COAL FROM AMERICA.
EUROPE COMES TO THIS COUN
TRY FOR FUEU
The Inadequate Supply Abroad Pro
mote Oar Foreign Trade Beet Coal
for Fighting; Snips Now Comes from
the United States.
Mine operators from the United
States and their agents are all over
the European continent In the Interest
of American coal and almost every day
vessels loaded with the product of
American mines are clearing for Euro
pean ports, where they are to lay down
bituminous coal at English prices.
Great Britain, with an estimated coal
supply for only 200 years, has been ex
porting 05,000,000 tons annually. The
British public has been looking upon
this with disfavor. An export tax upon
the product is anticipated, and in the
event of It the Mediterranean ports
must draw upon the United States for
their fuel. Already the United States
has been supplying the best coal for
use in naval vessels.
In Europe coal deposits cover 27,000
square miles In Russia, 0,000 in Great
Britain, 3,600 In Germany, 1,800 in
France, and In all the rest of Europe
are only 1,400 square miles. In Great
Britain, France, and Germany especial
ly these fields have been drawn upon
for hundrds of years. Every square
mile of resource has been sounded.
Some of the English veins are
worked to a depth of 3.887 feet.
burg district, closely centering about
the metropolis of the western portion of
the State. Some coal from the eastern
portion of this district reaches tide
water by rail over the Pennsylvania,
but the hopes of those who expect an
export business In Pittsburg coal are
based upon the fact that during certain
portions of the year cheap transporta
tion to the port of New Orleans may be
by way of the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers.
In Maryland the famous Cumber
land coal is produced, but this is de
cidedly soft, breaking into small pieces
rather than crumbling, yet not in favor
with foreign consumers notwithstand
ing its richness in fuel properties. The
foreign trade demands a lunipy coal,
and for that reason the Cumberland can
be left out of calculations concerning
export trade.
In West Virginia three Important rail
road lines handle the products of the
Elk Garden and Fairmont regions in
which Senators Davis and Elkius are
widely interested the New River and
Kanawha districts, and the Pocahontas
regions. Of these sections the New
River, the Fairmont, and the Elk Gar
den mines promise to contribute the
greater share of the State's coal for ex
port. The Pocahontas coal, however,
will be in limited but strong demand
for naval steaming. In Alabama the
coal fields lie in the northern part of
the State, near Birmingham, and the
way of outlet will be through Mobile
or Pensacola.
With these coals from these States,
and paying even $5 a ton for ocean
freights, the American shipper may
have a margin of $1.56 profit at Gib-
Insurance, $875; Interest on cost, $780;
depreciation, $625; crew, $580; pro
visions, $168; port charges, $184; pilot
age, $330; fuel, $2,025, allowing full sell
ing price for company's coal used for
steam. This, with $100 for incidentals,
gives a total of $5,637, making 80.4
cents a ton the actual transportation
cost on the coal. Vessel owners like to
secure and count upon a return cargo,
and coal men owning such a vessel
would get more or less freight destined
for the United States. But suppose
that practically nothing could be se
cured and that the freight charge would
be $1.50, it will be seen that American
coal can be laid down In Cardiff, in the
seat and center of the greatest coal in
dustry in the world, at $4 a ton, $3 be
low the selling price of the Welsh coal.
Leads in Production.
As an index to what the United States
may fall into in case the British coal
trade may be encroached on to any
great extent by American trade, the
following tables are reproduced from
the British official reports ending Dec.
31, 1899. They show the long tons of
2,240 pounds and show comparisons
with the years 1898 and 1897. The fig
ures are as nearly accurate as such fig
ures can be:
1897. 1898. 1899.
Russia ., Z.01o,51 J,l6,07 3,397,791
Sweden and
Norway 3,460,974 3,612,445 4,4113,586
Denmark 1,879,182 2.045.768 2,051,423
Germany 5,042,781 4,711,370 5,059,666
Holland 947,235 931,134 1,277,702
France 5,637,292 5,710,113 6,863,887
Portugal, the
Azores and
Maderla 683,002 741,623 755,365
Spain and Ca
naries 2,257,306 1,789,866 2.292,39o
Italy 4,834,0.-4 4,665,166 5,513,45V
Turkey 554,355 510,683 490,68
Egypt 1,860,723 1,907.505 2.125,921
OUR BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SAYINGS AND DO.
INGS HERE AND THERE,
Jokes and Jokelets that Are Supposed
to Have Been Recently Born Saying
and Doings that Are Old, Curious and
Laughable The Week's Honor,
Ned He looks miserable, doesn't he?
Bess Yes; what's the matter with
him?
Ned Disappointed In love.
Bess Why, he married the girl he
wanted.
Ned I know. That's just It Phila
delphia Press.
Forced to Express Herself.
Mr. Telemachus Smith Delia, I
didn't know your parrot could swear.
Mrs. Telemachus Smith Poor Polly.
I didn't think she knew it, either, until
you fed her that Ice cream. Puck.
AMERICA IS SUPPLYING EUROPE WITH'COAE:
ft
The Serpent's Tooth.
Auntie Whom do you love best?
Dolly Mamma.
Auntie Who next?
Dolly You.
Auntie Who next?
Dolly Baby.
Father (from the background) And
j rhen does daddy come in?
Dolly About 2 o'clock in the morn
i ing! Sketch.
a & & m q$ mt A 0
with 4,000 the estimated maximum pos
sible. Russia, of all these countries,
may develop unexpected deposits.
British India shows only 35.000 square
miles of coal beds, and the total of
all these is only 77,800 for Europe and
India. As against this are the United
States deposits of 194,000 square miles,
with thousands of possible miles unex
plored and undeveloped. To this Alas
ka Is promising Inexhaustible deposits
of anthracite, which at least must re
place the English coal that is now sup
plying the Pacific slope of the United
States.
Aside from the United States in this
coming world supply of fuel, only China
and Japan can be looked to. These
countries have deposits about as large
as those of the United States, but are
lacking In means of development. Their
positions upon the map, too, are not fa
vorable to the European trade.
World's Yield of Coal.
As to how the mines of the world
have been drawn upon, the figures for
1898 are accurate enough for compari
son. They show In long tons of 2,240
pounds:
Tons.
Great Britain 202,042,000
fnlted States 196.282,000
Germany 91,055,000
Frauee 30.337,000
Be slum 21,720,000
Russia 9.220,000
Japan 5.080,000
India 4,060,000
New Sooth Wales 3,750,000
Canada 3,380.000
Spain 1,850,000
It will be seen from this that Great
Britain, with only 9,000 square miles
of coal beds, already lean from long
mining, is drawing more heavily on her
resources than Is the United States,
with more than twenty times the de
posits, and they scarcely sounded In
comparison.
The exports of coal from the United
States within the seven months ending
July 81, aggregated 992,481 tons of an
thracite and 3,609,274 tons of bitumin
ous coal. The total exports showed an
Increase of 1,595,663 tons over the cor
responding period of 1899. This In
crease was largely In shipments of bitu
minous coal. Export shipments of
American coke during the seven
months ending July 31, amounted to
240,253 tons, an increase of about 90,
000 tons over the same period in 1899.
No Demand for Anthracite.
The United States coal which is to re
place the product of England and
Wales in the markets of the world is
the soft coal of Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, and Alabama. Anthracite
coal has practically no opportunity for
foreign exploitation at the present time
or in the near future. It is a fuel so
much different from the coal that for
eign consumers have been accustomed
to using that they are not at all In
clined to take it up, necessitating, as it
does, the use of new grates or new
stoves and entirely different methods
of firing. Only the several varieties of
oft coal now finding a market abroad
need be considered.
In Pennsylvania there is produced
for the seaboard trade what is known
as Clearfield coal, originating mostly on
the line of the Pennsylvania railroad,
but also reaching market over the Phil
adelphia and Reading railway. This
general name includes the coal from
several minor regions and is a compre-
raltar, $2.20 at Marseilles, and $2.68 at
Naples, in addition to the profit in the
home Drice of $2.50 a ton. Yet this
freight charge Is vastly greater than
would hold If colliers, especially con
structed, were to do the carrying.
All of the possibilities leading to this
new exploiting of American coal have
found source in the high rates of
freight in Great Britain, the cost of
mining, and In the unmistakable limita
tion of the coal supply. The foreign
production of coal Is not decreasing, of
course; it is increasing steadily.
Freight Chief Factor.
With freight rates from the United
States at $5 a ton, some one has figured
the comparative showing that the Uni
ted States product can make with that
of Great Britain in continental ports.
Bituminous coal, with the mines'
profits already added, Is worth $2.50 a
ton. The freight to the Mediterranean
is $5 a ton, making the cost, with only
local profit to the mine, $7.50 a ton at
the several ports on that sea.
Welsh coal is worth $7 a ton at Car
diff, and the freight to Gibraltar is
$2.16, making it $9.16 a ton. These
freights vary until this Welsh coal
brings $9.70 a ton at Marseilles and
$9.58 at Naples. Over this coal the
American product has a margin of
$1.56 a ton at Gibraltar, $2.20 at Mar
seilles, and $2.68 at Naples, even after
the mine profit has been received on the
American side.
These figures are reached, too, with
the inadequate present means of trans
porting coal across the Atlantic. Most
of the vessels now carrying coal were
designed for 'package freight and are
about as well adapted for the coal busi
ness as is a box car compared with one
of the modern 100,000 pound steel coal
cars. Colliers especially made for the
coal trade will be indispensable to
trans-atlantic business. It has been
calculated that the cost of operating a
7,000-ton steamer to such an accessible
port as Gibraltar, making the length
of the voyage and time of unloading
fifteen days, will be as follows:
Brazil 1.046.075 1,010,109 967,771.
Gibraltar 332,806 399,605 325,837
Malta 454,784 462,143 419,461
British East
Indies 689,016 658,716 863,177
Other coun
tries 5,441,808 6,211,483 6,210,349
A Good Scheme.
Tourist Do those scarecrows save
your crops?
Parmer They work first-rate. You
I see, every tramp that comes along
; crosses the fields to see if th' clothes is
: wu'th stealin", w'ch they ain't, an' that
scares th' crows away. New York
Weekly.
Presence of Mind.
Physician Now, sir, you must make
I np your mind to smoke less.
Patient Why, I never smoke at all!
Physician (affecting to be' annoyed)
H'm! Don't interrupt me, sir! As I was
saying, you must make up your mind to
smokeless powder -shells, a fowling
piece and all that sort of thing. In oth
er words, take a gunning trip. Phila
delphia Press.
Two Forms of Abuse.
"My wife contradicts me continual
ly" "Well, my wife acts as if my ideas
weren't worth discussion." Chicago
Record.
Totals, gross
tons 37,096,918 36.562,796 43,108,565
In addition,
coal for
steamers in
foreign trade.10,455,758 11,264.204 12,226,501
Compared with these shipments are
the 5,051,933 tons exported by the
United States in the year ending June
30, 1899, and the 7,188,021 tons export
ed in the twelve months ending June
30, 1900.
Curious Cradles.
In the palm region of the Amazon
River there is a tribe which cradles
their Infants iu palm leaves. A single
leaf, turned up around the edges by
some native process, makes an excel
lent cradle, and now and then it is made
to do service as a bath tub. Strong
cords are formed from the fibers of an
other species of palm, and by these
this natural cradle Is swung alongside
a tree, and the wind rocks the little
one to sleep. Long ago the Amazonian
mothers discovered that it was not wise
to leave baby and cradle under a cocoa
palm, for the mischievous monkey de
lighted to drop nuts downward with
unerring precision. An older child Is
stationed near by to watch the baby
during his siesta, and the chatter of
monkeys overhead is enough to cause
a speedy migration.
Prosaic Reason.
"So she lias gone home to her mother,
has she? Don't you know, it Is the sad
dest tiling on earth to think of a trust
ing, fond woman awakening to find her
Ideals have been shattered; that she
loves him no longer; that her idol has
feet of clay "
"Oh, there was nothing of that sort
In it. She loves him as well as ever,
but she went back to ma because she
was hungry!" Indianapolis Press.
A Poor Advertising Medium.
JSSBBt AMsvraMmnba5S9'
c i a a 13 sowiBUMini a a a aci
laaaaassi
isoaoansiii
)CDDQD'T130
JBODDapua
TgnQQEnaaB!
juuuuuei
BJOODDC
EQOogr
EE
Clt
nar
DP
caaoinc
Eaaaoc
saaacc
oaacm
To Keep Cider Sweet.
Cider may be kept sweet indefinitely
by bottling. Boil the cider thirty min
utes, then bottle; stand the bottle in hot
water (with a cloth at the bottom to
prevent breaking), and boil thirty min
utes longer; boil the corks also, to ster
ilize. Cork tightly and keep in a cool
place.
Languid Louie Say, dis Is a bum
news pape o' yourn. I put dls ad in for
j, ft pardner wld tree million dollars four
days ago, an' I ain't got a blamed an
swer yet.
If you once get Into the habit of tell
ing the truth you will find it much
easier than lying.
PROBLEM OF CHICAGO MOUSE-SHIFTING.
Indignantly Resented.
"Your milk seems to be well wa
tered," remarked the summer boarder,
facetiously.
" 'Taln't no seech thing," remarked
the farmer landlord; "we don't use well
water. We've "got a hydrant." Phila
delphia Record.
Braced to Bndnre.
"Were you in good health while you
were abroad?"
"Oh, excellent; we couldn't drop out
of our personally conducted party a
day, you know, without losing big
money."
Not Made for Use.
"What was the cause of the latest
quarrel between Mr. and Mrs. Bick
ers?" "Mrs. Bickers caught her husband
lying on one of her soft cushions."
Harper's Bazar.
Rattled.
"Jerry, if you were the only man at
that summer resort you must have had
a rattling good time."
"Yes; it rattled me to keep up with
the dollars those girls made me rattle
out."
A Fad of the Times.
"Isn't Griggs marrying a girl much
older than himself?"
"Oh, yes, but he wants her to be com
pany for his mother."
The Summer Girl. - jr .
He I love you.
She (dreamily) Tt seems to me I'va
His Condiment.
Mrs. Starvem Will you hare some
milk and sugar In your tea?
Grinshaw If you please, madam;
Just a little drop of water and a little
grain of sand. Town Topics.
Poet's Love.
Tess Young Aster, the poet, doesn't
seem so fond of Dora since be met hei
cousin May.
Jess No. It's much easier to write
sonnets to May; there are so many
more rhymes for her name. Philadel
phia Press.
Even in the Days of Yore.
"Where is the electrician?" yelled
Noah, as he groped his way toward
the engine-room. Thus, even in the
days of yore, was there much commo
tion when the arc lights went out.
Brooklyn Life.
LONG FINGER NAILS
FISHING IN THE PHILIPPINES.
As It Usually Happens.
"I suppose you had careful rearing..
Mr. Courtney?"
"No; I didn't have any rearing at all:
my parents exhausted all their disci
plinary enthusiasm on my elder brother
Bill."
Too Much.
He How do I know that your love
for me will last?
She What do you expect me to give
you a written recommendation from
the last I loved?
No Loss.
"The boys are eating your green ap
ples," said one of the guests.
"That's all right," replied the honest
old farmer who was taking boarders for
the summer. "Let them eat all they
want. It'll keep 'em away from the
table for the next two or three days,
and I'll charge their daddies for the
apples besides." Chicago Tribune.
Not So Funny.
"Nd, Harry, I am sure we could
not be happy together; you know I
always want my own way in every
thing." "But, darling, you could go on want
ing it after we were married." Brook
lyn Life.
Snffic'ent Season.
Warwick Why Is It that there are
no real skyscrapers in London?
Wickwire There is no sky. Puck.
The Reason.
Asklngton Why don't you get mar
ried, old fellow? Is it because you can
not afford it?
Borrowby (frankly) No; It Is because
the girl's father cannot afford it Puck.
Indicate Rank and Good Breeding in
Many Oriental Countries.
The countries where the long finger
nail is most affected are Slam, Assam,
Cochin China and China. The approved
length varies from three or four to
twenty-three inches. A Siamese exqui- ;
site permits the nails on his fingers to
grow to such an extent that his hands
ate practicality useless. The aristo
crats who affect these nails can not
write, dress themselves, or even feed
themselves.
a.
The Siamese hold the long finger nail
tit the same reverence we hold the
family tree. Many of them never have
had their nails cut from the day of their
birth. On the first finger the nail is of
moderate length three or four inches
while on the other fingers the nails
grow occasionally to two feet. The
thumb nail, which is also allowed to
grow long, after reaching a certain
length curves around like a corkscrew.
In both China and Siam the owners
of long nails wear metal cases over .
them to preserve them, made of gold
or silver, and jeweled. While long
nails are not regarded as singular in
China, they are rarely met with ex
cept on fanatics and pedantic scholars.
Among the fakirs in Hindoostan a '
peculiar custom is that of holding the
hand tightly clenched and in one posi
tion so long that at last the nails grow
through the palm, emerging at the back
of the hand, and growing thence al- J
most to the wrist. When the wasted
muscles refuse to support the arm any
longer it is bound in position with
cords.
In Nubia the long nail is regarded as
Indicative of good breeding. The aris
tocrats constantly subject their finger j
tips to cedar wood fire to insure a good
growth.
The inhabitants of the Marquesas
Islands are among the most expert tat
tooers on earth, and not even the crown
of the head, the fingers and the toes are
exempt from the needle. The hands
are ornamented with utmost care, all 1
the fingers having their own pattern, j
so that the hand would look as though
Incased In a tight-flttig glove were it
not for the finger nails of enormous
length which complete the hand adorn
ment of the wealthier natives. Chica
go News.
Ingenious Mechanism by Which Natives
Make Piscatorial Catches.
The Malay race is probably the most
skillful in. fishing, and the Philippine
Islanders are not behind the other
branches. An Illustration shows one
of their favorite ways of catching
fishes which run along the bottom of
rivers, bays and arms of the sea. It
consists of a long raft ranging from
twenty to sixty feet in length, and from
eight to twenty feet in width. At the
rear part or stern there is a platform,
and on it a little house, in which the
fishermen doze during the heat of the
day and sleep at night. In the middle
Is a small furnace in which they do
their cooking, and a jar in which they
put fine fishes, and a tank through
which the water moves where they
store their catches. In the bow is a
cumbrous but Ingenious drop net mech
anism. It consists of two long and
strong poles fastened to the raft on
axles and by a rope at the upper end of
the two, which here touch each other,
running down to a windlass In the
stern sheets. To the top of this jury
mast are fastened two enormous bam
boos, crossed in the middle and bent so
as to form semi-circles. The four ends
of the bamboos are connected by a
great bag net ranging from twelve feet
to forty feet square. When used the
fishermen throw a lot of bait Into the
big net, and lower the arrangement bj
loosening the windlass and permitting
the rope to unwind. The masts rotate
forward upon their axles, and the net
sinks until it lies upon the bottom of
the water. The fish, attracted by the
bait, are soon crowding around the cen
ter of the net. The wind las is slowly
turned, which raises the bamboos, then
the rope connecting the ends, and last
of all the center of the net. By the
time the fish are alarmed the ropes
have passed the water's edge and es
cape is impossible. With this ingeni
ous mechanism a fishing smack will
often take 1,000 pounds of fish in a sin
gle cast.
At the Art Institute.
"Uncle Eben, have you ever been
done in oil?"
"Wal, not In oil, but I hev in gold
bricks;"
His Best Shot.
Officer (to straggler) What are yon
standing behind that tree for? The
enemy is flying.
Straggler Hurrah! That's Just the
opportunity I've been waiting for; I'm
a first-class wing shot. Richmond
Despatch.
Fool for Luck.
Qulzzell My wife's the luckiest
goose; found a dollar bill to-day and
ten cents last week.
Frizzell Humph! Mine finds some
thing every day.
Quizzell That's so? What?
Frizzell Fault.
Sorry He Learned.
"Did you ever know the difference
between a boy who has been brought
up with girls and one who has not?
The one whose acquaintance with girls
of his own age has been slight is apt to
be awkward and unobserving; where
as, the boy who has breathed an at
mosphere of feminine influence notices
the occasions for the small politenesses
I of life.
The speaker wns a young woman
; who had had experiences, and she pro
i ceeded to unfold them.
"I was thrown last summer," she
j went on, "with a college boy who had
! no sisters, nor cousins, nor aunts, to
polish him off. At Yale he had studied
hard, and had not 'wasted his time,' as
he would have called it, on girls' af
fairs. He didn't know how to do the
few thousand small services that
women like, and as he was really
clever and nice, I proceeded forthwith
to polish him. I never went for any
thing I wanted. He had to go on all
my er.-ands. I dropped my scissors, or
book, or parasol, fifty times a day to
i teach him to pick them up. At first I
; had to remind him, but after a while he
did it quite naturally; and at the end of
the season he thanked me sincerely.
"The sequel came a few days ago,
when I received a letter from him re
proaching me ruefully for having made
him ridiculous. 'I'm always Jumping
, around to help people when I'd better
let them alone,' he says. 'The fellows
can't drop a pencil in class but I And
myself sprawling on the floor after It
before I stop to think. It will take
years to undo the direful work of last
summer." New York Telegram.
A Version.
We were not surprised to find among
these simple pastoral people of the Far
East a beautiful poetic version of the
story of the fall of man.
In this it was related that when the
Serpent saw Eve with her mouth full
of pins, fitting herself to clothes, his
heart smote him.
"Can I be of any service?" be asked.
"Well, I don't know!" faltered Eve,
and blushed violently.
It was in this way, they naively said,
that the garter snake had origin.
Puck.
Just One's Luck.
Cobble I wish I could stop playing
poker.
Stone Why don't you swear off?
Cobble I do. But every single time
I swear off I begin to win. Life.
"What She Wears.
The famous woman, Annie S. Peck,
who has been noted as having scaled
the Matterhorn and broke the record
on Mount Orizaba, going 8,600 feet Into
the clouds, wore flannel undergar
ments, a waist of serge, a woolen
sweater, knickerbockers and leggings
of sage-green duck canvas, which she
made herself. She wore the heaviest
kind of winter boots, and a shoemaker
In Switzerland put an extra piece of
heavy leather over the whole lower
part of the shoes, toes and heels, and
then nearly covered them with nails.
In many of her trips she has worn fur
topped gloves, but for the Matterhorn
she wore woolen mittens. A substan
tial canvas hat, tied on with ribbon,
and veil, as well as smoked glasses,
complete her outfit. She takes the pre
: caution to put cold cream on her face
, before facing the severe weather.
College Life.
First College Man You say your ar
rest was a case of mistaken Identity?
Second College Man Yes. The cop
had on citizen's clothes , and I didn't
know he belonged to the police In time
to get away. Puck.
Why He Wanted to Know.
A rather amusing story is told in con
nection with a certain learned profes
sor. He had been asked to deliver a
lecture which he readily consented to
do in the village schoolroom, and on
the Important night the place was
packed with an expectant audience.
The front seats were occupied by a
few of the shining lights of the neigh
borhood, and apparently the lecturer
was addressing the select few, for be
talked completely over the heads of the
rest of the audience.
At length, at the expiration of a cou
ple of hours, the professor dropped his
lofty style and blandly remarked:
"And now, friends, in conclusion, al
low me to say that if anyone has a
question to ask I will do my best to
answer him."
It was a very old villager In the back
seat who slowly rase to his feet and
asked the first and only question.
"Aw'd be vurry mich obleeged, meas
ter," he remarked, "if ye'd Jest tell us
wot on alrth It is that ye've been praich-
The Cook Got Even.
A cook here who quarreled with the
owner of the restaurant got even In this
way: After making the soup he Im
proved It by the Introduction of several
foreign Ingredients, such as a quantity
of sand, half a cupful of red pepper, a
I pound of tacks, a bunch of kindling
wood chopped fine and a couple of old
' kid gloves a la noodles. The feeders
sat down as usual last evening, but as
; soon as they sampled the soup they !
j rose up again en masse and almost ;
mobbed the whole shooting match. Ac- I
i cording to the evidence produced at the ;
I preliminary hearing a more fearful I
I brew than this soup was never con- !
cocted, even by Macbeth's weird sis- !
ters. The cook is now in the consomme, j
I New York correspondent Pittsburg
Dispatch.
When You Write to the Queen.
The paper on which letters to Queen ;
Victoria are written must not be folded. !
No communication which bears evi
dence of having been creased will ever
tall Into her Majesty's own bands. The j
proper method is. to write on thick, j
glossy white paper and to dispatch the
missive In an envelope which fits It. .
Any folded communication never reach
es the Queen, for the simple reason that
she never looks at it. All such letters
are opened by the Mistress of the '
Robes, and as a rule their contents nev
er get beyond her. or, if the letter is of
Importance, it is returned to the writer
with the directions how to forward it.
Exchange.
Frances Skinner has made a transla
I tion of a novel by Peter Roseggor, the
i popular German novelist, entitled "The
Forest Schoolmaster."
"The Life of John Paul Jones," by
i Augustus C. Buell, represents the re
; suit of fourteen years' researches in
; England, France and St. Petersburg, as
i well as In this country.
In commenting on the fact that
James Lane Allen's "The Choir Invlsi
i ble" is reported to have sold 200,000
copies, the London Academy makes the
surprising statement that no book of
j equal merit ever received half so warm
! a welcome in England in the same
time.
More than 200,000 copies of "To Have
and to Hold" have now been sold and
the demand for the book continues. If
the dramatization of the work proves
successful the story will doubtless have
a. fresh boom. The writing of the stage
version has been intrusted to Ernest
Baddington, dramatic critic of the
Brooklyn Eagle.
Mrs. Schuyler Crowninshleld has a
book In press which, it is said, will be
published as soon as the author and
publisher can agree upon a title. This
is not an uncommon stumbling-block to
publication in these days, when the
marketable value of a title Is recog
nized by both author and publisher,
uften from diametrically opposite
points of view.
"On the Wing of Occasion," by Joel
Chandler Harris, Includes a novelette
of about 30,000 words, entitled "The
Kidnaping of President Lincoln," and
three stories, entitled "Why the Con
federacy Failed," "In the Order of
Providence" and "The Troubles of
Martin Coy," dealing with, the unwrit
ten history of the civil war and with
the elaborate secret service then main
tained. The editor of the Century Is receiv
ing Inquiries about the author of "The
Helmet of Navarre," the historical ro
mance. Miss Bertha Runkle is the
only child of Mrs. L. G. Runkle, a well
known New York journalist, and one of
the editors of the "Library of the
World's Best Literature." The pres
ent work is a maiden effort at fiction
writing. She was born In New Jersey a
few and twenty years ago, never went
to kindergarten as a child, nor to col
lege as a young woman, has traveled
little, and has never been in France
which possibly accounts for her laying
there he scene of her romance.
Why the Bishop Did Not Scold.
"A little boy in the neighborhood of
Bishop Brooks' home in Boston was
one day mischievously ringing door
bells and running away before the
doors were opened," says a writer In
the Ladles' Home Journal. "In pursuit
of this amusement he ran up the steps
of the Bishop's residence and the Bish
op, happening to be in the hall ready
to go out, opened the door quickly, be
fore the boy had turned to descend the
steps. The child was so startled by
the sudden appearance of the good
man, who had a kindly smile for all
children, that he ejaculated: 'Why,
Phi'ps Brooks! Do you live here?' In
spite of the misdemeanor the Bishop
could not find It in his heart to scold
the little fellow. He, also, had been a,
boy."
Longest Plants.
The longest plants in the world are
seaweed. One tropical and sub-tropical
variety Is known which, when it
reaches Its full development, Is at least
600 feet In length. Seaweeds do not
receive any nourishment from the sedi
ment at the bottom or borders of the
sea, but only from air and mineral mat
ters held in solution in the sea water.
We know a man who has enough in
dustry and ability In bis line to make
a conspicuous success, ff his fool ways
didn't keen him down
Lake that Turned Red.
Lake Morat, in Switzerland, has the
curious property of turning red every
ten years, owing to the presence of cer
tain aquatic plants which are not