have been importunate, though the house has continued in the hands of strangers.

In

Not long after the death of Col. Marron someone saw his ghostly shadow on the stairs. The shadow came and went until finally Licenciado Valdemoro, who owned it, had it pulled down and rebuilt. The family moved into the new house and the ghosts were said to have been laid. But a year ago they came back and they are there to-day, according to the Mexican papers. spite of the Mexican police, who tremble on guard in the house, solid but invisible walls of masonry are built with unseen hands in a moment, cutting off passages from rooms and closing doorways. For days a wall may lie across a passage, presenting a rough, invisible surface that is impassable. Then it will be moved and perhaps be laid in another part of the house. Valdemoro and his family have had to leave the house. The police have been puzzling with the mystery in vain. Friends of the dead Allendes wag their heads sagely and sigh. They do not understand it, but in the Mexican equivalent they are fond of saying "I told you so."

At

Connellsville, Pa., has one of the old-fashioned, blood and thunder type of ghosts which is getting rarer every day. Its haunt is in the old Page house, one of the famous inns of Fayette County. This hostelry has been remodeled into a dwelling house for two families. This last summer strange noises have been heard in the building, the garden has been cut up in the night, and shrubbery and plants have been broken. dusk, a few evenings ago, Mr. Grindell was lying on a couch when he heard the cries of a strangling dog. Miss Kerr, daughter of the family in the next house, cried out for him to look. From the back porch he saw the figure of a woman in a shroud, bending over with her face hidden, and appearing to look for something on the ground. After feeling in the long grass and under a cluster of lilac bushes the wraith disappeared with a wail of anguish. From this the story is revived that years ago a couple stayed at the inn, and that the man disappeared one night after a great feast. After a long time the sorrowing woman went, and long afterwards, under the lilac bushes, the bones. of a man were uncovered.

The ghost walks periodically in the garden. The Kerr and Grindell families are getting used to her, only that things in the house are often tumbled about in a most inconvenient and trouble

Mr. Oak-tree he get jealous of Mr. Pine-tree 'cause Mr. Pine-tree he keep his fine green clothes on all winter; but jest as sure as cold weather come Mr. Oak-tree's clothes they fade out most ugly sort of color and fall off, and that make Mr. Oak-tree jealous to see hisself and his family with just few faded old clothes on their backs, while his neighbor, Mr. Pine-tree and his family, stand up proudful with all their fine green clothes on.

Mr. Oak-tree he grow more jealous year by year, but he keep it to hisself, 'case Mr. Oak-tree he don't know just what he going do about it.

One year the people was looking for a place to have the camp-meeting. Now they always have the camp-meeting on big grove hill, where Mr. Oak-tree and Mr. Pine-tree grow side by side, and Mr. Oak-tree and Mr. Pine-tree, both powerful prideful, 'case they have the camp-meeting there.

But one time the people come, and instead of placing round the seats and breshin' up the grounds, they go 'bout tearing everything up and toting them over in the big pine grove, where Mr. Pine-tree live all by hisself.

Mr. Oak-tree he hear the people talking, and they say it am much nicer in Mr. Pine-tree's house, 'case he have a nice carpet on the ground, while Mr. Oak-tree's house all covered with dirty old leaves.

Well, it nigh 'bout break Mr. Oak-tree's heart, that it do, 'deed and double 'deed it do; and Mr. Wind, he done see how Mr. Oak-tree drooping and mourning, and Mr. Wind he ask Mr. Oaktree what his trouble.

Mr. Oak-tree he tell Mr. Wind all 'bout it, and Mr. Wind he say to Mr. Oak-tree, "Cheer up. cheer up!" and Mr. Wind he tell Mr. Oak-tree how he going help him get the best of Mr. Pinetree. So all winter Mr. Wind, every day, and all enduring the night, he take the dirty old leaves from Mr. Oak-tree's floor and carry them all over and spread them all over Mr. Pine-tree's fine carpet. Mr. Pine-tree he don't like it, but he can't help hisself: 'cause what Mr. Wind want to do he going to do it, Mr. Wind is.

But when camp-meeting time come, Mr. Oaktree he stand there, and he see the people come and rake off all his leaves, what Mr. Wind done carry on Mr. Pine-tree's carpet.

Then Mr. Oak-tree he say he can't bear it no more, and Mr. Oak-tree he tell Mr. Pine-tree how they can't live together no more; and Mr. Oaktree he say, he will go to the plains and Mr. Pinetree can go to the mountain; or he say, Will Mr. Pine-tree take the plains and let Mr. Oak-tree go to the mountains? Mr. Pine-tree he 'low how he will take the plains and let Mr. Oak-tree go to

The other evening at a well-known hotel a number of traveling men were spinning yarns, and the talk turned upon self-sacrifice and the privations good friends had undergone to contribute to the worldly success of an associate. One solemn-faced man told the following:

"I had two schoolmates," he began. "One of them was aspiring to be a lawyer and the other had aspirations for a high place in the medical profession. The college we attended was one at which the discipline was severe and the requirements for graduation exacting. Well, those two boys managed to worry along until the day of the final examination came. The young law student had perfected himself in his studies and was likely to pass with high honors. The medical student, however, was in a far less enviable plight. He found that the examination would be for the most part upon the anatomy of the leg, and this was the one branch of the course he had neglected. He confided to his roommate and wailed out his sorrows:

"If I only had a leg to dissect,' said he, 'I would pass that examination at the head of my class.'

"It was here that his roommate rose sublimely to the occasion. He rolled up his trousers and insisted that his friend amputate his leg at the knee. His medical friend demurred, but the law student insisted, and finally the amputation was performed, and the medical student captured his diploma.

"Years afterward this same doctor was sitting in an office surrounded by all the evidence of a prosperous practise. The door opened and in came his old roommate at college. The greeting was, of course, affecting, and then the doctor inquired how the lawyer was getting on in the world. The lawyer said he had been practising several years in the petty affairs of the law and would rise to distinction if he could secure a good case. 'I want a murder case,' said he. 'One that will attract special attention and involve some well-known citizen.'

"The doctor excused himself, and, picking up a heavy poker, left the room. He proceeded down stairs and killed his landlady, resorting to

all the atrocities that ingenuity could devise to make his crime one that would create a sensation. He was successful. The papers teemed with the awful details of the deed and the tragic events of the trial. His friend, the one-legged lawyer, defended him and he was cleared. Both of these men occupy leading places in their profession to-day. If you don't believe this story you can come up to my room and I will show you a picture of the school these two friends of mine attended."

Doctors disagree as to the influence of heredity. Some hold that a great deal hinges upon it; others believe the contrary. Some of the authentic stories told to exemplify this mysterious bond between ancestors and descendants are very curious.

There was a loan collection of old portraits exhibited in London lately and a young girl was among the visitors. She was an orphan and wealthy, but without near relatives and was often heard to complain of the loneliness of her position.

As she passed through the gallery one particular portrait attracted her attention and she I went back to it more than once. Her companion saw in it nothing but the commonplace painting of a middle-aged man in the costume of the latter part of the last century.

"It is such a nice kind face," said the girl, rather wistfully. "I imagine my father might have looked like that had he lived."

As most of the pictures were ticketed the visitors had purchased no catalogue but, before going away, Miss B. bought one at the entrance and made a last visit to the portrait for which she had felt so strong an attraction. To her astonishment she found her own name opposite to its number and learned on inquiry that the original was one of her direct ancestors.

Another occult coincidence or psychological phenomenon happened a few years ago to a Southern statesman and financier whose family has always been of rank in his native State. This gentleman was overhauling old documents and letters which had been stored in a musty chest for years and intended to publish whatever might be of historic value and interest.

To his surprise he unfolded a letter yellow and time-stained which was written in his own peculiar handwriting, or seemed to have been written by him, although the date was two generations before his birth. The signature of the surname, which was the same as his own, was so markedly characteristic that he could scarcely believe his own hand did not pen the letters.

Hollyhocks.....

..Rochester Post Express

Washington Star

A Sense of Security..
Hahd times is over when de sun is shinin' bright
An' you doesn' have to min' de price o' coal,
When de trees is dressed up purty an' all bowin' so
polite

Dat you couldn't he'p but smile to save yoh soul!
You rambles froo de clover

An' you listens to a song.

Hahd times is over

When de summer comes along.

Oh, de fish is in de river, jes' a-pinin' to be caught, An' if de bread all happens to be gone,

It doesn' make much diff'unce even if it can't be bought,

Dar's always white folks you kin 'pend upon.

So, don' you worry, honey,

If you's feeling good an' strong,

Dar ain' no need o' money

When de summer comes along.

The cattle don't luv cattle-sheds,
Nor plowman luvs the fire;
The ladies leave their feather beds.
And gardeners perspire.

There ain't no 'oar-frost on the 'ills
To sparkle clean and white;
The sparrows whet their little bills,
And luvers lark at night.

The schoolgels dance and frisk about,
The tiny lamps also;

I drinks my pot o' beer, or stout,
And forth to labor go.

Our blacksmith whistles at 'is work,
Where shines 'is roreing forge.
'E's not the sort o' cove to shirk
'Is daily spell-by George!

I sticks a pretty primrose flower
I' the brim of my old 'at,

I feels I'm younger every 'our
I iles my cricket bat.

'Tis toime to tek a knife in 'and
And kill the fatted pig,
As picked up acorns from the land
And grew so sleek and big.

Pale death is on the way, we know,
And meks no difference,

But stops by 'Squoire's fine port-i-co,
And 'ovels' rotten fence.

Short life forbids us much to 'ope
For many a census more;

For lord or lady, king or pope,

The time will soon be o'er.

Ah, Squoire, the night will soon be on,
And grave be dug for thee,

For byes and gels, and every one,
Of all the folks we see.

You won't play Bridge nor billiards then,
Drink 'ock nor bitter beer;

No gels will ogle sporting men,
It's werry sad-and queer.

A Serious Error...........Josh Wink.......

Baltimore American

Ah got no use foh the weathuh man,
Slingin' dem frosts erroun'.

En' pushin' dem cyclones all erbout
Ter blow dem houses down.

He got no raight foh ter fool dat way,
En' dey des ought mek him stop,

Wiv, de plum fool done gone en' made er freeze

En' spile de melon crop.

Ah got no use foh sech foolishness-
Scan'lous-dat whut hit is!

Ah kin tell mahsef whut gwine ter be
By mah ole rheumatiz.

Don't kyah 'f he is er guvment man!

En' dey bes' des' let him drop,

'Case he done gone git all dem 'dictions

mixed,

En' spile de melon crop.

Hit des' ain' faih ter de cullud man,
Foolin' wid t'ings dat way.

Now, de rain all raight-Ah kin res' mahsef
When hit er rainy day.

Dat weathuh man kill de chickens nex',

En' de possums too, fust pop,

Ef he don' fin' out dat he go too fah
W'en 'e spile de melon crop.

sun,

F'r th' summer's in th' middle an' th' cannin' time's begun.

An' it's sortin' out crab apples, an' it's pickin' berries, too,

While ma is washin' fruit jars, an' th' kettles' full o' stew

An' pa is busy buyin' fruit an' sugar ev'ry day, 'Cause ma says fruit is better canned th' good ol'fashioned way.

An' I help her 'ith th' peelin', mighty thankful 'at I am

A partner 'ith my mother, cannin' things an' makin' jam.

Purty hot now, but nex' winter when there's lots o' ice an' snow

It'll be a mighty comfort f'r a feller jus' t' know That th' cellar's full o' goodies-cans a settin' roun' in rows

Waitin' f'r my ma t' open when the blizzard howls an' blows,

Or when school is out I hustle t' get home mighty quick,

'Cause ma'll meet me 'ith a piece, th' jam on good an' thick.

Jus' think o' days a-comin'! Any wonder 'at I am So willin' t' help mother cannin' things an' makin' jam?

Hit's lonesome, ain't it, stan'in' thaih
Wid not one nigh to talk?

But ain't dey whispahs in de aih
Erlong de gyahden walk?
Don't somep'n kin' o' call my name,
An' say "he love you bes' "?
Hit's true, I wants to say de same,
So wait fu' me, Celes'.

Sing somep'n fu' to pass de time,
Outsing de mockin'-bird,
You got de music an' de rhyme,
You beat him wid de word.
I's comin' now, my wo'k is done,
De hour has come fu' res',

I wants to fly, but only run-
Wait fu' me, deah Celes'.

The copious radiation with which the sun floods us, and which is the source of all life and activity, contains forces of infinite forms of which science has scarcely begun to avail itself. The elementary spectroscopic analysis of solar light, which the rainbow effects in nature, shows us that white light is composed of colored luminous radiations that give the visible gamut: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Beyond the violet, however, as well as beyond the red, physicists are daily discovering new radiations of wave lengths that are too great or too slight to be perceived by our eye, but the physical and chemical properties of which are very marked and hold in reserve for us many surprises.

The radiations at the red side are called calorific, because their action is shown especially by an elevation of temperature, and those of the violet side are called chemical on account of their action upon the molecular equilibrium of matter, which they tend to modify; or, in other words, on account of the chemical effects that they produce. It might therefore have been foreseen that a day would come upon which, through the dissociation of the elements of solar white light, it would be possible to obtain some curious effects, from a scientific viewpoint, as well as in the application of the sciences to the industries and arts, and even to the art of healing, according as the calorific radiations or the chemical ones alone were brought into play. We know that solar light, which is really the most universal, the most economical and the most active agent of salubrity, on account of the rapid destruction of microbes by it, owes this property entirely to the disturbing action of its chemical radiations.

As early as 1859, Charcot gave out the opinion that it was the chemical rays that caused solar or electric dermatitis, or sunstroke; and, in 1862, Prof. Bouchard, in his researches upon the intensity inherent in each ray of the solar spectrum, from the viewpoint of the irritating action it is capable of exerting upon the skin, confirmed such opinion. Hence the idea that it might be possible in certain eruptive affections to diminish the irritation of the skin, even when such irritation proceeds as far as to suppuration. This idea is the origin of the treatment of smallpox by red light. In fact upon allowing only the calorific radiations to reach the skin of a smallpox patient, we sup

press the exciting and disorganizing action of the chemical rays, and, as a few experiments have demonstrated, the inflammatory effects of the eruption are reduced to a minimum. But a still further advance was made and the question asked whether it would not be possible to treat and cure certain skin diseases considered as parasitic, and microbian, by the exclusive use, on the contrary, of the chemical violet radiations, which are so active in the destruction of microbes. It is to Prof. Finsen, of Copenhagen, that is due the honor of having been the first to call the attention of the medical world to the benefit that might be derived from the phenomena above mentioned, and it is he who was undoubtedly the first to make a practical application thereof in laying the foundation of "phototherapy."

It is to Prof. Finsen that we owe the treatment of smallpox patients in rooms from which the chemical rays are excluded by filtering the light through thick red curtains or through glass of the same color. The method, moreover, has been applied also, with some success, to the treatment of measles. But several chronic skin diseases, too, have some relations to light as regards cause and progress. In the case of freckles, for example, the masses of pigment show themselves exclusively upon the parts of the skin exposed to the sun. Hence the indication to preserve such parts from the light. This is negative phototherapy. On the contrary, positive phototherapy would be indicated against skin diseases of a microbian nature for destroying the microbes that cause them. Lupus, which is a most horrible disease and very difficult to cure, has been the particular object of Prof. Finsen's experiments.

In practice, the professor, in order to concentrate the solar rays, uses hollow lenses filled with water colored blue by an ammoniacal solution of copper. This water filters the light, absorbs the calorific rays and allows nothing to pass but the chemical ones from which the therapeutic action is expected. . . . The patient, enveloped in white linen and provided with black spectacles, is laid upon a cot with his head as high as possible and protected against solar radiation. The nurse having the subject in charge regulates the direction of the solar lens in such a way that the focus shall always be very near the part submitted to

treatment.

Under such conditions, Prof. Finsen, up to the 31st of December, 1899, had effected 311 cures out