Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, February 23, 1890, SECOND PART, Page 9, Image 9

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THE PITTSBURG DISPATCE
T
SECOND PART.
PAGES 9 TO 16.
S5
S
Senator Hearst as a Business
Man and Speller.
INCREASE IN COPYRIGHTS.
ennan's Siberian Experience Was
a Financial Success.
&DYOCATES OP WOMEN'S EIGHTS
ICOEZXSFOXPSXCX or THE dispatch.!
Washington, February 22.
EO. HEABST,
the millionaire
Senator from Cal
ifornia, is bring
ing his mining
knowledge to bear
on the regions
about Washing
ton, and daring
the past week he
has invested in
some cannel coal
veins in "West Vir
ginia, which, I am
told, will make
him another for
tune. Thomas
Jefferson Clunie,
one of the new rep
resentatives ironi
San Francisco,
went with Hearst
to make the pur
chase, and he tells
the story. Said he:
"The trip taught
me how Hearst made his fortune. It showed
me that he was a sharp business man, and
this "West Virginia sals will give you a
good insight into his character. "We found
the coal veins all right There were several
of them, each of which had its price and
each of which contained a different variety
of coal. The owners began to expatiate
upon their virtues as soon as we arrived.
The vein they particularly wanted to sell
was 3,003 feet up the mountain side. They
had samples of it at the foot of the
hill, and tbe vein looked well from the dis
tance. The samples were fine, the price was
low, and I expected to see Hearst snap at
the offer. As he did not I asked:
"What's the matter, Senator?'
"'Well,' replied Senator Hearst, I don't
like to buy a pig in a poke, and we had bet
ter crawl up and see that coal for ourselves
before we discuss the price.'
"With that we climbed up to the vein.and
Senator Hearst took a piece of the coal and
lit it with a match. Cannel coal will burn
like turpentine. The lump the Senator lit
did bum when the match touched it, but a
moment later it went out and the Senator
said:
THE CLIMB WOETH THE WHILE.
"There, Clunie, that's no good. There
areother varieties of coal than cannel coal
which -will burn upon being lit, but the best
cannel coal will continue to burn until it is
reduced to ashes. This piece is not cannel
at all, and I would not give a blank for" this
vein if we could set it for nothing.'
"We then sampled another vein, going
through the 6ame .process. The Senator put a
big chunk of carbon on the ground and lit
it, and, as it cracked away, he watched as a
mother does her firstborn. When it was
half consumed I said: 'Well, Senator, are
you satisfied now?'
" 'No, I'm not,' replied Senator Hearst,
and he kept his eyes on the blazing lump
for fnllv ten minutes longer. At the end
of that time the fire had died out and only
a heap of gray ashes remained on the ground.
Senator Hearst then said:
" 'That settles it,' and he thereupon went
to the West "Virginian and bought the vein.
It is a valuable property and it will prob
ably make him a great d'ealof money. It was
in this same way that he made millions in
the gold mines of California. He looked at
every mine"he bought for himself, and the
most of those he invested in he bought upon
option, working them for six months, and if
they paid out as represented buying them at
the end of that time outright The result
was that he always made and never lost.
Borne call his good fortune luck. I call it
brains."
WAS TIEST A 8TOEE KEEPEB.
"Where did Hearst come from?" said I.
"He was born in Missouri," replied Con
gressman Clunie. "His folks lived near
St. Louis, and were well to do. Hearst
began life by keeping store, but his health
was poor and his business did not pay. He
concluded to go West. He sold out his
store for a promissory note of 51,000. This,
in addition to his expenses, was the sum of
his possessions when he started for Califor
nia. It turned out 4o be worth only the
paper on which it was written, and Senator
Hearst still keeps it as an autographic curio.
Hewent from Missouri to Calitornia, bought
n pick and began at once to dig gold lor
himself. He was lucky from the first, ana
he soon accumulated a bag of gold repre
senting at least 8500,000. This gold was
made up of dust, slag and good-sized nug
gets, including some as big as your fist. He
Meant at a Speller.
took it to San Francisco and deposited it
with a banker named Lent. A few days
later Lent's bank broke, and Hearst found
himself poorer than when he came to Cali
fornia. He had scarcely the money to buy
a new pick, but he borrowed enough to put
himself on his feet, and his good fortune
stayed with him. He kept on making
money, and he has at times owned mines
and mills on tbe Pacific coast which gave
employment to 2,000 men and crushed 1,000
tons ol ore every day.
THE SEN ATOE'S rNTEEESTS.
"He is still interested in mining and he
has farms containing some of the finest
Pi' blooded stock in tbe West One of his farms
r 'has 40,000 acres. He is tbe owner of the
' EaafFrancisco Examiner, and he has some
' 'of the fjstest horses of the country. He has
always been liberal in his gilts to the party
and the Democrats gave him their unani
mous minority vote Jor-United States Sena
tor when Stanford was elected by the lie
publicans." Senator Hearst has been represented as an
Illiterate man, but Senator Frye tells a story
that illustrates both his education and his
pluck. He has not played cards among the.
CARPENTER
GOSSIP
p" lB,RDEJ r
J oK TOAST J
bluffers of California for nothing, and, like
many ot his brother Senators, he is by no
means averse to a bet Not long ago he en
tered a well-known restaurant of San Fran
cisco and on the blackboard at the back of
the bar he saw the word "Bird" among the
items of the bill of fare. It was spelled
"Birde" and Hearst at once called up tbe
keeper of the restaurant who was a noted
Calirornia character, and said:
"See here, Blank, that's a devil of a way
to spell 'bird.' Dou'tyou know any better
than that? You ought to spell it 'b-u-r-d.' "
COULD SFELIi rP MONET WAS IN IT.
"I would have you understand, George
Hearst, replied the restaurant keeper, "that
I am just as good a speller as you, and I am
willing to leave it to the best scholar in tbe
room that you don't know any more about
the matter than I do. In other words, I'll
bet you a basket of champagne that you
can't spell 'bird' the right way."
"Done." said Hearst
"All right," said the man, "and here is a
piece ot paper lor you to put it down in
black and white."
With that he handed Hearst a sheet of
brown paper, and Hearst with a stub pencil
wrote out tbe letters:
"The right way to spell it is b-i-b-D."
"But," said the restaurant keeper, "you
spelled it first with a 'u.' "
Senator Hearst threw himself back and
looked the restaurant man in the eye.
"And," said he, "did you think that I was
blanked fool enongh to spell 'bird' with a
'u when there was any inoney np on it?"
THE WELL-POSTED LIBBABIAN.
I dropped into the Congressional Library
this afternoon and asked Mr. Spofford as to
the condition of the great American brain.
Mr. Spofford is the man who gives out all
the copyrights in the United States and
every intellectual enterprise that starts
must first come to him. He is a wiry little
anatomy of skin, bone and brain with a lace
as dark as that of a Spaniard and with a
bodywhich is the personification of nervous
activity. His forehead is broad, his eyes
are as black as jet and his thick hair and
beard are now tinged with grey. During
the past 25 years be has by proxy contri
buted more to the Congressional Record
than any man in Washington. Congress
men go to him for all sorts of information
and get it He has the title of every one of
the half-million-odd books in the biggest
library of the country on his tongue's end
and he knows where to find information on
Edmunds and Spofford.
.all topics from cooking to theology. He
is a man of many literary friendships and
there is scarcely an author in the country
who does not know him. He hob-nobs with
the Senators andwhen I entered the library
old Father Jerome Edmunds was chatting
soberly with him on the limitations of the
infinite. Edmunds' bald pate was shining
like the head of a boy's new drum and his
severe eyes were jumping with enthusiasm
as he argued with the librarian.
THE GBXAT AMERICAN SBAXN.
He left a moment after I entered, and I
went with Mr. Spofford into one of the nar
row alcoves and talked with him as to our
intellectual progress. "Yes," said he, "the
great American brain steadily grows. We
have more applications for copyrights every
year, and there is a wonderful intellectual
activity just now in the making of art, dra
matic and musical works. A great deal of
poetrv is being written, and during the past
year 41,000 literary inventions were entered
into this intellectual patent office. A great
part of our copyright now comes from syn
dicate newspaper letters, and I sometimes
receive as many as 20 applications a day for
such copyrights. The library is steadily
growing, and we now have more than 625,
000 volumes."
I asked as to the new library building.
"It will be pushed as soon as the spring
opens," replied Mr. Spofford, "and the peo
ple will be surprised at how fast we can
build when we acain get to work. We are
now waiting for granite, bnt in one day last
fall we laid 81,000 bricks, and on another
day 89,000. The building is an imperative
necessity, and it will be pushed along as last
as possible."
A FEW LTTEBABY PBOJECTS.
Speaking of literary matters I understand
that Henry Adams is still at work upon his
history oi the United States during Jeffer
son's administration. He has had four vol.
umes of this work already published and
Bancroft looked over the proofs and gave
him his literary advice. The work as com
pleted will be a very valuable one and Mr.
Adams has the advantage of the valuable
papers of John Quincy Adams and John
Adatns in the preparation of it
The biography of Lincoln by Kicolay
and Hay is being prepared for book iorni.
John G. Kicolay is editing the matter and
reading the proofs and there is no doubt
that he and Mr. Hay will make consider
ably more than the $50,000 which they re
ceived for the manuscript from tbe Century
Company out of the sale of the book.
I see that George Kennan, the Siberian
explorer, offers his valuable lots on Six
teenth street for sale. These are in the most
advancing part of the Capital and they cost
Kennan, I am told, $20,000. He will un
doubtedly mike something out of it
Mr. Kennan is making cords of money
out of his lectures. I chatted with Adee,
the Assistant Secretary of State, about him
the other day. He said:
KENNAN'S PBISON QABB.
"Kennan's suit of prison clothes and the
iron chain which he brought with him from
Siberia to America have already brought
him $50,000, and they are adding to his bank
account every night At the close of every
lecture he appears upon the stage in this
prison garb, and he finds it a successful
feature."
Major Fond, tbe lecture manager of New
York, told me that Kennan was his best
card. Said he: "I have booked more than
$30,000 worth of contracts for him this sea
son, and he is the best paying lecturer in
the field. One of his secrets ol success lies
in the fact that he prepared himself well
before going on the stage, and another is
the splendid advertisement which the Cen
tury magazine has given him."
Doctor Burnett the dark-eyed husband of
Frances Hodgson Burnett, tells me that she
is growing better in London and that she will
return as soon as she is able to travel. She was
preparinc to come to America when she was
thrown from the carriage, and she has been
able to do no literary work to speak of since
then. She has some plans mapped out for
future work, but nothing in manuscript or
in well-advanced preparation. Dr. Burnett
says that "Little Lord Fauntleroy." paid
very well as a book and as a play. Eighty
thousand copies of the book were sold and
it is still selling widely. The original
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" is now in Wash
ington going to school. It is or rather he is
the son of Dr. and Mrs. Burnett
A NEGBO'S THUMB.
The cartridge which Senator Ingalls re
ceived by mail from Mississippi a week ago
brings to me a curious reminiscence of Sec
retary Stanton, It was during the stormiest
davs of the war. inst before the Emancipa
tion Proclamation had been issued, and J
when the colored man was the prominent
factor in every man's mind. Stanton was
sitting at his family table one evening, when
a bundle of mail was brought to him direct
from the postoffice. In it there was a little
package of about the size of the box which
held the cartridge received by Senator In
galls. The package was opened, and inside
the paper there was a long, round roll of
linen cloth about an inch in diameter. Sec
retary Stanton took out the pin which held
the roll and began to unwind it He went
on, and after two wrappers had been re
moved the ghastly thumb of a negro was
found within. It had blooded the rag which
was around it, and it had evidently been cut
from a living man, or one who had but a
few moments before the cutting died. The
eye-witness ol the opening tells me that the
nail of tbe thumb was roughened as with
hard work, and that the skin on the front of
Senator Soar and Susan B. Anthony.
it was worn white by labor. He describes
the disgust of the Secretary and his family,
and says that the incident did not help the
cause of the South with the gruff War Sec
retary. THE FEMALE STJFFBAGIST3.
The women suffragists have captured the
Capital. Elizabeth Cady Stanton trots
about as though she owned Washington,
Phoebe Couzins' eyes snap with grit and de
termination and Helen M. Gongar acts as
though she weighed a ton. May Wright
Sewell has pnt on her war paint and Susan
B. Anthony is making scores of votes by her
siege on the Congressmen in the Capitol
committee rooms. Susan was 70 years old
this month, but she looks no older than
when I first met her vears ago. and her eye
is as bright and her brain is as clear as it
was in the sixties. She has devoted herlile
to woman's rights and she has cojie into
close association with the public men of tbe
country for two generations, fane is
not a blusterer nor a notorietv-seeker
and she has never cut off her
hair. She dresses as well as any
ladv of Washington and she is fond of black
silk as stiff as a board. She has the brain of
a man rather than one of a woman, and her
warm erav eves look out through gold
classes in a verv fetching way. I saw her
chatting with Senator George Frisbie Hoar,
of Massachusetts, in Statuary Hall, at the
Capitol, this afternoon, and Hoar's face
beamed with smiles, and his great round
blue eyes popped out with kindness as he
looked down upon her with a Horace Gree
ley'air To my mind he looked more like a
grandmother than she did, and the picture
might have served for a model for a great
painting of the platonio affections of Janu
ary and December. As I looked at them they
were proudly rehearsing old times together,
for both seemed decidedly tickled. I did not
address either, but merely said to myself:
"Oh, you giddy things," and walked away.
BANCBOPT, THE HISTORIAN.
George Bancroft, the historian, is confined
to his bed, and he has been sick for the
greater part of the winter. He is not doing
any literary work and he considers his life
work done. He still plays whist occasion
ally and one night this winter he played the
whole evening without making bnt one mis
take, which is verv good for a man nearly
90. His library is one of the most valuable
in the country. It contains many rare man
uscripts and it is, I am told, Mr. Bancroft's
idea to have the Government purchase it at
a fair appraisement at his death.
Ex-Senator Joseph E McDonald is prac
ticing law in Washington. I saw him at the
Capitol yesterday. He weighs 250 pounds
and he says he is "solid from in to out." I
asked him how he maintained his youthful
vigor. He replied: "It comes Irom a good
conscience and voting the straight Demo
cratic ticket These make me rest well at
night, and I have as much iron in my blood
as when I began to vote. I recommend the
recipe to the young men of the present"
THE POPULAB KDITOB.
I hear that George W. Childs dictated the
reminiscences which lately appeared in
Lippincott's Magazine to a newspaper re
porter, and that the young man got $1,000
from the magazine for the job. Mr. Childs
gave him the matter to help him along, and
not to add to his own personal notoriety.
Speaking of Mr. Childs, Colonel John
Brownlow tells me that he made a fortune
.out of the Parson Brownlow book, which he
published during the war. The book paid
Parson Brownlow $20,000, and Mr. Childs,
as publisher, must have got several times
this amount
Congressman Cogswell, of Salem, Mass.,
tells me that ex-Secretary Endicott has re
sumed the practice of the law. His shingle
is out and he has two partners, and though
he will probably not do mnch work himself,
his name will add to the firm and his assist
ance will be given on big rases. The ex
Secretary spent his last summer in England
with his daughter, Mrs. Joseph Chamber
lain. He is well-to-do, and he lives very
nicely at Salem.
Fbank G. Carpenter.
C0UBTING ON STREET CABS.
How Toong: Conples Escape tbe Vigilance
of Angry Parents.
Brooklyn Eagle.
"Love making?" said the conductor, "Oh,
yes; I see a lot of that, too, and it does my
old heart good. Why, there's many a young
couple whose parents do not look favorably
upon early marriage, or marriage at all,
unless they make the selection, who do all
their conrting on the cars. The young lady
will get on uptown, let us say, and a few
blocks further down she will be joined
by the young man. Their efforts to make
it appear that the meeting is pure
ly accidental are amusing to a high degree,
but they don't blind old veterans such as L
I can spot 'em every time. Many a time
I've seen one of these conples ride down
very nearly to the ferry, get off and board
another car bound uptown. They can keep
it up all day if they-feel so disposed and are
not detected.
"I have known an angry father and an
angry mother, too, on another occasion to
appear on the scene just when they were
least wanted. Nothing of an open natnre
occurred in the car, bnt I noticed tnat the
lovers left as soon as they could do so with
any degree of dignity, and from the light in
the old folks' eyes I judged that there
would be rough weather off coast for some
body before long."
Advnntnce of Hnvlsg Small Hands,
Mew York Mall and Express.
Do you know that women with very small
hands have the advantage in the glove
market? There is always an overplus of
5s and they are sold cheap. A woman
who can wear this nnmber and can tell a
good glove when she 'sees it not a difficult
thing to do if you have an eye for it can
always be well gloved almost for nothing.
The sizes from 6 to 6 inclusive, are mostly
soia w women.
PITTSBURG, SUNDAY,
THE FUTURE UTOPIA.
Shirley Dare's Idea of What Wana
maker Will do When President
HIS PNEUMATIC TRAFFIC POST.
Xew Tork Ordering Things for Dinner From
Chicago and St Lonis.
GOTHAM CLEAN, HEALTH! AKD QUIET
rcosBuroNDEircx or tjte disfatcb.I
New York, February 22. How would
life seem if everything and everybody from
its beginning were devoted to making things
pleasant? Would the world be any worse
for our partial happiness, or we be any
worse for living in a safe, kind, healthful
world? To say that health and soundness
of mind, ease of fortune and good feeling
are not the due and right conditions of life,
is to say that disease and sin are the best,
and we are to submit to them, and we know
it is not so.
To study to make life easy for one's self and
for others does not seem a very noble ambi
tionyet it may hold the principle of the
most unselfish deeds, the most warm-hearted
service to the world. It is questionable if
enlightened selfishness has not more real
consideration for others than mnch of the
one-Bided self-devotion which wears a little
silver badge at its buttonhole and manages
to lay a very large one on other people's
shoulders, with the very best of motives'.
Such thoughts were in my mind ns the
ferryboat neared the Battery landing at
New York, How long the trip had been
through the fog I cannot say; but that had
lilted as the boat glided to the wharf; and it
struck me as unusual that a fragrant breeze
was blowing off shore, in place of the smell
of bilge water. By good fortune, too, the
boat glided surely to the wharf without
shock or jar, depriving us of those instants
ot dread and recoil which ore part of every
j., .,..;.,. :iu t .
THE C1TT SEEK IN A DREAM.
It seemed strangely quiet in the city; but
that was probably on account of some
luneral or celebration unknown to me.beine
a person who often as not misses reading the
newspapers, it crossed my mind indeed
to wish there might be a funeral everv dav.
for the sake of quiet, as I walked up Broad
way to the postoffice. There had been a
very careful cleaning of the streets lately, I
remarked, and the fragrance of Jersey
norist gardens came grateiuny on the un
perverted air. One somehow missed tbe
sense of clouding, gloom and grime which
attends the entrance to a city, and I took np
the day s wors: wltn a better heart
I went into the city postoffice, lifting my
skirts from habit to escape the dirty floors.
but behold, all was clean and dustless as a
college museum, and, more wonderful, no
trace-of crime soiled lintels or sills. I snoke
in praise of tbe admirable order to the cns-
todian at the door.
"Where is the dnstto come from," he
asked, and I looked around to reply. The
soothing quiet of the city had made itself
felt before, and I discovered that the great
causes of .noise ana aust were Doth gone.
There was no traffic in the streets where the
concrete pavements lay as fresh as Philadel
phia doorsteps. Not a horse car er team of
anv sort could be seen, no litter of any kind
offended the senses, instead, the street, boxes
of flowers lined the sidewalks as far as eye
could see, and the. breath of the city was
that of a garden.
NOISELESS OK BBOADWAX.
Here anai .mere duiiu gay guuea, iron
pavilions of" lightest open work, with
striped awnings, sheltered the business of a
vender of papers, household notions, fruits
or fancy wares. Presently a light, open car
with awning over it, glided swiftly by with
the touch of a musical, clear bell, and went
noislessly up Broadway.
Everything goes by electricity, I said to
myself, bnt I was behind the times.
j, ., ii.ii j j .
The man was uncommonly large, there
being 350 letters on superfluous hair and
cosmetics by tbe 10 o'elock post, bnt I had
hardly time for a thrill of dismay when the
obliging clerk said, "Of course you will
have them sent to the house?"
I said, "I can't wait for the next deliv
ery." "They will be at the house before, or at
the same time, if you take the pneumatic
yourself. They are just dispatching the
Western unlimited mail, perhaps yon would
like to see it."
A gilded gate unclosed and hnge iron
cylinders, one after another, shot into the
dark opening which conld be seen sloping
cellarward, and flew off, as the cash boxes
vanish at shopcounters.
"It is a great benefit to the country, hav
ing the new service," said the clerk, "the
retnrn mail is here again by 3 o'clock in the
alternoon from Chicago."
".Return?" I managed to ask in surprise.
"Yes, that Ib, the orders are sent by tele
graph, and the parcels are here by 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. The routine perhaps, in
terests you?" she said politely, for though
obliging, tbe clerk was still a woman.
OBDEBING GOODS PROM OHICAOO.
"The orders for goods are sent by morning
telegraph to Chicago, by 7 o'clock, and the
goods are selected, packed and received here
by the middle of the afternoon. Many
families order their flour, vegetables and
beef from the Western central markets
direct, and get them in time for dinner the
same day. It is a great saving of expense
and things come bo fresh. We are pretty
well up with the business at this end,3 for
most of the mail jnst sent was ordered from
Denning's & Stern's this morning for St.
Louis ladies, who want things for the great
reception to-night Tbe charm seems to be
in getting np parties since tbe Pneumatic
came in. It has revolutionized everything.
There comes the New Jersey mail, the
flower mail, I mean. The milk mail for the
children's lunches is in by 1220.
"Can yon get it uptown by 1 o'clook?" I
asked incredulously.
"Oh, most of it goes direct to the houses,
though some waits here on call. There,
they have spilt the milk at the Gilsey
House, and the cook wants more sent up for
puddings before the eggs begin to fall. All
right, delivered and received," she said as a
silvery ting rang at her elbow irom the
transmitting wire. "Wonderful system that
shoots the milk can on the pantry table and
never sends to the wrong house."
"But I don't quite understand," I said.
"Your mail seems to be mostly goods. Don't
it interfere with the letters?"
OKLT LOVE LETTEBS BY MAIL
'People don't need letters as they used
to," she said, "since every person has his
private wire and talks to his correspond
ent direct The telegraph and phono
telegraph have dispensed with writing,
except for love letters, which it is still
refined to send in the old silent way, by
writing. But we have all we can do send
ing family supplies by the pneumatic under
ground across the continent The country
owes a debt of gratitude to President Wan
amaker for establishing the pneumatic
traffic post Except the sending of grain by
ships along the inter-State canals there is no
commerce except by underground. Doesn't
it make a delightful difference? I can
.hardly believe that I used to live when they
had horse cars and wagons on the streets.
Everything has been so much sweeter
since they gave up teams and sewers. The
railways, too, are bo much nicer since they
came to be used only for traveling."
I went up towu pondering. A well
known door admitted me promptly to that
wonder in a city honse, a light, cheerful
ball with a dressing room opening directlv
frdm it, also light, roomy, and furnished in
agreeable taste with tiles and enamel, lovely
Worcester and Carlesbad nuneli filling, the
PEBRTJART 23, 1890.
sides. A large white bsth of enameled
metal showed in the room next it, where a
jet of perfumed water played softly from a
vaporizer. It was deligbtlm to lay asiae
outer wraps and put oneself in trim without
'going upstairs, and I found that houses paid
great attention to these lower dressing
rooms, so that it was no penance to make
use of them often.
OVERCHARGES AND TAXES ABOLISHED.
"How can you afford these lovely decora
tions?" I asked my friend one day after
ward. "We always thought ourselves for
tunate to have ornaments of these beautiful
wares, and you line the walls of dressing
rooms with them."
On which she pointed out to me all unne
cessary expense, waste and overcharging
had been abolished, from taxes to plnmbers
bills and the price of sugar, so that people
could afford luxuries of taste they never
thought of having before. But the charm
of all houses was the absence of unmeaning,
unnecessary ornament. You found the
walls bare at first after our modern surfeit
of color and pattern, but the colors were soft
and satisfying in the plain spaes,and wher
ever the' eye needed a little relief, it was
there in some delicions corner or border
painting, Japanesque,! naturalistic, Ara
besque, as it might be, harmonious enough
to stimulate,never to weary the sight Those
enameled walls wore the surface of
Doulton faience, in their tintings of fawn
and silver, tea-roie and rose-crimson, Ap
ril bines, turquoise, and grays of vapory
distance shot with rich mellow color, ever
a delight, so well fancied, so correctly and
snavely drawn were all the scrolly and vig
nettes, the far reaching flowers or pine
feathered branches, airy shafts of cane or
sedge or palm, the drifts of birds' plumes
or falling flower petals. With these pic
tured walls one hardly noticed the simpli
city of the floors, with beautiful bordeis
and centerj of wood fiber, treated to be
elastic and noiseless as rubber yet pat
terned like Persian carpet. But the ex
quisite and pervading purity ot the houses
charmed and mystified me till my friend
told me how it was secured.
COMPRESSED AIR INSTEAD 07 BEOOMS.
"No more sweeping, shaking and clean
ing in the old way." she said. "You shall
see how it is done ?"
The knicknacks were taken out, one
window opened, and the maid fixed a hose
in position and tnrned on a jet of corn
Dressed air, which, with the force of
hydraulic pressure, swept walls and floors,
so that a microscope could hardly find a
speck of dust behind. The jet of air was so
controlled that it could be directed to the
corners of window frames, clearing them of
oust as with the point of a steel pencil.
Playing on a parquet floor with a waxed
rubber, it brought the wood to a mirror
polish in a few minutes, and turned on a
carpet not only took up all dust, but drove
that before it, to the window, so that the
room was swept and dusted, at once remov
ing one great cause of disease. By the way,
all the public buildings and streets were
swept in this way, the dust ot the city going
via the pneumatic underground' out to the
Jersey barrens to feed the State, timber grow
ing there.
The soft equable temperature all over the
house as night came on chill and sharp,
was a pleasurable surprise. Never to know
chill or ache is almost as blessed as to reach
that land "where never wind blows loudly."
ALMOST AS GOOD AS NATUBAL GAS.
The houses in the block all used the old
fashioned furnace for kerosene and water,
the oil being fed through a fine pipe to a
firebox of porous brick, into and through
whose walls it filtered from the outside, fill
ing tbe box with flame alone. Into this
Slaved a jet of vapor of water, which com
ining with the, kerosene, railed a fierce
heat, which could be controlled easily as a
gas jet Turned down to the least flame
when the house was warm, it kept the tem
perature through the 24 hours without
fluctuation and without care, the oil feeding
itself 'from a reservoir outside tbe furnace
room. The same fire heated ample supplies
of water for baths and house uses, an'dkept
a pretty conservatory warm ail winter.
A peculiar brightness and purity of the
air struck me as singnlar in a city house;
moreover, no transfer of ashes or garbage
took place at any hour of the day or night,
all going from kitchen or bathroom in tight
screw-capped metal cans by the pneumatic
shaft in the cellar wall to the city grounds
out in New Jersey sandhills.
EMPTIED, SCOURED AND BETUBNED.
There the contents were emptied by air
blasts, which returned every can clean and
scoured, as by a sand blast, and they were
ready to be whisked back again, flying into
place with the precision of the little cash
cylinders in shops by the air tubes. Sew
age ana wastes were composted lor tne State
forests and the immense fields of esoart
grass grown for a thousand uses. For in
place of timber, much use was made of com
pressed pulp, of which the railway ties,
rails and wheels were made, and houses and
furniture made. The old sloppy, danger
ous sewage system was done away, the city
drains having no other office than to carry
off the rains and bath water, which was
filtered with alum and used to sprinkle
streets, being clear and inodorons as the
Croton reservoir. One mnst have seen the
workings of this new system to imagine its
comforts and capabilities. But I have not
told half my dream. Shirley DABE.
LATEST OP THE ROSES.
A New Tarloty That ia Most Benntlfal and
Also Hardy.
Farm and Fireside. 1
One of the new and beautiful roses
brought out this year is Vick's Caprice. It
is indeed a novelty. It is a true hybrid
perpetual rose and perfectly hardy. We
are assured that it may be grown to
perfection by the amateur equally
as well as ' by the professsional
florist. The flowers are large, the
ground color a soft, satiny pink, distinctly
dashed and striped with white and carmine.
It is wondrously beautiful in the bud, too,
being quite long and pointed, also showing
the stripes and markings to great advantage,
making it a valuable and desirable variety
for cuttine.
THE SEASON FOE CIGABS.
Christmas
Brings Oat tbe nigh Priced
Smoker la Chicago.
Chicago Tribune.
I went into a cigar store on the corner of
Lake and Leavitt streets and asked the man
for some cigars two tor a quarter. He said
he hadn't any of that price cigar.
"There Is only one time in the year," he
continued, "when I have them. That is
Christmas. Everybody smokes two for a
quarter cigars then, and niter that they
either quit smoking altogether or else tbey
smoke cheaper ones. Last Christmas tbe
master mechanic of a certain railroad bought
40 boxes of the cigars you call for. I guess
he has still some of them left My cigar
trade alwava falls off inst after Christmas."'
VicVt Caprice.
LEGENDS OF IRELAND.
Story of the ine Princesses T?ho
Were Changed Into Hazels.
THE HUTS THESOUECE OP WISDOM.
How Fionn, the War Hero, Won the Beautiful
Gralne for His Bride.
BACB OF MAIDS UP A M0UHTAIN SIDE
IWBtTTZN JOE THE DISrATCHJ
Stored away in the musty tomes and illu
minated manuscripts of the Boyal Irish
Academy, in Dnblin, are myriads of legends,
quaint and curious, connected with ancient
Ireland the Erin of poets and sages.
And in the fresh, unfading treasurer houses
of lonely glen and rocky height, these old
stories live a dnal life. The white haired
seanachie tells them round the turf fire to
the listening peasantry, and his fathers told
them to high chief and noble dame, when
harps were in hall and the red wine on the
groaning board.
But alack and welladayl The aged seana
chie must no w relate his ballads and legends
in the harsh Saxon tongue where once they
flowed forth with all the musical intonations
of graceful Gaelic. Still the thoughts and
images are the same, and it is not from the
want of a proper interpreter that tbe folk
lore of Erin loses anything.
A strange legend of the midland and
southeastern counties is that oi "The Sal
mon of All Knowledge." Far away, in the
mist of ages, there was a certain mountain
well high up in tbe purple Slieve Bloom
Mountains, and this well was called Tubber-na-Connla,
or the spring of Connla. Tbe
sparkling waters bubbled to the surface all
the day long, and then leaped ont playfully
through the flowering heather, and bounded
down the rocky hillside to form a whisper
ing rivulet far below. And this rivulet
wound through moss and mire, waxing
greater every moment', till it left the purple
mountains altogether and flowed swiftly
through a broad green valley, where a thou
sand other streams ied it and a thousand
other springs'brimmed its banks. Then un
der the sweeping branches of mighty trees
and by noisy towns and stately palaces the
river rolled onward and men called it the
"Nore" or the "fair stream."
NINE DATJGHTEES 07 A KING.
But up in the monntains, to the north
ward; trickled the little rill and bubbled
the silver spring all day long. And around
this well of Connla grew nine lovely hazel
trees once the nine lovely daughters of
iung uonnia, wnom, lor tear of their
deep learning, the Druids had changed into
senseless hazels. Annually these nine trees
brought forth blossom and fruit, but unlike
all other hazels ,in the world, they brought
forth the blossoms and the nuts at one and
the same time. Now these nuts were oi the
richest crimson color, and within each
dainty shell lay the nucleus of poetry, of
literature or of art. And when the nuts
had hung on these branches for nine days
untouched for no mortal ever ventured to
the craggy hilltop where lay the well of
Connla they began to drop from the
boughs into the well, raising by their fall
bubbles innumerable on the clear surface.
Some sank to the bottom, but the majority
were borne with the stream down through
the mountains into the fair green valley.
At that time of year for it was the spawn
ing season the river Nore was full of sal
mon, and these fish deyouredjjthe nuts of
wisdom and poetry as they sailed down
stream. Instantly over the bodies oi the
salmonTburst out crimson spots like unto
the color of 'the nuts. And, having eaten,
the fish swam down the broad Nore toward
the sea. Now all men who were lucky
enougn to
CATCH. ONE OP THESE SALMON
who had eaten of the fruit of the nine hazel
trees, and to partake thereof, were' sure to
become tuneful bards, -or wise seanachies, or
excellent craftsmen in gold and silver. For
these salmon are called tbe "Salmon of
All Knowledge." But for every one of
these lovely fish that is permitted to escape
to the sea, another fifty years is added to the
period of Ireland's slavery.
Such is the remarkable legend of the Sal
mon of All Knowledge. The writer has
seen Counla's Well in the Slieve Bloom,
in fact he has eaten his breakfast on its
mossy bank, after an excellent day's grouse
shooting. There may at one time have
been only nine hazel trees near the well,
bnt at the time of the visit alluded to, tbe
hazels had multiplied to hundreds; the
whole hillside was covered with them. The
stream still leaves the mountain well and
jonrdeys on till it becomes that poetic river
which Spencer in his "Faerie Queen" calls
"the stubborne Newre." The nuts still float
down, and the salmon still gobble them np,
but it the effects upon the lucky fisherman,
are, as of old, there must be a great many
geniuses wasting their sweetness on the air
of the Nore Valley.
HOW FIOKN WON HIS BBIDE.
Fionn MacCnmball, the great war hero of
the Irish legends, and whose actual exis
tence has long since been clearly proven,
has had more songs and stories sung and
told about his adventures than any other
Irishman. Fionn's mighty fortress, lay at
the top of Slieve-na-mon, a lovely mountain,
in the south of Tipperary. Slieve-na-mon
became the rebel headquarters in 1848, and
it was the cenfer of the guerilla warfare of
two centuries. Well, while mighty Fionn
was resting in his mountain hold, with his
trusty Knights around him, it suddenly
occured to him that he should like a wife.
So, in order that the maidens of the sur
rounding country should not be jealous, be
cause ot bis selecting any one in preference
'to another, he sent for the whole of them,
and placing them in his camp, scrutinized
their features intently. It required little
time to tell him that one of them, the beau
teous Graine, was not only tbe loveliest
woman there, buj also the loveliest in all
green Jinn, xet It wonld not do to select
Graine. Fionn was, like many another
mighty chieftain, mortally afraid of women's
tongues. So he declared that all maidens
who wished for his hand shonld run a race
up the steep sides of Slieve-na-mon, the
winner of the race to be his wife. Away
went the ladies to prepare, and Fionn
secretly sent a message to Graine, advising
her not to run hard, but to husband her
strength until the last moment.
SHE BAN LIKE THE WILD DOE.
The advice was taken. While all the
other maidens utterly exhausted them
selves by their wild efforts to run up the
mountain, Graine trudged steadily by an
easy path. Presently the swifter runners
began to cive way. Many fell fainting
among the rocks and heather; others were
forced to rest by the wayside.
"Then Graine," says the old poem,
"kilted up her grass-green skirts and ran
like the wild doeat the sound of the hunter's
horn." She vanqnished all competitors,
and was the first over the battlements of
Fionn's castle. The nuptials were soon
afterward celebrated with great pomp and
splendor. The thousand hills of Erin
glowed with fires to Bel, the sun god, and
far and wide king and chief and peasant
were glad at heart Bbenan.
The Newsboy Got Even.
Chlcaro Tribune.:
"Mornin paper, sir?" sung out the news
boy. "Only 2 cents"
"Here's B cents, sonny," replied the face
tions customer. "Keep the 3 cents, buy a
cake of soap with it, and give your face a
washing."
Tbe newsboy handed back the change
with great dignity. "Keep the change
yourself, sir," he said, "and use it in buying
a book on decorum, sirl"
'Yl AW HL &W, V rb r-v-7
WEITTEN POE
synopsis of preceding chapters.
The story opens at Bryngelly, on the Welch coast Geoffrey Bingham, a very promismf
yonn" London barrister, is taking an outing at Bryngelly with his little daughter, Effle, and
Lady Honorla, his titled wife. She married him for an expected fortune, which did not material
ize has little wifely teellng, (rets about poverty, and makes her husband generally miserable.
Geoffrey Is cut off by the tide one day, and Beatrice Granger, the charming, beautiful, bnt some
what eccentric, daughter of tbe rector of Brvncelly, undertakes to row him ashore. The canoe
upsets, and Geoffrey is knocked senseless. Beatrice rescues him, and he is taken to the vicarage
torecover. Here Lady Honoria and Geoffrey have several scenes, after which the former bun
dles off to Garsington to visit wealthy relatives, leaving Eflla with her papa. Geoffrey and
Beatrice learn to admire each other. 'Squire Owen Danes, honest, stupid and very rich, is madly
in love with Beatrice. She can scarcely hear bis society. Elizabeth, Beatrice's sister, is ambi
tious to become Mrs. Owen Davies. The latter-makes up his mind the crisis is at hand, and ap
points a meeting with Beatrice. The girl, ot course, rejects him, but. touched by his wretched
ness, she gives him the privilege ot asking again in a year, though holding out no hope. Eliza
beth, from a hiding place, sees the meeting. After Beatrice goes she comes to Owen and he teUl
her Beatrice has refused him. This is her opportunity and she plots accordingly.
CHAPTER, XIH.
GEOFTBEX'S LECTTJBE ON BELIGION.
Meanwhile Beatrice was walking home
ward with an uneasy mind. She had, it is
trne, succeeded in postponing it a little, bnt
she knew very well that it was only a post
ponement Owen Davies was not a man to
be easily shaken off. She almost wished
now that she had crushed the idea once and
for all. But then he would have gone to
her father, and there must have been a
scene, and she was weak enough to shrink
from that, especially while Mr. Bingham
was in the house. She could well imagine
the dismay, not to say the fury, of her
money-loving old father if he were to hear
that she refused actually refused Owen J
geofpbet's hiding
Davies, of Bryngelly Castle, and all his
wealth.
Then there was Elizabeth to be reckined
with. Elizabeth wonld assnredly make her
life a burden to her. Beatrice little guessed
that nothing wonld suit her sister's book
better. Ob, if only she could shake the
dust of Bryngelly off her feetl But that,
too, was impossible. Sbe was quite without
money. She might, it is true, succeed in
getting another place as mistress to a school
in some distant part of England, were it not
for an insurmountable obstacle. Here she
received a salary of 75 a year; of this she
kept 15, out of whioh slender sum she con
trived to dress herself; the rest she gave to
her father. Now, as she well knew, he
conld not keep his head above water without
this assistance, which, small as it was,
made all the difference to their household
between poverty and actual want. If she
went away, even supposing that she found J
OLD edwabd'b startling utfokjiation.
an equally well-paid post, she would re
quire every farthing of the money to sup
port herself; there would be nothing left to
send home- It was a pitiable position;
here was she who had just refused a man
worth thousands a year quite unable to get
out of tbe way of his importunity for the
want of 75, paid quarterly. Well, the
only thing to do was to face it out and take
her chance. On one point she was, how
ever, quite clear; she would not marry
Owen Davies. She might be a fool for her
pains, bnt sbe would not do it She re
spected herselt too much to marry a man
she did not love a man she positively dis
liked. "No, neverl" she exclaimed, aloud,
stamping her foot upon the shingle.
"Never what?" said a voice within two
vardsofher.
She started violently and 'looked round.
There, his back resting against a rock, a
pipe in his month, an open letter on his
knee and his hat draws down almost over
his eyes, sat Geoffrey. He had left Effie to
go home with Mr. Granger, and, climbing
down a sloping place in the cliffjhad strolled
along the beach. The letter on his knee
was one from his wife. It was short, and
there was nothing particular in it Effie's
name was not even mentioned. It was to
see that he had not overlooked it that he
was reading tbe note through again. No..
it merely related to Lady Honoria's safe
arrival, gave a list of the people staying at 1
the DISPATCH.
( the Hall a fast lot, Geoffrey noticed a cer
tain Mr. JJunstan, whom he particularly
disliked, among them and the number of
brace of partridges which had been killed
on the previous day. Then came an assur
ance tnat Honoria was enjoying herself
immensely, and that the new French cook
was "simply perfect;" the letter ending
"with love."
"Never what, Hiss Granger?" he said
again, as he lazily folded up the sheet
"Never mind "of course," she answered,
recovering herself. "How you startled me,
Mr. BinghamI I had no idea there was any
body on tbe beach."
"It is quite, free, is it not?" he answered,
getting up. "1 thought you were going to
trample me into the pebbles. It's almost
alarming when one is thinking about a Sun
day nap to see a young lady striding along,
and then suddenly stop, stamp her foot, and
place in the bocks.
S3y, 'No, neverl' Luckily I knew that you
were about or I should really have been
frightened."
"How did you know that I was about?"
Beatrice asked a little defiantly. It was
no business of his to observe her move
ments. "In two ways. Look!" he said, pointing
to a patch of white sand. "That, I think, is
your footprint"
"Well, what of it?" said Beatrice, with a
little laugh.
"Nothing in particular, except that it is
your, footprint," he answered. "Then I hap
pened to meet old Edward, who was loafing
along, and he informed me that you and
Mr. Davies had gone up the beach; there is
his footprint Mr. Davies' I mean but you
don't seem to have been very sociable, be
cause here is yours right in the middle of it
Therefore you mnst have been walking in
Indian file, and a little way back in parallel
lines, with quite 30 yards between yon."
"Why do you take the trouble to observe
things so closely?" she asked in a half
amused and half angry tone.
"I don't know a habit of the legal mind,
I suppose. One might make quite a ro
mance out of these footprints on the sand,
and the little subsequent events. But you
have not heard all my thrilling tale. Old
Edward also informed me that he saw yonr
sister. Miss Elizabeth, going along the cliff
almost level with you, from which he had
concluded that you had argued as to the
shortest way to the Bed Bocks, and were
putting tbe matter to the proof.'
"Elizabeth," said Beatrice, turning a
shade paler, "what can she have been doing,
I wonder?"
"Taking exercise, probably, like yourself.
Well, I seat mysslf with mv pipe in the
shadow of that rock, when suddenly I sea
Mr. Davies coming along toward Bryngelly
asthongh he were walking for a wager, his
hat fixed upon the back of his head. Liter
ally he walked over my legs and never saw
me. Then yau follow and ejaculate, 'No,
neverl" and that is the end of my story.
Have I your permission to walk with you,
.or shall I interfere with the development ol
the plot?"
"Thereis no plot, and, as you said just
now, the beach is free," Beatrice answered
petulantly.
Tbey walked on for a few yards and then
he spoke in another tone. The meaning of
T?V r , - v "i s
-i- " Jitf-i
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