had been cut into small pieces. As he did so he mixed plenty of flour with it. The fire was booming, the kettle was boiling, and before the cook was aware of it, the pot of stew was burned. The cook, not over good-naturedly, dumped the meat out on the ground. After smothering the hungry freighters with his apologies, he soon started another pot of meat boiling. By this time the hungry animals began to stroll into. camp and soon discovered the burned stew scattered over the ground. made a rush for it, and in a short time the mules cleaned up everything, meat and all. Each man looked at the other in wonderment, while Eph looked on and smiled.

EPH. K. HANKS

They

A day or two later Eph told his com panions that they would cross a river that day, and if they would do as he told them they would not get wet.

"What is that, Mr. Wizard?" asked Captain Remick, thinking, of course, that Hanks intended to play some practical joke upon them. However, they soon came to the river, and as Mr. Remick was driving over the ice, Eph called to him to halt, but Mr. Remick, thinking that it was all meant for a joke, continued on his way. He had not gone far, when down went his wagon, mules and all, in water up to the wagon bed. No one was hurt, but Mr. Remick and several of his teamsters were drenched to the skin before they reached shore.

When the company arrived within twenty-five or thirty miles of Fort Kearney, Captain Remick said to Eph, "What next, Mr. Prophet?"

FERAMORZ LITTLE

"You will go into Fort Kearney blindfolded," was the reply. "Will I get sick?" asked Mr. Remick.

"No; you will simply ride into the Fort blindfolded."

"When the sun came out bright, the next day, the reflection on the snow was so great that Captain Remick and several of the teamsters became so snow blind that they were compelled to bandage their eyes, so intense was the pain.

The officer at Fort Kearney informed Mr. Remick that it would be impossible to go any farther with the mail on account of

Top Row: Pacer, Stumbling Bear, Woman's Heart. Center Row: Powder Face, Big Bow. Bottom Row: Horseback, Lone Wolf, Brown Bear.

the deep snow; whereupon the captain remarked, "We can go through all right, as we are being piloted by a man who can take us anywhere." The officer said, "Very well, Captain, if that is so, go ahead and we will furnish you with such things as you need."

The company then continued on their way in snow almost two feet deep and arrived at Independence, Missouri, February 27, 1857, the Salt Lake boys having been on the road just seventyeight days.

As soon as they reached their destination they were dumbfounded to find the air filled with rumors of war, and government agents scurrying over the country in every direction, buying supplies for Johnston's army, who were about to march against the "Mormons," who had, according to Judge Drummond's untruthful stories, destroyed the Supreme court records of Utah.

We next hear of Elders Hanks and Little in a letter published in the New York Herald, under date of April 15, 1857, and signed by the latter. The first paragraph is as follows:

"As myself and Mr. E. K. Hanks are the last persons who have come to the States from Great Salt Lake City, I deem it my duty to bear testimony against the lying scribblers who seem to be doing their utmost to stir up a bad feeling against the Utonians. We left our homes on the 11th of December, brought the last mail to the States, and certainly should know of the state of things there. The charges of Judge Drummond are as false as he is corrupt. Before I left for the States, I was five days every week in Great Salt Lake City, and I witness to all the world that I never heard one word of the burning of nine hundred volumes of law, records, etc., nor anything of that character, nor do I know, or even heard, of anything of the dumb-boy story he talks of."

Elders Hanks and Little remained in the States for several months, and after gathering what information they could concerning the Johnston army they started for home about the first of June, with three wagons loaded with mail. When they arrived in the neighborhood of Ash Hollow, the mountaineers in that vicinity wanted to know what they had done for the Indians to cause such a stir among them. They said that the Redmen had been inquiring after them for the last month or two, and had been going up and down the country for miles looking for them. Eph asked the men if they had seen any buffaloes since he left there, several months before. Their answer was: "Yes; about three days aftere you left, one of the largest herds of bison that has been seen in this part of the country for a long time passed by here, and they came just in time to save us from starvation, as our food supply was nearly gone." The moment Elder Hanks made his appearance among the Ash Hollow Indians, the news spread throughout their camp like wildfire, and the whole tribe turned out en masse,

Warring Redmen wept for joy; the women danced with gladness; Shouts from Redskins rent the air, that vanished care and sadness.

This is one of the big trees of California, and is an accurate engraving from a photograph. The tree is alive and is enjoying the best of health. The scar which admitted the bacteria was caused by a forest fire.

BY D. W. PARRATT

"Is the woody part of an old tree trunk alive all the way through?"

A little lad sprung this question on his big brother the other evening. "Where did you get that notion from?" asked the elder. "From school," came the reply.

"Well," said the brother, somewhat surprised, "are you alive all the way through?"

"Certainly," replied the boy.

"Then, so is a big tree trunk," concluded the young man.

Next morning little Thad triumphantly returned to school with the question solved. Imagine his feelings when the teacher announced that nothing more would be said about the tree question until every person in the room had seen a certain tree upon the school grounds. "This tree," said the good lady, "may give you the proper answer to the question. See if you can all find the tree and from it the answer."

"I know the answer now," interrupted Thad.

"All right," responded the teacher, "just keep it a secret until all have seen the tree."

The first recess period witnessed the boys and girls examining every tree upon the premises. But before long all were grouped about a medium sized poplar in front of the building. They had found the tree. On one side of it was a good sized opening extending from the ground some five or six feet up the trunk. This opening showed that the trunk was completely hollow, and yet the tree on the outside was apparently as alive as could be.

Thad looked dumfounded, as he gazed at the hollow center, He could plainly see that this live tree was dead on the inside and was not alive all the way through like he was.

While the pupils were thus engaged, the teacher was busy writing the following questions upon the blackboard ready to contime the work:

"1. Which part of the tree is the more alive, and why do you think so?

"2. Which part is less alive, and why do you think so?

"3. Are all big trees rotten at the inside? Why do you think so? Which are and which are not?

"4. Are all trees, big and little, alive throughout their trunks? If not, which are? Which are not?

"5. Which is better for the tree, a solid center or a decayed center? Why?

"6. What is meant by filling a tree?"

The first two questions were, of course, readily answered for all could easily see that the inside of the tree in front of the school was perfectly dead and rotted away. Only the outside of the trunk remained and since the tree was still alive this must be the live part. Someone, too, remarked that when the outside of a tree is cut all the way around the tree dies. "This," he said, "proves that the outside is the live part." After further discussion it was concluded that all big trees are dead on the inside and that the sap flows through the part of the tree trunk that is toward the outside.

Of course not all big tree trunks are rotten on the inside like the one examined. If they were it would be impossible to get any good lumber or timber from them with which to build houses, bridges, and the like. Only those trees having met with some misfortune or accident which permitted disease germs to get into the inner part of the tree trunks have rotted on the inside. If you have not noticed carefully, you may yet be surprised to see how many of our common shade trees are thus diseased.

In young trees the sap is still flowing throughout all the wood and therefore they are alive all the way through. It is seldom that one finds such a tree with diseased center wood.

Trees with decayed centers are not nearly so strong as those