250 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September 



treme range or tnese a. a ana 3.d men cau- 

 ber iicltl guns is over five miles, and svhen 

 a suitable smokeless powder is found they 

 may throw a xirojectile eight miles. Had 

 McCk'llan had these guns when his lines 

 were five miles from Richmond he could 

 have ruined the city. No troops can live 

 in front of them when they are rapidly dis- 

 charging shrapnel, 200 bullets to the case, 

 and they can defend theiuselves without 

 infantry support and can be captured only 

 by surprise or when their ammunition is 

 exhausted. — "The Future of War," by 

 General Fitz-Hugh Lee, in Century. 



Not What He Meant. 



A story is told of a certain committee 

 meeting in which the proceedings com- 

 menced with noise and gradually became 

 uproarious. At last one of the disputants, 

 losing all control over his emotions, ex- 

 claimed to his opponent, "Sir, you are, I 

 think, the biggest ass that I ever had the 

 misfortune to set eyes upon!" "Order, 

 order!" said the chairman gravely. "You 

 seem to forget that I am in the room." — 

 Household Words. 



Bloudin's Kope. 

 Ill a fragme\at of autobiography written 

 some years ago, Blondin tells us that the 

 rope he generally used was formed with a 

 flexible core of steel wire covered with the 

 best mauilla hemp, about an inch or three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, several 

 hundred yards in length, and costing 

 about £100. A large windlass at either 

 end of the rope served to make it taut, 

 while it was supported by two high poles. 

 His balancing poles, of ash wood, vary in 

 length, and are in three sections, and 

 weigh from 37 to 47 pounds. He is indif- 

 ferent as to the height at which he is to 

 perform. Blondin has never confessed to 

 any nervousness on the rope, and while 

 walking he generally looks 18 or 20 feet 

 ahead and whistles or hums some snatch 

 of a song. The time kept by a musical 

 band has frequently aided him in preserv- 

 ing his balance. Blondin is something of 

 both carpenter and blacksmitii, and is able 

 to make his own juodels and fit up his 

 own apparatus. — Chambers' Journal. 



An Astonished Dog. 



A pug dog in a Lewiston household 

 swallowed a spool of twist the other day, 

 and the boy of the family discovered him 

 pawing at the end which hung from his 

 mouth. The boy forthwith had the "rack- 

 et" of his life. He unwound 50 yards of 

 No. B from the pug and left the spool in- 

 side, and the astonishment of the dog was 

 as great as the sport of the boy. — Lewis- 

 ton Journal. 



liabouchere and the Duke. 



Once, in days long past, I knew a duke 

 at Florence (he was from Sicily, where 

 most persons are dukes). He had been 

 banished by King Bomba. He was rich, 

 and he ought to have been happy. But he 

 was not, and he confided his woes to me. 

 He had no decoration. "You have antiq- 

 uities in yoiir island," I said. He replied 

 that he had heard that there were such 

 things. "Do you know anything about 

 them?" I continued. "Nothing," he an- 

 swered. "Then get a man to write a book 

 about them, have it properly illustrated, 

 bring it out as your own, have some cof)ies 

 beautifully bound and send one to each of 

 the crowned heads in Europe, kings, dukes, 

 electors and so on." "But wherefore, my 

 friend?" he asked. "A certain number of 

 them will send you an order in return for 

 your gift. Mind — quarto, and well bound, ' ' 

 I said. 



Two years later I returned to Florence, 

 and went to some official ceremony. My 

 duke was there. He was arrayed in rib- 

 bons like a rainbow, and he jingled as he 

 walked, such was the number of the metal 

 plates about him. The grateful creature 

 threw himself into my arms. "I owe 

 them all to you," he said. — London Truth. 



Goldsmith Was Full of Chivalry. 



Poor "Gold.v, " as he was fondly nick- 

 named later ill life, did not look much like 

 a knight. Short of stature, with a homely 

 face deeply scarred by the smallpox, awk- 

 ward in his manners and movements, ho 

 would have • lade but a sorry figure in the 

 lordly tournament or at a royal banquet. 

 And yet he had within him not a little of 

 the knightly spirit. Generous to a fault, 

 daring even to toolhardiness, tender heart- 

 ed, impulsive — he was just the kind of 

 man to ride through the world, seeking 

 adventures and risking his life in defense 

 of the helpless and innocent. Had he lived 

 in the days of chivalry, he would doubtless 

 have been, ii spite of his ugliness and un- 

 gainliness, a famous knight errant. — 

 James Baldwin in St. Nicholas. 



Consistent, 



First Doctor — Well, doctor, I had a pe- 

 culiar case today. ■ 



Second Doctor — What was it, please? 



First Doctor — I attended a grass widow 

 who is afflicted with hay fever. — Oakland 

 Times. 



A wind moving at 40 miles an hour ex- 

 ercises a pressure of 9 pounds to the square 

 foot; at 100 miles, of 56 pounds. 



The Neversink was not named because 

 its waters do not get low, but from the In- 

 dian Na-wa-sink, "mad river." 



