«
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 |<u»4i
her a
g at a twenty-six knot pace.
This doesn't mean so much until the
Lus .¡aula's huge bulk ha* teen real-
iz«"d. Site i* as long as th» Auditorium
hotel and Annex at Chicago, and she
w<>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> th<j»e are G.OOGJhM) «lott
er*, and of every fifteen there are eight
who snioke a pipe, five who sinoks ci
gars and only two who arw clgaret
smokers. Still the French consume
more titan 8PO,tMX),0(K) cigarets a year,
or enough to go around the world 500
times If they were placed end to end
in a line.
in the total quantity of tobacco
grown the United States rivals Cuba
md the Philippine 1*1 mis combined;
Rrltl-lx India Is not very far behind
the States. It takes 6,560,0410 acres to
grow Ute world's tobactw. Ixiulsvllle
ls the largest tobacco market in the
world.
The best cigars manufactur**«! come
from Cuba, the tobacco for which Is
cultivated In the fa.anus Vuelta de
Abajo district, west of Havana. This
favored spot is located on the banks of
a river, the nature of the soil being
such that In no other part of the world
ca® leaves of such excellence be pro
duced. The most expensive cigars cost
about $7.50 each. Tlte largest cigars
«•ome from the Philippine Islands, some
of them being eighteen Inches in length.
Italy has the reputation of manufac
turing soin« of the st longest «mokes in
the world..
A good cigar will burn slowly and
- Ulneinnetf Prof
«UDDBB «S0V».
ftartffortt* hoy* »cud up tlv* »tr»et,
(*r akurry und»r »belttring sheds;
*•4 arhool-girl faces, pale and sweet.
Gl«*m froaa the. ahgwl* about th»ir
bc*4*
•wng tad msther voice* cal)
■ alien homes ; and rusty gates
'*ra ataaimtd; ami high above it all
Ttie thunder grim reverberates.
And then abrupt, the rain, the rain!
The rorth lies gaAping, and the eye»
dtehind the »teaming window-pane»
Smile at the trouble of the skies.
The highway smokes, sharp echoes ring;
'ilw cattle bawl and row-bells clank ;
And into town chines galloping
horse, with steaming
The
farmer's
Rank.
*?*♦ ■wallow
dips beneath the eaves,
*ni4 flirt» his plumes and folds hi»
wings;
under the cataba leaves
The caterpillar curls and clings,
bumble bee is pelted down
The wet stem of the hollyhock ;
And suddenly, in spattered brown,
The cricket lenp» the garden walk.
Within the baby claps his hands
And .crows with rapture strange and
vague ;
Without, beSeatlf the rose-bunh stands
A dripping rooster on pne leg.
— James Whitcomb Riley.
A*4
The Little Old Maid
Itiey
called
tattle
Old
MsM."
Rut the words were never spoken In
the tone so often adopted when an un
married woman of uncertain age is ;•<•-
fersed to us an “old maid." Rather,
the way tiiey were said implied a feel
ing of alfwtiovi -in a in'iisiir«. pt pfiy
The phrase was generally uttered with
the inflation of voice that -we' uncon-
sciously adopt when we speak of one
itffllcUgl. or of one fo- whose condition
we are aorry And with whom we syiil-
g>athta>, 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<v*i«"th'"l'y
tl,e I*1«1«* <•*'! M
vil "quite exceptionally fascinating."
often jijop'c wondered why she had
never marrial
Her ««mtemporaries
could recnll to mind the days when half
IxHldon hud, a« they truly said, “r ivisl
about her." Tliere were sonic who sigh
ed when they tru'd to guess njiproxl-
inatcly the number of proposals of mar
riage kii«“ must hate rtseivcd in tho««>
brilliant diijts those «lays "when nil
the workl was young.” Yet. though
partial to men's society, and with an
«•x<c[>tioWally keen sense of humor that
js'rhaps rendered lltr company nddi-
tipnally attrsctlv«" to men. the Little
<Md 30 4 had never, even in the mem
ory »>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 d<ij atA iw
99 •®*J®
[>et 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«,' fol<l<"d
them iu a sheet of l>apcE. 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<s puotograpu of the
a moment' betora
was launched, gives an Idea of her enormous proportions. Her beam,
or width. Is 88 feet.
drawing room would be a feature of
a king's palace.
Th* cabins on the
boat are almost as large as hotel, bed
rooms. Braw bedsteads, silk tapestry-
Hned walls and silk curtains are com-
mor». Two regal suites are the Lusi
tania'« pride. They coyld not be bet
tered by a spendthrift millionaire on
land. . Each contains two bedrooms, a
dining room,-a drawing room and bath.
Till" dining room Is paneled with flue
Italian walnut, enriched with carved
ornament* and molding« of hurni«ta«l
gold. The buffet writing table, dining
table and revolving chairs are also In
Italian walnut and gold. The chim
ney piece Is a particularly fine speci
men of Fleur-de Becher marble, with
marble heartti to match, and a lpg fire
The paneled celling In white -and
gold, the green silk curtains, portiere
and carpet’ complete a -very artistic
portion of the suite. A sliding glass
¡lortlon
screen aepa rates this room from the
drawing room, ,, which is panel««! In
white with carved gilt molding», en
rlched with beautifully painted panels
of flower*.
On the promenade deck there Is a
series of cn
ro""1*- furnished b.v
different Arms who were given carte
blanche, .. each decorator trying to out-
rival the others, The result Is a set
of returns of such magnificence that
propablk* no hotel In the world could
afford to support, Electfl«" lights are
scatter««! everywhere, and there are
fifty clocks, all electrically regulated
from the bridge chronometer.
.The second class accwnmisliition Is
better than the first clahs on the Uu-
nard liners Etruria and Umbria.
There is the same generous spue* a*
In first class, and three larg«" public
rooms, larger tftau on a private yacht
of a millionaire.
The steerage passenger* have a deck
running almost the length of the ship
for themselveA, and of the 302 third
da*» rooms, forty are two-berth and
237 four-berth, th« other* accommodat
ing six «nd eight people each.
equally; the weed that smolders up on«
side la of Inferior quality.
The Routh Triumphs.
‘‘I like to Rlt In the lobblen of Rome
of these big, brass buttorwl hotels ahd
see my friends the Southerners come
swarming In and selecting their suites
of rooms.said the Southern woman.
"Do. I know tlimn personally? Uer-
.taJnly not; but Hint's no reason why I
shouldn't <h»light In their affluence. It
wasn't so long ago, you know, that the
South wah poor as Job's turkey, and
now I wish you could see them come
In these big hotels whole families of
them—talking their Southern dialects
that Is s<> 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
<x»«t a small fortune and that he
couldn't begin* to order unless he hail a
whole lot of montT back of it to spend.
"It «)<>«*» 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?”
<l«> 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.