Corvallis gazette., January 11, 1901, Image 4

Jhi Jeans
IBATHMOEE'S striker, was a
iSsuperior article in every way. His
respect for constituted authority
was as un-American as his face. He was
tall and fine-looking, his English was
quite as polished as Strathmore's own;
and which was of Infinitely more im
portance he never touched whisky and
cigars, nor went on a pay-day spree. So
Strathmore felt himself justified in sup
posing that he had murdered, or stolen,
or forged, or something, at one time or
another, and he shrewdly guessed that
Chester was not his real name. But
that was no one's' concern, that he
could see, and everybody knows that
enlistment in the army of the United
States, even more than baptism, is a
new birth.
Throughout the department Strath
more was known by the striker he
kept This had its disadvantages, but
(the advantages outweighed. No one
could have realized this better than
Strathmore himself, and yet sometimes
he was moved In the bosom of the
mess, to complain. "It is telling on
me," he would insist; "I am slowly
breaking down under the strain. 1
came across something in a French book
the .other day about how few masters
are worthy to be valets. That's what
I am striving to be, and the failure Is
telling" upon me. They used to," he
explained complacently, "they used to
say when my name was mentioned
from Dan to Beersheba 'Strathmore,
Strathmore of the 'steenth. Big, good
looking chap' " strathmore had picked
up Chester's man.ier of speech), " 'one
of the Strathmores of Boston, isn't he?'
Now it's 'Strathmore' That's the chap
Chester's striking for?' Oh! yes; I
think I'll send Chester back to the
troop."
Which, of course, he never did. Apart
from the fact that he could never have
done without him, he could not have
had the heart.
Chester had been as good a soldier as
he was a striker, but he had languished
under barrack rule. Exactly for the
reason that he never said so, it was
plain that he had been used to
better things. It was so plain
that Strathmore would' never have
thought of suggesting to him to
become a body-servant, had not Ches
ter himself when a desperado's bullet
had left the position vacant volun
teered. As a striker Chester had many
little luxuries that he had lacked be-
. fore his own room, his own bath-tub,
and the run of his master's small but
choice library. With the help of dra
peries and blankets that Strathmore let
him have, and with that of some potted
plants he managed upon his own ac
count, he transformed the room into
quite a sybaritic retreat, and his liter
ary discrimination was a thing to won-
der at. He tacked up colored supple
ments of the London Christmas papers,
and there was a photograph just one
on his mantel-piece. It was of a
woman who had soft eyes and hair and
a lovely mouth. Strathmore ventured
to ask who it was, one day, and Ches
ter told him that it was "an English
woman, sir"
Now, this was in Texa$, in the early
days shortly after the war, in the State
of the Lone Star's palmiest time. There
was much drinking in the land, and
much poker, as well, no pious general
having as yet arisen to bid gambling
cease. There was also some shooting,
but of unattached women there were
sadly few, and those that there were,
were, generally, not very nice. This
condition of affairs led to a good many
unfortunate things. Any man prefers
even a second-rate woman to none at
all, and any man being deprived of a
standard of comparison for a length of
time will come to think that an exceed
. Ingly poor article is" superior enough,
after all.
That was what happened to Strath-
more. He should have known better,
because his youth had been spent
among women who were lovely in ev
. ery way; but the memory of man is
short and he was lonesome. There
should be provision for this In- the reg-
ulations. When a man gets any of the
, ills that frontier service is apt to in
' dace, they bundle him off back East on
a sick leave; yet when which is in-
' finitely more prejudicial to the standing
of the service he reaches the stage of
' loneliness where he would marry the
Witch of Endor herself rather than
continue to be alone, there is no one to
indorse his application to be sent some-
" where where he can find the prdper
sort of girl.
Strathmore had been In the wilder
ness a matter of five years, and he was
gradually, very gradually, lapsing from
civilization. The first intimation of this
that Chester had was that the lieuten
ant made unnecessarily frequent calls
at a ranch-house some ten miles from
the reservation. Chester knew that a
girl lived there a dreadful girl, who
had a plumply pretty figure and face,
but whose speech was a thing to shud
der at, and whose name, besides being
Halloran, was Mamie Pearle. He also
knew that If that were not enough to
set Strathmore's teeth on edge, he must
be In a very bad way.
All this worried Chester a great deal.
Frequent contemplation of his one pho
tograph had furnished him with the
standard of comparison which Strath
more lacked, and he could see what the
outcome of things as they were going
was bound to be. Ha explained it to
the photograph, standing before the
mantel-piece with his hands jammed
deep in his trousers pockets and a
pucker on his brow, which was fair to
the liae of the cap and quite crimson
from there down. "If he marries that
freckled-face Halloran girl," he said,
"he'll want to shoot himself and her
the first time he goes East" Chester
cherished a cynical kind of regret that
be hadn't done as much himself some
time before "or he'll compromise and
take to drink instead. Noi" he nodded
his bead decisively, "he shall not marry
Mamie Pearle, not" he looked at the
picture a long time "not if I have to
r marry her myself. Which heaven fore
fend!" The next afternoon he found Strath
jnore In the sitting-room aud proffered
1
and the tid.
a most unprecedented request. "I shall
like, sir," he said, "to be given a fur
lough for a week." Strathmore consid
ered and frowned. "What'll become of
me, Chester?" he asked plaintively;
what will I do?"
"O'Toole has promised to take my
place, sir. He was Captain Lacy's
striker for several years, and he knows
his duties, sir."
Strathmore sighed. "Very good," he
agreed, with sufficiently poor grace, "1
expect I'll make out somehow. Put In
your application with the morning re
port." Chester went away, feeling contemp
tible and small, and Strathmore sat and
reflected dismally that It was emergen
cies of this sort that drove a man to
matrimony. He ought to have realized
that when a man marries because be
thinks the woman can be of use to him,
rather than he to her, he is making a
grave mistake. But he fancied the
vague dissatisfaction with his present
lot was the yearning of affection, and
believed more than ever that he cared
for Miss Halloran quite a creditable
deal. Before Chester left the next day
he stood in front of the photograph
again. "She'll wear curl-papers and his
forage-cap and cape," he reflected
aloud. That was his notion of the point
beyond which vulgarity could not go.
"It's a devilish contemptible business,
I know it Is. But then my future's all
behind me; and his is all ahead. He's
only a boy. He has all sorts of pull"
what a striker does not know about his
master is not worth considering at all
"he will be able to get anything he asks
for in Washington. Not," he mused,
"that the American army offers much
for a young man Just now. But he can
get all It can give. If he behaves him
self and marries the right kind or bet
ter yet, doesn't marry at all he may
rise to the soaring height of an attache
ship. All things are possible with
pull."
He stopped and bent down to knock
the ashes from his brier-pipe into the
fire-place. Then he took the photograph
in his hand and started to put it in the
grip that lay on his bunk. But he
changed his mind and tucked it into the
tray of his trunk instead. And he gave
it a last look as he closed down . the
lid. ' "In which case," he finished, as
he turned the key, "he would be very
likely to meet you."
A hunting leave is only a week long.
But a great deal can happen in a week
to a soldier who has cut loose and is ac
countable to no one, or to a lieutenant
madly determined to become just the
other way. What happened to Strath
more was, in sum, this:
The day after O'Toole took charge he
rode over to the Halloran ranch, and
when he came back he was engaged to
marry Mamie Pearle. When it was
done and he sat down to think, he
found that he was not radiantly happy
as he had expected to be. But the way
the sitting-room had been dusted that
morning had disgusted him, once and
for all, with single life. The next day
he was officer of the day and couldn't
leave the post. The day after that he
had a cold which he had caught making
his rounds, and It confined him to the
house.
As for Chester, the way he put in his
time never did become quite clear. But
for a period of six days there was a
strange Englishman in a town some fif
teen miles the other side of the Hallor
an ranch; some twenty-five miles that
is, or more, from the post. It was a
mud town, and its hotel was as bad as
its reputation, but the Englishman
stayed there. He wore a conspicuous
suit of clothes, and spent money osten
tatiously. He let it be understood that
his name was Lovatt, and that he was
a lord; also, that he was traveling
through the West, and might, if he fan
cied the country, buy a Aneh. It was
probably with that end in view that
he rode almost at once to the Halloran
place and explained to the haciendado
that he would like to be shown how a
ranch was run. He met Miss Halloran,
and her father told him that she was
engaged .to a lieutenant at the neigh
boring post,, but that a severe co'd was
confining the officer to his house. He
expressed a wish that Lovatt might
meet the lieutenant some day, and
Lovatt hoped that he would. It was
possibly in this hope that he called at
the ranch for six successive days, but
always had he known it at an hour
when it was quite unlikely that any one
would be coming over from the post.
After that they saw him no more.
On the evening of the seventh day
Chester was in charge of Strathmore's
quarters again. Strathmore was recov
ering from the cold, and he told Ches
ter that he had missed him profanely
much. Everything had gone wrong. He
asked what the striker had been doing
with his time.
Chester threw an armful of wood up
on the fire, and stood up, brushing the
chips from his sleeve.' "Well, sir," he
answered, "I have been getting en
gaged."
Strathmore's jaw fell. That meant
that he would have to hunt up a new
striker, of course. Then he remem
bered Mamie Pearle. "That's rather a
coincidence, Chester; so have I."
Chester's congratulation was respect
ful, but not so cordial as it might have
been. "I shall ask your permission and
the captain's to' marry, sir," he said.
Strathmore accorded his own. "But
I shall be sorry to lose you, Chester,
very sorry. What is the girl's name?"
Chester grew red all over his nice,
boyish face. He was finding out that
saving another is not all heroism, nec
essarily. He produced a piece of paper
from his pocket a piece of flimsy,
ruled, pink paper stamped with a white
dove. Strathmore gave a little start.
But Chester was doing this because he
thought it best to deal the final blow
at once, not to mince matters in the
least, and he did not hesitate. He
smoothed out the sheet "That's the
name, sir," he said.
Strathmore read it It was Mamie
Pearle. -
"The last name," Chester explained,
"Is Halloran. She's - the- daughter of
Hallorar f the ranch."
Oh!" said Strathmore, dryly. His
eye had caught a misspelled assurance
of enduring love. "Oh!" he repeated:
and may 1 ask if she knows who you
are?" ...
Chester grew more red st.ll. "Well'
he reflected that an entirely honest
intent could never be prefixed by that
Yankee word "well, sir, I began by
letting her think that my name was
Lovatt part "of It really is, sir and
that I was titled and rich which I am
not but" he plucked up courage as
he went on "if she loves me, of course
it will be all right."
Strathmore handed htm back- the
note. "And if she doesn't"
"It it will still be ail right."
Strathmore did not try to understand.
His opinion of Chester had fallen very
low. As for his opinion of Mamie
Pearle he realized, suddenly,, that it had
not dropped half so far.
It was almost retreat, on the follow
ing day, when he took to Chester's
room a bundle of London papers that
had just come by the stage. He cast a
quick look around. "1 see you've got
the photograph of the girl out again,"
lie commented.
Chester nodded, but added, with the
faintest shadow on his face: "She's a
married woman, sir!"
"Yes?" said Strathmore, and turned
to leave the room.
'Oh, lieutenant!" Chester called.
Strathmore stopped. "I thought you
might like to know, sir, that I'm not
engaged any more."
For a full half-minute Strathmore
looked into the Englishman's impene
trable blue eyes; then there came a
twinkle in his own. "It seems to be
another coincidence, Chester," he said,
quietly, "for neither am I." Argonaut.
BABY ALLIGATORS.
They Are Hatched Out in Job Lota in
Steam-Heated fc-'and.
Up in the reptile-house of the Bronx
zoo something unique in the way of a
hatching of young alligators was on ex
hibition yesterday, and will be to-day
just as long as the supply of saurian
eggs holds out
The young 'gators were being turned
out in Job lots in a large, glass-inclosed,
steam-heated cage in the northwest cor
ner of the main reptile-room. The floor
is covered with warm sand, in which
several 'dozens of alligator eggs are
huddled. The eggs are about seven
inches long, oblong in shape, and of a
dingy, leathery white color.
About the center of the cage is a large
shallow pan full of water, sunk to the
level of the floor. In and about the pan
are several dozen young alligators, from
six inches up to ten in length, scram
bling about climbing all over each
other, splashing about in the water,
and seemingly happy and contented.
The baby 'gators are bright blue, green,
and black spotted in color. In general
color and appearance they look more
like lizards than anything else.
The hatching process is quite inter
esting. Every now and then an egg
will begin to squirm and roll about. One
end works more actively than the other
and swells up like a mushroom head.
Then it cracks and spreads out from
the slit, through which a little long
pointed muzzle begins to work out. A
lot of energetic wriggling, which flops
the eggs about in all directions, sets the
youngster free. Out he pops, and after
a shake or two, by some wonderful in
stinct of nature, away scuttles the in
fant to the pan of water, into which it
plunges without any fear.
Alligator, Jr., splashes about a while.,
and then joins' his brothers and sisters,
following the universal alligator habit
of crawling on top of as many of his
relations as he can and resting his head
on tte nearest back.
Mrs. Alligator was not present at the
hatching. Alligator experts say that
after she has laid the eggs her part of
the manufacture of young 'gators is'
finished. She pays no more attention
then to them, and confines herself, in
the South, to lying low in the swamps,
waiting for dogs, pigs, or .tender young
colored infants to wander her way. As
to Alligator pere, those same experts
assert that if there is one thing he likes
better than another it is young alli
gator fresh from the shell, without any
dressing. He is said to swallow them
up by the dozen, and then complain be
cause there are no more. New York
Mail and Express.
LAW AS INTERPRETED.
Annual crops raised by labor on land
helu by a tenant for life are held. In
Noble vs. Tyler (O.), 48 L. R. A. 735, to
be assets of the estate, whether severed
or not at the time of his death.
Bight of a stockholder to inspect
books of the corporation is held, in Cin
cinnati Volksblatt Company vs. Hoff
meister (O.), 48 L. R. A. 732, not to de
pend upon the motive or purpose of the
stockholder.
Lack of barriers on the side of ap
proaches to a bridge is held, in Bell vs.
Wayne (Wash.), 48 L. R. A. 644, not
sufficient to make a municipality liable
for injuries in case a team goes off the
bank when the roadway is wide enough
for two teams to pass without difficulty
and the fright of a horse was the proxi
mate cause of the accident
A will which consists of four pages in
one sheet folded lengthwise down the
middle is held, in re Andrews (N. Y.),
48 L. R. A. 662, not to be subscribed at
the end as required by statute, where
the signature is on the second page
after a portion of the will, while there
is another portion on the third page
without anything to connect it with
that part which is above the signature.
A camp-meeting association which
has made perpetual leases of cottages
on its grounds without any restrictions,
except that they are "subject to such
rules and regulations as the association
may from time to tine adopt" and
which also owns a store on the grounds
whicb it has leased for a rental, Is held,
in Northport Wesleyan Grove Camp
Meeting Association vs. Perkins (Me.),
48 L. R. A. 272, to have no power to Im
pose a revenue tax on the business of
taking orders for fruit, groceries and
provisions from cottagers upon the
grounds of the association.
Similitude.
Jackson The baby's getting more
like its mother every day.
Johnson That so?
' Jackson Yes; it's learning to talk.
Indianapolis Sua.
HUMOR OF THE WEEK
STORIES TOLD BY FUNNY MEN
OF THE PRESS,
Odd, Curious and Laughable Phases
of Human Nature Graphically Por
trayed by Eminent Word Artiata of
Our Own Day A Budeet of Fun.
Mr. Freeborn Jackson Whan yob
pwine name 'im, Laurelia?
Mrs. Jackson Anyflng yon laikes.
Anyfing, 'cept Alias. Ise noticed boys
o' that name nevah come to no good.
They're alus In the police co't Brook
lyn Life.
Evened It Up.
"Junson has developed into a con
firmed kicker, but his wife can handle
him every time. He kicked last night
because his dinner was cold."
"What was his wife's play?"
"She made It hot for him." Brook
lyn Life.
In a PreHcament.
Mrs. Fly My goodness! See those
clouds coming! It's going to rain, sure,
and I forgot my rubbers. New York
Journal.
Her Dilemma. ,
Clara How did you come to accept
Mr. Saphead?
Dora I had to. He proposed to me
in a canoe and he got so agitated I was
afraid we'd upset New York Weekly.
Had Him.
"No, young man," said the solemn
and aphorismic person, "can succeed
by keeping his eye on the clock."
'How about the watchmaker?" asked
the impudent person. Indianapolis
Press.
. Absent-Minded.
"Harry, yesterday was our wedding
anniversary and you never said a word
about it"
"Well, my dear, I felt it in my bones
that it was some sort of a big day, but
I couldn't remember what It was."
Indianapolis 'Journal.
What He Did.
Kentuckian He called me a liar, sir.
New Yorker And what did you do?
Kentuckian I went to the funeral.
Detroit Free Press.
Not So Bad.
"I'm afraid I made a blunder this
morning,";. said-iMr. Meekton: "Henri
etta asked me who. In my opinion, had
written the greatest poetry in the Eng
lish language?"
"What did you say?"
"I said 'Mother Goose.' You see, she
was the only lady poetry writer I could
think of just at the moment." Wash
ington Star. ri
Crael. -
"My eyes are no longer like stars to
you, I suppose?" she exclaimed during
a heated conversation with her pre
sumed lord and master.
"Well, suppose you go away about
100,000,000 miles and I'll take a look at
them and decide," suggested the cruel,
unfeeling man. Baltimore American.
Xlsnal "Excuse.
Mother Johnnie, your face is very
clean, but how did you get such dirty
bands?
Johnnie Washin' me face. Tit-Bits.
Very Familiar.
Housekeeper Go away from . here;
you don't know what work is.
Tramp Well, madam, permit me to
remark that I've looked at it long
enough to be able to recognize It
- Perplexing;.
"Strange strange strange! Before
my wife went to the country I never
could find the latchkey before I went
out. Now that she's away I can't ever
find it after I've been out." Meggen
doerfer's Blaetter.
Variation of the Loot.
"That friend of mine in the British
army sent me a keg of Chinese wine
that he looted in Pekin. The stuff was
half water."
"Evidently diluted. "Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
Not So Ra.1-
Mike 'opening his pay envelope)
D'aitn, t....t's the stingiest man I ever
worked for.
Pat Phwat's the matther wid ye;
didn't ye git as much as ye lxpicted? -
Mike Yis, but I was countin on irlt-,
tin' more than I lxpicted. Philadelphia
i-ress.
Extenuating Circumstances.
Tenderfoot Did you folks lynch the
man who stole that automobile here
last week?
Cactus Charley Nope. We intended
to, but an investigatin' committee made
some experyments an' concluded that
the ottymobul stoled the thief, Instead
of the thief gittin'.away wltb it Bal
timore American.
Q lint et.
A 5-year-old boy went with his mtHh
er to make a call. The lady of the
bouse, who was fond of children, told
him she mean to ask his mother to let
her have him. "Don't you thick your
mother would let me buy you?" she
"No. ma'am." answered the little tel-
low,'"you haven't got money enough."
'How much would it take?" she con
tinued.
'Three hundred dollars," said the boy
promptly, as if that would settle the
matter at once for all. '
'Oh, well, then," said the woman,- "1
think I can manage it. If I can will
you come and stay with me?" '
No, ma'am." he said with decision.
Mamma wouldn't sell me anyhow.
There are five of us and mamma .would
not like to' break the set Buffalo
Enquirer.
Boston Diction.
Teacher (of English) Michael, when
I have finished you may repeat what I
have read in your own words. "See
the cow. Isn't she a pretty cow? Can
the cow run? Yes, the cow can run.
Can she run as fast as the horse? No,
she cannot run as fast as the horse."
Future Mayor (of Boston) Git on to
de cow. Ain't she a beaut? Kin" de
cow git a gait on her? Sure. Kin de
cow hump it wid de horse? Nit de
cow ain't in It wid de horse Judge.
Better than Mother's.
"These aren't the kind of biscuits my
mother used to make," he said.-
'Oh, George!" she faltered, on the
Verge of tears.
Well, they're riot," he repeated. em
phatically. "They're enough sight bet
ter." And then the sun came' out
again. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
Neeied Exercise.
Doctor You need more exercise.
Indisposed Why. I'm steadily en
gaged in -painting houses, now."
uotor Working by the dav- 'I ex
pect?
Indisposed Yes.
Doctor Well, you'd better work bv
the piece for a while. Tit Bits. .
Flockinc to the Fray.
Church I see by the paper that thirty-nine
doctors arrived home recently
from Europe on one steamer.
Gotham Yes; you see, the football
season has opened in this country.
Yonkers Statesman.
fomethinsr Good to Eat.
Mr. Heavyman What is your idea of
heaven, Miss Daisy?
She (wearily) Where one can get a
good dinner without money and with
out price! Life.
Declined with Thanks.
Little Boy What do you want?
Tramp I dunno. What yer got?
Little Boy Mumps.
Wide Awake.
Briggs That medium doesn't know
a thing when she is in a trance.
Griggs Oh, yes she does.
Briggs What makes you think so?
Griggs Because the other day 1
tried to steal away in the middle of one
without paying. Detroit Free Press.
No Orierinality.
Great Author Waiter, this steak is
as tough as leather.
Waiter I've always heard you was
an original character, sir; but I'm
hanged if you don't jist say the same
as all on 'em do! Harlem Life.
Always in On.
Grimes Is your wife fond of pets?
Harum I should say she was. She
is almost always in one. Boston Tran
script v Far as He Could.
"Ah!" she said, "If I were to die
would
'Hush!" he protested, shuddering.
'Nay. love, I must know" her warm
breath swept his cheek "would von
follow me to the grave?"
"How can I tell?" he said, frankly.
'Might not your family decide to have
the interment private?" Philadelphia
press.
Stand Oft.
He But I still don't dare to confess
to your father the extent of my debts.
She What cowards you men are!
Papa is also afraid to tell you about
his debts. Heitere Welt.
In Old Missouri.
Colonel Peppah I believe In vortn'
early an' often, sah.
" Colonel Redeye I don't suh. It's too
much trouble to vote early, an' it's a
waste o' time to vote often. I prefer to
check In a good big bundle o' ballots
all to once an' hev yer duty over with.
Judge.
Harmony in Nature.
Naturalists say that when examined
minutely with a microscope it will be
found that no creature or object in na
ture Is positively ugly; that there is a
certain harmony or symmetry of parts
that renders the whole-agreeable rather
than the reverse. So the most disagree
able tasks in life, when viewed in their
proper proportions, reveal a poetic, an:
attractive, side hitherto undreamed of.
Turn on the sunlight of good cheer, the
determination to see the bright as well
as the daik side, and you will find some
thing pleasant, even In the most dread
ed task.
Japs Make Good Clerks.
Many Japanese clerks are being em
ployed In London stores. They are
cleanly and courteous and give satisfac
tion. Many are also employed by man
ufacturers, but these are not so satis
factory to their -employers, who say
they waste material and give more time
to studying English than they do to
learning their trades. .
A divorce suit makes ait appropriate
traveling dresa,
ONLY ONE TRAIN BOY
SOLE REPRESENTATIVE OF HIS
CLASS IN ALASKA.
Candy Butcher on the Klondike Lim
ited' Does Not Need to Dig Gol
Eno. moua Prices Given .or Every
thing He Has to Sell.
The old query as to whether or not
you would like to be the iceman will
be rapidly forgotten as, soon as song
writers and balladists learn about the
train boy in Alaska. There is a train
boy in Alaska.. Just one. Or rather
there was a few weeks ago, but by this
time he may be somewhere ia the Med
iterranean on his private yacht blowing
rings from his 50-cent cigars, and
swearing at his $o,0O0-a-year sailing
master because he cannot whistle up a
breeze.
Think of being the only train boy on
a railroad that brings miners with
thousands of dollars' worth of gold out
of the greatest mining camp in the
world. There is only one railroad to
Alaska that is the White Pass and
Yukon Railroad. On that railroad there
is a train called the Klondike Limited.
The Klondike Limited! Isn't the
sound of that name enough to make a
common candy butcher on the run be
tween Peoria and Lafayette, Ind stick
his head into his basket of salted pea
nuts and strangle himself to death? For
there is a trainboy on the Klondike
Limited. On the Klondike Limited,
that brings prospectors and miners and
adventurers weighted down with gold
en nuggets back to the States civiliza
tion, and the girls they left behind
them, there is a candy butcher. And
all these prospectors and miners and
adventurers On this Klond.ke Limited
are bubbling pver with joy that the
days of their exile are over, and that
soon they will be back to their boyhood
homes again. Think of turning loose a
candy butcher in such a crowd as that.
To quote another popular song, "It
leems like a shame to take the
money."
The trainboy on the Klondike Limit
ed, like his brothers on the Kenosha lo
cal, deals in peanuts, candy, books, pa
pers, and magazines. But more than
that, he sells shirts and collars and
bright red neckties. He also has a full
line of plug tobacco and cigars of the
finest cabbage selected leaf. The train
boy does not like to sell cigars He only
gets 50 cents apiece for them, and they
cost him 75 cents a hundred. He sells
the cigars to show he's a good fellow.
He didn't originally deal in shirts and
haberdashery, but he found that the
miners returning to civilization yearn
madly for a "biled" shirt So after he
had sold the shirt off his back, together
with his collar and red necktie for $100
he decided to carry a stock of shirts
aud ties.
There are stringent restrictions in
Alaska in regard to selling whisky, and
so the trainboy doesn't sell it. He gives
it away, and lets the man tip him for
his trouble in pulling the cork. If the
man were to give him a nugget any
smaller than the size of the cork the
trainboy would haughtily refuse to let
him buy any more cigars, and would
charge him at least $5 for a two
months' old newspaper, which he ordi
narily gives away for only $1.50.
Then the trainboy sells playing cards,
and the passengers are always wanting
a game. He puts up the table, too,
hands around the matches, and, of
course, a large and substantlaL'kitty"
is maintained on one side of the table
for the sole support of the obliging
trainboy. If anybody was to put a
quarter or a silver half dollar into the
"kitty" the trainboy wouldn't be angry.
He uses those things to pay storekeep
ers for fresh goods for his next run.
A Seattle newspaper man interviewed
the trainboy on the last trip from Alas
ka. Quoth the trainboy: "Am I it?
Am I? Say, ain't I a naughty boy? 1
know it's wrong to take the money, but
I need it In my business, and, besides,
as soon as I get enough I'll buy the
railroad and give some other good de
serving boy a chance to fasten on to a
little honest money. But $1 for a sack
of peanuts.. Say, that's a penitentiary
offense in Illinois. But I need the mon
ey." Chicago Tribune.
cience
H0
vention
Honey dew has been a subject of re
cent investigations which show it to be
a sugary substance obtained from the
juice of the trees such as a sycamore,
ish and lime on which it is found. The
statement that honey dew is sometimes
produced by other insects than aphides
seems to be ill-founded, as reports indi
cate that the Insects noticed are prison
ers that have been caught by the sticky
honey dew.
The sun's heat raises from the earth
every minute thirty-seven- billion tons
of water, or say a weight equal to" six
times that of the Great Pyramid. Such
heat could only be produced on earth by
burning eight million cubic miles of
coal per second that is to say, a nice
little block two hundred miles long,
two hundred miles high and two hun
dred miles broad, weighing twelve
thousand millions of tons.
The bones of three mastodons have
beeen discovered in Death Valley, Cali
fornia, and their discoverer, a miner,
has taken out a claim for the purpose of
excavating them. Another Indication
of the popular appreciation of the
money value of the remains of prehis
toric animals is the fact that a mining
claim has-been filed in Southern Cali
fornia to cover the excavation of a fos
sil whale of the Pliocene epoch.
An electric railway is to be construct
ed between Liverpool and Manchester,
intended especially for the swift trans
portation of passengers. It is said that
the system adopted will be that of the
single elevated rail, the cars being sus
pended from the rail. The projectors
talk of sending trains from one city to
the other, a distance of about twenty
nine miles, in fifteen minutes, or at the
rate of 115 miles an hour.
The search for convenient ways of
transportation by which the products of
I the Sudan may reach the outer world
has called attentlaon to a remarkable
phenomenon of vegetable life on some
of the head waters and tributaries of
the Nile. This consists of enormous
growths of papyrus and other plants,
completely covering the streams and
forming carpets of vegetation two or
three feet thick, beneath which flows
the water. Navigation by small boats
is, of course, entirely Interrupted by
this obstruction, which is in places sup
plemented by vines and clinging plants
which arch the streams from bank to
bank. Heavy floods occasionally sweep
away the accumulations of plants, but
they are quickly reformed.
Several years ago, members of the
Geological Survey suggested that in for
mer times the Tennessee River, Instead
of joining the Ohio, as at present, flow
ed into the Gulf of Mexico through the
channels of the Coosa and Alabama
Rivers. This conclusion has recently
been corroborated in a singular manner
by Charles T. Simpson, of the Smith
sonian Institution. The original sug
gestion was based on the appearances
of the land, but Mr. Simpson's confir
mation depends upon the distribution
of a particular form of fresh-water,
mussel which, although it is peculiar to
the Tennessee River, is also found in
the Coosa and the Alabama. As these
creatures cannot traverse the land, the
inference is that formerly the waters of
the Tennessee flowed southward iar
the streams above named.
PUNCH 1NG-BAG SUPPORT.
Improved Mounting Designed by a
New Yorker.
One of the objections to the punching
bag as a method of exercise in gymna
siums has hitherto been the racket oc
casioned by the bag striking against
the overhead shield after each blow,
and there is also danger of dislocating
the frame when the ball Is violently
moved. To eliminate these objections
MOUNTING FOK A PUNCHING BAG.
and provide an improved mounting for
the bag George McEadden, of New
York City, has designed the apparatus
illustrated in the accompanying cut A
semi-circular arm is attached to the
side wall or suspended from the ceiling,
and at the center of the arch is swiv
eled a vertical rod, to the lower end
of which the bag is securely attached.
To prevent undue motion of. the bag
when struck the inventor provides a
pair of flexible rubber bands, which are
twisted and attached to the opposite
ends of the arch, the rod which sup
ports the ball being passed between the
twists. The use of these bands gives
a quick return and renders the exercise
almost entirely noiseless by preventing
the ball from striking the overhead por
tion of the support
Hanged Two Men at Once.
Ex-Sheriff Knapp, of Wyoming Coun
ty, was in town a few days ago, which
recalls the fact that he. is the only offi
cial of that county who. ever hanged
two men at the same time. The men
in question were Rosenwig and Blank,
who were convicted of murdering a
peddler in the mountains not a great
way from Tunkhannock. At 11:30
o'clock the night before the execution I
visited the Wyoming County jail, where
the condemned murderers were prepar
ing for the grewsome ordeal which
would send them to eternity. While
seated in Sheriff Knapp's office Deputy
Dan Thompson entered. He carried
two pine boards, probably 8 feet long
and 15 Inches wide, and at both ends
of each were straps running through a
mortice. "Will there be anything
more?" asked Thompson of the sheriff.
"Yes, one thing more," replied Knapp;
"get a boiler of hot water, for the men
want to finish up by taking a bath."
There was a peculiar . suggestiveness
about the arrangements of the boards
and I asked Knapp for what purpose
they were to be used. His reply was:
"Well, I have an idea 'that both Rosen
wig and Blank will get shaky in the
knees just at the last moment and if
they do I'm going to strap them oa
these boards, and I guess that'll stiff em
them up. All I want is to get them to
stand long enough to get the rope
around their necks and the black caps
on, and I'll show up an execution that
will be done up to the queen's taste."
Fortunately, the boards were not re
quired for the purpose intended, for Ro
senwig and Blank met their fate on the
gallows with a courage that was re
markable. Scranton Republican.
Accommodating.
Peddler Will you buy a mouse trap,
ma'am?
Lady No; I haven't any mice in the
house.
Peddler I can get some for you,
ma'am, for a small consideration. It's
rare sport catchin' 'em.
Lady Then they might necessitate
my having a cat
Peddler Well, I could provide you;
with one for a trifle, ma'am.
Lady But it might prove a nuisance.
Peddler I could sell you a dog to kill
it ma'am.
Lady The remedy might prove worse
than the disease.
Peddler Well, I'd poison the dog
cheap for you, ma'am. PIck-Me-Up.
He Had a Good Reason.
"I notice you never criticise your
wife's cooking," remarked the young
benedict - ..
"No," replied the man of experience,
"I have learned better. Yon see, when
you criticise yonr wife's cooking, she
is always trying to demonstrate that
your criticisms are, unjust while if you
say nothing about It she has no object
In going into the kitchen, -and conse
quently leaves matters entirely to the
cook." Chicago Post, .-V1