Laserfiche WebLink
Yt <br />THES G AZ E r ETE. <br />'130S <br />1V3Ib91SIH <br />V1.13S3NNIW <br />VOL,. L. ---No. 37. <br />HASTINGS. MINN.. SATURDAY. JUNE 6, 1908. <br />1111 per Year in Advance. <br />ORKIE WITH CI.ASS <br />The Way the Different Color Ef- <br />fects Are Produced. <br />FREAKS OF THE BLOWPIPE. <br />Quaint Specimen Shapes That Are <br />Sometimes Dropped From the Puntil <br />How Bottles Are Made by the Clever <br />and Dexterous Workmen. <br />If a stranger enters the glass works <br />on a dark night he will find not only <br />beauty in the blowing operations, but <br />a great deal of humor, with an uncap• <br />ny weirdness In flame and shadow that <br />must affect his imagination to some <br />extent. The building is circular, with <br />a chimney sticking up through the mid - <br />die of it, from the top of which a pe <br />collar intermittent light is flickering <br />In the center of this building, under <br />neatb the chimney, stands a conical <br />furnace of brick containing perhaps nc <br />fewer than eight holes which are like <br />fiercely glaring suns and from which <br />pour expanding broad rays of orange <br />colored light. If your eyes are strong <br />enough to look through the holes from <br />which the orange beams of light <br />emerge you see several hundredweight <br />of molten metal shining silvery green <br />in as many earthen dome shaped melt- <br />ing pots. <br />Tne nature of different kinds of glass <br />Is dependent upon the quality of the <br />raw material, called "batch," put intc <br />the melting pots. "Batch" is a mixture <br />of such materials as Calais sand, 01 <br />common river sand abounding in silica, <br />salt cake, or sodium carbonate and <br />much lime. Blue colors may be ob- <br />tained <br />btained by adding oxide of cobalt, green <br />by means of a chrome, black by man- <br />ganese and umber. The moss of molten <br />metal got from this opaque, earthy <br />looking "batch" has frequently to be <br />skimmed of impurities, but it is never• <br />theless a problem whence comes that <br />wonderful and enduring transparency <br />which everybody likes to see in glass. <br />Until the hour strikes for the work- <br />men to commence operations you may <br />Ind them experimenting for amuse- <br />ment or profit with the blowpipe. Yon <br />will see many an enormity produced in <br />glass the like of which can scarcely <br />ever have been dropped from a puntil <br />before. Specimens are blown out to <br />the thinness of a tissue paper bag. <br />width mother gaff of ?bind explodes <br />with a crack, or a glowing glass peat <br />la for very wantonness knocked off the <br />puntil so that it may vanish with a re- <br />port on the floor, its hue and heat be• <br />Ing extinguished immediately. The Boor <br />all around the furnace chamber is cov- <br />ered with brittle shining splinters and <br />particles of glass, which crackle under- <br />foot at every step. One of the men <br />may bring you a mass of metal on a <br />blowpipe and ask you to expend a few <br />cheekfuls of wind upon it. The pipe <br />takes no wore blowing than a trom- <br />bone, though it lacks a mouthpiece, <br />and you may expand the bubble until <br />it Is black and cold, so fragile that It <br />will break Into a myriad pieces 11 <br />you touch it. The molten glass is so <br />ductile that it may be spun out into a <br />thread, and the men often vie with <br />each other to see who can make the <br />longest and thinnest strand. <br />At the signal to commence work the <br />rpen already partly stripped to the <br />waist, poke their four foot blowpipe <br />through the hole of the crucible oppo- <br />site to which they work, twisting it <br />round until it has taken up sufficient of <br />the ropy and viscid glass for one bot- <br />tle. The man who is clever at his work <br />will, of course, gather up neither too <br />much nor too little for the thlclmess of <br />the bottle required. He can tell with- <br />out looking through the furnace holes <br />when he bas enough by the weight <br />added to his pipe. Thus all around the <br />fiery furnace there are figures moving <br />continually across the lurid light, most <br />of them dexterously wielding their <br />blowpipes and balancing at the end of <br />each one the exact quantity of vitrified <br />matter to make a bottle. The amateur <br />would find it difficult to balance the <br />molten mass. The chances are that it <br />would drop on the floor, never to be <br />picked up again. <br />At the same moment you will see bot- <br />tles in all stages of growth—some glit- <br />tering gold, others cooling down to <br />orange or red, some In the forms of <br />plummets or dazzling pears, others as <br />incandescent bosses threatening to be- <br />come fragile bladders. It Is all as <br />charming as a pyrotechnic display. You <br />will see the black blowpipe twirled <br />round, blown down, held up like a gun <br />barrel, then in the form of an incan- <br />descent lamp globe turned round on a <br />beeswazed cast iron implement called <br />a warier, on whose edge the bottle <br />neck is formed. It is held up once <br />more, blown into, then shut up In a <br />cast iron mold placed at the operator's <br />feet somewhat below the level of the <br />ground. This mold is opened and closed <br />by a wire spring, which the opera- <br />tor presses with his feet, and directly <br />the red hot bottle is inclosed he blows <br />down the pipe once more so as to fill It <br />completely. <br />A man goes round from mold to mold <br />inserting a rod into the neck of each <br />bottle and collecting a trayful to go to <br />the annealing chamber. Here tbe bot- <br />ties are stacked up for a gradual cool- <br />ing process, which may possibly last <br />thirty-six hours. This gives them the <br />desired strength. The annealing proc- <br />ess is a cure for their natural fragility <br />and enables them to stand the test of <br />boiling water.—London Globe. <br />Anger begins in folly and ends in <br />repentance.—Pythagoras. - <br />• <br />THE LAND OF GRAVES. <br />ltncient Egyptians Believed In Con- <br />stant Reminders of Death. <br />To the Egyptian death was but the <br />beginning of a career of adventures <br />and experleut5 es compared with which <br />the most v�(•id etnotlons of this life <br />were tame. (( IIe lived with the tear of <br />death before his eyes. Everything <br />around him reminded him of that <br />dreadful initiation Into the mysteries <br />of the tremendous after life for which <br />his present existence was but a prep- <br />aration. His cemeteries were not hid- <br />den away in remote suburbs; his dead <br />were not covered with mere grassy <br />mounds or a slab of stone. The whole <br />land was his graveyard; its whole art <br />was of the mortuary, "Are there no <br />graves in Egypt that thou hast brought <br />us into the wilderness to die?" asked <br />the Israelites in derision, and we may <br />believe that Moses winced at the sar- <br />casm. <br />Egypt is the land of graves, and the <br />whole energy of the people that could <br />be spared from keeping life together <br />was devoted to death. The mightiest <br />tombs In thti world—the pyramids— <br />were raised upon the deaths of multi- <br />tudes of toiling slaves. The hills were <br />honeycombed passages and galleries, <br />chambers, pits, all painfully excavated <br />In honor of the illustrious dead and <br />sculptured and painted with elaborate <br />skill to snake them fit habitations for <br />his ghost. <br />Wherever he looked the Egyptian be- <br />held preparations for the great turning <br />point of existence. The mason was <br />squaring blocks for the tomb chamber; <br />the potter molded images of the gods <br />or bowls and jars to be placed in the <br />grave for the protection or refreshment <br />of the Ka, exhausted with the ordeals <br />of the underworld; the sculptor and <br />painter were at work upon the walls <br />of the funeral chamber, illustrating the <br />scenes through which the ghost was to <br />pass or depicting the industrious life <br />of the departed. <br />The very temples which cluster along <br />the levels beside the Nile were In a <br />sense but vestibules to the tombs In <br />the hills behind. The sacred lake, now <br />the weedy, picturesque haunt of water- <br />fowl, was then the scene of solemn <br />ferryings of the dead. The temple <br />walls were covered with the terrors of <br />the judgment to come. The houses of <br />the lying, indeed, were built of per- <br />ishing mud, but the homes of the dead <br />and the shrines where supplication was <br />made to the gods who ruled their fate <br />were made to last forever. On these <br />all the strength, the science and the <br />artistic skill of the ancient Egyptians <br />were cheerfully lavished.—London Sat- <br />urday Review. <br />A Preserve Owner's Sick Trout. <br />A man whose experience as a sports- <br />man had been limited to an occasional <br />day's fishing In the mountains bought <br />for himself a place with a fine trout <br />preserve on Long Island. He looked <br />forward with great Interest to the last <br />opening day, as that would be his first <br />opportunity to fish In his own pond, <br />and when the day at last arrived the <br />first streak of daylight found him leav- <br />ing his house, rod in hand. <br />A. day or two later a sportsman friend <br />inquired as to what luck he had had. <br />"I caught plenty of fish, and big <br />ones, too," responded the owner of the <br />preserve. "There are plenty of front <br />in the pond, but they all seem to be <br />sick." <br />"Why, what's the matter with <br />them?" asked the sportsman. <br />"Well," answered the preserve own- <br />er, "to tell the truth, we were afraid <br />to eat them. Their flesh is pink, and I <br />never saw a brook trout that color be <br />fore." <br />"Don't you know, man," exclaimed <br />the sportsman, with a laugh, "that any <br />trout will turn pink if it lives in salt <br />water? Your pond empties into the <br />sound, and of course the trout run in <br />and out. The next time you have any <br />of that sort of sick trout just send <br />them in to me, and I'll eat them for <br />you with pleasure."—New York Times. <br />A Tiny State. <br />The miniature republic of San Ma- <br />rino is a mere dot on the map of Eu- <br />rope, being the smallest state in the <br />world as well as the oldest independ- <br />ent republic. Its area Is thirty-eight <br />square miles, only little less than <br />twice that of the island of Manhattan. <br />It lies entirely in Italy, but is wholly <br />independent. Its situation is on the <br />easterly side of the Etruscan Apen- <br />nines and about twelve miles from <br />Rimini, on the Adriatic sea. The fron- <br />tier is only twenty-four miles in length, <br />and the population would make only a <br />small city ward, numbering less than <br />12,000. There is no public debt, and <br />the annual expenses met by taxation <br />amount to $60,000. The country has <br />bronze and silver currency, coined by <br />Italy, 158,000 lire of the latter and 105,- <br />000 of the former. The principal ex- <br />ports are wine, cattle and stone. The <br />military force of the republic numbers <br />88 officers and 950 men. <br />Wisdom. <br />Neighbor- -Do you think your slater is <br />in love with Mr. Simpkins? Little <br />Dora—Of course not She allows us <br />children to remain in the parlor when <br />he calls.—Exchange. <br />Had Lifted One. <br />"Pa, these burglars that blew up a <br />store"— <br />"Go on." <br />"Are they shoplifters?"—Kansas City <br />Times. <br />Yes and No. <br />"Are you able to keep a cook?' <br />"Financially, yes; diplomatically, <br />no."—Washington Herald. <br />Used In <br />millions of ' <br />homes <br />CALUMET <br />BAKING POWDER <br />It is put up under the supervision of a competent <br />chemist, from the finest materials possible to select, <br />insuring the user light, wholesome, easily digested food. <br />Therefore, CALUMET is recommended by leading <br />physicians and chemists. <br />Perfect in Qualityl, <br />Economical In Use <br />Moderate In .Price <br />Calumet is so carefully and ..vier - :y prepared that the <br />neutralization of the ingredients 1. :. .I; perlcct. There- <br />fore, Calumet IcaJes no R0cl:0:ic oC .‘luta In the <br />food. It Is chemically correct, •• . • r )(Jur stomach,. <br />sake. use Calumet. For economy's..,5,, buy t'"Iumet. <br />51,000.00 given 'or any substance In- <br />hirlous to health found in Calumet. <br />Do You Remember? <br />And the other fishing days when you <br />got up before dawu and stole down- <br />stairs to the dim kitchen—a drink of <br />milk, u doughnut and a triangle of pie, <br />then you stole out quietly to the barn <br />and got the spading fork; then the <br />search, armed with fork and tomato <br />eau, under the broad leaves of the rhu- <br />barb bed, back of the henhouse and <br />down by the cow barn until you bad <br />enough worms fur th:' day's sport. <br />Then of course you left the fork stick- <br />ing in the ground—you never would <br />learn to put things away—and started <br />off; through the garden and orchard, <br />stopping long euough for a handful of <br />currants and a pocketful of sopsavines <br />—over the pasture bars, eating a hand- <br />ful of huckleberries or low bush black- <br />berries here and there; into the wood <br />road—very dark and still In the dawn <br />—where you stepped along very quietly <br />so as not to disturb the bears (you <br />knew perfectly well there were no <br />bears, but you rather enjoyed the <br />creepy sensation); then out through <br />the deep wet meadow grass to the riv- <br />er, where the sun was now beginning <br />to burn away the wisps of mist and <br />the red winged blackbirds were mak- <br />ing a tremendous fuss over their house- <br />keeping. You reached the river bank <br />at the pout hole or the big rock or the <br />old willow (of course you know the ex- <br />act place), and then you started fish- <br />ing.—Atlantic. <br />Suction. <br />People often speak of cbituneys <br />"drawing." We also speak of the suc- <br />tion of a pump. There is not so much <br />harm to these expressions, except that <br />they are liable to lead us away frog( <br />the true state affairs. But In truth <br />there is no such thing as suction. Suc- <br />tion is merely partial or entire absence <br />of pressure in one place which enables <br />the greater pressure of air or fiuld In <br />another place to rush in. In the case <br />of the chimney the heated air in it <br />does not weigh so much as an equal <br />volume of cold air, and 1f the alt In <br />the chimney, tbe air in the room an.l <br />the outside air were all the same tem- <br />perature there would be no tendency <br />W any motion. But when the air to <br />the chimney is hot it does not press <br />downword so much as the colder sur- <br />rounding air presses upward. Conse- <br />quently an upward current is started <br />and will continue if the air In the <br />chimney is kept hot—A. S. S. Ackerman <br />in London Express <br />Changed the Name. <br />He had given up town life, with Its <br />cares and dissipation, and was living <br />hi the country. <br />'What a charming cottager' exclaim- <br />ed a dainty lady visitor from London. <br />"What have you called it?' <br />"I have called it the Nutshell," he <br />told her, and she exclaimed: <br />"Oh, how delightfulr' <br />After tea and cakes she took the <br />train back to London, where she re- <br />mained for six months. Then dee "ran <br />down" to see him again. <br />"As sweet as ever!" ebe told him. <br />"But yon have changed the name! <br />Why Is it now Chez Nous?' <br />"Why?" he responded, with some <br />warmth. "Because I was tired of be- <br />ing jollied! Because I was tired of <br />being kidded! There isn't a boy for a <br />mile round who hasn't stopped and <br />rung the doorbell every time he passed <br />to ask if the colonel was !n!"—London <br />Telegraph. <br />Origin of Myths. <br />The human mind, whether that of <br />the savage or the civilized man, Is <br />naturally a thinking machine. In early i <br />times, before science was born, the <br />phenomena of nature required an ex- <br />planation, and the savage beholder <br />shaped the myth, which satisfied his <br />untutored mind. It is out of man's <br />uatural craving to know the "reason <br />why" that all myths are bora As <br />the distinguished anthropologist, Tylor, <br />puts it, "When the attention of a man <br />in the myth making stage of intellect <br />is drawn to any phenomenon which <br />has to him an obvious reason, he in- 1 <br />vents and tells a story to account for <br />it" In such way alt mythology orig- <br />inated. <br />A Forgetmenot, <br />Citiman—You ought to know some- <br />thing about flora and that sort of thing. <br />Tell me, what is a "forgetmenot?' <br />Subbube—Why, it's a piece of string <br />that your wife ties around your finger <br />when you go in town on an errand.— <br />Philadelphia Press. <br />The Servant Girl In Germany. <br />In most German households there is <br />no such thing as the strict division of <br />labor insisted ou hero. Your cook will <br />be delighted to make a blouse for you, <br />and your uurse will turn out in the <br />dining room, while your chambermaid <br />will take the child for an airing if you <br />order It so. They are more human in <br />their relation to their employers. The <br />English servant fixes a gulf between <br />herself and the most democratic mis- <br />tress. The German brings her intimate <br />joys and sorrows to a good berrscbaft <br />and expects their sympathy. <br />When a girl has bad luck and en- <br />gages with n bad, herrschaft she is <br />worse off than in Egland because she <br />is more in the power of her employers <br />and of the police than she would be <br />here. She has to have a dlenstbucb, <br />an official book in which her age and <br />personal appearance are registered. In <br />this book her employers write her <br />character. it Is ander the control of <br />the police and has to be shown to them <br />when she leaves and wben she entero <br />a situation. It Is hardly necessary to <br />say that when a girl does anything <br />seriously bnd and her employers record <br />it in the book the book gets "lost" <br />Then the police interfere and make it <br />extremely disagreeable for the girl. <br />Restaurant Stories. <br />"I don't care for the vulgar type of <br />restaurant story," said a New York ho- <br />tel keeper. "I refer to that type where <br />the guest shouts angrily to the wafter: <br />"'Ugh, this steak Is not fresh! What <br />a horrible smell! Isere, waiter, judge <br />for yourself!' <br />"But, shaking his bead, the wafter <br />points to the next table and answers <br />grimly: <br />e set, <br />wrong. It's the other gentleman's <br />fish.' <br />"Or the story of the man who com- <br />plained about his plunked shad, wind- <br />ing up: <br />"'I hope you don't think me unrea- <br />sonable, waiter?' <br />"'No, no, air,' the waiter answered. <br />'You're the sixth person what has com- <br />plained about that portion of shad, <br />"On a somewhat higher plane are the <br />meat stories. Thus a strange guest <br />says: <br />"'Surely this isn't a barber shop as <br />well as a restaurant? I see a lot of <br />razors lying about.' <br />"'Oh, no, sir!' says the waiter. <br />'Those are for the steak customers. <br />Did you say steak, sir?" <br />pardon, sir, you're quite <br />Youthful Logic. <br />Mrs. L., a young and inexperienced <br />Sunday school teacher, was at times <br />sorely perplexed how to answer the <br />questions put to her by some of her <br />unusually bright pupils. One day just <br />after she had finished telling the chil- <br />dren the story that Adam was the first <br />man God created quiet reigned In the <br />class room for several minutes. Sud- <br />denly up jumped little Rosie and in a <br />piping voice said, "Oh, teacher, you for- <br />got to toil us whether God created <br />Adam right away a man or a baby!" <br />Embarrassed Mrs. L. looked up to the <br />ceiling and then to the children for an <br />inspiration. Happily ebe quickly spied <br />Betty's little hand raised above the <br />others eager to answer the question. <br />"Teacher, I am surprised my slater <br />Rosie should ask such a foolish ques- <br />tion. Why, God must have created <br />Adam right away a big man, because <br />if God had created him a baby he <br />would have had to have a mother to <br />take care of him." <br />Curious Book Titles. <br />Curious book titles are always being <br />rediscovered, mostly from that prolific <br />period the commonwealth, when sanc- <br />timony was supreme. <br />Thus: "John Dances Better Than <br />Peter; Peter Dances Better Than John; <br />Both Dance Well" (a vicious attack on <br />the Jesuits, In five volumes). "A Sigh <br />For the Sinners of Zion, Coming From <br />a Hole In the Wall, by an Earthen Ves- <br />sel, Known Among Men as Samuel <br />Fisher" (was this how taverna came to <br />take the sign of the "bole In the <br />wall?')—London Scrape. <br />Smyrna Emery Exhausted. <br />It would appear from a recent ac- <br />count to the daily consular reports <br />that the mines near Smyrna, whence <br />the finest emery stone is procured, <br />have now practically become exhaust- <br />ed, and as the ore has at present to be <br />extracted from long and deep under- <br />ground galleries the cost has been <br />doubled. <br />OUR SAILORS' UNIFORMS. <br />Copied From England and Not Rep- <br />resentative of America. <br />All are familiar with the American <br />man-of-war sailors suit, but has any <br />one ever stopped to consider how he <br />comes by it sad what the origin of 1t <br />le? With the exception of the fit itself <br />and the stars in the corner of the collar <br />the whole suit Is copied from the Eng- <br />lish. One would hare thought that by <br />this time the American nation would <br />have fallen upon some original cos- <br />tume for its nary in some way more <br />representative of America. <br />In the early days of the British navy <br />It was still the custom to tie the hair <br />In a cue after well greasing It, but <br />much annoyance was felt by the men <br />in consequence of the oil getting on the <br />rough serge of their jumpers or blouses. <br />This caused the blue collar of the <br />same material as the jumper to be <br />added, but without much success, as <br />the collar !Joked quite as untidy, so at <br />length the Idea of putting the blue <br />drill one over the serge was adopted, <br />the drill collar being a separate ap- <br />pendage and therefore easily washed <br />and kept clean. The lanyard was <br />worn to represent the ropes and rig- <br />ging of the ship, and the jackknife in- <br />dicated that (to be paradoxical) the <br />bluejacket's object in life was death— <br />to his enemy. <br />In those days the neck was exposed, <br />but as time went on and more thought <br />was given to the weltaro of the men <br />this was found to be injurious to the <br />health; hence the substitute of the <br />white neck flannel, white being used <br />to give the effect of the uncovered <br />neck. <br />The two rows of white braid at the <br />top of the cuff represent England and <br />Ireland, the one row at the bottom <br />showing that Scotland bad not become <br />annexed. The rows of braid on the <br />collar represent wholly and solely the <br />victories of Nelson. <br />At the opentng of Lord Nelson's <br />grand career and his first great vic- <br />tory at Aboukir the first row of braid <br />was put on the collar, and Jack was a <br />proud and happy mac, and he became <br />still prouder and happier when Aboukir <br />was followed by 'Nelson's greater vic- <br />tory at Copenhagen, and the second row <br />was added. But he became tbe proud- <br />est and happiest man and, alas, also <br />the most sorrowful and grief stricken, <br />when that great hero and magnificent <br />example of naval courage lost his life <br />In his last victory at Trafalgar, and so <br />the third row of braid went on, but <br />there was no wore to come after it, for <br />"the teat pipe" had sounded for the <br />gallant sailor, his last fight fought, his <br />last victory won. To signify the <br />mourning which filled the hearts of all <br />English sailors the black scarf was <br />added. This was the origin of the <br />British tar's uniform, which is both <br />historical and biographical and dear to <br />the heart of all English people.—New <br />York World. <br />A Rather Novel Complaint. <br />An English traveler once met a com- <br />panion sitting in a state of the most <br />woeful despair and apparently near <br />the last agonies by the aide of one of <br />the mountain lakes of Switzerland. He <br />inquired the mune of his sufferings. <br />"Oh," said the letter, "1 was very hot <br />and tbirsty and took a large draft of <br />the clear water of the lake and then <br />sat down on this stone to consult my <br />guidebook. To my astonishment, I <br />found that the water of this lake Is <br />very polsonotle! Oh, I am a gone man; <br />I feel it running all over me. 1 have <br />only a few minutes to Live! Remember <br />me to"— <br />"Let me saw the guidebook," said his <br />friend. Turning to the passage, be <br />found. "I: eau du lac eat bleu pols- <br />soneuse" (The water of this lake <br />abounds in fish). <br />"Is that the ln000Ing of It?' <br />"Certainly'." <br />The dying moot looked op with a ra- <br />diant conntemmnre. "What would have <br />become of yon." said his friend, "1f I <br />had not met your' <br />"I should Imre died of imperfect <br />knowledge of the French language." <br />A Groat Man's Simple Speech. <br />I wns lately told a delightful story <br />of a great statesman staying with a <br />humble and anxious host who had In- <br />vited n party of simple and unimpor- <br />tant people to meet the great man. <br />The statesman came in late for din- <br />ner and was introduced to the party. <br />He made a series of old fashioned <br />bows in all directions, but no one felt <br />in a position to offer any observations. <br />The great man at the conclusion of <br />the ceremony turned to his boat and <br />said to tones that had often thrilled a <br />listening senate; "What very conven- <br />ient jugs you have to your bedrooms. <br />They pour well." The social frost <br />broke up, the company was delighted <br />to find that the great mac was inter- <br />ested in mundane matters of a kind on <br />which every one might be permitted to <br />have an opinion, and the conversation, <br />starting from the humblest conven- <br />iences of daily ilfe, melted insensibly <br />into more liberal subjects.—Arthur 0. <br />Benson in Putnam's and the Reader. <br />An Expert Caner. <br />Mme. R. wishes to secure a new but- <br />ler. "You know bow to serve the ta- <br />ble and especially can you carve welt?' <br />she asked an applicant <br />"Madam may rest assured of It," be <br />replied. "When one has been ten years <br />a surgeon's servant In a dl»ecting <br />room one ought to understand his busi- <br />ness." <br />The Natural Kited. <br />"What sort of steed do you suppose <br />was most popular daring the days of <br />chivalry?' <br />"I suppose it was a knight-mare."— <br />Baltimore American. <br />Sleepwalking, <br />Women and children are more apt to <br />suffer from somnambulism than men, <br />possibly because their brain is more <br />delicately poised and therefore more <br />easily influenced by dreams. A som- <br />nambulist nearly always walks with <br />his eyes wide open. the pupils being <br />much dilated. He is a dreamer able to <br />act his dreams, and in this state the <br />timid become fearless, the weak strong <br />and the stupid brilliant Their som- <br />nambullatic condition presents many <br />curious anomalies. The somnambulist's <br />sense of hearing is not often suspend- <br />ed, for, generally speaking, be will an- <br />swer questions even if whispered, but <br />often the same ear is deaf to loud <br />noises. The sense of smell la frequent- <br />ly altered. Brimstone and phosphorus <br />are said to be pleasant scents to the <br />somnambulist, and many cannot tell <br />wine from water, as the sense of taste <br />becomes perverted or entirely suspend- <br />ed. Some people walk periodically in <br />their sleep, white others do It spasmod- <br />ically. One German doctor goes to the <br />extreme of asserting that somnam- <br />bulists are attracted by the moon, and <br />thus they walk on roofs of houses and <br />at great heights because they derive a <br />peculiar pleasure from contemplating <br />the moon. <br />A Tiny Death Dealer. <br />A most agonizing death is caused by <br />an insect half the size of a pea—a <br />small black spider. It lives In Peru, <br />in South America, but a few speci- <br />mens have reached Europe In ship- <br />loads of timber. Not long ago a dock <br />laborer was unlucky enough to come <br />upon one lu the Victoria docks while <br />unloading a bark. The tiny death deal- <br />er dropped upon the back of his hand <br />and dug its fangs into his flesh. The <br />bite itself was nothing, but as soon as <br />the poison began to work the man <br />fainted with pain. Soon afterward be <br />came to and lived three days before <br />the end came. This spider's venom <br />scorches up the blood vessels and <br />spreads through all the tissues, caus- <br />ing the most fearful agony a bureau <br />being can have to bear. The worst of <br />it is that the victim lives at least two <br />days, enduring unthinkable anguish <br />the whole time. This spider Is luckily <br />not common. It la known as the <br />"specks," and when a man who knows <br />what the bite means 1s bitten be gen- <br />erally blows out his bralus.—London <br />Chronicle. <br />Extreme Obedience. <br />The Youngs had unexpectedly drop- <br />ped In on the Baileys just as dinner <br />was about to be served. The hostess, <br />considerably disturbed, called her little <br />daughter Helen aside and explained <br />that there would not be enough oysters <br />to go around and added, "Now, you <br />and I will just have some of the broth. <br />and please do not make any fuss about <br />it at tbe table." <br />Little Helen promised to remember <br />and say nothing. But when the oys- <br />ters were served Heien discovered a <br />small oyster In her plate which had ac- <br />cidentally been ladled up with the <br />broth. This puzzled the little girl, as <br />she could not recall any instructions <br />covering this contingency. After <br />studying a few moments she dipped <br />the oyster up with her spoon and, bold - <br />Ing It up as high as she could, piped <br />out, "Mamma, mamma, shouldn't Airs. <br />Young have this oyster too?"- <br />-Chris-tian Register. <br />Countess Hertford's Bell. <br />Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, <br />in the days of Queen Elizabeth married <br />as his third wife a beautiful young <br />widow who had been engaged to Sir <br />George Rodney, but whom she jilted <br />for Lord Hertford. Sir George Rodney <br />traveled to Amesbury and, putting up <br />at the inn, awaited the homecoming of <br />the earl and countess, who were ex- <br />pected to arrive the next day. The In- <br />fatuated man wrote a dying ode to his <br />fickle lore, using his blood as ink, and <br />upon the arrival of the bridal party be <br />went out to meet them. Lady Hert- <br />ford was agitated and terrified at the <br />appearance of her old lover, and be- <br />fore Bir George could be prevented he <br />drew his sword and, falling on it, ex- <br />pired at Lady Hertford's feet The <br />countess presented a bell to Amesbury <br />church perhaps as a slight penance for <br />her fickleness. The inscription nuns: <br />Be strong In faytbe, prayer, God well, <br />Frances, Countess Hertford's belL <br />Stars That Outshine the Sun. <br />One of the government astronomers, <br />referring to stars that are so distant <br />that they have no measurable parallax, <br />asserts that one of these, the brilliant <br />Canopus, can be said with confidence <br />to be thousands of times brighter than <br />our sun. Whether we should say 20,- <br />000, 10,000 or 5,000 no one can decide. <br />The first magnitude stars, Rigel and <br />Speca, also are at an immeasurable <br />distance and must, in view of their ac- <br />tual brightness, enormously outshine <br />the sun. <br />The 'Anged and Un'anged. <br />An American actor was once seeing <br />London from the top of a bus. As <br />they swung down the Strand he asked <br />the driver to point out the places of <br />interest "Right you are, alre" agreed <br />the driver, touching his hat. "There's <br />Lugglt 'ill, where they 'ang 'em." A <br />iittle later, "There's parliment 'oases. <br />where they make the laws wot does it <br />across the way. An' there's Westmin- <br />ster habbey, where they burled the <br />good 'ups wot didn't get 'angedr' <br />His Only Chance. <br />"Why did you shake your fist at the <br />speaker?" <br />"Well," replied the congressman, "I <br />didn't want the whole session to slip <br />by without my having made a motion <br />of some kind."—Phlladelubla Ledger. <br />An Exasperating Mamma. <br />The smell boy's mother was the only <br />one who ant utuuovcd, while the small <br />boy himself -most unwelcome addition <br />to the Informal afternoon tea—gleeful- <br />ly galloped around the circular table, <br />daintily spread with silver and china <br />and towered over by a cut glass hunp. <br />"I's a squlreus pony!" shrilled the in- <br />fant joyously as he tossed his flaxen <br />locks and twinkled his besocked lege <br />with ever lucreasing speed. <br />"Mercy! He'll have the lamp over!" <br />shivered a nervous young woman as <br />the human gyroscope stumbled over the <br />edge of a rug, clawed at the table for <br />support, then triumphantly continued <br />circling. Conversation froze on pallid <br />lips as they sat awaiting the Inevita- <br />ble crash. Only the voice of the small <br />boy's mother rippled along serenely. <br />The nervous young woman could <br />stand It no louger. in sheer despair <br />she ventured, "Mrs. Archibald--er--par- <br />don me—your dear little boy"— <br />The lady addressed stared blankly, <br />then grasped the situation. "Malcolm," <br />she said sweetly—"Malcolm, dear, run <br />around in the opposite direction, dar- <br />ling. Mtge Vinton's afraid you'll make <br />yourself giddy."—Woman's HomeCiom- <br />panton. <br />Making It Simple. <br />In the course of his sermon a preach- <br />er in a rural district used the world <br />phenomenon. This word caused one of <br />the members some trouble, for be was <br />unable to attach any meaning to it <br />Finally he determined to seek an ex- <br />planation from the minister and at the <br />close of the service approached ltlm on <br />the subject. <br />"What did yer mean by that there <br />long word yer used In yer sermon?" <br />he began. <br />"Ob, I see you do not know what a <br />phenomenon is," replied the minister. <br />"Well, have you ever seen a cow graz- <br />ing In a field In which thistles were <br />growing';" <br />"Yes; many a time." <br />"That Is not a phenomenon. And no <br />doubt you have often listened to a larit <br />singing merrily away up in the <br />clouds" <br />"'flat, again, is not a phenomenon. <br />But if you saw that cow sitting on a <br />thistle singing like a lark that would <br />be n phenomenon." — Liverpool Mer- <br />cury. <br />Novelty In Cement Wall. <br />There Is a wall of cement in Los An <br />fetes which shores up one side of a <br />building lot that has an artistic value <br />never intended by the builder. Ile <br />had moved his bags of cement on to <br />the ground to be ready for work and <br />was then called away on some other <br />Job for a day or two. In the mean- <br />time one of the very infrequent rains <br />came on, and each sack turned into <br />stone under the action of the water, <br />and the fabric of the sacks themselves <br />was absorbed into the cement so that <br />It was impossible to remove it Cons0• <br />quentiy each sack was wrought Into <br />the wall as 1f It had been a bow'ider on <br />the line of an old stone wall. They <br />were then chinked and bound together <br />with worked cement, and after a time <br />the weather disposed of the gunny <br />sacking, but left the blocks marked <br />with the impress of the weave. The <br />result Is a highly ornamental cement <br />wall, resembling at a little distance a <br />wall of some woven material. <br />Champagne Corks. <br />Champagne corks are made of the <br />very finest Catalonia corkwood. When <br />the tree of that wood la planted, thirty <br />years must elapse before it becomes fit <br />for the first stripping of the bark, and <br />even then the cork is of no use, being <br />much too coarse. After eight years <br />more a second crop arrlres, but that <br />again is of but poor quality, and <br />eight years more, making forty-six <br />years In all. must pass before the <br />grower can reap any material benefit <br />from the tree. Then, again, the great- <br />est care is necese ry for the manufac- <br />ture of the best champagne corks be- <br />cause should they be defective In eine <br />and shape the quality of the wine will <br />suffer. For that reason they are not <br />made by machinery, like the ordinary <br />cork, but are cut by hand. as finer <br />work can be done that way.—Philadel- <br />phia Ledger. <br />Mazarin and His Pictures. <br />Perhaps no more ardent lover of pic- <br />tures ever lived than Cardinal Mararin, <br />minister of the regency during the mi- <br />nority of Louis XIV. Being told that <br />he bad but two months to live, be was <br />soon after seen in his nightcap and <br />dressing gown, tottering along the gal- <br />lery, pointing to his pictures, exclaim- <br />ing: "Must I quit nll these? Look at <br />that Correggl; this 'Venus' of Titian; <br />that incomparable 'Deluge' of Caraccl! <br />Farewell, dear pictures, that I have <br />loved so dearly and that cost me so <br />much!" <br />Exaggerated. <br />Among the begging letters recently <br />received at the office of a benevolent <br />society was one running thus: <br />"This unfortunate young man is the <br />only son of a widow who died child- <br />less, and his earnings maintain his <br />aged Pathe. and infant brothers, whose <br />sole support he is." <br />The secretary of the society wrote on <br />the margin of the epistle the following <br />note: <br />"The circumstances of the case are <br />evidently exaggerated."—London Tat- <br />ler. <br />The Combination. <br />Fellaire (formerly Rusty Rufus)— <br />Well, what do you want? Tuffold <br />Knutt—You wuz kind 'nougb wunst, <br />mister, to give me a dollar an' a kick. <br />Et the two go together, air, Pm ready <br />fur 'am aaala--Qbic o Tribune. <br />