which was of more value than the gold which they were seeking. The surface although otherwise uninjured, has been badly rubbed, possibly by the sand, but the shell plainly shows the characteristic pores arranged lengthwise upon it in irregular dots and dashes. When shaken it rattles, showing that the contents have dried or shriveled up. Apparently it is smaller than that of the ostrich, but the illusion as to the size of the two eggs is caused by the difference in shape. It has been demonstrated that this specimen will contain as much as two of those which are produced by the great African ostrich. Careful casts were made by which many artificial eggs were pro

possesses, but with certain modifications it may likewise be employed for offensive work over smooth or rough roads, or even over rough country; further, for keeping open lines of communication, hauling guns into position, or for carrying and hauling stores and men. The armor is so designed and constructed as to completely encircle or clothe the entire car frame. The armor itself is of crinoline shape, but flattened longitudinally, and has a ram fore and aft of an angle of about 45 degrees. The extreme length of the armor, which is eighteen inches off the ground, from point to point of the ram, is 28 feet. The extreme beam is 8 feet, and the extreme height is 10 feet.

duced in order to obtain a good idea of the nest of this enormous bird, and it was then found that ten of them covered a larger space than was required for twenty, which were laid by the ostrich.

The moa belongs to the family of Dinornithidae. The birds were of immense proportions, some of them must have stood about fourteen feet high, with thigh bones as strong as those of a horse. The figure of these huge bipeds was much like that of an ostrich, but the size was much greater.

MOTOR WAR-CAR.—This type of motor war-car was built to the order of Messrs. Vickers, Sons and Maxim, Limited. Mr. Frederick R. Simms, the inventor and builder, spent two years and nine months in perfecting his design. The principal object of the war-car is to act on the defensive on the splendid coast roads that England

SPECIES.

MOUNTAIN SHEEP, SHEEP, NEW The finding of gold on the Klondike River, Northwest Territory, has led to the discovery of another species of mountain sheep which is the handsomest and most striking in color markings of all known species of the genus Ovis. In February of 1900, Mr. Henry W. Brown of Dawson City sent down to the Provincial Museum of British Columbia the skin and skull of a specimen which was supposed to be a Stone Mountain sheep with peculiar markings. It was carefully mounted by John Fannin, the curator, who after a critical study of the specimen was startled to find that it represented a species absolutely new to science and so strikingly differentiated as to render its title to independent specific rank beyond question.

Some months later the attention of Mr. William T. Hornaday of the New York

T

HE West to-day is entering upon the most prosperous era of its existence. Never before in the history of this country has the great region west of the Mississippi river experienced such unusual activity in all its resources. Never before has such unusual interest been displayed in this section as at this time. Thousands of settlers are taking up land. Scores of investors are placing their money there while the financial eye of the world is upon it. This is only the natural result created by the parent of any country-the railroad. Twenty years ago the West was practically an unknown region. The Northern Pacific Railroad then traversed a partly settled region between St. Paul and a point in Montana. There was no trans-continental line; there were no large cities; there was not enough traffic to support a railroad line. Not many years previous the sound of the track layer's hammer was echoed by the war whoop of the savage and the whirr of his death speeding bullet. A few scattered army posts were really the only signs of civilization. What a wonderful change has taken place within the recollection of even our younger generation. Now the entire country between St. Paul and the Pacific Coast is dotted with prosperous towns and villages and gridironed with the shining steels of the railways. Metropolitan cities as thoroughly modern as any in the East have sprung up. Great shipping ports have developed on the coast. Millions of bushels of wheat are raised each year, millions of feet of lumber are cut and shipped to castern markets, millions of dollars in precious metals are wrested from the bowels of the earth and added to the riches of our country; carloads upon carloads of fat steers are shipped to the big packing plants in Chicago, Kansas City, and Omaha. Divorce the West from the East and the West will live while the East will suffer. Almost

every necessity of life is grown or manufactured in the domains of the West.

What would the East do without our wheat, without our meat, without our gold? And yet within the memory of a boy not old enough to vote this wonderful country was an undeveloped region, whose entire population would not have made a good sized eastern city.

Certainly the west will always be able to clothe itself. Its cotton mills will yet furnish hundreds of millions of yards of fabrics for men and women; its cattle ranges prepare for everybody a covering for the foot, and its sheep supply the necessary material for woolen clothing. The west has always a surplus of food products and manufactured goods with which it may buy its luxuries from other lands.

Back in the East they are still using, in places, horse cars and burning gas; here in the West electricity lights and propels everything. No eastern cities of the same population can equal those of the West in point of beauty and enterprise-whether it be in the shape of fine homes and lawns, or massive business and industrial plants. These western cities are modern; those eastern cities are very much as they were a quarter of a century ago.

presents in

MINNESOTA.-Minnesota general, a greater degree of change than any state in the northwest. It is feeling the impulse of close relations with great commercial states such as Illinois and it is profiting by the rapid development of the Dakotas and the states between them and the Pacific coast. Minnesota is likewise in close relations with New England, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. These states buy Minnesota flour and iron ores, and in turn, send to her large sums of money for investment in railways, lands, buildings and terminal property. This intercourse leads to a steady influx of people who like the cli

mate and soil so well that they become permanent settlers and induce others to come westward.

The state has long ceased to take a direct part in promoting immigration. It no longer circulates documents for the information of prospective settlers. It has no immigration commission. Its railway companies which are so active as promoters of western settlement devote more effort to peopling Washington and Oregon than they do to sending settlers to the northern counties of Minnesota, where there is much public land, and thousands of acres are in the hands of land companies. Despite this comparative inaction, the tide of immigration flows in this direction. Railroads are being built in the northern counties to accommodate the people who are seeking homes in that region. Town sites are likewise springing up there. It follows that the sparsely populated counties of northern and western Minnesota will be well settled in a few years, and that towns of considerable importance may be founded among them.

the annual amount of over $16,000,000. These creameries are for the most part, owned by the farmers themselves and are conducted largely on a coöperative basis. A stock company is first formed and capital is secured by the sale of shares, and by borrowing, to build and equip the creamery. The farmer who brings milk to the creamery receives a voucher therefor and the proportion of skim milk to which he is entitled. At the end of the month he is paid for the milk on the basis of the butter it produced. This butter is generally shipped to large cities under contracts, ensuring a fixed price.

This creamery system has revolutionized Minnesota farming. It provides the farmer with ready

cash and relieves him from dependence on the one annual crop. It promotes stock raising, which provides use for the skim milk, and it encourages the breeding of high grade cattle which find ready sale among the farmers. It

yields a liberal, steady profit to the dairyman and impels him to aid the cheese factories that are now being established in friendly rivalry with those of Wisconsin. Agriculture, in general, profits by the dairy movement, inasmuch as the farmers are enabled to cultivate their land with greater success than heretofore.

The state is likewise making marked Progress in stockraising, in field products, in fruits, vegetables and flowers. Each of

e pursuits is the object of assiduous care on the part of intelligent people, animated love for the pursuit rather than solely perman gain. The annual state fair almost the importance of an inIt occupies permanent angs lay between the Twin cities

as attor

and is preparing the way for a World's fair, when the proper time arrives to hold it in the northwest

The iron mining industry is another important factor in the progress of Minnesota. About 1886, the railway built from Lake Superior to the Iron Range, rendered available the immense iron deposits in that region. The opening of these mines was followed in later years by the discovery of the Mesaba range, containing iron ore of the best quality in exhaustless quantity. Responding to the demand for ore the two ranges now yield annually about twelve mil

all this implies, Duluth has become the western terminus of magnificent passenger steamers which connect Buffalo, Chicago and Duluth, enabling people to travel with luxury, far exceeding the comfort afforded by the Mississippi steamboats of the olden time.

The changed conditions in Minnesota have led to a demand for tax revision. The commission appointed for that purpose submitted a report to the Governor who called a special session in February (1902) for its consideration. The measure met with much opposition and was rejected as a whole but

lion tons of iron ore which is conveyed by railway to Duluth, Two Harbors and West Superior for shipment to Cleveland and other Lake Erie ports, for distribution among the steel works of the middle west. This ore industry has increased the prosperity of Duluth, which has now about 60,000 people and is growing in importance as a railway center. The ore, grain and coal business of Duluth and the head of the lakes, provide business for a fleet of freight steamers and have led to the building of ore docks and elevators on the largest

scale.

In addition to the immense traffic which

some minor provisions became law. The solvency of the state, however, continues as firm as ever. The state treasury has abundance of money, raised by a system of light taxation, which depresses no interest.

The wealth of the state enables it to promote public education with a generous hand. The two sections of land set apart in every township for school purposes, are creating a school fund that in time will amount to $50,000,000. The University of Minnesota has a generous endowment, enabling it to maintain a faculty of high educational rank as well to impart instruction to great numbers of students from all parts of the north