THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH
PAGES 17 TO 20.
1 : ji
THIRD PART.
V I
7
.ffiEHE DEATH BEGAN
tsburg's Big Machine Shops
A'hich Turned Out Instru
ments of Destruction
FOR THE BOYS IN BLUE.
Thirty Thousand Bnllels a Day for
the Carnage of the Field.
CONTRASTS OF THE THEN AND NOW
Borne Work Still Done In Building Onc8
Teeming With Life.
PAI DAIS DUEIKG THE EEBELLION
tmuriEK roK the wsrATcn.i
ACHINE shops
that have stood
idle in Pittsburg
of a century
have a legitimate
right to the dis
tinction of "in
dustrial cariosi
ties." We won
der how it was
possible for any
foundry or mill
to escape the waves of prosperity which have
rolled over this city in that length of time.
As patriotic Pittsburgh, we can only con
clude that such shops must have been
walled up from sight; otherwise the resist
less trend of the iron market, the discovery
of natural gas, and the surplus capital of the
Iron City, would have opened their doors,
oiled their pulleys, and set all their wheels
in motion.
And so they have been walled up. They
are within the great stone inclosure of the
United States Arsenal in Lawrenceville.
Mtady for the Frontier.
Their owner is a capitalist who cares nothing
for the speculative trend of the iron market,
who was not excited by natural pas roarers,
and who could not be induced to believe
tbat it would be a good thing for himself
and Pittsburg, too, to resume operations in
liis shops in this city. The owner is Uncle
Sam, and we gave him every opportunity to
start Up his machine shopT again, when a
few years ago Pittsburg tried to secure the
location of the .National Foundry nere.
THE SENTIMENT OF PEACE.
There were busy scenes in those factories
during war times. From a practical stand
point, Pittsburg would like to see those
scenes renewed. But, sentimentally, we
are content to have tbe buildings remain
empty. The rust on the engine wheels, and
the dust on the belts are as typical of peace
as tbe roses ot beauty tbat have grown up
on the campns of the arsenal around the
mouths of unlimbered cannon of war. Nur
ture the roses, and if the arsenal machine
shops can't be started once more without the
possibility of war, let the rust on the engine
wheels remain and the dust srather more
thickly on the belting. Pittsburg can
afford it for the peace of the country at
large.
One day last week I was walking through
the quiet arsenal grounds, when 1 saw some
thing which quicklv revived memories of
the busy davs of 1SC2. They were a couple
of guns field piece loaded on a flat car
of tbe Allegheny Valley Railroad. The
cannon were for tbe frontier,and were being
shipped from among the artillery stores btill
lving in the warehouses at this point. A
siding of the Valley Railroad enters the
grounds, but the rails are nearly hidden
lroin sight by the grass which has grown
there in years of disuse. This car had been
pushed in along this siding. The same
switch track was once crowded with freight
cars loaded with munitions of war.
COULD EQUIP ANYTHING.
Tbe machine shops turned out a great
deal of freigbt. There were manufactured
in them anything from a cannon carriage to
a bridle bit. In the dajs of the war a
battalion of artillery wagons could enter the
gates of the arsenal bare of accouterments
and in a lew hoars leave ihe place com-pl-tely
equipped. Besides cannon carriages,
there were made battery wagons, aminunU
tion wagons, caisons and traveling forges
and all the other necessary rolling stock for
a field engagement. In the malleable
iron works there were made all
tne smaller castings for cavalry
Bridle bits and buckles were sent from heie
to the saddlery shops. These saddlery shops
were the largest in Pennsylvania at that
time. It has been estimated by some one
that at least one-third of the horses of the
War of the Rebellion on the Union side
carried saddles made at Allegheny Arsenal
in Pittsburg.
In another of the shops is a bullet machine
which has a capacity of 30,000; bullets a
day. This, in those davs, was considered a
wonderful output. Multiply 30,000 by the
number of days in the four years of the re
bellion and you have some idea of the
amount of ammunition sent to the front by
this arsenal. Around this machine worked
40 boya and several men, trimming and
The Arsenal Barrackt.
ganging bullets. This machine Wig in
vented by Lieutenant Bodman, one of the
commandants of the arsenal, and the man
who became lamous through his gun in
ventions. AIT IMPROVED BDLLKT MAKER.
In the latter part of the war, however, a
A
W082C
fWY K$T
IpffluIilPll
bullet machine on an improved principle
was made by Michael Neckerman, master
mechanic ot the arsenal shops. Its capacity
was no larger, but it only required a few
attendants where the other needed 40 boys.
This machine continued to do the work till
the arsenal shut down. Mr. Neckerman, the
"master mechanic alluded to, is still living in
the vicinity. He is a member of the firm of
Neckerman & Ahlborn, axle makers, on
Thirty-third street. And, although now 71
years of age, still works daily in tbe factory
among the lathes. His residence is on
Thirty-ninth street, under the very shadow
of the walls of the arsenal.
It was in 1841 when Mr. Neckerman first
went to work for the Government in the
arsenal. Colonel Craig was then the Com
mander. The old gentleman continued as
master mechanic there until 1865 or 1866,
with only three years' intermission. He
was the constant assistant of Lieutenant
Bodman in all his gun experiments. When
the war broke out he was at WaterJown
arsenal, New York, with Lientenaut atod
nian. He was sent lor to come back to Law-
v 11" -J -- 'Vl WmffllP
THE CAMPUS, LOOKING
renceville to fix the tools, and then remained
here the balance of the time.
THE ARSENAL'S BUSY DAYS.
Mr.Neckerman gives some very interesting
MMH.:..:.nnna. nf tli KncvtimAin the arsenal
machine shops. As their master, he had'
some 200 hands employed. The first busy
spell thev had was the time ot the Mexican
War. And after that work slackened, and
every Saturday afternoon the workmen were
allowed a sort 'of holiday lor drilling. But
when the rebellion broke out, the War De
partment sent iu some heavy orders, so that
the machine shops were at once put on extra
time, and from that time on there was no
idleness within the stone walls. Ten hours
a day constituted a legal day's work, and,
besides, every man was expected, or had the
privilege, of working overtime till 10 o'clock
at night if he so desired. Very frequently
everybody was asked to report on bunday
for work.
Tbe pay of mechanics averaged 52 CO and
3 00 p'er day. For overtime extra pay was
allowed at the rate of "time and a half."
Altogether there were about 1,000 employes
in all departments of the arsenal. Pay day
occurred at the end of each month, and an
immense sum of money was distributed
among the homes of Lawrenceville. Uncle
Sjm was a pretty safe creditor, even in those
troubled days, and storeceepers were not
afraid to trust their customers for any length
of time so long as they worked "inside," as
the arsenal was familiarly designated.
THEEE MONTHS OF CEEDIT.
Shortly after the war broke out the drain
on the Government was so heavy that Con
gress once either failed to make sufficient ap
propriation to pay off -all the arsenal in the
country, or else delayed the appropriation.
At any rate that portion of the appropria
tion for Pittsburg was three months late in
arriving. Not a single nana at tne arsenal
THE DESEBTED
was paid for that length of time, and the
artisans were all of the needy character.
Dnrinc those three months the whole of
Lawrenceville's business was actually car
ried on without money. Lawrenceville s
credit was good, however, because her paper
was indorsed by the General Government
For three months the grocers, drygoods
Uselesi Since the War.
merchants, doctors and druggists carried
the families of the 1,000 and more workmen
without money. The merchants in turn
had no cash to pay tbe wholesale houses in
Pittsburg, and the wholesalers tided the
small merchants over the quarter, cheer
fully waiting for the settlement of their ac
counts. Nobody was afraid, yet it was
mighty cheerful news when at last the tele
graph brought the news that Congress had
made good the delay, and during the follow
ing week many tens of thousands of dollars
flooded the Seventeenth ward, or what was
then "Arsenal Postoffice." It had not at
that time been taken into the city.
GRADUALLY TEARING UP.
Up until a few years ago the machinery
in the arsenal shops remained just as it had
been leftwhen the order came from Wash
ington to stop work. But more recently the
best of the machinery has been taken apart
and shipred piecemeal to the arsenals in
different parti ot the country. Much of it
has found its way to the Navy Yard in
Washington, where work is constantly
pushed on guns and naval articles. The
engine which ran the Pittsburg works was a
handsomeupright,builtabout40yearsagoby
Mclntoih & Hemphill. The lathes were of
tbe best make, and are perhaps not excelled
in worth by tbe lathes of to-day, though
there are larger lathes now.
Mr. .Neckerman sayi tbe balance of the
machinery that filled the shops would be
practically useless to-day on account of late
Tlfjjfl i I li
improvements. Were war to break out the
Government would certainly want the
fastest and most powerful machinery for
manufacturing purposes it conld eet. For
that reason it would hardly make use of the
old machinery again had it been left undis
turbed. Still, enouglroX the old wheels,
levers and mechanisms are left in the big
shops to realize. a "very large sum for scrap
iron.
FUN ON THE FOURTH.
The Government was a pleasant master.
On the Fourth of July a plentiful supply of
fireworks was supplied for the amusement,
of the workmen and their employers. These
were made in the arsenal laboratory, and
the man who made them is still living on
Forty-sixth street Alexander McBride.
These pyrotechnics were set off either on the
arsenal campus or on the river bank below
the walls. They were great displays, and
attracted thousands to see them, many from
the Old City. In later years some of the
commandants introduced the custom ot al
lowing the soldiers and civilians to have
TOWARD BUTLEP. STREET.
games of football on the campus on Thanks
giving Day. That was one of the later
ideas, however. Just now there is no social
feature of the kind attached to the place
because it is purely a close army post under
strict regulations.
The shop structures are massive and en
during. Inside they are roomy and well
lighted. At present they are filled with
dismantled gun carriages, ammunition
boxes and the like. Master Mechanic
Jones is in possession of a small machine
shop that is a parody on the old ones. He
uses it for little repair work. Just enough
of the artillery stores lying about are yet
modern enough to allow of a dozen or more
shipments per year. Mr. Jones with a lew
laborers attends to such work as tbat also.
A WAR-LIKE ASPECT.
Many hundreds of thousands of cannon
balls are lying about in great heaps through
out the grounds. A few of these are illus
trated in the accompanying illustrations.
They lie piled up just as they were left
when the magic message came over the
wires, "Lee has surrendered." These balls
are of all sizes, and would supply field
pieces ot all weights. At present they form
giim ornaments to the beautiful grounds.
Near them are long rows of Columbiads,
mortars and other styles of cannon long
since ont ot date on account of tbe improved
methods of gunmaking since the Rebellion.
They would not hold a candle of comparison
with the dynamite guns, gattlings. and
naval roarers of to-day. Still, they are ter
rible enongh in their appearance to scare off
war itself as they lie there in lone rows.
Battery B might lease them from the Gov
ernment and utilize them as Frank Stock
ton's great war syndicate utilized their mag
nificent navy defend the city by a terrible;
looking front. L. E. Stofiel
WORKSHOPS.
WIDOWS' INHEEITAirCE.
Provisions or tlio Act Recently Passed by
the English Parliament.
.New York Times. 3
The constant improvement in the legal
position of women is further- shown by the
passage in England recently of an act regu
lating the inheritance of widows. It brings
them, in this respect, to a very similar
standing to that of their sisters in this coun
try, and provides that the real and personal
estate of every man who shall die intestate
leaving a widow but no issue shall belong
to the widow absolutely and exclusively,
where the net value of such estates does not
exceed $2,500.
Where it exceeds this amount the widow
is entitled to this sum absolutely, haying
a claim ior it upon the whole estate with in
terest at 4 percent from tbe date of her hus
band's death until it is paid; this without
affecting her right to her further share and
interest in the residue of the estate remain
ing after the pavment of the $2,500. This
law which the English Solons have thus
tardily adopted is, practically, the long
existing law ot this State.
WHY BEE DOESH'T SNAP SHOT.
Mrs. Frank Leslie's Experience With Yon
Press the Button, We Do the Rest.
"I was an amateur photographer once,"
said Mrs. Frank Leslie to a friend just be
fore she started on her lecturing tour.
"Somebody sent me a camera just before I
started on a trip to Cuba. It was one of
those arrangements where 'you press the
batten and we do the rest,' and it was sealed
up so tbat tbe negatives would not be ex
posed to the light and ruined. When I got
to Havana I went to the hotel and waited a
long time for my luggage. At last a gen
tleman went to' look it up.
"He found that it had been detained by
tbe customs officials. They had stopped it
on account of the camera, which they bad
evidently taken for an infernal machine.
They had broken it open, and were examin
ing its mechanism with suspicion when
the gentleman got there and explained
what it was. It was completely ruined,
however, and I never tried to take pictures
again."
Flaying the Itaccs.
Oliver Sumner Teall (who has just re
turned from addressing colored voters)
We are bound to win in the fight
Mr. Hofnian Howes My dear boy, you
are bound to lose. No man can play the
races and win, ,
PITTSBURG, StFNDAT,
A CHEERY PICTURE
Of
the Wage "Worker of England
From Colonel Frank A. Burr.
THE MECHANICS ARE PROSPEROUS
And Live as Well and Contentedly as Their
American Brothers.
A VERY. TKACTICAL INYESTIGAT10K
ICOItHESPOSDENCK OP TUB DISPATCH. I
London, October 23. "No mechanic in
London need be withont a job if he is will
ing to work and fit for his screw," said a
brawny mechanic to me yesterday evening
'down at Clapham Junction, that queer lo
cality in the British capital, where so many
of its laboring men live. "The fact is," ho
continued, "that business of all kinds seems
pnshing, and he who is right and bns got an
arm on him can earn good wages. Why, I'll
come near taking my 3 (10) this week, and
I have taken 2 10s for a good w bile. No, we
have nothing to complain of, and I've taken
care of my family in a prime way. I get 9
pence an hour for time work, and can make
more than a shilling an hour by the piece,
and it's a nasty week when I do not take 2
($10) or more."
"Let me see," said I, "are you not an ex
ception to the rule?"
"Not at all. I am a carpenter, but brick
layers, masons and other mechanics make
fully as much, because the price per hour is
regulated by the trades societies, but when
it is possible all classes of work are let out
by the piece, and then it depends upon a
man's skill and industry how much be
makes, but there are very few mechanics
worth haying that cannot take Irom 2 up
if they choose to."
HEALTHY DEMAND ALL ROUND.
After much careful inquiry I had already
ascertained the facts which this strong work
man put so clearly. There is a wonderful
improvement in the condition of alt classes
of working people here, and tbe demand for
skilled labor can hardly be satisfied, even
in what most people would call this over
crowded metropolis.
You no longer see tbe hundreds of poor
wretches sleeping at night in Trafalgar
Square, and in the daytime in the park,
that I saw here three years ago when I spent
six weeks poring over the mysteries of this
wonderful town. Perhaps the most power
ful evidence of prosperity is that it is next
to impossible now to get a" young man to en
list in tbe army, and the Government is at
this moment making frantic appeals ior re
cruits with very few responses. It has re
duced the term of enlistment to three years,
and is constantly making regulations cal
culated to attract the young men of the land
to tbe service. If they were in distress it is
quite likely that handsome clothes and a
life of comparative ease would attract them.
But they are getting work at good wages
now, and the army is next to their last
thought.
POWER OF THE DOLLAR.
I have tacen my carpenter friend's case as
an example ot tbe wages paid to mechanics
in London because I found it so perfectly
fair, and such a perfect type of 18 other
workers among stonemasons, bricklayers,
cabinetmakers and building trades of that
character, that I had conversed witn upon
tbe subject. A common laborer of the
roustabout sort can command his 1 (5) or
more a week for ordinary enough rough
work, and very many get30 shillings (?7 50).
Drivers and men of that class get irom 7 50
to f 8 'or six days' labor. When you come
to take into consideration the purchasing
power ofa dollar to the English artisan or
laborer, this means a very excellent rate of
wages; indeed, more than is paid to a sim
ilar class of workers in New York City.
"Do you live near here?" I asked when
our chat about wages lagged.
"Five minutes' walk around the corner.
Come along and get a glass of bitter. My
missus got a new keg in last night"
Together we walked several squares, and
finally stopped before a very cosy two-story
brick house, with a pretty little garden in
front, and all the windows laughing with
flowers. Inside the good housewife brought
us some beer and a bit of bread aud cheese.
She was tidy and the house neatness itself.
It was such a home as any man in ordinary
circumstances might be proud of.
WHAT KENT BATES ARE.
"What docs such a house as this cost?" I
asked over our bitter.
"I am a tenant and pay six and six ($1 62)
a week, but I have several rooms and a bit
of a garden iu the back. Lots of men do
not pay but four and six (81 12) a week.
They do not get quite as good a house of
course, but big enough for a small'family."
As I looked around the nice little home,
I wondered what a New York working man
would think, if he could rent a house and
garden within five minutes' walk of half the
railroads leading toward his work and
within a not excessive walk of it, if he pre
ferred to foot it, rather than take the cars.
Then if he could keep a small family on $5
a week, and buy a good suit of clothes for
another 55, whenever he needed it, he would
not think himself badly off. That is what
the English artisan or laborer can and does
do, including beer to drink at every meal.
Of course a large nnmber of workmen, who
are obliged to live over in the old city of
London, or within easy reach of the Strand,
that they may be able to get at their work
readily in the morning, are obliged to live
in quarters, something on the order'of small
flats, but even their rent charges do not
reach more than 25 or 50 cents a week more
than the mechanic, who has the little bouse
within a 1 or 2 penny 'bus ride from the
great traffic thoroughfare.
IN LESS FAVOUED QUAETEES.
Over in tbe East Eud of London in such
rough districts as Whitecbapel, Mile End,
Houndsditch and other familiar localities
many mechanics of the lower order live and
are employed in making cheap furniture
and doing all classes of rough mechanical
work, where cheapness and not quality is
the consideration. Even here the rate of
wages are good compared with the class of
work done, and the men earn irom 20 to 30
shillings ($5 to 57 CO) and the women from
10 to 1G shillings (52 50 to 51) a week. The
better class of workers iu tbe various trades
will reach from 40 to 50 shillings (510 to
512 50) for six days' work.
While the lodgings in this quarter are by
no means as good as many other places, they
are very cheap, are kept clean, and people
can live very comfortably on what they
earn, unless they leave trieir wages at the
rum shop before they get home, which is too
olten the case. Iu fact the greatest dralton
an English laborer's wages is the money he
demands for beer, no matter how cramped
the family store. Bnt there is considerable
improvement noted even in tbis phase of
life here.
CAUSE OF THE GOOD TIMES..
This week I visited a large cabinet man
ufactory and chatted with several of whom
bore the same testimony to good wages and
general contentment. I asked the manager
to what he attributed the marked improve
ment in the working classes during the
past few years. He said: "Tbe fact is,
masters who employ men, and people in the
tbe higher walks of life generally, have
been paying more attention to the labor
ing classes within the last two or three
years. The men also themselves have been
looking more to themselves. Their trades
unions have been very well managed, and
when they have asked for an increase in
their pay they have usually gotten it.
"In fact for two years past business has
been so pushing that the men have bad it
pretty much all their own way. The em-
nlover was so busy with his orders that he
NOVEMBER 2, 1890.
could not well afford to have a controversy
with his workingmen. It is a very easy
thing to out wages up, but very difficult to
get them down again. But just now, no
one has any cause for complaint, and the
relations between capital and labor are
quite friendly. Both have too much to do
to quarrel." "
THE RUSH IS GENERAL.
"Are other trades as well ott as your,
own?",
"Yes, some of them even more pushed.
Plumbers, painters, carpenters, blacksmiths
and all that class arc in demand, and al
though the average rate, of wages is nine
pence (18 cents) per hour" the work is so let
out by the piece that good mechanics make
mnch more than the standard price which
the unions fix. In fact, wherever it is pos
sible iu this country, work is always let out
by the piece, and it is better for both em
ployer and employed. But this wage ques
tion is a very important one, and it will
probably never be solved to the satisfaction
of those who have and those who want."
The London 'bus driver is a ereat charac
ter, and is in sharp contrast with men em
ployed in the same pursuits in the United
States. No class of workingmen anywhere
of that grade are so bright, well-dressed and
cockney as the men who guide omnibuses
through the busy thoroughlares of London.
Many of them with their tall hats, kid
gloves, buttonhole bouquets and cigars or
pipes look more like passengers than like
drivers. Then if a stranger wants half an.
hour of pleasure and good information be
can find it better nowhere in this country
than in climbing to a box seatliy the sjde
of a Jehu and engaging him in conversation
while he is traveling on his route.
SHILLINGS FOR THEIR TALK.
Almost universally thev are good talkers
entertaining and instructive. Indeed they
seem to study to be all this, and they get
many a shilling that would never fall into
their hands were they surly. They quite
understand that, and make the best possible
use of their talents to iocrease their revenue.
These 'bus drivers receive from" the-great
companies who employ tbem six shillings
(51 50) a day, and there is no day during
good weather when they do not add some
thing to it through their politeness to the
passengers who travel with them.
They work 14 hours, getting rests between
each trip, and time for meals. Most of them
live within easy reach of the stables where
their work begins, and they live in a man
ner quite in keeping with their appearance
on the box. For instance, a man who has a
fair-sized family will join witn some friend
equally fixed and take a nice 9 or 10-roomed
house, for which they pay 12 or 14 shillings
(53 or 53 50) a week and divide the rooms
and rent between them. Those who rent
floors or live in apartments only pay from
four to six shillings (51 to 51 CO) a week
rent, but whether in houses or rooms they
have attractive homes to go to when their
work is over, because dirt and unclean
liness seems to be an unknown quantity in
those grades of English life.
A CnANCE TO STEAL.
Horse cars cut a very small figure in the
life of London except in the outlying dis
tricts and the prices paid to both conductors
and drivers are less than given to those who
drive the 'buses, but the drivers in either
case are the best paid of the two. The con
ductors receive only four shillings (51) a
day, but as they have tbe handling of all
the money, and there is very little check on
theirtakingwhattheywant.it is probable
that they at least even matters up with the
driver, it not a little more before the day's
settlement is made.
There are many, very many dark phases
of life and of poverty dire and deep just as
we find tbem in the American metropolis,
which is bat a reflex ot this, except tbat
New York is a city of tenements and this is
to a great extent a city of homes. "Sweat
ing" is practiced here now and then just as
it is with us, but the law watches it quite as
closely as in our country, and public senti
ment is thoroughly aroused against this
class of wrong, and public sentiment is tbe
mighty factor and practically controls all
political life here. Parliament heeds a
strong impression of public opinion in a
flash and the voice of no community in En
gland can be raised in protest wit Don't a hear
ing. Therefore, the humblest has an equal
chance with the highest, to ventilate' his
wrongs before tbe highest tribunal in the
land, and to get as fair a judgement
Frank A. Bure.
SHOOTING GE0USE.
The Speed of the Bird Is Such That Killing
Means Skill.
Philadelphia Press.
When flushed the ruffled grouse springs
into the air with a whir and boom that make
the dry fallen leaves aronnd dance under the
wiftly-beating pinions. This is the bird's
chiefest characteristic, suggestive of the
power and speed of which it is alone
capable. The novice, taken unawares, is
often so startled at the burst to wing tbat he
stands in open-mouthed astonishment gaz
ing alter the bird, or sometimes aimlessly
lets his gun go off into the air, or as often
into the ground. The experienced hunter
listens for tbe welcome sound of the bird's
wings with a zest that is akin to craving.
The speed of grouse is truly phenomenal.
After the first beating of wings that gives
the momentum the bird sets its pinions and
seems to glide through air like a cannon
ball. Unless the sportsman be at a consid
erable distance in cross shooting there is no
possible chance of bis being able to put his
aim "on" the bird at all. At a distance of
30 yards or more, if tbe flush is expected
and the woods comparatively open, the
chance is that a quick shot will pull the
trigger. As to whether he will kill or not,
all I may say is, try it, ambitions reader,
you may. I have seen it done.
In some instances after flushing the grouse
will fly straight up to the tree top, then
away. This is the easiest shot to many.
Of the methods ot shooting the ruffled grouse
I know of but two; they may be called the
legitimate and illegitimate. The latter
is that of treeing the birds with a
small dog that thrashes around like a fox
and will then bark at them, keeping their
attention while the pot-hunter sneaks up to
within range and pops the bird over as any
boy of 10 years might do. Tbe other method
is with the bitd dog, and for its merits boasts
of shootiyg the bird only while on the wing.
The Pennsylvania season is from October 1
to January 1.
RAPID TRANSIT DT DETROIT.
Tricycle Coaches to he Placed on the Streets
in the Near Patnre.
Detroit is all agog over a new system of
rapid transit The Tricycle Coach Company
is organizing and is already ruuning a sam
ple of new coach which it proposes to run in
competition to the slow-going street cars.
It will carry 16 passengers.
Three Kinds of ltolters.
BltiRhamton Leader.
There is a concert of action as between the
man who eats rapidly, the man who refuses
to support his party's candidate, and the
man who escapes from prison they all
bolt, . -
The Detroit Trtcyle Coach.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Indicate the Popularity of a More
Paternal Government.
EVEN" DEMOCRACY IS CHARGING.
Startling Views of a Lawyer Prom the
West on tbe Subject.
NO LIMIT TO DSCLE SAll'S DUTIES
rCOBRlSPONDEfCB OV THE DlSPAICH.J
New York, November 1. "It is gen
erally conceded, I believe," said a well
known Western lawyer of prominence,
"that we are not only growing more power
ful as a nation year by year, but that we
are drifting slowly and snrely toward what
is called a paternal Government. Both of the
creat political parties have contributed to
that end. We have only to study the record
of recent Conzresses to note the rapidity
with which we are traveling in. thtt di
rection. The whole tendency of national
legislation is to tbe enlargement of the powers
and the extension of the duties of the gen
eral Government.
"Of late years my legal practice has in
volved some of the broader constitutional
questions, and tbis gradual change has
forced itsslf upon mv attention. The politi
cal aspect at the new order of things does
not disturb me. On the contrary tnis gradual
modification of our original system must be
regarded as the legitimate and beneficial re
sult ofa higher state of civilization.
Whether it is so regarded by all men or
not, we may as well admit that such a
change is in progress. There are those who
lament the change. I do not There are
those who think this departure from the
early tents of our fathers is the forerunner of
national decline and dissolution. But they
are growing fewer every year.
changes op democracy.
"Even the great body of the Democratic
party has cut loose from States rights and
strict construction and become a convert to
the paternal school. In my section of the
country the proposition for the General Gov
ernment to assume ownership and charge of
the telegraph lines and railroads is no longer
looked upon as undesirable, but if put to a
vote in a general election it would receive
tho sanction of three-fourths of the people.
If you and I live ten years longer we will
probably see it accomplished. Postal sayings
banks will follow. And "
'"The loaning of Government money on
farm mortgages?" was suggested.
"Very likely. Why not? Why shouldn't
tbe farmers have an equal rignt with the
national bankers?"
"Are they all Socialists up there in the
Northwest?"
"If you call that Socialism three-fourths
of us are Socialists, not in the sense ot
wishing to turn things over at once by force,
but as desiring a paternal government by
law, yes nearly all."
This frank avowal from the lips of a hard
headed lawyer and wealthy citizen who
makes his temporary home at the Hoffman
House was enough to deprive a man of his
breath. He continued:
ONLY A QUESTION OF GROWTH.
"My statement is not a speculative- one
at all. Nor has it any political significance,
in tbe narrow and common acceptation ot
that term. I am a Republican, but never
was in politics and never will be. I am
speaking now as an independent citizen. I
am speaking, too, only of the people of the
section of country I know something about
Perhaps there are other sections where the
sentiment is the same from what I read of
tbe Farmers' 'Alliance in the South and
from the recent action of the railway em
ployes in this State, and from general report
of sentiment elsewhere, I should say the
idea was becoming general but I do not in
sist ou that The cry ot paternal govern
ment is no longer a bugbear. In principle
it is not a new departure. It is now only a
question of growth. We begin to recognize
this from the Supreme Court down."
"Do you think this change in our system
is the way to reach the greatest good to the
greatest number?"
"Ah, now you want only an opinion I"
he exclaimed. "My opinion on this point is
worth no more than any other man's. To
the public it is worth nothing. I have been
merely stating facts that have come under
my observation. I would not call it a
change in our system tbe system remains
the same elections by the present process,
officers and terms of office the same. It is
more properly a change in the application of
the system and one contemplated as possible
by the framersof the Constitution. It is the
natural progression of a great people.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE WAR.
"We improve on the old model as we go
along. The war of '61 demonstrated that
the original plan needed a vigorous over
hauling. I think it improved things mate-
'rially. Even those who opposed it arms in
band tbinK so now. bo the paternalizmg of
the Government the bringing it nearer to
the new wants of the people may result in
increased personal happiness and national
prosperity.
"The question of farm mortgages is a
very serious one in the Northwest. People
who pay 8 and 10 per cent on their bor
rowed money begin to feel the hopelessness
of their situation. The source of all
national wealth is in the producer, and the
agriculturist is the great producer. In
times of financial stringency from over
speculation the Treasury ot the United
States comes promptly to tbe rescue of the
Wall street operator. AVhy should not the
Government come to the assistance of the
farmer when he gets in a financial hole?- I
do not suggest any particular way; but let
it find some practical way."
"What's the matter with the Government
leaving his money with him instead of
taking it by taxation and loaning it back to
himr was. inquired.
This query rather floored the political
economist from the Northwest, bnt he re
covered in time to observe that it was a
scheme worthy of consideration.
DRAWING THE LINE.
"And in this progressial system of pater
'nal government where do you draw the line
of demarcation where the Government shall
stop and where the people may think and
act for themselves? Will it be at the Gov
ernmental control of the telegraph lines,
the railroads, tbe establishment of postal
savings banks, tbe taking up of the farm
mortgages at a nominal rate of interest? Or,
will it. extend its uniformed hand to tbe
running ot flouring mills, breweries and
manufactories, etc.?"
"I would draw noline. The representa
tives of the people in Congress assembled
would presumably represent the views ol
their constituents in tbe matter. This Gov
ernment is supposed to be by the people, ot
the people and for the-people. The trouble
is that you consider the Government as
something apart from, something notof tbe
people it is the people, acting for them
selves. The Government belongs to the
people and not the people to the Govern
ment I have just been trying to enforce
tbis idea in an argument before the Secre
tary of the Interior, at Washington, in a
big land case. If the people want their
Government to stand in its official capacity
between them and poverty and ruin they
have the right to demand that it shalldo so,
and tbis without reference to preconceived
theories or of governmental systems of
other countries. There is a legal way for
the people to express this demand and tbat
is through the ballot box and the impartial
administration of the laws made by their
representativea."
Charles T. Murray,
BmSKSBk
A NOVEL DEALING- WITH COTEMPOBART LIFE.
WRITTEN FOE THE DISPATCH.
BY WILLIAM BLACK,
Author of "A Princess of Tliule," "Sunrise," and Many Other
Stories of the Highest Reputation on Two Continents.
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN TAIN, IN VAINl
One evening Mr. Courtnay Fox, the
London correspondent of the Edinburgh
CJironicle, was as usual in his own room in
the office in Fleet street, when a card was
bronght to him.
"Show the gentleman up," said he to the
boy.
A couple of seconds thereafter Vin Harris
made his appearance.
"Mr. Fox?" said he. inquiringly.
The heavily-built journalist did not rise
to receive his visitor; he merely said:
"Take a chair. What can I do for you?"
"No, thanks," said Vincent, "I don't
wish to detain you more than a moment. I
only wanted to see if yon could give me
any information abont Mr. George
Bethune."
"Well, that would be only fair," said the
bitr, ungainly man, with the small, keen
blue eyes glinting behind spectacles; "that
would be only a fair exchange, considering
VINCENT'S VIGOROUS
I remember how Mr. Bethune came down
here one night and asked for information
about you."
Vincent looked astonished.
"And I was able," continned Mr. Fox,
"to give him all the information he cared
for namely, that you were, the son of a very
rich man. I presu me that was all he wanted
to know."
There was something in the tone of this
speech a familiarity bordering ou inso
lence tbat Vincent angrily resented; but
he was wise enough to show nothing: all his
anxiety was to have news of Maisrie and her
grandfather; this man's manner did not con
cern him mucb.
"I do not ask ior information about Mr.
Bethune himself; I dare say I know him
as well as most do," said be with perfect
calmness. "I only wish to know where he
is."
"I don't know where he is," said the burly
corresponden t, examining tbe stranger with
his small shrewd eyes, "but I guarantee
he's living on the best Shooting stags in
Scotland most likely"
"They don't shoot stags in December,"
said Vincent
"Or careering down the Mediterranean in
a yacht gad, an auxiliary screw would
come in handy for tbe old man," continued
Mr. Fox, grinning at his own gay facetious
ness, " anyhow, wherever he is I'll bet he's
enjoying himself and living on the fat of
the land. Merry as a cricket bawling
away at his Scotch songs;-1 suppose tbat was
how he amused himself when he was in
Sing Sing perhaps he learnt it there "
"I thought you would probably Enow
where be is," said Vincent, noj payinsr much
heed to these little jocosities, "if he hap
pened to be sending in to you those articles
on the Scotch ballads"
"Articles on Scotch balladsl" said Mr.
Fox, with a bit of a derisive laugh. "Yes,
I know. A collection of the various ver
sions: a cold collation, I should say, by the
time he has got done with them. Why, my
dear sir, have you never heard of Prof.
Childs, of Harvard College?"
"I have heard of Prof. Child," said Vin
cent "Well, well, well, well, what is the dif
ference," said the ponderous correspondent,
who rolled from side to side in his easy
chair as if he were in a bath, and peered
with bis minute, twinkling eyes. ."And in
deed it matters little to me what kind of
rubbish is pitchforked into the Weekly. If
my boss cares to do that kind of thing, for
the sake of a 'brither Scot,' that's his own
lookout All I know is that not a scrap of
the cold collation has come here, or has ap
peared in the Weekly as yet; so there is no
clue that way to the whereabouts of your
Father Christmas, your Santa Clans, your
Wandering Scotch Jew if that is what
you're after."
"I am sorry to have troubled you to so
little purpose," said Vincent, with his hand
on the door.
"Stop a bit," ssid Mr. Fox, in his blunt
and rather impertinent fashion. "Yoa and
I might chance to be of use to each other
some day. I like to know the young men
in politics. If I can do you a good turn,
you'll remember it; or rather yon won't re
member it, but I can recall it to you, when
I want you to do me one. Take a seat
Let's make a compact When you are in
tbe Honse, you'll want the judicious little
paragraph sent through the provinces now
and again: I can manage all that for you.
Then you can give me an occasional tip;
you'ra inGrandison's confidence, people say
asmnch as anyone can expectto be, that is;
for I believe "he's capable of concealing
things not only from his right hand, but
from his left as well the Great Wily One
tbe Artful Dodger ih excelsis. Won't you
take a seat? thanks, that will be better. I
want to know you. I've already made one
important acquaintanceship through your
friend, Mr. Bethune; it was quite an event
Km ( lw wSr ' f i&W
AND. FAST,
ROYTOM,
when the great George Morri3 condescended
to visit this humble office "
"George Morris?" said Vincent
"Perhaps yon know him personally?"
Mr. Fox said, and he went on in the most
easy and affable fashion: "I may say with
out boasting that I am acquainted with
most people most people of any conse
quence; it is part of my business. But
George Morris, somehow, I had never met
You may imagine, then, that when he came
down here, to ask a few questions, I was
precious glad to be of such service as I
could; for I said to myself that here was
just the man for me. Take a great scandal,
lor example they do happen sometimes
don't they? even in this virtuous land of
England; very well I go to George Morris
a hint from him and there I am first in
the field: before the old mummies of the
London press have bad time to open their
eyes and sure."
Vincent had brought a chair from the side
of the room, and was now seated; there was
only the table, littered with telegrams and
proofs, between those two.
"Did I understand yon to say," he asked,
with his eyes fixed on this man, "that
DEFENSE OF MAI3EIE.
George Morris had come to yon to make
inquiries about Mr. Bethune?"
"You understood aright"
"NVho sent him?" demanded Vincent,
abrnptly for there were strange fancies and
still darker suspicions flying through his
head..
But Courtnay Fox smiled.
"George Morris, you may have heard, was
not born yesterday. His busine: is to get
oat of you what he can, and to take care yon
get nothing out of him. It was not 1'kely
he wonld tell me why he came making these
inquiries even if I had cared to ask, which
I did not."
"You told him all you knew, of course,
about Mr. Bethune?" Vincent went on, with
a certain cold austerity.
"I did."
"And how mnch more?"
"Ab.very good very neat," tbe spacious
waisted journalist exclaimed with a noisy
laugh. "Very good indeed. But look here,
Mr. Harris, if the great solicitor was not
born yesterday you were in a way: and so
I venture to ask you why yon should take
such an interest in Mr. Bethnne's affairs?"
Vincent answered him without flinching.
"Because, among other things, certain
lies have been pat in circulation about Mr.
Bethune, and I wished to know where they
arose. I am beginning to guess."
For an instant Mr. Courtnay Fox seemed
somewhat disconcerted; but he betrayed no
anger.
"Come, come," said he,with an effectation
of good humor," that is a strong word.
Morris heard no liesirotn me, lean assure
you. Why, don't we all of us know who and
what old George Bethune ist He may
flourish and vapor successfully enongh else
where; but he doesn't impose on Fleet
street: we know him too well. And don't
imagine I have any dislike toward yonr
venerable friend; not the slightest; in fact,
I rather admire tbe jovial old mountebanK.
You see, he doesn't treat me to too much of
his Scotch blague; I'm not to tbe manner
born; and he knows it Oh, he's skillful
enough in adapting himself to his
surroundings like a trout, tbat takes the
color of the pool he finds himself in;
and when he gets hold of a Scotchman, I
am told his acting of the rugzed and manly
independence'of the Scot of the Drury
Lane Scot, I mean is splendid. I wonder
he doesn't go and live in Scotland alto
gether. They take things seriously there.
They might elevate him into a great posi
tion make a great writer of him they're
in sore need of one or two; and then every
now and again he would step out of his
clond of metaphysics, andiallon something.
That's the way tbe Scotchmen get hold of ft
subject; tbey don't take it up as an ordinary
Christian would; they fall 'on it We ones
had an English poet called Milton; but
Masson fell on him, and crashed him, and
didn't even leave us an index by which to
identify the remains. Old Bethune should
go back to Scotland, and become the Grand
Lama of Edinburgh letters; it wonld be a
more dignified position than cadging abont
ior a precarious livintr amonz ns noor south-
Vnns-
Vincent paid but little heed to all this
farrago; he was busily thinking how certain
nndoubted features and circumstances of old
George Bethnne's life might appear when
viewed through the belittlins and sardonic
skepticism ;of this man's mind; and then. -
azain. having bad that hue and shape con
ferred upon them, how wonld they look
when presented to tne professional judg
ment of such a person as Mr. George Mor
ris? "The Scotch are the very oddest people in
all the world," Mr. Fox continued, for hav
seemed to enjoy nis'own merry tirade.
"They'll clasp a stranger to their bosom. ;
and share their last bawbee with him, ifl
only he can prove to them tbat be, too, ws
born within sight of MacGillicuddy'il
Reeks" $
"MacGillicuddv's Reeks are in Ireland"
t ssuu vuiccnw .- v
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