SKIRH1SH IN CUBA -
Chicago Times-Herald.
ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE.
Louts H. Carpenter Hoa Now Risen to
Brigadier General.
One of the most striking examples of
the democracy of the United States
army Is presented by the career of
Louis n. Carpenter, who entered the
apmy as a private and has risen to be
a brigadier general. Carpenter was at
the University of Pensylvanla In 1SG1,
when lie wa's seized with the war fever
and enlisted In the regular cavalry.
Within six months his soldierly quali
ties won him a commission as second
lieutenant In the regular cavalry. Be
fore Ute civil war closed lie Was repeat-
LOVIS H. CABPEXTE11.
edly brevetted for bravery displayed In
campaign and on the field of battle
to first lieutenant 1803 for "gallant and
meritorious services at Gettysburg,"
captain 1804 for 'gallant and merttorl
ouseervlces In the battle of Winchester,"
then lieutenant colonel United States
army and eolonvl of volunteers for "gal
lant and meritorious services during
the war."
He was In nearly oil the cavalry
fights of the Army of the rotomac. In
the battle of Fairfield, near Gettysburg,
he rescued and brought off tlie fMd'the
colors of his regiment when the regi
ment was surrounded by an over
whelming force of the enemy, Ills
bravery was so conspicuous that Gen
eral Sheridan, one of the greatest cav
alry commanders In history, called him
to his side as one of the most trusted
officers of his staff. After the war of
the rebellion he returned to his regi
ment and again became conspicuous as
an Indian fighter. At the beginning of
the present war he was made a briga
dier general and put In command of tlie
brigade mode by the famous Fifth
Maryland Regiment, the crack First
Regliiwmt of, the District of Columbia
and the celebrated Second New York
Regiment of volunteers.
How 8late Pencils Are Made.
Slate pencils undergo a number of
processes before they are ready for use,
and In making them nearly all of the
manual labor Is done by boys. First
broken pieces of slate are put luto a
mortar run by stoatu and are crushed
to a powder, which Is then bolted In a
machine such as Is used In flouring
mills. , A fine slate flour results, which
Is thoroughly mixed In a large tub with
steatite flour and other materials, the
whole making a stiff dough. The dough
Is kniad('d by being passed between
Iron rollers a number, of times, and It
Is then taken to a table, where It Is
made luto short cylinders four or five
lnebes In thickness and containing
from eight to ten pounds of material
each. '
Four of these cylinders are placed In
a strong ' Iron retort which has a
changeable nozzle so that the sire of
the pencils may be regulated. In the
retort the material Is subjected to great
hydraulic pressure and Is thus pushed
through the nozzle In the shape of a
long cord. As the cord comes through
the noule Is passes over a knife and Is
cut Into the desired lengths. The
lengths are laid on boards to dry and
are then placed on sheets of corrugated
sine, the corrugation preventing the
pencils from warplug during the bak
ing process. The baking Is done In a
kiln which superheated steam Is passed
through pipes.
The pencils go from the kiln to the
finishing and packing room, where the
ends are held for an Instant under
DRAWN FROM A SKETCH ON THE SPOT.
rapidly revolving emery wheel, which
neatly points them.
Finally they are packed In paste
board boxes, 100 pencils in each box,
then 100 of the pasteboard boxes are
packed In a wooden box, and they are
ready for shipment. Philadelphia
Times.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAU
The Bhow of Gallantry Bebuked by
Genuine Courtesy.
The car was crowded. It happened
that only men were standing, with the
exception of a colored woman In the
middle of the car. But at a corner a
woman dressed In the top of the mode
got on. She stood next the door, and
plainly here was a chance for some
masculine person to be gallant An
old beuu, who was seated near the cen
ter, was obviously fascinated by the
appearance of this beauteous female,
and bobbed his head to catch her eye.
Finally succeeding he arose, beckoned
to her, and murmured:
"Wou't you take my seat, madam?"
The colored woman, standing direct
ly In front of him, heard this, and.
turning, thanked him gratefully as she
made a movement toward the vacant
space. With Indignation wrinkling his
tinted nose, and spoiling for a moment
the gracious air which he had assumed,
he pushed her back, with both hands
at her elbows, as he exclaimed:
"Oh, no; not for you, ma'am!"
Ills adjustment of expression, was
rapid as he turned once more to her of
the handsome face and fashionable
clothes and made way. Then, with a
smile at his neighbors which plainly
said, "Didn't I manage that well?" he
leaned comfortably on his stick.
The favored one had not noticed the
little play which had been enacted for
her benefit, but a young girl who sat
In the next seat was an observer, and
saw the warm red deeply flush under
the black sklu of the other woman and
the tears come In the dark eyes. She
saw the mouth quivering, and her own
eyes snapped. With a glance at "His
Complacency," unmistakably express
ive of her scorn and Indignation, she
quickly rose, touched the woman on
the arm, and gently said:
"Take my seat; I'm getting out at the
next corner."
Then flashing a look at the man. un
der which his expression of self-congratulation
rapidly changed to some
thing near to sheeplshness, she passed
out of the car; and more than one man
there would have bet that she had not
Intended to get off at that corner.
New York Sun.
r that of the War.
Spain has 50,000 Gypsies.
Pnttl made her rebut In Cuba,
'Frisco to Manila (5,000 miles.
Cadiz to New York 2.800 miles.
Key West to Havana ninety miles.
Spain has 28.D22.tJOO inhabitants.
Russia's common soldier gets $2.25 a
year. .
Our dally output of powder is 16,000
tons.
Cuba has 10,000,000 acres of virgin
forest
War has doubled the price of army
horses.
'Frisco Chinese are making soldiers'
clothes.
During our civil war there wore 3,123
battlos.
Italy's war department utlllies $45,
000.000 a year.
Cuba has 1,031,000 Inhabitants; Phil
adelphia 1.330,000.
Prior to the war the annual net rev
euuo of Cutw was $80,000,000.
Every Spaniard Is liable to be called
to military service on attaining 20
years of age.
Policemen in Boston have been In
structed to salute the flag whenever It
Is carried past them In a parade.
A Culxvn Insurgent In order to get
cigarettes, risked death by going Into
a town with Spanish soldiers.
A Salt-Laker who writes poetry flrst
rnte thinks there was a Merry Mac In
the White House when the news come
that the Sautlago bottle had been
corked by that cool ship. Philadelphia
Record.
No one who Is compelled to buy It, Is
wry fond of champagne.
THEY WALK ON THE CEILING,
Two Heiresses with I n lie H ted Love
for Gymnastics.
Perhaps the most daring perform
ance to be seen in all the many places
of entertainment at Coney Island. New
York, Is that given by two girls, who
seem to be altogether out of harmony
with their surroundings. These are
the Austin sisters, each of them re
fined, well educated and of charming
personality in every way. Their home
Is a beautiful place at Bath Beach,
L. L, where their parents live. The
latter are persons of good manners and
easy deportment, many years of travel
In all parts of the world having given
them the Indefinable polish which your
stay-at-home can never hope to attain,
Mr. and Mrs. Austin were traieze per
formers since early ehlldhood. In the
course of their professional Journey
ings they met and married, traveling
and performing together for years. Un
like niauy others In the same business,
they took care of their earnings, in
creasing the same handsomely by sev
eral Judicious Investments. When their
two daughters were still little girls
they retired and purchased their pres
ent home at Bath Beach.
The two children were sent to a first
class school in Brooklyn, . from which
they recently graduated with marked
credit From their earliest childhood
they were carefully trained by Mr.
Austin, his object being to develop
their frames so as to make them
healthy and hearty young women. In
this he has been entirely successful,
but the training the girls received In
the spacious gymnasium at Bath Beach
also developed the love for such exer
cise, which they Inherited from their
parents, and last fall they obtained per
mission to prepare themselves for pub
lic appearance. Now they show dally
In a daring trapeze act and also as
ceiling walkers. The latter perform
ance Is especially thrilling.
The girls make a charming modest
picture when seen together dressed for
their act Almee, the elder girl, has a
great mass of chestnut hair, beautiful
blue-gray eyes, and an exceedingly
dainty appearance. Marie, the younger,
a real beauty, was born In Vienna. Her
eyes are dark and she wears her hal
pompadoured over her face. The girls
are attended by their father at all per
formances and are at present attract
ing much attention by their topsy
turvy feats.
Plea, for Ueer on Sundays.
An extraordinary argument for Sun
day opening was quoted by one of the
speakers recently at a temperance con
vention. He related that at a public
meeting once held In Coventry, En
gland, an orator urged that public
houses should be opened at noon on
Sunday, In order that worklngmen
should have an opportunity of discuss
ing together the sermons they had
beard In the morning.
. WALKI!tq OS THE CEILIXO.
VULTURES IN WAR.
Flock to the Fields of Battle to Prey
Upon the Dead and Dying;.
The part played by the vulture, or
turkey buzzard In the war In Cuba is
not so well understood by the soldier
boys from the North as It Is by those
from the South, said Frank N. Jordan,
a Chleagoan, who formerly lived in
Charleston, S. C. This thought occurred
to me upon reading some of the recent
reports of the war correspondents con
cerning this bird of evil omea Reports
from the battle before Santiago July 1
say that thousands of vultures could be
seen soaring in the air above the dead,
wounded and dying, in a hurry to get at
their prey. The other soldiers did not
desert the men whose strength gave
out but lay down on the ground and
with their revolvers kept the buzzards
away from their suffering comrades un
til the latter were picked up and hur
ried out of reach of the rapacious birds.
In the Southern States the people are
familiar with these birds and their
habits. Turkey buzzards are the scav
engers of Southern cities, and are so
useful in thlsTfespect that they are pro
tected by law.' There is a sharp pen
alty attached to the law forbidding the
killing or wounding of the buzzards.
x The buzzard, has long since been
voted a great success as a sanitary in
spector. Not only In Southern cities,
but in oriental towns and villages, as I
have read, sanitary precautions, so far
as garbage is concerned, axe wholly Ig
nored, for the problem of Its removal
and purification has been solved by the
vulture. The turkey buzzard, which
h the species of the vulture family
known to the Southern States and Cen
tral America, has prodigious strength
of beak and claws and it can tear and
strip a carcass, leaving nothing but the
ciean-plcked bones, in a phenomenally
short time. It seems to have tlie
strength and rapacity of the wolf or
hyena.
I have noticed in the letters telling us
of the battles at Santiago and vicinity
that In many cases scores of our brave
boys were reported missing after on
engagement The bodies of many must
have become prey to the buzzards.
With their telescope-like eyes, these
vultures can Bee a fallen soldier, horse
or mnle from distances that render
themselves Invisible, So Impatient are
they with hunger, that they begin their
attack even before the man or animal Is
quite dead, and so sharp Is their sight
that a vulture which first discovers prey
Is soon joined by others, until at last
PART
the carcass Is almost covered with the
birds.
In civilized warfare the victors al
ways search the field of the battle, res
cue the wounded and bury the dead,
whether they be friends or foes. But
many are reported "among the miss
ing." There the buzzards find their
prey. In savage or partly civilized war
fare the dead of the vanquished are
Intentionally left by the victors to be
devoured by the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the air.
A curious phenomenon In regard to
vultures is that they seem to be able to
locate the scene of a battle before the
fight takes place. One of the most cu
rious examples of their astonishing In
stinct was observed In the. Crimean
war. In the neighborhood of Sebnsto
pol the vulture was a very rare bird,
from the same reason which has made
It extinct In England, lack of food. Yet
the war had hardly begun to assume a
serious aspect when the vultures ar
rived in largely Increased numbers and
fed upon the dead horses. Whence did
these vultures come? Many came from
Northern Africa, for the Arabs declared
that during the war very few vultures
were to be found In the places where
they usually abounded. Many also ap
peared to have come from Asia, as the
same phenomenon was observed in sev
eral parts of India.
Just as sharks follow a slave ship, so
do vultures accompany a slave cara
van and the legions of battle, knowing
that many of the captives and the slain
will In some way become their prey.
MOUNT ATHOS.
A Lovely Spot from Which Women
Are Excluded.
One of the most romantic spots In
Europe, though one of the least known
to people generally, Is Mount Athos.
This Is the name given to an Immense
and magnificent promontory, which
runs about forty miles Into the Aegean
sea, from that grand peninsula of Mace
donia called Chaldlce.
For more than 1.000 years Mount
Athos has been considered the Holy
Land of the great Russo-Greek Church.
It Is Impossible to express the venera
tion and affection with which millions
of people regard this locality. It Is In
the power of the Turks. Twenty mag
nificent and wealthy convents are
scattered over this lovely promontory,
which Is a mountain garden In the sea.
Some of these establishments contain
over 300 monks, and nearly as many,
servants. Their riches are mainly de
rived from splendid estates in Russia,
Roumanla, Bulgaria and Servia. For
many hundreds of years no woman has
ever been permitted to set foot any
where In Athos. The fact Is the more
remarkable because extreme honor Is
accorded to the Virgin Mary In all these
MOCXT ATHOS.
monasteries. It is related, and im
plicitly believed by the monks, that the
Virgin Mary herself originated the ex
clusion of her own sex from the sacred
soil of the place.
Mount Athos proper -'!'? a" beautiful
peak of white marble, which soars up
at the very end of the promontory far
out at sea. It reaches a height of near
ly 7,000 feet Running back from this
apex ts a range of lovely hills, often
thickly wooded, and in some places
nearly four miles wide, which diminish
in height more and more towards the
base of the promontory. In various ro
mantle nooks of these hills the twenty
ancient monasteries ore scattered.
Some are perched on these cliffs, in al
most Inaccessible positions, and others
nestle in the woods.
ABSORBS WATER FROM BELOW.
Boll in the Ban Joaquin Valley Moist
ened by Subterranean Streams.
Investigations made " by Professor
Milton Whitney, who Is In charge of
the division of soils In the Department
of Agriculture, have revealed the curi
ous phenomenon that the soils of the
San Joaquin valley and of the great
Palouse district (comprising the fertile
wheat-growing regions) contain a con
siderable quantity of moisture In ex
cess of the amount received from rain
fall or surface irrigation. A similar
phenomenon has been observed In the
Yellowstone valley vand In parts of the
Red River valley, and this would seem
to explain the mystery why these re
gions, which are semiarkL rarely suf
fer from drouth.
PLAYED BY VULTURES IN
But this explanation solves one mys
tery only to present another Which is
even more inexplicable. In the Mo
Jave desert for Instance, where the an
nual average rainfall is only five inch
es, the soil beneath the alkaline crust
Is always moist In Southern Califor
nia, where the summer rainfall Is less
than an inch, tobacco and sugar beets,
which require much water, grow luxu
riantly without Irrigation.
This phenomenon has been ascribed
tentatively to the peculiar quality of
the soil to absorb moisture and retain
It, notwithstanding the low humidity
of the atmosphere. But whence does
ttls excess of moisture come? ' Arte
sian wells In all the regions under con
sideration show water at depths vary
ing between forty and 200 feet and It
Is conjectured by the department in
vestigators that there may be a slew
and continuous upward movement of
moisture from subterranean sources.
Since water, however, never percolates
upward it must be assumed that the
soils of a large part of the arid and
Bemiarld regions of the country consist
of a vast sheet of absorbent material,
which draws up moisture from below,
like blotting paper, by capillary attrac
tion. The Investigations of the divi
sion of soils in these arid regions will
make one of the most remarkable chap
ters In the history of agriculture. Phil
adelphia Record. '
SAFE WHEN DONE RIGHTLY.
How a Potato May Be (Split Open on
the Naked Palm of the Hand.
Among the several medium-sized
sound potatoes on a tray, according to
the Scientific American, the Juggler
places two potatoes prepared as fol
lows: Insert a needle crosswise of
the potato near the bottom. After shoir
Ing the sword to be really sharp, by
cutting paper and slicing one or two
of the potatoes, the performer picks
up one of the prepared potatoes and
places It on the assistant's band; but
apparently It does not lie to suit him,
so he slices off one side of It using
care to cut away the side just under
crrmo ox the hasd.
the needle and as close to It as pos
sible, then places the potato once again
on the assistant's hand. After making
a few flourishes with the sword, he
cuts through the potato, dividing It In
half. In striking the potato with the
sword he makes sure that the swovd
will come exactly crosswise on the nee
dle; consequently, when the sword
reaches the needle It can go no farther,
and the brittle nature of the potato
will cause It to fall apart, the very thin
portion below the needle offering no
resistance to th separation.
DISCOVERIES IN LEAP CASTLE.
Eleventh Century Staircase Pound in
, an Early . nglish Structure.
A Birr correspondent writes that a
series of Interesting "finds," Just dis
covered in the historic Leap castle,
have been shown to a number of visit
ors. The first and most important was
an eleventh century stone spiral stair
case springing from the first floor lavel
and terminating at the summit of the
great tower, 100 feet high. This relic
of a remote past is in a splendid suite
of preservation. The finely cut stone
steps are laid with mathematical accu
racy and are large, like tlie passage it
self. The O'Carrolls. princes of Ely,
whose chief stronghold this castle was.
were all big meo in fact a race of
giants as the fey relics of them extant
attest Hence the reason why every
thing about the castle is large.
The second "find" Is an entrance to
the guard room cut out of the rock, and
which was up to the present believed
to be a mass Of solid masonry. Here
numerous bones, coins of the reign of
Edward the Confessor and other relics
were found. Human bones in large
quantities, flints and spear heads were
also found in the extensive range of
dungeons which have been brought to
light beneath the castle, these curious
prison-houses being rock-hewn, and
their existence having been previously
unknown to the owner of the castle and
lord of the soil, Jonathan C Darby,
This gentleman is the descendant of
the royal house of O'Carrolls of Ely,
whose family have remained in uninter
rupted possession of the Leap for many
centuries, .
The present owner, aided by Mrs.
Darby, has put into a complete state of
preservation the ancient chapel, an
apartment twenty-five feet square and
high, which is on top of the tower, and
here has been discovered a very large
and fine early English window, which
WAR.
from Its great elevation commnniis
view embracing eight counties, A Ut
ile ueiow this ts a remarkable room,
which none of the servants will enter
after nightfall. It was the state bi-
rooin of one of the princesses of Ely,
who was murdered six centuries ago
by her lord, and the solid oak floor r-
tains-the bloodstains of the royal vic
tim. This part of the building is re
puted to be haunted, and Mr. and Mrs.
Darby, who do not believe In ghosts,
admit that they cannot account for the
extraordinary noises that nwaainnniiv
come from the death chamber of the '
murdered princess, and which make It
nearly Impossible for them
their female servants in their employ
ment, l ue mnnirestattons are reputed
to take the form of shrieks, which re
sound and reverberate through the
building and set all the dogs In the ken
nels whining and barking. Leeds Mer
cury. A Home-Thrust.
"You women are much like Span
lards, after all."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when you aim you never hit
anything."
"Now, boys, I have a few questions In
fractions to ask." said a teacher; "sup
pose I have a piece of beefsteak and
cut it Into sixteen pieces, what would
those pieces be called?" "Sixteenths,"
answered one boy, after meditating a
moment. "Very good. And when th
sixteenths were cut In half, what would
they be?' There was silence In the
class; but presently a little boy at the
foot put up his hand. "Do you know,
Johnny?" "Hashl" answered Johnny!'
confidently. Current Literature.
"How did this happen?" asked the
surgeon, as he dressed the wound in
the cheek and applied a soothing poul
tice to the damaged eye. "Got hit with
a stone," replied the patient. "Who
threw it?" "My-my wife," was the
reluctant answer. "Hum; It's the first
time I knew a woman hit anything she
aimed at" muttered the surgeon. "She
was throwing at the neighbor's bens,'
explained the sufferer. "I was behind
her."-T!d-Bits.
When a woman can't find any place
else to put a thing she holds It In her
mouth.
A younj man's sweetheart Is now
known as his "leech.'