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AND RECORDER VOL. xxiv. MONTEREY, HIGHLAND COUNTY, VA., JULY 2$. 1902, NO. 29. THEr\Y5TER.T- Op-TftC .?x^iK?/&fes#? A-"3?*-",ife&:. Bk , m*k r r=i -V * J '"^W ri ore nee Warden, Aumor or," The Mouse on tty: Harsh," cfc tCopyrigbt, 1895, by Babert Bonner's Sons. ] CHAPTER XI. -.J Continued. The worst of it was that the sent mental little old maid, under the pr text of curing her protege of her unfo tuuate attachment, by diverting lu thoughts to a more appropriate cliai nel, took Jem Stickels in hand hersel promised him every assistance wit Nell if he would promise to refori and encouraged the fisherman to pe secuto Nell more than ever. It was si who persuaded Jem to woo with a lei arrogant air, with offers to "turn ovi a new leaf" for her sake, and oth< similar blandishments. And although Nell guessed who was that had inspired this alteratioi the girl was obliged to take a diffcrei attitude to her unwelcome wooer i consequence, lt is easy to be haugh! and studiously frigid to a presumpti ous person; but when that person b' comes meek and almost servile in h endeavors to make himself usefu even In the humblest capacity, whe he insists upon chopping your woo and carrying your water, then it is di ric alt to maintain a properly freezin altitude. The climax come one af tomoo when Nell was invited to tea by Mis Bostal, and was let in on her arrivi by the detested Jem. Nell looked quite shocked when, o entering the house, she learned frci the young man's lips that he had bee invited, too. The young girl turned to the door < the dining-room, where a small fii burned in honor of the occasion, to p in search of her hostess. Jem, wi: was in his Sunday clothes, in which L presented a stronger contrast tha ever to the relined, delicate-hande girl, said awkwardly that Miss Bosh would be down directly. As Nell, tal lng no notice of this intimation, wa about to leave the room, he suddenl found courage to place himself befor the door. "li's done a-purposc; she done it i purpose," he explained, growing moi rustic than usual in his speech unde pressure of his excitement, "so I raigl have a chance of speaking to you." Nell looked angry and anxious; br she looked him in the Tace with an e: pression which daunted him a little. "She don't know what I want to sa to you," he went on in a hoarse Whil per. "She thinks I want to ask yo to marry me, as if I should be such precious fool! No, what I want to sa is, that the chap Hemming is sti banging about; he's staying at the Be at Stroan, and he's offered me a five pound not if I'll tell him what I tol you, and I've refused. There!" And, fairly overwhelmed by the cor templation of his own greatness o soul, Jem slapped his chest and mad his eyes round. Nell listened, with fear and repulsioi struggling in her breast. Should sh brave the man, with the knowledge which she knew that he possessed, o should she conquer her own loathinj and temporize? Miss Bostal had ad vised her to brave him; but, then. Mis Bostal did not know what she knew Nell shivered as tha man came a stei toward h^r. "I don't understand you," she said a last. "What do you want?" "I want you to give me a kiss." Tin girl started and made a gesture of ab horrence. "Come," persisted Jem; "1 isn't much, considering, 'specially a: 1 could take one myself if I had i mind." And as he spoke he took anothei step, threatening to fulfill this menace Bal Nell was too quick for him; sin was ut tte other side of the table be fore the words were well out of his monti). "Miss Bostal," she said, quietly, as il his proposition had been unworthy ol remark, "advises me to let you make what use of your information you please. She says no one would believe you." "And do you think tttat?" he asked, <rfith an indescribably cunning leer. The sudden anxiety which over? spread her f;ice at the question showed him his opportunity. "Look here," he went on, in a tone which was meant to be persuasive, but which was to Nell repellant in its coarse assumption of familiarity, "I don't want to rush you into anything. You know what I have to sell, and you know what the price is. If you don't care to pay lt, well, you know how I can pay myself in coin of Hie realm. Nov/ I'll give you till to-morrow night. /f you'll see me to-morrow, down at your own garden-fence, where you'll be quite sale, mind, for I mean quite /air and above board, aud If you'll ipeak to me fair and be civil, I'll hold my tongue, and wild horses nor all the | cs in Lou'on shouldn't make me i en ch: but if von don't choose to do this, and it's a precious small tliiug to make such a fuss about, why, then, I'll go oft' to Hemming and get the five pounds, and you can guess what'll hap? pen, if you don't know." As the man looked at her, with bloodshot, Inflamed eyes, enjoying in anticipation the kiss which he felt Bhe was bound to give, Nell's heart tank. He would not surely speak in this tone to her, If the proofs of which he had spoken were not very strong enos. i ^you must give me time to think,"; she faltered, turning her head away to escape the gaze of the lustful eyes, but keeping a sharp eye on his move? ments all the time. She felt keen resentment against Miss Theodora, who, in her amiable folly, had exposed her to this persecu? tion. Luckily that lady herself ap? peared a few seconds later, aud then Nell at once made the excuse of going to fetch the tea-things to get out of the room. Once outside the door, however, she ran through the passage to the back of the house, slipped out Into the garden, and ran home across the fields oj fast as her fleet littre feet could carry Ber. "Since she likes his society so much, she may enjoy a tete-a-tete with him:" she said to herself, not without a bit? ter feeling that her old friend and pro? tectress had betrayed her in her eag? erness ta reclaim the prodigal. Before she reached the Blue Lion, Nell had made up her mind what to do. She felt that she must have some advice of a more solid, more worldly kind than that of kindly, sentimental, narrow-minded Miss Theodora. So she wrote a little note, the first she lind ever sent him, to Clifford King, and sent it by a safe hand to Stroan to catch the night mail. Her note was very short, containing as it did, only the following words: "Dear Mr. King: "If it would not be too inconvenient to you to come down to Stroan to-mor? row, I should be very glad of thc op? portunity of asking your advice upon a matter in which I do not dare trust my own judgment, and do not dare to consult my uncle. "With apologies for my audacity in asking such a great favor, "Believe me, yours sincerely, "NELL CLARIS.'' Then she passed a sleepless night, torturing herself by wondering what Jem. Stickels, would do, and whether Clifford" would come?this she did not greatly doubt?and how she should tell him if he came. And on the following evening, just when she had given up all hope of seeing him, and just when the time appointed by Jem Stickels for her to meet him was approaching, she saw Clifford, from her seat by the open door of the sitting-room, walk into the bar. Nell sprang up with a little cry, and Clifford, catching sight of her, flushed a deeper red than his walk had givcu him, and going quickly through the bar and along the passage, pushed open the door of the little sitting-room, and stood before her. The girl had been so anxious for his coming that all her little maidenly arts of affected surprise, of Indiffer? ence, of reserve, were in abeyance; and he saw before him tho girl he loved, with love confessed In her blue eyes. For one moment he stood looking at her, a little awe-struck, as a lover ought to be, at discovering how much more beautiful she was than he re? membered her. Then, not unnaturally taking her summons for just a little more than it was intended to be, caught her in his arms, and pressing her against his* breast, covered her face with kisses. Nell uttered a little cry; she thought lt expressed consternation, alarm; but Clifford read the sound differently, and kissed her again. "Oh, Mr. King!" panted the girl, as Boon as she could draw back her head enough to speak, "you don't under? stand. 1 sent for you to advise me, that's all. I-" "I quite understood," replied Clif? ford, calmly, not letting her go very far. "And I am longing to put my pro? fessional knowledge at your service. But first-" He stopped short, arrested in the middle of his speech by a violent start on the part of Nell, who was looking with eyes full of alarm at the door which lcd into the garden. The upper part of this door was of glass, and she had suddenly perceived that a face was pressed to the outer side. "Who is it?" asked Clifford, as soon as he saw what had arrested her at? tention. And without wailing for au answer, hesprang across the little room, to? ward the glass door. Nell sprang ar? ter him, and clutched at his sleeve. "Never mind. Don't go." she whis? pered apprehensively. "It is only Jem Stickels. Don't open the door." But as Clifford stopped, under the pressure of her earnest entreaty, the sound of a hoarsely uttered curse reached their ears; the face was quick? ly withdrawn, and the next moment, with a loud crash of broKen glass, Jem's fist came through tho upper part of the door, and struck Clifford full in the chest. Nell saw, even before the blow was dealt, that there was an open knife in the fisherman's hand. But, al? though she threw herself upon her lover, tryiug to drag him back from the danger, she was not in time. With a howl of savage delight, Jem drew back his knife, covered with blood. CHAPTER XII. Clifford was so entirely taken by surprise that he hardly realized In the first moment that he was hurt. The next, he dashed open the door at ono blow, and finding Jem outside coolly wiping his knife on the ivy which' grew on this side of the house, ho seized the fisherman by the throat with one hand, snatched his knife from him and flung it away with tho other, and then hurled the man from him with such violence that the latter fell, and striking his head upon the stone ledge of a window lay motion? less on the ground. Then, suddenly overcome by a feel lng of dizziness, the result of his wound Clifford staggered back against the broken door and into Nell's arms. "Oh, it is my fault?my fault! I ought not to have asked you to come!" moaned she, not attempting to hide her affectionate concern from the peo? ple who, startled by the noise of the affray, now pressed into the room. George Claris Avas among the first to enter, and he frowned angrily on seeing Clifford, of whose arrival he had not yet heard. "So lt's you, is it, Mr. King!" he ex? claimed surlily, on recognizing the man whom he looked upon as the ori? gin of all his trouble. "Aud what have you been up to now, eh?" "Oh, uncle, uncle, can't you see that he's hurt, badly hurt?" implored Nell. "Send for a doctor?oh. some one pray go for a doctor, or he will bleed to death!" But George Claris hardly concealed the fact that that event woi.ld give him satisfaction rather than annoy? ance; he did not dare to interfere, however, when Nell gave orders to one of the men who had crowded Id, to go to Stroan for a doctor. "Who did it?" somebody, not the landlord, presently asked. Clifford was by this time hardly con? scious. He had boeu laid on the sofa, while Nell herself, keeping enough presence of mind to be of use and to ste what tho danger was, held her own fiugers to the wouud to check the flow of blood. She heard the question and an? swered it. "It was Jem Stickels. He struck him through the glass." This reply led to further Investiga? tions, and Jem was quickly discov? ered and brought into the room where his victim lay. Unconscious though he was, having been stunned severely. Jem. of course, got uo pity from Nell. And when some of the men suggested carrying him to the cottage where he lodged, which was within a stone's throw of the inn, Nell made no sugges? tion that he should remain where he was, being unaffectedly glad to have him taken out of her sight. Buxom Meg exchauged many a nod and wink and grin with the customers from the bar, Inspired by the utter ab? sorption Nell showed in her lover and his danger. "All my fault?my fault!" the girl kept murmuring, as she hung over Clifford, Watching his face, which had grown pale, with straining eyes, and listening anxiously to the breathing, which told her that he was alive. Then Meg became abruptly con? scious that there was something In this simple grief, this maidenly affec? tion, too sacred for the gaze of the rough, though sympathetic, group. And she bundled them all, with large, wide-sweeping gestures as of a gigan? tic hen, back Into the bar. And Nell and her lover and her uncle were left together. George Claris, though he, too, was somewhat touched, was uneasy and suspicious. "What was he doing down here?" he began, Inquisitorially, when they were left alone. "And what was he up to that made Jem Stickels knife him? No good, I'll be bound," grum? bled he. "He loves me. uncle. He has asked nie, weeks ago, to be his wife, but I hadn't even promised; no, not a word, but when he came to-day-" "Ah, what made him come to-day?" Nell hesitated, and then confessed, in a low voice: "I sent for him." George Claris mumbled his dissatis? faction. "And what made Jem Stickels knife him? Come, now, I should have thought you were above having any? thing to do with a chap like him. But I've seen him loafing about more'u usual lately." "It was not fault, of course," said Nell. Simply. "And of course he had no right to?to-" "To be jealous? So I should ha' thought. Still, he was jealous, eh?" "I suppose so." There was a short silence; then George Claris spoke again: "Well, lass, lt's no use talking to women, 'cause they've got their own way o' doing things, whatever you say to 'em. But you've brew'd yourself a peck o' trouble between them two chaps, and neither mo nor anybody but yourself can help you out of it. An' mind, I won't say I'll have this c-hap turned out of the house, though I've a good mind to. But If the doc? tor says he's to be laid up here, I'll not jave you hangin* 'round. You'll just jo away sharp to my sister in London. Do you hear? I'll have him properly inned, that I'll promise, but it'll not be by you. Do you hear?" Nell assented meekly. Ai loug as Clifford was not made to suffer she reit that there was nothing for it but Lo submit. Uncle and niece exchanged no moro words until the arrival of the doctor, when George Claris told his niece to pvt on her hat and to go to Miss Bos :al's, where she was to remain until he sent her luggage to her there, when die was to start without delay for Loudon. To be Continued. Earthquake la New York. Malone, N- Y. (Special).?A distinct arthquakc shock was felt in Malone. t lasted about ten seconds. Many per? ons were awakened by the rumbling nd rattling of windows. . JOHN W. MACKAY DIES IN LONDON American Millionaire Succumbs to Heart Failure. LAST OF FAMOUS BONANZA KINGS When a Lad He Caught the Gold Fever and Weot to California Made and Lost One Fortune Before He was 30 Yeara Old Mis Great Luck With the Comstock Lode. London (By Cable).?John W. Mao kay, of San Francisco, who had been suffering fvrom hteat prostration since Tuesday last, died at his residence, or. Carrollton House terrace at 6.30 o'clock Sunday evening. Mr. Mackay*! condition had improv? ed kat the patient had a bad night, and in the morning a consultation was held by three physicians. Mr. Mackay grew worse as the da*y progressed. He was unconscious most of the time and died very peacefully. The immediate cause of death was heart failure. The right lung was found to bc congested, and the symptoms in? dicated pneumonia. Mrs. Mackay, her mother and Coun? tess Telfener were present when Mr. Mackay died, and Princes.' Galatro Co lonna arrived from Paris half an hour after her stepfather's death, duse; Shock 11 Fan Francisco. San Francisco, Cala. (Special).?The news of the death of John W. Mackay, in London, caused quite a shock here, notwithstanding the public was in a measure, prepared for it by the previous announcement of his illness. Mr. Mac? kay was the last surviving member of tiie four bonanza kings, Flood, O'Brien and Fair, the other three having long since died. For thc past 18 years Mr. Mackay bad not been actively identified with the life of this city, but had passed most of his time in the East, making annual visits to the coast to look after his property in? terests in this state and Nevada. L'VEi LOST AND BUILDINGS WRECKED. Ten People Killed in a Storm that ls Driven With Hurricane Velo Ity. Baltimore, Md. (Special).?This city was thc center of a storm Sunday after? noon which resulted in thc death of io persons, the injury of others, unroofed 200 houses, seriously damaged shipping in the harbor, almost entirely severed telegraphic and telephonic communica? tion with the outside world, destroyed many magnificent trees, seriously inter? fered with street car service in places, damaged the city's electric light facili? ties, caused the death of several horses and other animals by tearing down live wires, and generally wreaked more de? struction than any storm which has vis? ited the city in years. The disturbance which created this havoc came upon the city with a rapid? ity that was astounding. Thc first rain? drops fell at 1.27 o'clock, and as late as I o'clock the skies, while they showed that a thunderstorm was approaching, were bright with thc sun, and many thought that thc cloud would pass around. In a moment came the main body of wind. It blew 5 3-8 miles in 5 minutes or an equivalent of 64 miles an hour. Only 45 minutes elapsed between the first threatening crash of thunder and thc last dying murmur as the cloud pass? ed to the northeast, but in that time more damage was done in this city than ordinarily occurs form the same cause in several years. This Woman is not Slow. Salem, Ore. (Special).?The remains of David Merrill, the escaped convict, have been delivered at the Oregon Peni? tentiary, after being brought here by Mrs. Mary Waggoner, who found the body near Chehalis. The body was readily identified. It was interred in the prison cemetery without ceremony. Mrs. Waggoner made a formal demand for the reward of $1,500. Superintendent Lee declined to pay the amount, offering her $3CO for her trouble and expense, and explaining that the reward could only be paid for the capture of thc con? vict, and not for the mere finding of his dead body by accident. Mrs. Waggoner refused the amount offered and made a formal written demand for the full re? ward, to be presented to Governor Geer. Wrangle Over Carnegie Gifts. Pittsburg (Special).?Andrew Carne? gie wiil give to the city of Pittsburg a polytechnic school which will cost $2,ooo,coo, and promises to make it worth $5,000,000 if the city will provide a site large enough for the purpose. The city is now wrangling over the site. It has got into politics, thc Citizens' party wanting a 52-acre tract for the site and thc old Republican machine wanting an 11-acre tract for it. Thc city has enough money to buy thc latter site, but to buy the larger one would necessitate an is? suance on bond for $1,000,000, and both sides arc unwilling to submit an issue of bonds to the people. Lives Lost in Tornado. Chesterville, Ont. (Special).?A tor? nado of great fury passed within a mile of this town, and everything in its path, about 60 rods in width, was destroyed. Thc country presents a scene of devas? tation. Dwellings are overturned and dead cattle are lying at nearly every farm. Several persons were killed and a number injured. Thc damage will ex? ceed $2CO,000. Tracey Munt Abandoned. Tacoma, Wash. (Special).?After 40 days of continual pursuit by men and bloodhounds all organized effort to cap? ture Harry Tracey, the escaped Oregon convict, has ended. The pursuit of Tra? cey through Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Thurston, Pierce, Kitsap, Snohomish and King counties has cost these coun? ties $10,000. Oregon's refusal to pay Airs. Waggoner, of Chehalis, the re? ward for Merrill's body has done much toward the dropping of Tracey's hunt. SUMMARY OF THE LATEST NEWS. Domestic. James F. Robinson, late president oj the Rock Island and Central Trust and Savings Bank of Rock Island, 111., left bequests to the Northwestern Univer? sity and the American University, at Washington. The American Line steamer Selgen land, from Philadelphia for Queenstown and Liverpool, was towed into Halifax, N. S., by the British steamer Scholar. Thc Belgenland's shaft is broken. President Williams, of the Seaboard, denied that Chesapeake and Ohio and Norfolk and Western stock had been purchased by John \V. Gates and others in the interest of his road. It is reported that several coal oper? ators will attempt this week to operate their mines in the anthractie region, al? though thc strikers declare they will bc unable to do so. Judge Witt, of thc Hustings Court in Richmond, called a special grand jury to investigate the charges of city fath? ers, which have caused a sensation. Mrs. Daniel Grant, her daughter, Mrs. John Reeves, and a man named Nuck les were shot and killed while returning from church near Atoka, I. T. The American Window Glass Com? pany has asked the manufacturers in the independent company to unite with the American and Federation companies in shortening the length of the fire and maintaining prices. Edward Congdon. a New York insur? ance brr ker, was arrested on the charge of kissing Mrs Marie Farrel, of Madi? son. N. J., as the Lackawanna train on which they were riding entered a tun? nel. It was reported in Philadelphia rail? road and financial circles that the Penn? sylvania had, through friendly interests, secured enough of the Reading Rail? road stock to give it control. Commonwealth Attorney John G. Tilton, of Norfolk, instituted suit against the Virginian-Pilot Publishing Company in the sum of $10,000 for al? leged libel. The chief of police of Harlem, near Chicago, and io members of the village board were arrested on thc charge of permitting gambling at the race tracks. Vinton Gregory, white, was arrested cn the charge of criminally assaulting Mrs. John Romans, near Saltville, Va. The striking chaintnakers of York, Pa., have been assured of financial sup? port by the American Federation of Labor. Fred Lee Rice, a young criminal, who had a sensational career, was hanged in Toronto, Canada, for murder. '1 he Gould interests are said to have secured an entrance into New York for their transcontinental system. Hyman Hoffman, a Russian tailor, shot his wife in New York and then committed suicide. John Hardy was shot and killed near Media, Pa., by Thomas Duff, whom ho was tormenting. Elwyn F. Larson, an absconder from Milwaukee, was arrested in Wetaskiwin, Canada. Benjamin Faughn was shot and killed by Jasper Abbott at Metropolis, 111. In the closing hours of the North Carolina Democratic Convention State Senator Ward characterized Cleveland as "the arch traitor of the Democracy," and, in turn, Mayor Boyden, of Salis? bury, N. C., called Ward a liar. It was announced in York, Pa., by State Secretary Harry Deemer, of the Junior Order United American Me? chanics, that 120 councils, aggregating 30,000 members, had been expelled from the order. Dr. B. W. Arnold, professor of his? tory at the State Normal School at Farmville, Va., was elected professor ol' history and economics in Randolph Macon Woman's College. Miss Lonic Farmer was arrested at Winchester, Va., on a warrant sworn out by her father, Gere Farmer, of Ber ryvillc, Va., on the charge of running away._ loreign. Minister Bowen has cabled the State Department at Washington that the President of Venezuela has abandoned the idea of attacking the revolutionist? at Barcelona. King Leopold of Belgium visited King Edward aboard the English royal yacht. King Edward's condition con? tinues favorable. The contract wa* signed in London for the manufacture and laying of the cable between Honolulu and Manila. The Vatican, in a note to Governor Taft, of the Philippines, says: "The main lines for future negotiations, in? dicated in the notes, having been ac? cepted by Secretary Root, thc repre? sentative of thc Vatican in the Philip? pines will enter into relations with the authorities in the Philippines." Countess de la Warr was granted a divorce in London on the ground of thc Earl's desertion and misconduct. Thc Countess was given costs and thc cus? tody of her children. Seven directors of the Prussian Mort? gage Bank, charged with falsifying bal? ance sheets, were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment and to pay heavy fines. Two unsuccessful attempts are report? ed to have been made by revolutionists to seize Nicaraguan ports. Thc Sultan of Zanzibar died of a stroke of paralysis. His death has caused no disturbance. Whitelaw Reid, the head of thc Unit? ed States embassy to the coronation ol King Edward, in a speech at the ban? quet of the American Chamber of Com? merce in Liverpool, defended thc Mor? gan shipping combine, declaring it was not a monopoly, and that it obviated violent fluctuations in rates and insured to Great Britain a great neutral fleet. A. J. Balfour, the new British premier, presided at thc first cabinet meeting ol the new administration. It is reported that the Duke of Marlborough will suc? ceed Lord Curzon as Viceroy of India, but there is little credence given to thc rumor. Financial. The British Indies wheat crop is put at 224,000.000 bushels, a decrease of 28.000,000. Pacific Mail's net earnings for the year \Verc only $16,847, a decrease oi $406,142. An Amalgamated Copper quarterly dididend of 1-2 of 1 per cent was de? clared. Since January 1 the consumption of copper has increased 25 per cent., says John Stanton, and the production has increased only 5 per cent. , flN A WHFFI Arider frequently meets with disaster. Avery Uli H "nLLL bandy and efficient doctor to hare with jon when an accident happens is a buttle of Mexican Mustang Liniment. "' '?*& Ulcers or Ru uni rag Sores need noUbecomc a fixture upon your body. If they do it is your fault, for MEXICAN MUSTANG LINIMENT will thoroughly, quickly and perma? nently cure these afflictions. There is no guess work about it; if this lin? iment is used a cure will follow. YOU nflN'T KNOW ',mv quickly ft burn or scald ran be cured IUU UUI1 I nilUff until you have treated it with Mexican Mustang Liniment. As a flesh healer it stands at the very top. NEW-YORK TRIBUNE FARMER. A NEW OLD PAPER. For sixty years the NEW-YORK WEEKLY TRIB? UNE lins been a national Wues.lv newspaper, read al? most entirely hy farmers, and has enjoyed the confi? dence and support of Uk; Americas people to a degree never attained by any smiilar publication. THE NEW-YORK TRIBUNE FARMER is made Absolutely for farmers and tlieir families. The first number was issued November Ttl), 1901. Every department of agricultural industry is covered by special contributors who ure leaders i" this respective lines, and the TRIHUNE FARMER will be iu every sen*<> a high class, up to date, live, enterprising paper, pro. fusely illustrated with pictures of live stock, model build? ings and homes, agricultural machinery, ftc. Farmers' wires, sous and daughters will find special pnjjes for their entertainun-ut. Hollar price, U.00 pHr year, but you can buy lt with your favorite hufno weakly newspaper, 'thu Htgbland Recorder, one year for $1.60. Send your subscriptions ?nd money to THE RECORDER. Monterey, Va. Send your name nil.I ncMrcss lo tha NEW YOKK THI 1 INK SAKHEB, Haw York City, ?n<l a free Hiimple copy will lie nattai to you. 44-4444444444444444444444 4444 4 4444* 4444444 444444444444 -4444 4444 44444 4 44*44"44*4-44>4 || MARRIAGE IN JAPAN ? Lore and Romance Have Little to Do With the ?*? Making of the Nuptial Contract ?4 XaS4444444444 n ? ?444 4444**444 it 4444 ??????*T**?'****e"*e4e-e***i Japan has some marriage customs that are at variance with our West? ern ideas on the question. In the first place, love doesn't enter into the con? tract at all. The primary purpose in a Japanese girl's marriage ls to get her placed where sne will be well connected and cared for. No mother in all Janan would for a moment be so foolish as to think of giving her daughter in mar? riage to a young man who had no home ready for her reception. He must have the necessary moans to care for his wife and he must bo able to show a creditable family tr<v(>. Without these essentials he might love the girl to desperation and she might regard him with equal ardor, but he would never get her. Tho Japanese maiden in any event does not choose her own husband. It would no more occur to her to do such an audacious thing than to have cho? sen the nam? given her at birth. An interested iriend of the family, known as a "go-between," attends to this mat? ter. ? * ttttttttttTt??TTTTTTTTTV Wncn a girl reaches a marriageabJ-; ige this "go-between" casts about bf i husband for her. When he finds a oung man who moots all of the re? tirements of the family and fortune ie arranges for a meeting with thc ;irl and her mother. Another way is to arrange for a nesting at the house of a friend. Of ourse, the matchmaker will pretend hat it is quite by accident, althougn ill of the party understand perfectly hat it ie by design. The girl is very shy and hides her ace behind her fan as she bows low nany times. Then she retires, blushi? ng and nervous, behind her mother, ["he young man at this meeting looks mr over and decides whether ho will ved her. If he agrees, the negotia ions are carried to a finish. He pays or the trousseau and the bride'o ather provides the entire furnishings br the house which the newly married lair will occupy. It's a clear waste of time to go ont ooking for insults. Mystery of Pompeii Max Nordau Unable to Understand What Became of the Inhabitants Max Nordeau raises a question con? cerning Pompeii which is of double interest now in view of the disasters of St. Martinique and St. Vincent. He writes as follows to the Neue Freie Presse (Vienna): "One thing has al? ways been a puzzle to me. Here waa a flourishing city of about 30,000 in? habitants, most of whom evidently were well-to-do. A few hundreds, at most, lost their lives in the destruc? tion of the city; the rest escaped. The eruption of Vesuvius continued only a few days, after which the dis? trict returned to its usual placid con? dition. In many places the deposit of ashes aud lava was only a yard thick, and it was not moro than three yards thick at any point yet exca? vated. "How did it happen that these thirty thousand homeless persons showed no desire to return to their beautiful houses, so well built that | they arc standing to this day, and which could have been restored, at the time with very little labor? Why did they not make the slightest at? tempt to regain their valuable prop? erty in land and buildings, furniture, bronze, marble, gold, silver and Jew? els? Did the men of that time have so little love of home that they could leave it without a backward glance at the first unpleasantness? Wer<? the Pompeiians so rich that the loss* of th "r perfectly appointed homes appeared trivial to them, so that they preferred settling elsewhere to restor? ing their city? Or did superstition prevent the attempt? This indifferent renunciation of their patrimony by a whole cityful ls to me an insoluble enigma which forces itself t ie mora strongly upon my attention now as I walk along the finely paved street? between houses which need only new roofs to make them again habitable."