THE PINEHURST OUTLOOK.
committee declined to do the work, on
the ground of the club's poverty. A
bazar was then proposed to put it in
funds, and the women worked with such
heartiness for the success of the bazar
that no less than 1,000 was netted.
They then repeated their application,
thinking that there would no longer
be any difficulty about providing the new
window. But the committee still declined
on the ground that the club's finances
did not warrant it. So eighteen women
sent in their resignations, and now, as
the local paper says, it has come to a
question of losing the women or making
a window. If the Moray "loons" had
the traditional gallantry of Scotch lad
dies they would not hesitate long over
the answer. Springfield Eepublican,
April 20th.
Xroikn Driving In Itnssla.
We were promised our first Russian
experience in the shape of a troika ride.
A troika is a superb affair. It makes the
tiny sledges which takes the place of
cabs, and are used for all ordinary pur
poses, look even more like toys than
usual, but the sledges are great fun, and
so cheap that it is an extravagance to
walk. A course costs only 20 kopecks 10
cents. The sledges are set so low that
you can reach out and touch the snow
with your hand, and they are so small
that the horse is in your lap, and the coach
man in your pocket. He simply turns in
his seat to hook the fur robe to the back
of your seat only it has no back. If
you fall, you fall clear to the ground.
The horse is far, far above you in your
humble position, and there is so little
room that two people can with difficulty
stow themselves in the narrow seat. If
a brother and sister or a husband and
wife drive together, the man, in sheer
self-defence, is obliged to put his arm
around the woman no matter how dis
tasteful it may be. Not that she would
ever be conscious of whether he did it or
not, for the amount of clothes one is
obliged to wear in Kussia destroys any
sense of touch.
The horses are sharp shod, but in a
way quite different from ours. The
spikes on their shoes are an inch long,
and dig into the ice with perfect security,
but it makes the horses look as if they
wore French heels. Even over ice like
sheer glass they go at a gallop, and never
slip. It is wonderful, and the exhilara
tion of it id like driving through an air
charged with champagne, like the wind
caves of Rintz.
Driving in the country we could not
tell how fast we were going, but in
town, whizzing past other carriages,
hearing the shouts of the ldvosjik,
"Troika," aad seeing the people scatter
and the sledges turn out (for a troika
has the right of way), we realized at
what a pace we were going. Before we
reached home we saw a Eussian fire
engine. We passed it in a run. The
engine was on one sledge, and following
it were five other sledges carrying hogs
heads of water.
After that drive I thought I knew just
how it felt to ride on a fire engine.
Lilian Bell in Woman's Home Companion.
Question of Snakes.
The question of snakes in a tropical
country is one of much interest to a
woman. It forces itself on the attention
just as soon as one discovers how close
the jungle or bush is to the ordinary
places of residence. In Samoa this dis
tance is but a step. Along the beach is
a narrow strip of cocoanut grove, with
bread fruit filling the spaces in between
the loftier trees. But just behind the
shores orchards the bush is as tangled
and trackless as it would be if human
habitations were miles away instead of
yards. From cultivated ground you
plunge instantly into the soggy shade of
forest timber, lacing boughs blocking
out the rays of the sun and steadily
dripping the waters stored from frequent
and copious rains. In every crotch of
limb and branch grow orchids and clus
ters of the bird's nest fern. Every vista
between the trunks is tangled with sway
ing lianas, which in the obscure lights
might be taken for almost any fearsome
thing. Under foot is a thick mat of
coarse grass and aromatic ginger, and
many tall succulent herbs, which shut
out from sight the real surface of the
of these reasons the snake found he was
to loose his victim he altered his silent
tactics. He could be heard thrashing
the trees and crowing like any rooster,
only many times as loud, and as he
noisily sought some other part of the
forest the crowing was frequently
repeated, until at last it vanished in the
distance. When asked more particularly
as to his crowing, the Samoans say that
it is exactly the crowing of roosters.
There is an equal host of eye witnesses,
men who have seen crowing snakes.
They never vary from one another in
their descriptions of .what they have
seen. Except for one spot of special
conditions it is never seen on the ground,
but always on the tops of the highest
trees, either stretched out along a branch
or gliding from tree to tree with remark
able rapidity. It is long and slender,
rarely is one spoken of as under two arm
spans or twelve feet, seldom is one
described as exceeding twice that meas
urement. Its color is spoken of as uni
form, a steel blue or slate, and free from
spots or other markings. When at rest
it is difficult to distinguish it from the
branch on which it may be stretched
? , -t2rr-
"..
r P
PIGEON SHOOTING AT PINEHURST.
"Jenkins is one man in ten thousand."
"In what respects?"
"He doesn't consider himself a good
judge of character." Puck.
saturated, spongy sou. bucn scenery
may be all very well for an artist hunt
ing after color effects and atmosphere,
but it is too much the look of good snake
country to make one at all comfortable
when making a trip through such brush.
It come at a positive relief to learn that
there are no venomous snakes in Samoa,
always excepting the snake which crows.
In proof of the existence of this reptile
there may be offered the testimony of
witnesses, eye witnesses, ear witnesses.
Any quantity of Samoans, and white
people as well, will give you detailed
accounts of how they heard the snake in
the dense recesses of the bush. They
tell how their ears caught the sound of
stealthy movements in the tree tops over
head, and how the faint sound stopped
when they halted to listen closer, or
how it began as soon as they resumed
the march ; of how their invisible pur
suer was betrayed through the miles of
his fellow traveling by the rustling of
leaves and twigs in the forest canopy.
Inevitably the narrator closes his account
by a description of his escape ; he either
overtook some other wanderer in the
bush and found security in numbers, or
else he made particularly good time
homeward, or he remembered a charm
which had much power. When for any
out ; when in motion it goes far too fast
for any detail to be observed.
White people are more chary about
mentioning this remarkable reptile. Yet
there are many reliable people who say
that they have either heard or have
seen it.
The is about as much as can be said.
The ear witnesses have heard the crow
ing, the eye witnesses have seen an arbo
real serpent of large size. The proof
will not be complete until some one
shall be both eye witness and ear wit
ness, shall see the snake in the very act
of a crowing which shall reach his ears.
Until that combination is made there
will always be those who are in doubt
as to the crowing snakes of Upolu, but it
is safe to say that proof or no proof the
Samoans will always believe in the ani
mal as a peril of the jungle. Forest and
Stream.
"Yes, that's the bride."
"Very young, isn't she?"
"Nineteen, I believe."
"Who are those middle-aged women
with her?"
"Those are her unmarried sisters.
She's chaperoning them." Cleveland
Plain Dealer,
The Significance of Boils.
A collection of pus beneath the skin,
accompanied by pain, swelling and red
ness about the area involved, later "point
ing" and discharging its contents, is
termed a boil.
Formerly such an incident was regarded
as favorable to health, the idea being
that by this means the system freed itself
of the contents of the sore, and that the
vent thus provided for impurities con
stituted a decided benefit to the sufferer.
Many persons believe that attacks of ill
ness have been averted by the intercur
rence of boils.
Boils occur through the agency of
bacteria which finds entrance through
some break in the skin to the tissues
beneath. The uncovered skin, like that
of the face and neck, is more apt to suf
fer, as it is more exposed both to injury
and to germs conveyed in dust. The
friction from a collar or collar-button
may be sufficient to open a pathway for
germs. In the same manner a mode of
entrance may be provided by a scratch
from the finger-nail, especially at the
nostril or at the orifice of the ear. Often
a hair forms a convenient guide for germs
to follow into the depth of the skin.
Opposed to germs and to pus formation
in the tissues are the various life-giving
elements of the blood. The white blood
cells are the destroyers of germs in the
tissues, and apparently the living blood
itself has an antiseptic action upon germ
life.
One is more susceptible to boils when
Ms health is below normal "run down,"
as it is usually expressed. The vital
forces may become deficient in their
ability to destroy germ life from many
causes, like unhygienic employments,
sewer-gas in houses, lack of exercise,
improper food, recent illness, or present
disease.
When the system is depressed the
tissues are invaded more easily. One
boil may be rapidly followed by another,
and they may occur in "crops." Thus
one boil predisposes to another. Hence
it is impossible to discover any beneficial
results dependent upon the occurrence of
boils, unless it may be that they accent
uate the need for tonics, change of air
and of remedial measures to improve the
physical resistance of the sufferer.
The best method of dealing with these
painful and depressing outbreaks is there
fore not only a resort to the well-known
local applications, but also to employ
tonics and restoratives and secure a purer
atmosphere.
Au attack should be the warning for a
stricter observance of hygienic laws. In
this sense benefit may result from a boil,
although in a manner different from that
formerly attributed to it. Youth's Companion.
"The evidence," said the judge, "shows
that you threw a stone at this man."
'Sure," replied Mrs. O'Hoolihan, "an'
the looks av the man shows more than
thot, yer honor. It shows that Oi hit
him." Chicago News.
The Artist A flattering likeness ! No,
indeed, Mr. Cashleigh. It's only the
matter-of-fact, stingy, purse-proud man
of pedigree we artists have to flatter.
The artistic, generous, modest, self-made
man, never J Brooklyn Life,