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Show posed that one must have the "me-chanic's eye" and the artist's taste and perspicuity. The latter faculties Yidal has to an exceptional degree even more acute, he believes, than if the former were not lost to him forever. The Blind Sculptor. Yidal, the blind sculptor, is one of the wonders of the French capital. He has been blind since his 21st year. To be a sculptor it is generally sup- - 4 on my part a citizen of Arkansaw lay prone at my feet That was my first blood. After that I wai not at all particular who I hit. Any one that did not wear a familiar face or circus clothes got it It all seemed like a nightmare to ma If I had been shot. I do not think the fact would have suggested itself to me until after it was all over. It was a hot fight Empress's keeper turned her loose, and that rattled the 'jays,' and they fled in dis-may, which of course put an end to tho trouble temporarily. Then I came to myself. I was frightened nearly to doath, and wished that I had learned to run a soda-wat- er fountain and never gone with a show. 'Was there much damage done? Well, yes. Three men were killed. One of them belonged to the show. About a score of broken heads, several men badly cut, and a tent slathered to ribbons ropreientod the wounded. The cause of all the trouble was the ap-pearance of our principal clown, who thoughtlessly wore a red, white, and Hue suit, with an Anioricnn eagle on a shield at his breast This exhibition was a trillo too partisan for tho chivalry of tho gentlemen in saw. So, you see, one of them took a shot at tho eagle. The clover and joc-und clown was there for the purpose of affording ploasuro to tho dear public, but as ho did not care about sacrificing himself to art he yelled Hey, Rube!1 Of eourso that settled it. We had that kind of experience several times in tho South, and I am not fully satisfied that theso battles, while not accompanied by great loss of life, were quite as fierce as any while they lasted." HEY, RUBE ! IIEY RUBE ! A BUSINESS CRY OF THE CLD CIRCUS DAYS. He.T. Ituhe!" Wh the Watchword It Was the Alarm Crr of the Circus Mm, and It Meant Husl-ue- ss for All Hand. After my first engagement was ef-fected," raid an old circus man, "I was told something that I had not learned before. I was initiated into the mys-teries of Hey, Rube!' The manager one day came down to tho ring-hous- e. I was practising, and of course when I discovered him looking on strained ft point to make my somerset a little higher and do my best generally. I was fully repaid for my extra effort when ho laid his hand pntronizingly on my head and told mo I would be a great performer some day. Then ho turned my faeo to him nnd. looking me in tho eye. ho asked: "My son, do you think you would be much fright-ened in a "Hey, Rube"?' I thought lie doubted my nerve, and as I felt my checks n;:d ears tinglo with the warm blood I straightened myself up and, stretching mvself to my utmost height answered that I did not think several 'Hoy, Rubes' would scare mo very much. He smiled and said: 'That is all right, my son; but you have never been tinotitrh one yet; wait.' I did not havo very long to wait Spring came, and with it the opening of our season. That wa the spring of 'C'J. My partner Informed mo that we were going into tho South. It was my first circus to go Into tho Southern states after the war. There were many opinions expressed as to what kind of n reception wo would get. A rumor had been started from some source or other that no show from tho North would bo allowed to come down thero and bo comfortable. As we started from a point south of tho Ohio river wo thought ourselves a Southern in-stitution, and so did not take much stock in the rumor. Our show traveled overland by wagon. No sleepers and railroad trains then. Weil, wo got along first rate for about eight weeks, and finally got into Arkansas. The second town wo nuido in that state we arrived In one morning about 7 o'clock, aftor one of the toughest night's drives I think I ever experienced over a rough moun-tain road. About every twenty min-utes you could hear a stentorian voice breaking the stillness of the night with "Mile up, Empress! Mile up, old gal!" And thnt was soon followed by a grunt from the great old mother elephant as she lifted some wagon out of a mud-hol- o. "As I was saying, we pulled into town about 7 o'clock and we felt tough, but I will remark we none of us felt as tou';h as the citizons of that hamlet looked. Wo had the hardost lot of canvas men that ever wore entertained at tho expense of any state. There was proba-bly no crime on the calondar that some them luuV uotla.uiUf. yt ' bul hoy wero a wicked sot They be-gan pitching tho tent immediately, and thore was quite an assemblage of native citizens gathered to see the thing done. The male portion of that crowd one could not conscientiously term prepossessing. The performers went to a tumble-dow- n shanty they callod a 'hotel,' washed, and ate broak-fas- t. after which we prepared for the parade. The grand pageant took place about half-pa- st 10 o'clock A. M. Then we had our dinner and started for the show grounds to propare for the after-noon show. "As my partner and I wore on our way there he called my attention to the men congregated in groups along the way. Some of them addressed chaffing remarks to us. We paid no attention to them, however, though they did make my companion eome- - ' what restless. All the men carriod puns. It was a queer assortment of firearms. There were old flint-loc- k rifles, muskets, carbines, long rifles, short ones, horse pistols, navies, Der-ringers, and pepper boxes. I suppose Ihoy wore all fixed. My partner that it was possible that we might have trouble before we left, and though I was young I oould appreciate that the mention of a possibility meant a probability. "The doors were openod at the regular hour and everybody was called for the grand entree, aftor which sev-eral minor acts were in the ring. I heard the call for Mastor Willie, the boy rider, and bounded out into the ring, made my obeisance, mountod my horso, and wont through my act as usual. When it was finished I ran back to tho dressing room to make a quick change for our brother act I opouol my trunk and was selecting such wardrobe as I noedod, when I hoard a shot, followed by a rush and some exeitemont Then sonio one vtuck his head in our dressing room and yolled: Hoy! Rubo!' " 'That yell vibrated through every fibre of my body and echood again and again through my brain until it was tho only thing I could hear, the only thing I could think, the only thing I could rpeak. It paralyzed me for an instant nnd then I moved mechanically. Leaning tigainst my trunk was a bunch of iron braces. Instinctively, I grasped them and dashed out Into the big tent There I witnessed a sight that no one has seen except in the days of barbar-ism or in a 'Hey, Rube' with a circus. It was man to man and hand to hand. Evory body was fighting. It wa tho kind of an asault that meant great bodily injury nnd even sudden death. Knives fladied, pistols popped, imd the din wai punctuated by tho dull thud of a heavy stake as It descended upon the hapless ate of gome 'jay,' (raided there with much emphasis by the sinewy arm of a canvass nnn. I bad my bunch of iron grasped tightly in my lists, and after spasmodic action, THE SOUND OF THUNDER. How to Ascertain How Fur Away tl Thunder I. One of the most terse and succinct descriptions of a natural phenomenon is that recently given by M. Ilirn, in which he says that the sound which is known as thunder is due simply' to the fact that the air traversed by an elec-tric spark, that is, a flash of lightning, is suddenly raised to a very high tem-perature and has its volume, moreover, considerably increased. The column of gas thus suddenly heated and ex-panded is sometimes several miles long and, as tho duration of the Hash is not over the millionth of a second, it follows that the noise bursts forth at once from the whole column, though, for an observer at any one place, it commences where the lightning flash is at the least distance. In precise terms, the beginning of tho thunder-clap gives tho minimum distance of the lightning, and the duration of the rolling of tho thunder the length of the column of heated air. Prof. Ilirn also remarks that when a flash of light-ning strikes the ground, it is not ne-cessarily from the placo struck that the first noi.-- o is heard. Again he points out that a bullet whistles in traversing the air. so that we can, to a certain extent, follow its flight. The same thing also happens with a falling meteorite just before striking the earth. Tho noise actually heard has been compared to tho sound produced when one tears linen, it is duo. really, to tho fact that tho air rapidly pushed on one sido of the piojectile in front, whether bullet or meteorite, quickly rushes back to 1111 tho gap left in the rear. TEN O'CLOCK TOO EARLY. How Two Brlrht and (harming- - Glf.l Outwit Their Sennlbie Mother. An exeellentand sensible lady in th western part of tho city is the mother of two attractive and popular girls, says the Louisville Post The sisters hava many admirers among the young gen-tlemen of tho neighborhood, and have callers nearly every evening. The mother was not altogether displeased at this, but found it necessary to adopt some rule as to tho time when the visit-ors were expected to leave. Her first plan was to ring a little bell precisely at 10 p. m., at which timo the visitor.' wore supposed to depart. Tho mother would then go to sleep. Hut she discovered afterwaid that the bell was not being obeyod and found the girls closing the front door after 1 1 o'clock. They explained that they could not hear the bell. An able, bodied alarm clock was then purchased and placed in the parlor and every night at 10 o'clock it turned loose. There could now be no excuse, and for some time everything went well and the mother was delighted. Hut by and by, the clock suddenly got badly out of repair and refused to run. Of course, the leaving hour again became ad lib., though tho girls did not com-plain of tho crippled clock, nor did they toll their mother they had crip-pled it on purpose. The widow thon abandoned the clock idea and a few weeks ago resorted to tho plan of turning off the gas. She would first give a little warning, just as they do at tho theatre before the curtain goos up, and in live minutes the visitors were presumed to have donned their overcoats and hats. The light was then turned entirely off. This worked nicely for awhile, but the girls grew tired of it, and provided themselves a coal oil lamp for emer-gencies. The widow continues to ma-nipulate the gas as usual from her room, and then turns in, with the fond convictions that the maidens are retir-ing. But the girls light tho lamp and sit up as long as they wish, save when their favorites are calling, when they feel that tho grate is entirely sufficient. In a short timo this last rule will be discovered by their maternal mentor and they will adopt some other plan of deception. CHINESE JOKES Specimen Anecdotes from the Jo 3IlUr of the Celestial Km pi re. We are accustomed to think of tho Chinese as solemn-lookin- g people slanting eyes and the corners of their mouths much drawn down. Never-theless, they have a jest-boo- k an4 its name is "Siao li Siao." Here are translations of some of the jests. The reader will bo struck by tho similarity of many of them to western jokes: A confirmed drunkard in his dreams imngined that he had found a cup of excellent toddy and put It by the fire to warm in order to bring its flavor out the better. But the moment that he attempted to taste tho delicious draught ho awoke. 'Fool that I was, " ho cried; could I not have drunk i'old!" A certain man had his portrait painted; and when it was finished tho painter requested him to inquire of tho passers-b- y what they thought of It, in order that ho might know how he had succeeded. Tho other agreed, and asked the first comer: "Do you think this picture like?" "The hall is like," replied the would-b- e critic. Ho asked a similiar question of a second stranger, who answered thnt tho clothes seemed to be exactly reproduced. He was about to interro-gate a third, when the painter stopped him and said: "The resemblance of tho hat and clothes is of no import-ance; ask the gentleman what ho thinks of the face." The stranger hesitated a very long time; but at last, not being able to escape giving an answer, he replied: "Tho beard and hair are first-rato- ." A rich man living between tho forges of two blacksmiths, was continually annoyed by the noiso of tho hammers, and was In despair at being unable to rest either by day or by might. At first ho tried to induce them to hummer more quietly; then ho made them all kinds of promise if they would only change their abodes. Tho two black-smiths at last fell in with his proposals, and he, transported with joy at the prospect of their departure, entertained them regardless of expense at a fare-well banquet At tho end of the feast he asked them where they intended to setup their smithies. "Well," said ono of them, "ho who lived on your left will go to tho Binithy on your right, and he who lived on your right will go to that on your left A lady who had but lately been mar-ried, seeing her husband return ater throe days' absence, stole up secretly behind him and gave him a kiss. Tho husband was angry, and told her that she had offended against all his notions of propriety. "I am vory sorry," the exclaimed; "I roally didn't know it was you, my lovo!" In a certain house there was a baby that annoyed every ono by its continual squalling. At last a physician was called in. He administered a bolus of tho soothing virtue of whieh ho had a high opinion, and offered to pass the night in the house to observe the ef-fects of the remedy. After a few houM. . henrtngfio nolsrr.TiO exclaimed: ''Good! the child is cured." "Yes." replied tho attendant, "the child has indeed stopped crying, but tho mother has be-gun to mourn." A certain man was condemned to the thief's collar, whereupon some or his relatives, seeing him, aaked him how he had brought such a punish-ment upon himself, lie replied: "As I was going along the road I chanced to soe on the ground a little bit of rope. Thinking it might perhaps prove use-ful I picked it up and proceeded on my way. Such is the origin of my present trouble." "But," ropliod his relatives, "we can not boliove that tho theft of a ploca of rope would bring you to this misory." Said tho thief: "It is true that there was something at the end of the rope." They inquired what it was. "Only," answered he, "two little draught oxen." (It may bo mentioned in passing that in 1872 a writer in the British Quarterly Review quoted this story as coming "from a Chinese source," though he did not allude to "Siao li Siao." It is possible that the heathen Chineo has more than ono jest book. The date of "Siao li Siao" is unknown; but with regard to this par-ticular tale the English have fairly early claim to it, as it occurs in the edition of Seogln's "Jestes" (1613), and possibly in also that of 15 '5, when the book was first licensed. ) SOIL FROZEN FOREVER. THE MYSTERIES OF THIS WON-DERFUL EARTH. Where the (ironnd Is l'rrpi't uxlly Frozen to Depth of Ul'i I'rrt Curious tacts About the Limits of Heat and Cold. Over fifty years ago a Russian mer-chant in Yakutsk. Siberia, decidod that he would no longer draw water from the Lena river, says (ioidthwaite's (icographical Magazine, as every body did in that far northern town, but he would dig a well and have water at his own door. So he set to work with pick and shovel. After his men had dug through tho few feet of earth that had been thawed by the summer sun they declared that they had struck solid rock. It was only frozen soil, however, and the merchant kept them at work all that summer. Next year he courageously resumed work, ex-pecting at every foot he dug to get .through tho frozen earth; but after penetrating 105 feet in solidly frozen soil, ho covered the big holo with boards and decided that river water was good enough for him. The Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg heard this remarkable story, and they thought it a good idea to see how far frost extended toward tho center of tho earth at Yakutsk. They kept up the work for many months. When they had reached a depth of 32 feet and were still in' solidly frozen ground, they gave up the job, carefully covered tho well to excludo tho external air, and finally sent a scientific man to take tho tem-perature throughout tho well. From those observations the conclu-sion was reached that tho ground on which Yakutsk stands, excepting a few feet at the surface, which thaws out in summer, is perpetually frozen to a depth of 012 feot. In that region tho greatest depth of permanently frozen soil in northern latitudes doubt-less exists, and tho reason is that there is found the greatest cold that has been experienced in northern latitudes. It is a mistake to suppose that the weather is colder the further north one goes. The northern polo of greatest cold is only about 300 miles northeast of Yakutsk, whero tho mean annual temperature is a little lower than in tho highest latitudes reached by Nares and Oreely, 1,000 miles further north. The British Association has collected a large amount of data on the question of the depth nnd geographical limits of permanently frozen soil. They have already told us some curious things, such as the fact that excellent wheat lands north of Manitoba overlio frozen earth that never thaws. Sometimes geologists find strata of rocks that thoy are able to show must havo been burled at a remote age 20, 000 feot un-der the surface. These upturned edges of rock, whieh some terrible convul-sion lifted to the air, give us a glimpse of the condition of the interior boiho ways below the greatest depth to HhiifTl w dun uUuiu. . - But, after all, what we arc ablo to ex-amine in tho earth beneath our feet is hardly more than what a pin prick on the skin of an apple shows of tho fruit within. The workmen in tho deepest mines of Europe swelter in almost in-tolerable heat and yet thoy have never penetrated over one-sev- en thousandth part from tho surface to tho center of the earth. In the lower levels of some of tho Comstock mines tho men fought scalding water, and could labor only three or four hours at a time until the Sutro tunnel pierced the mines and drew off some of the terri-ble heat which stood at 120. The deepest boring ever made, that at Speronberg, near Berlin, penetrates only 4,172 feet about 1,000 feet deeper thnn the famous artesian well at St Louis. Some eminent physicists, for in-stance, like Sir William Thomson, have believed thnt the crust of the earth is at least 800 miles thick. The majority adduce good reasons for that the crust is only twenty-fiv- e to fifty miles thick. All agroo that if the temperature within the earth continues to increase as it does near the surface at the rate of one degree Fahrenheit for about every fifty-fiv- e feet of descent all igneous rocks must be fused at no great depth. In fact, at this rate of increase, the temperature at 200 miles is 18,000" Fahrenheit tfhieh is Prof. Rosetti's estimato of the probablo temperaturo of Ihe sun. It Is improbablo, however, that this rate of increase is maintained for a groat distance, and many physicists believe that at some unknown, but not very great depth, the increase in tum-- perature ceases. Ono of tho most wonderful things in tho Btudy of scionces is the fact that tho mysteries of one science are some-times completely or partly explained by knowledge gleaned in some other department of study. It is thus that naturalists who have investigated the fauna and flora of scores of Pacific islands have learned how far south Asiatic types prevail, and havo added great weight to the conclusions of geologists that theso islands wore once a part of the big continent north of them. Now it is very likely 'that as knowledge increases wo shall bo able to learn some important facts about the Interior of the earth through our better acquaintance with the phenom-ena oecuring on its surface All people who uso tho magnetic compass aro awaro that often the needle is sub-ject to groat disturbances. The cause of theso magnetic variations is now a mystcy, but some physicists believe they are produced by groat movements that are going on in the molten interior of the earth. In a Snake's Head. Thero is a belief current in all parts of India that a certain variety of sur-k-called shesh nag, when it attains tho ago of 1,000 years, has a precious jewel formed In its head. The jewel, it is affirmed, possesses tho quality of sucking up the poison of tho deadliest snake If applied to the wounded part Strangely enough a Farsoe gentleman is reputed to possess this invaluable jewel, according to a correspondent of a (iujarati weekly, published at Wadh-wa-in (iujarati. Tho correspondent says that when the present owner who, by tho way is now 03 was 23 years old he lighted upon a snnko of tho above-mentione- d variety, which he killed, Then ho found tho jewel in its head. It has already saved several lives. When Mr. Vidal.the Collector of tho District, was there it was shown to him, too. The jewel is said to contain a thin crescent-lik- e fiber, which unceasingly oscilates in tho center. Tho galkwar of Barodtt, the maharajah of Kolhapur and sevoral of tho native Princes are said to have otlered several hundred thousand rupees for this uniquo jewel. The name of the owner is Framji Dadabbai Govekar. Tarspur, Bombay Presidency. What Is "Stjlc!" "The difference between one woman and another," said Dr. Louise Fiske Bryson recently, "is more than any-thing else an affair of style; that beau-ty of beauties so hard to define and easy to recognize, which makes tin; girl of hair, features of indif-ferent turn and lines none too perfect, infinitely more attractive than other maids of faultless curves and innumer-able strong points not cemented by this magic quality. Style mav be for want of something better to express it, as an attractive manner of holding the body, a firm, graceful way of doing things and of moving about. It is tho visible sign of inherent power and reserve force. It is the outcome of long, deep breaths and tho uso of many muscles. Tho prayer of the New York child, Lord, make us very stylish'.' when viewed aright is recog-nized as an aspiration based upon sound scientific principles and worthy of universal commendation." A RACE PHENOMENON. The West India lllurk Men lieginnlng to Oppress the Whites. It is a fact that all over the British West Indies, with tho exception of Barbadoes, and especially in two of tho most valuable and important islands, a steady and determined, though unob-trusive, effort is making by certain ambitious black and colored men in office, in journalism, and in the pro-fessions, gradually to oust the whites from a commercial enterprise and public life, as a preliminary to making existence generally impossible. Tho home government is over and over again induced to make and confirm ap-pointments of mert who, while appar-ently working in amity with their re-spective administrations and with tho white poople they hate, are really doing all in thoir power to subvert the white supremacy; chiefly by pushing black and colored men (whoso only qualifications are reading, writing, and unbounded impudence) iuto subordin-ate positions where they may hope to leaven the official lump. When ladies are pushed aside in tho streets by black T loafers; when tho black Bervant who steals from you almost under your very syes defies you to prosecute him; when officials of the highest character are libelled in public prints by men be-neath tho intellectual level of an Eng-lish street boy and that in term9 which, through unscrupulous inter-mediaries, may actually pass to the Colonial office, or even to the House of Commons, as the utterance of white men of position tho time has come to speak out plainly. IlnlNe llof. "If you want to make money and at tho Bamo time enjoy your work," said a man, "raise roses. When I moved Into the country I built a conservatory to grow roses, for I am very fond of them. From time to time 1 built ad-ditions to my hothouses, and in time found that I was raising more roses than I knew what to do with. So I be-gan to sell them. I learned that there was a good winter demand for them; in fact, a very strong demand. I was able to command prices which seemed marvelous. Now I make large winter shipments regularly, and I have paid for my hothouses and all the labor ex-pended on then many times over, and what I call my 'flower bank account' has reached a very respectable size." A BUNCH OF DATES, The flint complete translation of the rprnia e,t TBTTOni "was esoctoa ty iblin Wyelif in 1330. Harvard college was founded in 138. Yale in 1701. William and Mary, of Vir-ginia, was chartered 109:3. The first shipment of Iron pipe ever made in the South left Birmingham, Ala , for Baltimore in May. It was made by a Bessemer, Ala., Arm. A solid train of twenty-fiv- e cars eomposod the shipments, and the first of a 5,0l)0-to- n contract. A beautiful piece of sculpture from an-cient Ephesus has reached the British mu-seum. The relio forms part of a marble bull, the head being exquisitely carved, while the figure of the goddess appears on the body. It is supposed to be 2,000 years old. A firm of stone cutters In Berlin have In-troduced a pneumatic chisel into their es-tablishment. The workman holds the apparatus with both bands, and, as be glides it over the surface of the stone or metal, the chisel making 10,000 or 13,000 revolutions a minute, chips off par-ticles. In the lime region on Ouinea Hill, town of Coxsackie, N. Y., there is a lurge stream of water that flows through an under-ground cave, a distance of about twelve miles. Tradition says that an Indian once went in the "hole" for the purpose ot making an exploration, and he is "ex-ploring" yet All, Or Nothing. She was a pretty widow, and Chicago was her home, But I loved her, and to gain hor e'en to Hades I would roam, And when I asked her to be iniuo she looked so shy aud sweet. And dropped her head, and blushed, cud whispered: "With Both Feet!" New York Herald. Stiller Halle. It has been found that one of thb most important elements in decreasing train resistance and thus increasing speed is in the improvement of the track by adopting stiffer rails. This has the effect of reducing the deflection or wave motion under each of the wheels, so that on the best roads whore the improved rails have beon laid down there is scarcely any oscillation and there is very little difference in oscilla-tion in riding on a tangent or a curve. All tho trials hitherto made show that the train resistance decreases In exact-ly tho proportion that the rail is stiff-ened. It is claimed that with a stiff-ened 105-pou- rail nearly 200-hors- e power a mile is saved on the fast ex- - press trains, as compared with worn 60 or rails. The oscillation when riding on heavy rails at a speed of 75 miles an hour is less than that of 45 miles an hour on light rails. Thero is considerable ground for the belief that before long 120 miles an lour can bo safely covered by an elec-irl- c locomotive on a track of 105-pou-nuls. THE DUMB WORLD. Ft. Worth, Texas, claims a carnivorous cow that eats cats, rats aud mice, A cow in Phillips, Me., recently drank five gallons of maple syrup. She ought to give sweet milk. An Atchison man whose wife does all the work for a family of seven, recently poid the license on five dogs. A dog at Hyde Park, Chicago, laboring under permanent meutal aberration, stole nearly 1,000 newspapers and earned them to his kennel. An Alabama poultry raiser has a chick-en with three perfect wings. The extra wing is in the middlo of the back, and when the fowl is in a hurry serves as a sail. A tramp stole a hive of bees in Godison, Mich., ami after carrying it a quarter of a mile dropped it. The bees stung him so bad that the mere mention of honey makes bim sick. A residont of Ten Mile Run, N. J., at-tempted to sit down on a chair on which there was a newspaper. Beneath the newspaper was tho family cat. The cat bit him and he is dying of blood poisoning. A Hagerstown (Md.) man owns a par-rot that Is known to be at least fifty-fiv- e years old. The venerable bird is just leading to say the Lord's prayer, but it has been an occoinplished swearer ever since it was a fledgling. Mrs. Prouty. of Waterloo, San Joaquin county, Cal., with her two children, at-tempted to cross the railroad track in front of a moving train : but her horse, mre sensible than its driver, refused to go, and only the animal's stubborn resist-ance to her whip and voice saved the lives of tho whole party. The ancient Finns believed thnt a mys- - tic bird mid an egg on the lap of who hutched it in his bosom. Ho let it fall into tho water and it broke, the lower portion of tho shell forming the earth, the upper tho sky; the liquid white berame the sun and the yolk the moon, while the little fragments of broken shell were transformed iuto stars. A LITTLE OFF COLOR. A novel legal procedure the other day In New York was the calling of a juror from the box to testify for the defense. A middle aged Russian who arrived the other day from Europe on the steamer Elbe wore a long beard, one-ha-lf of which was pure white and the other halt brown. It was a strikingly curious sight. After living with his wife for fifteen years in their cosy home in Horsham town-ship, Montgomery county, Pa., without sneakhur a word to her in all that time. J. Henry Knott has mysteriously de-camped. The youngest litigant on record is Jones, of St. Louts, whoso age is six months and who is suing the St. Louis, Kansas City & Colorado railway for $5,000 for the death ot his father, who was killed in a wreck. A Louisville couple were to have been married in the church and great prepara-tions to that end had been made, but when the time came their timidity so overcame them that they stole away from their friends and were quietly married in a min-ister's parlor. Upon learning about the sale of tho famous whipping-pos- t of that city to a peculator who meant to exhibit it at the world's fair, the negroes of Wilmington, Del., went in a body to the yard where it was kept aud with axes and saws reduced it to a mass of kindling wood. The government's efforts to tax oleo-margarine into disuse have not proved very successful. Revenue flora stamp ales has steadity increased since tho law went into eiToct and during the ten months ended with April more stamps were sold thnn for any previous twelve months. A preacher at Fernnndiiia, Fla,, was forced to sue his church for nearly SH)i) owed him ever since February 1, 1SS", when the church clerk gave Uim a due bill for tho amount, SHli.tiO. Tho church set up the singular defense that the debt was barred by the statue of limitations aud the !.aliuy was, therefore, A Frand. 'Brethren, set down!" said the Rev. Mr. Harps, of Boomopolls charge, as the congregation rose en masse in the midst of the sermon. "But, elder," whispored a deacon, hoarsely, "a boy has jost brought word that thoro's an Eastern capitalist in town lookin' over the corner lots with a view to purchasin' and" "Biz fat man with pink whiskers and two watch chains?" "The boy says that's him sure." "Brethren, set down! I saw that man over at Prairie City yesterday. He hain't a capitalist; he's a corn doc-tor. Set down!" i Monetary Item. A few nights ago a policeman halted I suplclous looking colored man who had a trunk on his shoulder. "Where aro you going with that irunk?" asked the minion of the law. "Der family I has been boarding wid has been axing for money, nnd as dey was dono gone out tor-nig- ht I tuck of do opportunity to get inter lome family what has some consider- - " Uion for do panicky condition ob de noney market, "was fhe reply Texas Sittings. A Wonderful Hallroad Junction. Clapham Junction, London, is prob-abl- y tho most remarkable and busiest railway junction point in the world. At this point the London and Southwestern and London, Brighton and South Coast Railways join and cross each othor, and an avornge of 1,200 trains pass this placo every twonty-fou- r hours. Of this number 1,000 pass the junction betwoen the hours of 7 a. m. and 10 p. m., which gives an average of one train evory fifty-fo- ur seconds during tho fifteen hours. Tho traffic is chiefly passenger trains. Engineering News. Hlght of Smallpox Patient. Judge Thayer of Philadelphia says ;hat no person can be legally com-pelled to leave his house and be treat-s- d in a hospital, oven if he have small-pox or other contagious disease. l!3i '.he right of tho patient to stay in his house if ho chooses. The Tight Little Imle. What a colonizer tho tight littlo island "has been." Tho English Hag floats over one-sixt- h of the population nnd one-eig- of ths surface of the habitable globe. I j i |