TOPICS OF
THE TIMES.
A racing yacht is just about as use
ful as a racing automobile.
If Prof. Langley succeeds in .making
bis flying machine carry him, he will
be a "bird."
Judging by the press reports, pro
ceedings in Macedonia are the anti
thesis of "constructive warfare."
John Hill, Jr., has written a book to
tell people how they drop their money
on the stock market. Most of them
know. -
Suspenders are going into a trust
That's one thing this world needs.
How often do we see suspenders that
cannot be trusted.
Optimism Is only another word for
beauty. In the world's great market
of friendship there Is no call for the
whiney cat mortal.
Inasmuch as a man cannot hare two
wives at the same time, he ought to
be protected from a duplication of
breach of promise suits.
What's this? The Kaiser rebuking
the Uhlans for riding'down the crowd
at Berlin! Has the army lost caste,
and its concomitant privileges?
Every time Lieutenant Hobson sees
a new girl or calls on a family where
there Is a marriageable daughter, the
society reporters cannot sleep nights.
Agents of the Interior Department
hold high. Jack and the game, leaving
the Indians with but Lo. Is it any
wonder that the Indian took none of
the tricks?
A New York woman exhibited all the
symptoms of hydrophobia when her
daughter came home and announced
she had just been married to a man
named Terrier.
We cannot understand why Emperor
William, enjoying all the protection
which goes with his divine, right,
should consider it necessary to sleep
In a tent of asbestos. He can't be
-fired."
The shipbuilders of Great Britain
believe that If they would all combine
they could produce a yacht that would
carry off the America's cup. They
might, provided they hired a Yankee
crew to sail it 4
This revived, discussion respecting
the advisability of cutting the word
"obey" out of the marriage service is
useless. In the future as in the past
women will cheerfully promise obedi
ence, but will make things Interesting
for the man who undertakes to en
force it '
. The trappings of woe are expensive
and it is quite worth the while of
leaders ia thought to deprecate -the
custom or elaborate funerals. If a
duke can get along comfortably with
a $35 funeral there is no reason why
the late John Smith should be burled
at an expense involving the mortgag
ing of the family home.
Our millionaires' daughters may
marry English dukes and earls and
thus with American money repair the
financial decay of the English land
values. But the few such family al
liances that can be arranged will never
bare the effect of Instilling in the
minds and hearts of the American
masses the slightest reverence or
affection or respect for a titled aristo
cracy as a social Institution.
j A game of "gossip" played In some
sections of the East with much favor
seems to have In It some elements of
danger. The game Is played with pho
tographs which are shuffled and dealt
out like cards. Every one In the party
receives a photo. It is then the play
to go a round the circle each party in
turn telling every mean thing that can
be thought of about the party photo
graphed. The Grafton, N.-" D., Record
says it knows of localities where the
game has been played for years with
out photographs. Too true!
There has never been any peculiar
punishment Invented to fit the crime
of the man who for the sake of gain
mill deliberately supply savages with
suns with which to carry on war
against his own countrymen, but
doubtless there ought to be. In con
nection with this subject It Is interest
ing to notice the recent removal by
Germany from her gunmakers of the
prohibition against sending guns to
China guns into the muzzles of
iwhich German soldiers may have to
look in some future Pekln expedition.
It should not be forgotten that the
people of Macedonia have been prepar
ing for a long time to give battle to
the sultan, and later it will be found
probable that much of the bloodshed
should not be laid to the door of the
Turk. While the condition is bad
ienough, most of the reports are. prob
ably grossly exaggerated, because
many of the so-called towns of Mace
donia, which are said to have been
destroyed, consist of only about half
a dozen farm buildings. Rivers which
are luridly reported to be damned
with the bodies of murdered Christians
are in reality . streams so small and
sluggish that any small object would
stop their flow.
At Chicago, a 19-year-old boy, won
the first prize for the best dress hat
at a milliners' convention. This seems
(to open a new field for the tasteful
of the male sex. Man is a good judge
of the neatly dressed woman. It is
claimed that the average woman takes
more care with her dress In order to
please the men than to attract the
critical gaze of her own sex. As man
knows what styles are the most attrac
tive to his eye, he seems the proper
one to design them. It is stated that
svoman is rapidly crowding herself in
to occupations which were formerly
the chance -to get even, by designing
and constructing 'the head gear for
women.
It is useless to quarrel with daugh
ters of American multimillionaires
who enter upon international alliances.
Isolated as they are by their great
fortunes, they are necessarily restrict
ed in their acquaintance with men,
and In their choice of husbands in
this country to the narrow circles of
the idle rich. Within those limits
money is the principal and often the
only standard of social virtue. In that
environment a simple marriage of af
fection must be comparatively rare.
Not upon the daughters, but upon the
sons of the American rich, must rest
whatever of blame there may be for
the surrender of the American woman
to the titled fortune hunter. It is not
her fault If she can get more for her
money In London than in New York.
Thousands of unnaturalized aliens
vote at every election. It is only neces
sury that they should declare their In
tention to become citizens. Then if
they have been in this country from
six months to two yeara the time var
ies in the twelve .States with alien
voters they may go to the polls with
native-born Americans and cast their
ballots.. The right to vote is a gift
from the State, on the conferring or
withholding of which there Is no lim
itation save that contained in the fif
teenth amendment to the constitution.
That says that the suffrage may be
denied to no one on account of race,
color, or of any previous condition of
servitude. In the exercise of the dis
cretion allowed to the States, Con
necticut for instance, has required
that voters must not only be citizens of
the United States, but that they must
also be able to read English. In
Mississippi voters mast be . citizens,
and must be able to read or to under
stand the constitution; whereas in
Nebraska an alien who need have been
in the United States only six months,
and who, thirty days before election,
declared his Intention of becoming a
citizen, may vote, whether he can read
English or even speak it In the great
majority of States voters must be citi
zens, and , in all the States the judges
exercise wide discretion in admitting
to citizenship those aliens who have
lived the necessary five years In the
country, and made their declaration of
intention to become citizens at least
two years before applying for their
final papers. Not long ago a judge in
Albany, New York, rejected the appli
cation of sixty aliens on the ground
that the men could not speak English.
"When a man has been in this coun
try five years," said he, "and is un
able to talk our language, in my opin
ion he is not fit -to be admitted to citi
zenship, and I will act accordingly."
Another Judge, In the exercise of his
discretion, may admit these rejected
candidates to citizenship, but those
people who believe that foreigners
should live here long enough to under
stand American institutions and have
interest enough In their new home
to ' learn its language will feel that
tnnch can be said in defense of the
stand which the Albany judge has
taken. ....
A3 WEAK AS A CAT."
Another Familiar Adage Founded on
the Mistake of Fact.
Of all the animal adages founded
on the mistakes of a fact, "as weak as
a cat" Is the most absurd. Really, the
cat Is a most muscular animal. The
lion, the tiger and other so-called "big
cats," as you already know, are of the
same family with our common house
pussy; we shall not speak of them
further. 4As weak as a cat" Is applied
to the house pussy; but to say "as
weak as a kitten" Is truer. One may
then mean the new-born kitten which
comes into the world blind, softer and
more helpless-looking than even the
blind puppy; but which, however, Is
not so hopelessly weak as the puppy,
the kitten having sharp claws which
the puppy has not You know so
much of cats; do you not young peo
ple? The cat's-muscles are extraordinarily
large and powerful in proportion to the
animal's size. Then again those mus
cles are attached to bones, fitted to
gether at such angles as to make "the
finest system of springs and levers,"
says Dr. Huidekoper, "known in the
whole group; the claws are sharper
and are curved into stronger hooks
than in any other mammal, and by
the action of special muscles are with
drawn under the protection of sheath
like pads, that they may escape wear
and injury when' not in use." The
slender, supple form of the cat makes
it capable of the highest activity. The
heavy boy, you may have noticed, is
not always the strongest; the thin, ac
tive boy is the fastest runner and the
quicker at games which need both
strong and limber muscles.
The shoulder-blade, the arm and the
forearm, the thigh, the leg and the
foot of the cat lie at what the veteri
nary surgeons call "closed . angles."
That peculiar conformation shows that
the enormous jumps which the cat
can take to the envy of any athletic
boy are due to the great power and
the closed angles of the joints; but the
conformation of the legs make the
cat's stride at a walk,' a. trot or a run
remarkably limited. The cat moves,
therefore, with wonderful quickness,
'and with no great speed. The boys
who say he feel's "as weak-as a' cat"
if he is at all like the cat should be
splendidly muscular. The truth is
that .in proportion to the size of his
body, he can never hope to be as strong
as a cat Our Animal Frffends.
Death in Steam Whistles.
Steam whistles have fallen under the
displeasure of the physicians of Salem,
Mass., and twenty-four of the doctors
have petitioned the City Council to
adopt strict regulations concerning
their use within the city limits.- They,
declare that the noise made by them
is often "a matter of life and death to
persons seriously ill," and a nerve
racking and discomforting thing to
most people at all times.
Cuba's Corn Crop. ,
Four crops of corn " are produced
yearly In Cuba. The first . crop is
planted in December,' and the fourth
OPINIONS OF GREAT PAPERS ON IMPORTANT SUBJECTS
Ministers' Salaries.
II B Rev. Charles II. Marsh, pastor of the
a" H I Rockwell (Iowa) Baptist Church, whose salary
I I Is $00 a year, recently refused an offer of
I in w an v...tnpn Kb mY all too m -whtaTi
vranted him to sign for next year. The Phila
delphia Ledger reports the resignation of a
numii- iu that city because he was
salary. The council of his church is greatly surprised at
his action, and In commenting upon it said that It pays him
$800. the board of missions another $300, while the city
mission pays him 950. Besides this, be has a Christmas
present of $20. The council contends that with the extra
money he makes he gets $700 a year, and that he ought
to be able to live on that sum, seeing that he pays but $16
a month for house rent
There is an apparent difference between these two cler
gymen. The country one is content with his salary and
refuses one five times as large. The city one is not content
with his and goes where he can get a hundred or two more,
The two Incidents call attention to the slight estimate which
is placed upon the average'mlnlster's service. The Ledger's
statement that "as a matter of fact $700 a year is consider
ably more than the average salary of regular ministers of
the gospel of all denominations in this country" will occa
sion some surprise. This is less than most clerks get It is
less than policemen and firemen get It Is less than some
scrubwomen get If it were necessary to make "odorous
comparisons," the wages of street cleaners and garbage
wagon drivers are a little less.
. When it is also taken in account that the flocks are in
favor of shortening the shepherd's term of service; that
ministers are coming to be looked upon as candidates for
the superannuated list at 45 or 50; that they have, as a rule,
large families to support; that they are always expected to
look well and be on dress parade, so that they may not
embarrass their better-to-do parishioners; that the butcher,
and the baker, and the candlestick maker do not any more
cut down prices for them; that railroad official are crusty,
even, when asked for the ministerial half fare, and that the
ministerial "sore throat" no longer secures an extended
vacation, it is not difficult to understand why the Phila
delphia clergyman embraced the first opportunity that
offered Itself to flee to a bigger salary. It is difficult to
understand why the Rockwell clergyman deliberately re
fused a salary equivalent to that of five ordinary clergy
men, unless he Is content with laying up treasure where
"neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves
do not break through nor steal." Chicso Tribune.
Life's Phantom Troubles.
TTBl Rjt. Thonvaa Dixon. Jr.. nietnrea one of
U I the characters in "The Only Woman" as having
1 I carved across his oaken mantel the words: "1
I 1 . J . T I T A M A. 1. 1 -
am an oiu until uuw, x vc uau ivia ml u u u luc,
and most of it never happened."
No doubt most of us when we near the end
of life's journey could give expression to the same senti
ment In general our troubles have three proportions ac
cording to our point of view. They are all fearsomely
large in prospect; the worst of them is bearable in actual
eccurrence; and they shrink to a mere dot in retrospect
The great bulk of our troubles are those of anticipation,
and a generic term for them is worry. Most of them never
happen, and those that do have shrunken so that we scarce
ly can recognize them. The longer the perspective the
greater the trouble; so we find our worries more numerous
and more wearing before than after we have passed the
saeridlan of our brief day.
As we move gently and we fancy a little more quickly,
toward the sunset line, and glance now and then baek over
the long and often rugged and tortuous trail, we see little
f our earlier worries but phantoms of the troubles that
sever happened, and these grow even more tenuous as we
travel from them until they are but a luminous vapor
through which we view a day that was much fuller of
Canning Peas
for Market.
The Industry of putting up canned
goods is rapidly growing, and the pro
cesses by which the different crops
are made ready for the market form an
Interesting sight It is hardly poslsble
to conceive the rapidity with which
the work' is carried on and the Im
portant part played by machinery.
Take, for instance, the canning of peas,
where the vines are cut In the field
by a moving machine and loaded on
the wagons the same as is done with
hay. Arriving at the sheds of the fac
tory as wanted, they are placed on an
endless chain and carried overhead to
the workmen, who tend, the machine
known as the "viner." In looks it
resembles a large, old-fashioned re
volving squirrel cage, in which are
paddles, which beat the pods and al
low the peas to fall out through the
meshes of the cage, while the vines
and pods are carried by the endless
chain to the silo, some distance away.
As some pieces of vines and pods pnts
through with the peas, they are run
through a squirrel cage which, revolv
ing, causes the peas to be separated
from the other substances, when they
pass out of it into trays. '.'
Passing onward the peas are next
poured into a machine reminding one
of the old-time fanning mills seen in
farmers' barns. Here they are further
cleaned before passing through into
the "grader," which Is another cylinder
in which there are several sections
with different-sized meshes and the
peas roll along until they come to the
mesh, which permits them to fall
through. All the while they are In this
cage dropping water Is washing them
and carrying out the dirt that may
be on them. Each size is now labeled
and kept separate. .
The "blancher," as it Is called, is a
trough of boiling water, through which
the trays of peas are carried on the
endless chain, requiring about ten min
utes to pass twenty-five feet. As some
of the skins of the peas, and possibly
other dirt, may yet be clinging to the
peas they move on to the second series
of squirrel cages, where the revolv
ing motion again cleans them, while
cold water Is continually dropping Into
the cage and on them. Now they
pass out on to a belt about three 'feet
wide and slowly move along between
rows of women, whose business It is to
pick out any bad peas or any other
foreign substance. Dropping from this
table into trays they are carried by
men to the filler. It is the machine
which automatically fills the . cans,
which are dropped down through tubes
from the storeroom above. When the
can falls into position on the moving
sunshine than of
cuscern tne occasional uusue ana briar.
dissatisfied with bis
alone.
have lots of trouble;
won't worry about
The
8 there
as "a
place,
money
He can make men
where, and he Is not
Legislature, and
danger, perhaps,
Africa contained
the men who alone
projects would be
money. London Spectator.
ORN 1
CI value is
I It seems
I .
nearly a monopoly
ever, a rival Is also
veloped into great
which is then automatically opened,
allowing the same quantity of peas
to fill each -can, at the rate of seventy
to eighty cans a minute.
The movement is so wen timed that
its place is taken by an empty can
while it moves under the pipe through
which the hot liquid is automatically
measured and poured Into It The can
now swings on Its course, going
through a brasher or wiper, where it
is cleaned and any surplus on top
brushed off. Two boys now place caps
on the cans as they move along past
them to the soldering machine, with
which It combines the "adder," which
prepares it for taking the solder. After
they come out of there they are brand
ed with the quality of grade while
on the way to the "dotter," who sold
ers the little hole in the center of each
cap. The inspector then takes his
turn and if the cans are all right they
are soon at the end of their first Jour
ney, as they pass on to a table, whence
they are removed and put into Targe
steel' crates, preparatory to a second
journey of some 150 to 200 feet under
ground on an endless chain to reach
the building where the "cookers" are.
Coming out of the "cookers" the
crates now go on to a slowly moving
chain, which takes about half an hour
to pass through the channel of cold
water 150 feet long to the storeroom,
where they are cool enough to handle.
Later In the season, 'when the 'label
ing is done, machinery again takes a
prominent place. New York Tribune.
JAPS INVADE FISHERIES.
It Xa Aaaerted That They Are Despoil
ing the Western Water. -
The Japanese are great fish eaters, a
very large share of their constant diet
being dried fish,' according to the "Ta
ooma Ledger. Recently the Russian
government shut down on the Japanese
fishermen off the coast of Siberia, ap
parently in retaliation for the express
ed antipathy of the Japanese to every
thing Russian. The Japs had to se
cure fish from elsewhere at once and
swarmed into British Columbia. Un
less they can be dislodged neither Can
ada nor America will get one cent out
of all the millions of "chum" salmon
bred in our waters and now being fed
as a daily diet to the Japanese in
Japan. The Japs put up temporary
and cheap quarters during the 'sum
mer and fill them up wfrth Japanese
fishermen and mechanics. Japs catch
the fish, for which they pay nothing.
Japs salt them down.
Japs make boxes of Jap-sawn lum
ber and nail them together with Jap
anese nails. Japs load the boxes on
Japanese steamers and the banking
exchange is done through Japanese
banks solely.' When the season Is over
the Japs disappear, not leaving one
cent for all the fish they have taken
away, for even their food supplies are
Japanese, too, Just as are their nets
and their clothing. Thus in two years
-
cloud and a winding pathway so thickly
flanked with honeysuckle and lavender that we cannot
No matter at what time we take this backward view
we may see that most of our troubles never happened.
There Is no specific like comparison for the .cure of that
dread malady, worry. No trouble Is as great as our fretting
makes it and this ought to admonish us to let fretting
The old man in the book Is the counterpart of many an
eld man of flesh and blood, and also of many an aged
woman. All of them have had lots of trouble, and most of
It never happened. From the experience of those who have
gone nearly , the length of the journey the young man and
the young woman might say: "I am young; I expect to
but as most of it will never happen, I
any of It" Chicago Post
Dangerous Plutocrat.
any real danger In the accumulation
of great riches In the hands of one man? Can
the multi-millionaire be regarded in any sense
new peril?" Probably not In the first
the man who has amassed large sums of
himself seldom or never squanders It
He knows its value too well; be must be a good business
man to have become rich, and good business men do not
play ducks and drakes with what they have hardly earned.
There would seem Indeed to be only one dangerous form
of murti-milllonalre, and that is the man who uses his
wealth for political objects. He can, or he can try to,
smash a constitution. He can organize and he can bribe.
rich or poor. But he cannot do so every.
a danger to a State possessing a sound
governed by sound men. He might be a
to a ring-fence community such as South
before the war, but he could never be a
danger In a community better organized. The best men
could forward or thwart his political
neither allured nor frightened by his
Corn Is King.
klncr of American cram. Tta TMrl-r
much greater than that of any other.
also more secure against rivalry than
t .3 n . I 1 1
any oilier, waviia.ua, xiussia ana oiner lanaa
compete with us in wheat Competitors In cot
ton are growing In many places at an ominous
rate. But the United States has seemed to have pretty
of corn growing. In this industry, how
arising which 'may before long be de
proportions.
That rival Is Argentina,, a country which for more rea
sons than one might well be regarded as the United States
of South American. It is only about two-fifths as large
as the United States, and has only one-fifteenth as great
a population. But its soil Is wondrously fertile and its
climate genial, and it Is growing In population and In the
arts of civilization at a gratifying pace. Its production of
cattle and sheep, of hides and wool, of linseed and various
other things is well known to be great It is to be re
marked that it Is also becoming a great producer of corn,
for which crop its soil and climate seem to be particularly
well suited. The last year's crop of corn is reported to
have covered 4,800,000 acres and to have measured 130,600,
000 bushels. That is, of course, very much less than our 94,
000,000 acres and 2,523,000,000 bushels. Yet proportionately
to the population of the country, it Is a creditable showing.
Moreover, it Is to be observed that the Argentines get more
than thirty bushels from an acre, and get a dollar of their
currency, or 44 cents gold, a bushel for It making a yield
of $13.20 an acre, while we, with our boasted higher civili
zation, are content with twenty-seven bushels ts the sere,
which, at 40 cents a bushel, means a yield of only $10.80
an acre. New York Tribune. .
pletely and of an offering of 200 tons
this season we have not been able to
sell a; single - salmon. If we were to
allow them to come over here and do
the same with wheat and flour, grow
ing the grain on government lands, as
they are catching their fish in govern
ment waters, toe flour business, too,
would soon be nipped off m the same
way. As Canada gets no more than
America now out of the business the
upper countries should unite in the
suppression of foreign exploitation of
their fisheries, Just as America has al
ready done. The Japs would not be
allowed to carry on their business in
Alaskan waters, and Canada has no
Interest in fostering a trade so value
less to herself.
The Port ot New York.
Along Its wharves one walks from
clime to clime, hearing the speech and
the slang of many tongues, seeing fel
low mortals of every known shade of
skin. It is a geographical jumble, a
sort of International fair presided over
by one goddess commerce. Little
does it seem -to her that only the
breadth of a pier should separate orient
from Occident the cool northland from
the tropics. She has marshaled her
forces from the limits of her wide
spread empire, hastened them along
converging ways and then permitted
her glad servant, man, to give them
biding place. And in New York the
glad servant has no alternative save
to berth them where he may, for ships
are many and berths are few, and
commerce brooks no waiting. From
ten to twelve vessels arrive in port
day In, day out, through the year.
In one recent month 261 deep-sea craft
with tight-stowed holds came to their
piers along South and West streets
and the flags they flew were Ameri
can, British, German, Norwegian,
French, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Cuban,
Belgian, Spanish, Austrian and Portu
guese. They brought the people and
the merchandise of twice a hundred
ports and some, the China ships, had
come through 160 days of sea to de
liver up their chests and' bales. Har
per's Magazine.
Coin of George II. .
An old coin, minted in England dur
ing the reign of George II., was found
recently on the roof of one of the pri
vate ward buildings of the Johns
Hopkins Hospital. It Is thought to
have been dropped by one of the
workmen when the ward was built
The coin is copper. On one side it
bears the profile of Groege II., with
the words Georgius II., R B X. "On
the reverse the figure of a woman,
with a staff in one hand. Over her
head is inscribed Britannia and be
neath can be seen the figures 1 38.
The second figure Is not legible, but
was probably a 7, as George II. was
King of Great Britain m 1738.
Here Is something new: An Atchison
boy declares he has the nicest ftssh
kllllfiyentioii
The "sixth sense," by which blind
persons perceive certain objects, is at
tributed by Dr. Emile Javel, who has
been blind several years, to sensitive
ness of the skin to obscure radiations
that do not affect the eyes.
Attention has been . called by E.
Bohm to two new forms of Incandes
cent lamps. In both, the lower half of
the bulb is of fluted glass, which, act
ing as a row of lenses, concentrates the
light downwards, and gives the special
advantage of strong illumination di
rectly beneath the lamp. One form has
the ordinary filament with the upper
half of the bulb of opal glass, while
the other has a zigzag horizontal fila
ment and a top of clear glass.
A new alloy for bearings subjected
to heavy loads, such as those of rail
way axles, Is described by G. A. Cla-
mer as consisting of sixty-four parts of
copper, five of tin, thirty of lead and
one of nickel. The metal casts well
and is easily worked. Its large propor
tion of lead greatly reduces wear, and
when used as a bearing for a journal
8 Inches in diameter by 3 long, run
at 525 revolutions per minute and load
ed to one thousand pounds per square
inch, the loss In weight was but a
fifth of a grain in one hundred thou
sand revolutions. Under the same con
ditions, the wear of gun metal of vary
ing proportions of copper and tin was
from 26 to 4 grains.
A new form of the "fac simile tele
graph," by which a message, written
at the transmitting end, Is reproduced
at the receiving end, has been invent
ed in Germany under the name of the
"telechirograph." The message is writ
ten upon a sheet of paper with lead
held in a pencil having flexible connec
tions with two rheostats. As it moves
over tha paper, shaping the letters, the
pencil shifts sliding contacts which
vary the electrical resistance. At the
receiving end two electro-magnets, In
fluenced by the changing currents
transmitted, govern the movements of
a small mirror which, by the aid of
a beam of light, concentrated to a point
by lenses, reproduces the writing on a
sheet of sensitized paper, the point of
light following exactly the movements
of the point of the pencil at the other
end of the line.
- The interest in the strange property
possessed conspicuously by such sub
stances as uranium, thorium and radi
um, of giving off spontaneously radia
tions that penetrate solid bodies and
affect photographic plates, is kept at
a high pitch by frequent new observa
tions and discoveries. Prof. E. Ruther
ford, of McGill University, has enumer
ated three distinct types of radiation
emanating - from the substances in
question. The first he calls alpha
rays, which consist of flights of mate
rial particles, carrying a positive elec
tric charge, and having a very high
velocity; the second are the beta rays,
apparently the same as the cathode
rays of ordinary vacuum tubes, but
traveling faster; and the third, the
gamma rays, which are very similar
to X-rays. In addition, some of the
substances, as thorium, give off a
fourth emanation, which appears to be
matter in the gaseous state, and can
be carried along by air streams. Tho
rium, from which all the radio-active
constituent has been removed, will, in
a few weeks, yield as much as before.
THE SIGN OF THE FISH.
Why It Wat Ueed aa a Symbol by the
Early Christian Church.
The symbols upon early Christian
monuments, of which so many have
been discovered this last century, are
curious and Interesting. One of the
most frequent is that of the fish. The
figure of the fish is used, and also
the Greek word for fish, says Dr. A.
W. Patten, who has looked Into the
subject Ramsay, In his excavations
In Asia Minor, has found some very
important Inscriptions in which the
fish signs are frequent.
But why was it that the early Chris
tians used this sign? The reason will
appear when we remember that they
found In the letters of the Greek word
for fish an acrostic on the name of the
Savior. The word is "ichthus." Each
letter of the word In the original
Greek begins one of the words in the
following phrase: "Jesus Christ Son
of God, the Savior."
So the word "Ichthus" came to stand
for a Christian, and it was used as
a mark of Christianity. It was not
only sculptured on burial monuments,
but came to be used on various uten
sils. A great many terra cotta lamps
have been found, especially at Spalato,
on which Is found the impress of the
fish. Many of these "ichthus" lamps
are found also at Rome. The word
"fish" came to be used also to describe
a Christian, and to call a man a fish
was equivalent to calling him a
Christian.
In one of the old Christian frescoes.
Indicating a baptism, a man is rep
resented as pulling a fish out of the
water. Ramsay tells . us that it was
customary in Asia Minor in the sec
ond century for the Christian to use
this symbolic language. It was hardly
safe, then, for them to speak openly
of their faith In Christ They were
accustomed to wear rings with the fish
sign as a signet much as we wear
symbolic badges to-day. One day two
men met neither aware of the faith
of the other. One, without saying a
word, traced with his stick the figure
of a fish in the sand. The other quick
ly burst out in assertion of his Chris
tian faith, for the fish symbol had de
clared the other's allegiance to Christ
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
THE HEBREW TYPE.
Prediction that Ita ' Diatlng-ulshinac
llarka Will Ultimately Disappear.
The persistence of the Hebrew type
of features Is a matter of common
remark and sometimes wonder. But
It Is not strange that a race that keeps
'Its stoek so pure should retain its
typal forms. However, all Jews are
not always distinguishable as such by
their features. Any one who attends
the services of the Jewish synogagues
in great European centers, as at Ber-
; lin or Amsterdam, will frequently see
j faces that, out of the synagogue would
I not readily be taken for those of the
; chosen people.
I- There 'is a great change going on
here in the United States, in which the
Jewish face is disappearing, and in
a few generations will be undistin
gulshable from- that of the Gentile,
according to Dr. Maurice Fishberg, a
well-known New York anthropologist
quoted in Harper's Weekly:
"Some of his conclusions," says the
Weekly, "are certainly remarkable.
For instance, his examination of over
3,000 Jews In New York City has con
vinced him that there is no founda
tion for the notion that every Jew pos
sesses a Iong, hooked nose.
He does not deny that Jewish Immi
grants are easily pointed out but he
insists that they cannot be identified
through any peculiarity of facial struc
ture. A foreign look Is popularly mis
taken for a Jewish look.
"Then, again, the Jewish immigrants
have what may appropriately be de
scribed as the Ghetto face. The Ghetto
face, or rather the Ghetto eye, ex
presses a ceaseless fear or anxiety, or
at least suspicion, of everything
around it The same eye Is observed
among other peoples that have been
subjected to age-long persecution, as
for example, the Christian Armenians
in Turkey, and' the Kopts, or native
Christians In Egypt The Jews who
have lived for several generations
outside of the Ghetto do not exhibit
this facial phenomenon. There is no
reason why the Ghetto eye should not
tend to quickly disappear among the
descendents of Jewish immigrants In
the United States. It is true as Dr.
Fishberg says, that there Is as much
physiognomical difference between the
Russian Immigrants on the East Side
of Manhattan Borough and the Amer
ican Hebrew who is conspicuous fn
commercial, professional, and public
life, as there is between the Irishman
and the German. Yet. beyond a doubt,
the ancestors of the advanced Hebrew
of to-day bore a striking physical re
semblance'' to the Russian Jews who
are newcomers to this country.
"As regards Intermarriages between
Jews and Gentiles, there is no doubt
that they must have frequently taken
place In the past so far at least as
the marriage of Jewish men to Christ
ian women is concerned. This Is evi
dent when we compare Spanish Jews
with German Jews in . respect to the
color of the eyes and the hair."
Week's Progress.
COULDN'T BEAR TO BE IN DEBT.
Queer Caae of a Missouri Farmer Who
Has Left Home to Be a Wanderer.
A supersensitive conscience has exil
ed Farmer Tom Auspaugh and his lit
tle family from home. He owed a
Macon (Mo.) lawyer $750 on two notes,
secured by mortgage on Auspaugh's
farm and stock, which are worth more
than $2,000. Auspaugh gathered up
his wife and family and deliberately
abandoned his property. He left in
the night The children were twins,
five years old.
There were a good team and wagon
on the place, but the evacuating fam
ily went afoot through the forests and
across swollen streams it Is hard to
imagine how they did it The next
day the neighbors observed the closed
doors and blinds, and heard the hun
gry cattle lowing, but fearing a
tragedy they would not break In the
doors. They searched wells and ponds.
Then they sent here for the sheriff.
He found a hundred villagers in the
front yard.
A window was raised, and the offi
cer climbed Into the house. On the
table was this note:
Mr. Matthews: I am very thankful
that you have been so patient with
us. I have been slow, I know, I prom
ise you I will never sign a paper again
In a hurry and not know what I am
signing. I was so bothered. I don't
care for the stuff, so I and my fam
ily are free. Yours respectfully,
T. O. AUSPAUGH.
Matthews Is the lawyer - to whom
Auspaugh Is Indebted. The interest Is
not due and Matthews was not press
ing payment He knew Auspaugh
well, and regarded his obligation as
perfectly good; but the farmer had
brooded over bis debt until he began
to think he had committed a felony
In signing the notes and was in dang- .
er of the penitentiary.
The family took nothing with them
save the clothes on their backs and
the pictures out of the album. . The :
farm was well stocked with feed for
the horses, cattle and hogs, and there
was an abundance of groceries and
vegetables in the house. It was simply
a case of a man being driven crazy
by debt . ,
Canada's Metallic Wealth.
The metallic products of Canada in
clude antimony, copper, gold, pig iron.
lead, mercury, nickel, platinum,, silver
and zinc. In 1891 the metal output of
the United States was fifty-five times
as great as that of Canada, but In 1901
it was only twelve and one-half times
as great and this improvement in
Canada's relative position has been
made In spite of the very large abso
lute increase in the figures for the
United States. The principal part of
the gain for Canada has been in gold,
the production of which Increased
from $930,000 in 1891 to $24,000,000 In
1901.
The Klondike region, of course, has
contributed largely to this increase.
The production of Iron and steel has
also grown greatly In the past ten
years, with good prospects of a still
brighter future. In the production of
nickel Canada surpasses not only the
Unlted States, but all other countries.
The total nickel product of the world
for 1901 was $7,750,000, of which Can
ada's contribution was $4,600,000.
Possible Explanation.
Smythe Strange that Langleys fly
ing machine didn't fly. He patterned,
it after a fowl, too, but it shot right
into the water.
Browne Maybe It was a waterfowl
he patterned It after. Baltimore
American. -
It takes a very smart lot of men to
build a town which pretty twenty-year-old
girls will be satisfied with.
A girl's handkerchief Is a foolish,,
thing; It Isn't as large as one drop,
oi sweat