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The PLANTERS LOAN und SAVINGS BANK, AUGUSTA, GA., Organized 1S70. Oldest Stiyinc? Hunk In Eastern Georgia* Largest Savings Capital In Cltr. Pays Interest and Compounds every 0 months. VOL. LXIII. NO. 18. ! nwri P HFNRY'S THE A FTE O, lot us be glad that only tho earth Beneath us lies frozen and cold: That still the days find beautiful birth. Through orient gates of gold; That still above v* tho fathomless blue, O'ernrches the dazzling light; That still tho stars shine tender and true, Through tho infinite depths of night. THE Los W By WILLI. IHE colonel, the pro fessor and young Jack Hawley wer" seated around Ino table in a bay win dow of the club dining-room, over their after-dinner coffee. Thc dinner had been excellent and the old colonel, a3 tho guest of the evening, was fcel ing particularly genial, as he drew a haudful of chauge from ont bia trousers' pocket in order to reward the attentions of thc waiter. As he did so the quick eye of the professor took note of a silver piece considerably larger than a dollar. "That's a curious coin, colonel," he remarked, leauing forward over the table. ., "That's a Louis," said the colonel, picking it out from the other coins in his hand and passing it over to the professor. "I always imagined that a 'Louis' was a gold piece/' remarked young Jack Hawley. "They are generally gold," replied the colouel; "but evidently some sil ver Louis were coined, for here is one. " "I have never seen nor heard of one before," said the professor, looking with interest at the largp, clumsy coin, with the heavy countenance of Louis XVI., and nuder it the date 177G. "I suppose this must be both rare and valuable." "I prize it more highly because of the wonderful coincidence connected with it," replied the colonel. "Let's hear it,"said young Hawley. "Well," when I was a lad," began the colonel, leauiug back in his chair and lighting a cigar. ".Such a loug time ago that your grandfather, Jack, Was at school at the time and the pro fessor's father was probably wearing kilts." "Oh, hardly as long as that," inter rupted the professor, laughing, "I'm j over forty-six myself; you'll make make yourself eighty at that rate." ,M "JValL-tliafc would not be so far ou t of the way; I was seventy-four lasT month." And the old colonel stroked his white goatee complacently, for he did not look a day over sixty-live. "It "was when I was a j'outh of eighteen, working in a jeweler's shop in Boston, that this coin first came into my pos session. At that time, as you know, a great many Spanish, Mexican and French coins were in circulation in this country, and I took this one in my wages. The face of the unfortun ate French monarch rather took my fancy, and I kjpt it fora pocket piece. But before I go any further I want to ask whether either of you gentlemen see any marked peculiarity about this coin?" And the colonel. tossed it npon the table. The professor examined it closely, "I notice that it bears the date of American independence," he said. "Well, that's hardly a peculiarity There were doubtless others minted in the same year." "I don't see anything else." The colonel smiled. "Well, there is, and I'll let you endeavor to find it out while I tell you the history. "In the year 1815 I went to Mex ico. Silver mining was what I went there for, but I did about everything before I left the country, and ended by going iuto Taylor's army whenthe war broke out. "One dayl was seated in a gaming house at Saltillo. Oh, I was wild enough in those days, Jack Hawley, and hardly a week passed that Dave Cranston and Pedro Blanco (they were my two partners), and I did not come into town for a little gamo of 'brisca.' "Well, on this day-ever to be remembered by mc as the last time I sat down to a game of chanco where the stakes were money"-hero the colonel took a long pull at his cigar and expelled the smoke slowly-"I was having a particularly hard run of luck and lost so rapidly that In less than an hour after first sitting down I was cleaned out. I had not had nearly enough excitement for my money, and wanted badly to keep on playing. Searching all my pockets in the hope of finding a stray coin I drew out this Louis, which I had carried for over fonr years. The thought at once flashed through my mind that per haps on this piece my luck would change, and I might retrieve my shat tered fortunes. So I tossed it on the table and took another hand at the game." "And not only won back your los ings, but such a large sum in addition that yon wisely resolved- never to tempt, your luck again," interrupted yonng Hawley. "Inside of five minutes," said the colonel impressively, "I arose from that table, having lost this piece and everything of vallie that I possessed, down to tho silver mounting on my horse's bridle,, and I would have staked the horse himself had not Davo Cranston and Pedro dragged me away from the table, and putting me on the animal's back, rode off with me be tween them to our camp. I'm not go ing to read yon a lecture on the im morality of gambling, young Hawley, nor lengthen out this story with an ac count of my life in Mexico. Suffice it to say that I kept my resolution in re gard to gaming, and whatever fortune I have made was not amassed in Mex ican mines." "I suppose you got this piece back by purchasing it from the winner," remarked the professor, dropping it on the table and putting down his eru to listen to the ring. "To my great ohagrin he left Sal-11 :R TIME. O, let us be glad that only tbo snow Lies white as a winding sheet; That the heart ol the earth has warmth, and glow, And strongly her life-pulses beat; That soon shad her fires awaken and set Each nerve of naturo a-thrill, And brimming with beauty the earth shall forget That long she lay silent and chill. -Dart Fairthorne, in Vick's Magazine? 5T Louis. 1 \M SAGE. W tillo that same afternoon, and I never set eyes on him again." "Indeed! Then bow in the world did you regain possession of it?" "Forty years later," said ?the col onel slowly. . "Phew," whistled young Hawley, under his breath. "I was sojourning for a few days in a small town in Southern Spain. Passing through a narrow street one afternoon on my way back to thc hotel, I chanced to stop, as any one might, to look into the window of a dealer in curios, and the first object that caught my eye was this identical coin. Now, I know that this sounds incredible. I, myself, at first thought it was merely a coin of the same de nomination ana date, but imagine my surprise when, upon going in and ex amining it closeiy I discovered that it was the very same Louis that I had lost at play in Saltillo so many years ago. I gladly paid the shopkeeper six pesos for it, and I have carried it in my pocket ever since. ' Here the colonel stopped. "Is that all?" inquired young Hawley. "That is all, except that I will now proceed to show you-" "Will you permit me to take a look at the coin?" The speaker who inter rupted them had risen from a table in the adjoining alcove and now stood at the professor's elbow. Ho looked some years older thau the colonel, his hair was white and he leaned upon a heavy cane, one leg being decidedly lame. "I'm Major Tracer; 1 overheard part of your conversation as I sat at my table there, and I was so interested that I could not refrain from coming over and, at the risk of intruding, tak ing a part in it." "No intrusion at all, sir. One old soldier is always glad to make the acquaintance of another, and your name, major, is known to every veter an of tbe Mexican War. Permit me to introduce my friends, Professor Langton and Mr. Hawley." "The colonel has just been - faining us with a remar of the loss and subseque; Ttf?s" [?wvr of-'moiwyv" fessor, hauding the coi "Seventeen seventy ..? date," said the major h Then puttiug the coin . took np a fruit knife r < dull point exactly ove1 in the word Louis, from the edge, he gr pressure and the fae open as though ou n exclamation of surpuoi- A.. took it and inspected it closely. Some skilled workman had cut it open all around the milled edge and titted a spring iuside, just under the letter "0." So nicely had the work been done that when closed it was not ap parent to the naked eye. When opened, it was seen that a groove had been hollowed through the inside about au inch and a half long and one eighth of an inch wide. "By all the powers, how comes it that you knew thai secret?" cried the colonel, dumbfounded, as the major threw the fruit knife back on the table. Without ausweriug the question di rectly, the major took the other old soldier by the baud and, looking into bis eyes with a peculiar expression on his face, asked: "Were you tho mau w ho did that delicate piece of mechani cal work?" "I was." "Tell me what on earth induced you to do it?" "For the life of me I can't say. What induces people to make baskets out of cherry pits, lockets out of hair i : and the thousand and one little gim-1 j cracks that are always being made? I was a skillful workman, and in an idle boni I took up this coin, cut it open iud fitted it with a spring. There is just one way to open it. You must nave had the piece in your possession i ? it one time and stumbled upon the 11 secret. I put something in that cavity in the centre-did you take it out?" "I did." The major drew up a chair and Wretched his pfiff leg out under the lable comfortably. "In 1847," he jegan, looking fixedly at thc colonel, "I was also in Mexico." The colonel nodded and handed the major a cigar. "Thanks. I was with Scott at Vera Cruz." "And I,"'said the colonel, giving aim n light, "was with Taylor in the northern part of the country." "Having lived in Mexico for a lumber of years previous to the war," continued the major, lighting his jigar, "and speaking the language of the country, I was more valuable in the secret service than is the field, so I was," here he puffed on the cigar for a few seconds to get it well lighted "a scout." "I understand," and the colonel nodded again. "The American army took np quar ters at Jalapa, where I left them and made a detour towards the south, to liscover a suitable route by which our forces could approach the City of Mexico, and avoid the fortifications ?nd ambuscades which General Santa inna had provided for their reception. [ had been most successful, and had reached Molino de! Key, a small town dmost in the shadow of the walls of Mexico City, when I was captured by ;he Mexicans and thrown into tho jail :o await trial as a spy. Imagine my lespair. I had every inch of the ground from Jalapa carefully photo graphed in my brain. Could furnish ?icott with information of the greatest importance, and here I was jugged in :hat little, miserable Mexican jail witV avery prospect of being condemned t+ tenth, and uo possible way of getting any part of my valuable information to the ears of the general. "You will, of course, surmise tliat the first thing I luud done on being left alone in my cell was to examine every avenue of possible escape. My room was ten by twelve. There was in it a table, one chair and a pallet of straw. Ono small iron barred win dow, looking out on the prison yard beneat. arnished what light there M'as, lue bars were half au inch in diameter, aud firmly set in the masonry. Using all my strength I could not budge them. I was not, however, kept long in suspense. On the afternoon of the second day I was taken out, tried, found guilty, and condemned to be shot at sunrise on the day following-that is, within fif teen hours. "On my return to the hot, badly aired cell with the stunning effect of my sentence benumbing my brain, I sat listlessly down by the table and allowed my head to rest in the hollow of my hands. My attitude of dejec tion appealed to the sergeant Avho brought me in, for placing his bandon my shoulder ho asked if there was nothing he could do for me. I shook my head. 'There are some very nice grapes in the market place outside,' he said persuasively. The sound of the word 'grapes' recalled to my mind how parched the roof of my mouth was, so I thanked him, aud said I should enjoy a few. I handed him n hali eagle, which my captors had overlooked when they took everything else of value from mc. In less than five minutes he wns back with a basket of delicious-looking fruit, which he placed on the table at my elbow, and offered me the change. I motioned him to keep it, saying that he could spend it to better advantage than I. He pocketed it with au expression on his countenance intending to denote commiseration, but he was such a h<ppy, smiling-faced feliow that the effect was rather comical. As he Avas putting the change in his pocket one of the larger coins slipped through his fingers and striking the floor on its edge it circled about the room and ended by nestling on the straw at my feet. Actuated by a feeling of deli cacy the sergeant withdrew without stooping to pick it up, and hardly noticing the occurrence I remained seated at the table. After a short time I puiled myself together enough to eat some grapes, and then com menced to write n few lines to my friends at home in the hopes that through the kindness of my jailer, who had also furnished me with paper and ])encil,they wt nhl some day reach the h:mds for whom they were in tended. As I finished writing my eye caught the glitter of the coin at my feet. I picked it up and tossed it onto the table before me. On looking at it closer I noticed that it was a French coin, with the head of Louis XVI. stamped upon it. Tiiis sent me off most invisible to the naked eye. The j next moment I was standing on my ? stool at the window, e^crimeiitiiigon j the iron bar. The little instrument was made of thc hardest steel, and its j tiny teeth made some impassion on \ the iron. For half an hour I worked , away persistently, and by that time , I had cut into the bar a little. Not , much, to bc sure, but still enough to , raise my ho])es. It was ouly a ques- j tion of time and not being interrupted, i and I should be through that window. , I worked away like a beaver. Twelve j Lours to saw through two half-inch , bars. I had read of men who, with ; files made with watch-springs, had cut j their way to liberty through iron bolts ( and bars, or with no other tool than , tho blade of of a penknife had dug , through a dozen feet of stone and ?, mortar to the daylight beyond; bat f these men had taken weeks and \ months to complete their task, while j I had just one short * .inner night ] The heat was intfl"' , and what with j the exei*' ' ?he constant fear of interruption, the perspiration rolled ( in great drops from my brow. I had , been at work, as it seemed to me, , about two hours, and had cut \ tialf through tho first, bar, when I was startled by tho rattle of a key in the lock behind me. Like an antelope I was , away from the window, nnd by tho time the door swung open I was scated an my stool at the table with my face down and my hands elapsed about my bead. A soldier entered the cell with 1 a lantern which he held above my J bead. I did not move. He placed one hand on my back. I could feel 1 my heart throbbing like an engine, ( and I thought it must send a tremor through my whole body, which he could not help noticiug,but he merely ( commented upon the perspiration which drenched my shirt. I had i taken off my coat in order to work i more freely. Stretching out my arms 1 and yawning, as if I had just awakened, *< I looked up dully. It was not the t same fellow who had gotten me the 1 grapes. 'Have you come for me?' I J inquired, blinking at the lantern. i '"Oh, no; it is only two o'clock.' ( "'Two o'clock!'I cried inwardly, I 'In two hours it will be day, and I I bave not cut through one bar yet.* " 'I thought I beard a rat gnawing i in here and I came in to drive it away, j Thc place is full of them, and they 1 steal the prisoners' bread if they arc r Foolish enough to go to sleep leaving 1 any food uneaten.' "Then he stepped to the window. I ( jlntched the edge of the table tightly and turned slowly on my stool. He ? took hold of one of thc bars-and the \ one I had been sawing-and looked t yat. I do not know to this day , whether he discovered my work; but ( [ 'could afford to tako no risk, so stepping up behind him I drew him , aver backward onto the table. He \ lid not cry* out, for my fingers on , bis throat prevented. He was , as a baby in my hands, and in fi moment T had him bound, ? [fagged and lying on my straw. Talc- ] ing a pistol from his belt I marie a i sign to him that if ho movod or made ^ the slightest attempt to give tho alarm f it would be bis last act. In all roy excitement at the entrance of th:? sol dier, I had found time to replace the file in the coin and put the wiolo thing into my pocket. I now had rea son to curse this carelessness, for A did not know how to open the pieco again. I knew I had stumbled on i; by pressing a spring near the edge, but just where I could not tell. Tak ing up my pencil I went carefully about the rim. I must have missed it the first and second times round, but the third time on striking, as I then noted, exactly over the letter '0,' the Louis flew open again. Ten precious minutes had been lost, and I set to work with desperate energy. The further I cut into tba bar the slower thc work went, and I also had to couduct my operations with one eye on the Mexican, He did not move, but lay there watching me out of his large, dark eyes, wonderingly. Nearly two hours pnssed thus when the faint twittering of a bird warned me of approaching day. I had not finished the first bar. I seemed to be making no progress at all now. Once tho little file had slipped from my fingers and fallen to the floor, where I had been obliged to grope for it, and the constant fear lest it should slip again and fall outside made me doubly cautious and slow. As the first streaks of red tinged the eastern sky the roll of the drum in the guardroom beneath told me that the sentries were about to be changed. Exerting all my strength I wrenched the bar free at the bottom and bent it inward and upward like a hook. The aperture thus made was small, but still ? might squeeze through. The remembrance how, as a boy, I used to crawl into our barn at home through a small window from which a pane of glass hud been knocked, came to my mind encouragingly. Snatching up the pistol I pushed the table under the window, aud, jumping upon it, began, feet first, to work myself through the hole. I was about the same size all the wayup in those days"-here the major looked rather regretfully at ^tbe pres ent generous proportions of his waist coat-"but when I had gotten half way through I stuck fast. Just at this moment I heard voices at the door and a key grate in the lock. They had some difficulty in unlocking it, for I had left the key in the lock on my side. Meanwhile I struggled valiantl}', but the more I wriggled the tighter I seemed to get wedged in the window, aud the blood surged up into my head with splitting violence. There I was, caught in my own trap, waving , my legs about and striking them against the wall on the outside. "The key on my side of the door fell to the floor, and the key on the other side turned in the lock. I called out as menacingly as my lack of breath would permit: 'The first who enters will be shot dead.' Hero ? , gave a tremendous squirm. 'I have --. . ~-AU ??ha Iiis last shot, for as his ball struck the mortal- from the Avail near me I raised my pistol aud picked him off his perch. [ let go my hold. There was a soft burr of ripping flanuel, and I fell lo the ground. I was upon my feet and aver the wall like a cat. As I leaped i volley of shot followed me, and the ?soldiers poured out of the jail in pur suit. There were some horses tied in front of the j)ostoffice opposite, and creaking the tether of one of them I ivas on his back and away np the street in a flash. It was only an eighth of a ailie long. You know how these little Mexican towns are built. Pandemon um reigned there for about ten sec onds, and then I was off towards the iiountains. A dozen men were after ne in full chase, but ,'they never camp ivithin shooting distance again. You tee, I knew the country even better ,han they, having been scouting in it 'or weeks. I made my way back to our ines with all possible dispatch, avoid ng any en* unter with the natives. "When I 2 .'ally reached the Amori :on army I found i!iat Scott had given ip all idea of seeing me again, aud was preparing to press forward to the at :ack. "On the 18th of August our forces vere shelling the City of Mexico from ;he very town of Molino del Rey, and m the 19th we took the city itself by issault. "I wanted to have a hand at whip ing Santa Anna, so took part in the marge and received a wound in the eg which resulted in this." The najor stuck out his left leg from tin ier the table. "Cork, sir! "That, gentlemen, is how I come to enow how to open this remarkable :oin." Theu drawing a fat wallet from his nside vest pocket he fished out from ts recesses something folded in what iad once been white paper, now dark ivith age. Unwrapping it he disclosed i tiny file, with delicate saw-teeth. Fitting the file into the cavity in the ?oin he handed it to the colonel, say ng, as he did so: "Allow me to re dore to you all your property." But ;he latter refused it. "No, major, I bink it should beloug to you." "Well, I should like to keep it is a memento, but in turn fou must permit me to celebrate my irai meeting with the man to whom I :m so deeply indebted, by ordering a jottlo of champagne." "With all my heart,'1 said the genial colonel. "And now," continued the major, ifter the arrival of the wine, as he illed the 'glasses around, "I want to isk you agaiu: What induced you to >ut a file, of all things, into the centre >f that coin after cutting it open?" "And I can only say," replied the colonel, "that it was because that lit :le file happened to be lying on my vork table near at hand. It was the nerest chance." "It was a lucky chance for me," (aid the major, devoutly, as he raised lin glass, "otherwise I should not mvo had th?3 pleasure of drinking your ^ery good health to-day,"-Short Stories, HAVANA .*. Al ITS A City of Pleasure Lovers With Half a Million De? and Gamble in th No city in the world ia just now so much in the American eye as Havana, in whose harbor our noble battle ship was blown up, says tho New York Herald. Here is a vivid picture of life in .the Cuban capital as it is to day: "This sport is purely Spanish. Wo Cubans do not enjoy it, and who knows that before long it may be pro hibited by au act of Lioness?" The speaker was a handsome man, with a strong, thoughtful face, as he looked THE PRADO--PRIN*CIP; down into the ?bull ring in Havana several Sundays ago. Mazzintini, Spain's great toreador, had . just brought a magnificent Mexican bull to his knees by a -quick, daring thrust. The thousands of spectators who lined the ainpitheatre, tier upon tier, were applauding frantically. Hats were being shied into thc ring with reck less generosity, only to be disdainfully thrown back to the seats and scram bled for by the owners. "It was not such a crowd as one sees in Madrid or Seville. As the speaker I'have just quoted remarked, bull fighting; or bull butchering, is not a Ciaban sport; it is essentially Spanish. Cubans love baseball. They do not play it now, because, silly ns it may seem, Weyler forbade the game. This only makes them love it all the more. All through the cager, excited crowd on that Sunday afternoon sat sad eyed boys in the uniform of Spain, with A TVPICAL BPAXISH SOLDTEK. half a dozen officers high in command. It had been rumored in Havana that there was to be another popular out cry against autonomy, and the sad eyed boy soldiers were there with their Mauser rifles to see to it that the dignity of the latest Spanish experi ment for holding the island was not insulted. The last bull is butchered and the crowd files peacefully ont of the ring and starts on a trot for the ferryboat that runs across the bay. There was no outcry, and Havana's narrow streets swallowed up its bull fighting population only to disgorge it on tho promenades of the Central Park when tho lights are lit and the military band plays inspiring martial airs. Around and around the park the crowds stroll, smoking strong cigarettes or occasion ally breaking rauks to eat ice cream at one of the numerous cafes. All Havana eats ice cream. They make it of the most unheard of fruits RECONCENTRADOS ENOA and eat it with delicate little sugar wafers. The stroll is over by eleven, and then the city is wrapped in its nervous, fitful sleep. It is truly astonishing how accus tomed one beoom#3 even to tho ?most 3 PEOPLE, 1( Who Attend Bull Fights ?g ad or Missing and Dance e Face of Death. tragic affairs of life. Ju Cuba people are (lying by hundreds. The Arch bishop of Havana has said that his parisli registers show over 500, OOO mis sing since thc war began. Almost every woman in the street wears deep mourn ing; plantations are burned and de vastated; the tramp of armed men and the rattle of gun carriages awaken all from morning slumbers; food is scarce and becoming scarcer; the bare neces sities of life are d ear and becoming dearer; yet tho music and the dance LL STREET IN HAVANA. go on. There is money to gamble at the clubs and pennies for the poor to risk in lottery schemes. Spain has spent ?50,000.000 to put down the re bellion; yet the National pastime-the bull fight-goes on every Sunday as if there were no hungry, fiercely de termined men in tho hills. In fact, people are tired talking war; in society they talk of something else unless nome novel incident occurs. Widows and mothers seem to have drained their dregs of sorrow and go about sad eyed, but composed, as if their grief were too deep for tears. What is left of Cuban society wraps itself in exclusiveness and awaits its time. Tho wealthy land owners at the beginning of the war sought refuge in Europe or the United States. Most of them had no thought of reduced in comes. Then caine burned fields and impoverished tenants; edicts of the government forbiddiner tho f*v<w?i?otw | _years ago, and the American, Spaniard, Englishman and German be came their mcsters. Several scions of the old regime were compariug notes on oki times one evening in my bear ing. "Why," said one, "we sometimes came into Havana with big wagons and drove out to the plantations a whole baud of music. We would then invite hundreds of our kinsmen and friends, and keep up a jollification for two, three, and sometimes four weeks. " The best troops in the Spanish ser vice do not belong to the line, but to that admirable corps of military police known ns the Orden Publico. This is a corps d'elite, composed of young soldiers, Spaniards to a man, all of whom havo been selected from the regular army on account of their su perior intelligence and physical quali ties. They perform regular police patrol duty aud do it with a degree of dig nity and courtesy that might well serve ns a model for deportment for the Greater New York police force. Their uniform is distinctively military, consisting of a dark blue tunic faced with red, wide blue trousers with red stripes, aud a jaunty cap, something after the fashion of the French fatigue cap, until recently worn in our army. Ordinarily they are armed with a huge revolver, worn on the left side iu a buff leather sheath, and a short, straight sword. They are all admir ably set up, and their arms, equip ments and uniforms are the very pink of perfection, in striking contrast to the slovenliness and dilapidation of weapons and clothing that characterize the Spanish soldier of the line. All tourists who have had occasion to come into contact with an Order Publico will cheerfully testify to his unfailing courtesy. It was this corps which, equipped as infantry with Rem ington rifles, distinguished itself by tho masterly manner in which it handled the mobs during the riots, MPED NE Alt THE TUNTA. without once having occasion to fire a shot. Although the evidences of war to be seen in Havana are scanty enough; it is amazing how frequently the insur gents manage to run the guard of the outposts and make forays into tue suburbs. Hardly a week passes that a squadron of a dozen or so reckless horsemen does not make a night raid SPECTATORS AT A BULL FIGHT. on the li' . town of Casa Blanca, across the uay, and a scant quarter of a mile from the Palace itself. These raids are made half in bravado and half for the purpose of looting the few stores in the place to procure supplies of liquors and provisions, and as a finale, before retreating across the hills to the westward, the raiders gen erally discharge a few random shots at the city across thc bay. THE MEDAL OF HONOR. Greatest Trlze Which tho United StatcB l'.Mtows Ui?on Its Soldiers. Tba American Medal of Honor, it self of no intrinsic value and bestow ing no rank or privilege, lias been the sole reward of many of the most thrilling deeds in American history. The deeds which this medal recognizes are not familiar to the public, but it is more difficult to win than tho Vic toria Cross of England, the Iron Cross of Germany or the Cross of St. George of Russia, though it is hardly so famous as these even in our country. The American Medal of Honor, as all the world know, or should know, is presented by the War Department, and will continue to be, upon all who "distinguish themselves in actiou.'.' The order was founded by Washing ton, so that the country has never been without this power bestowing a mark of distinction on its heroes. The simplicity of American institu tions has been responsible perhaps for the fact that this order is not more famous than it is. Unlike tho cere monies in European countries, there is no parade of troops in presenting it and no official ceremony of any kind. It is sent to the hero through the mails, and the name of thc mau who UNITED STATES MEDAL OF nONOR, wears it does not appear in the Annual Kegister or the almanac. The original order was founded by Washington in the year 1782. At first merely badges were used, which usually consisted of a narrow piece of white cloth worn on the left arm. The order at that time carried with it the privilege that the wearer should be permitted to pass all guards and sen tinels as the officers were permitted to do. And Washington added to this order this characteristic sentence: "Tho road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus opened to all." In the year lSG2the order empower ed to confer the American Medal of Honor was created and was amended in 1863. In this year tho sum of S20,000 was appropriated, and the interest of this has ever since been used for this purpose. The American Medal of Honor has up to the present time been conferred upon about 500 heroes, many of whom are still living. Hough on the Florist. Orchids must bloom as they are ad vertised to, the English Court of Ap peals has decided. A man who bought a bulb for $100, which he was told would produce a white ilower, and after cultivating it for two years ob tained a purple blossom, has recovered ?250 costs from the vender. A KocI<ln?; Stono Weighing 270 Ton?. About a league distant from the town of Tandil, India, stands a bal ancing rock. It weighs 270 tons and THIS HOCKING STONE WEIGHS 270 TONS. is so nicely posed that it may be made to "crack a walnut, aud so firm thut when an ambitious man once yoked a thousand horses to it he was unable to displace it, Ain't no use o' frettln' 'Bout the weather, friends; Got to take whatever The kind Crentor sends. What it clouds do gether. And the cold winds blow? Can't have jlst fair weather All the time, you know. But there's ono thing certain,' If your stomach's rlghr. You can make the darkest Day seem nice 'n' bright. Git up in the mornln', Rustle 'round a blt; Show 'em there's some ginger In your system yit. Sing 'n' dance 'n' whistle, Startle all creation Anything to git your Bio d in circulation Hake somebody happy Lordy, that's the way Any ono can brighten Up the darkest day! --Cleveland Leader. HUMOR OF THE DAY. "Your friend?" "No; merely an acquaintance from whom I borrow money. "-Judge. "Who is that military-looking chap?" "That, sir, is the hero of a rumored war."-Puck. "Did you get your bike on the in stallment plan?" "Yes, I pay the doctor ten dollars a moiith."-Puck. Jones-"Why, Bridget, this is a very small ogg!" Bridget-"Sure, sir, it was just laid this morning." Detroit Free Press. Women don't need to be told that tlie prick bf conscience is about as ])roductive of pin-money as anything you can mention.-Puck. The ohief aim of some women's lives seems to be to get things slicked np one day before it is time . to slick 'em up for the next.-Puck. . Van Braam-"Jaysmith says he is an expert in toxicology." Shingles j "He must mean intoxicology.-Pitts burg Commercial Telegraph. "You think you are a pretty smooth article," said the salt. "I have been told," replied the lard, "that I am quite refined."-Cincinnati Enquirer. Miss Trill-"I love to hear the birds sing." Jack Downright (warmly) ' 'So do I. They never attempt a piece beyond their ability."-London Tit Bits. "There are things in this world more valuable than money, my son." "I know it. That's the reason I want money to buy them with."-Detroit Free Press. Druggist-"See here! Why didn't you tell that customer that we had : something just as good?" New Clerk i -"Because he was after some postage J stamps."-Puck. Stranger (in Texas)-"How long do you fellows work at a stretch?" Cow boy-"Well, it depends ?.good deal on how easy a feller dies. Dey're varinh'*? "-Tndge. . .. :>.. ' . ? toi o? i ?gui ?tf"r??.-? ' , ??swuu. -j.-? L. L'.I i/UIUlllll. I . "So that burglar carried off all yoi r j silver?" "Yes; but what upset us the j most was that he drank up all our cream and we had none for our coffee at breakfast."-Detroit Free Press. Blobbs-"That fellow to whom I nodded -will probably cut me the next time he sees me." Slobbs-"Why?" Blobbs-"He's my barber; and he's very careless. "-Philadelphia Record. Mrs. Hoyle-"What was all that noise at your house this morning?" Mrs. Doyle-"The servant broke some of the china and then my husband broke] one of the commandments." Standard. ' 'I have a doctor's certificate here that I cannot sing to-night," said the prima donna. "What?" roared the manager; "I'll give you Ja certificate that you never could sing. "-Detroit i Free. Press. Her Mamma--''She says when she ! undertook to reprove you your re ! marks were, to say the least, out of ?place."- Her Husband - "Why, I j couldn't get a word in edgewise." I Detroit Journal. Prisoner-"It's hard to charge'me j with forgery, for you see I can't even sign my own name." Judge-"Thai; point is immaterial; it's another man's name you're accused of signing." London Tit-Bits. Mrs. Stuckup-"Is this Mr. Slim purse you have engaged yourself to a man of means?" Sensible Daughter -"Yes, mother. He means all he says, and that's the sort of a husband I want."-Standard. "No, no," said the Circassian beauty; "I can never marry the tat tooed mau." "My!" replied the fat lady ; ' T should call him a good catch. " "Not so," continued the beauty. "He has an elephant on his hands."-Phila delphia Bulletin. "Now, Thomas," said a certain bishop, after taking his servant to task one morning, "who is it that sees all we do and hears all we say and knows all we think, and who regards oven me .u my bishop's robes as but a vile tvorni of the dust?" And Thomas re plied, "The missus, sir."-London Tit-Bits. Foggier Than London. Esquimalt is the only place in the British empire, according to a recent climatological report, that exceeds London in cloudiness. Esquimalt is also the dampest place in the empire, while Adelaide, in Australia, is the dryest. Ceylon is the hottest, and Northwest Canada the coldest pos session that the flag of England floats over. Projectiles used by the United States army for its great modern guns costas follows: So?id shot, 8-inch, $(59.80 each; 10-inch, SH4.59 each; 12-inch, $212 each; 12-inoh mortar shells, weighing 800 pounds, ?114 each, and 12-inch mortar shells, weighing 1000 ounds, .$105 each. The loftiest active volcauo is Coto >axi. It ia 18.S80 feet high, and its asi great eruption waa ia 1855,