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About Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1904)
TT TOPICS OF THE TIMES. A CHOICE SELECTION OF INTER-' ESTINQ ITEMS. - - Com meats and Criticisms Baaed TJpoat fa Happening of tha Da J Histort- V cal aad Mwi Notes, Some men trust to luck in this world, and some others are lucky to get trusted. ' Some men are like pins; they nave their good points, yet they are apt to tick you. Speaking of airships we do not care to soar on anything unless it is a feather bed. It Isn't the shortcomings of a young man that the girl's father objects to; It's his long stayings. Even the rich have their sorrows. Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller are grieved because their new billion-dollar baby isn't a boy. A fashion note by wireless teleg raphy from Bogota is that Panama hats will not be extensively worn in Colombia next season. The man who tried to shoot the sec retary of the Bank of England Is said to hold peculiar views on the distribu tion of wealth. This is obvious. By dint of unceasing activity Mr. Rockefeller Is able to keep ahead of Miss Ida Tarbell to the extent of one or two magazine articles all the time. Information comes from scientific sources that a number of "extinct ani mals are still living." The wonders of science grow more and more marvel ous. China's empress dowager Is going to spend $8,000,000 in building temples to the gods of peace. Captain Hobson will regard this as a shameful waste of money. Mr. Rockefeller will give $10,000, 000 to aid the search for microbes. Peary should contrive some way to convince Mr. Rockefeller that the north pole is a microbe. It is a wonder that no great financier has thought of the possibility of organ izing the eligible noblemen of Europe into a trust and forcing American heiresses to get their coronets at mo nopoly, prices. ' There is a strong suspicion that Japan is behind China, pushing her forward to slap her great and good friend, the Czar. If she does, the boundary line will gallop south a few thousand more miles. Edward Atkinson says mud will be the substitute for coal, which will en able the consumer to Issue a new Dec laration of Independence. If that is the case, we shall all be ready to cele brate two Fourths of July. A member of the English com mis sion which is now investigating Amer ican educational conditions has public ly expressed the wish that in the next few decades we give our attention to turning out "two or three Miltons, one or two Dantes and one or two Shak epeares." We are disposed to be oblig ing, but Is not the demand rather large? One-twelfth of the estimated wealth of the United States is represented at the meeting of the board of directors of the United States Steel Corporation when all the directors are present. They also represent 200 other compan ies, operating one-half of the railroad mileage' in the country, and control cor porations whose aggregate capitaliza tion is $9,000,000. The Duke of Roxburghe is said to be so hugely disgusted with Americans that he has no desire to return to this country. Of course the Duke reserves an exception in the case of one fair American. But he may dismiss from his mind any fear that a naval expe dition will be sent to bring him back to America, deeply as his absence may lc i! vlored. So long as he keeps on tin- ilsht side of extradition laws, he Is juite safe. It is at once interesting and pathetic to see how completely helpless, in the grasp of the bureaucracy, is the nom inal "autocrat of all the Russias." He has managed to make it manifest that he is a perfectly well-meaning man; that he desires peace with all . the world, and particularly that he desires the advancement in civilization, includ ing political civilization, of his own people. The more his good intentions re manifested the more it Is manifest how absolutely he is without power to give affect to them. "The American people don't mind grafting," remarked an experienced Philadelphia politician, "but they hate scandals. They don't kick so much on a jiggered public contract for a boule vard, but they want the boulevard and mo fuss and no dust" Unfortunately, (this politician wasn't far from the truth. The experience of almost every American city will bear him out. This peculiar attitude of honest Americans toward dishonest politicians Is some times attributed to Indifference toward public affairs. The voters are "too imsy," It la said, to pay proper atten tion to their municipal government. But this explanation reduces simply to the Philadelphia boss' statement that 'the people "don't mind grafting." For years public-spirited people foave been preaching about the benefits of soap. Some men have even gone so far as to say that soap Is the real mblem of civilization. Whether this Is so or not, it is well known that in countries where the people are savage .there is no soap. It has been difficult, fcowever, to get some people to accept eoap as a blessing or as a bulwark of the home. In spite of the good work the magazines have been doing by way of disseminating soap advertisements there are many Inhabitants of our splendid country who continue to re gard soap with suspicion if not with downright abhorrence. But something nappened at Lancaster. Pa, the other day that Is likely to bring so an to VJf beauty wepe taxable the fair sex i many a man who has heretofore pre ferred to be soapless. Mr. James Wil- son, a burglar gentleman who had ! been shnt up In the Lancaster jail, sue- j ceeded, after stripping and thoroughly soaping himself, in squeezing through a hole which had been supposed to be so small that no man could possibly escape by it- It must have made the burglar shiver with horror to think of putting soap upon himself, but there was nothing else for him to do If he was to gain his liberty. How can the people who have In the past shrunk from soap continue to regard with It fear or contempt? The experience of the Lancaster burglar should serve to make soap precious to most of those who have been spurning it The man who Is an enemy of soap never can tell how soon he may be shut In behind bars. In fact he usually gets there, sooner or later, and always deserves to. He should therefore gradually ac custom himself to soap before the crisis comes. If Burglar Wilson's ex perlence serves to Increase the- popu- larity of soap his escape will have been minds are allowed to tarry ror a penoa unaer tne ronu far from a public misfortune. ,ence of the ideal, and of the aesthetic family. Idealism. Is . j at the foundation of all true practicality. Every grand The time is not very far distant doer has been at first a great 'dreamer. when this country will have to deal : But just as surely as the ideal is preparatory for high with congestion of population in the er living, and study the foundation of success, so surely cities and consequent Inadequacy of must the type of cloistral life which characterizes the col the rural population. Indeed, the prob- lege give place sooner or later to the serious workaday spirit lem even now presents itself urgently which enters the arena of social, commercial, or perhaps every summer when farmers vainly political life to accept the tasks and fulfill the duties of seek help to harvest the crops, though patriotic citizenship. The -use of education Is not meant thousands of men are idle in the cities, to be a purely selfish use. Culture should not terminate in The tendency is more and more toward the personal experience of the educated man, .' the cities. Farmers' sons no longer be- i It remains for the young graduates to put that creed come farmers. They disdain the slow into practice. Knowledge is power, and knowledge is a and uneventful routine of life on the aacred trust It Is perfectly true that this Idea is being farm and as soon as they become their abused in some of the Industrial excesses of the day where own masters they are off to the nearest men are taught to become nothing but expert machines, city or large town to make their for- capable of turning out so much work, or of earning in- tunes. In a large majority of cases they fare far worse in the city than they would have fared on the farm, but their ill success does not deter oth- era. The tide flows all one way. The country boy comes to the city, but the in the sense of money-making or comfort-bringing, all cul city boy never goes to the country, ture of the mind should have a distinct relation to the Fortunately for the nation the agricul- bettering of human life and the elevation of the masses tural population is considerably, r mankind. New York Observer, though Inadequately, recruited from i ' abroad. A large proportion of the im migrants from northern Europe, to-1 gether with some Germans and Irish, enter upon farming either for them selves or for others immediately upon their arrival in this country. Most of the Scandinavians become tillers of the soiL In this wav the growing dis position of Americans to forsake agri-j culture for urban pursuits is rendered ufntrf or Mbon. at "d -f " 1f"anCf f rom ! less of a menace to our national fu- mIn llne Dlac" movable dwellings could ture. It cannot but be regretted, how-j comfortably managed. At one of them a troUey house ever, that the native American farmer ht "ln for " ' n'emen 7" seems destined to disappear almost en-! "l' "d when, fUt th tirely. leaving the cultivation of the !mJh J", ta lr. and th. trolley soil entirely to Immigrants. There is;000" trundled away to pasture, new. Of course this Is no life so independent and vigorous the leoghert outline , of a possible development as that of the farmer and It Is upon the Ieee ut, " i the pleasante.t part upon which the agricultural class that the prosper- tt "J" dwf1L Dta"8 of ,IUce ne of ity of the nation depends. When the "KaNe drinking water and the training of every tenant farmer Is prosperous we all flourish; of on J f"! 1Ungi! hi- fJ moorman ,may when he falls upon evil days we suffer " bf left tolhe consideration of those whose business win, him Th rendition nf the farm. ing population Is an Index to the con dition of the country In general, and the higher the type of that population the better the prospect for national prosperity. It is. not impossible that there may some day be a reversal of the flow of population to the cities. We are so rich in national domain in this country that our native-born citizens have not felt the land hunger which impels the European Immigrant to gain possession of a farm as 'quickly as he can manage it The time will shortly come when people born in this country will realize the desirability of owning a portion of the soil, and when that realization comes there will be a reflux from the cities to the country. In the meantime it is upon the agricul tural immigrants that we must rely to take the places of American farmers who are deserting their plows for the attractions of city life. It is evident that the native-born youth of to-day cannot be counted upon to follow the furrow. Possibly his grandchildren will be glad to do so. OLDEST INDIAN IN THE STATES. He Cherishes aa Intense Admiration for Andrew Jackson. Down in North Carolina among the Great Smoky Mountains, lives an In dian chief who is said to be the oldest , of his race in the United States. John Kohlecostay is his name, and it was 110 years ago, according to the tradi- j tion of his people when he firs saw . the light More remarkable than his age, however, is Kohlecostay's success ful defiance of the American govern ment Seventy years ago the sixteen moun tain counties of North Carolina were Inhabited exclusively by the Cherokee tribe of Indians. For more centuries than they could count the latter had pitched their wigwams there, and when the United States sent troops to the mountains with orders to move the tribe to the lands provided for them in Indian Territory, they showed no disposition to give up their ancestral possessions. Five hundred of the rebels, led by Kohlecostay. refused to leave their homes, declaring that the mountains belonged to them and not to the whites. For five years this handful of braves defied the government hiding in impenetrable forests from the sol diers, until finally the United States, recognizing their claim, allowed them a reservation among the mountains they loved so well, where their de scendants, with the old patriarch, Kohlecostay, still in their midst are living to this day. Kohleeostay, who boasts of the pur est Indian blood, scorns the whites, and has always refused to live with or learn their language. He cherishes an intense admiration for Andrew Jackson, however, under whom he once fought in an expedition against the Creek Indians of Georgia a ser vice for which, he claims, the United States promised to pay him, but never did. And that makes one more griev ance the old man has against his pale face neighbors. Kansas City Journal. Hia Watering Place. "I've been spending the summer at a watering place." "Why, Harry told me you were on a farm." "Yes, a dairy farm." Princeton Tiger. - rtrvtn, .dodgfheaggoBsnr an. i L rs : rum "aaa aa . sn sssi r" ' .r-iT 'I'l rr M.S a j " " " " r " Opinions of ,ffMt,tM The Utilizing of Education. - F it be admitted, as Indeed it must, that edu cation like everything else should have an end, it should be admitted also that that end must be a useful one. In some' real and practical GSEfTCOl ense 14 tra tDe 5SWaI education is to take the i jm -. M - scenes of active life. But that need need only be so for a while. It Is not creased oiivaenas ror somebody else, at the expense or the training of the mind and the development of the religious nature. But such over-emphasis upon the industrial Idea in education does not militate against a proper amount of utilltarism, and while not all knowledge The Trolley-House. OW that parlor cars and sleeping cars on trol ley lines are established we may be privileged to speculate a bit as to what will come next as an annex of the broomstick train. Suppose we hazard the guess that it will be the trolley house first cousin to the house boat Bythebulld- N sag lngof spurs and sidetracks l" .ucui. UBivu American Girls and Foreign HERB could be no greater mistake than the assertion that the marriages of American girls with foreigners of rank are mainly confined to England. Up to a quarter of a century ago there were at least three such international marriages In France for one in England. Doz ens of American girls have married French nrthlei of the ancient rezlme. to say nothing of those who nhtalned their titles from Nanoleon. Among these may be mentioned .the Due ctLVi&, the Due de Dino, and the Due an Italian noble, from Prince Colonna an American young woman. There are examples of such marriages in the Spanish peerage also; the Duchesse d'Arcos is an American. Many American girls have mar ried German nobles, and one of them. Miss Lee, of New ERRORS ABOUT MAD DOGS. Popular Beliefs . Concerning Them that Are Deeply Booted. There are some popular beliefs not quite classable as superstitions which seem too deeply rooted for universal education to destroy. Several of these concern mad dogs. The idea that a healthy dog which bites a person must be killed because if it should at some future time go mad the person bitten would have hydrophobia is reluctantly given up, even by some persons of ed ucation. Even more strange is -the be lief in "madstones" about which much has been printed of late. There are many "madstones" in this country and the believers in their efficacy always know where the nearest one is kept In a sense these porous stones are pub lic Institutions. Some of them have curious histories. One was the property of an Ohio negro named Depp, and on his death was placed In the State library at Co lumbus, from which, according to re ports, it was recently taken and ap plied to the wound of a woman bitten by a supposedly rabid dog. The same report stated that the dog was not mad after all, but that the woman re ceived blood poison from the stone and died. That stone's career of heal ing should be ended by now. A Virginia newspaper recalls that another "madstone" was kept at the State penitentiary for many years and was free for the use of any person who wanted it applied to a bite or other wound. Later a "madstone" which may perhaps have been . the same specimen was sold at auction In the country for $39. Perhaps the stone having the most remarkable history is In St Louis, and one of Its "cures" has recently been exploited in the newspapers. It was brought to this country In 1887 by a Russian physician who settled In Ne vada. He said that the stone had been used In Russia for 150 years, in proof of which fact he submitted documents written on parchment in Russian, which the people in Nevada had to take on faith, as they could not read the language. He offered the stone for sale at $1,500, and a farmer who had seen a similar stone elsewhere and had faith in it agitated the forma tion of a stock company to buy the stone. About a thousand stockholders paid $1 each and the remaining sum necessary was contributed by the pres ent owner. The stone was used on all the animals and most persons that were bitten by dogs. In at least one case, the owner says, the dog was not shot on the spot but kept until It died of unmistakable rabies. So celebrated are the vlrtnes of this stone that the neighbors are willing to believe that Great Papers on Important Subjects. York, at present gustenburg, who imperial family in tendenCT f much of student off into a j V- and that of Miss not be so, or if so. lost time If young know not The siderably a hundred. flagrant exceptions, not been south of can be practical. exceeds In acreage the speculator out between villages will pied held on speculation. St Paul Pioneer Press. : in delightful spots at A 3 jrii business and 7 v. iVu Husbands. like Prince Murat de li Rochefou- de Decazes. Many down, has married THE LATEST TRICK CYCLING FEAT. To a German, Paul Munder, belongs the dubious honor of being the latest claimant to fame as a daredevil bicycle rider.. Until recently Munder was an amateur bicyclist but his bold spirit refused to be confined by the feats performed by his brethren, and he has blossomed out as a circus per former with an act that takes one's breath away. Dashing down a steep incline from a height of fifty feet he and his bicycle leap through the air for a distance of nearly forty feet landing on a mattress. At present Mr. Munder is trying to amuse the people of Berlin with this exhibition of foolhardiness, and it is said that he will soon put himself on exhibition before American audiences. an offer of $3,000 for It has been re fused. New York Evening Post .CURIOUS SENSES OF REPTILES. Their Bnrprisina Power to Divine the Presence of Far Dlatant Water. Prof. Werner, of Vienna, a natural ist of note, has reported the results of observations he. has been making for some time on the senses of Inferior ver tebrates, and he has reached some cu rious and surprising conclusions. The professor took all possible pre cautions not to let the creatures know that they were watched. One general fact is very evident, that reptiles and amphibians are strongly attracted by water. They go straight toward it even when they are at distances so great that they could not divine Its presence by any of the senses known to us. It seems really that a sense of which we have no knowledge Informs them of the direction In which water may be found. There seems to be a sort of chemical attraction, says M. Werner. But bow does this act, and on what part of the creature? This re mains a mystery. Reptiles also seek the Ught, but independently" of heat They, often leave comfortable and warm retreats to seek the sunlight Sight Is generally good with them. It Is probably the finest sense that they possess, burit would still appear to be very limited - The caymans and the the' wife of Count von Waldersee, had for her first husband a reigning prince, the Duke of Au- was eligible for intermarriage with any Europe. .There have been . fewer ex amples of jmch ' marriages In Austro-Hungary. At this moment we'recall but two. that of Miss Carroll, who mar ried Count Esterhazy, and who now lives in Washington, Mabel Wright, who first became Mrs. Ysnaga, sister-in-law of the Dowager Duchess 'of Man chester, and subsequently married a member of the high est Hungarian aristocracy. Whether the rule about six teen quartering, which is so rigorously observed In the court circle at Vienna, has been relaxed in her favor we truth is that the number of American women ..who have married European nobles would be found, upon a complete enumeration, to have exceeded con We add that while there have been these International marriages seem. as a rule, to have brought the average amount of happi ness. -Harper's Weekly. Homesteaders Driven to Canada. . HE recent migration of thousands of American farmers to the regions of Western Canada has through any lack of opportunity, in the regions of Minnesota and neighboring States, created by natural causes. Whatever lack of opportunity or room exists, anywhere the boundary line, is the result of con- tions wholly artificial In their origin. Chief among these Is the tying up of large bodies of the best lands In the hands of speculators who are holding them for a rise. Take a trip on almost any railroad leading out of St Paul, and all along its line will be found that the unimproved land the amount reduced to cultivation. In great numbers of instances there has been no thought of Improving it by Its present ownefs. They have bought it on speculation, and when they sell, it is an even chance that the transfer will be to some other speculator. Drive of the field, and the vacant stretches soon be occupied by farms. At pres ent even In the wonderfully fertile and productive region of the Red River of the North, a vast acreage is unoccu Causes of Failures. NALYZING the causes of failure In the United States In 1902, American Industries finds that of the 9,971 failures 20 per cent were due to Incompetence, 30 per cent to lack of capital, IT per cent to special circumstances beyond the man's control, 10 per cent to fraud per cent to inexperience. Lack of cap ital, it appears, is the most dangerous factor in the busi ness life, aa it Is the greatest obstacle to getting into busi ness. Incompetence, together with Inexperience, which amounts to incompetence, accounts for a very large per centage of failures. If to Incompetence and inexperience we add "unwise credits," we find that 30 per cent of fail ures are explained. It amounts to this, in brief, that nearly a third of those who fall In business are not well qualified for it; another third try to do too large a business, and the rest fail by reason of fraud, competition, extravagance, neg lect failures of others, speculation and causes beyond the wisest man's control., Baltimore Sun. Noise! HE modern world, having plunged Into a civ ilization which, . with its factories and rail roads, seems to promise a continual crescendo of noise, has at last discovered a fact which the mediaeval world was fortunately unable to discover. This fact Is that piercing and deafening noises, prolonged through the twenty-four hours, are not only offensive to ' the ear, but injurious to the health. It becomes necessary, therefore, for the modern world to combat loud noise just as it combats heavy smoke and noisome odors. Chicago Tribune. crocodiles cannot distinguish a man at a distance of more than six times their length, a cording to Werner. In the water fishes see only at very close range about half their own length. This will seem perhaps unlikely to anglers, although some of them can cite Instances showing that fish cannot see far. Snakes seem to have a very mediocre sense of sight The boa. for example, does not see at more than a quarter or a third of its own length. Different species aro limited to one-fifth or one-eighth of their length. Frogs are better off. Theysee at fifteen or twenty times their length. Frog-catchers know this from experience. Hearing is much poorer than sight if possible. Most rep tiles are noticeably deaf, except cay mans and crocodiles. The boa appears to be absolutely so. Change of Name, Maybe. Arthur What are you going to do when you get to heaven, you out-and-out Baptists? How are you going to fellowship with the Methodists and the Congregationallst? Uncle Rufus In heaven, Arthur, there will be nobody but Baptist. - Arthur1 And they 1 will continue to call It heaven? Boston Transcript Probably no one is jumped on . so quickly or so bard as the minister who happens to stray from the straight and I narrow path. - A "LOST" CHRISTMAS GIFT. MMMMt MOMM At the approach of the first Christ mas after the wedding, a - certain bride, desirous of giving her best be loved something made by her own affectionate but inexperienced hands, manufactured a truly wonderful night shirt It was made of pink and white outing flannel, trimmed with . lace edged ruffles, and was further embel lished with rows of elaborate feather stitching. The surprised husband expressed a proper amount of gratitude, and said with truth that he had never be held a garment to compare with it; but when asked later why he did not wear it he replied that It was For too good For human nature's daily food, and that he was saving it for some occasion that really demanded a night shirt of more than ordinary gorgeous ness. It was just the thbig, he aver red, to wear if one happened to be convalescing from a broken limb or a long attack of fever. But one day the husband telephoned that he was unexpectedly .called out of town on business, and requested his wife to pack his valise and to have it at, the station within the hour, all of which she did. ' Feeling tired after a long day's ride, and having nothing better to occupy his time, the man went to his room at 9 o'clock that night intending to go at once to bed. When he unpacked his valise he discovered that the long dreaded "special occasion" had ar rived, for there, folded neatly in the valise, was the. pink and white night shirt, ribbons, ruffles and all. The traveler was slightly bald, he wore a sandy mustache, and when he had tied the broad pink ribbons in a bow under his decidedly masculine chin, he made a picture never to be forgotten. He was Just about to climb into bed, hoping fervently that no sud den alarm of fire would render it nec essary for him to appear unexpected ly In public, when he was startled by a loud rapping at his door. Supposing his visitor to be the bear er of an expected telegram, he opened the door to find himself confronted by the last person he wanted to see or to be seen by in the circumstances. His caller, a man upon whom, for business reasons, he was desirous of making a favorable Impression, had discovered his name on the hotel reg ister. "Good gracious!" exclaimed the as tonished visitor. "Are you on your way to a fancy dres ball?" "No," returned the embarrassed vic tim." "I'm merely getting ready to go to bed in the nightshirt that my wife made me for Christmas." The young wife subsequently con sidered it strange that her husband was never afterward able to recall the name of the town in which be absent-mindedly left that unexampled nightshirt under the hotel pillow. "There were seven yards of lace on it too," she would sometimes sigh, re gretfully, "and four yards of ribbon; but never mind, dear, I'll make you another some time." A CARNEGIE STORY. Hade a Millionaire of a Man Becanss He was Born in the Same Town. Mr. Carnegie once made a millionaire of a man who, all unconscious of the fact that his visitor was born in the same town, happened to say, "I am from Dunfermline," The' story goes back to the time when Mr. Carnegie's fiance was pur chasing a part of her trousseau in Brooklyn. After she had been shop ping for several days the clerk who had been waiting on her told her in a sudden burst of confidence that she, too, was to be married, "but I'll not hnve such nice things," she added, as she fingered the delicate fabrics held out before the customer. The clerk's confession struck a sym pathetic note in Mr. Carnegie's fiance. She in turn told her who was to be her husband and when, and then asked: "And you will tell me whom you are going to marry?" "Mr. Peacock," was the reply. "He's the floor manager here, and when we are married I'm not going to be here any more." A few weeks later Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie went abroad on their wed ding trip and were gone several months. When they returned Mrs. Carnegie went to the store where she had bought her trousseau to do some shopping, and all unexpectedly she ran across the clerk who had helped her select her wedding finery. "Why," she exclaimed, "how Is It that you are still here? I thought you were not going to stay after your marriage. Didn't you tell me you were to be married a few weeks after my wedding?" "Yes," was the reply, "but Mr. Peacock became ill shortly after our wedding, and I've taken my old posi tion again and will keep It till he is able to get back to work." That evening, when she went home, Mrs. Carnegie told her husband the story of the clerk who had helped her select her trousseau, and ended by asking him to call with her at the Peacock home. A few days later when the Carnegiea made the call they found Mr. Peacock in bed, and while the two ladies chat-. ted together in an adjoining room Mr. Carnegie seated himself by the bed side. He had been there but a short time when he asked: "Mr. Peacock, from your pronuncia tion, I'd say you are from Scotland. Are you?" "Yes," was the reply, "I was born In Dumferline." "You don't say so!" exclaimed Mr. Carnegie. "Why, that was my birth place, also." That settled it Before he left the house .Mr. Carnegie had made it plain to his fellow townsman that he was to leave his all and follow him. A. G. Peacock did as he was told, and to-day he Is one of the millionaires of the steel industry and a leading citizen of Pittsburg. Why It Is Silly. She I think it's so silly of lovers to quarreL - He Yes, the making up is so expen slve. Brooklyn L5fe. , 7 tWHHll)HH I OLI I FAVORITES Robert -of Lincoln. Merrily swinging on brier and weed, Near to the nest of his little dame. Over the mountain side or mead, Robert of Lincoln Is telling his name;. Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Snug and safe is that nest of ours, Hidden "among the summer flowers. : Chee, chee, chee. Robert of Lincoln is gayly drest, Wearing a bright black wedding coat;. White are hia shoulders and white hia crest Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Look, what a nice new coat is mine. Sure there was never a bird so fine. Chee, chee, chee. Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife, Pretty and quiet with plain brown, wings, Passing at home a patient life, Broods in the grass while her husband, sings: Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Brood, kind creature; you need not feat Thieves and robbers while I am here. Chee, chee, chee. Modest and shy as a nun is she; One weak chirp is her only note. Braggart and prince of braggarts is he. Pouring boasts from his little throatt Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Never was I afraid of man; Catch me, cowardly knaves. If yoa cant Chee, chee, chee. Six white eggs on a bed of hay. Flecked with purple, a pretty sight! There as the mother sits all day, Robert is singing with all his might Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Nice good wife that never goes out Keeping house while I frolic about Chee, chee, chee. Soon as the little ones chip the shell. Six wide mouths are open for food; Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well. Gathering seeds for the hungry brood. Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; This new life Is likely to be Hard for a gay young fellow like me. Chee, chee, chee. Robert of Lincoln at length is made .Sober with work and silent with caret Off is his holiday garment laid. Half forgotten that merry air, Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; Nobody knows but my mate and I Where our nest and our nestlings He. Chee, chee, chee. Summer wanes; the children are grown; Fun and frolic no more he knows; Robert of Lincoln's a humdrum crone; . Off he flies, and we sing as he goes, Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; When you can pipe that merry old strain, Robert of Lincoln, come back again. Chee, chee, chee. W. C. Bryant. Bonny Doon. Ye banks and braes o' bonnle Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chaunt ye little birds. And I sae weary fu' of care? Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird. That wantons through the flow'ry thorn. Thou mind'st me o' departed Joys, Departed never to return. Oft hae I roved by bonnie Doon, To see the rose and woodbine twine, When ilka biid sang o' his love, And fondly sae did I o' mine. Wi' lightsome heart I pul'd a rose, Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree, But my fause lover stole my rose And, ah, he left the thorn wi' me. Robert Burns. Three Years Jiate. Persons who become fretful over the delays of surface cars or the detention of steam trains ought to sit up and be cheerful when they read what the New York Press has to say of a Texas train. The Press declares that recently a Gulf & Interstate Railway train ar rived, in Beaumont nearly three years late, and explains the matter as fol lows: The train left Bolivar, just across Galveston Bay from Galveston, on Sep tember 8, 1900, and was caught In the great storm which so nearly destroyed Galveston. Bolivar Is seventy-five miles from Beaumont Before the I train had travelled far on its journey it was caught in the stoiju. Thirty miles of the track were washed away, and the train was left stranded on a sandy waste. Dozens of persons who lived on Bol ivar peninsula were saved from death by taking refuge in. the train. After the storm subsided they walked to Bol ivar with the passengers. But the abandoned train was left on the prai rie. The storm bankrupted the railroad, and no effort to rescue the engine and cars was made until recently. Had the road not suffered so seriously in that storm the property would have proved of great value a few months later, when oil was struck at Beaumont The road Is now undergoing repairs and development, and a little- while ago the train was drawn into Beau mont where it was greeted by a cheer ing multitude. Funny Old Signs. One of the most notable of old Lon don signs, "The Dog's Head in the Iron Pot," had its beginning in the early years of the reign of bluff King Hal. It stands out a lonely figure on Black friars road at the corner of Charlotte street, the sign of a wholesale iron monger's establishment. The dog is in the act of eating outpf three-legged iron pot which it has overturned. There were also "The Black Dog" and "The Dog and Duck." "The White Greyhound" was the sign of John Har rison in St Paul's churchyard, a book seller who published some of Shak speare's early works. St Nicholas. , When you bear a married man say be hasn't made up his mind about a thing he means that he hasn't asked bis wife about it ' i