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EDGE FIELD, S. C.. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 14, 1900.
TBE
PUNTERS
LOAN AND
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AUGUSTA, QA.
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on Deposits,
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Solicited.
L. C. HATOS,
President.
W. 0. WABDII?W,
Cashier.
VOL. LXV. NO. ll
A SMUGGLEI
By Daws'
Fred Brown's father sent him to
St. Pierre, partly for a holiday, and
partly to see some people in the way
of business. Bo oif he started, in the
little steamer from Boston, had a very
pleasant trip down, and arrived there
without any trouble. It was when he
tried to get away that he had the re
markable adventure of the derrick.
St Pierre is not much of a place,
but it is the principal village of the
islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon,
off the south ooast of Newfoundland
islands which are all that remain to
France of her former North American
possessions.
The little town is strung along one
principal street, and the population,
which is entirely French, varies ac
cording to the number of vessels in
the harbor-if an open roadstead de
serves the name.
Fred was surprised to find every
body French and everything under
French rule; he had been told it would
be so, y> t be had not realized it could
be so within a thousand miles of Bos
ton. Yet the steamer he went down
on took a regular guillotine that had
been sent out from Paris by the way
of Boston to St. Pierre for the ooming
execution of a man convicted thero of
murder.
There is a great deal of smuggling
of French goods from ?St Pierre to
the neighboring Canadian provinces,
which impose, as the United States do,
a very high customa tariff on foreign
wines and liquors.
Now Fred was at the hotel at St.
Pierre, xraitiug for the steamer to take
him back to Boston, when the town
crier, going aronud one day with his
drum and official notices, proclaimed
that the steamer had broken down
and would not be able to make her
regular trip for a fortnight nt least.
It did not snit Fred to wait, and in
consnlting with the hotelkeeper he
learned that be might get to Cape
Breton by a steamer trading to and
from the southwest coast of New
foundland, if he could manage to
reaob Codroy or Burgeo within a few
days.
The landlord promised to let Fred
know if there was an opportunity to
get over by a sailing vessel, and next
day he told the boy of a little
schooner about to sail for Burgeo that
night. The captain of the vessel was
in the hotel at the time, au odd little
Frenchman of the fisherman type, who
assured Fred that he was a good pilot
and careful sai!or. So the young
American engaged passage on the
Hortense, which was the name of the
skipper's wife und also his daughter.
On seeing the schooner Fred.rued
his bargain-she was so small But
the run to Burgoo was only about a
hundred miles, and everybody told
bim that by leaving. St. Pierre at
night with a fair wind he should easily
arrive at Burgeo before dark the fol
lowing day. Moreover, if he did not
take this chance he might not be able
to connect with the other steamer.
' . When Fred Brown left the hotel to
go on board the Hortense that night,
the innkeeper said with a smile, "Of
course it makes no difference to a pas
senger what the schooner's cargo is. "
"Not if I get ashore all l ight in
Burgeo," said Fred, and from the
way the old skipper nodded and
grinned at this he seemed satisfied
with the assurance.
It was quite late when- they went
down to the wharf and found a man
waiting to row them off to the Hor
tense/ which was anchored in the
stream. Fred was pretty tired and
sleepy, so when he got aboard he lay
down on one of the lockers in the lit
tle cabin, with his coat under his head
for a pillow,and WHS fast asleep before
he knew it. When he woke up it
was clear daylight, and the sohooner
was running through a moderate sea,
with the wind on the starboard beam.
When Fred went on deck he was
surprised to find only two other men
and a' girl. "My brother Jacques and
my daughter," said the skipper, aud
when Fred asked if they were all who
were on board, he smilingly replied,
"Oui-ob, yaas-plenty enough. Leetle
crew, leetle boat-but plenty good.
Boni Oui! Ma petite lille,Hortense,
she cook. Eh? Oui! Good! Et mon
frere, Jacques, he good sailor man
ah, ouil All right! The day only one.
We sail out of de fog, eh?" For fog
was so dense that they could not see
the bowsprit from the stern.
Indeed, the schooner did seem very
small. She could not have been much
more than SO tons, and she was quite
deep in the wat or with cargo. Fred
found it anything but pleasant to be
standing on in that dense atmosphere,
with so tiny and heavily laden a ves
sel. t
Fpr hours the skipper held his
conrse by compass, predicting clear
weather before sundown, but he
looked anxious, and he often spoke in
a melancholy, caressing tone tc his
daughter, a big, strong girl about 15
years old, who spoke even less Eng
lish than h jr father. As Fred found
no one with whom he could hold in
telligent converse, he lay down agaiu
in the little cabin and was dozing
shortly beforo noon, when he was
rudely roused by cries on deck and
noise as if from another vessel.
Springing up instantly, he had just
got his head above the companion
hatch, tfhen the schooner was struck
with a shook that knocked him baok
into the cabin. The fall somewhat
stunned him, and when he recovered
he could just see the outline of a
steamer disappearing to windward
ahead. The schooner's bowsprit had
been chopped clear i ff, the port bow
was badly torn, but worst of all, both
the captain and Jacques were gone.
Fred learned afterward that both of
them had sprung for the steamer's
rail at the moment of collision, and so
escaped. They made themselves un
derstood after some little delay, and
begged the captain of the steamer to
pot about and search for the schooner,
but he was convinced that the victim
had sunk, and be was afraid to risk
leaving his conrse is that fog and on
that iron coast.
?red for.nd the girl, Hortense, hon?
iag'to the msiu rigging with horror on
her corivi?on.auce. bat she caaift down
at ont? and stood beside him. Looking
ground} tbey saw that th? scuooaer
rs DERRICK.
>n Stearns.
had been strack on the lee bow, but
forward of her forerigging, and the
foremast seemed uninjured. Fred
caught the wheel to get the schooner
on her course again and steady her,
which was done easily, despite the
loss of her head sails.
Fred then set about inspecting the
schooner. The hull seemed sound,
but the pump threw a stream of
clear sea water, showing that the ves
sel leaked.
However, the valve sucked after
about ten minutes of vigorous pump
ing, which seemed to show that tho.
leak would not seriously endanger
them unless it should increase.
. Fred was on the lookout forward
about 3 o'clock, when he thought he
heard surf. At the same moment the
girl changed her course more to the
westward, so as not to head directly
on shore. "Are we near the harbor?"
the youth called; but she seemed puz
zled, and all the explanation she
would give was, "Noni Non! Buoy!
Bope!"
Fred began to keep a sharp lookout
for a buoy, end soon saw, almost di
rectly ahead, a spar protruding end
wise from the water and evidently se
curely moored. Hortense steered for
it, and in a few moments they could
see a cliff of the bold coast of New
foundland looming directly ahead.
They could also see that a rope fell
from the boom of a derrick on the
cliff, aud was made fast to the buoy
below.
The girl wss evidently arriving at
exactly tho destination she had
sought, but Fred was quite sure it
was not Burgoo, and be could not un
derstand the situation at all. The
cliff was apparently precipitous and
overhanging, without any means of
access, and tho top was about 40 feet
above the sea level.
"3aisez-le! Preuez-lo! Catch him
rope!" She pointed wildly at the
dangling tlerrici falls upon which they
now drifted down.
She had evidently se?n this done
before and knew where she was, so
Fred grasped the rope as they struok
it, and took a rouud turn to it with a
line made fast to the forerigging.
This acted as a temporary mooring,
but what .was to be done next he had
not the remotest idea. But Hortense
knew. She confidently pointed np at
the derrick and said: "Mans como."
But the "mans" did not come, al
though the boy and girl repeatedly
rang ont and tried to attract attention.
So absorbed were they in contemplat
ing the dim, unresponsive cliffs that
they gave no attention to their schoon
er, which would have been almost
ashore had the tide not kept her surg
ing outward.
The schooner was sinking fast. The
only obvions method of escape was by
the rope from the derrick, and there
was no time to be lost in using that
Bushing iorward to tell Hortense,
Fred made another ir r>. "dening discov
ery. While pumping, he had not no
ticed particularly what the girl was
about, but now he found that she had
in some way unrove the tackle from
the block upon the end of the derrick
boom and hauled down ono ",ud which
she had utilized to moor the vessel
fast to the buoy with a turn of the
bight around the foremast. The free
end, knotted, was far above reach.
When Fred pointed out what she
had done she laughed and assured
him that some one on th . cliff would
soon fix it, but when he showed ber
that the schooner was foundering, she
was pauic-strickeu aud screamed a full
minute, after which she was as calm
as before.
Fred tried to think of a way of es
cape. The schooner was likely to sink
at any moment, and the water was too
doep right up the cliff to give any
landing there. They might cling to
the buoy after the schooner sank, bat
the chances of rescue would be doubt
ful. The only hope lay in that single
bit of hemp which hung from the der
rick boom.
He had been good at rope climbing
in the gymnasium of his school, but
to go np 40 feet on such a rope with
his clothes on would be a hard strain.
However, it was the only chance,
Fred hauled dc n on the hanging
rope until the tt4 ? cr end, in which
Hortense had tied a couple of knots,
caught hard in the block. Then he
showed the girl as well as he could
what he intended to do, and in spite
of her protestations made a bowline of
the rope fast around her so that she
would not sink, even if the vessel did
go down. Then he climbed the fore
rigging of the schooner-which was
the easiest way np as far as it went
rested for a fresh breath near the
masthead,and started climbing toward
the derrick boom hand over hand.
If the rope had been in a gymnasium
he could have gone up without any
fear, but out there in the wild air and
drizzling mist, the fog obliterating
everything at a short distance, the sea
gulls screaming around, as if mad
dened at the invasion of their prem
ises, and no one at band to Say a
word of cheer, the situation seemed
rather awful. But he went up quick
ly, reached the block, swung a leg
over one of the guys and pulled him
self np on top of the boom.
Then a cry from Hortense arose.
Looking down, he saw the masts . f
the schooner sinking and the girl in
the water clinging to the buoy. She
had bravely refrained from screaming
till she saw Fred safe, although the
water had come up on deck almost as
soon as he had swung off from the
foremasthead.
Fred shouted encouragement to ber,
but how could he lift her and her wet
clothes-a weight of 1'50 pounds at
least-up a sheer height of 40 feet?
He tried to get the end of the rope
free to run through the block, but his
weight on it had so jammed tho knots
into the sheave that he was unable to
looser it. Tho appeals of poor Hor
tense were incessant. He resolved to
try to lift her hand over hand.
Stretching out upon the boom, he
braced himself as well as he oould
with his shoulder under the topping
lift and one foot tucked up for a firmer
hold, thea began the hoist, Hortense
gave a cheer, the bowline held tight
about her. aud slowly, hand by hand,
he raised the giri
But the strain was great. When he
had lifted her np about 12 feet he be
gan to despair of accomplishing the
task, but still he strove, for to drop
her would be fatal Shutting his eyes,
be lifted band over hand steadily, but
with ebbing strength. The perspira
tion poured off him, his bypath was
coming short, he felt that he could en
dure no longer; but just then, open
ing his eyes, he saw Hortense reach
ing for the main part of the rope
hanging from the block, which he had
paid out in a bight as he lifted her.
If Bhe could rench it ehe might be
able to h^'I her own weight while be
got fresh strength and breath. With
a desperate effort he raised himself on
the boom a little, and just when com
pletely exhausted felt, by the ease of
tho strain, that Hortense had caught
the bight. She was two-thirds up, and
the worst of the job was over, if their
combined strength was enough for the
rest of the lift.
Now Hortense proved herself a bet
ter sailor than Fred had supposed her
to be, for instead of hoisting herself,
she made a half-hitch of the bight
through the bowline she pat in,which
supported her weight from the end ot
the boom and left him free for a rest
So she was safe, the rest of the lifting
was comparatively easy, and he 6oon
had her within reaoh. But to get her
upon the boom was au altogether dif
ferent matter, for she became dizzy
and faint, and absolutely refused to
t y and clamber up beside him. The
only thing to do was to make her fast
where she was, then to cast off one of
the guys and swing the boom ashore
by the other.
So Fred worked his way in along
the boom to the derrick mast, found
that the guys of the boom were easily
loosened from their eye bolts, and ac
complished his object pretty speedily.
Hortense fell on her knees on tho
rock in her still dripping garments os
soon as -was free from the rope that
had saved her, and at once gave
thanks to Heaven; then she rose and
led the Boston boy back a few hun
dred yards from the edge of the cliff
to n little shanty almost full of brandy
casks that had been landed by that
same derrick. With little difficulty
she persuaded the deaf old Frenchman
who lived there that Fred was "all
right." So he took them both to
Bargoo next day, where Fred caught
his steamer, and left Hortense looking
for a tiskerniau who would take her
back to St. Pierre.-Youth's Com
panion.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
James Ewing of Peru, Ind., who
has lain in a box of straw for 30 years
or more, died a few days ago at the
county infirmary. He was paralyzed
when a young mau and was made help
less in mind and body.
Angleo Magnanamo of. Middletown,
Conn., the three:legged boy, has gone
to Paris, where he will be exhibited
at the exposition. After the exposi
tion he will tour England and Italy.
The third leg grows from the base of
the spinal columu and does not quite
reach to the ground.
Mniwatchia, on the borders of Bns
sia, is the only town in the world ex
clusively inhabited by men. The
Chinese women are not allowed to
live in this territory, and aro even
forbidden to pass the great wall of
Kalkan nud to enter Mongolia. All
the Chinese of this border town are
traders.
The Chinese visiting card consists
of a large sheet of blight scarlet
paper bearing the name of the owner
in very large characters. The paper
is folded ten times, and (he name is
written on the right-hand lower corner,
prefixed thus: "Your unworthy friend,
who bows his head and pays his re
spect;" "Your very stupid brother,"
or something to that effect. In place
of "yours truly," "yonr stupid" is
written on the Chin?se card.
The importance of small things is
exemplified by a recent discovery
which makes a single flea serve as a
link in the chain of evidence tending
to prove a former land connection
between Australia and South America.
This flea belongs to a new species
from Argentina, where the only speci
men yet known is believed to have
lived on a rat. The species is assigned
by N. C. Rothschild to the genus Ste
phanocircus, which has baeu hitherto
represented by a single species of
Australia, and the two forms are evi
dently very closely allied, although
now separated by the ocean.
Artificial eyelashes appear to be the
latest French novelty. False hair is
an ancient .institution, and we have
long been accustomed to false teeth
and even eyebrows. Henceforth, ac
cording to the Medicine Francaise,
there is no reason why an otherwise
beautiful face should be disfigured by
red eyelids or rnggod eyelashes. The
process may appear a little painful, n
needle threaded with hair being pasted
through the lid and the threads cut in
the middle with a line pair of scissors,
each end becoming an eyelash. But
what will not beauty endure if thereby
it may become more beautiful?
The Feminine Observer.
Suspense is the most trying of all
emotions.
The keenest disappointment has
alwayB BOW compensation.
You cai .3ver convince a man that
a luncheon eau be as satisfying as a
dinner.
Some persons look as though they
were having a good time when they
are riding to a funeral.
It is not until a bubble bursts that
we realize that its beauty was pro
duced only by soap and water.
A child feels that life is worth liv
ing when it is allowed to drive with
out some grown-up holding the reina
back of it.
The absent-minded woman never
feels so silly as when she hands her
fare to some man who is not the con
ductor.
No matter bow poor a horse a mau
drives if he has on a light driving
coat he feels the true sportsman's i
spirit within bim.
If a woman has but one gray bair
in nee head it in golug to show just at
the time when ah? is trying to impress
Rome one that shela you M ger than sha
really ia,-Philadelphia Times.
?OOOOOOGOOOSGOOwOOOOGCOOOg
I THE HUMAN HAIR ?
HARVEST IH BRITTANY, g
ooo
?
(?8000000000030000000001
ANY persons bave beard 'of
tbe extraordinary markets
held 'periodically in differ;
ent towns on tbo continent
of Europe, to which women and girls
come to sell their hair for money or
goods; but we believe no aotnal rjap
shot photos of the traffic itself have
ever been taken-or, if takeu, have
ever been published. Obviously the
vendors do not caro to be perpetuated
in this matter, and M. G?niaux him
self had moro than one narrow escape
from the infuriated ladies who were
selling their tresses to the itinerant
morchant-bnrbers.
The traffic in arti?oinl hair is a big
business. It is interesting in itself,
and qnito a readable artiole might be
prepared as the result of an interview
with an extensive dealer in human
hair in London or any other great
capital. This information, however,
is accessible to any journalist who
cares to go and get it, and beyond
bare mention it forms no part of this
paper, which deals rather with the
fountainhead (the joke is not inten
tional) of this curious industry.
I visited one of the great Paris coif
feurs, writes Charles G?niaux, in the
Wide World Magazine, and he made
the startling statement that "when,
they reach a certain age-say, forty or:
fifty years-almost all the ladies in
Paris use artificial hair, particularly,
those who wear the hair m twists, or
who affect the arohaio style. Why,"
he said, "do yon know the price of a
single kilogramme (over two pounds)
of first-class hair-hair that has been
sorted, cleaned and prepared? Welh;;
sir, I do not sell it under a thousand
AX AVARICIOUS MOTHEB ABOUT IO SELL
HEB. CHILDREN'S HATE.
or eighteen hundred francs, accord
ing to color, texture and general
beauty. '
"And," he continued, "thanks to
the life of high pressure which wo
lead in these modern days tho de
mand is becoming greater and
greater."
With these interesting statements
etil1 ringing in my ears, I left the
coiffeur and resolved to find out for
myself the origin of those mountains
of human hair usod by tho wigmakors
of Paris.
Luck was soon to satisfy my curios
ity, for not long afterwards, in the
course of a journey through Brittany,
my attention was arrested by certain
conversations on tho subject of a salo
of hair, I was told that the peasant
women round about had their hair out
off periodically and sold to the mer
chants who went shearing from vil
lage to village. I made inquiries
without losing a moment, and soon
found out that one of the most im
portant of these markets was about to
bo held in the month of June at the
Fair of St. Fiaore.
In a few days I was blithely climb
ing the hill on whose summit is held
tba famous Fair of St. Fiaore, which is
attended by practically the whole
agricultural population of Morbihan.
In the centre of a large plateau is a
round chapel. A few walls, some
courtyards, two or three farms, and a.
little timber on the limit of the far
reaching horizon. Such is the battle
field on which the agricultural inter
ests of the entire Department ar
ray themselves. Also, young men
como from far and near to thia
A. RICH FARMER'S WIFE IN THE HANDS
STANDS WITH HER (
fair to offer their servioes and
hire themselves as laborers to the
farmers. They look picturesque
enough, those fellows, as they flock
in together, holding in their hands
long peeled twigs. As soon as a
farmer has hired one of them, the
young man breaks his willow slick as
a sign of the engagement, and from
that moment he onters the servivo of
his u3w patron.
Bu ; do you know what the maidens,
and even the old women, aro doing in
the meantime? Why, they are busy,
exoha aging their hair for articles of
olothhig and miscellaneous sundries
dear to tho femiuine heart! I must
now set down accurately aud in de
tail all I saw and heard dnrlng my
undoubtedly perilous mission, Talk
about a sheep-shearing station in
Ausii'fllia! Why, it in nothing to
whatleaw. Firnfcof all, however, a
word of explanation in neoesflary.
In England, this extraordinary
traffic would be almost impossible;
?nc?, m consequence, very little human
i
bair is exported into Paris from
Great Britain. Bat. on the other
hand, picturesque Brittany furnishes
almost one-fourth of the ontire con
sumption in the capital. Now, why
is this? Well, it is maiuly because
the Breton-women; wear as head-cov
ering a close-fittinudinen cap, which
entirely hides the^abi'with the excep
tion of two flat b^nd?whioh pass over
the forehead and down to the ears.
Now suppose for a moment that these
Breton caps were replaced by ordinary
.hats and bonnets.. Well, if this inno
vation took place, the traffic in human
hair would simply become an impossi
bility, as the deficiency in hair would
bo apparent to every passer-by. Thanks
also to the prevalence of the cap, the
Auvergne and some districts of Nor
mandy likewise furnish a consider
able supply of human hair.
'?ViThe peasant women seem to have
reasoned the matter ont something in
thi3 way: "AB our large heads of hair
are'not seen, and as they have a cer
tain commercial value, why^should we
over-weight our bruins with them, es
pecially when honest merchants come
along to buy dur hair on such advan
tageous terms?" Andjgoodness knows,
cash *ic scarce enough among tao
Breton peasants.
, It is no wonder, then, that the trav
eling hair-shearers and merchants put
up at St. Fiacre, attracted as they are
by the certainty of being able to shear
practically the whole population of
women and reap a very fine harvest of
human hair. .
I may remark, before going further,
[that the merchants are not nice per
sons, or polite; and their language, as
a rule,- js abominable. Probably by
way of violent contrast to the city
?iair-dressor, who affeots distinguished
manners and curls his muslache with
iqngs, the hair-cutters I saw were un
shaven and' slovonly in their dros?.
tit length I was fortunate onough. to
lie well received by the best-known of
them all', a comparatively intelligent
mau;'-without whoso assistance" it'
would have been impossible for me to
obtain the snap-shols reproduced in
this article. Whitet actually writing
these lines I have open before me my
note-book with this entry, in the hand
of my friend, tho chief hair-shearer:
M. Gerard, Commer?ant,
A la C?upclle Gacoliuo, par Carontolr
(Morbihan).
Without any appearance of conceit
he said to me: "I am a kind of celeb
rity in my own line. How many heads
of hair have I shorn? Perhaps a hun
dred thousand or more!"
Monsieur was accompanied by his
wife; and in truth Madame Gerard wa3
extremely useful to him in his extraor
dinary business. By tho way, I no
tioed that all the shearers likewise
had their wivos with them. It became
evident to me later that they mis
trusted themselves, feeling certain
that alone they would not be olever
enough to deceive the country lasses
to tho shameful extent usually prac
tised.
One of the accompanying piotures
represents the act of bargaining, or
haggling* In the round courtyard of
the farm you see vehicles crowded
against the wall, the horses reversed
in the shafts eating bay off tho front
seat of the cart. Bight in front, on a
low wall, Madame Gerard has ar
ranged remnants of lurid stuffs,
shawls, kerchiefs and an infinite va
riety of odds and ends-quite as at
tractive to ladies as the ones at tho
end of this number. Madame holds
between her fingers a print, which she
is handling with studied carelessness
for the benefit of an old woman with
white hair, who is simply burning to
5 OP THE HAIR BUYER-HER SERVANT
3AP ON THE RIGHT.
exchange her hair for the gaudy stuff,
as it would make her such a fine
apron. It is a grand oomedy, this.
They talk, those two, they discuss,
they haggle. Examine closely the caps
of the women. You will notice the
two bands of hair underneath the
white. linen on the forehead, but all
the rest is so scrupulously hidden
that he must be remarkably clever
who could tell a woman with her hair
on from one who has just been shorn
by tho merchants.
A fairly rich farmer s wife is soon in
the second large picture; and from
motives of hygiene, as well as avarice,
she has offered her head to the scissors
of the shearer. On the right bf the
photo von will notice au old woman
holding the untied cap of her mistress,
while the latter is being shorn. Here
again, thea, wo get another curious
glimpse of the industry, and we soe
that all tho country womon do not not
iu thia way solely for money, but ' ao>
tu ni ly seek relief from the weight of
their superb heads of hair,
I do not know the weird vocabulary
of Breton insults, but the mother oi
tho little girl seen in the two si ngls
column pictures made my ears pi si?
tively ring with her furious howls.
First of all, she hid her ohiidreu in
her skirts. Then I pretended to go,
but suddenly turning round, I secured
a snap-shot of the little girl with
ber cap off, and ber pretty, fair
hair tossed over her shoulders. The
poor little thing was orying. Probably
some instinct had warned her of the
barbarity of this custom. Her mother,
ER HIGGLES WITH HER CUSTOMERS
Y OF THEIR HAIR.
howover, was eager for gain, and well
knew that children's locks, more es
pecially whan golden, aro worth most
of all. And so she bartered the child's
hair for a piece of cloth. The two
little maidens of five and six were very
tiny, but, all the same, they were
dressed like grown-up people, and had
to submit to the common fate. Notice
on the right the unintelligent faces of
the peasants. So long as the country
folk remain in their present condition
of ignorance, this strauge traffic will
continue.
In the other photo the mother is
covering the scalp of her shorn little
THE CEtJEL DEED DONE-COVERING THE
LITTLE GIRL'S SHORN HEAD WITH A
NET.
one with a resillo, or ooarso net,
while the ohiid herself looks very dis
consolate. Until they have made their
first Communion, the little girls of
Brittany all inclose thoir hair in nets.
Tho Confession.
"Ethel," said Jack Smart, as ho
placed his arms around his wife and
looked down into her eyes. "I have
a confessiou to make to you, and I
want you to promise before I begin
it, that you will forgive me."
A wild fear took possession of her.
She placed a little white hand npon
her heart, and would have fallen if her
husband had rot held her up. Her
faco became livid, aud abo could only
gasp: "Tell me-tell me the worst!"
"I did a mau out of a cold hundred
to-day," he said, "I confess I took
advantage of him, but I trust my
darling will make allowances in view cf
the sore temptation."
The eoler came back into her cheeks,
her lips parted iu a glad, sweet smile,
she rested her head against his breast,
and, looking fondly up into his eyes,
said: "Oh, Jack dear, how you fright
ened me! I thought you were going
to tell me that yon had kissed some
horrid woman."
Excellent Cu un try For Ilorirt,
South Africa offers one of the beet
breeding grounds in the world. Ex
perience in the Indian service has
proved that the ugly, underbred Afri
can horso possesses much more endur
ance than any other horse. The num
ber of horses in South Africa is given
as follows: Cape Colony, 415,200;
Natal, 52,170; Orange Free State, 278,
400; Transvaal, 946,900. Horse sick
ness is at times a terrible plague. It
first appeared in South Africa in 1719,
and has never been stamped out. In
1854 no less than 70,000 horses and
mules died of it in Cape Colony alone.
Horses which have been attacked and
have recovered are called "salted,"
and sell at very much higher prices.
The average price of a horso in South
Africa is about $130.
Decorated by a Geyser.
The odd picture frames shown in
the illustration owe their decoration
to the spray of a geyser at Yellowstone
National Park. They were made by
twisting pieces of wire into the de
sired shape, aud laying these frames
upon a rock near a geyser for two days,
PI0TUBE FRAMES FROM YEHOWSTOXH
PABX,
during which time the spray collaoted
and hardened, Tho crust is BO hard
that it rt ;uiroo a chisel to break it?
JAPAN'S NAVAL STRENGTH.
Ia ? War With Kussla She Would Dior?
Thnn Hold Her Own. -
With regard to the probable result
of a naval war between Japan and
Russia, the Russians have never dis
tinguished themselves in war since
the battle of Pultowa. They were
beaten by the Persians at the end of
the last century on the Caspian sea.
It is true that, the Persians were under
an Englishman, named Elton, who
organized the Persian army for Nadir
Shnb, and trained the most unnantical
nation in the world to become domi
nant in the Caspian. The Japanese
are naturally good men-of-war's men.
They are ready, resourceful, obedient,
cheerful and familiar with the sea
from their y oath up. Russia, despite
hor vast extent of territory and great
coast line, has practically no seafaring
population of hor own race. Her
naval recruits are drawn almost entire
ly from the Ealtic coast, the shores of
Courtland, and the Baltio Provinces.
The iisher-folk of these regions are
not of the Slavonic race. They are
German in origin, in feeling and in
religiun. Many of them dislike, or
rather hate, the Muscovite. They
submit to discipline because their Teu
tonic instinct impels them to obey.
The Baltic re a-nit has no pride in
the service. He gets drnuk whenever
he can, and he deserts when opportu
nity arises. Russian seamen who are
not Slavs are very rarely allowed ashore
in a foreign portland the discrimination
in the Russian navy between the re
cruit of the Ealtic Provinces and the
pure-blooded Slav in snch matters as
leave and punishment does not popu
larize the service. The true-born
Russian abominates the sea. He is
an inland creature, loving a gallop
over the steppes and tho free air of
the boundless plaiup. The carly Slav
race used the same word to designate
the o .-ena and death. liussiau Mailors
are stupid, Russian punishments are
degrading. Russiau habits drunken.
The experieuce of a Russian seamen
is scanty.
Two-*hirds of the men in the Ros
eau imperial navy have never fired
.ih )t or shell from a gnu afloat. For
six months in the year they are laid
up in harbor. This discipline to which
Russian sailors are subject is so rigor
ous as to kill those sentiments of self
respect which striko "American and
English officers as fte first requisite
ot a good man-of-waVs mau. Edu
cated society in Rns%a is not happy
as to the chances of j? n cc eos in a war
with Japan. To despatclfall the mili
tary stores, the commissariat, and the
army itself, including the transport
for ??50,000 men, is a task under which
Russian services, with their peculiar
habits of self-indulgence aud tradi
tions of corruption, may easily break
down. On these grounds I think that
Japan will more than hold her own
for the first year of the fight:-Arnold
White, in Harpers' Weekly.
Kan Up AffalnAt the Painter.
The Boston Transcript says that a
well known physician was looking at
some pictures the other day. Pres
entry, finding himself alongside an in
telligent looking young mau iu au
overcoat and blond beard, he fell into
conversation with him.
"What is there," asked the doctor,
"to recommend these pictures?"
"Why," said the youug man, "pos
sibly you might like the atmos
phere-"
"I didn't come in hereto seo atmos
phere; I came to see pictures !" And
the doctor marched nearer to one of
them.
"Oh," said the young man, "these
pictures are not to be looked at so
near. They require distance to give
tho proper effect. "
"I think you are quite right," said
the doctor; and to put the proper dis
tance betweeu me aud them I shall
now go and take a cab for Jamaica
Plain."
Something "in the look of the young
man put a strange thought into the
doctor's head, and, meeting the pro
prietor ont in the store, ho asked
him: "Do yon know who that young
mau is in the gallery?"
"Why, yes," said the proprietor;
"that is Mr. Clodd Mooney, who
painted the pictures !"
' Emblem? of Mon rn lng.
A womam bought ?25 worth of
flowers from a leading florist and gave
him two yards of black satin ribbon
with which to bind the bunch. "Par
don me, madame," he said politely,
"but it is my invariable custom to ask
whether the deceased is a man or
woman, a boy or girl, a baby, a
bachelor or maid. lt would injure
my trade to send inappropriate
emblems of mourning." She readily
perceived the commercial instinct,
and informed him that the departed
was a man and a widower. "Thanks.
You have saved yourself as well as
me. You could not think of sending
what you have selected. It would be
in the worst possible tasto. We
Bhould be laughed at Exchange the
black ribbon for purple and the lilies
for bride roses." "Oh, no one ?viii
know the difference," she urged. Ho
replied, bowing and pollyvoofrousay
ing: "Madarao, I can not accept your
? rder. Herman, return to this lady
her 325."-New York Press.
Church Names in E'ectriciiy.
Electric signs are a feature of upper
Broadway. They are to be found in
front of nearly all the theatres, and
have come to be regarded as the par
ticular property of theatres and cafes.
But now the church steps in and dis
putes the right of theatres to attract
patronage with electricity. The pas
tor of the First Reformed church of
Williamsburg has put up a great elec
tric sign in front of the edifice, and
on Sunday nights one can read the
name of the church in blaziug letters
a long way. off.. There are several
churches in Greater New York which
have an electrically lighted cross on
top of tho steeple, but the emblazon
ing of the name of the church in
front is som 'bing new in church dec
oration.
JnfVoMnn* from IJntj noap?,
Investigations hythe board of health
of Newton, Mass., have revealed heaps
of rags in many hon- es where there
wnfl sickness. lu many ca*es diseases
*>. a contagious nature have boen
ira-ed to the rag?, aud the boord,
therefore, has issued a new regula*
tiou prohibiting the tbrowin.' of rags
in a heap,
EHITAPH TO A BUSY WOMAN. '
Here lies a poor woman who always was
busy:
She lived under pressure that rendered ber
dizzy.
She servad on a scbool board with courage
and zeal;
She golfed and she kodaked and rode on a
wheel.
She belonged to ten clubs and read Brown
ing Ey sight,
Shone nt luncheons and teas, and would
vote if she might
She read Tolstoi and Ibsen, know microbes
by name,
Approved of Delsarte, was a "daughter"
and ''dame."
Her children went in for the top education,
Her husband went seaward for nervous
prostration.
One day on her tablets she found an hour
free;
The shock was too great, and she died ia
6tantlee.
HUMOROUS.
"Dead men tell no tales." "They
don't have to; thoy leave widows who
can do the talking. "
Uncle Sam (at long-distance 'phone)
-I'd like to speak to John Bull.
Voice (at other end)-He's busy just
now.
Lawyer (speaking bf prisoner at bar)
-I can say on oath, sir, that I have
seen this man in places where I would
be ashamed to be seen.
Old Lawyer-How are you getting
along? Young Lawyer-I have one
client. Old Lawyer-Is he wealthy?
Young Lawyer-He was.
Fortune Teller-And I see a dark
man who will give you trouble. The
Widow (to herself)-The coalman!
Why didn't I pay his bill? '
Large Lady-Could you see me
across the street, officer? New Police
man-Share, ma'am, it's tin toimes
th' distance Oi could see yes..
"George,father has failed." "That's
just like him. I told you all along,
darling, that he was going to do all ho
could to keep ns from marrying."
She vowed upon ber lips she'd set a seal
And never to the world ber plans reveal;
Bat when she walked about the tale was
told
Her hat was new-but all its trimmings,old.'
"Pa," said the small boy, his eyes
looking longingly at the new mechan
ical top, "you've showed me how to
work it now for an hour. Let me
try."
"What do you mean by 'secnndus,'
'tertius,* 'quartus' and 'quintus?' "
inquired the stranger. "I am calling
the floors, sir?" replied the new eleva
tor boy from Boston, with dignity.
"Give me some familiar proverb
about birds, " said the teacher. Tom
my Tucker raised his hand. "The
early bird-" He paused a moment,
and tried it again. "The early bird-"
"Yes," said the teacher encouraging
ly. "That's right. " "The early bird
gathers no moss."
"Henry, wak? up I" exclaimed Mrs.
Peck. "I'm positive I hear burglars
downstairs. Get np and see if you
can locate them." 'Tm. snrprised,
my dear," replied Henry.as he buried
his head under the pillow, "to think
you would so far forget yourself as tc
ask me to associate with vulgar bur
glars."
As he was about to sink for the
third time, he, of course, recalled
everything in hjs past life. His coun
tenance radiated with joy. "Ah !" he
exclaimed. "Since I now remember
what it was my wife told me to get
downtown today, I have no further oc
casion to drown." Accordingly he
swam ashore.
THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM.
A Trick Which Has Deceived Many Un
flQtpectlng Andlences.
Ventriloquy m as a vaudeville spe
cialty is about played out," said a vet
eran showman who passed through the
city a few days ago. "It was always
a great fake. Of course, we know
nowadays that there is no such thing
as 'throwing the voice,' and that it is
simply au illusion in which the eye
plays a bigger part than the ear. For
instance a man is seated on the stage
with a mechanical dummy on his knee,
and yon hear a voice. The mai's face
is stiff and the jaws of the dummy are
wagging-naturally yon jump to the
conclnsiou that the voice comes from
the doll. If yon were right beside
them you would know better, but you
are too far away to exactly locate the
sound. That's the principle of the
whole thing, but in the old days the
voice throwing theory was generally
accepted.
"I remember in the season of '89-90
I was manager toe a clever prestidigi
tator who was also a ventriloquist.
His claimed to be nble to throw his
voice 42 feet, and 'land it in a space 10
inches in diameter,' as you might,
speak of pitching a baseball or a quoit.
It was a most absurd contention, but
he stuck to it-even to me in private,
and we had a stock story we used to
work off on the oountry papers, about
his appearing at a coroner's inquest
and making the corpse accuse a. sus
pected person of murder. 'At that
instant,' the climax ran, a 'hollow
voice issued from the dead man's
throat.' It was a very thrilling yarn,
and, in the course of time, my boss
got to believe it himself, and would
narrate the details with every evidence
of good faith.
"During the performance he used
to order everybody off the stage, but
occasionally I won!7 ueak around be
hind aud listen through a peep hole,
and it was wonderful how the illusion
was lost. Frequent jy, on the road.he
would be embarrassed by requests to
'throw his voice' into this thing or
that to further some practical joke, and
would always reply that his larynx
was a trifle inflamed.' Still he was a
capital ventriloquist-one of tho very
best, I believe, that was ever in the
business."
The Small Boy Want? to Know,
"Yes, it was a drawn battle," he
said, in talking the matter over with
his wife.
The 6-year-old who was listening
was silent for a moment. Then he
asked:
"What did they draw it with?"
Chicago Vost.
The largest cargo of flour ever car
ried oat of the United States bj a
si ugle vessel left Kew Orleans recently
for Loudon. Tho?? were 70,500 bags
ia her hold,
