An interesting discovery is reported from England, which is along the line of chemical research which is attracting so much attention all over the world in utilizing the waste. An English chemist experimented with banana stalks to determine whether the fiber could be used for paper making. During the examination, he noticed that the juice was sufficiently alkaline to cause irritant action on the skin, and this led him to examine it further, with the result that he found there was present a large percentage of potash and practically no soda. His analysis has been confirmed by Dr. Hanley, of the Leeds Farmers' Institute. In fact, the figures showed that the dried matter of the original stalk was as rich in potash as kainit. According to his analysis, a ton of banana stalks would yield 15 pounds of dried matter containing 1.5 percent of potash, or fifty-five pounds of ash containing 47.5 percent of potash, or twenty-five pounds of pure potash. This offers an important addition to the source of the article, as the plant can be grown in the United States. Oil City Derrick.

What can hold the present, past, or future? To present my spirit, bringing my heart. Asunder, torn by doubt, errant pain, mending my wild being all apart? The present is a mimic spot, unsettled. Where the blind grope in the darkness for light. And I, among the derelicts of thought, am tumbling, lost forever from friend's sight. The past, a little.  Blue-eyed maiden
Of God's dreams, has closed her eyes,
And light has sunk in darkness, terror
Ihlc,
And stars hide in the blackness of the skies. 