RAILWAY LITERATURE.
THE GUIDE B00K3 THAT ARE PUB
LISHED BY RAILROADS,
Yat (ami Arc Spent la Hiring Capable
Wrlt.r. and Eic.ptlonal Artltu to R.
produce Sc.nerv for Cotly Volume to
I Advertl the Liu.
Tbe greatest rivalry among railroaJ
men if in tbe getting out of guide books.
Several year ago a rich onthern rail-
road published a luxuriously gotten up
book as handsome as almost any example
of a rich edition of Shakespeare that men
and women display upon a parlor center
', table. It was thought then that the
; limit of enterprise and expenditure bad
r been reached, and that there never wonld
' be anything finer bearing the imprint of
a general passenger office.
But that elegant volume is almost for
gotten now Its defects were that its
' pictures were ready made, and repre-
aented a low grade of art, while the
. letter press, or reading matter, was the
work of the general passenger agent a
; clever man but not a professional writer.
Today no such pictures and no such
writing is accepted for a representative
guide book.
A school of artists has grown op to
meet tbe demand for such work, and
they are salaried by the big printing and
, bank note engraving companies that get
' out these books They produce careful,
artistic and clever pictures, and manage
to give them the appearance of the
choicest pictures in the magazine.
As a matter of fact, the latest guide
books are imitations of the magazine in
every particular except that they in
clude no advertising pages. But the
; more wealthy railroads will not employ
' these professional guide book illustrat-
ors. They secure high class artists who
r are too independent to sign their names
, to what they do, but provide the best
, work of which they are capable, because
they are better paid for it than for any
other work that they do.
BIO PRICES PAID TOR WORK.
Men who study such matters are able
to recognize the personality of the art
ists in their methods of drawing, and
aucb persons often see a painting or a
tndy of a picturesque place in one of
tbe art galleries 01 hi ;:n tirt sale at the
same time that they receive a copy of
some guide book Illustrating other beau
ty spots in the same region in a set of
drawings by the very same artist, who
has been whirled hither and thither in
that part of the country in a special cor
at tbe expense of tbe railroad company
that monopolizes tbe traffic.
In that same car with tbe artist goes
the general passenger agent, but be no
longer writes tbe matter in tbe book.
He has secured tbe services of some
well known literary man of the second
or third class to describe tbe region with
bis pen for a higher rate of remunera
tion than the writer could get for any
other work. Two thousand dollars
below the highest price that baa been
paid for the illustrations in a single guide
book, and in all probability no first class
book of the kind has been written for
less than $500.
These books have been poured from
the presses of the best printers in tbe
country in editions of from 6,000 to 10,
000 copies, and have cost tbe railroads
from five to twenty cents a copy Some
are designed to appear like novels, some
like stories of adventure and some like
books of travel Their titles are such as
are likely to prove attractive to large
bodies of citizens.
Not to quote any one of them, but to
show what sort of bait they throw to
the public, they may be said to be named
in some such way as these: "Where to
Camp Out," "Where to Oo This Sum
mer." "Three Days and a Thousand
Trout," "Hunting the Mountain (ioat,
"Pure Air and Bulsam Pines," "Country
Board." "Cheaper Than Staying Home.
One enterprising western railroad man
has issued a little book on etchings, ex
quisitely printed, and made to close up
into a large envelope tied with a satin
bow knot.
SOME NOTABLE PECCLUBITIE8.
1 Some of the very best map making
that has been done in this country bos
grown out of tbe competition ingnide
books. Just at present the rage is for
bird's eye, vie ws, however, and these are
cleverly made to show every hill and
stream and village and patch of forest
in vast areas of country They all omit
every indication of marsh land, and all
are printed with green ink, in order to
produce the most astonishing effects
of universal greenery, shade and cool
ness. . It is a noticeable characteristic of all
them that they show only one railroad,
never any more. No guide book pub
lished exhibits Chicago as accessible by
more than one railroad, and enormous
tracts like North Dakota and Utah are
aiade to appear to depend upon a single
line of rails for their means of internal
traffic. In such maps railroads seem to
reach a degree of perfection that is not
noticed by those who travel most upon
them.
I For instance, they are al ways straight,
direct lines from point to point, precisely
like the great highway that Nicholas
marked down upon the map of Russia
with a pencil and a ruler in order to
show his engineers how be would con
nect Moscow with St. Petersburg. Not
even the Rocky mountains are able to
hinder the absolutely straightforward
coarse of any railroad. On the maps
the line of the tracks goes straight along
past the mountains as if they were mere
Tots in a wheat field. The reading mat
ter in the guide books shows that each
railroad avoids mosquitoes and malarial
regions with tbe same success.
I Where there are no mosquitoes the
writers say so, and where they are as
thick as peas In a pod the most dignified
Hence is maintained with regard to
them. But there one sees how greatly
competition has elevated this class of
literature, for only a few years ago these
books were as unreliable as the old
(fashioned circus posters. They do not
lie today. The next thing will be that
they will tell tbe truth. -New York Sun.
Uetter a aba I.
MiM Plumpleigh (of tbe suburbs)-
Why can't yoo urge a reduction ox
fcuvs on our roadf
Tlie Editor (gallantly)-I can, but I
know one fair that I hope will never be
reduced.-Pittsbarg Bulletin.
A rural youth calls U new tusyi
f strict
scb4mam"EiperiebecanesIeis
dear teacher.-Detrolt Free Press.
r
. - , , , TT.. aars
IL BrooardeL the French savant, sayl
that La 80 eaaee out of 100 typhoid urm r
is caused by polluted water-
r
ON THE MOUNTAIN
Tiro the hi bun? vale Mk
But aw aim? t ne drop dm vtnss.
HtclimtM vita roowp eum and tiov,
Ur pause trail ta gaj nut nag
Tim anau-hm from w. o k mm.
la busy un mot nappy pour:
But burr aiv ne kitm wwc dream.
i nrougn ckxtaioa 041 id aoiDt US
Tim carrle u to deauj1 dart cat '
Wlta burned flight id fake oetowj
But bar auov tt Kenia to wau.
And 0017 bkl u oigoer go.
for the maintain nlopei we leant
On lemon from our teacher. Time
Tta who Kite aim wing to earn
What tfccv alooe can rracn who climb.
II L, Touemaco,
India' Troup of Monk?.
All along this road to this side of Ah-
ouuauaa we saw many troops of monkeys
of all sizes, from that of a terrier dog up
10 a large setter now romping over the
ueius close oy tbe track, or springing
from branch to branch on tbe trees, or sit
ting up on some prominent limb wisely
watching us as we whizzed by They are
sacred, and tbe natives uever hurt them.
although they are fearful thieves and
make destructive raids upon fields and
orchards We also saw large numbers of
peacocks noble birds, with talla and
plumage of great beauty They. too. are
sacred A foreigner would be mobbed
should be shoot one They, as the mon-
keys, are not wild, as travelers books
would lead us to suppose Thev are free.
and roam as they please, but are hardly
iesa tawe man the same birds are 00 aa
American fann They are rarely seen far
away from villages and farms. Carter
Harrison in Chicago Mail.
Peculiarities of Comport Photograph.
A very curious point In composite photo
graphs is that almost Invariably this com
bined picture is that of a better looklnir
person than any of the Individuals who
have contributed to It Some of these
photographs now lie before us. Bere is
one which has been taken from a number
of criminals, and. as we bave lust indl
cated. the picture Is much better favored
Al . L. . , t
man me various low crowed, coarse
mouthed individuals who have contributed
to make it up Another picture we may
call attention to as being a great contrast
to tbe last, this Is a group of ten girls
wuo are me mem tiers or a literary dub.
The picture Is that of a bright looking,
Intellectual girl of about 19 years of aire.
Tbe face la thought ful and tbe shape of
me Dead Indicates irreat intellectual cower.
The same observations are applicable to
another photograph which is before us. to
which several sclent I fio men have con
tributed each his share. Chambers'
Journal.
Khrewdne. of a Planter.
Negroes are deeply religious In charac
ter, though they maintain a too rigid
separation between religion and morality.
There was once a planter "up tbe coast,"
whose flocks and herds suffered from the
depredations of bis colored neighbors His
method of self preservation waa unique.
lie built a church which he presented to
the negroes upon one condition This con
dition was announced to the congregation
from the pulpit by their minister It was
that so long as nothing was stolen from
this planter's place so long would tbe
sanctuary remain open, but upon tbe dls-
appearance of the first article the church
was to be closed, never to be reopened.
Tbe plan worked faultlessly, and while
other plantations suffered as of old, tbe
originator of this scheme possessed his
goods in peace. New York Post.
Woodpecker'. Justice.
A year ago a pair of red headed wood
peckers determined to peck a bole in the
boarding under the eaves of a house, aa
woodpeckers of teu do. The owner of the
house, not liking such mutilation, after
repeated efforts succeeded in driving
them away, and they went to work at
once and dug a hole in the nearest tree.
When the birds' home was finished and
housekeeping had begun the farmer's
boys captured the female as she sat in the
nest and kept her in a cage, hoping to
catch the male also.
Two days later he returned with an
other wife. The boys relented at the
sight. They gave Mrs. Woodpecker No.
1 her liberty and awaited results.
To their surprise the male woodpecker,
after a relentless pursuit of about six
hours, killed her. Then he destroyed the
one egg which she hud laid, and contin
ued housekeeping with wife No. 2 as
if nothing had happened. Cor. Youth's
Companion.
Beating Street Car Hallway.
It is hard to get ahead of the street car
companies, but some people in Chicago
think they are going to do it. They are
having constructed vehicles exactly like
street cars, except that the wheels are a
little larger. They are gauged to fit the
car tracks, and it is proposed to run them
on the tracks j ust like any horse car, with
out asking with your leave or by your
leave. They will stop like the street
cars and charge the same fare. If the
car companies object, owners of tbe new
vehicles will point to tbe fact that they
are siinpiy oumiouses, wmcn are en
titled to use any portion of the public
streets, whether tracks happen to be
there or not. If the car companies don t
like their tracks to be used they are at
liberty to take them away. Exchange.
Kami That Statesmen Write.
Among Lord Granville's other amiable
possessions was that of a very neat and
scliol.-i.-ly handwriting. Perhaps this is
one rei.son for his popularity with press
men. On the whole, however, states
men c rtainiy uo not wni v.arse iwxu
writi rs." Mr. Gladstone's band is in
deed spoiled by over indulgence in post
cards. Mr. Balfour s baud is not pretty,
and Mr. Goschen's is execrable. Mr.
John Morley's hand has character, but is
not always easy to read. Lord Salisbury
writes ciearly. So do Lord Rosebery
and Lord Hartington. But it may be
doubted whether any of those we bave
mentioned write at once so prettily and
so legibly tis did Lord Granville. Pall
Mall Gazette.
When Toa Co to Earopo.
A bint from one who knows continental
hotels: I carried with me one good sized
bedroom pillow encased in dark summer
silk, and wished many times that I had
irouicbt one or two more, as one is forci
bly reminded of tbe block and guillotine
when placing tbe head npou some of the
miserable contrivances politely called
pUlows in many placts in Europe.
An apparatus called a lactorite has re-
. 1 V .... nu.1 V, w fnuirh rluniiri. . . .
. ... ,
barrel ranidlv m.
vol red. and if a certain temporal ore is
necary for tbe reaction th barrel is
r,nir
, K-, i. tiirL
PARIS NEWSPAPERS.
SIGNED EDITORIALS ARE COMMON
BUT NOT UNIVERSAL,
rornlirn AAVIr. T...I..I 1.K t.-i..
...,,..
ad AbMltjr-Leeal Column. Rut Wba,
Th M,ouid "- rn .1 Ad-
f.rtuing-cnp,!.!, tbe N.wa,
The editorial department of the Paris
pajK-ra, which is their leading feature. Is
often able and brilliant. The habit of
signing editorial articles Is common! but
by 110 menu, universal Among the ex
reption. are the Tenipa. tbe Debate, and
La I'aix
nie Matin lia.au article dally
from one ol rural writers, amonir whom
tPe J"1"1 omiott. Euiajiuel Areue, IUuto
1 and John Leniolnne Each writer ex
presses and la rveponsible for his own
opinions only, and as they represent all
shades of politics except Socialism, what
tbe paper says one morning Is flatly con
tradicted by Its article of tbe following
day What are called "general articles"
by the American newspapers are almost
always signed by Paris writers. They
may be literary, critical, or may cover a
wide variety of Interesting topics. Among
the best contributions of this class are
those of Anatole de la France and Uugbes
lo Roux. written for tbe Temps.
Foreign affairs, so far as regards the
continent, are of late years treated with
Intelligence and ability The domestio
politics of the t'uited States are still
poorly understood by the majority of
French Journalists, with tbe exception of
a few who have crossed the ocean. As to
the foreign continent In general it Is fairer
than that of tbe London newspapers,
which is not paying it an extravagant
compliment, rrobalily not less than sixty
members of the senate and chamber of
deputies are connected with tbe Paris
newspapers, principally as contributors.
Tills lewis to what would be considered in
other countries violations of parliamentary
privilege, or to occurrences that strike
foreigners as somewhat Indelicate, Jour
nals not hesitating sometimes to publish
fiirt that should be kept secret, or to give
8Keches of their own writers in extenso
with fulsome compliment.
IN TIIK LOCAL COI.CMXS.
The local columns of a Paris newspaper
are not what they should be or what their
readers would be glad to bave thorn, for
want of room The great city Is a mine
of sensational material, tragic, comic,
grave, gay. but always interesting if
properly treated As a Paris newspaper
is usually a small four page sbeet, printed
in coarse type on bad paper, it la difficult
to get more Into it than tbe literary and
political matter that must In any event
appear, and a mere resume of local events
If the foreign news is of great Importance,
local matter Is crowded out. If a single
local event Is sensational all other local
matters, no matter how interesting In
themselves, must make way for It. Re
porters of some papers sign their names.
This practice sometimes causes curious
displays of egotism, the writers forgetting
that which they bave to narrate is their
own personal experiences The facts are
obscured by their efforts to obtain them,
their little deprivations, and the articles
of food that composed their breakfast.
Tbe self consciousness of French
nowspapor writers is always notice
able, whether they sign their arti
cles or not Tbe editorial "we" often
appears In tbe editorial columns. It Is
hard for a correspondent In a foreign
capital to give the farts In a dispatch
without prefacing or interspersing them
with useless personal detail Aside from
these evidences of imperfection and Jour
nalistic Juvenility, the local columns are
usually readable, and sometimes bright
and witty The Paris interviewer, who
is a recent institution already become
universal, Is, If possible, more unscrupu
lous and Imaginative than his American
confrere.
A Paris newspaper office Is not usually
an abode or luxury 1 be trance has a
fine building, of which it uses but a small
port itself The Figaro Is handsomely
Installed in the Rue Druot. Tbe Petit
Journal, the newspaper of tbe bonnes,
coachmea and garcoua, has comfortable
quarters in the Rue Lafayette. Most of
the papers of small circulation are hi the
upper story of some large building, where
their business, editorial and composing
departments are crowded Into a few
small, badly ventilated and poorly lighted
rooms
TOO MANY NEWSPAPERS.
There are far too many newspapers in
France for tbe number of readers, and
they cannot all be rich. Tbe revolution
ary, socialistic and some of the ultra radl
cal newspapers are sold at one sou. Most
of the others are sold at two sous Some
are sold at three sous, with another sou
idded when tbe size Is doubled, as In the
case of tbe Saturday edition of tbe Figaro.
A sou Is sometimes added to tbe Paris price
for purchasers In tbe departments The
newsboy cuts no great figure In Paris.
Men, boys and women cry certain sheets
In the streets, but if one wants a news
paper be bas usually to go to tbe news
stands Prices of advertising are high,
and Paris merchants do not care much
about tbe newspapers aa a means of mak
ing their goods known. The space occu
pied by legitimate advertising Is small,
therefore the newspapers have to dopend
for support on their circulation and on
subsidies paid for their hifluence- These
are sometimes large, and constitute their
chief means of livelihood.
Paris newspapers working for the most
part with an Insufficient staff, the habit
of copying from one another's columns Is
general, paragraphs being taken verbatim
by tbe evening from tbe morning papers
and vice versa As tbese paragraps often
contain opinions and individual ideas, they
read curiously when met with hi succes
sion in several different Journal. Dis
patches two or three days old are often
seen in some of them. An Important oc
currence happening In some European
capital, like Bismarck's speech In tbe
reichstag. is known, as regards Its gen
era! Import, In San Francisco before it is
in Paris The speech In question was de
livered about 2 o'clock Tbe Temps that
appeared at 4 80 had nothing of It. and
the Solr. appearing at II p m . only a few
words Parts Cor Baa Francisco Chron
Ida
Faa Wmuji Railroading.
The record of the Pennsylvania limit
ed mail train ha again been lowered,
and again it knocks out all previous
time Recently the train made the run
from Columbus, O., to this city, 1W
miles, in fonr hours and four minutes,
making fifteen stops and a number of
slowdowns, l ne run to uraurora was
i made in two hours, and from Bradford
to this city in two hours and four min
utes. A great deal of the distaac was
made at tbe rate of eighty miles aa hour.
"We had an engine," said Conductor
Taylor proudly, "that could climb a
tree." Indianapolis News. . .
A REMINISCENCE OF MR. BARNUM.
Ho
II Cot rirru I'oater Into Cana-
da Without l')liif th Duly.
"One of P. T. Illinium's most suc
cessful feats of bniuhiorlcinciit," said a
New ViirkiirlliuiitliKPil.lv "uu .....1
I ' I "
UjX)n ,lie i-ullaimll ,.stiin autliorl-
T,,e wUmn .I,,,,,,,,,,..
j Wtre always pla.in.Hl fur In advance,
bj,j o0 winter lie mn.lo up his mind
' to ,tt'w Jlvnt 'i"',", d menagerie
! "'roiiijli Canada during the summer
ftf,,'r "l0 "(,Jt- This gave liiin about
! two years in which to mature hi pious,
"One important item of 11 showman's
expenses consists of his udvertisinir
! placards, nn.l Mr. Knmiim was nlwava
! lavish with these iruiidv prints, lie
was aware that the l'un:uliun wivem-
liient Imposed a high duty oil this class
of imports, and yet ho wanted to vtint
(.lunula red, yellow, blue and itreen
with a lavislmess that no showman had
ever displayed there In-fore.
"ow there was no printing house
anywhere In Canada that could begin
to turn out the kind of work that Mr.
Haniiiui required, either in size, color or
finish. Nevertheless, his immense ixist-
era came under tho same classiUfntinii
as much smaller lithographs mid printed
colored matter did, and ho knew that
the Dominion custom authorities would
not nlmte one Jot of the full toll, but
would rather rejoice at the opMrt unity
to millet the foreigner who would con
vey so much money out of a country.
"So liamiim studied the question a
while, mid llimlly sent on ut onco a
great lot of circus posters of the most
gorgeous designs, whereon yellow lions
clawed stried tigers, and brown licars
foiled with blue liipNiHit.iiui till the
gore Mowed into beautiful crimson
backgrounds. No agent appeiired,
when the posters were detained by the
Canadian customs oliieers to pay the
duty. They were accordingly held for
twelve months, then duly advertised
for sale for three months more, and
finally put up at miction with a lot of
other unclaimed parcels, and were des
ignated in the catalogue merely its 'col
ored prints,'
"Noliody took any interest in thein
when the auctioneer called for 11 bid,
and dually the whole batch was knocked
down for a son' to a secret agent of the
circus, who had Urn sent up by Mr.
Illinium for that express purpose."
Now York Tribune.
Hrii-lvril h a 1'rlvale Individual.
Ono of the authors of "The Ctarand
His People" gives the following instance
of lolstoi's independence of thought
mid action:
General Loris MclikolThud been given
such unbounded mwer to act against
the niliilivts that, u he said, he was vir
tually created view eincror. Ho dis
covered hi the course of his ofllcial in
vestigations that 0110 of tho leading ni
hilist chiefs was in the habit of visiting
Tolstoi, and one day Melikoff himself
went out to the novelist's country
house, lleforu the visitor had an
nounced himself Tolstoi recognized him
and said :
"You are Loris MclikolT. Do you
come to Bee me ollleially or as a private
man? If you come officially here uro
my keys. Search, open everything.
You nro free to do so."
"1 do not come ollleially," replied
Melikoff.
"Very good," answered Tolstoi, mid
culling two stalwart servants he said to
them, "Throw this man out of tho
house I"
The order was obeyed to the letter,
and Mchkcff dared not seek redress.
Wit of the Rmall People.
I was descanting on the angelic dispo
sitions and ways of some dear little
children in a fond mother's presence
tho other evening.
"They are very trying," slui sold,
"but then they are funny. We hod
company tho other afternoon and the
children were brought In. I asked
Ethol if she still remembered her text
'Oh, yes, mamma, "Is I my brother's
saloon keeper?'"
"I was very nngry with little Robbie
tho other evening, mid had prepared to
give him a good spanking. He looked
up at me so funny, and says, 'Muiiima,
youse better not monkey wiv the bund
wagon. ery angelic, but where do
they learn such things?" Chicago
Times.
Jlletter to II ore Left Vnuld.
A literal "thing one would rather
not have said" was overheard in a
Sixth avenue elevated train the other
evening. A man and a woman were
discussing Mr. Howclls' works and
their effect while reading them, The
inun asserted that he invariably found
something responsive in any page of
them he turned, whereat the woman
innocently questioned, "Don't you
think that Is because he always writes
of such commonplace, everyday people
and hapitenings?" When you come to
think of it that was rather severe
New York Times.
Poor Kliootlng.
No record of the work of the big
guns on the big iron clods of Europe is
allowed to be published, but the gun
ners admit that the big cannon are so
nnwieldy that an enemy a mile away
might be fired at twenty times before
being hit by accident The best of the
gunners further declare that the mania
for big guns has Ix-en run to foolish
ness. Detroit Free Press.
la a For Store.
Mrs. Savezrien Rlcbe (In fur store to
salesman) I want to look at a pair of fur
Dallas. Salesman (doubtfully) I don't think
I know what yon mean, madam.
Mrs S. R. One of my friends has
bought a pair of bones and a sleigh, and
she said she got tbe paraphernal las to go
with It, sod I want a pair, too
Salesman (face reddening) We are all
out of them today, madam. Judge.
Lincoln a a Ball ftplltuir.
Leonard W Volk, tbe Chicago sculptor,
says that once when taking a plaster cast
of President Lincoln's bands be detected
a scar on tbe left thumb Noticing that
It had attrartmt hi attention the presi
dent said "Yoo have beard me called
rail splitter, well, one day while sharp
ening a wedge on a log the axe glanced
off and nearly took the end of my thumb
oft That's the scar. 'New York World.
WAH AND AERIAL Sim's,
POSSIBILITIES REGARDING FUTURE
FLYING MACHINES.
Uow Vast Nvlr and i:pnlve Land
formication Might II Kndrad I'm
let Antiquity of th Idea of firing.
Snni Srhenie. of th Anelenl.
Regarding the rate of propulsion of the
future flying machine, Proteasnr J. Elf
tetii Watkins, the distinguished mechani
cal expert, declares that it simply depends
njNin the size of the profiler used and
the rate at which the fans are revolved.
In his opinion the old theory that the at
mosphere was too tenuous a medium for
a propeller to act upon has been demon
strated to be nonsense. HufhVient resist-
L aIV..,I l.u It 1 ii.l . 1
.m war, v, .1 u re i..er pww.u.e.n
rm'i uiuue 0-VM, IHJ mm lb wultlU lltJfc ue
too much to surmise that a properly con
structed air ship might accomplish the
distance between Chicago aud New York
within an hour's time.
Necessarily, however, there would be a
limit to rapidity of flight, inasmuch as a
propeller ceases to projiel after a certain
number of revolutions per second has
been reached. It is opcti to any one's ob
servation that a vessel's propeller, oper
ating in the water, often revolves much
faster when the craft is moving slowly
than when it is going fast
Attention was called by Mr. Hazen to
the tremendous revolution which the in
troduction of practical air ships would
work in tile methods of offense and de
fense in war. Fortifications, on which
it is suggested that Undo Sam shall ex
pend f'.'O.OOO.OOO aa soon as possible,
would be of little use against flying ma
chines that could drop dynamite and
other explosives from aloft Likewise
ships of war, however heavily armored,
would be at the mercy of hostile aerial
navigators.
COSTLY Ol'Ns RKNDI'Jir.D I'SKLESS.
In such a case batteries of a descrip
tion altogether new would have to be
devised for shooting vertically, and the
general defending a position on terra
tirma would be obliged to assail the
winged foe with volleys of bombs di
rected upward, as one would shoot
ducks on the wing. Should such a state
of affairs come to pass, it seems likely
that tbe conflicts or the future between
uatious will have to be fought out in the
air between squadrons of flying men-of-
war. About that time one would imag
ine, it would be considered that the
K'riod had arrived, so long looked for
by military thinkers, when there could
be no more lighting because it would be
too vastly destructive.
Having achieved the conquest of the
waters, it is natural that man should
likewise desire ttie mastery of the air,
aud thus in all ages the human race has
been ambitious to fly, The earliest at
tempt in this direction recorded by tra
dition is the mythical account of Dis
dains, who, having constructed the cele
brated labyrinth for Minos, king of
Crete, was so unfortunate as to offend
that monarch, and being imprisoned,
escaiod with the aid of wings made of
feathers cemented with wax.
Another ancieut story of Archytas, of
Tarentum, who constructed a wooden
pigeon Unit had power to fly, so nicely
was it balanced by weight aud put to
motion by inclosed air. If there Is any
truth In the account, it seems probable
tliut Archytas was a fakir and worked
his bird with a string, as is done on the
stage. The ancients, generally shak
ing, made no attempts iu the direction
of aeronautics, believing that the power
of flight could only appertain to the
most powerful gods.
OLD SCHKME3 fKR Pt.YlNO.
Four centuries ago an ingenious gen
tleman named Lauretua Laura tiub-
iished a statement to the effect
that
ll.,,'.A.,m, fllln.1 t.,lli nll,uiluAM I
nr-ltothH.n..n. l.l muvinil in tho ,
air, but it is not recorded that the ex
periment was ever subjected satlsfao-
torily to scientific test In 1070 a Jesuit
Francis Lana. proposed to make four
coptwr balls, each twenty-five foet in
diameter aud only four ooe-thousandtiis
of au inch in thickness, from which the
air was to be exhausted.
To these balls a baskot waa to be at
tached, with a mast aud sail, and the
calculation was that the contrivance
would carry 1,200 pounds. Unfortunate
ly it wus discovered that the excessive
thinness of the copper spheres would
cause them to be broken when a vacuum
was created inside of them by the press
ure of the atmosphere from without
Nevertheless, this suggestion ap
proached more nearly to a practicable
idea in aerostatics than any othor offered
up to the time of tbe invention of tbe
balloon in 1 733 by the brothers Mont
golfier. So lute as 1773 Joseph Ualien,
a Dominican friar and professor in
philosophy, contended that it would be
possible to collect the rarefied air of
some lofty mountain top and inclose it
in a huge vessel a mile in diameter,
which would carry fifty-four times as
much weight as did Noah's ark.
Funnily enough, nearly all the early
theorists on this subject imagined that
Uie atmosphere merely covered the
earth like a shallow ocean, on which the
aerial vessels they had in mind were in
tended to float, like ships In the sea,
with their upper portions in the diffuse
ether that lay above. Washington Star.
Why Milk loan.
Professor Tolomei, an Italian chemist,
concludes that the ozone produced by
electric discharges In a thunder storm
coagulates milk by oxidizing it, and gen
erates luetic acid. Mr. Tread well, of the
Wesleyan university, in discussing this,
states that the action is not a mere oxi
dation, bat is in part produced by the
growth of bacteria, which is very rapid
in hot, sultry weather. New York
Times.
Doubtful Consideration.
'My husband is the dearest, most con
siderate man in the world."
"Uow does he show iW
"He knows I hate tobacco smoke in
the bouse, and so be goes to tbe club
every night after supper and smokes
there. Harper s Bazar.
When Pud. Meat.
"Good morula', Jones."
"Good momln'." '
"Beastly momln"' "
"Beastly "-Hatchet
In Parts there are said to be tSdOnle who
make a living by waking people op In lbs!
morning They must do a rousing bust
ness. Boston Commercial Bulletin.
A Philadelphia firm of soap manufact-
nrers bsve s kettle that holds 471.000.
pounds of liquids and six kettles that bold '
100.000 pounds each. I
I wise woman complaint.
She I No r fur th llouMkeeplng-la-a-Mai
Young Man of th I'erlod.
An elderly country woman, who has
chaperoned two charming nieces
through tho dangers and delights of a
gay Now York season, claims to have
discovered one of tho gravest evils
menacing modern society, and gave her
views at elalioruto length the other
day. "The ladylike young man is at
the bottom of the mischief," she re
marked animatedly, "and so long as he
is allowed to flourish of course girls
can't and won't marry. Who do 1
meant Why, that hybrid housekeep
ing creature.
"Our first encounter with the new
fitnivlml Miwtr mum iri uvlum mpilu nunm
; ,,,41, to ttfft Rt Mr y 's rooms.
1 hesitated about accepting, but yielded
mid went Still, I felt for tho poor
fellow's natural perplexities, and bought
a nice bag of Jumbles, some lump
sugar, and took a few extra spoons
along to help him out ill a tight place.
"Well, bhss your heart, when a neat
white cuped maid answered the elec
tric bell, and pushing aside long shadow
curtains ushered us into ait elegant
parlor, I begun making every apology,
being sure we had stumbled into the
wrong plaeo. Hut, no; hero came our
host, bowing and smiling, begging us
to take off our wrus, and excusing
himself for preoccupation just as
have done a thousand times at home
by saying the kettlo refused to boiL
Well, while he talked to the girls I be
gan looking round for some place to
hide those odious cukes and heitrd the
spoons rattling In my pocket
"With each survey I took tliut paper
bag grew bigger and tho silver jingled
under the folds of my dress. Hut the
polished mirrors, bowls of roses, eru
broldered scurfs and charmingly dec
orated walls were as nothing to a scene
over in the left hand corner next the
11 replace.
"Tliero sat the tea table, In all its
glory, with Mr. V hovering round
it like a protecting spirit He hud
lady ostensibly presiding, but no old
maid could have kept a sharper eye on
tho tea cups. Ho discussed the differ
cut varieties of tea with warmth, de
fended the Infusion process, gave his
reasons for patronizing a particular
bakery, and In the meantime handed
round bonbons and salted almonds to
Ills half dozon men and women guests.
Prom confectionery the talk drifted to
naHry, and with a glow of genuine
prido our entertainer exhibited a set of
exquisite doilies lately added to his
linen closet Ho advocated drawn
woik mid tho outline stitch in white
floss as rather superior style at after
noon functions, and then got on the
subject of china, which was evidontly
his hobby.
I'.acu fragile cup and saucer was
diluted upon hi turn, the delicacy and
benuty of the porcelain naturally load
ing to a wholesale abuse of servants.
Mr. V and a man (?) friend sitting
near agreed that they never permitted
Hiddy to lay a finger on the properties
of their pantry. They laundered every
piece of china and plate personally to
Insure safe handling, and used only
pure linen towels In order to avoid lint
As you may Imagine I sat aghast to
hear such conversation between two
bearded oreutures, and was scarcely
surprised afterward, when a woman of
the party ventured an opinion on the
subject of sweeping, to hear both of
them summnrily suppress her.
"now, i want to know wiio our
l"1ght)rs, sisters Olid
nlooes are to
marry f" continued the wrathful lady.
"Certainly not those finicky Miss
Nancys; and there are no longer any
bachelors, it apears nice, Jolly fel
lows, who couldn't tell a mop from
range or a broom from a lambrequin,
who went buttonlesa, and with boles in
their socks, till some nice girl took com
passion on them ; who were lonely and
needed companionship, helpless and
wanted a woman's hund to keep a neat
hearth and wurm their slippers.
"Since that first afternoon I have
been to twenty teas of the same sort in
as many different apartments. New
York fairly swarms with this new type
of huiniuilty, and with each exhibition
of his effeminacy I grow more dis
gusted. My girls are athletic ride,
swim, hunt and use the horizontal bar.
Naturally, when their hosts talk bread
and butter they become painfull r em
borrassod, feel out of their elntneufand
make alMiird mistakes. "New York
Sun,
Repelling Fire with a Druaa.
A Are of a strange nature appeared
In Wales in 1C93. According to the
most Intelligible account concerning it
now in existence, it come up frdm the
sea near Harlech. At several places
near that place and all over Merioneth
shire it did much damage, burning hay,
houses, barns, etc. A person writing
of it said: "The gross over which it
moves kills all manner of cattle that
feud upon it But what Is most re
markable Is that any great noise, such
as the beating of a drum or sounding a
horn, effectually repels it from any
house." tit Louis Republic.
Not a Lucrative On,
The pay of the ofllcial watchman of
the village of Sprlngstille, hi Ilessen,
has not Increased In a century. One
hundred years ago this valued official
received one cent a day for his services,
and "Old Helnrleh," the present watch
man, aged seventy years, receives the
same compensation. Truly the pay is
not princely, and the American office
holder will wonder how Heinrich man
ages to live on it after paying the usual
assessments to the party. New York
World.
"Mv.Urv Oold."
Ail analysis of "mystery gold" reveals
an alloy of copper, silver, gold, aluminium
and iron, the last probably being an Im
purity Even when present In small pro
portion, tbe aluminium resists the) oltrle
dd test Arkanaaw Traveler.
Obealtjr Karroo DIordn
a rrenco scientist aovances too toeory
that obesity Is a nervous disorder, snd:
should bs treated by avoidance of mental
and physical fatigue and a diet of eggs,
soup, mux, nc ana potatoes. CucagO:
Tunes.
The Slave of Chine.
Tbe question will naturally arise ta
many mind bow these vast numbers are
maintained and eoutrolled Iu servitude.
Tbe answer Is that all people are taught
obedience to tbe head of tbe family,
whether that person Is the real parent or
whether be merely stands la loco parentis,
The teachings of parents, of the schools,
of tbe books of religion, and of tba gov
ernment, are all In favor of such obedi
ence and submission There can be no
Uvtng In China outside of a family To be
a nobody's child Is to be so outcast and
bunted like the wolf on tbe mountains,
la order to live In a bouse, to travel on
the highways or byways, to buy food or
clothing, to get employment or shelter, a
government paas Is absolutely necessary,
and that Is always based upon a family
pass All law. all the officials and all the
people of a vast and donaely populated
country are jolued against any fugitive
from a family
In addition to all these the terrors of re
ligion and superstition are brought to bear
to enforce obedlunce to the family law.
It la Implicitly believed that those who
are disobedient In this world or outside
the family association will be wanderers
and outcasts through all the worlds to
come, it is the terrors of this belief that
make the victim of tbe Chinese family
authority go uncomplainingly to the lin
gering, but sure death of the guano
Islands of Peru, to the pestiferous rice
and cane fields of Cuba, and it is these
terrors of tbe future which make the un
fortunate slave girl. endure Uvea of shame
and infamy In foreign countries, where by
raising a band they oould be freed. San
Francisco Chronicle.
Chef and Their AaiUtanU.
One has to look outside the private
houses, no matter how grand thoy may
appear, to find complete kitchens. Their
number Is confined to tbe hotels and
swell restaurants The force of a com
plete kitchen embraces a chof, who ought,
at the same time, lo be a maltre d'hote,
and have charge of the choice and prepara
tion of dishes, snd of the adornment of
the table and dining room without ever
having to put a hand to any of the cook
ing, unless he chooses to prepare some
sauce of which be la ths designer, or to
garnish a dish, as some happy notion selxes
blm
The chof In a European palace or castle
Is an artist and not a workman. The most
hs does is to prepare sauces, dress meats.
and beautify and make attractive entrees
and cold dishes, dividing all rough and
Heavy worn among bis assistants. In such
so establishment there Is a second cook,
what you might call a meat cook, who
prepares the principal dishes, an entre
metier, who has to do with ths little made
dishes, the preparation of croquets, frying
of potatoes or hashing of them with cream;
In fact, who prepares all verrotables and
does the frying Then there should be a
pastry cook to look efter all the sweets.
But we must ffoelsewhore than New York
to find any such kltehon establishments In
private houses. Now York Sun.
The Porter of Havana.
Seated at a little table not more than
two feet square, well within the shade of
the cool entradaa of the better private
residences and all public buildings, wiH
be seen a strangely grim and quiet person,
who Is usually the ouly figure in the fore
ground of a ' lovely picture comprUlug
sougful court, Interior gallorles, wondrous
marbloa and colored glasses, tropical blrda
and flowers. This Is the portero. Thoush
the household depends upon this man for
si) wise protection and safoty, he Is not of
It, snd he seems to sit eternally at his little
table, oblivious to everything save bis oc
casional Immediate duties, rolling out
cigarettes as though his very life depended
upon this task alone. Ills livelihood prac
tically does, for, though a faithful sort of
animal, he Is poorly paid. The maur
thousand portero. of Havana have become
an Important fuctor In cigarette manufact
ure. For each 0.000, which tn a wheel
like package are called una tares, they re
ceive un escudo. a sum equal to nineteen
hillings In American money. Edgar L.
vvaaeman m new xora Mall and repress.
Several OrounilleM luperatltlon.
There are thousands who believe It Is
healthy to rise early In the morning;
whereas It Is a hygienic crime for a man
to get up before be wants ta The desire
to sloop late In the morning Is one of na
ture's most emphatic. Intimations that
more time Is needed for repairs. For a
man to go to work In tbe morning In a
sleepy, semi -comatose condition Is .Imply
gradual suicide There Is another pop
ular delusion that a man should stop eat
ing whlls be Is yet hungry. lie might ss
well stop breathing before his lungs are
filled. Hunger Is the barometer that tells
ths state of the stomach. A man Is never
hungry unless hs ought to eat There Is
another delusion that nlirht air Is un
healthy as If any one could got anything
but night air at night There la really
no ah- so unhealthy aa day air bottled up
and kept until night There has been
no wsy discovered for preserving air like
huckleberries by bottling Yankee Blade!
Railroad Dulldlng la Tcnneewe.
A smart citizen of Tennessee was in
New York a few days ago to see about
raising money for a proposed railroad tins
down In his oountry, and when asked to
explain, hs said.
"There s no explanation aboct It This
Is to be a railroad 200 miles long."
"But about the company.
"Oh, that's been organized and sH the
officers elected.
"What's the capltaH"
"Fifty million dollars."
"How much stock has been taken?"
"About $300 worth." ""
"What, only 300 worth?"
"That's all, mister, and If yon fellers
down bere will only pitch In and cobble
op the rest of It, we'll go ahead and make
things hum." Texas Sittings.
RevlTed Intenwt.
Boston Book Dealer Yes, madam, there
seems to be a sudden and enormous
demand for the works of Mr. Lowell and
Dr. Holmes.
Madam To what do yon attribute ths
Increase?
Book Dealer Well I think tho down
fall of Mr Sullivan has bad something ts
do with It-New York Sun.
Charge of tbe light brigade Ths yearly
appropriation demanded for tbe care of ths
street lamps. Boston Budget
Never allude to a dressmaker as kQss
Sew and sew. Bingham toa BepubUcasv
When the German military maneuvers
are over, the Emperor will hold a special
nn-i i M1i hih v. .m
preside in person, when reports of the
condition of tbe people in West Prnssia
will be read and measures of relief, the
necessity oi wmcn is aany more appar-
ent, will be considered.
t