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Show 1 THE WORLD OUR NEW NAVAL STATION AT CAVITE. STORY 0FTW0DEAT1IS One dull November afternoon, John Gerrard, the well known financier, was shown into the handsome private office of Nathaniel Nugent, the even better known millionaire company promoter. Nugent rose with extended hand a bland smlls appearing on bis usually impassive features, which remained there till the clerk withdrew. Then It disappeared with the swiftness of a n slide, leaving his face rigid and ghastly. "Gerrard, for Gods sake, dont tell me you must have that money back now! "Thats just what I have to tell you, Nugent, and sprry I am to do It, but I was hard hit over Kaffirs, and this new scare has made matters worse than ever. "Then Im a ruined man. There was dead silence in the office for a few moments. A look of despair crept over Nugent's face, and his guest looked almost as 111 at ease. Suddenly' steps were heard on the stairs. "Thats Lord Mount Dacre, one of our directors. He half suspects something already, and If he sees you here he will guess at once what you have come about "What can I do? Is there another way out? "No but stay! Step Into that cupboard. He wont be here many minutes." Hastily pushing Gerrard into a large cupboard, Nugent locked the door, and turned smilingly to greet another unwelcome guest As Lord Mount Dacre discussed the business of the company in which they were mutually concerned, his hearer was on tenter hooks, for there was a slight noise In the cupboard. "Dear me, I didnt know you had another room adjoining. I hope we can not be overheard. "No, no. Its merely a cupboard, said Nugent and he got rid of his vla- magic-lanter- VIEW 07 PART OF THE CAVITE NAVAL STATION. In acquiring the Philippines, Uncle Bam has secured a naval station at Cavite, in Manila bay. This Is well enough, so far as It goes, but the plant Is not very adequate, and a couple of millions of dollars will have to be spent on Improvements, In order to bring It up to date and make It thoroughly serviceable. There Is not even a dry dock, and on this account the Spaniards were accustomed to send their ships to Hong Kong to be repaired or to have their bottoms scraped. Admiral Dewey has already made an Inventory of the property at Cavite, including machine shops, warehouses, machinery, etc., and a report from him on the subject Is expected BUYING ANNUITIES. nuitant looks out for himself only, while the man whose life is Insured provides for those who survive him. The annuitant Is selfish,. the insured man Is frequently somedenyiug himself luxuries-antimes necessaries In order to pay premiums for the benefit of wife and children. The bachelor, the man without a family, the man who has become estranged from his kinfolk and wants to make sure that they shall have none of his money when he passes CUSTOM WHICH IS POPULAR IN SOME PARTS OF EUROPE. fra Are Getting More Selfleb Number of Bachelor and People Who Do Not Wlah to Be Bothered with Matter of Basin NO. 15. AMERICAN FORK. UTAH, SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1899. VOL. VI. Increasing. There has been much Inquiry of late on the subject of annuities and It la believed by the corporations doing business in that line that the custom of buying them, which is popular in some parts of Europe, Is growing in favor In this country, says the New York Tribune. To some people who have given the matter attention the fact that annuities are gaining In popularity is a demonstration of the fact that Americans are growing more selfish, that the number of bachelors is increasing and that the class of people who do not wish to be bothered with matters of business Is gaining in numbers. "The business of annuiD. Whitney, said William ties, "which Is widely known In Europe, Is of recent growth here. The inquiry on the subject is extending more and more as the rate of Interest falls. With a further drop In Interest, which Is probable in the near future, the inquiry will be more extended, especially by those who are desirous of securing a fixed income for themselves or others, free from the vicissitudes of interest, expense and worry attending business operations. Heretofore the rates of Interest offered In business enterprises were too great to permit the establishment of companies that bad to take all the risk of a probable drop In cates, of profit and Interest. But it was hard enough to convince the public of this. A large company, by Its ability to average out the risk of Individual Investment by reason of the various Investments into which It enters and Its greater facility and economy In doing a wholesale Investment, business, makes the annuity policies attractive for persons who desire a fixed Income and no bother. Another point In connection with annuities is that the annuitant converts his chance of dying into Interest, because In case of death the principal sum paid for the annuity remains with the company. For Instance, If the rate of Interest free from losses and expenses of Investment Is estimated at 3 per cent, and the mans chance of dying Is estimated at 2 per cent, then he may obtain in the form of annuity an Investment which will yield him 5 per cent jer annum as long as he may live, which he could not obtain In any other way. On the other hand. It must be quite apparent that annuities are not desired by persons who wish to The an- leave an estate tn others. shortly by the navy department. There Is an apparatus on the premises, by means of which small vessels may be floated Into a sort of cradle and then pulled up out of the water, but nothing can be done In the way of extensive repairs to large ships without a dry dock. Manila Letter to Chicago Inter Ocean. NEW ARTIFICIAL SILK. Late Improvement In the Methods of Mnnafnetanng the Article. The United States Consul of Bremen reports (advance sheet of Consular reports NoJ'304) tae following Improvement In the methods of producing imitation silk: Artificial silk consists of prepared cotton and wood fiber, and has been known to the trade under this denomination for the last nine years. It possesses an extremely silky luster, and can therefore be employed as an away, and men past middle age, who fear that stocks and cards may make Imitation of silk. Count Chardonnet, a Frenchman, the inventor of this madeep holes In their capital, have been terial, converted the cellulose (cotton among the first to become interested or purified wood fiber) by a process In the annuity business. Some years described In German letters patent of of Lester Wallack a and number ago actors made up a purse with which the year 1884, through nltrosulphurlc acid. Into they bought an annuity for a fellow-act- the same nitrocellulose. He then freed from the add and dissolved who had become Incapacitated. It In a mixture of alcohol and ether. The man received only one annual InThe solution thus obtained collodlum stallment .before he died, and the Is pumped through glass pipes which to which old actor feared the money handle reverted to the annuity com- are provided with extremely fine holes, and these collodlum threads are passed pany. This is not an Infrequent occurrence, because the annuity com- through warm water (acldulated)whlch causes the alcohol and ether to evappanies require no medical examinations and do not hesitate to. say that orate, and only the fine nitrocellulose A number of these It Is Immaterial to them how soon the threads remain. fine are threads brought together, annuitant passes away. In Europe anThis nuities are provided for younger sons, slightly twisted, and spooled. InIncompetents and marriage portions, extremely lustrous, but also easily even flammatory tissue explosive but little has been done In that direction In this country. "As to the was put on the market at the time of revenue derived from money placed the Paris exhibition In 1889. Owing to with annuity concerns," said an ac- its liability to catch flre.it did not come Into parctlcal use, but after this tuary, that depends on the age of the was overcome by removing the annuitant There are certain estabnltro groups (a process called denl-- t Inlished rales based on Stf per cent terest They differ as to age, sex and rating) Inthe harmless fibre was emthe textile Industry. By the . frequency of payments. Thus ployed method similar artificial silk was proanthose who receive their proceeds duced by a certain chemist of Augsnually receive more than the annuiburg, Germany Dr. Lehner who Is tants who draw their interest quarterat present residing In Switzerland. ly or Money deposited for an annuitant 45 years old will yield Lastly, however, a method has been 6 per cent; the rate Increases to 8 per Invented by Dr. Fremery and Civil cent when the beneficiary buys at 65 Engineer Urban. In which the use of the Injurious is omityears. At 65 the rate Is equal to 12 cottwo Inventors ted. These dissolve per cent; at 75 years, 17 per cent, and In waste ton oxide of copper ammonia, 85 at years, 22 per cent and pump this solution through fine tubes. The delicate threads are passed Royal Hoed rati diluted arid, which separates ' The coronet of a duke consists of through the copper and ammonia, the result bealternate crosses and leaves, the leaves ing an extremely fine, lustrous fibre, being a representation of the leaves of which Is employed as an Imitation the ,'parsley plant. The princes of the silk. This process, patented In Gerblood royal also wear a similar crown. (D. R. P. 98,642) and In all other many The state headgear of a marquis concivilized states. Is said to hare the sists of a diadem surrounded by flowgreat advantages over those of ers and pearls placed alternately. An and Lehmer: That the Chardonnet ear, however, has neither flowers nor manufacture as well as the product Is leaves surmounting his circlet, but In no way dangerous. That the proonly points rising each with a pearl on duction Is much simpler. As a conthe top. A viscount has neither flowImitation silk can be that sequence, ers nor points, but only the plain cirat conthis manufactured process by reclet adorned with pearls, which, cost less gardless of number, are placed on the siderably crown itself. A baron has only six The Sirdar Namesake. A registrar In the east end of Lonpearls on the golden border, not raised, to distinguish him from an earl, and don has recently recorded the birth of the number of pearls render his dia- a child who has been named Sirdar dem distinct from that r f Kitchener. scount - half-yearl- y. nitro-cellulo- se j fol-lovtf- ng Ill risk It" e e e Some hours later two men groped their way through the fog which had driven nearly everybody indoors. The men carried some mysterious burden, which at any other time would have provoked some policeman's curiosity, but tonight, when a man could hardly see his hand before him, even under the street lamps, the men and their burden passed unchallenged. "Were nearly at the wharf, sir, now, whispered Wells as the poise of the sirens grew every moment more distinct "Keep your courage up another few steps and were safe my God!" As he uttered this exclamation Welle fell over the edge of the wharf, dragging with him the body of Gerrard. After desperate but vain attempts at rescue, Nugent left the wharf, well nigh demented by the horror of the situation. He had sufficient however, to be silent as to what had occurred, and when the bodies of the two men were found, far apart In the river, no one connected the death of the' great financier with that of the obscure clerk. To the surprise of everybody Mr. Gerrard left far less wealth than had been expected, though six months later his. heirs received a large sum from an unknown source. The Nugent companies are as prosperous now as ever, and their promoter Is a baronet, but few men who know him would care to change places with the great speculator, for, since the day when his clerk was drowned, Nugent has been an altered man. Those who note his bowed head and brooding eyes attribute this startling change to the effect of "A City Scare. Ally Sloper. self-contr- POVERTY OF ENQLISH CLEROY Cojaat ftod Excessive Hardee e Loral Taxation. Thanks to the many augmentations of livings which have been made by the ecclesiastical commissioners and modern "pious founders, the clergy of the Church of England are never likely to fall back Into the shabby and hopeless poverty which afflicted so many of them In the dark days of Indifference of 150 or 200 years ago, says the St. James Gazette. But, as the recent deputation to the archbishop of Canterbury once more made clear, there Is a real danger that those of them who depend largely upon tithe for their Income may be reduced to a level which, when we remember their position and their duties, would be highly disgraceful. The object of tbe deputation was to call attention to the unjust and excessive burden placed upon the clergy by the unfair incidence of local taxation. An elastic or at least an undlmlnished Income can bear a good deal, but when the reveremain at nue falls and the the old level, or even Increase, a very painful state of things is likely to ensue. That Is what has happened to the s. The tithe clerical has depreciated by about 25 per cent, owing to the low price of wheat for years past, and every year it becomes lower. Yet local rates, always Increasing, have to be paid Just the same, with the result that what does not go to subsidize the farmer In Argentina or western America la taken for purposes of local administration. One clergyman told the archbishop that his outgoings for ratce alone, exclusive of land tax and Income tax, amounted to 21 per cent of his official Income, while one Incumbent of his acquaintance was unable to keep a servant, and another had to groom his own pony. Another clergyman with a living worth nominally 826 receives actually 550. Out of that 73 goes in rates on tithe and after other outgoings and his curate's stipend have been paid only 275 Is left for him to live upon. There Is no reason to suppose that these are extreme cases. There are hundreds of similar ones all over the country, and had It not chanced that a fair proportion of these difficult livings are held by men with some small means of their own we should probably have heard far more about them. Tfae or dlffl-.cul- ty Is "But this terrible and it amounts to a fraud. "Why should you look at It like that, sir? You can repay the money to his friends anonymously when things mend, and you said this morning everything would go right If only you could keep the money another sis months." "True I hate the idea. Wells, but I dont see what elBe Im to do, and "THE MEN CARRIED A RIOUS BURDEN. MYSTE- itor as quickly as possible, and then went to set Gerrard free. The atmosphere of the cupboard seemed unusually oppressive. "Come out hes gone. Why, Gerrard, where are you? demanded he, as nothing stirred. Then his hand touched another hand which was cold and lifeless. "My God hes dead! e e e When Nugent had partially recovered from the shock which this discovery gave him, he found that the accidental closing of a ventilator had been the cause of the catastrophes Then he called In Wells, the clerk who had shown Gerrard into the office. Wells, formerly a schoolfellow of Nugents, twenty years his head clerk, was the one man In London from whom the great company promoter had no secrets. "Now, Welis, what Is to be done? You must think, for Im nearly past It. The fact of Gerrard s having come to my office will be enough to ruin me, for there aro rumors out In the city already about our dealings, and, besides that, his executors will demand repayment of all the money I owe him. In any case Im ruined now. "Who knows that he came here excepting ourselves? "Did nobody see you let him In? "No, be came in by the side door, which I always attend to myself. But might not some one In the street have seen him coming In? "Impossible In a fog like this, sir. "Why, no I suppose not then you mean to suggest "That we search the body see If by any luck he has your papers on him If he has, burn them, and put the body into the river. out-goin- gs tithe-owner- rent-char- ge |