WW 'f5"
Te?
6HBJESE FINANCIERS.
X
The Silver Exchange of Peking and
Ithe Banker's Guild of Shanghai.
CARRIER
PIGEONS AS TICKERS.
China tie Oldest Banking Country in
the World.
HOW THE HEATHENS LEND AND BORSOW
rCOEBISTOSDEXCI OP THI SISPATCH.1
HANGHAI, Decem
ber, 1888. One on of
the leading business
houses of Shanghai I
find a reminiscence of
the Mitkiewicz syndi
cate. It is a brass sign
and it bears the name
of Wharton Barker
upon it. Mr. Barker
is supposed here to be
still working for the
concessions,andduring
my interview witij Li Hung Chang I noted
that he asked very particularly as to Mr.
Barker's character and his standing among
our bankers. I am told that "Wharton Bar
ker intends to visit Bussia soon, and to look
into the railroad projects, which propose a
line from Siberia above Peking, westward
through Europe, and that the status of this
road will materially affect his plans. Li
Hung Chang feels mnch ashamed of being
taken in by Mitkiewicz, and he thinks that
if the American banking scheme could be
made a fixed fact he could retrieve his repu
tation. The concessions he gave Mitkiewicz
were genuine, and he signed them as the
Secretary of State of China. "When the
Government, however, found that Mitkie
wicz was an adventurer they refused to in
dorse them, and left the honorable Li in the
lunjh. Li Hung Chang is now in cor
respondence with Mr. Barker, and the next
agent that Barker sends to China will prob
ably have enough sense to keep his mouth
shut until the articles of agreement have
been signed by both parties.
CHINESE CUEBENCr.
There is at present no national bank in
China, and this American bank with its
fit tv millions of capital would, in a measure,
tak'e the place of a national bank. The
Chinese, however, have thousands of pri
vate banks. There are 400 banks in Peking.
300 native banks in Tientsin, and Canton
has banks and pawn shops by the hundreds.
The rates of interest are high and short
loans in tight times reach 33 per cent The
pawn brokers charge 36 per cent a year, or
3 per cent a month, and the rates of ex
change from one province to another are
very heavy. China has no national cur
rencv, andeach bank issues its own notes.
These are much like our notes, save they
are in Chinese characters and on cheap
white paper. The only coin of the country
is the cash, of which it takes from a 1,000 to
1.500 to make .a dollar, and which,
small as it is, is counterfeited. The
cash is a thin, round coin a little
larger than one of the big American cents
of a century ago, and sometimes no bigger
than a nickle. Ic has a square hole in the
center and is usually carried in strings of
100 or 1,000 each. Gold bricks and silver
nuggets are used in making large purchases,
and the unit of weight is the teal or ounce.
One ounce of silver or a teal is worth about
1 40 Mexican and a common denomination
is a ten teal piece, which is a chunk of sil
ver cast in the form of a Chinese shoe. I
saw some of these silver shoes at the Hong
Kong and Shanghai bank in Peking. They
are stamped with the marks denoting the
fineness of the metal within them, and they
contain from 97 to 99 per cent of pure silver.
Gold bricks are of the size of little cakes of
India ink, and these, like the silver, are
subject to counterfeit. The business of the
treaty ports which includes that of all for
eigners with the Chinese, is done in Mexi
can dollars, and each business house has
& man called a shroff, who does nothing
else but count money and pass upon its
genuineness.
CUTE SWINDLERS.
The Chinese are the greatest swindlers in
a small way in the vrorld. They appreciate
the accumulating properties of little drops
of water and little grains of sand better than
any other people, and they will shave a bit
of silver dust off of dollar after dollar so
small that vou cannot perceive the loss un
til they have saved enough to have made
quite a profit. They bore holes in the coin,
nil them with lead and cover them with sil
ver, and in taking money from the banks
here it is necessary to ring every coin.
The Chinese do all their business with
foreigners on a cash basis, though the credit
system prevails largely among themselves.
They are honest In their dealings and mer
chants tell me that they stick to their bar
gains even if they lose by them. China has
no bankrupt laws and debtors are liable to
corporal punishment from their creditors.
By not paying their debts they lose caste
and are practically drummed out of busi
ness. It is a disgrace in China not to pay
your debts, and, as a rule, the whole nation
settles up at New Year's day, which comes
in February. The result is that China
never has a panic, and in the case of famine
or failure of crops the Government some
times loans money to the people. The silver
dollar varies in value, and the Chinese
now regulate the value of a dollar by the
rise and fall of silver in the markets of the
world.
The biggest of the Chinese cities have
their stock exchanges, and the queerest
sight I have seen was the silver exchange in
Peking. In company with Mr. Charles
Denby, the son of our Minister, I went at 7
o'clock one morning into the crowded
Chinese city. We wound our way through
streets so narrow that only donkeys and
men could pass through them, through pas
sages where men, had to walk side
wise in order to cet by each other, and
finally found ourselves in a long, low build
ing which looked more like a cattle shed
tnan a business room. It was lighted from
the roof and was filled with from 600 to
1,000 round-headed, pig-tailed, yellow-faced
men, each of whom seemed to be yelling at
the top of his voice and each pushing his
fingers into the face of his neighbor. These
men were buying and selling silver dollars,
just as our brokers do in Wall street, and
they made more fuss than all the bulls and
bears of Hew York.
CHINESE TICEEBS.
At 8 o'clock the rate was fixed for the
day, and the news was "telegraphed" by
means of carrier pigeons to the various
banks of the city. The pigeons of Peking
are largely used for messengers, and they
are, perhaps, the only pigeons in the world
that whistle. As they flyihroueh the air
they make a whistline sound which, in the
ase of a flock, sounds like a whole school
of bovs operating tin whistles at the same
time." This noise comes from actual whistles
which are tied to their tail feathers by their
owners, and the noise of which scares awav
the hawks from them. It is a curious sound,
and I heard it many times before I could
find out from whence it came. They are the
tickers of the Chinese banker, and they give
him all the quotations.
The foreign banks which do business in
China have large capital stocks, and they
pay "big dividends. The Hong Kong and
Shanghai Banking Company, for instance,
has a paid-up capital ot 57,500,000. It has a
surplus of ?4,000,000, and its proprietors are
liable for $7,500,000 in addition to the capi
tal. It pays interest on deposits of six
months at the rate of 4 per cent, and 2 per
cent per annum on daily balances. It has
immense establishments throughout the
East, and iU banking office here at Shanghai
will compare in size and appointments with
the best banks of Wall street or London. It
is the same with a number of other great
v.r.v. hm in China. Enclish and .French
capital manages thsaa, Tmt a Chinaman ai-l
ways counts the money and figures up the
profits and losses on one of these little boxes
of buttons strung on wires, which makes up
the Chinese calculating machine, .and upon
which all China does its arithmetical prob
lems. These banks will give you drafts on
any partof the world, or letters of exchange
and credit, wbich will be good anywhere.
Their chief officers are among the leading
business men of the Bast, and they all seem
to be making money.
A CLEAEINO HOUSE.
The Chinese merchants keep as full a set
of books as our merchants do, and they do
business on a smaller margin. They keep
account of stock and daily sales, and I have
seen some of their ledgers. The Peking
banks have a clearing house system. Bach
depositor has from his banker a book with
two columns, in one of which are entered
his deposits and the other his drafts. He
pays his creditors by checks on the bank
and in the evening sends his book to be bal
anced. The next morning the clerks o( the
various banks get together, checks are inter
changed and the accounts of the various
depositors are squared. These banks are
also expected to loan money to their de
positors, and a man is supposed to have the
right to draw on his bank for loans equal to
double the amount of his average deposit.
The disgrace of dishonoring debt is such
that a business man failing will hardly at
tempt to regain his standing in his own
province, and dutiful sons often pay their
fathers' debts.
The honesty of the Chinese in their busi
ness dealings is shown in the actions of
Hon Qua, the Canton millionaire who died
a few years ago, leaving at least 50,000,000.
One of the Chinese firms of Canton had
failed, owing a great sum to foreigners.
Hon Qua got up a subscription and paid
the whole indebtedness. He headed the list
of subscribers with 51,000,000 out of his own
pocket, saying that "Chinese credit must
remain untarnished." This is the same man
who when the English were about to bom
bard Canton unless their demand o! $6,
000,000 was paid within 48 hours, headed
the subscription list with the sum of 1,100,
000. "I give," said he, "5800,000 as a
thank offering for the business prosperity I
have had. I give 5100,000 as a testimony of
the fidelity of my son. And 5200,000 as a
mark of the affection which I bear my wife."
This man Hon Qua, though dead, is still
greatly honored in Conton. His gardens
there are among the sights of the city and
his name is synonomous with business
honor.
ANCIENT BANKS.
China is one of the oldest banking nations
of the world. The people had banks of
deposit and discount as far back as 2600 B.
C., and the interest laws of China date back
200 years before the discovery of America.
In 500 B. C. the Government issued paper
money and there is now in Peking paper
money in circulation issued by private
banks of as low a denomination as 10 cents.
The Chinese moncv chancer may be found
on every street corner and his shops are in
nearly every block. He charges good rates
and makes a good profit. A great deal of
the money lending in China is done on
somewhat the same plan as our building as
sociations. It is more often in companies
of ten who club together and agree to put so
much into a common . fund which shall be
loaned in the first instance to the man get
ting up the company. At the end of the
second year or six months or a month, as it
may be, another contribution is levied and
this goes to the second man and so on until
each has had the use of an equal amount of
money, and the whole matter is so graduated
that each member of the club is fairly treated
as to interest and capital.
China is full of these small associations
and there is no country in the world where
the art of organization has been carried to
such an extent by the different branches of
capital and labor as here. Even the beggars
have their organizations and the bankers
have their trades unions, which regulate
how all the banks connected with them shall
do business. The Shanghai bankers' guild
fixes the charges or 55 of the banks of
Shanghai. Its rules lie before me and I see
that the minutest particulars of business, are
given. The various kinds of silver dollars
to be taken are mentioned and checks for
less than 510 are not receivable. Each
banker has to send his book to the clearing
house twice a day and the manager for the
month has the supervision of them. Other
rulesmore or less strict prevail among the
banking associations of Peking and Canton,
and most ot the difficulties of lender and
borrower are settled here rather than in the
courts. Pbank. G. Cabpexteb.
A PARISIAN CAT CIECUS.
Tricks of an Astonishing Nntnro by Intelli
gent Feline Performers.
American Agriculturist.
Those persons who believe cats to be in
capable ot profiting by education would
change their opinion if they could see the
exhibition of performing cats in Paris,
Prance. The skill and docility of the little
animals are truly wonderful, and would,
even in dogs, be considered a proof of great
intelligence. The cats arc concealed in two
small wooden houses or kennels, which
stand opposite each other with a row of 50
chairs between them. The performance be
gins by the trainer tapping on the roof of
one ot the houses. Immediately a cat comes
out of the door and, after being stroked and
patted by its master, leaps to the top of the
first chair and then goes lightly and grace
fully from one chair to the next, stepping
onlv on the backs, until it reaches the other
house, into which it retires. Each cat does
this in turn, and then two cats cross the
chair bridge in opposite directions, one go
ing over the tops as before, -and the other
passing along the horizontal bar just below.
Lone planks are then laid over the chair
backs, and a number of wine-bottles placed
in a row at short intervals, and the cats
wind swiftly in and out between these
bottles without missing one or knocking
one over. A still greater difficulty is pre
sented by a small wooden disk being put on
the top of each bottle, and a cat stepping
from one to another while other cats lollow
the serpentine walk among the bottles be
low. Chairs and planks are then removed,
and a number of trestles set up between the
two houses. The cats leap from one trestle
to another, going over bars and through
hoops with all the precision andility of
a circus-rider. A large wire heop wrapped
in tow which has been soaked in alcohol is
held up and set on fire, but the procession
of pussies, nothing daunted, leaps through
the flames obediently. Tight-rope dancing
is the next performance, and a number of
live, white rats placed on the rope receive
no attention whatever from the cats.
Behind the Times.
Slippery Sam (in Philadelphia) Say,
Jerryl 'taint no use. I'm goin' back ter
York.
Cool Jerry What's der matter, pard ?
Slippery Sam I worked a chump for a
thousan' down on Chestnut street, an' so
help met when X got back ter th hotel I
found they was Confed'rate bills. Polks
here ain't Heard that th' war's oyer. Judge.
QUAINT INN SIGNS.
Joel Benton Continue Bin Amnilna In
stance of Tavern Iiore Ancient Inn
keepers Ingenuity Authentic and Ro
mantic Legend of Old Mother Red Cop.
IH'Mll'H TOR THI DISPATCH. J
It was the lashion of publicans in En
gland, in the more boisterous times of
politics, to change heir tsigns and em
blems to fit the occasion from Cromwell
to Charles, and so on. The innkeeper
was not less anxious than some news
papers are to catch the public breeze.
All the signs had an eye to attract
ing the public. Mr. Charles Hindley,
in his anecdotes of the tavern, says that
"in a well-known country town where
four inns were already established
the Bear, the Angel, the Ship and the
Three Cups a fifth was successfully added,
the White Horse, having under the sign the
following bold lines:
My White Horse shall bite the Bear
And make the Angel fly:
Shall turn the ship her bottom up.
And drink the Three Cupsdry.
Mr. Hindley also says that Mother Bed
Cap's tavern in Camden, dating from early
in the last century, was very popular,
although her house was very humble, bnilt
of mud and thatched with straw. Tt was a
favorite resort for soldiers, and the cele
brated landlady is said to have lived long
past her hundred years. Alter she died the
following lines were added to her sign,
which represented her in her red cap, with a
glass of ale in her hand:
Old Mother Red Cap, according to her tale.
Lived twenty and a hundred years by drinK
this good ale;
It was ber meat, it was her drink, and medicine
beside.
And if she still had drank this ale she never
would have died.
Over an inn in Somersetshire stands this
quatrain:
Good peonle, stop and pray walk In,
Here's foreign brandy, rum and gin,
With cyder, ale and beer tniit's good,
AM selling here by John Attwood.
A number of the old-fashioned inns put
up maxims of trade on their sins, as a re
fusal to trust. The following is from the
Three Black Bavens' sign, near Worthing:
All you that pass throuch field or moor.
Pray do not pass John Hampshire's door.
Here's what will cheer man in his course,
With good accommodation for his horse.
Onr pipes are long, our ale is strong,
Twill make you pipe your eye or give a song.
And as good nappy should be no man's sorrow,
Yur pay mo to-day, Til trust you to-morrow.
Another landlord, in Brighton, puts this
riddle on his sign, which you must read up
ward, beginning from the bottom of the last
column:
More Beer Bcoro Clerk
For My My Their
Bo Trust Pay Sent
I I Must Have
Shall If I Brewers
"What For And My
With the words prop'erly arranged it
reads :
My brewers have sent their clerk,
And I must pay my score;
For If I trust my beer
What shall I do for more?
On a tavern sign in the Isle of Man kept
by Abraham Lowe, was put this facetious
information:
I'm Abraham Lowe, and half way up the hill,
If 1 were higher up. what's funnier still.
I'd still be Lowe; come in and take your fill
Of porter, ale, wine, spirits what you will.
Step in, my friend, I pray, no farther go;
My prices, like myself, are always low.
The sien-board was in use in Greece and
Borne. We owe, it is said, to the Bomans
the bush, and sometimes ivy sprig, which
stood often over the inner door; whence or
iginated the saying that "Good wine needs
no bush." "So," said a certain wag, "it
only needs a few bottles and a corkscrew."
On the Talbot Inn sign, Gloucestershire,
standing at the foot of a hill, was put this
couplet facing the foot:
Before you do this hill go up
Stop and, drink a cheerful cup.
But the passenger on the other side read:
Ton are down this hill, all dangers past;
Stop and take a cheertul glass.
The publican who had the following for a
sign:
Try my dinners; they can't be beat,
was victimized by a customer, who evident
ly did not relish them, for by wiping out the
initial of the final word, he made the an
nouncement read:
Try mv dinners; they can't be eat.
A writer in Blackwood't says the wayside
inns of Scotland are not equal to those of
England. There is a rustic charm and
neatness of the latter, "smiling with their
trellised gables, low windows, and over
hanging eaves all a-twitter with swallows,
a little wayoff the road, behindapine tree,"
that is unique. And then there is the
pretty barmaid, with sweet voice, whom he
commends.
The Boar's Head Inn at Cheapside was
spoken of by Shakespeare, and the Miter
Tavern in Fleet street was for two centuries
famous. The name of Shakespeare lingers
about this, too, as it does at the Mermaid.
If was here Dr. Johnson made the ac
quaintance of Boswell. They drank a bottle
of port wine apiece and sat out their talk
until 2 in the morning. At the Mermaid
Sir Walter Baleigh instituted "The Mer
maid Club,"- among whose members were
Shakespeare, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden,
Cotton, Carew, Martin and Donne, than
whom no greater galaxy of fine wits ever
assembled. Beaumont, in recalling the days
of its glory to Ben Jonspn, says:
What things have we not seen
Bone at the Mermaids, heard words that have
been
So nimble and so full of subtle flame.
As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest
And had resolved to live a fool the rest -Of
his dull life.
And the bright quotation, which many
will remember, goes still further. Fuller
speaks, too, of the memorable wit combats
held here between Shakespeare and Ben
Jonson, "wbich trio," he says, "I beheld
like a Spanish great galleon and an English
man of war. Master Jonson (like the for
mer), was built far higher in learning,
solid, but slow in his performances; Shake'
speare, with the English man of war, lesser
in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn
with all tides and take advantage of all
winds by the. quickness of his wit and in
vention." Later on Hogarth exhibited his wit at the
Miter, and employed his genius occasion
ally on a tavern sign. Inviting a party
once to dine with him at the Miter tavern,
he engraved a card on which was represented
within a circle a pie, with a miter at the
top, and the supporters, dexter and sinister,
a knife a fork, and underneath, in Greek
characters, this motto: "Eta ceta fri."
There is no end, really, of piquant goisip
on record about taverns, and equally exten
sive is the listoi tales and bright gossip that
have been produced in them. The oldUime
inn may be passing, but its memory will long
remain. Old Dr. Johnson, who was not
easily pleased, said of it: ''There is nothing
wbich has yet been contrived by man by
which so much happiness is produced as by
a good'tavern or inn." And Palstaff asks:
"Shall I not take mine ease' at mine own
inn?"
But Shenstone's lines will forever Etand
out as the most notable ascription to the
old-time tavern. They havo often been
found fault with, we are told, as being a
disparagement to ordinary hospitality and
of human nature, but they appeal by their
pathos to one side of onr common experi
ence. Shenstone says:
Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round.
Where'er his stages may have been.
May sigh to think he still has found
The warmest welcome at an inn.
It is almost cruel to parody so touching a
eulogy, but it is said a wag who once saw
these lines appropriately displayed at a ho
tel wrote.beneath them the following stanza:
Whoe'er has traveled much about
Must very often sigh to think
Thatevery host will tum you out
umess you'To picatjr w w ui.
k
JOEL BENXON.
THE-SvpiTTSBTIElG DISPATCH? v
HOW 10 VISIT PARIS.
Some Valuable Suggestions by a
"Well-Posted Gentleman Who
HAS MADE FIFTEEN OCEAN TRIPS.
A Straight Tip About the Preparations for
the Yoyage.
SUFFERING SEASICKNESS IN SILENCE
tcoanzsronpEscisor thx pisfatch.1
Paeis, February 13, 1889.
VEB in America I
was requested by
any numberof per
sons who have never
"been abroad," and
most of whom in
tend coming over
this year to the
Paris Exposition,
to write an article
telling folks at
home which steam
ers to take, how to
prepare for the sea
voyage, where to stop in Paris and what to
see in the capital outside of the usual guide
book indications. " Hot at all bad idea; on
the contrary, a very good one," said the editor
of The Pittsbueo Dispatch when I
spoke to him about it; but the subject is so
large that I shall have to divide my article
into two letters.
To-day let us find a steamer Jand pack
our cabin trunk for the voyage. The ques
tion of which line to patronize is one of
high importance, for ships are not all alike,
far from it. Heaven knows, and so do I,
that the best is bad enough, but as there is
no other way of getting to Europe, make the
best choice you can and then, once started,
settle down to a trip across the Atlantic de
termined to do as little growling as possible.
SECUBB YOUR PASSAGE.
Let me see, there are no fewer than a
dozen good lines by which you can come
over, and when once you have decided which
one you will patronize go boldly to the office
and book your place or places. In some
offices vou will find gentlemen glad to give
you information or aid you in making your
choice of stateroom, but in others you will
meet with scant courtesy. .
Passage secured, the next thing" to. do is
to pack trunks and prepare ship's clothing.
You will need only one trunk; it should be
small enough to go under your stateroom
berth, but large 'enough to hold all the
articles and clothing required at sea, as it is
not always easy to get at the hold. A lady
should put in it plenty of wearing apparel,
one or two changes of underwear, a dozen or
so of collars and cufis, numerous handker
chiefs, half a dozen stockings, some combs
and brushes, hairpins (and other kind-),
toilet soap don't forget this toothbrush,
nailbrush, button hook, shoes, slippers,
bottles of cologne, and of hartshorn or other
headache stuff, towels and bandages, a hat
without feathers, one or two cloth or woolen
dresses never silk ones needles, thread
and- scissors and three or four novels.
WHISKY SEEMS TO BE NECESSAET.
A man needs changes of underwear,
plenty of socks, handkerchiefs and collars,
a comb and brush, soap, slippers, footwear
shoes with India rubber soles, well corru
gated to keep the wet out and the wearers
on their legs, are a good kind some cigars,
or pipe and tobacco, two bottles of whisky,
one or two suits of clothes, three or four
novels, needles, thread, and a pair of
scUsors; and for goodness sake, ladies and
gentlemen, don't take a lot of fruit on
board, the ship's steward has oranges,
apples, lemons, grapes and all that sort of
thing, which you may have for the askings
These are the things for the steamer
trunk. Take also a small traveling rug or
blanket, aye two of them, a small pillow
covered with dark-colored chintz, a warm
overcoat or cloak, no matter how old, a soft
felt hat, or traveling cap something that
will not blow off and a steamer chair. The
sensible passenger spends most of his or her
life at sea in the open air, and I urge you to
get out of your cabins and go on deck as
early in the day as possible. Now is when
your warm old clothes and chair come in
usefully. There are fixed seats on deck, and
they are all very well in their way, but that
way is not always the way of the moment.
The sun and the shade and the breeze shift;
moreover, there are varieties of comforts in
position.
A STEAMER CHAIR.
A chair that can be moved about to suit
your pleasure is much preferable to a fixed
seat in the shape of a wooden irame work
whereon very little comfort can ever be ob
tained. Get yourself, therefore, a steamer
chair, and by all means buy one as long as
possible. Have your name painted on it,
and send it to the ship with the other bag
gage. Later on the deck steward will find
it for you, and he will look after it when in
the evening you are obliged to turn in, or
when the weather is bad out of doors.
Finally the hour of departure sounds and
you hurry en board where friends, most
likely, have already sent you quantities of
flowers. It is very foolish of our friends to
do this; it is merely throwing away money,
for the chances are you won't ever see the
lovely buds and blossoms once the steamer
has gone through the Narrows. When sea
sickness strikes you flowers are as disgust
ing as so many garlic stalks, and the nasal
effect of faded roses on the stomach is simply
awful. Happily, though, seasickness is
short-lived with most persons, the stomach
soon accommodates itself to circumstances,
and then comes a grand appetite. Hope
lessly sick for one or two days, the third a
little pale and still harassed by anxiety; the
fourth maybe before no longer fear, no
more of distress or dreadful nausea. Now
you will eat four meals every day and growl
because the head steward does not set the
table oftener.
AN OCEAN APPETITE.
One thing is certain of the sea, nearly
every human being, once he or she gets
over illness, develops an insatiable and in
ordinate appetite. There is a chronic state
of hunger pervading every Atlantic steam
ship, aud the intervals between meals are
filled with yearnings for the next. Whether
this is because there is a greater percentage
of ozone in the sea air, or whether it is that
our bodies are perpetually struggling, so to
speak, and there is proceeding and never
ceasing waste of tissue which must be re
plenished, is more than I can say, for I am
neither chemist nor physicist.
J.ust as soon as you are aDie to go on decs:
go there immediately. Have your steamer
chair placed to suit you, put yourself in it,
let some person wrap the shawls and rugs
carefully around your legs and over your
lap, lay there and read awhile, then close
the pages and think how very strange it is
to be one of a mixed lot of human beings
cut off from all the rest of the world with
nothing but sea and sky, ship's rigging,
small boats, smokestacks and the captain's
bridge, to look upon. This new sensation is
at best but a two days' wonder; then you
give over trying to guess how many miles it
is to the horizon, and become curious to
know who are your fellow passengers. Now
staid men and youngsters turn gossip, and
all women listen; and when the well of
public information on this point runs dry
then tout lemonde gradually melts into a
delightful civility which in some few cases
becomes childlike familiarity.
dok't tet to boss. ""
It is necessary to remember that no mat
ter whom you think you may be on shore at
sea you are no person's superior, The
ship's regulations must be obeyed, and you
yourself will enjoy the trip only the more if
you succeed in preserving the amenities of
social intercourse. The number of servants
are necessarily limited, hence yon must not
expect to have one ready at your, beck and
call, and if you. take your own man or
' SIiyDAyMAB0H3
maid along rest assured you'U have
to wait on them. Be civil to tne-servants,
and kind always to the crew, for the sailors
are a ship's muscles and its brains are the
Captain. He is the only autocrat on board,
and yet he invariably treats all passengers
with perfect fairness, so far as personal
rights and the comforts ol the vessel are
concerned.
As soon as-the steamer passes the Statue
of Liberty call for the head steward and ask
him to give yon a place at table. Most of the
ships will be so crowded this year that two
or three breakfasts and as many dinners will
have to be served, one after the other. Per
sons who do not care about getting up too
early will choose to be at the last breakfast,
but everybody should try to be placed for
dinner at the first table. Many persons
want seats at the Captain's table, but there
is no particular advantage in being there.
The purser's table, that of the doctor, or of
the chief engineer is just as good; the food
is just the same, and is served-precisely
alike at all the tables. If you drink wine
with your meals you must buy it.
AS to tips.
Another matter that I must coach you on,
and it is an important one, is as to the tips
or fees. A day or two before landing the
new traveler begins to worry on the ques
tion of gifts to the ship's servants. The com
pany pays its employes, and you ire not
obliged to.give them anything, but it is cus
tomary to do so. 'Indeed the custom has be
come so well established that stewards' fees
are now almost obligatory.
On board a steamship your welfare is
more or less well looked after by a room
steward or stewardess; a "boots;" a bath
room servant; a table steward; and the deck
steward. Gentlemen have also a smoking
room steward to serve them with cocktails
and other badly-prepared refreshments.
Now, you should give each servant a fee in
proportion to the services rendered, and yet
there is a minimum below which no person
should descend. Thus, the roomteward or
stewardness ought to be given at the rate of
say, a shilling a day on the English and
German boats, or a franc on the French and
Belgian steamers; "boots" and "bath"
should be given half as much; the steward
who waits on you at table should get the
same as the room servant; and the deck
steward ought to have as much as the boot
black for looking after your rugs and
steamer chair. This, vou see is in all about
GO cents per person, and of course as much
may be added to it as you like. Some pas
sengers give even less than the sums I have
suggested.
A REPREHENSIBLE HABIT.
I have talked frequently with the table
and room steward and stewardesses on sev
eral lines, and it is certain that they would
be satisfied if they were sure of receiving 1
for the voyage on the average from each
passenger waited on by them.
As for the smoking-room steward, a very
reprehensible habit has grown up within
the past few years of faking up a subscrip
tion for him at the end of the voyage. This
is quite wrong, and I protest against it. The
room is open to everybody, and he is paid
monthly wages for waiting on its occupants.
If a passenger wishes to give this bar man's
assistant a tip let him do it, but neither he
nor the steward has a right to put a sub
scription paper before anyone. The whole
system of tipping the ship's servants is bad
in principle, and is a decided imposition on
the traveling public, and the several com
panies should protect us against the greedy
demands of their beggarly employes.
BE SEASICK AND SERENE.
No, J know of no remedy to relieve sea
sickness, mnch less to prevent it Experi
ence of others cannot be .trusted either, for
there are persons who are not, even the first
time at sea, seasick at all. Nor can we
trust our own experience because some are
seasick one. trip and well all the way across
the next time.
I have now made the transatlantic voyage
no fewer than IS times, and I have escaped
three times only. Coming back to France
two or three weeks ago the waves ran high
enough to dash over the steamer and most
of the time the vessel rolled awfully, but I
was not seasick an instant. I wonaer still
how I escaped. Perhaps it was the excel
lent dinner which Mrs. .Richardson served
certain guests the night before I sailed. We
had canvass-back ducks deliciously cooked,
two French fattened chickens sent in from
Olean by Will Williams, some good red
wine from- the Saint Emillion district and
some quarts of extra dryMonopole that was
frapeo to perfection. Henby Haynie.
MONKEYS, IN A C0BN-FIELD.
The Shrewdness With Wbich They Flan
Their Robbery.
In a very interesting article recently pub
lished by the Popular Science Monthly on
the "Directive Faculty in Brutes," the
foray of a tribe of monkeys on a field of corn
is described. When they get ready to
start on their expedition an old monkey.the
leader of the tribe, with a staff in his hand,
so as to stand upright more easily, marches
ahead on two legs, thus being more elevated
than the others, so as to see signs of danger
more readily. The rest follow him on all
fours. The leader advances slowly and
cautiously, carefully reconnoitering in all
directions till the party arrives at the corn
field. He then assigns the sentinels to their
respective posts. All being now in readi
ness, the rest of the tribe ravage and eat
to their heart's content. When they retire
each one carries two or three ears of corn
along, and from this provision the sentinels
are regaled on their arrival at their lair.
Here we see ability to rule and a will
ingness to submit to. rule; a thoughtful pre
paration of means to the end in view and a
recognition of the rights of the sentinels to
be suitably rewarded at the close ot the ex
pedition. Wherein does all this differ from
a similar foray of a tribe of savage men?
The only difference that really exists is in
degree otherwise it is much the same.
FAITHFUL TO HIS TBUSfl
A Dog's Watchful Care Over the Horse of
His Master.
A writer in the Boston Post relates this
dog story: Not infrequently I observe a
dog standing guard over a horse while the
master ot the two animals makes a call at
some down-town place of business, but I
seldom see the canine groom put in so un
pleasant a situation or extricate himself so
cleverly as be did in a case which I. hap
pened to witness lately. It was a cold day,
and the dog, sitting on his haunches most
of the time, changed his position pretty
often as one who found his seat uncomforta
ble, but he never for a moment took his eye
from the horse. Presently the latter mem
ber of the party, which also began to find
the weather a little chill, started down the
street at a fast walk.
This horrified the dog; he leaped and
barked in front of the offender with great
vehemence, but, failing to stop his com
panion In this manner, he ran -up to a gen
tleman whom he observed on the sidewalk,
and then back to the horse. This he re
peated two or three times, barking all the
while, until his request was heeded, and
the stranger led the horse back to his
former place at the curbstone. The dog
thanked the man with a wag of the tail,
and resumed his seat on the sidewalk with
an evident air of relief.
The Craze.
Master Guy (wno has grown very rapidly)
You needn't laugh, fellers. Just wait till
your mothers go to see that blamed "Little
iordFauntleroy", every night for a week!
i II 1H O.
T--v-J ' LsSA .-
1889.
CLARA BELLE'S CHAT.
Society. Girls Looking Forward to the
' Restful Lenten Season.
DANCING FOR MONEY AND HUSBAND
Ward McAllister Trying to olve a Per
plexing Problem.
TWO LITTLE MEN" AT THE THEATER
(COBSZSFOKDEKCZ OP TUB DISPATCH.1
NEW YOBK,
March 2. The Fifth
avenue belle is tired
out. The dancing sea
son has overworked
her, and she looks
forward to Lent as a
time for rest and re
cuperation, if not for
religious regenera
tion. Never in New
York has there been
a winter of greater
activity, mental and
physical, for those who deem themselves "in
society," and who try earnestly to do all
that should be done by society people. It
isn't likely that many of the washerwomen
in town have, during the past three months,
labored harder than the young ladies in that
limited but conspicuous faction which seta
itself about the job of being truly fashion
able. The matrons stand the wear and tear
very well. They are inured to it. Even the
young wives and the older maidens are not
so visibly fatigued. But the girls who are
just finishing their first season outare weary
indeed. Their pretty faces are not so smooth
ly fair as they were last autumn, the vivacity
in their manner is sensibly forced, and they
waltz with appreciably less vim than they
did at the outset.
LENTEN becupebations.
But the exertion will be over with the
final dances of Monday and Tnesday nights,
and then for six weeks comparative
auietnde will last. There are plenty of
amusements fashionably permissible in
Lent, but these do not include dancing as
semblies of any kind, or ceremonious re
ceptions. The Lenten'diversions are large
ly recreative in the way of mildly athletic
games, horseback exercise, and other things
to the physical good of the participant, and
so I suppose that our belles will be com
pletely rehabilitated by the time summer
brings another annual change in their occu
pations. It was a particularly swell-looking girl,
with a trim, graceful figure and a piquant
face, whose fatigue came so near to pros
tration that I couldn't help inquiring about
her. I imagined, from the neat tastefnlness
of her garb and the dainty politeness of
her deportment, that' she was a ' daughter
of wealth who had overworked voluntarily.
"You are not quite right in your conjec
ture," was the reply to my query. "That
girl is a hired waltzer in several dancing
academies. Look in the advertising columns
of the newspapers and you will find the
announcements of 20 or 30 dancing masters,
who offer lessons in waltzing at very low
prices, and specify that female partners are
provided.
WANT THEIR MONEY'S -WOBTH.
"The pupils are fellows intent on getting
their money's worth. They demand con
stant activity during the hours lor which
thev pay, and the tuition consists largely of
setting them to dancing with experienced
girls hired for that duty. The one you are
now contemplating is engaged with three of
these academies, and their combined re
quirements keep her waltzing pretty con
stantly six or eight hours a day. xou were
right in presuming that the dancing season
had completely fagged her out, bnt she has
been under the additional strain of doing it
for a'living instead of for fun."
Then I talked a little with the girl her
self. She said: "Yes, it is precious hard
work and I am just about done up. So you
thought I was a fatigued society blle? I
wish I were. Then I would at least have
had reasonably good partners, instead of the
awkward novices who are such a dreadful
trial to me. The beginner doesn't know
how to hold you, and is afraid to when he is
shown how. His gait isn't regular and
easy, but irregular and jerky so that you
are pulled and yanked unmercifully. But
his worst fault is that he steps on yonr feet.
Nobody with corns should think of becom
ing a professional partner in a waltzing
academy. But even with feet as sound as
nuts, the mischances of the novice's tread
will before a winter is through reduce them
to anguishing tenderness. When a new
pupil gets hold of nie I don't try to guess
whether he will 'step on my feet, but how
many times he will do it. Yes, indeed, it
isn't an easy occupation, and $20 a week
wouldn't tempt me to stick to it."
A WOMAN'S AMBITION.
"Then why do you keep at it?"
"Well, I don't mind telling you. Among
the many pupils who learn to waltz with
me, shouldn't there someday be a highly
desirable man who will fall n love with
me? So I am getting a good living for the
present, and possibly a, good husband for
the future."
It was a cold and windy day. The signs
on the buildings creaked, the horse car
drivers ran along by the side of their horses
to keep warm, and the crowd of shoppers
hurried as fast as they could for shelter in
the stores. A coupe rattled up to the curb
stone, and stopped. The door opened, and a
figure bundled up in a long fur cloak
stepped to the sidewalk. Just at that in
stant the horses of the coupe gave a sudden
jump, and the alighting figure was thrown
to the pavement. And then there was an
apparition for the passers-by. A strong
gust of wind had caught the cloak worn by
the girl, and bore it straight into the air for
ten leet or more. Now this girl was not
dressed for a promenade. She was in full
ball costume, and in her fall her fluffy
skirts were blown in precisely the opposite
direction that they should have taKen.
There was a,howl from the small boys, and
a rush by several men. The latter helped
the young lady to her feet, and there she
stood with her jeweled neck and arms
catching the icy wind, while she tried to
hold her light skirts down about her knees.
A CONTEETEMPS.
A gentleman had captured her cloak and
a lady helped her to wrap it about her. Her
long blonde hair in the meantime, being un
covered, had been entirely disarranged and
was blowing in all directions. Bed with
mortification and cold the girl ordered her
driver to take her home, stepped back into
the carriage, slammed the door to and was
taken away from the large collection of
smiles that were turned toward her from all
sides.
There was some wonder about the reason
for the unfortunate girl being costumed in
such peculiar fashion bv daylight in a busi
ness street, but I looked" up at the building
before which her mishap bad befallen her
and saw that it was a photographer's gallery.
She had desired to preserve her lovely ap
pearance for future reference, bnt. as bus
rbeen seen, her commendable little plan was
uiunu iv queues.
The subsidence of dancing activity for
Lent will not give to Ward McAllister any
vacation. He will puzzle over and arrange
for the ball to be given on April 29 as a
featnre of the George Washington Centen
nial in this city. The new President and
his Cabinet will be here, and if McAllister
had in his presumed mind any question
about admitting these mere officials he set
tled it in the affirmative. Indeed he has
assumed control of this occasional ball with
aview to showing that he can go outside of
his four hundred when he chooses, and dis-
iinguisn nimseii in aoing so. tiutthe prob
lem that troubles him is the formation ot the
opening quadrille. He sits for hours at his
task, witn a sheet of paper spread out before
him and a pencil In. his hand! endeavoring
I to Jay out the plan of that set. He" con
'Kcnei
rtri A 'J T
: ' '
cluded without great mental strain that Mr.
and. Mrs. Harrison ought to be in it. The
next determination arrived at was that Gov
ernor Hill and Mayor Grant should, be in
cluded. M'AIiTSTEB'S UlLEMMA.
Then the perplexity intervened in his cal
culations. A few days ago he relieved him
self a little further by deciding that Vice
President Morton and his wife ought to be
comprised in that quadrille. Thus he found
himself provided with the four requisite
gentlemen, but with two vacant places for
ladies. Yesterday he wrote a formal letter
to Mrs- Grover Cleveland asking her to take
one of these two positions. I suppose there
is not much doubt about her acquiescence.
It is understood that she iscoming to New
York soon after her retirement from the
White House, and that she will be received
into our most pretentious society. Indeed,
there has been no undetermined "question in
that matter. Her close relations with Mrs,
Whitney, her personal good looks and win
someness, and her ardent desire to partici
pate in New York fashionable life, all com
bine to assure the lady to our swell circles.
Those who 'ought to know say that she has
both the disposition and the power to be
come socially conspicuous here. But as to
this quadrille, McAllister is racEinghis
brain whether to assign her as a- partner to
the Governor or to the Mayor. There is no
love lost between Cleveland and Hill, and
during the last year that they were together
at Albany as Governor and Lieutenant
Governor they had no 'social intercourse
with each other.
HEE HUSBAND'S ENEMY.
But McAllister says to himself that Mr.
Hill and Mrs. Cleveland might dance ami
cably together for a few minutes, notwith
standing the husband's dislike of the bach
elor; and McAllister hasn't thought that
way for more than an honr before his mind
swims over to the other idea that it would
be better to mate Mrs. Cleveland with
Mayor Grant.,
The fourth lady in the set is almost cer
tnin to be Mrs. William Astor. But she is
not the first choice of McAllister, nor the
second, but only the third. Mrs. Ulysses
S. Grant and Mrs. Butherford B. Hayes," as
wives of Presidents, were invited by him,
but both have declined, on the groond that
they are not habitual dancers. Mrs. Nellie
Grant Sartoris is visiting her mother, who
made a remark which was construed as a
suggestion that the daughter be asKed, but
nothing has come of it. Mrs. Astor is aware
of the situation, but she is not at all resent
ful, and intimates that she will willingly
accept the place. The reader doesn t deem
thisa momentous topic? Well, Ward Mc-
aiiisier is ot a dinerent opinion.
AN ACTEES3 CHASER.
The amusement at the theater where the
London burlesquers are performing was ex
tended, the other evening, to one of the
lower proscenium boxes, where the exhibit
of actress-chasers was comical. In the cor
ner, so close to the stage picture that he was
practically a part of it, and with his
countenance turned half way to the assem
blage was one of the funniest little dudes
ever seen. His face was as smooth and
pudgy as an infant's, and quite as void of
gune. his cuny nair and suggestion ot a
mustache were as yellow as the wigs of the
stage women. He wore white kidjloves,
the only pair on male hands in the theater;
and probably he had lately swallowed as
much as half a glass of champagne, for he
was visibly exhilarated.
His ogling of the stage, beauties, his
knowing glances at the audience, and his
whole expression of very mild deviltry,
kept the observers tittering. As to the
actresses, they did not conceal their amused
contempt for what they would have called
a "Johnny." He was the son of a rich
man, and no doubt Eas spent money freely
on these same women, who accept his re-
iresnmems ana men treat mm contemptu
ously. AN ACTBESS CATCHES.
Among the half dozen other occupants of
the box was one singular creature, who kept
as jar as possioie out Ol Slgnt, DUt who I
was enabled from mv opposite box seat to
study interestedly. He was a misshapen
dwarf, almost as tall as the other chaps
when he sat in the chair, but not much more
than halt their height when on his feet.
for hit legs were a proportionate-
iv smau section ot his figure.
'His hands had five fingers apiece, besides
the thumb, and the extra finger was not an
excrescence, but equal in size and propor
tion to the rest. His shoes were big enough
to noia six-ioea leet, and doubtless they did
Now, this malformed fellow was neither
rich nor socially pretentious. His name was
Henry Kalph, and he was the Little Tich
of the stage a grotesque dancer, whom you
may have seen.
The party of yonng town rounders had
juuuu juuue xicn an entertaining com
panion, ior he is witty on his own account,
as well as ludicrous in his public perform
ances. Now, while the curled and gilded
darling of wealth, whom I have described,
was a butt for the merry burlesquers, this
dwarfish and fantastic Little Tich bad re
cently won the heart of Laura Brooks, a
beauty of the burlesque. They had been
thrown together professionally, had fallen
in lovewith each other, and had been regu-
iany joinea in weaiocc Women are
peculiar. But who shall say that of the
two occupants of the box Little Tich would
not be a more endurable husband than the
brainless pretty fellow?
Claba Belle.
PUTTISG A HORSE TO BED.
A Connectlcnt Animal That Is Particular
About His Mattress and Pillows.
Norwich Bulletin.
There is a horse in the town of Sprague
belonging to Allen Williams that has to be
put to bed to be shod. As blacksmiths do
not have beds in their shops for the accom
modation of such eccentric animals, Mr.
Williams has to carry a mattress and pillows
to the shop where his horse is shod. The
horse does not like to go to bed, and as it
takes good management to throw him down
on the mattress and get him into a mood and
a position to have the shoes put on his hoots,
few blacksmiths like to undertake the job.
A Norwich man has dene the job repeat
edly, and almost always the horse is driven
to this city to have new shoes put upon him.
The horse is thrown down and held on the
mattress by straps across the body, and his
owner insists bn having the horse's head
bolstered up in a comfortable position with
two pillows while the work is being done.
There is not, probably, another horse in New
England thatrequiresa mattress and pillows
to be shod upon.
MAET WASHINGTON'S GRAVE
To be Sold at Auction at the Capital of the
United Stales.
Washington Post. J
Twelve acres of land at Fredericksburg,
Va., including the grave of Mary Wash
ington, the mother of George Washington,
is announced to be sold at auction on Tues
day next. The place named for holding
the salens the National Capital. On the
ground is the material for the monument
which was to have been erected over the
grave.
Bepresentative Brown, of Yirzinia. Raid
a perfect title could-not be made even if
me saie snouiu De enected. TheCqurtof
.appeals in Virginia nad decided over and
over again that property containing the
graves of people could not be transferred
without consent of the heirs and relatives.
A Nebraska Daet.
Tenderfoot Can't
yon hotel robbers out
here furnish tooth
picks for yonr guests?
The Proprietor
Cert'nly, young fel
ler; cert nlyf
. Judge.
ifVSf
THEffiIfflTHTOIm,;
Disgrace Falling Upon Hi3 Father's
Family Leads a Yonng Mas ; A
TO MAKE A HOME IN" THE "WIL1S
And for a Period of Ten lean Ha Dweltoj
in Complete Solitude
IN THE WOODS OP. WEST
VTPnrwTjV
"rs
iwmrrrs toe the di3patch.i ,
HO is President ,
now?" ' '
This question, com
ing from an intelligent-
looking, well--dressed
man, was so
unexpected that I
looked at the speak
er in amazement
without replying.
Was the man crazy,
I wondered, or did he intend to work, off
some kind of a joke on me? Hesawtho
surprise, which must have been reflected in
myjface, and continned:
"I am perfectly serious. I ask for in
formation. If you will kindly answer me I '
will explain the cause of my ignorance."
The man appeared to be sane, and cer
certainly he was thoroughly in earnest.
"Grover Cleveland is onr Chief Magis
trate at present, but his term of office ex
pires on Monday, when Benjamin Harrison,
will be inaugurated as his successor. Is it
possible you have forgotten facts with
which every other person in the land is per
fectly familiar?"
"Thank you. I have not forgotten. I
never knew. Let me order these glasses re- ,
filled, and then 1 will endeavor to tell yon.
why I am under the necessity of asking
such strange questions."
This conversation took place one day last
week in a well-known Pittsburg restaurant.
Ever since then it has not been out my
mind more than a few hours, either
at night or by day. The man was a
stranger whom I had done a favor
in return for which he had asked me to take
dinner with him. Although he had some--thing
of the looks aud appearance of a rustic
he was evidently a gentleman in the true
sense of the word, and rather than wound
his feelings, I accepted his invitation
readily. Besides, we had traveled together
from Cumberland, Md., to Pittsburg on the
Baltimore and Ohio road and had become,
as well acquainted as two men possibly
could during a journey of a few hours dura
tion. THE.STEANGEE'3 STOBT.
This is the tale which the stranger told
me as we sat at the table sipping our wine:
"I have been out of the world, so to
speak, for exactly ten years the 2st of next
month. No, I have not been abroad, but
have spent the time in one of the loneliest
and least inhabited portions of the mount
ain regions of West Virginia. Before I
voluntary renounced civilization to lead a
hermit's life I lived with my parents
on a farm some distance np the valley, of '
the Monongahela. My father was in com
fortable circumstances. I was his only son,
and I had far better educational advantages
than were enjoyed by most of the farmers
boys of the neighborhood. After spending
several terms profitably at the village acad
emy, J began the study of the law in the -office
of an attorney of wide reputation. I
was making fair progress, and expected to
be admitted to the bar in a few months,
when the shadow of a great disgrace fell
npon the honorable name hitherto borne by ,
our family. "
"It is unnecessary for me to go into de
tails I could not do it, even at this lata
day. I can only say that the blow was a 1
terrible one. It sent my mother to tha
grave,, made the old age of mv father wretch
ed and ruined the happiness of
a sister who was dearer to me than
life itself. It may have been
cowardly and unmanly in me, but I fled
from home, resolved never to cross my
father's threshold again. Even now I do
not know whether my father and sister are
dead or alive, as I have never dared to make
inquiries, fearing my own identity might
be discovered. It's a wonder the mental
torture I endured did not drive me mad. It
did not, though there have been many timei
when it seemed to me that oblivion or even
death would be welcome.
SEEKING POBGETFtrLXESS.
"You would probably judge me to be ft
man of 45 or 50 years. These gray hairs
and these deep lines on my face make ma
look old, I know. My age, in reality, is
but 32 years. I fled from my desolated
home and the scene of my blasted prospects,
feeling that I must hide myself from tha
gaze of mankind. I courted forgetfulness,
but never found it. My misery has been
my sole companion during all these years,
"With a sum of money in my pocket
amounting to about $200 and a small pack
age containing a few articles of clothing and
three books bhakespeare, Byron and tha
Bible 'I struck out into the wildest part of .
our neighboring State. At the last town '
before I arrived in the wilderness I bought
a gun and ammunition. I found a deserted
habitation in the woods, which looked as if
it might nave once been a moonlight distil
ler's headquarters. It was half cavern and
half cabin. This I occupied first as my
hunting camp, and finding myself unmo
lested, I made my permanent home there.
Until I left it for good last week I had
never been absent from its shelter for more
than two consecutive nights at any time in
ten years. The money I took with me en
abled me to buy what supplies I needed
at a country store some four miles
np the valley, and to the same place
I carried and sold the fur and game that I
secured by my skill in hunting and trap
ping. Though but a novice in these arts
when I first entered the woods, I soon be
came quite an expert in both, and my in
come was ample lor my simple wants. A
short distance from my habitation was a
small patch of ground partially cleared by
the action of foress firest,.'and theretl made a
sort of field where I carried on a rude and
primitive kind of agriculture, raising vege
tables and a little corn ior 'roasting ears.
A MODEES ROBINSON CRUSOE.
"Bobinson Crusoe, on his desert island,
was not so'much alone as L Only two or
three times in all those long years did lever
see the face of a human being near my cabin.
The few hunters who came that way, if they
discovered my retreat, never molested me.
I made as few trips as possible
to the hamlet of half a dozen houses where
the store was located, and I doubt if a dozen
people in all that region knew my face, the
name I had assumed or where I lived. I
read the books I had with me through until
I can now repeat whole pages from each of
them. I had resolved never to look into
a newspaper, even should one come in. my
way, and I never-broke that resolution but
once. I conversed very little with the
storekeeper or anyone else I chanced to
meet, and I knew nothing of political or
social movements. On one occasion when X
brought from the store a bundle wrapped in
a part of an old newspaper the tempationto
see wEat the world' was talking
about was too great. I seized the
paper and read and reread it until every
Br
VllEnil;
word was fixed upon my mind. Prom V!
that paper I learned that Grant was dead.
I do not know who succeeded Haves aa "i
President; I know nothing of current his
tory. Almanacs, put out by firms dealing
in patent medicines, which were thrust into
packages and procured at the store, enabled -me
to keep track of the days of the week
and month, so that I always observed Son
day, as I had been taught.
"A few days ago I suddenly came to ths
conclusion that I had wasted my time long
enough, and X left my home to mingle witn
the world again. At the first town 1 reached
X procured a decent suit' of clothes and got
a barber to trim my hair and beard. X am.
going West, and thill probably- esdarr
days in some of the new mining seitie4
meats." jsask.
-V
- fC1 M. v"
ii AjMlilSiifMffiii - i.