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"Sho'ly, Mr. Washington," was the reply, "you won't clean out a henhouse in de daytime?"-Mobile Register.

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CRIMSON AMFLER-Are you burning gasolire in dat acomobile, mister?

SPARKS-No, my friend; I'm trying alcohol Just for an experiment.

CRIMSON RAMBLER-I thought so. Would you mind me hangin' on behind fer a mile or so, jest fer de smell?-Puck.

The Last Stage

"And how's your wife, Pat?" "Sure, she do be awful sick."

"Is ut dangerous she is?"

"No, she's too weak t' be dangerous anny more!"-Cleveland Leader.

between negroes. One afternoon, after I had married a young negro couple, the groom asked the price of the service.

"O, well,' said I, 'you can pay me whatever you think it is worth to you.'

"The negro turned and silently looked his bride over from head to foot, then slowly rolling up the whites of his eyes to me, said:

"Lawd, sah, you has done ruined me for life; you has, for sure.'"-Chicago InterOcean.

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Ocean Leviathan

THE

HE largest and finest skeleton of a whale of the finback or norwhal species in this country, has just come into the possession of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. While not the largest member of the whale family, the norwhal's length is exceeded by that of only one other species, the "blue whale," which is a few feet longer. The skeleton of the cetacean in New York

measures 63 feet in length. The length of the skull is 16 feet 2 inches, its circumference 20 feet, and its weight over half a ton. There are 61 vertebræ, and the length of the longest rib is 9 feet 2 inches. Being of slender build and thin.

SKELETON OF WHALE.

In American Museum of Natural History, New York City.

blubber, the finback is the swiftest swimmer of all the cetaceans, and on this account is not easy to catch. Whalers prefer to go after other species, richer in blubber and therefore of more commercial value.

The fallacy that the whale is a fish is still widely prevalent, as is also the er

roneous belief that when the animal blows it sends up a column of water taken in at the mouth. In point of fact, spouting or blowing is nothing more than the expulsion of air from the lungs in the action of, breathing when the whale rises to the surface for a fresh supply. During its sojourn in the lungs, the air, in the natural course of respiratory changes, becomes charged with water vapor; and this when expelled is condensed by the cold atmosphere of northerly latitudes, and thus forms a column

of steam or spray.

That the whale, which is a warmblooded mammal and suckles its young, represents the evolution of a land animal into a wholly aquatic one, is the theory of many scientists in all countries. Certainly its anatomy appears to furnish a remarkable illustration of adaptation to a watery environment. For instance, the flipper or fin, altheagh bearing no external evidence of the fact, has all the bones, joints, and even most of the muscles, nerves, and arteries of the human arm and hand. Moreover, vestiges of a pelvis and rudiments of hind legs are found. Some scientists advance the hypothesis that whales were once covered with an armor of thick scales, like the armadillo, and, in support of this, point to the tubercles that cover the foetal animal in at least two species. Indeed, the belief in the former terrestrial existence of the whale is largely based on the disclosures of embryology. The very young of some species have short bristles about the chin and upper lip, and these are held by not a few students of natural history to be evidence of an original mammalian hairy

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covering. These theorists suppose that in prehistoric times the whale was a gigantic, otter-like, carnivorous creature

which lived in swamps and marshes, and that in the course of centuries it took to its fish-like career from choice, or, more likely, from necessity.

Balance Rock

Na strip of woodland among the slopes of the Berkshire hills near the city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, can be seen the strange phenomenon pictured in the accompanying engraving. It is a massive boulder weighing about

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170 tons perched upon a bed rock of Berkshire limestone of entirely different formation-in such a way as to appear to be delicately balanced on its small base. The boulder is, in fact, known as "Balance Rock," and many who view it for the first time are afraid to approach it because of the apparent danger of its toppling over upon them. The danger, however, is imaginary, as the stone is firmly fixed and has stood in its present position for centuries. It is probably a fragment torn from some more northerly height, carried to its present location, and dropped there by a glacier during a former geologic age.

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Olive Oil

WHILE Spain, France, and Tunis

produce a considerable quantity of olive oil, Italy is the real home of this food-product. In that country, about two and a-quarter million acres of land are devoted to olive culture, and the average production of oil is about 95 million gallons when the crop is good. The crop this year is exceptionally fine, the oil being of good quality and the price low.

In the United States, olive oil is used principally as a salad dressing; but in Italy, and especially in Sicily and the other southern provinces, it is regarded

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"BALANCE ROCK."

Strange natural phenomenon near Pittsfield, Mass.

Lifting Magnets STEEL and iron are handled in many

foundries by means of the electromagnet. A carriage which bears the magnet runs on a traveling crane. When it is desired to move some heavy material the electric current is at once turned on, and a load in proportion to the size of the magnet and the strength of the current is lifted. Time is thus saved which would otherwise be required for attaching or removing chains and hooks.

not as a condiment, but as a primary food article, taking the place of meat to a large extent, and being used as a substitute for butter and lard, and even for lighting purposes.

The process of gathering of the olives, and crushing and pressing to extract the oil, usually begins in November and December, and is finished about the middle of May. The adulteration of olive oil with seed oils is not nearly so general as is supposed, this being resorted to only when the crop is very short and when it is necessary to furnish a grade of oil to sell at a low price. Much of the adulterated oil is consumed at home, the finer grades being exported. Of the exported oil, the United States takes about three million gallons annually.

Champion Whittler

B. F. CLAY of Philadelphia, a retired ship-carpenter nearly eighty years of age, is said to be the champion whittler of the world. Aided only by his penknife and a piece of sandpaper, he has cut from a single block of wood a quadruple-linked watch chain over three.

THE WHITTLER. B. F. Clay making his masterpiece.

feet long and many other exceedingly delicate and difficult pieces of work. During the last few years, since his retirement, Mr. Clay has cut scores of watch chains. The illustration shows him in the act of whittling on his masterpiece.

Cotton Seed

THE 'HE development of the cotton seed as

a commercial factor is probably one of the most remarkable occurrences in industrial history. It has been but a few years, comparatively, since huge piles of seed, deemed worthless, were allowed to rot, or were burned to get rid of them. Last year, however, $75,000,000 was realized by the Southern planters for their

seed, adding 25 per cent to the value of the cotton crop. The extent of the waste

formerly existing can be realized when

it is remembered that the lint forms only one-third of the weight of the unginned cotton; that is, it requires 1,500 pounds of seed cotton to gin a 500-pound bale.

The use of cottonseed oil as a human food is firmly established; and recent experiments would seem to indicate that cottonseed meal may also be used, biscuits and cakes made from a combination of cottonseed meal and wheat flour being pronounced delicate and tasty. Cottonseed meal is also frequently used in making "corn" muffins, gingerbread, and dark graham bread.

Only about one-third of the cottonseed oil produced is exported, and a large percentage of this comes back from southern Europe as olive oil.

The entire seed of the cotton plant is used, its three products being oil, meal, and "hulls." The meal is mostly, and the hulls entirely, used as cattle food.

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Machine-Blown Bottles THE ancient and picturesque craft of

the glass-blower, which has continued its original and primitive methods. for so many centuries, is at last invaded by modern machinery. A French inventor has perfected a machine for blowing bottles which completely does away with the necessity of blowing with the mouth. This machine is so simple in its operation that an unskilled workman can very soon become proficient in its use; and each machine will turn out 1,800 finished bottles in twenty-four hours, as against the best mouth-blower's 600. The finished product is of a much higher grade also, being more perfect in form, and able to withstand a much higher pressure.

In operating the machine, liquid glass is allowed to flow into a mould to form the mouth and neck of the bottle. The mould is then reversed, so that the rest of the liquid mass flows away from the part already formed. When the mould is opened, the bottle, bag-like in form, is seen suspended by the neck. Other moulds then enclose the glass bag, giving it the desired shape, while a strong air

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