The Brussels Post, 1909-10-21, Page 31-++++++++t+++++++++++4
1 IDe til Do FaileU
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"It's the North Pole, We 'are
,just above i1 now." Allingham
.put his instrument clown •suddenly,
.and turned to his companion with
astrange light in his oyes.
Hartnell, who was steering the
.;airship, nodded and repeated the
words dully : "The North Pule, Yes
'the North. Polo," he glaneed *nee
more at the vast expanse of ice
'hummocks below, • Veen seemed to
lose all interest iu the matter.
It was only porno thirty-five hours
'aine°the two men had loft their
base in 'Spi•tzenbergen, yet Bart-
,inell had already last all count of
The midden change from the
Ong•, growing chances. of 8wriess;
these, combined with the awful
weary months of waiting, the ex-
ak'ftemant of the start', the cold,
had brought on a mental over-
* strain, which, in turn, had lad to
,a kind of stupor. Now he felt he
.bared for nothing, except rest and
'warmth, and he was oonsciiotcs of
ear unreasoning irritation at the
'mote of triumph in All'ingham's
voice.
"The North Pole," he mumbled
.again. "Ay, a beast of a piece,^'
then, half -mechanically, he stretch-
ed -out :• and regulated oleo' of the Lu-
bricators,,
Allingham stared at him in
,amazement, "Don't you under-
stand, man. Good Heavens'!' Hua-.
•deed;, thousands perhaps, have torts
their lives in trying to see what
+wc are looking on now. And we
Are th.e first --the very first," his
'voice trembled with excitement:
"We've suoceeded where everyone
else has failed. Our names will go
.down in history."
Hartnell glanced over the side
,again. "It's a beasb of a place,
not .worth seeing. and I'm dead]y
tired. I think, too, my right foot
is getting frost bitten. I wonder
how long it will be before we can
sleep." The words came out in a
low monotone, quite unlike his
usual brisk speech,
"Wake up, man 1" Allingham
•epoko sharply. "Don't you realize
we've got to get .south again. Wisp
this ehange in the wind it'll be eas-
ier for us to go book to our base,
than try end land in Siberia, as
we thought of doing. We've been
to the Pole, but no one knows it
.yet. And if anything happened, it
they never heard that wo had been
the first—" the mere idea seem-
ed to overpower him, and he broke
,off abruptly. Then. he took the
steering wheel from Hartnell incl
bade the latter prepare something
to eat; whilst he, himself, brought
the airship round and headed her
.tbaok for the base camp.
Hartnell went about his task in
a dozen sort of way; but when the
food was ready he barely touchedit. "Teo tired," he muttered, ' `tco
tired and cold." Then he squatted
down as near as he dare to the en-
gine, and for an bour sat very still.
Suddenly he looked up. The air-
ship was plunging slightly, and be,
the inventor, knew what that
lama -qt.
"We are losing too much gas,"
be mumbled; "the rest of the bal-
last.must go."
He staggered to his feet and drew
the slide which released the remain-
ing sand. He was only half-consei-
.ous as regarded outside things; but
the airship was like a part of him-
self—it represented the supreme
triumph of a brilliant -career.
Freed of tho weight, the vessel
regained her • equilibrium and
forged ahead *nee more,
"Some of the gear must go
soon," Al'ingham just caught the
words, and, for the first time, a
tsfiadow of fear crept into his oyes.
"Will she do it, Hart:mil l Thanks
goodness the wind is with us now,
:and we're going twice as fast as
sive dial corning up. Oh, if anyone
`seise should get the credit, after
all."
"Hang the credit!'' Allingham
.had to lean forward to hear what
the inventor was saying, "Hang
the 'credit. I want to sleep, and
1 think the frost has got my right
hand new," and the speaker. once
more' huddled' clown close to the en-
gine.
The hours dragged by ,eelo.wly..
Amos: Allingham roused his com-
]panien and made him take the
wheel; but a few inin•utes showed
that Hartnell was physically incap-
able of keeping Ms attention on the
compass card,though anything con -
nested with t he airship roused him
ab once. And, when she began to
give fresh algae of plunging, .he
dragged himself to his feet and •si-
Iantiiy heaved. *verboard all' the h
supplementary instruments and
oven. a portion of the foodstufts.
Allinglteni said nothing, only he
•glaiieed at his watch, made, a 'ra.•. t
Ind mental calculation, and.. the b
look oaf' fear came • back into his
eyes, 1
"If We never tell anyone, .and
!another man gets, the credit, If s
we never tell anyone f" The. words ,t
drummed through his brain with
nwfirl, maddening per sial cncy, t
alien came the; thought, There is t
nothing worth finding, eothing, no -e.
thing, nothing, "!ret others navy
tome and lose their' lives is the .r
pct'," 1
There was toe everywhere, as far
as the eye could roach; ice, .and
the red sun pursuing his twenty-
four hour course sound the_hori-
zon,
11t rtnell stared at tl
vrithout being able to not
+detail, though Ilia brain to
terror of the whole, He w 40 a, man
of fifty, to whom life had
S. very full share of fame
hon-
er and wealth; yet, as ho
eves that iceftold, he felt
give everything, •even th
for rest end warmth,
He had undertaken th
ti�dn, not because he car
discoloring the Pole, bub
he ,wished his invention
a part of history, Man
to call him vain of his owe
,but the accusatiotr raised
A senile nor a frown,
He, himself, cared nothing
whe-
ther John Hartnell were f
so' long as the first really
,sable airship were remembered.
knew' that succeedingea
sec other and better craft
Avould alwaysbe the pi*'
,model on which later ones
based, and, as such, he
to live in men's memories,
for this reason he :had un
the journey to the Pole.
With Allingham it was
:He had yet to make both,
and fortune; moreover, h
enthusiast, Ever since he
member, the Pole had been
him. Night after night
dreamed .of it. As he had p
,bridge of his vessel•—he w
for by professioxihalf his
had been of ways and
cross the great frozen se
now, at the age of thirty-three,
Thad suoceeded
t° peens
e a single
took in the
brought
and gazed out
his would
e 'lronor,
e expedi-
ed about
because°
to become
were apt
ability;
neither
whe-
o rgo•tten,
predi-
cted, Ho
is must
but his
neer, the
must be
wanted e.
It was
undertaken
different.
a name
a was an
could re-
n calling
he has{
aced the
as a sai-
lor
means bo
seas;
and
Inc
The mere thought of this served
to keep him warm aid wakeful, and
he glanced half-pitying'y at the fur -
wrapped figure huddled up beside
that wonderful little engine.,, e
During the next few hours, Al-
lingham made several attempts to
force' food and stimulant upon hie
'comipanion, but. without much •sue-
cess, "Tee tired," Hartnell whis-
pered, when the soup was offered
.him, ,but he took some brandy,
which -seemed to pull him together
for the moment.
"We've lost more gas," he said,
"b' at's what's making her un-
steady. Throw overboard all those
tinned foods. 'Fraid I can't, help
you, no power left in my legs."
Allingham obeyed than, "The
+wind is tarrying us twenty-five to
thirty miles an hour, and we must
be doing ten beyond that, so we
should be nearly half -way back. Do
you think bhe gas will last out. Let
me wrap you'up, so that yeti •can
get a sleep."
Hartnell did not answer the ques-
tion, and refused to accept the
suggestion. "Daren't go to sleep
... must watch the machinery . .
you don't understand it as I do."
Allingham went back to the wheel
with a deadly weight of anxiety on
his mind. The elation, the over-
whelming sense of triumph, had
lost its force, and now there, was
only the fear left, the sickening
dread that, aft r' all, no one would
know; that, in the end, someone
else would be hailod as:the disco,v-
stet of rho Pole.
He lied spoken of being nearly
half -way back; and, 'so far as he
could judge, the statement was
correct; but how long would the
airship float' There was nmo,.more
ballast, practically' no mere gear
which could be jettisoned; an,d,
once the vessel failed, death was
'an absolute oertaiuty.
He would not perish out there
ea the i•cefield, Somehow or other
Inc woulid fight-'^ his way through
with the news. His point of view
was changing rapidly; the pride of
,success was fading, and in its
place was coming a fierce desire
Ito. prevent others from suffering
as Hartnell was suffering now, as
he, himself, would suffer if he gave
way.
Four hours later he was still at
the wheel behind the little wind,-
screen, striving to oonquer'himself,
to think solely of the great recep-
tion which awaited them on their
return to civilization, the honors
-irhich would be showered on them,
the permanent place they would oc-
cupy amongst the nation's famous
men. Yet, somehow, the horror
and the fear, the gripping terror of
the i afield seemed to grew on him
steadily.
Hartnell was still, so still that
anus Alling`iam thought he was
dead; but at that same moment,
one of the -cylinders of the engine
began to knock slightly, and, to
his intense relief, he saw the inven-
tor stretch out a hand and adjust
a lubricator. Still, the meohani-
cal, almost unconscious, way in
which it was done sent a shiver
through him. It was as though the
human part of the man were dead,
mad only the engineer in him sur.
'elves/.
Since the last =gear had been
brown overboard, the airship had'.
een travelling steadily, as though
the loss of gas had ceased, and. Al-
inghatn almost persuader( hinge
fiat this was so, when . suddenly
he began to show fresh vi -es of
rouble, Hartnell looked and
and gave'a, stiff bed in the direct
ion of the remaining stores, and, '
hough Inc did not speak, his eyes
onveyed the order. Everything .y
(else go, save a few Ipouncls of '
mergoioy rations which, as Al-
Ingham knew well, would but rano
to prolong the agony if they.e.am°
down on the tee.
This time the effect of the light-
setting
ight-
ttin
was butslight,..
0 gasA1' a
.
l rn It m
g
e f
r alt
ed viten he kook the wheel
gzttin. Ffow long would the emir
11 p be ander' ventral—hew long
-before she sank an to that wilder-
ness of ice?
"Allingham," Hartriell',s voice
startled. him. "Allingham, old
man. I'm done.—no 'chance now,
If you pull through, tell them bow
she behaved, and --and don't say
about the loss;of gas. Good-bye;
"Rot 1" Allingham tried to smile
'and lied bravely. " li e shall bath
get through, We'reonly two home
from our. base, 'I'll get you some
,brandy, and Ile turned to the
looker,
Tnetentl , Hartnell dragged i
;self to the rail of the l t him -
,self plat-
form, 'raised , the hooked ibex, and,
before Allingham eve i' knew he' had
snowed, he was hurtling down toe the
toe below, Freed of his weight—he
was a •big,heavy'm.an-the airship
rose rapidly, ,Allingham gave a
great sob of horror. "Good Hea-
vens! He did it for .me, to. save
me," but Ile date mot give more
than one glance at the little dark
speck ca the ice astern.
He was alone, utterly alone in
that; ghastly waste, and, al-
though! he knew that the other.
man's .self-sa•erifice :had given him
a fresh Chance of lits, the horror
of the -present loneliness seemed
teepee than, death together ..could
have been, He almost envied Hart-
sell, both for his release from the
agony of danger and oold, and for
the supreme heroism which he had
made' him give his life for another.
For few minutes -he was com-
pletely unnerved. Then, with a
great effort he pulled himself to-
gether. There was work for him
to do. . "I must tell them. I must
stop others from going," once
more the thought hammered
through his brain.to the exclusion
of all else,
"No other man shall go to die as
Hartnell died•"
* * * * *
There were figures moving over
the snow, mon and dogs, and there
were snow huts a short distance'
oft, Allingham could scarcely ere-
dit his own good fortune, For the
last hour he had barely been able
to keep the car of the airship off
the ice, and it had seemed as if the
Ilast vestige of hope were gone;
but now .he was saved. He cou-.,
carry his message back to civiliz-
ation and prevent anyone else from
stertiag on that' ghastly quest of
the Polo.
A quarter of an hour later he had
landed and was stumbling across
Ithe snow towards the Eskimo, who
had collected together in a little
group. He never even glanced
bade at the airship, whose rapidly
emptying Envelope was swaying
drunkenly in the wind. He was un-
speakably tired, that was all he
knew, that and the fact that he
was within reach of safety, that
his warning would go out to the
world. Hartnell would not have
died in vain,
He could barely walk through
sheer weariness, ami twice he came
down on to his hands as his feet
refused their duty. Why didn't
those miserable Eskimo come for-
ward and help him 1 He would pay
them more than Eskimo had ever
been paid before—pay them in pro-
portion to the importance of his
tidings.
Then,, in a flash, he understood,
tie he saw them ,poising their seal-
ing weapons. This strange creature
W110 had descended from the shies
was horrible, uncanny, pregnant
with the possibilities of danger
and misfortumc, and they meant to
kill him whilst he was obviously ab
their mercy,
Allingham was a brave man, as
any the Almighty over made, and
he was a 'white man right through;
but he remembered what he had to
tell, and he went down on his
knees to those blubber -eating sav-
ages.
"I will pay you anything you
ask, anything,"he shouted fren-
ziedly. "I must get home and
warn them, I roust warn' them."
'.Che first harpoon took him square
in the throat.
* * * * *
Nearly a year later a search
party found the remains of the air-
ship. In 'reporting the discovery,
one of the great dailies voiced the
general opinion of experts when
it said : "There is little doubt that
the ill-fated explorers met with
some serious mishap early in the
journey, and were forced to de-
scend on to' the frozen plain, where
they perished .from exposure and
starvation... .
rr We always felt that John
Hartnell was too confident of the
possibilities of his airship. , . , If
they had succeeded in. reaching the
North Pole they would undoubted-
ly haveconbinued straight on, and
have alighted somewhere in Si-
beria. .
" . Wo understand that no
fewer than three expeditions will
start in quest of the Pole this
year." 'ooarsou's Weekly,
"i1r, P,, how is it you have not
called on me for your a000unt?"
`Oh, I never ask a gentleman for
money." " Indeed 1 How, then, de
ort got on if he doesn't pay'!"
'Why, .after a certain time I con-
elude he is tree a gentleman, and
thou I ask him,y
COUNTRY HORSE GHOSTS
LADY IDA. SITWELL SURE SHE
SAW AN APPARITION.
Scan by a Yisilpjtnt dlt Ola English
Comity. Mee Which lien a
Chest Rocal.
The latest ghost story ]res been
told to the London Daily Mail by
George Sitwell, Bart, It tells
of two ghosts peon at Renishaw,
his country place near Chesterfield.
Renishaw is an old house, dating
from 1625, and more titan' one
ghostly legend; is associated with
it. Sir'`Geerge Sitwell's story fol -
le we :
Last Saturdaytwo ghosts g s s s v
oro
seorl at Renishaw. Lady Iola had
been to Scarborough to attend the
lifeboat ball, at whieh she sat up
until 4 e'rolock in the morning, and
had returned home that afternoon.
After dinner the party of six — I
was absent for a few hours—sat in
a drawing room upstairs, Lady Ida.
on a sofa, facing the open door.
"Looking_up after speaking to a
friend on her left, she saw' in the
passage outside the figure of a wo-
man, apparently a servant, with
gray hair and ;white cap, the up-
per part of the dress blue the skirt
dark, The arms were at full Length
and the hands clasped. This figure
moved with a very slow, furtive,
gliding motion, as if wishing to es -
(Apo notice, straight toward the
head of the old staircase, which t
removed .twenty years ago.
"Unwilling to think that there
weld be anything supernatural in
the appearance Lady Ida called
out,
'WHO'S MATT WHO'S THAT?'
then the name of the housekeeper,
then to those nearest the door,
'Run out and sec who it is; run out
at once!'
"Two rushed out,but no one was
there, The ethers joined them and
searched the hall and passages up-
stairs, As they were coming down
ono of the party, Miss R., who was
a little away from the rest, ex-
claimed:
"'I do believe that's the ghost 1'
There in the full light of the
ar•ohway below, within twenty feet
of her, Nab where the door of the
old ghost room used to stand until
1. removed it to put the present
utairoase in its place, she saw the
figures were actually seen as de -
dross, lost in painful -thought and
oblivious of everything about herr
The dress was fuller than the mod-
ern'fashion, and the figure, though
opaque, east no sh,adcw. Ib moved
with a eurious gliding motion into
the darkness and melted, away at or
'within a yard of tho spot where
a doerway, now walled up, led from
the staircase to the ball,
``There is no doubt that these
ligures ver actually seen as de-
scribed. They were not ghosts but
phantasms—reversed impressions
of something seen in the past and
now projected from an overtired
and excited brain,
"In both cases the curious glid-
ing movetnent, the absence of sha-
dow, the absolute stillness of the
figures, which movecl neither hand
riot head, and hardly seemed to
breathe, point to that. oonclnsion,
Stich an experience goes Far tessera
solving
THE GHOST PROBLEM,
Ghosts - aro sometimes met with,
but they are not ghosts."
Lady Ida, Sir George's wife and
sister of the Earl of Londesbor-
ough, says :
"I say tire' figure with such d'is-
lsinctness that I had no doubt at
all that I was looking at a real per-
son while at the same time, al-
though seated in a well lighted
room and chatting with friends, 1
brass conscious of an uneasy, creepy
feeling.
"I tried to see the features, but
I could not. Even before I called
out my friend's noticed that I ap-
peared to be following something
Wibh my eyes, The light in the pas -
sago was good, and I could see so
'well that I could distinguish the
exact shade of blue of the dress.
The figure was that of a woman of
between 50 and 60 years of age, and
her gray hair was done up into a
bun under an old fashioned cap.
1 had never seen a ghost before,
!nor had I been thinking about
ghosts."
Having read of this latest apo
pearanc& of a ghost at Renishaw,
F. Gorell Barnes describes his ex-
periences
xperiences there. In 1892 ho was
pa eliamentary candidate for North -
rest Derbyshire and Fair George
Sitwell, who was then contesting
'another division, placed Renishaw
Hall et Dir, Barnes' desposai.
"My neighbors and visitors, he
writes, "told me more than one
!ghostly legend associated with ib
hnd more particularly with the, old
ghost room mentioned by Sir
George in his letter;
"I recall one in particular, that
wizen a stranger slept for the first
'tiane at the hall the gitost of a lady
was supposed to appear, One vis!
tor, whose name I do not now re-
esollect, told me of a youcg lady wire
occupied
THE (MOST ROOM
having been found in a state of ab-
ject terror and refused to give sty
account of whab she load seen,
•
"Some wecics before the general
election of 1892 my election agent
came to stay with me till the °lees
'Nen nw over, Was of o ,
On the night e z lit
o bis
g
£
arrival we worked till about 1 a.m.)
lighted ear candles and went up the
stau'eeee which Sir George de-
ser'ibee as having been put in twen-
ty yeer•s ago, close to the old ghost
!cont: Near the top of the stairs
'this gentleman, an astute and cle-
ver Shoflieid solicitor, stopped
'short, tapped me on the shoulder
and ifwhisper.ed :
'There's somebody fullowing us
upstairs.'"
"I went down, examined the
stairs, entrance hall and the rooms,
without finding anything. I asoend-
'eel the atairsesigain, and step for
stop as I amended I distinctly
heard footsteps following, the up to
the top of the staircase.
"I ,returned Lorain to the en-
trance, hall, .but I saw no figures las
kIescribed by Sir George Sitwell,
There were no ghr'sts or .phan-
(tasnrs, no reversed impression* of
something seen • in the past, but dfs-
)tinet footsteps were heard by two
tavertired but not excited men."
WIIEEE IS SAFEST SPOT?
Gahiet of 'Ocean Liner or Eaih>ray
Carriage 'Very Safe Place.
Where is the safest spot? Many
people insure against accidents en
a railway journey, oblivious of the
feet that the risks incurred tiuiung
travelling are quite insignificant
vihen compared with those to which
one is exposed alter terminating
the journey. Probably the safest
place on land or sea, Mr. Roland
Belfort points out in the World's
Work, is the deck or cabin of a
first-class ocean liner. A first-
class railway carriage is also an
exeeptionally.safe place. This is so
clearly recognized that accident in-
surance companies can- afford to
double the compensation when ac-
cidents occur on railways or tram.
ears. A man may undertake a
journey round the world with a
comparatively Iight heart But
extreme care and vigilance are
needed should he venture to hang
his picture or even walk down his
own stairs.
Statistics show, Mr. Be' -fort gees
on to remark, that 50 per *cat, of
accidents happen while the victh...a
are at home or in the street. Tea
experts' explanation of this is that
a man, when entering upon a has
ardous undertaking, exercises
Special care, thus escaping injury,
but while at home or taking ase'
else vigilance is relaxed, famuiac-
ity with common dangers breeding
contempt. Indeed, the blind fore -
es of nature are not more danger-
ous to a• man than those ever -pre
sent perils resulting from our ad •
naanced and complex roiv flizati, n
In town and in country there aro
special risks. How often , mat,
escapes a deadly peril by what he
regards as a miracle; just as fre-
quently he hovers on the borders of
eternity without being conscious of
his danger.
e
PETS OF GREAT L_.DIES.
Some Curious Affectations of Lon-
don's S eei al 15 avori i es,
Some pretty rough things have
been said about the affectations of
English aristocracy from time to
time, but the recent accounts .if
their household pets are about .as
incomprehensible as any of then
other fobiles. The greyhound and
the long silky eared :spaniel a^•e
a thing of the past, The Duchess
r
of Marlborough is said to have a
special fondness for serpents. Mlle
spends days also in the park at
Blenheim with the gazelles, wlroh
iu her society seem to forget th:ir
traditional shyness. Her othe'
pets are grotesque looking pelicans
which may be seen about the
shores of the ponds. Lady War-
wiek, the titled Socialist leader,
especially loves white animals, aid
in her grounds at Warwick are
white peacocks, all kinds of white
birds, even a white elephant. He,.
special treasure is a white parrot
which is said to be more than a -
century old.
Lady Cadogan has a famous col-
lection of snakes. She is able to
drape some, of them about her in
such a way that they serve as jew-
elry. Among her pets are two
trained lizards. Lady Cottenham
nurses with great care her dor-
mice, .and Lady Churchill is «atd
to :be happiest when her crocodile
is near her. Lady Hope's pet is
an ape from:Senegal, while Mrs.
Rose Hubbard, one of the most po-
pular of the women in Mrs. Ice-•
pel's set, raises geese. Miss nos&
Boughton, one of the most liked
of the Unmarried girls in Lead-in
society, insists' upon taking to all
the houses that will allow her a
hyena that she hrouglit from Con
sbau'binnple and has tamed.
After a pian lras tried in vain to
borrow a few paltry dollars you
can't convince hint that the world
isn't growing wiser.
Johnny returned from school with
his exeiciet book all blotted.
"Dear, dear, you .haughty boy:
,exclaimed hi* mamma. "You've
,qui.to spoilt your new eopy book.''
Menne, (egtrttl to the occasion) —
Ib isn't ray; fault, nza ; I had a
Mark boy sitting next to mein
class, and he cut his Mager, and it
bled on my copy -hook."
AU 410 'NTAs.
Notes of Interest I''1'oln the World's
• Four Goru°r&
Portage]. possesses but ens hat-
desh,ip,
Smoking is increasing in favor
in, France.
'Adders are the only British poise
°nous snakes,
King Leopold of Belgium rises
regularly at six.
There are 88,000,000 popple in the
United' States.
Kaiser William is a keen lover of
German folk -songs. •
House -hies attain their full
growth in about foul' weeks,
There is a pint of alcohol inevery
twenty pints of eider,
Chinese astronomical records go
back to 2350 1300.
One out of every twelve marri
ages in America ends in divorce.
London has the lowest death -rate
among the great eitiesof the world,
The population of the United
Kingdom is two-thirds that of Ger
many.
Nearly 1,000 tons of unfit food
were destroyed in the Port of Lou-
don last year.
Opals are the only gems that can -
stet be counterfeited with any de-
gree of success.
A shoal of herrings is sometimes
five or six milers long and two . r
three miles, broad.
Over £3,500,000 was bequeathed
last year to charitable institutions
in the United Kingdom,
A Milanese engineer has just
completed .a hydroplane which, it
is said, will skim the water at the
rate of 125 miles an hour.
There are no fear than 4,000
women "postmen" in, Great Bri
Iain. They are chiefly employed in
the rural districts of Wales, Scot-
land, and Ireland,
Plans have been prepared in
New York for an hotel 376 ft. high.
It will be the tallest in the world,
containing thirty-one storeys, and
a
:costing ,000,000.
Allen Batchelor, of Guildford,
England, who was reputed to be
England's oldest barber, has died
at the age of eighty-eight, He
'claimed to have been patronized
by kings, dukes, bishops, judges,
polzoemen, politicians, publicans,
"and sinner's no end."
The heaviest locomotive engine
in the world has just been built at
the Baldwin Works in the United
Stabs. The weight, including the
-tender, is 266 tons, and without the
tender 190 tons. The heaviest Brit-
ish locomotive weighs 143 tons.
One of the most unique tasks
eleotr.icity is to be. compelled to ac-
complish is the picking of chickens.
An electric fan for this purpose has
been devised for wholesale poultry -
picking. The fan is placed in a re-
ceptacle, through which it drives
.a blast of air claimed: to be suffici-
ent to remo7e all the feathers and
down from a fowl in a few seconds.
An expert workman iu one of the
great needle factories, in a test of
skill, performed one of the most
(delicate feats imaginable. He took
a common sewing needle of medium
size, an inch and five-eighths in
lengbh, and drilled a hole through
its entire length from eye to point,
the opening being just large enough
to permit of the passage of a very
dine hair.
An extraordinary illustration of
the earelessnsss of the public is
;Furnished by the British Postmas-
ter -General. He states that over
11,000,000 letters, 3,500,000 post-
eards, 18,000,000 halfpenny pack-
ets, and 944,000 parcels were
amongst the undelivered postal
packets last year. There were also
093,000 registered letters, contain-
ing £19,378 in each and notes, and
£636,680 in bills, cheques, money
orders, ate.
4
COINS OF ALUMINUM.
In a few years coppers will .no
longer weigh down man's pockets
ire France. As it is no more bronze
money is now coined, and the short-
age is being felt, Aluminum w...
be substituted, and it. is hoped that
the new coinage will have been be-
gun by the end of the year, The
metal, or rather an alloy of it, will
he used only for penny and half -
peony pieces. which will be about
,the diameter of but both mach
thicker and lighter than francs .and
half francs, and thus ensile, dis-
tinguishable from these eoins. The
repeat quarter franc piece in nickel
bas proved a failure, because it is
aonstantiy being taken for a franc,
as tourists here know to their -cost.
Besides lightness, eleanlinoss is
another advantage of aluminum,
which does not oxydizo in air.
EASY.
"He seems to be getting along
in years."
"Yes, that's something he can
do without an effort."
Miss de Fashion ---:°'Mother, what
shall we stud Miss Styles for her
wedding present?" Mrs. de Iiash-
ion-•''Will the list be published in
the paper V "No ; she segs that's
vulgar." "Send her a plated salt
spoon,"
She ---"You are always talking
about the fashions. Now, honestly,
do you think you would know the
latest fashion in hats if you weer
to .enter a milliner's?" }le- -Cer-
tainly," .She—"k1osv 1" He (ru•e-
lellwr)---"By looking tit the priers."
TAKES OF LION fl 'I fNO
DE, W, S. IlAINSFORD RELATES
SOME ENPirelliNfid?S,
Not Well to Follow Thew tato
Covey, if on Iloa'srbt(okJ ea
They ii'fll 7'tu'It,
In the Iast three naoiaths two men
have lost arms, and almost their.
lives, riding lions: In both cisos
the same mistake was made, ;Chet'
pressed the beast too closely, Na
horse tan turn or stop ao can ati
cab. I have seen a cheetah I was
riding—an •animal very ins ell fas-
ter than any lion—actually stop in
ib+ very stride,' It was' ass though
ite claws were glued to the, earth.
11 did not seem possible that such
a• sadden halt•,00uld be made by
anything that tart., Nor can any
.other beast show the desperate
speed of a cat fora few yards.' s.' dis-
tance,. Mr. Percival°, the gams
warden of the Protectorate, wise
has probably ridden more lions
than any other man in the ostintry,
tells me that he, though well moons
ted was 05100 almost pulled down
.by a lion that he had ridd:im into
cover. He, too, au that oecaaion
came too 'close, the lion foe some
,'reason .or other dispensed 'rritlral
the usual preliminaries and' rush
at him, He turned his horse as
quickly as he could .and
RODE FOR HIS LIFE,
He had quite fifty yards' stare, end
Set he believes that had he nob
'fired his heavy revolver info the
face of the lion when it was almost
on his horse's hard quarters, both
he and the horse would have been
pulled down. Mr, Peroivala wee
Alone, There was no other horse
or hunter near to divide the lion's
attention. This, perhaps, navy aro
Count for its very unusually raped
and deadly attack.
Hoey was attacked by three lion-
esses, near the Rock. The only
provocation he had given them was
that two hours before he had shoo
the lion. of the band, He was rid-
ing back to his camp, unarmed,
hav'ng left Inc. rifle with his gun
bearer, who was skinning the. lion
.he had killed. The three saw him
from a distance of quite twohun-
dred yards, and pressed hint bard
for a quarter of a mile. He was
'riding the same fast mule that 1
,rode, and so outran them.
There are one or two things that •
,any man riding lions would do well
to remember
First, it i$ not well to follow a
lion or lions into cover if you ars
of horseback, not even into thin
cover. Once you have chased a
lion, it is very different 'from the
r'.meast that rap dly .slinks away from
you, when you.. are hunting ou foot.
rIn this last case it instinctively
knows it can get away if it cares
to. In the former it finds
YOU HAVE ITS PACE,
and, resenting that, will attack
with determination. The second
lion Hoey and I rode had every
lahanee to walk into the impene-
trable stronghold of the river grass
if it had wanted to. The grass grew
thickly- not twenty yards from
where the lion was first hit. Bub
it did not want tc do anything of
the sort, and, .angered by the long,
hard chase, east all idea of fur-
ther retreat behind and came bold -
ay away from the covert it had
striven ea strenuously to gain.
Secondly, the man who does the
shooting must dismount withoutde-
lay' of hesitation, He must quickly
e tooss his plane, fixing ib in his
mind as he gallops up—if possible,
a spot from. which he cam eomawand
the lion Dor a few yards ereryran
end on which he can plump dawn,
If there isno such place, of course
fire must stand up and shoot. All
delay is dangerous. Geb the beast
before it rushes in. Any cool hue -
ter can knock a standing lion out
with one shot at one hundred yard,
or less. Ne living man can be sure
of hitting a charging, snarling em,•
lodiment of death,—D, W. S.
;IEainsfo•md, in the World's W:.sk.
L
$190,000 A. POUND.
Snuff tsed at Chinese .1?eenquetti
Sells et That Price.
Carina is the great snuff -taking•
country- of the world, and there 1.4
a snuff there worth the theoreeioat
fancy pries of $100,000 a pound,
which is handed round ,at the groat
banquets. Its high value comes
in 'this way, The rich C'itinamaan.
buy the bulk of their snuff front
Portugal, where there are famil-
ies owning private old-time resines,
who sell their snuff at from £40 to
£150 a pound to the Chinese. Then
the Chinaman keeps it many years
and, the legal rate of interest bo.
ins 32 per cent. per annum, its
theoretical value soon increases
The Chinese carry it in beautiful
bottles of pee:claim and agate,
miracles e1 art, which are worth
from half a sovereign to 2-200 cad's
1Irs. Lamas --"I don't see what
she wanted to marry hire for; He
has h enrk leg, a glass eye, as well
as a wig atiti false teeth." Arts,
My dear, yea knew'
that woman always did have a
hankering after rf sinanbs,"