,r
“h n l~~ ‘
;.-.;.. .=.. x; 1. .—
POMP ONTTHE lNSTALLMENT PLAN?
Prince. Nikita Sustains His Reputation -‘-
Regardless of Expense.
Like several other princely spend-
:hrifts in Europe, Nikita of Montenea
gro is as generous in times of scarcity
as in times of plenty, His civil list of
£40,000 a year is to his creditors some-
thing like the great prize in a lottery;
the lucky one gets it and the rest get
nothing. In Montenegrothis kind of
princely bankruptcy encounters few ob-
stacles, for Nikita rules With the aid
of dungeons and swords for the rebel—
iious- creditor, and is totally callous to
the appeals and remonstrances of the
unpaid.
The one trip which did not lead him
to his Russian source of supplies was
that. to Italy to attend the wedding of
his daughter and the Italian Crown
Prince. As father—in-law of the future
King of Italy, Nikita doubtless felt it
incumbent upon him to do the grand
thing, so he scattered costly decora-
tions—stars, crosses. &c.——hither and
:hither among the Italian courtiers. He
let no available man escape, and con-
sequently had an order for any quan-
tity of'Montenegrin decorative jewelry
to be made by the Rome goldsmiths.
To one firm he gave an order for $20,-
000 worth of decorations, and to
another one for $15,000 worth. A
third received instructions to make up
$8,000 worth. This third firm was in
luck, for, having the smallest bill, it
was able to collect the money at once
upon delivering the stars and crosses.
The other two firms could not collect
their bills, and therefore refused to de-
liver the goods. Hence great indigna-
tion on the part of his Montenegrin
Highness and embarrassment on the
part of King Humbert and his court.
Appeals to the two suspicious firms
were in vain; hey had heard of Ni-
kita‘s ways. and were not to be hum-
bugged. So eventually the Italian
court marshal in chief felt obliged to
interfere to save the dignity of the al-
lied house of Montenegro, and after
Nikita had paid $5.000 to one firm and
52,500 to the. other, guaranteed the pay-
ment of the balance on the installment
plan. The stars and garters were then
delivered. the Italian court was deco-
rated plentifully according to pro—
gramme, and his Highness of the Bal-
kans went home in the happy con-
sciousness that when he should default
on his future installments, the Italian
court Would accept its burdens and
pay the bid—New York Sun.
A HOUSE BUlLT UNDER WATER.
A Novel “'ay to be Amused and Also to
Keep Cool in Hot, “'eather.
A glass-house under water is the lat-
est luxury. A 11:71 man, who has a
large lake upon his estate, recently
caused it to be drained, and in the
.lcepest part he has had a house built
which contains three rooms—a smok-
ing-room, a dining-room, and a ser-
vants" waiting-room. The framework
of the house is of iron, and the floor
is stone, resting upOn a foundation of
concrete. The sides and roof, however,
are entirely composed of very thick
plate-glass. There is a passage under
the water from the boat-house to the
glass-house, and air is obtained through
large clumps of artificial water-lilies
which rest upon the surface of the
lake. It is indescribably pleasant to
sit in one of the rooms upon a warm
day; the air is very cool, there is no
sound to be heard, and it is especially
interesting to watch the fish swimming
around, attracted by the glare of the
electric lights. This is decidedly a new
luxury. The house and the passage,
moreover, cost comparatively little to
build—Tid—Bits.
' A Curious Find.
Some years ago the late I‘recenter
Venables was visiting at Crewe Hall,
and found in his bed-room an odd pic-
ture handsomely framed, but having
for its subject nothing more than a tri-
pod purc and simple. \Vhat was its
history? 'On inquiry, it appeared that
Sir Joshua Reynolds had painted a
family picture of the Grevilles, and,
as his manner was, had exercised his
fancy with some of the members of it,
painting young Henry Greville as Cu-
pid and his sister as Hebe. Years
passed; the boy and his father quar-
reled, and the angry father" had Cu-
pid cut out and a tripod substituted for
it, at which Hebe might be supposed
to be ministering. After another in-
terval of time, some one told the late
Lord Crewe. the possessor of the pic-
ture, not only the story of the tripod,
but also the fact that a Cupid—cer-
tainly by Reynolds—was at a certain
place. It was. in fact, the identical
portrait. 'l‘he.portrait was then care-
fully reslorcd, and the tripod was also
framed as a memorial of the loss and
recovery: ~
Filled tlm Dog’s Tooth.
A dog doctor was called upon to per-
form a strange operation. A well-
known society lady visited the hospi—
[:11 with her pet King Charles spaniel,
who was suffering with the toothache.
The doctor wanted to extract the teeth,
but the lady protested that the loss
of one of its front teeth would spoil
the, beauty f her pet, and asked that
the tooth be filled. The doctor sent
,- for a dentist, put the dog on the operat-
ing table, and soon had the tooth
filled with gold,.returned the spaniel
to its mistress and received a large
fee for his work. '
An Accomplishment of the Duke of York.
The only member of theRoyal Fam-
ily who can dance a genuine sailor’s
hornpipe is the Duke of York, who
learned that accomplishment while a
young cadet, and it is told that often
he and his brother, the late Duke of
Clarence, would get'into a cabin to-
gether. and while the latter whiStled,
Prince George would go through the
steps with undring energy, and- enthu-
siasm; ” ‘ ' '
.THEEVENING
AN EQUINE HERO.
1'“.er Rescue. of an English Officer by His
. Horse.
A graphic story is told by Surgeon-
f‘aptain Grey, one of the officers who
served in Rhodesia. In the attack on
Mashangombi‘s the horses began to
drop. and soon thirteen lay on the
ground, and it looked as if the men
would all be killed. Evidently Gap-
tain Turner thought so, for he virtu-
ally gave the order, “Sauve qui peut,”
telling every man to fight the best he
could for his own hand. But, though
the horses continued to fall, the men
escaped. Dr. Grey, to use his own
words, “led toward the way out un-
der a raking fire at a gallop, andwas
closely followed by the troop. Very
soon, however, I fell from the saddle,
struck with a bullet from an ele-
phant gun about '500 yards off. The
bullet struck me on the top of the
thigh. smashing the socket of the
thigh-bone, breaking a vein, and other-
vise wounding me. My horse was car~
ried on at full speed to clear the
pocket-like entrance of the drift,
where the natives were rallying in the
hope of killing us. As I lay on the
grass. bleeding profusely, I looked up
and saw two natives aiming at me at-
a distance of about forty feet. At the
same moment I saw my horse come
thundering back from the drift. It
suddenly stopped and steed over my
prostrate body, covering me from the.
tiring and at the same time making a
peculiar noise through its nostrils. I
thought it had been wounded, and that
with the pain, noise and confusion it
had gone mad. This notion, however,
was soon dispelled, and it continued to
stand over me in a kneeling posture,
and I could see that the faithful ani—
mal had come back to protect me. I
may remark here that this horse,
which I myself selected, I made a pet
of. The assegais from the approach-
ing natives were now beginning to fly
around me, and, thinking if I could
reach my horse‘s back I should be shot
which was preferable to being asse-
gaied. I seized the reins, put my right
foot in the stirrup, and made a su-
preme effort to mount. And I was suc-
cessful, but how I did it I do not
know. for my left side was entirely
paralyzed. On finding myself in the
saddle. I called ‘Go!’ to my horse.
which darted like an arrow toward the
can from the d1'ift.”——St. James Bud-
get.
HERRMANN’S KINDNESS.
Cancelled a Note for $15,000 Upon Learn-
inglhe Distress of the Man‘s “'ife.
A professional man who had struck
a streak of hard luck went to Herr-
mann for a loan. He wanted $2,500,
and was willing to secure it with a life
insurance policy for $15,000. Herr—
mann let him have the money and took
the policy, as it was purely a business
_ proposition and not a matter of friend-
ship. The borrower's fortunes fluctu-
ated from bad to worse, and about a
year after the loan was made he died,
leaving his affairs in a very tangled
condition. ~
The death notice of the man re-
called the circumstances of the loan
to IIerrmann, and he hunted up the
policy, which he had forgotten entirely.
He was on the point of placing it in
the hands of an attorney for collection
--in fact, I believe he had given it to
his lawyer—when he heard that the
dead man’s wife was absolutely pen-
niless and helpless, with several chil-
dren on her hands. He instructed the
attorney to discontinue proceedings,
and the'policy was transferred to the
widow with the explanation that the
debt had been cancelled before her hus-
band‘s death, and that the policy hav-
ing been misplaced accounted for the
delay in its return—New York Journal.
Three Remarkable Sisters.
The case of Mrs. Emma Hare, who
told a magistrate the other day that
she had twenty-seven children, was
striking enough, but that of three sis-
tcrs who live in Kingston, Jamaica, is
perhaps more remarkable. These
sisters had respectively nineteen, twen-
ty and twenty-one children each, but,
unlike Mrs. Hare, who lost most of
them at an early age, these sisters suc-
ceeded in rearing the whole of their
families, and on certain occasions all
the sixty children, with their parents—
sixty-six souls in all—have met in the
celebration of some family event—Tid-
Bits.
A Brave. Protector.
“i tell you, that Johnson is a brave
fellow." 5
"liow so?" '
“He was once walking with his
fiance in Afr-21.. when a big lion came
bounding toward them. John kissed
the girl and then ran forward so that
the lion might eat him instead of the
girl."
“Did the scheme work?”
“Nope, the mighty king of the jungle
took one smell of his whisko 1—tobac-
cani breathpand then jumped over
him and ate the girl.”-~Downsville
Breeze.
Paternal Advice.
said Mr. Dolan to his soil.
afraid ye're gettin‘ to be a
“Micky,"
“0i do be
dude.”
"I hope not.“
“Well, I’ve noticed yez wearin’ yer
Sunday clothes the week t’rough. and
that 3e gave .up yer job in the black-
smith shop.
be doin’ yez no hurt to be rollin’ up yer
sleeves more an’ yer trousers less.”—
Washington Post. a,
The Loss “'as Infinitesimal.
' A reporicr in describing the murder
of a man named Jordin said: “The
murderer was evidently in quest. of
money, but luckily Mr. Jorkin had de-
posited all his funds in the bank the
lay before; so, that he lost nothing
”:41: his life.” “'Cpid‘Bi‘LS.
Oi want to say. widout"
harrum till anybody's feelin's, that it’ll.
u A Z ETT
in Milan: _
/
i;
A
IS OVER.
llllW IS a lllVl
To Subscribe “iOl‘ the
TT
/"
- first.
‘ editor.
equalled it.
~ sense- than he used ' to -' have.
HIS FEARFUL TEMPER.
The Poor Bishop Had NeverBefore Km‘nvn
.Himselfiu be So Violent. .
Early in Bishop \Vilbcrforce‘s‘ epis-
copate he was travelling from Pad-
dington to Oxford in one of the double
first-class compartments of the Great
Western Railway. His compartment
was occupied by himself alone, the
other by two gentlemen, both strangers
to him. The bishop was, according to
custom, writing letters. his hat in the
netting, his head covered with a most
unepiscopal skull-cap. so that no one
unacquaintcd with his featurcswouhl
suspect him of being a bisliOp. Ere
long/with that quickest. of hearing:
with which all who knew him intimate- ‘
1y were familiar, he caught his own
name as being the subject of discus-
sion in the adjoining compartment.
“\Yonderful man, the Bishop of Ox—
ford!” said one speaker. "Yes,” said
the other. “But what a. terrible stum-
oling-block that temper of his!" "T'lll-
per!" was the response. "I‘ve never
heard of it. Pray explain!" "Why."
replied the former. "there is an awful
fury which seizes him at limos: and
in his house at Cuddesdou there are
recesses made in the llilStszijftS and in
the walls of the staircase. so that. if
any of his children meet him when the
[it is on, they may take refuge intime
to avoid him.” Upon this the bishop.
leaning forward and speaking through
the open window betwee: the com-
iartmeuts. said, "(‘icntlemcn. I have.
accidentally overheard your conversa-
tion. Now I spend morelime probably
with the Bishopof xt‘ord in his hours:
than any other living man, and per-
haps know more of his faults, of
which, no doubt, there are many. But:
I think I am bound to tell you that this:
description of temper is no: one of
them; if it had been, I must have.
known it." The gentlemen bowed and
thanked him. Nevertheless. as he s::‘..
back again, the bishop overheard ii a:
speaker whisper to the (1111:".
That is the way all l;'.;
Nevm‘tluncss it is pct-
"Just so.
friends talk.
fer-ily true."
DECLlNED WlTl-l THANKS. ‘
Celestial Fashion of Saving, ilie‘I".-clin:s of
:1 Struggling Viriter. .
Chinese editors are nothing if they
are not polite, and their style of "de-
clining with thanks" renders rejection
at their hands more flattering than ac-
ceptance would be from an English
Here is a specimen letter sent
by a Chinese editor to a would—be con-
tributor, whose manuscript he found it
necessary to return. "Illustrious
brother of the sun and moon. Behold
thy. servant prostrate before thy feet.
I kowtow to thee, and beg that of thy
graciousncss thou mayst grant that I
may speak and live. Thy honored
manuscript has deigned to cast the
light of its august countenance upon
us. TVith raptures we have perused it.
By the bones of my ancestors, never
"have I encountered such wit. such
pathos, such lofty thought! ‘With fear
and trembling I return the writing.
\Vere I to publish the treasure you
sent me, the Emperor would order that
it should be made the standard, and
that none be published except such as
Knowing literature as I
do, and that it would be impossible in
ten thousand years to equal what you
have done, I send your writing back.
Ten thousand times I crave your par-
don. Behold, my head is at your feet.
Do what you will.
vant—The Editor.”
All in the Family.
A few nights ago a prominent Evan-
stonian, was working overtime on the
North Side, and when his business was
completed boarded a North Shore elec-
tric car for home. When the conduc-
tor requested fair the man jammed his
hands into his pockets and to his dis-
may discovered that he had only a
counterfeit dollar, which he had been
carrying for months. Ten miles from
home, and “broke” was the unpleasant
thought that flashed through his mind,
so he passed up the counterfeit coin
and received his change. Before the
car had travelled a mile the conductor
came around again and said: “Either
you or a lady inside gave me a coun-
terfeit dollar."
“It was the woman, of course,” re-
sponded the embarrassed gentleman;
“they are always doing such things."
The remainder of the journey was
not very pleasant to the man who was
“beating” his ride at the expense of an
innocent woman. He left the car at
Lake street, and had started home on
a briSk walk when he heard footsteps
behind him. ‘urning, he saw his wife,
who rushed up, and in the most morti-
fied tones said: “How I wish I had
known you were on that car. The con-
ductor accused me of giving him a
counterfeit dollar, and made me give
him a new dollar before all those peo~
ple.”——Chieago Times—Herald.
A Miethod in His Madness.
Near a certain Scotch town the rail-
way-runs for some distance by the
fence of a lunatic asylum. Not long
ago some workmen were busy repair-
ing the railroad, when an inmate of
the asylum approached one of the la—
borers, and, from his position on the
inner side of the enclosure, began a
somewhat personal conversation. In-
mate: “Hard work that!” Laborer:
“Troth an’ it is!” Inmate: . “Whit pay
due ye git?” Laborer: “Sixteen bob :1
week.” Inmate: “Are ye mairrit?”
Laborer: “I am, w0r5e luck—,and have
six children!” A pause; then the
inmate added sententieusly. “I’m
thinking, ma’am, ye’re on the wrang
side 0’ the fence!”
I
A Child’s Letter. .. 6
“Dear father, we are all well and
happy. The baby has grown ever so
much, and has a great deal more
the same of yOu, I remain your daugl;
. -t‘e'r ~Mollie.”~.—_._Tid-Bits, ~ ' 5‘
Your servant‘s ser--
Hoping _
I
f strument.
_.___....\
UTil lle’iG course.
The lilanncr in finer. it; is Obtained {or
Surveying Instruments. .
Cobwebs have been applichto var-
ious uses. The delicate cross hairs in
the telescopes ,of ' surveying instru-
ments are fine webs taken from spiders
of species that are specially selected
for their production9 of an excellent
quality of this material. The Spider.
when caught, is made to spin his thread
by tossing him from hand ‘to‘ hand, in
case he is indisposed to furnish the ar-
ticle. The end is attached'to a piece
of wire. which is doublet] into two par-
allel lengths. the distance ' apart ex-
ceeding a little the diameter of the ill-
As the spider hangs and de-
scends from this, the web is wound
upon it by turning the wire .. around.
The coils are then gummed to the wire
and kept for use as required. .About
a century ago, Ben. of Languedoc suc-
ceeded in making a pair of gloves and
a pair of stockings from the thread of
the spider. They were‘very strong,
and of a beautiful gray color. Other
attempts bf the same. kind have been’
made; but Ileaumur has stated that
the web of the spider was not equal to
that of the silkworm, either in strength
or lustre. The cocoons of the latter
weigh from three to four grains, so
that 2,304 worms produce a poundof
silk; but the bags of the spider, when
cleaned, do not weigh above the third
part of a grain. ,.-,
A GLOBE-TROTTING DOG.
Donnie II. Has Placed 40,000 Eiiles to His
Credit in the Last Few Years.
“Donnie II., the property of Capt. A.
II. Mat-Mullen, is winner of first in
novice, and third in limit and open
classcs‘at Northampton show. In his
short spell of life he has tr. veiled
some 40,000 miles, of which some 20,-
000 have been by sea, some 8,000 on
horseback. and some 12,000 by rail. It
does not often fall to the lot of any dog
to have made three journeys to and
from India, to have traversed the
length and breadth of that great conti-
nent, and visited Afghanistan, Beloo-
chistan, and Persia, and as he has ac-
companied his master on his wander-
ings in countries where roads do not
exist and wheeled conveyances are 11n-
known, he has been obliged to acquire
the art of riding horseback, which is a
feat that will endear him to every
sporting Briton, man or woman. He is
equally at home in the saddle, whether
his steed walks, trots, canters, or gal-
lops. lVith his hind quarters against
his master's waistcoat, he is quite in-
dependent of steadying hand, and has
a firm scat even over jumps, and 8,000
miles on horseback is a fact that
speaks for itself as to his balance.—
Ncw York Sun. '
WIT AND HUMOR-
Mickey—Phy does a ship take out
clearin’ papers?
Pat~Shure, so the wither won‘t be
bad, ye spalpeen.—l\'ew York Herald.
First Tramp: “What does ‘between
the-devil and the deep sea mean?”
“Second Tramp: “It’s the- same as be-
in’ between a workshop and a bath-
room.”
Frankie, aged four: “Momma, a,
lady at school kissed me'to-day."
Mamma: "‘Did she?‘I hope you kissed
her back.” Frankie, indignantly:
“Kissed her back! No, I didn’t; I
kissed her cheek.”
“Julius, why. is de gettin’ out o’ bed
on de 31st of August like one ob
Moore’s Melodies? Does you gib it
up, my 'spected cullud friend?” “In
course I does. \Vhy?” “Bekase i\’S
do last rose ob summer!"
“Say, pard, Winterin’ in ('1’ South
beats Winterin’ on d’ island,’ don't it?”
“\Vell, it ain‘t so frap-pay, I'll ae-
knowiedge, but I don’t feel like me-
self when I’m so far fro d’ opera an’
Delmonico’s.”
First Tramp: “An’ how do ye travel
widout money?”
Second Tramp (haughtily): “I
travel on my shape.” -
First T: “Then ye can’t‘have coom
far, an ye haven’t far to go.”
Mosely Wragges—What are you blub<
berin? about, ,Weary, de dorg can’t
git You now.
Weary Walker—4t ain’t dat, Mose,
it‘s de ingratitood of dat animil. Dat’s
(10 same dorg I Shared me dinner wit’
yesterday!
The following was copied from a no«
tice posted on a building:
“Notice: Tenants should be careful
not to throw cigars or lighted matches
about. Otherwise they may set” fire to-
the building and oblige John Blazer,
proprietor.”
Odorless Oscar—I’d hate to have~dis
Saint “‘itus dance I’ve heard of.
Mangy Mike—“’3', (lat would be a
snap. Ye could live in a hospital all
de time.
Odorless Oscar—Yes, mebbe, but tink
110w awful it would be to have to be
movin’ all do time.
W'andering Ike: “For Heaven
Bill, watcher at now?” '
Weary Bill at the grindstone: “Why,
do old woman over in dat. house jist
gimmea hunk o’ somethin’ she'called
pie, and it’s so tough dat I got for
sharpen up me grinders so I kin wade
through der crust.”
sake,
First Wanderer: “Why does some
kind—hearted people spoil their chari-
ties, Bill, by forgettin’ that the poor‘
has fé‘elin’s?” ‘
Second Ditto: “I dun’no‘, Jim; but.
many on ’em does it. I was offered the:
finest breakfast y’ ever seen this morni
in’, but a wood-pile went with it. 1‘”.
had ter say no.” _ . . , .’
Norwalk Chronicler