them injurious to the public good, because they prevented competition and drove the smaller men out of business.

The Tobacco Trust trial has resulted in a disagreement of the jury.

A wonderful diving-bell is being tried in the Great Lakes.

We described the method of using diving-bells in a previous number, but this new invention is built on an entirely different plan, and can accomplish results never before dreamed of.

The kind formerly made could not withstand the pressure of the water at any very great depth. No machine had been invented capable of bearing this strain until the new Smith bell was tried.

This bell has worked successfully in two hundred feet of water, and it is claimed can withstand the pressure at a much greater depth.

The most remarkable thing about the bell is that it can move about under the water, instead of merely being let down to remain in one place like an ordinary diving-bell.

Attached to its cage are four long arms, which can be moved about at will by the persons in the bell.

With the aid of these arms the huge machine can move from place to place like a great spider.

The arms can also be drawn together like pincers, and made to grip objects and carry them up to the surface.

The interior of the bell is lighted by electricity. Outside it carries a large headlight, which enables those in the bell to see around them for a distance of a hundred feet.

Experiments have been made in the Great Lakes with this bell, and its first practical work has been to locate the exact position of the steamer Pewabic, which was wrecked in Lake Michigan thirty-two years ago.

Many attempts have been made to find this steamer because she was laden with a cargo of copper ingots, and had besides a large sum of money on board, the two together amounting to about $140,000.

All attempts had, however, been unsuccessful until the Smith bell was used. The steamer was found lying in one hundred and sixty feet of water.

To prove the truth of the find, portions of the wreck were brought to the surface.

The success in Lake Michigan has determined the owner of the diving-bell to try and raise the North German Lloyd steamer Elbe, which was wrecked off the coast of England in 1895.

The owners of the Elbe have already spent about fifty thousand dollars in efforts to recover their vessel.

The position of the ship was located by divers, who, at a depth of one hundred and seventy-one feet, found the upper works of the steamer. These men, however, declare that it is utterly impossible to raise the ship.

The Elbe had a valuable cargo and a large amount of gold on board. The owners of the diving-bell are determined to make the effort to raise her and secure for themselves the immense reward offered.

They intend to remove the cargo first and then raise the hull, if it is possible to do so.

They are very hopeful of success, and say that the task does not appear to them any more difficult than the raising of the cargo of the Pewabic which latter task they are sure of accomplishing.

On the 24th of June there was a celebration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the mainland of America.

A tablet was placed in the Parliament building in honor of John Cabot, who four hundred years ago sailed from Bristol, England, and finally reached the shores of Newfoundland.

An endeavor was made to make the celebration a general one throughout Canada and the United States, but this was found to be impracticable. Cabot's voyage could not be made of the same importance as that of Columbus.

The foundation-stone of a monument to Cabot was laid in his native town of Bristol on the same day that the celebration took place in Halifax.

Lieutenant Peary has started on another Polar expedition, and feels hopeful that this time he will be able to reach the Pole.

His plans for his trip are much the same as those of Dr. Nansen; that is to say, he will establish little colonies of Eskimos at certain distances along his route, leaving supplies with each colony, which he can fall back on in case of need.

He intends to keep up a constant communication with these settlements by means of dogs and sledges, so that he will not be entirely cut off from the world as previous explorers have been.

Lieutenant Peary has obtained five years' leave of absence from the Navy Department. He will therefore have plenty of time for his experiment. He says that if he fails the first time he will keep on trying until he succeeds in reaching the Pole.

There is a story that one of the men who expect to go north with Lieutenant Peary has a scheme for reaching the Pole on a bicycle.

This seems to be the strangest use thus far suggested for the bicycle.

Mr. Lee, who is the inventor of this novel plan, was with Lieutenant Peary on his last trip.

He says that there are miles and miles of smooth surface in the Polar regions that could easily be covered on a wheel.

According to his statement the water freezes smoothly, and the salt crystals that form on the top of the ice make the surface like a gravelled path, and there is consequently no danger that the wheel would slip.

He says that where the snow covers the ice it is pounded so hard by the winds that the crust is quite solid enough to bear the weight of a man.

In his opinion a wheelman would find no difficulty in travelling over it.

He thinks wheeling to the Pole is the simplest and most practical plan that has yet been proposed.

If he goes with Lieutenant Peary, Mr. Lee declares that he will take his wheel along with him and make the experiment. He thinks that a man could wheel to the Pole and back from the north of Greenland in one week.

The great difficulty in the way of his scheme is that it would not be safe for one man to make the trip alone.

He thinks that at least half a dozen ought to start together. In those far northern lands the fewer white men there are in a party the better its chance of success, because they require so much more food than the Eskimos, and it has to be of a more dainty character. Where provisions are so scarce, this is a serious consideration.

Mr. Lee says that the present pneumatic tires would not be of the slightest use, as rubber cracks and splits with the extreme cold. He has a plan for a new kind of tire that could withstand the climate.

We saw an account the other day of a new sport for the wheel, which is being indulged in by the cyclists of England and France.

It is called bicycle duelling, and consists of fighting mock duels on the wheel.

It is said by those who have witnessed it to be a very interesting sport.

The contestants are masked; use foils with buttons on the points, and fight according to the strict rules of fencing. The game is won by touching the adversary over the heart with the sheathed point of the foil.

In fencing, a man has to keep his eye closely on his adversary, and dares not allow his attention to be distracted for a moment. It is therefore absolutely necessary that those who engage in a bicycle duel should be expert riders.

The mimic battle begins by the two riders circling slowly round each other, waiting for an opportunity to dash in and strike a blow.

This circling continues for a few moments until one darts forward—the foils clash, and the aggressor passes swiftly on, only to turn and recommence the circling until he sees another opportunity.

They fight in this way, back and forth, round and round, until the final touch is given; then the cyclist who is touched is obliged to dismount, as a sign that he has been defeated.

This pastime is particularly popular in France, where fencing forms a part of every young