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into the lions den the bold advehtube of two hew yobkbepobtebs they enter cage or wild beotu at bar- aratoat vlalta the aiona and the other the tlsenthelr story 01 the experience the following remarkable story which is true in every particulr relates tne experi ence of two reporters of the new x ork even ing san who voluntarily faced appalling danger in quest of a new foim of adventure the reporters were n a jennings and w j house may we go in and interview those lions nd tigers f f what 1 gasped superintendent conklin in horror go in there p screamed winner with three exclamation points understood yes sir when now of course youre joking arent you the veteran animal man was assured that the reporters were positively in earnest and meant every word they said he took a little time for thought and then consulted with tody hamilton the genial press agent for the big show keller the magician who was also present held up both hands in holy horror at the bare thought of such a thing and begged the evening sun men to give up their scheme more than a score of the attendants of the animal cages were gathered about and had heard the unusual request with horror and surprise bat it had been made in good iaith and this mr conklin was soon convinced of well youll be the first newspaper men who ever interviewed these animals in their hnnse and ill bet you youll be the last for many a year but if you have the courage to go ill go with you and take you in will you doit a rather faint but none the less distinot yes spoken double settled the matter and then it was too late to back out either reporter would doubtless have will ingly oonsented to withdraw had the other made the initial step in that direction but neither would make the first move toward a baokdown superintendent conklin placed two small stepladders inside the railings in front of the cages and then placed one of the ladders in front of the cage containing the lions and the other in a similar position of the tiger den he unlocked the doors but still left them fastened and called to the first repor ter to get ready the lions were to be vis ited first and they evidently knew that something unusual was about to happen mr keller and fully twenty gentlemen who were interested in the welfare of the reporter who was to bo in came to stand in front of the cage keller bade him a grave goodby and superintendent conklin swung back the heavy iron door you had better take your overcoat off said manager conklin to the writer its best to be free if anything should happen the reporter looked at those two lions in their oage long and earnestly the male lion with hia great mane and noble kingly face was lying at full length near the front of the cage his nose was resting oetween his ber ball twice he sprang into the outstretched paws and he met the reporter s hi h the rapor head gaze with suoh a mud oalm dignified look r that at the time it did not seem as though he had better have taken mr hamiltons ad vice after all and remained outside the only really cool man there at that time waa manager conklin for when the reporter cast a hasty glanco at the little crowd in front of the cage he saw upon every face a strained anxious expression tody hamilton had taken off his bat and waa wiping his forehead and mr kellar waa as whit as a sheet of paper the evening son man bad but little time to notice this however he saw it all at one glance in a moment more he had eyes for nothing but the occupants of the cage stand still there against the back of the cage in the middle said manager conklin in a low voice the reporter took one step backward and felt the bars at the rear of the cage touch his back manager conklin stepped to the door which separated the middle compart ment from that in which the excited lions were confined and pulling the bolt opened it and right then occurred something which the reporter is at a loss to fully explain the newspaper man is a confirmed cigarette smoker and has been for many years bnt it would certainly seem that at that supreme moment when he was to meet two ferocious lions face to face he would nob have thought of smoking at this writing several hours afterward he cannot remember that he thought of it at all but be that as it may he certainly did take a cigarette from his pocket and light it it wasnt a piece of bravado he didnt feel brave at all it was simply a purely mechanical action the proof of this is that he discover ed with surprise after he had come out of the cage that he was smoking a freshly light ed cigarette as soon as manager conklin had pulled the bolt of that door from its catch the lion sprang against it and forced it open he was closely followed by the lioness th9 two great animals bounded eagerly into the compartment where the two men whom they could have killed at one blow were awaiting them the presence of a stranger seemed to excite them to fury they threw their tawny bodieb against the sides of the cage and snarled and growled in rage the lions body rubbed against the reporters leg and as the monaroh of the forest felt the contact ho roared with all he power of his mighty voice swish i and the rawhide whip which man ager conklin carried cut toll in the lions pace it was a cruel blow but it was a necessary one as the lion felt its sting he snarled and showed all his teeth but he knew that it was his master who had struck him and he bounded back into the compartment from which he had come the lioness followed close after him as soon as they had leaped in manager conklin sprang for the door to close it but before he could do so the lion had dashed against it again and waa baok in the mid dle compartment more enraged than ever this time the lioness she had followed i close after her mate showed her ugly dis position she backed into the corner of the com partment by the bars of the tigers den and showed all her teeth as she swayed her body from side to side as a oat does when about to spring upon a bird her mate was bounding about the compartment like a rub- air as seem as he would condescend to be ugly and earage under any circumstances the lioness was not so lazy nor so dignified in appearance she was pacing back and forth in the little compartment of the big oage jast behind her royal op ouao and she seemed restless and ill at ease every now and then she opened her mouth in a most prodigious yawn and thereby disclosed two rows of great white glistening teeth in anything but a reassur ing manner she didnt seem to notice the reporter at all are you ready v inquired manager conk lin as he took off his coat and opened the door to the middle compartment of the big oage the writer wasnt quite ready to 09 eaten alivo at that moment bnt as he had expressed a wish to learn by experience just how it seems to be shut np in a cage with two lions and as it would never have done to have backed out at that time he pro ceeded to take off his overcoat he didnt hurry himself a particle in doing this undue haste is not dignified ot any time and besides he had a faint hope that their majesties the lions wonld notice his delib erate manner and set it down in their minds to excessive ooolness bat oven when one is in no hurry it doesnt take very long to get out of a loosefitting overcoat and in mnoh too short a time for comfort the re- porter was obliged to announce that he was ready took here old man you had bettor let it go said tody hamilton at this juno ture as he laid his hand gently on tho re porters ehonlder you know there is no real necessity for you to go into that cage i tell youhonestly that i wouldnt do it my self tor 10000 bnt this advice kindly as it was came too late the reporter was half way np the little ladder before mrhamilto had finish ed speaking in another instant he was in the cage beside manager conklin and that gentleman had olosed the door keeping as near the oentre of the middle compartment of the cage as possible the re porter looked about him on his right in the easternmost compartment waa a obeat maneating bengal tiger he was lying olose to the bars which sep arated blm from the middle compartment and the bars were so wide apart that he could easily have put his paw between them and reached the reporter there was a wioked gleam in the big tigers great green eyes and it seemed to gain in ferocity when manager conklin casual ly remarked that he was ths most savage tiger ha had ever soon in a menagerie in all bis experience the reporter wonld have shrunk away from the terrible animal if he had had room but the middle compartment was only about four feet wide and moving away from the tiger he would have been obliged to to get olose the lions end ol tho cage this was not to be thought of for a moment as the lions had become great- iy excited as soon as they had seen tho stranger come into the cage and they were snarling and leaping about as though they smelled fresh meat and wasted to get at it the reporter looked at them as they dash ed themselves against the sides of their dens and as he caught tight of the f crccious gleam in their eyes he began to think that but manager conklin knew where the greater danger lay he appeared not to no tice the lioa at all the lioness claimed all his attention lifting that terrible rawhide whip again he dealt the crouching lioness a blow across the eyes which brought her to her senses in short order with a howl of rage or pain she leaped back into her com partment followed this time by the lion manager conklin had failed to fasten the door before but not so this time with a movement as rapid as that of the lions themselves he was at the door in a flash and had sprung the bolt the lions were in a towering rage when they found that they could not get out again and they dashed their huge bodies against the bars in a vain effort to break through thorn while they howled and snarled and spit with impotent anger all this performance had been watched with terrible interest by the maneating tig er in the other compartment only two or three feet away the terror of the india funglo was almost beside himself with excite ment his long claws were unsheathed and his fangs were running with saliva his jaws worked convulsively if he coud have only broken into where the lion tamer and the reporter stood he would have torn them to pieces in the twinkling of an eye it would have needed red- hot irons instead of a rawhide whip to have subdued him and it may be remarked that redhot irons are not keptontinualiy on hand in madison sqnaro garden as the re porter left tho cage the tiger thrnst one great paw between the bars and tried to reach him but the distance was a few inches too great luckily when the evening san man reached the ground again kellar rushed up to him and threw his arms around his neck tho great magician who has travelled all over india and a good part of southern africa was oompletely overcome with excitement his hugged the reporter as if he had been a long lost brother and when he had finish ed hugging him he grasped his hand and as he wrung it with nervous energy he said i wouldnt do what you did for one mil lion dollars the visit to the tioebs the feelings that agitated the mind of tho reporter who had watched his fellow scribe pass through the exoiting ordeal related above in his own words may better be imag ined than described the thing had been done and the lions bad been visited but it seemed to him that the lions had done very mnoh tho most of tho visiting and as it had been practically demonstrated that a reporter could go into their den and come out alivo he didnt see the use of visiting tho tigers at all why conldnt that part of it be taken for granted anyhow but a hearty handshake from his companoin restored from what had undoubtedly been a great danger assured him and he wouldnt have shown that white feather if he had been sure of losing a leg so when superinten dent conklin told him to get ready he step ped promptly to the railing dodged under it and mounted the steps ho had been told by tho superintendent that it wonld bo im possible to release the tigers so as to allow them in the same compartment with himself and the reporter for the reason that they were fresh animals unbroken to the tight of strangers in their midst and that it would i be suicidal to attempt to handle them in a manner similar to that in which the lions had been handled he farther allayed the reportorlal fears by assuring him that tigers were of a much fiercer and mora treacherous disposition and were twice at quick in their movements the reporter thought that if this latter wat a fact a bengal tiger could give chain lightning a handicap and outrun now when you get into the den look out for their claws and see that they dont catch yon or theyll tear your arm or leg oat ot the socket bs particularly careful to keep in the rear of the cage and look out for this big male tiger over here hea a vicious devil this waa positively refreshing it was delightful suoh a prospect for a few moments pleasure of an ecatatio tort sometimes turns mens heads it turned the leporters for by the time he had reached the top step ms distort ed vision saw forty tigers instead of four and each of them had eight feet armed with sixteen murderous looking claws each it was a rare sight truly and one the writer will not soon forget as he pushed his head through the small door and wondered if he would ever come out of it alive the scenes of his childhood passed rapidly through his mind he thought of distant friends and things and wondered what would be said when the next shower of meat was gathered up in kentucky or elsewhere for he wasnt just positive as to where he would be found another step forward and retreat was cnt off for mr conklin banged the heavy iron door shut and locked it everything in th t menagerie seemed dis torted and distended the faces of the re porters friends outside looked largor than usual and all wore the same expression kellars bald head shone in the electric light like a polished door knob and was dotted all over with beads of cold perspiration poor fellow he suffered as much from anx- ioty as did the reporters themselves the heavy rawhide carried by the super intendent was soon at work on the tigers that particularly fierce gentleman who oc cupied the second floor front made himself felt before the visitors had been inside the cage two seoonds a light iron grated door or more properly a barred door for it was constructed of halfinch round iron rods running vertically at a distance of five inches apart was all that separated tho beast from his coveted prey tho door was made to swing open in the middle and it didnt reach to the top of the cage by about a foot it was a weak look ing sort of an affair and was fastened by a drop bolt also of half inch iron which fitted into a niche in tho floor it was plain to be seen that it wonld open easily under pres sure the reporter took a position in the rear of the oage and tried to look both ways at once do as he would he couldnt keep track of all the tigers their big striped bodies bounded hither and thither and they seem ed anxious to have a taste of his flesh while he was gingerly stepping an inch or two to the right to escape the formidable claws of a giant paw thrust through the partiton bars on his left he felt a hot breath in his face and a growl or roar sounded in his very ears that fairly mado his hair stand on end a quick glance around and the terrible red jaws of that particularly ferocious tiger of the second floor were seen wilhin less than a foot of his face the animal had sprung at the swinging doors caught them at the top with his forefeet and was trying to pet his head through the opening over them and he all but succeeded too to describe the thoughts that flitted at lightninglike speed through the reporttrs brain in that second of time would be an unending task he moved only a little but enough to es- oape the threatened danger only to look the other way and find the whole tiger household up on the grated doors snarling and roaring at him their little greenish yellow eyes emitting scintillations of pale light and their oruel white fangs sheathing and ansbeathing as they snapped their red jaws together in anger end excitement from the nose of tho bad tiger who oc cupied the second floor front to the fangs of his neighbors who lived in tho rear was just forty- two inohes midway between these stood the report er dodging hither and thither to escape the musoular paws as they were thrust through between tho iron rods in the door in an endeavor to reach him and read him limb from limb the danger and terror were further added to by the foot that tho super intendent accidentally lot slip the bolt on the bad tigers dobi in trying to secure it more firmly so that the ferocious animal so far succeeded in his effort to get at the reporter as to force the doors far inward and part them sufficiently to get bis head through but was beaten baok by the heavy rawhide in the superintendents hands the bolt shot to place and the reporter shot out the instant the outeido door was opened the first lesson in lion and tiger taming had been a success and the reporters are now oonvinced that they can become adepts in the business in a short time if they want to bnt they dont want to it was such an experience as has never before fallen to the lot of a newspaper man so far as the showmen know it was exciting in the extreme hazardous and perhaps fool hardy bnt it was done in preolsely the man ner as narrated above in every detail ah eholisuexecrjtioh the cedalmlas murderer gaffers the ex treme penalty on wednesday morning ebenezer samuel jenkins 20 described at an artist was sen tenced to death at the last guildford assfus for the wilful murder of hit sweetheart emily joy at godalming on jan 7th waa executed in wandsworth prison the morning after he had induced miss joy to accompany htm to hit studio ho told a man that he and his sweetheart had agreed to die together but that after she had jumped into the water hia heart failed him the man then told him he must take himto the police- station upon arriving there the prisoner made a statement in which he admitted having decoyed the girl to his studio on a sham errand and had then thrown her down and in a tud den fit of madness strangled her this statement ho repeated three or four times the police at once proceeded to the studio and on en tering found the body lying on its left side the face was very much disfigured and the boa the poor creature wore was twisted twice round her neck and stuffed over her mouth and nose her handkerchief was found in her month and her neck was very much bruised the defence urged at the trial waa one of insanity bnt neither of the doctors who wero called considered jenkins insane since his conviction the prisoner conduoted himself exceedingly well and paid great at tention to the ministrations of the rev g b de renzi the prison chaplain he rose on wednesday morning shortly after six alter passing a good night and ate rather a large breakfast at three minutes to nine a prccooolon consisting of mr g t abbot the under sheriff captain helby the gover nor and the other officials was formed out side the condemned cell the culpit having qdietly submitted to the process of pinioning jenkins walked to the scaffold with a firm step looking vsry pale and emaciated and responding with great fervour to the prayers of tho chaplain the bolt being drawn the man seemed to die without a struggle berry allowed a drop of gt 6in the usual inquest was afterwards held on tho body and the jury found that the deceased had been executed according to law there had not been an exeoution at wandsworth for nearly four years the panama oanal the captain of a british steamer who has recently inspected the line of the unfinished panama oanal reports that along the banks are scattered many pieoes of valuable ma chinery that have never been nsedand over which the grass is rowing this shows that the administrators who control the affairs of the bankrupt company are as care less and derelict as the officers of the com pany were throughout the years when the oanal diggers were at work large quanti ties of very costly machinery were brought to the isthmus every year only to be left to rot in the mud if the inside history of the company could be laid bare almost un equalled extravagance carelessness and even corruption would undoubtedly be re vealed the money paid for supplies and machinery that were thrown away or never need would yield now a dividend small but still acceptable to the swindled holders of the canal obligations if there still re mains on the isthmus any machinery of valne the administrators propose to let it rot and thus the enterprise will to the very end continue to be marked by the scandalous extravagance and carelessness that caused its failure- ny times save y0tjb thbee cehts a word or advice to ilstr letter writers the affixing of the stamp it in the majority of cases the last stage of the letter writing it it a kind of sealing signing and delivering it would not be a bad moral habit of a man to pause before affixing hit postage stamp and to consider whether judiciously and conscientiously he had not better save hit money when once he has dropped hit letter into the letter box he has committed one of the irre vocable acta of this life onl with the utmost entreaties and only in rarest in stances have i ever known of letters render ed back by the postmaster to the tender at you prepare to affix your stamp give one final thought to conscience whether yon might not alter improve or altogether ob literate the letter there may be all sorts of wrong and evil connected with letter- writing but to specialise an instance you may have been writing an angry letter it may be a olever caustic letter and you feel rather inclined to regard it approvingly considered as a literary production but it may be a passionate and unjust letter it may be unreasonable and untrue you may be giving unmerited pain by sending you may bitterly regret the moments when your hand obeyed the iamoral behest of your mind yon have heard of the phy sicians prescription about the cucumber to peel it carefully slice it tenderly be gingerly with your vinegar and plenteous with the oil sprinkle the pepper brown or red over it and then fling the mess out of the window smarter than the doctors yes said old mr jones the dootors are getting smart nowadays why theyve got instruments and things made so that they oan see dean through yon humph replied old mrs jones i dont see anything particularly smart in that ive been married to you for thirty years bnt i saw through you in two weeks after tho wedding mr jones rubbed his bald head for a moment and thoughtfully resumed his reading sunshine after bain wife and you wont give me the price of an easter bonnet 1 husband nope w with a sob yon are one of tho meanest men one of the niggardlieat that h ion are a lady and a model wife w with dignity thank you yon have told the truth and i suppose i need not inform you that the opinion is universal ly held that the meanest men always get tho best wives h here take the pocketbook that speech it worth a new hat w smiling i alwayt knew yon were a dear mew every morning every day is a fresh beginning every morn is the world made new you who are weary of sorrow and sinning here is a beautiful hope for you a hope for me and a hope for you all the past thingsare past and over the tasks are done and the tears are shed yesterdays errors let yesterday cover yesterdays wounds which smarted and bled are holol with the healing whioh night has shed yesterday now is a part of forever bound np in a sheaf whioh god holds tight with glad days and sad days and bad days which never shall visit ub more with their bloom and their blight their fullness of sunshine or sorrowful night let them go since we cannot relive them cannot undo and oannot atone god in his mercy receive forgive them only the new days are our own today is ours and today alone here are the skies all burnished brightly here is the spent earth all reborn here ore the tirod limbs springing lightly to face tho sun and to share with the morn in the chrism of dew and the cool of dawn every day is a fresh beginning listen my sonl to the glad refrain and spite of old sorrow and older sinning and pozzies forcasted and possible pain take heart with tho day and begin again a lndiorous and perplexing mistake mr joseph gilbert who was attached to the astronomical service in captain cooks expsdition to observe the transit of venus used to wear very tight leatherbreeohes he had ordered the little tailor to attend him one morning when his granddanghter who resided with him had also ordered her shoemaker to wait upon her the young lady was seated in the breakfastroom when the makar of leather breeohes was shown in and as sho did not happen to know one handicraftsman more than the other she at once intimated that she wished him to measure her for a pair of leather for as she remarked the wet weather was coming and she felt oold in cloth the modest tailor could hardly believe his ears measure you miss 1 said ho with hesita tion if you please said the young lady who was remarkable for much gravity of deportment and i have only to beg that you will give me plenty of room for i am a great walker and i do not like to wear any thing that aonstralnd me but miss exclaimed the poor fellow in great preplexity i never in my life meas ured a lady i and there he paused are you not a ladys shoomaker was the query calmly put to him by no means miss said he i am a leather breeohes maker and i have come to take the measure not of you but mr gil bert the young lady beoame perplexed too but she recovered her selfpossession after a good commonsense laugh and sent tho maker of breeohes to her grandpapa where theres a will theres a way a country parish minister lately visiting edinburgh met in the street a servant girl who bad left his congregation to go to a sitnation in the city well maggie said he kindly how do you like your new sitnation t fine sir but im gey lonely among sae mony fremd folk i was thinking so maggie weu ill call and sea you before i leave the town na sir very dolefully ye manna dae that for oor mistress allows nae followers bnt brightening up if ye come tae the back gate when ids dark ill try tae let ye in at the wnndy an appreciative hushand talk about wives said farmer haw buck ive got one wife in a million why the gits up in the mornin milks 17 cows and gits breakfast for 20 hardworkln men before 6 oclock she must be a very robust womon hawbuck remarked one of bis heaters on the contralry sut in the farmer the it pale and delikit- ke goab ef that woman waa strong i dunno what work the couldnt do her only poem made a hit a very bright young girl the daughter of a congressman and well known in washing ton society during tho past winter is a great reader of poetry i love poetry she said the other day and wonld give anything if i could write it did you ever try asked her com panion never but once she said hesitatingly and with a poetio blush never but qnoe and that ended my muses career forever i was in sohool then and the teacher insisted upon every girl in the rhetorio class writing a poem for next recitation day i couldnt do it and avowed i wouldnt bnt she insist ed and finally i just had to what was the poem inquired her friend cautiously but the caution was of no avail and she refused to divulge for some time bnt at last gave p well if i must i must i suppose so here it goes now fanoy my delight for i am asked to write a peem for ths rhetorio olass today my only hesitation to do this for recitation is that i havent thought of one darned word to say wasnt it awful she continued but the worst of it was the teacher made me reoite it before the whole school bn it brought down the house and a very satis fied expression fell over her face a gunning darky a oolored gentleman knocked at a white mans door the man came out and asked the negro what he wanted is dat yo dog in de yard bah i yes well aah he dun treated me mighty shabby what did he do jumped ober dat fence jes now an tore my garments look yere jes ruined die ooat 1 why i am very aorry yon aint haf ez sorry cz i is sah all de coat is got an i hab tor go ter my wifes fnnul dis ebenin that is bad lot me see if i oan find you a coat he wont back into the house and soon re turned with an excellent coat here old man take this i cant sparo it very well bnt as i have been the innocent cause of ob doan mention it sah thankee neber seed sioh er fino coat in all my life good day hah 1 granted tho old fellow as he turned a corner dat dog couldnt far er hankercbuck but er man has ter take kere hizsol deze days a good speculation paterfamilias im amazed madam that you shoold encourage that young mans visits to your daughter materfamilias my dear he hat hit life insured for20000 hah i hell beggar himself paying the premiums just to they wont be able to keep a girl and at oar daughter will do the cook ing it woat bs long before he diet of dyspep sia and the hat the 20000