Vil guuae ' of Wales, a a small boy, watched | the performance with considerable interest. 'Uncle," he said at length, ' 'why are you pulling your ear?' 'Because I'm annoyed, I suppose," saphad the Kaiser. "And when you're al annoyed," sisted the yo: ee do then? pee "Then I pull some- ly else's," announced his Majes- ty, viciously. A Human Zoo, The wife of a wealthy business man across the line has decided to become the mother, by adoption, of fifteen children, each to represent one of the fifteen most characteris- tic racial tribes. The unique family will include a negro baby, an In- dian, an Arab, a Japanese, a Ma- lay, a German, a Chinese, a Scan- dinavian, an American,, an 'Irish, and babies representing several of the 'South American countries. "They will go to the public schools, and I hope to show that in spite of their different nationalities and racial types they will grow up bro- thers and sisters, as I shall be mother to them all," says this wo- wan. -Her friends suggest that the family will become known as the 'Shuman zoo," and are trying to dissuade her from the ides. The Queen of Italy. The Queen of Italy celebrated her birthday on~ Thursday, January 8. She was one of the six daughters of King Nicholas of Montenegro. Montenegro is hardly more than half the size of Yorkshire--yet re brilliant marria of the thie King's daughters it is connected Queen Helene is a handsome brunette, tall, with dark hair, and a clear She dresses well, and has won a real, popularity in Italy. sport and outdoor life, sheets, fishes, and has been the Modern Diana. She is _ @n expert motorist, too, and when. the road: i she. pag ecg , and loves to go cent e l'heure valent of our gee Mag igs and abounds. Yet even Queen Helene, though a; ntly ahe has all a wo- man can tas not the secret of i years d the unthinking, for those se -- must know that there mortals so unhappy as the By spolled children who wear crowns. As in the case with many noted women, daughtera pen, | first, and the Queen had to wait till Beptember, 1904, for the birth of * the Heir Apparent, the Prince of Piedmont. ----e "Hush, or Ill Spank!"' Madame Ernestine Schumann- Heink has won the music-loving world with her great einging, and coc won all the reet of humanity-- m lovers of them--with Seca great heart end her plain, un- assuming humanity. Among all the really great opera- tic stars, she perhaps is most gifted in that wonderful quality that we know as "adaptebility." She will win the hearts of any audience-- that is the first etep she takes in preparing for a successful appear- ance. At Charles City, Iowa, one sum- mer afternoon, this singer was to sing. The Ohatauqua was held in a large tent. The surround- ings of a Chautauqua tent are such as to peeve a great many singers who mistake temper for tempera- ment, in themselves. But Madame knew ahe must have their love if she was to win them and sustain her prestige as a-great singer. Hardly had she prepared to sing before a-baby near the front row of seats let out a raucous whoop that would have diaconcerted a per- son of less poise, broad human sym- pathy, and good sense. Shaking her finger at the child, she said: Y "You hush, or Ill spank you!"' At this" the ~audience laughed heartily. Looking archly at them, and no doubt thinking of her own well-mothered b , she said: "Oh, maybe you don't think I can do it! I know how!" - That audience was "for her' throughout the concert. The human touch, followed by the Schumann touch, had. made the occasion a brilliant success. om 0 Patti's Narrow Escapes. On no oe than four dccasions ti has been within an fou nd one, brings him.' uggy; *twould ele Eli. meno, ace of eben When she was six- He had fell on the &! dame Patti moments before, bomb did not explode. Twice attempts have been made to bring about 'the prima donna's death by poisoning. Once a mes senger left a pair of gloves at her house, with @ note asking her to accept them, as the sender wished to call them "Patti gloves," father looked at nam and thought they had a suspicious appearance ane smell, took -- to a a te had been Sisanet in the the: most d . On another occasion, When Ma- -- Patti 5 gh anise after singing, she he er- allo: hlaee cf eae es te carafe provided for her, Wilhelm Ganz in his " But the moment she tasted it she found it had such a strang that she would not drink it. was afterwards di box of matches had evidently beens j soaked in the water to poison her; é for it was found to be full of brim- a REALLY MEAN. This Man Stopped His Clock Every Njght to Spare the Works. Hentley has two mean men, Oy end Hiram Doane. Whenever a new meanness of either eodo the an Matthews Alonzo Poters. thunder as nalyzed ly poison, the subject 'Hiram Doane mayn't have done any one mesn thing quite so con- He's mean, and there you got "Wa-al, I don' know," drawlhed "(He ain't # shinin' that's a fact; but I ain't made up my mind eo fur's to say he ain't got any virtoos, Uncle Eli There's kindness to dumb beasts, I drove up behind him and -his boy leaned forrads and grabbed the whip, ever use that whip on her! you darst |' and he was givin as long's I could ter I'd passed 'em. I can't was exactly gentle with the but he Was mighty consid-rate of the mare.' "Umph !" broke in another voice. "T'm not so sure of that, I rode to the station with him yes- terday, and when it looked as if we mightn't make the train, I grab- bed the whip, same way, and he yelled at'me to stop; but it wa'n't consideration for the mare. zou oe use = whip |' says he. to-day as 'twa pot it "i throwed in along with the ut tha' been, do you, ef I'd] South Afri frayed it out whackin' brute's hide? der the seat, and you'l) find an se fishin' pole Benny out in the wood --it's long and limber, and I keep it there a purpose.' 'Sure enough, there any larruping spared was my doin's, not Hiram's. a eale dependin' on whe- ther we made the train or not, and he wanted we should make it. did, too, and then the old skinflint 0 harged me a quarter for the lift he gave me. neighbor !" ~ 'Oy Matthews will snre have to look to hhis laurels !' you do You jes that And me h "What did Hiram Doane, y the "They both got it Grot-Gret been standing a few Fortunately the BOOV! tes referring to both are related, reviewed, and' compared | ficit. with never-failing gusto at the sew- ing circle, the post office, and round the social stove store, Opinions differ as to which man is the meaner, but the palm is of the : ay Un- he's. mean clear through. The 'town's 'a right to be proud of him for a perfect gpeci- Her and says Mr. emorics," © flavor It that a once more, genoral hear af- = "Lonzo. 'Don't 'It's s the day I n't spose a tough t reach un- 'twas, and mare was is nextedoor tell ye? from their - | Rapid Increase" in 'Population '| tropical territories are feeling him decade, Help Solve Vexing tater" cari races in South . is a sditeqiveecing native heecerecatl winder the British crown. it strikingly | revealed recently by Lord Glad. 4 stone when before thousands of} iff} 'Basutos he first proclaimed Grif-}: fiths the future king, and then, as the servant of King George, pelea iy ed the new ruler. of the Basutos. Sead irty years ago Great Britain started upon the experiment of) SW helping the Basuto nation to gov- ern itself. To-day no matter what- test. of progress is applied to that country, half as large again as Wal es, the response is conclusive. There is loyalty to the Crown, ra- cial peace, national vitality, religi- ous amity and economic stability. The critios of thirty years ago _predic r, and not with- out some reason. The Boers had tried to conquer the Basutos and SIR THOMAS TAIT. as Chairman of. the. Victoria (Australia) Railway Commission tsi Sight years. bined movement of natives would bring about a disaster of the first magnitude," says Mr. arris. "There is no doubt that serious ef- forta were made to tamper with Basuto loyalty. The Basutos saw amioh and heard more of the early reverses, but they remain- ed warmly loyal, and gave practi+ was/ el evidence in the shape of sup- eons 0, 000 one to the "oe Orange Free State declared war) Englishmen will never forget how Orange the Basutos and received! ring the 'Black Week'~ Lero- such a hot reception that they had! thodi's army, 20,000 strong fully to give them up. The Cape Parilia- armed and well moun lay along ment, too; tried to govern this dis-| the banks of the Caledon, impa- tant tenpitory, but failed and aban- ently awaiting the permission of demed 3. on a naw era dawsied: Queen Victoria to dash forward to the administration of Basutoland|®uocor the beleaguered garrisons. by the Basutos and for the Basutos|, 'The loyalty of 'the Basutos to ne, under the guidance of a Brit- the. British Crown was first incul- igh adviser. cated by their greatest Oe. Mosh- ésh, to whom Queen Victoria ap- Never Faces Deficit. eared more than an earthly ru- The Chancellor of the Exchequor| ler."' of Basutoland must be a hap Py ; man, for he has never faced a ' The "taxation in' Baatolend : is about 4 shillings 6 pence per -- capita per annum upon' 4 pope Numerous Instances of Birds Im!- tating Other Birds. tion of 400,000 and every *Many scientists have studied the rds be + BIRDS TAUGHT TO SING. budget shows a surplus. ap pas try has no debt, but lends the real-|-- commonly awarded to -- Tat is surplus to other native terri- ie = . reg bi bo" Floes chiefly because he once i tories or places large sums on fixed | un f anid sae: > aed binds' refused to pay for the mai with deposite in the South Afrioan Bank, poe oe i ae ey a ot aie. which, in time of .| The accumulated, us standin A $ apg Soto: on hie rte the-eredit of Ea meatier ie ut out an inaipient blaze in Cy's| {istration is more: san: Bibra ie » din the nee of the owner,| 'Before the - Ae rin i mina | he to Hiram, ee ---- "free wars, wars and tribal national Pitso, or Parliament, has \ elae | Drought together every clement in else | the nation and it into @ s0- songs. Birds in their wild state not for}only imitate other birds, but also inseota, produced of his illustrations will make his point olear: the voices of the owls} inc chiefs, people and administrators may confer upon all matters of gov- ernment. -- F ieopiel ane / a> frequent; the swee ree of the com- mon ewift is similar to the swish of his wings as he skims through air; the voices of mallards, peli- cans, ngos and herons resem- ble the croaking of frogs and ser pe oa British Oolumbia he heard n imitating perfectly the trick. liner of water, ecutely their decreasing popula tion, this little country, secure from the 'European exp and pro- spector, is multiplying with extraor- dinary rapidity. In 1891 the popula- tion was 218,324 and in 1901 it bad increased to 347,731, and in the next 1911, to something over 400, twenty years nad |e nearly doubled, and to-day Basu- toland, with over forty persons to | the square mile, is the most dense- ly populated native area in the African continent. "This rapid increase is goin long way toward solving the la problem. for during the last ani over 70,000 Basutos crossed © their own borders to assist the white man in this task of reaping the wealth of pes of the insect supply, and are thus often within hearin intricate music of babbling brooks. He thinks that such birds as the robin, wren, hedgesparrow, biack- bird and blackoap, which sing mel- low tones and intervals of pitch rather than imitations of other sounds, may have acquired this mu- sic partly through the-influence of a South Africa. As Sir Godfrey} the murmurs and gurgles of rip- Lagden puts it, "Though for ite! pling streams. common cal] size and population Basutoland) note of the brown wren resembles the chirp of the cricket--this bird is generally found along lhedge- rows where cricketa abound, and thus hears thé cricket's chirp by day and by night. The song of the grasshopper-warbler is exactly like the persistent song of the green field cricket. The cry of the os- trich resembles the roar of the lion, and the shrill note of the redheaded woodpecker that of a species of tree frog which frequents the same trees. In the latter case, the ro- pcg 2 is so great that the cries an hardly. be distinguished. The ic ae and the snake reproduce in their alarm cries the sound made by these animals during rapid re- treat--the squirrel the swish of a long twig, and the snake the rust- ling of dry grass as sho glides through it... He gives very numer- ous instances of birds imitating other birds. produces a 'comparatively enorm- ous quantity of grain, it has an in- dustry of great economic value to ica, the output of native It supplies the sinews of agriculture in the Orange Free State; to a large extent it keeps going railway works, coal mining, the diamond mines . . . the go mines of the Transvaal 'and ~ nishes in addition a large propor- tion of domestic servants in the surrounding territories.' '"' Settling Religious Difficultics. Basutoland has too a way of its own for solving those religious dif- ficulties which are associated wi the school chikdien. The Govern- ment schoola are regulated by rules which are -drafted by the Central Board of Advice, an ad- visory body consisting of: repre- sentatives of the Government an of the different religious The rules are subject to amendment by the board, which meets annual- ly Controversy arid strife are no- where recorded, but it is stated by ucation labor. ae kt a" An attorney was cross-examining & witness. "You say you left Mont- ranther Billington," réal on the 16th?' "Yes, sir," re- wae Bi Boney ae" the Joint managem a atbend-| plied the witness. "And returned wag close a. ther of | ing the schools has enormously in-/on the 96th?' "Yes, sir."? "What He used bls | caaaed: were you doing in the interim?' "" 1 ty ard to spare the) "When the South African war| never Was in such a place," he re- again bext mMOrD-| broke out it was realized that it 'plied indignantly, with heightened Sat of the bon the Basutos took the lead a com-' color. _jancient Reprion, tk "DIVORCE IN BABYLON. Lieut on Domestic. Affairs of These _ Long-Dead People. The archaeologists who are con- ducting the daa Oriental Soci- ety's e the ruins of Nineveh, and Ashur, have deciphered two brick tablets that throw an interésting light on the domestic affairs of these long-dead people. One of the tablets tells of a di- voree case, in which a man, who has made up his mind that he can- tnot live with his wife any longer, promises to give her what he con-|- siders a satisfactory alimony: "Naid Marduk, son of Shanash- balat, will give, of his own free will, to Mamua, the wife, and Arad- Bunini, her son, four quas of food per day, three quas of: drink; per 'lyear, fifteen manas of cloth goods, one pi of sesanie, one pi of salt, which is at the warehouse, Naid Marduk will not increase it, In case she flees to Nergal, the flight shall not:annyl it, "Done at the office of Mushezib- Marduk, priest of Sippar." It appears that twenty-five cen- turies ago the wife could be di- vorced in a most summary fashion but if she renounced her lerd pe master, a h te was hers, for the second tablet reads : "'Rinum, son of Shamkhatum, has taken as wife and spouse, Bashtum, the daughter of Uxibitum. Her ridal present ahall be twenty she- kels of money. If Baehtum to Ri- num, her hi# and, shall say, 'Thou art not my husband,' they shall strangle jas and cast her into the river. If Rinum to Bashtum, his wife, shall say, 'Thou art not my wife,' he shali pay ten Shekels ot money as her alimony.' The alimony provided in this case was about six dollars and twenty cents, according to Professor Eise- len. All prices were low in those far-off days,' and w. were ema]! accordingly. One brick, dated 2200 B,C., records @ contract by. which a man hires a' from his mother, to labor for two a half shekels a year--about one dollar and fifty-five cents. ----__¥ : TRIALS OF THE HOUSEKEEPER An English Writer Gives Two Laughable Mlustrations. For the Canadian housekeeper of 1 income the problem of ob- couver,; engaged one on her return to Toronto. For some time. every- thing wend The Ohina- man was e diligent attendant aba Sun , School, and often embel- lished his conversation with phrases that he had learned there, He heard that a fellow student was receiving higher ee and hich his mistress refused. morning, when lose wnetaiza, no it, though ihe table was sore ly and the breakfast had been cooked. Mrs. Blank had invited some friends to luncheon, and she woman. While they were seated at Iuncheon Ah Sing appeared in the doorway and stated his case. 'You velly lich woman; I velly poor man. I askee you more mon- ey; you no givee me. O Lamb of of the} God, I go. Upon which he departed, and ne- ared. cottage in a resi 4 place, was left servantless while she was enter- taining a house party. She engag- ed an Irishwoman, who lived in a cabin by the roadside, and who had often come to the cottage to wash and ecrub. Mrs. Moriarty said sho could cook very well, and Mrs. Dash hoped for the best. On the following morning there was no sign of tea on the breakfast table. "Where is the tea?' asked - Mrs. Dash. Mrs: Moriarty lifted the lid of the coffee pot :--"Sure, it's in there along wid the coffee. . You tould me we'd haye the both iv them* f'r breakfast." Tihe visitors tried to compose their countenance. Mrs. Dash rose in constérnation. 'You said you knew how to make coffee !" Mrs. Moriarty folded her arms, unabashed. "I said I cud, an' I can, no matther who says I can't. I've lived cook wid the best fam'lies in Ireland, an' I've no call to be larnin' yer new Canadian ways.' The same Mrs. Moriarty heard young Henry Dash strumming his piano lesson. "Sure, that's the clever boy," she remarked. "An' what is it he's playin' 1?' 'It's only seales," = repli Alfred Dash. ' she "repeated, "scales! Now, quit yer foolin', wil) yel Many's the piano I've hear-rd in Ireland; but I niver hear-rd tell iv weighin' music, Scales, indeed !"' Settlers in Baduishewen drove 60 miles in cold weather to hear lectures on agriculture at Maple 'reek. "@ he.demanded an vi To. an = bt er MAWSON OF AUSTRALIA. The Young Professor Has Served On Many Expeditions, The Mawson expedition into the Antarctic, which set out from T mania on December .2, 1911, the object of making a_ comp] geological and magnetic survey of the unexplored coast between Cape Adaré and Ganssburg, a distance of more than 2,000 miles, cnaitied: a fifty men, thirty-two sledges, a: pack of well-trained Green niga himself, a young! dogs under the leadership of professor of geology at Adelaide, A t/ Douglas' Mawson. icadidate of the University of Sy ney, was then only twenty-ni years of- age, but had already taken! part in various exploring ee tions, including one in the New Hebrides under Captain Rason. He had served, too, as physicist, geologist, and photographer of the Shackleton expedition into the Ant- arctic in 1907, and was one of tha three men who first scaled the top of Mount, Erebus and planted thd Union Jack there. He was also wel] known in Australia for his re« searches regarding radium-bearing lands, The explorers took along com) plete wireless apparatus and e ed stations at MacQuarie Islanc and Adelie Land, so that they: oor" keep in regular communication Hobart, Tasmania. The enterp was made possible by a en of 8100,000, contributed lar the public of Australia, "Fes. $50,000 was subsoribed in three dav through an appeal by Sir Ernesj Shackleton in the columns of Thé London Daily Main. In addition; several British firms oontribut supplies and equipment worth abou $10,000 ---- USE OF TUNING FORKS. Successful Diagnosis in Locating Obscure Diseases. Bome notable work has been don by Dr. James Cantlie, the tropi medicine specialist, in the use of tuning forks in the diagnosis of obi scure disease conditions. Dr. C. lie found that in certain cases was exceedingly difficult with ag ordinary stethoscope to obtain acd curate knowledge of enlargeme of such organs as the liver, spleen} 'the stethoscope. 'In this way," he saya, linnite of the liver can be gau with hai Soren: Seeeen Flowers Form Food. Preserved violets are'so far " only crystalized flowers the ma. ity of British people venture toc sume, and even these flowers « mostly used for decorative pur, poses. Turkish ladies, however, have a favorite sweetmeat of rosex -- boiled in sugar and preserved, In China dried uds are cane died. Banana blossom pickled -ix vinegar is specially liked by the little Japanese ladies, also by In« diane, who use it for flavoring jellies and pastries. A bitter shrub grown in Burmah, and elsewhere, yields small red flowers, which the natives on through a process of their own make into bread. The lily ke wn as "Thunbergi" is one of the biggest delicacies of ti inese, and is spe ¥ grown for ofdinary consumption. They are plucked just before they begin to open, and cooked as a vegetable in much the same manner as we cook spinach; and many Europeans have testified to their excellence. Recovery of Lost Handwriting. Faded handwriting is perplexing to amtiquarians and lawyers, and its recovery may be of importance. A recent method depends on the fact at most inks, even ancient inks, are acid in reaction. Nitrated sil. ver chloride paper is kept in con~/ tact with the faded text twelve! hours or more and then exposed ta full light. The action of the acid ~ in the ink on the. silver chloride brings about a reaction, which- i¢ completed by sunlight--reduction to metallic luster on a dark ground.' It is impossible to make this image permanent, but it is legible for-# short time. .This writing may be more readily Visible by submitting the paper, after exposure,-to the fumes of burning phosphorus in a closed box.