University of South Carolina Libraries
f HOS. J. ADAMS PROPRIETOR. ?DGEF??LD, S. G.; WEU#DAY, JUNE ?, 189& The PLANTERS LOAN and SAYINGS BANE, AUGUSTA, GA., Organized 1S70. Oldest Sayings^ Bank in Eastern Georgia. Lnrffest Savings Capital in City. -' Pays Interest and Compounds ? every 6 months. VOL. LXIII. NO 22. LOVE IN THE WEA Feathers and moss and a wisp of hay, Pressed round by a soft, plump breast, With a leaf looned'low.'gainst a rainy day So tho bird has fashioned her nest. "A wonder," we suv, and the wonder grows As we study the curious thing. 'Twas love in the heart, That prompted tho art, And spod the untiring wing. OF DIFFERE NOTE .WESTON sat looking but of tho m?ny-p?ued, tine-c?rtain ed win dow upon the great world. She tried to think of it stretching out far beyond the hills that bounded her vision, and at length let her eyes fall as if they were weary with the flight. 'Tm so glad," she thought, "that I shall see only a little of it at a time; for the sky'll always be over me like'a big bell. If it wasn't . for that I shouldn't dare breathe-I'm so lonely." The thought of a great, unknown Outside made her glance hastily about the room, as if reassuring her self of the possession of certain ob jects which she considered allies in her contest with the world. There were a stove, a few chairs, a book or two, a table, some flowers-regal heliotrope and bright oleander-that had condescended to blossom from the depths of broken jars and cracked pitchers; some dishes which Annie had tended so faithfully that their every cleft aud fissure was a part of her mental vision, and a gown or two, rewards of much brain-and-finger ser vice. They were all her own, and they summed up her wealth, supplement ed by a pleasant presence of the brownish order, a- capacity for work, and a lowliness of heart that made no exactions. She had been like a child -satisfied with a few sticks and stones which it conjured into treasures. The power of comparison which makes so much of tho light and shade of life was still latent in Annie. She had accepted the facts of her experience as final, without question or reproach. Now that she found herself alone and penniless* staying by sufferance a few days in the old home, she felt no re sentment against the indolence and selfishness that had, in truth, de prived her of her birthright, but was conscious of only loneliness and dread, as she sat close to the objects that had gained a familiarity and friendliness through long companion ^is^?oward the unknown country /where she must somehow find ahorne. There was something in her face, as the village people saw it at the win dow, that made them think of a lost child, and their sense of its pathos was intensified by their knowledge of her past. She had turned again from recount ing her treasures to her wide-eyed stave upon the world, when there came a step on the porch aud a knock at the door. Before she could rise her caller had opened the door and entered. Sho recognized him as David Bruce, a distant neighbor of hers, a man some fifteen years older than herselfi He was a silent man with a great power of kindness, which found expression in such stealthy ways as made his favors seem moiv like those of fairies than those of a mortal friend. A gold piece appear ing anonymously upon some window sill of a house where its prononce was sorely needed, a load of coal arriving at some opportune moment, baskets of fruit or flowers apparently depositing themselves of their own free will and accord, and au unusual shyuess and embarrassment in David when he met the recipients of his gifts, were the only evidences of his generosity. Annie, not having the slightest kindred feeling, did not understand his self-conscious reticence. One day. when su^ .ras a little girl, she had wandered up the street as far as David's home, and after looking wist fully a long time at his sweet peas growing near the fence, had finally put out her hand toward them, not with the purpose of taking any, but to see if she could measure the distance. Just at that instant David had hap pened by. Annie had attempted to explain. He had waited until she had quite finished; then spoke a short, disconnected homily, not calculated to be very effective, on thc temptation involved in finding out what wrong things are within a body's reach. ? She had gone away comfortless, but on the next morning had found a great handful of sweet peas at her door; nor had a summer ever passed without like offerings. Annie had ex pressed her pleasure with an effusive ness that had driven him quickly from her presence. She seemed to havo a supply of gratitude in great excess of the demand, and, liko the Ancient Mariner, to be seized ever and anon by heartburnings till she had told her story. Annie often won dered at his silence, and the necessity which caused him to make such haste to the Postoffice. She wondered once if he could have a sweetheart to write him letters, but put away the thought as inappropriate. He stood now in awkward silence, while he stroked the head of a gray kitten lying in his arms. At last he found voice enough to explain the ap pearance of the kitten. "It followed me part way, ' he said, "and I carried it the rest. Itv mine. I found it, a lanky, wanderin' thing, strayed from somewheres, and I took it home. It tags me everywhere. " "Yes," said Aunie. "I had one once that used to follow me. It died that year Bess the cow died. It was pretty hard havin' two deaths in the family in the same year." She smiled with a fine attempt at bravery, he thought, for he had a clear notion of her loneliness and dread of new associations. Then followed an other silence. "Louesome here?" he asked. "Yes." He paused; then braced himself for ? effort. RT MAKES HOME. Feathers and moss and a wisp of hay, - But the future looks rosy and bright; With a bit pat by for a rainy day, Love makes every burdon light. wonder," wo say, and the wonder grows, Or sunshine or storms may come, Though but twigs and moss Are latticed across, The love In the heart makes home. -Julia M. Kllnck. ?fo\. e o o o a f?jp NT SPECI?S. "I was thinkin'," he said, "as it's pretty quiet over to my house, now aunt's gone and Sally's over to her daughter's in Lynn, an' I've . sort o' got to hankerin' for a bit of calico round the house, that maybe you'd like the place." "Keep house?" asked the girl. "Ye3. I don't mean as housekeeper exactly. I mean get married. " "Oh!" she cried, looking at him in astonishment. "Who to?" "Why, me!" he exclaimed, as if sur prised at her dullness. "There's enough for two, I guess, and it's kind of quiet for a lone man over there. I'll let you have your say about the flower garden." There was no affection for the girl prompting his words. He had caught a glimpse of her face at the window the day before, and the same impulse that had led him to befriend the kitten had brought him to this larger idea of protection. "I never thought about getting married," she said hesitatingly. "It's easy clone," he said. "We'll just step up to tne minister's.M "But what if we should be sorry af terwards?" she said gravely. "Oh, no danger," he said. ?TH give you a long tether. I'll do well by you." So, half in reality, half in dream, Annie put on her precious best gown a few days later and went with David up the street. When they came back they stopped at the gate. " We must go in and got the dishes," sli9 said. "Oh, I've got dishes," he said, "real china-with sprigs on; aunt set great store by 'em-old blue plates, too." " "But I like these," said Annie, drawling out the "like" pleadingly. "Oh, we'll get 'em then," he said smiling? "You gather 'em up while I go after Ned and the long wagon." In a few hours Annie found herself and all her possessions in her new homo, and, looking about her tried to realize the Arabian-Nights transfor mation that had happened-that it was she, and no other, who was mistress and proprietor of the pretty ingrain carpets, the neat, cane-seated chairs, the few treasures of curly maple and mahogany, and the pictures of the aunt and her sisters staring down upon When Davideame in with the milk he saw her standing by tho hearth, while the kitten rubbed about her feet. Her face was suffused with her new happiness, and she gave him one swift, grateful look, while she laughed softly as if her new delight had made her bankrupt in speech. A sense of her sweet child-womanliness seized him with irresistible force; He felt the sluggish blood quicken at his heart; and at that instant unconsciously he had received his chrism, and had en tered that old, old temple whose light transmutes what have seemed common things and dross to pearls aud gold-. Meanwhile Annie had moved toward him. "I will take caro of tho milk " he said. "But-" she remonstrated.' fjhewas seizec1 with misgivings lest she might not fiud work enough to pay her way; for tho Mosaic doctrine of something for something had become a part of tho grain and fiber of her thought. He did not answer, but went on about the task. He had no fine words at his disposal, no poetic fancies, or artist's skill; but ho was laying such as ho had Upon the altar of the temple. Annie moved away and picked up the kitten, whose appetite for caresses could not be appeased. She stroked its head with nervous energy. It was something to feel the little, dull, in stinctive life within her hand, and feel it reaching out in its blind way to touch her own. She seated herself and played with it with all the grace and abandon of a child. The child's spirit was still dominant in her; that was evident. It was still more plain in the oven iug when, after David had given her a half dozen packets of flower seeds, she sat playing with them. She shuf fled them as if they were cards, shook them to hear the seeds rattle, looking eagerly at the flower pictures, made odd little exclamations of surprise and pleasure, planned how the flowers should be arranged, and finally open ing one and taking out a seed of mignonette, h sid it up between her fingers and cried, "To think there should be a blossom in that little brown seed!" She fell to prattling of the uses she should make of the flow ers, and quieted down at last to fall a dreaming over the prospective garden its if there were nothing in the world but flower stems and colors. David watched her and understood how this infancy of heart had stood between her and the realization of some of thc hard lines of her past. He was glad that it was so; but he hoped that, as life was showing more happily for her now, she might put away that childish mood for one more womanly. At that instant tho playfulness dis appeared. She looked at him with a serious, wistful face, and said simply, "You are so kind-I love you." David tried to speak, but his lips closed upon the words. In his at tempt to express his feeling he found himself as hopelessly and helplessly dumb as the kitten under Annie's hand. The outspoken sentiment, the affectionate pathos in her face was more than his self-conscious diffidence could bear. He rose, and with some excuse of neglected duty went outside. There he sat a long time, close to the altar of the great temple, meditating other offerings of homely service. The little scene of the evening was characteristic of much of their after life. Annie's impulsiveness, that had all the ingenuous freedom of child hood, was always a surprise to David's quiet dignity, and ?et protestations of gratitude and affection were an < barrasdnient to bim. Her easy d< monstration Boenied to increase weight of his own stolid silence; h try as he would, ho could not o\ como it. He had no medium of express but that of doing. He applied h self carefully to the wood and wc basis of their housekeeping, and t< on himself gradually many tasks s pesed to be within tho provii ?e womankind, Annio was inclined first to oppose hi9 encroaching on I domain; but, in time, she came forget her unwillingness in th? int est and amusement of watching methods. . One morning sha stood by, lani ing at his awkwardness while he \ trying to coerce a newly-bou< washiug machine to do its duty, was struggling with the taeory of 1 machine, while, propped up agains door, her hands behind her bai stood Annie, teasing him about ] new accomplishment .with a railW and gayety that made him think the bobolinks outside. He had perhaps never been mc keenly conscious of her dearness him as he listened to that mei strain; but his faco was very gra and silent. She bent toward him sn denly with a speech half bantorir half kind; when, because the cr ical faculty in her was awakening, frdni some accident of conditions, seemed that for the first tine she si his face as it really was-stern ai unresponsive She drew back wi quick misgiving? Whatl didn't I like her? She slipped from the room, ran i the stairs and sat down to think abo it. It was her first mood of retrospe and questioning. Strange what rapid growth a fungus of doubt c; make! Yes, she remembered now-he hi always looked like that, though som how she had never minded! She hi taken it for granted that ho was for ot her because she cared for him, ai it seemed so much easier for people I care than not to care. She herself ht loved all the world that she had know -her father, the kitten, the dog, eve the pretty sprigged china had come i for an occasional pat and kind wor< Had she been too sure,too though less, too happy? She laid her hea Upon tho table and cried. Over an over she muttered through her teai that it was easier to caro than not t care-surely no one could have wor dered that she had been so blind. Sb remembered now that he had neve auswered her when she had told hil all her heart. How cold and silent h had been! Truly sho had made a mis take! Strange that she had not foun it out before! She rose and went to the window David was outside, bending and work ing over something in his palm. I was a bird with a brokon wing. H was tending it with all the gentlenes and patience thatw could find expr?s became a revelation to her. She knev now why he had come to her tha morning after her father's death, an< had brought her to his home. He hac somehow understood how lonely anc wretohed she was; and just as he triec to heal and meud and eave even broken thing that came in his way, hs had gone to her in her time of need That was kind; but-she was no birt nor dog nor kitten to receive alms o love, a pittauce doled out to her ii mercy; She was a woman, born to i queen's right in her cwu home; nc pensioner upon another's kindness. She paced the floor restlessly a few minutes; then glauced again toward the wiudow, and this time her eyes were full of the instinct of a freedom loving creature that has been snared .-the instinct to escape. She looked down tho road that led away from the village: Her fear of the world seemed to have gone. She longed to bo far away within it, out of eight and hear ing, in some place where-her child lips were tremulous at tho thought sho might sadden and grow old with out hi6 pity, wonder and care. It was a proof of her childishness that sho bad never thought how strange in it self was her action, nor thought of tho unpleasantness of the village gossip, nor recalled David's face as she had seen it one morning after an eager, night-long, but useless, search for a stray lamb. She was mastered by one impulse-that of flight. She packed a bundle of clothing, found some food, wrote a note to David telling him that she could not bear to stay, because that she had just come to know that he did not care for her, and was soon on the way to the nearest city. She went hurriedly, half running at times, her heart beat ing fast as if she were afraid of pur suit. Occasionally some of the vii lagers met her aud looked at her in surprise; but she did not stop for recognition, and after hesitating and sometimes looking back, they went on. It was growing dark. The city was a hopeless distance away. There were a few lights gleaming along the road; but she shrunk from the thought of asking for shelter. Tho touch of tho darkness, loneliness and cold had brought back to her that old senso of being a slight, helpless creature, facing the immeut?ty of the world. She was alone, and night, like a great beast of ^rey, was coming on her there. With the heart-sickness, her strength gave way. She sauk to tho ground; then drew herself to a tree standing near, | wound an arm about it, and pressed her cheek to its rough bark as if she wero appealing to it for defense. A rustling in the leaves made her start to her feet; but her terror vanished, for she recognized the man approach ing. "Annie," said David quietly. Under the light of his grave, strong face, her eyes fell, ashamed and peni tent. "It's all a mistake, Annie," he said. "You don't understand." "But I thought you didn't care. You never said so." "I-I-" lie stammered; but his lips shut upon the heart-revealing words like the tightening of a vise. "Haven't I kept the wood box piled to the brim?" ho said at last. "But you never said-" "I've kept the water pail full, " he said, his voice falling as if ho found his case a pitiful one. "Brit you never spoke a word about-" "I've deaned carpets," he said humbly. "Yes, but the words 1 If you'd only Bald, if, you'd only say just a word to me, Payid," slie cried pleadingly. "I do so long to hear you speak. " He stood staring at her helplessly. I "Do you care?" she entreated. "Of course. I-I-" There was a choking sound in his throat. The j flush on his face deepened till it be came a signal of distress. "Don't you know," he said hurriedly, "that I've let you set oat all the front of the garden to marigolds, and I've seen marigolds and smelled marigolds, and worn marigolds all summer long td please you; and heaven knows," there, was dn Odd little reverential tone i? his\ voice; "that ?-I-loathe marigolds:" The bid, merry; t mischievous look carno back td Annie's face; as sh? re membered the occasions when she had laughingly decked out David's coat with the velvety yellow blossoms. He was standing with downbent head: . There was dd reflection of her mirth in his -stern; sorrowful face; "I've washed dishes," he said mis erably. She did not speak, though he seemed waitiug. "I'vo sewed on my own buttons," he muttered. It was his attitude that convinced her, the pathos of his downcast face and shuffling feet. She was assured that he loved her, and also that if she ever wished to hear him "speak," she must listen to tho filling of the wood box and the drawing of water from the well. She caught his hands. "Oh, Davidl" ehe cried. "I love you. I love you. I understand, It'a pst because we two are different." When they were ?eated in the caiv riage, David put an arm about her and drew her with a little awkward hitch toward himself. "Ishall get me a long rope," he said grimly, "and tether you to the kitchen stove, Annie." Annie laughed in the old fashion; but ho detected another note in that merry sound. The girlishness had gone from it. Tho child spirit had forever abandoned Annie, and was lin* gering, perhaps, about the tree to which she had clung in that moment of despair.-The Housewife. SC1ENT1FIG AND INDUSTRIAL Men are said to weigh on an average twenty pounds more than women. The heart beats tea strokes ? min ute less when one is lying down than when in an upright posture. Microbes are so minute that 250, 000, OuO can be comfortably accommo dated on a penny postage stamp. Certain butterflies have Very trans parent wings, and these are thought by Haase to be even more effectual for protection than conspicuous "warn ing" stripes or other markings. A statistician affirms that the ma jority of people who attain old age has kept late hours. Eight outof ten,who reach the age of eighty have neve*. by Sprinkling the green grapes with c?loium carbide. M. G. Kodier, a Frenchman, is the discoverer of this remedy. Iuteresting experiments have re- * cently been made at Cornell Uni versity by Professor Atkinson on the effect of tho X-rays on growiug plants and seedlings. The results showed that even delicate seedlings, after au exposure to tho rays of many hours, were entirely unharmed. lu so comparatively well known a region as Arabia a uew species of wild goat has been discovered by a German collector. The wild goat of Sinai was known to extend along the mountains down tho castsrn side of tho Red Sea; but this new species inhabits the Hadramaut range on the Indian Ocean* A new kind of wolf was also found. The staff of the Trinidad Botanic Gardens has included among its curios for some time past four or five large boa-constrictoi-3. The reptiles were kept in a locked cago behind the office until recently some person broke open tho cago and carried off its scaly in uietes. No motive eau be assigned for the theft except the one of pure mischief. An Italian named Gabellini has re cently made a boat of cement. The framework is of small steel bars cov ered with a wiro netting, the latter be ing, in turn, covered with cement. The surface is then polished. It is claimed that such a boat costs less than a wooden ono and despite its ex tra weight, glides moro smoothly through the water. Tho African Lion nntl the Buffalo Balli The large horns of these buffalo are significant of their immense strength; their legs are very short and powerful. Though the lions make prey of them, it takes two or three to pull down a' buil. The African lion of this section is the largest species of its kind, but unless in packs will not attack an African buffalo bull. When fighting, the bulls aro very quick on their feet, and they use not only their horns, but their front feet also, which often prove the more daugerous weapon. My guide, who has lived in this coun try for tho past ten years, relates many stories of men who have been mauled by lions, and who have esciped death, but he knows of no instance where the African buffalo has left a human being until the life was trampled out of him.-Harper's Magazine, Oldest Bank Note. The oldest, bank note probably in existence is preserved in the? Asiatic Museum, St. Petersburg. It dates from the year 1399 B. C., ?id bears tho name of the Imperial Balk, date and number of issuo, Signatare of a mandarin, aud contains a lis of the punishments inflicted for forgery of notes. This relic is probably written, for printing from wooden tablets ia said to have been introducedin China in the year 1 GO A. D. For Cleaning Lenses. For cleaning optical lenss a Ger man technical journal re?ommeuds vegetable pith. For this purpose the medulla of rushes, elders ?r sunflow ers is cut out, the pieces dried and pasted singly alongside of me another upon a piece of cork, wheroy a brush like apparatus is obtaind whioh is passed over the surface >f the lens. For very small lenses pouted pieofs of elder pith are euiployd. ERRORS OF Torpedo Boats and Tor Ope torpedo boat the public has ? fjjly accurate notion, and knows thaSer chief purpose is to plant one or nre fatal stings against the sides of aen?my, but the torpedo boat de fitr<4r ranges,- in imagination, all the wajfroni a counter-mining m?chine td teething just short of d godd-sized fcr?Br'; The torpedd bbat destroyer is rdly ? magnificent torpedo boat cff gre*} speed, better se?-keeping quali ties'jndwith i brfttery of. rapid-firing gunjof from five to eight six-p?unders; 8he)s' built purposely with an out warj appearance closely akin to her nattai quarry,- that she may the better 1 apppach Unsuspected within striking disuice. She. also carries ? torpedo ?raffe and in her the battleship and thejruiser have even a more danger ouejnemy than in the simple torpedo b?aj for where the small craft, by ?trcs of weather, limited speed, or ' resjicted endurauce must halt, the desroyer may continue with all the ! mp? certainty of carrying out its mu?erous mission. ! ? the eleven boats on which we miaf count in a short while, two of thea may be classed as destroyers, theFarragut and the Kowan; two of th?i'as thirty-knot torpedo boats, the Crimen and the Dahlgren, and the reaj as torpedo boats of ordinary epe J. Gae Farragut, Rowan, Davis and Focare building on the Pacific coast; thefirst by tho Union Iron Works, of . Sat Francisco; the second by Moran Bribers, of Seattle, and the last two b^SVolff & Zwicker, of Portland, Ore gon The Dahlgren and Craven are buding at the Bath Iron Works, Bab, Me.; the Morris, Talbot and G wu at Herreshoffs, Bristol; the Mckenzie at Charles Bellman's jard. Philadelphia, and the McKee at the Go'lambian Iron Wovks, of Baltimore; ,and it is of interest to noto that these Issi two" boats are of the type recoui m?nded by tho chief constructor aud eiigineef-in-chief as the most readily susceptible of rapid duplication in eyent of need, lina prolonged conflict, that type ?fljill survive that can be easiest re placed or repaired, and from all we know now of the complicated nature and time demanded in building ar mored ships, it is easy to seo the po sition torpedo vessels of all sorts will fill. They may be called' the mo ment's most effective fighting machine, but can hardly bo confuse^ with the greater defensive 'rrjualities of the battleship. l^.a,jshjieheadr torpedo is no longer vi ng": -piTOrffp*BTty-' -wm*g? ^n?ral adoption by ?early all naval powers', and its inside workings are commonly Understood by all .well versed military and naval 'men. A knowledge how to work it, though, is another matter, and, briefly, it may be said that every torpedo of the White head type has its own individuality, its own idosyncrasies; and it is the duty of every qualified torpedo officer to learn the characteristics of those "steel babies" that some day may win him glory. The largest of our torpedoes, the DISCHARGING A TORPEDO FROM THE BOW OP.THE V? S. TORPEDO BOAT STILETTO. eighteen-inch, so known because that at its greatest diameter, is a blunt-head ed, cigar-shaped body of steel a trifle over sixteen feet long, propelled by miniature engines, capable of develop ing within the limited space of an average-sized cheese-box, a driving energy of thirty horse-power. With that force turning its twin screws, the miniature craft can be turned for a mile and a half at the rate of thirty five miles an hour. Compressed air is the motive power; and it is crowded into the ten-foot boiler of this small boat till a pressure of ninety times that of the air we breathe is reached. The explosion of that boiler is a dan gerous possibility to be guarded against. Besides the boiler compart ment and the engine compartment, A TORPEDO-? (Iho shield is a false outer steel wall and ] dangerous and numeren there are four other subdivisions. One for the carriage of that murder ous load of 220 pounds of gun cotton at the head, and the others for regu lating the air supply to the engines and for maintaining tho torpedo al any determined depth of submerg ence. When attacking vessels at anchoi and likely to be protected with tor pedo nets, th? nose of the torpedo h fitted with a cutter; ^nd no ordinarj fabrication of steel rope and chair could withstand the ripping force o; THE OCEAN. pedo Boat Destroyers. that instrument backed by the rush ing force of nearly 1200 pounds. The torpedo is ejected from the tube by the discharge of about four ounces of powder. In passing out, a little trigger or clip turns on the power for the engines, and, by the the time the torpedo has dived, the engines, with out jar, are running at full speed. When clear of the boat a few yards, a safety devide drops from the nose and leaves the plunger bared to detonate the fighting charge within. Striking a ship from ten" or" fourteen feet below the n-ater line, it will tedr d wound with such awfdt force that the heavi est of armor must yield. In the hands of either the ignorant or heedless, the modern torpedo is a menace td friend or foe; but in tJie hands of the skilled and resolute, it is the wickedest implement of warfare -wicked in threat[and wicked in deod, It is to bear the modest burden of a A PERFECT T?PE OF THE R half dozen such "babies" that the largest of our torpedo boats are built. The torpedo boat or the destroyer is anything but a thing of beauty. Their sea-green hulls, the absence of bright work, the presence of those torpedoes, and a knowledge of their somber mis sion of stealth aud destruction, stamp with them the impress of something akin to official piracy. Thero aro no odds offered the enemy. It is not a struggle between equal powers where HOSPITAL SHIP SOLACE READY FOR WAR. [She lias been painted white with a irreen sllipo along tho water lino. Turee largo red crosses aro on oach aldo of the vessel.] skill and facility of handling may win with open honors. Instead, it is a case of a giant and a pigmy armed alike with one common implement capable of ruining either. The weaker, though many times moro agile, cannot tako the chances of equality; but, instead, must creep upon the adversary and compel his surrender only when the sense of his dying condition is borne in upon him with the force of that one conclusive blow. What are the chances of succor offered in return? Tho tor pedo boat has done her frightful work, and now is too small to bear or save the hundreds she has doomed. She has not only subdued, but she has poisoned her victory with tho venom of desertion. In turn, she faces the promise of absolute destruction in case of prompt detection; but the blow falls with a reasonable hope of relief for the wounded and the living from the larger craft. Death lies precious close at all times on board a torpedo boat in war times. The crew must face death by the destruction of the boat; death by foundering; death by the bursting of the throbbing boilers or pulsing steam pipes; death by collision; or death by the premature bursting of their own petards. She must face the storm of light projectiles every modern battle- j ship can send from her batteries, one- j pounders, six-pounders and gatling; guns, all of which may bring death, j and, with the exception of the gat DATCHING NET. protects tho United States warships from tho is Spanish torpedo boats.) lings' bullets, all of which may pierce the sides and boilers of any of these . boats. When running at top speed, the i boats quiver from stem to stern with a ; wearing vibration hard to bear in com ? pany with the nervous tension of serious work. Down in the stoke . hold tho firemen, before the blinding ? glare of the white-hot furnaces, feed i the ceaseless voracity of those blis r tered mouths with endless shovelings i of coal, that the pressure may be kept f J up to supply the greed of those driv ag e?gines ?ying jttat behind in the | ext compaTtment. The air' ia full of ! Inst and grime, and one's head swims j lecause of the heat. In the engine oom the roar is thrMd?ring. and the iarts move back and forth, up and iown with the velocity of 800 change? - minute. A stray shot in there, well i??c'?dy t?ay burst a cylinder teeming rith the" pressure of moro than 200 lounds of scalding ?team or liberate he hammering weight of a driving liston and Settd it tearing through ?very neighboring* ptfrt with the stun ing violence of many tons' of rending, .ipping force. Such are th? odds hat must be faced for the safe car nage of those other forces she has at 1er command; and to the youngest >fficer in the service may fall the lonor of that accomplishment before vhich even a battleship might besi ;ate. The work cut out for the tor pedo boat is quite akin to that of eading a forlorn hope; but when the :ime comes good men and cool in plenty will be found ready to forget themselves aud laughat death in even mis dread service for our flag's de fense. Torpedo warfare began during the American civil war, but so crude 'were the early torpedoes and so little op portunity has there since been to study the fiction of modern torpedoes in ac tual war that naval officers all over pRPEDO BOAT DESTROYER. Europe have looked forward eagerly to a war between the United States and Spain as an object lesson. That the torpedo years ago passed the experi mental stage and stands to-day as the most wonderful and terrible of mod ern engines of war is not to be doubted, but it has had no real test of its power. Not one torpedo has been fired in war fare by any of the leading naval pow ers in more than twenty years, and so great has been the advance in torpedo construction within this time that the early tests are of little value to the present student of naval affairs. Since the torpedo became a machine of precision it has been used in war fare only by insurrectionists and w?ak Nations. Tho war beiwfeen China and Japan three years ago-gave some, idea of the .value of the torpedo, bufc'neither its full valne nor its place could beef?-i ^ermined in that short and unequal contest between two half-civilized Na -^fonft.,,., .... -_ been made thus far, sinking a dozen ships and damaging one other. Six, assailant boats have been lost. Blending Odors. Eecent experiments have demon strated that odors can be mixed ac cording to the law by which colors are blended. Ono odor completely masks another because of its intensity, but by reducing this intensity the other odor can be felt. Any two odo" can be mixed so as to produce the euect of a simple odor. Toor Carlotta. The latest news which has been given to a sympathetic world concern tng the condition of poor, mad Car lotta, the ex-Empress of Mexico, is that she has never rallied from the shock which dethroned her reason at the time when her husband, Maximil lian, was shot and that her health is in such a state, she can survive but a short time. X-Rays in War Hospitals. ' A Milwaukee man, ono Lynde Bradley, appears to be the first man to use the X-ray in the war hospitals in case of hosti i ti os with Spain. The great ease with which a bullet or splin ter could be found in the human body with this strange light commends its use at once. It would seem that the Government officials would ap prove of its adoption. According to Mr. Bradley, it would be a very sim ple matter to provide for the ray on a war vessel, but the iutroduction of a machine on the field would be attend ed with considerable difficulty. For instance, a small engine, boiler and dynamo and the machine itself would have to be put on wheels for field service. This outfit, however, would be much lighter and more easily transported than would be imagined, and the one Mr. Bradley has designed could be built in a week. Mr. Brad ley has long been an enthusiast in the use of the X-ray and has done some excellent work with it. In case of war he proposes to build a machine and offer his services to the Govern ment. It is estimated that two years is the average sickness experienced by t person before the age of seventy, Tho wind comes riding down from heavon??? Hoi wind ot heaven, what do you bring? Cool for the morn, dow for tho even, And every sweet thing. Oh, wind of oven, from pint clouds driven, What do yon bring to me? The low call of thy love, who waits Under the willow tree Whose boat upon the water waits For me-for theo! -Harriet Monroe, in the Century; HUMOR OF THE DAY. "He's rather timid, is he not?'1 "Very. Why, he's so timid that he's scared by war-scares!"-Puck. He-"Then I go-and for ever.* She-"Very well! But don't call to morrow evening; forlsha'n't bein." Life. "Harry, do you- love your little? baby brother?" "What's the use? He wouldn't know it if I did!"-Tid Bits. Watts-"Bixley is a sad wag." Potts-"Especially when none will laugh at his jokes."-Iadianapolis Journal. "It doesn't do any good to scold the janitor about or.r cold rooms." "Yes, it does. I get all warmed up when I talk to him."-Chicago News. She-"I like your impudenca. I haven't reached the bargain counter yet." He-"You would be a bargain on any counter."-Harper's Bazaar. ^ I've heard the sweeping statement made Thatrooney talks; 'tis funny, For certain specie's not verboso The kind known as hush-money. -Puck. Father - "Henry, have you and your new watch parted company al ready?" Henry (laconically) - "Broke." IFather- "Which?"-Jew elers' Journal. The Uncle- ' 'Are you entirely satis fied with your lot?" The Niece (still angry at her grandfather's will)-"No, I'm not. It ought to have a house ou it."-Harlem Life. Wiggles-"My physician has order ed me never to take active exercise after a hearty meal." Waggles "Well, what of it?" Wiggles-"I board."-Somerville Journal. "Young Mr. Tizzens called on me last week," said Maud. "Did he?" replied Mamie. "He told he was go ing to reserve ali disagreeable duties for Lent."-Washington Star. Mr. Hunter-"I have a speaking acquaintance with Miss Throckmor ton." Mr. Spatts-"You are very lucky. All her other acquaintances we listening acquaintances."-Judge. 'Tis not the man who really toils That makes the greatest row; 'Tis he with notbing else to do, Who stands around tho whole day thro* To tell tho others how. -Washington Star. * Dicky Doolittle-"I feel weal devil ish to-day! Let's do something out; of the ordinary." Teddy Thoughtless -"All wight; we'll have 'bweakfast food' for dinner, doncher-know." j adge. The Sitting One-"Jones is so near sighted he once took a man for a . ' ^gmiftV'' The. Standing One-"That's "Sar#?n^ ^ Monthly. "I tell you, he is a Spanish sympa thizer. He must be." "But why?" "He has three different arguments to illustrate how the Maine affair might have been an accident."-Philadelphia North American. Mrs. A.-"I think your husband is a very quiet dresser." Mrs. B. "H'm! You might change your opin ion if you heard him looking for his jlotkes some mornings. "-Browning? King & Co. 's Monthly. Admirer (time 2:30 a. m.)-"Has your father any objection to my pay ing you visits, Miss Maud?" Miss Maud-"0, no - but-er-I think that he'd rather you paid them in in stallments." -Brooklyn Life. Ethel-"Why didn't you attend Professor Dump's lecture on 'Tho Cycles of Timo?' It was very inter esting." Maude-"The subject of the lecture was embarrassing to me. You know, dear, I bought my wheel on the installment plan."-Pittsburg Press. "I want war," said Billets, face tiously,, "because I am in hopes that in that way some of my creditors will be killed ,off." "I suppose," re marked Crisp, "that you would rather see them killed outright than have, them starve to death."-Philadelphia North American. Deepest American Lake. r Crater Lake is the deepest American lake, and, indeed, one of the deepest lakes in the world. It is one of the wonders of America. Crater Lake is on the crest of the Cascade Mountains, about 100 miles east of Ashland, Ore gon. It is circular in shape and about five miles across. It lies on the very top of Mount Mazama, and' is com pletely surrounded by rocks rising straight from the water. Its greatest ascertained depth is 2000 feet, and this depth seems to be almost the same over the greater part of the lake. There is no beach, the surrounding rocky shored extending vertically be neath the water to the depth of sev eral hundred feet. There aro few large fish in the lake, but much small life in the shape of crustacea, etc -.- j The Balloon vs. the Ir nclad. The use of tho balloon in warfare will be one of the developments of the near future. A first-class mod? rn ironclad costs about ?$5,000,000. This would construct and e^uip for war purposes a great many balloons, and it would seem as if they might be used by the inhabitants of a besieged city with which to sail over an invading fleet and drop explosives upon the warships underneath, with deadly ef fect. They might also be utilized to drop these explosives over the cities occupied by an opponent. Of course, there would be considerable risk in such an enterprise, unless the bal loons could be properly steered, but the dirigible balloon is one of the in ventions that we mrv expect to see in the near future.-Le. lie's Weekly. A New Carpet Fastener. To do away with the use of taoks in laying carpets, a new fastener ia formed of metal blocks, which are in serted under the edge of the carpet and have grooved sections to support the ends of toothed rods which hold the carpet in place. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in London will celebrate the 200th anniversary.