26 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



January 



His Identity Fixed. 



"Yes," said the man -with the im- 

 posing conversational manner, "this 

 country has much to learn." 



"Think so?" replied the hotel 

 clerk. 



"Emphatically. I am daily pained 

 by its deficiencies in art, music, sci- 

 ence and literature. What it wants 

 is some person — some cultivated per 

 son like myself, for instance — to 

 show it how its books should be writ- 

 ten, how its music should be com- 

 posed, how its array should be dis- 

 ciplined, how its government should 

 be conducted" — 



Here he was interrupted by the 

 shrill stage whisper of one of the 

 bellboys : 



"Hi, Chimmy, tell de boss ter fire 

 dat bride an groom out'n de parler 

 suit on de secon floor. We's got de 

 emperor of Germany wit' us in dis- 

 guise. "-^Washingtun Star. 



The Glass Snake Only a Brittle liizard. 



The glass snake, which is not a 

 snake any more than it is a turtle, 

 has a tail about two-thirds its entire 

 length. This tail, like the tails of 

 about all lizards in the United States 

 that I have met with, is very deli- 

 cate and easily broken off at times. 

 When a fourth to a half, or even 

 more, of tba animal is detached and 

 the head wriggles away, and the re- 

 mainder and sometimes a larger part 

 squirms in sight, it is an astonishing 

 spectacle, and I am not surprised 

 that the ignorant should clothe the 

 creature wfch mysticism. But, as a 

 matter of fact, all sensible people 

 know that the fragments do not re- 

 unite, for it vvould be impossible to 

 fit together the ruptured blood ves- 

 sels and shaviered nerves and restore 

 the animal. Btill this story of tra- 

 ditional force is believed by a host 

 of people, along with other surpris- 

 ing hoojD snake tales, milk snake 

 whoiDpers, with quill throwing por- 

 cupine relations and a thousand and 

 one other and lesser untruths.- 



LONDON UNDERGROUND ROADS. 



Disagreeable to Travel on and Pay Poor 

 I>ividends. 



John Fowler, with a small syndi- 

 cate as his backers, laid down 43 

 years ago an underground line of 

 railway from Paddington station of 

 theGreat Western railway to a point 

 near King's Cross of the Great 

 Northern, thus joining those two 

 great streams of traffic. It was not, 

 however, until 20 years later that 

 the real basis of the present system 

 was laid down by the Metropolitan 

 Railway company. This was what 

 is now known as the "inner circle." 

 Some time afterward the Metropoli- 

 tan District Railway company was 

 formed, and the scheme then became 

 of a more comprehensive character. 

 Neither of these companies bas 

 benefited its shareholders to any 

 appreciable degree. The Metropoli- 

 tan commenced paying 5 per cent 

 dividend, but this dwindled down to 

 3 7-8 in 1889 and has remained about 

 that figure since. The Metropolitan 

 District company never paid any- 

 thing but a fraction and since 1883 

 has paid no dividend whatever. The 

 nominal capital of the Metropolitan 

 is $58, 425, the number of miles in 

 work being 38. The gross receipts 

 average $300,000,460, and the net re- 

 ceipts $1,964,000. The working ex- 

 penses per mile amount to $1,500,- 

 000, while the revenue per mile is 

 $91,170. As for the District com- 

 pany, its nominal capital is only 

 $36,570 and its length of way 19 

 miles. Its gross receipts average 

 $1,985,000 and its net receipts $1,- 

 036,000. 



The discomforts and dangers of 

 this means of locomotion can never 

 be estimated by any one who has 

 not made a trip on the underground. 

 At such centi'al stations as Gower 

 street, where the traffic is great and 

 the rails are laid down more than 30 

 feet below the earth's surface, it is 

 impossible to breathe without ill ef- 



