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THE PITTSBTJEG-
DISFATOH, 'TUESDAY,
JUNE 4, 1889.
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PlTATEST-AND FULLEST
ACCOUNTS
OF THE
Jnfinstnwn Disaster
Will be found in this and the f ollowingissues of
The Pittsburg Dispatch,
Which has a corps of staff correspondents and
mists located at the scene.
ESTABLISHED FEBRUARY 8, IMS.
Vol. 41, So.117. Enterei at 1'lttsburg Postofilce,
November 14, 1887, as second-class matter.
Business Office 97 and 99 Fifth Avenue.
News Booms and Publishing House 75,
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Jane 1. 1SS9.
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Average net circulation of the Sunday edi
tion of The Dispatch for May, 1SS9,
47,468
Copies per issue.
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PITTSBURG, TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1SSSL
BATS 07 C0MF0ET.
The official estimates of the loss of life at
Johnstown reduce the fearful totals which
expressed on Sunday the fears rather than
the calculations of the fatal work of the
floods. The total of deaths it is now thought
will not exceed 4,000 or 5,000. This is terri
ble enough ; but as it indicates a reduction
of 5,000 or 6,000 from the previous estimates,
it is some relief to know that the limit of
the horrors has been surpassed.
, In connection with this ray of mitigation
there is also the comfort given by the prac
tical sympathy from all parts of the coun
try. Western Pennsylvania's prompt and
unstinted generosity was that of close rela
tionship; bat the aid from communities far
beyond such ties has been proportionately
generous. New York and Philadelphia
send princely sums. Memphis on one side
and Connecticut on the other, swell the re-,
lief. The wave of sympathy has traversed
the ocean, and London and Berlin send
their contributions to the aid of a commu
nity which would hardly be heard of in
those cities except for this disaster.
If anything can, comfort thesufferers under
their terrible calamity it must be this uni
versal and tangible offering of the sympathy
tf civilization.
BE CASEFTtt'OF THE W.
People cannot hearken too earnestly to
Ip Bigpafrfr.
the warnings already sounded by mddical
men atrainst the 'indiscriminate use othe
.Jlegheny water at this time. It is a case
f inhere the care that can aroid danger should
t beexercised, no matter what latitude con
jecture assumes as to the actnal risk from
the confusion of unhealthy elements into
the river.
filtering and boiling are simple and in
expensive processes. They are cheaper than
doctor's bills. Bad though the recent repu
tation was of well-water in some parts of
the city, it is safer to trust even to such for
a while than to use the quality of liquid
-which for a couple of days past has been,
and for some time yet will continue to be,
-dispensed through the pipes of the two
'cities.
DEVOTION AND GEHEBOSITY.
It is encouraging to observe that exam
ples of heroism and self-sacrifice in the pres
ent day do not tail to stimulate the emula
tion of noble deeds. The devotion of Father
Damien in sacrificing his life for the care of
the lepers in the Hawaiian Islands has in
spired others. Pather Moellers, a Belgian
priest, and Miss Ellen Flavin, a young
Irish girl, have taken his place, thus ac
cepting practical and certain martyrdom
for the sake of caring for the stricken out
casts suffering the slow death of that dread
ful disease
Although wholly different in character
and degree, a similarly encouraging proof
of the motives of humanity and of readi
ness to succor the suffering is furnished by
the universal outburst of sympathy and aid
for the stricken in the terrible Johnstown
calamity. Hardly any better proof of the
generosity and loyalty to the duties of hu
man brotherhood is to be afforded than the
fact that within twenty-four hoars after the
nature of that terrible calamity was known
every railroad station in Western Pennsyl
vania was prepared to ship supplies and
money to the sufferers. It was a sponta
neous and unstinted outpouring of assist
ance and comfort from the entire people.
The ready and free-handed generosity thus
displayed stands out in clear relief against
the exceptional examples of depravity af
forded by the few wretches who took occa
'sion of the calamity for plunder.
The world has still plenty of generosity,
heroism and self-sacrifice; although in times
' sof general prosperity the absence of occa
sion for the exhibition of those qualities
creates some doubt as to their existence.
AlLOHG-EELT WAST.
It is satisfactory to learn that indictments
have at last been found against railroad offi
cials for violations of the inter-State com
merce law. It is not creditable to this
nation that since this law was enacted viola
tions have been notoriously general, but that
not even an attempt has been heretofore
made to punish them. This is unjust alike
to the public for whose protection the law
was passed and to the railroad men who
made a decent effort to obey it That some
thing is being done to check the idea that
the law can be over-ridden with impunity
by the corporations, is something; then it
remains to be seen if Chicago will demon
strate its ability to punish railroad men
who break laws, with fine and imprison
ment, as ordinary people would be punished.
It is a long-felt want of this country to see
some of the corporate managers, who syste
matically defy law, in the penitentiary.
AKTI-PEOHIBITIOH PERSONALITIES.
The persistence of the disposition to make
Judge White the mark for all the shafts
aimed against prohibition is apparent in
-eomo-oi the comments made upon his recent
speech in favor of the amendment. Bat
there is a sort of incongruity between some
of the comments. Thus the Philadelphia
Telegraph regards it as a scandal "for a
Judge holding these (prohibition) opinions
to sit upon the bench and make a pretense
of administering" the law," and goes on to
declare that his action in the License Court
was not "such exercise of discretion as the
law and his judicial oath called lor." On
the other hand a city paper in referring to
the same speech attacked the Judge for
inconsistency because he did not exercise
his discretion to re) use all license and 'thus
establish the prohibition be believes to be
right. This discrepancy between the prin
ciples on which the Judge is assailed, are
likely to bring out the fact that his action,
though extreme and sweeping, was really
based on the attempt to enforce the law as.
the Judge construed it and not the law as
he thought it should be.
The suggestion of the Telegraph that a
Judge who prefers another sort of leg
islation to that in force, ought not
to sit on the bench to administer
the existing law would cause a wholesale
decapitation of the Judiciary. Thus, every
Democratic Judge, believing in a low tariff,
would be disqualified to sit on cases arising
out of the revenue laws; and most Judges
belonging to a minority party in any State
would be liable to be ruled off the bench, if
the fact that they think the law might be im
proved impairs their ability to construe
it honestly.
The Dispatch is not in favor of the
prohibition amendment; but it does not per
ceive the necessity of (lagging such silly
personal attacks into the discussion of an
abstract issue.
THEY WILL EE-EUILD.
In the face of the awful loss of life, no one
thinks of the immense destruction also oi
property at Johnstown; yet the future fate
of the place, now become so magically his
toric, will later on be a subject of interest.
The first ray of light is thrown on the sub
ject this morning in the telegram given
through The Dispatch, stating the pur
pose of the Cambria Iron 'Works people to
re-build. This is prompt and plucky.
Those works were the nucleus and main
support of Johnstown. If the owners were
to abandon them, under the pressure of their
enormous losses, then indeed the press, in
its accounts of the disaster, might be con
sidered as printing the obituary of the place,
as well as that of so many of its people.
It will be remembered, as to most of the
survivors of the dreadful catastrophe, that
anything they have in worldly possessions
is bound up in the ruins. Awful as the
associations must long be to them, it is still
at Johnstown that the sites of their homes
are, and with one another and the people of
the surrounding county their most intimate
acquaintance lies. "We may be sure, how
ever, that in the. rebuilding of the town,
which will follow the rebuilding of the'
Cambria works, the treachery of the ele
ments and the dangerous experimental en
croachments by men upon the track and
outlet of the waters will be the things first
and most vigilantly guarded against.
DISCIPLINE VEESUS HUMANITY.
The action of Adjutant General Hastings
in sending back the members'of Battery B
who had gone to Johnstown and commenced
the work of relief, may be in accordance
with the red - tape of discipline;' bat it is
very poor humanity when the suffering are
to be rescued and property is to be pro
tected. ,
The assertion of the Adjutant General
that it is an insult to, the people of Johns
town to bring in-the troops is certainly a re
markable one. It is not an insult to desti
tute and suffering people either to relieve
their wants or to protect them- against
thieves and marauders. Whether it is not
an insult to humanity when martial ideas
of discipline check the work of relief, is a
"question it might be well for the Adjutant
General to consider
Between a Governor who has not yet been
able to do anything in the relief work and
an Adjutant General who will not let others
do anything that clashes with his ideas'
of red tape, the State administration has
not managed to make a very shining record
for itself in connection with the disaster.
A BESTJLT OF COMPETITION.
It is a curious example of the different
effects of competition and combination,
that is brought out by the speculation in
water-gas companies that has been going on
in England. The formation of companies
to manufacture gas by the water gas patents
has been very active and some rather wild
speculation in the shares of the companies
has taken place. But combination with
the older companies using the more
expensive process has not been prac
ticable; and the result is that the new
companies are basing their, hope of
success on the unexampled cheapness of
the new gas. It is declared as the result of
experience that water gas can be produced
and sold in England at 4 pence, or 8 cents
per thousand cubic feet- The fact certainly
seems to be worthy the attention of the
Pittsburg public which has to pay ?1 per
thousand for illuminating gas and 10 cents
for fuel gas. The competition which would
evoke a supply of this 8 cent gas for both
light and heat would be duly appreciated
in Pittsburg.
AN EX-TBTJBT SMASHER.
The expressions of Mr. Wellington B.
Burt, who was last fall a candidate for Gov
ernor of Michigan, nominated by a party
which declared its enmity to trusts, and as
serted that they were supported by the
tariff, with reference to a business stroke
that he has just made in England, are ex
tremely interesting.
Mr. Bart informs the public that he has
made an arrangement which will control
the importation of English salt .and bay up
the small salt factories in this country.
Some ten or fifteen millions of alleged capi
tal is to receive dividends from this nice
little arrangement, and, as its avowed pur
pose is to prevent the "crippling" of the
industry by too low prices, it is the obvious in
tention to make the consumer pay the divi
dends. The arrangement, as the late Dem
ocratic candidate remarks proudly, "was
based on suggestions made by me, and has
been a great success."
This seems to prove that one leading Dem
ocrat's opposition to trusts is confined to the
conspiracies out of which he does not get a
divide. It may also indicate a very good
subject for trying whether the repeal of the
tariff on salt will have any effect on the
combine.
The report that they have discovered
iron mines in Oklahoma indicates that the
boomers are getting to work again; but they
cannot be said to be doing their best until
it is reported that they have discovered
cold. When they report the development
of natural gas wells, then they may be
truly considered to have caught their second
wind.
It is conducive to our national pride to
learn of the complete concessions which
Bismarck is reported to have made to the
United States with regard to the Bamoan
treaty. It certainly seems flattering to our
nation, to learn that it has induced Bis
marck to give up every thing. Bat before
we indulge in too much self-glorification,
as some of our esteemed cotemporaries
seem disposed to do, it is well to inquire
what Bismarck gets in return. No one
ever accused the man of blood and iron of
conducting his' diplomacy on the principle
of giving up everything and getting nothing
back. .
Tub Adjutant General's theory that it is
an insult to the Johnstown sufferers to guard
their ruined property against robbery would
appear to indicate a' logical deduction that
a lasting .injury would be inflicted upon
them by sending them food, money and
clothing. The official mind is sometimes
fearfully and wonderfully made.
We have the interesting information from
the esteemed Boston Herald that at the sale
of Mrs. Langtry's stage property the other
day, "the garden scene by the Lake of
Como," where Claude Melnotte's villa was
situated, was sold for the beggarly sum of
(25. This is not only an example of selling
a bnildib&site dirt cheap, but it is also a re
markable instance of real estate without a
local habitation. The Lake pf Como scene
in "The Lady of Lyons" requires almost as
violent an effort of the imagination as the
city lots which California land companies
sell on the summit of the Sierra Nevada.
The suggestion, is pertinent that if the
New York and Chicago Exchanges are
going to shut down on rival places where
the goddess of chance is wooed, to use the
mildest expression, they will have to sup
press the ocean steamships.
It is somewhat discomposing to learn
from the esteemed Atlanta Constitution that
the trouble with our American writers is
"their tame imitation of foreign models."
To learn that Amelia Bives, Gertrude Ath
erton, Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Edgar
Saltus are imitators of foreign models shat
ters all our preconceived ideas of European
literature. The Constitution should inform
us who the models are upon whom these
writers have shaped their literary efforts, in
order that the public may unite in subscrib
ing a fund in order to get the models killed
off.
When Judge Stowe informs the grand
jury that it is not its business to inspect the
public institutions he strikes a rude blow at
that limited opportunity for free entertain
ment which is one of the dearest perquisites
of grand jury service.
It is probably a base invention of the en
emy that Beverly Tucker was appointed on
that Haytlan Commission because' he was a
business connection of Mr. Blaine's, The
true reason must be, as it is the only- other
one apparent, that Beverly can assimilate
more spirituous liquors and paint the town
a deeper carmine than almost anyother
statesman within easy reach of the adminis
tration. Bnt if this is a qualification Jor
diplomatic office why should Riddleberger
be left in the cold consomme?
The Johnstown manufacturing works
will be rebuilt; bnt the builders can hardly
be blamed if they make it a condition pre
cedent that tfie South Pork dam shall not.
Mb. McGabigIiE, of Chicago, announces
that he will now settle down and try to
"honestly support his family." The qual
ification introduced by the word "honestly"
is a rather large one. In order to do that,
Mr. McGarigle will have 'to give up' all the
funds that he got out of the public belore
his hurried pilgrimage to Canada. That
might be uncomfortable for his family.
PEBS0NAL GOSSIP.
Gesebax Geeeit, of the Probabilities
Bureau, is afflicted with rheumatism in a mild
form, and grimly refers to this addition to his
outfit for predicting weather changes.
51. Henri Rociiefort belongs to one of the
oldest of nohle French families. But he has dis
continued the titles, and as his sons are not le
gitimate, they cannot claim them, so that when
the pamphleteer and journalist dies they will
lapse. Strange to say, the last of the line who
bore the title, Henri Bocbefort's father, died
some 20 years since in a lowly garret in abso
lute poverty.
It Is said that M. Gounod, the composer, who
is a man of intense religious convictions, once
spent an hour upon his knees praying for the
conversion of Sarah Earnhardt, in that lady's
presence. Sarah's response was. short but not
very sweet, and at last she had to torn him ont
of her house. Gounod's country, house was
threatened daring the Franco-Prussian wars.
Trusting to his fame for defense, he put up the
following inscription: "The house of Charles
Gounod, the composer of 'Faust.' " But the
marauding Germans burnt it to the ground all
the same.
The acoustic properties of Mrs. Ole Bull's
music room in her now residence on Brattle
street, Cambridge, says a cotemporary, are un
usually fine. The room was not planned on any
special theory, but has numerous windows, en
trances and irregularities of outline. It is
beautifully decorated with carved teak wood
from India. The friends who have been Mrs.
Ball's guests on occasional afternoons of late,
when Mrs. Wulf Fries has played for her and
she herself has assisted at the piano, have en
joyed a musical treat, appreciated the more for
being informal and impromptu.
Count Tolstoi, the Russian author, lite our
own Mark Twain, can't write in a 'nxed-up"
room. His study is devoid of carpets, paintings
or statuary. An old lounge, two unpretentious
tables littered with manuscripts of all kinds,
and two stiff-backed chairs constitute the only
furniture in the room. The room is divided
into two compartments by an unpalnted wooden
partition, which runs half way up to .the ceil
ing, and from which depend two wooden
rakes used by Tolstoi in his garden. In one
corner stands a wooden spade above it, hang
ing from a wooden peg, Tolstoi's great over
coat An eminent publisher tells a very curious
literary incident. One of his authors a lady
novelist who has won at least two brilliant suc
cesseshad in manuscript at the time "She"
was published a work based on the very same
idea. It had been the work of years, but she
destroyed it rather than appear to have plagiar
ised, si. iiourget has just related a similar ex
perience. He had four chapters, written of a
novel for the Jlevue del Lcltret et da Arts
when Maupassant's "Strong, as" Death" ap
peared with exactly the same plot. As tbo two
writers bad no communication, the incident
illustrates how intangibly ideas Boat in the in
tellectual air, the same thoughts being sug
gested in different minds by reading, or conver
sation, or discovery.
No Performance at Harris'.
The company that is billed to "give "The
Streets of New York" at Harris' Theater this
week was storm-bound somewhere west of
Washington, D. C, and no performance conld
be given yesterday. Manager Dean has tickets
placed on sale, though, for two performances
to-day.
The National IeagueMeetIng Postponed.
Lincoln, June 3. President John Fitzger
ald, of the Irish National League of America,
to-day issued a circular postponing he meet
ing of the League which was to hare been held
JtilvB at Philadelphia. This mt Hnnn nnnn
the request of Mr. Parnell.
Opening of the Calais flarhor;
Pabis, June a The new harbor at Calais
was formally declared ;ppen by President
Osrsot to-day in the; preserice'of a great
uirsne oi peuuiot .inei-ouuaings along tne
wharves and all the vessyls in the port were
uveeratpu vutu ukb ouu nuauu,
CDRIOUS CHIROGBAFHY.
Noted Authors Whoso Handwriting Has
Been Almost Hlcaible Dickens' Fine
Hand and Greeley's Hieroglyphics Sev
crnl (Good Stories About Noted Jour,
nnllst.
In a letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne
when a youthful student aV Bowdoin College
he remarks: "What do "you think' of my be
coming an author and relying for support upon
my pen? Indeed, I think the illegibility of my
handwriting is very authorlikel" The truth of
this early assertion is attested by the fact that
at his death the famous romancer left several
manuscripts that remained long unpublished
because no one could -be found to decipher
their intricacies. His remark .also serves to
illustrate the proverbial reputation for poor
penmanship with which, in common with the
legal profession, literary people have been so
long credited. This reputation is, at the pres
ent day, at least, almost wholly undeserved,
since, with very few exceptions, the chlrogra
phy of our most prominent authors is quite un
exceptionable in its legibility. It is no doubf
true that the handwriting of Joaquin Miller re
sembles a dilapidated hedge fence; that 'Nora
Perry's melts away into Intricacies of Illegibil
ity; that Aldrich's characters are bnt half
formed, and that William Winter's are so
strange and crooked as to resemble Japanese
hieroglyphics; bnt, on the other band, the chlv
rography of Holmes, Howells, Harte and a
host of others are fair examples of the clerical
neatness of most of our modern writers' manu
scripts. Cariosities of Penmanship.
The little pleasantry of Hawthorne's, bow
ever, had some foundation in fact; as many
amusing anecdotes are recorded of veritable
curiosities of chirography among the most
noted writers of the past. Sdmo years ago a
new form of annual was proposed in England,
which was to consist of a story by eminent
authors, each of whom was to write a page, to
be produced in fae simile. After receiving a
few manuscripts the publishers were obliged to
abandon the undertaking, as it was found that
many ot the pages would be utterly illecible to
the ordinary reader, and because some of them
would contain 20 words, while others would
comprise enough to fill a newspaper column.
This idea was, however, practically carried out
in an edition of one of Hugh Conway's storios,
in which each alternate page was a facsimile
of the author's manuscript; but it is safe to say
that few reader's ever took the trouble to de
cipher these pages, as the penmanship was al
most microscopic, and was rendered still moro
illegible by being blurred in the process of
printing.
Exceedingly Fine Writing,
The number of writers who have attained
this useless art of minute penmanship, so per
plexing to editors and printers, is really re
markable. As is well known, Charles Dickens
was one of the chief offenders in this direction,
his hand writing being very diminutive, while
every inch of his manuscript was usually cov
ered as thongh paper were both scarce and ex
pensive. His habit of writing with blue ink
upon bine paper, with frequent interlinations
and cross lines, completed his enormities, and
must have made bis copy a burden to the
wearied proofreader and compositor. Of a
like nature was the chirography of Donglas
Jerrold, who dotted down his jokes upon little
slips of blue paper in letters smaller than the
type in which they were presently to be set.
Charlotte Bronte's handwriting was so exceed
ingly delicate that it appeared to have been
traced with a needle, while Thackeray wrote a
fine feminine hand, and delighted In ornament
ing: his manuscript with pen and ink sketches
and caricatures of his famous characters.
Perplexing- to Printers.
Captain Marryat it is said, wrote such an ex
ceedingly fine hand that whenever the copyist
rested from bis labors he was obliged to put in
a pin where he left off in order to find the
place again. Another expert in microscopic
penmanship is the English novelist, R. D.
Blackmore, who, like Dickens, writes with blue
ink, and in tiny, detached characters, which
are almost undecipherable at first sight. His
cotemporary, William Black; is also noted fcr
the wonderful minuteness of his chirography.
Among American authors of extreme economy
in the use of ink is Cable, who writes a dapper
little hand with a fine-pointed steel pen: Julian
Hawthorne, whose letters are well-formed but
almost infinitesimal in size, and the poet Stod
dard, who uses a sharp-pointed lead pencil and
gets about 1,200 words on a single sheet of fools
cap, Illegible Signatures.
The most celebrated exponent of bad pen
manship in America was Rufus Choate, whose
signature has been aptly compared to "a grid
iron struck by lightning," and whose hand
writing was, in many cases, absolutely unde
cipherable, even by the, writer himself. One
one occasion Mr. Choate was having his house
repaired, and made arrangements to have a
carved mantelpiece put up, promising, to send
the model. Failing to obtain one to snit him,
he wrote to his workman to that effect. The
carpenter, after studying the missive which
looked as if a spider wading in ink had crawled
across the paper at length concluded that it
must be the-desired plan, and forthwith began
fashioning probably tho most original mantel
piece that ever ornamented a room. This story
is almost equal to that told of the great napol
eon, who was such a wretched writer that it is
said his letters from Germany to' Josephine
were at first taken for rough maps ot the seat
of war.
A Neiv Story About Greeley.
No mention of remarkable penmen would be
complete which did not inclnde the name of
Horace Greeley, whose chirography was once
tersely described by a new cpmpositor in the
Tribune office in the savage remark, liberally
interspersed with profanity: "If Belsbazzarhad
seen this handwriting on the wall he would have
been more terrified than he was." Mr. Gree
ley, becoming disgusted with the blunders of
one of his typesetters, sent a note up to the
foreman requesting him to discharge the man
at once, as he was too inefficient a workman to
be any longer employed on the Tribune. The
foreman obeyed instjvctldhs, but betore leav
ing the "typo" managed to get possession of
Mr. Greeley's note, and immediately went to a
rival office and applied for work, showing the
note as a recommendation. The foreman to
whom ho applied scanned the note, and said
"Oh, I see "good and efficient compositor1
employed a long time on the Tribune Horace
Greeley." and immediately set him to work on
the strength of Greeley's certification of his
incapacity, ftpr.having been "out of a job" for
the space pf about IS minutes.
A Terror to Printers.
The handwriting of Horace Greeley was plain
compared with that ot Hr. Bloss of the Cincin
nati Enquirer, who was, beyond doubt, the
worst penman -who ever occupied an editorial
chair. This remarkable journalist was peculiar
in his methods,' but in none more so than in his
manner of writing. His pen was held at the
extreme end of the holder, and the strange
characters which he made were sometimes al
most as unintelligible to himself as to the world
at large. His writing was simply a series of
hieroglyphics; but he made his characters al
ways alike, and, in course of timeby close
study, one could learn to decipher-them.
When it was known that Mr. Bloss was dead
the printers in the JZnquirer news room lost no
time in rummaging the waste paper bags for
specimens of his chirography, until in less than
an hour not a strap of his manuscript was to be
louna in uie omce.
Hcnrt-Brenklng Proofreaders.
Of all noted authors, probably none was such
a terror to his printers as Balzac, although
Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Byron were
nearly as bad. The latter, in particular, made
a fearful mess of his proofs, and scrawled cor
rections on the margins till Murray and his
printers were almost driven out of their senses.
His additions were generally greater than the
original text. To one poem, which orlelnally
contained 400 lines, LOOO were afterward added
in the proofs. Balzac's copy was altered and
corrected sometimes as many as 15 times, and
revise after revise returned in an almost
illegible condition.
Wlttf B0AES IK NEW T0BK.
The Fierce Wild Hogs Found In the Taller
ottho Hrdson.
From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.-,
The existence of wild boars of the genuine
European sort in the mountains of' the lower
Hudson valley will Delight sportsmen. It
seems that a New Yorker several years a-o
imported nine boars to clear out the rattlers
that infested bis estate on the Shawangunk
mountains. After they bad cleared the in
cisure, they dug under the fence ana escaped.
They have bred and increased, and are as
ferocious as those of the Pyrenees. Hunting
them is dangerous pastime, quite beyond that
of hunting bnffalos or grizzlies. That will,
however, only add zest in the estimation of a
genuine sportsman.
Mrs. MnybrlckToo Sick to be Tried.
LlTEBPOOb, Jane 3, Mrs. Maybrick, who,, it J
is charged, poisoned her husuand, states that
she is nnablA to appear in court. It 'is alleged
that Mr. Maybrick before bis death wrote to
his brother that if bis illness proved fatal an
autopsy ought to be held.
0US MAIL iWCfl.
Not Milk, But 'Lemonade.
To the Editor of The Dispatch :
Inyonr issue of Tuesday, May 53, in a report
of a business meeting of the Constitutional,
Amendment Committee, of Allegheny, there
are some errors which I wish to correct.
It is stated that a member of the committee
"assailed the Law and' Order 'League, charg
ins it with working against the amendment by
its spy methods," and that a restaurant keeper
in his precinct had been fined for selling a
glass of milk. It is said, further, that v the
committeeman said he had worked specially
with that restaurant keeper, and he had prom
ised to vote for the amendment, but that ho
had changed his mind since the L. & O. L had
arrested him for selling the milk. I had not
spoken to the restaurant keeper, and did not
say I bad worked specially with him. I did not
say it was a glass of milk, but that it was lem
onade. I have since seen the restaurant keeper,
and he makes no complaint of his treatment by
the Law and Order League. The matter had
been misrepresented to me. J.N. Smith.
ALLEGHENY, June 3.
Marrlago Licenses.
To the Editor of The Dispatch i
Is it necessary to have a license in Ohio in
order to get married? If so. where-is there a
place where a license Is not required? B.
CANONSBUBQ, June 3.
L It is necessary. 2. Any town or city in
New Jersey.
, BRITISH SHIP BUILDIHG.
An English Editor Tells Something About
the Trade and Customers.
It is pleasant to learn, says the London Globe,
that there is one great British industry which
holds its own and something more in competi
tion with the outside world. English, Scottish
and Irish built ships are still in request among'
foreigners; for quality and cheapness combined
they have no equals. .
Some trade statistics lately published show
that at the present moment the private yards
of' the United Kingdom have between 160,000
and 200,000 tons of shipping in course of con
struction for foreign owners. Our largest cus
tomer Prince Bismarck, will hear it with re
gretis Germany, which has ordered 80,000
tons'. Portugal ranks next with 20,000 tons,
while France, Norway and tbe-Coionies have to
pay for about 10,000 tons each. Brother Jona
than is only a small customer, his order being
for no more than 6,000 tons. But it has to be
remembered that his mercantile navy is also
limited. This latter consideration applies to a
greater or less extent in the other eases. While
the United Kingdom owes 9,SO0,O00 tons of com
mercial shipping, excluding vessels under 100
tons burden, all the other maritime nations
combined can only lay claim to about 5,500,000.
So, therefore, whether the ocean carryingtrade
or the ship building trade comes under observa
tion, this country can Congratulate herself on
being immeasurably ahead of all her rivals.
Which is an excellent thing to think of in these
days.when the pessimist croaks from the house
tops tnat jonn liuu is played out.
A MADMAN BUSS AMUCK.
Ho Fatally Shoots One Man nnd Terrifies
Scores .of Citizens.
rSrECIAL TKLEQnaM TO TUB DISPATCH. 1
Tbenton.N. J.,Jnnoa The people of the
lower section of the city were thrown into a
state of excitement at 8 o'clock this afternoon
by the appearance on the street of James Mc
Caren, a gray-haired old man called "Jimmy,
the bum," who was running about with a re
volver in each band, and threatening to kill
Sersons in his way. He had just shot and killed
ohn Shay, a married man, aged SO.
According to eye witnesses Shay had made a
jocular remark to McCaren, and in a flash the
old man had a revolver out. His bullet entered
Shay's breast just about the heart. Ho fell on
the sidewalk and expired. A few women sit
ting on a step nearby screamed "Murder."
McCaren turned to them and flourished his re
volver, and threatened to shoot if they made
any outcry. They retreated through an open
door, but other persons, attracted by their
cries, came into the street. Then the murderer
drew another revolver and ran amuck among
the people, driving them from point to point.
The only person that escaped his notice was
a stout lady carrying a babe. Mr. McCaren
held a crowd that finally surrounded him at
bay, until Frank Tyrell, a nephew of Police
justice xyreii, came aiong ana disarmed mm
of one of his revolvers. McCaren concealed
the other weapon on his person. Lieutenant
Cleary, of the the police, then appeared on the
scene and took him into custody.
1
A W0BK THAT HBE0 BEGAN.
An Engineering Project Undertaken by Ro
mans Soon to be Finished.
StLools Globe-Democrat.
A work of engineering began by the Romans
under Nero, in the socond century, will be fin
ished this year; that is, it has been in process of
construction for over 1,700 years. The work to
which we refer is the cutting of a canal
through the Isthmus of Corinth. The canal,
when done, will be only four miles long, and
will bave a depth of eight meter?, which will
allow tho passage of the largest vessel used in
Greek traffic.
It is not so great a matter from an interna
tional view as the Suez and Nicaragua proj
ects, bnt it will do much to further the rapid
progress made by modern Greece in the arts of
civilization and commerce.
A TABLE GROWING GKEEN LEAVES.
The Strange Sight Witnessed at a House In
a Canadian Town.
Brussels, Ont., June a Your reporter,
while at a private honse the other day, saw a
very rare curiosity in the shape of a flower
stand; it is made of poplar, and where the
small limbs bave been cat off there are green
leaves; the flower stand Is actually growing. It
was purchased from a traveler from Seaf o
forth,
and is quite a curiosity.
LEGENDARY LORE.
A Fow Stories of Animal Mythology He
lming to Birds nnd Beasts,
The bushman still holds the belief that the
jackal Is black, because he oncecarried the sun
on his. back, when that great luminary was a
mortal on earth, and was sitting by the wayside
weary and worn.
In Poland, says De Gubornalis, It was a capi
tal crime to kill a cucKoo,.because the old Slav
onic mythological diety used to change himself
into the form of that bird fn order to an
nounce to mortals the number of years they
had to live.
I The Zulu believes that the reason tho hyrax
has no tail is because, when tails were being
distributed, each animal had to fetch his own,
and the hyrax was too lazy to perform the
journey. Hence the Zulu proverb, if one Zulu
asks another to fetch bim something, simply
because he is too lazy to do it himself: "The
hyrax went without a tail because he sent for
it."
The natives of Vancouver Island bave a
mythical origin for the melancholy note of the
loon. One fisherman robbed another of his flsb,
and.thencut out his victim's tongue, so that,
when asked what had become of his flsb, he
could ' only make the plaintivo cry which, is
made by the loon. They believe that that
creature is the luckless fisherman trying to
make himself understood.
Legends about the cuckoo are exceedingly
numerous. There Is a singular one from Bo
hemia. "At a wedding among the birds, at
which the hoopoe was .bridegroom, the cuckoo
lent her crown which she always wore, and has
never beon able to get It back. That is the
reason why the cuckoo ia always crying out
kluku, which means 'Yob rascal,' to which the
other replies jdu, jdu, 'I corns, I come,' but
comes not"
Bohehia is a fruitful source of myths. Here
is another story of the cuckoo, and a more in
teresting one, to my mind than thelast: "Christ
one day passing a baker's shop, sent one. of his
disciples in to ask for bread. The baker re
fused to give it, but his wife and six dan ghters,
who were more compassionate, delivered some
secretly to the disciple. In reward they were
placed among the stars; as the Pleiades; but the
baker was tamed into a cuckoo, and it confirms
this story that bis cry is heard as long as those
seven stars are visible in the Bky."
Grimk, in his work, tells how it is a com
mon belief in Europe that the enckoo is a
transformed girl seeking or calling her brother.
Instances are given "which are quoted by, the
writer in Cornhill Magazine. ' "In Albania
there were once two brothers and a sister. The
latter accidentally killed oneot them by get
tingup suddenly from her needlework and
piercing him" to tbo heart with her scissors. Sho
and the surviving brother mourned so much
that they wero turned into' birds; he cries out
to the lost brother by night gjou, gjon, and she
by day. ku, ku, ku, ku, which means, 'Where
are your"- "
BELIEVERS IN LUCI.
A Few of the Many Superstitions of Gam
blers and Other Sports The PokerPlny
ers Peculiarities Seared by a Black
Cut Lucky Pieces and Mascots.
Perhaps no class of people in the world are
as superstitious as the professional gamblers.
It is very rarely that one of the fraternity is
found who is not only superstitions, but mor
bidly so. Their dreams, the way in which they
get ont ot bed in the morning, whether thev
see the new moon over the right or left shoul
der, action of animals, and a thousand trivial
occurrences guide the gambler in his move
ments and lead him to play or abstain from
Maying on certain days. Superstition follows
f the gambler to the card table and never leaves
him, and there are hundreds ot the fraternity
who wonld quit a game at the outset should
anything happen to lndnce them to believe that
the fates were against their winning at that
particular time.
"I have not won at poker for more than a
year now," remarked a veteran sport, "andril
tell you how it happened. I have a wholesome
horror of cats, and especially of black ones. A
little over a year ago I had been playing
poker the night before, and had won a hand
some stake I awoke lato in the afternoon,
about dusk, and hurried out of. bed to don my
clothes, and try my luck again, feeling like a
four-time winner. Imagine my feelings when a
large black cat confronted me at the door, and
for a time barred my passage. Every time I
wonld attempt to leave the room that cat
would bristle up and show fight. I finally
hurled a bootjack at the creature, striking it
fairly in the head, and the animal turned and
ran away.
w
A Sport's Nerves Shaken.
"I will confess that the incident unnerved
me, bnt after taking a "bracer,' and enjoying a
a hearty supper. I strolled around to a popular
resort and bought a stacs: of chips, sitting into
a game where there was plenty of money and
the players easy 'marks' for a professional. I
lost from the start couldn't win a pot. And
the hands I had beaten would break a man's
heart threes, flushes, full bands, aye, even
fours would not win for me. After losing
heavily I suddenly thought of the incident at
my hotel, with the big black cat, and I quit
right there and then, I didn't play for quite a
while, but finally thinking the spell had passed,
I again sat in but lost as before, and that has
been my luck right along. I believe the visit
of that cat was a warning, and it I had obeyed
it and not played that night, I would not have
struck this strtak of badlnck. If my lnck ever
changes again I will never touch a card the
same day I see a cat in the house or on the
street"
As the narrator of the above absurd reason
for rosing at cards was evidently imbued with
superstition, he was asked to relate other inci
dents where card players had been pursued by
adversity for not paying due heed to significant
waxnujgB.
Luck fn a Pocket Piece.
"There is any number of" them," he con
tinued. "There Is something peculiar about it
all, I will admit, but there are many who can
testify that ill-luck usually follows a warning
of that kind. It may be mind-reading or an in
tuitive knowledge of what is to happen, but
those who disregard the admonitions of their
own reasoning powers invariably regret it. At
thelast meeting of the St Louis Jockey Club
a well-known sport lost heavily every day until
the closing day of the meeting. His continued
ill-luck had unnerved him, and he bad determ
ined to let the races alone that day. But he
couldn't stay away from the track, and con
cluded to go out and look at the fnn anyway.
On the way out the conductor of the street car
failed to conduct fare from the sporting man,
and just as he alighted from the car he saw
something shining in the street He stooped
and picked it up. It was a silver dime. Things
are coming my way to-day,' he said, 'and I'll
just put a few dollars on the first race, any
way.' He did, and won. He repeated and
won again. And that 'superstitious' man, as
you would call him, not only won all he had
lost durine the meeting, but came away with a
clean winning of over 500.
Playing With Cross-Eyed Men.
"Now, there may have been nothlne signifl-
cant in his getting that free ride and finding
that dime, but if he hadn't he wonld not have
risked a dollar. His superstition stood him
well in hand, and he conld never be convinced
but that there is something in signs and inci
dents which prompts a man to act, and as a
rnle to act properly and successfully. He
wouldn't take $10 for that lucky 10-cent piece
be found in the street, and now wears it as a
watch charm. Bnt the most' superstitious of
all gamblers Is the poker player. The slightest
slgn' or annoyance breaks blm alljto pieces. I
once" saw a poker player enter a room, remove
bis coat light a oigar.invest in a stack of chips,
and as he pulled his chair up to the table he
discovered that there was a cross-eyed man in
the game. That settled it Without a word
be arose, turned in bis checks, and, donning
bis coat left the room. When asked what his
peculiar conduct meant he replied:
"'Why, I wouldn't play in a game of cards
with a cross-eyed man it he'd give me his
money.'
Why J'
'Well, I can't say why, but I have a premo
nition that it is bad luck, and I don't want to
be pursued by ill lnck; that's the only explana
tion I can give.'
The Superstitions Pokor Player.
"This is but one of many of the peculiarities
of poker-players; There are very few of tbem
who will permit a spectator to stand or sit
near him, even a friend who he knows wonld
rather cut off his right arm than tip his hand,'
and to pat a foot on a player's chair is a mortal
offense. I have beard many a player, npon
discovering that some one had a foot resting
on his chair, say: "There, I knew it No
wonder Fm losing. Take that foot away,
please.' " Others will at once get up and quit
the game upon making the discovery. I once
knew a crack poker-player, whose face was a
blank, no matter what sort of a hand ho held,
who would quit the game if he won the first
pot It is said that Senator Tabor always pre
dicted a losing 'sitting' if he held a deuce in
the first hand dealt him. Such peculiarities
as a mortal dread lest some one in the game
will change a red or blue check in a jack-pot
for whites, while the play is going on, or take a
particular seat etc., are very common, but the
thing most dreaded by superstitious poker
players is tho result of lending checks to a
friend during the Drogress of a game. Not one
in a hundred will do it without immediately
quitting the game. Not that they are parsi
monious, or afraid that they will not be repaid,
but simply because they claim it brings ill-luck.
t
Lottery nnd Policy Fiends.
"In. the man who plays policy or wastes a
stipulated amount per month in lottery tickets.
the poker player has a strong rival for the
prize for superstition. Let a policy playerpass
a certain street and house number threo times'
in a day and he will play those numbers if the
idea strikes him light or will avoid them if he
feels a premonition that they will lose. The
lottery victim happens to ride on a street car
bearing a certain number .three or fourtimes
in succession. Then in his dreams he sees the
number written on the walls, on the windows
and dancing beforo his eyes. He hurries oat
the following day and purchases the ticket
.bearing that number if he can get it If he
cannot be is firmly convinced the number will
win, and is wild to find that the ticket he
wanted is sold. If he wins, thousands believe
in his wonderful stories, born of superstition.
If he loses, be will- explain away everything
by urging that the warning was intended for
him, and that it indicated that be should not
play that number, and that he misunderstood
the signs.
s
Faith In Baseball Mnscots.
'Hundreds of anecdotes might be related
showing how widespread is what Is known as
superstition, especially among the sportinsr
classes-r-how people who lead quiet sedato
lives are nearly as bad, refusing to take any im
portant steps on Friday, for Instance bat that
part of the story has been told and retold. The
baseball mascot is another living example of
how superstition takes hold and never leu go,
and there Is not a baseball club in the League
or Association whose members cannot tell yob
why they were beaten after the game is over
they met a funeral, or one of their number put
his coat on wrong, or some similar trivial hap
pening, doomed them to defeat Among the
thousands of superstitions people there are
very few who will admit their weakness."
WHAT HE SAW.
A Man Who Does Not Seem Satisfied With
the Paris Exposition.
They are grumbling in Paris because the
Exhibition is not ready. This is what one man
says be saw when ho went lately on a morning
visit:
L Twenty-three handsome pavilions in
course of construction. Inscription: "No ad
mittance." 2. Fiirty-flve pavilions, no less elegant, in
the bands uf .tho locksmiths. Inscription:
"Entrance forbidden."-
, a Sixty-three .other pavilions, all equally
handsome, in the hands of painters and car
penters, inscription: "It is forbidden to enter
under pain of fine,"
NEW YORK NEWS NOTES.,
Colored Dudes Hauled Up for Mashing,
!sxw TOKiBtratiu srxcuxs.
New Yoex. June 1 This morning Jeffer
son Market Police Court was full of colored
persons, who wished to hear 23 col
ored dudes tried for" "mashing." The dudes
were arrested at the instance of St Mark's
If. E. Church. According to Deacon Samuel
Tilden Williams, they had done nothing for
the last 20 Sundays but ogle Christian young
women of color from" the street corner near St.
Mark's. They were caught in a bunch before
the church last night and bustled off to jail by
12 policemen. They all looked so sad and sub
missive this morning that Deacon Williams
refused to. press his complaint against them.
The judge dismissed them with a sharp lecture
on the evils of Sunday mashing.
A Genuine Garibaldi Day.
The Garibaldi Legion and many other Italian
societies made their annual pilgrimage to-day
to the honse on Staten Island in which Gari
baldi once lived. Speeches were made by prom
inent Italians from the porch where Garibaldi
smoked his pipe almost every evening for three
summers. Dinner and a dance were had in the
adjoining garden.
A Naval Hero Dead.
A. Os Smith, for GO years in the naval service
of the United States, died last night in Brook
lyn. He had served on men-of-war during the
Mexicaif War and the Rebellion, He had
cruised around the world a dozen times or
more. For the last few years he was postmaster
in the Brooklyn navy yard.
Mr. Cleveland's Next Appearance.
Grover Cleveland will help Mayor Chapln, of.
Brooklyn, review a parade of Sunday School
children next Wednesday.
An Umbrella With a History,
Among the articles to be sold by the property
clerk at police headquarters this month, is a
silk umbrella with a tomato head which was
stolen from Mrs. Lillian Scofleld. It was a gift
from Broker Nate Hatch, whose mysterious
death ocenred in tho yard attached to Mrs Sco
fleld's house. The bonnets and tights and
gowns and laces and jewelry of Aimee, the
dead queen of opera bonffe, will be sold in a
down town auction room next Wednesday.
More than 120 complete costumes were spread
out for examination of professional costnmers
and managers to-day.
C0MPDLS0RT PHOTOGRAPH!.
A Detective Evolves a Scheme to Havo
Every Man's Picture Taken.
"Years ago," said Charles Elborongh, of 8t
Louis, "I did a quantity of detective work in
the Bast, and was once sent on a chase after a
defaulter, which took me right round the world.
Before quitting the business for something less
sensational, but more profitable, I elaborated
a scheme for the prevention of crime and the
detection of crime by means of photography,
and the only objection to it was the crude con
dition of the art at that time, and the absence
of portable cameras. The scheme involved a
law for compulsory photography. Everyman
on arriving at say, 20 years of age, should be
compelled to have his picture taken by a Gov
ernment photographer, who shonld retain a
picture and give another to the subject On
the back the name, age, height weight and
any peculiarities should be written.
"Now see how this would work. A man who
offered a stolen horse or team for sale could bo
challenged to produce his official photograph,
and there could be no more of the old-fash
ioned defenses alleging purchase, from some"
person who conld not be found. Or if a man
wanted to cash a check and was not known, he
conld produce his picture and the teller could
satisfy himself from the description and like
ness as to the identity. This scheme, in fact,
would make the commission of crime difficult
and no man conld long escape detection. As to
the expense, it would be quite nominal, and
wonld be more than met by money saved which
wouldhave been spent by detectives on useless
trips or false scents, I know this idea will be
ridiculed, bnt I am convinced something ot the
kind will be finally adopted."
QUEER WAYS OP TELEPHONES.
An Inspector Says They Have Idlosyncra-
, cles Like Human Beings.
"A telephone is like a human being in some
respects," said a telephone inspector. "There
are some of them that are always out of order
and costing the company money, and some of
them do not need attention once a year. Now
and then a telephone needs repairing so much,
that the company actually loses money on it
I've known a telephone to get out of order
mysteriously and defy all attempts to locate
the trouble for a few days, and then in an
equally puzzling' way it would come out all
right We don't know half as much about
electricity as we. will after a while, and there
are many things about the telephone that we
don't understand, but one or two simple les
sons about it shonld be learned by every one.
"For instance,- every user of a telephone
should know that when he is listening and the
voice at the other end of the line becomes now
fainter and now more distinct that induction
from other wires is causing the interrnpton.
and that the tronble will bo only temporary.
Hang up the audiphone. take it down in a min
ute and everything will work all right Bnt
when there is a rattling in the 'phone, disturb
ing the sound, and somstimes cutting it off
altogether, there is something wrong that
needs the attention of an inspector."
CURING BI HYPNOTISM.
A Hospital for the Purpose Shortly to be
Opened In France.
Hypnotism is performing some strange and
almost miraculous cures. After all, the falth
curists will-be left in the shadows at the pres
ent rate of progress. It Is now claimed that
the thirst and desire for intoxicants can be
wholl y eradicated by this method. A hospital
is already opened in France to treat this class
-ot patients, and it Is believed by truly scientific
men'tbat the cures are permanent
The patient is hypnotized and then told that
be must abhor and detest liquors, and never
again use them. It reads like a joke, bnt there
still are strangerthings in the world than were
dreamt of by tbo philosophers. The world
should reap new harvests morally as it reaps
industrially.
The Panama Canal to be Inspected.
Pabis. Jane a At a meeting of 300 Panama
Canal shareholders in this city it was decided
to send a commission to Panama immediately
to inspect the canal woiks.
Austria's Emperor Will Go to Germany.
Vienna. Jane a The J'either Lloyd says
that Emperor. Francis Joseph has accepted an
invitation to attend the German army anni
versaries in the autumn.
THE ELECTRICAL WORLD.
The simplest way to moderate; the glare of
Incandescent lames without lessening the
lighting power is to give the globe a thin coat
ing of collodion.
It Is proposed in England to extend the tele
phone system to pulpits occupied by eminent
divines, for the benefit ot Invalids and also of
patients in the hospitals.
A fleet of small twin screw boats, propelled
by electricity, will ran on the Thames river,
England, this summer. They will transport
passengers from place to place over short dis
tances. The electricity is to be generated
from accumulators, carried on the boats, and
recharged when necessary at any of the river
stations. The boats are 63 feet long, 22-inch
draught and carry SO passengers.
A system of machines has been devised for
facilitating the taking of the census, in which
electricity is called Into play. The machines
are much more reliable than the most accurate
human agency, and one machine will do tho
work of a large number of clerks. The next
census of this country will be taken with these
machines, and two are shortly to be sent to
New York for the 1890 census taking.
There are now in use in the United States
more than 5,500 central electrical stations for
light and power. There are 200,001) arc lights
and 2,500,000 incandescent lamps. There were
53 electrical railways in operation in
March last, and S3 roads in process
of construction. The increase of capital in
electrical investments daring 1SSS was nearly
570,000,000. These, are very significant figures,
and they point unmistakably to the course of
future inventions and discoveries.
The newest rival to the electric light is zlr
conla, the oxide of zirconium, a metal found in
North Carolina. Over a Bunsen burner is fitted
a glass chimney, in which is snspended a hollow
cotton wick saturated with zlrconla in the orm
of a white powder. When tbCgas is turned on
and a match is applied the wick is immediately
consumed, bat the zlrconla remains as a thin,
delicate, snow-white hollow column, which
beats white hot and glows like an electric light,
and seems aiaoat'to last forever if it does not
get broken.
CnilOUS CONDENSATIONS.
r A Kansas bride received a barrel of salt
as one of her wedding presents.
Miss Frankie Baymond, an 8-year-old
Chicago glrL has three Hon cabs to play with.
An advertisement in the London Times
offers to cure nervousness and timidity In bash
ful young men "who design making proposals.
of marriage."
There are in London 65 theaters and
about 500 music halls, providing entertainment
for 325,000 people every night, or 10U.000.000 in
the coarse of a year.
-The multiplication of 987,654,321 by 45
gives U,U4,Ui.ii3. Beversing the order and
multiplying 123.45&789 by 45 a result equally
oua is oDtaineo, o,too,too,oua
No less than four doctors will be always
on duty at the Pans exhibition and will be
found, when wanted, at the fixed points at
which it has been arranged to post them.
By a law recently enacted in Denmark
a man found drunk is carried to bis own resi
dence, and the keeper ot the saloon where be
bought his last glass has to pay the expenses of
the ride. '
Arnold Lake, of St John's, Mich., has
a colt that was horn without eyes, and that
portion of its bead where the eyes should
be is as smooth and firm as any other part of
its skulk '
Mrs. George Thomas, a Dubuque
woman, arose in the night to shut a blind, and
ber husband bobbed up after her and fired six"
shots at the supposed burglar.not one of which
came within a foot of her.
Mrs. Todd Lattie, of Bronson, Mich.,
who has been totally blind for 15 years, sudden-'
ly regained her eyesight a few days ago. Tha
first person she saw was her daughter, and she
exclaimed: "My, how you have grown."
The evil effects of an atmosphere sur
charged with dust, in factories, have been at- '
tracting so much attention in England that tha
factory acts are about to .be amended, and a
bill is to be brought before the Honse of Com
mons compassing an effectual means of pre
venting Injury from the inhalation of dust
In Matagorda county, Tex., are a som
ber of negroes who are natives of Africa. They
were pirated and brought there from Guinea
during the brief period of the republic They
preserve many of the strange customs of
savagery, use their own language among them
selves and retain all tha superstitions of feti
chism. There are more miles of railway in tha
Australian colonies in proportion to the pop
ulation than in any other country in the world
with the single exception of the United States.
The total cost of construction of the Austra
lian railways Is estimated at 85.503,210. tha
average cost permlle for several years being
about 10,102. "
Bellini's piano, on which he composed
his earliest operas, has Just been found in tho
possession of a widow lady of Catania, whose
husband bought it for 1 IOs. The Cantanlans
have petitioned the owner to present tha piano
to the town, Bellini's birthplace, that the relic
of their townsman may be preserved as a sou
venir, and not pass into careless bands.
As we recollect, says Eugene Field, Sir
Walter Scott's poetry is full of rhyme that Is
not perfect, and the greatest of modern En
glish' poets (invariably careful and correctjkloes
not hesitate to rhyme "hundred" with "thun
dered" and "wondered" and "blundered? ' tha
grandeur of the theme, the nobility ot tha
thought and the magnificence of the move
ment are such that to stop or to carp at that
bad rhyme would be profanation.
Mrs. Catherine Schmidt, of Wichita, .
widow with a family of three children, was
found guilty of selling three glasses of beer
and sentenced to imprisonment for three
months, and a fine of $300 wis imposed. The
trial was witnessed by a large crowd, and when
the sentence was announced there were many
cat-calls and hisses. It Is said to be the first
instance of a woman being sentenced to jail
for violating the prohibitory law.
-The telephone bell rang suddenly in
UeElysee the other day just as President
Carnot and the Cabinet ministerstwere assem
bling in council. An official put his ear to the
tube and heard an unknown person ask if ha
were in communication with the Elysee, as if
he bad an Important declaration to make. On
being answered in the affirmative, the unknown
applied his mouth to the telephone and de
livered the following message verbatim: "Viva
Boulanger! You are all a pack of robbers!"
At Jackson, Mich., a butcher in tha
Central market in hanging out a quarter of
beef was unable to let go for a time and then
fell to the walk. Several others who handled
tha meat were knocked down, and only onV
man; who had on rubbers, foiled to be shocked'
Another man touched one piece at beef anbTt
laid bl9 hand on another, when he, too, fell to
the walk. The cause was finally found in aa;
electric wire communicatine a current to tha
Iron market front charging tha meat with
electricity.
Two Akron young men, says a paper of
that city, one of whom Is a thoroughly educat
ed watchmaker, have completed- an electric
clock which promises to revolutionize tha
clockmaking industry in this country. So far
as can be learned this clock is the most simply
devised thing ever invented and must not ba
confounded with the so-called electric clocks
now made, which are only self-windlnc and
hare a barrel and a mainspring. The Akron
clock ha neither, and in fact is so simple that
a little child can see into it There are a few
details yet required, bat in a short time a com
plete and elaborate description of it will ba
'given.
As motive powers, steam and electricity
are threatened with a new rival. 31. de Susini.
aCorsican doctor, has, it is asserted, after 20
years' perseverance, constructed a motive ap
paratus or propeller, of 20-horse power, which
is worked by sulphnric ether, a result which
the doctor anticipates will realize a saving of
85 per cent ot the combustible material at
present employed for setting machinery in mo
tion. Experiments with the apparatus hare
been-made before scientific men at Paris. To
pronounce any decisive verdict on the merits
of the new agent would as yet however, be evi
dently premature.
A London lady lost a diamond earring
of great value. A gentleman who bad Just re
turned from the East professed bis ability to
discover the missing gem by means of an In
dian drug. Accordingly, he asked all the com
pany to be seated, and presently, after leaving
the room.'he reappeared with a colored glvs
bowl containing liquid. He then announced
that he should ask all those present to dip
their fingers into tha vessel, and declared that
should anyone have secreted the jewel for a
joke the jester's hand would be tinged a
rich blood-red. After the ordeal was gone
through everyone's digits came out perfectly
white, bat the earring was found at the bottom
of the bowL
CLIPPED BITS OF WIT.
Miss Bugge O, but mine is such a hor
rid name I Young Brown Ah s um I'm afraid
It's too late to alter it now I-PuncA.
What this country really needs is less
scrambling for office and more strawberries Is tha
shortcake, 5Ao and Leather Reporter.
In a Philadelphia shooting' gallery tha
local sportsmen use a living dog Instead of a
painted target. On an average one dog lasts 17
days. Somertitte Journal.
.The PrrrSBUEO Dispatch prints these
two items by accident in add conjunction: 'Shad,
are selling for i3 a hundred down lu Delaware.";
"Enough bones to fill a cart were found in a fox's ;
den in .Birmingham, Chester county, Pa., re
cently. 'SomerviUe Journal.
THE ONLY" CUBE.
'ILove is a tender thing,"
Thus all the poets ting;
So when you feel you're hit
Oo straight and tender it
Somervilte Journal,
"JIaria," said Mr. Cuteboy yesterday, "I
made 30 this morning." "Indeed," said Mrs. C
curiously. "Bid Heading go up?" -Not exact
ly," was the quiet rejoinder, "but your brother
John asked me to lend him that sum and I didn't
happen to have If at the time." PMladtlpMa In
quirer Fashionable women have a new way of
arranging their visiting lists. They pot the names
of their friends down in alphabetical order, with
marginal notes of "at home" aays. But It is con
sidered bad Ipim to beg for charity from one who
is receiving and cannot choose, to be ont. Asia
Orleanr Picayune.
They were in the conservatory at an evenA
ing party, and there; amid the perfume of the
roses and posies, he had fervently declared his
passion- "Mr, Sampson." she responded, with
womahly tenderness, "my heart has beenwholly
yours for months, and now,"snewent on,shyly.
takiagJnls arm, oumaytakeme lntosnpper;! ;
heard It announced when you Urst began those.;
wordsof love which have so blissfully changed all
we colors oi my me-" naryT-9 -t ,
"ilahall not marry Miss Croccsus, after
all." Announced young ujenklns sadly. Her'?
family seems to oppose the matcn too much." ; -
"ilangtlie family:" exclaimed a sympathizing
friend. "Oo in and wln,15Jcnkin. Just thcjame.
What do you care for the Ctmlly 'i opinion, to long J
as the girl Is willing?" " '"',' 1
That's Just it" explained EJenklns, still mora?
sadly. "Miss brasut seems to agree wltalbsai;'! '
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