Exeter Advocate, 1901-6-27, Page 2The Don's
Lzst, Coup.
"What! Spoof 'erne" WaS the de-
lighted query.
• Masevellotis intuition. You've
guessed it, 'Undoubtedly the game
is spoof."
O * * * * * *
4,1-1 tingdene w ae thronged with
'guests and the revel. was at its
height. The magnificent hall -room
* 0 0 0-4-4* was a glittering panorama of whirl-
TheY called him The Don 1.•eett34Se fitg forms rhythmically obeying the
in the uttermoet extremity of straies of a popular Waltz played by
fortune he managed to retain a fair a celebrated bend On the terrace
,eemblande of that spick-and-span ex- scattered groups of men smoked in
-Leder' which bespeaks your 'true ego- silent communion; the gardea walk$
test. He was a 'brainy man, for all were parecled by mysterious whisper -
lie had at one time been a valetaIIis ing couples. Only the yard and sta-
brains, indeed, heel proved his ruin, bles were deserted, for the servants
for they beoeght him down to the were waiting eagerly for the, signal
1ever of the cracksman. Which would summon them to wit -
Things were at a somewhat awk- ness the theatricals in the Blue -
ward pass at the time, and as his
pals ehuillecl out "hands" from a
vile pack of cards and scooped their
tricks by the light of a, reeking, evil -
smelling lamp, they threw many 'ae.-
xious glances at The Don. He was
reading a paper, seemingly quite ob-
livious of his surroundings, alheri ho
Slit a small egetaueular hole in the
newspaper, and holding up to the
light the printed serap of pitper that
had filled it, he addressed the other
two occupants of the room.
"Listen to this, boys: it has giv-
en me an idea which may ,or may
not prove a bonanza: 'A Murderer's
Escape.—The Bales Hill murderer,
Samos Cooney, who -was lying under
sentence of death at Barne-ville Gaol,
effected his escape this 'morning with
singular cleverness and daring, and
is believed to be hiding ha the neigh-
borhood of Lutingdene, You 'know
Lutingdene, Steve?"
"Viscount Woodward's place? I
°tighter, Don. Got six months to
remember 'it in when, I first joined
the profesh. What's yer lay, any-
way?"
"To crack that crib in a distinctly
new and original style, and give you
your revenge at the same time. This
is how I propose to do it. On the
23rd, two 'days from now, the Vis-
count is giving a ball to celebrate
his son's return from South Africa
with the V. C. The affair will be
one of considerable magnitude, as
the society papers say, and in all
probability every jewel in the coun-
try worth looking at will lend its
sparkle to the general brilliancy.
We've got to annex those jewels."
Huh," said Steve, while the
• other man, "Welsher," was content
to mutter hoarsely an encouraging
"Go on, Don."
"The opportunity will arise when
the party are assembled in the Blue -
room for the amateur theatricals.
The servants will be there, too. The
consequence will be that every living
soul in the mansion will be gathered
together in one room at thehour we
select for operations. Now, there
are two doors in this room, one at
the side and one behind the stage,
and at the appointed time your sta-
tion shall be at one, Steve, and
yours, Welsher, at the other, both of
you ready at a given signal to lock
those doors from the outside. I will
give the signal from the stage."
"From the stige, Don?" echoed
Steve. "Yer aegivine to tike part in
the play -actin'?"
"My performance will be a solo,
and will, I expect, prove so absorb-
ingly interesting that a rich harvest
of jewels shall reward nay efforts.
After my 'turn' has concluded the
door at the back of the stage shall
open to permit of my exit with the
spoil, when it win immediately be
relocked, and we depart with as
much celerity as may be.". , pollee do something to capture him
Welsher looked at the speaker an- and put an end to our anxiety?" '
grily. "There's a time fer all things, "Well, I giant you theY have al -
Don, and rip me if this is any time lowed our confidence in them to be
fer fairy tales. What yer mean to shakensonaewhat. ,But we must not
say?" expect too mech. Few of us have
"IsIola on Welsher," said Steve any comprehension of the manifold
with a grin, "I know what 'The difficulties the police, encounter in
Den's up to.. He's a-gwine to hyp- their work. , By the bye, Lady, Tril-
riertize 'ern so as they all go to lington, I notice that your do not
sleep, eh, Don?" drive about as much lately as here -
"Hypnotize them?" .repeated the tcifore. - I trust your penchant for
Don. "No, Steve, the force.I advert the open air has not suffered throtgli
to is the sort of moral suasion that the escape of this criminal?"
is exemplified by a dynamite bomb "I fear it has. I must retaliate,
on the point of explosion." however, with a similar query. What
There was, a slight pause, in order have you .done with your motor of
.tbat this utterance might have due late?" '
comprehension, and then The Don "It is out of. order I am sorry tO
. „..
proceeded:— , say. The brake refuses to work, saiee.
"It shall be necessary that I have other matters prevented 'me having
the stage temporarily to myself, and it repaired up to the present. TO -
this encleI will attain by a simple morrow I shall have itlooked after.
subterfuge. I will then claim the at- I hope your fears won't preVent you
tention of the audience for a few accompanying a few of us for a run
minutes, and this shall' be readily when it is serviceable again."
accorded to rale if onlY 'on account of "Oh, no, I shall be charmed. Bet
the 'strangeness of my appearance, here are our budding actors all cone -
which will be an exact fdcsimile of ing down to us. ttaThat does it mean?
the escaped felon, James Cooney." Something must be wrong."
With great lucidity he continued to The Viscount looked up in sure
expound his scheme, weighing, its prise as the players in the piece
possibilities and combating its diffi- trooped into the room from one side
culties with a wealth of , ingenuity of the stage dressed in character.
worthy of a better cause, When he , "What is the matter,,,Wooclsvard?"
ha.d finished there was silence, and inquired one of the men approaching
two deep -drawn breaths were simul- him.
taneetisly inhaled. ,. '`The, 'matter?" echoed the Vis -
"What about gee-ography, Don?" coiint. "What do you mean? Why
inquired Steve, slowly. don't you begin?"
"Shall we say topography?" core "Why, there is a slip of paper pin -
meted The Don, smilingly. "There ned up there requesting us to go be -
is need for anxiety on that score. fore the curtain for a few minutes
I was a valet once, you know." before conarnencing the performance.
"What! Yee boss wasnd, garn." It is signed by you." '
"Fact. Viscount Woodward. I "You must be joking,. Plimsoll.
know every nook and coiner of Lute never wrote it. Halloa!"
• illgdene.'" The exclama,tion' was caused by the
"What about gettin'. away, Den? sudden rising of the drop curtain,
Tikin the jools rimy be all right, but revealing a strange figure standing
tildn oue hook's the ehief thing after in the centre of the' stage, a man of
all. What yer say, eh?'' middle age, unshavenand uncouth,
"That, Welsher, is, I fancy, my with close-croupedhair and repill-
trump card. For the purpose of put- sive features. 1 -lis ragged clothes,
ting as much real esi-ate as possible stamped with that hall -mark of in-
between our precious selveS and Let- rainy, the broad arrow, enhanced his
ingclence after effecting the coup, we sinister exterior. IIe held in one
will take temporary poseession of hand a round, black, onrinoue-look-
the Viscount'e moter; Which , a wise ing object, and in the other a lighted
forethought shall haive ready prepay- taper. At his feet was an open
ed for us. You will eecollece that brown leather bag. It was our
the efigineering of a Motor repres friend The Don, dressed with as
sents a emelt coinponent part of my much faithfulness to the publiehed
Varied accomplishments" description of the eee,apecl murderer
"Den't you think, Don," , said
Steve, doubtfully, "that a dynamite
bomb is an awkward bit of goods to
be expeeinaentin' eviLls in thet kinder
faelvion? Night , gooff sudden -
like and bring down the house in
eernest."
"Steve," seid TJic Den with solem-
nity, light that will,cause that
bemb to explode sVill • never be in-
vented,"
In the shadow of the, coach -house
Wall three motionless figures, one of
them carrying a peculiarshaped par-
cel, stealthily made their way to-
ward the house.
Had anyone gone down to the
cdach-house afterwards he might
have observed that the lock had
been skilfully Ticked, 'leaving the
door ready to be opened at a mo-
ment's notice. Pursuing the inves-
tigation, the back gate would have
been found in a similar condition,
and inside the coach -house it would
have been seen that the Viscount's
automobile was in a singular state
of preparedness ,for a journey, con-
sidering the hour, and ra.pidly,gener-
ating the force necessary for speedy
departure.
Some twenty minutes later the
guests were all seated in the Blue -
room, facing a miniature stage beau-
tifully draped, and soon to be trod
by the clever amateurs who had gra-
ciously consented to amuse their fel-
lows. All the theatrical surround-
ings and accessories which the wand
of wealth could summon served to
convert for the nonce the handsome
chamber into a veritable theatre,
and the delighted acclamations of his
guests rewarded the Viscount for his
efforts towards their aniusementS As
the orchestra concluded a brilliant
overture his companion, the Dowager
Lady Trillington, tapped him with
her fan.
-Do you believe in dreams, Vis -
moment this taper touchee it We
shall allebe hurled to destruction. If
anyone MoVeS 1 Shall apply the
light. I am reckless as to the con-
eequences. My life is forfeit in any
case, and 1 place no value upon it.
I Wish to offer you certain terms for
your safety which you mast accept.
The alternative is death." t
There was a short pause, during
which everyone sat as if turned to
stone. The conviction that here in-
deed was' the escaped murderer,
James Cooney, was absolute. Had
the man shrieked out his words and
flourished his arguinent, so to speak,
in their faces, very probably some of
the ladies would have fainted, and
the men, rendered furious in conse-
(pence, might have precipitated mat-
ters in a very unpleasant manner for
The Don. As it was, his cool de-
meanor and low, stern tone, which
rang with the deadly earnestness of
desperate man, merely stunned the
senses of his hearers into a 'kind of
mesmeric stupor.
• "I must have the jewels of every
lady in the room. The gentlemen I
will excuse, as their valuables are
too bulky for my purpose. You, sir,
will collect the articles. Take this
bag. Quickly. Time is precious."
The youth he addressed, extending
towards him the land holding the
lighted taper, rose hurriedly with
ashen cheeke, and seizing the bag ly-
ing on the stage in a trembling
grasp he began to collect the val-
uables.
He experierfeed no difficulty in ob-
taining the jewels. The Don's su-
perb acting so wrought on the
nerves of the ladies that they flung
their costly treasures' almost with
relief into 'the bag, and the men,
with the consequenees- of resistance
SO surely before their mind, showed
little desire to -prevent them. That
the man was utterly reckless and
desperate was the uppermost thought
in the minds of all, and in compar-
ison with human lives jewels were
cheap, Furthermore he would be
pursued as soon as he had discarded
his hideous plaything, and his cap-
ture was certain. Indeed, it was
hard to see how he could possibly
escape.
Driven by his own overmastering
fear, the trembling collector rapidly
count? ' made the tour of the room, the bag
"My dea,r Lady Trillington, I con- meanwhile swelling visibly as its
fess I have never asked myself the costly contents became augmented,
question. Stay, I do believe in
dreams, that is if the lobsters are
strong enough. If they're not, why,
you may escape after all."
"Don't treat the matter as tiniest,
pray. It is a pet theory of mine."
"From which I infer that some vi-
sion of deep import disturbed your
rest last night. Not anything un-
pleasant, I hope?"
"Indeed, yes. It was More a
nightnause than a dream, and was so
vivid that I have not shaken off the
effects of it yet. It foretold 'a ca-
lamity if ever a dream did, and I am
convinced some misfortune shall fol-
low from it."
"Your dream could have -no better
ally than your own faith in it, Lady
Trillington. Lou must really un-
derstand that the thing is absurd. If
we were to live in constant dread of
the unknown existence would be in-
tolerable."
"It is not the unknown I fear.
There are plenty of very real clangers
always around us, even in charming
Lutingdene. For instance, that es-
caped murderer, James Cooney, who
is supposed to be in hiding here -
till filially with difficulty the patent
self-locking jaws clicked together.
The coup was completed, and noth-
ing now remained for the conspira-
tors but to beat a rapid retreat.
The Don glanced down at the bag
at his feet and then round the room.
With the pride of genius he could not
resist that triumphant pause, that
exultant look of victory at his con-
quered enemy. Society, now so help-
less despite its elaborate protections
and far-reaching power. But the
tension was obviously relaxing.
With the yielding up of theer posses-
sions everybody seemed to breathe
more freely, as if the danger had les-
sened and it was time to think of
retaliation. So The Don quietly
stooped and picked up the baa, tap-
ping the floor with his boot as he
did so. " Then with his face to*.the
watching crowd lie beeeed slowly to-
wards' the door, wheei in the mean-
time had mysteriously sWung open.
When he had passed through iteclos-
ect with a bang, and the key was
turned in the lock.
* * * • * *
abouts. Our very lives are not safe Half an hour afterwards a strange
spectacle might have been witnessed
while he is at large. Why don't the
as his experience as a valet enabled
eine to eXercise.
When the curtain ha,c1 folded back,
svhich it did automa,tically, he took
a step to the froat and said, in a
harsh vo 1
"Silence. Let no one move, on the
peril of • his life arid the lives of
every soul in this building, • I have
in this hand (holding up the round
object) a deadly explosive, and the
on the bleak country road between
Lutingdene and Trillick, the railway
station of the district. The road
was one long and uninterrupted de-
scent, in part peeilously steep, and
a huge automobile Was flying along
it at a whirlwind pace, jolting over
the eccentricities of the primitive
roadway arid reeling horribly. in the
clutch of ruts and depressions. In-
side the car were three terror-strick-
en, wild-eyed •men, one,of them vain-
ly tugging at a useless brake with
the monotonous peesistency of de-
spair, and the horror of swift ap-
Proaching death writ large on •the
faces of all. .. • .
'The moments passed, the thuge .ve-
hicle gathering 'momentum • with
,every rood traversed. And then
Fate appeared in the shape of the
,massive 'white gate of a railway
•
crossing. The motor hurled itself
into the obStruction with the force
of a score 01 battering rams. There
.was a horrible rending noise of
splintering timber, ,the hissing 'of es-
caping steam, a sharp cry of agony
• intermingled with a long, shuddering
moan, and then the silence of the
grave.
When the catastrophe was discover-
ed (which was soon afterwards, ow-
ing to the clue furnished,by the mis-
sing motor) one of the occupants of
the car was found unconscious in a
field some distance away., having
been shot from the car like a can-
non ball at the anoment of collision.'
•
It proved to be Welsher. His super-
ficial injuriee were practically nil,
and he lieed to taste the hospitali-
ties of a Government retreat for se-
veral years afterwards.
Steve was with difficulty extracted
from the ruins of the motor, and
presented a pitiable spectacle of
sprains, fractures and abrasions.
Many weeks, therefere, were spent in
the local infirmary before he was en-
abled to join • Welsher in his seclu-
sion. The •Don was beyond the
reach of 'mundane justice. He wfs
diseovered at the bottom of the rail-
way gale, lifeless, concussion of the
brain having cut short his career
abruptly but painlesely.
The jewels which he had plotted so
daringly to obtain possession of
t
were recoverec in aet .--L
onc on int -
Bits.
A BIG" RAILWAY ENGINE.
The largest coal train engine in
England has been constructed at the
Great Northern RailWay 1Company's
locomotive works at Doncaster. It
is an eight--,vheel coupled engine de -
Signed to draw 800 tons. On the
first trip from Peterborough to Lon-
don it took 650 tonS, drawing forty-
five truck". Other engines of the
same type are to be built to facili-
tate thee/male-line coal teethe,
HOW TO OPERATE THE MOWER,
In cutting timothy for hay, the
sickle bar should be two or three in-
ches above the base of the plants,
Clover mid other meadow plants
may be- cut closer. After 'the hay
has been harvested close pasturing
by horses or sheep is fatal to tim-
othy meadows. As a rule it is not
desirable to turn stock in at any
time. If pasturing the aftermath is
practiced, however, it should be
doae very late in the season and the
animals allowed to remain on only a
short time.
To facilitate hay harvest, the mea-
dow should be in as large fields as
possible with no division fences.
This will make it possible to go
around large lends when cutting.
Much turning with the mower will
be avoided' and time saved. If the
horses are good walkers, about ten
acres • a day can be cut with the or-
dinary five-foot mower. Of course
this variee with the condition of the
ground; the condition Of the hay
crop, the kind Of team used, etc.
Where °veer:fling, is favorable, it is
easily possible to cut a larger acre-
age with a six-foot machine, but one
acre per hour is about the average.
The modern mower is a very sim-
ple machine, -with but few coraplex'
parts,Consequently it is not at all dif-
ficult for the average farmer to op-
erate. There is little excuse for the
machine getting out of order. Of
course, some skill and experience are
required. Keep the machine in per-
fect condition by using a sharp
sickle—the most important item to
be looked after. No machine can do
good work with a dull sickle. IL is needed and tend to send the largo
roots deeper do
best to ha -ye two sickles on hand. down to the moisture.
If one gets out of order the second Should the growth of the plant, in -
can be substituted. Another impor- dicate a marked deficiency of active
tent item is to keep the sickle bar food at an early stage I have found
juice it decidedly advantageous to apply
free from gum and dirt.
The some soluble and quickly available
from the cut ends ol the grass plants
manure alongside the row and .cul -
is sticky. Dust falling upon this
tivate deeply into the soil. Almost
tends to form a gummy substance, all of the firstclass high grade p0 -
which must be removed at frequent
tato manures are readily soluble in
intervals. Dy keeping the machine water and will give the plant a
well oiled, particularly the sickle quick, healthy start that will tide
bar, this trouble will be reduced to
it over the season of usual drouth,
leaving it in vigorous condition to
mature a crop when the fail rains
'come. Two or three applications of
from '75 to 100 lbs each per acre
v
nude at interals of from ten days
a day and see that every nut is tight
to two weeks; the last dressing not
and there 1S 110 lost inotion any- to be made later than ten days bee
where. As soon as the boxings be- fore the plants come into bloom,
gin to wear, take to the factory and
will produce the same result.
have them overhauled. it is a good
'If It is.not desired to hill or bank
idea to have a blacksmith or a ma -
thorough understanding of these
general principles and their practical
application are great factors in suc-
cessful farming.
SUBSOILING.
Subselling, which consists in stir-
ring the soil below the depth usually
Plowed, •acts differently in different
soils and different seasons. It mak-
es more roone for development and
enables the plant to extract food
and moisture from a greater area,
BY loosening up more of the soil its,
capacity for absorbing and retaining
moisture is increased. By absorb-
ing greater amounts of moisture in
winter and spring, provision is made
against summer drouth. The effects
of subsoihng last from two to three
years and are more marked on the
growth of root crops, such as tur-
nips, beets, carrots, potatoes and
parenips, than upon others. • The
best test as to profit in subsoiling
is to try it upon an acre and note
carefully the yield and result as com-
asoaisleced. with a given area not sub -
ESSENTIALS OF POTATO CIT,L-
t" TITRE.
After planting do not •wait for the
Weeds to start before cultivating,
but begin with the weeder and spike
tooth harrow, both length and
crosswise of the row, destroying mil-
lions of `sprouting weed seeds, writes
Mr. R. 111. Winan. When the plant
appears go into the field with the
horse hoe or thee riding cultivator
and continue to dig up and turn over
to the sun a.nd air all the earth you
can reacli without literally tearing
up the,plent. Do not be afraid to
expose or e-ven break off sonic of the
small lateral rootlets while the
plants are young. It will let in the
air to soil and roots where most,
minims -me. the minim. Tbe pitman rod must
be oiled -every few hours or so and,
also the Other bearings where frica
tion is greatest.
Go over the machine at least twice
•
up the revis whenlaying the crop, a
chinist go over the mower each sea- furrow shoulcl, be left in the centre
son befere taking to the field. •
between
rows at the Test cultivation,
• Where the meadow is free ' froin
serving to drain the surplus water
weeds or brush, there is . little clan- serving
t r,ow, to hold it in reserve,
ger o injuring the sickle; but in'
many fields, particularly thoSe
and to prevent rotting during a pose
re-
cently seeded, immense weeds with sible wet period after maturity
hard, woody stems appear. These
are frequently an inch or more in
IAROU'T THE
thickness and almost as hard as
hazelbrush. Before cutting the hay,
these. shoeld be removed, or they
will certainly injure the me.chine.
Then, too, along the hedge in mea-
dows, formerly cultivated fields, I Off. The only Way of measuring the
there are frequently sprous from the
distance of a fixed star is by paral-
.
hedge planttThese, of course, are hex, and scarcely more than half a
.
very hard and must be taken out dozen can be estimated that way.
before the grass is. cutWith theSuppose the sun is here, in space,
. '
on January 1, On July 1 he will be
precaution referred to, a inodern.
184,0.00,000 miles.over there.' This is
mower will last for e dozen or more
years and remain in almost perfect thes base of measurement. The obser-
ver who wants to estimate the dis-
conclition. Of course,.it is taken for tance of, say, the star A Centauri,
granted that the machine is kept in
a dry shed when not in use. ,,
SUN.
Its Distance From the Earth and
Its Substance.
The sun is about e92,000,000 miles
THE 'FAMILY GARDEN.
,
The fsumily*garden usually 'pays. a
notes its position with regard td the
next' star, In six months he notes
again, and if they are separated by
a different distance, a so-called par-
allax is.established and some calcul-
ation can be made of the distance of
greater profit on the labor bestowed :the . nearest one. in -the 'most fav -
upon it- than any other portion of °rabic lOases this Parallax is ex -
the farm, even when managed by the •trernely slight.'•
old-fashioned method of small plats VVhat,is the sunmade of?, The
and beds and hand cultivation. : This lines Of ,the spectrum givean idea of
being the case, it can surely be made his chemical properties; but ;beyond
to pay a much greater ratio of prafit
eahsa ,whole. is a tohf Cen\lti
by planning to plant every thing'
possible in long rows far enough tenial than the earth, buts'yetathere
apart so • as to work •them -with a
horse and cultiVator, thus greatly
relieving your own muscles. And
the saving' in cost of, cultivation is
only a small part of the benefit of
the long row arrangement. It will,
naturally lead to a much more fre-
quent and thorough cultivation of
our garden _crops. • The important
advantage of a frequent stirring of
the eurface soil among all our grow-
ing crops, we are convinced, is too
often greatly underestimated. It is
said that it payer to hoe cabbage
every morning during the early part
of the season, and although this may
be carrying it to an extreme, we are
convinced that a more freqUent cul-
tivation than is ordinarily given
might 'prove profitable. The fre-
quent breaking of the crust admits
of a freer circulation of the air to
the roots, 'and aids them to make
the most of all the clews and rains
which fall. Next to actual irriga-
tion frequent and continual surface
cultivatien aids in secttring and re-
taining moisture, and supplying it
to the growing plentS. '
SCIENCE IN FAD:MING.
'From time to time someone de-
nies the value of, science in !agricul-
ture, • Not long since in the legisla-
ture. of a rich ageleulteral state a
member in opposing a bill which cal-
led for an appropriation' for educa-
tional purposes, stated that the best
farmer in his neighborhood did not
know how to read end write. The
time ha e long since passed into ob-
livion when it iS necessary to repel
the as sari Its upon scienti2ic agri cu I-
tem. While occasionally a, nsan en-
tirely ignorant of science may be a
good' farmer; no one Can attain the
highest success unless lie under-
stands the principles which underlie
agriculture. He must know SOME: -
thing of soils and felilizers, plant
and animal growth, nitrogen's place
in agriculture, the nature of the
changes which take place in milk,
butter and cheese, etc. During ,the
last 20 years it has „been demon-
strated over ,and over again that a Italian,,
m`ay be a hard and heavy fiery:pud-
ding inside, for there is a light and
thick outer ' coating named the phot-
osphere. Outside this, again, refining
away to an unknown distance, is the
chromosphere, of hot air, so to
speak. The spots are rifts through
the photosphere; coining and going
and some are so large that our
whole earth could • be shot right
through with aathousand miles to
spare all round. When a total ec-
lipse covers the sun, flames to the
height of thousands of miles • are
seen out of the photosphere. The sun
is 100 times larger than the earth,a,n
,eacy thing to say, and yet our sun
is believed tobe a rather Small one.
For instance, Siries is at least nine
times as big.
A CHINESE COLLEGE FOR LON-
DON.
In future if you want to learn
Chinese there will be no need to
travel to China to do it. A Chinese
colleges' ie to be established in Lon-
don; and, thoughethe' college is not
yet built, some of the professors
have already arrived and have start-
ed work.. The professors wear their
ordinary Oriental"' garments when
taking' classes, and rna,ny pupils
have joined—Army men, ,engineers,
city claks, and budding diploma-
tists. Of course, there ha-ve long
been Chinese professors at Oxford
and Ciarnbridge, but this is the first
venture of the kind svhere the teach-
ers are all natives of the Celestial
Empire. •
LIFE-SAVING INSTRUCTION
%The New Zealand Government has
decided that swimneing and life-sav-
ing shall be taught in all its schools.
The Life -Saving Society's method
having been e,clopted, 2,000 hand-
books and charts have been sent by
order of the Government for the use
df school -masters. The hand -book,
in which the course of instruction is
fully set forth for OW t180, of classes,
schools, and individuals, has also
been translated 'into Swedish and
'
•'UNEXPLORED 1EG1011S.
1,520,000 Square Milne of Land
, Canada Practically teaknown.
There is 'no -need that adventurous '
travelers ehouid sail for Africa ort
even •for •South America in order to
find regions yet enexpeored, if, as
the director of the geological survey
of Canada asserts in his last report
PractiGn ally nothing is known of one-
third of the- Dominio"of Canada,
He says that there are move than
1,520,000 square miles, of un
ds explor-
ed lanin eauada out or a total
area computed at 3,150,257 square
miles. Even'exclusively of the in-
hospitable detached arctic portions,
Q54,000 square miles are for all
practical purpoees entirely unknown.
The writer goes on to say:
"A careful estimate is made of the ,
unexplored regions. Beginning, at
the extreme Northwest of the Do-
minion, the first Of these areas is
between the eastern boundary of
Alaska, the Porcupine river, and the
Arctic, coast, about 9,500 'square
miles in extent, or somewhat, smal-
ler than Belgium, and lying entirely
within the Arctic circle. The next
is west of the Lewes • and Yukon
rivers and extends to the boundary
of Alaska. Until last year, • 32,000
squaieamiles in this area was enex-
plored, but a part has since been
traveled. A third • area of 27,000
square .miles—nearly twice aS largo
as Scotland ---lies between the Lewes
Telly and Stikine rivers. Between
the Pelly and Maelsenzie severs is an-
olher, large. tract of 100,000 sqtrare
miles, or about double the size of
England. It incfudes nearly 600
miles of the main Rocky Mountain
range. An unexplored area of 50,-,
000 square miles is found between
Great Bear • Lake and the Arctic,
coast, being nearly all to the north
he
of tArctic circle. Nearly as large
as Portugal is ,another tract be-
tween Great Dear Lake, the Macken-
zie river, and the western part of
Great Slave Lake, in all 35,000
square' miles. Lying between Stik-
ineis and are aL Laird l,0(square
dinv0ers) tsotaliremile
e Soutp,
which, except for a recent visit by a
field party,
IS QUITE UNEXPLORED.
Of the 35,000 square miles south.
east of Athabasca Lake, little es
known, except that it has been
crossed by a field party en route to
Fort Churchill. East of the Copper -
mine river and west of Bathurst, In-
let lies 7,500 square miles of unexe
plored land, which may be compared
1to half the size of Switzerland, East-
ward from this, lying between the
Arctic coast and Black's river, is an
area of 31,000 square miles, or
about equal to Ireland. Much larger
than Great Britain and Ireland, and,
embracing 178,000 square miles, is
the region bounded by Black's river,
Great Slave Lake, Athabasca Lake
Hatchet and Reindeer Lakes,
Churchill river, and the west coast
of I-Iudson Day. This country in
chides the barren grounds of the con-
tinent. Mr., J. B. Tyrell recently
struck through this country on his
f trip to Fort Churchill, on the
lehurchill river, but could only make
a preliminary exploration. On the
south coast of Hudson Day, between
the Severn and- Attawapishkat
rivers, is an, area 22,000 square
miles in extent, or larger than Nova
Scotia; and lying between Trout
Lake, , Lac Seul, and the Albany,
river is another 15,000 square miles
of unexplored land.
"South and east of James Bass'
and nearer to large centres oi popua
lation than any other unexplored
region is a tract of 35,000 square
miles, which raay be compared in'
size to t'ortugal.
"The most easterly area is thcs
greatest of all. It comprises almost
the' entire interior of the Labrador
peninsula or Northwest Territory,
sn all 289,000 square Miles, or more
than twice as much as Great Britain
and Ireland. Two or three years
ago, Mr. A. P. Lowe made a line Of
exploration and nurvey into the in-
terior of this vast region, and the
seinegentleman also traveled in-
land up the Hamilton river- " but
with these exceptions the country
may be regarded as practically un-
explored.
"The Arctic Islands will add as
area of several hundred thousand
square miles of unexplored land."
CHINESE DENTISTRY.
They Have Been Slow in Recogni.p
ing Western Superiority.
If the Chinese can boast that noth-
ing is new to them, and that all the
arts and sciences are old stories in
the Celestial Kingdom, its is still
true that for operations 'in dentistry
an American or European svoulcl
hardly care to go to a Chinaman.
The work is ludicrously primitive.
The operator extracts all teeth with
his fingers, and it mustbe achirittecl
that his success is astonishing. Ills
dexterity is due to years of praetice.
From you tie to manhood he ie train-
ed to pull pegs from a wooden board,
This training changes the espece of
•the hand, and gives the student a
finger grip am azi ng in strength,
equivalent in fact to a lifting power
of three or four hundred pounds,
Forteothache he employs opium,
peppermint oil, cinnamon oil and
clove oil. Sometimes he fills teeth,
but he doeS it so bunglingly that the
fJllingsstay*in only 'a fete 1110/1thS.
An element of superstition runs s
•througlieall the work. According to
the system, all dental WOOS 10.0
brought on by tooth worms.* Tho
nerve pulp is such a worm, and as
, .
always shown to the paticnt. For
humbugging purposes, also,, the den-
tist carries about in his pocket some
white grubs, and after he has ex-
tracted a tooth be shows a grub to
the sufTerer as the cause, of all the
teauble,
The position of the dentist of this:
class is not very lofty' among hi?
0011ntrym MI, and he is re,gard8d ar
half -way in soCial importance be
ween a barber and a laborto, which
is certainly a great injustice to th,(
honest laborer.