'V i J- SECOHD PART. ART IN THE COUNTRY, A Glimpse of the Young Ladies oi the School of Design on Their Outing at TYurlemburg. BKETCH OP THE QUAINT OLD TOWN. Iti Carious Collection of Old-Time Houses, Surrounded by All That is LotcIt iu Nature's Gift. HOW THE T1SIT0ES SPENT THEIR TIME. Excteklsr, FUMnr, and IniettlcaUBj EanUom Hilt Tim Tau Bwifllr. lWltiriX.1T FOB THE DISFATCH. 1 OMF, then, my lovely fair. Those rural delicacies! .FVancfj Quartet. He stood alone and undaunted on the threshold of the rural railway station. The train which had whirled him thus far from city life and its invidious civiliza tion, was already speeding down a dis tant gorge, trailing long smoke wreaths above the sun-lit river, and waking every faun and dryad in the echoing woods of 1 Couuoquenessing. The silent Senators of the neighboring Tillage had assembled, as was their wont, to witness tbe arrival and departure ot this noonday train. With them were many red cheeked urchins arrayed in costumes pictur esque and cool withal, though decidedly scanty and somewhat insecure. Not one face in the little crowd was known to the adventurous explorer. As be looked around with disconsolate eyes he felt like Cosabianaca on the burning deck, and even essayed a pose expressive of heroio despera tion. Meanwhile the village fathers had been scrutinizing the newcomer to their hearts' content, and still were puxzled to de termine his avocation. THE ONLY "VTSITOBS. Commercial travelers, amateur fishermen and artists are the staple visitors to tbeir locality, and this sad-faced youth was neither sketchist, rod-weilder nor drummer. He carried no suggestive gripsack, shoul dered no fishing-rod and bore neither paint box nor easel. The Senators were waxing curious; the small boys were already wild with excitement. Finally a bold resolve filled the breast of the mysterious stranger. He addressed the most important-looking of the staring council and requested to be told the shortest cut to Wurtemberg. At this name the reader must not permit his imagination to run riot among the foam ing beer flagons and mvstenons gutturals of the "Vaterland." For this Wurtemberg wanted by the lone voyager was not the one we wot ot in distant Germany, but merely a quaint little village on the banks of Slip pery Bock creek, 'way ud in Lawrence county. The elderly Senator addressed, smoothed nut h f-r.itr lwnri1 nni fim?!.1! ing cunningly upon his fellows gave the required information. Then another gen tleman, who Irom the air of import ance he assumed, Might have been mayor, or rather burgomeister of Wurtemburg, lifted up his voice and said: "Comin' to fish, haintyou?" The stranger shook his head deprecating ly. "Trav'lln' man then?" queried his bur gomeistership. Again the strang er replied in the negative, and be- The Only Male Artist. gan to edge slowly away lroin . the in quisitive senator. But the burgomeister was not going to yield up his prey without a last effort. "P'raps your goin to make pic tures?" he cried. The stranger vigor ously denied any practice in art, and leav ing the station, hastened down the foliage shaded road in the direction of lesser Wur temburg. 2TATTJBE IN HEB 8UMSIEB LOVELINESS. He had been lonely during the voyage from Pittsburg, among the morose, un speaking passengers, buried behind their newspapers or slumbering sonorously along the cushioned seats. But here, on the yel low road track, under the swavine branches. his loneliness departed. The winds whis pered to him through the leaves; the birds sang for him from the treetops. Down in the glen, below the undergrowth, Slipperv Sock creek laughed and prattled, bounding jnerrily over every obstacle to join its swirl ing playfellow, the Connoqnenessing. There was a short cut through the fields to the town, and this track the explorer fol lowed. Climbing over a queer, old-fashioned stile he fonnd himself in the midst of a new "jraown meadow, where the scent of the hay .filled all the air with iraerance. A liitl further on there was an orchard, but the sp- I l!w'''''' 1 ' J -"7'''JA I i ravlVffflil l V a-fNi j!5 WHMtf ttMM 111 111 rfhlll Wb TMtmW f On the Mock, m pies were somewhat too youthful to be tempting. Presently the short cut reached the road once more, and the village of Wur teniburg began slowly to nnfold itself. First appeared a large advertisement, which ran somewhat in this style: "August Blank's jewelry establishment Cheapest in Amer- y J&2J A Skftcher Sketched. ica. "Watches, silver plate and tinware re paired here. Also photographing and shoe making." PBIMITIVE LITTLE 'WUBTEMBUBO. Wurtemburg, like most villages of the kind, can boast of only one street, nor can that bingle causeway boast any architectural splendors. The cottages, however, are pretty if primitive, and the principal merchants offer an example of space-saving to tbeir brethren in big towns by condensing some 60 different kinds of ware and business into one small store. Trim gardens slope down to the road irom the cottage doorways. There is a suggestion of Rhineland about these gar dens, with their tulips and hollyhocks; and this need not be surprising, seeing that Wurtemberg is one of the oldest Pennsyl vania Dutch colonies in the State. The place still teems with German and Holland tsh names, and many old Deustch customs, scraps of pottery and pieces of furniture linger yet in the houses. As the explorer was proceeding leisurely up the single street, he became aware of a gentleman dressed much after the fashion of an Italian brigand, and carrying a large portfolio, and an unjoinled easel. "An artist of coursel" Here was a per son who could give some valuable informa tion anent the town, its principal hotels and points of interest. It was the work: of an instant to cross the road, and a moment The Senator Were Inquisitive. later the artist and the stranger were in con versation. The latter individual introduced himself as a Pittsburg reporter anxious to glean some information relative to the artists then iu Wurtemburg, their mode of life and labor. PBETTT LADIES EEOJI riTTSBUBQ. The man of brush and pallete proved quite a pleasant fellow. Having removed a short briar-root pipe Irom his mouth he re marked that the Twelve-Mile Inn was his present place of abode, and a very agreeable one at that. He was the solitary male artist in town, but the ladies of the Pittsburg School of Design had come up to Wurtemburg in lull force for a week's sketching. Tbey were under the surveillance ot Miss Henderson the desien school principal, and had located themselves in several of the prettiest houses. Up the Connoqnenessing there was a camp of Philadelphia art students and a few well-known landscape painters were staying inlarm houses down the same river. During this conversation the reporter and his new friend pursued their way up the street, and presently reached the bridge which spans Slippery Bock creek, and leads to the more elevated part of the town. From the bridge there was a splendid view! A cluster of houses, among which was the inn referred to. crowned the bluff summit while the creek wound through the valley' turning an ancient mill wheel on its way and finally taking a great ueud to the left and being lost to sight in the woods. On the right ol tne valley rose hills clothed to the top with trees of every size and hue while through a ravine, a small, but noisy' mountain rivulet came romping down to wrestle with the creek. THE ABTISTS AT TVOBK. The artist caught sight oi a party of ladies sketching on the brow ol a hill and immediately led the way thither' Afiefi,aSrtfaS,C!?t ,thltop was "ached! and the object of the ladies' endeavor were revealed. They were drawing a small and grimy boy perched lor the nonce on a Shaky grindstone. The reporter having been introduced.tbere was a temporary snspension ot work, and the lair sketchers talked rap turously about the glorious time they we're having. One was enchanted with the river and the woods; another with the rambling architecture of the village. But the third member of the party had quite a peculiar reason for happiness. "Of course," she observed, lilting a very pretty face and a pair of eloquent eyes to ward the intruders, "ol course the scenery is charming and tbe town a dear old place; but oh, you should see the little pigs! Mr. Leilendorfer has such a lot of them, and they're the sweetest, funniest little things you ever sawl" SINNEB AT THE XNJT. It was really cruel of that dreadful artist -Yli!t sy rip ski KN """ THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH to remark that he never liked pigs till they were cooked; and then to break up the con versation with the statement that dinner time at the inn was approaching'. This inn proved to be a qnaint old building, bearing every sign of havingbeen an important road house at one time. The sign, with its dove cote on top, was what the School of Design with one accord termed '"cute." But there was little time for observation. The dinner bell had begun to clang in the hands of a stalwart hostlerjand as a wash was necessary, the artist led the way by throwing away his coat and neckwear and plunging his head into a basin which stood on the inn-porch. When he had scrubbed himself to his satisfaction with a very rough towel, the reporter took a refreshing wash. Then a rush was made for the dinner table and what tbe country can do in the way of creating an appetite was amply exemplified by tbe way both men "pitched into" the viands. It was a really country dinner; plenty of everything, and everything good to eat. The diuiugroom was quite a curiosity In itself. The furniture was brown with age, and contrasted strangely with the floor and tablecloth, which were almost of snowy whiteness. An old cupboard towered grimly from a distant corner, and a cursory examination -of the carving thereon was sufficient to satisfy both artist and news paper worker, that it was not built upon American soil, but perhaps carried hither irom far-off Holland or Bavaria. THE ABTISTS AND THEIB HABITS. After dinner a tour was made to the dif ferent bonces where the ladies were Haying. The following were the names of Miss Hen- S- SrZfy A Musician as Well demon's pupils on the occasion: Misses Bessie Youns, Bertha Gill, Mary Reinhart, N. L. Shields, Annie Gray, Fannie Aenew, Margaret Farrell. Cora Lee, M. M. Lang ley, Bertha McCracken, Mary Morrison, Annie Robinson, Tillie Whitmore and Lot tie Ford. Every morning, after breakfast, which began at 7 A. 21., the class separated into parties; each division being assigned to a particular point Then the sketching com menced. Miss Henderson proved an inde fatigable instructor. She hurried from group to group, correcting, altering or com mending the work done bv those ncder her charge. The pupils must have entered heartily into their teacher's spirit, for tbeir sketch dooks and portfolios were tilled with excellent "bits" irom the neighborhood. When the gloaming set in and supper had been disposed of, it was customary to take short strolls by the river or through the town; and to wind up the evening with music. Altogether the week spent by these budding Bonheurs and Butlers in drowsy Wurtemburg must have been a delicious one, after the stiff conventionality of tbeir winter existence. Indeed they all declared that they had never felt so near fairy land before. That artist iu the brigand clothes proved to be quite a facetious fellow. He .sketched everybody and everything. Winsome maiden and village gamin, picturesque hill side and tnmble-down barn, all were re produced in his sketchbook. r0LL OF SXOBIES, TOO. Then his stories! There was one pleasant tale about Mr. Georce Hetzel, Pittsburg's well-known landscape painter. It appeared that while Mr. Hetzel was in Wurtemburg with some other artists, not long ago, a practical joke was played on him. A sign was carefully piiuted and hung up on a de serted frame hut by the roadside. The sign read: "George Hetzel, cobbler. Old boots and shoes mended while you wait." On the day after the banging of this sign, tbe hut was besieged by hordes of good people with broken footwear. They were all sent down to Mr. Hetzel's residence, and the luckless artist had to flee to the woods in order to escape them. Supper at the inn proved much the same as dinner had been, and after supper the broad-shouldered host requested his two guests to join in a "gigging" party. To the uninitiated it may be well to state that "gigging" means spearing fish. The giggers wade out into the river, tonard evening, some with lanterns, otherslarmed with long tridents, or three-pronged spears. When tbe gigger sees a fish by the lamplight he strikes at it with his spear, and a good deal oi precision is required. The artist and the reporter were the veriest tyros at the busi ness. They jabbed unsuccessfully lor a full hour, at the end ol which the newspaper man accidentally drove his spear into the other's foot. This ended the gigging experi ment forthwith. Night had now began to fall upon the little village, and there being no lamps the roads were soon in utter darkness. The inn, however, was always open, and thither the amateur giggers hied them, as fast as the artist's wounded foot would allow. BEAUTY WITH BOD AND LINE. One by one the cocks were crowing along the valley, and slowly the sun was lilting over the forest-clad hills, when the artist and reporter arose refreshed from their slum bers. After another bath in the inu porch they sauntered forth for a stroll before breakfast. Under the old mill on the creek several of tbe young ladies were fishing, their dainty tennis bats and out-of-door cos tumes being admirably Buited to the place. Further down there was another party sketching under Miss Henderson's direction, and two or three were attempting the ascent of the opposite bluff. The two inn guebts surveyed the scene for fully half an hour, and finally took courage to saunter down into the valley to admire the sketches and assist in the fishing. But tbey had scarcely reached level ground when the clanging of a bell disturbed the peaceful scene and sent sketches, fishes and climbers, alike in hot haste toward their various boarding houses. It was the summons to breakfast, and break fast olten proves more interesting even than art About 9 o'clock it came time to bid good bv to Wurtemburg, its sketching club, and all its other pretty features, its Lieben dorfers, Hicksenbaughs, Hengstellars and Houghs, those stalwart scions of old Hol lander families, whose lathers sailed from Haarlem years and years ago. But "must is must," and bidding all the available members of Miss Henderson's class goodby, our reporter hastened toward, the railway station, in company with his two days' friend, the artist. The newspaper man was in the act of getting on board when he felt a touch on his arm. It was tbe Burgomeister. "Beggiu' your pardon," began the village father, "but haiut you a land surveyor?" "Certainly not, sir," replied the reporter, in injured tones. "Then," cried the Burgomeister, "you must be runnin for office. Now haint you?" But the reporter had lied into the cars, and the question was left unanswered. .As he looked forth irom his coisn or vantage he found that the Burgomeister bad captured tbe artist and was apparently drawing him out to some purpose. And so auf toitdtrtlhn "Wurtenburg. SS7JSJ- L- B -W . Affir PITTSBURG, SUffDAY, DOWN IN VIRGINIA. Chatty Character Sketches Along the Old Yalley Turnpike. THE FAEMEE AND HIS COMPLAINT. Story of a Woo'den Monument That Stands Alone in a Broad Field. AlJHT J1HIMA AND HEB POOB POLL! rWBITTZV TOO TBX DIS PATCH. 1 EATJT1FTJL old Yir ginla never grows weary of being talked about, and here are some of her unusual features. The scene was on the old Valley turnpike; the time was noon, and very warm. "Wall, stranger, how's the craps down in your districk? The' ain't good up year, this year. The rain is jes' been gwoopin' down so. I was jes' sayin' ter Mandy this mawnin'. s'l: 'Ef "Marks a Tragedy, we don' hev somethin' sides them rains,' s'l, 'we'll all hev ter go ter the po house, we will.' Thet's what I say; en Mandy, she " "But will you tell us how far it is to Mt Jackson?" "Wall. I don' know; 'pearing ter me, though, stranger, that you is got a goll- i ways ter go vet, en I wus jes savin ndy, s'l: 'It's a awful way ter Mt n, but 'twouldn' seem fur ef it herfn't uurneu wa; ter Mandy, Jflp.lcson. b been fur them rains washin' all the roads away that a way. En the craps, stranger, is jes "But, my dear fellow, will you not tell us, about how far it is to Mt. Jackson?" THE FOBES IN THE BOAD. "Them rains, I wus er sayin', is been the ruination ter the craps this year. But, yas, oh yas wall, stranger, it er 'bout nine miles down that. I ain't been down tbar sence the war, I am', an", I don know how fur 't is, I don. But you jes keep right on, sir, tell you come ter a fork in the road down tbar, en they'll be three roads thar, stranger. Which leads to Jackson's? Wall, that's it; ef you go down the road to the right erbout a mile you come ter a big hickory tree down thar; wall, that ain' the road, stranger. Ef you go down the one ter the left hand, 'fo long you'll come ter my Betsy that's the nle sow and seven the purtiest pigs wall, s' I wus savin', she'll be eatin 'long down thar 'bout three miles, she will; but thet ain' the right road, stranger. It's the middle one you'll take ter Jackson's; an', yas, you keep right on ter yer come ter a young gyrl thar ridin' a horseback name' Belle she's mos' always ridin' out thar in the road an', stranger, she'll fix you; she's ajimdandy, she is. Wall, s I was sayin'. The Borne of Fletcher. that's Jackson's, right thar. Wall, good day, stranger; I go up this a wjt." Nine miles from Mt. Jackson, and he had not "been down thar seuce the war," he hadn't! "Wall, now, hello thar! I say, stranger, ef you come across a black heifer cow down thar, with five tits, one smaller than tbe res', an' a bob tail, you'll drive her back this a way, won't you?" A, SWEET VIBQINIA BELLE. But we did not, be assured. For we had not gone far before we came upon another phase and coincident noteworthy. There, directly in front of us, riding down throueh the beautiful country toward Mt. Jackson, was one who answered eminently to the de scription of "that young 'gyrl down thar name' Belle' "; and we quickly discovered the interpretation of Uncle Esek's "jim dandy" fo mean simply a dream of loveli ness. One indeed she was whose beauty and personal attractions were truly remarkable. And there was such a hearty, healthful freedom of grace and manner in the saluta tion of this typical Virginia girl that the in quiry about the distance to Mt. Jackson led to an interesting conversation; and one hour after that, at sundown, we rode slowly, very slowly, into the village, and were already the best of friends. It was an interesting episode, indeed, but more's to follow. That night was beautiful and moonlit, and we this friend of the aiternoon and I went loping along the roadway by the banks of tbe Shenandoah. Once she checked her rein and gave vent to a little, light laugh. We had been talking of some of the local provincialities. "Last fall," she said, "over yonder in the valley between those mountains nearly everyone was ill with chills and fevers, and papa and I drove over one day with a few little comforts, for they were very destitute. At one of the cabins every member of the family was ill father, mother and seven children. NOT UP IN BIBLICAL MATTEE3. "Well, we went in but I am not going to try to tell you what a miserable hovel it was; and in the room with a dying woman was a great, big, hungry-looking fellow who had come from a distance out of the mount ains. But this is the funny part: Striding up to a picture on the wall the familiar print of the head of Christ and the thorns he inquired, 'Who thet wur?' thinking it the likeness of some member of the family. And when we told him who It was his eyes opened wide. Surely he had never heard of Christ, lor he remarked, 'The ole feller's hevin' a metty hard time o' it, ain' he?' " And then my little friend laughed; but it was odd, witchy. On the river bank, on the most beautiful night of a year, in the most beautiful land of America, in halloo dis tance of some of the purest Old World aristocracy yet in the land, and within three miles ot this, people who had never heard of Christ! Over in the mountains not far from Mt. Jackson lives an old desperado. Fletcher is the name he now bears; but a number have gone before it and were each in their turn disgraced. He has been tbrice in tbe State's prison, has killed two men and one woman, and bears a record of "little" crimes unequalled, it is said, by any of his class now living and free. He has done something now for which he is expecting the arrival of the authorities every day; for when we rode up to his hut a woman, young and fair long ago, and fallen, informed us that "Mr. Fletcher was away," conveniently away; while she kept the hotel with two long shining revolvers dangling from her belt. These mountains have loug been a safe retreat for criminals, and they are now full oi retired boys with shady records and old men desperadoes of many kinds and much ounning. BTOBY OF X UONUlTEYxl KfcmaillH southward Mt,Jack- I lEPsIrV ton Sm JUNE 15, 1890. son there stands in an open field by the roadside a small wooden monument. The fact that no battle was ever fought there awakens curiosity. Over in the field it stands alone; but one can read upon it the following story, for it is a story, and what is not told is easily imagined: Captain George W. Bummers and Bergeant N. Koontz, of Company D, Seventh Virginia Cavalry, were here executed en June 27, 1665, by order of Lieutenant Colonel Huzzy, One Handled and Second O. V. M. L. without tha privilege ot any kind of trial: they having been arrested at their homes in Page county, brought here, and shot Yes, it was on a beautiful Sunday morn ing, they say, while visiting the homes of their parents in adjoining counties, that they were arrested no one ever knew upon what charge and carried to that little hill. The tragedy, then, occurred at sundown. And when the parents came over the next morning, no one was near. This killing had attracted no attention; and they found Aunt Jamima's Tale of Woe. but the lifeless bodies of their boys. It was murder, cold, base, devilish, say the good people of Shenandoah; for their sequel to it is that these three men the two killed and the captor commanding were rivals for the hand of a beautiful Southern girl. OLD AUNT JAMIMA. Yesterday we beard of a singular thing. And the result was a ride ot four miles under a sweltering midday sun to see old Aunt Jamima. By the side of a panel fence, smoking, nodding, half asleep, we found her. Not far away in an old weedy pasture was an old well; and it was tbe mystery of this well which smelt to us and to heaven more profoundly ghastly than all the oily fumes exhaling from the chinks of the old darkey's cabin nearby. For here was a suicide, cruel, intentional and willful snicide. In the middle oi the night be had gone down into that green hideous well and held his head deliberately underwater until dead, quite dead. Polly was his name, and poor old lonely Jamima tells how it was and gives expression to her grief in heart broken tones; for Polly, poor Polly, was her only companion. "'Deed I don' know, mars ter, hu come he do dat thing. I'se been good ter him all dese yeahs, I is; dat dee all knows, dee do. I guv nil de po' ole nigeer bad ter eat, I did, many's tbe time, en butyisterdy Polly kip pestering tel I whip him I jes drest him down lightly, marster, I did'n' beat him much, I did'n. 'Fo' Gord I did'n', marster; 'deed I did'n. En Polly jes did'n' git over dat All de evenin' he look metty sow'ful like. I giv 'im cracker, an' hoe cak'e, an' de bes' de wus in de house; but he would'n' eat, suh; he would'n' eat nufiin, he would'n'. '"Long in de middle of de night I year sum pin strange, metty strange; en dreckly it come ter me dat dee was sumpin done got in de well, en wus plashin' in de water. Sho' nuff, when I git' dar, dar wus Polly sittin' on a rock in de water en pokin' he hade in en out, en screamin' ter de topo' his might,. I jes did'n' know whut ter do, I dffl'a': X jes call ter him. POLLY IN TME "WELL. " Polly Polly, whut fur yo' met all dat racket; wut yo' doln' down dah?' "But he did'n' pay no 'tention, snh; he jes kep hollerln'. D'reckly I say: 'Polly, po' good Polly, come out o' dar, an' shet yo' mouf; chile, whut in the worl' do yo' mean by dat?' "But, suh. he did'n' pay no 'tention ter me, sub, he did'n'; en den I 'member 'bout de whipping. I say: 'Polly, do come out fer yo' old mammy. Please, Folly, 'deed, I ain' nuver gwine whip yo' mo', Polly, yo' mos' brek yo' ole mammy's heart cryin' dah. Polly, chile, po' Polly, ain't yo' gwine come out? Come to yer mammy while she hoi' her ahms.' "En, marster, 'fo Gord! I I I dunno whut ter do. "Well, Polly, look up en say, 'You whipped Polly, Polly goin' ter drown hlssetf.' "En, marster, dat he did. He wouldn' come out o' dah, he wouldn. It de Lord's truff, suh, he wouldn'. He jes kip pokin' he hade down in de water, twill he was dead dead." And Jamima laid her head back against the fence panels, the pipe again sought her mouth and she cried in low, smothered tones about "Polly, "Po' Polly," "Polly gwine drown hisse'f." And thus we left her. This is true, and very singular indeed. WiLMEB Wellington. A COTJBTEOTS PBISOHEB. On Escaping Jail Ho Apologizes by Letter for Not Tlsltlna the Sheriff: The other night the only prisoner in jhe jail of Tattnall county, Ga., opened the jail door with a wooden key he had whittled from a broom stick and walked out. He left this letter for the sheriff: "Before sunrise to-morrow I will be out out of your county. As I am in somewhat of a hurry you will please excuse me for not calling and paying my respects. If I stay here in jail all summer my muscles will get soft and I will not be able to do a good day's work when I get out in the fall. Then, there is no use in my being at an ex pense to Tattnall's taxpayers for months, when I might just as well be out making my own living and a little for my family, who live in another State. For your uni form courtesy please accept my sincere thanks. Tbe people ol Tattnall have been kind to me and I appreciate it Yours re spectfully. John F. Fbaseb. "P. S. I will be back in October to stand my trial, and I hope to be acquitted." FIEE IH FIOUBEro MILLS. II too Firemen Try lo Do Is to Save the Adjoining Properties. "When a flouring mill gets on fire," says John Lindsay, ohief of the St. Louis fire de partment, in a Qlobe-Democrat interview, "the department is satisfied to save the ad jacent property. There is nothing outside of a powder mill or a paint shop that is as combustible as a flour mill. I have heard a great deal about the explosive nature of flour dust, but I know nothing on the sub ject Mr own idea of the reason why a flour mill burns like a bonfire is that it is built of wood in the first place, and that every part is connected by conveyors, flues, elevators, etc "Start a fire in any one portion of a mill and within five minutes the whole structure is in flames. The department never did save but one mill. In that case the fire commenced on an upper floor and we kept it there. There has been more money lost in flour mill fires in St Louis within ten vears than from all other forms of large fires." A Bat With a Welsh Dell. If your house is full of rats catch a full grown rat in a wire cage, then tie a little sleigh bell about his neck and let him go. There is nothing in the world so timid as a rit They will flee from the rat with the bell, and within two days jou will not find a rat on your prtaltM, THE SUNDAY LESSON. Fifteen Millions of the International Series Published AND DISTEIBUTED EVERY WEEK. The; Work Done by a Committee of the Bunday School Convention. AN ENTEEPBISE IN BIBLE TEACHINGS , i-wnrrrait fob hb dispatch. The approaching International Sunday School Conventions naturally excites some curiosity as to the "how" of the Interna tional Lesson Series, now so popular. Al most every tot old enough to "make the riffle" with two or three schools for Christ mas candy, knows that the same lessons are used in all, and perhaps many adults know little more of the mysterious source, except that there is some sort of a committee. The International Lesson Committee is the creature of this couvention. It is com posed of representatives of nearly all of the Evangelist denominations. The present committee was appointed in 1884, though many of its members had served belore, and is constituted as follows: Presiden't. Eev. Warren Bandolph, D. D. (Baptist), Bishop J. H. Vincent (M. E.), Eev. John Hall (Presbyterian), Mr. B. F. Jacobs (Baptist), Eev. D. Berger, D. D. (United Brethren), Chancellor S. H. Blake (Protestant Episco pal), Moses Hoge, D. D. (South Presby terian), W. G. E. Cunnyngham, D. D. (Southern Methodist), Prof. John A. Broadus, D. D. (Baptist), Prof. H. L. Baugher, D. D. (Lutheran), John Potts, D. D. (Canadian Methodist), Eev. E. A. Dnnning, D. D. (Congregational), Prof. J. I.D.Hinds(CnmberlandPresbyterian),Kev,j Isaao Errett, D. D., deceased (Christian), with five corresponding members in Europe. BETEN YEAES IN A COUBSE. This committee maps out tbe lesson for a seven-years' course, covering the entire Bible. Tbe present course, which is tbe third, began in 1883. Seven times 62 is 364. Getting up that many lessons is a formidable task, but it is not all done by the committee as a whole, or at one session. A meeting is held at whioh different parts of the work are assigned to the respective members, and, after agreeing on the general features, they separate to complete the work assigned, meeting annually, or as required, at their homes. Only one year's lessons are com pleted and published at a time. This list is printed by Mr. L. H. Bigelow, the treasurer of the committee, and furnished the various concerns publishing lesson-helps. The Lesson Committee does not prepare the lessons ready for printing and teaching. It does just four things:. It designates what verses shall constitute the lesson text, it names the lesson or gives it a title, it selects a golden text and appoints certain verses to be memorized; only this and nothing more. The members of the committee receive noth ing for their services; only traveling expen ses are paid, and these not after the fashion ol Congressional committees. This expense and others of the convention is met by vari ous resources. First, there is the fund raised by popnlar subscriptions in the cou vention. Then eaeh publishing house using the list of lessons is asked to contribute. In addition to this the statistical secretary of the convention receives in his report the ad dresses of a large nnmber of superintendents all over the country, and it has been pos sible to dispose of this for advertising pur poses to dealers in music books, and other supplies for quite a round sum. - THE MILL BEGINS TO OBINC The list of lessons for the ensning year comes into the hands of the various editors and compilers of help on the lessons some time in the summer. Now the real work of preparing the lessons as they appear in printed form begins with the usual amount of fault-finding and kicking over the com mittee's work. Some of the titles are ob jected to as misleading; the Golden Texts may be pot metal in some instances, so far as adaptation to the particular lesson is con cerned, or the lesson text itself too frag mentary or too long. In 1886 the Congre gational, Methodist Episcopal and others of the leading denominational Bunday school editors "put their heads together" and de cided that their pages were being imposed upon by the inconvenient length of some of the texts, and agreed to print only so much as tbey had room for. Only one house in the country, it is believed, was enterprising enough to add the extra pages necessary and print the whole text ' The number of copies of the prepared lesson in circulation every Sunday is some thing enormous. The Methodist Episcopal Church alone put out about 3,000,000 Sun day school capers and helps, 1 for ever 12 persons in the land. The Southern Metho dist Church publishes about 1.000,000, the Presbvterian (North) Church about 500,000, the Lutherans 250,000, the Baptists over 1,000,000. Altogether, there must be dis tributed every Sunday not less than 15,000, 000 Sunday school papers and lesson books, so that by two holdintr on and two more looking over their shoulders, every fellow of tbe 60,000,000 might study his lesson if he wanted to. But the distribution is not so equal as that. It is estimated that only 10,000,000 are engaged in Sunday school work. THE FINANCIAL FAST Off IT. Think of the capital invested in such a business! When the International lessons firat began to call for so much printing it was nearly all done by the church publish ing houses. But a shrewd Illinois Yankee saw a chance for profit, and went into busi ness on bis own hook. He used cheap tinted paper, flashy, illuminated covers, and cut rates away down as a bid for patronage. And he got it at first Then the denominational honses had to come down in their prices and up in the quality and attractiveness of their goods to hold their own trade. This they did gracefully and readily until now the modern Sunday school lesson help is a thing of beauty mechanically, as handy in arrangement as a pocket in a shirt, and a marvel oi cheapness. For about one-fifth oi a cent one may have the lesson text for tbe Sunday, all tbe cross references an 8 Oxford Bible gives, a section of a 55 Bible dictionary, the cream ot a hundred or two dollars' worth of commentaries, an instal ment of catechism and a picture or two and some nice songs thrown in, to keep him from being a heathen and help him live in the image of his Maker. Doctob op Divinity. THE SPOTTED HtOH FBAuDS. Uow One of Oar Consols at St. Petersburg; Bared TJncle 8am Bis Honey. It was William Hayden Edwards, writes Frank G. Carpenter, one ot our Consuls at St Petersburg, who discovered the spotted iron frauds, by which the valuable Busslan iron was being passed into this country under the low tariff of damaged iron. This Eussian iron is the best in the world. It comes from the Ural Mountains,and it com mands a nigh duty. The shippers, by sprinkling acids over it, made it look as though it was rotten, and it entered our ports as damaged iron. Once passed the customs officers, a little scraping and a slight washing took off all the spots and made it as good as new. Ed wards in this way saved the Government tens of thousands of dollars and he is a cheap man at the (4,000 which TJncle Sam I pays mm as the present consul uenerat to I Berlin. One lo the Wake av Tim O'Hara Came company; All St. Patrick's alley Was there to see. The Wake av Ttm C-Bara. There is a writer across the seas, called Mr. Bnbert Louis Stevenson, who make most delicate inlay work in black and white, and files out to the fraction of a hair. He has written a story about a Suicide Club, wherein men gambled for death because other amusements did not bite sufficiently. My friend Private Mulvaney knows nothing about Mr. Stevenson, but he once assisted informally at a meeting of almost such a club as that gentleman has described, and his words are absolutely and literally true. As tbe Three Musketeers share their sil ver, tobacco and liquor together, as they protect each other in barracks or in camp, and as they rejoice together over the joy of one, so do they divide their sorrows. When Ortheris' irrepressible tongue has brought him into cells for a season, or Learoyd has run amuck through his kit and accoutre ments, or.Mulvaney has indulged in strong waters, and under their influence reproved his commanding officer, you oan see the trouble in the faces of tbe untouched twain. And the rest of the regiment know that comment or jest is unsafe. Generally, the three avoid orderly-room and the corner shop that follows, leavingthe young bloods who have not sown their wild oats; but there are occasions For instance, Ortheris was sitting on the drawbridge of the main gate of Fort Amara with his hands in his pockets and his pipe, bowl down, in his mouth, Learoyd was lying at full length on the turf of the glacis, kicking his heels in the air, and I THESE TVAS THE came round the corner and asked for Mul vaney. Ortheris spat Into the ditch and shook his head. "No good seein' 'im now," said Ortheris; " 'e's a bloomin' camel. Listen!" I heard on the flags of the verandah oppo site the cells, which are close to the guard room, a measured step that I could have identified in the tramp of an army. There were 20 paces crescendo, a pause, and then 20 diminuendo. "That's 'im," said Ortheris. "My Gawd, Tba's Mm. All for a bloomin' button you could see your face in an' a bit o" lip that a bloomin' harkangel would 'a guv back." Mulvaney was doing pack-drill was compelled, that is to say, to walk up and down for certain hours in full marching order, with rifle, bayonet, ammunition, knapsack and overcoat. And his offense was being dirty on parade! I nearly fell into the fourth ditch with astonishment and wrath, for Mulvaney is the smartest man that ever mounted guard, and would as soon think of turning out uncleanly as of dis pensing with his trousers. "Who was the sergeant that checked him?" , . "Mullins, o' course," said Ortheris. "There ain't no other man would whip 'im on the peg so. But Mullins ain't a man. 'E's a dirty little pigscraper; that's wot 'e is." "What did Mulvaney say? He's not the make o'lnan to take that quietlv." "Said! Bin better for Mm ef e'd shut 'is mouth. 'Ovf we laughed! 'Sargint,' 'e sez, 'ye say I'm dirty. 'Well,' says 'e,' 'when your wife lets you blow your own nose for yourself perhaps you'll know wot dirt is.' 'You're him perfectly eddicated, Sargint,' sez 'e, an' then we fell in. But alter p'rade 'e was up, an' Mullins was swearin' Mmself black in the face at Ord'ly Boom that Mul vaney 'ad called Mm a swine an' Lord knows wot all. You know Mullins. 'E'll 'ave Ms 'ead broke in one o' these days. 'E's too big a bloomin' liar for ord'nary consump tion. 'Three hours' can an' kit' sez the Colonel; 'not for bein' dirty on p'rade, but for 'avin' said somethin' to Mullins; tho' I do not believe, sez 'e, 'you said wot 'e said you said.' An' Mulvaney fell away sayin' nothin. You know e never speaks to the Colonel for fear o' gettin' imself fresh copped." Mullins, a very young and very much married sergeant, whose manners were partly the result of Innate depravity and partly of imper.ectly digested board school, came over tne nriage ana most ruueiy askcu Ortheris what he was doing. "Me?" said Ortheris, '"Ow! I'm wait ing for my c'missiou. Seed it comin' along yit?" Mullins turned purple and passed on. There was the sound of a gentle chuckle from the glacis where Learoyd lay. '"E expects to get bis c'mission some day," explained Ortheris. "Hiven 'elp the mess that 'ave to put their 'ands into the same kiddy as Mm! Wot time d'you make it, sir? Fower! Mulvaney Ml be out in 'arf an hour. You don't want to buy a dorg, sir, do you? A pup you can trust 'arf Eamporeby the Colonel's grey'ound." "Ortheris," I answered sternly, for I knew what was in his mind, "do yon mean to sav that " "I" didn't mean to arx money o' you any'ow," said Ortheris. "I'd a sold you the dorg good an' cheap, but but I know Mulvaney '11 want somethin' alter we've walked 'm orf, an' I ain't got nothin' nor'e asn't neither. I'd sooner sell you the dorg, su's trewth I would!" A shadow fell on the drawbridge and Ortheris began to rise in the air, lifted by a huge hand upon his collar. "Onything bnt to 'brasas," said Learoyd quietly, as he held tbe Londoner over the ditch; ''onything but to 'brasas, Orttiris, ma son! Ah've got one eight of ma awn." He showed two coins and replaced Orth eris on the drawbridge rail. "Verv good," I said; "where are you go ing to?" "Goin' to walk 'im of! when 'e comes ont two miles or three or fower," said Ortheris. M ..I- I . I L- PAGES 9 TO 16. A STORY OF THE REGIMENT. WH1TTEN TOE THE DISPATCH BT RUDTABD KIPLING, of the Most Tal!ced-Of Writers of the Bay. The footsteps within ceased. I heard tbe dull thnd of a knapsack falling on a bed stead, followed by the rattle of arms. Ten minutes later Mulvaney, faultlessly attired, his lips compressed and his face as black as a thunderstorm, came into the sunshine on the drawbridge. Learoyd and Ortheris sprung from my side and closed in upon him, both leaning toward as horses lean up on the pole. In an instant they had disap peared down the sunken road to tbe canton ments and I was left alone. Mulvaney had not seen fit to recognize me; wherefore I felt that his trouble might be heavy upon him. 1 climbed on one of tbe bastions and watched the figures of the three musketeers grow smaller and smaller across the plain. They were walking as fast as they could put foot to the ground, and their heads were bowed. Tbey fetched a great compass around the parade ground, skirted tbe cavalry lines and banished in the belt of trees that fringes tbe low land by the river. I fol lowed slowly and sighted them, dusty, sweating, but still keeping up their long, swinging tramp on the river bank. They crashed through the forest reserve, beaded toward the bridge of boats and presently es tablished themselves on the bo.w of one of the pontoons. I rode cautiously till I saw three puffs of white smoke rise and die out in the clear evening air and knew that peace had come atrain. At the bridge head they waved me forward with gestures of welcome. "Tie up your 'orse," shouted Ortheris, "an' come on, sir. We're all going 'ome in this 'ere bloomin' boat" From the bridge head to the forest offi cer's bungalow is but a Btep. The butler was there, and would see that a man held my horse. Did the Sahib require aught else? a peg or beer? Ritchie Sahib had left TWELVE AV THEM. half a dozen bottles of tbe latter, but since tbe Sahib was a friend of Ritchie Sahib and the butler was a poor man I gave my order quietlv and returned to the bridge. Mulvanev had taken off his boots and was dabbing his tees in the water, Learoyd was lying on his back on the pon toon and Ortheris was pretending to row with a big bamboo. "I'm an ould fool," said Mulvaney, re flectively, "dhraggin' you two out here be kaze I was under the Black Dog sulkin' like a child. Me that was souldenn' whin Mullins was shquealin on a counterpin for foive shillin's a we e"c, an' that not paidl Bhoys, I've tuk you four miles out of nat ural pervarsity. Phew!" 'Wot's the odds as long as you're 'appy?" said Ortheris, applying himselt afresh to the bamboo. "As well 'ere as anywhere else." Learoyd held up a rupee and an eight anna bit, and shook his head sorrowfully! "Fower mile from t' canteen, all along o" Mnlvaney's blarsted pride." "I know ut," said Mulvaney penitently. "Why will ye come wid me? An' yet I wud be mortial sorry if ye did not any time thoueh I am ould enough to know bet ther. But I will do penance. I will take a dhrink of wather." Ortheris squeaked shrilly. The butler of the forest bungalow was standing near the railing with a basket, uncertain how to clamber down to the pontoon. "Might a knowd you'd a got liquor out o a bloomin' desert, sir," said Ortheris grace fully to me. Then, to the butler : "Easy with them there bottles. They're worth their weight iu gold. Jock, ye long-armed beggar, get out o' that an' hike 'em down?" Learoyd had the basket on the pontoon in an instant, and the three musketeers gathered around it with dry lips. They drank my health in due and'ancient form, and thereafter tobacco tasted sweeter than ever. They absorbed all the beer and dis posed themselves in picturesque attitudes to admire the setting sun, no man speaking for a while. Mnlvaney's head dropped upon his chest and we thought that he was asleep. "What on earth did you come so far for?" I whispered to Ortheris, "To walk 'im orf, o' course. When 'e's been checked we alius walks Mm orf. 'E ain't fit to be spoke to those times, nor 'a ain't fit to leave alone, neither. So we takes im till 'e is." Mulvaney raised his head and stared i..indf in.n ilia .nnut "T fisi? rmr mfl. ' said be, dreamily, "an I had my bay'nit, an' Mullins came round the corner, a'n' he looked in my face an' grinned Cishpitefnl. 'You can't blow your own nose,' ses he. Now I cannot tell l what Mullins' expayri ence may ha' been, but, Mother av God, he was nearer to bis death that minut' than I have iver been to mite an' that's less than the tickness av a hair." "Yes," said Ortheris, calmly, ."you'd look fine with all your buttons toek orf an' tbe band in front o' you walkin' round alow time. We're both front rank men, me an' Jock, when the rig minst's in 'ollow square. Bloomin' fine you'd look." "Mullins! Wot'ifjMullins?" said Learoyd slowly. "Ah'd take a compn'y o Mul. linses ma hand behind me. Sitha, Mul vany dunnot be a foot" "You were not checked for fwhat you did not do, an' made a mock av afther. Twas for less than that the Tyrone wud ha' sent O'Hara to hades instid av lettin' him go by his own choosin' whin Bafferty shot him for his divilment," retorted Mulvaney. "And who stopped the Tyrone from doing it?" I asked. "That onld fool who's sorry he didn't shtick the pig, Mullins." His head dropped again. When be raised it he shivered and put his hand on the shoulders of his two companions. "You've walked the divil out ar me, bhoys," said he. Ortheris shook ont the red-hot dottel of his pipe on the back of his hairy fist "Tbey say hades's 'otter than that," said be. as Mnlvaney swore aloud. "You be warned so. "Loot yonder!" he pointed across the tf 1 ,t i J ' ; s.K-T&iiSiSn 'vfiia '...."m rfr - hi ii iiilriffifiiiiiiiiiiMrn"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers