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THE SILENT STEED. ENORMOUS GROWTH OF THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY. (Jse of the Wheel ' --It lias Come to Admirers Number Statistics.; » Is Not a Fad Stay» and lt9 Millions--Some Won Its Way to Popularity. HE bicycle has a current call on at­ tention tliat is quite as absorbing as"the Presidential possi­ bility." Fair belies and buxom ma­ trons who once I bill shed at the men- Jtion of the bloomer land derided the wheel have come fraction over twenty-two pounds; tondantv The new automatic machine heretofore they have been twenty-six does six times the work of the old pounds,; and upward, . | machines. People are given to pondering over The great reduction of weight in the price of the bicycle" and seem to think that they can bo turned out as readily as cheap watches,, or old-fash­ ioned sewing machines. There is -a llood of ignorance and misinformation on this point. There are bicycles for modern wheels has been attained through the new method of making frames. Instead of using small bar* of solid steel light, tough, weldless steel tubing is employed. Again, in making the joints there is an economy in sale this year that range in price from weight; instead of heavy, old-fashioned $60 to $85, but $100 is the standard " price which high grade wheels com­ mand. One make of wheel still sells at $115; last year it was $125. Keen competition has reduced the price 50 per cent, what it was three years ago, while the expense of placing wheels on the market, it is said, has advanced in a much larger proportion. An individual who had charge of an castings the joints are now* brazed one piece into the other beneath the heat of a blow-pipe, with spelter and borax. Vibrations always begin in the weakest part or joints of the frame. In this, es­ tablishment the anti-vibrating rein-, forcements are used, adding immensely to the strength of the frame. Away from this neighborhood a row of little furnaces are blowing their caloric energies into tough joints of Exposition exhibit was recently accred­ ited with the statement that there was cherry red steel, by the long rows of a combination or trust controlling the ' slowly revolving lathes, drilling cones, price of bicycles, and that said trust j cups, cutting nuts, nipples, and screws, would not expire until next October. • and all the lesser parts of the wheel to look with favor , This is gll the talk-of a mental specu- j that join to give to it strength, light- on the new departure and device as sen*- ; iartor. T,here is ho bicycle trust; compe- j uess and stability. In the polishing and Bible and invigorating ideas that have j tition is too keen, and the demand is too , buffing department the whirr of many come to remain. Businessduen. whose' j great to necessitate such a combina- j wheels makes music like the drone Of dignity might appear opposed to- be- j tion. The bicycle trust may come, but"^ angry bees, and sparks -fly like tiny THIS IS THE MAIDEN ALL FORLORN. striding the bicycle, and staid old gen­ tlemen, who declared their equestrian ays were to remain tilings of blessed it has no existence now. As for 'that cheap wheel from, flowery Japan, it is still a long distance away from reality. THE ASSEMBLY ROOM. memory, have been observed on the whirling wheel renewing their strength and youth. It would be difficult to re­ call anything in recent years that has attained a popularity more quickly or more universally than the.bicycle. Its appeal extends to all classes and all localities; and aside from- its advan­ tages as a common or uncommon ear- In a well-regulated standard bicycle there are a variety of features, viz., the frame, front wheel, rear wheel, front fork, sprocket wheel, crank shaft, handle bars, seat-post, chains, mud guard and pedals. This necessitates, all told, from 100 to 110 distinct parts, not counting spokes, chain links, or meteors as the bits of steel touch the emery wheels. Every small piece is carefully polished before it receives a coating of copper, - which ren<>~- s it impervious to rust. The plating vat's, remind one of a big laundry, save that there are no suds nor washboards, and a lit aroma of nitric acid fills; the air. Balls, nuts,- sprockets. - csrtnk shafts, adjusting screws, clamps and handle- liars are. strung on wire like so many delicacies in a Chinese market, and sus­ pended in th * copper bath. After treat­ ment in this solution all parts are nickel-plated, and ready for adjust­ ment. Among other new mechanical devices are a series of special jigs, or testers, that make the forms exact in alignment. Then there are hardening furnaces of special design, in which metals have chemical treatment for toughening. The enameling furnaces are another important feature. It is claimed that the colored enamel will not crack, despite various tests put upon it. (Black enamel having a rub­ ber base frequently does not stand the test of wear.) The wheel spokes are of needle wire and may be tied in a knot without destroying strength or elas­ ticity. Every part is specially tested for strength and the strain it will bear before it is allowed to take its position in the bicycle. The bicycle is giving a new impetus to mechanical industries, and has evi­ dently come to stay. m m y Miss Democracy---Oh my. but men are scarce in Chicago this summer. I'm afraid I shall have to go t o Europe. There's no encouragement here for a Party like me. parts of pedals, which brings the ag- rier and a health-lift, it promises to be- | gregate up to 1,000 parts. These parts come a powerful factor in creating ' are all of the finest tempered steel, a sentiment in favor of and obtaining i number of them tool-steel, and some of legislation that shall secure good roads them are liand-tooled. Machines have been devised to do much of the work formerly done by hand; but they are very expensive, and have been hard to obtain, in view of the enormous de­ mand by numerous factories that have established of late. There are probably seventy-five es­ tablishments in Chicago that are mak­ ing from 200 to 500 wheels. The out­ puts of the largest factories may be es­ timated as follows: Western Wheel Works, 70,000 (five grades); Feather- stone, GO,000 (five grades); Monarch, 40,- 000 (four grades); the Fowler, 30,000 (high grades only); Rambler, 30,000 (high grades); Imperial, 25,000 (high grades); Kenwood, 20,000; Thistle, 15,- 000 (high grades); Adams & Westlake, 10,000 (high grades), St. Nicholas Mfg. Co., 40,000 (four grades); Windsor, 7,- 000; Davidson, 6,000 (high grades); Czar and Czarina, 5,000; World, 7,000; Shirk, 5,000; March, 3,000; America, 5,000; Na­ poleon and Josephine, 4,000; Standard, 2,500; Eldorado, 2,500; Iroquois, 1,200. A trip through one of the largest fac- W/ THE LONDON HANSOM CYCLE. --a corisummation devoutly to be Wished. # 'A The demand for bicycles fiasco far exceeded the supply last season that the facilities to increase the output have multiplied rapidly, but it is thought they cannot supply the current demands. Advanced statistics state that upwards of 1.250,000 bicycles will be made in 1896. More conservative and accurate estimates indicate that r,' . i) imm Successful Reconnaissance. Lieu". Gaillard. of the United States army, is quoted by the New York Her­ ald as narrating a joke played by (Jen. Sherman upon two West Point cadets-- Lieut. Gaillard being one of them-- which was certainly funny in itself, thoug'i the victims of it had hard work at the time to see it in that light. It--appears that they occupied the room that Sherman himself had lived in many years before. One day, shortly before examination time, some one knocked at their door and in walked Gen. Sherman and a party of friends. He f-eemed greatly pleased to be once more in his old quarters, and after the two cadets had saluted him, he proceed­ ed to point out to his frieuds the hard mattresses, the iron bedsteads, and the rest oi1 the Spartan furniture. Then, as on? thing called up another, he show­ ed how the boys used to fold up their trouser? and sleep on them to keep them from getting knee-sprung. He described also the sweeping of the room, and seemed about to go, when suddenly a new memory came to him. "When I was a cadet," he remarked, as he drew near to the big open fire­ place, "the boys used to secrete all kinds of plunder in thqir chimneys. I wonder if they do the same now." The >.wo cadets were on nettles, but the viiitor seemed to notice nothing, as with his cane he poked up the chimney. To use Lieut. Gaiilard's words, "The eminent strategist's reconnaissance was one of the most successful in his caree*. He knew just where to look, and his cane hit the mark at almost his first poke. Down came pies and cakes, with a bottle or two that shivered on the hearth. "Dear me!" said the General. "But you needn't be afraid, yonng gentle­ men. It was all my fault. I sha'n't say anything about it." And he didn't, though the two young men were on tenterhooks for the next few days. "Sherman's bummers burned my grandmother's house at Columbia, S. C.," concluded Lieut. Gaillard, "but I liked tne dear old follow all the same. He was so genial and considerate." "DOUBLEFACED" DEMOCRACY. Charge Republicans with Lack of Principle, Which They Practice. The Democratic clamor for a-gold standard is of such recent date that we may" well inquire whence its origin. It was ' not the Democratic policy of 1S!)2, when the platform of the Demo­ cratic party, adopted at Chicago on June 22, 1892, read as follows: We hold to the use of both gold and sil­ ver as the standard money of the country iind to the coinage of both gold and silver without discriminating against either metal or charge for mintage, but the dol­ lar unit of coinage of both metals must be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value, or be adjusted through interna­ tional agreement, or by such safeguards of legislation as shall insure the mainte­ nance of the parity of the two metals, and the equal power of every dollar at all times in the markets and in the payment of debts; and we demand that all paper currency shall bo kept at par and redeem­ able in such coin. We insist upon this policy as especially necessary for the protection of the farmers and laboring classes, the first and most defenseless viiL-fcims of unstable money and a fluctu­ ating currency. Tills js a strictly bimetallic platform. It was the choice of the Democratic convention of 1892. It calls for "both gold and silver as the standard." It calls for "the coinage of both gold and silver without discriminating against either metal." The Democrat­ ic . party has never authorized any change from this desire for a bimetal­ lic standard, upon which it elected a President and a majority of both branches of Congress. Yet the Demo­ cratic administration lias entirely re­ pudiated Its party platform, and a handful of Eastern Democratic papers, also utterly regardless of , the Demo­ cratic platform, clamor for a gold standard exclusively. What is it that has caused this "double-faced" dealing on the part of the Democrats? Was the platform of 1892 a mere "double-faced" affair in­ tended to catch the votes of the West, while secretly trucking to the gold standard ideas of Wall street? Cer­ tainly it was. Yet we hear the "dou­ ble-faced" Democrats howling about the financial views of Republicans, who have never been such advocates of bimetallism as the "double-faced" Democrats were, and as a majority of them are ait the present time. Trade jor farmers--- HOPS mythical in the present condition of bhr country. We should capture the home market first, and get full control of it, before we seek the foreign market. Wo cannot command a foreign market un­ til we can control our own.--Hon. Wm. McKinley. Capturing: the Markets. The exports of wheat from the Uni­ ted States for the past week were the smallest of any week since wheat sold at $1 a bushel. Since the fall of 1893 there has been a general trend down­ ward in our shipments abroad, while those of Russia and Argentine have been gradually increasing.--Wall Street Daily News. What Americans Want. Uncle, Sam ought to charge enough for the privilege of coming into his markets- to yield liiui enough to pay all the expenses of the Government, with a handsome surplus each year to apply to the extinguishment of the national debt. Less than this should satisfy no true American.--Times-Herald, Chi­ cago. Consumption of Corn. Bushels Year. per capita. 1892, McKinley protection.. 1895, "Tamff Reform" 30.33 16.98 Democratic loss of corn market per. capital of population.... 13.35 The Poverty Party. The Democratic party is the party of the poor.--New York Herald, Nov. 10, 1892. So "poor" in fact that the Ilerald had to collect and distribute free clothes in the following year. A Good Reason Why. Mr. Cleveland's election will mean an end of squandering.--New York World, June 20, 1892. Because his tariff for deficiency only has given him nothing to squander. Exports of Cheese. Year. Pounds. 1892, McKinley protection. .82,100,221 1895, "Tariff Reform" 40,800,934 Democratic loss to farmers. .41,299,2S7 THE BRAZING DEPARTMENT. the total output of bicycles this year will not exceed 800,000, and over one- half of them will be made in Chicago. Of this aggregate probably 70 per cent, ai'e cheap wheels; the high-grade bi­ cycles remaining limited and in great demand. The total output of 1895 was over 500,000, of which one-fifth were for women; this year about one-half the bicycles will be designed for the fair sex. It is estimated that with wheels of all classes enlisted, ancient and mod­ ern, there will be nearly 2,500,000 cyclers in the United States this sum­ mer. The League of American Wheelmen now numbers 41,000 members. The first ten States in order of their rep­ resentation are: New York, Massa­ chusetts. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Cal­ ifornia, and Connecticut. The new model bicycles show many Inventions and improvements over the old wheels. The prominent feature of the '96 wheel is the larger tubing, one and one-eighth inch being used, an in­ crease over the three-quarters and sev­ en-eighths inch tubing of two years ago, the points of advantages being a stronger and lighter wheel. Racing wheels will weigh from sixteen to eighteen pounds, road wheels from twenty-three to twenty-eight pounds, and women's wheels will average a torles of high-grade wheels on Wash­ ington boulevard may indicate to some extentXho new and heavy mechanical appliances used in making the modern bike a thing of finished beauty and strength. Just where to begin inspec tion and get at the start of the wheel is a ticklish task. All parts of the wheel are made in this factory except the wooden 'Sims and rubber tires. First observe the new automatic screw machines. They THE FIKST BICYCLE. No New Thing. The tendency to ape men in their dress, so noticeable at the present time in a certain type of woman, far from being modern, is as old as the Specta­ tor, at least, if not older, and Addison In an essay cements upon it with gen­ tle humor. A lady, dressed according to the fash- Ion of the ad^'anc^d woman of the time, in a man's hat, periwig and riding-coat, met a tenant of Sir Roger de Coverley. She asked whether a house near at hand were not Coverley Hall. The man, seeing only the male part of his querist, replied, "Yes, sir." But upon further question whether Sir Roger war. a married man, chancing to drop his eye to the lady's skirt, the embarrassed man changed his note to "No, madam." ^an.1,1892. upr. 1,1896 Suoar Qt NeuJ yorl< 2 5" (Terits 2 0 Gents 0 C e n t s iml Su^at 5 C e n t s Gorman Democratic Prosperity. Manufacturing failures, during twen- ty-tlirce days of April, amounted to $4,- 602,55(5 in. liabilities against $3,614,73C last year and $2,687,220 in 1894. A Strong; Cainbine. Work and wages is the workingman's issue in this campaign.- San Francisco Call. GROWTH OF GREAT CITIES. She Was Accomplished. Mother--I can't see how it happened that that Kechem girl out of all your Chafing Dish Club managed to get that attractive Mr. Merrhnan. All the rest of you girls are so much brighter and prettier. Didn't you tell me she scarcely ever spoke a word?" Maud--Yes, mother, but she did the cooking.--Harper's Bazar. ITlc Kinleij One Pound of Hops,lUould8iiuHou/frluefi Loss of Reciprocity. In 1895 we bought from Latin Amer­ ican countries $246,582,000 worth of goods, admitting nearly 92 per cent, of them to our markets free of duty. We sold to those countries only $143,101,- 000 worth, every pound or yard of which was taxed by those countries at rates from 5 to 100 per cent. The bal­ ance of trade against us with those countries we paid in gold, to the amount of $103;000,000. are expensive and complicated ma chines,, cutting from solid bar tool steel the cones and cups used in the bearings. The latest and heaviest bit of machin­ ery is the automatic sprocket cutter. A string of thirty-five circular pieces of drop-forge steel, seven inches In diamater, will have their heavy dentis­ try or teeth cut every time this ma­ chine "does a turn." This used to be a very slow and laborious work, con­ stantly requiring the care of an at- The Modern Marriage. Matrimony. Acrimony. Testimony. Alimony.--New York Herald. A boy Is never as much of a consola­ tion to a mother in her sorrows as her daughter, but he can't help it; it is not his way. - A man likes to go where he can put, his feet where he likes, and he d<*sn't enjoy himself anywhere else. Less Money About. In June, 1892, before the present ad­ ministration assumed office, the per capita circulation of money in the Uni­ ted States was $24.44. A year later, after the present administration's as­ sumption of power, it had fallen to $23.87, a loss of 0.57 per capita. At the beginning of this month, it was only $21.65, a loss" in circulation of $2.22 "since 1893, and a loss of $2.79 per capita since the protection period of 1892. How Manufacturers Figure. Talks with woolen manufacturers do not bring to light an encouraging situ­ ation. The consensus of opinion seems to be that it is not now a question of figuring profits, but of figuring "losses.-- Wool and Cotton Reporter. Increase in Population More Rapid in Europe than in This Country. It is a mistake to suppose that only American cities show phenomenal growth. Take Paris for instance. Ac­ cording to Dr. Albert Shaw, in his work upon "Municipal Government in Europe," the population of Paris, now nearly 3,000,000, was only 600,000 at the time of the revolution, a hundred years ago. London, with a population to-day of 6,000,000, had then less than a million. Glasgow, now the second city in Great Britain, with a popula­ tion of 800,000, had less than 25,000 in 1750 and only 75,000 at the beginning of this century. The population of Manchester, when it was granted a municipal charter in 1838, was only 250,OIK), it being a city smaller than Cleveland to-day. Fifty years ago Bir­ mingham had 180,000 inhabitants. Liv­ erpool, Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds, are, as great cities, entirely modern. Lyons, the largest town in France apart from Paris, with a population of 450,000, had only 100.000 at the opening of the century. Leipzig has doubled in pop­ ulation in the last twenty years, and so has Munich, both growing at a much higher rate than American cities of corresponding size. Hamburg is an In­ teresting city to consider in this study of population, because it can be so well compared with Boston. The population of the two cities in 1875 was almost exactly the same, Hamburg 34S.000, Boston 342,000. In 18iK> Hamburg had 569,000, and Boston 448,000. Hamburg had gained more than 200,000 In fifteen years, and Boston only a little more than 1.00,000; yet Boston's growth has been considered remarkable. In 1870 New York was a more populous city than Berlin. In 1880 Berlin had out­ grown New York, and in 1890 it still maintained the lead, having 1,578,794 pepole against New York's 1,515,301. Chicago's relative gain has been high er; but Berlin In the past twenty-five years has added as many actual new residents as has Chicago. COSTLY LUNCH OF AN OSTRICH It Toole a Surgical Operation to Get a Purse from His Stomach. B. C. .Wallace, a wealthy gentleman from the East, has been making a tour of Southern Canifornia during the past winter, and about a month ago came to. this city. A short time after his arriva 1 he went out to visit the ostrich farm, and spent several hours in inspecting the queer birds, which seemed to inter­ est him very much. There was one big male ostrich in particular that struck Wallace's fancy, his plumage was so beautiful and his carriage so grand. After admiring and commenting on the big fellow's many good points Wallace turned to get an orange from a bag which his wife was holding, thinkiug to present it to the ostrich. Feeling something tugging at liis pocket, Wallace jumped around just in time to see his well-tilled leather purse slowly disappear iuto Jhe bird's mouth. Wallace frankly confesses that he was completely dazed for a moment, but the case was a serious one, and when the purse showed itself slowly sliding down, making a big protuber­ ance.on the side of the bird's neck, he felt that the time for action had ar­ rived,: "Leaning over the board fence as far as he could reach, Wallace grab­ bed the bird about the throat and tried with all his might to choke his purse up,, but one upward kick of the big fel­ low's hoof settled any further effort in that. way. Will lace wa s almost willing to'feel.gratetwi for the small fa vor of an Unbroken, arm, but there was money, in the. purse, audi he could not see the ostrich1 making, food of his worldly goods with impunity. Meanwhile Mrs. Wallace had called the keeper. By this time the purse had made the passage and was no doubt comfortably stored away in the bird's stomach awaiting the process of digestion. "Nothing for it, sir, I'm afraid," said the keeper. "Was there much money in the pursy" "My lord, man, there's thousands in it, besides bonds, notes, etc.," exclaim­ ed Wallace. "Can nothing be done?" "Not unless you buy the bird, kill him and rob his stomach," answered the keeper. "Great Scott, I don't want an ostrich, dead or alive, but name your figure," said Wallace The keeper told him the bird was worth $500. "Pretty costly, but there's ten times that amount inside him, and I guess this will be one time it will pay to kill the goose for the golden egg." The bargain was almost struck, but at Mrs. Wallace's suggestion it was decided to get a surgeon to come out from ilie city and operate on the bird, and try to extract the purse without killing him outright. This plan was immediately acted upon, the operation beiiig performed by one of our young surgeons, and resulting most happily. The purse was found intact, with its valuable contents unhurt. It is now three weeks since, and the ostrich has entirely recovered, so that Wallace had merely to pay the surgeon's fee and a slight bonus to the keeper, who in turn presented Mrs. Wallace with a fine plume from the bird which came very near costing her husband so dear.-- Los Angeles Letter to Philadelphia Times. He •'.new Her. Postoffice clerks no doubt possess- a larger amount of general information than they are sometimes credited with, but the Irish World tells of one con­ cerning whom the exact opposite is true. 1 had occasion to go to the postoffice to solicit aia in "tracing" a package that had failed to be delivered in season for Christmas. The politeness of the clerks reminded me of a friend of ours who was a postoffice clerk, and one of the most polite of Irishmen. He was born in County ICildare, and emigrated to New York at 10 years of age. At 25 he had attained a six-foot physique, a big black beard, and a clerkship in an up-town postoffice station. He told me gleefully that one day, looking through the little brass bars of the "general delivery" he saw approach­ ing a Mr. Barney McGufiin, a fine old Irish gentleman he had known at home. The old man was unchanged, but the boy had outgrown Mx. McGufiin's re­ membrance. "Is it too late for the steamer?" said Mr McGufiin, as he poked a lettef through the bars for THE WIDOW O'BRIEN, Curragh of Kildare, lvildare Co., Ireland, whom Tom had also known as his fath­ er's neighbor at home. "Is this to the Widow O'Brien, who lives cn the Ballywink Road?" asked Tom. "And how did you know she lived on the Ballywink Road?" 'XWhat would I be doing in the post- office if I don't know that the Widow O'Brien lived on the Ballywink Road?" Tom said that frequently after that he saw the old mail gazing at him with awe and wonder, as he explained to some companion: "That's the man what knows every­ body in Ireland." HOW DESERTS ARE BEAUTIFIED. Seed Carried by Various Means to the Desolate Spots of Earth.-" . -> The terrible eruption of Ivrakatoa, In the Sunda Strait, in 1883, furnished the opportunity, for illustrating the ease with which nature can replant With vegetable life a district that has be­ come completely desolated. The vol­ canic eruption was one of the most de­ structive recorded in history, the loss of human life being estimated to ex­ ceed 100,000. Of the'thirty-five volca-* noes on and near the Island of Java twenty-six ^vere in violent eruption at the same tihie. The center of disturb-" ance was the Island of Krakatoa, which emitted molten lava and burning ashes in such abundance that every living thing, whether aninu'J^or vegetable, on the island was destroyed, and an ob­ server from a ship which approached close to the land declared that the whole islanu was red hot. Four years from the date of the eruption the islandi was visited by an eminent naturalist, who found that the ashes and lava had! cooled to such an extent as to permit the beginnings of vegetable life, and on- making a closer examination he dis­ covered that during the brief space of four years nature had stocked the isl­ and with 246 different kinds of plants. There are many seeds which seem, by - their formation, to Js? specially design­ ed for transmission through the air, and of these several are quite as goad illus­ trations as the thistle. The seed of the common dandelion, a plant to be seen on every common, lias wings which vvilr carry it away on the very slightest" breath of air. The wings are very slight filaments, radiating backward from the seed, so that when the latter finally lodges It falls tip first, in the most favorable position for taking root." Country children in the United States often find amusement in blowing tlie seeds from the staik and watching to see how far they mil go before falling to the ground, but whenever there is even a> moderate breefz^j&e experiment is uniformly a failure,, as the fleecy seed fly out of sight and; a^yjtone in an in­ stant, and the next seasoll a dandelion springs up in somebody's lawn where the plant was never seen before. The common tumble weed i» another exam­ ple of the winged seed. The plant grows in a woolly bunch which when dried is easily separated from the stalk and a. light breeze sets the ball rolling over the ground: to. scatter its seed wherever it goes. The'seeds of many ferns and micro­ scopic plants are- so constructed as to be readily lifted'and' carried away by the wind, while some of considerable size ai'e provided witli an elaborate ur- raugement for aeriali transportation. The common maple is an example of the last kind, for projecting from its large-head is a membrane closely re­ sembling in size, shape and general ap­ pearance the wing of the locust. When the seed is separated from the tree, even? if the air be quite stiTL it does not fall dliectly to the earth, but by its peculiar construction acquires in fall­ ing a' spiral motion that takes it sev­ eral feet from beneath the starting point, ?i.ml when a brisk breeze is blow­ ing one of these winged seeds has been known to twirl'through the air for six miles before its journey came to an end and it sank to the ground, there to ger­ minate and start a maple grove--St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Foreign Home Market? This foreign market, for which every tariff/idealist and every Democratic fr«e ^trader longingly sighs, Is only Machine Made Matches. The Diamond Match Company, which is getting possession of the markets of the world, by reason of its making matches cheaper than any other coun­ try, has for years paid out big money for improved machinery. One of Its factories at Barberton, Ohio, lias eleven machines \Vhich produce 177,- 940,800 gross of matches ready for the market in one day, with 104 girls, 86 men and 76 boys. By the English proc­ ess the best factory In the world out­ side the Diamond, to turn out this vast amount would require 8,000 hands, j Another Car. The New York Tribune reports an unusual Incident in connection with a recent trip of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from New Y'ork to Boston by special train. The train, it appears, left New York shortly.after midnight, and somewhere on the way the con­ ductor received a dispatch which read, "Stop at Westerly to take on D. R. car:" To a railroad' man "D. R. car" means "drawing-room car.** When the train got to Westerly, therefore, it stopped, and the conductor looked round for a drawing-room car. There was none in sight, and he waited to make inquiry about it. Nobody around the station had seen any drawing-room car. As soirta as the train stopped a man who had been waiting at the station got on board and took a seat in a smoking compartment. When he had been seated there for a few minutes the conductor came in. "Conductor," said the man, "why doesn't the train start?" "Why," said the conductor, "I have orders to stop here for a drawing-room car, and I can't find it. You have just got on; did you see any drawing-room car around here?" "No," the new passenger answered, "I haven't seen any." "Well, here is the dispatch," said the conductor: "Stop at Westerly to take on D. 11. car." "Oh." said the passenger, "that doe3 not stand for 'drawing-room,' that stands Tor 'doctor.' I am Dr. Carr. I have been called suddenly to attend an important case in Providence, and the train was ordered to stop here for me." The train went on. * '*' Vegetable Wool Seed. Governor Culberson of Texas has re­ ceived from United States Consul Pas- trewski for distrubution some seeds of the plura cotton, which grows in Teni on a perennial tree lasting years, and is said to have blossoms and bolls at the same time. It commands a much high­ er price than our American cotton. It has a longer and finer staple, and mixes advantageously in woolen fabrics. It is called vegetable wool, and owing to its peculiar properties does not compete with the ordinary cotton raised in the South. Wood for Pillows. Most Mongolian beauties do not know what a feather pillow means, and the Japanese pillow consists of a lump of wood about the size of a loaf of bread, with a piece of soft paper tied on top of it, so that it will just fit into Yum Yum's neck and prop her head off the floor. Scarcity of Women. There is so great a dearth of young women in the northwestern provinces of Canada that many young men there find it impossible to get married.--New York Tribune. " - . Signers of the Declaration. Thirty-nine of the fifty-six men .who signed the Declaration of Independ­ ence were college graduates. freak Reptile. One of the most Interesting creations of nature is the luminous centipede, a curious combination of lizard, snake, and natural electric light pjlant. It is about one and one-fotirth inches long, its body is very narrow and ap­ pears to be in sections. In consequence of this peculiar formation the creature appears to moVe sideways except when frightened. Then the natural electric light plant feature appears, and with an almost instantaneous wave-like motion, be­ ginning at the tail, the color of the reptile changes from orange to a green­ ish phosphorescent shade. Then, spark­ ling like a tiny streak of green light, the creature darts-away to a place of refuge. When one of the pair is In search of its mate the color growa^a bright yellow, but at will the centipede can resume its darker color, and then, If lying close to the grain of a piece of wood, is hardly noticeable.--St. Louis Pos t -D i sp a t ch . v . Lawn Tennis..' Lawn tennis was invented by Major Walter Wingfield, who brought out the game, under another name, in 1874. The first public game was played in 1875. New Woman Embezzler. A woman clerk in the Memphis post- office has been arrested for embezzling $3,000. ' No business is a success unless it is profitable during the dullest times.