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l. m. okist & sons, Publishers. 1 % ^amilj JRtosfiaper: 4or promotion of (he golitital, Social, gjritultural, and (gommqtial gntyrffts of the ftoplt. [TKR^^X^n5?l^^ll,CK' ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, 8. C., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 19Q2. 3STO. 82. She ?tortj Seller. jTouiET j l-GIRL^ EMMA COFFER j j Copyright, 1903, ! I By Emma A. Op par | n UCH a nice, quiet girl," said Ralph's mother. It was Ralph's dlstaut cousin. Hortense De Witt, ot whom Rbe spoke. Until her arrival the evening before Ralph had never seen her. The main facts about her were that she was an orphan and an heiress and that when her guardian, with whom she lived, had gone with his family for a trip to Colorado, Hortense bad declared her preference for nnmtno nnt tn RlnkPKlllll'P tf? P?lnl?'S mother and had had her way. "A regular little lady." said Ralph's father, whose judgment was, as a rule, rather sternly critical. Ralph said nothing. He recalled a certain singular twinkle In Hortense's bright eyes. He reflected on the peculiar circumstance of her joggling his elbow at the breakfast table so that he had spilled some water and then giggling behind her napkin. But he said nothing. When he went out to the barn presently to curry Betsey, he thought for an Instant that Betsey's colt had got out of the stall. Halting In the door, he perceived that It was nortense De Witt chas'ng several squawking hens round and round. She sat down on a keg. red cheeked and disheveled. "I love to be where I can do as I've a mind to," sne declared. "I guess you always do, don't you?" said Ralph astutely, and Hortense laughed. She felt at her neck. "I've lost my diamond stickpin," she announced. "Never mind, I'll find It I've lost two or three. Come on! Let's have some more fun." She cast a look around. "Hove you ever walked that beam up there?" she demanded. Ralph bad not. It was a very high beam and narrow. "Well. I'm going to walk It," said Hortense. "You're not." said Ralph. "Ain't I?" Hortense gave a light spring and climbed Into the hayloft, lifting herself by dextrous clutches. She mounted to tbe high beam and stepped out upon It "Don't," RaJpb begged. *"Wby not?" 8he was half way ucrosp It "If you should fall, you'd be killed," said Ralph. Hortense Increased her pace and arrived safe a* the beam'p end. "Come on up. What are you afraid of?" Something In her voice turned Ralph's cheeks redder, but he answered steadily: "I fell off a roof and broke my arm once, and I've never liked getting up on high places since. I get dizzy." "Ob!" said Hortense, with no little scorn. "1 don't I'm the best performer In tbe gymnasium at my boarding school. Look here." She went back across the beam, pirouetting as she went, her arms spread. Ralph ceased to look at her; it made him feel sick. "I guess," Hortense De Witt called down at him, "you're a?er?& 'frald cat!" "Maybe," said Ralph, hotly flushed. Hortense descended agilely. "Yes." she repeated. "I believe you are a? vou know what" She snatched Ralph's cap off and tossed It to a remote corner and ran Into the bouse. At dinner Hortense was demure. To be sure, she caught Ralph's eye and screwed her countenance to look like the hired man. who was cross eyed, but nobody saw it but Ralph. "She is very much like her Aunt Martha Gale." said Ralph's mother admiringly. "She was. so quiet and dignified always." Ralph smiled grimly. "1 shan't squeal ?ti lior" hf> thniitrht "Your father and I." said his mother, ^ "are going down to John Warren's a little while. He is sick. See how well you can entertain Hortense, Ralph." Hortense. Ralph reflected, would be more likely to entertain him. She was in the parlor. Inspecting with apparent gravity the pictures and the albums, but Ralph's discerning eyes saw the mischief in hers, suppressed and waiting. "What'R in this closet, I wonder?" she inquired, her Impulsive hand on the 'atch. "Some old books and mother's grape wine and father's best clothes." Ralph resoonded rather stiffly. He had not forgotten that Hortense had called him a 'fraid cat Hortense opened the door a crack. She studied the contents of the closet t aud. Roftly giggling, she took from Its I hook a binok broadcloth coat She pul & it on and buttoned it and went waltz ing around the room; the long tails W swung giddily as she whirled. "Father only wears that coat to funerals and weddings." Ralph warned her. faintly grinning. Something llngled In the pocket and Hortense pulled forth a bunch of keys. "What do they uulock?" she queried "Father's desk. here, for one thing," said Ralph, and was Instantly sorrj *? fnr Hnrtonsp u'Ptlf |m TUr Itunnri mg, v? wv>? ..w. mediately to the desk. Ralph followed. "Look here." he Bald, "don't unlock that. Father keep< his papers there and money sometimes. Nobody ever goes to It bui him; I'm forbidden. Don't touch It." "I'm not forbidden." Hortense retort ed. and unlocked It before Ralph't eyes. "See here." he protested, aghast anc beginning to be Indignant with hh i madcap cousin. Hortense. with a gaj titter, took n bunch of papers out ol a pigeonhole. "I'm going to read 'em," said she but she did not Iler quick ear bad ; caught a sound. She dropped the pa, pers. she tore off the coat and fled with It to the closet And when the steps which she had heard came closer and Ralph's father opened the door, she was sitting by a window with a history of the civil war opened on her lap. And Ralph was left standing by the open desk, the papers scattered at his feet "Ralph!" said his father. Behind him was Ralph's mother, looking In ) with a startled face. Red In the face, his heart beating painfully. Ralph stooped and gathered up the papers. "Ralph," said bis fa; ther, "what are you doing In my desk?" Wnlnh KoH lionrit htm cnonlr with thnt voice once before. It was when a hired man had. through hard driving and carelessness, foundered a horse. He did not answer. "Well?" said his father. "I?don't know, sir," Ralph murmured. "Yon don't know? Give me that key," said his father warmly, "and go up to your room and stav there till you find out" Ralph glanced at Hortense De Witt She was looking at him with frightened eyes. He was In the habit of obeying his father, and he marched up to his room, ^ ' i ji) Her quick car had caught a sound. but be smarted keenly. He was too old to be treated in tbat fashion and for a fault tbat he had not committed. His mother came Into the room. ?4T>?l?%W oIva onM urlfh o ittamlvlo In fVUlfJU, ouc DU1U, nliu u her voice, "whatever made you do It? Your father's private papers! We came back after a bottle of my grape wine that I wanted to carry to John Warren, and there you?why, I can't understand it, Kalpb," said his mother. Ralph looked out of the window. "Your father keeps money there, you know, and I?well, 1 don't know what he thought," said his mother unhappily. Ralph grew a little pale. That was almost too much. "He Is angry with you, and I don't know what your cousin Hortense will thiuk of you." said his mother. Ralph made a choking sound. He saw his father and mother making u fresh start for John Warren's presently. Then he heard his name called from out of doors. Opening his window, he saw Hortense. "What." she demanded indignantly, "do they want to make such a fuss about it for? I'd like to know!" "I told you it was father's private desk." Ralph responded, "and when father is angry he's angry." He went hack to his chair. "Come hack!" Hortense called. "Why don't you tell them it was me, then?" she asked. "Because I ain't a sneak," Ralph answered, "even if I am a 'fraid cat," he added and shut the window, and he heard Hortense retreuting, whis tung ID a Digu pucueu luiie. When Ralph's father came home, he called to Ralph that he might, If he wanted to, go and help the hired man. Ralph worked the rest of the afternoon in peace of mind. The hired man, at least, had no knowledge of Hortense De Witt's latest prank and its result Nobody, indeed, but the hired man brought a cheerful face to the supper table. Hortense De Witt was quiet She watched Ralph furtively, and when they rose she nudged him. "You're a great goose," she whispered, frowning; "being blamed and scolded for something you didn't do! Why don't you tell 'em?" Ralph frowned back at her, his chin high. "Maybe you think I'd squeal on ' a girl?" said he. He played checkers with the hired man and beat him, but he kept a solemn face. His father believed that he had done a foolishly mischievous and ' dishonorable thing. He had lost a good part of his confidence, and It might not be easy to get It back. His 1 father was reading something aloud to Ralph's mother and Hortense. "I'm not In it," Ralph thought and he said good night soberly. ' Rut when a boy is fourteen and has a good appetite and habitually a light heart it is hard to remember unpleas; nnt things even over night. When T>? I?V, .1 uai^u wuui uu?u IU uicuaiaai UCAI r morning. he was thinking chiefly of something agreeable and something that lay near his heart "Father." he said, "If you don't need 1 me to help Hiram. I want to go and ' see the horse trainer." t His father stirred his coffee. "He's had a big tent put up, and he's " going to give an exhibition. He's got 1 some horses to sell, too?beauties, they say. I want to see the whole thing." I "Well." his father responded dryly, J "there's the pumpkins over In the west 1 lot waiting to be hauled to the barn, t f don't know as a boy that opens other folks' desks when they are out of the house ought to be trusted to go off out of sight anywhere. Maybe home Is the best place for him." "Oh!" said Ralph. He did not look at Hortense De Witt But Hortense looked at him. Her cheeks grew red, and the redness spread to her hair and to her very ears, and suddenly she threw herself back in her chair. "Pumpkins!" said she. "Pumpkins! He needn't either. He can go to the horse training if be wants to. I say so, and?and you'll say so in a minute." She pushed back a stray lock from her flushed face vigorously. Ralph had not stopped to think whether Hortense was pretty or uot, but he decided now that she was. "He basn't done anything," said Hortense. "It was me. He didn't open your desk at all. I did. He told me not to, but I felt like doing something I hadn't ought to. I generally do feel like doing things 1 oughtn't to do," said Hortense candidly. "You did It?" said Ralph's father, and tie fairly stared In his astonishment and unbelief at Hortense De Witt He swallowed half his cup of coffee. "You!" "1?I had on your coat, and the key was In the pocket?your best coat, the one you wear to funerals and weddings." said Hortense. slurring no part of the appalling truth. "I got It out of the closet and put it on." Ralph's father gazed for a further moment and then, against his will, he burst out with an Irrepressible great ' laugh. "Upon?my?word," said Ralph's mother. "Hortense De Witt!" "Yes. I was afraid you'd be?surprised," said Hortense, "and I let you blame him all this time because I hated awfully?oh. well, I've been an awful sneak, that's what! "Pumpkins," said Hortense. "If anybody's got to haul pumpkins It ought to be me, hadn't It?" She looked at them all with a smile of apology and appeal, a sunny smile which marked her cheeks with two deep dimples, and which seemed somehow to lend a brighter and more hopeful aspect to the whole dubious affair. "Well, uell!" said Ralph's father, bis eyes still glued to Hortense, incredulously. And his mother rested her chin on her hand, thoughtfully. "There was your uncle Frank Gale," she said. "He was a terribly mischievous boy always. He got himself expelled from two schools. I shouldn't wonder, after all. If It's your uncle Frank you take after Instead of your aunt Martha." And she began, considerately, to talk about the frost of the night before. But she looked now and again at Ralph with something more than the warmth of a mother's affection; she looked at him with pride. And Ralph's father, when be rose from the table, held out his hand to his son. "I was unjust to you, Ralph. I'm glad to know It, but sorry enough that I made such a mistake. You'll forget it, won't you?" "Xes, sir," said ttajpn. -ies, sir. And?can I go"? "To the horse training? Of course," said his father heartily. "Go and enJoy it and learn how to break Betsey's colt If you break that colt, we'll call him yours, Ralph." And that, Ralph knew, was to make up to him for having misjudged him, and a great thing it was. "I'll break him!" he said rejoicingly. Hortense was waiting for him in the entry. She flung an Impulsive arm over his shoulder, and her saucy face was serious for once. "You see," she said, "I was the 'frald cat. I was afraid to tell. I was too quick about calling you that. You're not a bit of a one!" "Nor you either," said Ralph; "not now." "Vahp fnthor nnd mother will want me to go home," said Hortense dismally. "No, they won't. We'll have a first rate time. I like a girl that's got some snap anyhow," said Ralph. "Won't you go with me to the horse training? Lots of ladies went last year. Come along!" Hortense did go along. The atmosphere was cleared, and everything was straightened. They were better friends, they realized, than they would have been if Hortense had never opened the door of the parlor closet "I found your diamond stickpin," said Ralph, "yesterday in the barn." And he produced it Hortense took it, eyed it, considered for a moment and then adjusted It with much pains, in Ralph's cravat "It's yours," said she; "yours to keep. Just to show you, you know, that I know you're not a 'fraid"? "Pshaw!" said Ralph. But Hortense De Witt had her way. A Pleasant Jail.?Elizabethtown, the county seat of Essex, in the Adirondacks, possesses a comedy jail. It is small, having windows secured by wooden bars and a Jail yard enclosed hv n solid fence of three-ciuarter-inch boards, which a healthy male could push over with his shoulder. But the prisoners rarely, if ever, attempt to escape. Some good stories are told by Judge Kellogg, Judge Hand and other residents. It is a custom to allow the prisoners out on parole, so that they may cut the grass on neighboring lawns, do garden work, or repair roads for the village ar county. Recently one prisoner, who should have returned at 6 o'clock, did not apply for admission until nearly an hour later. The warden angrily demanded to know the reason and added: "Don't let this occur again or I will not allow you to come in. I lock the door at 6 o'clock, and won't open it in the future for you." Another, accused of and waiting trial for manslaughter, overstayed his parole and pleaded as an excuse that, as it was Saturday, he thought he would go and spend Sunday with his wife, returning to the jail on Monday morning. ?Philadelphia Ledger. pisfcltanfuus fading. ODD NEW ZEALAND. Cnitomi at the Antipodes Different From Oon. New Zealand can boast of other things as remarkable as Its labor laws that compel shopkeepers to close on every legal holiday and either Wednesday or Saturday afternoon, and fix the lowest wages that can be paid to any one at $1.25 per week. For example, everybody is polite, extremely, almost painfully polite. A train steams into the station at Wellington, the island's capital. "Wellington, please," the conductor gently announces to his passengers. After thanking the conductor for getting them safely to their destination, the travelers disembark. "This way to dinner, please," the station attendants politely sing. The train makes ready to start. "Seats, please; but don't hurry," is the trainmen's admonition. And the conductor waits five minutes after the gates are closed for everybody to get comfortably seated before whistling to the driver to start. Even law-breakers are treated with unctuous consideration. The police man carries neither club nor firearms with which to hurt any one's feelings. Whenever he finds himself compelled to make an arrest he almost begs the prisoner's pardon and invariably takes him to jail in a cab. There is no rough handling, even the prisoner is courteous. The time lost in being ceremonious is made up by the New Zealander by word trimming. No one says "I'll make a memorandum of it;" it's always "I'll memo." "One pound sterling" is universally boiled down to "quid," and even Premier Seddon calls a shilling a "bob." This cutting of words is carried to such an extreme that a stranger really needs the service of an interpreter the first week or two he is on the Island. The right man for the traveler in trouble over the language or anything else to seek out is the postmaster. New Zealand's postmasters come pretty near being the whole thing. They are registrars of births and deaths. They collect all taxes, municipal and governmental, and all customs and internal revenues. They insure their fellow citizens in the government's life insurance company, and receive th^Jr deposits In the Postoffice Savings Bjuok of New Zealand, also a governtijehtr institution. This bank has 212,4^T^Spo8itors, and the money deposited by them aggregates $32,000,000. Over /one-fourth of the island's population Iwaps Its money in this institution. But it is as a performer of wedding ceremonies that the New Zealand postmaster is most fondly regarded and most ramous. xnere is neuner iusa nut flurry in the ceremony that the postmaster performs; neither does it cost a penny. A month beforehand the swain Alls out a declaration of intention in' the presence of a postmaster. At the expiration of 30 days he and his blushing bride seek out the official, and In the presence of two witnesses, sign their names in a court register and to their own marriage certificate. And that's all there is to it. Custom doesn't even demand that the bride shall let the postmaster kiss her. The postmaster who holds the record for mn'-riages Is a maiden lady In an Interrior town. The lads and lasses of her district will have none of preachers, because It Is a tradition that every marriage at which she officiates is a happy one. New Zealand postmasters hold the'r jobs long enough for tradition and countryside saws to grow ?.'p around and about them. Once a New Zealand postmaster, always a postmaster, for only misconduct on his part can separate him from his life's job. New Zealand's leading utility man is easily the postmaster; his closest competitor Is the railroad station agent. As the government owns the railroads, it demands of Its agents that they attend to all the wants of the people that the postmaster can't conveniently look after. Hence, when a farmer decides to sell poultry, he carts a few hundred fowls to town and turns them over to the station agent. The agents kills them and dresses them, freezes them, packs them in refrigerator cars, and sees them started on their way to Auckland, Wellington, Australia or London. The government acts as the farmer's Commission man, free, all the way through. The government tries in every way to encourage the farmer. It will lend him money at low interest, and sell him rich land for a few dollars an acre. It even forbids the railroads to whistle at country road crossings, so that John Dobbin's easy-going mare won't get frightened and try to run away. One governmental undertaking is the sanitarium and hospital at Rotorua, tne island's chief health resort. It is for the benefit of all indigent persons throughout New Zealand. If a man has broken down under the strain of too much work, or has contracted a bad case of gout or rheumatism, and has not money to pay for treatment, the government gives him three months of free treatment in the sanitarium, with free access to all the mineral baths. If, at the end of three months the patient is still in bad shape, he gets another three months' treatment. The sanitarium has the island's foremost physicians at its head, a corps of graduated nurses and splendid clinical and surgical facilities. The most famed of the baths of Rotorua is the Postmaster's Bath. Its reputation is that of reforming for all time the most confirmed toper who bathes in its all but scalding waters. I Every New Zealand community has Its citizen who has been made a teeto- f taler by this spring. The fact Is, there e are not many drunkards seen In the is- I lands and the patriotic New Zealander I; always declares and hauls out statistics c to prove it, that less spirituous and c malt liquors are consumed there than t In any other part of the world. s Perhaps the Postmaster's Bath is to 1; blame. Perhaps the government's edict 1, against bringing snakes into this t snakeless land exerts an influence. If the government arrests a circus owner c who tries to slip in the creeping things c for commercial profit, wouldn't it also I nab a citizen bent on securing wrig- r glers and collers for mere amusement's J sake? f New Zealand's chief vice is horse- t race betting. A dyed-in-the-wool New I Zealander would rather bet on a horse- I race than make love to the prettiest r girl in sight; and the women with I peach-blow complexions are plentiful. Like the men, they are. enthusiasts t over fast horses and spend their holl- i days and all their spare time at the J race courses, betting and shouting r themselves into a state of hysteria, c Everybody bets, for everybody, from ' babes in arms to tottering grandparents r thinks it's all right. * Another queer thing about New Zea- v landers is their honesty. Nobody tries 8 to steal from you. ^ Hotel room doors are never locked; c many have no locks. Hats, coats and 1 valises are left around indiscriminately, 5 and the owners always find their property where they put it. Neither does the waiter, nor the bellboy, nor the chambermaid hold up the ^ traveler. They do everything asked of them, and do It cheerfully, without expecting tips. Tipping is a lost art there. 8 As there are no Indoor robbers, nelth- 1 er are there many highway robberd, 8 and the percentage of murders is very T small. * A man with daughters In New Zea- e land is a political power, a big man in v the district in which he resides. All 1 women over 21 can vote, so the man c with many daughters often decides a 1 closely contested election. ' Then again, women are much more sought after matrimonially, for they are outnumbered by the men two to one. There Is no need for a woman's becoming an old maid in New Zealand except from choice. This butt end of the earth has many natural wonders, among which is a geyser that started business only a few months ago, but, nevertheless, is said to be the largest In the world. Its x name, Waimangu (the black water,) is appropriate, for its water is certainly black. The geyser's steaming surface is about 200 by 350 feet. When it is in eruption the entire surface is lifted 1.000 . feet into the air, and hot, black, seeth- x ing mud and rocks are thrown about . and great clouds of steam envelop everything. The periods of eruption usually last five hours and are very frequent. * This great geyser is near the heart of j. Maori land. Soon it will be the land of x the Maoris no longer, for they are rap- ? Idly dvlng off. They are now a peaceable people and are proud of .the fact that one of their number. James Carroll. Is a member of New Zealand's cabinet. The Island's premier. Richard John Seddon. has called this fullblooded Maori "the most gifted and eloquent orator In New Zealand." Mr. Carroll's tribesmen have eenerally adopted European dress, but the costumes of their forefathers still obtain. If you're at work on a building and 2 fall off from any cause whatsoever and g are picked up a corpse, your widow can surely collect $500 from the building's 0 owner, and often three times this f amount. Her claim becomes a lien against real estate, and title even ^ ahead of bond and mortgage. * ?* ? ? iho If you're an Amerivjn I, pUUUOll b?iv a ^ fact; you will be royally received and entertained, while a Londoner Is left cooling' his heels In an ante-room. . With all this, it is to be noted that the national debt of New Zealand t amounts to $320 per capita, more than t four times as great as that of the j United States, and is constantly increasing.?New York Sun. THK JEWISH RACE. j Its DlnperMlon and Alleged Statistic* 2 as to ItM ClirlMtlanlsatlon. c Recent statistics show that there are scattered throughout the world about ten million Jews. Five million In the r Russian empire, one million and a half ^ in Austria and a like number in Amer- ( ica, 600,000 in Germany, in the Balkan states, 300,000; in Great Britain, 200,000; in Belgium, 150,000; and in Turkey, 125,000; in France, 85,000; In Asia, 300,000; In t Southern Africa, 80,000. s According to an article in the Se- jmaine Religieuse, of Geneva, by M. Le ^ Roi, a well-known authority on the sub- t Ject, the following are the figures re- r lating to the conversion of the Jews to c Christianity during the last century. c The total number between the years 1800-1899 inclusive is, he reckons, about f 224,000. The Greek church has received ^ out of this number 74,500; the Protest-i nrpAt Britain and ani l'uuiliico v..? America, 72,000, and the Roman Catholic church 53,500. The figures for the year 1898 give these results: In the Protestant churches were admitted t 1,450 Jews, in the Roman Catholic church 1,250, and in the Greek Orthodox, 1,100. Out of the children born from mixed marriages 1,450 children re- ^ ceived holy baptism. . Nowhere have the conversions been c so numerous as in England, where, according to the same authority, 30,000 ^ Jews were received into the Church of ,, England during the nineteenth century. a' In France, where the Jewish population numbers about 82,000, the conversions during the century were 600 only. In ? Germany there are at present 125 con- a verted Jews who actually preach the e gospel. If the statistics of the whole number ? of Jews are taken as a basis it will be a ound that the ratio of conversions Is ixceedingly large in England. While iussia is credited with a Jewish popuation of 5,000,000, Great Britian has inly a twenty-flfth of that population redited to it, viz., 200,000. The proporlon of conversions, therefore, is one in even in England to the Church of Engand, which certainly strikes us as very arge, to one in sixty-seven In Russia o the Orthodox Church. If these proportions are anywhere acurate they certainly form a singular ommentary on the methods adopted, n Russia coercion and persecution has narked the policy adopted toward the tews, in England there has been perect liberty, and, In fact, the Jews have >een rather petted than otherwise. Aplarently the Jew had much to gain in lussia by becoming a Christian and lothing to gain by becoming one in England. Warsaw, of which the entire populaion is three-quarters Israelite, has been renerally reckoned to contain more Tews than any other city, but the palm nust be awarded in this respect to the ity of New York, whose Jewish popuation exceeds 400,000. Budapest comes text, with 170,000; then Vienna, and )dessa each with about 140,000; London, vlth 120,000; Berlin with 110,000; Philidelphia with 100,000. Paris, Amsterlam, Lemberg, Salonica and eight other ities have a Jewish population equaling that of modern Jerusalem, namely, 0,000.?Church Electlc. PENNY IN SANDWICH ISLES. Lmerican Copper Much Circulated In Honolulu. The insidious penny, says the PhildelDhia North American, has made a anding in Honolulu. At present its ictions are pretty well confined to the lostoffice and its circulation limited o the different departments of that dlflce, but pocketbooks that a year ago rere never shamed by carrying any neaner metal than gold and silver iften contain nowadays a stray penny, he "copper cent of commerce," little mown and less valued west of the lockies, but dear to the heart of every Jew England housewife. "Penny wise and pound foolish" has lever been an Hawaiian motto. It has teen "look out for the nickel." not the ents. Copper coinage is not unknown, ["here have been several editions of >ennies of various sizes used for trade ind advertising purposes, and sailors lave brought the bulkier copper colntge of Europe into port. They have all >een regarded as more or less of a cuioslty, however, and never seriously tntertained as money. When the Kalakaua coinage was idopted, the "nimble dime," the "coleotlon box coin," as some wit had dub>ed it, was the lowest value considered, lis in the days of Leadville and Deadvood, when nothing less than a quarter vas passed in currency or so recogilzed, nickels were Introduced there rom the outside world. In the western lalf of the United States the nickel has >een usually recognized by the traveler is the equivalent in purchasing power ?f the English penny or the French 0-centlme piece. Street toys, cheap Irinks and slot machines were operaed or purchased with the nickel in one :ountry, the penny in the other. The thrifty Englishman split his penly into four farthings and marked his roods at 1 shilling and 11 pence 3 farth J ?n now mlsrht ngs a yaru ui puunu, a.a U.E >e, knowing well that It sounded and ooked far less than 2 shillings, and soon he equally thrifty merchant and citi;en of the eastern states took up the tame procedure. Two dollars-and 99 :ents attracted two customers to one it $3. "Marked down" to $11.49 seemed nuch cheaper than $11.50. The superfluous pennies were first riven to the children for their banks, hen saved for the family purse. Che tp ar fares helped along the circulation vith 3-cent fares. The west stolidly efused to lose its reputation for openlanded liberality and general breadth, ind the only compromise effected was o sell certain minor articles at two or hree for a nickel. Even today San Francisco Is but little affected by the >enny except In the postofllce. In the earlier days before Uncle Sam >layed letter carrier for the Hawaiian slands, two 2-cent stamps accompailed by a nickel, would bring back a -cent stamp from the window in :hange. Now the law demands that nonetary change be given and the icantiness of the local supply caused a equisitlon to be issued to Washington. Phis has gradually scattered and an>ther requisition is now on the way In he shape of a sack of pennies. Death to the Philosopher.?A cerain philosopher was in the habit of laying whenever he heard that an old riend had passed away: "Ah, well, leath comes to us all. It is no new hing. It is what we must expect. Pass ne the butter, my dear. Yes, death omes to all, and my friend's time had ome." Now, Death overheard these philoso>hic remarks at different times and one lay he showed himself to the philosoiher. "I am Death," said he simply. "Go away!" said the man in a panic. I am not ready for you." "Yes; but it is one of your favorite ruisms that Death comes to all and 1 ,m but proving your words." "Go away! You are dreadful!" "No more dreadful than 1 always am. Jut why have you changed so? You lave never feared the Death that has ome to your friends. I never heard ou sigh when I carried off your old ompanions. You have always said: It is the way of all flesh.' Shall I make .n exception in favor of your flesh?" "Yes; for I am not ready." "But I am. Your time has come. Do lot repine. Your friends will go on luttering their toast. They will take it s philosophically as you have taken very other death." And the Philosopher and Death de iarted on a Jong journey lugemei.? Charles Battel! Loomis, in Branden lagazlne. HOW CANAL ROUTES COMPARE. Prof. Johnson Soma Up For Panama and Nicaragua. Emory R. Johnson, professor of transportation and commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, and a member of the Isthmian canal commission, lectured yesterday morning at the Packard school, Twenty-third street and Fourth avenue, on the "Commercial Engineering and Political Aspects of the Isthmian Canal." The lecture was illustrated with stereoptlcon views. Among other things, Prof. Johnson said: ' "The commission appointed by President McKinley was directed to examine and recommend a route for a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We proceeded to Central America, examined both the Nicaragua and Panama routes, and reported in favor of the Nicaragua route, because the property of the Panama Canal company could not be bought at what we considered a reasonable figure. That company or tginally asked for what It possessed, $109,000,000. That price we considered absurd. When the stockholders decided to take $40,000,000 we made another report recommending the Panama route. "Briefly, this is what has been done, and the president has been empowered to arrange for the building-of the canal. Let us now consider the two routes. Prom a commercial standpoint the Panama route is the better, because, generally speaking, it is the shorter. Prom New York to San Francisco, the Nicaragua route is 378 miles shorter than fhe Panama route, and 500 miles shorter from New Orleans to San Francisco. Prom either of these cities, to the west coast of South America, however, the Panama route is shorter. But the navigation of the Nicaragua route at night would be difficult, on account of Its tortuous course, ana it migni pe impossible. Therefore, when we take into consideration the time the ships would lose in laying up for the night, the Panama route must be regarded as considerably shorter. It has been determined that it will take 12 hours to pass through the Panama canal and 33 to pass through the Nicaragua. "From the engineering standpoint, the Panama route offers great difficulty on account of the dam that will have to be built in the San Juan river. This is the most serious engineering problem of the whole work, but it can be and will be surmounted. "It will cost $5,600,000 less to build the Panama canal than it would to build the Nicaragua canal. This Is not, to be sure, a large difference, not enough to influence any one in selecting one route over the other, but it had to be taken into account and when the cost of maintenance hsd to be considered. It will cost year to maintain the Panama canal. It would cost $S,500,000 to maintain the Nicaragua canal. "The advocates of the Nicaragua route raised the question of the title which the Panama Canal company could give to its property. There is nothing in that question. The Panama canal was begun in 1880. The company failed in 1894, and a receiver was appointed. Then a new Panama Canal company was formed and bought of the receiver the assets of the old company. The receiver had the power to sell. The new company had the right to acquire. 1 The receiver of the old company could 1 and did give to the new company a good title to the property of the old, and for that we have agreed to give $40,000,000 when we are satisfied with the title. "But beside the property of the Panama Canal company we must acquire a strip of land six miles wide, and this must be granted by concession from the Colombian government. We do not want this strip of land to enable us to ?U? Annul hut mo Ho want It for UUI1U II1C vastus, .. _ the purpose of keeping the canal territory healthy. We want this land so that we may police It and see to it that unsanitary conditions do not prevail along the canal. It would be better if the strip were ten miles wide, but a six-mile strip will do. It is to acquire this that we must have the new concession from the Colombian governbent about which we have lately heard so much. "As to the healthiness of the two routes, it is about a standoff. There has been much discussion about earthquakes and volcanoes in Panama and Nicaragua. The two words have been confused. No shakings of the earth have been recently felt in either country. There are no volcanoes in Panama. There are two in Nicaragua, one of which has recently shown signs of activity. Therefore, so far as volcanoes go, the Panama route has considerably the best of it."?New York Sun. "Standing Pat."?It will be remembered that when Senator Hanna recently made a speech at the opening of the Republican campaign in Ohio he told his audience that the keynote of his address was "Stand Pat." Tom Johnson, who is something of a bluffer himself, has made a speech in which he has something to say about standing pat. "When a man stands pat," he says, "there is always the suspicion of a bluff." But the most interesting part *? x- TT? la o ?*hvmo of Johnson's repiy iu nauuu. ? ?. he learned down In Kentucky, as follows: "Did you ebber stand pat on a bobtail flush? Did you ebber make a straight short bluff? Ef you nebber done It, honey, It's de way to loze yo' money, For it Jest goes up?like snuff." Mr. Johnson is making his campaign upon state Issues. He has criticised the Republican managers for allowing the orators at the Akron meeting "to have a lot to say about a canal across the isthmus about shooting religion into the little brown men across the ocean, and about the trusts which do not exist, but noi. a word about home rule, equal taxation and perpetual franchises."? Washington Post.