THIS IS HOW YOU SEE
A MAN AT THE 'PHONE.
Dr. Sylvestre, whose name has flash
ed around the world as the inventor
of a wonderful device by which you
cannot only hear by telephone, but see
by 'phone as well, has allowed several
illustrations to be made of the visual
telephonic machine, although he will
not as yet show its working fully, be
cause he says to see it is so simple
that a man could go away and make
one himself. So until the machine Is
bought by the French government for
$5,000,000, the price he wants, the doc
tor will not exhibit the device. '
The illustrations snow the different
parts of the invention, and something
of its workings. It consists of a small
circular mirror, with a hole in the
center, to which h? screwed a tiny elec
tric light of a little more than one
caudle power. The mirror Is fixed to
the microphonic plate of the telephone
DU. SYLVESTRE'S METHOD
PRUDENCE.
Prue for Prudence is her name,
How it does belie her!
For iu foolish madcap pranks
No girl can outvie her.
Always in some mischief new,
Seek some new folly,
Often to be mourned next day
In deepest melancholy.
Always thoughtless when she acts,
Never once malicious.
Forever getting into scrapes
To me she is delicious!
Prudence! What a name for her!
How it does belie her!
Vet in witching charm for me
No girl can outvie her!
-Roniervilie Journal.
jIIK regiment was settling down
for the night with some grum-
bling and much profane jesting,
for Western volunteers possess a sense
t' humor superior to the most trying
conditions. Somewhere In the dark
ness In front, the Filipinos were taking
lot shots between their cigarettes, as
an occasional zeu! attested.
' There go the typewriters," cried a
young private. "Firing at fireflies, as
usual. No sleep to-night."
"Typewriters" was a contemptuous
appellation given to the Fourteenth
Regulars, because the popping of their
magazine guns in the distance slightly
resembled the noise of the machine of
peace.
"Put your mouth on the safety notch,"
ordered the captain from the right of
the company. "They're sending out the
outposts. (Jet their bearings, so that
you can shoot around them if the ball
opens up."
Two mou were receiving final Instruc
tions from the colonel previous to ven
turing Into the hostile country In front.
"Snenk out about two hundred yards,"
ordered the officer, "and He low. If you
see any signs of an attack, try to get
liiu-k and warn us. If you can't get
back, you must warn us somehow, and
take your chauees. No need to tell you
to be careful. You hold the lives of
many men iu your hands. Good luck,
boys."
This sort of work Is called Cossack
outpost duty, and men detailed, upon it
should not be men of family or nerves.
A few nights previously two nervous
men were detailed upon it. One of
them tired at a white pariah dog. The
shot caused the Filipinos to concentrate
a series of volleys lasting thirty min
utes In the direction of the outposts.
The Americans awakened from a sound
sleep and let go. several unauthorized
volleys. Consequently the two nervous
men. being between two tires, were rid
dled with two kinds of ammunition.
The two men detailed for this even
ing's work were of different mettle.
"Morlturt te salutamus, colonel," said
one, with a reckless augh. With the
easy nonchalance of veterans they gave
the rifle salute, and. sliding over the
top of the trench, disappeared into the
night.
"There go two good men," observed
the colonel.
The two men tiptoed across the dry
rice paddies, each holding his rifle at
the ready. There was no souud ex
cept the occasional hiss of a random
bullet or the faint and distant pop of a
line.
"Guess this is far enough," said one
of the men. at length: "here Is a little
hollow. Why, It Is almost as safe as
the trench. The other acquiesced with
a faint murmur, aud they sprawled up
on the ground facing the enemy's ter-ikory.
i
I THE STRAWS OF DEATH.
and a pair of little brass pencils connects-the
current and the apparatus.
In a mysterious looking hood two
acids mix drop by drop, and out of a
spout comes, a phosphorescent vapor,
falling on the mirror. If, when tele
phoning, a -sheet of white paper Is
placed in front of the mirror, the room
from where the person is telephoning
may plainly be seen, and also the per
son. Dr. Sylvester was sitting in his labo
ratory in the dark one ' night some
weeks ago, awaiting the slow working
of some chemical process. He has In
his laboratory a theater 'phone. He
was listening to the opera, when sud
denly on the white wall of his labora- -tory
he saw the stage scene from the
theater, colors and all. Investigation
revealed to him the secret. He has
made half a dozen tests that have con-
SEMI -TRANS
-PARENT FAP6R Oi
WHICH - THE TlCTU
OF PICTORIAL. TRANSMISSION.
"It's a queer freak of fate that we
two should be detailed on this togeth
er," observed the shorter of the two,
"after avoiding each other so success
fully." "It's very queer, Osbourne," returned
the other, "but we'll have to stand it."
"It is not that I would want a better
man for a tight place, Wade," said Os
bourne; "but there is that one thing."
"Yes, I know," wearily; "that's the
trouble. If you were not as good or a
better man than I, there would be no
danger of Helen Bartlett caring for
you."
"We were friends In the old days, Bil
ly," said Osbourne, huskily; "if one of
us only loved her a little less."
"No go, Tom," replied the other. "It
is either her or hell for me. Our friend
ship was a holy thing, but she is above
that. Would you"
"No, you are right It's no thorough
fare. My God! I wish it were ended,
one way or the other."
"What can we do?" queried Wade,
with studied composure. "We can't
gouge each other with bayonets out
here, and Springfields at two yards is
a bit too unique."
Osbourne laughed harshly. "We
might draw straws, the loser speedily to
meet an accidental death."
"No, thanks," replied Wade. "I am
willing to take my bullet if it comes,
but not that way. One of us might get
it decently at any time."
"You're right, Wade," said Osbourne.
"You're a good fellow."
"Same to you," returned Wade. "I it's
quit chattering and attend to our
work."
For some time they lay silent, staring
into the darkness for things they could
not see, even had they been there. Only
the intermittent popping of musketry
and the occasional zeu! of a Mauser bul
let broke the silence. Now and then
they could see through the blackness
a faint, momentary red flare.
"Confound thorn," observed Os
bourne, "the Filipinos can smoke, any
how. I'm dying for a cigarette."
"If you light a match here," said
Wade, "we'll be targets for about four
thousaud rifles."
"That's true enough," agreed Os
bourne, with a soft chuckle; "cigarettes
are rather expensive out here." Anoth
er period of silence followed.
"Wade," inquired Osbourne, sudden
ly, "are you willing to try a wild scheme
for settling this mutter forever?"
"Anything fair aud reasonable," re
plied the other. "What's your plan?"
"Draw straws," said Osbourne, brief
ly, "the mau who gets the short one to
stand up and light a match, and go to
his fathers."
Wade caught his breath and remained
mute for some time, considering. "Not
so bad," he observed, after a time; "but
we are on duty now."
"Oh, the devil!" said Osbourne, light
ly; "the Filipinos wouldn't attack for
all the loot of Manila. An outpost here
is merely a matter of form. Besides,
one of us will be left."
"That's so," returned Wade, "and I
see no objection."
"You fix the straws, then," said Os
bourne, quickly. "I'll draw." He be
gan to whistle softly In a nervous fash
ion, as men do when they are close to
death. Wade fumbled silently with
some fragments of rice straw. His
movements were slow and mechanicaL
Some men are constituted that way.
"Here, Tom," he said, stretching out
his right fist "May the better man
get it."
Osbourne extended a hand that trem
bled slightly and fingered the disclosed
ends of straw for a brief time. Sud
denly he clutched one and pulled It out
At the same instant there was a
srvange, soft thud, and Wade fell upon
his face. His limbs moved convulsive
n
I
vinced him that the visual telephone is
practicable, although at first sight he
admits it seemed to him as it may
have impressed others when they first
heard of it incredibly phenomenal.
Suggestive.
"Many happy returns of the day,
grandpa! And mother says if you give
us each sixpence we mustn't lose it!"
Contradictory.
It is said that men In a savage state
never have toothache. It is also said
that there was never a man with tooth
ache who was not in a savage state.
Investigation will reveal that every
successful man gets down to work
early.
ly for a moment; then he lay motion
less. "For God's sake, Billy, what's up?"
cried Osbourne, iu an agonized ' whis
per. He laid his hand on the man's
face, but jerked it away horrified, for
It touched something warm and wet.
"She's -mine!" he muttered, with
fierce triumph; then, "Poor Billy."
A thought came that caused him to
gasp and shiver. He hesitated, reached
for the dead man's hand and loosened
Its clasp from the other straw. It wad
several inches longer than the one he
had drawn.
"What shall I do?" he moaned. "Oh,
Billy!" he cried, shaking the dead man's
shoulder as if to rouse him. "What
shall I do?" Only the far-off popping
of the rifles broke the oppressive still
ness. "What would you have done?" he
asked, in the same strain. "By God!"
suddenly, "you were a good man. You
would have kept the Compact. I lost
fairly. Bear witness, Billy, I am as
good a man as you."
He laid his hand for an instant on the
dead man's forehead. Then he rose
slowly and fumbled in his pocket At
length he found a match. For a mo
ment he stood irresolute, inhaling
strong breaths of air. Already he had
begun to feel the horror of being shut
out from It forever. It was hard to
give the signal for his own death. His
teeth came together with a click, and,
scratching the match on his shoe, he
held the flame before his breast. The
Argouaut.
The Greatest Show on Earth.
During the Omaha exposition Sena
tor Chauncey Depew and S. R. Calla
way, president of the American Loco
motive Company, were strolling about
the Midway, taking in the sights, when
they were Invited into a large hall to
see the "greatest performance on
earth." The hall filled up rapidly, and
after a wait of ten or fifteen minutes
the Senator said to Mr. Callaway:
"This must be a good show so many
people are crowding in to see it." After
some further waiting, during which
the hall was jammed full, the late Ster
ling Morton walked down the aisle,
and, stopping to shake hands with the
Senator and Mr. Callaway, said:
"What in thunder are you fellows do
ing here? There Is an old faker out
side calling oat, 'Come in and see the
great and only Chauncey M. Depew!
Only 10 cents to see the great and only
Chauncey.' "Portland Oregdhian. ,
An Every-Day Matter.
There are some circumstances under
which it is easy to write a letter for
another person, and others under
which it is well-nigh Impossible; but
not all people agree on what the cir
cumstances are
"I'd jess like you to write a letter to
Pomp for me, please. Missy June,"
said the colored queen of a Boston
kitchen to her young mistress. "Jess
a little short every-day letter. It won't
take you but 'bout a minute."
"What shall I say?" asked the lady,
when pen and paper were at hand.
"Tell me just what to say, Hester."
"Oh," said Hester, with a toss of her
head, "I'd jess like a few words. Missy
June. Jess to tell him howdy, and say
I made up my mind I ain't going" to
marry him, an' he'd better hurry hls
seif and make iure o' Susy Ball, or
most likely he'll lib an' die a mis'able
ole bachelder. Dat's all."
Important Detroit River.
The Detroit River is the outlet of the
greatest bodies of fresh water in the
world, aggregating 82,000 square miles
of lake surface.
Many a man's success is due to the
fact that he never attempts to do any
thing beyond his ability.
WEALTH ItiA B0&.
&n Easterner Taught California
Land Owners a Lesson.
BO DGrHTTJPPEATLAND
This He Turned Into a Celery Farm and
Sta ted a Great Industry. r
First Crop of Celery Haised on Land
- Which, Was Bought for a Song-Pro-dnction
and Marketing of the Crop
Is Full of Interest Many of the East
ern States Are Supplied , and Some
C Heavy Fronts Are Made.
There Is many a fortune lost by not
being able to recognize, a "good thing
when one sees it V Some one, a great
many years ago, said that opportunity
calls but once upon the same person.
He is supposed to rap at the door and
if he gets no answer he passes on never
to return that way. This sounded, so
nice and fanciful that it became a
proverb, but like many other accepted
sayings, has not a grain of truth in it
As a matter of : fact opportunity is
hanging about each man's door fairly
aching for an invitation to come in, but
most men afe so obtuse they do not
recognize him.
When the old man, Hervey found, a
few years ago, that a goodly portioa
of his lands at Smeitzer, Orange coun
ty, in Southern California, lay In the
big tule swamp, he was sorry he had
bought -them. A little later, when a
valuable team with which he was en
deavoring to break up a portion of
the peat lands became bogged and
AT WORK
IL-lti
went down and down, in spite of all
his efforts to save them, till they dis
appeared beneath the rich, black, oozy
soil, never to reappear, he was still
more regretful. He had, nevertheless,
a good thing, but he did not know it.
The bog was opportunity, but it took
another to discover it.
Eight or nine years ago a man from
the East wandered down to Santa Ana
and there saw Mexicans and Chinese
hauling wagon loads of dried peat
about town, selling the product for
fuel. Peat burns very nicely when
properly prepared, and coal and wood
being extremely scarce in Southern
California, a number of persons man
aged to get a fair living out of the
big tule swamp. The stranger had
never heard of the great peat bog, but
he asked some questions and learned
all about it. Then he went down to
Smeitzer and saw it for himself. Next
he began purchasing all the swamp
land he could buy.
Stranger's Level Head;
Public opinion was divided regard:ng
the stranger. He must be either idi
otic or insane, the people thought, and
the vote was about a tie as to which
was the case. Nevertheless the own
ers of the swamp lands made haste to
profit by his supposed mental infirmi
ty, and they eagerly unloaded most of
the bog upon him. Some of them, Her
vey among the number, retained a part
of the bog land just to see if the stran
ger really had a rational motive in ac
quiring the well-nigh worthless real es
tate. They are now congratulating
themselves that they did so.
Some of this swamp land brought the
owners as much as $10 an acre. The
j most of it, however, went for less than
i half that sum. To-day the land is
i worth $400 an acre, and off the 3,000
acres which are being ( utilized the
! owners will obtain this year a revenue
' of $300,000.
I Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Buf
i falo, Pittsburg, Chicago, Cincinnati, St
i Louis, and a hundred other cities in
the East are eating celery raised in
the great tule swamp of Orange coun;
ty. More than 20 cars a day are ship
; ped from the fields and the most of It
i goes east of the Mississippi river. It
; has taken some work and expense to
put the swamp in condition to bring
this income, but nothing compared
with the return it yields.
The first work was to drain the
swamp sufliciently to permit of the
land being worked. In order to do this
a huge drainage canal, 14 feet wide
and 12 feet deep, was run from the
swamp to the ocean four miles away.
, The lateral drains empty into this.
1 Chinese labor was employed in digging
the ditches and laying the tile through
the soft earth and the same labor was
used in clearing the swamp of the tule
and other growth and putting the
ground in condition to be plowed. Then
! came the problem, how to plow the
laud. Notwithstanding the drainage,
i the lands were still soft and spongy
' and the danger of bogging the horses
was not slight. The stranger from the
East was again equal to the emergency.
He had. in the course of his travels,
had experience in navigating uptra
snowshoes, and he proceeded to rig
shoes for the horses on a modified
, snowshoe plan.. Now the horses plow
the land, bank (he celery, pull the cut
ting machines over the fields and car
ry, away-tiie crop In "safety.
-Cheap Labor Kim ployed.
Nearly all the-labor employed is Chi
nese and Japanese. This is not so
much because that' kind of labor is
cheaper than other kinds though that
feature of the case is not objected to
as it is that the white men can not
1 ' l ""I 4 ' 11 ' ; jiV"" t
L
stand the work. The planting begins
in June and continues through July and
August, and the hot summer sua beats
down upon the fields and the heat and
-the rank odors of the swampy laden
with fever and malaria, are more than
the average white man -can .-. endure.
The Orientals, however, keep healthy,
as a rule, and do not seem to much
mind the heat. .
In a week or so after the plants have
been set, the laborers go through the
patch and press the dirt around the
plants in such a manner as to cause
the stalks to grow uprightly and close
together. This process is-repeated two
or three times and then the "bankers,"
BOO SHOES WORN BY HOKSES.
as the two-share pkws are called, are
put Into the field - and -the soli" is
thrown up against the plants, burying
all but the tops. As the stalks push
upward the banking is repeated and
the stalks are thus kept bleached and
tender till it Is time for the cutting.
This is also done with horse power.
A four-wheeled vehicle fitted with
sharp knives which pass under the
rows of celery Is drawn through the
fields, clipping the stalks from the
roots and leaving them still standing
In the rows. So rapidly do these ma
chines do the work but five teams and
machines are required to harvest the
crop from the entire 3,000 acres.
Following the cutters come a small
army of Celestials who take the sev-
b iujL.L (JUTTING.
ered stalks by the tops and lift them
from the earth, and with rapid and
skillful motions shake the dirt there
from, trim the roots and tops with
knives made for the purpose, and lay
the stalks to one side of the row where
the packers find them and tie them into
bundles and put them in crates ready
for shipment. The harvest begins in
' October and lasts till well toward the
spring. As the rainy season begins
about November 1, it will be seen that
the most of this work takes place at
the most disagreeable season of the
year. Day after day the yellow men
drag their mud-laden feet up and down
the long rows, and amid the pelting,
chilly rains work steadily and uncom
plainingly on, receiving at the end of
the week a pittance the white man
would scorn; and yet, most of these
laborers have a comfortable bank ac
count. It takes strong soil to raise good
celery year after year, and this Is just
what the soil of the peat swamp is.
For hundreds, thousands and perhaps
millions of years the rains of winter
have carried down to the tule swamp
the vegetation of the mountains mix
ed with the soil borne along with the
rushing torrents the rains send down
BANKING THE OHil-niiti
their steep sides, in this natural sink
the. vegetation has decayed and sank
beneath the next layer brought down
from the "everlasting hills." Thus na
ture has formed one of the best soils
that could be found for the purpose
for which it Is now being used. Af
ter the last of the crop has been taken
from the fields, the ground Is plowed
and sown to barley. Just before plant
ing time, the barley, which has by this
time attained a rank growth. Is plow
ed under and its luxuriance goes to en
rich the soil and minister to the de
mands of the new celery crop.
Last season's-output of celery from
this erstwhile bog was fully 1,200 cars.
As each car holds 150 crates and each
crate contains six dozen stalks, It will
be seen that the product of the swamp
reached nearly 13,000,000 stalks. This
brought in the markets more than
$300,000, fully one-half of which found
Its way into the pockets of the grow
ers. Truly a handsome sum to pull
from the cozy mud of a peat bog.
What Adam Was Doing.
It was midnight. Suddenly in the
Adam residence there -was a cry, then
a series of howls, and one of the neigh
faTgy--- -"-rta
bora, passing by, heard the head of the J
house use language that was calculated j
to loose the, thunderbolts of heaven on
the whole neighborhood." She stopped,
ran up to the door and, pressing the
button, listened eagerly at the speaking
tube. "What In the world is your hus
hand doing?" she asked, as the dulcet
voice of Eve inquired -her errand.
"Oh," replied Evev "he Is merely rais
ing Cain. "It requires strong language
to raise a cnua liae tnat. - f
- And thus an expression was coined
which promises to outlast history itself.
Portland Oregon ian. . . -
DIED OF STARVATION.
Sad Fate of a Prospector in that Great
Deathtrap, the Colorado Desert.
J. P.. Fay recently returned from a
trip across the Colorado desert with
news of the death of J. A. Adams, Dep
uty County Surveyor of San Bernar
dino County and a grandson of John
Brown, the abolitionist of national
fame, says a correspondent of the St
Louis Republic. Adams met With a
horrible death, wandering away from
the surveying camp while temporarily
deranged and perishing of starvation.
"We were out on the desert prospect
ing for gold," said Fay. "An Indian,
whom we had employed to show us
where to find water on the desert,
caught his foot in -the stirrup while
mounting his horse and fell on his
back. The horse started to run, drag
ging the Indian by one foot As the
ground was covered by jagged rocks,
the Indian would have been killed had
not Adams run up and seized the
horse by the bit The animal, wild
with fright," reared and plunged. Ad
ams was twice thrown upon the rocks,
and once the horse's hoof struck him,
but he still gripped the bit until Mr.
LaTaere and I succeed In releasing the
Indian.
"After all the danger was over Ad
ams sat down upon a rock and began
laughing, and when asked if he was
hurt replied: "Oh, no; I'm only a little
tired, but I guess you will have to help
me set this arm.' We then started for
Yuma, Adams riding some twenty-five
miles that afternoon and never once
complaining, though we could see by
his drawn features that he was suffer
ing intense pain.
"At dusk we camped for the night,
and Within an hour the sick man was
delirious and raving like a maniac.
Some time during the night he left
camp. As soon as we discovered that
he had gone we made every effort to
find him, but could not do much until
daylight, when we found his tracks In
the .sand. We followed the tracks all
that day and until about 9 o'clock the
next day, when we came to a hard,
rocky place at the foot of some rock
hills. Here we lost the trail, and, try
as we might, we could not find it again.
"For three days we searched the
hills, but not a trace of the man could
we discover, though we well knew that
somewhere within a radius of twenty
or thirty miles lay the body of one of
the bravest men that ever lost his life
In that great deathtrap the Colorado
desert
WAITERS AND EYEGLASSES.
Hotels and Restaurants Object to Help
Wear ins Optical Aids.
"Ever see a waiter wearing glasses?"
demanded the inquisitor.
No one could remember, although just
why a waiter should not be seen with
glasses as well as any other man was
not apparent.
"It's just like the wearing of beards,"
went on the inquisitor. "The proprie
tors of our important hotels, restau
rants and cafes Will not permit either
beards or glasses to be worn by their
.vaiters. It Is possible that In some old
I'ashioned family or commercial hotel
the servitors may be found with their
noses straddled by optical helps, but
you won't find 'em along Broadway.
"Now, this is a fact worthy of note,
because In every other calling in life
the number of persons wearing glasses
is on the increase, and even in our
schools a considerable percentage of
very small children will be found wear-
DOUBLE PLOW.
ing glasses. And while, as I say, hotel,
restaurant and cafe proprietors are op
posed to the glasses, still I have seldom
found a waiter whose eyes indicated
that fie was in the slightest need of
them.
"You may argue that restaurant wait
ers are generally young men. Grant
you that instantly, but, all the same,
thousands of men of similar age have
to wear them In almost every other oc
cupation. . "The majority of these servitors com
mence in boyhood, and the demand of
their vocation causes no strain on the
eyesight Consequently that may ac
count In a measure for the absence of
any necessity for the use of specs.
Moreover, the steam from -hot viands
would render them useless probably."
New York Evening Telegram.
Largest Farm Known.
The biggest average farm in the
world Is in South Australia, where the
average squatter holds 78,000 acres.
There Is nothing in the wide, wide
world that so speedily pounds sense
into a foolish girl as marriage to an
improvident man.
. --.v v;
V lin A
AS TO PUBLIC SPEAKING.
1 Few Great Speeches Coma Without
Previous Studjv .
Some wonder has been expressed at
the practice David B. Hill has late
ly adopted, of reading his speeches to
his audiences, though It Is said that
he reads with such a show of off
hand speaking that those in the crowd
who can hear him but cannot see him
do not discover any difference. Mr.
, la , --.-h nnMi snoakor. and
can nhquestionably do his subject jus
tice without the use of manuscript If
necessity arises he Is eminently satis
factory as an extemporaneous speak-
er. T.- These be formative times, how
ever, and he is . probably anxious to
keep his record straight and to be
able to produce the proof against mis
representations.
Some kinds of speeches are not much
hurt In effect by being read by the
speaker. Others .depend altogether on
the style of delivery. Senator Bever-
Idge, of Indiana, would not be a suc
cess asa speech reader. Deliveries
that depend more on flights of phrase
ology and graceful emphasia than deep
deliberation must be unburdened by
manuscript
Reading speeches is getting to be
quite the fashion. Gov. Nash read his
speech as temporary chairman of the
Republican State convention from
typewritten pages, and Gen. Grosvenor,
the. permanent chairman, also read his
speech. .
Ex-Senator Hill Is a busy man, and
probably had not the time to commit
his speech to memory. Ex-President
Cleveland has plenty of time, and prob
ably had his Tilden Club remarks -"pat."
Of one thing the admiring public
may rest assured: Very few, if any,
of the great speeches come spontan
eously from the speaker without pre
vious reflection and preparation, not
only as to the sentiment and general
line of thought, but as to the language
employed. Even- Ingersoll's great
speech placing Blaine in nomination
for President in this city in 1876, which
seemed an Immediate brilliant inspira
tion rather than a study, was rehears
ed in bed to the speaker's anxious
brother before the convention met.
The brother went to Robert's room
early in the morning to spur him to
preparation. "How will this do?" ask
ed Robert, as he raised himself from
the pillows. Then that great speech
was delivered for the first time, and to
only one man. Cincinnati Enquirer.
Lady or Tiger.
An unsolved mystery is that connect
ed with the late Frank R. Stockton's
story of "The Lady or the Tiger." At
the end of the tale the hero is left In
the arena, about to open one of two
doors; behind the first is a tiger, and
behind the second a girl who loves the
hero. Another girl, who also loves him,
and who knows the secret of the doors,
signals him which one to open. At this
point the story ends, and Mr. Stockton
never confided to any one his opinion
of the hero's fate.
"I'm sure I should like to tell you,"
he said to an interviewer, "but I can't,
because I really don't know myself."
The story set everybody guessing,
and one day, at a reception, when It
was a topic of debate, Mr. Stockton
told Rudyard Kipling that he thought
of going to India.
"I'm glad of it," said Kipling, enthu
siastically, "and I'll tell you what we'll
do with you! We'll lure you Into the
jungle, and have you seized and bound.
We'll have you turned on your back,
and get one of our biggest elephants
to stand over you with his foot poised
above your head. ' Then I'll say, in my
most insinuating tone, 'Come now,
Stockton, which was it, the lady or the
tiger?' "
' At one time Mr. Stockton was the
guest of honor at a dinner given In
Washington by a member of President
Harrison's cabinet When the dessert
was served it pro'ved to be two large
plates of ice cream, one an orange Ice
in the mold of a tiger, the other of va"
nilla, in the form of a woman. The
plates were set in front of the hostess,
and she turned to her guest with a pre
maturely triumphant air.
"Which kind do you prefer, Mr.
Stockton?" she asked.
"A little of both, of you please!"
Willing to Wait.
The natives of Sierra Leone are not
behind the rest of the world In expect
ing a present at Christmas, but unlike
more conventional races, they have the
candor to ask for It "Massa," inquires
the native, "what you go give me for
my Christmas?" The author of "The
Sherbro and Its Hinterland," says that
on other special occasions similar re
quests are common.
In 1887, during the celebration of the
Queen's Jubilee, which happened to
come at the same time as the centenary
commemoration of the founding of the
colony of Sierra Leone,- a local char
acter at Freetown approached me, and
said, "Massa, what you go to give me
for my jubilee?"
I was not disposed to take the hint,
and be added:
"What! You no give me nutting for
my jubilee? Well, no matter! You go
give me something for my centenary?"
He was again unsuccessful; but
when I told him that I would think the
matter over, and he might come around
on his next centenary, he went away
quite contented.
The Reward of Curiosity.
It cannot be said that the rebuke con
tained in the following anecdote from
the New York Times was conveyed in
the best way, but It undoubtedly found
its mark:
While on a trip through the South
soon after the civil war, a prominent
man stopped over night at the little
town of Warrenton, N. C. The next
morning, while he was strolling around,
he met a countryman who greeted him
with, "Howdy!" and passed the time of
day most cordially. The native was
barefooted, and, having some curiosity
about it, the visitor said:
"Is It the custom of the country for
-the men to go without shoes?"
"Wal," was the drawling reply, "some
on us does, but most on us 'tends to our
own business."
Increase ot Election Districts. -
The number of election districts this
year is increased from 1,537 to. 1,543.
I Be sure your sins will find you out If
' you are ever a candidate for office, (