The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-07

nearby restaurant. The custom Is growing and 1t Is reported at the nu- merous fashionable clubs that the amount of tea that is consumed is in- creasing very rapidly.
 It has long been the custom for thousands of New York children to swarm to the numerous parks through out the city the first warm days of May for their annual May Day parties. The frequent and heavy rains, however, during May caused many of the par ties to be postponed until this month. and nearly every pleasant afternoon several parties of merry children can be seen dancing around May poles in Central Park. Last week. because the lawns were so wet and soggy, 25,000 children were disappointed, the park authorities considered 1t unwise to al- low them to romp on the grass. The children are well vereed in May day history for they elect their kings and queens and go through the entire oer- smony according to the old custom. do a great deal Of folk dancing on the green. The folk dancing are taught In ali the public schools as part of the athletic training of the girls. Recently a festival of folk dances was held on the green in Central Park. in which l,5oo children participated.
 Lieutenant Taggart, the biggest of New York's policemen, has just retired on a pension, although he is only 43 years old, and in the pink of condition. Taggart, because of his size, has been one Of the best known men in the Pc" lice Department. He stands six feet and one-half inches in his stocking feet and tips the scales at 310 pounds. TY1 Na,aa Co AallAA the dhahV cop" Tn retiring from the force Tag. Rart said he had always done his work and never complained. and that he had only one regret in his life, and that was because his brother Frank was taller Frank, known far and wide as the 'tNawburg giant" stands seven feet one inch and weighs 325 pounds. Tag rart Is one of a family of eight boys and three girls. all of whom, with the exception of one girl. are six feet and over. The retiring "cop" is also beef steak champion of Gotham. and tn- tends with his $l.Ooo pension to become butcher.
 The picture puzzle craze has struck New York And those who are not stay ing awake nights to ft the puzzles to- gether are using them as sedative to put them to sleep. The picture puzzle is not a simple, machine-made game for children, but Is handmade cut into intricate bits. A Supreme Court Jus tice, a Columbia University professor and several prominent business men are among the recent converts. The puzzles are not at all expensive. The lowest priced and simplest puzzle Is e5 cents, and from that they range up, in- creasing in, intricacy to the $3 puzzles There Is one 400-piece puzzle that is only made to order. Women make the puzzles and many who heretofore have done fine needlework have entered this new and more profitable line.
 After having stood fifty years as one of the foremost landmarks of lower New York. the iron shot tower of the ColwelI Lead Company on Centre Street Is to be torn down. Besides being & landmark it Is the oldest standing spec imen of skyscraper construction and ever erected. Millions of bullets were cast in this tower for use in the civil war In early days before the erec- ton of skyscrapers al labout 1t, the tower was visible from all the down. town parts of the city. Before the days of telephones newspaper report CTS used the shot tower as a signal station from which to flash to their ofices the drop of the trap when hang tnes took place in the old Tombs prison wards. when the Prince of Wales vIs- ited this country the tower was illu- minated in his honor. Hundreds of candles were placed in the forty winA dows and the tall structure Is said to have resembled a pillar of fire. The raging of the old landmark has been made necessary by the construction of the new subway along Centre Street
 Joseph Branchi an Italian. took up his stand on Sixth Avenue the other night and declared himself kissing bug of the first magnitude. It was just at the time when the big stores were closing for the night and the streets were full with salesgirls. But as for Joseph he kissed them as they came.
 First came a cunning little blonde. in dark blue with a Merry Widow hat. Joseph kissed her. Then came a makazins cover girl. Joseph kissed