THE AMERICAN WOMAN.
French Writer Says Slie Plays a Most
Important Part in Shaping
W'orld Polities.
A new role is attributed to the Amer
ican woman by a writer in the Paris
Gil Bias. In a letter from New York
he says American women are no longer
^ content with the money their husbands
have toiled to make, but aspire to pow
er, and are entering a new field—di
^^ir_^ilomacy. “The title of ambassador,”
says the writer, “is now worth as
t
LADY CURZON.
(American Wife of the Governor General
of India.)
much as that of prince to the Ameri
can woman, and that of attache is
equal to a German baron.” Moreover,
'he finds that American women, while
they m-wry foreign diplomats, never
cease working for the interests of the
land of their first affections.
He takes the American woman seri
ously and as a power, and goes on to
note the position she holds to-day. In
England Mrs. Cliamberland and Lady
Curzon wield immense influence. In
Erance the wives of llibot and d’Es
tournelles de Constant are called
femmes de government of the future,
for llibot is a probable premier and
Constant a coming minister of for
eign affairs.
While the writer admits the Ameri
can women have acquired influential
social positions abroad through bril
liant marriages, he does not consider
all such unions dangerous. But the
|. niav aspirations toward diplomatic al
liances till him with alarm, as Ameri
can women now know the secrets of in
ternational relations and are working
for the benefit of their own country.
A friend of the president of the United
States, he says, recently said: “Do
not worry over the Venezuelan situa
tion—our women are working for us.”
This mysterious speech, the writer
cays, is explained when one remem
bers that the wives of the English,
Trench and German ambassadors, the
three diplomats concerned in the Ven
ezuelan affair at Washington, are all
American women.
If, the writer continues, one were to
make a list of all the American women
married to attaches and minor govern
ment officials with a future before
them in foreign countries, one would
be astonished, lie is more alarmed at
the entry of American women into in
ternational affairs than at the doings
of the American trusts abroad. He evi
dently considers “Mme. Yankee” capa
ble of everything, a match for the
world’s best diplomats.
■■■■■ ... ■■■II... I MT'i .■ ■■■
THE HOT-WATER CURE.
Nothing So Promptly Cntn Short Sore
l'hront or Serious Congestion
or the Lung).
Hot water is not only a relief for
many Ills, but from its quick applica
tion many cures are effected. It is so
easy to obtain hot water in these days
of gas ranges that many a severe il
ness may be averted if the application
is only given in time.
There is nothing so promptly cuts
short congestion of the lungs or sore
throat as hot water. The great thing
is to apply it in time, and then to be
thorough in the application.
Tor a toothache or neuralgia hot
water will usually afford prompt relief.
A towel folded several times and
dipped into scalding hot water, and
then wrung out, should be laid upon
the painful part. The same treatment
acts like magic in applying the heated
towel to the stomach for colie.
Headaches most always yield to
the simultaneous application of hot
water to the feet and back of tha
neck.
A soft pack is the most effeethe
method known for alleviating inflam
mation and getting rid or irritation in
rheumatic gout. To afford relief every
night a piece of flannel should be ap
plied. This flannel should be saturat
ed in brine and then wrapped around
the affected joint or joints. The flan
nel should then be covered with a rub
ber or oil-silk bandage. Both should
be kept on all night.—Cincinnati En
quirer.
A WOMAN PRESIDENT.
Mrs. Carrie Clinitinnn Catt Ha* a
Dream Which, She llelieves,
Will Come True,
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt is still
confident that before the end of the
century a woman will occupy the presi
dential chair. She is very much en
couraged with recent, progress of the
woman’s suffrage idea and hopes to
see still further progress within the
next few years. Mrs. Catt, who is now
looked upon as the head of the move
ment, is a college woman and a lawyer.
She can also cook, make her own
dresses and trim her own hats and is
a fine housekeeper. She has been a
reporter and an editor. Botn of revo
lutionary stock, she is a native of
Ripon, Wis. She was educated in Iowa
and was superintendent of schools at
MRS. CARRIE CHATMAN CATT.
Mason City. The cases' of hardship
and suffering among self-supporting
women encountered while a reporter
first drew her attention -to the subject
of women’s rights, and she went on the
platform in their behalf. Ten years
ago she spoke for the first time in Bos
ton on the suffrage question, and the
young woman from out west electri
tied her audience. To-day she shows
in magnetic persuasiveness, clear-cut
logic and irresistible humor the riper
power which comes through experi
ence.
A CONVENIENCE FOR FLAT DWELLERS
N ingenious manufacturer has recent
ly evolved the corner wardrobe de
sign here reproduced with the idea
In mind of meeting the situation where
economy of space Is the thing to be con
sidered. In a flat, for instance, where
every inch of space is valuable, such a
wardrobe might effectually solve the
problem concerning closet room, for what
apartment dweller ever had sufficient
closet room? The piece of furniture in
the sketch is of weathered oak. with hinges
and door handles of hammered pewter, but
the idea is one that might successfully be
carried out in any desired variety of wood
and ornamentation and fitted up with
shelves and drawers according to the will
of the possessor.
SOME OF THE THINGS I DO.
When I play that I'm a bird,
Then 1 try to fly;
Lifting up my pinafore
High, high, high:
Spreading out my pinafore
Wide, wide, wide;
You might think it was wings,
If you truly tried.
When I play that I'm a horse,
Then 1 wear a tail,
Eat my luncheon from a bag,
Drink it from a pail,
Smashed the cart up t’other day—•
Baby in it, too!
When he's scared and runs away
What’s a horse to do?
When I play that I'm a wolf,
Then I howl and roar,
Sniffing here, snufllng there,
Round the nursery door,
Daddy says he’ll spank me soon,
If I still annoy;
Think perhaps, this afternoon,
I'll be a little boy!
—Laura E. Richards, in Hurdy
Gurdy.
INSTINCT OF BIRDS.
It Enable* Them to Hide Their Xe»t»
So Skillfully That Enemies
Cannot Find Them.
The brilliantly plumed birds of the
tropical forests are exposed to many
/I .. .. ,, 11 4 V, o*. ii-nro nnf irif tofl
with queer yet useful instincts they
would fall ready victims to their en
emies. Chattering monkeys and big
snakes steal and eat their eggs, while
their fledglings are preyed upon by
foes on every side.
But it takes a sly monkey or snake
to get ahead of the mother tailor bird.
She hides her nest so skillfully that
ht;r enemies cannot find it, no matter
how hard they try. This she does
by using her long, slender bill as a
needle.
With the tough fiber of a parasite
plant abundant in the tropics as a
thread, she sews a dead leaf taken
from the ground to a living one near
the end of a slender and hanging
branch, and between these leaves she
builds her nest, where neither mon
key nor snake can approach, because
the branch will not bear their weight.
The Indian sparrow is equally inge
nious. She makes her nest of grass,
which she weaves like cloth and in the
shape of a bottle. Then she covers
the outside with fireflies to scareaway
the bats that prey upon her young
ones.
The oriole of North America makes
its nest of hemp, woven like a cloth.
The pincpine of Africa is called the
felt bird, because it makes its nest
in the style usually adopted by felt
makers.
REAL PULL-MAN CAR.
flow Jiitlgm in Hural Mexico Trnvfl
from One I’lnce to Another to
Hold Court.
In some of the interior portions of
Mexico many primitive and curious
sights are to be met. A typical and
striking illustration of this is the pic
ture of a learned Mexican judge going
in his state coach to hold his court in
a distant town.
His vehicle is what can be termed
literally the original “Pull-man coach,”
though decidedly void of the speed and
luxury of its present-day namesake.
The Homan chariot-like cart is com
posed entirely of wood, the two wheels
MEXICAN ‘•PULL-MAN” COACH.
being sawed ends of the Brazil wood
tree.
The ear is used by a judge living in
one of the mountain districts of north
west Mexico who prefers for his mo
tive power two strong peons. The
country is hilly and difficult to drive
over. Mules and donkeys have been
found balky and unsatisfactory to
manage. Finally man power was
adopted by the judge, whereby he
is certain to get to his district court,
slowly, but surely, time evidently be
ing no object to the Mexican country
judge.—Detroit Free Press.
I)»K That Hunk* ('urn.
One of the latest novelties that has
come from the banks of the Wabash
is a real live dog that can husk corn.
This intelligent and industrious beast
is the property of Joseph Ditt’enbaugh,
kvho lives on the Stevens’ farm, near
Andrews, III. This corn busker is a
nine months old pup, who watched Mr.
Diffenbaugh husk corn for a few days
and then started out on his own hook,
tearing the corn from the ears with
more ease and speed than the
ardinary furm hand. He wasn’t
very careful in piling the corn
and the husks, but he stripped
the husks clean. This unique corn busk
er then followed the men to the
Held aad did work right along with
them, and seemed to enjoy his novel
situation as much as the water spaniel
does hunting.
1
...
LIVELY JUMPING JACK.
If You Follow Dlre-ctlomf'Here Gives
Y'oii Cnn Duplicate the One
In the Picture.
Look at this picture and see if you
think you could make a dancing jack
like it. Of course you can; all yoiu
need to do it is a piece of very thin
cardboard, as thin as a visiting card;
four large round matches, not parlor
matches, but the old-fashioned kind;
four pins, and a little sealing wax.
First draw and color separately on
the card the body and head of the fig
ure, and then the two arms and the
two legs, and cut them out neatly.
Then place the body op the table, and
THE JACK AT PLAY.
arrange under it, in their proper
places, the two arms and the two
legs, giving them a position of rest,
the arms down along the body, the
legs drawn together.
Now to put the limbs and the body
together you stick a pin through both
at the joints. Then fold in two one
of the matches, so that its two parts
may be as close together as possible.
mi_ j i mi i i ^ i i i
xuc urn la a win uc inuj pui uj uiuacji,
for some of the fibers of wood will
bend, but not break.
Place the match thus bent in such
a way that, the two branches being
united by a drop of sealing wax, the
one to the arm, the other to the body,
the part that makes a joining shall
be in close contact with the pin. Do
this with the other arm, and the two
legs and the dancing jack will be fin
ished.
Now let us give “Jack” some life.
Pour a very thin layer of water into
a plate, and lay your jack in it, the
match side down. In a moment or
two, the fibers of wood that are bent
but not broken will absorb enough
water to make them swell, and that
will cause them to make an effort to
straighten out. As they do this, they
will give our little jack a series of
jerky movements that are very amus
ing. He will throw out his arms and
his legs just like the little fellows
that are put together with strings.—
Brookljn Eagle.
WAS HIS OWN VICTIM.
Monkey with an Opern Glaxx Looked
Throngh AVronK End nml Wan
Kuxiily Captured.
The pet monkey of a German profes
sor, having made his escape, climbed
into a tree and defied all attempts to
catch him.
Well knowing the imitative habits
of the animal, his master hit on a
curious plan to regain his pet.
He looked at the monkey through
an opera glass, pointing the small end
at him for some time, and then he
retired to a short distance, leaving the
opera glass on the ground.
The imitative monkey descended
from the tree, and taking the opera
glass, gazed after a similar manner,
at his master, who seemed to the de
luded ape to be half a mile distant.
The monkey, still looking through
the same end of the opera glass, sup
posed his master was several hundred
yards distant, when the latter, reach
ing out, secured the chain and led the
victim of an optical illusion back to
his cage.
CAT STOLE DOUGHNUTS.
Auil Then Divided Her PI under with
a Don Friend Who Wna Ai
wa}* Rear Her.
This is a true story that my grand
mother told me about her cat and dog.
She used to find the cover oil her
doughnut jar, and also noticed that
her doughnuts disappeared.
One day she heard a noise, and
found that her cat was on the shelf
where the doughnuts were kept.
Then it put its paw in the jar and
drew out a doughnut and pushed it
off the shelf; and the dog, who was
looking up at the eat, caught the
doughnut in its mouth aud ate it.
When they' found they were caught,
they acted very guilty.
Then there was a cat who did not
allow any cat or dog in her yard, and
had a special dislike to the cat who
thought it owned the next yard.
One day the latter cat’s mistress
went away to have a good time for
several weeks, and left her cat with
no food, as people too often do.
Then the cat, who before this would 1
not allow any cat in her yard, uctual- 1
ly- coaxed the abandoned cat into the ’
outer shed where her meals were ’
served, and fed the cat in that way 1
till the people came back. After that 1
it would not allow the cat there any ]
more than before.—Our Fourfooted
Friends. i
(
PeniiMylvHniii'M Hoy Mmrod.
Walter Ganster, for his age, is ac- ■
corded the honor of being the cham- .
pion Nimrod of lierks county , Fa. He |
has the distinction of shooting three
raccoons, one of them the heaviest
ever shot in the county. The coon
weighed 21 pounds, and was brought
down from a tree 100 feet high. Since 1
Master Ganster was ten years old he 1
has bagged 51 rabbits, 72 opossums i
and trapped 65 skunks, lie is now
about 14 years of age. i
THE ORIGIN OF PEARLS.
Ilrttlah Scientist la of the Opinion
That They Aire Created by the
Action* of a Worm.
For many years the world has be
lieved that pearls are the result of a
mechanical injury to the shellfish in
whose shells they are found. The the
ory has been that a grain of sand, or
something irritating like it, gets into
the shell and that the mollusc throws
off a secretiqn to cover it, which finally
becomes the pearl.
The world has accepted this explana
tion, and practically all the text books
describe the formation of the pearl in
that way. Yet everybody who handles
pearls knows that there is no grain of
sand or any similar body in them.
Now Prof. H. L. Jameson, of the
Zoological society, of London, asserts
that the theory is all wrong. He says
that both his studies and his experi
ments prove that the pearl is formed,
not because of an injury from inor
ganic substances, but because of irri
tation caused by a worm.
This worm, according to Prof. Jame
son, is not a sea worm, but a para
site of the eider duck. When the ducks
swim in the sea, the eggs of the para
site are deposited in the ocean and sink
to the bottom. There many of them
drift with other food into the currents
that flow over the pearl mussel and
pearl oyster beds and so they get into
the shells.
Here they are hatched out. The
young of the parasites then surround
themselves with a curious, transpar
ent, almost invisible sac, and other
parasites are born in turn. They crawl
around the sea bottom till they finally
enter the pearl Shells and bore them
selves into the mantle, which is the
skin between the shell and the body
of the shellfish.
In this place the parasites discharge
small lime kernels, which irritate the
mantle of the shellfish until it, too, be
gins to discharge a similar lime forma
tion.
Sometimes the parasite escapes be
fore the lime wall has been built com
pletely around it. Then the pearl
forms itself around the little kernels
discharged by it. Sometimes the worm
is imprisoned and dies, and Jameson
says that he has been able to find the
remains of such worms in pearls.
POPULAR SCIENCE
1 Trick with AVliter Which, Although
Simple, In Instructive ua AA’ell
on AmuHlnif.
If you place a sheet of paper on a
glass filled with water and then turn
the glass rapidly with your hand not
a drop of the water will come out, and
the reason is because the atmospheric
pressure weighs down the paper and
thus prevents the water from over
flowing.
This simple trick shows the effect of
atmospheric pressure on water, but
here iis another trick which shows
that a similar result can be attained
?ven after the weight of the glass has
been added to that of the water. Rub
the edge of a glass with grease and
then pour in water until it will not
hold another drop. Next bore a hole
in the middle of a sheet of cardboard
and, after you have drawn a piece of
twine through the hole, knot it at one
end, and then carefully close with wax
that portion of the hole which the knot
cioes not fill.
Finally, lay the eardboard on the
flasis and press it down around the
edge. The glass can now be raised in
the air by the piece of twine, nnd, if
suspended from a hook, can be made to
swing to and fro like a pendulum.—De
troit Free Press.
Scientific Mosquito IlreedlnR-.
To get the eggs of a new species
if mosquitoes inhabiting a South
Carolina swamp. Dr. W. C. Coker, of
;he University of North Carolina, had
jo borrow the aid of a horse. The
lorse was driven into the low, ground
launted by the mosquitoes, and when
le came out the insects were drill
ng through his skin. They were
•arefully removed, put in a tin buck
;t, fed daily with blood from the
land, and after about five days, to
he doctor’s great delight, they laid
heir eggs in the water. It was to
irocure and study these eggs that
ie had taken all his trouble.
nacbelor Lite Kllla Men.
Star, registrar general of vital sta
.istics for Scotland, declares his opin
on that bachelor life was more de
tractive to males than the most un
vJiolesome trade or the most in
;anitary surroundings.
It Will Remain Suspended
at a Height ot Two or Three
Meter*.
There is now being constructed In
Brussels a new aerial machine the plan
of which is considerably more ambi
tious than any of those that have been,
evolved in the “empire of the air” up
to the present. The inventor, M. Vil
lard, a Frenchman, 33 years old, who
makes his home in Belgium, is aiming
to solve the problem of “aerial auto
mobilism”—that is, to create a type
of automobile that will remain sus
pended in the air at a height of two or
three meters, in such a way as to be
able to benefit in speed by the diminu
tion in the resistance to the movement.
The reasoning is that resistance is less
on a steel surface than on the ground,
less on water than on steel, and still
less in the air than on water.
It is said that this “aerial automo
bile” cqn be raised over obstacles, such
THE AERIAL AUTOMOBILE.
will not, however, make use of this
ascensional power, except in rar®
cases, his desire being not to raiso
himself very high, but to be able to
move rapidly forward.
The exterior aspect of the machine
presents two large disks, made lik®
two flattened lamp shades, turning on
pivots fixed to the extremities of * ,
horizontal bar, which, at the middle,
is attached to the perpendicular bar*
supporting the propeller and rudder,
and also the car, with its motor of 14
horse power. The motor acts upon
the propeller (placed in front) and tha
two disks. The propeller will maka
from ten to 15 revolutions per second.
The disks are constructed on tha
principle of an American windmill, tha
wings being of cloth, triangular in
tiiiape. The disks, Which are five me
ters in diameter, turn in opposite di
rections at the rate of 80 revolution*
a minute.
The aeronaut sits in a chair con
structed of steel tubes attached to the
framework, or car. lie has directly
in front of him all the levers and ap
paratuses necessary to controlling the
movements of the iiropeller and the
disks.
The actual weight of M. Villard’*
,•’i«11 ;m>- -VUograiniBttirtoisfc. -
ftii- initial triafs,'*n?®he‘*-»r:rfTi a motor
of only two horse power, showed that
t he force of the disks in movement pro
duced, after 50 revolutions, a saving of
HO kilogrammes.
Summed up, says the inventor, thi*
aviator presents a type of automobile
much faster than the kind that runs
on the ground, for the reason that it
encounters but few obstacles, and, ac
cordingly, the dangers of collisionsare
minimized, and public traffic is in no
degree interrupted. <
M, Villard has devoted five years to
his invention, which is so nearly per
fected that he expects to begin hi*
trials in public within a few days. His
first experiments were conducted in
the courtyard of the Hotel de Ville, of
Schaesbeck, near Brussels. He con
structed the various parts of the ma
chine in the cellar of the Mont tie Piete
of Brussels, using candles for lighting.
Recently he established his headquar
ters in the big hall of the Parc du Cin
quantenaire, where the final assem
bling of the machine has been accom
plished. I
M. Villard has maintained the closest
secrecy in his work, and the fqrejgoing
description is the first that has been
communicated to any newspaper.—
European Edition N. Y. Herald.
The Power of Ekk Sheila.
Most people are aware of the pow
er of egg shells to resist external
pressure on the ends, but not many
would credit the results of tests re
cently made, which appear to be gen
uine. Eight ordinary hen’s eggs were
submitted to pressure applied exter
nally all over the surface of the shell,
and the breaking pressures varies be
tween 400 pounds and 675 pounds per
square inch. With the stresses ap
plied internally to 12 eggs, these gave
way at pressures varying between 33
pounds and 65 pounds per square
inch. The pressure required to crush
the eggs varied between 40 pounds
and 75 pounds. The average thick
ness of the shells was 13-1,000 i^ch.
How to Take Cantor OIL/*•
A simple method of taking easto^
oil, according to Medical News, with
out producing any nauseating effects,
is to instruct the patient to wash out
the mouth with water as hot as can
be borne, and then swallow the oil,
and follow this by rinsing out the
mouth well with hot water. The first
swallow of the water cleanses the
mouth, makes the membranes hot, so
that the oil does not stick, and con
sequently slips down easily.
Trentnirut by Chemical Raya.
Treatment by chemical rays has not
yet made so great progresin the Unit
ed States as in some of the European
countries. The therapeutic effects of
the violet and ultra-violet rays hava
been shown to be remarkable, and in
France, perhaps, this form of treat
ment has reached the highest staff*