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?___? T HIDDEN TREASURES OF DAME NATURE Earths Which Command High Prices. i |f -i ECRETED somewhere in r 0 li tlle earth?perhaps in the ! A a reader's garden?are inet | ^ J ] als of many kinds, which are called "the rare metals."' because so far they liave i)een found only in tritlins quantijties. They must b" present somewhere |u large quantities, and it is oniv a jcase of search and you will find. i Altogether then- are thirty to forty bf these rare earths wliicb fetch a big |>ricc in the market. Many of them are bought merely tor museums or scientific experiment: but others ar? very Valuable substances commercially. I' Urauium, for instance, from which jthe magic element radium has been i Separated. is worth, when chemically jpure. over ?180 per pound. A ton of itea per cent, ore would fetch between !?50 and ?60. t THE PARENT OF RADIUM. LUranium is very valuable in the auufaeture of gun-metal for heavy Untmrtn nnri nrinor nlate. It stives a jbeautiful fluoresc. at green hue to [glassware and a nne velvety black to (porcelain. J As every on? is aware, this precious 'metal is found in Cornwall pitchblende. How is any one to recognize it when found? That i> not an easy matter. 'But there should be no great' difficulty in recognizing many of the rare metals. Each responds, of course, to tests peculiar to itself, and one of the tests for a uranium compound is that, when tnixed with a little boras and microcosmic salt, and placed in the familiar t)lowpipe flame, it forms a greeu head in the inner flame, and a yellow head sn ttie outer name, wmcu uecuuira .?cjlowish-green on cooling. i Some of the metals used in making Incaudescent lighc are thorium and cerium,, or, rather, their oxides?thoria and ceria. Cerium was discovered a century ago (180:i). and yet it is still i rare. It is twice us dear as urauium. ^Thorium, an iron-gray melal, was found in 182S. Both are much sought for, -with the result that the latter has fallen in price during the last ten years from ?36 to only a few shillings per pound. u ji; LOOK FOB ZIRCONIUM. 'A curious thin? in connection with these metals is that the brilliant white Incandescent light which they give . w.hen mixed is not natural to either aIam/v nf f lium can. UL in cui aiuuc. j.juuv.1 vi iuvua 1/ arately give a yellowish light of very little power. Cerium has other uses, la medicine it is a cure for hysteria and seasickness. And it is also used In the development of analine black. Another very valuable and very rare metal used for lighting purposes is zirconium. This was discovered llo (years ago, yet no one has yet had the good fortune to fiud such a deposit as iwould make him a millionaire. It is present in several strange-named minerals. such as eudiolyte. polymignite, Viyai'iuui, civ. uiii; \niuauir inuycu.y jof this rare metal is that very intense peat does not destroy it. Hence it )U used to mak* the cylinders of the fDrummond lirht tor lighthouses, being (made to glow by the tremendous heat ?C the oxyhydrogen flame. The cylitiJder remains as irood as ever, after nonths of use. Metallic zirconium is {worth about ten shillings per gramme. )One ton of it would bring to its owner Over half a million of monej^. But Borne of the natural compounds of ziricouia are splendid gems worth ?2 per iMvnt nr fSOrt n^r nnnne. II Then there is molybdenum, which (forms a most remarkable compound iwith both steel and nickel. Molybdebum nickel-steel cannot be beaten for bardness, and jvt at the same time it ks exceedingly ductile, and a fine alloy (for wire drawing. Large cranks of (great strength ar<> made of it. propellor shafts, heavy guns, rifle barrels, boilers jfoc torpedo boats, and armor-piercing shells. It is, or was some time ago. Worth ?9 per pound weight, j Vanadium, another scarce metal, has jalso the curious property of hardening Bteel. and it is much used in armor iolate. So small a Quantity as one Iroound. added to 2?H) pounds of steel, ^increases its stivngth from seven tons land a half to thirteen tous per square Inch. }, SOFT. Bl'T PRECIOUS. Thallium, discovered by Sir William fCrookes, was up to a very recent date priced at the rato of ?31.000 per ton. It j&s very soft, and can be cut with a jknife. One of its curious properties lis that it makes a mark on paper like a I lead pencil, wnicu is uiue at nrst, tuen turns yellow, and in a day or two fades away altogether. A metal whos^ supply has never yet Equalled the deaiaud, although it was discovered nearly two centuries ago? 1735?is platinum. Only about four tons and a half was found in the year 1900. chiefly in Russia, and it was sold lat the rate of ?145.000 per ton. The [value of platinum arises from its resistance to lie:it inci acids. It does not melt until a t- mperature of 3150 degrees Fahrenheit is reached, and is therefore most useful in making chempcal apparatus?sur-h as crucibles, foil pnd wire. New Zealand, New South Wales and British Columbia are good puuting grounds for this treasure. [ A few of the other rare elements which are turned r?> useful account are palladium, iridium, gallium, lithium Imd menaehin or titanium. Lithium, the lightest of all metais only about half the weight of water*, s a well-known . ur."1 for gout. Palladium, about as hard as steel, s very valuable in the mechanism of vatches, as it does not rust ia damp itr. GALLIUM PAYS BEST OF ALL. Iridium, an extremely hard. .steelIke metsl, is used for watch and couilifin .-imr< !.-n i r'-> ill* fif?lir*5% tf> 1 Iances. ami ;i$ pen points. Some ee to six thousand small grains go tie ounce, au-i uue of tbese is taken i and attach oil to the pen with silver solder, then split and ground to shape. Iridium is worth about ?200.000 per ton. and palladium about ?300.000. Gallium, so soft that it melts in fhe hand, makes a much better mirror than quicksilver, but as the'price is ?4.2.'i0.000 per ton. gallium mirrors are rarer than the metal itself Besides the foregoing hidden treasures there ore many more for whfth uo jse has yet been found, but whjrh an* very valuable as scientific curios ities.?Answers. ROPING STEERS IN ARIZONA; The Koush-Kidinj; Catfle-"Tiers" of the Far Went a Revelation. To those who have seen th>> Western cowboy only in the sawdust ring ot a Wild West show, the gathering of the rough-riding steer-tiers of Arizona and New Mexico are a revelation. On his own pet horse, in his native sunshine and dust, hot foot after a mountain steer, the "sure-enough" cowboy creates a sensation. He strikes one as being very real, intensely natural, and the shrill yells from the crowded grand cf-in.i inHinnto thnf bp is annreeiated? at home. There is not such an exhibit of "chaps ami taps." sold braid and silver mountings, as yon see in Madison Square Garden, but there is a whole lot of genuine hard riding. It is "whoop-la" from the .1 nnip. A wild steer is pushed from the chutes at one cud of the in closure, rushed across the line and down the field. After him thunders the cowboy swinging his riata. When he crosses the line a flag drops and his time begins. When he has tied his steer his time ends. The man. who makes the best time wins the contest. There are a thousand chances in steer tying ?a mean steer, a bad start, a broken rope, a quick turn, seen too late?all these make the contest a "gamble." And yet the best man generally wins. Theoretically, luck is an impersonal thing: in steer tying the best ropers are generally lucky. Any man who misses his first throw T/\a/*c; Ilia n'nnniia fnr linlpSS the whole field is unlucky. So it is with oiie intent eagerness that the cowboy rises in his stirrups for the lirst cast. No use to catch them by the neck or legs?experience has shown that the best hold is the horns?and for the horns the cowboy throws. Then, as the rope settles, he twitches it taut, tosses the slack to one side of the flying steer and runs his horse past him on the other side. Lu a moment the steer's head is jerked down, his hind feet gathered up, and he hits the ground?hard. Like a flash the rider runs to his victim. Hopping astride the prostrate steer he plants a knee in the heaving flank and lifts the hind leg into the air. While the steer kicks and struggles the cowboy seizes the tying rope from his waist, knots it about a forefoot and then wraps it about the hind feet. A jerk brings the three feet together. There is a swift tightening of knots and he throws his bauds into the air. "Tied!" After the contest there are impromptu horse ^aces. flag picking, and then a general clatter and stampede lor town. mere, auoui reea corpus anil saloons, tile contest's of the day are talked over, the winners of bets stand treat, and the champions tell how it was done.?Leslie's Weekly. Clock Centuries Old. A clock which, it is telieved. was used in the days of Columbus, has lately come into the possession of Emil Kuehnel, of Manchester. N. H. When it was discovered recently in the garret of a house it was supposed to be of little* value. The face is of wood and the figures representing the hours of the day were cut into the wood by a jackknife or some such instrument. The ancient timepiece was given to Chas. Wolf. who. in turn, presented it to Mr. Kuehnel. who had it cleaned up. On the iippe: part of the wooden face of the "clock a profile of Columbus has been carved in the wood, while on the lower part ''Anno. 1492," is neatly carved. Two bottles are used as weights. Ou either side of the clock the queer weights are attached to a cord, which runs over a little wooden cog wheel 111 the clock. One bottie is heavier than the other, and as the weight carries the other bottle up, the cog wheel over which the cord runs moves two other cog wheels, the hour hand of the clock being attached to one of them. The Land of Flowers. The sale of cut roses in the United States amounts to about $6,000,000 a year: carnations. $4,000,000; violets. $700,000. and chrysanthemums?a short season crop?$700,000. The annual production is estimated at $100,000,000 each tor roses and carnations and $30,000,000 for violets. This statement shows the great superiority of the carnation in two important points. It can l>* produced aud sold more cheaply than the rose, and its keeping qualities are very much greater. The carnation will never have as much sentiment as the rose, but it is destined to outstrip the rose as a people's flower, if indeed it has not already doue so.?Country Life in America* A Mrs Sort of Band. The Paris police have just been successful in arresting the chiefs of an association of malefactors calling themselves the "Joyeux Monte en l'Air" band, or the '"Happy up in the air band." from their custom of going about Paris on the tops of omnibuses. The chiefs are all young men and bear tattoo marks on their chests representing a dagger set in a branch of laurel leaves. Every yuember of the association, it is said, took an oath on a dagger, which was handed him for the purpose, that within eight days he would "baptize" his dagger by wetting it iu the blood of a "burgeois." "Willing to Take a Char.ee. A pious citizen has a fifteen-year-old son who does not promise to be exactly a "chip off the old block." Not long ago the father discovered to nis sorrow that his boy and several others of the neighborhood had a habit of matching nickels. The wrathful parent led the erring lad. to the time-honored attic, where hangs a certain strap. The hoy didn't have any agreeable impression r,t what was to come. and. on the ground that it is only the first piunge that counts, he called out: ".Saj-, d;i>*?! I'll go you heads or tails J'or two lickings or uouel" Baldness is mu.h rarer among midd!<*aged persons i-r Japan than in Europe and America owing, it ;s believed, 'to lhe Japanese custom of using uo bead covering as a rule. Tlv? Bank of England notes ar? made j from new white linen cuttings?never from any tiling that has been worn. J So carefully is tbe paper prepared that j even tlx? uumbc-r of dips into the pulp ! made by each work rami is registered ^ j ou a dial by machinery. Tli? deepest Iiole in t!ie er.rth if near > , Ketscli.iu. German v. it is feet | in depth, and is for geological research j only. Tlh? drilling was begun in. 1850. j and .stopped six years later because tlie j engineers were unable with their in! struraents to go deeper, i One of the most durable woods is j sycamore. A statue made from iti now in the-Museum of Gizeb, at Cairo. is known to be nearly OUOl) year3 old. Notwithstanding this great age. it is asserted that the wood itseif is entirely sound auu uatural iu appear- j luce. j Soldiers are despised in China. They | belong chiefly to the coolie cla. ses. Tiie j German officers engaged some time j ago by the Chine.se Government found j that their most important task was to j i overcome the soldiers' own feelings I that tbey were a lower order cC beings than other Chinamen. Crete pays a bounty r * S2C0 a ton for locusts' eggs. Five ve:irs ago sixty tons were destroyed in one year, equal to 680.000.000 locusts. Jt is eal| culated that locusts annually devastate j 8,000,000 acre? and destroy half Ihe crop on an area double that size, that is to say, this one insect alone lessens the world's food supply by $200,000,000 a year. The largest plow in th? world is owned by Richard Gird, of Sau Bernardino County. Cal. This immense agricultural machine stands eigbleen j feet high and weighs 30,000 pounds. It ruus by steam, is provided with twelve twelve-iuch plow shares, and i if capable of plowing fifty acres of laud per day. It consumes from one to one and a half tons of coal per day, and usually travels at the rate of four miles au hour. As nearly as possible 8000 sal Ions of fresh water are used in a large battle! ship daily. About two-thirds of this is taken up by the boilers, and the > <? raaiuder is used for drinking, washing. cooking, etc. When the store which she has taken out with ii-?r j Jfrom port has been used up. a vessel has to depend upon her evaporators for further supplies. Every modern warship is fitted with evaporating machinery to distill the salt sea water. SICNAUNC UNDER WATER i The Cause of the Majority of Shipwrecks About to Be Keinuvril. The on use of three-fourth? of tjie j shipwrecks and loss of life at so.\ | seems about to be remove !. It is not a Mire or ev<?n I lie air. but the water i this time that is u^eil 10 transmit | sound vibrations. For we:.-ks ' there- has been installed on the sceainj ors of the Metropolitan Company, of j j ttostoo, an apparatus which may yet! J make it possibie for the vessel beat| ins about the coast in a storm to know I where the rocks and shoals are when j the fos will not permit the light to be seem and the* noise of the wind drowns the sound of boll-buoy or the siren; for a battleship io know of the j approach of a submarine and a fishins smack of the approach of a liner i j off the banks of Newfoundland. i The apparatus is extremely simple. It amounts to nothing more or less than ringing a hell under water, j which the pilot or captain can hear t<*U'phonicaliy. Screwed on both sides ; of the vessel's hull are two receivers, ! which al ? connected by wires with tiie wheel house. These receive the vibrations from the bell hanging in the water on the side of the lightship. Ti:e navigator has only to put the earpiece to his ear and ascertain 011 which side the vibrations are the louder, in order to know the direction of the lighthouse and his own position in the fog with comparative accuracy. For Ashing vessels a ball receiver I ; has been provided, and this is used also to get more delicate intonations aboard a steel vessel. The value of the apparatus was put to a good test recently, when the steamer James S. Whitney was approaching the Boston lightship on her return from New York. The lighthouse was obscured by rain and fog. Thanks to the signal apparatus, the captain immediately heard the bell and got his direction. It was not until live minutes after that he heard the lightship's whistle for the first time.?Collier's Weekly. j ne ureBR ? :is arrant??* When one of Mark Twain's (taught* ers was .1 small miss she gave evidence of unconscious humor that delighted her father. As a re war. 1 for being good she was once allowed her first peep at an evening party. Apparently, of the many unfamiliar sights, tne decollate gowns of the women impressed her most. She gazed at the wearers long and wonderingiy, and then, pulling her mother aside, asked in an awestricken whisper, "Mother, what country did they come from?" The Polite Germans. We Germans are not only the most polite, but :;ls(> the most ceremonious people in the world. Without ceremony k is not possible for us to present a friend, to take a seat in a restaurant or to drink or even to utter a injrl^ word. Consequently a people :ke the British, which ignores and ut?rly disregards those customs, must lppear to us a herd of lubbers.?FrankCarter Zeituns. II LONG WAR IK SIGHT! Russia Massing Half a Million Soldiers to Fight Japan, SHE AIMS A CRUSHING BLOW War Scheme of Vast Eitent B e 1 b j Planned?Armies suit Fleet* to More Together With flio Idea of Overwhelm- ( ing the Foe With One Defeat ? One Difficulty Removed. j St. Petersburg. Russia.?Exceptional- ' ly reliable information regarding the Russian military plans confirms the re- { peated announcements that these plans . will not mature until late in the sum- . mer. They are of far greater magni- \ tuue than is generally believed abroad, ^ and take into accouut all possible contingencies. General Ivuropatkin. remembering the experience of Russia, during her war with Turkey, when the Russian army of 30.000 placed in the field at the beginning had to be more than doubled, has insisted that the men and guns to be> placed at his disposal shall cover the extreme limit required to settle the fate of the campaign. The Russian plans are predicated upon Napoleon's dictum that "God fights on the side of the heaviest battalions," and they are being worked out and timed so as to apply to a superiority of numbers on land and sea simultaneously. The army is designed to attain the enormous total'of half a million of tho fima cnl.aHnloH fnr fhft reinforcement of Vice-Admiral Makaroff's fleet with the Baltic squadron. The Seventeenth and Tenth Army corps, now drafting, are expected toreach Manchuria by the middle of June. The mobilization of four other corps, at least two of which will be from the Volga, will be announced by the middle of next month, and will start westward a month later, reaching their destination at the end of August. Rear-Admiral Rojestvensky will hoist his flag as commander of the formidable Baltic squadron early in July and will sail immediately for Port Arthur with the following vessels: The battleships Slava. Borodino. Orel, Kniaz Souvaroff, Alexander III. and Osliabia, the latter now being en route here from Cherbourg: the cruisers Aurora. Dmitri Douskoi, Svietland, Almaz, Jemtchug and Izumrud. and the transports Kamtschatka and Ocean, each carrying 1000 tons of coal. The Temperley conveyers ordered in the United States are expected soon, and they will enable the squadron to coal at sea. The last possible difficulty regarding the nassaere of the Suez flnnal riisnn peared last week with the signing of ^ the Anglo-French colonial treaty, by 1 which Great Britain adheres to the 1 convention of 1S8S concerning the free j passage of the canal. AIMS CRUSHING BLOW. 1 Why Resistance is Not Made by Rus- ' sians at the Yalu. St. Petersburg.?A high military ail- 1 thority in conversation explains why ' General Kuropatkin's plan of campaign does not contemplate a heavy re- \ sistance to the Japanese advance at the 1 Yalu. saying: 1 ''Either defeat or victory in a battle 1 there would be disadvantageous to us. 1 If we lost we would have to fall back 1 through a difficult country. If we won ?and I say to you that Rnssian strategy is based on the idea of victory and not on that of defeat?success would j be fruitless. We could not follow it up without exposing the army to too great risks. "On account of the Japanese control y of the sea if we pursued the enemy ' into the peninsula of Korea we would 1 open both flanks to a possible attack, * from the rear. No: the Japanese must come on to a noint in the interior. 1 which with this end in view has been r selected, where we can follow up a * crushing defeat to the bitter end, with ] blow after blow and seal the fate of ' the campaign. ( "Our plans on sea and land will con- ? verge at a time next summer when Vice-Admiral Malcaroff's fleet will be relieved by the arrival of reinforce- 5 ments. Then if successful on land we ( can clear the sea of the enemy, cut his < communications and the Japanese in ; Korea and Manchuria will be at our mercy. 1 "The world must not be impatient. 1 The prelude to this war is not yet f finished." ' ' It is understood here that as the result of General Kuropatkin's visit to * Newchwang reinforcements of 100.000 c men will be sent forward from Liao- c iang. I HEINZ FORCES ROUTED. \ s Carter Faction Triumphs in Montana State Convention. Helena, Mont?Delegates to the Chi- . * cago Republican National convention t wei'2 selected here as follows: Con- g grossuian Joseph M. Dixon, ex-Senator ' Lee Mantle, James W. Freeman, ex- ? Senator Thomas H. * Carter, Conrad Hours, John S. Edwards. All are members of the Carter?as distinguished from the Heinz ring. Carter was selected as a delegate to ? the Chicago National convention by ac- I clamation. The platform heartily en- i dorses the administration of President s Roosevelt, and the delegates are in- o s true ted to vote for his renomination. C Castellane a Playwright rpi,A. , i_i xuc *u<u4iu.'i uti i^uftieuuue, tamer . ? of Count Boni aud father-in-law of An- j na Gould, has finished a drama in five c acts dealing with the Napoleonic pe- q riod. which will shortly be performed ? in Paris. 0 Battle Against Sweatshops. The National Consumers' League, representing sixty organizations und a o membership of 10,l)(H), has taken up r the battle against sweat shops. 1 War in the Far East. Ninety-five Japanese prisoners have passed Irkutsk for imprisonment at . Tomsk. J The Kcrena Government lias sent a thousand troops forward to protect the * northeastern frontier from raiders. ? The secret records of the llussian army in Manchuria have been taken v by the Japanese and now have been t brought to Ping-Yang. Japan replied to the Russian pro- u test against the bombardment or' a t quarantine station by saying that the Hague couventiou did not cover the 2 case. a REPUBLICANS IN SESSION, Empire State Convention Held in New York City. Fhe Delegate* at Large to the National Convention Not Instructed But Directed to Work For Roonovelt. w*+New York City. ? The Republican Slate Convention held in Carnegie Hall elected the following delegates at large and alternates to the Republican Na* ! tional Convention to he held in Chicago June 21: Delegates at large: Thomas C. Piatt. : jf Tioga: Chauncey M. Depew. of New j Vnrk: Reninmin R Odell. Jr.. of Or inge: Frank S. Black, of Rensselaer. Alternates at large: J. Sloat Fassett. of i Chemung: Louis Stern, of New York; ! Erastus C. Knight, of Erie; Henry C. | Brewster, of Mouroe. The convention did not instruct the j lelegates at large for President Roose- j /elt in the old fashioned manner of the ] Republican party since its organization ] fifty years ago. The convention platform sends the delegates at large to ! Chicago with this injunction, "we here- ! sy direct that the delegates this day 1 chosen use all honorable means to I jring about his nomination for Presilent at the National Convention to be I leld in June." Long before the hour for assembling the delegates began to straggle in, and. while waiting for the chairman to call j the convention to order the band jlayed lively airs. The delegates were seated by coun:ies, placards on tall sticks indicating he location of thedifferent delegations, j Albany and Schenectady counties had :he front row centre, the best sea^s in the house. The Tioga delegation, with Senator Piatt at the head, sat on the 'mirth row fit the Ipft. Senntor PIntt lad the aisle seat and was easily dis:inguished. The Broome delegation, including Colonel George W. Dunn, touched elbows with the men from Tioga. Governor Odell. who shared the honors of the convention with Senator Piatt, was with the Orange County men, some distance back on the centre aisle. The smallest delegation was from i'ates County, with four members. The largest was from New York County, L86 members. The New York men occupied a block of seats in the extreme rear. The Kings County delegation tiad the section just in front of New iTork. At the head of the New York delegation was Charles H. Murray, president )f the County Committee. Mr. -Murray's first lieutenant ai the organization, William Halpin, executive chairman of the committee, sat at the,-head >f the delegation from the. Ninth Assembly District. At the close of ro'.lcall Chairman Dunn nominated for temporary Chairman Senator Depew. He was unaninously elected, and James S. Sherman. Dneida, and John W. Dwight, of Tompiins. were appointed to escort him to :he chair. As Senator Depew began to speak the delegates settled themselves to isten. The first burst of applause ?ame as early in the address he men :ioned the name of the late Marcus A. Kanna. A few minutes later a like tribute was paid to the name of the ate Speaker Thomas. B. Reed. Senator Depew first ;mentioned the lame of President Roosevelt in counec;ion with that of the late President ! VIcKinley. Hearty applause greeted j :he linking of the names. From that | :ime on Qvery mention of President j Roosevelt's name was greeted with en- ; :husiastic cheers. SPAIN'S PREMIER STABBED. Anarchist Attacks Him, But He is >fc>t Wounded Severely. Barcelona. Spain. ? Premier Maura vas attacked and wounded by a would- j je assassin, armed with a dagger, ! ivhile leaving the palace of the Council j jeneral. A semi-official report of the occur- j ence says the assailant held concealed j i kitchen knife with which hf> sbihhprl :he Premier, but tbe force of the blow vas broken and its direction diverted >y the heavy lace on the Minister's :oat. It resulted in only a slight icratch under the sixth rib. A doctor attached to King Alfonso's suite examined the Premier and pre- j scribed a few hours' rest His Maj- | >sty sent a messenger to inquire con- j :erning the attack and as to the Prime j Minister's condition. Joaquin Miguel Artao, the assailant, vas employed as a domestic. He is an Vnarchist, and when arrested attempt'd suicide by dashing his head against I he wall. According to another account the ; Premier coolly drew the knife from his Nothing and threw it on a seat in his carriage, after which he entered *the alace, walked upstairs and telephoned o Minister of the Interior Guerra at Madrid, saying: "I have been stabbed. 3on't be alarmed. The wound is not icrious." Captain Hobsnn Beaten. Captain Richard Pearson Hobson j vas not successful in his contest for | he Democratic nomination for Confess from the Sixth District, Binning- j lam, Ala. Congressman John Holis Jankhead has a majority over Captaiu iobson of about 500 votes only. Sight of Whipping Fatal. Miss Bertha Montgomery died in tbe Southern Iusane Asylum at Princeton, | nd. She lost her reason after witnessng the whipping of about thirty of her chool children by the Superintendent if Schools, the Rev. Mr. Leslie, of )weusvilie, her home. An Educational Donation. The trustees of Atlauta University, j Atlanta, Ga., have formally accepted | rom Mr. Thomas Minns, surviving ex. cutor of the estate of the late Robert 3. Billings, of Boston, the sum of $2000 ppropriated from the residuary estate f Mr. Billings Boach Track Unsatisfactory. First tests of the Virginia-North Car. liua beach as a course for the Interlational Automobile Cup elimination rials proved unsatisfactory. Minor Mention. A monster oi! well has been struck ust south oC Upper Sandusky, O. It is claimed that the total cost of he British army this year will be 140,(ll)l).U(H). Ore unloading barges on the Lakes nil be lower this season because of he cut in wages of the shovelers. Thus far all levees on tlio Mississippi iear Memphis, Teun.. have withstood l<r> Census bureau reports show that :54,945 acres of land wore under irri:atiou in New Mpsjco in . IINOR EVENTSOFTIIEWEEK WASHINGTON ITEMS. The House Committee on Naval Affairs authorized a favorable report on the Lacy bill to restore thre<? former midshipmen at the Naval Academy to their class, 'ihe three?J. D. Little, of j Ohio; E. W. Cha4?ee, of Iowa, and John ! rr T I uinhimin rx-.ira. rlia. I li. uauxauu, ui iun.uiguu?ww&t* i missed several months ago for hazing. Mrs. Roosevelt, wife of the Presi- j dent, has gone to Groton, Mass., to j visit her sons, at school there. Postmaster General Payne left on j the revenue cutter Onondaga for a trip to Galveston, Tex. It is the present intention of Secre- : tary Hay not to sign an arbitration treaty with France or any other country, as the Administration thinks that the Senate would not ratify such a treaty. Mr. Dillingham, from the Committee on Immigration, favorably reported to j 1 the Senate a joint resolution authoriz- j ing the Commissioner-General of Iui- | migration to-establish an Information and display bureau at Ellis Island. OUR ADOPTED ISLANDS. News hirs reached Manilla of a flght between General Wood's forces and i Moras at Taraca River. The Moros attacked the Americans, and were repulsed with great slaughter. Their leaders, however, escaped. The Americans lost two killed and six wounded.. Major General Leonard G. Wood, ' 1 mA*? ia oKA?If 4r* hnwin a nam. 1 WILLI 1UW UiUU, Xi9 avuub IU UWgiu w paign to compel the allegiance of the Sultan of Taraca and. to force him to turn over to the American authorities twenty murderers and several stolen rifles. Taraca is on the shore of Lake Lanao, island of Mindanao. Prince Pu-Lun, nephew of the Emperor of China, who is en route to the United States-to represent the Chinese Government at the St. Louis Exposition, arrived at Honolulu on the steamship Gaelic. The Midway Island cable station at Hawaii is short of food, as the United States transport Buford was unable to land two tons of stores there because of rough seas, and had to carry the supplies on to Manila. ' DOMESTIC. James D. Richie, secretary-treasurer of the miners' local union at Broadhead, Col.; Robert Beverage, president of the Broadhead union, and Librario Vialpando, a Mexican, have been brought from Aguilar by the >troops and placed in the county jail. The first two are charged with intimidating men who wished to work. Vialpando^ is charged with having^hot at a soldier. Tbe Citizens' Bank of Ponca City, Okla., closed its doors on account of sudden withdrawals of deposits and a failure to make collections. It is thought by the directors that the bank will be able to pay thirty-three cents on the dollar. John Healy, one of Are men who 1 had held up and robbed two persons, has been shot and fatally wounded by Policeman Wiesen, at Chicago, 111. The tug Frank Canfield, owned by the Cantield Tug Line, Manistee, Mich., ran aground on the outer bar at Point Sable and sunk. Capt. Henry Smith, , Engineer Charles Kopfer aud Helper William Justmann were lost. i The Western Federation of Miners will bring before Colorado Supreme Court Gov. Peabody's right to rule by martial law. The Iowa Legislature refused a pardon to Mrs. Sarah ICuhus, sentenced for life at Anamosa, Iowa. uovernor Montague. 01 v irgima, refused to interfere in the case of Tlieroii H. Brown, defaulting cashier of the Life Insurance Company of Virginia. Missouri. Kansas and Texas flyer No. 5, which left St. Louis for the South, was wrecked four miles south of Fort Scott. Kan., by the rails * spreading. The smoker and chair cars were overturned and badly damaged. Sixteen persons were injured, bu: no one was i killed. Authoritative news received at Dallas, Texas, says that in a hurricane in i Limestone County six persons were killed and thirteen were injured. The fierce wind and sncwstorm that has prevailed over the State of South ( Dakota, east of the Black Hills for thirty-six hours, has resrlted in mammoth drifts, which have seriously interrupted railroad and telegraphic communication. ...i Coley Hayden was shot at the State College baseball park at Lexington, " Ky., by Lee ^nderson, a studcut acting as guard. ,. 1 * FOREIGN. Count Zeppelin has succeeded in securing sufficient funds iu Germany to i construct another airship to be tested on Lake Constance this summer. Mrs. Eliza Schaaf, fifty years of age, formerly a prominent advocate of women's rights, committed suicide with a revolver at her home iu Char- I lottenberg, Germany. The cause assigned for the suicide is that her mind had become clouded. J The strike on the Panama Railroad was brought to an end, most of th9 laborers returning to work under tho j old conditions. The payment by the American to the i Cuban Government of $131,000 on account of the rent of the Guantauamo coaling station is expected iu Havana soon. Manuel Guavesi, for five years at the head of - the Yaqui rebels in Sonora, Mexico, was discovered among the prisoners taken by Captain Barron in an engagement with a band of savages i near Batomote, and was immediately taken out and shot. Negotiations are progressing favor ably for an Anglo-Russian "arbitration j t! /?.!k* junior tiif? nii&ninos nf France, i Its terms are expected to be published j 1 within a fortnight. < The Turco-Bulgarian agreement, the J negotiation of which threatened to re- , suit in a rupture of diplomatic rela- . tious, has been signed at Constantino- 1 l>le. i The Pacific Mail Steamship Com- ' pany's steamship Colon is ashore on , Point Remedios, on the const of Salvador. There has been no loss ot' life. The vessel is believed to be a total loss. I A wolf attacked the town of Minsk, i Russia, and bit six people before it was j killed. j Charged with complicity in a $10,000 j : robbery four months ago. Lawyer J. A. j . Bass was arrested at Calgary. N. \Y. T. | ' : ( A o.iTHihi:nl:o in Afnpailonifl 111?- ! i "" -f. - , stroyed lofX) houses. Twenlv-live pen-) ? pie lost their lives and forty wore : * wounded. ^ A dispatch received at the India j Ofiiee in London said that General Macdonald's infantry, when recommitring near Ka la pang encountered liOC Tibetans, who opened fire. There wera ' * "''(j THE SUNDAY SCHOOL | INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS FOR MAY 8. m Subject: Watchfulness, Lake *11., 35-48-* Golden Text, Luke *11., 37 ? Memory Verges, 35-36 ? Commentary on tb? Day's Lesson. I. The duty of watchfulness (vs. 35-40). S5. "Girded about." "This is an allusioa to the long robes of the East, which those who wear must bind up before they engage in any active employment." Jesua had-just admonished them against undue anxiety about temporal affairs (vs. 22-32), and now He gives an admonition to watchfulness. Be active, diligent, determined. ready; let all hindrances be taken out of the way. "Lights burning." The Maste* - ;?tm was likely to return at any hour of the night, and in order to be ready to receive Him their lights must be burning. 36. "From the wedding." The Jewish weddings were conducted with great pomp. The ceremony was usually performed in the night. The festivities lasted from three to , f seven davs. "That when He cometh." Aa these servants waited, with girded loins and burning lights, already to meet their master and run at his bidding as soon as he approached, so we are to wait for the coming of our Master. Wait (1) with eager longing, and (2) with joyous expectation. "May open; immediately." Few . s... . will thus "open immediately." They will *. have something to do first?will have to get ready. They will heed time to collect themselves. 37. "Blessed." Those who are ready are blessed and are highly honored by their Master. "When He cometh." Christ will return to all from the heavenly wedding at the end of the world, when He has taken to Himself His bride, the church; to each individual He comes when He stands suddenly before a man at the hour of death. "Shall find watching." We are to watch against temptations from within and without. "Gird himself; serve them." ,-|l "Whatever we do for God He will do ia return for us. It is unusual for maatera to wait upon their servants, but "JesuB Christ was among His disciples as one that served." See John 13: 4, 5. This also signifies the joy with which they shall be received into the other world by the Lord Jesus, who has gone before to prepare for them, ana has told them that His Father will nonor. them (John 12 : 28). 38. "The Becond or . third watch." The Jews had adopted > the Roman custom of dividing the night into four watches. The first watch was from 0 to 9, the second from j 9 to 12, the third from 12 to 3, the fourth from 3 to 6. 39. "Had known what hour." The householder's ignorance of the time when the thief would come is the reason why he does not watch. He cannot always keep awake, so he has to go to sleep and ia robbed. But our ignorance is the reason, for wakefulness, because we can keep spir- \ itually awake all through life. The nouseholder watches to prevent, but we to share in that for whicn the watch is kept"Would have watched." "In the East the State punishes, but leaves the prevention and detection of theft and robbery to the individual interested. Hence the watchman is necessary and important everywhere." 40. "Be ye therefore ready." Always ready so he will never be taken unawares. Watchfulness insure readiness; readiness.,, insures safety. Indifference marks the way to sin and despair. A' scriptural preparation includes repentance and conversion. "Cometh; when ye think not." See 1 Thess. 5: 2; 2 Pet. 3: 10. We should resist the temptation to spiritual drowsiness. Nothing is much worse th&a & sleepy religion (Rev. 3: 16). I II. Th'e faithful servant rewarded (vs. 41-44). 41. "Peter said." "This apostle was the one who afterward most needed1 the admonition (Matt. 26 : 74), and in so bad a manner forgot it. Those who stand in most danger are often slowest to profit by words of warning." "Unto us, or even to all." Is meant for us as thine apostles, or for all men? I 42. "Faithful and wise steward." The steward was a middle person between the master and slave, and had the care of the whole household. It was a post of confidence in which faithfulness was required. As tHe steward to tne resc or me servanw, 90 should the apostles stand with reference to other believers. Faithful comes before wise because the true wisdom of the heart comes from faithfulness. "Shall make ruler." That one would be ruler who had previously proven himself faithful and wise, who attended to his duties during his master's absence with the same fidelity that he did when he was present. "To ?ive; meat." As God's stewards we should be ready to give out to others what he places at our disposal. 43. "Blessed." He is blessed in his deed: he rejoices because he is found in the faithful performance of his duties by, his lord, ana he is blessed with a high, promotion. "Shall find so doing." W& nee here what Christ means by watching;; "not gazing up into the heavens for signs* but the faithful performance of duty." 44. "Over all." .So each saint owns all of God's possessions, even now (1 Cor. 3: 21, 22). "The reward is both outward and inward; more glories and blessing and joys, und larger capacities for usefulness and enjoyment." To him that hath shall be t given. i III. The profligate servant punished (vs. 45-48). 45. "Say in his heart.' If, instead ? ? - ? 1 01 oemg IdlliliUl, LUC ncivaiiu ucgitto w plan wickedness and to actually enter into sin. a different 'portion" will be appointed him upon his Lord's return. "Delayetln His coming." The fact that Christ's coming is delayed causes the love of many to wax cold (2 Pet. 3: 3, 4). "To eat and drink." Self-indulgence is a very common sin. "To be drunken." This v/as not only, a common and terribly destructive sin in Christ's time, but it is the same to-day. 16. "When he looketh not." The Lord will come suddenly and call every one to an account. "In sunder." This was a most terrible method of executing crim ' ?ii- tv.? ?? inais, anciently. h iui uic uuuciki?o. Read Rev. 21: 8. This verse shows the awful doom of the ungodly. The worst forms of punishment are used to show the punishment that will come to the unrepentant sinner. 47. "Which knew." Either actually, from received information, or, virtually, because the revelation was within reach. God wiU hold us accountable not only for what we know, but for what we might have known by putting forth a proper effort. "Be beaten." This is a reference to the Jewish custom of beating guilty parties. "Many strioes." Shall be severely iind justly punished. Those who have many privileges, who are often warned, who have clear gospel light, and yet do not repent, shall be far more severely punished than others. Exceptional guilt and punishment (Luke 10: 13; James 4: 17; 2 Pet. 2: 21). 48. "That knew not." That knew not fully, for there is no such thing as absolute moral ignorance (Rom. 1: 20; 2: 14. la). The reference here is to those who had comparatively little knowl eu^e. Giant Locomotive Tried. A giant three-cylinder locomotive which it is the intention of the German Government to exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition, was tested on the military railroad iit Berlin in the presence of a large company d? civil and military personages. The engineer of this locomotive rides on its forward part and communicates with the firemen through a speaking tube. The front ind rear cones of the locomotive diminish. :he resistance. The locomotive alene at' :ained a speed of eighty miles an hour, and >f sixty-two miles an hour when drawing >ix vestibule passenger coaches weighing i total of 225 metric tons. Mountain Disappear*. The story of a gui de that IJald Mountain disappeared on the night of the New Ensland earthquake has b::en confirmed. Bald Mountain was in the Tobioue Vallcv, a few miles l'rom the Now Brunswick line. At its base were boiling springs and near by an extensive deposit of melted rock and 2arth, all indicatine the presence of an cx:inrt vnlr.mn Whn^ P.,I.I AI itood ig now a ]ar?e shallow lake, and the theory of the woodsmen is that the subsilence of the mountain was the cause of the ;arthquake. , German Kailway Casualties. German)' had only about 2000 railway casualties during the year 1903. . ..