7Yie Great
Tontine
by
HAWLEY SMART
Author of 'Broltn Bonds," "Bound to Win."
Eu.
DBOQAfinQBaBQ
I HE GREAT
TONTINE is
a fine work o
fiction, embel
lished with a
truly wonder
ful and fasci
nating plot-
It is a splendid story and deals
with an original subject in a
powerful way.
The incidents of this sterling
romance are cleverly drawn and
full of great originality and interest.
The characters are life-like and the
serial one of the very best ever
offered.
CHAPTER 1.
Herbert Phillimore, fifth Viscount Lak
ington, had reached his twenty sixth birth
day and the end of his tether. There had
been no ho'der plunger on the race course.
"The cleverest young one that has ever
been oi't." muttered some. "How on
earth dor-R he pet his information?" mur
mured others. The bookmaker said noth
ing, but continued doggel'y to lay him
shorter od:'s than ever, l'b bubble soon
burst, as it has burst many t time bs
fore. Th Viscount was no more astute
than his fellows, nor blessjd -ifth any ex
traordinary sources of information. It
Was simply luck.
It did not occur to him to retire when
the smash came, to turn over a new leaf,
and attempt to live upon what was left
of his income; but he quite recognized
that something must be done, and that the
sinews of war must be raised from other
resources than his own in future. He
fell back, as might have been expected,
upon the usual expedient of unmarried
nd impecunious nobility the marrying of
money. A popular, good-looking fellow of
eix-and-twenty, who can place a coronet
on his bride's brow, has not long to seek
for such opportunity.
Lakington was fortunate. He carried
off the great matrimonial prize of the
Mason from a host 'of competitors. A
quiet, lady-like girl, who, without being
a beauty, was still quite sufficiently good
looking : but whose greatest charm, prob
ably, in the eyes of the world was that
she was the only child of Anthony Lyme
"Wregis, the great financier. To define
what Mr. Lyme Wregis was, was pretty
nearly as difficult as to say what he was
jaot He seemed to have a finger In pretty
nearly every big speculation that was
afloat. His enemies declared that he was
a "salter of diamond fields," promoter of
"bogus" silver mines, phantom railways,
and every description of bubble specula
tion that filled the pockets of those that
started them at the expense of the unfor
tunate dupes that took shares in them.
Ilowever, whatever he touched turned to
gold. He had given a park to the people,
built unto himself a palace at Fulham,
and was rpputed to be worth more than
a million of money. The Viscount's mar
riage was to take place the week after
Ascot, and the noble bridegroom, in con
junction with three kindred spirits as
reckless as himself, was at present stay
ing in one of those pretty little houses
that lie dotted around the village of
Bracknell, and which had ben taken by
the quartette for the races. . '
It is the evening of the "Cup" day,
and the party are lounging at the open
windows of the drawing room, and lan
guidly discussing the results of the fierce
combat they have waged with the knights
of the pencil the last three days.
"How did you come through to-day,
Lakington?" asked Sir Gerald Fitzpat
ri.k. "Only so so," replied the Viscount; "I
had a pretty good win over Brown Duch
ess in the New Stakes, but I knocked it
all down afterwards, and a bit more be
sides. I am fourteen hundred and fifty
out. and shall have to bet in earnest to
morrow if I am ever to get home."
"I say," suddenly exclaimed Carbuckle,
a rising barrister, "have any of you taken
shares in the 'Great Tontine'? What does
your tatljer-in-ia w, mat is to ne, rninn or
It, lakington? Does the scheme com
mend itself to the great financier?"
"Well," rplied the Viscount, laugh
ing, "as it so happens I did mention the
subject to him. Now, as you know, he
Is no racing man never troubles his head
bout It, in short ; but, with a view, I
presume, to suit my limited apprehension,
he puts his opinion of that scheme Into
turf vernacular. He described it as back
ing a yearling entered for the Derby to be
run when he was twenty years old, and
remarked further that he looked to turn
ing his money over a good many times,
and making a good deal of It, between
this and then."
"Well. I don't know. I rather like the
Idea myself. It commends itself to my
mind as putting away something for one's
old age." observed Fitzpatrick.
"A very broken reed to trust to, Ger
ald, and I most sincerely hope that you'll
have a good deal more than that to fall
back upon in the days to com"."
"But what on earth is it?' exclaimed
Fortescue. "Pray explain to me what is
th meaning of the 'Great Tontine.'
"The 'Grat Tontine, my dear For
tescue," replied the barrister, "is a scheme
for thf benefiting of society, as orig
inated in the fertile brain of Mr. Salis
bury, the great operatic impresario. He
lias discovered that London has no opera
bouse worthy of the greatest metropolis
la the world. He proposes to at once
remedy this stats ot things by erecting
one completely furnished with all the
newest median ical Inventions of the age,
The estimated trifle of one hundred and
sixty thousand pounds will be raised by
the 'Great Tontine and that Is simply
the Issuing of sixteen hundred shares of
one hundred pounds apiece. For every
hundred pounds share you take you must
nominate a life, not less than sixty years
old, that Is, you must give the name of
some person who has attained that age
any one you like ; but he or sho represent
lng the hundred pounds share must have
attained the sixtieth birthday."
"And you may take as many shares as
you please?" asked Fortescue.
"Quite so," continued Carbuckle; "and
name one life for the whole lot, or give
a different name for each share. Now
you see, it Is considered, that as all these
lives start at sixty years of age, in twenty
years there will be very few, if any of
them, left."
"And the holder of the last life takes
the pool," cried Gerald Fitzpatrick. "It
would be rather exciting to find one's self
one of the last half-dozen left In.
"Don't Interrupt, Gerald," exclaimed
the barrister pettishly; "I want to make
Fortescue thoroughly understand Mr. Sal
isbury's great conception. The sixteen
hundred shares being all taken up, and
the names attached to them being all care
fully registered, the 'Great Tontine be
gins. With the capital thus acquired the
opera house is at once commenced, ana in
about two years should be finished and in
full swing. As soon as that takes place
five per cent per annum is to be paid to
the shareholders. As the lives lapse nom
inators lose all interest in the affair, and
the rental is divided amongst those share
holders whose nominees are still living;
conseqently, those fortunate enough to
have made long-lived selections find their
infAma inrrensini? annually. The last
eicht. for instance, will be drawing a thou
sand a year interest on their nunorea
pounds share; the last two will nave in
creased to four thousand a years while
the shareholder who has nominated the
final life becomes the proprietor of the
whole."
"That is exactly what I say," interpos
ed Fitzpatrick. "I call it making a very
suitable Drovision for your old age. Any
nf us. for instance, putting in our huu
dred pounds now, there is a prospect of
coming into eight thousand a year at nity
or thereabouts."
"A verv distant prospect, a very dim
and hazy prospect," said Lakington, smil
ing. "No, upon the whole, Gerald, I'd
rather trust to picking out the winner of
the "Wokingham's" to-morrow, and put
my hundred on that, than put it into the
'Great Tontine.' "
"Yes," rejoined Carbuckle meditatively ;
hundred pounds is a good deal of
money to put Into such an everlasting lot
tery as this."
"But. replied the ever sanguine ltz-
patrick, "look what a price it is ! Treble
events are nothing to this. I have my lit
tle scheme, and it is worthy of Salisbury
himself. What do you say, my Drecnren,
to a pool at cards? Vie put in twenty
five pounds apiece. Draw a card each
of you ; the two highest first play togeth
er, then the two lowest, and then the two
winners: and I propose .tliat wnoever
wins the pool be solemnly pledged to in
vest that hundred in the 'Great Ton
tine.' "
The game was played, and Lakington
won.
"Remember, Lakington," said Fitzpat
rick, "you are pledged to put that hun
dred Into the 'Great Tontine. I have the
strongest presentiment that you will even
tually win it. It will be so like the luck
of the Fitzpatricks to have chucked eight
thousand a year out of window. Anyway,
am the first of the family who ever
staked as much on a hand at cards. And
now I'm off to bed ; I can't do the family
estates any more mischief after that I
shall dedicate the next twenty years or
so of my life to the framing of a compen
sation bill to be presented to Viscount
Lakington, the then owner of the new
Royal Italian Opera House."
CHAPTER II.
Amongst the little knot of land dealers,
builders, surveyors, architects and others
who busied themselves earnestly about the
development of Llanbarlym, there were
none more keenly interested than Mr. Paul
Pegram, a solicitor residing in a country
town some twelve miles from the budding
watering place. Mr. Paul Pegram, al
beit a sharp and a somewhat unscrupulous
practitioner, had arrived at the age of
forty without in his own opinion having
done much good for himself. He was not
a popular man; and though the Welsh
have the reputation of being a somewhat
litigious people, they at all events put
their litigation but sparsely into Mr. Pe
gram's hands. He was a man of very
humble extraction, his father having been
a cattle jobber. He died very proud of
having brought up his son as a "profes
sional gentleman," and of leaving some
four thousand pounds behind him.
Paul Pegram threw himself heart and
soul into the development of Llanbarlym.
This was the sort of speculation that he
had been waiting for all his life. It had
special attraction for him.
He was early in the held, foreseeing
what the railway would do for the place.
He determined to sink all the money he
could lay his hands upon in this specula
tion. Llanbarlym throve and grew in a
manner that quite surpassed the expec
tations of those interested in its exten
sion. The annually Increasing throng of
visitors had brought settlers in their
wake. Lodging bouse keepers and shop
keepers flocked from surrounding towns
to start in business in the new watering
place. The first hotel was already dwarf
ed by a gigantic rival.
Not only had Paul Pegram already
made money, but he saw the land he ac
quired Increasing rapidly in value. In
short, should Llanbarlym continue to
prosper, in the course of a few years he
would become a rich man.
One day there arrived in Mr. Pegram's
office a dark, rather flashily dressed gen
tleman, with a great deal of watch chain
and a good deal of diamond ring about
him; a dark, well-whiskered man of some
five or six-and-thlrty, with a very glossy
hat. He gave his name as Mr. Hem
mingby, and curtly Informed the lawyer
that he had come down to see if there
was anything to be done with this new
place Llanbarlym. Mr. Pegram natural
ly Inquired what did the stranger propose
to do for himself or Llanbarlym.
"Well, you see," replied the other,
"that is a thing I am not particular
about I bars bad a turn at a good
many specs one way or another tn my
time. I have managed a theater, and
'run' an hotel, and may do either again
some day, I have been in all sorts of
companies. I have made my fortune, and
'bust up' half a dozen times. There is
often a 'big stroke' to be done about a
new place if a man has a head on his
shoulders, and doesn't arrive too late.
It's very possible I am that; but I heard
a good deal about this place from a friend
of mine last week, and said I would run
down and look at it as soon as I bad two
or three days to spare; and here I am."
In due course the lawyer showed his
new acquaintance over the place, expa
tiating on Its advantages and future pros
pects. Mr. Hemmingby rattled away with
his usual fluency, Interspersing his speech
with incessant questions.
Mr. Pegram admitted to his new friend
that he had been one of the very earliest
speculators in buying up land round about
Llanbarlym, and owned that he had made
a very good thing indeed on the transac
tion in various ways during the last
three years, and that be fully expected
to make considerably more during the
next five or six. As for Mr. Hemmingby,
he told wondrous stories, and darkly hint
ed that he guessed that there were dollars
to be made In Frisco, only ne naan i
quite cyphered out tlhe "hang" of It as
yet. Then Mr. Pegram told of his once
winning the "Derby" lottery.
"Lotteries !' exclaimed Mr. Hemmingby
"If you are good at lotteries, guess you'll
have to take a turn at the biggest thing
of the kind that has been on hand In my
day. You will have to take a ticket in
the 'Great Tontine I "
"AVhat is that?" inquired the lawyer.
"I never even heard of it."
Whereupon Mr. Hemmingby proceeded
to explain the whole system of tnat eiaD'
orate lottery to the best of his ability,
It took some time before he made his
companion thoroughly understand the
scheme. It may be that the port wine
had somethine to say against lucid ex
planation on the one hand, and a clear
understanding on the other, although
neither of the men showed the slightest
symptoms of their deep potations; but
when Mr. Pegram had tnorougniy mas
tered the details of the scheme he became
deenlv interested in it, and finally inquir
ed whether Hemmingby himself bad taken
shares in it.
"I've eot one." he replied, and 1 ve a
great mind to take another; but it ain't
so easy to find a life of sixty that you
know and can do a bit with if he gets
rifkPtv. Whv. if I found myself in it
at last, and my man a bit ailing, 1 a can
him round the world until ne got me cii-
mntn he wanted."
"Ah." replied Pegram, "I like tnat
"capital idea life you can watch over,
irn vnur eve on. that's the thing. I sup
pose the life you have got is a man of
whom you can take care
host eved him keenly as ne repnea,
"No; and that's just the reason I should
like my second chance to be of that kind.
No. I won' name him; but I'll give you
a very fair Hip' if you think of venturing
your luck. Do as I have done -pick out
one of the most eminent statesmen of that
age. In spite of the tremendous work
they do, the balance of tfiem go very near
living out the time."
"I have it ! exclaimed air. - regram,
next morning. "Uiu ivraooe s me man i
want. He must be aoout sixty, ano. is n
hale and hearty a man as I know. He's
been clerk witih me now some seventeen
years and never been ailing all that time.
T can't call to mind his ever oeing a aay
absent or five minutes late. Father did a
good stroke of business when he got hold
of him; ana, to ao mm juau, me iu
dad was a mighty good judge of the points
of either man or beast. Old Krabbe has
been a good servant to me so far. 1 11
just ask him his exact age, and if that's
about right, put him in. Let him live to
land this stake, and he shall have a new
rigout and live like a gentleman to the
end of his days ; and he may take his oath
I'll not see his valuable life endangered.
That's settled. Yes, I'll put in for the
Great Tontine,' and old Krabbe shall be
my nominee. I'll write about it to-day."
(To be continued.)
The Bachelor' Excuses.
At a wedding breakfast the bachb
lors were called upon to give their rea
sons for remaining single. The follow
ing were among the reasons given :
"I am like a frog in the fable who,
though he loved the water, would not
Jump into the well because he could
not Jump out again."
'I am too selfish and honest enough
to admit it."
'I prefer, on the one hand, liberty,
refreshing sleep, the opera, midnight
suppers, quiet seclusion, dreams, cigars,
a bank account and club to, on the other
hand, disturbed rest, cold meat, baby
linen, soothing sirup, rocking horses,
brend pudding and empty itockets."
"I Lave a twin brother, and we have
never had a secret from one another.
He Is married."
The Grandest.
"What Is the grandest thing in the
universe?" asks Victor Hugo. "A
storm at sea," he answers and contin
ues, "And what Is grander than a
storm at sea?" "The unclouded heav
ens on a starry, moonless night." "And
what is grander than these midnight
skies?" "The soul of man" a spectac
ular climax such as Hugo loved and
still, with all its dramatic effects, the
picturesque statement of a vast and
sublime and mighty truth.
Lucky Youth.
Dlggs Lucky fellow, that young
Green. He went west last spring, you
know.
Biggs Did he do well out there?
LMggs i should say so. Why, he
was able to get back without writing
home for money.
Craay.
Wigwag I believe there's a tinge of
Insanity In all religious enthusiasts.
Ilenpecke Yes; take the Mormons,
for Instance. Any man that wants
more" than one wife Is plumb crazy.
Philadelphia Record.
An attempt to establish a municipal
brewery In Berlin resulted In a dis
mal failure. It did plenty of business,
but lost money.
A Farmer's Enterprise.
An Iowa farmer has succeeded in
opening up a big field for his enter
prise by applying an old method to a
new service. He has gone Into the
business of furnishing fresh eggs daily
to a regular list of customers, after
the fashion of the milkmen and bakers,
This farmer Is a man who raises many
chickens and markets a large number
of eggs. These he had been selling to
dealers, who in turn sent them to cold
storage warehouses or to wholesalers
Finally they got to the consumers, usu
ally pretty stale and much the worse
for handling, through the retail grocer
or huckster. When eggs were plentl
ful and the wholesalers were well
stocked up, the farmer got little for
them. When eggs were few and prices
to consumers were very, very high,
the farmer found that his eggs In the
warehouses were still In competition
with the producer. This man's egg
route isn't an egg route exclusively,
He sells dressed chickens and other
farm produce, too, and when his egg
wagon Is going about the driver takes
orders for other things which are raised
on the farm. Springfield Journal.
Starting Early Celery.
Celery growing on a 'commercial
cale has received most attention In
the "muck-bed" areas of Michigan and
New York, where thousands of acres
are devoted to this crop. California
ind Florida have taken up the Indus
try and during the winter and spring
nonths provide Northern cities with
arge amounts of celery.
To secure an early crop the best
plan for the amateur grower Is to fill
i wooden tray 16 Inches by 24 Inches
!n size with fine soil three Inches deep,
rhls soil should be pressed down and
:he seeds scattered either In rows or
Droadenst. Cover the seeds by sprink
GERMINATING BOX FOB CELEBY.
ling through a fine sieve a small quan
tity of leaf mold or sand. The win
low of a moderately warm room with
freauent sprinkling will provide the
onditlons necessary for germination
When the seedlings appear after two
jr three weeks turn the boxes dally
to keep the growth even. The illus
tration chows the form of box used
for starting the plants.
Coat of Raising- a Calf.
In an experiment to ascertain the
cost of raising a calf Prof. Shaw of
Michigan station took a dairy calf and
kept an accurate account of the ex
pense of feeding for one year from its
birth. The amounts of feeds used In
that time were 381 pounds of whole
milk, 2,508 pounds of skim milk. 1,202
pounds of silage, 219 pounds of beet
pulp, 1,234 pounds of hay, 1,247 pounds
of grain, 147 pounds of roots, 14 pounds
of alfalfa meal and 50 pounds of green
corn. The grain ration consisted of
three parts each of corn and oats and
one part of bran and oilnieal. At the
end of the year the calf weighed 800
pounds at a cost of $28.55 for feed. The
naif was a Ilolsteln.
Oreg-on Apples for King Edward,
What are considered the finest apples
ever grown in the United States or
any other country passed through Bos
ton recently On their way to the table
of King Edward of England. They are
known as winter banana apples, and
are two and a half times the size of
the ordinary apple to which one Is ac
customed. These apples are grown at
the Beulah land orchards. Hood River,
Ore., by Oscar Vanderbllt, an expert
orchardlst, and they are considered the
highest development In the cultivation
of this fruit. Their color Is perfect,
the rosy blush blends with the green
In the most luscious manner Imagin
able. In flavor and texture they are
a good as they look.
Salt Water to Kill Weeds.
Salt water for killing weeds has
been extensively used during the past
season on the Oregon Short Line rail
way, and very satisfactory results have
been reported. Water for the purpose
Is taken directly from Great Salt Lake,
which is approximately 22 per cent salt,
and Is merely pumped Into tank cars
and hauled over the line.
To Revalue State Lands.
That all the homestead lands In
Michigan have been withdrawn from
the market Is announced by State Land
Commlsioner Huntley Russell. The
lands will be kept out until they have
been reappraised, as provided by a res
olution recently introduced In the lower
house of the state legislature.
Tremendous Cost of Prairie Dogs.
In the state of Texas alone prairie
dogs eat aunually enough grass to sup
port 1,502,500 cows. Utterly useless, the
little animal 1b a pest so dreaded that
the forestry service has undertaken his
extermination. Poison Is killing him,
wherever he now flourishes and another
resource of the farmer is safeguarded.
Who would think that the prairie dog,
the shy and amusing little rodent that
we like to watch before the door of
his burrow at the Zoo, would ever be
come the subject of the government In
tervention or endanger the success of
stock raising? Yet such is the fact,
says the Technical World Magazine.
Out on the national forests which Uncle
Sara is guarding for the use of the pub
lic, expert hunters have gone after the
prairie dog with zeal, ingenuity and
poison and literally exterminated them
in great numbers, because some of their
choicest bottom lands have had the
grazing ruined for stock by the indus
trious burrowing of the "dogs."
A Gate That Never Sag-a.
I have used this gate for many years
and never spent five minutes repairing
It. Countersink two pieces and pin
them together. Then set up two 2x4
pieces 2 ft. higher than the gate so it
can be raised In winter. . Mortice and
set in between the crosspleces, which
5
3
WIRE-COVERED OATK THAT BALANCES.
are 12 in. apart, . the board, a, and
fasten a cap to the top of the frame,
The gate is 10 ft. long, 12 ft being for
the gateway and 4 ft. for the weights
to balance It. The frame Is of 2x4's,
Cover the 4-ft. end w,lth boards and fill
with enough stones to balance it when
hung. Cover the gate with wire fenc
ing and hang by a chain. Put a bolt
through the lower part of the frame
into the crossplece, a. A. J. Fraser, In
Farm and Home.
How to Grow Potatoes.
Director Woods of the Maine agricul
tural experiment station summarizes
his suggestions as to succesful potato
growing as follows. What he Bays
about thorough preparation of the soil
Is applicable to that to be used for any
crop.
Select highly fertile land, so situated
that it will suffer as little as possible
from either excessive rain or from
droughts.
Thoroughly prepare the soil and fer-
ttlize liberally.
Keep the crop free from weeds and
the surface of the soil loose during the
whole season.
Do not let anything prevent the po
tato field from receiving constant care.
Vastly more failures in potato grow
ing can be traced to neglect of crop
than to lack of knowledge.
How Many Hens.
Have you pondered the fact that It
requires very little more labor to keep
a flock of 100 birds than a flock of 20?
There is a hint there as to getting
the proper return for your labor.
Also the expense of housing and yard
ing the larger flock is but little more
than for the smaller.
These are the two Important outgoes,
aside from feed.
It follows that your profit will be
greatly Increased by the enlarged flock
without a corresponding Increase of
expense.
By all means, If it will pay you at
all to keep chickens, it will pay you
to keep not less than seventy-five.
When and How to Prune.
It Is very Important that the healing
process should start soon after the
wound Is made, otherwise the cambium
will be killed back quite a distance
from the exposed surface, and healing
will be greatly retarded. For this rea
son winter pruning should be avoided,
particularly In frosty weather. In the
early fall or late spring the cambium
is active and wounds made at this time
start to heal at once, and there is lit
tle or no dying back of the cambium.
A I'seful Farm Implement.
A useful but much neglected
farm
Implement the shaving horse.
Orchard Sugarest Ions.
As a rule apples from orchards that
are In sod culture are better and more
highly colored than those from tilled
orchards, but this Is not necessarily so.
The peach requires good culture, but
this culture should not be continued too
late In the season or the wood will not
harden by the time winter sets In and
the tree will be Injured.
pJLh
THEVEEKLY
RIAH
1009 Lord De La Warr appointed Gov
ernor of Virginia for life.
1643 Indians of lloboken massacred by
the Dutch.
1676 Indians made a raid on the town
of Weymouth, Mass.
1724 The Rhode Island Assembly passed
an act requiring a property qualifi
cation for becoming a freeman.
1763 William Franklin, last colonial
Governor of New Jersey, took office.
1704 Rhode Island college was ineorpo-
rated.
1778 First salute to the American flag
by a foreign government.
1783 First United States bank char
tered.
1789 The Cayugas sold their lands to
the State of New York.
1S19 Arkansas territory formed from
Missouri.
1820 "Missouri Compromise Bill" pass
ed.
1S27 Charter for Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad granted.
1829 The Alabama Legislature protest
ed against the tariff.
1833 "Compromise tariff" bill passed
the House of Representatives....
George Mcintosh Troup of Georgia
resigned his seat in the United States
Senate.
1830 Declaration of Independence of
Texas signed.
1837 The United States Senate resolved
that the recognition of Texas as an
independent nation was proper and
expedient.
1845 The President approved a bill for
the annexation of Texas.
1847 Americans defeated the Mexicans
at battle of Chihuahua.
1848 Louis Philippe of France abdicat
ed. 1854 American steamer, Black Warrior,
seized by the Cuban authorities at
Havana.
1S57 Congress authorized the people of
Minnesota to form a State govern
ment. 1803 Union force defeated by the Con
federates at Battle of Falmouth.
1504 Ulysses S. Grant made a lieuten
ant general. .. .Kentucky University
destroyed by fire.
1505 John Young Beall, Confederate
spy, hanged on Governor's Island,
New York. . . .Transylvania Univer
sity consolidated with Kentucky Uni
versity. .. .United States Senate
passed the $000,000,000 loan bill.
18CS Disraeli became' premier of Eng
land, succeeding the Earl of Derby.
1S71 Meeting at Washington of joint
high commission on Alabama claims.
1873 Alexander H. Stephens elected to
Congress from Georgia.
1873 Fernando Wood moved in the
House for the impeachment of Vice
President Colfax.
187 Rev. George D. Gillespie conse
crated bishop of the Episcopal dio
cese of Western Michigan.
1877 New American theater, in Phila
delphia, destroyed by fire.
1S79 President Hayes vetoed the Chi
nese restriction bill.
1S87 Scores of lives lost in the burning
of the steamer W. H. Gardner near
Gainesville, Ala.
1S89 Congress appropriated $3."0,000 to
aid American workingmen thrown
out of employment by the stoppage of
work on the Panama canal.
1890 Pan-American Congres voted for
an international railway.
1891 Charles Foster of Ohio qualified as
Secretary of the Treasury.
1894 War between Nicaragua and Hon
duras ended.
lgf)5 Postmaster General Bissell resign
ed and was succeeded by William L.
Wilson of West Virginia. ... Express
train on the Houston and Texas Cen
tral road held up and robbed near
Dallas.
1903 Aldrich currency bill defeated in
the Senate. .. .United States Senate
passed the Philippine currency bill.
1905 Five million dollar dock fire In
New Orleans.
1900 Iowa State Senate passed bill pro
hibiting Sunday Dase nan.
1908 Sew York State Senate refused to
remove Otto Kelsey, State Superin
tendent of Insurance. .. .The first of
the tunnels under the Hudson River
between New York and New Jersey
was opened. .. .United States Su
preme Court decided in the Great
Northern Railroad case that the El
kins rebate law was not repealed by
the Hepburn act.
Wireless for Balloons Nest.
The Aerial Navigation Company
which, under the direction of Charles J.
Glidden of Boston, is constructing sev
eral airships to be used in regular t raffia
between Boston and New York, is ar
ranging to install a system of wireless
telegraphy for this new air line. The ob
ject is to communicate with any aerial
craft carrying wireless apparatus that
may be flying anywhere east of the Mis
sissippi. Special sending and receiving
stations are now being constructed as
Boston.
IMISIiP