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^TIcriOH em* - i: • ' . V. V- • i"* T A ' V j ' . mm • " J , ̂ .A ' . • V ' k . v . . • . •• • " ON THE STILL RIVER. There was considerable ill-feeling be­ tween the two camps, it ail began with Billy Chetwynde declaring that he oould paddle from Silver Glen darn to the railroad bridge in twenty minutes. Kobody had ever thought of doing it in Bess than twenty-five before, and Hal Burgess, who heard Billy's boasting irom the other tent, stuck his head through the flap and said: "What you crowing about, Billy? Do you want to make a new record for JSifll River?" "I can do a better sprint than you, sagrway, Mr. Smartie!" exclaimed Bil- Hy, shying a sauce-pan at Hal's head. 3Sat the head was immediately with­ drawn and there was only Hal's mock- §ng laugh in reply to the missile, and that was all the beginning. But the «nding Haljtook it up the next morning as »oon as Billy appeared. "When you going to make that wonderful record, Billy T he asked, and before the day was over we were all squabbling over the individual paddling of both crowds. <Kothing would satisfy us but a chance tournament in which every member of the Chetwynde crowd was pitted against some member of the Burgess fraternity. Now take my advicewhen­ ever two parties ,of school friends camp oat near each other see that there is no racing or trials of dexterity. At least Sf you want a quiet time. j There isn't a more peaceful spot in xl! the State than the stretch of quiet -water known as Still River. But from the day Billy and Hal got to wrangling •ver who could make the best time be­ tween the dam and the railroad bridge, the two tents full of fellows were in a continual squabble. Before we were all having a jolly good time and every fellow behaved himselif. But after the "mild-eyed angel of peace folded its wings and fled"--well, as my young brother Teddy remarked with great freedom of speech, "the Kilkenny cats weren't in it!" , The race came off, and naturally the greatest excitement was over the trial the trouble at the mill" did not want oHal's father as arbitrator, and there­ fore .the message was to be sent him from Lonsdale so that there would be less liability of the strikers learning of it. I thought myself that old' Nolan was a pretty leaky sort of fellow to be let into the secret, for if he'd tell a party of school boys like us, why wouldn't lie tell other people? Naturally we were all excited over the prospect of a row, and the day the strike came off Hal and two or three of his crowd went over to Silver Glen to see what was goiiig on. Mr. Bur­ gess wouldn't be able to get up till the evening train, which reached the Glen at- about 7. and the hands had a whole day to talk and get filled up on Sain Pickle's whisky. They'd be in fine fighting humor by night. Most of us forgot the recent race and a good many of our differences in the strike excitement. But Billy Chet­ wynde was as gloomy as an owl and spent most of the day on the river. He couldn't get over his defeat at Hal's hands. , Heretofore Hal and him had been as "thick as thieves"--the chum­ miest chums in the school--and I don't know but the fact that they were no longer "friends really troubled Billy more than being beaten in the canoe race. Hal didn't show up at supper time, and Fred, who came down from the Glen.early in the afternoon, said he was worried. The temper of some of the strikers was bad and Fred said he fear­ ed Hal had got into trouble. Billy, when he heard this, got out his canoe again and paddled up stream. What happened after that Ave only know from Billy's own story, and for a won­ der, as it is hard work to get Billy to talk about it even now. He padflled up to the dam to see if he could hear or see anything of Hal. It was getting dusky on the river, and as he went up near the west bank be was entirely in the shadow. Some of the men--maybe half a dozen of them - were talking-together under the dam the Lonsdale crossing on time, and In the half darkness the engineer saw a figure wildly climb the trestle and swing its arms almost iij front of the engine at the edge of the bridge. The engine-driver stopped 'the train in time, the loose rail Was discovered, aijd af$er it whs repaired they bore Billy to Silver Glen in a state of mil(l°col- lapse, but a good deal of a hero. The canoe record of the Still River course remains something like eighteen minutes, and nobody has since cared to scale down Billy's time. But J doubt if Billy cares much about the- record after all. now that Hal and he are friends again.--Rocky Mountain News. TELEPHONES IN THE NAVY. / Onr Warships Equipped with a New Set of Signals.' <> The present war between this country and Spain is credited with hastening the equipment of United States, naval. Vessels with a new si^naliifg system; The\ apparatus of the Telepliotos Company, of Buffalo, has been/ap­ proved bykthe United States Navy De- partmefi^f^and several sets are being made for American warships. The t^frphotos is considered the most rapid, most powerful and effective night sig*' nal system yet invented. It consists of series of four double lanterns, light­ ed by powerful groups of incandescent lamps, the four double lanterns being hung vertically on strong wire cables, the upper end of which can be run up to a mast or yardarm, while the lower end is intended to be fastened to the deck of the vessel. The upper half of each lamp is white and has within it a group of three lamps surrounded by powerful magnifying lenses. The lower half is red, and has four lamps, JnV or­ der to make the red beams the strong­ er, which are surrounded by heavy red lenses. The carefully insulated - cable con­ nects the lamps and passes from the loV/er one to the deck or bridge, where a keyboard enables the operator to spell out the code signals about as rapidly as a typewriter is manipulated, and very much in the same manner. The key­ board is arranged 011 a standard and inclosed like a binnacle, the operator standing in front of it while manipu­ lating the keys. By a simple automatic arrangement each key, as depressed, lights a combination of the four red and the four white lights, making 3 let­ ter or a number, according to the code of signals. All of these operations are automatic and the combination is made by one touch of the key. Another fea­ ture of the keyboard is that when one letter is down all the other keys are locked so that another cannot be acci­ dentally pushed down and confuse the signals. Any key pressed down can bo turned one-quarter way around, like a screw, which motion locks it in place and leaves the signal burning in ease it is desired to use it as a standing signal for an order in the secret naval code. Thus the keyboard cau be used to tele­ graph ordinary Instructions by the usu­ al letters, to send a cipher dispatch or special code orders. Notwithstanding all this apparent complication, the key­ board is compact and its mechanism so simple that it cannot be readily dis­ turbed ot gotten out of order. SET UP A STRAW MAN FUTILE AND FOOLISH CONVEN-o TION OF FREE TRADERS. ' Their Arguments Demolished by the Extraordinary Growth of Our Foreign Trade in Eleven Months of the Dingley Tariff. • • • "ALMOST IN FRONT OF THE ENGINE." Between Billy and Hal. Both had the Lest canoes of the lot--real Indian Jjipchbarks made by Johnny Nose (or Nosey Johnny, as we called him), a half-breed Indian who was quite a character about Silver Glen. All we «ould think or talk about were the races, and fishing, ball play and swim­ ming were forgotten while we prac­ ticed our strokes on the quiet waters of the Still River. Well, Billy was inclined to "blow" on all occasions, and he had done an extra amount of bragging before this race, HO, perhaps it served him right to be listen. But I hated to see Hal do it. Hal was always so awfully "topping" when h% got the best of a fellow. Billy 3had declared that could make .the distance, in less than twenty minptes, afid he was just twenty-one minutes and seven seconds in getting over the ; course, according to Freddy Maxwell's stop-watch, while Hal got in in a little ®ver nineteen minutes. Well, the Burgess crowd was, of course, too unbearably fresir^to live with after that, and when it was dls- - covered- that Ned Chetwynde, Billy's cousin, had invited Hal's brother Dave around behind the tents and thrashed lilm royally, we older fellows, who sivouM have frowned upon any such proceeding,, never took either of the jcungsters to task. . So these were the strained relations ^listing between the two camps on the the mill hands at Silver Glen struck. We heard they were going to Dean Stanley's Handwriting. Dean Stanley, though he wrote let­ ters so illegible that his correspond­ ents had to guess at the meaning of his scrawls, was loved because he was transparent and guileless. The first proofs of his "Sinai and Palestine" informed the reader that from the monastery of Sinai was visi­ ble "the horns of the burning beast." The dean thought he had written "the horizon of the Burning Bush." The same proofslieets stated that on turn­ ing the shoulder of Mount Olivet in the walk from Bethany, "there suddenly burst upon the spectator a magnificent view of--Jones!" The printer had read "Jerus"--the dean's abbreviated way of writing "Jerusalem"--as "Jones." ' Once a lady who had invited him to dine was obliged to write back and ask whether his note was an acceptance or a refusal. A workman, to whose ques­ tion the dean had written an answer, wrote him humbly requesting that the reply might be written out by some one else, "as he was not familiar with the handwriting of the aristocracy!" on the west'side, having evidently,met there by appointment. Billy's canoe wasn't noticed at all and he heard what they said. In about two mimites he had got the gist of the matter, and if ever there was a frightened boy In a canoe, that boy was Billy Chetwynde, and he was in that canoe on-the Still River at that identical mortient. He learned that these men were the ringleaders of the strike; that they were determined the strike should go on, and that Mr. Burgess should hot talk with'the men until the trouble had gone far enough to make an amicable settlement impossible. And to gain their end they had secured the assist- j ance of two rascally tramps who had agreed to "draw" the spikes out of a rail at the bridge below, so that the evening tram, with Mr. Burgess aboard, would be ditched! Some time after Billy left camp that evening we saw something shoot by our tents like a streak of light. It was a boy in a canoe. We all jumped up and looked after the rapidly disappear­ ing streak. "It's that chump. Billy!" said Fred, in disgust. "We shan't be able to get him off the' river all summer. Any- body'd think life or death depended on his going over that course in better time than Hal made." And it did; but he didn't know It. Bil­ ly had heard one of the conspirators declare that it was half-past six.. As he turned his canoe's head around in the shallow water .he heard the mill The Brave at Home. The maid who binds her warrior's sash With smile that well her pain dissem­ bles, The while beneath her drooping l^jsh^^J One starry tear drop 'Nuangs -alul trem­ bles, 0 V/ Though heaven alone records the tear, And f-ame shall never know her story, Her hqart has shed a drop as dear As e'er bedewed a field of glory! The wife who girds her husband's sword 'Mid little ones who weep and wonder, And bravely speaks the cheering word, What though her heart be rent asunder, Doomed nightly in her dreams to hear, The bolts of death around him rattle, Hath shed as sacred blood as e'er Was poured upon the field of battle. The mother who conceals her grief While to her breast her son she presses, Then breathes a few brave words an<? brief, " Kissing the patriot brow she blesses, With no one but her secret God To know the pain that weighs upon her, Sheds holy blood as e'er^the sod Received on Freedom's field of honor! --Thomas Buchanan Read. strike the day before,, for Jim Nolan, 1 clock strikp the half hour--and1 the HaTs father's gardener, drove by 011 evening train crossed the railroad Iits Way to Lonsdale and told us about bridge at ten minutes to seven! it. Mr. Burgess was one of the chief ©jroers of the mill, and Nolau had been seat to telegraph him to come up from New York and settle the trouble with the men. All the old hands diked Mr. Burgess and they would listen to him, knowing that he would give them fair treatment.) But the men who were starring up all He couldn't stop to tell us anything about it. He had but twenty minutes to reach the bridge, climb the bank and flag the.train, and it is an acknowledg­ ed fact that he made betteritime on the Still River that night than was ever made before, nor has it been equalled since, for he did it! The train came around the bend at Still Sadder. "It is sad," murmured the Musing Tlieorlzer, "to think that every man has his price." ".Yes," admitted the Intensely Prac­ tical Worker, "and it is a sad fact that half the time he can't get it."--Cincin­ nati Enquirer: Trouble in the Parker Family. Willis--Parker's saljjry was doubled a short time ago, so I hear. Wallace--Yes, it was; but it got him in lots of trouble. WilMs--How's that? Wallace--His wife found it out-.-- Town Topics. Dfsliltes Tobacco. Queen1 Victoria is perhaps the only European sovereign who has a positive aversion to tobacco in all its forms. Woe be to the Prince "who pollutes the apartments at Windsor with its fumes. Free Trade Arguments Running Low. The action of Secretary Day in sub­ mitting to Congress a request for an appropriation of $20,000 to send a com­ mercial commission to China, with a view to investigating the possibilities of extending American trade in the Orient, seems to have stirred up the free trade press amazingly. The Cob- denlte organs have been singing rather small of late, In view of the tremendous 'increase in our exports of agricultural •A. , and manufactured products that has followed the enactment of the Dingley' tariff, as shown in the marvelous com­ mercial statistics of the past eleven months. , ,It is hard work writing free trade editorials showing that the policy of protection . is destructi ve ,of foreign - trade in the face of figures' showing that our foreign trade has expanded tp an" extent that astonishes the civil­ ized world. You cannot hope to gain for the Manchester theory a respectful hearing at a time when thgjenormous facts of commerce completely anni­ hilate that theory. How are you going to predict eternal ruin for a country that has in the past year sold to foreign consumers more than double the amount it has bought from foreign pro­ ducers, leaving a favorable trade bal­ ance of $600,000,000 as the result of the year's business? People will not be­ lieve your assertion that protection hangs around their necks as a millstone when the statistics tell them that not only have our exports of manufactures Increased immensely under protection and broken all records, but that we have actually sold to foreign countries in the past year $50,000,000 more of manufactured goods than.,, we have bought of them. Under these conditions things were looking bad for the free trade editors, when they saw, or thought they saw, in Secretary Day's proposal for a Chinese trade commission a chance to breathe a little new life into their mori­ bund propaganda. In his letter to Con­ gress Secretary Day stated the facts of the case in plain, clear language when he said: "The export trade of the United States is undergoing a transformation whic.h promises to profoundly influence the whole economic future of the coun­ try. As is well known, ..the United States has reached the foremost rank among the industrial nations. For a number of years its position as the greatest producer of manufactures as well as of raw products has been un­ disputed,- but, absorbed with its own internal development, and satisfied, for the time being, with the enormous home market of 70,000,000'people, it has un­ til recently devoted but little concerted effort to the sale of its manufactures outside of its ovjfn borders. Recently, however, the fact has become more and more apparent that the output of the United States manufacturers has de­ veloped by the remarkable inventive genius and industrial skill of our peo­ ple with a rapidity which has excited attention throughout the great centers of manufacturing activity in Europe, and has reached the point of large ex­ cess above the demands of home con­ sumption." True, every word of it, and a splendid tribute to tire success of the policy that has produced these results. Most peo­ ple would conclude, with Secretary Day, that 111 view of the wonderful showing for the fiscal year just closing, it jyas^tijne to put in train sQine well- defined measures for carrying the trade into foreign fields. Not so .the free trade sophist of the New York Even­ ing Post, who shouts: "The administra­ tion surrenders the very citadel of pro­ tection!" and then proceeds to pervert the obvious signification of the letter of the Secretary of State, as follows: " 'Satisfied for the time being with the home market,' but no longer con­ tent with it! Why, the very basic prin­ ciple of protection is that the home market is all that the American nation needs, or ever can need--whether it has 7.000,000 people or 70,000,000, or twice 70,000,000. Admit that the home mar­ ket 110 longer suffices for a nation of j 70,000,000 people, and the very key­ stone of McKinleyism is gone. "The war has opened the eyes of all parties to the fact that the old issues have Tbeoome too antiquated to serve any longer. When McKinley's Secre­ tary of State and closest personal friend in the cabinet ridicules the home market theory, everybody can that the Republican party will never make another high tariff campaign." Comment of this sort, deceives 110- l-ody. It is neither truthful nor intel­ ligent. but it is thoroughly character­ istic of the Evening Post. That news­ paper leads the free trade press of the United States in the recklessno^fc of its assertion of things that are not so. In the present instance it goes rather be­ yond Its normal average of perversion and misrepresentation, and reaches the point of downright absurdity in the contention that protection has never contemplated any trade beyond or out­ side of the home market. Such an as­ sertion, in the light of the foreign trade 'figures for the past eleven months, sounds futile and foolish. As Chairman Dingley remarks: "It is hardly possi­ ble that those who make such a state­ ment are not aware that they are set­ ting up a man of straw in order to af­ ford the occasion for knocking it over." That kind of argument may -meet with favor amopg the Cobdenites, who have of late fared badly for arguments of any sort in favor of: their pet theory, but to the America.!! citizen of average brains and intelligence it is rot pure and simple. Dingley's measure has killed It almost .altogether, and we are nearly ready [to scratch the United States from our list of customers." In vi«jw of the fact that the Dingley tariff was not framed with reference to the approval and admiration of Eu­ ropean manufacturers, but, on the con­ trary, had for its aim precisely the re­ sult which it seems to have accomplish­ ed in tiie-.matter of imported bottles,, the criticism of- Herr Stoevesandt is ap altogether natural and reasonable one. Nobody supposed the German bottle makers were going to enjoy being crowded out of their best market. This' is not going to be a good year for calamity-shriekers. The dismal croaker of bad times could not have fallen upon a more unfavorable day. Everything has gone against him. Not even the active progress of grim war helps him out. There is no-attendant industrial,-commercial and financial stress to give comfort to the prophet of evil, be he free trader, Populist, or all- round pessimist on general principles. The prosperity which was ushered in by the restoration of genuine American­ ism as a conspicuous feature of Govern­ mental policy has broadened in every direction until its blessings and benefits have been distributed everywhere throughout this favored land. Facts illustrative of this improved condition are continually coming to th|> surface. For example, the New York State factory inspector's last report shows that since Jan. i, 1898, not less than 1,390 new manufacturing concerns have begun operations, while 1,500 old firms which had suspended work for one cause or another have resumed. In addition, 400 factories have applied to the department for permission to run their plants overtime 011 certain days of the week. Finally,'in the occupa­ tions cor^idered it is found that 4O,OO0 more persons are employed than at the same time last year. Commenting upon these figures, the New York Mail and Express pertinent­ ly remarks: "This is an extraordinary showing and a fair answer to both the nervous capitalist and the pessimistic dema­ gogue. The gathering of these figures was begun at a time when the nira- blings of international war were dis­ tinctly heard in Washington and Mad­ rid. They prove the fallacy of conced­ ing to this war a generally paralyzing effect upon, industry. They make man­ ifest a confidence in the business world that the war will'be followed by an unusual activity in consumption. They indicate, moreover, that the' era of prosperity assured with the inaugura­ tion of President McKinley is not to be turned back by the extraordinary but temporary draft u^on our resources created by allied conflict." Other surprises, 110 less gratifying than that embodied in tlfe industrial re­ port above quoted, may be with cer­ tainty looked for in this red-letter year of American progress and prosperity. The record for the whole year will be a remarkable one in many ways. It is going to be,a banner protection year. Don't Worry. There is much unnecessary anxiety displayed in the editorial columns of the free trade newspapers about the operation of the Dingley tariff in the Philippine Islands and other conquered territory. It will be time enough to cross that bridge when we come to it. The brains and patriotism of the party of protection have never yet failed to bring thing's out all right, and there is no reason to suppose they will fail ,in the present contingency. Meanwhile our friends of the Cobdenite press should lose 110 time in qualifying themselves for membership in a "Don't Worry" club. They might begin by leaving the details of tariff administra­ tion to the very "competent officials chosen by the people of the United States to discharge that function. J'.vidence of Sincerity. There have been numerous protests from the.Tffost satisfactory sources against the imputation that France was our ene'my, and the conclusion of the reciprocity agreement seems to set the seal on the sincerity of her professions. It is evident that she prefers to have close relations with us that are to be mutually advantageous. America is not likely to have any objections to continuing the policy of friendly under­ standing that was interrupted by some unfortunate happenings of late, so long as it is made plain that France regrets that there should have been any inci­ dents to disturb the harmony so long prevailing between the" two nations.-- Milwaukee Sentinel. An Amazon warrior and her peaceful sister face. ces powder wders her Young <g2rls complain that all the Os sirable men are married; so are all the women who are good cooks. Natural and Reasonable. To a Pittsburg reporter Mr. Hermann Stoevesandt, a member of the leading firm of bottle makers in Germany, said: , "Foreign manufacturers do . not look with favor upon your Dingley tariff. My firm of Stoevesandt Bros., with i headquarters at Bremen, now have ! practically 110 trade with the United . States, whereas before the passage of I the present revenue bill we did a splen- ' did business with the United States. Can Provide Other Means. The Dingley tariff is alt right, and it ivill provide- sufficient revenues for peaceful government if the usual im­ portations of foreign goods are made. If- the receipts of foreign goods are de­ creased, and the revenues thereby de­ creased,the people of the UnitedStates will 'have the profits on making the goods and can then afford to provide some oth£r means to mnlce the nation's receipts equal its expenditures.--Des Moines Register. A Blessed -Relief. "How is it that your baby drops asleep at such regular time? . What do you give her?"" "Nothing. Her father just stops sing­ ing tQ her."--Cleveland Plain Dealer. ENCOURAGED HIM TO ENLIST. Said He Would ̂ Join the'Armyif She Refused Him--No w He May Have To, "Hang the war, anyhow!" paid a young man to his chum, in an uptown clubhouse the other night. "Why, what's the matter now? You haven't enlisted, have you?" "No; that's just it. I haven't, but I m.iy have to,, after all." "How is that?" u "Well, you know MiSs and I have been getting along nicely for some time, and, although she has refused to' mar­ ry me on several different occasions, I still had hopes of winning her.4' "Yes, I knew you had; and what has caused you to change your mind?" "It was all on account of tha/fci}laroed old major." ( "What did he have to do wlth4t?^_. "Everything. He caught me in a con­ fidential mood the other night, and I told him all my troubles,^^y^'spi^ tions an- appj also 7i|r [. • I afterward rr eption, and when chanc6 to speak to her alone I once' more told her OTSjjuy-'ilfe-long affection^ but she only laughed at me. I then took the last desperate step, and, striking a tragic attitude, I vowed that If she die' not consent to marry me I would enlist, go to the war and be killed." "What did she say to that?" "Oh, she grew solemn at once, and she tried to persuade me from doing anything so dangerous. In fact, she showed more emotion than I had ever seen her show before, and I became hopeful. I thought' that I had -won her surely, and, taking out my watch, I ^aid that I would give her five minutes to make up her mind. In the strongest language at my command I swore that if she did not accept me I would go to the front and leave her forever." "Well, did she accept you?" "No, she did not. She gazed at me for a moment or two with tears in her beautiful eyes, and then said that she had not thought that it was iu me, but that it would be extremely kind of me to enlist, as every girl of her acquaint­ ance had several friends who had en­ listed, and that she had felt so bad be^ cause she did not have one. If I would enlist, she would think a great deal more of me than she had ever done be­ fore, but she could never marry me." "That has placed you in a rather em­ barrassing position, hasn't it? But what had the poor old major to do with it?" "Poor old major be blowed. What has he to do with it? It was he who advised me to try the enlisting dodge on her. and I have since learned that he is go­ ing to marry the girl himself."--New York Tribune. / Some of Our Naval Heroes. Stephen Decatur--The destruction of the Barbary pirates, iu August, 1804. John Paul Jones--Capture of the Ser- apis, September, 1779. lie said: "We have just begun to fight." Isaac Hull--Sailed from Boston with­ out orders in August. 1812. Captured British frigate Guerriere, called "the terror of the world." Johnston Blakeley--Who made im­ mortal fame in the c|ruiser Wasp, 1814. Oliver Hazzard Perry--Swept the British from Lake Erie in September, 1S13. James Lawrence -- Conquered the British sloops Peacock and Shannon, in 1813. Charles Stewart--Did many gallant deeds as commander of Old Ironsides. William Bainbridge--Gallant service., in the French war of 1798. Samuel C. Reid--Saved New Orleans in the war of 1812 by detaining the British squadron at Fayal. Andrew II. Foote--Service of distinc­ tion in the China war (1853) and in the civil war, Josiah Tatnall--In the China war. Author of the saying, "Blood is thicker than, water." James Biddle--With Bainbridge in Tripoli, 1803. Later commanded the Hornet. James Alden--Commanded the gun­ boat Richmond at New Orleans, 18(32. David Porter--Famous cruise of the Essex and in the civil war. David C. Porter--Splendid services in the civil war. William B. Cusliing--Blew up the reb­ el ram Albemarle with his torpedo, Oc­ tober, 18t>4. David G. Farragut--The great naval commander of the civil war. Matthew C. Perry -- Expedition against the slavers in 1843 and in the civil war. A. H. Mahan--Recognized naval au­ thority of the world. Daniel Ammen--Inventor of the ram Kataluliu, and did good service iu the civil war. George Dewey--The hero of Manila Bay. Primitive House Lighting. The first and most natural way of lighting the houses of the colonists was found in the fat pitch-pine, which was plentiful everywhere; but as soon as domestic animals increased candles wore made, and the manufacture of the winter supply became the special au­ tumnal duty of the thrifty housewife. Great kettles were hung over the kitch- eu tire and filled with hot water and melted tallow. At/ the cooler end of the kitchen two long poles were placed from chair back to chair back. Across these poles, like the rounds of a ladder, were placed shorter sticks, called can­ dle-rods. To each candle:rod were tied about a dozen straight candle wicks. The wicks were dipped again and again, In regular, order, in the melted tallow, the succession of dippings giv­ ing each candle time to cool. Each grew slowly in size till all were finished. Deer suet was used as well as beef tal­ low aud mutton tallow. Wax candles were made by pressing bits of half- melted wax around a wick.--Chautau- quan. . •-/ . ' A Narrow Escape. ."Doctor," said the substantial citi­ zen,- as he rushed up to the young phy­ sician, "I owe you my life!" "Eh?" "Yes. I was taken suddenly ill two days' ago and my wife sent for you and you were not in." TootWe^ Jellyfish. The jellyfish has no teeth, but uses himself as if he were a piece of paper When he is hungry, getting his food and theu wrapping himself about it. PRISONER OF CHILLON A MYTH. Slight Basis of Fact for Byron's Cele- brated Poem. Romances of history are nearly as evasive as ghosts. The latest impos­ tor upon whom the cold light of "our meddling intellect" has been thrown is the "Prisoner of Chillon," and in fu­ ture the "sad floor" which was trod Until his very steps have left-a trace, Worn, as if that cold pavement were a sod, „ By Bonivard, • will no more be shown to the awe­ struck tourist. A correspondent at Zurich reports that in the course of re­ storations recently carried out at the Castle of Chillon the marks of foot­ steps round the pillar to which the prisoner was chained have been ef­ faced, Mr. Neaf, the surveyor of works, ha-ving proved to the satisfaction of the cai/tonal council that those, marks -were authentic, but had beam artificially g^and renewegkevef-y) few years, 's'ffiost.harrying story seems 'e-been almost a pure invention, ells of a Bonivard whose father 1 as burned at the stake for hip faith, prisoned along with his tWo'younger brothers for their father's faith, Boni- -Yard sees them both droop and die, and becomes himself a tottering gray-haired man, who has no desire to escape from captivity, because, having lost all that binds him to life, the whole earth would only have been a wider prison to him. But, unfortunately for Byron's poem, the real Bonivard seems to have been a very different sort of person. I't Is quite true that he was imprisoned at Chillon by the Duke of Savoy for his Calvinis- tic sympathies, but when six years later his friends got the upper hand he was liberated and a pension was awarded to him by the town of Geneva. He continued living in the enjoyment of that pension for thirty-four years, during which time he produced a con­ siderable mass of not very scrupulous party literature and was, in short, any­ thing but the profoundly dejected and prematurely decrepit being whom By­ ron depicts as "regaining his freedom with a sigh," after making friends with the mice and spiders in his dungeon. Whether the murdered father and brother^ and the rest of the grisly de­ tails in Byron's story originated entire­ ly in that poet's imagination or were derived from the rigmarole of some guide, there is probably no means- Of ascertaining, but it seems fairly clear that beyond the name of the prisoner and the fact of his imprisonment the story is a fabrication. Of course there is no reason why any­ one who feels moved to write verses about the "Eternal Spirit of the Chain- less Mind" should not do so, Inventing Whatever stories he may think fit to illustrate his theme. But it is a pity that Byron should have associated elo­ quence of that kind with the name of a man who suffered nothing very terri­ ble and profited so well by his suffer­ ings. The sacrifice of a lucrative curi­ osity in the Interests of historical truth seems highly creditable to the cantonal council of Vaud. Negro Soldiers for the Army. There can be no longer any doubt that the colored man makes as good a soldier as there is anywhere. He takes pride in his position, his "set up," his uniform, his personal stal- wartness, his arms, and the general ef­ fect Of his organization. He likes drill and takes as readily to the maneuvers of squad or battalion as to the figures of the dance. : • 0 He endures camp life superbly. He" knows how to cook his food and is con- tfoit.with plain fare when it is abund­ ant. He troubles the doctors little. . Under tire he is brave, determined and disposed unquestionably to obey orders. He is as nearly immune to malarial poison as any human being can be, and he is a devoted American always. In our millions of colored people this country has a war resource of incal­ culable strength. It is only now that we are beginning to appreciate the val­ ue of the colored man as a soldier ready to respond instantly to any call to arms for the national defense. All honor to him for his courage, his endtiFance and his devotion!-^New York World.. ^ Qaieer Case. An application was made to the Gov­ ernor to-day for the pardon or release fljom jail of George Miller, of Chase County, who was imprisoned for fail­ ure to pay a judgment of $500 assessed1 against him for uonsupport of his-wife and child. Miller represents that he cannot pay the fine while iu jail, but that he would soon pay it if liberated1 and permitted to work. For this pur­ pose the county officers urged his re­ lease. An examination of the law dis­ closes the fact that there was no legal way to accomplish his release, the au­ thorities and the Governor as well be­ ing barred from the exercise of the. par­ doning power, because the law says the defendant in t^u^h cases shall re­ main in jail until the costs and judg­ ment, are Paid- Tlie Question was re­ ferred to® the Attorney General, who. was unable to discover any. solution of the knotty problem, and he disposed of it by writing the County Attorney that the only thing he could suggest would be to permit the prisoner to escape, and then due diligence in compelling him to pay the judgment.--Topejca (Ivan.) correspondence St. Louis Globe-Demo­ crat. How Dewey Got His Plans of Manila. William Doherty, an American or­ nithologist and entomologist of reputa-^ tion, has returned to tliis country from the Philippine Islands via Hong-Kong and San Francisco. His latest distinc­ tion was in successfully passing the Spanish customs officers at Manila with the complete plans of the city, the har­ bor, fortifications and minute details of the armament. It was a dangerous proceeding, but Mr. Doherty carried it out successfully. The plans and draw- lugs were concealed iu a newly laun- drled shirt which was folded, pinned and banded in the usual style and put with other clothing in his trunk. He arrived in Hong-Kong early in April and' at once delivered these most im­ portant papers to Commodore Dewey on the Olympin.--Scientific American. ^ : 3 A man always credits himself5with firmness and charges the other fellow with obstinacy. Havana cigars nowadays dou'i seem to,Havana tobacco in them.