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THE NATIONAL BANK OF AUGUSTA L. C. HAYNE, Pres't. F. G. FORD, Cashier. Capital, $250,000. Surplus ami ) ?| -I ft (\fifk Undivided Profits t ?llVjVUV. Facilities of our macniflcent New Vault containing 410 Safoty-Lock Boxes. Differ ent Sizes are offered 'to our patrons and tho public at $8.00 to 810.00 por annum. THOS. J. ADAMS PROPRIETOR. EDGEFIELD, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, MAY % 1899. THE PLANTERS LOAN ANO SAVINGS AUGUSTA, GA. Pays Interest on Deposits, Accoaate Solicited. L. 0. HAT-, President. W. C. WABDLA-J Cashier. VOL. LXIV. NO. 21. THE STREAM Some say that. I'm a baoolcr and I chatter on my way. O'er the sands through many lands with heart of stone. But there's music in my babble, and my chatter is a lay. That I love to" sing when quiet and alone. Oh. the woodlands are my playgrounds and the dales my sweet doligbt, And the shaded nooks my rapture as I steal along from sight. Some say I'm never quiet: that I always fret along. Through the glades and ia the shades, with discontent, But because I like to ramble is it such an ar rant wrong Must I fret in some secluded channel, pent ? But I have my dreaming hours, and the bab ble of my song Brings its pleasure to the flowers and its treasures to the throng. rr o o o A. There was a sad group of ladies gathered in the parlor of a pretty house on the outskirts of the town of Topham. Miss Martha Joyce, spinster, of uncertain age, sat in a low rocking chair her sweet face clouded, her ten der heart sore; while her two nieces, May aud Bessie Joyce, twin sisters of 18, blue-eyed and pretty as rosebuds, sat one each side. The three ladies all wore mourning and bore in their pale faces and heavy eyes the traces of recent sorrow; but while Au ut Mat tie meekly folded her hands aud sighed May and Bessie gave voice to consid erable inward indignation. "I don't care for ourselves, " said Bessie, using the plural that meant the inseparable twiuship; ''we are 1 young and can work,but it is too bani to have An&t Mattie turtled out of . house aud home after all she has done for Mr. William Oldfield." "Dou't blame your uncle, dear," began Aunt Mattie. "We wasu't our undo," snapped out May. "He did what he promised to do," continued Aunt Mattie. "And then undid it," said Bessie, j angrily. "We are not sure of that, (rear." "Now, auntie! He made a will, leaving you this house and .$10,00) and $10,000 apiece to Bessie and me." ! said May; "but afterward, if he did j not destroy it, where is it?" "Tes, where is it?" echoed her sis- ' ter. "If it was in the honse,surely it would have been found in the general turning ont of our household posses- j sions today." "Well, dear, it can't be found, and we must go back to our old rooms and try to re-establish the little school I left five years ago. We have had a comfortable home for that time. " For the facts of the case were these: William Oldfield, a widower of many years, possessing large meaus, had been attacked ?ato in life with a pain ful, incurable sickness, trying to nurse, distressing to witness and having nu irritating effect on the nerves of the sufferer. After enduring the trials of dishonest servants aud nurses, iucom peteut housekeepers and careless at tendants for a time he bad persuaded his dead wife's maiden sister to give up a small but flourishing school, by which she supported hei sell ind her brother's orphan girls,.md keep house for him. In default of regular salary,Ue gave a home to the aforesaid nieces, who supported themselves by sewing, and promised a legacy to Miss Mattie, who, however, hardly expected and never, j demanded it. Yet, most assuredly, she had earned it, for her brother-in law, by reason of pain and bad temper, made her a slave to his sick whims, keeping her actively employed as nurse, as he grew Avor.se and wors?, till, during the Ia-1 year of his life,she rarely left his room. Faithfully and patiently she eu dured the monotony of her life, the caprices of her patient's temper, the fatigue of nursing, till death claimed the invalid and released her. The promised legacy .had been left to her and the girls in a will made a year be fore William Oldfield died; but the lawyer said the document was not in trusted to his care. railing to find it in the house, the ladies were notified that William Oldfield, Jr., the nephew aud heir-at-law of the dead man, would take possessiou of the entire property at once. It was well known in Topham that this heir was by no meaus the one to whom the uncle desired to leave his property, as the remainder of his es tate, after the legacies mentioned, passed, by the terms of the last will, to the town *o endow a hospital. The young heir-at law h ad been on ill terms with his uncle for years, being a spendthrift, a gambler and a man ad dicted to drinking.heartlessly indiffer ent to his uncle's sufferings and laugh ing boisterously when the lawyer pro posed to him to make some compensa tion to Miss Mattie for her services. "The old maid was fishing for my uncle's money, of course," he said, "though she is not even a relative. Let her go back to her proper place and learn, to keep her busy fingers out of other people's pies." So the lawyer, Mr. O'Byrne, of kindly heart and great legal knowledge, was obliged to give Miss Mattie notice to quit the house she had been prom ised should be her own, giving vent aa he did so to some opinions of his own ir the matter, not strictly profes sional. "You are sure you have searched faithfully for the will?" he asked. "Quite sure." "He certainly had it," said the law yer. "I drew it np myself -ten thou sand apiece and the house and person al effects and furniture to Mi?~ Mar tha; tho rest of the estate for the use of the Topham hospital. Dear! dear! why won't clients put such papers in proper keeping instead of clinging to them as if they were life-preservers? I am very sorry, Miss Mattie. I havo represented matters to the heir, but he fails to see them iu a projjer light." So the ladies packed their trunks aud gathered in the little parlor to spend their last evening, preparatory to an early start in the morning. And while thay sat,mournfully conversing, a strange event occurred. A shock headed boy rang the bell and kanoed in a note, which ran in this wise: "Miss Martha Joyce: I do not know t1 at the disease of which my .S SOLILOQUY. Where I glide along at evening softly o'er the shallow pool, As they go, cattle low and quench their thirst, And tho ploWboy gets a hatfull of the water clear and. cool, Standing where the Bummer posies blos som first How I love to see the bossy with her pretty soft gray eyes, And a coat as red aud glossy as the sunlight 'in the skies. If a stream can foll in love then I have sure ly lost my heart To a maiden.sunshine laden,who each day comes to tho wood. From the banks she looks with laughter where the light and shadows part, And I'd tell her of my passion if I could. But I'm just a restless follow, and my love must go unknown, So I chatter on forever just a little stream, alone. UTIO?S, S. T. uncle died was contagious, but I have a horror of illness in any shap? ?r form. I therefore beg of you, before you leave his house, to burn the bed stead and bedding be used,that I may not find it when I take possession. Yours, very truly, ' "WILLIAM OLDFIELD.*' "Well!" cried Bessie, "if impudence can reach n sublimer height than that I ara mistaken." "Burn the bedstead! that splendid black walnut bedstead that matchee the chamber suit!" said Miss Mattie. "It really seems a pity!" "Let him do it himself," said May; "we are not his servnnts." "I'll tell you what I will do,dears," said gentle Aunt Mattie; "I have had everything washed but the tickiugs; I'll just empty the mattresses and have those washed, too. But I really can not reconcile it to my conscience to bum up things that are perfectly harmless." "Oh, Aunt Mattie,give the bedding to old Peggy! She will be delighted. The blaukets are soft aud hue and the sheets all clean. The young sinner only wants them out of his way." So old Peggy, an aged woman, pen sioner to all the charitable folks in Topham, was seut for and told of this stroke of good fortune. "We will go with }Ou," Bessie said, "and help you carry them." The four women ascended oue flight of stairs to the room where William Oldfield died. Everything was in order there, aud over the mattresses was spread a white Marseilles quilt that Bessie put with the rest of the bedding, while Aunt Mattie and May dragged the mattresses, to the floor. "They are all stuffed with hair, Peggy," Aunt Mattie said. "I or dered them myself." "Yes, marm," said the old woman, feeling them carefully and nodding her head; "I'm thinking I'll sell the hair. Husk stuffing will do for my old bones, and I eau buy some flour and coal, likely, with the price of the hair." "Just as you please," said Aunt Mattie, tying the mattresses securely with a stout cord. "Now, girls, are you ready? Hannah will help Peggy with this bundle, aud we will carry the sheets, blankets aud spreads." So whon William Oldfield took pos session the next day he found the bedstead bare and a note from Bessie tied to it, respectfully decliuing to make a bonfire of the furniture and stating the fact that the beddiug had been given away for a charitable use. "If he doesn't like it he is welcome to dislike it," that young lady said, graciously, as she signed the dainty epistle iu her finest handwriting. The heir said a bad word, locked u}) the room and occupied another apartment, where there had been no "confounded sickness," as lie said, and there reigned in the house where Aunt Mattie had kept dainty neatness tue confusion of a young bachelor's household, the disorder following fre quent late suppers, when the city friends of youug Oldfield came down to "make a night of it aud help him spend the old man's money." Quiet Topham was scandalized and sighed over the day when the dissi pated nephew was a far-away disgrn.ee for mild gossip, but there seemed to be no help for the trouble. The funeral had been, over nearly three months, and Miss Mattie had collected a goodly number of little folks ouce more around her, wjaen one morning, while Bessie was busy in the little kitchen baking pies and May was running a sewing machine in the sit ting room, there came hobbling up to the door old Peggy. "Come in. Peggy," Bessie said, cheerily. "Yon are just in time for au apple pie I baked for you." "Bless your kiud heart and sweet face,'* said the old- woman. "You are never so poor yourself but you re member those who are worse off. But it's Miss Mattie I want to see." "You are just in time,then. There's thc noon bell ringing, and here comes Auut Mattie and May to help about dinner." "Miss Mattie," said oid Peggy, "did you ever lose a paper when you were at the old house?" "A paper!" screamed Bessie and May in chorus. "Oh, Peggy, did you find one?" "Ves, dears. I can't read myself, but here it is." Aud from the folds of her shawl Peggy drew forth a large folded docu ment, indorsed iu round legal hand on the back: "Last will and testament of William Oldfield." Aunt Mattie sat down and cried softly. Bessie danced around like an insaue Indian, aud May,seizing a hat, darted off to Lawyer O'Byrne. "How did yon find it?" Bessie cried at last, when she was exhausted with her solitary dance. "Well, dears," said the old woman, "I've been waiting till tue warm days I to empty the mattresses.,for they were wonderfully comfortable for my old bones in the winter, aud so today I ripped them open, as Mick Calioran said he'd give a fair price for the hair and fill them up again with husk. And pushed in one of them, near the middle, in a little slit cut with a knife, I found the paper. And it's thankful I am Ibis day that's it's good news I bring, il' your face tells the truth, houey." "Good news! the best of news!" sahl Bessie. "You shall have the warmest shawl next winter to be found in Top ham, Peggy, and the softest bed." Aild here May entered with Mr; O'Byrnei and the whole St?ry had td be told ?gaiU; "It is the will, sure enough," said the lawyer. "And RO Mr. Oldfield wanted you to burn the bed aud bed ding! H'm! I shouldn't wonder if he was afraid of this very discovery aud wa3 too great a coward to risk hunting fdrit himself: It is my opin ion that he will burn the whole house* down yet if he keeps possession long. Topham never heard such rioting;" The will was given to Mr.O'Byrue's keeping and in due time proved and executed. The. heir-at-law made a great bluster, but knowing his rage ?was useless left the house once move. Considerably the worse for his brief sojourn in it; The fact that even the temporary enjoyment of his u?cle's money was an altogether unexpected event probably aided his acquiescence iu the legality of the will. The house was cleaned and purified and euee more giveu over to Aunt Mattie's quiet rule and the happy oc cupancy of the twin sisters, who gladly gave Up sewing and teaching to join in the social pleasures of Topham. The hospital flourishes,and old Peggy never tires of relating how she found the fortunes of the Joyce ladies iu tho hair mattresses William Oldfield or* dered to ba burned on the day when fear made him too cautious. THE STOREKEEPERS OF GUAM. An Interesting IC sport from the Surgeon of the Bennington. The navy department has received an iuterestiugreport made by Surgeon Ward of the cruiser Beuuiugtou? at Port San Luis d'Apra, Island of Guam, in the Ladrones, just before that ves sel left there to join Admiral Dewey the last of January. Surgeon Ward had been ashore in vestigating the commercial products and mercantile establishments during the stay of the Bennington in the har bor, With a view to determining what dependence could bc placed on tho local markets for maintaining the forco to be kept there hereafter by the United States. He says ho found eight so-called stores in Agana, the chief town, besides a number of small huts, where the native aguardiente, made of fermented cocoanut milk, is sold, but he did not ascertain whether or not these bars were licensed. He classed the stores under live heads, according to tho nationality of the men owning them. In the Manila stores, conducted hymen fromMauila, three in number, it was poss, jle to buy cotton clothes of various hues and dyes, embroideries, a few ready-made articles of apparel, buttons, shoes, paper, pens, ink, matches, aud a small assortment of canned goods of. poor quality and expensive, as well as soap, caudles and aguardiente. In one of the Manila stores cigars made of na tive tobacco, which uas of poor qual ity, were purchasable. The Japan ese store is the largest and best in the town. It contained all the goods lo bc had iu the Manila stores, and in addition sugar, .1 ap??ese boer and imi tations of imported wines. It also sold eggs and bread, the latter baked every other day, of exceedingly poor quality. The Chinese store was a poor one, and was patronized only by Chin ese. In the chamorro (native) store Dr. Ward found native coffee of fair quality, excellent chocolate and a few cheap cotton dyed stuffs, pipes, matches, etc. The single American store, though a more pretentious establishment than auy of the others, was iuferior in many respects to the Japanese. A greater variety of goods was kept, in cluding a large assortment of canned vegetables, meats, kerosene, oil, rice, accordions, hats, stockings, lamps, lamp shades, crockery, trunks, paints and nails. Dr. Ward says that shoes of fair pattern could be made to order by native shoemakers, and the natives could also make comfortable furniture. Flour, which was difficult to lind, an.I butter and lard, which naturally did not keep well in such a warm climate, were expensive. Milk could be pur chased in small quantities, chickens and eggs were pleutiful, but the beef was poor, and there were no sheep in the island. Pigs are abundant. Yams and sweet potatoes grow freely, as well as corn, the latter being used by the natives to make bread. Bananas, cocoauuts and bread fruit are the chief sources of native food. Fishing is but little attempted. A good chun is found, and a small oyster of sweet taste. Deer and goats abound, and wild tur key, plover, ducks and other edible birds are plentiful. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. Among the Egyptians embalming ceased about 700 A. D. The year 47 B. C. was thc lougest }-ear on record, as it had, by order of Julius Ctesar, 44? days. Stockings first caine into use in the eleventh century. Before them cloth bandages were wound round the feet. The first equestrian statue erected in Great Britain was that of Charles I, at Charing Cross. Loudon, facing Parliament street. According to high authorities, the nerves, with their branches and min ute ramifications connecting with the brain, exceed ten million in number. The use of coats of arms as a badge for different families did not come into practice till the twelfth century. The Germans ai e said to have originated it, while the French developed, tho science. Every day the Thames scoops out of its banks 150 tons of mutter, or half a million tons a year. All the rivers ct the world are doing similar work, the Mississippi at the rate of three hun-' dred million tous a year. At a philatelic exhibition, opened at Birmingham, England, there are on view the two most valuable stamps in the world-a penny and a two: penny Mauritius. Thc market value of the two on exhibition at Birming ham is SI 0,000. The laborers AV ho built the pyramids did not work under such disadvantages as have long been attributed to them. Recent research shows that they had solid aud tubular drills and lat he tools. Tba drills were set with jewels, uud cut into the rocks with keenness aud accuracy. PHILADELPHIA'S ?XF The event of the year in Pliilade This is the first sho\i of tile sort Uncle Sam's territory and the tiecessitj Of tho numerous National ?nd Ir feront parta of the United States^ the o present year is in many respects the mi The Philadelphia Exposition of 3 expansion of our export trade* and it w Of recent yearsj expositions Of | manufacturing countries of Europe, att exhibit at next fall's Exposition^every 1 port. Such exhibits will fnrnl the prin can or might be exported. i?onl;locomo The Exposition will be under i. Philadelphia, and its exhibits will be c< and continue through November^ The main group of buildings, coi of the Schuylkill Eiver, fifteen 'minute agricultural machinery, locomotives, ra Mr. P. A. Bi Widener, th? stree elude many well-known Philadelphia bi In October a commercial Congres be attended by delegates from the lefldi tives of foreign firms will atl?ud its ses The department of manufactured and will show everything from locomoti Au important part of the Exposi renient size, shape and weight to be tr GCGOQOwOOQGOOGQOOOGGOQOOOO ITHE PEACE GflNFERENGE I g IT THE HAGUE. ? o o CQ0OQ0GO30OGG00DDGOO?0?0Q? The building in The Hague which Queen Wilhelmina, of Holland, has placed at the disposal of the Czar's Peace Conference is her palace known ns thc "Huis ten Bosch" ("House in the Wood"). The Orange Boom has been selected for the sittings of the members of the conference. It is a great room, lighted by a glass cupola fifty feet above, the floor. There will be three sections to the conference, each with a task of its own. The general subject will be di BARON DIS STA.VX, PRESIDENT OF DIS ARMAMENT CONFERENCE. vided into three parts. The firs1 viii touch the question of disarmament, that is, to what extent the armies shall be reduced. Questions concerning international arbitration will be de cided by the second, while all ger mane questions will be dealt with by the third. The palace itself is artistically in teresting. It was built in 1G47 by the Princess Amelie de Solmi, widow of Prince Henri Frederic, of Orang?-. Paintings in the Orange Room are by such great artists as Levens, Jordaens and Van Thulden. There is an alle gorical picture representing his victory over wicked temptations. There is a Chinese and a Japanese room, with rarest works of art in them. The walls of the dining room are decorated by De Wit with scenes from mythology. Among the people who will be pres ent at tho conference, though not as a delegate, is the Baroness von Suttner. She is tho author of a novel with the title "Lay Down Your Arms." This book is said to have had great in fluence with the Czar in issuing his Peace rescript. It is said, moreover, to have been the greatest singlo force with him to that end. It ran through a dozen editions on the continent, and the men of the military countries were thoroughly familiar with it. strangely, before it could find an English trans* lator or a publisher in England.. i" Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina and the Queen Dowager are now on a Continental tour. They will return to The Hugue to receive the Peace Conference, ultimately leaving for Loo, where they will entertain the Conference twice, at a dinner and a garden party. The Rotterdam Peace Committee has obtained in a fortnight 15,000 sig natures to a peace'petition. Baron de Staal, Russian Ambassa THE CZ/VR'S PEACE CONFE1 [It is Queen WU bel ra ina's "House JD the W full of historic bassador to England, who is to pre side over the international disarma ment conference at The Hague, will be assisted by Professor F. de Martens, the Russian privy councillor. Pro fessor do Multens is the permanent member of the foreign affairs ministry und olio of tue arbiters ia the Venezu ! >?S?T?ONf TO DEVELOP Ot lphia will be ari export exposition, ever held in the United States, It f ' which is now laid upon him of seeking iternational Expositions projected for ne to be held in Philadelphia in Sept Dst important to the commercial inter?s' L899 is an exposition for the developmer ill be the first national exposition of tba goods' suitable for export have been h radting foreign buyers and greatly aidin ino of manufactured products of the Un cipal department of tho Exposition and tives and heavy machinery to the sinai he Joint auspices of the Commercial Mi onfined to articles especially suitable foi cering at least 200,000 square feet of Exp :s'? ride from the City Hall. Besides t ilway and street cars and plenty of spaci it car man, is President of the Exposii lsjuess men. s will be h? ld in the assembly rooms o? :ng Chambers of Commerce of the world stans* 1 producto of the United States will occt ive and stationary engines to the smailes tion will be the exhibit showing how goc anspoited upon mule back in countries t ela boundary dispute. The United I Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland i is represented by Sir Julian Paunce fote, the British Ambassador to the ' United States.. The boundless possibilities of the twentieth century through au unlim ited and cheap supply of power to do the work of the world were suggested when Professor Charles E. Tripler, of New York, gave an exhibition of his experi ments with liquid air before the Na tional Geographic Society at the Arl i ?M? tr Ulf. lt UOlieu ttuu as water from the fire, yet it was cont and not heat that wns creating the commotion. Spilled to the floor, it landed with a heavy sound, liko tho striking of mercury, and yet in a mo ment it had turned to air, aud was be ing breathed by tho people who hud just seen it fall" in a solid state. Cup fuls of the liquid were passed around. Fingers passed through the substance gave a sensation similar to passing through heavy vapor, yet there was the heavy liquid, as clear as water, CHARLES E. TRIPLER. with a vapor arising from it. If passed through the liquid rapidly the hand experienced no intensity of cold, but if allowed to remain there a few seconds an icy chill would be experienced, and more extended contact would freeze the flesh and bones, until they could be broken up with a hammer, as a brittle stone woiild be crushed. The experiment of making ice over a fire was perhaps the most strikingly illustrative of the power of liquid air. Mr. Tripler took a kettle, filled it with the liquid, aud it began to boil. He placed it ou a gas stove so that the flame could play upon the bottom of the vessel. The heat but intensified the cold, as it accelerated the liquid in turning into gas. Ice water poured HENCE TO BE HELD HERE. Tood," and wns built in 1G47. It is n palace associations.] into this kettle still further increased the process, for it was comparatively hot water. The kettle boiled and sent a stream of steam aloft to a dis tance of six or eight feet. No house keeper has ever seen her kettle boil so. All this time the water was being frozen within the kettle aud beneath JR EXPORT TRADE. ollows appropriately the expansion ot ; foreign trade development, the next three or four years in dif ember, October and November of the ta of the country. it of American manufactures and the t character ever held in this country, eld at frequent intervals in the great g export trade, It is the purpose to ited States especially suitable for ex will comprise everything which is, lest novelties. lseum and the Franklin Institution of t exports. It will open in September osition space, will be on the west side his thete will be smaller buildings for a for a subdued Philadelphia Midway, .ion Association, and the directors in? ! the Exposition Buildings, which will . Probably eight hundred representa ipy four-fifths of tho Exposition space, t "Yankee notions." ids must be put up iu packages of con vhere there are no wagons or railways. it in tho flame was a covering of frost. It was no ordinary ice, either, for, later, on bein~ allowed to rest on the table and passed around, the intens ity of its freeziug kept it firm a long time, lu spite of the heat of the room. I The concluding test was in some re spects a most won der f ni one. Mr. Tripler placed liquid air in a deep tin cup, lowered lt iu a jar of water and soon hart a thick coating of ice on it. The liquid air turned into gas. He put ice water in the cup to relieve the hold of the ice ou the tin cup, and when removed he had a cup of ice. This ico cup in turn he Ailed with liquid air, and then lowered a piece of carbon in it. A bright light was the result, showing through the ice glass as an arc light through a globe. Thc carbon was burning with a heat of 3000 degrees above zero, aud it was ____________ _______ ICE ON' a KETTLE Ol' LIQUID AIR OVER A GAS STOVE. burning cmersed in a liquid with a temperature of 340 degrees below zero, and yet the experimenter held the cup iu one hand and the end ol the carbon in the other, the intense cold preventing danger from heat so great as to be beyond the power of the mind to comprehend it. The Nightmare of 3Iicrobe8. A woman who had purchased a pair of gloves w_s given three one dollar bills in change. "Do it up in paper, please," she said to the salesgirl. The request was complied with, and the wrapped up bille were put in a pocketbook. "Some persons are microbe mad, " said n physician in explaining tie in cident. "Many have it so bad ?'oat they will not even pick up a pin, \ e cause it has beeu said that all sorts of disease germs can be collected under their heads. Dread of microbes is a common form of hydrochondria. I can sympathize with a person who does not like to see a woman with a bundle of dirty clothes for washing get into a public conveyance, but there is no use in going to extremes. "Ever since the reseprches of Koch and Pasteur have attracted attention the number of microbe maniacs has steadily increased. Take any morbid minded person and give him a little insight into bacteriology, and the re sult is sure to be disastrous. He shakes with terror at the first little symptom of real or imaginary de rangement."-New York Herald. Thc Joke on Papa. It is told of a learned professor of languages in au English university that on one first of April he waa asked to bring home several things from the druggist's. He carefully made a mem orandum of tba* articles so that he might not forget, and was putting his list in his pocket when his saucy young daughter isaid, quite coolly, "Papa, will you bring me a penny worth of evaporated pigeon's milk?" "Cer tainly, ray dear," was his reply, as he carefully noted it down, and doubtless he would have asked the druggist for it had not one of the children laughed. That caused him to look at the entry, aud he, too, laughed. "You caught me tant time, my dear," ho said, pat ting his daughter's curly head. Suppl v of Timber In Unsaid. The lack of. timber supply for the world is not likely to cause much un pleasantness for some years yet. It is stated that iu the Province of Archangel, Russia, there aro forests belonging to the government which cover S8,079,400 acres in which the ring of the woodsman's ax has as yet scarcely been heard. Tho ItlgceBt Insect Known. Tho elephant beetle of Venezuela is the biggest of its species. An average specimen of this insect when full grown weighs half a pound. The per capita cost of maiutaiuiug convicts at tho Michigan prison is 38* cents a day, aud the averago daily earnings are 35J cents. THE PASSING OF KASKASKIA. ?he First Capital of illinois "Washed Away by the Mississippi Uiver. The last vestige of what was once the city of Kaskaskia, tke first capital of the state of Illinois and the metrop olis of the west, will have disap peared in the Mississippi within a few days. There are ijow only a few hundred feet of the old corporate limits of the town left, aud the land ia fast caving into the Mississippi. Ever since the Mississippi river cut through the peninsula above the old town in 1882 aud formed a junction with the Kaskaskia or Okaw river, eight miles above theplace where it originally empted into the Mississippi,the waters have been washing away the land upon which the town stood, until now the last trace of the historic old place has almost disappeared. The residence of Governor Bond, tho first governor of the state ?1 Illinois, was washed into the river about three years ago, and all the old buildings, with their quaint, old fashioned French colonial architec ture, have one by one followed the Bond residence, till now a few ruins overhanging the brink of the river are all that remain of what was once a city of 15,000 people, the capital first of a territory and later of a state. The church of Kaskaskia was torn down and removed several years ago, and last fall the ground upon which it once stood was washed away. The old graveyards, of which there were three, are gone. They originally con tained thousands of Kaskaskia's dead, moit of whom were disinterred and removed to a new cemetery on the bluffs opposite the old town. Through the efforts of ex-Seuator Rickert, who who introduced a bill for that purpose iu the Illinois Legislature' they now rest where the waters eau not reach then), but many were left behind aud washed out by the river. The passing of Kaskaskia closes au epoch iu the history of the west, for with its disappearance the most ini por autlandmarks of French coloniza tion in the middle west will have dis appeared. Monkey? Ht Gibraltar. Gibraltar is noted for the monkeys which live there. Visitors watch for them by the hour and they may nol appear, yet occasionally in full day light they will cross the walls aud roo! surrounding the old cemetery from the Alameda gardens, where they go tc drink at the fountain. A dozen years ago these monkeys, or Barbary apes, were quite numerous, but there are less thau fiftv uow. drinking trough carty ono luuiuiug bebte thc others had arrived and watched it in ambush. Presently the monkey colony came, reconnoitered aud observing tho truant-as they evidently considered him-hold a con sultation. After much chattering two of the largest apes approached thc re turned wanderer, who appeared petri fied with fear, seized him by his anns, and, apparently strangling bim, threw him over the precipice beneath the signal station, evidently iu revenge as a deserter.-Chicago News. Office Boy Got His .fol? Back. Owing to the illness of his r?gulai boy, a young doctor engaged a new lad named Tommy Jones. Tommy was a jewel, aad when Joe, the first page boy, was quite well again the doctor was loath to let Tommy go. But Joe wanted to come back to his pleasant berth, and pleaded with his former employer. A new way out of the dilemma seemed to present itself, for thc doctor said: "Joe, if you eau put the other boy out you eau get your job back." "Do you mean that I must lick him?" "That's about it." "All right, sir." When Dr. M-returned to his surgery that night he met a sight he never bargained for. The glass in the door was smashed to atoms, a marble clock on the mantelpiece was minus dial, glass and bauds, while a hand some chair reposed on three legs. But Joe was in victorious possession, nursing a swollen cheek. . "Tommy's gone, sir," he said, with a grin.-Weekly Telegraph. Boom at the Table. At a recent banquet giveu in Roch ester two of the expected guests were unable to be piessnt The order ol seating h :ppeued to be such that a particularly jovial and companionable gentleman sat with oue of the vacant chairs ou each side of him. The empty chairs and first course of oys ters were left iu place for some time, in case the expected guests, arrived. The solitary gentleman, therefore, could move neither to tho right nor to the left, but amiably beamed through out the repast, seemingly noue thc worse for his-enforced isolatiou. Af ter the banquet some one innocently asked him: "How did you enjoy yourself, old. chap ?" "First rate,"' he replied, briskly enough. "I sat next to a couple of fellows who weren't there."-Roches ter Herald. Mr. Bopd ami Mr. CJiontp. At a dinner porty at which Speaket Peed and Ambassador Chonte were present, the latter spoke of his share in drawing np the new constitution of New York. He said that was a noble document, and ic no part ?vas he so much interested ns that which pro hibited the members of the New York assembly from accepting liasses from railroads. In conclusion he said: "1 am happy to say that never in my life did I ride on a railroad pass." One of the members of the dinner party looked at Choate with hearty admira tion, and said: "Well, 1 wish leonid Kay that." Speaker Heed looked at the speaker in his whimsical way for a moment, and then solemnly said" "Well, why don't yon? Choate did." - The Argonaut. IMPATIENCE. To drowsy lessons hardly learned And easily forgot, A schoolboy ail unwilling turned And wailed his bitter lot. ? fly apon the window pane Buzzed for his freedom lost, And begged to have it back again, E'en mid the killing frost. Each dancing sunbeam mocked anew Tho schoolboy's weary plight; The ?ky sb one tranquilly and blue, All seemed serene and right For everybody, save the few Who feel tho iron rule Which gives poor youngsters tasks to do And keeps them shut in school. And now. a man, he sees once more In day dreams as they pass Thu schoolroom where he watched of yore Tbe fly upon the glass. And now he.knows no thought of play, But turns with gathering doubt To sterner lessons, day by day, And school is never out. -Washington Star. HUMOROUS. Bill-Is that parrot of yours up to date? Jill-I should say so! He usas a megaphone. "I can't see any music in that se lection." "I can't, either, but if there is any he's going to bring it out or break the piano." Husband-Why are you so angry at the doctor? Wife-Wheu I told him I had a terrible tired feeling, he told me to show him my tongue. Jackson-Easy ton is very courteous to his wile, isn't he? Mrs. J.-Oh, yes; he treats her almost as politely as if she was a total stranger. Bacon-I can't understand why your wife calls that Wagnerian stuff heavenly music. Egbert-Because it sounds like thunder, I suppose. Sou-Papa, what do you call your office? Editor-The sanctum sancto rum. Sou-Then I suppose mamma's is a spanknm spnnktorum, isn't it? "Isn't there something the matter with the feet of this poem?" asked the editor. "Sir," replied the haughty mau; "I am a poet, not a chiropo? dist," Love is indeed a paradox. Lovers? As to these, : Some tbink they are a pair of ducks, And some a pair of geeso. Diggs-Did you employ a typewriter to copy your manuscript? Biggs-I thought I did, but on looking over the work I discovered that I had employed a type-wronger. Hamm-There was a time iu my life when the height of my ambition was to own a diamond to wear iu the bosom of my shirt. Fatt-Aud now you are sa.isfied to own a shirt. Giles-I suppose you got paid for . . e magazine jokes? Smiles ? m didn't imagine I wrote .n, did you? Gile3-Ob, 9 could tell that by reading .d Featherbush is a pretty ng man, isn't he? Irene '-, now. He has the roughest . - Say, do tell me what g to wear to the party this 'S. Funk, I can understand wouldn't live in a small MI wu. What do you mean?" "Any body can live in a city, but it takes people who have mental resources to snjoy life in a small town." She-I don't know what to do with my son. My husbaud wants him to be a merchant. I would like him to study, but he has made up his mind to be au actor and nothing will change bim. He-How old is he? She He will be six on his next birthday. A Shrewd Scheme. A Boston restaurant keeper was standing in front of his establishment grumbling at the hard times aud la menting his fate. Although he could see people walking up and down the streets, they all seemed to avoid him; aud even the visitors to the town, who could not be supposed to know any thing about his place, seemed to avoid it instinctively. He meditated " much on his misfortune, and racked his brains to devise some scheme that would improve his business. At last au idea occurred to him. Going to a bronze-founder, he ordered several peculiar tablets of the kind that are seen in different parts of Boston on the fronts of houses to commemorate the birthplace or board ing-house of some one or another of the city's great men. Fastening these tablets on conspicuous parts of his building, he laid in a large supply of eatables, aud awaited the result. Now the great point about the tab lets was that they were utterly unin telligible-the inscriptions being half obliterate Latin-but their effect was electrical. Every true Bostonian glanced at them, took it for granted that the restaurant was one of the many with a historic flavor, and pat ronized it at once. The strangers that visited the city looked at the tab lets hopelessly, then patronized the house iu the hope that they would find some one who could explain the strange inscriptions. -Harper's Bound Table. The Secret of the Dreyfus Case. The fact that Dreyfus is a Jew fur nishes a key to the mysteries of the cause celebre which is connected with his name. It is impossible to under stand how the French nation-an im pulsive, generous people, who, although blind iu their anger,are temperament ally incapable of remaining deaf to the appeal of justice after the initial fury of their wrath has p^ent itself-can persist in withholding from the con demned officer an opportunity to jns tify himself before the courts of his country. The paradox may be under stood when it is remembered that, aflcr the memory of Sedan, the great est passion of the French is a deep and enduring hatred of the Jews as a race. The cry, "A bas les juifs!" is almost as potent iu France today as was that other cry at the close of the last ceutury-the cry that gave utter ance to the hot resentment of more than a hundred years and drove the disdainful Marie Antoinette to the guillotine-"A bas le roi!"-S. Ivan Tonjoroff, in The Arena. Very Much Mixed. At auction sales things are very much mixed. In a recent catalogue there was a "Court waistcoat, worn by King ('liarles ll,embroidered aud worked in silk," aud "a jockey's cap aud sleeve worn by the late Fred Archer when he rode for Lord Rosebery,"