THE WISCONSIN. The Secret Business Situation

The Swamp SecretCopyright. 1894. by Robert Bonner’s Sons.

CHAITER XV.—(Coutinned.)“You an’ John go 'round an’ drum up

the men folks,” ordered Bill. “Be lively,now. We’ll see thet he don’t steal anymore hos.-es while yer gone,” he added,with a brutal laugh.

Dick’s brain was in a muddle. He couldnot realize the true condition of affairs.He felt as if he must be in some strangekind of waking dream.

“Explain it all, please,” he said to oneof the men. who had had less to say thanthe others. “As true as 1 stand here, 1don’t know what you mean bv this.”

“Wait, an’ ye'll hev it explained to ye

soon enough,” said Bill. "You needn’ttry to soft-sodder us. Step off, now, an'don’t try to git away, or it’d go hard withye"

At Mr. Porter's he might be able to se-cure an explanation of the matter. Hewalked on in advance of the men silently.In a short time they reached their desti-nation.

“Good Lord!” cried Mr. Porter, whenhe fully comprehended the state of af-fairs. “I’m sorry to see you in this fix,Dick, I be so.”

“For pity’s sake, tell me what itmeans!” said Dick. “These men refuseto do so. I get th ? idea, from what they !have said, that 1 am believed to be ahorse thief. Tell me the truth, Mr. Por-ter. Is it so?”

“I’m afraid it is,” answered Mr. Porter.He sat down and told Dick all dhat

bad happened since he went away.“So help me God, I’m innocent,” said |

Dick, solemnly, looking unflinchingly in jMr. Porter’s face as he made the asser- jtion. "I'm as iuuocent as you are. 1 !never made a mark on the cottonwood jtree, and Bill Green lied when he said !so. I went lliere that night, and 1 readwhat there was to read—what Bill Greenprobably read after 1 came away; but Imade not one mark there, and that's thetruth. As to the knife, I lost it over aweek ago—where, 1 haven’t any idea.That's the truth about that, Mr. Porter.I hope you don’t believe that I’m guiltyof the crime I’m charged with?”

“.No, I don't,” answered Mr. Porter,stouliy. “Bat there’s them ns does, Dick,an’ plenty on ’em, too, I'm sorry to say. II tell ye, ye're in a tight place, I>ick, an’ jthere’s no use in denyiu’ it. 1 wish 1 jcould git ye out of it.”

Dick had it on his tongue to give vent Jto his suspicions of Wayne, but Mr. l’or jter was called away just then, and he !made up his mind, on second thought, ]that it was better to say nothing about ;them at present. He could prove noth-ing. That was the difficulty? With theopinion of nearly every one against him,it might damage his ease to attempt toexcite suspicion against any one else. Thequestion would be asked, at once, very-likely: Why had he not said somethingabout these suspicions before?

Why, indeed!If he had only taken Mr. Boone into

his confidence! If he bad only told Mr.Porter! if— But the4 “ifs” in the waywere not to be got rid of now. The traphe had hoped another tuight be caughtin was sprung upon himself.

Ihe only consoling thought about it wasthat he was innocent. There was a gooddeal of personal satisfaction in that, butit. did not help him to see his way out ofthe very unpleasant and dangerous po-aitioa he was in.

A crowd began to assemble within aeljprt time nfter his arrival.

The excitement was intense. His pres-'enee seemed to increase it.

ile could hear muttered threats fromthos whom he had considered warm.friends. He met stern and pitiless faceswhen he looked about iu search of sym-pathy.► \t length, a feeling of anger, arisingfrom a sense of the cruel injustice shownhim by a refusal to listen to anything heattempted to say iu vindication of him-elf, led him to ignore the crowd as muchas possible. He shut his eyes upon it andtried to think what the result was to be,and thinking of that made him sick at

heart.For he knew enough of the frontier and

its ways to ktiow that it was easily sway-ed by impulse but not by cool-headed rea-

son and judgment. It was a dangerous

thing to face when wrought up to such apitch of excitement as had possession ofit uow.

"See here, neighbors,” he heard a fa-miliar voice saying presently, "it’s late.We can’t do anything to-night. We’reall beat out, and need rest. Besides,we’re excited, an’ we ain't tit to give himan onprejudiced trial. I take it, neigh-bors, that we’re all willin’ to give him afair chance. It would be an onjflsticeto go rash. Let’s wait till morniu*. Whatd'ye say?”

Some agreed readily to the proposal,while others objected, saying that horsethieves didn’t need a trial. Hanging waswhat they needed.

!t was finally decided that he shouldbe put in some safe place aud kept theretill morning.

At s o'clock he was tried on the chargeof stealing horses. Could it he true, orwas he iu the midst of a horrible dream?

Then the question. arose of where heshould be put over night.

la the milk house,” whispered Saman-thy to Mr. Porter, with a meaning wink.“There ain't but one winder to the place,an' you e'u show 'em that he can't git outof it; an’ they e’u set men to watch out-side ef they’re afeared o’ his giftin’ outo' the door. No hoss thief c'n git out o’that place ’tbout somebody’s knowin' it."

Mr. Porter understood Samauthy with-out asking an explanation, aud acted onher advice.

“I reckon the milk house is the placeter hiui.” he told the men. “Ye see, yecan put men ail ’round it, bein’ it’s sepritfrom the house.”

An' I’ll resk anybody’s diggin’ thr'u’them walls ’thout bein’ watehed,” saidSamanthy. “Fer’s I’m consumed, 1 wantjustice done, an' the only way we cando it is to keep the pris’ner so’s it can bodid to him when the proper time comester it. I hain't no kind o’ patience withLess thieves, an’ never had. au’ when

u ketch one an’ know lie’s guilty, haug

bun, 1 say.”This to Bill Green, who stood in awe of

Fenianthy. aud consequently had a greatregard for her opinion, as she very wellknew.

That's the talk," responded Bill.“Hang 'em. I say. too.”

“I uever’d a'a bleeved you'd a-turnedboss thief.” said Samauthy. coming up towhere I>'ok sat, with her face full of con-tempt aud lofty indignation. *‘l declare,I sha’n’t bev no confidence Jeft in uo-body a’ter this. It's an awful deceitful,wicked world, when one can’t feel sartinbut his best frieud’ll go to cut tin’ np allmanner o’ wickedness the miuuit hisback’s turned.”

Voder ordinary circumstances Saraan-thy's condemnation of h.m ought to havetroubled Dick, but for some rcusou itfaded to do so.

He was taken to the milk house andfastened in securely To make assurancedoubly sure, a guard was stationed out-wide bis prison walls.

’ He's safe enough there.” said Bill<1 reen, after he had given the place aclose inspection. “There hain’t no chanceo' his gittin’ out till we see tit to let binout."

"Hain’t, hey? Well see about that:”chuckled Samauthy to herself.

At last sileuce fell upon the scene.But to more than one beneath Mr. Por-

ter’s roof sleep did not come that night.

CHAPTER XVI.As may readily be imagined. Dick felt

little like steeping after the exciting♦vents of the past few hours.

He sat alone in the semi-darkness of

the little room in which he was confined,listening to the tramp of men outside andnow and then the sound of voices.

Then these sounds died out, and heseemed to be the only waking thing leftin existence.

Waking? He felt as if he could neversleep again. Until he was left by him-self. and the confused hubbub of angryand excited voices had been smothered byhis prison walls, he had been unable tothink coherently. True, he had had avague sense of his danger, but he had notrealized it in all its terrible clearness.

But now, in the silence of the milkhouse, it came home to him.

In the morning he was to be tried fora crime the penalty of which was deathin the settlers’ code of justice.

But would they find him guilty?Taking the evidence against him into

consideration could there be any doubtof what the verdict would be? None atall.

"But if they'll give me half a chance, 1can prove my innocence,” he thought. “Ican prove where I was at the time of thelast theft. But I doubt if they’ll giveme a chance. I can’t explain about theknife, and Bill Green’s story about seeingme making inscriptions on the cotton-wood will tell against me. I’m in hardluck. If I could only get out of this!”lie cried, starting up aud looking aboutbini, in sudden desperation. "I can’tstay here to be taken out and hung likea dog who has been caught stealingsheep.”

He went to the window and looked outinto the murky gloom of the night.

There was no chance of escape iu thatdirection.

He turned his attention to the door. Itwas a solid one, of oak.

"I am getting foolish,” he said, makingliis way back through the darkness in theroom to the block on which he had beensitting. “If I could get through the door,I couldn't get away, because half a doz-en men are watching outside. There’sno use in trying to get away. I havegot to wait for the morning, and takethe chances of what may happen. I won-der what Nannie thinks of i’_.”

Poor Nannie!At that very moment she was wetting

her pillow with remorseful tears.Uh, they’ll hang him.” she kept say-

ing over and over to herself. "1 knowthey will! And I know he’s innocent,and I shall never see him again to tellhim how sorry I am for using him as 1have. Poor Dick! Poor Dick! And 1did lov'him, after a'l!”

No Nannie, like otner wrongdoers, wasobliged to suffer the pangs of remorseanil self-condemnation when they wereunavailing.

The loug and lonesome hours of thatmiserable night wore slowly away.

"It must be 1 o’clock,” thought Dick,as he paced up and down the puncheonfloor of his prison.

A sound that seemed to come from un-der his feet startled him.

It was a gentle knocking, so faint as tobe almost uunoticeable, but it was repeat-ed at regular intervals, and he kuew thatbehind that sound was some agencywhich desired to attract his attention.

He got down on the floor and listenedvery attentively.

Tap, tap, tap, againtlie rapped softly on the floor over the

spof from which the sound came.Presently a portion of the floor begau

to rise."A trap door,” thought Dick, with a

wild hope of possible escape flashingthrough his still bewildered and befoggedbrain. "I must have some friends yet,and it is evident that they are trying tocome to my aid.”

The trap in the floor was tilted enoughby this time to allow a head to protrudethrough the opening.

"Sh!” said a voice which he had nodifficulty in recognizing as Samanthy’s.“Keep quiet. There's sharp ears out-ride. Ilf ye want to git out o’ this diffi-culty, ye’ve got to be awful still aboutit.”

“How did you contrive to get here?”whispered Diek.

“There’s an underground way ’twixtthis an’ the house that we use in winter,from the stiller,” answered Samanthy.“I wa’n’t goin’ to say nothin’ about itwhen they was a-talkin’ about this bein'a safe place, ’cause ef 1 bad ’twould a-kinder sp’ilt my plau, ye see.”

“Have you got a plan to get me out ofthis?” asked Dick.

“I reckon,” responded Samanthy.“Leastwise, it's a plan of it can be madeto work. Ef it don't it’s a failure. But’twon’t do l'er us to be wastin’ time.You’ve got to be makin’ tracks fer someplace where they don’t take honest menfor hoss thieves, an’ the sooner yer aboutit the better for ye, I eaikilate.”

"Do you advise me to run away?” ask-ed Dick, to whom the thought of escapeby flight seemed almost cowardly, nowthat a possible chance of getting awaypresented itself.

“Of course I do,” responded Samanthy.“I reckon 1 wouldn’t stay an’ let ’emstring me up ef I could help it.”

"But if I get away an’ leave the placethey’ll be sure to accept it as a proof ofguilt,” said Dick.

"Wall, let ’em,” said Samanthy. “Theythink that now, so 'taiu't goin’ to makeno difference as I see, one way or t’oth-er. You'd he u fool not to go. Ef youstay they’ll hang you as sartin as yourname’s Dick Brayton. Ef you light outan’ keep clear o’ these diggiu's a spellthey may find out who the real hoss thiefis, au’ then ’tw ill be time enough to show-up hereabouts.”

"1 think you’re right,” said Dick."Staying here would not help me to provemy innocence if they're not disposed togive a fellow a fair chance. I’d ratherface (file music, but it wouldn't makehanging any pleasanter because facingthe music seemed a braver thing thanrunning away. I’ll take your advice, Sa-manthy, that is, if 1 can. 1 don’t know-how you propose to get me away fromthis place.”

“Foller me an’ go like a eat,” said Sa-manthy.

He let himself down through the trapdoor. A ladder led to the bottom of thepassage between the milk house and thecellar.

In the cellar they paused a moment.“I want to kuow exactly what the

charges against me are,” he said. “Iwas so bewildered by all that happenedthat I don’t know whether 1 comprehendeverything clearly yet or not.”

Samanthy detailed the facts of the caseas succinctly as possible.

“It lobks dark against me, doesn’t it?”said Dick, “But I'm inuocent, and lmenu that everybody shall know It, someday—that is, if 1 get away and live lougenough to have the opportunity to workup the matter and briug the guilty partyto justice. 1 told you a little, or rather1 hinted at part l had found out, the oth-er day. 1 want to tell you all about itnow, for it may possibly be the means of

I your helping me.”Dick told her in as few words as pos-

, sible what he had discovered and what he| suspected.

”1 wouldn’t w-onder the least bit ifI you was right,” she said. “I’ll keep my

j eyes open an’ sec ef I can’t see suthin’.”, “I shall not lea>e the neighborhood.”; -

s*id Dick. ”1 can take care of myself inI the woods, and 1 mean to stay and watchmy man. Who the other members of thegang are and w here they stay I don't

! know, but I mean to find out before longj if there's anything to be gained by tnak-

| ing a business of playing detective l; waijt you to go over to Mr. Boone's to-naorrow aud smuggle my gun out of thehouse, with all the ammunition there is.

; and put it in the hollow tree down by thepasture bars, after dark. I’ll venture out

when I think it’s safe to do so and getit.”

“An’ I’ll see that tnere’s suthin’ to eatleft there, reg’lar,” said Samanthy. “Ye’llhev to be awful keerful or they’ll runon to ye tfhen they’re trampin’ ’roundthrough the woods a-huntin’ hoss thievesan’ bosses.”

“I’ll look out for them,’,’ said Dick.“Wall, ef ye’r ready, ye’d better be

movin’,” said Samanthy. “I’m goin’ tolet ye out o’ the house by the but’ry win-der. From the west side o’ the houseit’s clear sailin’ to the corn field, an' efye can git there ’thout bein’ seen, ye’r’all right.”

Dick followed her up the stairs leadingfrom the cellar to the kitchen.

“Here’s a bite to eat,” she said, hand-ing him a luncheon tied up in a cloth.“I tho’t, p’r’aps, ye mought be hungry,so I got it reddy for ye. Now go, an’take keer o’ yerself."

Dick wrung her hand.“You’ve done me a good turn, Saman-

thy,” he said. "However it turns out,I thank you for your kindness. I—l1—1 wishyou’d tell Nannie that I hope she don’tbelieve me guilty.”“I know she don’t,” said Samanthy.

“She feels awful about ye. Cries an’takes on, the wust way, an’ blames her-self like ev’rything. But do be goin’.I git more narv’us ev’ry siugle minnit. Isha’n’t draw a decent breath till 1 thinkye’ve got to the corn field.”

She lifted the pantry window noiseless-ly, aud Dick crawled through it anddropped lightly to the ground.

She watched him make his way to thegarden fence, where he was lost in theshadows of night.

She stood by the window and waited forsome minutes. Nothing happened.

"There, thank the Lord, he’s safe fer aspell, I reckon!” she exclaimed, drawinga breath of relief. "Wonder what they’llsay in the mornin’, when they go to hangliim an’ find he’s missin’?”

Then she went back to bed; but the ex-citement of the night would uot ailow herto sleep. Visions of escaping men cameto her, followed by visions of men dang-ling from a rope, then she would start upfrom the doze into which she had fallenonly to fall into another doze, in whichthe same sights were repeated.“I hain't rested much,” she said, with

a grim smile when daylight came.

CHAPTER XVII.Morning broke.With the first streak of red in the east

the men who had been ou guard werestirring.

One of them came to the door of themilk house and listened.

"I reckon lie’s asleep,” he reported.“Anyway he ain't a-moviu’ ’round.”

“Wall, let him have his snooze out,”said Bill Green. “It’s prob’ly the lastone he’ll enjoy fer a right smart spell.”

As soon as it vyos fully light men be-gan to arrive.

They came from all parts of the settle-ment, and before 8 o’clock the entire maleportion of the neighborhood was on hand.

It was evident from the stern and res-olute look on the fices of most of themand the determined air which characterized them that they felt that somethingof grave and weighty import was aboutto be done.

“Wall, it’s 8 o’clock,” announced Bill.“Nil’ll we proceed to business?”

“How ’re we goin’ to git at it?” askedsomeone.

“Why, go at it an’ du it, same’s yewould any job ye'd got on hand,” an-swered Bill. "There hain’t no sense instaudiif ’round an’ askin’ how a thingis got to be did. That’ll never du it.Git right down tu business an’ it won’ttake- long.”

“Well, then, fetch out the pris’ner an’le’s hear what he’s got to say fer him-self,” said Deacon Suyder.

“That’s the talk,” said Mr. Baleomb.“Let’s hear his story, fust of all.”

“Yes. trot him out,” chuckled Saman-thy. “Trot him right out. I’m jest achin'to see ye do it.”

Bill Green, as master of ceremonies, un-locked the door of the mill; house.

“Come out o’ that,” he called out, ina tone that was meant to convey terrorto the occupant of the milk house.

Hearing it and watching the way inwhich Bill swelled up like a turkey gob-bler as he delivered his order, Samanthychuckled all over.

No reply came from the milk house andno person emerged therefrom.

“P’r’aps he’s asleep yet,” someone inthe crowd suggested. “Holler an’ wakehim up, Bill.”

Samauthy’s amusement increased.Bill put his head in at the door very

cautiously and looked around the room.“He ain’t here!” he cried iu dismay,

“He’s gin us the slip, fellers, as sure’s yelive!”

"I could ha’ told ye that a considerablespell ngo ef I’d felt like it,” chuckled Sa-mantby from her post of observation bythe pantry window. "He’s gone, sureenough, Bill Green, an’ I reckon ye won’tgit yet. clutches on him right away, uuth-er.”

(To be continued.)

Horae Lore.From ancient times the horse has

been an#object of special venerationby almost all peoples. It was so amongthe Greeks aud Tacitus says that theRomans in early times kept whitehorses in the sacred groves at the ex-pense of the state. It was thoughtthat the neighing of the horse was asign of victory in battle, and the war-rior whose steed neighed on the eve ofa conflict felt assured of success. Onthe other hand, if the horse failed toneigh it was looked on as au evilomen. In some parts of Germany partof a horse’s head hung above the doorsof stables and stalls was supposed tobring good fortune, and even amongourselves at the present time there isa very prevalent feeling tfiafthe horse-shoe brings good luck. In fact, thehorseshoe, more than any other object,is the emblem of a happy turn in af-fairs. In some parts of Europe it isbelieved that a horse's hoof under achild's pillow prevents convulsions auda horse’s teeth are supposed to keepaway the toothache. If a horse shiesat a house, that household is thoughtto be threatened with misfortune.

Parliamentary Bodies.The Parliament of Groat Britain is

the largest representative laxly In theworld. In the House of Commons thereare 070 members, while there are 571persous entitled to vote iu the Houseof Lords. France, in its Corps Legisla-te. has 3tX) Senators aud 584 Deputies.In the German Senate there are 58members, but in the Reichstag 397. InAustria proper there are 120 membersiu the Upper House and 353 in-theLower, while in Hungary then' are 200In the House of Magnates aud 453 inthe House of Representatives. Den-mark has GG in the Landstlilng and 114In the Folketiiing. Italy has 397 in theSenate and 50S In the Chamber of Dep-uties. ,lapau has 300 in the House ofPeers and 300 in the House of Repre-sentatives; the Netherlands 50 in theUpper and 100 in the Lower House.Sweden and Norway have 150 In theFirst Chamber and 230 in the Second;Switzerland. 44 In the State Counciland 147 in the National Council. Can-ada has 213 in the House of Commonsand 82 in the Senate.

Making It Easy for the Victim.Gallant Bandit (robbing a young

woman of her jewelry): I assure you,miss, a diamond ring on such a lovelyhand is absolutely superfluous.—Kan-sas City Star.

When there is more than the usualdelay in serving the pie, geests knowthat the forks had to be washed be

| brought in again.

ANOTHER LINE OF SAMPLES.

last of these pictured bats was on thisorder, its creaui lace being topped bywhitc plumes.

Many will try to buy now a hat thatwill serve until such time as an elaborategarden hat is needed. This season's elab-orated sailors will answer this purpose.Say one of manila straw with a fiberscarf run with Roman stripes. The scarfis knotted, rests on the edge of the brimin front and is then drawn back, thefolds extending from edge of brim totop of crown. Next to the ends crossat the back, each is made into a knotand the fringed ends haug against theiair. Cherries and currants, which usedto be a favorite trimming for fall hats,

it vwue for spring. Rough strawsare trimmed so heavily with greatbunches of scarlet cherries that all thewidth of the brim to the height of thecrown is filled solid with them and theirfoliage. Green currants with naturalleaves make a charmingly cool and pretty

combination on a white chip hat wiredinto odd shape. They have other uses,too. The arrist shows. In the third pic-ture, a shirred white chiffon hat sprin-

innocuous desuetude, aud there Isgrave danger that many Atlautans willforget how it Is played, says a residentof the Georgia capital. The cause ofthis decline in the national game liesin the penalty attached—there is a fineof $87.97 for the first offense, and forthe second no human power can keepthe offender from the chain gang. Soit can be readily understood why thefascination of draw does not temptgentlemen of sporting proclivities inAtlanta. The ignominy of being hauledup in court is too great a price to payfor even such a luxury as poker.

Pickle* for Missions.An Aberdeen jam and pickle manu-

facturer has bequeathed $2,500,000 forforeign missions, chiefly in Morwrta,Italy and China.

The Tartars have a quaint custom oftaking a guest by the ear when invit-ing him to eat or drink with them.

HATS OF THE SEASON.

WHAT THE FASHIONABLE MIL-LINERS ARE SHOWING.

Headgear for Women Was Never Pret-tier than This Spring—Reign of theLight, Bright and Fresh Cherriesand Currants as Trimming.

Now York HCHVHlatt:’

thus showing theirpreferences. There are so many prettyand stylish hats that the chooser is con-fused. Does she admire aud want aturban? Of course she does, but onlyuntil she has a look at trimmed sailors.Then under a sailor she wishes to puther head. A peek at the pokes changesher mind again, and the woman who

kled liberally with green currants andleaves.

Tulle and fiber hat forms cost very lit-tle and bring the possibility of a springhat within the reach of any woman whohas deft fingers and taste. A hat ofstring colored horse hair woven in lacedesign is shaped boat-fashion, aud needsonly a great bunch of black velvet in the"bow” of the boat, with possibly a cor-responding bunch against the hair at the

j back, to be effective and up to date. Lacestraw turbans come ready to trim withbig bows of shirred chiffon, or of ribhonstraw. The hows can be bought ready-made, too. The upper left hand hat ofthe first group was a boat-shaped graylace straw, with a gray chiffon scarf audgray and white wings for trimming. Op-posite is a fiber hat. biscuit color, trim-med with yellow primroses. ■ foliage andblack velvet knots. Hats of similar ma-terials are to be ha ‘ in all degrees ofelaboration.

Tulle is plentiful in the spring show-ing, but hats into which it enters largelyhave greater individuality than did win-ter tulle hats. Take the upper right handhat of the second group: it was twistedpink tulle dominated so far as appear-ances went by two huge wings of goldspangled black gauze. At the back werepink roses. Flowers play their part, asusual, though they are uot so generallyemployed as is customary at this season.On the central hat of the first large pic-ture, a large white satin straw, wereenough of pink roses to cover its brim.

FIVE OF THE MILLINER’S BEST AND NEWEST.

changes her mind twice rarely can makeit up to her satisfaction.

Hats were never prettier. They areall light on the head; the days of heavyhats are all gone by. They are all bright,fresh and springlike. Delicate and bril-liant colors prevail. The shapes are be-coming. All are large enough. Headsizes are generous, and trimming buildsa hat well from the face. White leads,it did all winter, but it takes on newcharm in the summer hat. Black is aclose second. Then comes the combina-tion of the two, then solid gray, solidstring color and a solid butter shade.These solid color hats are often relievedby a buucli of black velvet. Fashionablewomen may be getting over their ragefor spangles ou gowns, but they havegone to the head. Tinsel weaves aremuch employed. Gold or silver net isfolded gracefully to make a whole hat,or it appears about the brim or as thescarfing of a hat. It remains to bo seenhow they will stand the changeable at-mosphere, and they are a little trying tothe skin, but are very dressy for theaterwear. Besides the initial is a blackstraw covered with silver uot, and trim-med with white chiffon rosettes and black,and white plumes. At the lower lefthand corner of the second illustration isanother example of this fancy, a toqueof spangled gold net, with huge bow ofturquoise satin ribbon as trimming.

Among the new notions are hats inwhich heavy lace is spread over a wireframe, scarfing of tulle and bunches offlowers completing the combination. Anexquisite affair consisted of heavy ma-ereme lace laid over pink tulle mountedon a wire frame. A scarf of pink chif-fon with fringed ends was draped aroundthe crown aud knotted heavily at thesides. Three little ostrich plumes stoodstraight up in the knot. The hat wasslightly in bonnet shape, and against thehair in front were several little hardkuota of tiny rosebuds with leaves. The

but there was, besides, so much of tulleiu folds and knots that the roses hardlyhad things all their own way. Nastur-tiums were the bloom on the hat shownlower and to the right of the one just de-scribed, and here string colored straw audchiffon to match kept the bloom from be-ing the entire story. That is the casewith practically all the flower trimmedhats, the blossoms have as accompani-ment at least a plenty of foliage, aud usu-ally much other trimming. Oddities arenot a few, and some very singular hatsput forward as picture types are not with-out value to anyone who can afford achange of new headgear. Only, oue wassketched for these pictures. It appearsbelow at the left in the second group, andwas green fancy straw trimmed withhuge rosettes of green and red chiffonand bunches of bright colored leaves.Hats of this general sort are all rightin their place, but that place is not theoutfit of a woman who can swing but onehat at a time.

While the hat for spring street use islikely to lx* rather serviceable and un-elaborate, the daintiest sorts are chosenfor reception and luncheon wear. Theselints aud bonnets are often laid away forlater summer use. Adorable little pokesof taffeta silk are drawn down about theface by scarfs of lace, while filmy bunchesof laee and a saucy up-standiug rose arethe remaining trimming. These are shownalso of velvet, the scoop lined with tuckedchiffon or tulle. Other pokes show acrown of draped taffeta and a poke taintof lace lightly held by silver or goldwire. Rows of white chiffon rosettes orbunches of flowers rest against the- hairunder the brim.

Copyright. 1900.

Where Poker 1* I'mler the Ban.The great American game of draw

poker is so much under the ban in At-lanta that it has almost dropped into

NEWS OF WISCONSIN.A WEEK S RECORD OF STATE

HAPPENINGS.

Tricked Into Buying a Kami BraveKenosha Boy Gels a .Medal Instruc-tions for Assessors Copper Found inKickapoo Valley.

.lohu M. Roberts of Racine find- thathe has bought a farm that he doesn'twant, ‘paying for it more Ilian he deemsit worth, as a result of a wrangle throeyears ago. Two strangers recently ap-I>earel at his farm and stated that theydesired a farm in that county. His place,155 acres, suited and they offered himSIOO an acre for it. They asked if theycould purchase the farm adjoining, whichconsisted of eighty acres, at SOO an acre.To hind the bargain they gave him SSOand lie went into the city and paid s4.sOt>for the other place. The strangers wereto call ou him within three days, huthave not appeared. The eighty acreswhich he purchased were at one timeowned by him and were given to his son.who three years ago received a proposetion from certain Itacine people offeringto trade a farm in Kenosha County forthe eighty acres in Racine. This young

Roberts agreed to do. Afterward thepersons who made the proposition wantedto back down, but Roberts would nothear of it. Since that time the farm ofeighty acres has been in the hands ofthese Racine parties.

Kenosha Honors a Brave Boy,The Kenosha board of education has

given Louis Kerry, a high school boy, ihandsome gold medal and pin. On oneside of the medal is the inscription “Pre-sented to I.ouis Kerry by the board ofeducation of Kenosha,” on the other side,"For lira very at the Central Buildingtire, March Id. 1000.” On the dete nam-ed the high school gave an entertainmentin the auditorium of the Central schoolbuilding. While the hall was crowded alamp was upset, causing the oil to runbetween the cracks of the floor of tin-stage. A lire started under the stage,which was then crowded with children.With great presence of mind young Kerryrushed from the rear of the hall am! atthe risk of his life crawled under tin-stage through a narrow passage andsmothered the fire with bis clothes. Mewas considerably burned.

Advice to AHieseor*.The Wisconsin State tax eommi--i<>n

have issued a little book of instructionsto assessors and boards of review, ritebook is not a reprint of the assessmentlaw’s and quotes but few of them, it being

assumed by the cnmtni.--.sion that tin- a-sessors read the statutes bearing upontheir duties. It is in the nature of adi --eand suggestion as to the best method ofcomplying with the laws and at the sametime calls attention to these features ofthe laws which have not been uniformlyobserved by assessors in the past.-

,'Keep the Wedding a Secret.

If has become known that Col. B. 1•Bryant of La Crosse, late Grand' Armyof the Republic department commanderand a well-known politician, was marriedlast October to Mrs. Adeline GrankePierce, whose late husband, with whomshe never lived publicly, willed her allhis property. After a sensational trialtin- will was broken and Pierce's son re-ceived what remained of the estate.Neither of the parties will say why theMarriage has been kept secret. Gen.Bryant was attorney for Pierce in thesuit iu which Mrs. Pierce was defendant.

Vat ualte Copper Mine Discovered.Copper ore has Wen discovered in pay

Lug quantities in the hills in the lvicka-soo valley, twenty-five miles south ofSparta. Ore taken from a rude minewhen assayed yielded $142 per ton, TOper cent of which was copper and thebalance gold and -liver. Some m*. . rt- .a-r ore has been taken out and expertsclaim there is no doubt that there are-very rich veins ia the hills. The countryin that vicinity will be thoroughly pros-pected by expert miners.

Burned While a Play Was l>n.While the Willard Dramatic Company

was giving an entertainment for the ben-efit of the Modern Woodmen of AmherstJunction a lamp was upturned on thestage and the whole building was mflames iu a few moments. Some of theaudience barely got out without injury,many of them getting their hair singedthe call was so close. Ten buildings wereburned anil the loss is about SIO,UOO.

Brief State Happenings.

Kansas men will start a broom factoryat Marinette.

Rural mail routes will lie establishedin llrowu County.

It is denied at Appleton that tin- priceof paper is gradually dropping.

T4ic Common Council of Racine is con-sidering paying the Mayor S3OO a yearand aldermen $250.

O. W. Smith, deputy revenue collectorat Racine, has resigned his position andwill remove to Seattle, Wash.

The body of Ilill Staugo pf Chicagowas taken from Twin lakes the otherday. Stangc, who was an ice contractor,reached Twin Lakes on the evening ofDec. 215, last year, and immediately dis-appeared. At the time it was said thathe had a small amount of money on hisperson. Nothing was found iu the pock-ets. There is a suspicion of foul play.

A. C. Merryman and Henry Swart.Marinette lumbermen, recently madelarge purchases of redwood timber in Galifornia. Mr. Merryman bought 3,000acres having an estimate growth of •><>.-

000,000 feet of redwood and pine. Tin-consideration was about $75,000 HenrySwart purchased 040 acres of redwood,which will cut about 1.000,000 feet. Thetimber is located on Humboldt bay, nearEureka. The purchases were made as aninvestment and it will Ik- many years lie-fore the timber is cut.

August Stettbcrg was fined SSO am!costs at Racine for assaulting RobertDanhauser.

Twenty-two heml of cattle and fourhorses were killed in the tire that de-stroyed th>* barns and rcsidlemv of Au-gust Slender at l’icketts.

At Seymour a lamp in the store ofM. Rice exploded, setriug fire to the stock.The loss amounted to 5*1,500, with S2,UUHinsurance.

Robert Mcf.ery. Wesley Wilbur andAnson Wooster of I’alniyra have inventeda device to take the place of the oldstanchion stalls for cattle.

At Seymour Robert Klein, aged 22years, committed suicide by taking thecap front a twelve-gauge shell and touching off the powder in the shell with amatch.

The members of the Democratic Statecentra! committee met in Milwaukee amidecided to hold the State -on vent ion inthat city on June 12. Resemtions werepassed indorsing W. J. Bryan.

The 5-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs.Charles Sherman of Xeenah was put ina critical condition by a dose of carbolieacid administered to him by mistake. Thechild was ill with scarlet fever, and thenurse, thinking that she had the rightmedicine, gave him carbolic acid.

Gov. Scofield has appointed John K.Berryman State law librarian, to succeedA. L. Sanborn as a member of the com-mission for the promotion of uniformityof legislation in the United States. 151-ward W. Frost was reappointed for threeyears to succeed hioiseif on the same com-mission.

At Esu Claire the jury in the will con-test of Ella Wilson against ElizabethWilson, executrix, after being out thirteen hours, decided that the deceasedwas of sound mind when he made thewill and the will is valid. Tie- widowgets the estate of $*D*K), and the daugh-ter gets nothing. Mr. Wilson cut Ellaoff with a cent,

Peter Lessard, an. old resident ofWashburn, was instantly killed by a logrolling over him.

At La ('rosso, lire Jest roved TheodoreMader and Lawrence .Stel s proper-ty. The loss is $2,000.

Kiltie Sueaney. who is employed at theYoung House in Brndhead.'attempted sui-cide by taking ammonia.

capitalists have applied to theR aelite Council for a franchise for a pub-lic heating plant to cost $500,000.

R. S Sargent of Waupun !<>-t bis righthand above the wrist by the accidentaldischarge of his gun while hunting.

( hrist .lessen of Oshkosh was robbedby two men at Necuah. He had $lO inhis pocket which the assailants secured.

A plan has been put oii foot by teach-ers iu the Superior normal school formaking a summer resort for teachers atSpooner Lake.

Business men in the Wisconsin rivervalley are going to expend $5,000,000 indeveloping the water power in the Wis-consin river valley.

Albert Moeeo. a knot-sawyer, cut offthe four fingers on the right hand at theBird A Wells Lumber Company’s shingle mill at Wausatikee.

Albert Wenker. a young man livingeight miles west of lrontou, was horriblymangled while at work in a sawmill. Hisrecovery is very doubtful.

George Reek of Rice Lake, who cameto Ruraboo to join Ringling's circus,while jumping off a train fell under thewheels, and one leg was cut off.

At Watertown the 10-year-old son of A.A. Hardy had both arms amputated, theresult of jumjiug from a moving freighttrain and tailing under the wheels.

Mr. and Mrs. Adrian SeUocnmacher,elopers from Amsterdam, Holland, arewith relatives near Appleton. The brideis an heiress and her husband was thefamily coachman.

A man named Finnegan, who wenr toAshland from Sheboygan to work ondock improvements made by the North-western Railway, was accidentally killed.The boom of a derrick fell and crushedhim.

At La Crosse Pat Brogan pleaded guil-ty tieforc Judge Brindley to a charge offat ceny. He was sentenced to- one yearand a half at Waupun, He has justcompleted a jail sentence for a similaroffense.

Nicholas Bierstick-r <-t l.dth- Chute,employed at the paper mill at Kimberley,fell from a staging and, striking hi* headton a retlioul floor, stiff,-

jibe b’pjn. from o he h lie; isojrf-of recovery.

Charles Nefsop, j; •• •- ic-d to Chief of Police S- . !n-r touthe had committed numerous burglaries re-cently in Racine. He >.ihJ alwi that, heescaped from the reform ,< M a; \\'*a-ke-sha eight yearn ago.

Mrs. Elizabeth Rotsfo-d, while ,sremoved in a back front ltse-c.-e to -.tiehome of a friend, a few mil— from there,died. Mrs. Rots ford wa- <ls years „tage and had Is-en ill for some timr. $ <■“was the widow of Janie. Bot.fo-4, for-merly a well-known uev. -paper mas ofRaeine.

C. N. Hawley, o-e of .

ties- men of La Cr<—-e • . *: ,sr • •

cape from death. He had kind;*! *iefire in the fiir: ;x*> a’ h •

kerosene, thinking that *h<- nr- was en-tirely out. An explosion followed and ii-was badly burned about the face andneek and bauds.

Lena Hougen. a dom*--;>. v.n- adjudg-ed insane at La Gross,-. > i- pursuedby a hallucination that friend haswilled to her several pieces of valuableproperty about town. She went to sev-eral persons and demanded that the prop-erty be turned over to her. or she be paidits value in money.

Justice Kleeber of La Crosse placesi the value of a human nose at SIOO. Suchi was the verdict rendered by him in thedamage case of Gollintek vs. Wolfe inwhich rhe plaintiff sued for S2OO. a* dam-age resulting from Wolf-'- breaking hisnose. Wolfe claimed j-ustitv atton as Go-liniek laughed at Mrs. Wolfe every timehe -.l\V-h*T.

George Bobeo of Trempealeau shot atsupposed horse thieves several g.:ts as-’who made their escape to th-- Minnesotaside of the river. Waving traces of blood.

; Word was later received of the deathfrom a gunshot wound of a young manresiding across the river, and the two in-cident-- give rise to the theory that Bohenseverely wounded his man.

Ole Haugen, an employe ■•- the North-western Lumber Company in Stanley, re-ceived injuries iu the lumber yard whichwill undoubtedly prove fatal. He wasnear a large nile of lumber when it sud-denly collapsed. Haugen was struck tothe ground and when extricated be was iuan unconscious condition. Roth legs arecrushed at •the ankle and physicians thinkinternal injuries will prove fatal.

Mrs. W. .T. Cameron of La Crosse, whowas examined as to her sanity some daysago upon the application of her father.Ole Saudbo, will bring suit against himfor damages to her reputation and socialand general position in lip- to the amountof sl,dW). She will also bring suit torecover the value of the chickens whichshe alleges were stolen and which it isclaimed were taken at the instigation ofher husband. The value of these sheplaces at S3O. and she says she intends toget if. She was charged with threaten-ing to .shoot her parents when examinedas to her sanity.

Joseph Shimon of MenthalviUe wasbrought t' Manitowoc iu a terribly man-gled condition. He was operated upon,hut to bo avail, as death soon came, liedied iu terrible agony. While working

in the* sawmill of Joseph Schultz. Shimonwas struck by a board, lie fell on thesaw and both of his arms were cut offbelow the elbow and one of his legs was

half cut off. The nearest physician waseighteen miles away. The sufferer wasplaced in a wagon and taken to Mani-towoc. lie was nearly dead with paintnd the loss of blood when In* arrived.Shimon was 55 years old and unmarried.

James Mikkelson was terribly scaldedwhile at work iu tin* Xeenuh Paper Com-pany mill. He was working a lever on

a rotary when one of the pipes burstedand the iMiiling sediment covered his faceand body.

Fire at West Superior destroyed thefurnace room, blacksmith shop and sta-bles of the Superior Shiphuiiding Com-pany. T|ie total loss is about f.*O,UHU,nearly all covered by insurance. Workat the yards will bo impelled somewhatby the lot" of some machinery. Theburned portions are to be replaced imme-diately.

A high wind at West Superior hasblown down a three story frame buiUllingwhich was being erected for hotel pur-poses in the Allouez bay district. It bap-

lened that no men were at work in thebuilding at the time and there were nocasualties. The loss will be about lljW).

William Anderson of Chippewa Fallswas seriously injured by being stepped on

by a horse. ll** was driving from EauClaire with anew team of horses tiedbehind the buggy. At a crossroad theteam bitched behind started on one of

j the crossroads and upset the boggy. An-derson was thrown under the horses' feetand the sharp calks of a shoe tore thescalp, inflicting a dangerous wound.

W. Bosus tow of Milwaukee, a collectorfor an agency of that place, was arrest-ed at Ocouomowoc and he pleaded guiltyto the charge of assault and batiery uponthe person of Clarence W. Nichols. Hewas fined $lO and coats, which he paid.

The much-mooted gas question, whichhas occupied the attention of the Mani-towoc Common Council and the peoplefor an entire year, finally came to a sud-det: and rather unexpected tenni!;ationwhen the Council in less titan half anhour by a vote of 15 to (I disposed of thewhole matter by granting a 25-year non-exclusive franchise to John Nagle, HenryKit*. M. H. Dempsey, Julius Liudstedtanti Eaiii Teitgen, ai! of that city.

Business Situation.

Chicago Correspondence:The action of the stock markets during

the week has not been altogether satis-factory to the bull element in the street.In a few instances fairly good advances,due to special conditions, have been seen,but the market as a whole has displayedQuite p. reactionary tendency. There ha*been heavy selling, both by professionalbear operators for a further decline andby holders of long stocks with n view totaking profits. General conditionsthroughout have been apparently iu favorof the bulls, but' these have boon to a con-siderable extent offset by the steady flowof stock which has been coming fromsome of the big cliques operating in themarket. The tendency of the money-markets is, apparently, toward still great-er ease.

Business in the grain and provisionmarkets was ou a liberal scale with fre-quent changes in the tendency of pricesthroughout the week. As is usual at th:s-season of the year the prospect for thenew crops has become a matter of muchconcern to the speculators and interestwas quickened in that direction by theissue of the Government report on thecondition of the winter wheat plant.Showing, as it did, a decline since lastreported, in December, of 15 points, itwas the cause of an advance in the priceof futures that raised in the hearts of thebulls illusory hopes of its proving the be-ginning of better things for their inter-ests.

It looked as if knowledge of the Gov-ernment figures had been imparted to-some persons in advance of tlieir publicannouncement, and those favored indi-viduals having bought wheat ou theirearly information were in position to sellat a profit wheu the knowledge of the lossin coiubtion became geucr.-; . and buyingwas thereby stimulated. The decline thatfollowed was due to the present, largestocks in commercial hands, and a beliefthat notwithstanding the less in condi-tion the next crop will exceed the one pre-e sling by I(K,(MK),(MH> bushels, owing ttsthe greatly increased Acreage.

While wheat after all its vagariesthroughout the week closed Thursday af-ternoon at about tile panic prie;. it did theprevious Saturday, corn, compared with aweek ago, was 1 cent a bushel lower. Itis losing some of the strong local supportit pr<-\ -tu-ly enjoyed, ami an impression■ - - 1 the price is already higlienough to efc..< k consumption to a eon-•ob-rab,* extent, by inviting freer use of

BHiTOM's TR V T J KILL KRUGER.

“led I- rt* IVhtrt '*nl> u Moment He—Sort: •tom Paul Had Stood.

A deut writing from the BoerImuct sri**-* a graphic account of i’rwi-d'-J3t Kroger'* visit to the fighting line at

Mer tS*r. He says that when the*pn-*':‘ieui merit to the army in order to re-store roarage to tin Boers. Spie- inform-ed the British of the president’* arrival.lin mediatrix afterward the Bril isii sentip an obM>nratkiß balloon that was not

Song it, finding out the president’s where--ahomts tm the field.

V --n I*r*-s)di >t Kruger’s po.-ition hadk-*.- a*-‘-rTallied as carefully as |H>ssilde

R : >r\ -hi-lied the spot andtip an itx-essant fire all round the

supposed quarters of the Boer leader. Ul-timately the British fire became so dan-s' ■• *!>- accurate that Gen. Dewet be-# gbr Pn—ident Kruger to retire, where-upon the president had four horses hitch-ed fo his carriage and drove away with,all baste. Five seconds after he had lefta shell exploded on the very spot when*th<- president had iicen seated iu his car-re g.-. The sln-II smashed the carriage inwhich Col. Goitrko. the Russian militaryattache, was seated.

--

The Illinois Central has inaugurated

through service .from Chicago into HotSprings.

The Mexican International has aboutcompleted its extension from Durango toliuanaeevi.

Through freight rates east and west be-tween Chicago and tin Pacific coast havelieen advanced.

Formal announcement, is made of theopening of the new Santa Fit line intoSan Francisco.

The trouble between the Eastern linesaver summer excursions to Niagara Fallsand the sencoast has been settled.

The interest of the traveling public iutin* Paris exposition appears to In* on thewane, no out* seems to know for whatreason.

The Burlington lias nearly completed a; new branch from Alliance. Neb., lo th>main Hue in Colorado at an expense of$2,500,000.

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. PaulRailway will soon let contract* tor ticextension of its new branch line fromFox Lake, 111., to Janesville. Wis.

Yellowstone park is tin* objective pointof tin* new Burlington extension. Th*proposed lino will run from Tolnco, Mont.,to the eastern side of the gigantic park.

East-bound shipments of grain, flourand provision- from Chicago ln-t •*•,>;.

amounted to 200,1*17 tons, against 204,-()01( tons the preceding week and Ho.ii.>,'tons the corresponding week of last year.

Every railroad entering Chicago com-plains of a shortage of freight cars. Tin*traffic on all the tine- so far this yearhas boeu phenomenal. The demand forcars comes from every section of thecountry.

The promoters of the Cincinnati, Rich-mond and Muneto Kail rani have obtain-ed guarantees of praettestily all the sub-sidies they have asked in tin* territorythrough which the line is to lie built. Theroad will lie the shortest route from Cin-cinnati to Chicago.

The twenty-third annual report of theBurlington, Cedar Rapids and NorthernRailroad for the year ended Dec. 51 lasthas just been issued. The earnings ofthe railroad last .rear were the largestever• realized, tin* total being $1,1*20,-032.1)5.

The gross- earnings of the ChicagoGreat Western Railway, “Maple Leafroute,” for the r.furth week of March,1!MM), show an increase bf $1'.).5)i0,31 overthe corresponding week of lt year, making a total increase of $51,412.1!) for th<*month of March.

During the present mouth the ChicagoNorthwestern nad will open six new

r*wns in western Minnesota and one inNorth Dakota. This is only a small por-tiou of the extensive colonizing buaineanthe road will do this year, for especialeffort is to lie mode to till up certain por-tion* of western lowa, northern Wiscon-sin and the southern portion of the north-ern peninsula of Michigan.

Reports made ao far indicate that ra‘l-- earning* generally during the pastthree months were larger than ever before in a period of three mouth*. Thelargest increase* in earnings are report-ed by the Western. Central Western andSouthern railroads. The total earning*of 108 railway systems from Jan. 1 toMarch 31 were $153*843,1)118. a gain ofI<*.2 per cent in 1899 over IlsOH and mark-ing progressive Increases for a numberof years past.

It is estimated tha* of the 555,i**',**>feet < ut of logs iu the Maine forests th**present season. 225.tM O.lgiO feet will la-tent to the pulp mill* instead of the ■BlilU.