« SHU?. «. Car X.iO'V A3>oi»b ti.» A. Mu lie l * XUilt Cwr« »»'• >>*>•»■ I ot tu.ome LiM>il..ma ot I.a" Cunard Hue will be the first five-day ,u c. ,-siu, the AilaMlc. Twenty- •re and <1 half knots an hour was her trot trial record under full steam, and III weather imt entirely suited to ra- ci With Weal wind ami water, her .pi d ll e - -lews will be able to |old lilt«" up with thr«»e blocks In the business section of New York. Jl) her engine* is the [lower of N.ooo horse«. There are thre«> promenade droks. tlie top one ixiverlng one and one-half acres, and three and one half times around Is a mils. There are twenty- nine miles of framing ami beams and 4,(k)0,0fKI rivets in the ship. But even this gives no adequate Idea of the size of the vessel. It is in the huge ilrawing room or the dining room that the proportion* of. the Lusitania are adequately realized.' There are no long table* in the «lining room. The whole space fs filled with Small tables that «an accommodate 620 persons. That number of diners would crowd the largest restaurant In America. A ball room the size of the Lusitania Iowa use. I" p«b' th* military authori­ ’/ ths t>M ties recognize the weed as one or conifvrt« etSientia) to the troops and cigars are served out to them with their daily rations. in l-'raruM> thathta>, or of some exceptionally de­ lightful child. The Little Old Maid at­ tracted everytndy w ho came In contact «‘lib her. She nearly 50; ye.t her feature«, • nd the profusion of .th«' silvery hair coiled aisiqt the Veil shaped head, Showed how beaut If til. she must Imi'e |.«*i life cyl-S wete lovely still, and quit» magnetic ’•lien she smiled. Bpt Jt the strangely swget expression tluf lighted up her countenance when •lie *|nk» » hb’h made l*er seem so Irre sfstfbl», snff cniis<«l («'epic of nil class- es to ft»l Instinctively that they must com» to love her. It was said that old ni«*i In her own rank of life, and »ome of muck higher rnnk«-slw' was the y.vw*ger daughter of an English baro­ net, w I st *» foreftithejs luul cotn«" tin- •■•tiled through the WtVs of the Roses oJten pr«»p<*u«l marriage to her still; While effet«* yfiltng UecajJent«. who through dread of ridicule would in the ordlntr, course liar" denied tInit 11 woman no longer youthful could "ast a sj»"ll «bout them, nilmittisl almost en- tl brilliant diijts those «lays "when nil the workl was young.” Yet. though partial to men's society, and with an «•xtioWally keen sense of humor that js'rhaps rendered lltr company nddi- tipnally attrsctlv«" to men. the Little f her olde*t and clows? friends, met any man stw would have wished to ffed It ««M'med remarkable, mor«' »-[Mt all? a® »'wry woman, th<> plaln- «■GC IV 'Vepted. Is said to ni««"t one»' AM Ussot in her lifetime her true a (Tin I ®tid that, fallltv to marry him. «he 19 fwussiqj her love trjsm »ome •orth® object. The Little Old bad no pct det cat And n<* p»t bird. It Is true that she loved all children wflth an Intensity that In *ome unmarried women might have «eemed unnatural. And children, almost at first sight, reciprocated her affection. . • • ’ • The Little Old Maid pushed back the chltii* from the antique escritoire at which she had been writing letters. Then she rose, crossed the room, and touched the elrojrlc bell. It was.an afternoon in late autumn. Outside, In Onslow square, the fog seemed trt be .thickening, she noticed as she passed tile window. "John, what time is It?" she asked, ns the footman entered. He said it was half-past 3. "I’l«‘ase wind the cluck and then [>OSt tliesd letters.” When he had closed tlie door she went back to her writing-table, An ad- dressed envelope lay upon the blotter, Unlocking a little drawer, she took from ri two crisp banknote«,' folapcE. slipped ’them into the euvefope, and then’ re-locked the drawer. Next she lit a small r««i candle Hint stood in a silver socket, and carefully sealed the tlie envelope. envelojie. Later she walked slowly to the rorner of Oil- slow Square, and posted tlie letter In the [illlar-hot there. •Punctually once .a month, for nearly twenty years, she h id gone through tills little pantomime, But always siie had done It when pone was near to see. Sony friends caine ip at tea-time. and so«in after tea they left, The fog. they had told her, was growing denser still. Later, as she sat alone In her «"osy boudoir, a strange teeling began to »teal over her. She felt uneasy in her mind. An mid sensation of.rest lessn«‘ss took hold of tier. She had never liefore lieen like this, she reflect­ ed, ami the thought was disconcerting. Twice she rose frotp her armchair, and walketl swiftly Across the room to peer out Into I lie darkness, The square was completely shrouded, Site gave a little shiver and drew the curtains more closely, And then she switched on more lights, A newsboy with raucous voice passed shouting along the pave- metit. then passed away into the dis- tance. For a moment she wonder««? what he had been shouting, though probably, she reflected, th«' news would not have interested her. Th»* footmnn enter»-«! with Iter even­ ing pa|»"T. Nile open«"d it almost list lessl.v, and began to glance at the head­ line«. Til«' strang«" scnantlon |>osse«sed her still, and her thoughts wander«sl Nuddenly she and were oonfused. starl»"d. then sat up. Something seem­ ««1 to grip her throat, lier palate grew dry and sticky. Quic t'kly her bosom rose ami fell. A livid palor spread over her face, but she dul not faint. "Tragic death of the Hon. Anbcron Flti Tempest," were the word« «he had read in the newspaper. “Ve regret to announce," the para- graph ran, "that the Hon. Auberon Fltz-Tempest met with an accident th!» afternoon which proved fatal. ’A little boy, aged ‘8, the son of a grocer in Euston Road, while attempt­ ing to cross Great Portland street shortly after 3 o'clock, in the thick fog which sflll prevails, was upon the point of being knocked down by a motor car •when a gentleman who has since been Identified as ’ the Hon. Auberon Fitz Tempest, and who was standing on the kerb, sroing the peril the child was In, sprang out into the roadway to try to save him. This he succroiled In doing, but at the cost of Ids own life, for, slip­ ping upon the further side of the car. he fell upon his back am! was struck Art the heQ«l by the hoof of a horse-at- tach<«l to an omnibus which w’as com­ ing from the opposite direction, and which, owing to the fog.- he had proba­ bly not noticed. Tl»e blow fractured th« base- of the skull, and the unfor- tunat«* gentleman died while being con­ veyed to the hospital. “Born In 1854, the Hon. Aubeten Fltz-Tempest was the fhtrd son of the late Baron Waterfield, of Tut ham Tow* ers, Derbyshire, and Fcdbury Hall, Northumberland." In dispassionate language the writer went on to touch briefly upon an inci­ dent which a quarter of a century be­ fore had created a colossal scandal and had led to the man now dead being sen­ tenced to serve a term of jienal servi­ tude. It had lieen an affair of a pecu­ liarly distressing nature, and from that time onward the name of Auberon Fitz Tempest had been but rarely mention­ oil. How. ostracized l»y society and by all his former friends, and known to be almost destitute, he had, since his re­ lease. succeeded in obtaining the nrogs- sary mean« of sup|>ort, nope Jtnew, and probably few cared. The latter part of the report, how­ ever. the Little old Ma'ld find left un­ read. The pii|>«T. tlghtiy clutched in' both her hands, lay across her lap. Her face had turned slowly ashen. Her ey«"s. strained and tearless, s'tared un­ seeing into vacancy. • . .»•••• • « The «looter attributed dentil to heart faflnre. for th«; tittle old Maid had been kmnvn to !»• suffering from a weak I lieart. Ifiierf was nothing, he said, to lead blip ‘to i-onjeeture that death pould liave I hh ‘ ii brought on or liastone»! i^r any Sort of shock. At the Inquest h«‘l«l on the Kody of the lion. Auberon Fitz-Tenq>»ts it >vas mentioiK-d incidentally that on th» » evening of th«" day of tlie acelffenf an envelope adflr«"ssed to him find contain­ ing two Bank of England notes had b«*en s«mt tnr< ngli th.» post and delfver- «sl nt his rooms after his death. Subse­ quently the numlicrs of the notes wore publislieil. But 111«' notes were never elnlnmd by any one. It was not until some mouths had ela|>sed that a stronger who had be­ come the |s>sses»or of the Little <>l»l Maid’s esi'ritoirc accidentally discover- «•«1 In it a secret drawer. The drawer contained some photographs and let­ ters. They wero more tor l»"ss faded and discolored. But the finder was a woman, and she destroyed them. I'hlladelphla lele graph. Two Soureew nt Hope. It is said that the people along the Newfoundland coaM are eX|W'ft wrecks ers not in that they wreck vessels r»> rob tliein, but in that they know how to avail themselves legitimately of the of »port unities afforded. In this connec­ tion Sir Wilfrid Laurier used to tell of a meeting between a prl«>st In charge of a parish near Unpe Race rttul the bishop of his diocese. "How will your people do this win­ ter?” ask««! the bishop. ••Very well. I think, your reverence.*' replied the prle’t cheerful),, •'with the help of God and a few wreck«.'—Up. plnaptt's. t i N» one can properly enjoy eatlC^i' ror» off the cob unless he <-ap ftrtìrh an octave with hla mouth. Tu pretty; father, mother, the grown girls wjfh tlielr I if tie. negro maid. th»> grown son with fols negro valet, the fhth««r standing at the desk making arrangements for a suite of rooms for the party that I know will «*» me a lot of good, I tell you," sli» finished with a smile. bROP IN CUSTOMS OI» làÊ6U Jorrrnmeut, \olleln« Prw« tu l>t«covrr I lie C«uir for It. Tre«®ury department oiticlals Who have mude an inquiry into t!w subject are at a loss to account for the un­ precedented falling off in the importa­ tion of diamonds, [»earls and other gems for [HTsonnl adornment. Gov­ ernment records show that although there wece $4.021.405 worth of precious nes imported during May, 1!««J. tta- total importation for the correspond­ ing month of this year was only $2,- 981,435, says the New York World. It is claimed that unless there be a sudden Increase in the volume of the jewel consignment between now and July 1, the month of June, 1907, will show even a more marked decrease in the appraised values of precious stone* as compared with June, 1900.'' One of the explanations furnished by the < .Alston* officials to the Washing ton authorities was that while times art 1 unusually prosperous for the mid- die < classes and workers, there is a stint t of ready money among the wealthy, and that as a result the thon» amis of dollars usually paid out for the purchase of diamonds and the like are being hoarded by the former gem­ buying classes. This explanation was made by an cdticlal of the appraisers stores. The official has been handling diamond importations for the govern­ ment many years. An «liicial formerly connected With the special agents department of th» custom house, while not impeaching the accuracy of the above belief, gave • Washington' official an entirely differ ent reason for thb marked falling off. The former agent called -the official's attention to the faut that soqie time since the government decided to abolish the payment to employes of-the gov­ ernment of moiety money as a reward for seizing dutiable goods which teal not ‘been declared formally. Moiety is a technical word meantag that the officer seizing the property ta question received as a reward part of the money which the government de­ rived from the seizures. The abolition of the moiety rule does not affect any­ body outside the service who may give what is technically called “inform« tion” resulting in the reetivery of cua- toms dues. Duly enqiloyes are barred under the new rule. When the department official heard that iierhaps tile absence of a reward to certain officers for unearthing at­ tempts at fraud was responsible for the decrease in the receipts of appraised diamonds, be said : "Why, that is a criminal charge. These men are sworn to do their duty Irrespective of any reward other than ' their regular pay. It .cannot-be pos sible that they would connive at any attempt to defraud the governmedt.” The former spoeial agent said: “1 do not make the charge that the.v knowingly permit any returning travel­ er to brin£ in jewels which they fail to 'declare, but I do say and insist on it too that this government cannot expect men to work fifteen hours a day for an ordinary day's pay and go through all the tactful work of dis­ covering smugglers without some ex­ tra compensation. I would lie willing to wager m.v last penny that if the moiety rule were resumed there would be a bigger importation of diamonds tiecause more gians would be' declared.” The treasury official« 'heard many other reasons for the decrease in the importations of Jewels, but none cap­ able of clearing np the mystery. Putir \alur. . I»r. J. Allen Smith, of Seattle, vises the young qot to marry until the present era of high pr.l»"es is somewlmt better«"d. Discussing high' prices other day. Dr. Smith wild: "(ine gets for his money now same value that the man got from druggist.” “'Give me, sir,' said the man bitter­ ly,''10 [ miuim I s of your fly poison.’ | “'Ten poumls?’ said the druggist. That Is rather a Iprge order, isn't It?' I "'Y.es. I know It Is,’ said the man; 'but, you Hi*e, I likfsl that half-pound 1 Is night here extremely well. 1 gave it to a fly and it seemed to relish it at first, hut toward evening It made him quite 111. I prop«™«’ to krop up th* Dl»*»*o|ated IIu<-W«trr. treatment for a week, for I think that Miss May Nutton, the tennis player, In the end I may manage to kill him.’ ’’ was talking one day about an early de­ feat. "I had been so S"ir" of winning,” Gontl I dr*. she said, '.'and that made m.v disap- First Beggarr—ITt»w Is it that yon al­ pointment «11 the "vater who,i ( fall- ways manage to get something from ed.. 1 was,as disappointed as a liuck- l*>th of those women on the groom! ster who usid fo |iv<> 'n Los I Angeles, floor of that apartment house? 'Thta hupkst»r, ••omli.gamt df 1 [int­ Second Beggar Dend easy, 1 ring ron'i bous» one «,iy, saw a atti* boy loth bells at the same time, Both feeding apples to 1 (« hors»', Planned women <"01110 to the doors at the same to •«■ the animil getting an excellent time and each one wants to outdo the m»»l at no cost hr hlmsi-lf, the man ot her.—Fllegende Blatter. pattafl th» boy on the head and iinid " That'» right; always be good to The Trnth About f,o«xlp. • nltnal* And wh-r.- did you buy thus* "Br’er Jenkins, he say dat we ought, nice aiffile»?’ not to gossip an’ dat we ought not to "‘I didn't bur them.' the hoy an remark on each odder's frniltliw«; but, •werad. ‘I tank flmtn out of your m.v Ian', dat’s whut keeps de world w»fon.’" straight. Hit's de fear of tour neigh hors' tongue «1st k<-eps most of us In "Guilty or not guilty?” stockade. Hit's gossip dat’s dr rant "Yeff' reaponded tilie wan at the bar. l*Tll<'r of de world." Iwirotliy Hix "What's that?” queried the court New York Amcrican. 4h«rply. ABOUT TOBACCO tint Not «he l)<>»»h. "You ask'd whether I was gulffy or t»ey «terse Ont ri*nr« t« the Sol- "In Nhouters really very strong not guilty and of coiirwe I am. Of the «lent in lint». two conditions I <«Hi)d’ not well ear-ape his ronvlctlon«?'* Physician«. chemists and physiolo­ "Well, no. If there's a bet np both." gists (many of them smokers them- dollars to doughnuts. lie's the kind "ffut whh-h «re ymi?"° selvesi agree that smoking ts-fore ma “Aw go on Judge! Wbat'g the jury that would tie betting the doughnut* Aiirity ie reached always leads to a I let Shit Free Press. for?"— Phlltvlelphla Ledger. waste of nerve powro and brain force • Corrected. and thus squaUders life by weakening No Sale for It. "Th*t man who Ilves in your house He's kept a diary *ti year 'round (he very cenWr of strength. In all !x>rd Wolseley’s campaigns he is a nonentity. Isn't he?" fje's fussy, you infer* "No, he's a incfliodlst an’ the meek­ You will not think so when 5 mi'vs found made It « rule where poMlble to allAM He's just a stationer each «oldie* qn» pat/»« of Pibaeco j>er est critter yon ever saw when —Philadelphia Prêta. mo* th, Which 1* eonWHeretla Mr al wlf«'g around. '—Houston Post.