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WHEELING FOR WOMEN. EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS. JILTED THE SPINSTER. le rtvinloB 'he's e cynic To the sun whidk.is faithfully shining. And he vows thai to carp is the, way to be wise, - * ; And that life is hut slumber and dining, 'Persistent, he struggles his conscience to throw ~ ,' Into states that are called cataleptic? 'He wants to be "modern and wicked," you know, When, in fact, he is only dyspeptic. In silence he winks at himself with a leer In the presence of gayety harmless. His sigli is a growl and his laugh is a a sneer : , As he vows that existence is charmless. And he looks on himself with a pitiful pride As a vastly superior skeptic; > Bis claims misanthropic he won't hear de­ nied, , When, in fact, Ihe is only dyspeptic. --Washington Star. 'YE think you can tend her while I'm gone?" asked Jjncle Burritt.. , .. : "Of course we can. We know ex­ actly how to do.it." "So I s'pose so I s'pose," sa.id Uncle Burritt, as if his doubt of the ability, of the boy and girl who stood before him to manage the big wheat elevator was wholly unfounded. "I'll be back as soon's I can," be con­ tinued, "an* if the Nancy Bell steams up 'fore 1 get back you tell the cap'u to hitch and lay alongside." "' "Oh, I can open the chutes," said Matt, eagerly. "Of course he can," chimed Laura. "Better wait 'till yer old uncle gets back; he won't be long comin'." And Uncle ^Burritt, having shaken the wheat dust off his coat and combed back his hair before the cracked mir­ ror, seated himself in his buckboard and rattled up the road. Matt, who jwas 10 years old, drew himself up on the high stool in the of­ fice with some dignity. It was the first time he had ever been left in charge of the elevator, and he felt the importance of hie posmoh. His sister Laura, who was 13, peered out of the little window and wished something exciting would happen. And hardly had she wished when something did happen.. The Nancy Bell began to toot down the river. "Matt, there comes the Nancy." cried Laura. . 4 A moment later a huge side-wheel river steamer came splashing around the b£nd and drew up under the rocky bank, on the top of which perched the elevator. The office where Matt and Laura were sitting wras a hundred yards away, at the~edge of the hill road. Here the farmers sold their wheat, which was emptied into a ear, weighed and trundled along a tram­ way that ran on a trestlework into the top of the elevator, where the wheat was dumped into one of the various bins. At the bottom of the tall build­ ing a number of chutes led out over the water, and when open, the wheat from the elevator poured through them into the steamboat below. "Hey, there," called the captain of the Nancy Bell, puffing up the steep bank, "are you ready to let us have that No. 1." "We're all ready, only uncle isn'^ here yet," answered Matt. > "Can't you let her go?" i. "I could " ' "But uncle wanted us to ask you to lay . alongside until he came back," completed Laura. The good-natured captain frowned. "We wxrn't get clear of Fisher's bar to-night, I'm afraid, if we wait. You've opened the chutes lots of times before," he said, turning to Matt. "Oh, yes, T could do it all right. It's no trouble at all- " Matt made as if to go down to the tramway toward the elevator, but Laura seized him by the arm. "Uncle told us to wait," she said; "don't go." "Oh, he won't care," said Matt, im­ patiently. "I'm no baby." Then he pulled himself away and ran along the tramway. "(ret your men ready," lie shouted to the captain, "the wheat's coming;" Matt's heart throbbed with excite­ ment. He felt that he had suddenly at­ tained to the dignity of manhood. He reached the deep bin where Ihe No. 1 wheat was kept and clambered from the tramway down the little lad­ der to the hook which controlled the chute. He knew that when he opened it the thousands of bushels of wheat in the bin would go swirling slowly down through the chute into the steamboat. "Are they ready, Laura?" he called. "Oh, don't, Matt," answered the girl. "Are they ready, I say?" called Matt, this time angrily. Laura signalled to the captain with her hand, as she had often done be­ fore. "Heady," came the answer. "Rea.dy," repeated Laura. Matt pulled the peg and then, paus­ ing a moment, pulled the other, and the hook dropped with a chug. He heard the grain swishing in the chutes far below. With the pegs in his hand he started to climb the ladder that ran up the sides of the bin. Just at the top one of the pegs slipped and fell into the wheat below. Matt threw the.peg which he still held on the tramway and scrambled down the ladder. He didn't want Laura to know about his carelessness, ahd he knew well enough thafthe peg must now be allowed to go down with the wheat or it might choke up the chute. The peg lay ou the wheat a few feet from the bottom of the ladder. Matt had often had occasion to cross the wheat in the bin. and so he waded put without any hesitation, his feet sink­ ing in a few. inches at every step. * Already the air was full of dust caus­ ed by the agitation of the wheat in tlie chute below, and Matt choked as lie stooped to pick up tlie peg. Just as ! he turned, one of his feet sunk down suddenly as is something deep in the bin had seizedjt. The next Ijjstant the whole center of the wheat, in the bin sunk suddenly, and Matt found himself "Uunine slowly downward. With a startled jpry he tried to reach the lad­ der. But the wheat below him .was i4^xt}uteksand,^Thehiirderhe^strvig- gled the more tile wheal shelved off and slipped under his "feet, and the more it seemed to him that an awful something deep in the bin had fastened to his feet and was dragging him down. The consciousness of having disobeyed hisuuncle lent terror to the situation, ami the dust was becoming more and more choking. In that moment Matt re­ called stories he had heard of men who had been suffocated in elevators, ahd he grew suddenly hopeless. " He had sunk almost to his waist when Laura appeared in answer to his repeated calls. - "Help!" he coughed. Laura peered for a moment into the dark bin and then she seemed trans­ fixed with terror. "Run for help," cried Matt. Without a word Laura disappeared; flying down the tramway with flying hair. , i' Reaching the office she'suddenly real­ ized that Matt might sink and be killed before she could get the men from the boat up the hill. "What shall I do?" and she wrung her hands. * '*• r Her eye fell upon an empty -barrel in the corner of the office. The next moment she was spinning it along the tramway to the elevator. . . "Here, Matt., Matt," she called. The boy,* who was now waist-deep in the wheat and had almost given up the struggle, hardly looked up. . But when the barrel .came bumping against •him he seemed to recover, - v • •-Hold on till I come, back," cried Laura. Then she sped jiloug the tramway and down the hill to the boat. With choking voice she told the captain of her trouble. There was no way of shut­ ting off the sucking of the wheat through the chute below, hut a halfj dozen men with ropes and poles were, ' soon speeding up the hill. Laura led them to the biu. but when she peered Cooking in Aluminum. Experiments made in Germany are reported to have shown that aluminum is particularly suited for use in kitchen utensils, because it is not. liable, like copper, to communicate any poisonous Ingredient to the food. The use of such utensils is already quite common in this country, and is increasing. . The War on Microbes. TwO machines for fighting contagious disease, designed for the use of the United States Marine Hospital, are de­ scribed' in the^ Scientific . American. These machines are mounted on wheels, and are intended to be used in exterminating epidemic diseases in cities. One consists of a steam dMnfee- tor, provided with a chamber in which infected clothing and other articles can be thoroughly penetrated with hot steam; while the other is'a sulphur himigator, provided with all the ap­ paratus • required for disinfecting houses, the fumes, being driven into the building through' rubber hose connect­ ed with reservoir on top of the ma­ chine. The idea is to send these ma­ chines posthaste to any house in which contagious or infectious disease breaks out. down she cried out, in despair. Only, the top of the barrel was visible in the sinking wheat. "There, there, child; don't be fright-, ened yet." said the captain. In a moment two men with ropes around under their arms were wading in the wheat, while two others had suc­ ceeded in closing the chute. This pre­ vented further sinking of the wheat, but the dust was still suffocating. With poles and shovels they pried up the barrel, and when they lifted it out they found that it covered Matt's head and shoulders. But Matt was unconscious. "If it hadn't been for the barrel he'd have died7" said the captain. At last they lifted him out and he opened his eyes, just as Uncle Burritt came into the office. When Uncle Burritt heard the story he did not say a word to Matt, but he turned and laid his hand on Laura's head. Laura was'still tearful. "My brave, obedient girl," he said. All Accounted For. Years ago the courts in western New York found it a matter of great diffi­ culty to collect juries for the trial of cases. Not many of the men of the region took enough interest in the car­ rying on of courts of justice to be will­ ing to leave their daily work to answer even an imperative summons to the jury box. One case of considerable importance was adjourned from day to day, so the story runs, ou account of the mysteri­ ous disappearance every morning of some of the twelve men who had been drawn and sworn on the jury; there were never more than eight of these unwilling victims to be found at one and the same time. One morning, however, when the judge's patience had entirely departed, the sheriff came bursting into the court room, his face flushed with the excite­ ment of victory. "It's all right now, your Honor!" he cried joyfully. "You can try the case to-day. for we'll have rlie jury by 12 o'clock sure. It ain't but 10 o'clock now, and I've got eleven of 'em locked up in my barn, and we're running the twelfth man with dogs, your Honor!" A Besetting Sin. Apparently some women do not know that public conveyances are not proper places for ventilating domestic griev­ ances or indulging in personal gossip. ' Says Donahoe's Magazine: Why will women talk aloud in street oars and other public places? The hab- > it is becoming general, women of re- j fined appearance and educated speeHi ' indulging in it as freely as their sisters I from the- uncultured walks of life. Family matters are openly discussed, tilie good qualities of relatives and their | defects commented upon freely, and j names mentioned with the utmost in- ' difference to the fact that chance listen- , era mtay recognize them. The other day, in a crowded car, a ! young woman was exp atiating upon the i many charms of a male acquaintance who lacked onily one essenial of the model husband--means of support. And Uhen ensued an animated debate, dur ing which the family affairs of the un fortunate young man and his bride were made known to all who cared to listen. Blubber Haths for Rheumatism. In Australia they have a whale cure for rheumatism which is said to be ef­ fective, though disagreeable. . It was discovered by a drunken man, who wai# staggering along the beach' near the whaling station at Twofold Bay, and who, seeing a' dead whale cut open! To Save the Buffalo. - Secretary Langley, of the Smithson­ ian Institution, reports that hunters are continually killing the few remaining buffalo which the government is trying to preserve and protect in the Yellow­ stone National Park. A few years ago it was believed that there were two hundred of the animals in the park; now only about fifty remain. The head or skin of a buffalo sells for sev­ eral hundred dollars, and while the poachers cannot resist the consequent temptation, the park is so extensive that no effectual protection can be af­ forded by the few troopers in charge. Professor Langley suggests the re­ moval of the buffalo to the National Zoological Park in Washington, from which, as their numbers increased, they could be distributed throughout the United States. Frogs Hard to Kill. Dr. Charles C. Abbott, describing in the Popular Science Monthly the ef­ fect of a drought of 118 days' duration, which prevailed in the Delaware valley in 1895, tells how frogs and mud-inin- j nows managed to survive. While the mummified remains of ordinary min- i nows, salamanders and aquatic in- | sects were scattered in the parched I mud of dried-up. pools, the mud-min- | nows and the frogs buried themselves I where the ground was still moist, al- [ though the surface above them was ; crusted hard, and apparently went to sleep. When taken out and placed in j water they gradually revived and seein- ! ed noiie the worse for their experience. | On tlie sudden termination of ' the drought, at the end of October, within j a single day the mud-minnows reap- 1 peared in their usual numbers and the I frogs were seen dozing on the banks ' of the half-filled brooks and leaping in- , to the streams, "as unconcernedly as if nothing unusual had occurred." Queer Insects. Attention has lately been called to the irregularities of insect life ou Iver- guelen Island in the South Indian Ocean. The flies, beetles and other in­ sects there are almost wingless. Doc­ tor Kidder, one of the lastest visitors to the island, describes some of the flies thus: "They cannot fly, but seem to use the vestigial wings .in jumping when disturbed. They do not appear to jump in any definite direction, but spring into the air, buzzing the small winglets with great activity, and seem to trust to chance for a spot on which to alight, tumbling over and over in the air." The reduction in size of the wings of the insects is ascribed to the effects of disuse, resulting from the low tem­ perature, the inclement weather, the absence of shrubs and trees, and par­ ticularly the prevalence of tempestuous winds. Violent gales of wind prevail there. Doctor Kidder says, to an extent unknown in the northern latitude. Fre­ quently it is impossible for a man to make his way about in the wind. now occupied the Turkish throne for nearly twenty years has certainly owed thi> length o? his reign to the very real qualities displayed by him in the gov­ ernment of his people. ' The Sultan is a small, dark man, with a sallow skin, roving and uneasy eyes, and a slight, feminine hand. Yet in this ssjme frail baud he holds all theathreads binding together the Mussulman world, the keys of the holy sepulcher and of the Dardanelles, the koran and the Bible, the saber and the lance-r-a good hand­ ful, truly. "The present Sultan is in no sense a European, and when dealingowith any. of the questions affecting him this fact 'should not be shirked. Europe is not dealing with a Mehemet Ali; the Sultan is a true Turk--an 'old' Turk and a pious Mohammedan. You have only to enter his palace at Y'ildiz to see that this is so. In the antechaihbers, lean­ ing up aganst the walls, sitting cross- legged on the sofas, is an endless pro­ cession which might have come out of the 'Arabian Nights.' Men with gray beards and white, their turbaned heads bent over, waiting for an, audience, which, If slow in coming, is always sure to be granted. A glance at all these people, hailing f rom every -cornet of the Eastern world,-is a proof of how truly the Sultan can boast of being re­ ligious head and chief of. bis race. "By inclination, or because he thinks it wiser to do so, the Sultan has always followed Aristotle's advice, namely; 'Enfeebled governments in order to re­ gain vigor should return to the princi­ ples upon which they were -originally founded,' and the Sultan, conlrmander of the faithful, has never slackened in his attempts, to carry out this maxim. Apart from this principle, the Sultan has shown to his other subjects gentle­ ness, partiality and generosity. For­ eigners have always been welcomed by him and treated with every cour­ tesy. As a ruler and chief of state, he has shown himself laborious, intelli­ gent. and dowered with a truly extra­ ordinary instinct of avoiding and scent- fng out coming danger. Taking one thing with another, he has succeeded during the last eighteen years in pro­ longing, not only his own, but the exist­ ence of his dynasty, and of his empire; and when the circumstances of his suc­ cession to the throne are considered, it must be admitted that in these matters he has done well. Whatever be the val­ ue of the counselors and advisers with whom he is surrounded, his past has been owing to himself, and it is he, and he alone, who can solve the .problem brought about by the excesses which have lately occurred in Armenia."-- Revue de Paris. Telephone Business Increasing. The vogue of the bicycle may be marvelous/ but to us it seems that the popular use of the telephone is something even more remarkable. The ratio of calls to subscribers averages noit less than six per day on the other side of the water, while the average here may be safely put, for more places, ait twelve per day per subscriber. There is, it appears also from recent statis­ tics, a rapid increase in this country in the number of subscribers. Seven years ago the ratio of telephones to popula­ tion in cities numbering from 40,000 to 100,000 was about one to every 200. Now it is said to reach from 1 to 50 and 1 to 100, averaging 1 to 75. More­ over, this increase is likely to be more than maintained. The recent competi­ tion in many places has greatly stim­ ulated the use of the telephone, and a factor for development in places like New York, where uo competition ex­ ists, is the measured system, which en­ ables everybody who really needs an exchange system to get it cheap­ ly. In this connection, while speaking of telephone growth and prosperity, it is worthy to note that the Sunset Telephone' Com­ pany is teaching its operators the art of telegraphy. Tlnis may or may not have some relation to the expira­ tion of the American Bell-Western Union contract next November. Mean­ time, the Western Union Company, ow­ ing to the steady reduction of its in­ come, is understood to be reducing its force of operators in the larger cities, in some cases to as large an extent as 50 per cent. This diminution of in­ come may also explain the nonissuance of the company's statement of test office receipts. One item of income, however, ought to be much larger, and Chat is the one representing the revenues on the su/binarine ealbles, due to war scares and crazes. We begin to suspect the cable people and the ammunition ven­ dors fof working up a new call to arms whenever the old one peters out.-- Electrical Engineer. It May Bc Made of Great ^Benefit to the Weaker Sex-. Physicians and surgeons have had, a new problem to contend with since wheeling came to be such a rage among women. Is the bicycle destined to prove a benefit to women or will it be a 'curse? It is a question of the greatest mo-, ment to all of us and the expression of. opinion of learned men is received with the greatest of interest.' "I am only afraid," says one doctor, "that the sport is being abused, but cyclists will grad­ ually adapt themselves and then the benefit to the race will prove even greater than now. The benefit already, derived does not come from the intrin­ sic merit of the wheel but rather from the fact that it is a fashion which keeps women out of doors the greater part of the day, and that is what our American women need." "Notwithstanding the fact thai: wom­ en have token up this sport Indiscrim­ inately," gays another M. I)., "it lias been of wonderful, benefit to them, for it has carried millions out into the! fresh air and kept them out of our abominable public conveyances that the great distances in our cities iieeessi'tate. Women are naturally better riders than men. This is because they are lighter and sit much, more erectly,, and then they do not attempt to race or scorch as a. rule. , I am .inclined to think the benefit is greater than the bad effects, and consider it a most healthful exer­ cise for women if thfey. will ass'lime a proper position and ride along easily, Covering not more than six miles an hour and. not bending themselves over the handle bars like a jaekknife and go scorching along like would-be sports and young boys anxious to make or break records." Another phytsician says: "I do most emphatically approve of cycling fo-r women, and the wheel is a part of my prescription nowadays to many people with different curvatures of the spine and diseases of the joints, and I've found it very excellent medicine. Wheeling is a craze at present, and when I prescribe it the patient usually carries the prescription out to the,,,let­ ter, because it is the fashion. Perhaps another form of exercise would answer just as well, but sometimes when we prescribe a walk every day the patient will not take it. Cycling is especially fine for young girls, who should spend most of their time in the open air, and it does a great deal for that class of wom­ en who suffer from innumerable com­ plaints attendant on their, taking break­ fast in bed alt about noon and never taking outdoor exercisX except in a Carriage. It not only gets them into the open air, but is exhilarating, and brings the whole system into action." The Flying Man. Otto Lilienthal, who for several years has been practising the art of flying, or soaring, with artificial wings near Ber­ lin, has recently made an improvement in his apparatus. Instead of a single large framework for the "wings," he now uses two smaller frames, one placed above the other, and connected by cords. This device has greatly, in­ creased the sailing power of his ma­ chine. Starting from the top of the ar­ tificial hill, which he has had thrown up in the midst of a broad plain, Ullien- thal is able not only to glide for long distances in the air, but to sail against the wind. Formerly he had to take a preliminary run before launching him­ self from the hill, but now, with a mod­ erately brisk wind, he can start with­ out running, and if the breeze Is^strong enough it lifts him from the hilltop and . . . sets him moving against its own direc- took d header into tin* clfcoinnosiiMr i . ^ ^ i • 1 1 n f 1 f 1 „ pomu« t on without effort on his part, except blubber. It took two hours for him to . , . • i* > „ , w , to to balance himself properly. He has work his way out, but he was then n&t * n « V. „ , ' "Jrh , oron r,/>r"ifsir>nn llv risen nhnvp tlic nnint only sol>er, but c tism. Now a hotel has been built in t, but he was then iffct j even 0C(.agj0nally risen above the point cured of ins rheuiifeJi wfaich he started Lillenthal has xtel has been built in , „ _ - _ the neighboring town of Eden, where rheumatic patients wait for the arrival of a whale in order to take blubber baths. But the Flag Went Up. A Johannesburg correspondent states that Jameson would have gone on fighting at Krugersdoxpl but when the officers saw the Staats Artillery com­ ing up with the Maxims in charge of German gunners, "flesh and blood could stand it no longer." Jameson, adds the writer, was watering his horse when Col. Scott came up to hi'in and said: "Sir, we must surrender; it seems hopeless." The only answer he got was: "I will not surrender; let them shoot me where I stand, but surrender? Never!" The Colonel moved away, and the next minute up went the white flag had one or two serious falls, but is con­ fident that he can accomplish much more than he has yet done in the realm of the birds. GOOD WORDS FOR THE SULTAN. Not- as Bad as He Is Painted, Says a French Writer. Following are some extracts from a recent •temarkable article in which the writer, who claims to have a close per­ sonal acquaintance with t^ie Sultan, ad­ vances a view of the aims and charac­ ter of the Turkish monarch somewhat different from, those generally enter­ tained- The writer says: "Most people'will admit that the pro­ fession of being Sultan of Turkey is not--at any rate, for the present time-- an agreeable one. The man who has Anxious to Get Married. ' That romance is not entirely wanting even in royal marriages is shown by the pretty story which precedes the en­ gagement of the King of Portugal. Prince Carlos, who was known at that time as tliC Duke of Braganza. was on his way to Venice to celebrate his be­ trothal to the Archduchess Marie Val­ erie, daughter of the Austrian Em­ peror, when, upon his arrival at Paris, he received news that her imperial highness had changed her mind. The Prince was unwilling to return with­ out a bride, and sought advice of the Marquise de la Ferrofi'ay, an old friend* of the family. Her ladyship showed him the picture of a young girl, who, she said, was rich, talented, and equal in rank. "I will have her, whoever she may be," exclaimed Carlos. "Where can she be seen?'" "According to this morning's pa­ pers," replied the Marquise, "her royal highness, the Princess Amelie of Or­ leans, arrived yesterday in Nice." Three days later the Duke and Princess met for the first time, and shortly afterward tliqir betrothal was announced. Horseless Carriages in 1812. Horseless carnages are by no means new, as in volume 13 of the Enclyco- paedia Brittanica, published in Edin­ burgh in 1810, there are digrams and a description of a horseless carriage in­ vented by Mr. Richards, a physician in Rocheile. The machinery by whicli the movement was effected was placed in a box in the rear of the carriage. The Precise Man. "When you put a postage stamp on an envelope," said a precise man to his son, "you should put it on square and true, in the upper right-hand corner, and as near as possible to the margin of the envelope. You put it on at the right-hand corner for the convenience of the stampers in the postoffice, so that it may be uniform in location with the stamps on other envelopes, nnd so more conveniently and expeditiously stamped; you should study the comfort of others as well as yourself. You should put it as near as possible to the corner, so that the cancelling stamp will be less likely to deface and so per­ haps obscure the address on the en­ velope. "You should put it on square and true because that is the methodical and proper way to do. Many persons are disturbed by the appearance of a stamp put on in a careless and slipshod manner. And I can easily imagine that such a practice might work posi­ tive injury to you. You might have oc­ casion to write to a man on a matter of business that was of importance to you. You might compose and wrUe this letter with faithful care and set forth what you had to say with com­ mendable clearness and precision, and yet upset it all by slapping on a stamp carelessly; the recipient might judge you by the one slight act done natural­ ly rather than by the studied work done with a purpose. "My son, don't do it; put the stamp on where it belongs, so that the little touch of color will grace the envelope and hot deface it." Ijieked by the Dogs. Congressman Broisus, of Pennsyl­ vania, tells this story about Tliaddeus Stevens: "Stevens was championing some bill in Congress which aroused the opposition of the combined South­ ern members. lie made a brilliant speech in favor of it, and equally brill­ iant speeches Were made on the other side, and the upshot of it was that Ste­ vens was outvoted after a very bitter nnd passionate debate. Stevens was ^till boiling with disappointment and bitterness when Tombs of Georgia, in a taunting way, asked him: 'Well. Ste­ vens, row do you feel over your de­ feat?' 'Feel,' snapped back Stevens, 'fepl? I feel like the poor man at the rich man's gate, who was licked by the dogs.' " Duke Is Disappointed. The insurance on the life of the new Duchess of Marlborough for her hus­ band's benefit has had to be abandoned, owing to the technical difficulties in the way. Sir Dyce Duckworth, who went to Rome on behalf of the syndicate of London offices concerned in the insur­ ance to make an examination of the candidate, made a satisfactory report, and as it was practically a case of In­ suring the Duchess' life against, that of her father, no difficulties arose on that score.The difficulties were those of officialdom and red tape. Domestic Xife in the Bra of the Wolf and the Kattlesnake,' "When I was a youhg man out in McLean County, Illinois," said Elna- than Rockwell, a New York octogenar­ ian, "I w'alked four miles through a deep snow to see my girl one night, and more snow began falling so heav­ ily that I couldn't get back home across the prairie, and had to stay at her folks' house all night. -There Was nothing strange in that, as settlers were few and far between, and it was common ^or neighbors to stay all night with one another. There was nothing strange,1 either, in my. having on a pair of buck­ skin breeches, for cloth was a scarce ar­ ticle with us in those days, and what we had was, homemade." Deer was plentiful, and buckskin clothing was common apparel in the winter. "The breeches I w;ent sparking in that night were fiiade from a skin that hadn't been properly dried, and were a little green yet. My girl's folks had moved from their first log liouse into a new one, and as their new house, like all dwellings of the prairie, had but one apartment, they made It shakedowp for me in the vacant log house. . There wasn't any door to. the old house. 1 laid my buckskin breeches on the floor by the side of my bed. Some time dur­ ing the night either the family dog or a wolf or two, scenting the green buck­ skin. oame into the cabin, stole my breeches, and took them away somer where and ate them. I saw the tracks in the show inside the log house, but the falling snow had covered them up on the outside. "It was terribly cold, and all I could do was to lie in bed and wait for de­ velopments. I should have been up and eating breakfast long before day­ light, and, daylight coming, and I not having put in an appearance yet, my girl's mother came out to see what was the matter. There was great commo­ tion when she found out, for there wasn't another pair of breeches with­ in four miles except her husband's, and he wanted his himself. The con­ sequence was that I had to lie covered up in the old log house until he could go all the way through the snow four miles to our house, get my father's breeches, and come back with them to my relief. In the condition of.the prairie, the snow being two feet deep, this trip took nearly all the rest of the day, and my father had to go to bed until I got home with his breeches. By the time I got there mother had a new pair of buckskins nearly ready, and ev­ erything was all right. "Not long after that I fixed it so there would be no danger of my getting into such a scrape again. I married my girl, and we went to keeping house right away. Our house was a log cabin I had built. "Our nearest neiglibo® was five miles away, and the first winter we liv­ ed on our pja9e all the company we had were wolves that came boldly into the yard, and picked up what they could find, wild turkeys that came and ate the crumbs that were swept out, and deer that came from the timber and tried to sneak a share of the corn fodder Ave fCal*our cow and oxen on.' That winter my wife walked five miles and back, morning and evening, for three days, to do weaving for a neigh­ bor, her pay being a pair of chickens that we wanted to start a flock with. "When our baby was three months old my wife used to leave it on the bed while she drove the oxen as I ploughed up the stiff prairie sod. We had a good dog. which always stayed in the cabin at such times. My wife would go to the house every half hour or so, to see if everything was all right. One day she started on one of these trips and met the dog, covered with blood, and so badly hurt that he was dragging himself along toward where we were. She almost flew the rest of the way to the house. The she found the baby on the bed all right, but in front of the bed lay a wolf, deiid, and nearly torn to pieces. The condition- of the dog was explained. The wolf had come down to the cabin while we were away, and but for the clog would have de­ voured our child. We never left the baby alone after that, and he is living right here in New7 York to-day, and so is his mother."--New York Sun. Ruled by Russian Women. In the province of Smolensk, Russia, there is a little state practically gov­ erned and inhabited for the greater part of the year by women. The stare is about forty miles square, and in­ cludes a number of villages which for­ merly belonged to the Convent of Bes- jukow. The state is known as the "Kingdom of Women," because the male inhabitants emigrate at certain time each year to seek work in other parts-of the empire, leaving affairs of local government to their better halves. The woman mayor presides at the communal assemblies, where the worn en discuss with praiseworthy Zeal ques­ tions of public interest. The financial condition of the state is said to be t cellent and the women have all the pin money they want.--San Francisco Chronicle. Most of us believe that life is what our kin make it for us.- Every man has more shows in his actions. sense than In forming a bad habit, remember that it will be very hard .to. quit. American Candy in England." American candy is proving very suc­ cessful in England, where the'confec- tioner's;?art Is at a low stage. An Amer­ ican traveler reports that "an English candy store, called a 'sweetmeat shop/ is a terrible sight; everything looks' sticky, nasty, and largely colored with, obviously unhealthy substances. Also, there seems to be little if any attempt to keep these 'sweetmeats' fresh, and' the prices at which (they are sold--20 cents a pound--almost precludes their being made of good materials.'^ Miss Bellefield--How on earth did you come, to get engaged to Willie, Van Braam? Miss Breeze--Well, you, see, just at the time he proposed didn't happen to be engaged to any one.--Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph A Verbose Senator. A United States Senator with a sta tistical turn of mind has made some remarkable calculations based upon the ability already displayed by Sena­ tor Marion Butler, of North Carolina, to make lewig speeches. Mr. Butler only entered the Senate at the beginning of the present session, yet he has already made six speeches of considerable length. The statistician figures that if he should continue in the way he has begun and should remain in the Senate as long as Senator Harris, of Tennes­ see, it will cost the United States some­ thing like over $1,000,000 to print his speeches. I, , •v" Self-Evident. In Paris a new novel entitled "A \ ic- tlmifrf the Guillotine" is a11 tbe rage just now. It Is Advertised on large post- el's at the street corners. By a singular chance one of these posters was par­ tially covered by the advertisement of some patent medicine, which made it read as follows: "A Victim of the Guil­ lotine--no more headaches." Student--Then how much does the suit come to for cash? Tailor--Fifty 'marks. Student--And if paid for by installments'?' Tailor--A hundred marks--only in that case you will have to pay half on the nail.--Linzgauer Bote. • ^ The more confidential friends a man has, the fewer secrets he has. In Bevencei She Doss -the groom's Footsteps. Cupid is playing strange pranks with - ah aged trio in-an obscure little village in Androscoggin County, up in Maine. There a white-haired bridegroom is passing an uncomfortable honeymoon, haunted by a vindictive spinster. He was one txf the wealthiest citizens of the town, and the old maid had set her cap for him in earnest, and it was not without effect, either, If the neighbors may be believed, for it is said that he gave her not a little encouragement. But when the wedding finally did take place she was not the bride. He mar­ ried another woman. Hence this tale of haunting spinster. Let not the ab­ sence of the names for a moment cast a question upon the ^veracity of the story, for it is the talk of the town. No sooner was the marriage over than the deserted spinster began her eternal vigil. She started in by standing across the street from the home of the newly- married pair and staring fixedly at the windows at all hours of the day. Her daily promenades also were confined In­ variably to that locality. Whenever the husband and wife-took a'stroll she immediately 'espied them from her watch tower, put on her old- fashioned bonnet and became their ver­ itable shadow, dogging their footsteps wherever they went. The village soon - woke up to the strange of affairs^ and the ludicrous procession was seen daily by a choice {selection of' to-wn gossips who stood on the street corners and gazed at the mournful trio,. - • The haunting spinster kept up an un­ broken silence, but this was far more expressive and tantalizing to the pur­ sued than any amount of abuse could have been. So this spinster-spook of genuine flesh and blood soon had the whole village in an uproar. The hap­ piness of the honeymoon was trans­ formed in short order to misery. Sunday, however, was her particu­ larly busy day. Then it was that she played her master trump, right in the face of 'the entire ehurchgodng public, too, and that was what seemed to please her the most She always sets out very early, so as to be sure to catch the victims before they reach the church gate. When they make their appearance she drops into place just behind them and follows them directly into the meetfng house. As soon as they take a seat she takes her position in the very next pew in front of them. No sooner does she take her seat than she draws from the recesses of her clothing a photograph--a likeness of the unhappy man who site behind her with his bride. Then the shows begins. Neither the spinster, the star actor in the little melodrama nor any others ia the congregation pay any attention -the„sermon. The little comedy in the entire center pew is the sole attraction. All eyes are turned in that direction, and ghe plays to an appreciative au­ dience while the weary couple in the next pew back writhe and squirm in delicious agony. She holds up the photograph so that the bride can see it, too, as well as the groom. Lifting it to her lips every now and then, she kisses It fervently before the gaze of the entire congregation, while a tear rolls down the cheek of the bride, and the groom turns his head ia disgust at this token of affection. Whenever the haunted meets his shadow in the street face to face she al­ ways greets him with: "Hello, Benny dear! How are you this morning, love?" Retaliation came recently. The haunt­ ing spinster awoke one morning not long 'ago to find that the front of her house had been completely daubed with red paint during the night. The bril­ liant fluid had evidently been applied with a squirtgun. The house was a perfect sight. But even in this dilem­ ma, the persistent spinster turned the tables on them all. She wouldn't remove the unsightly decoration. Day after day it remained an eyesore to the residents of the street. They begged her to repaint the house, but from ridgepole to cellar the stain remained, While in One window glared a pair of blood-red lace curtains, a ghastly relic of the old maid's punish­ ment. She positively refused to touch the red paint. "I want folk to know what fine neigh­ bors I have," she replied. Not until she had thoroughly shamed whoever perpetrated the joke did she finally consent to have the house painted. But the unfortunate old couple are still haunted by the persistent white- haired spinster, and it is getting to be an old story in the town now, although the outside world has not heard of the old-maid spook and her revenge.--New York Press. Lesson from Africa. Territorial greed is apt to receive a severe check by the Italian tragedy in Abyssinia. Between the masses of the people, weary of a policy which drains their resources and is prodigal of their lives to maintain a national glory, enough to them, and the increasing en­ lightenment of the savages in the col­ onized countries as to civilized means of warfare, if not of civilized manners and customs, Governments are having a thorny time. They are realizing that land-grabbing, like meaner forms of misappropriation, has its retributions. --Baltimore American. Much in Little. It does not take many volumes to hold the really great things that have been written in all ages, and a New York firm is planning to put the best part of it into a series of twenty-five volumes with the title, "A Library of the World's Best Literature." Charles Dudlev Warner w\V he editor, and will be ^Bistedt 'SSjfe&x "ary Thurston Peek, Hamilton WV' 3®T.J)i* W. D. Ho wells, Prof. Charles Eliot Norton, and others of high ability, so the work promises to be of value. Name of "Cripple Creek." A magazine writer says that Cripple Creek got its name from a trio of pros­ pectors who happened to stop on the banks of th&stream because their mule had gone lame, They discovered signs of gold and decided to stay a while. While putting up a shanty one of the men fell from the roof and struck on the dog which they had with, them, breaking his own arm and the leg of the canine. This made three cripples in camp--hence the name. Minnie--"Chollie Ardup ^Ites jojme that his love is mote than he can exi- press." Mamie--"Why doesn't he send it collect."--Indianapolis Journal.