7
THE DAWSON TRAIL.
Get. down to your work, you dog of
slave dog!
Get down to yoar work, I say!
It's tonsht hard trail we've come, dog,
Atfo the camp is far away.
FiC) for the life of us both, dog.
For dark is the end of day!
Get down to yoar work, you dog of
dog!
Get down to yoar work, I say!
lied is the sun in the southern sky;
Bed is the trail behind the sleigh;
lied is the foot of the sled-dog gray;
Cold is the end of day.
Get down to your work! Shall a man
for a dog
Throw a man's life away?
The trail grows dim, and the tree trunks
gray;
In the northern sky the maidens play;
The goblins dance in the Milky- Way;
Black is the end of day!
Harper's Magazine.
HEN the men of the service
left Valdez to build the mili
tary lines through the interior
of Alaska, Langtield went with them.
He was undeniably plain, undersized
and 'over sensitive, and that was why
he felt certain that Dolly could never
love him. To be sure, he had had no
intention of loving her, but when six
feet two of well-developed manhood,
in the person of Tom Terry, came down
from Circle City prospecting, Langtield
found intentions and love had nothing
to do with each other.
Tom and Dolly had known each other
In the States, and Langfleld watched
with hopeless pain the renewal of their
friendship. She had grown shy with
him since Perry came, and there could
be but one reason, he argued. He did
notblame her; there was nothing in"
him to inspire a woman's love, and
Tom . So he packed his flute and
his knapsack and left with scarcely a
farewell.
The men were not fond of Langfleld.
He had a way of shrinking into him
self that only Shivers, the camp mas--
cot, a lank, mongrel Siwash with the
stump of a tall, understood.
Langfleld seldom joined the camp
fires, but when the fever broke out
Langfleld was the first to offer his ser
vices. He was not afraid of contagion,
he told the sergeant, and anyway there
was no one at home who needed him.
After that he and Shivers took up their
quarters in the hospital tent.
The fever had its run, but only one,
thanks to the nursing, was borne up
the trail and laid away under the snow.
Langfleld planed a piece of spruce
scantling and drove It in by the mound,
but his hand was unsteady, and his
eyes were heavy and dull.
The top sergeant, on his rounds the
next morning, found him sitting up in
his blankets. His face was swollen
and discolored, and he was talking ex
citedly to Shivers.
"You mustn't let Dolly get the fever,"
he said, "she's so little. Nor Tom
promise me you won't let Tom." Shiv
ers whined and thrust his muzzle into
his master's palm. "She couldn't help
loving him," Langfleld continued de
fensively. "You know she couldn't
yourself!" He fell back on the pillow
and tossed restlessly for a moment.
"It'll be cool up there under the snow,"
he began again, "and I won't be heavy
to pack. And say " He sat up, pull
ing the dog close to him, "maybe she'll
forget that my hair was red."
The men were very tender to Lang
fleld after that, and Shivers seldom left
his bedside.
When, some weeks later, he became
convalescent, he seemed smaller and
slighter than ever, and his hair shone
more vividly red against the pinched,
white face. They carried him out Into
the sunshine, but his eyes wandered
regretfully up to the snow.
In a month he was at his post again,
doing the work of two men, with
scarcely the strength of one.
He went down the mountain one
night an hour behind time. The trail
was slushy, and the early gray twi
light lent a soft indistinctness every
where. Suddenly he paused. From
somewhere there came a faint cry,
weak and indistinct, but undeniably
human.
Langfleld made a trumpet of his
hands. "Hel lo!" he shouted, and
strained his ears for the reply.
Some ten feet down the trail a gla
cier stream had gullied out the bank.
Its icy, slate-colored waters fell almost
perpendicularly over the rocks. Creep
ing to the slippery edge, he peered over
and called again. A faint voice an
swered. A steep, shelving path was just vis
ible, and he clambered down to it,
scratched and torn by the brambles at
every step. A little further on a roll
of blankets Impeded his way, and he
knew that somewhere in the ravine be
low he Hvould find a prospector.
The man proved to be a big fellow,
but the light was too dim to see his
face. The force of his fall had wedged
one leg between the crevices of rock,
and It took I.angtield's entire strength
to extricate him. He pressed his can
teen to he stranger's lips, and rubbed
him vigorously.
"It's no use," said the man at last,
"I can't make it!" and he sank limply
on the bank.
The night wore on. Slowly the gray
skirts of dawn swept across the east
ern sky. The prospector could not see
Langfleld' s face, but the slight, droop
ing shoulders seemed familiar. The
pain was growing unbearable, and he
groaned.
Langfleld started. "Yes, yes," he an
swered abseutly. "I'd forgotten," and
jumped to his feet.
The morning light was flooding ev
erything, and it fell upon the two men,
as they looked into each other's eyes.
Laugtield drew in his breath with sud
den sharpness. The other muttered
an oath and leaned weakly back to
ward him. "You!"
The man nodded.
The lines on Langfleld's face were
tense and drawn, and he steadied him
self with au effort. "Well." he said at
last, "it's three miles to camp, and we'd
better be moving."
Tfcere were a few drops left in his
WONDERFUL BRAIN
RAILWAY POSTAL CLERKS UNDER EXAMINATION OF SCHEMES.
rrr"HlNGS that a railway postal 1 fersons, and so on. In some instances
HINGS that a railway postal
clerk must remember have in-
II clerk must remember have, in-
creased in such volume that one
would think every ceil of his brain
would be filled with the name of a
postoffice or railway connection, and
the wonder is that the clerk's mind
does not falter under the pressure. De
spite these facts, cases of insanity
among this class of public servants are
rare. One Chicago postal clerk main
tained for several years a record of
21,000 cards (which take the place of
letters in examinations) with an aver
age per cent of correct distribution of
a fraction over 99 per cent. He knew
how to reach that many offices in sev
eral States by the shortest, quickest
route, and he knew the correct location
of each office in its State.
A clerk on the New York and Chicago
railway postofHce must know the cor
rect location of every postoffice in a
group of States made up of Illinois,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota,
South Dakota and Nebraska. In these
seven States there are 12,317 postof
fices. Not only is the clerk required
to be "up" on the general scheme,
which means the correct location of the
postoffices in each State, but he must
know bow to reach the whole 12,000
postoffices from one or more stations.
A clerk running between Chicago and
Minneapolis underwent no fewer than
seventy-eight examinations In fifteen
years, learning 13,306 offices in fifteen
different sections of the United States.
In some of these examinations he was
required to make a Chicago city distri
bution, which means that while run
ning over the country at the rate of a
mile a minute he must distribute letters
to the carriers of the Chicago delivery.
He must know not only where every
public building and leading mercantile
house is located, but also how to divide
the numbers on a particular street so
that he can "tie out" his letters to the
correct carrier, according to the route
of -the latter. This same clerk made
thirteen examinations in ten months,
with an average correct distribution of
99.88 per cent. In twenty examinations
he came out of nine of them with a
clear 100 per cent each.
Think of such a task, taking into con
sideration the puzzling similarity of
names that are used to designate post
offices. Then, too, must be considered
the fact that there are hundreds of
cases where in each State is a postoffice
of the same name. For instance, in the
States named above there are five post
offices named Hamilton, six Grants,
four Garfields, four Genevas, four
Smithvilles, four Spartas and five Jef-
canteen. He offered them to his com
panion, converted himself into a prop
for the wounded side, and the slow,
painful journey down the trail began.
Neither of them talked much. The
mist hung midway on the mountain,
and when they emerged from it the
company's quarters lay on the ledge be
low. Already the camp was astir.
The two men upon the path paused,
exhausted. Langfleld eased the sick
man down and threw himself beside
him. He had not eaten since the day
before, and was weak and giddy. For
the first time Perry's helplessness
tempted him. Why should this man
have everything which he had been de
nied? Langtield mechanically slipped his
hand to the sheath in his belt, stole a
glance at his companion, and saw that
his eyes were closed. He drew out the
knife and held it behind him.
Just then Perry gave a stifled moan.
The sound brought Langfleld to his
senses. What was this he had intend
ed to do? A fit of trembling seized
him. He rose to his feet, though he
reeled as he did so. There was a swift
movement of his right arm, and some
thing glanced in the light and fell far
below them in the brush.
"No one needs me," he thought, "and
Tom "
"Come," he said aloud, ''we must get
you down for your wife's sake."
The man did not reply at first. When
he did his voice was a trifle husky.
"I have none," he said.
Langfleld stared at him. "Why Dol
ly " he blurted out. "She " He
began and stopped again, but Perry un
derstood. "N o," he replied, with an effort,
"she didn't want me." He turned nis
head and looked unseeingly across the
valley. "There was someone else," he
said.
"Someone else?" Langfleld stupidly
repeated.
"Yes," answered the other, "and it
aeems the fool couldn't understand!"
There was a moment's silence. "She's
waiting till the company's ordered
back," he added.
Langfleld drew his hand across his
forehead. The snow, high up on the
mountains, seemed a swimming sea of
white; the little stream beside them
roared like a cataract In his ears.
Perry made an effort to rise, but fell
back in a spasm of pain.
"She loves my God, man!" he cried
vehemently, "are you an idiot? She
loves you!" Ladies' World.
WORK !
Mall Clerks' Jlemories j
Heavily Taxed.
there is a postoffice of the same name
in each of the seven States. As one may
imagine, this only tends to confuse the
average mind.
" Periodically the clerks are examined
at railway mail headquarters. Packs of
cards, each card bearing the' name of
a postoffice, are furnished a candidate
for examination. He takes a position
in front of a case of pigeon holes label
ed with the names of different railway
postoffices throughout the country. He
"throws" the cards, distributing them
to proper.routes, just as he would pack
ages in a postal car. After he finishes
the examiner goes over the cards and
charges up the errors the clerk has
made and gives him his percentage of
correct distribution. The clerk also is
examined on general and "standpoint"
or station schemes at different times.
There are some features about the
work that one would think would ren
der it impossible for a clerk to main
tain his "lay" of the States, which be
is exp'ected to work. He may have a
run which lands him in Chicago to con
nect three leading railway postoffices
running between Chicago and New
York. With but little notice he may be
taken off the run and be brought to
Chicago in the afternoon instead of
2:20 a. m. Notwithstanding this inter
ruption, he goes on with his work with
but few errors.
It is asserted at railway mail service
headquarters that there are clerks who
have reached the capacity of their
minds in the matter of remembering
names. They now remember so many
that it would be absolutely impossible
to learn another State or part of a
State. It would seem that of the mill
Ions of cells in their brain machinery
none are left to fill, all having been
taken up in the prosecution of the ex
acting duties imposed by their occupa
tion. Another queer phase of the work is
that not always do the oierks who
stand the best examinations and make
the best averages show the best rec
ords In the car. 4. man may have a
State in the most exact manner, but
lack ability in remembering railway
connections or something else which he
is required to remember.
The evidence of wonderfully reten
tive memories is found in the general
run of examinations made at headquar
ters. In one year at the offices of the
sixth division of the railway mail ser
vice in Chicago 2,427 examinations
were made. Cards to the number of
nearly 3,500,000 were "thrown" and the
average per cent of correct distribution
reached 98.48 Chicago Record-Herald.
RECENT CAPTURE MADE
OF A RARE WILD BIRD.
The lammergeyer Is a species of the
vulture of which little has been written,
or, indeed, known, but one of which
was recently cap
tured. It is found
chiefly in Southern
Europe and Asia, In
mount ainous re
gions. Neither fitted nor
inclined to lead a
life of sanguinary
warfare, it ban
quets on carrion. Its
powers are adapted to its Instincts. Its
beak is feeble compared with that of
the eagle. The toes are longer, feebler,
with huge hooked claws, and incapable
of grasping a heavy weight during
flight.
Where he finds his food, there he ban
quets, never attempting to carry it to
his haunts. Of a powerful and robust
build, he has neither the bill nor thejstraw ls piaCed upon the top layer of
talons of the eagle, the former being ' cakes and the packing is then complete,
elongated and hooked only at the top Twenty or thirty thousand tons are
and the latter comparatively small and
feeble. Nor has he an exclusive appe
tite for blood, carrion and putrid ani
mals being greedily devoured by it.
This rare bird attacks lambs, kids and
the weak and sickly of the flock. The
strong limbed chamois is not secure,
nor, when rendered desperate by hun-
er, will the ravenous bird forebear an
attack on man. Children are said tJ
have often fallen
pacity.
a sacrifice to its ra-
Gave Him an Idea.
"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Mrs.
Henry Peck. "This paper tells of a man
who was declared insane and his wife
got a divorce and now he gets the
courts to declare him sane again. Now,
what do you "
But Mr. Peck was out of the room
and walking swiftly through the hall,
murmuring:
"I wonder where they give short-time
rates on padded cells." Baltimore
American.
Our Coal-Producing Longs.
The volume of carbouic acid exhaled
by a healthy person in twenty-four
hours is about fifteen thousand cubic
inches, containing about six ounces of
solid carbon. This ls at the rate of 137
avoirdupois per annum; and, taking the
population of the world at a thousand
millions, this means that the human
race breathe out every year sixty-one
million tons of solid carbon.
GATHERING THE ICE CROP.
Cutting; System Sow in XJmo la More
Elaborate than Old Method.
In these modern days the catting of
Ice is a much more elaborate process
than it was fifteen or twenty years ago,
when workmen simply went out on the
frozen surfaces of lakes and rivers with
a one-handled crosscut saw and cut out
the cakes, which were drawn up an in
cline into the icehouses by means of
ropes. Nowadays each cake is handled
more or less by about a dozen men be
fore it reaches its place in the icehouse.
In the first place, if the surface of the
ice is not perfectly clear it is swept or
scraped free of all snow or anything
else that may be lying upon. it. Then
the marker, the man who is to scratch
the lines along which the ice cakes are
to be cut, begins operations. In a
frame, to which bandies ''similar to
those of a plow are attached for guid
ing purposes, are two teeth, one in the
rear of the other. A horse attached to
this frame drags it over the ice while
it is directed by the driver who holds
the handles. The teeth cut into the ice
deep enough to leave a fissure that can
easily be traced. After cutting lines,
all running in the same direction, the
marker cross-cuts these with lines run
ning at right angles, thus marking out
the exact size of the cakes to be cut
After the marking off is completed, or
ometimesbef ore it is finished, the cut
ting machine is brought out on the ice.
This machine is somewhat similar in
design to the marker, but It is of heav
ier construction, stronger, and has teeth
about ten inches in length. Often both
this machine and the marker have an
extension arm fitted with teeth, the
stretch of the arm being the exact
width of a cake of ice. The cutting ma
chine Is driven up and down the Ice
until the knives or teeth have cut into
It their full length. If the Ice Is over ten
inches in thickness the cutting is, of
course, not yet completed and the old
hand-saws are brought Into play to fin-
ICE HARVEST, AT
ish the job. The cakes of ice are then
ready for the man with the crowbar,
who pries them apart and sends them
floating down toward the point where
they leave the water on the way to the
interior of the icehouses. The cakes are
generally cut about twenty or twenty
two inches square, as the most con
venient size for handling and transpor
tation. The houses for storing the ice are, of
course, built so close to the water that
the elevator for hauling up the ice can
recb from the top of the building
down to the water s edge. The build
ings are, as a rule, about the height of
a three or four story structure, and are
from 100 to 150 feet in width by more
than that in length. The walls are
usually double, with an air chamber
of about a foot between the two walls.
Sometimes the walls are treble, with
two air chambers for the protection of
the ice. The interior is divided into
several great compartments, which are
as separate as if they were in different
buildings. This arrangement Is made so
that it will not be necessary to expose
the whole of the interior to the outer
air when taking out a load of ice for
market.
An endless chain system, more or less
like the straw elevator of a thrashing
machine, is used for carrying the ice
from the water to the building. This
chain is operated by a steam en
gine placed just underneath it and just
outside of the icehouse. The chain is a
wide, flat surface, wide enough to eas
ily accommodate a cake of ice, or even
more. The chain dips down into the
water, and while It is moving workmen
push the cakes of Ice upon It and they
are carried upward and into the ice
house, where they are packed evenly
together by ice shovers. Nothing what
ever is placed about the ice, the old
sawdust packing system being quite
passe. When the house is nueo nay or
often packed away in one house.
UNCLE SAM'S POISONER
Not Generally Known that This Gov
ernment Maintains One.
In a little house In South Washington
is located a Federal Institution without
which the Smithsonian Institution and
- National Museum could not exist. It
is the department of the chief poisoner,
Joseph Farmer. The office of chief
poisoner was not unusual In countries
ruled by despots, but It may be a sur
prise to many to learn that such an
office is maintained by our own repub
lican form of administration.
However, Mr. Farmer, unlike his con
temporaries in Turkey, Spain, Arabia,
etc., is not engaged in putting obnox
ious and exuberant statesmen out of
the way, but In placing the objects on
exhibit In the institution and museum
beyond the reach of thieves, rust, and
cockroaches.
Everything that Is received by these
institutions, whether it is a rare book, J
a Filipino bolo, or a stuffed and mount
ed animal, is sent to Mr. Farmer to be
poisoned. He is an expert in the prep
aration and use of preservative com
pounds. For stuffed animals and birds
he finds that arsenical compounds bring
the best results.. Every object of metal
receives a coating of something that
prevents rust, while fabrics, basketry,
I silks, furs etc., are poisoned in much
the same manner as stuffed animals.
Even the shelves and cases of the mu
seum, in which the objects are placed,
have passed through Mr. Farmer
hands and been treated to a fluid that
causes a bug, moth, or cockroach to
think that he is walking over a red hot
Iron the minute he strikes their surface.
By these means the museum is forever
freed from vermin. Washington Post.
Cloths Woven from Bocks
The weaving of stone into material
for clothing, the making of flexible and
lasting granite trousers black marble
coats and fancy onyx waistcoats may
be a possibility of the future, the weav
era say. They remind the Philadelphia
Record that already curtains are made
of asbestos and cloth . manufactured
from chalk.
James McGuck, a Manayunk spinner,
has an armchair covered with a soft
and silky fabric of Titian red, which he
wove toilsomely out of rock, out of "red
shell," the crumbling stone of which
Manayunk masons build cheap houses.
McGuck thus describes the weaving:
"I threw about a ton of the rock, in
lumps as big as your head, into the
picker. The picker blades were dulled.
hut the rock was crushed, and came
out good stock, with a staple an inch
long like asbestos.
"This fluffy stuff I threw into my
carding-machine, and first it became a
soft, inch-thick rope, then a harder,
quarter-inch twine, and at this point
my mule took it and twisted it till it
was an ordinary thread, like that you
see on a spool of cotton. I wove it on
a hand-loom then.
"This little piece of cloth It's elgh
teen Inches square Is all I got. It took
a ton of rock to make It. I claim it is
the first cloth ever woven out of real
rock In thchistory of the world."
Propagating the Mistletoe.
The story of how the mistletoe gets on
the trees Is a most Interesting one. Cov
ering the mistletoe twigs are pearly
white berries. These come in the win
ITS HEIGHT.
ter season, when food is comparatively
scarce, and hence some of our birds eat
them freely. Now when a robin eats a
cherry he swallows simply the meat
and flips the stone away. The seed of
the mistletoe the bird cannot flip. It is
sticky and holds to his bill. His only
resource is to wipe it off, and he does
so, leaving it sticking to the branches
of the tree on which he is sitting at the
time. This seed sprouts after a time,
and not finding earth which indeed its
ancestral habit has made it cease want
ingit sinks its roots into the bark of
the tree and hunts there for the pipes
that carry the sap. Now the sap in the
bark is the very richest in the tree, far
richer than that in the wood, and the
mistletoe gets from its host the choicest
of food. With a strange foresight it
does not throw its leaves away, as do
most parasites, but keeps them to use
in winter, when the tree Is leafless. La
dies' Home Journal.
Boy Seasick, but Game.
He was one of three diminutive mes
senger boys hired to remain aboard the
big ocean-going tugboat that followed
the yachts. There was quite a general
swell on when the tug got out about
the lightship and the wind, coming up
strong, made a nasty sea.
The dipping and rolling of the boat
made this boy more sick than the
others. He lay on the after deck, un
able to move and groaning at intervals
Once In a great while he raised his dull,
heavy eyes to note the positions of the
yachts.
All day he lay there, refusing to go
Inside the spacious cabin. When the
tug pulled In at the pier he was so weak
he had to be helped ashore.
His face was haggard, and, supported
by his companions, he dragged himself
up the pier, eliciting sympathy from all
the yachting reporters.
Half-way up the pier he hobbled over
to' the reporter who had been in charge
of the boat that day, says the New York
Mail and Express, and placed two blue
and trembling hands on the wrist of
the newspaper man. His wan face was
raised, and he said in a hoarse, tense
whisper:
"Hey, mister! If yer want a boy agin
termorrer ask fur me, will yer, mister?"
He was game.
Two Signs.
One who is on the lookout for curi
ous signs and advertisements can easily
find them without going far from home.
A dweller in a New England village
quotes two which appear on carts that
often pass her door.
The first comes into sight accompa
nied by a jingling of sleigh-bells which,
summer and winter alike, decorate the i
trappings of an old white horse. It
reads: "Home Made Bakery. Mixed
Pickles and Brooms a Specialty."
The second is in gold letters on the
sides of a gay red wagon drawn by a
pair of black steeds. This is it: "B.
Ware. Tin Ware, Confectionery &
Crackers."
Amenities,
Miss Passay Here's a portrait of me
that I consider good. It's by an ama
teur, and it's rather faded, but :
Miss Slye Yes; it's very lifelike.
Philadelphia Press.
People are often a thousand times
obliged when ten cents would come
nearer paying for the service rendered.
HAPPY WEDDED LIFE.
MANY LIVE .IT, BUT ALL HAVE
THEIR DISAGREEMENTS.
When the Old Couple at Their Golden
Wedding; Sax They Hits Never Quar
reled, Do Not Take Statement mm Lit
erally True, for They Probata y Hare.
An old couple in New Jersey recent
ly celebrated the sixty-eighth anniver
sary of their wedding. The newspaper
reports closed with the statement:
"They have never had a quarreL" Fre
quently, - indeed, almost Invariably,
couples on the occasion of their silver
or golden wedding declare that- tbey
never had a quarrel; that the serenity
of their companionship never has beer.
interrupted by harsh words or the most
trivial bickering.
Never give any credit to such state
ments. The persons who make them
may really believe them at the time,
as warmth and kindness of infatuation
Intensified by the occasion corrupt the
memory of aged couples and. move
them to boast of their good fortune. No
one should criticise this falling, which
is harmless and even beautiful, but
which nevertheless is treason of the
cold truths. The old man sits at the
head of the table with his old wife at
his side. Both have been toasted and
it is necessary to reply. He rises and
says: "We have lived together for
half a century and have never quar
reled," and the good wife, In her black
gown and her best laces, beams on her
children, her grandchildren and assem
bled friends, and confirms the false
hood with a nod.
Frequently, too, younger couples cir
culate the same fiction about them
selves. In company they are very de
voted to each other. She continually
gives him playful fiillips on the cheek,
and "dearest" is the coldest name by
which he addresses her. From their
own stories it appears that their mar
ried life has been uninterrupted beauti
tude. They bask in each other's
glances and are exalted, transfigured
by love.
Other young' couples, who are fond
of each other and who get on very well
together, though not without little
quarrels, may behold how extremely
peaceably the first young couple dwell
together. Perhaps a young wife will
accuse herself of being too quick of
temper and too sharp of tongue. Per
haps both will "think that their mar
riage has not been as successful as it
might have been. Then they may put
their arms about each other, deplore
past quarrels and past hardships, re
new their vows of love and resolve to
make the future atone for what cannot
be undone.
Such self-criminations will do no
harm. Such renewals of the vows of
affection will make a day or a week
more pleasant, perhaps, than it would
have been. It is well for husband and
wife now and then to beg pardon of
each other. But no young couple should
believe that, because they fall out once
in a while, exchange sharp words, lose
their tempers and spoil a dinner by
quarreling, their marriage is a failure;
a failure, at least, by comparison.
Nothing could be more untrue or more
unjust to themselves. All married
couples have had their little bickerings,
and when any couple say they have
lived together fifty years, or even ten
years, without a quarrel, they are
either the one exceptional couple out
of one thousand or they say what is
not true. True, the husband may never
have attempted to stab his wife, nor
the wife plotted to poison her husband,
but be sure they have more than once
scolded each other, taunted each other,
been angry at each other and, in short,
quarreled outright with each other.
They have, been reconciled, of course;
their life together has been harmonious,
except for occasional discords; tliey
really love each other; but believe this,
they have had their quarrels. San
Francisco Bulletin.
IS YOUR BUTTER GENUINE?
No Need for Doubtinsr When There
Are t-imple Ways of Testing It.
There are so many kinds of butter
and butter substitutes on the market
nowadays that the housekeeper is of
ten unable to ascertain if she has real
ly got the genuine article or not. Here
are two tests that will enable anybody
to discover whether spurious butter
has been foisted on them.
One of the best ways to learn just
what sort of stuff is being spread upon
the family bread is known as the "boil
ing test." It was invented by a detec
tive about ten years ago, and was, of
course, used simply for the purpose of
discovering whether or not merchan
dise being sold as the genuine article
was spurious. This test consists mere
ly in boiling briskly a small portion of
the sample and observing its behavior
the while.
Melt the sample to be tested in an
old iron tablespoon, hastening the pro
cess by stirring with a small splinter of
wood, as, for instance, a match with
the phosphorus removed, or a tooth
pick.
Then, increasing the heat, bring to
as brisk a boil as possible, and after
the boiling has begun, stir thoroughly
the contents of the spoon not neglect
ing the outer edges two or three times
at intervals during the boiling, always
Shortly before the boiling ceases.
Genuine butter boils usually with
very little, if any, noise, and produces
an abundance of "foam." "Process"
butter and oleomargarine sputter as
they boil, and produce practically no
"foam." The composition article may
produce a little, but the amount is so
small that it can easily be distinguish
ed from the genuine article.
The utensils required for another
method of testing are one half-pint tin
measuring cup, common in kitchen use,
marked at the half and quarters, or a
plain one-half pint tin measure, or an
ordinary small tin cup, two and three
quarters inches in diameter and two
inches In height, holding about one gill
and a half; a common pan, about nine
and a half inches in diameter at the
base, and a small rod of wood the
thickness of a match and of convenient
length for stirring, and finally a clock
or watch.
This process for distinguishing oleo
margarine is as follows: Use sneet
skimmed milk, obtained by setting
fresh milk In a eool place for from
twelve to twenty-four hours, and re
moving the cream as fully as possible.
Half fill the half-pint cup with this
milk, or fill the smaller cup mentioned
two-thirds, measuring accurately the
gill of milk when possible; heat nearly
to boiling, add a slightly rounded tea
spoonful of butter or butter substitute,
stir with a wooden rod, and continue
heating until the milk bolls up.
Remove the milk from the beat as
soon as it has boiled up, and place In
the pan, which has been prepared, con
taining pieces of Ice with very little
ice water, the Ice to be In pieces the
size of one to two hen's eggs.
Fragments of ice melt too rapidly.
There should be enough of the ice to
cover two-thirds of the bottom of the
pan.
As the Ice melts the water will, of
course, rise to a higher leveL Stir the
contents of the cup rather rapidly with
a rotary and a crosswise motion In turn
continuously throughout the test, ex
cept during the moment of time requlr- -ed
for the stirring of the ice water
In the pan.
This stirring should be at Intervals
of one minute, and is accomplished by
moving the cup about In a circle
around the edges of the pan.
If the sample ls oleomargarine, says
the London Mail, by the time the stir
ring bas been going on ten minutes,
sometimes In a very much shorter
length of time, the fat will gather in
a lump or soft mass, and will harden
quickly. If It does not gather it Is
either genuine or "renovated" butter.
Either of these two methods of testing
will enable you to find out what sort
of stuff you are buying for butter.
GETS OUT DIVORCE CHART.
Gives States of the Union Where the
Law la Lenient.
An enterprising publishing firm has
put on the market a rather unique docu
ment. It is nothing less than a divorce
chart of the United States, from which
unhappy couples can quickly learn In
what State they can get be separated
with the greatest celerity and ease.
"By a mere glance," it explains, "the
particular information sought may be
obtained. The form and manner in
which the laws are placed before the
reader are as simple of comprehension
for the layman as they are for the law
yer." The chart, it Is to be feared, will do
much to put a damper on the divorce
industry of South Dakota. Idaho, Ne
braska and Nevada are equipped with
just as rapid-fire divorce laws as the
more widely advertised State. In fact,
they beat South Dakota on one very
material point, for while the last-named
State does not permit the remarriage
of a guilty defendant the other three
lay no restrictions on either party. They
also require less notice of an action
than South Dakota, construe causes
just as liberally and demand no longer
residence.
But easy divorces can be had in the
East just as well as In the West. Staid
old Connecticut, Maine and Delaware
bother themselves not about length of
residence, so long as the cause origin
ates on their soil. They also provide a
liberal number of causes for couples de
siring separation to choose from.
South Carolina ls the most inhospita
ble State of all to the would-be divor
cee, says the Salt Lake Herald. The
laws there are strict, to the verge of
blueness. But In the majority of States
this Interesting chart shows that to a
couple so minded divorce can be very
easily obtained and In some the untying
of the knot is not much more difficult
than the tying.
Chinaman Gave Up His Seat.
A Columbia avenue car, with a good
crowd aboard, was wending its way up
Ninth street late one Saturday evening.
Only a few of the gentler sex were on
the car and these had seats. Among
the seated passengers were two severe
looking clergymen, several prosperous
business men and a docile Chinaman
who carried a large bundle on his
knees.
At Arch street a middle-aged woman
who carried a small vali'.;e, got on the
car. It jolted along and the slender,
tired-looking woman glanced around
appealingly for a seat. She stood close
to where the two ministers sat and her
face wore an expression of pain as the
car rattled along and she clutched nerv
ously at the handstrap. The Chinaman
rose from his seat, and, holding his
heavy bundle with his left hand, tap
ped the woman with his right hand
gently and motioned her to the seat he
had vacated. She accepted the favor
with a smile and a gracious "Thank
you, sir."
All the men seated In the car stared
at each other as If each of them had
received a rebuke.
"That Chinee Is all right," remarked
the conductor, according to the Phila
delphia Record. "He's a good sample
of those supposed barbarians we are
endeavoring so hard to civilize."
The Pullman Sleeper.
'I heard a funny conversation not
long ago on a Pullman," said a travel
ing man. "It was bedtime and two la
dies near me were getting themselves
ready to turn In. They were talking
about the inconveninces of it, when I
heard one remark:
" 'Well, I must say that I do not like
these sleeping cars at all.'
" 'Oh,' responded the other In a more
cheerful frame of mind, 'wait till you
have lived awhile In a flat, as I have,
and you won't think the sleeping car
ls so bad, after all. "Detroit Free
Press.
A Proposition.
First Summer Girl I liked George at
first, but I've become tired of him.
Second Summer Girl Yes? That has
been exactly my experience with
Harry!
First Summer Girl Indeed? Why
can't we arrange an exchange of pris
oners? Puck.
According to Contract.
.Toaklev I understand there's consid
erable talk now in naval circles about
some orders that were forged very
skillfully.
Coakley Aha, another scandal, eh?
Joakley Oh, no. They were orders
for some 8-inch guns. Philadelphia
Press.
If you want to make your enemies
feel particularly soin, be happy.
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