THE LAST EQUALITY
The rich man breathes the atmosphere
the same as yon or I;
He cannot see a deeper blue than we do
in the sky;
He hears the piping of the birds a masie
sweet and clear
But maybe money-clinking dulls the mu-
- sic to his ear;
And yet he has some pleasures that pos
sess a tempting guise
But he can't die any deader than the
poor man dies.
The rich man cannot eat more than
one meal at a time.
Nor more than his ten pennies will ex
ceed the poor man's dime;
One suit of clothes is all that may at
once his form adorn.
And he's just as homely as the poor
man, when he's born:
His truth is just as honest, and his false
hoods are plain lies
And he can't die any deader than the
poor man dies.
There may be some philosophy in lifting
up a moan
Because the rich man rides the while the
poor man walks alone;
Because the rich man has his gold to buy
his goodly cheer
And yet there'll come a time when he
will have to leave it here.
Old Death's a spirit level that will brook
no compromise,
And no one dies any deader than the
next man dies.
Baltimore American.
l-1 1 I 1 I -IVi 1 M '!! 1111 1 1 1
t
THE PROFESSOR'S DAUGHTER
t...l.fr.frt-M"l"M"l""M- III! Mm
MONO the sixty-three professors
with whom I am acquainted. It
is natural to suppose a variety
of religious beliefs are to be found, and
It will not, therefore, appear surpris
ing If he should be a Buddist, or, as his
Irish servant expressed It, "a blooming
hood 1st, begorra." of the bluest creed.
This was Professor Markman, profes
sor of Japanese literature, with whom
circumstances threw me into closest
Intimacy.
He was not a man to thrust his con
victions on any one, but being satur
ated with the theories of Oriental
speculation It came to the surface In
Innumerable expressions In every top
ic of conversation.
I see, now, the professor expressing
his views, standing In his beautifully
yet Inexpensively adorned parlor, his
daughter busy with some tasteful work
by the shaded light, and I comfortably
lounging In a chair in the shadow.
"The mind, the thought, and all the
senses are subject to the law of life
and death. With knowledge of self
and the laws of birth and death there
"I AM TIRED OF THAT FAIRY TALE."
Is no grasping and no sense perception,
Knowing one's self and knowing how
the senses act, there is no room for the
Idea of 'I,' or the ground for framing
It. The thought of 'self gives rise to
all sorrows, binding the world as with
fetters; but having found there Is no
l' that can be bound, then all these
bonds are severed."
"What do you say to this, Fusa?"
The professor stamped his foot Im
patiently. "Fusa, how often must I warn you
against the danger of such medita
tions?" The girl rose abruptly and left the
room. I suspected there were tears In
her eyes, and half guessed the painful
subject In dispute. The professor pres
ently enlightened me. Throwing him
self Into a chair, he said, with a sigh:
"We are in a condition of antagon
ism, my daughter and I. I do not know
how It will end or, rather, I know too
well. One life will be cut short hers.
The relation of parent and child is one
for life; that of wife and husband, for
two Uvea; that of master aud servant,
for three lives. If I lose her I shall
save her from a worse fate. What has
happened? There is a young man here,
a master mechanic he calls himself, a
metal worker, but a mechanic just the
same, who wishes to marry her, and
Fusa Is willing to yield herself to
him."
"Who is he?"
"Jarbraw. You know him?"
"Yes, 1 remember seeing him at the
laboratory. A steady, industrious fel
low enough."
"That may be. It is likely he is, for
he is making his way. But what is
his way to the way I would have a
child of tnlue follow? Why couldn't
lie have found one of his class to ask
for In marriage?"
"He Is not bad-looking," I returned.
"Not according to Western Ideas of
beauty," replied Markman. "But that
quality you admire, that evidence of
force, power, is most detestable to me."
"Do you wish Fusa to marry at all?"
"Certainly, but not with such a brute
as Jarbraw will grow to be as any
man absorbed in mechanical pursuits
Is sure to become. I will save her at
any cost from the degradation she
meditates. Why could she not have
attracted a man of whom I could ap
prove?" I thought he looked at me meaning
ly, but took no notice of It.
"I Intend to take away her life. Do
not shrink. She will live again. I shall
merely what you call hypnotize her for
awhile." He rose to his feet, moving
toward the door. "Come. 1 wish yon
to witness my act. You understand my
motives, whether you admit their just
ness or not."
We passed to his daughter's chamber.
Fusa was reclining upon the bed. Her
father poured some liquid into a cup
and handed it to hec-
"Drink. sleep, and wake after a year,
when I or our friend here shall give" the
word."
Fusa took the draft without other
resistance than an appealing glance at
me. Then her head fell back upon the
pillow .and she lay rigid, motionless,
with closed eyes, as one dead.
Her death was announced in the
nsnal form and the funeral took place
in the regular way.
A few months later Professor Mark
man gave od his position and' went
away, I understood, to Japan, though
after this episode our intimacy was In
terrupted. Jarbraw found anotbe;
lady love, one of the class to which he
belonged one who, it seemed to nie.
was better fitted to be the wife of an
artisan than Fusa would have been.
The months flowed on. At last, one
night the professor rapped at my win
dow.
"A year has passed. Shall we awak
en Fusa?"
"What answer shall I give him?"
asked myself on rising. -
In telling this story I was accus
tomed to pause here and look around
the absorbed listening circle with an
expression which I hoped would im
ply my belief in some profound mys
tery. Sometimes one of the audience
would say to my wife:
"And so you. were In a hypnotic sleep
for a year?"
To which the lady would reply de
murely, with a glance from half-closed
lids in my direction:
"It appears so from the narrative.'
"And you did not know what trans
pired during all that time?"
O, I had full possession or my
senses, I heard all that was said in
my presence "
The professor would give a warning
cough and turn the conversation.
One day, when we were alone, Fusa
said:
"I am tired of that fairy tale. It
seems to amuse you you always did
love a Jest and to carry it to an ex
treme but I do not. and I am going to
put an end of it if you bring it up
again."
"Why, you do not mean to deny that
you vanished from human sight for a
year?"
"Fiddlesticks!" ;
"That you died and were Inclosed in
a tomb?"
'How do you escape the imputation
of conniving at a crime? Wrhy did you
not inform against my father? What
I shall say Is this: 'I was a foolish
young girl. Infatuated with a- man
whom it would have brought me uu-
happiness to marry. I would not be
convinced by words, but agreed to test
his faithfulness by going away for a
year. He did not stand the test.'
should think you would be ashamed of
yourself both of you! And I shall ex
pose you if you do not stop it."
We stopped it. But this only shows
that Fusa Is quite unaware that she
did He for a year in a hypnotic sleep.
Waverly.
THE MODERNIZED MIKADO.
He Has Abandoned the Ultra Exclu
aiveness of II is Ancestors.
The Mikado is the first Japanese sov
ereign to emerge from the dignified re
tirement in which his predecessors
lived. This step has only increased the
passionate loyalty of his subjects to
ward him, and people are already com
paring him with the Kaiser as regards
the prominent public role he seems dis
posed to play.
During the army maneuvers his Ma j
esty, who followed events with the
greatest interest and enthusiasm, or
dered two privates to be brought before
him, and questioned them through the
medium of his chief aide-de-camp. His
questions were of the paternal kind,
such as the following:
How did they get on with the hard
ships of barracks life? Did they long
to go home whenever they thought of
their nearest relatives? Did they not
thing their lot a hard one each time
their thoughts wandered back to the
ease and joys of their home? Were they
not feeling the effects of their daily
exertions in the maneuvers? Did not
the exactions of the military service
sometimes make them cry In secret?
The young soldiers answered that
they were quite happy in the army.
and that their only desire was to do
their duty toward their beloved sover
eign. A few days before the Mikado, while
traveling by rail, was cheered by a
number of very old people at Shiraishi
station. He sent them all presents
through the local government, an act
of kindness which moved the old peo
ple to tears of gratitude. Yokohama
Correspondence London Mail.
THE ELEPHANT "TREE.
Worcester, Mass., has a strange freak
of nature in its "elephant tree," a
mammoth elm, with a peculiar growth
upon the side, resembling perfectly the
trunk of an elephant.
The tree stands in the heart of the
city, beside the common and at the
rear of the City Hall. Its age Is be
yond the recollection of the oldest in
habitant, and it has been an object of
curiosity for a hundred years or more.
The strange growth was undoubtedly
caused by some accident to the tree
when it was small, but it has in no
way affected the health or beauty of
the elm, for it is one of the most ma
jestic n the city.
The General Was Colonel Bragg
cool when the bullets began to fly?
The Major Cool? He was so blamed
cold he shivered like a leaf. Judge.
il fit A
aa
MiWillUltlillM H1I1IH llMl'HtlHllI'H'Mm I l
1 ',UB""
M"M' M-I t M-'M-M- M M -
Cr3 HERE is said to be In certain
Y parts of Southern Indiana an
oath-bound mutual benefit so
ciety which has grown out of that fa
mous and infamous organization
which in days gone by struck terror
into the hearts of all who came under
its ban the dreaded Whitecaps.
The society has its secret meeting
pla-.-cs, its signs, grips, passwords, etc..
and Is a direct descendant of the or
ganization which for years killed men
and whipped women in Southern In
diana and Ohio. It is claimed that its
members elect men. of their own stripe
to all the important offices,, so great
is fhe society's strength: that when a
trial is on in which any member is
interested, his fellows are always
placed on the jury; that it is a society
formed for mutual protection in any
SHOT SIX HEN FROM THE CORNFIELD.
way which may be imagined, but es
pecially when its members are in
trouble.
Where the meeting places of the so
ciety are, not one Of them will tell.
The organization's members are found
in the political conventions of city,
township, county, district and State.
though holding the interests of its
members above the Interests of any
politician. It never sells its votes, but
it has developed, has been many a
time a power which has turned the
political scale one way or the other,
greatly to the mystification of the
bosses.
As a rule, though coming of an or
ganization which was nothing unless
a violator of the law, the present so
ciety is not composed of lawbreakers.
at least in the ordinary sense. How-
ever, when one of ts members is in
trouble, his fellows stand by him until
the last, a fact which has often been
demonstrated in law courts. Frequent
ly, in trials, it has been noticed that
there was some mysterious influence
at work on the jury, but what it was
could not be discovered.
Origin of the White Cap.
The beginning of the institution dates
back many years to the early settle
ment of Indiana, at a time when the
State was overrun with desperate
characters who had fled from Ohio and
Kentucky, the southern part, from its
contiguity to the Ohio, being especial
ly the hauat of horse thieves, robbers
and counterfeiters. In the river coun
ties of Indiana there was for years a
continuous reign of terror. When the
residents of these counties finally band
ed together for protection, the crim
inals fled further to the north, where
tneir advent was met with the organ
ization of a band of regulators, of
which every decent citizen was a mem
ber. There was little law in those
days. Might made right and there was
no one to gainsay the right of the reg
ulators to take the law into their own
hands. There are those yet living who
have often seen men ride by at night
with white sacks, in which were eye
holes, over their heads. It was never
known in one locality from what oth
er locality these men came. It was
only known that they were "on the
march." but the next day a ghastly
body hanging from a limb, or a shady
character with his back slashed up
with hickory gads, or the tale of some
person missing would solve the mys
tery. People who had no business out
of doors stayed inside when the regu
lators were out. No questions were
asked and no comments were made.
This was the original Whitecap or
ganization. It served its purpose well
and when the thieves and thugs were
all driven out of Indiana it ostensibly
disbanded.
It was in 1857 that the Whitecaps
again became prominent, but their
character was decidedly changed. EdJ
ward Bingham, a constable who had
in some way incurred the ill-will of
the gang, was the first victim. He
was called out of his home at flight,
tied to a horse and carried into the
woods, where he was stripped. He
was then bound to a tree and each
member of the gang look turns in ap
plying hickory switches until he be
came unconscious. Then the man was
carried back to his home and thrown
brutally' over the fence into the yard.
Bingham died next day and the com
munity arose in rage against his mur
derers. Indictments were brought
against several men who were known
to be in the gang and three of them
were sentenced to imprisonment. The
Whitecaps had such powerful influ
ence that the convicted iuen served
but a small part of their sentences.
From 1S58 to 1874, there were occa
sional whippings of both men and
women, but nothing of a nature as to
call for special action, but in the lat
ter year a lynching by Whitecaps once
more drew attention to the organiza
tion. Fear of the gang was so great,
however, that nothing was done. In
THE
WHITE
CAPS.
mV Old Organiza-
1 1'
'-I'll
tionef Lynch
crs Has Given
Place to a Mu-
tual Benefit
Society.
'M"t"M - frM' - M' M- M"M"M-M-
1876. the Whitecaps broke Into .a jail
and lynched a man awaiting trial on
charge of murder, of which his inno
cence was later proven.
In 1883 a prominent farmer was
whipped. He had the gang arrested,
but the jury disagreed and the men
escaped. From that time on for many
years Whitecap outrages were fre
quent. They became so common that
at last the people of both Indiana and
Ohio were aroused and an attempt was
made to root out the organization.
Whipping and tarring parties were of
almost nightly occurrence, and the peo-
pie were worked In a perfect frenzy of
terror.
Members of the original gang of
Whitecaps were rarely arrested and
more rarely convicted. If a White-
capper fell into the hands of the law,
it was almost invariably because of
doing business independent of the or
iginal organization.
It was in Harrison County, Ind., that
Whitecapism, as such, sustained its
death blow. In the hills near Corydon
lived a family of poor whites from
Kentucky father, mother, two sons
and a daughter. One day the father
was found dead in the woods and the
sons were arrested on the charge of
killing him. An examination showed
their innocence and they returned
home. Soon came a warning tellin
the family that unless they left the
county within ten days the Whitecaps
would visit them. - The warning was
ignored and word was received that
on a certain night the Whitecaps
would make their appearance. The
boys got several shotguns, loaded them
heavily with slugs and hid in a corn
patch near the house. The Whitecaps
came, and while nine of them stood
on the porch, two others went into.
the house after the mother and daugh
ter. Hopes were tied around their
necks and when their screams told the
boys what was going on they opened
fire at the gang on the porch. Six of
the nine were killed and two others
were terribly wounded. The few re
maining fled in terror. The boys fled
to Kentueky and have never been mo
lested. This lesson was a salutary one. Since
that time the Whitecaps have done
nothing but occasionally administer
the gad to shady characters. Several
damage suits have resulted, but in no
instance has a plaintiff obtained judg
ment The last suit, which, like the
others, showed the mysterious hand
of the gang, was tried in Brown Coun
ty.
The brotherhood now in existence
does not whip nor murder people.
Some of its members may violate the
law, but the organization does not, as
an entirely. The knowledge of the ex
istence of such an organization, how
ever, has much effect on the morals of
several communities for there is really
no telling when it might call a special
session of the court of Judge Lynch.
Recognized Their Old. Friend.
The love which English people, espe
cially British soldiers, feel for Florence
Nightingale has been shown at many
times and in many places. A new and
striking instance of it was recently
given by the Sunday Magazine.
The late Sir John Steell, sculptor to
Queen Victoria, was modeling a bust
of Miss Nightingale, when an officer of
one of the Highland regiments which
had suffered so cruelly in the Crimea
heard that the bust had just been com
pleted, and was in Sir John's studio.
Many of the men In his company had
passed through the hospital at Scutari,
and he obtained permission from the
sculptor to bring some of them to see
it. Accordingly, a squad of men one
day marched into the big studio and
stood in line.
They had no idea why they had been
mustered in so strange a place. With
out a word of warning the bust was un
covered, and then, as by one Impulse,
the men broke, rank, and with cries of
"Miss Nightingale! Miss Nightingale!"
surrounded the model, and with hats
off cheered the figure of their devoted
nurse until the roof rang.
So spontaneous and hearty and so in
spiring was the whole scene that in
after days Sir John Steell declared it
to be the greatest compliment of his
life.
Volcano Dwellers.
There is no more interesting or curi
ous sight than that of the crater Aso
San about 30 miles from the city of
Kumamoto, in Japan. The crater has
long since ceased to belch forth cin
ders and lava, and is now inhabited by
20,000 people, who live and prosper
within Its vertical walls, 800 feet high.
The inhabitants rarely make a journey
Into the outer world, but form, as it
were, a little nation by themselves.
"Dr." is an abbreviation frequently
used to express the relations of a pa
tient to his physician.
the whipping: of bixqham.
NOVEL TOUTERS PAY
EASY TO PROVE THAT IT IS NOT
GROWiNG.
A Few of the Most Popular Novel
ists Are Hakinc Fortunes, bat the
Work Hardly Pays the Rank and
File Some An then tic Figures.
rtovel writing as a trade has net
shown any material flnnii improve
ment in the last fifty years, says the
London Mail. The enormous increase
in the number of readers has been
counterbalanced by the extraordinary
increase in the number of publications,
and also In the number of writers.
Thackeray, for example, received 60
guineas a part for the periodical Issue
of "Vanity Fair." It appeared in nine
teen numbers, one of them being
double part, so that altogether this Is
sue brought his 1,000 guineas. Nowa
days, though Mr. ipliKng received 5,
000 pounds for the serial rights of
"Kim," few "writers receive as much
as Thackeray, although it must be re
membered that his publisher held the
entire copyright for a certain short
number of years. ,'
For "Esmond" Thackeray had 1,200
guineas, and "The Newcomes" yielded
about 4,000, while his editorial con
nection with the Cornhill is said to
have been worth 4,000 a year an in
come that will certainly compare with
that of the editors of any twentieth
century monthly publication.
"Pickwick" brought Charles Dickens
2,500 and a share in the copyright
after five years "Nicholas Nlckleby'
was worth 4.o00, and "BarnaDy
Ridge" 3,000 for the copyright till six
months after publication. It is inter
esting In view of the 300,000 copies
sold of "The Master Christian," the
100,000 of "The Eternal City," the 500,
000 of "Richard Carvel," and the 80,
000 of ,"The History of Sir Richard
Calmady," to note that the original
sale of "Great Expectations" was 30,-
000 copie-.!
In four years George Eliot received
1,000 from "Adam Bede," but "Romo-
la" brought her 7,000, from the Corn
hill, and "Middlemarch" was, .on the
whole, even more profitable, the Amer
ican edition alone being worth 1,200
to the authoress. Charles Reade re
ceived 30 for "Peg Woffington," but
that was at the beginning of his ca
reer, and "Griftith Gaunt, or Jealousy'
attained to 1,500. Anthony Trollope,
a steady and persistent writer, made
from his books a gross sum of 70,000,
or some 2,000 a year. "The Claver
ings" brought 2,800, "The Small
House at Allington" 3,000, and "Can
You Forgive Her?" 3,525.
Charles Kingsley sold "Alton Locke"
for 150 to Messrs. Chapman and Hall,
a sum certainly less than a twentieth
of the financial return his daughter,
Mrs. St. Leger Harrison (Lucas Malet)
will receive for her latest novel. In
1855 Messrs., Routiedge gave Bulwer
Lytton 20,000 for a ten years' copy
right of the cheap edition of his nov
els, and at the end of that period they
paid 5,000 for another period of five
years, and made a contract on the
same terms at the end of the second
period.
Going back to the beginning of last
century it is interesting to remember
that while Scott received large sums
for the Waverley Novels, Jane Austen
earned during her lifetime less than
700 in all for the work of her pen.
Macauley was one of the first au
thors to receive payment on the royal
ty system, that being his arrangement
with Messrs. Longmans for his his
tory, and George Eliot also had a simi
lar arrangement with Blackwoods for
some at least of her novels.
An author now receives as a rule
from 10 per cent in the case of an.un
known writer to 25 per cent in the
case of an established favorite on the
gross retail price of his book. He also,
of course, receives large sums for the
serial rights. As a matter of fact, in
the case of many writers the receipts
from the serial rights often exceed the
royalties on the complete book. Ap
proximately it may, therefore, be con
cluded that in the case of a novelist
ke Miss Marie Corelli, with an enor
mous and constant public, one book,
ilthough she never serializes it, will
ring at least 20,000 in all, a figure
which is also probably reached by
nany of the books of Mr. Kipling and
Hall Caine.
When one reads the statement that a
successful book is selling at the rate
of between 1,000 and 2,000 a week, it
safe to assume that the author is
eceivmg between 100 and lo0 a
iveeu ror it, auu so on. Of course
these figures only apply to at the most
half a dozen novelists. Another twen
ty, however, will receive from 400 to
500 for the serial rights of their
books, and make on an average half
as much more by their royalties. It
may also be safely reckoned that out
side the ranks of the first thirty writ
ers novel-writing nowadays hardly
pays. Chicago Record-Herald.
OVERLAND TO CALIFORNIA.
Stripping; for the Conflict with Forces
of Nature.
Our last glimpse of civilization was
Grand Island City," a village of six
or eight houses, on the Platte, in what
is now Hall County, Nebraska. This
was on the 6th of June, and a few
days before we had passed through Co
lumbus, another paper city. Columbus
boasted an inn, a blacksmith shop and
trading post. The passage of the
Loup at that place was accomplished
by means of a rope ferry, for which
service the ferryman, before landing
us on a sand-bar near the farther bank
of the stream, exacted a fee of & dol
lar and a half for each team; the cat
tle were swum across. The tide of
travel was. so great that we were
obliged to wait all day for our turn to
cross. I asked the proprietor of the
ferry If he had had any touch of .the
California fever. With a twinkle of
his eye he surveyed his ferry and his
smithy, and said: "Wal, I allow this
yere is Callforny enough for me."
Our trail, after leaving the last set
tlements, was strewn with lame and
abandoned cattle and the discarded
material of those who had preceded
us. As large companies passed on, they
found their burdens lightened by the
needful consumption of food supplies:
wagons were left along the trail, and
the next comers helped themselves to
such parts as they needed, or fancied
they needed. I knew of more than
one such thrifty party who picked up
and mended a broken wagon, only to
find, later on, that they had encum
bered themselves with something that
they did not want. Queer-looking con
trivances for mining, worn-out cloth
tog. ana even valuable tools, were
plentifully scattered' along the trail.
Everybody seemed to be stripping for
the conflict with the rude forces of na
ture that was to come when we reach
ed the heart of the continent. It was
our habit to to gather fuel from the
floatsam and jetsam of the plains; but
it often happened, in spite of this fore
thought, that the only fuel to be found
in an otherwise excellent camping-
place would be a few handfuls of dry
grass, a cluster of dead weeds, or
clump of the ill-smejllng grease-wood,
Century.
What Wallack: Thought.
Aristocratic applause, to say nothing
of the demonstration of royalty, would
not be likely to be so uproarious as to
drown the performers, nevertheless the
San Francisco Argonaut's account of
the approval manifested at a play
given at Windsor Castle In the earlier
days of the reign of Queen Victoria
may seem to some persons a trifle ex
aggerated.
There had been a series of perform
ances at Windsor under the manage
ment of Charles Kean, and it is to be
presumed that the comedians felt the
absence of the hearty approval shown
in the regular theater, for one even
ing, when the queen sent an equerry
to Mr. Kean to know If the actors
would like anything, meaning refresh
ments, the actor replied:
"Say to her majesty that we should
be grateful for a little applause when
the spectators are pleased."
Back went the equerry and conveyed
the message. At the end of the act
there was a slight suggestion of hand-
clapping and exceedingly gentle foot
tapping. James Wallack, who knew
nothing of the message sent to the
qneen, hearing the mild demonstration,
pricked up his ears and inquired:
"What Is that?"
"That, my dear Wallack," Kean re
plied, "is applause."
"Bless me!" exclaimed Wallack. "1
thought it was somebody 6helllng
peas."
No Breach of Discipline.
The Colonel was entertaining some of
his friends with stories of army life,
and the talk turned to the Inflexibility
of orders. That reminded the Colonel of
Tim Murphy's case.
Murphy had enlisted in the cavalry
service, although he had never been on
a horse in his life. He was taken out
for drill with other raw recruits under
command of a sergeant, and, as luck
would have it, secured one of the worst
buckers in the whole troop.
"Now, my men," said the sergeant in
addressing them, "no one Is allowed to
dismount without orders from a su
perior officer. Remember that."
Tim was no sooner in the saddle than
he was hurled head over heels through
the air, and came down so hard that the
breath was almost knocked out of him,
"Murphy!" shouted the sergeant,
when he discovered the man spread out
on the ground, "you dismounted!"
'I did."
'Did you have orders?"
T did."
'From headquarters, I suppose?"
with a sneer.
"No, from hindquarters."
"Take him to the guardhouse!" order
ed the sergeant.
Silenced.
Those who make light of religion and
morality seem sometimes, by the very
energy of their attack, to be getting the
best of it, but now and again they find
themselves worsted by the ready wit
of some quiet listener, who turns the
tables upon them. Such was the case
with the French students of whom Pe
ter Lombard tells an amusing story in
the Church Times.
An omnibus full of Parisian students
was making its way along the Rue de
Rivoll when a priest in his robes of
office joined the party. The students
hailed the newcomer with delight, and
began at once to tell all the objection
able stories they could recall. The
priest spoke not a word till he rose to
get out. Then he said, politely:
"An revolr, messieurs."
The French "au revoir" means liter
ally, "till we see each again." One of
the students evidently had this in mind
when he replied.
"Urn," he said, "we don't want to
meet you again, old dismal!"
'But, au revoir," repeated the cure;
'we are sure to meet again. I am the
chaplain of the Mazas prison."
A Scotch Sahara.
The fact is not generally known that
there is in the north of Scotland, a
miniature Sahara, some 20 square
miles In extent. From Nairn to the
River Findhorn there Is a great ex
panse of shifting sandhills, known as
the Culbln Sands, which show all the
great peculiarities of a great desert.
and which successfully resist all at
tempts at cultivation. Three centuries
ago the - place was a smiling garden
with several farms and a village, all
of which were overwhelmed in a sin
gle night by a great storm of sand.
The remains of the buildings can still
occasionally be seen when the sand
shifts, and many old domestic articles
have been picked up. Some tragic
stories are -till current in the locality
of the wonderful escape of'the inhab
itants from the blinding sand-drift on
that terrible night.
Six Historical Ages.
Ecclesiastical authorities divide the
history of man Into six ages: (1) From
Adam to Noah; (2) from Noah to Abra
ham; (3) from Abraham to David; (4)
from David to the Baylonish captivity;
(5) from the captivity of Judah to the
birth of Christ; (6) from the birth of
Christ to the end of the world.
Weight of the Water,
Water sufficient to cover one acre
one Inch deep will weigh 101 tons.
The question of sex never appears
so gigantic to a man as when he starts.
out in search of a servant girl..
A man never poses as a hypocrite
when he is alone.
- REAL THING IN BLIZZARDS.
The Montana Man Was Acquainted
with the Genuine Article.
"I've been stewing in your semi trop
ical climate all winter," said the man
from the wool-growing West to the
dyed-in-the-wool New-Yorker, "and ev
ery now and then, when the thermome
ter drops a little below freezing' poi at
I hear strange talk about blizzards.
"It's a nice-sounding name, I admit,
and it looks well in the newspaper
headlines. But, bless your benighted
souls, you're just as likely to have a
Kansas twister on 5th avenue or a
South sea simoon off the battery, as a
blizzard in Manhattan.
"I'll admit you had a good Imitation
of it a good many years ago in the
storm that cost Senator Conkling his
life, and once again about three years
back. The New-Yorker who's never
been much farther west than the Har
lem river might be excused for calling
those two little blows "blizzards."
We've a big country out there, and, of
course, a busy man in New York will
naturally get the Yellowstone park
tangled up with the Yosemite, as an
evening newspaper here did some time
ago, and we don't mind your dramatic
critics referring to Missouri as the Oc
cident Yes, that has been done, too.
"What Is a real blizzard like? My
dear sir. to talk is not my trade. I
never went In real heavily for words,
and maybe you'd better put a stamp
on your Inquiry and send it to the pa
per published by the great plebeian in
Nebraska. He knows all about frosts
and such things, and likely as not he
could spare you two or three columns
telling you what a blizzard is like.
"A blizzard, did you say? Why, the
very word sends cold chills creeping
up my spine. Why, the last time I
was in a blizzard in Montana, I was in
the act of drinking. I was just lifting
the glass of milk to my lips what's
that? I say I was just lifting the glass
of milk to my lips when the air grew
suddenly dark and the thermometer
fell 00 degrees qulcker'n I could count
em. I never did drink that milk.
"No, of course, it wasn't too dark to
drink it. That's foolish. Any child
can feel his way to his mouth with a
drink at least, any Western child can.
But the milk just naturally froze hard
on top and the wind I'd forgotten the
wind. Well, maybe, it's enough to say
it was the wind that blew the snow
about and made it so dark. Now, in
the Dakotas there isn't much snow, be
cause the wind doesn't, give it a chance
to light.
"But it's got to light somewhere.
hasn't It? So when the snow that's
really comin' to Montana gets a chance
to settle down, it start in again and
snows in great chunks, till the Dakota
product is all piled up. But that's noth
ing. A chinook wind comes along and
In twenty minutes the ground Is ready
for spring plowin'."
'Well," said the New-Yorker, admir
ingly, according to the New York Mail
and Express, "I'll try to be careful and
never exaggerate any more. It's a bad
habit. I remember that some time ago
an adventurous New-Yorker penetrated
beyond the Bronx, even to the wilds of
the northwest, and when his friends
asked him for a description of the
scenery, he said, 'found every hill a
mountain peak, every frog pond a lake.
every dry run a river, every Irrigating
ditch a canyon and every man a liar.'
So I suppose you're right."
Iron can be drawn into thinner wire
than any other metal except gold.
Thirty-two million tons of water roll
over the cliff at Niagara every hour.
A snow wall four feet thick is a per
fect protection against a rifle bullet at
fifty yards distance.
A smali grass seed which had ger
minated while in a patient's eye, has
just been removed by a Japanese ocu
list.
The first steamer on the Rhine a
Dutch one was in 1822, fifteen years
after Fulton had started a steamship
service on the Hudson.
The greatest bay in the world Is that
of Bengal. Measured in a straight line
from the two enclosing peninsulas its
extent is about 420,000 square miles.
Switzerland has, at Bex, salt mines
which have been worked for 348 years.
The galleries are twenty-five miles in
length, and the profit $75,000 a year.
The peat beds of the German entire
are estimated to cover 4,942,000 acres.
To make use of this fuel in a profitable
way is a problem for science to solve.
A wine cask which holds ninety-seven
thousand gallons, and is the largest
ever built, may be seen at Maltermora,
Cal. The steel hoops around it weigh
40,000 pounds.
The Sacred Land, long given over to
barren desolation, may yet blossom as
the rose. Rich deposits of phosphates
have been found In the regions of the
Jordan and the Dead Sea.
One of the English astronomers, J. J.
Atkinson, who visited Sumatra to ob
serve the total solar eclipse last May,
made the acquaintance of an old Ma
lay, living on a little Island near the
Sumatra coast, who owned a large
monkey which he had trained to work
for him in gathering cocoanuts. The
monkey's business was to climb the
gigantic cocoanut palms and throw
down the nuts, "which he did," savs
Mr. Atkinson, "in the most artistic
manner, by screwing the nuts off with
his powerful arms while he hung by
his legs seventy to one hundred feet
from the ground."
Painted on a Grain of Corn.
A Flemish artist has produced what
is said to be the smallest painting in
the world. It is the picture of a miller,
mounting the stairs of his mill, and
carrying a sack of grain on his back.
The mill is depicted as standing near
a terrace. Close at hand are a horse
and cart, with a few groups of peas
ants idling in the road near by. All
this Is painted on the smooth side of a
grain of ordinary white corn. It is
necessary to examine It uuder a micro
scope, and It is drawn with perfect ac
curacy. When we have a great deal to do we
usually compromise by doing nothing.