UJJATH AT MORNING.
tr CHART." HAKS0.1 towns.
' ,; whm (lan n wan sweeping o er
'". uv,eemarnins glories lit tlie gleaming
, i Tne Vlio watched her, holding lier
vlJ$,eC"M' that the liou!d tni.s
' it all!"
..,. ,.,n. rin from lii dnrk nizht.
i'iomeil l" H'rtt b'mneti ,vhen .ne ,vellt
i 1 nrf'sn'iu. nt coming of the light
tie ha y-"" ft-th. ""J l""
k U-ous Jay."
rut he. ."roin lier poor mortal house of
GI,Jiv"rolened, went singing to God'
And "l1ear orJ nfter t'18 kleak
world-rain,
j cnim bear the brightness of fhy
fr,n''jiie Quiet Singer, (B. V. Dodge
i Co.)
A MIDNIGHT ENCOUNTER.
Dy MATTIE OYER BIIITTS.
TVomen are naturally afraid of rats.
It Is an established fact that a
woman who will fly right In the face
of death by wearing tight corsets,
tbln-solod shoes, or otherwise violat
ing the iaws of nature and common
lense, will scream at the top of her
lungs, if she does not go off Into con
tusions or a fit of hysterics, at the
light of a common sized rat.
Mrs. Hai ry Erown, being a woman,
and withal an exceedingly pretty one,
shared the common terror indeed,
had rather more than her share of It.
One night there was company at
Mr. Harry Brown's, and when the
family retired the hour was quite
late. Mr. Brown, with man's easy
forgerfulness, soon slept the sleep of
the just; but his wife tossed restless
at his side, and longed In vain to Imi
tate his example.
At length, however, she settled
down, and was Just dropping Into a
comfortable doze, when her attention
was attracted by a faint sound, like
the dripping of water upon some bard
t'jlistance.
What could It be? Mrs. Brown's
heart "organ to beat fast, but she
raised upon her dimpled elbow and
listens! Drip, drip, drip! Drip,
drip, drip; Slowly and steadily the
sound came through the stillness.
Something was evidently wrong.
Mrs. Brown grasped her liege lord
by the shoulder, and gave him a gen
tle shake.
'Harry, Harry! -wake up! Some
thing Is tho matter! "
Harry turned over, gave a rather
unmusical grunt, and subsided again.
Urs. Brown repeated the shake.
"Harry! Harry! I say! "Wake up!
itake up! " ,
Mr. Erown half opened his eyes,
and yielding to IJaiy's pushes, sat up
In the bed.
"Eh? What's up? What's to pay,
Uary?" lie asked.
"I don't know. Somebody getting
In the house, or something. It
sounds like water dropping."
"Robbers getting In the house
ouldn't sound like water drop
ring," tnld Mr. Brown. "You're al
ways getting scared at nothing."
"I'm not! And it is something!"
Indignantly responded Mrs. Erown.
"There! listen don't you hear It?"
Mr. I'.rown listened, and did hear
'fry plainly. '
'Its the water-pipe. There's a
lf.il; somewhere," he presently de
eded. "It has to be stopped, too."
So he tumbled out of bed and started
!n pursuit.
Mrs. Drown, not daring to bo left
alone, st up, too, and followed him.
And to protect her shoulders from the
flight air, she caught up Mr. Brown's
dressing-gown, which hung on a
lair at the bedside, and threw It
around her. '
This dressing-gown was a very
aandso.-ne affair, which Mrs. Mary.
i;h wifely affectloD. had made and
ful!y ornamented with her own
fetty fingers. At the waist she had
ewed a long silken cord, with soft,
heavy tassels, and as her stature was
oniethlrg less than that of her tall.
"usoand, when she walked these tas
Jels dragged on the floor at her hare
feet.
The leak, being diligently sought
'or. was at length discovered In the
wh-room, and proceeded from noth
ing worse than one of the faucets of
lD water-pipe being left slightly
pen.
f course, It was only the work of
J'ngle instant to turn the faucet and
P the leak; end having done this,
f. Brown turned to renew his slum
e. followed .by bis devoted wife.
But scarcely had Mrs. Brown takea
"ogle step, when she set her little
oot Piump down upon one 0( the
,0't, yielding tassels of the dressihg
n, and instantly the bathroom re
ounded with a succession of prcing
Tlelts bursting upon the ppalled
f of Mr. Brown, and freezing the
Mood ia hi, vein,
"Mary! Mnry! what is the matter?"
cuea, running to Mrs. Brown, whq
had fled in terror to the farthest cor
ner of the bathroom.
MOh! It's a rat! It's r rat, Harrv!
I stepped right on it! Oh, mercv.
mercy! Do kill it, Mr, Erown! do
kill It! "
"Where! wr,re h It! Ehow It to
me! Ml fix him!" bravely cried Mr.
Brown, catching up r stick which lay
upon the window-sill, and brandish
ing it above his bend with a savage
air.
"Oh, he's here! lie's here! He?
followed me rirht inio the corner!
Oh! look, Harry! look! Here it is!"
Mr. Frown caught sight of the tas
sol, which, of course, moved with
every active spring which Mrs. Erown
made, and down upon It he made a
furious descent.
Mrs. Brown jumped out or the way,
and, or course, the rat Jumped too.
And then began a wild race around
the bathroom Mrs. Brown first the
rat after her, and Mr. Brown aftet
the rat. making desperate lunges at
the fierce little animal, without seem
ing to hurt It.
"I declare, I never saw such a
rat!" he panted, breathlessly. "I
know I've hit It a dozen times, and it
Jumps as lively as ever. Mary! Mary!
Jump up Into the bathtub! He can't
fjllow you there! Jump, quick!"
Almost exhausted with her strug
gles, poor Mary made a desperate at
tempt to leap Into the bathtub, and
succeeded In tumbling safely Into it.
Hut that wonderful rat did follow;
and just as It went over the edge, Mr.
Drown dropped his stick, and with
frantic energy made a grab at It
with his hands.
And the next moment, firmly cling
ing to his prisoner. Mr. Brown
dropped himself on the floor; and
such a roar of laughter as he broke
into never shook the walls of that
bathroom before.
"Oh! hold me! somebody! Hold
me, or I shall burst!" he yelled, roll
ing on the floor In a paroxysm of
mirth. 'Here. Mary, here's vour rat!
Oh, my gracious, I know I shall
burst! Ilpre"s your rat, look, he
won't hurt you!" And Mr. Brown
held up the soft, silken tassel, which
had been the cause of all their woes,
to the asronished eyes of his wife.
. "Well! It was too b;'d, after all Mrs. :
Brown's fright, that, there was no '
rat in the case though to this day i
sho declares that (here was one, and I
that she first set her bare foot upon '
a real, genuine rat. and, after he got i
av.nv, fhe mistook the tassel for him.
She Ik nzeil Mr. Trown not to tell -
the story, hut It was too good for a
fun-loving man to ker-p. so he often
cntfriains his friends with the story
of Mary's terrible rat.
etecececoeaeeeseoecsoeoese
S THE USEFULNESS
np ip.FP.FRris
When an leoherir is launched unon
Its loiist Journey its bottom parts ore
barnacled with sand, bowlders and
other detritus gathered from the lana
Knrrarft ovpr wnirn 11 nas maue us
tedious march to the sea. This bur
den It gradually casts off as It melts
while drifting down along our conti
nental seaboard. As a result of the
deposits thus mads through countless
centuries, combined with the products
of erosion carried seawaru ny me
rivers, the seabed for many miles off
shore has been gradually filled up,
creating those vast, Submerged pla
teaus known as "banks," which ex
tend from Labrador to the Bay of
Tundy, and form the breeding
c'-n-.iiuls of Innumerable shoals of
cod, herring and other valuable food
fishes. In this way the bergs have
performed an economic service of In
calculable value, laying the founda
tion for one of the world's most im
portant productive industries, and af
fording a means of livelihood to those
hardy bands of "'captains courageous"
who each year reap the harvests of
the sea. The bergs serve a further
economic purpose In that to their
tempering influence are largely due
the climatic conditions prevailing
over a great part of the interior of
North America. Alfred Sidney John
son, in The World To-day.
Conl and rrospcrily.
It has been computed that In 1S40
nrlnntlcn and consumption of
coal In the United States amounted to
a quarter of a ton per head for the
entire population; In I860 the ratio
had risen to half a ton per head; In
1880 It was one ton. and in 1890 five
tons. As the population itself was
mouslv all this time,
the increase In tho amount of coal
produced and consumed was, of
course, vastly greater than these ra
tios per head would indicate. The
Increase has gone hand In hand with
ih. irrnwth of manufactures and In
dustries Philadelphia Record.
" An Attractive Offer.
Genial Clerk '"Now it is not the
limpid purity of Its tone, nor tb
superb Quality of its case which
makes us certain you will be pleased
with, one of our pianos, but the fact
that when you remove the wrappings,
on delivery, you will find Inside 1000
all different souvenir post cards
of. New York and vicinity." Puck.
THE MOST UNHAPPY WOMAN IN THE WORLD
IJy HERMAN
"There was a time when kings vis
ited our Czar and were received roy
ally in St. Petersburg," said a small,
swarthy, wrinkled peasant woman
standing In her field, one day Inst
summer when I was in the province
of Kaluga. "Now, when tho English
King and tbe French President visit
us, they are received in the hallway
somewhere In Revel. They are not
admitted to tho parlor Into St.
Petersburg, because the Czar and
Tsarltsa and their children are them
selves afraid to enter the parlor. If
the Czar Is afraid well, be has rea
son to be the people have not yet
forgotten Red Sunday. But ray heart
aches for the Tsarltsa, who has done
no harm to any one. My lifo Is mis
erable enough, but she, poor soul,
cries her eyes out a bird In a golden
cage. And even there she Is forever
In fear that a bomb will destroy the
cage and all...." And tho little
peasant woman, who had left off rak
ing her hay for a while, wiped her
eyes with her apron awkwardly.
When Princess Alix, daughter of
I.udwig IV., the Grand Duke of
Hesse, became Alexandra Feodorovna
by marrying Nicholas II., the Em
peror of Russia, who was thpn the
Crown Prince, she probably did not
know that she was destined to be
come one of tho mo3t miserable
women on the face of the globe. The
palaces of emperors and kings have
often enough In history harbored
heartrending tragedies and domestic
dramas, but the tragedy of tbe woman
who 8 "the first lady" of the Russian
hind, the mother of the Tsarevlch, is
so pathetic that even the peasant
women in God-forsaken Russian vil
lages are touched with pity for her.
The marriage between Nicholas
and Alexandra was by no means a
love match. Neither the successor
to the Russian throne, nor the quiet,
well-bred young Duchess, reared In
Anglo-Spxon environments, a student
of Kenan, of the German philoso
phers and the English poets, desired
the match. The young Crown Prlnc"
was attached to tho beautiful Polish
dancer, Ksheshlnskaya, and It was for
tho purpose of putting an end to that
love affair that Alexander III. de
cided to marry his son to the Duelled
of Hesse.
Immediately after her marriage, In
1S94 (which took place on the birth
day of the Dowager Empress), tho
young princess learned that the
whims of her mother-in-law, Maria
Feodorovna, were to be a law to her.
At first the made in effort to Intro
duce tho Influence of European cul
ture into the life of the Court, but
she soon discovered a strong oppo
sition In the "renl Russian" Influence
which was forced upon youug Nich
olas by his mother. To counteract
whatever influence the young princess
might exert, the Dowager Empres-j
called the reactionary advisers to her
aid, thus dominating the weak will
of the Emperor.
Little by little Alexandra became
convinced that her modern Ideals and
her finer views of life had to be sup
pressed. In fact, she soon lost her In
terest in matters that had once stirred
her mind; she ceased reading her
favorite writers, and devoted her time
to the study of the Russian language
and even became absorbed in the in
terests of the Synod. Still, she at
tempted from time to time to reform
the Court life, but to no avail. Some
time after the coronation of Nicholas,
Alexandra forbade the ladles-lu-walt-ing
ct Court to smoky cigarettes.
The new edict raised a storm of dis
satisfied criticism in the Imperial pal
aces which served to make tho Tsar
ltsa more wretched.
The shocking tragedy that marked
the coronation of tbe present. Czar of
Russia, on the field of Kkodinka,
which resulted In the death of 4 800
people, was a painful blow to tho
young Queen's sensitive nature; it Is
believed that the Impression has
never been effaced from her mind,
especially as she saw her husband
and the Dowager Empress remain
calm while. so many people lost their
lives, and that, without paying the
slightest attention to the catastrophe,
they ordered tho festivities to bo. re
sumed. There were times when the weak
willed, dreamy-eyed young Emperor
yielded to the influence of his wife,
who intellectually is far his superior,
but they were only brief moments
which were followed by long lapses of
reaction. She was particularly
grieved to see that he was enmeshed
In the wiles of charlatans, fortune
tellers, and spiritualists, Buch as Phil
ippe, the hairdresser of Marseilles.
Demchlnsky, and Father ( John of
Kronstadt.
But the tragedy In the life of the
Empress grew most acute' when she
was humiliated by the Dowager Em:
press because she did not give' birth
to a successor to the throne. In Rus
sla,.the first lady of the land Is'ndt
the Tsarltsa.'the Wife of the Emperor,
bnt the mother of the Tsarevlch, 'the
heir to the throne. As" no son was
born to her, her mothcr-ln-law, tbe
Eowftger Empress, still remained the
DKHNSTCIN,
foremost woman In Russia, nnd she
used her position unscrupulously
against her daughter-in-law. The
youne; Empress was Ignored at the
family councils, so that later, when
she was consulted, she simply de
clined to express her views at all.
The Czar's disappointment was abo
great when one after another four
daughters were presented to him. At
one time the Court clique, wltj the
Dowager Empress and Pcjbyedonost
sev at their head, who persuaded the
Czar that the birth of an heir to tho
throne would pacify the people and
would thus save Russia, urged Nich
olas to divorce Alexandra. It was
then that Nicholas turned to the
counsel of the mystlcists and spirit
ualists, particularly to Father John
of Kronstadt. It Is not difficult to
understand the feeling of an Intellec
tual, refined woman, whose favorite
authors were Renan, Feuerbach, and
Spencer, to be forced to obey the
whims of people whose superstltltlon
was equalled only by their enmity to
ward her. When the fifth child was
about to be born she was compelled
to go, at the behest of Nicholas and
his spiritual advisers, to a deserted
place in Sarov, where a new saint had
been discovered and where Father
John of Kronstadt said special mass
with most elaborate services.
But the most wretched trouble
from which the Tsarltsa Is suffering
Is the fear of death. Since the out
break of the revolution she hns felt
that an atmosphere of constant dan
ger Is hovering over the royal family.
The Rod Sunday "episode" filled the
Tsarltsa with horror, and her nerves,
like the Czar's, have ever since then
been on the verge of collapse. This
is tho explanation of the numerous
cable despatches bringing news of
the , Empress' Illnesses. Surrounded
and protected by cordons of guards,
detectives, police, she Is all the time
tortured with the f. ar of death, not
so much for herself as for her chil
dren. Whether she sails with the
Czar and her children upon the Im
perial yacht in the Finnish arehipela
fo or travels among the Finnish
ir.oun'Bins. the constant danger to
her children haunts her. Of late her
malady has assumed a violent form
of hysteria. j
The Czar hns lost the respect and
the lovo of hl3 people; even those j
who had worshiped him blindly
know now that he Is no longer their
"Little Father." But there are many j
people In Russia who feel that there
Is a sad tragedy of a suffering woman
coming to Its closo In the palace of
the Czar, and whatever littles sym- j
pathy there still exists In the Empire I
for the Romanoff family, it Is solely i
for the woman who was Trlncess
Allr.
Who knows, perhaps the Empress
of Russia, In her soul, envies the half-
starved, hard-working peasant wo
man of Kaluga, preferring the hum
ble hut to her terror-filled palace?-
Harper's Weekly.
Curious Bird's Net.
An odd gift has recently been mado
to a museum In a Connecticut town,
tho main industry of which is tho
manufacture of watches. This gift
is nothing more nor less than a bird's
nest, mado entirely of steel.
It appears that In the vicinity of
the workshops there are always to be
s;en the remains of the old hair
springs of watches that have been cast
aside. Last summer a watchmaker
discovered this curious bird's nest,
which had been built in a tree near
the factory by sparrows. It measures
ten inches in circumference and is1
made solely of discarded watch
springs. When the birds had fledged their
brood tho watchmaker secured their
unique nest as an interesting proof
of tho intelligence of birds In adapt
ing anything that comes within their
ken as suggesting material for n.'Sts.
Philadelphia Record.
Lislit Evidence.
An Irish soldier on gentry duty had
orders to allow no one to smoke near
his post. An officer with a lighted
cigar approached, whereupon Pat
boldly challenged lilm and ordered
him to put it out at once.
The officer, with a gesture of dis
gust, threw away his cigar, but no
sooner was his back turned than Pat
picked, it up and quietly retired to
the sentry box. ,
The' officer, happening to look
around, observed a beautiful cloud
of smoke Issuing from the box. He
at once challenged Pat for smoking
on duty. "
"Smoking, Is it; sorr? Bedad, and
I'm oply keeping it. lit to show to the
corporal, when be .comes, as evidence
agin you.; Tlt-Pils.: , . . , .
"About the She'of It.
Hyker "Money Is a conundrum."
Pyker "What's the answer?"
Hyker "Everybody has to give It
cf ." Chicago News.
-.HOUSEHOLD
Ksfo AFFAIRS
mm
EATH TUB.
A ten cent small sized scrubbing
brush Is the nicest thing to use when
washing out a bath tub. It appeals
to tho men folk of the household as
a very sensible way of arranging for
a rather dreaded duty. Now Haven
Refclster.
cood y.rsv for sunday.
Roaat chicken with dressing and
gravy, creamed potatoes, squash, tur
nips, peas, cranberry Jelly, whits
bread, pickles, coffee Jelly with
whipped cream, tea or coffee. Chick
en can be almost cooked Saturday and
finished Sunday while vegetables are
cooking- Boston Post.
IRON RUST REMOVER.
Take equal parts of oxalic acid
nnd water; soak the Iron rust spots
thoroughly In solution and place at
once over steaming tenkettle snout,
aud the Iron rust will disappear with
tho vapor. Rlnso thoroughly In clear,
cold water, as tho acid would eat the
cloth If allowed to dry In the cloth.
If the color la very delicate, use less
acid. If the first trial does not re
move the rust, repeat as before. This
will remove iron rust after it has
been on a long time, and will not
take the color out of the cloth if di
rections are followed carefully. ED3
ton Post,
CLEANING LEATHER.
Leather-covered chairs may be
cleaned with the following pr.vparu
lion; Mix together half a pound
each of French chalk nnd Fuller's
earth, two ottnres of powdered starch.
r.:id one ounce of yellow ochre. Wet
with boiling wator until It become3
p. thin paste, then odd a tablespoon
ful of sweet oil. When it is coll
spread on the leather and allow it to
remain until perfectly dry. Brush.
o!i' then, removing every particle oE
tho mixture, and give tho leather a
good polish with melted wax and tur
pentino, using four ounces of the w:is
to n gill of turpentine. The leather
mr.y he darkened If desired by the ad
dition of a liale oil to the wa::.
New York Evening Post. .
USES FOR COMMON SALERATUS.
1. Scda bound on a bunion will
relieve the soreness.
2. Soda moistened with turpentine
and bound on a burn or scald will
draw out the fire.
3. Vinegar heated and mixed with
enough soda until it is done foaming
j'.r.d a piece of black silk dipped in it
until thoroughly wet and then applied
to inflamed parts, such as the breast
or throat, will draw out the soreness.
4. A small pinch of soda added to
the water In which lamp wicks are
boiled will make them w hite and glvo
a better light.
5. A teaspoonful of soda stirred In
the dishwater in which glasses and
silverware are washed will give them
a better polish.
C. Try adding a teaspoonful of
soda to the water In which your kitch
en floor Is washed and see If grease
spots don"t disappear like mnslc.
Boston Post.
i;.-. 1; Tomato S.iup Ta'.tc a:." r v!
of nuat soup and add half a c.::i ol
stewed nnd .vcll-seaso:i:jd tomatoes;
strain, and terve with croutons.
Tomato Toast S'.':v.' dotvn a c.
of tomatoes) till thlel;, wiui a table
spoonful of chopped onion, a tabif
r;,oo;iful of cho;.;.cd ran.!?", call and
pepper; when the jtii:e is somewhat
absorbed pour over slice? of buttered
;sat and serve at once. Do not
strain.
Tomatoes Au Gratln Take a can
of tomatoes, add salt and pepper and
a teaspoonful of minced onion; put
them Into a deep bal:lng dish In layers
with soft bread crumbs, and put bits
of butter on these; repeat till the dish
is full, with, crumbs on top, and bake
till brown.
Broiled Oysters and Celerj" Eroll
oysters until they begin to shrivel,
then arrange on slices of daintily
toasted buttered bread; cover thera
with finely chopped celery, dust with
salt, and pour a goodly quantity ol
cream white sauce over the mixture
Vienna, Chocolate Four table
spoons grated chocolate mixed with
enough water to make a smooth
paste. Pour Into double boiler ano
add one pint milk and one pint cream
which has reached the boiling point.
Sweeten to taste and boll bard foi
five minutes. Beat vigorously with
egg beater for several minutes and
serve.