GIGANTIC WATER WHEELS.
Creaking, Groaning Monatera That En
liven a City In 8yria.
Hama, In Syria, says a writer In the
Wide* World Magazine, is famed for
its hfge ‘water wheels, locally known
us uikua. There are four of them,
and tffey are driven by the river Or
ontes. which Hows through the town.
Bach of the wheels bears a distin
guished name, and the visitor to the
city is made aware of their presence
long before he sees them by the creak
ing and groaning noise which greets
his ear. At first it suggests a pipe or
gan and later a brass band practicing.
The wheels are built of a dark ma
hogany. which gives them at a dis
tance the appearance of iron. The lar
gest of them boasts of a diameter of
seventy-five feet and is declared to be
the biggest water wheel in existence.
The naura are erected on what is
known as the undershot principle—
that is to say. they are driven by the
water striking them at their base.
They serve not only to supply the town
with water, but also Irrigate the ad
jacent gardens.
The wheels never stop, summer or
winter, and day and night their creak
ing and groaning are heard. In the
summer months small boys may al
ways be seen bathing in the river in
the neighborhood of the wheels, and
for a small coin they will get in be
tween the spokes of the wheels and al
low themselves to be carried around
many times or hang on the outside of
the wneel and drop back into the wa
ter when halfway up.
BUILDING A RAILROAD.
What It Means When the Contractors
Begin Operations.
With the right of wn.v established.
• great army of men enter into the
, - —rupany does not build its
turned over to contrac
jally let in sections of
miles.
The contractor must live up to cer
tain specifications, just as though he
were building a house, and he fur
nishes everything—men. teams, ma
chinery, food and material. Few peo
ple realize what this means. A con
tractor must be very near to a king.
For instance, there is tbe Uazelton
section in the mountains. It is less
than 2U0 miles in length. Before a
single shovel or pick was engaged in
the building of this section the con
tractors had to equip themselves with
a Beet of steamboats ut a cost of $200,
000. They had to build scores of
camps at from $2,000 to $4,000 a camp
Each of these centers had to be stock
ed with provisions, supplies and mate
rials almost before a builder was
brought in. Before these contractors
moved a shovelful of earth or fired a
single blast they had spent over $0.
000.000
Eacli contractor’s camp is like a
small city, with its stores, hospital,
scores of sleeping shacks, kitchens,
dining rooms, warehouses and barns.
Jnuies Oliver Curwood in Leslie’s.
The Russian Frontier.
One feature in which the Russian
frontier differs from others is the com
plete ignorance of those living uear the
border of what lies beyond.
A correspondent of tbe Autocar says
that he called a* the Automobile club
in Breslau, hoping to gain some infor
mation. "The members received me
most kindly and did all they could to
help, but explained that they never
crossed the frontier and had no first
hand knowledge. The German customs
officer, .living for ten years withiD
yards ot Russia, spoke no word of Rus
sian, and the Russians beyond the
chain spoke no German.
“There is a neutral strip some three
or four yards wide between Russia
and Germany, along which many Rus
sian sentries are posted, and mounted
Cossacks pass at short Intervals, rid
ing the boundary.”—Nfev* York Sun.
The Word “Poultry."
Poultry, accocdiug to tUe definition
given in one standard encyclopedia, in
cludes “the whole of the domesticated
birds reclaimed b.v man for the sake of
their flesh and their eggs." The word
comes from the Latin “pullus.” which
could mean a young horse or donkey
as well as a chick (the English "foal”
is akin to tbisi. through tbe Frencji
“poule." a fowl. But it Is curious that
“poultry” has no French version, the
nearest equivalent being "volaille.” or
“oiseaux de basse cour.” birds of tbe
low yard. German In its descriptive
way knows poultry as “federvlch.”
feather cattle.
A Vanished Shrine.
“What of your trip abroad?"
"My wife was deeply disappointed
in one thing. She visited Shakespeare’s
home all right”
“Well?”
“But she also wanted to pay a visit
th the tub of Diogenes.”—Kansas City
Journal.
Important.
“Dobbleday seems to think himself a
very Important person.”
“Why. he <jan't even stand on a street
corner and wait for a trolley car with
out pitting on as many airs as If be
were laying a cornerstone.”—Binning
ham Age-Herald.
> Hard to Boat.
F“ "This.” said the man of the house as
he mournfully purveyed three carpets
pud tun rugs (.fringing on the Clothes
line, "this laairomblnation bard to
beat’’-Vrlnceton User.,
Lcjoky Horaeahoea.
She—Do you believe In Horaeahoea
as an.emblem of Useht He—fee, U
they are on the winning horee.—Lon
don Opinion.
HIS VISIT TO MORGAN.
There Ween't Much 8aid, but It Wae
All Right to the Point.
A well known insurance official said
the other day at the Auditorium, in
Chicago:
“In the beginning of my career, when
I was only a humble Insurance agent. I
gained access one morning to the au
gust and formidable presence of J.
Pierpont Morgan.”
“No!”
“Yes,” the official insisted—“yes. it’s
a fact. Don’t ask me how 1 did it.
though, for that’s a secret. But at 10
o'clock one morning behold me. a
young insurance agent standing be
fore the desk of the great J. Pierpont
with my big envelope of life and death
statistics, twenty year endowments,
and so forth, in my hand. I was, 1
have since learned, the first and only
insurance agent who ever managed to
meet Mr. Morgan face to face.”
“Well, what happened?"
’ “ ‘Mr. Morgan,* I began hurriedly,
‘you ought to carry more life insurance.
You see, sir’—
“And lucidly and cogently and brief
ly. wasting no words, I laid my insur
ance proposition before the great finan
cier.
“He listened in silence. Those fierce
blue eyes of his bored through me like
lances. When I stopped at last all he
said was:
“ ‘How did you get in here?’
“ ‘I walked in.’ I answered.
•• ‘Well.’ said be. ‘walk out.’ ’’—New
York Tribune.
Why Elephants Fear Mice.
It seems incredible that so small and
harmless an animal as a mouse is able
to frighten an elephant almost out of
its senses. One little mouse in the
hay on which they are feeding will
stampede an entire herd. In their na
tive land there are little animals,
known ns chacanas. which feed ot. a
small, sour berry of which elephants
are very fond. They live in settle
ments. something after the manner of
prairie dogs, under the berry bushes.
When feeding, the elephants trample
the little towns, and the chacanas. in
their fright, run up the tubes of the
elephants' trunks. Their long, sharp
claws cntch in the flesh, and they can
not he ejected. The more violently the
monster blows through its coiled trunk
the more firmly the hooked claws of
the little animal become imbedded in
the flesh. Inflammation and death are
the result'. In captivity the elephants
think they are in danger of the deadly
chacanas when they see a mouse.
Malaria.
Malaria lias been recognized since
the days of Hippocrates as one of the
most formidable and destructive of
maladies, the more formidable because
it was supposed, in accordance with
the name which Macculloh adapted
for it from the Italian less than a
century ago. to be caused by a per
vasive venom in the air. But since
the epochal observations of Laveran.
the labors of Golgi and his colleagues
and the experiments and discoveries
of Ross it has lost much of its mys
terious terror, and the sure way to its
prevention and extirpation has been
revealed.—New York Tribune.
Making a Choice.
“Don’t you love the merry prattle of
the children?”
“Yes.” replied Mr. Growcher. with
some hesitation—“that is to say. I’d
rather hear Freddie and Willie prattle
than learning to play the bugle and the
snare drum.”—Washington Star.
Comparisons.
"Those old warriors must have look
ed grotesque,in their elaborate armor.”
“Yes: almost as grotesque ns a man
in a baseball catcher’s outflt or a foot
ball suit.”—Exchange.
Mixed.
Mother—Now. Wliue, tell me what
the word elocution means.
Willie—Elocution Is the way people
are put to death In some states!—Pitts
burgh Press.
Amusing.
Cholly—1 was up at the aoo yester
day watching the monkeys. It was
awfully amusing.
Mae—I dare say it was—for them.—
8t Louis Post-Dispatch.
DEFENDED HIS COTTON. '
Andrew Jackson Showed He Had a
Grim Sense of Humor.
A Virginian veteran used to tell how
Andy Jackson used bales of cotton In
the ramparts thut he threw up In de
fense of New Orleans, and it was nut
urnlly a mutter of indifference to him
whose cotton he employed.
Some of the cotton happened to be
long to a rich merchant. The mer
chant followed his bnles with doglike
devotion. He could not bear to tear
himself away from them. He was
standing over them when Jackson hap
pened to draw near. and. running up
to the chief, he said: "Monsieur, it is
damage for your men to take my cot
ton. All property is sacred and must
be protected.”
“But" said Jackson, “are you sure
this Is your cotton?"
“Oh. sure, most sure.” said the mer
chant “I know the marks, all of them.
Et puis, alors, this cotton, sir. must be
defended.”
Jackson turned to a private and told
him to fetch a musket at once. The
musket being brought, the general laid
it in the merchant’s arms and said
with a grim smile:
“My friend, you are the most proper
person I know of to defend your own
property. Stay here. then, and do so.
SUr at your peril.”
ENERGY OF RADIUM.
One Ton of It Would Equal In Power
1,500,000 Tone of Coal.
If one could utilize the energy of a
ton of radium through a space of thir
ty years it would be sufficient to drive
a ship of 15.000 tons, with engines of
15.000 horsepower, at a rate of fifteen
knots throughout the whole thirty
years. To do this 1.500.000 tons of coal
are actually required, says the Chicago
Tribune.
These are not fanciful figures, for the
energy is there, though, as a matter of
fact, it is unlikely that man will ever
produce much more than half an
ounce of radium a year.
Still, the fact is important for this
reason—that science Is convinced that
the radium in radium bromide is not
the only element which possesses this
marvelous store of energy, but that the
calcium in gypsum and the sodium in
common salt eontafn also this energy
content.
JThe evidence of the wonderful atomic
energies in the common elements of
everyday material is rapidly accumu
lating. and scientists are of the opinion
that perhaps these same discoveries
may in time alter the whole future of
the human race.
The Kitchen Sink.
It Is a statistical fact that farm wo
men die earlier than do farm men and
that those who survive the years of
drudgery break in health sooner than
do the men. The opposite is true In
town. There is no doubt In my mind
that the biggest factor in the develop
ment of thls'state of affairs is the woe
ful lack of labor saving contrivances
in the farm woman’s home. Many
houses In the country are still without
that greatest of labor savers—a kitch
en sink, a sink with a pump or faucet
and with a drain leading out from it
The carrying In and out of water Is
the most laborious and back breaking
task of all the bard tasks belonging to
the housekeeper. There is no substi
tute for a kitchen sink, if you can
add but one thing to your home this
year and if you have no kitchen sink
let that be the addition.-Farm and
Fireside
Why People Travel.
Because they think they are going to
learn something, and it is only by trav
eling that they can discover that
knowledge does not come by travel
Because It helps them to get better
acquainted with their neighbors—some
of whom they are bound to fall in with
on their travels.
Because the doctor tells them they
ought to.
Because it gives them the Illusion
of superiority and furnishes them with
topics of conversation. /
Because it costs more than they can
afford
Because they don’t know all the dis
agreeable things that will happen to
them.
Because it is the only way in which
they can discover how comfortable
they are at home.—Life.
Hum of the Wires.
Anything that is stretched Is apt to
be thrown Into vibration by the force
of the air blowing against it if it vi
brates so fast as to produce the air
waves that our ears can hear then that
is what we call sound. This is what
happens to the telegraph wires when
they hum. and if we put our band on
the telegraph pole we shall feel that
the wires vibrate strongly enough to
set the whole pole trembling too. But
when the air is quite still the telegraph
wires do not bum.
Vsry Attentive.
*T can’t get old SDlp the tailor to pay
any attention to me." remarked Dub
blelgh.
“That’s strange.” said Slathers. “HeV
most assiduous In bis attention to me
Sends me three or four bills ever.'
month.”—Harper’s Weekly.
Easily Explained.
Elder—If you believe that everything
that takes place Is foreordained wh>
did you wallop the man yon caught
stealing your wood? Deacon—Because
1 couldn’t help It I felt that It was
foreordained that 1 should wallop him
—Boston Transcript
In this world it la not what we take
up. but -what we ghre up, that makes
us rich.-Henry Ward Beecher.
PACKING GOLD LEAF.
It Is "Handled,” So to Speak, by the Aid
of a Puff of Breath.
The gold reucheH the "beaters" first
Id wide bars or nuggets. It must be
weighed, melted and made into inch
wide ribbons before the "beating” be
gins. The ribbon is then cut into inch
squares and beaten with a hammer
wielded by a stalwart workman.
When each leaf has been beaten thin
it is transferred to a mold, where it Is
beaten again for a period of four hours.
The beating is accomplished by means
of a wooden hammer weighing from
seveD to eighteen pounds on a sheep
skin cushion resting on a granite block.
The gold beaten is usually 22 or 23
carats fine. A little alloy of copper or
silver is added to make it spread. It
would be impossible for the beaters to
handle perfectly pure gold.
Gold leaf is packed more by the aid
of the breath than that of the bands
The operation of transferring a sheet
of nlniost transparent gold leaf from
one place to another Is of sncb delica
cy that It is possible to accomplish it
only by a slight puff of the breath.
The packers are for the most part
girls, to whom, after beating, the gold
leaf is banded.
The girls lift the unshaped leaf from
the mold with a pair of wooden pin
cers. flatten lt out on a sheepskin cush
ion by gently blowing on it cut it Into
a perfect square, replace it between
the leaves of the book and flatten it
out with the breath. A “book" con
sists of twenty-five leaves, and a skill
ed girl operator can pack seventy
books in a day.—Harper’s Weekly.
LAYING A GHOST.
A Simple Solution to the Mystery of a
“Hsunted” Houee.
The mystery of a "haunted” house
was explained in u recent number of
Science. It was a large, handsome
structure In Boston's Back Bay district
The trouble centered In the third und
fourth stories, where the slumbers of
servants and children were disturbed
by strange sensations.
It was a common occurrence for them
to awake in the night with a feeling of
oppression, “as If some one were tap
ping upon me.” Sounds also were
heard, us if some one were walking
about or overhead. Once a child rush
ed screaming into the uurse’s room
crying* that a man was waking him up
and asking why she let him frighten
him so. Iu the morning the children
were pale and sluggish, even cold wu
ter lacking its usual power to enliven
them
Investigation at length revealed a
comparatively simple, mechanistic so
iution in the escape of u large amount
of furnace gas. Often the sulphur in
it was so strong as to make the eyes
water and to hurt the throat, while
the sensations of oppression were t.vpi
cal of carbon monoxide The noises
may have been actual sounds coming
from an adjoining house, although any
noises at all would probably be exag
gerated in the minds1 of persons nwnk
ened in the night while suffering from
poisonous gas.
The Mother-in-law In France.
It Is enough to chill one’s passion for
newspapers to rend the mother-in-law
quips, as they are sad. sad jokes. A
mother-in-law Is not funny afterward:
she is only funny beforehand. In
France, where they do so many things
neatly, this is understood. Listen!
Young Raoul bad gone down on bis
knees to madarne. the Widow Lemoiue.
and begged leare to marry himself
with her daughter.
“But no!’’ said the widow firmly. “It
Is impossible!”
Desolated. Raoul burst into tears.
“Don’t take it so hard, mon gosse!"
said she. “The petite Yvonne is ex
quisite. she Is ravishing, yet there are
many others in the France. A little
of patience!"
"But, madarne! my dear madarne!”
howled Raoul. "It is you that 1 re
gret!”—New York Tribune.
Buried In Installments.
A well known local character of
Townsend. Mont, lost a leg in a
•switching yard on the railroad. The
railroad boys' raised a little purse for
tbe victim, who was rather down on
his luck in other ways aside from the
accident After paying his board and
hospital bills he went down and
bought a coffin and a lot in tbe ceme
tery, and had his amputated leg burled
in good style.
“Now." be said, "when I cash in
all they will have to do will be to dig
up tbe coffin and put me in with tbe
leg!”—Saturday Evening Post
Resurrections.
The world is full ot resurrections.
Every night that folds us up in dark
ness is a death, and those of you that
have been out early and have seen tbe
first of the dawn will know it The
day rises out of tbe night like a being
tbat has burst its tomb and escaped
into life.—George Macdonald.
Tip to Sleep Walkers.
"Pop."
“Yes. my son."
“I know the reason why people walk
In their sleep.”
“Yon do? Why la It?"
"Because their feet don’t go to sleep.”
—Yonkers Statesman.
A Casa In Point.
“Some things are better left unsaid,”
quoted the wise guy.
“8ure." agreed the simple mug: "«▼
ery breach of promise suit demon
strates that”—Philadelphia Record
Increased means and Increased lei
sure are the two clvtllaero of man.
Disraeli
Arcade Cafe
OPEN UNTIL 91P. M.
We Grow? Our Own Vegetables
Private Tables
Jack Callin - - Proprietor
BEST PLAGE TO EAT
MRS. ST. MARIE’S
Moved to Shephard Building,
next Donohce .& Diinond office.
S7 a m to 9 a m
Lunch IX m to 1 p m
6 to 7 p m
THE
LIBERTY THEATRE
CONTINUOUS SHOW
JOAN OK ARC IN FIVE ACTS
AT THE LIBERTY TONIGHT.
MORE FEATURES TO
FOLLOW.
WATCH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Admission 25c Children 10c
CITY EXPRESS AUTO RATES
ROUND TRIP EACH PERSON
Comfort - • $14501
Canyon - - $2450 J-No1 Lets Than Four’ Persons on Any One Trip.
Wortman's - $3.00J '
To or from Residence* Hotels and Docks. SOc
Phone 82 J. A. Spenard, Prop.
Mead’s Sheet Metal Works
PLUMBING, STEAM ANI) HOT WATER HEATING,
Sheet Metal Work, Metallic Roofing, Mine Air Pipe, Pipe and Fit
tings, Valves, Etc. Motor Boat Supplies.
Located on Broadway VALDEZ, ALASKA
MERCHANT’S CAFE
FRESH BREAD AND FASTRY DAIRY
Phone 03 Clias. Fischer, Propr.
VALDEZ REAL ESTATE AGENCY
Doing Business As Usual
UPPER TONSINA ROAD HOUSE
Best of Meals—Prices Reasonable
GENERAL STORE. - TRADING POST.
Telephone connects with Chitina.
General Freighting. KNUTE NAFSTED. MSr.
Independent Laundry Co.
Satisfaction Guaranteed I I Foot Keystone Ave
Telephone 66 i I Rcutth Dry lCc lb
i
When in Chitina Stop at the
CHITINA HOTEL
Finest Hotel in the Interior—Well Heated, Clean Rooms.
Bar in Connection. Rates Reasonable
ALASKA
STEAMSHIP CO.
S. S. Mariposa, S. S. Alameda and S. S. Northwestern
sail from Seattle the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th
EVERY MONTH
From Valdez south-7th, 13th, 19th, 25th and 31th for Cor
dova, Skagway, Juneau, Wrangall, Ketchikan and Seattle.
Regular freight service for Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, Sheep
Creek, Treadwell, Douglas, Skagway, Cordova, Ellamar, Valdez and La
touche. Explosives, S. S. Seward, on the 5th; Latouche, on the 15th; S. S.
Cordova, 25th of each month—right reserved to change this schedule
without notice.
F. B. TRACY, Gen’l Agent VALDEZ DOCK CO., Local Agent.
a 1 t t * « t AAA • 1. A A A A A A A A A A A.A A .A A A A A Aagaaaaaati. , . . .
Pacific Alaska Navigation Co.
;
PUGET SOUND PUGET SOUND |
California Alaska j
ALASKA
Steamers sail from Seattle at 9 P. M. on
5th, 15th, 25th—EVERY MONTH
Steamer Sailing lath calls Ilfamna and Kodiak—All 8alllag call at Kalk
and Anchorage.
. CALIFORNIA
Seattle to San Francisco every Wednesdayand Sunday, connecting with
Steamers Yale aad Harvard tor Soothers California.
Right reserved to change schedule without notice
RICHARD J. RING-WOOD, Mgr- Seattle) VALDES DOCK CO- Local Agt. ‘
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