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THE PITTSBURG DISPATGS
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THIRD PART.
PAGES ,17 TO 20.
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"MEHCEKffiALPAEK
; William and the Other Wild Animals
f Are Thrown in Contact.
. A TALK OS THE FLORA MD FAUNA.
,He Thinks the Elephant Should Shorten
Up His Suspenders.
'.TEE KANGAROO AND THE LAME LIONESS
nntrrmr fob nut xsp.itch.i
IT is indeed a
great delight to the
busy truck drivers
and other brain
workers of ITew
York, on a quiet
Sabbath afternoon,
to stroll about our
great free menage
rie and congress of
living wonders near
the Sixty-fourth
street and Fifth
avenue entrance
to Central Park.
Here the great breakers of civiliza
tion along the celebrated avenue break
upon the shores of an artificial -wilderness.
A few paces from the wealth and
refinement of the great thoroughfare the
great gray rocks and spreading elms of the
primeval forest extend themselves, as one
may say, while the roar of the Fifth avenue
stage and the rattle of the silver harness
and the trappings of swollen prosperity
mingle with the sweet songs of the parakeet
and the low plunk of the hippopotamus.
Here the worn husbandman and stock
grower from "Wall street may be discovered
on a quiet afternoon engaged in Keeping off
the grass. Here you may see the weary and
illpaid plumber, who has been engaged all
the week in stopping gas leaks with bar soap
and chareing war prices for it with freight
added. Here you will find the glad chil
dren improving their minds by studying the
works of nature.
IX A CTJBSORT "WAT.
Last Sabbath I spent the afternoon look
ing over, in a cursory way, our wealth of
animals at the park, also our plantigrades,
quadramana,marsupiais and graminivorous
mammalia. At first I strolled along the as
phaltnm walk beneath the wide-spreading
beech, fagus sylvatica &nd fagus ferruginea,
or listened to the sough of the glorious elm,
vlmus campestris, also ulmus Americana,
also u fonts Fulma or the slippery elm of
the pharmacopea. As I strolled on watch
ing the nimble squirrel, the small rodent
animal of the genus Sciurut, I was attracted
by the distant sonnd or the dracovalans
calling to the dewflicker or eattcus vulgar
US, as we say in scientific circles.
Judging that the sound came from the
menagerie I moved off in that direction.
Then I found a large number of people,
mostly of the working classes and trades
people, perusing the elephant las Lucas, as
we say, the tiger being called the bos eaticus
or Carnttera Virtuoso. We have the JEle
phas Africanus, both of -which are quadru
peds. This peculiarity they retain even in
captivity. We all stood looking atthe huge
pachyderm for some time, and X heard a
Baxter street man say that if he couldn'tfit
yapl elephant better than the man who made
nil overalls for him, he would never try to
seS another snit of clothes as long as he
lived. I think myself that if the average
ios Indicus would shorten his suspenders
about four feet and get his trousers pressed
lie would call forth less adverse criticism.
COKFUSED ET THE SIOBNING.
When the elephant wakes up in the
morning he calls in some disinterested per
son to tell him which end to wear in front
during the day. No matter how sober he
goes to bed after eating a carload of hay, he
is always more or less confused in the morn
ing about which extremity to use as a prow.
Numerous entertaining true anecdotes are
told ot the sagacity of the elephant, many
of which are lies. I could tell a few myself,
but it is bad enongh, I think, for school
books to do that, without allowing snch
things to creep into literature.
Next I went over to see the bear cave or
home of the Ursus Maritunus, the white or
polar bear, the black bear, or Ursus Ameri
canut and the grizzly bear of the Rocky
Mountains, or ttrstu horribillis or bos
biteacus.
The black bear of Central Park in this
State is of a darkish black color while the
polar bear or white bear is of an opaque drab
or soiled white color, with dark trimmings.
The bear has a pungent odor, which holds
its own against the sharp competition of the
entire aggregation of ammaU now in the
park, and has a good working majority in
this great congress of wild beasts. The bear
is better as an outdoor amusement, 1 think,
than otherwise. He would make a poor
parlor entertainer, especially while mouth
ing. The odor of the bear keeps the crowd
back somewhat from the cave, but
-when a gentleman from Castle Gar
den, on Sunday, wearing seven suits
The Inspector From Cattle Garden.
of clothes and a crochetted lap robe
around his neck, walked up to the iron fence
and began eating his lunch, the polar bear
fainted.
PUKE AS THE SNQW.
The polar bear inhabits the frigid zone
north and south of a given point, where he
subsists on frapped relief expeditions. Once
he was pnre as the beautiful snow, but now,
by a careful scrutiny of his plumage, he
finds that he is not so. He looks like a de
jected doormat, and, on a hot day, his pants
are checked somewhat by the heat.
We now pass on. to the kangaroo annex,
where ire find also the coon, botn American
and African. The kangaroo is a ruminat
ing raaruspiaL But it is hereditary and
therefore not so reprehensible as it might
be otherwise. There are two or three varie
ties of this pleasing beast, and all of the
genus micropus, I think, though I would
not have any one take my word for it on
such a matter as that, involving as it does
the peace of so many people. There are the
vticropus giganteus, the yellow footed kan
garoo, also the rat kangaroo and the kanga
roo itselC
The kangaroo has been so sedentary all
and
Aj.a c tuut nis leading vihub bccui ia uave
settled into the base of his system. He is
vi a luug waistea turn oi mina anu springs
with great agility from place to place, like
r.)DOtlH fTnhlpmaTt rtMilrinir fnwl tivMn Rnmn
ssss r r. "" -"?" . - ; v-, .-v-. ".".r"
k.KUL-aruufjgrans4uutaeuiiaaits,
HiUA fitful
mWHL
M-.flr ft
if -
can be done for it or not I do not pretend
to say. I am not here to moralize. My
duties simply embrace a terse description of
the animal itself. The only cases, however,
where the kangaroo has not been gregarious
are isolated.
A DEAD ISSUE.
We here see the American opossum, or
didelphus Tirginlana. He ought to be the
crest of the civil service reform party, for
to the casual observer he is extremely dead.
We next pass to the flat occupied by the
hippopotami or the genus pacnyuercn,
The
onr best English
fcwu uipiWJi!bauiu&c3,
writers give the plural, the other style given
above being the Latin plural, are extremely
amphibious and pachydermatous is no
name for it. Ton can "make almost any
kind of damaging statement about a hippo
potamus and Drove it. The hippopotamus
at Central Park always has a large and
enthusiastic audience. He has all the
various and versatile beauties of the morgue
with none of its drawbacks. The hippo
potamus has a massive brain, which he nses
more for the purpose of digestion than med
itation. He has a broad muzzle, and when
he opens his mouth visitors get but an im
perfect view of the park. The hippopotamus
grows to the length, sometimes, of 17 feet,
but is practically bald. He loves to insert
himself in his neat little tank jnst so that
his brows and organ of self-esteem will ap
pear above the surface and "suffer himself
to be admired."
The puma is in the house with the two
horned rhinoceros. He is called fetid con
color by the zoologists, who have studied
him at a distance of several miles. The
puma is also called the monntain lion by
those who have associated with him. X saw
one of these animals side track himself in
order to let our train go past in Utah once.
He went up a telegraph pole and peered in
at the window as I went by. The puma
does not care for asparagus. Spring lamb
and little children make a good style of
removes for him- He rarely eats a person
who smokes cigarettes or eats raw onions.
Near the puma we find some delightful
snakes. They are on an elevated floor of a
plain, unfurnished cage. The moccasin
snake is there, the beautiful but disagreea
ble Toxicophis pisciioris of the Southern
States. The boaconstrictor is also resting
in a corner looking longingly and hungrily
at the two horned rhinoceros on the other
side of the aisle.
ESSENTIALLY A HUMORIST.
So much has been said of the late Mr.
Crowley and his sorrowing-widow that I will
not refer to them here at length, for other
and abler pens than mine have covered the
ground. Suffice it to say that though essen
tially a humorist, Mr. Crowley had his own
sorrows to contend with, and thouch hn
"brought manv smiles to the faces of those
who were sad, he suuered mentally and
physically all his life. Matrimonially he
was not happy, having been forced into an
alliance which was distasteful to him, yet
Mr. Crowley respeoted his marriage vows,
even while hating the bondage to which he
was subjected.
No one will ever know how his heart
Looks Into Mis Soulful Eyes.
ached when he thought of the petite cbim
nanzee he had left in his faraway home or
how her image was in his heart when he died
and left his life insurance to the one who
now bears his name. Though his humor
was rather broad and. therefore, objectiona
ble to the more refined, he got a great many
good press notices, and with a little better
voice could have succeeded as a lecturer.
Dying in New York as he did, he will not
get a monument, of course, but he richly de
serves it.
It would be impossible to enlarge upon
the almost numberless specimens ot animal
life scattered about through the park, from
the wakeful weazel to the moth eaten
buffalo, from the little birdling up to the
large portable emu, the little smooth Zebu
or Bos Indicus, the pensive stork, the Yak,
the Kooroo, the wart hogs of the wilderness
and the war togs of the massive lion and
the lame lioness who limps abouthcr cage
and eats nothing but frog's legs and ragouts
of beef.
CLOSE TOT7B EYES.
Sitting down near the lion's cage one can
almost fancy be is about to discover the
sources of the Nile. In, the distance, as he
half closed his eves, he hears the cluck of
the dodo which nas jnst come off her nest,
with two little new dodos. He also hears
the lilt of the Scaroo and the sleepy voice of
the high behind. The burnished moon
seems to shimmer a little bit through the
almost opaque jungle. The yum yum tree
seems to sigh in the trentle zephyr. The
tutti frntti palm swaysln the soft starlight,
while far away in the deep recesses of the
pungent night one can almost hear Emin
Bey.
In the murky depths of the bush, the
scorbutic murmurs its lnllabv to its vouutr
and the lalatinks to rest with a low cry. "
Hist!
What is that?
I do not know what it is.
A VIVID I2IAGIUATI0IT.
Is it the croupy moan of the dewdad
rubs its hot back against the gum an
tree, or is it the valedictory of the ove:
citizen as he drops from his tree into
vestibule of a straw colored lion wit
gums?
Again it is still until the sleepy voioof the
hippopotamus is heard as he yaraSs a little
and obscures the face of nature. Also his
own. Then as silence comes the is a crush
ing blow in the back of the explorer,a harsh
voice tells him to wake up dad move on or
get a moss agate over theye "and 30 days
on thoiland." He awake with'a wild start
to find himself in the clntiches of a "sparrow
cnaser.
central x'ark, tncludihg the menagerie
and the mouth of the hinpopotamus, will be
open each day until further notice. Lohen-
fnnjbsMijrUl ooanxt frith yrkj
JVtre Visits the Hippopotamus.
lf . - iKs "" "
Him Vx r
JVjs
caterpillars off the trees and and try to do
everything in their power to make the occa
sion a success. Bxxti Nye.
OFFICIAL COSTUMES.
Something Abont the Court Dress of Dif
ferent Countries New German Attire.
The young German Emperor is resolved
not only that his realm shall be unrivaled
in military prowess, says the Youth's Com
panion, but that his court shall be showy
and brilliant He has jnst made a decree
commanding that a new court costnme shall
be adopted, or rather, an old one revived.
And this .costume is to be worn by the per
sonages of his conrt for the first time on
the occasion of the visit of the Czar to Ber
lin. The attire to be adopted is taken from
that worn on the occasion of the coronation
of the first King ot Prnssia, Frederick the
First, in 1701. Its main features are knee
breeches, a three-cornered hat, silk stock
ings, buckled shoes, a sword, and a periwig.
Some of the great officials of state will,
moreover, wear velvet tunics under flowing
tunics, and their hats will be adorned with
lone, swaying ostrich feathers.
The contrast between these gorgeous cos
tumes worn at the cotfrt of the first Freder
ick, and the dress in which his successor,
the greatest of Prussian Hings, always ap
peared, is amusing.
Carlyle describes Frederick the Great as
wearing "no crown, but an old military
cocked bat; no scepter, except a walking
stick cut from the woods, and for royal
robes a mere soldier's blue coat, with red
facings, and with a good deal of Spanish
snuff on the breast of it, and high, over
knee, military boots, brushed and oiled, but
not permitted: to be blackened or varnished.
At the same time that the old royal cos
tumes are adopted in Berlin, a much sim
pler costume is worn by the French Sena
tors, sitting as a High Court of Justice on
the trial of General Boulanger. These ap
pear in their places, not in the robes and
quaint, high, square hats worn iby French
Judges, but in what is known the world
over as "evening dress," That is, they
wear dress coats, black waistcoats and
trousers and white ties.
The French Republic has deemed it best
to discard the ostentation and show of roy
alty, and has carried the simplicitv which
is thought to be republican into social mat
ters, and thus into the habits of attire.
Under the monarchy and the empires, the
Senators of France had distinct and bril
liant costumes. The Senators of the first
empire wore gaudily embroidered coats and
waistcoats, powdered heads, pigtails and
silk stockings, while those of the restored
monarchy appeared in blue velvet doublets,
plumed hats, and shoes ornamented with
rosettes.
While England has been growing, in the
march of years, more democratic in politics,
and even in costumes, the costumes worn at
the conrt of Victoria and by British officials
have remained pretty much unchanged.
It is still necessary for pentlemen who are
presented to the Queen to wear short clothes
and a sword, and ladies must appear before
the sovereign in full evening attire.
The Judges and barristers of the courts of
justice still wear wigs and gowns. The
bishops always appear in the House of
Lords in white robes and lawn sleeves,
while on the street they wear a distinctive
dress, always of black, with knee-breeches
and "shovel" hats. It mav .probably be
said with truth that every official in En
gland, national or local, has some distinction
of dress pertaining to lys office,. ,
In this country the official costumes are
very few. Of c ur national officials, only
the Judges of the United States Supreme
Court wear any distinctive costume, and
that is a plain, long silk robe. The Presi
dent has none whatever.
It is a law that no American Minister or
Consul abroad shall wear any unusnal dress,
except that those who have held rank in the
army may appear in military dress.
EEPLECTION OP LIGHT.
Some Interesting; Results of Experiment!
With Yurioai Metali.
Dr. Reubens, of Berlin, has for some time
past been engaged in experimenting on the
selective reflection of light by metals, and
at the last meeting of the German Physical
Society he detailed to his brother members
the results of his investigations. The light
emitted by an incandescent plate ot zir
conium was concentrated by a lens on to a
mirror-surface of the metal nnder investiga
tion, and the reflected rays were then al
lowed to fall into a spectroscope with flint
glass prism, whose1 ocular had btn replaced
by a bolometer.
In this way the intensity of each part of
the spectrum could be determined. The
L results obtained Showed that silver possesses,
even lor bine ravs, a very considerable re
flective power, which gradually increase and
reaches its maximum in the red, at which
maximum the intensity of the reflected light
then remains constant, even for rays of the
greatest wave length. Gold possesses a
much smaller reflective power for blue and
green rays; thefcurve then rises very rapidly
to a maximum' in the yellow and falls again
toward the red. Copper reflects the blue
and green rays even less than gold does; its
reflective power then increases rapidly into
the red, and, then somewhat more slowly
until in the ultra-red it reaches a value
equal to that of silver. Iron and nickel
gave similar curves, rising at first somewhat
rapidly, brit subsequently more slowly and
continuous-ly into the ultra-red, without,
however, reaching the values observed for
copper or silver.
A DOCTOfi'S HELPPDL DOG.
He Trlei to Hurt People to GIre HU Master
I Business.
lanxnuywney Spirit. J
Rover, Dr. Beyer's Newfoundland dog, is
getting a little too cute for ordinary pur
poses. He has, on one or two occasions, seen
people fall and tret hurt, and he also ob
served that they were taken into the doctor's
office for repairs. Yesterday was a wet day,
and'Rover felt ithis duty to go out and drum
up business. He stood in the door a moment
as if, in deep meditation. Presently a young
ladvvcame along, and Rover, taking a good
start in order to secure all the momentum
possible, ran violently against the young
lady, inocking her down.
Then, Rover stood and looked anxiously,
first atthe girl and then at the office door,
as if to sav: "Why don't you carry her in
there?' But, fortunately, the young lady
was no ; hurt, and Rover sneaked away with
an air of disappointment and dejection.
As Deadly ns tbo Upas.
ranclsco Chronlcle.J
e ill repute ot the upas is almost
naled by that of the manchineel, a West
idian tree. It is asserted that to sleep be
neath its shade is fatal, and that the land
crabs found in its groves become poisonous
from feeding on its seeds. Although there
is mnch exaggeration in these stories, no
douht exists of the deadly effects of man
chineel juico when introduced into the
system, or that a single drop causes instant
pain if it touches the human skin.
He Wanted a Tronblesomo Timepiece.
Washington Critic. I
At the clockery:
Purchaser What kind of time does this
watch keep?
Dealer Oh, very excellent time, sir.
Purchaser Always?
Dealer Always.
Purchaser Then I guess it won't suit,
for some of the time it will have to keep
on me won't be so rood as it micht be.
Havea't i g&tMVjthat.keep .aoBkey ,. aad
Sanlj
1
PITTSBURG, SUNDAY, MY 26, 1889.
POE'S FAMOUS FIGHT.
The Celebrated Battle Between Pi
oneers and Indians, When
BEAVE BIGF00T WAS WORSTED.
The Scene of the Desperate Encounter
Located Definitely,
SETTLIKG A HISTORICAL DISPUTE
THERE are few
more thrilling stories
in pioneer history
than that of the des
perate fight between
Andrew Poe and Big
foot, the Wyandotte
Indian. It has had
such widespread no
toriety that to many a
schoolboy this excit
ing tale is more fa
miliar and more en
trancing than the classio orations of Cicero
and Demosthenes, or the modern eloquence
of Webster and Patrick Henry.
An elderly gentleman who formerly at
tended district school not far from the scene
of this celebrated fight, recently told the
writer that it nsed to be a never failing pas
time of the boys in snmmer, during recess
or before or after school, to go to the river's
brink and then re-enact, according to the
best of there resources, this tragic saene. It
was somewhat difficult to secure a boy who
would consent to assume the part of Big
foot, the giant Indian who was worsted.
Boys, like men, enjoy being on the win
ning side, and consequently more Poes than
Bigfoots would volunteer. This was the
Where Foe and Bigfoot Fought.
difficulty one afternoon chosen for the mock
fight, but it was solved by their inducing a
raw Irish boy; a newcomer, to assume the
unenvied roll. Pants were rolled np and
superfluous clothing discarded. Sticks of
various sizes and shapes answered for guns,
knives and tomahawks, and wet brick dust
made excellent Indian paint
It is the unexpected which often happens
in modern as well as in ancient fights. All
went well with the boys, and according to
the old programme, until, in the heart of
the conflict in the water, the Irish lad en
acting the role of Bigfoot wouldn't drown,
and was fast drowning Poe, producing con
sternation in the minds of participants and
spectators alike. In this instance Irish
blood in Indian veins wouldn't go under,
and Poe, instead of the Indian, suffered an
inglorious defeat in the schoolboy's battle.
SOLVINO PIOHEEK PHANTASMS.
In pioneer times and border life early set
lers often journeyed from place to place on
foot, on horseback or in wagons, in search
of some rumored or imagined Eden just be
yond their limited horizon. Thus a roving
life was inaugurated, with the habit its only
fixture and the love of change its leading
motive. Homeless and houseless, without
local habitation or name, ties or duties, the
backwoodsman drifted into a distant, an un
known or an uncertain grave. Some such
fate as this seems to have overtaken this tale
of the Poe and Bigfoot fight, for it has shared
in the vicissitudes of those early times, even
as human events are ever colored, enhanced
or embarrassed by the circumstances of hu
man contact.
Like the ghost of some unavenged mur
der, or of some great and nnrighted wrong,
the spirit presence of the conflict in ques
tion has hovered and flitted for a hundred
years about the different alleged scenes of
this combat, now here and now there, with
out either the spirit or the bones of the shad
owy skeleton ever finding rest. It even took
possession of the perturbed hearts of other
wise reliable and ditrnifipd lnonl hicrinn
driving them to conclusions as unsettled
and varied as its own. From these it seized
every opportunity to leap into the minds of
A. . .. . SC
Ridge Down Which the Indians Were Chased,
and Where John Cherry Was Killed.
the chance tourist, the unsuspicious trav
eler or the susceptible newspaper correspon
dent, and great was the havoc which its un
rest wrought thereby throughout the length
and breadth of the land, in the matter of
scenes and dates, facts and figures. ,
In vain the blood of the Poes, in many a
worthy scion and descendant, cried aloud
against thisoutrage. In vain did manv a
local historian strive to voice his indigna
tion and right this wrong; but, alas! only
ended in writing the wrong, but after a
fashion so crooked at the spirit's distracted
dictation, as to fail of accomplishing the
dearest purpose of his heart, and so the
spirit tore madly on adown the ages to the
present day.
Even the shifting waters of the ever
changing Ohio frequently uncovered the
scene of the fray, but to no purpose, for peo
ple didn't see it right; historians couldn't
get it right; newspaper men were dreadfully
near-sighted, taking everybody else's view
but their own, and accordingly the river in
a fit of passion overleaped its ordinary
bounds and buried the secret in its own
bosom for a long, long time.
DEFINITELY LOCATING THE TIGHT.
But the secret leaked out, as all secrets
will, and to the boys and girls be it whis
pered that the kind fairies are supposed to
have certainly had a hand in it. Evidence
that they did is perhaps found in the fact
that the Rev. John Cowl, D.D., who now
owns the farm where this fight took place,
was taken and shown the spot where it oc
curred at the river brink by Mr. John
Brown, its former owner, who told Dr.
Cowl that the situation was shown him by
Poe himself. It was Dr. Cowl who pointed
out the place to me the day the photographs
were taken from which to make the cuts
which illustrate this article.
Both Dr. Cowl and Mr. Brown said that
during the intervening years the river has
eaten into the bank a good manv yards from
where the struggle actually was"; but where
Tomlinson's1 run empties into the Ohio,
above liexington, Hancock county, W.Ya.,
and off the bank just north of the run, lies
the scene of the incident we have been con
sidering. The writer found a small stone
Indian ax and several flint arrow heads
.within, the, area of a few reds thereabouts.
WMMMinniaiifitiiWsATr-
- - "TTIM
ginia shore extended down nearly opposite
the mouth of thexun. It was in the boshes
at the mouth of the run that the Indians
secreted their rafts or canoes, and it was for
this point that they wera, making when they
were overtaken and the fight ensued.
Soma accounts state that it was Adam
Poe who grappled with BlgTbot and had the
celebrated hand-to-hand conflict from the
bank into the river; but other and better
authorities agree that it was Andrew, and
that Adam was the one who finally shot
Bigfoot. This Is the prevailing view, al
though it is often spoken of differently, and
upon one of the Ohio river atlases the spot
is erroneously designated as "the place
where Adam Poe and Bigfoot fought."
SOURCES Or rNFOEMATIOK.
If Pittsburg or Allegheny children want
to personally inquire into the subject any
farther, there is little doubt but that one of
Dr. Cowl's sons, who is pastor of a church
in Allegheny, would be a source of infor-
fe.
The Cowl Farm,
mation for them. They will find different
accounts of the fight in the various editions
of Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio,
under the head of Colnmbiana Connty; in
McKnight's "Onr Western Border;" in
Doddridge's "Notes," and elsewhere.
Within the writer's acquaintance, one of
the best informed gentlemen upon local and
Indian history, and particularly upon the
Poe and Bigfoot fight, which he has made a
special study, is Colonel William M. Far
rar, Eq., of Cambridge, O.
Various authorities have located the scene
of the fight loosely and at widely separated
points. For instance, we read of-its having
happened on the Ohio river above Wheel
ing, and again, some distance below Ft.
Pitt, also of its occurring at the mouth of
Raccoon creek? opposite Yellow creek, at
the mouth of King's creek and of Harmon's
creek. Colonel Farrar, who personally
visited all these places and talked with old
residents and examined all records, places it
unmistakably at Tomlinson's Run, and in
September, 1781. This, taken in connection
with Dr. Cowl's direct and connected line
of testimony, together with the weight of
other evidence, seems to settle its location
beyond question. Colonel Farrar also con
siders that it was here that John Cherry was
killed during the running fight down the
hill and ridge, leading back toward Pngh
town (now Fairview), and Burgettstown.
The Indians had been up the hill on a
raid and were then retreating, pursued by
the Poes and their party.
It is with peculiar interest that one re
views the records of the -life and incidents of
the pioneer history of this locality. To
many it is a part of their own family record
and the soil a part of their own home acres.
O. M. S.
CfllNESE HABITS.
They're Been Groaalr libelled with 'Ke
Bard to Tbeir Animal Food.
The notion that the Chinese drink noth
ing but weak tea is partly dispelled in
Peking, where the youngergeneration of
men who have the means at their command
consume a considerable quantity of cham
pagne and spirituous liquors;'but the popu
lation at large cannot, even if they desired
to do so, indulge largely in alcohol, the
opium pipe being, as a rule, their only in
toxicating pleasure.
The Chinese -people certainly, as a race,
differ from the Europeans in their ideas of
the uses of soap and water in combinations,
and those prettily-tinted squares which are
to be obtained in England under the name
of Chinese soap are apparently not in any
such extraordinary demand in China that
there need be any serious difficulty in meet
ing it. But on one important point the Ce
lestial has been grossly libelled, and that is
with regard to his animal food. Of course
the poorest classes in China, as in anv other
country East or West are compelled by
hard fate to eat many things -which a
man of larger means would reject; but the
impression often entertained that the
Chinaman is a disgusting person because he
eats puppies, rats, slugs, etc., appears, when
the facts are stated, illogical and unjust.
Dogs and rats are eaten, but they are
specially bred for the table, the rats being
fed solely on farinaceous food and carefully
brought up by hand, so that agooddog or
rat is as expensive as the best venison or
turtle in London. The rodents in question
are far cleaner than our American pig, and
no one is called disgusting in this country
for eating a slice of ham at breakfast.
JIOEEIBLE MUEDERS.
Bow
They Tortnre People for Supposed
Witchcraft In India.
A horrible case of murder for supposed
witchcraft is reported from the Deccan. At
a village in Chennar, Jaluho, certain
shepherds were suspected by the villagers,
and these suspicions were accentuated in
consequence of a severe epidemic of chol
era. Two of the suspected men were seized,
solemnly tried and condemned for witch
craft by the village commission, and
sentenced to be tortured to death. There,
in presence of all the villagers, their teeth
were extracted with pinchers, and their
heads were shaved. Subsequently they
were buried up to their necks, wood was
piled round their heads, a fire was kindled,
and the skulls were roasted into powder.
Some 30 persons have been convicted and
sentenced to various terms of imprison
ment. A similar case was recently tried at
Bombay. The accused imputed the death
of his father and mother, and the illness of
certain members of his family, to the arts
of an old woman, and beat her to death
with a thick, heavy 6tick. These cases are
common,but are rarely brought to the notice
of the British authorities.
SIR JULIAN A HDSICIAN.
The New English Minister n Good Pianist
nnd a Fine Singer.
JTrom the Philadelphia News.l
Sir Jnlian Pauncefole, the new English
Minister, is seen to the best advantage after
dinner, when the strains of music are heard
in the drawing room. He Is a technical
musician of high quality for an amateur.
In his younger days, while waiting for
work, he used to compose and played the
piano with considerable skill and talent.
He has a sonorous baritone voice, and used
to sing, but of late he has not been induced
to try his vocal powers. Whether the ladies
of Washington will break down his reserve
remains to be seen, but certain it is that
Sir Julian looks forward with mnch pleas
ure to his term ot residence in a country
where he has already many close friends.
Mnllinttau Left in the Shade.
Detroit Free l'rcss.1
A yarn comes from Vancouver that must
make all the Mulbattans pf the rod and fly
hesitate to strain their Ingenuity in vain
competition. It is to the efiect that the S-year-old
son of a citizen was missed from
his home, and after a lone and anxious
search hv the fflmilv. toddled Into the
house carrying a sfcriai of 48 trout, which
, wit .
METAMORPHOSIS;
Being an Account of a Strange Experiment
Psychology, Recently Conducted
by a Physician.
Written for The
SEDSfE'E' XVTJBIKA.
Leopold Benary, an old New York physician,
prer nts Louise Masarte, a beautiful young
woman, from suiciding In the East river at
midnight The woman says she has neither
friends, relatives nor money, and she is haunt
ed by the memory of her past. She resists the
doctor's Interference, but finally agrees to go
to his home, where he engages to show her a
better way out of her trouble or to release her
within an hour. There sho tells the physician
that Bhe has been gmlty of a crime that cannot
be outlived. The physician tells her that he
can, by means of an opeVation, obliterate her
memory of all past events; that mentally she
will be as a newly-born babe. He offers to per
form the operation, and with the aid of his sis
ter Josephine, educate her in her new life. She
accepts the offer, and the next morning the op
eration Is successfully performed. The physi
cian and his sister educate her. and introduce
her to their friends as their niece, Miriam.
Four years later the doctor Is saved from the
blizzard by Henry Falrchlld, a young sculptor.
Dr. Benary insists upon the sculptor remaining
at his house for the evening, and Introduces his
niece Miriam. The sculptor falls in love with
Miriam and marries her. without knowing her
history, but supposing her to be the niece of
Dr. Benary. The wedded pair go to Europe to
spend the honeymoon.
CHAPTER XII.
Of course we watched the papers for an
announcement of the Touraine's arrival. A
fast steamer, ordinarily accomplishing the
passage within seven days, shn ought to
have reached Havre on the 22d. She was
not reported, however, until Monday the
24th, being then two days overdue.
It was on Friday, the 4th of January,
that we at last got a letter. The envelope was
superscribed not in Miriam's hand, but in
Fairchild's; and when we tore it open we
saw that the letter itself had been written
by the groom and not by the bride. This
struck us as rather odd, and made us a lit
tle uneasy. We hastened to read:
"Hotel de la Ghandb Beetaone, )
"Hatee, December25, 1888. )
"Deab Db. Benaet Christmas Day,
and such news as I have to give you I I
should put off writing until we reach 'Paris,
in the hope that when we are there the face
of things may have altered for the better;
only I know if you don't receive a line
sooner than you would in that case, you
will be alarmed.
"What I have to tell you is so horrible in
itself, it must shock you dreadfully, what
ever way I put it. I can't hope to make it
any less painful for you by mincing it, or
beating about the bush. Yet it seems bru
tal to state the hideous fact downright
Miriam has become blind, totally blind.
"Whether incurably so or not, we do not
yet know. Of course, we hope for the best;
but we can be sure of nothing until we get
to Paris, -where we shall cansutt-the bestoc-'tillst'no--oiiadr-MBsntline.'-yaa-
may"
imagine our state of mind.
"We had a most frightful passage, and
that was the cause of it. We ran into a
storm directly we left Sandy Hook, and it
followed usallthe way across. Badenoughat
the outset, it seemed to get steadily worse
and worse until we reached port. It had
only this mitigation, that it was behind ns
and moved in the same direction with us.
Therefore we were delayed but abont 48
hours. If it had been against us, there's no
telling when we should have got ashore.
"For six consecutive days (from the 17th
to the 23d) the hatches were battened down,
no passengers were allowed on deck, and
not only were the port holes kept per
manently closed, but the inneriron shutters
were screwed up, lest the sea should break
through the glass and swamp us. The sky
lights were also covered. Thus daylight
was excluded, as well as fresh air. Then
the electric lighting machine got out of or
der and we had to fall back upon candles
and kerosene. The atmosphere in the cab
ins became something unendurable. Much
of the time, owing to the violent motion, it
was impossible to keep even the candles or
the kerosene lamps burning, and we were
condemned to total darkness. At last,
however, they got the electrio machine into
running gear again, so that we had light.
"At intervals of five seconds, day and
night, the sea broke over uswith a roar like
the discharge of cannon, making every
timber of the ship creak and tremble. It
was enough to drive one frantic, that ever
lasting rythmic thunder. And all the
time we were tossed up, down and around,
us if that giant vessel were a cockle-shell.
Standing erect or walking was not to be
thought of. I had to creep from place to
place on hands and knees. And then the
never ending motion, and the incessant
noise; the howling of the wind, the pound
ing of the water, the creaking of timbers,
the snapping of cordage, the clanking of
chains, the crashing of loose things being
knocked about, the shouts and the tramp
ing of the sailors overhead, the groans of
seasick people, the shrieks of scared women
and children. I tell you it was frightful;
it was like hell gone mad; the memory of it
is like the memory of a nightmare.
"Miriam suffered excrutiatingly from sea
sickness. It was the most heart-rending
sight I ever witnessed, the agony she en
dured. I had never dreamed that seasick
ness could be so terrible. What made it
worse, of course, was the hopelessness of
her obtaining any relief until we reached
shore, unless the storm abated. There was
nothing anyone could do. I just sat there
beside her and held her hand, while she
either lay exhausted or started up and went
through the torments of the damned. I
can give you no idea of what she suffered.
It was hard work to sit still there and watch
her sufferings, and realize that I was utterly
powerless to help her in any way. From
Monday, the 17th, until last night, when
she had been ashore some hours precisely
one week she did not taste food. Once in
a while she would drink a little water
with a drop of brandy in it,
but even that distressed her cruelly.
On the 20th she was seized with convul
sions, awful beyond description. From
then on until we left the ship, she simply
alternated between terrible paroxysms and
utter prostration. Four days! I thought
she was going to die, her convulsions were
so violent, the prostration that ensued was
so death-like. The ship's surgeon himself
said there was great danger that death
might result from exhaustion. For those
four days (from the 20th to the 24th), he
kept her almost constantly under tbo influ
ence of opiates. On Saturday she seemed a
little better. That is, her convulsious came
scldomer, and were of shorter dnration.
When not in convulsions she lay in a stup
or, like sleep, only most of the time her
eyes were naif open and sho would groan.
But on Sunday she was worse again; and it
was on Sunday night, about 10 o'clock, that
after she had lain perfectly quiet for an
hour or so, all at once she started up and
cried out: "I can't see you, Icon'tsee
anything. It is all dark.- What has hap
pened? I believe I am blind."
"Of coursel thoughf it mtlst become hal
lucination caused by her sickness. I could
not believe that she had really become
blind. Bnt the ship's surgeon came and
made an examination and discovered that It
was so. He could attribute it only to a par
alysis of the optic nerve, the consequence of
shock and exhaustion. What the danger of
its being permanent was he could not say,
"Yesterday, thank God.. that hellish vov-
ge ew to im wtd.jTlw iaiMt,wg mefced
in
Dispatch by
(Henry norland).
this hotel I got'her into bed and sent off for
tho best medical men this town holds. They
simply corroborated the judgment ot the
ship's doctor that she is suffering from
shock" and exhaustion: and that her blind
ness is due to a paralysis of the optic nerve.
They think it will probably not be perma
nent She must keep" her bed here until
she is thoroughly rested, which will take
several days, and then we must go to Paris
nnd put her under the treatment of Dr.
Geoffrey Desessalres, who, it seems, is the
great French specialist in diseases of the
eye.
"She is in bed now in the next room
sleeping. She sleeps most of the time, or
rather dozes. Her convulsions are now
over, I hope fer good. But all last night
they occurred from time to time, very much
less violently, however, than when we were
on shipboard. She has not yet been able to
take much nourishment, but as often as she
wakes I give her a little beef tea
"That is about all there is to tell down to
the present moment, fou will understand
that I am in no condition of mind to write
at greater length than is necessary, having
gone without sleep for the better part oi a
week,to say nothing of anxiety and distress.
When she wakes she talks of you, and bids
me say how she loves you, and of course
you means always yourself and Miss Jose
phine. "I pray God that in my next letter I may
have more cheering news to write you.
"Always yours,
"Heuey Faiechild."
The dismay which the foregoing epistle
occasioned Joseohme and myself the sym
pathetic reader will conceive without my
telling. But it was nothing to that with
which we were filled when we read the next
and considered its purport:
STARTLING NEWS
Hotel de la BotrsBOirirAOE, )
Pabis, January 1, 1889. )
Deab De. Benabt "Miriam im
proved rapidly alter I posted my
letter of Christmas day. Best, quiet,
and nourishment were what she needed; and
those she had. The doctors gave us permis
sion to leave Havre yesterday, which we
did, arriving here in the afternoon. She is
pale and weak, and has lost 15 pounds in
weight; but she does not suffer any more in
body, though what her agony of mind must
be it is not difficult for those who love her
to imagine. However, that will soon be
over.
"I telegraphed in advance to Dr. Deses
saires, requesting him to call upon us at our
hotel last evening. He came at 8 o'clock
and put Miriam through a thorough exam
ination. He confirmed what all the other
doctors had said, that it was a paralysis of
the optic nerve. He inquired all about her
health in the past, and asked particularly
whether she had ever had any trouble of
the brain or spine. Of course we then
told him of that accident she met with in
1884, which had deprived her of her mem
ory. " 'Ah,' said he, 'that gives me the key
to the whole difficulty.' He proceeded very
carefully to examine her head; and whenhe
had finished he said there was a depression
of the bone at the point where she
had been hurt at that time.
and a consequent pressure upon the
brain, and it was that which accounted for
the extraordinary violence of her seasick
ness and the resultant blindness. Finally
he said that an operation to relieve that
pressure would, if made at once, restore her
sight; but unless that operation was per
formed, she must'remain perpetually blind.
He assured us that the operation was not a
dangerous one; that it wonld consist in the
removal of a minute section of the bone
what is called trephining. Of coarse there
was nothing for us to do but consent to
having the operation performed, and then
he went away, saying he wonld return this
morning.
"At 11 o'clock this morning he arrived,
accompanied by four other physicians, Dr.
CIdolt, also an oculist; Dr. Gouet, the
alienist; Dr. Marsac, a general practitioner
of very high standing, and Dr. Larquot,
said to be the most skillful surgeon in
France. They- made a long examination
and then withdrew to consult together. At
the end of nearly two hours they came to
me with their report, which was simply a
repetition of what Dr. Desessalres had al
ready said, that trephining would be neces
sary; that it would be effective, and that it
would be as free from danger as such an
operation ever is. The operation must be
performed as soon as possible, so that
atrophy of the optic nerve may not have
time to set in; but before they can safely
operate Miriam must be perfectly recovered
in general health. They have set the 14th
of this month as probably a favorable day.
Meanwhile she is under the care of Dr.
Marsac. Dr. Larquot is to conduct the
operation.
"The brave little woman I Bhe supports
her calamity so patiently; and she looks
forward to that dreadful ordeal with an
amount of nerve and courage that a man
might be proud of, God grant that all may
go well.
"There is nothing more for me to write at
present. Alwavs yours,
" "Hexey Faiechild."
At the close of Fairchild's letter this
postscript was added, in a hand that we
recognized for Miriam's, though it was
cramped and irregular, as if she had writ
ten with her eyes shut:
"Deab Ones I cannot see to write to
you, but I love you, and lore you with all
my heart. Miriam."
When my sister Josephine read that, she
burst out crying, like a child.
CHAPTER XLTI.
I waited till she had dried her tears. Then,
"Well, my dear sister,-' J questioned, "do
you realize what that letter means?"
"What it .means? Why, that her blind
mm k .oaly-twagewgy, asieM, WtMnd.,
I I m '(t"i ijMjsf yMiTKLfe&yi-
1 That she will recover her sight. Whas
else?"
"What else! This else, and Z am snr
prised that you do not see it for yourself,'
the same operation which will restore her
sight will also restore her memory; do yoa
understand? She wilt become lionise Mas.
sarte again. Bhe will begin at the precise)
point where she left off. She will forget
everything that has occurred daring the
past four years, and will recall what oo-
enrred before. It is that same pressure of
the bone upon the brain, to which they at
tribute her blindness, which keeps Louisa
Massarte in quiescence, and makes Miriam,
Benary possible. Believe that pressure, re
move that point of bone and instantly Lou
ise Massarte will come to life again, whila
at the same moment Miriam Benary will
cease to exist."
"Good heavens, brotherl" Josephine
gasped, holding np her hands in helpless
dismay. "But but surely but what
what is to be done?"
"Which in your opinion would be tEa
lesser of the two evils to have her remain
Eermanently blind, or to have her regain
er memory? She would recollect all that
she is happiest in forgetting, she would for
get all that she is happiest in remembering.
The four years during which she had lived
with us as our niece would be utterly ob
literated and undone. She would rise from
that operation in mind and spirit exactly
where she was, exactly what she was, just
before you and I put her under the influence
of ether on the 14th day of June, 1884.
Which, X want you to tell me, would be tho
lesser evil the blindness of Miriam Benary
or the resurrection of Louise Massarte?"
"Oh, there is no room for question about
it. Better a thousand limes that she should
never see the light of day again than that
she should cease to be herself, and retnrn to
her dead personality. Why.it is it is
Miriam's very life which is at stake."
"Precisely. To cure her blindness br tha
means which they propose would simply ba
to kill her; " to abolish Miriam, and to re
vive Louise Massarte. It is infinitely better
that she should remain blind. Therefore I
am going to prevent that operation if I
can."
"If you can, indeed! But how? How
can you?"
"Well, let us see. To-day to-day Is tha
12th, is it not?"
"Yes. to-day is Saturday the 12th. Well?"
"Well, the day set for the operation is thd
FROM MIRIAM.
14th that is, the day after to-morrow-Monday."
"Yes."
Well, I shall go at once and cable Fair
child to postpone the operation until I ar
rive in Paris. I shall then engage passaga
aboard the first swift steamer that sails.
The South German Clyde steamers sail on
Mondays. They make the passage in seven
days, and touch at Cherbourg. Do yon,
then, prepare my things so that I may taka
ship day after to-morrow. Once arrived in
Paris, I will persuade Fairchild to relin
quish the idea of the operation for good. I
will convince him that Miriam's life will ba
imperilled. Or, failing in that, I may find
myself compelled to tell him the truth about
Louise Massarte. Anything will be better
than to have her regain her memory."
"Yes, anything. God grant that he may
not disobey your telegram. But you must
engage passage for me as well as for your
self. I cannot stay at home here idle. Yoa
must let me go with you. I should die of
anxiety alone here at home."
I went to the nearest telegraph office and
sent the following; cable dispatch:
"Fairchild, Hotel de la Bourbonnags,
Paris.
"At all costs postpone operation till I ar
rive. Miriam's life endangered. Sail
Monday. Bekaby."
Then I hastened down town to the steam
ship company's office on Bowling Green and
engaged berths for my sister and myself
aboard the Egmont. which was to sail
promptly at noon on Monday, January 14.
Yet, despite these precautionary meas
ures, a heavy load of anxiety lav upon my
heart. What if Mr. Fairchild should suffer
the operations to proceed notwithstanding
my protest? I could not banish that con
tingenoy from my mind, nor its ghastly
corollaries from my imagination.
CHAPTER XEV.
Though by no means so stormy as that de
scribed by Fairchild, our voyage was an
unconscionably long one." To saji nothing
of fogs and head winds, an accident befell
our machinery whereby we were compelled
to lie to for 16 hours, while the damage was
repaired. We did not make Cherbourg un
til the afternoon of Friday January 25.
Ashore, my first act was to inquire whea
the earliest train would leave for Paris. A
train would leave at 10 o'clock that night,
dua at the capital at half pasVjiine the fol
lowing morning. My next act waJ'to-tftle-
graph Fairchild, informing him of our ar
rival, and warning him to expect us on tha
morrow.
At half-past nine to tha minute, Saturday
morning, we drew into the Gare de L'Ouest.
We were a little surprised not to find Fair
child there to meet us, and perhaps also a
little disturbed. Was Miriam so ill that he
dared not leave her. We got into a cab,
and were driven to the Hotel da la Bourbon
nage.' I inquired for Mr. Fairchild.
"Monsieur Fairchild is in his room, Moa
sieur." v
"Show us thither at once," said I.
"Pardon, Monsieur. If Monsieur will
have the goodness to send up his card."
"Josephine," I exclaimed, "how do yoa
account for this? Apparently, we are 'not
expected. He does not meet us at the rail
way station; and here at his hotel we ara
required to send up our card."
"Well, send it np, brother. We shall
soon have-an explanation," Josephine said;
and I acted upon her advice.
In two minutes Fairchild appeared.
"What I Arrived i" he cried, seizing each
ofusbyahand. "Your steamer was over
due, when did you get in? Why didn't
you telegraph from Cherbourg?"
"Why didn't I telegraph? But I did.
Do you mean to say you haven't received
my message?"
""Not the ghost of one. If I'd known to
were coming this morning but wait."
He stepped into te office of the hotel.
Issuins: thence in a moment, "TkereP ka
cried, exhibiting a bloa envelope. "Haw's
yosr teleeMSSj. IaAssarieal sfceM,km
IKUMW.HIi.
..'