TIE GARMENT OF III.
THERE was no skeleton in the
armor when Hartpole found it;
only some sand and a bunch of
tumble-weed, a rattle-snake, and a ta
rantula. The tarantula scuttled off, he
killed the rattlesnake, and the tumble
weed and sand he emptied out. Then
, he had the armor done up in a shelter
tent and put upon a pack-mule. After
which, the column moved on. It should
not have halted at all, for it was in
pursuit of a band of Indians. But there
were bands of Indians every day, and
the finding of a full suit of armor lying
under a mesquite bush beside their trail
was rare.
Certainly Hartpole had never heard
of such a thing. And, so far as he
knew, it was the only suit of armor
ever discovered on the New Mexico
plains, but his lore on the subject was
not profound.
When he got back to his two-company
post on the banks of the Gila, he
found the interest in life, which had
been lacking for him up to then, in en
larging that knowledge. He sent East
for books and histories and treatises
concerning coats of mail and the men
who have worn them, and he even went
so far as to write to the Smithsonian
Institution, at the risk of having a gov
ernment commission sent out at once
to seize his treasure. And in the inter
val of two months which elapsed be
fore he received a reply for the rail
road was only to Kansas in those days
he set about cleaning the armor him
self, and with his own hands joining it
together.
He was so occupied, what with that
and the histories and the other books,
that he forgot to have Gila-bottom ma
laria and had no time to worry about
the flies. Then, when the steel was
once more bright as the azure shield of
Achilles, and -he had proved to his own
and to every one's satisfaction that it
must once have protected the body of
one of Coronado's men, and must date
from the middle of the sixteenth cen
tury, or thereabout, he hung it up in
his one-room adobe quarters, along
with the Indian trophies that were as
nothing now and the bottled reptiles of
many sorts; and the fame of it spread
through the land. An English lord, in
a pith helmet and gray linen, who was
going about the country, traveled miles
out of his way to look upon it; and a
scientific party from Boston did the
same. Hartpole was beginning to be
very proud, when, one day, he had a
visitor of another kind.
If was a man he had seen sometimes
hanging around the agency and the
post a small, lithe fellow, part Coyo
tero Apache, part Mexican, possibly a
very small part white, who had some
reputation as a medicine-man with the
tribes, but not much as anything else.
Hartpole was sitting under his ra
mada on a late summer afternoon, read
ing a book whose cov jrs curled -tp with
the 'leat, when se-aetiiing came be
tween him and his light, and, looking
up, he saw the medicine-man peering
In the opening. He said, "Hullo, Ciego,"
and added, "What do you want, eh?"
Ciego was so called because he was
blind in one eye. He came in under
the ramada, and stood so close to him
that Hartpole moved a little. The Coy
otero's cast-off uniform and red head
band were not clean.
'Ciego spoke excellent Spanish, and,
as Hartpole did, too, he had no trouble
about making himself understood. He
explained that he would like to see the
6uit of iron clothes which he had been
told that the lieutenant possessed. The
lieutenant was so pleased to think that
it had been spoken of even in the fast
nesses of the Sierra Blanca and of the
Tonto Basin that he forgot how dirty
Ciego was, and straightway rose and
invited him into the one room.
The medicine-man stood looking at
the armor with an interest and evident
appreciation that touched Hartpole
very much. After the manner of his
kind, he said no word, but presently he
went nearer and felt of the plates and
chains with his finger-tips, and put his
good eye close and looked inside. Then
he turned to Hartpole. "Where did
you find it?" be asked.
The lieutenant explained at some
length.
"Is it very old?"
Hartpole said it was at least three
hundred and thirty odd years old, and
went into a little history.
Ciego nodded his head. "I know," he
said. But that was so manifestly ab
surd that Hartpole did not pay any at
tention to it "It is very fine," said
Ciego. "For how much will you sell it
to me?" Naturally, Hartpole only
laughed, but the Apache was in ear
nest, nevertheless. "No," he insisted,
looking him sharply in the face. "No,
de veras, I wish to buy it from you."
"Well, I don't wish to sell," answered
the lieutenant, rather vexed at the mere
Idea.
"I have five hundred dollars," said
the Indian.
"If you had a thousand you could not
have it."
"I have a thousand."
Hartpole laughed again, a little Im
patiently. "You do not believe me look here."
Ciego drew a buckskin bag from the
folds of his sasb. It was full of gold.
"There are five hundred dollars here.
In three days I can bring you five hun
dred more."
Hartpole guessed how he had come
by it, and his temper rose. "That Is
stolen money," he said, angrily; "put it
up. You can't have the armor. Uka
Bhee." "You let me have it" begged Ciego;
"I wish it very much. I will do many
things for you."
Hartpole swore this time mean,
Spanish oaths. "No," he said, "yon
can't have it Go to the Devil get
out."
Even though Ciego was only a dirty
Indian, the White-Eye should have re
membered that he probably had feel
ings which could be hurt. It is well,
nowever, for those who have the direc
tion of children and savages in their
hands to remember that those simple
folk have sometimes reasons for the
things they do and say, good and suffi
cient unto themselves. But It never
occurred to Hartpole what this half-
blind Indian's reasons might be. They
did not transpire until some weeks
later.
Yet in Ciego's tribe there was a le
gend of a great white chief who had
once married one of their women, and
had ruled over them, and who had
worn a suit of shining iron. And their
tradition ran that whosoever should
find and wear that garment again
would be impervious to the bullets of
the White-Eye, would become the
greatest of medicine-men, and rule not
only over his own people but over all
the Apache tribes and those of the
plains of the North. And the very
founder of that family to which Ciego
belonged was reputed to have been the
white chief in the coat of Iron.
The Coyoteros believed these things
and so did the medicine man. So when
the news of the armor suit had reached
him, he had levied heavy fees for his
incantations for some months, and,
adding these to the gold he had ex
changed for Mexican dollars, collected
from many raids, he took himself down
to the camp of the soldiers to obtain
fairly and by purchase that which was
his very own. But fairness and the
offers of purchase had failed. .
Ciego looked the White-Eye officer
over from his scalp to his toes, and up
again, and then with no sound, save
just one grunt went out from the quar
ters and from the post
Hartpole told of it at the mess that
night, and forgot all about it after that.
But Ciego did not as Hartpole ought
to have foreseen.
One night an Indian, his body naked
as It was born, a poisoned knife in his
hand, stole across the sandy parade
ground when the moon was under the
clouds of a coming storm, and slipped,
as silently as none but a savage can,
under the ramada of Hartpole's quar
ters, and thence through the open door.
The Indian had missed nothing when
he had been in that one small room a
month before. He knew where every
thing in it was, from the chromo In a
blue frame on the wall to the cot In the
corner, across from the fire-place. He
hid himself behind the piece of calico
that curtained off the nook where Hart
pole's clothes hung, and waited until
the moon showed for a moment through
a break in the clouds, and he could see
the figure on the cot beneath the mosquito-net.
When the room was dark
again, he slid out; and the blade of the
knife in his hand went straight through
the heart of the man asleep. Then he
took the rattling armor from its nails
and wrapped it in the calico curtain,
and fled through the night, as silently
and swiftly as only an Apache can.
Now it happened that Hartpole had
gone to another post a good many miles
to the east that very day, and he had
left his striker to sleep in his quarters
and keep guard over his things. So it
was into the luckless soldier's heart
that the knife was driven, and the nex,t
day a telegram apprised Hartpole that
his striker was murdered and his suit
of mail was gone.
The day after that all the department
knew that the Coyoteros were on the
war-path, and, having cut the reserva
tion, were killing right and left. They
were led by a medicine-man called
"Ciego," and the scouts reported that
he was dressed in a garment of white
iron which no White-Eye's bullet could
peirce. They also reported that the
Chiricahuas and the Pah-Utes and the
Sierra Blancas were joining him. It
promised to be an interesting time for
the territories.
Hartpole began to have a dim idea of
why the medicine-man had wanted his
Spanish mail, now. He was ordered
out, of course. Most of the department
was. Trouble of the sort that this
promised to be had to be checked at
once, if at all. It was serious already;
but there was one thing in favor to get
away. Their fanatical faith in their
medicine-man led them to seek battle
rather than to shun it. And twice,
having done so, they beat off the
troops, because there were, as usual,
too few. But the third time they were
caught in a pocket of the Mogallons,
and there were no less than six troops
against them. Hartpole's was of the
number.
The Indians fought from dawn of the
first day until twilight of the second. In
the open at first, then from behind shel
ter, then at last they retreated to a
shallow cave high up on a hillside, and
there was no getting them out. A
mountain howitzer might have done it
but there was none with the command.
All day the troops fired volleys into so
much or1 the mouth of the cave as show
ed between the pine trunks and the
walls of rock. They knew that the
slaughter within must have been pretty
severe, but there were no signs of sur
render, nevertheless. The hostiles
might hold out until the last one was
dead; they certainly would until their
medicine-man should fall. The medicine-man
could be seen from time to
time, a gleaming figure, moving clumsi
ly among the trees and underbrush.
And for all that it went so slowly and
was so bright, no bullet seemed ever to
hit it. Even the white men began to
consider it with awe.
. At sunset of the second day, when
the sounds from the cave had all but
ceased and the Indians within It were
without ammunition and at bay, the
glistening form came clambering delib
erately to the top of a high rock,
whooping and yelling, calling the rem
nant of Its followers on. It stood so,
for a moment, the red sun rays striking
through the pine branches on the dent
ed steel, a weird sight in the depths of
the mountain fastnesses of the New
World; so odd and strange that the sol
diers hesitated with their fingers on
the triggers of their carbines.
But Hartpole, kneeling alone behind
a bowlder, remembered only that that
glowing armor was his, and that he
wanted it The visor was up and he
could see the glitter of the one good
eye. He had won a sharpshooter's med
al in his time, and he put his skill to
use now. There was a puff of smoke
from above his bowlder, and the shin
ing figure threw up its arms and stag
gered. Then it fell forward, down from
the pinnacle of rock, clattering and
crashing among the logs and stones.
They found, when they dragged him
out, that Hartpole's bullet had gone
straight through the good eye, and that
Ciego was ciego in very truth now
and quite dead. San Francisco Argo
naut. IT WAS NOT CONSCIENCE.
Made Honest by the Sight of a Dilapi
date I Umbrella.
Here is a highly moral tale which will
make good reading for both old and
young. It is a valuable illustration of
the text, "The way of the transgressor
is hard." It is a story of a woman and
an umbrella. It is apparent that the
umbrella has been the cause of the fall
from strict honesty of many otherwise
irreproachable individuals. The woman
in this story, up to the occurrence of
this particular event, however, had
found the umbrella to be the source of
the display on her part of many excel
lent virtues and had suffered many
things because of them. She had been
snippily treated by women, barely
thanked by men and openly snubbed
by the autocrats of the surface cars in
her efforts to see that absent-minded
people did not lose their umbrellas. And
In some way she seemed always to be
finding unattached umbrellas, and her
conscience forbade her leaving them
without an attempt to find the owners.
On this particular day she was resting
quietly in one of the parlors of a big
New York shop when quite according to
her custom she espied beside her an
umbrella. It was rather dark in that
corner of the room and she could not
see the umbrella distinctly, but she put
her hand on it, found that it was silk,
and with a weary sigh rose to find some
one who would take charge of it. Why
should she be made the public cus
todian of umbrellas? Nevertheless she
started to find the colored woman in
charge of the room, but she had slipped
out. She went in starch of a floor
walker, bet not one was in sight. In
and out around counters she walked
wearily, but not a floor walker to be
seen. Then the temptation came.
"What a goose you are!" said the in
ward voice. "Here you spend your time
looking up people to take charge of lost
umbrellas, and I don't believe that once
in a thousand years they ever reach
their owners. Take that umbrella
home with you and don't be a fool."
The voice was growing emphatic.
It was probably because she was
tired, but, anyway, without a moment's
resistance the woman stopped her
search aud walked out of the shop with
the umbrella which would now be hers.
She walked on with conscious careless
ness, not venturing to give glance at It.
She did not do this until she was in the
car on her way home. Then she did
look down and saw in her hands a silk
umbrella, to be sure, but old and
ragged, an umbrella which would be a
disgrace to the poorest costume. Some
woman had bought a new umbrella
and discarded this rag. And now the
finder must get rid of it She hadn't
felt like a thief "before, but now she did.
How could she get rid of it? She did
not dare throw it in the -street for that
would be conspicuous. She laid tt on
the seat, as far back as possible, looked
unconscious again, and at last sneaked
that was the way she felt out of that
car and actually ran until she was
around the corner and no one could pos
sibly return to her the umbrella she had
voluntarily stolen.' New York Times.
THE HEROINE OF TO-DAY.
She Ja Self-Heliant, PhysicaHy Strong,
and Fitted to i.e Man's Companion.
The heroine of modern life and fic
tion is contrasted with the heroine of
the century's beginning by Robert
Grant, in the Woman's Home Compan
ion. In the following passage Judge
Grant leaves little doubt as to which
of the two he prefers:
"Not only woman herself, but the
universe, rejoices in the new heroine of
real life and contemporary fiction the
self-reliant, incredulous, sphere-seek
ing, critical, yearning modern woman.
Even the rose on her bosom wears a
prouder demeanor, as though conscious
of her changed estate. Who would re
mand her to her insipid servitude?
Certainly not man. She has become his
true companion instead of his adoring
doll. The Amelia Sedleys have passed
away from the face of the earth for
ever, and the Marcellas-rule in their
place. And yet, with the swinging of
the pendulum in mind, a philosopher
may be pardoned for dropping a few
violets on the grave of the heroine of
the past; even on poor Amelia Sedley's
Amelia, who would certainly have
bored this philosopher to the point of
weariness.
"Amelia Sedley was the sheer heroine
of the past without lights and shadows.
But her more attractive sisters lie also
in their graves, and memories of some
of them come back to us fragrant with
virtues in spite of their limitations,
which, It seems to a philosopher, the
new heroine the Gibson girl cannot
afford to disregard. They had no minds
to speak of, it Is true. That is, they
were parrot-like in their repetition of
what their husbands and fathers and
brothers told them was so; and their
energies were devoted to household
concerns the generation and rearing of
babies, the production of delectable
food, to darning, nursing, church-work
and small charities. They were gener
ally timid and afraid of mice, disin
clined to athletic exercise and heroic
undertakings; they had no clubs, and
did not aim to be original. But think
how dainty and pure-minded and ten
der they were! Dainty with the nlce
ness of dolls, pure-minded with the in
nocence of the moated grange, tender
with the loving forgiveness and foolish
Infatuation of Idolators, It may be, and
yet dainty, pure-fhinded and tender."
Steam and Modern Navies.
A whole fleet in the days of Nelson
could be built and fitted out at little
more than the cost of a single Ironclad;
the coal expended on a single cruise
would pay for the refitting of bis whole
battle line, while the immense shells re
quired to make any impression on the
modern armor plate cost more than his
whole armament. But the modern line-of-battle
ship could neither be built
armed nor fought without the use of
steam, and its evolution may be said
to have commenced with the first appli
cation of the steam engine to naviga
tion. If you would know a man as he really
is you most dine with him occasionally.
PRIZES HER SNAKES.
KLAMATH FALLS PEOPLE DON'T
LIKE TO PART WITH THEM.
On Plea -ant Days They May Be Seen
by Thousands Wriggling About on
Hocky Ledges Beside the Falls
Harmless to Humanity.
The snake industry at Klamath Falls
bids fair to become important. A few
weeks ago Postmaster Castel received
a letter from a concern in Minnesota
making inquiry as to the price of the
reptiles, and if a shipment could be
made to a Minnesota snake farm. Al
though the letter was written on print
ed letter heads, the postmaster thought
some one was trying to perpetrate a
joke upon him. He replied, however,
and stated that it would "supply all the
snakes wanted at 25 cents a pound. By
return mail, much to his surprise, came
an order for 400 pounds of snakes, de
livered at the nearest railroad station.
The Minnesotan went on to state that
next season he would make further
orders an object to Mr. Castel, but he
would take 800 pounds more this fall.
Snake catching is now the order of the
day here. It is a paying business, as
one man can easily capture 100 In a
day, and this represents at least fifty
pounds.
The Klamath Falls snakes have a
world-wide reputation. The town is
situated at the foot of Klamath falls,
which begiu at Upper Klamath lake
and continue through a narrow, rocky
gulch for a mile to the lower lake. The
descent is gradual and the falls nothing
more than a rapid mountain stream,
100 yards or more wide, between the
two lakes. This place forms a sort of
curve, or elbow, and was called Ewa.wa
by the Indians, meaning elbow. Along
this river or falls on a warm day miles
of snakes, curling, wriggling and crawl
ing over each other is no unusual sight
and if the weather is a little cool one
I has to wait for them to get out of the
way or take a stick and lift them aside,
as many do. The stranger on his first
trip to this section is continually dodg
ing and Jumping sidewise, although he
is informed that the reptiles are per
fectly harmless. The inhabitant doesn't
mind them at all. Little girls gather
j apronf uls and boys carry small ones
I around in their pockets. They are re
garded as pets here generally and are
seldom harmed. They come down into
the very town and while walking along.
I the streets a couple of dozen may be
jseen in going a block. They simply
; wriggle out of the way crawl between
the cracks of the plank sidewalks or
move off to one side. The snakes are
regarded as benefactors by the com
munity and therejs some complaint at
parting with the few required to fill
the Minnesota man's order,
j The reptiles live and breed among
the rocks and cliffs along the falls, and
it is asserted that they have completely
j routed the rattlesnakes from the entire
section, besides destroying all the mice
1 and other pests that infested the place.
I They attack a rattlesnake and while
I one alone has been known to kill the
, largest rattler, a number will wind
themselves about the venomous reptile
and strangle it' in a short time. It is
claimed that before these snakes made
their appearance the rattlers infested
the region, but they are now seldom
seen.
The species is said to be a water
snake, and this is evidenced by the fact
that they will take to the water if there
is no other means of escape when
crowded, and move about in that ele
ment with the ease and skill of a fish.
They are of a dark color, about tlyee
feet long when full grown and have a
stripe a little lighter than the general
color down their back. All sizes may
be seen among them, from the three or
four inch baby snake to the full-grown
ones. On a warm day they are visible
by the thousands ana in many cases
they coil up by the dozens in huge rolls.
Pictures of these rolls have been sent,
upon inquiry, all over the world. A
farmer living In the gulch by the banks
of the river has great difficulty in using
his hay at the last of winter. The
snakes take refuge In his barn during
the cold weather, and as the hay gets
low he finds great masses of the be
numbed reptiles rolled together all
through the hay.
It Is believed here that tons of the
snakes could be shipped from this place
annually without materially decreasing
the supply, and the Industry may prove
a paying one. Snake oil commands an
enormous price for medicinal purposes,
and it is known that a superior quality
of the oil can be manufactured from
the Klamath Falls species. Portland
regonlan.
Insurance on Royal Heads.
The lives of European potentates are
generally heavily insured. While mauy
of them enjoy practically unlimited in
comes during their lives they are un
able to bequeath anything except to
their eldest sons. Insurance gives them
the opportunity of making some provis
ion for their younger sons and daugh
ters. ;
Napoleon III. of France was insured
for a fabulous sum; and it is due to this
foresight that the ex-Empress Eugenie
will leave when she dies $10,000,000 to
Prince Victor Napoleon.
The late King Humbert of Italy was
more heavily insured than any mon
arch since that day. No less than $G,
000,000 will be paid over io Queen
JIargherita.
Scarcely a single English insurance
company was without some interest in
the Duke of Edinburgh's life and now
the huge sum of $1,500,000 will have to
come out of the coffers of these so
cieties. - .
The Prince of Wales' policies amount
to $3,000,000, while the Czar of Russia
is insured for only $2,000,000. One mil
lion dollars is at stake on the life of
Prince Henry of Prussia; $1,500,000 up
on that of the Baron de Rothschild, of
London. Queen Victoria, as might be
supposed, has been a veritable gold
mine to insurance companies owing to
her long life.
Germany Has a New Motor.
From Germany comes the design of a
remarkable motor that turns heat
energy directly into motion through the
Intermediary action of electricity. The
machine is called a thermo-electric
motor, and works on the familiar prin
ciple of the electric motor somewhat
modified to meet the peculiar exigen
cies of the case. In action it is essen
tially an electric motor, but one deriv
ing its electrical energy from heat ap
plied to it through thermo-electric cou
ples. A thermo-electric couple is com
posed of two dissimilar metals, such as
iron and copper. Any complete circuit
made of two metals must necessarily
have two junctions of the two in it.
If -one of these junctions is heated
more than the other an electric current
will flow in the circuit, its amount and
direction depending on the nature of the
two metals, the difference in tempera
ture between the two junctions and the
resistance it encounters in its path. On
the motor machine the couples are
made of iron and nickel, firmly brazed
together. They are arranged like the
windings of the ordinary electric motor,
with one set of junctions brought con
veniently to the surface, where gas jets
play upon them. The other set are
cooled by a rapid circulation of air
about them, engendered by the rotation
of the machine. While the motor is of
no practical value, it Is exceedingly
interesting exemplification of the ease
with which energy may be transformed
and retransformed through the various
forms of heat, electricity and motion.
A lady of literary fame once requested
Dr. Reid, the celebrated medical writer,
to call at her house. "Be sure you rec
ollect the address," she said as she
quitted the room, "No. 1 Chesterfield
street." "Madam," said the doctor, "I
am too great an admirer of politeness
not to remember Chesterfield, and, I
fear, too selfish ever to forget Number
One."
Justin McCarthy and some friends
were talking once about a member of
the House of Commons. A lady who
was one of the company said it was a
pity for the sake of his personal appear
ance that he had such very large ears.
"Yes," said T. P. O'Connor, the bril
liant parliamentary and platform ora
tor, "and the worst of it is that while
they are too large for ears, they are too
small for wings."
When Governor Roosevelt's train
pulled out of Greeley, Col., a woman
climbed on the back platform in order
to give him a home-made cake. The
train gained such momentum that when
the time came for her to get off she was
obliged to make a flying-trapeze leap
for terra firma. She rolled over a few
times in the sand, got up, and smiled at
Roosevelt as he stood worried for her
safety on the back platform. Then she
waved her handkerchief in evident de
light, and became the envy of a hun
dred women who had watched her ac
robatic effort
At a luncheon given by some strang
ers in an English town, where he was
lecturing the other day, Israel Zang
will was treated as a famous celebrity,
and his most indifferent remark was re
ceived with great interest. After
luncheon his hostess asked him to write
something in her little boy's diary, so
that' the little man might always re
member the day he saw the great
writer. Mr. Zangwill turned- over the
leaves of the diary, reading here and
there: "Got a reward of merit," "Had
a birthday party," "Tonsilitis," etc., and
then he wrote: "Deceniber-Zangwil
litis."
Years ago Major Patterson wfls trav
eling on the railroad through Western
Kansas, wheu he fell into conversation
with a congenial St. Louis man, who
remarked that he had an excellent
scheme for hiding his money. "I simply
put it under the sweatband of my hat,"
he said, "and no robber in the world
would ever think of looking there for
cash." With that he pulled off his
hat and showed where he had $250
"planted" as he described. About an
hour later the train was suddsnly ha't
ed while it was turning a lonely ravine
aud in a few moments a masked man
entered the car and began to system
atically loot the passengers, while two
other robbers kept them covered .with
shotguns from the doors. When the
fellow reached him the Major looked
up coolly and declared he had less than
a dollar in his pocket. "Now if you"ll
leave me that and my watch," he said
"I'll tell you something worth know
ing: That fellow in the next seat fias
$250 under the sweat-band of his hat.''
'-'All right" said the robber, "keep your
watch and chicken feed," and he pro
ceeded to confiscate the other passen
ger's cash. When the agony was all
over, and the marauders had departed,
the St. Louis man turned around, burst
ing with rage and Indignation. "That
was a dirty, low-down trick!" he roar
ed, "and I'm going to hold you account
able for every cent of my money!" "I
expected you to, my friend," replied
the Major, quietly, "and here is the
amount. You see," he added, "I hap
pen to be a paymaster in the United
States army, and I have a matter of
$40,000 in. this valise by my feet. Under
the circumstances I felt justified in
temporarily sacrificing your little $250
to-divert attention. .1 shall charge it up
to the Government as 'extra expense in
transportation of funds.' "
A Beggar's Plea.
"Could you spare a few cents for a
sick child, ma'am ?" said a woman to a
young lady who was about to get on a
street car in Bellefleld.
Being of a sympathetic nature, the
young lady looked in her purse and
found she could spare a 5-cent piece.
The coin was handed to the beggar,
who took it and said:
"Thank you, lady. It'll be a blessing
to the child. It'll buy him a pint a pint
of milk," she added as an after thought.
The car came just then, and as the
young lady mounted the steps she said:
"O, don't get milk forthe child; get
him the pint."
The woman scowled and the ear
rolled on. Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph.
Cost of Banning Atlantic Steamers.
In three years the expense of running
an Atlantic steamer exceeds the cost of
construction.
The race is not always to the swift;
it often depends on the character of the
! man in the judges' stand.
FOR LABORING MEN ONLY.
College in Missouri Center of the Rua
kin Hall Movement.
A new college, the first of its kind In
this country, has been opened at Tren
ton, Mo., and is expected to act as the
parent stem from which numerous oth- j
er similar institutions will sprout. It ,
is called Ruskin College and is as far ,
as is yet possible a counterpart of the .
college of the same name which has
proven such a valuable addition to Ox- j
ford University, England. The institu
Hon As in part the gift of English work- I
Ingmen to their fellows in this country
and owes its existence largely to the
efforts of Walter Vrooman, the young
American who with other admirers of
the philosopher and critic founded Rus
kin Hall at Oxford. The school has for
its object the placing of hitherto unat
tainable educational advantages within
the reach of young men of small means,
thus enabling them, for a time at least,
to leave their environment and give
themselves wholly to study. When Mr.
Vrooman announced that he would at
tempt the establishment of such a col
lege In this country he received imme
diate offers of help from all over En
gland. Workingmen there showed their
BUSKIN COLI.EGK.
gratitude for the founding of Ruskin
HalL at Oxford by raising $20,000 on
behalf of a similar institution in this
country. On returning to this country
Mr. Vrooman received hearty co-operation
from educators and labor leaders
here and soon the fund was augment
ed by $10,000.
Funds having been thus provided, the
work rapidly proceeded, and now the
college is ready to receive students. Its
prototype at the venerable English seat
of learning is devoted to the work of
educating young men of moderate
means, not with the Intention of mak
ing them lawyers, or clergymen, but
with the hope of sending them back to
their own work fully equipped for the
leadership of their own class. It has
on its rolls and it educates at this mo
ment about 1,500 workingmen by cor
respondence; it has founded other Rus
kin Halls in the more important towns
of England.
Ruskin College at Trenton has now
become the central institution and
headquarters of the Ruskin Hall move
ment in America, and around it are to
be established shops, factories and bus
iness enterprises, including agriculture
and horticulture.
A WOMAN'S POCKET MONEY.
Many Wives Are Compelled to Get
Along on a Small Allowance.
When a man at the altar utters the
words "With all my worldly goods I
thee endow," what does he mean? Cer
tain it is that few husbands live up to
their pledge The majority look upon
the small sums they give their wives
betimes as so much money thrown
away. One of the most charming of
women and faithful of wives endured
the parsimony of her "lord and master"
as long as she could and then set to
work and secretly made cakes and pre
serves, which she disposed of at an ex
change, and so earned a pittance which
she could dispose of, oh, joy! "and no
questions asked."
The man found this out after a while,
and then there was a scene. He storm
ed dreadfully and declared that the
wife of his bosom had laid him open to
the contumely of his neighbors; that
those persons would now think he had
stinted her, whereas she well knew that
he had given her plenty of food and
uch clothes as he thought she needed.
The little woman had no reply for this
argument, which seemed unanswerable,
and so she gave up making cakes, but
the next time she wanted money to
pay the dues of her literary club or to
buy a new magazine or some trifling bit
of bric-a-brac for her bare mantel shelf
or a ribbon for her old bonnet she just
pawned her watch to get it.
Her case is not unique. There are
few promises so often broken as that
one made at the altar about a man's
worldly goods. The families where the
purse is common to mother and father
alike are practically infrequent
Father is usually an almoner, more
or less gracious, and mother his hum
ble pensioner, who comes seeking alms.
For her work as housekeeper, nurse,
seamstress and often cook and house
girl, she receives her food and clothes
and whatever she can crib from the
funds with which she is allowed to sup
ply the larder.
Why she should not receive half the
profits of the business does not appear,
though, indeed, she wouldn't ask that,
being modest in her demands. What
she would like is a certain sum, small
or large,- which is hers to do with as she
pleases, with which she may buy pea
nuts if she likes without rebuke or give
to the blind beggar at the corner.
Chicago Chronicle.
Touch of Human Nature.
A remarkable touch of human nature
was exhibited at Piedmont Park the
other day. The sham battle was in prog
ress. Col. Woodward's men had scaled
the works and were driving back the
enemy. The field was enveloped in
smoke, and it was only by its dense
lines that the location of the opposing
lines could be traced. The spectators
were cheering at the exhilarating scene
all except two children in the grand
stand, but a little distance apart, who
were crying bitterly. The one, a girl,
was weeping lest some one might get
hurt in the engagement. The other, a
boy, was indignant because no dead
bodies were being left, in the rear. -
"That's no battle at all!" he said.
This was human nature as it affects
the sexes. Atlanta Journal.
The Strenuous Life.
New Reporter (tired out) To-day Is
Saturday, and you know that this State
now has a Saturday half-holiday law
which
City Editor By Jinks! I nearly for
got it Rush out and get up a five-column
article on how the day Is being ob
served. New York Weekly.
WEATHER A FACTOR.
Retail and Jobbing Trade Has Been Mater,
ially Affected.
Bradstreet's says: Unsettled weather
conditions have operated to curtail re
tail and jobbing-distribution this week,
and impart a quieter tone to several
lines indirectly associated therewith.
Stock speculation, too, has been lei-s
rampant, and last week's record of
bank clearings has therefore not been
equaled. There is, however, little or
no apparent loss of basic strength and,
indeed, the general level of staple
prices has been slightly advanced.
This later movement is most notable in
the iron and steel trades, in raw cotton
and to a lesser degree in the cereals
and some home prooucts. In marine
shipping circles a distinct improve
ment is reported since the first week in
November.
While the volume of business in pig
iron is s ill large, it does not apparent
ly come op to tha; of last week or the
week previous. No dieappointment is,
however, felt at this, more particularly
as quotations have again been marked
up. Reports of prepaiations to resume
come from many plants for some time
idle, and a sample instance is the re
port that every furnace in the Chicago
field will be at work next week.
Plates are active, as are structural
and car material, wire, bars, and, in
fact, all classes of finished material,
not excepting rails, which are reported
being freely taken by Western rail
roads at the much abused $26 basis.
Other metals, notably copper, ars
strong.
Tin.is again tending upward.
Wheat, including Hour shipments
for the week, aggregate 8,827,296 bush
els, against 4,062,02 buhels last week.
Business failures in tho United
States for, the week number 215,
against 227 last week.
Canadian failures for the week num
ber 31, as against 25 last week.
PACIFIC COAST TRADE.
Seattle Market
Onions, new, ljc.
Lettuce, hot house, $1 per crate.
Potatoes, new. $16.
Beets, per sack, S5c$l.
Turnips, per sack, $1.00.
Squash 1 Jc.
Carrots, per sack, 60c
Parsnips, per sack, $1.25.
Cucum bers 40 50c.
Cabbage, native and California,
lc per pounds.
Butter Creamery. 30c; dairy, 18
23c; ranch, 18c pound.
Eggs 34c.
Cheese 12c.
Poultry 12c; dressed, 14c; spring,
13 15c turkey, 13c.
Hay Puget Sound timothy, $14.00;
choice Eastern Washington timothy,
$18.00.
Corn Whole, $23.00; cracked, $25;
feed meal, $25.
Barley Rolled or ground, per ton,
$20.
Flour Patent, per barrel, $3.50;
blended straights, $3.25; California,
$3.25; buckwheat flour, $6.00; gra
ham, per barrel, $3.00; whole wheat
flour, $3.25; rye flour, $3.804.00.
Millstuffs Bran, per ton, $13.00;
shorts, per ton, $14.00.
Feed Chopped feed, $19.00 per ton;
middlings, per ton, $20; oil cake meal,
per ton, $30.00.
Fresh Meats Choice dressed beef
steers, price 7k'c; cows, 7c; mutton
7)4; pork, 8c; trimmed, 9c; veal, 9
11c.
Hams Large, 18c; small, 18 J;
breakfast bacon, 12c; dry salt sides,
Portland Market
Wheat Walla Walla. 53 54c;
Valley, nominal; Bluestem, 56c per
bushel.
Flour Best grades, $8.40; graham,
$2.60.
Oat6 Choice white, 45c; choice
gray, 42c per bushel. '
Barley Feed barley, $15.50 brew
ing, $16.50 per ton.
Millstuffs Bran, $15.50 ton; mid
dlings, $21; shorts, $17; chop, $16 per
ton.
Hay Tiinothy,$12 12.50; clver,$7
9.50; Oregon wild hay, $6 7 per ton.
Butter Fancy ereamery, 45 60c;
store, 80c.
Eggs 35c per dozen.
Cheese Oregon full cream, 12j-ic;
Young America, 18c; new cheese 10a
per pound.
Poultry Chickens, mixed, $2.75
8.50 per dozen; hens, $4.00; springs,
$2.003.50; geese, $6.008.00 doz;
ducks, $3.505.00 per dozen; turkeys,
live, 12c per pound.
Potatoes 50 6 5c per sack; sweets,
lc per pouna.
Vegetables Beets, $1; turnips, 75o;
per sack; garlic, 7c per pound; cab
bage, 1 Q per pound; parsnips, 85c;
onions, $1; carrots, 75c.
Hops New crop, 12 14c per
pound.
Wool Valley, 13 14c per pound;
Eastern Oregon, 10 12c; mohair, 25
per pound.
Mutton Gross, best sheep, wethers
and ewes, 3ic; dressed mutton, 634
7o per pound.
Hogs Gross, choice heavy, $5.75;
light and feeders, $5.00; dressed.
$6.006.50 per 100 pounds.
Beef Gross, top steers, $3.504.00;
cows, $8. 00 3. 50; dressed beef, 6
7c per pound.
Veal Large, 67sc; email, 8
8o per pound.
San Francisco Market
Wool Spring Nevada, 11 13c per
pound; Eastern Oregon, 10 14c; Val
ley, lS17c; Northern, 910c.
Hops Crop, 1900, 13K17o.
Butter Fancy creamery 2 4 2 5 c ;
do seconds, 23c; fancy dairy, 21
22c; do seconds, 20c per pound.
Eggs Store, 28c; fancy ranch,
86o.
Millstuffs Middlings, $16.60
19.00; bran, $18.0013.50.
Hay Wheat $9 18 H; wheat and
oat $9.00 12.50; best barley $9.50
alfalfa, $7.00 9.00 per ton; straw,
3547o per bale.
Potatoes Oregon Burbanks,65o$l;
Salinas Bur banks, 90c$1.15; river
Burbanks, 4075c; new. 5085c.
Citrus Fruit Oranges, Valencia,
$3. 75 8. 25; Mexican limes, $4.00
6.00; California lemons 75o$1.50;
do choice $1.762.00 per box.
Tropical Fruits Bananas, $1.50
2.60 per bunch; pineapples, nom
inal; Persian dates. 66io pea