PUTIFUL ATHLETES. .? Ik Twelve Hundred Little Folks at Their Daily Exercise. A TALK WITH PROP. GEO. BROSIUS. Difference in Training Prescribed for Girls and Boys. JOLLI GAMES FOB MISSES OF 811 ICOBEXSrOXDEXCX OF TUX DISPATCH.l NEWYOBK, Jan uary 18. There was a hnm of childish voices and the multi tudinous patter of tiny feet as I entered the great building of the Central Turn Terein, on East Sixty-seventh street, yes terday afternoon. In a hieh ceilinged room, where a mass of apparatus hung overhead and upon the walls, there was a group of children at work, or at plajr, rather, for a juvenile came was in progress. The children formed a pretty picture. It was the girls' hour, and there were blonde tots of half a dozen summers, and dark haired, dancing-eyed wee witches of 7 or 8. All were dressed in a neat uniform of blue flannel, consisting of a sailor blouse, trimmed with broad white braid, with skirts coming just below the knee, black stockings and little black slippers. Some bad their hair tied and others had the short tresses neatly plaited. The game was called "Comm'it," Three circles were formed, each with about 20 children. All sat down and at a signal from the teacher, Herman Seibert. the game began. A chubby-faced sprite rose from JPlaying at Comm 'il each of the rings and began running around outside the circle, suddenly pausing to touch one of the sitters, who rote and chased her until caught, when the first girl took her place in the circle and the other con tinued the game. This was kept up for about 20 minutes, when the feminine midgets were ranged bv the teacher in rows and put through a mild calisthenic exercise. "These are our baby classes," said Prof. George Brosius, the chief instructor of ath letics at the TurnhalL "I have about 1,200 pupils in all, and they are graded according to age and height. Eight hundred are children under 14. The boys and girls are taught separately. I have 12 classes for boys, with pupils all the way from 6 to 14 or 15 vears old. and eight classes of girls, the younger children being tausht during the day and the others in the evening." A GLIMPSE OF THE BOYS. We passed into the gymnasium again, where th little girls had been replaced bra Email army of sturdy loofcinc boys, whose ages ranged between 8 and 12. They were uniformed in white flannel shirts, blue knee breech.-s, black stockings and slippers. Each boy wore a belt of red cloth. At the signal from the professor, who stood on a dais at the end of the hall, the boys formed into four classes. The military drill began and the four companies went through the tactical exercises with the precision of vet erans. Then came the "buck horse" exer cise, in four motions, the pnnils leaping in turn. "One!" called out the instructor, and a lad sprang on the padded horse on hands and knees. "Two!" The bov rose to his Jeet. "Threel" he leaps to the floor. "Pour!" He ran to the rear of the line to make way for the second jumper. And so it went until the entire class had leaned sev eral times over the horse. This was lollowed by straight jumping on the matted floor, the "vaulting horse," which was cleared r-y a single jump from a springboard, and a mild exercise with Indian clubs. "5Tou see," explained the professor, "we have to keep them interested in order to give them the full benefit of the exercise without tiring them." "Do you make any distinction in the training of boys and girls, professor?" "Certainly we do. In girls' classes the highest object aimed at is gracefulness and freedom ot motion. This, of course, includes The Vaulting Bone. all that is necessary to the development of the body, the main difference being that in their case we do not endeavor, as in that of the boys, to develop strength and muscle so much. We use no dumbbells or Indian clubs for the very young. Besides, in train ing girls we adopt a milder course than with boys. When a young girl comes to us we begin by putting her through the simple drill I have mentioned. When she is pro ficient in it she is advanced to more compli cated exercises. From the simplest order of calisthenics she goes on to games and exer cises that call for a greater amountof energy and attention. At first, with the very young girls especially, we are careful not to tire or exhaust the pupils. If they are exercised an hour, they have three or four rests dur ing that time, beginning, say, with calis thenics for 15 or 20 minutes, then alO-min-utes' rest, then resume with very light ap paratus, arranged specially so as to save time. The last part ot the programme wonld probably be a game. We have a regular course laid out for the whole year in advance. There are dozens of games suited to gymnasium purposes and we take our choice. SUPPLENESS AND OBACE. "Girls of 7 or 8 get a more advanced exer cise. They are then beginning to have an idea of what is wanted of them, and they join in the work Intelligently The exer cises are now calculated not only to develop ,, the body, but to give it suppleness and eracefnl motion. Th or tanrlit mn I steps with the feet, inch as are used in the I jtmBF vi-vrw r yi 3 fcx k V-w- ---- , i&sitt- J , 'M.ililsiWL xJ- " r'VlVr'yi'r rmMkj- .Wk3aaa&l -J& ..v.Mim . waltz, schottische, polka and other dances. These are meant to give the body perfect freedom and a graceful carriage. Then there are skipping, hopping and hundreds of other pleasant little exercises that give poise and agility, and in which the arms, and in deed all the limbs, are freely employed, rising and falling in the different motions. Bnt great care is taken to avoid violence. tf7 r The Circle String. for I consider it the bane of athletics. Especially would it be hurtful in the train ing of girls. "When they are still further advanced (you see all the system is progressive) the girls begin to get combined movements in which the whole class participates, and which require great skill and close atten tion. The arm and chest movement, too, is now freely used. One of the favorite exer cises is the 'circle swing,' and the girls are exceedingly fond of it; indeed, they love all the exercises. A circular iron plate is hung from the ceiling, and from it eight cords, each with a pair of handles, hang downward to a point about 2 feet from the floor. One of the handles is a little higher than the other, so that the pupil can throw her arm through the lower one and grasp the other with her fingers. Eight pupils take hold of these 16 handles, and they move all to gether, swinging in a circle. They also practice walking on the 'balancing board,' which is about 6 or 8 inches high, 2 inches broad and about 2 feet apart. They stand upon it, take hands and walk along, going through various combined movements. This gives them suppleness, poise and agility." THE METHODS PUESUED. "Do you use hone of the usual gymnasium apparatus for the girls of this ace?" "Oh, yes; we use climbing ladders and swinging rings, but only for the more ad vanced. One thing that we never omit is the simple exercise for "the feet upon the floor, and the movements of the body that will teach grace rather than strength." "How do the girls compare with the boys as far as intelligence and aptness are con cerned, profe'sw?" "Well, I think it only fair to them to say that they are my best pupils. Thev take a greater pride in what thev accomplish than the boys do, are naturally more graceful and therefore much of the work comes easier to them. It wonld be difficult to imagine anything more graceful than the motions of the pupils in my young ladies' class, where the ages are from 16 upward. "Well built, strong and healthy, they are just the best sort of material for a class of advanced ex ercises. All efforts are directed toward the development of grace and freedom of phy sical action, for these are what are most de sirable in every young woman. I use light The Young Clubtwinger. Indian clubs two-pounders and swinging rings, besides other simple apparatus. Ko dumbbells are used. At first only one club is employed by the pupil for a few simple motions, and then, when she has mastered these, both clubs are nsed for combined movements; that is, step positions in which the whole class joins. In order not to tire them too much with the clubs they change to step positions, and between every new exercise take abont SO seconds' rest." TO DEVELOP MUSCLE. While Prof. Brosius talked the boys kept steadily at the exercises. "These are ex ercises," he explained, "that call for more strength. As the boys advance they use all the apparatus, bnt we don't force them ahead. They must be older and stronger before they get the pyramid exercise, or any thing that will try their strength seriously. We always give them sufficient rests be tween the exercises. I do not use the health lift here; I don't believe in it, for young pnpils, at all events. "Much harm is done by urging violent motions on the part of pnpils. It is against all the principles of modern scientific ath letics and is ruinous to the pnpil. I know ofa Government training school not far from New York, where the cadets are per mitted to use eight and ten-pound dumb bells, which must result in serious injury sooner or later. I had a scholar who studied with me for 12 or 14 years and who could Sut up a 100-pound dumbbell 30 times with is right hand. He went t5 the Turners' competition at Frankfort and competed for a prize. The first premium was awarded to a German athlete named Miller, who after ward came here and competed at the St. Ltouis festival, where he got the sixth prize, while the American whom he de feated abroad got the first prize. There cer tainly was something singular about the foreicna wards, and it only served to con vince me that American Turners are superior to any in Europe if thev can get a fair show. The American athlete was Herman Koehler, my former pupil, now 1n strnctor in fencing, swimming and athletics at West Point IK THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. "I have been an athlete since 1861, when I left the army to assume the charge of the first Turnhall in Milwaukee," continued Prof. Brosius, strokinc his military-looking mustache and goatee. "There are now 300, 000 Turners in the country. While in Milwaukee I was for ten years superintend ent of physical instruction in the public schools, and there I was impressed with the great desirability of introducing phys ical training generally in the schools throughout the country. Thousands of children are crippled, cramped and permanently deformed by the careless ness of their teachers. If the Government would establish an institute for the educa tion of teachers to be assigned to the various public schools, we would reap the benefit in a generation of happier, healthier and more robust children." Ebb Clatios. m Jilk 7321 111 THE' AGE OF THE BRIDE. Washington Ladies Are Opposed to Early Marriages. TWENTY-FIVE THE POPULAR TEAR Mrs. Harrison Sajs a Girl Bhonldn't Con Eider Position. MRS. UENEKAL LOGAN SATS L0TE IS ALL ICOBEESFONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH. Washington, January 18. im HAT should be the age of the mod ern bride? This question forms the subject L.s of my interviews with the leading ladies of Washington this week. Of the 200 mothers of daughters whom I saw at President Harrison's last evening White House reception, 85 per cent were married before they were 20. The sweet, bright girls whom they chaperoned, ranged in age from 20 to 28. Their mothers married at 17, but they are in no hurry to settle at 24 and 25. The prettiest and most popular girls at the Capital, Miss Mattie Mitchell, the two Miss Manrys, Admiral Porter's daughter Ellen, Miss Katy Beach and a score of others have been out from three to five seasons. The popularity of early marriages is dying away, and the wives of onr statesmen now de cidedly disapprove ol their girls being mated when they are still in their teens. Of the baker's dozen of mesdames -whom I quote, only Mrs. General Logan and Mrs. Senator Mitchell have anything to say in favor of old-time marriages. But I will let the la dies speak for themselves. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison has decided views on most subjects, and she had evidently given this question some thoaght. She is very fond of young girls, nnd her advice to them is worth taking. Said she: "Instead of making 22 the proper age to marry I should make it 25. As a rnle a woman is married two-thirds of her life and she can easily lend two or three out of those years to what ought to be a happy period with every girl, the years between school days and marriage. "Physically and mentally a woman is at her best at 25 and that is the time phe should marry." "Bnt your marriage took place at a much younger age, did it not?" I asked. "Xe-es; I did marry a little younger," she acknowledged, laughing. "I was 20. but in those day; a girl's education was finished at 16 or 17, and there was so little for her to do as compared with the present." "Should agirl choose for herself?" said L "Yes, as a rule," replied Mrs. President Harrison, "bnt not when a girl is very young. Marriage cannot concern any but the parties to it and they should decide, al though I must confess that they sometimes make poor work ot it." The first lady of the land has this to say about marriages for position: "Love and respect, but never position, should decide a woman's choice of a hus band." MBS. JOHN WANAMAKEB. "Never before 20 and rarely before 23" was the reply of the Postmaster General's wife to the marriage question. "A girl should travel, meet many men indifferently, and when she does decide that she loves any one man she should put that love to at least a year's test. When girls leave school they are susceptible to kindness from anyone they meet, and tbey should never mistake that feeling for love." This is the reply of the mother of the girl who is confessedly the daintiest of the de butantes, and whom half the society men of Washington already admire. Yet she was a wife at the age at which the daughter is a debutante. Mrs. Attorney General Miller will have any number of bright girls under her wing this season and this is what she has to say: "A girl is not at her best physically until shejis25,and therefore should not marry much before that age, as the housekeeping duties require her best energies. Women who marry before 20 often find themselves broken down at 30, just when they should be enjoy ing life the most. For health alone an early marriage is inadvisable." In answer to the question whether a girl should ever marry for position Mrs. Miller put the case in a nutshell when she said: "Ko, for she has to sit opposite her husband at meals three times a day and position doesn't count in everyday intercourse." WHAT A CABINET DAUGHTER THINKS. "What is position anyway?" spoke up Miss Florence, the pretty daughter of the Attorney General's house. "I spent a week at the White House a short time ago, and when I saw how much more the public had of the President than Mrs. Harrison did, I thought that I should never marry for it. "What is it, anyway?" she made a sugges tive gesture of catching a handful of air and letting it dissipate, "after you grasp for it you do not want it." "There are times, however, Florence, when a girl should marry for a home," said the mother. "Not just to have a roof over her head, bnt for the care a good man will always give to his wife. She should not marry for love alone, for matrimony re quires a more solid foundation than caprici ous love." "Can a girl afford to marry a poor man?" I asked. "Of course she can," replied Mrs. Miller, "tf he is frugal, of good habits and of some business ability." "I tell all the girls I know," said Mrs. Justice Field, who, although she has no daughters of her own, always has half a dozen girls in her drawing room, "to fall in love correctly if they fall in love at all. I do not think a girl should follow her first fancy. She may think she loves at 18, but is wise to wait until she is 22, and then, as a rnle, she does not marry the one whom she elected at first. Washington girls either marry very young or quite old. say at 28, but they generally marry well." "Should the position of the lover affeet her choice?" "A girl who has been properly bred," re plied Mrs. Field, "will always give a thought to the position in life of the man MEBBB&k P7 Tx ii PrTTSBUKG - DISPATCH, she marries. While love should decide her choice it is her right to weigh in her own mind whether her future husband could give her anything like the home her father has given her." MBS. SENATOR M'MHUJf. Mrs. Senator McMillan, of Michigan, will have a halt a dozen million-dollar beauties under her care this winter, but she, too, is against the "dear girls" and their little love affairs. She said: "I consider the two or three years after a girl leaves school the happiest of her life, and if she can live it independent of any engagement she will be able to make a much better choice at the end of that time. Suppose a girl's fancy is caught the first year she is out, her whole position in society is changed. She passes among her friends as the 'engaged girl,' and must almost be a recluse. It is much better for her to be a free lance and meet any number of men agreeably without a thought that they might possibly want to marry her. Circum stance and place have much to do with these affairs of love, and the mother who wishes to keep her daughter a while should see that she meets many men, especially if she notices that she is slightly taken by any one. I cannot conceive how a eirl can marry against the wishes of her friends, nor can I see how she can marry anyone repellent to herself, no matter how much her friends esteem him." "Suppose a girl falls in love with one whom her parents knew to be unworthy?" "If agirl under 20 is obstinate and de termines to marry against reason I think the strongestmeasuresshould be taken to prevent her. Parents have a right to look alter the future of their daughters if the girls them selves have not the judgment to do it." FEWEB DIVORCES. I next called upon Mrs. Senator Spooner and asked her as to the age of the modern bride. She said: "There would be fewer divorces if all women married at 25, but more seriously the average girl's constitu tion is not hardy until she is 24 or 25. Also a woman should have a chance to prove her self and to show an ability to take care of herself before she marries. A man honors a woman who gives up a career to be a wife." "Should every woman marry?" I asked. "Yes," replied Mrs. Spooner, "if she con sults her own happiness, lor there is little that a woman cannot do after she marries that she might have done had she remained a spinster." Mrs. Spooner raised her hands with a pretty tragic gesture and rolled her eyes in serio-comic fashion as I put the question of what a girl should marry for. "Loe, and love alonef" she said. "I cannot conceive, considering the peculiarly delicate relations of husband and wife, how any woman can marry for augbt but love. The only possible exception might be where a eirl, like Thekla, has 'lived and loved,' and is quite sure that she can never love again. Then admiration, boundless esteem and a fair degree of friendship might exense a girl for marrying for a home. Strange to say, many such marriages have resulted better than those begun with extravagant love." Mrs. Sp6oner concluded by a characteri zation of ideals that would have made Swin burne or Oscar Wilde faint and fall. "Marry a first lovel Faugh! A girl should never marry her ideal. To use a Pennsylvania expression there's no 'fillin' ' to an ideal man. When I think of the half grown boys I admired when I was 16 faugh!" WIFE INFEBIOB TO HUSBAND. "I do not believe in early marriages," said Mrs. Senator Cockrell emphatically, "and I even think there are some happy ones when a girl of 20 marries a man of 40, as witness the marriage of President Cleve land and Miss Folsom. I know when I was young I looked with high disdain upon men of my own age and thought if I could find a man as noble and good as my father I should many him, no matter if he was as old." "But how about early marriaees?" said L "The case is againBt them;" said Mrs. Cockrell, "if one studies Washington society for a year. You cannot live here even that length of time without seeing hundreds of prominent men whose wives are markedly inferior to them." - "What is the reason?" "In nine cases out of ten yon will find that they were boy and girl matches. The girl has too soon assumed the responsibilities of wife and mother, and has often become querulous, petty and indifferent to improve ment, while her husband has advanced every moment until there is hardly a common point upon which they can meet. It is the most pitiful thing in the world, and I ven ture to say the next generation will rarely see it, for girls are every decade marrying later." In reply to the query whether girlsshould ever marry out of their own rank in life, Mrs. Cockrell expressed wholesome disdain. "Their own rank? faugh! there is no such thing in this country. While I do not think a girl should marry her father's coachman I think that she bbould take any poor man who asks her if she loves him. Two-thirds of our public men were poor once." A VABIETT OP OPINIONS. "Barely before 25 and often not until 20," was Mrs. Senator Cullbm's decision on the question of age. "I have seen many a case where people married from admiration and esteem at 30 and are much happier than those that married from capricious love at 20." Girls mature at an earlier age in our Southern States, and the opinion ofa noted Southern woman is worthy of consideration. I called upon the wife ot Senator Walthall. of Mississippi, and asked her to give her views. She said: "Agirl should marry any time that she falls in love after she is 18, but she mnst be sure that it is love, not lik ing. I cannot say that I have noticed that girls marry later now than they once did. When I was in Mississippi last year I found that two of my daughter's friends had mar ried before they were 17. Indeed one of them was only 14, and when I saw her she had two pretty babies and was seemingly as happy as if she had waited until she was twice as old." "Should a girl choose for herself?" I asked. "Marriage is a girl's own affair, and she should pick her husband, although she should pay heed to the advice of older peo ple." "A thorough education is within the reach of every girl at this day," said Mrs. Burrows, "and consequently they should not marry as young as they did 15 or 20 years ago. There is so much more in life for a woman now than there was then, and as long as marriage takes from 20 to 30 years of their lives, they should give at least five years to promiscuous studying after they leave school. The next generation will be the better for the increased intelligence of the mothers. No, 25 is none too old." LOVE IS ALL, SATS UBS. LOGAN. "It is a matter of mating, not of years," said Mrs. General Logan, "when a girl meets the man she loves, whether she be.18, 20 or 25, she should marry him. Love can not be regulated by years. I speak from the standpoint of 25 years ago. There may be more in lite for a girl now than marriage, but the girl who waits will find one day that it is the only true life for a woman. But we can hardly blame girls now for put ting it off until they are 25, for they have no such opportunities as we had." "What do you mean by 'opportunities,' Mrs. Logan?" I asked. In her smile there was half of sorrow, half of humor, as she said: "The men to-day are not like those ot the past." Miss Grundy, Jb. This Grip Always Popular. Chicago Times.) Maude I was mortified almost to death last night Clara Howso? Maude I was riding home on the cable car with Charley. We're engaged, you know, and and Clara Well? Maude Well, just as wo passed Twenty second street I felt Cbarley'a arm steal round me, and just then a red-nosed man behind us coughed terribly and told the driver that "the grip" seemed to be Tery popular this warm weather. SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, EXTINCT OIL TOWNS. Famous' Pithole Has Fared Better Than Some Other Places. ' STRANGE R0MAHCB OF BULLION. Deceptive Field Where Phillips Sank 100 Dry IIole3. Bros, EISE AND PALL OP A DOZEN CITIES t SPECIAL COnitESFONDEJTCI 07 THX DISPATCH. Oil City, January 18. Pithole has been repeatedly written up as an oil town that ( has entirely disappeared from the face of the earth. The foreign correspondent who finds so much romance in Pithole is evi dently not .aware that there are at least a dozen oil towns that have even more com pletely disappeared than Pithole. These lost oil cities have never been written up, and it may be well to do this while some trace of their strange histories is still left. Bullion, in Venango county, was once a place of abont 5,000 people and now there is not a building left to mark where it stood. Greece City, Modoc and Argyle, in the But ler county district, were stirring towns a few years ago and are aow obliterated. Babylon was one of the towns in the upper oil districts not far from Pithole, but has gone and left no trace behind. This town was once known as the very "tough est" of all the oil towns. Pithole, Petro leum Center, Rouseville and Parker all had reputations in this line, but Babylon, not withstanding its biblical name, is said to have had no rival. Pithole made some attempt at maintain ing law and order, and this, as much as any thing, accounts for the existence of Babylon. The toughs moved over there and started a little town of their own. Ben Hogan was king of the place; it was there Ben got into the most serions scrape of his life by the fa tal shooting of a man named Dwyer. Ben had plenty of money, and managed to be acquitted on the ground of self-defense. The shooting and trial which followed soon created a great deal of excite ment and comment throughout the oil country. It was at Bahylon where Ben had his fie hi, with Holliday, formerly of Rochester, defeating him in seven rounds. The sports and business men of Pithole at tended this prize fight on horseback, and it was the presence of the better element that prevented a bloody row, as a notorious char acter named "Stonehouse Jack" was on hand with a small army ot followers with the avowed pnrpose of "doing up" Hogan. Babylon was a halfway place between Pit hole and the Tidioute oil field. There is not now a single slab left to mark where the small but wicked place stood. There are a few bnildlngs left at Pithole, but there is not one at Babylon. A LOST CITY IN VENANOO. Bullion was only second to Pithole in the rush and tumult of the place, and of 6,000 popnlation not one remains. It was located a mile or two from the Allegheny river back from Scrubgrass station. It was the "Big Injun" well that started half the population of oildom in the direction of Bullion. The well was owned by Lee & Co., and was struck in July, 1877, and start ed off at a 3,000-barrel rate. This was a phenomenally large well at that time. A few other wells came in rapidly, and in a month the production of the pool was np to 8,000 or 10,000 barrels a day, and wells go inc down everywhere. Phillip Bros., the present well-known producers, T. W. Phil lips being of the firm, struck their celebrat ed "No. 10" half a mile south of develop ments sending everyooay scampering in that direction. It flowed 2,000 barrels a dav for a time. This well, while a bonanza in "itself, was the means of wrecking the firm of Phillips Bros., as it was on the strength of this strike that they afterward drilled 100 dry holes in an attempt to find an outlet for the pool. The firm failed for several hundred thousand dollars, and the senior member of the firm died. T. W. Phillips, the surviving mem ber, went to work without a dollar and has since paid off every penny of the indebted ness, and nas a nig loriune Desiaes. -run-lips Bros, had 20,000 acres of land leased "to the front" at Bntlion, and this 2,000-barrel well indicated that much, if not all of it, was good territory. Theyi:ould not make up their minds to the contrary until they had drilled 100 dry holes and spent $500,000. They had been offered $400,000 for this worthless territory, bnt declined to accept it Oil at that time was worth $2 a barrel, and for a short period sold as high as $3. Loca tions for a single well sold as high as $1,000 and half the oil. Even at these prices the operators made money. LUCK BAN IN STBEAES. On the other band an Oil City company paid $10,000 cash bonus and one-quarter the oil from a 100-acre lease and never got a barrel of oil ont of it, Phillips Bros. "Ko. 10" was a splendid well, and the profits from it helped them to swing their big operations hunting for the outlet to the South. The well is still producing between two and three barrels a day. As late as last summer a well was drilled on a line with "No. 10" and "No. 7," on the same farm, which started off at a 100-barrel rate. Up to that time "No. 10" had been making about ten barrels a day. Over 1,000 wells were drilled in Jhe Bullion pool, and all but about 40 have been abandoned. The town that was suddenly built up was known both as Bullion and Summit City. It had banks, hotels, theaters, dancehouses, boarding houses and all the facilities of a city. Ben Hogan also flourished here and built the best theater in the place. There is a portion of a big hotel building left stand ing at Bullion and that is all. This wreck is being carried away piecemeal, and soon the last vestege of a once famons oil town will have disappeared. This hotel was moved here from Titusville. The site of the town is under cultivation, and the last time it was visited by the writer a prom ising field of corn was growing on what had been the busiest part ot the place. The few people who work the wells that are still pro ducing in the field live across the ravine in a little cluster of houses called "Berringer," after the owner of the old farm. BUTLER'S OBLITERATED OIL TOWNS. It is likely that anyone but a native of Concord township would have much diffi culty in finding even the spot where Greece City stood. Modoc, on the same belt, has also disappeared. Areyle, between Petro lia and Martlnsburg, has gone to keep them company. During the early excitement in Butler county these were stirring and prom inent towns. They were as conspicuous in the history of Butler development as any other town in the county. Hither one of them had more activity than the old town of Butler itself, though the county seat has since redeemed itself in a very handsome FAMOUS PITHOLE AS IT IS TO-DAY. -. - "- Jt 1890. fashion. The latter is now one of the few places that combines the activity of the oil town with the solidity of an old commercial center. Greece City ranked after Petrolia and Parker as a redhot oil town. A gusher struck on the Jamison farm, August 24, 1872, gave Greece City its first enterprise. Soon after this strike buildings began to be erected, and it was not long until the dace had 1,200 inhabitants. It had three good banks and other business houses in propor tion. The Morrison well, at this place, was a phenomenal gusher, and yielded upward of $100,000 worth of oil. Greece City was a town of wonderful life and activity, and re membering these features of the place, it seems almost incredible that it shonld have ceased to exist. A spouting foubth sandeb. Modoe was located about three miles north of Greece City, also in Concord town ship. The country immediately surround ing it was most uninviting, and had no at tractions for anyone but the enterprising oil man. An experimental well was drilled hereby Joseph Bushnell, Warden & Bost wick and William Vandergrilt To the surprise of everybody the well came in larger than any that had been struck south of Oil creek. The strike was one of the spouting "fourth sanders" that were better known afterward, and created a tremendous excitement all over the oil country. This was the Troutman well, which has a good record among the big wells of the country. It flowed over 1,000 barrels a day for some weeks. The Starr and Sutton farms in the immediate vicinity, also came in with sev eral good strikes, and Modoc City built up with amazing rapidity. It also had its own banks and other institutions which go to make up the prosperous town. The Trout man, Starr and Sutton homesteads were the only habitations there prior to the big oil strike, bnt it was not long afterward until one of Butler county's busiest towns had sprung into existence. Modoc is now num bered with the departed, not a plank or post being left to show where it stood. Besides these towns of importance there were a number of crossroads and "corners" that were bnsy little hamlets, and are now nowhere to be found. Clarion county had two or three of them, as had also Butler and Yenango. Oleopolas was at one time an im-' portant point on the Allegheny liver above Oil City, and it, too, has entirely disap peared. WHAT IS. LEFT OF PITHOLE. The romance of Pithole is too well-known by newspaper readers to require any fur ther elaboration. Everybody knows that it was once the third largest city in Pennsyl vania in the matter of postal business trans acted, but it is not correct to say that it has completely disappeared. Your corre spondent turned his camera on the spot where Pithole stood, and it will be seen there are still a few old structures left. This is the only picture known to have been taken of Pit hole since the decline of the famous town, The other side ot the hill shows still fewer houses, and one of these is a new one built recently. The oil derrick shown in the photograph is a recent growth, having been built during the so-called "re vival of Pithole" a year ago. The "re vival" was the hnnt for a little oil that was found in the second sand, but which was found in much larger quantities in other places. B. W. CBISWELL. SPECULATING IN CEMETERIES. Prosperity of Some 8r. TjohIs Stockholders Starts it New Scheme. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Yon wouldn't think of going to a live man and asking him to invest in a cemetery speculation, would you? But if the live man didn't jump at the offer he wonld make a great mistake. Bellefontaine Cem etery has been a very profitable thing, so profitable in fact that the success of the stockholders has excited emulation, and a new cemetery will probably be opened to those of the city who want to nse it. The idea is to' get all the ground necessary out West, within 14 miles of the city and near one of the railroads. Trains will be used to carry out the caskets and the neople. and carriages and hearses will be done away with, except the conveyance to the depot and back to homes. Prices of lots in a new ceme tery would be low, and it would be patron ized by the newer class of residents not at tached to the older ones by sentimental feel ings. Sentiment, by the way, has much to do with the prices of lots in a cemetery. In Bellefontaine, for instance, there is one part where lots are in such request that the prices have been pnt up. It is the southwestern part of the cemetery. I don't know what the cemetery officials call it, but it is known to the undertakers generally as the fashionable part of the cemetery, because of the wealth and position of the people who own lots there. LATEBT IH BOOK CAATASSIKG. A Troupe of Fifty Ladles With Chaperon and Manaser. New York Star". The latest thing in book canvassing is for a manager and a chaperon to take a com pany of lady canvassers and travel all over the country with them. There mav be a dozen or CO ladies in a company. On the evening of their arrival in a city the whole company hold a council of war. The plan of campaign is laid out, each canvasser is given certain firms, for no private houses are visited, and the canvasser is even told just what to say and how to 'say it. No canvasser is allowed to talk about anything except business. The strictest rules prevail. Breakfast comes at 6 o'clock, after which the canvassers scatter to their work. A number of spotters are employed, who watch them, noting how long they remain in each store or office. If more than the allotted time is used, there is a strict reckoning. At 9 o'clock in the evening every canvasser must retire for the night, and any violation of these rules means expulsion from the company. The hotel bills and traveling expenses are paid by the manager, who deducts them from tne amount due the canvassers. One of these companies is at present in this city on their way irom Boston to the West. WAYS OP THE W1KDI CITL A Flood of Light Let In Through Newspaper Queries. The following questions with the answers recently appeared in the Chicago Leader: 3.0 shonld beer be served at combination card parties audmusicales T Mes. Bzcheboht. Answer The usual form in to have the keg In one corner of the room, so that gaests can help themselves; but a better plan Is to place the keg in charge of the batter and have the beer banded around In tall, thin glasses. This we judge, from some pictures we bave seen, is the latest style In New York. How is It possible to dance In one of tbese now-fanzleu swallow tall coats without having the pistol bntt show np at every Jump T John K. Answer If yon wonld dance gently and grace! ally, as becomes a member of Chicago society, you wonld have bo such complaint to make. OUR PUBLIC E0ADS. Examples for Emulation in Eoman and English History. MOUNTAIN HIGHWAYS OP PERU. Artery That Pint Connected Pittsburg and Philadelphia. CONDITION OP THE CITI'S BTBEETS IwarrxiH von nns dispatch. ! Onr remote ancestors of 3,000 years ago probably had roads or trails over which their vast herds passed from pasture land to new pastures or to water; but If they had any other kind we don't know much about them. Nothing that can be dignified by the title oi road is to be fonnd until we come to 313 B. C, when the Eomans built the world-renowned and still existent Appian Way from Borne southwardly to Brun dnsium. It was called the Queen of Boads. This most celebrated road was built, like the Pyramids, to remain a monument for ever. It cost enormously judging from the natural engineering obstacles of rocks to cnt, valleys to fill, bridges to build and swamps to cross. Its foundation was well made in several strata, each one being heavily cemented with lime, while the surface was paved with hexagonal blocks of basaltic lava, which were joined with ad mirable precision, making a grand floor. This road comes down to us out of the dark ness of history as one of the many fine pieces of engineering done by those old Bomans as is evidenced by many monnments to their skill still extant. One principal reason for Bome's greatness was that "All roads led to Borne," and as fast as new countries were conquered roads were immediately constructed to meet the old roads to Borne as a military necessity, which enabled the generals to march their armies at great speed over good roads from country to country. Good roads were con sidered of vital importance to the mainten ance of the Empire. As beasts of burden and soldiers were the principal travelers over them in those days, they were generally laid ont in as straight a line as possible un less some great natural obstruction was met with. A level road was not so desirable as a direct one. The roads which the Bomans built were nearly all as durable as the Ap pian Way, for they lasted over 2,000 years with little care or repair wasted on them. However, roads which they built while oc cupying England have become decayed, probably on account of the great moisture ot the climate, in addition to neglect Their plan of construction was nearly uniform for all of their roads. They were trom eight to 15 feet wide and had raised footwalks along each side where possible, and blocks of stone at certain intervals, to enable travelers to mount their animals. DANGEB FBOM HIOHWAYMEW. In early times, when there was little in tercommunication between towns, let alone large cities, pnblic roads were very unsafe reads to travel. In England in 1283, a law was passed requiring tne trees and under brush to be cut down nnd removed and rocks cleared away for 200 feet on each side of the road to prevent ambushing by footpads and highwaymen. As tbese paths were more and more used, and as wheeled vehicles came into use, and people became more sociable or adventurous in searching for trade, these roads became continnons, and were called the King's Highways, because they were public roads, and had become so by long usage and permission of the owners of the lands so used. The roads or highways in Great Britain were, until within SO years, in a most deplorable condition, being mere quagmires in soft weather. It was for many years considered the duty of the abutting propertyholder to keep'the roads along his property in good repair. If he did not the traveler had the right to open the fence and go through the fields around some very bad place in the road, and thus destroy croba bly far more than it would have cost to re pair the road. That was not justice, how ever, to require a man to keep the roads in good repair for people in whom he had no interest, besides giving the land for the road. The common way In England now is to make the parish keep the roads in repair; and if it doesn't, any person caa bring an action against the parish and have a rate assessed upon it which will put the roads in good condition. Several parishes are nut into one district and uniformity of manage ment is enforced. Abases of the highway are promptly pun ished. Biding or leading horses or donkeys or tethering cattle on the pathways or side walks, building fires or depositing materials on them are all severely punishable. After the public has for years nsed a highway the law supposes that the owner of the property gave the right years before through some lost grant. If any gate or obstruction is placed on the highway, or a honse is built over the line, any traveler has the right to remove the obstruction with as little damage in the operation as possible. The public hae the absolute right to the whole of the road between the lines, and no person or body of persons has any right to convert any part of the highway to any other pur pose for their own selfish uses or profits, no matter how useful that purpose may be. STBEET CAB3 AND TELEGBAPH POLES. Some years ago in Enzland some local au thorities in city and county gave a street car company permission to lay their track on certain streets, which was asserted to be a public benefit, bnt as it was givng a mo nopoly to some people, and was an obstruc tion to others, it was held to be a nuisance, and all parties were indicted. It was also held as a nuisance for a telegraph company to plant their poles in the strip of ground or sidewalk along a publi c road. Althongh it was a benefit for the world at large to have the electric wires strung, yet it was decided that they practically obstructed the public in their free use of every part of the high way, and they were decided to be a nui sance. Nothing but an act of Parliament can legalize the use ofa public highway for any other purpose than that of a road for the passage of the people. It is held in common law that the land in or under the road belongs to the abutting owner. If a mine should be discovered run ning under a road the abutting owner is en titled to all under his share, but he must preserve forthe pnblic uselthe uninterrupted right of passage on the surface in bis min ing operations. He is entitled to the trees and grass which grow on the road along his front. Any company oenipng a road to lay pipes is indictable for depriving the pnblic of their right of way, bnt they can be held by the abutting property-holder for damages, as he owns all o f the land under the road. OPPOSITION TO TOLL EOADS. Turnpikes have been known since before George III. They were always violently opposed by the travelers, as they had to pay toll so often. The toll which they paid, how ever, when honestly used, made good or I passable roads for "them, especially when aid under the plans of Telford or Macadam, two eminent Scotch engineers, whose names will go down to posterity as long as roads are built. When Pizarro conquered Peru he fonnd mountain roads radiating in all directions from Cuzco, connecting all of that great elevated region, and passing over and under the Andes Mountains. The principal road commenced in Quito, and went through Cuzjo, which is elevated over 11,000 feet above the sea, to Chili, nearly 2,000 miles, one of the most stupendous works in exist ence. Galleries were cut for miles through granite; precipices were scaled by stair cases cut out of the solid rock; rivers and streams and ravines were crossed by swing ing bridges of plaited widows at frightful heights, and valleys were bridged with admirable stone work which exists to this day. This great road was paved with heavy flagstones and was 20 feet wide wherever possible. Every five miles was a moon jhbm wnero messengers or isbmh 18 were kept who carried packages and met sages 300 miles a day. The route of tbii wonderful road is through the wildest and highest mountain region in the world. napoleon's soad bzfobm. When Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul for life in 1800, his military instinct directed his attention to the condition oi the public roads, which in the previous tea years of turmoil and bloodshed throughout France had gotten into a fearful condition, so that no wheeled vehicle could pass ovey them in bad weather. It was almost im possible to move either artillery or cavalry. He found that tolls had been misapplied and the roads allowed to sink almost ont of sight, but with his usnal vigor he setthingl right, for during peace he was preparing for war, and all or the roads, especially from Paris to the borders of the Bepublic, wera at once put into repair and paid for out of the public fnnds. The great road over the) Simnlon was commenced in that year, 1800, by his engineers, and was not long in being completed over the Alps into Italy, so that he could march 60,000 men and material into Upper Italy or Austria in short order over a severe mountain range on a road of remarkably easy grades and as smooth as a floor, and as well attended and repaired aa a road in a private park. Not a rain fall but a cautonier encased in oilcloth is ont on every section of it, with his hoe and long handled shovel, to direct every little rivelet or great torrent into its proper channeL SYSTEMS OF ETJBOPE. All the roads throughout France, Italy and Great Britain are as level as it is possi ble for them to be and are kept in admira ble order. Short country roads were mostly built on the Macadam system, for without making any excavation the most of them had broken stone thrown on them continu ously for years until a good foundation was! necessarily found at last, and now with an, occasional top dressing they remain admira ble roads. But the great thoroughfares or avenues which lead from the heart to tha snrface or frontiers of England, Ireland, France or Italv are roads built by eifgineera and are the pride and the protection of thoso nations. Toll gates were established for the purpose of using the tolls for the repairs of the roads, bnt great irritation was caused by them. Ireland was studded with toll gates, but with her usnal discontent she harped at them until in 1858 they disappeared. Scot land followed suit, and in 1883 they disap peared, and a general land-tax in both conn tries is levied for the repair ot roads. En gland is annually winding up her turnpike and tolls systems, and very soon tolls will have disappeared there also. BOOST. FOB BEFOBlt AT HOME. In our own country our roads are a stand, ing disgrace. The country roads are, espe cially in Pennsylvania, simply quagmires, and in this city of Pittsburg the unpaved streets are not as good as the country roads. The old road between Philadelphia and Pittsburg previous to 1820 was a continuous bog almost throughout the year. The forest was almost continnons, and it was conse quently damp, and as there were few peopla along the road very few attempts to repair it were made, and as a consequence when tha road got too bad in oue place the route was. chanzed to another. But about 1823 many turnpike companies organized throughout the State, mostly with Philadelphia capital, and the great high ways between those those two cities was Macadamized, and became the principal avenue of the State. Pittsburg was at that time the principal entrepot for all of the great West and South west, and as the productions of that vast region would rapidly accumulate in large qnantities, great strings ot "mountain, schooners," or Conestoga wagons, with from four to eight horses each, would carry it to Philadelphia or Baltimore. Those large wagons earned from two to three tons each, for which was charged SI CO to ft per 100 pounds, according to the state of the roadi. the speed and the value of the goods, as well as the scarcity of transportation. These wagons could be seen on the streets of both cities in long white lines awaiting their turn to load or unload, and their creaking and groaning, and the jingle of the bells on 'he horses, together with the cracking of tha teamsters' whips made music in the lonely country roads or along the silent mountain sides. BA1LBOADS HOSTILE TO I3IPB0TESIEirft, There are several turnpikes in Pennsyl vania in fairly good condition, but the ma jority of our roads are a disgrace to a civil ized people. New England and New York State have much better roads than we have. It may be that their laws are better enforced, or that their laws are better than ours, but certain it is that their roads are in passable condition most of the year, while ours are not. If the condition of London streets in 1736 forbade the use of carriages in bad weather, they were in no worse condition than Pittsburg streets are now 150 years afterward in a more enlightened age. Bailroads are hostile to good roads or canals, or any other means of transporta tion, as a detriment to their own business. Every good public road, or system of roads detracts from the business of neighboring railroads. It is a benefit to any country to have good railroads, bnt not at the cost of her public roadz. The people of the East are waking up to this fact, and turnpike charters are coming into demand, while all roads leading ont of cities or country towns are being pnt into good condition. Good turnouts and fine riding horses are conse quently the rage, which is good for tha country and tor the health of the people. Good roads are a blessing to any people, BxraiBALO. Why He Couldn't Walt. Mnnsey's Weekly. Paterfamilias No, John, I have no de jection to having yon for a son-in-law, bnt Z think a young man shonld not marry before, he is 21. John Yes, I am only 18, but re member, sir, Miss Julia is 27, and I could never think of marrying a woman of 30, How Human Nature Shoirs Up. SomerrUle Journal. When you meet a man and ask him how he feels, if he doesn't stop to think, hs always says "first rate." If he stops to think a minute, he will always begin to un fold some tale of woe. Catarrh IS a blood disease. Until tne poison IJ expelled from the system, there can be no cure for this loathsome and dangerous malady. Therefore, the only effective treatment is a thorough course) of Ayer's Sarsaparilla the best of all elood purifiers. The sooner yon begia the better ; delay is dangerous. " I was troubled with catarrh for ovei two years. I tried various remedies, and was treated by a number of physi cians, but received, no benefit until I began to take Ayer's Sarsaparilla. A. few bottles of this medicine cured me of tnis troublesome complaint and com pletely restored my health." Jesse It Boggs, Holman's Mills, N. C. "When Ayer's Sarsaparilla was reo ommended to me for catarrh, I was in clined to doubt its efficacy. Having tried so many remedies, with little ben efit, I had no faith that anything would cure me. I became emaciated from loss of appetite and impaired digestion. X had nearly lost the sense of smell, and my system was badly deranged. I-was about discouraged, when a friend urged me to try Ayer's Sarsaparilla, and re ferred me to persons whom it had cured of catarrh. After taking half a dozes bcttles of this medicine, I am convinced that the only sure way ot treating this obstinate disease is through the blood.' Charles H. Moloney, 113 Elver sC Lowell, Mass. . Ayer's Sarsaparilla.. rsxrABXDXx Dr. J. C Ayer & Co, Lowell, MaMti ,Prfol;rixtotlfts, . Worthy a pssvj 1 I 4 A 1 '