University of South Carolina Libraries
^^^^^ j ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ iv ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ THOS. J. ADAMS PROPRIETOR. EDGEFIELD, S. C., w?NESDAY, JULY 13, 1898. . _ VOL. LXIII. NO 28 THE SONG THE CORN. I was dry and dusty, I was weak and weary; Now I'm glad and lusty, And the earth looks cheery, Oh, the soaking. Mirth-provoking, Laughter-making rain! Soft and silky, Mild and milky, Grows my golden graio. Listen to the laughter That my leaves are making When the winds come after. . Kisses,--softly shaking. Oh, health-giving, Breathing, living, H?aven-pouring rain! Come, caress me, Kiss me, bless me, Once and onco again! Let your hearts be singing, Peai your proans, peoples! ' Set the joy bells ringing In the lofty steeples; Praises render To the Sender Of the joyous rain Of tho living. The life-giving, Of the precious rain! -San Francisco Chronicle. ?00O0O0OO00OOOOOOOO0OOOOO0 TREASURE TROVE. 8 BT KMMA M. WISE. 9OOO0O0OOOOOQ00d0Q00 ?HE first thing Myrtle read in the morning paper was an account of the fire in Race street. Her heart bounded with delight when she saw that it was Mr. Goldberg's loan office that had burned. A ring and a watch on which he had once loaned her mother money had been sold at auction, and although Mr. Goldberg was supposed to be entirely innocent of crooked dealing, Myrtle could never see it in that light, and . when she heard that his office had been destroyed by fire she told her self it served him right. On the afternoon of the day follow ing the fire Myrtle went over to the site of the old building. A man was prodding aron.-'1 ?? the ashes and cin ders, overturning every little whiles live coal, which sparkled and glowed like some precious jewel in the midst of the blackened ruins. The man paused near her at last in his rounds and Myrtle asked : "Have you found anything in here?" "Naw," said he, "I aintt, I'm | lookin' on Mr. Goldberg's account; that's the reason I finds nothin'. It's the dishonest fellows that hunts on . their own hook that finds things. " ' The workman passed on to a for corner of tEe building. Myrtle stood | there irresolute for a few minutes. Presently she slipped under the lower I bar Gf the railing and began to tread f carefully over th? great bod of ashes. The workman looked around and saw her there. "Look out, Missy, or you'll burn yourself,"' he said, kindly. "And re member, if you find anything it be longs to Mr. Goldberg. " Myrtle smiled. "That man must think I'm a ninny," she said, softly. "Ii I find anything it's Mr.*Goldberg's, is it? The idea. He's made enough off us already." Myrtle began to dig around with the toe of her shoe. Presently a vig orous kick dislodged several bricks that had fallen in a sort of mound shape, and in the ashes beneath she saw a gleaming, yellow object. She pounced upon it with an exclamation of delight, and brushed off the light ernst of cinders. It was a lady's watch, unbroken and untarnished,, aud the exact counterpart of one she had been wanting for many months. She hastily wrapped her handkerchief arouud it and hurried toward the street. As she crept under the railing the man looked up again. "Goiu' home. Missy?" he called out. "Yes," Myrtle replied, faintly, as she started down the street. Myrtle went at once to her own room upon reaching home and hid the watch in a little shell box which she kept in the top drawer of her bureau. She decided not to speak to her moth er about it until after supper. "Mother is* so queer," she reflected. "She never sees things like other peo ple. I suppose she'd say I ought to give this watch back to Mr. Goldberg, but I don't see why I should. It's mine. I found it. Besides, he really owes it to us. He got mother's watch and ring for a song, and no- doubt j Bold them for a good, round price. Poor mother!" After supper Myrtle put off her con fession until bedtime; at bedtime she put it off until morning; in the morn ing she postponed it indefinitely. One morning about a fortnight after the fire Myrtle passed the site of Mr. Goldberg'-s store again. The debris had been cleared away and the foun dations of#a new building were al ready laid. Standing on the edge of j the sidewalk, watching the masons and carpenters, was a sallow, thin faced mau, whom she ro30gnized at once as Mr. Goldberg. He looked to ward the street as Myrtle neared the spot and for an instant their eyes met. Common sense afterward told her that he could not possibly have known her, and that he did not speak a word, but to her excited imagination his keen black eyes seemed to read her every thought, and his sharp voice seemed to ask shrilly: "Myrtle Trover, where's my watch? Where's my watch, Myrtle Trover?" Myrtle hurried home, and alone in her room with the watch once more she fully awoke to the determination, which, all unconsciously to Ijerself, had been gradually forming in her mind for several days. "It is his," she said, decisively. *'I'l take it to him this evening. " Evidently the best way to make suro of seeing Mr. Goldberg was to call on him at his own home. It was m an aristocratic part of the city, several miles from the humble street where the Trovers lived. It required two main car linea and two transfers to take her to her destination, and it was after 6 o'clock when she reached the place. Mr. Goldberg had commenced to eat his dinner, but he "came in to see her at once. "Well, my little girl," he said, "kindly, "what is it?" Myrtle bad studied out a speech rykich she thought contained a very neat explanation of the whole affair, but, with his black eyes riveted upon her face, the wordg took flight. So, instead of speaking, she put her hand into her pocket for the watch, which ?ho resolved to give him at once, let what would follow. But at that mo ment her voice returned with increased strength, and she started back with a shrill cry of alarm. "Oh!" she wailed, piteously. "I've lost it. It's been stolen. Pick pockets have robbed me." "Have robbed you of what?" asked Mr. Goldberg, with considerable con cern, for it was plain that her agita tion was not assumed. "The watch, the watch," she sobbed. "I was just returning it to you. I've kept it ever since the fire. And now it's gone. How can I ever pay you for it?" Then followed many incoherent, jumbled-up sentences, to which Mr. Goldberg fiste'ned patiently and from which he finally caught an under standing of the true state of. the case. "Well," said he, gravely, as she paused iu her confused recital, "what are you going to do about it?" "Oh, I'll pay you back some way," she replied, faintly. ' 'But how ? Do you know how much that watch was worth?" "No, sir; not exactly," she stam mered, "but I should judge it would have brought a hundred dollars at tho very* least. I wouldn't have thought of paying that much for it. But I know I can't save up that much inside of a year. I thought perhaps you'd let me off a little and not make it quite so hard." "How much do you think you can pay?" he asked. "I hate to undertake more than nf ty. Don't you think, sir," and she 1 joked at him pleadingly, "you could be sat isfied with that? You might have lost the watch altogether, you know, if I hadn't found it." Mr. Goldberg tapped the tipB of his fingers against his forehead and looked at her k?enly. "That's so," he said. "I hadn't thought of that. Well, if you are willing to try to pay me $30, I'll let it go at that. How are you going to earn that much?" "There's a woman in our neighbor hood who will pay mo $2.50 a week for minding her shop. I haven't done it be fore, because-because--" Myrtle's face flushed guiltily. "I thought it was too hard work," she added, with sud den determination. "But I'll do it now. If I can save half of it for you and give thc other half to mother, I can pay you off in less than a year. Will that be satisfactor 'Tes," he said; "pc Mrs. Trover's already faded wit again misty wb story that nigh "It means a Myrtle," she sa hard work dur? the school tern nighLachool nr "Iknowit," P Myrtle ber the following ^_ faithful attendant, and after me nrst month the woman raised her wages to $3 a week. That made the burden a little easier. Mrs. Trover was also particularly fortunate in securing sew ing, and as Myrtle-was enabled to put aside her entire earnings as a sort of conscience fond for Mr. Goldberg, she had the required sum in hand by the middle of October. The day the last dollar that wae necessary to make the amount com plete was added tc the little bank ac count Myrtle and her mother oalled on Mr. Goldberg, who was by that time installed in new offices in Race street. He - received them with his usual gravity not unmixed with kindness, and after exchanging a few words with Mrs. Trover he left her in the recep tion room and took Myrtle into his private office. "Well," he said, "what have you to say to me to-day?" "I have the money, sir," said Myr tle, proudly. "It is all here-five .-? 10 bills," aud she handed him a sealed envelope. Mr. Goldberg took the envelope, then, after holding it a moment he put it back into her hand uuopened. "Tell me one thing," he said. "Would you have worked so hard to win a watch in the first place?" ."N-no-no,"said Myrtle, "I don't think so, although I wanted one very badiy." "Yes, I see; but you have done more to pay a debt than you would have done for yourself. Well, you have been honest with me, now 1 shall be honest with you. That money is really yours. I hadn't a watch in the store the day of the fire that was worth more that 810. The one you found was probably valued at $3. I knew it at the time you lost it, but well, it doesn't hurt any little girl to work once in a while, and a well earned experience is often beneficial. I just wanted to see what you would do under the circumstances. The $50 is yours, my dear, to do with as you and your mother choose. Then, I've something else to show you." He went to an iron safe in the rear of the room and brought therefrom a tiny packet. "Open this,"he said, laying this in Myrtle's lap. She obeyed with trembling fingers. "Oh," she eri?d in dismay. "A plain gold ring and a watch. Whose are they?" "By some strange chance," he ex plained, "your mother's watch and ring were not sold at auction. I had them at my own home the day the store burned. They are yours, too at least, they are your mother's. Per haps she will give you the watch, ae you so much desire it. There, there, don't cay anything. Don't tell your mother until you get home, please. "An just to think that I called him mean, mother," said Myrtle that night with a happy little laugh. How could I ever have done it?" "Oh, my dear," said Mrs. Trevor, "we can never judge people on a Blight acquaintance. Mr. Goldberg has been a blessing in disguise to us." Whether Mr. Goldberg knew bj some kindly intuition what was being said of him, it would be hard to say, but certain it is he was smiling at that very moment and saying the same thing, only substituting "they" for his own name, and it is supposed he referred to Myrtle and Mrs. Trevor. -Chicago Record. Krupp has made 20,000 cannons. 1 A WESTERN 7S\ Sk TR The Trans-Mississippi Exj 7*\ Artistic lu that great stretch of ruounlrti? , and prairie koowa to eastern people only a few short years ago as tli3 Wi M West a veritable fairyland has sprung into existence, with scarcely a louder herald than the swish of the saw or the sound of the hammer. Tho Trans Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, Neb., which was opened by telegraph by President McKinley, in Washing ton, on June 1st, has grown into pro portions far beyond its original con ception, until it stauds to-day stamped with au international character, count ing its friends in every section of tho globe. Day by dny it has devolopcl into a living reality, and the magnifi cent buildings are typical of the art, the* science, the enterprise and the progress of the West. Thc project, ns it first found ex pression, contemplated a great fair to manifest to the world the resources of the territory wes^ of the Mississippi Eiver. Gradually ?ts scope broadened. Congress recognized its Natioual jhnracter; foreign countries appre visit'to it is like a mp "u iiuryuuiu. On every side is the element of orig inality. It is a copy of nothing ever before attempted in this field. From the beautiful auditorium at the east ern ext"emity down to the magnificent building abutting the western end of the lagoon and dedicatod to the United States Government every de tail strikes the eye as being unique aud original. In one respect only does it suggest Ghicago. It is a white city, every building being finished in the matorial known as "staff." In every other respect the "dream city" of the Trans-Mississippi and Interna tional Exposition is like nothing ever before planned and accomplished in America. Every crown, cap, figure and pilaster is cast from models en tirely new, rich and tasteful, aud all are typical of the culture, the refine ment, the progress and tho resources .f the West. Besides the usual buildings devoted to the arts, trades, sciences and natural resources of the West, nearly every State wost bf the Mississippi Fiver has orected its own representative structure. In the Grand courtat the Trans-Mis sissippi Exposition, Jocking east from the island which occupies the center of tho lagoon, one is impressed by the artistic architectural effects before him. When the great Government building, with its massive dome au.l flaukiug colonnades, was built at the west end overlooking the court, it was thought difficult, iu view of the fact that a viaduct at the oast must connect the bluff and main tracts, to finish that end in a like artistic and imposing manner. But the architects happily solved the difficulty in making the viaduct not only a thing of beauty and usefulness, but one of the most artis tic conceits on the grounds. The vis itor moy go by boat the entire length of the basin from the Government building to the Sherman avenue via duct, passing many of the main build ings. Arriving nt the east end he will see a beautiful green sward rising in terraces, adorned with sculpture and shrubbery, before him. Beyond this, and facing him is a great h?micycle stairway, thirty feet in width, adorned on either side with a tower, which is crowned by a kiosk or minaret. Sweeping out on either side and con necting these towers with others of like design are graceful arches. Back of all this and rising in .five gently graduated towers, and crowned with statues of heroic design, are the two great viaduct restaurants. The tow ers and stairs are tinted to an old ivory shade, decorated with dull Pompeiian colors. Beyond and across the viaduct, the bluff tract has been transformed into a park, where the various state build ings are located and which also is the site of the great Horticultural build ing and some of the larger structures of the amusement section. At the eastern end of the lagoon the auditorium, with a seating capacity of twenty-five hundred, rears its front, and abutting the western end of this grand canal the United States Govern ment Building stands, a majestic structure, overlooking tho broad basin, surmounted by a haudsome dome with a statue of Liberty bearing aloft the flaming torch of progress ani\ enlightenment. The lagoon, which is widened here by excavating a trefoil, is nearly 400 feet in width and forms a water-amphitheatre, which, with the colonnades surround ing it, easily form? one of the Ol ? ?? M? - , I position at Omaha is an ^| Triumph. ^; j prettiest effects to be found in the ? 9 position. Lining the lagoon on . either sicw mid reflected into its waters stand tfyef buildiugs devoted to arts and rofl chanics. That of Mines and Minings aud the Machinery and Electricity^ Building are splendid structures. TheJ lagoon itself has many now8 features made possible by the raj^B improvement in tho methods of ele? trie lighting.- ?t the east end.anjfl located electric water grottoes, tgH Blue Grotto of Capri and the Mata* moth Cave. The educational features of the ow position haw not beon overlookej?p They arc in tho hands of roprosenspS tivo Western women, to whom hajji been assigned the management "Wk philosophic aud scientific congressflB the Boys and Girls' Building, as wolf as all branches of woman's works They will have charge of tho exhibits^ of the work of public schools, kiudeiv gar tens, art, reform, industrial and chools of special instruction. .I tribe will be hailed with delight by every lover of ethnology. And the Midway. The management has provided a programme of unique and wholesome attractions, and is adding to it daily. Novel and mer itorious show features are encouraged, and the visitor will not lack amuse ment. Foreign villages are in abun dance. An exact reproduction of Cripple Creek in miniature is exhib ited. This concession alone occupies 15,000 square feet and requires 300 people to produce it. The Afro American village typifies every phase of their life. A novel example of engineering skill is Sherman's Um M >UJ^iLL ST. TB (View of the Danish Isla: brella, by which passengers are ele vated to a height of 300 feet and re volved within a circle of 250 feet. The Moorish village will be here; so will the Irish, Tyrolean and Chinese villages, and mauy others. Nothing will be loft undone to contribute to the satisfaction and pleasure of the visitors. More Pcndly Than Bullets. The sudden changes of climate en countered by soldiers when troops are moved from one quarter of the globe to another are estimated as increasing the anuual mortality of Europe by 50,000 men. Youthful Patriotism. "Say, Mister Policeman-,. can you tell me where the war is? My papa says they need all the. ships they can get and I want to give them mine, " -. I|r. ISLAND OF ST. THOMAS. S?. Splendid liase For-Fleet Operations In tho Caribbean. f^'There is not any doubt," said a foreign officer of high rank at present in this country, "that it has been a set tled polut for some time .between the Danish Government and the imericau Administration that St. Thomas will pass under the dominion of.the Flag of the United States. It Will b.e acqnired by purchase just as Bjopp as the war with Spain is over. - U:UH the arrangements had been com pleted before the opening of hostili ties, the . possession of St. Thomas would have been of incalculable value to America just now. It would bo a splendid base of operations for the fleets in the West Indies and would contribute much to assert American dominion in the Caribbean. Conced ing even that Porto Kico will be held by the United States, St. Thomas* easily could be made a little 'Gibraltar." $ Denmark's possessions in the Weat Indies consist of the islands of St. ^Thomas and Santa Cruz, aleo called St. Croix and St. John. The most ?important of these is St. Thomas, which is about tho same size as Man hattan Island, being twelve miles ;ipng and three in its greatest width. St. Thomas is of great importance, both commercially aud strategically, 'having one of tho best harbors in the West Ladies and possessing coaling, dry and floating dook and ship repair _*oao vi me bulk of this trade to St. Thomas. Th? island would be an especially valuable possession to the United States, as it has immense coaling depots and a floating dock capablo of accommodating the largest ships that frequent those waters. Santa Cruz is wholly given up to agriculture, being especially famed for its sugar and rum. St. John is of lit tle or no consequence, b'eing very scantily populated. The inhabitants of tho Danish Islands are still in favor of annexation to. the United States, since they know that their fortunes are more closely allied with ours than with those of any [OJJAS. ad ?ind Its Ideal harbor.) European nation. Even among the Danish officials there is tho same strong feeling that it would result to the ben efit of all concerned, for the rank and file would be relieved from Bervice BO far from the home country, and the higher officers and officials would be retired oii ample pensions. The Government is at present expensive and somewhat oppressive. The annual deficit to Denmark is from 850,000 to 8100,000, and there aro no means of alleviating the financial distress. Like the in habitants of ali the islands of these seas, tho people see that their only salvation lies in closer political con nection with the United State's, since that would imply increased commercial advantages and resultant prosperity. As the people all speak English,even the Danish officials, there would be no violence to national or racial preju dices, and the transfer could be effected with very little friction. An Embalmed Lizard. A writer in Harper's Round Table desoribes a piece of amber in which is imbedded a lizard eight inches in length and belonging to a species which is no longer extant. The little animal is perfectly preserved in its golden hued prison, all of its colors showing through. This is not the only instance in whioh the fossilized gum named am ber has preserved specimens of living formB that have now become extiuot on the earth. The Pope's Pen. The Pope does his private writing with a gold pen, but the pontifical sig nature is always written with a pen made from the feather of a white dove. -?Pittsburg Dispatch. S GOOD ROADS NOTES. J S i ato Engineer Campbell W. Adams, of New York, does not pro I pose to start the work of improving the highways, which is devolved upon I him by the Good Bonds law recently ' approved by Governor Black, for ; some months. Four petitions for the j improvement of roads in Erie County have already been flied with him, and they will be the first considered. The Higbie-Armstrong Good Boads bill became a law on March 24, after several years of agitation and discus ! Bion. It presents, for tho first time j in this State, a comprehensive plan for ; the improvement of rural highways. ? It provides that any Board of Super ! visors may adopt a resolution declar ! ing that public interest demands the improvement of a certain piece of highway, not located in a city or vil lage, and, upon a petition of the own ers of a majority of line?t feet of prop j erty fronting upon such a highway, I they must adopt such a resolution. A , copy of this resolution is then trans ' milted to the State Engineer, who is j to determine whether the piece of . highway indicated is of sufficient pnb I lie importance to receive State aid. j If BO, he is to have maps, plans and ! specifications for the work, and esti .' mates of the cost made, and transmit ? copies to the Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors, with these facts and figures before them, may then adopt a second resolution declaring that such a highway shall be improved, or may refuse to go any further with the matter. If a county desires merely to know how much it will cost to improve a certain piece of highway, it need only adopt the first resolution and get the estimate of the cost freo of charge. Then it can refuse" to go any further. If it chooses, after ascertaining the facts, to adopt a second resolution, it may, but cannot be compelled to do so. If the supervisors adopt the sec ond resolution, they must transmit a .copy of it to the State Engined*, who advertises for bids for the work. If no responsible bid is made within his estimate, he must make a new es timate and transmit it to the Board of Supervisors, and if the board then adopts a new resolution, based upon the new estimate, declaring that nevertheless such highway shall he improved, the State Engineer must advertise again for bids, as before. When a responsible (bid-within his es timate itf made, the State Engineer awards the contract; but if the town or county desires to do the work it " .> ? rirnference over all the ??ier ?i?plianr.es j State Engineer must act through him. If it has not, he must himself super vise the performance of the contract, j When the work is completed, he must j draw a warr int on the State Treas I urer for one-half tho cost of the work, j and certify the other half to the Board ! of Supervisors, which must levy thir ty-five per ceut. of the whole cost of I the work upon the county. The other I fifteen per cent, is payable in one of ' two ways, viz., if the Board of Super visors adopted the first resolution for j tho improvement without a petition j from the adjoining owners, the Board I of#Supervisors must levy tho fifteen per cent, upon the town in which the improved highway is. If the first resolution was adopted after such a petition, the Board of Supervisors must levy the fifteen per cent, upon the property owners on the improved highway. The act further provides that im provements of highways shall be taken up in the order in which tho final resolutions are received by the State Engineer, but he shall not un dertake any work in excess of the ap propriation made by the Legislaturo for the purpose from year to year. The appropriation made to start the work was $50,000. This amounts to a tax of about 11-1000 of a mill on each dollar of assessed valuation in the State. The first counties to ap ply will be the first served. It is ex pected that the next Legislature will appropriate at least $250,000 as thc State share of the expense for improv ing highways next year. After a highway is improved the adjoining owners must pay their high way taxes in money, as provided un der tho General Highway law, whion permits such highway taxes to be computed for cash atone-half the reg ular rates. The act provides that the State Engineer must collect informa I tion relative to the public highways, and give to all officers having the care of roads, whether improved or not, suoh information free. He must furnish them plans and directions for the improvement of roads and bridges free of cost when requested by them, and they may consult him freely at all times and must aid him in collect ing data. Such, in brief, is the plan which has fiually been approved by the Leg islature for affording aid in the im provement of rural highways. Al though the cities and villages of the State pay about ninety per cent, of the entire taxes, not a foot of highway can be improved within their limits under it. For every dollar so con tributed by the State it provides that another dollar shall be contributed by the county and town in which the im proved highway lies. If one county' chooses to improve its roads, and an other, does not, the county whioh does not need only contribute one cent upon the thousand dollars of assessed valuation, for each $50,000 spent by the State for the purpose of helping the other counties which do undertake to so improve their highways. The new law does not repeal or alter any existing law. The old High way law is left unchanged for those who prefer it. If towns desire to con tinue to work on their roads in the old way, it is their privilege to do so. The new plan will not be forced upon them.-New fork Sun. A Short Road Sermon. It is constantly being remarked in conversation and printed in interviews f d editorials in the papers that bettet roads are very necessary, but that they are too expensive-the community is too poor to do anything, and there the matter ends. This need not be so. There is hard ly a town or county in this country iu which the money now annually ex pended is not sufficient to procure much better road surfaces than now exist, while a very slight increase *? expenditure would make great im provements possible. First. Boucl taxes mast be paid ia money, and not in labor. Good re sults have never been obtained by working out road taxes, and it is not in the nature of things that they should be. Whatever is to be spent on the roads must be available for use in the employment of experienced help under intelligent supervision. Second. Proper grading must be secured, hills reduced and Allings made until no steep hill exists that the farmer must "load for" every time he hauls over the road. Third. The bed must be thorough ly drained, or a good surface will bo impossible, and the surface must ena ble the water to flow off readily. Noth ing ruins a road so quickly as water standing on it or soaking into it. Fourth. The road-bed must be crowned enough to shed water, and must be kept in condition by a system of regular repairs and continuous over sight. Fifth. After a good surface is se cured by the above methods, it must be preserved and maintained by per- , nutting only the use of wide tires on heavily-laden vehicles, thereby con tinually rolling and improving it. I Cinders For Paths and Hoads. The value of cinders for paths is enthusiastically dwelt upon bye Long Island paper, which says that they se- 1 cure firm traveling in all sorts of bad weather when anything else* would fail to provide it, and cites cases in town to this effect. It also goes fur ther and wants a stretch of roadway laid with them, in order to see wheth er they would give like satisfactory results under heavy travel. Their action maybe determined as follows: "Fill a tub half full of loam; then fill it up with water. Now put on your rubber boots and step in. You can readily force your feet down to the bottom of the tub in the soft mud. If fine sand were used a quicksand would have resulted. * Now try the same experiment with cinders. The water has no tendency to soften them. You may stamp and stir them, but you cannot make mu ii of them; You will stand firmly on the surface of thp cinders, and it is only with great effort that.you eau grind your foot down ?HM ?. ?'.' i r na Katu. Vi - ^ ci. . . i< rjijh'tly r:-;?;?? ' ?V.-."L '. i :&s? li macadam ro^? x . ^ 7 . . near his home. The farmer who. sticks to bad roads because good ones cost a little money, might as well cut his wheat with a cradle because a reaper would cost something. Easy and frequent social inter course depends on facility of rapid communication among neighbors and between country aud town. Hard, permanent roads will afford it, and will help keep the boys on the farm. The possession of a "receipt" does not prove that payment has been made; nor does a road tax that has been "worked out" indicate that a fair amount of labor, either in time or intelligent service, has been expended on the highway. The terrible condition of country roads has received so much attention from the press during the past winter that it has often appeared that they must be in a worse condition than usual. Such, however, is not the case. Our point of view is gradually changing, aud wo aro beginning to distinguish how bad they really are. Novel Electrical Apparatus. Orders for apparatus to enter into some of the greatest enterprises of the country have recently been placed with a Pittsburg firm, and not only mean thousands of .dollars to the lat ter, but recognition of ability to make pieces of mechanism which have yet to be subjected to tho practical test. Principal of these orders which have been received by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company is one from Maine tc equip the Lewis ton, Brunswick and Bath Bailroad with a new and novel arrangement of generating power and transmitting ap pliances. Combined alternating and direct current maohines, as well as the rotaries, will be supplied for this enterprise by the local company. The new style generators giving both cur rents at the same time will be placed at Brunswick, Me. The first installa tion there will be 1000 horse power, and the direct current will be used in aud about that town, while the alter nating current will be stepped up to 10,000 volts and sent to Bath and Lis bon Falls. At tho latter place it wi'.i bo stepped down and chang? 1 to the direct current by rotary transformers. -Pittsburg (Penn.) Commercial -Gra zette. Tlcket-of-Leav? Women. Women leaving the Missouri p ani tentiary are well provided for by the State they have served under duress. To one woman is assigned the task of preparing the "going-out" costume, Sometimes she prepares her own. Each woman is given ten yards of mus lin, which-is made up into underwear. She is also given a dahlia-colored serge dress, made with a plain skirt and with the latest style Russian blouse, trimmed with black braid and lined with black cloth. In addition to this she has a black cloth cape and a black hat of late style and good quality. Although the Missouri penitentiary is the second largest in the United States, there are only fifty-five women convicts, and the percentage of releases is so small as to be hardly noticeable. The wo man's department is more like a home than a prison, though the discipline is strict and unchanging.-Kansas- City Star. It is estimated that 1130 passenger trains arrive and leave Chicago daily. MRS. .NtL?UIM t\, rviiLco, Bhe Han Taken Interest In Fighting Since She Became a Soldier's Wife. Mrs. Nelson A. Miles, wife of the commander of the United States army, is one of the most attractive'and hos pitable women in Washington, and MRS. KELSON A. MILES. deeply interested in every move that) is made by the Americau armj. She bas always taken an interest in fight ing since she has been a soldier's wife. ? Years ago when tho general was only Colonel Miles, in command of the Presidio in San Francisco, he and Mrs! Miles were called "the handsomest couple in the army. " Mrs. Miles has not lost much of the charm that made her the goddess of every young fellow from West Point in her young days in California. She was Mary Sherman before her marriage. Her father was Judge Shermau, a brother of the senator and the general. Her hair is dark and abundant, her eyes area grayish blue and her manners are winning. She is as kind and attentive to the wife of a second lieutenant as to the wiff. of a brigadier-general, and that is why sho has ever been popu lar, no matter where stationed. Mrs. Miles accompanied the general on his trip to Europe last year. She accom panied him, too, on some of his expe ditions against the Indians, and was often within sound of the shooting. Flour and the X-Rays. Tho X rays are showing us many interesting things, among them the difference in the qualities of pure and adulterated foods, and how to detect fraud in food products. The latest experiments are in the examination of flour. The ingredients ordinarily employed, for this purpose are very fine sand, which is put in to make the weight, and chalk for the same pur pos?, and to add to the bulk. The method of. detecting this adulteration is interesting and ingenious.. .Tiny boxes with small compartments with out L j:i$m or top are . placed on a T??ntc these com \??. \ ti art, ,gr?.i-. ii?i rire ^.\<:^'-.. . . ?ifte? ana SLV? Tb o mia. fid -.vit'- , vario:;*? ut OlOVO O- <i .:. The J. *5,RT ho\ ?~ 1 on Wc, cofcr areli nioetythe amount ol loreiyu which .each sample contains.-New York Ledger. Hoars Which. Bring Bad Luck. Common as is the superstition that Friday is the most unie '.ky of days, and thirteen of numbers, the belief in unlucky hours is equally widespread on the European Continent and in the East. Gambetta was so firmly convinced that certain hours of the day are lucky and others unlucky that he would never commence any important under taking or start on an important journey without consulting a famous reader of cards as to the auspicious hour, and President Faure, who was pru dent enough to select a lucky hour for starting on his recent journey to Rus sia, is^said to share Gambetta's super stition. President Carnot was less oredulous, and seleoted an unlucky hour for starting on the journey to Lyons, where hr was assassinated by Caser?o. The superstition is so com mon in Paris that cards tastefully em bellished and - containing a list of "hours to be avoided" are extensively sold.-Philadelphia Record. 'Our- Chief Naval Strategist. Since Captain Alired T. Mahan has returned from Europe and has been . assigned to a placo on the Naval Strat egy Board at Washington he has had a splendid opportunity to put to an actual test many of the theories advo cated by him in his books and maga zine artioles relating to sea power. He CAPTAIN ALERED T. MAHAN. is the foremost expert in his specialty in all the world and his views are con-, sid er ed the last word on naval mat ters both in England and here at home. How an Ant Found Its Way. The President of the Agassiz Asso ciation, Mr. H. H. Ballard, recently, caught an ant near its hill, shut it up in a box, carried it 150 feet away and set it free in the middle of a sandy road. What followed he thus de scribes: . "It seemed at first bewild ered. . Then it climbed to. the top of a ridge of sand, erected its body as high as possible, waved its antenna? for sev eral seconds, and then started in a straight-ttne for home." In an oratorical contest at the Idaho University for the Watkins medal Jennie . Hughes, the only colored stu dent in the institution, was the winner.