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Ancient Relic. ' At Konjiea in Herzegovina a sanctu^ ary of Mitbra was recently discovered* being the first ever found in the Bal­ kan peninsula. In every town there is a certain place where all the loafers congregate. HOT FIGHT AT HAND. -- CAMPAIGN IN VARIOUS STATES TAKING DEFINITE SHAPE. Republican Leaders Are Confident of Sweepinj; Success--Too Confident, It J» Suggested by Those Watching Events. ,'; '""1' " The Political Situation. , Interest is beginning ta center in the campaigns in the various states wlierc elections are to be held this fall. Par- . tics arriving here from New York. Nebraska, Kentucky, Iowa and Ohio, report extreme activity and interest in the light which is to be made 111 those states. Remarkable as it is that the silver cause should still have any life left in it, it is a fact. It is to-be made the basis of the battle in every state where there are important elections this fall. One year ago One ounce Of • silver would buy one bushel of wheat in Ncyr: York; now it takes two ounces, and silver is1 still falling and wheat still rising. It would scarcely seem possible that anybody could success­ fully argue in favor of currency made from a metal whose value has fallen over 25 per cent in eighteen months. Yet that is a fact as to silver. \, On March 7th of last year it was. worth 70 cents an ounce in New York, now it is worth 52 cents. , •Kllow is it that any party can now assume to win a battle v$th silver as the chief issue in states where they could not win 011 tlmt issue a year ago, is hard to understand. On last presi­ dential election day silver .was worth (•5.7. To-day it is worth 51 cents, a fall of over 20 per cent. If the Demo­ crats could not carry Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Maryland or New York 011 the silver issue in November, 1890, with their proposed dollar worth 51 cents, how can they expect to win this fall with n dollar worth only 40 cents. Yet they are going into the fight for it „everywhere, though there are signs of weakening in spots. Situation in Ohio. The Democrats it seems, from re­ ports received, are trying to run away from their platform made but a short two months since. This action how­ ever, is not to be wondered at in view of the fact that -silver has fallen 15 per cent in value even in that short space of time. July 10 an ounce of sil­ ver was worth in the New York mar­ kets 00.0 cents and it is now worth but 52 cents and still going down. Small wonder then, that the Democrats are ashamed 6t their platform and are try- "• hig get away from it when, within two months after its adoption, the metal which it advocates as money de­ clines 15 per cent. It goes without say­ ing, however, that the Republicans of the state, will not let their opponents get away from the issue which they have made. It also goes with­ out saying that the Republi­ cans will sweep the State now that they have the enemy on the run, providing they are not over-con­ fident. Situation in New York. New York city is the coign of vantage in state contest. The fight in New York this fall relates to the mayoralty, but it is for a first mayor of the larg­ est city in the United States and sec­ ond largest in the world, and will de­ cide whether or not Tammany hall shall control Greater New York. If Tammany gets control it will greatly endanger Republican prospects in the state, indefinitely. Those oppose;! to Tammany and free silver must there- lore combine on one good man. By refusing to do so they give Greater New York and probably the state over to the Tammany-silver Democracy, in­ definitely. Sitnation in Mnryland. There is good reason to hope tliiit the party in Maryland will fall into line, now that the factional fight in Repub­ lican rallies is over, and with the aid of the gold Democrats and the anti- Gormau men win 111 the figlit for the legislature. Owing to Gorman's free silver leanings and the generally con­ ceded opinion that hei would vote for free silver in the Senate,' the sound money. Democrats throughout the state are ready to again co-operate with the Republicans as are also of course all the anti-Gorman men, to se­ cure his defeat. Generally speaking the drift all seems to be in the direction of Repub­ licanism. The people see that Bryan and the silverites made a deliberate effort to deceive them last year and many of those who voted for him will have nothing further to do with silver. But the Democratic leaders are not asleep. They are conducting an active and vigilant campaign and are out 011 a "still hunt" for votes whose result may surprise the Republicans unless they are wide-awake and working to arouse every man and push him enthu­ siastically into the fight. The tide is now all running in the right direction, but this very evidence of prospective '* victory is liable to lead to over-confi­ dence on the part of some of the Re­ publicans and to allow dissensions to arise which will prevent a solid front against the enemy. A. B. CARSON: Value of Foreign Markets. Under both a protective and a free- trade tariff we have been able to se­ cure practically the same share of trade in the markets of the world, our ex­ ports to foreign countries being $1,030,- 278.148 in 1892 and $1,051,987,091 in the 1897 fiscal year. The total imports of all foreign countries reached only $7,569,000,000 in 1888^ the latest date for which Mulhall has compiled such statistics. If we allow an increase of one-third in the value of the goods im­ ported by all foreign countries since 1888, it will give a total of ten billions of dollars as their entire value, to be competed for by all exporting nations. It is clear then that, in 1892 and in 1890, we secured each year one-tenth part, of the possible import trade of all countries in competition with the cheaper labor of all European and Asiatic manufacturing and exporting nations. We regard this as being a very favorable showing considering t he fact that we are dependent upon England for our shipping facilities, that we pay higher wages than any other country in the world, and that the value of outcome market is worth to us--when we arc prosperous under protection--nearly eight times as much as we could possibly secure if we sup­ plied all foreign countries with their entire import trajle. Pops Badly Defeated. The Populists in the Farmers' Na­ tional Congress were badly defeated during its sessions. "Calamity" Wel­ le r, of Iowa* introduced aa resolution for . the restoration of the free coinage of silver. This was re­ ported unfavorably and rejected; ' "V?n came a resolution favoring the prohibi­ tion of "private monopoly in public necessities." even to the extent of the exercise of the right of eminent do­ main and the acquirement of such ne­ cessities by the State. On a call of States a three-to-one majority against the resolution was developed. Another financial resolution was similarly dis­ posed of after a short discussion to avoid filibustering, which had been re­ sorted to by the Populists. Later in the day the Populists were again "turned down" on the final report of the Committee 011 Resolutions. Reso­ lutions were adopted commending the Secretary of Agriculture for his ef­ forts in behalf of the dairy industry: favoring government inspection and grading of butter for export, and the reduction of official salaries; providing for a committee to report a plan for co­ operation between the States for me prevention of the spread of contagious diseases > among domestic animals. Resolutions introduced by Mr. Loucks favoring the income tax, government control of telegraph and telephone, the prohibition of corporate ownership of land for speculative purposes,, and the initiative and referendum had been turned down in committee, and Mr. Loueks had made a minority report in each case. He was allowed to speak in support of each of the resolutions, and then the congress overwhelmingly sustained Its committee.--New York World. A Public Benefactor. for cotton-growers to think that their prosperity depends upon "doing some­ thing for silver," when all the silver produced in the country would not buy one in five of their cotton bales!--New York World (Dem.). The End of It. It Seems only to be a question of time when Great-Britain must cease to ex­ port any tin plates to the UnitenLSdites, and that time may jijobably" be here very soon.--Iron and Coal Traders' Re­ view, England. We hope so. This was the intent and purpose of the McKinley tariff of 1890. and it is gratifying to learn, from an authoritative foreign source, that such a favorable result is being so quickly achieved. ' , Hard for Silverites. The wheat question is a hard one for the silver patriots to explain. They are now saying the auvance in wheat in the face of the fall in silver is due to scarcity of wheat. But this very statement merely strengthens the as­ sertion of their opponents who insist that the low price of wheat was the result of plenteousness coupled with cheap production and transportation. Benefits the Laborer. "The benefit of protection goes first and last to the men who earn their bread in the sweat ,pf their faces. The auspicious and momentous result is that never before in the history of the world lias comfort been eiijoyed, edu­ cation acquired, apd independence se­ cured by so large a majority of the total population as the United States of America."--James G. Blaine. Mexico's Cheap foliar. With tne Mexican dollar worth only 40 cents, the lot of the workingman in that country does not compare favor­ ably with that of our own Avorkmau. Skilled workmen in Mexico get less than one-half the wages paid in this S country and get that in "dollars" worth only 40 cents, thus reducing the real < earnings to about one-fifth that of our own workmen. Revival of Business. ( When tlie bustle's 111 the factory and the smoke is in tlie stack. And the workman's at his bench again and has his old job hack; His voice is pitched in harmony with the workshop's pleasing din And lie laughs to hear the engine go and see the fly wheel spin -- Oh, then's the time the workingman is as happy as a lord, For there's sunshine in his home agnin and plenty for his board, And his "nest egg" in the savings bank will shortly be put back. For. there's bustle in the factory and the smoke is in the stack. 'Mid the rattle of the spindles and the whirring of the wheels; The laughter of the factory girls rings out in merry peals; The hurry in the shipping room, where they've so long been still, Till prosperity came back again with or­ ders they could fill; The tooting of the whistle when the quit- ting hour draws near, And the happy workers leave their tasks for their homes now full of cheer-- But t'> a Democratic tariff they'll ne'er again go back. For there's bustle in the factory and the smoke is in the stack. --American' Economist. An IcnoramonR. Not one American in a thousand is in favor of tlie abominable tariff which is now 011 the eve of becoming law.-- New York correspondent ,pf the Morn­ ing Post, London. Wtiere does this correspondent hiber­ nate during tliesje balmy days of good business, When all clfrsfeesF of people are feeling the good effects of the Ding- ley protective tarffV The odds are an elephant to an apple that he is a mem­ ber of the "Tariff Reform" club or 011 the staff of one of 6Ur free-trade dailies. Perhaps both. Hence liis ignorance is due to his surroundings. Political Paragraphs. Wool has made as big an advance as wheat in the past year. Is that the re- ' suit of "scarcity," too? The free-traders are not shouting about that recent sale of American tinf; in foreign markets. _ Altgeld (to McLean)--"Why didn't you take warning by my. fate and keep that gold bond out of sight7" Was It the "gold powers" of Great Britain that sent statistician Mulhall over here to show that this is the most prosperous country in tne world? The more the coal strike is studied the more apparent it becomes that the reduction in coal tariff by the Wilson law is responsible for the low wages which caused it. The advance in the price of wooi and sheep will soon bring back to the farmers the $75,000,000 loss in the value of sheep which befell them un­ der the Wilson law. Did Mr. Bryan demand that $1,500 he is to get for his Ohio speech in "gold coin of present standard, weight and fineness?" That is the habit of his masters; why not Bryan, too? Professor Wilson dogg rnojt seem to be much in demand asi.,» campaign orator among the Democrats this year. Ilis name is a little too suggestive of the recent bitter experiences of the workingmen and farmers 6f this coun­ try. One remarkable development of the opening months of the new tariff law is the general gratification with which it is accepted irrespective of party. Even the Democrats are omitting the usual talk about increase in prices un­ der the new law. Evils of Jealousy. The physicians say that the enter­ tainment of jealousy really, has a dis­ organizing effect upon the body, and certainly it is disturbing to the mind. A jealous woman may have been as lovely as a May morning, but jealousy upsets her. Jealousy guarantees biliousness. Biliousness makes bad temper, cross words. These, too, are disturbing to the cook, and she sends bad food to the table. The man can't eat it, and his business goes wrong all day. A jeal­ ous, bilious woman is a bad mother. She upsets the children, and money has to be paid out for medicine for them, oinestie jealousy becomes in time / dangerous. Professional or. busi­ ness jealousy fills. The woman who -whispers a convenient detrimental [ word about an associate into the ear' j of her patron or employer may bene- ! lit for a day. I11 the end, he concludes she is untrustworthy. very The FoltSr of It. The statistics of the cotton crop for last year show it to have been 8,757.- 904 bales. It has been sold for about $350,000,000, or somewhere more than the total volume of the greenback cur­ rency. This is more than five times the value of the annual silver product of the country. What folly is It men "Alcohol," said Mr. Martindale, m a paper read recently before the Pharma­ ceutical Society, "is not a germicide. When present to tli(? extent of twenty per cent by volume of absolute alcohol, it has an inhibitory effect 011 the germi­ nation of most of the micro-organisms occurring in aqueous solutions of vege­ table and animal substances; out the germs propagate readily as it evapor­ ates." ILLINOIS STATE NEWS OCCURRENCES* DURING PAST WEEK. THE . .Rehearing Granted in the Ramsay Case--Telegraph Com pany Not Liable for Failure to Pelivcr a Message-- Attempt to Wreck a Train. Creditors of Ramsay. The Carlyle creditors of the late State Treasurer Iiufus N. Ramsey have been notified by a telegram received from Mount Vernon that a rehearing had been granted by the Appellate Court in the case of Witbeek and others versus the depositors of the Ramsay .bank, which closed nearly three years ago because of the death of the proprietor. The demise of Ramsay disclosed the fact that he was in debt to the State of Illinois to the ex­ tent of nearly $500,000. A portion of this was collected by the Chicago bonds­ men. The balance, $303,000, was paid by them and a claim was filed for that amount against the estate, Which was al­ lowed iij the county court. The Carlyle creditors contested, as the payment of this amount meant the swallowing up of all their money ill the bank. The case was appealed the the circuit court and Judge Wall rendered a decision in favor of the Carlyle people, holding that the sureties were guilty of conspiracy. The Chicago parties appealed to the appellate court, and the opinion of the lower court was re­ versed and the case remanded. The coun­ sel for tlie depositors petitioned for a re- heairiug, which has been granted. Want the Four Dnms Removed. The executive -committee of the Lower Illinois River Valley Association met in Jacksonville to consider the condition of the Illinois River and to make plans for holding a great convention at Bearda- town, Oct. 21, to urge the Illinois and Missouri Congressmen to work for the removal of the four dams in the river be­ tween La Salle and the mouth. The scheme of locks and dams was vigorously denounced by Congressman Hinrichsen and others as tending to spread death •md destruction over hundreds of thousands of acres of land when the sanitary canal from Chicago is opened. The committee will organize a grand excursion to Beards- town and invite many Congressmen to at­ tend. The hope is to have the govern­ ment remove the locks and dams and de­ pend on dredging for navigation in ury times. Try to Wreck an Alton Train. Detectives of the Chicago and Alton road are at work investigating what they believe was a dastardly attempt to wreck the Chicago palace express train which passes through Alton at 0 o'clocK in the morning. Soon after daybreak a heavy bridge crossing the Alton track in the deep cut just outside the Alton city lim­ its was discovered afire. The Chicago train was due in a short time, and a mes­ senger ran up the track to intercept it. His warning was timely, for the train could hardly have escaping a wreck at the bridge. When the engineer came to a stop, 100 yards above the lire, a heavy timber that had fallen from the burning bridge lay across the track. The train­ men examined the bridge, and were as­ tounded to find that it had been literally saturated with coal oil. Company Not Liable. The Appellate Court decided in the case of the Western Union Telegraph Com­ pany vs. Haltom. appealed from the Law­ rence Circuit Court, that the company was not liable for its failure to deliver a telegram to Haltom, notifying liini of his brother's death, until several days after the funeral occurred. The lower court gave Haltom $230 damages, but the Appellate Court reversed and remanded the case, and says mental anguish and angered feeling in this class of cases do not justify the recovery of damages where they are not connected with an injury to the person. Sharp Lookout at Cairo. Drs. A. II. Mann of Springfield and J. N. Neely and P. S. Donne of Chicago, appointed by the State Board of Hea'th, are now inspecting every boat ind train arriving in Cairo from the South, to guard against yellow fever. They have chartered the tug Wanda for their use. Trains are detained at East Cairo, Ky., and Bird's Point, Mo., as they arrive, while the physicians go through them, the boats stopping in midstream. So far the doctors have found 110 suspicious cases. '• Decatur Women Run the Cars. The Ladies' Aid Society of the First Presbyterian Church of Decatur assum­ ed the management of the City Electric Street Railway . jibes for one day. They bought the business of the company for the day at about $125, the company to furnish the motonneh and an extra man for each car to manage the trolley. The women themselves looked after the fares. The women were in uniform. Each car was decorated lavishly with flags and golden rod. Before the day dawned the women had sold enough tickets in ad­ vance to cover expenses, and it is thought they will come out about $250 ahead. Prisoners' Effort to Kscane Fails. Edward Nelson of Decatur, James Win- stoe of Cincinnati, and Matt Divine of Chicago, burglars confined in the DeKalb County jail, made a desperate ••(Tort to escape by picking the locks and prying out the bars of a ventilator. Nelson got fast in the ventilator and was captured by Sheriff Shafter. THE LAST WORD. Uncle Sam--"Why don't you build some yachts that cm race?" John Bull---Why don't ytu build some ships that can ci.rry freight? State News in Brief. Burt McAllister was killed it Flora by a lumber pile falling on him. The progress of fall plowing has been checked by the long-eontiuu.?d drought and heat. At Martinsville tlie Odd Fellows temple was dedicated by II. A. Stone of Van- dalia, past grand master of the lodge of Illinois. The 17-year-old daughter of Nic Sellweiehstall, of Big Woods, was fatally burned by an explosion while attempting to light a fire with kerosene. The Secretary of State has licensed the incorporation of the Illinois Alaskan Min­ ing Company, with a capital sto,-k of $250,000. *The headquarters are at Chi­ cago. ' Dr. H. R. Carter, chief surgeon of the" Chicago marine hospital, has been order­ ed to Ocean Springs, Miss., to assist oili­ er government physicians in preventing a spread of yellow fever. After long months of controversy, the Waukegan City Council passed an ordi­ nance for docking the new harbor. This much-wanted action was greeted with cheers by the spectators present. An injunction issued by Judge Trimble of the Circuit Court was served on one set of teachers at Spring Valley, by the Baxter-Hercer section of: the Board of Education. The injunction'restrains them from teaching and from interfering.. in­ timidating, interrupting or annoying the others. Judge A. Iv. Viekcrs of Vienna render­ ed .a .'decision making permanent the writ of injunction against the Postal Tele­ graph Company, restraining it from building its line on the right of way of the Cairo aniT 'St. Louis Railroad. The telegraph company will l>e compelled Vo wait until the Illinois Supreme Court, passes on the. matter. Joseph C. Howard, a historic landmark in Macoupin County, i,s dead. Patrick Kennedy, of Jacksonville, while insane; committed suicide by shooting. • Frank B. Fay. aged 60 years, a promi­ nent merchant of Marengo, dropped dead. At Carlinville, Joseph M. Howell. 82 years old, the oldest Settled in the county, is dead. Burglars blew a safe in the store of Mohr & Hass, at Danvers, but got almost nothing. W. sf Minton, onekkof the oldest and wealthiest citizens of Charleston, 07 years old, is dead. At Ramsey, while the family was ab­ sent at church, James Beck's house was entirely destroyed by lire. Wilmette has 110 room in its school to accommodate all pupils and .the opening of the term has been delayed. Miss Mary Williams, 29 years old, a Chicago school teacher* is missing. She had threatened to commit suicide. Mrs. Mary Lesher, of 803 Fulton street,* Chicago, burned at her home by gasoline, died at the Presbyterial Hospital. John Kelly of Chicago plunged 125 feet from a derrick into the Calumet River be­ cause he could not obtain work. He, was 20 years old. " • • . Glericoc has a "blind pig/', The village Council will have the beverage sold there analyzed, and if it is contraband prose­ cution will follow. j; Miss Myrta-Lara Mason, formerly of Bellevue place, Chicago, has-been appoint­ ed assistsni; in ;tlie musica 1 department of the library of congress. . v ; Turpentine arid a lighted match caused the death in Chicago of Charlotte Dipo, 18 years bid.. Her mother, Mrs. O. Dipo, was also severely burned. v V' George Hobbs. night clerk at the North­ western Hotel, in Aurora, was shot and seriously wounded by Oscar Demory. The affair was J,he result of an old feud. A. C. Burnham, one of Champaign's wealthiest citizens, and one of the most prominent men in his section of Illinois, died from the effects of heat prostration. John G. Manahan, a well-known patent lawyer, died at liis home in Sterling. He served during the civil war and had suf­ fered ever since front being shot through the body. When the case of Mrs. Catherine E. Meyer and Corydon Miller, indicted 011 a charge* of conspiracy, was called in Judge Baker's court, Chicago, Mrs. Meyer for­ feited her bonds of $5,000. Mrs. Howard McFarland, of McLean, was burned to death by her clothing ig­ niting from a gasoline stove. Her son, aged 8. was very severely burned in a heroic endeavor to save his mother. Policeman George Grafton of Chicago shot and fatally wounded George Wood­ ward as he with three others was en­ deavoring to effect an entrance to the residence' of J. E. I.ee on West Monroe street. As the paper train from Oh i cm go on the Northwestern Railroad was howbng along at a mile a minute clip beyond Lake Bluff the connecting rods on both sides of the engine broke and smashed the cab to fragments. The Illinois State Normal University at Normal -opened for the year with the hu'gest attendance in its history. About 5o0 students are' enrolled in the normal department proper, and a number have not jet arrived. Annie Rickling, 15 years old. is lying at the point of death at the Englewood Union Hospital with a bullet wound in her groin, inflicted by her mother. It was an accident, due to the careless handling of a loaded revolver. The children of the town of Lake For­ est, twenty-four miles from Chicago, will be kept away from school until tlie law has decided whether the City Council or the Board of Education of the suburb has control of the schools. Firemen fought a prairie fire in Rogers Park for two hours, and it was vnt*n dif­ ficulty that several residences were saved. The fire burned over several acres of prairie and destroyed the fences and side­ walks for many blocks. Natural gas in large quantities was struck ten mile's wCst of Palmyra. Vance Imnions was overcome by the deadly fumes, and when he was dragged out life was extinct. The well was e-losev< and piped, the ignited gas rising over 200 feet. E. J. Hunus of 7035 Page street, Chi­ cago, followed his wife to a dance hall, watched her dance a quadrille and then called her into the street, drew a revol­ ver. and fired five shots at her. One of the bullets lodged in the left jaw and an­ other in the neck. At Galesburg the corner-stone of the new building of the Young Men's Chris­ tian Association was laid, in the pres­ ence of a very large congregation. It was a joyful occasion for the association of the city, which li.is Labored for fifteen years for this result. John G. Manahan, one of the best known lawyers in Northern Illinois, lied at Sterling. He had been three times mayor of the city, a member of the legis­ lature and trustee of the deaf and dumb asylum at Jacksonville and had held other offices of honor and trust, * M rs.,M. M. Bremks. better known as "Auntie Brooks," died of old age at. Pa mi. She was 88 years old. Mrs. Brooks was, perhaps, one of the widest known, best loved and most remarkable characters in the Union, gaining her prominence through her connection with the civil war. She was an nrniy nurse at all the ' ]V1 arouna ami collect tnem iast eii bit eh FOR MORE COLLEGES. " - N Secretary Wilson Favors Smaller Institutions. "It never occurred to me that there were too many colleges," said Secre­ tary Wilson the other day. "I-always thought there were not enough. I have heard of men being educated beyond their capacity and women beyond their" sphere, but I am very sure that the learning they acquired must have con­ tributed to their happiness as well as to their usefulness. I have heard of men being spoiled by education, but I have never seen such a thing, and it seems to me that a man who is a fool with an education wqulel be a bigger fool without one. A ma 11 who is spoiled by education, if such a thing is possi­ ble, must have ben made of very poor stuff to begin with. You canot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. That has been demonstrated by the experience of Centuries, but in all my career as an educator I have never found a boy or a girl who wasn't the better for learn­ ing something, and the nearer you get the colleges to the people the more people you will get into the colleges. I don't bellevein the big institutions. I don't believe iu the centralization of educational facilities. I think that they do more good if they are scatter­ ed. The fewer the pupils a professor lias, the more attention he can give them, and while, of course, he ought to have enough to provide him a decent compensation he ought not to have more than lie can handle. There are forty colleges in Iowa already,. and they are multiplying all the time. I hope to see the day when there is a college in every county and 500 stu­ dents in eyery college. These local col­ leges may not afford the same privil­ eges for a scientific education that a young man can obtain at Yale or Har- varel or Princeton, but you must re­ member that comparatively few famil­ ies are able to send their sons to such Institutions, or any considerable dis­ tance from home. The most useful col­ lege for the Western States is one which lets the students go to their homes every Friday night and stay over until Monday morning. Some of the institutions out West are very poor, but they are not too poor to give a boy an education, and they can teach him lessons in economy iu addition to the other sciences. "Auother thing I object to," contin­ ued the Secretary, "is the talk I hear about the extravagances of the farm­ ers. A farmer has the right to live as well as anybody, provided he can af­ ford the expense, and I never yet have known a man to mortgage his farm to pay household expenses. The condi­ tion of our farmers is growing better and better all the time", and I like to see it. Formerly they used to have a home-made rag carpet in the parlor and bare floors over the rest of the house. Now they have pretty Brussels carpets and have sent the rag carpets to the chambers. Formerly people wont to church and to town in lumber wag­ ons, and if they were pretty'well off they had spring seats. Now nearly ev­ ery farmer put in my country has a carriage, anel a handsome set of har­ ness. Formerly it used to be the height of a woman's ambition to have a melodeon or cabinet organ. Now she must have a piano. Formerly tljo girls made their own clothes; now thejThave their Sunday gowns cut out by the dressmaker in the nearest town, al­ though they still do the stitching them­ selves, And they are all the better for it. This advance has harmed nobody and has brought a great deal of happi­ ness. It is the result of education and refinement and the elevation of the taste, and I do not think those quali­ ties are any more out of place in a farmhouse than in a brown stone pal­ ace in the city. ' "While these advantages and enjoy­ ments have added to the cost of living, nobody has gone to the poorhouse 011 that account. The same degree of in­ telligence Is just as valuable 011 r. farm as in a counting house or a manufac­ tory, and the mortgages that lie upon tlie farms of Iowa are not due to ex­ travagance, but to improvements. They represent more land and Improved im­ plements and line cattle and horses. The farmer gets a better crop and more of it, and he keeps adding to his own wealth as well as to the weal'b of the nation." A Delicacy of Civilization. To a grand dinner, given tlie oilier day at Belgrade by an august parson­ age to some foreigners of distinction visiting the Servian capital, s^vural members of the Skuptschln-", or Na­ tional Parliament, liau been invited. One of the alien guests, a well-known French financier, happened to sit next to a Servian M. P., and was cons'.dcra- lily eliverted by his quaint expvufcvvts for eloaling with certain attr'buS-xs of civilization obviously unfam'har Vtli ae'eursed things, >re." and. I w.u tejun. At the end of the feast the pay expenses." So he posted notlcefjreuehman selected a tooth-pick from asking all who owed him to pay quicklyjtray and passed the receptacle to his But few came. The rest said: "Mine jji'Ighbor, who declined iiis offer, Any- only a small matter, and I will go andF' "Xo- 1 have alread-v eaton of pav one of these days," forgetting that] though each account was very small that! all together meant a very large sum fa Long Reigns. the farmer. Things went on and tbfj^ 's no^ generally known that Nor­ man got to feeling so bndlv and rolle<laj cau ^oast of one of the ion^est „ • , , '. ,. „ .Jigns known in European history. Ilar-and tossed about so much in his effort^ Fairhai the foUTjdor of kl to collect that he iell out of bed an<()m of Nonyay an(1 of the <lvn, * awoke, and running out to the graiier|.hich rcIgm?<i during 400 years, br.- ̂ nie send representatives' or attend king at the age of 10, 800, and dieO 033. the'ceremonies in bodies. Mrs. Joseph McDonald died suddenly at her home in Percy. One of the ehildren went into the house aiid found the mother lying on the floor dead, from heart dis­ ease. .The 15-year-old son of Frank Sniilh. living near Westville, shot his 14-year-old sister with a shotgun. She will, not re­ cover. The boy thought the ^1111 was not loaded After spending many years in the Lin­ coln Park "zoo," at Chicago, Jim, the mountain lion, died Wednesday morning of consumption, after an illness ef many weeks. Three members of e>x-President Cleve­ land's; household 'formed a law partner­ ship in Chicago. They are Edwin F. Chi. former minister to Germany: Frank II. •Jones, 1'Ormeir assistant postmaster gen­ eral, and Kenesaw M. L-indis, former private secretary, to- - Secretary of State Gresham. After apparently succumbing to the cx- cessive heat, a Chicago cow. suddenly re- vivod, raVamuck on the West Side.'and before-its wild race was • stopped by ex­ haustion the animal gored a boy into insensibilityv dashed through the plate- glass window of a bakery and threw scores of pedestrians and bicyclists into a panic. If he had not designed, owing *0 his advanced age, in 930, he might have held the "record" of Europe, which now belongs to Louis XIV., of France. Next to Harald Fairhair comes his also very notable "descendant, Haakon the Old, 1217-03, with forty-six years of glorious reign. Convicts as Road "Makers. North Carolina has given her sister State* a most valuable object les­ son in getting her convicts to roadmaking. It is all right to give the inmates of Sing Sing a classical education, but for the crim­ inal--for the average man--there is more redemption in the sweat that comes from a hard day's work than In all the Greek and Latin and free hand drawing that the pedagogues know. The North Carolina experiment Is a success. The prisoners do good work, are better physically and morally, and are maintained at less expense than in­ side the prison walls, and under the system by which they are worked make roads vastly superior to any the State has .before had. By putting the convicts on the roads two vexatious questions-- that of roads and that of convicts- solve each other. Roads and. fioadmaklBff, Kentucky was one of the early West­ ern States to take an active interest lii roadmaking. It was the policy of the State to co-operate with its minor polit­ ical divisions in the construction of roads, and many years ago a corps of engineers set to work to lay off roads in all parts of the Blue Grass State. In England the first cost of making a highway is estimated at $4,000 per mile; in France it is §0,000 and in Italy $?,- 000 per mile. The principal item of cost in England arises from the necessary purchase of property; in the mountain districts of France from the nature of the country through which the road runs. - ' & I11 Chinese length measure ten fnn equal one tsun, or an inch; ten tsnn equal one chih, or the standard treaty foot; that is,the foot arranged by treaty between China and the various foreign Powers holding direct intercourse with the Empire. This being 14.1 inches, ten chih equal one chang, or about two fathoms, or twelve feet. There are two general systems of roadmaking--the macadam and the Tel­ ford. Macadam preferred a yielding foundation, and laid broken stone di­ rectly upon the earth; according to the Telford system, large blocks were placed as a foundation on which to toy smaller crushed stone with a covering <3f gravel, sand or ashes. Plank roaels have been tried in many quarters of this country, but are not considered successful, the cost of main­ tenance being too great; the planks aft* apt to. sliver, thus wounding the feet and legs of horses. They are also ex­ tremely apt to get out of place, and thus cause serious accidents to animals and vehicles. i K3® MYSTERIES REVEALED. How a Chicajco Keporter Got Hie Sunday Story. So numerous are secret societies in Chicago that many large buildings are devoted almost exclusively to their use, the upper floors being divided into lodge-rooms, which are occupied regn- lariy six nights in the week. One o£ these buildings is located directly op­ posite a newspaper office. It happened once upon a time that a writer in the employ of the paper, while cudgeling his brains for material out of which to evolve a "special" for the Sunday is­ sue, looked abseutmineleelly out of the fourth story window near which he was sitting. It was evening, and the light stream­ ing from the window of the lodge-room opposite caught his eye. The window was provided with a kind of Venetian blind, but the brethren had neglected to close the slats, and the interior of the room was plainly visible to the ob­ server across the street. An initiation was in progress. He quickly turned out Lis own light, lest it should attract the attention of some suspicious member of the lodge, and watched the proceedings. He saw a candidate, blindfolded, with coat ami vest off, and in his stock- lug feet, marching around the room be­ tween two athletic conductors, each holding him by a firm grip on the arm. Two men walked a short distance ahead of him, dragging a strip of car­ pet over the floor. They stopped now and then and allowed the candidate to step on the strip, when they instantly jerked it out from uneler his feet, near­ ly throwing him down. His conductors promptly jerked him up again, and t!*e procession continued to move, the exercises being varied by occasionally banging the blindfolded man about liis head with what appear­ ed to be bladders filled with air. This portion of the ceremony over, the victim was led up to a stand about three feet high in the cefiter of thj room, assisted to mount it, and at a sig­ nal was pushed over into a large blan­ ket held at the corners and sides by six or eight stout men, who instantly toss­ ed him up in the air, and repeated the performance till they were tired. At each uplift the candidate appear­ ed to hit the ceiling, and his gyrations and desperate efforts to save himself convulsed the unsuspected watcher with laughter, as it probably did the brethren in the lodge-room. At the conclusion of the blanket-toe­ ing, the unfortunate victim was allpw- i&a mf .. % •V\J? ;: •:. o»-;s5'v The Judge's Suggestion. The following story is told of Judge Wilson, of Ohio: "Several lawyrs gathered in Judge Wilson's room ;.fter adjournment of court, and wen; dis­ cussing the retirement of a member of the, bar. Among them was one wii-;se practice is worth $25,000 a year. He said: 'I have been practicing several years, and tim well fixed. I have thought I should like to retire and de­ vote my remaining years to studies I have neglected.' 'Study law,' said Judge Wilson." Eloped, in ller Stocking Feet. A young woman in Virginia got out of a, second-story window in her home and walked three-miics in lier stocking feet in the, snow to join a yen us man. They eloped to Hr.gerstown, Md., and were married. ed to array himself in his custoihary garb, and was conducted to the chair of the presiding officer, where, presum­ ably. he was instructed orally in the other,"secret work" of the order, and the ceremony lost its interest for the outside observer. These eletails. with appropriate illus­ trations, were published in the Sunday paper a few days later--and the slats lu that lodge-room window were never left open again. London Theater Thieves. The purses, watches and other arti­ cles stolen outside the theater doors of London within one week represented in valub over $5,000.