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His Word of Honor. tt6^H?iTriTM> rrriT iTirnrrm vi> "A very odd thing happened at one of New York's great hyphenated ho tels a few years ago," said Pat Gal . ligan, the house detective of the New .Wlllard. "A group of distinguished million aires. five of them, all men whose names are known from one end of the country to the other, were tak ing luncheon In the hotel's palm room, it wasn't a business luncheon, but merely a little getting together, and they all b'ecame pretty gay. "The talk at the table veered around to tho subject of a business man's word of honor. One of the millionaires, a man known for the extreme sharpness of some of his transactions, felt called upon to be very outspoken on this subject, al most as If he felt himself under fire. ? Ho held to it that once a business . man passed his word there should be ??could be ? no recalling of that word. The word should stick in any and all circumstances. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with the carrying out of that word, even if the man passing his word should be put to all sorts of hardships in carrying out the provisions of his word of honor. "It seemed to some of the others that this was carrying it a bit to far. They said so, and argued the point with tho man who was for the unbreakablcness of the passed word o* honor. " 'Suppose,' said ono of them, 'that tho person to whom such a word of honor is given should bo an unworthy individual, and ono who would "do" the man thus giving him his word as quick a3 winking if he got a chance?' "'Doesn't make a particle of dif ference,' said tho millionaire who was fur the bindingness of the passed word. 'Before giving his word the business man should see to it that he isn't likely to come* into contact with any such people. If ho does come into contact with them it's his own fault. Ho must bear the conse quences. But he can't break his given word.' 'But, suppose,* said another one of tho disputants, 'one should hap pen, by some mischance, to give his word to some acknowledged thief, what then?' " 'Ilo'd have to abide by it, that's all,' promptly replied tho man who clung to the letter of the word. 'Ono doesn't havo to come into con tact with thieves, but, if ono does, ? and inadvertently passes the thief the word of honor, why, there's noth ing else in life t6 be done except to abide by tho word. That's all. That's the way I look at tho matter, anyhow.' 'Well, I'd liko to see you put to such a test, old man,' said one of ? them then. 'I'm not saying that you wouldn't act up to your convictions, but I'd be willing to gamble that it would give you a twinge and that you'd be letting off some steam while it was happening.' '1 never go on record with any ? thing that I don't stay with in actual practice,' replied the millionaire with the strong views on tho subject un der discussion, and then tho talk switched around to something else. : "The luncheon party broke up about half an hour later and the mil lionaire with tho strong views went to his suite of rooms, lie found him self alone when he got there. His valet was out on an errand and his secretary was attending a funeral. ?The millionaire tossed himself on a couch to take a bit of a nap. Beforo he had been stretched out a minute, however, a card was sent up to him. The millionaire didn't know tho name on tho card, but there wore three words scrawled on the bottom of tho card relating to a deal that tho mil lionairo was interested in that in duced him to tell tho bellboy to send the visitor up. "Tho visitor appeared three min utes Inter. He was a distinguished looking?man of forty-five or so, with whitening hair, and perfectly dressed and groomed. "He advanced as if to shake hands with tho millionaire, who stood in tho middle of his study. Then the millionaire noticed that his visitor had a revolver in his hand and that the muzzle of it was on a lino with bis own heart. He paled, but stead ied l.imsoir. " Don't worry, sir,' said tho vial tor, in a well-bred way, but never lowering his weapon from' its hip high position. 'I have no violence in mind if you haven't.' 'So It would seem, when you ap proach me with a gun in your hand,' said the millionaire, grouchily. " 'The fact is,' said the visitor, with complete calmness, 'I find my self profoundly embarrassed this af ternoon to got the money to pay a note th. 'it is due. The amount Is ten thousand dollars. 1 have taken the desperate chance ? the only chance I can fcc ? or getting tho money from you.' " Of sticking me up for It, oh?' ?r.-.iin d the millionaire. ? 'Well, if you elect to call It by thai ugly nnmo. yen,' replied the visi tor. r. amoved, 'I may add that I think It will lie best for you to let me havo the amount without loss of time.' " 'And if I refused to give It to you. what then?' inquired the mil lionaire, stunned with tho man s im pudence. I trust you will not roqulro me ?o answer sr.c'.i a question,' was tho polite r<?ply. 'Hut I haven't the least notion that you will refuse mo the nionoy,' and there was a hard sound to tlio visitor's volco when ho said til If. "i'ho millionaire stood looking at the visitor. But/ he said. *you are not Idiot enough to suppose that I carry anj such a sum as ten thousand dollart In cash about with me, are you?' " 'I certainly am not,' was the cool reply. 'But, then you can ? and win write me a check for the amount." Instantly the millionaire experi enced what he thought was a flash ol understanding. " 'Give you a check, eh?* he said. 'But, you scoundrel, what makes you imagine that I would not stop the payment upon the check Immediately you left this room?' " 'Because you are going to give mo your word that you will do no such thing,' calmly replied the visi tor. "Whereupon the millionaire secret ly chuckled. He could see it all, he felt confident. His friends with whom he had taken luncheon had put up a Job on him. They were testing him as to that statement of his that oven if he gave his word of honor to a thief he would keep the word Inviolate. " 'Well,* thought the millionaire, 'I'll show those duffers.' " 'You are a cool rascal,' said the millionaire to the visitor, 'but I s:ip i pose there is nothing else for me to do but to yield to your game, sinco I am here alone and utterly defense less. I shall write the check for you, but I'll get you yet, mark that!" " 'All I ask you to give me your word about, sir,' replied tho visitor, 'Is that you will not stop the payment on tho check. After I cash the check I shall attend to tho matter of my own safety.' " 'Put your gun down then and I shall go over to my desk and write you the check.* ' And he did write the check and hand it to the visitor. Tho check was on a bank right around tho cor ner from the hotel. " 'Now,' said the visitor, ready to depart, 'you are giving me your sol emn word of honor as a gentleman and as a business man that you will not stop payment on this check?' "The millionaire nodded, and tho visitor loft. The millionaire sank into a chair and laughed aloud when the man had gone. " 'I'll show theso rascals up for putting up that job on me,' he chuckled. 'They'll hav9 to own up that I beat them at their own game. Probably they'll be up hero in half an hour or so, with the man they sent hero to put up tho job on me, and I guess they won't feel cheap when they are obliged to confess, as this man hands me my ten thousand, that I stuck to my word and didn't stop payment on the check.' "But his friends didn't turn up, nor did they appear to respond to the millionaire's chuckles when ho met them at dinner that evening. Then ho up and told them ail about it. They gasped with amazement. They told him, with all solemnity and truth, that no job had been put up on him. He had simply been victim ized to the tune or $10,000, that's all. "Which is exactly what happened, and the way it happened wa? this: "Seated closo to tho millionaire's table at luncheon that day, and over hearing their talk about the inviola bility of their word of honor, was Alonzo J. Wakeman, the celebrated forger and all-around con man, who wasn't known in his true light at tho hotel at that time. This Wakeman had been Mayor of Dulutlx and had come close to getting into Congress from Minnesota at one time, too, but he fell into bad ways and took to forging. Wakeman heard talk be tween the millionaires and he deter mined to profit by it, that's all. Ho knew that if ho stuck up tho million aire right 011 top of that talk tho mil lionaire would conclude that tho jcb had been fixed up 011 him by his friends, and he won out by acting im mediately on that presumption. "Wakeman cashed tho $10,000 check and went to Europe. Ho was put away for a long term threo years ago, after being convicted in Buffalo of a long seriesof forgeries." ? Wash ington Star. TO FIND A GAS LEAK. There is u Way to Prevent Explosion and Eire, The folly of hunting for a leak in a gas-pipe with a lightod match is not so much because of the danger of an explosion as of other damage, as io :hov.n by tho e ::?c;i.':ico oi a West Philadelphia houaeliolder last Week. One or two small leaks were detected by going over all the pipes and holding a lighted match to them. The smell of gas ceased, but was re placed a few hours later by tho smell of burning wood. Another visit to tho cellar showed a charred lloor joist a little dlstanco above a gas pipe. There was no apparent cause for this until a very closo examina tion discovered that a tiny jet of gas was issuing from tho pipe beneath the beam. It was lighted, but was so small as to bo blue in color and nearly invisible. It had been lighted by tho match used In the first Inves tigation. but had not been noticed. ? it that leak had happened to bo in the lend join! Instead of an iron con nection," said a gas man, "thero would probably have been work for tho fire department. Tho smallest possible jet of lifted gas issuing through lead will in time heat and melt tho lead and tnako tho leak larger, until a big (lame is issuing. This may make a fire hours later, in tho doad of tho night or at a time when no one Is In the house. The only proper way to look for theso very small leaks Is to paint the sus pected pipe with a smooth soap lather. Just as In tho case of a bi cycle tire, the tiniest, leak will blow a bubblo In the lather, and there you are." ? Philadelphia llecord. FOR.. THE- t5 s?S?a ocu ruur w?w?, Tho figures of really representa tive herds must mean something to the thoughtful farmer. The herd of low production and the Individual cows that do not return the owner a net profit of |12 or $15 per year scarcely Justify this Investment of money, time and labor In keeping them. A study of these herds shows that the economical thing to do is to sell the poor cows to the butcher as fast as they can be replaced with bet ter producers. The latter can be ac complished elthen by more judicious buying or by raising the heifer calves of high-producing mothers mated to a pure-bred sire having a line of such mothers in his ancestry. This is not so difficult to do when once the dairyman sets his standard of a cow, determines definitely what kind of a cow he will buy or produce, and goes after that cow instead of taking something else that may be cheaper or easier to get. The great est practical difficulty is in discover ing what cows are poor and how poor they are. This Is quite easily done ? in just one way ? by weighing and testing the milk of cach cow often enough throughout the milliing period to get a fair estimate of her worth. Scales and a Dabcock tost cost but a few dollars and their use may easily lead to an improvement of tho herd that will add hundreds to the profit annually. Should not every dairyman ask (and answer) the question, "On which side of the profit line ? and how far from it ? is my herd and every individual in it?" ? Indianapolis News. llome-Mnde Cow Stanchion. F. G. Semple, a Canadian farmer, furnishes Farm and Fireside with his plan of making cow stanchions. He says he has used both chains and the old stationary stanchion, but has como to consider his plan superior to either of them. The figure at the right in the illustration shows tho stanchion closed. The one at the left represents the stanchion as it ap pears when open. rian of Making Cow Stanchion. Tho two sides are made of hard wood four feet long, one and a quar ter Inches thick and two and a half inches wide. The end pieces are of hardwood, and are one foot long and three and a quarter inches square. They are mortised to receive the side pieces, as shown in the sketch at bot tom of illustration. The sides are fixed to the ends with bolts, which being loose enough so it is movable. When the side falls, as shown on the figure on the right hand side, tho clevis raises and when the side comes back into position again the clevis falls as shown in the lefthand figure and holds it securely. Mr. Semplo says this stanchion, including mate rial. labor, etc., should cost from sixty to soventy-flve cents each. Think in?; of nil Orchard? Numerous apple orchards are planted from which no adequate re turns are mndo for the amount of work performed. Oftentimes the trees. are purchased from some peri patetic and irresponsible tree peddler. The trees are planted according to the best methods, but a failure to protect them against rabbits or other vermin causes the destruction of probably a fourth of tho number the first winter after they are planted. Tho following summer the land may be planted In some crop requir ing clean cultivation, as potatoes, to bacco,* cabbago or tomatoes, and in the plowing of theso crops it often happens that more pains are takon to protect a cabbage or tobacco plant than a fruit tree. The result is that many nre skinned by the singletree or trace chains and irretrievably damaged. It such a treo should survive. It. will never prove healthy or prolific In the yield of apples. After the trees are large enough to bo In full bearing, no efforts are mado to protect them by spraying agnlnst the numerous Insect enemies. The bark of the tree cracks, and these cracks soon encircle the treo and tho treo dies. An orchard, lo bo profita ble. requires the greatest of care. Tho land must bo fertilized from tlmo to time. Weeds, brushes and Iniars must bj kept down. The trees must be watched carefully, and any appearance of disease must be ar rested by proper remedies. Unless the orchard receives careful atten tion, it will prove a waste of time and a cumberer of. the land. ? Richmouu Times-Dispatch. -v The Yankee Milk Pail. While cities are demanding a bev ter quality of milk and health officer* are doing their best to make the farmer sit up and tako notice, my method of obtaining the simon pure article may be of interest. Dust proof ceilings and walls, whitewashed in teriors, clipped cows, white duck suits, etc., are all well enough, but farmers are few who will pay any at tention to such rules. The combination of the Hoard Btall (plans for which appeared in the Tribune Farmer not long ago) and the covered milk pall produce the de sired result for me. The first essen tial is a clean cow. The Hoard stall will take care of the cow ? sho couldn't get dirty if she would. Our Tho Yankee Milk Pall. cows come out of the barn in the spring as clcan as they aro when on pasture. Make no mistake about the stall; this stall is the ideal method for tyiug up cows. Next in importance is the covered pail. Mine is made after my own ideas, and looks something like an ordinary milk pail turned upside down ? small end up. The top is seven inches in diameter. A shallow pan two inches deep fits tight in the top and is fastened there. A few holes one-sixtoonth of an inch in diameter in the bottom of the pan near the cent re let the milk run through into the pail. The spout of the pall has a tight fitting cover. Ono or two thicknesses of strainer cloth arc slipped under the pan before it is fastened in place, and the re sult is a dust and dirt p'-oof pail. There is no patent on this pail. To work this combination I pro ceed about as follows: I take my pail and stool and sit down by the cow, tie her tail, milk out the fore milk, wipe her sides and udder with a cloth, and proceed to milk into the shallow pan. The milk strikes the bottom of t iie pan, runs through the holes in the pan, through the strainer cloth and Into the pail, where it is practically sealed from outside condi tions. It comes in contact with the nir of the barn only while It is pass ing from the teat to the pan ? a dis tance eff perhaps six inches. I have received many helps from the Tribune Farmer, and hope this will point the way for cleaner milk for others. ? L. U. Hall, in I ho New York Tribuno Farmer. Farm Notes. Whatever may be said for or against the practice of dehorning, breeding the horns off is the butter way. The farmer should take active In terest in tin- condition of the roads of his town. Their excellence in creases the value of tho farm. The entomologists of the Depart ment of Agriculture have found that tho common red ant and tho larvae of a wasp fly aro the best parasites for the boll weevil. Probably not half the farmers glvo limo In any form to their fowls. Thoso who do not can hardly expect the fowls to be particularly generous to them In tho supply of eggs, or In thickness of shell on thoso they do furnish. Wherever sheep feed new sweet grasses flourish and weeds aro de stroyed. For this reason fanners should raise more of thorn, If for no other. Hut thero are several other and equally good reasons why every farm should havo its flock of these useful animals. When feeding meat to hens do not use tho fatty parts. Tho object In feeding meat to hens Is to supply them with nitrogen and albumon and not fat, as the grain contains all tho fat and starch they require and In a cheap form. If tho fat is fed It. docs not assist in any way to provide ma terial for eggs, but rather retard* than assists laying. Forifhe ?r> - 'A?., younger ^ Children... ? ? , THE CRICKET S PA11TY. Th? crickct had a party At half-pant four; lie invited his cousin Spider And a hundred uud lifty more. . Thev had a dance that evening, Tne hornet played the flute. And he really looked quit? handsome In hia brand-new uuit. They ended with a aupper. And had a pumpkin pie; The flea he ate no much That he thought that he would die. ?William McD. Sweets, Age eleven Year*, Shelbyville, Ky., in the .Wom an's Hop'e Companion. A TRUE MOUSE STORY. "Molly, mamma wants you in the parlor. Hurry." "Oh, dear! I was just finishing Agatha's apron." Molly held it up with pride as she spoke, but big sis ters are unappreclative. "Well, put it away. I am to brush your hair and put on you a clean apron. Mrs. Warren wants to see you." "Very well, when I thread/my nee dle and stick it in." Molly unwill ingly folded up her doll's spring sew ing, which lay scattered all about. But she was an obedient little girl; and when Sister Hess had finished making her toilet, she went at oncc downstairs. Just as she shook hands with Mrs. NVarren something dreadful hap pened. She distinctly felt something move in her pocket! It gave a little jump, and then was quiet. Then it Jumped around, until Molly was near ly frantic. She was sure a mouse had gotten in her pocket, and at the thought she uttered a scream that brought mamma to her side. "What is the matter, what is the matter?" cried mamma. "It's a mouse! it's a mouse! I feel it in my pocket! O-o-o!" Demure little Molly actually screamed with fright. Mamma grasped the poclcet and held it. "Now, darling, it will not trouble you any more," she bald. A funny look came into her face, and she be gan to laugh. Then sue put her hand in the pocket, and drew forth ? a spool of thread! "Here is your mouse," she said. Molly suddenly checked her tears and began to laugh too. "Why, it has been unwinding ever since I left the nursery," she ex claimed, catching sight of the thread trailing along tho lloor.' "I wonder where the beginning Is!" "Run and see, and wind it up care fully aB you go," said mamma. With tears still wet upon her April face, Molly retraced her steps, wind ing all the time. And wherj do you think she found tlio end of her thread? Why, in the very needle she had stuck in Agatha's apron, and laid away in her little work basket. ? Holiday Magazine. THE DOY IN DEMAND. One of the finest qualities In a work Irian Is a disposition to do tilings that need to be done without being told. Young men working their way through college are invaluuble if they have this quality. A tool is left out <?11 the lawn; there is a rail off the 1 fence: there is a window pane gone somewhere. The boy who tends to these things because they need at tending to without specific directions is ihe boy who, other tilings being equa. Is going to be in demand when he get^ out into the great world. It is the attention to little things and the habit of observation, which sees what needs to be done and then does It which makes exceedingly useful men and women. There will always bo a call to come up higher, it is In one sense a small thing to do these little things without orders, but it is the doing of them that makes great captains, great engineers, great ar tists, great architects, great workers in any department, and it is the ab sence of this quality tliat makes com monplaco men and women, who will alwaj s have to live under the domin ion of petty orders, men and women who do nothing unless they aiv told to do it. it is tiiis quality whi "Ii makes volunteers in church work, and tho invaluable men and women who do not have to be stood over. They are the Joy of the pastor's heart; they are the persons who do not have to bo watched. ? Home Her ald. TWO WORDS AND THEIR RESULT Several winters ago a woman was coming out from some public build ing when the heavy door swung back and made egress somewhat dif ficult. A little urchin sprang to the rescue, and as he held open the door she said, "Thank you," and passed on. "Cracky! d'yo that?" said the boy to a companion standing near by him. "No; what?" "Why, that lady sal 'J, 'Thank ye' to the likes o' me." Amused at the conversation which she could not help overhearing, tho lady turned around and said to the b( y : "It always pays to bo polite, my boy; remember that." Years passed away, and last De cember, when doing her Christmas shopping, this same lady received an exceptional courteyy from a clerk in lloston, which caused her to remark to a friend who was with her; "What a great comfort to be civil ly treated once In a while ? though I don't know that I blame the ators clerks for being rude during the holiday trade." The young man's quick ear caught the words, and he said: "Pardon me, madam, but you gave me my first lesson in politeness a few years ago." The lady looked at him in amaze ment, while he related the little for gotten incident, and told her that | simple "Thank you" awakened his first ambition to be something in the world. He went the next morn ing and applied for a situation as office boy in the establishment where he was now an honored and trusted clerk. Only two words, dropped into the treasury of a street conversation, but they yielded returns of a certain kind more satisfactory than invest ments in stocks and bonds. ? Homo I llerald. ! ... BENITO. There was once a donkey that had traveled over the streets of an old Spanish town for many years, carry ing panniers, or baskets, on each side of his saddle, which were load ed with jars of sweet olive oil. He side Benito walked his master, who cried his wares along the street, stopped at the street doers of those who always bought the oil, when he pulled the hell. In Spain many of the houses stand behind high, thick walls, and have beautiful gardens around them, and one can only en ter by pulling the bell ropy beside the door in the wall. Benito's master had gathered his olives one year, and worked so hard putting them through the press and storing (ho oil in his cellar, that ho grew weak and sick. llis old wife could not go with Benito, for she was not strong, and she had to care for her sick husband. "Benito will sell the oil," said the old man. "He always rang the bell, and he will go to all the houses where I sell tho oil." And so it was. A little brass box with a narrow opening in tho top was fastened on Benito's saddle, and every day he faithfully made his rounds, pulling the hell at each house and waiting until his patron had measured the oil and put a coin in the box. No one stole from Benito, or tried to cheat him. His master trusted them as he trusted Benito, and how could they prove less worthy of trust than a donkey? ? Home Herald. CURIOUS A NTS. The ants in Lapland are three times as large as our common ant. Their nests are hillocks or lire sprigs and rubbish, often four feet high, tho inside a mass of eggs and ants. Well beaten loads diverge from thpm in every direction, like the lines of a. railway. These ants cross the little streams and brooks by means of nat ural bridges. One day a naturalist was jumping over a brook and brushed with hia head and shoulders two willow branches which met over the water. In an instant he was covered with ants, which were making their way across the bridge which he had dis turbed. There is a species of largo ant, which has mandibles that can bile through almost anything. One of the peculiarities of this ant is that when it catches hold oi' anything with these jaws it cannot ho n.ade to let go. Even if I he rest of the hotly is pulled off, the jaws will keep their hold. Ants knew their friends after they have been separated from the in for a long lime. An Eugli dunnn took half the ants from a nest, and after six weeks marked one and put it into its old home with a stranger. The nntsi in the nest Hew at the stranger, but took no notice ?f their old friend. He did the sriine thing once a week for a month, and every time the stranger was killed or driven out. ? * Cloud Literature. V.'IIY 1!H SUCfHK!>rc:\ A 1 ..y, fo-vl.*," -i years '?f age, en gaged as a dry goods clerk, was told by lis proprietor to stretch tho cloth, and hecau. " he woul I not tie dishonest, he was discharged. Mo afterwards became Adam ('lark, tho great commentator. He planted tho seed i:i this one act. of loyalty that was to become a tremendous forco for righteousness in his subsequent life. A hoy who had been apprenticed to a jeweler In New York was asked by a wealthy customer of the firm for an eighteen caret ring. In looking over the stick he discovered that there was no ring in the establish ment which contained more than six teen carets of gold. When the lady; had left the store, the proprietor, who had overheard the conversation, reproached the boy for not having made tlie sal". "She would have been satisfied," he said, "with a sixteen caret ring, and she would never have known the difference." "But I knew the difference." sal t the brave fellow, "and I would tell a lie to make a sale." This Is the kind of stuff that make> men, If It doesn't make sales nen. Such boyr. are building 1if? carefully, and the value ( f such scrupulousness' ?In the long inn ? is Inestimable.--* Home Herald. An average man needs 1C90 ponrfm weight of food yearly. - ?*