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TT-ANi: CltKKK was
K. crossing on tlie .S.
railroad
C. Kail-
--TUinl. JllMtllt Iwii nill..s fiN.m fl...
divisional terminal at Mercer. It was
lu tin- mliLst of ii scrubby pine forest,
with ii sandy roal crooking out from
tli trees on one side and Into the trees
on the otlii-r. There were only two or
three houses, a little general store with
a porch like the visor of a military cap,
Dtnl a sehoolhousc, all arranged In n
Scraggy row along tin- railroad tr.-iok-
A dozen trains whirled rhroiigh Kane
Creek every dav with onlv a shriek of
greeting and a whipping wake of tine
sand. (Inly two of them paid the slight-!
est attc-nilou to the jrlrt In a blue nz-
ham dress who stood in the little old
fcrvatlou window. One of them was
the way freight, which stoppis! at
Kane every time It came along while
the conductor handed the (r!rl n bundle
of yellow pacrs and revived another'
like It In return. The other was the
Ultfht express, westward lniund. from!
St. I'ii til, and ninnlnu' at forty miles an 1
hour. It was a splendid "train ten
cars, with the 11 nest engine on the road, I
- ;
As lis jilarlnj.' eye llasli.l
around the b.-nd lu the direction of ,
Mercer the L'irl In the "i ns-lm in i
nin-u uioiiKiii oi me great train as a
iKiwi-rful and feriM-loiis beast snortliiK
and roarini: westwar4l on a race with
the sun, and she knew the hand that
trained It. When the train was a mile
away there were always two blasts of
the whistle. Every one In Kane
thought they meant simply "Wake up,
look out:" for that Is what all lonmio
tlves say at every ci-ossin, but the irirl
111 the iriiiKhani dross heard "Hello,
Polly!" and darted out on the platform
and waved her handkerchief. As the
great train rliundor-d nearer a hand
was thrust from the engineer's win
dow, and. althomrh It was usually dark,
flu- emild sec the flutter of .something
white, and ofteutlniej as the endue
darted past the station she heard the
blurred sound of a voice and oannht a
gllmp-o of a Lrimy face nml a blue jean
Jacket, and then she went back to her
I" the little station with a s!di of
conii-nimeiit.
1'or It was a niomrtit of wat Joy to
J'oll.v Marsh. ill when her lather's' en
K'.iie wi nt tlirmi'.-h. Polly was the sta
tieii aeiit at Katie Creek. Anv one
eoiild have told tV-it a woman presided
lu the little dep..;. for was the-,, not al
was a N.n.iiet I;, t:,,. !,,,!- .,,)
dainty phMiires Mirroutidlie.' the L-rliny
time tables ., the walls and a U'rto'u
eiirlim; iiikhi th,. doorstep? At 17 Polly
luis t;.me In as assistant to learn teoi
raphy. and when Clark, the aneiit, was
oaIU.1 to Mercer the company had left
the lndeiH-ndcnt ulrl In ,-liari;e. She
UU'1 her father lived In one of the
wooden houses a stone's throw back
from ii,,. depot, and since Polly's moth
er died they hail loou everything to
each other.
Knitiiiecr Marshall was n hg, silent
tnau, und his companions, some of
them, thought hini crulT and 111-toin-pered.
but to Polly he was ahvavs as
tender as n kitten, often when shv
was a little !rl he took her with him
to Mercer on his endue, and while she
sat on his black leaeihcr seat at the
eiil. window, cllnditi; on wltli both
hands, he explained to her how the Wj:
Mack creature under them was Ntart.sl
and stoppl; what this brass crank
was for. and how, when the endue
squeaked here or squaekisl thci, n lit
tle oil w as needed In this cup or In that
crevice, and Polly had learned to know
nn endue as w ell as she knew the neat
Utile pantry In tin- house at home. In
deed, she had more than once manaKod
the levers and throttle, althondi It was
M'ry heavy work for a drl to do.
It was one nldit late In the fall that
Polly Marshall had ti.-l of nil her
knowledge of endues. She was slttliij;
t her desk in the little observation
window, a shaded lidit throwing its
rays down on her telegraph instru
ments nd the Foundtiitf key cllckim:
bhs-plly. Suddenly she was sturth-d
y the call of her uumber. Instantly
1it tinkers sought the keys, and she
ttave the answer that sIciiMed that she
was all attention.
"Look out Tor " clu-k.sl the sound
er, mid then It suddenly ceased, and
ixf tu he would Polly" oould get uo
mMmtmA - -.i
era i )M:t
El
I'iii
- i, : Art
tv
further communication from the sta
tlon next to the eastward. What could
the trouble te.' Polly sprang to her
feet, remetnlierlng that the night ex
press of which her father was the eu
glnoer was the next train due. Could
anything be the matter? She ran out
on the dark pint form to see that her
lights were all In place and that the
switches were projerly set, so that the
express would slip past the station
without an accident Then she went
Kick and called up Mercer.
"Can't you jret I'lnckney?" she asked.
rincknoy was the station which had
sent her the warning: dlsjiatcli so uiys
torious Interrupted. She knew the ope
rator at i'lnckney well. Every nljrht
lie tolil her of the approach of her ratn
er's train and whether or not It had
left his station on time.
"I'lnckney quiet Can't pet answer,"
was the rejiort of the wires. "What's
the trouble?"
Polly nnswered as well ns she could,
and .Mercer made another attempt to
arouse Plnckney.
H.r f.-l rli..ru Inntn t,. .1... .
",l,u now uue. it
shoul.l whistling cheerily at the
lower bend. I'olly stepiel oirt on the
tibitform nml
mere was the familiar hendlldit. She
would have known It nmoiio- n tum.
drill. Then came the whistle, "Hello,
Pollyl" and Polly ran back Into her
otlloe much relieved, and sat down to
warn Mercer. At that Instant she hoard
a pet-uliiir cracking sound that sent
her heart quivering deep In her bosom.
Then there was the shrill scream of the
locomotive whistle, suddenly Intemiirt
iil as If the hand that had drawn the
lever had been struck from Its place.
Polly knew It was a cry of distress.
It seemed to say "Help!" In a long,
tremulous wall. Instantly Polly dart
ed outside ami Hew up the truck. Al
ready the express should have thun
dered past the station, but she could
see Its headlight a hundred yards or
more away.
With a hundred terrifying questions
Hashing through her mind, Polly ran
on through the gloom. When she was
almost within range of the big head
light, she saw half a dozen armed men
swarming around the endue, she hoard
fierce oaths, and then the engine start
ed up again. She saw In an Instant
that It had lu'en cut free from the train.
Ill the cab win low, when- her father
usually stood, then1 was a big, unfa
miliar figure managing the lever and
throttle. Terrified Polly sprang to one
side Into a clump of bushes. As the
locomotive passisl her on Its way up
the track she saw that the man In the
cab wore a black mask on his face, and
then she knew what had happened.
She understood why Plnckney had
tried to want her and Tailed. KoIiIkh-s
had held up the train and were pre
paring to roh the express car.
For a moment Polly was torn with
doubt and terror. Had they shot her
father? She knew that he never would
submit to have his train captured with
out a straggle. Should she go to him?
Then she romemlierod her station and
the telegraph, and, without a moment's
delay, she was Hying down the truck
toward the deintt. She would send for
help to Mercer, but squarely lu front of
the little depot the locomotive stopped,
and the black masked man sprang from
the cab window and darted across the
platform. Hardly thinking what she
was doing, Polly ran up on the other
side the llivmairs side of the engine
and, raising herself up. iver.s.1 Into the
cab. She had half exp.vte.1 to see her
father's dead lody lying on the floor,
for she had hoard much about the ter
rible doings of train roluVrs.
Through the cab window she could
see the robber sitting at her own little
di-sk In the depot sending a message.
It tla-shed over her all at onee that he
was wiring Mercer that the express
was delayed, thus preventing nnv
alarm. The robtier had pushed up his
mask, and she saw him plainly.
What should she do? She dared not
enter the ofllce, and she, a more girl,
could lv of no service where the rotv
hers wore making their attack on the
train. If only she had the little revol
ver that lay In the draw er of her desk"
She set her tooth as she thought what
she would do with It.
htii lit,': Idbi F
At that moment throe shots rang out,
clear and istinct, from the detached
train. The man at the telegraph In
strument sprang to his feet and ran to
a side window in the waiting room and
looked up the track.
Now was her chance. Hardly think
Ink what she did Polly sprang to the
elidneor's cab, threw kick the reverse
lever and opened the throttle steadily.
The big steel win-els began to turn,
very slowly at first. Farther and far
ther the throttle oiieued and faster and
faster turned the wheels, and yet they
did not go half fast enough to suit
Polly, who was now glancing fearfully
over her shoulder.
Suddenly the depot door was thrown
open, and she saw the robber darting
ur the track. He had a pistol In his
hand. He was pointing it at her arid
shouting for her to sTod. but the engine
was now going at good sixvd, and, run
as he would, the robber could not catch
It, but he stomscd and fired, the bullet
ripping through the cab over Polly's
head.
The endue was now tearing down
the track at full speed. Polly knew
that It must be tired or It Would not trc
far, and so, leaving the throttle open,
she sprang to the coal pit, flung open
the tirehole, and with the heavy shovel
In her small white hands threw In load
after IikkI of cixil. When she returned
to her place she could see the first sig
nal light of Mercer already blinking
into view. She pulled down ou the
whistle cord and the engine shrieked
Its distress.
Five minutes later Polly strained at
the heavy reverse lever, turned hard
on the airbrake and brought the crrem
Iron horse to a sudden standstill. How
she ever managed to stammer the story
ne never Knew, nut in a few m nutes
the engine was headid bnclr Wltli n
InUf dozen armed men aboard of her.
ihlnd them came another load of men
on a switch engine and two men were
racing up the street of Mercer culling
the alarm.
They heard Um firing liofniv.
reached Kane Creek, but It ceased soon
afterward. The robbers had gone.
They had taken with them much nlun.
der from the passengers, but they had
not been able to get Into the express
safe, although they were at work drill
ing It open when relief came.
From the time that the ere1ne
stopped Tolly was missing. When the
rescued and excited passengers and ex
press messengers began to crowd
around and Inquire, the Mercer men
remembered her. A nnrtv of them went
out to find the girl who had brought
help to the beleaguered train.
in a little clump of bushes they heard
man moaning, and an Instant Inter
they saw Polly kneeling in' the sand
with her father's head In her In n. ow
ing bitterly, and they gathered up the
brave engineer and his daughter nnd
carried them down to the train, cheer
ing all the way.
Engineer Marshall was not luiillv
hurt and he was able to be lu Mercer
when the general manager of the tvuol
thanked the blushing Polly otllelally
and offered her a new nnd better jiosl
tlou In Mercer, and, of course, all the
passengers and express messengers
heard about IVdly's brave deed and
said a great many pleasant things
about her, but Polly, being a sensible
girl, only blushed and said tha t she l.,,i
to do it and that any other girl would
nave done the same under like circum
stances. Which no one believed, of
course.
Later, when the robbers were c.nn-
tured, Polly was able to ldentlfv on., of
them positively the one who "had run
tlie engine and through him the en-
tire party was convicted and s,.nt,.n.-e.i i
to the penitentiary. llrooklyu Stand
mil- L mon.
Some Tested Points In Diet.
The fact that milk has become ev.
trenuly popular with all classes of phy
sicians or late years Is emnhasized bi
ll recent writer lu the North American
Kcvlew. Formerly a fever n.-itlont 1V1W
forbidden to take the article, while In
modern practice It Is about the onlv
food allowed, nnd a well-nlch exclns.
Ive diet of that liquid Is said to be very
mcacious in diabetes. At the German
pas, Carlsbad. Wiesbaden, etc.. n vrr
little bread Is allowed, the diet being
mostly made ui of milk, eirtrs mn
and lean leef; a non-starch diet Is the
rule, bread, starchv i-.not,ill..a n.i
reals being almost excluded. Hlce Is
easily digested and nn excellent fond
except that It abounds In earth salts.
t runs are not onlv digested in tbo nKt
stomach, but they have a large part of
the nourishment already In a condition
to be absorbed nnd nsslmllnted ns soon
as eaten. The food elements In br..,..l
and cereals have to undergo a process
or ingestion In the stomnch, and then
be passed ou to the Intestines for a still
------ ........man,, u (lm .vu ruivnic tor carrying merchan-
further chemical change before being of ("se through the malls Is so construct
ive to the human system, showing the d with reversible flaps nnd a stiffen
advantage of a diet of lean meats and "S strip attached to the closing Han
frul. ! that tho Insl.l.. At ti, i . v
m v,fc vcui-iuin.' may De
signs of the Times. ! 001110 tue outshlo. nnd the same enve
V'i:h a single break nhuu f.,... ' ll,le used to return merchandise in ti,.
miles lu length It Is now possible to go '
in trolley cars from lVnvi.i.,,,.,.. t t
......u.Ki, n.. a instance of consld-
enuuy over lou miles. This Is a strik
ing reminder of how tii noi., .....
spread over New England during the
hist ten years. lkvston Journal.
A colored Philosopher
sh to count your chickens before day.
SPAIN'S AMERICAN
lt'.IS.
Ppfiln owned onp hundred years ngo a
great part uf what Is now the Culled States,
all of Mexico. Central nml South America
save Hni7.il, nnd the Gulanas, und uiauy
of the West Indies.
Wrong. When the depth of wtter !?
considerable, or when the current is
rapid, "ground mines" heavy mines
similar In construction to the there,
but resting on the bottom must be
usefl. Ground mines have been plant
ed In sixty -Ave feet of wa:ter. For this
depth a charge of alxmt 1,200 pounds
of guueotton, equivalent to 4,800 pounds
of gunpowder, should be used. The
nxithod of firing the ground mine is
very simple and Ingenious. The mine
Is held in position on or near the
ground by a heavv anchor or sinker.
Two observers are usually employed to
net ermine when the enemy is directly
over tlie mine. The mine Is then ex
ploded bv means of ele-otrlo cnbles.
High explosives like guncottou, dyn
amite or explosive eelaune are used
in submarine mines at present. They
are superior to gunpowder In that they
are not seriously affected by moisture.
A leak in the case containing the
charge will not render It useless, ns
would be the case with irunnowder
mines. Besides, the high explosives
are from four to six times as powerful
as gunpowder. The pressure necessary
to blow a hole through the double bot
tom of a modern ship has been esti
mated to be between 0,000 and 12,000
pounds per square Inch.
The Important function of the sub
marine mine defense Is to check the
11 rst advance of a naval enemy against
a seaport, thus giving the defenders
time to concentrate their ships to nitet
the attack.
An Instrument of War.
The bagpipe, whose stirring music
fired the blood of the Gordon High
landers as they scaled the heights of
Dargal, enjoys, though it Is not gener
ally known, the unique distinction of
having leon declared by a court of law
to be "an Instrument of war." In an
early volume of the Scots Magazine we
Iflud It reported that on the 15th Xo-
vemiwr, li4ii, a James Reld, of Angus,
was tried for taking part in the rebel
lion. It was proved for his defense
THE RAM KATAHDIN IX ACTION.
that he had never carried arms of any
kind, but, on the other hand, It was
shown that he had for some time offici
ated ns a piper In a Highland regiment.
It is not unlikely that he had been
pressed Into the service, for we are told
"he behaved very devoutly, prayed fer
vently, and sang part of a psalm." Not
withstanding these most untradltlounl
piper traits, however, the court found
poor Reld guilty of high treason, and
sentenced him to suffer the punishment
which that crime Involved. It was held
thnt a "Highland regiment never
marched without a plicr, and, there
fore, his bagnlnes In the eve of tt,
I law was an Instrument of wiir." There
j Is little wonder, in the face of such a
decision, that Pennant when he came
; north later in tlie century found the
uajrpipes Decomlug scarce."
A New Knvelope.
Am nni.Al..un .
Sllm? ninnner lu It was forward-
ed.
Queer Ilcatnurant Sign.
In Sweden the railway stations
where meals are served are known by
the picture of a crossed knife and fork
opposite the name of the station.
He may be called Sctior de Lome in
Spain, but his name Is Mud in this
country.
1S0S.
Within one hundred years Spnln hns lost
all of her territory on the Western Henh
lspnere, except tlie Islands of Cuba nnd
x-uL-rio loco.
TI!E RAM KATAKuin.
The Powerful U. 8. Turtle-bock Ship
Recently Placed In Commission.
The belief prevails among naval of
ficers that in a naval fight the country
would lie electrified with the havoc
caused among the enemy's fleet by
such a vessel ns the Katahdin. No
modern vessel of this kind has ever
been used In actual warfare, and, In
fact, the Katahdin Is about the only
craft of her kind in the world. She re
sembles the old-style ram Merrlmac
only In the use of nrmor, the employ
ment of steam power and the pointed
steel prow.
The Katahdin has a length on
the load water line of 250.9 .feet
and her beak or ram, which is below
the water line, dves her an extreme
length of about 254 feet. Other statis
tics of the vessel nre: Displacement
under normal coal supply, 2,155; ton
nage, 582; extreme breadth, 43.5 feet;
mean draught, 15 feet: Indicated horse
power, 5,0tiS; speed, 10.11 knots; ca
pacity of coal bunkers, 102.70 tons.
The Katahdin is propelled by twin
screws. Her full complement consists
of 90 men.
The most peculiar feature of the
Katahdin Is her concealment under
water. Only her smooth turtle back,
covered with armor plate and sur
mounted simply by a small conning
tower and a smokestack are visible.
The tower is made of steel 18 inches
thick, and unless sounrelv hit be n
heavy shot nt close range, Is proof
against auy attack. Aside from her
dangerous sham beak of siteel nn.i ,..r-
covering of armor plate the Katahdin
Is equipped with slight means of of
fensive or defensive character. She
carries four slx-iiouml. rnniii-flwut,
guns, which are intended as defense
against torpedo boats or boarders.
Her siieed Is low. hnrdlv htn-l.of tii.,
that of a battleship; but with her tre
mendous momentum and powerful pro
pelling force behind a sha rn steel nrnw
the Katahdin is calculated to do a lot
of mischief among the enemy's fleet.
The ram, being situated belowthewnter
line. Is directed at the most vubierablo
part of a battleship or cruiser, where
armor is either thin or altogether
wanting.
Taking Llfo Seriously.
This exceptionally clever photo ot
children was taken In Dublin. The;
two mites who In their garb of monk
nnd nun look so solemnly out on the
BISTER MARTHA AND nilOTHER PAUL.
world In general nre aged 4 and 3 re
spectively. Brother Paul has the ex
pression of one meditating
and Sister Martha la ns benign as
though fifty years older.
When a man is making a night of It
he usually discovers thnt the darkest
hour Is Just before m 4a wu.