The Forrest City times. [volume], February 03, 1899, Image 1

About The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919

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VOL. XXVIII._FORREST CITY. ARK., FRIDAY AFTERNOON. FEBRUARY 3.1899. NO. 19.
THE OLD HYMNS.
There's lots o’ mustc tn ’em—the hymns
of long ago,
Ac’ when some gray-haired brother sings
the ones I use to know
j gorter want to take a hand!—I think o’
days gone by—
“On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and
cast a wistful eye!”
There’s lots o’ music In ’em—those dear,
sweet hymns of old—
With visions bright of lands of light, and
shining streets of gold;
And I hear ’em ringing—singing, where
Mem’ry, dreaming, stands.
"From Greenland's Icy mountains to In
dia's coral strands."
They seem to sing forever of holler, sweet
er days.
When the lilies of the love of God bioomed
white in all the ways;
And I want to hear their music from the
old-time meelin's rise
Till “I can read my title clear to mansions
in the skies.”
We never needed slngln’ books in them old
days—we knew
The words—the tunes of every one the dear
old hymn-book through!
We didn’t have no trumpets then—no or
gans built for show;
W’e only sang to praise the Lord “from
whom all blessings flow.”
An’ so, I love the old hymns, and when my
time shall come—
Before the light has left me, and my ting
ing lips are dumb,
If I can only hear ’em then. I’ll paes with
out a sigh
•To Canaan's fair and happy land, where
my possessions lie!”
—Frank L. Stanton, in Atlanta Constitu
tion. _
; The Rescue of Jock i
> —*— 1
', By John H. Whitson T
THAT he should meet with an adven
ture so out of the ordinary, Sid Hol
ley could not have believed when he
itepped the mast in his little boat and
stood away for the fishing gTound off
Saugus Inlet.
There was still some sea running, as
the result of the recent gale; but Sid
was used to the ocean and its ways.
Born in his present home, on one of the
small islands of the upper New England
coast, the "wash” of the waves had been
in bis ears since his earliest recollec
tion.
"Must have been a fire in the woods at
Cataract Point,” was his thought, as he
took the tiller and drew in the sheet of
the sail for the long tack that was to
take him beyond the headland. "Prob
sbly a tree burning.”
There had been a red light in the
southern sky at daybreak, and now he
could dimly discern a filmy trace of
smoke. There were no houses on Cata
ract Point, or in that direction. It was
a lonely spot, visited only in summer by
camping and fishing parties.
Sid Holly did not think of a burning
ship; but when he had beat well out
through the choppy waves that were
running off the headland, he saw a big,
square-rigged vessel, rolling heavily,
with smoke rising in a thin cloud from
a point forward.
Sid immediately altered his course
and stood away for the unfortunate
ship. Aa he passed under her stern, he
read the name “Java, Boston, Mass.”
She was down almost to the main
chains, and threatened to go to the bot
tom at any moment. Sid kept well off,
not caring to be near the whirlpool that
would be produced if she should go
down with a sudden lurch.
While studying the smoke, a queer
chattering noise caused him to glance
aloft, and he saw a small hairy body
crouched on the mizzen cross-trees. It
"as a monkey, looking down at bun
with what seemed to be an appealing
expression.
The monkey’s pitiful condition
touched Sid’s heart.
“Poor little fellow!” he muttered.
“They forgot you, did they, when they
abandoned the 6hip?”
Then he called to it:
“Come, Jock! C-ome, Jock! Come
down,Jock!”
The monkey moved uneasily, glanced
toward the forward deck as if it saw or
heard something there of which it was
afraid, and refused to descend.
Sid shifted the tiller, to pass back
under the stern, and threw over the
boom as the boat came around.
“Come, Jock!” he urged, as he again
drew near.
The moneky uttered nervous chatters
and moved restlessly on its perch, but
would uot come down.
Sid sent the boat on round the Java,
at a respectful distance. The lire was
evidently in the forecastle, but it
seemed to be making no progress. The
worst thing was the vessel’s sinking
condition. Sid studied her closely.
She may stay afloat a half hour, or
e'en a half day,” was his conclusion.
Again he looked at the monkey. Pity
uc it, combined with a thought that
there might be something on the vessel
which he could take in his boat to rec
ompense him for the risk, finally over
came his fears. He put the boat along
side the ship’s starboard, where he
astened it by a line; then climbed to
e deserted deck. As the monkey ap
p< ured to be on the point of descending
t e shrouds, Sid, feeling that what he
1 tuust do quickly, climbed up to
meet it.
It in no wise afrtid of him, but
Pleased, rather, and grateful. It had
en hie pet of some sailor, he was sure,
perhaps of the captain. Sid took it,
-nto his arms and looked into its grave
brown eyes.
J Suddenly it gave a chatter of fear,
leaped from his arms to his shoulder,
and seemed on the point of springing to
the shrouds and racing back to its form
er position.
Wondering what had frightened it,
Sid turned to the deck. What he saw
j gave him such a start that he almost
! let go his hold. A big tiger had emerged
from the forward companion way* and
stood looking up at him, its eyes blazing
and its tail waving a snaky threat. An
' ext lamntion of surprise ami alarm came
I from Sid Holly's lips, and the monkey
| •';"uio chattered in fear. This was an
k" ercd by a deep growl from the tiger’s
o..vernon* throat, and by an advance to
j starboard which brought it between
: 1 nud his boat.
The appearance of the tiger on the
deck was so strange and apparently so
Inexplicable that Sid Holly might readi
ly have been excused for thinking this
the improbable experience of a dream.
Later, he knew* that the Java bad
brought the tiger and several other wild
leasts in cages from an Indian port,
consigned to a circus Arm in Bridge
port. The storm had blown the Java
cut of her course and to the northward.
He learned, too, that when the boat*
were ready to pull away from the
doomed ship some tender-hearted mem
ber of the crew had slipped the oars of
the cages, with the result that most of
the released animals, frightened by* the
lire, had immediately leaped into the
sea and had been drowned As for the
monkey, it had been abandoned simply
because it obstinately remained in the
rigging, perhaps through fright, and
refused to be caught.
Sid Holly’s hands shook on the rat
lines and his heart chilled as he saw the
tiger cross the deck In that threatening
manner; and when he thought of the
b Biuxviug siaic, uuu giauceu irO'U
the smoking forecastle into the sea, his
brain fairly reeled.
With the ship surely settling under
him, held in tbe rigging by that fierce
beast, afraid to leap into the sea. his
situation was one to unnerve the stout
est heart.
The little boat bumped its nose
against the vessel’s side. Then a b:g
wave heaved the ship aloft. She fell
heavily into the trough, with a water
logged roll that made Sid's heart rise
in his throat.
Ills scared exclamation, as he thought
the ship was surely going down, the
tiger answered with another growl.
This growl apparently caused the mon
key to abandon its idea of springing
into the rigging; for. with an almost
human murmur of fear, it sought to
cuddle in Sid’s arms for protection. He
put a hand, albeita shaking one, caress
ingly on its head.
The tiger, ominous as had been its
growl, did not appear to want to force
a fight. It did not come nearer. It,
too, was frightened by the strangeness
of its position and the waste of tum
bling water.
It approached the rail and looked
down into the little boat. Though this
was done without any apparent inten
tion of springing into the boat, the
movement gave Sid another thrill of
fear. With the tiger’s h?ad touching
the rail just over the boat. Sid’schances
of escaping from the sinking 6hip
seemed slenderer than ever.
The ship dropped again into a trough
with a threatening lurch, after the
passage of a big wave. Some rope»
noisily slatted, and the yards grouned
as if they felt the pangs of the vessel’s
approaching dissolution. The tiger
balanced and shifted on its big feet, its
claws suggestively rattling on the hard
boards of the deck, but it did not ma
terially change its position. Now and
then it cast a questioning, suspicious
glance at the boy in the mizzen shrouds,
but for the most part it kept its yellow
eyes fixed in apparent despair on tht
sea.
After the hrst shock ol fear had
passed Sid tried to calm himself that he
might consider his situation. Ilis only
hope seemed to be to get the tiger away
from the starboard rail. If he could do
that he might reuch the boat by acour
ageous dash, or by springing iDto the
sea he might gain the b„at by swim
ming, even though he was not a very
good swimmer. To remain in the rig
ging until the ship went down was to
go down wth it.
To ascertain what the tiger would
do he descended a few feet, holding the
shivering monkey tightly against his
breast. The tiger instantly noticed and
resented the movement. Its lips drew
back from its white teeth in a snarl,
and it took a step in Sid’s direction.
Its attitude was so threatening that the
boy stopped short, with terror again
tugging at his heart.
But fear of the maw of the sea soon
drove him downward.
This threw the tiger into a rage. It
came nearer. Looking up at him with
its blazing yellow eyes, it crouched
within springing distance of the
shrouds. Its black and yellow bands
seemed to writhe in snaky folds, and its
sinuous, swaying tail quivered to the
very tip.
Only a knowledge that the ship was
sinking kept Sid from scrambling back
with all speed. He was sure the vessel
had perceptibly settled since he came
aboard, so short a time before. An
other big wave was lifting her; and the
conviction was forced on him that the
time in which she would remain afloat
could be numbered in minutes, if notin
»?conds. , "a
"If I only hail a belaying pin,” ns
thought. “Anything to throw!”
He snatched off hi* cap and hurled it
as far as he could to port.
The tiger rose with a hoarse growl,
glared at the flying cap, and took a step
toward it as it fell.
The ship was lifting on another wave.
With trembling Angers S.d drew out
his pocket knife, w rapped his handker
chief about it. and hurled both over the
tiger's head.
lhey dropped In the port scuppers,
and, with a blood-chilling snarl, the
angered brute leaped in that direction.
This was Sid's opportunity. With the
; monkey clinging to his shoulders he
: sprang down the rigging almost at a
j bound and sped across the deck. lie
heard the tiger slide and turn. Then
he heard its snarl and the rattle of its
claws, as he began to cast off the line
that held the boat.
Terror drove Sid Holly's heart into
liis mouth and made b's fingers clumsy
In fancy he felt the tiger’s hot breath
on his back and its sharp teeth in his
flesh. But he enst off the line some
how and sprang over the rail into th«
boat.
At the same instant there was a rum
bling growl, and the tiger hurled its
sinewy bulk through the sir after him.
Sid, as he crouched, saw it shoot over
him like a flash; then heard it drop
with a splash into the sea.
He sank down trembling and ex
hausted, not having strength to push
the boat from the ship’s side. The
monkey tried to climb from hi* shoul
der into his arms for protection. The
boat swung away of itself as the ship
once more lifted, and by a sort of in
stinct Sid put a hand on the tiller.
Then he saw the tiger rise to the sur
face. splashing as if bewildered. . I»
turned toward him and began to swim,
lit gave the tiller a further push, the
sail caught the breeze and the boat
moved through the water.
A white-topped wave, hissing as if in
anger, threw its heavy bulk across the
tiger’s head, and again the big beast
went dow n. The ship seemed about to
follow it. But the ship rose, and the
tiger's head again appeared. The tiger
was plainly frightened. It was out of
its element and the plaything of the
seething waters.
The sail caught the full force of ths
breeze and the boat quickly drew away
from the ship. Again the tiger sans
and rose, weaker than before. Twice
was this repeated. Then the big slfip,
her timbers groaning, gave a sudden
and ominous roll to port. A huge green
wave crawled across her decks, as if
seeking to stifle the smoke that rose
from the forecastle. There was an
other groan, with a creaking of yard*
ana cordage.
Sid Holly clung like a drowning boy
to the rudder of his little boat. But le
was already far enough from the ship
to be practically out of danger.
Nor was the commotion as great as
he had expected. The waves boiled
furiously for a few moments. Then the
Java, trailing her masts, went down
like a leaden plummet.
When the topmasts had disappeared
Sid looked for the tiger. It was not to
be seen.
“That came near being our fate,
Jock!”
The words breathed a prayer of grat
itude; and the little monkey, hence
forth for life Sid Holly's friend and
companion, crept toward him, as if it,
too, fell awed and thankful, and was
taken caressingly in his arms.—Golden
Days.
Heatentefl Interference.
Athletic parsons are not always lucky
in their attempts to show their prow
ess. While a strong curate in the
southeastern district, who can use his
lists when required, was making a
parochial visit he heard screams from
a side street and learned that a woman
had been assaulted. “Where is the
blackguard who did it?” he exclaimed;
and a polite little boy pointed out a man
who was turning a corner some dis
tance away. The curate promptly ran
after him, seized him by tlie coat col
lar and dragged him back to the place
of the assault, amid the applause of a
considerable crowd. “Why, that ain’t
the party that did it,” said the woman
when the victim was shown to her—
“that ain’t my husband. And, besides,
what are you interferin’ in other peo
ple's affairs for?” The curate apolo
gized to the inoffensive man he had
seized, but is threatened with an ac
tion for illegal arrest.—London Tele
graph.
Good Cheer.
Nanette—Ah, but beauty is only skin
deep, after all. How do I know that
the man I marry will not become cold
when I begin to fade?
Gladys—Oh, don't worry about that.
The man who marries you will banish
beauty from the consideration at the
start.—Cleveland Leader.
Infallible.
Cholly—How do you know she won’t
marry you, de-ah boy?
Chappie—Precedent, me denh fellah.
She nevah has married anyone.
“That’s so, by Jove!”—Tit-Bits.
Not the Iteal Thine.
Perfection is something which a man
no sooner attains than he discovers it
to be a substitute.—Puck.
After All.
He—So you love me after all.
She—After all theotbers.—Cincinnati
Enquirer.
GOLD AND PROTECTION.
How the Repaltllcaa Pulley AVrrti
(he Prices of Oar Com
raodltlea.
A* a rule, eastern protectionists are
in ftivor also of the gold standard.
They propose to make prices conform
to the gold standard, and seem to think
they cun, at the same time, by tariffs,
maintain a range of prices as much
above the prices in other gold-standard
countries as they may choose to tlx in
tariff schedules. In other words, they
propose to make prices conform to the
gold standard, but they expect that
standurd to be one thing in the United
States and quite nnother thing in Eng
land, France or Germany. If it were
desirable to do so, and we could, by
tariffs so restrict imports as to require
few exports to pay for what we Import,
and could pay for such imports with
commodities in the production of which
we had great natural advantages, the
purpose of gold standard protection
ists might, in some degree, be realized.
But our payments abroad are not lim
ited to imports. We are a debtor na
tion; our people, our states, our mu
nicipalities, our corporations, owe
large sums abroad, the interest on
which, with other charges, amounting
probably to not less than a million dol
lars a day, must be paid with com
modities or with gold. We cgn pny with
commodities only by selling them as
low as they can be bought anywhere
else. We have not in the past, and we
cannot in the future, pay this increas
ing debt and at the same time pay for
imports with commodities in the pro
portion of which we have any important
natural advantage. In fact, the natu
ral advantage due to soil, climate, prox
imity to European markets, etc., have
in large measure disappeared by the
opening of the Suez canal, the extension
of irrigation in India, and by railroads
into the interior of India, Australia and
South America. The gold standard in
the United States must necessarily be
the gold standard of the world, and if
gold appreciates anywhere it must ap
preciate everywhere, and as prices go
down in one gold standard country
they must go down in all. The prac
tical situation is this: During the fis
cal year 1896 we exported commodities
of the gold value of $882,606,938. We
also exported gold to the amount of
$80,588,649 more than we imported. Be
sides me conunoumes exported ana me
gold paid away, large sums in bonds
of one kind and another are annually
sent abroad in lieu of commodities or
gold. These help to swell the debt on
which interest must afterward be paid.
Statistics are wanting to show exactly
to what extent securities enter into our
international traffic, but at time* large
amoui ts are transferred. But the ma
terial point in the argument is the fact
that the $S82,606,938 of commodities
which went abroad in 1896, necessarily
went at very low prices—enough lower
than in other countries to induce people
to buy here rather than anywhere else.
And not only were the prices of the
products exported down to the level of
international prices, hut the products
exported constituted only the surplus
not consumed at home, and conse
quently the whole of anything of which
but a part was exported must have been
ns low as the part exported. If we in
clude, then, as we must, in the schedule
of low-priced products, the entire
products of the industries of which
some part was exported, we shall find
that they constitute a very large per
centage of the entire productions of
the country. It is quite apparent, then,
that in order to pay interest on the
debts we owe abroad, and for the carry
ing trade, and pay for what we import,
a large part of all the productions of
the United States must be kept as low
as anywhere else, or gold must go to
pay what we lack in paying with com
modities; and when gold goes, credit
breaks and prices tumble, with all the
disastrous consequences that follow'
every such breakdown.
A. J. WARNER.
Millions for 'improTtnnti,”
We hear from Washington that the
river and harbor committee of the
house has pretty much decided that a
“bill carrying millions for internal im
provement” shall be passed during the
present session. Whether the commit
tee has formally decided anything
about it or not, there is no reason to
doubt that it will set up the pins for
the passage of such a bill, not by pro
viding for the actual needs of the coun
try, but by distributing the “pork"
where it will “do the most good.” This
is the session for this kind of work.
During the session immediately preced
ing a congressional election the house
is apt to be a little cautious about ap
propriating large sums for alleged im
provements. But this is not that kind
of a session. A new congress was
elected a few months ago, and members
of the present house do not have to look
out for another election just now.
-Aggregated wealth in the hands
of unscrupulous and designing men is
the sworn enemy of progress. It is the ;
sworn enemy of eijual opportunities. !
And the young men of to-day are be- :
ginning to realize that under repub- |
lican rule, which is a synonym for cor
porate rule, they have no chance. The
your, g men of the nation are to-day
tiocklng to the democratic standard.—
Jma^, World-Herald.
M’KINLEY’S BLINDNESS.
The I’rralilrn t WMIin( Time OTtl
HU Vlarrlnc Sahordlaatea la
the War Departaaeat.
The president of the United States is
reported deeply chagrined at the savage
and, as he deems it, unseemly conduct of
one of his subordinates, who, under the
protection of his extraordinary corn
i.lssion of inquiry into the conduct of
the war, levels a terrible shaft at the
major general commanding the army.
That is, at the major general command
ing the army so far as it is possible un
der our piun to have a major general iu
command. The major's small boys are
offensively unruly at times, having, ap
parently, no fear of his magisterial
sword. But, aside from the infraction
of good manners and military disci
pline, whether Kagan calls Miles a liar
or Miles disturbs the serenity of the
commissary general is a matter of small
importance to the people of the United
States. They do not suffer in purse or
p-rson by the un-Turveydrop-like de
portment of these distinguished mili
tary servants.
If the president will turn his atten
tion for a moment from the unseemly
conduct of his shoulder-strapped sub
ordinates he will be deeply and properly
concerned about a matter of vast im
portance to the people whose chief mag
istrate he is. Not a day passes that in
formation is not conveyed of the forma
tion of new trusts, new combinations in
restraint of trade, fresh violations of
the antitrust law spread upon the stat
utes of the United States, a law which
the president has not taken a single
step toward executing, thougli the en
forcement of law is an obligation of tbs
chief magistracy. It is true that the at
torney-general of the United States
does not meet opprobrious language
from an assistant or from anyone of the
district attorneys throughout the whole
domain of the republic. The depart
ment calls for no executive notice be
cause of the unpleasant, riotous conduct
of any of its employe*, but if the presi
dent had the welfare of the republic at
heart and if lie were thoroughly imbued
with the sanctity of an oath, his obliga
tion thereunder to enforce the laws, he
would be more deeply grieved at the
state of affairs in the law department
than he is reported to be at the conten
tions of officers in the war department.
Not a district attorney of the United
States lifts a hand against dally, open
and flagrant violation of the Sherman
law. Encouraged by this nonaction,
which, manifestly, is the result of an
understanding at headquarters, combi
nations in restraint of trade increase
in number until it might seem as
though all the commercial activities of
the republic were taking that direction.
Why is the president, who appears deep
ly distressed at the bickerings of two
general officers, undisturbed by the fact
that a statute of the United States
which he is bound to enforce is regarded
with contempt?
We witness occasional activity of a
United States court in condemning, and
properly condemning, the Illicit con
duct of some violator of the postal laws,
but there is not anywhere In the coun
try a United States judge who, instruct
ing a grand jury, draws its attention to
t^e far more flagrant and dangerous ac
tivities of moneyed men, who snap their
fingers at United States statutes and go
about their business in serene confi
dence that, lawless as they may become,
they are not in danger of being called to
account by the enginery of justice in
the United States, an enginery para
lyzed by the very man, chief magistrate
of the republic, whose constant care it
should be to see that it suffer not detri
ment, but work ceaselessly for justice's
sake In the impartial administration of
the law.
When will Maj. McKinley, ceasing to
weep at the comparatively insignificant
breaches of politeness shown by mili
tary officers, address himself to what
may prove the herculean task of grap
pling in the name of the people with the
trusts that oppress them?—Chicago
Chronicle.
PARAGRAPHIC POINTERS.
-The place where the United
States most needs an “open loor” is
—the United States.—Puck.
-It is believed that Alger need no
longer shut himself up in Washington,
for fear of Hobsonization by a war
hero-loving public.—Albany Argus.
-Trust organizers are hastening
their own destruction under the pro
tecting wing of the McKinley imperial
lit party, but they are too stupid to
realize it.—Chicago Democrat.
•-The president has had a head-on
collision witli public sentiment. Pub
lic sentiment hardly knew that it bad
struck something, but the other party
is all in a heap.—Kansas City Times.
-It is undoubtedly true that at
Washington there is no apparent senti
ment in favor of economy, and it is also
probable that the prevailing reckless
ness at the national capital meets a fa
vorable response from a portion of the
people of the country, but the states
man or politician t\ho mistakes the
elatnor of the unthinking for the sober,
serious judgment of the people as a
whole, will find sooner or later thui
those w ho are responsible for increas
ing the burdens of taxation must some
time face u reckoning with the people.
—Manchester (Ji. H.) Union.
CATHARINE II. OF CHINA.
Graad Old Woman Who llaa So Loaf
Hull'll the Oleatlal
Empire.
Catharine If. of China is not merely*
great empress; histories* of the future
may te trusted to regard her as a greet
woman. A dispatch recently cabled
from Peking to the Herald describe*
her as seated on a dais receiving the
ladies of the diplomatic corps. The
emperor is reported to have been also
present, but unimportantly, at her left,
it vvus nice of her, though, to let film be
there at all. He is but the nephew of
his aunt. It is the lady who reigns and
who lias reigned for 117 years. Said Con*
fuclus: "Man is to woman what the
sun is to the moon; he orders, she
obey*, and harmony is the result."
Confucius was wise in bis generation,
but not in nineteenth century Cathay.
There the moon orders, and not the
sun merely but the nephew also obeys.
It is as well, perhaps. There are prede
cessors of his who balked and who be
cause of it rejoined their ancestor* in
si an ter. Catharine II. of China is a lady
who likes her own way. That, howev
er, is natural. Cathurine I. of liunsi*
began life as a servant. Catharine IL
of China began as a slave. It is said
that., contrary to local custom, her face
is not painted. But everything about
her is contrary to local custom. Never
till she emerged from her scullery has
a woman dreamed of usurping the
dragon seat. Fancy an odalesque step
ping from the seraglio and ousting the
sultan from his throne. Such a per
formance is unimaginable, and yet this
lady has done better, one might even
say worse.
The empress dowager is by birth a
Tartar. The fact is worth noting. Tar
tars do not mutilate their daughter*?
feet. The girl had Iree use of hers. At
the age of 11 she was sold to a tnanda*
rin. In and about his household he*
feet took her where her superiors couli}
not go. A Chinese girl who mnrrie*
passes from one prison to another. Of
the outer world she knows nothing. Of
that outer world her slaves know all.
It was this way with little Tsi An.
What she did not know she guesaed,
and what she could not gues* she
learned. She lenrned to dance. A bee
could not equal her. She learned to
read. On the tip of her tongue were
a hundred stories each more diverting
than the other. On the tom-tom she
iciiiiicu loan uui. i uc mi vv non » i iibii
ure dear to the orient she repeated sur
prisingly. She learned more difficult
things, too; how to arrange a basket of
fruit, how to touch flowers, how to
smile, and how to hold her tongue.
Astonished ut the prodigy, the manda
rin sent her as a curiosity to his sover
eign ut Peking. One day the Son of
Heaven noticed her. The slave became
a favorite, and, becoming a mother, be
came also u secondary wife. There, one
might suppose, that had she ambition*
they would have rested. It was there
they began. Though that was 37 year*
ago they huve been increasing ever
since. As recently related here, there
successively departed this life the Son
of Heavtn, the Son of Heaven’s son,
others who were in the way There
after she was supreme.
Lately, when the ladies of the diplo
matic corps paraded before her sba
patted the wife of the British ambas
sador ou the cheek. The Herald states
that in doing so she wore a charming
smile. One may readily believe it. Her
hand is as strong as her rise is pro
digious. In modern times both are un
paralleled. There is indeed another
iustunce of a slave attaining imperial
power, but it occurred in Hayii, and
what occur* iu Huyti does not count.
Even otherwise this lady is unique. Re
garded merely as a Chinese flrecracker,
she is destined to burn into history
with a flame intolerably vicious per
hups, and yet entirely her own. — Col
lier’s Weekly.
The Human Hare.
For a generation past students of his
tory have been breaking away tram
traditional notions of the age of the
human fuce iu the world. In Europe, it
is conceded, there are traces of muu
in the glacial formations, carrying our
history buck a hundred thousand years
or more, uud in eastern North Ameri
ca much evidence has been adduced
tending to show that this continent was
occupied at least at the close of the
glacial period, from 10,000 to 20,009
years ago. California has, however,
put forth claims to still greater an
tiquity, and, as if determined to outdo
the world iu this, us in other things,
claims to be the cradle of the race, par
excellence. She Is not satisfied with the
j.l/00 years of the orthodox chronology,
the 20.000 claimed for theTrenton man,
nor yet the 100,000 or more conceded to
the )>uleolithic man of England and the
continent of Europe, but sets her fig- *
ores for the Homo sapiens of the high
[ Sierra back so far that seven figures are
necessary to express the time if years
instead of ages are to be the unit. The
story of the discoveries that lead to
these astonishing conclusions is fas
cinating indeed, and the manner in
which geology furnuhes the chrono
logical' key must elicit the admiration
even of the unscientific reader.—Wash
ington Star.
ImIi.
The silliest thing we can think of is
to tell a iie that docs nojforod.— Wasb
icg; <jl (la.) Democrat