Corvallis gazette., April 17, 1903, Image 4

PROMISti) RELEASE FROM ENGLISH PRISON
AFTER MANY YEARS FIGHT TO THAT END.
TRIALS OF THE ACCOMMODATING MAN
WHO HAS A TELEPHONE AT HIS FARMHOUSE
OPINIONS OF GREAT PAPERS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS
Are Advantages Disadvantageous. I
tin! wealth and ancestry handicaps
,.ily weight an aspirant for, success
when he wins in spite of them, he is
reiHt? Frauklv. we do not believe
n
of those of obscure origin who attain conspicuous success
in life is very much greater than the number of those born
to the advantages of wealth and a distinguished ancestry
who do this, for precisely the reason that white sheep yield
more wool than black sheep-there are a great many more
of them. t should also be remembered that to maintain a
high level of Intellectuality and general capacity Is much
less conspicuous than to rise from the obscurity of poverty
and illiteracy to a place of Influence and honor.
To say that wealth and a distinguished ancestry are a
handicap to one who wishes to be in the highest degree
i nftt la nn more true than it wou:d be to say
the same of a good constitution or a system free from
hereditary taint. To say that they diminish the Incentive
to struggle with and overcome obstacles is true enough,
since one who starts with great advantages does not have
so far to lift himself and need not do as much hard work
In hand-over-hand climbing. That in many instances the
sons of rich and even great men show degeneracy and
relapse Into obscurity is unquestionably true, but It would
not be difficult to show that poverty, an Illiterate ancestry,
and the lack of incentive to self-Improvement hold millions
annually at the bottom round of the social ladder, because
they are Incomparably better fitted to stay there than to
ascend. Heredity counts for a great deal, and it Is a safe,
generalization that the better a man's ancestry the better
his chances of developing a high, well-directed, and sus
tained ambition. That this Is not an inflexible law of
nature Is a cause for congratulation. If it were, society
-would gradually stratify into castes. As it Is. the fact
that some are steadily sinking from the top to the bottom
while more are as steadily, and much more rapidly, rising
trom the bottom to the top, and that between the bottom
and the top is the great mass of solid, comraon-p!ace, right
minded citizenship to which the highest and the lowest
strata contribute with every generation, establishes the
existence and operation of a law not founded on a senti
mental concept of the disadvantage of advantages nor of
the advantage of disadvantages New York Times.
F
NGLISH is one of the most pliable and adaptable
of tongues. It has plundered all languages of their
riches. - It has the greatest of all literatures,' save
i that of Greeceand It has the advantage over Gre
cian literature of being concerned with
being a living speech. English, probably, will become one
"day the universal language.
Until very lately our pedagogues seemed to have over
looked English as a medium of education. Earlier schol
astic curricula made Latin and Greek the main forces in
the higher education. The college boy of twenty years ago
was stuffed with Cicero and Virgil, Demosthenes and
Homer. ... - -
Then came the scientific movement to the - schools.
Laboratory work was declared to be the great educational
method. Physics, chemistry and political economy took
me piace 01 Latin ana ureeit. j.ne numamuea leu into ais
repute and almost Into desuetude. The old college graduate
felt almost ashamed of his classics in the presence of the
supercilious young man that had been brought up on
physical science.
But physical science. It Is now admitted. Is not suffi
cient for liberal education. A" writer in the Popular Sci
ence Monthly confesses that there is undoubtedly too much
narrowness, and too little general culture, an outward and
visible sign of which is the bad Latin published by many
f the younger men In the form of zoological names. Ex
perience proves that language and literature are necessary
studies to produce clear and exact thinking and its correla
tive, clear and exact expression.
Why not, then, make English supply the necessary hu
manitarian element In education? English has beien slurred
hitherto In the schools, for the student was supposed to
WOODEN LEGS AND REAL ONES.
Modern Inventions Counterfeit Ma
. ' tare Almost Perfectly.
In the case of a man who had been
awarded $3,000 for the loss of a leg by
a railroad and who hai appealed the
case, deeming the compensation too
small, a Chicago judge has 'decided
that artificial limbs should be accepted
as part recompense for the lo-s of rial
ones. During the trial, on appeal, Wit
nesses were introduced by the railroad
who testified that though supplied with
artificial legs they could get around as
lively as persons with real cuss, could
dance and ride the bicycle. Tathls testi
mony the appellant strongly objected,'
whereupon the court handed down thid
ruling:
Art and InvpntlfYn have rirvno much
to mitigate the inconveniences occa
sion, dby the loss of limbs and to restore
the power of locomotion and the earn
ing capacity which otherwise might be
greatly lessened or lost, and evidence
tending to show facts of that nature Is
competent for the consideration of the
' Jury." . -
During recent years the progress
made by artificial limb makers has
been wonderful. An interesting story is
told in this connection of a man who
was lost in a blizzard in the wilds of 1
the Dakotas. When he was finally
picked up he was so badly frozen It
was thought he would dlj, but by care
ful nursing a part of the man was
saved- -that is, his trunk and his heaJ,
both in a damaged condition. It so hap
pened tie had some money and was able
to pL.ce himself out. :
- After he was sufficiently recovered
from his injuries he was brought to
Chicago and taken to an artificial limb
maker, who was told to go to work on
the foundation and see what he could
build. In the first place he put on two
artificial legs, and the man could walk.
The next job was io furnish the man
with two arms, and this was done after
much work, and the battered trunk,
dressed in the latest fashion, began to
look quite like a human being once
more. The man was still minus both
his- ears and hisnose and one eye,
while his hair had all fallen out. The
artificial limb maker said he could fix
the ears and nose all right, and he
went to work and made a pair of ears
for his man, fitted them on and then
took up the task of a nose. This was the
most difficult of all, but finally a very
1 1 i . a
n?ai cenuioiu yruouscis waa uauc;
which was held in place with specta
cles. : Tie man next got a wig and a
glass eye and went out a new man in
the real sense of the word.
- Wonders are certainly performed in
the way of 'making artificial limbs.
Tirnn was when the Des les was the
only thing known, and the man who
lost one of his lower limbs had to go
- stumping through life with a wooden
peg Now he takes $100 and goes and
,,,-. n,,nnmnrrMam4JtghaJLja.
pick It up easually. The result was that the average stu
dent In the scientific courses did not pick It op at all and
left college with but scant knowledge of the English tongue
and literature. - - - . . ,
If English were a prescribed study In all schools and
colleges and were taught thoroughly the cosamon speech of
the land would soon improve and the diction of our
writers would become correct and more elegant. We lack
pride In our language and conscientiousness In the use of
It. It is time some literary mission work were done.
San Francisco Bulletin.
which bo heav-
and honor that
entiuea to exir
It. The number
Th Panama Canal.
THE treaty feigned by Secretary Hay and Dr. Herran,
the Colombian Minister, is a long step taken toward
the construction of the Panama Canal by the United
States. A special session of the Colombian Congress
will be held In the spring to consider the treaty, and the
option of the French company, which will undoubtedly be
extended. '
The caanl will cost the United States: (1) $40,000,000
to be paid to the French company, the present value of Its
charter and construction work as computed by the Walker
commission; (z) - $1O,OU0OOO down and $250,000 per year
after ten years to the Colombian Government for the con
cession, including the Panama Railroad; and (3) the further
expenditure of -$145,000,000 on -the canal is authorized by
the act. of 1002; more may be needed. The lease from
Colombia runs. 100 years and is renewable by the United
States. And by an arrangement with Great Britain most
creditable to the common sense of her statesmen the United
States will have exclusive control of the canal strip, sub
ject to arrangement with Colombia.
Of the 46.5 miles of the canal one-half will lie at sea
level, and thte portion is nearly completed. Thirteen miles
more will run in a lake created In the valley of the Chagres
by a dam at Bohlo, which will impound half a cubic mile of
water. The remaining ten miles, the famous "Culebra
cut" across the backbone of the continent, presents the
greatest difficulty. It will probably be passed by a section
about seventy, feet above the sea. And the sides of the
cut will tower more than 300 feet even above that level
The canal will be nowhere less than 120 feet wide at the
bottom and-usually considerably more. The locks planned
by the French company were to be 738 feet long, but tie
rapid increase. In the size of ocean craft may dictate a
greater ongth. The minimum depth-of -ten' metres (32.8
feet) planned by French engineers may also be increased.
These' facts convey some impression of the magnitude
of the undertaking.' Its total cost will be more than twice
that of the Suez Canal, more than five times that of the
Kiel Canal In Germany. From an' engineering viewpoint
It will be one of the wonders of the world; its usefulness
to trade will be vast and rapid in growth. New York
World. - . y
modern life and
w
take her on. her honeymoon, "because she was leaving all
her old clothes behind her, although she would probably
want them again in- a month or so." Another speaker de
clared boldly that the happiest day of a woman's life was
when she struck a real -bargain. In support of this she
Instances " the woman who, on hearing that a bank had
lowered its Interest to 3 per cent, scraped together all
the money she could lay hands on, and deposited it forth
with. The demoralizing effect of feminine clubs was seen
In the contention ot a third orator, who argued that no
woman was so happy as when she bad read her first paper
at a woman's club meeting, and had seen an account of It in
the papers the next day. A fourth said the happiest day
never came, because it was always In anticipation; and a
fifth declared it wasn't a day at all, but a moonlight night.
On the whole, a man is more puzzled than ever as to how
to trim his sails. London Chronicle.
about as serviceable as a flesh and
blood one, not subject to corns, rheu
matism, and the other . ailments T to
which flesh Is heir.
It is only about a century ago that
the first artificial leg was made, and
it was considered one of the wonders of
the world. :It was called the Anglesea
leg, from the fact that it was made for
the marquis of that tame. This fl:st
limb was wonderfully and fearfully
made, as heavy as lead and as clumsy
as an iron leg. Since that time great
improvements are made, until to-day a
man with an artificial leg can walk,
run, jump, hop, skip and do nearly ev
erything that the man wllh flesh and
blood legs is able to accomplish."
EASY FOR PITCHERS NOW.
They Have a Snap Compared with Stars
of Bygone Day.
Baseball pitchers in these days think
they are performing wonders if they
officiate in two games a week. If they
were asked to go in the box more than
twice they would Imagine they were
being worked to death. .
. Looking back, however, to the days '
when John Clarkson, Tim Keefe, Char
ley Radbourne, Ed Crane, Charley
Sweeney and other famous boxmen
were In their prime one cannot help
feeling that the star pitchers of mod
ern times are enjoying a comparative
snap. : When Radbourne was a mem
ber of the .crack Providence team in
the National League he was called op
to pitch everyday. The box was only
fifty feet -from the plate, to be sure,
but "Old Rad" had the best batters
in America before him dayafter day.
He had marvelous speed when he
wanted : to use It a wonderful slow
ball, great curves and a head filled to
overflowing with gray matter. Day
after day "Rad" pitched, winning con
stantly and soon creating a furore In
the baseball world. Providence, as a
result won the National League cham
pionship in 1884, arid Radbourne was
famous all over tiie land. ,
In 1894, when the New Yorks were
making a great bid for the pennant
which was won that year By the Balti
mores, Manager Ward during the last
month of the campaign induced Amos
Rusie and Jouett Meekin to pitch every
other day. Both were giants in build
and depended chiefly upon speed. They
pitched phenomenal ball, and with an
other week added to the schedule they
would-have landed the pennant In the
metropolis. As it was though the New
Yorks came second. Rusie and Meekin
practically won the series for the fa
mous Temple Cup by their fine work in
the points. But that was the last year
either showed, the form which had
brought him to the front rank of pitch
ers. : '.
As late as 1900 McGinnity, the "Iron
Man," consented to pitch every day
for the Brooklyns toward the close of
flip ppwvon, for Hanlon thought he had
A Woman's Happiest Day.
HAT Is the happiest day In a woman's life?
Three hundred New York club women met re
cently to find out. One woman plumped for the
day and moment when the carriage arrivedPte
a chance of winning the pennant. Mc
Glnnlty did not appear to be affected
by the extra work, but on the contrary
appeared to relish it, as be received a
bonus for the job. But even since thea
the "Iron Man" has not been the same
In point of effectiveness.
Managers " of top-notch reputation
have profited by these incidents In
baseball .history. They , want to pre
serve their valuable pitchers as long
as possible, so they readily consent to
the two games a week proposition and
proceed to hire half a dozen boxmen.
THE REAL KING OF FRUITS.
A Boy the Trne Apple- Bater, but Leave
the Skins on for Uim,
The boy is indeed the true apple eat
er, and is not to be questioned how he
came by the fruit with which his pock
ets are filled. It belongs to him and he
may steal It if It cannot be had in any j
otner way. us own juicy nesn craves
the juicy flesh of the apple. Sap draws
sap. ' ".' .-- -;
His fruit-eating has little reference
to the state of his appetite. Whether he
be full of meat or empty of meat he
wants the apple just the same. Before
meal or after meal It ' never comes
amiss. The farm boy munches apples
all day long. He has nests of them In
the hay mow, mellowing, to which he
makes frequent visits. Sometimes old elrcular tower8, aa WeU as the outer
Brlndle, having access : through the ; wall8t 8tiu show signs of Roman work
open doors, smells them out and makes manflhlp. ; Roman coins and medals
short work of them. V-- . have often been dug up in the neigh-
The genuine apple eater comforts borhood. The keep at the northwest
himself with an apple In their season as ! angle of the castle seems from It ap
others with a pipe or cigar. When he pearance to have been' orginally Saxon
has nothing else to do or Is bored he and there are clear marks of Norman
eats an, apple, sometimes several of and Tudor styles,
them. When he takes a walk he arms I In the time of King John the castle
himself with apples. His traveling bag ' was a prison, but more attractive to
is full of apples. He offers an apple to j the King, and the cause of his frequent
his companion and takes one himself, visits there, was the. wine store In the
They are his chief solace when on the cellar. At one time, during a war with
road. He tosses the core from the car! France 8,000 prisoners, wpe confined
window and from the top of the stage 'there at one ttone and were-auddled
coach. He would fn tfm mir w together in the castle. The walls of the
land one vast orchard. He dispenses
with a knife. He prefers his teeth shall
have the first taste. Then he knows the
best flavor Is Immediately bepeath the
skin, and that In a pared apple this is
lost. If you will tew It, by all means
leave the kin on. It Improves the color
and -vastly heightens the flavor of the
dish., .v.- - -. - ---- ... ... .
-The apple Is a masculine fruit; hence
women are poor apple eaters. It be -
"t5" vv,u a ix aiiu ICUliCa all
open air taste and rellsh.John
Bur-
roughs',"Wiiiter Sunshine."
Output Was Good, v
';: Fifty million gallons of petroleum
were produced n Burma and 'Assam
last-year. . :. . . , . ' ' :
"r. - The Bodleian Library. V
The Bodleian library at Oxford Is
just three centuries old. It Is the largest
university library In the world, ; : ;
, (LI ff? v-V Yt
v ifh-t h f ym
, 4 -yZ VTv 5. i
Tvi i jtr -T, 4 j xt .,h
MRS. FLORENCE E. MAYBRICK. " ' '
The British Home Secretary has at last promised to release Mrs. May
brick, the American woman who was convicted fourteen years ago on the
charge of murdering her English husband. She is to be released next year.
The organized movement to secure a pardon for Mrs. Maybriek was begun
as soon as she was convicted and the case became famous owing to the
almost general belief that Mrs. Maybriek was innocent, and the efforts of
thousands of, men and women on both sides of the Atlantic In her behalf,
' persons of worldwide prominence, and even those concerned In her prosecu
tion petitioning Queen Victoria and her successor. King Edward, for. the
pardon. - . ... ' :v
LANDLORDS OP THE WEST ARE
NOW LEAVING FARMS TO TENANTS.
N
EBRASKA'S theoretical economists are alarmed over a new and
rather unique phase which they call "the menace of landlordism in
the West" ' .
It's all because the Western farmer has insisted on raising such
bumper crops for the last five or six years, and the rest of the world has
forced him to accept large prices for what he has produced. It has now
become an aphorism that the farmer who owns Nebraska or Kansas land
Is a rich man and could get .richer, but Is at present rich enough to retire
from following the plough, r
Each spring and fall there Is a big heglra from the farms to the towns
and cities of men who have made their pile in the wheat fields and want to
rest and educate their children. Most of these men expect to and -do live
on the rentals from their farms. In the eastern section of Nebraska a good
quarter section is worth, according to its Improvements, from $6,000 to
$9,000.. It Is comparatively easy for its owner to get from $5Q0 to $800 a
year rent in cash, or, if he is willing to take chances of a crop, to do even
better by making It grain rent and a third of the crop.
Usually a farmer isn't satisfied to retire unless he has a half section,
and this gives him Income enough in a town to give the boys and girls a
run for their money, and, with his simple tastes, to live welL
This, the professors say, will lead to the degeneration and demoralization
of . the Western farmer, and will soon place agricultural conditions on the
same level as In England, Germany and Austria, with landlords living In
luxury in the cities and the tenantry impoverished. Usually, however, there
is not much of the bloated bondholder about the retired farmer as he ap
pears to-day. though possibly the second generation from the soil may dis
close a different condition. Utica Globe.
DATES BACK TO THE ROMANS.
Porchester Caatl, One of the Oldest
. (structures in Great Britain. .
In the many ruins of castles, fort
resses and palaces found in various
parts of the British Isles, Is found a
variety of architecture. . Most Interest
ing, perhaps, from an architectural
standpoint is Porchester Castle, on a
narrow neck of land Jnttlng out Into
Portsmouth Harbor., which is a quad
rangular structure showing traces of
many . different styles of architecture.
The Britens possessed a fortress on
this spot which they called Caer Perls.
Under the Romans it was called "Portus
Magnus and the circular and seml-
POBCHEBTKB CASTLE. .
castle are from eight to twelve feet
thick and enclose nearly five acres. :
MEN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLi "
Adults Who Are Learning; to Bead
and Write.
Visitors of the Jones public school,
Harrison street, between - State and
Dearborn, are frequently astonished at
sight of the' large and eager groups of
- adult students at work in the second
and third hall ways. Long" tables have
been placed . in these hallways, -and
about them sit serious r faced, deter
mined youths of anywhere from sev
enteen to twenty-one or twenty-two,
each busy with slate, primer, or some
simple school problem. . , ."-y "-
Between seventy and eighty of these
ambitious young students sit out In the
hallways dally, and most of them are
"studying in the first reader," or work
ing at similarly simple and. elementary
, a , ,, ,mm f m"- - "iifr - - --
problems. All. are determined, how
ever, to "know lots more" before the
advent of the warm spring weather
calls them away from scholastic labors
and back to the workaday world.
Most of these young men are of
Italian and Greek extraction, and
nearly all are busy, during the more
temperate seasonsat fruit selling or
some kindred business efforts. No
time for the securing of the education
they are so desirous of attaining can
be found from early spring until late
autumn. .-. But when Jack Frost sets
them free from their. ordinary labors,
the Jones school claims interest and
time. In order to facilitate their ef
forts and endeavors the boys and
young men are placed by themselves In
the hallways of the second and third
floors, instead " of in the rooms and
classes where preliminary instructions
are more normally carried on. . Thus
the' adult students are spared the mor
tification and annoyance of receiving
the Instruction also imparted - to the
more youthful - first grade pupils In
company with these fellow workers of
small size and fewer years.
Few of these students meet with
any home encouragement or assistance
toward studying, and their school work
Is necessarily of a fragmentary and in
termittent nature. But Miss Cora Ca
verno, the school principal, says that
they make thoroughly good, earnest
and devoted students. Chicago Trib
une. ' .
- Man and the. Automobile.
"Did you ever-watch a man dodge
an automobile? If. not. It Is an Interest
ing study," remarked a man who ob
serves things. ; . :
The average citizen will uncomplain
ingly step out of the way of a trolley
car that grazes his coat tails, and gaze
admiringly at the pair of thorough
breds which nearly runs him down.
He will even smile when he Is bumped
Into by one of those fiends who per
slsit in-pushing a bicycle on theslde
walk. Man takes glee In running across
the railroad track in front of. a fast
train and then turning around with a
pleased smile and lingering to watch
the flying engine and cars. But just
let the chauffeur make his unearthly
whistle croak and watch the face of
the citizen. :
He will glance up and down and say
things that would cause an application
of the blue pencil right here'were they
Inserted. ; He will glare at the driver
of the automobile and make remarks
derogatory to the social status of his
ancestors back to the dawn of creation.
Just why- this condition exists is hard
to tell, but the "man '.'with the disposi
tion of a. friendly puppy becomes a
glowering demon of hate whenever he
has to get out of the way of an auto."
A man is a woman's natural pro
tector: j By, marrying her, he protects
her from the title of "old maid."
GITY people whose neighbors use their telephones think they know all
about trouble." said a ruddy-faced amateur farmer, "but I'll compare
notes with them any day. If you are not obliging to your neighbors
In the country you would better move back to town; so this is what
we go through with In order to be obliging. We have the only telephone
In our vicinity; and my wife and I ought to draw salaries as rural mes
sengers. ... -
"The other day a call came to our telephone for some one In town who'
wished to talk with Mrs. Jinks, our tenant's wife. So my wife had to leave
her sewing, don her sunbonnet and plod across the rough fields a third of a
rotle to tell Mrs. Jinks to come to the phone. When Mrs. Jinks got ready
she lumbered up to our house with a fat baby under each arm, and found
nut that Rosy, a friend of hers In town, wanted her to come and bring her
out to spend the day.
" 'Naw,' bawled back Mrs. Jinks, 'ain't got no boss.'
"In a day or so another friend of the Jinks family telephoned out to
say that, she and three children would spend Sunday with the Jlnkses, and
Mr. Jinks must come In with the wagon to Bring them out My wife could
not answer that the Jlnkses had no horse, as they had just got one; so she
promised to deliver the message. She gave the errand to the Jlnkses over
to me; I Intended to attend to It. and. forgot It. The folks In town got ready
and waited all day Sunday, but no Mr. Jinks appeared. About Tuesday
there was a great disturbance on the farm. Involving all the . Jlnkses, my
brother and myself, and both of our wives. The message hadn't been car
ried, and everybody was to blame.
"This is only , a sample," said the amateur farmer, according to the
Detroit Free Press. "We "have other neighbors near and far; but our bouse
Is the telephone office of the district. People In town get mad at us and
people in the country get mad at us; our lot Is bard."
liyiifvention
A new process for drying fruit and
Vegetables already In use for drying
hops consists in drawing air through
a grid work of steam pipes Into a cham
ber below the slotted floor holding the
materials to be. dried. Absorption of
sulphurous gases Is avoided, while
burning is Impossible. In a test at
Worcester, England, samples of car
rots, potatoes, sliced and shredded ap
ples, and other fruits and vegetables,
were kept at temperatures of 90 to
100 degrees for six hours, reaching the
ordinary commercial state -of dryness.
The cost of working being small. It Is
expected that an Important new Indus
try will soon develop In England.
- The curious phenomena of "symphll
lsm" are being Investigated by E.
Wasmann, a German zoologist. This
Is the harboring of foreign species of
Insects, etc., la the nests of ants and
termites, -and it is found that more
than one hundred soecies of arthro
pods, or creatures with Jointed legs,
are thus associated with the ants, at
least ekrhtv-five or nlnetv snecles be
ing beetles. All are recognized easily
by certain pectmarittea. Most notanie
amonor the characteristics of these bee
tles are their oily reddish-yellow or
reddish-brown color, ana special exu
dation orarnnn or oores with brownish
hairs, but there are also modifications
of the mouth and other parts.
Some of the discouragements and
failures of amateur photographers may
be due to sucn imperrecuons ox s nut
ters as were disclosed in a paper read
at the recent meetlns: of the American
Association for the Advancement fj
Science by E. W. Morley of the West
ern Reserve University and D. C. Mil
ler of the Case School of Applied Sci
ence. The better grade of shutters
were found to be fairly constant in op-
eration, but the actual duration or ex
posure was often not even approxi
mately that Indicated by the maker.
Different shutters of the same make
and form gave widely different exoos
ures when set for the same time. With
the best shutters, of the diaphragm
class the duration of exposure was
nearly Independent of the aperture of
the opening. . Some shutters or the
cheaper grades, designed to give ioug,
medium and short exposures, gave
equal exposures in the three cases.
'The effects of the swift advance of ,
kTwiwledee. which sometimes causes a
new book on some branch of science to
appear a back number shortly after
ita mihlicatlon. are felt no less in
practical scientific undertakings. A
striking illustration is rurmsuou us
the enormous new coast-defense gun
recently tested at Sandy Hook. This
gun was Intended to be not only the
most powerful in existence, but also
the representative of the most advanc
ed type of such weapons. But after It
had been planned a special plant had
to be established for its construction,
and the few years consequent delay
before It could be completed sufficed
for such Improvements in gunpowders,
and In the designing of guns for their
use, that now the finished monster Is,
in some respects, out of date before
It has fairly been mounted for service.
The new gun Is of 16 Inches' bore and
49.7 feet long. It Is calculated that
It can throw a 2400-pound projectile
twenty-one miles.
CROW WITHLIVES TO SPARE.
Zt Tormented Hog and Canaed a
Farmer No End of Woe.
"Say you seed a hundred crows in
one flock?" asked an Illinois farmer
of a man who was telling him of a
visit he had made to the. country a
few weeks ago. The farmer leaned
ever in his chair, took aim at a cuspi
dor half way. across the lobby of a
Dearborn - street " hotel, and turned
tgaln to the city man. "Seed a hun
dred? ' I've seed millions on 'em. But
you don't see 'em any more. Crow day
Is well nigh gone. Time wuz when
the pesky birds mighty nigh eat us
outen house an home. I ain't seed
'em so thick fer five or six years or so
an I reckon they ain't a-goln' to be so
plentiful again. -1 larned a good many
Idees about crows when they used to
be lots on 'em.
"You may not know that a crow Is
the thing that comes clostest to a cat
In havin' Its life renewed a lots of
times. It's a fact When the corn belt
was simply a-swarmin with them, an'
you couldn't hear yer own ears fer
the ca win', they would almost eat our
hogs up. . V:.;
- "One year I had a bunch of fine
porkers and the crows would light on
the backs of the hogs and peck away
until they nearly killed 'era. I stuck
up all kinds' of scarecrows," but that
didn't do ' a speck of good. It got so
bad at last that I had to lay out in the
hay mow by the winder and ' shoot
crows all day. They are mighty shy of
the smell of gunpowder, but they will
risk a good matoy feathers fer a bite
of live hog. .
"One day I seed a big, fat shoat
come a runnln' across the lot a squeal
In' and on his back rode a crow a
pjekin' away fer dear life. I run out
and scared the bird away, but it
wasn't long until here he come a-ridin
in rr tnnth.ii TTa 44- ,m 411
got tired of chasin' out and I got my
old rifle and hid behind the woodshed
In a few minutes 'long come another
hog a-squealin and the same old crow
a-peckin' holes In his back. I knew I
could' plug a chicken' hawk on the fly,
so I took aim at old Mr. Crow. The
rifle went 'bing and I'll be durned If
that hog didn't drop as dead as a door
nail. The crow flew away cawln' at
me, and I was so all-fired mad I hit
the gun over a post and. knocked It Into
smithereens.
"After that I got a dozen shots at
the same crow with an old muzzle
loader and I knocked enough feathers
out of the bird to make a suit of
mournin' fer an Indian. One day I
kind o' crept up on him, took good aim,
and blew his dad drated head offen
him. That bird had 'nine lives If he
had any at all and I ain't so sure he
wouldn't have got away after I shot
him if I hadn't tied him on a pole fer
a scarecrow."
DIVORCE HAS A DEFENDER.
Marriage Neede Regulation More than
the Dissolution of the Tie.
There Is a general demand through
out the United States for the enact
ment of more stringent divorce laws. .
A recent writer in an Eastern maga
zine, however, presents some reasons
for regarding divorce as the only prac
ticable way out of an unfortunate sit
uation In many cases and points, out
wKq t ha wnatHatw v. ttiA rmio e.1n.
tlon of th,e matrimonial problem. He
saysf
"We are told that the Institution of
divorce separates husbands and wives
and breaks up homes. Nothing couM
be further from the truth. Divorce
never separates, just as the marriage
ceremony never unites. Each Is but
the symbol, the sign, which sets Its
seal upon that which took place be
fore. If the husband and wife find'
that they have made a mistake and
that the lives of both are made wretch
ed by the mutual companionship it Is
their duty to. separate and obtain free
dom by legal process.-
It is a mistake, a perversion of the
uuui-io uiane mo siaitriiiwii mac
homes are being wrecked in this way.
No home that Is a home Indeed has
been broken by divorce, and none wl,l
be, for this legal step Is but the clos
ing scene' of the last act In a domestic
tragedy. It Is a crime to rear children
In a home life where father and moth
er are mutually abhorrent, where love
dwells not, where the contact of pa
rents serves to bring out all the Innate
evil of their natures instead Of being
an inspiration to virtue.
- "The rational, reasonable way to
minimize divorce is to place barriers
against easy matrimony and make
holy purpose against which the' waves
of youthful Impetuosity and unripe af
fection will dash in vain. The greatest
social evil In our country Is the marry
ing habit There Is practically no
check on marriage, and young people
wed at will and at times In baste,
with an angry parent In pursuit. Even
those below lawful ages find little dif
ficulty In getting the protection of law
and are pronounced married.
His Style ot Haircut.
An elderly and rather Irritable gen
tleman entered a barber's parlor to
have bis hair trimmed. All the seats
were occupied. He was about to leave
when a voluble operator persuasively
remarked: "Ready In a minute, sir."
Reassured, the customer sat down,
picked up a paper, and absently began
to peruse it Meanwhile the barber ex
hibited an extraordinary loqaclousness.
discussing the merits of . race horses,
the possibilities at Saratoga, and vari
ous other subjects. Finally he Invit
ingly offered the vacated chair to the
old gentleman. -
"How would you like your hair cut?"
the barber Inquired.
"In perfect silence, "please," was the
curt and Ironical reply. Philadelphia
Public Ledger.
Deceived.
Ethel You say Algy has been heart
lessly deceived by a young woman.
Did she lead him on to think that she
loved him?
May Oh, no. She led him on to be
lieve that she didn't care a rap for
him, and then when he carelessly pro-
, Good Use for a Hypnotist.
Mesmerist's Wife Carlos.
Mesmerist tven, utarj
Mesmerist's Wife I wish you would
come here and tell baby he Is asleep.
& u.i&. ... f-.....
The children of a very thrifty woman
are always given little banks, and In
structed to show the mechanism to vis
itors.