Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, September 16, 1904, Page 6, Image 6

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    THE LIVING LANDMARK.
Of oar swift passage through this
scenery
Of life and death, more durable than we,
What landmark so congenial as a tree.
Repeating its green legend every spring.
Type of our "brier but still-renewed mor
tality. lien's monuments, grown old, forget
their names
They should eternize, but the place
Where shining souls have passed imbibes
a grace
Beyond mere earth; some sweetness of
their fames v
Leave in the soil its unextinguished
trace,
That penetrates oar lives and heightens
them or shames.
James Rnssell Lowell.
AMES LANNING was a raechan
tJJ ic, a young, honest man, whose
highest ambition was to gain a
comfortable home for himself and wife
to be thought well of by his neigh
bora. He bad built himself a house,
and there still remained upon it a
mortgage of five hundred dollars; but
" this sum be hoped to pay in a few
years if he only had his health. He
bad calculated exactly how long it
would take him to clear off this incum
brance, and he went to work with his
eyes open.
One evening James came home to his
supper more thoughtful than usual.
His young wife noticed his manner,
and she inquired Its cause.
"What is It, James?" she kindly
asked. "Why, I never saw you look
So sober before."
"Well, I'll tell you, Hannah," re
turned the young man, with a slight
hesitation in his manner. "I have just
been thinking that I would buy a lot
tery ticket"
Hannah Lannlng did not answer Im
mediately. She looked down and
smoothed the silken hair of her babe,
which was chirping like a robin in her
arms, and the shades of her hand
some features' showed that she was
taking time to think.
"How much will it cost?" she asked,
at length, looking half timidly up into
ber husband's face.
"Twenty dollars," returned James,
trying to assume a confidence which
be did not feel.
"And hare you made up your mind
to buy It?"
"Well. I think I shall. What do you
think about it?"
"If you should ask my advice, I
should say not to buy it"
"But why so?"
"For many reasons," returned his
wife, in a trembling tone.
She would not offend ber husband,
and the shrank from giving him ad
vice which he might not follow.
"In the first place," she said, "I
think the whole science of lotteries Is
a bad one; and then you have no
money to risk."
"But Just look at the prizes," said
James, drawing a "scheme" from his
pocket "Here la one prise of twenty
thousand dollars, another of ten thou
sand, another fire thousand, and so on.
Something tells me that if I buy a tick
et I shall draw a large prize. And
then Just think, Hannah, how easily 1
could pay all up 'for my house, and
perhaps hare a good handsome turn
left"
The young man spoke with much
earnestness and assurance; but be saw
that there was a cloud upon his wife's
brow.
"It seems to me that the chance of
drawing a prize Is very doubtful," said
Hannah, as she took the scheme.
"Here are many thousand tickets to be
sold."
The babe tried hard to snatch the
paper, and Hannah laid it aside.
"I think I shall run the risk," re
sumed James, glancing once more over
the paper, and resting with a nervous
longing upon the figures which repre
sented the higher prizes. "There's Bar
ney; he drew about eight hundred dol
lars a year ago."
"Yes. I know it." said Hannah, with
more warmth than she had before
manifested, "and what has become of
the money? You know he has squan
dered it all away. Ah, James, money
Is of no use unless we come honestly
by It"
"Honestly V repeated the young
man.. "Surely, there is nothing dis
honest In drawing a prize in a lot
tery?" "I think there Is," kindly but em
phatically replied the wife. "All games
of hazard, where money Is at stake,
are dishonest. Were you to draw a
prize of twenty thousand dollars, you
would rob a thousand men of twen
ty dollars each; or, at least, you would
take from them money for which you
returned them no equivalent Is It not
gambling In every sense of the word?"
"Oh, no! You look upon the matter
ia too strong a light"
"Perhaps I do; but yet so it looks
to me. What you may draw, some one
else must lose; and perhaps it may be
some oee who eaa-afford the toes no
better than you can. I wouldn't buy
the ticket. James. Let us lire on the
products of our honest gains, and we
shall be happier."
James. Lannlng was uneasy. He bad
fto answer for his wife's arguments;
at least no answer that could spring
from his moral convictions, and he let
the matte" drop. But the young man
could not drive the siren from- bis
heart All the next day his head, was.
full of "prizes," and while be was
at his work he kept muttering to him
self. "Twenty thousand dollars," "Ten
thousand dollars,' "Five thousand dol
t 1 t ! I
I 1 iom mm. I
H. .. i. ,t, ,, ,, ,. ,. ,i .. .. .. ., ,. t .. .. 4. . ,. t 1 1 v
lars," and se on,
I When he went borne the next night
' oe was almost unhappy with the nerv
ous anxiety Into which he bad thrown
himself. The tempter bad grasped
him firmly, and whenever he thought
of the lottery he saw nothing but piles
of gold and sliver. In short, James
Lanning had made np bis mind that
he would buy the ticket He went to
the little box where he had already j
I one hundred and twenty dollars laid i
! tip toward paying off the mortgage
from his house. The lock clicked with
a startling sound, and when he threw j
back the cover he hesitated. "He looked ,
at his wife, and he saw that she was
sad. i
"Oh, I'm sure I shall draw a prize!"
be said, with a faint fading smile.
He took four half eagles from the
box and put them in his pocket His
wife said nothing. She played with
her baby to bide her sadness, for she
did net wish to say more on the sub
ject She had seen that little pile of
gold gradually accumulating, and both
she and her husband had been happy
In anticlrkatlnsr the dav when the cret-
I -v orttt-iiM wanld hn all their own. Rnt
when she saw those four pieces of gold
taken away from the store, she felt
a foreshadowing of evil. She might
have spoken again against the move
ment but she saw that her husband
was sorely tender on the subjeot and
she let the affair go Into the hands of
fate.
A week elapsed from the time that
James bought his ticket to the draw
ing of the lottery, and during that
time the young man bad not a moment
of real enjoyment He was alternat
ing between hope and fear, and there
fore his mind was constantly on the
stretch.
At length the day arrived. James
went to the office and found that the
drawing had taken place, and the list
of prizes had been made out He
seized the list and turned away, so
that those who stood around should
not see his face. He read the list
through and through, but he searched
for his number In vain! It was not
there. He bad drawn a blank! He
left the office an unhappy man. Those
twenty dollars which he had lost bad
been the savings of two months of
hard labor, and be felt their loss most
keenly.
When he returned borne that night
he told his wife that he bad lost
She found no fault with him. She
only kissed him, and told him that
the lesson was a good one, even though
it had been dearly bought
But James Lannlng- was not satis
fied. He brooded over his loss with
a bitter spirit and at length the
thought came to him that he might yet
draw a prize. He wished that he bad
not bought the first ticket and he
thought that If he could only get back
bis twenty dollars be would buy no
more; but he could not rest under his
toes. He was determined to make one
more trial, and he did so. This time
he purchased a ticket without his
wife's knowledge. The result was the
same as before. He drew a blank!
"Forty dollars!" was a sentence that
dwelt fearfully . upon the mechanic's
lips.
"Oh, I must draw a prize!" he said
to himself. "I must make up what
I have lost Let me once do that, and
I'll buy no more tickets."
Another twenty dollars was taken
from the little bank, another ticket
was bought another blank was drawn.
At the end of three months the little
bank was empty, and James Lanning
had the last ticket In his pocket Ah,
how earnestly he prayed that that last
ticket might draw a prize! He bad
become pale and careworn, and bis
wife poor, confiding soul thought be
only repined because be had lost twen
ty dollars. When she would try and
cheer him he would laugh, and try to
make the matter light
"James." said his wife to blm one
day it was the day before that on
which the tottery was to be drawn in
which he held the sixth ticket "Mr.
Bowse has been here to-day after his
semi-annual interest. I told him that
you would see him to-morrow."'
"Yes, I will," said James, in a faint
voice. "Yes, to-morrow I shall see
him."
Young Lannlng thought of the lot
tery, and of the prize. This was his
sixth trial, and be felt sure that be
should draw.
The morrow came, and when James
Lannlng returned to his home at night
he was penniless! All his golden vi
sions had faded away, and be was left
in darkness and misery.
"James, have you paid Mr. Rowse
bis interest yet ' 'asked Hannah.
The young man leaned his bead
upon bis hands and groaned aloud.
"For heaven's sake. James, what
has happened?" cried the startled wife,
springing to the side of her husband
and twining her arm about bis neck.
The young man looked up with a
wild, haggard expression. His lips
were bloodless, and his features were
ail stricken with a death-hue.
"What is it? Oh, what?" murmured
the wife.
"Go look in our box our little
bank!" groaned the poor man.
HTmh hastened away, and when
she returned she - bore- an empty box
in ber band.
"Bobbed!" she gasped, and she sank
tremblingly down by ber husband's
side.
"Yes, Hannah, whispered the hus
band, I have robbed you."
The stricken wife gazed, upon her
husband with a vacant took, for at first
she did not comprehend; but she re
membered his behalvior for weeks
bask; she remembered bow be ' bad
murmured in bis sleep of lotteries and
tickets, of blanks and prizes, and grad
ually the truth broke In upon her.
"I hare done K all, Hannah," hoarse
ly whispered the condemned man.
when be saw that bis wife had guessed
the truth. . "All, all has gone for lot
tery tickets. The demon tempter lured
me; be held up glittering gold la bis
band, but be gave me none of it Oh,
do not chide me! You know not what
I have suffered what hours of agony
I have passed and you .know bow
cold is my heart now. Oh, my wife,
would to God I had listened to your'
"Ah!" calmly whispered the faithful
wife, as she drew her band across her
husband's heated brow. "Mourn not
for what is lost I will not chide you.
It is hard thus for you to lose your
scanty earnings, but there might be
many calamities worse than that Cour
age, James; we will soon forget it"
"And Mr. Rowse will foreclose the
mortgage. Y)u will be homeless,"
murmured young Lanning la broken
accents.
"No; I will see that all Is safe In
that quarter," added Hannah.
At that moment the baby aweke,
and the gentle mother was called to
care for it On the next day, at noon.
Hannah Lanning gave her husband a
receipt for fifteen dollars from Mr.
Rowse.
"Here," said she, "interest Is paid.
Now let us forget all that has passed,
and commence again."
"But how what has paid this?"
asked James, gazing first upon the re
ceipt, and then upon his wife.
"Never mind."
"Ah, but I must mind. Tell me,
Hannah."
"Well, I have sold my gold watch."
"Sold it!"
"But I can buy It back again. The
man will not part with it If I want it
But I don't want it, James, till we are
able. Perhaps I shall never want It
You must not chide me, for never did
I derive one iota of the pleasure from
its possession that I now feel In the
result of its disposal."
James Lannlng clasped his wife to
his bosom, and he murmured a prayer,
and In that prayer there was a pledge.
Two years passed away, and during
that time James Lanning lost not a
single day from bis work. He was
as punctual as the sun, and the result
was as sure.
It was late on Saturday evening
when he came home. After supper he
drew a paper from his pocket, and laid
it upon the table.
"There, Hannah," "aid he, while a
noble pride beamed In every feature,
"there is my mortgage. "I've paid it
every cent This bouse is ours; it is
our own house. I've bought it with
dollars, every one of which has been
honestly earned by the sweat of my
brow. I am happy now."
Hannah Lanning saw that her hus
band bad opened his arms, and she sat
down upon his knee and laid her head
upon his shoulder.
"Oh, blessed moment!" she mur
mured. "Yea, It Is a blessed moment," re
sponded her hsuband. "Do you re
member, Hannah, the hour of bitter
ness that we saw two years ago "
The wife shuddered, but made no re
ply. "Ah," continued the young man, "I
have never forgotten that bitter les
son; and even now I tremble when 1
think how fatally I was deceived by
the tempter that has lured so many
thousands to destruction."
"But Its horror is lost in this happy
moment" said Hannah, looking np
with a smile.
"It's terror may be lost." resumed
James, "but Its lesson must never be
forgotten. Ah, the luring lottery ticket
has a dark side a side which few see
until they feel it"
"And are not all Its sides dark?"
softly asked the wife. "If there Is any
brightness about it It la only the glare
of the fatal ; Ignis fatuus which can
only lead the wayward traveler into
danger and disquiet"
"You are right, my dear wife. You
were right at first - Ah," he contin
ued, as he drew the faithful being
more closely to his bosom, "if hus
bands would oftener obey the tender
dictates of the loving wife, there would
be far less misery in the world than
there is now." Waverley Magazine.
Japs Learn Wentern Ways.
Japanese journalism is developing
on Western lines and with surprising
rapidity. The events of the present
war are responsible for extras which
are sold on the street in the American
fashion. The newsmen run barelegged
with a sort of napkin around the bead
and a small bell at the belt which
rings as they go.
When the war news is lively the
extras come out In a correspondingly
lively manner, one atcer the other, and
are liberally patronized. The sensa
tional reporter has appeared there, as
well as the female journalist, and
things are "whooped up" more than
they used to be. One consequence of
this is that journalism here and there
begins to pay, where formerly it had
to be subsidized as a matter of patriot
ism and public spirit There is an
English column In all the papers and
English is studied In all the schools.
The country has 000 newspapers in
ail, and several of them have respect
ively a circulation exceeding 100,000
copies. As guides and directors of
public opinion they are perhaps not
Inferior to our own. Altogether Japan
ese journalism, in its Infancy, has a
bright future before It and will likely
keep pace- with the progress of the
country it serves,
what He Took Comfort In.
The arkhad just landed.
"There is one comfort, anyway,'
remarked Noah, "there Isn't any - old
salt left to tell me he was La a worse
storm thirty years ago."
With a thankful sigh he proceeded
to unship bis cargo. New York Trlb-
i 1 1 it nt u ii m 1. 1 1 1
J"syfr-; C Readers.
I F
"M"M"M"M-M I 'l-l l I I M1-H1M I H .frWr-M
Table Manners.
The bluejay is a greedy bird; I often
watch him eat
When crumbs are scattered from our
door he snatches all the treat
He drives the smaller birds away, bis
manners are so rude
It's quite a shocking thing to see him
gobble down his food!
And sometimes, when I'm not polite, I
hear my mother say, v
"Why, now I see a little boy who's eat
ing bluejay wayl"
The sparrows ' are a noisy set and very
quarrelsome.
Because each hungry little bird desires
the biggest crumb.
They scold and fight about the food, all
chirping "Me! Me! Me!"
And sometimes when we children are in
clined to disagree
About the sharing of a treat my mother
says, "Why you
Are acting now the very way the silly
sparrows do!"
The jolly little chickadees are perfectly
polite.
They never snatch, they never bolt they
never, never fight.
They hold the crumbs down daintily with
both their little feet
And peck off tiny little bites we love to
watch them eat!
And when my sister's good at meals, my
mother says, "I see
A little girl who's eating like a darling
chickadee!"
Good Housekeeping.
Pomethinsr Oneer,
O- -will "Veil you
TrWa aueex Cx "if
AVtho oj- me "there
is boT one
ry n other aacys
Vm Three I
Billy Visits the Farm.
Dear Johnny: I have cum down to
Unkel Ned' farm. Consln Jim kin
make plcters which I send same of to
you.
Me and you was way off when we
ust to feel sorry for the poor country
Boys who never see's nothin' nor has
eny fun, but jist to Work all the time
frum before day light in the Morning
till the cows Is milked and put back
in the Pastur at night. We was "bark
in' up the Wrong tree," as unkel Ned
would say, fer the boys In the Coun
try has more fun than a lot
Unkel Ned asked me if I liked to
fish and he sed that when we got the
Weeds all hoed out of the corn field
and the wheat cut and the clover Hay
hauled and Stacked and the Fence
fixed round the wood lot and some
other things we'd take a half day off
and go fisbin.
Aint I lucky to have a unkel who
lives In the Country and wants to see
a little boy Enjoy hisself ?
When we got in sight of the House
I saw Aunt Mandy out at the Kitchen
door lookln' fer us. I guess she don't
ferglt when she was a Little Boy her
self fer she put two kinds of pie on
my plate.
We had lots of fun yesterday In the
hay field. It don't grow in Bales but
in Hay Cocks. Unkel sez Its lots of
fun haulin them into the barn where
they won't be stoled In the winter
time. Little Ephralm the darky laffed
when Unkel sed this.
Ephralm don't llv here. He just
visits. I'm going to hunt Bugs with
him tomorrow. He likes bugs.
The hay isn't all put away as sum
hi kept to fill the feather beds with.
The darky kid ast me if I wanted to
ride the white horse. So I got on him.
His name is Old Sal. Unkel sed hitch
a hay Cock to her and they put a
chain around a hay Cock and hitched
it to the horse.
The darky kid said get up, and Old
Sal started off with' the hay cock.
Purty soon I herd an awful buzzin'
an' looked round an see a quart of
bumble bees comln -out fit ihat bay
Cock. I knowed If they stung Old Sal
she'd run off an' smash things, so I
whipped her up an' tried to git away,
but I tell yon its party hard to ran
1 1 1 1 m nn H"it .
LITTLE STORIES I
AND INCIDENTS
X
That Will Interest and
-
away frum a bumble bees nest when
your hitched to it I guess them bees
wuz mad at me fer haulin' their House
away, fer one bee got on Old Sal and
the other 899 tackled me.
When I got back unkel Ned and that
Black kid was laffin' fit tu bust I
wonder if they knowed them bees
Lived there?
I'm standin' up and eatin my meals
ofln the top of a rain barrel now.
Your Friend, BILLY.
. P. S. Kin you cum down? Chi
cago Journal.
Our 9,000 Coast lights.
There are 9,000 burning lights and
signals stretched along the American
coasts, forming a perfect link, so that
the navigator need be beyond sight of
one of the beacons. One thousand of
these are located on the Atlantic coast.
1,500 are scattered along the rivers and
inland water ways, 500 on the great
lakes and 200 on the Pacific coast.
FIRST LUCIFER MATCHES.
Were Placed on Ihe Market in 1824
and Called Con sieves.
The first really efficient lucifer
match must be put to the credit of
John Walker of Stockton-on-Tees,
who. In 1827, placed them on the uar
ket under the name of "congreves," In
compliment to Sir William Congreve,
the Inventor of the war rocket. These
matches were sold for a shilling a box,
which contained, besides a few dozen
of the matches, a little piece of folded
Fandpaper, through which each splint
of wood had to be drawn before it
could be made to inflame. An original
tin box stamped with the royal arms
and bearing the word "Congreve" Is
preserved as a curiosity In one of the
London museums.
As In the case of all other industries,
this was initiated by hand labor alone.
'A he splints of wood were no doubt
originally dipped in the igniting com
position one by one; but subsequently
they were tied up In bundles and
dipped en bloc, the workman giving
each bundle a twist wiui his hands so
that the end of each splint would be
free to move to a certain extent, and
absorb a little more of the compound
than It would if kept quite still. The
next advance was to fix the splints in
a frame so that each was separated
from its neighbor, and this frame con
taining about 1,500 matches, would be
brought down on a marble slab upon
which the composition was spread.
The tipped matches, still in their
frame, would then be dried in air for
a few hours, and afterward placed in
a heated chamber to complete their
desiccation. Manual labor is now al
most wholly dispensed with in the
manufacture of matches. The employ
ment of yellow phosphorus for the
charging of matches made the Industry
a very unhealthy one, and the work
people, if not in the best of health,
ran the risk of contracting a terrible
disease known as necrosis of the jaw
bone, the vulgar name for which was
"phossy jaw." With "Improvements in
manufacture this evil has now been
eliminated. Chambers' Journal.
USED ONE PEN FOURTEEN YEARS
Louisville Man Carried a Knife 18
Years and a Pencil S Years.
The constant use of a pen point for
fotirtten years, a penknife eighteen
years, an ordinary indelible lead pen
cil five years and a key ring nineteen
yuars to the ordinary person sounds
ineredib'.e, but such is the case with
Oad Burba, a clerk in the general cus
toms office here.
Mr. Burba, who was "In the drug
business at New Hope for more than
ten jears. is now using constantly a
pen point he secured, second hand,
while in the drug business, and since
he Las been at work for Uncle Sam he
has continued to use it, preferring it
to any other. During that time he has
worn out two penholders, but the point
is still In the prime of condition, kept
go hy the care bestowed upon it by its
owner.
A fallow clerk was discussing the
matter cf care of pens yesterday, wb:i
Mr. Burba remarked that any pen, or
article, of any kind, would last for
years if given the proper care. To
prove l is claim he drew from his poox
et a knife which he had carriei eigh
teen j tars. The blades gave evidence
of numerous whettings, but not u gap
or bveak could be seen. The knii'e,
Mr. Burba said, had done a full shaie
of work since be had owned t, uul
is good for many years et
After exhibiting 'Jie knife, Mr. Bur
ba drew forth a key ring bearing the
date of 1885. It is a souvenir of the
Louisville exposition, was purchased
as such by Mr. Burba during the fes
tal occasion, and has since done con
stant service. Mr. Burba has a spe
cial pocket for all these articles, and
they may always be found there. He
says he never breaks the point from a
pencil, never loans it but that he
watches it closely, and sees to It that
it does not get away; never. leaves the
pencil, key ring or knife lying on his
desk, but replaces them in their re
spective pockets when not In use, and
by such Inviolate system and care. he
always has them about him Louis
ville Courler-JournaL
Don't blame woman for being vain;
she Is only what man has made her.
POINTS WHEREIN THEY DIFFER.
One of the 8ex Contrasts American
Women Unfavorably with English.
Despite all the loudly expressed
opinions to the contrary, nothing can
touch the really smart English woman
as one sees her at the Carlton or at
Prince's at the luncheon hour. There
is a bewitching, graceful femininity
about her that Is in evidence in every
detail of her costume and a certain
something that for lack of a better
word, we must call refinement
Our most charmingly gowned women
in America have all a tendency to ex
travagance in dress and ornament
The well-dressed English woman is
simple in her style, despite her frills,
and it is only in the evening, when she
puts on her low-necked gown, that she
allows any of the daring extravagance
that one sees so freely displayed at
our fashionable hotels on Fifth avenue
where women meet for luncheon.
Then, the English woman's face is
patrician even when she Is far from
beautiful. The finely modeled noses,
and chins, the long, slender necks are
the rule, and, although good eyes and
mouths are not so plentiful, the clear
lines of the faces under the frilly bats
are very satisfying from an artistic
standpoint
Our bifurcated girl and our gentle
manly young business woman. In her
stiff collar and ber four-in-hand scarf,
have, of course, stood for something
fine, vigorous and gloriously Independ
ent. We have chummed with our mascu
line kind to an extent that has made
the most popular type of society girl,
the racy, washing woman who above
all scorns any suspicion of being an
ingenue.
Many of our younger ma.trons have
astonished restaurant groups by affect
ing the style of the most popular ac
tress or opera singer In the manner of
coiffure or of corsage. It has been
absolutely impossible to detect the dif
ference between the successful demi
monde and the society leader, so far as
either dress or manner Is concerned.
And. at the same time, the English
woman of society is inclined to be fast
but she is never unfeminine. For that
reason she never suggests that under
her baby lace hat and Its chin ties
lurks the same deviltry, coquetry and
desire for the subjugation of man that
first possessed Mother Eve and broke
up the light housekeeping in Eden.
Life.
INTERCEPTED THE CZAR'S MAIL.
Convincing; Proof of . the Bondage of
That Ruler.
A very striking proof of the Czar's
bondage was recently afforded when
the Czar dispatched one of his per
sonal favorites, a certain M. Klopoff,
into the central provinces of Russia
to report on the true condition of af
fairs there, about which he had pre
viously received official Information.
He desired to test the accuracy of
bureaucratic reports, but he knew that
letters from M. Klopoff direct to him
would Inevitably be opened and sup
pressed if they contained statements
ol which officialdom disapproved. In
crder to avoid this espionage, he or
dered M. Klopoff to mail his reports,
in small envelopes of the pattern used
for private letters, not straight to the
palace, but to the address in St Pe
tersburg of a certain General Hesse.
General Hesse was entrusted with the
secret, and he undertook personally
to carry all the letters received from
M. Klopoff to the Czar. M. Klopoff
went on bis mission, but out of eigh
teen letters which he posted to Gen
eral Hesse for the Czar only five
reached their destination. A strong
ruler would doubtles3 make a vigorous
effort to liberate himself from this
tyranny, but the Czar is essentially a
weak man. The unhealthy, pale, al
most gray color of his complexion be
trays his want of physical health and
strength, while the amazing inconsis
tencies of his reign Indicate successive
surrenders to conflicting influences. It
is characteristic of hl3 weakness that
he never strikes out a new line of.
thought or action on his own initiative,
and that his decision on any given
question of policy is nothing more
than the choice which of two or more
courses recommended to him by dif
ferent advisers fchall be followed. He
is never a leader like the German em
peror, but is continually being led by
some influential man or group of men.
Success. . ..
ARIZDNA'S AGATE BR.DGE.
A NATURAL CUBIOSITY.
In the "Petrified Forest", of Arizona
there is a natural bridge, across a nar
row canyon consisting of the petrified,
or agatized, trunk of a tree, 111 feet
In length. The petrified trees in this
region are believed to have flourished
in the Triassic age. Most of them are
allied to the Norfolk island pine (Aru
caria) of to-day, but some resemble
the' red cedar. Prof. O. C. S. Carte
thinks that the petrification was due
to soluble silicates derived from the
decomposition of the feldspathlc ce
nent found in the sandstone of that
.ocality.
Removing Battle Hears.
British oflicers are having the scars
of face wounds removed by the use of
light rays. The London Mail says:
"The custom is rapidly growing of sur
geons sending their patients to have
the scars left by operations removed.
a