The Lantern from Topeka, Kansas • 3

-aTH LANTERN. 333 Saturday, December 31 1887, cember to March; and during that period there will be a great deal of moderate weather, in which a sealskin is very much too warm for comfort. At such times the possessor of this article of luxury has two courses open to him. He can continue to wear his beautiful cap, in which case his head will be in a perpetual sweat and he will weaken his scalp and perhaps lose his hair; or he can lay aside his sealskin and put on his hard hat, in which case he will have the finest case of influenza and catarrh on record. Any one who wears a sealskin cap should cut out this article and glue it in well on the inside of the crown.

ABOUT "SANTY CLA.US." James Whitcomb Riley in Christmas Judge. Jes' a little bit 0' feller I remember still Ust to almost cry fer Christmas, like a youngster will, Fourth o' July's nothing to it New Year's aint a smell Easter Sunday Circus-day jes' all dead in the shell Lordy, though at night, you know, to set around and hear The old folks work the story off about the sledge and deer, And "Santy" skooting 'round the roof, all wrapped in fur and fuzz-Long afore I knowed who "Santy Clause" wuz Ust to wait, and set up late a week er two ahead Couldn't hardly keep awake, ner wouldn't go to bed Kittle stewin' on the tire, and mother settin' near Darnin' socks, and rockm" in the skreeky rockin' cheer Pap gap', and wonder where it wuz the money went, And quai 1 with his frosted heels, and spill his liniment And we a-dreamin' sleigh-bells when the clock 'ud whirr and buzz-Long afore I knowed who "Santy Clans" wuz Size the fireplace, and rigger how "Old Santy" could Manage to come down the chimbly, like they said he would Wisht that I could hide and see him wondered what he'd say Ef he ketched a feller layin' fer him thataway But I bet on him, and liked him, same as if he had Turned to pat me on the back and say "Look a here, my lad, litre's my pack, jes' he'p yourse'f like all good boys does," Long afore I knowed who "Santy Claus" wuz Wisht that yarn wuz true about him as it appeared to be- Truth made out 0' lies like that-un's good enough for me. Wisht I still was so confidin' I could jes' go wild Over hangin' up my stockin' like the little child Climbin' in my lap to-night, and begging me to tell 'Bout them reindeers, and "Old Santy" that she loves so well; I'm half sorry for this little-girl-sweetheart of his Long afore She knows who "Santy Clans" is BICYCLING BY STEAM POWER. From the Philadelphia Bulletin. lESTERDAY afternoon a large crowd col- lected at Broad and Chestnut streets, attracted by the manoeuvers of a fast moving tandem.

Every one was curious to see the source of the power. The feet of the two riders were motionless, and yet the vehicle sped on with an even velocity. The whole secret of the motive power was concealed in a small boiler less than half the size of a mack-eral kit, the fuel being coal oil or kerosene, with sufficient burning surface to generate steam of a density capable of moving the tandem and to carry it along smoothly. However, treadles are provided, in the event of the exhaustion of the steam. The application of steam to the bicycle and its variations is an acceptable improvement to those who enjoy cycling, but protest against the exertion required to propel the machines.

at cross-purposes where an effort is required to be sympathetic and kindly and where hope and faith seem lost in a surrounding, impenetrable mist of destiny. A warm, bright day in the winter is like a period of truce in the midst of war. Its distinctive characteristic its prevailing influence on the human mind is peace. The noisy and boisterous element in man is at a low ebb on such a day. The balmy air has a soothing influence to the troubled ones, and a quieting influence on the happy hearted care-free ones.

But the best day of all is the one which ushers in the full free reign of winter. The days that come early in the season, with spasmodic efforts at snowing and freezing, do not count for much. But such a day as the wind-winged sprites of the north ushered in this morning, with mad dancing and whirling, brings out more of the genial side of human nature than any other day in the year. On a day like this there beats in every heart an irrepressible feeling of kinship to and sympathy for every creature. There is no standing in a crowded car with long faces and vacant looks and never a word between man and man.

There is no growling if one's toe is stepped on. There is no grumbling if sixty people are packed into a car that was made for twenty, and even if the cable stops just after one has paid his fare, and he has to walk through big drifts and against a biting wind, to his destination, he takes it all good-naturedly and makes the acquaintance of his fellow traveler, who is as good-natured as he, whom he never saw before, and whom he finds to be very entertaining on this crisp, cold morning. VESTIBULE TRAIN. Gath in the Enquirer. 4 THE vestibule train is intricately patent-ed; it has buffers above and below the upper timbers of the car, being built out and made to bear upon the opposite buffers, so that the whole car at the top and bottom holds itself by the next car, and movement sideways and downward is impossible.

Two accidents have happened since our vestibule trains were put on the railroads and in both cases these vestibule cars stood firm because the buffers kept them from mounting each other or crunching sidewise. Our patent, which we have only received within the past four weeks from Washington, where they were six months examining and testing, is not merely for an elastic material covering the platforms of cars it is a mechanical contrivance adding to the safety of a train and steadying the whole structure under high speed. On that first vestibule train which the New York Central sends out to-day were at least two cars we built for them at Pullman." REWARDED FOR NOT MARRYING. From the New York Press. fT REWARD for staying out of matrimony is triumphantly shown by Miss Nadage Doree, of Mrs.

Langtry's company. Miss Doree enacts the French maid in "As In a Looking Glass," and her brunette intensity is a contrast to the lily. She was singing in Milan. Signor Campo Franco, a cousin of King Umberto, made her acquaintance. Matrimony was incidentally discussed not as a contingency between these two, but as an early probability for the actress.

He prophesied that she would marry within a year, and promised to forfeit a jewelry reward if she proved him mistaken. "Whatever he based his prediction on," says she, "was misleading. I happened to know my own heart and purposes rather better than he did. I am still single, and here is the souvenir which Franco has sent across the ocean to me." Miss Doree showed a bracelet set with fine diamonds and a large number of turquoises. A CHICAGO BELLE.

Washington Correspondence New York World. PTNOTHER society rosebud will be Miss Leiter, the daughter of the millionare Chicago merchant, who is living in Blaine's big mansion. Miss Leiter is still in her teens, and, though her father tells me that he does' not think that girls should be brought before the public any more than can possibly be avoided, she will be in Washington society this winter and will be a leading figure. She is very pretty and quite accomplished, and her picture has just been painted by a noted artist, Cabanel. She has not yet returned to America, and she will probably bring back with her a wardrobe which will make some of her sister rosebuds break the tenth commandment.

She will have a magnificent house in which to entertain and all the money she wants for such purposes. DANGER IN WEARING SEALSKIN CAPS. From the Chicago Journal. 77 HE recent cold weather has, I see, caused a great number of people to don their seal skin caps and this has set me to ruminating on the subject of fur coverings for the head. There is no doubt that when he have zero weather and high winds combined it is absolutely necessary to have the head and ears well protected.

If they are left exposed the ears may be frozen, and even without that, the auditory nerves may be benumbed afid paralyzed, for every one has noticed how exposure to a cold blast will make his ears ring. On the other hand, if one has a fine sealskin cap he will probably wear it straight along from De- HUMAN NATURE AND THE WEATHER. Kansas City Star. rZOMEBODY who delights to learn the reasons for human action will find an entertaining field of investigation in looking for the philosophy of the influence of the weather on the dispositions of men. Is it a physical influence or a sympathetic and sentimental one which causes men to take the color of the sky and the air? On a day that is sunless, with dampness in the air, dull clouds in the sky and a settled gloom everywhere, with no promise for bright weather and no prophecy of a storm a day of stand-still gloom one will find more cross people and more disgust and disappointment than this world would well hold for many days in succession.

A day of ominous clouds, of black, threatening clouds, foretelling storm, does not have this effect. Such a day may make men anxious; it may cause them to be fearful of impending danger; but it does not make them feel as if they were in a God-forsaken world where everything is THE CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES. From the Chicago Tribune. fTN army officer, now in Chicago, asked the other day: "Do you know where the exact geographical center of the United States is? Never thought any thing about it probably. Well, it is marked by a grave that of Major Ogden, of the United States army, who died at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1855, during the cholera epidemic of that year.

Ogden's remains were afterwards removed to Fort Leav-worth and buried in the National cemetry there, but his monument still stands on a knoll a little to the northeast of the post Fort Riley and lifts its head to the clouds in the exact geographical center of the United States. This isn't a conceit; it's a fact, though probably of the hundreds of men now at the Fort not one in a hundred ever stops to think about it. Fort Riley is a few miles from Junction City, and is one of the most important cavalry posts in the country. 1.