Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-17

oio 70 the natives. and also tree which
yields kind Of cotton.
A pitcher plant is found, with receptables
that hold as much as quart of water.
mere is very curious plant. with long
pendant feelers that hang near the ground
ana nave remarkable prehenSfle properties,
taking the strongest hold on anything that
happens to touch them. 1t is with the
greatest difficulty that passerby can ex-
tricate himself from one of these many
fingered hanging hands.
Trees have from time to time played a
part In history. 1T is recorded that Absa-
lom was hung by the hair in an oak tree.
we have the kings oak in England, our
charter oak. the historic elm at Cambridge
and many others. Sara M. Gardner, De
Ruyter. N Y. says:
On a hill about one mile east Of the vii
lage of De Ruyter Is freak of nature
known as the Twin Beeches"
Two fine tall beech trees stand opposite
each other and several feet apart. At
ldentically the same distance from the
ground. about ten feet, there extends from
each tree q vigorous horizontal branch.
Midway between the two trees the branches
unite into one. which reaches downward.
nearly touching the ground. The age OF
the trees Is not definitely known, but they
must be very old. judging by names and
dates carved on the bark by the visitors
to this curious growth
Naturalists In Germany are much In
terested In wonderf full old tree which has
been discovered near Hamburg. 1t is an
Of its great bulk. but also for the fact
that at the base of the trunk 1t Is entirely
hollow. The trunk. indeed, Is not more
than eight or nine feet high, but 1t Is more
than twenty feet in circumference. Some
idea OF the size of its interior may be
gathered from the fact that four persons
recently found ample room In it.
In winter the old oak looks very bare and
gaunt, but, according to peasants in the
neighborhood. who have known it for many
,fc
and foliage every spring, so that. ancient
and decayed though its trunk may be. 1t
Is nevertheless crowned and surrounded
with masses of green leaves Just as it was
IN the days OF Its youth: The people Of
Hamburg are very proud Of this natural
curiosity. and 1t Is safe to say that many
tourists Will have look at It the coming
summer.
Do you know that If vegetation were all
10 Ole On the earth man could not live on
1t. neither man nor beast Think what
a terrible thing 1t Is when the crops fail,
the FOOD crops are ruined. We read &C
counts Of this away back in the Bible DAYS.
ana only those who wisely laid up sup
plies during years Of plenty could live
during the awful famine which followed.
NOW that there are lines Of communica ton
throughout the entire world. 1t would be
easier TO Keep famine-stricken people,
~ Ihere are persons called vegetarians, who
live entirely without animal food. and q
great trouble encountered in trying to help
the people during the awful famine in In
cia few years ago was that the sufferers
refused to eat beef or pork, having lived
on rice and other cereals and vegetables.
Many an English magistrate and English
soio1er has owed hts life to quinine. In
Bengal 1t IS familiar to the natives an
quinyan. To Englishmen on the eastern
frontier and to sportsmen and explorers
quinine Is as essential part Of their eoufp-
ment as a waterproof coverlet or a single
pole tent Whether quinine will ever he
manufactured on such an extensive scala
as to take the place Of opium in China
may fairly be doubted. But the very last
report from India shows that the planta-
uons OF the government are thriving; that
large distribution of plants to the n,,hI;c
Is still going on; that the crop raised in
the Neilgherrtes alone was ia. eco pounds
some OF which was exported 70 Enoia "a