HA MVI& THE OWL* Am lemu'i Wonderful Story Thai HI* Frie.*s Doubt Am Iceman told t story tho other ermine, a story which he says is tb? tntth and nothing but the truth. I* wss a new departure for an teaman t relating (acts, but he stands ready tc vouch (or IL He was going to a pond a mom in f or two ago. rathsr early, and to get tc the scene of his labors was obliged tc pass up a railroad track. His atten tton was attracted by a peculiar object Jutting from a little pool where 1? had formed, and he stopped to exam Ine It. It moved, and closer lnspec tkm proved It to bo a little owl. whlcb In some manner had become frozen In the Ice. The Iceman swears that the ow! made several dis|lnct signals of dl? tress, and he. of course, was In duty bound to reader all needed assistance A strong pull failed to separate the (eet ami Ice. so he dug out the bird with tbi* help cf Ms knife. The owl was unable to walk, and he carried It home, whero medical aid was given The bird wss all right in a day ox two aad now. says the Iceman. It re fuses to leave and will est only from bis hand. The iceman has related this bird story to sll who will listen to him and becomes very indignant il his veracity is Questioned. ? Taunton Oasette. * Stepladder a Treasures German housewives have a step ladder contrivance which, if univer sallv adopted, would do much in the way of the elevation of mankind ? thl? Is not a pun ? and the diminution of the use of strong language. The lad der Is built on the plan of the ordl nary household article, except that at the top it has a platform which en able* the hausfrou to step from the front toward the wall, and within comfortable reach ing distance of anything mion which she is work ing. Every one knows that many of oui ordinary stcplad dors, haviug the brace at the back to preserve the equilibrium, keep the worker stand ing on the top at a distance from the wall, and the high or the ladder the greater is the in cline of the brace and the furthei the woman at the top Is out from the point she wishe? to reach. Thin in not only inconve nlent* hut dangerous, for there is al ways a chance of a fall. From the top of the German ladder, and from the step below, is a double platform, held with braces and ad justable, so that it can be folded in when not in use. When the platform is in place the housewife or maid hav ing climbed the ladder to the step be low the top. steps forward upon the lower platform, which brings her out over the grave at the -back, in the place where she would be on the lad der proper if she were using the ordi nary household Inconvenience. The upper platform is curried cut a little further. Standing comfortably upon the sectiou below, well toward the wal* -he has her pail of water before her upon platform No. 2 and can do her work without effort. "A Tooth for a Tooth." Before artificial leeth were created deficiencies had to be made good by the real article, so body ^catchers r..v aged the cemeteries at night, breaking up the Jaws of the dead to extraet their teeth to sell to dentists for ir.ser tion In live men's mouths. An arm? of these ghouls followed Wellington's army. They were licensed a* sutlers but once night loll, out came their nip per* and they prowled over the bai tlefleld extracting the Ueth of the dead or dying. Kuman Head Grown in Wood. Posing as an altar in the Grant'i? Pass (Oregon) lodgeroom is an odd looking fir stump, its top shaped like a human head. Even the feature* grow there naturally, and except fcr a little carving to Improve one eye. no alteration was necessary after u wood man discovered the curio in the midst of the fornht. A right ear Is the ouly lacking feature; There is even a heard? reprooanted by u white fungu-* growth. Burglar's "Fitted" Coat. To escape observance fn.ra cht- jx> lies the up-to-date housebreaker iu:! blu coat fltted with loop* into ?v ! a i o 1 ? lie allpa his assortment of thieve;' iui plements. Improved Freight Facilities. A modem train of eighty car< wl!i move 3,600 tonflof freight a? again/* the 945 tous of a 35car train of : .decade n*o Made a Difference. Dr. Van Dyke inet a young girl whom he la fond of teaming. "Not married yet?" axked the Doc tor. "No. ahe replied, "but I'm engaged to Charlie Hrown and I want you to ?arry us." "Why the last time I Haw you you told me you had Just given him a flat refusal." "Yea.1' mild ?he. "but this time he lldr't offer a tlrU. 1 1"?? a whole house." ? New York Time* CURIOU* IDOl? WOMMIP. #>W>lptf Writ* Their >wytr? an# Threw TMrn as Ipft Balls. Along Che sacred road of Nikko. In fapaa. la aa Idol about which center* mm of 'the moat curious worship* la Jie world. Upon the surface of tae itstue are seen little pieces of what appears to be dried paper. If you Uandby the Idol for a while aad wait tor a worshipper to come clone, you sill see what these bit; of paper are. The devotee halts In front of th? tease, then scribble* a prayer on ? >lt of paper. The wad he then chewo ap Into a ball and hurls at the cod. If :t hits the face aad stick*, the prayei s sure to be (ranted, and the pious pilgrim goes away happy. If the ball atlcks to some portion of the body, the omen is not quite *o propitious, and if It falls to the ground there la absolutely no hope. Such a mode of prayer is even more curious than the praying wheels ol the Buddhists, who set the wheel re voiving and reel off prayers by ma ch'nery. As John L. Stoddard, the lecturer, says: "One sees, of course, numberless strange rites connected with religion In traveling about the world, but Japan is the only land I have ever visited where deities serve as targets for masticated prayers!" ELECTRICITY USEFUL. Even on Coa! Dock Where It la Ulilia ed for Motive Power. Even on a coal duck, where saving fuel would seem to be as uuiiecessar) as anywhere on earth, electricity has b;*en adapted as the sole motive pow er (or tramways, hoists, and othei machinery. This dock, with one mil* 01 water and 2,000 .OKI) squart feet of area, in a; Duiuth. .".linn. It b owned by the i'iv.neer i'uel Company and is said to be the most perfect!.* equipped fuel dock in the country. Many other coal yards are plamtini to adopt electric motors iu the sam? way. for the convenient manner ii which thpy can be distributed offer, advantages that overbalance even th< consideration of a superabundance o fuel for sicam power. The electrl drives are used for operating cars aiu derricks, and the other appliances fo loading and unloading the coal, a. well as to do all the repairing requii ed. In fact, all the work that machin ery does ic the yard Is done by eler trlclty. Car P'atform for Real Use. This is the roomy rear platform o a new trolley car ordered by the SI Iwouis Transit Company for service t. and from the exposition grounds While the front platform is . rathe short, the one on the rear is a regula balcony, with an area of nine feet on> inch by seven feet, divided into thre? parts. On each section are hand raK lngs ic r supporting the platform pat) tensers. Tin? chief advantage of th? scheme is that an open passageway U always maintained for the entranc* and exit of those who ride inHlde th? oar. The railings are opeu at eact ??nd, so that one may move around \hera. Early British Cemetery. Ploughing operations at Diiston North Tyne, have lately revealed at ?arly British burwil place, or. cist, urnr having been found containing the ishcs of a funeral pyre. It is suppos ?d that the burials date from the later bronze ago about 500 or 1,000 years before Christ, the relic thus be !ng from 2.f>00 to 3,000 years old. The urtia are of what is known as the Mriuking-cup" type, ornumcnted with markings made on the clay while nioist. Unlike the Hoiuan pottery, which was turned out on a potter's wheel, they are hand made, probably l>y the women of the family of the ieceased. and burned on the funeral pyre. Loses Quilting Record. Mrs. Mary Dininger of New ilar aiony. Ind.. who Is reported to have made a quilt containing 2,900 pieces, will have to relinquish the quilting record to Mrs. John T. Prohert of Pate. son. N. J. Mrs. Prohert has two quilts which contain !>,836 pieces each. The blocks tn both quilts are one inch square. Trampling Rebellious Spirit*. Should a Korean girl die before marriage her life has betfn a failure, since she has never been under th? rule of a "lord of creation." Were she to be burled lu the family cemetery on the hillside her unruly spirit would cause trouble among the ancestors, so a hole is dug in one of the great highways and her remains are depos ited therein without ceremony. It It believed that as travelers pass day by day <>v?r th? grave th?y will tram ole h*?r unruly spirit ln*.o subjertloa AM OOO INDIAN RILIC. Adttflraph LMtor fro i Thorn? Jef? tor? n. Written CiwlMry Aft. An autograph letter from TIkmui Jeffereon. written a hundred years ago to the ladtaas of the Loulalaaa pur chase. has recently been uaearthed from the archives of the Sac and Fox Indians In Oklahoma The Indians la whose possession the document has been for a century have not known Its value, but Intuitively they hnve care fully kep' the letter during all their migrations. The letter, which Is quite Ions, revests Mr. Jefferson's astute ness In desllng with the Indians. At his Invitation several powerful chiefs Journeyed from west of the Mississippi river to Washington nnd were enter talned at the nation's capltol. Whet they stsrted on their Journey home they carricd the president's letter. It the letter Mr. Jefferson called atten tlon to the long Journey they had made through the white man's terrl tory and bow the white men had im proved the land during the short whilf they had been In possession of It The letter tactfully shows to the In dians how hopeless would tife a con against the whites. Jofferson it the letter called the Indians his child ren and advised ag?lnt:t tribal wars Temperature of Insects. The temperature of the human bod} :s essentially the same In the tropic: ?nd in the polar /ones. Insects at res .lave a ten?:>era?ure practically th? ranch wai quarantined aud the patient recovered For a time the physicians were at t loss to know where the patient cor traded the disease, for he had no been away from the ranch for man: months. The fact Anally came ti light that .McKinley Wood, forme owner of the place, died of sniallpo? seven years ago. Evidently the germ* were not completely eradicated, am after a lup.e of seven years infectei the present sufferer. The doctors sa; this case is almost without a paralle in the history of this disease. Fish Stsry of Interest. In the harbor of Sydney. N. S. W thirty-four years ago a fisherman killei slid towed ashore a shark, cut him up und found a i^ondou newspaper itibld> of him. In the paper was the an nouncement of the war betweei Frunee and Ciermuny. The shark ha< outdistance.-! the steamer by whicl the mail was coming, and the discov erer had the rews to himself. Hi gave his information to a wealth.* wool dealer, who bought all the sea son's clip at eighteen cents a pouni and sold at seventy-two cents a ih>uu< after the news of war had arrived b; the ordinary channel. He cleared, i is said. $20,000,000 by the deal. Th' man who killed the shark and extract (Ml the news received a battered sill hat and a live-shilling piece for hb information. New Guinea Mask. This two-ntory turtle hIicII mask I* me of the many unique disguises worn by the people of New Guinea in '.heir dance*. Record of Insurance Man. Col. Dickinson of New York in a tingle year wrote policies for 100? the largest record of Insurance over done in the world In one year by one Individual. His operations ex tended over the West Indies and SoutA Amerlejr Goes Back to Native Land. Rev. Carl Goedel has resigned the rcctorshlp of the Mary J. Drexel home, a Philadelphia charity. H* explains that after ten years in the United States he finds himself still "a self conscious, convinced Prussian and German." and that in his view of the matter "whoever does not want to be come an American does not belong permanently In this country." Prepare for Future Event At the birth of a child In Cyprue ft vessel of wine l:? buried, to be served . tip afterword at It* mortage. , ?HCTACH? ON THZ D&AO. Undertaker Ptaut Wmiii on CirpM Only at Wiynl af Relatives. At a recent funeral It was noticed that the face of the And was adorn ec with glasses. Naturally the quee. decoratlpn occasioned surprise. Bvei the uadertaker ti? ri hardly to know what to mske of H. "However." he said, "this Is not tlu first time 1 have hnrled a man wilt' Classes on. But the Instaaces hav? been so few that 1 haven't got used u the Idee. Certainly 1 never ndd that finishing touch of my own accord. 11 Is always done at the request of tlx family. In every CM*. I find that the deceased and his glasses were Inspp arable In life, snd la order to preserve the likeness they are to be still un divided In death. Personally. I think the notion Inartistic, but art Is not my business. When anybody wants tc be burled In glasses that's the way I bury him." Squats te Writs Letter. When an Equadorlan woman writes a letter she sits on the floor and uses a squatty table like the one in this picture. The table is a rough, bench like thing, so simply fashioned that even an amateur carpenter can put it together without difficulty. CAST FROM WHITE HOU8E. Several Chandeliera Are Reacued Be cause of Thair Associations. Having been cast aalde by the execu tive. several chandeliera of historic significance to thoae familiar with the White House have been rescued ami sent to Congressional committee rooms. It was when the White House was being overhauled that the olii relics, dating from President Grant'* term, were sent to an auctioneer to be sold. Superintendent Elliott Wood ot the National Capitol heard about it and had them withdrawn from the sale. The finest of the chandeliers wa< i?laced in the rooms of the Senatt Committee on the District of Colum bia. It weighs 800 pounds and con tains 5.000 pieces of crystal. The original cost of (his one. together will, four others rescued, is said to have been $27,000. They were imported from Euglaud. and originally were de signed for accommodating gas lights but now they have been remodeled foi use with electricity. To Cushion Elevator Shafts. To safeguard against injury those who are unfortunate enough to fal! down an elevator shaft, a St. Ixiuis factory inspector has Invented a de vice. consisting of a woven wire net covering the bottom of the shaft and supported by stout arms. Under the net is a pair of compression springs The combined action of net and springs breaks the fall. While the let gives and sags, the arms close ur like scissors and are resisted by the ?jiovement of the springs. Fond of Good Society. While a menagerie was being derail m1 at Plauen. In Saxony, one day last turamer. a bear escaped and bolted up the main street of (be town. An elec 'ric train frightened the animal, and !t made for the open air bathing lake n the park. A number of ladies were ii the water, and were frightened ilmost out of tneir wits when the shaggy beast came plunging In among 'hem. With one accord they all clear !>d out of the water and ran for their fives, leaving Bruin in undisputed ik>s session. Was Hore du Combat. A horse and a cow had a set-to on ?he premises of their owner. Mr. Wal ter Sherman at Newport. It. I.. Tues day. There were several rounds, the cow being victorious. When "time' was called Dr. Bertram was called The horse was buried a few hours later. Trim? Tree* He Planted. George l? Newton is tfimming the trees in the state house grounds at Montpeller, Vt., some of which he set out 43 years ago. at which time he charged the state $1 apiece for them. Some are now thirty inches in dlame tcr. * Oum Wae Her Mether'e. A Cambildge teacher told one ot her charge*, the other day. to put into the waste basket a huge chunk of gum that she was chewing. The child looked as though she would like to obey, but couldn't, and Anally begau to cry. The teacher again repeated her order, and this time the child said, "I'd like to, teacher, but I can't It belongs to my mother." Cathollea In America. There are about 11.000,000 Catholto* lo the United fttate*. SCYTHES AS ORNAMENTS. Plaoed Th#r? to Cemmemorate Pta unto' Qrfiim of Their Faith. Ai Ant lifht the acythe Is a Strang* ornament tor a church, but there It nothing Incongruous In these curlout agricultural Implements as seen In thi parish church of bt. Mary's at Horn :astto. In Lincolnshire. Thirteen of these blades are nallec above the door in the north chapel. A jne time the blades numbered fort; >r fifty, but owiag to rust and deca> many of them nave been loat. Eact of the scythes Is about a yard ii length. The general belief Is that them blades were placed in the church It commemoration of the seal of peas ants who wielded them in defense o< their faith In the rebellion known ai 'The Pilgrimage of Grace." which hat Its rise at Ixwth In 1536. When th* people saw the ruins of their churchet snd abbeys, they rose In revolt, am arming themselves with the Instru mentc of husbandry, such as scythes they went forth to encounter tin ?nemv. They were beaten and dis jereed. but in the eyes- of theli countrymen they were heroes, and th? *ude Implements with which thej 'ought were deemed worthy of an abid ng place la the old church where the peasants had worshiped. ? L'hrlstia* \ge. Capturing a Sea Bass. Royal Bliven of Pleasant View. R. I., ? *aptured a 9%-pound striped sea bast i few days ago on the Iteach. Mr Bliven was walking alorg the bead) A-hen he saw the fish floundering ir :he shallow water and succeeded in landing it on the sand. The stripeu tea bass is not uncommon 011 the New England coast in the full, but are jxtrcmely rare at this time of year Tax on Letters. It is part of a Spanish postman's 1uty to collect a tax of a cent apiece >n every letter sent from within the kingdom which 1> steamer, and who for some reasor. was treated as an "undesirable" ant.' refused permission to land, was offer ing ?300 to any one who would tnarr> her and thus enable her to evade Un law which prohibited her from golny ashore. Very soon some threescore mcu. mostly "out of works," made a bee line to the vessel, but even thost who got there first were too late. The ship stayed only a short time, and the hopes of immediate possession ot funds were destroyed as the leading batch of aspiring husbands saw the prize borne away to sea. ? St. James Gazette. Eels Sold "by the Grab." London possesses a curiosity in the Southwark eel market, which is said to have been held regularly for ovei 300 years. It is little known except In the neighborhood where It is held? viz.. near Blackfriars Bridge. Origin ally the eels sold were caught of! Blackfriars Bridge, but now they como mostly from Holland and Scotland They are not sold by weight, as Is usual, but by the handful, the price being "4d. the grab." Automatic Shoe Shiner. is electricity to oust the bootblack from bin livelihood? A Chicago In ventor answers "Yes." The invention Is called an "automatic electric shoe shiner." There is an elevated plat form, on which are arrang< i stools and around which is a brass railing. To the edge of the platform are at tached mechanical devices with re volving pulleys and little belts. The man places his foot on the rest in front of one ut these little machines, and the apparatus begins to get busy. He does not move his fc?r? lb# shoe Is shlned. Quits Business at 112. Dotores Soinasla, the oldest man fn Jjo s Angeles county, and probably the oldest Mexican In California, has de cided to retire from active life. Re oentiy he refused his annual job of chopping and hauling wood for th? people of Acton. Dolores is 112 years of age. and has for 60 years past lived the life of a recluse In a :imall, rudely constructed shack ffear the outskirts of that town. ?New York Journal. News of Interest AFRO-AMERICANS Lynching* Ar? Deplored. At the New York conference of th-i Methodist Episcopal church a resolu lion was unanimously adopted deplor ing the increase in the number of lynching* In the north as well as In the south and Insisting that the strong right arm of our country's power be . engaged to secure the inalienable right of trial by Jury of every citizen, re gardless of color, or the crime of which the man may be suspected. ? ? ? ? Farm Bought for Ex-Slaves. The committee of ex-slaves, which is endeavoring to provide a homo to? ! ex-slaves in that immediate section, has purchased a farm near Atlanta. Ga., and expects to have a number of homes located on the place within a short time. The farm cost J6.250.- II is located in DeKalb county on South river, less than two miles from Lakewood. The location is considered an excellent one. and the commit too believes that the farm will furnish acceptable home for ex-slaves. The place already has several houses on it, and it is th? purpose of the com mittee to erect a number of other cab- I ins and to arrange small garden spots on which the occupants may work at | their wish. Moses Bentley, the weil known barber, who is chairman of the | committee, stalos that several notes will have to be met on the first of May, and he is anxious to receive all of the assistance possible in furthering the ex-slave home project. ? ? ? - Success Lies in Work. Says a Chicago dispatch: In work? work mainly of industrial character ? i that will render him useful in the com- | munlty in which he lives, will the No* | gro find his chief source of protection and development, accent ing to Booker T. Washington, who delivered an ad dress on "Race Building" at Qtiinn chapel. Washington was greeted oy a mixed audience of white anil colored people that, included many of the prom inenl citizens of Chicago. The colored educator spoke for more than two hours, principally on indus trial education, iu which he Saw the future .of the race. He frankly recommended that thoy consider their weakness, that not 10 strive too much for higher education, remembering that most, of them must live by their hand* He saw the best opportunity for the Negro in the south and advised him to cooperate wilh the white man, with whom be must live, rather than engag-3 In needless opposition. The speaker otood firmly for an equal franchise foi both races in the south, and depreca ted lynching. ? ? ? ? Opera House for Colored People. Birmingham, Ala., has a Negro oper.i house and attractions for and by col oied citizens will bo put on from weelt to week. llano's auditorium, a build ing in the northwestern part of t lie city, has been leaded by If. Greenstone who will conduct the same as a regu lar theater. He will set aside the first three rows of the parquet to the white people who might want 10 patronize the establishment. Greenstone be lieves thai an establishment for col ored people, with melodrama fare;# comedies, rag-time operas, musical comedies and other things dramatical ly and muscilly by and for colored people will be a paying investment. Nothing of tii is kind lias ever been at tempted in Birmingham before except at an open air park, near East Bir mingham. and i< a as i.<p and then m 'iking larger places. I The scheme is novel and may provo very profitable. ? ? ? ? Melden on Race Question. In a New York conference recently, j of the Methodist Episcopal church, the | session held under the auspices of the | Kreedmans and Southern Educational 1 society, the Rev. Dr. ('. M. Melden. of 1 Ft 'ovldence. R. I., formerly president j of Clark University. Ulauta. discus; i ing the -Negro problem iai t i:t par': "Unfortunately there are many poo | pie in the north who think ilia1 the j business of solving 'lie N e/.ro i)ro!?le::i j ought to be left to southerners. t\? you know what that m<\un? !? means I that if such work was i ?*f ' to so't'hcrn ' ers i:ke Senator Tillman and Money i and Governor Vardaman the < >!ore l man would be reduce. I to virtual peon age. They threaten t;> ma-tsacre rai It er than give the Negro all hi.* rights ttuder the constitution. Sena'or Mon ey Is a man of the same strips as Till man but not sitoh n Iitud talker. B it the men 1 have mentioned represent a loud-mouthed and lar^e class in the south. "To me it seems to be a national question. It is Impossible for America to take a high place among 'he na tions while millions and millions of col ored people are sunken in darkness and like a festering mass are breeding disease that is |"kc moral malaria. Be cause of this menace to the count r/. the subject is a national ono." * ? ? ? Suffrage Case Argued. A Washington dispatch says: Ar gument in i he suffrage case of Wm. S Solden and others v.-v Governor Mon tague of the sta'.H ?f Virginia, was con tinned la the United States auprema court by Attorney General Anderson and P. W. Christian, both or whom contended for the validity of the sf* frago clause of the new state constitu tion. which is attacked by the proceei ins. Mr Anderson dealt especially with the constitutional question Involv ed. claiming that a* the suffrage pro* vision makes no discrimination on ac count of race, color or previous condl- ? tlon of servitude, it does not conflict with the fifteenth amendment, and when that amendment is not vlolatod each state has an unquestionable right to regulate its owu electorate. He went so far as to say that in "detertu iuiug what the qualifications of a votjr ?hall l>e it is competent for the state to Ax as tests of fitness characteristics which, though possessed by both white and colored citizens, are possessed *?y the whites in larger proportion than the blacks." As illustrations or su"h qualifications, lie Included those of in telligence. military service in time ot war. the ownership of property or any other qualities or attributes which are not based on the race, color or pr** v ous conditions of servitude of the citizen. Mr. Christian confined himself large 1> to the presentation of tho question of jurisdiction. holding that tho pro cedure was not such that it was com petent for a federal court to act. The arguments were closed by John S Wise, who asserted ihat the con trol of the state affairs in Virginia hid been stolen from a hundred thousand disfranchised voters. His argument was highly pleasing to his clients, and provoked an enthusiastic reception for him in the rotunda of the capitol as voon as ho had concluded. OLD CLOCK A WONDER. Ancient Timepiece Furnishes Minister on Sunday Mornings. The old-fashioned grandfather's dock is becoming a rarity, snd only now and then one of them in offered at a public sale In the country dis tricts. Then they bring big prices, one recently selling tor when tho competition between descendants of the original owner was lively. Recently C. C. Mover of Orwigs burg. Pa., bought one of these anti quated tlmepiec - s, and as a result of his reconstruction the clock, instead of merely striking the hour, now shows the d'lt \ ?!.iv of the week and strikes ?!itY?". e::' h.?l!.s fcr the hour and the haif-::^ui\ Then on Sunday morn ings. at precisely the clock's church chimes ring, a small door opens above the dial, and the figure of a man appears, book in hand. Thi i figure remains above the dial all day Sunday, disappearing late on that day, and not appearing till the following Sunday. Young Moyer. who is 24 years old. is noted v'or his ingenuity. At an early ! age he became interested in the con I struct ion of odd machines. The old I clock adorns his home ar.d is a tvueh admired piece of furniture. A Land of LUtle Soap. It is gratifying to lesfn that thtf consumption of soap in China, accord* Ing to official statistics, has increased over 100 per cent of recent, years. In this connection it Is rather a curious fact that if a Japanese emi grates It is specified In his contract that he is to be furnished doily wltb so many gallonr. of hot water, in which he may. according to custom, parboil himself. The Chinese as a rulti never bother their heads about sue!: a detail, an*' though at home they have their bathing houses, the greatet part of the people never go near them nor indeed ever see tho inside of one. "Do you wash your child every day?'* asked a foreigner of a Chinese woman who was seen throwing shovels full I of dust over her progeny, and then wiping it ofT with an old broom. "Wash him every day?" was the indignant res|Kjnse; 'he has never been washed since he was born!" To the Chinese generally the motto could never be made intelligible which was put in his window by a dealer in soap. "Cheaper Chan dirt." Clock Centuries Old. A clock which, it is believed, was used iu the days of Columbus, ha* lately come into the possession of Kmii Kuehwl of Manchester, N. 11. When it was discovered recently in tho garret of a house St was supposed to !>o of little value. The face Is of wood and the figures representing the hours of the day wore cut Into the wood by a ja< kknife or some such instrument. The ancient timepiece was given to Chas. Wolf, who, in turn, presented it to Mr. Kuehnel. who had it cleai??d up. On the upper part of f!:-< v-ooden face of the clock a profile ii( I'oiumtris has been carved in tho wood, while on the lower pnrt "Anno, is neatly carved. Two bottles pre used as weights. On either side of the clock the queer weights aro attached to a cord, which runs over a little wooden cog wheel in the clock. One bottle is heavier than the other, and as the weight carries tho other bottle ;tp. the cog wheel over which the cord runs moves two other cog wheels, the hour hand of the clock bo* ittiC attached to one of them. A Chinese Superstition. Religious superstition asserts itswlf In Chinese architecture, and (lie uni versal sacredtieas of (he numerals three and nine is shown in the ar raugement of temple doors. There ii a triple gateway to each of the hall.* of the Imperial palace, and the yam" order prevails at tho Ming tombs, and the sacred person of the empcrot when he was In his Pekin home could only bo approached, even by the high est officials, after three times three prostrations. The temple of Heaven has a triple roof, a triple marble stair case, and all Its mystic symbolism points either to three or ltd multiple* Had His Wife's Skirt. A Putnam. Conn., man went to church the other evening, carrying on lii* arm what he thought was his overcoat. When he started to hang It over the back of his seat he was somewhat disconcerted to discover that his wrap was oue of his wife'* blank sklru