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i ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY. i m. GRIST'S SONS. Publishers. ] %<|ami!g Jetusgaper: ^or the promotion of the political, Social. Agricultural and (Commercial Interests of the people. . {Tg ?L? wpV w iBN?VA'WK ESTABLISHED 1855. "* ~ YORKV LLLt'l, 8. P., TUESDAY. DECEMBER 22, 1908. JSTO." 102. i ????? > -fig ill By OPIJ Copyrighted 1896, by Wm. I By Permission of La MMIAAMJaiMMBMttiHiaiAfekAfeftMIMMi R" CHAPTER XV. 1 L?ong we sat there in a calm, after tlie general left us; and the two girls, on a bench in a corner, whispered to each other. How wild had been my guessing at the character of Millie! IF How could one so shy, so gentle, so fond of showing her dimples, cast off all timidity and set herself in opposition to her father's authority and pride? I could but argue that she was wrong, that she had forgotten her duty, thus to stand out and violently defy him, P and yet I admired her for the spirit she had shown. And I believed that Guinea was just as determined, Just aS nnssionate. But she was wiser. fl told the old man what Alf had requested me to tell him, that he must sell his farm and go away, and he replied that he would. "I don't think, though, that I can get very much for it. Parker's lands join mine, and may be I can strike a trade with him. Of course, I don't want to w (live here any longer, for no matter what may come now we've got the name. Susan, I never saw a woman behave better than you have tonight. The old stock?and I'm with the book from kiver to klver. And now, Millie, let me sny a word to you. Of course, I know exactly how you feel, and all that? how that you couldn't help yourself? but tomorrow mornin' after breakfast I would, if I was in your place, go right home and ask your father's forgiveness. I say if I was in your place, for if you do you won't have half so much to be sorry for, and in this life 1 hold that we're doln' our best when we do the fewest things to regret. What do you think?" * "I'm sorry I talked that way, and he's getting old. too. But 1 had a cause. He made me stay in the house, . and he ought to remember thnt I am of the same blood he is and that it's awful to be humiliated. But there's one thing I'm going to do. When Alfs 'ried again, I'm going to tell them what Stuart said. I would have done it this time, but I was ashamed to say anything about it. I have been nearly crazy, but I'm awfully sorry that I U talked that way. And, oh, suppose he were to die tonight? I never eould forgive myself. I must go home now, Mr. j .Tucklln. Yes, I can't stay another minute. You'll go with me. won't you, Mr. JHawes?" "I will gladly do so," I answered? "And I will go, too," said Guinea. We took a lantern, but the night was so dark that we went round by the road, rather than over the meadows. Millie said that she scarcely remembered how she had come, but she thought that she had run the most of the way. And over and over as we walked along she repeated: "I'm awfully sorry." W As we came out of the woods, where the road bent in toward the big gate, we saw a light burning in the library. ? Millie stopped suddenly and clutched W my arm. "Suppose he won't let me come back?" she said. "I don't know in what sort of a humor I may find him. Mr. Hawes, you go on and see him first, please?" "And I will wait out here," Guinea spoke up. and her voice trembled. "Of course. I can't go into the house after what has happened. N'obodv must knowthat I am here." kl left them standing in the dark, and when I stepped upon the porch I heard rtno wniktne- heavily and slowly I V - ? - up and down the library. On the door was a brass knocker, and when 1 raisM ed it and let it fall, the foot-steps came V hastily to the door. A hanging lamp was burning in the hall, and I saw that the old general himself had opened the door. "Oh. it's you Mr. Hawes. I couldn't tell at first. My old eyes are getting Hat. sir. Step into the library." "No, I thank you. I have but a moment to stay. "Step in, sir," he insisted, almost commanded, and I obeyed. Chyd was un^ der a lamp, reading a sheep-skin cov ered book. He looked up as I entered, nodded, and then resumed his reading. ? "Sit down," said the general. "No, I thank you. for, as I say. I have but a moment to remain. Your daughter is exceedingly sorry that she acted " "Where is she, sir?" "She has come with me. but fearing that your resentment " "What, is she out there waiting in the dark? What, my child out there waiting to know whether she can come into her father's house? 1 will go to her. sir. Come. Chyd. let us both go." fl stepped to the door and stood confronting the old man and his son. * "You can go, general, if you will, but your son must remain where he is." What. I don't understand you. sir. V * - m How flare you?what do you mean, \ sir?" "Your son must not come with us. That is what I mean." "Not go to welcome his sister home. (Jet out of my way, sir!" Wait, general. He should not go out there, for the reason that some one else, out of kindness, has accompanied your daughter and me." "Ah. I beg your pardon," said the ? old man, bowing. "Chyd. stay where W you are." Millie was inside the yard, but CJuinea was In the road, standing at the ? gate. "Come, my child!" the old man IB called. Millie ran to him and he took her in his arms. And he lifted her off the ground, slight creature that she was, and carried her up the steps. Cuinea took my arm and homeward we went, and not a word was spoken until we entered the dark woods. "You saw Chyd?" she said. "Yes. and the old gentleman wanted him to come out." "To kneel at my feet so soon?" f "No, to welcome his sister. Are you - so anxious for the time to come?" "Yes," she answered, without hesitant tion. j "And is It because you love him?" I asked bitterly. "You and I are to be the best of ciuIFT E READ. I I H. Lee?All Rights Reserved. ird & Lee, Publishers. j " mi an in hi mi ti> 1 irrr rv 1 friends, Mr. Hawes, and you must not reproach me." "Forgive me if I have hurt you," I said, stupidly. "But you must not keep on wounding me merely to be forgiven. I said that he would kneel at my feet, and this may sound foolish to you, but he will. How do I know? I feel It; I don't know why, but I do. And we are to leave the old home if father can sell the land. It's better to go, but it will be still better to come back, and we will. Do you think that I am merely a simple girl without ambition? I am not; I dream." "I know that you are a noble woman." "Oh, don't flatter me now. It's first reproach, and tnen natiery. dui nave you thought of the real nobility of some one else?yourself?' I strove to laugh, but I know that it must have been a miserable croak. "I have done nothing to merit that opinion," I replied. "Oh, it is a part of your nature to suppress yourself. Do you know that I expect great things of you? I do." "I know one thing that I'm going to do?I am going to buy the old house and a narrow strip of land?the path and the spring. That's all I want?the house, the path and the spring, with just a little strip running a short distance down the brook where the moss is so thick. I have the promise of money from Perdue, and I think that I can borrow some of Conkwright. Yes, I must have the house and tne path and the spring and the strip of mossland that lies along the branch. It will be merely a poetic possession, but such possessions are the richest to one who has a soul; and no one with a soul will bid against me. It is a mean man that would bid against a sentiment." "You must be nearly worn out," she said, when for some distance we had walked in silence. "I may be, but I don't know it yet. And so long as I don't know it. why, of course, I don't care." For a long time we said nothing. Her hand was on my arm, but I scarcely felt its weight, except when we came upon places where the road was rough; and I wished that the way were rougher, that I might feel her dependence upon me. Once she stepped into a deep rut, and I caught her about the "wawf^fjut when I had lifted her out, I she gently released herself. She said that the road was rougher than she had ever found it, and I was ready to swear that it was the most delightful highway that my feet had trod; indeed, I did swear it. but she warned me not tn nsf> snoh xtromr laneuaire when I meant to convey but a weak compliment. "Let us walk faster," she said. "It is away past midnight. I do believe it's nearly day. . Can you see your watch?" "Yes, but I can't see the time." "Nobody can see time, Mr. Teacher of Children." "But I could not tell the time even if I were to hold the lantern to the watch." "Oh. of course you could. Why do dr. you talk that way?" "I am moved to talk that way because I know that the watch, being in sympathy with me, refuses to record time when I am with you?it frightens off the minutes in an ecstasy." "Nonsense, Mr. Hawes. I do believe daylight is coming. What a night we have passed, and here I am unable to realize it. and mother is heart-DroKen over our disgrace But I suppose it will j fall upon me and crush me when we have gone away. My brother sentenced t*> the penitentiary! To myself I have repeated these words over and over and yet they don't strike me." "Perhaps it is because your mind is | on some one else." I replied, with a return of my feelings of bitterness. With a pressure gentle and yet forgetful her hand had been resting on my arm. but in an instant the pressure was gone like a bird fluttering from a bough, and out in the road she was walking alone. "I earnestly beg your pardon. I scarcely knew what I was saying. Won't you please take my arm?" "To be compelled to drop it again before we have gone a hundred yards?" "No, to drop it when we have reached the gate. Won't you. please? I don't deny that I am a fool. I have always been a fool. My father said so and he was right. Everybody made fun of me because I was so easily cheated; and you ought to be willing to forgive a man who was born a failure. Whenever there has been a mistake to be made I have made it. Once I was caught in a storm and when I came in dripping, my father said that I hadn't sense enough to come in out of the rain. But I am stronger with every one else than I am with you. and?" She was laughing at me; but it was a laugh uf sympathy, of forgiveness, and I caught her hand and placed it upon my arm. And so we walked along in silence, she pressing my arm when the road was rough. Daylight was coming and we could see the house, dark and lonesome beyond the black ravine. "What a peculiar man the general Is," 1 said, feeling the growing heaviness of the silence. "I can hardly place him; but I believe he has a kind heart." "Yes," she replied, "he Is kind and brave and generous, but over it all is a weakness." "And he is of a type that is fast disappearing." said I. "A few years more and his class will be but a memory. and then will come almost a forgetfulness, but later on he will reappear as a caricature from the pen of some careless and unsympathetic writer." We had crossed the ravine and were now at the gate, and here I halted. "What, aren't you going in?" she asked, looking up at me. and in the dim light I could see her face, pale and sad. "No," I answered, "I am going to town." "At this hour, and when you are so tired?" "The horse is rested, and as for myself, my duty must give me vigor." "I don't understand you. What can you do in town?" "I can bear the divinest of tidings?I can tell Alf that Millie loves him." She stood looking down, and, bending over her, I kissed her hair, and oh, the heaven of that moment, at the gate, in the dawn; and oh, the thrilling perfume of her hair, damp with the dew brushed from the vine and the leaf of the spice-wood bush. And there, without a word. I left her, her white hands clasped on her bosom; and over the roadway I galloped with a message on my lips and incense in my soul. CHAPTER XVI. The sun was an hour above the treetops when r rode up to Ihe livery stable, and the town was lazily astir. Merchants were sprinkling the brick pavemerits in front of their stores, and on the public square was a bon-flre of trash swept from the court house. I hastened to the jail, and for the first time the jailer hesitated when I applied for admission. My eagerness, apparent to every one, appeared to be mistrusted by him, and he shook his head. I told him that he might go in with me, that my mission was simply to deliver a message. "The man has been sentenced," said he, "and I don't know what good a message can do him. I am ordered to be very strict. Some time ago a man was in this jail, sentenced to the penitentiary, but he didn't go?a friend came in and left him some pizen. And are you sure you ain't got no pizen about you." "You may search me." "But I don't know pizen when I see it. Man's got a right to kill himself, I reckon, but he ain't got no right to rob me of my position as jailer, and that's what it would do. Write down your message and I'll take it to him." "That would take too long. The judge has granted him a new trial and surely he wouldn't want to kill himself now." "Well, I reckon you're right, but still we have to be mighty particular. I don't know, either but you might be taking him some whisky. Man's got a right to drink whisky, it's true, but it don't speak well for the morals and religious standin' of a jailer if he's got a lot of drunken prisoners on hand; so, if you've got a bottle about you anywhere you'd better let me take it." "I've got no bottle." "That so? Didn't know but you might have one. Prohibition has struck this town putty hard, you know. Search yourself and see if you hain't got a bottle." "Don't you suppose I know whether I've got one or not? But if you want one you shall have it." '^-h-ed?J .Don't talk so loud. There's nothin' that sharpens a man's ears liko prohibition. Say," he whispered, "a good bottle costs about a dollar. "Here's your dollar. It's my last cent, but you shall have it." "Oh. it ain't my principle to rob a man " he said as he took the money. "Hut I do need a little licker this mornin'. Why, I'm so dry I couldn't whistle to a dog. No plzen, you understand," he added, with a wink, as he opened the door. The drawing of the bolts must have aroused Alf from sleep, for when I stepped into the corridor he was sitting on the edge of his bed. rubbing his eyes. "Helloa, is that you, Bill? What are you doing here this time of day? Why, I haven't had breakfast yet." "I have come to tell you something, and I want you to be quiet while I tell it." "That's all right, old man. CJo ahead. I can stand anything now." I told him of the scene in the sitting room, of the walk to the general's house?told him all except that kiss at the gate. He uttered not a word; he had taken hold of the bars and was stnndintr with his head resting upon his arms?had gradually found this position, and now I could not sec his face. Long I stood there, waiting but ho spoke not. Suddenly ho wheeled about, foil upon his bed and sobbed aloud. And so I left him, and ere I reached the door I knew that his sobbing was a prayer, that his heart had found peace and rest. Upon a pardon from the governor he could have looked with cool indifference, for without that girl's love ho cared not to live; but now to know that through the dark she had fled front her home, rebellious against her father's pride, wild with love?it was a mercy granted by the governor of governors. I went to see Conkwright and told him of the threat that Stuart had made, and the old man's eyes glistened. "We ought to have had that girl on the stand in the first place," he said. "Hut it was a delicate matter and, of course, we didn't know that she could bear so strongly upon the case. It's all right?better as it is, and that boy will get off as sure as you are sitting there. That threat was worse than his standing in the road, waiting. Yes, sir, it's all right, and you may take up your school again and go ahead with your work." "I don't want to go ahead with it. Mr. Conkwright. I want to study law with you. The school was only a ' t-'** ? V,mi rrnl t Infr maKesnm, any i "u .w. *,* old and you need some one to do the drudgery of your office. I will come in and work faithfully." "Don't know but you aro right, Hilly." "1 wish, sir. that you wouldn't call me Hilly." "All right, Colonel." "And I don't care to he called Colonel. You may call me Hill, if you want to, but Hilly " "A little too soft, eh? All right. I don't know but you are tho very man 1 want. You are faithful and you've got a good head. Call again in a day or two. It has been a long time since I had a partner. Yes, tfomo in again, and I think we can arrange it." "There is something else that I want to speak about, and to me it is of more importance than " "Love!" the old man broke in. winking at me. "I'll tell you, if you'll wait a moment. Then you may place your own estimate upon it." I told him of tho broken engagement, of Chyd's indifference, of the old couple's plan to leave the community, and I unfolded my sentimental resolve to I buy the old house. "And now I must [ask a favor," I continued. "Od man Perdue told me that he would pay me for the time?time I have not taught, but as I am not going to fill out the term it wouldn't he right to take the money." "Ah. and it is law you want to study?" "Why, of course. Didn't I make that plain?" "Oh. yes. And you don't think it would be right to take the money? Go ahead, though." "I know it wouldn't be right. And what I want to ask of you is this: The investment will require about two hundred dollars. Won't you lend me that amount?" He scratched his head, scratched his | chin, iiit off a chew of tobacco, stretch ed nimseii ana said: " wen, i nave been lending- money all my life, and I don't see why I should stop now. Did you ever hear of anybody paying back borrowed money except in a poker game? I never did. Do people really pay back? I don't know that the custom is over in that part of the country you came from, but the rules are very strict here, and they are not violated very often?they rarely pay back. And they never violate the rule with me." "My dear sir, I will pay you " "Yes, I know. Oh, you've got the formula down pretty fine. Make a good lawyer. I've got some money in that safe, that is, if nobody has robbed me. Let me see if I've been robbed." He opened the safe and took out a package of bank notes. "Don't believe I've been robbed. Rather singular, too." he went on, counting the money. "Two hundred, you say. Better take two-fifty?you need some clothes. Pardon me for being so keen an observer. It really escaped my notice until this moment. But what you want with the old house is more than I can understand. No, Billy?Bill, I mean?no, I understand it and it is a noble quality." He rolled up' the money, handed it to me and continued to talk. "After all, sentiment is the only thing in life, but you'd better not tell this about town? I'd never get another case. Yes, sir, and the poet is the only man who really lives. Now go on and buy your acre of sentiment, and when you have closed the bargain, lie down upon your possessions and go to sleep. Tell the old man that he is a fool for going away, but tell him also that I don't blame him for being a fool. Yes, sir, I love a fool, for it's the wise man that puts me to trouble. Give my warmest regards to that old woman. Let me tell you something: Many years ago I was a poor young fellow working about the court house. And the clothes you've got on now are wedding garments compared with what mine were. Well, one day I stopped at Jucklin's house to get out of the rain?he hadn't been married long?and soon after I went into me Huung-roum, mo ?urbegun to whisper to the husband, and when she went out, which she did a moment later, Jucklin turned to me and said: 'Go up stairs, take off your britches and throw 'em down here, and I'll bring 'em back to you after a while.' I was actually out at the knees, sir, and I did as he told me, and when he brought my trousers back they were neatly patched. Yes, sir, give my warmest regards to that old woman, for if she isn't a Christian there never was one. Well, what are you hanging arounci here for? Trying to thank me? Is that it? Well, just go on, my boy, and we'll attend to that some other time." "You know what I feel, Mr. Conkwright, and I will not attempt to thank you, but I must say that I was never more surprised in a man. I was told that you were hard and unsympathetic." "Sorry you found me out. sir. Let a lawyer get the name of being kind and they say that he is emotional, but has no logic. Rlackstone had to give up poetry. Well, good-day. I'm busy." To be Continued SOME QUEER SENTENCES. Administrators of Justice Sometimes Are Unconsciously Funny. "To make the punishment fit the crime," as Gilbert wrote, should be the ambition of all those In whose hands rests the administration of Justice, says a writer in Pearson's Weekly. Law, unfortunately, interferes sadly with the desires of just-minded people, but now and then one hears of an individual with sufficient good sense or strength of mind to decree a fit and appropriate punishment. For instance, at Geneva, two small boys were charged with stealing from a shop, and were found guilty. Said the magistrate: "I am not going to send you to prison. I decree that you shall attend Sunday school every Sunday for the next fifty-two Sundays, and I make your parents responsible for the sentence being duly carried out." At Denver, Col., when a tipsy man is brought into the police station, he is propped up against the wall and at once photographed. Next morning, when he is sober, he is shown the picture, and they say It is quite surprising how many absolute cures have been effected by this simple proceeding. An Italian swindler, Lupo Salvatore by name, was recently found guilty upon no fewer than sixty-three separate charges, and received n sentence of three years' imprisonment on each. He is hardly likely to survive 189 years in an Italian prison. A railway company, the Northeastern, took an odd method of punishing a passenger who refused to leave a saloon carriage when he had only an ordinary third-class ticket. They took tlm enrHnp-e off hacked it into a siding and left It there. The passenger sued for damages for loss of time, but, though he failed to recover, the judge refused to give the company costs. He said they should have locked the carriage If it was to be reserved. A punishment which got the perpetrators into serious trouble concerned a boy of 12 and a pot of green paint. The hoy, who ran errands for a Battersea grocer, did something which annoyed his employer, who stripped him and painted him green. The boy nearly died, and the grocer was very heavily fined. tw What is that which occurs twice in a moment and not once In a thousand years? The letter "m." ittisccllanrouo iJcutlini). CHRISTMAS AND WHISKY. Stirring Appeal Against Greatest Evil of the Holidays. Anderson Intelligencer. I have been grossly insulted and in the very heart of your city, and I ask you who Is due me an apology. I am an old lady and respect Is due the aged. But the grandest insult of my life was forced upon me one day last week in one of your big dry goods houses. Yes, I was standing by the counter, making some little purchases of one of the clerks, when a man walked in, and without any hesitation, asked the clerk if he could sell him his Christmas booze. 1 felt at first that I must strike him, as I would a dog that had bitten me, but, alas it was a man und I could not strike, and my next thought was to tar and feather him and ride him through the streets on a rail, and give every woman and child a chance to stone him, and then if it were in my power I would tie a mill-stone around his neck and cast him into the sen. The Idea of selling Christmas whisky! I tremble as I link the two names together. It is well that I tremble. O, God! How many of my sex are trembling today, as they think of the Christmas whisky that is being ordered. O, if I could, I would go to every man, and on bended knees, I would beg him, for Christ's sake, don't make that order. But of these whisky agents, why are they allowed to walk the very pavement that the feet of a good woman must trod? It is dangerous, for a man that will sell whisky, will do anything. Nothing is too low for him to do. Ah! Let the women fear him. for he will do them all the harm he can. How many poor old mothers and grief-stricken wives are suffering from his blows. I am an old mother, and I can truthfully say, Ilhnd rather this agent would fell me to^the earth with a blow from his brutish fist, than to know he had sold my son whisky. Ah! How many mothers are felled, not to the earth, but to a bed of suffering, what suffering is worse than a broken heart. Ho\t? many wives will moan and groaii In agony this Christmas by this agenifs work? Yes, he Is selling their husbands their Christmas whisky, and they 'must suffer for it. In how many ways..must they suffer; the husband begins his Christmas debauch Christmas eve, and the poor wife sits at home all alone, waiting for some one to bring the agent's victim. That is only the beginning. She must wait on him all Christmas while he is drunk. Then several days after because he is sick. But what is the use to say anything about the drunkard? He will not listen until he hears the groans in hell. He will stop and listen then because he has reached the end. I \Vish every drunkard could be locked tog??her In a den Christmas eve and ' 41 * ?* - Anhf Kepi mere umii i>e? irai. vmj terday I heard a poor woman say, she wished she could die Christmas eve and come to life again New Year. She said her husband had ordered his Christmas whisky and also one of her sons. That there would be nothing for i her Christmas but tears. How many j little children will hardly know It Is , Christmas, yet their fathers can make a big order for Christmas whisky. One of my neighbors went to Anderson last week and his wife sent four hens by him to buy their little girl a pair of shoes. I happened to be In the . store near him when he bought the . shoes. The clerk handed him a pair worth one dollar, but the man said he i had only seventy-five cents, so the clerk gave him a very coarse pair and ] they were wrapped up. That man's j wife told me that the hens were sold for $1.25 and he had spent fifty cents for whisky, but what is the use to mention this one little instance. Ain't the world running over with such men? v*.u t oin mart I ran't helD it. when i I think of all the sorrow that is In store i for the poor women and children, i caused by the Christmas whisky. I reckon the country is full of the , devil's agents booming up their whisky houses. 1 would like to make their uniforms. I would make them of crownless hats, tattered rags, ragged trousers and heelless shoes, and I would have their morning's bath in the tears | of some poor old mother crying for her ] lost boy, and I would have their evening's bath in the blood of one of their ( murdered victims, and their food would , be the crusts and bones that are given the drunkard's child, and I would have , him spend his Christmas in the drunk- , ard's home. Let him see his own . works; the tireless grate, the empty cupboard, the ragged children, and I . would let him feel the invisible. i Yes, I would crush his heart, as he | has that poor drunkard's wife. I would | let him know what it Is to link our Sa- j viour's name with whisky. Ah! He i will never know what he has done un- | til he reaches the bottomless pit, where | he will roll and writhe in the burning lava, and raise his blood-shot eye toward heaven, and ask God how much longer must he endure this awful agony. Ah! The answer must be a 1 thousand years longer. Let us all pray that God will be merciful to the man who sells Christ- ' mas whisky. "An Old Country Lady." < i THE SEMINOLE AFFAIR. Careful Editor Points Out Some of the Lessons. m?ia r.vrj'inatinnu that have been made about the Seminole Securities company do not explain. It Is stated that the concern was formed for the purpose of buying a life Insurance company and a casualty company. Why was that? Why were not the stocks of the life insurance company and the casualty company offered to the public direct? Why the secondary ownership? It stated that three Columbia bankers were "trustees" of the Seminole company, but that they had nothing to do with the management, nothing to do with the sales of stock?in fact had nothing to do with the company and knew nothing about Its affairs. Is that a reasonable explanation? Are people with common sense going to believe that statement? But those who have got stuck on the swindle?for It appears to have been a swindle?do not deserve sympathy. They put their money into something they knew nothing about, expecting to get enormous profits. Shrewd, smooth men played upon the cupidity and greed of the people?and won. It has been an interesting game of high finance all the way through. It is known now that those who bought the stock paid much more than it was worth, but it is doubtful if they will ever be able to get back the difference between what they paid for the stock and what it is really worth. Hut they have learned that a "getrh ..-quick" scheme must always be a swindle, they hnve learned how worthless is the term "trustee," they have also learned how unsafe it Is to bank on the strength of another man's reputation, and these things may be worth a good deal in the long run. Looking at it in this light it may be that instead of throwing their money away they have invested it to good advanbim, Anrloronn Tin 11 v \TnH HOUSE ASKS FOR PROOF. Resolution Puts Issue Up to the President. Following Is the resolution adopted by the house last Thursday in regard to that part of the message referring to the secret service: "Resolved, That the president be requested to transmit to the house any evidence upon which he based his statements that the 'chief argument in favor of the provision was that the congressmen did not themselves wish to be investigated by secret service men,' and also to transmit to the house any evidence connecting any member of the house of representatives of the 6?tth congress with corrupt action in his official capacity and to inform the house whether he has instituted proceedings for the punishment of any such individual by the courts or has reported any such alleged delinquencies to the house of representatives." Mr. Perkins of New York, chairman of the special committee, charged to investigate the allegations made in the president's message and John Sharp Williams of Mississippi, both stated on the floor that it was the desire of the special committee to be just toward the president in allowing him to submit any evidence he may have and both declared that the committee would give it full and impartial consideration. Mr. Perkins said the committee would continue in session during the Christmas holidays so that it might receive such evidence from the president and proceed to consider it. Both the resolution and all of the preamble, except that part of the latter Interpreting the meaning of the president's message in relation to the secret service were adopted unanimously by a viva voce vote. Mr. Bennct of New York demanded a division on the preamble provision stating the committee's Interpretation of the president's strictures upon congress, but before tTie division was entered upon endeavored to withdraw his motion. Mr. Williams insisted that this could not be done and the vote being taken, 270 members voted aye, and 14 no, on this part of the preamble. In reporting the resolution Mr. Perkins said it had been recommended unanimously by the special committee and added that as soon as the president should send in any information In his possession the committee would make another report for the consideration of the house. "So far as the committee knows," said Mr. Williams, "there is not a scintilla of evidence to support that statement by the president. The committee has thought it would be fair to the president to give him further opportunity to produce testimony If he has any. Tne American people have a right to know if the American congress be corrupt." Mr. Keifer of Ohio, wanted to know whether the words "if not incompatible with the public service" should not be Inserted In the resolution as usual in calling on the president for information. This suggestion called forth laughter and Mr. Perkins declared tnai the resolution as worded was a "request" for information and was imperative in Its wording. "I understand," insisted Mr. Keifer, "that these words were purposely omitted from the resolution." "The matter must of course, rest with the chief executive," replied Mr. Perkins. Mr. Perkins then cut off further discussions by demanding the previous riuestion. and Speaker Cannon calling for a viva voce vote, there was a chorus of "ayes" favoring the passage if tliis resolution, followed by a dead silence when the noes were called for. Mr. Perkins again securing the floor lent to the speaker's desk another resolution and the house was on tiptoe of expectation to know what further action was to be proposed.' It proved to be an offer of congratulations to the newly formed Turkish parliament. and amid laughter the resolution was adopted. Great Things In the World. What is the greatest thing in the ' vorld ? Ask the scholar and he gravely tells rou that learning is, for that comprehends and promotes all. Ask the preacher and he solemnly 1 rssures you that religion is. because t is a light from heaven. Ask the artist, and he cries: "Art. 1 'or It combines mntter and spirit both it their best." ' The lawyer declares: "Justice, for 1 t is the soul of peace and progress." "Money," says the banker. "It is he spring of all action." Ask the young man full of hope ind spirit, and he cries, "Ambition." 1 Ask the weary old toiler, and he ( ells you: "Rest and content." The pair of lovers, hand in hand, inswer as one: "Love." The mother with her baby at her Dreast says: "Sacrifice." 1 The wild roisterer cries: "Pleas- ( ire." The wan invalid whispers: "Health." Then meet a shambling, grinning :ool and put to him the question. He dmpers and says: "I don't know." And which, think you, is the wiser ){ them all, from the scholar to the Tool? i'' The average length of life of the Icelander is a little over 61 years. The deepest hole in the world has seen bored In Silesia. It has reached a lepth of about 7,000 feet, and passes through 83 beds of coal. SCIENCE AND THE FARM. Investigators Doing Much to Help the Modern Agriculturist. The most Important and the most fascinating of all Professor Blffen's experiments in the laboratories of Cambridge University, England, concern production of varieties of wheat Immune to prevalent pests, says a writer In Harper's Magazine. In all countries the most serious enemy of the wheat farmer is the rust. Early in their growth the plants are attacked by a parasitic fungus whose presence Is rendered conspicuous by an abundant outbreak of reddish-yellow postules all over the foliage. In certain seasons and with certain varle lies me ouioreuK may ue su severe aa to very greatly diminish the yield of grain. In the bad rust year of 1891 the loss due to this cause In Prussia alone was calculated at more than ?20,000,000, while a well-known authority estimates that the average loss from rust to the wheat crops of the world would not be covered by ?100,000,000. Xo prophylactic against the disease has been discovered, and it is recognized that the only way to avoid it is to make use of varieties which are naturally immune. Unfortunately the few such varieties which are naturally immune that exist are in other respects poor and unprofitable to grow. Professor Biffen began his experiments by crossing a variety peculiarly subject to the attacks of yellow rust with an immune variety. The hybrids produced were all severely attacked by rust. In the following year such seed as could be collected from these plants was sown. The greater number of the resulting plants were much rusted, but some were entirely free from the disease, though growing up in the closest contact with their rusty brethren. It was found on counting that the Immune plants formed almost exactly a quarter of the total number. In other words, the experiment proved susceptibility and immunity to be a pair of Mendelian characters, and consequently within the control of the breeder to combine with other characters according as he pleased. The fact that resistance to yellow rust is a unit character exhibiting Mendellan inheritance makes It a simple matter to transfer it to wheats which are in every way desirable except for their susceptibility to rust. From the knowledge gained through his experiments Professor Biffen has been able to build up wheats combining the large yield and excellent straw of the best English varieties with the strength of the foreign grain, and at the same time quite Immune to yellow rust. During the present year several acres of such wheat coming true to type were grown on the Cambridge University experimental farm, and when the quantity is sufficient to be Mit.uoon the market there is no Tea son to doubt its exerting a considerable influence on the agricultural outlook. NEPTUNE AT THE "LINE." Admiral Evans Tells About Initiation Ceremonies on Board the Fleet at the Equator. Of all the old customs of the navy the only one that will probably survive and last for all time Is the'initiation of landsmen who cross the "line," as the equator is called, for the first time. The ceremonies, like the custom itself, are practically the same in all the navies of the world but do not, so far as I know, obtain In the merchant sendee. In an age of change when all precedents are disregarded and old customs and traditions forgotten, it is pleasant to know that this one, so long observed and which gives pleasure to so many, may still hold its place. As the fleet approached the equator on the evening of January 4, a messenger from Neptunus Rex boarded each vessel, Interviewed the captain, and, having received his permission for his majesty to visit him on the morrow, took his leave. During the night of January 4, each ship was flted with a large canvas tank near the forward turret, so arranged that from a tilting barber's chair on the rim of the turret, the one to be initiated could be tumbled head over heels into the water which, as it leaked out, was being constantly renewed by several lines of hose. All those to face Father Nepture were sure of a good, cool bath if nothing more. When the position of no latitude was reached on January 5 the flag of the monarch of the sea was broken out at the signal yardarm on every vessel of the fleet, and King Neptune, followed by his suite, boarded each ship over the bows and marched aft to the quarterdeck In the presence of the assembled crew to make his call on the admirals and captains, and obtain their permission to conduct his ceremonies. Great ingenuity had been shown by the "old hands" in preparing the many costumes necessary for the occasion, and the "march aft," as it is called, produced much laughter and applause from those who saw it for the first time but there were many serious faces among the young recruits who looked forward with some anxiety to the time when they should fall into the hands of these fearful looking monsters of the deep who were constantly threatening dire things to those "landlubbers" and "haymakers" who ventured to invade their domain without permission. Father Neptune in every case knew the officers and men whom he had met before, .and he welcomed them with a few kind words, mentioning the name of the ship in which each had sailed, and wishing them a fair wind for all time. So perfect were the costumes of the king and his court on board that flagsnlp that I failed to recognize a single man of the more than fifty who constituted the suite. I presented them with cigars enough to keep them going, wished them a successful day, and the frolic began. Seats had been arranged on the forward bridge for the officers who had cross, d the line before, and from this point we observed the ceremonies. The day was exceedingly hot and we were all dressed in our thinnest white uniforms. After I nuu D?eil WUICI1III? UIC lull 1U1 ctc*cio.4 hours I felt a peculiar cold wind blowing: on my hack, which so chilled me that T was forced to retire to my cabin, where In the evening: I found myself helpless with an attack of Inflammatory rheumatism, which caused me In tense suffering often recurred, and eventually compelled me to give up the command of the Atlantic fleet?a misfortune which might well break the heart of any officer who loved his profession as I have always done. Before leaving the United States the "old hands" had provided the certificates for Neptune, to sign. They were handsomely printed on seagreen paper and made very pretty souvenirs for the recruits to preserve. Indeed, I should not say "recruits," for there were many men, and officers as well, who had been around the world several times, men of many years' service who had never crossed the equator. This may be easily understood after a glance at the map, where It will be seen how oneleaving Sau Francisco can cross the Pacific, proceed through the Mediterranean, and so across the Atlantic to New York, without once crossing the equator, and this many officers and men had done. When once the Panama canal Is completed the equatorial ocean regions will be much more lonely, even than they are now. King Neptune always offers the officers the privilege of paying their fottlng; that Is, contributing so many cigars or so many bottles of beer Instead of being regularly Initiated; but on this occasion the midshipmen decided that they would take their medicine with the rest, and they were the first to receive the rites; that is to say, be shaved by the barber with a long wooden razor and then "tumbled into the bath," where the "mermaids," "sharks," and "porpoises" sawthat they were thoroughly and properly ducked. The ward room preferred to pay. As each man of the crew received his ducking he became an energetic recruit In the ranks of Neptune and Joined the sea policemen, who with stuffed clubs were searching the ship for those who attempted to escape the ordeal. This was particularly the case with many of the colored men on board who were serving In the capacity of messmen. None were allowed to escape, and as I looked on I could tell very easily the men, both black and white who had in any way made themselves offensive to the crew. Such persons came out of the tank pretty full of soapsuds and salt water. But In no case was any man maltreated or Injured. It was a form of harmless hazing to which I gave my hearty approval. BROTHERS IN CRIME. A Fraternity of Rogues That Swallows up the Individual. When a man becomes a "Yegg" he Inooa fhn noma that hnlnnca I UV.HVUU J lVO?? WtiV ?MM?IV VI* 1* v WVIVIIQM to him, says a writer in the Bohemian. If there comes into a "Yegg" camp a stranger who proves by his dialect that he Is entitled to membership, "Yegg" etiquette does not permit any one to ask his name. "Where d'ye hail from?" is the question. If he replies that he fs X Plttsburger, they call him "Pitts Slim" or "Pitts Fat," or some other name suggested by his physical characteristics. There is a degree of cleverness, sometimes, in these names. A young man with a patch of gray hairs is known as "The Aged Kid." A hunchback with a wooden leg acquires the appellation of "The Pegged Hump." The word "Yegg" has been attributed to gypsy origin. When a thief showed special aptitude the gipsies elected him a "Yegg chief." Gradually the ordinary tramp, or "hobo," if he grew to be a skillful thief, came into the title of "Johnny Yegg," and finally the name was acquired exclusively by the wandering nltro-glycerin expert of today. This outcast appears to embody what is worst in the gypsy and the "hobo" with the craft of one and the barbarity of the other added to a reckless daring of his own. One of the most interesting phrases of the fraternity of the "Yeggs" is found in those rare exceptions, the "Yegg" with a family and the "Yegg" with a longing ror nome. wnue most of them have no ties, it happens now and then that one boasts a wife and children. In that event, if he is arrested, other "Yeggs" invariably provide for the family. The "Yegg" with the longing for home occasionally gratifies his ambition by saving a competence, with which he returns to his native place. He then settles down in some business, and "Yegg" know him no more. If there is an inquiry as to what has happened to the absent one, the reply is, "He's gone home." All "Yeggs" know what that means. THE DOCTOR AND HIS FEE. Ability to Pay Defended as the Limit of Charge. Said Satan in the course of his remarks on the probable vulnerability of Job: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." This was an early contribution to the literature of debate over the proper size of the doctor's fee. Its latest product is a chapter in the North American Review by Dr. Arthur C. Heffenger, who argues that the fee may be fixed Justly by considering what life or limb may be worth to a particular patient. Another authority has stated the case in epigram: "Medical and surgical services have no value, in that they are invaluable." Once a New York polo player paid 11,000 for having a broken finger set. He was rich and he wanted to be sure of the finger. In the case of Loiita Armour Dr. Adolf Lorens, coming from Austria to Chicago, received $76,000? a small price for the physical well-being of the petted child of a multi-mllllonatre. A Boston man jald gladly $10,000 for laparotomy performed on his wife. There are men like James R. Keene and the late Cornelius Vanderbilt who think nothing of engaging while traveling, the exclusive services of a doctor who can earn $25,000 a year In practice. On the other hand, it Js stated that practically 33 per cent of the practice of New York city is charity?and In at least a third of such cases the doctor Is imposed upon! There are about 200,000 doctors In the United Btates, or one to every 400 of population. The average yearly Income in the profession is estimated at $750. A few doctors make princely Incomes; many approach the other extreme. There are great and good physicians who are not famous nor rich and there are charlatans who are notorious and wealthy.?New York World.