THB NIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS.
The following amusing bit ol humor,
which la likewise a capital Imitation
of Clement Moore's "Night Before
Christmas," appeared In the London
Punch upward of at quarter of a cen
tury ago. It is aa fresh today as U
was then, and is too good to be lost
eight of:
'Twas the night after Christmas, -when
all through the house
Everyone was abed, and still as a
mouse;
Those stockings, so late In St. Nich
olas' care
Were empty of all that was eatable
there.
The darlings had duly been tucked In
their beds,
With very full stomachs and pains in
their heads.
I -was dozing away In my r.ew cotton
CEP,
And Nancy was rather far gone in a
nap.
When out in the nursery rose such a
clatter.
I sprang from my sleep, crying "What
is the matter?
I flaw to each bedside-Hrtill half in a
doze-
Tore open the curtains and threw off
the clothes;
While the light of - the taper served
clearly to show
The piteous plight of those objects
below;
For what to the fond father's eyes
should appear
But the little pale face of each sick
little dear!
For each pet that had crammed itself
full as a tick,
I knew in a moment now felt like Old
Nick.
Their pulses were rapid, their breath
ings the same;
What their stomachs ejected, I'll men
tion by name:
Now turkey, now stuffing, plum pud
ding, of course.
And custairds, and crullers, and cran
berry sauce;
Before outraged nature, all went to
the wall.
Yes, lollypops, flapdoodle, dinner and
all.
Like pellets, which urchins from pop
guns let fly
Went figs, nuts and raisins, jam, jelly
and pie;
Till each error of diet was brought to
my view.
To the sh-une of mamma, and of Santa
Olaus, too,
I turned from the eight, to my bed
room stepped back,
And brought out a vial marked "Pulv.
lpacac;"
When my Nancy exclaimed, for their
sufferings shocked her,
"Don't you think you had better, love.
run for the doctor?"
I ran, and -was scarcely back under
my roof,
When I heard the sharp clatter of old
Jalap's hoofs;
I might say that I scarcely had turned
myself round
When the doctor came into the room
with a bound.
He was covered with mud from his
head to his foot,
And the suit he toad on was his very
worst suit;
He hardly had time to put that on
his back,
And he looked like Falstaff, half fud
dled with sack.
His eyes how they twinkled! Had the
doctor got merry?
ills lips looked like port, and his
breath smelt like sherry.
He hadn't been shaved for a fortnight
or so.
And the beard on his chin wasn't white
as the snow.
But, inspecting their tongues, in spite
of their teeth,
And drawing his watch from his
waistcoat beneath,
He felt of each pulse, saying, "Each
little belly
Must get rid," here he laughed "of
the rest of that jelly."
I gazed on each chubby, plump, sick
little elf,
And groaned when he said so. In spite
or myself;
But a wink of the eye, when he
physicked our Fred.
Soon gave me to know I had nothing
to oread.
He didn't prescribe; but went straight
way to work,
Ana . dosed all the rest gave his
trousers a jerk
And adding directions, while blowing
nis nose.
He buttoned his coat, from his chair
he arose.
Then jumped in his gig, gave old Jalap
a whistle.
And Jalap dashed off, as if pricked by
a thistle:
But the doctor exclaimed, ere he drove
out of slsrht.
"They'll be well by tomorrow; good
mgnt, Jones, good night!"
An Agreeable
Correspondence.
ij managers of St Ja
cob's hospital solicit old
1 newspapers and magazines
for the entertainment of
tneir sick and convales
cent"
In response to this ad
vertisement in one of th
most widely read newsDaDers in R.
there came daily to the above-named
institution a great variety of publica
nons.
One day, there appeared among the
rest a newspaper with these words
written upon the margin: "I wish
you a very good morning and a right
epeeuy recovery: tnen the full ad
dress of the writer, Miss Louisa Lob
stedt, No. 3 North St
This greeting elicited a few days
later tne roiiowing answer
"So there is, really, in the bright
happy world outside, one kind :oul
who has a thought to spare for us
poor sick ones! I am the fortunate
one who received your greeting, and
nope that your Kind wish will soon
be gratified, and that at a time not
very far distant I shall leave this
place entirely restored to health. If
you have ever been seriously ill, or
have ever endured such pain as I am
now suffering, you will certainly heed
the request of a poor invalid, and not
rest satisfied with the few words of
kindness which have made me so
happy. If there were only some con
genial soul here to whom I could
speak freely, or with whom I might
chat a little now and then! But just
now there is no one here who can
help to pass away the long, weary
hours, and so I beg you again not to
let me hope in vain for an answer.
"In the meantime, with kindest re
gards, I am
Yours gratefully,
BERTHA WILLMERS."
In this way a correspondence was
begun which very soon developed
into a most Interesting one for both
young ladies. It brought out a lively
Interchange of thought; letters flew J
-mm?
back and forth, in which the two im
parted to one another unreservedly
their respective circumstances and expectations.
Louisa Lobstedt wrote her new
friend that she was quite alone in the
world that she had a position, at
small pay, in a large confectioner's
shop, where, working from early
morning until late at night, with only
a short rest at noon, she was quite
tired out that her employer made
such unreasonable demands upon his
help that he was much disliked. She
wrote that she had few acquaintances
of her own age, and no real friends,
and she congratulated herself that she
had conceived the Idea of sending
that greeting through the newspaper,
and putting her name to It, (although
that last was rather risky what if
her address had fallen into wrong
hands!). She hoped also, she wrote,
in one of her later letters, some day
to find time to visit Miss Bertha at
the hospital, and so to become per
sonally acquainted with her.
Bertha Willmers, in the meantime,
replied to these letters in the same
frank, hearty way. She wrote that
her home was in H., and that three
months before she had come to B.
for the purpose of earning her living
as a teacher of music and tne lan
guages. In the course of a few weeks
she had fallen ill, and, at her earnest
request the people with whom she
boarded had brought her here to the
hospital.
"How happy it makes me to think
I am soon to see you! I do not doubt
that we shall become the dearest
friends; and yet I am going to ask
you to defer your visit for a little
while. And why? You will think me
foolish vain. Well, call It a femi
nine weakness and yet before my
illness I was always being compli
mented upon my pretty, fresh, healthy
looks, and you can readily under
stand how five weelfs of severe illness
would change one. Who knows but
you would be utterly disgusted with
me, when I want so much to make as
favorable an impression as possible
upon my new-found friend! Just as
soon as I am somewhat better and a
little more like my old self, I will
write you to come."
A week later she Imparted to Lou
isa the delightful news that she
hoped very shortly to leave the hos
pital, entirely recovered, tier hrst
visit would be to her her dear new
friend but before she could do this.
she would have to make a very, very
serious confession. Amid" protestations
of the deepest esteem and love on her
own part, she begged Miss Louisa to
promise her one thing in advance,
viz.: that whatever the confession
might be, she would allow it to make
no difference in their relations.
Never was Bertha more surprised
in her life than at the answer which
followed immediately upon this. Thus
it ran:
"My Dear, Dear, Miss Bertha:
"With a hand tremulous from anx
iety and excitement, I write these
lines; for either they begin for us both
a new and happy life, or else all is
over between us, and how I can bear
that, God alone knows! For oh! let
me confess it, I love you! Yes! I
love you with all the fire, all the pas
sion of my being. Following the im
pulse of a wanton humor, I appended
to my name upon the newspaper
which a happy fate threw into your
hands, the little word 'Miss.' I con
tinued the joke in my first letter, and
by that time my interest in you had
already become too great to allow me
to confess the truth, which would not
only put an end, perhaps, to a corres
pondence which had become necessary
to ire but would also debar me from
ever meeting you face to face.
"Ah! my dear Miss Bertha, do not
be angry with me do not cast scorn
fully from you the deep, fervent love
which fills my heart! Write me only
one word one little word! not now
not Immediately only when you
have recovered from the fright which
you must feel at the revelation of my
secret that it is no girl who is loving
you to distraction, but a man! A man
who will submit to your sentence.
whatever it may be but the light of
whose life Is forever gone out if you
turn angrily from him.
Eternally yours,
LOUIS LOBSTEDT.
In a fever of anxiety he awaited an
answer from the woman whom he had
deceived. It came on the following
day, and ran thus:
"Dear Sir:
"Unfortunately I cannot spare you
the disappointment which these lines
will cause you, as they will show you
that, notwithstanding the deep affec
tion you feel for me, I can never be
yours.
"Like you, out of tender regard for
the weaker sex, I also took refugs in
a little subterfuge.
"But although no priest may unite
us, yet we may be good friends don't
you think so? I shall be delighted
to receive a visit from you; for then.
with a hearty hand-shake," we will
seal a treaty of friendship which we
shall owe. indeed, to a delusion, but
which will teach us irf future to es
chew everything clandestine.
"Hoping for a personal acquaintance
in the near future, I am
"Most cordially yours,
BERTHOLD WILLMERS.
A CENTURY AGO.
A gentleman bcwlng to a lady al
ways scraped his foot on the ground,
Two stage coaches bore all the trav
el between New York and Boston.
The parquet of a theater was called
the pit and was filled with the rabble.
The whipping-post and pillory were
still standing in Boston and New
York.
The Mississippi valley was not so
well known as the heart of Africa
now is.
Vaccination had not become popular,
and smallpox was an every-day dis
ease.
Three-fourths of the books In every
library came from beyond the At
lantic.
The tough characters, where such
existed, had no brass knuchles nor
revolvers.
In most families no cooking was
done on Sunday; a cold Sunday din
ner was the rule.
The mail of the whole country did
not equal that of a single second-class
office now.
Twenty days were required for a
letter to go from New York to Charles
ton by land.
All the population of a village as
sembled at the inn on "post-day" to
hear the news.
Beef and pork, salt fish, potatoes
and hominy were the staple diet all
th year round.
The number of toasts drunk at a
banquet equaled the number of states
of the Union.
The only recognized method of im
parting information was by the lib
eral use of the rod.
Oninine was unknown: when a man
had a true fits he took Peruvian bark
and whisky.
Buttons were scarce and expensive,
and the trousers were fastened with
pegs or laces.
The women's dresses were puffed
with hoops and stood out two or three
feet on each side,
RAILROAD BUILDING
How Some Men Eise
from the Banks.
Profession in Which
Men Rise.
The Era of Great Fortunes Made in
Railway Contracts Has
Passed.
"Railroad building, like everything
else," said a Western contractor of
large experience, "has felt the depres
sion of the last two years, but no mat
ter how soon and how thoroughly bus
iness may revive, the aggregate of
new railway mileage for the next ten
years will be comparatively small.
Not only have the great railways of
the country been built, but the era of
great fortunes made in railway con
tracts has passed."
The contractor in question, though
still a young man, has seen a revolu
tion in his profession. The railway
contractor of twenty years ago did his
work with the aid of hundreds or
thousands of Irishmen and a sprink
ling of Germans and men of other
nationalities. The railway contractor
of today employs Italians, or Dagos, a
somewhat more comprehensive term,
and the steam shovel. The railway
contractor of - twenty or twenty-five
years ago, when he managed his work
judiciously, made profits that would
drive his successor of today half mad
with delight The past years small
mileage of new railroads was built at
a lower cost than any ever before
constructed in the history of the bus
iness. Wages are slightly lower than
they have hitherto been, while mate
rials of all sorts have been lower than
anyone dreamed of seeing them. It
is possible now to buy rails not only
at amazingly low prices, but at terin3
never before known in the business.
It used to be that a sight draft ac
companied the consignment of rails.
Now they can be purchased on Three
years time at a low rate of interest
As to rolling stock, cars can be pur
chased on ten years' time, with annual
payments at four per cent
The situation as to raifc-oad labor
is somewhat peculiar. It is true that
pick and shovel men can be hired nt
S1.10 to $1.2o a day if no more than
100 or so is needed; but if there should
be a sudden demand for 1,000 or 2.000
men to go out upon a piece of railway
work at a distance from any great
centre of population, the price wou'd
almost Instantly rise to $1.50 and
$1.75 a day. The Italian laborer is
prized throughout the West above all
others save the Scandinavian, but the
Scandinavian is comparatively scarce.
The Italian railway laborer is always
ready for work and always has money
in his pocket Where Italians are em
ployed and paid by check a contract
or's bank account may show for many
months together a fictitious balance
of $20,000, $30,000, or $40,000, because
the laborers are carrying their checks
tucked away in a safe place, to 1
cashed all together at a convenient
time. It used to be that railway la
borers returneS to work almost penni
less two or three . days after each
monthly payment.
American farm boys are commonly
employed as teamsters in railway
building throughout the West They
receive about the same average wages
as pick-and-shovel men, $30 a month
and board, or from $1.50 to $l.o
day. The Irishman has disappeared
from new work iu the West as in the
East, and has drifted to the section
houses of the Western railroads, where
he finds permanent and comparatively
light employment at somewhat lower
wages than are paid in New York.
The Western roads are divided into
sections of six miles each, and a sec
tion man or boss, has the section
boarding house, with his wife to run
it She is the "boordm' missis," iu
the language of the track, and hrr
boarders are the section men.
The regularity of the Dago has giv
en an average certainty to the ele
ment of labor in railway building. It
used to be that in working a gang of
200 men the contractor in the course
of a month would have 500 or 600
names on his book, because the per
sonnel of the gang was shifting. Now
95 per cent of a Dago gang will work
every working day of the month,
Contractors find it impossible to
make distinctions as to wages ainon;
men doing the same kind of work,
but there is promotion for the thor
oughly capable man. Such men be
come small bosses, at 25, 50 or 75
cents a day above the pay of ordinary
navvies, and it Is from these small
bosses that the general foremen arr
chosen. Such men earn as much as
$150 a month, and contractors usually
prefer that the general foreman shall
have worked up from the shovel. A
civil engineer is occasionally made
general foreman, but usually with im
satisfactory results. It is a mclan
choly fact that many well trained en
gineors of experience earn lees than
a general foreman, ana every con
tractor with an important piece of
work In view for the commg spring Is
overrun with applications for places
from civil engineers.
Little money has been made in rail
way building in the past year, but
large contractors have maintained
small organization, and the really
capable contractor who should obtain
a contract requiring an immediate
opening of operations could be at work
in fifteen days, weather permitting,
Every such contractor knows where
to lay his hands upon the men he
needs to complete his organization
and the very day upon which a con
tract was signed the contractor would
have a score of telegrams speeding
to the men he needed. It is the cus
tom to sublet all work to small con
tractors, who undertake from half
mile to four or five miles of road. The
small contractor is, in effect, a bos
working under the general contractor,
and bound by the terms of the con
tract to do whatever the latter deems
necessary for the prompt completion
of the work. The rise of the sub
contractor to the management of large
interests is one of the most instructive
and significant manifestations in the
couise of railroad building. Perhaps
an industrious and saving teamster
lays up enough to buy a pair of mules,
and he is able then to get wages for
himself and his stock. His next step
is to buy another pair and hire a man
to drive them. By the time he has
four or five teams he ceases to drive
and becomes a contracting teamster.
The man that makes progress in this
fashion is worth watching. He is
likely next to appear as a sub-con
tractor, and to take progressively
lareer and larger contracts, until he.
fin all v annasrs aa a fonarn.1 nnntrnrinr
i' competing for hnndreda of miles of
railroad. After that his work is that
of an organizer, the commander of
an industrial army. Great railway
lines are built on paper at his desk
perhaps years before they appear upon
tne surface of the earth. The general
contractor seldom visits the actual
scene of operations, perhaps not more
than once a month, and then gives no
orders. He rides over the Hue with
his engineer, making a suggestion
here, asking a question there, making
mental note of large features, but sel
dom troubling about details.
"It is absolutely fascinating work
to me," said the Western contractor,"
and I long to be at the front. There
will be no scarcity of labor next year,
In my opinion. The exodus of Italians
to Europe has not seriously drained
the country of railway laborers, ar;d
wnen the men are neeaea tney can oe
had, unless. Indeed, there should be a
sudden revival of railway building in
many directions, as there was in ihtj.
But that is not likely to happen. The j
fact is that there are tew more long
railway lines possible in this country,
at least for some time to come. The
East is pretty well gridironed, and
much of the South has its trunK lines.
Arkansas needs more railroads, and
so does Texas. Perhaps part of the
extreme Northwest needs more lines,
though a good deal of that country is
likely to have any time soon a single
new line 500 miles long. By the way,
do you know that the world's greatest
feat of railway building was the push
ing through of 500 miles of a Canadian
line between December and May.'
The contractor laid nine miles of
track a day, and one and a half miles
is regarded as good work. Western
contractors hustle more than Eastern
men. I once deliberately planned to
rush through in four months an East
ern line for which the contract time
would have been six months, and to
sacrifice $20,000 or $30,000 of profits
to do it, just for the purpose of mak
ing a reputation this side of the Ohio
and showing what could be done.
The company, however, abandoned
the scheme, and I was not forced to
make the sacrifice."
OUT OF AN OLD BOOK.
"And out of old bookes, in good
faithe," said Geoffrey Chaucer, "Com
eth all this new science that men
lere." Yet also out of the old books
comes the discarded science at which
men jeer. There is great refreshment
in coming upon an old book, too hum
ble for a classic, and finding in it the
delightfully positive, autocratic, indis
putable theories of a previous day,
whose wisdom is being eagerly re
futed in our present In 1834 some in
spired Philadelphian wrote "A Young
Ladies Own Book;" m it he warns
his readers, his delicate, retiring
loung Persons," against indiscrimi
nate reading as follows: "But of all
reading what most ought to engage
your attention are works of sentiment
and morals. Morals is that study m
which alone both sexes have an equal
interest, and in sentiment yours has
even the advantage. The works of
this kind often appear under the re
ducing form of novel and romance,
here great care and the advice of your
older friends are requisite in the se
lection."
Anid he further advises them
staunchly: "The mere suspicion of
irreligion lowers a woman in general
esteem. It implies almost a reflection
on her character, for morality cannot
be secure without religion, a woman
must hold no converse with the ene
mies of either. She knows that the
romance which invests impiety with
the charm of sentiment must not lie
upon her table; nor must she be sun-
posed to be acquainted with the poem
which decks out vice with the witch
ery of song." Among the "female'
authors mentioned by this authority
as unlikely to exercise a pernicious
influence are found Mrs. Hemans,
Mrs. Opie and Mrs. Barbauld. If he
still lives in an honorable old age,
cannot but wonder if this Triton of
the minnows heads the lists against
"Trilby," and if "The Heavenly
Twins" have made him apostate to
his own beginning-of-the-century con
victions. Scribner's.
MONEY IN CIRCULATION.
A false claim is that there- is a
scarcity of money in circulation at
the present time. The truth of this
statement as regards certain individ
uals cannot bo denied, and it is from
them that the loudest howl for free
coinage comes. They are mistaken,
however, in their idea that this would
bring the desired relief. An acquisi
tion of correct business methods would
work a much more speedy and effect
ual cure. As a matter of fact onr per
capita circulation has been steadily on
the increase since 1800, as the follow
ing figures taken from the treasury
reports show:
18fi0 $13 85
1870 17 50
1880 19 41
1S90 22 82
1892 24 44
Note that this is the circulation per
capita and does not include money
noia in the United States treasury
rnat tnis money is not now perform
ing its service to the people as, it
ought is also a fact, but it is because
the opportunities for its safe and pro-
ntabie investment are scarce, owing
to the general disquietude that has
pervaded the country since 1S92. Once
let business confidence return, and the
cry for free coinage and an increased
circulation will disappear as if by
magic. Among the great commercial
nations of today, France alone ex
ceeds this country in its per capita
circulation, owing to the fact that the
credit system of checks, drafts, etc.
incident to a large number of bank
ing establishments, has not come into
general use in that country. In the
United States about 95 per cent of
commercial transactions are carried
on by the use of checks and drafts.
HOP INTELLIGENCE.
There is still a fair business doing
in the way of deliveries to brewers on
previous purchases, and some new
deals have been made with exporters,
but the general demand at the moment
is very quiet and the market lacks a
little of the buoyancy noted a week
or two ago. As a rule holders seem
to feel some confidence in the position
and are carrying stocks on a steady
basis of value; here and there a little
pressure Is shown on medium and
under grades, and in order to effect
sales buyers are given some favors,
Rather more of the stock here, both
state and Pacific coast, can be bought
at 79c, and really prime lots are
offering at 10c. Possibly a long fancy
growth favorably known might still
sell a little above our top figure, but
we have not heard of any recent sales,
even to brewers, at over 11c, and any
higher quotation would certainly be
misleading. Yearlings find a moder
ate outlet in range of 3t5c, latter
very exceptional. Old olds in email
stock and but few wanted. Most of
the country markets are quiet, and
the reported sales are at slightly re
duced prices except for a few very
choice growths. Nothing of special
importance from across the water.
State, 1894, choice, per lb 11
Strata. 18fl4. enttd to nrimf" RUrfTil (
J N. Y. Producers' Price Current; Stb.
Used by Uncle Sam in
Protecting
His People From Loss of
Mail Matter.
A Few Details of One of the Finest
Departments in the
World.
The annual auction sale of the Dead
Letter office has just occurred. It is
an annual source of amusement to a
certain number of people in Wash
ington. It is even more amusing than
the sales of dead matter by the ex
press companies or the storage ware
houses in large cities, because the
goods which come under the hammer
from those institutions usually have
some value, while the "dead horse"
from the postofnee department is com
posed very largely of the most trifling
and valueless articles. Still the sale
brings to the department nearly $3,000
year, which helps to pay the ex
penses of the dead letter omce.
The articles just sold have been m
the hands of the dead letter office for
two years or more. This Is in accord
ance with the postal regulations,
which require that parcel matter
shall be held so long a time if its own
er cannot be found. It must be re
membered that all diligence is exer
cised by the postal authorities to find
first the sender and then the addressee
of a package, and that it goes to the
auction room only after every effort
has been exhausted and after It has
remained unclaimed by the owner for
two years. Under these regulations
it would not seem possible that
great quantity of matter of any value
would accumulate during a year. Yet
of seven million' letters and parcels
sent to the dead letter office during
a vear as insufficiently or incorrectly
addressed, only three millions reached
their destination after investigation,
Doubtless a great number of these
were in the list of unstamped letters
or parcels. Where a letter is simply
unstamped a notice is sent to the ad
dressee to forward postage; when a
parcel is unstamped, notice is sent to
the sender. No letter or package is
opened if there is an address either
of sender or addressee on the envel
ope by which its ownership can be
traced. Yet nearly six millions ot
letters were opened last year, and
mast of them were sent to the super
intendent to be sold with the dopnit
ment waste paper. There' was noth
ing about them which could identify
their owners so as to make it possibli
to trace them.
One of the most remarkable things
about the dead letter office records is
the number of people who send money
by mail in badly addressed envelope?.
The amount thus sent indicates that
there are enormous sums in transit
in the United States mails during the
year. Last year $38,000 m loose
money was found in "dead" letters
which it was necessary to open, and
of this $28,000 was restored to its
owners. More than a million dollars
in drafts, money orders, checks, etc.
was found in undelivered letters; and
$967,000 of this was restored. Postal
notes of the value of $5,000 were
found; and $5,600 worth of these
found their owners in time.
Letters containing money which
come to the dead letter office and are
not delivered to their owners are held
subject to reclamation for three
months. Before the expiration of that
time, inquiries concerning missing re
mittances are likely to be made, and
perhaps they get to the postoffice d'
partment and the owner of the money
on file is thus identified. At the end
of three months the money is turned
over to the third assistant postmaster-
general, and he turns it into the
treasury. But the sender or ad
dressee can recover this money at
any time within four years by making
claim and proving property. Letter
containing drafts, money orders,
checks, and valuable papers are filed
for reclamation. They can be of no
value to Uncle Sam. An unendorsed
draft would not bring much at an
auction. All letters containing salable
valuables (and all packages as well)
are held for two years for reclama
tion. At the end of that time the arti
cles are catalogued and sold; but
record of their selling price is kept,
and the owner by making application
within four years can obtain the
amount from the postoffice funds.
Postage stamps in a letter, exceeding
two cents in value, are filed away for
reclamation for a reasonable time and
are then destroyed. The postoffice de
partment destroyed last year $61
worth of stamps found in dead letters,
Uncle Sam has a pretty big revenue
altogether from the stamps which are
destroyed In various ways and are
never used to pay posage. He also
makes a pretty fair Income from mon
ey sent by mail which falls into the
hands of the postoffice department
The amount turned Into the treasury
last year on this account was $12,000.
The postoffice department destroy!
in a year four million letters contain
ing no enclosures, which cannot be
returned to writers. It destroys also
a great quantity of letters and parcels
containing matter classed as unman
able. Before the passage of the anti
lottery law a great many of the let
ters opened contained lottery tickets,
Now there are not so many of these.
but there are many hundreds of
sealed envelopes under letter postage
which are found to contain lottery cir
culars, and these of course are de
stroyed immediately. Green goods cir
culars aro found in . some envelopes,
and these, if they cannot be of value
to the police In tracing the swindlers,
are destroyed also. Then there are
animals and bugs and bottles of liq
uids and all sorts of things which
under the postal regulations are not
to be carried In the mails. There is
only one living thing that is mailable,
and that is a queen bee. But there
are alligators and snakes and butter
flies and bugs of all kinds constantly
coming and going through the mails.
At the time there was such a craze
for chameleons, thousands of these
little lizards were mailed in the South
to addresses all over the United
States; and since they were compara
tively harmless alive or dead no great
effort was made to stop the business.
But it happens not Infrequently that
in the dead letter office an exceedingly
lively snake or an offensively dead an
imal comes to light Anything which
is likely to Injure the mail matter
with which It comes in contact is con
traband of the mall and is destroyed
as soon as discovered, whatever its
value.
But there is an official exception to
1 Sml
muua rum. xue pruKSm at uie
packages which come by mall franked
to them. The postal authorities per
mit this; but the clerks are not in
sympathy with the exception to the
rule. It is not at all comfortable to
hear the warning sound of a "rattler"
from a perforated package, none too
strong perhaps, which you are possibly
pounding with a cenoelling stamp.
What people will put in the mails
was illustrated at the World's fair by
heavy axe which came to the dead
letter office one day wrapped in a sin-
pie piece of paper with the address
missing. Its owner was never found.
It was unmailable matter, anyway,
for edged tools not cased are forbid
den the mails. Nevertheless, the dead
letter sale always includes quantities
of knives. People who want to mail
small articles are usually ignorant of
the postal regulations or else are wil
ling to take chances of evading tueui.
The Christmas season is always
harvest time for the dead letter office.
In the 'first place there is always the
crop of gifts sent to foreign addresses
which do not comply with the postal i
regulations. Aside trom printed mat
ter, articles sent as gifts cannot be
forwarded to some foreign countries
unless the postage is fully prepaid at
the letter rate;-and where a parcels
post has been established and special
ates aro made for merchandise, it is
necessary to comply with certain reg
ulations concerning prepayment of
postage, observance of customs regula
tions, etc. It is not safe to ship par
cels matter abroad without consulting
the local postal authorities.
A frequent cause of the non-delivery
of mail matter is the failure of tiio
sender to wrap it carefully. Nearly
20,000 parcels without wrappers go
to the dead letter office every ye:ir.
Many of these, of course, . are maga
zines. No attempt is made to find tlie
owners of these, and they are not sold.
Under the regulations, all magazines,
pamphlets, illustrated papers, picture
cards, etc., among the "dead" p.-uveis
are sent to Washington hospitals, etc.:
and 17,000 of these articles go to them
every year. Boston Evening Trans
cript THE MORMON CANAAN.
It was a strange fate or destiny, or
was it providence that led Brigham
Young and his peculiar people to Stilt
Lake valley, Utah, a region so similar
to the "land of promise" of the Israel
of old? There the lake of Gennosaret,
or sea of Galilee, was fresh water,
filled with fish, where the prophets of
old dipped their nets. The Jordan
river flowed out of it and emptied
into the Dead sea, which is so salt and
acrid that no living thing is found in
its waters. Here Provo. or Utah lake,
is fresh and sweet, and in its waters
swarm the speckled trout and oth-r
fish as savory as those that straiuiid
the nets of Peter, James and John.
Out of this fresh-water lake flows the
Mormon river of Jordan, and after
rambling through one of the most fer
tile and beautiful valleys in America
it empties into the Great Salt lake,
which surpasses even the Dead sea in
the density of its waters, in which no
living thing is found. In the prom
ised land of Israel the Jordan flows
from north to south, while in the
promised land of the Mormons the
Jordan flows from south to north.
Mount Nebo stands like a sentinel
over the ancient "land flowing with
milk and honey," and here, too, is
Mount Nebo lifting its crown of eternal
snow 12,000 feet heavenward, as a
sentinel guarding the land that untir
ing industry has made a fairer Canaan
than Moses viewed from the mount
ain, but was not allowed to enter.
Compare the maps of these two
"promised lands and note how strik
ing are the physical features, and
then view this fair valley and realize
how the Mormons have made it enal
all that was promised to the children
of Israel in their Canaan of old. Inter
Ocean.
A MOON'S GREW SOME SPELL.
An O'er True- Tale of Fearful Happen
ings Out m Indiana.
Groensburjr, Ind., Dec. 2(ith. For
some timo past a larw green 1110011
has been visiblo to the citizens of
Greensburg. It can be seen between
the hours of 10 and 12 at night, and
is the causa of no little excitement.
It brings back to the memory of the
citizens a huge green moon several
years ago similar in appearance,
which could bo seen about midnight
hanging, apparently, over the Johnson
sawmill iu the south part of the city.
The strange phenomenon kept dang
ling back and forth high iu the sky,
and seemed to bo anchored to the mill
shed by a large illuminated rope. It
was a horror to all - ho aw it.
Finally two boys. John Thompson and
Willio Turner, who were known for
their daring, decided to investigate the
matter.
They went together, climbed upon
the shed, and at the same time they
both laid hold of the rope. They fell
directly, as if paralyzed, and were
found unconscious on the roof the
next morning. When they gained
consciousness it was discovered that
the hair on the right side of Turner's
head, which was naturally black, had
turned green, and that on the left side
of Thompson's head had turned fiery
red, was hot, and sparks would fly
from it when touched. Every twelve
hours the color of tho hair woul
change, being vice versa first Tur
ner's ; red. Thorn pson's green, then
Thompson's red a nd Turner's green
Tho boys became a wonder to evci-v
body. Scientists from Indianapolis,
Cincinnati, and several other large
cities came here and examined the
boys, and pronounced the strange oc
currence as phenomenal and some
thing which had never occurred be
fore.
But one night an angel of light ap
peared unto tho boys and bade, them
to again go to the mill shod and touch
the rope. They both arose from their
beds, and at the same timo. in their
sleep, went to the mill, climbed tho
shed together, and at exactly the same
time they both took hold of the rope.
They instantly awoke and felt very
curious and foolish at finding whore
tney were, upon touching tne rope
their hair immediately changed to il.
natural color and they went home
sound in both mind and body. Chi
cago Times.
DURING THE LEGISLATURE
YOU SHOULD BE A READER OF
A NEWSPAPER PRINTED AT THE
CAPITAL. THE SALEM STATES
MAN IS JUST WHAT YOU WANT
BRIGHT, CRISP, NEWSY. THE
WEEKLY IS ?2 A YEAR; THE
DAILY 50c A MONTH.
BANK STATEMENT.
New York, Jan. 12. The followine
is the weekly bank statement: Re
serve, increase $a,930,150; loans, de
crease $3,073,400; specie, decrease $354,-
000; legal tenders, increase $6,923,000;
deposits, increase, $2,555,000; circula
tion, increase $21,400. The banks nawi
hold $41,792,200 in excess of the ie
quirements.
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benn tor cirouiarsana testimonials. AQaress
HUDSON MEDIC A ! INSTITUTE.
function Stockton, market & ElUa f (
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