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CALENDAR CURIOSITIES.
No More Leap Years for Seven
Years After the Present. .
A Thing That Happens Once in Every
One Hundred Years — Curious
Facts Gleaned from Old.
Almanacs.
The introdUction of an additional
day into the calendar once in four
years is necessary to prevent the av-
erage year from being too short. At
the same time it makes the average
year a little too long. This additional
_ length is so slight that it accumulates
very slowly. Nevertheless, it. does ac-
cumulate, and by the end of a century
it amounts to nearly a day. For that
reason once. in a hundred years the ad-
ditional day which marks" a year as
leap year is omitted, and the average
length of the year is reduced.-
The English law determined in 1751
on reforms in this calendar, and from
those we draw and use. The original
determination of the calendar was made
by the pope, and afterward it was
adopted by all the countries except
Russia and the east. From January
12, 1752 the civil year was made to be-
gin on that date, and not on March 1,
as many had it. In the same year 11
days were dropped from the calendar,
from the 3d to the 13th, inclusive, so
that what would have been the 14th be-
came the. 3d.
With this change effected, the re-
mainder of the calendar followed its
usual course. By this change the day
which would have been December 25
became January 5. It was from this
that the latter‘ derived its name of Old
Christmas day.
' The further regulation of the calcu-
dar occurred in omitting the year 1800
from the number of leap years. There-
fore, in 1801, Old Christmas day fell on
January 6, and from that time until this
that is the day of the month called by
that name.
In Riders “British Merlin” for 1801
we find it stated that 1900 is not to be
a leap year, while 1901 is to be the fifth
leap year bisextile, or leap year, and
the first year of the 20th century. For.
this century the first leap year was
1804, which is described as such in the
almanacs which were then current.
One old almanac for 1800 (Moore’s)
names the year as the fourth after bi-
sextile, or leap'year, and then states
that, in spite of its being the fourth
year from leap year, 1790, the month of
February had only 28 days. Follow-
ing this fashion, 1802 is called the sixth
year after bisextile, and 1803 the
seventh.
Curious as all this appears to us, it
p is precisely what we will soon do.
Throughout seven years there will be
no February 29 after 1396. All of the
births and other events which occur on
that unfortunate day of the month will
have no opportunity to celebrate their
, anniversary. That eccentric date, Feb-
ruary 29, will then have an opportunity
for renown brought on by its absence.
The calendar adjustment by which
these matters were arranged .reaches
forward to a distance that is startling
to one whose term of life is the 70 years
of man. It declared that the years
1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, or any hundredth
year in time to come, shall consist of
365 days and no more. But the fact also
remains that. this adjustment of the
calendar was not quite accurate. The
one day omitted onCe in a century made
the average year a very little too
short.
To remedy this defect the adjusters
made the following exception to the
rule making the hundredth year of 365
days, except every fourth hundredth
year beginning with the year 2000.
These years will be leap years—that is,
the years 2000, 2400, 2800, 3200 Will have
a February 29. But their daye are not
of great concern to us.—N. Y. Herald.
A MOUNTAIN COURTSHIP. ',
Sudden and Successful Wooing Described
'5, by an Eye Witness.
“I was in what’s known as the ‘fiag
pond’ district of Unicoi county, Tenn,"
‘ said a traveling man, “when a. young
man rode up in front of the cabin where
I was stopping and spoke to a girl who
was dipping water from a spring.
I “Howdy, Sal.”
“Howdy, Tom.” .
. “Come, jump on the boss, an’ go to
Erwin with me.”
“What fur?”
“Ter git married.”
“But yo’ hain’t done co’ted me yit.”
“I know I hain’t, but I’ve done been
too pestered with work. I allus in-
tended ter marry yer, though.”
“But I hain’t got no clo’s,” rcmon-
strated the girl.
“Well, we’ll jess ride on you side of
Erwin to Sister Mag’s, in the cove, an’
I’ll git yer a dress.” ’
“Sho’ly, Tom?” We
g; “Sho’ly, Sal.”
“What kin’ of a dress?”
“Best. thar is in Lowe's sto’.”
Not another word was said. Sal
dropped the bucket and jumped on the
horse, shouting to her mother}
“Mam, me an’ Tom is going ter git-
married at Erwin. \Ve’ll be by here in
the mornin’.” .. _.
The mother started as if to call her
back, but the horse was galloping down
the lane, and she went and carried in
the bucket of water without comment.
~Washington Star.
j A Genlal Egotist.
' “Hiram,” said Mrs. Corntossal, “I.
.don’t say ez I’m dissatisfied with what
you’ve done in life, but when I read
about all these people goin‘ to congress
an’ doin‘ great things I feel ez if we wus
gittin’ left in the march of events.”
“Mandy,” was the reply, “the greatest
_men of history is them ez wanted ter
stay home an’ be let alone an’ Wusn’t
allowed _to hev their wish but wus
forced by their feller citizens to grab
'hold 0’ the reins of guv’ment.”
“Yes; I s’pose that‘s the case.”
“Well, I’m even better off’n them. I
not only don’t wanter be a public man
but I’m bein’ allowed ter hev my own
3 .
#29,. ‘ .. ._ .
"shag?“ ' ~ «a
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I
PU NGENT PARAGRAPHS.
~’—Teacher—“I~lave you learned the
Golden Rule, Tommy?” ' Tommy :—
“Yes’m. It is to do to other people like
they would do to you.”—1'ndianapolis_
Journal. ,
—C00per_ative.—-“Here’s yer ’bairn,
Mrs. McClatchy, and ye ought tao be
thankfu’, for if it hadna been for Provi-
dence and anither woman he waud hae
been droon’d in the Clyde.”———Fun.
liar last night.” “Yabsley—“What did
you do?” Mudge—“ Well, as he was
three sizes bigger than me, I asked him
why he couldn’t say something origi-
nal.”——Tit Bits.
—ImpudencE and Dignity—Beggar—
“A poor man out of work begs a copper.”
Cautious Gentleman—“If I do you will-
only spend it in beer.” “Well, sir, you
give me a Sixpence and I will geta glass
of champagne."—D0rfbarbier.
—-—“It is queer about a married man,"~
enunciated Mr. N. I’eck to himself, very
softly. “The morehe is blown up, the
smaller he feels.” And he fglt quite con—
Isolcd by his little joke—Indianapolis
Journal.
—-I’oscr—“Is the keeping of a dog an
indubitable sign of poverty?" Quid-
nune—“Wcll, I wouldn’t care to say
that; but you may depend upon this,
that where there is poverty it is usually
a sign that the family keeps a dog."——-
Boston Transcript. ‘
—Mystificd—“Excuse me,” he said,
“if I seem to be a little impertincnt,
but my curiosity has gotten‘so much
the best of me that I must venture a
question.” “What is it?” “Are you a
ing bicycling?”—-—\Vashington Star.
—-“The plagiarism in this story of
yours,” said the editor, “is something
shocking.” “Y—you don’t usually mind
that sort of thing," was the reply. “I
don’t—if you only plagiarize good ma-
terial. Why, much of this nonsense
might as well be original!”——W’ashing-
ton Sta-r.
CITY AND COUNTRY CATS.
Many Curious Pomts of Difference Be-
tween the Furry Animals.
An observer has noted that there ex-
ist many points of difference between
country and city cats. The country
cats, he declares, are larger and heavier
than those of the city, no reference be-
ing made in this comparison to such
civic cats as might come under the
head of “pampered pets,” but only to
plain cats—the cats of the back yard
and the housetop. This superior weight
of the country cat, the observer says,
is easily attributable to the diet of small
field animals and birds which it en-
joys. But there are other peculiarities
of difference, he proceeds, which are not
so easily attributable to diet. For in-
stance, the color of the country cat is
generally either gray or tortoise shell,
the commoner color being gray. On
the other hand, observes the cat expert,
the preponderating color among city
cats is black.
In the next place the color of the eyes
in city and country cats is found to be
very different, the latter leaning large-
ly to gray and green, while the city cats’
eyes are mostly yellow and having far
more glittering in them than have their
country cousins. In the matter of
tails, too, there is a difference, the city
cat’s tail being much longer and car-
ried more nearly on a level with the
back than that of the country cat. The
country cat’s paws are much flatter,
broader and softer than the town cat’s,
the pads of the former being like vel-
vet, and those of the latter like rubber.
Altogther, between the big barreled
gray, light-eyed, velvet-footed country-
cat, slipping noiselessly through the
young wheat stalks, and the seiawny,
long-tailed, yellow-eyed city cat pat-ter-
ing down an alleyway like a. flying shad-
ow, there are such differences as will,
says the observer, result in time in the
formation of two distinct species—Felis
rusticus and Felis urbanis.—N. Y. Sun.
GLASS DRESSES AND CURTAINS.
Is Fine Enough to Be Worn
Next t9 the Skim, («rt
av»?- .....—_~ 7.
Cloth That
Articles of dress are new being ex-
tensively made of glass. A Venetian
manufacturer is turning out bonnets
by'the thousand, the glass cloth of
which they are composed having the
same shimmer‘and brilliancy of color
as silk, and, what is a. great advantage,
being impervious to water. In Russia
there has for a long time existed a tis-
sue manufactured from the fiber of a
peculiar filamentous stone from the
Siberian mines, which by some secret
process is shredded and spun into a
fabric which, although soft to the touch
and pliable in the extreme, is of so dura-
ble a nature that it never wears out.
This is probably what has given an en-
terprising firm the idea. of producing
spun-glass dress lengths. ’
i The Muscovitc stuff is thrown into
the fire when dirty, like asbestos, by
I which it is made absolutely clean again;
, and water, and is none the worse for
3 being either stained or soiled. The ma-
" terial is to be had in white, green, lilac,
pink and yellow, and bids (air to be-
come very fashionable for evening
dresses. An Austrian is the inventor
of this novel fabric, which is rather
costly. Tablecloths, napkins and win—
dow curtains are also made of it. It
has also been discovered that glass is
capable of being turned into afine cloth,
which can be worn next to the skin
without the slightest discomfort——
Chambers’ Journal.
. More Than Human.
“Now there,” observed the social sci-
entist, “did you see that dog?”
“The one rushing wildly away?”
asked the psychologist. '
“The same. If you noticed when that
man suddenly stooped quite low the
dog incontinently fled from him—”
“Yes, but what lesson do we get from
no small an affair ?”
“Simply that the poor dog is far and
I away ahead of society.” -— Cleveland
I Plain-Dealer.
—Mudge—“Anothcr man called me a.‘
gentleman going golfing' or a. lady go--'
I but the spun-glass silk is simply,‘
brushed with a hard brush and soap I
l
SAVED LINCOLN’S LIFE.
The Rescuer Tells the story with 9. Cor-
rection.
However poor the Lincoln home may
have been, it affected the new child but
little. He was robust and active; and
life is full of interest to the child happy
enough to be born in the country. He
had several companions. There was
his sister Nancy, or Sarah—both names
are given her—two years his senior;
there was a cousin of his mother, ten
years older, Dennis Hanks, an active
and ingenious leader in sports and mis-
chief; and there were the- neighbors‘
boys. One of the latter, Austin Golla‘
her, still tells with pleasure of how be
hunted coons and ran the woods with
young Lincoln; and once even saved his
life.
“Yes,” said Mr. Gollaher, “the story
that I once saved Abraham Lincoln’s
life is true, but it is not correct as gen-
erally' related.
“Abraham Lincoln and I had been go-
ing to school together for a year- or
more, and had become greatly attached
to each other. Then school disbanded
on account of there being so few schol-
ars, and we did not see each other much
for a long while. One Sunday my
mother visited the Lincolns, and I was
taken along. Abe and I played around
all day. Finally, we concluded to cross
the creek to hunt for some partridgcs
young Lincoln had seen the day before.
The creek was swollen by a recent rain,
and, in crossing on the narrow footlog,
Abe fell in. Neither of us could swim.
I got a long pole and held it out to Abe,
who grabbed it. Then I pulled him
ashore. - He was almost dead, and l
was badly scared. I rolled and pounded
him in good earnest. Then I got him
by the arms and shook him, the water
meanwhile pouring out of his .mouth.
By this time I succeeded in bringing
him to, and he was soon all right.
“Then a new difficulty confronted us.
If our mothers discovered our _we t
clothes they would whip us. This we.
dreaded from experience, and deter—
mined to avoid. It was June, the sun
was very warm, and we soon dried our
clothing by spreading it on the reels
about us. We promised] never to tell
the story, and I never mentioned the
incident to anyone until after Lincoln’s
tragic end.
“Abraham Lincoln had a sister. Her
name was Sallie, and she was a veI y
pretty girl. She went to school when
she could, which was not often.
“Yes, if you must know, Sallie Lin-
coln was my sweetheart. She was about
my age. I loved her and claimed her as
boys do. , I suppose that was one reason
for my warm regard forAbe. When
the Lincoln family moved to Indiana,
1 was prevented by circumstances from
bidding good-by to either of the chil—
dren. And I never saw them again.”—-
McClure’s Magazine.
GRAY WITH TIME.
An Ancient Obelisk That Stands on the
Banks of the Nile.
The oldest of all the obelisks is the
beautiful one of rosy granite which
stands alone among the green fields
on the banks of the Nile not far from
Cairo. It is the gravestone of a great
city which has vanished and left only
this relic behind. That city was the
Bethshemesh of Scripture, the famous
On, which is memorable to all Bible
readers as the residence of the priest of
On, Poti-pherah, whose daughter Ase-
nath Joseph married. The Greeks call
it Heliopolis, the city of the sun, be-
cause there the worship of the sun had
its chief center and its most sacred
shrine. It was the seat of the most
ancient university in the world, to
which youthful Students came from all
parts of the world to learn the occult ,
wisdom which the priests of On alone
could teach. ,
Thales, Sodon, Eudoxus, Pythagoras
and Plato all studied there; perhaps
Moses, too. It was also the birthplace
of the sacred literature of Egypt, where
were written on papyrus leaves the
original chapters of the oldest book
in the world, generally known as “The
B001: 9f the Dead," giving a most strik-
ing account of the conflicts and tri-
umphs of the life after death, a whole
copy of fragments of which every
Egyptian, rich or poor, wishes to have
buried with him in his coflin, and por-
tions of which are found inscribed on
every mummy case and on the walls
of every tomb. In front of one of
the principal temples of the sun in this
'magnificent city stood, along with a
companion, long since destroyed, the
solitary obelisk which we now behold
on the spot. It alone has survived the
wreck of'ull the glory of the place. It
was constructed by Usertesen L, who
is supposed to have reigned 2,800 years
B. C., and has outlived all the dynastic
changes of the land, and still stands
where" it originally stood nearly 47 cen—
turies ago. What appears of its shaft
above ground is 68 feet in height, but its
base is buried In the mud of the Nile,
and year after year the inundation of
the river deposits its film of soil around
its foot, and burics it still deeper in
its sacred grave—Pall Mall Gazette.
She Wanted to Please.
“Charley,” said, young Mrs. Tocker,
“you don’t like to hear me sing any
more!”
“Why—my dear, I never said so.”
“Of course, it isn’t necessary for you
to tell me in so many words. ButI real-
ize from the manner in which your ab-
sence from home ensues immediately
upon my going to the piano that your
preferences in vocalization have
changed. I want to please you, so if
you don’t mind I’ll go down town with
you on election night and listen to the
shouting which you-enjoy so much
there. . Perhaps I can get my singing
teacher to show me how to do it, and
then I can make home pleasanter for
you.”—Washington Star.
——It is easy, in the would, to live after
the world’s opinion; it is easy, in soli-‘
tude, to live after your own; but the
great ‘man is he who, in the midst of the
crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness
the independence of solitude. -—-Emer-
SOT]. '
. "3:1. ~ .- ..._. .)
. -‘..-
-\
I
RESCUED A PRESIDENT.
How Lincoln Was Saved from Drowning
as a Boy. ,
However poor the Lincoln home may
have been, it affected the new child but
little. He was robust and active, and
life is full of interest to the child happy
enough to be born in the country. 11:
had several companions. . There was
his sister Nancy, or Sarah—both names
are given to her—two years his senior;
years older; Dennis Hanks, an active
and ingenious leader in Sports and mis-
chief, and there were the neighbors’
boys. One of the latter, Austin Golla-
her, still tells with pleasure how he
hunted coons and ran the woods with
young Lincoln, and once even saved his
life.
' “Yes,” said Mr. Gollaher, “the story
that I once saved Abraham Lincoln’s
life is true, but it is not correct as gen-
erally related.
“Abraham Lincoln and I had been go-
ing to school together for a year or
more, and had become greatly attached
to each other. Then school disbanded
on account of there being so few schol-
ars, and we did not see each other for
a long while. One Sunday my mother
visited the Lincolns and I was taken
along. Abe and I played aroun‘d all day.
Finally we concluded to cross the creek
to hunt for some partridges young
Lincoln had seen the day before. The
creek was swollen by a recent rain,
and in crossing on the narrow footing
Abe fell in. Neither of us could swim.
I got a long pole and held it out to Abe.
who grabbed it. Then I pulled him
ashore. He was almost dead and I
was badly scared. I rolled and pound-
ed him in good earnest. Then I got
him by the arms and shook him, the
water meanwhile pouring from his
mouth. By this means I succeeded in
bringing him to and he was soon all
right.
“Then a new difficulty confronted us.
If our mothers discovered our wet
clothes, they would whip us. This
we dreaded from experience, and de-
termined to avoid. It was June; the
sun was very warm, and we soon dried
our clothing by spreading it on the
rocks about us. We promised never
to tell the story , and I never mentioned
the incident to anyone until after Lin—
coln’s tragic end.
“Abraham Lincoln had a sister. Her
name was Sallie, and she was a very
pretty girl. She went to school when
she could, which was not often.
“Yes, if you must know, Sallie Lin-
coln was my sweetheart. She was
about my age. I loved her and claimed
her as boys do. I suppose that was one
reason for my warm regard for Abe.
When the Lincoln family moved to In-
diana. .I was 'prevented by circum-
stances from bidding good-by to either
of the children. And I never saw them
again.”——McClure’s Magazine.
A GREAT SATISFACTION.
How a Horse Got Even with a. Brutal
Fellow.
A correspondent tells a story of a
handsome black horse, so big and
strong that he seemed hardly to feel
the weight of the heavy delivery wagon
with which he made the rounds of the
neighborhood. His driver was a brutal
fellow, who ought to have been the
creature driven. Blows, kicks and an-
gry words were the only caresses he
ever bestowed upon his steed, and these
the horse suffered quietly for many
a long day, till finally even his endur-
ance gave out.
One hot morning the man reined the
horse in roughly by the curbstone.
On dismounting he seemed to think
the wagOn too near, and harshly or-
dered his steed to back, emphasizing
the command with a cut from his whip.
The horse backed obediently, though
angrily, while the man, heated by his
exertions, took off his coat, and, having
hung it over the dashboard, disap-
peared invthe house.
The horse waited until the driver was
but of sight, then, looking around, he
saw the coat hanging only a short dis-
tance from his heels. Instantly a.
change came over him. He actually
seemed to laugh as he lifted one foot
and let it fly at the coat.
Finding that he could not hit it well,
he began to beat a regular tattoo upon
it; first with one foot, then with the
other. and, finally, as he grew excited,
with both at once.
Surely no coat ever had a more thor~
ough dusting. Out flow note books, pa=
peers and handkerchiefs, and rolled into
the gutter, but the horse kept on until
he heard a door slam, and he knew his
master was returning. Then, with a.
final kick that sent the coat'undcr the
wagon, he settled sleepily down in the
shafts and pretended to be watching
a pair of mules that had just gone by. ‘
He didn’t seem to mind the slaps the
driver gave him while picking up his
belongings, and when he started off he
looked up at the window and appeared
to wink at those. who-had been watch-
ing him and half wishing they could
reward him with a peek of oats.—
Youth’s Companion.
1,.
WI MAE???
A Polite Lord Mayor. ‘
Among the stories in circulation
about the late Joseph Harris, the well-
known master of the city of London
school, who died recently, is one in con-
nection with Lord Mayor Owden. That
worthy gentleman was not a Greek
scholar, and the Greek oration on
speech day in Christ’s hospital, to
which, on a memorable occasion, he
listened, was not intelligible to him,
save one . word. That word was
“Owden”—so pronounced—and _ Mr.
Harris used to tell his friends privately
how each time it occurred in the Greek
oration, Sir Thomas, fondly supposing
that complimentwas being paid to him-
self, rose and solemnly bowed-House-
hold Words.
—-Even if in the midst Of an avalanche
of work He calls you “apart into a des-
ert place to rest awhile,” and even if the
desert mean only a headache or a rainy
I day instead of a journey, make no com-
plaint, Isut follow close—Anna Warner.
I ' .
there was a. cousin _of his mother, ten -
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