A BOOK OF VERSES.
Miss Breen waited a considerable time before she spoke. Nash was so
engrossed with his own thoughts that he did not wonder at it.
“Why would Mr. Hooker change the specifications?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t understand what motive might prompt such a
thing,” Nash admitted.
“You are in full authority here, aren’t you?” Miss Breen inquired.
Nash nodded. “Absolutely.”
“And this Mr. Hooker always brought you the orders from Los Angeles?”
“Yes. He was acting as a sort of secretary to Sigsbee.”
“This Mr. Sigsbee is one of the aqueduct board,” Miss Breen said. “He
also interested himself in Camp Forty-seven. I was given particular
orders to watch the work on this camp. I believe he was suspected of
crooked dealing.”
“I know he was,” Nash admitted. “It was being carried on while I was
under Hooker. I discovered the payroll padding. When I threatened to
disclose matters, Sigsbee asked me to call at his Los Angeles office.”
“What happened there?”
“I was given full charge of the camp.”
“And also the full responsibility,” Miss Breen added suddenly. “If
anything went wrong, you would be held to account.”
Nash admitted the truth of her statement.
“Didn’t it appear to you that Mr. Sigsbee’s offer at that time was
rather--unusual?”
“Yes. I had expected to be discharged. But Sigsbee seemed to be so
anxious for me to accept--so sorry that the crooked work had been
unearthed. He declared that from then on Camp Forty-seven was to be the
model for all others on the construction right of way. He wanted me to
run it on that basis, and promised that he would stand by me to the
last.”
Miss Breen listened, her face very grave. Finally she said:
“Did you know that Sigsbee was interested in a steel company?”
“I recall now that he mentioned something of the sort,” Nash answered,
a sudden suspicion entering his mind.
“I was in Los Angeles day before yesterday,” Miss Breen said. “It was
then I notified the authorities. Yesterday I learned that Sigsbee had
left for San Francisco, and intended taking a trip to Honolulu. I
wondered at the time--now I have ceased to.”
“What do you mean?” Nash demanded, startled by her tone.
“Just this.” Miss Breen spoke rapidly, and with confidence. Apparently
she had a more intimate knowledge of Sigsbee than Nash first imagined.
The few remarks Nash had dropped had helped to cement together her
story. “Camp Forty-seven has long been under suspicion. Sigsbee must
have been alarmed--and the first thing he sought to do was to throw all
the blame upon another’s shoulders. You happened into the game at an
inopportune moment. He closed your mouth by putting you in charge here.
Then, to help matters along, he arranged these false specifications,
which you blindly followed. He knew discovery was certain, and planned
for it. It has happened. Sigsbee is cleared of all blame. Everything
will be shifted upon your shoulders, Mr. Nash. The false specifications
are missing--the real ones are here. Sigsbee will swear, and Hooker
will undoubtedly back him up, that these correct ones were the only
ones sent. They’ve dropped you into a cage, and you have sprung the
trap.”
Before she had half finished, Nash understood the situation. It came to
him swiftly, brutally. Sigsbee’s fawning and Hooker’s honeyed words had
been the strings with which he had been led into the trap.
“You’re right, Miss Breen,” he said finally. “I’m caught--and all but
helpless. I have not one thing to prove that I----”
The girl interrupted with a cry. “Oh, why, why didn’t I wait until
I knew for sure!” she stammered. “I took everything for granted. I
thought you guilty. Oh, you can’t remain here, Mr. Nash. I am to blame
for it all. You cannot stay here.”
“But wouldn’t it be an admission of guilt to run away?” he asked. “Of
course it would. And I don’t intend to do so.”
“Oh, but what chance have you against Sigsbee and his political
influence?” she cried.
“I’ll make a chance,” he answered firmly. “I’m innocent. I’ve tried to
do what was right. Things can’t be as black as they look.”
Miss Breen walked up and down the floor for an interval; then she
stopped.
“There’s one way out of this affair,” she ventured, “and just one.”
Nash nodded. “You mean--we’ve go to get those false specifications!
Isn’t that it?”
“Yes. We’ve got to get them. But that does not mean,” she said,
changing her tone, “that you are to stay here. You get away before
morning. I will try to find Hooker and the papers. Once I have them I
will let you know. Then you can return.”
Nash shook his head gravely. “Impossible!”
“Oh, why do you act so foolish?” she demanded. “It may be months before
we can locate those specifications. Meanwhile they will hurry the
trial, and you’ll be sentenced.”
“I am innocent. What have I to fear?”
“It is the innocent man who always suffers,” she answered bitterly.
“This isn’t New York, Miss Breen,” Nash replied. “They do things
differently out here. I’m not afraid.”
Miss Breen sank helplessly to a chair. “Why do you always prate about
the East and the West?” she exclaimed. “A crooked job is a crooked
job, whether it is staged in Los Angeles or New York. Sigsbee is a
shrewd man, and he has laid a shrewd trap. Yet you’re willing to bow
submissively, and----” She stopped suddenly.
During her speech her eyes had been upon the crudely built bookcase.
Abruptly she drew nearer, forgetting apparently to continue what she
had started. Her arm shot out, and she plucked, from the row of other
books, the dainty, leather-bound copy of Kipling’s “Barrack-room
Ballads”--the book given to Nash by the tramp in Central Park.
She opened it and rapidly thumbed the pages, stopping at the one across
which was written a name.
“Where--where did you get this book?” Miss Breen demanded, her voice
sounding husky.
Nash smiled. “Why, that book of poems? A panhandler gave it to me one
day in Los Angeles,” he replied. “Said he had found it on a bench.”
“In--in Central Park?”
“Yes.”
Her face was curiously white and drawn now. Nash took a step nearer.
“Why are you so interested?” he asked.
“This book--belonged to my brother,” she wavered. “I gave it to him--it
was the last thing I----”
“Your brother?” Nash was dumfounded. Many times since the first
discovery of the name written in the little book he had turned to
it curiously; pondered over it, wondered how and in what way Walter
Trask’s volume had crossed the width of the continent to find a lodging
place on a bench in Los Angeles. “Walter Trask--is your brother?” he
said slowly.
Miss Breen nodded. Her eyes were clouded with tears.
“But the name--how----” began Nash, puzzled.
“My name is Ethel Trask,” she replied. “Because I was--was in this
business. I used the other--Miss Breen. I had meant to tell you before.”
“But your brother, Miss Breen--I mean, Miss Trask,” Nash questioned
anxiously. “Was he an engineer on the New York Aqueduct?”
“Yes. He worked there--until his death.”
Nash caught his breath--but so light was the act that the girl did not
appear to notice.
“Dead?” he asked. “Walter Trask--dead?”
Miss Trask nodded. Nash stood looking down at her, preparing himself
for the final question:
“How did he meet his death?”
“He was killed in a brawl.” Miss Trask spoke slowly, painfully, as if
the recollection was a bitter one. “One of the other engineers--shot
him.”
TO BE CONTINUED.
COVERING A YAWNING MOUTH.
A well-bred man puts his hand over his mouth when he yawns, but not one
well-bred man in ten thousand knows why. The reason is this:
Four or five hundred years ago there was a superstition common in
Europe that the devil was always lying in wait to enter a man’s body
and take possession of him.
Satan generally went in by the mouth, but when he had waited a
reasonable time and the man did not open his mouth, the devil made him
yawn, and when his mouth was open, jumped down his throat.
So many cases of this kind occurred that the people learned to make the
sign of the cross over their mouths whenever they yawned, in order to
scare away the devil.
The peasantry in Italy and Spain still adhere to this method, but most
other people have dispensed with the cross sign, and keep out the devil
by simply placing the hand before the lips. It is a most remarkable
survival of a practice after the significance has perished.
A YOUNG FINANCIER.
A certain man, in order to impress business methods on his son early
in life, told the youngster that if he would see that the gas bill was
paid before a certain day each quarter, he could have the discount for
himself.
The boy took very kindly to the idea, and captured the discount every
time the bill came in. To his father’s surprise, however, the gas bill
began to increase at a remarkable rate. He found one night that his
son was burning gas all over the top of the house from ten o’clock
until six o’clock the next morning. The youngster had become a Napoleon
of finance, and had discovered the fact that the bigger the bill the
bigger the discount.
LAST WHITE RHINOCEROS.
A wonderous brute, which only within the present century emerged from
the realm of myth into that of scientific knowledge, has within the
present year passed into the realm of history. Reports from South
Africa declare that the last white rhinoceros has been killed, and that
its skeleton, hide, and horn are now being shipped to England to enrich
the Natural History Museum. Thus the largest of modern quadrupeds,
excepting the elephant, becomes extinct, along with the beautiful
quagga, the dodo, the great auk, and other noteworthy members of the
animal kingdom which have vanished from the world before the rapacity
of man.
HOW A RUBBER FOREST LOOKS.
According to recent accounts of the reckless manner in which forests
of rubber trees are destroyed, India rubber will soon be much more
scarce and costly than it now is, and when that happens it is probable
that some one will invent a substitute. At present, however, it is
interesting to know what a recent traveler says of the India-rubber
forests of Nicaragua:
“A forest of them may be detected without the eyes of an expert, for
they are scarred and dying from the wounds of the machete, the big
knife used by the natives. The ordinary specimen of Nicaragua is from
fifty to one hundred feet high, and about two feet in diameter.
“The bark is white, and the leaves are oval, with a slight inclination
downward. The cuts are made about two feet apart, and usually extend
from the ground to the first branch, channels being scored in the sides
to lead the juice into a bag. The average yield of a tree is from five
to seven gallons of milky fluid.
“This is mixed with the juice of the ‘wisth,’ which hastens
congelation. After this operation the crude rubber is baled up and
shipped north, to be refined and further prepared for commerce.
Another tree, very similar to the rubber, and often mistaken for it,
is the cow tree. This yields a liquid very much like milk in taste and
appearance.”
THE NEWS OF ALL NATIONS.
Renew War Idyll After Fifty Years.
A romance of Civil War times will reach its climax in Richmond, Va.,
when Miss Gillie Cary, once one of the belles of Richmond, becomes
the bride of Colonel W. Gordon McCabe, former headmaster of McCabe’s
University School, who for some time past has been devoting his time to
literary pursuits, writing for English and American magazines.
Sweethearts during the stirring days of 1861-’65, when McCabe was a
dashing young officer in Lee’s army, the two are said to have been
parted by a trivial lovers’ quarrel. The colonel, after the war,
married Miss Virginia Osborne, of Petersburg, where he established his
school and made it one of the best in the South, educating many young
men who have since risen high. In 1895 he moved the school to Richmond,
and seven years later retired from active work. In 1912 he lost his
wife.
Not many months ago Miss Cary, who had remained true to her first love,
was rummaging among old papers, when she came upon a batch of poems
that the young officer of war days had written to her. Soon afterward
she met him and the old flame was fanned to new life. The colonel once
more became a suitor.
Now they are planning to spend their honeymoon in Charleston, S. C.,
where one of the colonel’s sons is head of a large cotton firm.
Empress’ Friend Dies in Poverty.
Countess Jeanne Demadre, once belle of European courts, convent mate,
and friend of Princess Eugenie, who later became wife of Napoleon III.,
died recently in a humble cottage in a secluded spot in South Bend,
Ind. Few knew her, and none of her acquaintances realized that half a
century ago she was considered a world beauty and the associate of the
crowned heads of Europe.
A brief twelve-line obituary chronicled the death of the woman, giving
her name as Mrs. Peter Veuve and her age as eighty-three. Her only
surviving relative is her heartbroken husband.
The countess was born the daughter of Count Hippolyte Henri Demadre
Desoursins, June 24, 1831, in the mansion opposite the Royal Palace in
Brussels, according to the register of the Royal Church, in Brussels.
She was sent to a French convent, and there she became a friend of
Princess Eugenie, who was destined later to become the wife of Napoleon
III.
She left the convent when she was eighteen years old, and when she was
nineteen she became the wife of a Frenchman named Baudin.
Her presentation at the court of Belgium took place shortly after she
left the convent, and after her school friend Eugenie became the queen
of Napoleon III., she was presented at the French court and later at
the court of Queen Victoria.
She invested a fortune in De Lesseps’ Panama Canal scheme after
her husband died, and later she opened a toilet shop in Paris,
and, by catering to royalty, amassed another fortune. During the
Franco-Prussian War, she became a nurse and was decorated with a gold
medal.
Her son met with an accident in New York, and his mother came to the
United States to be with him when he died. She later married Peter
Veuve, a Swiss. The latter made unwise investments, and twelve years
ago, practically penniless, the couple came to South Bend.
How a Popular Preacher’s Mind Worked.
How does a great preacher’s mind work? Insight into this mystery is
gained from the letters of the Reverend Frederick Robertson, a popular
preacher at Brighton, England.
He died before he was forty, of brain disease brought on by overwork,
broken down by the nervous strain of preaching.
Robertson wasted his strength very often in small controversies, such
as Sunday observance, and the unfortunate fact that he had no sense of
humor often led him to take seriously and regret childishly, and answer
bitterly, criticisms which were not worth thinking about and critics
wholly unworthy of his steel.
Robertson himself knew that certain serious defects of character are
almost inseparable from the preacher’s office.
“I wish I did not hate preaching so much,” he wrote one day;
“the degradation of being a Brighton preacher is at times almost
intolerable,” and, again he regrets that he has weakened his nervous
system by “stump oratory.”
Preaching always excited him, and a sermon would leave him for days
too much agitated to work. He doubted often if he ought not to give
it up--for the sake of his spirit--though he would not attend to his
doctor’s advice and give it up for the sake of his body.
Blameless as was his life, and fruitful as were his exhortations,
he could not escape the minor dangers which the pulpit shares with
the stage. He grew sensitive and self-centered, he came to need the
stimulus of a crowd moved to emotion.
Close as were his intimacies and wide as were his benevolences, the
circle of his affections was latterly narrow, indeed. Yet he hated
excitement as much as he craved it. He wrote:
“I am persuaded there are few things morally so bad as excitement of
the nerves in any way; nothing--to borrow a military word and use it
in a military sense--nothing demoralizes so much as excitement. It
destroys the tone of the heart; leaves an exhaustion which craves
stimulus, and utterly unfits for duty. High-wrought feeling must end in
wickedness; a life of excitement is inseparable from a life of vice.
The opera, the stage, the ballroom, French literature, and irregular
life--what must they terminate in?”
What Men Grind Their Axes On.
Not many people realize that there is a special sort of whetstone for
nearly every purpose. The proper sharpening stones or abrasives for use
in various professions and trades and in household work are exhibited
in the division of mineral technology in the older building of the
United States National Museum, at Washington, D. C.
The exhibit shows specimens of the crude and partially prepared stones
and the finished products ready for use, as well as a series of
photographs which illustrate the operations of mining and preparing
them.
Probably the first stone used for abrasive purposes was sandstone, a
very widely distributed rock, and it is still used to-day. Its coarse
grit and even grain first attracted attention, while the rough edge
that it gave was all that was then required.
With the progress of the arts there began a search for various stones
which could be used for sharpening objects of different sorts, so that
to-day, not only sandstones, but mica schists, slates, and emery stones
are used, besides several artificial compounds.
The hard, white, compact sandstones found near Hot Springs, Arkansas,
are among the best whetstones known, equaling, if not surpassing, the
Turkey stone, which for years has been considered one of the best.
This Arkansas stone is known as novaculite, and occurs in two or three
grades, intended for use with certain tools.
The hard, flintlike stone should be used only to sharpen instruments
made of the very best steel, requiring very keen edges and points, such
as those used by surgeons, dentists, and jewelers.
The other grades, although composed of the same ingredients, are more
porous, the sand grains are not as close together, and a rougher edge
is given to the sharpened tool. Because of their more porous nature,
these stones cut faster, proving suitable for the finer-edged tools of
carpenters, machinists, and engravers, and for honing razors.
Indiana and Ohio supply a whetstone made from a sandstone of a coarser
grain than the novaculite of Arkansas, but nevertheless quite uniform.
It may be used with either oil or water, and is useful for sharpening
household cutlery, penknives, or ordinary carpenters’ tools. But
since it is easily cut and grooved by hard and sharp steel, the fine
instruments of dentists and surgeons should not be edged or pointed on
this stone.
Scythe stones and mowing machine stones are practically all made from
mica-schist rock found in New Hampshire and Vermont. These rocks are
generally of a dark-gray color, and composed of very thin sheets of
mica and quartz crystals interlaminated.
A simple experiment made about fifteen years ago led to the discovery
of carborundum and crystolon. By heating a mixture of salt, sand, and
sawdust, and powdered coke in an electric furnace, the variegated
colored crystals of carborundum and crystolon were produced.
These crystals are extremely hard, cutting glass easily, and, in fact,
almost any substance except the diamond.
Emery cloth and paper are very well-known commodities, but are little
used to-day because the artificial abrasives are just as effective and
cheaper. Experiments to obtain an artificial product having the main
characteristics of emery resulted in the making of alundom and aloxite,
both of which are shown in the museum series.
High and Low California.
California, with an area of 158,000 square miles, is the second largest
State in the Union. It exhibits wide geographic diversity, for it
includes the lowest area in the United States--Death Valley, 276 feet
below sea level--and the highest--Mount Whitney, 14,501 feet above the
sea.
Similarly there is a great diversity in scenic effects, climate, and
vegetation. Records obtained at meteorologic stations in the Salton
Sink indicate a maximum temperature of 130 degrees in the shade, the
highest recorded within the continental United States, while it is
probable that minimum temperature on the higher peaks, like Mount
Whitney and Mount Shasta, approach the minimum within our boundaries, a
total difference of nearly 200 degrees.
Records of rainfall in the most arid sections of the southern deserts
of the State represent the extreme of aridity in the United States,
showing an annual average of less than three inches and periods
of twelve months or more, with only traces of rain, whereas the
precipitation in northwestern California is very heavy, an annual
average of close to one hundred inches being recorded at a few stations
in Mendocino and Del Norte Counties.
The Boxing Bear.
“Learn how to box! Latest tricks of the ring taught! Exhibitions of
shadow boxing with all the swings, jabs, and hooks daily! Reasonable
fees--honey, apples, and all kinds of sweets accepted in unlimited
quantities, honey preferred. Professor Zip. Studio, Central Park.”
“Bill” Snyder, head keeper of the Central Park Zoölogical Gardens, New
York, N. Y., is the manager of Professor Zip, while James Coyle, who
looks after the bear pen, is the active assistant of the professor.
He has to think quickly and act quickly, for professor knows all the
fine points of the boxing game, and when the keeper faces him for his
training bout every day, he has to be on the alert. The professor knows
the swings and jabs and can sidestep and dodge with the best of the
ring artists.
Boxing is not the professor’s only accomplishment. He is “some” dancer,
too, and plays his own music, furnishing original bear tunes for each
lesson, playing it himself and composing as the dance proceeds. You
don’t often find a boxing teacher who invents new dance steps and hops,
composes music, and plays it, too.
Zip does all these things, and, besides, has tricks galore. For a nice
red apple he’ll give an exhibition of shadow boxing that would shame
any star of the ring. For a bit of candy he’ll turn somersaults and do
all sorts of gymnastics, but when honey is handed to him, he is in his
element, and that is the time he plays his bear tunes and steps off in
a way that the best tango “bug” would envy.
Zip can be seen any day doing his “stunts” in the bear pen at the
Central Park menagerie. He is a small, black-brown sloth bear, a new
arrival at the park, for he has been there little more than a month,
but in that time he has won more friends than any other animal in Bill
Snyder’s collection. He is particularly popular with the children,
who flock to his pen every afternoon to watch him dance and box with
“Jimmie” Coyle. One particular friend of Zip is a young woman who
visits the bear pen every afternoon with a supply of honey. Once he
gets a taste of that, Zip goes through all his tricks. He plays the
harmonica, dances, does gymnastic stunts, and then jerks “Buster,”
his companion, to his feet and proceeds to knock him all around the
ring. For Buster is a novice at the boxing game. Buster never could
box until Zip came. Then, when he found that Zip got all the “sweets,”
Buster became jealous, and one day tried to beat Zip at his own game.
But Buster is too old to learn. He can’t get any music out of the
harmonica on which Zip composes his dance music, and as for boxing, Zip
just uses him for a punching bag.
When Jimmie Coyle found that Zip was a boxer, he, having ambitions in
that line himself, went after the bear in true ring fashion, but Zip
knew too many tricks, and, after giving Coyle a good pummelling the
first two or three days, to show him how little he knew about the game,
he permitted him to act as his trainer, so that every day the keeper
and the bear have a few rounds in the pen, while Buster looks on and
watches for pointers.
Zip was presented to the menagerie by Charles B. Knox, of Jamestown, N.
Y. Mr. Knox got the bear when he was a cub, and in the next few months
he became a great pet of the family. He used to ride with Mr. Knox on
the front seat of his automobile and learned lots of tricks. Mr. Knox
also had a big Newfoundland dog, “Jack,” and he and Zip became great
chums; in fact, it is said that Zip learned all his dance steps from
Jack, for they were often seen dancing together at Mr. Knox’s home.
Finally, however, Zip became too big for a household pet, and it was
feared that he might get too mischievous, so Mr. Knox offered him to
Bill Snyder, who just then was looking for a bear to take the place of
Buster’s mate, who died about six weeks ago. So Zip was shipped down
to Central Park, and there he was in his element at once, for all the
kiddies who know every animal in the park made friends with him and
brought him good things to eat as soon as they saw he could do so many
tricks.
Bits of Information.
Mining experts in the Philippines agree that a steady increase in the
gold production of the islands may be expected for an indefinite period.
It is possible for the human ear to distinguish sounds over a range of
about eleven octaves, but only seven and one-third octaves are used in
music.
After twelve years of experimenting, a Dresden engineer has succeeded
in perfecting a rocket carrying a camera to photograph objects and
places over which it passes, being returned to the ground by a
parachute.
Several of the most common diseases, including typhoid and arthritis,
have been practically banished from the United States navy by the use
of distilled water for cooking, as well as drinking.
Italian canners are now utilizing the skins and seeds of tomatoes, the
former for stock feed and the latter for oil, in its crude form, for
soap and illumination, and, when refined, for table use.
A project for draining and reclaiming 1,000,000 acres of land in
Egypt, work upon which has been begun, is one of the greatest and most
expensive tasks of the kind ever attempted.
A new automobile convenience is a wind or light shield for one person
that can be mounted at any angle by rods connected to the steering post.
For public places there has been invented a drinking fountain that
dispenses ordinary water free and ice water when a coin is dropped in a
slot.
An observatory at Berlin holds the world’s most accurate clock, which
is kept in an airtight glass cylinder in the basement of the building.
An old idea in the history of telephony has been revived by a British
inventor, who has patented a transmitter shaped like the human ear.
A simple wire loop to be fastened to a doorjamb and locked around the
necks of two milk bottles to prevent their theft has been patented.
A telescope with two parallel barrels, to permit two persons to see the
same object at the same time, has been invented by a Swiss optician.
An ingenious tool has been invented to enable jewelers to remove stones
from settings quickly and without injury to either stone or setting.
So that wheelbarrows can be used over snow and ice, a Wisconsin
inventor has patented a runner attachment.
A new sled that can be steered has three runners, the odd one being in
front, where it is controlled by a handle.
Peruvian petroleum is said to rank next to that of Russia in its
suitability for producing high-grade lubricants.
With but three horses to each 100 residents, Switzerland has the
smallest equine population of any nation.
The head of a new thumb tack is a clip to hold paper without puncturing
it.
There were 1,220 accidents, causing 1,753 deaths, in British coal mines
last year.
Powdered borax sprinkled on a garbage can or refuse pile will drive
away flies.
In Our Great Melting Pot.
Nearly seven million white, foreign-born males over the age of
twenty-one years are now in the United States. About 400,000 of these
are English and 600,000 Irish, the total from the United Kingdom being
about 1,300,000.
There are less than 60,000 French, about 800,000 Russians, and
1,300,000 Germans.
Of the English, sixty per cent are naturalized American citizens; of
the Irish, about sixty-nine per cent; of the French, fifty per cent,
and of the Russians, twenty-six per cent.
Of the Germans, about seventy per cent are naturalized Americans,
showing a more marked and more permanent absorption into the life of
their adopted country than is the case with the other nationalities.
Woman Ventriloquist’s Joke.
Miss Elaine Thompson, of Maplewood, N. J., is an amateur ventriloquist.
Yesterday, on a street car, she frightened two Newark women into a
faint by making a noise like a dog yelping under the car. The lines
were blockaded and the car jacked up before it was discovered that Miss
Thompson was just having a little joke.
Minister Upholds Fox Trot.
Fox trotting and other modern dances are proper amusement for young
people, according to Reverend Allen A. Stockdale, pastor of the First
Congregational Church, a meeting place for many of Toledo’s wealthiest
families.
The assertion of the pastor came in response to the question if dancing
had been indulged in at the church. Doctor Stockdale admitted that
members of the church had danced.
Fish Schools Choke Harbor.
The city of Prince Rupert, B. C., Pacific coast terminal of the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway, has once more witnessed the yearly recurring
phenomenon of having its large harbor so densely packed with huge
schools of herring as to make the progress of rowboats a difficult
matter. This year’s schools were exceptionally large, and so dense that
the immense body of fish seemed like one solid moving mass. Men and
boys on the G. T. P. docks hauled in literally millions of these fish
in buckets, wire waste-paper baskets, and almost any utensil that was
handy.
Some of these herrings were taken by the fish companies and frozen in
boxes for use as bait in fishing for halibut. They are an excellent
table fish, but so far comparatively few of them are being shipped,
although several inland cities have made inquiries. Fishermen say that
the herring took sheltered bays to escape the whales which prey on them
in certain localities in the Pacific during their migrations.
Cougars Tame in Captivity.
Two cougars, trapped more than a year ago in a river cañon by A. J.
Holman, of Mondovi, Wash., have been reduced to such docile temper that
for many months their captor has daily entered the crib in which they
are kept.
Tricks of a Two-legged Cat.
J. A. Hart, who lives about six miles south of Eureka, Kan., has a
freak of nature in the shape of a two-legged kitten that walks, jumps,
and frisks about like any normal kitten. The kitten is now about three
months old, is plump and well grown, and appears to be a normal,
healthy kitten in every respect except that it hasn’t the vestige of a
hip bone or hind legs, and, what is more strange, it does not seem to
feel the need of another pair of legs and feet any more than a duck or
any other biped.
It walks about on the two front feet with easy, graceful equipoise,
waving its tail over its back. When it pauses, it sits down naturally,
and the casual observer might not notice the absence of the hind legs
and feet. One mate to this kitten is normal in every respect, but
another one of the same litter lacked the hip bones and hind legs. This
kitten was growing nicely, but was accidentally caught in a trap and
died from the injuries. Had it lived, the two would have made a strange
pair of kittens.
Facts About the Human Eye.
People of melancholic temperament rarely have clear blue eyes.
The chameleon is almost the only reptile provided with an eyelid.
Eyes with long, sharp corners indicate great discernment and
penetration.
Unsteady eyes, rapidly jerking from side to side, are frequently
indicative of an unsettled mind.
It is said that the prevailing colors of eyes among patients of lunatic
asylums are brown and black.
Eyes placed close together in the head are said to indicate pettiness
of disposition, jealousy, and a turn for fault finding.
All men of genius are said to have eyes clear, slow moving, and bright.
This is the eye which indicates mental ability of some kind--it does
not matter what.
One Horse Power Per Second.
To lift 550 pounds one foot in one second requires what is known as
one horse power. Similarly, a horse power is able to raise twice that
weight one foot in twice the time or one-half foot in just that time.
Moreover, it can raise half 550 pounds one foot in half a second, or
two feet in a second, and so on. Therefore, when we lift one-fourth of
that weight, 137½ pounds, four feet in one second, we are exerting a
horse power.
Accordingly, when a person who weighs 137½ pounds runs upstairs at the
rate of four feet a second, he is exerting the equivalent of a horse
power. For a man weighing twice that much, 275 pounds, it would be
necessary to climb at the rate of only two feet a second to exert a
horse power. It is possible to do much more.
As a matter of fact, a horse often exerts many times a horse power. The
average horse can draw a wagon up a hill where a ten-horse power engine
with the same load would fail. A horse power does not represent the
greatest momentary strength of the average horse, but is a measure of
the power which he can exert continuously.
Dream of Wealth Comes True.
To be a poor little girl with the poor little girl’s dream of some
day becoming a princess with untold wealth and then to suddenly find
that the wealthy part of the dream has come true, is the experience of
fifteen-year-old Josephine Romano, of Boston, Mass.
Josephine’s dream of wealth came true when she was awarded $16,000
by a jury for injuries sustained several years ago when she was hit
and tripped by a live wire which was dangling from one of the Boston
elevated poles. She was so severely burned about the head, face, and
hands that the marks will remain on her body for life.
“It is so much money that I don’t know what to do with it,” she said.
“I think I’ll put it in the bank and then be a real lady.”
Spain Faces Hunger Peril.
The economic situation in Spain is becoming steadily more serious,
notwithstanding the efforts of the government to find a solution
for the difficulties which confront the country. It is feared that
conditions will soon become so bad that they may lead to a conflict
fraught with grave consequences.
Dispatches from the provinces tell of numerous riots resulting from the
high cost of food. In some interior districts and in the Canary Islands
the people get food only every other day. Many families are said to
be living on herbs and roots. A woman said to have been driven mad by
privation, drowned herself with her children at Lazaretos.
Fierce rioting resulted at Lacele from the increased price of bread.
The civil guards are reported to have fired into the crowd, killing one
and wounding many.
Hen Egg Like a Goose Egg.
Miss Alma Brewer, of Como, Miss., is proudly exhibiting a common
hen’s egg which she recently found in a nest which measures six and
three-fourth inches around and seven and five-eighths inches the long
way.
Russian Pillager is Hanged.
A more favorable view of the discipline in the Russian army in Galicia
than prevailed during the autumn invasion of East Prussia is given by
Leonhard Adelt, the war correspondent of the _Tageblatt_, who recently
visited Neu-Sandec, on the Dunajec River, a short time after it had
been evacuated by the Russian army.
At the corner of one street he saw a hook fastened to the wall, from
which, as he was informed by the citizens, the Russians had hanged
one of their soldiers for plundering. There was still visible on the
adjacent wall the following inscription:
“The czar sent out soldiers, not pillagers, to fight for him.”
Adelt goes on to say that the Russians maintained strict discipline in
the city. As further examples of their stringency, he mentions that one
soldier who stole a ham was given fifty strokes with the knout, while
another, who strayed into the quarters of other soldiers and made undue
noise there, got thirty strokes.
In Bukowina the Russians demonstrated the sincerity of their newly
acquired temperance principles by emptying all strong liquors into the
gutters.
Prisoner Dies from Wounds.
The German prisoner who was shot through the lungs some time ago by a
sentry while trying to escape from the internment camp near Kingston,
Jamaica, is dead from his wounds. He persisted in stoning the guard who
shot him. Since this affair, no other attempts to escape have been made.
How Many Auto Tires We Use.
In round numbers there are now 1,600,000 automobiles in the country,
and not one of them can possibly get along with less than four tires a
year. The most conservative estimate must place the number per car at
six tires a year. This would be 9,600,000 tires. In addition, there are
scheduled for manufacture during 1915 not less than 600,000 new cars,
which must be fitted with at least 2,400,000 new tires, making a total
of at least 12,000,000 tires. In reality, the number is much greater,
even though a million or more tires are “retreaded,” fitted with
“covers,” et cetera. Taxicabs and some of the high-powered converted
racing cars could not possibly get along with less than twenty tires
a year. The money spent for tires in 1914 in the United States alone
probably exceeded $200,000,000.
London Will Retain German Street Names.
The London County Council is not encouraging the changing of German
street names. Despite the fact that the borough council of Stoke
Newington requested that Wiesbaden Road should be renamed Beatty Road,
after the naval hero, the local government committee, in a report that
will be submitted to-day, says it is not satisfied that a sufficient
cause for alteration has been made out.
Recently the county council decided to take no action with regard to
renaming Berlin Road Gatford Road. Suggestions have been made by many
citizens to change the names of Hanover Square and St. Petersburg Place.
Big Ancient Statue is Found.
Libya, in Africa, again has given an ancient piece of sculpture to
the world. At Cyrene, once the principal city of ancient Cyrenaica,
a colossal statue of Alexander the Great, lacking only a part of the
right forearm, has been excavated. It is a magnificent marble copy of
the celebrated bronze of Alexander by Lysippus, which is known only by
the copies of it on coins, the original having been destroyed.
The statue probably was made fifty or sixty years after the original,
in the third or fourth century before Christ. It is larger than life
and represents Alexander, entirely nude, standing, looking upward, with
his right arm outstretched and his left holding a spear, on which he is
leaning.
Boy Scouts Paid More than Middies.
Boy scouts are now engaged in the navy of Great Britain for signaling
and are receiving more pay than midshipmen. More than 12,000 scouts
have entered military service of one kind or another, and 2,000 more
who are nearing the age of enlistment are in training.
At the outbreak of the war the scouts by thousands guarded telegraphs,
telephones, and bridges, served as messengers, and performed countless
duties of value to the war office and the admiralty. More than
5,000 medals have been given to scouts who performed not less than
twenty-eight days of service. About 50,000 boys have served a fewer
number of days.
The sea branch of the movement volunteered to carry out the duties of
the coast guardsmen recalled to the fleet, and they were detailed to
duties on the east coast. This required more boys than this branch
could supply, and the land scouts joined, and now 1,600 boys are so
employed in patrols of eight, under their own leaders and with their
own equipment.
Catch White-and-black Rat.
The colored porter at H. T. Whitfield’s billiard room, in Murfreesboro,
Tenn., captured a freak rat. The rodent’s head and front part of its
body is pure black, while the other half is snow white, excepting a
black line running along the center of its back to the tail. The rat is
still in captivity, and the owner has been offered ten dollars for it.
When caught, it was very vicious and made several attempts to bite its
captor.
Three-mouthed Calf Born.
Will Pline, a farmer living five miles from Lebanon, Mo., was surprised
on finding that one of his newborn calves has three mouths, and was as
spry as any calf in his herd.
The mouths are all on the front of the animal’s head, one being up
between the horns and another just below that, and the third a little
lower down.
Mr. Pline feeds the calf milk, which it seems to relish as any ordinary
calf. It seems as though the animal will live, for when any one enters
the lot where it is kept, it will run and play as though it felt
healthy and strong.
Tells of Cat-and-dog Wedding.
A cat and a dog can be friendly--aye, even more. The old argument was
settled here with a statement from Reverend Father Bernard of the Fort
Yates Catholic Church, of Fort Yates, N. D., that he had just married
Miss Rose High Cat to Harry Poor Dog. They are Sioux Indians.
Sends Forest to Fair.
To accommodate visitors at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, the Southern
Pacific Railway Company has constructed a building, 200 feet square and
in classic style, standing between the west portal of the Zone and the
Machinery Palace.
The structure has a cozy rest room for women, with a nurse in charge,
and is furnished with writing desks, easy-chairs, and newspapers from
all parts of the United States. There is a similar room for men.
The entrance leads through the heart of a California big tree. The
whole inclosure is a miniature woodland, with trails winding among
the trees. Through this woodland a path leads to the offices of the
company, where a squad of information clerks are ready to answer all
questions.
Opening out of the ticket office is Sunset Theater, a replica of The
Little Theater, in New York City, where stereopticon scenes and motion
pictures are presented. The company has engaged lecturers, and their
talks are interspersed with musical selections rendered on the great
Kimball pipe organ.
It’s Fish, Snake, or Lizard.
A strange creature, presenting anatomical characteristics which might
be attributed to fish, snake, or lizard, has been placed on exhibition
in a business house in Bicknell, Ind. No one has found a name that
seems to fit the animal, or reptile, which was caught by Grant Hooper
and Carl York, fishermen.
The body of the creature is twelve inches long, and in shape resembles
the old-fashioned four-cornered dart kite. The head, in form, is like a
snake’s, but the resemblance ends there, for four sharp tusks protrude
from the mouth. Apparently the creature breathes through gills similar
to those of a fish. The horns and ears, which follow closely the forms
of the human ear, give a peculiar appearance to the head. The skin or
hide is black and white in color.
Big Gun Crumples Car.
So heavy is a great fourteen-inch gun just completed, to guard New York
City from hostile attack, that it broke down one of the two flat cars
conveying it along the West Shore Railroad, near Cornwall, on its way
to Sandy Hook, to be mounted.
It is said to be the most powerful fourteen-inch gun ever made. It was
on its way from Watervliet Arsenal when the journal of one of the cars,
overtaxed by its excessive weight, wore out and had to be replaced. The
gun extends almost the length of the two cars, the breech resting on
the rear one.
Old Man Hangs Up a Walking Record.
Becoming peeved over the fact that the Big Four Railroad did not have
a train scheduled to leave at a time when he desired to return to his
home, Benjamin Yentzer hung up a walking record for one of his age.
Although eighty-seven, he walked from Tiffin to Adrian, Ohio, twelve
miles, and made the journey in two hours. He was feeling fine at the
end of the walk, too.
Cover Held on Kettle.
Much of the flavor and other virtues of meat and vegetables are lost
while undergoing the cooking operation, being carried away in the
escaping vapor and heat. In a recently invented kettle, a lid is sealed
on under pressure. This prevents the escape of steam and facilitates
the cooking process. It is claimed that not only is the cooking done
in much shorter time, but that foods prepared in this manner have a
more delicate flavor. The lid is held in place by means of a lever
which is easily manipulated. In order to prevent the possibility of
an explosion when the kettle is on the stove, the lid is fitted with
automatic safety valve which permits the steam to blow off when the
pressure approaches the danger point.
Passes Her 106 Birthday.
Still enjoying good health at the great age of 106 years, Mrs. Abigail
Morrill passed another milestone, and has the distinction of being the
oldest person in Newburyport, Mass.
Mrs. Morrill was born on a farm in West Newbury in 1809, and has lived
in this vicinity all her life. She has for several years resided with
her daughter, Mrs. Abby Morrill Oliver.
She is the mother of ten children, three of whom are now living; Mrs.
Oliver, of this city, Louis Morrill, of West Newbury, and George
Morrill, of Lynn, the two sons being survivors of the Civil War.
Her husband was the late Jacob Morrill, of this city, to whom she
was married May 4, 1835. There are eleven grandchildren and nine
great-grandchildren. Except for being slightly hard of hearing, Mrs.
Morrill has her faculties well preserved.
Stove in Shaving Mug.
The newest shaving mug is equipped with a little alcohol lamp. So
little water is required that it takes but a short time to heat it to
the boiling temperature. The invention is one that will be appreciated
by traveling men especially, as the mug is not much larger than the
ordinary kind, and is, of course, much easier to carry about than
shaving outfits. In fact, it seems odd that the invention was not
thought of before. The interior of the cup is of a substance not
injured by heat, and the lamp is lighted from the bottom. Hot water may
thus be obtained at any time in a few seconds.
Sneezed Out a War Souvenir.
After carrying a bullet in his head for nearly fifty years, or ever
since the battle of Gettysburg, Calvin Cook, a Confederate soldier
living in Catawba County, N. C., has sneezed from his nose a leaden
pellet commonly called “buckshot.” He was wounded in the head at
Gettysburg and eventually recovered from the wound, only to be troubled
many years by what was designated as some sort of growth in his nasal
passages. During a recent sneezing fit he “blew” his nose with uncommon
vigor, and out rolled his souvenir of the greatest battle of the Civil
War. His nasal trouble vanished when the “growth” rolled out.
Tobacco Habit Easily Conquered
A New Yorker of wide experience, has written a book telling how the
tobacco or snuff habit may be easily and completely banished in three
days with delightful benefit. The author, Edward J. Woods, 230 G,
Station E, New York City, will mail his book free on request.
The health improves wonderfully after the nicotine poison is out of the
system. Calmness, tranquil sleep, clear eyes, normal appetite, good
digestion, manly vigor, strong memory and a general gain in efficiency
are among the many benefits reported. Get rid of that nervous feeling;
no more need of pipe, cigar, cigarette, snuff or chewing tobacco to
pacify morbid desire.
The Nick Carter Stories
ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY BEAUTIFUL COLORED COVERS
When it comes to detective stories worth while, the =Nick Carter
Stories= contain the only ones that should be considered. They are not
overdrawn tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of
the finest minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is
familiar all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be
read in twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe
test of time so well as those contained in the =Nick Carter Stories=.
It proves conclusively that they are the best. We give herewith a list
of some of the back numbers in print. You can have your news dealer
order them, or they will be sent direct by the publishers to any
address upon receipt of the price in money or postage stamps.
704--Written in Red.
707--Rogues of the Air.
709--The Bolt from the Blue.
710--The Stockbridge Affair.
711--A Secret from the Past.
712--Playing the Last Hand.
713--A Slick Article.
714--The Taxicab Riddle.
717--The Master Rogue’s Alibi.
719--The Dead Letter.
720--The Allerton Millions.
728--The Mummy’s Head.
729--The Statue Clue.
730--The Torn Card.
731--Under Desperation’s Spur.
732--The Connecting Link.
733--The Abduction Syndicate.
736--The Toils of a Siren.
738--A Plot Within a Plot.
739--The Dead Accomplice.
741--The Green Scarab.
746--The Secret Entrance.
747--The Cavern Mystery.
748--The Disappearing Fortune.
749--A Voice from the Past.
752--The Spider’s Web.
753--The Man With a Crutch.
754--The Rajah’s Regalia.
755--Saved from Death.
756--The Man Inside.
757--Out for Vengeance.
758--The Poisons of Exili.
759--The Antique Vial.
760--The House of Slumber.
761--A Double Identity.
762--“The Mocker’s” Stratagem.
763--The Man that Came Back.
764--The Tracks in the Snow.
765--The Babbington Case.
766--The Masters of Millions.
767--The Blue Stain.
768--The Lost Clew.
770--The Turn of a Card.
771--A Message in the Dust.
772--A Royal Flush.
774--The Great Buddha Beryl.
775--The Vanishing Heiress.
776--The Unfinished Letter.
777--A Difficult Trail.
782--A Woman’s Stratagem.
783--The Cliff Castle Affair.
784--A Prisoner of the Tomb.
785--A Resourceful Foe.
789--The Great Hotel Tragedies.
795--Zanoni, the Transfigured.
796--The Lure of Gold.
797--The Man With a Chest.
798--A Shadowed Life.
799--The Secret Agent.
800--A Plot for a Crown.
801--The Red Button.
802--Up Against It.
803--The Gold Certificate.
804--Jack Wise’s Hurry Call.
805--Nick Carter’s Ocean Chase.
806--Nick Carter and the Broken Dagger.
807--Nick Carter’s Advertisement.
808--The Kregoff Necklace.
810--The Copper Cylinder.
811--Nick Carter and the Nihilists.
812--Nick Carter and the Convict Gang.
813--Nick Carter and the Guilty Governor.
814--The Triangled Coin.
815--Ninety-nine--and One.
816--Coin Number 77.
NEW SERIES
NICK CARTER STORIES
1--The Man from Nowhere.
2--The Face at the Window.
3--A Fight for a Million.
4--Nick Carter’s Land Office.
5--Nick Carter and the Professor.
6--Nick Carter as a Mill Hand.
7--A Single Clew.
8--The Emerald Snake.
9--The Currie Outfit.
10--Nick Carter and the Kidnaped Heiress.
11--Nick Carter Strikes Oil.
12--Nick Carter’s Hunt for a Treasure.
13--A Mystery of the Highway.
14--The Silent Passenger.
15--Jack Dreen’s Secret.
16--Nick Carter’s Pipe Line Case.
17--Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves.
18--Nick Carter’s Auto Chase.
19--The Corrigan Inheritance.
20--The Keen Eye of Denton.
21--The Spider’s Parlor.
22--Nick Carter’s Quick Guess.
23--Nick Carter and the Murderess.
24--Nick Carter and the Pay Car.
25--The Stolen Antique.
26--The Crook League.
27--An English Cracksman.
28--Nick Carter’s Still Hunt.
29--Nick Carter’s Electric Shock.
30--Nick Carter and the Stolen Duchess.
31--The Purple Spot.
32--The Stolen Groom.
33--The Inverted Cross.
34--Nick Carter and Keno McCall.
35--Nick Carter’s Death Trap.
36--Nick Carter’s Siamese Puzzle.
37--The Man Outside.
38--The Death Chamber.
39--The Wind and the Wire.
40--Nick Carter’s Three Cornered Chase.
41--Dazaar, the Arch-Fiend.
42--The Queen of the Seven.
43--Crossed Wires.
44--A Crimson Clew.
45--The Third Man.
46--The Sign of the Dagger.
47--The Devil Worshipers.
48--The Cross of Daggers.
49--At Risk of Life.
50--The Deeper Game.
51--The Code Message.
52--The Last of the Seven.
53--Ten-Ichi, the Wonderful.
54--The Secret Order of Associated Crooks.
55--The Golden Hair Clew.
56--Back From the Dead.
57--Through Dark Ways.
58--When Aces Were Trumps.
59--The Gambler’s Last Hand.
60--The Murder at Linden Fells.
61--A Game for Millions.
62--Under Cover.
63--The Last Call.
64--Mercedes Danton’s Double.
65--The Millionaire’s Nemesis.
66--A Princess of the Underworld.
67--The Crook’s Blind.
68--The Fatal Hour.
69--Blood Money.
70--A Queen of Her Kind.
71--Isabel Benton’s Trump Card.
72--A Princess of Hades.
73--A Prince of Plotters.
74--The Crook’s Double.
75--For Life and Honor.
76--A Compact With Dazaar.
77--In the Shadow of Dazaar.
78--The Crime of a Money King.
79--Birds of Prey.
80--The Unknown Dead.
81--The Severed Hand.
82--The Terrible Game of Millions.
83--A Dead Man’s Power.
84--The Secrets of an Old House.
85--The Wolf Within.
86--The Yellow Coupon.
87--In the Toils.
88--The Stolen Radium.
89--A Crime in Paradise.
90--Behind Prison Bars.
91--The Blind Man’s Daughter.
92--On the Brink of Ruin.
93--Letter of Fire.
94--The $100,000 Kiss.
95--Outlaws of the Militia.
96--The Opium-Runners.
97--In Record Time.
98--The Wag-Nuk Clew.
99--The Middle Link.
100--The Crystal Maze.
101--A New Serpent in Eden.
102--The Auburn Sensation.
103--A Dying Chance.
104--The Gargoni Girdle.
105--Twice in Jeopardy.
106--The Ghost Launch.
107--Up in the Air.
108--The Girl Prisoner.
109--The Red Plague.
110--The Arson Trust.
111--The King of the Firebugs.
112--“Lifter’s” of the Lofts.
113--French Jimmie and His Forty Thieves.
114--The Death Plot.
115--The Evil Formula.
116--The Blue Button.
117--The Deadly Parallel.
118--The Vivisectionists.
119--The Stolen Brain.
120--An Uncanny Revenge.
121--The Call of Death.
122--The Suicide.
123--Half a Million Ransom.
124--The Girl Kidnaper.
125--The Pirate Yacht.
126--The Crime of the White Hand.
127--Found in the Jungle.
128--Six Men in a Loop.
129--The Jewels of Wat Chang.
130--The Crime in the Tower.
131--The Fatal Message.
132--Broken Bars.
Dated March 27th, 1915.
133--Won by Magic.
Dated April 3d, 1915.
134--The Secret of Shangore.
Dated April 10th, 1915.
135--Straight to the Goal.
Dated April 17th, 1915.
136--The Man They Held Back.
=PRICE, FIVE CENTS PER COPY.= If you want any back numbers of our
weeklies and cannot procure them from your news dealer, they can be
obtained direct from this office. Postage stamps taken the same as
money.
STREET & SMITH, Publishers, 79-89 Seventh Ave., NEW YORK CITY
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.