cific littoral of our
own continent, to the west coast of South America, and to Asia and
Australia. Undoubtedly the isthmian waterway will open new markets to
Galveston and other Texas ports, and will be a powerful influence in
enabling the Southwest to score further industrial and commercial
conquests.

He who allows his happiness to depend too much on reason,
who submits his pleasures to examination, and desires
enjoyments only of the most refined nature, too often ends
by not having any at all.--=Chamfort.=

ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

A Strange Scene in a French Law-Court--A German Botanist's
Hunt for a Mysterious Native Tribe--The Pranks of a Famous
Joker--The Mileage of the Blood--Tiny Republics of
Europe--Average Weights of Men and Women at Various
Ages--With Other Curious and Interesting Things Drawn from
Many Sources.

_Compiled and edited for_ THE SCRAP BOOK.

HOW MELODRAMA WAS ECLIPSED BY TRUTH.

COINCIDENCES IN PARIS COURT.

Official's Attempt to Convict His Unrecognized
Son Was Interrupted by Wife
He Deserted Many Years Before.

Coincidence--chance, play a tremendous part in human history. Fate is
another name for the same thing; so is luck. All these words are merely
our puny euphemisms for X, the unknown quantity.

Not a day passes but the story of a remarkable coincidence is brought to
public notice. A stranger incident never occurred, however, than this one,
the account of which we have unearthed in an old copy of the _Chronique de
Paris_.

A youth of about nineteen was brought to trial for having broken the
window of a baker's shop and stolen a two-pound loaf.

The Judge--"Why did you steal the loaf?"

Prisoner--"I was driven by hunger."

"Why did you not buy it?"

"Because I had no money."

"But you have a gold ring on your finger; why did you not sell it?"

"I am a foundling; when I was taken from the bank of a ditch, this ring
was suspended from my neck by a silken cord, and I kept it in the hope of
thereby discovering at least who were my parents; I cannot dispose of it."

The _procureur du roi_ (king's attorney) made a violent speech against the
prisoner, who was found guilty, and sentenced to imprisonment for five
years. Immediately upon this, a woman, more worn down by poverty than age,
came forward and made the following declaration:

"Gentlemen of the Jury: Twenty years ago a young woman was
married to a young