THE PITTSBURG" DISPATCH. SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 1890.
BILL HYEJMANSAS.
The Meeting of Coronado and Chief
AYideont in Tears Agone.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OP WICHITA
By the Light of Enrnins Corn the Farmers
Head" Their Mortgages.
PROHIBITION' MAT tsriLL BE FOUND
(WRITTEN fob THE DISrATClI.l
About 350 years ago Coronado pitched his
tent in Kansas. Prior to that it is believed
that the loot of a white man bad not been
the author of any footprints to speak of
within her borders. The early reddish In
dian tiad, up to that date, been the sole pro
prietor of that country.
Coronado found a fat and friendly set of
Indians and the acquaintance at that time
of old Wideout, chief of the Cowbiters, a
very warlike and revengeful race. 'Wide
out weighed, it is estimated. 400 pounds,
though not very tall, say 5 ieet 4 inches in
height. So we may classify him as the
widest red American, aside from Noah
"Webster, of whom history informs us.
Coronado, however, was not in search of
Indians or a homestead, or even rest and
change of scene, lint he was look
ing for gold at the time, being a
cold, grasping native suck as flourished
during the luxurious Castilian days
or under the Sew Orleans dynasty.
?m
m$?
jmgmm
Chief "Wtdcout and Coronado.
Not fiuding any gold in the region of
"Wichita, and town lots being far beyond
Ills reach, he retraced his steps. He lived,
however, to regret that he did not secure
property there and hold it for a rise.
SOLICITED BY THE INDIANS.
The first white man to settle in Osage
county was John Boss. He was followed
by hi hired man, both being buried in the
same crave at the earnest solicitations of the
Indians. In 1S63 Hoa. James K. Mead
established a trading po't on the site ol
"Wichita and began killing the buffalo in
order to clear off sufficient ground to start
the new board of trade building. In three
weeks Mr. Mead killed 330 buffalo, and
saved 300 pelts in addition to his own. He
also saved 3,300 pounds of tallow, which
served to lubricate his boots all that winter.
"William Matthewson. who, it is claimed,
is the original Buffalo Bill of the frontier,
then settled here. His wi'e was the first
white woman to come to "Wichita. In 1870
D. S. Munger kept a hotel, was postmaster,
carried the mail in his hat, and had time to
do a general real esta'e business, watch re
pairing, lunch at all hours, saws set and
filed, and also to furnish insurance and
bulk oyvtrrs to one and all. 2ow it re
quires 13 letter carriers to spread the mail.
In 1872 the AVicbita Eagle broke its
shell, and with a shrill scream bought
a new hand press and began the opinion
molding business. The editor now occu
pies a luxuriant office, with rich tapes
tries torn from the treasures ot European
Princes. On the walls are seen costly paint
ings of Socrates, Plumband other prominent
Kansas men. A group picture consisting
of Messrs. Ingalls and Demosthenes hangs
above the etrnscan fireplace. There aiso
may be found the published speeches of
Cicero, the Thomas Ochiltree of his time.
And yet on this very spot, only a few
years ago, it seems, the rank buffalo nodded
in the wind and the early pioneer mother
was kept busy pulling the arrows out of her
loved ones.
CHANGED WITH ME CYCLES.
Is it not remarkable? Here, where now
wealth and refinement just fairlr jostle each
other on the streets, aud cable cars run clear
out into the large farms, and hired men dig
potatoes beneath the glare of electric lights,
only a ihort time ago the early buckwneater,
with his life in one hand and his scalp in
the other, fled before the irritable red man
Like hare before the beagle.
Later still, at each end of the principal
streets, it became necessary to put up the
sign:
H.
SHOOTiNC PROHIBITED
INSIDE THESE LIMITS
Tf
The next day the sign had been punctu
ated by cowboys as follows:
Most all the windows of the town were
alo shot out as a mark of disrespect
Finally a cowboy was secured red handed,
who had been in the proofreading and
punctuating business, and the people made
a cojd and disagreeable example of him.
"Wichita is the largest city in Kansas, but
docs not care to have anything said about it.
Electric street cars run clear away out to
the slaughter house and on into the forest
primeval, so that sportsmen frequently go
by street car into the haunts of the pheas
ant and the bear. It is not uncommon to
see an Eastern capitalist returning at night,
alter a good day's sport, with a dozen grouse
and two good sized building lots.
FULL OF HOPE AND GOOD VICTUALS.
Kansas is said to be the most remarkable
grain growing State. Her soil is rich and
black, her people full of hope and good
victuals. Corn is low at the present time,
but there is enough for food and fuel for the
winter, the crop being unusu.illv large.
The man who said that" by the light or his
burning corn the Kansas farmer was enabled
to read the mortgage on his farm was a
pessimist with a tendency toward uxoricide.
Out of the labor and anguish of war, drouth
and pestilence in Kansas was born a beanti
Jul State, and within her borders dwell a
proud, prosperous and prohibition people.
Corn prows to a great height, and so do
the pleasing anecdotes regarding the pro
ductive soil of Kansas. I saw an ear of
corn two feet long the other day, and stalks
of corn 20 feet high. Also the unruffled re
mains of a grasshopper four feet lone I do
not know how they were constructed, but
thev looked first rate.
Prohibition may still be found in Kansas,
leading its victims on down to the Prohibi
tionist's grave. I saw quite a number of
people who were just beginning to fool with
it, little thinking what a hold it would one
day have on them.
At Lawrence I visited the university,
and wish espec'ally to return thanks to
Prof. Snow, of Snow Hall, for a delightful
hour among his fossil batrachians and riant
straddle bugs. He has a good collection of
Kansas people who flourished at an early
date ana who made footprints in the sands
of time which have been handed down to
Air&SfAl X.i! es&f-sw Y
mm.mt&SsK
posterity in the limestone of our day. He
has the lower jaw of a mammoth, with blue
porcelain teeth, which lor many years stood
in the middle of a small stream, so that
when the water was low the boys used to
stand
ON THIS MONSTER'S CHIN
and fih, little knowing what a treasure it
would be to the savaflt and the scholar in
future years. One day a sportsman stopped
to spit on his bait, and glancing down at
the huge stone decided that it was a bone.
4 y
'NiViJ c fitl M
The Original Buffalo BiWs Boute.
He got help to roll it over, and lo! it was
the maxillary works of a great, coarse
beast that could eat a hardware store like a
dih of oatmeal and use the raging main for
a finger bowl.
Paris reminded me very much of Topeka.
Paris has the same wide, smooth streets, and
is also a railroad center, though Mr. Pea
cock does not live there. Mr. Peacock, the
poet, I mean. He is the author of this
stanza:
Swiftly, sorrowfulrr, then a sadnefs
Fell on onr raptured sonls so light,
.inateitsoonsnign unto roaanesa
Led with melancholy blight.
Eftsoons is one of our best words, I think;
but Mr. Peacock would do better with it in
the East, where eftsoons and gadzook poets
get much better prices than in the "West.
Mr. Peacock gets some very flattering in
dorsements from other poets and the press.
Matthew Arnold, in replv to a letter and
volume sent by Mr. Peacock, said with great
heartiness:
Yes, we have had an unusually hot summer
in England this year. Still, crops are looking
well and fall plowing will all be done at least a
week earlier than usual. Sincerely yours.
Matthew Arnold.
LORD TENNYSON'S INDORSEMENT.
Lord Tennyson writes as follows:
I would be glad to accept your kind invita
tion to come and spend a few weeks at your
house, but have agreed to jerk a few stanzas
fortlie Guelpb outfit and have already put it
off too Ions'. I like the clean cut and rather
earnest and honest work in your book, es
pecially the job work and cover. 1 would like
to figure with your publisher a little on a new
book for this winter. Oar folk aro all well
here, tnonxh prices aro low and live stock is
looking tongh and rocky, especially where the
holler born has went over the country like a
larce wet besom of wrath. Yours fraternally,
A. Tennyson.
Oscar "Wilde says:
Mr. Peacock certainly writes with great visor
and spells with considerable accuracy. He
writes with wonderful forco and beats
Kansas Corn.
down so hard on his subject that he wears ont
his theme and gives a beautiful polish to the
under side of his sleeve.
Seriously, however, Mr. Peacock writes
with much feeling, and some of his hyper
bole and similes are as juicy as anything I
ever sat down to. Bill If ye.
Couldn't "rtirow Bis Money Away.
Baron Edward Bothschild, who is now
visiting this country, is described as "a
young man about 25 years old, wh" has a
mustache and black chin beard of light
growth. He does not assume any airs. He
acts as if he did not know that if his fortune
were in SJO-bills he could not pick them up
one at a time and throw them away in his
natural lite time."
TRICING A MAX UP.
A Brotal War of Paniabine Sailors Prac
ticed on Some Mm-of-Wnr.
Apropos of the investigations of Comman
der McCalla, ot the Enterprise, for cruelty
to his men and that of Captain Healy, of
the revenue cutter Bear.on a similar charge,
a description of a brutal manner of punish
ment resorted to in the navy too often is not
out of place. It is known as "tricing up."
The offending sailor is handcuffed with his
hands behind him. Then to the handcuffs
Position of the Victim.
a rope is fastened. This rope is carried
through a ring above the sailor's head, and
drawn up until the victim's toes barely
touch the floor. Men have been kept in
this awful position for ten minutes, and
officers have been known to take them by
the head and twirl them round and round,
adding to their already excruciating tor
ture. The testimony in Captain Healy's case
showed that he had triced up 21 sa'ilors on
the bark "Wanderer last summer. Dr. Bass
testified that tricing up would cause acute
pain, temporary paralysis of the muscles
and distutbance of the circulation. Per
manent injury to the joints was among the
probable result.
JDEJu-
IT TAKES ECONOMY
To Live in Washington on Five Thou
sand Dollars Ter Year.
VIEWS OP STATESMEN'S WIVES.
Fancy Prices for Everything One of the
Penalties of Greatness.
CIURITr DEMANDS OP THE CAPITAL
iconnEsrojfDEjfCE or the DisrATcn.t
"Washington, March 15. Fifteen mem
bers of the United States Senate have in
comes of more than $1,000 a week. A score
of men in the House of Representatives
have property which brings them in more
than 540,000 a year. The majority of the
remainder of the men in both houses skimp
along on their salaries. They growl as they
skimp, and for the past ten years one of the
leading subjects of gossip in "Washington
has been as to how a Congressman can live
on 55,000 a year. The bachelors and widow
ers of the House and Senate, in fact, get
along very well. The trouble is with the
married men and those who bring their
wives to Washington. It is the wives of
the statesmen who manage the pocketbooks,
and they are the persons who can answer
this question. I have interviewed this week
a large number of them upon this subject,
and I find their opinions both varied and
interesting.
One of the quiet, conservative ladies of
"Washington is the wife of the Speaker of
the House. Mrs. Eced shares with Mrs.
Ingalls and Mrs. Samuel Kandall the honor
of living unassumingly and yet command
ing the respect and liking of every circle at
the capital. She has never for a minute had
her head turned by the gayeties here, and
her life has been as sensible as in her own
home at Portland.
AN ATTKACTIVE WOMAN.
She is a pretty woman, plump, of medium
height, with her brown hair waved about a
face almost as dimpled as a baby's. She
sees the humorous side of thingsand says
that both she and her husband enjoy every
feature of "Washington life except the so
ciety whirl. "When I approached the sub
ject of Congressional salaries she repeated
my question laughingly and said:
"Live? I cannot tell, tor I have never
lived in "Washington. I have always exist
ed in a hotel. Even existence here is well
nigh impossible within the salary, for there
are expenses which a private citizen never
has. A Senator's wife might be able to live
on it, for she comes for six years, and it is
easier to live fix years on 530,000 than two
years on 510,000. " They can lease a house
with a feeling of comparative permanency
and need not keep up a separate home iu
their native city, but a member's wife must
either board or have an auction when her
husband's successor comes. Many Repre
sentatives claim, with some justice, that if
they had served their profession instead of
the Government they would have had some
thing of a bank account. The opinion is
widespread that 55,000 is a large salary, for
it is five times as much as the average citi
zen receives, but the expenses, instead of
being commensurate, are ten times as much.
If a woman in official life here does what
her position demands in a social way, she
must have a carriage and suitable gowns,
and the expense of both all women know."
MRS. INGALLS' FIGURES.
"When I propounded the question to Mrs.
Senator Ingalls she took it up in the
cheeriest fasnion, got a pencil and a Con
gressional directory, and said:
"See here, there is an idea that the Senate
is made ud of millionaires, but it is not
true. You take this pencil, and as I run
over the names you mark down the ones
who are verv wealthy, those who are well-
to-do and the ones who have little else
beside their salary. You will see that
affairs have been exaggerated, and can
easily draw a conclusion why it has become
well nigh impossible to live on 55,000,
althougn it surely ought to be enough."
She commented and I wrote, aud ac
cording to her estimate, in the whole body
of 82 men there are only 11 millionaires.
They are Senators Brown, Cameron, Ear
well, Hale, Hearst, McMillan, Payne, Saw
yer, Stanford, Stewart.Stockbridge aud Sher
man, and only a baker's dozen have tidy little
sums set up against a rainy day. They are
Senators Allison, Coke, Davis, Dixon,
Dolph, Eustis, Gorman, Hiscock, Hoar,
Quay, Spooner, Squire, Higgins and Wol
cott. Ot the other 57 two-thirds have
nothing but their salaries.
THE HONOBED ONES TAXED.
The above are Mrs. Ingalls' statistics and
she claims spiritedly that the whole Senate
has been made to bear the extra expenses
which follow reputations for millions.
"I have always said when people com
plained that the salary was too small," con
tinued she, still keeping her finger on the
directory, "that a Congressional position
was optional. If a person cannot live on
the salary belonging to it they can refuse
the honor. "We are not forced to be here.
Of course, I grant that everything costs
much more in Washington, for f found when
I kept house last winter that every servant
asked more from a Senator's wile than she
would think of nskingfrom people inprivate
life. I also know that a new member's wile
can purchase a bonnet much cheaper the
first time she goes shopping than she can
after the milliner has consulted the Con
gressional Directory.
"But with economy it is possible to live
here witnin a salary, but it is an impossi
bility to save anything. There is where a
Congressman has not the chance of a private
citizen. I eel sure if Mr. Ingalls had fol
lowed his profession he would have been
much better off than he is to-day, but I
would ratner oequeatn the honor or a Sena
tor's name to my children than any amount
of money. Ihave never had but ' the one
ambition for my husband, and I am per
fectly satisfied to accept what the Govern
ment considers sufficient for a Senator's
services.
NO ARISTOCRACY OF WEALTH.
"Many people who have reared their .fam
ilies would find it much easier to live here
on 55,000 than I, for four of my children are
still in school, but when I see the misery
and poverty in the world I think 55,000
enough even for my needs. Some people
who come here think they must enter soci
ety and return hospitalities but I have no
ticed that the best-liked ladies in the Sen
atorial circle are two who do not have
more than one new dress a season and who
never entertain, yet it is considered an
honor in the wealthy houses of Washing
ton to have these two as guests. Wealth
does not, make success in Washington.
There is no other place where such abso
lute equality exists.
"Unless she is amply able a Senator's
wile should never attempt to return hospi
talities. I accept favors here which I
should not think of doing in my own
home, for there, if I am entertained, I at
least want to show that I recognize the
kindness of my hostess, but iu Washing
ton it is an impossibility."
"No, a Congressman's wife cannot live on
55,000," was Mrs. Senator Frye's decisive
answer, "but she can on S10.000 in two years,
fori have tried it. If there are two long
sessions of Congress it would be an impossi
bility, but two-thirds of one year she can
LITE AT HEE OWN HOME
if she has been wise enough to keep up her
own home in her native place, and in that
way can make up some ot the expenses. If
there were no expenses outside of the ones
the wife of a private citizen incurs, Wash
ington would be a pleasant place to live on
a Congressman's salary, but there are things
which our position demands that we have.
For instance, a carriage. If a Senator's
wife returns the calls made upon her she
wi 11 be obliged to go out six days in the week
during the two months' season, and what
woman is strong enough to pay calls afoot.
If one owns a carriage, it costs exactly 530
per month to stable the horse and house the
carriage, $5 for shoeing and incidentals, and
at least $10 for a coachman. That makes
645 for keeping what is not a luxury in
Washington, but a sheer necessity. Then,
until they are told different, people think
they can charge more than their actual
price for everythfng that the wife of a Con
gressman buys, but that can be watched and
to an extent prevented.
"But there is one expense which I have
never been able to protect myself from,"
Mrs. Frye went on, "that of the District
charities. Every Senator is expected to
take an interest in the
CHAKITIES OF HIS OWN STATE
and in that way he has more than a mem
ber, who only looks after his own district.
Last year Mr. Frye signed checks for 14
churches, and the amount was from 55 to
520, as he felt able. That is in a sense
proper, and we like to do what we can
among our own people, but to be called upon
to aid the charities of the District, which is
helped to a great extent by Congress, is too
much. I recall an instance which happened
some time ago. A letter came to me con
taining two tickets for a charity ball, and
an unsigned request for 510. I do not
always stop to think, so I sat down at once
and wrote to the manager of the affair, say
ing: 'My dear Mrs. some one has
had the impudence to send me the inclosed
tickets.'
"Just then a caller came, and when she
left I had cooled down somewhat. 1 went
into my room and wrote: 'My dear Mrs.
, Some one has taken it upon herself to
send me two tickets '
Jusl then there was another interruption
and 1 came down another notch. My third
euort went and it was: "My dear Mr. .
I enclose 55 and one ticket, as I do not feel
able to keep both."
Later I found out that every Congress
man's wife on my block had been treated
the same way, and there were five unused
tickets to that charity ball for none of us
cared to go. This is onlv one instance but
it shows somewhat where 55,000 goes etch
year.
SENATOR QUAY'S MEAT BILL.
"I do not think I could manage it," said
Mrs. Senator Quay, "although I suppose it
is a possibility for a woman to make 55,000
cover a year's expenses. It might be done
if one boarded, fori have heard one or two
ladies say they could take apartments at the
best hotels and live more cheaply than by
keeping house and paying the high rentals
which are peculiar to Washington. If my
husband were not inofficial life I could live
pleasantly hereon that sum. forthe markets,
except in meats, are no higher than in other
Eastern cities, but just the fact of being a
Senator's wife makes it impossible.
"Two little incidents will prove my
point. My cook did the marketing one
morning and she asked for an especially fine
cut of beef. Seventeen cents per pound was
what she was asked, and as the man did it
up she incidentally remarked:
"I wanted an unusually good piece for
it is for Colonel Quay."
The butcher at once said:
"It I had known that, you would never
have gotten it for 17 centsa pound."
"The other incident occurred when I
sent for a man to prepare our small strip of
lawn for the winter. He asked me 58, for
what would not require a full day's work. I
was indignant, aud told him I should not
have it done. He came back in a day or
two, and said he would do it for 55, but I
was so provoked that I would not make any
bargain with him."
CANNOT HELP THEIR SONS.
"The way public men are paid, one
would think the Government was im
poverished, instead of prosperous to an un
limited degree," was the wav Mrs. Senator
Vance met my query. "Think of it! It
has been used against re-election that a man
builds niniself a respectable house in Wash
ington. I know of two instances where
new houses prevented men from being re
turned to the Senate. Washington is a
homeless city. Everyone boards, conse
quently none can be protected by gennine
domestic life. The wonder is that not so
few Congressmen fall, but that so many
escape. A woman cannot keep a home
here for her family, if there is naught but
the Government salary, and not many Sen
ators have much else.
"Another thing a Senator is criticised if
he appoints his son his secretary. Do neo
ple ever think that official men alone 'are
denied the privilege of helping their chil
dren? A merchant can place his son in his
store, a professional man can take his son as
his partner, but a Senator is severely criti
cised if he make the least attempt to aid his
children. Consequently there are few Sen
ators whose children remain in Washington
after they reach the age when they should
take care of themselves, and a Senator's
wife must have her sons scattered all over
the country, while other mothers have theirs
growing up about them."
HIGH PRICES PAID BY SENATORS.
"There is something to be said on both
sides," Mrs. "Vance went on; "55,000 is a
large salary, but for men who give up their
lives to serve their Government it is a small
recognition from that Government. Then,
too, they are charged more for everything.
Who has not seen the advertisements in the
papers and understood the underlying mean
ing of the phrase: 'Booms suitable for mem
bers of Congress and their families. None
others need apply.'
"I had an instance of this systematic over
charging once. I saw a small jetted cape
in a store window a short time ago, and sent
in a friend who was with me to inquire the
price. She was a handsome girl, and there
was every reason to judge from her dress
thst she was wealthy. The clerk told her
the cape was 55. A few days after I went
in to purcnase it, ana the owner of the store
came up to me.
"How much is the cape, madam?" said I.
"It it a little beauty, my dear Mrs.
"Vance, and I will sell it to you at cost
57 50."
Senator Hearst is said to have put eight
times his year's salary in oue horse, and
Mrs. Hearst is able, it she chooses, to pay
55,000 for oue dinner, but she is as sensible
and modest as if she were not a very wealthy
woman.
SHE COULDN'T EXPLAIN HOW.
"Of course the wife of a Congressman can
live on 55.000," said she, in reply to my
query, "pleasantly and happily, too, but I
could not undertake to tell how she could
doit."
"The woman, the woman; it's all in the
woman," said Mrs. Congressman Springer.
"If she comes to Washington with a deter
mination to enter society, attend balls, recep
tions, dress elegantly and return hospitali
ties there will be a deficit at the end of the
year. I know, for I am trying it, that one
can keep up a pleasant home, entertain in a
quiet way and accept friends' hospitalities
all on 55,000 a year, but it is onlv by the
strictest economy. On that salary it is im
possible to keep a carriage, but one can hire
one when necessary during the season. It is
equally impossible to have new gowns for
every entertainment, aud I'll contess it is a
weakness of a woman to like new dresses.
Time is helping us out somewhat in the mat
ter of entertainments. When I first came to
Washington evening receptions and balls
were the order ot the day, but now there has
come up an inexpensive, agreeable affair
the afternoon tea. Every one can give it,
and every one can go, for a street suit is all
that is required." Miss Grundy, Jr.
An Eilllorlnl PnfT.
From the Lewis, Iowa, Independent.
We have advertised a great many differ
ent patent medicines, but have never taken
the pains to editorially "puff" one. We
are going to do so now for the first time.
Chamberlain & Co., Des Moines, Iowa,
manufacture a cough remedy which is abso
lutely the best thing wehave ever seen. We
have'used it in our family for the past year,
and consider it indispensable. Its effects
are almost instantaneous, and there is no
use talking, it is a dead shot on a cough or
a cold. We don't say this for pay, but be
cause we consider Chamberlain's ' Cough
Bemedy the best made, and we want the
people to know it and use it. wihsu
Cabinet photos 51 per dozen, prompt de
livery. Crayons, etc., at low price.
Lies' Gallery,
ttsu 10 and 12 Sixth st
Blair's Fills Otreat English fcout and
rheumatlo remedy. Sure, prompt and effect
ive. At drnetlsti'. visa
CLARA BELLE'S CHAT.
The Blaines May Take Legal Steps to
Secure Young Jim's Baby.
RUMORS OP ATTEMPTS TO KIDNAP.
Cigarettes in Pink Paper Hare Inaugurated
a A'eir Dinner Cnstom.
A I0DKG LADY WHO KEPT A SECRET
CCOnRISPONDENCH OP THE DISPATCH.
New York, March 15.
, MAN standing up
and facing the au
dience, while he
coolly surveys them
through an opera
glass, is the latest
sight at the theater.
He does it between
acts, and by it suc
ceeds in making a
whole show of him
self. He is a comic
object. But, on the
contrary, the suc
cess of the lorgnette
with the women is
complete. No
fashionable one can exist without it. At
the 5 o'clock tea, in the theater, at the con
cert or on the street, the lorgnette is the
proper thing. The men here become qujte
accustomed to them acd no longer shudder
when their wives or sweethearts "draw a
razor on them" as they wittily term it.
The lorgnette is a great addition to a
woman's toilet. It is not a useless bauble in
any case; for, even if it contains plain glass,
it gives the fair owner something to bold in
her hand and to toy with, and in this way
keeps her in countenance, gives her aplomb,
makes her more at ease, and consequently
more graceful. The lorgnette may be large
or small, that is, with long or very long
handle, or with a moderate! short handle,
or with no handle at all. It is all a matter
of taste. Those with long and elaborately
carved handles are very expensive any
thing from 510 to 550. Their use is not ad
vised except as accompaniments to rich and
elaborate toilets. A woman must not be all
lorgnette. A moderately long handle is not
amiss, aud may have a chain attached to the
end, but as a rule the lorgnette is to be car
ried in the hand.
WOMEN NOT ALL GOSSIPS,
Some of those saucy-eyed little telegraph
operators are not so simple as they look, and
just to show how one of them has redeemed
her sex from the terrible stigma placed
upon it by some masculine who said all
women were gossips by instinct I will bring
up the case of a very pretty and plump dam
sel who taps the electric key in an office on
Fifth avenue. It was being whispered about
that a noted beautv in society was about to
startle the world by getting married. No
definite facts could possibly be learned
whether or not the gossip was true, and
those chatterers who go into a decline when
they realize that a sweet secret is being
kept from them began to show marked signs
of invalidism.
Then the fertile gentlemen and ladies of
society caught an intimation of the ap
proaching crisis, and went persistently to
work to find out the name of the man with
whom the beauty was about to cast fortunes.
But to no purpose. The mystery remained
unsolved, and finally gossip simmered down
indespair. But some months ago it was
noticed that the society girl, about whose
projects the loquacious world was bothering
itself, was sending a vast number of tele
grams from a certain office in Fifth avenue.
Here was a clew and it may be believed that
it was made the most of.
SHE KEPT THE SECRET.
The innocent looking operator was openly
tempted to betray the nature of the tele
grams received from the societr girl and to
divulge the name ol the individual to whom
they were sent. But not a word could be
extracted from her, and not until last week
when one of the most important engage
ments of the season was announced, was it
understood what a precious secret the little
telegraph girl had been saving in her breast.
For weeks she had been sending and receiv
ing despatches by the dozen, all laden with
those thrilling, poetic flights of rhetoric pe
culiar to lovers to whom every sigh is a
song, every goose a swan. Now that it is all
out the faithful telegraph girl turns over her
copybook where the pages are spangled with
"Darlings," "Sweets," "Loveys," and
"Pets," and inquires with a twinkle of
pride in her blue eyes if any man in the
world could have outdone her in steadfast
prudence.
In the wav of matrimony, that of James
G. Blaine, Jr., takes on an aspect of new
ness. The friends of Marie Nevins Blaine
profess to believe, as she surely does, that
her child is in danger of being kidnaped.
The nursemaid tells of being mysteriously
followed while wheeling the boy in the
streets, and once she returned to the house,
at 243 West Forty-second street, wildly de
claring that two men had acted as though
they meant to
SEIZE THE BLAINE BABY.
This woman's name is Fuller, and she is
a sedate sort of creature, vet impregnated
with partisanism for her mistress. Ques
tioned closely, she can only say that the
two men followed her in Broadway, that
they gazed strangely at the child in its
perambulator, and that, getting scared, she
turned about and hurried home. James G.
Blaine, Jr., was in the city that day, and
his wife, coupling the two things, had a
severe spell of hysterics, and has since in
sisted that there was a plot to steal her boy.
That is a surmise which, at present, can
not be proved or disproved. Certainly the
wife has steadfast friends in her misfortune.
For a legal champion she has Delancey
Nicoll, a noted lawyer and politician, who
is said to be engaged to marry ner sister.
Daniel Frohman, the theatrical manager,
who was to have sent her out as a star actreE3
and who was a heavy loser through the
hiring of a company for that purpose, has
staunchly befriended her. Mrs. Kendal,
the English actress, who has so singnlarly
captured our fashionable folks, spends much
time with the invalid. The charity per
formance, which 13 now possibly to Be used
as evidence upon which to take the child
awny trom her, was a booming success, the
theater being crowded at doubled prices,
and the sum yielded being nigh 55,000.
A LEGAL FIGHT FOR THE CHILD.
But that occasion gave proof, also, that
the Secretary ot State was respected by
New York neonle of social eminence. The
names of 40 ladies were used in the adver
tisements and playbills as patronesses, but,
although efforts were made to secure a rep
resentation of the Four Hundred, not one
of that body consented. Mrs. William K.
"Vanderbilt contributed money, but de
clined to let her name be used. Mrs. Will
iam Waldorf Astor did the same thing, as
did other ladies in "our aristocracy" who
were approached. Their names were de
nied for the reason that they would not be
discourteous to the President's chief Cabinet
officer. It may be said that the whole im
broglio divides public sentiment here, and
that a fight in the courts is likely at haud.
It will probably take the form of an attempt
by the Blaine family to take legal possession
ot the child.
21ICBOBES IN THE CHF.ESE.
Even the most ultra of New York re
ligionists continue to eat and drink in Lent,
and, if they are stylish, they do itwith un
abated elaboration. New York private din
ners are beyond doubt the most elegant of
the New World, and in some respects would
even astonish the fashionable entertainers of
the Old. As everyone knows, the "cheese
course" is an important one in the elaborate
dinner. The cheese must suit the meals and
the guests. It must not be too old, too
strong, too soft or too bard. It mast be Jnit
ra h
, r'rjr
I Wi
1 I NS
J Iral
as it should be. But it is quite possible that
the "cheese course" will not be so popular
in the future, for the reason that the scien
tists have been studying up the cheese.
For instance, take Gruyere. Fifteen
grains contain when fresh, 90,000 to 140,000
microbes; when two months old they have
increased to 800,000. In soft cheeses the
active population found in 15 grains reaches
1,200,000 microbes, that is evenly distribu
ted throughout the cheese; but in the hard
ened outside the population reaches 3,600,000
to 5,600,000 in same weight. Striking an
ajerage we may safely say that a single
ounce of much of the cheese eaten at swell
dinner parties contain as many living
creatures as there are human beings on the
face ot the globe.
THE DINNER'S LAST HALF HOUR.
Now that the male guests at an elaborate
private dinner are expected to do little
more than taste, not drink, the wines set
forth, the absurdity of retaining the old
custom of dismissing the ladies when coffee
is reached, becomes more and more appar
ent. It disturbs the artistic unity of the
meal, and all sorts of schemes nave Deen
discussed iu fashionable centers lor doing
away with the custom entirely.
"If women only smoked," cried a well
known New York dinner giver, "bow easily
we could arrange it. They would simply
sit still until the end of the dinner, and
that terrible half hour or more of ennui in
the drawing room minus men would be
obviated."
"But women do smoke," is the reply to
this lady's proposition. Unfortunately they
must do their smoking in private. The
odor of their dainty cigarettes must not be
permitted to reach the nostrils ot fathers,
brothers, husbands or sweethearts.
TRIED AT A PINK DINNER.
One of the leaders of New York society
lately gave one of the popular pink din
ners. The artistic effect was carried out to
the smallest detail from pink roses to pink
table service, pink napkins, pinksouD, pink
sorbet, pink ices, pink candles and candela
bra, etc., etc. When the coffee was reached
and had been served in delicate pink cups,
the ladies present made baste to swallow
theirs and then turned more or less nervous
glances toward the hostess, in the expecta
tion of a signal to retire to the drawing
room. But none came.
After enjoying the situation for a few
moments, a glance from my lady at the head
of the table brought a waiter into the room,
carrying an exquisite pink china tray, cov
ered with a handsomely embroidered pink
silk tray cloth upon which lay a little box
in pink enamel containing a dozen or so of
tiny cigarettes in pink paper!
THE COLOR SAVED THE DAY.
One was presented to each lady, and a
second waiter followed with a lighted pink
taper, at which each fair guest, in the most
matter of fact and nonchalant way, lighted
the tiny cigarette and began smoking. The
gentlemen present, with" the perfect self
control so indicative of high breeding, did
not draw a muscle, exchange a glance, or
uetray in the slightest manner any surprise
at this little innovation. The ladies re
mained at the table, and the guests returned
to the drawing room in the same order in
which they had left it.
The color had saved the dayl Had the
cigarettes been white there is no telling
what might have happened. Now that the
ice is broken, who can say that the cigarette
in colors to match has not a future?
Clara Belle.
IN A DRY GEORGIA TOWN.
Experience of n MIld-Mnnuerod Sinn With
a Certain Powerful Cordial.
A modest looking old gentleman bad a
group of earnest listeners in an electric car
the other day, says the Atlanta Constitution.
He was talking about his visit to a town in
one of the dry counties. "It was cold when
I arrived," he said. "The thermometer was
down to zero, if not a few miles below, and I
felt that I needed, and must have, a good,
stiff toddy. I went to every drugstore in
the town, and as nobody knew me, I ex
perienced great difficulty in getting any
thing. At last a druggist sold me what he
called a bottle of 'strengthening cordial.'
He told me in a whisper that it 'would do
the work.' I did not believe him then, but
I did afterward."
"After the first drink," the old man con
tinued, "I felt that the town was a very
small one, and that I was the superior of the
druggist in every respect.
"Alter the second, 1 felt that it was my
duty to whip the druggist, and would have
done so if he had not escaped through the
window, and left me in full possession.
"Alter the third drink, I went out and in-,
quired the way to the mayor s residence.
Arrived there, I told him he was a small
man, and that I had come a hundred miles
to whip him.
"He regarded me earnestly for a moment,
then, as I stumbled down the steps, I
thought I heard him remark to his wife:
'He's been takingadoseof that 'cordial' stuff
that laid me up for six weeks.' May the
Lord have mercy on him!"
"Amen!" said his wife, piously, "for he's
beyond the help of man."
Here the car stopped and the old gentle
man got out, leaving the passengers to
wonder how he got out of that town.
THE LATtST IN SWINDLING.
How
Two Dnppor Yonne Slen Railed the
Wind In a Brooklyn Wlore.
A peculiarly suspicious individual
named Mack was in charge of the City
Hall cigar store, says the Brooklyn Eagle,
when two dapper-looking young men en
tered. One carried in his hand an envelope,
which was addressed, but not sealed. "Can
you give me a 10 note for these ten bills?"
he asked. "The old lady wants to send the
money in this letter."
The 510 bill was immediately given to
the young man, who apparently put it in
the letter. Mack counted the bills given in
exchange and found only nine there. "There
is only ?9 in this," said he.
"Oh, how can that be?" said the young
man. "The old lady must have made a
mistake. I put the 10 in this letter and
have sealed it. I don't want to open the
envelope again. Will you just hold the
letter with the $10 aud I take the $9 to the
old lady."
Mack thought that fair enough, as he be
lieved he saw the.young man put $10 in the
envelope. He still holds it. It is addressed
to "H. Ed Idme, Binghamton, N. Y." It
was not long before Mack opened it, but
blank paper was all it contained.
MORNING ON THE GANGES.
Slrango Ceremonlei on In Banha Br lb
High and Loir Alike.
"We rose early," says a Brooklyn vonng
lady in writing home of a sail on the Ganges
river, "and drove down to the stream, which
is broad and picturesque. There we took a
barge and were rowed up and down the
river to see the sights, for this is the place
to which thousands of pilgrimages arc made
each year, where sick are brought to die,
the dead to be buried and where all sins can
be washed away, according to the Hindu's
religion. Along the bank, beautiful palaces
have been built where kings' and princes
and grandees come on certain seasons for
purification.
"Hundreds of men and women were
bathing aud going throngh what they call
their nooja or devotions, priests exhorting
under gay tents, fanatics covered with
ashes, howling and screaming, and, by the
water's edge, bodies being first dipped in
the sacred river and then burned. all this to
a sort of diapason accompaniment of wailing
and groaning relatives."
A Riling GodIqi.
Detroit Free l'ress.l
A Cincinnati boy named Harks has,
within the last year, shot two boys with a
pistol, broken $80 worth of window glass,
killed a horse, set a building on fire and
drowned a girl by pushing her in a pond.
No one suspected him of being anything else
but goody-good nntil he shot the last boy,
which he did, ho ssys. to set him jump.
MOTHERS OF FAME.
Stronfe-Minded Women Who Haye
Given Great Men to the World.
THE OMISSIONS OF BIOGRAPHY.
Illustrations From th e Home Life of Families
Famous in History.
THE BRIGHT LADIES OF THE PRESENT
1WMTTEN FOB THE DISPATCH. !
A recent writer asks the question:
Whether any strong-minded woman had
given to the world a statesman, a soldier, or
a scholar of note?"
He evidently assumes that the answer
must be in the negative, and will support
his position that the good, true, noble
women are all weak-minded. This reminds
us of the Mexican editor who said he pre
ferred women to be physically and mentally
weak, as it made them so clinging and so
dependent upon those who loved them. This
idea is very pretty and poetical during the
days when, as Longfellow says: "Love
keeps the cold out better than a cloak, and
serves for food and raiment," but when the
romance has ended, and the plain prose of
life succeeds, the weak clinging dependence
i neither appreciated nor desired. A
woman then is wanted who has sense enough
to keep up her own end, with brains enough
to manage the family affairs, and strength
enough to carry the coal and do the wash
ing, if need be.
OPINIONS FROM THE PULPIT.
We used occasionally to hear small, dys
peptic, weak and washed-out looking
preachers advance the proposition that "the
strength of womanhood lies in its weak
ness," and then they would proceed to dis
course upon "the position of formal in
feriority assigned to woman by her Creator,
and her duty to accept the situation and be
content as the "weaker vessel" in mind and
body.
Poor little milk-and-watery fellows! They
never seemed to realize the ridiculous ab
surdity of talking thus to the mothers in
Israel, and the sisters in the Lord, who had
enough physical strength to pick the dear
little brothers up and spanfc them if need
be, and brains enough to sway Empires if
necessity should arise. They were so
blinded by their spiritual teachings in the
seminaries that they could not see that
while men could justly claim to be pos
sessed of more actual brute strength than
women, yet the latter had powers of en
durance that men could not surpass.
They did not pause to reflect, when
they glorified the strength of men and
magnified their powers as superior,
which was the better the power of
a pugilist Sullivan to strike blows,
or the endurance of a woman
who does duty days and nights without rest
at the bedside of a loved one. They did not
stop to consider as to woman what might
easily have suggested itself as to themselves,
that "mind without muscle has far greater
force than muscle without mind."
A 'WEAK POINT IN HISTORY.
But the question is, has any strong
minded woman given to the world a states
man, a soldier or a scholar of note? Until
of late it has not been the custom for histo
rians or biographers of great men to record
anythingconcerning their mothers. The only
bit of information as to Benjamin Frank
lin's mother, in the Life of Franklin, is the
inscription on her tombstone that
she was "discreet and virtuous" very
creditable to be sure, but not full of infor
mation. In a biography we saw lately ot
Archbishop Whately, who was said to be "a
truly great man in the highest sense of the
word," there is no mention of his mother
whatever not even her name. He was sim
ply bore that is all and was the son of his
lather, .tience we cannot ten wnetner tne
mother of the great writer on Political
Economy and Logic was either weak
minded or strong-minded, but infer the
latter.
' Jonathan Edwards has been denominated
"the first man of the world during the sec
ond quarter of the eighteenth century,"and
whether the credit of his greatness is to be
ascribed to his mother or father, or equally
to both, cannot be told since his biographer
never even mentions the fact that he had a
mother. It is something, however, to know
that he had a wife who relieved him of
every care outside of his study door. This
GIVES NEGATIVE EVIDENCE
that she was strong-minded since had she
been weak and altogether dependent upon
her husband, she could hardly have attended
to her own business and his secular work
beside. He was so busy in establishing the
doctrines of original sin and predestination,
and writing his great work on "The Will"
that he conld not t&ke time even to go to
dinner, but had it brought to him by his
wife in a silver bowl.
No man perhaps raufcs higher as a states
man in the history of the country than Jef
ferson, and yet from which parent he in
herited bis gigantic powers of mind is not
recorded, since the history of his mother is
lost in obscurity, still it it be true, as has
often been asserted, that boys take after their
mothers, it may be fairly inferred that Jef
ferson's mother had strength of mind be
yond the ordinary.
The writer who asks the question as to
whether any strong-minded woman had
given to the world a statesman, a soldier or
a scholar ot note forgets the history of his
country, or he would have remembered the
wife of John Adams the mother of John
Ouincr Adams. She was the wife of the
second President of the United States, and
the mother of the sixth. The writer evi
dently tries to make a distinction between a
woman with brains and a strong-minded
woman, but it is a
DISTINCTION 'WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE.
But even if it were admitted that strong
minded women alone are those who ask for
equal rights, then Mrs. Adams is a case in
point that gives answer to his question.
Her letters to her husband when
the Declaration of Independence was under
consideration, protested against the forma
tion of a new government in which women
should be denied a voice ?nd representation.
She insisted upon equal rights in education.
and said plainly, "If we mean to have
heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we
must have learned mothers." Her son,
John Quincy Adams, defended the right of
petition by women in the House of Repre
sentatives over hall a century ago, and he
received the thanks of the first woman's con
vention, held in New York City, for his ad
vocacy of their demands for equal rights.
A strong-minded woman who should notbe
forgotten was Susanna Wesley themotherof
the great founders of Methodism. She had
19 children, arid yet with all the care of
these, their education to take charge of, the
household affairs to manage, she also bad to
conduct all the outside business in her hus
band's department. He was so devoted to his
literary affairs, and to his own ease, that she
had to see alter the' tithes and the cultiva
tion of the farm, and make all the bargains
and contracts lor the family. All this
work was accomplished by a severe system,
and such strictly business methods as show
a remarkable executiye capacity and great
strength of mind.
JOHN "WESLEY'S FATHER.
Withal she had her own political ideas,
but said little about them. Her husband,
the Beverend Samuel, finally noticed that
she did not say "Amen" when he prayed
lor King William. He took her to task
about it, and wanted to know her reason for
withholding the customary "amen."
"Because," said the bold woman, "I do
not believe the Prince of Orange to be the
rightful King."
"If lbat be the case," said the indignant
husband, "we must part if we have two
Sings we must have two houses."
Mrs. Wesler, with her conscientious con
rlctloni, stood Arm, so Samuel went off to
London by himself, whoro ha remained nn
til King Wiliiam died. As there
division of opinion as to Queen j.
right to the crown, he got off his di
and came home again.
Itwas from his mother that John We
received the advice to make religion
business of his life, and lrom her that,
derived the gifts of systematizing and orga
izing the great church which derived ii
name from the methods he introduced into
its arrangement aud management.
THE MOTHER OF HER COUNTRY.
Talking of strong-minded women W8
might mention the great Maria Theresa
who is styled in Austria the "Mother of Her
Country" to whose wise administration of '
her empire and whose wisdom in the many
events of its affairs and of her familv his
tory furnishes ample tribute. Shewastho
mother often children, all of whom are said
to nave done honor to their illustrious
mother. At her death sholpft" .;.
far more united, prosperous and powerful
than the Austria she had inherited from her
father to her son Joseph IL, who carried
out many notable reforms contemplated by
bis mother. He abolished feudal serfdom,
allowed liberty of conscience and the rights
of citizenship to all denominations,abridged
the power ot the Pope and the clergy, and
encouraged manufactures and industries. A
The mother of Napoleon is down upon tho
records as a woman of uncommon "strength
of mind, courage, fortitude and equanimi
ty." She was left a widow with eight chil
dren and no fortune, but she was capable,
energetic and aspiring, and by her exertions
she maintained them creditably. To her
Napoleon Bonaporte owed, as he said, all
his fortune and all the good he had ever
done. His brothers and sisters all showed
the effect of their mother's training in their
ambition and their ability to govern states
and principalities.
THE MOTHER OF -WASHINGTON.
It is a matter of history that Mary Wash
ington, the mother of the "immortal
George," was a strong-minded woman. Left
a young widow when George was only 10
years of age, she took hold of the manage
ment of the farm and the family, and showed
herself to be a master hand. Her discipline,
it is said, was of the Spartan order, but it
fostered no fool notions in the breast of th
future Father of His Country. By her his
habits were formed, his principles grounded,
and to her he owed bis tame and fortune
as in after years he fullr and frankly ad
mitted. She needed no man to supervise her farm.
She rode around every day herself and gave
orders and found fault, if need be, and was
"boss" of her own plantation like any man.
She attended to the economical management
of her own house, and kept everybody goine.
She took charge of her own garden, a'nd
made no apology to Lafayette when he
caught her in her old clothes working away
amougthe peas and beans and cabbages,
but said: "Ah, Marquis, I can make you
welcome to my poor dwelling without
changing my dress."
Her capacity to govern, her courage under
trials, her firm family discipline show that
Mary Washington was a strong-minded
woman with not the slightest streak of the
clinging, dependent, weak-minded ideal
about her.
MOTHERS OF GREAT MEN.
The father of Lafayette was killed at the
battle of Mindeu when he was an infant, so
that to his mother he owed the training;
which made him a lover of liberty and in
dependence. Nancy Hanks the mother of
Abraham Lincoln as described, was not a
strong-minded woman, but rather of the
shi.tless, easy-going, weak-minded sort,
with "nothing to her," as they say down
East. His father was lazy and worthless,
and spent his time mainly in bunting and
amusing the neighbors. Although he was
a carpenter by trade, his house had no floor,
no doors, no windows and no stairs. Poor
little Abe, when he retired to his loft had to
climb up by pegs in the wall. The table
was a slab of wood, the bed was made of
poles, and the cooking was done in a skillet
and a Dutch oven. These facts show that
Mrs. Lincoln was a woman of but little
force, a poor housekeeper and a woman de
void of ambition. Her children were badly
clothed, untaught and harshly treated.
Neither of their parents seemed to care for
either their present or future.
It was not until Sally Bush, the step-
momer, came upon tne scene mat Abe ana
his sister Nancy found anything in their
lives but "blows, ridicule and shame." But
"Sally" soon showed herself to be strong
minded and forehanded and fully possessed
of noble principles and common sense. She
soon brought order out of chaos, and made
her idle husband put down a floor and then
add doors and windows and stairs. She was
a good housekeeper and had a great capacity
for management and talent for industry.
She soon, asthe story goes,
MADE A NEW BOY OF ABE,
by dressing hira decently, sending him to
school, and in after life, he, in his gratitude,
gave her all the credit of his career. He
named her his "angel of a mother," and
said she was "the woman who first made
him feel like a human being." Now, mark
you all, it was not the weak-minded, yield
ing mother who made a man of Abraham
Lincoln, it was the strong-minded step
mother who "bossed" the house because she
had the capacity.
To thoseof the presenttowhomtheenithet
of "strong-minded"has been applied in de
rision, bnt who biil it as distinguishing;
them from the weak-minded ideal3 that some
men hold, it is rather early in the day to ask
for the great statesmen and soldiers and
scholars they have given to the world. The
first convention of "strong-minded women"
was only held about 40 years ago. Men do
not generally achieve greatness in their
vouth. Washington was over 40 when he
became Commander of the Army of the Bev
olntion Jefferson was over 30 when he
penned the immortal Declaration Lincoln
was over 50 before he became President
Grant was something over 40 before he De
came Commander of the Armies of the
United States. No man can have an oppor
tunity to distinguish himself in the House
of Bepresentatives until he is over 25. No
man can achieve greatness in the Senate
under 30. No man can become a great
President until he is over 35. and the gen
eral tact is that all are much older before
they "get there."
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON'S FAMILY.
Moreover the biographies ot distinguished
people, or any people, are not written as a
usual thing until they are dead or running
for office. Some little, however, is known.
Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is said to have
eight children, all of whom are a credit to
their mother, and who fill honorable stations
in life. Her son Theodore Stanton is an
editor of note in Paris, and a frequent con
tributor to the press in this country, and de
voted to the advancement of women. If
not yet great, he is like thousands on tho
way, and what is better he is good.
Julia Ward Howe, one of the stanchest
among the "strong-minded," has two
daughters who have already made names
for themselves in the literary world by
their books. Mrs. Lucy Stone,' one of the
most famous of the strong-minded pioneers
of the cause, has no son, but she has a
daughter who is one of the editors of the'
Woman's Journal and wields one of the
ablest pens in the country. Mrs. Zcrelda
Wallace, who is the superintendent of the
Suffrage Department of the W,C. T.U.,
and is traveling the countrover in preach
ing equal rights, is the mother of Lew Wal
lace, of "Ben-Hur" fame. The stalwart sons
of Mrs. Abigail Duniway, who is editor of
a paper and who did so much for the estab
lishment of woman suffrage in Wyoming,
are following and supporting their mother
by vote, and voice, and pen.
SOME 'WHO HAVEN'T SONS.
If testimony were needed upon this point
it would be found among the' thousands of
young men growing up who would be
ashamed to debar their mothers and sisters
'from what they prize so highly for them
selves. Susan B. Anthonv has no ion to
show to be .sure, but neither had Washing
ton. Frances Willard can exhibit no great
statesmen, or soldier, or scholar of note as
ber own, but she is too young, and we may
say that Bacon left no son, nor tor that mat
ter did John Stuart Mill, Macaalsy,
Carlyle, Washington Irving, Thackeray,
Andrew Jackson, Jefferson and others
among the great. With these In view II
msjrbt uld that honors are perhaps even.1'
Bzssxa Bbakbls.