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Exeter Advocate, 1901-8-22, Page 2t Or c.,,, e a t‘• "" The . Wooing iR, ,... ,...,, -,,, constantia. : n. ed Witch Of , ••••••••••."±"..""..."‘ , footed No111.1 the enthusiasm, and he kicked out. It W0.5 a disastrous kick. It land- ed him ia an earthenware croak full , of buttermilk, and the splash, the crash, the loud •shriek that would. not be suppressed; all produced a sensation that reduced the belliger eats in the kitchen to silence. For a moment only. Then shim], taneously they cried "scat" at the top of their lungs, aad went for the scullery. door. 1110 little McGillicud- dy—Jimmy was his name—thought, as he still floundered in the butter- milk, that. his.••last hour was, come; but as vengeance sure and swift was descending upon him, a loud kao at the hall -door reverberated,throu the house. Miss :McGillicuddy caine to a stand- still and so did the cook. "Who's that?" said Miss McGilli- cuddy, addressing no ohe in particu- lar, yet evidently desirous of an an- swer. "Who would it be but Misther Bar- ry?" replied cook, rl`here is scorn in her accent. On one point, at leagt, she and her mistress were as one. They both objected to Garrett Barry as a husband for Constantia, thoagh he was a young rna,n of fair means and good family, • though in one sense of no family, as he hadn't a soul belonging to hiin. alive, at least no one nearer than a cousin. The young man's visits of late were of Such frequency as to suggest the idea that he found a difficulty in living through twenty-four hours without aeeing the younger Miss McGilli- cuddy. knock \i'as loud and buoyant, something like, himself. It aggravated cook and her mistress to the last degree, but it saved the shiv- ering Jimmy, standing in the scullery dripping butterinilk as hard as he could. Miss McGillieuddys sailed up - 'stairs eager for the fray, and bent on stopping the irresistible Barry in the hall; but fate, and Minnie, the parlor -maid were too much for her. Mr. Barry—as she entered the drawing -room feeling somewhat baf- fled—she discovered sitting there, beaming upon Constantia—who, in- deed, was beaming back at him in. what her aunt called a most un maidenly way.' Just now she was smiling delicious- ly, and it was evideat that the young man sitting near her was in the very paradise of 'contentment. Constant- ia was charrning. She -had the pro- verbial Irish eyes—blue-gra.y, rubbed in by the proverbial dirty finger. Lovely eyes they were; coy, coquet- tish, alluring, repelling, as the owner Willed. Her mouth was a firm. little member, her nose saucy. She looked always as, good and true as she was. Iles figure was as lissome and pliable as a willow wand; and when she stood erect, with her lips laughing, and her eyes gleaming at you from under their long lashes, I can tell you she was a thing to dream of. She was, indeed, a thing whom many dreamt of. , "Ah, `how d'ye do, Miss McGillicud- dy?" said Barry, rising to his feet and advancing toward a that gaunt spinster, with an absolute effusion of manner. He, was a tall, large -boned, sunny -tempered young man, with a mouth that was always' making an effort to get at his ease; this proba- bly came of Mach laughtoiae• He was born in Limerick, where his people had lived for many generations, and where they were much thought of; but an uncle's will, leaving him a considerable property in the County Cork, had brought him to that coun- ty. For the past six years he had been living in England, and consider- ed himself specially English in many ways. He really believed he had quite -- an English accent, for one thing; but this was an egregious mis- take; a Limerick man never reforms, so far as a.ccent goes—and indeed Barry had ono that, to use an ex- pression of his own, "you could hang your hat on." Even here in Cork; ,hey couldn't help wondering at it at imes. "I am suffering front no malady, I -hank you," replied Miss McGillicud- dy, regarding him with a stony stare 'my health is perfect. There is no .ecessity for you tonuake such polite nquiries.'' If she had hoped to disconcert Mr. larry she was altogether mistaken. , "That'a capital," said he, cheer.: ully; "nothing like health. I'm just ike you, as strong as a horse." "I'm not a horse," returned Miss Icaillicuddy; "nor yet as strong as ne, Your 'gin -lilies are not only ade of the mark, but—" "Quite so," interrupted he wisely. "You are looking uncommonly well, hough, let me tell you; any amount etter than when last I saw you." "Which was exactly twenty-four ours ago. Is it your honest opin- on, Mr. Barry, that people change uch in that short space of time?" "Hours—is it, really only hours? aith, I thought it was years," said e. He accompanied this speech with glance at Constantia full of ardent ffection. She smiled (in spite of the trepida- on she was feeling), through force f habit probably, and perhaps be- ause she liked the glance, and Mass cGillieuddy saw her. . "To some people," she said sternly lies are acceptable; to one, possessed f rugged virtue they are not!" She aused. _Evidently, Constantia re- •esented the "some people," she the rugged virtue.'' • "it's a lovely day, isn't it?" -said "Is it?" returned Miss MeGillicud- , with an uncompromising glance. Coastantia; who was now, yeey-iier- us, burst out laughing. ''One can. see thatfor oneself,'' she id. She grew frightened when. she Mal her own laugh.ring out—not much. Of her aunt as, because of r; one never knew, 'indeed, what e was going to say next. She . was ginning to hope that the earth. mid open and awallow her up ickly, when again the door was rown open and "Mr. Featherston" as announced. To be COntinued. t*,4103E.4E.'s14.4Eli,?H1)14*,C44W,..4.'31:4i3O).:40;10)i.4.4:16g$W4K44.04!i+AWii. , SYNOPSIS OE PPEQEEDING ke.epirig the. English in her own OnAl'AT411S.— Conatantia'a cousin, Donna, alter travelling abroad re- s a struggling hetiSehola; r'13,11S turns honie ,afra, Duadas 4ffid. finds uccfilliehady. spent; her iifestrying to that, during her abseime Doed Varley,,: make both ends meels—a"aaci,enipleye ono of het- old flaniea, has married,. meat. , One laxury ahe .allowed bey- aelfa that was the power of changing CHAPTER a tinned. her-religioaa opinions as often as she °hose. To -day she vtus Church and worallipped with vestments and c a tidies tieks; to -morrow Low Ohara' withea, virtuolisiliorror Of the ritual. She .had. supported the Eresbyteriaa minister, :who held. hits chapel in. the lower end, of. the town, -and. :after :a bit had openly :deserted: him,. and given .her cOunteamiety to the. Meth- ody parson. wile spoke to . his follow- ers at the upper end,' Just! now she was pleased .with the vicar leecau„se he had given , her excellent cabbage plants for the vegetable gArden and so. was pretty orthodox her views; but one could not. be sure whither the next wind would blow. her. , She Was .very likely to hold with the. tents 01 the Church; for sosne . to .come . because her • Mind. was. fully occupied with a !mission. She, adored:.Mis- sions. She s had within . the, past month enrolled.herself as a membet of 'the Blue Ribbon: ArinY, and Was now 'oectiPying . herself making con- verts right and left., She' entered with :zest into. the new .crusade. It . . suited.. her 'admirably. It gciire ,her the power Of wounding any aMount come so soon," said Donna, of respectable people; it made her: Prettily, when Lady Va.rley had .g.teeted Con- feel More righteous than thoSe who stantia affeetiona.tely, and Mr pea_ still clung. to. the. pernicious glaas of das with the -courtesy that belonged sherry. . These she. called Wine -bib - to her. By this time! Donna had re- .bees, And .read them long; lectures, in covered any little embarrassmeat she which tlIC Re6hab,ite -Ugur- might have known. If net better ea. She arrayed herself in blue rib - dressed,. her gown was, as all events, bans,. It was an excellent miasiOna raore striking than her visitor's, and and 'an econcimieal one; .it put a fall there could be no doubt as to which stop to the wine merchaat'S woman . had the greater claini just now She was bent !on the 000 - beauty, Lady Lady Va'rley might not please version of Mr's' Mulcahy, the cook, the many. Her face was too pale, who now and Used to take. her Mouth not prone enough to "just a thimbleful . nate" for the. laughter. Sometimes glauce from good of her "stomick," she said. :To the earnest eyes had ..Power to Check convert her—to show her the error. of unldndly -mirth in Others. Of the her ways, and induce her to orna- soul Shining through those eyes :sew Ment her person with a square inch. cared .know. Society likes to of blue ribbon—that Was Miss McGile laugh. licaddy'S drea.ml "I am so glad to find you at home "Do you remember 'I'hursclay fort- -to make your acquaintance really," 'eight., Mulcahy?" she asked now in a said Lady Varley, in her low, cliS- sombre tone.. On Thursday, fortnight. tinct voice. "One may go on for the 'thimble had last been put in re-. ever leaving cards ,without knowing anyone.. :.And I half feared this -"That was the day Miss Norah. lovely day might have tempted you broke your . cliany cup,". said MrS• to go eseth..• Mulcahy, who, however,. understood 'When one. has only just conic, to a her perfectly. new place there'. are .so many little "1 was not alluding to that can; I things one must see to: oneself,' if One was rothinding you Of. a Cup that, is to live," sanswered Donna, who should not :cheer, and does'.inebriate. • laeVer did .anything. • She put on You know well to what I allude, Mid-, quite a little .hoaseWifely air, that cahY. You should. learn to resist sat ' charmingly on her and would that eup." have .been .perfect on a minaic stage. "I niver was much of a hand at Ladtr. Varley ,Smiled in. senek appsesaa larnin' anything," said 'Mrs. .1‘16.1. atio,n, and Mr. Dundas told 'himself cahY: doggedly; '"anael'm Ould now, he had married an .angel.: • COnataa, anyway, to begina As to the: cup tie, looked down aid faawned. 1`But 'ye .spake of, I nia•ea take anything 1 am. glad I could not go out," went oat of a cup, save- it Might :be me on Mrs. Dundas, with one of her brila tay, and share ye wouldn't thry to Rant sfiiiles; "as my. Staying ix has deprive a poor Mild woman of that. enabled Inc to see you." • Then (suite Ochone! I remember well M. yer'.fa-; suddenly: "Lord Varley- did. not conic ther's time, whin --a." with you?" She changed'. her position "Never Mind about that .interrupt - and fixed her eYes full upon her ed Miss McGillicuddy,: hastily: Mrs: itort as she asked this. Mulcahy noticed the haste,. and her 'No, unfortunately, On Monday small eyes twinkled.' • She. was a • we heard.: of your arrival. On Tues- large stout, comfortable woman, and day Lord Varley was obliged to go always wore. a hug -e" mob cap, as white as snow, with no less than four lace borders. in it. She nodded this cap now sapiently., 'Keep to the "point," said .Misa MeGillicuddy sternly. "Your habits of, intemper- ance are growing on you, and I would have you check. them before it is toe* late." . "Faix.,' there's one thing, sure," returned 'Mrs. Mulcahy briskly—that the dinner will be too late, unless ye mane. it for toemorrow,sif ye keep me here 'idling much longer." '.1?o not Call :such. ,earnest pleading idling!". cried, her mistress:, vehement- ly. ,."Do you .mean 'to tell. nie: you have no desire .to, save yOurselle-to draw back .from the! brink—to join youaself to volunteers :who glory in the. blue: ribbon and, cold .water?" • :!"Divil a bit!" said., Mrs. Mulcahy again, even more strongly,- than be- fore,' "you've .come here to insult a poor ione,Widdy, Who haa saryed you an' yours faithfully for. forty year, apt I 'tell ye plainly,. Miss : McGillis cuddy, that. hick won't. coin° of it: What. ye. all, Miss, to be pul- lin' an' wid them mane - spirited cratures Who, would destroy half the. thrade.in the counthry?'' "Publicans and,ainners," said Miss 'McGillicuddy; a• Solemn :voice; ."they are bracketed, Down with -them! is the cry I would hear echo- ing through the land."' . • "21,Votild echo a long time before ye.. got rid of the sinners, at all events," said Mrs, -111Silcahy..•,"They'll last. our time, Ihn thinking, ma'am." "Let us. keep to: the pobat,"' exs claimed her mietress, "who delighted in this phrase because she Was al- ways wandering from it.. "Can you say hOnestly that you see anything to •object to ,in this temperance.Move- nient?'' She came in with a half smile upon hee lips and a kindly light in her oyes. A slender, graceful girl, very cold, very self-contained, with a sub- dued haughtineas that was born with her, and was no spurious off,spring of hey marriage, yet full of a sweet gra- Ciousness that sat most perfectly up- on her, She looked onlyta girl, in spite cif her three years of wedded life aad her motherhood. lIer face was singularly' devoid of color, being a clear ivory; her lips were pure; her eyes rather deeply set and very ear- nest; beneath them great purple shadows lay—shadows that added to their gravity, but had nothing to do wita delicacy. Iier dark hair was coiled fa a loose knot at the back of her head. , Donna rose and wont towards he. Involuntarily she looked past her to the door, but no one else came in. She received her visitor with a deli- cious little touch of friendliness, be- , ing, perhaps, freer to do this in that the kindly door had admitted no one but her. Lady Varley seemed struck, by her and pleased. "So more than good of you to to Dublin. Business will, I am afraid, keep him there for a week or ten days. On .his return," she look- ed at, Mr. Dundas here and smiled sweetly, he hopes to call upon you. Mrs. Dundas and he are, I know, quite old friends." Her manner was simple, and very cordial, ''She knows nothing, thought Donna, watching her closely. Satis- fied on this point she removed her gaze, and a faint sigh of relief es- caped her. "I am giving a dance on the seven- teenth," said Lady Varley.' "The invitations have been out some little time, but I hope you will waive ceremony and come to inc." She flushed slightly. She was still at heart a girl, and a touch of shy- ness now and then shone through the calm ,that was natural to her. "That will be delicious," cried Mrs. Dundas, gayly.. "What a charming chance you offer me of seeing all my neighbors at once, instead of wast- ing a month or two over it! , Are they pleasant, these neighbors?" 'They are very much like all other neighbors, I suppose. Some are just RS One would have them, SOMe are —2' she paused and smiled expressive - The smile impressed Mrs. Dundas. "Oonstantia.'s saint can be severe at 'times," she said to herself, won- der, when a month or two has gone over. our heads, in which category I shall find myself?'' CHAPTER III. "Divil a. bit!" said Mrs. Mulcahy. As she gave way to this powerful remark, she placed her arms akimbo. `'Moderate your language, Mill- caliy,'',said Miss McGillicuddy, This was not Constantia, it was her aunt ---a spinster of sonic fifty summers, who ruled with a brazen arm oVer the live luckless orphans whom an trawls° father had left, when dying, 10 her tender merciea. Poor soul! ' There was very little money in her household,, rind poverty embittere! All her long life she had struggled with it; and when the children came to her, they brought with them but a scanty pittance that barely paid for their board and the somewha,t erratic education they had 'received, and Were still receiving. Constaaitia had been educated by a distant connection; Phil, the eldest brother, was now going through Trinity, helped by the same kind but cotti hand. After Phil came a girl— Norah, a thin angUlar little, creature I with a shy, expressiVe face—who un- derwent an awful tuition under her I aunt, Coasstanti mat:aught .hezaanusies but Mi sa McGillieuddy, ;wasted. upon `No—no,' confessed other cau- tiously. " 'Tia chape." "What do you mean, Mulcahy?" , 'Tis chape, I said, Divil • doubt of that! Yee friends won't cost ye much, anyhow. TaY in the morning, an' tay in the afthernocni, an' tay before ye go to bed, an' ne'er clhrop of wine to Warm the heart, I3ad. COSS to such movings, say Arrah! in the mild man's time what a difference there was! Poor ould masther,.he'd be the last to--" A merciful fate at this moment caused one of the junior merabers of the household to slip off the inverted tub in the Scullery on which he was standing on tiptoe, with a view to looking through a crack in the wood- work at the scene taking placc in the kitchen. His heart was warm with a Sacred joy as he listened to the promising skirmish within. He had been. backing, Mrs. Mulcahy so, vigor- ously in spirit, that his body got in- • ck gb 1 11 li F 11 a a ti 0 •11) PI r Ile • dY vi) sa, lie so he sh be svc clu th ALL ALIKE. Farmer Think—How's your new hired man, Ezry? 'Farmer IIornbeak--Jest 11110 all the 'i -est' �f s'eni •I'veeeveyes had. -4,30 ealtizp that he gits tired sestina UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES. The Principles which underlie suc- cessful crop growing, in Canada may, said Dr. Saunders to the Parliamen- tary Committee on Agriculture, be thus summarized:— 'Maintaining the fertility of the land mainly by the proper (nee and use of barnyard manure, and the ploughing under of green clover, thus adding fertility and humus. Atioptiug a judicious rotation of crops. Following the best methods of pre- paring the land. Early sowing, Choosing the best and most ductive, varieties for , growing, The selection of plump and ripened seed for planting, Along these several lines many ex- periments have been conducted. Continued effoets have been made to gain knowledge as to the best methods of maintaining and adding to the fertility of the land, which is so essential ,to , the continuance of good crops. Special attention has. been givento investigations to de- termine the best methods ofhandling barnyard manure, the universal fer- tilizer Which is more oz' less avail- able everywhere to the Canadian far- mer, ' Experiments continued for eleven'years' have aliewn that 'a givea. weight of manure taken fresh from the barnyard is equal in crop -produc- ing power to the same Weight of rot- ted manure. It has also been shown by repeated tests that fresh mannee loses during the process of rotting from 50 to 60 per cent. of its weight. The effective USO of the barnyard Manure, so as to obta the best results with the least was is one of the most important pro lems connected with, agriculture, f on this material the farmer's hop of maintaining the fertility of h land and thus providing for a succe sion of good crops are mainly base During the past twelve years a Mal tests have been made to ga nformation as to the relative valt of artificial manures used separate and in combination, on nearly all th niportant 'farm crops, and the r ults obtained have been publishe Long continued experiments with a ificial fertilizers used alone has •iven results which are disappointin onsidering the large' amount o vailable plant food they contaia ne reason for this lies probably i lie fact that these fertilizers col ain no humus, and that the propm ion of vegetable matter in the so as been niudh reduced by constah ropping. Thu s the capacity of ,th oil for holding the moisture ha eon lessened to the detriment of it rop-producing power. Experiments have been conduete or seveeal years in plbwing 'uncle f green 'clover to enrich the land nd it has been shown that clove eed can be sown in all the easteri rovinces of 'Canada and in 1.11 oast climate of British Columbia t dvantage with all cereal crops ithout lessening the grain crop fo he current year, and that after the rain is cut the clover grows luxur ntly, acting as a catch crop dur- g the' latter part of the season. TeC/1 clover turned ,under is special - valuable to the land for. the rea- on that it absorbs while growing iage quantities from the air which stored up in its, tissues. A. heavy at of growth ia produced by the amnia which, when plowed under, (Ida considerably, to the available trogen in the soil, as well as to ie store of humus. The proportion nitrogen thus added to the land as been found equal to that obtain- froni a dressing. of ten tons of arnyard manure to the acre. Con- derable supplies of , potash, phos- wric acid and lime are also taken 3 by the clover plant during its •owth., a part of which is gathered °in depths in the soil not ,reached some other farm crops. In this ay, the clover practically enriches e soil to some extent in these oth- important elements. That ,the nd has been yawn improved by is treatment hAs been shown in in - eased crops on _neatly plots, when mpared with adjoining plots on aieh no clover has been aown. In e series of experiments with oats, e average increase 'fol. the first year is 28 per -cent. in the weight of the ain produced and 78 per cent. in e weight of straw. la the second ar, when the barley was sewn on e -same series of plots without any ditional fertilizer the increase of e weight of the grain produced on e plots which had been treated Ili clover was 29 rer cent., and 0 increase in weight of the straw s 35 per cent. In a similar series exPeriments conducted with pota- es, the p.lots treated with clover ve an average increase in. the ight of the tubers of 28 per cent. ese, experiments are being contin- d from. year to year. The tests de in 1900 with oats, wheat, bar - and potatoes', confirm those of preceding, years,, and further es7 )1ish the value of this method of cling to the fertility of the soil, a, preparing the land for • crope, 'erent =Ueda, are- a,dopted in dif- ent parts of the Dominion.. In the tern Provinces the advantages sing from 'fall ploughing have -been eatedly .shown. The 'exposure of, soil, te, the influence of frost, dight• and air iS beneficial, Spring rk is materially advanced• ancl• the ps can be gotsin earlier by the option, .of this practice. • rro- Well in ts b - Or eS• is 5- d. in, 10 SEASONABLE TorIcs. Thresh the ,wheat the earliest pos- sible moment if you had the geain moth last Year, else the mine's' will not buy it. , August sown rye makes good fall pasture. Use three pecks of rye and fifteen pounds of crimsou clover and you will have first-class fall feed. If the 11.1.0WO1' was injured by 1 he loose stories in the hay field, some one was negligent last spring. This is the time to make amends by ga- thering, tha obstriletionantudedumpiag them in the gullies. I eaassamoormouillaise, The weeds, briers and bushes cut from fence colliers and outeof-the-way places had better be burned. If put 111 the pig -pen or barnyard they seed the farm with weeds, a,nd a portion will 'not rot inside of five years. Rather shallow 1 loughiag should be practiced in the spring, but dup- ing the summer, in July and August, deeper culture is preferable. Condi- tions being favorable at this time for nitrifica ion the subsoil can be brought to the surface `and rendered '"it part of the cultivated poetical. Thus a deeper soil Produced, Every farm should be supplied witb gypsum. Scat tore d over manure heaps it saves the escaping' ammonia to be given up to the land when ap- plied later on. Beside this, gypsum itself isa valuable fertilizee to most soifs. Considering the value to • the farm of a ton of gypsum it is com- paratively inexpensive. Just how to mako a strong and durable whiffleteee: Do not weaken it anywhere by the auger or drawing knife. Plane it smooth and have the hooks welded to a band that goes around the stick. Shrink on these bands, then drill and put through a, small rivet, This will prevent slip- ping' off if the stick ever shrinks. It, often happens that a farmer is caught in a shower with his wagon full of grain, vegetables or fruit of some kind, and cannot reach shelter. At such a time a few square yards of tarpaulin or oiled cloth is worth many times its cost to him. The farmer on his why to •market with his produce can laugh at the rain if his wagon is covered with a wai:er- P'09ft 01h 1theground is properly prepared before planting the work is more than half done. The farmer who has starved his soil is afraid to work it Seecl bed enough to get it in order for fear it will run together. He keeps clods to hold it up. Soil that is filled with humus has some life aboat it. It will bear working to one's heart's delight. It is possible to improve land so that it is easier farmed year by" year. If the seed bed poor more tillage is re- ( + TOY INTO TORPEDO. Reel of Cott on Suggested the Deadly Naval Engine. Everyone must be familiar with the' ingenious locomotive anithals to be.. bought :in the. Leaden streets for a penny, miniature,rnice,elizards; and: spiders that, .On being dropped froin the hand,- at once' begin :.!te runs by merely slackening- tlie .string that is fastened .through the creature's back on toa bobbin. Bat probably veryfew people are aware that the. simple 'contrivance. that in:Ikea thi. animal! move.: was the means p1 giving . the War ". 'Office! tina Brennan Torpedo—an expensive toy indeed—sas' it. gave Mr. Brennan £250,000.• The: manufacturers.of loComotive animals noticed. that if :an ordinary reel of. eotton. ! was put upon the ground, and pulled. towards the hold- er of one end of .the.-threadasthe,un- wound thread 'being underneath .the reel—the !eeel did MA come towards the person pulling, but, at once 'ran 111 0.11 Opposite direction. Conse- quently 11 string vas wound On a wheel inside the dummy of a dimin- utive aniuml; withthe:resat' that the .toy Mentioned. above Vii4IS produced. : Themechanism that propels the. .13reanan torpedo is :in the :main no- thing More than 'a wire rope coiled rouad, a' drain in.a steel Case, a more elaborate Version of :the:penny street _ . , The technical working of the Bren- nan torpedo is as follows : Two wires are rapidly unwound from two reels placed in tho interior ,..of the torpedo, and connectedto the two propellor shafts of the weapon. The unwinding of these two wires is ef- fected by means of a winding engine placed at the starting point on shore, for the Brennan is. particular- ly useful for harbor or coast de- fence, for which purpose it W11S prac- tically invented. The unwinding of the wires causes the two propellers to, revolve at a very high rate of speed,- and forces the torpedo through the water. Twelve miles of steel wire are ne- cessary for a talo mile run -of the torpedo, six miles being wound on each reel. The curious part of the Brennan lies in the apparent paradox in its method of propulsion, the harder the torpedo is pulled back the faster it will go ahead. Yet a reel of cotton will do the same. The explanation of the torpedo's vagaries is easy enough in reality. By hauling at •the wires a corres- ponding rate of revolution is im- parted to the reels which are fixed to the propeller shafts in the tor- pedo and thus -to the two propellers themselves. This gives a contrary power to the propellers, a power, which, if- it only be strong enough to resist the retarding strain on the wires—as it is—must urge the tor- pedo thyough the water, r.She Brennan torpedo will travel at twenty miles an hour , and has a range of two miles. It weighs, when fully ''dressed'' with its' dead- ly explosive about, twenty-five hun- dredweight, being twenty-five feet long.' And this -formidable'. " toy " came from the same' source as the penny crocodiles you can buy in the London streets. ` WEALTH'S VEXATIONS..' . Mrs, Newricl: a -ATVs. De '..'fa•nyt he told me last evening ' that she is troubled with ongWee. Mr. Newriche—What's that. ? Mrs. NewrichoDear me ! I don't know, I've looked all through the 'O's' of three different, dictionaries and ertift find any such Word.. • ExpEN-sx VB. Ihninybiz—Freshleigh's sweethea rt has sent him word from abroad that she cannot marry hiin, loiddlesticks—Freshleigh must be dreadfully broken up. Funnybiz—Ere is; she sent word by cable, collect, and explained why. an average sala-;::ata-30 apisaa. llri 1.U'S,"1.19; 09{3t, sasvaa Lao leave (RI( .T,gg: PEEP INTO MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. Facts Gathered from the Corne hiNbietxi0otiiit.lohiGsreGarteaDtriBtaigia.REa'rtuisis, ia is the larg,est exhibitor at Glasgow Ex - Lord 1(itcliener IS tIONV 111 his 52n11 year. His milititry service is one of 30 years. Ninety-eight per cent. of the slaves of Zanzibar and Pemba Prefer to 3:0- Mairl SieVeS, France lias 60 cities with mole than. 30.000 inhabitualts, and 1 2 of these exceed 100,000. The world lias two and a ciumter million acres under tobacco, which produce 830,000 tons a year. 3 The lowest tides, where any exist at all, are at Panama, Where two feet is the average rise and fall. The punishment for bigamy in Hun- gary is compelling the man to live with both wives in one house. The Egyptian Soudan has 12 pro- vinces, with an arca of a million square niiles, and 1.0f; million people. Patented processes have been de- d(1,1111sesettels into eel; iacnoy4if ar ned0 n 71; other tingr sparwo:, Four thousand nine hundred a.nd sixty-eight of the present population of the. United Kingdom were born at sea. The Empress of Russia operates' typewriter, and assists her husband 41, by taking down many of his letters from dictation. London uses one hundred and ten pounds of ice Yearly per inhabitant, New York one thousand three hun- dred pounds a year. Germany, with one thousand and eighty-three paper mills, makes only half as much paper as England with but three hundred. Four huadred and forty-eight Brit- ish gales blew from the southwest in the last fifteen years, only ninety-six from the northeast. The banking powey of the United Kingdom has increased from one hundred and thirty-two millions in 1840 to over one thousand. millions at present. The Norwegian Parm liaent, is called the Storthing, that of Sweden the Regsdag, of Servia the Skupshtina, of Greece the Boule, of Bulgaria the Sobranje. I3y the "Australian Naval Force Act," passed in 1887, a fleet of five fast cruisers- and two torpedo gun- boats was equipped for service 111 Australian seas. The Congo is one of the widest waterways in the globe, if not the finest. In some parts it is so wide that vessels may pass one another and yet be out of sight. As an initiative to secure' higher tax assessments in Cleveland, Mayor Tom Johnson asked the assessor to increase the valuation on his home in Euclid avenue from 8300 to $500 a The letter E holds the record for frequent use. La one, thousand „ ters it occurs one hundred and thirty- eight times in English, one hundred ' and eighty-four in French, one hun- dred and seventy-eight in German, and one hundred and forty-five in Spanish. Thirty per cent. of the civilized population of the world speak Eng- lish, nineteen per cent. German, nine- teen per cent. Russian, twelve per cent. French, ten per cent. Spanish. Mr. Gully, K. C., the speaker of the British House of Commons, went to Cambridge when he was only 17 years of age. He was the youngest under -graduate of his time in the un- iversity. Prussia, holds the record for hay production, growing thirty-three hundredweighCto the acre; Britain comes next with. -thirty hundred- weight. Thirty hundredweight of hay means four and a half tons of green grass. • The Salvation Army has, obtained a grant of 20,000 acres of land in Australia as a settlement for colon- ials. The area is situated 120 miles from Perth, and a great clearance of timber must be effected before it can be used for agriculture. A WATER CURTAIN. The public library building in Chi- cago is protected against the inva- sion of fire from the outside by means of a so-called "water cur- tain." At the top of the building is a system ot tubes through which wa- ter, supplied from a tank, cart • be caused to flow over the outside Walls s Some time bacv the e—ciency of the fr water curtain was tested by the oc- eurrence of a fire in a spice mill • ad- joining the library building. The water being turned on, the outer walls were Munediately covered with a liquid sheet, which, as the temper- ature was low, became eventually a. sheet of ice. WOOL I -110M TURF. Artificial , wool, made from :turf fibres is now employed at Thissela ,Cblrrne caton ygne, fho, hats, e tea- tdc0t5itsni• jg oe the 'first attempts to •nnike turf o,o1 , 1111(1 • it is avail•ed that recent improvements ill the 'processes have resulted in the production of a soft fibrous material, which can 1)0 .spen as readily as sheep's wool, and which, besides possessing excelleat absorbent properties, is capable of being bleacher' and colored for use in various textile industries. WORLD'S BIC -1 -GEST TREE. What is probably the biggest tree In the world has been discovered to belong to the cypress family, and was found in Atexico. Its ch•cumfer- once 611. from the ground is 154 and to see the top of it one' must stand man3r yards away. It iS near the fatilotts ruins of Mitla, in the State of Ottxaca. It is called the "big tree of Yule," and its ago variblisly estimated, at.qroni• 500 . to 1,000 years„