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^i OR, THE FigM for tie Musselshell Millions. BY LEON LEWIS. CHAPTER III.-(Continaed.) The quick, sharp glance of comprehension Hiram Skidder shot at him (escaped bis notice. "As yon know," pursued Jerry, "them [lands jine my hundred and sixty on tho ' east, and arc wuth more to me than any one else. I not only want 'em for a range for my cattle, but I think I might sell a forty or two for a trifle to CoL Whipsaw, one of my neighbors. * "I should think you might," said the merchant, smiling sarcastically. "Of course you've been very kind to me, Hiram," continued the visitor, "to give me the use of these Jands so long :Jest for the taxes, but we're both getting old, and If yon should die and. your estate be divided, there might be no end of trouble, and so I told Daisy I'd come and ,buy these.lands of you while she's getting rested a little from her long jonrney. " "How much will you give me for my half interest, Jerry?" "Well, I thought three hnndred dollars ' might strike you as a fair offer, Hiram," replied the visitor, "and so I've brought you the money." v The merchant's sarcastic smile deepened as his brother drew out a pocketbook which looked as if a considerable slice of the Rocky Mountains naa at some time fallen upon it. "Don't bo so fast, Jerry," he said. Now that you are here, I'll show you "the sights a week or two, and then we'll - go to Montana together. Nothing would please me moro than to see how you have been living all these fourteen years " Jerry waved his hand in norvous Impatience. "All that Is very kind, Hiram,," he declared, "but business Is business, and I must get the little matter of the lands off my mind before I can take a step with you." The merchant surveyed him again Inquiringly, not a little interested by his clothes, which looked as if he nad taksn them from some scarecrow he had encountered in his travels. "I couldn't think of selling you tho lands la this off-handed fashion, Jerry," ho then said. "Wait till I have looked them over in person." * "ifapseu*?* me bave the deed DOW. " "But three hundred dollars, Jerry?" returned the morthant "You must remember that these lands cost me five tbou.:aDd. Probably, too, I could make better terms with Colonel Whipsaw than you can. Let's wait" "No, Hiram," protested Jerry. "There's ao time like the present Give me the deed now, and I'll make tho payment five hundred dollara " "That's more like it," commented tho merchant, still wearing his quizzical mile, "but I must have a thousaud!" "A thousaud?" repeated Jerry, catch- 1 Ing at the remark as an offer. "I mean a couple of thousand," mended tho merchant. "I couldn't think of taking a cent less. 1 really couldn't" % "Well, let me have the deed now and ?*?? ? * ?*> n yafnvno/4 JL11 g J V W yu U iwu tuvuouuu, avwuauw.* the visitor, with evident eagerness. "Oh, yea, I have the money right here," he added, surprising a peculiar look on his brother's face. "Here it is!" He drew out a large wallet and opened It, showing that it was full of greenbacks. "You surprise me," cried HJram. "I thought you barely made a living in Xf nnfftnoIW . "True. But what is 82,000?" "A mere nothing, to be sure. And that's why I won't Bell the land for that sum, now that I think more abont it," declared the merchant. "I'll bo'd the jproperty forever, Jerry, if I can't get the sum it originally cost me." i "Do you mean it?" ! "Absolutely!" "Then I shall have to give you the mount, said Jerry." "The fact is, Daisy Is about to marry a man named Sam Ghddlcr, who has nothing, and I want him to liave this property for a sheep ranch. Five thousand it is, then. Give me the deed and I'll count you out the money." "Not to-day, Jerry. Give me time to writ? to coionei wnipsaw. bei me gci his opinion as to what the price ought to be." "The Colonel's away. Hiram, traveling Bomewhere in Europe," returned Jerry, getting more and moro nervous every moment "He has been gone a whole year, and no one knows when he'll be home again." "Then I must write to the postmaster of Musselshell, or to some other person who is on the spot," protested the merchant. "How do I know that these lands are worthless? May thcro not be ? gold raino upon them?" He went on In this way until the face of his brotteer wad beaded with perspiration, and then thrnst under his gaze the letter he had received from Colonel "Whipsaw. of Rattlesnake Ranch, i "Read that." he said. Jerry complied, turning all sorts of colors, and finishing with a bowl of consternation. "And now tell me what this means," commanded Hiram. "It means?that there is gold there," panted Jerry. "Ah. I though so! Go on!" "Jest how much I can't say," continued Jerry, returning the Colonel's letter, "but T am willinc to risk S50,000 upon your half Interest!" "I should want cash, Jerry!" "I have It with me!" "Besides, 1 should want at least a hundred thousand dollars for the property, Jerry," announced the merchant, in fact I won't take a cent less, now tBat I Degln 10 see what the situation or affairs Is. Colonel Whipsaw will doubtless arrange with me for the property if you don't want it For 5100,000, Jerry, if you say so * "Well; I do say It," interrupted the visitor eagerly. "Give me the deed!" "That's a big pile of money, Jerry." "Nevertheless, I have it with me, Hiram." "It doesn't seem possibla Let me see it" The visitor produced the amount in a not very bulky wad Irora an inner pocket, with the remark: "It's yours as soon as you give me thi deed." Tlie assurance ferveu iu uiichmij mo two red spots which hid been rapidly gathering on the cheeks of lfirain Skidder. How angry ho was that the falsehoods of Jerry had indnccd him to part with his interest In a property now shown by the offender's own actions to he running up into hundreds of thousands. "You have it, sure enough," he admilted. alter a rapid glance at the money. "And the grand question now Js, how did you come by it?" "Stock-raising, Hiram?stock-raisins." ' The sneer with which the merchant received this statement was sfmply savage L~*Ss. the more reason why J aifli * V. . v. should go to iMontana before giving yon the deed," he declared. "I can become a 'stock-raiser,' too." He took two or three turns across the floor, and then resumed: "I was only joking in what I said about selling. I've no intention of disposing of the property?not the slightest. No offer can tempt ine!" This declaration worked Jerry Skidder quite as much as a similar one from Wynans had previously worried the merchant "What! You're going back on your word?" he protested, after a long stare of anger and consternation. "1 ought not to say a word more on the subject. But I told Daisy she should have the land xor a wearing present, ana I'm willing on that and other accounts to give you ten or twenty times what it is worth, thfi more esDecially as I've just sold twenty thousand cattle and don't know what,to do with the money. What will you take, Hiram?" "Once for all, isn't It? "Yes, a final offer." * "Cash down, too?" "Yes, cash down, Hiram." "Well, you may have my Interest In that Musselshell property for ?200,000. "All right; I'll take it," said Jerry, j without an instant's hesitation, producing a second wad of greenbacks like the j first "Give me the deed and I'll hand yoa the money." For nearly a minute Hiram Skidder looked as if threatened with a stroke of apoplexy. His eye9 had a glassy stare; his tongue lay motionless in his open mouth. The veins on his forehead stood out like skeleton fingers. The thought j that his brother had taken all this money | secretly from the lands which had been so persistently decried, and which had j now been so fatally fooled away by Jerry's falsehood, was simply withering. But he managed to conceal in part the tempest raging in his soul, and to remark, with forced calmness: "I'll get the deed, Jerry, and let my cashier draw up a new one. Make yourself at home a few moments I'll be back soon." Wiping his damp brow vigorously, he' took his way toward Perry's desk. , . His senses were in a whirl. Just what to do he didn't know. Perhaps he would make another attompt to, buy Perry out. He was busy with all sorts of desperate schemes for recovering his lost footing when he reached Perry's desk, only to find that ho was not there, "Where is Mr. Wynans?" he asked of .ha first clerk he encountered. "He went oat a little while ago, sir," was tbo answer, "but he didn't say where he was going or when ho would return." "No? That's odd. Have you any idea where ho is?" "Not the slightest, sir. He said, however, this morning that he should not be here longer than to-day." "Not longer " The words died away upon the lips of Hiram Skidder, and an awful trouble !oo\ed from his eyes. "Gone?" he gasped. "Where can he be?" "There's a note on his desk addressed to you, Mr. Skidder." said the clerk. "I noticed it a momentago, and should have brought it to you if you hadn't made your appearance just as you did." "A note!" cried the merchant; "let me have it instantly!" The note was handed to him, and he hastily tore it open, reading as follows: I beg to resljrn my position as cashier. Mr. Skidder. I have taken the precaution to have my accounts examined by Mr. Spoor, the well-known accountant, and he , finds their quite correct. The balance of my salary you may hand to any public charity. If any one inquires for me, you may Bay that I am going to Montana to tako care of my wild lands, which nave docoiuc immensely valuable, and that my future postoffice address will be Musselshell, Mout Perry WtnansCHAPTER IV. bad blood between them. The reading of Perry's brief farewell note gave Hiram Skidder a tremendous shock, telling him that the actual owner of the Musselshell property was for the present beyond his reach. What a mistake he had made in getting rid of it At a very moderate estimate, what a fortune had slipped through his fingers. Nevertheless, like all men who are wholly unscrupulous, daring, tireless and capable, Hiram Skidder found a peg on which to hang his hopes at that moment of distaster. Ho instantly accepted the suggestion of his evil nature that he would eventually find means, no matter liow vile, dishonest, or murderous?in Montana, if not before?to recover the ground he had lost He would yet be the possessor of the Musselshell property. He would yet make all secure by getting hold of Perry's deeds before they could be put on record. "Just how Jong has Mr. Wynans been gone?" he asked, as soon as he could find voice, thrusting the letter into his pocket. "He went out at the heels of your niece, sir," answered the clerk who had ushered Klfie into the merchant's presence. ? a j, via The fact seemed highly significant to Skidder, who was aware that Perry had been a frequent visitor at Ingleheim. "Did he speak to her before she left tho store?" he continued. "No, sir. But he watched her in a way which showed that lie was following her and that he intended to speak to her later." The merchant flushed with disgust. "I see it all," he muttered, turning on his heel. "They've gone away together." It cost him a keen pang to realize that he had given Ellie the protection of Perry Wynans by refusing his own. "Pool that I am." he said to himself, "why didn't I take her to Hilda? A few soft words would have made her my friend, and she would now be In my clutches " The situation was too pressing for him to linger upon these sterile regrets, and he nurricd back to his brother. His plan of action was decided upon "I lind my cashier has gone out on business, Jerry," he reported. "We shall ihave to draw up tne ceoa ourselves, or go to my lawyer's." "Oh, we can attend to It," returned Jerry, with anxious promptness. "It's no great task." Stepping to his safe, the merchant produced his deed of the Musselshell property and handed it to his brother. "Sit near me and read it, Jerry," he said, seizing a pen, "and do not read faster than 1 can copy." Taking their places at the desk, tho brothers entered upon their labor, Jerry reading tho old deed carefully and slowly, while Hiram proceeded to trace the new^one. "That's all wight," finally ejacuiaiea Jerry, with a long breath of relief. "Somehow I fancied. Hiram, you were intending to trick me," "How trick you?" "T didn't see how, but I knew you were none too good " "The pot should never call the kettle black," interrupted the merchant, smiling grimly, as he touched a call bell. "The notary will bo hero in a minute to witness the deed, and I trust you will huvc decency enough not to insuft me in hfS presence." A clerk appearing, the merchant gave him an order, and a brief interval of silence succeeded, which was brokeu by the appearance of a notary. deed to sign_and deliver, Mr. Nor ris," said Hiram tntitraer, wic&out taemg the trouble to present his brother to the newcomer. "It's all ready for our signatures." The document was duly perfected and handed to Jerry, who counted out the S2;j0,000 agreed upon, and the notary, after a few words in the ear of his client, took his departure. It would bo hard to say which of tho two brothers was the most delighted at tho transaction. Their mutual expansion was tremendous. "And now for the other half of this property, Hiram," said Jerry, gaining hla feet and securinp tho deed in his pocket, with suppressed jubilance. "How far is it to Ingleheim?to the home of our brother-in-law, Chariest Tower, who bought these lands with you?" "About eighteen miles, Jerry," replied the merchant, who was in the act of de positing in his desk the money which had ,iu6t been handed him. "There are trains every hour or two, do doubt?" pursued Jerry. "Oh, yes; every half hour, I think, at about this time of the day. But why do ask?" "Naturally," explained the visitor, "I am going to Ingleheim to see Charley Tower, the husband of our sister Mary, to buy his interest in these lands, and I'll frankly warn you, Hiram " "Oh, save your threats, Jerry," Interrupted the merchant, with insolent jubilance. W1 shall make no attempt to warn Tower of your coming or of your errand. The fact is he has been dead over a year!" Jeremiah Skidderdropped heavily into the chair from which he had arisen. "Really?" ho muttered, seeing the merchant was perfectly serious. "Then I shall have to deal with sbter Mary, and that will suit mo better; women are ?0 easily wheedled!" "Hut sister Mory is dead, too!" continued the merchant, in the same tone and with the same aspect he would have displayed in mentioning tne price or a yard of tape. "She died last week, Jerry!" "Indeed? Then I shall have to deal with their daughter," declared the visitor, without the least expression of sorrow.. "Let's see?what was her name? I've forgotten It." "Her name is Elfie,"said the merchant. "She was here an hour ago, asking me for a little assistance, but I turned her off without a penny." "Then she don't know the value of her inheritance, of course? Good! Capital! I can buy her out for a few hundreds! She has gone back to Ingleheim, of course?" "The point is uncertain. In any case, it would do you no good to see her! The title you are seeking does not rest in her, Jerry. The truth is, Charley Tower sold his half of the Musselshell property some two or three years.ago!" "Impossible!^cried Jerry, springing to his feet again and looking startled. "The fact is perfectly certain." "T3nt who bought him out?" "Perry Wynans?my cashier." "For how much?" "Four hundred dollars." "Four hundred!" gasped Jerry, turuing pale. "You cannot mean it!" "I am telling you the exact truth " "And you permitted it " "I didn't know any better at the time, Jerry," said the merchant, his face suditrrKttnfT nn TOi'th ooncpntrftted UCUIJ Alg*4U?ll? wrath and disgust. "You had been telling us for years in your occasional letters that the lands were of no account, and Tower and I were fools enough to believe you." "And where is this Wynans'" "He has started West, as you may see by this letter." He banded the farewell epistle of his ex-cashier to Jerry, who literally writhed while reading it "Destruction I" he ga>ped, on reaching the signature. "The fellow is posted. The cat is out of the bag. He'll be in Montana before I am. He'll learn all the facts in the case. I shall never be able to buy him out?never! never!" The very excitement of the old man tended to make his youngor brother angry, so terribly did it remind him of what he had lost by the falsehoods and deceptions heaped upon him. "The lands are a prize, then?" ho cried, his face livid with passion. "A prizef, Hiram?" returned Jerry, O Tirorr hv hi'? Bmf.t.inrn "ThftV'rB the biggest thing on earthl We have discovered two gold mines on the property from which we have been taking thousands of dollars a day!" "And yet " With a cry like that of a maniac, Hiram Skidder sprang to his feet and caught up the chair in which he hud been sitting, swinging !t aloft and approaching his brother. "And yet* you infernal rascal." he cried, "you have the check to come hero and oiler me S300 for a half interest in all those present and coming millions! Oh! what ought I to do to you " "Look out, Hiram! Don't come a step nearer! Put down that chair or I'll yell murder:" cried Jerry, starting to his feet and nimbly darting behind the merchant's desK. "I've only done what you would have done in like circumstances. Besides, I intended to tell you all about it as soon as my title was perfect!" "Wretched fool and knave that you are," returned the merchant, recovering his self-possession and lowering his chair, "you'll never secure the least title to - foot of the land in question? never!" Jerry Skidder looked aghast at the violence of these denunciations. "Why. you've just given me " "A mere bait to catch my own," interrupted the merchant with grim and mocking frankness. "The pretended deed I have just given you is not worth tne paper it is written upon. " "Why not?" "To begin with, the lands have been oi^t of my hands nearly three years," explained Hiram Skidder, with visible joy of. tVin rrall anr) wormwood hft was SOTV Ing up to hfs brother. "You gave me such reports of tliera that I was glad to sell thpm to Wynans for seven hundred dollars." Jerry not only tottered to his chair again, but he lay there so faint and helpless that his brother began to find him a source of amusement "Then you have sold me a piece of property you did not possess," returned Jeremiah, his rascally wits beginning to recover the'r habitual flow; "and I need not remind you that such an offense is punishable by a Ion)? term of imprisonment. " "I'm probably quite as wis* In the law as you are, Jerry," sneered the merchant?"too wi-e, certainly, to place myself in the power of such a rftptile as yoii are capable of being." "Thou what is that deed?" "It is a deed to a line Diece of land I have in TUaho, and for which I pax. about two tnousand dollars," explained the merchant, his sardonic smile coming back to his features. "While you read one thing, I wrote another, quite certain, a9 the event proved, that you would fail, in your hurry and excitement, to verify what 1 had written." Jerry looked annihilated, but soon began to bluster asain. "I'll have you arrested for faiso protenses and swindling." ho declared. "2fo, you won't, old man, assured the merchant, contemptuously. "1 have a right to ask you what I please for my Idaho ranch, and you have no remedy whatever, in either law or equity, from the moment when you have paid over your money. Think it over a minute, au(j yoij'il spe that I aw ijijite right," The gloom of Jerry's countenance attested that the point was well taken. "As to the two hundrel thousand dollars you have handed me," pursued tho merchant, "it is merely a portion of tho sum you have stolen from Perry Wynans. You have never had so much as a ghost of a title to tho lands in question. I may add that th's money is merely a drop in the bucket to what you have caused me to lose by tho lies and misrepresentations you have been sending me ever since Charley Tower and I invested in that Musselshell property. You see. therefore, that you have no cause of complaint against me. You have simply handed me ray share of the boodle, as taken from tie lands of Wynans, and the less you say about all these proceedings the better it will be for you." For nearly a minuto Jerry Skidder neither moved nor spoke. Then he arose deliberately, with a pale, rigid face, and steppod toward his brother. "Hero is your deed." ho said, tearing it in pieces, and flintting the fragments at the merchant. "There is very little likelihood that I shall ever have any call to visit your Idaho ranch, fortunately,a he added, in a tone of concentrated venom, "1 still have a footing on the Musselshell which will enable me to remain there, and for the rest I'll take my chances. As to the 8200,000 you have stolen from me," and he slapped his breast fiercely and dofiantly, "It is, as you say, a trifle?a mere percentage on the sum I have taken from the new mines while pulling the wool over you with the story of my dire hardships and misfortunes! Should you carry out your suggestion about visiting the Musselshell " "Oh, I shall be there by the first train!" assured the merchant, with a grim resolution that could not be mistaken. "I will spend every dollar I possess or can beg, borrow, or steal, if necessary," linished Jerry, "to have you squarely planted. And with this, a long good-by and a good riddance." He faced about, with a glance at bis watch, and stalked out or nis brothers presence and from the store without so much as a single look behind him. [to be continued.] TEMPERANCE. a twin system wanted The man who was pressed- to purchase n stove by the aasurance that one such stove would save half his coal, suggested buying two so as to save his coal bill entirely. In much the same spirit, when we read that the extension of the Gothenburg system in Norway has now absorbed more than half the trade, and in sixteen years reduced the consumption of liquor by one-half we aro led to wish that a twin system might be Introduced that would do away with the other halt.?New York Observer. just foe on? month. If selling and drinking liquor could be completely stopped in any one place for a Plngle month, says Father Lambing, what a change it would make! Instead of staggering home on Saturday nights under a load of drink to abuse hungry and half-clad wife and children, men would be carrying baskets ot groceries aud parcels of clothes to wife and little ones. The family could then all gather around God's altar on Sunday in praise and thanksgiving, instead of spending the day. as many now do on account of drink, in sin and want at home. A MAMMOTH PETITION. The great polyglot petition which a commission of the World's Woman's Christian Temperunce Union will present to the principal Governments of the world to secure legislation prohibiting traffic In liquor and opittm, has already over 3,000,000 names of signers and indorsers. The petition la said to be fifteen miles in length. Four I million names will be secured and then the commission will start in the autumn of 1895. It will be presented in Washington, then in London, Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, Cairo, Bombay, Canton, Colombo, Tokio, Australia, reaching San Francisco in June, 1806. A special steamer will carry the commission in their tour round the world. One million more signers are wanted. Write to Miss Alice E. Briggs. 1107 The Temple, Chicago, lor blanks.?W. C. T. U. Bulletin. LIQUOn IN THE SLUMS. The Commissioner of Labor. Carroll D. Wright, has forwarded to the President his seventh special report, which relates entirely to the slums of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago, being the results of an investigation ordered by Congress. The following is his report concerning the liquor traffic in the different cities : Liquor Saloons?In the city of New York i there was at the time of thu investigation ! one liquor saloon to every 200 persons, but j in the slum district canvassed, there was one ! saloon to everv 129 nersons. In Philadel j phia, In the city at fargo, there was one aaj loon to every 870 persons,but in the slum disI trict canvassed there was one saloon to every I 602 persons. In Baltimore, in the city at j large, there was one saloon to every 288 persons. but in the slum district canvassed there was one saloon to every 105 persons. In Chicago, in the city at large, there was one saloon to every 127 persons. In these calculations fractions have been dropped. *N ANCIENT PLEDGE. The following ancient temperance pledgo was sent to Lady Henry Somerset by the late S. C. Hall, formerly editor of the Art j Journa'. It is printed in old English chari acters and was found on the blank leaf of a I Bible which has been transmitted from sire | to son through many generations. It ap| pears as the property of Robert Bolton, B. I D., preacher of God's word at Broughton. Northamptonshire: "From this daye forwarde to the ende of : my life, I will never pledge any healthe or drink a carouse in a glass, cup, bowle, or | other drinking instrument, wheresoever it I V\o fmm wlinmsnnvftr if mme. not til mv own most gracious kin^e, nor any of tho neatest ! monarch or tyrant upon earth ; nor my dear| est friend, nor all the goulde In the world, I ehall ever enforce me. Not angel from heaven (who I know will not attempt) shall persuade, nor Satan, with all his auld subtleties, nor all the powers of hell Itself shall betray me. By this very sinne (for sinne it is. and not a little one) I doe plainly find that I have more offended and dishonored my glorious Maker and most merciful Saviour, than all tho other sinne that I am I subject untoe ; ami for this very sinne it is | my God hath often been very strange untoe j me. and for that cause, and noe other respect have I thus vowed, and I heartily beg I my good Futhor in Heaven of His great goo.mess and infl lite mercy in Jesus Christ ' to assist me in the same, and be so favorable unto me lor what is past. Amen?K. Bolton. ?Broughton, April 10,1637. THE LIQDOB TRAFFIC. To-night it enters a humble home tostrike the roses from a woman's cheek, and tomamaiw /iVnllAncvae thfa ronnhllft in thfi I halls of Congress. To-day it strikes a crust from the lips of a starving child, and tomorrow it levies from the Government itself. There is no cottage in this city humble enough to escape, no palace strong enough to shut it out. It defies the law when it j cannot coarce suffrage. It is flexible to j cajole, but merciless in victory. It is the I moral enemy of pe:tco and order, the dej spoiler of men, the terror of women, the cJoud that shadows tho face of children, the demon that <iug more graves, and sent more souls unsaved to judgment than all tho pestilences that have wasted life since God sent the plagues to Egvpt, and all the wars einco Joshua stood beyond Jericho. It j comes to ruin, and it shall profit mainly by j tho ruin of your sons and mine. It comes io mislead human souls, and to crash human hearts uuder its rumbling wheels. It comes to bring gray-haired mothers down in shame and sorrow to their graves. It comes to change the wife's love into despair, and her pride into shame. It comes to still the laughter on tho lips of littlo children. It comes to stifle all the music of the home, and lit it with silence and desolation. It comes to ruin your body and mind, to wreck your home, and it knows it must measure Its prosperity by the swiftness and certainty witn which it wrecks this world.?Hon. ] Perny W. Grady- .. . I FASHION FANCIES. MUCH TALK IS HEARD ABOUT DRESS REFORM. Plenty of Ideas, But Nothing That Takes the Feminine Fancy Has Appeared as Yet?The Latest Styles. THERE is a great deal of talk about dress reform and the peculiar and adaptable costumes that may be used for | various occasions. But it is an indisputable and somewhat melancholy , fact, says the Ledger, that the majoriI ty of these outfits are simply unbecoming, and that the woman who has the courage to appear in them is made the subject of so much ridicule that sensitive women shun them with a feeling akin to horror. A number of women have made their appearance on the streets in divided skirts, Turkish trousers and leggins, but this by no means argues that even for bicycle riding and kindred sports will this 6tyle of dress be tolerated. There is urgent need just now for some really sensible, practical and becoming costume of this sort. It seems a little strange that, with all of the ideas that have been advanced, nothing has yet come before the public that stands the least chance for favor. The nearest approach to it is a very full skirt that droops over the sides and almost conceals the feet. Say what one will, the present conventional ideas of life are against any I av^i'Kifinn r*f fnnl-Wfifll* ^AKjUU&U WAUAUiVAVM w .wV. among women, and nothing is likely to succeed that goes against popular sentiment on this subject. LATEST PARI The fancy for accordion plaiting still holds. An exceptionally pretty dress is of silk-striped muslin. The accordion-plaited skirt has a band of trimming made by sewing on insertionin a sort of braiding pattern. The design is repeated in the waist and sleeves in smaller patterns, and is the only trimming with the exception of a velvet collar and belt. Lace was never used in such profusion, and it may be said never with such excellent taste. Beadings are set on, row upon row, in some instances forming a band eight or ten inches wide just above the hem of the skirt. Into these are drawn ribbons in color matching the dress, or in contrast, and these have rosettes at intervals around the skirt. The overskirt idea comes on but slowly. A dress of rich black silk, brocaded with a tiny spray of bright rosebuds, has a drapery of silk muslin in accordion plaits. The drapery hangs irregularly over the skirt, the points where it is drawn up highest being finished with large bows of ribbon with ends. Amonsr the coolest .and most com- I j fortable of hot-weather dresse6 are j those made with alternate rows of material and insertion. The goods may be the width of the insertion or double the width, according to fancy, the insertion being set in from neck 4 A DBESSY COrrTCRE. I to belt. The sleeves of some of the I newest dresses have the insertion set [ in from shoulders to elbows over the fullest part. Some styles show cuffs and collar of insertion over the material. It is a very easy matter to I make un these dresses if one has the J i time and patience to hand-sew the 1 strips of material and the insertion together. This is liked much better than when put together with the sewI ing machine, although the latter is ; much more expeditious and is usually j seen in all but the highest-priced ! costumes. I THE SILK PETTICOAT. The fiilk petticoat has become an ar! tide of artistic elegance, made of rich j j brocades and moire silks and trimmed j I with lace covered rutiles and flounces I ! os chiffon, ami is almost as important | I an item of dress as the gown which is I I worn over it. A very dainty skirt is made of black and white striped silk, with a flounce of yellow satin at the bottom, over which is a plaited silk muslin ruffle edged with narrow black guipure and headed with black insertion and a ruche of muslin. White satin and white chiffon are the ideal combination for a bridal petticoat. FOR A YOUNG GIRL. A charming co&tume for a girl of fourteen is made of flowered delaine. TOUNG GIRIj'S COSTUME. set off with lace tabs, insertions and panels. It has a folded belt and fly i-Vi /% j^nvlrAof linf nf UUWO ill liiUUC, AJLL U-LLO Uttl^oow V/* ip \9 S FASHIONS. the pattern. A gauged yoke is of white muslin or China silk. The large hat is of fancy straw, adorned with a huge erect loop aud two side-fringed ends of corded ribbon. FALL STYLES. The latest novelty seen in the new gowns is the skirt with the bustle effect. The back is formed by four box pleats, which are sewn to stiff cap pieces. These caps are of the material lined with horse hair, and set out straight from the waist. The caps are finished with a cord and the box pleat hangs from the outer edge. The really distinctive feature of the fashionable gown is its flaring skirt, for the skirts flare more than ever at the foot, the enormous sleeves and round waist. The much-talked of paniers and draperies find it difficult to gain vogue. Capes will continue to be the fashion just so long as the immense sleeves make them a necessity. Velvet will be lareelv used for them, with trim mings of jet or lace. Butter-colored lace and jetted and spangled lace of all kinds will be used for trimming. The mantles with long tabs in front are newer than the round capes, but the latter will be the favorites. A handsome cape just from Paris is of dark green velvet, trimmed with butter lace bands, forming panels from the neck to the bottom of the cape. These panels were narrow at the neck, ' and widened out at the bottom of the ; cape. The neck was finished with a full frill of black chifion. These black chiffon frills are seen on almost all the new garments, no matter what the material from which they are made. I Another pretty garment consists of : two capes, the longer one reaching just belew the waist, and the shorter i about half length. Made of black velvet and trimmed with spangled lace, j the capes lined with white satin, notni ing could be more stylish. Some very startling combinations of color are seen, but as a rule the blending of colors in a gown is most artistic. All the skirts show an increased wideness at the bottom, fitting close at the front and sides, all the fulness being placed at the back. The double I skirt will be worn more than the draped ones. It consists of two skirts, cut I exactly alike with the exception that ; the ujjper one is cut six or seven inches shorter than the under. A model that i is becoming to slender figures is that | having a box pleat on both sides. The sides are cat shorter than the front 1 and back und faced with a contrasting i color. The gored skirts open at the I seams and showing a contrasting rnate| rial underneath are to be worn quite a j good deal. ; Alpaca is a material that is to be worn this fall and one that makes most useful traveling dresses, as it sheds the dust aud wears forever. Many of the bodices to the gowns end at the -i- <\ill Konl* orwl frAnf P11 f 171 WU1SI, UlC 1UM ..tivi ii \s f w?.. ... points on the bust, the upper portion being of a contrasting color. Some of the dresses have tight-fitting jackets to be worn over waistcoats, buttoning with a double row of buttons like tho Ineroyable coat, ending in a straight line at the waist, and having a full basque at the back. Girls in Scotland can make valid wills at twelve years oi' age. ~ WORDS OF WISDOM. Only the home can found a state. ? Joseph Cook. To know how to dissemble ifi the knowledge of kings. ?Richelieu. Thou wilt always rejoice in the evening if thou has spent the day profitably.?Thomas a Kempia The imaginations of men are in a great measure under the control of their opinions. ?Macanlay. It is never worth while to suggest doubts in order to show how cleverly we can answer them.?Whately. One of the godlike things of this world is the veneration done to human worth by the hearts of men.?Carlyle. There is no doubt such a thing as chance; but I seo no reason why Providence should make use of it.? Simms. We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified we want to be attain exnectine.? J ohnson. Unbounded courage and compassion joined proclaim him good and great, and make tbe bero and tbe man complete. ?Addison. We are all of us more or less echoes, repeating involuntarily the virtues, the defects, the movements and the characters of those among whom we live.?Joubert. Heroes in history seem to us poetio because they are. But if we should tell the simple truth of some of our neighbois it would sound like poetry. ?G. W. Curtis. < He who indulges his sense in any excesses renders himself obnoxious to his own reason; and to gratify the brute in him displeases the man, and sets his two virtues at variance.? Scott. Who would not die in his dear country's cause, since, if base fear his dastard step withdraws, from death he nannnt. flv?onfl common crave re ceives at last the coward and the brave.?Henry Fielding. It is harder to avoid censure than it is to gain applause, for this may be done by one wise or great action in an age; but to escape censure a man must pass his whole life without saying or doing one ill or foolish thing. ?Hume. , To be entirely just in our estimate of other ages is not only difficult but is impossible. Even what is passing in our presence we see through a glass darkly. In historical inquiries the most instructed thinkers have but a limited knowledge over the most illiterate. Those who know the most approach least to agreement. ?Froude. Cottousead Oil. ;i, "It is astonishing to what a multitude of uses cottonseed oil is now put, ? ? -3 ^ ? Ik A /I a m ftn/1 fn* ULLll uuvr CiiUtaiUUQlJ uuo uomauu ivti it has grown, and that makes it surprising that the merits of the oil were not discovered sooner," said 0. J. * Johnson, of Atlanta, at the Laclede. "For centuries this important part of the cotton crop (the seed), except > what was used for planting, was either thrown away as waste, used far enriching the soil or fed to cattle. Only of late years was the mercantile value of the oil discovered. It developed very rapidly. In two or three years mills for crushing the seed and rendering the oil sprang up all over the South, and the new industry increased, until now I believe the cottonseed oil trust is second only to the Standard Oil trust in capital and magnitude of its operations. At first the product was mostly used for cooking purposes in place of lard, but its sphere was very soon enlarged. Its value as a lubricating oil was soon discovered, and it would be hard to tell in how many ways it is used now. There is a large market for the seed after the oil is extracted, too. It is sold in the shnpe of cottonseed oil case and meal for cattle food. The oil has become an article of great commercial importance, and it its shipped to Europe in large quantities. I A movement is on foot to export it in balk, like petroleum. The first vessel has recently been launched, built for the purpose. It has a capacity of 500,000 gallons of oil, besides other cargo. It is built of steel. It is almost superfluous to add that it is in the service of the American Cottonseed Oil Company."?St. Louis GlobeDemocrat. Dark Houses Unhealthy. "People who keep their houses dark for fear of the sunlight spoiling their carpets and furniture have no idea of the disease-destroying influence of sunlight and air," says Dr. J. S. Newton, of Cleveland, Ohio. "Recent experiments made in the Pasteur Institute have shown that bacilli exposed to the sun and air were destroyed in two hours, while those exposed to the sun, the air being excluded, were alive after fifty hours of exposure. "Dr. Palermo, of Naples, made an interesting experiment with cholera bacilli. While he found those protected from the sun killed -guinea pigs in eighteen hours, as usual, those exposed to the sun, although not killed, were rendered entirely harmless. "As to the influence of sun and air on bacilli, it was ascertained that the oxygen of the air had a marked effect in assisting the sun's rays, and thus the bacteria suffered more from the sun's rays if the supply of oxygen was increased than if it was diminished. Certain liquids, too, which will undergo putrefaction in the dark, will remain sweet and free from bacteria when exposed to the sun's rays. Air and sun are nature's great purifiers." H ?St. Louis Globe-Democrat. H The Manufacture ot Flags. B The manufacture of flags has be* H come an extensive and prosperous in- H dustry since our late war. No less H than 5,000,000 flags are made and sold annually, ranging in price from one H cent to ?100 or more. General Benjamin F. Butler was one of the first to go into the manufacture of flags on an extensive scale. He owned or held H| controlling interests in a cduplo of cotton mills not far from Boston iutoMj which he introduced special machinery for turning out flags and bunting by I the bolt. Following the close of tho^l ! war there was a wonderful demand for I these products, which led other mills^H j to embark in the business.--Pittsburgh] I Commercial GiwvUe. _ H