,? 18 habit in this regard. He ipeateth with snore ,voice than any man it hath been my lot to meet in thia world. I grieve me more ' and more that I did miss him. Verily, he ia dear to me," urged Lazarus with rising feeling. "Tell me of what he did dis course." "Of the Roman threat and the Jewish hatred," said Mary mournfully. "Of the harriers set before the father's Troth at every side but it was of tbe Truth that he did speak; and of the Father. He said few words concerning himself; he careth not for himself, LaiarusI He valueth not his own safety, nor his sleep, nor food, nor rest, nor health, nor hope of any human comfort. He careth only for his Father and for miserable people." "He is of the Father," said Lazarus sol emnly. .'He is not as we. This world and the wars thereof do not tear him as with us, he is like one who treadeth unharmed a cage of wild beasts. I am not worthy to unloose the lachet of his sandals, O my sis. terl" Lazarus bowed himself unto the ground, and drew his breath with the resurgent mo tion of a man who would weep were he not a man. Mary looked on with awe and per plexity. She knew not how to comfort a distress which she knew not how to try to understand. Sweet.serene.distautuntouched by passion, she came no nearer to Lazarus at that moment than a pure, cold star. "I innst see him," said Lazarus, abruptly controlling himself. "I have need of him. I must suffer no longer time to elapse. It is the days of many weeks since I have looked upon his face. It dimmeth before my heart, yet, as the Lord heareth me, my heart doth ' cling to him! I must make it my busi- . ness, if it be not my chance I must see the Nazarene." CHAPTER VL THE CONFESSION TO ANNAS. The morning rose like a princess. The sun was resplendent. The trumpet-call to early prayer rang through the bright air with a long, quivering cry. Lazarus at the summons stood at his window at the win dow looking toward Jerusalem, as the cus tom demanded aid bowed his face in silent petition. His soul was lifted; his nerve was calmed; the lever of last night where was it? Laid by the cool pure morning breath? Or healed by the diviner art that comes ot holy thought? Lazarus felt like a convalescent; he wondered at yesterday's attack ot leeling; he thought of the daughter of Annas with a cnrious sense of humilia tion; she seemed to elude him as a dream when one awaketh; he reproached himsell - that bis emotion had pursued her. As he stood at prayer he had the heart of a penitent. At the morning meal his sister served him more silently than usual; perhaps this was the reflection of his own mood; or perhaps the soothing influence ot the guest ot yesterday .lingered yet upon the household. Even Martha was subdued. Her face wore its best look. And Lazarus had said: "Forgive me, Martha," when he came forth in tbe morning. Now Martha was so used to being the one to be forgiven that the reveisal ot position gave her satisfaction. It put her in excel- . lent humor when another member of the . lamily fretted ard had to acknowledge it. Lazarur parted ironi his sister pleasantly, . and went to his work with a quiet, thought- - Jul mien. "I shall arrange it soon," he had said to Mary, "I shall make it my duty to search for him in Jerusalem nntil I find' him." Lazarus fully intended to do so. He made bis way to the palace with a brisk step. At the palace the workmen were al ready astir. Fine carving upon therenewed cedar pillars was the order of the day; it re quired the closest supervision; Lazarus sur rendered himsell to the work. He had an artist's nature, rudely cultivated as it wis, ' and crudely expressed in such limited ways ; as bis avocation permitted. He directed with conscience and enthusiasm the carving f of a pattern of ines and pomegranates from f which all outline ofthehnman or animal , figure was religiously excluded; abas relief ' of little pillars supporting a miniature por- t tico peered between the vines. Lazarns be- . came closely interested in the execution of this design. His day's work set in nrosuer- w ? rnislv. The entrances to the women's por tion of the palace were carefully curtained. No one but the officers ,01 the household ap peared. "Annas, the high priest, is gratified with the handiwork ot Lazarus, the builder," said one of these men with a pompous gra ciousness. Lazarus bowed. "This is as it should be," he replied, with s slight hauteur. He returned to his task with renewed absorption. Not well pleased, as the day wore on, with the execution of certain details, the master builder rebuked Lis artists with some emphasis. One of them, restless under the criticism, threw . down his burin, or the tool which then cor- responded to that name, and irritably said: t "If I cannot please you I will try no loncer. Finish the work yourself, Lazarus." "Nay, then, I will," cried Lazajus; and forthwith did proceed to make good his , word. Now, as he worked in this impressive manner, carving after the imagination of his own heart upon the cedar pillar, and scarcely knowing what manner of thought his hand executed, Lazarus let his soul tree; it took wings and fed from him and bore him whithersoever he would not. It was high, hot noon. His artists and workmen had betaken themselves without the palace lor resting space and a meaL The palace was quiet. Lazarus, adream before the pillar, stood alone, carving assiduously. Suddenly his hand fell like the hand of palsy at his side. Through the stillness of the warm, soft air a low laugh rang like a muffled silver bell. The tool dropped from the hand of Lazarus. The blood rushed to his face. "Zahara!" he murmured. She stood indeed behind him a blazing, scowling beauty; her eyes mocked him; her full lips pouted; with one hand she pointed to the carving on the pillar. "Verily for a devout Jew, thou hast done a fine deed, sir builder." Done? What had he done? Behind the carven vines, behind the trellised portico, ' behind the miniature pillars ot the designs the cedar wood gave the faint outline of a figure a girl's figure, hiding modestly, with flowing robes, between the leaves. "The Sanhedrin would be ill pleased," teased Zahara. "What an ecclesiastical crime thou bast committed!" "Is it a crime in thine eyes?" demanded the builder hotly. His own regarded her manfully. His urgent tenderness looked out of them. A wave of daring love rolled over him. He would be as he wat! He felt a sudden, sacred right to the impetuosity or Ms own nature. Zahara returned his ardent gaze with a aueenly lsok; then for she could not help it her own eyes dropped before his, less like a queen than like a woman, and more like a sensitive girl than either. "Nay, then," she said soltly, "I wrote .not the law, but Moses. Thou hast broken no stone table of mine." "I conld not help it," said Lazarus im pulsively, "I can not forget thee. Thou art in the thought ot my heart and the dream of my mind, and thou controlled the deed of my baud as the wind controllest a boat upon the sea." "My lather," observed Zahara demurely, "might not find the carving agreeable." She had veiled herself as she spoke, and stood sheltered, a lovely, swaying figure, half re treating as she spoke. "Thou warnest me wisely," said Lazarus; ''Annas the High Priest shall not be dis turbed by the weakness of a moment in Lazarus the builder. The carving shall be righted according to the letter of the law. Fear not, Zahara, I have done no error past a remedy." As he spoke he smote the figure with a passionate gesture The cedar wood gave out a rich perfume like the protest of a creature wounded. "Ah me!" cried Zahara, wincing pret tily, "you hurt the poor girl!" The lace of Lazarus became very pale. Zahara could not know the emotion 'she aroused by her little feminine play. If she had known wonld she have spared him? "Lazarus thought not. His manhood roused .itself to sudden self-defense. His eyes gave ZaliHi-a one blinding look. But his lips re jwtlned obstinately mute. With auiefc. strong experienced strokes, he struck ths 'graven image from the pillar, and covered with thin foliage the spot where the outline of the hiding girl had stood. As he worked he did not even lookaround to see it Zahara were still there. He believed she would stay. And stay she did. "Behold," he said at last, turning sud denly, "she is gone. She is blotted from existence. The law condemneth me not, if I kill what I have created. Does that please you, Zahara?" "It concerneth me not," said Zahara in a low voice. "Thou needest not to remind me of that." urged Lazarus. "Too well I know the truth. Too sad a truth it is." "But," suggested Zahara timidly, "if I were that girl that carved girl I do not think it would please me to be killed and forgotten so soon, sir builder." "Zahara!" cried Lazarus in a voice of rap ture. "Zaharal Zaharal" called one of her women from within. Zanara made a quick movement with both of her fine hands; it was gesture of entreaty, it was a gesture of dismissal; it was a wilful, tender, capricious, untranslatable action. Lazarus stood gazing steadfastly after her. But Zahara had gone. That evening before the workmen de parted the stiff rustling of the priestly robe announced to the builder for the first time since he had begun his work the presence of Annas. The artists and carpenters bowed with reverence before the High Priest. Laz arns saluted him respectfully. "I come to observe your repairs," re marked1 Annas. "They have given me sat isfaction hitherto. It is a workmanlike undertaking, honestly executed and well conceived." Lazarus silently bowed. "You will not find it too long a task, I infer?" inquired the High Priest, politely. "Not beyond a week further," quickly replied Lazarus. As he spoke the words he felt a sick sinking at the heart, never known before to the sensation of his peaceful and uneventful life. A week? Only a week! Then was Zahara no more liable to cross the orbit of his life than Annas the High Priest to invite him to supper. "Of course, I wish the work thoroughly finished, continued Annas, with a keen look. "Even at the c5st of a few extra denarii if need were. It is too good a mat ter not to be a perfect one." "I need no more time," replied Lazarus slowly. A struggle set in upon bis nature. How "easy to prolong the period of service at the palace the period of delight and denial within the blessed possibility of her presence who was becoming to him, he felt at that moment, incredibly, unbearably dear. The longing of the lover battled with the conscience of the artisan. Lazarus felt that he never knew before the meaning of a sense of honor. "No," he repeated firmly, "No. The work can be done within tbe period agreed. Why should I intrude upon vour court esy?" "You are an honorable person," observed the High Priest, graciously. "I have enioyed the work," conceded Lazarns, "it would have been agreeable to me had the palace required my service fur ther. It does not" "At some future day it may do so," con tinued Annas urbanely. Lazarus felt his lip tremble and his color change. He bent over a tool and tried its edge upon his finger. "Your politeness is beyond my deserts," he replied with Oriental snavity. At that moment he felt an emotion perfectly new to him; a sense of kindliness to the old man replaced his instinctive antagouism; the father of Zahara became interesting to him. "You have wounded your finger upon the tool," observed Annas. "It is nothing," said Lazarus, binding the blood with embarrassment. "What, I pray, is your design at this point?" inquired Annas, critically observ ing the carving of the pillar. He placed his priestly finger upon the spot where the little "graven image" of Zahara had been changed (like a heathen dryad) into a waving tree. "The foliage appears to me thick in this spot," continued Annas, "Is it a Greek imagination ?" "It is my own design," said Lazarns with heightened color. Annas gave tbe builder a searching look who could have said why? For certainly no suspicion of the truth could by possibility have been ap parent to the High Priest. Both men felt uncomfortable. "You are a Pharisee, I understand," said Annas abruptly changing tbe subject. "Such is my ecclesiastical position," re turned Lazarus, with dignity. "Know you aught of these popular dis turbancesthese religious riot ot the peo ple? You seem to be a man of intelligence, in some respects above your situation in life. Have you familiarity with these pretenders these false prophets and idols of the popu lace who lead them astray like sheep shep herded by wolves?" "I know none such," answered Lazarus proudly. "Tnere is one he calleth himself the Pro phesied, he nameth the sacred name of the Messiah he teacheth as a Babbi, and assumeth to perform the miraculous, be witching the people vainly. Know you this man?" "I know none such," repeated Lazarus firmly. "I refer," said the High Priest, "to the Nazarene; know you the man?" "Intimately, "said Lazarus without a mo ment's hesitation. "I both know and do revere him." "Surely," said the High Priest with se verity, "you put no trust in his preposterous claim?" At this moment the Jight flashed before the face of Lazarns, and a faint perfume of attar of roses filled the hot air. Zahara, robed in silver-wrought white, veiled in pale purple gauze, floated up to her father and laid her small hand upon his arm. "Go thou within, my child," said the priest with a caressing frown, "1 do dis course with the builder." "Let me stay," pleaded Zahara; "I will not interrnpt thee. I but pass across the court to give an order to my women. Let me stay a moment, father." Her brilliant eyes, moving above her veil like suns above a cloud, turned slowly toward the builder. In them not a scintilla of recognition burned. Zahara leaned non chalantly against her father's arm. She was the portrait of indifference. Lazarus returned her glance with deferent distance. His heart leaped within him that she gave herself this little play before her father; she cherished a petty secret between them she, Zahara! He set his teeth with the struggle of concealment and covered his ardent eye with a soft film of remoteness. He drew himself together manfully and took up the conversation where Zahara had snapped it. "Concerning the Nazarene," he began "Oh," interrupted Zahara disdainfully, the Nazarene!" Lazarus ceased abruptly. His sensitive color left him, "Continue," ordered tbe High Priest. "Art thou then of his rabble one of his people?" Zahara regarded Lazarus now quite steadily; her beautiful eyes expressed aston ishment and displeasure. Lazarus hesitated for a perceptible instant. Then he answered distinctly: "I see no reason why I should deny that I number myself among those who do follow the doctrine of Jesus the Naza rene." A-well-bred stillness filled the court of the palace at this announcement. "Young man," said the High Priest coldly, "I would fain caution you against this person. He is a dangerous fellow." Zahara said nothing. She swept upon Lazarus one eloquent look; it seemed to him to express command, reproach, regret, and something else beside was it entreaty? On the motion of this look she stirred and turned and floated across the court. One of her women, a pet slave, a young girl, came to her and put an arm about her with pretty, feminine familiarity. "Ah then, Bebecca!" cried Zahara. I Lazarus could have hurled Bebecca over the I palwall. Continue your wore." commanded Annas with a sudden change of expression, "I interrupt you no longer.". The two men exchanged cold salutations. The High Priest walked away in his state-J THE liest attitude. The builder bowed his head over the pillar where the little graven image had been carved out of existence. The next day one of the officers of the palace remained on duty within the portico. The man yawned and fidgeted: he bad plain ly nothing to do. Ibe High Priest did not reappear. Zabara's curtains were closely drawn. Once Lazarus heard or fancied that he heard her laugh and call: "Bebecca!" But he had only his fanoy for his content. "It is a dull day," said the officer sullen ly. "What have you done. Sir builder, that I should be stationed in this stupid post all day?" Lazarus lifted his head ana stared at the fellow. "Verily," said the officer. "I believe you know not any more than I do. It must be some whim of the High Priest. He abound eth in them. I shall make known to .him that you are quite innocent at all events." "Innocent of what?" cried Lazarus. The officer gave a short, sharp laugh. Perhaps unconsciously, perhaps intention ally, his conspicuous headdress inclined by an almost imperceptible motion toward the women's portion of the palace. Lazarus worked on in silence. His heart was sore within him. He felt humiliated to no end and angered for no cause, and dis turbed without hope of restoration. "I am become a miserable man," thought Lazarus. "Would to God that I had never struck a nail into tbe palace of the High Priest! Would to God that I had never seen " But he conld not, or he did not, finish the sentence. Better to have seen heir Oh, better to have seen, Zahara, by a hundred fold of what she cost him I Lazarus could not imagine himself now, without having seen Zahara. "We have but six davs' work upon the palace left," said one ot the artists with a sigh of relief. "Six days?" cried Lazarus. "Yes. You are right. It is but six days." "It might even be completed in five," suggested an industrious workman, "if these fellows were not so insufferably lazy." "Possibly," replied Lazarus, standing hack to survey the repairs, "you are correct It might it may be done in five." ( To be continued next Sunday.') SELF-SHAVING THE BAGS. Washington Men Trying It With More or Less Disastrous Results. "They say a great many men have taken to shaving themselves recently," remarked a Washington Herald representative to a popular barber. "Do you find you have lost many customers from this cause?" "Well, no, but I came mighty near losing a couple," answered the barber, with a smile so full of irony that it almost turned the edge of the razor he beld in his hand. "What do you mean?" inquired the re porter, as he saw there was something in that smile. "Why, they had never handled a razor before in their lives, and their first attempts at shaving themselves were so clumsy that they had a narrow escape from cutting their own throats. One of them did cut a nice, big slice off the corner of his jaw before he gave up tbe attempt to shave himself. "Yes, we've sold quite a number of razors within the last year to customers ot ours who thought they were going to do their own shaving. But I don't think a single one of them stuck to it a week. One man dind't even have the grit to finish his first shave, and he came down here in a badly mangled condition, with half the stubble still on, to have me finish it He swears nothing will ever induce him to try shaving himself again." "What is the hardest kind of beard to shave?" "Well, beards of variegated color that is, that have several different shades in different parts of them are very apt to be thick, bard and wiry, and the skin is at the same time often verv tender. All-black beards are also hard to cut Nearly all Hebrews have a strong, wiry growth ot hair that is particularly hard on a-razor." SO HE HAS TO MAKEX. A Chinese Student on Returning M7rom America Finds Himself KuKnged. New York San. Tbe way an Americanized Chinese student looks at China after years of residence here, and the manner ot his reception at home is here given verbatim in his own letter from Foo Chow to an American friend. This stndent Is now an officer iu the Chinese Navy: "When I reached Shanghai my father wrote to me that while I was away a great many of his friends have offered their daughters to be engaged to me, and that he had at last, without consulting me, selected one for me from a mandarin. You know that it is a custom here that marriages are con tracted by parents without consulting those who are to be united. On hearing of my en gagement I tried to break it off, but with out success, as the Chinese consider an en gagement the most sacred contract, so that if it is once made it can never be broken off. According to the Chinese custom the younger brother cannot marry before the elder one. I have two younger brothers who have to wait for me to get married before they can. Therefore I was urged very strongly by my relatives to marry right off. I did not like to displease my father by op posing his wishes, so I consented to marry the last of April. Of course it is not a love affair, bat I shall try to do my duty as a husband. . "It is very uncertain whether the Chinese Government will send us back or not but I hope to see you all again in a few years." IT WOULD HAVE BUIMSD HIM. Why Uncle Dick Oglcbr Wouldn't Smoke Twenty-Five Cent Clears. New York Press. Uncle Dick Oglesby, ex-Governor of Hlinois, when he was in New York several years ago, was invited by a friend to dine at Delmpnico's. This was before his election for Governor, five years ago, and while he was a candidate for the nomination. He bad never been in Delmonico's, and accepted with pleasure. The dinner over, cigars was proposed, and as both gentlemen were due at an appointment, they went to the cigar stand to be served. The attendant, know ing the Governor's entertainer, took a box of fine Havanas from under the counter, and opened if to serve them. "What are these?" asked the Governor. "Cigars," replied his host "But how much are they?" he persisted in asking, and the man at the counter re plied: "Four for a dollar." A look of something like holy horror stole over Uncle Dick's face, as he put up his hand with a deprecatingmotion, and gasped out half tragically: "Put 'em back; put 'em right back. Why, if they knew out in Illinoy that I smoked a 25-cent cigar it would ruin me socially, financially, religiously, politically and every other way. No, sir; a S-cent cigar is good enough for me iu Illinoy and a 10 center in New York." she was well posted. The Story Belated by President Hyde of Bowdoln Collese. Lewlstown Journal. S President Hyde of Bowdion tells a good story of the first marriage ceremony at which he officiated while occupying a pulpit in Jersey City. It seems that the bigger half of the interesting couple was rather timid and nervons, one of those men whose diffidence is in danger of leading him into some awkward blunder. The bride, on the contrary, was remarkably cool and self-possessed. As the couple presented themselves before President Hvde there seemed to be some misunderstanding in regard to tbe side on which the lady should stand. The groom hitched about nervously but the bride was equal to tbe occasion. Quickly changing places with her bashful fiance she re marked confidently. "There, I am sure this is the side on which I have always been accustomed to stand." This solved the difficulty, and tbe timid groom and the young widow, who knew all about it from experience, were speedily united. PITTSBTJTRG- DISPATCH. THE GREAT FAILURE. Sains of De Lesseps Panama Canal as Thej Appear To-Day. THE ISTHMUS A VAST.GRAYEIARD. Description of the Citj of Aspinwall and Its Quarters. A 8ACEED FLOWER OP THE TEOPICS iCOaBXSrONDIIfCI OT THE DISrATCH.l Aspinwall, December 24. HIS noted town is one of tbe many to whose attractions dis tance lends en cha ntment. Viewed from shipboard, one sees nothing but a foreground of '''immense sheds belonging to the Isthmian Bail way, backed by towering cocoa trees and feathery palms, and in, the dis tance a dim waste of tropical vegetation. This is the harbor which Columbus is sup posed to have discovered on his third voy age and hence tbe ancient name, Cristoval Colon, which is Spanish for the same. It was not very much of a discovery after all, for the water among those dangerous coral reefs is extremely shallow and subject to all the storms that blow. By the way, though the Isthmus is only 42 miles wide, strange to say the sea-level here is 6J4 feet higher than the low-water mark in Panama bay on the other side; and while at Panama the difference between the extreme levels of the tides is 27 feet, here it is scarcely one foot Getting up to the dock is a bIow and se rious matter, vessels being brought thereto by a gang of barefooted negroes, running THE CANAL A3 around and around a big wooden wheel, whose revolutions shorten the cable, inch by inch. The wharf is more than 1,000 feet long, with a solid foundation of coral reef, and all its piles that touch the water are covered with copper, to resist the ravages of the "ship-worm," here known as El Teredo. THE CURIOUS LITTLE SHIP WORM. This industrious little creature is precisely like an animated auger, with a boring head, whether be is born in the wood or enters it in infancy, nobody knows; but certain it is that he goes right on boring all the days of his life, closely following the grain and never turning aside unless he encounters a fellow workman who has the right of way. The teredo can work better, or rather worse, below salt water than above it and seems to have an especial fondness for steamers lying in tropical harbors. Through his in sidious agency thousands ot human lives and millions ol dollars have been lost in ships whose timbers be has riddled, the injury not being suspected till far ont at sea, when the first gale blew them in pieces. The ship-worm, like adversity, has not been without its uses, however, since from it Brunei borrowed bis idea for tunneling under the Thames. As the teredo's head is furnished with a set of disks that rapidly cut away the wood, Brunei constructed a gigantic iron "worm," with windows in its head, and in each window he placed a man, who removed the earth before him and tbns made way for the machine to be pushed for ward. And now most tunneling machines are made on the same principle. A BEAUTIFUL AKD CELEBRATED FLOWER. But before setting out to "do" tbe town, let us stop a moment at the office ofthe Pacific. Mail Steam Navigation Company and inter view Captain J. M. Dow, tbe genial Super intendent, who has resided many years on the Isthmus and is still very much alive, reports on the "deadliness" of tbe climate to the contrary notwithstanding, About the brightest spot in all this section is the com pany's garden adjoining the office, where may be found a wonderfnl collection of tropi cal fruits and strange flowers, among them the celebrated Flor del Esperitu Santo (Flower of the Holy Spirit), known to botany as Penstera elata a member of the orchid family. Its waxy-white blossom resembles a tulip, and inside the flower is tbe perfect figure of a dove, with drooping wings and head bent so that the bill nearly touches the breast The body of the dove is white as snow, the bill is tipped with crimson and a rich per fume Is exhaled, like that of the magnolia. It is said that the earliest Spanish explorers, those crnel yet superstitious crusaders, knelt before this flower and worshiped it, and to this day so much of religious reverence clings to it that a native, how ever generous he may be with the rest of his possessions, never presents one to a person whom he does not know to be a true Cath olic. DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. As all the world is aware, Coloo, or As pinwall, occupies the small island of Man zanillo. Until leased by the Colombian Government to the Panama Bailway Com pany, in 1854-55, Manzanillo Island was nothing but a series of mud flats and salt marshes. The railroad managers forthwith constructed an isthmus, connecting it to tbe main land, established their headquarters on tbe northern and western shores, after hav ing filled up a considerable portion of the mud flats; and subleased the rest of the island to capitalists, for building purposes. A mushroom town at once sprang up. Com merce flourished, especially when the open ing of the canal work iu 1880 put millions of dollars into circulation. One long street, with wooden houses facing the sea, comprises nearly the whole ofthe city; and yet it is divided into "quar ters" almost as distinct from one another as though they were separate towns. That nearest the wharf, where the Americans mostly congregate, is called Aspinwall, in honor of Mr. W. Aspinwall, of New York, one of the railway directors, and is decidedly cosmopolitan in its character. The same long street,, merging into a beautiful ave nue of palms, leads to the French quarter, which is universally known as Colon. Among its handsome residences, the two largest and handsomest are those that were built for M. de Lesseps and his son. -Near them is the colossal bronze statue oi Chris topher Columbus, with a beautiful Indian girl crouching beside him a gift to the town from Empress Eugenie. There is a very large and well-appointed hospital here, as also another in the American quarter, and most of tbe offices and buildings of tbe canal company. The American quarter has its bronze "statue, too. though not Quite so pretentious i, as that of the French one of Aspinwall. h -f ffC J vfixz9?7 U1 V? Wk ' SOKDAY, JANITART who gave his name to this end of the town. Such a heterogeneous collection of national ities as swarm here, never was seen before especially since the high tide of prosperity has passed, leaving a driftwood of human degradation. There are fully 60,000 people on the tiny island, and a large proportion of them are blacks from Jamaica and San Do mingo tall, powerfully built men and women, with the thickest lips, flattest noses and wooliest wool that ever grew on human craniums. Tbe quarter where these people swarm and breed like flies bears no compari son, I hope, to any other under the sun. The roofs of Aspinwall are mostly tiled, the upper half of each house projecting far out over tbe sidewalk, with awning-shaded verandas above. A large share of the home lire goes on in these verandas. Electric lights illuminate many private residences, as well as the streets and public buildings. A paper called The Isthmus is published three times a week, in the three languages most spoken in this modern Babel. There are secret societies witbont number Masons, Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of Foresters, Knights of Pythias, etc. Beggars, of course, abound, and disease, deformity, vice and filth in every form. Leprosy is not uncom mon. BEMAINS OF TBR CANAL. Of course, we must see tbe entrance to the celebrated canal, npon which work was commenced just nine vears ago. We find it on tbe main land, behind the island on which Aspinwall is situated. There are acres and acres of warehouses and work shops, and cottages for the laborers and residences for the officers, now mostly de serted, all made of wood. The most astonishing stories are rife con cerning the methods of robbery practiced by the canal company's officials. Every body stole except, perhaps, the father of the whole scheme, M. Ferdinand de Les seps, who is now in his 85th year. Think of it! The proceeds of $350,000,000 in bonds, the hard-earned savings of the thrifty poor of France, sunk in this great, useless mudhole, never half completed, and which is rapidly caving in at the sides and filling up the cuts already made. The con fidence of the French people has received too rude a shock to be ever restored; but even if a new company could be formed to morrow.with unlimited capital at command, it is doubtful if tney could take the gigantic failure as it stands to-day and bring it to a successful completion before the American canal, across Nicaragua, will be finished. All along the line of the abandoned cuttings are hundreds of mighty dredges IT IS TO-DAY. and engines, mostly ot American make; thousands of cranes and cars, and a large amouut of railway rolling-stock rusting and sinking deeper nnd deeper into the mud. Such ofthe dredges, cars, etc., as are not buried in the gravel washed down upon them by the recent rains, are just now being dressed in brand-new coats of red and black paint making ready for the French Com missioners, who are expected here soon to inspect the work and report to the Govern ment as to the advisability of forming a new company to complete the project. THE APPALLING DEATH BATE. The death rate on this narrow neck of land during the last ten years especially those employed along the canal has been simply appalling; tar worse, in fact, as those who have survived declare, than the world was permitted to hear of. The company's hos pitals, containing 1,000 beds, were constant ly filled; and it must be remembered that only those who were able to travel afterthey became ill, were sent there not a fraction of the numbar who perished miserably by the wayside. Of the 56 Sisters of Charity sent from France for service in these hospitals, 23 died. The number of doctors needed inactive employ was 30; and mortality among them averaged 80 in five years. During the early days ot the contract Northern physicians were very unpopular; but later it was dis covered that the "Yankee Saw-bones" were harder to kill than French and Spanish medicos, and impossible to scare in the line of their duty. In sober truth, the whole Isthmus is one vast graveyard; for besides the consecrated God s acres," are trenches filled to the bnm with mouldering bones, and thousands ot isolated graves scattered all over the tropic wilderness. And oh! the pity of it! Most of the victims, were vounp men, hun dreds fresh from college, full of high hopes and eager ambitions. The pride oi many a mother's heart occupies an unmarked grave, which none but God remembers, where vege tation riots, and serpents glide and strange flowers blossom. Fannie B. Ward. SEW KIND OP FAITH CURE. An Ardent Worshiper of Terpsichore Be stored to Heulth Promptly. New York Sun. J A beautiful but frail young lady of the Connecticut Eiver Valley not long ago fell into so serious a decline that her parents meditated taking her to a health resort, but the other night she entreated her father to let her go to a village dance, and he con sented, stipulatingonly that she should take a.pedometer along with her. She went in a close carriage, attended by two careful servants, and so delicate she seemed to be, the attendants would not have been sur prised if she had not survived the first quadrille she entered. ' But once on the floor she was transported by the prevniling mood, and next dav when the old gentleman examined the pedometer he found that she had danced just 31,uiiles and was ready for another ball, the sooner it came the better it would suit He is con vinced now that things are not always what they seem; the health resort scheme has taken second place and balls have first op tion in his hygienic calculation. Just to Avoid a Scenr. A tramp strolled into the Fourth Congre gational Church at Hartford tbe other night, and when the contribution box was passed to him he reached his hand in and took what was in it. "To avoid a scene," comments a Hartford paper, "the passer of the plate went on without remark, and the tramp went out." Woman's Lore. Men say that woman's love is bought With yellow gold and glittering gems. With titled raraes from o'er seas brought, With power, and place, and diadems. Perhaps 'tis so, I cannot say: I never had such things to give. And yet, aronnd my humble way, It shines, and makes life good to. live. There's other currency, I ween, More potent far to buy this prize. To win tor each man's home a queen. With love-light sparkling in her eyes. The muscle and the brain we bring. The force of nerve, the life-blood's flow, The fond heart's throb! Could any king A guerdon costlier bestow 7 The eagerness to work, to slave. To plod, to drudge, to fight through life. The willingness to pinch: to save. All for the smile and kiss of wife; Tbo loyalty that guards her name And holds it sacred, pure, sublime Are these hot meet to light the flame That glows adown the path f timer if. J. Mesitr in GomerviUt Journal 26, r -1890. CLABA BELLE'S CHAT. The f ecnliar Exclnsiveness of Some Hew York Society. BRAIHS NOT THE OPEN SESAME. Sad Story of One of Mary Anderson's Most Persistent Sailors. AN EFFECTIVE WEAPON FOE WOMEN CSFECIAI, COBKISPONDIJfCI OI TUC DISPATCH. New Yobk, January 25. OME of the many different sections of Hew York's society ore the most impen etrable of any in the world to the unrec ommended stranger. In England the im mediate passport is birth, but there is the secondary one of f brains, and through out the British realm you will find the most select drawing rooms copiously peopled with men and women who were born nobodies, but have become somebodies by force of in tellect and skill. In this city the man of letters, of science, of art, is debarred from some ofthe mshionable inner circles as com pletely as the roughest of parvenus, unless he advances some other claim for recogni tion beside his genius. Boasting as we do of a grand scheme of democracy, we outdo any monarchy of Europe in our social con servatism, and it is an unquestioned fact that the greatest men in the country are not welcome in portions of New York society. There is not a hostess iu the McAllister set that has ever numbered among her guests the few famous men of letters that tbe country has produced, or that have visited us from abroad. If Swinburne were to come over, doors would be closed to him that were flung wide for the Duke of Marlborough. Arthur Sullivan, the musician, Millais, tbe painter, nor Daudet, the novelist, could never think of entering some ofthe 400's drawing rooms; but Lord Garmoyle, Prince Murat, and any of- the other useless noblemen would be received with effusive enthusiasm. All this is not the rule in England, and it is surprising that fashionable people on this side should be so uncommonly stiff. At all the English drawing rooms, from the Queen's down, you might see the mental geniuses circulating freely among those of mere birth or wealth. 1 believe that Victoria numbers Mrs. Kendal, the actress, among her friends, and yet Mrs. Kendal has not received a solitary invitation from any "society matron" in New York. A CASE IN POINT. I can mention an instance where a rather liberal gentleman, who bad the entrance to tbe best society, requested from a ledy an invitation for a yonug English friend, rec ommending him as of tbe best culture and of noted talents. "But what other qualifications has he to make him a fit person for me to entertain?" inquired the lady. "None of birth or wealth," was the reply. "I call only assure you that he is my friend, and is a gentleman, and also an artist of high standing." "Oh, I cannot take that into account," re sponded the hostess. "I am not in a posi tion to run risks. My bouse is known to re ceive no one but the people whose social position is. clearly defined. I am sorry to refuse a request of yours, but I see no other way to act" At the very next reception of this haughty matron a guest was escorted from her bouse by two servants because he was intoxicated and was insulting in his conduct toward the ladies present. But this most ac ceptable gentleman had a title before his name, and thongh he will not receive anoth er invitation to visit the same house, yet not a remark has been made about the hostess' indiscretion in first asking him. Bnt if he had been a genius that had sprung from the people you would have heard often enough the proverb relative to tbe impossibility of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. "WHITING UP THE 'WEDDINGS. Do our "society people" really enjoy printed publicity? A majority undoubt edly do, and a minority do not They are glad to have their weddings reported, at all events, and that is sensible. The repre sentative of a daily journal is apt to be a basiness-like, polite and agreeable inquirer; yet there are exceptional cases of unneces sary cheek. Here is an actual occurrence. A Bridegroom and his bride have just said good-night to their guests, and are finally left to themselves. A knock is heard at the door, and a maid enters. "Gentleman, sir; sent up his card; would, like to see you and madam." "He would like to see madam, would he? Tell him to go to the deuce." Then the bride takes the card; "Oh, no, my dear, it's a reporter, the same one who wrote up my sister's wedding so beautifully and my uncle's funeral. "We must be very polite to him." Inaudible remarks from tbe husband are followed by the entrance of a society re porter. "Sorry to be late," he blithely says, "but I had so much trouble finding my way here." "That is too bad," and the bride is npt sarcastic. "If we had only known we should have been delighted to send the car riage for you." "You will permit me to take a few notes for special articles in the Society Salivator? You have been satisfied with your presents?" "Delighted." The reporter looks around the room. "Family portraits? Old chap with tbe Boman nose?" "Yes, sir," says the bridegroom, testily; "my father, I would have you remember." "All right. I'll put him in. Bare paint ings, costly tapestry, antique furniture, priceless china there, that will do. Now. may I trouble you to be shown to some room where I can write these notes out?" And the bride effusively said : "Cer tainly," although tbe bridegroom frowned. ONE OP MARY ANDERSON'S AFFAIRS. The report of Mary Anderson's engage ment to young Tony Navarro calls up a lot of stories about the affairs of the heart that the lovely, long actress has taken part in. It is noticeable that the heart portion of all such affairs has been contributed by the masculine party, and that Mary has re mained so coldly passive that serious doubt ot the presence of a spark of passion within her has been entertained. One of her friends recounted to-day the story of one out of Mary's dozen of romances. When the Kentucky maiden was even lovelier than she is to-day she met an excitable young man named Jesse Heacock while playing an engagement in Buffalo. Mary treated him with the same queenly deler ence that she conferred upon all who came within the circle of her lustrous charms. It is donbtful if the actress ever experienced an emotion of any consequence while in the young man's society, bnt it is certain that he was plunged into a hot bath of excite ment whenever the beauty turned her eyes upon him. Throughout Mary's stay in Buffalo Mr. Heacock exerted himself to the utmost to secure the toleration, if not the favor, of his divinity, but to no pnrpose. He was a gentleman of means, and so was enabled to devote himself entirely to culti vating the favor of the actress, but do what he would she discouraged his suit and begged him to desist in his attentions. SO HE PINED AWAY AND DIED. Mr. Heacock was exceptionally persistent and high strung, and so refused to obey his lady's commands. Not only did he press himself upon her while she was at Buffalo, but when she left the city he went on the same train. All through, that ismou Mr. npwr) Heacock traveled in the path of Mary, and do all she could to drive him away the actress had to submit to his persecutions. He was gentle, meek and respectful in his attentions; -so she could not bring herself to tbe point of complaining of ,hla to the authorities. But the time cams at last when he .realized tbe hopelessness of his love, and, after a last talk with Mary, he went home to Buffalo. From that moment his health began to de cline, and before a year passed he was in the last stages of a deadly illness. One day he was at a hotel in this city, and a friend to whom he was raving about Mary, begged him to pull himself together and cease to re gret his futile love. With a pitiful oath, Mr. Heacock cried ont that he wanted to die, for without Mary life was a torture. The very next day he was dead. ZBE LORGNETTE AS A WEAPON. The latest use for a lorgnette is as a means of defense for woman against woman. Let me illustrate. I was a witness of a scene in a Broadway candy store which will fully explain my statement A woman was buy ing chocolates. Near her stood two women discussing her. "Do you know who she is?" asked one. "That's Mrs. Blank. I think her hair is bleached and I am 'sure her coat is not seal." Tbe woman overheard thig confab. She has fighting blood in her veins and she turned and pluckily faced the impertinent pair. She raised her lorgnette and stared them over from head to foot, with such con temptuous coolness that they weakened, turned tail and fled "I'm not a bit near-sighted," said the conqueror, as gDe dropped her lorgnette. I keep this weapon for just snch impudent females and nd it Tery effective." DO WOMEN SWEAB? Do women swear? The dearcreatures are never behind the times, and as this is an age of profanity they're in for it, but in a soft ened, feminine way. "It's a darned nuis ance," I heard a stylishly-dressed woman say at the theater. Men swear because it's customary; women indulge in a weak imita tion because they enjoy it. If they don't quite dare to swear aloud, they think it, and that's just as wicked. How otten have I heard women say: "I wish I were a man for just five minutes wouldn't I swear!" I heard a man rip out a string of appalling oaths over something which didn't suit him. His profanity found an echo in the breast of a pretty little woman who had a similar grievance, and who bowed to him and sweetly said: "Thank you, sir?" Clara. Belle. THE BET DECLARED OFF. Scenes In the Bnsr Street of New York Philadelphia n Used Up. New York Sun. A large yellow-and-white cat started to cross Broadway nearly opposite Park row yesterday afternoon when traffic was at its greatest. Where she came from was known only to herself, but that she was making for tbe friendly shelter afforded by the5 rails of St. Paul's churchyard was apparent to all. Her chances of getting across the street safely did not seem to be good, and as she shrank back terrified from a passenger car, dodged under the wheels of an express wagon, and escaped being run over by one of Uncle Sam's mail vans by less than half the length of her tail. Two well-dressed men from Philadelphia stopped in tbe middle ofthe thoroughfare to watch her. "Bet you she is crushed," said one. "Take you," replied the other. Jnst then the pole of a double truck struck tbe fifth rib of the man who had of fered the bet, knocked his hat off. and near ly threw him down. "Hi!"roared-tbe driver, "hain't you got no eyes At tbe same moment the man who had taken the bet received a blow on the back of the neck. from, the off horse's head that nearly dislocated something spinal. "Ho!" roared the driver. "Are you a aleep?" The men escaped to the sidewalk. "Where's the cat?" asked one. "How do -I know?" replied the other. And as the venturesome creature was not visible dead or alive, the bet was ordered off. HUKCHAUSEN LOOSE AGAIN. This Time He Is a Sewing machine Agent Who Conld Shoot. Lewis ton Journal. The correspondent who sends this story says it was told by a sewing machine agent "Gentlemen," said tbe sewing machine man, "one spring father and I had a sugar camp down in the edge of the grove. About half a mile from us was a cornfield owned by a widow, and this widow never picked her corn clean. On the other side was a man who owned a blind sow. She had one pig, and they used to go over into that corn field every day to eat corn. Bight in front of our camp was a creek. At one place jibout 40 rods from our camp there was a tree felled across the creek. "This was the only place that the sow and pig could cross. Of course the sow could not see to cross on the log, so the way they used to do was for the old sow to take hold of the pig's tail and tbe pig would lead her across. Well, one day we were sitting in front of our camp when the old sow and pig were crossing that log. I said to father, 'hand me the rifle and see me cut that pig's tail off.' I took aim and fired, cutting that little pig's tail off smack smooth. The pig ran for the cornfield but the old sow didn't know which way to go. So father went over and took hold ot the pig's tail and led the old sow clear into camp." A GOOD DEACON'S TE0UBLE. He Tried to Start a. Tone, but Broke In Toocbjr Part. An amnsing incident occurred in one of our down-east churches a lev months ago. The clergyman gave out the hymn: I love to steal awhile away From every cumbering care, And spend the hour of setting day In humble, gratefal prayer. The regular chorister being absent, the dnty devolved upon Deacon M., who com menced: "I love to steal," and then broke down. Raising his voice a little higher, he then sung, "I love to steal." As before, he concluded he had got the wrong pitch; and deploring that he nad not his "pitch tuner," he determined to succeed next time. All the old ladies were tittering behind their fans, while the faces of the "young .ones" were in a broad grin. At length, after a desperate cough, he made a final demonstration, and roared out, "I love to steal." The effort was too much. Everyone but the clergyman was laughing. He arose and said: "Seeing our brother's propensities, let us pray." It is needless to add that but few of the congregation heard the prayer. HADS'T E1DDEX THE GOAT. An Anxlooi Wife's InTeitlcatlona After Her Spouse Took the First pegree. rss&et New York Star.! "My wife told me a good story recently," said a prominent Mason to me. "My next door neighbor, who is a big, good-natured fellow, full of fun and taking life easy, was to take the first degree in our lodge one evening, and his wife knew both of his in tention and the evening set for its execution, and, from pure love of him and fear for his safety, was awfully opposed to his joining. He wanted clean underwear that evening, and, tbe bureau drawers being locked and keys missing, asked her for it He might as well have asked for his life; so he had to buy a suit "Next morning she was in to see my wife they're great friends and curiosity had taken the place of anger. ' Pon my word, Mrs. S.'jsaid she, excitedly, 'I can't find a mark on them. I've searched his drawers and shirt all over", and there's no break in 'em, or patch on 'em; no blood on 'em, no hair on 'em! I'm sure he has not ridden the SQatvet,-! LIYES BUT! I0NTE A Micro-organism That Caused Uglj Growths on Plant Boots. STATISTICS ON YALUE 0P FOODS. Tha Indian's Poisoned Arrow is lot So Deadly as Supposed. SCIENTIFIC SCEAPS 0P MUCH INTEREST rwarrnx toe thi dispatch bt washootox SCIENTISTS.: Prof. Atkinson, of tbe Alabama Poly technic Institute, has been studying the life history of a microscopic worm, which causes diseased growths on the roots of plants, called root-galls. Among the plants thus affected are the potato, eggplant, tomato, cabbage, parsnip, grape and cow-pea. These micro-organisms pass through all the stages of their" existence in about a month, and pro duce a dozen or so generations in a year, and as each family lays from 100 to 250 eggs the worms multiply with startling rapidity. The root-galls must be carefully distin guished from the tubercles found on the roots of leguminous plants. The tubercles occur only on the young roots, and though often convoluted "or lobulaled, are comparatively smooth. The root galls are formed on roots of all ages and usually present a scurfy or cracked appearance. The microscope is, however, often required to distinguish the root galls from the root tubercle. The method of the formation of the tubercles U still a matter of dispute among tbe scientists, some believing that they are normal growths on leguminous plants and others holding that they are caused by bacteria or fungi. Their most important role seems to be to aid tbe plants in tbe acquisition of nitrogen from tbe air. They are thus very beneficial to the farmer, while, as far as known, the worm causing root sails is an snemy to agriculture and should be gotten rid of by starvation through a rotation of crops or in some other way. Lnnanagp of the Dskotas. The Bureau of Ethnology has just sent to press volume vii. of "Contributions to North American Ethnology," entitled "The Da kota JLanguage," consisting of a Dakota English dictionary. The author, the late S. B. Biggs, prepared a grammar and dic tionary of the Dakota language, which was published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1852. Most of the entries in this work were in the Santee dialect, the dialect then best known to Mr. Biggs and his associates. The present volume contains not only many additional Santee words, but numerous entries in tbe sister dialects, the Yankton and Teton. Explanatory notes have been furnished and numerous cross-references in serted, making this edition of more value to the student than was tbe former one. This work will be a quarto volume of 66o pages. It will be followed at an early day by another by tbe same anthor, "Grammar, Texts and Ethnography of the Dakotas." The Tnlns ol Food.. One of the novel and interesting features of the new National Medical Dictionary (Lea & Brothers; Philadelphia) is a series of tables by Prof. Atwater, showing the per centages of nutritive ingredients in a large number of food materials; the proportions that are actually digestible the potential energy (fuel vaiues) standards for dieta ries lor different classes and occupations; dietaries for corpulence; uctual dietaries of persons in different circumstances in life, and a comparison of these dietaries with the standards. Tbe tables are important as con taining the rein Its of a large amount of new experimental study and as including invest igations o' American as well as European foods and dietaries. They bring ont clearly the extravagance of the average American household in the purchase and use of foods, especially in the excessive use of too fat meats. Effect of Poisoned Arrows. A member of General Crook's staff who was a participant in several of the cam paigns of the famous Indian fighter, states that he never saw a case where injurious re sults followed from a wound made by a poisoned arrow, that is owing to the poison alone. The Indian secures the poison usually by holding a piece of absorptive meat to an enraged rattlesnake, receiving at each strike an amount of poison supposed to be sufficient to kill a man. If the arrows observed by this officer were properly tfeated it would appear that less damage has been inflicted in this manner than was generally supposed. Work of tbo Albatross. The Fish Commission steamer Albatross is undergoing repairs at the Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco, preparatory to a winter cruise off the southern coast of California to study the fauna of the fishing banks and the contiguous deep sea areas. The uniform results of these careful in vestigations have been to find new species of food fishes, or such natural enemies as to show the futility of trying to establish a fishing industry. All the scientific investi gations of the commission have a practical tend whose results in some few cases have been of such commercial importance as to compensate for the entire cost of the service to the present time. A Tree for the Pacific Coast. It is probable that the European and En glish oak (quercus pedunculata) will be the hardwood timber tree on the Pacific coast for the future. This species is appar ently much better adapted to that region than are the more common varieties ot oak in the Eastern States, which there make a slow and unsatisfactory growth. Grammar of the Klamath Language. Mr. Gatscheti has just had published by the Bureau of Ethnology a grammar of the Klamath language. It is intended to form not only a complete analysis and exposition of that language, but to be a model of all subsequent grammars of the Indian languages. Metal Tie for Railroads. The economics of metal ties for railroads is now being thoroughly investigated in this country, not because of scarcity of suitable timber, but on account of their lasting character and firmness of the track. At this time there are several hundred miles of track in Europe laid on metal ties. For n Classification of Land. The California Agricultural Experiment Station has analyzed over 1,200 samples of soil from different localities as a basis for a classification ofthe lands of the State. EADAMS MICROBE KILLER CURES ALL DISEASES. The claim to cure all diseases, may at first glance seem very absurd; but after reading our pamphlet giving a history of the Mlcrobo Killer, explaining the eerm theory of disease, and reading our testimonials, which prove con clusively there Is no disease It wul not cure, the truth of our assertion becomes clear. No person suffering from any blood, chronic or contagious disease should let a day pass with out getting and reading this interesting book, which will be given awav or mailed free. The gentlemen connected with this company are well-known business men of this city. Agents wanted everywnere. Address The Wm- Radam Microbe Killer Co,, Ol SIXTH AVENUE, NEW YOBK CITY. E. H. WILLIAMS, 613 Liberty &Ye Pittsburg ncsa-twau
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