'RW
i b4 wR- -
r"e w. a:.-?
, -
T y-a '
fi
I3515S"
5' .'.
'i H
SECOND PART.
.&
--
,WW"
Yfat?
: ? 3.V
TTSBtJRd" DISPATC
;:' T.HGES 9 TO 16.
w JB
r
r
I
ft
E
Some Facts About Pittsburg's
Telephone System.
S1XTYPBETTYHELL0 GIRLS
Who Listen Pleasantly to the Kicks
of Angry Subscribers.
PLACING, CABLES UNDER GEOUKD.
fWKmaf FOB THS MBPATCB.1
U- "WO dough
" riors of
--. V times off
-l C -S shake hand
"WO doughty war-
modern
offered to
hands across
the bloody chasm
without exciting
more than the in
terest of the multi
tude. But if they
had declared an in
tention of harangu
ing each oth er across
the peaceful ex
panse o f several
acres o f bnsiness
honses, the whole
world would hare
flocked to see what
was an impossibil
ity prior to 1878
and 1879, always excepting the whispering
gallery in St. Peter's Cathedral of Borne,
and the wonderful whispering pavement in
our own national Capitol.
Edison, like other famous inventors, was
simply the amplifier of an idea which had
occurred to him perhaps when he was out
-hunting and heard the sweet voice ot Mis
tress Echo, and got to speculating npon the
composition oi sound waves. Franklin
looked at the fires of heaven, and was seized
with 'a desire to pull them down to earth.
So Xdison may have heard echo like any
mundane woman having the last word,
and been seized with the desire to make
something besides dells and cliffs carry the
sound of the human voice to some
practical purpose. Or he may have re
flected that if marble or granite could trans
mit vibrations of the voice, why should not
other and more ductile material. At any
rate, the telephone idea grew in the brain of
the Menlo Park enchanter, and was born in
cogent shape.
4 Awfully lucky was he that he did not
live in the pood old days when witches were
spitted and staked. He might eves have
been drawn and quartered as being in direct
league with the Prince of Darkness, the
acknowledged master of the black art.
But the wizard lives in an age when
utilitarianism is searched lor like a needle
in a haystack. There was the practical,
however, in his great idea, and the whole
J'-5r56
A Pretty Telephone Girl.
world is shouting "Hello 1 Central;" tha
is, as many of them as can afford to ante up
the necessary cost The balance of the world
says the same thing through some other fel
low's telephone. la fact, it may be said
that if entire and harmonious communism
prevails in any two matters in this country,
it islu the use of telephones and umbrellas;
with only the distinction that umbrellas are
I
ONQ
RIG
GOSSIP
W Wfi Im MM J.
Sjl t
if -'w
portable and telephones are not "
PHTSBUBO SOFTEST TELEPHONE.
a-Z r Telephony ioKttsbnrg dates back to the
i rear 1879, whenibe first telephone was put
If in between the IFirst National Bank Build-jP--'
ing and the rooms of the Iron Association
on .Fourth avenue. Ten years is not so long
9 ,. ago but that many can recollect what a
furore the "talker" created and how much
commotion was made all over the country.
s" Having gotten into the historical vein, it
f may be as well to remark that the Central
District and Printing Telegraph Company
was luunueu in -ruisnurg in 1874, ottering
the Morse dot and dash and printing system
to about 60 enterprising merchants, who
wanted to reach each other in some manner.
"The system was cubersome and, replaced
wiui iue x.ui5on teipnone, was too dead to
die. The first telephones were all Edison,
with Edison transmitters. This was before
, isiaee nna invented a superior transmitter,
i which Edison had to have, and before Alex-
? attder Graham Bell bad laid the foundation
oTa -princely fortune by filing a caveat in
.tfie patent office embodying what have since
been claimed as Daniel Drawbaugh's ideas,
K In the first year ot the introduction of
i. telephones locally 203 were placed in Pitts-
h burg. Since then the increase in the
f, number of purely local instruments has
averaged 300 per annum, there being now
3.200 instruments in the two cities proper.
"Manager Henry Metzgar assumed charge in
1881. There was an immense district to be
worked with Pittsburg as the center. In
this district there has been an annual in
crease of 600 a year. It is bounded by
5 "Vaynesburg on the east, Youngstown on
" thejnorth, Wheeling on the south and Bell-
aire on the west Hardly a place which has
ceased to be a village in this territory but
hftTits telephone connection withBittsburg.
In.this expanse of uncounted square miles
there are at present over 9,000 telenhones,
thousands of miles of wires and hundreds of
-thousands of people who rise up or, rather,
ring tip and call Edison blessed.
1 r ' As for the financial operations of this tel
ephone district, it may be safely estimated
, Hhat51,50.000are invested. Telephones are
intwo classes. Those m business houses
command a rental of 584 yearly. Those in
priVate houses cost $75 yearl v to the user. It
is safe to presume that of the 9,000 tele--1
phones in tne aistnct tall are business ad--ijuocts,
' and, on the other hand, half are in
t urivate use. Bough calculation makes the
7. iipHvate wbisper boxes yield an income of
t- hre7 finfl "and the hnKinpEs inGfmm.nf. ,.
gooaifor 5340,000, an anuual income of S760,
000,'to say nothing of the out-of-town tolls.
On, suburban instruments it costs 5 cents a
minute to converse. The rate is 25 cents for
each five minutes, the same rate going for
.fractions of the allowed time. These out-of-town
calls average 300 per diem, a not In
considerable income, by the way. There are
many -who yell monopoly, but they find a
telephone as necessary as do other people
- who grin and bear the high prices.
SLAJTJLGEK UCTZOAB TALKS.
Manager Metegar, whose principal busi
ness it is to glue his ear to the telephone re
'ceiveri and listen, patiently to wrathrulre
fxaarks about crossed., wires, saucy Operatois
Itntt'MUnni jatVu'litfnTtefl 'nvinrl tn lininm I
imir" -mirr . i.
in a district containing 9,000 telephones and
85,000 connections, it a short pleasant feat
ured gentleman with a profusion of gray
hair and a gendarme mustache, and occupies
offices on the floor directly over the bank
room. He talked interestingly of the growth
of the local cos-pany and as an instance of
the extensions contemplated in the near
future, mentioned the fact that the line force
will have a trunk line wire into Johnstown
in a few days. A trunk line wire is one
from one exchange to another. He said that
a fine exchange wonld be placed in Johns
town. A line is also being put up from
Sharpville to Mercer and one from Pitts
burs to Bntler. All of the above will be
ready for use inside of two weektC Lines
will be jun from Pittsburg to La
trobe, Clairsville, and Indiana. The
growth of the telephone transactions
with Greensborg has compelled the erection
of two more trnnk lines, making three in
all, and, indeed, that is the same state of
affairs as exists in every city and town
tributary to Pittsburg. In the two cities
also, it is proposed to do away eventually
with the "Eing One," "Sine Two," "King
Three" and "Bing Four" idea entirely.
There are at present not nearly as many
wires as local telephones, and it is the
present intention to have a wire for each
telephone direct The plan of having
several telephones on one wire is provoca
tive of confusion, delays prompt service,
results in endless inconveniences, and is in
countless ways objectionable. When
present plans are carried out the Pittsburg
telephone service will be the best in the
country. It might be remarked that it is
The Long DUlance Switchboard.
not considered to have very many freckles
on it at present.
But it is upstairs in the Exchange that
things begin to grow both interesting and
complicated. Mr. A. C. Gray is the chief
operator, and he makes things run smoothly,
and is supposed to have a correcting eye
upon a couple of hundred thousand points
of contact in the machinery of the switch
boards, Mr. Gray is no relative of the poet,
but a line in the "Deserted Village" occurs
most forcibly to the investigator who sees
the way this slight, boyish-looking man has
the wonderful minutite of the intricate sys
tem down fine. 'And still the wonder grew
that one small head could carry all he
knew," is the most apropos quotation possi
ble. THE BIO CABLES.
Mr. Gray went to a corner of his room,
where a mass of cables sprnnc from the wall
apparently. ""These," said Mr. Gray, "are
our cables. There are two kinds, one un
derground, the other aeriaL There are 41
underground of 50 wires each, two of 100
wires and five aerial cables of 50 wires each.
"We long ago solved the problem ot under
ground wires. Our bnried cables work ex
cellently despite the absence of a steady
electric current. The turning of the crank
in the telephone box generates just
enough electriciy to sound the opera
tor's annunciator. Then all comninni
tions over the wires are accomplished
simply by sound waves- The underground
cables run from the exchange to the
streets, where they radiate like the tentacles
of some huge devil flh. The 'depth oburial
of direct wires is accomplished at some
tral location. The process can be best illus-
trated by giving the exact location of the
places-wbere myriads of wires are brought
into a cable and run under ground to the
Exchange, Penn, Hamilton, Dallinger,How
ard, Jackson, Stevenson, Bissell, "Schmitt,
Stahl, Brill, Bakewell and Carnegie build
ings. Bunched upon poles and run under
ground from the pole are the following
cables: Sixth and "Wood, Tunnel, First
and Wood.Duquesnewav.Secondand Smith
field, Third and "Wood, Penn and Seventh,
Pourth avenue, Third andliibertv, Forbes
and Boyd. Third and Duqnesne, Grant and
Sixth, Penn and Eighth, Penn and
Eleventh, Penn and Sixteenth, Twenty
seventh and Smallman. Separate cables
ruris to the Haines and Bienaman build
ings, overhead. Cables also start for the
Anchor and Diamond Banks. There is not
an overhead wire to the Allegheny ex
change. There is an immense rack on the front of
which the cables are taken to pieces and
IAiCening to Good- JTetrs.
each wire trained in the way it should go.
Abont three feet from the rack is a large
testing board through which the wires pass.
The board is 12 feet high and 30 feet long.
The wire direct from the telephone ends at a
switch, from which apiece of gold foil paper
connects with the wire to the switchboard
proper, where it reaches the operator. There
is just enough metal on the loil-psper to
transmit the 30 volts oi current generated by
the crauk the cranky subscriber twists, to
the switchboard. This is largely
A PEECAtTTIOITABr MEAStTEE.
as the foil-paper will not conduct electric
disturbances or lightning strokes into the
operating room. The foil paper is the only
connection with the Doints ot contact upon
the testing board. From this latter appar
atus two wires run to each connection on
the board, but in opposite directions, so that
not only can the would-be converso talk ad
libitum, but the testing wire coming from
the other direction guarantees an uninter
rupted chat, as, if a call for, a telephone
.number in use is made, all the operator can
do is to touch the number with a little
nickel plug and feel very clearly the
whirring ot the annnnriator.
The 30 switchboards present an animated
sight A long row of young ladies, two to
each board, sit in comfortable chairs deftly
manipulating plugs, levers, buttons and all
manner of small appliances. Each switch1
boar,d has five panels, and in each panel
there are 100 numbers. The point of contac
tive connection is very small,, and the ut
most care must be taken to give the number
called lor. The wires enter at the back and
are connected by means of "pnng jacks" to
the orifices in which the pegs are pushed by
nimble fingers. The insertion of the connect
ing plug removes the contact with the wire
going toward the annunciator, and turns on
the wires outside of the exchange, jgy press
ing down a small lever the two conversation
alists are left to their own devices, while the
operator becomes readv to receive the next
calL Calls -are so frequent that the opera
tors have mighty little chance to become ab
sorbed in what is being Kid over the line
The public which loves privacy will be
pleased to. lra that stlMty-aine oae-hma-
- M1
dredths of --the communications passing
through the exchange are unheard by others
than those participating in the sound-wave
colloquy.
It is too bad to take the romance out
of ideas which prevail, but the belief that
the failure to answer quickly is due to flirta
tion among the operators, is shattered utterly
by the cold fact that all the day operatives
are young women. There are 26 of them,
and they are bright and good looking. Mr.
Gray said that women were more eqnable
St Can't Raise Central
than men in temper, and more patient and
self possessed, and their rejoinders to angry
subscribers struggling to secure a number
are upon the old doctrine that a "soft
answer turneth away wrath."
A PECOLIAE COESCIDKNCE.
It is a singular fact that all the operatives
wear the head receiver an eight-ounce con
traption which is held by a steel spring
on the top of the head, with theear-Dieceon
the left ear. "Whether that particular
auricular organ is the best, or what the
custom is due to, it would be bard to say.
Seniority in service is what tells in the
remuneration scale. In the first year an
average salary is paid. At the end of two
years a raise of 55 per month is always made
and the same raise is also the accompani
ment of four years' service. There are sev
eral instances on record of a telephone
young woman impressing customers as
much with that beautiful rift a low and
pleasing voice, that acquaintance has
ripened into promotion to the agreeable
position of saying "Hello!" when the man
of the house arrives home from protracted
lodge meetings. The hours are from 7 in
the morning to G at night, with time afforded
for luncheon. There are always extras on
hand, so that if an operator becomes weary
she can have a few moments to rest School
teachers and clerks have become operators
and seem to enjoy the life.
As to the matter of speed one operator
in the office has answered 102 calls in an
hour. The lowest day's work on record is
450, and the highest was 1,150, the latter in
the day after the Johnstown flood, when an
importunate public nearly drove the oper
ators crazy. In an adjoining Bmall room
are the two long distance switchboard
operators, who handle between 500 and 600
messages a day between them. At 25 cents
per message this cuts a handsome figure in
the daily receipts.
Chief Operator Gray savs that he wants to
assure the public that the incredulity very
often expressed as to a telephone being
"busy" is very unjust to the operators, who
can have no possible interest in saying a
line is busy, as it is far more trouble to
answer a call and then try to argue that the
line is engaged than it would be to make
the connection.
The bulk of the telephoning of Pittsburg is
done between 9 o'clock A. M. and noon. It
falls off very materially toward evening.
Six boys operate the exchange rom"6 ly .ffic
to midnigbtand arrrelieyed by'twSSboyt
cen-TToy. ehieflv wmnrffi'lh ?n t
dnce. 7 remarkaBI6 fo pu-
"WALES.
PKKSIAN J1ENDACITT.
A Good Story la Never Spoiled for Lack of
' Word-Palntloe.
The forms of untruth which prevail
among a people are always highly charac
teristic of mental, if not of moral qualities.
The humorous exaggerations of our people
are in strong contrast with the bold inven
tions of the Persians, which resemble the
extravagances of the "Arabian frights."
The author of "From the Indus to the Ti
gris," tells the following as a specimen of
Persian mendacity:
One of the Persians of our escort assured
us that the wind often prevailed with such
furious force that it knocked people off their
legs.
"Why, only last year," said he, with
most animated gestures, "it tore up the
sand in that hollow away to the left with
such force, and swept it away in such Quan
tities, that it exposed the remains of an an
cient town of which nobody ever dreamed
the existence before. The honses were dis
covered in rare order. The chambers were
clear of debris and clean swept ot dust, and
marvelous to relate) the furniture was fonnd
just as it stood when the city was swallowed
up in the earth."
"You astonish me," I said, "this is some
thins very wonderful."
"Tes," he continued, "you speak the
truth it is wonderful. God is great, and
His power is infinite. But I will tell you
the most wonderful thing of all. Everything
looked perfect and most substantial, but the
momenta hand was stretched out to touch
an object, the object at once crumbled to
powder. The place is only a few miles off
our road, would you like to gallop oyer and
see?" .
"Sour description," I said, "is so com
plete that I see the place before my mind's
eyes. "Why incommode ourselves in this
rain for what is so apparent?"
I saw that he felt the sarcasm, though,
with genuine Persian monchalance, he
covered his retreat with an "as you will I
There the place is, and it you wish to see it,
I am ready to accompanyyou."
Baslneu-tilke Women.
Barton (Vt) Monitor.
The women of Glover village, for public
good, will meet on Thursday, for the pur
pose of repairing the sidewalk in the vil
lage. Meet at 920 A. 21., bringing ham
mers, saws and nails. Per order committee.
Texai Down Fine.
Newport (Vt.) Champion.
P. B. Gardiner, highway surveyor for the
village district, has upon his taxbook 237
taxes ranging from 3 cents to 15 cents. The
poll tax is 12 cents, and the 3 cent tax is on
a' cow owned by a minor.
Why the Dnke Win Rejected.
Mr. Chine (ff Cincinnati) I s'pose h.e's
honest enough, an' I ain't got nothitt' agin
him 'xcept one thing, j
Miss Chine What is that, papa?
Mr. Chine He don't look any more like
oae of as "reel porkMekers thn a' shoat
looks like a rirafc.-WtMiW' - - '&&&
kir.fM, ft" - . , . ft, fcUl. -S 7t
PITTSBTJR&, SUNDAY,
THEBEAUTIFULSNOW
A Collection of Quaint Proyerbs,
Eiddles and Fancies About'
FATHER WINTER'S WHITE MAHTLE.
What the Snow Indicates to the Amateur
Weather Sharp,
WHITE CHUBCHXAED LEAH GRAYEIABD
rwEimir ros the dispatcilj
The snow has always been attractive to
men, in spite of the puns against "beautiful
snow." Its purity, its whiteness, and the
silent, mysterious way in which it falls,
have given rise to many queer ideas about
it In many parts ot Germany children are
told "it is Fran Holda picking her geese."
In the HarU Mountains it is Peter instead
of the heathen goddess, and it is said that
"Peter is shaking his bed." "Peter rules"
is said in another place, and in still another
part of Germany, "the angels are plucking
feathers and down." Borne ,say "there is a
new neighbor moved in overnight"
There are a few proverbs connected with
the snow popular expressions of meteoro
logical portents. An Italian proverb says:
"A year of snow, a year of plenty," and
other sayings express the same belief in the
fertilizing nature oi snow:
Bo far as the sun shines on Christmas Say,
Bo far will the snow blow in May.
Better philosophy than poetry is expressed
in this saying:
"When the snow tails dry. ifmeans to lie.
But flakes light and sott, bring rain ott
Snow in the early spring is regarded as
disastrous:
In March much snow
To plants and trees much woe.
It is said in our own country that there
will be as many snow storms during the sea
son as there are days left in the month after
the first fall of the snow, and the number of
days it will snow during the succeeding
season, is similarly indicated by the1 num
ber of days the last snow lies on the
ground.
If there is no snow previous to January,
His said there will be the more in March
and April. If the first snow sticks to the
trees it indicates good harvests. Finally,
the usual Christmas prognostication becomes
here:
"White churchyard, lean graveyard.
The most apt illustrations o( popular
ideas about the snow come to us in the shape
of riddles, ot which there are a great many.
These represent the snow under various
guises, and are very cuhoub. Hirst are
those which are simply descriptive, or use
no disguise. A Swabian riddle asks: "It
flies and has no wings; it goes and has no
feet "What is it?"
So with the German conundrum:
In the air it flies, on the ground it lies,
On the tree it sits ,'ln the band It sweats.
On the stove it is lost, in the water it drowns;
Who is knowing, understands this.
A Swiss riddle reminds us of Humty
Dumpty: Something on the roof's alight.
Catch it with the band, you may;
Bat if the wind should blow it down.
Not with a hundred napkins, nay.
A fall of snow is thus described in white
Bussia:
It flies like a lord.
It sits like a peasant, -It
is kicked lifceA'dog. JJ
Blmilarlv infiervlaTL. " ?&
'
It comes like a Turk,
It lives Ufce a lord.
It is killed like a dog.
Any child might solve the following:
"White as chalk,
Xifgnt as down.
Soft a; silk,
"Wet asf oam.
VENETIAN CONUlfDBUlI.
Two "Venetian riddles would be spoiled by
translation. One means much the same as
the Swabian riddle first given:
Pirolin cbe pirolava,
Tenza gam be it caminava,
Fuza cul il se sentava
Pirolin che pirolava.
In the other the snow begs Lady Sun not
to devour her: .
Alta dama de palazzo,
Casco in terra, 1 no me maizo;
Bianca son, e negra me fazzo,
tutte me tol su per spazzo.
A favorite form of these riddles is that in
which the falling snow is represented as a
bird, which is destroyed by tne sun, as a
mutilated person or animal, like the Lettish
saying: "Small white birds are settling
down; the hedges are lull of them; there
comes the shine and eats them all up."
i (The oldest of these riddles is perhaps of
the fourth century, forming part of a Latin
charm or cure for a certain disease of the
chest named in the first line. It reads thus:
Corcedo, Corcedo. be quiet.
(There camda featherless bird,
Perched on a leafless branch)
Borne shepherds found it.
Gathered it without hands.
Cooked it without fire,
Ate it without teeth.
The sun's rays represent the shepherds.
The lines in parenthesis were wanting, but
appear in a similar verse from a manuscript
of the tenth century, found in a Swiss mon
astery: There flew a bird without leathers,
Bat on a tree without learis;
There came a man without hands,
Climbed It without leer.
He cooked it without fire.
And ate it without a month.
The answer is given to this the snow
melted by the sun. The modern forms retain
the same features, being varied as to partic
ulars. A riddle from Schleswig-Holstein
runs thus:
There came a bird featherless.
Bat on the tree leafless:
Then came a maiden mouthless,
And ate the bird featherless
That sat on the tree leafless.
The sun is feminine in Teutoniolanguage,
hence the maiden. Versions from the Faroe
Islands, from Alsace, and from other parts
of Germany, resemble the last closely. A
Swabian verse gives us a new destroyer:
'"There came a bird featherless
On a tree which was leafless;
Then came Mother Bunzio,
"Who ate the bird featherless."
The English riddle'is totally different:
White bird featherless
Flew from Paradise:
Perched upon the castle wall;
Up came the Lord John Landless.
Took it np handles",
And rode away horseless
To the King's white hall."
BEKVTAir AND PLNNISH EIDDLES.
Frequently the birds are only wingless,
as in the Servian lines:
"Wingless birds came flying down.
They tell on a leafless tree:
Then came a boy without lips.
And be ate the wingless birds."
New features are introduced into the
Finnish riddle:
A bird flew without wings.
It perched footless, on a tree:
A Tinrln came that was monthlesa
She ate the bird without salt,
Bhe roasted it without fire.
The flakes of snow are eggs in the follow
ing, also from Finland:
The bird flew wingless
The woman ran footless
Bhe ate the eggs.
And also in-o Servian riddle:
A heavenly fowl has laid its eggs oa the
stable.
Birds of every variety are imagined; soae
wingless, some whole. A second English
riddle says:
A Bilk-white gull through the atrsUea own,
Aa ce'er a tree bath lights thereon.
A so ve occurs in nuaie irnaa uiriiy"
,XW W a WW lMrCH9M
PEOEMBER 8, 1889.
Down on a tree leafless:
. , There came a hawk beakless.
And ate the dove featherless.
In a Servian saving, attributed to the
traow, its rapid degradation is shown: "I
flew, an eagle; I-fell, a Czar; I perished, a
dog;" and the bird series may conclude with
the curious Finnish riddle :
He flredtthe duck on the hill;
Someone without mouth ate it;
Bomeone without hands took it.
The snow is also represented as a person
or as.an animal. A Lapp query reads thus:
"When can one see the old fellow, who has
a white head only one night?"
.The same figure is employed in the Fin
nish riddles that follow :
A centenarian, old in one night
The centenarian's new cap.
Each year anew one made.
. In the last, the snow is really a cap, and
in another from the same source, it is a bon
net: "Old woman's new bonnet '
.Each year a new one."
Hie snow is frequently represented as a
female. An enigma, coming from the days
of Ancient Borne, is of this class: "Tell me,
what is that which is something, the daugh
ter of the mother, while the mother is child
of the daughter? That which may be ex
pressed. Mater me genuit, eadem,mox gig
nitur ex me?" The answer, "snow and
water," is given in detail. A Sicilian rid
dle is to the same effect:
Female I am, female was born,
Female was the mother who bore me;
In the midst of the winds I am beeotten.
'Midst the winds oi FonCnt, ot Iieyant and
Africa.
Then I am carried between thb ditches,
And I cool those who live happily;
And if I am touched by my mother,
I bear the mother who bore me.
And another Servian rhyme represents
the snow as a woman:
An old woman lies on Velej (mountain)
Till some one rouses her, there She will lie.
ODIN'S QUESTION.
Odin, the Norse hero, asked the following
question of a certain King Heinrich accord-,
ing to the Edda: "What are they joyous
young maids who glide orer the earth to the'
joy of their father? In winter they carry a
white shield, but a dark one in summer?"
The answer given is snow and water, these
being the shields.
Those riddles in which the snow is an
animal come next The ox in the following
Servian puzzle is a sort of Humpty Dumpty:
"An ox has fallen in a deep ditch.
None can take it thence save God himself."
The horse represents the snow in the
strange Finnish riddle:
"The horse rises from the sea.
He returns murmuring under the barn."
Sheep appear in another from the same
source:
lThe Estboniau ram, the German sheep.
Tarns on his feet in the fields, and dances on
the prairies."
These sheep are devoured by the sun-wolf,
In the following riddle, from Servia:
"The fields and the villages are full of white
sheep,
A single wolf will come and devour them alL"
The hare is the snow-fall in Finnish
puzzle verses: t
The hare runs on the Ice,
Whines in thb court
And hides in a hole in the woodpile.
The fox, is used in snother:
The fox runs on the river,
He shakes his coat, he swings his talk
One of the numerous Servian riddles in
troduces an apt figure of speech:
White bees hire alighted on the ground,
One beinc only can take them away,
The whole world else cannot
Finally, there are the riddles in which
the snow is likened to some inanimate ob
ject. It is frequently a mantle, covering
the earth, as in the French puzzler "What
is tb&t which' covers air the city of Paris
and eknnot'cover the bottom of a well?
A childish-riddle from the Low German
rMnveysKeme meaning: " .
"mere came a man. irom aix,
With a white spread;
Ha thought he could the whole world deck,
But he scarce could reach the Elbe."
The same idea is expressed in the Catalan
riddles:
"What's thisT A thing
Everywhere spread,
But ventures not to sea,"
"A white bedspread
Having nor seam nor hem."
So unfrozen rivers defy the snow, as in
the Servian:
"A mantle decks half the world.
But it cannot cover its brother." (The river.)
Lapp and Finnish puzzles represent the
flakes of snow as falling chips:
"Some one cats wood.
The chips fall, yet one hears naught"
"A man chops on the sea,
The chips fly here."
Servians, whose imagination seems to be
the liveliest, are responsible for this last rid
dle, for the melting snow:
"The royal cap has disappeared
From under the linden trunk
On St George's Day."
F. S. Bassett.
ir WAS TODGfi ON THE POET.
The Old Carpet Weaver Who Needed Brains
in Her Bniineii. t
A young poet, not averse to letting
strangers know that he was a poet, was one
day in the country with a party of friends.
Stopping for some milk -at an humble farm
house, they saw an old lady weaving a rag
carpet on anold fashioned loom in a small
out-building.
Several of the party had never before seen
a rag-carpet woven, among the number the
young poet
After watching the progress for several
minutes, he said in a patronizing tone:
"That looks simple, but I dare say, grand
mother, I could write a poem easier than I
could weave a yard of carpet
"Like enongh," replied the aged weaver,
simply, with no intention of placincr the
youDg man in an embarrassing position be
fore his friends, "like enough, sir; for after
all, it takes some brains to do this."
L00KLD BATHER CHEEKY.
n Elegant Lady Malie a Remarkable Dl-
ptay of Nerve.
Detroit free Fress.i
A lady drove up to the postoffice in a bug
gy yesterday and called to a gentleman who
was passing.
"Would vou be kind enough to mail these
letters?" -
"Oh, certainly," he replied as he bowed
and scraped and received them.
"Get stamps and put on, please."
"Certainly."
At the end of five minutes he came ont
and she fished out a 20 bill out of herpor
temonnaie and asked:
"Can you make the change?"
"No, ma'am."
"Then I'll bring it next time I come.
auaass ana gooa morning.
A Cooler.
Mowbray rye sdmethingvery important
to say to you, after tie girls leave the room.
JessieOhOalk it right omt, do. I've
promised everv on of them td tell them inst
.whatye sM wltes yoB'SHropw-, sad UMy
setssseLEa?fcs!
THEEE SHE-BLOWS I
An Old Whaleman Tells of the BUe
and Fall of Whaling.
HAEUESSIK6 THE LEVlATHAfl.
Cruising Grounds and Habits 'of Sperm
and Eight Whales.
K1HTDCKET WHALEE8 IED THE "W0EID
rwKirrsw job the dispatch. 1
HE true Gene
sis of whaling
can only be
guessed at The
book of Job throws out hints ot unsuccessful
attempts to harness Leviathan, but the He
braic whale hunters evidently gave it np as
a bad job. Bnnning down the grooves of
time we find other occasional allusions to
the pursuit in Scriptural writ and the' le
gends of Brahma, but these references are
as vague and misty as the traditions of the
An Old Dutch Whaler.
American1 Indian in assaulting the Masta
don of terra firma, or the Maori's attack
upon the)giant bird of the Antipodes. An
incomplete skeleton of fact is all that is left
us from ancient authorities, which, for the
most part, we must. 11 out with fablejutsV
fugitive, ijtncy.j ?--""
Among civilized nations the Basquea and
Hollanders fitted out whaling cralt some,
centuries agone, but these were doubtless foe
the smaller species of cetacea, and did not
crnise far off soundings in their vessels of in.
significant tonnage. The English, however,-?
were persistent wnaiemin, even prior to the
age of King Alfred, and have continued the
pursuit down to the presenj day to a greater
or less extent, although their whaling fleet
now mainly consists of a few steam vessels
from Hull and Dundee, Scotland, sent out
to traverse the Greenland seas.
Before the early part of this century the
English whalemen possessed a virtual mon
opoly of the Pacific crnising grounds, bnt
the raid of Commodore Porter in the gallant
little Essex during the War of 1812 upon the
British whaling.marine in that ocean, in
flicted an irreparable blow upon them. From
1812 td 1845 a few English whalemen still
frequented the South Pacific, while at rare
intervals boats 'were still lowered from an
occasional visitor to the same seas, floating
the French or Bremen flag, but the ships of
all these nationalities have totally disap
peared for many years past, and left the
chase in those waters as a monopoly and
monnment to American enterprise and per
severance. No one names Nantucket withont recall
Starting on a Four-Yearf Cruise.,
ing that little sand-spit of the sea as the
main nursery of American whaling, from
whenee. in the early part of the last century,
as tradition tells, the first whale boats
cruised within sight of the island, carrying
a few cobble stones aa a necessary portion of
the "gear" to throw at the whale and test
his temper as a
PEUDEHTIAIi PBELIMIKAET
before coming to closer quarters. This ex
treme precautionary measure (if indeed not
a slander) was doubtless attributable, not to
a iaCE.01 courage iu me cany vuaiter popu
lation of Nantucket, so much as to the fact
that their peculiarly peaceful tenets of
faith tiromnted the avoidance of even the
semblance of a fight when the capture of a
less pugnacious fish could be made by the
"doctrine of selection" -thus giving an
easier "catch" as well as conscience.
However, the purely ethical points of
whaling did not prevent these Nantncketers
from spilling tons of Leviathan gore; the
"shorejwhaling" gradually gave way to the
development of a class of vessels more
suited to the deep sea and long cruises, ex
tending to the coast of Africa, the Spanish
main and under the skies Of the Southern
Cross to Bearch out new grounds frequented
by the sperm whale, wjille still other shins
were despatched to seek the haunts of his
Northern congener, the "bone" or right
whale. The Beaver, of Nantucket, was the
first American whaleman" that ever rounded
Cape Horn. This new departure occurred
in 1791. The Bebecca, of New Bedford,
followed in its wake the nae year.
These argosies proving tb wccestfol
were precursors to a- large -fleet which dis
puted the supremacy of the Pacific with the
EBglisk satil the dee.ideSee of the .fishery
oi tN latter 'nation i that ocesm after Um
CltH 'XMCX.M HW, -"-'JriMMStaM
fr I
period down to the outbreak of the Civil
"War, the sails of our whalemen were spread
in every zone of the Sonth seas, and the
jubilant cry ''Thar she blows" was heard in
everyldegree of their watery kingdom. The
early cruising grounds were mainly off the
coasts of Chili, Peru, Ecuador and near the
Gallipagos Islands. These grounds are still
considered as being among the best in the
world.. Thespeim whale was the only cap
ture sought in these waters.
After several years of incessant pursuit,
finding the game more shy and scarce, a few
ships struck out into the hitherto unknown
ocean to the westward, through the Archi
pelagos which stud those seas, finding there
the cachalot in almost countless numbers,
and new feeding grounds at intervals from
thecoastof Sonth America to the bays of New
Zealand. Other ships soon followed, and
hundreds of islands were discovered and re
ceived their first visit from white men, and
were made known to civilization by the ad
venturous captors of these ceteceans. The
sperm whale, as is generally known, fre
quents both cold and warm latitudes, al
though it seems to prefer the warmer zones.
Li has been seen and captured in all the
great oceans from 60 north to 60 sonth.
The right, or "bone" whales, are, however,
found only in Polar seas, except when win
ter brings them as a casual visitor to higher
latitudes. Thev cannot cross the tropics,
and the right whale of the Arctic differs in
marked characteristics from that of the
Antarctic ocean.
A PATETG BUSINESS.
In the devious voyages of the sperm whale
hunters it naturally was of frequent occur
rence, from their covering so wide an extent
ot meridians, that they encountered right
whales. Especially in the North Pacific
they were met in immense numbers. When
it became more difficult to "fill np" with
sperm oil, ships were fitted out for the
northern fishery, with astonishing results,
it being at first a not uncommon occurrence
to obtain a fall cargo in a single season.
The right whale also yielded a larger quan
tity of oil in addition to the bone of com
merce. It was likewise more peaceable and
easy to kill, not having the unpleasant
habit of "jawing back" so characteristic of
the spermaceti species. The oil of the right
whale, however, ranked in value but little
more than one-half the price ol sperm.
The rapid discovery of new and distant
whaling grounds necessitated nearer and
more convenient ports for refitting, and the
Sandwich Islands became the principal
rendezvons lor the Forth Pacific fleet In
1818 the ships Equator and Balaeua entered
Honolulu, they being the first American
whalemen to touch at those islands. With
in less than 2d years after it was not an un
usual sight to witness from 50 to 75 of these
ships anchored there at the same time.
Aside from the advantages of proximity to
the whaling grounds the vessels found an
abundance of fresh supplies and. tropical
fruits, so welcome after a long sea fast
Homeward bound ships would also take oil
from other vessels as freight to the United
States. The kindly disposition of the na
tives and genial climate ot these islands
were also strong attractions to "Jack,"
as well as his master, which led
to frequent desertions of the sail
ors, as the1 life of a "beach-comber"
in the midst of such delicious environments,
with its luxurious ease and lack of moral
and social restraints, was doubly acceptable
to the,happy-go-luciy style of many of this
class of seamen alter the severe discipline of
the ship and the contrast to the severe ex
posure of a cruise in the Northern ice.
Frpm.1846 to 1856 were the golden days of
whaling. At the commencemeut.of tbatde-
On the Lookout or Whales.
cade about 750 whaling vessels hailed from
the ports of the United States. These were
of all classes, from the "plum puddingers"
of Provincetown, as the schooners were
termed that fitted out for a six months' crnise
in the Atlantic, up to the fine and experienced
square-rigged ships and barks, which sailed
for a voyage ot from three to four years dur
ation to the nethermost parts of 'the three
great oceans parcelling ont between them
the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian waters.
During this period it seemed as if every sea,
bay, strait and lagoon were vexed by the ad
vancing keels of our "blubber hunters."
WHY WHALErO DECLINED.
From 1846 until the outbreak of the Civil
War in 1861, there was a gradual, yet not
serious decrease in the number of vessels
fitted out. The rebel privateers then flashed
I over the ocean like baleful comets, and in
flicted what, at the time, appeared to be
the death-blow to this branch of onr marine.
It is, however, reasonable to believe that
the war only hastened the inevitable.
Whales had become more shy", and seemed
to have instinctively acquired a greater
degree of cunning, as evinced in change of
habits and feeding grounds, while the in
cessant onslaught on their ranks for more
than ialf a century had reduced their num
ber. To all this add the facts of the in
creased cost of outfits and the greater length
of time required to fill a ship, and it was
not strange that the ablest and wisest whale
men had serions forebodings for the future.
The discovery of cool oil in 1859 antedated
the war tornado abont a rear, and with its
manifold substitutes for the products of the
fishery would have effected the same end aj
surely, if not so speedily, and the prestige
of whaling have departed with the general
introduction and use of petroleum.
For some years after the -war compara
tively few ships-were fitted out for the pur
suit. The loss of the Arctic fleet near Cape
Barrow in 1871 dealt another crushing blow
After the Storm.
to the reviving interest Still more recent
losses in the same seas have also wrought
dire disaster to the waning industry.
There are now afloat scarcely one-siventh
of the number of that whaling phalanx.
wImmmUs whitened every sea in its palm
iest dstys. Of these the largest tonnage, as
of-ywe, follows the current of the-Pacific
froR,tbe equinoctial liae to the ice limits of
either pel. The remainder .of the fleet is
spacad over the various grounds of the At-
laytie, while few or none bow press the
Ms tse omc stwous naunts oi.tne
lAi.(?AlfFOK9.
Mill'
THE; PASTOR'S CI&AlJ
Famous Preachers of Two ContinenwS
Discnss the Qnestion: ' '
-w
SHOOLD OUR CLBRGTMBNSMOIB?
And a Decided Difference of Ojinlompj I
..
Thereby Disclosed.-
MIBISTEES Wflo EUJ0I JBEIB CISJ
i 4.
IWJUIXEX 70S THE DIBTATCB.1
It has always been aa interesting questioaj
iu luu juiuuq vi uiAaj waeuier clergymen
from point of example, should induIgeiiifK
smoking. It is a common belief thatut!
cigar in the mouth oi the minister is an in
jurious example to the young. TJp to this)
time the voice of the clergy has, save in onon
or two scattering opinions, not been heard,i
Accordingly, more than a year .ago I begaa.7
to secure the opinions of the most famous
preacher of America and Europe, as writ--!
tenor spoken by themselves especially for'
this publication, whether the qnestion,
"Should Clergymen Smoke?" finds its sols-
tion in these opinions or not, I leave thaj
readers to indp. Tlmripn "W ftmr Jf
DE. TALMAGE ONCE A S30KEB. jA
An Off" I7iA& "".. a .JI TTt 1 tTa.ftX
va-w w. -ww waAaW VMIISCU U11U K0 !! f
the Habit.
It seems to me that this question of tnej
use oi tooacco oy clergymen is one that
every minister should decide for himself.?
I do not, therefore, speak for others, but ex-'g
press only my own individual opinions
when Isay that I believe tobacco to beruin-''
ons-to one's physical health, whether he ben
The taste fox tobacco may be endured fori
generations, but sooner or later I believe iF5
acts disastrously in some way, either to the:,
mind or to the body. Nor is this a stated
ment of glittering generalities. I knowl
whereof I speak.
For many vears I smoked cisars. but I'dtft!
not do so now. I wonld not now thinkfof
smoking a cigar any more than I would!
drins a vial of laudanum. I came to eive".
np the habit in this way : I was livingJIn''!
Syracuse, Xi. X., but had just been called
vu iiiuuci(jijiA au uuer la tne jrnijaoei-
pnia ennren to which l accented a. call'-.f J
offered, as one of the inducements to.my, ,1
uuuiiu, tuaii uta weiuu give me Bllt hU9i
cigars I wanted the rest of my life free-'
of charge. He was a wholesale
tobacconist, and would have kept
his promise. At that time cigars were
higher in price than they are now, and the
offer meant the saving of a great deal.oC
money to me. I was then smoking np to
my full capacity that is. I used as many
r cigars as health would permit I thought
to mvseil what wonld haDnen if I shonld
get them free! The thought so appalled me
that I made a resolution then and there to
stop smoking, and never touch tobacco against
in any manner or lorm. And irom that day"
to this T never have. Now. T trnntd not
take up smoking again for all the surplus la , V
me .treasury. j j,-
As I said before, every clergyman inus$-
seme tne question xor nimsell accoraingjto;
his own conscience and belief; Bat as.'forj
myself, snfoking is utterly out of theqaej
tion- Ifiis mvoDiuion that -manx-clarSSI
meatrbohave oa Eeu.tombstoh:"
"Died In the Lord' .ia M
might have for more appropriate epitaph, "f
uvuiea Dy xooaceo. 74
Brooklyn. T. De Wht Taijiaoi
1 T3
SO GOOD EBAS0X FOB S3I0ZLS6.'
7
Dr. Lyman Abbott Seta HIa Eaeo Agalaat Ska
Hablr.
I have never used tobacco in any form.
and therefore write without that knowledge
which is derived from personal enjoymentf
01 the cigar.
'From such study as I have been able.to
give to the matter, I am not able to dis-
smoking. The arguments appear to be aUg
on the other side. While the evils of alco2v
hoi are vastly greater than the evils of
tobacco, on the other hand it appears to metj
easier to construct an argument in favor ofS
the moderate use of alcohol than in favor of j
tne moderate use of tobacco. K3
The physical evils that result from toof!
tobacco habit are notorious. The moral,;
cviis auucu ui uie oiw eexraus. i
Whatever may be the imagined benefit of '4
smoking to overworked men (and women? -J
sr. I- - - i-.s i j!l- .!.- .-ia
ai i is a acuuuvc, nuu ueeu j more Mail Mo":
wives and mothers?;, it is by substantially
universal consent an injury to the vounz.?
And yet not only the young men in onr J
stores ana colleges, ont the boys in their'
HGUa 410 lUIGKiAW auiuftc9, -17
The minister shonld teach by his life; heg
snouia set an example wnicn he is willing
his congregation shonld follow; he should-ji
...11- J- .1 .1 t.r-1. 1.- j :1 it x xi.-.v3!
tvaiA. iu Mia pabus wuivu ud uesires mat ms
boys and young men who look up to him?
shonld walk. As I personally do not wish .
to see the boys in my Sunday Schools nor
the young men in my church and congrega
tion smoEing, a ao not propose to set them
the example of the smoker. And I cannot
bnt think that on the one hand, if all mini r
sters were of this opinion, and set a univer
sal example against the cigar, it wouldh
count for something; and, on the other handj
that there is a certain inconsrraitv In a?
smoking clergyman preaching a sermon oq
utucujiag us j usui us me ueaa, or denying
nMal..j.H (.. .1... mhI i9 ,- . at 1ka
wuseiica tut uic ai-vc Vk uur ucituuurs. v.g
And yet some of the noblest, most devoted,'-
most consecrated ministers in the Church of
Christ, men before whom I bowin,reverr
Ann. avm lii.l..l'tinl awmlm-Ba "-
UlG AaC S10UitUtU aiilUa,GI3 uJ
-UaUVJa.iJ'Ua AXJULH Wltmnj,
.r 5j3
"A
A T0ICE FE03I ASD0TEE.
ProC Anstln Pbelp Say the Kleotlna HaMc4
O Oeml- Nature.
Some concessions must, in fairness, b-sj
made to the smoking habit It is not a sfnjl
in any man whose own conscience aoes noti
so instruct him. It should not be made al
test of character, even in our private judir-i
ments of men-- As a man thinketh so ishe
It is not a proper subject of e
prohibition. The distinction is .not wise
one which forbids it to clergymen moreiS
peratively than to laymen. That ist-nota
healthy type of religious faith whictflsys
the cleigy under prohibitions which arenot
thought necessary is regulating tbeTeoa;
aoct or other men.
Yet there are few. if any, usazes morally!
innocent in themselves of which soTmaayj
thfngs can be said to their discredit'as may
be said of the use of tobacco as an indaf-3
gence.
The habit is azainst nature. Tobacco ial
I neither food nor drink. So fir as I knowifl
it is not medicine except to a sick sheep-1
No natural anuetite of the human body
frvea f fF tt. h1,a1. ..tm.l ..-A-.ti.ti"S
but one species naturally takes to it-r-.il
that is a worm. Intellectual cultnreJUraet
fostered by it. Nor does it quicke
Gratify sniritnal amirationsi i
General Stonewall Jackson once said. Ifal
his danghterthat since he had reachedraKJ
years he had never taken a mouthful of.fa!
at any hour ot da- or night without ukiac
the blessing of God upon it The O -a wail
was a native of a tobacco-growing SUte'a-a-
prooaoiya smoker, uuticmay oerreaat
ablv Questioned whether her ever Mtwht'l
divine blessing-upon his daily-eigar?kJ
smoicer ever did' Xet way notYCM
smoking clergvmea answer th&questiosTfll
An immense and increasing numbsMwTj
curiKiatUk-elievers condemn. the &&-';
bBg,,nni.ysaga.aet.c wlih.tba issJUtiMTsjCj
V
. . -aaa- ia---B-----i--4a "n- .i-c -j a ni. aaai-a---i----L------ai