Ingratitude' to Birds
Some Suggestions For Their Protection
Before They Are Exterminated
By Louis "Windmueller
OME 10,000 specimens of birds have been created for man's
benefit. Carrion would propagate disease without vultures
ami ravens; owls, buzzards and other hawks prey upon noisome
rodents and venomous reptiles; but of all tribes the insectivores
are the most numerous, their services the most valuable. Ver
min would destroy the grain in the West, the cotton in the
South and the fruit wherever it grows, if birds were not near
to defend them until they ripen.
Aside from the debt of gratitude we owe for their useful
ness, birds claim our affection by the charm of their presence,
but we lay no obstacles in the way of clivers enemies that per
secute them. The fiercest of them all, the domestic cat, we permit in out
garden and orchard to prowl and. to make the artless bird his prey before he
Sias time to fly. Instead of checking we countenance the enormous natural in
crease of cats until it is estimated, that 5,000,000 of them annually kill some
.-, 20,000,000 birds. A license fee is exacted for keeping a watchful dog; why
should not this rule apply, as it does in some places already, to the more dis
pensable cat? A German .household must pay a small fee for the privilege of
keeping a single cat.
Besides illiterate Italians, unrestrained American boys indulge in the
. mischievous pastime of maiming or killing flying birds with firearms or pea
shooters, and in robbing nests of the eggs they find. Such practices are pro
hibited by municipal regulations in every city, but laws are disregarded in
eurburban districts where nobody is delegated to enforce them.
It is hard to realize how bad taste could have so hardened, the hearts of
some women as to make them deadly foes of the feathered tribes. Women
who are bound to satisfy a cruel desire for the feathers tfiat inexorable
fashion demands allow whole species of birds to be exterminated. The herons
of the South are killed while they breed in order to procure their handsome
frridal plumage, and their young are left to die. These birds prey on cray
fish, which by tunneling through the levees of Louisiana cause enormous
damage. Millions of humming and paradise birds are satisfied to gratify
female vanity. Unless checked,, ruthless spoliation eventually will annihi
late all tribes the plumage of which now gratify and please the friends of
nature.
jZ7
y
mm and the ' Age of the Sue
VJy Garrett P. Serviss -1
NEW phase of the discussion aroused by the wonderful prop
erties of radium has been opened by Professor George II. Dar
win, best known as the son of the father of Darwinism, Charles
Darwin, and as a mathematician of great ability, who invented
the tidal theory of the birth of the moon from the earth.
Professor Darwin appeals to tlae newly discovered source
of energy contained in atoms, and illustrated by the continual
radiation given forth from radium and other substances, for a
means of vastly prolonging the age and the future existence
of the sun. Lord Kevlin many years ago calculated, upon the basis of the
then known laws of rnattqr and energy, that the sun could hardly have existed
as a light-giving body more than 100,000,000 years, and upon similar grounds
the future duration of the sun has been estimated at not more than 10,000,000,
and possibly not more than 5,000,000 years. f
This, to be surej would be ample time for the ripening of all present human
schemes, but it is a brief . period in astronomical reckoning, and one hardly
likes to think of the sun as going out so soon.
- But now comes rrofessor Darwin with the very comforting assurance that
the sun nusst be very much longer lived than we have hitherto supposed.
Knowing, as we do, he says, that an atom of matter is capable of containing
an enormous store of energy in itself, we have no right to assume that the
aun cannot liberate atomic energy to a degree at least comparable with what
It would do if made of radium. And with this new .light upon the subject
lie sees no reason to doubt the possibility of augmenting the estimate of the
duration of the solar heat to ten or twenty times its present calculated value.
1 According to this view, we may regard the sun as having existed for at
least one or two thousand million years, and we count upon its continuing to
illuminate and warm the earth for one or two hundred million years yet to
come. e .
The new view will commend itself to geologists and evolutionists who
have always protested against the brevity of the sun's existence as heretofore
calculated, because it did not afford sufficient time for the development of
the existing species of animals and plants upon the earth from the exceed
ingly Kimple forms in which life appeared at the beginning. Now, however,
;when geological time, thanks to the hint given by radium, may be reasonably
stretched out from ten to twenty times the estimate of its former length, the
situation is changed, and the theory of evolution gains just what is wanted.
The Girl Who
Carries For Money
By Nixola Greeley-Smith . v ,
HE is not necessarily unhappy, though it is undoubtedly the fashion.
to say so to hold tip the youug woman contemplating a commercial
marriage the inevitable misery that must result from it.
It all depends.
Some women are born to be wives, and others to look well at
the head of the table. ' i
" Which does not mean that a good wife cannot be decorative nor
that a decorative woman cannot be a good wife.
If a normal woman, a creature with a fine capacity for loving and being
loved, marries for anything save the fulfillment of her best impulses, she is
certainly making a mistake.
But suppose shcis born without those impulses? Suppose the keenest
Joy she knows comes from dining at Sherry's or listening to the silken rustle
f her skirts moving through the corridors of the Waldorf-Astoria.
Shall she marry the man who can make these occasional joys permanent?
Why not?
In doing so she is not making a mistake, though perhaps he is.
Even that, however, is doubtful.
For is he not looking for some one that will enable him to express the
instincts for finery which plaid socks, red ties and a diamond scarfpin have
Jeft unsatisfied?
Does he not want some one to wear the diamonds with which, owing to
the restrictions of the masculine toilet, he cannot adorn himself?
Look at the women in New York who wear most jewels think of those
you know.
t Are they not all fine healthy bovine creatures averaging 150 pounds?
Surely they do not look unhappy with their well-padded jowls resting
placidly on the glittering pincushion beneath.
. Perhaps-one wonders in looking at them whether their exceeding plump
ness is the cause or the result of the many sparkling jewels which adorn it,
hut one knows they are serenely pleased with ihemselves and the world.
.Why should they not be?
Perhaps John or James or Thomas does not seem to be as much in love
as in the days when he bought that first magnificent two-carat solitaire.
What does that matter?
The solitaire sparkles as of old. Perhaps he docs not come home to dinner
tnore than one evening in the week now. s not the emerald and diamond tiara
nugly reposing in its plush case?
Perhaps he .takes a great many business trips and goes on many vaca
tions alone.
The more the merrier!
Ihes he not always bring her a new jewel on his return?
' ..Was it not Emersou who said that the consciousness of being well-dregsefl
mut weighs all the consolations of religion? ,
And sprrt lve it Una important thm religion. New, York Worldy
" . w
MfflCDLTDBAL
AN
Straight Ditches.
When draining the land, whether
with tiles or ditches, better results will
be obtained if the ditches or tiles are
as straight as It is possible to have
them. Evey turn made in a drain as
sists in permitting an accumulation of
solid matter, us well as impeding the
flow of water to a certain extent.
Baltimore Sun.
The Value of Subsoiling.
Farmers do not seem to favor sub
soiling, even when it is given a trial
They claim that the soil does not re
cover for two or three years. It is
urged in favor of subsoiling that the
land improves every year, although it
may have been subsoiled but once. In
viewing the effects it should be in the
light of improvement and not a recov
ery, as no injurious effects are noticed
at any time. It is also claimed that
if a narrow roller could follow the sub
soil plow, so as to compact the soil af
ter the subsoil plow has passed, the
capacity to hold water would be great
ly increased and the benefits of sub
sciling be more immediate.
The Use of Aboovbeiitn.
One of the best methods of keeping
manure is to have a pit, with cement
bottom and sides, and the solid por
tions kept wet by pumping on the heap
from the drainings, for if the manure
is kept damp there will be a great dif
ference in its value. - Experiments
made show that a heap carefully man
aged and kept wet lost about thirteen
per cent, of its nitrogen, while another
heap, not kept wet, lost abemt twenty
four per cent, of its nitrogen. Manure,
even when kept, wet, will be more val
uable if, in addition to the cut straw
and stalks used as absorbents, the ma
nure is first covered with dirt and
marl, a. layer of manure being followed
by a layer of marl and then a layer of
absorbents, the whole well trampled.
The loss of nitrogen when such a plan
has been tested did not exceed two
per cent. Marl is perhaps the cheap
est and best absorbent material, as it
not only serves to prevent loss, but is
clean, easily handled and costs but
very little. It can be used both in the
stalls and in the beap, and applied free
ly. It really enriches the manure as
well as preserving it. for the reason
that it contains plant food in an in
soluble condition, which becomes avail
able for plants when used w-ith the
solid and liquid manures. -Philadelphia
Record.
Classification of Food.
In feeding animals, the farmer, by
his knowledge of the difference be
tween flesh-forming foods and those
that form fat, is enabled to so combine
the different foods as to provide for all
their wants. Knowing that the "albu
minoids," or nitrogenous foods, produce
muscle (lean meal) and milk, in order
to allow for heat and fat he must
"balance" the foods for the purpose of
avoiding too much of the one kind and
not enough of the other. On an aver
age, the proportion of nitrogenous
foods to the carbonaceous is as one to
six, or rather, he should add six times
a- much of the carbonaceous as he
does of the nitrogenous. The condi
tions, however, affect the proportions,
for if an animal is highly exercised,
as is the case with working horses in
summer, the nitrogen may be increased
and the carbon diminished; but if the
weather is very cold the proportion of
carbonaceous matter, on the contrary,
should be increased. By a knowledge
of the composition of different foods
the farmer who feeds for milk willreg
ulate -the material allowed to his ani
mals according to circumstances, and
not without an object in view as is
frequently the case. In fattening his
animals he will use the fat-forming
foods, allowing only so much nitrogen
ous matter as may be necessary for
the existence of the animal. Philadel
phia Itecord.
.-, fj
Prevention of Egg Fating.
The quickest cure for the habit of
egg eating in f fowls is decapitation
for the table, but oftentimes a fowl
is too valuable for this treatment, and
it may be worth while to prepare a
nest like the one shown in the illus
tration. The bottom of the nest, is in
It EST TO I RE VENT EATING EGSS.
tro parts. The larger piece slants to
the rear just enough to cause an egg
to roll down it. A glass nest egg is
made fast to the lower piece to induce
the hen to lay on the bare nest. When
the hen has laid the egg and .turned
around to peck it she is much astonished-to
see it roll out of sight. Or
ange Judd Farmer. .
Farm Notes.
It is doing what needs to be done at
the right time that makes good butter.
I JVitto manure Jjod clover the skillful
farmer needs to buy little fertility
save in bran.
Fast driving makes stiff horses un
less extra care is taken after each
spurt of speed. -
Dairy stock cannot be improved if
a mixing of breeds is carelessly per
mitted to go on. '
A bad disposition in an animal is
,. . 11-. A 1. .
seueruuy me result . or oaa manage
ment and handling.
No animal, no matter how well bred,
should be used for' breeding unless it
has individual merit.
Having the conditions right when
the seed Is sown Is an important item
in securing good germination.
The only way the grass crop can be
cultivated is by preparing the soil in
a fine tilth before sowing the seed.
The horses that are best able to
stand hard drains are those which
work steadily every day in the week.
The dirt and sweat which accumu
late on a horse during the day should
not be allowed to remain on over
night.
A hog with a short nose, a thick
aead, short legs and plenty of heart
and lung room is generally a quiet and
good grower.
The average farmer finds it best to
keep a variety of stock in order to use
to the best advantage all of the prod
ucts of the farm.
In making the best quality of butter
it is essential that the cream should
have a uniform consistency as well as
uniform ripeness.
Ashes, salt and charcoal should be
kept where the stock can help them
selves. They assist digestion and
sharpen the appetite. Kansas Farmer.
INDIANS' VENERATI ONFOR DEAD.
In Alaska They Select the Most Pictur
esque Spots For Burial Purpose.
"One of the distinctive features ap
pealing to every traveler in Alaska,"
said' F. J. Parke, special agent of the
Interior Department, at the Republi
can, "is the veneration displayed by
the Indians for their dead. The most
picturesque spots imaginable are se
lected for their burial places, and as
one travels along the mountain sides,
o- up the canons and valleys, the fan
tastic graven representation of ani
mals, birds or lish indicate the fact
that beauty spots have been taken for
the burial places of the natives.
"I visited, villages where the totem
n -" i i5 - -- y j '
In the schools of France one child ia
four of both sexes is a nail biter.
Scrap steel is now welded into a
homogeneous mass by a new composi
tion under pressure.
Not more than eleven per cent, of
the deaths from heart disease occur
at ages under forty-five.
The eyeball is white because its blood
vessels are so small that they do not'
admit the red corpuscles.
Most of the prepared baby foods con
tain, too much fat and develop tho
child's weight rather tban'its strength.
Refined cocoanut oil is being largely
used in Hungary as a substitute for
butter. Two and a quarter million
pounds of it were imported last year..
A Glasgow museum' is forming an
important collection of railway mate-i
rial, intended to cover the period f roinf
the time when the Romans brought
over the system of stone roads. Be-
tween sixty and seventy different ej
hibits will be included.
The eye of a young child is as tram-ff
parent as water; that of the ybuth a'
little less so; in the man of thiry1
the eye begins to be slightly opaqip,.
and in the man or seventy or eigujv
it is dull and lustreless. This gradufl
development of opacity is due to tiiio
increase of fibrous tissue and dept'sit
of waste matter in the eye.
Railroads in Cuba.
Nearly a year ago the Cuba raiUvfnd
was opened, and since then trains h;ve
been running between Havana :nd
Santiago three times a week, taking
t hree days en route, and stopping I for
the night at Santa Clara and Pu-J-rto
ing
in
om-Jine
the
teel
way
Principe. rains are now mm
night and day, and making the tri
twenty-five hours. The Cuba J
pany has outfitted the line with
sleeping cars, ballasted much of
roadbed already with rock, built :
bridges, and made a first-class raiil
throughout. It owns the sleepers
the telegraph, and is just complet
fine modern hotel in Puerto Pricj.
which is to be the company's
quarters. The fares establish?
and
ng a
cipe,
lt-ad-
1 by
what
The
poles recounting the history of its pop
ulation resembled a small shipyard. tllis company are practically half
mi i i i . ' Imvn iM'nroilnil i f'uli 1?t TTfini'U
ine amount ol wotk uone on xnese re- i-iv-mm j.i.ui
cords is almost beyond comprehension, ' r:ul I bound to be a financial suje'eess,
and, like tho Egyptian hieroglyphics Ka3's tbe Hartford Courant, as -from
in ancient times graven upon marble , i he day it was opened its receipts cov-
and stone, the language cf a totem oreu.an nxea cnarges ana its ounness
is steadily growing, its importance
from a social point of view is incjstima
ble. By it the island is bound together
a line
Florida
hi' ra il
ly two
pole tells the history of chieftians and
tribesmen. Some of these features
must disappear with the march of
commercialism developing the Territory.
"The relic hunter, imbued with the
spirit of vandalism, is no respecter of
traditions, and many a rudely carved
cede..- pole has been transplanted. In
stead of standing like grim sentinels
guarding the secrets of the frozen
northland, and to the initiated telling
the story of the life and death of the
semi-barbarian whose deeds it com
memorates, the chances are that it will
decorate the private grounds of relic
hunting tourists." Milwaukee Senti
nel. ,
as it never was before, and sooi
will be established between J
and Jamaica, by way of the Cul
way, so that-there will be on
short night rides by water and ail the
rest of the trip will be overland be
tween New York and Jamaica
Preparing Advertising Copy.
A great many otherwise shrewd bus
ness men, says an exchange, buy ex
pensive and valuable space and fill it
with the most absurd rot imaginable,
misnaming it advertising.
The preparation of copy requires in
dividual thought and research in each
particular case. Common sense is the
first essential, and this is exercised by
employing plain, straightforward state
ments. An advertisement that will sell a
patent medicene will not. sell a silk
dress; an advertisement that will sell
goods in Washington will not always
sell the same goods in Chicago. It
stands to reason that a medicine ad
vertisement is made more forcible and
convincing by using a local testimon
ial than a foreign one. -
The advertiser should always figure
on spending a considerable amount .to
have his ideas worked out in neat, at
tractive and forcible shape. It, is nat
ural to assume that the judicious ad
vertiser purchases publicity for profit,
not for fame. Some advertisers figure
on advertising as an expense in their
buBiuess, instead of what it should be
ad can be a paying investment.
Fiction Made Fact, 4
A thief with a tendency toward hu
mor, who did not have time to steal
all the household furniture in the resi
dence of R.: II. Chalfant, r.22 North
West street, last, evcninir. contented
himself with carrying off a new Radi
ant Home slove, which warmed him
Hi his way. The slove, tire and all,
was lifted by the thief and his assist
ant out of the house and into a waiting
wagon, which was driven away by tin
men, who kept the fire going as they
drove off with the stolen property.
Where the Avagon the men and the
stove went is a mystery which the po
lice would like to solve, but up to the
present time they have been unable tc
get on the right trail. Indianapolis
Journal. 1
In the Shah's Palareo
The palace of the Shah of Persia,
according to Donald Stuart, in "The
Struggle for Persia," is an appalling
combination of dinguiess and. splen
dor, of squalor and luxury. Oijie of the
most interesting rooms is that filled
with the portraits of all the monarchs
of Europe. In the next room is his
majesty's writing desk. Here stands
a globe such as may be s6en in a
schoolroom, except that the continents
are made with gems of different color,
and all the names and rivers are
in diamonds. On the walls a painting
by an old master is framed next to
a highly colored advertisement of a
dealer in fishhooks. The throne itself
is a sort of wooden bed, about nine
feet by six, the woodwork covered with
diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sap
phires, some an inch long. The value
of the whole is estimated roughly at'
$5,000,000 or $0,000,000. On the floor of
the throne is a carpet so thick with
pearls that the textvire of the cloth
is hardly visible, while a huge vase,
set with turquoises and pearls, stands
side by side with a cheap painted urn,
such as is sometimes seen at country
fairs. ' I ;
High Finance.
The Herald learns of a piece of finan
ciering in Yazoo City that it thinks
worthy of notice; Last Search a gen
tleman gave a boy of tender years a
silver dime to go into his savings bank.
The mother decided that instead of
placing the coin inithe bank where-it-would
draw annually three per cent.,
she would invest it in something sala
ble and put the profits in the bank.
This she did, and from the first invest
ment she cleared forty cents. This
was reinvested with like results, and
on June 20 the first deposit of $5 from
the dime was made in; the savings
bank. August another $5 was de
posited, and a noi her on. September 5
and October 1, Aiakingjia all ?20 as
Ihe result of tile investments made
from the dime. IThe money is still at
work, it being t)i desirVs of the mother
to try and havej$r,0 when the year is
up. This is wjiat the Herald would
call pretty god .financiering. Wonder
if any one in tje State) can show bet
ter results fror the investments of $
dime in the saujie length of timeV Ya-
w 'zoo City (Hiss.) Herald,