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THE N?TIONftL BBNK OF AUGUSTA L. C. HAT JE, Prest 7. O.FOKD, Cashier. .Capital, $250,000. Undivided Fruflts } $110,000. Facilities of oar magnificent New Vanlt containing 410 i-afety-Loek Boxes. Differ on: Sizes are offered to oar patrons and the pabilo at 93.00 to 810.00 per annum. THOS. J. ADAMS PROPRIETOR EDGE FIELD, S. C.. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 14, 1900. TBE PUNTERS LOAN AND SAVINGS BANK. AUGUSTA, QA. Paya lateras*" on Deposits, Accounts . Solicited. L. C. HATOS, President. W. 0. WABDII?W, Cashier. VOL. LXV. NO. ll A SMUGGLEI By Daws' Fred Brown's father sent him to St. Pierre, partly for a holiday, and partly to see some people in the way of business. Bo oif he started, in the little steamer from Boston, had a very pleasant trip down, and arrived there without any trouble. It was when he tried to get away that he had the re markable adventure of the derrick. St Pierre is not much of a place, but it is the principal village of the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the south ooast of Newfoundland islands which are all that remain to France of her former North American possessions. The little town is strung along one principal street, and the population, which is entirely French, varies ac cording to the number of vessels in the harbor-if an open roadstead de serves the name. Fred was surprised to find every body French and everything under French rule; he had been told it would be so, y> t be had not realized it could be so within a thousand miles of Bos ton. Yet the steamer he went down on took a regular guillotine that had been sent out from Paris by the way of Boston to St. Pierre for the ooming execution of a man convicted thero of murder. There is a great deal of smuggling of French goods from ?St Pierre to the neighboring Canadian provinces, which impose, as the United States do, a very high customa tariff on foreign wines and liquors. Now Fred was at the hotel at St. Pierre, xraitiug for the steamer to take him back to Boston, when the town crier, going aronud one day with his drum and official notices, proclaimed that the steamer had broken down and would not be able to make her regular trip for a fortnight nt least. It did not snit Fred to wait, and in consnlting with the hotelkeeper he learned that be might get to Cape Breton by a steamer trading to and from the southwest coast of New foundland, if he could manage to reaob Codroy or Burgeo within a few days. The landlord promised to let Fred know if there was an opportunity to get over by a sailing vessel, and next day he told the boy of a little schooner about to sail for Burgeo that night. The captain of the vessel was in the hotel at the time, au odd little Frenchman of the fisherman type, who assured Fred that he was a good pilot and careful sai!or. So the young American engaged passage on the Hortense, which was the name of the skipper's wife und also his daughter. On seeing the schooner Fred.rued his bargain-she was so small But the run to Burgoo was only about a hundred miles, and everybody told bim that by leaving. St. Pierre at night with a fair wind he should easily arrive at Burgeo before dark the fol lowing day. Moreover, if he did not take this chance he might not be able to connect with the other steamer. ' . When Fred Brown left the hotel to go on board the Hortense that night, the innkeeper said with a smile, "Of course it makes no difference to a pas senger what the schooner's cargo is. " "Not if I get ashore all l ight in Burgeo," said Fred, and from the way the old skipper nodded and grinned at this he seemed satisfied with the assurance. It was quite late when- they went down to the wharf and found a man waiting to row them off to the Hor tense/ which was anchored in the stream. Fred was pretty tired and sleepy, so when he got aboard he lay down on one of the lockers in the lit tle cabin, with his coat under his head for a pillow,and WHS fast asleep before he knew it. When he woke up it was clear daylight, and the sohooner was running through a moderate sea, with the wind on the starboard beam. When Fred went on deck he was surprised to find only two other men and a' girl. "My brother Jacques and my daughter," said the skipper, aud when Fred asked if they were all who were on board, he smilingly replied, "Oui-ob, yaas-plenty enough. Leetle crew, leetle boat-but plenty good. Boni Oui! Ma petite lille,Hortense, she cook. Eh? Oui! Good! Et mon frere, Jacques, he good sailor man ah, ouil All right! The day only one. We sail out of de fog, eh?" For fog was so dense that they could not see the bowsprit from the stern. Indeed, the schooner did seem very small. She could not have been much more than SO tons, and she was quite deep in the wat or with cargo. Fred found it anything but pleasant to be standing on in that dense atmosphere, with so tiny and heavily laden a ves sel. t Fpr hours the skipper held his conrse by compass, predicting clear weather before sundown, but he looked anxious, and he often spoke in a melancholy, caressing tone tc his daughter, a big, strong girl about 15 years old, who spoke even less Eng lish than h jr father. As Fred found no one with whom he could hold in telligent converse, he lay down agaiu in the little cabin and was dozing shortly beforo noon, when he was rudely roused by cries on deck and noise as if from another vessel. Springing up instantly, he had just got his head above the companion hatch, tfhen the schooner was struck with a shook that knocked him baok into the cabin. The fall somewhat stunned him, and when he recovered he could just see the outline of a steamer disappearing to windward ahead. The schooner's bowsprit had been chopped clear i ff, the port bow was badly torn, but worst of all, both the captain and Jacques were gone. Fred learned afterward that both of them had sprung for the steamer's rail at the moment of collision, and so escaped. They made themselves un derstood after some little delay, and begged the captain of the steamer to pot about and search for the schooner, but he was convinced that the victim had sunk, and be was afraid to risk leaving his conrse is that fog and on that iron coast. ?red for.nd the girl, Hortense, hon? iag'to the msiu rigging with horror on her corivi?on.auce. bat she caaift down at ont? and stood beside him. Looking ground} tbey saw that th? scuooaer rs DERRICK. >n Stearns. had been strack on the lee bow, but forward of her forerigging, and the foremast seemed uninjured. Fred caught the wheel to get the schooner on her course again and steady her, which was done easily, despite the loss of her head sails. Fred then set about inspecting the schooner. The hull seemed sound, but the pump threw a stream of clear sea water, showing that the ves sel leaked. However, the valve sucked after about ten minutes of vigorous pump ing, which seemed to show that tho. leak would not seriously endanger them unless it should increase. . Fred was on the lookout forward about 3 o'clock, when he thought he heard surf. At the same moment the girl changed her course more to the westward, so as not to head directly on shore. "Are we near the harbor?" the youth called; but she seemed puz zled, and all the explanation she would give was, "Noni Non! Buoy! Bope!" Fred began to keep a sharp lookout for a buoy, end soon saw, almost di rectly ahead, a spar protruding end wise from the water and evidently se curely moored. Hortense steered for it, and in a few moments they could see a cliff of the bold coast of New foundland looming directly ahead. They could also see that a rope fell from the boom of a derrick on the cliff, aud was made fast to the buoy below. The girl wss evidently arriving at exactly tho destination she had sought, but Fred was quite sure it was not Burgoo, and be could not un derstand the situation at all. The cliff was apparently precipitous and overhanging, without any means of access, and tho top was about 40 feet above the sea level. "3aisez-le! Preuez-lo! Catch him rope!" She pointed wildly at the dangling tlerrici falls upon which they now drifted down. She had evidently se?n this done before and knew where she was, so Fred grasped the rope as they struok it, and took a rouud turn to it with a line made fast to the forerigging. This acted as a temporary mooring, but what .was to be done next he had not the remotest idea. But Hortense knew. She confidently pointed np at the derrick and said: "Mans como." But the "mans" did not come, al though the boy and girl repeatedly rang ont and tried to attract attention. So absorbed were they in contemplat ing the dim, unresponsive cliffs that they gave no attention to their schoon er, which would have been almost ashore had the tide not kept her surg ing outward. The schooner was sinking fast. The only obvions method of escape was by the rope from the derrick, and there was no time to be lost in using that Bushing iorward to tell Hortense, Fred made another ir r>. "dening discov ery. While pumping, he had not no ticed particularly what the girl was about, but now he found that she had in some way unrove the tackle from the block upon the end of the derrick boom and hauled down ono ",ud which she had utilized to moor the vessel fast to the buoy with a turn of the bight around the foremast. The free end, knotted, was far above reach. When Fred pointed out what she had done she laughed and assured him that some one on th . cliff would soon fix it, but when he showed ber that the schooner was foundering, she was pauic-strickeu aud screamed a full minute, after which she was as calm as before. Fred tried to think of a way of es cape. The schooner was likely to sink at any moment, and the water was too doep right up the cliff to give any landing there. They might cling to the buoy after the schooner sank, bat the chances of rescue would be doubt ful. The only hope lay in that single bit of hemp which hung from the der rick boom. He had been good at rope climbing in the gymnasium of his school, but to go np 40 feet on such a rope with his clothes on would be a hard strain. However, it was the only chance, Fred hauled dc n on the hanging rope until the tt4 ? cr end, in which Hortense had tied a couple of knots, caught hard in the block. Then he showed the girl as well as he could what he intended to do, and in spite of her protestations made a bowline of the rope fast around her so that she would not sink, even if the vessel did go down. Then he climbed the fore rigging of the schooner-which was the easiest way np as far as it went rested for a fresh breath near the masthead,and started climbing toward the derrick boom hand over hand. If the rope had been in a gymnasium he could have gone up without any fear, but out there in the wild air and drizzling mist, the fog obliterating everything at a short distance, the sea gulls screaming around, as if mad dened at the invasion of their prem ises, and no one at band to Say a word of cheer, the situation seemed rather awful. But he went up quick ly, reached the block, swung a leg over one of the guys and pulled him self np on top of the boom. Then a cry from Hortense arose. Looking down, he saw the masts . f the schooner sinking and the girl in the water clinging to the buoy. She had bravely refrained from screaming till she saw Fred safe, although the water had come up on deck almost as soon as he had swung off from the foremasthead. Fred shouted encouragement to ber, but how could he lift her and her wet clothes-a weight of 1'50 pounds at least-up a sheer height of 40 feet? He tried to get the end of the rope free to run through the block, but his weight on it had so jammed tho knots into the sheave that he was unable to looser it. Tho appeals of poor Hor tense were incessant. He resolved to try to lift her hand over hand. Stretching out upon the boom, he braced himself as well as he oould with his shoulder under the topping lift and one foot tucked up for a firmer hold, thea began the hoist, Hortense gave a cheer, the bowline held tight about her. aud slowly, hand by hand, he raised the giri But the strain was great. When he had lifted her np about 12 feet he be gan to despair of accomplishing the task, but still he strove, for to drop her would be fatal Shutting his eyes, be lifted band over hand steadily, but with ebbing strength. The perspira tion poured off him, his bypath was coming short, he felt that he could en dure no longer; but just then, open ing his eyes, he saw Hortense reach ing for the main part of the rope hanging from the block, which he had paid out in a bight as he lifted her. If Bhe could rench it ehe might be able to h^'I her own weight while be got fresh strength and breath. With a desperate effort he raised himself on the boom a little, and just when com pletely exhausted felt, by the ease of tho strain, that Hortense had caught the bight. She was two-thirds up, and the worst of the job was over, if their combined strength was enough for the rest of the lift. Now Hortense proved herself a bet ter sailor than Fred had supposed her to be, for instead of hoisting herself, she made a half-hitch of the bight through the bowline she pat in,which supported her weight from the end ot the boom and left him free for a rest So she was safe, the rest of the lifting was comparatively easy, and he 6oon had her within reaoh. But to get her upon the boom was au altogether dif ferent matter, for she became dizzy and faint, and absolutely refused to t y and clamber up beside him. The only thing to do was to make her fast where she was, then to cast off one of the guys and swing the boom ashore by the other. So Fred worked his way in along the boom to the derrick mast, found that the guys of the boom were easily loosened from their eye bolts, and ac complished his object pretty speedily. Hortense fell on her knees on tho rock in her still dripping garments os soon as -was free from the rope that had saved her, and at once gave thanks to Heaven; then she rose and led the Boston boy back a few hun dred yards from the edge of the cliff to n little shanty almost full of brandy casks that had been landed by that same derrick. With little difficulty she persuaded the deaf old Frenchman who lived there that Fred was "all right." So he took them both to Bargoo next day, where Fred caught his steamer, and left Hortense looking for a tiskerniau who would take her back to St. Pierre.-Youth's Com panion. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. James Ewing of Peru, Ind., who has lain in a box of straw for 30 years or more, died a few days ago at the county infirmary. He was paralyzed when a young mau and was made help less in mind and body. Angleo Magnanamo of. Middletown, Conn., the three:legged boy, has gone to Paris, where he will be exhibited at the exposition. After the exposi tion he will tour England and Italy. The third leg grows from the base of the spinal columu and does not quite reach to the ground. Mniwatchia, on the borders of Bns sia, is the only town in the world ex clusively inhabited by men. The Chinese women are not allowed to live in this territory, and aro even forbidden to pass the great wall of Kalkan nud to enter Mongolia. All the Chinese of this border town are traders. The Chinese visiting card consists of a large sheet of blight scarlet paper bearing the name of the owner in very large characters. The paper is folded ten times, and (he name is written on the right-hand lower corner, prefixed thus: "Your unworthy friend, who bows his head and pays his re spect;" "Your very stupid brother," or something to that effect. In place of "yours truly," "yonr stupid" is written on the Chin?se card. The importance of small things is exemplified by a recent discovery which makes a single flea serve as a link in the chain of evidence tending to prove a former land connection between Australia and South America. This flea belongs to a new species from Argentina, where the only speci men yet known is believed to have lived on a rat. The species is assigned by N. C. Rothschild to the genus Ste phanocircus, which has baeu hitherto represented by a single species of Australia, and the two forms are evi dently very closely allied, although now separated by the ocean. Artificial eyelashes appear to be the latest French novelty. False hair is an ancient .institution, and we have long been accustomed to false teeth and even eyebrows. Henceforth, ac cording to the Medicine Francaise, there is no reason why an otherwise beautiful face should be disfigured by red eyelids or rnggod eyelashes. The process may appear a little painful, n needle threaded with hair being pasted through the lid and the threads cut in the middle with a line pair of scissors, each end becoming an eyelash. But what will not beauty endure if thereby it may become more beautiful? The Feminine Observer. Suspense is the most trying of all emotions. The keenest disappointment has alwayB BOW compensation. You cai .3ver convince a man that a luncheon eau be as satisfying as a dinner. Some persons look as though they were having a good time when they are riding to a funeral. It is not until a bubble bursts that we realize that its beauty was pro duced only by soap and water. A child feels that life is worth liv ing when it is allowed to drive with out some grown-up holding the reina back of it. The absent-minded woman never feels so silly as when she hands her fare to some man who is not the con ductor. No matter bow poor a horse a mau drives if he has on a light driving coat he feels the true sportsman's i spirit within bim. If a woman has but one gray bair in nee head it in golug to show just at the time when ah? is trying to impress Rome one that shela you M ger than sha really ia,-Philadelphia Times. ?OOOOOOGOOOSGOOwOOOOGCOOOg I THE HUMAN HAIR ? HARVEST IH BRITTANY, g ooo ? (?8000000000030000000001 ANY persons bave beard 'of tbe extraordinary markets held 'periodically in differ; ent towns on tbo continent of Europe, to which women and girls come to sell their hair for money or goods; but we believe no aotnal rjap shot photos of the traffic itself have ever been taken-or, if takeu, have ever been published. Obviously the vendors do not caro to be perpetuated in this matter, and M. G?niaux him self had moro than one narrow escape from the infuriated ladies who were selling their tresses to the itinerant morchant-bnrbers. The traffic in arti?oinl hair is a big business. It is interesting in itself, and qnito a readable artiole might be prepared as the result of an interview with an extensive dealer in human hair in London or any other great capital. This information, however, is accessible to any journalist who cares to go and get it, and beyond bare mention it forms no part of this paper, which deals rather with the fountainhead (the joke is not inten tional) of this curious industry. I visited one of the great Paris coif feurs, writes Charles G?niaux, in the Wide World Magazine, and he made the startling statement that "when, they reach a certain age-say, forty or: fifty years-almost all the ladies in Paris use artificial hair, particularly, those who wear the hair m twists, or who affect the arohaio style. Why," he said, "do yon know the price of a single kilogramme (over two pounds) of first-class hair-hair that has been sorted, cleaned and prepared? Welh;; sir, I do not sell it under a thousand AX AVARICIOUS MOTHEB ABOUT IO SELL HEB. CHILDREN'S HATE. or eighteen hundred francs, accord ing to color, texture and general beauty. ' "And," he continued, "thanks to the life of high pressure which wo lead in these modern days tho de mand is becoming greater and greater." With these interesting statements etil1 ringing in my ears, I left the coiffeur and resolved to find out for myself the origin of those mountains of human hair usod by tho wigmakors of Paris. Luck was soon to satisfy my curios ity, for not long afterwards, in the course of a journey through Brittany, my attention was arrested by certain conversations on tho subject of a salo of hair, I was told that the peasant women round about had their hair out off periodically and sold to the mer chants who went shearing from vil lage to village. I made inquiries without losing a moment, and soon found out that one of the most im portant of these markets was about to bo held in the month of June at the Fair of St. Fiaore. In a few days I was blithely climb ing the hill on whose summit is held tba famous Fair of St. Fiaore, which is attended by practically the whole agricultural population of Morbihan. In the centre of a large plateau is a round chapel. A few walls, some courtyards, two or three farms, and a. little timber on the limit of the far reaching horizon. Such is the battle field on which the agricultural inter ests of the entire Department ar ray themselves. Also, young men como from far and near to thia A. RICH FARMER'S WIFE IN THE HANDS STANDS WITH HER ( fair to offer their servioes and hire themselves as laborers to the farmers. They look picturesque enough, those fellows, as they flock in together, holding in their hands long peeled twigs. As soon as a farmer has hired one of them, the young man breaks his willow slick as a sign of the engagement, and from that moment he onters the servivo of his u3w patron. Bu ; do you know what the maidens, and even the old women, aro doing in the meantime? Why, they are busy, exoha aging their hair for articles of olothhig and miscellaneous sundries dear to tho femiuine heart! I must now set down accurately aud in de tail all I saw and heard dnrlng my undoubtedly perilous mission, Talk about a sheep-shearing station in Ausii'fllia! Why, it in nothing to whatleaw. Firnfcof all, however, a word of explanation in neoesflary. In England, this extraordinary traffic would be almost impossible; ?nc?, m consequence, very little human i bair is exported into Paris from Great Britain. Bat. on the other hand, picturesque Brittany furnishes almost one-fourth of the ontire con sumption in the capital. Now, why is this? Well, it is maiuly because the Breton-women; wear as head-cov ering a close-fittinudinen cap, which entirely hides the^abi'with the excep tion of two flat b^nd?whioh pass over the forehead and down to the ears. Now suppose for a moment that these Breton caps were replaced by ordinary .hats and bonnets.. Well, if this inno vation took place, the traffic in human hair would simply become an impossi bility, as the deficiency in hair would bo apparent to every passer-by. Thanks also to the prevalence of the cap, the Auvergne and some districts of Nor mandy likewise furnish a consider able supply of human hair. '?ViThe peasant women seem to have reasoned the matter ont something in thi3 way: "AB our large heads of hair are'not seen, and as they have a cer tain commercial value, why^should we over-weight our bruins with them, es pecially when honest merchants come along to buy dur hair on such advan tageous terms?" Andjgoodness knows, cash *ic scarce enough among tao Breton peasants. , It is no wonder, then, that the trav eling hair-shearers and merchants put up at St. Fiacre, attracted as they are by the certainty of being able to shear practically the whole population of women and reap a very fine harvest of human hair. . I may remark, before going further, [that the merchants are not nice per sons, or polite; and their language, as a rule,- js abominable. Probably by way of violent contrast to the city ?iair-dressor, who affeots distinguished manners and curls his muslache with iqngs, the hair-cutters I saw were un shaven and' slovonly in their dros?. tit length I was fortunate onough. to lie well received by the best-known of them all', a comparatively intelligent mau;'-without whoso assistance" it' would have been impossible for me to obtain the snap-shols reproduced in this article. Whitet actually writing these lines I have open before me my note-book with this entry, in the hand of my friend, tho chief hair-shearer: M. Gerard, Commer?ant, A la C?upclle Gacoliuo, par Carontolr (Morbihan). Without any appearance of conceit he said to me: "I am a kind of celeb rity in my own line. How many heads of hair have I shorn? Perhaps a hun dred thousand or more!" Monsieur was accompanied by his wife; and in truth Madame Gerard wa3 extremely useful to him in his extraor dinary business. By tho way, I no tioed that all the shearers likewise had their wivos with them. It became evident to me later that they mis trusted themselves, feeling certain that alone they would not be olever enough to deceive the country lasses to tho shameful extent usually prac tised. One of the accompanying piotures represents the act of bargaining, or haggling* In the round courtyard of the farm you see vehicles crowded against the wall, the horses reversed in the shafts eating bay off tho front seat of the cart. Bight in front, on a low wall, Madame Gerard has ar ranged remnants of lurid stuffs, shawls, kerchiefs and an infinite va riety of odds and ends-quite as at tractive to ladies as the ones at tho end of this number. Madame holds between her fingers a print, which she is handling with studied carelessness for the benefit of an old woman with white hair, who is simply burning to 5 OP THE HAIR BUYER-HER SERVANT 3AP ON THE RIGHT. exchange her hair for the gaudy stuff, as it would make her such a fine apron. It is a grand oomedy, this. They talk, those two, they discuss, they haggle. Examine closely the caps of the women. You will notice the two bands of hair underneath the white. linen on the forehead, but all the rest is so scrupulously hidden that he must be remarkably clever who could tell a woman with her hair on from one who has just been shorn by tho merchants. A fairly rich farmer s wife is soon in the second large picture; and from motives of hygiene, as well as avarice, she has offered her head to the scissors of the shearer. On the right bf the photo von will notice au old woman holding the untied cap of her mistress, while the latter is being shorn. Here again, thea, wo get another curious glimpse of the industry, and we soe that all tho country womon do not not iu thia way solely for money, but ' ao> tu ni ly seek relief from the weight of their superb heads of hair, I do not know the weird vocabulary of Breton insults, but the mother oi tho little girl seen in the two si ngls column pictures made my ears pi si? tively ring with her furious howls. First of all, she hid her ohiidreu in her skirts. Then I pretended to go, but suddenly turning round, I secured a snap-shot of the little girl with ber cap off, and ber pretty, fair hair tossed over her shoulders. The poor little thing was orying. Probably some instinct had warned her of the barbarity of this custom. Her mother, ER HIGGLES WITH HER CUSTOMERS Y OF THEIR HAIR. howover, was eager for gain, and well knew that children's locks, more es pecially whan golden, aro worth most of all. And so she bartered the child's hair for a piece of cloth. The two little maidens of five and six were very tiny, but, all the same, they were dressed like grown-up people, and had to submit to the common fate. Notice on the right the unintelligent faces of the peasants. So long as the country folk remain in their present condition of ignorance, this strauge traffic will continue. In the other photo the mother is covering the scalp of her shorn little THE CEtJEL DEED DONE-COVERING THE LITTLE GIRL'S SHORN HEAD WITH A NET. one with a resillo, or ooarso net, while the ohiid herself looks very dis consolate. Until they have made their first Communion, the little girls of Brittany all inclose thoir hair in nets. Tho Confession. "Ethel," said Jack Smart, as ho placed his arms around his wife and looked down into her eyes. "I have a confessiou to make to you, and I want you to promise before I begin it, that you will forgive me." A wild fear took possession of her. She placed a little white hand npon her heart, and would have fallen if her husband had rot held her up. Her faco became livid, aud abo could only gasp: "Tell me-tell me the worst!" "I did a mau out of a cold hundred to-day," he said, "I confess I took advantage of him, but I trust my darling will make allowances in view cf the sore temptation." The eoler came back into her cheeks, her lips parted iu a glad, sweet smile, she rested her head against his breast, and, looking fondly up into his eyes, said: "Oh, Jack dear, how you fright ened me! I thought you were going to tell me that yon had kissed some horrid woman." Excellent Cu un try For Ilorirt, South Africa offers one of the beet breeding grounds in the world. Ex perience in the Indian service has proved that the ugly, underbred Afri can horso possesses much more endur ance than any other horse. The num ber of horses in South Africa is given as follows: Cape Colony, 415,200; Natal, 52,170; Orange Free State, 278, 400; Transvaal, 946,900. Horse sick ness is at times a terrible plague. It first appeared in South Africa in 1719, and has never been stamped out. In 1854 no less than 70,000 horses and mules died of it in Cape Colony alone. Horses which have been attacked and have recovered are called "salted," and sell at very much higher prices. The average price of a horso in South Africa is about $130. Decorated by a Geyser. The odd picture frames shown in the illustration owe their decoration to the spray of a geyser at Yellowstone National Park. They were made by twisting pieces of wire into the de sired shape, aud laying these frames upon a rock near a geyser for two days, PI0TUBE FRAMES FROM YEHOWSTOXH PABX, during which time the spray collaoted and hardened, Tho crust is BO hard that it rt ;uiroo a chisel to break it? JAPAN'S NAVAL STRENGTH. Ia ? War With Kussla She Would Dior? Thnn Hold Her Own. - With regard to the probable result of a naval war between Japan and Russia, the Russians have never dis tinguished themselves in war since the battle of Pultowa. They were beaten by the Persians at the end of the last century on the Caspian sea. It is true that, the Persians were under an Englishman, named Elton, who organized the Persian army for Nadir Shnb, and trained the most unnantical nation in the world to become domi nant in the Caspian. The Japanese are naturally good men-of-war's men. They are ready, resourceful, obedient, cheerful and familiar with the sea from their y oath up. Russia, despite hor vast extent of territory and great coast line, has practically no seafaring population of hor own race. Her naval recruits are drawn almost entire ly from the Ealtic coast, the shores of Courtland, and the Baltio Provinces. The iisher-folk of these regions are not of the Slavonic race. They are German in origin, in feeling and in religiun. Many of them dislike, or rather hate, the Muscovite. They submit to discipline because their Teu tonic instinct impels them to obey. The Baltic re a-nit has no pride in the service. He gets drnuk whenever he can, and he deserts when opportu nity arises. Russian seamen who are not Slavs are very rarely allowed ashore in a foreign portland the discrimination in the Russian navy between the re cruit of the Ealtic Provinces and the pure-blooded Slav in snch matters as leave and punishment does not popu larize the service. The true-born Russian abominates the sea. He is an inland creature, loving a gallop over the steppes and tho free air of the boundless plaiup. The carly Slav race used the same word to designate the o .-ena and death. liussiau Mailors are stupid, Russian punishments are degrading. Russiau habits drunken. The experieuce of a Russian seamen is scanty. Two-*hirds of the men in the Ros eau imperial navy have never fired .ih )t or shell from a gnu afloat. For six months in the year they are laid up in harbor. This discipline to which Russian sailors are subject is so rigor ous as to kill those sentiments of self respect which striko "American and English officers as fte first requisite ot a good man-of-waVs mau. Edu cated society in Rns%a is not happy as to the chances of j? n cc eos in a war with Japan. To despatclfall the mili tary stores, the commissariat, and the army itself, including the transport for ??50,000 men, is a task under which Russian services, with their peculiar habits of self-indulgence aud tradi tions of corruption, may easily break down. On these grounds I think that Japan will more than hold her own for the first year of the fight:-Arnold White, in Harpers' Weekly. Kan Up AffalnAt the Painter. The Boston Transcript says that a well known physician was looking at some pictures the other day. Pres entry, finding himself alongside an in telligent looking young mau iu au overcoat and blond beard, he fell into conversation with him. "What is there," asked the doctor, "to recommend these pictures?" "Why," said the youug man, "pos sibly you might like the atmos phere-" "I didn't come in hereto seo atmos phere; I came to see pictures !" And the doctor marched nearer to one of them. "Oh," said the young man, "these pictures are not to be looked at so near. They require distance to give tho proper effect. " "I think you are quite right," said the doctor; and to put the proper dis tance betweeu me aud them I shall now go and take a cab for Jamaica Plain." Something "in the look of the young man put a strange thought into the doctor's head, and, meeting the pro prietor ont in the store, ho asked him: "Do yon know who that young mau is in the gallery?" "Why, yes," said the proprietor; "that is Mr. Clodd Mooney, who painted the pictures !" ' Emblem? of Mon rn lng. A womam bought ?25 worth of flowers from a leading florist and gave him two yards of black satin ribbon with which to bind the bunch. "Par don me, madame," he said politely, "but it is my invariable custom to ask whether the deceased is a man or woman, a boy or girl, a baby, a bachelor or maid. lt would injure my trade to send inappropriate emblems of mourning." She readily perceived the commercial instinct, and informed him that the departed was a man and a widower. "Thanks. You have saved yourself as well as me. You could not think of sending what you have selected. It would be in the worst possible tasto. We Bhould be laughed at Exchange the black ribbon for purple and the lilies for bride roses." "Oh, no one ?viii know the difference," she urged. Ho replied, bowing and pollyvoofrousay ing: "Madarao, I can not accept your ? rder. Herman, return to this lady her 325."-New York Press. Church Names in E'ectriciiy. Electric signs are a feature of upper Broadway. They are to be found in front of nearly all the theatres, and have come to be regarded as the par ticular property of theatres and cafes. But now the church steps in and dis putes the right of theatres to attract patronage with electricity. The pas tor of the First Reformed church of Williamsburg has put up a great elec tric sign in front of the edifice, and on Sunday nights one can read the name of the church in blaziug letters a long way. off.. There are several churches in Greater New York which have an electrically lighted cross on top of tho steeple, but the emblazon ing of the name of the church in front is som 'bing new in church dec oration. JnfVoMnn* from IJntj noap?, Investigations hythe board of health of Newton, Mass., have revealed heaps of rags in many hon- es where there wnfl sickness. lu many ca*es diseases *>. a contagious nature have boen ira-ed to the rag?, aud the boord, therefore, has issued a new regula* tiou prohibiting the tbrowin.' of rags in a heap, EHITAPH TO A BUSY WOMAN. ' Here lies a poor woman who always was busy: She lived under pressure that rendered ber dizzy. She servad on a scbool board with courage and zeal; She golfed and she kodaked and rode on a wheel. She belonged to ten clubs and read Brown ing Ey sight, Shone nt luncheons and teas, and would vote if she might She read Tolstoi and Ibsen, know microbes by name, Approved of Delsarte, was a "daughter" and ''dame." Her children went in for the top education, Her husband went seaward for nervous prostration. One day on her tablets she found an hour free; The shock was too great, and she died ia 6tantlee. HUMOROUS. "Dead men tell no tales." "They don't have to; thoy leave widows who can do the talking. " Uncle Sam (at long-distance 'phone) -I'd like to speak to John Bull. Voice (at other end)-He's busy just now. Lawyer (speaking bf prisoner at bar) -I can say on oath, sir, that I have seen this man in places where I would be ashamed to be seen. Old Lawyer-How are you getting along? Young Lawyer-I have one client. Old Lawyer-Is he wealthy? Young Lawyer-He was. Fortune Teller-And I see a dark man who will give you trouble. The Widow (to herself)-The coalman! Why didn't I pay his bill? ' Large Lady-Could you see me across the street, officer? New Police man-Share, ma'am, it's tin toimes th' distance Oi could see yes.. "George,father has failed." "That's just like him. I told you all along, darling, that he was going to do all ho could to keep ns from marrying." She vowed upon ber lips she'd set a seal And never to the world ber plans reveal; Bat when she walked about the tale was told Her hat was new-but all its trimmings,old.' "Pa," said the small boy, his eyes looking longingly at the new mechan ical top, "you've showed me how to work it now for an hour. Let me try." "What do you mean by 'secnndus,' 'tertius,* 'quartus' and 'quintus?' " inquired the stranger. "I am calling the floors, sir?" replied the new eleva tor boy from Boston, with dignity. "Give me some familiar proverb about birds, " said the teacher. Tom my Tucker raised his hand. "The early bird-" He paused a moment, and tried it again. "The early bird-" "Yes," said the teacher encouraging ly. "That's right. " "The early bird gathers no moss." "Henry, wak? up I" exclaimed Mrs. Peck. "I'm positive I hear burglars downstairs. Get np and see if you can locate them." 'Tm. snrprised, my dear," replied Henry.as he buried his head under the pillow, "to think you would so far forget yourself as tc ask me to associate with vulgar bur glars." As he was about to sink for the third time, he, of course, recalled everything in hjs past life. His coun tenance radiated with joy. "Ah !" he exclaimed. "Since I now remember what it was my wife told me to get downtown today, I have no further oc casion to drown." Accordingly he swam ashore. THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM. A Trick Which Has Deceived Many Un flQtpectlng Andlences. Ventriloquy m as a vaudeville spe cialty is about played out," said a vet eran showman who passed through the city a few days ago. "It was always a great fake. Of course, we know nowadays that there is no such thing as 'throwing the voice,' and that it is simply au illusion in which the eye plays a bigger part than the ear. For instance a man is seated on the stage with a mechanical dummy on his knee, and yon hear a voice. The mai's face is stiff and the jaws of the dummy are wagging-naturally yon jump to the conclnsiou that the voice comes from the doll. If yon were right beside them you would know better, but you are too far away to exactly locate the sound. That's the principle of the whole thing, but in the old days the voice throwing theory was generally accepted. "I remember in the season of '89-90 I was manager toe a clever prestidigi tator who was also a ventriloquist. His claimed to be nble to throw his voice 42 feet, and 'land it in a space 10 inches in diameter,' as you might, speak of pitching a baseball or a quoit. It was a most absurd contention, but he stuck to it-even to me in private, and we had a stock story we used to work off on the oountry papers, about his appearing at a coroner's inquest and making the corpse accuse a. sus pected person of murder. 'At that instant,' the climax ran, a 'hollow voice issued from the dead man's throat.' It was a very thrilling yarn, and, in the course of time, my boss got to believe it himself, and would narrate the details with every evidence of good faith. "During the performance he used to order everybody off the stage, but occasionally I won!7 ueak around be hind aud listen through a peep hole, and it was wonderful how the illusion was lost. Frequent jy, on the road.he would be embarrassed by requests to 'throw his voice' into this thing or that to further some practical joke, and would always reply that his larynx was a trifle inflamed.' Still he was a capital ventriloquist-one of tho very best, I believe, that was ever in the business." The Small Boy Want? to Know, "Yes, it was a drawn battle," he said, in talking the matter over with his wife. The 6-year-old who was listening was silent for a moment. Then he asked: "What did they draw it with?" Chicago Vost. The largest cargo of flour ever car ried oat of the United States bj a si ugle vessel left Kew Orleans recently for Loudon. Tho?? were 70,500 bags ia her hold,