Heppner gazette., July 23, 1908, Image 6

777e CJliauffeur
and the Jewels
Co rri -M. iwd.hr J. n. LirpiNcoTr Com pant.
All riiil'.ts rivT1.
Ldlth Morgan Willctt
CHAPTER II. (Continued.)
A: l.:s however, thinking that tin si
lence win grmviajj a lit;i loo sicn Hi' ! tit,
"Wlmt is tliiit sray thing around us'.'"
she iiuori.'i frivolously, strumitis her eyes
inio tlii' slooni ; "perhaps it's u marsh by
dajlisln."
'I'lii' rlmuiTeur drew a long breath. "Is
It h muesli?" he asked. "To tin nil this
seen s rt corner of paradise, an oasis iu
a p.eiiy Ion-; dry desert!"
ll pulled himself up anxiously, cane
ins i!l Ics cumnanion and wondering if
he had sone too far; hut Gussie only star
td h' sontly ahead into the gloom.
"I don't fake nnch stivk in oases," she
object I'd. dieaniiy. "My experience is
thai 'Icy cenori.ly turn out to he private
tirnniTlv. f irhiii'l 'tl to trespassers, or else
Die s,i f.'iiied in by restrictions as to take
nv.av all the pleasure, or, what is worst
f n!l" s!ie jrave a litle sigh "they van
ish Into a mirage, leaving one in the desert
8s ti-el and lliii'sly as before."
"I'll"! s one mie e'se kiiuvvs what it is
to he tired and thirsty," commented the
cliMTl'e'ir, with significance.
M s. i-i rir inclined Icr head.
"And vet," she slid, with a hard little
laic.'h, "my pood friends will tell you that
I have done nn'.hing all my life but eat
411 I drink and be merry 1"
There was another silence, while the
fir" Mies wove a mystic dance in the Ions,
lush grass, and by the roadside the chauf
feur s m l motionless, his usually alert
brain in a whirl, his keen senses for the
mmiient drugged, paralyzed by the over
powering magnetism of the woman beside
hi ni.
After a few moments Mrs. Waring
turned her head, to find a pair of strange
eyes fixed upon her own in a glowing,
Inexplicable iraze.
"Well, what is it now?" she asked, half
involuntarily, little realizing the conse
quences of her remark.
"What it has been from the start," de
clared an impassioned voice beside her,
upcakiiiir in a husky, chaotic mixture of
bnl -n English and French. "Ah ! it is
uiij'ist, it is cruel to be so adorable, so
Irresistible!"
Til- man was den on his knees by
this lime, feeling excitedly for her gloved
hands.
"Ah! mia bella!" he sighed brokenly;
but hero an interruption occurred the
scene changed abruptly.
With a quick recoil Gussie was on her
feet, gathering her skirts about her in
stinctively; then drawing herself to her
full heght she looked down, favoring the
prostrate chauffeur with an Icy, disdain
ful stare from head to foot. After which,
turning negligently away, "Sarto," she
ordered, in the impersonal tone with
which one addresses a servant, "just put
my wiap and that cushion in the ton
neau, please ; I think I hear Mr. Buist
returning."
.She was not m'sfn-on. Fro.u the dis
tance came a lo'i ! r.nlc of approaching
wheels, a-voaipr."J by the cracking of
a whip; and, as th chuuiFeur pulled him
self dizzily together, a spidery object
came into view around the bend in the
road, resolving itself speedily into a high
dog cart and galloping horse, while, lit
up by the swinging lamps, Gerald's coun
tenance, tense with annovance and sus
picion, peered down at the two figures
by I It-1 roadside.
"Here's that tire," he said shortly, toss
ing a mis'e!!enco'is pan el in the direction
of tli chau (Ten r. Then, to Gussie :
"Miss Bancroft preferred to stay at the
hotel," he vouchsafed briefly; "so I got
a trip and came right back. I hope you're
KBtisiied."
Mrs. Waring rvvirded him with an un
usitaiiv grateful snii'e. "Thank you very
mil h," she said. There wis a nervous
tremble in her voice as she stood beside
the trap looking up at its driver. "Give
me a hand, Gerald."
And over her shoulder, to the man be
hind, "You will hear from me about the
car later," she said casually. "Just come
up to the hotel for directions."
Five seconds later the do? cart with
Its two occupants was off in a whirl of
dust, leaving a wounded motor prone by
the ditch side, and a yet more deeply
wounded chauffeur standing in the middle
of the road, tittering strange, uncouth
maledictions, as be vowed an eternal vendetta.
CHAPTER III.
At the end of the Rue Koyal in the
city of Havre, the Hotel Maritime ob
trudes its huge frontal development,
pressing the great porte-cochere hospita
bly into the street.
T'.m lights were all burning in the
windows when the chauffeur shot by at
a Into hour that night, intent only on get
ting bis motor into the garage at the back
without attracting notice.
In the big shed two other panting.
steaming monsters were being rubbed
down by their attendant slaves, and, lay
Jug otT his leather coat, Sarto set to work
on the motor, the sharp exercise of pol
ishing heating his chilled pulses and fur
nishing some outlet for the fierce rest
loKMiess that was consuming him.
lie was on his knees beside the car,
manipulating the oil can with artistic
nicety, when steps sounded on the pave
ment outsid". anil a colossal shadow fell
cro.-is the chauffeur's line of vision.
"My ward. Sarto. that you?" came in a
haled English drawl; then, as there was
no response from the garage, after a mo
ment IS'iist's missive head and shoulders
hot up above the gateway.
"I say," he observed sardonically,
"thought you were by way of bein a
chauffeur! How many hours does it take
you to put on a new tire?"
Sarto did not reply, and for an Instant
the Englishman silently eyed the shirt
leeveil figure before him with cold aver
sion. It was this common workman, re
dolent of petrol, that Mrs. Waring had
seen fl'. to constitute her cavalier for six
Insane hours! The sooner he was shown
his proper place the better.
Gerald's teeth closed vindictively on his
cifsr.
"See that you give that machins a Jolly
good polishin' while you're about it," he
ordered at last, with a harsh authority
that was almost nrrogance. "She's got
to be in decent shape for shippin by to
morrow mornin' at latest." lie turned on
his heel, and then, with added sharpness
"Hoar what I say? Have her ready to
go on to Southampton by the next boat.
What happened next was a complete
surprise to Gerald Buist.
I'p to this point, by a superhuman ef
fort the chauffeur had kept himself in
hand, but now his face had become livid
with suppressed fury, and between his
curled black lips his teeth gleamed sug
gestively.
It was a somewhat terrifying figure
that shot up suddenly not a foot away
with brown, sinuous fingers writhing un
pleasantly near the Englishman's throat
"I take my orders from Mrs. Waring.
mid no one else," came iu a sibilant whis
per.
From his overpowering vantage of
height and bulk the Anglo-Saxon looked
down on the fiery Latin with blank aston
ishnient, which gradually gave place to a
dawning amusement.
"You little foreigner, here." raising his
voice, "get out of my way !"
Forth went his huge arm with unex
pected directness, brushing the slight
Southerner contemptuously aside, much
as a self-respecting house dog might (lis
pose of a vagrant cur. Then turning on
his heel, the Englishman sauntered non
ehalantly towards the hotel, trolling one
of Chavalier's Coster songs in his sten
torian baritone.
Staggering back against the garage
door, a dusty, oily figure straightened it
If with a muttered curse and looked
after the retreating one.
An apoplexy on thee !" it sobbed in
Venetian patois. "Dog of an English
man ! I will remember this forever !"
Gone was Annette's gentlemanly com
panion of the tonneau. Gone Mrs. Wor-
ing's romantic lover. Alas ! It was a
very plebeian chauffeur that some time
later crawled abjectly into the garage.
The next morning dawned overcast,
with a soggy wind blowing off the Chan
nel, and a chill saltiness in the air that
suggested to the shivery Sarto an occa
sional glass of absinthe at the cafe
around the corner. However, he kept
himself for the most part in the garage,
from which the back windows of the
Maritime were visible, varying the monot
ony of his work at intervals by a saunter
into the lobby of the hotel, haunting es
pecially that region around the telephone,
in restless expectation of a message which
did not come.
It was about noon that the machine
stood ready for shipping, packed by the
chauffeur's experienced hands into a
shapeless, hide-bound mass, and not un
til then did Sarto let himself out of the
motor shed and make off with stiff alac
rity for a much-needed bath and shave.
Some time later, obedient to the long
expected telephone message, the chauffeur
presented himself at Mrs. Waring's sit
ting room to find, with an odd mixture
of regret and relief, that Annette Han
croft was the only one to be seen.
"Come right in," the girl said at once
her genial smile making him realize re
morsefully how utterly he had forgotten
of late his little comrade of the tonneau.
"As you see, I'm in the depths of pack
ing;" she waved her hands towards a
collection of trunks and their contents
scattered promiscuously around the room,
"Won't you sit down?"
But Sarto remained standing.
"I came to report about the car, sig
norina," he said, with a certain somber
dignity. "It's ail ready for shipping."
"Oh. dear!" The girl's face fell uncon
sciously, anil as unconsciously Sarto
found himself watching her, his bruised
senses reviving under her friendliness,
with a startled sudden consciousness of
something about her which he had felt
before.
Just a waft, subtle, elusive, intangible,
of that divine essence which has been
labelled Charm !
"Oh, yes," she said, with a quiver In
her voice. "The poor car ! Mr. Buist
;s going to find a purchaser In England.
A'e shall never see it again. Well," with
a fatalistic shrug of her shoulders,
"there's no use lamenting the inevitable !
I must tell Mrs. Waring you're here.
Just wait a moment," and she turned
away, the complete unconsciousness of
her manner assuring the chauffeur more
strongly than words that Gussie had kept
her own counsel thus far.
There was a sense of relief In this dis
covery, and, as the door closed behind
her, he was able to glance around, tak
ing stock of his surroundings with a faint,
detached interest and curiosity.
The room was a comfortable one, boast
ing of a writing table, lounge and vari
ous easy chairs, the last heaped with fem
inine effects from the trunks, which, rang
ed around the four walls, had overflowed
in every direction. A driving rug which
the chauffeur recognized as flung casually
on the floor, and a well-known khaki
motor cloak lay beside it in a huddled,
human-looking mass. In fact, the whole
place was overwhelmingly suggestive of
Gussie, and, stung by a hornet host of
recollections, Sarto began to pace up and
down, realizing again with intolerable
distinctness the full bitterness of last
night's humiliation his own mad reck
lessness and folly ! Self-disgust added
fuel to his fury, fanning it by degrees
into a burning, unreasoning malevolence
towards Gussie which craved some outlet.
In the man's supersensitive state every
feature of his present positioneven
such minor annoyances as the jangling
clock on the mantle-piece, the uncomfort
ably roaring fire beneath contributed to
the sum of his misery, exasperating his
nerves beyond bearing. It was with a
sense of positive injury that he glared at
the small prim grate opposite, and then,
rapidly crossing tha room, dashed open
the window next to it.
He leaned out heavily. Ah h! but
the stinging salty gust was food I Step
ping nearer to get mors of It, his boot
heel sank Into something soft and mutiny
Sue of Gussie's feather boas and bond
ing down Sarto picked the thing up and
glanced down uncertainly into the steam
or trunk beside him.
Some minutes passed; the Swiss clocK
on the mantel ticked on loudly and the
lire crackled as obtrusively as before;
but they wore alike unheeded by the man
on his knees by the stennier trunk, star
ing down into it with au odd mixture of
interest and Incredulity.
"No. I don't go as far as that," Gus
sie's light voice was again in his ears,
blurred by the rush of the motor car.
"But I do take the precaution of hiding
my diamonds .away in an ancient, chamois
glove case down at the bottom of a hat
trunk."
How the speech came back to him:
Was It possible that that innocent look
ing shapeless object at which he was
gazing really contained Mrs. Waring's
jewels? Mechanically the chauffeur put
his hand down and touched it. Then,
his curiosity getting the better of every
other consideration, he lifted the parcel
out and looked it over interestedly.
Certainly the chamois glove case did
not contain gloves !
As the thought spun through his brain,
a door on the opposite side of the hall
opened and two voices became suddenly
audible. With a swift realization of Itfs
position, Sarto turned and, leaning over,
was on the point of lowering the parcel
back into its rightful corner of the trunk,
when Gussie's clear tones, carrying dis
tinctly through the crack in the hall door,
made him pause.
"See him again?" she enunciated, evi
dently in answer to a question. "Good
heavens! Say farewell to my own chauf
feur, a sort of servant? You must be
daft. Give the man his pay" (the last
words came out with hard, half-sneering
emphasis) "and let him go!"
There was a whispered response and
the voices sank, but too much had been
already heard. The mischief was done.
Before Annette closed the intervening
door, the listener in the sitting room,
yielding to a sudden, inexplicable impulse
to avenge himself, had taken the fatal
step.
And yet, in spite of his knavery, he
was not all knave only (like many of
us poor mortals) no more a demon than
an angel, merely a sensitive human in
strument, capable of fine harmonies and
hideous discords, responding all invol
untarily, at times, to the player's whim
the touch of the moment.
When Annette came into the sitting
room a moment later, the chauffeur was
standing by the ' opposite window, his
hands behind his back, a faint, inscruta
ble smile on his dark face.
Mrs. Waring wanted me to give you
this," she said, going up to him with
embarrassment and holding out a small
square envelope.
Then, as he took it with a mumbled
word of thanks, the girl retreated hurried
ly to the fiVeplace and stood, her back to
it, fidgeting restlessly with her handker
chief.
You see," she began, apologetically,
"Mrs. Waring is very tired and had to
send her message by me."
She stole a glance at the man, who wat
looking steadily at the floor, and then
went on with rapidity, "I am so sorry
it's all over ! How we've enjoyed it
the motor and everything !"
There was a catch of regret In her
voice and she paused doubtfully. "I sup
pose you will take charge of some other
motor now?"
Sarto did not meet her eyes. "No," ho
aid, "I think I will give up that for the
present. His tone raised a certain bar
rier, and Annette did not pursue the sub-
ject.
Well," she said, with determined
cheerfulness, "then I wish you every
success in whatever you undertake. Per
haps who knows, Sarto?" she smiled a
little uncertainly "we may meet again
some day."
"Who knows!" echoed the chauffeiii
seriously. He moved away from the win
dow very slowly, with his face still care
fully averted. Beaching the door. "It is
addio, then," he said, with a slight for
mality, "and thanks to you, Signorina,
for your so great kindness one does not
forget !"
His voice shook the least bit.
With swift steps Annette came towards
him. "Good-by, and good luck, Sarto,"
she said, Impulsively, holding out he
hand.
But the chauffeur shrank back. Grasp
ing the door knob, he made a stiff, mili
tary salute, his eyes fixed steadily on the
girl's outstretched hand and then,
Addio, signorina," he repeated firmly,
and closed the door behind him.
(To be continued.)
11 m'M'V 3ev,
ffir.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY
A ROYAL DENTIST.
The
by
Btory of a Tooth rolling
Peter the Great.
Peter the Great particularly dellght-
(1 in drawing teeth, and he strictly
n Joined his servants to send for him
when anything of that sort was to tie
done. One day his favorite valet de
lianibre seeenid very melancholy. The
zar asked hiui what was the matter.
"Oh, your majesty," said the man,
my wife is suffering the greatest ag
ony from toothache, and she obstinately
refuses to have the tooth taken out."
If that Is all," said Peter, "we will
soon cure it. Take me to her at once."
When they arrived the woman de
clared that She was not suffering at
all ; there was nothing the matter with
her.
"That la the way she talks, your
majesty," said the valet. "She Is suf
fering tortures."
"Hold her heiid and hands," said th
Czar. "I will have It out In a minute."
And he Instantly pulled out the indi
cated tooth wifh great dexterity, amid
profuse thanks from the husband.
What was Peter's Indignation to dls
cover a little later that his valet had
usm! him as an executioner to punish
bis wife, who had never had an un
sound tooth In her head. Argonaut.
The Family Melon Patch.
Many who pride themselves on
pood garden and are fond of nu Ions
never attempt to grow them. "Ciicaper
to buy at 25 cents each?" Maybe for
the first two or three, but If you would
like or dozen or two, enough that If
company comes unexpectedly and there
Is no dessert for dinner, the melons
can richly replace the pastry that Is
a different matter.
Despite theories to the contrary, mel
ons are as easily grown as cucumbers
and there are a number of varieties
which will mature unless the summer
Is unusually short. A rich, light soil,
sloidng toward the east or south and
well fertilized In the hill, will bring
.he luscious fruit.
If there is danger from dry weather
fill an old pall or oyster can (first per
forating the bottom with nail holes)
with stable manure or poultry drip
pings, sink it partly In the ground and
keep It moistened. This will not only
furnish moisture but food. The reser
voir liolng below the surface will tempt
the roots to grow down Instead of seek
ing the surface, as when water conies
from 'to hose In only small quantities,
and ttey will be less susceptible to
drouth.
If the plants go to vines nip off the
ends, but do not try to check vigorous
growth by starvation. The Rocky Ford
Is one of the best early inuskmelons
and one of the easiest to grow, bearing
in profusion.
The Indiana Sweetheart Is a favor
ite watermelon, ripening early and of
excellent quality.
Cnta Oat the Undesirable Seed.
The real up-to-date farmer, following
the most scientific methods in the op
eration of his ground, is taught to
make use of the se
lected material only
iu order that the
species may be con
stantly improved,
following the law
of the survival of
the fittest. For In
stance, In the selec-
roR seed coax, tion of the seed to
be placed In the ground, he Is not con
tent merely to secure the best species,
but wherever possible he will go care
fully over the seed and pick out only
the largest specimens to be placed In
the ground. In this manner the pro
duct Is generally of a much higher
standard. It is difficult to carry out
this selective scheme in the case of
corn and similar seeds which are made
use of in great quantities. In the case
of corn, however, the small kernels are
generally at the tip of the ears, and in
order to get rid of these undesirable
pieces a corn-tipper has been invented.
The device seems to have been sug
gested by the familiar pencil-sharpener.
It Is operated by a small crank, and
has a cone with a tooth Interior. The
tip of the corn ear being placed In this
revolving cup, all the small seed are
cut off, leaving only the full-sized ker
nels on the ear.
Peedtnn; Covra on Grass.
Professors Stewart ami At wood, of
the West Virginia Experiment Station,
last year conducted some careful tests
to determine whether it is profitable to
feed milk cows grain on grass. With
out going Into the details of these ex
periments we quote the conclusions as
follows :
"This experiment clearly shows that
there was no direct financial gain In
feeding the grain to the cows while at
pasture. It Is true that the cows
which received grain were uniformly
in 'somewhat better flesh than those
that did not receive grain, but as far
as the milk yield was concerned the
increased How was produced at an ac
tual loss." Data obtained In similar
experiments at other stations are sum
marized, and from these In comparison
with their own investigations the au
thors conclude "that unless dairy prod
ucts are especially high In price it Is
not a profitable practice to feed grain
to cows at pasture. It Is true that more
milk is obtained and the cows hold up
their yield better and remain in better
ttcsh when receiving the grain rations,
but under ordinary circumstances there
is no direct profit from the grain feed
ing, as the Increased production usual
ly costs more than it can be sold for."
Hobs that Make Meat.
The hog raisers of Kansas station
made a test to show what kind of a
hog grows the best meat. The weights
of hams in the test were as follows:
Berkshire hams, 2.'?Vi pounds; Dn-
roc-Jersey, 24Vi pounds; Poland-
Chinas, 2o pounds. These hogs In
size were as near the same weight as
possible to get them. The shoulders
of the Berkshlres weighed 21 U
pounds ; Duroc-Jerseys, lDV-j pounds
and Poland-Chinas, lOa pounds. The
Berkshlres have larger shoulders than
the other breeds.
The butcher who saw the hogii
slaughtered thought the Duroe-Jersey
had the most fat on the back ; the Po
land-China next, then the Berkshire.
The Berkshire ham showed more lean
and less fat than the Poland-China.
The butchers considered the breed of
hogs that had the most fat the most
profitable hog, both for the farmer and
the butcher.
The Truth.
Fear Is not In the habit of npeaklnjj
truth. When perfect sincerity Is ex
pected, perfect -wisdom must be allow
ed. Nor bag any one who Is apt to b
angry when he hears the truth any
cause to wonder that be does not beat
It Tad tut,
l.vtt Weakness.
Leg weakness Is due to chicks be
coming heavy rapidly, so that the
weight of their body is too much for
their legs. This Is not always an alarm
ing condition, for It denotes that the
chicks are growing fast, and if careful
ly guarded and fed properly they will
pull through all right. The cause
arises from heavy feeding and forcing,
which carries the chicks forward so
rapidly as to cause the legs to fall.
Change the food to a light diet of veg
etables and feed bone meal In the food.
They should also be well protected
against the dampness, and the difficul
ty will soon pass away. Leg weakness
Is nearly always due to rapid growth of
the body or from lack of uniformity of
heat In brooders. If the chicks are small
enough to be kept In a brooder. Crowd
ing and pressing together to keep warm
at night Is a main cause of little chicks
having leg weakness. Xo great alarm
need be entertained unless the trouble
continues for too long a time, hut
change the food and keep the birds
dry.
Utilising- Waste Timber.
The wood chemistry section of the
Forestry Bureau has been giving some
attention to the subject of production
of turpentine from yellow pine waste.
It is stated that for the recovery of
turpentine from waste wood the steam
distillation process is far superior to
destructive distillation, making a more
uniform crude turpentine, and usually a
higher grade refined product The
wastage from the yellow pine cut each
year would yield as much turpentine as
the entire present annual output In
this country, with a value of $14,000,
000. At the present rate of cutting the
supply of long-leaf yellow pine In the
South will be practically exhausted In
twenty years, but that the methods of
exploitation now In use convert only
about half the tree Into market product.
Orchard Work.
A good test of a man's Christianity
Is to examine his apple barrel froir
top to bottom.
A man may be a good woodchopper,
but that Is no sign that he knows how
to prune trees.
An ax and a saw In the hands of a.
Ignorant man cause more damage to
the fruit crops of this land than all the
birds that are hatched.
Fruit sells best when properly grad
ed. The best will bring a better price
and the lower grades will generally
iring as good a price as the entire lot
would if mixed.
For suinmer pruning of trees the bes(
time Is from the loth of June to the
10th of July, just when The sap Is run
ning freely. When the tree Is In leaf
you can tell better what to cut out.
Some people imagine that all that l ;
necessary to have a good orchard Is to
ptnnt a variety or good trees and "let
em rip." It generally takes years to
discover their mistake, but they finally
discover It.
Milk Cooler.
This milk cooler Is arranged so that
the milk flows In a thin sheet over the
outside. Cold water enters nt the bottom.
Bacteria In Cold Milk.
M. E. Pennington of the Bureau of
Chemistry, Department of Agriculture,
reports that experiments on milk kept
at about the freezing point showed
continuous increase of organisms for
five or six weeks. At their maximum
they numbered hundreds of millions
per cubic centimeter, and occasionally
they passed the billion mark. Although
the milk experimented with was never
solidly frozen, yet after ten days to
two weeks It was a mass of small 'Ice
crystals: No odor or taste indicated
the higher bacterial content, and even
on heating no curd was produced until
the very end of the experiment
nnrn the I'ranlnars.
Never allow old wood of raspberries
or blackberries to lie around. Burn
every bit of It. When the new wood
Is 18 Inches high, pinch off to allow
lateral growth In the raspberries, but
let the blackberries grow to 3 feet be
fore doing this.
Trees la Fence Corners.
The few scattering trees In the fence
corners are frequently veritable breed
ing places for Insect pest". They should
be given Just as much attention as th
trees In the orchard.
Canton has fewer than 50 foreign
residents.
Trained falcons to carry dispatches
In time of war have been tested In the
Russian army. Their speed Is four
times as great ns that of carrier pig
eons. If the real estate of Manhattan
Island were divided equally between
Its Inhabitants each Individual would
own $2,020 worth, according to the as
sessed value.
Prof. Carl von Noordon, addressing a
number of prominent scientists at
Vienna on the subject of "Food and
Nourishment," declared that the reason
so many men begin to get fat immedi
ately after they have married Is he
cause their wives give them their favor
ite dishes on every possible occasion.
Vuidon Standard.
"Vegetable milk" Is used In Japan.
It Is made from the soja bean. The
liquid Is exactly like row's milk In ap
pearance, and In taste can hardly be
distinguished from It. To make It the
beans are first soaked and then boiled
In water. Some sugar and phosphate
of potassium are added, and it is boiled
down till It has the consistency of con
densed milk.
Alfalfa was first brought to Kansas
by the late Harrison Purkman, of Em
poria. Mr. Parkman first saw alfalfa
growing in Chile. He brought the seed
to America, and In the late seventies
he went to Emporia to live. He sowed
alfalfa In a farm which he bought and
the plant prosjiered. It was slow In
gaining popularity In Kansas, but Is
now one of the State's most Important
forage crops.
Iu New Zealand everybody Is bound
by law to take a weekly half-holiday,
and there must be no shirking the obli
gation. The Grand Hotel, Auckland,
was recently crowded with guests, and
several waiters, instead of obeying the
law and taking their prescribed weekly
half-holiday, remnlned at work on the
promise of extra pay. But the authori
ties came to hear of It and the proprie
tor of the hotel had to appear In court,
where he was convicted am? punished.
The death of Gen. Stephen D. Lee
leaves only two surviving lieutenant
generals of the Confederate army. They
are Gen. A. P. Stewart, ranking lieutenant-general
of the Confederacy, of
Blloxl, Miss., and Gen. Simon Bolivar
Buckner, of Kentucky. General Stew
art celebrated his eighty-sixth birthday
anniversary on October 7 last. Gen
eral Buckner was a candidate for Vice
President on the National. Democratic
ticket, with Palmer in 1KM. He was
"Ighty-five on April 1 last.
The German Emperor has a weh
equipped pottery which brings him In
$.V),000 a year. The King of Wurtetn
berg owns two large hotels which yield
him a yearly Income of some $40,000.
The King of Saxony owns the famous
porcelain factory at Meissen, and the
Begent of Llppe Detnudd runs a large
model farm from which lie sells butter
and milk and eggs. The King of Servla
Is said to own a barber shop and an
apothecary shop. In addition to which
beholds an agency for mtotor cars.
'I once had a cat that did a rather
remarkable ratting feat. He stalked
two young rats on the eaves of a low
flat stable roof, and caught one In the
usual way. The other Jumped on to an
elderberry tree just lielow. Bob, how
ever, not satisfied with the one, grasped
it firmly in his mouth, and then Jumped
headlong for the other. Either he was
very lucky or extraordinary agile, for
he fell to the ground with one rat still
in ills mouth and the other In his paws,
and promptly killed them both. The
Scotsman.
A strange story conies from one oi
the Balkan states, where commercial
morality Is still In Its Infancy. At a
recent banquet given at the house of
the prime minister a distinguished dip
lomat complained to his host that tho
Minister of Justice, next to whom he
was sitting, had taken his watch. The
prime minister said : "Ah, he shouldn't
have done that. I will get It back for
you." Sure enough, toward the end of
the evening the watch was returned to
Its owner. "And what did he say?"
asked the guest "Sh-h I He does not
know I have got it back,", said the
prime minister. Philadelphia Record
"Instances of desertion from the armj
In Mexico are very rare and for the
best of reasons," said Senor Jose de
Mlualdcz, of Nueva Leon. "The reason
lies In the almost sure capture of the
fugitive and the certainty that he will
get not one but numerous floggings on
his bare back. These lashings are done
In the presence of the comrades of the
deserter, and when the men see how
great Is the suffering of the miserable
wretch who tried In vain to quit his
military obligations, they are forced
to conclude that It Is better to stick to
the army than undergo such a terrible
ordeal 1" Baltimore American.
The passenger traffic through thb
Simplon tunnel has fluctuated greatly
and was largest In August, 1900, the
third month of its operation. In that
month 42,022 passengers were carried
through the tunnel. The number fell
to 14,545 in November of that year, and
to 10,106 in the following January. The
largest number In any month since baa
been 34,500. The freight traffic has
grown rapidly, but Is still small. The
largest In 1900, was 5,009 tons In Oc
tober. For the first five months of 1907
It was about 44,000, swelled by a block
ade of the Mont Cenls route. In the
rwt jr Um grass saxalngs were $18(V