees and the exhaust­ ed soldiers. APPLES IN CANADA. t v*»» aelttoa Km t» lee Three di maaka- over loon ot rootvatg deradhlm pv&m at thievea the and a number off closed the door ot< lift ice the occupant tar#M$lir, Wolf Miftorec but succaeiBd in||gp||i|| heavy door Just as a tared. . la the smalist cottage there la Tfcavo to »e Uaoit _ at Rontett*. Don Lali Terraaas, son of the ex- governor of Chihuahua, Mexico, visited El Paao, Tex., recently, and in one night lojtt |25,000 at the roulette wheel. The tether of Don Luis Is enormously rich, owning almost the entire state of He Uvea m a palace aad haa 10,000 workmen in mlnee aad on cattle ranchea. •ad America* trait C*»p»wl --Iklppiot Apples. The American Cultivator gives ita readers a word of advice regarding the packing of apples and incidentally has a good word to say for Canadian fruit. It is claimed, says the Cultivator, that much of the rapid Increase in the de­ mand for Canadian applea for export Is due more to careful aaaorting and packing than to quality of fruit While our fruit from the United States often brings the highest prices, the average price for the Canadian ship­ ments have often been better than our own. This is all wrong, and we should not suffer it to continue. The fruit grower must take his chances of the season and the insects so far aa he can not control them by spraying. But after the fruit has grown he can con­ trol the conditions of preparing it and putting it on the market He should see that it is picked from the tree without being pinched or bruised by tossing into the baaket or emptying it out of them. He should assort it hon­ estly and pack It carefully, so that it may be transported safely. He should send it to market only In clean and neat packages, whether boxea or bar­ rels, and he should try to find1 the market where consumers are willing to pay a fair price for goods of hand­ some appearance and prime quality. Having done this he may expect to he well repaid for hia labor. ' IMwava.a. KHtM Edward S. Easton, ^one of! wealthiest and naiit:; has been Lcwett % la « taken to a •Mt Iff tlxaated at |S4MI^^|^^ trustee of the ne# curable insane, jc 1 i4 * Vtrn Dwtroyi too Vmm ot Bma Fire at Mattoon destroyed the houaea of A. E. Stearns.ji broker, together with of broom corn. It is cracked the safe, and, booty, fired the building, was found open .. losers are S. W. philllpe I Horace Clark, J. Ct tt Thoaaaa aad A* * Steama. loss, »U,000. . j/. ;: lUtae**: Ma**. Tha lag auction In Chteai*ta^ Raster, widow of J waa editor of tha J***: Itto. The propaft 9M.060, subject to a 000, making the ceiling: «• SIMM Btoeata* v: . Frouessart relates the discovery of an acarus inhabiting blacking. Oa opening an ordinary tin box, simply fastened by a band of paper pasted around the edge, the appearance of the contents waa curious, and instead of the ordinary paste there was a fri­ able mass resembling charcoal on which was pasturing an innumerable host of whitish acarl, grouped together like a flock of sheep. Blacking paate is usually composed of molasses heated to 212 degrees of vegetable oil, super­ phosphate, gypsum and carbon, the last three being tha result of the ac­ tion of vitriol on bone ash. Further, the mass may he sterilised with subli­ mate. The mixture contains at leaat three substancea on which the acaraa (Tyroglyphus siro) might f< lasses, oil and phosphate of lima. Plants died Batavia from lata*** football game. Ptaals of the Batavia High was lniucad in a game ago, and ht flrat Ida coaaldered serious. liaaote A«»l By a dedaion of . and Watennan of the Chicago, section 1, of law of Illinois, which stitutea a trust or com! atraint of trade, ia di tattoaaL UeeB of Age* W« Mia. Catherine :cago died aa the reeultrj celved at her home. old. Jk,:W0H9.of #f har *» t fire. Chariea ployed hy the Bmrllngtoa aeewely in|uredatr train jumped the trac^ moved to his home in There are glimpses of heaven to aa la every act or thought or word, that raiaae w above oanalvaa.--A. P. hj. r yi'̂ m : 1*e funeral of a foraMr realdeat who mm* held at ; Ona aoat. W. patrotmaa. dmiti ' •-» ^ .. try to act of John