A FAMILY SKELETON.

REV. DR. TALMAGE PREACHES ON UNHAPPY MARRAIGES. Lax Divorce Laws Due Primarily to Free

Love Agitation, Mormonism and Un-

healthy Fiction--Hasty and Ill Considered Matches Are Becoming Too Numerous. NEW YORK, March 17.--Rev. Dr. Talmage chose as the subject of his afternoon sermon in the Academy of Music today a topic of national interest--viz. "Wholesale Divorce." The great audience repeatedly showed its appreciation of the sentiments expressed by the reverend speaker, and his sturdy blows in behalf of the protection of the household and against the dissoluteness of modern society were received with marked appreciation. The text selected was Matthew xix, 6, "What, therefore, God hath joined together let not man

put asunder."

That there are hundreds and thousands of infelicitous homes in America no one will doubt. If there were only one skeleton in the closet, that might be locked up and abandoned, but in many a home there is a skeleton in the hallway and a skeleton in all the apart-

ments.

"Unhappily married" are two words descriptive of many a homestead. It needs no orthodox minister to prove to a badly mated pair that there is a hell. They are there now. Sometimes a grand and gracious woman will be thus incarcerated, and her life will be a crucifixion, as was the case with Mrs. Sigourney, the great poetess and the great soul. Sometimes a consecrated man will be united to a fury, as was John Wesley, or united to a vixen, as was John Milton. Sometimes, and generally, both parties are to blame, and Thomas Carlyle was an intolerable scold, and his wife smoked and swore, and Froude, the historian, pulled aside the curtain from the lifelong squabble at Craigen-

puttock and Five Cheyne Row.

Some say that for the alleviation of all these domestic disorders of which we hear easy divorce is a good prescription. God sometimes authorizes divorce as certainly as he authorizes marriage. I have just as much regard for one lawfully divorced as I have for one lawfully married. But you know and I know that wholesale divorce is one of our national scourges. I am not surprised at this when I think of the influences which have been abroad militating

against the marriage relation.

A Pernicious Doctrine. For many years the platforms of the country rang with talk about a free love millennium. There were meetings of this kind held in the Cooper institute, New York; Trenton temple, Boston, and all over the land. Some of the women who were most prominent in that movement have since been distinguished for great promiscuity of affection. Popular themes for such occasions were the tyranny of man, the oppression of the marriage relation, women's rights and the affinities. Prominent speakers were women with short curls and short dress and very long tongues, everlastingly at war with God because they were created women, while on the platform sat meek men with soft accident and cowed demeanor, apologetic for masculinity, and holding the parasols while the termagant orators went on preaching the doctrine of free love. That campaign of about 20 years set more devils into the marriage relation than will be exorcised in the next 50. Men and women went home from such meetings so permanently confused as to who were their wives and husbands that they never got out of their perplexity, and the criminal and the civil courts tried to disentangle the "Iliad" of woes, and this one got alimony, and that one got a limited divorce, and this mother kept the children on condition that the father could sometimes come and look at them, and these went into poorhouses, and those went into an insane asylum, and those went into dissolute public life, and all went to destruction. The mightiest war ever made against the marriage institution was that free love campaign, sometimes under one name and sometimes under another. Brazen Polygamy. Another influence that has warred upon the marriage relation has been polygamy in Utah. That was a stereotyped caricature of the marriage relation and has poisoned the whole land. You might as well think that you can have an arm in a state of mortification and yet the whole body not be sickened as to have those territories polygamized and yet the body of the nation not feel the putrefaction. Hear it, good men and women of America, that so long ago as 1863 a law was passed by congress forbidding polygamy in the territories and all the places where they had jurisdiction. Twenty-four years passed along and five administrations before the first brick was knocked from that fortress of libertinism. Every new President in his inaugural tickled that monster with the straw of condemnation, and every congress stultified itself in proposing some plan that would not work. Polygamy stood more intrenched, and more brazen, and more puissant, and more braggart, and more infernal. James Buchanan, a much abused man of his day, did more for the extirpation of this villainy than most of the subsequent administrations. Mr. Buchanan sent out an army, and although it was halted in its work still he accomplished more than some of the administrations which did nothing but talk, talk, talk. At last, but not until it had poisoned generations, polygamy had received its deathblow. Polygamy in Utah warred against the marriage relation throughout the land. It was impossible to have such an awful sewer of iniquity ending up its miasma, which was wafted by the winds north, south, east and west, without the whole land being affected by it. Another influence that has warred against the marriage relation in this country has been a pustulous literature, with its millions of sheets every week choked with stories of domestic wrongs and infidelities and massacres and outrages, until it is a wonder to me that there are any decencies or any common sense left on the subject of marriage. One-half of the newsstands of all our cities reeking with the filth. "Now," say some, "we admit all these evils, and the only way to clear them out or correct them is by easy divorce." Well, before we yield to that cry let us find out how easy it is now.

Brazen Polygamy.

Another influence that has warred upon the marriage relation has been polygamy in Utah. That was a stereotyped caricature of the marriage relation and has poisoned the whole land. You might as well think that you can have an arm in a state of mortification and yet the whole body not be sickened as to have those territories polygamized and yet the body of the nation not feel the putrefaction. Hear it, good men and women of America, that so long ago as 1863 a law was passed by congress forbidding polygamy in the territories and all the places where they had jurisdiction. Twenty-four years passed along and five administrations before the first brick was knocked from that fortress of libertinism. Every new President in his inaugural tickled that monster with the straw of condemnation, and every congress stultified itself in proposing some plan that would not work. Polygamy stood more intrenched, and more brazen, and more puissant, and more braggart, and more infernal. James Buchanan, a much abused man of his day, did more for the extirpation of this villainy than most of the subsequent administrations. Mr. Buchanan sent out an army, and although it was halted in its work still he accomplished more than some of the administrations which did nothing but talk, talk, talk. At last, but not until it had poisoned generations, polygamy had received its deathblow. Polygamy in Utah warred against the marriage relation throughout the land. It was impossible to have such an awful sewer of iniquity ending up its miasma, which was wafted by the winds north, south, east and west, without the whole land being affected by it. Another influence that has warred against the marriage relation in this country has been a pustulous literature, with its millions of sheets every week choked with stories of domestic wrongs and infidelities and massacres and outrages, until it is a wonder to me that there are any decencies or any common sense left on the subject of marriage. One-half of the newsstands of all our cities reeking with the filth. "Now," say some, "we admit all these evils, and the only way to clear them out or correct them is by easy divorce." Well, before we yield to that cry let us find out how easy it is now. Wholesale Divorce. I have looked over the laws of all the states, and I find that, while in some states it is easier than in others, in every state it is easy. The state of Illinois, through its legislature, recites a long list of proper causes for divorce and then closes up by giving to the courts the right to make a decree of divorce in any case where they deem it expedient. After that you are not surprised at the announcement that in one county of the state of Illinois, in one year, there were 833 divorces. If you want to know how easy it is, you have only to look over the records of the states. In the city of San Francisco 333 divorces in one year, and in 20 years in New England 20,000. Is that not easy enough? If the same ratio continue--the ratio of multiplied divorce and multiplied causes of divorce--we are not far from the time when our courts will have to set apart whole days for application, and all you will have to prove against a man will be that he left his newspaper in the middle of the floor, and all you will have to prove against a woman will be that her husband's overcoat is buttonless. Causes of divorce double in a few years--doubled in France, doubled in England and doubled in the United States. To show how very easy it is I have to tell you that in western reserve, Ohio, the pro-

portion of divorces to marriages celebrated is 1 to 11, in Rhode Island is 1 to 13, in Vermont is 1 to 14. Is that not easy enough?

I want you to notice that frequency of divorce always goes along with the dissoluteness of society. Rome for 500 years had not one case of divorce. Those were her days of glory and virtue. Then the reign of vice began, and divorce became epidemic. If you want to know how rapidly the empire went down, ask Gib-

bon.

What we want in this country and in all lands is that divorce be made more and more and more difficult. Then people before they enter that relation will be persuaded that there will probably be no escape from it except through the door of the sepulcher. Then they will pause on the verge of that relation until they are fully satisfied that it is best, and that it is right, and that it is happiest. Then we shall have no more marriage in fun. Then men and women will not entire the relation with the idea it is only a trial trip, and if they do not like it they can get out at the first landing. Then this whole question will be taken out of the frivolous into the tremendous, and there will be no more joking about the blossoms in a bride's hair than about the cypress on a coffin.

Uniform Laws In All States.

What we want is that the congress of the United States change the national constitution so that a law can be passed which shall be uniform all over the country, and what shall be right in one state shall be right in all the states, and what is wrong in one state will be

wrong in all the states.

How is it now? If a party in the mar-

riage relation gets dissatisfied, it is only necessary to move to another state to achieve liberation from the domestic tie, and divorce is effected so easy that the first one party knows of it is by seeing in the newspaper that Rev. Dr. Somebody on March 17, 1895, introduced in a new marriage relation a member of the household who went off on a pleasure excursion to Newport or a business excursion to Chicago. Married at the bride's house. No cards. There are states of the Union which practically put a premium upon the disintegration of the marriage relation, while there are other states, like our own New York state, that had for a long time the pre-eminent idiocy of making marriage lawful at 12 and 14 years of age. The congress of the United States needs to move for a change of the national constitution and to appoint a committee--not made up of single gentlemen, but men of families, and their families in Washington--who shall prepare a good, honest, righteous, comprehensive, uniform law that will control everything from Sandy Hook to the Golden Horn. That will put an end to broken ties in marriages. That will send divorce lawyers into a decent business. That will set people agitated for many years on the question of how shall they get away from each other to planning how they can adjust themselves to the more or less unfavorable circumstances. Marriage as a Speculation. More difficult divorce will put an estoppel to a great extent upon marriage as a financial speculation. There are men who go into the relation just as they go into Wall street to purchase shares. The female to be invited into the partnership of wedlock is utterly unattractive and in disposition a suppressed Vesuvius. Everybody knows it, but this masculine candidate for matrimonial orders, through the commercial agency or through the county records, finds out how much estate is to-be inherited, and he calculates it. If he thinks out how long it will be before the old man will die, and whether he can stand the refractory temper until he does die, and then he enters the relation, for he says: "If I cannot stand it, then through the divorce law I'll back out. That process is going on all the time, and men enter the relation without any affection, and it is as much a matter of stock speculation as anything that transpired yesterday in Union Pacific, Illinois Central or Delaware and Lackawanna. Now, suppose a man understood, as he ought to understand, that if he goes into that relation there is no possibility of his getting out, or no probability, he would be more slow to put his neck in the yoke. He would say to himself, "Rather than a Caribbean whirlwind with a whole fleet of shipping in its arms give me a zephyr off the fields of sunshine and gardens of peace." Rigorous divorce law will also hinder women from the fatal mistake of marrying men to reform them. If a young man by 25 years of age or 30 years of age have the habit of strong drink fixed on him, he is as certainly bound for a drunkard's grave as that a train starting out from Grand Central depot at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning is bound for Albany. The train may not reach Albany, for it may be thrown off the track. The young man may not reach a drunkard's grave, for something may throw him off the iron track of evil habit, but the probability is that the train that starts tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock for Albany will get there, and the probability is that the young man who has the habit of strong drink fixed on him before 25 or 30 years of age will arrive at a drunkard's grave. She knows he drinks, although he tries to hide it by chewing cloves. Everybody knows he drinks. Parents warn; neighbors and friends warn. She will marry him; she will reform him.

The Altar of Sacrifice.

If she is unsuccessful in the experiment, why, then the divorce law will emancipate her because habitual drunkenness is a cause for divorce in Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Connecticut and nearly all the states. So the poor thing

goes to the altar of sacrifice. If you will

show me the poverty struck streets in

any city, I will show you the homes of the women who married men to reform them. In one case out of 10,000 it may be a successful experiment. I never saw the successful experiment. But have a rigorous divorce law, and that woman will say, "If I am affianced to that man,

it is for life."

A rigorous divorce law will also do much to hinder hasty and inconsiderate marriages. Under the impression that

one can be easily released people enter

the relation without inquiry and without reflection. Romance and impulse rule the day. Perhaps the only ground for the marriage compact is that she likes his looks, and he admires the graceful way she passes around the ice cream at the picnic. It is all they know about each other. It is all the preparation for life. A woman that could not make a loaf of bread to safe her life will swear to cherish and obey. A Christian will marry an atheist, and that always makes conjoined wretchedness, for if a man does not believe there is a God he is neither to be trusted with a dollar nor with your lifelong happi-

ness. Having read much about love in

a cottage, people brought up in ease

will go and starve in a hovel.

By the wreck of 10,000 homes, by the holocaust of 10,000 sacrificed men and women, by the hearthstone of the family, which is the cornerstone of the state, and in the name of that God who hath set up the family institution, and who hath made the breaking of the marital oath the most appalling of all perjuries. I implore the congress of the United States to make some righteous, uniform law for all the states, and from ocean to ocean, on this subject of mar-

riage and divorce.

Character the One Essential.

Let me say to the hundreds of young people in this house this afternoon, before you give your heart and hand in holy alliance use all caution. Inquire outside as to habits, explore the disposition, scrutinize the taste, question the ancestry and find out the ambitious. Do not take the heroes and the heroines of cheap novels for a model. Do not put your lifetime happiness in the keeping of a man who has a reputation for being a little loose in morals or in the keeping of a woman who dresses fast. Remember that, while good looks are a kindly gift of God, wrinkles or accident may deposit them. Remember that Byron was no more celebrated for his beauty than for his depravity. Remem-

ber that Absalom's hair was not more splendid than his habits were despicable. Hear it, hear it! The only foundation for happy marriage that has ever been or ever will be is good character.

Ask God whom you shall marry if you marry at all. A union formed in prayer will be a happy union, though sickness pale the cheek, and poverty empty the bread tray, and death open the small graves, and all the path of life be strewn with thorns from the marriage altar with its wedding march and orange blossoms clear on down to the last farewell at that gate where Isaac and Rebecca, Abraham and Sarah, Adam and Eve parted.

And let me say to you who are in this relation, if you make one man or woman happy, you have not lived in vain. Christ says that what he is to the church you ought to be to each other, and if sometimes through difference of opinion or difference of disposition you make up your mind that your marriage was a mistake patiently bear and forbear, remembering that life at the longest is short, and that for those who have been badly mated in this world death will give quick and immediate bill of divorcement written in letters of green grass on quiet graves. And perhaps, my brother, my sister, perhaps you may appreciate each other better in heaven than you have appreciated each other on earth. In the "Farm Ballads" our American poet puts into the lips of a repentant husband after a life of married perturbation these suggestive words: And when she dies I wish that she would be laid by me And lying together in silence perhaps we will agree, And if ever we meet in heaven I would not think it queer If we love each other better because we quarreled here.

The Speck on the Horizon. And let me say to those of you who are in happy married union avoid first quarrels; have no unexplained correspondence with foreign admirers; cultivate no suspicions; in a moment of bad [?] do not rush out and tell the [?]; do not let any of those gadabouts of society unload in your house their baggage of gab and tittle tattle; do not stand on your rights; learn how to apologize; do not be so proud, or so stubborn, or so devilish that you will not make up. Remember that the worst domestic misfortunes and most scandalous divorce cases started from little infelicities. The whole piled up train of ten rail cars telescoped and smashed at the foot of an embankment 100 feet down came to that catastrophe by getting two or three inches off the track.

Some of the greatest domestic misfortunes and the wide resounding of divorce cases have started from little misunderstandings that were allowed to go on and go on until home and respectability and religion and immortal soul went down in the crash, crash!

And, fellow citizens as well as fellow Christians, let us have a divine rage amidst anything that wars on the marriage state. Blessed institution! Instead of two arms to fight the battle of life, fear; instead of two eyes to scrutinize the path of life, four; instead of two shoulders to lift the burden of life, four. Twice the energy, twice the courage, twice the holy ambition, twice the probability of worldly success, twice the prospects of heaven into the matrimonial tower God fetches two seats.

Outside that bower room for all contentions, and all bickerings, and all controversies, but inside the bower there is room for only one guest -- the angel of love. Let that angel stand at the floral doorway of this Edenic bower with drawn sword to hew down the worst foe of that bower--easy divorces. And for every paradise lost may there be a paradise regained. And after we quit our time here may we have a brighter home in heaven, at the windows of which this moment are familiar faces watching for our arrival and wondering why so long we tarry.

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IN THE CAISSON. What Is the Greatest Air Pressure That Man Can Stand? Messrs. Sooysmith & Co. of New York, the well known contracting engineers who for years have made a specialty of difficult foundations and tunneling requiring the use of compressed air, tell us that the full ability of properly equipped and properly behaved men under the most favorable condition, to

resist caisson disease, has never been

tested. The highest working pressures

recorded have been close to 50 pounds per square inch, but with extreme care

in the selection of men and correspond-

ing care on the part of the men it is very probable that this limit may be considerably exceeded. For the average pressure man under average conditions the top limit may be placed at about 45 pounds, the time of working varying

from four to six hours per shift, according to conditions. In the cases where

higher pressures might be used the

shifts for the men should be restricted

to two of two hours each, separated by a considerable interval. As an example of heavy pressure work under favorable

conditions as to ventilation without very bad effects on the man, Messrs. Sooysmith & Co. had an experience

with a work on which men were engaged in six hour shifts separated into two

parts by half hour intervals for lunch.

This work was excavating in open, seamy rock, carried on for several weeks under about to 45 pounds pressure.

The character of the material through which the caisson is being sunk or upon which it may be resting at any time bears quite largely upon the ability of the men to stand the pressure necessary to hold back the water at that point. If the material be so porous as to admit a considerable leakage of air through it, there will naturally result a continuous change of air in the working chamber and a corresponding relief of the men from the deleterious effects which are produced nearly always by overused air. In other words, a system of ventilation is kept up by the porous material.

On the other hand, if the caisson is passing through an impervious substance, such as tough clay, ventilation is much obstructed, and the consequent

bad effects on the men are very noticeable. As it is usually necessary to carry the highest pressure when the caisson has reached its final position and while the air chamber is being filled with concrete and sealed up, the worst results usually result at these times. Thus very often at the time when the pressure is greatest the ventilation is the worst.

As an example, experience has shown that in one known instance at least during rock excavation at great depths the leakage of air through the seams and crevices of the rock permitted of the men standing very high pressures. The physical condition of the men is an important factor in the whole matter. Men who are thoroughly sound organically and who are not fleshy can endure much higher pressure than men who have not these physical conditions. Moreover, the degree to which pressure men observe hygienic rules, preserve regularly of conduct and abstain from dissipation affects largely their capacity to endure the effects of compressed air. The extent also to which pressure men can adhere to the rules for entering pressure, for conduct while at work, for exit to the ordinary atmosphere and for behavior immediately after coming out influence their physical sensitiveness to these effects.--Cassier's Magazine.

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DIAMOND POLISHING. CUTTING AND PUTTING A LUSTER ON THE FIERY STONE. An Industry Not Known In This Country a Few Years Ago--Now Our Cutters Excel Those of Most Every European Country--"Rose" Diamonds Made of Chips.

Very few people who are fortunate enough to be able to wear diamonds know what amount of labor has been expended upon them from the time they were mined until finally they appear in the showcases of the jewelers ready for use. Fewer still are aware of the fact that the labor of the cutter and polisher adds at least $10 a carat to the value of the uncut diamond. These would squirm at the idea of taking even a seemingly finished and polished brilliant and splitting it into two pieces, doubling the ex-

pediency of the act on common sense grounds. The less in weight from cutting is over one half, but it so adds to the value of the diamond that a stone of one carat, costing in the rough perhaps $40, would sell for $110 when cut

and polished, and the refuse or leavings from the cutting might bring a tidy sum besides. The value, however, does not depend alone upon the weight of the stone, but it is affected also by

blemishes and impurity of color. It is the stone with a blemish, which is sometimes left in it in the hope that the ignorant and inexperienced purchaser

may not discover it, which goes to the diamond cutter a second time, that the connoisseur thinks needs cutting and necessarily reducing to take the blemish out of, and thus increased its brilliancy and value. Less than 15 years ago two diamond cutters cut and finished all the rough diamonds which came to this market. In fact, there was not a sufficiency of work even for these workmen, for the brilliants were nearly all imported in a finished state, ready for setting in any shape for the wearers. But the duties upon these became an important matter, as there was nothing to pay upon the rough stone, at least nothing to speak of, and the finished article cost

high because of the diamonds of Uncle Sam. He argued that people who could afford to wear diamonds should be willing to pay high for the privilege. This matter of duty paid to the customs officers became an incentive in the diamond cutting profession, and the number of workmen was increased and the inventive genius of our bright American inventors set at work to make labor saving machines for cutting and polishing diamonds.

Another fact that increased the incentive to encouraging American diamond cutters was that the work on the bril-

liants was too frequently done in a careless manner in Europe, particularly outside of the Dutch city of Amsterdam and that American workmen could much better satisfy the critical taste of our people who deal in and wear precious stones, for the trade takes in all precious stones as well as diamonds. At that time the difference between a diamond imported and one cut and finished here was so marked that the demand for stones finished here was greatly in-

creased, and within five years some six more diamond cutters had established themselves in New York, and all had more work than it was possible for them to do. The eight diamond cutters dressed

and polished at least one-twentieth of all the diamonds sold in the city of New York, and the superior excellence of their work was recognized by all dealers and became the envy of the older workers in Holland, who had heretofore had almost a complete monopoly of the trade. This showed that some things as well as others might be done on this side of the water better than the work-

men of Europe could do.

Diamonds are imported, as a rule, from South Africa, where as large and as fine stones are found as in all of the East Indies and Brazil, although many of the African diamonds are off color. They come to this country in the rough in all sorts of shapes and almost always uneven in shape. These lack entirely that luster which is the beauty of the brilliant and attaches to the name so closely, for it is the brilliancy and luster which make the diamond most valuable, added, of course, to the fact of its hardness and consequent ability to take and keep a very high polish. By the process of "cleaving" the irregularities of the rough stones are chipped off, and the general form of the diamond is secured, but without its possession of any of the circles which separate the face.

These chipped off pieces, if of suitable color and without flaws, are used for making what are denominated "rose" diamonds." What are called, in the parlance of the trade, "fasces" of the diamond are cut by the rubbing together of two stones, and when this process is completed and the stones have been sufficiently rubbed down they resemble two irregular glass pebbles, but ground on the fasces so that there is no sign nor any suggestion even of brilliancy. In fact, they are entirely without luster or beauty, and to the inexperienced even worthless pieces of glass. But when the polishing of these dull looking stones is finished, and the process concluded, there is a vast difference in the appearance of the diamonds.--Philadelphia Times.

A MILITARY EPISODE. How Lieutenant Pestitch Raided a Supply Caravan and Won Promotion. A military correspondent of the Grashdamn relates the following interesting reminiscence of an episode in the early career of the recently deceased general of the marine artillery, P. W. Pestitch, whose remains have been interred at St. Petersburg with great pomp and circumstance. Shortly before the outbreak of the Crimean war Prince Menshikoff, afterward commander in chief of the Russian forces in the Crimea, while traveling by steamer from Constantinople to Sevastopol, made the [?] of the young marine lieutenant, Pestitch, whom he frequently surprised in the pursuit of mathematical studies during his leisure time. The prince conceived a liking for the young officer, and after the opening of hostilities promoted him to the responsible position of receiver of ordinance and ammunition, then being hurriedly pushed forward for the defense of Sevastopol. In the discharges of his duty Lieutenant Pestitch met with all kinds of [?] obstructions, caused chiefly by the utterly slow progress made by the [?] caravans and the stupid and [?] formalities of delivery on arrival. There shortly came a time when these delays and formalities threatened disaster to the defenders. Lieutenant Pestitch, having failed to expedite matters by his fruitless representations to the higher authorities, and his patience being exhausted, secretly formed a well-mounted company of trustworthy troopers and a train of empty baggage carts and after nightfall set out to meet an anxiously expected munition caravan coming from Sevastopol. This caravan, chiefly oxen drawn, Pestitch and his company ambushed and plundered in thorough brigand style, despite the lively resistance offered by the guard and teamsters, who were disarmed to prevent fatal casualties. Pestitch's splendidly [?] though now [?] train [?] Sevastopol with [?], and the munitions were quickly [?] to the bastions most in need of them.

The enterprising lieutenant had scarcely completed his risky task before the story of the raid had reached the commandant's headquarters. A court martial was hastily [?], the two chief members being Prince Gortchakoff and Prince Menshikoff. Pestitch was arrested and hurried into the presence of the military tribunal. Scarcely any one recognized the usually [?] and spruce young lieutenant, who was now as black as a sweep with gunpowder dust, and his uniform in grievous disarray. "In God's name what figure is that?" asked [?], Prince Menshikoff. "That is Lieutenant Pestitch," replied the officer of the guard. "S-o-o-o," said the prince, with a prolonged accentuation of astonishment. "You, then are the marauder. Do you know, my man, what you have done?" "I know, your highness," was the brief reply. "And do you know what will happen to you for this?" Again came the curt, but respectful response, "I know, your highness." "What?" asked

the prince. "I shall be shot," answer-

ed the imperturbable black figure. Pestitch was then requested to relate the story of the plan and [?] of the night attack and plunder of the caravan. This he told briefly and succinctly without offering any palliation for his rash and risky venture. Prince Gortchakof and Prince Menshikoff listened with ever increasing and gracious attention to the prisoner's explanation, and on its conclusion Prince Gortchakof observed: "This is the first time in my experience

that I have known a man to go that

length of committing a crime in the fulfillment of his duty with the knowledge that he was forfeiting his life by the act." Addressing [?] the accused, the prince said: "You are acquitted, Lieutenant Pestitch. Return to your post, and leave the caravans in peace in future. I will see that the munition deliveries are made to you henceforth with all possible promptitude." And so they were. Lieutenant Pestitch was shortly afterward promoted to a higher rank, and his career since has been a very distinguished one. With his demise the Russian army has lost one of its most capable artillery officers.--London News.

A Celebrated Beat. There was once a celebrated Bohemian named Bart who prided himself on never paying any bills. One of the least striking of his financial feats was

once when he happened to be "hung up" in a hotel without the wherewithal to settle. He left behind him a heavy trunk, telling the landlord that he would soon return. When a number of

days had gone by and Bart did not reappear, the landlord went up to examine the priceless coffer which his guest had left behind him and was much amazed at the weight of it. The most muscular porters could not lift it. Therefore they broke it open to see what was inside, and when they opened it they found nothing, for Bart had simply nailed it

to the floor.

But the achievement on which he most prided himself was once when he was in a strange city for several days.

He wanted a new pair of boots. So he went to a shoemaker and ordered a pair, giving minute directions as to their style. From this cordwainer he went to another some squares away and gave him a similar order, couched in exactly the same language. He made both shoemakers promise to finish the shoes in two days. At the expiration of the allotted time both pairs were done.

Bart tried on the first pair and said to shoemaker No. 1 that the left fitted him perfectly, and that the right pinched him, asking him to stretch it, which the shoemaker promised to do, and Bart carried off the left boot. He then went to shoemaker No. 2 and tried on the second pair, telling him that while the right boot fitted him perfectly the left pinched him, and requested him to stretch it, and he would call for it in an hour. It was done. Bart then took the two halves of his two pairs of shoes, put them on his feet and silently stole away.--San Francisco Argonaut.

Rural Scotland In the Past.

The grain grown was of the poorest kind which had been abandoned everywhere but in Scotland. It was the gray oats, which at its best gave increase of only three seeds for one, and bear, which, although the least nutritious of barley, was believed the only sort that would flourish on the soil. The horses

and oxen, fed in winter on straw, boil-

ed chaff or mashed whins, were so weak and emaciated that when yoked to the plow they frequently fell in the bogs and furrows, and neighbors were sum-

moned to raise them on their legs, although to fit them thoroughly for their work they had been previously bled by a skillful hand. They were yoked to enormous unwieldy plows, which, be-

ing made of wood, except the colter and share, could be made in a forenoon for a shilling.

This plow was driven by four meager oxen and two horses, like shelties, or by eight oxen, two or three abreast. As they dragged it along a band of men attended to keep them moving. One man held the plow, requiring to be

strong enough to bear the shock of collision with "sit-fast" stones. Another, selected for his skill in stimulative whistling, as "gadman," was armed with a long pole to clear the board; a third led the team, walking backward in order to stop them when the plow banged against a frequent boulder, and pet a fourth advanced in front with a triangular spade to "mend the land" and fill up the hollows. With this huge cortege a plow scratched half an acre per day. The harrows, made entirely of wood, were in some districts dragged by the tails of horses, until the barbarous custom was condemned by the privy council."--Scottish Review.

[?] Useless. How much is [?], for instance, most homes [?] has to be taken [?] as in any human [?]. [?] and less costly [?].--Mr. Talcott William[?] News.

The g[?] about the most costly homes in Siam are paved, no grass being allowed to grow. Flowers are grown in pots.

Rolling Steel Tubes.

President Morton of the celebrated Stevens institute speaks of the Mannersmann process of rolling steel tubes as one of the most striking discoveries of

mechanics of late years. In this process a hot billet is passed in between two

conical rolls, set with their axes at a small angle to each other. It comes out the other end a steel tube, with uniform walls, and no mandril or anything else is needed to make the central opening.

In other words, it seems as if a hole were taken to serve as a mandril and the steel were rolled on it into pipe.

Tubes are made in this way from the size of a knitting needle up to the diameter of 10 inches. The theory of the method is that if a uniform bar of steel be stretched lengthwise it will gradually thin down by the yielding surface layers until it breaks, but if, however, the bar be much harder on its surface than on its interior the inside parts will give way first, developing a cavity along the axis of the bar. It may be assumed that the first effect of the rolls on the hot billet is to harden its surface, and then the elongating strain causes a parting of the interior portions and the formation of a tube.

A Modern Estimate. "Are you sure the girl to whom you are engaged will be able to make you happy?" "Positive," the young man replied. "Has she common sense?" "She has more than that. She has the uncommon dollar."--Washington Stars. Early Bible Printing In This Country. The history of Bible publishing in

America discloses the fact that Philadelphia has played a most important part in this branch of bookmaking. The first Hebrew Bible published in the country was printed by William Fry of Philadelphia in 1814. This was the second American book in Hebrew characters, the press of Harvard college having issued in 1809 an edition of the Psalms. The Sauer Bible of which reprints are still in existence were printed in Germantown in 1714, and the first Donay Bible reprinted in America was published in Philadelphia in 1790. --Philadelphia Record.

OCEAN CITY A Moral Seaside Resort Not Excelled as a Health Restorer

Finest facilities for FISHING, Sailing, gunning, etc.

The Liquor Traffic and its kindred evils are forever prohibited by deed.

Every lover of Temperance and Morals should combine to help us.

Water Supply,

Railroad,

Steamboats,

And all other Modern Conveniences.

Thousands of lots for sale at various prices, located in all parts of the city. For information apply to E. B. LAKE,

Secretary, Ocean City Asso'n, SIXTH ST. & ASBURY AVE.

W. L. DOUGLAS $3 SHOE IS THE BEST. FIT FOR A KING.

$5 CORDOVAN, FRENCH & ENAMELLED CALF.

$4. $3.50 FINE CALF & KANGAROO.

$3.50 POLICE, 3 SOLES. $2.50 $2. WORKINGMEN'S EXTRA FINE. $2. $1.75 BOYS' SCHOOL SHOES. LADIES $3. $2.50 $2. $1.75 BEST DONGOLA.

SEND FOR CATALOGUE. W. L. DOUGLAS, BROCKTON, MASS.

Over One Million People wear the W. L. Douglas $3 & $4 Shoes

All our shoes are equally satisfactory

They give the best value for the money. They equal custom shoes in style and fit. Their wearing qualities are unsurpassed. The prices are uniform--stamped on sole. From $1 to $3 saved over other makes. If your dealer cannot supply you we can. Sold by C. A. CAMPBELL