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( .â-  I 1^ • ^ AS GOOD AS GOLD. CHAPTER XX-CantinuBd. H»r considerate and willing disposi- tion became a pitfU!! to her now. When- ever she tooJc upon herseli any domestic duty tljat the servaints oould have done â€" whicih Bhe often didâ€" lie set it down to her faults of )>reediiig. She would go to the kicobnn instead of ringing, ''Not to maki> Piheobe ooiue up (}wloe;' abe wsot down on her knees, shekel in hand, when the oattte overturnm the nruith or double, but for the fact that : it was a lady muoh more beautifully coal-scuttle: moreover, she woulfl per-i dnMsed than she. Indeed, oomparative- for' Z bethfJaine walked and read, or looked over the eilm of the IxMik to think.and thus redchell the churchyard. Thero,approu(vhing her mother's grave, fibfi a-sv/ a solitary dark figure in the middje of Ihf- gravel-walk. This fig- ure,, too, woa reading; l)ul not from a )>ook; thm words which engrosaed it 1»- tng the inscription on Mrs. Henchard's tbmlistone. The personage was in qAiurning like herself, wua alx>ut her age and size, and might have lieen her sislently thank the parlour-ma|_ everything, till one day, aa soon as the girl was gone from the room, Honchard broke out with "Good Gâ€",why dostn't leave off thanking that girl as if.^he were ^ goddesa-lwra I Don't I pay her a dozen pound a year to do tlfin^ for â- eel" Elizabeth ahranlk so visibly at the exclamation that he l»came sorry a few minutes alter, and sai^^hat he did not mean to be so roug'h. â- â-  But the most terriV'e ordpal was to come. Elizabeth had latterly been ac- customed of an afternoon to take out a cup of cider or ale and breadiand-oheese to Naaoe Mockridge, wflw worked in the yard, wimbling hay-bonds. Nance ac- cepted this offerioe thankfully at tirst; afterwards as a matter of course. On a day wben Henchard was on the premises^ he saw his stepdauehVer enter the bay- bam cm this errand; and,, fs there was no olear spot on wbich trt deposit the provisions, she at once set to work ar- ranging two trusses of hay as a tablo, Mockridge meanwhile standing with her bands on her hipsl easefully looking at tjbe preparations on her behalf. "Elizabeth come herel" said Hen- chard; and she obeyed. "Why do you lower yourself so con- foundediy I" he said with auppres-sed passion, "flaven't I told you o't fifty times! Heyf Making yourself a drudge for a common workwoman of sucih a character as hers I Why, ye'U disgrace me to the dusti" No wthese words were uttered loud enough to reach Nance inside the liarn door who fired up immediately at the slur upoa her personal character. Com- ing to the door, she cried, regardless of caosequences, "Come to that, Mr. Mich- ael Hcnchard; I can let 'ee know she've waited oo worse I" "Then she must have had more char- ity than sense," said Henchard. "Oh no, she hadn't. 'Twero not for charily but for hire; and at a pulilic- housu in this town." ' "It is not true," cried Henchard in- dignantly. "Just ask her," said Nance, folding her naked arms in such a manner that she could comfortably scratch her el- bows. Henchard glanced at Elizabetlv-Jane, whuee coniplexiun, now pink and while from confinement, Uisi nearly all of the former colour. "What does this mean f" he said to lier. "Anything or nothing?" "It is true," said ElizabethrJane. "Uut it was oimly â€" " "Did you do it, or didn't you? Where wa« it»^' "At the King of Prus-sia; one evening for a little wTiile, wht>n we were stay- ing there." Nanco glanced triuniphuntly at Hcn- ohard, aji'l sail<-d into the barn; for, as- suming that slu- was to l>e distbarKi'd on the intitanl, .she had lesolvrd to make '.be most of her victory. Henchard, jvoweyer, siid nothing aliout discliarg- ng her. Unduly sanNitive on such loints by riasoii of his own past, hu â- Hid th« look of one Miiapletuly ground lown to the Insil indignity, Klizalu'lli followed him to thu house like a cul- prit; l)ui whr-,!! slip f?i)l inside she could not see him. Nor di<l she stw him again tliat day. Convinced of the scathing damage tu his local repute and ptxsition that must hnve lieen caused by such a fact, t huuifh it had never before reached bis own eais, Uem-hanl sliowed a positive dis- taste for the prt!JteuuM} of this girl not his own whenever he encountered her. She read and took notes incessantly, mastering fads with painful laliorious- nesH, but never flinching froin Iwr self- imposed task. .Sh« l)c,ga.n the study of Latin, incited l)y the lioman chttract- Brislics of the towni she liv<^d in. "It t am not well-iuXomied it shall he by lo fault of my own," she would say to uerself through the tears that would oocasioaially glide down her iieuchy ch.'t'ks when she was fairly liatfli'd l)y I he portentous okscurity of nuuiy of thiflH educational works. Tlius she lived on, a dumb, deep-feel- ing, great-eyed creature construed by not a single contiguous being; quench- ing with patient foilitudo her iiicliiient interest in Karfrae, liocausn it seemed to lie one-sided, uniiiaidenly, and uiuviw. True, that for reasons best known to saJ, shifted her quarters from the back loom affording a view of th.i yard herself, she had, since Farfrae's dihinis- (wbich she had occupied with such zest) lo a front chamber overlooking the street; but as for the young man, when- ever he pa.ssed the bouse he seldom or n-!Ver turned his lucad. Winter had almost coma, and unset- tled weather made li^r still more de- pendent uiion indoor resources. liut there were cerl.iin early winter days in Ca,sterb ridge â€" days of firiiiaineulal exhaustion which followed angry south- westerly tempe.stsâ€" whi-n, if tne sun ihone, the air was like velvet. She ii'ized on llu'se days for h»r periodical visits to the spot wh«<re her mother lay buried â€" the still-used burial-ground of Ihe old Roman-British city, whose curi- iiia feature was this its continuity as a place of sepulture. Mrs. Hejiicbiird's dust mingled with the dust of women who lay orname.nted with glass hair- pins and amber necklaces, and men who hield in their mouths coins of Hadrian, I'osthumus, and the Constantines. Half-past ten in the morning was aliool her hour for seeking this spotâ€" a time whan the promenaides were de- •erteul as the pillared avenues of Karo- to. Burliness luid long since passed down them into its daily cells.and Leis- ure 'ai>d not atrivod there* So Eliza- indifferent as Elizaboth>-Jane was to dress, unless for some temporary whim or purpose, her eyes were arrested by this artistic i)erfection of the Uuly's ap- pearance. Ber igait, too, had a flexu- ouaness alxiut it, which seemed to avoid anguilarily of movement less from choice than from predisposition. It was a revelation to ElizillieLh that human beines oouM reach this stage of extern- al develojmient â€" she had never suspected it. She felt all the freshness and grace to be stolen from herself on the instant by the neighborhood of such a strang- er. And this was in faoe of the fact that Elizaljetb oould now have lieen writ handsome while the young lady was simply pretty. The strajiger presently moved from this tombstone of Mrs. Henchard, and vanished behiird the corner of the wall. Interesting as things had Ijeen for Elizabeth out of doors, at home it turned out to be one of ber bad days. Henchard, whose two years' mayoral- ty was ending, had been made aware that he was not to be chosen to fill' a vacancy of the list of aldermen ; and that B'arfrae was likely to become one of thfi Council. This caused the un- fortunate discovery that she had play- ed the waiting -maid in the town of which he was Mayor to rankle in his mind yet more poisonously. Ever since the evening of his wife's arrival with her daughter there had I)€«n something in the air which bad changed his luck. That dinner at the Golden Crown with his friends had been Henchard's Austerlitz: be had had his successes since, l)ut his course had not lieen U[)ward. He was not to lie numb- ered among the aldermenâ€" that Peerage of burghersâ€" OS he had exi>ected to be, and the consciousness of this soured him to-tlay. "Well, where have you Ijceinf" he said to her, with offhand faconism. "I've been strolling in the Walks and churchyard, father, till I feel quite luery." She clapped her hand to her mouth ,liut too late. This was just enough to incen.se Hen- chard after the other crosses of the day. "I won't have you to talk like that!" h3 thundered. " 'Leery," indeed. One would think you worked upon a farm. One day I learn that you L.ad a hand in publio-housea. Then I hearyoutalk like a clod-hopper. I'm burned, if it goes on, this house can't hold us two." Meijiwhile Henchard was sitting up, thinking over bis jealous folly in for- bidding Farfrac to jiay his addresses to this girl who did not lielong to him, wlK-n if he had allowed them to go on he might not h.ave lieen encumliered with her. At last he said to himseJf with satisfaction as lie jumi)ed up and v.-ent to the w*ritiu'g table, "Ahlâ€" he'U think it uieanp (Mtaie, and a marriage portionâ€" not that 1 don't want my houw lo be troubled with her, and no portion at all." He wrote as follows:â€" "Sirâ€" On conBideralion, 1 don't wish to interfere with your courtsliip of Kl- izaljei:h-J'ane, if you care for her. I I Iwrefore withdraw my objection; ex- cepting in this â€" that the tiusincss lie not cjirried on in my house. â€" Yours, Mr. Farfrae. SI. Henchard. The morrow, l>eing fairly fine, found Elizabeth-,Tanp again in the churchyard; but whiln looking for the lady she was startled by th<i ajiparition of Farfrae, w ho passiid outside the gate. He glanc- ed up for a moment from a pocket Ixiok in which he appeared to l>e making fig- ures as he went; whether or not he -saw her he took no notice, and disappeared. U,ndu.!y depressed iiy a sense of her own su|)erfluity she tliought he proliab- ly scorned her; and quite lirokun in spirit sat dowa on a Iwnch. She fell into painful thought on her pcsition, whicli ended with her siiying quite loud, "Oh, I wish I was dead with dear mo- ther I" Hehlnd the bench was a little prom- enade under the waJi where iieople. sometimes walked instead of on t.h.' gravel. The V'ench .seemed to be loiu'h- ed by something; she looked around.and a face was bending over her, veiled,but still distinct, tbsi face of the young wcMnaii sh'. bad seen yesterday. Elizalii'lh-.Iane looked confounded for a moment, knowing she had been uver- heaid, though there was pleasure in her confusion. "Yes, I h'aru you," -said the lady, in a vivacious viiice,answoriiig her look. "\Vhil can have happened*" "I don't- 1 can't tell you," said Eliza- beth, putting her liann to her fara to hide a quick flush that had come. There was no movoinent or word for a few seconds; 'then the girl fell that I hi.'" young lady was silting down In- side her. "I guess how it is with you," said the latter. "That was ycnir mother." .Slu! waved ber hand towards the loml>- stone. Klizalieth looked up al her aa if inquiiing of herself whel her there should lie confidence. The lady's man- ner wa:i so desirous, si) anxiDus, that the girl decided there slioubl l«> confidence. "II was my mother," she said, "my only friend." "Hut your father, Mr. Henchard, He is living?" "Yes, he is living," said Glizalielh- Jane. "Is he not kind to you?" "I've no wish lo complain of him." '"fhere has Ijeen a disagreemsnl ?" "A little." "Perhaps you were to blame," sug- gested the stranger. "1 wasâ€" in many ways," sighed the meek Flizal>oth. "I sweiit up the coals when the servant iiught to have done it; and I said I was k^ery; and he â- was aingry with me.'' The lady seemed to warm towards her for that rep'ly, "Do you know the im- pression your words give mo ?" she said ingenuously. "That he is a hot-temti- ered manâ€" a little proud â€" perliaps am- bitious; but not a bud man." Her anx- iety not to c(mdemii Henchard, while siding with Elizabeth was curious. "On ho; vcertainly not imd," agreed the honest girl. "And he had not even licen unkind to me till latelyâ€" since mo- ther died. Hut it has l>e<'n very much to liear while it has lasted. All is ow- ing to'iny defects, I dare, say; and my defe.ct9 ore owing lo my history." "What is your history ?" Eliz»):)cth)-Jane looked wistfully at her queaticvier; .fouiKl that her questioner was lookiiifr at her; turned his eyes down ; and then seemed compelled to look back aeain. "My history is not f.ay nor attractive," she said. "And yet can tell if you really want to know." The lady assured her tliat she did wajit to know; wbareuiion E'lizaljeth- Jane told the tale of her life as she understood it, which was in general the true one, except that the sale at the fair had no part therein. "I don't Imow how to return," she murmured. "I think of eoing away. But what can I do? Where can I go »" "Perhajw it will be better soon," said her friend gently. "So I would not fo far. Now what do you think of this: shall soon want .sometwdy to live in my house, partly as housekeeper, partly as companion; wouJd you mind coming to me ? But perhaps â€" " "Oh yes," cried EUzaJieth, with tears in her eyes. "I would, indeedâ€" I would do anything' to be independent; for then perhaps my father might get; to love me. But, aih.1" "What?" "I am no accomplished person. And a companion to you, dear madam, must be that." "Oh, not neceasaruy." "Not? But I can't help using rural words sometimes, wheoi I don't mean to." "Never mind. I shall like to know them." "Andâ€" ohi, I know I sha'n't dol"-.-8he cried with a distressful laugh. "I ac- cidentally learned to write round-hand instead of ladiee'-hand. And, of course, "Well, no." "eWU, no." "What, not necessary to write ladies'- band?" cried the joyous Elizabeth. "Not at all." "But wliere do you live, Madam?" "In Casterbridge, or rather I shall be living here after twelve o'clock to- Elizabeth expressed her astonish- ment. "1 hnve lieeji staying at Budmouth for a few days whole my bouse was getting ready. The house 1 am go- ing Into is that one they call High Street RaiH â€" the old stone one over- looking the Market. Two or three rooms are fit for occupation, though not ali : I sleep there to-ni^ht for the : first time. Now will you think over my iiropoeali, and meet me here the first fine day next week, and say if you are still in the same mind?" ElizalwtlK her eyee shining at this prospect of a change from an unliear- able position joyfully assent- ed; and the two parted at the gate of the churchyard. CHAPTER XXL As a maxim glibly repeated from childhood remains practically unmark- ed till some mature exiMsrience enforces it. so did this Hi^'ti Street Hall now for the first time reaMy sh-jw itself to KMzalieth-Jane, though her ears had beard its name on a hundred occasions. Her mind dwelt upon nothing else but the lady, and the hou.se, and her own chance of living there, all the rest of the day. â-  Gizatieth-Jane could, however, add a capping touch to information so new to her in the l)ulk. The lady, she said, bar arrived tlmt day. When the lamps were lighted, and ,it was yet not so dark aa to render fhimney.s, aitics, and roofs invLsil>;o. Eijizalieth. almost with a lover's feel- ing, Ihimght she wxiuld like to look at the outside of High Street Hall. She went up the street in that direction. Th<' Hall, with its gray facade and parapet, was the only residence of it.s .sort .so near the center of the town. It had, in the first place, the charocleris- tic.H of a c<mntry mansionâ€" bird's-nests in its chimneys, dump nooks where fungi grew, and irregularities of sur- face direct from Nature's trowel. Yet as regards the enjoying it, the stranger would have l)een wrong, for until this very evening, when the new lady hiid arrived, the hou,se had lieen empty for a year or two, while before that interval its oc^mpan-.^y had l>een irregular. 'I'lwi reascm of its unpopu- larity was siHin made manifest. Its rooms overlooked the market-place ; and such a pri,.si),!,-t from such a house wa.'^ not conaidi'red desiialile or seemly by its would-be occupiers. Dlizabfth's eves sought the upper rooms, anil .•«w lights there. The ludy had i)bviou.<ly arrived. The impr»«sion that this woiiian of eoini>arative.y prac-. tised manner luid made upon the studi- ouis girl's mind was so deep that sh,> enjoyed .standing under an opposite ari'liway mereily to think that the charming kudy was inside the confront- ing walls, and lo wonder what .she was was doing. Her admiration for the architecture of tliat front was entirely Ln account of the inmate it screened. Though for that matter- the architec- ture dest«rved admiiation, or at least study, on its own account. It was Palladian, and, like all architecture erected since the Gothic age, tias a compilation rather than a design. But its reasnnalvvncss mode it impressive. Men had tlU quite re^^entiy been g(v ing in and out with parcola and pack- ing-cases, rendering the door and hall within "ike a public thoroughfare. Elizalieth trotted through ihe open door in the duAk, but beooming alarmed at her own temerity, she wont quick'.y out again by another which .stood open in the l>fty wall of the liack court. To her surprise she found herself in one of the litile-ased blind alleys of the town. Looking roimd at the door which had given her egress, liy the light of the solitary lamp fixed In the alley, she .saw that it was arched and o'.dâ€" older even than the house itseif. The door was studded, and the kej stone of the urch was a mask. Originally the mask had exhibited a comic leer, as could stiill lie discerned; but generations of (^asterbridgi) boys had tnrown stones at the ma-^k, aiming at its oiien mouth ; and the blows thereof had chipped off th*i tips and jciws as if they had lieen eaten away liy disease. The appear- ance was so ghastJiy by the weakly lonip glimmer thul she oould not liear to look at itâ€" the first unpleasant feature of her visit. Had she watched she would have been surprised. She would have seen that the [ledestrian on coming up made straight tor the arched doorway ; that a.-i she pau.sed with his hand upon the latch the lamplight fell upon the face of Uenclmrd. But Elizahcth-Jane clung so closely to her nook that she discerned noth- ing of this. ' Henchard's chiding, by begetting in her a nervous fear of doing anything definablie as unlady-like, had operated thus (Mxriousiliy in keeping them un-' k'\own to eju'h other at a critical mom-- en'.. Much might have resulted from rei'.ignitioaaâ€" at the Ie.ast a query on either side in one and the self-samo form: What could be or she possibly' lie doing there ? Henchard, whatever hi."; business at the lady's house, reached his own home only a few minutes later than Eliza- belhrJane. Her plan was to broach the, question of leaving his roof this even- ing, the events of the <lay bad urged ber to the course. "Fattier, have you any objection to my going aw ay ? she asked. "Going away ? No â€" none whatever. Where are you going?" She thought it undesirable and un- nei-easary to say anything at present atiout ber destination to one who took so Little interest in her. He would know that soon enoug'h. "I have heard of an opportunity of getting more culti- vated and finished, and being less idle,"i she answered, .with hesitation. "A chance of a place in a household where I can earn my living, and have ad- vantages of study, and seeing refined life." "Then make the best of it, in Hea- ven's nameâ€" if you can't get cultivated where you are.'- "You don't object?" "Objectâ€" n Hoâ€" no I Not at aU." After a pause he said. "But you won't have enough money for this lively scheme without hei{>, you know ? It you like I should be willing to make you an allowance, so that you be not bound to live upon the starvation w refined foUk are likely to pay 'ee.' She thanked him fur this offer. (To be continued.) ELECTRICITY FROM A WINUItlLL. ABOUT TRAIL CREEK. What >â-  Amerlcsa Jaaraal Hat !• Sar Aboal the Koulaad mslrlet. The fast issue of the Miner Bet E^lec- trician, of Spokane, Wash., devotes a great deaS of space to Trail Creek,- and it iq>eakB of it in the highest terms of praise. The utterances of our bright and newsy contemporaries in Roasland might naturally be deemed somewhat enthusiastic in writing up the position and prospects of tbeir own townâ€" ono naturallily believes in one's own selection. But when a dis-i tant magazine, of the character and weight of the Miner, speaks in such glowing terms of a camp in another and, to some extent a rivail, locality, it meams much. And added weight is given when it Ls remembered that this praise comes from an American paper writing about a- Canadian enterpriseâ€" and we do not often meet with CJattery in such a case ! The opinions of the Miner may therefore be taken aa being those which their proper appre- ciation of Raes<'.and has led them to utter. We quote a few sentences: â€" "It has come to pass that prospects, which was not over a year or so ago were deemed wortbleas, and were called or thought to be 'wild cats,' are now, regui'jar shippers, and in some instan- ces dividend payers. "Thie priuciiKil mines of Trail Creek are situated in the vicinity of the town of Rosaland, and from 5 to 10 miles north of the Interiuilional boundary. The region is most FAVORABLE FOR AUNING. Sufficient timlier and pueuty of water; and mining is generally done by tun- neillling." "The district taken as a whole is wonderful!. It seems as if somn supreme pirwer, as a compensatioM for th« apiiarently valueless grant) mount.ains Uvsiowed them with wealth untold. During the pa-st six months nearly the entire country has Iwetl liKVttted, and considerable uevelopment ha,". be«5u done in many of the nearer locations, the results obtained prove that with deveilopment, this districti will h.ave .some of the biggest shipping iiiiueis in the wcnUi." "Sf>okane, up to the present, we might say hns devellbped Trail Creek, .ind demonstrated to the world at large thill whut is wanted iscapital and experieni-ed mining men to manage the develoimient. Phe present dev- eilopment and re.sutt.s have proved lieyond a passible doulit tlmt investing capitaJ will lie gloriously rewarded; but it takes such an enormous amount to open up the properties, that people were not ini^lined at first to take any -stock in the district. This fact has lieen a tuindicap to the district, and lias had effect upon the progress of deveilopment. But now 'Trail Creek is widel<y known, and there is not a quest icnalnle doubt about its future Rossland is now compared with alt the great mining oam(>s of the world, and the anticipations andcxpectationi of m.any are that in a few years it will lie the GREATEST GOLJ) MINING CAMP Ihe wopVi has ever Known. The camp is yet young, and with the developments wi.l lie more than fulfilled;" "Surrounded by a vast area, that embraces a wonderfully rich region, unequalled in any other part of the glolie, Rossland stands to-day a most promising city." "For a railroad centre, Rossland his a great future, and is destined to liecome most important." "At present â€" cousidtjring the dev- elopments in progress and the returns to date â€" we Imve reason to believe that next year the miniis in the Trail! Crwk mining district will be considered the greatest in the world, and in fact will lie the mining sensation for a few years at least." '"rhere Ls no limit set to the oppor- tunities offered by Rossland and British Columlita. A visit to the camp will convince any skeptical man tliat an iuveistmenl in the mines of Rossland is sure to bring results." The above extracts are sufficient to show that an inde|iendent outsider, competent to judge, and certainly not prejudiced in favor of Rossland, hc- -ieve,s that it has a magnificent future l>efore it. Surely when our American friends thinks so highly of our natural wealth, w-e Canadians ought to believe in it also. THE PBODIGAL SON. Sunday school teacherâ€" Can you tell me the story of the prodigal son? .Street Arab ^recently gathered In)â€" Ho wuz de bloke what blew in all his du.st an' den went home an' laid down oil de old man. Mr. F(elr'» Plaal for LlKkllac Bin â- â€¢Â«â- â€¢ Said !• be (he Oaly Oae ot lh« JUad. After experiments extunding over two years, Joseph J. Feelly of Walpole, Mass., has succeeded in installing ^n electric plant run by a windmill, by means of which his house, si;ables, and grounds ore lighted by electricity. It is said to be the first and onlly really successful windmill electric lighting plant constructed at a reasonable cost. In the development of this plant the main obstacCe, from an electrical point of view, was the variability of the wind and the resulting erratic fluctuations of the electric pressures, which render- ed their utilization impossible, and also subjected the ordinary mechanio&l con- nections to excessive and fatad, strains. To overcome this, thexe were devised a seillf-regtilating constant voltage dyna- mo and a so-cailed ^>eed equalizer. The windmiill shait is connected with the speed equoiiizer, whicu has means for mecbani rally storing energy and for overcoming the frequent temporary subsidings of the wind. The wind pow- er, after having been convuHed into electric energy, is conveyed to a sys- tem of storage batteries, from which in turn the eCeotrio service ts drawn. An ingenious controlling device prs- yents the reaction of the storage batter- ies upon the dynamio and a resulting fatal reversal ol tbe whole process. The owner? Mr. Feeilty, has tabulated wind statistics, lioth from the United States Weather Bureau and from con- tinuous persoua. observations made under his direction, and finds that the actuail wind available for his equipment is far In excess of tbe requirements of bis own or other 'Jike residences, the st^orage capacity lieing ample to bridge bim over any possible period of calm. This pCant has been so nicely adjusted that It is possil^le to utilize a very muob lOiwer rate of wind speed than has evet been attempted before. Another feature of this plant is that it couUd be duplicated for about sevea or eight hundred doU&rs, and as it con lie run for a dozen or fifteen > ears with practicail'ly no expense, other than foa Lubricants and occasional cleaning, it couid 1)6 brought within tbe reach of a very large numtier of people. Mr. FeeCy's early experiments taught him that a plant of this kind oound not b« tolerated, even with the primary gen- erating energy free of cost. If constant personal supervision was necessary, and this system has been so arrongeii that it is entirely automatic, and need not tw looked after oftener tban once or Cwic* in a fortnight. One of tlie things that strike the aver- age observer in an examination of the plant is the alsolute and unvarying uni- formity of tlue 'ights, even in the midst of the most fitful and changing winda, which do not seem to have any effect whatever upon the lamps. This system has lieen in operation now for severail months, and has lieeu subjected to al- most every possible test, and seems to lie equal' to any contingency that can probably develop. VICTORIAN WARS. The Kaaiber of Want IV h irk Have Marked Ihe Uurru'.s Kelxn. The Army and Navy Gazette calls attention to a remarkable feature of tbe Queen's reign, the enormous num- l)er of wars, "little and big," that hare marked its progress. Scarcely a twelve- month of this period has passed, in- deed, without finding England at wtir in some part of the world. Here is a list of tbe principal campaigns and ex- peditions: Afghan war, 1838-10; first China war, 1841 ; Sikh war. 1845-46; Kaffir war, 1846; second war with Chi- na, second Afghan war, 1849; second Sikh war, 1848-49; Burmese war, 1850; second Kaffir war, 1851-52; sscond Bur- mese war, 1852-53; Crimea, 1854; third war with China, 185(5-58; Indian mutiny, 1857; Maori war, 18t)0-Cl; more wars with China, ISfjO and 1862; second Maori war, 1863-66; Ashanti war, 1861; war in Bhootan, 1861; Abyssinian war, 1867-68; war H-ith the Bazotees, 18t)8; third Maori war, 1868-69; war with Loosbats. 1871; secMul Ashanti war, 1878-74; third Kaffir war, 1877; Zulu war, 1878-79; third Afghani war. 1878-80; war in lias- utoland. 187y-81; Transvaal war, 1879-81; KgypUan war, 1882; Soudan, 1884-8.')-89; third Burma war, 1885-92; Zanzibar, KSUt); India, 1890; Matalnjle wait*, 1894 and 1896; Chitral campaign. 1895; third Ashanti campaign, 1896; .second Sou- dan campai^ru, 1896. The same pa|>er gives an aci'ou'nt of hardships during the pivsent Stmdau campaign. The Second lUrgade was ordered to mai'x:li from Suarda to .'>adin Fanti. twenty-one miles distant a:T(M8 the desert, insttvad of following tli» river. The heat was intense; tbe m-n were in heavy mar-'hing order, water w a.s short. There were twenty-nine catk^s of sun- strok'e, of which two were instantly fa- tal. NumW'rs fell out aud soldiers were in the most exhausted ctMidition. Tbe First Brig.'ule fared still w^orse. 'rh:>y were ordered to s-.^-t out one af- ternoon tor a inarch of thirty-seven miles across the desert, each man car- ryiiiig his ril!le, his kit, iwo days' ra- tions and a hundred rounds. The storm that was threatening when they left came uuimi them liefore they reached the first watering place. Nearly three hundred men fell out, of whom nine died, and liefore they arrived at Sadin Fanti one thousand seven hundred men bad fallen out, and of one battalion of seven humlred men only sixty marched into their quarters. lAN ANIMAL CENSUS. The latest enumeration of the animals known to science includes no less il;»n 386,000 recognized siwcies. The real numlier is lielieved to be very much larger. It hiis l«en estimated that of insects alone tbe earth harbors, 2,000,- 000 siiecies, but the. late Profejssor Riley regarded even that estimate aa tar too low. According to his opinion 10,000,- 000 would be a moderate estimate of tb* numtier of iiwoct specieal The num- ber of individuals is, of course, incal- culable.