Science
SI
veniion
More steel Is used In the manufacture
of pens than In all the sword and gun
factories In the world.
According to chemical analysis, fif
teen parts of the flesh of flsh have
about the same nutritive value us
twelve parts of boneless beef.
The principal Ingredients In the com
position of smokeless powder are gun
cotton and nltro-glycerine. Some other
substances are added, however, In small
qualities.
An object, like an Iron anchor, that
Is thrown Into the ocean and Is free to
sink, will go to the very bottom, no
matter how deep the sea may be. The
notion that at a certain depth the den
sity of the water Increases to a point
exceeding that of Iron, and that the ob
ject would there be suspended, is er
roneous. Prof. Dewar has at length succeeded
In solidifying hydrogen. In Us com
pact form, solid hydrogen Is a trans
parent Ice, but owing to rapid ebulli
tion It usually appears as a foamy white
mass. Its mean temperature Is 10 de
grees centigrade above absolute zero.
l'ror. uewar says, with reference to his
latest achievement: "The lust doubt as
to the possibility of solid hydrogen hav
ing a metallic character .has been re
moved, and for the future hydrogen
must be classed among the non-metallic
elements."
. Before the Biological Society of
Washington O. ,F; Cook described his
studies of the African termites, or
white ants. Certain individuals in ev
ery nest have no other apparent func
tion except that of fighters or soldiers.
Some have a long beak from which they
eject an acrid, corrosive fluid; others In
spire terror by making a loud clicking
noise with their mandibles, but they
neither shoot nor bite. . One singular
observation of Mr. Cook was that the
soldier ants which rush out to defend
an attacked nest "do not return to the
nest, but wander about and soon per
ish from exposure to the outside air."
It Is said that there Is not a stream
rising in the mountains of Luzon and
the same Is true of other islands of the
Philippine group which has not Its
gold-bearing sands. The alluvial depos
its of the precious metal have been' gar-
' nered for many years, but no thorough
exploration for gold at its sources in the
mountains has ever "been made, because
the Spaniards were unable to conquer
the tribes Inhabiting the Interior re
gions. Some of these tribes are said to
look upon the digging up of the earth as
a sacrilege, and they will not seek gold
In that -way, nor permit others to do It,
lest the wrath of the gods should grow
hot against them.
During a violent thunder storm at
Ithaca, N. Y., last summer a writer for
the Companion was surprised to ob
serve, several times in succession, a
short luminous streak which appeared
at a particular point In the clouds, and
remained visible about two seconds at a
time. It was probably an example of
the rare phenomenon called bead light
ning, deseribeu by rof. Elihu Thomson
at the recent meeting of the American
association. When seen to advantage
It resembles a string of luminous beads
hung In a cloud, "the beads being some
what elliptical and the ends of their
axes In the line of their discharge being
colored red and purple respectively."
As seen at Ithaca the line was viewed
nearly end on, and there was only a
suggestion of color visible.
j Too Ethereal.
Senator Sorgum had been doing his
best to carry on a conversation with the
extremely sentimental girl, and was
beccni'ng disco raged. She was gizliig
through the wiuJow and exclaimed,
"See those distant stars. Did you
ever pause to think that they may be
worlds?"
"Yes, I believe I have." ,
"And that they may be peopled with
beings that hope and struggle as we do'
Oh, did you ever think of those people
"No," he answered, "I never thought
of them."
Turning abruptly, so as to face him,
she exclaimed,
"Why not?"
The senator thought for a moment
and then answered coldly,
"For the simple reason, miss, that
they don't vote In my district."
Oriel it of Hour.
Just when the day became divided
Into hours Is not known; nor is the
process explained. ' The Greeks and
Itomans measured time by the water
glass and the sun dials. The hour-glass
filled with sand was the outgrowth of
these vessels from which the water
dripped through tiny openings.
. A Fraction.
"What Is a fraction?"
"A part of anything, sor."
"Give an example."
"The slvinteenth. of June." Mel.
bourne Times. . ' .
' One of the hard-things In this world
to understand Is why parents seem to
enjoy seeing their children undergo
the agony of stage fright In an amateur
entertainment.
GEN. LORD METHUEN.
Family History of One of England!
- JL.eiKling' Sol (Her 8. ,
Geu. Lord Methuen, who was sent t
relieve Kimberley and rescue Cecil
Uhodes, and met with defeat, has been
nearly all his life in the British army.
Lord Methuen's family is better known
in Scotland by the name of Methven,
The two names seem to be Interchange
able. The General's family Is an old
Scotch one, coming from Perthshire.
In the reigns of Wllllain and Mary and
Queen Anne, John Methven was suc
cessively chancellor for Ireland and am-1
bassador to Portugal. II negotiated
what was probably the original reel
procity treaty, making a commercial
compact with Portugal. His son, Sli
Paul, was the first of the family to spel
his name with a "u" In public. Sir Paul
prospered exceedingly end became a
much esteemed minister of Queen Ann
and her successor, the first George. H
was ambassador to eeveral .foreign
courts In the interval ia which he did
not hold a home ofHce. and was dilet-1
taiite in art and letters. He collected
a gallery of pictures which was famous !
in its time, and when he died he was
burled in Westminster Abbey. This
cultivated old bachelor was succeeded
by his cousin, Paul, from whom Is de- j
scended the present Lord Methuen. It '
was not until 1838 that a peerage was :
created for the house of Methuen. Th
General is the third baron. I
The general was military attache nt
GEX. LOUD METHURJT.
the Court of Berlin from 1S77 to 1880.
From 1SS8 to lS'jl he was adjutant, gen
eral of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1S91
he succeeded his father as baron, and
went home to England. Gen. Methuen
was 51 years old last September.
Through The Scarsdales, the General is
related to the Tennysons.
TO PROTECT THE RAILROADS.
Gates Prevent Passengers Entering;
b. Without Ticket Examiner's Consent.
Several Western railroads have for
somo time required passengers to show
their tickets on entering the cars, and
on the adoption of this practice it was
found desirable to have a gate that
would make It . practically Impossible
GATES FOR PASSENGER COACHES.
for passengers to enter a train at any
point except that guarded by the ticket
examiner. The feature of the design
shown here, which has been adopted by
some of the roads, Is that It folds In
such a way as to be entirely out of tho
way when not In use.
Natural Icehouse on a Farm.
Water constantly freezes in summer
In a rocky crevice on the farm of John
Pood, in Sweden Valley, Pa. Aside of
this fact, and with the intention of
forming a natural icehouse, the owner
tried to have a shaft sunk in the rocks.
When the men had gone down four
teen feet the atmosphere became so
densely cold that they had to cease
work. Dripping water freezes there In
a few minutes.
Ch'oroform Won't Work.
It has been found that an apparatus
for killing animals with chloroform in
England would not work In India, be
cause the high temperature prevented
the concentration of the chloroform
yapor. That this was the cause was
proved by the fact that by placing Ice
In the box the animals were readily
killed.
Japan's Theater Boxes.
Japanese theaters Lave their boxes bo
irranged that the ladles can change
their dresses, as it Is not considered
stylish for a lady to appear an entire
ivening In one dress and with the same
rnaments.
When some people die, the bells ought
to ring, Instead of tolL
- J
TOM KETCHUM.
the Darlnjr Leader of Black Jack's
Ooiik of Bandits.
The notorious leader of the Infamous
"Black Jack's" gaug of traiu robbers
und murderers, Tom Ketchum, is now
lu the penitentiary at Santa Fe, X. M.
Tom held up a train single-handed and
iu the sequel to this was wounded uud
captured.
It was the Colorado Southern express
that Tom held up. The place selected
was near Folsom, on the northeast
corner of New Mexico. One night us
the express was putting laboriously up
grade the engineer saw a light ahead
giving the signal to stop. When the
train slowed down Tom Ketchum
jumped Into the cab and, carelessly
swinging a 45 Colt near the engineer's
nose, told him to obey all orders given
during the next few minutes. This,
Tom said, would save heartaches In the
engineer's home and the Intrusion of an
undertaker In the family circle. Then
he jumped off and tried to uncouple the
engine, which was made Impossible by
the steep grade. Falling In this, Tom
walked back to the Wells-Fargo ex
press car and, thumping the door with
the butt of his Colt, demanded admit
tance. The messenger opened the door
and poked the muzzle of a Winchester
out Into the dark and pulled the trigger.
That put an end to the hold-up that
night. Just how badly Tom was shot
Is not known, for he wa3 wounded lu a
subsequent battle with United States
Marshal Foraker's posse and he will
not say how much damage the messen
ger did. As he declared the hold-up off
It Is probable he was severely Injured.
The express pulled on and Tom Jumped
his broncho and sought safety In the
mountains.
The attempted robbery was soon
known to the officials, and three days
later Marshal Foraker's men were
hunting for Tom In the uplands. They
finally hit the trail and followed it back
into the very heart of the mountains.
Here they lost It and while discussing
the best move a report of a rifle split
the air and one of the deputies fell out
of his saddle. This was sufficient evi
dence of Tom's presence In the vicinity,
but not his exact whereabouts, as Tom
used smokeless cartridges. Another
shot was heard and another deputy
went to the ground. At this rate every
man In the posse would be cut down
without a ghost of a chance of getting
a shot. The deputies, therefore, sep
arated and began to scour the brush. A
glint of sunshine playing on the blue
steel barrel of a Winchester disclosed
Tom Ketchum's position behind a big
bowlder surrounded by brushwood.
" Then tbeday's proceedings began. The
deputies shot at that glint of sunshine
playing along blue steel; Tom shot at
the deputies. The deputies dodged be.
hind trees and rocks and shot wildly.
Tom stayed where he was and made
bull's-eyes. If Tom hadn't shoved his
right arm a little too high In taking
aim he would have brought down a full
mess of deputies. As It was a slug of
lead as big as your finger tore through
Tom's shooting member, aud It took
a few minutes to change his Winchester
over to his left arm. In these short
minutes the deputies closed In on Tom
and captured him. He was in a bad
shape. Ills right arm was terribly
broken and torn and he was already
suffering from loss of blood. But he
was game. He offered to take his left
arm and begin the performance all over
again, which proposition was respect
fully declined. The next day when lie,
was able to be moved Tom was strapped
to his broncho and taken to a train, ul
tlmately landing in the penitentiary
hospital at Santa Fe.
Of "Black Jack's" gang of thieves and
cutthroats Tom Ketchum was the lead
er. He was 35 years old, and In Texas,
his native State, he is known as the
new Jesse James. He stands 5 feet 10
Inches In his stocking feet and Is built
on the graceful lines of a tiger. IL Is
as void of conscience as the Winchester
he carried. He would rather shoot a
man than eat; If 1he man be an officer
of the law it was more fun to kill him
khan to go to a dance. One of his boy
ihood pastimes was to hide In some con
venlent place on the ranch In Texas and
fdhoot Mexican herdsmen. When a lad
'he was summoned as a witness In a
(lawsuit, and not knowing what the
Isummons meant, and not caring to take
' . i i i i n
any chances, snot ana miiea me omcer,
After this he found it convenient to
change his residence, so he rode up Into
New Mexico and Arliona. Here he soon
became a terror to everybody In gen
eral and railroad aid express com
TOM KKTCnUM.
panies In particular, ne admits in a
roundabout way that since 1880 he andl
his gang have stolen from postoffleesj
trains, stages and wayfarers $200,0001
aud killed 200 men.
LI HUNG CHANG'S WEALTH.
Wuya In W hich He Accumulated His
I.normoua Fortune.
LI Hung Chnuff. the most nnQTiTiimi4
Chinese of the age, is often called the
i iciiest man In the world. One way In
which LI for many years made an
enormous sum of money was to use
inousamis of soldiers lu his own pri
vate enterprises without navlnir them
a cent for their labor. In the course of
time he purchased extensive estates in
the rlce-growlng regions and raised
more bushels nt H im oropt van r tlin-rt
" J JLUl tuuu ,
the bonanza farmers of North Dakota '
used to raise of wheat. He got his I
labor for nothing, aud his great crop '
of rice was almost clear nroflrl Ha
simply turned his soldiers loose in the
rice fields, and they had to be content
with the rations and the miserable pit
tance paid to them by the government.
The great man also became his own
contractor for army supplies. He
would sell his own rice to the govern
ment for army rations nt an enormous
profit, and pocketed a handsome rake
off on all other supplies furnished to
the tens of thousands of soldiers lu the
Pechill province. Then he was chief
supreme of the custom houses for a
long distance around the Gulf of
Pechill, and there was nothing mean
about the stream of gold that poured
into his strong-box through this chan
nel. It has long been notorious that
one of the methods he employed was
to Import large quantities ef -goods
through his agents without the pay
ment of a cent of duty, and then sell
the goods at a round figure to his coun
trymen. This method of money-making
finally Involved the old gentleman
In troubles, charges were made against
him, and he came near losing his official
head; but his power was so great and
his real services to the state were so
valuable that be was almost Invulner
able in spite of the many enemies who
have always been ready to accuse him.
One of his great sources of money
getting employed by LI Hung Chang
during the later years of his career as
Viceroy was as a money lender. There
Is little doubt that he was the king of
pawnbrokers the world over. Ills loan
offices were scattered far and wide
over his province, and he loaned great
sums of money on mortgages and on
pledges of personal property. In a coun
try where no legal rate of Interest Is
fixed this business has brought enor
mous returns to Li Hung Chang.
Its Chief Industry Ignored.
A student of the history of Ameri
can iron and steel shipbuilding recent
ly visited the public library at Phila
delphia. Philadelphia and Chester,
which, so far as ship-building is con
cerned, are practically one, are the
birthplace of iron and steel ship build
ing on the Atlantic coast and it might
be expected that first-hand historical
material concerning the industry would
be found in abundance In the public
library of Philadelphia. When the
card catalogue was examined it was
discovered that the only books under
the heading of ships or relating to ships
or shipbuilding were Miss Harraden's
"Shliw That Pass in the Night" and a
little Volume on "Seaboard Life," writ
ten for koys, by W. II. Bldelng. An
appeal was made to the librarian in
charge of the reference-room, which
resulted in the ascertainment of a few
initial and elementary facts from the
standard history of Philadelphia. Of
first-hand material there was absolute
ly none. Beyond what was contained
in the history of Philadelphia the II
brary afforded, no Information concern
ing one of the oldest and most Interest
ing and now one of the largest Indus
tries of the city. Boston Transcript
Amrloan Brb Wire in Africa.
Barbed-wire fences are used exten
sively In south Africa and most of the
material Is Imported from the United
States.
Appropriate.
"Why do they call that trick bicycle
rider Asbestos?"
"Because he doesn't scorch." Bis
marck Tribune.
If we were a woman, we would In
augurate a lot of reforms, but there Is
one thing we wouldn't do; we would ')
kiss other voiueu.
X.I HUNG CHANG.
HOMESPUN PHILOSOPHY,
Observations on Commonplace Thine
by the Atchison Globe Man.
Women don't treat men very decent.
As a man grows older, amateurs be
come worse.
Dldu't complain of any thing so long
as you don't have a cancer.
Most women dislike it when strange
men slap them on the back.
When some people become bilious,
they quarrel with every friend they
have.
This is the senson when men discover
that 'possum aud 'coon are not good
to eat.
Men without means are always won
dering why capitalists do not Invest
more readily.
The poorest fiddle players carry their
fiddle boxes iu the most flagrant man
ner on the street
Women quarrel, make up, and claim
that everything is again "just the
same," but it isn't
We have noticed that the man who
comes in to use the telephone, usually
leaves the door cpen.
After a woman reaches forty, some
times her nose la as red as her lips were
when she was sixteen.
When a decent man hears a "Btory"
on another decent man, instead of as
sisting iu spreading it, he starts a back
Pre.
No wonder women never eat much
when meals are ready: they eat so
much arouud grocery stores, and while
cooking.
Every man who leads a prayer meet
ing finally gives the impression that
the Lord uses an ear trumpet and he
has exclusive control of this end.
There has always been a certain
amount of wickedness in the world. It
is perfectly natural, and protests
against It are as Idle as protests against
jld nge.
If you want a man to rave over a
present you must give him a good one.
but a woman will make as much fuss
aver a silver spoon ns she will over a
house and lot
The most adorable woman in tho
world, Is the woman who Is most
uaturul. A woman who Is "cultured,"
expects flattery In large doses, aud is
disagreeable If she does uot get it
Women's magazines contain many
suggestions for women who want to
keep their husbands nt home nights,
but there is nothing that really helps
them except corns on the husband's
toes.. . . . ...
WRESTLING WITH LANDSCAPE.
The ' Original Iowans Got Tired of
CllmbinK Hills.
"Westward of tho Mississippi, the
dramatic play of physical nacure against
the migrating will of human being
assumes many times the Interest and
Impre8slveness that It had in tho move-j
ments from the Alleghunies to Illinois,'
Bays a writer In Alnslee's, in nn article
explaining the settling of the Uuitocf
States. "The struggle of the settled
with the swamps nnd marshes andj
malaria of Indiana a struggle whlclf
lasted to withiu the niost recent genera
tlon was but a proem to the hardships
and conflicts that followed when t lie
Iowa Immigrants crossed the river, and
the MIssourinus that were to be forsooli
the hills of Tennessee.
"Iowa Itself, excluding the considera
tion of the warfare with the doughty
Sioux, was not such a basis of tragedy,
nor was Missouri topographically so,
but Iowa and Missouri furnished the
basis of the exodus to the further west
and in doing so gave both the genesis
and the nemesis to many a habited
place on the way to the Pacific. Iowa
Itself Is an Illustration In a minor way
of the law of least resistance, and Mis
souri is an illustration of the law of
greatest endurance.
"The excess of population from Illi
nois would doubtless have gone over
the Missouri as well as the Mississippi
and have stretched across the plains of
Nebraska twenty years before the
Union Pacific rails were laid, had not
Iowa's surface been us it Is and tho
nomads grown tired of rolling up and
down the undulating hills and decided
that the easier thing to do was to settle
In the attractive wooden vales and stick
their plows Into the deep, loamy, corn
producing soli. The thousands who re
mained have always been of the remain
ing, sticking kind steady, Industrious,
thrifty, but circumscribed by the hills
from whose outlook only hills are to be
seen."
' Wonders or the Locomotive.
The story of the locomotive sound
simple in the recital. The wonder of
the thing comes Into view only when
one reflects on tho speed and nicely
with which cumbrous parts are made
to do their duty. The piston and con
necting bar of a modern locomotive
weigh some 000 pounds. When ' the
speed Is sixty miles an hour these parts
travel back and forth five times a sec
oud.
Out or th Frying Pan.
He gets his daughter off his hands .
And he thinks it all complete,
But soon he finds he bos to keep
Her husband on his feet.
A "ready-made" tailor In a provincial
town has this advertisement outside hit
shop: "Wear our twenty-one shilling1
suits, and you will bare a fit"