THE BEAUTY AND VIRTUE OF LAURA.
Say from wbat part of heaven 'twaa nature drew,
From what Idea that so perfect mold
To form such features, bidding us behold.
In charms below, what she above could db?
What fountain nymph, what dryad maid e’er threw
Upon this wind such tresses, of pure gold?
What heart such numerous virtues can unfold?
Although the chlefest all my fond hoi's« slew.
He for celestial charms may look In vain
Who has not seen my fair one's radiant eyes.
And felt their glances pleasingly beguile.
How Love can heal his wounds, then wound again.
He only knows how sweet her sighs.
How sweet her converse, and how sweet her smile.
—Petrarch.
Shadow o f an Inheritance
Old Martha came to wake me, say could do nothing but yield to his will.
He was too ill to be contradicted."
ing: "Your uncle Is dying'"
“ But you have Inherited his for
So I went downstairs and stood once
more In front of the half-open portiere, tune!" I continued wtih the same mel
where for two days I had been await ancholy Irony.
“ What of that?” she said, and her
ing the death of the man who had
reared me, and who had been such a ardent, solemn look never turned from
tender guardian to me. He had banish my face.
I exclaimed: “ What would you
ed me from his presence. He had given
strict orders that I should not be al think, in my place?”
"I would think Just as you do!”
lowed to enter the house. And all this
She drew a little pocketbook from
without any valid reason, without any
ofTense on my part; simply he had the folds of her dress and banded It
chosen to disinherit me In her favor! to me.
"Pardon the poor old man and de
In her favor! I could see her mov
ing about In the dying man’s bedroom, stroy this proof of his Insanity.”
I remained motionless. My hands
only a few steps from me. She was
reigning there like a queen. She was trembled. I dimly saw the wretched
devoting herself to the sick man! She ness of my mistake.
“ What do you mean?” I stammer at
obeyed every direction of the physl
clan, who was also In attendance. I last.
"The will Is there. I give It to you
did not lose one of her movements,
but watched her with hatred mingled as the only heir of your unhappy
with sorrow, humiliation and disgust. uncle.”
My heart failed me. I leaned against
She was beautiful and Impressive In
the dim light of the curtained room. the wall, speechless from shame and
Her face shone like a pale water Illy grief, not daring to look at the wom
among overshadowing leaves. But 1 an whom I had so cruelly accused.
After a moment my strength return
execrated her because of her grace,
since she was using it Infamously, Just ed and I exclaimed In a beseeching
as an assassin uses his knife or a voice. “ Forgive me, and take back this
thief his picklocks. And gloomy recol pocketbook! I would rather die than
lections rose In my mind, like dark accept the heritage under these con
ditions!”
clouds driven by the west wind.
"And I,” she cried. “ Do you sup
Again I saw her, as I had found her
on my return from Germany, installed pose that I want to touch It? Do you
with the old man. Again I heard my think that I want to soil myself by a
■uncle say to me. "This Is my old theft?”
“ I have misunderstood you!” I ex
friend Sevant’s daughter. The poor
fellow died a ruined man I hope that claimed. “ I have behaved like a brute!
you will let me give her a little mar I am a wretched Imbecile!”
“ What does It matter? We shall
riage portion. You will be, none the
probably never see each other again!"
less, a millionaire!”
She spoke gently, with a far-away
The refugee, with her haughty, taetl- look in her eyes; and a great dread
turn disposition, her mysterious ex
presslon like dark ponds In autumn.
Iter marvelous complexion gleaming
beneath the somber Are of her hair,
■was by no means afTable. She met me
■with proud reserve. But, In spite of
that, she went straight to my heart
Her step made me tremble; the deli
cate outline of her profile filled me
with pleasure. At the end of a month
I would have given heaven and earth
to call her mine. I dared to say so to
her. She refused me without a mo
ment’s hesitation
I remonstrated:
“ You might at least have treated me
more gently!”
“ That would have been less effect
ual." she replied.
There was a certain barbaric gran
deur In this frankness which I ad
mired, like the sentimental imblclle
of 22 that I was.
But now I knew what this girl with
the deep-set eyes had been concealing
I understood her silence, her cold re
ception, her Insulting refusal. She
was already confident of her success;
she knew that she was to rob me of
my fortune. And how she must be
laughing at the young idiot? At that
thought my anger nearly mastered me,
as I stood helplessly by the portiere.
I was on tne point of entering the
room.
But the doctor's warning
words rang In my memory: “ Do you filled by heart, mingled with adora
want to kill our patient? It is the tion and deep humility.
"This Is misery!" I faltered. “ What
work of a moment! A surprise, any
do I care for that money? To receive
sudden emotion—and he will die!”
Nature Itself seemed to favor the de It In this way Is the worst of tortures!
signing Interloper! Again I watched 1 don't want It! In receiving It from
her as she leaned over the bed, again you who have rejected me so cruelly,
I saw the haughtv beauty, and that from you who despise me with such
mysterious expression which had won humiliating gentleness, I should feel
my heart. I heard the old man moan that I was dishonored for life!”
"What do you say? Dishonored sim
like a child; then there was a deep
silence and the doctor said In a law ply because I restore to you what Is
your own? Because I refuse to take
tone: ’He Is dead!”
advantage of a sick man's delirium?”
1 went Into the room, could not
She had taken a step backward, and
speak, and It was she who broke the the swaying motion of her dress, the
alienee by saying: ” 1 want to speak
play of light upon her hair, and the
to you.”
tender grace of her mouth, overcome
Her eyes were full of tears, but her
me.
voice was steady. It seemed to me
"O heaven!" I exclaimed. "Why
that she was defying me. However, I
could you not have accepted my love?
yielded, and went with her into the
Why did you repulse me from your
adjoining room. After a moment's
life?"
silence she said: “ I want to excuse
"1 was a poor gjrl, received with
myself for not having sent for you
kindness aqd confidence. I should have
sooner. Your uncle absolutely refused
betrayed that trust if I had listened to
to see you, and, in his condition, I you."
had nothing to do but to obey him
"Would you have listened to me If
Besides .the doctor's orders were ex
you had been rich?"-.
plicit. Believe me, 1 regret it!”
8he lowered her eyelids. For a mo
"I believe It!” I exclaimed with an
ment she remained undecided. Then
Ironical laugh.
tjie long lashes were' raised again, and
She looked me full In the face, her '»he said: “ I think that I would!”
eyes flashing. She had ceased weep / My excitement
Increased, words
ing.
failed me. and 1 could only murmur:
"You will repent of that laugh!" sue "Why, then—you could, still----- ”
said proudly. "It Is base! As a cour
She motioned me to be silent: “ Let
teous man your first duty It to listen me consider!"
to me.”
We were silent. I held my breath,
I was Impressed by her attitude, and felt as If I were at the end of the
though 1 considered It only another world, and In a sacred place where a
stroke of duplicity. I answered, grave miracle was about to be performed.
ly: "So be It! 1 am listening to you."
"To-day," she said, “ I think that I
She continued, vehemently:
"I have the right to listen to you; my
know that you believe that I have been refusal or my acceptance would now
plotting against yon, and have alienat depend upon nothing but my Inclina
ed your uncle's heart from you!
I tion."
...
know that you believe me guilty of
1 went to her side, trembling as If
having robbed you of your Inherit with cold.
ance! You think me avaricious, In
"Then take my life or‘ refnse It!”
triguing. Infamous. And yet all this
"I do not refuse It?" she said gent
Is false!"
ly.
“ Then you are not the heiress?” I
Then, suddenly smiling, and wtth
asked, with a sad Irony.
her subtle feminine Irony, she added:
“ Yes, sir, I am the heiress! But 1 “And I never would have refused it—
have done nothing contrary to the If. For If you loved me very quickly,
most scrupulous delicacy. I begged I myself was not slow to love you!”
I had no consciousness save of a
your uncle to call you back as long as
I could do so without danger. I only wonderful sweetness. I took her hands
stopped my entreaties when the doctor and kissed them humbly She with
commanded me to do so. Your uncle drew from me, reminding me of the
was my benefactor. He saved me from presence of that solepm death, which.
poverty, and I could only act In a way Indeed. I had forgotten: We lowered
consistent with my gratitude. When our voices. But my heart could not
he became possessed of that strange dwell upon thoughts of the grave; for
Insanity of preferring me to vou I it was full of that ardent youth which
claims Its share of life and Joy even
In the midst of catastrophes.—Trans
lated for the San Francisco Argonaut
from the French.
WHAI IS SPEED LIMIT?
HYDROPHOBIA.
(Question Prompted by the Many
New Methods of Rapid Trans
portation
•
Som e
o f
(h e
T h is
M eans
C ard
H orrible
to
Com bat
D la ea se.
Every American should know some
thing about guarding against hydro
phobia. Remember that a cure for
this disease has yet to be discovered.
All that science does Is to mitigate Its
tortures.
Cauterizing or burning the bite of a
mad dog in hopes of destroying the
poisoned germ Is useful In a surface
wound: once the germ enters the blood
cauterization Is useless.
The Pasteur treatment prevents tbe
development of the disease If the bit
ten party takes the treatment at oneo;
otherwise the result is doubtful.
Once the disease develops the doctor
can only make its progress easier.
Death is inevitable.
It Is not necessary to be bitten by a
mad dog to have the disease. If any
person has a scratch on the skin and
comes In contact with the saliva of the
poisoned animal he or she can be In
fected the same as by a bite.
Recollect that hydrophobia can de
velop within three months after the
person is bitten; and there have been
cases where six months have elapsed
before the disease manifested Itself.
A dog may show no signs of mad
ness. yet the germ may be slowly work
ing in his blood. A bite from such an
animal will give the rabies even though
the symptoms of madness did not de
velop until some time after the attack.
At present the county and city in
several States pay for the Pasteur
treatment and poverty is no bar to pro
viding It.
It would be less expensive If the
State and county sent physicians to
our great cities to learn the Pasteur
method, and then set up sanitariums
nearer home for the afflicted. The dis
ease Is here to stay for some time.
Epidemics are becoming common and
the extirpation of rabies will be a slow
Job unless stringent means to counter
act It are put forward.
Chicago Is now erecting drinking
fountains for dogs in hopes that this
will reduce the large percentage of
madness among these quadrupeds.
England suffered
severely from
rabies, and to end the horrors of hy
drophobia set up such safeguards that
she is comparatively free from It. The
dogs were muzzled as soon as the
rabies made their appearance, and kept
so until all traces had disappeared.
HUMOROUS TAXIDERMIST.
E n jrll.h
M nneani
the story o f
W h e re in
In
C ork Itobln .
T o ld
Beneath the shadow of the ruined
castle of Bramber, England, there is
a novel and Interesting museum well
worthy the attention of all who find
themselves in that prettiest of South
Down villages.
According to the
Strand, the exhibits displayed there
in are principally examples of the art
of the taxidermist, but the subjects
are treated in such a humorous man
ner as to render the museum unique
in England. From a child's point of
view It is a veritable wonderland,
reminiscent of the strange sights seen
by Alice when she made her Journey
into that delectable country. It is not,
however, only the juvenile who is cap
tivated with the exhibition; the adult
is none the less amused and agree
ably surprised at the wonderful in
genuity there displayed.
The Idea of thus combining the art
of the taxidermist with that of the
humorist was generated In the brain
o f the veteran proprietor. Mr. W. Pot
ter. In 1861 Mr. Potter set to work
to construct his first set piece, illus
trating the “ Death and Burial of Cock
Robin." The work was done In Mr.
Potter's spare time, and was not com
pleted until seven years had elapsed.
The nursery rhyme is too well known
to repeat here. The whole of the in
cidents in the story are graphically
portrayed, and, as evidencing the pa
tience and perseverance exercised by
Mr. Potter, it may be stated that no
fewer than 100 specimens of British
birds are Included In the setting. In
addition to the birds which figure in
the story there are the cuckoo, night
ingale, goldfinch, hawkflnch, bramble-
finch, whyneck, etc. Considerable In
genuity is displayed in the arrange
ment of the "fish with his dish,” the
"By with his little eye." the owl, the
bull rendered in mlnature, the rook
and the mourning birds all a-sighlnr
and a-sobbing.
“ U n cle J o e ”
on
C o l le * *« * K t l u c n f l o n
"To a bright young man who has
anything in him, a college course is
not necessarily fatal to success. That
is my view of it.” says Speaker Can
non In a discussion in the Yale News
of the value of a college education.
He continues.
"The common school system—the
High School course—gives the aver
age individual at least fair equipment
for practical success in business or in
the various callings tnat men follow
who live by the sweat of their faces.
That is about all that the average man
will utilize.
"There la always a question as to
whether the average student will sdt-
vlve the spoiling effects of a college
course.
"But there are a great many stu
dents who accomplish something along
the specialties, as there are a great
many of them who accomplish some-'
thing practical In business and poli
tics. notwithstanding the burden of
bearing a Collegiate course.
"The human animal, bn the average.
Is not worth bis salt if he Is Incapa
ble of making his own way.”
V a rlrtr.
New Maid—Please, mum, there's a
man at the door come to collect on
something yer bought on the Install
ment plan.
Mistress—Ask him whether It's the
encyclopedia, the
phonograph, the
brass bed. the piano or the sewing ma
chine.—Harper's Bazar.
Some poetry Impresses us as the
work of a man so smart he Could go
ciazy and make It pay; not only couli^
but did.
It Is possible for a woman to get to
accustomed to her husband's explo
sions that the can always come down
In one piece
Opinions of Great Paper* on Important Subjects.
AIRSHIP
m
TWELVE MILLION TELEPHONES.
T IS reported that there are now In this
country 12,000,000 telephones, or one for
every two houses In tbe country. This
does not mean that one-half of the real-
deuces In the country contain an Instru
ment, since many business houses have a
large number, but the figures are Instruc
tive and Illuminating. Practically everybody who is
anybody in the cities or towns and villages has a tele
phone, while those In the country districts are legion.
The astonishing fact Is that each of these phones is
used on an average six times a day. The total number
of calls in a year runs up into tbe billions and Is not
appreciable by tbe human mind.
This Is the more remarkable when we consider that
forty years ago there was no such thing as a tele
phone. and even twenty years ago the Instrument was
not common outside of business houses. Now they have
become one of tbe necessities of life. We use the tele
phone not only In business, but for social purposes, for
shopping and marketing and for almost every purpose
where we used to use the mails or do without. If by
any catastrophe the telephones of the country should
be silenced forever It would amount to a calamity of
the first magnitude. We have adjusted our lives to the
telephone and could not do without It unless we made
new and undesirable arrangements.—Philadelphia In
quirer.
REGULATION OF THE AIR.
AWS have been passed by Germany, France
and Switzerland having to do with the
e -
trifle of the atr. The city of Paris has
fixed a duty for the entrance of aeroplanes
ln Keeping with tbe duties collected at the
gates upon automobiles and horse-drawn
vehicles. It wll! not be long before legis
lation governing flying will be general. There must be
laws regulating speed and the height to be flown. Lanes
of traffic will have to be mapped out If there are to be
many machines. Certain types may have to be kept
upon one level while other patterns Journey through
their individual planes. The policing of the atr is going
to be a tough nut for tbe lawmakers to crack. State
boundaries and the borders of nations are to become ex
ceedingly indefinable.
Tbe most interesting one of the difficulties so far
foreseen relates to the ownership of the air. Under the
common law a property holder owns all the ground be
neath him and all the air above. How is he going to
warn off the truspassers upon his atmosphere and how
Is he going to collect damages for trespass? Judge
James W. Gerard of the Supreme Court of New York
says a property owner can enforce an order against
flying over the land so far as the law gives him that
privilege, but, in case of suit, he will gain little recom
pense. "Such an owner," he says, “ could not collect
more than six cents, unless the aeroplane did damage
to the property. It would be simply a case of injury
without damages."
Automobile laws are a Jumble of State regulations
ru
t
and city ordinances. Add to them the aeroplane law*
soon to be enacted, and consider the muddle of legisla
tion for which tbe busy little gasoline euglnu must be
held responsible.—Toledo Blade.
RAISING THE ■ MAINE.”
HE loss of no vessel, naval or other, aver
made a greater sensation or was fraught
with graver consequences than tbe myste
rious destruction of tbe battleship Maine
in Havana harbor Feb. 15, 1898. This
tragedy, which involved the deaths of 266
American sailors, made inevitable tbe war
with Spain and the freedom of Cuba. Now, after a
doxen years. Congress has luiesed an act appropriating
money for the removal of the battered wreck.
This action is ln recognition of a persistent public
demand, based partly upon the sentimental considera
tion that the bodies of sixty-seven sailors were never
removed from the sunken hull, partly upon the prac
tical ground that the wreck is a menace to navigation,
and partly upon the feeling that the raising and exam
ination of the hull will clear up any uncertainty as to
the nature of the explosion which caused the wreck.
A naval board of Inquiry, after sitting twenty-three
days, found that tbe battleship was destroyed by an
external agency, presumably a mine under the bottom
and somewhat on the port side. This opinion was based
largely upon the reports of the divers, who found that
the bottom plates over a considerable area had been
bent Inward and upwnrd over thirty feet. The Spanish
government made an Inquiry of Its own, and maintained
that the explosion was from within.
The agitation for raising the Maine has been continu
ous since 1898, and there is general satisfaction at the
action of Congress. Cuba is especially pleased. It
probably would have undertaken the work Itself in be
half of the appearance and safety of Its principal har
bor had It not been deterred by lack of money and by
considerations of international etiquette.—Youth's Com
panion.
T
IS THE WORLD GOINO INSANE?
SANITARIUM specialist declares that 265
years hence the entire population of the
world will be Insane. Anyone who follows
the evidence of the medical experts tn a
murder case will be inclined to believe
bin), and to believe that the medical pro
fession will be the first to succumb to de
rangement. Fortunately, however, there are many per
fectly sane persons, and there is no fear of any such
terrible fate as this pessimistic physician prophesies.
Medical science is constantly advancing
Presently
tuberculosis will be driven from the face of the earth.
Bacteriology has already defeated numerous diseases that
were once deadly. Eventually disease, as we know It to-day,
will no longer exist. Preventive medicine Is revolu
tionizing civilization. There is no room for pessimism
in the medical profession, to whose splendid optimism
humanity looks for its greatest aid toward the ideal
life which the future must develop.—Chicago Journal.
Since renouncing socialism It Is said
that he no longer deserves his pseu
donym Gorky, which signifies “ the bit
ter,” as he has become optimistic and
cheerful.
ILninnili§i|g
The spring publishing season ln Lon
don is said to have been far from suc
cessful.
One commentator declares
that the real cause of this condition Is
Ihat so few of the books Issued are
of any permanent value.
There's
something in that.
Augusta Hulell Seamans new book.
"Jacqueline of the Carrier Pigeons,"
Is a story woven about the Historic
siege of Leyden in the days of Wil
liam the Silent, and its young aero.
Gysbert Cornelllsen. Is an actual boy
of whom history has given a brief
glimpse.
Signor d'Annunzlo has been staying
quietly In Pari3. studying the life of
the dressmakers employed ln (Tie great
fashion establishments for the pur
poses of his new book, "Amaranta.”
The heroine is a poor girl who leaves
her Italian home to seek employment
In Paris.
The third and last volume of Gen
eral Kuropatktn's memoirs has ap
peared in Russia, ln this he attacks
the Russian press for having, as he de
clares, contributed to the demoraliza
tion of the Russian troops during the
war with Japan, and he advises that
In future wars only events calculated
tn raise the morale of an army should
be allowed to be mentioned In tbe
newspapers.
That unconventional book, "The
Martyrdom of Man," by Winwood
Reade. nephew of the novelist Charles
Reade. has lately gone into an eigh
teenth edition. It was of its author
that his uncle once said that he was
"heir to considerable estate and gifted
with genius; but he did not live long
enough to inherit the one or to mature
the other." Winwood Reade wrote
many books of fiction and travel, but
only the volume mentioned above had
survived.
A new series of books to be called
the "Harvard Studies In Comparative
Literature" has just been founded by
Professor Schofield of Harvard, whfi Is
to be the general editor. It Is to com
prise works by Harvard graduates or
Instructors in the field of comparative
literature. Professor Santayana, the
philosopher, essayist snd poet, will
Start the series with a book on “Three
Philosophical Poets— Lucretius, Dante,
and Goethe.” The series is to be pub
lished by the university.
H. Addington Bruce ln “ Daniel
Boone and the Wilderness Road" has
written a book which serves the double
purpose of a biography of Boone and a
Rudy of the first phase of the territorial
growth of the United States. As blog
raphy, tne work presents a complete
account of Boone's life and an estimate
of his specific contribution to the prog
re-is of the nation. As history, the
p-ocess of expansion In its military,
political, economic and social aspects
Is considered.
Maxim Gorky has now married Mme.
Andrieva, who caused his last visit ¿to
America to end somewhat disastrously
Mme. Andrieva was a noted actress
before she married Gorky, and It .a
reported that Gorky has renounced so
cialism, has been expelled from that
party as a renegade and that he la
coming to America to star his wife ln
several of the plays he has written.
FROM ONE WIZARD TO ANOTHER.
H ow
T h iiiim . A. K illo in
P ou n d the
H l n r v o f S a m u e l P . II. H o r a e ,
In the middle “80's" Thomas A.
Edison took a house lu Gramercy
Park. New York City, where he found
himself very well situated for the leis
ure which he always enjoys, being by
nature a reposeful man and not the
grinding dynamo that people so often
fancy him. Few things suit better the
niood of Idleness than to poke aim
lessly around an old house that has
Its legible traces and signs of human
occupancy, and thus one day Edison
found himself ln the garret of the
house, where some old furniture had
been stored, a writer In the Metropolis
says. Opening one of the drawers, he
saw lying within a flat oblong book
labeled "Dally Journal."
To his
astonishment this proved to be noth
ing less than an original diary kept
by Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of
the universal system of telegraphy
which bears his name. The entries
belonged to a brief but most interest
ing period of his life, the year 1848,
supplemented by transcripts of Im
portant correspondence dated back as
far as 1843, when the electro-magnetic
telegraph system was being construct
ed between Washington and Balti
more.
Edison put the book away carefully
and took It with him when he estab
lished himself at his present country
borne In New Jersey. He has now
placed It ln the hands of the Ameri
can Institute of Electrical Engineers,
with the remark in his accompanying
letter of July 22, 1909: “ As this ap
pears to me to be a matter of great
scientific and public Interest, I feel
that this journal should be placed
where It may be accessible to others,
and I therefore take much pleasure
in forwarding the same herewith and
In presenting it to your Institute in
the hope that It may be deemed worthy
of receiving a place among the me
mentos of the telegraphic art In your
library."
That Edison himself, the great tel
egraph Inventor of our age. whostaitrls
next In line to Franklin and Morse
as master of the electrical forces,
should have chanced thus casually on
a lost relic of his predecessor Is, to
say the least, a notable coincidence.
AND
OCEAN
FLYER
May Cross Atlantic ln Thrss Days-
Monorall the Successor to the
esent Railroad.
Two questions seem to be the most
Important problems of the age. They
are "Where is the speed limit?” aud
“ How fast Is It possible to travel a
given distance?"
When the first automobiles reached
such perfection that a speed of twen
ty-five miles an hour was made with
out injury to machines or drivers the
public gasped, tbe Baltimore Sun sa>s.
Yet little by little this record has been
changed, until recently Barney Old
field dashed around a mile course In
27 seconds, the equivalent of 131
miles an hour. And this remarkable
rate of speed Barney coolly promises
to exceed tbe next time he enters a
contest.
Already It is possible to leave New
York on Monday morning and take
dinner on Friday in Liverpool. Naval
men experimenting with oil fuel pre
dict that within six months or a year
the trip will be reduced from five
days to three. Small craft burning oil
fuel h'ave plowed through the sea on
test runs at the rate of fifty miles an
hour. Aeroplanes are showing aston
ishing rates of speed. Beriot's tri
umph ln crossing the English Channel,
leaving far behind steamers which
left France at almost the same mo
ment, has shown the scientific world
what Is possible and his record may
be broken at any time. The blrd-like
flights of flying machines at recent ex
hibitions show clearly that these de
vices will one day rival the highest'
rate of speed motion attained by ve
hicles on the earth's surface. It may
be that they will exceed them.
Tremendous speed means the saving
of time, and this Is a time-saving era.
Time is money, and every second
saved means dollars to the hustling
business men of this generation. This
probably Is the real reason for tbe
eternal striving for faster methods of
transportation.
In England there Is in operation a
queer looking vehicle which, It Is
claimed by the Inventor, can be run
over a single rail with absolute safety
at the Incredible speed of 140 miles
an hour. Already the monorail sys
tem is talked of as the most likely
successor to our present railroad meth
ods, and plans to try out the English
inventor's time-saving train here in
America arc already under way. With
the monorail a success the trip front
New York to Philadelphia could be
accomplished ln about twenty minutes.
The Twentieth Century limited when
run from New York to Chicago In six
teen hours, would then be about ns
modern
as a Conestoga “ prairie
schooner” ln the heart of Broadway.
The one desire of the civilized
world scents. In this generation, to be
to “ get there first.” New Inventions,
be they ever so hazardous, are snap
ped up with avidity by excitement-
loving men who are ever willing to
hrnve death ln making the idea prac
ticable.
tlons" on four wheels, resembling
stage coach bodies as much as they
did anything else; but the train con
trived to get over the entire system
of six miles and back again at a fair
ly satisfactory speed.
The bride was delighted. She could
talk of nothing else. When she re
turned to Ramapo she gave her broth
er-in-law, Eleazer Lord, and her fath
er-in-law, Jeremiah Pierson, such glow
ing accounts of her railroad trip that
they were fired with enthusiasm. Tho
bridegroom had already become almost
as ardent an advocate of railroads as
his bride.
Young Mrs. Pierson gave It as her
opinion that If a steam railroad were
built It would be possible to go from
New York to Buffalo in 24 hours. At
first the men-folks were Inclined to
smile at this, but they were thorough
CAUSES OF SMOKE.
ly impressed with the value of the lo
comotive us described by this ardent
| ( ¡ a u p s D lN tllltM l f r o m
(h e Coni Not
advocate.
H um «*«! In t h e F u r n a c e .
Mrs. Pierson's girlish enthusiasm
The direct cause of smoke is the fact
was the determining factor which
crystallized the ideas of those men and that the gases distilled from the coal
are not completely burned In the fur
led them to take the steps which final
ly resulted ln the building of what is nace before coming In contact with the
now known as the Erie road, which, by surface of the shell of tubes, which
uniting the ocean with the Great chills them below the Ignition temper
Lakes, became the world’s first trunk ature. Now. says the Engineering
Magazine, these gases arc the volatile
line.
No railroad had a more romantic his hydrocarbons which all bituminous
tory than this one, which had Its Incep coals contain to a greater or less ex
tion in so romantic an incident. It re tent, and which are driven off when
quired 20 years of toil and anxletv, the coal Is heated. The percentage of
sacrifice and discouragement to get the this volatile matter varies all the way
line through, but It was accomplished from 3 per cent for the Eastern an
at last, and the bridegroom and bride thracite to as high as 50 per cent for
were again passengers on a trip which the Western lignites. The larger per
centage of volatile matter the greater
will live tn history.
This time the bride was a handsome the liability to smoke production, other
woman of middle age, but she was just things being equal, and the more diffi
cult Is smoke prevention. The behav
as proud of her husband as she was on
that first trip, for he was vice presi ior of these volatile gases during com
dent of the road, the longest continu bustion is complex. There are good
reasons for supposing that a hydrocar
ous line ln the world; and the trains
bon at a sufficiently high temperature
did move at a speed that would have
carried them from New York to Buf is decomposed Into its elements. The
falo In 24 hours, Just as she had carbon particles are seemingly averse
to combining with oxygen except tinder
prophesied two decades before.
favorable conditions. If the temper
ature is too low or the air supply In
D e n tln t
to th e
M u n tod on .
sufficient the carbon refuses to com
If one were to reason wholly from bine and appears later as soot or
appearances, the prehistoric mastodon smoke. We must have sufficient air at
must have had an accomplished dentist a high temperature. The question re
with modern appliances. This is the volves about the point of perfect com
conclusion one might reach after read bustion.
ing an Incident cited by John R. Spears
We have successfully solved these
tn “Gold Diggings of Cape Horn." The problems for oil. We started with
story was told to tbe author by a South 3tnoky torches, as the air could not gs»
American miner, who himself found at the body of tbe oil in the center
the curious deposit
ihe wick. We then used a flat wick—
This miner, searching for gold along that Is, we gave the oil more surface
the coast, found ln an earth bank a fos for the air to act on. We then used a
sil which proved to be a part of a mas hollow cylindrical wick, air acting on
todon's lower Jaw, with two teeth tn both sides. The final step was the
place.
center core or argand lamp, which first
The bone was In such a decayed con heated the air for the wick supply.
dition that the finder was about to But when we try to force the Tamp by
throw It away, when his eye fell on a turning up the wick and thereby In
crack In the top and side of one of the crease the oil consumption we get Into
teeth. The cavity thus formed was trouble immediately, producing smoke.
filled with a foreign suhstance, to We have exactly the same conditions
which the miner applied his knife, and to meet In the combustion of solid fuel.
found, to his astonishment, that It was In other words. If coal Is to be burned
pure gold.
with maximum economy and without
The explanation of the curious dis rmoke It must be supplied with the
covery is probably as follows: The correct amount of air at the proper
gold, contained ln broken-down quarts, temperature.
was washed Into the cavity by the ac
T h e O ld M a s te r .
tion of water, deposited there, and the
Mistress—Has anybody been to see
fine grains united to form a nugget
The old bone simply happened to be that old oil painting I bought?
lying In the track of the silt.
Mary—No, ma'am. Somebody called
The piece of gold thus formed weigh to see the old master, but I said he
was ou t—London Scrape.
ed about eight grams.
The first bride who ever made a
honeymoon trip on a railroad In Amer
ica did more by that act to expedite
the building of the world's first trunk
line, declares C. F. Carter, ln bis book.
"When Railroads were New," than the
ablest statesmen, engineers and finan
ciers of the Empire State had been
able to accomplish by their united ef
forts In half a dozen years.
The bride who achieved so much was
Mrs. Henry L. Pierson of Ramapo, N.
Y. Mr. and Mrs. Pierson were in
Charleston, S. C., early in January.
1831, on their wedding tour. When
Mrs. Pierson heard that a steam loco
motive was to make Its first trip with
a train-load of
passengers from
No girl Is entirely happy and satis
It la only when the baby Is particu
Charleston to Hamburg, six miles
away, she « s s eager to take the ride; fied with her lover If she continues to larly cross that a woman reminds her
say her prayers during her
and her husband agreed.
husband that he was once a baby him-
•alt
The two cars were craay “contrap- meg