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WHY IS THE WORLD SO SAD? ‘‘Why in the kiuf? t»o Md, father, why is the ’ kinir ho mil? More tlmn his sire thfl kin^'is bi(‘»se<l; The times are fair aud the laud at rest. Kith the little prince on the queen's fair 1 breast. Why is the king so sad?” He put the woman he loved aside; He steeled his heart when his true love cried, And took a princess to be his bride, And so the king is sad. “Why is the rich man sad. father, why lathe ricli man sad? Fair on the hills his turrets glow; Broad is the manor spread below; darners and wlue-vats overflow. Now, why Is he so sad! 1 ’’ His truth for a lordly price ho aold: Ho gave his honor for yellow gold: it's oh for the peace he knew of old, I And therefore he is sad. “Why is the poor man sad. father,why is the poor man sad? Health and freedom and love hits he, A vine-clad cottage Imyond the lea. Where children clamber about ids knee. Yet why is he so sad?” He thought of the rich man's wealth and fame; He looked on ills humble lot with shame; Into his life back envy came. And therefore he is sad. “Why is the priest so sad, father, why is the priest so sad? Little he knows of worldly care; His place is found In the hou-,e of prayer. And honor and peace attend him there. Why Is the priest ao sad?’.' He marks how the proud ones spoil the meek; , His heart Is hot, hut his spirit weak, And the word* that he would ho dare not r -peak; — I And so the priest is sad. “Why is the world so sad, father, why is the i world so sad? Kvory day is a glory sent, Sunshine, beauty and music blent. Fresh from the gracious firmament. Then why is the world so sad?” Alas for the evil ever done! Alas for the good deed not begun! Alas for our blindness every one! % iiy this the world is sad. —Hubert Clarkson Tongue. Heads or Tails. f I began awkwardly, for I had ueveY proposed before, “you must know—^ou must have seen for a long time that—that—I love you. ” Marie said nothing, hut sat looking down at her hands, which were twist ing a hit of lace that she called a handkerchief. Hhe was smiling before 1 began. She now looked distressed. I do not like for Marie to look dis tressed, for she then looks us if she were going to cry. And a crying woman is not pretty. bo for the minute I laid aside my own affair to comfort Marie. , . 4‘'Marie," T began,' venturing witnf much trepidation to lay my baud softly upon both of hers, “what’s the matter?” She looked < up. Her lips were quivering and n tear, balanced for the start, stood in her eye. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, brokenly. “Well?” I said, inquiringly, invit ing her to continue. She hesitated nervously for several seconds. Then she went on, almost inandihly— “You see, Mr. Truusome told me last night what you told me just now. ” “Confound Trausome!” I said to myself; and to Marie—"Well,. Philip Trausome is a fine fellow, you know.” “Of course,” said Maris, acquiesc ing a little too readily, I thought. “And he’s good looking.” “Yes ” “And rich.” 1 ‘ “Yes.” This itemizing a rival's good points to comfort the woman you love is rather straining on one’s generosity. It isn’t so had if the woman rewards your generosity, as of course she should. But Marie didn’t. So I stepped. "Well, where’s the trouble, then?” I asked at length. “I don’t know what to do,” she re plied, repeating her formal wail. I began to see. It is hard to decide between two lovers. I could sympathize with Marie, for I had once been in a similar predicament mv- self. “You don’t know which of us to take?” I suggested, after a minnte or two of sileuce, attempting to put some sympathy into my voice. “You like me, don’t you?” I ven tured with some fear in my heart. Marie nodded. I felt very com placent. “And you like Philip Trausome?” I continued. She nodded a second time. I believe I swore at Transome. “But yon can’t decide between ns. Is that it.” “That’s it,” acknowledged Marie, weakly. “You have tried every way?” “I have, and I can’t”—here Marie blushed, hut it was a blush I did not like, because it was for Trausome as it was for me—“aud I can’t tell whi^h of you I like the better.” The person who sits in the seat of the undecided sits not easily. This I knew. And any decision is better than no decision. This also I knew. So ont of the sympathy which I had for Marie I made up my mind to help her arrive at some decision, even though if I could help it. I thought for a long time, but noth ing came. Then I looked up at Mane. Her eves were fixed expectantly on me, as though she had ‘instinctively learned of my intention to help her and was awaiting my plan. “Well,” said I, seizing on au idea that just then popped into my head, “since yon have tried all other ways, suppose yon toss up for us.” “What!” exclaimed Marie, half starting from her chair. “Toss up for us,” I repeated calmly. Marie sunk buck in her chair and gaze l at me in amazement. Marie’s surprise to my suggestion angered me somewhat. Of course, I can understand that choosing a hus band in such a way may seem a little queer to some girls. But they needn’t act as though it were so unusual. Besides, there are worse ways. “Toss up for you!” Marie managed to gasp out at length. “Certainly,” I replied, with some asperity. “Have you anything better to suggest?” A reluctant “No” came from Maria. “You'd better toss up, then,” I said, decisively, drawing a quarter from one ol my pockets aud offering it to her. She took it and gazed at it for a long time. 1 began to grow impatient, for the coin was like any other of its kind, and I could see no reason why she should study it. Then I saw that her look was the look of one w ho is thinking. Suddenly she raised her head and gazed steadily at me. And then a smile that I liked strangely well slow ly came into her eyes. “No, you do it,” she said, return ing the coin. “1 don’t know how.” Wo both stood up. “Heads it is Trausome; tails it is I?” I suggested briefly. Marie nodded. I balanced the coin on ray first finger, i was sure of the result,,tor the man never lived w ho is as luck w as I am. I even began to pity p<» t Trausome. But before this i'eeliiJg had much opportunity to grow I flipped the quarter whirling into the air, and, as it struck the floor, placed my foot upon it. I looked at Marie. “Which shall it l»e?” I asked softly. “Yon,” she whispered. I slipped my foot aside and we both stooped. The laurel wreathed head of Liberty was up. It was Trausome! We both straightened up. I looked at Marie and Marie looked at me. Hhe was pale and I could not have been otherwise. I bad risked all on the turn of a coin—and it had turned e wrong way. Without a word, for as not wise in the ways of wp*ien, I walked ont of the room, secured my hat iu the hall, and started to opcu the door and go ont into the street. As my hand was turning the knob something touched my arm. I turned and looked around. There stood Marie w ith a little smile —a little beseeching smile—on her face. “Dick”—this time the smile was still more beseeching—“can't you see? It’s—it’s you, anyhow.” I saw, and my hand left the door knob. And in the little excitement that followed f also may have kissed Marie. Such things have happened. —New Orleans Times-Democrat. .UI\o«l Maxim*. A man is known by the trumpery he keeps. Never put a gift cigar in your month. The lack of money is the root of all evil. Where w isdom is bliss’tis folly to be ignorant. A pitch in time saved the nine. Chain up a child and away he will go- Virtue is its only reward. A bird in the hand lays no eggs. All that a man hath will he give to his wife. Many hands like light work. The rolling stone catches the worm. Osculation is the thief of time. A thirsty man will catch at a straw. Straws show which way the gin goes. “Heaven lies about us in our in fancy,” and this world lies about us when we are grow n up. It is not good for man to give a loan. The wages of sin is debt. Every dogma must have its day.— Carolyn Wells iu the Chap-Book. SNAKES IN COSTA RICA. | The < ulebra dr Sancrr the Mont Deadly of Them AH. Costa Bica means the Rich Coast, ; and in most respect* it is rich, parti cularly iu the snake family, the most deadly of which is the terrible Culebra de Sangre (or blood snake). This variety if reptile does not grow to a large si^e, and perhaps for that very reason is most to be dreaded, as it i» not so easily seen. It is red, and resembles a large, swollen vein, ready to burst with blood. A short time ago I stepped on one of these snakes, and like a flash he struck at me, but as I had a pair of leather leggins no harm was done, though it was a close call. Not so fortunate w as a poor day laborer who was bitten by the same variety of snake. The man was working for a neighbor of mine, and I did not see him until the clay after he was bitten. The moment I heard about it I went over to see the poor fellow, taking with me a reiurthr for snake bite, thinking it would do no barm to try it, anyway. When we reached the men’s camp the sight that met our eyes was a sickening one. The man was bleeding from his nose, mouth and ears, also from his' finger and toe nails. How a man could bleed as much as he had, and still live, was a marvel. He hud been bitten iu the foot; only one fang of tlie serpent had. internd the flesh. The manager of the estate had given him several doses of curarine a nredi- cine made iu Colombia and muefc used here in Central America for poisonous bites. We also gave him the medicine which I had brought with me, which made him vomit profusely. In a few hours’ time the bleeding stopped, and next day the poor fellow was sent to the hospital. No one ex pected that he would live, as the bite is considered deadly; but strange to say he did recover, and in a mouth’s time was at work once more. If both fangs of the snake had entered the foot instead on one, he would un doubtedly have died. I have known a horse to die in a few hours after being bitten by one of the snakes. In the past three years two men iu my district have died from snakebite, and in hunting in this country one must always keen a sharp lookout for snakes.—Forest aud Stream. FEAST OF KWONG GOON. APPEASING THE ANCdJ|OF THE KING OF EVIL SPIRITS. Agrif-ulturn and Forrut Kencrvution. As the result of a personal inspec tion of a considerable portion of the Sierra forest reserve of California, I am fully convinced that the preserva tion and deve^l^ i ™“ “f the ariricul- tfiral interVi^vImp^yiGat wheuT aud' frnit districtsJvesTof the range de pend largely ^sponthe preservation and increase of thte forest covering of the region whose drainage is tributary to the agricultural areas. The same is true of the Los Angeles aud St. Ber- nardiuo areas of the southwestern por tion of the state. Where the forest and brush have been removed, either by Are, cutting, or pasturage, the slopes are dry and dusty, the water flows off almost as rapidly as it falls, and carries along with it a load of sand and gravel to be deposited in the irrigation ditches and over the mdds of the lowlands. A comparison of such a denuded area with au adjoining forested or brush-covered district shows at once that the forest covering must be pre served if the water supply is to be ’stored by natural means for irrigation. —Applelons’Popular Science Monthly. A Banquet for the Dead. A unique banquet was held in Ligonier, Ind. The participants were members of the Anti-Smelling society, which had its 'inception about twenty years ago, when twelve young men bound themselves into this body, whose object is only known by its members. On the night of January 11 »f each year, according to their rules, the surviving members must banquet the dead members, and plates are laid for the dead ones. This cus tom must be continued until but one member lives, when he must banquet all the dead members. A loving cup, with each member’s name inscribed thereon, goes to the member who last survives. The society is the only one of its kind in America. There are about ten members still living. An Oak Tree 10,000 Year* Old. An extraordinary discovery, and one which is just now exciting considera ble interest in antiquarian circles in Lancashire and Cheshire, has been made at Stockport. During the exca vations in the construction of sewage works for the town some workmen came across what has since proved to be a massive oak tree, with two im mense branches. Professor Boyd Daw kins, the well-known antiquary, is of opinion that the tree is one of the giants o& prehistoric times, and he says that the tree is certainly 10,000 years old. The corporation of Stock- port is at a loss what to do with the gigantic fossil, which is supposed to weigh forty tons.—Loudon News. If we move our legs proportionately as fast as an ant. it is calculated we could travel nearly eight hundred miles au hour. Three Dollar* a Head for Coyote*. The people of western Kansas are organizing to exterminate the coyotes, which have multiplied by the thou sand. Hundreds of sheep and young calves have been killed by them. The commissioners of Pawnee county of fered a bounty of $3 for every scalp brought to the county treasurer. Sportsmen are organizing to join in the fight against the coyotes, which are simply a species of prairie wolf. At $3 a head hunters can make good wages. Dogs are of no value,because one coyote can whip three dogs. Krer Thu*. Stntterly — M-M-i-ss D-a-a-tely — aw, I-I-I w-won’t you b-ee m-m-my— Miss Dately (shyly)—What did yon say, Mr. Stutterly? • Stutlerly—W-w-w-on’t y-yon be-e-e my wu-wu-wu-wife, I-I-I-LI s s-s-a-s- aid. Miss Dately—Oh, George, this is so sudden!—CincinnatiCommfercial Trib une. The Cliine»e Deity Ha* Evidently a Queer Appetite — Casting Imitation Uoatt Ducks, IMjr* aud Sweetmeat* Into the Sea—Americanized Celeitisl Pageant. The Kwong Goon festival, says a Loa Angeles (CaL) letter in the Chi cago Times-Herald, has just been celebrated by Celestials of the Pacific coast. Of all the 2333 divinities of the Flowery Kingdom, none is held with such dread on this side of the water an the mighty king of evil spirits, the great joss, Kwong Goon. Terrible is his anger if unappeased. Dire is his vengeance if neglected. Once in every three years a great feast is prepared by local Chinese as au offering to the dreaded train of demons who are emissaries and ser vants of the great god. Preparations for the feast had stirred Chinatown for many days. Pig- : tailed coolies chattered irreverently : on street corners and jested at the ex- ' pense of Kwong Goon. Priests fasted in seclusion. Then the morning of the festival dawned. It is related among the Mongolians that Kwong G°°^ once, when ne- ! glectcd. caused his demons to devour all the fish in the sea. Some of the finny inhabitants of the water escaped in the turmoil and hid in the dark caverns of the ocean. The few which survived multiplied and saved the sea from depopulation. Since then every third year Celestials embark upon the water and hold their festival to Kwong Goon there to pacify him and to keep his anger within bounds. Down at the water’s edge crowds of Celestials gathered. They buried their long-nailed fingers within the folds of their voluminous sleeves and eyed the bay aud the ocean suspic iously. They were awaiting stolidly the arrival of Whan Li, he who is high priest to the god. The yellow junk, Fnug-Hi, lay at anchor. It was to bear Kwong Goon noon the bosom of the waters. The sky was gray and sullen. The clay seemed unpropitious, when at once the snn, as if favoring especially the rites of the Mongolians, beamed out upon the rippling, rolling bay just as Whan Li, with eight attend ants in full canonicals, dashed up to the wharf in a hack. Behold the mighty god, Kwong Goou, with hateful brazen grimace, borne in a commonplace cab to the place of high festival by a more com- fnonplaCC jehu fof Irish extraction. It was ludicrous. It was an affront to the god’s dignity. Bnt the procession which followed! Shades of Confucius! That was an affront to the dignity of the whole Flowery Kingdom. First, players of squealing reeds rent the air with prolonged diabolical shrieks. It seemed as if all the furies of Hades had been let loose. But the police rarely ever interfere with Mon golian antics. They seem to resent it meanly. Ho th%y are treated as spoiled children and permitted to mur der the peace. Then they blockaded the sidewalk as far as the eye could reach with a single-file procession of the feast- bearers. Each man bore a huge plat ter, upon which were piled high rare and toothsome viands. Most impor tantly came the sweetmeat bearers. They carried their burdens on a line with the nose, and only glimpses of indescribable dainties came to the eye. Only the curious would have cared to taste. But the eyes of the watchful Mongolians fairly gloated. Behind the sweetmeat, bearers came the honored crew intrusted with the roast pigs, fat young pork, odoriferous with oil aud spices and garlanded with crowns of roses. And then the roast ducks. What grotesqueuess! There they stood upon the immense platters, balanced on one toe, or curving their necks in nasty leers, without regard to decency. These were the attitudes which expressed the epitome of relig ious fervor. Such was the ensemble of an Ameri canized Chinese pageant. It moved majestically toward the junk, with the noble joss in the lead. It stopped at the edge. Then at a signal from Whan Li the sacred image was lifted into the junk and placed against the mast. The feast was carried aboard and placed at the feet of the idol. Punk sticks were lighted and yards of prayer paper placed on the improvised altars. The ropes were cast off, and the yel low Fung-Hi, tossing her gaudy lan terns and tinsel, floated out on the golden bay. Intense silence reigned as hundreds of Celestial eyes followed the sea journey of Kwong Goon. An anchor was cast at about a quar ter of a mile, and then began the true business of the occasion. The pigs, the ducks, the rare sweetmeats, all were cast with profound obeisance and religious mutterings upon the bosom of the waters. They were cast into the glnttonons maw of Kwong Goon’s evil spirits. The pigs, the ducks, the rice, the vegetables floated around on the sur face, mussing np the clean sway of the water. Off in the distance on a wharf a horde of street urchins had gathered, waiting for that feast to float to their expectant arms. At last A nice fat porkling rolled np against a pier. A hook and line was in read!- ness, and it was hauled ashore. There was a groan. Those eager urchins fell back. A miracle had taken place. They spr S upon the thing and tossed it overboard. Pa pier-mache, staffed with cotton and painted iu deceptive colors, was its makenm Kwong Goon’s demons must Infve snorted when the Celestials fed them paper pigs and ducks. Trust a Chinaman to practice decep tion. It is his birthright. THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI. Some Fact* About the Greatest RiverSy*. tcm In the World. How many Americans appreciate the grandeur of their country’s geogra- phyV , , , - How many know that there is no river system on earth which even dis* tantly compares with that of the Miss issippi and its tributaries? The census tell us that these rivers, all flowing through one channel into the Gulf of Mexico, aggregate more than 100,000 miles in length. The Ama zon, the Nile, the Ganges and all the rest of the greatriver systems on earth put together scarcely approach this magnificent showing. Think of it! A steamboat leaving Pittsburg can visit tweuty-three States without passing through any artificial channel. She can go up the Allegheny and Monongahela, the Big Sandy, the Kentucky, the Wabash, the Tennessee and the Cumberland— clear into Alabama—before reaching the mouth of the Ohio. Below Cairo she can traverse not only the Mississippi bnt the St. Fran cois, the Arkansas, the White, the Red, the Yazoo, the Tallahatchee, the Yalobusha, the Ouachita, the great bayous and all the tributaries of these streams. Above Cairo lie the Upper Missis sippi, the Illinois, the Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Platte, the Big Horn and a score of tributaries to all these. The supposititious steamboat can land at IO.jO towns and cities on her way. These rivers drain an area of 1,683,- 303 square miles, occupied by a popu lation of 24,298,332 in 1890. The commerce of this great river system was carried on in 1889 by 7453 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 3,393,379 aud a value of $15^35,005. And so rich is that that ils annual gross enrningt|^^Red the total value of the crafy^^Pced in it by nearly a million nearly eleven milliq nearly thirty- freight per year And this is river systems many that inc! terns as that of th Columbia, that of that of the Alabama New York World. -threi SCIENTIFIC carries gers and n tons of the great —one of ghty sys- thatof the rado and igbee.— RIAL. Painting is now done by compressed air. Ceilings of stamped steel are becom ing popular. The chemical name of Epsom salts i» sulphate of magnesia. An Italian inventor has invented a boat with steel fins, which is propelled solely by the motioar of the sea water. It goes best in rough weather. Sufferers from neuralgia are warned by a medical writer not to drink tea, but to partake freely of coffee into which the juice of a lemon has been squeezed. Electro magnets capable of picking up a load not exceeding five tons, are used by the Illiuois steel company to transfer steel beams or plates from one part of the shop to another. The weight of a man’s brain has, it is said, nothing to do with his mental power. It is a question of climate, not of intellect. The colder the cli mate, the greater the size of the brain. Acetylene can be neither manu factured nor sold in Great Britain now save by express permission of the Home Secretary, the prohibition be ing made in a recent Order in Council. Measurements Lave shown the thick ness of the human hair to vary from the two hundred and fiftieth to the six hundredth part of an inch. Blonde hair is the finest, and red bail’ the coarsest. A French naturalist named Galien has made the startling discovery at Nimes that if a sparrow is put in tbo same cage with finches it will soon learn to imitate their song like a mock ing-bird; also the chirping,of a cricket. The success of the cyclometer on bi cycles has resulted in their being at tached to cabs in several European cities, principally Berlin, Dresden and Leipsic, by % which the exact distance traveled can be computed by occu pants, leaving the cabman little chance to charge more than the legal rates. E*s Albatnen For Invalids. A well-known physician, in pointing out the value of egg albumen as food in cases of sickness, says when fever is pqpsent and there is no appetite, the white of an egg, raw, serves both as food and medicine. It can be made palatable by adding a little salt. Patients may at first rebel at the idea of eating raw eggs, but the quickness with which it goes down without the yolk proves it to be less disagreeable than they at first supposed, and they are more ready to take a second dose. t