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' A BOTTOM LESS PIT.
Exploration of a Peculiar Cave Formation
in France.
Among the most remarkable of na-
ture’s wonders the subterranean pit at
' . Jean Nouveau, near Vaucluse, France,
which reaches a depth of five hundred
, and forty feet, while nowhere more
than twelve feet wide, has only recent-
ly been explored. The French Society
of Speleology (cave study) erected a
derrick at the mouth of the pit which
begins with a funnel fifteen' feet wide
at the top and narrows down to three
feet at a depth of about twenty feet.
From here down the crevice in the
rock, for such it is, extends vertically,
getting wider as it extends deeper, un-
til at a depth of about; four hundred
and seventy-five feet it is twelve feet
wide. ‘ At this point the shaft opens
into 'a roomy cave inlwhich just beneath
the opening of the vertical pit a thick
layer of clay, containing remains of
bones, both human and animal, was
found. The explorers found no evi-
dence that the place had ever been vis-
ited by man, but tradition has it that
criminals were thrown into the “bot-
tomless pit,” as it was popularly called
in theneighborhood, and the remains in
the cave just beneath the shaft tend to
corroborate this belief.
The descent made into the shaft was
exceedingly difficult; it established the
fact that there must be a further ”cave
far below the one now knoWn, but the
crevice through which it _ is accessible
is choked up with debris and bowlders
so that it will be a very difficult matter
to penetrate further into the cave than
has been ' done. The deepest point
reached in this crevice is five hundred
and- ninety—three feet underground.
Great quantities of water rush through
the shaft at every time there is a storm,
still no trace of water was found in the
cave explored, which proves that some
other subterranean exit must exist.
USES FOR OLD RAILS.
, A Great Amount of—Ha-bed-Wire Fencing
Is Made of Them.
In speaking of the use of old rails re-
cently, says the Railway Reviewer, an
official of the Pennsylvania railroad
stated the life of a rail on the Pennsyl-
vania lines west is about elo“en years
and on the Pennsylvania rain-a: l only
nine years. The differenc; i~z perhaps
due to heavier traffic on 4 .’cnnsyl-
vania railroad. The friclioc of con-
stantly passing trains wears .a the rail
until it must be replaced bf; a new one.
The company pays twenty-four dollars
a ton-now twenty-two dollars—and
the Grails used on that line average
eighty—five pounds to the yard. When
it has passed its useful stage the rail is
replaced. .
The old rails that are taken out from
time to time are gathered ”up every
month and sold to junk and scrap deal-
ers at twelve dollars a ton. It can read-
ily be seen that the company pays only
twelve dollars for the use of rails per
ton. The price received from the scrap
man is a good figure, when it is known
that the rails, when sold, are of no use
to the company. Rails that are not
much worn are sold to factories along
the road at eighteen dollars 'per ton,
where they are used for sidings and an-
swer the purpose quite as well as new
rails. There are many uses to which
the old rail is put. A great amount of
barb-wire fencing is made of railroad
iron and very often the rails are used as
foundations for large buildings. There
are not many people who know that
the Masonic temple in Chicago rests on
a foundation of steel rails, layer upon
layer, six feet deep. "
A CANINE CURIOSITY.‘
;‘ Foyer,” a Big Newfoundland Tramp
Dog of Put-in-Bay.
.There is a Newfoundland dog at Put-
in-Bay that is certainly a curiosity. His
name is Rover and he is known at
every house and hostelry on the iSland.
*Years ago he was named by Mr. Jay
Cooke, the millionaire banker and
owner of Gibraltar, the cliff-girt little
island that nestles in the bosom of
Put-in-Bay, hardly yet separatedfrom
its parent mother by a narrow line of
shoals. Mr. Cooke had no use for Rover
and gave him away' when he was quite
young to a family on the island of the
name of Roelfing. In the course of time,
says the Buffalo Commercial, the Roel- ‘
fing family moved away and Rover, who
had grown into fine proportions, was
left alone without}. master. Several
times attempts were made to domicile
the brute, but they were of no avail.
He either would not forget his old mas-
ter or else had determined to be true to
his name and lead a roving life. At
any rate, for the past three or four ,
years Rover has been the tramp dog of
the island, without any home. Every-
body likes him, and there is not a child
that does not save him a piece of meat
or crust of bread. He makesthe rounds
from house to house, and always seeks a
the kitchen door first. He is round,
fat and sleek, and lives on the fat of
the land and is the common property of
the island.
Her Conundrum.
It is often hard to determine hit from
"‘good wit” in the case of children, and
some of their flashes of precocity seem
not to be unconscious, but rather the
fragment of some remembered knowl-
edge. Alittle maid of five, who had
been listening quietly to the puzzles
and conundrums of the older children,
seemed at last to divine the method ‘of
their construction, and, after some
thought, asked: “What could you get
on a very high, steep mountain?” The
answers were ice, snow, rocks, eagles’
nests and the like, to all of which the
little one persistently shook her head.
When asked to tell the answer she tri-
umphantly cried: “Nothing!” “But
why?” asked the others, in abreath.
“Because“ you couldn’t get up there
after it,” was the demure reply.
, A Bamboo Organ.
A bamboo Organ has been built for
the Jesuits’ church at Shanghai, and is
said to surpass organs made of metal.
As bamboo can be obtained of all dimen-
sions, from the thickness of a pen to
pieces of a foot in diameter, this natural
material. costs little more than the sim-
ple labor, and the notes are beautifully
Soft and pleaspnt to the ear.
> know clubs from spades.
li-iE LARGEST LENS.
The Splendid Achievement of an -Amer-
ican Manufacturer.
ble thing, and one which no European
manufacturer of lenses could be induced
to attempt. Thisis the making of a per-
fect lens of more than three feet across
the face. N 0 one but this. American
manufacturer ever thought of exceed-
ing the twenty-six-inch lenses which
are in use at several observatories on
both continents, one at the naval ob-
servatory at Washington, through
which Mr... Hall discovered the long-
sought satellites of Mars and many
double stars. The highest power was
supposed to be reached when the Lick
telescope in California was put up with
a thirty-six-inch lens. The difficulties to
be met in the production of a perfectly
clear lens of great size are so many that
the European observers who have
wanted anything above the twenty-six-
inch lens. have had to take the reflect-
ing telescope, which has a concave mir-
ror. It requires, of course, a much
larger reflecting telescope to get the
magnitude of object.
The making of this forty-one and a
half-inch lens, says the New York Com-
mercial Advertiser, is regarded as the
crowning work of Mr. Alvan Clark’s
life. It is probable no larger lens will
ever be made. Under existing condi-
tions a larger telescope than the
Yerkes—the telescope of the Chicago
university observatory for which the
lens is made—would be of no great
value. To increase the magnifying
power is at the same time to increase
the obstructions to clear vision. When
the object is magnified the atmospheric
agitation is increased to such a degree
that distinctness is virtually sacrificed
when the object glass is larger than
forty-one and a half-inches. It is
doubtful if the Yerkes will be any
more useful than the Lick. Some day
it may be possible to remove the ob-
stacles to clearness in the case of a
powerful lens, though the only reason
for suggesting it is that Prof. Tyndall
was able to construct a glass by which
the blue of the atmosphere was dissi-
pated in looking through a deep space.
If the Yerkes glass answers expecta-
tions it will enable an experienCc-d ob-
server to catch occasional glimpses of
the Mars canals, which, though drawn
firmly on the Vatican maps, are vague
through any glass. They can be seen
at all only by the trained observer.
The great telescope will be most useful
in the study of double stars, which is
now a. matter of special interest to
many observers.
CURIOUS TREES.
Several That Are Valuable, Gigantic and
' Historic.
= The largest orange tree in the south
is a gigantic specimen which grows out
of the rich soil in Terre Bonne parish,
Louisiana. It is fifty‘feet high and fif-
teen feet in circumference at the base.
Its yield has often been ten thousand
oranges per season. ' "
The “talloWfltrée’i‘b’f‘VCfiina has a
pith from one inch to two feet in di-
ameter, according to the size of the
tree, which is composed of a greasy
wax, which is so highly volatile that
it often catches fire spontaneously,
consuming the tree to the very ends of
its roots. .
The largest oak tree now left stand-
ing in England is “Cowthorp’s oak,”
which is seventy-eight feet in circum-
ference at the ground. The oldest tree
in Britain is “Parliamentary oak,”
in Clipstone park, London, which is
known to be fifteen hundred years old.
The' largest apple tree in New York
state is said to be one standing near
the town of Wilson. It was planted in
the year 1815, and it is on record that
it once yielded thirty-thr ee barrels of
apples in a single season.
There are four hundred and thirteen
species of trees found growing within
the limits of the United States. The
curiosity of the whole lot is the black
ironwood, of Florida, which is thirty
per cent. heavier than water. Well
dried black ironwood will sink in water
almost as quickly as will a bar of lead.
The “life tree” of Jamaica is harder
to kill than any other species of wood
growth known to arboriculturists. It
continues to grow and thrive for
months after being uprooted and ex-
posed to the sun.
—" I
Mac's Bejoinder.
The captain of a. Cunard liner one day
while crossing the “herring pond,”
found that his ship was not doing the
‘ speed he considered she ought to, and,
his best frown, he went
3 putting on
I down to the room of the chief engineer,
a hard and dry Scotchman and an
; amateur violinist. The captain knocked
‘ at the door; the gay chords of a Scotch
reel played on a fiddle was the only an-
swer to his summons, so he burst the
door open. “Mr. Mac,” he thundered,
“what are you about? I am not at all
satisfied with your engines; we go like
snails, sir.” Mr. Mac made a flourish
with his bow, and, after a jolly chord,
said: “Sair, my engines should hae
been in Liverpool these three days. It’s
your slow old ship that’s at fault!”
Unhappy Comparison.
Ministers cannot be “answered back”
on Sunday, but on week days, some-
times, the case is different.
‘ “Why weren’t you at the kirk on
one of his parishioners. ’
“I was at Mr. Dunlop’s kirk,” was
the answer.
“I don’t like your running about to
strange kirks in that way. Not that I
object to your hearing Mr. Dunlop, but
I’m' sure ‘you widna like your sheep‘
straying away into strange pastures.”
“I widna care a grain, sir, if it was
better grass,” said the parishioner.
Queer Comment by 3 Bishop.
~ Of Bishop Bathurst, who was a great
whist player, it is related that on hear-
ing the name of a new appointment in
the chapter there was wrung from him
the passionate exclamation: “I have
served the‘whigs all my life and now
they’sendme down a canon who doesn’t
I”
The Clarks have accomplished what
has long been regarded as an impossi- ,
same'amount of light and the same .
and wavering and almost imaginary,
_ interest the indications.
Sunday?” asked a Scotch preacher of‘
. Homéfs OF RIVER- PIRATES.
Caves in the Mountain Sides Are Watched
with Awe by Longshoremen.
Along the west shore of the Hudson
river, between West Point and Esopus,
according to the New York World,
there are several sidehill openings that
are supposed to lead into big recesses
not yet explored. Daring men have
made the attempt to discover the inte-
ri0r, but have been frightened into a re
treat by all sorts of imaginings.
At Marlborough, Highland and in the
famous Storm King mountain, at Corn-
wall, these rocky openings are watched
by longshoremen, who have reason to
believe that valuable property is con-
tained therein. .
A Cornwall fisherman says he be-
lieves that one of these caves, near the
foot of ‘Storm King, is the rendezvous
of a gang of New York thieves, who re-
ceive and dispose of their ill-gotten
stock on a strict mercantile basis. He
remembers that about the lst .of April
he and his father saw a small boat, in
which were four men, put ashore at this
point. It was an inky black night, and
it was not safe for small craft in the
wind-tossed water of Cornwall bay.
The fisherman watched the landing
and saw the company, who were dis«
tinguished by the lanterns they carried,
work their way up the mountain side.
About twenty minutes after the landing
the lights were lost sight of at a point
about one hundred feet from_ the
water’s edge.
The supposition is that these men
entered one of those mercantile caves
to make ready for the year’s business.
No one has ventured near the place,
although several hunters say that there
is an opening at the spot designated by
the Cornwall man. It is believed that
this cave is the main resort of river
pirates and robbers, who plunder in
the Hudson river valley", and if so
there is considerable danger attending
a visitation to the locality.
This site is particularly lonely and
deserted. It can be located by passen‘
gers on the day boats as they are pass-
ing. It is about three hundred feet
west of the place where an attempt
has been made to quarry stone for
crushing, and to reach it one must run
the risk of being bitten by the most
poisonous snakes.
MALAGASY COOKERY.
Great Care Taken in Preparing the Sim-
ple Food. »
' Cooking being an art, every race has
a style of its own. The Malagasy, like
the gentle Hindu, knows how to pre—
pare his mess of rice, says the London
Telegraph. It is not boiled to a mash
as in England, or as our potatoes are
sometimes pulped, but, covered with a
proper sufficiency of water, is carefully
treated until the grains are swollen fit
to burst and yet remain full, intact,
soft and rather mealy. The manioc
root is an easier dish to prepare. It is
sometimes served boiled, as yams and
sweet potatoes, and again as a sort of
cold porridge. Native coffee they un-
derstand how to make, and the aroma
is excellent; but tea, alas! you have to
look to the brewing of that from start
to finish if you desire a drinkable cup.
Poultry and game are eaten fresh, and
the cooks have a clever and withal
cleanly trick of dipping the dead ani-
mals in boiling water, which enables
them to pluck them easily and quickly.
,The preparation for trussing comes
later. There is no lack of variety at a
Malagasy table, but, all the same, you
miss the Wheaten flour bread, sugar
and condiments when cloyed with rice,
fowls, manioc and eggs. The staple
fuel is bunch grass, which when dried
burns fiercely, and settles into a glow-
ing ember that gives off a deal of heat.
All the cooking is done on earthen
hearths, and the roasting, boiling and
baking in big iron pots. The grass be-
ing slightly aromatic, the odor is as
agreeable as that of a hardwood fire.
ENTHUSIASM OVERCAME HIM.
And He Gave Away His Employer’s Secret
as a Result.
A few years ago a prominent oil pro-
ducer of Pittsburgh was putting down
a well in a territory that had never
been tested for oil. He was keeping
the fact a profound secret, says the San
Francisco Argonaut, in order that in
case he got a good well he might with-
out difiiculty secure all the leases he
desired in the vicinity. He was on the
ground himself, watching with great
Everything
pointed to success. Two days before
the well was expected to “come in” he
was called home. Anxious about the
result, be arranged with his contractor
to telegraph him as soon as the drill
reached the sand. He knew, however,
that secrets will sometimes leak out of
atelegraph office and so he told the
driller that the sentence: “Pine trees
grow tall,” would mean that .he
had struck oil. The driller promised to
do as he was ordered. The mingled
satisfaction and vexation of the pro-
ducer may be imagined when two days ‘
later he received the following tele- ,
She’s 3
gram: “Pine trees grow tall.
squirting clean over the derrick.” His
hope that he shouid have no competi- ‘
tors for leases was disappointed.
Very Tender-Hearted.
Mlle. Augustine Brohan, the cele-
brated French comed‘ienne, who was so
humane to all animals, one day at table
foundafly caught on her plate. She
took it up tenderly with her thumb
and finger and called her maid.
“Marie,” she said, “take this fly—be
careful, now; don’t hurt him!—and put
him outdoors.” The girl took the fly
and went away, but presently Mlle.
Brohan saw her standing near with a
troubled expression on her face. “Well,
Marie," she said, “did you do as I told
you?” “N o, mademoiselle, I’ve got the
fly still; I couldn’t venture to put him
outdoors—it was raining, and he might
havetaken cold.” . -
{Bullet-Proof Floss Silk.
Japan’s small losses in men in the
battles with the Chinese were due in
part to the, accidental use of a bullet-
proof material. Owing to the severe
cold the Japanese soldiers wore a quan-
tity of floss silk under their clothes;
this, when. they were hit, was found in
many cases to have stopped the bullets.
CLOWN WORTH MILLIONS. ’
In Twenty Years Barnato Has Acquired
Over $100,000,000.
- Paris has a king within its walls to-
day, one whose subjects do him hom-
age throughout the world of business,
for the monarch is none other than
Barnato, the king of mines, who at the
lowest computation is worth one hun-
dred and twenty million dollars. »
Twenty years ago, says a foreign ex-
change, a circus which had traveled,
goodness knows hoi', from England to
South Africa, arrived at Kimberley. It
was not a big circus, in fact it was only
composed of the manager, the man-
ager‘s wife, a clown and two trained
mules.
At that epoch Kimberley was not the
diamond town that it has become since.
The circus did a poor business, and one
morning the director and directress
fled, leaving the clown with two mules
and thirty shillings in his pocket,
which is not much in Europe, but which
is still less at the Cape of Good Hope.
During a ride in the outskirts of Kim-
berley he found in the field traces of
diamonds; he took some stones, showed
them to a miner, and, entering into
partnership with him, went to sell
them in the town. Then, without di-
vulging his discovery, he bought the
field where he had made his find, took
out only a few stones, for fear of arous-
ing suspicion, bought other fields, and
soon found himself a large landholder.
It was with these fields that the fa-
mous Society of Boers was created, of
which Mr. Barnato is now governor,
with Sir Cecil Rhodes and another;
each of these three gentlemen now re-
ceives an annual salary of one hundred
and twenty-five thousand dollars from‘
the company.
When the first gold mines were dis-
covered at Johannesburg, Mr. Barnato
rushed there, bought as much land
as he could find, organized societies
on the London market and. become
king of the mines. He also went
in for politics, and, although not a fol-
lower of Sir Cecil Rhodes’ policy, he
caused himself to be elected deputy to
the British parliament from the Cape of
Good Hope.
Now Mr. Barnato lives in London
and only goes to the cape for the parlia-
mentary sessions.
He is a little man, about forty-five
years old, wearing a slight mustache.
In dress he is very simple, and behind a
pincenez mounted in gold (it is the
only trace on _his person of the metal
king) he has two eyes of an incredible
vivacity.
A CURE 'Fon IDIOCY.
It Remains to Be Seen How Successful It
Will Be.
A cure for idiocy is one of the latest
achievements of surgical science, which
has taken so many giant strides of late
years. that it may be almost termed one
of the wonders of the century. Experi-
ments were made on the‘skulls of two
children, who had been idiotic from
birth, and the latest accounts are that
they are not only surviving the shock
of the operation, but are giving prom-
ise of a recovery of the mental facul-
ties." It Would be more"correct to say,
says the Washington Star, that they
are gaining those faculties, for the
idiot from birth has no development
until the obstruction on the brain is re-
moved. This is exactly the process in
the present trials. Holes are drilled in
the skull of the child, at the top of the
head where the “Fontanelle” or “soft
spot” is usually located. In the case
now under observation, these spots had
become hardened at birth, and thus
the expansion and development of the
brain had been arrested. The opera-'
tion was, therefore, to make a new or
artificial fontanelle. Great care had to
he exercised, of course, to avoid injur-
ing the brain, and there lay the main
difficulty of the operation. The scalp
is drawn anew over the apertures in
the skull thus made, and the little
brain. is left to cure itself. The‘chil-
dren 'thus operated on are two years
old. It is, of course, a question just.
when the patients should be subjected
to the experiment, and the age of two
years has been chosen as the starting
point. It has been considered prob-
able that at this age the child, if it
should recover its health and gain in-
telligence, will be scarcely behind oth-
er children of its own age a dozen
years later. By that time assisted na-
ture would have caught up with itself,
as it were. There may be some ques-
tion in the minds of ultra-sensitive peo-
ple as to whether it is right for sur-
geons to experiment in this way upon
helpless children by performing opera-
tions that may cause death. Yet there
will probably be no general outcry
against such an effort. In some sense
death is preferable to life-long idiocy.
Few parents would be likely to object
to the experiment upon their own un-
fortunate offspring if conducted with
the care which should attend all such
dangerous proceedings.
".4.
.
Concord Elects Officers.
Concord Division, S. of 'I. met at
their hall in the GAZETTE building last
evening and elected cfiicers as follows:
‘ Mrs. W. A. Pr-ver, W. P.; “Maud Rog-
ers, W. A; Wallis Nickerson, ll. 8.;
Asa. Decker, A. R. S ; W. A. Kellogg,
E. S.; W. A. Pryor, T.; S. ’B. Coggs-
well, Cbap!ain,lLaura Warner, Con.;
Cora Hanlon, A. 0;; Howard Worden,
I. 8.; N. E. Peck, O. S.
takes out ink, paint, 3
y-jl tar, pitch, grease ‘
and stains from
j.’ clothing and car- '
pets quickly and -
‘; completely and
MKLRWE. a Ring ‘ ,
——No Acid.-.-.— 10c.,25c., at Drug
No unpleasant odor. and Dry Goods Stores
Not inflammable.- Samples mailed, Sc.
L. B. SUTTON, New Canaan, Ct.
‘ M
«
Sold by FINNEY 85 BENEDICT.
I
5/
‘0’ Husban
1......
u _‘
‘ .
msumo POWDER
of _
the
Right
Sort
will always be interested in whatever makes ' ’ 5
his wife’s work easier and lighter. I
“My husband has used your shaving soaps for years, ’
and be induced me to try your ivorine Washing
Powder, which I find most excellent, and as pure and
good as you represent it.
that comes in each package is superior to anything I have
ever used for chapped hands.” MRS.
The J. B. Williams 00., Glastonbury, Conn. 2 5
Makers of Williams’ Famous Shaving Soaps. ‘ . , -
Wins: of Choice Premiums sent Free upon Request. "
The cake of Olive Oil Soap
W. A. Hsvwoon, '
Pawtucket, R. I.
4w... .. .
LANDING ON A FOREIGN SHORE.
The Traveler on Arriving Wonders What
to Do First.
When our steamer lands us in a for-
eign port—it matters little whether it
is an English-speaking port or not—
the traveler who has not taken the trip
to Europe before wonders what to do
first, according to a writer in Harper’s
Bazar. Having donned our shore gar-
ments, packed our steamer trunks and
given it‘ to the room steward, who
brings it to the custom house for us,
and having given our fees to this same
steward, our stewards, our table stew-
ard and deck-steward, we have noth-
ing to do but wait with our hand bag- \
gage until the gangway isplaced in po-
sition and we can go ashore.
With our fellow-passengers we enter
a large room, where custom house offic-
ers abound on every side. They stand
behind long tables, upon which our
hand-bags and rolls are placed, and
which we should prepare at once to
unlock. A cheerful compliance with
the request to open all packages does
muchto make our passage through all
custom houses pleasant and easy, and a
person has no disagreeable experiences
who obeys the requirement of the law
of the country she is entering.
Travelers, as a rule. and American
travelggs especially, are treated with
consideration. They will ask you, in
French, German or Italian: “Have
you anything dutiable?” and as cigars
and brandy are what they seek, one
can truthfully answer in one word:
“Nothing”——a word easily learned in
all three languages. When our hand-
baggafre has been examined, one of our
party usually stands guard over it, in
some out-of—the—way corner, while the
others, with trunk keys in hand, wait
for the trunks to be brought from the
steamer’s hold. One claims them as
they appear, and they all must be
opened as a rule. As the place for ex-
amining trunks is large, a distinctly
marked trunk is necessary.
A red ring or cross on the end of a
trunk is seen at a great distance, when
initials are not distinguishable, Great
patience works wonders in a custom-
house, and when rough hands plunge
into every corner among our small
number of treasures, we are supposed
to smilingly approve. The hat tray is
always attractive to these guardians of
the peace, and then a woman is allowed
to make known her feelings by a gen-
tle “Prenez garde, s’il vous plait!” or,
“Bitte, in acht nehmen!” or, again, the
soft Italian: “Badate, pcr piacere!”—
all of which is simply: “Please, take
care.” If a person preserves a calm in-
difference, and does not attempt to vio-
late their laws, there is nothing to
dread in these places of custom. But
no fee is ever offered a custom house
official.
After passing the customs, a porter
carries our luggage to a cab, or, if we
have too many trunks for a one-horse
carriage, we must take a larger one. A
one-horse cab can carry comfortably
two people with their hand baggage,
and two small trunks in front with the
driver. We direct the coachman to the
hotel previously decided upon, our de-
cision having been reached by our red-
bound Baedeker.
_—
.POETICAL COMPETITION.
A Pleasant Pastime of Literary Folk in
China.
The Chinese have at least one very
gentle and highly civilized'amusement
—-competition in making verses.
Tcheng-Ki-Tong says, in his book,
“The Chinaman at Home:” “Instead
of shooting, or playing lawn tennis, or
- croquet, our literary folk, as soon as a
certain number of them have a little
time to spare, meet together in turn at
each others’ houses, and give them-
selves up to poetical tournaments.”
This is done in all parts of China, but
especially in the province of Fukien.
As soon as the players are ready, a
vase is passed round, and out of it each
draws a slip of paper, on which is
written a word denoting what part he
is to take. He may be examiner, copy-
ing clerk, or competitor.
When this formality is over, one of
the examiners takes up a book and
opens it at random. Another examiner
calls a number, say nine. The first ex-
aminer reads the ninth line of the page
at which he has opened, and from this
line a phrase or word is chosen as the
subject of composition.
Then a second vase is placed upon
the table, to which a bell is attached.
A thread hangs from the bell, and at
the end of the thread is a lighted stick
of incense. In about half an hour the
stick burns out, the thread ignites, and
as it snaps, a weight drops, which at
at the same instant rings the bell and
closes the lid of the vase.
The time is up, and no more verses
can be put into the urn. N ow the clerks
pour the manuscripts out of the urn,
. copy them all on the Same sheet of pa-
per, to secure anonymity, and so sub-
mit them to the examiners. The ex-
.3;
Ifyou have anvthing‘ to sell :1: an
advertisement in our columns.
A wool to the Wise, etc.
aminers compare them, decide upon the
best and the second best, and one of
examiners mounts a kind of desk and
reads or intones the best one.
Each candidate may write and drop'
into the urn as many poems as he
pleases—before the bell rings—but has
to pay a small fee for each entry. The .
money is spent for paper, ink and prizes. .,
A second trial follows immediately,I
and the two winners of the first trial '
are made examiners in the second one. ‘ I
This may go on for an entire after‘
noon, and in the evening a dinner =
brings the fete to an end.
Estimating a Horse's Height. I _
The Arabs have two methods of esti-
mating the height to which a colt will
grow, the first being to stretch a. cord
from the nostril over the ears and down
along the neck and compare the meas-
urement with that from the withers to
the feet, and the other method being to
compare the distance between the
knee and the withers with that from the
knee to the coronet. In the first
method it is considered that the colt
will grow as much ta, er as the first
measurement exceeds t at of the sec—
ond, and the second method, if. the pro-
portion -is as two to one, the horse will
grow no taller.
Tml WIon-W - I‘
We all know the story of that bright
boy who answered correctly when.
asked how many legs a fly has, but who
had been enabled to do it only by
catching an insect and counting. The
Philadelphia Record gives a parallel.
instance: A teacher recently told her
scholars to mark on their slates the _
Roman numerals from one to twelve.
In about three minutes one of the boys
held up his hand signifying that he had
accomplished the work. “Why, J ohn—
ny,” said the teacher, “how you must
have hurried! None of the other schol-
ars are half done. Now tell me how
you came to finish so quickly.” “I cop-
ied them from the clock on the $23.11 up
there,” replied Jimmy, with great glee.
The Sheep Renewed.
family” of a menagerie have often won.
dered if the ovine member ever laid
down inside of the lion. The Glasgow
Times answers: The owner of a men-
agerie in Berlin, which included a
“happy family,” consisting of a lion, a
tiger, a wolf and a sheep, was asked
one day in confidence how long these
animals had lived together. “About
nine months,” he replied, “except the
sheep, which has to be renewed occa-
sionally.”
saunas-.iwmr a the-fitting} i
To Steady Pictures, ,
The dealers in upholstery hardware
are frequently asked for some scheme
to steady a picture on a wall, especially
small pictures. A housemaid with a.
duster is everlastingly setting askew
small pictures, and the average room,
after dusting, .looks sadly awry. All
sorts of picture hooks have been in-
vented which are supposed to so grip
the. picture cord that it will always
hold the picture evenly on the wall.
Then, again, corner clamps have been
brought out, one for each corner of the '3
picture, the clamps being driven into
the wall—but everything of that sort
has some objection. The simplest and
most infallible way of holding a picture
immovable is by making a small gimlet
hole in the extreme lower point of the
inside of the frame, where it touches
the wall, and at this point drive a small
brad into the wall, leaving about half
I an inch protruding. The hole in the
frame caps this brad like a. socket, and
the ordinary dusting of the pictures
does not move it in the least.-~Chicago
Tribune.
Golden Toast.
Cut bread into even pieces, toast and.
butter the pieces and moisten them
with hot water. Boil six eggs hard.
Separate the whites from the yolks:
chop the whites and press the yolks
through a colander or sieve. Make a
white sauce, using .one tablespoonful
each of butter and flour cooked together
and then add a cupful of cream or milk.
When it is well thickened add the
chopped whites and season with pepper
and salt. Spread this mixture on the
slices of toast and cover the top with
the mashed yolks. Sprinkle the yolks
evenly over the pieces till they look very
yellow. Serve very hot.——Good House-
keeping.
Fld‘lifl
56 YEARS ESTABLISHED.
GRAND 4ND UPRIGHT.“
Nearly 100,000 Manufactured. if,
EASY TERMS. EXCHANGED;
REASONABLE PRICES. o ’
FISCHER PIANO WAREROOMS,‘
“0 Fifth iAVOr. cor. lath St, N. Y.
, ' Write for Cutaway. . _‘
‘n‘m- TAM" l . 2
.-.... 1.11:4.“ ‘L _- ._..
4.. ox -_ .o
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._ u-‘Oé""eun.s Am‘
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' mu amour-£2.
4. .
-_.—-¢‘Lx-- -4 .
Norwalk Chronicler