THE CZAR’S WATCHMAKER.
lo Constructed a Timepiece in Eight
Hours.
John Curzon, a. Polish mechanic,
who was presented with a gold medal
for his inventions, performed a most
. extraordinary thing when he succeed—
in manufacturing a complete watch
__ the space of eight hours, and from
materials on which another watch-
maker would have looked with con—
tempt, says an exchange. It appears
that the Czar of Russia, hearing’of
the marvelous inventive genius of
Egrzon, determined to put him to the
t and forwarded him a box con-
111mg a few copper nails, some wood
hippings, a piece of broken glass, an
Eld‘cracked china cup, some wire, and
. few cribbage board pegs, with a re—
, uest that he should transform them
%to a timepiece. Nothing daunted,
11d perceiving a golden opportunity
if m 1nn1ng favor at the court Cu1zon
set about his task with enthusiasm;
and in the almost incredibly short
wonderfully constructed watch to the
Czar, who was so surprised and de-
lighted at the work that he sent for
distinctions, and granted him a pen-
sion. {The case of the watch was made
1f china, while the works were simply
ompany-ing the old cup. Not only
id it keep good time,/ but only re-
uired winding once every three or
our days. This remarkable watch is
elieved to be still in the possession
. ‘ the Russian royal family.
ANXIOUS ABOUT HIS MONUMENT.
vidently Wanted His Little Plot
“God’s Acre” Well Marked.
The late Dr. Tyler Hull, of Lansing,
ich., left the following peculiar will:
here shall be erected at my grave
ithin one year after my decease a
Ionument, if the assets of the estate
Iall warrant, according to the follow-
g conditions: If my estate shall foot
I to $40,000 or more, then there shall
- erected at my grave a. granite mon-
uent worth $10,000. If my estate
all aggregate $30,000 and under $40,-
0, there shall be erected at my grave
granite monument worth $6,000.”
on there follow six other items,
uched in language similar to the
ove, and being in substance as fol-
-s: “Between $25,000 and $30,000, a
000 monument; between $20,000 and
,000, a $4,000 monument; between
,000 and $20,000, a $3,000 monu-
nt; between $10,000 and $15,000, a
500 monument; between $6,000 and
,000, a $1,000 monument; between
100' and $6,000, a $500 monument.”
e last paragraph of the will provid-
that if the estate should aggregate
. than $4,000, the whole question of
in
tion of his wife—St. Louis Globe
uocrat
space of eight hours had dispatched a‘
the maker, conferredupon him several‘
\
STORY 01- A FAMOUS POEM. . 7
Written, Then Slowed Away in a Desk
for Three Years.
Mrs. Rose Hartwick Thorpe, who
wrote “Curfew must ‘Not Ring T0-
night,” lives ina pretty frame cottage
at Pacific Beach, near San Diego, Cal.
When asked recently to tell how she
came to' write the poem that has made
her famous, she replied: ’ '
“I Eannot remember when I did not
write poetry. I have done it ever
sinCe I was a child. My mother did
not approve of my writing. One day
after school I went to my room. 1
had been studying the historic period
of the poem, and the incident impress—
ed itself so strongly on my mind that
I felt impelled. to write about it. I
was about half way through when my
mother came in, saying a young friend
had come to spend the afternoon and
take tea with me. In great distress
I called out: ‘Oh, mother, can’t she
wait a. little while?’ My mother,
thinking I was solving a hard problem
in arithmetic, said she would amuse
my friend until I could leave. At last
I finished it and put is away.
“Two or three years later I wanted
a poem for publication. in a Detroit
paper to‘ which I 'had been in the’habit
omposed of the odds and . ends ac- ,
of contributing short poems gratuit-
ously. I was unable‘at the time to
write, as usual, and, on looking over
my papers, found this one, which I
decided to send, though doubting its
acceptance, as it was so long. A day
or two afterward I received a- note
from the editor, complimenting my
last contributionhighly, and prophesy-
ing for it great and immediate suc-
cess.”—Philadelphia Press.
Unjustly Accused.
Lord Eldon, so the story goes, had
accasion to discharge a coachman
vhom he suspected of purloining his
10th. ' ,
In a few days after he received a
etter from a. merchant inquiring into
he man’s character, and his lordship’s
'epiy was that he was sober and a.
:ood coach-man, but he entertained
inspicions that he had cheated him.
The man came next morning to re-
urn thanks to his lords-hip for pro-
;uring him so excellent a place. '
“My master,” he said, “was content
1) find I was sober and a good coach-
nan, but as to cheating your lordship,
to thought the devil himself could not
[0 i.’ ,
Solved.
Biggs—Well, the theater hat prob-
em is solved at last.
Boggs—Is that so? I haven’t heard
if it.
Biggs—Yes, the managers have
1greed to put up signs in the lobbies
4-...
of all theaters requesting all ladies
inder‘thirty years of age to remove
nonument should be left to the dis- , Sheir hats during the performance--
5 \Tew York World.
rum”
5512.3
RE’INSIIBANBEE
A. Wise Man Keeps
his Home Insured
Against Fire...—
IBEST BUMPANIES BEPBE SENTED
w. H. BYINGWIN.
7 1.1121111 1111111115, - « 1.
IGRWILK Gilli
013 read this advertisement.
11! it had been *0
yours and others had read it, how much
gPQ“. it might have done.
Send in your adv:
and we will do the resin, ,Rat‘iS-E'l. application.
.1,
' ter the Oldtown High School.
A CURIOUS MAIL SERVICE.
1 Small Boat Carlying the Letters, In-
trusted to the Mercy of the \Vaves.
St. Kilda is the most westerly island
)5 the Hebrides, lying isolated in the
AItlantic some fifty miles to
west of the main group. For
nonths of the year that island is out
11f from communication by boat or
zteamer with the out51de..wovld
Its inhabitants are a. hardy Celtic
ace, who live in a. rather primitive
vay, and who speed: only the Gaelic
anguage. ‘
During their long isolation through-
rut the winter months they endeavor
0 send word of their welfare to friends
1n the mainland by committhg to the
:ea some roughly “donstructed “mail-
ioats.” ,
A piece of wbod some two or three
ieet in length is hewn into a. roughly
shapen hull. A cabin is then hollowed
mt amidships, for the purpose of hold-
ng a strongly secured tin canister,
Into which the letters destined for
:ransmission have been placed.
The canister, having been coVered
with oiledcloth, is placed in the cabin,
which is then roofed in by a piece of
wood nailed to the deck, a layer of
nied cloth being also securely tacked
aver the cabin roof.-
In order to attract the attention of
my one who may subsequently chance
:0 pick up the little boat, the legend
DPEN is carved in rude letters upon
:he deck.
In case of the boat becoming water-
fogged, a small buoy is attached, by
means of a stout cord, to the prow of
:he curious little craft, which is then.
faunched into the sea.
A strong sea current runs from St.
[{ilda in a northeasterly direction to-
vard the mainland, and by it the boat
Is borne along, and is usually cast
1shore on. one of the larger islands
opposite, or the mainland, in about a
’ortnight, but sometimes these mail-
? coats, having rounded the North of
Scotland, have been washed up on the
shores of the Orkney and Shetland
islands.
When discovered, the letters are for-
warded to the responsible authorities,
who see them safely transmitted to
:heir respective destinations—Pear?
;on’s Weekly.
SOME QUEER PEOPLE.
Peculiar Customs of Certain Tribes of
Indians.
The Tsimpseans are composed of the
ollowing tribes: The Crow, Bear,
Whale, Frog, Wolf, Beaver and Eagle.
Each of these represents a family tribe
zorresponding to the Clan Campbells
of Scotland or the Nakamuras of Ja—
oan. Each tribe has its own crest, as
1n Japan at this day. A member of
the Wolf tribe has the wolf for his
:rest, and a Bear has the moon and
itars, showing his celestial origin.
An Indian may not marry one of his
own crest, but he may marry into any
)ther clan excepting an allied tribe. A
Crow may marry into any clans ex-
zept the Frog; the Frog into any but
the Crow, the Whale anbe the Bear,
the Bear any but the Whale, the Bea-
ver any but the Eagle, the Eagle any
but the Beaver, and the Wolf, being so
lifferent from all in ancestry, may
marry into any tribe.
Suppose 9. Wolf marries a Crow wo-
”man; the children are all Crows. They
are named after the mother, not after
the father. In quarrels between two
tribes, as the Wolf and Crow, the chil—
lren, being Crows, would be forced to
join their mother against their father,
and he would fight against all Crows,
including his own family.
A Crow is a member of a Crow fam--
(ly,.or crest, to 'such an extent that
when in a distant village he would so—
iourn with a Crow household, and would
there be treated as a veritable son or
brother. If in the village there were
no Crows, then, as the Frogs are close-
' ly allied, he would go to them and re-
ceive the same treatment as if he were
a Frog. So among all other allied
crests, the same loyalty is maintained.
—The Chautauquan.
An Up-to-Date Indian Girl.
Lucy- Nicolar, daughter of the late
Ioseph Nicolar, of the Penobscot tribe,
is an accomplished bicycle rider. She
is just coming into her,teens, and is
a young miss of marked beauty, and
wherever she goes with baskets or
Indian exhibits many a young Ameri-
, can who looks upon the Indian maiden
5 feels that the land of the Penobscots
1 must be “the land of handsome wo-
men.” Just now Lucy is receiving
private instructions that she may en-
Her
instructor tells 1n‘-e that she is bright
, in her studies and that mathematics is
her forte. Lucy is perhaps the most
proficient piano player on the island,
also sings pleasingly. But the skill
! of the tribe is not forgotten by this
'young member, for 7 she can make
baskets, etc, as well as some of the
older ones. The mother of Lucy is
3 one of the finest looking members of
‘the tribe, a woman respected by all
who know her. —Lewiston, Me, Jour-
11a].
Electricity to Tame Wild Beasts.
Perzon, the great French lion tamer,
Lricity in taming his beasts. When a
wild lion or tiger was to be tamed
live wires were first rigged up in the
cage between the tamer and the ani—
mal. After a time Perzon would turn
his back, and the wild creature would
invariably make a leap at him, but en-
countering the charged wires, would
receive a paralyzing shock sufficient
.r
to terrorize it forever. .1
“How would'you define repartee?”
“Repartee is the brilliant remark
you didn‘t think of in'time.’j,——Puck.’
' m
’.
mow,
the -
nine -
being the owner of an instrument. She -
‘znfrequently, used.
caution, however, many
owed his success to the use of elec-‘
ARTIU S’I‘OREHOUSES.
CACHES ON WHICH THE TRAVELER
RELIES FOR FOOD ON HIS REUTRN.
The Natives Never, Disturb a House Er
I cePt in a Case of Great Necessity—They
Are Built to Keep. the Animals from
the Edibles.
As more and more news comes piece-
meal from the Arctic regions and each
new detailed map of the world has-
t‘resh lines and names put upOn it in
the nearly blank spaces marking the
frozen zone, there is nota little inter-
est felt in those primitive, temporary
structures of the explorer without
which a. trip in the icy wilds would
seldom be possible—the caches of the
North. The books, the magazine arti-
cles, the lectures of the explorers of
fame, rarely do more than casually
mention these storehouses of their ex-V
peditions, and thus few realize the part
the caches play in Arctic w01k. And
still less is known of their actual con-
struction.
Unlike other monuments of civiliza-
:ion and exploration, they leave no sign
behind them once they’have ceased to
he of practical use. A heavy fall of :3
snow or a Windstorm comes and tears
:heir last remnants to pieces.
tions something of this sort happens to
1 cache even while it is serving as a re-
.pository and is being depended upon
by some slowly toiling party far away.
Peary was unable,
steps on one of his Greenland journeys
to find several of the caches he~had
larefully established and plainly mark-
ed. Snowstorms and gales of wind had
)bliterated every sign of them, and no
amount of searching was of avail. Had
the Peary party at this juncture not
happened to fall in with plenty of game
starvation would have been certain.
A cache is an Arctic storageware-
house, made to keep provisions in until
:hey are wanted. The word is the
French word cache, meaning simply
hiding—place. ~ A hiding-place is pre-
zisely what it is, for while men are not
:0 be feared on the score of theft in the
Arctic lands animals of all sorts are.
The great white bear that abounds in
:hese regions will readily 'sniff out food
1nd any supplies left behind, need to be
hermetically sealed.
Thus the cache is the first outpost of.
:ivilization in the far North. When
:he Hudson’s Bay region was being tra-
versed and explored for the first time
2aches were set up everywhere. Now,
:he region being a. fairly.well—known
and, permanent supply posts in the
iorm of tiny villages, of perhaps but
:wo or three buildings, have been es-
tablished, and men are to be found set-
:led there the year round.
The great Northern beltof the land
at perpetual ice circling the Pole has,
iowever, none of these permanent set-
:lemnts, though year by year the Dan-
sh Government is planting new supply
villages still further north on the
snowy coasts of Greenland. These
Danish villages are intended primarily
‘01: the benefit of the Greenlanders, but
10 explorer is ever turned away from
:heir hospitable doors. Food is given
aim outright, if he wishes it, or he is
illowed to buy it at cost price. Each
sear sees the extension of these Danish
villages further north, mainly on the
west coast, really the only habitable
)art of the island.
Once beyond the last of these villages
in exploring party must plan its own
700d supplies. This it does by estab-
.ishing these caches along its line of
narch. An Arctic expedition moving
)verland practically always intends to
storm by the same route. Even in
these days of compressed foods, the
weight of several months provender for
1. large party is considerable. In each-
33 it- is, therefore, stowed along the
route severaldays’ journey apart.
What is simply a hole in the ground
5 first dug, a matter of extreme diffi-
ulty at times. Then, painfully dig-
ging elsewhere, earth is brought to
the surface and a. quantity of this is
lumped into the hole. Ice is melted
111d the water from it poured upon the
aarth, the entire mixture freezing in a
few moments into a compact mass.
this is the bottom of the cache. On
t the provisions the party want to put
iside for a future day are laid, so
nany pounds for each man, carefully
:alculated. There should be just
anough to support life comfortably un-
:11 the next cache is reached on the re-
;urn, with" two or -threeo'days' rations
aver for emergencies.
With stones,'ice and snow the walls
1f the cache are now built up, water be-
ng poured over the snowy structure
iermetically to seal it. It is a. point of
ionor, among even the poorest natives,
lot to rifle" a cache unless in cases of
:he direst necessity; but the provisions
nust be kept safe from the bears.
Properly built the structure is impreg-
iable, and it needs the work of pick-
1xes to tear it open.
It is ma1ked by anything that the
explorers can spare or find in the vicin-
;ty, generally by a staff of wood. In
Siberia the tooth of a mammoth is not
Despite this pre-
caches can
never be found again. ' .
If rendered provision'less in this.
Children and Fans in China.
Almost every child in China has a,
fan of its own. They are the plays
:hings of Chinese babies, as children
-n this country delight in rattles. Chi-
nese nurses amuse their young charges
with their fans, which they are never
without. The children learn to handle
:heir fans very expertly, for the fan in
:he hands of a Chinese has a. certain
.anguage of its own. Rich and poor
tlike, every boy and girl must have a
fan. A poor little Chinese boy who
1:15 scarcely a whole garment and who
:arely gets a good men will still have;
1 can and use it constantly.
On occa-'
on retracing his ’
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Norwalk Chronicler