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THE NATIONAL BANK OF AUGUSTA L. C. HATKB, Preet I*. G. FORD, Ca&hlep, Capital, $250,000. Undivided Profita }$110,000. Focilltioa of our magnificent Keir Vault looatalning 410 Satr.t7.L0ck Boxes. Dlfler |ent Bizet are offered-to our patrons and tao public at 93.00 to $10.00 j>er ?nnm^ PLANTERS LOAN AND SAVINGS BANK. Pa'/? Interest on Deposits. Accounts Solicited. L. C. Ha)no, President. Chas. C. Howard. Cashier. ?HOS. J ADAMS PROPRIETOR. EDGEFIELD, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 31. 1901. VOL LXV?. NO. 31. ??RELI?B 5JEWELI ? JU Diamonds, V A ware, Libbey' Brio-a-Brac, i ^ Wedding Invitations, Engraved T gg Plato and 100 Cards $1.05. Watch ? mond Setting and Engraving dom ? OLD GOLD 0 NEW GOODS S ? WM. SCHWEIGER] . 702 Broad St., ???.1@H?B?M?j CANADA'S INFANT NAVY CONSISTS OF FOURTEEEN VESSELS MANNED BY 400 BLUEJACKETS. Cruise Vp and Down tho Coasts So Threateningly That Smugglers Take Good Care to Avoid Them-Also Looks After the Fishing Interests. The fame of the North-western Mounted Police of Canada has attract ed considerable attention to r>. pictur esque arm of our northern neighbor's war department, and since the South 'African war the Canadian regulars and volunteers have been accepted by the world as lighters and strategists equal to any turned out of the mili tary schools of Europe. But of Cana da's Infant navy little has been heard; due, probably, to the 'act that the op portunity for distinguishing itself has not yet occurred., Yet in a way the bluejackets of C.-.nada are performing work that trains them for duty on a . larger scale fully as arduous and diffi cult as that which falls to the lot of the Mounted Policemen. , The navy consists of no battleships or armored cruisers, but of fourteen vessels with a total number of blue jackets and officers to man them of less than 400. Most of these war ves sels would be classed with our mos quito fleet which the war with Spain ceated, and some would hardly be ?v. -rthy of such high classification. Therv are at least two schooner sa'l crafts in the ?eet which have no other power of propulsion than ^that fur nished by wind and sails. Yet the Kingfisher and Osprey are fine model J ?of their class, and armed with their small calibre guns they cruise up and down the coast so threateningly that smugglers take good care to avoid them. More tbaa^Mj^gjs^gajMias been performed^^5!^!!??C?^^!^^r ansage when *V THESE TWO RELICS OF varships were all sailing [PrSe two flagships ot^ fhe navy -afe 'good-sized gunboats, named respective ly the Acadia and La Canadienne. These ships are seaworthy boats, and make good time when in pursuit of the enemy. The Constance, the Cur lew and the Petrel are also effective little gunboats, which chase up and flown the coast, keeping unlawful crafts from plying their nefarious busi ness with the colony. -, A good deal of the work of Canada's navy is devoted to the prevention of piracy and smuggling. Smuggling is more common along the Canadian bor der than elsewhere on this continent, and there are plenty of queer looking crafts engaged In smuggling goods into Canada without taking the trou ble to pay duties. These smugglers are shrewd and desperate men, and they resort to tricks and evasions that deceive the ordinary officers. Their methods are all conducted in the dark, and along lonely parts of the coast. On dark nights they smuggle kegs of liquor from the French island of St. Pierre to the Canadian coast, and one good ship load landed will pay for all the danger and anxiety run. Fortunes have been made in a few years in this way, and the temptation is so great that many engage In it, and great arc ?the resources of the smugglers, i Against these desperate men, who do not hesitate at murder If necessary for the maturing of their plans, the little navy directs a good deal of Its atten tion. Some of the smugglers carry arms with them, and several times they have boldly resisted arrest. But not once in these encounters has the navy been defeated. There is a good deal of smuggling on the sea, as well as on the land, between Canada and the United States, and Canada's blue jackets have their hands full both on the sea and the lake coasts in keeping down this unlawful trade. Another important duty of the navy is to look after toe fishing interests of the country. Regulations have been made by the Canadia3?Goveniment to preserve the great^nshing interests along her coast and to enforce these laws both for native and American fishermen the little navy its ha* Is full. Foreign vessels persist in approaching nearer than the regulation three-mile limit, and the Canadian gunboats and crclsers have to. warn and signal to them repeatedly. Thc same gunboats .nave to look out for the buoys, bea cons, lightships and lighthouses along the coast This lighthouse work ls generally monotonous, but sometimes lt is full of danger and picturesque ness. The stanch little gunboats have to weather the fiercest weather and seas imaginable, to Teach some of the outer beacon lights. So rough, barren and deserted are the immense stretches of coast along the Canadian sea-border that the Dominion Government has es tablished at various points places of refuge for shipwrecked mariners. If a ship should go ashore anywhere along the coast there would be a ref uge station somewhere in the vicinity. The gunboats visit these stations regu larly to provide more provisions, and tp take away any mariners that may have been wrecked. Hundreds of ship wrecked are rescued in this way every year either from starvation or drown ing. The bluejackets of this fleet are as thoroughly drilled and disciplined as those of any other navy, but they gain intro experience In their wlid life than ib* En?Unl) bluejacket in ali eofiyen* ?.?.?.ie ?.? LE Ry. Patches, Jewelry, Sterling Silver- @ s Fine Cut Glass, Clocks, Vases, Z Ste. tm 'isiting Cards. ^ Repairing, Dia- M s by experts. 5 9 TAKEN IN EXCHANGE FOR ? J. SEND FOR CATALOGUE. ? f & CO., Jewelers. $ Angosta, Ga. J tlonal life on- board modern crack bat tleships and armored cruisers. They may not understand as much about scientiile gunnery with modern high explosives, but they have the rough and-ready experience with danger wblch makes them Individually coura geous, self-reliant and strategic. Like the Mounted Police of the Interior, or the rough riders of our own country, they are units of a small service which count for more than the machinelike soldier or sailor. Each man Is efficient enough to sail the gunboat, work the guns, command a squad of fighters or survey a new landing. It is this per sonnel which makes the small navy of a weak country more efficient relative ly than that of a large one. Canada's bluejackets In an emergency might easily give the English sailors some points in navigation and fighting, even as her rough riders and Mounted Po lice taught Tommy Atkins a few 1m- 1 portant phases of modern warfare in a rough country under conditions that almost demoralized Europe's best sol diers.-George E. Walsh, in Harper's Weekly. WISE WORDS; Tity is best taught by fellowship in woe.-Coleridge. In all things it is better to hope than to despair.-Goethe. A man's best friends are his ten fingers.-Robert Collyer. The human race is governed by its imagination.-Napoleon. Examine what is said, not him who speaks.-Arabian Proverb. Impatience dries the blood sooner than age or sorrow.-Cleon. National enthusiasm is thc great nursery of genius.-Tuckerman. Observe your enemies, for they first " faults.-Antisthenes. ?nd mil . '"Hyi '.IV'^ai^ a change; In prosper! tyTjrepaT^^^ Interest makes some people blind and others quick sighted.-Beaumont. Doing good is the only certainly hap py action of a man's life.-Sir Philip Sidney. The worst of all knaves are those who can mimic their former honesty. Lavater. Do good to thy friend to keep him; to thy enemy to gain him.-Benjamin Franklin. "*vj.'? keep your secret is wisdom, but to expect others to keep it is folly.-0. W. Holmes. Industry keeps the body healthy, the mind clear, the heart whole and the purse full.-C. Simmons. Russian Methods In Trading. Despite the size of the gathering at the great Russian fair there is hardly any noise, and to the American visitor very little business seems in course of transaction. Ignorance of the commer cial methods in vogue gives rise to the latter Impression. When the Russian merchant contemplates buying a bill of goods he betakes himself to the sec ond story of the little shop which the seller of that particular commodity bas made his own for the time being, and there buyer and seller discuss thc matter over innumerable cups of tea. Tea drinking is an important part of the transaction, a ceremony that ie never omitted. The Russian does not sweeten his tea as we do ours, but puts a lump of sugar into his mouth Instead of into his cup, a method in which it is hard to sec the advantage. Very little merchandise is sold by sample at Nljni Novgorod, the greater part of the goods being actually on view, piled in the yards of the shops and heaped along the wharves-count less bales or cotton, pyramids of cow and horse hides, jars of petroleum, carboys of sulphuric acid, and casks of dried fruit scattered in irregular piles along the water front, while the Iron ore has a little island to itself on the Oka.-Francis J. Ziegler, in New Lipplncctt. Machines as Baggage. For several years lt has been the cus tom of French railways to carry as baggage ell motor bicycles, tricycles and quadiricycles weighing less than 100 kilos (220 pounds) crated, or 150 kil s (330 pounds) uncrated. This re striction did not suit the French own ers, and there has recently been a loud outcry for Its removal. The Minister of Public Works was appealed to, and? a few days ago he decreed that the railroads must carry the machines as baggage, regardless of weight, when accompanied by their owners, unless such carriage shall Interfere with the rights of other people or uisarrange other branches of the service. Truly the lines of the French automobillsl are cast in pleasant places. Scouting on an Automobile. During the recent maneuvers of the cyclists' corps, the object of the oppos ing forces being, respectively, the cap ture and defense of London, one of the attacking party mounted on a motor bicycle did scouting duty which en tailed the traveling of ninety-five, for ty, seventy and 105 miles on four suc cessive days, two of them rainy, and during all this time the motor was not even adjusted, the only attention lt re quired being lubrication and the re? Pleulihmont of the gasolina. ?aftUtfa?V A A A A AifkA.AA . AN ADAPTATIO Why There Were Many Plagu ?3 BY G WEN DOLI To a certain sort of mind a saint is only to be known as a saint by the halo above his brow, and the Prince of Darkness himself would be devoid of identity without a pitchfork and cloven hoof. To such as these the knight-errantry of Drayton and Bart lett may seem problematical; but a knight-errant is one who succors beau ty in distress, and who rides abroad redressing human wrongs. Whether he employs an obnoxious insect rath er than a sword, as Drayton did, or whether he rides a S. C. govern ment mule, as Bartlett was wont to do, is neither here nor there. Bartlett was riding the aforesaid mule shortly after the time my story begins. He rode it up the line, its long gray ears waggling evenly .and 'rest fully, and came to a halt in front of the set of quarters where Drayton and he roomed. Drayton was sitting on the porch, his feet on the railing, his chair tipped back, and the visor of his cap pulled down on his nose. He pushed the cap to the back of his head as Bartlett came slowly up the steps. "I wish you woud get a horse," he complained. "If you could just realize the figure you cut on that old ele phant!" "That's a mule," corrected Bartlett, his arm around a pillar and letting his heels dangle as he perched on the railing. "It's also a very nice mule. It is no longer a shave-tail, but has reached years of discretion. The mo ment man or animal does that, his ap preciative country straightway has him inspected and condemned. Horses may do for some, but no; ?or one who has the duties of post quartermaster to perform. And, besides, I believe In the infantry and scorn a horse." "The scorn," observed Drayton, "of the fox for the grapes." "Don't rub it in," said Bartlett, de jectedly; "I'm miserable enough as lt is." "Thought you looked rather triste. I'm all sympathy. Go on." Bartlett released his hold upon the pillar and folded his arms on his breast in an attitUue combining stern endur ance and precarious balance. "The Collinses are going to rout the Law rences out." Now, the Collinses were the family of Captain Collins-wife, mother-in law on both sides, and three small children. They had that morning ar rived in the post. Collins was in com mand of Troop L, which had been moved on some weeks before. If he had been well-disposed his entry should not have put the whole garri son, below his rank, in the throes of fear of a progressive "turning out." which he might have moved exactly as well as not, and no one have been any the worse off. "But Collins won't see it that way," Bartlett went on. "He ranks Law rence, and his wife ranks him, you bet; and it s the wife and the mother in-law who are going to havp the Law rences' set or bust." "Throw them a few buckets of paint and calcimine, by way of sop," Dray ton ventured to suggest. "Did," said Bartlett, briefly. "Of fered them half th 2 quartermaster's department, and a carpenter, and a blacksmith, and a farrier, too, if they happened td need one. Told them they could have any or all of ine colors of paint in the rainbow, if they'd just be good-but those three Graces are going to have the Lawrences' house." Drayton opined, with a little of the placidity, nevertheless, with which we all bear one another's burdens, that it was a ^very great and very profane shame. * ' There's that poor little wom an with those little bits of kids, and just moved int; those quarters, and got them all fixed up so prettily, and her garden started, too. Then, those Collinses; They're a mean lot of cat tle, anyway." He made a gesture of disgust, which turned the visor around over his left ear, and was silent for a minute through sheer wrath. "I told Mrs. Lawrence they would be serpents on the wood cutter's hearth-" "Serpents, now?" asked Bartlett; "they were cattle before; and you called that"-he painted over his shoulder-"an elephant, whereas, in point of fact, it's a mule." "I told her," continued Drayton, unmoved, "that it wouldn't pay. I know all about the Collinses-served with them in Texas. I was sitting on Mrs. Lawrence's steps-I know that [ usually am, so you can save yourself *-I was sitting on her steps when the Collins outfit drove up. The ambu lance stopped in front of the C. O.'s house, next door, and Collins jumped out and went in. The rest of them just waited. All would have been well if Mrs. Lawrence hadn't become tender-hearted in a most unnecessary way, and hadn't chosen to disregard any advice." He assumed the look of prophecy fulfilled. "I told her to sit still and not get excited and do some thing rash: gave her the benefit of my knowledge and experience. But it wasn't any use. She made me dry up and hang on to the kids, while she ran down to the ambulance and invit ed the whole caboodle to come in and rest and refresh themselves. They came. You can bet your life they came-or they wouldn't have been the Collinses. I saw Dame C's weather eye taking in the house. I could see she liked it, and I knew there'd be trouble. Mrs. Lawrence kept them to luncheon-the whole seven of them. Asked me, too; but the kids were raising Cain, and the abode of peace was transformed, so I lit out." "Well, I guess she's sorry now-ir that's any comfort to you. For the Collinses are not only going to have those quarters, but they're going to have them quick. Even the C. 0. got at Collins. But it wasn't any use. 'My wife likes tue quarters,' says he. And that's all." They sat in meditation for some time. Then Drayton spoke. "I like those quarters, too. I'm go ing to have some of them, myself," he said. N OF EXODUS. es in the Captain's Quartersi hs he SN OVERTON. W? WW WW Va Bartlett did not understand, and, Drayton undertook to explain. "Well-see here." He took his feet clown from the rail, in his earnestness.; and straightened his cap. "It's like this. You and I have got one room, each in this house, haven't we, same as the most of the other bachelors?" Such was the case. "And we're en titled to two rooms each, aren'ti-we?" Bartlett agreed that they were. jj"And we've been keeping these ones because1 we've been too lazy and good natured I to ask for more, haven't we? Well we won't be lazy and good natured any more. If the Collinses move into the Lawrences' set, I'll vacate my; room- j turn It over to you-and TH apply for the upstairs floor of thef* Lawrences house. Oh! -r?r-^ent?USa^lo^r?;---^ right," he chuckled. "I know my rights as a citizen of these United States and as a first-lieutenant of cavalry. The Collinses, the whole sweet seven of 'era, may have the low er floor. It's all they can claim under law. That's fou . rooms, including the kitchen. I dare say they won't mind" living like that any way. \ They're pigs." "Pigs, too?" asked Bartlett^ Drayton went on unfolding pis, plan. '.Once I have that top floor, you watch the interest in life I'll provide for them. I'll make their days pheasant and their nights-particularly their nights-beautiful. I'll have ?uppers up their every evening, and di songs and dances until reveille, if I jl?ve to hypothecate to pay my commissary bill, and if my health breaks down. You watch ! " He stood up and began to button his blouse. "So yau are warned. If the Collinses move m.such is my devotion to them that I'lBmove in. too. And I'll put in my formal ap plication for those two rooms! No other two in the post will suit, other, you understand." And it all came about exactly I said. There was a hegira of iLaw rences and an ingress of Collinses, and great was the latter's wrath jvhen they found Drayton taking posseision of the upper floor. They proteste! to everybody in general, and to the com mandant and the quartermaster; in particular. And the commandant ind the quartermaster said they vkrd soi ry, but that Drayton was certainly within his rights. He had applied for the quarters in virtue of the general turning-out that D troop was causing lng the post, and he was entitled "tu occupy them. There was nothing more to be said. "I can't pretend to be sorry for theL, exactly," Mrs. Lawrence confided t" Drayton, when he advised ner Coi li try to settle in her new quart?!* \ r ? elaborately; "I'm only hm - ?Ti V and my garden-. But I'm sc: ? v ?/"^S you. I think those children ar - t very imps of evil." ~ . ; .Drayton nodded. "There are other? he said. 1 . lt was emigmatical, but Mrs. Law rence looked doubtful and ready to be hurt. "You don't mean mine?" she said. "No, my dear lady," Bartlett reas sured her, "he doesn't mean yours. He thinks yours arc all that tender infancy should be. I don't know what he does mean, however. And prob-, ably he doesn't know himself." / "Don't I?" queried Drayton, enigmat ical still. "Don't I just?" "Perhaps," said Bartlett, "you meai Jimmy O'Brien. I saw you hobnol bing with him today. Would lt le Jimmy now?" Drayton would not commit hin self. But is was Jimmy and one other, nevertheless. Drayton had come upen him when he was playing duck-on-i rock all by himself, near the sutlers store. TKe duck was a beer bottle, ind Jimmy vas pitching stones at It, .with indifferent aim. The father of Jimmy was first-sergeant of Drayton's troop, and so the lieutenant felt they had enough in common to warrant a.con versation. It began by a suggestion as jto a better way to throw a stone, and It ended with a bargain struck. "Then," said Drayton, "if I promise to pay you two bits for every centipede, fonr bits for every tarantula, ten cents for/every lizard, a nickel for every toad ?and a cent for every big spider, you will catch all you can and bottle them for me?" I Jimmy nodded solemnly. j "And you won't say anything about it to any one?" A quarter was pressed into a chapped and grimy hand. "Nit," said Jimmy, the Instinct of j. political race to tb?- fore. There was another race instinct strong in Jimmy, too. It was that of the contractor. The very next morning before guards j mounting, he clamhered up the stair way to Drayton's ruoms. Drayton .was only just dressing. He had kept late hours. Bartlett had helped him, and until 2 o'clock they had alternated pacing heavily to and fro with drop ping weighty bodies on the floor. The Collinses were kept awake. "It's a question of endurance, be cause we are two," said Drayton; "but I expect we can hold out" He inspected Jimmy's first catch. There was a centipede, two lizards and three toads. Jimmy's pockets bulged with bottles. There were also five large and unpleasant spiders. "Good boy," said Drayton, and paid as per schedule. Mrs. Colline and the mother-in-law's nerves were not calmed, any. way, by j the wakeful night. It was the harder j for them when they found three large j toads in their rooms that day. To > have a toad hop at you from a dark j corner is not nice. It is still less to i step on one and crush it It gives a j peculiar sensation. Mrs. Collins found | it so. There was a lizard In the milk j bottle, and another on the back of a chair, whence it climbed into a moth er-in-law's hair. Big spiders Infested! the place. Toward noon Drayton came down stairs carrying on the end of a pin. and examining it critically, a centi pede. "Large, Isn't lt?" he asked, with! some pride; "I killed lt myself at the topof the stairs. They always come( }n families of three. The otjier two will be ?l?ng pretty soon, I suppose." ^> The mother-in-law shuddered. "You -ind "Mr. Bartlett made a great deal of noise last night, Mr. Drayton/' she re proached. Drayton looked concerned. Thes?, government quarters wer? so thin floored, he explained; "Did he always stay Up until ? o'clock?" He admitted being of a restless dis j position and given to insomnia. "A?l right," he reported to Mrs. Lawrence, shortly after. "You just rest on your oars. We'll have yoit back in those quarters before the kids have had time to do much damage j to the place. I should say that a fort night, at the very outside, should see Mrs. Collins suing for another set any other old set Bartlett wili let hei have them. He's an exceptionally obliging Q. M., as Q. Ms? go. That's his reputation." It did not run as smothly as Drayton might have- wished. The women ot the Collins family did not surrender without giving fight. They attacked Drayton himself first, but were met With" a?--urbanity which parried every thrust. It was the thinness of th? walls and floors, and that was mani festly the government's fault. As for his insomnia, the blame of that lay with the doctor, he should think. Ha did not like staying broad awake un til nearly dawn any better than they did. Of course, however, he would try to control his restlessness. The . at tempt met with failure, though, and the women appealed to the command ant The commandant was urbane, ! too, but the insomnia of his officers was evidently -not a matter to ba reached officially. It was plain that the insomnia ! aroused the supicions of the Collinses. But the insects did not. They had never-not even in Te^as-seen a. house so overrun with reptiles. There were lizards in everything. There wera frogs and toads in dark nooks. They hopped into your lap when you were least expecting it They were always getting under your feet and-squash ing. Spiders spun webs and dropped from the ceiling and the walls. And as for more venomous things! A day hardly passed that Drayton did not : kill a tarantula or a centipede some-, where around. They seemed to ; emerge only when he was near. The wrath toward him was tempered with j unwilling gratitude to a saviour. There had also been a garter snake on the front porch. And one terrible day ? they had come upon Drayton, sabre in j hand, standing in the front hallway ^ beside the decapitated body of a rattle snake. They neglected, in the excite- | mentj to notice that the body was not wriggling. Jimn y had that morning produced a newsoaper package. "Here's a dead rattir " he had said. "I didn't know j as -.".'1 wo? him/ But I found j ac "..>" can have him for a! proved the [.est well as tfct- last 1 carries1.,; tro < v.jtss heavy-t;? . 'A \H- f. The whole family was . xi V'kr, and Drayton'^as. too. In all hum<aity he asked the favor of be- ? ing allied to change has quarters. I Any otier quarters would do, provided there vere fewer insects. He was not particdar at all. He asked so little, j in fact, that Bartlett took pity on l/him. He renewed his offer of paint. J "Now," he said to Mrs. Lawrence, "you can come back to your own. They'll move out tomorrow. I've just been inspecting the premises, and there hasn't been much harm done. They are still the best quarters in the post. The kids have knocked a few holes in the walls and the woodwork'.? j a little scratched. But I'll give you ! some paint, too." Paint was Bartlett's idea of tho panacea for all earthly ills. He had not much else in the world, being a second-lieutenant; but he had paint, and he was liberal with that. ? The Collinses moved next day. Drayton waited until the last load ot furniture was gone, and the three women were .taking their final look around. Then he came down the stair3 holding out, at the length of his arms, two centipedes on the point of two large pins. He exhibited them. "These quarters are too much for me," he said, "i'd rather have a corner of a housetop alone, than a wide up per floor with crawling things. I'm going to go back to my own room." A fierce light of suspicion broke in on Mrs. Collins' mind then. "I be lieve, Mr. Drayton, that the whole thing was a put-up job." j "Do you? Do you really?" asked Drayton, smilingly, deprecatingly. 1 "But consider, my dear lady, consider the centipedes."-San Francisco Argo ihaut It "NVHR Hil I-CK. There was an immense sensation created at a certain station the other day, just previous to the starting of the afternoon express for Paris. The Inspector was about to start the train when a short, fat and fussy old gen tleman trotted up to him and ex claimed: "Walt a minute, will you please, while I-" "Impossible, sir," interrupted the of ficial, putting the whistle to his lips. "The train is overdue now." "But you must wait!" cried the old gentleman, excitedly. "There is a man's leg underneath the wheel." "Good gracious! Why didn't you say so at first? Where is he?" inquired the horror stricken inspector. "Hold on there!" And, having stopped the train, he hurried after the o?d gentleman, while a couple of porters jumped down on the line, amid the excitement of a number of spectators. After a short search one of the porters handed up a rush basket containing a large and fine looking leg of mutton. "Thank you!" said the old gentle? man, and, seizing the basket, he en tered a first-class smoking carriage. "What do you indian, sir?" roarded the exasperated inspector. "You said-" "I said a man's leg was under the wheel, and so it was," interrupted the old gentleman. "I bought this leg and paid for it, and if it isn't mine I should like to know who it belongs to, that's all." Then the train moved on.-Tit-Bite, THE FL^A A RECULAR Pl "ATE, Its Forodty, Tuir?t for l?lootl und Aston? i11 in tc Feats of Strength. The flea possesses all the piratical instincts-thirst for blood, rapacity, cruelty. He is, further, as ingenious in devising torments as he is untir ing in the tornlent of his victims. The flea is built upon lines that make him forever hungry. But his continuous performance appetite is far from being the otlr^st thing about him. Proportionate^ ?o size, he is the Samson of the universe. If an ele phant had the same relative strength he would come near to oversetting a steel framed sky scraper. A flea, wingess, with a body out of all proportion to his head, and all over less than the 16th of an inch ir. length i Will leap upon a plane sur face more than a yard. This, too, when he has been hatched in hair, or straw, or sand, and never known what it was to have a full meal. More mar vellous still, he will spring perpen dicularly upward from one to two feet. Fancy a man or boy standing flat footed and all of a sudden leaping over a church spire. Wonderful things have been done with fleas. They have been put into gold collars and set to drag about lengths of gold chain kt least 100 times their own weight. Further, an ingen ious goldsmith back in the leisurely 17th century made a coach and four in ivory and gold, with a coachman upon the box, postilion and outrideru, yet all so tidy it was dragged by a pair of fleas, working in gold collars. They worked under a bell glass, and were exhibited in London and Paris. To fight like cats and dogs is the synonym of continuing strife, but even cats and dogs do not nght so bitterly as cat fleas and dog fleas. Oddl> enough the cat fleas are bigger than the dog fleas, so should be always Vic tore. But here as elsewhere condition tells, If the cat fleas are lazy and luxurious-fat they can never grow - the small, lean, keen beaked dog fleas kill them out. The combatants stand up to fight quite like a pair of prize ring orna ments. As they have six legs they have plenty to stand on and still spare a couple with which to belabor each other. Upon neutral ground, a? a floor or walk, the cat and dog fleas keen the peace. But let one invade litter or a coat sacred to the other, and there is straightway a fight to a finish. Some thing even more curious than this in born antipathy is that dog fleas will not live upon a cat not cat fleas upon a dog. Fleas lay eggs after the insect man ner, which hatch out tiny wrigglers ve.y nearly invisible to the naked eye, yet capable of feeding on moisture and microbes-at least one judges that to be the diet, since fleas breed so largely in sand, hair, straw and litter where other food is lacking-and after a while spinning themselves cocoons. The cocoons are no bigger than tiny grains of scfvd.. but under ?he mlfro "crxy -!....'.. as ssmi-t' Aiviucvntryals j ??c-i5;^'lu- Uncled j. TM..\ [ pjarj^f^r .are-* .bwwfe^tti^.fa " 4m ?'..? iTRT?x, wlisjti'vor it. Tri:,'- hi, .-. ??ic LL? sun or the light can strike them fair. Rain just at the hatching time often kills a whole brood of sandfleas. A flea's beak is sharp and hard; something like a bird's, only more pointed. A fleabite is not poisonous, save and except in rare cases where a flea has previously been biting infect ed tissue. Certain French scientists have shown that both fleas and bed bugs could thus carry tubercular in fection. Further, rats and rat fleas are greatly dreaded as helping to spread the fearful bubonic plague. New York Sun. Henry Clew? on Penmanship. I am always ready to consider appli cations for positions in my office from bright, intelligent boys from 16 to 18 years of age. Such boys should have had a complete course in the common schools, and have some associates that will vouch for their good conduct and integrity. In my employ there ar<i about 150- young men, and they were all able to answer the requirements I have stated. I invariably ask young men to make their applications in their own handwriting, and I make my preliminary selections on the score of their chirography. I regret to say that the value of legible penmanship in this connection is often underrated in America. In England it is other wise. There, writing of the copper plate style is insisted upor. I would advise young men seeking positions to practice good penmanship. It is a valuable thing-almost a necessity. The first po?.1 tim that I held in New York was with WU 'yu 'J Hunt & Co., who had advertised H>; A>. assistant bookkeeper. I wa* told that I wa? en gaged because of my penmanship. That was the beginning of my Wall street career.-Success. Newport No Lonffer ? Capital. By the recent adoption of an amend ment to the State Constitution, Rhode Island has ceased to have two capitals, and the last state in the Union to maintain them has given up that pecu liar custom. Hereafter the city of Providence will be the only capital of the state, and. incidentally, the old historic statehouse in the city of New port finishes its career as a legislative edifice. This venerable pile has had a his tory of which any building within the borders of the "state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" might well be proud. If it had a tongue to tell it might relate many incidents of thc early days in New England when Newport was one of the big cities of America and New York was described to the visitor from abroad as "near Newport"; but. unfortunately, the old building stands in silence upon its firm foundation and of its notable past there remain only tho stories handed down in the few records that remain. -Boston Transcript. Wl*e R>?Jr:iint. "There's one characteristic in men I profoundly admire." "What is it, Becky?" "They can bo so raging mad at each other and not show it."-Detroit Free Press. Chinese Leopard Sicing. The best leopard skins come from China, and are worth as much aq $300, apiece, QOOOGQOOGOOGQOGOGCQGOGGOCO 8 THE EUtTIVATIDN DF EDEIDA ? ? IN THE WEST INDIA IStANDSg o o O3OO00OS000O00QO0CCGC000QO TO thc nctivo^young man pos sessed of fl' limited amount of capital, who is looking for nn occupation AS well ns in vestment, In the Lesser Antilles ot itt . many parts of Venezuela, the cultiva tion of cocoa is at the present time the most Inviting of the agricultural pursuits, Thc island of Trinidad, which is the one most familiar to the writer, produces cocoa of a quality sec ond to none* and only equaled by that grown in the vicinity of Caracas, and always brings' the highest price in th? London market. Considerable patience is required to grow it from thc seed' lings, as it takes five or six years of cultivation before there is a harvest worth mentioning, and seven or eight years before a full crop can be real ized, but when the trees are once full grown they will continue to bear fruit for an almost indefinite time. The cultivation of cocoa consists largely of draining the laud, keeping down the undergrowth of bush and weeds, and trimming the trees. The flowers occur in clusters on the main branches and on the trunk of the trees, usually only one of each cluster reaching maturity. The fruit, which ls seen In the illustration, is a hard perl six or seven inches long, resemb ling a cucumber, growing from the trunk or large branches, and looks very much as though lt were artificial ly attached. Buds, blossoms and fruit, in all stages, occur side by side, and ripened fruit is harvested at all times of rhe year. The main crop, however, matures in the dry season, and is usu ally harvested in February, only small quantiles ripening during the reuiaiu der of the year. The pods each contain five rows of seeds or beaus, quite similar to a lnrire, thick Lima beau, embedded in n pink, neld pulp. These seeds are thc cocoa beans of commerce. The har vesting consists of cutting off the ma ture pods by means of a knife on a long bamboo pole, gathering them into heaps on the ground, where they are allowed to lie for about twenty-four hours. They are then cut open with a cutlass, the seeds and pulp coming out in a mass; these arc carried to the dry house. As soon as the beans reach the dry house, they are placed in the "sweat box" or pit, where they are closed up COCOA DRY-HOUSES IN TRINI tight and allowed to ferment for some time. Thc next process is the drying, which ls accomplished by spreading thc beans in a layer over thc platform and dry ing them in the sun. Laborers are kept constantly stirring them, while exposed t) tho sun, with a wooden rake, so that they will dry evenly. Each morn ing, during the early srages of the dry ing process, the beans are gathered* Into a heap lu tn? ?iiuau nf t?p floor and given a thorough mixing. This la COCOA PODS ON THE THEE. sometimes accomplished by the labor ers mixing and kneading them by treading them with their bare feet, as shown in tho illustration. This Is known as "dancing the cocoa" and renders the beans smooth and uniform in color. It usually requires ten days or two weeks to finish the drying, de pending on thc weather. The dried beans, when ready for market, are put in canvas bags '.olding about 150 pounds, and the name of the planta tion stenciled on thc bags, these names or brands at times becoming very prominent in the market for the quali ty of cocoa the plantation is reputed to produce. Thc manufacturing, which is in vari- j ably done in Northern factories, con sists of roasting the beans in a revolv ing cylinder; this develops the aroma and r*ts them for crushing. After the beans are crushed they are screened to separate the "nibs," or crushed nuts, from the shells. The nibs are then ground to a lino meal; this is put in sacks ami put in a powerful press, where it is subjected to heat and pres sure, and the fat, known as "cocoa butter." is squeezed uut? and the hard substance left in the sack has only to be broken or powdered to become the pure chocolate, ?ind this more or less adulterated ls the chocolate of com merce.-Scientific American, Ii some people can't borrow troubl? Uicy will lt*) it, Authn* Kc venn* Spider'* Mc iho?s. Professor D. Hess bas just yuh' llsbed an interosting treatise on boase insects, with especial reference to spf* ders and flies. The spider, he says, ls a blood-thirsty insect of prey. But she is also a great artist and a irost tender mother, fiercely defending heir eggs and her young ones. First, he says, the spider weaves a silken bas ket like repository for the eggs, using the rear part of her body as a form. lu this basket she lays the eggs, piling them up carefully and neatly. Then she covers the exposed eggs with a fabric of silk threads, the whole forming a minute hall within which the eggs He snugly and well protect ed from cold, etc. If this be instinct, a good deal of what, is called "human intelligence" should be called "in stinct," too, says the author. Keeping Vp tho Heat. The top of the stove is often crowd ed. There are dishes that are cooked. DAD-MIXING THE BEANS. A box just a bit higher than a hand amp has both top and bottom re noved. Across' the top are stretched vires. Thc box is then set down over i lamp, and the kettle or dish is set ipon the wires, where its heat will be fully maintained. This device will often prove of the greatest service, and can be made by my one in ten minutes. Automobile For Women. - Trne~present-day Frenen-nnsurci*cy las the automobile fever in its most virulent form, and the lady of fashion nust have separate vehicles suitable to :he proper performance of her daily .ound of social duties. Various types )f park equipages, closed carriages, >tc, form her livery outfit, and now :hat the firm of Levassor et Boisse las produced a handy little gasoline rebids designed especially for prom enading and shopping, the volatile Ut ile French chauffeuse is losing no time n adding it to her already large "sta ble." It is, in truth, a most convenient ittle three-wheeler (resembling for all the world the American "trl-inoto"), requires very little attention, is power ful enough for all the demands that may be put upon it; is easily han? ?led, neat, handsome, and, above all. it has received Dame Fashion's stamp ' of approval-hence its popularity with the Parisienne with a penchant for automobilisin. It is essentially a lady's vehicle-a man would look out of place in it. Tho average French woman, equipped with one of these handy little vehicles, can make the rounds .of the stores in much less HOW THE UP-TO-DATE PABISIENNE GOES A-SHOPFING. time, and at lea.st as inexpensively a* under the old conditions. The space under the seat is devoted to the stow ing away of milady's purchases. Tl? illustration is reproduced from Auto? mobile Topics. Quite Like a Jewelry Store. In a Kansas town the other day Miss Ruby Opal entertained Mis? I\?arl Diamond. They were seen ramping on the emerald green of <he lawn with sparkles of fun shooting from their turquoise eyes.-Dcuver PQit.