any understanding at present.

We told you that some of the miners had stood out against the offer of
better wages, and refused to go to work until the condition of their
fellows throughout the country had been improved.

All the miners have not been as brave and loyal as these men.

In some parts of Western Virginia, such excellent wages have been
offered to the men, that they have weakened and gone back to work in
spite of the fact that the labor agitators have been constantly urging
them to remain firm.

They have been telling the men that they will secure great benefits if
they will only hold together.

At one time there was some hope that the men might submit the whole
matter to arbitration, but this seems doubtful.

* * * * *

Another report about the use of the X rays in the French Custom-House
has reached us.

This time the rays were applied to thirty packages which had arrived by
parcels-post. It took but fifteen minutes to examine the whole of these
packets, and their contents were discovered without the necessity of
breaking a seal or untying a string.

The amusing part of the story is that the thirty persons to whom the
parcels were addressed had been asked by the officers if there was
anything dutiable in them, and all had replied in the negative.

The confusion and trouble were therefore great when forbidden articles
were found in twenty-seven out of the thirty packets.

The French officials are very strict about such matters, and enforce
heavy fines for attempting to bring things into their country without
paying duty on them.

The senders had had no idea that the X rays would be used on the
packages, and had arranged them so that on opening they would appear to
contain nothing dutiable.

One basket was labelled fruit. Had it been opened in the ordinary way
the officers would have found nothing but apricots and plums, unless
they went to the trouble of emptying the whole basket out--a thing that
is seldom done. When the X rays got to work on this packet a pair of
patent-leather shoes was revealed, hidden away amongst the fruit.

Another bundle was labelled, "Specimens of clothing--without value."

No sooner was it held before the X rays than it was seen that a quantity
of cigarettes and English matches were rolled away inside the linen.

All this was found out without so much as breaking a seal or untying a
string.

At the same time that the news of this