University of South Carolina Libraries
MEN AS FICTION READERS. In Demand For Such Roading Arc Said to Outrank Women. That men have tallou to reading fiction more thau over belora 1B a statement madu recently by Boin? persons in charge of public reading roo hi s and ! It used lt. ,iul some yea?'a .ito that women bad a monopoly of lic tlon and that men read the "heavier" literature. Now il is claimed by some authorities that the conditions arc becoming somewhat reversed and that .women do a good deal of the heavy reading. There ia a tale of a woman In one of tho suburban towns wno is so eager to leam ah that she can on these deeper subjects and tho volumes Which contain the precious matter are BO heavy that she is obliged to laing ti toy express wagon each week to ?carry them back and forth. A cataloguerer In a large publie li brary, la of the opinion that the men and women about average on reading fiction. "You soc." she said, "the businessman reads for recreation, and tlrod out with tho routine of the olllco, requires something light - something which will not tax his j brain too much. So he resorts to fiction. Women take oui books on travol 4aud tho dornest lo sciences, cooking, noodle-work and house-fur nishing and decorating. of course they read tho modern bet ion too. "Books on art do not seem to ap peal to the mon as much as the wom en. Our music department ts utmost exclusively visited by the women, who Vire allowed to go in and select what they wish themselves. Oh, yes; I have seen a man venture in there, oc casionally, but very ran ; "Wollu n in ver lake out any ho iks on techa tea I subjects it is ohl> the mon who la mi theso on?, tp'oks on finance mo rarely lalo.. I'roiii thc shelves. I suppose tho reason for that is bi cause most business men rely upon their experience lo help them. "Athletics, books on thal subject interest, tho o?iys, and one. in a while some fair devotee of fool ba II or base ball will take out books on those sub jects, but hoi very of;en "If you ask mo about poetry I think tho line there would by very hard to draw, as the mon seoul io bc RS enthusiast h readers as rho wom en. "Twenty years ago if a woman had gone into ti public library anet asked for a book on poultry farms or stock raising she would have received a .stare of wonder, and more likely of pity, as the n" 'adanI would probably liavo thought ber Insane. "But women are now taking up so tr.nr*.r Af i 1. *\ y **#.*?- ? . ' . P^.O aro .iiLon-.-M -u 01 economics, soci ology and psychology and scientific works of all kinds, have been a very reportant factor in turning womans noughts to books on thc moro seri ous subjects. "'The Ladies Boote of Fashion.' Dickens and Thackeray and the stan nard novela which our grandmothers and mothers road, do not satisfy the women of today. She must have something different. Tho college woman is interested in all Um hn jportanl questions of the day, tho un l?ons and the strikers aro of as much Interest lo her aw thc (aleut stitch m Knitting or the very latest shape In a bonnet wore to her grandmother." He Had The Idea. Tho position of librarian in nomo of our city libraries often ?alls for qualities which would at fist thought occur to one as indispensable to per sons of the Sherlock Holm? s persua sion rather than to those busy in tho field of library wot!.. For example, in one of thc crowded districts a Utile boy appeared al the desk one morning and demanded a "hook by a feller named Dirt." Sus pecting a discrepancy somewhere, the libral ian searched the catalogue lu vain, then had recourse lo cross questioning. This proved .(pially fu tile, and a. note was seul lo tho boy's mother, asking her if she would be hind enough to writ?- tin- name of tho book she wanted In abie! lt il 11" .ip hour he returned willi a slip ol pall or on which was written: "Please send something by George Band." Where They Die Only Doce. A lumbering old stage waa wind ing in and out OVO!" a rem?lo road in the Adirondacks. There was only one passenger and he had ?hosen to ?lt outside beside tin- driver Several times he had tried con v.-rsa t ion. but had nud with so Utile encouragement thnt he bad giv< n up and was sil ently walebing the landscape. Presently they came lo a tiny mountain burying ground, containing a few gravestones and a few unmark ed graves, Tho passenger looted at lt, struck- by its air of loneliness, which seemed lo stir in bim afresh the desire for human intercourse He turned again lo tim drive?-, pointed toward ibo graveyard, and observed: "People around lu re don'! seem to die very often, do they?" And without thmihg his hoad, "Jest once," said the <lri,er. What was probably oin- of Ibo larg est cargoes of fruit over carried from any pori in tho world in cool cham bers recently left J fiona rt l. In the fjtate of Aasmanla, for Kngland. The Shipment exceeded 12S.0O? bushel teases, NO CREMATION POU PAR3EI2S Expose the Bodies of Their Dond u lie Devoured hy Vultures. Indignation waa created arnon?' tho Parsecs by na agitation to hi duoo thom to dispose of their nous by oromution instead of exposit)' t^ce) h? (Vvoui"*d 'tv vultures o t ir ' ?o . . <? of si . ?>." T my a:< not prepared to abandon a euston which ia haliowod to thom by hoar> antiquity and associated with theh most solomu religious rites. Though in European minds tin thought of allowing feathered seav ongera to feast ou tho bodies of tholr bolovcd dead would excito tho deep est feelings of repugnance ami dis gnat, as praoticod hy tho Parsecs tills method of getting rid of tho fleshly tonemont is far fro n boin:-; so horriblo as ls generally Imagined Indeed, to tho Parsecs tho nisei ves and they aro tho mont cultivated and Intelligent of all tho sects found In India-it sooms fur preferable to burying tho dead as practiced bj Christians. "Your pooplo," said a Pnrseo, "put your dead underground, v/he.ro they provide a banquet for worms. We put ours above ground, where their flesh ls eaton by vultures. Tho ul timate reoult is tho same. Tho honen are left. Hut there ls a great differ ence in vrhat taken placo before the skeleton stage, ls reached, and that method. Before consigning tho bod ies of your doad to tho earth you in close them in collins. You dare not allow your Imaginations to picture the horrible changes that there takes pince before Nature recovers what she gave. Wo db not scull to retard the process. Tho vultures do their work expeditiously. There ls no putrefaction. ("hil.Han hurlai grounds, so I have t nd, aro offen sources of disease; l'a see dokhmiis. or Towers ol' ntl? nee' .t.? you poeti cally call thoo, aro never snv'ti. From a sanitary point of view they are Incomparably superior lo your cemeteries, and with us they aro equally sacred." "Hui," lt was suggested, "fire would do the work even bott? r than VUltu ro?." "Or worms." said the Parsec. "When you Christians luke to cre mation wo Parsoes may possibly fol low your excellent example. Thero aro far weightier reasons why cre mation should take tho placo of bu rial than eau hu urged tn favor of Its Hubatitution for our towera of Bllence." Th? towera of silence rrown tho summit of Malabar Hill, near Bom bay, and aro situated in tho midst of a beautiful garden whoso tropical treen swarm with vultures. They aro built of stono and aro about twenty-five feet high. A small door ls provided for lb? ?nlf???<??? .??.? *>e and friends of the dead, headed by a number of prto.it?. Upon arrival at the garden the Itter I? laid down and prnyers uro nald at tho "s:igrt" or hon HO of prayer near the entrance to the Karden. Tho attendants then carry tho body to the towers of al lene?, lay lt on tts stony bed and re tire. Theu tho vultures gather about and do their gruesome work unseen. The honen are soon denuded of flesh and fall through an Iron grating luto a pit beneath, from which they are afterward removed by ,\ subterra nean cavern. On th? third day after th? death friends and relatives stiain ansein bio at tho house where the dead man lived and thence proceed to the "tampia of fire." Standing before th? urns In which th? "celestial fires" ar? kept burning, prieuts re dt? prayers foi* tho soul of tho de parted, lils son, or adopted son. kneels before the high priest and promises due performance of all re ligious rites anti obsequies to the dead. Friends and relatives then hand the priest a list of contribu tion to various charities which have boen subscribed as a montoela) offer ing. Thin concludes tho ceremony of "rlalnR from mourning" or the res urrection of the dead." On each re curring anniversary of tho death ot a Parse? memorial funeral coro monies aro performed. An iron framework is orected In the house. In which shrubs and flowers aro cul tivated; thus literally keeping tim memory of tho dead man greon. Be fore thoa? iron frames prayers aro said twoor moro llmeodiirlngtwonty four hours. ']*ho Parsecs aro a small sect. They humber altogether about 82, 000, of whom 71!.OOO UNO tn or near Bombay. Most of tim remaining 10,000 aro found lil Persia. As a people they aro remarkably Intelli gent nnd trustworthy, with great gonlun for business. They aro hlghl) prosperous, much glvon lo charity, and beggars aro u ak now ti among thora. Co (Un ns fi (hit. It in donhtful Whether nowadays a present of ono's own co flin would not bo considered prematuro, If aol un friendly. Lord Nelson, however, foil differently; for when his old friend, Hen Hallowell, captain of the Swift moo, fient him a collin made out of tho mainmast of the ship l/Orlont, after tho battle of tho Nile, he ap preciated the gift BO much (hat ho had it Bet up In h bi cahill, Just be hind tho chair oil which bo always nat. "I aend it." Hallowell bad writ ten, "lhat when you are (Ired of tills lifo you moy bo Itu ried In one of your own trophies." lt was In this collin thnt Nelson's body lay when lt was brought by wator to White hall, on tho occasion of his public I funorn.." TRINIDAD'S ASPHAI/T L.AK10. Queer M i iiin:? (harried on lu Weit In? dian Island. This Trinidad lake of pitch and the Hernia da/, lako In Venezuela supply tim bulk of tho asphalt of oom indico. Bays n writer lu tho NJW York ^ II Hrl&hlou has no clattu to oatst onco ashla from tho bituminous I pitch that nature hore sends bab bling up from tho bowels of tho Garth. Tho lako ls about a quarter ot a nillo from tho steamship pier. Nearby uro quarters for two hun- ; drod nativo workmen, a refining plant, o ill ces and quarters for tho | half dozen Americans representing tho company, and that Is all, ox- , cept for tho floreo tropical sun eter nally beating down, and tho sharks thnt play In tho harbor. Hut as a nat irai curiosity and as a commercial enterprise tho lako ls of absorbing interest, Imagine a hugo i asphalt plaza of moro than a hun dred acre?, softened by the sun, overgrown In spots with weeda, cov ered al'tor a rain with pool? of wator, and you bnvo tho famou* pitch lake- ? big black sornl-solid poad of asphalt, with a surface fairly firm and apparently placid, but In reality treacherous and eternally in mo tion. Around tho odges runs a tramway with au endless cabio hauling the loaded cara to tho refinery and bringing tho empty ones back again. Alone, this lino, whore tho pitch Is hardest, ali '.'MI mining of tho product ls done tho black workmen digging ll out with pick and shoved. lt ls m cessa ry to shift the seo a o of op?ration only ulong the Him. I never toward the echter, tis in two days time tho slowly moving viscous , mass of pitch coi?n nilly flowing from tim co h tor has relined (ho ex cavation-; and made V ,.i rei 'v for ' the Workmen again, livers day tho ? rails of tho little tramway ?ire lifted ami tho slowly -.In' tug Hos moved a ! few Inches one way Ol the other In ; order that the railway max not on tlmly disappear in tho bottomless ooze. Hot tom loss lt may well bo culled, for soundings have benn mad? until with no bottom nt HO foot the pipet* and sounding apparatus have li toft crushed and swallowed up, to bo . disgorged months lalor. Tho iulaln,? of the product ls lowering the lo?ol of tho lako at tho rato of abont ?Ix inchon a year. The center of this hiix* volcaale orator ls tho source of supply. Hore we soe thc pitch, bolling up ta al most a purely liquid alato, spread ing out over the lake In desens ef streams, gradually hardening ?ad Imperceptibly Hawing toward the _..... t.uptus. . u long ago a negro workman heroic;,''y of fered himself for an oxperlineat de signed to ascertain how long lt would tako for a mr.n to become ?? cngulfod In tho pitch. For moro than an hour ho ?lowly sank until only tho uppor part of his body reinalnod In sight and then hlj companions, la a burst of cruel humor, made as If te leura him to his fato. Hi* voolferone appeals for morey molted their hearts. Planks were thrown out ever tho pitch, a? they aro used in rescu ing a skater who has bioko? through tho loo, and after an hour's bard work tho victim woe once raero free and happy. The lako U a valuable source of revenue to the Island govornmout. An export duty If (l.Zi a ton sad a royalty of 4 9 emits a ton, b> tko terms of tho concession, put nearly a quarter of a million dollars u roar Into tho Island treasury. The eutlro concession ls about 7.000 acres, and asphalt is found throughout tin* whole locality. Tb? land ls fertile and some of lt ls noa hoing awed with suc?e**? for the cultivation of fruit. The possibility of exhaustion seems remote tho Venezuelan lako, although ton tl moe tho ?tea, ls but thirty foot deep. Ha surface ls submerged In wator, rendering tho extraction of tho product more dllil cult, and a forty rollo haul to tho seacoast adds much to its cost. For tho preparation o' ?Jiving sptl rooli io ma t MIUS iKo '(VinlJad T.I rlety has been iou ad tue bettor adapted, but tho purer Venezuelan article lu us?d largely lu tho prepar ation of varnish. Hanger at tend? tho shipping of tho Hormudos pitch In hulk lu tho holds of tho steamers, as lin? slightest list to ono ?Ide or the other tends lo cause a disas trous flow of the pitch to that sido. Phono Mouthpiece Abolished, Consul Mall?n of Nottingham re ports that tho suggested transmis sion of dlsoaso by telephone mouth pieces hus led tho llrltlsh General (electric Company to devlae na in strumnnt In which all danger bi avoided by Simply abolishing tho mouthpiece, The receiving nnd transmuting apparatus li combined in a small metal case, shaped like a watch, which is held continuously to tho oar both In speaking und listen lng, the transmitting microphone be ing made so sensit ive that lt becomes unnecessary lo concontrato tho sound waves on lt by tho aid of any mouth piece such ns ls ordinarily ueiod. Mounted on a llanillo, with u speak ing key, thu new arrangement ls ex actly similar to tho combined re ceiver and Irnnsmlttor, except that there ls no mouthpiece, and tho speaker, as lt were addresses him self to the world at largo, instoad of talking Into a trumpet-shaped orl floe. DEKELIOT SCHOONER Which in Hound for tho Port of Mlas InK Ships. Somewhere out ou tho Atlantic, breasting wintry Boaa and with somo of her canvas sot. is tho four-masted Bchooae: (Cd ward J. Her* ind. aban-, douod and beating up tho tracks for tlio Port of Missing Ships. Sim was sighted at sea on Febru ary 7, by Captain Scott, of tho steam er Maravol, now in New York, from Granada. Tho schooner's decks wore awash, and there was evidence that, tho crow had left in haste, lt is possible that they wine picked up by passing craft. When sighted the schooner was about 470 miles east of Charleston, S. C.. and although water-logged, was making about two knots and heading away from the shore. lier storm foresail was sot. and the mizzen under two reefs. Her head sails had been carried away, and tho spanker was In ribbons. Towing was not feasible on account of tho rough weither. The Uorwlnd ls likely to provo an ugly mounce for navigation for she ls under fair headway and running through tho nights without a light displayed. FOHAKER REATEN IN OHIO. Roosevelt's Man Friday Cleans Him Up All Over State. The net result of tho Republican primaries held throughout. Ohio was for Wm. li. Ttl ft. Four delegates at largo and L':! district del?gales to tho N'allouai Convention in chicago and a del?gale io thc Stale Conven tion lo bo hold March :j, which will be unanimously in his favor, were Oloctcd. Ai l ual voling for delegates to tho state Cenvcnilon was carried Oil in bul thirty live out of the total O? S8 counties in tho Stale. The Taft delegates in f>2 counties having no opposition, their name were sim ply eel lilied as having been elected. SAM IO Old) STORY. Nino Men Killed in * Mine Fx plo' ?loni in Kentucky. Nine men aro dead and ono in a dying condition as tho rosuit of an explosion of gas in the Whito Mino at South Carolton threo miles north of Central, Ky. Ten men wore nt work in a shaft ISO feet deep in a room apart from tho rest of the mine and threo moro wore In a different room filled with fallon coal, and to hear tho cries of the dying. ACCIDENT ON A CRUISER. Tho St. I,nuis Kilters San Francisco After an Explosion. A dispatch from San Francisco says the big cruiser St. Louis wont out through the Golden Catii leaving in her Wako a hospital ward full of scalded and burned sailors and signs of a rigid governmental nvostlgation wheh may explain why a warship, frosh from dry dock and tho work of roparlng, could have an almost fata', accident ia her boiler room on tho evo of tarpot, practico. Just as dbe was about to leave tho harbor, somo of tho boiler tubes blow out, niling tho engine room with a cloud of steam and scalding terribly four of tho men who were at work thor?). lil Ll. WILL PASS To Establish One Moro Judicial Cir cuit in This Stnto. In tho senate tho orginal eleven circuit bill as passed by the House bas a favorable report and will prob ably Docomo a law, possibly withsomo changes. The hill provides tor one new circuit. It puts Richland and Kershaw in a circuit and Edgollold, Lexington and Saluda in another circuit. Calhoun County is I (Ml in the Orhllgohurg Circuit. The hill in ?this shape, as lt carno from the House, ls likely to pass, all af fords mndo to have twelve circuits to give Marlboro Circuit re lief. Pruner--The critics roasted your book, didn't they? Serlblet Yes, hut not enough to in sure Us success Ufo. "So you (bini, yon could buy me and soil me?" "Well, I don't kliow about tm- laiier part or the proposition," Louisville ( om lcr Journal. CALHOUN COI N TY. Hill Passed the Legislature Forming the New Conniy. The hill lo establish Calhoun Coun ty passed second reading in the House Tuesday, Mr. Hanks, who had in troduced the hill ill (he House, being from St. Matthews, the proposed county sent, bad his bill taken up out of ils order and (hen moved thal the bill Introduced by Senator Kay sor, hy request, be substituted for the House hill, both hoing on the House Calendar as second reading hills The Senate bill was substituted ?for the House bill and given its so lemn! reading. / NEW YORK'S HISTORY IN F LAOS. Dutch, English and American Emblems That Have Waved over the City. The first European visitor to Man hattan Island wu:; Henry Hanson who In IC?9 sailed up thc river now benr .. v...:.... . '.io ung uudor which he ... 'I waa tn.u of tho Dutch East I tut .li. Company, whit li was thc Hag of tho l>lilted Provinces ol tho Noth ? ri.ad 5, orango, while and bluo ar ran;-, d in three otp i al horizontal stripes, lu tho centro of the white stripe being tho letters "JV. O. C." Alu? ans na (Jost -inn se Compagnie (General liast india Company). From tho time of tho discovery no vbdtor came into theso wat? rs or vvll.cll theio is ri ord until iMV?, when M ...m; nan wa., settled under tho bast india Company, which con ti ii hod In possession until lt)i.S? whoa the gov ernment foll In o the hands of the West India Company. Tho dag o? the Inion Wost india Company was the same as timi of ita predecessor save that it boro tho loiters "G. W. C." -Goocstroycore VVost-ladeso Com pagnlo (Privileged West India Cum pa: y). 'I his was tho dominant (lag till lGt',4, when Ii is island was surrendered to thc English, abd tho Union Jack (cross s of langland and Scotland) or Creal liri! da supplanted tue tricolor of Holland and tho name of Now Amsterdam was chanced to New York. Tho Union Jack at present la il. rivi d froth tlu- aaieii of the three eidsa-s of Si. (J ergo, St. An di' .v titi Patrick, adopted in 1801, wi a h.- ait of union with Ireland w p.' s.d. I:, tip month of .t; ly, 1073, the ! I hitch uga I ii look P1' ;' >' '< " bf ? ho .ii-, v.l. ch t y o.e.i. . (illili Nov ' :. ' I r le, 11)71, WI ?li by vt rt til bf a treat)1 of pence b?tiv " Ktightnd and .;. ?land (he tinton Jack a,..in iloatcd ayer the city, I'roni Cos time thero was nb intcr ?ii|i'ioh m tho supremacy of thc Kr KMSII until the ye ir IT.Sa. w.'ioil Hu' memorable rule of I i Islor, speedily terminated hy his death, occur:cd. He was a warm suppoiTci' of William md Mary, and it i.> possible that, while ho held pt ssc -lea of (he foit, i he Hat; of W illiam, not then pro claimed King of ISugTuid, might have floated over New York. Hut lhere ls no record of this. Were it so however, it could have been luit for a rerj brief pei ind, and tho English flag waved undisputed an!il the ora of thc American revolu tion. At the beginning of the Revolution m.- i m. h.i uii ?Amgiebn ?,<H, i .11-1,1 Chlof of ihe Ami rican Porers, and on his way to lake commnim at Cam brldge ard T vi n. thc English Hov. .r ior. who l ad arrived the day be fore. lt was alioul this time that the irst raising of any hui thc English (lng in New York occurred. Hcfore h's, indeed. liberty poles had been 'll?ied and eat down ag In; nut now. Starch, :77.r,, a Union flag, with a red liold, was hoisted in New York upon i h o liberty ?'ole on the Common bear Ing tin- inscription "George Rex and the liberties of Anmrlcn," and upon ihe other side "No Popery." The British, under CON Tryon, va alcd New York in 177"?. hm there is ao record which K'VCS any positive lale as to the raisin;; of me Ameri can Mag here. The city was held by American troops after this event, until Septem ber |:?( 177,;. when Washington re treated to Harlem and afterward from . be Island, and the city WM occupied by Sir Henry (Minion and from that time held by the H itish until the close ef the war. They evncu.>? ><l the city Nevcinbpr Sin'? thea no (lac hill ttie St nra and Stripes has waved over the city In tok a of pow er and authority, THE WALLS OG JERICO. Important Diccoveriec R. lng Made by an Au '.lillian ?-.,fe' "?or. Professor fielt In's . xe? va t iens on Cu- sit,, of the nncicul citj of Jericho an- yioidltig unexpectedly rich treas 11 res. In l-'.s ked lett, rs to the Vi enna ACadi my of Science tho profes sor writes that .,. .>? a ll titi (Ired men are digging at five different points. One of (he mest interesting finds is the historical .?ty wall, built of burnt dmr bricks lt " .<.- o. jon feet in , ,.....ig fr.n.i a ..?one foun dation. On the western side of tho eily thc wall was iicarlj lo. ty feet in width. \t a not lu i pc: it a private house was found built over another house of a still earlier enoch. tither discoveries Include lamps, plates, cups, needles, weights, mor tars and mills of h on/ - and .done, some of very rough and primitive handwork, a ml olin ri very finely exe cuted, (n the lither city remains of i'oivs of houses have been discovered, lind the mich ai Hebrew lettering proves that the old Hebrew charac ters were ill use. Professor Sellii. hopes to renew the excavating work lu xt winter. In tho II;-an lime ho ::>>. that tho work ai re: d'- done ha? opened up a wealth of j material for the student of tho pro Israelite and Canaanite period. - 1 Pall Mall Gazette t _ ? Two Kinds "A drowning -nan wtli estell at a straw." "And so will a tn Irs fy man." 8UICIDE 8TATI8TIC8. Childless Marriages a Cause-Rate Hiyn Annaly vtc. manic Mai,vns. Among ?.iioy.?uo suicides of all Classes, ii u,u4 ooeu lound thai '?Ob mauled mun wita chi.urea destroyed thou- liv, ?, i,o ma. ruo UK1" t i. - ii Cu..,.. ..i., ?.,.w>. ..^. ....^ t,,vl WlUOWOi? WU ii.) ul Cu.Ul CU. With respect to thu \, . uuu, 45 mar ried women with ?v.ul : >a without children committed suicido, while iu4 widows wiih, und Lotf without oi? spring, comp.clod tho iiut. (in the rttce ?JI things, Bays the Il lustrated London New:., lt would ap pear that in childless marriages the number of men suicides ls douoled and in woaicu trebled. Leaving tho case of actually insane persons out ot count, ii wo ?ld also appear that in males suicido is moro {roquent than in females. Equally interesting is that phase ot the subjcr.t which deals v>>tn tho causes. One tablo deailug with ti.7X2 cases snows om- seventh caused by misery, one twenty-first part by toss of fortune, one forty-third by gamb ling, one nineteenth by love affaira, one-ninth by domestic troubles, ono sixty-sixth by fanaticism, and by foiled ambition and remorse one-sev enth and ono twentyscvenlh respect ively. The geography of suicide is also of h igh interest. Westcott says the highest proportion in Europe Is shewn by tile Germanic races. Sax ony ha vine "the 1er: ; suicide rote of tiny c?untry." In Norway the rate was vor) larg? for a time, Its dc e ron se hoi nj* attribut* I lo thc greater restrictions nov, laid on tho liquor I rallie. The Celtic races hilve a low rate, uhd this is evinced by Hie ligaros tor ir? tanti at td W.ih s. Mountainous ro gioilS are said to s oyv a towel' rale than lowlands. In th highlands of Scotland a.ul Wales, and in Iho high arcs of switzerland, suicide ls rare. 'I .nu s an 1 seasons ab o operate, tip pan uiiy to Inlluen? Hie net of soif desl ruction. Roughly speaking, tho curve line of suicide, calculated through the yenr, rt cs from January lo July, and decreases for the sec. Olid hail Of tho year. The maximum periods have been fourni to fall tn [.ray, June and .lilly. I believe in deed Jun? ls found to show a marked predominance as a suicido month. One reason for such preeminence in the warm season of the year is set down as represented by tue onset of hot weather affect lng tho system and tending to disturb the menial equil ibrium Of the subjects. In 1,093 eases noted in Paris the prevailing hours that different countries appear to show preferences for different means of committing suicide from other hinds. The most common European methods ls by moans of Hanging, but in italy ibis mode of self-destruction is rare. Drowning comes next in order, and twice ax many women as mea perish in this way each year in Europe, Shooting is frequent in Italy and in Switzerland. Cut throat is common In England and Ireland; it ?loes not seem to ?oust it nie anywhere else a fre quent mo le of ending lifo. Poisoqlng is a specially Anglo Saxon method of suicide, wo are told; while suffocation by the fumes of car bonic ncld xas, inhaled In a closed room, ls vcr> typical of suicide in Prance. SOUTH AMERICAN RAILWAYS. They Run East and West Instead of Noi th and South. Although to the North American exponents of that project there ha? seemed a discouraging lack of inter est in the Pan-American Railroad nun. there has really been no cessa tion of Ihe activity of the latter in pushing development in their mort? Immediate spheres. I et m bl il?! tho Unes tho country needs," IhO) say. "and don't ask us to go oui of our way to further n, fv.heine which, however practicable from an engineering point of view, would not pay us dividends in this century, and possibly not In the next. "We concede that we might benefit Indirectly through the increased stn hillly ?d' government that would fol low the building of an intercontinen tal lino, bul that hem nt is too rom o te to Interest us at a time when wo have ample opportunity for expending all our available funds In the con Rtruetlon of Hues thal will yield re turns from the day they are oponed." So it happens that while there han never been so much activity in ratl wny construction in South America as at the pr . ? nt moment, almost wit hon! exception tlc new lines aro following the parallels rather than the meridians, running nnsl and svest rather than north and south.-Re view of Reviews. Mr. I lilli tom I'm ling to India to hunt six mom hs. Miss i 'a I chem And 1 suppose you will forgot all about poor me. Mr. Iluutom My d ar, it will tako a terrible boree elephant to mako mo forget you. You can't mako a nagging woman believe that she hasn't the swoetost disposition in tho neighborhood,