The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-29

with a view of outrivaling the fine
roads of his neighbor, Mr.. Vanderbilt,
and to this end he has purchased one
or the largest steam rollers and road
builders in the country. Mr.. Bourne's
STOCK farm is one of the finest in
America.
We have had corners" in corn, in
Wheat and in cotton, and now we have
corner in canaries-not in this
country, but in England, which means
we will follow suit here in a few weeks.
King Edward is said to be responsible
for the advance in prices. AT a re-
cent sale his commissioner paid $500
for pair of crested birds, whose
beauty lay more in looks than in voice.
The purchase had the effect Of advanc-
ing values by every bird fancier in
London, and Swiss singers went up
from 25 to 40 per cent. The highest
price ever paid for a canary is said
to have been $1,000, which Patti gave
for a Swiss canary five years old. This
tiny creature was able to trill a dozen
bars of Home, Sweet Home" without
a break or false note. Four years was
spent in its education and it heard the
air whistled by the instructor at least
$4,000 times. The process OF teaching
is tedious and demands great patience,
and the story goes that the human
whistler blew Home, Sweet Home"
all over his soup every day from pure
force of habit
Raising alligators is the latest fad
of a woman in Florida. Heraliking for
these gruesome pets is stranger than
a Chicago woman's love for mice. These
at her with a fondness she alone APP
preeiates. She says they are inteHl-
gent, but are hard to understand. And
their peculiar habit of swapping at food
leaves little time for any petting. 'Oc-
casionally they lock at me with affec-
tion," she says, land then / try some
little familiarity, but making friends is
a slow process
She raises these pets for sale, and
often makes 100000 by disposing Of
them to ZOOS and to collectors of al
ligators. But this woman from Florida
is not the only one who has fond
ness for alligators, for the Duchess of
Bedford, who holds first place in
England's aristocracy, has a pool where
her pet aaigaterS have life of luxury
and ease. She has a hobby for wild
animals, and on her estate in Woburn
Abbey, in BedfordShire, she has a well
stocked zoo and is justly proud OF
lt4S dGId OI kS1diS55dIOOS. I1GT- llIc 10
spent out of doors, and her athletic
habits have preserved to her a youth
fulness that few women can boast of.
She can shoot with an accuracy of aim
that is remarkable, and her skill in
fishing is known to all spertsnlen. She
abllors society, and her one desire is
to keep free of the artificial life of
drawing rooms. She and the duke have
a spacious town house in Belgrave
square, London, but they live most Of
the year either at Woburn Abbey or in
Scotland.
Not one man in a hundred, or in a
thousand, for that matter, would guess
why SO many women rush toward one
particular car on every Il" train on
the Sixth avenue road. They crowd
in through one platform when there is
lots of room at the other gates. $50
you don't know why?" said the OBJ
servant guard. well, it's fun to watch
q dozen women stand at the south
end of a platform and glue their eyes
on the incoming cars until they see
the one they want and rush for it.
The reason? Well, on every train we
have one ear with looking glasses at
the side seats. Forty per cent Of the
women want that car SO that they
can take look at themselves and per-
haps fix the pitch Of their hats on going
out. The women in the rear will go
out the front door, and those in the
front invariably go out by the rear en-
trance. They Invariably look in the
glass;