DICKENS' OLD HOME.
T Is usual, I believe," he said, "be
ll fore dissolving partnership to take
accounts. Let us see what each
brought into the firm."
"You begin," she answered.
"I brought fair ability, energy, ambi
tion, a decent position, means of com
fortable life and an unblemished name.
Everyone said I wasn't 'a bad sort,' and
more than all, I brought deep, true, pas
sionate love."
Said the woman: "I brought beau
ty" her statement was splendidly true
"youth, physical purity to which you
do not lay elalm." He bowed. "Per
haps little else, for it was generous of
you to marry the daughter of an undis
charged bankrupt."
"What have we got out of our mar
riage V" continued the husband. "Let
me speak. Of course the honeymoon
was a failure. Poets and novelists"
he spoke bitterly "tell wicked false
hoods about honeymoons. They are
never wholly happy, unless, perhaps,
when It's the wife's second honeymoon.
After that, three months of exquisite,
almost mad joy, then four months of
happiness, followed by three of con
tentment, ending in a year of gradually
increasing misery."
"Of course the honeymoon was a- fail
ure," she answered. "The next three
months were happy, the following four
not bad, the subsequent three indiffer
ent, and the year was intolerable. You
. got more out of the business than I, for
you put more in. Alas, I had not the
mad love's capital, and yet "
"And yet," interrupted the man, mis
understanding, "you have wasted that
capital, and the beautiful mad love has
gone, and I, who once would have died
for you more than that, would have
lived disgracefully for you am content
to dissolve partnership, willing that we
should part as friends."
"Content? William?" she asked.
"Tell me, what do you regret most?"
"I regret my bankruptcy," he said. "I
began our partnership with what 1
thought a splendid, inexhaustible fund
of love. I look back to moments of hap
piness beyond description, and now I
am Insolvent In love. After all, I be
lieve," he continued, with a pleasant,
manly smile, "I believe that It is 'bet
ter to have loved and lost,' even If It be
the love and not the sweetheart that
one has lost. Do you regret nothing?
What clings to your mind?"
She shook her head.
"Come, you should tell me. There, on
the table near you is the deed of disso
lution, the separation deed it hasn't
even been engrossed on parchment, but
Is printed on paper. At the end are
two seals. We execute the dissolution
deed by putting our fingers on the seals.
The partnership was executed with our
lips. In a quarter of an hour, Mr. Haw
kins, the lawyer, will be here to witness
the execution. Tell me."
She shook her head again her splen
did head, regular in feature, delightful
In complexion, crowned with gorgeous
auburn hair, illumined by deep, large,
violet eyes.
"You regret nothing?"
With a sigh she answered : "I regret
that you have cast your pearls before
me. I regret that I have misprized and
lost your love; that I gave you little
in return. I regret that my very in
ability to return your love truly has ir
ritated me by making me feel your
debtor; that feeling of Irritation has
made you miserable and me miserable,
too."
. "I did not use the word regret quite
In that sense," he answered. "I meant
Is there nothing you look back to of
happinesss that yet lives In your mem
ory?" She put down the fan that had flut
tered in her tender hands, and, with
half a smile, half a blush, she an
swered, "There was one thing, one
moment, that I regret."
He rose and walked up and down the
daintily furnished room, everything in
which was a note In a dead love song.
"A year ago to-day we were at Sta
ples, you recollect?"
"It was for economy I went because
It was ridiculously cheap and very
pretty and I hated Boulogne."
"I remember how we wandered
about, how, alas, we quarreled In the
pine woods, or, to be exact, I quarreled
and you suffered, and the splendid sea
shore, where I said bitter things, be
cause my friends were at Trouville and
I at the little quiet Paris Plage, and you
were sad and silent"
"My dear," he Interrupted, "I was
greatly to blame."
"Hush! You must not Interrupt.
Then one day we took a boat a clumsy
boat and sailed out, despite the warn
ings of the fishermen. I- didn't care
you didn't care what happened. We
had quarreled, or, rather, I, at lunch,
said harsh things."
"My dear," he interrupted, "there
were faults on both sides. They ren
dered life intolerable and love impossi
ble, but "
"Hush. We rowed out. You had the
sculls and I steered at least I lay in
e stern and spashed the waves with
toy hands the bands you used to kiss
so often."
She paused to look at the hands
firm, plump and white and decked with
rings of curious workmanship. He, too,
looked at them and sighed. She sighed!
"But out we went Then the skies
became darker, the water darkened,
too, and grew rough and you tried to
turn. We were far out from shore.
You must have been looking at me in
stead of the land, or you would have
seen that we were floating fast In a
current. Oh, you looked splendid!
Your thin Jersey showed the lines of
your strong, supple body, the muscles
of your arms and chest rose superbly,
and your manly face, flushed and firm,
fascinated me."
The man smiled, half scornfully.
"You pulled hard, and I don't think
I was frightened. I didn't care what
happened. Then the rotten oar cracked,
and you bound It round with our hand
kerchiefs, but it still was weak, so you
tore off a long strip of my petticoat to
bind Jt with, and we drifted, drifted
out When at last you tried again it
napped, and the blade fell into the geo.
Then you came to me, to the item, and
took the tiller from my hands. You put
your arm around- my waist and said:
'Don't be afraid, dear wife!' I knew
we were drifting out to open sea, to
storm and death, and was aware that
you knew it. 'Don't be af.a.d, little
wife,' you said", and suddenly you put
your arm around my neck.'-'
"I remember."
"Yes, I know: Let me go on. You
brought my face to yours and laid your
Hps on mine. Oh, that kiss that kiss!
It still stings on my lips. In it I felt
the depth of your love. I felt that I
loved you, felt that we were man and
wife, and the only beings alive on
land or sea. That kiss is what I regret
that kiss, the one moment of rapture
in my life."
She paused.
"I remember."
"Why did that foolish steamer save
us? I could have died there, bapty in
your arms--quite happy."
"Quite happy?"
"Yes, quite. To think that we q aar
reled within a w-eek at least I did
and things went worse than ever al ter
ward! What are we women made of?
The old song is wrong, we are made of
gall and wormwood and marble. To
think that we are here, and that paper
lies there! You've acted handsomely,
allowing me more than half your in
come and letting me keep the flat."
"Do you think I could live in It after
you had gone?" he answered, with a
break in his voice. "There's nothing in
It that does not speak of you. It's a
graveyard of memories."
She looked at him over the fan and
saw tears in his eyes. Then she rose
and walked across the room.
"Herbert," she said, in a timid voice,
"it is 4 o'clock. He'll be here In five
minutes to see the deed executed."
The man bowed his head and hid his
face in his hands.
She took out her handkerchief, a ri
diculous bit of lace and lawn, and
touched her eyes.
"Herbert, to-morrow is just one year
after that day. The night train starts
at 8 o'clock. If we went to Etaples we
might find might find that kiss
again."
They both took hold of the deed and
tore it into two pieces. "It is a new
way," he observed, "of executing deeds
of separation." Prom After Dinner.
Hazing Fifty Years Ago.
At the present time, when so much
of public attention Is being directed to
hazing at college and In government
academies, the following extract from
a letter written over half a century ago
will be of interest. The writer was at
that time a freshman of Yale, but was
not at the college when inditing the
epistle. He says:
"I had a letter from - the other day
they are having great times at Yale
plaguing the fresh, etc. That business
is carried on to a great extent here.
Many of the poor devils have been
ducked under the windows a dozen
times, etc., etc. The greatest sport is
to break into their rooms at midnight
(a whole party of sophs at a time),
make the scart fellow get up, mount
the table in his shirt sleeves, answer
questions in geography, arithmetic,
Latin grammar, etc. (the simplest pos
sible, so as to be suited to a freshman's
comprehension), read a little Greek
and then, what,is the greatest trial, de
claim. If he refuses to comply he re
ceives a shower from his water pail
until he submits. If he answers well
he Is highly complimented and flatter
ed and politely bid good-night"
Not Second Sight!
In happenings that savor of the su
pernatural, there Is often less rather
than more than Is "dreamt of in our
philosophy."
In the English county of Wiltshire
there lived a woman whose deceased
husband had been a pig-dealer. After
his death it was her habit to remark to
chance visitors, without looking out the
window:
"That's a nice lot of young pigs
those." '
"Where?" the person present was sure
to ask.
"Comin' down the road," was the in
variable reply. "They're in a cart, and
what's more, there's a fine fat zow
among 'em."
And it would not be long before a cart
would appear, and in it a litter of pigs,
and among them the sow which the
woman had perceived at such a dis
tance up the road. One day a visitor
who saw in this exhibition
of second sight, exclaimed:
"How do you do it? It is simply won
derful!" " 'Tain't no miracle," was the mod
est reply. "I've just got my ear trained
to pigs that's all."
Hamlet's Grave.
Everywhere the vandals are; but, on
the whole, savs Jacob A Rita in tha
Century, I rather think that Elsinore
has turned the tables on them. Hamlet
being dead, there had to be a Hamlet's
grave, of course. The English tourists
demanded It, and In due course of time
were appeared a mound on the bluff,
marked with a nlain erranite shaft that
bore the name of the melancholy Dane.
ine reiic-nunters cnipped it to pieces
in one brief season. The hotel-keenera
provided another, and It went the same
way. wnen last i stood at Hamlet's
grave I beheld It a mlehtv hear, ac
stones and slag, several cart-loads. My
iriena, one or tne solid citizens of the
town, nodded knowingly at my look of
amazement.
"We caught up with them at last,"
he said. "We just have enough carted
out from the glass-works every year
to fill up the holes they made the sea
son before; then let them go ahead.
Want to go and look at Ophelia's
spring?"
When a woman goes away to visit for
a long period, and comes home in a few
days to "surprise" her husband, people
wonder if she really got homesick, or
wanted to catch him at something.
. If yon want to abuse somebody, abuse
a mall carrier. The government doaa
not allow them to talk back.
2b KmLmm'r Ajmireru
NOT many years ago wise men said
that grain could never be grown
to any extent in the Argentine
Republic. The country was then import
ing millions of dollars' worth of wheat
every, year, and the farmers who were
pasturing stock on what are now the
principal wheat fields were eating flour
shipped from the United States and
Chili. To-day the Argentine has to a
large extent the wheat trade of South
America, and is shipping wheat to Eu
rope. It plants millions of acres every
year and it produces from thirty to eighty
million bushels a season according to the
weather and to the invasions of ''e lo
custs. When the Argentine has a good
crop the prices of wheat in the European
markets are affected and our farmers
often get less for their wheat in conse
quence. In the past year or so flour
mills have been springing np and the Ar
gentine has now more than 500 flour
mills, many of which use machinery im
ported from the United States. The
grain-producing area of the Argentine in
creases every year.
In the United States the average yield
of wheat per acre, taking the whole coun
try, is from twelve to thirteen bushels.
That of the Argentine is not over ten.
Vn England, where the soil is more care
fully studied and cared for, the average
is twenty-nine bushels per acre, in Hol
land twenty-five bushels and in France
eighteen. The most f the wheat of the
Argentine is raised: by, Italian immi
grants, many of whom" farm the land on
shares. They do their'work in the rough
est and most slovenly way. Much of the
wheat is sowed on the ground as it is
first plowed, the grain being dropped
among the clods. Other farmers drag
brush over the field-and some of the bet
ter farmers use the harrow. The plow
ing is done with bullocks, who drag the
plows through the furrows by means of
a yoke attached to their horns. The only
Idea of the man seems to be ttf get the
wheat into the ground and then sit down
and wait for the crop. The farmers do
not seem to care for anything but their
wheat crop. Most of them have no gar
dens. They run their accounts at the
nearest grocery and make annual settle
ments when they sell their wheat Most
AMERICAN CHANCES IN ENGLAND
Many Millions There Awaiting; Immi
grants of the Right Kind.
American immigration to Great Brit
ain sounds strange, yet according to
Alfred C. Harmsworth it is much need
ed and will be
equally beneficial
to both people.
Mr. Harmsworth
should be an intel
ligent authority. He
is the proprietor of
29 publications In
England, including
four dally papers,
one of which, the
C' "HW01ITH. Lodon Da!,y MaU
has the largest circulation in the world
1,250,000 copies.
Speaking of American immigrants to
England Mr. Harmsworth says: "You
ask why the British, empire, with its
population of 388!000,000, needs immi
grants, and I answer that we don't
want them in the bulk, as you do, but
that we obviously offer unique oppor
tunities to certain special skilled brain
workers. Take Mr. Yerkes, for exam
ples He will make more money in a
day In transporting the densely packed
millions of London in his electric tubes
than he does in a week in Chicago. We
have lots of room and money for all
your experts in electrical transit. The
brains you have given to these matters
we have devoted to shipping and gold
mining.
"We own and run under our own flag
9,000,000 of tons of shipping, with 2,- !
000.000 under other flags, as against j
less than 5,000,000 of tons owned by the !
United States,-and we also own most
of the best gold fields of the world, with
the coutrol of the diamond industry
thrown In. But we know practically
nothing about electricity, and your
people can make all the money they
want selling us the wonderful products
of American Invention and industry.
Money is more. easily made in our coun
try than in yours.
"We have iu that small section of the
empire known as Great Britain at least
40,000,000 of people, and though we do
not produce Rockefellers and Astots (I
except of course, my compatriot, Mr.
W. W., of that ilk,we have uiuh tlio
richest and quite the' worst educated of
modern peoples. Our American Immi
grants are profiting by this lack of edu
cation to seize industries right and left.
"We shall learn their methods slowly,
and meanwhile they are making for
tunes while we are paying the price or
national apathy lu regard to modern
methods of transit mid manufacture.
But our American immigrants are not
so successful as they- should be, consid
ering the advantages they possess.
Tike the men who tried to capture our
bicycle Industry as an example. We
were the real pioneers of the cycle
trade. Then you came along with an
equally good bicycle, made by the thou
sand by automatic machinery. You
could easily undersell our band-made
article.
"But you suffered nt first by sending
us a machine unsulted to our national
roads and our national prejudices.
When I heard your salesmen trying to
force goods we did not want at the
cycle exhibits,. I could not but be struck
by your similarity of mind to ours. We
lose all the time by telling customers
what they ought to have, while the Oer
mau gives them what they want
"Well, after a time your bicycle men
got wiser. But what happened? The
makers of all kinds of American bi
cycles,' good and bad, mostly bad, who
had got caught in the slump, dumped
j down their stocks In England and killed
of them drink to excess; and few have
any thought beyond this one crop. The
result is that the failure of a crop means
partial starvation.
The city of Rosario is the Chicago of
South America. It is the chief wheat
market of the Argentine Republic. It
ships thousands of tons of wheat, corn
and linseed every week. Rosario is sit
uated on the Parana river about 200
miles by land from Buenos Ayres. It is
300 miles by water from that city and
about as far inland from the 'Atlantic
ocean as Pittsburg. Ocean steamers sail
for 200 miles up the Rio de la Plata past
Buenos Ayres into the mouth of the Pa
rana, and then for about 300 miles up
the river to Rosario. Rosario itself is
one of the thriving towns of the Argen
tine. It was founded about 175 years
ago, but wheat raising in the Argentine
gave it a great boom, and within the last
the American bicycle from that mo
ment "This," continued Mr. Harmsworth,
'.'is not the only American industry
abroad that is being killed by the
'snide' manufacturer. You have a big
chance now with automobiles; the
American shoe, too, is making great
progress. We shall shortly be spending
$500,000,000 converting our horse car
services to electric; you can get most of
that We must put up two or three
times that amount for new suburban
surface car systems for our big city.
Much of that will go to the immigrant
from America.
"In the newspaper business your im
migrants have already captured much
of the rotary press trade and nearly all
the typesetting and typemaking, and
the best and fastest papermaking ma
chinery comes from your side. Our pa
per will be supplied by our own people
in Canada, who will supply you, too,
unless I am mistaken. The American
immigrant is selling us much of our
farm machinery, and the rest of that
we Import we get from Canada. In
steel and iron he will do well; in loco
motives and other railroad supplies he
is apt to make the mistake of not giving
us what we want, but he will succeed
nevertheless."
SHOW A HEALTHY GROWTH,
Kastcrn Towns Have No Season to Be
Ashamed of 'ibeir Progress.
The rapid growth of the cities of New
England and middle Atlantic States is
perhaps the most striking revelation yet
made - by the twelfth decennial
census. Of the 159 cities of the coun
try having a population of more than
25,000, about eighty had made a greater
numerical gain in the ten years just
closed than in the ten years preceding.
Since it goes without saying, also, that
about the same number grew faster
than the average 32.5 per cent it Is
interesting to ascertain from a study of
the bulletin where these cities are, con
sidered by sections. Such a study af
fords an admirable test of urban
growth .and reveals in a striking man
ner the remarkable progress of the
northwestern part of the country.
Of the eleven cities In the South At
lantic group of States only three grew
faster than the average for the coun
try. Tnese were Atlanta, Norfolk and
Jacksonville. In the south central re
gion only seven out of eighteen grew
footer than the average. In the west
ern group six out of the twelve grew
faster than the average. In the north
central group, comprising the States
north of the Ohio, the old free States,
with the addition of Missouri, twenty
two c'tles out of forty-eight made more
than average progress. . With the coun
try thus divided Into five great sections,
uonc of the four so far mentioned shows
a group of cities in which more than
half were growing faster than the av
erage. The remaining section is the
north Atlantic; in It forty-two out of
seventy cities have grown faster than
.32.5 per cent In Connecticut all five
of its cities of this grade made a show
ing above the average and this can be
said uf no other State In the Union, ex
cept Rhode Island, in which all three
lid the same thing. In New Jersey
seven out of tenf cities were above the
average; in Pennsylvania there were
tleven out of eighteen; in Maine one out
of one, Portland, and in Massachusetts
eleven out of twenty.
It should be borne In mind that the
actual growth of the cities In the north
central region was faster, due to'the
presence of a few cities on the great
lake, but the number of cities to show
this tendency was, as already indicated.
ten years it has almost trebled its popu
lation. It has now about 150,000 rpeople.
It does a big wholesale and retail busi
ness, but the most of its money comes
from wheat.
The wheat is bagged on the farm. The
cars carry it to the edge of the bluff, and
Italian laborers take the bags and pitch
them into chutes leading to the vessels.
The bags fly down one after the other at
the rate of several to the minute. At
harvest time the wheat becomes congest
ed at Rosario. The railroads have more
than they can do to carry the crop, and
almost all other traffic has to be suspend
ed. The result is that the wheat is piled
up in bags at the stations and left there
until it can be shipped. There are no
barns in the Argentine. The weather is
such that the stock feeds out of doors
the year around. There is no chance for
the farmer to store his wheat in barns
less than in the north Atlantic States.
The stagnant cities are round in three
regions, in Eastern Nebraska, Northern
Michigan and at the headquarters of
the Hudson. Omaha, Lincoln and
Sioux City belong to the first group;
Saginaw and Bay City to the second
and Troy and Albany to the third. As
a general rule the cities have grown
faster in the regions of coal beds or of
well-utilized water power. Boston
Transcript.
PREYED ON BRITISH SHIPS.
Schooner Polly, Oldest Vessel Afloat,
Was a Privateer in 1812.
The recent storm on the Atlantic
coast in which so many staunch ves
sels were lost, calis attention to the fa
mous old schooner Tolly, which was
one of the more fortunate of the coast
ing fleet. The Polly is older than most
men, for it was built in Amesbury,
Mass., in 1S05. If the hull timbers of
the sturdy little sixty-five-ton ship
could speak, they might tell many an
exciting story of adventure on the salt
seas, for they have seen nearly a cen
tury of active service. When the Polly
had been off the stocks but seven years
the second war with Great Britain
broke out The boat was then owned
and commanded by Captain Jeduthan
Upton, a patriot, who fitted his tiny
vessel up with cannon, put on board an
armed crew of twenty men, and start
ed out as a privateer to prey on British
shipping. A few months after the
Polly was captured by his British Maj
esty's ship Phoebe, of forty-four guns.
The Captain and his men were taken
to England, where they were impris
oned for seven months. The prize crew
placed on board the Polly, however, re
volted and went over into the service
of the United States.
At the present time the Polly is
owned and commanded by Captain Mc
Farland, of Calais, Me. For ninety
years it has been known as one of the
fastest sailing vessels on the north
coast and it can still show a clean pair
of heels to many of Its more modern
rivals. It has been a long time since
the Polly made a regular ocean voy
age. It Is now employed in trading
between ports on the Maine coast
SHOPPING IN PARIS.
In the Opinion of Lilian Bell Earth
Holds No Greater Pleasnre.
Lillian Bell gives the result of her
shopping experiences abroad in the
Ladies' Home Companion in an Inter
esting paper entitled "Shopping in the
Great Cities of Europe." Of Paris, the
most delightful of all cities for the
woman who would buy, she says:
"I consider shopping in Paris one of
the greatest pleasures to be found In
this vale of tears. The shops, with the
exception of the Louvre, the Bon
Marche and one or two of the large de
partment stores of similar scope, are all
small tiny, In fact and exploit but one
or two things. A tiny shop for fans
will be next to a milliner who makes
a specialty of nothing but gauze thea
ter bonnets. Perhaps next will come a
linen store,- where the windows will
have nothing but the most fascinating
embroidery, handkerchiefs and neck
FAMOri SCHOONER FOLLY.
and he has to rely upon the railroads for
getting it to the markets. The wheat is
carried to the cars from such farms as
are far from the railroad in bullock carts,
the wheels of which are about eight feet
high. A load weighing several tons is
balanced between a couple of these
wheels, and from a dozen to sixteen bill
locks are harnessed in front of it. In
some few of the large farms modern ma
chinery is used, and the threshing is com
monly done with European or American
threshers.
The Argentine is subject to droughts,
and the crop rises and falls according to
the weather. The worst thing, however,
that the farmers have to contend with
is the locusts. The pests that infest
the Argentine are fully as bad as the lo
cust plague with which the Lord afflicted
Pharaoh. The only difference was that
Pharaoh had his locuste for a few days,
but the Argentine seems to be having
theirs as a regular thing. The locusts
are produced by the millions every year,
and a swarm thinks nothing of a (light of
500 miles from its breeding ground
through the heart of the wheat country.
The locusts appear in great swarms,
which often darken the sun if they fly be
tween you and it. They light on every
thing green and begin eating. The
branches of the trees bend down wih
their weight, and you can hear the snap
ping of their jaws as they crunch the
leaves. They will clean the crops from
the fields, eating the grain down to the
ground. Sometimes they will take ihe
green wheat from one side of the road
and pass by that on the other, and thev
sometimes fly on and on for days over
rich fields to feed on those beyond. The
next swarm may eat that which is left.
This pest of the locust has been so
great that the Argentine government has'
been spending large sums of money to
get rid of them. The methods for ex
terminating them are many and costly.
Thousands of dollars are spent every
year to kill them. They are caught in
traps of corrngated iron. They are scoop
ed up with scrapers and killed; poisons
are used, and the grass, plants and weeds
are sprinkled with arsenic, kerosene and
creosote. They are caught in bags, driv
en into ditches and are killed in all sorts
of ways. In 1896 it is estimated that
$80,000,000 worth of wheat was destroy
ed by locusts in two states of the Argen
tine. This impoverished the farmers of
those states, and the national government
spent $10,000,000 that year in giving
them seed wheat. If the locusts are to
come every year it will be a long time
before the Argentine can have a serious,
permanent 'effect upon the wheat market
of the world.
wear. Then comes the man who sells
belts of every description, and parasol
handles. Perhaps your next window
will have such a display of diamond
necklaces as would justify you in sup
posing that the stock would make Tif
fany choke with envy; but If you enter
you will find yourself in an aperture in
the wall which holds an iron safe, a
two-by-four showcase and three chairs,
and you will find that everything of
value the owner has, except the clothes
he wears. Is In his window.
"So long as these shops are all crowd
ed together, and so small, to shop In
Paris Is really much more convenient
than in one of our large department
stores at home, with the additional de
light of having smiling, interested ser
vice. The proprietor himself enters in
to your wants, and uses his quickness
and intelligence to supply your de
mands. He may be, and very likely Is,
doubling the price on you because you
are an American, but if your bruised
spirit is like mine you will be perfectly
willing to pay a little extra for polite
ness. It is a truth that I have brought
home with me no article from Paris
which does not carry with it pleasant
recollections of the way I bought it.
Can any woman who has shopped in
America bring forward a similar state
ment?" How One Firm Struck Oil.
A peculiar accident near Six Points,
Ohio, recently gave an oil-producing
firm visions of limitless wealth.
.This firm drilled a well on the Wake
field farm, near the village. All of the
nitroglycerin shells were lowered safe
ly into the well except the last one,
which lodged within twenty-five feet
of the surface, and was exploded in the
efforts of the shooter to dislodge it
This was considered unfortunate, but
to the amazement of the men the oil be
gan to gush forth In a manner which
promised to make It the biggest well
in the history of the oil business. The
flow was so strong that the derrick was
almost instantly deluged from top to
bottom, and it soon caught fire from
the boiler and was burned to the
ground.
The Buckeye Pipe Line Company's
eight-Inch line, through which 6,000
barrels of oil pass each day, suddenly
shut down. The company stopped its
pumps and started to make an inves
tigation. Before many hours the shut
off had been traced to this well. They
discovered that the well had been
drilled almost on the line, which had
been broken by the shot and the oil
which seemed to come from the well
was coming from the pipe line. This
investigation ended the career of the
greatest spouter in Northwestern Ohio.
China Rich in Coal Deposits.
China contains some of the richest
coal deposits In the world. Last fall
Professor Drake, of Tien-tsin. visited
the coal fields In the province of Shan
si, which were examined by Baron von
Richthofen in 1870, and found that they
are of immense extent The coal area
is said to be greater than that of Penn
sylvania and the anthracite coal alone
contained in these fields has been esti
mated at 630,000,000 tons. The Shansi
coal beds are so thick and He so uni
formly in a horizontal position that th
practicability has been suggested ol
running long lines of railroad tunnels
through the beds so that the cars can
be loaded in the mines all ready for
distant transportation.
No lady should listen to the gossip of
her servant girl, or repeat It. but near
ly every lady does It
Some men acquire that tired feo'lag
from looking for an easy b.
Demolition of Tavistock Home, In
Which He Lived Nine Years.
An Interesting memorial of Charles
Dickens is now In course of destruction
by the house-breaker, says the London
News. Tavistock House, Tavistock
square, to which he removed on leav
ing Devonshire terrace In 18'51, Is
being pulled down by the ground land
lord, the Duke of Bedford. Ui to the
present the bouse, which was t band
some, substantial and well-kept build
ing, remained externally just as Dick
ens left it In 1800, arid as It stands In
the engraviug in Forster's "Life of
Dickens." It has undergone some
vicissitudes since Dickens' days. He
sold it to Mr. Davis, a Jewish gentle
man", of whom be said iu a letter to
Mr. Willis: "I must say that in all
things the purchaser has behaved
thoroughly well, and that I 'cannot call
to mind any occasion when I have had
money dealings with a Christian that
have been so satisfactory, considerate
and trusting."
i Mr. Davis was succeeded by Mr. and
Mrs. Weldon, with whom Gounod
lived for some time, holding singing
classes in the large drawing room. Of
late years the house has been a Jews'
college, and latterly has for some
months been, empty. It stands behind
the northeast corner of Tavistock
' square, and, like its neighbor, Bedford
house, which is also being dismantled,
is too large for the neighborhood.
Dickens occupied the bouse for nine
years. He bought it of bis friend.
Frank Stone, who had lived there sev
eral years. Dickens' honse in Devon
shire terrace had become too small for
him. and his lease was falling in. Stone
was also preparing a new house for
himself, and moved his furniture into
the Devonshire terrace house, that
j Dickens might carry out some changes
in Tavistock house, which were plan
ned tiv Ilia hrnthor-in-1nn7 ITonrv Ana.
tin. Dickens and his family went to
Broadstairs while these works were
being carried out. and removed into
Tavistock house in November. Mr.
Forster tells us that "Bleak House"
was begun in his new abode of Tav
istock house, at the end of November,
1851.
In the first Twelfth Night in the new
home the children's theatricals were
being run, and were renewed till the
chief actors were children no longer.
"The best of these performances,"
says Mr. Forster, "were 'Tom Thumb
and 'Fortuuio,' In 1854 and 1855.
Dickens now joining first in the revel
and Mr. Mark Lemon bringing Into it
his own clever children and a very
mountain of child-pleasing fun in him
self." At a later period the schoolroom
was turned into a theater. Clarkson
Stanfield providing the scenery and
Cooke, of Astley's, planning the seats.
"You will be surprised at the look of
the place," wrote Dickens. "It is no
more like the schoolroom than it is like
the sign of the Salutation inn at Am
bleside, in WTestmoreland."
Dickens was overwhelmed with re
quests from friends to see the play.
"My audience Is now ninety-three," he
wrote, in despair, "and at least ten will
neither hear nor see." So the play was
continued for several nights. After he
acquired Gadshill place, and made it
a temporary summer residence, he still
regarded Tavistock house not only as
his London residence, but as his home.
It continued to be his permanent fam
ily abode till 1SG0, when he sold it and
finally removed to Gadshill. His nine
years' occupancy of it lias made It an
object of much interest, and Ami-riean
admirers especially have constantly
sought it out
The Hen's Delusion.
Ephraim Knox lived in the center of
his native village, and his hens wan
dered here and there at their own sweet
will, to the frequent annoyance of his
neighbors. Ephraim, however, was no
respecter of persons, and considered his
hens "as good as anybody," and de
sirable visitors.
When it was decided that the town
library should be built in a vacant lot
"next door to him," Ephraim was tilled
with pride and joy, and he and his hens
superintended operations from the first.
Ephralm's brother Seth was not de
voted to hens. One day he was passing
the site of the library with a friend and
stopped to view the progress of affairs.
Ephralm's hens were there, cackling
away as if their lives depended on it
Seth looked at them in disgust.
"What in the world are those hens
making such a noise for, do you sup
pose? There ajn't any grain in there,"
said the friend.
"Well," remarked Seth, dryly, "they
've had the oversight of 'most every
thing in town. You know the corner
stone of the building was laid yester
day, and I calc-late that speckled hen
over there thinks she laid it!"
A Trick of the Trade.
'I I think I would like to look at a
diamond ring," said the young man as
the jeweler cie forward.
Exactly, sir. A diamond ring for a
lady?"
'Yes."
'A young lady?"
'Yes."
'A young lady to whom you are en
gaged ?"
'What's the difference whether I'm
engaged to her or not?" asked the cus
tomer, with considerable tartness.
'A great deal, sir. You intend this
ring for a Christmas present prob
ably?"
. "I probably do."
"Very well We have diamond rings
for $25 and diamond rings for $50, $75,
and $100. If not actually engaged to
the girl, take a $25 ring, and when she
brings it in here to find out the cost
we'll lie $50 worth for your benefit. If
really engaged, take a higher price, and
you can pawn it for two-thirds of its
value after marriage. Now. then, make
your selection. Washington Post.
No Backbiter.
Mr. Johnson Did you remawk at de
club night dat I looked like a lobster,
sun?
Mr. Jackson No, suh. I am no back
bitter, suh. If I wished to east any
aspersions upon de lobster family I
should go right to a fish market and
do It straight to deyr faces, suh. Dat's
my style, suh! Puck.
If a man can't find work in s vu.
be might as well quit looking.