The Leon reporter., December 06, 1900, Image 9

About The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
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A Chinese Clunk.
(Comrades in War Time.)
How say we have no clothes?
One plaid for both will do.
Let but the king, in raising men,
Our spears and pikes renew—
We'll fight as one, we two!
Haw
Bay we Jiave no clothes? '•./
Qhe skirt our limbs shall hide.
Let but the kin^in raising men,
lialberd and lsijige pfpyide—
We'll do it,
Ho# say we have no clothes?
My kirtle thou shalt wear.
Let jrat the king, in raising men,
Aiipmr and arnis prepare—
Tfc.e toils of war we'll share.
—The Book World.
{v jt
°f
-i'
"Sfake Them1 f.f
Volunteers in the late Spanish war
*re not apt tp have their pension
-titaima adjust&if for stime time to come.
It is stated that the pensibn bureau
will not be in any hurry to pass upon
their Applications, because "pensions
for yoitng men are apt to makef' them
lazy/'. At least this, 'is the reason
give^' for the bureau's delay in ad
justing these cases by an attache of
the bureau, who said:
"They are just beginning to come
in. .1' suppose they will come in rap
idlyTOon, but it is too early for them
yet." We are not pushing the Spanish
war- 'claims very fast. Most of the
applicants are young men, and they
.do not need the pension very badly.
Of course, they will get their pensions
froig the day their applications were
file*!.'but we are in no hurry to grant
them. It is a feeling at the pension
bureau that it is not a good thing
for gthe young men to draw pensions.
It makes them lazy, and it is not good
for them morally."
fieg$irdlng the number of applica
tions being^made^ the attache said:
"The bureau hits already on file 30,
000 applications, and they are still
coming In. Over 60 per cent of the
members of the District of Columbia
regijment have filed applications for
pensions."
"Row many of these men were
wounded?" was asked.
j" "Not one,!' he replied, "as far as I
know. Most of them claim they have
been permanently injured by con
tracting fever or other diseases in
camp."
"About what will be the aggregate
sum paid out annually for these 30,000
pensions?"
"I should say that not more than
!S0 per cent of the applications will
acted on favorably. But about 15,
000vmen will get pensions, and they,
will .average about $150 a year each
or, say, $2,250,000 for all of them."
"13p you think that $2,250,000 annu
ally will cover the Spanish war pen
sions?"
1 "No," he said. "Experience has
shown that the pension list grows for
a number of years after the close of
the,, war. But lots of men who have
applied for pensions are young men
who1 have nothing whatever the matter
witai them. The examinations of our
surgeons plainly show that.'
The Fearless Con-arcl.
Gen. Henry Kyd Douglas was chief
of staff under Stonewall Jackson and
learned the art of war from that great
general. He was called one of the most
fearless and dashing riders in the
whole southern army. Among the stor
ies Jbie tells of his army experience is
thi|t of the bravest man he ever knew.
He
:saw
a young fellow start to nan,
then halt, and got forward* marching
into what seemed to be the very jaws
of death. He expected, as a .matter
«f bourse, that he would be killed andl
gave no more thought to him until''
after the battle. Riding over the field
toe)'recognized the rash youth. He
ask®d him what had impelled him to
dOii*feuch a brave thing. The reply,
after some hesitation, was as follows:
."Wijll, colonel, it was just this way:
I aps the worst coward on earth, and
jl Started to run, and I Intended to
tkeep on rjmning'tillyl got hpjpe, but"
allfof a s|gdei|§he fa&e of lffctle girl
roBjtj befpn^iqjf ^ndjWhenher
ey^s I knew I just had to ngiit, and
then I waded in and did my best."—
Sfttyrday Evening Post. j_.it-"
I
•f French Service of 25 Tears.
thing that distinguishes
the army of France from all others is
iU/cha?act|BF% of microcosm ,of the
whole naJBon, aftyk TPaul B«ieittelm in
the Nineteenth "Century. "All classes
are rdpresenteii aid eveiy French
soldier mAy^hojpe pom# day to jwield
the: mars^alV, bajon w^lch Jie) carries
I In his knapsackv "France Is the only
European countrywhlph jprms a1! its
'r children without aisflnctiori, and even
those who choose the army as a ca
reer, and succeed in entering the mili
tary. colleges, are boujid to enlist for
a period of three year^ In acciord
ance with the last-Fren^ armylaw,
passed In 1889, every ^Frenchman
aerves for twenty-live years. He en
ters the army at twenty-one, remains
*Ahree years with the cblors, and
twepty-fotir. 'joins', Wie first
•i-Jn.**-
It, #tfer8 h' __
^ca^idtO^tjibjMSBwfpp a... period ot
Thfe last s.ix yeare are
Pt with fche territ^rialf reserye, a
I fpeclaUXi Jp^ndsd, for tiie de
!. 4rf',tbR4J9Us^i5r^
VlrgJn,a-
thfoM ^i
h«L
ln
Washing8 *r?"
the coun-
®enator Palmer's grand-,
0ne of
the senator's
ehdS happened t0
not,know-
w2T v«
meet
the old lady down there, and asked her!
L8hLWere»0t
a
klnsw°man
of hi8
'but thought peH
S.ht be'
7116
gentleman
XirS3tnifn descent, was he not,
nd in the United States senate? Yes:
she was quite sure he was a kinsman!
Was he in the army?" she asked.
Yes, answered the senator's friend.
era'p'6
waa
in the army and a gen-
The old lady was, positive that he
was a relation.
"But," went on the friend, "he was
a general in the Union army."
The old lady's face fell, but she ral
liea,
"Well," she Said, "you know there's
a black sheep in every family
Washington Post
1Took
'S
Prisoner Jefferson Davis.
General James H. Wilson was born
in Illinois and went to West Point in
1856. He graduated just in time to go
Into the war. After serving in minor
capacities he was made a lieutenant
colonel after the battle of Chattanoo
ga. From May to August, 1864, he
commanded the Third Cavalry divi
sion in the Army of the Potomac, and
in October of that year was given
command of the Cavalry Division o?
the Mississippi, and was made a briga
dier general in the regular army afteij
the battle of Nashville. In March and
April, 1865, he led a cavalry expedi-i
tion into Alabama and- Georgia, cap
turing Selma, Montgomery, Columbus
•and Macon, and on May 10, 1865, took
prisoner Jefferson Davis, the president]
of the confederate states. He wa^
made a major general of volunteers in
April, 1865. In 1870, after several
years' service in the regular army, he
resigned from the service, since whictj
time he has been prominent as 4
railroad manager in this country and
in China.
5^*
vvJ,
at
feserte,
whwe he.- remainij. ten years, during
^hich he is .ckiled .put fbr two train
*7' days each
•./
lh
remains' six years^ he-
nk (ln«|i In Jtyerr., Family,
bp /Stpvies that .the late', Sen
was fondest of tel^ng h^
an aged gentlewoman
be|rii^^H. i^fie nam^ as himself,
nrllB' ^^^•ooi'ewhere down', on. the
1,
A Canadian Victoria Cross.
•'w
The only Victoria Cross ever won
in Canada was won during the Fenian
Raid, under the following circumstan
ces: On the 9th of June, 1866, Priv
ate T. O'Hea of the First battalion of
the Rifle brigade, was one of an es
cort under Sergeant Hill in charge of
a railway van containing 2,000 pounds
of ammunition en route from Quebec
to Kingston for the use of the militia
on the frontier. On reaching Dan
ville the van was found to be on fire,
and was hastily pushed down the line
away from the station, the inhabi
tants of the neighboring houses flying
in'terror. O'Hea ran down to the van,
burst open the door, tore away the
covering from the ammunition and
extinguished the fire. 1
A Soldier or Saint.
Garibaldi has been called not a sol.
dier but-a saint. Most great heroes
have outlived their heroism and theii
worshipers have outlived their wor
ship, but Garibaldi has never been
anything but the unselfish patriot who
wanted everything for his country, but
nothing for himself. He has been
described, on his return to Italy from
South. America, as "beautiful as a
statue and riding like a centaur." "He
was quite a show," said the sculptor
Gibson, "everyone stopping to look at
him." "Probably," said another Eng
lishman, "a human face so like a Hon
and still retaining the humanity near
est the image of its Maker, was never
seen."
Area of Charlestown Yard.
Charlestown navy yard's area is
more than 100 acres, and its water
front facilities a mile in extent. With
the new ship channel projected for
Boston harbor, the facilities will be
even better for ships- of any drafit
coming directly to the yard. Again
another advantage which Boston will
always retain. .Rear Admiral Sampson
believes, Is that it is the. center of-an
extremely large population, among
which are the best and most intelli
gent mechanics in the country. Near
ly all the tools and machinery used
at all yards are made in this vicinity,
another advantage by reason of the
workmen's intimacy with them.
MnJ. Basslenr's Condolence.
Aftgr the recent death of John G. B.
Adams Department Commander Peter
D. Smith at Boston received the fol
lowing telegram- from the commander
in-chief:
"St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 19, 1900.
"Peter D. Smith, Department Com
mander of Massachusetts.
"Shocked by telegram announcing
dekth of. PaSt, Commander-in-Chief
Jack Adams. His loss is irreparable to
the order. Extend sincere condol
ence of the Grand Army of the Re
publio to his famjly.
"Leo Rassieurf
Commander-in-Chief."
"V
"ii*
1
Baden-!?oweU's Unrrlaga Offers*
Soon after" the rescue', of General
Baden-Powell from Mafeklng he re
cpived at least a dozen offers of mar
riag^, from single^ or widowed wom
en in England, who were desirous of
partners. Two or three of them rea
lized that they would not be the only
women who made offers and tele
graphed him in order to got their of
fers in first.
i&f&fgrtftfftii
Fourth ip.
jjvA. volunteer in the Philippines
•%roty Wilis f. ther, "Send* fifty dollars
«pilck—lost aiAther Ieg." The old
man replied, "As
(this
is the fourth
leg you have lost According to your
letters, you ought to be' accustomed
to it-by this time and wobble along on
any otflies legs you may have left,"
Alabaina has a fine old capitol, set
-on a hill, and rich in. historical asso
ciations, but it has no governor's man
sion, and is beginning tp ^think it
needs-one.
IN THE ODD CORNER.
QC'ESR AND CURIOUS THINGS
AND EVENTS.
Congressman Addrenses Constltnento In
Michigan While Glued to Chair—
Aadlenee Convulsed With Uithttr—
A Plant that Coughs—Singing Insects.
i-
J' The Lover. i' -jfe
She I love is white as milk,\-JjP
She I love is red as wine,
And her cheek is like spun silk
And her heart is mine. '-C'
When she runs, the rushes slip
When she stays, the lilies stir
When she walks, 'the swallows dip,
Keeping pace with her. s, ,s,
A
She I love is gold and fire
She I love is fruit in snow
And her voice is silver wire,
Touched with flaxen bow.
When she speaks, the fir-trees hush
From their whisperings on the hill
When she sings, the very thrush
For my sake is still.
—Post Wheeler, in New YorV Prnss
Oratory Under Difficulties.
The meanest scalawag in Michigan
lives over in Augusta township, Wash
tenaw county, and we'll -proceed to
prove it. Hank Smith was billed to
speak at a school house near Whit
comb, when a Republican club was to
be organized. The room was jammed
full of men, women and children. A
little platform had been temporarily
arranged for the orator of the even
ing, surmounted by a single chair,
the seat-of which some miscreant had
covered with fresh glue. In this chair,
to which he was conducted, "Hank"
sat down, not knowing it was loaded.
Meantime the burghers proceeded
with their work, and an hour was con
sumed before the officers were elected
and the job finished. The new presi
dent then stepped forward and intro
duced "the present and the next con
gressman of this district, Hon. Henry
C. Smith of Adrian."
Mr. Smith got up and so did the
chair. He tried to shake it off by a
hip wriggle. This failed. He reached
down and tried to pry it off with his
fingers, but without success. He
pulled sturdily at the rear to force it
to let go, but it wouldn't do anything
of the kind. He now smelt a, rodent.
The president, seeing his predicament,
stepped up and gave the thing such, a
tug that Smith, in alarm, but in an
undertone, said:
"Hold on, Ferguson, you'll tear the
cloth away, and you can see my coat
is a short sack, and there are ladies
present."
The audience now tumbled to the
situation, and instantly burst into
thundering guffaws. The room be
came a bedlam of laughter-convulsed
lunatics. Women screamed and chil
dren whooped, while ablebedied men
lay down on the benches and roared.
The hilarity was catching, and soon
Hank, genial-hearted and fun-loving
as he was, sat down leaned back and
joined the deafening chorus. Finally,
waving his hand, the crowd became
sufficiently quiet to hear him say: "I
came here to speak my piece, and I'll
do it, though the whole schoolhouse
were glued to me." Then he got up
again, and, half bent over, with the
chair dangling behind, waded in. At
every motion he made the chair would
bump up and down on the floor or
swing against the wall, or strike the
table holding the lamp. Of course,
the crowd laughed when he joked and
laughed when he didn't joke. At
last the speaker said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I must rest.
My back is about broken," and sat
down. At this an old fellow ran out,
and, trotting across the way to his
house, brought over a pair of over
alls. "Hank" was steadied off the
platform amid renewed yells of laugh
ter and with a man holding the chair
away from his calves, waddled out
doors, where he was "unhusked." He
finished his speech in the overalls.—
Grass Lake (Mich.) News.
A Plant That Conglis,
It is now well known that the sharp
and broad distinction formerly made
between animals and plants does not
conform to the facts. Th'e cells of
plants, like those of animals, are dif
ferentiated in function and are grouped
to form special organs for nutrition,
respiration, excretion—even for the
perception of light. The sensitive
plant (Mimosa) has a well-developed
sense of touch. A certain tissue in
the leaves of plants performs the func
tions of a liver. The respiration of
plants, is especially interesting. On
the under side of leaves and on green
stems are millions of miscroscopic
mouths, each of which is opened and
closed by two movable lips. These
openings are the terminations of pas
sages which are filled with water-va
por, air and other gases, produced by
the chemical changes which accom
pany growth. The vine called the
coughing bean (Eutada tussiens) is
a native Of moist, tropical regions. By
accidental transportation of its seeds
it has gradually spread to.much less
congenial spots, especially railroad
embankments, where it endure3
drought very well, though its growth
is stunted. But there is one thing
which it cannot stand, and that Is
dust. When the breathing pores be
come' choked by dust the,gases accu
mulate within thG leaf for a time and
then are forcibly expelled in an audible
paroxysm of coughing and sneezing
which makes the leaf tremble violent
ly. At the same time the whole plant
becomes red in the face, so to speak,
through the sinking in of the great
chlorophyll grains and the appearance
of particles of red coloring matter on
the surface The Eutada is
sometimes
cultivated as a house plant. Sweeping
the room. is very aipt to set the poor
plant a-coughing, to the intense as
tonishment o'f persons.' who are un
familiar with its peculiaritles.-T
Hearst's Chicago American.
^Thistle* in Place of Cotf?*? f|
Ther^ are farmers in western Ne
braska who have made hundreds of
dollars each fall' baling and selling
for fuel the Russian thistle, but a few
years ago regarded, as. a menace to
Western, agriculture. These are jrot
isolated exceptions, eiiher. The thistle
-abound? throughout the western coin*
Siig..
ties. In the fall the weed is to (j
found in enormous quantities through
the open country. The special baling
machine can place in compact pack
ages, similar to baled hay, hundreds
of pounds of this weed in a day. It
makes exceptionally fine fuel, and in
the west, where a ton of coal costs
?15 and the farmer must do the haul
ing ten to twenty miles, the Russia^
thistle is a fine substitute. Again, tho
common "tumble weed" is baled for
fuel. It resembles the Russian thistle,
with the exception of the thorns, and
is even more prolific. In the fail of
the year it assumes a ball-like shape,
and in the first winter wind breaks it3
frail stem and sends the fluffy roll
of dry vegetable matter bounding over
the prairie like a great ball. From
this fact its name, "tumble weed," is
derived. The first ravine or "draw'1
the weed strikes affords it a lodgment
and successive balls soon make a pil#
as big as a freight car. Farmers driv-j
their wagons into these draws, loail
them down by pressing them wit!|
their feet into great wagon boxes an}
burn them in the "grass" stoves.
Jap-xn's Sintrlric Inflect*.
Singing birds are esteemed In ali
countries, but it is only in Japan thai
the musical sounds emitted by certa'n
insects are appreciated. Listening tij
these minute singers is, and 'has beei
for many centuries, a favorite pasting
of the Japanese, and has given birty
to an original commerce. At Tokic^
toward the end of May and the be
ginning ot June, one sees suspended
Under the verandas of houses beauti,
ful little cages of bamboo, from whic!)
break upon the silence of the freslj
twilight strange little whistlings, o|
metallic modulations, of light trills,
which fill the air with a delicate musi»
It io habitually in the evening, aftei
the hour of the bath, that the peop'fl
of Tokio seat themselves and listeq
with delight to the shrill concert Thi,
most prized of these singing insects
tho suzumushi. Its name means "in
sect-bell," and the sound which i|
emit3 resembles that of a tiny silvej
bell. It is a tiny black beetle, of 9
flat body and very vulgar appearance^
The kutsuwa-mushi is so named bei
cause its cry resembles the sounij
made by a horse in champing its bit,
There are two species of it, the one a
light yellow and the other a pal$
green. Really, this insect is none oth
er than a kind of winged grasshopper,
of fat body and common in manj
countries. Another singing inseil
much esteemed is the kirigirisu, whicl
is but a very large grasshopper, pro.
ducing varied strident sounds. Then
there is the enamltorogi, which is
kind of cricket the kusa-hibari,
minute grasshopper, which has a
sound of remarkable clearness. Thi
kantan, originally from China, anil
which sings only at midnight th«
kanetataki, whose song resembles th?
far-away sound o£ a clock. In Tolcic
alone there are over forty merchanti
dealing in singing insects. This com.
merce is of relatively recent origin,
though for centuries the Japanese
have been fond of the music of thesa
insects. Formerly they would go in
parties to places where tho little mu
sicians abounded, pass the night there
extended upon mats, drinking tea or
saki, and listening to the harmony
of the suzu-mushi and kutsuwamushi.
It is enly about 100 years ago that an
amateur named Choso had the idea
of capturing one of these insects for
his own particular diversion. Then
the singing season over, he forgot a
certain number in a closed vase. Great
was his surprise, on opening it tha
following year, to find it filled with
newly hatched young. After that ha
gave himself up to the raising of var
ious species of singing insects, and so
founded a trade which has become
flourishing. Actually the greater num
ber of singing insects are artificially
raised by certain proceedings, so that
their hatching corresponds to the sea
sons when their admirers love to listen
to them and to combine their sounds
Koys Discover Large Cave. %3:,:
Three young boys have made a
grewsome discovery in a cave near
Florence, Ala. Several months ago
they discovered the mouth of the
cave, which opens in a strip of wood
land about half a mile from the Ten
nesee river, and explored it for soma
length. They found a stream inside,
which abounded in eyeless fish of curi
ous formation. Peculiar vegatation
was found growing along it and vari
ous curious geological formations were
developed. Later the boys made an
other trip of exploration into the cave,
this time going much further than at
first. They found the stream had com
pletely dried up, and proceeding along
its bed for half a mile they found a
large pile of human bones—enough,
they think, to represent the remnants
of six or eight men. The boys' dis
covery will be thoroughly investigated
and it is hoped that the identity of the
owners of the bones will be devel
oped.
1 '"Ay.
Newly-Hatched Chickens Can Swim.
Prof. Lloyd Morgan, in a recent ad
dress, stated that he had found that
young chickens, taken straight from
the incubator, could swim very well,
the 'power of swimming being perfect
ly instinctive.
A Strong Corps of Artists.'
One of the strongest corps of artists
ever maintained by a magazine will do
the pictorial part of The LadieB' Home
ournal-during 1901. The Ust Includes
Edwin A. Abbey, Howard Pyle, A. B.
Frost, W. L. Taylor, Solomon Solo
mons, Maxfield Parrish, Frank V. Du
Mond, Alice Barber Stephens, Will
Bradley, Louis Loeb, Henry Hutt,
Henry O. Tanner, the negro-painter
Reginald B. Birch, and ten or fifteen
others. Some of the most prominent
in the list will give their services ex
clusively to the Philadelphia maga
zine.
As tn Letter Distribution.
One of the Berlin reviews publishes
a calculation on the number of letters
distributed annually throughout the
world. It gives the total as 12,000,04d.
000. Of these, it says, 8,00U,000,000 are
in English, 1,200,000,000 in German, 1,
000,000,'000 in French, 220,000,000 in
Italian, 120,000,000 in Spanish, MO,
000,000 in Dutch, 80,000,000 in RuSBm
and 24,000,000 in Portugese. TbffAn
glo-Saxon is fbr tfcyu^jjjflfery weL
in
PV-- The Salt of tlie Kartli.
If childhood were not in the world,
But only men and women grown
No baby-locks in tendrils curled,
No baby-blossoms blown
Though men were stronger, women
fairer,
And nearer all delights in reach.
And verse and music uttered rarer
Tones of more God-like speech
Though the utmost life of life's best
hours
Found, as it cannot now find, words
Though desert sands were sweet as
flowers.
And flowers could sing like birds
But children never heard them, never.
They felt a child's foot leap and
run—
This were a drearier star than ever
Yet looked upon the sun.
—Swinburne.
Two Little Americans.
When Cousin Mabel returned from
America, bringing two little "Yankee"
dogs with her, you can imagine how
eager the little English cousins were
to see them. The puppies were such
funny, brown little fellows! They
were not mastiffs nor pugs nor span
iels, not like any dogs that the little
folks had ever seen before. When they
squeaked out their droll, tiny bark,
and jerked their little bushy talis, the
children could not help laughing. The
little fellows were named Yankee and
Doodle, and they were a credit to their
native country in fact, they were
model puppies. They did not tease the
cat, nor chase the chickens, nor care
for any of the tricks that tempt other
little dogs into mischief. They never
even played with a bone, for, strange
to say, they were strict vegetarians.
Perhaps it was because they had seen
so much of the world that they were
so wise and well-behaved. They had
come 'way over the big green ocean,
which perhaps looked to them some
thing like the big green prairie. The
first thing they could remember was
living in a nice, snug village with hun
dreds of little playmates. It was a
very queer village the houses were
not built, but dug in the ground, and
in these houses there was not a man,
woman or child, but only families of
dogs lived in them. Ah, now you have
guessed, have you not, that these dogs
were only prairie dogs? The little
Americans seemed to like their Eng
lish home, and lived there very hap
pily, till one day a stupid terrier mis
took poor Doodle for a rat or a squirrel
—I don't know which—and put an end
to his harmless little life. Yankee,
however, continued to thrive, and Ma
bel and he were capital friends. He
used to climb her knee and poke his
little head into her apron pockets for
dainties which she hid there for her
dear doggie. If he found nothing, he
would jerk his little tail and bark so
funnily, as if to say, "I want my din
ner!" Now, although Yankee was
usually so good, I must confess that
once he was guilty of a naughty caper.
Mabel's mother had prepared a great
number of thick, wadded coverlets foi
cold weather. They reached from the
shelf of the linen closet almost to the
ceiling, and looked so clean and soft
and warm! Yankee thought this
would be a fine place for a burrow, so
he nibbled his way, alas! through ev
ery one of those nice coverlets, and
cuddled down cozily inside. Perhaps
he dreamed that he was snug at home
once more in Prairie Town. If you
ever go to London, you can see Yan
kee in the great museum where the
stuffed animals are kept, for he was a
"really, truly" doggie, and his funny
little figure has been admired by thou
sands of little British boys and girls.
—Youth's Companion.
Lllj That Is Not a Ijlly.
Our interest in lilies is always re
vived by the Easter season, and this is
a good time, therefore, to talk about
a member of the family that really
does not belong there. I refer to the
calla lily—so called. The calla is not
a lily at all, but an arum. It belongs
to the same family as the well-known
Jack-in-the-pulpit, so common in our
woods in early summer. The Jack has
a flower shaped like that of the calla,
only smaller. In the calla, the broad
sheath resembling a petal is pure
white, enclosing a golden club in
the Jack, the club and shield are both
pale green, the sheath being some
times streaked with brown. Many per
sons call the white sheath of the calla
a petal, and speak of the calla as the
"lily with one petal." This is not cor
rect What they call a petal Is really
a sheath, or envelope, properly named
a spathe. It is an ornamental appen
dage, surrounding the true flowers,
which are inconspicuous little growths
clustering at the base of the club,
which latter is botanically named the
spadix. A similar arrangement ex
ists in Jack-In-the-pulplt. This last
species Is also well kndwn under an
other name. When the green spadix
and spathe have withered away, a
bunch of bright scarlet berries appesrs
where the little Inconspicuous flowers
bloomed, and the children then call
the plant "Indian turnip," not recog
nizing it as their old friend Jack in an
other guise. Woe to the unfortunate
wight' who bites either the berries or
the root! His tongue will declare,
without uttering a word, that mustard
is mild In comparison! One common
name for the calla lily is Calla Ethiop
ica, or "Lily of the Nile," but this is
said to be a misnomer. Some species
of calla may be found in Ethiopia,
but the one with with which we are
most familiar is more abundant in
South Africa. It is so common In
some places as to be regarded as little
more than a, weed. The Dutch call It
the "pig-lily," as the pigs eat the
roots. TbAse of us that have visited
California'about Bistsr time can eas
ily under-it&Dd what this The
calla, on the Pacific coast, is as com
mon as the crocus or the daffodil ii
with us. Callas grow out in the opei
air, and attain a size from four ti
six times as large as anything of th|
kind here. Imagine a row of callaj
along an ordinary paling-fence,
tall as the fence itself, and as thicl
as the neighboring hedge, with flow
ers as big as good-sized milk pitcher3
and leaves nearly as large as those 01
the plant that vp know as "elephant's
ears. Indeed, in some gardens, calla
spread so fast that they have to b(
cut down and thinned out as nui
sances. The flowers enter lavishly int(
Easter decorations, but they are al
ways used as a background when
great masses of white are desired
rather than delicacy. The arum fam
ily is a large one, including all plant?
whose flowers resemble those of tin
calla. in having a fheath and club, or,
strictly speaking, 0 spathe and spadix
But we have only a few species in thj
United States, the best known 01
which is Jack-in-the-pulpit. The skunll
cabbage of early spring also belong)
to this family. The flowers appear ig
late March, or early April, always be«
fore tne leaves. The epathe Is sunk
in the ground, with none of the stalH
showing, so that the sheath, pointing
upwards, appears like a little tent. In
color, the spathe is a dirty yellow
mottled with dull red or purple. Th«
plants grow in swamps and meadows
When the leaves appear, they are largs
and oval, of a brilliant satiny green
growing in dense bunches, somewhat
in the style of garden rhubarb. Thosa
of us that have an opportunity to visit
a large conservatory, such as HortU
cultural Hall in the West Park, are
almost sure to notice several hand
some tropical plants of the arum fam
ily. One of these is the red calla. It
has a perfect bright scarlet spathe, and
a golden yellow spadix. The spathe
however, is flattened and turned out
ward, more like a true petal, with none
of the tubular effect of the white calla
Another plant of the order is the mon
stera, from Mexico and Central Amer
ica. It may be described as a climbing
vine, with large, oval leaves, gashed
into leaflets, like fingers. The flower
resembles that of the white calla. This
is succeeded by an edible fruit.—Mar
garet B. Harvey.
Do» Langiiedi
One day I sat upon a piazza over-i
looking our large baek yard, while be
side me Pat, my terrier, was busily
tearing to pieces a palm leaf fan. Sud«
denly he became perfectly still, staring
so intently into the yard that I turned
to see who had attracted his attention.
There was only Polly, our cook's little
mulatto girl, who was solemnly parad
ing up and down with a gorgeou
brand-new rag doll in a cigar bo:
chariot," and I wondered what P^t
could see in this to interest iiim. But
the next moment he had darted from
my side, and I saw his sharp little face
cautiously peeping in at the open yard
gate, still watching Polly. Waiting
until she had passed and her back was
toward him, he stole in, literally On tip
toe, and softly taking the doll in his
mouth, dashed out of the gate, pur,
sued by the exasperated Polly. Then
ensued a wild chase, ended at length
by Pat dropping the doll into the bos
and immediately seeking refuge in hia
former place on the piazza. Here ha
thrust his head through the balustrate,
and to attract Polly's attention gave
vent to a queer, smothered little bark,
at which she looked up and shook hei
fist at him in impotent rage. And it
was then that I saw Pat laugh. Trem
bling all over with delight, he turned
his head from side to side, and cocked
first one ear and then the other in tha
most comical fashion. His little black
nose and forehead wrinkled, his eyes
snapped and his eyebrows 'twitched
while his lips quivered, and—yes, thero
could be no mistake, about it—the cor-,
ners curled upward and Pat was laugh
ing.
The Fly as a BiUoonht
According to Messrs. I. M. Aldrich
and L. A. Turley, two well-known Eu
ropean zoologists, man is not the only
living being who delights to go sky
ward in a balloon. There are certain
flies, they say, which invariably ,ga
through the air in balloons whenevet
they get tired of flying in the ordinary
way. These airships are composed ol
small bubbles, which are exuded from
the bodies of the flies, and the air in
which suffices to support the insects
whenever their wings become'wear
and the fancy takes them to rida
through the air on their tiny gossame*
•bladders. They can go, it is said, in
any desired direction by simply sway,
ing their bodies toward the goal thej
expect to reach. In one of these cur.
pus airships the zoologists found thg
jDody of a very small insect, and thej
are
now wondering whether It got ii
there by chance or whether the pro
prietor of the balloon thoughtfully
placed It there with the object of feed
ing on it during its aerial Journey. Af
an argument in favor" of the lattei
hypothesis they point out that flie|
while traveling in balloons cannot
satisfy their hunger unless they returp
to the earth.
Jr\
"Dog Died for a Child-
John Lynch of Coraopolis today
gave an order for a monument, over
the grave of a water spaniel named
Fido which had twice saved his chil
dren from death, says the Philadel
phia Ledger. Yesterday the^nlmal
noticed his 4-year-old daughter .try tp
cross in front of a trolley car. The
dog ran into her and forced Iher off tbe
track in safety, but dog was
crushed, to death. Three^ yMrs ago
FIdo pulled -Charley "T^yncb, avail six
years,^ oofci6f.»tl»te^^ river.
Humanity ,1s never so.beautiful/aa
wheb praying for forgiveness, or dim
forgiving another.-*
-Ricbter.
UNIQUE CHARITY.
The Boston ri«n Known as tha Farm
er* Fruit Offering.
Boston has a unique charity which
might well be patterned after by oth
er large cities. It is known as the
farmers' fruit offering and the idea
originated with Edward Everett Hale.
In the year in which the scheme waa
put into operations the farmers in
Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont,
as well as those in Massachusetts, sent ,r
to Boston as a gift the surplus of their
fruit crop, and this was distributed
among the very poor people of the ity.
A great many families were thus pro- .£&»
vided with fruit who never before had
such a luxury in quantity. It was even
said that a large number of children
tasted fruit for the first time in their 3
lives when they received that gift
from the farmers. This year there is
agaiu a tremendous crop of apples, one
that has made the fruit a drug in the
market, unless it is of the best quality.
That surplus is now being shipped to
Boston for distribution through a char
itable organization that works without
pay. The railroads bring the stuff to
the city without cost. This year, in
addition to apples, there are coming
considerable quantities of onions, t.ur
nips, squash, some pears, and a few
potatoes. The shortage of the latter
crop keeps the offerings of that sort
down to the lowest. A few farmers
who were lucky enough to get a good
crop in this dry season are willing to
give away their surplus potatoes rath
er i.nan sell them, as they easily could.
These gifts will aggregate several
thousand bushels, mostly appies. Ap
ple parties are organized to visit or.
chards when a farmer writes that ho
will give the fruit to the society if
they will send men to pick and pack it.
The young people who join these par
ties have a jolly time while engaged
in this practical charitable work.
CAROLAN'S BARN.
Sumptuous Onarters la Whicb Forme?
Chicago Girl Entertains*
The new stable of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Carolan,. at Burlingame, near
San Francisco, is not a palace for the
horses and a barn for the hostlers. Fo
fine are these new quarters that the
owner has reserved for his own use a
large room in a corner of one of the
buildings, which surpass those owned
by George Gould at Lakewood and
George Vanderbilt at Biltmore, while
extraordinary attention has been paid
to the comfort of the servants who
have their quarters therein. There are
kitchens and pantries, a room for stor
age of provisions, a sick room, and sit
ting rooms. The opening of such a
stable was worth celebrating, and the
celebration, in the unanimous vote of
coast society, was worth remembering.
The ball was held in the stable and
coach house, and the scene, with elec
tric lights, and tho vari-colored cos
tumes, is said to have been one never
to be forgotten by those fortunate
enough to witness it. The buildings
are entirely of wood, and resemble the
low, rambling manor houses of Nor
mandy and Brittany. There is a
large court' 148 feet long and 98 feet
wide, and this court is surrounded by
covered porches into which every room
opens and in which the horse3 can be
exercised in rainy weather. A cupola
takers 4 feet above the court over the
'crcich liat.- -,
and is lis'aeti from uie cupola. The
smart set in San Francisco society was
present at this ball, at which some
beautiful costumes were worn. Mrs.
Carolan is a daughter of the late
George M. Pullman. Under the will,
which cut off her brothers with in
comes of $3,000 a year, Mrs. Carolan
received $1,000,000 outright, besides
her portion of the large residuary
estate.—New York Journal.
Invention of the GaSUotlno.
Some years before the terribla
French revolution of 1793 a learned
Parisian physician, Dr. Guillotin, turn
ed his attention to devising a mode of
executing criminals that would ba
more humane than hanging. He wa^
a man of note in the scientific woriy
of his time, having introduced ir
proved systems of ventilation aid
other sanitary blessings much needed
in that period. So, when the French
national assembly convened in 1789 i!
gave willing ear to his description of
a decapitating machine that would
"whisk oft one's head in an instant,
quite without pain." Other matter.i
were pressing, however there was 110
money in the national treasury, and
the assembly took no action upon Dr.
-Suillotin's plan. The matter seemed
quite forgotten until the "reign of
terror" began. Then a machine mad?
after the doctor's idea suddenly ap
peared and was put into immediate
ise. Its novelty caught the fancy ot
the mobs who attended the daily exe
cutions, and it was quickly named "la
guillotin," after the man who had pro
posed it Dr. Guillotin, who had never
made a working model of his inven
tion and who had thought it quite for
gotten, was so heartbroken by the ter
rible use to which his plan had beer
put that he left France.
&,1
Wool for Trimming.
Wool as a trimming medium is en
joying unprecedentedpopularity. Wool
en laces are beautiful and particularly
appropriate as a trimming for cloth.
Renaissance patterns-.are made of nar
row white, cream or string colored
woolen braid, with all the cobweb
and other stitches of real. lace done in
woolen threads. This trimming is to
be had in bands, in lace, or shaped
pieces for collars. eufEs, vests and
yoke decoration.
Boiton'i Ignorance of Oelcbritte*
The Boston Athenaeum has long
contained three busts which no one in
that city was able to identify.
assistant li'barian, a young woman,
Just recognized them as excellent like
ness of Lewis Cass the great states
mani.jNiqhqljis, Biddle, one of the most
eminent finam^iers of-the century, and
a Russian prince, famous all over the
world.,
T^key'sJ ^gtat^ Mlnliit^rs.
wllos^ jafoiffinrto
different cqpatrfecfeM ObHstians. Th«%.5 v-T,
present ministers to the United St«b
and England are G$Mikfr'l^#1hefbng j,
tbe Greek "tSatlfollc church. Oner Tm$~
lab a- ChfisH«it *Mrv«d 'Tfi
key fo/ fertr-fiSui conilecfd^i **arf
LaadMulT
$
61
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