University of South Carolina Libraries
"'UIEH1IU-AND- ZNUSTML1 The fy lays four times each simmel And eighty eggs each time. ATheesAoendants of a single female wasp will often number 25,000 in one season. Female fish' of all species are con siderablymore numerous than males with two exceptions-the angler . and 'the catfsh., #The giant of the planetary system is Oupiter, with a diameter of 275,000 ies at the equator, a~d a volume F234 times as great as that of the Theweight of a molecule of hydro gen is approximately 0.000,00,000, 000,000,000.04 of a' gramme; the atomic weight of -iron is 0.000,000, 000,000,000,000,002.2 gramme. The blood-in its natural state eon Jins an amount of pure water that is really astonishing.to one who has not given the subject attention-nearly seven-eights of its entire bulk. A non-venomous South African pnake lives entirely on birds' eggs. !ach egg is swallowed whole, and by a rauscular contraction of the gullet its pontents now into the stomach, while the shell is rejected by the mouth in the form of a pellet. - It is stated that ordinary bricks boiled in tar for about twelve hours, or until they are satuated with it, are increased about thirty per cent. in weight, are much harder than common ones and unaffected by frosts and acids pa well as perfectly waterproof. They Yorm an excellent flooring for work ihops or storerooms, particularly in h6emical establishments. There is a remarkable sympathy be. Iween the eyes. So much is this the ease that any serious injury to the one Ia almost certain to effect the other, hence the necessity which often arisea for the 'removal of the injured eye manly for the sake of saving the other. This sympathy -has been shown to extend so far that color perceived pone eye alone excites the retina of heother. In the colliery fields of South Staf fordshire, England, hundreds of acres of land are covered with shale or waste material from mines. It is a kiud of slate-colored clay. This ,material, whenground and otherwise manipu lated, proves to be an excellent ma terial for the manufacture of bricks. These bricks, when taken from the kiln, are as uniform and rich in color as those made from red clay, and their qualities are of such a nature as to assure an industry of considerable pro portions. Frogs, whether blind or not, become dark green or black if they are kept in a dark. vessel in a sparingly-lighted room, but when a larger branch with green leaves is introduced into the vessel, they all recover their bright green color, whether blind or not. In some way. unknown the reflected greer light acts either upon the nerves o: the akin, or-what seems more prob able, if Steinach's experiments are taken into account-directly upon the pigment cells. Moreover, the sensa tions derived from the toes have also an influence upon the change of color. When the bottom of the vessel is covered with a felt or a thin wire net, the frogs also become black, recover ing their green color when a green branch is initroduced into the vessel. ' ot on der Rdad. - . -One night we were coming in on the train when we encountered the alercest looking,. storm I ever saw. I knew the conductor of the train very irell, and ha knew I wanted to see a cyclone. So he took me forward and put me on the engine, telling the en gineer to show me the first cyclone $hat crossed our path. The great black cloud was streaked ever and imon with lightning as forked as a nak~e's tongue. I could hear the ar of the wind above the tremend Das breathing of the engine, it was grand and terrible scene to me. ~he engine seemed to be driving i1ght into the storm center. I looked svery moment to see the smokestacks twisted from the boiler and the cow-' latcher hurled Into black night. I lose4 my eyes for a moment, for is . eemed to m~e my time had come. $Yhen I opened miy eyes the sky was plear. The stars were sparkling like pliamonds, and the storm lay In the Jak groundlike a monster that had een overpowered. I looked at the bngineer. He was as calm as if he had been at a harvest dance. As . soon aslIcould catch my breath I paid to him, ,"No cyclone yet?" He gazed at me fixedly a moment, then he asked, "Have you been asleep?" N~ot so far as I can remember," 1 answered meekly. ECYoung man," said he, solemnly, "no cyclone ever tackles this engine. They get out of the way when they see It coming. One tried it once and agent out of the business the next flay. If you were on the- road you would have seen the cyke. It loves to daily with that road, not with our'n. Sorry we can't accom pnodate you. Conductor ought tc have known better than to take you on-in." "So I go back home with no cy dlone story but this, hey?" "You've had the best that we can give you, stranger."', 3Zura-Keep Away from Showas She-John, your brother was just 4n here, awfully drunk, and threw Ithr ee base-balls at the babies. Ho-Guess he was trying to get :~hree cigars.-Judge. *. ger ipe: Th geil pt the FICHU CAPE. Criminal Festiva Ma niD The great solemn popular festival Wa of the Khonds included the annual e immolation of a victim. After three days of indescribable orgies, in which Ma women often participated dressed like tot men and armed like warriors, the vie- hiea tim was bound to a stake in the midst e of the forest, and left there all night og alone; in the morning the .people re- chij turned, with a great noise of bells and tor gongs, singing and shouting;" when ee the multitude had become well intoxi- the cated with the uproar, and greatly excited by disorderly dances, the grand has priest would command silence and re cite a long prayer, and would then slay the victim, usually with a single stroke of the knife. The multitude, -,0 which had been wai'ting for that mo ment, rushed upon the quarry with bab piercing cries, each one trying to tear tw off a piece of the palpitating flesh, to 1'y'4 hack the body to pieces. 1 A criminal ceremony exists. among blia the tribes of the interiorof Sumatra, war which is without doubt the survival i'il of an ancient and very cruel custom, you that has passed in the course of time bab into a civil and religious duty. These5 He, people, although of rather gentle dis- rj position, piously and ceremoniously lea: kill anid eat their aged parent, in the sai4 beief that they are performing a sa cred duty. At the appointed day the to t old man who is destined to be eaten goes up into a tree, at the foot of which are gathered the relatives and rj friends of the family. They strike sal the trunk of the tree in cadence and abc sing a funeral hymn. Then the old ~He man descends, his nearest relatives wa deliberately kill him, and the attend- wit ants eathiml. pli With some peoples animals take the bod place of human victims; but what we ma had said is sufficient to show that even suc with these peoples collective crime an was formerly a solemn ceremony, al- put though individual crime was already regarded as something to be con- fai1 demned.-Popular Science Monthly. pro Wootni Extz vagance.ha Deacon Medders--Skipps, the cash, er of the Onderdonk County Bank, Juc ran away last night. They say he bac has been robbing the bank for more than a year. Mrs. Medders.-They might have YOt inown that he was livmng beyond his thi nrieans. Why, Josiah, his folks act ually used to sit in their parlor every he nigh!-Echanrewa nigb!-~chanre.. a s A Mystery. ' .. f r~ Mr. Younghusband (coming homes nds his wife at the stove)-So yor. are doing your own cooking? Tell - me. now, what is that you are cooa- ) ing at that stove,.Molly? .fat Molly-You mustn't have so much curiosity. I don't know myself yet as! what it is going to be.-Txas Sift- tic ings. Wanted Stationery. Queer Party-Got any barometers? "i Salesman-No! this is a book store. bla Don't keep 'em. "Excuse met but I notice in the weather reports that the barometer is sometimes stationery," - Texas Siftings. ______ Mr. Hayseed-s Theory. Noted Physician-Do you know ice hy it is that city people are straight Inai and walk with heads erect,* while ha. country people nearly always bend over? t Farmer Hayseed-I s'pose it's 'cause an< country people haln't got any tall WC bilnaS to lank un a TILANE, NDTE GONO MadeHim espea/e hehdasrl yugvieta _ae thIhl aadwe spk- t h nftidalnga ah thad mad shrll youn oe atn s grit their teeth and clutch the sh backs of the seats in front. e car was full, and the fond young rdian of infancy and innocence upied the first seat. Black to back h that was the seat that faced stove, and on tnis undesirable *t sat a 'thin, old man, with three :hels and chin whiskers. 'nere was a lull for a efew miles, . the passengers began to relax ir~muscles, and breathe freer, when fusilade suddenly began again. 'Seepy, ittle dirl? Oh, so seepy?" io response. 'Was oo mamma's wittle yam* nma's wittle yamnmyjyam? Look here! Look at me! Oh, you bad. s oo mamma's naughty bad?" 'hree slaps. 'Oh, you bad, precious, ittle sing. nma's Daisy Ducktums, her ownie y trots. Klssumn-.me! Do you r? Kissum me!" 'here were beads of perspiration the face of the man with the i whiskers, and when the conduc opened the car door he gave a1 vulsive shiver, .that knocked down coal shovel. Conductor," he whispered, "you ~ en't come too soon,"] 'Why?"~] I'm a desperate man," Too hot?" asked the conductor3 hingly, opening the stove door. Hot? Man, it's that woman anid y back of me. It's the baby ddle. I tell you I can't stand it.1 raised nine young ones myself out oway, and I didn't raise 'em on t, Git the woman !anything she its. Git her a house and lot. chip in, but keep her cquiet. I1! don't, conductor, I'll brain that y with this yaller sample case. I r? I'm desprit!" he conductor didn't renly. He ed over to the young woman and Madam, you must send that dog< he baggage-car. "-Free Press. 1 .A Pardodable 1iference. ( here had been a homicide in a on and one man was telling all ~ut it, even to the ininutest detail. had seen it all and knew what he I talking about, he said, and not hstaunding everybody had not im ~it confidence~ in his statenlent, no y cared to call him to account and e him show proof. Naturally h a man would be a good witness at the examining trial he was on the stand. 'What do you know about this af ?" asked the court. Nothin' yer honor," he replied so mptly as to startle those who had rd his story. Didn't you," asked the surprised ge, "tell a number of people you seen it all?" Yes, yer honor." Then how does it happen that say here that you don't know any g about it?" Well, It's this way, yer honor," ~ad with a redeeming blush. "I only a talking then, an' now I'm wearin'." he coutaged the distinction. Daught. little girl was reproved by her her for using profane language. How do you know 21 do?'" she ed, seeking to parry the accusa 'Oh! a little bird told me," he re n quick excitement she exclaimed, know - it-was one of those nked sparrows. "-Quips A Hard Winter. wfe-I don't see what we are go to do. lusband-What's wrong? 'The ice man won't stop leaving until his bill is paid and the coal n won't bring any coal unless he the money in advance." Ur-well, I still have credit at drug store. Get some phosphorus l put it on the Ien " - New York t '1 CHANGEABLE VELVET 7 #1 )RESS WITH VELVE~T TRIMMING. . Coloring Oak with Ammonia.. Some of the best specimens of oa.. or decorative woodwork are now ob aned, it is stated, by fumigating the Eaterial with ammoniacal vapor, rhich effectively produces the dark ~olorng so much desired, in accom pishing this the method consists of lacing the material to be darkened 2n an approximatel.v air-tight room, 2n which no light enters; or for small rork a packing box will suffice, the >ints or cracks to be well pasted over1 ith paper. In this room or recep acle for aepositing the furniture or ther articles is placed a flat porce ain or earthen ves~el filled with am onia, the vessel containing the quid being, of course, set on the round or floor, that the fumes or apor may strike to advantage the ~rticles to be darkened. If the apart rnent is large, two or more vessels antaining ammonia may be employed nd allowed to remain until the de ired effect is secnt-ed. The ammonia oes not touch the oak, but the gas bat proceeds from it acts in a pe-r tliar manner upon the tannic acid 2ntained in the oak, browning it so eeply that a shaving or two may ctually be taken off without remov g the color. The depth of shade epend upon the quantity of ammonia sed and the duration of exposure. - ~ew York Sun. Lack of Expedlents. First Boy-Grown folks is suchb ols. Second Boy-How? First Boy-Jus' hear 'em mairmg I ill that fuss 'cause the drinking-water ells bad since the rain. They don't em to know 'nough to hold their oses w'en they drink. . Queered thi Dog. "Didn't you enter your big mastiff t the bench show, Mr. Bezooks?" "I should say not." "And why not? He'd be a winner re." -'No, he wouldn't; one of the judges ised to come to see my daughter and ne night the dog was loose in the ~ard-" "Ah!"-Omaha World-Uerald. Carefully Trained. Little Dick-Mamma, may I stay ith Billy Beeswax all night? Mamma-I'm afraid you'll forget a say your prayers. Little Dic.-No, I couldn't, 'cause e has to say 'em himself.. His amma is just as cross an' ugly 'bout hat as you are.-Street & Smith's ~ood News. ___ , ~sure to Go. ~ Little Dot-Mamma is going to ske me with her when she visits .unt Jenny. Little Dick-She's going to take ne, too. "Did she say so?" "Then how do you know?" "She'll never leave me here with hat closet full of jam."-Good News. asncouragnag; rejury. Judge-Can you give an instance ot iciing a person to commit perjury? Law Candidate-Yes; for instance, ,ha Kuna na Wenm'n hw old she is riE WAS BALD, Lnd He Tried to Correct the Working< Nature. It was one of the by-laws of th leartache's Heavenly Hair Raise hat it be used freely before retiring ubbing it into the scalp. Just be ore be 'went to bed that night, th nan bolted the back door, put the ca n the wood-shed, came in whistlinj .he I Fatinitza" waltz, danced up t he clock-shelf. and, pouring ou vhat he supposed to be his hair ferti izer, he mopped it all over his scalr nd stirred it well in around the root if his little hedge of hair at the bac] f his neck. The glue bottle, by an unearth]. oincidence, was nearly the sam hape and size as the hair sap bottle le went to bed. "George," said his wife. turninj ter face to the wall, "that stui ou're putting on your hair smell ike a pan of soapgrease." "Perhaps I had better go up stair nd sleen," snarled George. "You'r nighty sensitive! You wouldn't e; ect that a man can put stuff on hi iead make his hair grow, and hay, t smell like essence of wintergreen ould you?" They went to sleep mad as Turks This particular bald-beaded man ike a good many other bald-headet en, had to get up and* build th lies. When he arose next morninj he sun peeped in at the window, an aw the pillow cling to the back o Lis head like a great white chivnon te thought it must have caught on Lin or shirt button. It looked ridica )us, and he would throw it back of he bed before his wife saw it, so h, aught It quickly by one end an 'yanked." "Oh! oh!" he screamed, "what' een going on here? Thunder an ightnin'!" and he began to claw a is scalp like a lunatic. His wif prang up from the couch and begai o sob hysterically. '''Oh, don't George! What Is it Vhat's the matter?" George was dancing about th, oom, the pillow now dangling by - ew hairs, his scalp covered wit] omething that looked like shee opper, while the air was re olent of warlike explosives, as i titonary bad exploded. With romn's instinct the poor wife too] n the situation at a glance, and es laimed; "It is the'glue!" The bald-headed man satdown in hair and looked at her a moment i ontemptuous silence, and then ul red the one expressive word: "Glue!" Now began a series of processes ani periments unheard of in the at alsof chemistry. "Jane, you must soak it off wIW varm water. I've got to go to Utic o-day." "I can't, George," she rerlied in ~uilty tone, "its waterproof." "Yes, I might have known it; an suppose It's fireproof, too, ain't it. He scratched over the smooth plat ng with his finger nail. "It's hard as iron," he said. "Yes-he said it was good glue, epeated she innocently. "Can't yo kin it off with your razor, George? "Don't you trifle with me, Jane ~et me that coarse tile in the wood hed." It may be imagined what followed ~nd now as the bald-headed man sit n the office he never removes his hal 'or his entire skull Is a howlin vast~e of blistered desert, relieve iere and there by oases of blac ourt-plaster. - The Christian a York. She Only Half Tried. Modern children - American chil Iren, especially-are a bright race )ut now and then they blunder la netably, as In the following in tance, where the boy attributed t kis mother conduct of which shi ever could have been capable. Tb tory Is borroiwed from Good News. "Mamma," said a boy of ten o welve, "did you tell papa I'd got ti are a bicycle?" "Yes, I told him, but he said h ouln't afford It." 'Of course he'd say that; but wha tid you do?" "I told him how badly you wante< t,, and argued in favor of it, but h efued." "Argued! Huh! If it had beei omething you wanted for your ow' el, you'd cried a little, an' the. ou'd got it." Most Crowded Spot on Earth. The most crowded spot on earth i he Manderaggio, which is one of th uarters of Valetta, the capital of th sland of Malta. In Valetta itself .th >roportion is 75,000 to the squer ile, but in the Manderaggio 254 eople dwell on a surface two acre Lnd a half in extent, and this gives n: ess than 636,000 to the square mile, c .017.6 to the acre. In the most crowde< own in Great Britain, Liverpoc! .he proportion is only 116.4 to th ~cre. -New York Dispatch. DRES. WIH.SRIP.TR K4TR tI t 0if 2 / i DRESS WITH BRETELLES' Cinnamon. The cultivation of cinnamon iA something like that of.a willow copse, straight young shoots springing ul round the stump of the plant pre. nviously cut. These shoots in thehi - urn are cut every second year-that js to say. when they are about fie 1 e eet high and two inches in circum. l erence. A good many of these are ;uld as walking sticks, and find a 5 'ready market on board the steamerq among the passengers, who.think there t must be a special charm in a cinna- 1 mon stick, though In truth It is hard to distinguish it from our common I hazel. But of course the real 'tlkig to be secured is the highly aromatic innei ) bark. First of all, the leaves are 4 L stripped off, and then the bark is split from end to end with a sharp ' knife, which has a curved point; with this, aided by the fingers, the bark is carefilly removed in long I pieces. These are heaped up and left I C to soddei, so as to ficilitate the next process-thatof scraping off the outer rind. In order to do this, each piece of I the bark is placed on a round piece of f 2 wood and carefully scraped with the 4 knife, the almost nude brown work ers sitting on the ground and using their toes as an extra hand to steady l the end of the stick. - The bark is then left to dry in the I sun, when it rolls itself up into tight ? quills. These are neatly sorted and a packed. three or four inside of one I another, and are made up into bales I a covered with cloth, and are then I ready for export.] i Cinnamon isso extraordinarilysensi- < "tive that great care has to be taken -with regard to its surroundings on board ship, as a bale of very fine cin namon will lose much of its delicate aroma if packed aznong bales ofi a coarser bark. Vnrious expedients have tbeen tried to remedy this. The -Portuguese and Dutch isolated the -bales by packing them in cocoanut fiber, or in cattle hides; but it is1 founti that the onily reai safety-C s guard Is to yacic bags of pepper be-. Stween the bales. . 1'ate as ~hsuranace. k Window glass was first manufactured 2 t in London in 1557, but for a long timeC it was a luxury within the reach of the opulent only. Now, however, its use 1 is universal in all civilized countriL, -and only measured in extent and qual- 4 , ity by the size of the buildings in which Sit is employsd for light and ornamer - - tation. ) Plate glass windows, especially in I a rn of large business establishments, e are now used for show purposes, and are only limited in size by the height r and width of the store front. So gen- I 3 eral and liberal has their use become I that it is found necessary to organize1 a coinpanies which undertake, for a I mokIerate premium, to replace them in t Scase of breakage, and the growth and development of these companies, stim I olated by active competition, attest to I Sagreat degree the encouragement which has been given to the plate glass busi- [ ness by the protection afforded to its 1 increased use. -Insurance Monii.r 1 A Pleasure to Use Them. A lady looking at some apartments inquired of the landlord "how about the stairway?" "Oh, it is exmellent, madamt. When you are going up it is..so easy that you imagine you are descending." -Texas Sittings. The Work to be Done.] sApplicant--You advertised tor a1 man with a vivid imagination, sir? SManager-Yes. Have you one9 I"I have, sir. What is the work*" S"Making out bills for a gas com pany."-Harlem Life. [MMING, AND FASHIONABLE romy EvidU'y Destined to n an Ornsment er the steg* ages.. The old gentleWn ha4 boen tryin o instill into 419 son soroe Ida of usiness thrift, says she Detroit Iree Press, and to help the lessons aloIg ie brought home a toy bank. "Now, Tommy," he said, "PIl-be president of this bank, and you'll bx :ashier. Your mother an4 sisterI will be stockholders. Christmas we'll pen it and declare a dividend. We'll ut something In It every day." The old gentleman put In a dime, rommy and his sisters a nickel each, Lmd his mother a dime. "Well, let what I put In represent he Interest on the other depositi," vent on the old gentleman. "You ceep track of what the others put in, Lad when we open the bank- the in-. ;rest will be dlvided preporitionitelY Lmong the jiepositors." Tommy said he thought he under tobd nd 'put down in a book what ach one had deposited. For a couple ot weeks all went moothly. Every morning afte; >reakfgabsach areber of the famflj ras call- upon fof something to de4 )osit in t back. But onE evening he old ge 4,man had' to go down own and Q red he had no strbet. ar fare-,nothifik less tlian a sie bill ,he recalled the change In the bank! to abstracted a dime and went hig ray. The next morning when deposit% vere called for T6mmy announce4 hat the bank was busted and close ts doors. "Why, Tommy, what do you mean? sked the old gentleman. "The president's been monkeying vith the finances," said Tommy, "and here's a shortage." "But that was only a temporar, oan," explained the old gentlmav :oloring up a little. "Oh, yes: that's what they always ay," said Tommy. That's the usua :ustom."1 "But it will be repaid at once." "No use," said Tommy,- shortly. "Why not?" "Huh! I guess you don't know any. hing about banks," exclaimed Tom, ny. "When the gresident gets td nonkeying with the funds the cash. er guts the bank, while he has the :hance, 'cause he knows he won't iave it long. Only a fool cashier 19 ,oing to let the presid'ent get ahead it him. "Tonmy," said the old gentlema eqereiy, as he looked in ife direction f the woodshed, "do you know what iappens to the cashier If he It aught?" "Yep," replied Tommy, prompt].% 'He generally compromises so a Uo rt the bank on its feet again. rm villing to pay ' all the depositors In ull without interest. Seeing as the resident put up the Interest in thil( ase, I guess he ought to lose it specially as I've only got 15 cents of t left." It was compromised on that basis. mnd the old gentleman has reached he conclusion that Tommy is des ilned to be a Wall street broker. sunsi'ots ad Thunder-stetm*. Amongethe supposed relations be ~ween sunspots and the atmosphere f the earth is one in which thunder torms are concerned. Half a dozen. ears ago It was notleed in Bavaria hat destructive lightning strokes rere apparently less numerous durlig Smaximum than during a minimum if sunspots, and Doctor Von.Bezold - ame' to the conclusion that "high emperatures and a spotless solar urface give years abounding*in thun er-storms." If this: theory is correct, the sum. ner just passed should have been comn aratively free from thunderstorms, or the sunspots are now approaching maximum. Next summer also should, upon the ame hypothesis, witness relatively ew thungler-storms. in England here has,,indeed, been noticed this rear an apparent tendency to follow he supposed law described above, as hunder-storms there have* been less mumerous than they were a few yeares tgo, when..the sunspots were near heir minimum. Probably, as is the case with all the ther supposed relations between sun pots and terrestrial phenomena, the >roof in this case will be very slow-to btain and very far from convincing, mtil we have learned much more han we now know of the gened'a aws of the solar action. Things'i G1R should Eena. She should learn to handle a goblet by its stem, and not by Its bowl. She should learn how to make a prety bow. bhe should learn-as she learned 1er alphabet-that a gentleman hould always be presented to a lady, iever a lady to a gentleman. She should learnuthat It is bad fortsI xo congratulate a bride at a wedding,; )ne congratulates the bridegroom mnd wishes the bride happiness. She should learn that It Is the worst >r bad taste to appear thoughtfiul oi isent minded in company. She should learn, at table, to dip aer soup from her; to use her forki miy in the fish course; to lay knife Lnd fork aside when she passes hen late; to eat out of the side of her moon and to fold her nankin, als circulation aul Eight, Editor (anxiously)-Well, Doctor what is the master with me? N'oth lg serious, I hope. Doctor-H'm! well, you are in a bad way, Your circulation is very ow. Editor (excitedly) -What? Why, sir. I have at least two hundred thou. sand a day. You have been reading a rival sheet,IsIr. We Winl cleave to the One., Teacher-In what part of the BL ble is it taught that man should have only one wife? Little Boy-1 guess it's the pr that says no man can serve two ms trs.-Bostonl Gazette. An Eye for Business, 'Fool Woman (In railroad train on cold day)-Pardoni me, sir, but this window sticks. Won't you under ake to open it? Gentleman-With pleasure, ma~ dam. i am an undertaker by proj