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PITTSBURG DISPATCH
THE
-1 . J
PAGES 9, TO 16.
SECOND PART.
?. i
HOWWEGETOURMArL
A View of the Bustling Interior
of the Pittsburg Post
office. SPEED A VITAL ELEMENT
,In the Composition of the Men Em
ployed by Uncle Sam.
GITIXG ODDS TO BASEBALL PITCHEES.
High Standard orPitfbnrB'sPostofflce The
Best Talent Encaged Remarkable
Speed and Memory of Stall Distributor
Collecting tbe Mall Effacing the Stamps
Filling tbe Poncbes The Small Per
centage of Mistakes Dally Stndy Neces
sary to Maintain Efficiency Deciphering
Blind Addresses An Occasional Con
signment to tbe Dead Letter Office.
intuitu? FOK TIH DISPATCH.
VERY device which
can insure speed in the
transmission of the
United States mails is
now snapped up eagerly
by the Postoffice Depart
ment There are three
essentials in the trans
mission of the United
States mail, viz., speed, accuracy and pre
cision. The machinery which secures this
result is complicated, the men who are the
prime agents in the work are dextrous and
skilled by years of practice so that they be
come almost automatic in their operations,
and the different things which may be termed
labor and time-saving accessories of the
Postoffice Department are all at a high pitch
of perfection.
Especially is this the case in the Pittsburg
postoffice, long held up as a model for other
cities, and demanding a high meed of praise
from those who know what postoffice effici-
the prr
ency is. Pittsburg's peculiar position geo
graphically is such that a vast amount of
mail which has not the slightest connection
with the city and its population has to pass
through the Pittsburg postoffice and be
ticketed for points all over the East, "West,
North and South. It is usual to refer to
Pennsvlvania as the Keystone State, but in
postoffice parlance Pittsburg is the keystone
of the United States mail field. Hence'it has
lor years been demanded that the Pittsburg
office should do an amount of general work
outside of its purely local incoming and out
going mail. Other postmasters have had a
share in the high plane attained, but i may
be said that Mr. J. jB. Larkin has measured
up to the highest demands of the nositinn.
The stationing of one of the veterans of the
mail service, Superintendent of Mails
Stephen Collins, in this city, has been a
steady recognition of the importance of the
situation, and the great need ot the best ob
tainable talent in dealing with the knotty
mail problems elucidated in this city.
THE VITAL ELEMEKT.
In every way speed has become a vital
element of the service, both for local and
other mail service. To trace the course of a
letter through the mail boxes, pouches, dis
tributors and carriers is a fascinating pursuit
and will undoubtedly interest a public
always eager for information of an instruct
ive nature. First and foremost tbe letter
duly sealed and stamped, is deposited in a
box, say in the East End or Bouthside.
Then comes along one of the new little
mail carts, a cross between a go-cart, a
"one-horse shay" and a sulky. The col
lector of mail stands on a footboard at the
rear and drives. At every box the mail
matter is collected and "chucked into the
mail receptacle, a place somewhat similar
in shape and size to the "boot" of an En
glish mail coach, so charmingly described
Jpij Charles Dickens in Pickwi'ck Papers.
The cart carries 100 pounds of mail matter,
and when it starts toward the main
office no grass is allowed to grow
under the feet of the motive
power a more or less spry horse. The
driver turns into the blind court between
City Hall and the postoffice and dumps the
mail into a sort of clothes basket Two men
seize the basket and weigh the matter and
it is then hustled into the canceling tables
to have the sickly green stamp defaced and
rendered valueless by a smart blow from an
inked stamp. A man stands in front of the
huge pile of letters. In one hand is the
stamp and the other "skins" over the letters
rapidly. Then, when a bunch are gotten
into position, the canceling clerk begins to fly,
hitting the postage stamp and an ink pad of
buckskin with alternate strokes, and so fast
doei'the clerk work that the eye is puzzled
to follow his motions, while the ear can hardly
count or separate the blows. Henry Bichllne,
the fastest man in the office has a record of
200 a minute. There are EOletters estimated
to tbe pound andthe biggest kind of pile is
not long in melting away rapidly under
such lightning manipulation. Newspapers
take much lieJd-tftne to cancel than letters
and noonepteeftdstoestablishingarecord.
"When men fiwtbein canceling they have
a hard tirae-in-fefting a good brisk "move"
on tbe bnsiaes a the blows in inch rapid
succession 'iWthe wrist and arm and
callous tfAhmi, Between the hours of 8
and 11 p. jtTwSen the bulk of the mail
from business houses And individuals comes .
IS
yvBKiii
in, the work of canceling is at high pres
sure. XiXOHTXXXa DISTEmUTIOir.
Then the letters go to the distributors.
These quick-eyed chaps hare got them
selves tip to such a Ditch of accuracy of eye
and aim that their work is little short of
marvelous. In eight hours' work on an
ordinary day of the week past,
one distributor, working in front of
a mail rack containing 200 pigeon
holes one for everv Dostoffice in Pennsyl
vaniadeciphered the addresses of 10,153
letters, and the bulk of his work was done
in three hours. In treatment of matter
mailed in Pittsburg for elsewhere, ittaay be
Stamping Packages.
said, by the way, that the morning crew,
which works from 7 A, M. to 3 P. M.,
handles only a third of the daily mail. One
man does the "midnight run" from 11 p. m.
to 7 a. 3i., and handles an average of 12,000
letters per diem. Se mail matter fluctuates
in quantity, the middle of the week being
always the heaviest.
The distributors are a class all to them
selves in the department work. They are
-t-
ana nave to De extremely sharp-eyed witn
phenomenal memories as a side qualifica
tion. The mail matter is distributed in
"cases," these being allotted to various
States or groups of States. Pennsylvania
and Ohio each have a case to themselves.
Other States receiving less mail from here
do not demand so much room. There are
upward of 1,300 distinct separations of mail
made in the Pittsburg office. "When the
mail is all got awav with each pigeonhole
is more or less filled. The letters are taken
out, tied in a package and ticketed with a
slip upon which time of completion, num
ber of clerks and point to be reached are
stamped, then these packages are ready to
be "routed, i. e., sent in the proper mail
pouch over the proper railroad line. Hot a
moment of time is lost in th'e whole opera
tion, and the men who can go in and take a
case in the distributing department mnst
have the topography of the United States
down very fine.
POSTOFFICE PITCHERS.
These packages of letters are taken out to
the mailing room. There is a pouch race in
the center of this room which is in the sbape
ot a half semi-circle, the center being occu
pied by a table upon which the mail is
damped. There are 152 canvas sacks hitched
to tbe rack, with their wide-open months
yearning for mail. Some of the sacks hold
both letters and mail, but the majority of
them in the largest rack are for papers and
packages. The rack slopes upward in order
to range the sack mouths in ascending order.
On a dead level the men who so expertly
shy the packages into ihe sacks could
not operate at all. It is really marvelous
to see the way in which these active dis
tributors make the mail fly into the
sacks. Several men work together in the
space. Theygrabupabundle of papers
and packages and arrange them so that
the postmarks can be handily seen.
Then the shower begins and the speed
with which the packages shoot in
all directions is absolutely wonderful.
One man curves a newspaper into a
sack crossing en route a package of wools
which is skimming toward a sack diametri
cally opposite. The aperture in the sack is
about 10 inches in diameter, and an average
man would have a hard job in tossing a
brick with even extreme deliberation into so
small a hole at a distance of 15 or 18 feet.
But what a complete masterv of the science of
tossing all shapes, sizes, weights and varie
ties of packages, a man must possess to be
able to read an address, figure out the proper
route and with one little turn
of the wrist, yank it into the
Lock Baza.
exact sack out of 162 into which it ought to
go. The men rarely make mistakes, even
when throwing thousands of articles daily.
The average of errors amount to five or six
per month. There are three turns which
make use of 14 men. These 14 men throw
an average of 10,000 pieces of mail every
day in their lives, the aggregate weight of
which is 30 tons a day, and out of the vast
number handled in a month only make an
average of five or six errors. Most of those
are the result of sacks being too full, with no
time to pack the contents compactly. The
speed has to be great, and at 7 in the even
ing, when in the throes of making up the
biggest mail of the day, the air Is really
white with flying mail matter.
IT TAKES BITOT.
One of the oldest employes, in speaking
of tbe exactions of this branch of the ser
vice, said: "No one can hope to become a
really A 1 distributor unless by devoting
from three to four hours of hard study to the
work every day at home. Civil service
questions are not much good in this. Meu
have to know every postoffice and the coun
ty it is in in a State to be rated 100 on that
State. I know one man who has studied
Ohio four years, and at the last examination
f made only 30 per cent The examinations
are monthly and cannot be got around by
any pretext The crack distributor must
know 95 per cent of the postoffices in six or
seven States, although he may be rarely
called on to work over two or three States.
Ohio and Pennsylvania Lave a man
apiece, but he cannot dawdle around.
He is at concert pitch all the time
h ,. &
and the least hesitation may throw him
hopelessly behind in the work of the day.
A man has to keep his brain clear or anob
scure postoffice may slip his memory at just
the time h ought to remember it The pay
ranges from 5600 to $1,100 per annum, but
it is not enough, and the distributors are
now organized nationally and will present
a solid forefront to the next Congress for an
increase in compensation. "We make up
big sacks of mail tor San Francisco, Texas,
and big "Western cities which are never
touched this side of Chicago. Oh, yes,
tbere is a label cm each sack so that tbe de
partment can tell what clerk put it up, what
time it left the office, and what time it
reached its destination. There are from CO
to 100 separate routes made up in this office.
The letter mail leaves here, of course, over
comparatively few routes, but it has to be
divided so that the pouches come in se
quence, whichever direction the train runs
away from here. It is a mighty complicated
business."
HUSTLING INCOMING MAIL.
Superintendent Collins explained the
handling of the incoming mail as follows:
"The letter mail say from New Tork in the
morning arrives at 7:45, and the heavier
mail comes at 8:15. The mail wagon takes
about 20 minutes in its trip to the office,and
the pouches are hurried in and opened, and
the time slip filled out Then the first sep
arators take hold and divide the box and
carrier mall. The mail carriers then get in
their most rapid work in getting the mail
arranged by their route. There are 9 car
riers in the main office, 13 in East Liberty.
10 on the Southside, and the utmost speed
consonant with accuracy is maintained in
the proper distribution. The detailed sort
ing is, ot course, slower than the first
separation, but tbere are many men in the
omce who size up wen in tneir speed recora
with any office in the United States. The
lock box contingent is much smaller than
the amount handled by the carriers,and has
to be handled with deliberation, for
Newspaper Boxes.
wnen tne letter is placed in the box the de
partment's responsibility ceases. But the.
clerks who distribute that class of mail
easily average 2,000 an hour. The addresses
are generally legible for box letters. The
carriers have the bnlk of the fun o f de
ciphering the terribly written addresses of
Pittsburg's foreign contingent There are
an average of 300 hopeless cases daily. My
clerk and myself manage to decipher the
uulEot tnese, out an average ot zu letters go
to the dead letter office every day. "We
have a smattering of languages which is
very effectual in most cases. It is rarely
more than an hour before the heaviest East
ern mail is out on the streets and ready for
the recipients. In the matter of speed tbe
conditions have to be such in Pittsburg that
we have to excel almost any office in the
ivnntry. I am certain that in transmission
of mails either outgoing- or incoming, Pitts
burg will compare favorably with any
other office in the country." "Wales.
A CANINE PH0T0GKAPHEE.
A Terrier Furnishes Valuable Asslstanco to
' an Amateur Artist.
Boston Conrlcr.I
The latest trick in amateur photography
is to have a trained dog who at a given
signal will run and pnll a string by means
of which the slide of an instantaneous cam
era is worked, so that his master may be
taken in a group or alone as often as he
pleases. It is of course necessary to start
the creature at a distance sufficiently great
to give the master time to re-arrange his
features after giving the word, but this is
not a difficult thing to manage, and the
young man who devised the trick has been
exceedingly popular at the seaside hotel
where he has passed the summer, as all the
pretty and most of the plain young ladies in
the house were anxious to have their pictures
taken by the agency of the clever little bull
terrier which served as his assistant
One is prepared for anything nowadays,
and it may be that it will'notbe long before
the dogs are seen running about with detective
cameras upon their own account It would
not be a bad idea to furnish a watch dog
with a flash light detective camera, and
thereby he may take the picture of any vil
lain who invades the domain which he is setto
gnard. The picture would be an interesting
piece of evidence in a trial for burglary,and
if it did not carry a conviction it would not
fail at least of producing a sensation.
MRS. HACKAI'S PARROT.
The Wonderful Bird Which Is Owned by the
Bonnnza Queen.
St. Stephen's Gazette.
London is marvelously empty, but enter
tainments are still given at Mrs. Mackay's.
It is true that the hostess herself is not yet at
borne; but a grand green parrot has sat at
the open window since last Sunday, looking
on Bnckingham gate, and attracting hun
dreds by its humorous conduct. I baveseen
and heard many parrots, but never one like
this. I was returning from the park on Sun
day when I first saw it The pavement in
front of the window was thronged and ev
erybody was roaring with laughter, for the
bird itself was laughing so heartily that its
example was contagious. At last it said,
with intense emphasis: "Well, I declare,"
and then burst into convulsions of laughter
again in a manner really too Indicrous.
It exchanged remarks with the spectators,
it hailed passing hansoms, and on being
asked what o'clock it was replied, "Halt
past four," which was in fact correct In
credible as it may seem, the bird on Monday
afternoon was asked the same question, and
replied accurately, "A quarter to five." So
great has been the attraction of this gray
green bird that the police have had to Keep
moving the people to prevent obstruction of
the traffic. "Go onl" cries the bird.
Brazening It Out.
Principal "Well, Tommy, what can I do
for you?
Tommy My teacher, she set me up to say
that you've bten very bad, and I am to give
yon a jevere whipping. Take off your
Jaektl-Pucl.
- - - i
PITTSBURG, SUNDAY,
ASIA'S COAL FIELDS.
Mountains of Black Diamonds of the
Yery Finest Quality.
TOKGKING'S TREASURE- TROVE.
Eemarkable Wealth of France's Possessions
in Indo-China.
A LESS OPPEESSIYE P0LIGI SEEDED.
ITB02I Otnt TRAVELING COlOaSSIOJJIB.3
HE first explorers of
Tongkiug saw in the
Bed river, which crosses
it from frontier to sea,
the great highway to
and from the vast and
wealthy provinces of
Southern China. This
was the dream for
which Francis Gamier
and the rest of the
brave band of French
men schemed and fought and died. To-day
it is known to have been indeed the "base
less fabric of a vision." The Bed river has
been explored to the Chinese frontier and
found to be unsuited to serious navigation
for the greater part of its length, to be both
shallow and full of rapids. The future
of Tongking, therefore, if it has 'one, must
lie in another direction than that which in
spired its conquest But has it a future
this 200,000 square miles of varied country,
which has cost France 36,000 men and un
known millions of francs, will it some day
give back these lives and this treasurer
hundredfold, or is it destined to drag on in
misgovernment and amid political rancours
for a few years, till evacuation closes the
shameful chapter? That depends. But for
my own part X do not see how anybody who
has had opportunities of closely observing
Tongking in different parts can doubt the
possibility of a future perhaps even beyond
that which Gamier dreamed.
To begin with, the most striking super
ficial feature of Tongking is its lertility.
"Wherever I have seen it, the land has been
green with trees and "in verdure clad" or
covered with luxuriant crops. Ihe enor-
BJ
A Tongkingese Belle.
mous delta of the Bed river is or may be a
vast rice field, but after the splendid crops of
last year nobody doubts this. Before many
years the chief rice supply of the Far
East may come from Tongking. And
in countless other parts of the coun
try, all the travelers have told ns,
show moist low-lying land equally suited
for rice cnltivation. Already experiments
have shown that wheat will grow admirably
on the dry uplands. Its gram is smaller
and browner and much heavier than in
Europe, the cost of cultivation is not more,
while the selling price is at present 50 per
cent higher. Oleaginous grain is already
grown in considerable quantity by the na
tives, who extract the oil by a curious pro
cess of their own. A large concession of
land has 'just been taken up to be. planted
with sugar cane, and there is no donbt that
many other agricultural products need only
intelligent Introduction.
OPEHINO TJP THE COUXTBY.
Again, considet the question of opening
up Southern China. Garnier's hopes of the
Bed river route were baseless, but what the
river has failed to do the railway may easily
A Street Scene in Tongking,
accomplish. An interesting scheme to effect
this is at tbe present moment straggling
against the vacillation of tbe authorities.
It is the plan of the Marquis de Mores,
who has gone over the ground himself
with French engineers, and certainly on
paper it is an attractive one. His idea is
to supersede half the caravan route between
Canton and Yunnan and Thibet. At present
the cost of transportation is from 3 to
4 shillinga per ton per mile I am quoting
the details he gave me himself and the
time occupied in transit is from Canton to
Namning SO days, and Irom Pakhoi to
Kamning 18 days. At present from Yun
nan and Thibet only opium comes back jn
exchange for piece-goods. It has been well
known for years that Yunnan is extremely
rich in minerals, iron, silver, lead, tin, zinc,
etc., but none of these can afford the cost of
caravan transport M. de Mores claims
that he can reduce the 4 shillings to 3
.pence and the 30 days to 15 hours. The
railway, of meter gauge, is planned
to start from a place called Tien-An,
(you will not find it on the map) some dis
tance on the coast north of Haiphong
and to run about 100 miles in a northwest
erly direction to a point on a river1 where
France has treaty rights of navigation to
Lungchow, where there is a French consul,
and which is 100 kilometers from the present
caravan route, oucu u iu. ue juores Plan
and the French Government is said to have
j agreed to it provisionally and promised a J
.... .. .. - -
mm
T I'll
OGTOBER 20, 1889.
Jfn,i grant, etc. If it is carried out, other
Hues will connect the harbor at Tien-An
and with Hanoi, and then strike still fur
ther North. "Whether this line is built,
However, and it is but a trifling thing of 100
miles, the principal objection to it being
jnat it looks too simple. I am convinced
hm rawav communication with Southern
hi na via Tongking is a practicable scheme.
Finally, as regards its minerals, the
health of Tqngking is not open to doubt
Two years ago the Government engineer
sent out on a special mission by the French
Admiralty and Colonial Office to report
npon the coalfields of Tongking, gave a list
or other mines worked by tbe natives, 117 in
all, and among them 32 gold mines, 13 silver
mines, 29 iron mines, 7 copper mines and 6
zinc mines. Here I can begin to speak
irom my own knowledge.
UNLIMITED WEALTH ZK SIOHT.
On tbe concession of the Societa Fran
caise des Charbonnages da Tonkin, at a
place called Campha, I have seen a "boul
der stream" of remarkably pure antimony,
3,000 yards long, with an average thickness
of 20 feet, and I have stood on a solid block
of pure oxide of antimony weighing 16 tons.
In the same concession I saw a vein of oxide
of cobalt measuring 100 vards by 00 by one
yard. And from a little further north I have
seen remarkable specimens of copper ore.
Infinitely more important, however,
tban all these, are" the coal fields
stretohing all along the east coast rOf
Tongking. For years the existence of these
was well known and many times the com
manders ot French gunboats, who had been
struck by the multitude of outcrops, sent
home reports calling attention to them and
to the enormons advantages which would
accrue to France if they could be success
fully worked. At last the company I have
already mentioned was formed: two years
ago to work a concession obtained by H.
Bavier-Chauffonr, and a large number of its
shares were taken up in Hong Kong. At
this time the venture was looked upon as
A Coolie Miner.
risky and many French and foreign capital
ists fought shy of it
The story ot the concession, if I had space
to narrate it, would read like a chapter of
an Oriental "Monte Cristo." To make an
indisputable legal tender a ship was char
tered to carry 100,000 silver dollars to Tong
king, where the foreign population turned
out armed to escort the bullock-carts carry
ing the 25 wooden cases through the streets.
Befused there, the dollars were taken on
board again to the Court of Annam and the
ship narrowly escaped destruction in a
typhoon. Then they were brought back
again to Haiphong, where the French au
thorities finallyaccepted them. Now the So
ciete has already 1,000 coolies, two engineers
and a dozen master-miners at work. Its
concession extends over scores of square
miles, not one-tenth of which has yet even
been explored. It consists of three dis
tricts, Kongav, Hatou and Campha, the first
two being wholly coal. I have been over
the whole of the workings twice and into
every one ot the galleries, and even taken
photographs of the miners at work. So I
can speak with some confidence. As regards
the qnantity of the coal, it is practically in
exhaustible. There are millions of tons in
sight and nobodv can gness how much lies
below. I have been in a score galleries,
each of them in a solid seam from 10 to 20
feet thick. At Hatou there are seven seams
side by side, aggregating 5i feet of coal.
And yet these are merely the preliminary
works of prospecting.
A MOUNTAIN OF COAL.
The "Marguerite Mine" at Hongay is a
great mountain of coal. As regards quality,
the ptospects are equally good. The works
at present have been made chiefly with the
object of discovering the proper place for
the deep shafts, and therefore the coal has
almost all been surface coal. Yet its analysis
has been excellent; it has been tried sne
cesstnlly on board a French gunboat, the
Arqnebuse; I myself have traveled for two
days in a 50-ton launch with high pressute
engines burning it all the time and keeping
60 pounds of steam up; a first contract for
the sale of 500 tons has been made; and
within the last week coal has been reached
at the "Marguerite Mine" giving on an
alysis 16 per cent of volatile matter.
This was all that was lacking in previous
analyses to snow a coal siigntiy superior to
Cardiff. Curiously, this is exactly what the
French Government engineer, whom I have
previously quoted, roretold two years ago.
"Our opinion is," bis report concludes,
"that Tongking possesses an immense
wealth of excellent combustible . . .
rivaling Anzin and Cardiff by its extreme
purity, the absence of iron pyrites, and by
a development of heat at least equal to that
furnished by these coals." I asked the en-gineer-in-chief
for his formal opinion.
"C'est une richesse lmmense,"he said. And
he staked his reputation and he has one to
lose that in four months from now he
would furnish in quantity coal equal to
Cardiff.
In Europe ten companies would be
formed to exploit what has already been
discovered on this single concession. When
it is further developed the societe will
need a small standing army of miners and a
staff corps of engineers. As a proof of how
this fact is appreciated in the East I may
add that to-day, as I write, there are. in
Hongkong buyers of the 500 franc shares of
the company at 5700 per share 400 per
cent premium and no sellers, although
there are thousands of shares in the colony.
TONGKING'S POTTBE.
I think I have now said enough to show
that there is a possibility certainly of a
prosperous and perhaps evn of a magnifi
cent future of Tongking. l said, however,
Id beginning this letter, "that depends."
It depends upon the French authorities at
home, and upon their influence on the
authorities on the spot, and upon that alone.
As I tried to make clear in my previons
letter, Tongking is grievously misgoverned.
Instead of finding a helping hand, the
French colonist encounters a closed fist
The "functionary," clothed in his little
authority, has utterly forgotten that he
is the servant of the colonist, that
he has no other reason for exist
ence except to aid 'and protect and
encourage his self7exiled countryman.
As it is, while the colonist is the
blood of the new country, the "function
ary" is the leech. Day by day the cry of
the French colonial civilian goes no to
heaven, "Pas tant d'administrationl"
Everywhere else in the world, capital is 1
welcomed, no matter wnose pocJcet it comes
out of. In Tongking alone gold must be
stamped with "liberty, equality and frater
nity" before it is received, and a man must
be a Frenchman before hp is allowed to
labor with the rest The anniversary of the
Bevolution seems a joke when one learns in
Tongking that one of tbe conditions at
tached to a concession is that nobody bnt
Frenchmen shall be employed on it I do
not believe there is another country in the
world which would make such a pitiful
stipulation. Does France not know what is
done in her name? or is she not ashamed,re
membering '89, to set such an example to-dav
to the world? HekbyUobmait, J
JOSHUA
A STORY OF
333T C3-eoxg IE"be:r?s-,
Author of "UARDA," "SERAPIS," Etc.
(NOW FIRST
T was midnight. Afire
burned before JoBhua's
tent and he sat alone beside it, gazing sadly
and thoughtfully first into the flames and
then out into the distance, The lad Eph
raim was lying inside the tent on his uncle's
camp bed.
The leech who accompanied the troopshad
dressed the youth's wound, and having
given him a strengthening draught bade
him remain quiet, for he was alarmed at the
high'fever that had fallen on him. t
But Ephraim found not the rest the phy
sician had advised. ( The image of Kasana
now rose before his imagination and added
fire to his already overheated blood. Then
his thoughts flew to the advice that he
should become a warrior like his uncle; and
it seemed to him reasonable, because it
promised him glory and honor, as he would
fain persuade himself, though in truth he
desired to follow it because it would bring
him nearer to her whom his soul longed for.
Then again his pride rebelled when he
thought of the insult with which she and
her father had branded those to whom he
belonged by blood and sympathy. He
clinched his fist as he remembered tne rained
house of his grandfather, whom he had al
ways considered the worthiest of men. Nor
had he forgotten his message. Miriam had
said it' over to him several times, and his
clear memory held It word for word; also" at
intervals he had repeated it over to himself
as he wandered on the lonely way to Tanis.
Now he endeavored to do so again,but before
he could get to the end his mind carried him
back to thoughts of Kasana. The doctor
had ordered Joshua to forbid any talking,
so when the patient tried to deliver his
message he bade him be silent. Then the
soldier smoothed his pillow as gently as a
mother might, gave him his medicine, and
kissed him on the brow.
At last he sat down by the fire in front of
the tent, and only rose to give the youth a
drink when the stars showed him that an
hour had passed.
The flames lighted up Joshua's somewhat
27i Image of Katana Nov Arose Before Sit
Imagination,
dark features, and showed them to be those
of a man who had faced many dangers, and
had vanquished them by stern perseverance
and prudent reflection. His black eyes wore
at,domineerlng expression, and his full,
tightly-closed mouth gave evidence of a hot
temper, but even more of the iron will of a
determined man. His broad-shouldered
frame leaned against a sheaf of spears set
crossing each other in the ground, nd when
he drew his powerful band 'through bis'
-fefr .&fir pg&m v
3 I CHAPTEK V.
''''.'IE" - W$vfM!3l!9flf rrfwEmrP fH BrfttSaJKBP and his fortunes, and the modeM.tesH
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MM!Blf'Wlv9Hsaks: .
WmMm MM -MiKMf I K'rfesilsisrl
THE EXODUS.
PUBLISHED.)
thick black hair, or stroked his dark beard,
while his eyes lighted, up with wrath, it was
plain that his soul was seething and that he
stood on the threshold of some great resolve.
As yet the lion rests, but when he springs
up his enemies must beware.
His soldiers had often compared their
bold, strong-willed leader, with his mane
like hair, to the king of beasts; and now he
shook his fist, and at the same time the
muscles of his brown arm swelled as though
they would burst the gold bands that sur
rounded them, bright flames flashed from
his eyes and he was an unapproachable and
awesome presence.
Out there in the "West, whither he turned
his gaze, lay the city of the dead and the
ruined strangers' quarters. A few hours
before he had led his troops past bis father's
dismantled house and on through the de
serted town, round which the ravens were
flying.
In silence, for he was still on duty, he
had passed it by, and it was not until they
had halted" that quarters might be found for
his troops that he learned the events of tbe
night before from Hornecht.'the captain of
the archers. He had listened In silence and
without moving a muscle or asking one
word of further information, and meanwhile
the soldiers had pitched the tents; but
scarcely had he gone to rest when a lame
girl, in spite of the threat of the watch,
forced her way in and besought him, in the
name of Elian, one of the oldest slaves of,
his house, whose granddaughter she was, to
go with her to the old man. He had been
left behind, as feebleness and ill health pre
vented his wandering, and directly after tbe
departure of his people he and his wife had
been brought off an ass to the little cottage
by the harbor, which had been given to the
old servant by his generous master.
The girl, too, had been let to looic after
the infirm couple, and now the heart of the
old slave was longing to see once more the
first born of bis lord, whom as a child he
had carried in his arms. He had bidden
the girl telfthe captain that bis father hid
promised that he ( Joshua) would leave the
Egyptians and follow bis people. The peo
ple of Ephraim, yea,, the whole race, had
heard the news with great rejoicing. The
J03HTJA- MEDITATING
grandfather would give him more news, for
she herself had been nearly out of her mind
with trouble and anxiety. He would de
serve the richest blessings if he would only
go with her.
The warrior perceived from the first that
he must fulfill this wish, but he had post
poned the visit to the old man until the
next morning. The messenger, though in
"haste, managed to inform him of several
things mat sne naa teen or neara oi irom
others. 4
At last she waa gone. He made up the
fire, and as long as the flames blazed
brightly be looked with a dark, and
thoughtful gaze toward the "West It was not
until they had consumed the fuel and only
flickered feeble and blue over the charred
wood that be fixed his eyes on the embers
and the flying sparks, and the longer be did
so the deeper and more insurmountable did
he feel the discord in his sonl, which only
yesterday had been set on a single and
glorious aim. t
Tor a year and a naif he had been far
from home fighting against Libyan rebels,
and for fully ten months he had not heard a
word from his people. A few weeks since
he had been ordered home, and his heart
beat with joy and hopefulness, and he, a
man of 30, had felt a boy again as be drew
nearer and nearer to Tanis, the city of
Barneses, famed for its obelisks.
In a few hours be would once more be
hold his beloved and worthy father, who
had only after deep consideration and dis
cussion with his mother now long since de
parted in peace allowed him to follow his
own inclinations and devote himself to mili
tary service and Pharaoh's army. This very
day he had hoped to surprise him with the
news that he had been promoted above other
and older captains of the Egyptian race.
The neglect which Nun had feared for his
son had, through the power of his presence.
bis valor, and, as he modestly added, his I
gooaiacK, Deen turned to advancement;
and yet be had not ceased to be a Hebrew.
"When he had felt the need of acknowledg
ing a god with sacrifice and prayer he had
worshiped Setinto whose sanctuary his own
father had lee him as a child, and whom, at
,that time, all the Semitic race, in
Goshen bad worshiped. For M", how-.
' '---' . j
ever, there was another god. and this waa '
not tae God of his fathers, bat the jrod who ti
was confessed by air t&ese Egyptians who aj
had received initiation, though he remained '
hidden from the people, wno were sot abla
to comprehend him. It was not only tfcer
adepts that kaew hfea, but aho most ot
those who were placed in high positions ia
the service of the State and'ia the arajr
whether they were ministers of the divinity
or not Everyone, however, knew what
was meant when they sooke simply of "The
God." the "Sum or AH," tfce ''Creator of.
praised him, epitaphs waieb everyeae oeald $
read spoice oi tnis, tae oaiy go
who revealed himself ia the world,
who was co-existent and eo-eqaal witb
the universe, imminent ia all ereatiea,
not merely as life exists ia tie bedy of maav
but as being him jelf tie sasa tetal of created,
things, the universa. itself ia iUjaereaaial.
growth, decay and resarreetiao, MmselC
obeying the laws he had laid down. His
essence dwelling in every part of himself,
dwelt likewise in maarand lookwhefebe
might a mortal could perceive tbe presesee
and action of tha one. Withoat Wat aotk
ing could be conceived of, and thna he-was
one, like the God of his lathers. "Witbeat
him nothing could come Into being ser any
event happen on earth. Thai, like che Ged
of Israel, He was almighty. Jbshaa had
long been wont to think of these ge4 as
essentially the same, and diaeiug oalyia
name. He who worshiped one he deeinnd
was the servant of the other; and so the cap
tain of the host could, with a clear eea-
science, have stood before hMjjareataad "
told him that he had bees as fanafal ts tea
God of his people as he bad beeaaa a war
rior in the service of the Kiag. sj
MMam't JVopfttesr.
And there was something else, wafecr'fcad
made his heart beat faster aad aare fladiy
as he saw from afar the pyloaa aad rtoKsaa "
of Tanis, 'for in his endless marsk aewBtf tfca
silent desert and in many a Idnely oassa-ieat'
the image had haunted his visiaa of a'
maiden of his own people, whecs fce bad
first known as a strange eblid stirred by
wondrous thoughts, aad wham be bad seea
again as a woman grown. aaapuiaebaMii
in her dignity and severe beauty, set Is?
before he had lastled bianostto tbeliftyaa
war. Bhft had ooraa from Baaes4b 4 3bMB
to his mother's burial; her iaage !bdbea '
deeply stamped oa nts neart, swaa mm
dared to hope on hers. She had iw' be
come a 'prophetess, hearing tbe vtiteat
God. "While tbe other daughters f Taiaul;
were strictly secluded, she had assmtsd bar
freedom, even among men. aad.ia satte sst
her hatred for the Egyptians, aad Jar Ms
place amoae them, she and not easrtaafcsl
from Joshua that to part frem W WMr!t
and that she would never cease te SWafc sc
him. His wife, whes he saeald wed. MMt
be as strong and grave as hiassaH, aad
Miriam was both, and east aaesbsr- M
brighter Image, ef wfcieh be saee bad laved ,
to dream, anite into the shade. r:
He wasfoad of children, andasweeter eMM
than Kasana he bad never seen, citaer Jet
Egypt or in distant lands. The ujnisiislsy
with which this fair daughter of bk mm J
raae-in-arms naa watcnea his aemtTBiusaw
BEFOBE HIS TENT.
widow had siaee shown hiss, had
him much joy in times ot pease. SesWa
her marriage he had taouiht ef bar, aa
growing up to be his wife; bat bsraaiasul
with another and her father's ieasaesd
declaration that be wonld never hmMc-
daughter to wife to a foreigasr had woaaiiia' '
ms pride and oooied nis artier, xassi ml
had met Miriam, and she bad issaired bsaa
with a fervent desire to call bar bis owav '
And yet, though, as be marebsd hosatsrasd. ;
tae inougni oi seeise jusana owe ssata smm,
been pleasing to hiss. He was wall oonhai .
that be no longer, wished to marry bar, Mr k
must have led to mueh vexarloa. Tbe
Egyptians aad Hebrews alike deeaaed K ast,
anorainatioa to eat at eaea otaer s sane, art '
to use the aaae seats or katvas, aad tbaagb
as a fellow-soldier he waa aaeepted aa ee,
or tnemselvea, and naa ones Board .
young widow's father speak, kiadly of bis.
people, still "the strangers" wen batafsd ia,-
the sight of Horaeeht aad nis aoassaola.
Tn Minaas Ka hail fnnad tlui nablakf --t-
mtWA TOTaisTI 4t ITaun. .mImaI mlVa &a :
uaw iivwu inmfc.r T 'tir i-irg, r " -
other happy. Henceforth see eoaia be b
more to him than a delightful child, ftem
whom we leak for nothing but tbe ploawa
of her sweet presenef. Hebadlearaedteaek.
nothinz of her bevoaa a dad saile. aim? at .
his service. Of Miriam ha demanded herasW.rj
In all her lofty besaty, for be bad leaS)
enough endured the loneliness of a i
life, and now that no mother's arasa
open to tae noawooaier, ne ieutae nsspwsss
ot his single state. He loaged onee bum sa't 1
feel glad in times of peace, wbea aa bnd
down his arms after perils and vrivatieaa ot
tj r. LI. !. - w
every uuu. xt was uis miti w a ( ,
home to dwell andir his father's isof, aad tet , J
provide that the noble race of wUek aa waa . t
triA nn iv mala dvKtuufltlRM uusuftaci
Enhraim waa oalr his sister's sea.
His heart uplifted with saeb ad
thoughts as these, he bad eoaaa fcaaar taj
Tanis and had almost reached tbe aaai ml ,
his hopes and wishes, whta bebaltH Smmi
lay before him. as It wan, a aaid of i
destroyed by Bill aad swarase, of It
And, as taoaga la Bowery, late
him first to wki bad
LMea IM
fathers. Whan tbe
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