The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i& ^.jt. > '-•3- :** v.*4- ' ~> ;4;- >>•' <'•- ' "-. V'V' '• - \> 1" •,-.' >'• "•' "/.-." W1^. > \ -r ,'Vi ^ - ' %5'- ' • ; ',. ••'! ^ *\\ („^-.' '" ';• :" .-•• "- V -'- """' y~ ' -"-!.' = ' ':.V^; •"' ^ .-V ."'-Y^ V "' '•- :• VfJI MHMSY PLA INDEAI^EK« The Last Shot i F R E D E R I C K P A L M E R (Copyright. 1914, by Charles Scnbuer's Soot) SYNOPSIS. At their home on the frontier between the Browns and Grays Marta Galland and her mother, entertaining Colonel Wester- ling of the Grays, see Captain Lanstron of the Browns Injured by a fall In nw aeroplane. Ten years later. Westerllng. nominal vice but real chief of staff, re-en­ forces South l>a Tir and meditates on war. He calls on Malta, who Is visiting in the Gray capital. She tells him of her teach­ ing children the follies of war and mar* tial patriotism, and begs him to prevent war while he is chief of staff. On the march with the 53d of the Browns '*•- vate Stransky, anarchist, 1b placed under arrest. Colonel Lanstron begs him orr. Lanstron calls on Marta at her home. He talks with Feller, the gardoner. Marta tells .lanstron that she believes Feller to be a spy. Lanstron confesses it Is tru*- Lanstron shows Marta a telephone whlcn Feller has concealed In a secret passage under the tower for use to benefit the Browns in war emergencies. Lanstron de­ clares his love for Marta. Westerling anu the Gray premier plan to tise a trivial in­ ternational affair to foment warlike Pa­ triotism in army and people and strike De- fore declaring war. Partow. Brown chief of staff, and Lanstron. made vice, discuss the trouble, and the Brown defenses. 'J""" tow reveals his plans to Lanstron. T n<* Gray army rros»es the border line and at­ tacks. The Browns check them F. lery, infantry, aeroplanes and dirigibles engage. Stransky. rising to make the anarchist -speech of his life, draws the <3h-a*V--artillery fire. 'Niched by a shrapnel Splinter ho goes berserk and flights-- all a man." Marta has her first glimpse ot War In its modern, cold, scientific P1UIJ Serous brutality The Browns fall back to the Oalland houise. Stransky forages. CHAPTER XI--Continued. She was at the door of her mother's room, which was like an antique 6liop. Old plates lay on top of old tables, with vases on the floor under the tables. Surrounded by her treasures, Mrs. Galland awaited the attack; not as a soldier awaits it, but as that ven­ erable Roman senator of the story faced the barbarous Gauls--neither disputing the power of their spears nor yielding the self-respect of his own mind and soul. She had lain down in her wrapper for the night, and the *8bt from a Eingle candle--she still favored candles--revealed her features calm and philosophical among the pil­ lows. Yet the magic of war, reaching deep Into hidden emotions, had her also under its spell. Her voice was at once more tender and vital. "Marta, I see that you are all on wires!" "Yes; jangling wires, every one, jangling every second out of tune," Marta acquiesced. "Marta, my father"--her father had been a premier of the Browns--"al­ ways said that you may enjoy the lux­ ury of fussing over little things, for they don't count much one way or an­ other; but about big things you must never 'fuss or you will not be worthy of big things. Marta, you cannot stop a railroad train with your hands. This Is not the first war on.earth and we are not the first women who ever thought that war was wrong. Each of us has bis work to do apd you will have yours. It does no good to tire yourself out and fly to pieces, even if you do know eo much and have been around the world." She smiled as a woman of sixty, who has a secret heart-break that she had never given her husband a son, may smile at a daughter who is both son and daughter to her, and her plump hand, all curves like her plump face and her plump body, spread open in appeal. Marta, who, in the breeding of her generation, felt sentiment as more or less of a lure from logic, dropped be­ side the bed in a sudden burst of sen­ timent and gathered the plump hand in hers and kissed it. "Mother, you are wonderful!" she said. "Mother, you are great!" After a time, her ear becoming ac­ customed to' the firing as a city dwel­ ler's to the distant ro^r of city traf­ fic, Mrs. Galland slept. But Marta could not follow her advice. If, tran­ siently at least, Bhe had found some­ thing of the peace of the con'eesionai, the vigor of youth waB in her arteries; and youth cannot v help remaining awake under some conditions. She tiptoed across the hall into her own room and Beated herself by the win- I dow. The symbol of what the ear had heard the eye saw--war, working j in tones of the landscape by day with I smokeless powder; war, revealed by j its tongues of flame at night. Ugly bursts of fire from the higher hille spread to the heavens like an aurora borealis and broke their messengers in sheets of flame over the lower hills --the batteries of the Browns sprin­ kling death about the heads of the gunners of the Grays emplacing their batteries. Staccato flashes from a single point counted so many bullets from an automatic, which directed by the beams of the search-lights, found their targets in sections of advancing infantry. Hill crests, set off with flashes running back and forth, de- marked infantry lines of the Browns assisting the automatics. There were IUIIB between the crashes of the small arms and the heavy, throaty speech of the guns; lulls that seemed to say that both sides had paused for a breathing spell; lulls that allowed the battle in the distance to be heard in its perva­ sive undertone, in one of Lhem.^lvhen even the undertone had ceased for a few Beconds, Marta caught faintly the groans of a wounded man--one of the Crew of a Gray dirigible burned by an explosion and brought In his agony softly to earth by a billowing piece of envelope which acted as a parachute. Fighting proceeded* in La Tir in stages of ferocity and blank silence. The upper part of the town, which the Browns etlll held, was in dark­ ness; the lower .part, where the Grays were, was illuminated. "Another one of Lanny's plans!" thought Marta. "He would have them work in the light, while we fire out of obscurity!" Soon all the town was In darkness, tor the Grays had cut the wire in the conduit shortly after she had heard the groans of the wounded man. There the automatics broke out in a mad storm, voicing their feelings at getting a company in close order In a street for the space of a minute, be fore those who escaped could jrtaster themselves against doorways or find cover in alleys. Then silence from the automatics and a cheer from the Browns that rasped out its triumph like the rubbing together of steel files. From the line of defense, that in­ cluded the first terrace of the Galland grounds as the angle of a redoubt, not a shot, not a sound; silence on the part of officers and men as profound as Mrs. Galland's slumber, while one of the Browns' search-lights, like some great witch's slow-turning eye in a narrow radius, covered the lower tar- races and tli§ road. Marta ga^e intermittent glances at the garden; the glances of a guardian. She happened to be looking in that Artii- direction when figures sprang across the road, crouching, running with the short, quick steps of no body move­ ment accompanying that of the legs. The search-light caught them in mer­ ciless silhouette and the automatic and the rifles from behind the Band- bags on the first terrace let go. Some of the figures dropped and lay in the road and she knew that she had seen, men hit for the first time. Others, she ' thought, got safely to the cover of the , gutter on the garden side. Of those ! on the road, some were still and some ' she saw were moving slowly back on their stomachs to safety. Now the search-light laid its beam steadily on the road. Again silence. From the upper terrace came a great voice, like that of the guns, from a human throat: "Why didn't we level those ter­ races? They'll creep up from one to the other.'" It wae Stransky. In answer was another voice--Del- larme's. "Perhaps there wasn't tiihe to do everything. If they get as far as the first terrace--well, in case of a crisis, we have hand-grenades. But, God knows, I hope we shall not have to use them." After an interval, more figures made a rush across the road. They, too, in Straneky's words, paid a price for seeing the garden. But the flashes from the rifles and the automatic pro­ vided a target for a Gray battery. The blue spark that flies from an overhead trolley or a third rail, multiplied a hundredfold, broke in Marta's face. It was dazzling, blinding as a bolt of lightning a few feet distant, with the thunder crash at the same second, followed by the thrashing hum of bul­ lets and fragments against the side of the house. "I knew that thie must come!" something within her said. If she had not been prepared for it by the events of the last twelve hours she would have jumped to her feet with an exclamation of natural shock and horror. As it was, she felt a convul­ sive, nervous thrill without rising from her seat. A pause. The next shell burst in line with the first, out by the linden-trees; a third above the veranda. "We've got that range, all right!" thought the Gray battery commander, who had judged the distance by the stafT map. This was all he wanted to know for the present. He would let loose at the proper time to support the infantry attack, when there were enough driblets across the road to make a charge. The driblets kept on coming, and, one by one, the number of dead on the road was augmented. Marta was diverted from this proc­ ess of killing by piecemeal by a more theatric spectacle. A brigade com­ mander of the GrayB had ticked an order over the wires and it had gone from battery to battery. Not only many fleld-gune, which are the ter­ riers of the artillery, but sorife guns of siege caliber, the mastiffs, In a sudden outburst started a havoc of tumbling walls and cornices in the upper part of the town. Then an explosion greater than any from the shells shot a hemisphere of light heavenward, reveaMng a shadowy body flying overhead, and an instant later the heavens were illuminated by a vaet circle of flame as the dirigible that had dropped the dynamite re­ ceived its death-blow. But already the Brown infantry was withdrawing from the town, destroying buildings that would give cover for the attack in the morning as they went. Two or three hours after midnight fell a si­ lence which was to last until dawn. The combatants rested on their arms, Browns saying to Grays, "We shall be ready for the morrow!" and Grays replying: "So shall we!" Marta, at her window, her eyes fol­ lowing the movements of the display, now here, now there, found herself thinking of many things, as in the intermissions between the acts of a drama. She wondered if the groan­ ing, wounded man were crying for water or if he were wishing that some one at home were near him. She thought of her talk with Lanstron and how feminine and feeble it must have sounded to a mind working in the in­ exorable processes of the clash of millions of men. She saw his left hand twitching In hie pocket, his right hand gripping it to hold it still, on that afternoon when, for the first time, she had understood his injury in the aeroplane accident as the tal­ isman of his feelings--his controlled feelings! Always his controlled feel­ ings! She saw Westerling, so conscious of his strength, directing his chess­ men in a death struggle against Par- tow. And he was coming to this house as his headquarters when the final test of the strength of the Titans was made. She hoped that her mother was still sleeping; and she had seconds when she was startled by her own calmness. Again, the faces of the children in her school wete as clear as in life. She breathed her gratitude that the procession in which they moved to the rear was hours ago out of the theater of danger. In the simplicity of big things, her duty was to teach them, a future generation, no lees than Feller's duty was the pursuing shadow of his conscience. She should stfe war, alive, asked, bloody, and she would tell her children what she had seen as a warning. Silence, except an occasional rifle shot--silence and the darkness before dawn which wouid, she knew, concen­ trate the lightnings around the house. She glanced into her mother's room and marveled as at a miracle to find her sleeping. Then she stole down­ stairs and opened the outer door of the dining-room. A step or two brought her to the edge of the ve­ randa. There she paused and leaned against one of the stone pillars. Del- larme himself was in a half-reclining position, his back to a tree. He seemed to be nodding. Except for a few on watch over the sand-bags, his men were stretched on the earth, mov­ ing restlessly at intervals, either in an effort to sleep or waking suddenly after a spell of harassed unconscious­ ness. CHAPTER XII. Hand to Hand. With the first sign of dawn there was a movement of shadowy forms taking position in answer to low- spoken commands. The search-light yielded its vigil to the wide-spread beam out of the east, and the detail of the setting where Marta was to watch the play of one of man's pas­ sions, which he dares not permit the tender flesh of woman to share, grew The Searchl ight Cauyht Them in Mer­ ciless Silhouette. distinct. BayonetB were fixed on the rifles that lay along the parapet of sand-bags in front of the row of brown shoulders. Back of them in the yard was a section of infantry in reserve, alao with bayonete fixed, ready to fill the place of any who fell out of line, a doctor and stretchers to care for the wounded, and a detachment of en­ gineers to mend any breaches made in the breastwork by shell flre. The gunner of the automatic sight­ ed his barrel, slightly adjusted its elevation, and swung it back and forth to make sure that it worked smoothly, while his assistant eaw that the fresh belts of cartridges which were to feed it were within easy reach. In straw hat and blue blouse, shuf­ fling with his old man's walk, Feller came along the path from the gate. He was; in retreat from the enticing picture of the regiment of field-guns in front of the castle that was ready for action. As the infantry had never interested him, he would be safe from temptation in the yard. "This is no place for you!" said one of the engineers. "No, and don't waste any., time, ei­ ther, old man!" said another. "Back to your bulbs!" Feller did not even hear them. For the moment he was actually deaf. "Fire!" said Dellarme's whistle. "Thur-r-r!" went the automatic in soulless, mechanical repetition, its tape spinning through the cylinder, ^hile the rifles spoke with rhe human irregularity of steel-tipped fingers pounding at random on a drumhead. All along the lifae facing La Tir the volume, of flre spread until it was like the concert of a mighty loom. The Gray batteries having tried out their range by the flasheB of the au­ tomatic the previous evening, were making the most of the occasion. "Uk-ung-n-ng!" the breaking jackets whipped out their grists. The re­ serves, the hospital-corps men and the engineers hugged the breastwork for cover. The leaves clipped from the trees by bullets were blown aside with the hurricane breaths of shrapnel bursts; bullets whistled so near Maxta that she heard their shrillness above every other sound. She was amazed that the houses still remained stand­ ing--that anyone was alive. But she had a glimpse of Dellarme maintain ing his set smile and another of Fel­ ler, who had crept up behind the au­ tomatic, making Impatient "come-on! come-on! what-is-the-matter-wlth-you ?" gestures in the direction of the bat­ teries in front of the caetle. "Thur-eesh--thur-eesh!" As • the welcome note swept overhead he waved his hands up and down in mad rapture and then peeped over the breastwork to ascertain if the prac­ tice were good. The Brown batteries had been a little slow in coming into action, but they soon broke the pre­ cision of the opposing. fire. Now shells coming frequently fell short or went wide. The air cleared. Then a chance shell, striking at the one point which the man who flred it eix thousand yards away would have chosen as his bull's-eye, obscured Fel­ ler and the automatto and Its gunners in the havoc of explosion. Feller must have been killed. The dust settled; she saw Dellarme making frantic ges­ tures as he looked at his man. They were keeping up their fusillade with unflinching rapidity. Through the breach left in the breastwork ehe had glimpses, as the dust was finally dis­ sipated, of gray figures, bayonets fixed, pressing together as they came on fiercely toward the opening. The Browns let go the full blast of their magazines. Had that chance shell turned the scales? Would the Gray® get Into the breastwork? ; All Marta's faculties and emotions were frozen bi her stare of suspense at the breach. Then her heart leaped, a cry in a gust of short breaths broke from her lips as the Browns let go a rasping, explosive, demoniacal cheer. The first attack had been checked! After triumph, terror, falntness, and a closing of her' eyes, she opened them ttf see Feller, with his old straw hat--brim torn and crownless now-- still on his head, rise from the debris and shake himself like a dog coming ashore from a swim. While the engi­ neers hastened to repair the breach he assisted Stransky, who had also been knocked down by the concus­ sion, to lift the overturned automatic off the gunner. The doctor, putting a hand on the gunner's heart, shook his head, and two hospi(al-corps men re­ moved the body to make room for the engineers. , For once Dellarme's cheery smile deserted him. There was no one left to man the automatic, so vital in the defense, and even if somebody could be found-'The gun was probably out of commission. As he started toward it his smile, already summoned back, was shot with surprise at sight of the gun in place and a stranger in blue blouse, white hair showing through a crownless straw hat, trying out the mechanism with knowing fingers. Del­ larme stared. Feller, unconscious of everything but the gun, righted the cartridge band, swung the barrel back and forth, and then 'fired a shot. "You--you seem to know rapid- firers!" Dellarme fexclaimed in blank incomprehension. "Yes, sir!" Feller raised his finger, whether in salute as a soldier or as a gardener touching his hat it was hard to eay. ' "But how--where?" gasped Del­ larme. This time the movement of the fin­ ger was undoubtedly in salute, In per­ fect, swift, military salute, with head thrown back and shoulders stiff. Fel­ ler the gardener was dead and buried without ceremony. "Lanstron's class, school for offi­ cers, Bir. Stood one in ballistics, prize medallist control of gun-fire. Yes, sir, I know something about rapld-flrers," Feller replied, and fired a few more shots. "A little high, a little low-- right, my lady, right!" Stransky was back in his place next to the automatic and firing whenever a head appeared. He rolled his eyes in a characteristic squint of scrutiny toward the new recruit. "Beats Bpraying rose-bushes for bugs, eh, old man?" he asked. "Yes, a lead solution is best for gray bugs!" Feller remarked pun- gently, and their glances meeting, they saw in each other's eyes the joy of hell. " "A pair of anarchists!" exclaimed Stransky, grinning, and tried a shot for another head. As if in answer to prayer, a gun­ ner had come out> of the earth. Suf­ ficient to the need was the fact. It •mmm riWU bthemmk am was not for Dellarme to ask niwtm-- of a prize-medallist graduate of the I school for officers in a blue blouse ami crownless straw hat. His expert sur> vey assured him that before another rush the enemy had certain prepaim*- tions to make. He might give hi* fighting smile a recess and permit himself a few minutes' relaxation. Looking around to ascertain what damage had been done to the houae and grounds, he became aware of Marta's presence for the first .time. "Miss Galland, you--you weren't there during the fighting?" he cried as he ran to#ard her. "Yes," she said rather faintly'. "If I had known that I should hare been scared to death!" "But I was safe behind the pillar," she explained. "Miss Galland, you're such a good soldier--please--and I'm sure you have not had your breakfast, and all good soldiers never neglect their rations, not at the beginning of a war! Miss Galland, please--1-" Yes, as he meant it, please be a good fellow. She could not resist smiling at the charming manner of his plea. She felt weak and strange--a little dizzy. Be- sidss, her mother's voice now came from the doorway and then her moth­ er's hand was pressing her arm. "Marta, if you remain out l^ere, I shall!" announced Mrs. Galland. "I was just coming in." Dellarme, his cap held before him in the jaunty fashion of officers, bowed, his face beaming his happiness at her decision. "Come!" Mrs. Galland slipped her hand into Marta's. "Two women can't fight both armies. Come! I prescribe hot coffee. It is waiting; and, do you know, I find a meal in the kitchen very cozy." , Being human and not a heroine fed on lotoe blossoms, and being exhaust­ ed and alsQ hungry, when she was seated at table, with Minna adroitly urging her, Marta ate with the relish of little Peterkin in the shell crater munching biscuits from his haversack, but the movement of the minute-hand on the clock-face became uncanny and mercilesB to her eye In its deliberate regularity. Dellarme had been told to hold on until noon, she knew. Wae he still gimiling? Was Feller still happy in playing a stream of lead from the automatic ? Was the second charge of the Grays, which must have come to close quarters when the. guns went silent, going to succeed? Mrs. Galland had settled down con­ scientiously to play solitaire, a favor­ ite pastime of hers; but she failed to win, as she complained to Marta, because of her stupid way this morn­ ing of missing the combination cards. After a long intermission came an­ other outburst from Dellarme's men, which she interpreted'as the responee to another rush by the Grays; and'this yelping of the demon was not that of the hound after the hare, as in, the valley, but of the hare with his back to the wall. When it was over therp was no cheer. What did this mean? Without warning to her mother she bolted out of the kitchen. Mrs. Galland sprang up to follow, but Minna barred the way. "One is enough!" she said firmly, and Mrs. Galland dropped back Into her chair. In the front rooms Marta found havoa beyond her imagination. A por­ tion of the ceiling had been blown out by afi^ll entering at an up-stairs win­ dow ; the hardwood floors were lit­ tered with plaster and window-glass and ripped into splinters in places. (TO BE CONTINUED.) NOTHING BUT BLISS AHEAD tkimmir'i End Confession That Dt» solved Clouds Threatening Hprold . 't\V..^and Muriel. ^ "ttawfll,*? she whispered; ^* tfm® bas come when 1 mufet confess the truth to you." From the beach before them came the flap-flapping of the restless sea. , It is an odd thing how people trill flock in thousands every year to the restless sea in search of rest. But let that pass. "Muriel," he answered hfer, "I, too. have a confession to make. -But you make yours first. Ton are an heiress and have the right of way over a guy like me." In the south the summer moon lav­ ished his silver on the beach, being half full. Half seas over, you might say. "No, Harold," she' breathed, It •!• not for a girl like I--like me, I mean- to take precedence over a millionaire's son like you. Speak first, Harold." "Very well, I will," said he. "I wl! be brutally frank. Muriel, I am not the millionaire's son you think me." "What millionaire's son are you, then?" "No millionaire's. My father is a traveling salesman for felt hats. I have basely deceived you, Muriel. The money which I have flung around so extravagantly to buy you salt water taffy and roller chairs took me a •whole year to save up out of my sal­ ary of 18 per. Forgive me, dear one, but our dream is over. I am only a clerk In a railroad ticket office, and a man of my station can never hope to marry a eociety girl like you." She drew a quick, shuddering sigh, almost like a sob. "I thought ynu vert a society young man," she gasped. *1 thought that we could never wed because I was not your equal. For I am not a million­ airess. Harold, I am only a milliner. But now " "Now we can get married," he cried, "and neither of us will have to be a doormat for the other's relatives." The moon > jumped behind a cloud. The' restless sea crashed upon the •and like a colored man chuting In a load of coal. But there was no Cloud on the bliss of Muriel and Harold, and the sea of matrimony spread before them as calm and smooth and free from danger as a cup of tea.--Newark News. A good cigarette* -, must be made of pur^ ^ tobacco and the most choice /*"; j leaf. Such is Fatima--th^ 1 ^ most popular, mild Turkishv%?!jf blend cigarette, now smoked ^ almost universally in thii'> v country ! Distinctively IndiotduaL*-?'*'^ Poctogw Postpaid on rec&iot o/ SCk? Address F.tim. Fifth AveT&w SOMETHING USEFUL FOR XMAS »- Hold at the best stores most everywhere. If your dealer cannot V~ T « supply, we will gladly assist yon. Illustrated a folder on request. L. E. WATBBMAN COMPANY J 78 Broadway New York Big Florida Land Sale Black, rich soil in DeSoto Co., but must be solu to raise money, will sell in 10, 20 and 40 acre tracts. WRITE FOR PARTICULARS. 0. W. WALTER, Arcadia, Florida TFYACt Sell or Trade for hardware. Implements, 1 uuU. furniture or harness, 4% acres Brazoria County, 6 ml les Alsoaop Santa re, (30 per acre. Will raise 60 bu. Indian Cora per acre, ripe in August, be­ fore Northern Corn, 1 crops alfalfa annually wlth- OUt irrigation, no overflow 3 corn crops wiil pay for Ubd and work. Write ttKORGK UBftLACU,Cuadlan, Itua Two Warlike Emperors. By taking the field In person, kai­ ser and czar will but maintain the tra- dltfon of their families. Since Car- lyle's "original Conrad" took service under BarbarosBa, there has been no Hohenzollern who was not. a brave man* and scarce one who had not proved It on the battlefield. In the war of 1870-71 j every male member, It Is said, of the Prussian royal family took the field,'even Including the mu­ sical composeir, Prince George, who had received no military training. The record of the modern Roman­ offs is not less creditable. At Auster- litz Alexander I was in the firing line almost continuously, and emerged from the tumult at Dresden covered with blood. Czar Nicholas was spoken of as "absolutely ignorant of fear," and his sons gained a similar reputa­ tion during the Crimean conflict. Alex­ ander II's courage was shown not only at Plevna, but in the last min- utes before his assassination. PATENTS Watson E. Coleman* Patent Lawyer.WashlngUra, D.C. Advice and books free. Btttes rrssnnshlo Qigbest references# Best flfi* vkxfc _ MADE THE VICTORY CERTAIN SIMPLE ENGLISH NOT NEEDED Cub Reporter Got Something of a Jolt In His Interview With Educated Chinaman. Two San Francisco reporters were assigned to call on Chinamen and in­ terview them on an immigration meas­ ure pending in congress. One of the reporters was a cub and an Easterner, while the other, an experienced man, assumed the management of the as­ signment. 'Gates," he said, after they had in­ vaded several Chinese shops without any important result, "yonder is a tea-store. Beat it over by there and talk to the boss about' Chinese voting. I'll go In next door. Remember to use the very simplest English yon got." The cub went inside the tea-shop and thus addressed the proprietor: "John, how? Me--me--Telegraph, John! Newspape -- savvy, John? Newspape--print things. Un'stafi'? We want know what John think about Chinaman--vote--all same ; Melican man. What John think--Chinaman-- vote, see? Savvy, John? Vote? What think? The Chinaman listened t& all this with profound gravity and then re­ plied: , "The question of granting the right of suffrage to Chinese citizens who have come to the United States with the avowed intention of making this country their permanent home is one that has occupied the attention of thoughtful men of all parties for years, and it may in time become, of para­ mount importance. At present, how­ ever, it seems to me that there is no exigency requiring an expression of opinion from me upon this subject. You will please excuse me." The cub went outside and leaned against a lamp-post to rest and re­ cover from a sudden falntness. His fellow reporter had purposely steered him against one of the beBt educated Chinamen in the United States. HARD LINES FOR NOVELIST Revolutionized Naval Warfare. One hundred years ago the steam frigate Fulton, the first steam vessel 1 of war ever built in the world, was , launched at New York. The vessel i was designed by Robert Fulton and was built with an appropriation made Gunner's Announcement Naturally Brought Joy to the H*wt of Artillery Captain. With a ringing cheer the enemy ad- ranced to attack the intrenchments. "Fire!" hoarsely shouted the artil­ lery captain, and the roar of the guns' responded, but without checking the ateady advance of the enemy. One piece remained undischarged. "Why don't you flre?" demanded the captain. "I--I don't know if it's loaded,- <•* •ponded the gunner. A gleam of joy lit up the stern fea­ tures of the commander. t "Then victory is ours!" he shouted. **Fire it and let's find out!" The discharge mowed down the ad­ vancing column and the assault was repelled. Twas ever thus. Morning Light 8trongeat. The morning light Is from ten to thirty per cent stronger thfn that of the afternoon, varying with the season. The light-transmitting properties of different kinds of glass vary greatly. Thus tbie loss of iight from glass as compared with outdoor light ranges all the way from thirteen to thirty-six per cent or more. The practice of lapping the panes causes an average loss of light of about elevoti per cent. The transmission of light naturally in­ creases as the angle of fthe roof more nearly coincides with a right angle to • the sun's rays. " V \ .'•/ 8to*y of How Hawthorne Was Discred­ ited by Ignorant Lawyer as a Witness. J. Van Vetchen Olcott, treasurer ot the American Peace and Arbitration league, said to a New York reporter: "The advocates of war think to si­ lence us with the claim that human nature is too evil, too savage, to rise above rapine and wholesale mur­ der. Well, they are as silly in that as the lawyer who cross-examined Hawthorne. "Hawthorne was called up as a wit­ ness in a criminal case In Salem* and the cross-examining lawyer for the defense said to him: " 'You are a novelist, I believer " 'Yes, sir.' '"What was your last Nov9ir "The Marble Faun."' "The Marble Pawn," eh? And Is there a word of truth in "The Marble Pawn," my man?' " 'It--but it.' stammered Hawthorne --'It is a work,of fiction.' " 'Never mind that,' thundered the lawyer. 'Never mind that. Answer my question, yes or no! Is there a word of truth in this "Marble Pawn." or whatever you call It?' " 'Er--no,' said Hawthorne. ' 'Very good,' said the lawyer. Ton admit there's not a word of truth In the whole long 400-page book.' He glanced triumphantly at the Jury.' 'That will do, sir. You may step down. We have no further use for you in this court, sir.'" Gasoline at the Polea. The Amundsen and Scott expedi­ tions were greatly hindered through losing much of their gasoline--a loss that, in fact, had much to do with the disaster that befell Captain Scott. Mr. B. T. Brooks of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research thinks he knows what caused the loss. At -low by congress in 18131 At fulfilled all j temperatures, he says, ordinary tin the expectations of 'its builders, but ! tends to pulverize. At 54 degrees be­ low zero it pulverizes quickly and may was not completed In time to take part in the second war with Great Britain. The navies engaged in that war consisted wholly of sailing ships. Some of these carried as many as 74 guns each and otherwise were very formidable engines of destruction. But even the largest of these were soon discarded from the navies of the world after the appearance of the Bteam warships, of which the Fulton was the pioneer. The completion of the Ful­ ton was a step in naval development that was not to be equaled In impor­ tance until the building of the first ironclad, nearly half a century later. 'How Many 8hots Wlfl Be FlredT The number of rounds that will be fired during an ordinary battle can only be imagined. We have data from the Russo-Japanese war showing that at LJaopan one battery fired 2,600 rounds in one day, while another fired 3,304 rounds, making for each gun. about 413 rounds in one day. This was not an uncommon occurrence, and it shows the expense involved in car­ rying on a modern war. The most common projectile of the three-inch caliber is the shrapnel, which Is In itself a gun, arranged by time fuses s^1 that at the desired neight it will be made to burst, shoot­ ing forward out of a shell >60 lead balls, eachn effective to kill a man. Employment Hazarda. According to a bulletin issued by the Industrial commission of Wisconsin, the danger of objects striking work­ men constitutes the greatest hazard of present-day employment. "In less than two years," the bulletin contin­ ues, "approximately 65,000 working days were lost by wage earners of Wis­ consin due to this cause alone. In addition, 86 men were killed and 107 ecere permanently disabled. The coet of these accidents to employers, under the present compensation law, would amount to over $400,000. Mechanical safeguards would have prevented but A small proportion of these accidents. They must be avoided, if at all, through the co-operation of employer and employee, which is only made pos­ sible to any great extent by better shop organization." pulverize, although more slowly, at a higher temperature. Now, hard solder usually contains a large percentage of tin, and so, of course, disintegrates in the same way. Consequently the gas­ oline cans are likely to leak at the soldered seams. Mr. Brooks suggests that polar explorers carry their sup­ plies of gasoline in containers made of glass, or of some metal unaffected by extreme cold.--Youth's Companion. Dared. "Mr. Wilgus tried to kiss me last evening." "How dared he?" "He didn't--I dared him." "v For China Stand. When one has a china umbrella stand It Is a wise plan to place a sponge In the bottom of the jar to keep it from being cracked or broksn. The sponge not only prevents it from being broken, but also absorbs the water which drips from the umbrelkk His Part lit the Conflict. Making the best of a bad situation, a campaign orator replied to the claims of a rival candidate for office as follows? "Fellow-citizens, my com­ petitor has told you of the services he rendered in the late war. I will follow his example, ^nd I will tell you of mine. He basely Insinuates that I was deaf to the voice of honor in that crisis. The truth is I acted a humble part in that memorable contest. When the tocsin of war summoned the chiv­ alry of the country to rally to the de­ fense of the nation, I, fellow-citizens, animated by that patriotic spirit that glows in every American's bosom, hired a substitute for that war, and the bones of that man, fellow-citizens, now lie bleaching 10 the valley of the Shenandoah!" A .* Developing Thessaly. engineers are planning ex­ tensive works In Thessaly to drain that country and provide water power. Let Them ' Speak for Themselves You needn't take any­ body'* word for the superior­ ity of Poat Toaatiea-- Get a package from your Grocer,- pour some of the crisp, sweet flakes into a dish, add cream or milk, and a sprinkle of sugar if you wish. Then be the judge of Post Toasties The Superior Corn Flakes --made from the hearts of the finest Indian Com, skilfully cooked, seasoned, tolled and toasted. Toasties are no^ordinaiy "com flakes," so remember when you want Superior Corn Flakes to ask your jgrocer for Post Toasties i* i * < h v.; y