White Ants That Delight in Eating Up Houses
THE termite, or white ant. stands
alone for destructlveness. By in
habitants of both the East and
West Indies, in fact of anywhere
between the tropics,- it Is considered
to be the greatest plague of those plarue
etricken regions.
Not long ago an English resident of the
East Indies returned after an absence of
some five months to his country bouse
near the seashore. On his arrival be found
everything in apparently first-class order.
Accidentally he struck, with no great
force, one of the door posts; a small piece
rave way. and a hole was made which
ihowed that the Inside was hollow.
Further investigation showed that, the
irhole house had been reduced to a mere
ibell. and that It must fall in the next
high wind. The Englishman realized that
the ruin of his house was the work of the
white ants, and knowing the thorough
ness with which they do their work he
instantly had the house closed and his
neighbors warned.
When the house was knocked down, as
It was some few days thereafter, it was
found that almost all the woodwork ex
cept a* thin external crust of the timbers
and boards had already been eaten away.
The furniture had not been unmolosted, al
though in every case the outward appear
ance of. the articles was as though they
had not been touched.; Y \
The termites perforate and . eat into
wooden buildings, utensils and -furniture,
and if their progress be . not stopped in
time they totally destroy them as far as
further use is concerned. Only metal and
glass can escape ; their ravages. .
Their favorite food is wood, and so large
a number can congregate at one particu
lar spot, and^ so excellent are their , tools,
that the destruction of ? a whole 'apart
ment, or at least the woodwork of ; it. is
of ten. but the work of a single night"
The remarkable I feature of! these depre
dations is that the Insects" never ; attack
the outside of the . objects -, which'. 'uiey
choose to destroy. ; >-"'
.1. In the "West Indies these insects' pierced
the foot 'of a large table, and'ihavlng. in
that manner ascended, carried ' their arch
right across it, and then down through .» !•.*•
middle of the opposite . foot .< In; the »same
manner, right . into -the; floor.;. Some
able papers which were on the" table 'at the
time were unmolested. - ¦ • '
An engineer one night left his trunk on
a table. The next morning he found thai
all ; his clothes I had been destroyed , by i the
termites ; : they must have descended : upon
the house after the trunk had been placed
on the Stable the ", night* before; the papers
had been. torn lntoBUch' small pieces that
not ; a bit • an ' inch . square could .be found.
Several .lead .pencils', which, were jin the
trunk ; had I the ¦¦ lead ; consumed; ¦ and some '
silver '{ coins ihadi'onj'themSa number* of,
blackspecks,; which' were . so .'•• corro&lve';
that ; they could' not be rubbed~off, v eve»
with sand. : .*• '«.¦'¦. J ; . •
.The nests of these insects are conical in
shape" and are generally ; called hills."' They,
are sometimes as high as twelve •; feet,'
which, 1 considering the size of their mak
ers, t is : extraordinary. . /
;..They:« are <^composed ;, of .¦. clay;, and>'al-!
though V hollow, are so : strong that .wild'
bulls 'of ten use them as places from rwhlch
to 'watch h for the : approach of possible
enemies.— North "American. ¦ . \.
Phonograph That May Be Heard for Ten Miles
¦'*jf9.. PHONOGRAPH that shouts so
TZj\ loudly that every word I can be
uj- •'•*.'. heard - at a distance' of ten ; miles
has been Rested at Brighton, says
the London Mail. ; You can whisper a sen
tence * into 'the - machine's v small, ¦ funnel
shaped; mouthpiece;, and' it will repeat It
In tones , that are more deafening than
the shrieks ; a' liner's steam siren. Yet
every .word.' is ; perfectly , articulated, . and
a : shorthand writer., ten miles" away :can
take down ; the' message as -easily as If
you/were dictating to him in a small room.
The . machine is , the ¦ invention , of " Horace
L. • Short 7 of • Brighton/; ' Iii appearance ' it
is' merely an ; ordinary • phonograph -with
a large ? trumpet measuring, four- feet m
Iength. -i . Inside 'this 'trumpet "there is a
small - and delicate piece of ¦" mechanism
that looks something like a whistle. This
is the tongue of the machine. Instead of
thei."records" being taken on war In the
usual manner, a sapphire needle is made
to the dots representing the sound
vibrations on a silver. cylinder, and when
the needle travels over the metal a sec
ond time 'the 'vibrations cause the whistle
to produce a series of air waves and the
machine" thus becomes a talking siren
which transforms - the human ,. voice Into
a deafening roar. . The experiments were
made • near ' the Devil's dyke, Brighton,
where the,. inventor has his ¦workshops.
The instrument ; was placed on the roof
of the laboratory, and was made to re
peat a number of sentences. At a dls-
tauce of ten miles the sounds were plain
ly heard by a large number of people,
every word being perfectly ' distinct, and
at a second trial with a favorable wind
It was found that an unknown message
could be taken down In shorthand at a
distance of twelve miles. Over the water
the sounds will carry still farther and
under favorable circumstances they might
easily be heard by persons on a vessel
fifteen miles out at sea. Placed on a
lighthouse or lightship, the phonograph ¦
would give a verbal warning that would
be Infinitely more effective than the' fog
horn and detonators at present In use. •
The actor who is out of a job always .
claims he Is resting. Probably h« 1»—
from the effects of a long wal v
WHERE woman's coiffure Is con
cerned the curl is still queen.
The height of its power seems
not yet to have been reached,
in spite of a season's reign. In
a \-ariety of new forms this little fas
cinator bids fair to hold sway over femi
nine fancy and the hearts of the opposite
MX.
Never did woman add more potently to
the charm of her evening dress than
when she borrowed from the ladies of the
court of Louis XVI this accompaniment
to the low cut gown. There are few types
of beauty which It will not adorn* with
advantage.
The curl seems to adapt itself to the in
dividual Jty of every owner. It is sweet
and girlish for the debutante, and, in an
other form, adds dignity to the -matron.
It is stately, coy, artistic or conventional,
as each case demands.
In any form the low coiffure , takes ten
years from a woman's age. This Is one
reason why she will cling to . it as long
as Dame Fashion will at all permit. Then
it is undoubtedly true that this form of
hairdress is far more becoming to the
majority of women than is the hair worn
high.
A leading artist in this line explains it
very simpiy: "In the low coiffure the
hair is drawn -back very much as nature
intended it should fall. It is reasonable
that this should be more, beautiful -on
most women than when the hair Is drawn
and caught in directions nature never in
tended'it should be. It Is difficult to im
prove upon nature.",'
But it is the talli stately woman who
benefits most from the low coiffure. She,
indeed, never entirely forswears fealty
to it. even when the high' artificial effects
are in vogue. 1 . The hair worn low, with an
evening gown, hides the defect of a neck
which , is rather too long as nothing else
can do. For the young girl whose^neck
is still a trifle too slender or undeveloped,
the hair; gathered in a knot, high oh the
head,"! and then falling, in a curl or two
to' the shoulder line; gives the necessary
roundness and full*; effect. Only "those
whose necks approach perfection" of form
can afford to despise the beauty giving
touch of the curl.;- ¦ . ' ¦»'.
For the woman who finds it necessary . to
add to > her apparent' Inches 'the proper
effect of ; height is obtained 'with i the ' low
coiffure by waving the hair high about the
forehead before drawing it back. It is the
endless variety of the front nairdress that
make's the low coiffure possible with any
type of face. .'; /». 1
Wave Is Imperative.-
A wave \ there always* is— that is essen
tial. And it should be a loose, natural
wave. Not hard or crimpy. \ Indeed, from
the face to the i coil is one immense wave
in! all the smartest coiffures. But the wave
may, flow back ¦ smoothly from the face,
or, equally correct, .may rise to; the pro
portions of a pompadour about the face.
The newest curl Is much shorter and
more slender than formerly. That known
as the "Janice Meriedith," a heavy bunch
of curls falling over the shoulder or far
down the back, is decidedly passe. In one
of the latest designs the i hair is waved
back all over the head, that' which falls
being divided into two long curls. , These
are now "caught -up loosely and entwined,
so as to produce the effect of a bow, with
large loops and small ends.
The loops are i then fastened . flat and
low down ; on the head ¦ with . large shell
combs, one comb holding each loop. The
short -ends form two little curls, which
hang daintily from beneath, barely reach
ing below the neck. When the hair Is too
Ions to make only the one bow, It la still
further entwined and pinned down over
the back of the head in the game ribboned
effect.
The appearance Is full and soft and flat.
In all the smartest -designs now the aim
Is to make the coll fit low and dose to
the back of the head, no matter to what
helgrhi It may be puffed on top. Nothing:
Is more important than that . a hard,
bunchy look shall.be avoided In the coif
fure which Is worn with a curL
THE BEAUTV OF A SILKEN LOCK TURNED LIKE A PERFECT RHYME
THE .SUNDAY CALI^ ;
5
MILADY'S WINSOME CURL. IN A VARIETY OF NEW FORMS IT AGAIN HOLDS SWAY