18 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER 



January 



was a loua report, ana rne Dig, cowara- 

 ]y outlaw tumbled over, shot through 

 the heart. Neeley turned back to the 

 faro table just as quiet as if nothing had 

 happened, and, handing his pistol back 

 to the dealer, he said: 



"Go on with the deal. My last five 

 en the queen. " — Buffalo Express. 



Th« Karllrst American Coins. 



The very earliest coinage that can be 

 called American was ordered by the Vir- 

 ginia company and was minted in the 

 Bermudas in the year 1612. At that 

 time, and for a long time after, tobacco 

 was the standard currency'iu Virginia. 

 In 1645, however, the Virginia assem- 

 bly, after reciting that it "had mature- 

 ly weighed and considered how advan- 

 tageous a quoine (coin) would be to this 

 colony, and the great wants and miser- 

 ies which do daily happen unto it by 

 solely depending on tobacco," provided 

 for the issue of copper coins of the de- 

 nominations of twopence, threepence, 

 sixpence and ninepence, but nothing 

 was ever done toward carrying out the 

 law. 



Seven years later, in May, 1652, the 

 "general court" of Massachusetts 

 passed a law which created a "mint 

 howso" in Boston, and which directed 

 that a regular coinage be established. 

 The coins provided for by this law were, 

 in the quaint language of the old stat- 

 utes, "to bee 12 pence, 6 pence and 3 

 peucepeeces, which shall be for forme 

 flatte and stamped on one side with N. 

 E., and on the other side with characters 

 xiid, vid and iid, according to the value 

 of each peece. " This Boston mint was 

 the one which produced the famous 

 "oak tree" and "pine tree shillings," 

 which are highly valued by collectors of 

 old coins and wliich have sold as high 

 as $25 each. This early mint continued 

 in operation for 84 years. During the 

 reign of William and Mary copper coins 

 were struck at this mint for the Caro- 

 linas as well as for New England in 

 general. The first coins struck for Mary- 

 land were silver shillings, sixpence and 

 fourpeuce pieces, which Lord Baltimore 

 caused to bo minted in London. — St. 

 Louis Kepublic. 



a century the great white power fias 

 descended toward the queen of cities. 

 Over mountains has she come, hostile 

 peoples has she subdued, treaties has she 

 made and treaties has she torn up, 

 armies has she raised and navies built, 

 wars has she waged and countries has 

 ihe absorbed in her march. On thfi sur- 

 face her policy has changed so often 

 ehat the story of them would be a tapes- 

 try for variegation. At heart it has 

 aever altered one iota. She is coming to 

 the Medit-exranean, and she is coming 

 there through the Bosporus and the 

 Dardanelles. Her purpose is as fixed as 

 fate, and she is prepared to be as pa- 

 tient as Providence in its accomplish- 

 ment. But so long as she exists she will 

 never relinquish it. Bit by bit Turkey 

 has rotted ; step by step the Cossack, 

 with his cross, has advanced. Today he 

 s almost within striking distance. — 

 Eeurv Norman in CosmoDolis. 



Her Application. 



The etudv of definitions presents 

 many obstacles and difficulties to child- 

 ish minds. 



"Spell ferment and give its defini- 

 tion," requested the schoolteacher. 



"F-e-r-m-e-n-t, ferment, to work," 

 responded a diminutive maiden. 



"Now place it in a sentence, so that 

 I may be sure you understand its mean- 

 ing," said the teacher. 



"In summer I would rather play out 

 of doors than ferment in the school- 

 house, " returned the small scholarwith 

 such doleful frankness and unconscious 

 humor that the teacher found it hard to 

 suppress a smile. — Youth's Companion. 



AVooden Spoons. 



In the district of Semenovsk, where 

 wooden spoons chiefly come from, about 

 7,000 men make a living at the trade. 

 The spoons are generally made from 

 birchwood, and a skillful workman can 

 turn out several hundreds a day. No 

 fewer than 13,000,000 spoons are man- 

 ufactured during the course of the year, 

 which are sold at 6 to 8 rubles (12 shil- 

 lings to 16 shillings) per thousand. 



They find a ready market and pene- 

 trate as far as Persia, Khiva, Bokhara 

 and Khokand. 



Russia's Greatest Ambition. 



In Constantinople centers the vastest 

 ambitions of the race of czars. Fct over 



Charles VII of France was the Vic- 

 torious. He won 47 battles. 



