"A Girl's Caprice. ~-OR, THE R ic 3 CHAPTER I. some other niece ? Some other To-day, that "gay phillonopher," a. and niece, who knew cach has risen upon the world with quite a anting ai ir, Its ,sighs are 'valmy | There would have "been less wis- and "ts smiles frequent. It is evi-|}dom there -- who knew cach dently in a glad and glorious mood, other--! Tha generally fatal ! as well it may be. having just bee! n | When strangers meet there are possi- highly decorated by that spent | bilities.' general, the sun, who ma "There are indeed, and very through most of our heiptont ote | and who is now shining with all his might upon the long, ------ windows of Diana's 'hor "What a day !"" says Diana' 8 SiS- | ter, looking up from the pile of lilac calico lying on her knees. tis the kind of calico, both in color and tex- that associates in one's shade, but pretty for all that, and 'strined: little lines of dark violet running over lighter ground. "*Yes--heavenly!"" s Diana, who married name is Clifford. She spenks rather absently, as if finding it diMi- cult to lift her mind m the mak- in ng of the iittle si pico at ~_ she is so diligently stitching. glance she gives upward, as o in answer to Hilary's eapbarnns sigh, is purely mechanical, though she evi- dently wishes it to be understood that she too acknowledges the Imav- . en-sent glories that are lighting up the trim lawn outside, and rendering the garden an eurthly paradise, But in =! sonae her cyes fall to her task aga "Pho idea of your wearing this !"' fays she, iving a contemptuous twirl to the delightful little cap. "An at' --w an equally = con- temptuous pointing of _ forefinger to the liluc mass ly n- Hilary's lap--"'ut the biggest fc a ball _ have d here for ages en any 'aoment oad night be uistuenn of £18,000 "At any soc I might mits al- if I were the mistress of it, there would be a ._ ter too. That tnkes 7 gilt off the gingerbread: e mean time" oothing out the folds of | the lilac skirt with a fond hand--"I ousemaid's dress is a fancy one--for every one except the bona fihe housemaid--and co ns it is inexpensive, und pennies count, have chosen it. VProviden- | tially, at a ball of this kind one can ne. bizarre, os eccentric, as one as Bun," says Diana, with gretful sigh, and no swift glance at her lovely sister, 'I had always im- agined you as--"' "Oh, I we am impa- | { * Andignantiy "As | ing." You would have looked Ing. rr divine as Sarah Burroughs, with | She lifts the cali- something better,", says Mrs. ford, leaning forward, With her bows on her knees and the cap tween both her hands. Her tone is plaintive. "Ho says you aro oO absurd, too proud---- "Jim is the dea rest brother-in-law in all the world," ' says FHilary un- he i resery ed affect on in voice "That is w am not o- ing to let him beggar himself and the chicks for me."" "What nonsense ! A mere gown "Well, this is a mere gown, too. And I'm sure it will suit me. Do know, Di,' flinging down the | half-finished dress and guing to a Jong mirror let into one of the walls, -'last night an awful dovht arose I felt that the that perhaps I was to the manner born--that Nature had meant me to al ae é herself reflection--softly smiling dark-bluc eyes, a mouth ao little iygrrangs but tender too, and a strong, firm chin, a forehead low, broad, and ear rome, nnd such huir (hair that shines like burnished gold. Not the dead-gold hair we know of, nor the crispy hair growing brighter and throu sun rays that have dried it "N don't look like it now," ,, and letting nd gown on, now Humiliating 7 'on 't be a girl in the room ,' says Diana agora 1 th wilfully ic '*Housemaids will be a rare quantity. all be unique--I_ shall astonishing thing -- solemnly--"create a *"You_will do that ae "" says e looks at her sis- say of me. That I went in silk at- tire myself, and brought you as Cin- fad a Prince ?"' "Your Prince! why, he's found,"' says Diana. 'He _* almost sure to at the ball. Did I,"" slow esterday, and she rs. Dyson- oore told her: she expected him on tho fifteenth train" "The night of the ball Pc A startl- ed look springs into eel eyes. -- in Cm, moment Bell. eo Jate train Ten ' "He wit fo too tired to go anywhere "A girl be must either marry, or lose £18,000 o year,"' _" "What a detestable will !" cries FANCY DRESS sister With a ttle 'le mas- | nent 3 you not brighter jhair i you? I met old Miss Kinsella |S"°™ ESULT OF A BALL " ' pleasant ones. feel covbata." stopping short to regard with an effective cyg, 'that Frederic }Ker is the very last man in the world I should ever care to marry. "Of coyrse, if you have made your sii beforchand--' i't made up my mind about | up anything." "No t to look at hin I'm dying took at him--from a distance |"' "It is such a great deal of ed throw away,"' says Mrs. vith a sigh. Money with her is not too plentiful. "Who says I'm going to throw it away 7?' crics Hilary gayly. "Pe haps I am going to seize it. And perhaps it is he who will throw it away after all. He may not ae me4 may reject me she 'turns once more to the mirror a as if to gain support from it. "Im- mortal gods ! what an awful thought !"" says s' c. "I confess,"' ina "stricken tone, "it never occurr- ed to me before.' "Well, it needn't occur no fa Diana, her fair, handsome pied eke ing. d you needn't pretend you think it." "But it's so serious, Di. If I re- fuse to marry my cousin Frederic, or if he refuses to marry me, £18,000 a year goes to 'The home for lost an- imals--the dogs. "Well, it is in your own hands." "Don't let us think of it till after thiy dunce, anyway,"' snys i "We have a little breathing-space eft us. | "Not if he is there 1" "Oh, he con't be! Coming by that jlate train!" She lets hands jal i y lap again, the needle i dai.gerous proximity o on her pretty fingers, and | ilo at her sister anxiously. wit | lho. should come to the dance, Di--of! Urse," with enger conviction, "he won't; but-i if he should, promise me you will not introduce ine to hin, or ) Get any one ¢lse a do 1 | But if he as "Tlow a he? ie 'docen't know you cithe | "He contd get oan intraduction. ine Dyson-Moore might----'"' { Not ske. She will be taken up jwith herself and ry admirers. Now romis PeWell, Rut is it wise 7 to imeet him at once, d - i ita arry him !" siréastically.~ "No, I think not. I must have time. And, ings 1 want to enjoy I promise. jfancy ball the week later; you ill jhave to meet him there."' -| "Sufficient unto the day,"' | 'Hilary Teckel . "And who know 'he may not have Ieft long sions ; that ? have made up my jmind not to mect lat all events. | Diana looks at her sister with han at this first would try to un "Hie means 80 ctly much as I mean to im, 'Don' look so forlorn,' ri jan irseprannible laugh. "I'm poing to try and like him as hard as ever Harder even, if it will please you. Do you suppose T too cannot see all the penned that are to c got out of £18,000 o year ?" 'T believe you are blind a "says Diana with 1 some Sndiiciibe (To be Continued. ) ----_4»-----_--_ SEPANESE | BABIES. How They. _ Brought UP in the wery Kingdom Judging by Western ideas, Japanese babies have a hard time; yet, there are no healthier children in the an The Japaneses baby is dressed undressed in a frigid temperature i in winter, and in summ no care is taken t 0 protect its te oder little cyes from the full glare of the sun, winter the small head is covered with 'a worsted cap of the brightest and i gayest 'Gaalen and color. The black all sorts of fantastic ways, just like the hair of the Japan- ese dolls age into this country. The babics of the lower classes are generally carried on the back of the mother or little sister; sometimes the small brother is obliged to be the nurse-mai simono is made extra large at the back, with a pock- et of sufficient size to hold the baby, whose round head the neck of the perso S cor- It is not on uncominon sight to see children who are barely old eneugh to todale burdened with a small brother or sister sleeping peace fully "a geal backs. At first one expects the child stagger and , fall tertemth "the weight, ly none of its ed, and it plays with the other chil- ren as unconcernedily as if it were not loaded down with another mein- ber of = family. At Nagesaki, among the women ; many who carry babics in this way. to overything. c) alone is visible, while the movements she_ accomplishes. of the mother do not seem in the as much work as the men. - eet heen A CURIOUS PLANT. There is a --, in Chili, milar one of pace up and n tl ome *Iniquitous I call it. What ever done to Aunt Charlotte that she S shcoesd | . bringing me "into an affair of this kind 7 ed ould she not choose a her sister Visible in the Gloom. q s vas more "than thirty years ago, "Europe was ringing with the M matchloss private . He wrote letter patter letter begging, even imploring, ker to sing to him and offering her latrevement sums of money; but n- |Patti, dreading the sapere + jeistontly refused bis offers udwige tempted her with a foe enormous that she could not resist | t, and she yielded, r| When she reached Munich on the «lt she found to her. dis- day appointe v she was aecustomed to be- that not even a ---- uad sent for her, and she and her maid made their wey as best 'They could to the nearest hotel, She had scarcely finished luncheon when a gorgeously attired officer was announced, who handed her a letter from the King, with the curt information i should expect her at 7 k punc- Palace, ae Mine. Would sing with her, her further cirections. letter Was a programme drawn up by his majesty. MEETS MANY INSULTS. This cavalier treatment of the "Queen of Song' was more than she could bear, and Mme. Patti, stamp- ing her foot in anger. exclaimed: '1 never been treated so rudely in life 1 I will not sing--never ! never! and you can tell the king so !"" time before the messenger, his diplomatic arts, could smooth -- her cuffed pluuies, But the crowning indignity was to come, for just as madame had recovered her equanim- ity her the letter, notice at the first reading. It rar thus: 'The king commands Mme Patti to appear in pure white, with- out apy color whatever, and not by any means to weer a satin gown, t soft wool. Silk is painful to the great prima donna had no werds to meet such unparell- a chair in helpless amazement. she recovered her speech it ! Ueclare point-blank that she hat ended the inntter."" How- | ever, jn time her sense of amusement | and the officer's pleading triumphed over her indignation, and she prom- sed to obey the royal instructions, Before 7 the roynl carriage arriv- ed and Patti was driven to the pal- ace and conducted through long, dim corridors and rooms to the private theater, which, to her amazement, she found in absolute darkness save for the fitful light of the moon. Ware -Pavcw Ly Trt As she stood on the dark stoge and | n unseen orchestra soft "| the "oon a white aged from a epee to her. 'It was horrible,"' she eeraead said, " reat black, the strains of music whi 1 knew not ere, and one white face, the oniy sug- restion of life anywhere, looking at king, for be was e uncanny white to hear the expec vo BC and leaned for- the moonlight face. her sriualton voice the empty build- vas the as 'ohe said Jater, "1 was desperate, but when IT found my White Face of Ludwig If. the Only, jeled insolence, and she fell back into | yours--yours ? When | looked down' on - harassed Qi i had er; 680) branch was bI¢ slipped h garden ea wilds beautiful ah gm dd Maddalena t room aguin. a small thing, and tog as nothing before IT am of my people, of my thro of jing what even the Minister of my crown ! Ww hat t pre they all 'put has had to confess before the ped When the possible secrten a yore ' "apimement was practically the truth. | basking shark, Ss She lifled the ee gol! band! Those who know tbe Kaiser best | ! Ocoan Vampire" is the om a a all { her hair, 'and holding it in /pelieve that his Mnjesty will take to 'the montters of the dec n ur both hands, knelt and 'aid it at his heart the lesson given by Lieutenant born ocean vampire, taken from the fee | Hilse, and will set at.out hercul- | nother, preserved at the gre "Let this ol for kizn that T 0m 'can task of cleaning out the Augean | Museum, is 5 feet broad, and before yours, Say to me, 'Maddalena, my stables, which have so signally prov- | mounting weighed twenty pou yg wife, come with mg!" and I come. |e¢ 4 be a scandal to the country. The mother measured sone 15 feet Say 'Maddalena, nfy wife, stay here teutrnant fiilse, in his suppressed | in length and quite as much in been and let ime have leave I stay." "Maddalena !"" wife or no fan's you. us hnd entered the . Hector was standing before her. "The world in a prota thing,"' she said; "the worldiand the. night- and the stare, and jthere is magic in them* all. But moment with you, my beloved, , Hector, is the world and the pand the stars am a small thingy and my Icve is gether we are This day to gol' and @etinction. which Se expects in the commandar'o le ours, I shall be no man's a '"*'Maddalena, how you love me!" "There is no 'how,' Hector. I love you--that is all. I love Not yet had they touched lip lip or breast to breast. some secret concord, the last moment, and a too holy to be used lig! was kept you." to by for & uw sacrament htly. That, And now fell on thefr ears the first stroke of twelve, sounding from San Bernardino. She rose and foot spurning sciously, but as if she moved "We part now 1" Lip, embrace, all and trembling despair of love h each. ¥ is pent all their days from in the of birth to the day i when death must the crown, not her con- knew not to him, to Jip, and breast to breast, all passion of Jove throbbing in quivering wonder the in ou is come : an sil voice I put my head eek = clench- jeternity of happiness, an eternity of and -- AAA ed my hands have rarely sun As she was waiting the eignal to | sing again, messenger appeared | with the announcement that the king | ad had enough music and h For ra of thanks from the hing and a pre- sent of costly jewels; and later she learned that Ludwig had s days in cursing himself and her for being lured by the magic ef her voice to listen to Italian music and thus prove disloyal even for a few mom- ents to his beloved Wagner --_--_4--__-- CTIILDREN AS INCUBATORS. Pathos and humor are combined in a singular story from titute with six t At last a luminous ideg struck her to the ne ld but apparent- jing, movements are imped- agreed. and the eggs, carefully secured coalers who coal the ships. one sees | Weeks required for incubation. 06 on their backs ,#ach of the cots contuined 400 eggs-- 'ing--Maddatena The mothers work al} ;200 on cach side--tine the |fors succeeded' in hatching 1,200 ones | head jcent an cg te poultry farmers that she show ieve them from the trouble and ex- pense of using ineubators for hatch- chickens ond turkeys. They \dark, and cach 60 main. "I love you !" 'I love you!" And then again silencevfalls. And in the silence soul meets soul, and all about them spreads the kind low, and is effable ecstasy of despairing joy, a ao nt, pale of happinc: Good-bye fer: vet "" "No, Hector, no. only good-night !" intolerable Good-night-- The silence is shivered by a laugh he knows and the crack Ilis eye is aware of As ia gone, bu foster-brother is here ag! "The Queen Alasdatr, fe of a pistol. unta's face at t the faithful the Queen "° Hector speaks in Gaelic. biog bullet has passed her side. Already a shows on the silver of is cold protecting hand and lifeless, white as 'through Hee- and entered blur of red her robe. She the garment ban which she was crowned. ae t Hlighlander™ took her from: Bet Saar, now Wounded in both arms, and laid her gently on a couc 7% . "Dead t t' Hector 'from injury in wooden cases lnacked in wool, were placed in the children's cots, which were constant- My occupied, day and night, by the | | { six little ones in turn during the three | } Asi human inecuba- ; at a time, for which they received 1 . or $12. heir earnin, therefore, for lying in bed for cwaney rene days amounted to exactly $4 a , &® sum 'te exceeding the aver- age wage of n skilled work- man in the country districts. GERMAN SERVANTS. It is difficult: in ena for a professional domesti of the coming aod oa toning of Sie scr- vant, with her Service. in the no 'This the girl is obliged ; take to the alge Re re and have it dated with the. on | stamp, preven' rN daze, 'Dead !" Alasdair. "O! God, why not 1; Asunta is forgott 'comes is dead, love is coo atoan end Tl the is dead, murmurs in a "echo why = Ir c noth- Maddalena | ng world is room to think of aught cise--this. 'fills space. "Alosdair !" ~'Heckie '" are standing, where They side of the couch "You love me, my "Of when added -brotherliood "iss ; Heckie, I one on each ther 7" bro: mother's gon, I ied you!" sacred.'" "Do pk t_ yom summer after- Enis i aah of iemurchus. to the bratherhood of milk we = aca A 5 J <a brond band of light: 'Alns- | €4- fi lea -}snap, and as a dog sh from 'fthe next -room. ho s The way in 'which petty tyranny can' déstroy a iar character, the follow owing i : a telegram awaiting him at his House ©\ which concerned mil itary business, 'and, despite the lateness of ps hour, to take it o to he was obliged the regimental secretary to be alee. Heavy snow had begun to fall, and the keen casterly wind drove the flakes _--- wildly throu rough the air, s0 that it was hard to keep one's eyes open et to find the way. Pri- wate Roese was on guard. He had taken shelter from the weather in st dair> saw a.woman flying. like a stag's and he was Sie her. A~ second it seemed, and his hand ;-had gripped a neck. The frighted face wos Asunta's and in her hand was a pistél. There was one swift a rat, Alasdair shook Asunte, and revengo had recoiled on i . * * . . = Hector lay on a great bier in the Cathedral. <A pall of silver cloth And on it crouching at the back of the black-and-white striped box. Why should he not? 'Sentinel!' RECRUITS FOR SOCIALISM. "Roese blinked through the round loophole of the sentry-box, but could rie gee like a heart against the splen-!see no one. Only when the loud did white, a rose that was the heart | summ rang out a second time on of Maddalena--for Maddalena did )the wintry air did he emerge from h not dic--would to God she had! Atibox, and saw a figure 'agiroaching through the blinding «sn t{ « 4Wh didn't you natite, hound?' roared the. adjutant. 'a Lieutenant! I On the altar sens ie merable candles, the p lambent glow of the lamp that aes continually shone down Figg " "Shut the pallor of marble column le: ed, and to and fro went the dim ; ' try-box! I waited here an eternity! em of aplncis in vestments of rich But rn teach you -your duty, you ren then, through a lane of the |c!Own men of Pulmetto holding torches, a "In the orderly-room of the Jane miles long, went Hector Chis- holm Grant to his rest on the high- est peak of the Monte, a rare and most royal progress. Over against his bed is a rock on which they have cut Hector Grant, Palmetto Remembers ! (The End.) till T had called twice that he came out. Any declaration on' the man's part that he did not see me T can Seg nic] denounce as a falsehood, ook apec ial notice of his having cil ae The Socinlistic movement is one in which Germany--in whi whole ----_~----- LIFE IN THE GERMAN ARMY AMAZING REVELATIONS BY L cl c neti brought out by Herr IEUT, BILSE. h is' suppressed book, is the way in whi he ranks of Socialism are be- ing replenished by German soldiers, for it. st be remembered that ev- ery German has to undergo n perfod of compulsory service in the army a HUNTING OCEAN VAMPIRES. His Book Suppressed by Ger- man Authorities and He Was Sent to Prison. The question as to whether or not the whole Continental il system is bad may well be ask ; The remarkable thing | is ; that this has been punished for al | Sometimes Reverses oe sole and Becomes the Hun ; breadth. It is at all times a dangerots un- idertaking to attempt to capture one of these monsters, says the Sunde "| Magazine, but particularly so in the accom b ok, describes his commanding panied She is quite capable y be said to give him a of fuversing the roje of hunter and Taxa ot = reel} Toat-contahe Ke might ave 'and™o! secing that none 'of them-es | mistaken for a small farmer, @ 8ta- | capes --_; tion with which his language was "Ima rites the on. quite in keeping. Then, too, he al-!jiam Elliot, in describin e excit- ways had a tear gathering 7 his eye; | ing sport | he has in huntifg- ocean ja nd it was his habit, when it reached | Vampires, "a monster from 16 to 20 ia suitable size, with an scietaatee feet across the back, full 3 feet in 'shake of his head, to flick it to the-+depth, possesscd of powerful yet 'feet or on the clothes of the person | fiexible flaps or wings with which he with whom he was talking. The lady | drives himself furiously in the water who followed him, with ao 'forbidding | or vaults high in the air, through face nnd an #i-fitting grey dress, } which he ghicns like some enormous: trimined with a red velvet collar, was; bird; his feclers (commonly called his wife. orns) projecting several feet beyond Major Fuchs, the commanding off-| his mouth, and paddling all the small fry that constitute his food in- that capacious receptacle--and you will have an idea, thongh an imperfect one, of this extraordinary sh."' oa F- ° - outspoken young lieutenant, said he RECO@NIZED HIMSELF in the portrait; and the description The so-called "horns"' to which al- is, it is acknowledged, correct--even to the tear in his eye. Indeed, five of the principal people have actually secn themselves as Ligutenant Bilse and they -- gp frontal appendages projected on each ; ; or have becn plo 'side of -the head. These uppendages : inctient. @hieli }take the form and 'character of ¢ another incident, a limbs, being flexible and cabable of shows to what a pitiful state of de-| ppacping prey and carrying it to the moralization the German military 8¢eT-}nouth. 1 eclers,"' as they are vice must have -- in this garrison called, are sometimes three fect or town of Forbech: more in length, and are curiously ar- "What have 1 ord ticulated at the ends so us to you swine?' the lieutenant roarec fingers of the human his servant. when clenched. "Mat I should Iet no one in un-| Ip this way fishing boats and announced,' he = swered timidly. 'But r size have been the woman pushed by me, and I could from their moorings,» and not prevent her entering.' fome cases capsized by Take your you |vampire's having laid hold of lazy brute! Let before janchor. An instance of this asking me. If you do, I' ul give you | occurred in the harbor of Charleston. ered you to do, reeem: at hand ngly of its own yolition the. amazement those on board, started at a furious rate across the harbor. Upon near- opposite shore its course abruptly could | C@Psize the -- and the harbor to its former moorings. These inysterious flights across the harbor were re; ated a number "Then with both hands, and kicked him out The way officers use their hands to their inferiors is, happily, a thing fpened the door, Aruy. Certainly no officer believe that such conduct could keep up discipline and respect, as Lieuten- ant Borget believed, in the following | | episode: sotontehed spectators, who re ut- "When he, re aga Rorget, -- terly at a loss to account for the the next morning, t was jiast phenomenon. 'The migration sed o'clock. us suddenly as they began. Not till "He was furious, Half a day W88/ then did the back = undulating jlest, and he had inade up his mind} qukes of an imme cean Vampire oO the water of the the motive power ed. Hurrying on a few clothes, he went to his man's room 'and found Roese writing a letter. He rose, startled, as his master entered. " "Why didn't you wake me up, you beast?' he thunderce¢ woke you at fev sir; but tyou wanted to go to sleep, and 'IT needn't come again.' e "You are lying. you hog! T bg pag ae = 4 7 ut' i rhaps as malic ie cegie you to do what I tell vo pP- -- iwekestinne ae os ie > heath of a which he solzad tho alow student of Columbie "Datversite ibes habits of the fish is to throw somersaults, some- times at a considerable distance be- neath the surface, sometimes at tke surface, and air eason for "eT re truck the | Man ab Violent the bed, and atru writing from Port of Spa M10 y- ce Hheht of oe of shew THE VALUE OF VIOLENCE. passed 'com: "Roese stood to attention, and sub- piotely oF eae him and the light boat mitted to the ill-treatment witbout «| he was rowing. normous wink. That angered Horget.the more am struck him again on - chest with his fist. Then he took the - - letter Roése had a beg 9 = ro RUSSIAN FAST DAYS. pes 1 'it, and threw nto en days sa ditneaie are 3 carloads tea tenant Leimaun, and | Besides the ordinary perio, tell fea I ae to soaah 4 me | Which, flower, in Russia. Ia lasts forty- eight days of forty, they have coi shorter periods of fasting--one f nincteon days in reget one of four- Pr ~Borset, ret 2 te : teen days in Fa -- gare ya dressed bimselt. and then went into Docemb?r. "There are in addition throe single days of fasting. "#*But there stood the coffce, already guite cold. . So-Rocse had been in itustrates: "The adjutant "oF the regiment found + "| tations and wae |%* able in November and The Animal Came Freya Ching With the Growth of East- ern Trege. The "whiskered vermin. race". been far-too prominent in Britain of late. The inconvenience, the havoc, end alarm it -has created by ing the haunts of men in all parts of the country, is a tale that has been told "see eae during recent ee MEe can be said on behalf of the most raniversalin animal on the faco of the earth? He is an 'agile and ceful- creature, skilful in many ways, full of resources, intelligent, a useful Beavenger when he can be kept to that employment, full of placent happiness, and desperately: plucky. When living undisturbed in- his haunches, smoothing his whiskers and it is a pretty spectacle. He is Rai cleanly in hia personal although is always at -- pal hsp scwern vage nee ge reg is without som pe result of the centuries of hunting - which he has been Victim. Was never popular, and has, | iaieice: always been hunted. re) wonders what he might bave ad he ever been given'a chance. IMPORTED RAT. It is the brown rat which plagues England to-day. The old English black rat, a smaller and more ole gant rodent, far less fierce and harme ful, has been almost annihilated by his own brother. The black rat was introduced into england in the middle ages, coming from the cast in ships He is the ancestor of all the fancy rats kopt larghly now as pets. The brown rat no eure from the cust--from wes- tern!China, to be precise. He grad ing from the Baltic. He has now overyrun Great Britain ond been taken further westward hy ships to America, in parts of which continent he abounds by the million. On one Jamaica sugur plantation 30,000 rats have been destroyed in a year, { OMNIVOROUS DIET. : rat's dict is ombhivorous. Noth seems to come amiss to him. Poss this is the result of his be- continually hunted from place te Place and time and again driven always working havoc in game plan- poultry farms, destroy- ing e¢ges. and enting the birds. He has destroy the soles of elephants' feet. The London have always a favorite haunt of the rodonts. Over 5,000 n killed in a |}month by the official rat-catcher. ' Formnerty theso rots were taken out live and sold to dog owners for sporting purposes. Happily this Has now ed. oppe © carcases of these ress have | becn found to con ntak = Df oplegue.- HARD FIGHTERS. The sewers London weg opec wunstaisa with the rodents, and the sewer uren were in the habit of grak- purposes, at 75 cents " iy a grim encounter did theme mnen bave in blind underground passages ug! ere is Rearce ercer -- otis than the brown rat. serious dang for a bite teva garbage-polsoncg teet of a rat often meant death hours. A despera times daunt the stoutest bull-terrier, a aes dog has died a -- from a rat bit In severe exon! ity a hunted rat will sham death,. asid be left for Tramps Iving by the roadside or in hae in country places, have illed by the rodents, and only too often have hungry-pressed rats attacked infants in their cradles, isometimes killing them. SOME GOOD POINTS. ' As for the good in him, there (are wae "a storics. His intelligence has been seen often. 'the Littell instance is that of the ats Which, robbing o poultry yard, contd oe geri: of no better way of carrying off the eggs than hy gett- ing one or thelt number to liv on his back and clasp the cggs on his fto- nach. several rata pulled their recumbent brother's tail, whilo others ---- his shoulders... Thus egg after egg was safely hi in their burrow. s been known to cross & torrent , they would never feed, knowing that the pre- sence of their piel friends meant a when driven desperate with hunger they will decour one an- other, in time of nied their affec- tion is almost hum A Sussex ciancwrene has told how he saw a number of rats migrating from one district to another, and in 1 rats leading lind comrades by and placing wit do, for ode weaker bine ------j------. RAILWAY CARPETS. ' French Minister oe Religcic he que: the. inr railway cam riages and statigns of all. non-wash- the cessation of || FouERows IN LO Fs ae on DOCKS AND SEWERS, "3 cat |