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KBBP A-CUMBINO. Vtkt red ii kari Md nm ak? Kmp a-climkta'. H joa'ra f"fa'||Pr?ttjr tough, *Taiat m mm to ait aad pout, *Cmmm Um Hto falter'* stoat. 6*1 tin' miffed woa't kelp yo uout, ^ Kmr a-eUmbin'. It you're Mia' lunda' atck. Km a-climbta*. Make a cam froM aome old aticlc, Keeo ?-climbia'. Daa't etaad atiU if you ?at Mm. Oat aaare atop may ckangt your rial CSoada will often ekaaae their kue, ' , So keep a-climbta*. Doa't get dm into the wt, ' Keop ??cKabm'. Watch the rMl for mm ahort cvt, Keep i-diabtt'. Doa't bo goats' ot Um groan'. With jroar (ooo oil ia o frown, lUiM jroor head and look aroaa*, Bat hoop a-climbir/. Doa't lot folks discourage yoa. Keep a-climbia*. Keep yoar goal always ia riow. Keep a-chmh.a'. If yoa do right things to-day. Sometime yoa 11 bo makin' hay. And you'll hoor the people my, 'lie did some climbta*. ? Tacoaia (Washington) Ledger. '"Tije &nat^e5* ?\1r5e. aw StR H. H. J on X ST OX. (KB most boys, I bad my dreams of adventure; per haps 1 uiay say more than most boys. 8everal of tbem [ naturally were connected with a Robinson Crusoe life on a tropical island. ? few years after I had left boyhood Mhlud 1 was appointed Vlce-Consol in jrhat were then the British and Ger san territories of the Kamerun In western equatorial Africa. Tbe qnes Jon of the site for my official residence aras briug discussed by the Foreign Office, soil ss I had already visited the Kamerun lu the capacity of a touriat. was invited to offer an opinion. I asked for leave to select the little Wand of Mondole^ In Ambas Bay. On die Island I should be safe from any it tack by wild satires. 1 should be on British territory, in a heslthy locality, ?nd yet ouly two miles across the water from the little civilized negro settlement of Victoria. My request was granted, and shortly ifter I started for Moudole. in 1SS5. in English builder was sent 'out to srect the vlce-constfiate in wood, iron ind cement. MY HOUSE ON MONDOLE. I found Mondoie Island of surpassing oeunty? a little square mile of crum bling rock, which rose to u weight of ?ome 500 feet above the very blue waters of Ainbas Bay. To the west was the Atlantic Ocean utul tha pule blue silhouette of Fernando Po. a large :slaml with a peak rising nearly 10.0 JO feet. Eastward rose above Ambas Bay the stupendous mass of the Kn meruu vol cano. more than 13,000 feet above sea level. To the south a beautifully wooded peninsula Jutted out from the mainland toward Moudole, from which It was separated by barely a mile of somewhat rough sen. My first residence was in a little two-roomed timber house which hud been built and abandoned by a Polish explorer, who had attempted to found a kingdom in the Kameruu. with Mou dole as his impregnable capital. A few natives? fishermen mostly ? Mved on the western side of Momloic Island, but for the most part this little paradise of tropical vegetation was un inhabited by the human race. Instead. It was abundantly supplied with ser pents. My first attempts were directed to ward clearing a site for my official resi dence on the central ridge of the island. In doing this I had to wage an excit ing battle with the snakes, which bad taken possession of most of the oid and hollow tree trunks. These snakes belonged to the partic ularly venomous genus of the tree cobra, a snake that is t lie* source of kendless African legends. A I! over negro frica one hears that the deiidraspis. 1 tree cobra. crows lik<* ? cock, and in itive legend it has sonic of the other tributes of the basilisk. It is further, and truthfully, ccle uted for its unusual fi*ro<-ity. A Be cobra will frequently fly out from p hiding place and attack passers-by. ulte unprovoked. The two sexes, moreover, exhibit great Attachment to each other when mated. On the way from the bcneh to tlie site of my projected house there was one particularly large hotnhax trie, which was the home of a pair of these rtee cobra*. They were from about twelve to fourteen feet long, lithe, ami of a dark slatlsli blue above with yel low bellies. ONK DUCK TOO MANY. Again and again, as I passed this tree, I could see the male and female snaken lovingly Intertwined, or, separ ately, mimicking some twisted branch In rigid immobility, waiting, no doubt, for their prey. None of my negro laborers would lay ? n ax to tills tree, nor would they at first let me kill the snakes, as they predicted that the most terrible conse quences would occur? a veritable war of serpents. So this bomhax tree was left standing longer than the other vegetable monsters which obstructed the hulldig site, and the tree cobras became quite nccustomed to our com ing and going. They nttacked no one nt llrst, but soon became a nuisance from their fondness for #?iy domestic ducks. In West Africa, at the time of which I am writing, t lie inuscovy duck, n na tive of Brazil, was the most useful domestic bird. Its egg* are excellent food, and Its flesh Is, as most Aincr leons know, a toothsome article of diet. The Inroads made by the snakes on these ducks became too serious to be tolerated. One day I encountered the male snake with a musoovy duck half way down his gullet, and then and there shot him. Thereafter, as the negroes had pre dicted, began a series of misfortunes. In the first place, the female snake en tirely cut off our communications with the bench by the new made road. She flew nt the flrst party of negroes who were descending In that direction, bit one of them In the leg. ami his death two hours afterward. In spite of all antidotes I could think of, caused all the other native laborers to take to their canoes and desert the Island. WHEN WE CUT. THE HOMBAX I TKKE. I supplied their place with Krooboys from my residence at Old Calabar; but meanwhile I was left on the islam! with an Indian steward and an Accra cook till the English builder aiflvad with his material* an* taea ut maue a determined onslaught on the female snake, no doubt very much at the risk of our lives. We cut dowu the huge bombax tree, and our im ported laborers? their legs and much of their bodies swathed In (elt? flew at the hissing snake with long staves and did her to death. But It seemed that 111 luck was to continue to follow me so long as I re mained on that Islsnd. Prior to these events, my Indisn ser vant, who bad accompanied me on my previous African journeys, had always been a very quiet, well -conducted per son. But now the poor fellow was sud denly seised with a bad attack of black-water fever, and after recover ing. quite lost his mental balance, and became at times a raving maniac. MY DANGEROUS SERVANT. A strong house of logs hsd to be built hastily for bin detention, pending the arrival of some steamer by which he could be seut away to a healthier cli mate. Although slim and spare in build, his .strength when seized by one of these tits of raving became almost superhuman. One evening, as I was preparing for bed. und was. in fact, clad in nothing but pajamas and slippers, the door of uiy temporary house was dragged open, and the Indian servant stood before tne with (lashing eyes and a huge club, which win really an uprooted log from the house out of which he had broken. After glaring at me lor a moment he said: "If you had not been such a good master I would kill you to-night.*' Not thinking it wise to trust in definitely to his clemency or gratitude, 1 sounded my whistle aud called up my six Krooboys. Very friendly relations had existed between the Krooboys and this Indian servant. They therefore endeuvored in their hrok"ii English to persuade him to go back to the log hut. Turning on them, however, like a tiger, he stabbed one of them mortally and another very nearly so. The rest of the Krooboys tied, and I was left alone with this raving madman in the bright moonlight on the sea beach. Showing me the still dripping knife, he flung It behind him into the sea, saying as he did so: "I do that lest I should be tempted to stab you." I have never In all my life been placed in such an awkward position. The English builder was a mile or more away, all my men had bolted into the bush, aud the only outward and visible sign of legal authority was at the little settlement of Victoria, two miles across the sea. My lirst thoughts turned toward the wounded uicti. in the hope that both might be saved. I managed to stanch the flow of Mood from the less seriously wounded of the two. As to t Iir> other, lie was stabbed in the stomach. While attempting to restore him to consciousness, I was suddenly nwnre that tii" murderer was holding a candle itnd assisting in every possible way. lie betrayed no trace of liis recent excitement, hut ! n a tone of the deepest commiseration kept saying: "Poor Crando! Who could have done this? Poor (irando!" ruder the circumstances I thought it best to avail myself of all the help that lie could render at this moment, and he was most deft in binding up the wound. "DURING II Kit MAJESTY'S PLEAS! JIIR." When a'l that could be done for the two men with t lie limited means at our disposal had been accomplished, I had to turn to the Indian and say: "Now I have got to put you in irons." lie held out bis hands quite submis sively for the handcuffs. By this time the English builder had arrived, and one or two of his men helped to get out my boat and row us over to the mainland, where the Indian was put in custody. He was eventually tried at a con sular court and sentenced to be "de tained during her majesty's pleasure." With assiduous attentions one of the Krooboys recovered, but the other died. The place of the Indian as general factotum in my service was taken by a very Intelligent negro ex-slave, named Solomon. Solomon Imd hcen freed as a boy by one of her late majesty's cruis ers, and had been landed for educa tion nt the little Baptist mission set tlement of Victoria, in Ambas Bay. Here he received an excellent train ing. He was so ugly and ungainly in Ills movements that it was difficult to realize what a truly noble hearted creature was concealed under his gro tesque mask. Solomon was one of the many wonders I have encountered in the negro world; had he lived lie might have been another Bishop Crowther. POOH SOLOMON! He took the keenest interest I re member. in the revision of the Old and New Testaments, and was one of the tlrst persons ?n that part of Africa to secure a copy of the revised Bible. He was a hard and steady worker, who kept the null In order without violence, and felled timber, quarried stone, collected and skinned birds, beasts and reptiles, and was always In a good temper, ready with a cheery answer to even the crosscst question. It seemed to me that with the ac quisition of Solomon my troubles on Mondole were over. But the slaughter of the snakes was not yet expiated, according to the negro opinion. One I day, when Solomon hud been with uio to the tdjotalag pwl? 1? to rat tlm bee cad coorey the tap tack to Mob* dole. For tkli pifMi ho preferred, ho Mid. to aos Mtlvo dsgott caaow rather than mj Uttlo hoot. He started early la |he airalag, hot I never saw hlna again. Late to the afternoon the canoemen returned. Mot with cold, and their bodies wrinkled aad flabby with long Immersion Id . the water. They described bow. Jnst as Solomoo had started to return with his little flotilla a great sea had come In from the open Atlantic and swamped the canoes. Thla In itself waa a matter of llttlf moment, where every native swam like a flsh. and where the contents of the canoes would float. But It was aup posed tkst a crocodile or ahark had seised Solomon and dragged him un der. One result- of all these worries and anxieties wan that I became seriously 111 with black-water fever, and war obliged to move to Old Calabar. On aereral occasions subsequently I returned to Mondole and attempted to reside there, for the place waa au premely beautiful, and possessed fea tures of great natural Interest; bu? every time something untoward bap pened either to myself or to some one else stsying in the bouse. Nothing occurred, it is true, that might not equally well have taker place without the snakes' curse, io which I need hardly say I placed lie faith whatever. DISPROVING THE SUPERSTITION After ray transference to East Africa and the cession by England to Oer many of the Ambas Bay settlements the bouse waa removed. The island Is probably now under cultivation by Herman planters, who must hare removed without regard for superstition the tree cobras, and have been able to show the natives, by the prosperity which attends the cultiva tion of cacao in these regions, that the misfortuues of the English Viee-Con sui hnd no connection whatever with supernatural causes.? Youth's Com panion. Money In Corn?r?ton*a. The pnn'tlcc of putting money under the foundation stone of a new build ins Is the shadow of an older tragic custom. The money stands theoreti cally for the ransom of the humau be ing who l>y ancient superstition should have been hurled in its place. There was a time when tills particu lar kind of human sacritice had a vogue extending to most parts of the world. Kven in England skeletons have hcon found imbedded in the bases of castle walls, and there is record of one (lerinan fortress at the building of which a child was bought from its mother with hard cash and walled in to the donjon tower, the unnatural mother, according to the story, looking on the while. Ettigles of human beings are still used Id some parts of Europe as harmless substitutes, and in remoter and more ruthless places the old cus tom crops out from time to time in all its grim reality. Within the last half century two children, a boy and a girl were, it was reported, walled into a ? blockhouse by some laborers at Duga, Asiatic Turkey.? New York Times. PttMlng of the Cattle Huron. The cattle baron of the Western plaius is rapidly becoming extinct. Like the Indian, he is disappear ing before the onward march of set tlers upon the public domain. There are no longer vast tracts of territory lie can appropriate to his own uses, for the land is being sold to farmers from the East and from Europe. The rancher is going out of business. The cause of this impending change is the contraction of the range and the invasion of the small cattleman. The farmers have taken up the land along the streams where the water Is found, and while there are thousumls of acres of dry range land which afford good grazing for part of the year, they are removed froin water and the sources of supply are cut orr i?y the small farmer, who is utilizing It. The subdivision of the great cattle ranges into stock farms will be fol lowed by a marked Increase in sub stantial wealth and population, which will grow from year to year and can not fail to give the highest develop ment to the resources of the State. Longevity. "Sponking of longevity." said Rep resentative' Maynard, of Virginia, at the Ebbitt a few evenings siuce, "1 can produce a list of nineteen former citizens and slaves of my State whose years when they died aggregated 2241. Of the nineteen persons named, the youngest when he died was 110 years old. Two lived to be 130, one to be 120. two to be 121, one to be lit!, two 115, three 114. one 113, two 112, two 111, one 110, one 120, and one, a negro, lived to the ripe old age of 130 years Of the nineteen persons only six were negroes; all the others were whites While I am In the humor I will tell another one. There is, or was, a few years ago, standing on the banks of Nenbsco ('reek, Virginia, a tombstone carrying probably the oldest monu mental inscription in the United States. The date is 1008, and It is thought that the deceased was one of John Smith's men. This Is the Inscription: "Here lies ye body of I?leut. William William Ilerris, who died May ye 10th, 100M; aged sixty-ttve years; by birth a Britain; a good soldier. fln Musics! King. A Wesley an minister in tlio north of Kngland possesses the most wonderful ring in the world. In appearance it lit itn ordinary gold signet rinjt. hut it is, in addition, n perfect little musical box. Hy touching a tiny spring, and holding the ring clone to the ear. one can hear a sweet hyrau tune. Hy plac ing the ring on a lx>x the charming tones of tills unique ring can be heard all over a large room.? I^omlon Tit-Mils. Out* Clrowltif on Hhwp. Country parsons are often naturalists and close observers. The llev. W. H. .Tenonre, rector of Harwlck. Yeovil, de scribes a novel sight which may lie seen in Ills parish. A farmer has been feeding his sheep 011 oats, and some of the (train fell on the back of one of the animals. It has taken root in the wool and sprouted, and the yonng shoots may be seen growing ov Its back.- -Lou* dou Tit Bits. JUST A DOG STORY HOW PETE MADE FRIENDS WITJH FIVE TRAVELERS TO THE ' SACRAMENTO Prom Noah Brooks* "Tho Coming and ilk* Going of p?u" in St. Nicholms. E came to n> In one of the solitary places of tbe Piatte Kirer Valley. In western Nebraska. There were Ave of us. four young uien H and a boy of fifteen, on our way across Ibe continent from the Missouri to the Sacramento. In those days? for this was many, many years ago? there was no way of crossing the great pl:iins bni that of following tne trail afoot, with ox teams, horseback, or otiier simple means of travel. In crossing the plains, men first had the trackless wilderness to penetrate: next came the trace, showing where a few way farera had passed: then the trail was formed by mnuy feet turned toward the West; after that the wagon track made by the emigrant wagons of gold seekers bound for California: the stage road came soon after, and. Inst of all. was the Iron railway. We were on the trail as it was turning into a wagon track. Late one afternoon, jost as we had camped on the grassy banks of the riv er. a large yellow dog came out of the underbrush and regarded us with some anxiety. Being encouraged by a few kindly calls, for it seemed queer to s?e a dog wandering in that lonely aud uninhabited place, lie came into camp, forlorn and suspicious. He was tall, coarse-haired, with fosy ears and club-shaped tail. We tried him with various names that are com mon in dog history? Bote. Tray. Duke. Turk, and so on; hut to none of these did lie make reply until soine o:ie said "Pete!" At this he gave a diffident little jump and a bark. Thenepfor ward he was Pete, and Pete he re mained until the end of the story. As we Itnppemnl to have plenty of buffalo meat In camp that night. Pete was given a good supper. He was ravenously hungry, aud -vhile he was eagerly gnawing a hone he suddenly dropped it with a yelp of pain. <Joiiig to the poor ben:<t to see what was the trouble. I passed my hand along his jaw and found a lump mule:* the skin. ms if some part of the jawbone were broken and out of place. The gentle pressure of my liaml put the bom* into place again, and Pete, with a grunt of satisfaction, went on with his supper. After that, as long as he was with us. Pete would run to me whimpering whenever his ravenous feeding brought on his grief. As ho laid his nose on my knee I pressed back the trouble some lump, ami lVte ceased his com plaints. But ho learned to be careful of Jiis wounded jaw. and avoided wrenching it when gnawing his food. One of the wayfarers whom we oc casionally met on the trail toward the setting sun. seeing uie perforin this painless little surgical operation for Pete some weeks after he had come to us, said thaf he knew the dog. His master. 4ie said, was a brutal fellow, and, being angry with the do* one day. struck him violently on the head with the butt of his rifle. The dog fled howling from the camp, and probably in this way became a wanderer until he made our acquaintance and found friends. We all liked Pete, and he was on the most intimate terms with all in the camp; hut there were two reasons why he attached himself chiefly to me; I had first helped him In trouble, nnd had charge o? the "grub" in the camp. On the plains, and in fact in nil camps, the food is never known by nn.v name but that of grub. From my hands, usually, came the 'ood that was so welcome to Pete. One kind of food which we all liked was known as flap jacks; and Pete liked flnplacks as well as the rest of the camp did. But the labor of cooking them, one at a time in the frying pan, was too great to make us willing that Pete should have many. To turn a flapjack over In a pan. it is necessary to loosCn it a little around the edges and toss it In the air in such a way that when It comes down id the pan it will be with the baked side up, and to do this well re quires experience. Sometimes while the cake or flapjack was turning in the nir the wind would catch it and it would light 011 the ground instead of in tlx* pan-that flapjack, broken and gritty with sand, was Pete's. And he would solemnly and wistfully sit l>v the tire watching the cooking of the flapjacks, and waiting for the acci dents that were to give hiin a share of the good things. After a while he be came so expert in the art of catching tii" flying cnkes that he knew just when one was going to strike the ground, nnd his Jaws stinpped on It before It finally landed in the sand. It might bo a pretty hot morsel for Pete but he never complained. Onr house was a tent, taken down every morning before we turned our faces westward again, and pitched every i.Jght on a soft and level spot of earth. Pete was never allowed to sleep in the tent with us, much to his surprise and discontent; but he dis covered where 1 slept near the wall of the tent, and made himself a bed as near the canvas as he could got and kept watch all night. When we reached the alkali eountrv Pete suffered n great deal from sore feet. The alkali makes the spring wa ter unfit for drinking, and makes rough nnd dry the skins of perrons traveling over the trail. After a while Petes feet were so sore that we made him rid?? iu the wagon. In Salt Lake City we camped on the edge of the town in an open, grassy square, called Emigrant Square, as di rected by the officers of the place One fine morning we awoke to find our oxen gone, although tl.ey had been carefully chained to our wagon wheels the night before. How had anybody unchained the cattle without making nny noise? And why did not Pete give the alarm when the thieves came to our camp? Pete! Sure enough, where was Pete? He was nowhere to be found. In vain we searched through the camps of other emigrants; neither tjie dog nor the oxen were to be seen The loss of flic* cattle was most severe Of course, for without oxen we could not go on to California; but to lose I tfte was like losing. one of our oartv. Next day we ditcorerml tbe cattle In no enclosure that had been covered with brush, as If to hide what was with hi. Tbe owner of the place said he found the ozeu running at large, and he bad taken then up u wait fot the rightful owners to appear. He knew nothing about a yellow dog with foxy ears. We thought It best to get ont of Salt Lake City at once, and, yoking our cattle to tbe wagon, we stsrted for Box Elder, a little settlement to tbe north of the town. With heavy heart* we jogged along across tbe fields until we struck the road leading to tbe settlement. Turning back to look at Salt I*nke City, which is a very beautifully situated place near tbe Great Salt I^ake. we saw something I leaping through tbe tall grass of tbe meadows below us. It came leaping and bounding, risiug and faMing In the waving windrows of grass only half visible to us ou the road above. "It's Pete!" cried the boy of the camp. "It's dear old Peter, as sure as l*u? alive!" FLOGGING WITH r/?\TER. Hu Bmo Found KBtrtlvr lu IHo Cum of So mi Obstinate Convicts. The cold water cure has recently beeu adopted at the Oregon State Peni tentiary with apparently satisfactory results. For all practical pur|M>ses flogging has been abandoned. No rule has beeu established prohibiting flog giug. and if a case should be presented in whlcli all other puuisliiueut failed, tbe lash might lie resorted to. but this is :t contingency not deemed probable The cold wafer cure has been found effective in some very obstinate cases The cold water remedy consists of stripping the prisoner to the skin and ^ turning upon him a stream of cold water from an ordinary garden hose The infliction of the punishment is not as brutal as flogging, it leaves no scars or permanent injuries, and the punish ment ends the moment the water is turned oft". A prisoner who has been subjected to the punishment once, wants no more of it. though he may he sniiling within a few moments after the ordeal is over. Governor Chamber lain and the prison authorities are highly pleased over the result of the experiments, for they have been desir oils of abolishing the whip. Only one prisoner has been flogged (hiring this administration. That man was a trusty aiul hail rim away, and upon being captured was given the penalty always imposed in sueh eases? lip to that time. Since then two prison ers have been punished with the cold water remedy. One of them was a big. burly negro. When lie eame to the prison he was assigned to work in the shops, but he refused to obey orders. He asserted that he dhlu't have to work and wouldn't work. lie was taken to the bathroom, stripped and stood in a corner. . The first spurt of water from the hose brought out a shriek that was evidence of the effec tiveness of the remedy. After trying for half a minute to dodge the stream of cold water, the man gave up and be gan to beg and make promises. The punishment ended, he went to work and has given no further trouble. The other prisoner subjected to the water cure was a white man. For several months he lind ' been giving trouble, and seemed to find enjoyment in disobeying rules, even when he gained nothing by It. Small penalties did no good, and he was finally warned that another offense would bring severe consequences. A few days later he deliberately violated an important reg ulation, and was sent to the bathroom, lie began to beg before the water struck him, and before a pailful of water had been used he was complete ly subdued. Before he had dressed again he was luughing over the punish ment, but his subsequent conduct has proven that he doesn't intend receiving a second dose of water cure. There ure men in the Oregon peniten tiary who bear Hogging scars tint they will carry to their graves. It is hut fair to say that the scars were not re ceived during this administration. Some of the men thus punished are still tinconquered, and are perhaps more vicious and more desperate because of the method of inflicting pain. Many a prisoner has sworn that If he ever gets an opportunity he will take the life of the officer who laid the lash across his back. Flogging was degrading to both the prisoner and the man who imposed the punishment. The prisoner was stripped and bound and flogged until, in mnny instances, the blood flowed down their back*. Not no with the water cure. The prisoners are not bound nor cut and bruised. The cold water cure leaves the offending pris oner with a cleaner body and appar ently a more peaceful mind.? Portia.* " Oregoniaii. A Menagerie it Httm. There Is now a floating menagerie voj aging from Melbourne to London. It contains some thousands of Austra lian birds and animals. A rare speciesof "wallaby." or dwarf kangaroo, is com ing to the Hon. Walter Rothschild, the most enthusiastic of amateur animal collectors. A faintly of emus is bound for the Zoological Hardens, Leipslc. .Ill rues Cooper, the owner of the mena gerie, make an annual excursion of this port from Australia to England, but his present cargo Is the biggest he has ever brought. It embraces kanga roos, emus, wallabies, black swans, white cockatoos, all sorts of parrots and pigeons, ducks, finches, cassowa ries. opossums and magpies.? London Chronicle. (Mix t'p *000 Old Col no/ An old mun who was digging in a garden of a home for the aged in the village of Nanterre. France, discov er*! an antique vase decorated with paintings, containing 2000 gold coins of the (Jallo-Homan period. The treas ure was sent to the police. It will probubly be added to the col teclioa at the I*>uvre and Its value divided among the Idmates of the homes In the department where it wa? ' foMud.? New York Huu. - WAILHOAOr EXfCMSO. Tkt wonder of many people Is fro laMtljr aroused upon Ntlng the enor ommm receipts of railroad companies because of the comparatively small dividend* the stockholders receive. The (act Is that few realise the cost of mslntalnlng these (rest corporations? the variety of the demands upon theii resources. Figures stow, says the Chicago Chronicle, that the annual ex* pendltures of railroad companies fot purposes concerning which the public takes little thought are euormotis. One of the Items of large expense is the softening of wster used in locomotives experience having demonstrated thai It is cheaper to install water softeners than supply these locomotives with raw water. On the midd!e division of the Atchl son. Topeku and Santa Fe Jlailwaj system the sum or $27..'{7."*? is expend ed annually for this purpose, the soft ener being used at twenty-uine watei stations where the water has beer found unsuitable for boiler purposes. The locomotives passing these station? use. on an average, aboe* (>99.000 gal Ions of water dally. The water from nearly all of these sources contains in crusting constituents? that is. the sul phates and carbonates of lime and magnesium, are present in troublesome amounts. The incrusting solids contained In 90i),000 gallons of water us.hI each daj In the year amount to over 320Q pounds, or iu the course of a year nearly 580 tons. Tbis amount of in crusting material deposited in the boil er would, in the tlrst place, damage the boiler plates and cause an enormoue increase in the consumption of coal The removal of this scale would cost probably from six to ten cents per mile of distance ruu. At these twenty-nine water stations water softeners have been erected at great initial expense. The mainten ance of these softeners requires the expenditure of altout $17 a day fot chemicals and an additional charge of about $T?8 a day for services of attend ants. making a total of $7."? a day. or $27,375 a year. The cost of construc tion of these water softeners was not made public, but if the cost of main tenanee represents four per cent, on the investment, the total cmount ex pended for water softeners is nearly ?7<>0.00<>. The same experience holds true of other railroads. At ten water stations along the Union l*aciiie 127SO pounds of solids are removed from the water of twenty-nine stations along the San ta Fe system, although at. the ten Union I'acitic stations they use about fifty per cent, more water than at the Santa Fe stations. The chemical survey of natural wa ters which is being made by the by droecouomlc experts of the geologlca' survey Is directed in part toward Uii? location of available waters which may be used for holler purposes without treatment. If discovered and their lo cation made known the saving of a tremendous amount of money will be effected. In the case of railroads the eo<st of such great losses as above mentioned is due lnrgely to lack of in formation concerning the sources of water suitable for boilers ?'??' they will become the greatest beneficiaries of this phase of the work of the Govern ment. Leather Kailwsy Tim. "Railway ties have boon made from steel. iron, glass. stone. and of grass* and sawdust composition.*' says the American Inventor. "The newest in ventlon for that purpose is a cross-tie of leather. The scrap leather from shoe shops is taken into a disinte grator, ground very line, subjected to a refining process and molded. The ten slon of the molding machine can he so regulated that ties hard enough to take a spike or ties through which a spike cannot be driven can be turned The three great essentials in a cross tie are apparently found in this leather sleeper, for it is guaranteed to hold a spike, the fish-plate will not splinter in it, and it will not rot. It is expected to stand service for thirty-five years Sample ties put down twenty eight months ago in the West Springfield freight yard of the llostoil and Albany Iload. do not show the least wear lloudmaster Sullivan, of the Boston and Albany, says the spikes hold as well as when lirst drive. i. instead of working loose, as in the wooden ties. Income. A cat with a life interest in ?400 do serves to be counted a member of "society." It was at the Itoyal National Lifeboat Institution's annual meeting the other day that we heard of -this re markable feline personage. A lady left the residue of her estate to the institution on the death of a youthful cat: the Interest on the sum was to be applied to the maintenance of the animal ami the payment of the person left in charge, lip to 1901 puss ap peared to enjoy excellent health and ' spirits, but the caretaker changed lief | residence, and the cat did not seem tc j like the new house. She wandered | away several times, but wa4 recovered ! on offering rewards. At last, about j two years ago. she vanished dually | from the scene. The authorities, pre sutning she is dead, have paid thf capital to the institution, on receipt of a formal engagement to provide for the cat should she ever reappear. London .Modern Society. Komnntir Millions. A strange story comes from Odessa A man who had always I i votl nwid hurromnlitms suggestive of direst pov erty. though reputed to bo rich, diet somo months ago. On hi* deathbed ho begged such relatives as visited bia? to disbelieve such stories. *-I liavi nothing but debts.*' tln? old miser k-p' repeating." Tlio Judicial Inventory ol hid estate, however, Is staled to hav? shown that ho possessed I lie remark nblo ruiu of ?4.?mxumm?. much of it In vested In Kritish securities. I<nw Wr(M l-'or rlrrtio. Tho Clerks' Union, of Melbourne Australia, has asked th-? Secretary of Htato to have legislation Introduced fixing tho hours of employ nient am) establishing a ininimuni wage foi clerks. Tho spokesman of tho unlo:i said that Australia was the worst country in the world for rota i I clerks, that wages did not oxceod from $4 to $0 a week and many of the girl clerk* worked for as llttlu as $1 .25 u weok. WIT W HUMOR THE DAY SoaK* mt Joy. Sprinkle, iprmklf. little car*. What a source ot joy thou art! How 1 lovt to we thy spray, Ibktni puddle* all the day! ?Chicago IdUI'Oc<iI> Borrowtag. **DI?1 he borrow any money froa you?" "Borrow! How can 1 tell utiles* b# returns It?" Victim of HabU -Aitience? "l bear she has been en gaged eleven times!" Patrice?' "I hate to sec ? girl get io a rut like that."? Yonkers State&inatv Oa? of Thrrn. ??Is he a war expert ?" "Well, he's one of the 18.OO0.n?)O peo pie who know just how the war iu the Far East should be conducted."? Chi cago Tost. Uaoranro. Husband ? "Docs Jack know Miss Pepper tree':" Wife u'llmlyi-' l believe not. for he bas asked her to marr* him."? Tow u aud Country. Natural Deduction. She? "Why do you think Miss Hariri* Isn't intellectual wbeu you haven't even met her?" He ? "Appearances are against her. She's too pretty."? Chicago News. lt?al Strrnuuut. He ? "I understand SoftU>igh hus bpet asslgued a very difficult role in your amateur theatricals." She? "Yes. poor fellow! They nave him a thinking part."? Chicago News. A I.ittln in It. ??I've been thinking of starting !n business for myself. 1 wonder if there's any money in poultry "x" "Oh. yes. My wife found a dim ? iu a chicken's gizzard ouoc."? Phil:tricl uliia Public Ledger. A ItnrKNin. -?Oh. I've fouuil a grand Inteliigeni'p oflioo." suit! Mrs. Van Albert. "Charge you $1 for one cook?" a.sUed her husband. "One? Why they ngr,ied to let iiia have four cooks 'or $u.US."- -Chicago News. ltltlllxl t<l <'?t I'll (III. /nventor -"1 shouM like to get you interested in my improved 11 v paper " Capitalist? "What makes yon tniuU It will bp successful?" Inventor? "Became each cin? >t up to imitate a bald koad."--l.on t ?u Answers. An Inducement Lady of the House? "Hut the book \? perfectly worthless." Agent? 1 '"Certainly, ma'am. You see. It looks nice on the parlor table. y ft your husband can't possibly sell it lor beer."? New York Journal. A Problem In Golf. Redd? "I see it stated that a man turus 112.000 spadefuls of earth in dig King an acre." < ?lvene ? "Well, how much earth would he turn playing golf in ;'<uii|j over the sauie territory'/" ? Yoakers Stutesuia n. Arrl veil. Mrs. Cobwigger? "So your husband thinks his position in society is now secure?" Mrs. Newrich? "Yes. lie is so suns ubont it that he has stopped hiring a dress -suit and is having one made to order."? Judge. Alwnyn Out nl Mraaon. ?'Who is this man who i> ?tellinir that lie has found a way of extcrnnu a ting mosquitoes?" "lie's the (iaui>> m:in who last July w; ? '.;ultuig ov."/ I". e fact that he b id found a cheap substitute (of coal." ? Washington Star. I'rollclrnry. fle was a cornet soloist, indeed. buv by no means witless. ".Musical proHcleiicy." said he, "is a matter of give anil take.'' "KliV (live and take what?" "Pains." Ik1 said, illustrating his e tloa by running a few scales.- Puck. Something Wrong. -What's the matter?" demanded tho slightly fuddled man. as he got aboard the ear. "ain't this the oar I want'/" "What?" snapped the conductor. "How do I know?" "(>. you must a' ktiowd It or you wouldn't 'a' stopped ;?n' let me keteU yer." Philadelphia Press. Comitflrlrltrr. Finally, they broke in upon the mys terious man. "You make counterfeit money!" they exclaimed, giving voice at once to their worst suspicious. "No. counterfeit wealth." replied the man, and showed them. In proof of his assertion, that his only implement was a ticker. - Puck. SkiiiA Tiling, "Say. yiw ii!" a synonym for '?*p *rt.' will you /" said the court reporter, nib iilinu his pen. "What aiv jou writing about a^lud lite oi her. * Kxpert testimony." "Oh. th?? word 'conflicting' am mnts t) t S saui?? thing." ? Philadelphia