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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Urrcmbor 



A Blmd Bargainer. 



Shoppers in cue oi the big stores 

 down town last bargain day curiously 

 wp-tched the movements of a blind 

 woman at the dress goods counter. She 

 was about 30 years old, her face show- 

 ing great intelligence and refinement. 

 She was richly dressed for the street, 

 and a girl about 20 years old accompa- 

 nied her. 



The blind woman examined the fab- 

 rics placed before her by passing them 

 through her hands. She depended upon 

 her own sense of touch apparently, for 

 Bhe seldom spoke to her companion, and 

 then only in answer to questions. She 

 appeared to be quite critical, and before 

 she made her selection the counter was 

 piled high with patterns of all kinds. 



After she had examined a large num- 

 ber of piecFS she took up one of the 

 first that had been shown her and de- 

 cided to buy it. 



When the clerk had measured it, she 

 verified the length herself by measur- 

 ing it with her outstretched arms. 

 Seemingly satisfied that the piece con- 

 tained as much as she had bargained 

 for, she took a transfer ticket and went 

 to the counter where trimmings are 

 sold. There she selected the material 

 with which to finish her dress, examin- 

 ing the laces and other delicate fabrics 

 most critically. 



After the blind woman had left the 

 store the floor manager said her shop- 

 ping was not an unusual thing. She 

 was but one of the many blind custom- 

 era who came into the store regularly. 

 This woman, he said, was not only able 

 to make the nicest discrimination in 

 the matter of trimmings, but so deli- 

 cate was her touch she could often dis- 

 tinguish colors. He added, however, 

 that she never depended entirely upon 

 her touch in matching shades, but veri- 

 fied her selections with the eyes of the 

 clerk and hev companion. — Chicago 

 Tribune. 



Joan of Arc Before the Judges. 



The questions addressed to Joan and 

 her answers day by day have been trans- 

 mitted in the records of the court. To 

 read them is to understand the brutal 

 ferocity with which she was tortured, 

 until, turning on her accuser, she cried: 

 "You call yourself my judge. Be care- 

 ful what you do, for I am indeed sent 



by the Lord, and you place yourself in 

 great danger. " 



To answers almost sublime succeeded 

 answers filled with naive ingenuity. 

 Questions v»cre plied, traitorously con- 

 ceived, concerning the visions which 

 had come to her and the celestial voices 

 which she heard and which throughout 

 her mission had counseled and guided 

 her. But on this point she was firmly 

 silent. It was as though it were a se- 

 cret which she was forbidden to betray. 

 She consented to take an oath to speak 

 nothing but the truth; but, concerning 

 her visions, she made a reservation, 

 "You could cut my head off before I 

 would speak," she protested. At night, 

 in the darkness of her dungeon, St. 

 Catherine and St. Margaret appeared 

 to her, and cele.stial voices comforted 

 her. She avowed that she had seen 

 them "with the eyes of her body * * * 

 and when they leave me," she added, 

 "I wish that they would take me with 

 them." — "The National Hero of 

 France, " by Maurice Boutet deMonvel, 

 in Century. 



Chimneys Are Fickle. 



"The hardest problem the builder has 

 to wrestle With, " said a well known 

 member of the profession, "is the 

 chimney. What the heathen Chinee ia 

 to the human race and the left handed 

 mule to the animal kingdom the chim- 

 ney is to the various appurtenances that 

 go to make up a human habitation. 

 There is no safe rule for the construc- 

 tion of chimneys. You can build a chim- 

 ney all right in theory, but when it 

 comes down to practice that is another 

 matter. Build two chimneys side by 

 side in precisely the same manner. Em- 

 ploy the best skilled labor and construct 

 them exactly on the same principles. 

 One may draw all right and the othei 

 one smoke like a Choctaw. Yes, sir, 

 the chimney is beyond all understand- 

 ing, and any builder will tell you so." 

 — New Orleans Times-Democrat. 



Overdone. 



Dukane— I don't know how you came 

 to lose money in that scheme. Y^'ou to.Ul 

 me it was a rare investment. 



Gaswell — The investment may luiv.; 

 been a rare one, but I was well dtr.c 

 before I got through with it. — Piu: !.i . .: 

 Chronicle, 



