Connecticut western news., 1895-08-22
CANAAN CONN, THURSDAY,

laughing in my turn, 'although fancy, unless your sisters appearance differs in marked degree from your own, that we should scarcely be able to distin- guish the difference. You must admit yourself that one must possess good eye sight to tell man from a woman 240, 900 miles away"
 "Oh, but" answered the old man, with touch of family pride, "she is a fine womanl Not bent and bowed with age like me. Indeed she is really 6.000, 900 years younger than am l. Then, of course, she dresses in-in"-
 ''The habiliments suitable to her sex" ventured to say.
 Precisely, and, like all the women here, is fond of dress. Why, when last visited her. some 25, 900 years ago, al- most her first question was, How do the women dress now on the earth?' Of course there wasn't much to tell her be- cause-well, the women of that day didn't trouble themselves much about dress, but am thinking of paying her another visit soon, and then I shall have a different budget of news for her.. :"
 But tell me" interrupted, for was not much interested in tho old fell lows sister, something about the earth. You must have seen almost as great changes in the earth as in the moon.
 Almost, !" was the answer, "but not quite. My world is cold and dead Yours is still alive, as was mine once. but your turn will come some day, and then wo shall both go circling through space, cold, silent and ifeless. But that" he continued, twill be many millions of years from now, almost as many millions as it is since I first set eyes on your planet. Then, as I said be- fore, it was a mere mass of molten mat ter-a vast white hot ball whirling round the sun and carrying me with it. the first beginning of earthly life. At first the seas covered everything, and beautiful specimens of marine flora foated everywhere upon the surface of the water, while in it's translucent depths fishes of strange form and glo- rious coloring disported themselves. Then the dry land began to appear, and by slow degrees the great forests that shrouded as with a mantle all the earth not covered by the waters. For millions of years what you are pleased to call the lower animals were the only deni- zens of their somber depths, and even after man came it was hundreds of thousands of years before he even par tially dominated the face of nature.
 But was there not" I asked. Ian ice age?'
 "A what?" he exclaimed, with pug zled expression of countenance.
 ''An ice aga" repeated. "A period of time when the ice, which, as you are aware, is always present at the poles, spread northward and southward until it enveloped almost the entire globe. "
 "Oh, yes." responded mine host, with the air of a man trying to recall some long forgotten and altogether triv- ial incident ''I believe something of the kind did happen, and not moro than 100. 900 or 150, 900 years ago either. But it only lasted about 90, 900 years, and had quite forgotten all about it until you mentioned it.
 This concluded the interview, for although I would have liked to have pursued my inquiries further the old chap suddenly snatched up his bundle, bent his back and resumed his orthodox position, at the same time indicating by gesture that he was not inclined for any further conversation. "We are right over Greenwich observatory. he ex- plained in answer to my look of sur prise, land don't want the astrono- mers there to see me without my bun- dle and talking to stranger too. It ism t respectable. "-London Amusing Jour nal