China now has a railway mileage of about 9,000 miles. Of this 1,330 miles is in operation and the rest under construction, except 930 miles "in abeyance." Last year the Chinese imperial railways, 529 miles, paid 26 per cent on the capital outlay.

The common sunflower, a native of Peru and Mexico, is gaining favor in Europe as a febrifuge. In Russia, where the plant is extensively cultivated for its edible seeds and its oil, fever patients sleep upon beds of sunflower leaves, and a Russian physician, experimenting upon 100 children between one month and twelve years of age, has found that alcoholic extracts of the leaves and flowers cure fever as speedily as quinine. In Spain and France also the sunflower has proved as satisfactory as quinine in fevers.

Certain spiders sail in airships made of silken threads, and now an insect that travels in balloons has been reported by two American naturalists. Small balloons a quarter of an inch long and composed of tiny bubbles, having been observed, it was found that each carried a fly resembling the hornet-fly, with a dead fly, supposed to be food.

It is true that the rattlesnake and the black snake are mortal enemies, and the black snake is the victor in their battles, breaking the neck of his adversary before the rattler has time to strike. The black snakes of this country are as harmless as frogs. On many of the large plantations in the south they are tamed and kept as a protection from their enemy, as the warm climate prevents keeping the houses closed so as to keep them out.

Slavemaking is a trait of ant life which has attracted much attention. It is practised by different species, and while in some cases the slaves, belonging to different groups from their masters, perform the ordinary duties of the rest, acting as servitors, in other cases there is a complete dependence of the owners on the slaves. One ant, noted by Huber in 1810, was shown to be in danger of actual starvation unless fed by the slaves. A British species makes slaves but is not dependent upon them. It, however, carries off the pupae from the nests of the ants on which it makes its forays and the strange ants born in the nest of the conqueror take up menial duties.

During the digging of holes for New York telegraph poles not long ago the workmen noticed a mouse which had fallen into one of the cavities. For hours the tiny prisoner raced frantically

around the inclosure. Then he seemed to get over his hysterics and set his wits to work. Soon he began systematically to dig a spiral groove round and round the inner surface of the hole, which was several feet deep. Night and day the busy little captive worked away digging little pockets here and there as his improvised staircase got farther from the ground, so that he might rest from his hard labors. The workmen kept him supplied with food, and after the third day the indefatigable little creature reached the top, and enthusiastic cheering welcomed his freedom.

Oil and gas comes from strata of porous rocks and the supply is regulated by the thickness of the deposit and the nature of the rock. In rock that is very porous and where the strata is of great thickness, the flow is fast, and the production has in some cases exceeded 30,000 and 40,000 barrels of petroleum per day. Where the deposit is contained in rock not so porous, the production is slower. The latter are the wells, which are pumped for years without becoming exhausted. Where the rock is only slightly porous, even when known to contain great quantities of oil, the flow is so small that the wells do not pay to pump. From a scientific point of view it is said there are no inexhaustible wells, but some in the Pennsylvania field have been producing for forty years without much diminution in the output. The theory is that gas lies in the same strata above the oil and is more easily exhausted. Many wells pour out gas at first and then become oil wells. Where a large number of wells are driven close together in any locality, the gas supply becomes exhausted in a short time. Where only a few wells have been drilled, the supply of gas is comparatively steady and some in Pennsylvania and Ohio have been supplying fuel for towns and manufacturing houses for years without much decrease in pressure. The gas springs of the Caucausaus have been burning for centuries.

Obsidian is a natural glass. It is a variety of lava and is hard, brittle and has a glassy luster, and is but partially transparent. Its common colors are black, dark-gray, green, red and brown, and may be striped or spotted. A specimen usually contains but one of these colors, however. It is used mostly for jewelry and ornamental purposes and in early times was employed for arrow heads, knives and mirrors. It is found in Yellowstone park and in other localities in the United States. Iceland also has specimens of the obsidian glass, likewise Vesuvius.

THE ART OF THINKING. By Mrs. E. Eastwick. Published by John Lane Co., New York. Price $.50, postage 2c.

"The Art of Thinking," by Mrs. Egerton Eastwick, is a book, not on brain food, but of brain food. One who reads this very neat little volume of vest-pocket size allows his brain a treat that is bound to invigorate new and better action.

THE LONG TRAIL. By Hamilton Garland. Published by Harper Bros., New York. Price $1.25.

"The Long Trail" is a story of outdoor adventure relating the trials and tribulations of a boy, Jack Henderson, who leaves his home on the broad plains of Minnesota to go to Klondike, taking the road leading over the old telegraph trail. The constant rivalry and the desire and love for gold make the story deep and interesting. "The Long Trail" is not only a story for boys and young men, but older readers will also enjoy reading this clear-cut narrative effectively portrayed by a man who knows well the country of which he visits.

THE MAYOR'S WIFE. By Katherine Green. Published by Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Ind. Price $1.50.

Anna Katherine Green's latest book, "The Mayor's Wife," is one of the most interesting books upon the market to-day. The author is especially talented in the art of plot weaving, a fact all who have read her books will instantly admire. "The Mayor's Wife" can easily be called a masterpiece of present-day fiction. You need but read it to realize the truth these words. Well illustrated and heatly bound in cloth.

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THE GIANT'S STRENGTH. By Basil King. Published by Harper Bros. Price $1.50.

This story deals with the life of a millionaire, Paul Trofferd, who has ruined many families in order to acquire wealth, and through the noble character of his daughter, Paula, is forced to see his wrongdoings. Paula falls in love with Roger Winship, a poor, struggling artist, a very strong character, whose family has been ruined by her father. By her purity and true conscience and moral judgment Paula leads her father to give away his fortune to those whom he has ruined. The story in itself well implies the name given to the book.

THE THEORETICAL SYSTEM OF KARL MARX. By Louis B. Boudin. Published by Charles H. Carr & Co.,

Chicago.

Under this caption Louis B. Boudin gives us a new book that is hailed by thinkers and students of economic problems, because it gives with the precision peculiar to Mr. Boudin a lucid introduction of Marxian economic theory. The book contains a complete outline of the great system of thought of which the famous Karl Marx was the first exponent, and thus serves as a splendid aid to the understanding of the doctrine. Those having but a bowing acquaintance with the theoretical system of Mr. Marx, often termed "Scientific Socialism," will find the work of Mr. Boudin a treasure, as it lucidates thoroughly the great problems embraced within the realm of Marxism.

5,000 FACTS ABOUT CANADA. By Frank Yeigh. Canadian Facts Publishing Co., Toronto, Canada. Price 25 cents.

CHINESE THOUGHT. By Dr. Paul Carus. Published by Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill.

Dr. Paul Carus in his book on "Chinese Thought" gives us a fair knowledge of Chinese life, Chinese history and Chinese religion, and a very practical key to the Chinese language.

HOW DOTH THE SIMPLE SPELLING BEE. By Owen Wister. Published by The Macmillan Co., New York. This humorous little volume on "Reform Spelling" is written by Owen Wister, who tells how Masticator B. Fellows, president of the Chickle University, in order to give his college publicity, forms a committee on spelling reform. Owing to the fact that the subject was a leading topic in recent current literature, the book has gained much popularity and likewise is worthy of a proper comment.

A remarkable little booklet has been compiled under the above self-explanatory title by Frank Yeigh, of Toronto, the well-known writer and lecturer on themes Canadian. Perhaps no one in the Dominion is better qualified to make such a compilation. Its value is, as claimed, "worth its weight in Yukon gold or Cobalt silver." The idea is a clever one, viz., a fact in a sentence, giving a wonderful mass of information in the smallest compass on every phasse of the commercial and industrial life of Canada and her natural resources.

PENROSE'S PICTORIAL ANNUAL. By Wm. Gamble. Published by A. W. Penrose & Co., 109 Farringdon Road, London, E. C.

Penrose's Pictorial Annual is a most valuable addition to the library of any business man or advertising manager. It is replete with the latest devices and scientific discoveries and of exceptional value to the printer, the photographer, the engraver and the artist. Most beautifully and profusely illustrated.

AS THE HAGUE ORDAINS. Published by Henry Holt & Co. Price $1.50.

This volume portrays a most vivid life of a brave Russian woman who, upon hearing that her husband has been captured at the Yalu and taken to the military prison in Japan, leaves her home in St. Petersburg and, disguising herself as a nurse in a military hospital, assumes a position, the dangers of which, amid trials and tribulations, hold the reader captivated to the very end of her story. Illustrated by photographs, with word pictures equally as clear.

GOOD HUNTING. By Theodore Roosevelt. Published by
Price $1.50.
Harper & Brothers.

This book offers for young folks a series of fascinating tales of big-game hunting and outdoor life in the West. It is written out of Mr. Roosevelt's personal experiences before the beginning of his active political career, when there was leisure to follow the lonely trail of elk, wolf, or antelope in true sportsman fashion without a "gallery of newspaper men."

WOODLAND SECRETS

By Lillian M. Voight Cherry

Cloth, 214 pages

The entrancing beauties of wood and field are here set forth in a manner which is at once delightful and satisfying. He or she who enters the home of the lowly and the gaudy denizens of nature's recesses thru this book will find in Miss Cherry a competent and charming guide,

Twenty-one families of plants are treated. There is a beautiful frontispiece in colors, and the book has numerous halftone illustrations from nature, by the author. The teacher and the lover of woodland and prairie will find this book a delightful companion.

Sent postpaid on receipt of 75c North-Western School Supply Co. Minneapolis, Minn.

Dept. C

A LABOR PAPER that is way above the average in its class, and worthy of the attention of all judicious advertisers.

ADDRESS

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT,

436-37-38 GIBRALTAR BLDG.,

KANSAS CITY, MO.