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th' . 1 Rose spoke very graciously and sweet- ly. She had within her the essence of truest gentility. in that she never will- ingly hurt any one's feelings. It is the most golden rule of manners in the world,--and the hardest, perhaps, to act up to. There are many hundreds of well-horn and well-educated persons, who, for the lack of that one thing- consideration for the feelings of oth- ers-have failed in attaining tln true, secret of good-breeding. Rose was not at "ll pleased at Miss Dams's visit, nor by her short and almost uncivil method of addressing her; but she reflected that Florence was probably unaware of her own brunnueness, and that she had. no doubt, come to beg for some subscription for her poor people. "Turn round with me, Miss Dene. and come in and rest after your walk." .. I don't want to rest, Madame." said Flornnce, turning. nevertheless, and walking a few paces beside her. "I don't want to force my way into your house; [only want to ask you one question. and may as well ask it here es nnywhere else." Rose bent her head politely. " Pray ssh me anything you like," she said: but the reply was s more startling one then she had anticipated. " Madame do Bratour. are you engag- ed. to my brother t" " Miss Done!" It would be impossible to describe the indignation. the proud reproach, that wan concentrated in the simple exclamation. Rose flushed crimson from brow to chin. and the light in her beautiful eyes was one of burning anger. Florence Dane realised all " once how gloriously handsome she was. and with the realization felt to the full what her brother's danger Inn-t .. Yes, Madzime do Brofonr. most (lo-i aidedly. when as in this can. the an- " Has any woman the right to ssh such a question of another t" cried Rose with those flashing eyes fixed upon her antagonist. But Florence was brave, too. Many was the drunken! and the blasphemer whom she had triumphant- ly {seed and worsted. She was not tro- in. to flinch now at the storm she had evoked. Moreover, the righteous- ness, as she conceived, of hes amuse, sus- tsined her. Her snswer was " bold us her attack. Hose do Bretour came saunterlng slowly towards her house along the winding moss-grown drive. The thick trees interlaced their branches over- head, the sombre evergreens bordered the way on either side. Here and there a few crocuses and snowdrops had sprung up dauntlessly out of the brown wintry earth, making little patches of light and colour in unexpect- ed corners. But Rose‘s head was bent over her book, there was more beauty to her in the "Essay on Man" than in all the silent voicee of nature that were about her. Books took her out of herself and her identity. Nature brought her back to the daily monotony of material existence. In that lies the superiority of the one as a means of eonuolation over the other. Just as the turn of the road, however, brought her in sight of the house, she lifted her eyes and lowered her look at the same moment in sheer surprise. for she saw e lady come towards her from it. The lady wore very short black skirts. die- playing a stout and serviceable pair of feel and ankles. whilst a rough brown Jaeket and a green felt hat completed her attire, both in the last stages of mhahtriness. She carried ablack leather bag on her arm, and when Rose was nvar enough to Ice her face she be- curnt- aware that it was Geoffrey Dane’e eldest sister whom she knew by eight from seeing her about in the village. There wag something very aggreamve in the manner in which Miss Dane pull- a! up in front of her, and addressed her. Rose smiled. " You must forgive my poor Martino; her manner is perhaps shrupt, but she does not mean to be rude; and she has my orders. I re- ceive no visitors; my life is so very se- eluded. But if you will come back. Miss Dane, I shall be happy to see you. as you have come to speak to me." .. Yes, that is my name. Can I do artrhing for you. Miss Dane r' .. I came to call upon you, but your servant shut the door in my face." .. Poor papa. he " no easy-going! 110 ca is n uncharitablo to aunpeot people of bad motives, and unehriatian to open one's eye: to the truth of bad things. But t know better than he does. It is perh xps natural that he should tat. an old-tashiomsd View of things. But if he will not lift a finger to can Geoffrey. I must do it alone, tor lam not gang to see him fall into the hands of that woman and nit by and do noth- ing till it is too late." _ . And then she went upstairs and put on her jacket and hat, and salliod forth from the house p, herself. _ _ '. You are Madame de Brofour, I bo- lieve r' As sh; wiped “d, Ur Uars utter Aha left her lather: presenco.aho said to herself: ' She loved Geoffrey sincerely, and de- sired his temporal I. well as his eter- nal welfare. And it we: plain that if Madame de Brefour were bent either on entrapping him into I marriage with herself or in converting him to the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith, one or other. or perhaps both. he must be in considerable jeopardy,. _ the nature ot her life and its ocean- tions, so that she was constantly em- ployed in season, and out of sesson. in removing the world about her for its sins. She had no sinister motives. She honestly desired to do good. and to improve those about her. solely and simply for their own benefit, and wat- fare. when her lather dismissed her somewhat curt], from his study, she was pained and hurt by what she con- sidered his injustice to herself, but she was in no way deterred from her fixed resolve to turn her brother, if it were possible. from the error of his ways. This, she conceived it to be clearly her duty as a sister and Christian to do. Florence Dane had, liko many of the best people. a perfect mam: for set- ting her fellow-creatures to rights. He: natural instincts had been tenured by CHAPTER 1x.-a7ontinttod. She loved Geoffrey Dane; and her love for him was hopeless! There was no partying these two facts any long- er. The love was so strong as to have evermastered her judgment, and so hopeless as to render it almost a crime that it should exist at all. Turn where she would she could not escape from these inexorable truths which hemmed her in like walls on every side. Woman like she had deemed herself to be stronger than her lover-to be able to cherish it in silence. to bury it for ever in the secrecy of her own heart. But, however jealously we guard the sacred things of our inner tsouls-mow- soevsr secure we are in our strength, there comes a time what the world's rude hand draws aside the veil in which we have shrouded ourselves and the prying eyes of others look in upon our sanctuary. and rude hands scatter the ashes of our idols to the four winds ot heaven; and so our innocent things are turned into sin. and our holy things become debased end degraded. - If she had not made that tiny first step in the wrong direction-if she had not stifled and smothered that small, small voice within, that is sometimes so hard, and sometimes so easy, to ail- ence-it she had not blinded herself wilfully and persistently to what she must have known to be inevitable, then she might have been saved from this wrench. and she might have lived on here at peace. A - " Ah I' she cried aloud, striking her hands one into the other with a pite ous hopelessness, whilst the tears rain- ed down over her face--'9hl and it is my own fault-any own fault!" She had listened to a siren song, and she had dreamt I fond and impossible dream, but now the siren's voice had been transformed into a cry of dan- ger; now the dream was at an end, and she was awake to the unlovely real- ity. Only aday or two ago she had said to Geoffrey' that she would leave it, and yet her heart had rebelled against the verdict of her own words, and she had told herself in secret that she would stay on-thigh the summer at least-that she would brave all and stop a little longer. She had learnt to love it as she had loved no other place. The utter seclusion of the lit- tle old house, the tangle of tree and hriar about it, the free breezy Downs behind, where she had been able to wander for hours unseen and unno- ticed, all this had grown dear to her. Dear, too, perhaps by reason of the per- ilous associations which were grow- ing up, week by week, concerning ev- ery foot of ground around the sad little domain in the hollow of the chalk hills. And now it had come to this-t hat she must leave it all. Driven forth once more into the world to find a new home-often this had happened to her before, either from the one cause, or for the other-ttrat she had had to fly --only this time it hurt her mor.-- much more. Florence Dane. In her -wen-meant fer- vour for benefitting her fellow crea- Does not that always make the trou- bles of life worse? The poigancy of self-reproach adds so bitter an ingred- ient to all also, that it seems almost to treble the misery of the rest. -- . As to all these things, Florence Dane wae forced to own herself to be It!" plunged into a sea of doubt end un- certainty. CHAPTER X. She must go. That was what It meant to her. She did not conceal it from herself, or blind herself any long- " to the inevitable; only her heart was torn in sander. Martine, who met her in the door- way, clasped her buds together in dis- may, as she entered. for the faithful soul saw at a glam how her mistress trembled, and how the beautiful eyes were dim with tears? _ "Ah, madame!" she cried despair- ingly, " you met her. then, that insol- eat one! What has she said to rout What has she done to ypu V' - _ * But Rose put her back gently with her hand and went into the library, closing the door softly behind her. She went and stood by the window, looking out upon the trees. There was very little of the outer world to be seen. only that short bend of shrub-border- ed drive, with the strip of rough grass at either edge, and the daffodils, and violets, and primroses. cropping up thickly along it, with a certain lux- uriance in their untended sweetness. Such alittle remote corner it seem- ed of the world'ts wide face, in which to rest and to he at peace! And yet for her there was neither rest nor peace In it. Ber adversary had indeed answered --nar, more than amrwtsred---her ques- tions. Bat was she any wiser than she was before. Was her brother’s posi- tion made any clearer to her! Was Madame de Brefour's connection with him more comprehensible b-or had she any further guarantee for his future conduct and security than when she had climbed the same road a little while ago, burning to encounter and to attack the woman whose privacy she had so rudely invaded? A Rose controlled her - with e vio- lent effort. For a few moments she did not speak, but there was etumult of emotion at her heart. Something of the nakedness of the truth became rudely and cruelly reveeled to her, end she perceived that this woman had some show of right and justice on her side. Oh, yes; she felt that she had. Her heart still beat hotly w'ithin her, but her voice was cool and even when at last she spoke. " I will answer your question, then, Miss Dane; I am not engaged to your brother, and, what is more. I an: nev- er likely to he. Is that all you wanted to know? Yes? Then I think you must excuse me if I wish you good-bye? - swor tsope1rrnafhes_htori- of Ivon- "o only bragging" And Florence Dane, ss she walked slowly on the steep. rough, chalky, round from Hidden House to the val- ley below, was not quite sure in her own mind whether she had not been considerably worsted in the interview which she had sought with such rash courage. ' [7 Bitherto ihisuecuiiar phase of the 3110. P".'"."""' Ol D}. usury mounL- 'fute .0 which she was subjected had luor, fo.r iytytey whieh h“ any '".' o oasionaiir, indeed, annoyed her. but how! m it. " the smallest pariah 1n more often it had amused her. If she the oitr. Thu 90!!!! stands " ue oor- had caused suffering in others she had ner of Stl',', Victoria and Frida, been temperately sorry for it, in that atreqttg, and rg',": xmmtl N,'l"at. mild and vicarious fashion In which since tttq Brest . on, n 1666, 'women, who ere accustomed to the burned dowtt the one it formerly had. 'idea of worship, ere wont to be sorry. -------_--_ tor the pains which they Inftiot. But Hes your My out sly teeth y.” lt new element had entered I should sey so. It's out at leeet one 1t1t the situation-the love which ehe teeth - night durum the pest six wastorced to steel: well-herew- months: For a long time they never left France, a strong inclination kept kept them both upon Frerwh soil, but by and bye it became necessary locome to England. and for the last two years they had rented different furnished houses in remote corners of rural, dis- tricts. They never made friends - they never seemed to desire any socie- ty but their own; and always a black shadow brooded unceasingly over their life, hunting them forth time after time from their resting-places. Usual- ly it was some rumor that; went forth about the mystery which surrounded utem--SonMs rumour that reached their ears and seemed to till them with a nameless terror; but once or twice it had-happened only that their flight was due ton very natural thing. Rose's greaty beauty had attracted some would-be suitor. The lovely young widow had been sought out and wooed in her self-elected seclusion, and she had had no other alternative but flight from the unwelcome attention. - One great and awful blow in the past had drawn them close together, as a common misfortune is apt to do, and since that day Rose had given up a his that was seemingly useless for any other Purpose to the man who was her father only in name. When the shock otthat blow had fallen upon him, bringing with it the paralytic seizure from which he was destined never to recover, when subsequent tears and anxieties had united them still more closely together, then Rose conceived it to be her duty to forsake her own people in order to cling more perman- ently to the man, who had no other friend but herself. She had money of her own settled securely upon herself. Without the help of this money he would be a pauper, with it she was able to make a home for him, now in one place and now in another-a home which was filled with every comfort and luxury that could alleviate his lot. Her own tastes were simple. She lived austerely and dressed herself in the old-fashioned stuffs and velvets which had come to her out of the wreck of the old house near Lyons, where she had gone as a bride. She had only two extravagant tatites--her books and her little English-built brougham--for all else her existence was one of primi- tive simplicity. But the old man had everything of the best, and the two French servants who had followed their master's fortunes, and who were tri nds " well " servants, waited upon both with an ever-affectionate devotion. bor many years now this strangely- assorted couple, the paralysed and hrlplese old man and the beautiful, blooming young woman, had wandered about from place to place, making short, temporary homes, in the differ- ent places where they pitched their tent. This had Rose do Breton: said in her soul to the poor old man who depend- ed upon her, and upon this covenant the lines ot her life wero cast. Death alone could - the "bond. Duty bound them tugethesr--s com- mon duty, a. common cause - and yet out of duty affection had sprung up unawares, as bright-hued flowers are wont to spring up out of the dry and arid crevices of broken stone walls. tnree. had done thin thing to he. ! All the romance end the sweetne- wu wetter-ed. and ell the poetry had [one out of it for ever. Nothing new remained bat sundry unpeleteble end crude realities. That ehe wee doing Geoffrey an injury, from n worldly point of view, that his name wne cou- pied with her own in a. manner likely to be prejudicial to him with his family and friends, and that his character night very likelybediecredited withinl the precinct. of his tother'n pariah. Ali this wee hideous and unlovely. The idtll who " an end. She sank by his side u at her knees -v -. ""- _.. """v‘" -- "'""-'""' and murmuredafond wolf: as she laid can understand. “18 most conserva- her check for an instant upon his two b°“°m.° freaks when they tsuddenly shoulder. want to die without assistance from "Mon Pare." law or physician. Bow he loved the soft. filial word! ECCENIRIcWNEt, OF SUICIDES- upon her tipat His withered face .A famous Nantucket sailor allowed brightened " she entered. His bony himself “In? Jumps from a church hand found its way caressingly to her tower head first down on an iron pie- dark auburn head. They had had Rot fence, but, missing the spike each nothing between them to begin with, time, he gave it “P " 0- bad job after these two-nothing but duty. Of dit- the second dive, and turned into anae- ferent race-ot different blood - with- ful 11.t,ize.n to the end of his days. out a taste in common, yet they were In £11813“? and Scotland, where they held together in a bond stronger than tsat oatmeal m the for tor breakfast, aught in life could dissolve. He, from Nui read Carlrale and the heavy ro- thepathetic dependence ofa man who v"."?. when.they need recreation, tho is infirm and old and poor, to the wo- tn.titsid? mania W“ said to have reached man who comes nearest to him, and tutHar.titttr proportions. But the re- who is strong and vigorous and able cent Increase in the circulation of the to support him. She, from that beau- London. Pswt'ep.e" throughout the tiful patriarchal piety which is essen- rural district, it is claimed, has really tially a French, and not an English, reduced the number or annual suicides. virtue, and yet which owes its origin Dr. Sibbuld, Commissioner ot Lunacy to the days long ago in the history of for Scotlztnd._ recently read a paper‘be- human nature, and to that lovely leg- fore the British Medical Association, and of the world's primitive history showmg that statistics had overesti- that is so touching through all time mated the number of persons declared in its utter simplicity and its unselfish to have committed suicide. He says devotion. It In Impossible to discover all the "Where thou scent I will 80; thy cases of suicide that actually occur. people shall be my people, and thy God The Propylion of those who die by my God." hanging is much larger than that of This had Rose do Brefour said in her those who leave the world by po1tion- until in thn Mnr nIA mun uyhn Alana-"l- Ing: "37133;“ even a tine, scornful hunt-, A staight, sober man. who has been ility in the last words, by which the a good husband, indulgent to his chil- Ttget', ind were: to fd"t'p'fPt','J'iitt' dren, just to all dealing with him, a o er posi ion. en. WI a BWl ' . . impetuous movement, she turned and tunt3ere and. useful member of "o.1'ittn left the room. honourable In business and a purifying Upstairs, the old man sat crouched influence in politics, comes home some a!) tkhe hearth in his tn', simultan- bA afternoon, unusually jolly. He makes hi: 'gitNlt?,tlt,1t no; 2h tgogid: the children presents, tells his wife to analong brass arm as his feeble fingers Pr . new bonnet at the French mil- guided it. Upon the desk l'gl an open tinerh, then saunters around the cor- book. Be, too, sought oonso ation in ner and h himse . books, but the book from which he the barn angs It to Cb beam m read was not of philosophy. " here: . . V . were. but for' may“. l Who can explain these twisted pro- The door opened and the beautiful blame of lite! It is said that there are woman came in, breathing of life and some things in love and politics that sprint: to hits tired "es. no man with or without an almanac, She sank by his side upon her knees can d t d ' and murmuredatond word asshe laid ti 'd'lfl,e,,rd an . lne moat conserva- her cheek for an instant upon his Ire copy trely when they tsuddenly shoulder want to die without assistance from "Mon be“... law or physician. Bow he loved the soft, filial word; ECCENIRIcuTIES OF $UICIDES. upon her lips! His withered face A famous Nantucket sailor allowed brightened as she entered. His bony lierlt, tyes Jumps from , church hand found its way caressingly to her tower head first down on an 1.fon pie- dark auburn head. They had had k.“ fence. bat, mains the spike each nothing between them to begin with, time, he Fav.? it up " 0- b.at.1 job "ter these two-nothing but duty. or dit- the m.ry.oud dive, and turned, W0 tb11Mb- ferent race-of different blood - with- tu) “law tfr the? end _uf pits 513,52 There was even a tins, scornful ham- ility in the last words, by which she recognised and bowed to the exigencies of her position. Then, with a swift. impetuous movement, she turned and left the room. ”sigma hick the nodding tear. from her and and: took up her cross once more. - - - _ "I did wrong," she said brokenly. halt-aloud to herself. " had better have been content with my books. God had given me IO great a consola- tion in my loneliness. I ought to have remembered that I am not like other women-that I have had my portion out of this 1ito-tut nothing now is permitted me but to study and to stagnate!" - . . ONTARIO ARCHIVES TORONTO , DIFFERENCE Oli' OPINION. Another paper by Dr. Haig, dilat- ing elaborately at. length on the causes leading to suicide, gives his opinion that many cases of alleged poisoning are caused by uric acid. The Phila- delphia Medical Journal, in comment- ing on Dr. Haitt's views, says: "That uric acid should be such a potent cause of suicide as Dr. Haig believes, is quite incredible. His paper is in marked contrast with that of Dr. Sibbald in its lack of facts and high figures." l In taking leave of this somewhat mournful subject it is cheering to re- call the definite information imparted by an American humourist. He quoted statistics at length. showing that very few people - none to speak of, in tact - ever committed suicide on board fast express trains. Be there fore inferred that trunk line railroads with modern equipments were human- ity's beat friends. (me Home Munds " Pen lipo- slx " Them. No. 111 Queen Victoria street, Min- sion House Chambers. in the city of London, is situated in no fewer then a1x parishes, arising from the curious way in which the city parishes run into one another. There are several instances of buildings standing In four or three parishes, and at least one house is half in the city and half be- yond its borders. The Debt of England, Threadneedle street, is in three par- 'usher-Wt. Bartholomew, St. Christo- pher-uMRoeira and St. Margaret. The city of London, though only one square mile in area. has 60 perishee. none of than of very great dimensions, but some of an almost ineoneesivabiy small size. The Parish of St. Mary Mount- haw, for instance. which has only at: home. in it. is the mullet parish in the city. This pariah stand: at the cor- ner of QM Victoria and Friday struts. and hu not pounded uchurch since the great fire of London. In 1666, burned down the one It formerly had. Many persons are constantly report- ed to have disappeared, and no one knows whether they have gone to Aus- trulia, or made away with themselves in some secluded swamp. SECRECY OF SUICIDES. Often suicides object to leaving ttsri- dence behind tor their friends to grieve over, and so they board a Channel steamer and leap into the sea in the night, never to be heard of. Dr. Sib- bald, in calling attention to several sources of error in published statisdcs, says that the number of deaths by sui- cide reported nowadays as due to na- tural causes is telling ott. About twenty-five persons in every m1l1.on of population commit suicide in England. In Scotland the number is vousiderably less - seventeen suicide: to the million. Suicide by drowning shpws the, greatest increase,_ _ _ It in a singular fact that during the period covered by the statistics ao- cidontal deaths by firearms, cutting instruments, poisoning and drowning have decreased. heart me well u in the lovers. It ceased her en “speekable encuieh to uproot it, end the usual remedy at flight offered her no consolation, but only e prospect of unprecedented tet Nevertheless, it we. withu ntlinc in. determination that Rose knelt by the old man's side and told him that the tint had gone forth, end that they must strike their tent once more. . I To be Continued. Of all methods of tself-destruction, hanging, he said, is the one that can be, least concealed or laid to accident or homicide. It will come to light aooner or later. In England and Scotland, where they eat oatmeal in the tott for breakfast, and read Carlvele and the hen, ro- viewe when they need recreation, the suicide mania was said to have ruched alarming proportions. But the re- cent increase in the circulation of the London newspapers throughout the rural district, it is claimed, has really reduced the number 01 annual suicides. A Inter: Pinkie-e and ecu-un- - hum to “In. Why doee A man oomth auieidet at: the New York Herald. Why does e handsome women take rat poison or oarbolio aoid-liquid fires that con- dense the agony of a. lifetime into death's halt hour, ending in convul- sions and annihilation no In as life is concerned! WHY IS THERE SUICIDE ' LONDON PARISHES. The latest official figures show that Great Britain has of battleships the en- ormous number of titty-two ready tor action, an increase from thirty-eight in 1894 and forty-five in 1896. These battleships are all ot modern type, in splendid condition, ready to strip for action at an hour's notice. Against these France could Oppose but twenty- seven battleships. Ot the immediate.. ly available armored cruisers, that class of fighting ship that our late war has shown us the immense value of, Great Britain has eighteen ready for service while France can boast of but nine. In the matter of protected cruisers the disparity in numbers is even greater. Britain has ninety-five while France has but thirty. in un- protected crui era the two nations are equal, both possessnng sixteen. These ships, however. would not be of much importance in a war inch as one that would be waged between the two na- tions. ' The total number of ships ready to take the sees with the flag of Great Britain tUiag is 359, while France hue 140. ENGLAND'S OTHER ADVANTAGE. An important factor to beconsidered is the size of the vessels. Here again Great Britain has immense advent- age. The biggest battleship in the French navy is 12,000. Enema. has no battleship larger than 18.000 tone. Ger- many'e crack vessel is 11,000 tone.Gneat Britain has a number of battle-hip- that we thousands of tone heavier than the». The Royel Sovereign e megnifieent fighting whine, lenn ah. ed in 1001. displeoee 14.150 tone. The Royel Sovereign'e dllpluelnelt In ex- poeded by thee-0g the Rethink. end France po see-sea more torpedo bouts than England,own;ng obs hundred uhd twenty to England‘s seventy. The dit- terenoe in torpedo boats is more than made up, however, by the immense superiority ot England in the matter of torpedo boat destroyers, of which she possesses one hundred to France'. thirteen. The immense navy of Great Britain, it has been asserted. would be a match for France and Russia combin- ed. It will be interesting to go into figures with reference to this, in view of the fact that France has become bet.. ligerent in the far east, and in blam- ing the United States, declaring that the preparations for war in England are but a beginning of "the hunt for the cry." Should Russia join France inatight with Great Britain, which, by the way, is just what England wants. she being at; present in the pink of condition, so to speak, while her anta- gonists are decidedly out of training, how would the fleets line apt which the United States has started BRITAIN'S FIGHTING trl'RENUTH. ‘east as an excuse for our change of heart towards an old rival. Be the (rico-n what it may. England and the United States tedtV are in a situa- tion where they must stand or tell to- gether in their policy in certain quar- ters of the earth, and the tie of mutual interest binds us cloner then In! sentimental alliance. FIGURES THAT TELL. But could the two nations face the rest of the world in arms withe con- fident feeling that they could beat them in a fair fight! There are the- oretical features of the answer that will appeal to - patriotic Ameri- can and Briton, no matter how they may be received by other nations. It will be asserted, for instance, by some that one American or one Briton is a match for any two of the continental peopies.mseut there are a few nations who would undoubtedly be allied on the side ot America and Britain. IN leaving these questions out of consid- eration, can America and Great Brit- ain beat the world in a pelagic war, man for man, gun for gun. and ship for ship! k MIGHTY ililllIflIlIhlrBlf TAlN STANDING TOGETHER. 1"" run-x - ' “at“ "I! lie Xavier or All - Undone-AIM- e.. Sum-en “in; e - View " Alum-The land- and the much llvkl "-ea. WUn oaimir and disratmioetnUir, farming men who ere in close touch with conditions that one making at the Present time for peace or war. begin to fur into statistics to get 1 anti-{eon tory idea ot Ameriea'tr chances in 3 General fight between the people of the earth, it is time to pay serious atten- tion to the question of our position in a. strife in which the fittest would eur- vivo any: a Washington letter. It in tstrange that at a time when the pro- posal has been made to the nations for a general disarmament there should be more talk of e would-wide war than " any other period in the hiie torr of the universe. Yet thoee who mix with the leading politioiar" here know that it is e grave possibility that the races of the earth will be on either side ot a vest battleground that will comprise the land and sea of the entire globe. The question seems by general con- tent to have taken this form: Could America end England together whip the entire world? Here it may be pew- missible to call attention to the re- markable change ot sentiment with regard to the British that has come to the people of this country. Some say it is due to the kindly attitude of England during our late war, when nations of continental Europe were re- carding us with ugly looks; other. point to our mutual interests in the UNITED STATES AND GREAT BTU- splendid sinu- ship, each Tg With all our new battleahipn in com- mission the United States and Grout Britain would have a more enactin- fore of heavy-weight ships than any poasible combination of nations could oppoae to them while in the lighter veesels the combined fleet: of the two English-speaking nations. as has iteen shown by the nhovn figures, would be more then able to hold their own, and. with tho reserves of the United States und Great Britain called from the merchant marine, the veseele of the Angl:rAmoriean alliance would swarm everywhere and sweep the seas. _,_V-_ --VV Ill-l, nulnllll a lawyer from ameptl nulnried s1',%tl'. Al the French %ninterl an Mt paid officlnh, and may of the. lune". I anon! application of tin In. would" din-trons. It is hardly necessary to take int: calculetlon :ome of the small nevioa whose figures are given here, for tha reason that although they comprise quite a number of "nail bolt: the vest scls are tor n large part only of tha Cl-tss that could be fitted out in n1moet unlimited number. by America and England by drawing on the remrvee or the merchant mine or yachting fleets of the two countriee. In ree. fighting ahipa it will be neon that mu. side of France. Germany, Italy and Russia, there are no toes in Europe that an Aagio-.Amorioan alliance need teke much cognizance of. THE AMERICAN NAVY. To oppose the fleets enumer- ated above, the United States would hore the unnrpnaseble navy that did tuch wonder: in the late wnr. and brought glory that will never grow dim to the flag ot freedom. When the last official returns were made America poaetrrasd 9 tint-close bat- tleehipe. of second-clans battleship. e, of armored cruisers 2, of protected crui ers 16, of unprotected cruieere 5, of gunbo-tts of the first class le, of torpedo boats 21. These figures do not Include the splendid Iubsldized ctuisers that did such good service in the war with Spcin. Nor do they in- elude the magnificent fleet of superb battleships now being gotten ready in various parts of the country. Them battl.lips include the Alabama, Wis- con dn, Illinois, Kant-surge. Kentu ky. Colorado and Penncyivanin. Them revert battleships will be as fine " any elicit. and int'nite‘y superior to anything that Europe could bring again“. them. The leather which in used to tip the hammers of the best pianos is ol a remarkably soft quality. It is prepar- ed by a family of tumors in Thurin- aria, Germany by means of a process. this sorrel of which they alone Imam-as The akin! are mound In this country from om 'll2l"i"l derer-the any deer of tho Northern Lake District. An) other.truekukin is useless. An agency in Minneapolia supplied the German tanner: with the hides and they are such good customer: that they hava no others. M. Trouillot. late French Minister tm the Colonies. has been the victim of a queer hit of spite. the burl-ter- at his district having dinbnrred him by virtqu of l {gnaw lay that forbids Ot the smaller nations. most otwhom have very little tight in them accord.. ing to a naval man's ro nt of view, Denmark he: no battleships, no arm- ozed cruisers, five protected cruisers and about twenty-five torpedo boats, none of them formidable. She will be no very valuable ally to the European powers. Holland has about the game kind of e navy as Denmark and can be counted of little help to molars" nation; inenaval war, although she once took a good deal of beating from Ettsi,tnd. 'rwker has a ricxety old tl "r, consisting of nine battleships, of which only one in first-class no erm- ored cruisers. six protected cruiser. two unprotected cruisers. about fifty gunboxts and torpedo boats. Turkey as e naval power is not calculated to scare an opponent. Portugal boasts of one battleship, tour protected r,rtti+ ers and about forty little veaeele of Kuboat and torpedo boat variety Sweden and Norway po~eese between them, cuticle ot a little mosquitc fleet of count defense bouts, two pro- tected cruisers, four unprotected cru~ an": and about 50 torpedo and gun- tg. than tt-Uvern no the nine mu shire at the We“: clans. with I diaplnpomont _ot MMltlo "e - '., Of test eruieers the oxtreordinery showing in made by the ottieiel figure- -ttGiGFaaa.ttsit-rforth, most part than any in Europe Greet Britain can send to one It short notion more than can Buds. Gernuuy end France in oombinetlon. A rummry at the entire uni tic- unee of the three nations, taking ettastr- tive ships ready and possible to get in readiness in e twee-ensue time. show- ing that Greet Britain would be op- posed in e novel light by thirty-five battleships end seventyotive eruieerl ot the French navy. and twenty-two bittk'h:m and twenty-one exuisere flying the (leg of the Cur. Total seventy-elven battleships. ninety-nix cruisers. To oppoee theee Greet Brit- ein would heve sing-tour bettleehipe and one hundred en forty-five cruis- ers. It in not too much to say thet, coneidering the superior weight and steaming enmity of the British ships not to speak of the superiority of the men behind the guns, our possible ally in e general war could be depended upon to keep Russia and France too bu =in engaged to think of turning their attention to the United Stetee. OTHER NATIONS. Then what of the rest of the nations! Poor Spain can safely be left out of the cultuletion entirely, as her boa-t- ed navy is at preeent in the depths of variout- wetere. Germany in credited with having, of 1mrtierhipss six of the first-cl use and nine of the second-class; of armored cruisers, seven, of protect- ed and partially protected cruisers thirteen. of unprotected cruisers six, torpedo boats and torpedo boat de- stroyers one hundred and eighty-two Italy, who is known to be friendly dis- poed towards England. and would probably side with the Anglo-Ameri- can alliance in the event of a gen- eral wer. has a fine navy ot ten but- tie h p4, eight armoent crui.,ert',twentr- thre- protected and partially protec- ali cruisers, and two hundred end nlnaetren torpedo boats and torpedo- bod dostioyerts, of all kinds. which _ displace- will! ue, ESE: " cue I‘LY LEATHER. BIT OF SPITE. queror Was .. Fevi ing "mulls with t Ind other Bruin! Ixurt'in “(an of "twinning t ion companvs the row horizon. the French a competitor. w French hoohs _ military heirnr iou.ly ignorant and even of th authorities lie mmrta by an Thoma“ and Rein-ch. The antral Cons-bet French navy w effort Inna been from circulation [an and Thin mm mention accumulate the And - more name-u. with ch waded which a bel suit could hook. the offal: commanding off extinct species. total to utoriea the proatitulio- ot the Brave C.. STORY OF The and story of paign is told in petals to pqrular Ire too plain, praw‘ly is nu commended. trumpets for: can of her p. with the fred upon them. " ”Med. vitiarm ling figure at ot "Pioupiol Ioldierly spl "Our bar: are Ichooll a new. of 'sneal 1teuatrrher.v. drunkennou. and progrenl Anglo-Saxon iota" vlplunau the fact um OFFICE The offirera FREN " anohl denoriplmn l hr Mule h ot. l Piytwiir Victoria; . and with Per. Wear other Net martial m con-Hunk: km. Norwi mid, we ll our own ll tubers eet, are run-3‘ This may 1. of "" rend; Th. "I .. Amo hidden pr "(Human tive maul to prom, quake lets ou, (Wen "Pendilu uteri-m tim, of t, “I " In “I mes, nine. moan}, ohapter, l France i I dwoiv " n toy. I: of the of an: to com honour fleet. I he": n ("and I and by “Neal I Opinion: hier the rub Ill rec n . In“ In Ion tents 1 corroq This a " ot th Pream it Tb the ' now MN who! In In Fren, Goh I! into vice, sum cry l ernn mos! to eri in ' pprt mt