T0r,3 y?, IFF 'Wi r --? -gzg tl" CITIZEN CLEVELAND The Only Ex-President Who Was at All a Prominent Figure Two Tears After Eetirement COURTED BY EYEBI CLASS ALIKE. Sketch of Ills STerj Day Life in Bis Ele gant Home on Madison Avenue and at His Law Offices. SO SOCIAL BEST FOE MES. CLEVELAND. Political Methods of the Ex-Protdeit Compared tnth Thwe f Tilden. roOBKZsromrirc or thk Dtsr.tTCH.1 New Yoek, June 14. There is a modest mansion on Madison avenue which jnst now interests more citizens of the United States than any other residence in this city that conld be named. Not because there is any thing remarkable about, it, bnt simply be cause its occupants are ez-Presideut Graver Cleveland and his lovely wile. The bouse is beautifully situated on that fashionable thoroughfare, and is daily pointed out to the curious visitor. It is No. 816, second on the west side of the avenue above Sixty-eighth street It is a plain, four-story residence, and is owned by Henry G. Marquand, who has leased it to the Cleveland! for about $4,000 per annum. The general appearance ot the exterior does not prepare the visitor for the more modern architectural taste within. The floors are exquisitely laid in hard woods. The parlors are finished in white and gold. On the lower floor is the extrance hall, a small reception room and the dininir room. The drawing room is on the second floor. The sitting room and living room is Mr. Cleveland's library. It is at the back on the second floor and from its windows the distinguished tenant has a lovely view of Central Park, with the stretch ot lawn of Mrs. Robert Ii. Stuart's and a section of ITifth. avenue in the foreground. COMFORTABLE AND TASTT. The room is fitted up with every mark of taste and comfort. Against the walls are mahogany book shelves loaded with vol umes that bear evidence ot having been read. On one Bide is built in a large settee, upholstered in tan-colored coruurov and filled with lnxurious pillows of down, cov ered with bright yellow silk. Mr. Cleve land' flat table desk occupies the middle of the room, and this, with a nnmber ol old iashioned cozy chairs, completes the furni ture oi the room. The walls are decorated with photographs of Mrs. Cleveland, mem bers of the late Cabinet, an autographed picture of Bismarck sent by the late Chan cellor to Mr. Cleveland and the pictures of some personal friends. On the floor are a number of large fur rugs. To one accustomed to Mr. Cleveland's tastes while he was an occupant ot the "White House thereis a familiar air about the whole surroundings. This is materially heightened by the lact that Sinclair, who answers your ring at tho front door, is the same man who has performed this service for Mr. Cleveland ever since he was Mayor ofBuflalo. ME. CLEVELAND'S DAILT LIFE. The ex-President is a plain, methodical business man, as regular in his habits and as steady a worker as any young counsellor striving for his first fees. He leaves bis house about 10 o'clock every work-day morning, walks through Sixty-eighth street to Filth avenue and across to Sixth avenue, where he takes the elevated for Sector street. He invariably takes the first car and sits well up among the brokers, lawyers, speculators and the class ol men who go down at that busy hour of travel. Few ot these people recognize him. For that mat ter Abraham Lincoln might hare ridden down town among these money-cetters and never have been noticed or recognized. Arriving at Hector street Mr. Cleveland leaves the train, crosses Broadwav, probably glancing at the clock on old Trinity, and turns down Wall street, passing the offices of ex-Secretary Fairchild and ex-Secretary "Whitney on that financial thoroughfare, and enters the big office building, No. 45 'Will iams street. On the way, if you have fol lowed him, you will always observe that he Tips his hat to the big, handsome officer of the Broadway Equad who keeps people from being run over where Hector street pours its throng of busy workers into Broadway. He also has a kind word or nod for the woman who keeps the little fruit stand at Williams and Wail, and returns the salutation of the newsboy and bootblacks whose stands are at the entrance to his own building. THE LAWYER'S TVOBKSHOP. Mr. Cleveland's offices are on the seventh floor of the Williams street building, and directly opposite the elevators. From his windows he has a magnificent view of the great Brooklyn bridge, and the East river, with its ever-shifting panorama of business life, is spread out before him. His sur roundings here are those of other prominent lawyers. The walls ot his office are con cealed by a formidable array ot law books. The furniture consists of a large fiat oaken desk, the chair which he occupied in the small Jbow-windowed library of the White House, a red leather covered couch and an oaken office table. Mr. Cleveland has a large law business. He does not take cases that require his appearance in the city or State courts. In fact, it is not his intention to appear in court at all. Mr. Cleveland's mail is enormous. In this alone his character as a representative man is illustrated. When we consider the fact that he is simply a private citizen whose political ambition, we may reasonably up ose.has been satisfied, who has no polit ical tavors to dispense to his friends, who has enjoyed no rank beyond that of tempo rary public servant iu various capacities, who holds no position in his party ma chinery, directory or advisory, who is not a candidate for public favor in any sense this prominence as a national figure and thiSj'generous daily expression of the esteem and good will ot his countrymen is some thing remarkable. Mr. Cleveland cets bis lunch at the 'famous place on Pine street known as the Down Town Association, about a block from bis office. It is a great lunching place for lawyers and business men of the Wall street section. Not un fre quently one may see there Mr.Cleveland and two member of his late Cabinet, Fairchild and Whitney, and his former private secre tary, Colonel Dan Xiamont, ex-Secretary Bristow, General Sherman, Cornelius Van derbilt, H. JIcK. Twombley, Chauucey M. Dcpew, Choate, the lawyer, John H. In man, Calvin S. Brice, Joel B. Erhardt, Francis Lynde Stetson, August Belmont, Cleveland's partners and any number of railroad presidents and millionaires. When Vice President Morton is in town he al ways lunches here. It is a private club, ana strangers are only admitted as guests ot a member. AT HOME IS THE EVENING. At 5 o'clock Mr. Cleveland leaves his of fice and returns home by the same route he came down town. He has bis dinner at 7 and usually spends the evenings in his library. At his office and house bis time is much occupied by callers. Prominent Democrats trom all parts of the country who come to this city are sure to go and pay their respects. Such men as Sepator Gor man, W. Ii. Scott, Erskine Phelps and John W. Doane, ot Chicago; Senator Mc pherson, Governor Gordon, of Georgia' Frank Jones, of New Hampshire; Bradlev Smaller, of Vermont; Senator Hearst, o't California; Governor Francis and Senator Vest, of Miasonri; Kenna, of West Vir ginia, and that class never come to the city wiliest colling to see him. Colonel Pat Collins, of Massachusetts, was at lunch with nira a few days ago. The Clevelands attend the Presbyterian Church of Eev. Wilton W. Smith, in West Fiity-seventh street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues. They are regular attend ants. Every Sundav there is a crowd about the church door waiting to see them a thev pass out, just as there always, was at Washington. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Cleve land were anxious to appear in society. In fact, thev came to New York with the idea that thev would be wholly lost in the great city, and that thev would be permitted to live as they pleased and do as they pleased. It was to be retirement, and a sort of rest from the excitement of official life. LITEBALLT FOBCED INTO SOCIETY. Instead of making efforts to get in the social swim, they were simply forced to the front. A man's social position is what his wife makes it. Mrs. Cleveland's lovely face and charming manners would carry her anywhere; but here she has been almost lionized. socially. The friends of both pressed them hard, and in a very brief time all their preconceived notions of a retired life vanished. They could scarcely refuse these overtures without seeming ungracious. These social exchanges have occupied their time during the past winter. Sunday even ing has really been about their only quiet evenings at home. Where have they dined? Where haven't they? Perhaps the latter would be the more easily answered. They have been the honored cuests at Astor's, Edward Cooper's, Morris K. Jessup's, Pierpont Morgan's, Carl Schuri's, Bishop Potter's, Cornelius Vanderbilt's, August Belmont's, W. It. Grace's, Joseph H. Choate's, Itobert B. Roosevelt's, Daniel Lord's, W. C. Whit ney's, Andrew Carnegie's, J. J. O'Dono hue's. Judge Dillon's, Governor Cornell's, Randolph Robinson's, aud so on, the swell est oi the solid people of Gotham. They have occupied seats of honor at tbe Metro politan Opera House, at banquets, balls, commencements, corner-stone layings, etc So far from the Clevelands crowding into society, as some critics have observed, so ciety has crowded the Clevelands. They are simply dragged about everywhere. ALTVAYS IN DEMAND. If people knew how Mr. Cleveland is im portuned for public dinner speeches they would understand how it comes that he has figured so much in print. He would seem to be one of the chief ends and aims of every committee of arrangements. They call on him in a body, they enlist his personal friends in the chase, and they ingeniously insinuate that he would be ungrateful not to come to, say, their St-Patrick's Day dinner. How can he refuse? Scores and scores of such invitations he refuses, nevertheless. But it comes hard to deny his admirers their proffered act of courtesy. It is the same war with letters that now and then find their way into public print. It seems a trifling matter to those who ask these things of him; lut if he undertook to write to everybody and attended all the en tertainments to Which he is invited, he wouldn't have much time left for home or business. I don't believe Mr. Cleveland deserves the carping criticisms to which he is subjected. Other men, like Depew, for instance, go to dinners and make speeches and write letters that are printed. Why is it that Cleveland is an especially bold, bad man? Because he has many friends and political admirers? Is it because he is be lieved to be a formidable candidate for a Presidental renomination? But he is not a candidate. It is sot the time for hatching candidates. DOESN'T WANT ANOTHER TERM. When the time comes, that Cleveland would turn aside from his private business and seek the Presidency, I do not believe. It is not his way of reaching a given point, even if be desires the Presidency, which I know he does not. Politically 'speaking, Mr. Cleveland is regarded by the politicians in New York with widely different and in consistent opinions. There is one class who consider him a political sphinx, sly and in comprehensible; another sets him down as a simple-minded Buffalo politician without political breadth or thickness. It is baldly necessary to say that both of these are wrong. Those who know Mr. Cleveland well and understand him 'thoroughly will make neither mistake. Me is by no means a political schemer or political idiot. There is bnt one man who has figured in national politics of recent years, who could, were he alive to-day, be compared with Mr. Cleve land for political sagacity. That man is the late Samuel J. Tilden. Yet the methods of Mr. Tilden and the methods of Mr. Cleveland are about as wide apart as the antipodes. Their training aud traits were as different as their physical characteristics. TILDEN AND CLEVELAND. When Mr. Tilden wasin politics he sought to bold direct personal control of his party organization. There was not a county con vention in the State of New York but what lelt his nervous frasp, or that was too small for the direct operations of his personal lieu tenants. He reached out into every State in tbe Union, and laid a finger upon every political platform formulated in convention. His ideas permeated every material plank, and through bis minions he largely con trolled even their nominating power. Mr. Tilden was the pioneer of the political "lit erary bureau." From this bureau in New York emanated those sharp, crisp editorial paragraphs which lound 'their way to the people through their Democratic newspaper in the country. He not only endeavored to direct his partypress, but through this press to mould the personal thinking of the great national Democratic constituency. The methods of Mr. Tilden has been imi tated by politicians of lesser note since, but not one of his imitators possess the same grasping mind and force of character to make their political personality felt. Now contrast the conduct of Mr. Cleveland irom the time he was Sheriff to the Governorship of New York, to the Presidency of the United States, to his present retirement There is not apparent one single effort of his to direct his party, to interfere with the party machinery, or to dictate directly or indirectly to his party managers. A "WISE NEUTRALITY. While he has not shirked the duty of an American citizen in expressing his yiews of public affairs when asked to do so, there is not a man in New York who has less to do with party mansgemeut than Mr. Cleve land. He has absolutely held himself aloof from entangling alliances. Amid the wrangling and pulling and hauling of Dem ocratic partisans the like of which cannot be seen outside the city and State of New York be has maintained a dignified silence and a wise neutrality. With all the fas cination of political warfare, local power and the most strenuous efforts of party henchman to involve him on one side or the other, he has maintained his position with out wavering. If that were by design Mr. Cleveland could be set down as one of tbe most astute politicians of tbe age. But it is the charac teristic ot the man. What others might do for an ulterior purpose is the result of Mr. Cleveland's nature. You can trace it all through his political life. In this charac teristic lies his political strength. He never ran a political machine he is not running a political machine now. He never con fused the public servant with the party boss. Tne methods of the Quays and Plaits of politics are foreign to his ideas aud unknown to his political history. It is this which has earned him the sneera of a certain portion of his party, who con tempuously alluded to him as no politician. It is this, however, which has also earned him the respect and confidence of . orpnt majority of those who supported him for the Presidency and a considerable minority of those politically opposed to him. It is really this which shows the true breadth and depth of his political character. To the politician, as tbe politician is known in New York, Mr. Cleveland is a sphinx. Charles T. Murray. BUI and Ibe Gns. Father Clara, what's the same of that young man who called on yon last night? Clara I call him Bill. Yon don't objeot because we burn a little gai do yon, papa? Father Oh, no; if he oomei Brain, I'll foot the hill. THE ART FOR KURAL SALE. Annt Jane's Wonderful Work in Oil and its Pathetic History. HOW SHE BECAME ENLIGHTEHED. Tisit to a Bag Gallery Where the Strag gling Painter Thrives. HIEED LIAE8 WHO DO THE SELLIKG 1WJUTTUT VOX TBS DXSrATCH.1 Mande's annt came down to the city to see us last week, to mention the price of board at her farm this summer, and to see if we bad any enemies to whom we would recommend tbe place as a desirable locality in which to waste away till fall. Aunt Jane brought Maude a present, to wit: one oil painting, 18x21, representing a landscape wildly diversified by nature and hopelessly dislocated by the artist Maude said it was "real pretty," and kissed Aunt Jane affec tionately. As I cannot tell a lie, I did neither of these things. I simply asked who was the artist, but I did it in a tone calculated to suggest my reverence for his genius. "I should like to meet him." said I, and added mentally, "in a 24-foot ring, unless he is too big." "He's dead, poor, young thing," said Aunt Jane. "He died right here in New York in the midst of plenty. The man who sold me the picture told me so. He said that the poor, struggling artist toiled in a garret, living on a crust, and sup ported by his noble ambition, till at last his genius was recognized. WITH SUCCESS IN HIS GRASP. "One of his pictures was sold for $10,000, but he starved be. ore he could get to the bank where the money was. 'AH my poor, young relative asked was appreciation,' said tho man who sold the picture, 'and all I ask is The Cow on the Mountain. five dollars, which will go toward some slight alterations in his monument." "Is it a scene in the Adirondacks?" I asked. "Bless yer dear heart, no," said Aunt Jane, "we don't have no snch mountains as them. They're foreign mountains." Undoubtedly. The picture was foreign not only to New York, but to the entire ter restrial plan. It represented about such a view of a mountain as a man would have who was being hurriedly blown up against one by a cyclone. A peasant's hut had been plastered against the rugged hillside by the same aerial disturbance, and a cow evidently about a thousand feet longer than the average of her snecies had de scended from the clouds upon the top of a tall peak and was trying to Keep irom tail ing off and devastating the valley. ."Aunt Jane," said I, "do you feel sure that the gentleman who sold the picture was adhering firmly to the slippery surface of the truth? I merely " WOULDN'T OFFEND AUNT JANE. But Mande wouldn't hear another word. She would rather believe 40 lies than offend Aunt Jane, and she told me so that evening after our relative bad retired. "My dear," I said, "I can have no real sympathy for a cow of that size. If she doesn't like the mountain she U bigenough to kick it off the face of tbe earth. And that artist story! Do you know how those pic tures are made? I know one of them and I'll take you to see him at work. I should like to hear what Aunt Jane will say when it gradually dawns upon her that she has been sold." We all called upon my friend next day. He has a long, bare "studio," which a dealer in rags used as a place of storage once in awhile. When it is not full, and my friend is equally unfortunate, he paints A X -2 The Arllxt Fainting a Babbling Brook. along one side of it. When we called he was not in. Bnt his boy was there. That boy wants to be an artist, too, some day, and he takes my friend as a model. He brushes his hair the same way, and at the same rare intervals. When my friend pawns his coat the boy works in his shirtsleeves; when my friend breaks his rieht hand suspender button the boy faith fully shifts his single "gallus" to his left shoulder. WORK OF AN ABLE YOUTH. As I have said, my friend wis out, bnt the painting was coing on just the same in his absence. The boy was on deck. He had abigpotof paint of tbe kind used in the country to make the rear gable of a barn as offensive as possible in the landscape. With this the boy was putting in the "grounds" on a long row ot canvases upon which gen eral ideas of Alpine and other views had been roughly sketched. The boy was travel ing down tbe line and putting in tbe paint in the spaces indicated and occasionally elsewhere when he got absent-minded. Soon my friend returned, and, without hesitation" or protessibnal delicacy, let us into the secret ol his honorable calling. "I get these things by contract," said he, "fifty or a hundred at a time. Got a lot of 50 this time, at 45 cents apiece, including the canvas. Must get "em done by the end of the week. Guess I'll have to promote the boy. I'll let him get a step higher in the profession, and put in the white clouds and snow on tbe monntains. "I nsed to have another artist. Found a man who was poorer than I was; never ex pect to find another. He did the secondary work, like sky and a daub here and therefor a lake. I followed him np, and put in trees, men and animals. Sometimes I nsed to overtake the others, and work on ahead of them, bnt it wasn't safe, I'd pnt in sand, and dlwfit palms, and few camels and fWA, !&'- FITTSBTTEG- DISPATCH, naked nigeers with their tongues hanging out to represent a deseit scene. NOT ALWAYS IN HARMONY. "Then the other artist, who was occasion ally in liquor, I regret to say, would follow me up and put in a pond he never did have any taste in regard to water after which the boy would come along and stick in a lot of snow right in front of the camels, in a manner that would hurt the realism of the picture a great deal. "However, we worked them out pretty last, and very satisfactorily. When a lot is done, the man who bnys them puts them with other works of art by men of genius sitnated, financially, The Ambitious AutxtanL much as I am; and the whole lot is shipped out into the country, where some fellow holds an auction sale and and gels rid of them. The added attraction of heavy gilt frame pine, with liquid gilt painted over it takes well in the country." Then my friend excused himself and went to work. I have never seen anything like the way he skipped along irom one canvas to the other. Sometimes he talked to us, looking over his shoulder, and gesticulat ing with one hand while he painted with the other. At such times he occasionally painted houses and animals with no visible means pf support, sailing through the sky in a reckless manner. Then he would tell the boy to paint a hill under them, and all would be well, if tbe boy didn't forget it. GOOD PICTURES BY ACCIDENT. "You'd be surprised," said my friend, "to hear that we sometimes get good pict ures by accident." "Not at all," said I, "you take so many chances that almost anything is likely to turn up." "Well, we do," said he, "the last time I made a lot I picked out three good ones, and sold them on their merits for $10 apiece. Then I painted three bad ones to complete the lot" "Do you know an artist named J. Ange lo?" asked Maude. It was the name on the bottom of the picture Aunt Jane had given us. "That's me," said my friend. "I sign all sorts of names and make 'em jnst as near like the famous ones as I can. Country peo ple are a little hazy on the names of artists; and tbe contractor hires a good liar who knows how to take advantage of the fact. When he can't palm the picture off as an old master, he tells the story of the grand son of an old master dying in poverty, just as his work " "Yes, I've heard that plaintive story," cried Aunt Jane, who had been silently taking all this in, "and if that lyin' crittel ever comes sellin' pictures in Summitville again, I'll get the boys to paint a landscape on him with tar." Howard Fieldiko. TTTK PIE THAT MOTHER MADE. How a CleTer Tonne Wife Cored Her Hns band of a Bad Habit. Brooklyn Citizen. There is one young man in this town who nevermore will brag abont "the pies that mother made." He has not been married t great while and, after the presumptuous manner of young Benedicts, assumes to have ideas as to what he shall eat or how the house should be run. A year hence he will know more and really think he knows less. He assumes to scorn hash. The other day his mother np in the country sent him a barrel filled with divers sorts of borne produce, among other things a mince pie. The young wife unpacked the barrel, and discovering the pie quietly put it one side and said nothing about it. That night at dinner Benedict inquired what they had for dessert. "Mince pic," was the prompt response. "A mince pie is a good way in which to use up the bits." Then there was a sniff, and when the pie was produced it was received in a very disparaging fashion and madam sat quietly and heard a good deal of fun made ot "her pie." Finally when the victim had suffi ciently complicated himself, she sweetly in quired whether "Your mother ever made such a pie?" and received an emphatio and scornful denial. "But your mother made this pie." Then there was a dull thud. He deserved all he got, and now he eats hash. REFUSED AUSTIN C0BBDT. A Farmer's Wife Who Sllcbt Hare Been tun Millionaire'! Better Half. Boston Globe. Everybody has heard of Anstin Corhin, the ten times millionaire magnate of the big Beading railway and coal system, and most everybody knows he was born up in New Hampshire, among the hills that look down upon Lake Sunapee; but few are aware of the fact that he would never have left his native town of Newport had he not met with reverses in love, which made the "suDlight hateful" and the place irksome to him. Yet snch is tbe fact, and the girl who jilted him is now the wile of a small farmer in Sunapee and the mother of a big family. Not long ago I called at the farm house over which she presides and asked for a glass of milk. She is a portly woman now, with a red face and big red arms, and a pair of laughing eyes as blue as the sky that bends over her. "Mr. Corbin was a nice young mnn," she said, "and smart as they made them, "but he was green and bashlul, so I took a beau that I thought had more spunk. And, do you believe it, I am not a bit sorry now. even it he is rich." She drew herself up to her full height as she spoke', and looked as it she were capable of reject ing all the millionaires in the world. FISHES IN HIGH LAKES. The Onlr Explanation of Their Frrsenee Is That Birds Carry tho Ec. It is a mystery how fish get into the little lakes upon top of the mountains.. There was never a lake to high that it did not have fish in it. Bearfort pono, not many miles Irom Lake Hoptacong, N. J., is over 1,300 feet in the air and yet it is chock full of bass and perch. They certainly did not get in by going up ftreain and. if anybody took the trouble to carrr them up, he had a mighty hard time of it, for the lake is two miles straight up from everywhere. Fish will get into lakes without being carried by men, or without swimming up stream. It is well known that water fowls will distribute yellow perch br carrying tbe sticky eggs on their feet. Bass do not be come distributed except by hand of man or by going up stream. Tront go anywhere where there is water enough to float a chip, and pickerel get moved around from place to place tne same as perch do. LIbcoId's Famous Stories. Lincoln's most intimate friends declare that he never made nse of one ot every ten expressions credited to him. These ex pressions were mostly concocted by Wash ington correspondents and story-tellers, bnt everything goes when a man gets the reputation. SUNDAY, JUNE 15, OMENS ON THE DEEP. Some of the Abiding Superstitions of the American Sailor. GLIMPSES OP THE SEA SERPENT. The Enormons White Whale That Girdlei the Globe in a Second. BAD LUCK IN LAWIEE3 AND PARSONS . CnttTTZN JOB THK DISPATCH. Much is said, in books about the sea, con cerning the superstitions of the sailor. He is usually represented as a very credulous being, but such writers have not been fair to the sailor, who is not more superstitious, perhaps, than those of his class on shore. It wonld be strange, however, if he were not so. The great mystery and solitnde of the sea; bis isolated and conservative life; the impressive and awe-inspiring scenes with which he is surrounded, and his re ligious nature, all conspire to make the sailor superstitious. Bnt students of folk lore are beginning to find out that super stition is universal, and that credulity has its vo'taries even among the highly educated. American sailors being, as a class, supe rior to those of most other nations in educa tion and general intelligence, may reason ably be supposed to be less superstitious than others; but they are, nevertheless, not without many credulous notions and be liefs. These are, as far as they go, similar to those current among sailors elsewhere, although some of the grosser forms of superstition are waning entirely. There are ideas abont the sea,its currents, etc., almost unknown here, and some which are peculiar to our sailors. Fishermen on the Atlantic coast believe that tbe swell ot the sea during a fog is caused by it, and call it log swell. All along the New En gland coast it is believed that a sick man cannot die until the ebb tide begins to run, and some people think no task should be commenced after this time. Similarly, many fishermen choose a certain time of the moon for certain tasks. Halos and lnnar rainbows are thought omens of bad weather. When the lunar crescent is "horns up," or "like a boat," sailors say it means dry weather. They also say the moon "eats up the clouds," and that a moon in mist means wet weather. WITCHES AND CATS. Witches have lost their power over the winds and waves in these days of steam, but American tars were not behind their fellows abroad in the belief that these uncanny hags controlled the elements in former days. Certain animals are reputed weather makers, and some were unlucky to have on board. The cat has always had a bad repu tation. A Block Island skipper ie said to have shut a cat np in a barrel to prevent a rival from sailing, and no wind came until puss was liberated. Provoking a cat brings a gale, and, in fact, every one carries a gale in her tail." Birds were especially credited with fur nishing omens as to the weather. Onr sail ors were no exception to the rule in their notions as to the indications furnished by the Mother Carey's chicken. They hesi tated to kill an albatross, and I have known one to be liberated by the captain out of deference to the men's wishes. Land birds are not unwelcome at sea, and are not particularly ominous, except when they act Secularly. A Captain Johnson, of the Torwegian bark Ellen, claimed that he changed his course when off New York, in 1657, because of the strange actions of a bird. Shortly afterward he picked up 49 of the wrecked crew of the steamer America. At Fort Fisher, a cock on board of one of the vessels of the attacking fleet crowed loud and long, and the men received it as a sure omen of victory. Dolphins and porpoises tumbling about tbe ship are an augury of fine weather. Some sailors have not become reconciled to the carrying of a corpse on board ship, or even of a skeleton or a coffin. One of our naval vessels was driven to sea unexpect edly some years since with the coffined body of a man ready for interment on hoard. The body was committed to the deep, bnt the men were not satisfied nntil the coffin had been cut up and the pieces thrown overboard. Sometimes it is desirable to raise a breeze. Old sailors have not yet forgotten to scratch the mast with a pin, or to stick an open knife in tbe mast, with the handle pointing in the direction from which a breeze is wanted. Others whistle for it, believing in the adage that "Whistles rash bid tempests roar." QIIOSTS ON SHIPBOARD. Ghosts are occasionally seen at sea. An officer ot the United States ship Columbus relates that in 1842 she was believed to be Haunted by the ghosts of a woman and child, who had been murdered on board. The child's cries were, it was said, fre quently heard on the dimly lighted deck, and it became difficult to get a marine sentry to walk a beat there. A fireman was said to have been killed by a brutal engineer on board of a New Orleans vessel, and it wast asserted that his ghost haunted the vessel, opening and shutting the furnace doors, heaving coal, etc. Spec tres appear at many points on the Eastern coast. Whittier celebrates the story of the "Shrieking Woman" at Marblehead. Many have asserted in recant times that they saw and heard this apparition. ' St. Elmo's lights are feared or welcomed according to their numbers and behavior. Whalers believed them to be the spirits of sailors who had died on board. Sailors often have stories of mysterious islands which sometimes disappear irom view, and the names, "Cape Flyaway," "Betterland" and "No Man's Laud," are given to such apparitions. Such an island is said to have appeared off Boston in colo nial days. Tbe first settlers tried in vain to reach it by sail, but a storm would invaria bly arise when the anchor was lifted for this purpose. It was named the Flying Island. Finally an Indian brave, the last of his tribe, put off in his canoe to visit the island, which he averred was the home of departed souls. A violent tempest arose and the island disappeared, never more to be seen by man. Our sailors have, in general, too good a knowledge of the natural history of the sea to place ranch faith in the appearance of the mermaid. That redoubtable traveler of early colonial days, Captain John Smith records that he saw one near one of the West India Islands in 1614. She was very like a woman and her motions were gracefnl. Occasional accounts are still given in the papers of the capture of a veritable mer maid, but sailors are rarely credited with such reports. ' FAITH IN THE SEA SERPENT. But the sailor is more credulous about the sea serpent. This renowned monster of the deep appears oftener on our coast than elsewhere, and many sailors and fishermen firmly assert - that they have seen him. From 1639, when Josselyn records his appearance on the coast of Maine, to the present year, acconnis of the sea serpent have been frequent. Some of these appearances are supported by abun dant testimony, frequently from seamen, whose eyes are sharper than others, and have caused some persons to insist that there is a veritable monster sea snake. Au thorities as able as the late B. A. Proctor have credited these tales, and have ex pressed doubt, in view of this pro fessional testimony, whether there may not be some real appearance to base such statements upon. It is generally believed, however, that a string of porpoises, an unusually large shark, a monster sea weed, or the arm of a giant polyp, gives rise in every instance to these exaggerated ac counts of the monster serpent I bare been assured, however, by experienced sailors, and even officers, that there could be no doubt ad to their having seen a serpent-like monster off our coast, and more of onr sail ors believe in the sea serpent than wonld willingly confess to it , There itill linger nptntitiou belief! 1890. about the real monsters and inhabitants of tbe deep. Whalers have a tale of an enor mous white whale which moves abont the world with incredible speed, and who has a particnlar spite against them and their boats. 'This is the hero of Herman Mell ville'i "Moby Dick." Sharks, too, are re garded with superstitions awe when they come about a ship in great numbers, .hven one following a snip is an omen oi approach ing death. Cape pigeons are said to be the souls of deceased sailors, and it is a bad omen to have them fall on tbe deck exhausted. Dur ing the trip of the baseball club to Australia this occurred, and the resulting supersti tion of the crew was noted by the corre spondents on board. BAPTIZING A SHIP. Few superstitious ceremonies or observ ances are performed by our sailors. A daily paper related that the mate of a whaler; some few years since, made a vow that in case of his deliverance from a storm, he would bestow alms upon 200 poor persons, and go through the ceremony of being "crowned at Pentecost" It is said that the privateers of Newburyport used to re quest and obtained the prayers oi tbe con gregation before setting out to sea. Tbe ceremony of baptizing the ship at launching her, aud that of initiating novices upon crossing the line, are no longer looked upon as anything more than mere custom, al though both are survivals of heathen cere monies of sacrifice to the gods of the sea. Some sailors believe, however, that disaster will result to tbeship if tbe wine is not shed when she is launched, or if any accident happens during the launching. Some of tbe oldest seamen vet cline to their belief in the appearance of the "Fly ing Dutchman" and "Barney's Brig," and the veritable phantom ship has made its entrance into many ports of onr coasts. Our poets have recorded the legends related of it, and the spectral craft has even made its appearance in the Pacific. Perhaps the best known of these is the phantom of the burning Palatine, which reappears occa sionally on Bloch Island: Beholdl again with shimmer and shine. Oxer the rocks and the seething brine. The flaming wreck of the Falatinel Sailors aver that they see, on dark, rainy nights, an old clipper, the "Tennessee," standing iu toward tbe Golden Gate, oft the California coast, with all canvas out, but she suddenly disappears upon reaching a certain headland, and never gets into port PARSONS AND LAWYERS. There is one thing, however, in which it is hard to shake the sailors' belief his re liance upon luck and omens. A "parson" is unlucky, and a decided opinion exists that there is no good thing about a lawyer. Many officers are thought unlucky, and instances have been known where it was difficult to get crews for merchant ships whose captain or mate had a bad reputation. Cooper records the fact that Lieutenant J. T. Shu brick was thought a lucky officer to have on board. He served in nine ships in ten years, participating in six great and suc cessful actions, without a wound. Lien tenant Somers was, on the contrary, thought nnlncky, as well as the ship named after him. This element of bad luck is considered to extend to the ship and even to the name. The old Constitution was a lucky vessel, while the Americas have been invariably lost at sea. The Chesapeake, afterward cap tnred by the Shannon, was considered so un lucky that the men did not want to sail in her. After the first Monitor was lost the men never were willing to go to sea in tow of the same vessel the Bhode Island that was with the lost ironclad. Some think it a bad thing to give a vessel a new name, and point to that as the cause of disasters and bad luck. It is regarded as unlucky to spill salt at mess, and many will not feel easy after having accidentally crossed knives with a messmate. Fishermen do not like to have you ask about their luck, and some of them ascribe the loss of luck to certain acts such as "swearing off" drinking, stumbling on the way to the boats, ete. As to the lnck of days, there is still a lively belief among merchant sailors especially, as to the evil effects of sailing on Friday. As a recent instance of this, it was related in the Chi cago papers in 1886, that tbe vessels of tbe grain fleet would not sail on Good Friday, and the next year, that a dozen or more of these boats sailed alter midnight, declining to commence the season by sailing on Fri day. THE GREAT OCEAN STEAMERS. A New York paper calls attention to the fact that none of the big ocean steamers sail on Friday, and says that it wonld be re garded as disastrous by all, from captain to cabin boy. Tbe superstition aeainst this day is not so prevalent in the navy, although occasionally an officer or a man may be found who 'regards it as a bad sailing day. Many sailors think, on the contrary, that Sunday is an auspicious day on which to begin a voyage. The Arctic relief steamer Bear postponed sailing so as to avoid a Fri day. Wiggins, the Canadian weather prophet, having predicted a storm on such a date, it was found that men hesitated to ship until the date had passed. The horseshoe may occasionally be seen nailed to a mast Or "cuddy home" of our coasting schooners. I have been told that it used to be difficult to get a crew for tbe barges on the Ohio and Mississippi some years ago unless a horse shoe was nailed up in sight. There is a decided unwillingness on the part of many sailors to wear the clothes of anvone who has died on board, or who has been accidentally lost overboard. Some would prefer to have on their best suit of clothing in case of a wreck or disaster, and many believe that the sea will not cast up the bodies of sailors, although it possesses no snch respect for those of landsmen. Sailors ererywhere are less superstitions than formerly, and steam and modern im provements are fast causing many of the old beliefs to die vont Only the "old hands" adhere to these notions, and many of them are ashamed of their beliefs. F. 8. Bassett, Lieutenant U. S. N. WHAT THE BLIND DBEAJt Experience of a Great Reader Whose Books Were Nevsr Called Dp at Went. There was lately an inmate of Missouri Institution who read a great deal, and, though his reading inclnded poetry, ro mances and history, he was particularly fond of travels. Though his mind was filled day by day with accounts of what he had read, he never dreamed of the subject matter of his reading, which was a rather remarkable fact, for it might be supposed that his reading wonld revive itself in his dreams. It did not, however, for he dreamed of noises he heard in the street of the cable cars which passed the door, or dogs bark ing, of horses neighing, of tbe voices of boys shouting at tbe play, or tbe sound of fire crackers on the Fourth of July, of the voices of bis associates in tbe institution, of incidents that might happen at school and home, of his daily lessons and exercises, of questions asked by teachers and of answers given oy pupils. xui never uiu ue oy any chance dream ot seeing, tor ne naa born blind. been A PATEI0T SNUBBED. He Ron Asrnlnst a Citizen Who Was Ice Cold nnd Had Flinty Ejes. On the platform of a Michigan avenne car the other day was a man who insisted on talking politics, and to every one who go't on he said: "My fren," what ish our first duty as Americans? To purify politics, of course." By and by he bumped up against an ice cold passenger with a flinty eye, and when he had propounded the usual question he was answered with. "Your first duty, sir, is to drop politics, change your shirtget your hair cut.and then eat limburger cheese to change yonr style of breath." It was 20 minutes before the patriot spoke again, and then all he said .was: "I'u icnte von, jtonTe oeen ,axuxxarv COMFORT AND DEESS. The- Former Has Very Little or Nothing to Do With tbe Latter. A PLEA FOR THE SHORT SKIRT. Men Long- Ago Discarded the Toga for Common Sense Costumes. THE EEIG5 OP THE ST0TE-P1PE HAT nnuniir roa the dispatch.! Great alarm is being manifested by some men over the fact that the fashion in the dress of women is becoming masculine. The girls are beginning to wear shirt fronts, and high collars, and four-in-hand ties, and soft hats. They have even got so far as to wear flannel blouse shirts, and seem to have dis covered there is special comfort in them, and they hope the powers that be behind tbe laws of fashion will keep it np, and not send them back to stiff stays, and furbelows, and frills, and bustles, and big hoops. Women realize how badly they need a re form in dress, but they also know deep down in their souls that they will never get it, unless that mysterious and domineer ing power of fashion so decrees. Not a day passes that women do not feel that their mode of dress is a fetter upon freedom of action, a bar to comfort, a drag upon the best performance of their work, whether in the house, the office, the store, .the factory, or any outdoor employment THE DRESS ON A RAINY DAY. Nothing illustrates this so finely as a rainy day. when everv woman who has to go out to business may be seen clutching ner sKirts out or tbe wet with one band and holding an umbrella with tbe other. When she has packages or perchance a baby to carry, the skirts have to simply go to dis gusting drabble and dire destruction. A more pathetic devotion to an unknown power, or more abject, slavish fear of the mysterious Mrs. Grunds, who rules men and women alike, throngh terror of what people will say, is hardly to be wit nessed. The worst may be summed up in the ruin of health that results in crowding cemeteries with women, who, iu sensible dresses, might live long in health and pros per. Women of wealth escape most of the evils by riding in their carriages, and others by staying at home when it rains. Men show some sense in adopting their dress to their work. Mill workers wear flannel shirts and hob-nailed shoes, which experience has dictated as the proper toegery for their busi ness; painters and toilers in greasy work shops don "overalls;" fakers wear caps and aprons to preserve the cleanliness of their products; but it remains for women to neglect all promptings of good sense and wear long skirts in all conditions. Fashion rules. If the'Princess of Wales, who has always a, carriage at command, and who need never go out in the rain or snow nnless she so desires, wears her dresses down to the grnnnd then every woman, from DUCHESS TO DOMESTIC wears the same. We all remember when trained wrappers were in style that every girl in the kitchen was walloping around in a long trail at her daily work. For awhile it seemed as if evolution, as a law, had brought short dresses into vogue, but, alas, no, tbe whirligig of time has again brought them to the ground, with the usual result, that everybody falls in al though many with sighs and groans and sorrowful reflections as to what might be if the Princess of Wales was not a fool, and if Sara Bernhardt ever had to walk to her daily toil upon the stage. Mrs. Jenness Miller and Lady Haberton may talk nntil all is blue about dress re form, and divided skirts, and the abolition of the corset, and all that, but unless they can set the impress of fashion upon their ideas, they might as well talk to the wild waves, or ask the torrents of Niagara to go the other way. What they need to do to carry their point of reform is to convert the f nture Empress of India to their views, and induce tbe demi mondeofParisandthestage to conform to their notions. If the "beauti ful Princess" or the "divine Sara" could be moved to cnt two inches off their skirts .the whole earth wonld be made glad. If they would take off four inches they would be 'entitled to the thanksgivings of the round world and all that dwell therein. SHORT SKIRTS ABE PRETTY. Many people will be shocked at the idea of women wearing short skirts, bnt there is nothing prettier on the stage, and were they the fashion they wonld be voted lovely. Nothing in the picture way is more hideous than the hooped skirt instituted by Eugenie, Empress of Fance, years ago and yet, when the great war was going on, one of the troubles in the hospitals with regard to women as nnrses was that they would wear the balloon appendages even there. All this shows the power of fashion of custom of the reign of Mrs. Grundy. Men discard silk hats because they are perhaps an eighth of an inch under or over the fashion standard. They wear collars high or low, as the style not as comfort directs. Tbe laws of etiquette destroy all sociability because they dictate to ma'n a dress which he abominates, and to women an array which she abhors. In a "spike tail" and low vest a man is no less a man, bnt he hates himself for a fool, in thus arranging himself in the waiter livery of society. In a low-cut, long-trained evening gown a woman feefs she has conformed to the pro prieties and the etiquette of the occasion, bnt she nevertheless groans over the re quirements that put a stamp npou her idiocy in doing what she knows is silly and unwise, and dangerous to health. DRESS ON THE BENCH. Men generally wear trousers. The judges of the Supreme Court, in their official ca pacity, wear handsome silk gowns, but if condemned to the same on tbe street and had to carry them up out of the mud and rain, with umbrella in hand, they would very likely swear and make an endeavor to seenre a constitutional amendment or set up a Supreme Court decision that would re sult in their abolition. But wo men have not as much independ ence as American judges. English officials still wear the big wigs and silk gowns of office in accordance with pre cedent and position, but just as good justice, proper judgment and righteous administra tion ot office has been shown to the world by judges in shabby frock coats or slop-shop business suits. The silliest of persons may show up best in dress while tbe wisest may appear as dowdies. As the world goes this is unfor tunate, as dress so often marks the man and gauges him in the opinion of others. Man's dress is a large advance, as to com fort and convenenience, from the togas of tbe ancient Romans. Imagine tbe working man of to-day going to his daily toil of eight hours, say, in a crimson robe, or an old bine gown down to his beels, and having to keep forever shuffling it up on the arms. Thins: of him plunging along with dinner bucket and umbrella in either hand reaching- madly for his skirts to keep them out of tbe mud and wet And yet our working women are as far back in civiliza tion as to clothes as were the prophets and fishermen of old as pictured lor our edifica tion. KNEE BREECHES AND BELTS. That men find more of com'ort in trousers needs no showing. Symptoms, however, are appearing that seem to show that knee breeches and belts are the coming style for men. It is an accepted idea by many that the weight of clothing should be suspended from the shoulder, but baseball, rowing, and other athletic exercises, show that the arms and shoulders must be free to give the best play to muscles and physical power. But while men, all through the ages, have shown perhaps t less lavish devotion to fashion than, have woifien they.are nevertheless subject to her laws in great degree, ai witness the milllomyM men who wear itilB'itarehtd liaa aad Mfc-re-plM! a hats.' These bats are said to be highly un comfortable and very expensive. A. shower spoils them, they add nothing to a man's good looks, -and yet like a woman's long skirts they are a standing illustration of what men will endure to be in the fashion. As the world advances, this slavery should in some way be overcome. Are men and women forever to be controlled by Mrs. Grundy? Are health and comfort to be always sacrificed to custom? Are men to go through the world forever wearing "stove pipe" hats, and women to be eternally clutching long skirts? Let us hope not Bessie Bramble. rOEAKEB ASPHYXIATED. A Story That Be Paralleled DIalne's San stroke While In Washington. TVashlnirton Correspondence Philadelphia In quirer. I think the Republicans out in Obio will be sorry that they let Foraker make himself Chairman of the Republican State Com mittee when they read the report on Fora ker's "ballot-box-forgery" folly, which majority of the House Committee to investi gate that boomerang performance will shortly prepare. A member of the Investi gating Committee told me the otberday that Foraker bad almost paralleled Blaine's famousl sunstroke of 1876 while he was here getting so hard hit in the investigation. It seems that one morning when Foraker was to have appeared berore the committee hi Private Secretary came instead and in formed the committee that Foraker conld not come because he was sick in bed from the effects of a partial asphyxiation by es caping gas from an unlighted turned on burner in his room at the hotel the night belore; and for several day he kept stray from the committee on this excuse. I do not know who turned on the gas-jet; but Foraker is quite capable of self-asphyxiation at a critical moment A SNAPPY OLD LADY. How She Snubbed a Street Car Conductor, and Iko Result. Boston Globe. 1 Biding in a street car the other day, I saw an amusing seene. An elderly lady asked the conductor for a transfer check. "Where do you wish to go?" he inquired. "That's none of your business, sir," was her indignant answer. The conductor quietly pnnched a check for Chelsea, and, taking her 8 cents, passed along. Soon he .came through the car again, and the elderly lady, who had been study ing the check intently, pulled his sleeve and asked: "Conductor, where will this take me?" His reply was prompt and justifiable. "That, madam, is my business." Ronffli on Ibsen. A very wicked young person of the Hub to whom the admirer of Ibsen showed that dramatist's photograph, said, with a lofty sneer: "If you wish a real good picture of a Marmoset monkey, why don't yon get one?" MADAME A. RUFFERT. New York! k's popnlar complexion specialist,', itwlth such unexcelled success in who has met l all large cities of the United States and En- rope, has opened permanent parlors in Pitts burg, where she will keep on sale ber wonder ful FACE BLEACH. Face Bleach Is not a COSMETIC, not a WHITE WASH, but a thorough tonic and skin bath. It opens tbo pores of tbe skin, so tbe blood can throw off its impure matter. Face Bleach is healthy for any skin. It removes the old dead cuticle that has accumulated. Face Bleach has been thoroughly tested for tho LAST TEN YEARS by ladies whose faces have been enred of hide ous blemishes ot every nature. One side bay ing been cleared at first The general publio Invited to call and see one side ENTIRELY FRESH AND WHITE, six weeks later the re maining side clear. No more CONVINCING PROOF is necessary. Write to your New York friends and ask them to call at onr main office and be convinced. Face Bleach perma nently removes all blemishes, moth, freckles, excessive redness. Eczema, Salt Rheum, m fact every skin blemish, making the complex ion clear, smooth and beautif nl. Does not giva a wasntd oat appearance, but a healthy look. This wonderful Face Bleach, guaranteed, will be sent to any address on receipt of price, $2 00 er bottle or three bottles, usually a cure. So ML adles ont of city can send for it securely packed. Send four cents pr call for sealed par ticulars. Very interesting. to ladies who are desirons of baring good complexions. MADAME A. KUPPERT. Room 203, Hamilton Building. Jel-101-SU Fifth are.. Pittsburg. Pa. Get Bottle WOLFFS' ACM BLACKING And clean your Shoes WITH A SPONGE In place of a Brush, EVERY Housawife EVERY Counting Roorri. EVERY Carriage Owqer EVERY Thrifty Mechanic EVERY Body able to hoIcTa" brush SHOULD TJS3 A. ON siusi old m runiiTiiiK Yarniih wiu. Stain fiuiss and Onimawars at th9 will Stain vinwarc tama will stain Toua OLo HASKrrs time WILL STAIN BAST'S Coach and " -WOLFJ" & RANDOLPH, FnUadalphla, Jji in Drt, Point and SouulmUUng Sons. B Like my. Wife to use MEDICATED Because it improves her ' looks and is as fra grant as violets. BOLD BVERYWHES , NEW Jilp Shoe igiiggMA Brush, Ji atfyma'-jMiyH as orcsoBSSsr i i to?T9f I DID ET" t JB m PAtmr that oprr L k pfl77fliIG i IUf JL JLEl ill I 4 1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers