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Gibraltar's 200 Years Takes by Reek* la 1704 as mm Atiartbaaght, New flirt* tali's Brlia. Bjr Wl? a?X*Ul to llM MlmtoMtk Cm* MaaacAHw. N Aumt 1 1704 (new atjle), the Bock of Gibral tar wti raptured by Great Britain - and It has re mained in her poeeeaalon day to this. Among the many possessions Mattered all over the globe that are comprised la the Brit lib Empire to-day there la none that the nation holds with greater tenacity for reasons both of sentiment and of material interest and none that It would lose with more poignant shame fend sorrow that the redoubtsble strong, bold we took from Spsin at tbe begin* ning of the reign of Queen Anne. The fact that throughout the eight* eenth century, when so many con quests In both hemisphere* changed hands backward and forward In suc cessive wars and under successive treaties. Gibraltar remained perma nently in the keeping of England, might seem to prove that British senti ment with regard to it was from the lirst the same as It is to-day. But this is far from having been the case. For. although at the end of 200 years of our possession of tbe fortress, at a time when the imperial Instinct of Englishmen lias become more con sciously developed and more deeply in grained thau ever before, and at tbe same time more Intelligently apprecia tive of the true meaning of sea power and alive to the strategical require ments of Its maintenance, the retention of the key of the Mediterranean has become an essential article of our po litical creed, It was a considerable time before the Immense value of tbe acquisition was fully railized by Brit ish statesmen. It seems strange enough to us to re member that King George I. and his Ministers were ready to give up Gi braltar merely to secure Spain's ac quiescence In the arrangement by which the Quadruple Alliance was anxious to make some pettifogging modifications in the shuffle of terri tories effected by the treaty of Utrecht, but it is atlll more extraordinary that so clear-sighted, patriotic and high spirited nn empire builder as Lord Chatham himself should have made a similar offer as an inducement to Spain to help us to recover Minorca? and this, moreover, at a time when the fortress has been in our hands for more than half a century and Its vital importance to our growing maritime supremacy had already been abun dantly proved In the naval wars of the period. Happily the Spaniards were as blind an ourselves to the supreme importance of the position command ihg the road from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The truth is, as render* of Maban do ;iot need to be reminded, that the Importance of sea power and the na ture of the foundations on which it is Imsod were very imperfectly grasped even by England in the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth cen tury and scarcely at all by any other European power. Occasionally at in tervals some statesmen like Colbert In France, or Alberonl in Spain, had more than an inkling of the truth, but no nation except England made deliberate and sustained efforts with a view to maritime development. Even England did *o rather by instinct than by insight. Of this blindness to the true prin ciples of maritime policy the taking of Gibraltar and Its history during the following three-quarters of a century afford a striking illustration. Just as the vast importance of Its acquisition was at the time underrated both by England and Spain, so its actual cap ture by the former was an afterthought and (it may almost be said) an acci ilent. It became a British possession In the first instance because at a time when we happened to be at war with ?nc of the rival claimants to the Span ish throne our admiral In the Medlt teranean happened to have no parti- , cular objective in view, and, having failed in his only enterprise of that year, was unwilling to return home with a T.no fleet that hod done nothing fbr the honor of the flag. So he thought he might as well make an attack on Gibraltar as do nnything else. Nev ertheless, his action has to be reck oned among the notable ".deeds t'.iat won the enplre," and one that on Its bi-centennary deserves lo te held in remembrance. . ... iron that Walking an m Finn Art. There in ii > virtue i.i a dawdling *?;u iter. The slow {.ml languid i.rajj ginu.of one foot after the other, which ?( me people coll walk! ig. would tiro tin athlete; It utterly exhaust* a weak person, and that is the reason why j inny (lei Ionic persons think they can i:oi v/alk. To derive any brucllt frjm the excrciae. says the Family Doctor. It is necessary to walk with a light, elastic step, which swings the wcir;ht ?: the l?ody so easily froi i 0:1? leg to tli? other that It* wclfcht Is not felt, and which produce* a healthy glow, nhOfiag that the sl.ijgls'i bloo.1 Is stirred to action iu the i.iost rciuotc llitrrX Mini In tli* World, A certain kind of a pheasant found In the mountain* between A nam and Loa* is said to be the rnrcst bird In existence. For a long time Its exist ence was unknown only by the fact that Its longest and (host splendid lilome was much sought aftyr by the mandarins for their headirear. A sin gie skin is Worili mid if the bird would live in captivity its value would lie fabulous. An Ant? For th? fop*. The Pope Is to purchase an automo bile for his personal use Ir. taking his daily rides through the Vr.Mcan gar dens. The unusual spectacle of a woll poknted electric brougham standing In the papal carriage house side by side wllh the state carriage of the Pope will cause comment at tlrst. t ? Crooln Brothers, owning ? general stsro at Morris, I1L. a town between three thousand arid four thousand peo ple. publish large Interesting ads la, the local newspaper, advocating buy Ing at home and offering to sell at same prices as the large Chicago bouses. If freight, etc.. be added. The announcements are so large as to umke tbelr reproduction an Impofsl* bllltj. In the paragraphs below, the gist of one of them Is glreu without display: We propose to meet the prices of the department stores or catalogue bouses. All we ask is that you deal with us on the same basis that you deal with catalogue houses, snd give us the same amount of time to get the goods which It would require to get them from them. Plank your money down when you order the goods and we will meet each and every price they make and furnish you the same goods at the same prices they offer you We will go further. We don't ask you to take any goods where mistakes are msde in ordering. We'll shoulder the mistakes. If any of you have ever had anything come wrong you know what a nice little job it Is to get It corrected, no matter how willing the firm Is to do so. It takes correspondence, stamps mid freight on the goods to get them exchanged, to say nothing of the loss of time. Some people prefer to buy away from home because it sounds big to l>e nl>le to say tliey ordered from Chicago, otc. We know of one v>arty who in actually paying more for goods bought away from Morris than he could buy theui of his dealer here. This kind of peo ple we can do nothing for. but the kind who are making the dollar go just as far aa they can, we can and will do something for. Give us a trial on the proposition we make. If you are one of those who have been buying away from home. Bring your catalngue with you. If we fail to furnish the goods without a reasonable excuse don't give us your confidence again. Try us once. We don't fear the result. We are residents of Morris. We are your home merchants. We help pay taxes. We have to live and consume some of your products. Is our proposition wrong? The whole trouble about our people about Morris is the same with which so many communities arc suffering. That old slow-coach credit. Some of it so slow we never get it. No mer chant can sell goods cheap ou that plan. The dollar invested iu goods to day and sold for cash to-morrow can l>e invested in more goods the follow ing day and the same process of sale may be repeated, but the dollar In vested in goods to-day and sold on credit to-morrow Is tied up just so long as you don't get it back, and its earn ing capacity is stopped for the nier-! chant until he gets it hnck again. Can you wonder why the catalogue house has the advantage iu price over most of your home merchants? The cata logue house won't trust you; even de mands the money in advunce with no goods in sight. Your home merchant often trusts and often to his sorrow, even though 100 per cent, sometimes be his profit. Many times a seeming profit of 25 per cent, on goods sold to a good man turns out to be merely a small Interest on the monej invested because of slow pay. Treat your homo merchant like you are compelled to treat your catalogue house and we think you will get better results. An Accural* Timekeeper. The best timekeeper in the world is said to be the electric clock In the basement of the Berlin Observatory, which was installed by Prof. Foerster in 1S65. It is enclosed i.i an airtight glass cylinder and bus frequently run for periods of two and three months with an nvernge daily devintlon of only 15-1000 of a second. Astrouomers are making efforts to improve even this and to secure ideal conditions for the clock by keeping it not only in an airtight case, but iu nil underground where neither clinnges of tem perature nor of Imrouietric pressure shall ever affect It. Cheap ArivertUeuisnt*. Some of the Japanese tradesmen In the smaller towns of Nippon have a curious way of advertising their bus iness. Cn their right forearms they tattoo figures? tho shoemaker, a shoe: the woodcutter, an ax; the butcher, a cleaver. Underneath these emblems are such inscriptions as, "I do my work modestly and cheaply, or "I am as good at ray trade as most of my fel lows." When they are looking for work they bare their arms aud walk about the street. Tfh?re "IHny" W?? Horn. Tin Ijomlon County Council, in the course of the official explanation of its *elcctio:i 22 Theobald road. W. C? as the birthplace of Disraeli, has the fol lowing passage: "Benjai.iin was born 0:1 December 21. 1S04. aud unless his mother was away fron home at the time, this event must have taken place at th? lions? in question." It is all right, of course, remarks the London News, but it reads oddly at first. Queer Way of Telling Tlino. In Malay the natives keep a record of time In a remarkable manner. Floating in a bucket filled with water they place a coeoanut shell having a snail perforation, through which by slow degrees the water finds its way inside. This opening is so propor tioned that It takes just one hour for the shell to All and sink. Then a watchman calls out, the shell is emp tied aud the operation Is begun again. China's DotatlWei. The detective force In China Is a secret body second to none in the world In point of organization. From one end of the celestial land to the other a very wide-open eye is kept upon every man, woman and child, whether foreign or native, and, for that matter, the detectives watch one another most vigilantly. , Calais Lac? and Tnlle. I, nee and tulle to the value of ?12.? 000.000 were exported from Calais to Kugland last year. The manufacture of these goods lu Calais is largely In the hands of Nottingham people, who introduced the trade in the French port. - - - ----- AN INTERESTING GAME FOR GIRLS. Ben Is a new game that require* al BKMt AO preparation. which la gmt fan. and which dMBtnda a lot of ?kill to brlag victory to a player. It U a fine same for glrli, for there la no Jumping about, and a girl caa play it while wearing her very prettiest party frock without the slightest danger of mussing It. Two player* only are required. They alt at oppoelte sides of a table, and any When tbe button ha? landed and Jiaa slapped rolling tbe otuef plajer has a torn. 8he snr.ps It back and tries to make It land In her opponent's saucer. If a player snaps tbe battou off the table her opponent scores two points. If tbe buttou does not no wore than half way across tbe table her opponent scores two points, If the button comes to a rest agnlu the saucer tbe gir! mak ing the shot scores Are points; if tbe sized table will do. Before each girl Is a little plate or saucer. Each girl has a large bone button iu the place of n pingpong bat, and a smaller buttou is used In the place of a ball. One player ?tarts the game by pressing with her large buttou on the edge of tlie small button, causing It to snap neross the table very much as In the eld game of tlddle-de-winks. She tries to make the button land In the other girl> saucer. A LUCKY SHOT IN SNAPSHOTS. GOING BYE-BYE. And it's ho! for the land of Bye-Rye, Astraddle of papa'* knw. With two big handa for the stirrups And two little lips for the fee. And now we are off at a gallop Through nuadow and valley and wood For a visit to Peter Piper And Little Red Riding Hood. And maybe we'll call on the faiiies > Down there in the hazel del!. For where I'an.i Horsey will talc? u? The horsey himself can't tell. And inayke we'll call on Miss Muffet And maybe ? and maybe we'll come To where one little pig went to market Anil one little piggic stayed at home But this I know, that so surely As the littlest piggie could talk. So surely we'll nod 111 the saddle And the gallop will coine to a walk. And then we will lie at the stable And tenderly horsey will stand While manuim lovingly leads lis To the dream-decked Lullaby Land. ?Collier's Weekly. ALTERING STAMPS. No change or alteration of any sort should be made by a collector lu hi* stamps. It was a custom, some years ago. among collectors to erase cancel lation marks from their stamps in or der to make their stamps better. The effect of the attempt was not all that could be desired. The erasures were not perfect, and the stamps in the changed condition, being neither can celed nor uncanceled, were simply in ferior dnmnged specimens. One of ;he most common ways of altering stamps at the present time is to erase the word "specimen" from a stamp liaving this overprint. It cannot be done so that it will not be detected, and the stamp in the altered condition is worthless, while as a '?specimen" it had some vajuc. It has frequently happened that stamps, valuable in their original condition, have been made worthless by attempts to In crease their value by alteration.? St, Nicholas. BOTTLE FISHERMEN. The boys who live near a body of water containing perch, bull bends or cattish, can make large catches by means of simple devices. An old Jug, well stoppered, mnkes an excellent assistant. After emptying the jug, and corking it securely, take it to the place where you want to tlsh, and, mnklng a line fast, bait your hook and carefully lower the Jug lu the water. A tempting worm on n hook below n ,1ug is liable to result in a bite, and then the Jug commences to bob about THK HIIjKNT fihiif.hm an. in nn amazing manner. If the Hsh in large It mny tow the jug nround the water for a while, but a heavy Jug will soon tire out even a big tlnti, au<l then you can haul in the enptlve. If Jugs are not obtainable, large bot tles nrc effective. although they do not offer tlie resistance the heavy Jug does, and unless dark colored, are hard to see on the water.? Atlanta Journal. THE GHOST CANDLE. To perform this amusing little trick you need a large pane of clear glass, two candlesticks and two candles. The candlesticks must bo exactly alike and so must the candles. Hniig up the glass near a window and nt right angles to It. Dace on candle and holder about a foot In front button should land lit the thtiiccr and slip out again slip Mrori'ft seven points. A luck)- shot catuiug tin* button to re main in the saucer wore* ten points for tlie player makioc It. Twenly-live |K>ints~is u Kuine. Tlie player* take turn* snapping the button. Crown people an well an youngsters llnil loin of fun lu tii! ? srauie, which is a model evening pastime. of the glass. Ihe oilier ut i:*t ?<iual distance belli hi! it. Now Hie surface of n pane of glass act* like a mirror auil makes a re flected imag" ??f any object which in placed in front of it. So as >on stand in front of the glass anil arrange the two- candles you Hri* apparently, three candle*. Tliat Is to nay. you see the two real candle* aud the ivUected image of ?>?:?? of t hem. Move (he candle* nr. til this Image T-IGHTIN'O r.OTH CAXDLEF. corapietelf covers and blends with ill* other caudle wliicli you see through the glass. Now you Iiavc got the candle Int* the desired |K>sitlon. an.l, no matter from what point you look, you will see only two caudles, one before and the other behind the glass. Now show your friends the two can dles. letting them look behind tlie glass to see that there really are two and not merely one and its reflection. Then, while everybody is riaudiug in front of .the glass, strike a match and i light the candle In front. Your friend)* will be surprised to see that both cau dles are light h1, or appear o be. But what seems to be the flames of the candle behind the glass is the re flection of the flame in front. Before any inquisitive person en n "peek" behind the glass, blow out both candles by blowing out the front one. when the reflected tlauie will, of course, disappear also. It will be au Improvement, perhaps, to arrange matters so that the spec tators cannot look behiuu the gluss. In this case ?/art ftf the second candle, or at ler.it the candlesticks must show under the glass, for It will be no trick at all if you do not give some uvideuco that there are two candleo. When the trick is do* e 1: this wny an ordinary silvered irlmr may be used inslead of the pane of glass. fltrani* F?l? of *n Knclldl Knrl. "I came across a bit of treasure the other day," writes a Washington an thor, who Is down on Cape Cod. "It is the log-book of the schooner Hera, which sailed from Boston on a day in the 70's. She sailed with a new first mate on board. "He seemed an ambitious mnn. and he understood navigation. The captsin suspected him of a desire to be master of a vessel himself some day, but there was little nbout him to suggest that he was anything but n sailor. The third day out he wr.s caught by the down haul of the mizzen. and went over board. Ills l>ody was never recovered. When the Hera came back from her voyage she was met by two English men. They hnd crossed the water post >hnste to find that first mate. Some body had died in England, and? well, the mnn who wns lost off that Yankee schooner wns the Enrl of Aberdeen.'? Washington Post. Wh?n n?ck Flihfil In Vlorltli*. The Cincinnati Enquirer says that nt the Amnteur Journalists' Convention in Baltimore a Philadelphia!) said of .Tames M. Beck, who is one of the nsso cint ion's most distinguished members: "When we had our convention in Philadelphia Mv. Beck wk? the life of it. IIo kept the table 'n a ronr. In repartee it wns Impossible to get the better of him. "At one time he wns tnlking nbout Ashing. " 'T|ie best dny's sport I ever had,' ho snld, 'was off the Florida const. There were three of us; we ench had throe rods, and nil dny long we pulled in flsh ns fast as wo could throw out<our lines, I forget,' he ndded, thoughtfully, 'whnt kind of fish they were.' " 'Perhnps they were wlinles,' som? one suggested. "Whi.lcs!" said Mr. neck: "whj n-.nn, w? were baiting with whale*'0 TO DRE88 BECOMINGLY. The woman with a longing to be thought nfctoreiqne and with an eye for color has a bard time In these days steering her way through the many pitfalls that surrouud her, and It lu troth requires an Immense amount of concentration of purpose not to be led sstrsy by tbe picturesque fsshlons that In ths Illustrations look so much more 1 attractive than they do on the Indi vidual. One rule should slwsys l>c followed, that no style should be choseu that Is markedly unbecoming, it is far better to dress according to tbe style of last year, provided that stjle was becoming, than to ruu the risk of being made a perfect fright by following too closely the exagger ated fsshlons of this suniu.er.? Har per's Bazar. COLONIAL KNOCKER THE FAD. It is now considered tbe proper tiling, among other colonial revivals, to liuve a knocker placed on every bed clia lu mber in tbe bouse. . Tbe knocker fad, started by the an tique dealers, was taken up by tbe rich classes several years ago, who in troduced brass knockers of eolouiai pattern upon their gates and doors. Houses of the ante-revolutionary days are the more picturesque by rea son of their quaint escutcheons, door knobs and knockers, but tliey are 1 closely rivaled by tbe modern house of eolouiai architecture, titted with real autlque fixtures. Tbe latest phase of .the fad is a knocker for each bedroom. 'The maid who awakens j*our guest in the morning does so, not by tapping or .calling, but by giving two or three gentle raps with tbe knocker. The idea is rather a clever one.? Indianap olis News. BEAUTY'S GREATEST ORNAMENT . Beauty's greatest ornament is the hair at the back of the neck, if the pretty woman only understands how to 'utilise tbe locks. Very few artists are bold enough or daring enough to .paint the female neck bare of curls, .and there is hardly a famous ideal bead in tbe picture galleries Avitb the ears exposed. '. No matter bow pretty and pink the tips of the feminine ears may be, the .artistic eye loves to clothe them in soft ringlets, and 110 matter bow grace ful or swanlike mas- be tbe back of .-the neck it is much more artistic to dress it in small curls. If tbe hair does not grow prettily at tbe back of the neck try to train the Jocks down so that they will curl. If tbis cannot be done, then use a few artificial curls. Maybe tbe bair grows so wickedly at tbe back of tbe neck that the arytlclnl curls cannot be used with good results, and in this case there is nothing to do but to dress the bair low. Tbe woman who wants to please will surely not neglect to make a study of her hair dressing.? New Ilaveu Register. PRETTY IIOME MADE NECKLACE The woman who wants a collar, and who cannot obtain either a diamond one 01* a collar of pearls, can take heart, for there is an exceedingly pretty makeshift for her. She can wear *n hand of velvet around her throat, and upon this bond of velvet she can wear strings of yellow stones? beuds, really they might be called ? except that they are of irregular size and shape, and so. look very much richer than strings of beads commonly look. Tbe mnklng of these necklaces is a fine art. It requires strings and strings of f.nc elastic, of just the length to en circle the throat. And, after these are strung witli their burden of odd stones, llie whole must be mounted upon a clasp which is set at the back of the neck. These seml-preclous necklaces sell for big pricos hi the store, but tbe woman of taste can gather her st:>re and stock of bcadc and make them fcr herself. ?Tho key to the whole is the preserva tion cf color. Ther? should bo more yellow than anything else, and the faint yellow tingj should prevail tLirjughout iue whol?. WHAT TACT MEANS. The secret of that marvelous influ orc3 corta'n persons porseps over both men and women is usually to be found in their tact. And tact means thought fulners: not an app:aroaeo of It, but a real intefest, a c.ulck cympathy ex pressed in the nraee of word and deed. Wo are all influenced l>y that charm: so deeply Influenced that it might be wise to consider its equal power upon ofievs. For, although it has its root In unselfishness and can only grow with painstaking care, it may be a natter of cultivation. Those who pro claim, "I haven't a particle of tact." sim,>ly acknowledge that Sbcy are s?lf absorbed. It need not develop into fusslncss, which is tiresome: It should avoid Inquisitlveness while it shows re gard. It should not manifest itself in open flattery, though merited praise should bo generously given. In speech tact avoids argument, contention, con tradlctlon. unless truth itself Is at stake, and then it mny be gently ut tered. Neither does It ruthlessly shat ter Ideals or dispel illusions. It re nresses egotism, feeble joking or silly Irrelevancy, the flippant, the profaut, the coarse, the cynical and the sneer. It does not parade? while far from ef facing?It's owner's personality; It never teases, nor "qtilsees," as tho English soy. nor, to go from speech to act, does It ever perpetrate a practical Joke. That Involves consideration, and yet more thon that. It means neither soaring above nor sinking below the situation. It has a show cf ease, hid ing fatigue, neglect or watchfulness. In short, 0 coarse-groined person is hard to teach some of Its ways, os the high-strung find It os difficult to dis play yet other quallMei.? Horpet's Ba zar. SLAVE OF THE DRESSMAKERS. What mockery to prate of the equal ity of tbe sexes, says a 'writer m tbe Atlantic, wbeu oue sex possessed tiie freedom of uniform, and tbe other is tbe slave of ever-varyiug costume! Tblnk of tbe great portiou of a lifetime we women are condemned to upend merely on keeplug ourselves in style? Talk of our playing with scholar sbip or politics wben we are all our days panting disheveled after scam pering Dame Fasblou, who, all our broken-minded lives, is just a littie a bead! Yet dress-reform is tbe first article In our creed of autipatbles, and I. for oue, am last of ladies to declare myself a heretic. I nm not ungrateful for the gift of sex and specie*. Suppose 1 were a fowl of the air? what <*ondemuation of bodden gray, and soul unexpressed either by vocal or personality of plumage! Among things furred or feathered It is the male who dresses and the lady who wears uniform; that it is otherwise with human beings is due. I suppose, to some freakish bit of chivalry on the part of the autocrutic Evolution, the ringmaster who puts the entire men agerie through their tricks. No, I would not he a fowl; let me not repiue; let me at this busiues of dressing, pluckily. TIIE JAPANESE GEISHA GIRL. 1 Mistaken conclusions regarding ;be Japanese Geisha are very often drawn by people wtyo do not know. She is not necessarily a person of corrupted morals, but simply a woman educated to attract from childhood. The study of personal magnetism is hers through life, and although she is invariably a daughter of the lower class, with ugly lingers and homely hands, she could be classed above many modern women who have also tnudc personality a study. The Geisha is extremely clever. Iler dancing is one of the things in which she excels. Although our own women have tried to imitate ner graceful movements and the lasciiiatiug rhythm of the body, it seems to be left entirely to the little dashing Maiko to do it as it should he done. Iler position in the beautiful kind is oue of import ance and she graduates from her posi tions very much as our own little ones do from the schools. Her cultivated tongue is the most important of all her accomplishments and a really famous Geisha basrbeen known to keep nobles aud even imper ials in constant attendance upon her by her ready lire give-and-take con versation. After her time for beauty has passed, she has greater opportunity for becoming even more famous, anil many of the little Geishas who, after removing their sumptuous garments for the less attractive ones of blue and | gray, have married into the best so ciety and have even been known to mount the throne itself. In this couiw try the actress is very much like the Gelslia. and the reputation of the Geisha is viewed more or less the same as the actress.? New Haven Register. FASHION NOTES. Sandalwood fans are in favor again. Have two bodices for the black taf feta gown. Color will play a prominent part the coming season. . Bolero Jackets of lace and embroid ery have a tlrm hold. Fashion arbiters agree that the 1830 ' modes have had tliulr day. Skirts will be of two lengths, the in step and the "all around." Lemons, npples, pears and peaches adorn some of the fall hats. There are bags of that bright new orange which appears so startling in belts. Myrtle ns the darker shade, and liz ard as the lighter one, are the two smart shades of green. To be correct a taffetu silk lining must be of a medium or light shndc, preferably tlio latter, of the gown's color. The new coat3 for the fashionable walking costume will be of the 1)1 rectolre, Louis XIV. and Louis XV. types. Rare bits of embroidery, frequently showing the nrt nouveuu touch of gold, will adorn lapels, revers, collars and cuffs. Eollennes and poplins will be the swagger stuffs for the more elaborate early auhinui gowns and later for din ner and reception costumes. Long, wide vests of cloth, velvet or suede, ndorned with buttons of the most beautiful description, will form a part of most fancy coats. {Jetting Kven With thw (Jlrla, A young man who lives in Minneap olis has beaten the air is of the North west at their own game. He has titkou the first prize at the fair for "fancy work," a term which includes all kinds of tidies ami doylies and centrepieces nnd pin cushions and embroidery and every oilier kind of dainty work with the needle. There Is an element of retribution In this. The girls have been beating the boys In sehuol and In the university nnd taking their Jobs nwny from them in all kinds of busi ness. it serves them right to have a boy get even with them on their own ground, and beat them all hollow at their own game.- Minneapolis Jouruul, A Itrrorrt Climb, The record for climbing Tike's Peak was made recently by II. II. Robinson, of Colorado Springs. Colo. The moun tain Is 14.147 feet above sea level, ami the former record was made In three hours and five minutes. Mr. Robinson made the ascent in two hours and fifty-six minutes. lie wore a heavy pair of shoes, carried an umbrella, and the Inst tnlle walked In two luclies of snow FARM TOPICS. ALFALFA IS VALUABLE. Alfalfa is a valuable lvguiuluou^ crop. Experiments made with It on tlie light, sandy soils of New Jersey demonstrate that If the seed Is sown In the lute summer or early fall alfalfa cau be as easily grown as any other grass. When seeded down hi spring It has failed, as weeds crowd it out. GAPES IN CHICKENS. Camphor Is a most effectual remedy for gapes. Mix It with the feed lu the proportion of a teaspoonful to a plut of feed. If ouly n few chickens arc affected, feed a few bread crumbs which have been saturated, and they will be immediately relieved. It Is sometimes necessary to repeat the dose. THE CHICKENS' FOOD. Too much ground food is not bene ficial to fowls. They have no teeth, the work of preparing the food being ddne by the gizzard, which uuist be made to do duty or the birds will not thrive. Ground or soft food will nn swer for an occasional mess, but the proper foods are linrd grains, which the fowls prefer to grind for them selves through the agency rf the giz zard. A GOOD SWARD. With a good pliable or rich loamy soil, it will always be a comparatively easy matter to produce a good sward, if we select the riglit kinds of seeds. For an acre, five bushels of a mixture of red top, crested dog's tail, Kentucky blue grass and Rhode Island bent grass, is good. If not convenient to obtain all these, either is good alone. My lirst choice would be red top. the second Rhode Island bent grass. After sowing and brushing in the seed, it is well to sow a good quantity of some fertilizer that contains ammonia, and then roll the ground with a good weight roller. When the grass attains the proper height to cut. I would out the tirst time with a very keen-edged scythe; after the lirst cutting use the lawn mower, one with cylinder driving wheel preferred, that the grouiul.inay be kept smooth. At the approach of winter cover with a good thick coating of straw manure from the horse barn, raking oflf the straw in the spring and leaving the finer particles of manure on the ground.? F. II. Sweet, in The E??l tomist. CEMENT TROUGHS FOR IIOGS. When made of wood, troughs for hogs are more or less unsatisfactory. The best and most durable trough can be made with good cement and course, clean sand in the proportion of ont? bucket of cement to two buckets ot sand. Make a temporary frame for the outside of your trough, then pour in the grout material, and with a trowel fashion the inside as you wish. Leave the bottom concaved on inside like a* bowl or kettle. The top edges should be two and one-half to three inches thick. A piece of chain put in the end of the trough in limiting, nonf tlic bottom, makes it convenient and handy to more. If cleats are desired, roils of ronml Iron can he imbedded in the grout be fore it Rets. These prevent hogs from lying down in the trough and wasting the contents. After having fashioned out your trough and put in iro.i bars for cleats, till full of water. The ma terial will set better and your trough will wvar for all time. Troughs of this kind six feet long are most con venient and much cheaper than wooden ones.? J. U. Sannnon, in Farm and lloiuc. fiOOD MILKING. Tesls at the Storr's Experiment Sta tion show conclusively that the amount of milk given by the cows and the purity of the product both depend upon the method adopted bv the milker. One young man, who said he could milk, was given charge of the milking of six cows. At the end of a week the quantity showed a shrinkage of twelve per cent. In another experiment, in which live boys, previously taught as to proper methods, were tested as milkers, four Increased the flow seven, ten, ten and five per cent., respectively. The following instructions in regard to milking are in use at the station: The milker should milk regularly, thoroughly and quietly. He should wear clean clothes. wash his hands be fore beginning to milk, ntul never wet them while milking. The cow should be brushed before being milked, and her flank and udder wiped with a damp cloth In order to minimize, as far as possible, the number of bacteria floating about In the vicinity of the pail, and likely to get Into the milk. To the same end. the foremilk should be rejected, and the milking done into covered palls, with strainers rrrnnged for the milk to pass through. Reject ing the first few spurts o! milk from the teat removes the milk containing objectionable germs. The cleaner the milking is done the fewer the geruis.? Massachusetts Ploughman. To Mreprn Mlilp Cnnnt. A Select Committee of th- IIou?e of Lords arc considering a proposal t< deepen the Manchester Ship Canal, and to raise the low-water level of the riv ers Weaver and Mersey. Mr. Halfour llrown, K. C., in stating the ease for the promoters, said that at present the depth of the canal was only twenty-six feet. In recent years the size of ves sels had enormously increased, and a greater depth of water was now abso lutcly necessary. When the depth ol the cnnal was tlxed at twenty-six feci there were not half n dozen vessel? built which could not get up the cana! Now hundreds of vessels were tor large to navigate the canal. The deep enliig proposed would enable vessels ol 11. Win tons dead weight to navigate tin caunU CEMENT TitOI'OII.