revolutions of Its wheel pushes the
front eud of the raft away from a dan
gerous bank, ami by backing water the
bead of the raft is dragged back into
the channel away from threatening
shoals.
The difficulties of
Ing an Invertebrate
narrow and tortuous channels will be
better appreciated when the actual size
D
ID you ever make the trip lir a
big steamer plying between St.
Louis and New Orleans? The
height of the season of 1897 has seen
the usual pilgrimage of tourists, mid
the belles mid beaux of many a river
town have crowded the decks and
staterooms of the soft-moving boats
that float out from some city wharf,
aud drop anchor only after many days.
1,250 miles away. At the very outset
it is Interesting to watch the rousta-
bouts, tumbling over each other In the
haste engendered by the hoarse volco
of the mate, loading merchandise
found for Southern ports, They are a
curious study—these roustabouts -with
their half clad, powerful figures, their
wing-song cry of "heave-lie lto-o!" their
Jog-trot Shamble, and the reckless
abandon with which their work Is done.
They have no cares. If they have any
ambition it is to get the big steamer
out of isirt. He lazily on the lower
decks, or play "craps,” or sit and watch
the white foam of the river as the boat
plunges forward on Its way.
When the last barrel, box and trunk
Is bestowed the big bell gives three
taps, the captain, from the hurricane
deck, shouts "Let her go, there!" the
gangplanks are pulled in, the prow of
the groat steamer swings out and with
a wide turn starts on Its delightful pil
grimage. The captain is the patriarch
and hero of the expedition. You can
hear Ills big voice nt all hours of the
night, sometimes over ymtr head, whew*
h<> stands sentinel to see that all goes
well; sometimes from the lower deck,
where his vigorous and .secular Anglo-
Saxon arouses the mate and Ids rousta
bouts to duties engendered by new con
ditions; and oftener on the promenade
deck, when* lie talks polities with the
men and relates the history of each
point of Interest, a history which he
Ims come to believe is faithful by rea
son of Its repetition. Nobody knows
I
grand and bewildering vistas of field
and flood and verdure-clad hills, in
which the beauties of the Hudson are
duplicated, reproduced ami excelled
with enough scenic luxuriance to cre
ate a score of Hudson Rivers, cannot
be expressed or Indicated upor. a news
paper page. It is altogether unique,
and most of the people hi this great,
bustling country will never be able to
enjoy the sensation In proper person.
The rafting Industry is exclusive. It
Is not carried on before a grand stand
or in the presence of n multitude. Its
secrets are all its own. ami one uf these
days the material exhausted, this in
dustry will disappear with all of its
traditions and romances, and with it
will vanish from view the river types,
tlie sturdy logger, the peculiarly north
ern roustabout or “rooster” as lie Is fa
miliarly known, and the rugg *d cap
tains who embody all the river lore and
are walking encyclopedias of every
thing that belongs to the history of this
great stream since the first Canadian
voyagers and hardy French woodsmen
penetrated these wilds.
One. of these rafting steamers Is a
sight to see. It keeps its bows against
the rear end of a mighty fabric oi logs,
hi a position to push it down stream. A
second steamer, smaller In size. Is fast
ened transversely across the front end
or bow of tlie raft, and Is pushed long.
TYPES ON A MISSISSIPPI RIVER EXCURSION
of the raft is understood. In length it Is
1,200 feet, aud thus equal to several
average city blocks, aud Its width is
almost 300 feet. More than half the
raft Is double decked, meaning that it
is composed of two layers of logs, and
it Is estimated that not less than 10.000
logs are Included within its booms, a
naval point of view these are vitally
Importnut facts. No sign of a ship un
der full steam will be shown in the
sky, for masut is a smokeless fuel,
Russia and Italy are using it in their
navies, and Germany has lately made
some valuable experiments. At Kiel, in the Revolutionary war. His young
Wilhelmshaven and Danzig are tanks mistress. Isabella, married Capt. Luke
Pryor, a lawyer of Athens, Ala., who
still lives at that place, and is between
80 and 90 years of age. Sam was given
to her upon the occasion of her mar
riage, and thus became a Pryor.
Elder Sam lives upon the Pryor place
and is a great favorite with the fam
ily. lie has been preaching the Gospel
over eighty-one years, and is a Baptist
missionary. When asked how he came
to lie a preacher, lie said that he re
ceived a call from the Lord eighty-one
years ago the second Sunday of last
May.
“But how did you know that you
were called?”
"When God converts a man he knows
It,” was the reply, "and when he calls
a man to preach tlie Gospel he knows
it.”
The old man continued: “God wants
religion dat de water can’t squeneb and
de fire can’t squench; jes like ef you
put down dat hat an' hit go through de
fire an’ come out jes’ like it is—ain’t
burnt up—dat’s a hat. Dat's de way
God wants a Christian to be.”
RAFTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI
er pushes the entire mass slowly and
majestically dowu stream it soon be
comes evident what the function of the
bow steamer Is. The tortuous course of
the river requires a constant shifting
THOHNS.
En tunuliiiK Vine» Which
Weary Wayfurers.
How the Talking lleail Upon the Table
Is Arranged.
quiet and unresisting, witli Its wheel
motionless, as a sort of cut water for
the unwieldy expanse of logs. But this
Is not Its mission, A telephone connec
tion is established between the two
steamers by means of wires stretched
across the raft, aud as the rear steam
boss has paid us all he could afford
Anyhow, he’s always treated us uj
though we were men. His wife am
daughter have been good friends »
our womenfolks, too. They’ve dom
the fair tiling by us, all around, un<
we won't go back on 'em.”
Here shines out that spirit of broth
erhood which. If permitted to have 11»
| way with men, will preserve the na
tlon. "At the heart of the whole so
elal problem," a wise writer baa said,
"is the quiet, homely personal servln
whereby one helps another. No legl*»
latlon. no shortening of hours not
lengthening of pay-rolls, no Improve
ment of houses nor lessening of rents
no establishment of the ‘co-ois-rativ»
commonwealth,’ will make much bet
ter a situation which sorely needs bev
terIng. without this tudividual effort.
When every privileged family Is rnhi
Istering in some direct way to « him
other family less privileged, then the
social millennium will begin to dawn.”
KLONDIKE
FAMILIAR TRICK EXPLAINED.
DANCE ON AN EXCURSION STEAMER.
when or where the captain sleeps. The
cheerful buzz of his voice reaches your
stateroom In the still night, and you
drop off to sleep wondering If the cap
tain ever does retire. When you wake
in the morning there Is the captain
again, freshly-shaven, clean, bright and
cheerful ns ever, with an appetite for
breakfast that only equals your own.
While the Nile has been rolling along
for ages In the same channel, the Mis
sissippi has been roaming all over Its
valley, twisting hither and thither,
building up blinks and then cutting
through them and suddenly abandon
ing the old channel for a new one. It Is
doing the same thing to-day. The vast
length of the Mississippi and Its tribu
taries, measuring 9,000 miles of naviga
ble waters and draining an area of 1,-
244,000 square miles, must account In
a large part for the great quantity of
matte? It cuts away, but even when
these facts are considered the estimate
must still appear enormous, h Is stat
ed by experts that the dirt carried
down by the Mississippi in a single
year amounts to a solid mass one mile
square and 183 feet deep. This sedi
ment fa being constantly deposited
along the shores and upon the liars and
Islands that abound In thia remarkable
at ream.
The atmosphere of laxy floating days,
on board a steamer, cramrad full of
unusual acenes, flashes of excitement.
"ELDER"SAM PRYOR
ly, great trouble In finding a fumacs
suitable for burning it.
It is now
Iles Been Preuchinu for 81 Years, Md
blown by steam Into a special furnace,
81 iowh No t-igns of Stopping.
on the principle of the Luelgen light,
Born lu the eighteenth century, sixty
and used without difficulty. It is 4U
years a slave, fifty years tlie husband
or 50 per cent, cheaper than coal, and
of a slave woman, thirty-four years the
Is 20 per cent, better as a heat raiser.
husband of a free woman who was
Steam can be got up quicker and kept
once a slave, unil eighty-one years a
at a higher pressure and more work
preacher of the Gospel. These are
be done by the machinery.
l-’rom a
some of the exjierieueea which one
man, aud only one man in the world,
has undergone. That man is "Elder”
Sam l’ryor. who lives In Limi-stone
County, Alabama, about twenty-five
miles from Huntsville.
Elder Sam, or “Uncle Sum.” as he Is
affectionately called by his "white
folks,” was born in Albemarle County,
Virginia, .Ian. 1, 1795. His first master
number sufficient to yield more than
2,000,000 feet of lumber. Scores of
freight trains would be required to
transport the members of this iuartleu-i
late leviathan, whose weight is almost
beyond computation.
Tile passenger on a Mississippi River
steamer Is expected to spend most of
the day in good weather on the prom
enade deck, with field or opera glass in
hand, viewing the delightful scenery.
About tile third day one begins to
take interest in the landings. You want
to know how long tlie boat will stop at
the next town, and whether you can
run up Into the city and “stretch your
legs.” You try It once or twice, only
to find that the Captain has hurried
your return by a vigorous pull on tlie
bell. This Is one of the Captain's little
jokes, lie doesn't mean It, anil as you
wipe the perspiration from your brow
he tells you how many points of Inter
est you might have seen If only yon
had not foolishly run back to the boat.
The old days of the passenger steam
er industry are a vivid memory with
every river veteran—the high gambling
days, those when every inch of steam
was put to the danger |>oint in a race
between two stately flowing palaces.
There Is still lingering reminiscence
here and there, suggestions of those
brilliant, exciting hours, when fife was
a reckless whirl for the deck hand, and
a thrilling experience for the passenger
on a typical steamer. The gamblers,
the grotesque dancers, the singing
roustabouts, are nearly all gone, but
the odd characters who have furnished
themes for many a captivating story
still haunt the landing places that one
passes in a trip down the Mississippi
River.
Im in grstion Figures.
from which It can be pumped into
ships. Its specifis gravity being so
much less than that of coal, a ship’s
buoyancy is greatly increased when
the bunkers are tilled with It. Heavier
armor or cargoes can be carried. The
heating capacity being greater, the ship
can travel faster or farther. It is yet
to be learned what improvements the
Germans have introduced into their
furnaces aud what are the disadvan
tages of masut.—Chicago Inter Ocean.
Perfumo from Giving Plants.
Capt. Smee has discovered a method
of gathering the scent of flowers as
the plant is growing. He takes a glass
funnel and heats the thin end over a
spirit lamp. He then draws out the
stem to a fine point. This accomplish
ed, the funnel Is tilled with ice and
placed on a retort stand, the pointed
end being placed in a small glass bot
tle, without touching it. After this,
the stand and the funnel are placed in
a greenhouse, among the flowers whose
odors it is desired to collect. Gradu
ally the vapor rises from the flowers,
and. in meeting the colder surface of
the funnel, condenses into drops ou the
outside of the glass. I-’rom the point of
condensation it trickles down until It
drops Into the bottle. In a surprisingly
short time a large amount of perfume
Is collected, and it is claimed that 90
per cent, of the contents of the bottle
Is perfume; the rest Is water. Strange
to say. this essence of the flower needs
to be adulterated with sprits of wine.
Otherwise it would become sour aud
useless.—American Cultivator.
It Has Cost Millions.
The most expensive book ever pub
lished In the world Is the official history
of the war of the rebellion, which is
now being Issued by the United States
Government at a cost up to date of
82,300,000. Of this amount nearly one-
half has been paid for printing and
binding, the remainder to lie accounted
for in salaries, rent, stationery and
miscellaneous expenses, including the
purchase of records from private Indi
viduals. In all probability it will take
three years to complete the work, and
an appropriation of $500.000 has been
asked, making a total cost of nearly
$” <00,000. The work will consist of 112
volumes.
The highest immigration record, ex
cluding the arrivals of aliens not so
classed. Is that of 1882. when the pro
digious number of 788,992 came, follow
ing the previous year's 009(431. till then
unprecedented.
In 1883 there was a
heavy falling off to 003,322, and the de
crease went on until 334.203 was reach
ed lu 188ti. Then the tide again turned,
and with some variations another cli
max was reached In 1892. when the fig
ores were 023.084, the third highest
mark, and not far behind that of 188t
But then began another ebb. with 502.-
917 In 1898, followed by 314.407. then
Ferguson—It says here that no for
279,41*8. then by 343.207, aud now this
year by an astonishing reduction to eigner is allowed to be forty-eight
230.832. as shown by a special bulletin hours on Turkish territory without a
pass. Nixon—It must be tough on the
of the Treasury Department.
railroads that have to issue them.—
Substitute for Coni.
Boston Transcript.
In the future we may be Importing
A man gets very little credit for
In the head of the raft to keep it from mnsut Instead of exporting coal. Masut what he does In this world, but he gets
going ashore or Into cross currents, and Is a by-product In the distillation of lots of blame for what he doesn’t.
! thia Is the duty of the assisting ateain- raw petroleum. It la also manufactur
A woman has to purse up her Ups In
er. Lyltig transversely across the river ed from a cheap, brown coal found In
and attached firmly to the raft, a few Saxony. There has been, until recent order to carry car fare in her mouth.
One of the most familiar optical
tricks is the talking head upon a ta
ble. Tlie Illustration almost explains
Itself. The apparatus consists of a
mirror fixed to the diagonally opposite
legs of the table. The mirror hides
the body of the girl and by reflection
makes a fourth table leg appear. It
SHE IS niDDEX BY THE MIRROR.
also reflects the eud of the fabric hang
ing down In front of the table and
makes it seem as if part of the cloth
were also hanging over the rear end of
the table. Then, too, the mirror re
flects the floor so that the spectator
seems to be looking right under the
table and thinks he can see tlie floor be
yond It. The girl's head is thrust
through a hole In the table. Curiously
enough, the effect is more perfect when
the spectator is quite near.
The Head Waitr sa.
The head waitress is beginning to ri
val the proverbial theological student
in the dining-rooms of New England
hotels. She occasionally appears in
New Jersey. In a noted hostelry in the
Berkshire bills the long dining-room
acknowledges the benignant sway of
the head waitress. Clothed entirely in
black, with only a line of white at
throat and wrists, her costume is dif
ferentiated from the uniform of her
troop of assistants. All the other wai
tresses are in white duck or pique, stif
fly starched (no flimsy organdies or
Victorian lawns being used).
Along the long wall of the dining
room is a row of well-separated high
stools. There is one by each table, and
on this the waitress is perched when
not attending to her table. It looks odd
at first to see them perched up high
when not on duty, but hotel guests are
not always punctual at coming to
meals, Hnd the arrangement is thor
oughly humane. The height of the
seat and Its position prevent what
would appear as a breach of etiquette
did the waitress take one of the table
chairs. The fashion Introduced Is a
sensible Innovation.—Philadelphia Rec
ord.
Fair Play.
That is a suggestive “strike story”
which comes from a Western State,
whose leading industry has of late been
seriously imperiled. One employer's
hands refused to ‘:go out” when others
did. “No," they said; “we believe the
Tortare
II. Juneau, of Dodge City, Kan., who.
with his brother, Joseph Juneau, found
ed th»- town of Juneau, Alaska, now
counted ns the leading citizen of th»
famous territory, has au interesting
story to tell of the dark side of life on
the Upper Yukon. Mr. Juneau spent
several years in Alaska, and helped
lay out the streets of the town which
now bears his name.
In speaking of his early experience
in Alaska, Mr. Juneau said;
“I helped lay out the town in 1.881,
and have been there several time«
since. We first named the place liar
risburg. but the people changed tbe
name after a year or two. I have found
the country full of disappointments,
and I don’t want to paint the picture
too bright. Enough has not been said
of the dark side.
“It is no place for men of weak ron-
stitution. The hardships to be enconn
tered require the strongest hearts and
sinews, as well.
"1 have seen nothing published of
the fact that a large portion of tbe
country Is covered with a moss and
vine which contains sharp thorns, like
porcupine quills, with saw edges.
These will penetrate leather boots, aud
when once in the flesh nothing but a
knife will remove them. These are
worse than the mosquito pest.
“Along the sea eoast Alaska ju’cscn't»
a grand and picturesque view for
miles in extent, from au ocean steami
er. it is a good idea to get acquainted
with Alaska and enjoy its scenery. It
is a grand country to visit, and its
scenery surpasses any mountain scen
ery in the world. Travel on water can
be provided for In comfort, and be en
joyed without great risk or danger.
"Alaska is a country on edge. It is
so mountainous. Basins are mainly
filled with ice. The weather is always
hard in great extremes. When then- Is
no Ice there is moss and devil’s club,
the latter a vine that winds about ev
erything it can clutch. Persons walk
lug become entwined In a network of
moss and devil’s citib, and passage is
extremely difficult and ’torturous,’ as
well as tortuous.”—Detroit Free ITess.
The King's Mistake.
Evidently the King of Siam is still
a good deal of a barbarian. If he had
profited as much by European Instruc
tion as we have been told, he never
would have given such an absurd ex
cuse ns he has for deferring his visit
to the United States. It would take,
be says, six months at least to get an
intelligent idea of America and Ameri
cans, and, as he has only a few weeks
more to spare from affairs of state, he
Is going to wait until he has more leis
ure! This will disgrace Chulalongkorn
all over Europe, and ruin his laboriott»-
ly acquired popularity. Any British.
French or German traveler would have
told him that from three to six weekM
here would enable a man of ordinary
Intelligence to know us inside and out
and set down the conclusion of th»
whole matter in a big book. Haven’t
they done it time and again, and aren’t
they men of ordinary, very ordinary,
intelligence?—New York Times.
Travels Like a Re I Horse.
People are still at work Inventing
queer devices. A Detroit man has in
vented and patented a mechanical
horse which be designed to lie propell
ed by a pedal chain arrangemenL This
extends back to the carriage, which the
horse draws after it, covering the
ground with a lifelike motion of th»
legs. The gait is said to be very nat
ural and true to life.
Of Course.
“And so Dr. Cutting, the eminent
appendicitis expert, is dead? Deart
dear! That’s a severe loss to our com
munity. What was the matter with
him?”
“He swallowed a peachstone, and It
got
stuck
somewhere.”—Cleveland
Plaindealer.
Told the Truth.
"See here. That horse you sold ms
runs away, kicks, bites, strikes and
tries to tear down tbe stable at nlgbL
You told me that if I got him once 1
wouldn’t part with him for >1,000.”
"WelL you won’t”—Detroit Free
ITess.
A woman who loves her busband
never attvmpts any explanation of why
she married him.