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r "4 Trve- 7 CHAfUtK I. , I?OVE'6 YOUNG DREAM. ; The sky was a vault of fleckless blue, the eun a great gleaming 6apphire, thf air bracing as pure wine, and the rai? autumnal day was drawing to a clo6e. Hopedale was a peaceful hamlet, bui beyond its kind in certainly one progressive point?it had a young ladies' seminary of unusual excellence, and a young man of more than usual acumer Was enjoying the beautiful day and taking In the distant turrets and peaks ol the institute of learning in question at that eventful hour, for him, when oui story opens. He had the look of an artist, and the equipment of an artist surronnded him. He had chosen the slope of a woodeci grove for his camp-stool, and had sel Els easel facing the village. The flaming leaves of a broad-6preading tree sheltered him. Air, earth and sky were jln harmony with the artistic impulse, fcut just now he seemed in a thougntru) rather than an active mood. i His brush had fallen to hl6 side, and the canvas 6hovred only a few lazj fatches of color. It 6eemed as if he ad oome out to paint Nature and had been shamed from feeble effort by the glorious brush of Nature itself. The Bun, which dashed the -white villas with pale gold, made the sumacs a great ensanguined blur of crimson, and, mingling with the vari-colored treetops, produced those exquisite shades and alternations of color and beautiful effects which no pen has ever yet described, no brush ever yet delineated. "I tvish she would come," he murmured. "I wonder if she will come?" His words were a sigh of longing and anxiety, and he continued to gaze at the distant turrets as if "the" was a fairy, with power to fly straight through the air to his side. There was a rustling among the dry twigs back of him, but he did not heed it. Then there was a quiver of branches overhead, and down came a hundred fluttering leaves. "Caught in a shower, Mr. Dreamer!" 1ntinVio/1 n Virifrht holl.likfi Voice. "Is iOUJUVU this the way you work at" the great pioture that is to charm the world?" . "Edna!" ! Over went stool and easel as the young man sprang to his feet, as if from an electric shock. Red as the red, red leaves strewn about him flushed the handsome face, and brighter than the crystal rays of sunshine glowed hie proud-looking eyes down into responsive ones brighter yet, while he clasped the hands, both hands, that had shaken the bough overhead, sending earthward the fluttering messengers of mischief. "I so wanted to see you!" he breathed, thrilling at the trustful glance of those pure eyes. "And I so wanted to see you, but? Baymond!" He was a privileged character, thie athletic, handsome-faced young fellow, all soul, all art, all love, for they were affianced, yet her tones ^ ere a tendei reproach, a mock serious mandate, as his eager lips came a trifle dangerously near sweeping her velvety cheek. She had managed to shrink back and disengage her hand, and with the tip of one pearly pink finger she pointed back the way she had come. There was a roguish twinkle In her eye, as Raymond Marshall stole a quick trlance in the direction indicated. He frowned and groaned, dolefully but submissively. His visitor had not come unattended. Back in the grove, a girl of her own age was toying with the rattling tops of the blanched golden rod. "Was it necessary," he began, and then he uttered, quite testily: "Always that girl!" "Raymond! how dare you'" came the spirited interpolation, and Miss Edna De?ne showed the fire of her quick nature in a sudden, indignant flash of those captivating eyes. "Beatrice Mercer is my friend." "I wish she wasn't. Of all your associates 1 oi6trust her the most,* ventured Raymond Marshall. "You ought to be ashamed!" commented Miss Tyrant, severely, "and you ought to feel grateful to ner, instead of otherwise." "Grateful?" "Yes; that is if you ree.liv care aboul seeing me. You know the rules of the seminary. No young lady may leave its sacred precincts unless accompanied by one of the teachers. Poor Beatrice has to teach for her tuition, and they invest her with the dignity and judgmenl of a duenna. So, when I told Miss Chandler, the principal, that I had th( headache, that I thought I spied you sc lonesome and industrious over here, anc felt that the encouragement of mj criticism on your beautiful pictur< might hurry up its completion, she reluctantly admitted that such a proceeding would be quite proper if Beatrict accompanied me." Raymond Marshall winced at th< thrust at his indolence. He brightenec up, however, as he paid: "Nevermind. All that will soon end and soon we shaJJ^Uswr-no friend, chap eron or duenna~to mar the comple'ene&i of happiness. Eh, my little love?" Edna's head had dropped on hei breast, and she shook her head slowly "If only?if only Miss Chandler woul( ipcak " "Yes," interrupted I{ayn:ond, excited ly; "if she would only speak. Just loot at it! Here we are, two loving, harmonious souls. I think the world ol you, and you take pity on me, and hop* to make me famous soruo day by mar ryin^ me and securing the right to ordei me to work. My family are delighte* with you. Even prim Miss. Chandle acknowledged it would be cruel to par ub, but?that dreadful mystery! Shi cannot consent because she is not a rel ative. She cannot secure a relative' consent, because she does not know an; such. Was there ever such a stickle fo?" propriety?was there ever such maddeninc muddle?" r.ana s nana jvsteT consolingly on her lover s arm, a? his face clouded. "Oh! it is not quite desperate," ehe spoke cheerily. "Let us go over the renl facts oi the case, Raymond, and be patient. Here I am, a nobody, a girl from novrhere. I seem t have been nlo/io/1 fit- tho cnmiriorr Hnra nt If) vafiro o! age, without a memory of e:;rly chiliihood. Miss Chandler eays a mysterious gentleman brought mo here, paid ten years' tuition and board in advance for me, and?that's all." "Not a lette." since?not a visit since?" "Not even a hint. Here I was left. "Was 1 an orphan, was I abandoned here, or was the mysterious gentleman my fa:her, who, for lack of a dead mother's ^arejg.asei^ me licre ios ketiPiuBj r ana going out into the world to forzet his sorrows or win a fortune, died with the secret of my identity locked in his own bosom?" "And now?" murmured Raymond, his loval heart beating with renewed sympathy for the friendless girl who seemed to deserve all the love and care ne had vowed to her. "Now, Miss Chandler eays we must wait. I am virtually her ward. She dare not sanction our union. Any day my father, or whoever my mysterious relative may be, might appear to claim me. "What would he fray if he found me married to a painter who won't paint, an nrtiBt who talis mere loyfi than art?""Wait!" ejaculated Raymond, 1m x: -*U *4 IT/ ,r? ? ?r\xr? Innrt^ TK^a*I I |UIU*'IJ VIJ, X V/i *?vn iVUfst uu VT3A4 I years have two to run yet." "Yee, but I am eighteen to-day?of legal age. Miss Chandler says she verily believes that some word or direction will come soon." It was an old story gone over now for the hundredth time,t but there was new interest in discussing it. They talked of their plans, of their hopes, of the golden future life seemed to presage. "I must go now," spoke Edna at last. "Why! I have been here nearly half an hDur. I wanted to tell you about the reception to-morrow evening. Mr. Brinsloy is to take me. He is Miss Chandler's cousin, and I want to please her." Raymond's eyes showed a rising token of jealousy, but he was prudently silent. "If he does not go I 6hall write you, find you must be my knight-errant. I hope tie does not. Good-by. No! Beatrice is looking this way. ' Be patient, Raymond, and above all, do make some progress on that tiresome, never-to-be finished picture." She was gone as she had come, like a flashing, dainty sprite. Raymond Marshall followed her with his eyes, until the bushes shut out the remotest view of her pretty, nodding cap. "Picture!" he murmured, with a sigh, as be packed up stool and easel. "Who could paint with 6uch a face haunting every glance and thought? And she bids me wait! Wait, to be tortured every time I see her in the company of that fellow Brinsley, or making a confidante of Beatrice Mercer. How I distrust her!" Yes, Miss Beatrice Mercer was a t!jorn in the artist's side. Why, he could scarcely explain. She was pretty, young, apparently,devoted tojhis fiancee, but more than once he had caught her eyes fixed on Edna with a latent, baleful light, upon himself with a passionate, pleading expression that mystified, repuiseu lulu, xi? nucw uuu ?ujr. But all this would soon end; ah, yes! it must soon end. The mystery of his fiancee must some time cease to be a mystery. It was not an unusual case. It would probably have a very prosaic conclusion, with the long-lost father returning, and explaining that, he had placed his daughter in Miss Chandler's charge because she was motherless. Then they would marry, and life would be worth living, and all the distressing trifles of the present would vanish. It must be so. Edna had predicted that word must 6oon come from her mysterious relative. Her faith as hopeful as his own, Edna locked her arm through tnat of her companion, and did most of the chattering the way back to the seminary. Miss Mercer went straight to her own room. If Edna had seen her as she threw herself on her bed and lay convulsed in a paroxysm of tears, rage, and emotion for over an hour, she might not vainly have guessed at the cause of the vArvinff moo;is of this stranee creature. As to Edna, she studied for an hour and started to find her friend again, thinking of Raymond's handsome face despite herself, and Raymond's anxious wish that the obstacles to their union were removed?that "word would come," and the suspense of waiting be alleviated. "Oh, Edna! Miss Chandler wishes to see you at once," spoke a fellow-student, as Edna crossed the hall. "Particularly?" murmured Edna, with a smile. "Very much so. She sent me for you, and seemed greatly excited. Something has happened; I don't know what, but 6he acted very much agitated." ? Yea* "something" laa iiaDDenea. ana Edna Deane knew what, a few minutes later. Something had happened in a way directly in accordance with her thoughts and Kaymond Marshall's impatient desires. "Word" had come! CHAPTER II. FROM THE PAST. Edna Deane's heart quickened its i pulsations as she started for the recep| tion room. The m ssage brought her bore a token of excitement. Her mind upon her lover, upon the mystery of hei fair young life, she vaguely dreaded to take the step across the threshold that might portend revelations that would distress her. A glance through the vestibule doors showed a close carriage with two reeking hors? s, a driver on the box. Had this unusual spectacle someth ng to do with the summons of the moment? "You sent for me, Miss Chandler,* spoke Edna, inquiringly, as she entered tho reception room, and then paused abruptly. The face of tho lady principal wa9 pale, her manner agitated. She hall arose, as if moved by a sudden impulse, to greet her favorite warmly, sympathetically. Then, checking herself, she 1 sa d, in a iuuflled, indistinct tone of , voice: "Yes. Edna. This crentleman has come for you." At tho gentleman in question the wondering, perturbed Edna was staring. I He made a slight obeisanr-e as she appeared. Now. stiff, prim, severe, his sallow face and nervous eyes rather de! pressed her. "It is?it is about " otammered , Edna. "Your past? your friends?" murmored , the principal, brokenly. "Yes, Edna, I am very sorry, but your schooldays are , over." "Oh! Miss Chandler, don't say that!" ' Edna gasped tho words. She corn( prehended that the consummation so devoutly desired by her mystified, impatient lover and herself had arrived. But the shock of the announcement, a realfzalion of how sunny ah3 "happy"had been her life under the tender care of the school guardians sent tho quick tears to her eyes and the warm color from her face. , Then eagerly, longingly, plteously, ! ehe glanced at the man before her. Was he the relative she had 60 often dreamed of?the mysterious censor of her fate? "You are not?my father?" she began, twisting h<-r hands in nervous confuBlon. The strange, mobile features never changed. Staring straight ahead of , him iike some automaton, his face most , resemtling that of a ra;in in ill-htal h, ^uffer.ng but silent, schooled _nga:net A ~ W the "betrayal of the least emotion, he answered solemnly, but not unplea6infily: "I? no. I am only your father's friend?his servant?his messenger." "And?he has sent for me"" 1 Every word was a throb of suspense and painful uncertainty. A father! Then she was not utterly friendless? A father! But why had he left her loveless, neglected, all those years? "Miss Chandler will tell you," answered the stranger. "She recognizes the authority by which I appear." "Dear Edna, Jet it be smiles rather than tears," spoke Miss Chandler, coming to Edna's side and placing a caressing arm about her. "It is all quickly told. You have a father, and he has Dfuu iui ;vu. -But " "I cannot tell you more. This gentleman not only binds me to secrecy, or, rather, leaves me In complete ignorance of the motive for ail this mystery, but insists that you shall leave at once. Of one thing be assured, however. I am satisfied that you are going into kind hands. All will be well. This letter will convince you. It is from your father." And Miss Chandler nodded to the stranger, who handed Edna a sealed missive. 8he barely glanced at it through her blinding tears. She read only the first lines, beginning: sMy child, there have been vital reasons for my seeming neglect of you, there are still vital reasons why suddenly, abruptly, you must sever your connection with your dearest friends and hasten to me. When I explain you will know why no one must know " ^ +V\ a iniaoitTA JDUIltt UA um^icu i<uo wuiiujouvu iuioot?o into her pocket at this stage, for Miss Chandler was giving her directions to go to her room and pack up hurriedly. In that apartment Beatrice Mercer Joined her. With a strange, wondering light in her eyes, she listened to Edna's etory of the sudden summons. "Oh! 1 shall surely be allowed to write to you, to explain everything when I find my father," sobbed Edna, as she clung to Beatrice in a fervent embrace. "Beatrice?Baymond?" The scintillating eyes of the dark beauty flashed wickedly, but the expression was veiled from noor Edna's tear blinded sight. "I shall tell him " "That I could Dot bid him good-by; they would not let me. Tell him I will get him word as soon as I can. Oh, this mysterious haste unnerves me! I do not even know where I am going. Good-by, dear friend. Good-by, goodby." A clinging kiss emphasized every word. The tearful Miss Chandler waved her a last adieu from the door. Her somber companion helped her Into the carriage, and the wheels grinding down the soft road seemed to be tearing her very heart-strings, as Hopedale faded from view In tho distance and the vehicle bounded forward, carrying innocent Ldna Deane to meet a strange, solemn mystery. Twilight closed In a'lout the landFcape, as the carriage dashed across the country for the nearest railway station. Twilight, toiding its mystic snroua about the old seminary structure, waa shut out securely from one room at least. With locked doors and shades drawn, Beatrice Mercer sat at a table In her apartment, poring over a letter, studying it. analyzing it, re-reading It. It was the crumpled missive, half read by the distressed Edna. How had it come into her possession? By design, the gleaming, calculating eyes told, for those eyes had the mask down new, all alone by herself. [to be continued.j Franklin's Grave. Two men, both on the shady side of seventy, stopped at Fifth and Arch 3treets the other day to peer in through the iron grating at the neglected grave of Benjamin Franklin. A.fter looking a moment in silence at the flat 6tone which covers the last resting place of the statesman, philosopher and patriot, one of the old men said to his companion, "I don't think Philadelphia fully appreciates the honor that attaches to having within its precincts the sepulcher of that great man. It seems to me if it did it would take better care of his grave. The fact is. that so far as I kao v, the memory of Franklin is nowhere as generally perpetuated as it ought to be outside the State of Tennessee. I guess if Franklin was buried down there they'd have a big monument over him. You know when the prejent State of Tennessee was first organized it was known as Franklin. It bore that name for a long whilo until superseded by Tennessee, which is an Indian word, meaning 'the river of the big bend.' For my part, 1 think the State would hare done better to stick to its original name."?Philadelphia Call. How Nature Makes Silver. The process by which Nature forma ber silver mines is very mieresuu^. It must be remembered that the earth's crust is full of water, which percolates everywhere through the rocks, making solutions of elements obtained from them. These solutions take up small particles of precious metal whioh they find here and there. Sometimes the solutions in question are hot, the water having got so far down as to bo set boiling by the internal heat of the globe. I hen they rush upward, picking up the bits of metal as they go. Naturullv heat, assists the performance of this operation. Now and then the streams thus - ' ?i? m v.:li 1 tormea, perpetually uowiag uuucr Jtuu thither below tho ground, pass through cracks or caviiies in the rocks, where they deposit their lodes of silver. This is kept up fur a great length of tirno?perhaps thousands of years?until the pocket is fille 1 up. Crannies permeating the stony mass in every direction may become filled with the precious metal, or occasionally a chamber may be stored full of it as if 1,000,000 handles were fetching the treasures from all sides and hiding away a mine for some iucky prospector to discover in another age. v* ir t f ?xors. mercurv. For Early llisin?. The lark was up to meet tbe sun r\nd enrol for his lay; tho farmer's f-.on took down bis gun and at him blazed away. The busy bee arose r.t 5 and buzzed the meadows o'er; the farmer's wife went for his hive anil robbed him of his (-tore. The ant rose early, his labors to begin; the greedy swallows flew that way and took his lordship in. Ob, bee, birds and ants, be wise; in proverbs take no stock. Like me, refuse to rise until half-past S o'clock.? Athens (On.) Banner. WAVE OF DEATH. : t DETAILS OF THE TIDE THAT ^ SWEPT NORTHERN JAPAN. * - t c Some 27,000 Persona Were Killed 1 and 5000 Injured?Whcl? Towns and Villages Swept Away. Y"T THE story of the tremendous I tidal wave that swept the | northern shoreu of Japan and caused the loss of some 27,000 lives on June 15 is tuld in full detail in the adviceR recently received at San Francisco by the Pacific Mail steamer China. The first reports were not exaggerated, and in addition to the loss of life there were over 5000 persons eeriously wounded and in bad condi- i tion owing to the destruction of hos- 1 pital facilities and medical stores. ! The damage to property is enormous, i and is roughly estimated in the offi- < cial report at nearly 1,000,000 yen. DIGGING IN THE RU Thomas D. McKay, for two years \ paBt General Passenger Agent of the ] Central and Union Pacific Railroads fit, Yokohama, arrived on the steamer l China for a short vacation trip. He has traveled on three different occasions this year through that portion of Japan recently devastated, and in talking about the remarkable seismic disaster he said: "The earthquake affected fully 250 miles of the coast line. A great wave rolled inland and wrought havoc to many villages and their ithabitante. Fishermen five miles out at sea were unharmed and returned at nipht to find their towns destroyed and homes wiped out of existence. The great loss was in the Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefectures. In the Aomori country eight towns were badly ruined, with great loss of life. In the Iwate section fully thirty-one towns were devastated, and in the Prefecture of Miyagi almost eighteen towns or hamlets. "Of course, the survivors all have strange and interesting 6torics to relate. One man I heard say that he saved his life by running up to the top oi a mm. ma menus were en ? I P.CINS IN THE VILLAGE OF ODACHI. I . 1 gulfed by running in their fright to- i wards the beach. He says the first ] shock he felt was slight and he paid 1 put little attention to it. Then a big i wave started to come inland. In half ] an hour the damage was done and the t waters were back to their usual level < again. He thinks the big rush of water 1 proper did not last over five or six ' minutes, and it was accompanied by a < terrific noise. Following the first big 1 wave there was a second one not 60 < large, but he thinks it made fully as < much noise." I Mr. Sakai, an assisstant expert of j the Iwate Local Office, was one of i thoBe saved. A report submitted by ! him to the local Governor graphically describes what he had to endure. On 1 the fateful evening he was lodging in 1 an inn at Kuji. He felt a number of < earthquake shocks while sitting in a ' room of the inn, and observed with 1 surprise that though objects suspended < ?as lamps?did not oscilliate much, : the shock he himself experienced was 1 quite considerable. At abont ten ] minutes past 8 p. m. he heard a noise 1 outside like the crack of a pistol, 1 which was followed five minutes later < by a rumbling sound, resembling the i explosion of a Bteam boiler. The lat- : ter sound came evidently from the ! direction of the eea. At trie Fame time < an up and down motion of the ground i was felt, at first somewhat feebly, but i gradually growing in intensity. Con- i cludiDg that something extraordinary < was about to happen, he rose hastily and prepared to leave the house. Just at this moment a number of sheds ' SHIZUKAW AFTER THE V on the beach were struck by the waves, and amid an appalling din their ruins were swept forward into the street. Mr. Sakai rushed from the house, but the night waB so dark that he could not decidc whither to Hy, During a ~j. *.?oitoHnn }inc/ll billoWR Hi U 111 U11 (/ SJL Uboiiovivu overtook Lim and swept him away. As he wab being swept on his head etrnck against what lie supposed to be a storehouse floating among the \ ?aves, and his body was tumbled over 01 .nd over three or four times. He at- b? empted to reach the surface of the gi yater, but lumber and debris kept th )im down. He concluded, therefore, ci hat his only chance was to keep as si lonoposed as possible, and holding his et .nmainod nn-^pr the water In JXCniJJ L U i. UUJwmvvt 'or what seemed a space of five yf ninutes. After that he was able to si ;et hia head over the surface and Ii areathe three or four times. Again a m 3ip building drifted toward him, but fr is he had no power to buffet with the al waveshe addressed himself to husband- re ing what was left of his strength. At si ,ast he .could no longer hold his w breath, and had to swallow the salt w water. The act was followed by loss p: af consciousness. The next thing he h knew was that people were talking in o: his vicinity, and opening nis eyes he tc round himself in a temple of Kuji, ibout two and a half miles away from p the inn whence he had been swept, ei Tcao tnl/1 Kim* liin Virwlv had been B found amongst a mass of lumber, and extricated with difficulty. An official report of the effects of h II TT II ? If If II H j gr^jml | I mm IH IIFMl I H |ji ^ w i s p: tl ft INS AT KAMAISHI. 0 ai mora Vino Viaon loaned Ati fnl. ? owe: y "On the 15th inst. the weather was a misty from morning and the ther- tl nometer fluctuated between eighty hi md ninety degrees Fahrenheit, about hi :en degrees higher than in ordinary ct pears. People suffered much from ;his unusual heat, but did not think it particularly strange, the weather be* ng generally fickle in the Bain (spring rain) season. The 15th, coinciding ffith the May festival,' according to :he old calendar, a feast was held in jvery family, and the hours were passng merrily, when, at dusk, repeated shocks of earthquake were felt, and it about 8 o'clock in the evening a sound as if made by the firing of big jannon was heard from the direction >f the sea, off the coast of Higashi Hei district. Such a sound from the sea lot being uncommon, the inhabitants lid not pay much attention to it, ;hinking that it might be caused by . nen-of-war practicing gunnery. Only \ few minutes hai elapsed when a | seismic wave suddenly rolled in with terrible force, and towns and villages along the coaet, through a distance of ( 175 miles, were inundated. In a mo- 1 ment men, cattle, buildinge, ships, etc., were almost entirely swept away, so that towns which had been thickly , populated only the day before were burned into sandy wastes. Corpses were piled in heaps, houses were com- ~ pletely wreckcd and the whole scene presented the most ghastly and heartrending aspect, impossible to describe. ? It is reported that the wave was as t] high as eighty feet, and that, though P more or less variation occurred ac- 3 jording to locality, the devastation md damage inflicted by the wave were & zioat serious in places facing the * southwest. Strange to say, fishermen plying their trade about five miles off the coast noticed merely a slight swell ina naa no suspicion ui iur uwuc u rence of euch a catastrophe. .Sfc soon o is reports of the calamity were re- 0 jeived steps were at once taken to ex- E tend succor to the sufferers, a: rhe local Chief of Police was direct- n 3d to visit the scene of the disaster, li the Secretary ox the Prefu ture was 4' dispatched to Higashi Hei, the Coun- ei jilor to Risen and Minanmi Hei and w /"'Vi.if To, P<-vllo/?t/->r t.n Tvnnnhft. A liiU Vyj-iltl. JLUA WW * ?....?, A.t the same time thirty-three clerks 0 uid police inspectors, together witfc ? L13 police constables and 450 coolies, o wore sent to various afflicted districts, si to succor the survivors, to dispose of ai the remains of the killed and to re- p store order. Neighboring towns and w tillages that escaped unhurt offered the services of their fire brigades and coolies, and the number of workingtngmen available altogether amounted c< to above 4000. The disaster having tl proved fatal to many medical prao- t< titioners living along tbe coast, and o the survivors having lost their supply ci of drugs and instruments, the greatest n difficulty was experienced in extend- ci ing efficient aid to the sufferers. A tl large quantity of carbolic acid, ban- t< dages and such things was quickly w sent, and at the same time fifteen doc- fi tors and fifteen nurses were expressly w engaged and dispatched to the scene si of disaster. Even this proved insuf- e " - -C i. Qcient, in consequence ui uk mum tude of sufferers, but iiow to meet the t< urgent need of the moment was a per- c * J fAVE TASSED OVER IT. h p plexing problem, the number of medical practitioners in this prefecture being from the first comparatively small. At this juncture twelve sur- Ii r/pons from the Second Military Di- g vision and seven doctors, two ph?r- si maceutists and twenty-eight nurses w from the Red Cross Society arrived, a! and were forwarded to one or other of a the afflicted districts, But the ambu- h lance stuff st'll proved inadequate, and ii l the arrival of a party of troops ilonging to the Sendai Enneering Corps one surgeon from e same division and five physians and one nurse from the Fukuuma branch of the Red Cross Sociy, the detachment from the Sendai irracbs was hurried forward to Miiko, find the physicians from Fukulima were distiibutedto otherplaces. 1 addition to the above a number of edical men have been requisitioned om towns and villages adjoining the Bicted districts, and drugs, in3truientB and other matters needed in lrgical operations are being forarded to places where they are anted. Further, in ofcder to jjive rompt relief to survivors suffering om starvation, more than 1000 koko f rice have been sent with all speed ) the scene of the disaster. "According to the latest official reorts the casualties .to life and proprty in the afflicted districts, including iokkaido, stand as follows: Houses Washed Awa? or - .v. TT7 ? J-J TT.aa1.A4 i> eat oh. rruuuueu. moun-u. rate 23,309 11 4.396 7.429 iyagi 3,314 776 1,396 omorl 346 218 465 okltaido... 6 5 25 Total..., 26,975 5.390 9,313 The damage to boats and fishing ear, that were washed away or de;royei by the big wave, is estimated t 250,000 yen in Miyagi, 540,000 en in Iwate and 90,000 yen in omori, all in ronnd numbers. If to ieee figures be added the damage to lltivated fields, to houses and the >8s of o'her valuables as well as cash, le whole must reach a very large gure. The fishing industry alone in ich of the three districts produced vet 1,500,000 yen a year on the averse, and this has been seriously cripled, especially in Iwate, owing to the sstruction of the fishermen and their apiements." A "Winsome Welsh Mayoress. The Prince and Princess of Wales ttely made a tour of their anoient rincipality, and at Aberystwith were le central figuree in an important inction. The Prince was installed hancellor of the Welsh University, ad the Princess was given the degree [ Doctor of Music. The Princess of rales wore the hood, oap and gown of Doctor of Musio of the university, le rich scarlet of the robe, the outer Dod of indigo blue, and the inner ood of puce being particularly be)ming. Mr. Gladstone, who, with THE MAY0BES8 OP ABEBTSTWTTH. is wife, attended, was enveloped in tie ample scarlet folds and pace hood f an LL.D., his grandson bearing the rain of the Chancellor. A less imosing figure than the big folks, bnt nite as winsome, was the Mayoress of ie town in her quaint, National arb. She received the Prince and rincess of Wales at the station. London an Overcrowded City Arthur Clayden, lecturing in Lonon, stated, as a "startling fact," that ? rt~rt AAA AAA 11 I me OOU,UUU,UUU luuttuitauig ui n,00,000 square miles of the British !mpire, no fewer than 340,000,000 re crowded upon the 121,000 square riles of the United Kingdom and the mited area of British India. Nearly 0,000,000 people are packed like irdines on 121,000 square miles, hile on the 3,000,000 square miles of ustralasia there are fewer that 4,000,00 inhabitants. On the area which onstitutes the Metropolis, although nly a four-thousandth part of the ze of the seven colonies of Australia, there are over a million more eople than are to be found in the hole of those vast areas. A Curious Test of Coins. In America an alloy of one-tenth Dpper is used in coins to harden i i .i i? *; ui? aem anci maKe mem less uustc^uuic 3 abrasion. In England the amount f alloy is less? otily one-twelfth. Reently a controversy arose among the lint officials of London as to which oins, English or American, would last ae longer. In order to put the mat;r to a test two small steel cylinders ere fiied on a revolving rod and one ilea with United States and the other ith British coins." It is needless to iv that all of tne letters, milling, tc., were worn from the English coins welve hours before they were finally Dtally effaced from the American oins. OJd Shaped Spiders. Tbo most peculiar spiders in thf rorld, as well as the largest ones, inabit the island of Sumatra. They art f all conceivable forms and colors, nd f-omo of thein spin threads almost 9 large and strong as the grocer't tvine. Some queerly shaped 6piden ave square bodies poised on long red ;gs, and others have crooked green nd yellow lepjs which support heart baped bodies. One of the very oddat of the lot has a body that looks ke that of a young turtle, the "shell" aving round knobs and pear shaped rojections all over it. Remarkable Cabbages. A favorite industry of the Channel I._J. iU. ? ?r SiHIJUS IS LUU iniBJU^ Ul uovua^co VJ | reat heights to make canes of their | talks. These readily sell to visitors, ho buy them aB mementoes, paying 11 the way from tweive cents to ?1.22 piece. Some of them are twelve feet igh, and have a diameter of su iches at the base. BICYCLE yKATE, Vri English Invention for Fast Road TraveliDa;. ? '* Inventive genins in England has inroed its attention to the perfection of a road skate,an adaptation of the con? PNEUMATIC-TIBED WHEEL OK A ROLLEB- M SKATE F3UME. 3| ventional roller skate, which will en-; able the skater to skim along over any fifl road smooth enongh for a bicycle. Two years ago the "skaycycle," as it is called, made its appearance. It IS had a pneumatic tire. The original pattern was introduced in the United' Bj States, but has never been popular,! ^9 probably on acooaut of its high price) H ?$25. There is too much ice skating; IH in the United States to admit of the uH permanency of the popularity of any form of roller skates. Not so, however, in England, where MB the inventor of the skate claims that: ^Bj "a skate whiohis independent alike of the tickteness of the climate and the Hfl more or less intermittent enterprise of the skating-rink promotor is a long* H felt want. The new appliance, which H is really an adaptation of the princi-: B pie of the cycle to the old*fashioned roiier egaies, is iurmsuuu wim jjucumatic tires and ball bearings, and it will not be long in all probability be- I fore the Blight exertion of energy on them over a rea3onably smooth and solid road is still further reduced by the introduction of the principle of geared action. The skates are held to the soles of Mb the shoe by the ordinary elamp in use U on ioe skates of the club pattern, bat iHj have an ankle support, which is kept Hm| in position by a leather braoe lined ^Hl lamb's wool and which fits about the HHI calves of the legs. jnU It is claimed that the skates may be HmI safely used in both up ?nd down grades, and that with practice a speed of ten to twelve miles may be reached on a fairly good road. Several of the English papers are enthusiastic over hH[ the future of the road skate, pointing oat that in its use every muscle of the lege, back, neok and arms is brought ^^B into play. This is true also of sawing ^^B wood, an exercise which has never be- HH come a National fad. BH The English road skat9 is a cumber* ^BBj some thing. The wheels are about four inches in diameter. The skate ^H| may be folded np for traveling. Fishing lor Lost Anchors. ^29 One of the queer occupations of mankind is that of dragging for lost anchors. It is carried on in bays and B^H rivers, and even in the open sea along the coast. Several sloops and schooners are engaged almost exclusively ia^^^B this pursuit. The hunters are as fa miliar with the ground where anchors are to be found as fishermen are with^^^B the favorite haunts of the living in*^^HB habitants of the sea. The manner fishing for lost anchors is most sim-^HH -. Hj A chain is let down in a loop long^^^H enough to drag along the bottom, and^HH the vessel goes on her way with all^BH hands on board alert for a bite, and aHHR bite usually ends in a catch. The re^^^B covered anchors are generally sold^^^H again at a price of abont twopence pound, which is a halfpenny under th^^^^J market price for new anchors. A anohor will weigh 6000 pounds, ec^^HI that the fishermen make $259 out o^^Bh it. More often however, the anchor^^^H| fished up weigh from 1000 to 200^^^U pounds, and there is a pretty profit i^H^H the business even then.?Tit-Bits. A Human-Faced Hen. One of the strangest freaks of natn^^^^f has been unearthed by a New Yoi^^^H| resident in a New York market. consists of a human-faced hen, whi<^^D^H he found in a lot of 10,000 chicke^H^^fl winch naa ueen orougni 10 new from Michigan. The hen is a Pl^Hjm month Book. Its eyes are set beetling brows. The chin is doub^^^^^X and the nose resembles that of a ma^^^HH Its tongue also resembles that of man being. Several of the claws fingernails. The fowl is said to be a decided cure, spurning the corn which ations of its ancestors have conside^HB|M wholesome, preferring moiste^HH^H bread and cake. The present of this strange freak intends keeJHKHfl There is some talk in building a memorial to the Augustus^Harrie, the great and theatrical manage;.