SECOND PART.
THE PEKING GAZETTE
The Oldest Newspaper in the World
and its Imperial Editors.
MURDERERS SLICED TO DEATH.
1 Look at the Last Great Examination, and
its 17,000 Students.
ECHOLAKSMP A PASSPORT TO OFFICE
rCOEBESrOSDEKCI OT TBI DISPATCH. 1
PEKING, CHI
NA, December,
1SSS. One of the
oldest things in
this old capital of
China is its news
paper. The Peking
Gazette has been
published almost
daily for 800 years.
It is the oldest news
paper in the world.
It was read by the
Chinese centuries before America was dis
covered. Its first copies were struck off
hundreds of years before Gutenberg gave
printing to Europe, and it was in existence
600 years before'the Frankford Gazette, the
first daily newspaper of our civilization, be
gan its publication in 1610. Age has, how
ever, produced no more change upon it than
upon the Chinese people, and its contents
are much the same to-day as thev were when
it was founded in the darkness of the mid
dle aces. Its method of printing is the same
and it is still set up Iroru movable type of
Fae Simile of a Page of the Peking Gazette.
wood and struck off in dark, low rooms by
the long finger-nailed hands of these almond-eyed
celestials. Still it is the most
aristocratic paper in the world, and the Chi
nese Emperors of the past have been its edi
tors. It is the ofneial organ of the Chinese
Government aud it is simply a record of of
ficial acts and report'. It is a crime to add
to or subtract from it in its republication.
The Chines Government allows no com
ments upon its nets, and this is the only
organ by which these millions of people,
making np more than one-fourth of the
whole world, can know what their rnler is
doing.
AK IMPERIAL EDITOR.
The Peking Gazette is edited within the
holyot holies of China in the forbidden
city -where the Emperor lives. The reports
from all parts of China and its provinces
come in daily to the imperial editorial desk,
and with a red pencil His Majesty marks
the characters which indicate whether they
are to go into the waste basket or are to be
pasted on the bill-boards of the palace, from
whence the scribes take them down for the
use of the newspaper. Tne first copies are
written, and these beautifully engrossed
command, Colonel Denby tells me, a price
of 5100 a year. Private printing firms buy
these copies and republish them. They are
set np in Peking and all over China, and
are sold in many cases almost as cheaply as
are our American newspapers. Soneeditions
go for 30 cents a month, and there are
Chinese clubs, who subscribe together and
take their turn at reading the various issues
of the Gazette. John Chinaman does not
move by electricity, and the Peking Gazette
B. months old seems to suit him quite as well
as that of yesterday.
A copy of this great journal lies before
me. It Is bound in imperial yellow, but it
looks more like a cheap patent medicine
advertisement in the shape of a long, flabby
account book than a "great metropolitan
newspaper. You could make 500 Peking
Gazettes of one of the Sunday editions of
this paper. It is not as large as an official
envelope, though its shape is mnch the
same. Three inches, wide and six inches
long, it contains about 16 pages of Chinese
characters. There are about feven lines of
Peking Beggar.
words on each page, and these run up and
down the paper Irom top to bottom, instead
of from lelt to right across the page as with
vs. The paper is of a tinted white, and be
tween the lines are stripes of red. The
whole is bound with two paper strings
within a paper cover of cheap yellow, and
the beginning of its reading matter is at the
back of the book instead ot at the front. It
contains no advertisements, no editorials
and nu social gossip.
IGXOBES SrOETING SEWS.
The latest Manchu archery match and
(porting news is not reported in it, and you
will not find the prices' of camel's or doe's
ineat, nor other market reports within its
columns. It is not cried, upon the streets,
end there are no newsboys in Peking. What
its circulation is it is impossible to say, on
account of its being reprinted by sa many
firms. It is well known, however, that all
China reads it, for curriers carry copies of it
to the various provinces, and it is discussed
and read by the educated people of the
cities.
The Peking Gazette is translated into
English, and the Chinese Times, ot Tientsin,
and the Korlh China Herald, of Shanghai,
devote a part of their space to it daily. From
these translations one gets the inside and
.most authentic ideas of China, and by read
ing between the lines one sees that the
Chinese people are the same now as they
hare been in the centuries of the past. The I
t- i i " GtKfaHm
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f 3 & a 4.
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liuJlL
doings of the Emperor are all reported and
and his god-like character appears on every
page. In the Peking Gazette of December
19, 1 see it stated that the Emperor will go
at 6:30 a. m. of the morrow to inspect the
prayer which is to be recited at the sacrifice
to heaven, and that after the burning of the
sacrifice he will proceed to the hall of fast
ing. From a copy of last year I see it an-,
nounced that he will go in person,
on the 2d of January, to a temple
and pray for snow, the want of
Petty Thieves in Cangue.
which is being seriously frit, and that simi
lar prayers will be offered at the same time
at other state temples by nobles, princes and
other members of the imperial nobility. An
extract of a lew days later shows that thee
prayers were not in vain, for the Gazette
slates "that the Emperor ha sent out a de
cree expressing his profound eratilnde for
the grateful snow which has fallen to the
depth of five inches alter his prayers."
The same paper states that he proposes to eo
that day to offer sacrifices to the god of lit
erature, and that he will, a few days later,
offer sacrifices to the god of war. From the
issue of the 31st of last January I tee that
he then conducted the spring sacrifices, and
on the 15th of last April a decree is pub
lished stating that the Emperor will go out
at 4:45 a. at to visit the Temple of Agri
culture and to go through tne ceremony ot
plowing. Such extracts are published daily
in the Peking Gazette. They show how
the Emperor of China is the god, saint and,
King of his people.
SOCIETY MESTIOJT.
Other extracts give some idea of his pal
ace life, and some show that though infalli
ble he is not immortal. Here is one stating
that 20 roots ot "gingseng, which is the cure
all o! China, were sent to the Emperor from
the Governor ot Kirin. It gives their weight
at nine and one-half ounces and their value
at about $2,600. This is considerable over
200 an ounce. Gingseng is worth in
America, I am told, about 60 cents a pound,
but in China it brings more than its weight
in gold. The full story of the Emperor's
coming marriage may be read in this
Gazette, and the condition of his wardrobe
mav be told by velvets and other things
which are forwarded to the palace. It gives
the full record of nil the receipts of the Gov
ernment, and I see that offices are sometimes
sold, and that five literary degrees lately
went for about 54,000.
The charities ot the Empire are also re
ported, and the Celestial heart grows as
tender sometimes as does that of the Chris
tian. On the 2d of May, 18S7, 1 see that Li
Huog Chang has given 13,000,000 pounds
of nee and more than 5100,000 to the
sufferers of a famine in his Province, and
that on the 14th of June $15,000 were col
lected for the poor in the Canton Province,
and that a literary graduate there has lately
donated 2,200 teals to found a charitable
school. y .
The crime notes of this official paper are
numerous and the horrors of purgatory may
A Students Celt.
be read in the lines fixing the punishment
The sentences where the criminals are to be
sliced to death are many. Strangling is
common and decapitation is an easy method
of taking off. The bastinado and flogging
are found in nearly every issue, and I see
that corrupt officials are often degraded
from their ranks. In a country where
ancestral worship prevails, the most terrible
crime is the killing of parents, and parri
cides are, in China, invariably sliced. The
punishment of slicing to death means the
cutting off of one member at a time. Finger
by finger, ear by ear, toe by toe, and the
legs by inches until the criminal at last dies
under the torture. Here is a decree of such
a punishment, which shows that the in
sanity dodge does not prevail in China,
and that the insane murderer gets the same
deserts as .the sane one. The decree was
published on the 16th ot last July, and the
crime occurred in the Province where I
write this letter. I copy the decree ver
batim. The article is headed:
A PABRICIDE BY A MANIAC.
It reads: "Li Hung Chang reports having
passed sentence upon a man who killed nis
father during a fit of temporary derange
ment. Whang Tsaitou had always been
Eubjeot to fits of temporary insanity, which
rendered him unconscious of what he was
doing as long as they lasted. As he was not
dangerous his father had not reported his
case to the authoritiesas he did not want
him placed in confinement. One morning
last March he went into a baker's shop and
began to dance about wildly in one of his
fits of insanity. His father came in and
ordered him home, whereupon he picked up
a cleaver and struck the old man upon the
head and neck, killing him. At the in
quest he was not able to talk and jabbered
away in a kind of gibberish. The law says
that the son who, sane or insane, kills his
father, shaH suffer death by the slicing pro
cess, and this is the sentence that has been
Eassed in the present instance. The neigh
ors who had not reported the man's insanity
to the officers, and who have therefore ren
dered themselves liable to the same penalty.
as for not preventing the commission ot a
mnrder, have been fined and given 100
blows each."
On the 27th of last September I see that a
murderer wno killed a rival through jeal
ousy was sentenced to be strangled and that
tbe'woman in the case was flogged with 100
Uows lor loose living.
It is almost impossible to conceive that
such cruelties exist in this latter part of the
nineteenth century, but they do exist here
in full force, and the board of punishments
of Peking, passes upon such sentences daily.
Even the most ordinary punishments of
China are horrible to us, and the torture ot
the cangue can hardly be appreciated. Dur
ing this cold December day I saw sitting on
one of the narrow streets near the Tartar
wall, a Chinaman with a board four feet
square so fastened about his necK that he
hud just room to turn his head through the
hole in the center. His hands were tied and
his bare feet were bound by a chain. His
cue was unkempt and black bristles two
inches long iad grown up all over his un
shaved head. Beside him stood another
man with a similar board about his neck,
8
Ixlxi
and the two were chained together. Upon
these boards were pasted bills containing
Chinese characters showing that they had
been guilty of some petty offense and" were
doomed to wear these boards for weeks.
The boards were so fixed that they could
not feed themselves and they shivered and
howled as the cold winds from the Mongol
ian mountains came through their ragged
clothes. I snapped my camera upon them
and took their photographs, but I cannot
photograph the heart-sickening sight in pen
and ink.
SEVERE EXAMINATIONS.
The great examination hall -at Peking
covers, I judge, at least 20 acres, and 17,000
students were examined in it a few weeks
ago. The number passed was, I think,
about 200, and there were 40 deaths during
the three days test. The students were all
examined as to their clothes and persons, to
see whether they had any notes concealed
upon them, and such as were found guilty
were prohibited from luture examinations,
and were punished by the cangue in the
same way as for stealing. Their fathers and
tutors were also punished. I visited these
halls to-day. They are not what would be
called halls in America, and they look more
like a stockyard than anything else. Take
a level 20-acre field and build within it long
rows of narrow pen-like cells. Your ma
terial is of brick and the walls between the
cells are thick. The roots are of heavy tile
and the cells have no windows and are open
at the front. They are not as high as yonr
head and they aro not more than five feet
deep nor more than four feet wide. In the
walls at distances of two or three feet from
the floor are ledges, in the tops of which
boards are put to form seat and table, and
the whole is so arranged that when the
scholar is in he cannot get out. He is fur
nished here with pen, ink and paper( and
here he sits for three days and three nights
and writes his essay aud answers certain
questions.
The examination is on the Confucian
philosophy, on the repetition of passages
trom the Chinese classics and on agriculture,
war, coetry and finance. Only lately math
ematics and some of our sciences have been
added to this, and it is a curious iact that at
the recent examination the highest grade in
mathematics was taken by a youth from the
far west provinces ot China. The boy had
studied his way through mathematical
science by books aloue,and he distanced the
men of the colleges.
It is impossible to appreciate the severity
of these examinations. The misplacing of
a character, a blot upon the manuscript or
the slightest mistake will impair a whole
paper and render the examination void. A
student at the last test who bad done very
well up until the last dav, then became very
tired aud fell asleep. Hfis candle was over
turned and his papers burnt up. He was
so disappointed by the accident that he
killed himself before the examinations were
over, and, as Is the custom of caring for
dead students at such times, his body was
dragged out through a hole in the walls and
handed over to his friends for burial.
Frank G. Caepesteb.
NOVELTIES IN GLASS GOODS.
An Interesting Exhibit of Curious and Useful
Article ot Tnule wnrc.
For several weeks a large number of
drummers, representing various glass
houses in "Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and
"West Virginia, have been quartered at the
Monongahela house. They come regularly
twice a year, to exhibit their samples and
to meet customers from all parts of the
country. Agents of jobbing houses as far
west as San Francisco and as far east as
Halifax come to Pittsburg to inspect sam
ples and lay in a six months' stock. The
drummers are naturally a jolly set and they
have especial reasons to be good humored
at this time, for trade, they say, has been
brisk. One agent showed his order book to
a Dispatch representative, and reeled off
long lists of figures in which such items as
100 barrels of eoblets, 25 barrels of tum
blers,40 barrels,No. ," etc, were of frequent
occurrence.
The goods,as arranged in the various sam
ple rooms, aflord a curious and interesting
sight Seeing so great a number of pieces
together, no two ot them alike, gives an ex
cellent idea of the numerous and widely
different styles of glass goods manufactured
in this vicinity.
"The factories are all striving continually
for something new and original. Styles
change in tableware as much as in other
goods. Occasionally some pattern catches
the txipular taste and there is a steady sale
for that line of goods for years, but as a
general thing the demand is for something
novel and unique. There are also goods
made especially for certain sections of the
country. Here is a line of goods, for ex
ample, running from goblets down through
wine glasses, champagne glasses, claret and
cordial glasses, all similar in style. There
is little caH for the glasses for cordials out
side New Orleans and other sections of the
South. Here also is a paper weight a fat
pig on a pedestal white, blue, red, or any
color preferred. These are made for the
port towns, Chicago, Cincinnati and Kan
sas City,and are bought by the pork dealers
as presents for their Customers.
Another agent showed various styles of
flint glass goods,among them some decorated
with various ornamental colors. Nothing
like it, he said, could be imported. A Tar
entum firm made an exhibit which con
tained many decided novelties. Conspicu
ous among these were glass plates and truit
dishes so closely resembling china that only
an expert could distinguish the difference.
These goods were translucent and orna
mented with various designs, hand painted,
which cave them a rich and beantiful ap
pearance. This is called the "opal" ware,
and its manufacture in this country is of
very recent date.
IT HELPS SALOON TRADE.
Prohibition Acltatlon Beneficial to tho In
terests of Barkeepers.
"Whether that prohibition amendment is
adopted or not," remarked a Fifth avenue
saloonkeeper, "the discussion of the ques
tion is benefiting our trade at present."
"Bow so?" inquired the reporter.
"Makes men drink more. You may laugh,
but I can assure you I am not joking. My,
business is improving daily. The man who
just went out took two drinks he never
took but one at a time before this amend
ment came up for discussion and jokingly
said:
" 'Liquor is going to be scarce after next
Jure, so I'm going to have all I want while
I can get it'
"If I hear that remark once a day on an
average I hear it a dozen times. Men who
drink seldom need bat a small excuse to ir
duce them to drink more, aud though they
say such things half in jest, a good many
are unconsciously influenced by this sort of
reasoning to indulge more in" stimulants.
It's queer, as you say, but it's a fact never
theless." ELECTRIC EFFECTS ON WATCHES.
People Afraid tho Allegheny Road May
Ruin Their Watches.
"Will a watch be damaged if its owner
wears it on an electric railroad car?" was
a question asked of a Pittsburg jeweler.
"Not if it is a good watch," was the re
ply. "A good many people have asked me
the same question. Indeed, several who
travel regularly on the electric road in
Allegheny seem to have assumed that their
timepieces were in danger of being ruined.
There's nothing in it, so far as I have been
able to discover. Theconductors themselves
don't complain of it, and one of them,
who bought his watch from me, assured
me the other day that it was keeping the
best of time. It might not be quite safe to
carry an ordinary watch into the electric
power-house, but as far its being affected
on the cars, that, I think, is nonsense."
PITTSBURG
PITTSBURG, SUNDAY,
NTE GETS BAD NEWS.
The Marriage of the Marlboroughs
Humorously Reviewed,
THE DUTIES OP TITLED FOLK.
Something About Swapping a Broken
Heart for a Coronet.
SAD THOUGHTS AND A SADDER POEM
rwntmur roa im pispatch.i
AM pained to re
ceive later intelli
gence from dear
o.l d Blenheim
which leaves me
no chance to doubt
that a cloud about
the site of a joint
school district has
obscured the honey
moon of the Duch
ess of Marlborough
and the eminent
but nawsty Duke. It is only a little while
since they were married in the midst of all
the pride'and grandeur of Mayor Hewitt's
office, surrounded by the Mayor himself,
and supported by the janitor of the build
ing, messenger boys in full panoply, heads
of departments, letter heads, corned heads
and bill heads. As the happy couple left
their horse car, driven by an eminent savant
in a rubber overcoat, and moved proudly
across City Hall Park, they were preceded
by a beautiful woman 63 years of age, and
wearing a black and tan breakfast shawl,
who scattered flowers to thmasses at 5 cents
a bunch. It was a solemn and impressive
sight. Men standing on the steps of the
Court House near by, waiting to be sum
moned as jurors for the ensuing term, mean
time trying to forget what information they
had ever acquired, so that their minds
would be thoroughly fitted for the arduous
duties of jurors, looked np in a vacant way.
TO KECEIVE THE DUKE.
Mayor Hewitt looked out the window and
saw them coming. Hastily upending his
cuffs and ruffling his hair, so as to have a
distinguished and disheveled appearance,
he instructed the official organ of the city to
play the wedding march.
There was a low gurgling knock on the
door, and when Mayor Hewitt opened it,
there stood the Duke. Motioning the
Mayor out into the hall, Marlborough took
him around behind the woodbox, where
thev could be entirely alone. Then he
whispered to Mayor Hewitt, "Abe, are you
busy?"
"Vell, not so all-fired busy. "What is it
Duke?"
"I wanted to get married if you've got
time to attend to it How soon could you
wait on us?"
"Oh, I can do it now, I guess. I -was
writing a piece for the paper, but I can put
that off. Come in and take off your things
till I have time to compare a little im
promptu thought or two, and send out for
a package of cardimon seeds. I hate to
kiss a Duchess, as a general thing, unless
my breath is as sweet as a violet"
By this time the wedding party had en
tered, and now stood abont the office, read
ing the acts of the Legislature, or vainly
seeking to look through the opalescent win
dows. "Is Duke all the front name you've got?"
asked the Mayor, as he began to write in a
red account book and regard him closely
with a keen, searching glance.
Mulborough said it was not, and went on
to state at some length what his full name
was. I will not try to give it here, because
this is simply a short, hasty article for the
paper. It is not a city directory.
"Well, then, it you are ready," said the
Mayor, briskly wiping his pen with the tail
of his linen coat, "you can stand up over
there by the register and take hold of
hands." '
DON'T PUT ON THILLS.
"Which side do you want me on?" says
the Duke, trying to look cool.
"Oh, either side. It don't make any odds
to me," says the Mayor, "I don't know
what the practice is among a passle of
Dukes, but as regards the statutes it don't
make any difference. Here in America we
don't care much for frills. We care little
here for what the world calls pomp. We
scorn the little forms and tunny-business of
a false and swelled upbut tottering dynasty.
If you're ready now say when, and I'll
show you a style of splice that I can recom
mend." Then, as tbe Duke pulled his stop watch
and gave the word, tne Mayor ate another
cardimon seed and, reading a selection from
the Hail and Express instead of opening
the exercises by means of a kit of burglar's
tools, proceeded to draw out the Duke as to
his intentions for the future, and to quiz
him a little as to whether he would love and
cherish, support, maintain, foster and en
courage his wile, provided, he had one, and
whether he would be willing to divide her
private fortune with her in case she needed
money. Getting the Duke's views on this
subject, he chatted with the bride in an off
hand way, meantime transacting other busi-
Coming to the JTiss.
ness, ever and anon, as people came in from
time to time to see him abont opening up a
new street or getting out a license lor ex
hibiting a tame bear in a quiet little town.
AS TO DUCAL DUTIES.
All being satisfactorily answered, the
Mayor said: "I now des'ire briefly to pro
nounce you man and wife, and what I have
joined together as Mayor of New York it
will bother a plain citizen to put asunder. I
cannot refrain at this time from making a
few remarks which I have thought up while
standing here. It is these: The duties of a
Dnke and those of a Duchess are almost en
tirely different, as I understand it. As Duke
it will be your duty to receive and account
for all such moneys as nfay come into your
hands, paying them out only on an order
from the worthy Chief. You will be re
quired to do the chores or see that they are
done by others, see that sufficient coal is laid
in during the month of August,
while it is cheap, to keep the
castle hot till spring; also to keep
the taxes on your Dukedom paid up
and not allow the same to become delin
quent. You will eject the cat'at 9:30 each
night, lock the front door carefully and
wind the clock. It will also be your duty
to love your wife all the time, no matter
what the customs of eminent people may be.
a c -u
FEBRUARY 17, 1889. '
Do not think because you are a Duke that
yon can comeover here and corral a trusting
American girl, lead her away to your large
stone smokehouse, put up a light board
fenoe around your premises, and neglect her.
If yon do that, I will correspond with you
and thus make your life a perfect hell. Try
to live down the disagreeable reports I hear
about vou,-Marlborough.- Come home to
your meals. Allow vour wife to see all
yonr mail. Bead the 'marriages and deaths
to her from the morning papers. Ask her
advice In matters of business, and then do as
you like. That's the way I do. It pleases
your wife arid does not hurt your business.
Be a good husband, even if you have to
neglect your duties as a Duke, and good
luck to you. '
ADVICE TO THE DUCHESS.
"To you, Duchess, I need sav but little.
You can reason to a man and possibly im
prove him in that way, but a woman's great
success or failure rests in her own heart
That's whyl need not talk to you at length.
For awhile it may seem odd when you will
eet np from day to day and find yourself a
Duchess, but you will eet used to it at last
just as a man "gets used to a wooden leg un
til at last it seems entirely natural to hint.
And now, Duchess, adieu and God bless
you. So long, or Don jour, as we say in
dear old Prance."
"And now," said the Duke as he picked
up his umbrella and felt apprehensively in
his vest, "Mr.'Hewltt, how much are you
out on this?"
"Oh, any time will do for that," said the
Mayor, "and if you don't pay it at all, that
will be all right, I guess."
"Well, then, if you don't want to take
anything for it, I am much obliged any
how, and if I can do you a favor any time,
just press the button and you'll get waited
on."
It .was not long till the eminent but im
moral Dhke returned to his estates. Nobody
welcomed him. He got off at the station
and had to carry his valise and hatbox up
to the castle. There all was hushed, and the
Duke had to crawl in at the iront window
and unfasten the door before he could let
the Duchess in. A proud Duke hates to do
that. It makes him hot. People go by and
see him tearing his small clothes on a nail
as he hangs by means of his stomach on
the ledge of the window. It unmans him
and makes him sayt things which would
sound better in the'affidavit room of a
newspaper.
And so the whole matter has been inau
spicious from the start The Duchess found
the basement of the castle alive with rats.
The seed corn in tbe spare room had been
almost entirely carried off and a can of
strawberries which had been placed too
near the furnace had "worked" and blown
its brains out all over a roll of stair carpet,
the potatoes in the donjon tower had
mostly all sprouted and a lackey had to
run a'lawn mower oyer them before thev
could be cooked. Ants were in tbe sugar
barrel. Moths in the clothes presses and
Satan in the servants. All the help bad
been eating in the ducal dining room as the
casual observer could at once discover. Not
only that, but the thinking mind immedi
ately jumped to the conclusion that the ser
vant who had done the carving was an ama
teur and that the gravy did not match the
wall paper.
THE FLAG- INSULTED.
That is no way for an American Duchess
to be welcomed in her own house. It is an
indignity to our flag. When one buys a
ducal coronet she does not wish to be welted
over the head with it. She does not care to
be greeted with coldness in her own castle
or fail to find the key to the front door under
the door mat according to agreement, or to
find the drawbridge tied up and have to.
wane across the moat.
That is not all. Marlborough has kept
company with others who are distasteful to
his wife, those with whom his name has
been formerly associated in a disagreeable
way in the days when he was trying to com
bine the correspondent and Duke industries
together.
It is all sad. It is pitiful to see a social
wreck at his best, but it is doubly sad to see
him mar one of our wealthiest and most de
sirable American girls, and, having taken
her home, proceed to desolate her life by a
course of blooded cussedness which would
nuke talk and call forth adverse criticism
in Satan's addition to Texas.
And so I cannot close this letter in a
more appropriate way, it seems to me, than
to dash off a little poem which I have
thought up myself and which is supposed
to be the wail of a soul or the moan of a
Duchess. It breathes a spirit of extreme
sadness and melancholy which I think will
touch each heart, even though expressed in
faulty orthography, syntax and prosody, as
I am only just beginning to write verse, and
my muse, as one may say, has not as yotgot
her sea limbs on. .
THE WAIL OF A SHA1TEEED HEAET.
Canto Pint.
Ob, I've came far o'er the sea,
But you've went away rrom me,
And 1 wildly, wildly smart
Though Iknow 1 hadn't ort,
As I think that I have went so far away.
Canto Second,
Bnt oh t can't be gay
When I have went away
From all my friendsand kindred oh so dear.
For I see I made a fluke
When I wed a nawsty Dnke
And that is why I make the statement here.
SHREWD AGENTS' POLICT.
Why Life Tmnmnce Men are Interested In
Wedding: Announcements.
"It seems to me," remarked a young
Fittsbnrger, "that the life insurance agents
watch the columns of the daily papers for
wedding notices, and as soon as they read
of the marriage of a businessman at once
go in search of him. Within the last few
months three fellows in our office got mar
ried,and in each case theannouncementof the
wedding was followed by the daily appear
ance of a tribe of life insurance men, each
apparently very solicitous abont the wel
fare and future prospects of the bride
groom." "Did the agents succeed in inducing tho
young man to take out policies?"
'They captured two of them and the
other one escaped by lying. Said he had
all the insurance he could carry, and so got
rid of them. Talk about persistence! Why,
the most indefatigable hook agent could get
pointers from a life insurance man. And
the queerest thing about them all is the
firm belief of each agent that his own com
pany is the very best in creation. He not
only believes ttiis absolutely, but he is able
to prove it if yon will listen. Once they
get alter a man they never let up in their
e Do its it he gives the least sign ot encour
agment Professional men seem to be pre
ferred; they are what are called 'good risks,'
and the agents have most success among
them." ' " '
Bringing Some the Plunder.
DISPATCH
THE CENTER OF LIFE.
Dr, Hammond on the Functions and
Derangements of the Heart,.
THIS GENERATION'S RAPID PULSE
Ascribed to the Increased Mental Activity
of the Age.
THE DANGER OP TI0LE5T EMOTIONS
rwarrnar iron thx dispatch.1
HE heart may be de
scribed as a hollow
mnscle, the function
of which is to pump
properly aerated blood
to every part of the
body. In order that
this, action may be
performed the blood
which has served its
purposes in the economy and which is load
ed with worn-out material enters one of the
chambers of the heartcalled the left auricle.
It thence passes into the left ventricle, and
from that cavity is propelled into the lungs,
where it is subjected to the action or the
oxygen of the air, whereby its impurities
are removed, and it is rendered fit to again
assume the office of nourishing the body.
From the lungs it passes into the right
auricle, then into the right ventricle, from
which it is sent out to every part of the sys
tem, accomplishing its work of nourishing
the tissues, and when this is fulfilled re
turning to the heart as before, and so on un
ceasingly while life lasts. This round of
work is'called the circulation of the blood,
discovered in 'part by that great genius
Michael Servitus, whom John Calvin caused
to be burnt at the stake, and that equally
remarkable man, William Harvey,who was
persecuted by his brother physicians for
having discovered something of which they
were ignorant.
THE HEABt'S ACTIOS.
It does not require much anatomical
knowledge for a person to understand that
In order for the heart to do its work in a
thoroughly good way the valves must be in
perlect order, and the substance of which it
is composed in such a state of Integrity as
will enable it to act with sufficient force. If,
for instance, the valves are so diseased that
they do not open and shut in an entirely
normal manner the blood will be unable to
get out of the heart as freely as is necessary.
If the muscnlar tissue which forms the
walls of the heart is from any cause weak
or inefficient in its action it will not contract
upon the blood in its chambers with the
requisite degree of force, hence the organs
of the body will not receive their dne sup
ply of life-giving fluid. In either case se
rious and even fatal consequences may re
sult It is the general impression among those
who do not stop to consider, that the heart
Is continually in action, but such is really
very far trom being the fact, for about one
third part of the life of tbe organ is passed
in absolute rest Thus it dilates to receive
the blood, it contracts to expel the blood,
and it rests Detween these two actions. By
simply putting the finger on the pulse the
truth of this assertion will be readily demon
strated. J. ne artery at me wrist, mr in
stance, will be felt to dilate and then there
is qnite an appreciable interval before it is
felt again, and this marks the repose of the
heart This period varies greatly in dif
ferent persons and under different circum
stances and sometimes, as in fevers or con
ditions of great exhaustion, the pulsations
follow each other with such a great degree
of rapidity that the interval between them
can scarcely be measured. In other in
stances the pulsations are so very slow that
the impression that the heart has entirely
stopped may be obtained.
CAUSE OF HEAET FAILUBE.
Ordinarily and in normal conditions of
the system "and in adults the pulsations
vary in number from 60 to 80 in a minnte,
but this rale is not without its exceptions.
I have known healthy persons in whom the
heart beats were as ie'w as 40 a minute, and
others in whom it exceeded 90. They are
generally increased in all persons by mental
excitement, by stimulating food or drink,
or even by an ordinary meal and by physi
cal exerefse.
I think it undoubtedly true that the heart
beats more rapidly at the present day than
it did SO years ago. A result which must
be ascribed to the greater mental activity of
the age. As a consequence the heart wears
out more quickly now than it did with our
ancestors, and cases of heart weakness and
heart failure, which in former times were
almost unknown, are now quite common.
Like every other muscle of the body, the
heart is strengthened by exercise, but this ex
ercise must be systematic, regular and not so
excessive as to make too great a demand on tbe
powers of the organ. For instance, a person
who has not been in tbe habit of taking much
ph steal exercise has a heart, which like all the
other muscles of tbe body, is comparatively
weak. He is suddenly forced to exert liltbself
in a manner which is unusual to him. He runs
luO yards or so, or rapidly ascends a long and
steep staircase. This exertion causes him to
breathe more rapidly than is natural to him,
the blood must be sent into the lungs in in
creased quantity, the heart most responato
the demands maae upon it and in order to a:
compllsb its work its pulsations are greatly in
creased in number. It may be unable to ac
complish its task and It suddenly stops alto
gether and in the twinkling of an eye death
ensues.
DANGEBOUS EMOTIONS.
Another may think be is leading a very regu
lar life, his business is of a sedentary charac
ter, and when he has to go from place to place
be rides in a horse car or drives in a carriage.
He probably does not walk altogether as much
as a quarter of a mile a day. Suddenly some
violent emotion is excited within him. the
heart participates in the general disturbance,
it throws more blood into tbe lungs than they
can manage, the pulmonarr vessels are clogged,
it cannot overcome the obstacle of a colnmn of
almost stagnant blood, it stops and tbe individ
ual is dead of heart failure. We can scarcely
pick np a newspaper without reading or some
such occurrences as these, not tbe result of or
ganic disease of tbe heart such as derangement
of its valves, but a functional disorder, tbe re
sult ot a vlcmus mode of life.
That in many cases the heart mat be
strengthened by proper hygienic measures and
medical treatment isnot.i question. In regard to
this there is no donbt Systematic bnt moder
ate exerc se which, strengthening tbe other
muscles of the body, also strengthens the heart,
is probably tbo most valuable ot all the means
to be adopted, and of this climbing heights
should be a prominent feature. A person up
accustomed to this kind of .phjsical exertion
should, of course, proceed very carefully, and
under tbe directions of a physician, till tbe
body has become habituated t tbe work. The
food should be of tbe most nutritious charac
ter, not over-stimulating, and especially not ex
cessive in quantity. Tobacco, if used at all,
should be used in moderation, for It Is very
certain that inordinate, indulgence In this direc
tion weakens the heart The like is true of al
coholic drinks of all kinds. The mode of life
should be such as to militate against
the accumulation of fat in tbe body.
The heart of a man weighing 150 pound",
for instance, may be strong enough for all
the purposes of life; but If he makes his body
weign mi pounas tne proper proportion is e
stro; ed, and the heart is relatively weak. The
Materia Medica embraces several agents which
are directly heart tonics, and by the use of
which the tone of tbenrgau is increased; hut
they are not to be employed without the advice
of a physician. It is just as easy t make tbe
heart strong as it is to strengthen tbe muscles
of tbe arms or legs. And if proper vtes on
this subject can be causdl to prevail and to be
carried out in practice we shall hear less or
weak heart and heart fall n re. A person will
then be able to dispense with an elevator when
he has to ascend to tbe seventh or eighth story
of a building, and he can then Indulge in a fit
of anger, if so disposed, without running the
risk of dropping dead t the feet of hi antago
nist Dr. Wit. A. Hammond.
Let all remember.that they can buy Sal
vation Oil for 25 cents. It kills pain.
TW BURIED RIVER
A Romance
WRITTEN FOB
-
JOAQUIN
8YN0PSI3 OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
The story opens with a resume of tbe History
of tbe mjsterions Burled Biver, flowing be
neath tha Rocky Mountains and deep down in
tbe bowels of the earth, the bed of which Is
paved with virgin gold. John Grar, the son of
an American army chaplain killed In bntie,
goes to Rome to study painting. There be
meets a wealthy Ameriran who is dying of con
sumption, and who wishes his portrait painted
before he dies. Gray paints tbe picture, re
ceiving in payment gold dust Tbedjing man
confides to tbe artist that be has discovered tbe
Buried River, and that it is the source Of his
wealth. Before he can Impart tbe secret of its
location.beyond tbe fitctthat it is in California,
he c'les. After an unavailing search among'
Spanish records for further Information, Gray
starts for California to continue his search. At
Mt Diablo he takes possession of a ruined but,
and there he meets Farla, the danjthter of the
owner of the land. Tbe girl, who believes be
is a surveyor who Is seeking to dispossess her
father, warns him to leave or he will be killed.
Tbey argue tbe question for some time, when
tbe girl discovers that she already loves tbe
artist. Gray is lntrodnced to Farla's sister
Sanello, who has an aristocratic lover. Tbe
artist, the girls and their father sail down San
Francisco Hay. Farla unaccountably refuses
to return with tbe party. When tbe otbers
reach borne tbey find that Sanello's lover has
deserted her. Cray discovers tbe location of
the haunted well, which is Delieved to connect
with the .Buried River.
CHAPTER IX.
THE MYSTERY OF THE 'WELT;.
"The last crust," "out at the elbows,"
such like expressions borrowed from older
days convey to us in our land of bounty an
idea rather than any actual fact.
If a man is "out at the elbows" in Cali
fornia let him take off hit coat and carry it
on his shoulder, as in Italy. This will con
ceal the condition of things and he will be
quite as comfortable, for the coat here is
rather a luxury than a neccessity. If a man
is out of bread let him eat meat . For in al-
SHE LAID HOLD OP THE
most any fence corner sits a rabbit, with a
premium on his head iu many counties,
waiting to be killed and eaten. On any
.hedge sings a lark; in any dimple of the
hills from here to Mexico the quail pipes
with his many notes the Vhole year
through. A gun and a load of shot or sim
pler still a stout cord and a bent bush for
snare and spring and you have meat in
abnndance any hour in the day; and meat
too, fit. for a king.
As for the matter of a bed, that is as sim
ple of solution as the out-at-the-elbow coat
Every redwood tree is of itself not only a
tent, impervious to rain or sun, but it is al
most an entire hotel. For example,
the whole space and circle nnder
its spacious and shapely boughs, an area of
from 25 to 100 feet in diameter, is one- con
tinuous carpet Carpet 1 It is a cushion: a
enshion that has cost half a centnry of time
to make perfect It is of a solt, subdued,
old gold hue; you sink into it at every step.
And yet so clastic is this carpet that a
horse can make no impression ai he passes
even with his iron feet. And the fragrance
of it ! All the spices of the Orient are not
more delicious, dreamful, luxurious. Yon
are invited to repose by this perfume, and
sense o f silence, and large liberality of na
ture, by every beckoning tree in a redwood
forest
John Gray had literally eaten his "last
crust," bat a heavy fowling piece, borrowed
from a neighboring hut, leaned in tbe cor
ner, and lie was not Without resources. Be
sides, when you go out to sea here, even
with the crudest sailors, you will find
tumbled abont the deck somewhere or in
the bottom of the boat heaps of big sea
cr.tb shrimp, and so on. Bread, thick
crusted, and of the best, rolls of butter like
f;old, boiled eggs by the half bushel these
ittle details are always at hand here, where
a spanking sail against the 'thousands of
miles of uncontaminated air of the vast Pa
cific gives you ready relish. These thiugs,
let it be repeated, are as much a part of the
boat outfit as one of its planks. And you
help yourself as leisurely and tally to them
all as you do to the air. But in the pres
ence of all the majesty that attends yon
here, who shall bend down his face to de
scribe the art ot tearing asunder the legs of
a sea crab? And who shall stop the thun
der of the sea ot seas booming and booming
against the granite battlements that wall in
the gold pieces of California to say how
that this man or that woman suddenly grew
hungry, and gracefully leaning over caught
up from a Innch basket and adroitly peeled
a boiled egg?
John Gray was eager to get back to bis
cabin and he alone. He threw himself in at
the opej door, hastily struck a light, and
then drew forth his maps from their hiding
place near his heart.
Opening these out on tbe table he tried to
apply what knowledge he had that day
gained to tbe solution of the one great prob
lem. For now he was certain beyond possi
bility of doubt of the tfuth of his theory.
The buried river was a fact, He had sailed
by its mouth. He had heard it muttering in
its muddy bed below. The great buried
river that once had drained all the world
west of the Rocky Mountains and flowed
from Salt Lake to the sea. had had the
Golden Gate for its mouth.
He was sitting at that moment above the
bubbling, roaring waters of the buried river.
He had not a dime in bis pocket; but down
there, deep down, almost as the level of tbe
oceun, was a river that was literally paved
with gold. '
. He went to the door and looked out. The
moon was setting fast in tbe Golden Gate;
little time to lose. He must look into that
Indian well that night and before Farla
could come back from the island.
PAGES 9 TO 16.
of California.
THE DISPATCH
BY - '
MIX.X.EB.
A pang, a sharp pain almost shot through,
his he.irt as he hastened out and down the)
steep declivity into the dense thicket and
thought of Farla away out on her precipi
tous rock in tha Sea. She had been good to
him. And now that she was absent from
her temple he was about to enter it and
pilage it of her secret; plunder her house
and she away from home; possibly in peril.
Passing around by a blind path through
a tnnele of musk that made the air heavy
with perfume in the dew, he. came suddenly
to a deep ravine flowing to the w;st A
dense tangle of chaparral and all sorts of
overhanging boughs and briers seemed to bar
his way here; but throwing himself on his
bands and knees he was soon able to risei
and walk erect in the moist gravel bed of
the little blind stream. He advanced but a
few paces, for all thls-little dingle of dense
growth down here in the lace of nature was
not bigger than a little green plot at best
All about the hills hung over it, 'and men
and cattle passed daily to and fro and round
nbout; bnt clearly nothing ever entered here
save the silent priestess of the haunted In
diitn well; and even she came and went in
the most stealthy way.
The moon was at his "back, but very low,
as he paused In the little open space in the
heart of the dense copse. But what bright
and shining fancy circle ot silver was that
before him and almost at his feet? It was
whiter, lighter tlran the moonlight and rose
almost to his waist. He put forth his hand
and touched the tall shaft of gold that shot
np through one ot the 10,000 calla lilies
that made np this glorious snow whits
border about the mouth of the Indian well.
This calla lily should be called tbe Nile
lily. It is the same stately, luxuriant lily
that the red, rich waters of the Kile have
nourished since the morning stars sung to
gether. It was in this same perfumed foliage that
the daughter' of rharoah found the holy
Moses cradled mid his lily leaves.
He now started a little as he saw by tha
.dim light of the fading moon that he was
standing at tne loot ot tnree caremuy
trimmed graves. "What earthly purpose
could this strange girl have had in so care-
CBAO AND CLIMBED.
fully tending these three graves? I do not
know, nor will I even attempt to answer for
her actions. I did not make her, nor will I
answer for her actions. I can only record
tbem and set things down as they appeared.
Recovering his composure in a moment
the man stepped a pace forward, parted the
rank and most luxuriant lilies, and leaning
far forward looked down with eagerness into
the mysterious deeps of the wide, deep well.
Kotbing! Nothing! He saw nothing, but
certainly there was a bubbling, gurgling
sound; a something indistinct and far away.
He paused a moment, and then making snra
of his footing-, leaned forward over the frag
rant wall of lilies, painting his bosom yellow
with their shafts of gold, and listened long
and eagerly.
This time there was no mistaking the fact
that there was some sort of disturbance or
commotion in the deep, dark stream below.
It was almost dark now. The last ray of
moonlight was leaving the lilies. Another
moment and the man stood there by the
three graves by the hannted well in abso
lute darkness. No corner is darker than a
dense copse at midnight where the rays of
tbe moon point through no longer. 'The
stars. make no impression in a place like
this. Yon had as well stand in a cavern
where light has never been born.
To go away now at this time was impossi
ble. To remain began to seem almost in
tolerable. 'A sonnd came up from the well nearer
and clearer than be 'ore. It was like the
bumping of a boat or light pontoon against
a bank. Then again! He could fancy he
heard it thumping against the earth at his
feet He dared not lean forward and at
tempt to look down. Fntting aside all dread
of supernatural sights and things the peril
of making a single step in this profound
darkness with this chasm at his feet was
clear. He stood still; leaning back rather
than forward, his hands folded on his breast,
breathing iard, holding his lips lightly set,
and bravely, determinedly daring to await
tbe worst where he stood.
And now he could distinctly hear the
bumping of a boat; an empty boat. He was
certain that it was a boat; he was certain
that it was a boat of leather or canvas. And
he was certain that the boat was empty. It
would be idle to explain how he knew all
this certainly, but it is enough to say that
he knew, Nature, when yon leave on yonr
cunning or art, is very reliable. Your
senses at such a time as this are at their
best. And the best that your senses are ca
pable of you will never know till put to
trial.
John Gray hid lost his dread to some ex
tent now. Nothing supernatural was there)
at all in the bumping and thumping of an
empty boatugainst the sucking of a rising
and inflowing well, and he began to specu
late nu this additional evidence in support
of his Buried River theory.
Here was a well or air hole. The river
flowed on under this flume to the sea. The
mouth ot this river was beiug closed up by
tbe filling in of the Sacramento river from
the long and contlnned washing down of.
the Sierras by gold hunters. The tide
would turn this buried river.back on itself
daily. But back of that lay the fact that
the "buried river was badly choked at the
mouth, as before explained, and when great
rains filled it from the plains it had hard
work in finding expression, and so flooded
its own banks.
Reasoning thus, and almost forgetting
himself in following out this pleasant solu
tion of the mystery be ore him, John Gray
suddenly stood as stiff and cold as if mads
of marble. HeVould not lift his bands or
even let them fall down to his side, from
where they lay folded and comfortably
doubled in with his arms across his breast.
The boat was before him. But such a boat
'J
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