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9 % THE-nYSTE Florence Vv r (Author of-46 "The Mouse < l Copyright, 189.% by < CHAPTER X. " Continued. He spoke in a low voice, not wishing to be hoard, still walking along the high road. But Jein, who did wish to be heard, bawled out his answer at the top of his voice: "Yes, Mr. Hemming, it's me right enough. And maybe I've got as much to tell you as you've got to ask me, sir!" The detective saw that Nell, who was uow <ti ujt; iwiun ui Hit- iuuu, uuu about to turn to go up to the frontdoor of the house, stopped, hesitated, and seemed half-inclined to return to where Jem stood. Perceiving this, Jem drew back a step and appeared to wait for her. But Nell did not come back. After a few moments of indecision, she disappeared round the corner of the white house. Jem Stickels, however, seemed either to have changed his mind about telling the detective what he knew or to have only meant to frighten the girl by pretending that he was going to do so; for instead of speaking again to Hemming, he jumped over the fence into the garden, and, running at full speed across the now bare flower-beds, flattened his nose against the window of the kitchen, where a light was burning. mni'inf si fpw nflpps trt thp left. the detective, from where he stood outside the fence, could see that there were figures moving inside the kitchen, and could presently distinguish the two figures within as those of Nell and Miss Bostal respectively. He could see, also, although he could hear nothing, that Nell was pouring out some narrative in an excited manner, and that the elder lady was quietly listening. "Ah! ah! ah!" The hoarse sound of Jem Stickels's derisive laughter suddenly startled the two ladies, who sprang apart and glanccd at the window. "Ah! ah! ah!" roared the young fisherman agtin. The detective was on the point of leaping the fence, with the intention of addressing Jem, when the bacli-door of the house was suddenly opened, and Miss Bostal, well muflled up in a thick 1 woolen shawl, so that only her little, thin pinched nose and gentle light eyes 1 could be seen, addressed the fisherman in kindly tones from out of the wooly depths of her covering. 1 "Jem Stlckels, is that you? What i are you doing out there, frightening us out of our lives? If you have anything to say to lis, come inside." But the lady's voice, kindly yet ?m- < perious, seemed to render the surly ! young fellow somewhat abashed. He * Would have slunk away and got back 1 over the fence into the field again, but that there was a tone of command in < the prim little lady's voice which made ] him pause. < "I haven't got nothin'to say to neilh- < er of you,'* grumbled he, sullenly. 1 "Who said as I had? I haven't said nothin' to nobody, barrin* just this: ] That I don't see why Miss in there 1 should treat me as if I were dirt, and 1 that if she goes on treatin* me that i way, I've got the means of being even < with her." i ' The little prim lady could be heard 1 to sigh. She seemed genuinely con- i cerned about this matter. "But haven't you heard," said she, with a prim litMe affectation of sprightliness, " 'that faint aenrt never won fair lady?' How is it that you are so sure that Miss Claris means to treat you badly?" "How am I sure?" bellowed Jem, flaming up into wrath. "Why, I'm sure of it becnusc sh? does It?oeeause she never meets me but what she turns her head away as if I wr.s beneath my lady's notice. That's why I am sure, an' that's why I say I'll be even with her." "Dear, dear!" bleated Miss Bostal, as she drew her shawl more closely about her. "I shouldn't have expected a brave fellow like you to threaten a lady." Jem only grunted. "I should have expected you to have < ~1.-11 T more patience, uome, uoay, sunn i speak to her for you? I don't know, ] mind, that I can do any sood; but if ! any word of mine can help the path i of true love rue smooth, why, I'll say i It with pleasure." ? But Jem only replied by a jeering ( laugh. "I mean it," chirped the lady. "I'll speak to her myself. And now will you ' come into the kitchen and hear me speak to her? Perhaps that will sat- < isfy you." After a few minutes' nesitation Jem slouched into the passage; and Miss Bostal was about to dose the door, when the detective, who had taken care to hear every word of this colloquy. appeared suddenly before her, and put his baud upon the door. "Be? pardon, ma'am, but I should like a few words witn you, it you u be so good as to sec* me for n few minutes privately. My name's Hemmiug, ma':!m; ami I daresay it's got to your ears lhat I'm here about this robbery business at tlio I?l?:e Lion.'' Miss Postal, who had uttered a little slirill scream of fright on the first appearance of the stranger, now recovered liersVif and ga\e a little {rasp of acquiescence. "Oh, yes, I know?I've heard. You are the?Yes, come in.'' He entered, waited while she shut the door, and then followed, by her direction, not into the kitchen, out to a cold, dark room on the right, which smelt as if it were little used. Miss uostni wisely Kept uer suam xwuppuu tightly round her, and politely begged him to take a seat, while she lit one of the two candles which stood on the mantlepiece. The detective gave one comprehensive look around the room, and quite understood why the lady preferred to spend her time in the kitchen, where it was, at least, warm. :rt^OF>THC g^^^iiiiiniiiHiiniiiiii! jSIU < 'arckn, * oa Jfo Aa.r5n,V erc-j ?bert Bonner's Sons.' "And now," asked the lady, as she seated herself on a prim, stiff-backed chair covered with faded needle-work, "what is it you want to ask me?" "Well, ma'am," said the detective, who sat on the edge of his chair, and felt surprise at the amount of dignity there was about the little prim, shabby lady, "It's just this: I want to know if any little accident happened to a young lady who spent the corning with you?Miss Claris?" Ke saw his breath and hers on the - * *1.- I.'UU rx-r^A 4 1- SMI c'oiu an ui me jjihc mum, uuu mvu^ui it was much warmer in the fields outside. The lady was evidently astonished at the question. "Little accidcut?*' she repeated. "Not that I remember." "Was she doing any sort of work for you, ma'am? She said something about ironing, 1 think." "She didn't do any ironing," answered the lady, promptly, "but I did." "She told we she was ironing and burned her haud." The lady shook her head. "It was I who had the iron all the time," she said, decidedly. But then the detective noticed that the lady gave him a quick look, and that she then, as if recollecting herself, altered he*, tone. He instantly decided that she was making up a story for the benefit of her protege. "I recollect, now I think of it," said she. "that I did come very near her with the iron, and that I was afraid I bad burned her, though she said it was noming, uou, muueu, ? ?;uuiu occ Aivming." "Thank you, ma'am," said th'e detective, rising at once. "And now would you be 60 good as to let me see her and the man Jem Stiekels together, at once, before they leave this house?" "If they are here, you can, certainly," said Miss Bostal, as she at once left the room and went down the passage toward the kitchen. In a few minutes, however, she returned with a blank expression. "I'm sorry to say," said she, "that they have both left the house. Whether together or no," she added, with a demure and pinched little smile, "I can't say." The detective took his leave, not in the best of humor. Jem Stiekels was the person to be "got at," that was certain. But Hemin ing;s fear was that he had been "got it" already. CHAPTER XI. Miss Bostal shut the door when the ietective had gone, drew a shivering 3igh, as she folded the shawl more tightly about her thin person, and svent into the dining-room. Sitting on one of the horsehair-covjred ehairs in the darkness, was Nell. Miss Bostal sighed again as she placed carefully upon the table the lighted ?andle she had brought with her from the drawing-room. "I feel very guilty and ashamed of myself," she murmured, rather peevishly, "for having told the man you were gone when I knew you had gone 10 farther than this. But I had to choose the less of two evils, for I was ifraid, my dear, that you could not aear another long, worrying cross-eximination from him just now." "You were quite rignt, ansa xueoJore, and as kind as you always are," said Nell, affectionately. The poor girl looked indeed worn jut, and the words she uttered seemed :o come mechanically from weary ips. "Come into the kitchen, child, where it Is warm," said Miss Bostal, briskly. 'I will make you a nice, hot cup of tea, ind then you will feel better." "Hns Jem Stlckels gone, then?" lsked Nell, apprehensively. "Oh, yes! I sent him on! very quick7" "Do you " Nell faltered and began to blush and to tremble?"do yon think tie told the?the detective?anything?" "I'm sure I don't know, dear. These men are so exceedingly reticent, it is Impossible to tell what they do know," answered the elder lady. Nell watched her and gathered from tier manner that Hemming had told her nothing disquieting. For Miss Boslal's whole attention was devoted, at that moment, to measuring out the smallest possible quantity of tea which could be made to supply two persons. "And besides," went on Miss Bostal, when she had shut up the tea-caddy, "what could Stlckels have to tell him? And what trust could be put in Stickels's stories?" Nell looked at her with wide eyes of wonder and terror. "Didn't I tell you." she said, in a husky whisper, "that Jem told me he had seen?the thief?with his own eyes? He told me be could give proofs ?proofs!" "Well, well, my dear," returned the elder lady, composedly, as she put her little brown teapot tenderly on the stove to draw, "what if lie did? My own idea is that Stickels made np a story in order to pet you to talk to liim; for it's evident the poor lad is crazy about you." Nell made a gesture of disgust. "Ah, but you shouldn't treat him so hardly; it makes him desperate." Nell rose from her chair, and came close to the lady's side. "Miss Theodora." she whispered, with a face full of fear, "it was not to get an excuse to talk to me that Jem said?what he did. He told me?, he advised me to confide In you?to tell vou what he told me, and?everything" "Well, my dear, tell me if you like," said Miss Bostal, putting a kind hand on tlte girl's shoulder. "Shall I?" Nell's face was deathlike lu ito a?hy whiteness. "Why, my child, yes. tell me, of course. Come, come, what is there to get so miserable about? If you really "think Jem Stiekels did see the thief, and can prove who it is, you ought to be glad, and certainly not let your kindness of heart prevent you from telling him to speak out." "But, you don't know who?who? Jem thinks it was!" "Ah, you musn't trouble your head about that! A thief is a thief, and | should be punished. And if it is a per son you oow, you may De sorry; nut you must not shrink from your duty, which is to bring the criminal to juslice." Nell withdrew herself with a sod smile from the lady's caressing hand, and shuddered. "Supposing it were?it were some one you knew?and loved. What would ,you say?" Miss Bostal shook her head deprecatingly. "My dear," she said, "I can see what it is: Stickels has been threatening to tell the detective that he can prcve you to be the thief. And you let yourself be frightened like that! Why, child, you forget that everybody in the place knows he would give the world for a kind word from you; and they will know that he has made up this tale out of revenge for your tak ins no notice of hiin. Yon are a goose, child, a little coose, to let yourself be worried by such a thing as that!" Nell drew a long breath of relief. Then she stood up. "You have taken a great load off my mind," said she, in a low, thankful voice. "I shall tell him when I st-e him. What shall I tell him?" she asked, with a sudden change to a little fear again. "I should tell him, if I were you, that if he has seen?if he has seen anything ?it is not your affair, but that of the police. Eut at the same time, Nell, I wouldn't be so unkind to the poor young fellow, if I were you. I was quite touched this evening by the way he spoke of you. I believe he would give his rigiit hand for you, I do really. And aithpugh it is no business of mine, dear, I really think you are neglecting your opportunities of doing good in a true sense by not urging bun to better things. Your influence might turn him into a good man, my dear, J do, indeed, believe." But Nell frowned haughtily. "You are so good yourself. Miss Theodora, that you don't know anything about people who are not like you. Jem has had plenty of opportunities to reform. It is by his own choice that he Idles about instead of going to sea." "But it is to be near you, dear," suggested the sentimental old maid. "I don't mean to say the young man is, in any sense, your equal. But I think if you really cared for him " "But I don't!" protested Nell, indignantly. "I have never thought about the creature, for a moment, except to wish that he would go away from the place altogether. And if he has dared to say that I ever gave him the slightest encouragement?" "He has not, he has not," said the old maid, hastily. "He has never been anything but most humble and submissive." "In your presence," added Nell, significantly. "But when he Isn't with you, he presumes to be rude, and even jealous. As if he had the slightest right to be jealous," she added, angrily. Miss Bostal's lips tightened with disapproval. "I see how it is," she said. "Poor Jem is right. He complains that you have had your head turned by the young men who were here in the au tumn. tie says you nave never naa ? good word for him since the coming of that particularly worldly and frivolous young man who calls himself Clifford King." Nell drew herself up. "Miss Theodora," she said, very quietly, "I know you will not say anything more about Mr. King, when I tell yjou that I?I?that if It were not for the misfortune which hangs over us now, I should be his wife some day." But poor Miss Bostal was horrorstruck at this disclosure, and she proceeded to read the girl such a lecture on the evils of marrying above one's station, and. above all, of marrying a man of the exact type of Clifford King, oUliAiiffh a Vic* nnf In Ulrtlj llllilUU^U OiJt VtlV* UVh UUVVVV.U .u convincing Nell, she sent her home very unhappy and on the verge of tears. To be Continued. The British Wolf. Britain has been infested With wolves from that remote period conventionally termed "the earliest times." Their fossilized remains are frequently discovered, their bones lie about the untidy floors of prehistoric caves, the barrow-folk made necklaces of their teeth. They are mentioned in Welsh and Saxon laws. The Norman, how ever iona 01 me inn ueer, v??? jju?. affectionate toward the wolf, for in many feudal tenures, down to the year 1433, appears an obligation to hunt him. An entry in the account rolls of Whitby Abbey (quoted by Mr. Harting) records a payment for dressing wolf skins in the year 1394?possibly the latest strictly historical evidence as to the English wolf. Mr. Harting mentions a trad?ficn tha one Barnes, in the time of Henry VII., was nicknamed "Roast Wolf," Because he destroyed so many of these animals, which infested Durham and Yorkshire (according to another legend) during the reign of Elizabeth. In Scotland, owing to its physical character, they existed until a much later period. So recently as 1577 an act of the Scottish Parliament ordained a wolf bunt in each barony four times a year. Sir Ewon Cumeron slew the last wolf in Lochaber in 1CS0.?London Spectator. A Novel Uhc of Electricity. It is said that electricity has been put to a novel use in New Jersey by a man who "wired" his sleigh for the benetit of the small boys who persisted in sharing it with him without waiting for an Invitation and at the expense of the bright new paint. The wires were arranged around thf "catching-on" points and connected with a battery benenth the seat. Au insulated cushion protected the rightful occupant. A foot lever providing the necessary opening and closing switch and u little judicious peeping from the corner of one eye supplied the driver with the knowledge of jus< when^o push the button.' $6. m TT 1_ I bummer neai I Becom( P National Danger Impending | i)ieie^>o0a0ie^e5 THESE modern hot waves, 1 with sunstroke and death on i every hand, have become a ? serious problem for science to ( j nolve. Important facts are herewith i I presented on the subject. It is be- t j lieved that the rapid destruction of 1 | the great forests of the country by : I careless settlers, lumbermen and wood t I pulp makers are the chief cause of ( j this marked recent change in our cli- J ( / | mate. And it is' thought by some ex- i J perts that without trees the earth 1 i would be uninhabitable. t It is only in the United States and India, it is declared, that these devas- I tating heat waves periodically sweep i vast areas. In Europe?Germany and 1 France especially?where forests are i ! protected by law and heavy penalties c rigidly enforced for violations, such a outbursts of heat, as a rule, are un- { heard of. t It has long been known "to a mathe- t matical certainty" that drought in- t creases with the disappearance of for- r ests. Trees not only create moisture r j and invite rain, but their roots, leaves c i and underbrush hold the rain that falls long enough to be absorbed by.the earth. As hills and mountains, by fire or axe, lose their forest, the soil dries up and vegetation languishes, while I valleys and canyons are flooded, often ! with disastrous results. This is the I case around Pittsburg and in other j hilly localities which have been I buried sections of the railroad track j thirty feet deep in sand, filled gorges, j changed the course of rivers, wound ; steel rails as if they were wire around ! the few straggling Cottonwood trees | skirting a dry stream twenty or thirty ; feet above the old track, and plowed te&zte t/?^:3L * <<PL2rZ',i'/<A'sfrcT'i!"'k' . 3R0WING CORN IN A FOBE6T IN NORTH J1 CAROLINA?THE TREES HAVE BEEN j J GIRDLED TO KILL THEM, AND THIS j V PRIMITIVE SORT OF AGRICULTURE IS j " CARRIED ON IN THE INTERVENING | SPACES. j stripped of timber for fuel and manu- . a facturing purposes. e On the great plains rain seldom falls, n When it does it is a cloudburst. The washouts that come once in three or A four years in Arizona are of iude- F scribable violence. Eastern readers j v would scarcely believe that on the parched alkali deserts a cloudburst a o few years ago along the Southern b Pacific east of Tucson in half an hour c chasms in the tarantula beds clear: ti down to solid rock. j u In that strange city of San Luis Po-, ti tosl, in Old Mexico, where vhe timber ! k disappeared long ago. I was told that | it had not rained there for eiglVt years. ; b The dust was a foot deep, aud the ' c burning heat of the sun seemed to ' o wither the very faces of the muieteers k 3riving their silver laden asses through ' b the streets. I a In tlie spectral Midrlle Park of Col- tl orado one sees a vast desolation of , ti stupendous mountains, isolated and In : u clusters, absolutely naked?without [> tree or shrub. Ages ago the Indians, s; tt Is supposed, living in that once pas- w toral region, fleeing before invading tribes, burned the forests bebind thonj. pi On every side, in a grand encircling ti amphitheatre, peaks of the Kocky oi May 11 3 Unbearable. | ? * w From Forest Destruction. m e^-teoeeeiee^ fountains rise to the snovr line hemning in this Middle Peak, fortunately mpplied with rivers flowing swift and leep from the canyo,n?3 of the snowy ange. But the rainfc 11 is said to be lecreasing with the destruction of pine !orests of the higher mountains. In view of tbe vital necessity or proacting the timber yet remaining In Colorado, the Forestry Association, :omposed of the best men in that .. rC5tatc, was early organized, Btringent aws passed and vigilant watch kept o prevent destruction. The terror of 'fires in the Rocky fountains is akin to that of volcanoes ind earthquakes. When once started >y careless hunters, a match thrown ? V?nn/?k nf /ifw rrr*n cc /m? hv in :endiaries, timber thieves and the like, rast tidal "waves of flame sweep the >ine clad slopes rising to lofty altiudes and stretching for miles along he great ranges. It has bsen observed hat the absence of timber even in the nountain narks interferes with the ' ainfall, causing periods of drought, ir violent rainstorms doing great damw-' mL^ t.. m ''* j .* t L ^ ? .'S DESTRUCTION IN THE RED WO ge and passing quickly away. 1 Irrigation, followed by vegetation I nd tree planting, brings rain. This 1 as been demonstrated all over the < renter West. 1 In former times the summer storms I ?ere chiefly confined to the mountains i f Colorado. Now they spread out on < he plains, following the rivers, with bell* miles of wide areas of irrigated < elds and recently planted timber < elts. Moisture begets moisture, and < i+ /inmnc! t mil^Ar tpTTinerpd 2lt- i >11U It VUUiVO w mmmv. J. losphere, gentle showers and cooling t reezes, Instead of erratic periods of rought, floods and cyclones. ( All this. with many other facts, has ( n important bearing on the phenom- t na of heat waves now exciting so i lueh concern. < I called on Mr. George Sudworth, icting Chief of the United States c 'orest Bureau, In Washington, for his ( iews. He said: i "There is much difference of opinion i n the subject among scientific men, ut students of forestry are as a rule I onvinced that the wholesale destruc- c ion of trees in this country has had s luch to do with the recent aggrava- ' ion of the meteorological phenomenon c nown as the 'hot wave.' "Hot waves may almost be said to < o peculiar to ttiis country, xney oc- a ur in India, but in Europe and most s tlier parts of the world they are un- c nown. We find them uncomfortable, ut as yet we have not learned with ' ny degree of certainty the causes 1 h.at bring them about. Future invesigation is likely to throw more light c pon the subject. I am satisfied a f rincipal cause of the severe heated I IH-Ils of recent summers has been the 1 1 | G t, 'holesale wiping out of forests. k "That forests affect the air's tem- a erature there is no doubt. Evaporaon within the limits of a forest goes a much more slowly than outside, ii V': ' y rbla means mo!stnre, and with mols- J ttirp pomeg a coollne of the atmos- I phere. In regions largely forested the temperature Is usually much lower. "We have long observed that areas originally humid are dried up by deMODE OP REFORESTING A HILLSIUB Bit ESTABLISHING BARRIERS OF BRUSH TO HOLD BOIL IN WHICH IOUHO TREES ARE TO BE PLANTED. forestation. Regions once heavily wooded, with plenty of water In streams and springs, have become parched, the streams being either dried up or nearly dry. The forest covered water-shed means a spongy layer of humus,' or leaf-mold, which absorbs rain. This sponge, spread over the soil, gives up its water slowly, and thus the supply of moisture remains in the water shed for a longer time. "Wipe out the forest cover, and the spongy layer disappears. Even though the amount of rainfall remains unaltered, the smooth surface allows the water to rush away. There is nothing to hold the water, and so it passes off rapidly, leaving the ground dry. Water that falls on a slate roof runs off faster than if the roof were covered with moss." Professor Fernow says of hailstorms that they seem to avoid forest covered areas. This is certainlv interestine to farmers and students of meteorology. The Influence of forests upon foge and clouds is marked and peculiar Fog lingers in tbe woods whea it is clear elsewhere. Trees act as condensers, gatherers of dew, frost and ice, and this phenomenon is especially remarkable in the so-called "ice storms," where tbe accumulation of ice is so great as to overload and break the larger limbs and branches. The man who has most carefully studied this subject is B. Ribbentrop, Inspector General of Forests in India. He says forests affect climate in a marked degree. History proves this in numerous instances where the decoration of the climate of whole districts, and even of entire countries, has followed the destruction of forests. The once well wooded Dalmatia is now a stony desert. Persia, formerly one of the granaries of the East, Is OD BELT OF CALIFORNIA. barren and desolate over a large exrent of its territory. North Africa, svbich was one of the main grain prolucers of ancient Rome, is subject to :ho severest droughts. Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece and Asia Minor have llso suffered enormously from deforestation. In the United States observing sta:ions established in forests have recorded over and over again the fact :hat the air over wooded areas was joth cooler aud moister than above ;he open fields. It has been claimed that forests exert an important influence in behalf >f human health. Soil conditions in he woods are unfavorable to disease n-oducing germs, especially those of :uoiera auu yeuow iever. Every forest is an oxygen factory, md it is declared that its production >f that life giving gas is of sanitary mportance. Ozoue is also a forest n-oduct. The forest may be regarded as a jlanket, with which nature covers the :arth for its protection. This blanket ;ays Professor Mark W. Harrington, 'determines many of the features of jlimate." Says Professor Sargent: "The forests in the mountain regions are esicntial to prevent destructive torrents md to maintain the flow of the rivTS." We consumed last year more than 10,000,000,000 square feet of sawed umber alone. The annual consumption of our forests is 25,000,000,000 cubic feet. To urnish this amount would require the >roduce of 1,200,000,000 acres of woodand, whereas our total forest area is ess than 500,000,000 acres. It will be ;e?u, then, that we are drawi- upon iur forest capital, whereas ought o be using only tlio interest. The greatest timber consumption is or lirewcod. We burn for heating and nauufacturing purposes annually ISO,00,000,000 feet, board measure?four imes as much as we use l'or all other iurposes put together. However, most f the firewood supply is of timber insuitable in size or quaiity for the awmlll. The conclusion of all this seems tc ie that because we must have toothlicks, matches, coffins and firewood, nd, incidentally, wood for ships and louses, with timber thieves and inendarles running riot destroying for sis, tue gioue is to be made uninuauj' able.?New York Herald. The largest single item of trade beween the United States and Korea i. erosene, which for the vear mounted to $895,220. A watch may give tick, but a wus? eweler doesn't. i V . \ ' ? OXYCEN-FOR BALLOONISTS. . Aa Improved Apparatus Designed 1ry 4 French Savant. The investigations of Bert have mad# clear the action of oxygen on organ* isms subjected to feeble atmospheric pressure. His numerous experiment! . have shown that the accidents to which one is exposed in rarefied all can be avoided by keeping nearly constant the quantity of oxygen taken 1q it each respiration. Accordingly, since his time, aeronauts have carried witb them oxygen, -which they breathe through a flexible tube fitted with a mouthpiece. M. Cailletet. in a paper read before the Paris Academy of Sciences, re marks that this method of taking the oxygen Is defective. Ever since blrthi we have been accustomed to breathe through the nose, and aeronauts have difficulty in giving up this habit an<|. breathing through the mouth. Thus the oxygen inspired through th? mouthpiece scarcely fills the moutlv and is ordinarily rejected -without having penetrated to the lungs.' The author presented to the academy; an apparatus enabling aeronauts t<) carry and have at their disposal liarge' quantities of oxygen stored in small volume, and to assure the absorption. of the gas without taking any particular care. It Is composed (1) of one ob several vessels containing liquid oxy-l . " \ Jl oxygen at>pabattj8 pob balloonists. gen, (2) of a recipient In -which this is turned into gaseous oxygen, and (3) of a kind of mask which renders the respiration of the gas certain. Pure oxygen almost always cause* nausea and illness. To avoid this M. Cailletet has placed in the mask a' shutter with variable opening, enabling the wearer to mix .with the ory-' gen a certain volume of air. The aero^, naut regulates this opening so that the oxygen Increases in amount with the height, and, with the object of preventing the condensation of the water' ?"ir\nr mntolnoil In tlio ronntrprl CflflPR. he allows it to escape by a flexible tube furnished with a special valve and hidden under the aeronaut** clothes to prevent freezing. Busy. The importance of encounters for tie championship was fully borne in upon, the traveling man of business, Trtio thus relates his experience to the Phifadelpbia Times: Wheh I arrived at Black Rock I Inquired at the village tavern for a man of the name of Wharton, who had some land to sell. "Do you mean old Bill Wharton?' * "Yes." "Got land down on Bass River?" "Yes." /: "Well, he lives about three miles out of town." "Can I get a horse?" "Yes, but it won't do you any good." "Is he ill?" $ "Not that 1 know or, out ne woman r w see the President of the United States H before next Wednesday. If you caa H wait seven or eight days you can get H to talk about that land with him." flj "Then he has some special business on hand?" B "Special business? Well, I should H say so and no mistake. To-day him H and old Pete Davis sat down to a I game of checkers for the champion- B .ship of the county." H An Improvement in Needles. fl An improvement has just been made H by a French needle manufacturer, H which is said to have several advan- H tages. It is shown by the accompany* A NEW FRENCH NEEDLE. H ing cut, which clearly also shows the H nature of the innovation, which lies in H the method of putting on the eye. A H needle thus equipped is said to pass H through the material with much more H ease than is experienced with the old style, and the strength of the cotton H cannot be impaired by its repeated H passages through the cloth, us is fre* H quently the case with the instrument H now in vogue. 9 From the Diary of a Young; Wife. |H Monday?This morning at bveakfast H I suggested to Otto that a journey H abroad would be advantageous for us H both, but he replied that it was impos- H sible for him at the present time to H rive up his business cares. . Tuesday?I remarked that a trip to H Paris would be just splendid. Otto H was very unpleasantly affected by this B proposal and declared positively that lie did not wish to hear anything more H jn the subject. R Wednesday?I wrote to dear mamma H to pay us a visit and asked her to an- Hjj swer by telegraph. H Thursday?Did not mention the jour- H ey, but I accompanied Otto to the H Joor as he was going out and kissed H him heartily. H Friday?Mother telegraphed that H she'd come to us next week. I left the H telegram open on Otto s desk. H Saturday?Otto says that be succeed- ?9 ed in leaving bis business for a time We are going Monday by early train H to Paris.?Filegeude Blaetter. Hj H .v.