Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance, 1907-08-01, Page 3-S. 1" English Peers Who Derive Their Des, cent From Stage Beauties. 'There Is no chapter In the romance of peerage which bus. quite the male glam- or and !afitillatt1031 PA 144 which tells the stories of humbly born maidens who have emerged from their obscurity to dazzle Me World, for a while from the stage and then, by a aromatic turn of fortune's wheel, to buret into the inert - dean splendor of A, (blame or eoentess— bridging in a few years of triumph the gulf which separates the °berme from the glittering liatelattlfi W114 circle round Me throne. Such was Me revolution waiter Copia wrought by a toeeh of his magic wand In the life. of Lavinia Fenton, who was modestly ushered into the world when Aane was Queen of England. Lavinia never know her father—a 4:nm-et-heels, retired, naval lieutenant, who died wane she was still in the cradle, says a writ- er in the London Tit Bae, and her moth- er was only reseed) from dire poverty when she found a husband in Mr. Fen- ton, who kept an unpretentious coffee house in a alum neer Charing Cross, Humble as was the environment in which he thus spent her girlhood, La- vinia was fortunate in her stepfather, who not only surrounded her with a fa- thera care and affection, but Ow leer out of his small earnings an excellent musical echoes tion. Ars achild Lavinia. Wag gifted with a voice of remarkable sweetness and pro- mise, which attracted many of the loot- ing wits and actors of the slily to the humble coffee house; and evert the "pretty fellows" in all their splendor and embroidered coats, laced we:Meats and black velvet breeehes, with their red heeled shoes, gold clocked stockings, and their atmosphere of musk and civet, dI& not think it beneath their dignity to invade the slums in order to hear the "little nightingale" sing for their delight and to pat her encouragingly on the bead. of To her wonderful voice Lavinia unit- ed beauty and grace of person and a sprightliness and charm which marked her out for mei/aortal success on the stage, and, when she was 18, in the full flush of her girlish beauty, she made her first curtsey to the public from the Haymarket stage at Monima in Orphan." Her appearance was an im- mediate triumph; all London flocked to see and applaud tho girl whose oombina- ton of loveliness ev4th rare histrionic ability was a revelation and a new sen- sation to jaded appetites. Not content with admiring her art, scoresof would- be wooers—men of rank and fashion— besieged her with their unwelcome at- tentions, but to all she turned a deaf Oar, which but increased their importun- ity. Her next appearance wee as Cherry in "The Beau's Stratagem," a character of which she made such o brilliant suc- cess that the manager of Covent Garden 'Theatre determined to secure her for his own theatre. This, incredible as it seems in these days of real salaries, he succeeded in doing by an offer of fifteen shillings a week, a salary which the av- erage chorus girl of to -day would sroff at. At Covent Garden Lavinia added to her reputation and also to the embar- rassing number of her admirere, until she reached the crowning point of her career when she created the part of Polly Peaehum in Gay's new and lively • "Beggar's Opera." At this time Lavinia was 20 years old and a radiantly beautiful girl, with her remarkable voice fully matured. The sensation she caused Was electric. She became the idol of the town and the toast of the gallants; songs were com- posed in her honor, duels were fought over her, and whenever she took the air she was followed by crowds of admirers. Even the ladies went into raptures over Polly Nahum and court beauties cool- ed themselves with fans bearing Polly's pictured presentment. It was, perhaps, inevitable that a girl so richly dowered and surrounded by so many tempting matrimonial baits should not long :remain to adorn the stege. pid had other views for her, and though she left behind her a "trail of broken hearts," the little mischievous god did not intend always to be discomfited. One of the most ardent and persistent of all her wooers was Charles Paula, the handsome, if not irreproachable, Duke of Bolton; and whether it was owing to his importunity or to the dazzling prospect of a duchess' coronet, we know not,but one day London was startled with the Mews, which ran from mouth to mouth and was the absorbing topic from the 7 court to the meanest coffee house, that the "Mike of 13olton hod run away with Polly Peaehum." The rumor was per- fectly true. Lavinia, the child of the shims, the dazzling ornament of the stage, had capitulated at last, and—an though not for some years—Was destined to take her place among the greatest ladies in the land, but little lower in rank than a princess of the blood royal. For nine years she wore her new and splendid dignity with a modesty and adaptability which conquered. even the hearts of the OILViOUS. To all her charms of person she united a rare intelligence, and she repeated in the salons the great triumphs she had wen as a girl on the stage. "She had much wit, good, strong sense, and a just taste in polite litera- ture," says a contemporary. "I have her, when her conversation was much admired by the first characters of the age, particularly old Lord Bethurst and Lord Grenville." From Lavinia Fenton, whose beautiful voice and childish charms won her first conquests in the obscure London coffee house, are de- scended the present Lord Bolton and others of the great nobles'of our day. Eighty years came and went before London again fell under the spell of an- other Polly l'eaelitun, who, was destined to a matrimonial fate little less bril- liant than that of Lavinia Fenton, her great predecessor. And to complete the parallel between the two cerecre, the name of this second Polly, who was to win a coronet, was Bolton. In 1700, just thirty years after her Grace of Boonton had been laid to rest at Greenwich, her succeedr made a very molleet retranee on the stage of life in Long Acre, but a few minutes' walk from Lavinia's old home, the coffee house. Who or what her parents were seems te me unknown; but beyond doubt they o • 'spied a humble position in Ina Like Mite Fenton, Mary Catharine Bolton was a born singer and meteor, and was &stilled for the stage aloarat from her cradle, Her natural gifts were trained ame developed under the boat teachers of her day—Bellamy, Signor ntlai told Mine. Ilivehi heeling among her inetruetors; and at sixteen she dude her debut as Polly with eon:ides:al& success. Her triumph, however, was no rivaue so in ThltitillicollS anti e,rinidet-1 as that of her aped rival, elle had, it ie !eel. the sane lonely nnii wiaseme- nees and an equally lovely voice, but her t for rather was ea so great, How- ever this nerey lee her mageger was mit satisfied, anti only consented to re -en. ga:!e at a starlike salary—an utter Which site aceepted. But if Mary Bolton was not an ideal Polly, there were other rola she could fill to the delight and unbounded riatis- faction of the theatrical world. She made a perfect Itosina, and her Ariel, it is said, has never been surpassed. "her way- wardness and winsomeness," wrote a cri- tic at the time, "her capriciousness and coquetry, the birdlike sweetness of lier notes, and -the grace with which she seemed literally to float in the air, com- bined to make an ideal presentment of Shakespeare's exquisite creation." Nor ware Mary's conquests confined, to the stage, for many a gallant and high - placed lover sought her band; among them a royal duke, who threatened to destroy himself if she would not smile on his suit. But elareds hand was not to be won by such a dazzling offer; cajolery and threats were equally powerless against one who declared; "I. would a thousand, time rather die an old mad than wed where I cannot give my heart." The fairy prince, however, came to her as he conies to all maids; when Cupid wills their conquest; and in Mary's case he was none other than Edward Lord Tburlow, the clever nephew of a clever uncle who was Lord Chancellor of Ena- land. Few maids have had a more romantic lover, for not only was his lordship a handsome man of courtly exterior and many graces and accomplishments, but he was also, and foremost, a Poet—a past master in the art of writing polish- ed verses. A lover so bountifully equip- ped to captivate a maiden's heart could not. long be resisted, and one day in No- vember, 1813, Mary Bolton blossomed into a baroness, from whom many Brit- ish peers have been prou'd to claim de- scent. Lord Thurlow's gain of a beauti- ful and charming bride was the world's loss; for, as an enthusiastic scribe of the time records, with an amusing confusion of metaphor, "with her there vanished one of the brightest stars that over blazed in the firmament of the stage or fired to enthusiasm the hearts of all who love perfection of female charms combined with a genius for the dra- matic art." So far we have seen two Polly Peach - urns translated from the stage to the "gilded eireles where coronets flash," and yet Cupid was not content to leave the winsome maid of "The Beggar's Opera" alone. When Mary Bolton was playing with her dolls in Long Acre Catherine Stephens was being cradled in the west end of London, but ft mile or so away, and she was destined to complete the trio of Pollys who have adorned our eam he stated on the counties of thie "Then When they no longer interested To Europe by State. He now ha them at his tongue's - - end, classified up to the fourth letter. Now he is starting on kftto Capitals and their locations; then be will take up country seats. A moment's glance at an atlas during the day shows him when lie is wrong, and the beauty of the plan is that he rarely bine to think along these lines longer than ten minutes before he is sound asleep. "To make it ehort, the study of gee - grapey is a good mtreotic."—Pailadelphia Record. ROW MOVNTAIN SHEEP LEAP, Ease With Which One of Them Rids Himself of Dogs in Pursuit. Soon after we started a black bear he ran along the foot of a cliff and past a bunch of mountain sheep up on the cliffs, following one of them to the edge, writes D. a Beaumu, in. the Denver Post. It Was a big rani and when he got neer the edge of the cliff he came to bay, and for several minutes stood off one of the fox terriers which had kept elose to him. Pretty soon a foxhound got up on top and joined Me terrier, and they both made a charge on the Sheep, and it looked, pretty bad, for hint, as we thought, but he did not seem to think so, for he made a sidewise spring straight out from the edge of the preci- pice, apparently six or eight feet, and then spread his feet in a sort of bracing woe:, and with his body in a perfectly horizontal position and parallel to the face of the cliff chopped straight down to the foot of the cliff. There is an old theory that mountain sheep in jumping from a cliff light on their horns, but that has long been ex- ploded. However, many have supposed that they jumped down in the ordinary way, alighting first on their front feet, Title I believe is also an error, except when the distance is slight. Where the distance le at all great, I now entertain no doubt that they light on all their feet at once, and as squarely as if standing still, juet as this one did. The , position of this sheep when dropping was stiff -legged, but the instant his feet touched the ground his joints gave way, • with increasing resistance, however, act- ing as springs, until his belly almeet touched the ground, before the force of the impact was overcome by the memo- , lar resistance. The philosophy of this. is 'obvious. The hoofs of the mountain sheep are also heavily cushioned and are about as elastic as a rubber ball, There seemed to :be no more jar when this sheep lit than if he had descended but two or three feet. He was up and away in- stantly, and was soon out of reach of the dogs, which wouldn't think of mak- peerage. Ing the jump. Catherine was the daughter of a aro A short distance to the left of where Cr and gilder in a small way of business, the sheep etood the cliff sloped off so a man of modest ambitions, and, with no love either of the stage or of lords and lie knew little of either, thought by a curious turn of fate his own child was one day to be a countess. As a lit- tle girl Catherine's voice gave promise of exceptional sweetness; she was a born singer, and her father was induced, much against his will, to give her the advan- tage of a good training. Under the tui- tion of Lanza and Walsh, who were among the greatest musical teachers of the time, she developed into a vocalist of rare gifts, and after a triumphal tour of the principal towns of England she burst on the world of London in the part of Mandane in "Artaxerxes" at Cov- ent Garden, leaping at one bound into the very front rank of actresses. Front this first appearance on the stage at the age of nineteen there began for Catherine Stephens, the gilder's daughter, a career of almost unrivalled brilliancy, the climax of which was reached when she assumed the character of Polly Peachum, in which it is said she excelled all her predecessors. So wedded was Catherine to her art that she turned a cold shoulder on her wooers, though seine were among the highest in the land, until her avowed intention to live and die a maid seemed almost certain of accomplishment. But woman proposes and. Cupid dis- poses, At least it was so in .Catherine Stephens case; for when even her most ardent admirers had long despaired of seeing lies' a wife Cupid let loose a shaft that found a lodging in her heart. The successful lover was no gallant full of the fire and passion of youth—Catherine herself was forty-four at the time, and would certainly have scorned such a wooer. The man to whom she gave her hand and heart at the eleventh hour was George Capel Coningsby, fifth Earl of Essex, a man who would never see 80 again, and who led his first wife to the altar eight years before Catherine was born! There could, one would think, be little romance in this alliance of the widower of 80 with the lady of el, and yet it was beyond question a enjoin �f hearts, and, though brief, the marriage, was sin- gularly happy. So iinpetuous was the veteran lord that he only waited three months after burying his first wife be- fore he appeared at fle. altar with his second. For a few days over a year his lordship survived, when he left his widow, to be known and loved for many a year as the Dowager Countess of Es, sex. These are but three out of a large amber of Cases in wheel actresses have blossomed into ladies of title under sin- gularly romantic conditions. Lenin Brunton, daughter of a strolling player, a woman of great beanty and charm of character, bad teeny noble lovers before she capitulated, in 1807, to the first Earl of Craven. From Louisa Britton many of our great lords and ladies de - Earl of Craven. From Louisa Brunton daughter of a Cork apothecary, after e brilliant stooge career, Was wooed and won by Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby,' and as a countess was one of the chief favorites cit the court of George ITT.; and to give Ind one more example from these older times, Anastasia Robinson, one of the sweetest singers the stage has known, trots made a countess by the third Teu:I of Peterborough, the penin - Rubio hero, who, hi order to make quite. sure of his lovely anti talented wife, ac- tually went throegh two marriage cere- monies with her. that he could have descended to the foot of it easily and without a leap of more than four or five feet, but the dog could have followed and thus kept hold after him. This way clown was in plain sight of the sheep and he was no doubt perfectly familiar with it and with all the features. of the cliff, as it was his home. It seemed as if the sheep decided that the only or best way to baffle the dogs was to do something that they could not do. I would not dare to assert that such was the case lest I Should run up against some of the naturalists who claim that wilannhuals do not reason. The dogs were afraid to approach even as near the edge of the cliff as where the sheep stood when he jumped, and when he had passed out of their sight over the edge they seemed to think he had taken wing, as they immediately quit the chase and came back to us. Mr. Smith and myself were on the op- posite side of the gulch, about 200 yards away, and saw the whole performance, ,which lasted several minutes. It Wall ,the finest exhibition of animal agility I 'ever saw or expect to see. How far a ,sheep can jump, or, rather, drop, and not hurt himself I do not knew, but this was pretty good. I went up to the spot afterward and measured the height of the ;cliff as accurately as possible, and found 'it to be between 20 and 25 feet. From time ease with which he made it I Mould think he could almost double tbe distance without injury. •o TOUGH ON GEORGE. I Going to Steep on Geography. A 'haggard. loneing Mari strolled into a downtown arug store the other day and reeked the aruggid, far help. He said he load trouble in getting to sleep when he retired. No metier how eirepy he might. be auring Oa day tsr how nitwit sleep he might haVo lost, Om moment, his head tattelled the pillow he was melee awake mid lay thus for several hours. The drug elerk reeareeel him telizeically it few momenie anl teen replica: •Aly deer wave you don't went:Merle eine. Neleti you went is plia,ttirr to .0v.Trp, the teed of ewe, te,,egigo el a friena ef mine did. IT.,' WAS Ir ;Weil V:0 POMO war nee fennel test tee old plan tof geode paseher i imarrier and muffling! teem wan one of date. So he began feeler: te mono all the Stetes Its the radon. lie semi, ffet- thietn ho he Could classify them Alphalleticalla, He Tried to Plense His Young tadir Mightily. "Say you will be mine," he pleaded. But she hesitated. "You have been very, kind to me," She said. "And I swear to devote the balance of my life tio you," he protested. "Your devotion has always been mark-' ed," she assented. "1 admit that you have paid every possible attention. You discovered my favorite flower and kept me supplied with it all last winter. It was very thoughtful of you." "It was my love---" "And sweets, George. You, seldom let me be without thorn. It must have taken a great deal of your salary to---" "Pray don't speak of salary, Luella. How can one think of money when try- ing to anticipate your wishes? It was, end is my greatest pleasure." "You have seemed to think that I was too fairy-like to walk anywhere, no mat- ter how short the distance," she wont on, "A hansom, dearest—you'll let me call you 'dearest'.:- hansom is a small matter When one enjoys your company. .How eould I ask you to walk when I knew you preferred to ride?" "I appreciate it ell, George," she said; "t appreciate it folly. And I like. you, George. I—I—perhaps I could truthfully say I—but T. rant marry you. I have thought the matter over calmly and seri- ously, and I feel that I could not be happy with you." "Why not?" he asked, enxiously, "You are too extravagant."—Tit-Bits. Scotsman and Whuskie arise Elizabeth Marbury, of the board of governors. of New York's woman's chub, tho Colony, Was discussing the queeleon of the club's liquor II, n "It is railer is matter of indifference to us," rue said, "whether we get a le cense Or not Wcnmmen, you loony are not given to drinking. .riney cite too careful of their Appearaece, They desire to remein elite and fresh; rind wine es you Itnow tench to melte us alla stale and hit. So if eve had a license, I think wo ehottli sell little. "It would rot be with us ea with a eirmer I .oere met. in eeetland. "Travelling in time Soattish Higiolando One summer, I stopped at a farmhonse for a Map of Milk, and the View front the door was so loving that I said to the fanneve ) "'Aim what it euperb place to live Rd" I "On aye.' he answerel, in convent.: tional Sesmte, "it's a' rhea; but boo wad ye Moe, ma'am, ta hue to walk lateen simile ilka time yo wented a bit glass • wbuskey?` "'oh, we4W Artie I, `why don't lett get ▪ ilemijobn of whiskey and keep it, tat .the vIre shook his head sadly. . Vintskey,, he said, 'wont kook° Hudson Bay The utter blockade of cretboune freight or; all the railroad littet of the Northwest- ern. States end weeterro danuee has given great impetus be the agitation for a shoat route to Bump° by way of Ittalsen Bay. 'Whin -the last six months, says the lie - view of Reviews, six different charters have been taken out for different railroad schemes connecting with iluason Bay. Ono of these was obtained by Mr. IOU, who used to ridicule it. liurlson, Liay road its a venture that would be "snowed up for tea Moutha of the year tuna Med up the other two." The Hill charter plans to teed the treleft‘t of Daltilla and Bonne:out Into the saseatche- torn to liudson Pay. Builders' are at work en the southern end of this project now. ' .A.notiaor of these six Ilueson nay charters is owned by the uew Canadian eanscontin- entre. ime—the MacKenzie -Mann road. Of the 400 miles needed to connect Churchill with the railroads of the Saskatchewan the Mac- Kenzie -Mann road has already eighty miles P'tgleti. atilt riVelnrotieniT; Tor t rtaiiin" cows," as the fny unudstInDay.z porslave always described roads ou Two other electa have Boon galvanized into life by the schemes for a Hudson Bay route, icor years Canada has talked of a deep winter coma up the Ottawa from the St. aawrenee to the Crest Lakes. suddenly surveyers ere set to work estimating the cost of a canal that would connect Lake Superior with ocean traffic. The cost, it mav ho said, Is estimated at $121,000,000 . Then amend Beeson nay is a vast un- organized territory—Keewatin, about the rase of Germany, The 'western provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan suddenly ovals - en to the fat that each wants an extension poorf titsonboriunudd%rinesrlitanyr.oss Keewatin tor a sea - Roughly warble. Churchill, which will be the seaport of tho Hudson flay routes, Is just 1,000 miles from the grain mese of II111's roads. New York is 2,00 miles, Churchill is 1,000 miles from Oregon, New York is near- ly 3,000. Says Premier Laurier, in answer to a ro- queat for a road from e.,-freinior Greenway, of Manitoba : "I agree the tiler has come for the railroad to Hudson Ilea rite statute books contain a standing offer of 13,000 acres of leada mile along the line of this rail- road, and If this Is not sufficient encourage- ment for promoters other Insane mast be found." As to the question of the practicability of the 'Churchill harbor, mue writer quotes re- cords showing that it has always an open season of five months. In favorable seasons this Is extended to seven months. . The harbor itself could net have been bet- ter ' direcit go ilinnililebilaninTh, aorpfent,o „oeid„perWafetr %sail from thin west end of rho straits—no alioals, no reefs, deep enough tot r..ne deepest draught keel that over sailed the sea. This—as cap- tains of the big warships know—is true of neither Montreal nor New York. At Neiv' , York deep draught slaps have to wait the tide both for approach and departure; and On the St. Lawrence shies are always taking a mud bath on the and bars Over against this advantage, let it bo stat- ed -frankly, Churchill summer and winter is subject to just WI furious gales as over bat- tered the iron rocks of Newfoundland. One other danger peculiar to Churchill must be noted. Five miles out ..uo hay is open all the your round, but as the cold hnomes in, tense what is known as "frost fog" lies thick 1 asTvectolenocu tho sea, obscuring everything. at mile the two headland is not IL IIIRIfiellae .0, against the tremen-s , dous current of reivwerid and oh btinlebut t the ' dous current of river curd ebb tide;; b harbor Inside, a magnificent expanse of land looked water, with the fur post five miles, up stream, Nut all railroad projects to Hudson flay bingo not on Churchill Harbor but on tho straits. Can they he navigated? How long : aro thoy open ? Even if they can bo navi- gated by slow ocemignert, will they be of any avail for a fact Atlantic route Hudson Straits aro really a deep gorge whIch the fen of the Arctic world — the Ice of the prehistoric ages—lhas cut and grooved and torn forcibly out of the solid rock, find- ing egress from Fox Channel of the Anita° to open water of the Atlantic. Into this funnel of rock, CA miles long, ie jammed front tho west and pounded and entreated the area of an Inc cenoinent, and up this channel from the cast runs a Udell* thirty - !Ivo feet high, When thlerip and Me meet there Occurs what. the old navigators of tho Hudson Bay fur trade call "the furious over - fall." The Canadian Government hat sent two special expeditlens (in 1.SRS amid 1897) to test the navigation of the Straits, and one general expedition to navigate the northern writers (1908-41, but the natation has bocAnne no ter- ribly political—so much a me.stion of east versus west—that the official reports on the expedition are more noteworthy for what they have unsaid than for what they say. The Gordon expedition of 13.31 and the Wakcham et 1397 definitely establishment these facts : Hudson flay is open, all the year round; a open current flows through the straits winter as wen es summer, but Owing to ice drive this -current of tho Straits is closed to navigation after November, and is not open again till June—that is, there aro always five months when the Straits can ho navigated, sometimes six. There was also discovered just inside the eastern entrance M the Straits a splendid landloeked her- - . or haven of refuge—Port Flurp11--shei- tered front all win? s but the sou 1. IA, P. Low's expedition or 190341 made a still more Important centribution to the data on the Straits. Prom actual experience and from the testimony of old Hudson Day navi- gators Mr. Low estromened the fact of two onca currents always fleeing in the Straits; one along the north shore, inland westward i bearing the ice drift of oreeniand, so that the ships entering can go with the Ice drive; ono along the south shore, outward eastward, ...bearing the raft leo of Hudson flay, so that the elites going to sea can also go with tho ice drift; in teeth Cases ships can navigate tho Straits with the tee drift, not against It. In fact, the difficulties of the old navi- gator,against the drive. Tiut wrecks or no wrecks, the Hudson Bay route Is coming. If tho be made fit. not know those currents and attamped to sail scented to have -peen that they did Straits aro not fit for navigation they will SCIENCE NOTES. , OM State* are eetfinated at 000,000,00,• 000 tone, or Allere titan 0119491ari4 tJte efotinlitte4 coal reserve of the entire country, The average earninsa of an English: train per mile is about $1.35, and the total yearly receipts per mile are a tie more than $23,000. There are o thousand acresof sub- marine coal mines being worked around Cape Bolton. The diameter of the soil overlaying these diggings enables them to be worked without Interference from the water from above. The Fraternity Peril. No intelligent pennon who studies our CatietitiOnta bytitent at the present time can doubt that the fraternity inevement is another of the perils of modern edu- cation, Boys like to be men, They like to become men as quickly as possible; and, unfortunately, it same more net- ura to Ahem to imitate the defects and vices than the sterling qualities of Moo whom they admire. Among the it- Imbittione of this genera trait is the rage for secret organization which has recently taken possession of our coun- try from ocean to ocean. Boards of education in (dela have been compelled to take action. Stmerintenotents ci schools and principals of high osehools, as well as high school teachers, almost without exception declare that these eraternition are seriously injuring the young people of time schools where they are found. Everywhere that the sub- ject has been fairly developed, so far as we can learn, the boards or education are prohibiting these organizations,. The fraternities are appeolling to the courts and the courts are sustaining the boards of education; and we may hdpe that the movement already checked may be destroyed. But that the frater- nity movement is a peril no one can doubt. It is unfortunate that the presidents and professors of colleges have seemed to be far less intelligent, or less careful in respect to this matter, than the high sehool men of our country. In multi- tudes of our colleges secret societies arc permitted to do, without let or hind - ranee, what the boards of education and the faculties of high schools are seeking to prevent. The same snobbery, the same petty persecutions, the same tend- encies toward, smoking, drinking, gamb- ling and licentiousness, which have caused the high schoehe to reject the fraternity, are clearly evidenced in the fraternity city of the colleges. Yet the governing boards of the latter seem to be ignorant, unwilling to do the thing which the situation requires,—From an article in The Home Herald. ANXIOUS MOMENTS. • Thousands of Little Ones Die During the Summer Months. Every mother of small children knows how fatal are the summer months. Dysentery, diarrhoea, chol- era infantum and stomach troubles are alarmingly frequent at this time, and too often a precious little life is lost after only a fewc hours' illness. The mothers who keep Baby's Own - Tablets in the house feels safe. The occasional use of Baby's Own Tab- lets prevents stomach and bowel troubles, or if the trouble comes un- awares the Tablets, will bring the little one through safely. Mrs, George Rob, Aubrey, Que. MTS.: "I have used BaTaes Own Tablets: for stem- • ach and bowel troubles, with, the :best results. I feel quite safe when I have the Tablets, in the house." Sold by medicine dealers or by -mail at 25c, a box, from The Dr. Williams Medicine Co. Brockville, Out. THE OAT CROP. • The French cavalry recruit goes through -a long course of instruction be- fore he is cionosiderea competent to got on a horose. Old -age ineure,nee is compulsory in Clormany, and the cost of carrying the imumnee is altered by the- Government senO the employer. It is claimed that only one out of 250,000,000 paasengers on English rail- road trains meets with an aecithent. The railroad rolling ',Freak of -England would form a train 1,800 miles long, with 22,000 loeoinotivest In Stockbohn one person in six is a telephone subs:1.14er. It is claimed that munieipal eweers?hip of teleploones is a failure in England. erne/es-hi telephone companies: have ria elaborate scale -of charges selealuled ac- eording to the character of the Nisi - IOTA. Cl1111'q are eltargea the maximinin. The Span -kill Gormimen.t encourages telephones by taxing the oompanies from reve- nues., to 35 per rent, of their net reve- At the preseent lime Prance is trona blot with on :over -production of tvine. Tantalum, the new metal, which is be- teg extenovely mare, lige of at the pre- bent time, twas discovered about two e ears reel by o Swedish cherniet, and was ore named becenee of the tantalizing eifffieulties he experienced, in its devel- opment, 'lee total coal resource's of the South - Ale Insect Pest Attacks It in Huron County. A good deal of uneasiness has been a- easionc,d am-ong fermers and others on account of a blight which seems to have conic on the oat crop. Many of the blades have turned brown and present a withered end dead appearance. This is general and is quite distinguishable from the road. Seine ascribe one cause and seine another. Some attribute the blight to frost and some to the rav- ages of the wire worm. But a gentle- man who has made a close examination eays it is due to little insects or lice which have settled on the leaves and which have sucked the moisture out of them, but that the &talks and roots are quite sound end healthy. He attributes the appearance of these insects to the WarM, dry wea- ther -at a certain stage in the growth of the plant and says that the recent heavy rains will destroy them. If this theory is correct there need be no fears for the crop on this amount, for so long as the etalk and root are healthy there will be an unimpaired crop.—Seaforth Expositor. *4 41, - Booth's Impressions of Japan. General Booth, who has just returned from the far east, has given his impres- sions of japan and its people to the press. The general, in the course of an interview, said: "I like them (the Japan- ese) for their naturalness, thoughtful- ness, and preparedness to consider any- thing you may put before them. I like them for their burning passion—such as swept the Russians off the field of battle. It was not all skill that beat Russia. But," he added,. "in their ascendancy they are going too far in westernizing them- selves. The west is to them a paradise. They even have their suffragettes. But drink and gambling are the two demons that are waiting ta pounce upon them. Japan has lessons to learn front us and we have lessons to learn from her. She is full of controdictions. There the children do not go to school without their breakfast. There you will see none without shoes and stockings. You never see a child or a woman that is not de- cently dressed. Everywhere the men are struggling into civilization by means of trousers.' With reference to commercial progress, the general mid: "There aro features about the Chinese ahd the Jaye anese which are bound to make them the eonquerore of the World; but they will do it by peiteeful meeat.hods," Surprises a Thrifty Preliclitnaii. A limn& business man visiting in this country IS quoted as saying that what surprises him most is the reeklese way ine whieli our people Spend ineonea. In Prance every laborer, no matter how itunible or how small his pay, centrivee to save something year by Veal.. There elso bushiese Men work and- Save and 1 I ob eon]: fmo or :Yea r on to p ebnelaiiingg athhleei r to ot rnret,inirges moot obitairea Workingmen teem to lie Here, on the contrary, as this ?tench - than axing, while busiriess Men appear tweet to think of tetirinre but work on ofourmutuhettureereandsadtepleafvinwtfo ortkhienigt rai and lieOfielar temsWobilavnudbleictutxpe,nditure.--Sreftig- Balloons and Lightning. Great Danger for the Aeronaut Up In Ow Storm Clouds. During an Inspection of traps by the King and Queen of Italy a short time ago a balloon ascension took Fiore pi Rome, and almost immediately after' ward, when the balloon hod reached, a Jwigimt ostm'ueikbfyioliilgyhtalugt aln,0d00 after feet, itta Icwi in fire fen to the earth, The officer in charge, Capt. Unveil', an engineer offi- cer and balloon expert, was so seriously injured by the fall of the basket that he died in a few hours, Timis ens the first time on record that a free balloon was strack by lightneng, Captive balloons, on the other baud, have occasionally been known to serve as conductors between a cumulus cloud earth,Thishas IltrnatipptelireasurfaceseVelofthealtinies uiule.d For example, on November 11, 1801, a balloon sent up on Monte Male, which had been partially hauled down on the sudden approach of a storm, was struck by lightuing at a height of about 300 feet. The occupants, a captain of ees- cnagpientleeit'vshh"lxcomlicpDasraatnitd'elay slisergeantslight in- j t In the experimental trials of the Ger- man balloon sections balloons have often been struck by electrical discharges. A very exciting ease of this kind occurred tornooepIs.ay. 23, 1002, at Hurlach, south oh Mater Ledfeld, in the Bavarian. balloon First Lieut. I -Tiller, in charge of a bal- loon, found himself at about 0 p.m. at a height of about 2,000 feet, when a heavy black cloud appeared ou the horizon, the approach of which caused the men at the telephone and the capstan to experi- ence electric shocks. Thc officer in charge decided to bring the balloon down to the ground, but it was too late. In the midst of the preparations to ef- fect its descent a short, sharp thunder- clap was heard and one of the horses of the balloon wagon fell over. The lightning had struck the balloon and set the cover on fire. In a minute the burn- ing material fell to the ground, Lieut. Hiller in the burning mass. The men came to his assistance so quickly that he suffered no injury from the fire, but his left leg and his right ankle were broken and he suffered a heavy concussion. After a long siege in the hospital he recovered. Three of the men standing below were also struck, and had marks on their breasts or the soles of their feet similar to the effects of small calibre bullets, They reedy- ered. These accidents have suggested the necessity for protecting eruptive balloons with special lightning conductors, con- necting the iron parts with the cable and leading to earth front the capstan. It has happened that even in fair weather a DWI of lightning has been discharged from a passing heavy cloud. As a rule ascensions are not made in threatening weather, and this matter would have no general interest if it were not for the fact that captive bat- loone now form part of nearly all expo- sitions or public outdoor entertainments and opportunity is generally given to make ascensions. On these occasions, owing to the lack of proper precautions, accidents often occur. The principal societies which take an interest in and encourage this form of sport take precautions to avoid accidents, but irresponsible persons hav- ing balloons in charge are very apt to neglect them. .The question of the danger from light - rung experienced by a free balloon has become very serious, owing to the great number of ascensions made nowadays, a number which is steadily increasing year by year. Theearliest record of an aeronauts's experience in a thunderstorm is that ot, the Frenchescientist Tetsu Missy. On May 11, 1780, while studying the electri- cal condition of the atmosphere, this experimenter made an eleven hour night journey and remained for three hours in thunder clouds conducting his observa- tions. He noticed several times on the iron points of the basket the well known phenomenon of Si. Elmo's fire. John Wise, the noted American bal- loonist, gives an, exciting description ce his experiences in a storm during an ascent made on June 17, 1843. The bal- loon, as it came under a black cloud, be- gan to rotate anti to ascend rapidly. On entering the cloud Wise experienced a sensation of suffocating and had repeat- ed attacks of vomiting. Tnt consequence of the great cold the ropes were covered with ice and snow fell. The balloon was whirled about and rose rapidly, roaring noises like those of a, cataract resounding ni the air. The balloon a -as sent alternately up and down several times with great rapidity, After about twenty minutes it was fin- ally thrown ,out of the cloud. Capt. Hildebrandt of the German army had a sunder experience when he made an ascent on Juno 7, 1002, with the di- rector of the photographic laboratory of the technical high school at Charlottem burg, Prof. Miethe. At 5.30 p. M. near Falkenberg, the brilloon hail the towline out, but to avoid injuring the cultivated fields a. landing was not effected. The balloon soon reached Nieder-Finow, and then the forest at Melee but no good landing place Was found. Ballast was thrown out and the bal- loon rose a few hundreol yards and en- tered an apparently imi•mlees, low lying cloud. Suddenly the balloon began to rise very rapidly, and a peculiar rushing noise became audible as if there were a waterfall down below in the wood. Hail fell into the basket from all eidee. Three Ones the balloon, was hurled rap- idly from a height of about 400 yards to 2,-100 yards and down again. The lois- tine stood mit straight, nearly on a heel with the basket, and the latter Was thrown About so violently that the in- mates had to hold on with both hands. The storm forced the gas out of the venti- lator at a rapid rate, and opening the ventilator had no effect. Little lightning was noticed, but the thunder was continuous and loud. After about thirty minutes, juaging from the barograph curves, the balloon left the region of Me thundercloud and fell at a 1 rate of about thirty-four and A lutif feet a second to the earth. It alighted in #4a, top of an old beech tree tual remixed there. Prof, Miethe was la down by the people from Mope in rope and brought wagon, end with their assistance the hal. loon was lowered to the ground. Balloons have often been in oumulue clouds heavily charged with eicarieltyi end sparks have been noticed on the frog ring or the writing lever of the homo- graph, but no effect like a lightedoel stroke has ever been experienced in free balloons. It is therefore a question whether a balloon which may suatiordy find itaelf in a thundercloud can be *amok by lighte rung. in general, it may he await that this is impossible, since the outer surface of the balloon aways takers time elecariesd potentud of the ethroundine nix oonse- queutly a flash of 110,111141g (elle squab izing of the difference of potential be. tween two masa/ cannot mom, On the other hond, it is not impossible that when a lightning flash take. pities between a cloud and the earth it may set fire on the way to tine gas eseapiag from a balloon between the two, but this effect is not probable. But it has often matured that a bal- loon rapidly changing its elevation se is nearly always the case in making a landing, charged as it is with the posi- tive electricity of the upper layers of the atmosphere, comes down to the negae tively charged surface, and thus causes sparks to fly from the iron valve or ring, which set fire to escaping gas and cause an explosion. In this way the balloon Humboldt* of the Berlin Aeronautic Society, was burn- ed on April 20, 1893, while making a land., fag, as the valve was pushed to the ground by the strong wind. In 1902 the new balloon Pannewitz, of the Berlin society, burned up in the mule Amy while making a landing on the island of Zea- landU Such discharges can be prevented by coating the surface of the balloon with calcium chloride, thus making it a eon' duetor, as suggested by SigsfieId, or by connecting the iron parts of the balloon by wires with it long wire hanging down, thus effecting idow discharge before the basket reaches the ground. Them pre- cautions are now well understood by the princia aeronautic societies and are al- ways taken, so that under their super- vision there is little or no danger to the aeronaut from this source. HARD ON THE CAT. Have you ever heard a eat get mixed up with a sheet of sticky fly paper? If not you have missed one of the real sights of this life. The terrified, jumping, spitting, mowing creature presents a most ludicrous spectacle to all onlookers and muses an immense amount of laughter and fun, but when the frantic and maddened pet becomes almat smothered by the sticky stuff and 'the -artana.ge to cam -pets, curtains, etc., etc., begins to be realized, the housewife fails to appreciate the funny side of the episode, and then and there deoldes that in future she will use only Wilson's Fly Pads, which are three hundred (limes more effectual and cannot &maga carpets or furniture. All druggists and store- keepers sell Wilson's Fly Pads. Avoid worthless imitators. WHY CAMEOS ARE SCARCE. None Are Being Made—Stones Used by Cutters. There Is A -great scarcity of cameos in Eu- rope and America now, owing to the gradual dying off of the old cameo cutters. No cam- eos are being made, and the old stock is dim- inishing rapidly because Of the present crams for old fashioned jewelry, and Jewelers say - the oraY way they can replenish their atoek Is -by buying old cameos from private owners. Of a dozen jewelry establishments In St. Lents visited recently by a purchaser In soarch of cameos, says the Globe -Democrat, only one Bad unsot cameos hi rit0031, and only throe had more than eight specimens of tho-set game. This scarcity of cameos Makes them very expensive, and those jewelers that are so fortunate as to have them in stook can get almost any price they ohoose to ask for them. The true nature of a cameo is very mach mitrunderstood by the public generally. Moat people think it ts the stone itself, whea in reality the method of cutting is what pro- duces the cameo. The real meaning of the word is unknown, its derivation having never been discovered, butt correctly speaking cam- eos are small sculptures executed in low re- lief on some substance precious either for ita ebauty, rarity or hardness. There are emerald cameos, turqU.case cotta - ens, shell cameos; coral cameos; indeed, any subatanee that Janda Itself to carving la suoh minute detail can be use* for cameo cutting, ano nearly all predicate stonek *meat dia- monds, have been so used, DiamoWe have been used for intaglies but never for wa- wa. ameraia is the twat common preolotre steno from which ramose have been made, and there are some very fine emerald Dor- trait cameos in existence, notably' these of Queen Illitaboth, In the British. Maseinn. Shell cameos were first rude in the fifteenth century but never became popular uftell re- 0,eativ. flanded onyx is generally toted for cameo work, because of Its hardness and coloring, and It is this fact that bat Muted the Mis- ripprobensien, the stone being used en stanch In making cameos that it hart now become better known as "ortmeo" than by Ito right name. 4 • e• RAKEOPP ON THE PANAMA. Eloquence of Rat Store Salesmen Ins spired by a Commission. You may notice that the voice of the hat store salesman grows more eloquent when he mentions the Panama, his man- ner more rnorestly persuasive. "They all get a. commission of 5 per cent. on the Panamas they smell," explain ed the manager of the store. "We give it to them because these hats cost so much that we make money on it. "Men often seem reluctant to buy a Panama, however much money they have. It is then that the persuasive salesman intervenes and pile off the sale. "You can see it pays us to give them a, percentage on hats that range in priori from $20 to $75. On no other hots do the retail dealers pay any percentage." 4- Op - It is generally easier to tell what We don't believe than what We do. 1444 4001C•40.1010040406.0440000.104401 Consumption is less deadly than it usea to be. Certain relief and usually complete recovery will result from the following treatment: Hope, rest, fresh air, and—Scot/4%r Emulsion. ALI DRUGGISTS I 150c. AND $16004