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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1904-4-14, Page 6*ea.' CATCH I NO 1, A FLAT •i• • • *2, .1444.44-HelatenelenialeHeieleHein Martha, Says I an. a fool. Martha is welcome, to her °Pinion; there a,re others who think different- ly. But I will not boast, The Blaine never did, end they have done iereat thaws in, their time, Martha says thee I am not cepable of taking care of money. 1 only wish that Martha would trust me with more than bell a sovereign a, week, that's all. Martha has plenty of money-nve thousand be Cousols, eight thousand in various corporatioe stocks, and a half share „in Allen. and Barker. Tom. Allen was her first husband, and the Inoixey is hers for life. Then it goes to nephews and nieces. These nephews and nieces resent My being Martha's husband, and in- einuate that I married her for Iler money; or, as Job Allen, in Ms ele- gant way, says, "for a home." They quite ignore the fact that I was Martha's first se-eetheart, and that she threw me over for Tone :Allen. One morning last July Martha said "Jonty" (my narao is John Chesney Illain)--"Jonty" she said, "Archie is coming over to stay with' mo ler a few weeks. Now, remember what I've told you of hint." If all was true that Martha had eald about her brother Archie, 110 was as great a villain as tliere was to be found. He ne-ver had a friend or acquaintance bet he' borrowed looney from him and never repaid, Ine had lived under =my names in Inany towns. And the more places he lived in the more bills for lodg- ing,s he kft unpaid. fro had never done a stroke of work in his life --if we except the thluking out schemes by which he hoped to make a. living by defrauding sonteone. Archie came. A big, genial fellow, about ten years younger than I. He greeted me aftectionately, and we were chums at once. Archie didn't borrow money from me; at least, not much. I haven't much to lend out of half a sovereign a week. And he taught me a few things that will come in useful. There's a certain way of dealingat all -fours; and there are things at whist; and theea's a way of marking dominoes; and thme's a cute sys- tem of giving losers eaong change. pounds easily enemen, Jonty,, Traet to Me," That same evening he told Me that Mortimer Was on, "He's its eager -well, as eager as flats uoually aro. Now, Jonty, not a word to, Marthe if you value rny friendship. I've ar- ranged with Ilfortimer that he shell see the picture at the Albion, • Yoe elide it out without Martha. Peeing you, and be there at.three. And Mr GuyMortimer is ours." So it fell out. After several un- successful attempts t� smuggle the picture. out of the Ileum withclut Martha, seeing, I took a bold . step and walked coolly downstairs with it under my arm. Martha met me in the halL "John Chesney she said, looking arst at ths picture, then at me, "wleere aro you taking that picture?" "To the restorer's," I replied, adopting the methods of brother Ar- chie. "You know how cracked and dirty it is dear, Now, the restorer will make it like new for a few shil- lings." „ I said it all so glibly that she had nothing tee Iliad fault with, and' got safely away to the Albion, Mortimer was a neat, sracietelook- ing chap; not iny idea of a flat at all. But Archie whispered, "He's all right; we've got him." "Mr. Mortimer," sal(' Areal% as we seated ourselves in a private room, ”this is Mr. Blain, and this is the picture. It has been in his family some • seventy years. He would not part with it, but -well,, you know. The usual. thing. Our friend has come out, .the wrong side on Sauth.• Africans; and niust be .met,and the nedessaries. imve to be paid •for, Our friend has. perted with most of his worldly goods; and even this picture, the cherished possession of his family and a faithful representation cif his grandfather has to go. People must live. "There !" be exclaimed, unwrapp- ing the picture and holding it up to the gaze of Mr. Mortimer. "Splen- did, isn't it ?" llortimer looked at the picture, a bit dubiously, I thought. "It's very dirty and cracked," he said. "Age, jay dear sir," replied Ar- chie,"And it is not signed." "What of that V' remarked Archie. "I need scarcely remind a connois- seur of your groat experience' that many of the old Blasters are un- signed." “Yes, of course, I know." said Mortimer. "Now, the price ?" "Er -let me see. Sixty guineas I think you said, Mr. Blain ?" "Yes," I returned, "sixty." ”Too much; far too much," said Mortimer. "I will give you forty pounds." "Forty pounds 1" cried Archie. "My dear sir, forty pounds fee an old master ! Forty pounds for a splendid example of Gainsborough, or Lawrence ! Not to bethought of, my dear sir. An expert has valued the picture at one hundred guineas. Forty pounds ! No; Mr. Blain could not think of it. His pride would not allow him." "No," 1 echoed, "I could not think of such a thing." • "Now, if you had said sixty pounds," said Archie. They set to work bargaining, and nnally Mortimer agreed to buy the picture for fifty pounds. "And," said Archie, "let me congratulate you, Mr. Mortimer, on having ac- quired an undoubted gem at such a low figure." Mortimer looked very pleased, and was certainly the flat Archie made him out to be. Ile handed me ten live -pound notes, and after I had paid for a bottle of champagne he went off with the picture. "Bravo 1" said Archie, smacking me on the back; "you did well, Jon- ty, iny son. "That's the way to handle flats." I gave him his twenty-five pounds. "Jolley," he said, pocketing the notes, "if we had capital we should do great things, you and I." On our way back he persuaded me to buy him an expensive scarl-pin. "As commission," he explained. A few days after Archie burst into myroom in a most excited manner. "Jonty," he said, throwing him- self into e. chair, nhavo you a pair of heavy shooting -boots, with. Bpjes not less than two inches thick -with long, projecting nails? Something heavy, something that will leave a mark. If you have, put them on and kick rae. Kick me well. Jump on me. Jonty, xay son. Traanple on me, and tread me into the dust for being such a juggins." "What ever is the matter ?" I asked, anxiously. "'Everything," he groaned. "That picture; that gen; • that master- piece 1 We were the flats. It's a Rae - burn,' jonty, and worth anything fram eight hundred to fifteen him- dred pounds V" "What ?" I gasped. "It's true. We've done ourselves. Look well in the panenewon't ? Tb.us 'There was sold at Christie's yesterday the portrait of, a gentle - Man, by Sir Henry Raeburn. It was an example of the best work by this artist, and may be considered fairly cheap at the price of Efteen hundred guineas it brought. • We understand that the picture recently. changed hands at lifty pounds.' " "But bow do e-ou knowit's a eestun ?" I asked: • "A Mainline Jonty; a genital° Haeburnrye just been to Morti- mer's. He's had it refrained, and on the lower- part of the picture, a part your frame covered, I saw the signature, 'IV ntaeburn, "I He stepped his knee. -Now I come to think of it, Mortimer can't haVe seen the signature or he'd haVe men- tioned it. Not a word, jetty. Pni off to see him again. Read these." He was off . like 'a, shot, throwing down as he wont a number of nova- papera Half bewildered, I took them Up and found in theta marked pane - graphs relating to the sale of 'lac - burn portraits, Which seemed to sell for onythieg from three bundred to fifteen hundred poUnds each, • During the day, Malin turd up agabl. ''We're all right, Jonty," he said; !Werth/am haSent spotted Some day, when 1: feel a bit confi- dent, I shall try soeee things Archie taught me. "All you want," said Archie, "is a flat, Jonty. alet hold of a, fiat, with money, ot course, and the rest is easy." He knew a system of backing horses, by getting on bets after the race was run and he knew the result "But the bookies are getting a bit too fly," he would say. "Selling tips is all right," he re- marked, "but too nutny at the game nowadays : overcrowded and de- graded -not Et for gentleman." Snooty," said Martha, a few days after Archie's corning, "you're not lending :Archie any money, I hope?" "No, dear," I retitled. "How can I out of ten shillings a week ?" "It's enough for yen," she retort- ed. "And don't let Archie entice you into any trap. He will do it if he can make anything by it." "I think you are mistaken, dear —" I began. "Not in Archie Wild," she replied; "I've known him too long. But I think you are safe." When I married. Martha, or, as Job Allen slanderously says, "when Martha picked him out of the gut- ter," I admit that I had been un- fortunate in business and had no balance at the bank; but I had a few possessions, and ono of them was an old oil painting. It was the fullnength portrait of a, gentle- man, and was very dim a.nd cracked all over, and the top corner was badly torn. I noticed Archie looking at the picture gee day, and, as I was shav- ing the not morning, he strolled into the room and glanced at it again. "Yours ?" he asked. "Yes," I replied; "my very own." "Um 1" he said. "Not so bad. Let's have a good look." Ho took a large reading -glass from his pocket and ma.cle a thorough ex- amination of the picture. Then he stood back and gazed at it from different positions. ' "Not half bad, Jonty. Want to sell ?" "How much '2" "What d'yeu say to a teener?" 'A termer 1 Ten pounds 1 1 would have sold the thing for a sovereign. "Done 1" I cried, gashing mychin. "And done you would he," he laureled. "Listen to me. Jonty; n.ou're about the slowest eland at doing a trade that I eater came across. This picture, this work of art," he looked at it attentively, eethough unsigned, may be the work of one of the great masters. • May be, I say. Probably it is not. 13ut we -you and I-ctre business people, Jonty, my son. We mast sell this for an old master; and if we can only get hold of n. flat of the right sort we might get fifty pounds for it." -You think so .?" I asked, fixing a piece of plaster on my chin, "Sure," be returned. "Now, I'll •do tiro square, thing by you, Jonty. I've a great opinion of you, and in thire traction we'll go partnere. :You would have sold, me the pieture for ten pounds, Now, I know hia name is Mortimer. This 'Mortimer is a juggins, who faneies . he knows something about art. He . ehall be our flat. We will sell hhu the picture for fifty pounds -at least, •X will. And that will give us twen- • .1ey-five pounde eaeb." •"Ilue--" I began,meaning to tell • him that, as the picture was mine, nate Oity pomade should be mine $1,1s0. "No," he replied. "I coin(' liet, Oink i taking Moro than. twenty - will look Up Mortimer, and kelt infa 1.10low fa a bargaioto be beet Vaunt carte you tWenty-live Ilia signature. We must buy the 1)1?kuarse,'IIVIC4lied-, with some hesita- tion. The greater pertion eMy twenty -ave pounds bed foiled ite way into Archie's pockete. FIo had been showing - me. some new card games. , "How much have you ?" he asked. I reckoned up- my assets to eight pounds some shillings. "Whew t" he whistled. "That's a bad look -out, And 1 parted with my available balance yestordity; a press- ing bill -you understand. 13ut let us go over to Slorthner's. You can see the signature, and we'll work aim again. Once a flat always a fiat yolillakiel,oelvaCover to 'Mortimer's. He occupied two rather untidy rooms over a tobacconist's; but, as Archie explained to me. Mortimer was only in town for a week or so from hie Place in Yorkshire. "Five thou a year. Keeps hunters. A bit eccen- tatiu. hue,alstnowwbsisslo:1-i.eedthinign my ear as we went upstairs. • The picture was hung in a promi- nent position and had been. put into a neat gilt frame, sleeping more of the painting. When Archie attract- ed Mortimer's attention for a 'few minutes I gave it a close scrutiny, and there, dimly, but surely enough, was the signature my ft -aerie had cov- ered. I nodded to Archie. "Mr. Mortimer," he 'began, "since he saw you last my -.friend, Mr, Main, bas had, a small windfall -a legacy, in fact; and his first thought on receiving 'the gond' news is for hie picture. Ra comes to me and Bays, 'Mr. Wild. I should like nay picture back.' ". :. • • . But -nen' -Intct earepte.ittortimer. "Yes," rePiled Archie.. k'I paid to. him, 'But, • Mi... Biafra -a, sale is a - sate. You sell the picture to Mr. Mortimer, and he does not wish to part with the picture again. The transaction is completed.' But Mr. 13Iain has prevailed • on me to see you, and 1 ask you to think of the circumstances. This- picture is the cherished possession of our friend. This WAS the last link connecting him with the past -a past that had its- pains and its pleasuitee-apast with memories, Mr. Mortimer. "Under the stress, of misfortune our friend breaks this link. The picture is gone; for four days he is alone, abandoned. 'There 'is no Pia - tare to reraind him of his past glor- ies. While he moans aloud in his solitude Providence comes to his re- scue. *He receives a legacy; he finds he can repair the linn he has broken. You ,will not be bard on • our friend. He is getting old, and the loss of his picture may tell on "I bought the picture," said Mor- timer, stubbornly, "and I like it. I will not sell it back." • "Then yon may drive Mr. Blain to do something desperate," said Ar- chie, moodily, looking at me. "Yes," I broke in, trying to get a break in my voice. "If I .cannot get . the , picture a bock4I do not know what I may do." And I folded my arms and let iner head sink On to my breast. •, • Mortimer began to. get alarmed. Archie chimed in 'again, and we worked on him till at last he agreed to sell. But to our dismay he wanted two hundred pounds, and we could not make him abate a single shilling. "If Mr. Blain has come into money and wants his picture so mu -ch, he must pay for it. I've a right to make a profit .out 'of my deal," said Mortimer,' decisively. ”I don't want to part with it; but for two hun- dred it is elr. Blain's again. 'And," he continued, as he showed us down- stairs, "I'm off in a few days, so he must Make up his mind quickly." • "What shall we do?" 1 asked rue- fully: of Archie, when we got out- side"You mustn't lose it," he .return- ed. "What is a paltry two hundred when the picture is worth twelve hundred at least ? Let me see. Your life policy!" "What of it ?" "Sell it. Surrender it. You can raise two hundeed on it easily enough."' I did sp. I was net going to miss the chance of 'making a thousand pounds. I was resolved to prove to Martha and her little -minded rola- tives that I had business ,capabili- ties. I disposed of my life policy for the sum of 'two hundred pounds. We went to Mortimer, who seemed rather surprised to see us, and was reluctant about parting witb thepie- ture. tut Archie hinted that he had a good opinion of Mr. Mortimer, which • he would not like disturbed; and eventually the picture returned to my possession. I gave Archie five pounds, "as commission." "We must send it to Christie's," said Archie, on our wayhome. "And be sure to place a high enough • re- serve." A week before the picture did go to Christie's Archie was suddenly tailed away to Paris. "Got hold of a. good thing, Jonty. 'Another flee -just come into fifty thousand. Too good to be missed. Sorry I can't stay for the sale. You've placed the reserve at twelve hundred ?" • "Yes," I replied. "And you get twenty per cent, on anything over six hundred." Archie • went to Paris and. the "Raab -ern" went to Chriselete, The best bid Was thirty-five shillingsn I was a, day or tWo getting Over it. Then 1 Sent the, picture to an ex- pert, who told me it was not a Rae - burn nor in any way reeerabling work by.that artist, . • X often. wonder Which of there, wrote the feignateira-Arebie or his confederate, Mr, Oust Itfortimer, the wealthy Yorkshire landowner, I don't feel 60 .Well just now, for in thirteen days farartha Will give inc the money to pay nee life premiuni arid will ask Me foe the, recei•pt, have, been turning over in %roe Mind the various ways of making a rapid fortune iniperfeel to inc by brother Archie, but I am no nearer the (501,- ution of hew to delude Martha about that instirance p011 c$.' -London Ta- rn Ls, SoMe wereien don't care What their husbande .say as long as the eieigite bore don't ,hear resemeseAteeemateel About the I....House HINTS Fon ROAM In polishing the stove put a paper bag ovee'the hand and you will thus avoid dirtying the fingers. If you have no oil heady take a lead pencil and rub on the squeaking Mega, and it will stop squeaking. Carrots should be cleansed by be - elle brushed in weter. They should never be scraped, which causes them to loft their flavor. • • To • clean baths and bedroom ware, rub with dry salt. This re- moves all dirt, does not injure the surface, a,nci leaves all bright and shining. After doing work which has made your 'hands very dirty, rub with olive oil • before washing. This loosens the dirt and they will be far less trouble to get clean. • When cleaning wall paper use a firm doughemade of flpur mixed with a little washing soda. • This soda will not spoil the paper and the work will be done more rapidly• . Light is an enemy of bacteria. Make provision then to ha.vo proper lighting as well as ventilation through all parts of the kitchen, in- cluding the pantry and cupboard. Waterproofing for boots can be made by mixing a little xnutton suet and beeswax together. Rub this on the solos Of the bootseencl light- ly over the:edge's where the' stitches The following is a good polish for oilcloth -Save all candle ends and melt in the.oven. 'Mac with it suffi- cient turpentine to make a soft paste. This is excellent for lino- leurn, etc. •• .. • It • is not generally .known that wringing out a cloth in hot water and wiping the furniture before put- ting on furniture cream will result in a very high polish; and will not finger mark. TO, keep sponges soft and white wash. them in walla Water with a little tartaric acid .in it, then rinse in plenty of 'cold water. Take care not to put in too much tartaric. acid or the sponges will be spoiled. Delicious sandwiches may be made by spreading one slice of bread with butter beaten to a cream, and the other with honey. The honey must be used•. sparingly, so that it will not ooze out on the fingers of the eaters. • Do • not ieaste the breken bread. After rolling it so as to form crumbs'place these 'crumbs in a cov- ered vessel. They will keep there for six months if necessary; and. al - Ways will be available when wanted in cooking. • An *excellent grease eradicator for family use is made thus -Boil me ounceof soap cut small in one quart of soft -water, add a teaspoonful of saltpetre .and an ounce and a nail of, anunonianna -Keep this fluid in a bottle, corked -tightly. • • To choose a ham.-Itun a knife along the bone of a ham; if it comes out clean 'and bas a savoury odor, the ham is good; if smeared and It is either spoiled by taint or is rusty. Hocks and ganinion. Of bacon may be tried in the same way. :When soot falls upon the carpet or rug, never attempt to sweep it up at once, for the• result is sure to be. a disfiguring •mark. Cover it thick- ly willanicely dried salt, which will enable you to sweep it up cleanly, so that not the slightest .stain or smear will be left. To remove traces of petroleum from either vaesels or material' try lime water, which rapidly emulsifies it and effectively removes all trace of smell. Bottles •that have con- tained petroleum will be speedily cleaned and rendered quite odorless if washed out with water cute a lit- tle lime. • Petroleum laaup reser- voirs can be washed out ni.ore easily t• hus. mattresses, t whether used by. children or adults,' should be.. thor- oughly beaten mice- a, fottnight Set in the sun by -open *iodates when possible; in this way the White dust that comes from the body is rent al- lowed to lie on the creases of the mattress covers. A -geed rule is .to have the mattresses bruthed regular- ly one -day in each week. For Scotch shortbread take one pound of flour, one -pound of butter, one-quarter pound of sugar. Work the ,sUgar and butter into the flour with the hands until it clings to- gether, thenemake inn. square. Pinch the edges all, around. Bakein het oven for about twenty minutes. If desired, you can put little candy comfits around the edges. ,Baked Spanish onions make a nice change when green vegetables are getting scarce. Take three or four Spanish onions with their skies on, and plunge into boiling Water, and let them boil quietly for an hour. Then drain perfectly dry, wrap each olden up in buttered pap- er, and bake for about two hours. ReMove the paper and skies, and Serve the' onions in tie thick •brown g'ranY•e GOOD RECIPES. Moicteees Gingerbread. -To ono eup Of stigar, one-lialf nip of butter .and two ceps of Orleans molaSses well - mixed together., add one egg, one COP• Of Wier milk, one teaspOonful of soda, one tablespoonful of ginger ard aetricient flour for a thick bat - ter. • • Baricula, Iroarnaanlarefally break up four bananas .tvitib a fork, stir in one CU p of thgar, the Whites of. two eggs end the juice of half a Ranee, thee beat together for twenty etinutet. Tine foam' way be used on bananas, lady fingers, sponge take or on any fresh berries...,._ Potato Soutlle.-Peel six medium pized potatees and put on to boil, When done &ale and mash in a eaucePeri ova the fine; add an otince and a. lief of 'butter and hall a teae cupfiti of Milk, salsoliieg of Fait alai pepper and beat till pertectly light; [Orange ina mould in tile centre of a dish ,atel just browu in a hot oven,. Corn Stara Cakee-Cream, one- half cu P of butter with one eeP of sugar, add the whites of three eggs, well beaten, one-half cup of milk, one-half cup of corn starch, one- half teaspoonful of creftm tartarand one-fourth teaspoonful of soda, each dissolved in a little cold water, then add one cup of flour. Flavor • with lemon, Potted teed -Ono niay boy beef es- pecially for potting and • make enough to last two or three weeks. Purchase 2 lbs. from the under Part of the rounde as this is inexpensive and will answer tine purpose, Put it into 11 crock with .1 cup water, 4 tablespeons butter, teaspoon pep- per and the same of ground cinna- mon, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and an onion chopped fine. Stand the crock or jar in a kettle of cold water, bring it to the boil- ing point and boil carefully for three hours. When the meat is tender, chop line, • pound until perfectly smooth and -mix with it gradually the liquor from tlie jar; add 2 tea- spoons salt, and if you have a few nuts, stir inna cupful. Pack the mixture into small earthenware bowls, cover with melted suet or par- teffine and keep in a cool dry place. Pressed Baked Beans, -Did you ever try pressed baked beaus? If not you will be sure to like them af- ter trying them once. When I was a child I never cared for cold beans until my mother got into the way of pressing them, When the beans are hot, stir them in a perfect mus, season them well by adding salt if needed, then press them into a tin or• shape them up on a platter so they are nearly square on the edges and cornexa, and when they aia ciold you'can slice them and'eat cced. Or they are excellent fried brown on a buttered spider after being sliced. An unexpected gentleman guest at our supper table asked me what I did to my beans to make them so good, for he never tasted any that he relished so well, and he thought he was fond of beans before. Try pressing them and you will- never wish to chase a cold bean around your plate again. ••••••••••••••• COMBINED SINK AND TABLE. Some kitchens are too small to al- low of a sink and table both, and for these a combination of the two - will be a welcome arrangement. Rave a carpenter make a sink of the length, breadth and height you de- sire, and set up. on legs similar to a table, or it may have ends, and a shelf midway of the space beneath if desired. Get a tinsmith to make a zinc lining of the heaviest sheet zinc, .with all corners well soldered, and fasten it in with clout -nails at very short distances all around the top edge. Tao sink is then ready for painting, • in harmony with the rest of the woodwork of the kitchen. For the table part, get, a hard - Wood leaf at the lumber yard and have it well smoothed down. Fasten it to the lower front part of the einit box by three. goodninges. :Add a spring to hold it up when wanted, mud you have a very handy piece of 'furniture. Thia sink can be fasten- ed to the wall or not as liked, or the leaf may be fastened to the wainscoting in the same manner as to th.e sink, and prove even more handy. SUICIDA_ILSALDION. Battles of Death Enacted in Alas- ka Streams. Imagine yourself on the seashore in Alaska, in the month of Septem- ber, rambling on for the nleasure of it, and picking up a curmus shell now and then. You see ahead a fresh water* stream which es in your path. As you approach you aro surprised to find the whole stream filled, crowded, with struggling sal- IliOrt. If you follow the stream back from the shore a mile or se, you will fincl it literally packed .with selnion all the way, although the Water is so shallow that no fisk is more than half covered. ' Your surprise is increased wheo you approach epee eneogh, ;to touch with your foot, and find that ' they pay' not the slightest 'attention to you. They struggle fiercely one up the stream, • the females , to .depoeit their, eggs, the males to protect 'the females. All are intent upon that mad, suicidal ruslaep the 'stream... It is suicidal beeauSe not a • single salmon •out of these thousands be fore yeti over comes back alive. From the outset they neither eat nor rest, and as you follow them up stream you soon seethe effects of - their battle. Their flesh is knocked off against the stones; here against his fellows, with nothing left of his once powerful tail • but the bones, and matey of them are broken; the flesh may be falling from • his back or torn from hisbelly,still he lights on until death. If it is a female you .may sea the eggs dragging from an -ugly gash in her side, one fin is torn off, two more are useless, every effort to pro- pel herself • leaves a trail of blood, but she swims on with the rest: You are sickeiled by such a sight, and conclude that the shallowness of the stream will account for the con - clition of the fish, So you go to a larger stream, thirty feet in width and eight feet in depth; here .you field thousands of salmon lashing the water into Mem in their efforts • to distance • oue anther. They are winnable; packed layer on layer, like eardines. Here the conditions of the smaller streams are lanceted on a larger seinetitle lish aro not Only torn to pieces by recite, but destroy one another, If you pick up one that appears vhole he will hill to pieces of his own weight. First Inmate :-"You say the light was quickly over ?'t Second Rus- sian :-"Yee; it was finished before yeti 'could say jackepolinsity llobiu- soilopolotol,v sky."' Customer :-enlow is Wit ? You have cearged, me twice tho usual price for shaving?" Barber :--"*.efe razor was dell and it toek me twice ""imlglip.'P Ieose be the collecting busi- ness nearly every man you see ciske you to call ag-aifi ?" "Ask Me ?" replied the COHOCtOr. • PS.oeno of them dare inc."- , . EUROPH 110ARBEll GoLrifiLN $1,50(),000,000 PUT AwAi r, READY FOR WAR. Every Great Nation Except Bra taiu Has Millions Stored Away. It is an interesting and little-known fact that of alt the grea,t nations of Earope England is ahnost the only one that has no treasure -house of gold to go to when she wishes to start leer great fighting machinery. On the Continent, stored in cellars and voiles, it is said, tbere is no loss than $1,500,000,000 In gold and, silver coins, always ready to be drawn th on e moment the flat of war has gone forth; and it is a very pru- dent precaution for seine nations thus to lay by for a warlike day, gine° othertvise they migiat be caught nanping and be placed under a heavy handicap at the beginning. • • About fifteen miles from Berlin stands the grim fortress of Spandau, and it is in impregnable vaults in the Julius Tower of this fortress that Gerina.ny keeps her war gold • and silver,•How many millione precisely, it amounts to is known to few; but we know that out of the indemnity paid by France, (*ermany appropriat- ed £18.000,000 to her war -chest. Germany has had her hoard of war -money ever since the days of Frederick the Great, who filled .the first "chest" by imposing a high pro- tective taint • an foreign manuftto• - teres; and no 'doubt many a- timo. ais successors.. on the Throne of Prussia haVe had cause to bless his THRIFT AND FORESIGHT, • France is probably, even 'better pre- pared for war financially than Ger- many, for she is credited with having a fund Of no less than £120,000,000 to fly to whenever she has to set her vast legions wmotion. Of this gi- gantic sum Z70,000,000 is in -gold and 250,000,000 in silver. in the custody of the Austro-Hungarian: Bank there is a very serviceable fund of £30.000,000 for purposes of war; Italy has a well-filled war-ehest; and even penurious Russia has, hidden away somewhere, the equivalent of n100,000,000, a sum which will keep the war -machinery going fora good many mouths, at any rate. If these figures are correct-- and they appear to be generally accepted • -it is evident that something, like 43300,000,000 must be hoarded up by Continental nations alone, solely as a preparation for war -a yearly sum of 439,000,000 approximately thus being lost to their exchequers. Time was when for many a cen- tury Vire, too, had our war -chest -lit- erally a thest, iron -bound and mae,- sive--and no expedition ever moveti against an enemy• by sea or land k without taking this chest with them; and even when it was no longer nee - emery to adopt such a premiti-ve -me- land of flnancing, an army there was a fund -and a very large flied:too-- exclusively devoted to WAR EXPENSES. • 'A little more than seventy years ago this fund disappearecl in • Pitt' scheme for the Consolidation Full and if we may be said to ha.ve a cliest at all, it may be consideeed to - take the form• of this Consolidated Fund, which is always available for the purpose of starting a war financi- ally. But if John Bull has no war -chest, and needs 11021e, in the strict moan- ing of the word, he has many a lit- tle pile of gold scattered about in different parts of his • Empire. At Malta there is a Treesury chest which usually contains about £50;- 000; in the Straits Settlements there is 236,000; at Gibr.altar there is al- ways from 4330,000 to $40,000 to draw on; at Bermuda, £25,000; at the Cape, £20,000; in the West In- dies, E17,000; in Egypt, £50,000e in Hong Kong, L25,000, and co on, an aggregate sum of nearly 431,000,000 being distributed amoog these scat- tered; hoards. The Treasury chest fund is probably the legitimate Sur- vivor of the old chest which our arm-, ' as used to-tane'with them in their r , excusions against the "rebellioes Scots" or against the armies o France ,and Spain. -London Tit -Bits. BONAT'ARTE'S OPINION. Thought Russia Was Hard Coun- try to Conquer.• Durbin -the few years of captivity which preceded the death of the great Corsican at St. Helena he took fre- quent occasion in his conversation to - discuss tho most striking features of his career. Practically all that • ho had to say on these subjects has beat preserved in various books wsitten 1)37those wbo were in his confiderice at the time. In everything that he said relative to his Russian campaign' he showed that he looked upon that en- terprise as the principal mistake of his life and upon the Russians as a people whom even the ,greatest con- querors tvoulct better let alone. Thus: • It was making war upon "tussle, that ruined me. Russia is the nation that is most likely to tu,areh to universal domin- ion. • would not bey° declared' war ma on Russia, but that I was persuaded she was about to declare war upon nee. In the end Russia Will become mis- tress of the World. Bet for mm y arriage with Mario Louise I would not have declared wen upon Russia. (He expected assist- ance from Atistrian 1 am reproached for not getting myself killed at Waterloo. think T might rather to have died in Ruszia. i Hassle is in a favorable positioo to conquer the world. Peenaps 1 did wrong to commence' , the Waterloo 'campaign. I did not think than that liuseia would talto hand. •1 if 1 lead had n00,000 More, Men in Russia there would have leeee that I 1 Many more lost. •- - . Alter I had reachee lleow I should have die n there.