Oregon Sugar Pine

THE world's greatest forest of sugar pine lies along the backbone of the Cascade Mountains, southern Oregon, and is embraced by the wide limits of the Cascade Forest Reserve.

The giant trees of this great forest tower 200 and 300 feet high and are excelled only by the famous redwoods of California. Sugar pine is found principally in Oregon, and is especially plen tiful on the mountains of the southern part of that state. In point of value, the sugar pine is the peer of all other marketable trees of the west, with the exception of redwood. In the qualities of lightness, durability and strength it is

superior to the celebrated and almost extinct white pine of the Eastern states. For interior finishing, sash and door manufacture, sugar pine is unsurpassed.

The Press in India

"IT is nothing short of astonishing, the

number of daily papers published in India," a traveler recently remarked. "In proportion to the population, I believe that country has more than any other country in the world. Those published in the native languages are mostly small affairs, but the Anglo-Indian press-the papers published in English-are mostly very up-to-date and creditable sheets.

"In Lahore, in northern India, there are at least fifteen daily papers, most of which are printed in the vernacular. All of the vernacular languages, which are off-shoots of the original Sanscrit, can be printed from type, as can the Hindi, which is an off-shoot from Sanscrit, but this cannot be done with Urdu, or proper Hindustani. To get out a paper in this language, it is necessary to employ professional copyists, who write out the copy on specially prepared paper with reed pens. It is then lithographed on stone, and in this manner printed without type.

"The literary quality of the AngloIndian press is of a high grade. It will be remembered that Kipling contributed some of his best work to these papers in the earlier days of his career."

Car Wrecks Store

A PECULIAR accident at Trinidad,

Colorado, that resulted in the demolition of a street car and the front of a store building is herewith shown. The car was coming down a steep grade and jumped the track at a sharp curve. The brakes were out of order, and the car plunged forward at a speed of forty-five miles an hour. Fortunately there were no women aboard and the few male passengers leaped for their lives. No one was injured. By good luck several persons who had been standing in front of the undertaker's shop, shown in the illustration, had left the spot where the car ran upon the walk but a few minutes before.

ALUMINUM TAG TO BE WORN BY SOLDIERS FOR PURPOSES OF IDENTIFICATION.

To Identify the Dead

AN army general order has recently

been issued, stating that in the future all officers and enlisted men will wear, whenever in field uniform, an identification tag, which will be issued by the Quartermaster's Department. This tag is of aluminum, about the size of a half dollar, and will be worn suspended from the neck beneath the clothing. On the

tag will appear appear the name, rank, company, regiment and corps of the wearer, and it is ordered that when not worn as directed, it shall be regarded as part of the uniform, and be habitually kept in possession of the owner.

While this identification tag would of course be more especially valuable in time of war, it is thought that it will also serve to good purpose in time of peace.

To Metallize Plants

AFTER nearly six years of laborous

research and experiments, H. Monge and C. Arzano, of Brussels, have perfected the art of metallizing flowers and other objects for decorative purposes. The first attempt at metallizing objects

was known to the industrial world as long ago as 1861, but all efforts to metallize fruits, flowers, etc., have been futile up to the time of the recent discovery.

By the new method of making bronzeplated objects, the secret of which is jealously guarded by Messrs. Monge and Arzano, it is possible to metallize even so delicate a thing as lace, or a rose in full bloom

The inventors have established a factory for the purpose of producing their goods, their object being to place handsomely finished metallized objects on the market, in every particular equal to, but at one-eighth the cost of, cast bronze, and to immutably fix the forms nature gives to her products, such as flowers, leaves, fruits, insects, and the like. These the most skillful in the art have heretofore only furnished fair imitations of by covering the object, through electrolysis, with an exceedingly thin but dense coat

ing of brass, which transforms the natural object into bronze.

While the secret of metallizing is not disclosed, no hesitancy is observed with regard to the length of time the objects to be metallized are retained in what is known as the bath. The length of time varies according to the character of the object, and the complication of its detail, from twenty-four to seventy-two hours. The subjects selected for metallizing are generally well-known works of famous artists, objects for decorative purposes, and artistic objects, such as ash and card receivers and picture frames.

The finished articles, which resembles in weight, texture and color real bronze, are entirely different from any manufacture now on the market, as they are declared to be chemically pure copper and not a mixture or composition.

How Cocoanuts Grow THE cocoanut is found in nearly all

tropical countries. The thick shell of the nut is well adapted to preserve the seed when it is carried by the waves to some distant shore. As a result, the cocoanut-palm is one of the first large. plants that appear on a new island of

coral formation as soon as sufficient soil has been collected there. The illustration shows the peculiar mode of growth of the nuts. As will be observed, they are bunched in the fork of the tree on which they grow.

Machine Sells Stamps THE automatic stamp-vending appa

ratus represented in the accompanying photographs is a most reliable and suitable means of ensuring an economical sale of stamps and post-cards. It has been invented by Mr. Willy Abel, of Berlin, and is very soon to be adopted for general use throughout German post offices. A special feature of this apparatus is that all operations are entirely automatic. As any manipulation-apart from inserting coin in the slot-is done away with, any risk of damage is reduced to a minimum, while greatly augmenting the convenience of its use.

The stamps are introduced into the apparatus in the shape of a continuous band. of any length, wound up on a drum, and which generally suffices for 500 to 1,000 sales. Though this band be moved on continually, any difference in transport, that is to say, any error in the adjustment for separating the stamps, is avoided, even in the case of an unlimited opera

A CLOSER VIEW OF STAMP-SELLING MACHINE.

tion, in virtue of a special process. The stamps are separated by a blunt knife, and

POSTAL AUTHORITIES.

as the band is mainly submitted to tensile action, they are separated accurately at the perforated points. The apparatus is perfectly protected against atmospheric influences, and being able to deal with. the dryest as well as the softest band of stamps, affords any desirable safety in operation.

After the coin has been inserted in the slot, the stamp is automatically separated from the band, and falls down in front of an opening fitted with a glass lid, whence the purchaser may withdraw it.

Creases Won't Come

Out

ACTUAL usage has developed the

fact that the recent Swedish invention, artificial silk, made from wood pulp, cannot be successfully used as a material for women's dresses, inasmuch as the creases made when the wearers sit down will not come out. This fatal defect is much to be regretted, as the artificial silk could not possibly be distinguished from real silk in so far as appearance went, gave promise of wearing equally well in every respect other than creasing, and could be produced more cheaply. It is still believed, however, that the woodpulp silk might be mixed with real silk and successfully used for umbrellas, linings, etc., but even its promoters are forced to admit that not on its own merits could it be used as a dress piece.

How Paris Removes Snow

PARIS

ARIS cleans its streets of snow by means of salt. The street cleaning department of the French capital keeps

on hand an enormous reserve of coarse salt for this purpose. As soon as snow falls capacious carts laden with tons of salt are sent forth, and the fifteen thousand men of the street cleaning brigades

THE SLUSH IS SWEPT INTO THE GUTTERS.

stances the streets of Paris are in this manner cleared of snow within two hours.

The veterinary surgeons say, however, that this method of disposing of salt is very dangerous to horses. M. Blanchard, a noted veterinarian of the capital, testifies that the feet and legs of horses become saturated with the saline mixture, and that a few days later the skin and flesh peel off, leaving the animals with muscles and tendons bare. When the mixture penetrates between the frog of the hoof and the hoof itself the horses suffer

great pain, and frequently have to be slaughtered.

Eyes on Arms

STREET CLEANERS CARRYING SALT WITH WHICH TO DISSOLVE SNOW ON PARIS BOULEVARDS.

up of a fish can be found than the provision Nature makes for fishes that have to feel or see their way at great depths. Some of the most curious fish in this respect are found in the Caribbean Sea, where deep soundings bring up creatures that are really uncanny in the appearance of their optics. Among these is a fish which has two convex lenses in place of eyes. These lenses are very bright, of golden hue, and gleam in the sunlight. Another fish, a large one, has eyes which grow on stems or stalks sticking out from the head several inches. Another has an eye on a stem quite half a yard long. The stem is flexible, and waves in any direction desired by the fish. Some of the fish in this sea have eyes that shine like lanterns in the water, when it is dark.