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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1902)
"frF"" IJESJSKr" vW3rj--- -'- wr-'nRTSjjsiar -vrjprr j j; wjw figf-'s i i?rf-nw nj, wT-OTgr-gpiajie WW,rT'y"lr''"' 'i-n1' vjf 5r?i i THE SUNDAY OBEGONIAN, POETLAND, JULY 13, 1902. 20 SPORTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE A BRAND-NEW out-of-doors game, that can be played -with materials Improvised from the natural ob jects surrounding the players. Is "pards." Each player selects a "pard." If girls and boys play together, each boy selects a girl for his "pard." If a boy or a girl Is left over, he or she Is called a '"lonely." The game can be played also by parties consisting entirely of boys or of girls. The first requisite in pards Is the buffer. This may be a good-sired rock, one with rather a flat top generally being preferred or tho buffer may be a boy's hat, a. hard felt like a derby, or a stiff straw hat. A soft hat will not answer. The buffer Is placed on an open space on the ground, and Is surrounded by a ring of posts. These may consist of 32 little sticks driven in the earth, as shown in Fig. 1. Every fourth stick is longer than are the others, and is called a station. The sticks bhould be about an inch or more apart. One stick must be considerably longer than any of the others, and, if possible, it should bear a leaf on it. This stick is called the starting point. Pebbles may be used instead of sticks. In this case a space of four or five Inches left between pvcry fourth and fifth pebble makes a station, and the starting point is indicated by a stone considerably larger than the others. Each bo must select 'a leaf or flower of the same kind and as nearly like that of his pard as possible, for a marker. If the girl has an oak leaf, so must he; if she chooses a violet, he rust also have a violet. ' The lonelles, however, must content themselves with dry sticks for "markers. The only other articles required in pards are three throw sticks. These are made easily by cutting the branch of some tree or plant into two pieces of equal length (about three or four Inches is a good size) splitting them, selecting three of as nearly the same width and thickness as possible end cutting a notch In the rounded side of one of these. See figure 2. The order in which the pards -play may be determined by counting out or by any1 of the usual ways used by young folks in regulatins such matters. The girl pard of the couple who have Q- C Gr rkJZ'Z -- Kru -vVAi- 3Z)CO j f Lc - t -s h f 1" ' 1 bX secured the first play begins by taking the three throw sticks, holding them much as she would a pen or a pencil, shown in figure 2. above the buffer, and throwing them down upon it, so that the ends of the throw sticks strike the buffer as near ly as possible together, and at the same J time, and tho sticks themselves bounding off fall Inside the circle of posts. The place In which they fall determines how many posts away from the starting point the player's -marker may be laid. If, in the beginning of the game, for in stance, the sticks fall in such a way as to count five, the player moves his or her marker to the fifth post (stick or pebble) from the starting point. The players of one side move their markers from left to right; the players of the other sldo move theirs in the op posite direction. If one player, by a lucky throw, can place his or her marker at a post al ready occupied by ' another player's marker, this latter is "put out" or sent back to the starting -point to begin tho game over again. Pards, however, can not put each other out; on the con trary, if one can place his or her mark- S ' STZ Jt &0t- rife 0Sli2 . r-zr- (131 LUCK AND PLUCK llTT OW did you succeed?" asked Mrs. A Barston, in a tone of anxious in quiry, as her son Wilfred entered tho room. "Just my luck!" exclaimed Wilfred, dropping into a chair with a discontented growl. "Mr. Clay had hired a boy about an hour before I applied." "That's too bad," sighted Mrs. Barston, as she applied herself again to the coat she was mending. "Somehow I counted on your getting the place, and it would have been such a help. Mr. Clay gave his last office boy $4 a week, and as the hours are only from 9 to 3, you would have time to do all tho chores." "Can't help it," said Wlfred, with an in different toss of the head. "No, I suppose not." -Tnen, with a sudden thought, she asked: "'What time did you apply?" "Ten o'clock." "But you left home at 8, so as to see Mr. Clay among the first applicants." "I know I did; but I met Ralph Doris, and he wanted to show me the canoe he was making. Two other fellows were there and we got talking, so that It was a quarter to '10 before I remembered about Mr. Clay." ' Mrs. Barston was silent for a moment and then she said, reproachfully: "I think you would have got the place if you had applied sooner. You should not have delayed" "There! there It goes again!" inter rupted Wilfred, angrily. "Of course, it's my fault! You always say that!" "Well, Whose fault was it?" she asked, mildly. "Nobody's," he replied, violently. 'It's OUTDOOR GAME OF PARDS r AN VACATION GAME FOR BOYS AND ? - ' " ' - -----..- -ti, I - ' Mill II .,11- i i -J 1 ! H 'J- 1HB wommmm II MJ I It HOW TO HOLD THB STICKS THE THROW STICKS AND MARK ERS FOR PARDS. T "i: r. n. O?, t-" vi.w. afUT otuI th notched jtde uji cwutf 1 5 . 3 wad tides un counts JO f a-es u.jv comvti mm, sne Toand. j, i tit fVrtk m jJU fc J i.4 ael frvr vouneL Cout4S 3 iite jwr tiofehe d., ou.ni- PLAYING PARDS. "H - J ,,,,,, . WILFRED'S UNCLE FROM OREGON GIVES FORTUNE AND ENDEAVOR t Just my luck! I'm always having bad luck. I don't suppose I'll ever have any thing else." x Mrs. Barston sighed again. She was a widow and Wilfred was her only child, and It was all she could do to keep the wolf from the door. Wilfred was 15 years old, and might have been a great help to his mother if it had not been for his bad luck, as lie called It. He always was a long time getting a situation, but quick to lose it; so that he worked only about three months out of 12. On this occasion he was particularly provoked (at his luck), because Mr. Clay, the real estate agent, was a splendid man to work for, the pay was good and the duties very pleas ant. Mrs. Barston made no further remarks, however, and after dinner Wilfred strolled down to the town, and with his usual bad luck, stepped Into a large hole in the sfflewalk, although there was a sign, "Danger," right In front of it In consequence, he severely sprained his an kle, and had to be carried home. This was a crushing blow to Mrs. Bars ton, but with her grief came Joy. A brother, whom she had not seen for years, made his appearance. He was a bachelor, in comfortable circumstances, and willingly gave his sister such finan cial assistance that her trouble In that direction was allayed. But Wilfred was still a source of anxiety. "He tries to get along," she said, with a mother's natural tendency to hide her son's defects, "but he Is so unlucky. Now, if some one would only give him a hand!" "When a boy walks Into a hole with his eyes open, in broad daylight," said Mr. Lancaster, dryly, "he certainly needs assistance of some kind. I will give Wilfred a hand, when he is able to walk." This happened very soon, and .Wilfred INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING GIRLS er at the "post occupied by the other, the player who does so is entitled to another throw. A lonely -cannot be sent back to the starting point, but when put out, must go back to the. post occupied last by the marker of the player who put him or her out. Any player who can play his or her marker to the 20th post, or half way around the circle, can go at once the rest of the way and place the lucky marker at the starting point, to begin another round or end the game, as the case may be, four times around the circle being generally considered a game. But if a player is so unfortunate as to land tho marker at the starting point, ho or she loses 20 posts and has to go half way back around the circle to place his or her marker. The winning flowers or leaves are worn as badges by the winning pards. It Is well to add that the game may bo played without "putting back." This makes a shorter but. In the opinion of the writer, a less interesting game. Parda may also he played without part ners, every player for himself, though In such a case the name given to the game is something of a misnomer not, how ever, to be avoided if only two play the game. An Interesting variation of pards can be played at homo by using checkers as posts, and a tee-totum instead of throw sticks. The tee-totum Is made by stick ing a match through the center of a reg ular six-sided piece of thick cardboard. Numbers are written on tho edge of the 6idea. and the number to which the mark er Is to bo moved is determined by the side upon which tho tee-totum rests when It has done spinning. SOME GOOD ADVICE jT jT was delighted when his uncle announced that he was going to take him. and his mother to Oregon to live on a farm of which he was the owner. "I will be glad to get away from this place," said Wilfred, emphatically. "I have no luck here at all." "I hope," said Mr. Lancaster, gravely, "that you do not expect to have good luck in Oregon?" "Why, certainly!" exclaimed Wilfred. "Why not?" "Because there is ntf good luck in the state.' "Impossible! Why, I have read of thousands of men who havo made for tunes there." - "No doubt, you have," responded his uncle, with a smile. "I myself have ac quired considerable property In the state, but I know of no one who has got rich, except by. skill and labor. In all my travels and I have been twice around tho world I never met luck of any kind, good or bad." "Then how do you account for my bad luck?" asked Wilfred, wonderlngly. "I can explain that easily enough," answered Mr. Lancaster. "You failed to get the situation from Mr. Clay because you loitered on the way, and you sprained your ankle because you were careless in not looking where you walked. I have no doubt that your back luck in all other cases could be likewise . traced tb idleness, carelessness or lack of thought fulness." Wilfred flushed to his temples, and was at first inclined to be angry at these plain-spoken words. "You should not talk that way," he said, confusedly. "Yes, I should," replied his uncle, sternly.' "You are neither weak nor Ig norant, and it is a shame that you do not work, Instead of whining about your luck. There is no such thlngL Nature never Interferes in human affairs, and everybody gets Just what they deserve. I have had many misfortunes in my life time, but never any bad luck, and I would be loath to admit that my good fortune resulted from good luck, instead of .-endeavor. Now, my boy, I am going to take you to a new country, where drones are at a--d(scountr and beggars are not tolerated. You must use every ounce of brain and muscle you possess to makej and keep money, .and you must entirely discard luck of any kind. For luck substitute 'pluck.' and I will guarantee your success. But, if you will not throw away your belief In luck, I must leave you at home. Do you want to go?" "Yes," replied Wilfred, promptly. "And I am to hear no more of luck?" "I will never speak of It again." "Good! said Mr. Lancaster, clasping khls nephew's hand. "We wilt start for Oregon next week, and try what pluck will accomplish.''-!. H. Smith, in Gold en Days. ' DUEL WITH POTATOES. How a. Preacher Outwitted a South ern Flre-Eatcr. DUELLIST," llkenany another man who takes himself too seriously. can sometime be more powerfully influ enced by ridicule than by anything else. A story current in Kentucky tells how ''Bill" Bowman, who was a noted circuit preacher and ' a muscular Christian, CO years ago, once used this cffectlvo weap on with 'good results. At one of his meetings a local desperado created a disturbance, and on "being pub licly rebuked by Bowman, serit him a challenge to fight. Bowman, as,tho chal lenged party, had the choice of weapons. He selected a half -bushel of Irish po tatoes as big as his fist for each man, and stipulated that his opponent must stand 15 paces distant, and that only one potato at a time should be taken from, the measure. Tho desperado W2S furious at being thus Insulted, and made an indignant protest, but Bowman reminded him that the chal lenged man had a rlghj. to choose hi3 own weapons, and threatened to denounce the desperado as a coward If fle failed to come to time. As there was no way out of the btx but to fight, the desperado consented. The fight took place on the outskirts of the town. Everybody was present to see the fun. The seconds arranged the two men In position, by the side of each being a half-bushel measure filled with pota toes as hard as bricks. Bowman threw the first potato. It struck his opponent and flew Into a hundred pieces. A yell of delight went up from the crowd. That disconcerted the desperado, and his potato flew wide of the mark. . Bowman watched his chance. Every time the desperado stooped for a potato, another potato took him In,, the side. The dxth potato struck him In the short ribs, knocking the wind completely out; of him and doubling him up on tho grass. The people were almost crazy with laughter, but Bowman looked as sober as If he had just finished preaching a funeral sermon. The desperado was taken home and put to bed. and there he stayed for more than a week before he- recovered from the effects of his potato duel. It was a long time before another duel took place in that- region. CAVE-DWELLERS IX CHIXA. A Lararc Xumlicr on the Hill" Slopes Along- the Yellorr River. THE fact escaped attention until re cently that there are many cave dwellers along the Hoang or Yellow River. It happens that they aro found on that part of the river where tho bridge on the railroad which is to connect Pekln with Hankow on tho Yangtse is to bo bul!t; and Mr. August Slosse. a Belgian engineer, who lived among them for six months while making studies for the rail road In that region, has been telling some facts about the troglodytes. Along the bank of tho river the people llvo in clay huts, but higher up, among the hills, only a short distance from the stream, they make for themselves perma nent habitations dug In the hillsides. There are many villages of these caves, not only the habitations,' but also the tem ples, the shops and the storehouses for grain being nothing more than these dark artificial caves. Many of tho caves are nearly as spa clous as the smaller New York flats. They are about 9 feet high, 10 or 12 feet In width and havjo a deptn of 50 to CO feet. They are dark and gloomy abodes, hut the people who live in them think they are much preferable to the clay huts In which their neighbors Jive on tho river bank. No adornment of the interior Is at tempted, excepting In the temples, whose walls are whitewashed and covered with rude paintings In lively colors, that, un der the bright light which is constantly burning, gives these sacred rooms quite a gaudy appearance Tne only particular advantage the un derground rooms seem to havo la that they are cool in Summer and warm. In Winter. TheInhabitants are gentle and even tim id, and Mr. Slosse said that being unac customed to seeing whites, they almost invariably disappeared Into their caves when they saw any of his party approach ing. It was curious to see them at a dis tance working In their little fields above or below their dwellings, only to find not a soul in sight upon nearer approach. They would all mysteriously sink Into the ground and apparently there were no hu man beings for a mile around, though un doubtedly there weVe thousands of the trogloMytes in their burrows listening at their doors for the footfalls of the intrud ing strangers. GAMES OF TAG. Some Lively Pastimes In Favor Among Children. In Switzerland. SWISS children make believe that the pursuer in the. game of chase or tag Is invested with an imaginary evil spirit, whose power Is subject to certain charms. For instance. If they touch cold Iron, a gatelatch, a horseshoe or an Iron nail, the power of the demon Is broken. Sometimes they make gold or silver their charm. They play cross-chase, In which tho run ner who darts across the patch between the pursued and the pursuer becomes the object of the catcher, and the former one goes free. Again, if the runner squats he is free, or he may squat three times, and after that the charm is lost. The chaser often disguises himself, and unless the captive can guces who he Is the captive Is banished from the game. They also play turn-cap the chaser wearing his cap with the lining outside. Another Swiss game Is called pot of gold. One of the swiftest runners takes a stick and pretends to dig for a pot ot gold. He works away for a few minutes, then cries out, "I've found It." and runs away with it at the top of his speed. He has the advantage of a few paces at the start, for while he is digging the other players are grouped behind him at least one rod distant The player who catches him gets the pot of gold, and. becomes in turn subject to robbers. This keeps every player on the chase continually. Must Have Been an Angrier. A teacher had been drilling a class in natural history. "Now, boys," said he, "who can give me a specimen of the ani mal kingdom?" A little hand went up quick as flash. Tho teacher smiled, and asked him to name.it. "A leetle vorra," said he. "Yes' said the teacher, "but give me another one." "Anoder leetle vorm," said Ole Oleson, triumphantly. QUEER THINGS DONE BY UNCLE SAM HE HAS THE FINEST AND MOST ENTRANCING OF TOYS. AND PLAYS THE FUNNIEST AND MOST AMUSING GAMES. NE thing that very few persons know is that the United States Government has the most tempt ing tops and plays the most delightful games every day as apart of the seri ous and immense work of carrying on tho government of tho greatest of na tions. This Is not because the men who are at the head of affairs want to play, but because they have found that one can learn a great deal from play. Play, when done properly, as everything should be done in this world. Is, study, and the child or man who plays right has gained much useful experience without knowing It at the time. So there Is one man on old and grave and wise and very famous professor who may be seen often in his office In Washington standing on desks and chairs launching little paper birds and funny contrivances through the air and watch ing them soar and settle with Just the same Interest and delight with which boys and girls would "watch them. If folk who do not know who he Is wero to behold him, they might well be excused for Imagining that the old gentleman Is growing childish. But probably there are few persons in Jhe whole country today who know better what they are about than does he. For he Is one of the fore m'ost scientists of the great Smithsonian Institution, and som6 day it is expected that he will teach-the world how to build a flying machine that really will fly. Often, after he has -played gpod and hard with the little paper toys, he disap pears. Then the other scientists know that he is down in a lonely part of tho Potomac River, experimenting with big flying machines that have been built ac cording to ldea3 gained by him from his toys. And while this fine old. professor is fly ing his playthings the chances are that - - - - i -T - - " - ,..--...-- - a - I - L - ' - -2r iwin'ir Tr n, ... ii .ii..i m., !,. T -; . i ... iiii: ui i HOW TO MAKE A HAMMOCK, OUT OF A. CLOTHESLINE AXD SOME BARREL STAVES. There are times again and aaln in camp and In the out-of-doors dens that boys lov to have, when a place to "roost" while readlnc or a place to "snooze" through a day ot drfcallng rain is In great demand. Generally Just when ono moat -wants it tho forest branches and twigs aro too wet to uso for a bed, and, beside, it Is too much trouble. Now here Is a vesy to make a really practical hammock that win justf "fill the bill." Get several barrels, break them up and remove all the nails from the staves. Bore a threb-quarter-lnch hole In each end of each stave with a heated poker. Then lace thin rope (clothesline is good) throush the holes. This can be accomplished easily by noting the -method ot lacing in figure AB. Th9 stay-blocks C and D should be 12 Inches long. Tho hammock can be made entirely comfortable by placing upon it several couch pillows and covering them with & shawl. not far away other wise men are playing with tho most delightful of little toy gardens. There ar,o patches just big enough for little children to weed and hoo with their tiny Implements. These patches aro watered with lovely small graduated watering pots; and with beau tiful scales little pinches of fertilizer and other plant foods are measured out for each. Big men sit over them, and watch them and peer Into them, and fondle the little leaves, one by ono. Just as children would do. But eery few weeks one of the players sits down at his desk and writes and soon afterward the Government Is sues a pamphlet that tells farmers all over the world just how they can handle their farms of thousands and thousands of acres' to make them yield more and bet ter crops. All over the country are other men em ployed by tho Government who go out ev ery day with butterfly nets to catch but terflies and grasshoppers and countless other Insects. Some go out at night with lanterns and honey pots and sit down in the shelter of shrubbery, waiting till the great blundering night moths shall be at tracted by the keen scent of the honey, which they love. Often the moths drink honey until they are actually drunk, when THE MYSTERIOUS TUMBLER iJLg? it A.A. TMlM Paver MYSTERIOUS THE boy who can perform a clever feat In magic, or make a neat experi ment In physics, Is always considered an acquisition to a company, and is popular accordingly. Besides, the performance of the feat, or the making of the experiment. Is sure to give the boy himself a good deal of pleasure. Here Is a little experiment that Is mys terious eonugh to those that witness it to seem like magic, and yet it simply Is an illustration of a well-known principle of natural philosophy. All you need to make the experiment Is a marble-top table, such as may be found In any par lor or sitting-room, a glass tumbler and a piece of candle. You first put under the two legs at ono end of the table thin wedges ot wood or paper, to give the table a very slight In cline in the direction of the other end. If you wish to 'make the feat all tho more mysterious, you should put the wedges under the legs when the. company is not looking. Now take a plain glass tumbler and X -'" J Ii X .-- Mm s ----St-- fmW they can be picked up by the bare hand without even needing a net That is not bad play, either. Xct that kind of playing has saved the people of the United States millions of dollars, for the Insect hunters find out so much about the insects that destroy vegetables and fruit and shade trees that wg,know now. just when to look out for their arrival and just how to destroy them before they become big enough to eat our growing things. Last year men in the Agricultural De partment at Washington played at a most absorbing game that- surely would have pleased every boy and girl in the land. They planted seeds of .ma-ny kinds in tiny pots, one seed In each pot, and then day after day they photographed the pots. Thus they made many hundreds of pic tures that, when they were all put to gether, showed Just how the plants grew. And these pictured were put into one of thoso great kinetoscope machines that throw large moving pictures on- screens, so now everybody can see a plant grow from a seed to a mighty shrub. Only, in stead of having to watch it for months fVind years, wo can all see It w!,thin a few minutes, for toe mactiino throws the pic tures on tho screen just as fast as one may wish. This already has taught farmers and florists many wonderful things about plants that never had been suspected be fore, although so many hundreds of thou sands of sharp-eyed persons have watched plants grow for so many centuries. A few years ago tho United States Gov- - ernment imported the beautiful and valu able datetpalm, hoping to make It grow In the sandy and dry parts of Arizona and Now Mexico, andVother spots of the United States where other domestic plants do not thrive. The date palms did fairly well, but'not well enough to please the Depart ment of Agriculture, so It rent one of lt3 men away out to Africa, and across tire trackless Desert of Sahara, to find the oases and see how palms grow there. He discovered many curious things. Among other facts that he found was that tho Sahara really Is not a sandy desert at all. It is a desert, suro enough, but only because It has no water. Its soil, Instead of being sand. Is actually tho finest kind of loam, and he says that by lying Idle, as it ha3 done for so many thousands of years, it has grown very rich Indeed. And If ever the French or tho English carry out the old plan of leading water into it, the great Desert of Sahara will become one of the world's most fertile places. Ho also found a gorgeous evergreen morning glory twining all over the houses of the Arabs. And then he found the beau tiful oases, and when he returned It was with many camels, all laden with fine date palms. And these are growing finely now in our country. That was a real Arabian nights play trip that has been worth lots and lots of money to the country. Some charming toys are those that ev erybody may see In the weather observing stations of the Government. There aro busy little windmills, turning like any thlrg, and funny little round disks on arms that dance all the time, and queer spiral glass tubes that movo lead pencils over charts. A weather observatory would be the very place of all that any child would select. If It could have Its way, for a playroom. Thero are so many funny ;e WEfettS of R Woco". TTOIDLER. moisten the rim carefully, so that the water will stick to It, or at least enough of it to make a thin coating of moisture Place the tumbler, rim down, on the end of the table where the wedges are, and It will not move, for the Incline, if you have not mado the wedges too thick, will not be great enough to- make the tumbler move by gravity. But you are going to mako the tumbler move of Itself, so that It will seom to do so by some magical power. To do this light the piece of candle and hold It near the tumbler for a few moments. The heat from tire candle will cause the air In the tumbler to expand, and this expansion will have the effect of raising the tumbler Just a little from the smooth marble. The air cannot escape, however, because the water around tho rim of the tumbler keeps It In. Then the tumbler will begin to move slowly along the marble top, for the slight elevation that the expanded air 1ms given It makes it now rest on a thin layer of moisture, and It glides down the Incline by the force of gravity. i J! MM h mm sr mm ' jgjwB Instruments, and scores on scores of queer-colored flags, and little guady-col-ored lanterns, that one's heart quite fills with a desire to play with them. Yet even while one Is looking at them turn and dance, those tempting toys may be telling of a terrible storm that Is kill ing folk and blowing houses down far away. The little flags and lanterns, when hoisted, may seem anything but merry toys -to the sailor1 offshore who sees them through his glass, or to the lonely voyager over open country roads. For some of them spell hurricane, and others talk of hall and rain, and others talk of deadly cyclones and warn all humankind to s'tay snug in shelter. There was a learned old man In Woods' Hole in Massachusetts the otner day, who had great fun with starfish in little sau cers and bright flashing glass tanks. Wood3 Hole is the place where the United States Government studies fish. This man went out and caught a lot ot the beauti ful, gaudy things that are called starfish, because they look so much like stars. Children who have seen them and played with them and admired them will find it hard to believe that they are really first cousins to the terrible and loathsome dev ilfish and octopus, as they are. This man played lots of enjoyable games with the stars. He put'some of them into shallow vessels and found that they had queer habits. For instance, a starfish would try to crawl over the sjdo of the dish, but as soon as he found that ha would have to lift his arms- out of tho water to do It he would slide right back. But If he could get just enough water to keep his arms covered, he would crawl away rapidly, quite regardless of the fact that all the rest of his body was sticking out high and dry. The man also got many egg3 of the star and put them into tiny trays full of salt water and hatched them out. Gloriously beautiful little things thoy, were, purple and crimson and scarlet and yellow, each one as tiny as a plnhead, yet each one a perfect five-armed star. And as soon as i ' " r I' i " l '! 'I Ii Ii II ' l 'I " " 'I I' II ii ii ii 4 each was hatched It would hurtle right to the bottom and "set" on a piece of green weed, where it shone like a flashing gem. Now this was truly pleasant play. But It was profitable, too. For the starfish Is a terrible enemy of the oyster and clam. He will seize the luckless shellfish with his arms and fold his stomach entirely around tho mollusk. Then he will lie still, Just keeping up a steady pull with his arms until the poor oj'ster or clam is entirely tired out and opens it shell, when the starfish swallows It at once. Small won der Is It that the shellfish cannot keep its shell closed when the starfish tackles It. A man In Woods' Hole let a little star no bigger than a dollar tackle his fingers, and he found it could pull much harder than even he could withstand with all the strength of his arm. Well, the starfish used to eat so many oysters and clam3 that tho fishermen of Connecticut alone lost moro than 5100,000. Tho playing of the man In Woods' Hole has taught tho Government new ways of fighting the stars, and it is now sending the information to all the fishermen and shellfish planters. J. W. 1L KILLING OFF ALLIGATORS. BlBT Fellows Hunted for Their Hides, Little Ones for Carlos. THERE Is every indication that the al- ligator will soon be exterminated. Trade demand for the reptiles' skin in- creases yearly, and the warfare that is he ing waged by hunters in Florida and Mex ico bids fair to continuo until the last saurian Is turned Into leather. The manner of hunting tho alligator is very much the same in all sections. If the hunter goes forth at night he wears a lantern strapped to his head. The light dazzles the quarry so that tho hunter can approach within five or six feet of them. They are then shot In the eye or under the foreleg. Tho weapon is either a sawed-off shot gun, a short-barreled rifle or a heavy re volver. In extremely dry weather the reptles make their way to the praries or dry swamps in search of -nater holes, which they find by Instinct from a long distance. Around these water holes they burrow caves, called "alligator holes." The hunter is equipped with a long pole,, upon tho end of which there is an iron hook. He thrusts this Into i the cave and drags the game to tho surface. In some swamp sections where it Is dif ficult to approach the prey a harpoon gun Is used. An arrow secured by a chain Is fired into the reptile, and it is thus held secure, whether the shot proves fatal or not. The largest specimens klllled seldom ex ceed 15 feet In length. Most of the men who hunt the alligator are swamp Indians, although there aro a great many white men who follow the business in Summer and trap for coon, otter and mink skins In the Winter. The skins bring the hunter ?1 each, but this price is insignificant, for the reason that it costs three or four times- as much to get the leather in shape for the market. In addition to the wholesale slaughter of large alligators for commercial pur poses, a feature of recent development is the preparation of young ones for the Summer trade. Dealers pay $15 per hundred for the little reptiles while they are from five to ten inches In length. They are pickled la a preserving solution, stiffened by the in sertion of wires Into their bodies, stuffed with sawdust and varnished. They are mounted on pin cushions, jewelry trays, paper weights, etc. One firm in Florida sells every Winter thousands of these to tourists, and as many more thousands every Summer at Northern resorts. In addition to being preyed upon by the curio hunter, the young alligator Is also beset by birds of prey and large fish. It is even devoured in great numbers by the males of its own species, so that alto gether its existence Is extremely precar ious. Didn't Supply Her Need. A little friend of mine had been put to bed. After a little while her mother heard her-xrying. She went to the stairs and called to her not to cry nor worry, but to be good, for God was .with her. "Yes." said the little one. "huf Tlort i doesn't scwatch my back!" "
