20 THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, SUNDAY. NQVEMBEB 9, 1890. THE BARMAID'S LIFE Interesting Chat With One of the Brightest Eepresentatiyes of These Famous Women, WELL PLEASED WITH HER LOT. The Waes Are Good, the Work Is Light and, Best of All, She Takes Rank Above the Average. HOW JOIIX ASD JONATHAN IMBIBE. Tie Ltgtti cf IaJy Godivi u an EijlaEtticn of Vuy Strikiag Kicka&zas. I CORRESPOND EXCE Or THE D1SIMTCB.J London, November L " 'Peepm' Tom' 16 just the girl, bright as a dollar, and had Tears of experience as child and niaid, first in weaving silks and ribbons, and then in tending at the best bars in England. "What she does not know about the business I'll account for." I had asked the proprietor of a good res taurant on the Strand ior a chat with some clever girl in his employ as to their busi ness, lives, etc, and this was his response, for the moment I seemed a little puzzled, when he said, with a twinkle in his eye: '0h, 'Peepm Tom of Coventry is a nick name for as clever a barmaid as there is in the United Kingdom, and she will be here in a minute. She has got the wit to draw custom and the tact to take care of it when it comes in. That is a great thing iu this business." As he was proceeding to extol the virtues of his employe a bright, cheery young woman appeared upon the scene. She is handsome enough to please anyone's eye. Her features are clear cut, her eyes sharp and roguish and her manner graceful and polite. " SHE WAS FBEPOSSESSINQ. I caught the spirit of the surroundings, even before he presented me to Miss Towne, who was to tell me all about the mysteries, pleasures and hardships of a young woman's life behind the bar. Before leaving us to gether he turned and said to me aside: "Do not say anything about 'eepin J.om. xon se our barmaids form a high class of women labor, and wc never address them even by the familiarity of their first name, no matter how we may speak of them when they are not preent" Long before this admonition I had "caught on" to the lact that in this country the class distinction is as severely drawn in a bar room and among all classes of servants as in the homes of the most aristocratic Later on, in talking with Miss Towne, I received come practical information upon this subject that was instructive. The handsome place is lined with mirrors and done up in a hard rosewood Cuisb, while the bar itself is laden with all sorts ol glafsware, iestooncd with natural flowers, which are found everywhere in England. The ulace at the time was well filed witn customers of both sexes, all drinking leisurely aud talking cheerfully. AiUAYKD AS IF I OK A BALI. Four handsome young women were at tending to the wants of the tbirsty custo mers. They were all tall, fine-looking girls dressed in black, with white collars and run's o: a particular style and a little white fiowcr at the throat. Their hair was ar ranged as artistically 36 if for an evening psrir, aud their couduct and conversation such" as would grace a much higher walk ot life Mv companion of the moment was arrayed like the rest, and as I hesitated for a second in looking at the strange scenes about me, she opened the conversation by sating: "You tee, this is quite a busy time with us and we have to look sharp. Mr. Willis has told me what you want, and that you liave a cutiosity to know something about the lives of women who serve in a place like this. I shall be glad to talk with you, but net to-night. I am off duty from 5 to 8 in the afternoon Wednesday and then I shall be glad to see you here." I suggested a dinner at one of the leading restaurants that evening, for I had been tryiug tor a month to get one of this class to talk with roc about her trade, but was utterly foiled until I met the man who kept this place and appealed to him in my de spair. Now that I was to be successful the best was none too good for the lass who was to tell me the story ot a life so strange to an American as to be more than a romance. THREE FOB A CROWD. "Not there," said she, "but some quiet place, if I may bring one of the other ladies with me." This arrangement was made, and I went away wondering what was to come ot my dinner one day later with the bright bar maid and her companion. Next morning I called at the place for an appetizer, and it was agreed that we should meet at Simp son's, on the Strand, for a fish dinner. I was on hand before the time, and they ar rived promptly. They wore the same neat, black gowns, but had laid aside the white cuffs, collar and flower at the neck, which have grown to be a badge of the barmaid's office. "We found a retired table as they wished, and sat down to enjoy ourselves. They were so polite and such bright talkers that it was half an hour before I could mutter up the courage to intrust mv business into the pleasant occasion. Think of an old timer like me who has seen so much of the world, aud handled almost every element o! licman life, getting nonplussed on the threshold of a splendid storv. But I was thoroughly so this time aud might never have found a beginning for it, had not Miss Townc's companion said to her: "What do you think? I heard Mr. Willis speak of you to this gentleman as 'Peepm Tom.' " EXPLANATION OF THE NAME. What an angel that girl was. Her words caught me by the nape of the neck and shook my wits into me. "Yes," said I, "I thought it so lunny, for he knew I wanted to see a young woman, and the name indicated a man." Miss Townc's face flushed at first, and she did not seem to enjoy her employer's speak ing so familiarly of her. "He must have forgotten himself," she answered quite airily. "The girls some times call me that, but I.e never did be'ore that I know of. You see, 1 came from Cov entry. It is a beautiful place up iu War wick, near Kenilworth Castle, and the home of Shakespeare. It is one or the large manufacturing places for silks and ribbons. It is also the center of bicycling and tri cicling manufacturing in England, and, withal, one of the loveliest spots iu this country. I was born there and my parents kept a public house. In those days almost every family had its room at home and the youngest and the oldest took hind at weav ing. "So, early in iife I divided my time between the loom and the bar, when trade was knocking at the tap room. "But how does that account for the 'Peepin Tom' nickname?" "Why, have vou not read the legend of LadyGodiva?"" THE STORY OF COVENTRY. I purposely professed ignorance Of the old tale to hear how she would tell it- She did it in this wise: You see, in the middle ages the Lord of the Manor levied most excessive taxes upon the people of Coventry, and tney bore most grievous burdens. The Mayor's wife was a beautiful and good hearted lady and she appealed to her hus band to seek relief for the people. The power to whom he appealed said that he would give it upon condition that the most beautiiul woman in Coventry would ride through the streets in daylight on a milk white horse clothesless. "The Mayor's wife was that woman and she agreed to pay the penalty of the Lord's demand if all would agree at a certain hour to close up their houses, have the streets deserted and turn their faces to the'wall. Everyone readily complied and all but one sacredly kent their promise. At a certain hour she mounted her horse, but her growth of luxur iant hair covered her like a mantle clear to her ankle. In this way she rode through the deseited stieets, with no human eye to witness her progress except one man, who hid himself in the church steeple and was discovered peeping. A TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT. "The people were so incensed that they caught him, put his eyes out, and from that day to this the town has been known as 'Peepin' Tom, Coventry, and people com ing from there are apt to get that appella tion among those very familiar with them. "The Lord of the Manor was astounded, because he had no thought that his demand wonld be met, so when he reduced the tithes as he had agreed he'made the proviso that a woman must ride through the streets in the same manner on the same day every seven years, and a lailure to do so restored the rate of taxes. Of course, there is no danger now, but the event is always celebrated as a holi day time and some woman consents to ride the white horse in silk tights, and if her hair-is not as long and flow ing as was Lady Godiva's, she wears a wig. Now the pro cession is a long one, and there are bands of music, and the day is given over to jollity and pleasure. In fact, it is a rare holiday in and about Coventry, especially among working people. Twice in my younger life, while I was weaving silk or standing be hind the bar in Coventry, I rode in the pro fession that commemorated the singular sac rifice of ibis retnarcable woman. THE SILK INDUSTRY DECLIKE. "Silk weaving in England, like many more ol its industries, has suffered very much of late years. I have known the time when I could earn 2 10 a week ($12 0). Now, to do my best, I could not earn at the same work more than 12s (53). The task, such as I have now, is not altogether un pleasant, because the class of customers are of the best, the place is handsome, and everything is done to make your work as comfortable as possible. But in many ol the ruder houses, where the rougher class congregates, the surroundings are not pleas ant and you have to put up with many things that are very annoying. Yet, I must say, even in the lower places men are rarely insulting to a barmaid." "What effect do women behind lhe bar and drinking with men in front of it have upon their general conduct?" I asked. "Very good, indeed. Here men aud wo men alike drink whatever they please. Yet there is little real intoxication, which, I think, is, in n great measure, due to tbe fact that most classes of women, .except the real swells, walk into the bar and drink with their husbands, sweethearts or friends with out causing the slightest comment, and in a majority ol instances keeping the man from taking as much as he would. Men do love women to be comrades with them. INFLUENCE ON THE DRINKERS. "Then their presence has a refining in fluence upon all the men who come in to drink, and no lady is in the slightest dan ger ot insult or comment in any respectable bar-room in England. Americans do not seem to have much idea of how to enjoy life. Thev appear to be always in a hurry, com ing in, ordering a drink, gulping it down at a swallow and then walking out as rapidly as possible. SometimeR they look around in astonishment to see a woman serving or taking a drink, but they rarely stay long enough to be annoying or agreeable. "They do not seem to be ablo to get along with what we have, and are constantly ask ing for things we have never heard of, and getting irritated when they cannot get them Our people are entirely different. An Englishman would not patronize a bar un s there were women behind to serve what he wanted. He wants to come in, tako a seat and enjoy his brandy and soda, Scotch and soda or bitter, as the case may be. Sometimes he will read and take 15 minutes in enjoying his drink. Frequently he will chat with us when we are not busy. He is never in a hurry, and rarely ever drinks anything but ale, brandy. Scotch or Irish whisky, gin or wine. None but Amerioans and foreigners drink absinthe and cordials." TROM THE WORKING CLASSES. "From what class are girls in your walk of life taken?" "From all grades of working people. They have to begin and work up to a good place just as in any other trade, except in some cases where a young woman with ex ceptional talents or looks gets a place to learn the business without beginning with the drudgery of it. But these cases are rare." "What constitutes a barmaid?" "A fine personal appearance, neatness in dress, good conversational powers, polite ness, patience and a desire to earn her living honestly. It is difficult to get a chance to serve without experience, and therefore the girls have to begin in the smaller servant's nlaces and work up to the better establish ments. For as a rule the proprietors of a good drinking place are very severe, and will not accept a reference that does not state the best of qualifications." ''I assume that such superior qualifica tions must demand a good salary?" THE WAGES AND HOURS. "Ob, yes, as wages in Eneland run. We get from 10 shillings (52 50) to 16 shillings (f4 00) a week and our board aud lodgings besides, when experienced. The hours are long, from 9 in the morning until 12:30 at night, with two and sometimes tnree nours off and one whole day every other week. On Sunday we have little to do, being open only from 1 to 3 and 6 to 11 in tho evening. But there are so many people always clamoring for a place, especially those to be filled by women, that it' affects wages and often works great hardships." "Would not a place as saleswoman in a shop be more concenial?" "By no means. They have much less pleas ure, atid not a tithe of our variety. Their work is harder, and there is no comparison between tbe life of a barmaid and a sbop girl, except thut they may be better paid. There is hardly a consideration that would tempt any ol us to make the change. You must remember that every servant in the house in which we are employed is reqvired to wait upon us just as upon tbe master and mistress. We haven't to do much except to dress ourselves and wait uoon the cus tomers. A mau servant keeps the bar clean aud has everything in readiness for our work. A shop girl has to do the drudgery of her place. You see also that the dis tinctions of lite mean a great deal to us here." CLOSE DISTINCTIONS EVEN THERE. This closing remark was a staggerer, as I imagine it will bo to every American, but after weeks of investigation I have found the barmaid to be correct. She has the best of it iu tbe great struggle female laborers have to make in this country for a living. As a rule the barmaids are the best con versationalists and the brightest women among any working class I have ever met here or at home; and while every American turns away Irom the thought of a handsome, brilliant woman beifag a bartender, "Peepin Tom" states the case very clearly when she say that they are a civilizing influence in a liquor place even among the hardest: this much if nothing more. These barmaids are a very select class, and it is difficult to get on with them except when they are at their business. Then they will have all the pleasant chaff that you please and thank you for it. Frank A. Burr. The Czar of America, Ilrooklrn Lire. Walking Delegate Jim, we must issue a call for more money at the next meetin. Jim What for? Walking Delegate Why, some of thim strikers is starvin', and what's worse, I'm entirely out of cigars. What a Will Will Do. ElriRhamton Leader. A story at hand, describing a love scene between the hero and heroine, says: "He wooed her with a will." TbaKs a good way, especially if the wooer is old and the will is in her favor. THE NATION'S PARK. Scenes in the Two Thousand Acre Tract in Rock Creek Valley. FAMOUS FOR BATURAL BEAUTY. Rich in Historical Associations and Fine Old Battlefields. PLANS OP THE F1TE COMMISSIONERS rCOBRXSFOlTDXKCB OF THE DISPATCH. 1 Washington-, November 8. Five men, with $1,200,000 to their credit in the vaults of the Treasury, have of late been cantering their horses day after day over the roads along Bock creek, tbe beautiful little tribu tary to the Potouiao that divides Washing ton from Georgetown. They are the com missioners appointed to buy ground for a great park General Casey, Major Robert, General Boynton, Mr. Boss Perry and Prof. Langley. The pretty valley begins close to the fash ionable part of the city, and two or three years ago, before the ruthlessspeculator had seized ou tbe landscape to parcel it out in square feet, it was possible to step in the dis tance of a few rods from the city's asphalt to the wildest labyrinth of sylvan wilderness. Six bridges span Bock creek now within the city limits, where but one stood when Washington visited the Capital City. A brisk walk soon takes one out of the city aud under Kalornma hills. IT IS A GREEK NAME. Joel Barlow, whose authorship of "The Columbia" had clouded his real merits as the writer of "The Hasty Pudding," bought this romantic spot in the fall of 1807. He named the place, taking the Greek eqnivo- At Fulton's J'oiul. lint of Belair and Belvoir, common in the nomenclature of country scats at that time. A patch of sugar-corn in the valley is rust ling in the afernoon breeze. It recalls Barlow's lines about the stalks that Shoot tbe tall top-gallants to the sky, Tna suckling ears tbclr silky fringes bend, And ripening fast, their swelling coats dis tend. John Howard Payne as a guest strolled about Kalorama. Jefferson and Madison rode np under the Kalorama oaks to chat over a national university, farming, the war with France and sundry other topics. Bobert Fulton came here to live with Bar low, and in the winter of 1807 planned and built a pretty summer house overlooking the creek. On the pond back of the honsc he first tested his invention, THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. In his velvet blouse, ruffled shirt, and knickerbockers he spent many days here trying the first working model of the Cler mont. Tradition speaks positively on this point and declares that with a rowboat on the surface of this pretty pond, stretching perhaps SO rods to tho north, nowhere a hundred feet wide or eight feet deep, the first practical demonstration was made of the mighty power of steam to sail tbe earth. Upstream is the spot where John Quincy Adams used to own and run a grist mill. He bought the place in 1827, paying $20,000 for the 24 acres. Then there stood upon it a large stone mill 50x75, of which now there is hardly a vestige leit. There was also two stone houses, in one of which the Old Man Eloquent spent frequent intervals of respite from public toil. A group of magnificent beeches lining tho mad to the mill must have afforded him a favorite strolling place. Just below the mill dam is a large, deep pool that is now, as it was 50 years ago, a favorite bathing place. The old man here indulged in his favorite exercise of swim ming. SOME WILD SCENES. All this is within the borders of the new Zoological Park. The creek describes a mammoth Z in passing, and is everywhere very swift. The farther we go the wilder grows the scenery. Tne creek tosses itself back and forth from one rocky side to an other. Boulders appear now and then in midstream, breaking the glassy current into snowy f pray. Huge oaks tower iuto the sky, rock-studded promontories jut out into the water course, high cliffs rise lichen covered like the perpendicular walls of a mountain canyon. The road to Pierce's mill winds along an overhanging precipice, where a solid wall stands between a sale aud charming pros pect and a chasm 80 feet down. On the right bank lie the beautiful country homes built by Isaac and Joshua Pierce, one of them built 100 years ago. The yonnger of them, -..J.h ftBH jl John Quincy Adam' Mill. known as IClingle place, surmounts a tall, sugar-loaf hill, famous as the most beauti ful country Seat around Washington. The stone mansion will be kept by the Park Commissioners as a resting place for visitors to the park. TREES OF FOREIGN CLIMES. Miny trees in this part of the valley are foreign to its particular flora. The miller at Pierce's mill was a soldier in 1812, and when he came home from the war brought in his knapsack seeds of various trees, the horse chestnut, purple beech, balsam, white pine and holly. These he planted and gave to later generations. Isaac Pierce settled in thh part of the valley in 1792, and built what is known as Pierce's Mill. In those days a gristmill was a fortune. Farmers came from a dist ance of 25 miles to have their wheat ground. Now all that business has vanished, and while Pierce's Mill still rambles busily, grinding wheat ra'sed in Minnesota and Dakota, many an old Bock creek mill has crumbled aud rotted away until Its site is hardly known. Peter's Mill Beat1 three quarters of a mile above Pierce's Mill, can be found only on ancient maps. This proDerty belonged to Bobert Peters, General Washington's nephew. The tnillrace, over- grown with laurel and filled tip with huge 'masses of rock cleft by frost, can be traced, RBHMi j?5ffifoXs 'W'.- ' At Ml -ti-ES3UL i U 'IV ;! f.r-gk I j B &mm'm LaKSS&Mx. -tt: ,li i' S0" iGffifi? ipkvj-i-mA fr i but the mill and the milldam have utterly disappeared. A BtG LAND OWNER. Pierce Shoemaker, a favorite nephew aud the heir of Isaac Pierce, enjoys the honor of being the oldest inhabitant in this upber sectiou of Bock Creek Valley. He has seen wonderful changes in his life here. Once his estate embraced 2,500 acres, and he could ride. horseback hall a day over his own land and never use tne same road twice. The consuming tooth of progress has gnawed acre after acre from the once large estate, and the pretty villages of Brightwbod and Tennallytowu have grown up upon it. Mr. Shoemaker is now fortunately; still the largest land owner around Washington, his holdings embracing about 1,000 acres. With the exception of the damage in flicted by the soldiers during the war, his forests have been kept as they were in their primeval wilduess and beauty. Nowhere around the capital is there such a tract suit able for a vast park. Above Pierce's mill is Blagden's mill, built early In the century as a paper mill, later turned Into a grist mill, and now with its huge wheel fallen iuto moss-covered ruins, the delight of artists and amateur photographers. COUNTRY SEAT OF A COUNT. The left bank of the creek along here is a high wooded bluff.beloiiging to the Blagdeu estate. This was formerly the country seat of Count Bodisuo, long Bussian Minister to this country, who built a fine mansion, a conservatory, bowling alley and numerous barns and outbuildings upon the plateau. Mr. Blagdeu, brother of Dr. Blagden, who for 36 years preached in the Old South Church in Boston, and a brother-in-law of Benjamin Silliman, of Yale, bought the Bodisco estate, which embraces something over 300 acres, soon to become a part of the city proper. Haifa mile above Blagden's milt is Bock Creek Fall', the wildest scene on the stream. For a hundred rods the stream tumbles, white with spray and foam, over boulder after boulder. The descent is 90 feet in as many rods. The stream is no longer a sim ple pastoral traveler, lapping its b'inks soft ly and gliding quietly on to the breast of the majestic Potomac. It raves and storms in its headlong fury. The cold sprav dashes over you. Tne roar is deafening. You can not hear what your comrade says. Your own voice is thtindered into silence. MEMENTOES OF THE REBELLION. Crossing Bock Creek at the falls is Mili tary road, a souvenir ot the Rebellion. Here also crosses the cordon of forts that surround the city. On each side of the defile through which the creek passes are long bat teries commanding tho valley. The em brasures for the guns are still to be seen. The ramparts are well defined, but there are piues and chestnuts as tbick through as a man's waist growing oh them. A line of rifle pits can be traced a long distance from these batteries. Half a mile to the west is Fort De Bussy, one of the largest forts around the city. Along the military road, halt a mile up hill, is Fort Stevens, where Juhal Early was repulsed. Id is hard to believe that a force of 15,000 Confederates could get within four miles of the White House. But here thev leltlSG Of their dead on tbe red hill side above the fart. Here, too, it was that President Lincoln drew a rebel's bullet as he stood on the lamparts in his long linen coat and dusty silk hat. All this ground will be taken into the park, which is to embrace 2,000 acres. Above Fort Stevens the valley is less wild and picturesque. The Commissioners have decided to basteu in tbe location ol the park the extension of the streets of Washington, and the eastern boundary of the park will be, on a line with Sixteenth street extended, so with a fine boulevard leading up from Kalorama intowindir.g forest roads the re turn can be made on a grand boulevard along Sixteenth street extended. Julius a. Truesdell. BKLF-IIADE DEPEW. How He Achieved Success Without the Aid of Ills Father. In an address before the Bailroad Branch of tbe Young Men's Christian Association, of New York, Chauncey M. Depew gave an incident from his early life. Said he: "The best thing I remember connected with myself is, that when I graduated from Yale I thought I would lead a life of scholastic ease. I thought I would read and write a little, take it easy and have a good time. I had a hard-headed old father of sturdy Dutch ancestry. He had money enough to take care of me, and I knew it; and when he discovered that I knew it,and intended to act accordingly, it was a cold day for me, and be said to me: 'You will never get a dollar from me except through my will. From this time forth you have got to make your own way.' "Well, I found I had a hard lot of it no body had a harder one and the old gentle man stood by and let me tussle and fight it out. I bless him to-night with all the heart and gratitude I have for that. If be had taken the other course what would I have done? I would have been up in Peeks- kill to-night nursing a stove, cursing the men who had succeeded in the world, and wondering by what exceptional luck they had got on; but having my way to dig alone, I got beyond everything my father ever dreamed ol; but it was done by 11 hours'; or 16 bours' or 18 hours' a day, if necessary. It was done by temperance, by economy. "When you make a dollar, spend 75 cents, and put the other 25 cents by. No man can stand still. When God oreated us he did a fortunate thing for us; he made us so that we must either go backward or forward. A man knows more to-day than he knew yes terday, or he knows less. A man who bot toms a chair gets up and goes to bis meals, and theu goes back again and bottoms a chair, and then to his meals again, in the course of five years will be the biggest dunce in the community, and his opinions will not be worth knowing. He will lose his power for work, and will not be worth 3 cents an hour." BBuTES' I0VE OF MTJ81C. Cattle and Swino Entranced by Strains From a German Band. American Naturalist. Opposite a house was a large field in which some 12 or 13 cows were put during the summer. One day a German band com menced to play on the road which divided the house from the field. The cows were quietly grazing at the other end of the field, but no sooner did tbey hear the music than they advanced toward it and stood with their heads over the wall attentively listen ing. This might have passed unnoticed, hut upon the musicians going away the animals followed them as well as they could on the other side of the wail, a&d when they could get no lurther stood lowing piteously. So excited did the cows become that some of them ran round and round the field to try and get out, but finding no outlet returned to the corner where tbey had lost sight of the band, and it was some time before they seemed satisfied that the sweet sounds were really gone. It teems a strange coincidence that both pigs and cows were charmed by musio produced by a German band. ORIENTAL POLITENESS. now a Hindoo Clerk Apologizes for Taking a Forced Holiday. The elaborate politeness of an educated Hindoo is something remarkable. Here, for instance, is the way a young Hindoo clerk recently wrote to his employer: Most Exalted Sib It is with the most habitually devout expressions ot my sensitive respect that I approach the clemency of your masterful position with tbe self-dispraising ut terance ot my esteem, and the also forgotten-by-myself assurance that in mv own mind I shall be freed from tho assumption that I am asking unpardonable donations If I assert that I desire a short respite from my exertions; In deed, a fortnight holiday, as I am suffering from three boils, as per margin. I have tbe honorable dtllrbt of subscribing myself your exalted reverence's servitor, , JANJANBOL PanjamJAUB, TYPEWRITER TRIALS. Vexations Which Usually Accompany a Hunt for Competency, POINTS IN WHICH GIRLS FAIL. Amusing Experience of a New Tork Attor ney and His Failures. I0DNG MEN OUT OP THE QUESTION rCOBMSSrOSDENOB OP THE DISPATCH. New York, November 8. "Come up and I'll introduce you to my typewriter," remarked one gentleman to another as they came ont of a down-town restaurant about lunch time. "Is she pretty?" "Not particularly but she is as sweet a little lady as you'll meet in a whole season of McAllister's society. And I want you to understand that I allude to her in no con ventional or flippant way, but just as I would introduce a gentleman to my sister." "Flattered, I aai sure," was the rather cynical rejoiner. "Does your wife approve of her? Yes? Then she must be homely." "There's where you mistake. She is not pretty she is not homely she is not young she is not old. She is simply a sweet faced, bright, well-educated, respectable lady and a competent stenographer and typewriter earning her oflrn living and not ashamed of tbe fact, BIS FIRST EXPERIENCE. "Speaking of women stenographers," he went on with a curious smile,. "I think I have been through the most annoying ex perience in that line that a business man could find without hunting for it. Perhaps it is a common experience of business men. At any rate it is a story worth telling. Now that it has ended happily, as all good stories should end, it is decidedly amusing to look back upon. "You know I am an office lawyer, and in the course of the last year or two have had a good deal of office work. At first my briefs were few, but in time the routine labor ap parently justified a clerk then a stenogra pher aud typewriter. With a temerity born of ignorance, I advertised. I think every woman out Of a job must have been looking for me, because the very morning the ad. appeared I had about 200 extra letters from women applying for information as to the situation ana asking for the job. Worse than that, though I had expressly requested application by letter ouly, IS or 20 called on me at the office before noon. Most of the applicants who called were of the school girl age; young girls with their hair down their back' predominated. A PANIC IN THE OFFICE. "To say I was astonished and embarrassed is putting it mildly.I was absolutely thunder struck. My clerk could scarcely conceal his amusement my office boy ran up and down the corridor occasionally to prevent convul sions. It happened that I was very busy that day, and I went into the ante-room, where tbe first early dozen were gathered, and told them to call again to-morrow or next day and thus got rid of them. "Well, my clerk and I looked over the pile of letters, some of which were from Brooklyn, Jersey City, and even Philadel phia. Most of these letters showed on the lace that the writers were inexperienced, and knew comparatively nothing of business forms. Selecting a few of tbe most promis ing I shifted the matter to the shoulders of my clerk, and had nothing more to do with it for the time being. The next day he told me that he thought he had one that was all right she was a good typewriter at least and had had some experience in a law office wanted a steady job salary no object. And on tbe morning following that I found her there pegging merrily away at my ma chine. SHE "WAS A BEAUTY. "Well, sir, she was as pretty as a pink. I took In her brown eyes, blonde hair, creamy complexion, neat dress and modest manners at a glance and inwardly commended my clerk's taste. Some of her work lay on my desk and I saw that it was very well done. I tried her on some dictated correspondence and she did it well at least well enongh for me to conclude a permanent arrange ment. She was reserved in her manners and did not invite confidences. My clerk nice fellow, you know perfect gentleman tried in vain to scrape up a better acquaint ance, but she politely declined. He soon observed that a very respectable-looking young mau met Susie one day at lunch time. Then ha discovered that the same young man got to coming down to the office with her and usually met her promptly in the afternoon on Saturday half holidays. Ou my alluding to this young man once she blushed furiously and, I thought, guiltily. I got somewhat concerned about the girl aud resolved to notify her mother. The girl had been with me about six weeks and I felt that I was in a manner responsible for her morals. OETTINO INTO HOT WATER. "I wrote to her mother and intimated in an otherwise diplomatic letter that I didn't like tbe looks of tbe young man. To this I received an indignant reply that it was none of my business that the young mau was an excellent young mau, and was to be her daughter's husband shortly. Susie didn't come to work that morning, nor did she ever come again, not even to ask for the balance of her week's salary, which I sent her by mail with my written apology and congratulations, aud the mental resolution to hereafter attend to my own business. "The next girl we got was a pert little snip of 17, who spelled 'philosopher' like Joe Medill with an 'f instead of the 'ph' and other words accordingly. We let her down gently at the end of the first week. I had been so annoyed by the last girl that I followed tbe advice of my clerk and took on a high-priced one in the hope of getting a better article. She was not young or pretty, but she was highly competent. She was a Western college-bred girl, and was too awfully smart for mo. She found fault with my style of expressing my thoughts, and would substitute her own every now and then. PREFERRED HIS OWN STYLE. "This habit in a stenographer is incurable. In ordinary correspondence it doesn't hurt much, but in legal matters I prefer my own words and my own way of putting things. At the close of three weeks I found that I must be made over by my stenographer or else give her a chance at somebody else so we parted iu bad humor. "Then came a little girl with her hair down her back. I had made some inquiry about her of her last employer, retailing my then existing grievance. Strangely enough ho had parted with her for exactly tbe op posite reasons. I gave him the address of the smart girl and I took that of his. He wanted a stenographer who could supply his own deficiencies of language and spell ing. The one he wished to trade for her was too literal was sure to write every word down just as she got it. That was the kind of a girl I wanted, and I sent for her with great satisfaction. I was somewhat surprised to see a child in short dresses. She assured me with a confidence that was cut to fit a woman of 30;. that there was no mistake about it. THIS ONE WAS A MACHINE. "I gave her some manuscript and she re produced it on tbe machine without an error. It'was the neatest job 1 ever saw done. I am a little precise in my dictation and she could follow me without difficulty, though she was clearly not an expert. All she wanted, she assured me, was practice. I thought, now here is a little jewel I'll mold; her to my work. Well, sir, that girl was the most literal, matter-of-fact child I ever saw. She took the most apparent jokes in earnest She took every word written or uttered in earnest, too, and in copying would reproduce even bad spelling with the most startling accuracy. "She; was a mere automaton. Ber poor little head had been so early crammed with musio and other accomplishments that she no longer possessed imagination enough to msDire an independent thought. She couldn't suggest an idea strong enough to stand alone. When she got stuck on her notes she was absolutely hopeless, for tbe context couldn't supply the vacant mind with the missing word. Her fingers were educated beyond the reach of the longest step-ladder of her thoughts. She could run that machine in the dark while asleep, I believe. But when I saw the difficulty I was compelled, and somewhat sadly, to let her go. A YOUNG MAN A NUISANCE. "I had now become somewhat cynical as to lady stenographers and tried a young man; but he turned out worse than my girl average. He was impudent. He left me one morning without risking tho time to f tafee the elevator, l then wrote to one of the schools there are several big schools here that turn out annual grists ot stenog raphers and typewriters. The principal of the school sent me a young lady whom she designated as an expert. She was a lovely girl, who instantly betrayed her satisfaction at the large plate glass mirror in my office, and sized up my clerk as possibly unmar ried and worthy of an impression. Yes, she had some experience, she Said, showing off a set of exquisitely tapered fingers. "She had left her last place because of the long hours. She loved stenographic work, but hated typewriting it hurt her fingers so. The fingers showed long pink manicure cultured nails. She thought she would like this job if if it wasn't too hard work. On trial she wrote rapidly, but couldn't read her notes readily. I sent her back and got another by special request this time not a pretty girl. UOLY AND SMAKT. "She was raw-boned and red-beaded and smart; but she was so nervous in her anxiety to please that she spoiled 20 sheets of paper to every 10 used. Indeed, paper seemed to be no object to her. Whenever she made a mistake she'd rip the sheet out oi the ma cine and start in on a fresh one, slappity bang. You've seen the slappity-bang girl, haven't you? She was one of that sort. After two more girls from that school, I tried two more schools, tried five more girls two or three other girls' friends were good enough to send. Two were fairly good stenographers and poor typewriters three were good typewriters and poor stenog raphers. "Finally, after having been nearly crazed. I got my present girl excellent girl and good all 'round. She's a bright, intelligent woman with an ordinary common school education, a perfect little lady, and will be worth her weight in gold to tbe sensible man who gets her for his wife. She's been with me now over a year." WHAT THE TROUBLE IS. "Yon see," remarked another gentleman of similar experience, "most of these young girls who start in to learn typewriting and stenography don't know anything. They never read anything and consequently do not understand the most ordinary language used by mature people of varied informa tion. As they do not know the meaning of words they can't write the words out after they take them down. These schools do such girls more harm than good, for they lead them to believe they can become ste nographers by teaching them shorthand writing. "Most ot these girls can't even spell with ordinary correctness, a necessary and primary accomplishment for a stenographer. Theu, too, the common use of the typewriting machine makes it quite as necessary for the stenographer of to-day to be a good type writer. To employ these girls is usually to teach them and pay lor the privilege of doing so. There are several thousand women stenographers and typewriters in this city working at from $0 to $15 a week the aver age $10. I doubt whether there are 12 women to tbe 1,000 of them who are really competent, who can take testimony In court or report proceedings and speeches of a public meeting with reasonable accuracy." AND NOW she's gone. About three months subsequent to the conversation which forms the body of this article the writer met the lawyer who, after so much trouble and tribulation, expense and vexation of spirit, had secured the per fect girl the girl who was to be "worth her weight in cold" to some sensible man. "I'm all broke up," said he. "I've lost that girl I Yes, sir, lost her and through my own stupidity! Lost her last weekl Confound ill She's married! Yes, sir, married I" "Married? Do well?" "Why, yes. She married that very fel low, you know, that I offered to introduce to her did introduce to her the very day I was talking to you about my luckl What do you think of me for a fool? Oh, he's a nice fellow and he's got a splendid wife, but confound it, look where I ami" Charles T. Murray. AMEE1CAN BEET SUGAB. It Is Already Up to the Standard of the Product of Germany. Et. Lonls GloDe-Uemocrat.l "I have just received a sample of beet sugar from the new mill at Grand Island, Neb.," said Prof. Wiley, TJncle Sam's chemist, the other day. "It is as fine sugar as can be made in Germany or anywhere else. It polarizes 99.9, and is, therefore, near perfection according to the test. I believe sugar-making will pay in Nebraska and Kansas. Indeed, tbe bounty provided by the McKinley bill is better than the old duty for the American grower, and if it is continued a few years the industry ought to establish itself so that it will pay without either bounty or duty." "Of course, it is expected that the bounty is onlv temporary, but it ought to be re tained at least five years. By that time the manufacture of beet sugar ought to be per manently and safely established as a paying industry; and I believe that ic five years tbe sorghum sugar industry will have suc cessfully and finally passed the stage of ex periment. The United Stutes is fully compe tent to srow her own sugar, and if the pres ent conditions are not disturbed for a few years the desired end will have been accom plished." BACTERIA A BLESSING. Though an Element of Danger They Are Indispensable in Batter Slaking. Bacteria are extremely minute, not more than l-3000th of an ioch in lengtb, and mul tiply with wonderful rapidity; they abound in air, water, soil, in animal and vegetable substances, and in living plants and ani mals, writes Prof. H. W. Conn. Cold hin ders their development. Heated long as high as boiling water they are killed, and a higher heat kills the spores. They multi ply rapidly in milk 'to sour and curdle. They gather and multiply on the sides and joints of milk vessels in the minute portions of the milk which is is difficult to wash perfectly. Hence the im portance of keeping milk, so far as possible, tree from them by the greatest cleanliness and of cooling milk Immediately after milk ing to.prevent souring. But bacteria also do good, aud aid in the "ripening" of cream, and hence the ad vantage of keeping cream favorable to the growth of bacteria. As cold retards, and heat, up to a certain point, favors their growth, the reason for keeping milk cold and cream warm is easily understood. COSMOPOLITAN HEW YOBK Not so Much One City as a Conglomerate Collection of Towns. One of the curiosities of New York City, says a literary exchange, is the growing tendency to form a group of cities instead of one, for as one moves about the eastern streets he goes from one nationality to an other. On one street, or group of blocks, one language is spoken, aud on contiguous blocks, another. Mulberry street and vicinity is wholly Italian in spirit, in speech, in sports aud employments. Mott street, a little further oo, is the Chinese home, a hive of Celestials. There is also a Bohemian, a Poland, a Hun gary, a Palestine, while Ireland ii pretty much all over and everywhere. A BIG BUBBLE OF AIR. Shirley Dare Tells of a New Mattress for People to Sleep On. POISONS THAT STICK TO BEDS. Some Becipes for Wooing Beauty and Car ing the Rheumatism. M'EINLEI AND SILK DNDEEWEAE TWEITTKN TOR TH DISPATCH.l Tired nature' sweet restorer is greatly as sisted by an elastic couch. That is the de cision of all of us who are not sufficiently young and plump to sleep on the solt side of a deal board and find content. Tbe way springs yield as one sinks into a good bed seems to take the strain off wearied mnscles. A good hair mattress and woven wire springs are considered the acme of bed fur nishings, but they leave much to be desired in cleanliness and ease of handling. The 4,000,000 housekeepers who have to put their own hands to the springs of do mestic comfort; who know the weight of a double six-inch mattress that has to be turned every morning, and the amount of dust it gathers in the course of a week, ap preciate this. To many the amount of dirt which may be in a mattress is an unknown quantity, for all women do not follow the rule of nice English housekeeping to beat the mattress with a rattan bat, and so dissipate the dust after an all day weekly airing. A mattress is a great collector of nun and dust ot tne most destructive sort. CAUSES HAIR TO TALL OUT. This dust it is which causes the falling out of women's hair whether they ever make a bed or not. If they sit in a room where such invisible dust circulates that is, where the mattresses are not beaten weekly at least they live to repent. You know how much fluff gathers against the weekly sweeping, and it is safe to say the mattress contains as much more. Each sleeping person gives off at least a pound of waste matter in invisible vapor which is absorbed by the bedding. Ex amine a mattress which has not been turned for three days while slept on nightly and you will be surprised to find how damp the underside is with moisture gathered from perspiration oi the sleepers. This moisture is an attraction for the dust, and the bed becomes loaded in a short time with what we had rather not sleep and breath over if we know it, A clean bed means much care beyond a change of sheets once a week. No body but a thorough housekeeping English woman knows how to secure clean bedrooms. THE IDEAL BED. Have you noticed how soundly and re freshingly one sleeps in a room that has been just cleaned thoroughly? It is because your lungs do not have to breathe over again tbe 50,000 particles of fluff and dead matter which usually form vour nightly sleeping draught. All this is apropos of a Yankee invention which promises to be tbe ideal bed. Isn't the "air mattress" an inviting title, suggestive of pillowy clouds and float ing rest? To confine ourselves to sober fact, however, what do you say to a double mat tress, eight inches thick, which you can toss over like a cork doormat, and a single bed which you can walk off within one hand? Doesn't that sound like a respite from toil some daily duty iu bed-making? Add to this that it is a bed that cannot gather dust any more than the footboard, that requires no springs under it, but lies on a board foundation, that it is as soft as downy pillows are, does not sag as wire mattresses do in six months, and does not lose temper like spiral springs. It is a mattress of rubber cloth with ticking cover, which slips off to be washed as easily as a pillow case, a collapsible bed blown 'nil of air with a bellows, and Is tbe softest, easiest, elastic rest that ever tired mortal knew since his mother's arms. CHEAP, LIOHT AND COMFORTABLE. It is strong enough to bear heavy tossing without danger of letting the air out; the children may play on it without weakening it, and for rheumatic and old persons, with frames which are thinly covered and aching bones, it Is the greatest earthly comfort, With a thin paillasse of cotton or the knitted mattress filling, under the sheet, it cannot chill and it rests luxuriously. The price is too high for common persons ?25 for a single bed, 53S lor a double one but probably the makers will see their interest lies in providing the same thing at a less cost It is hardly expensive, as it requires no springs, while the ease of handling and its cleanliness make it cheap to those who con sult comfort first and price afterward. These mattresses have been known as hospital ap pliances for the relief of surgical cases for some time, and their worth has been well tested in hard service. What is comforting to the sick is just as good for the well, and if we treated ourselves to a few invalid com forts they might conserve our strength so as to prevent sickness. DUST SrOlLS BEAUTY. Apropos of dust, it is the great enemy of health and women's good looks. It settles in the skin, especially where there is a little steam to help it, the wax and oily mat ter of the skin fix it till no ordinary wash ing will remove it. Wrinkles are accentu ated by it, as they have a deeper bed to draw in the dust with the stylus of time. That is the reason so many women look abont ten years younger when they find time to take their hot bath and the vapor has fifteen minutes or more to soften the tissues. There is nothing like steam for plumping up the skin and washing out the grime which clouds every complexion not daily treated to soap and hot water. Furnaces are lighted by tbe time you read this, but how many have the healing pipes cleared of the year's accumulation of dust? From the pipe coils it-is ready to enter lungs and skin, and, being deadest of all dead matter, it is itself death to hair, to fresbness of com plexion and general vigor. Listen to what an experienced master plumber has to say about this: DIRT IN THE TURNACE PIPE. "The amount of dust and dirt that will collect in furnace pipes can only be realized by those who have had occasion to clean them out. Most furnaces that have been in use for some time become covered with dust, and it is not surprising that when tbe fur nace is heated to a red heat some sort of smell should be given out The 'burnt smell' may be warning to us not to breathe it When meat has not a good odor we do not'eare to eat it, and it might be a good plan not to breathe air that does not smell as fresh as it should. "The pipes should all be swabbed out with a large carriage sponge fastened to a flexible wire that will go into the bends, and the amount and quality of unclean stuff it wilPbring np will satisfy any one of the necessity ol this cleaning. If it is repeated once a week through the winter there will be little complaint to make abont the dust from the furnace, and the improvement in the air will be noticed by everyone." COMPLEXION POISONS, LOOK OUTl The number ol young women willing and anxious to risk their lives for tbe sake of improving their looks is remarkableJudg ing by the letters begging for directions to take arsenic aud corrosive sublimate, or to apply croton oil as a sleeping plaster. My dear young desaerates, you may be willing to risk dying in convulsions with these virulent drugs, but I am not willing to risk prosecution for maidslaughter. The number of women willing to try any remedy offered for freckles or a bad com plexion is a standing invitation to charla tans of either sex. A doctor of large coun try experience reports the case of a girl who had been told that eating nutmegs was good for tbe complexion where she got the idea heaven only knows, for it will be new to the world at large. Eating one or two a day had no effect and she ate four in an after noon, and the doctor had hard work to save her life that night Deathly sinking, cold ness, collapse like that of cholera for hours, followed by great weakness for a long time after, probably convinced her that com plexions might be too dearly bought Death has followed the application of a solution of corrosive sublimate to a ringworm, not much stronger than that which forms the staple of popular face bleaches. COMPLEXIONS TELL A STORY. The fact is that a disordered complexion is nature's penalty for disordered habits in the person or parents, and the only hope of lasting improvement lies in correcting tho whole list. This in most cases amounts to making the life over again. It is no won der that doctors say it is more difficult to cure a bad complexion than to cure a can cer. The disorders which attack the lace, acne, blackhe ids, liver spots and super fluous hair, are more obstinate to remove and require greaterskill than often goes to checking the growth of a cancer or tumor. Yua who write demanding beauty at any price must remember that while you profess yourselves quite willing to have your face peeled for the sake of a good complexion, it is a great deal easier to take the skin off than jt is to make it grow again; and a face which apparently has been treated to a bath of boiling oil with tbe complexion of a nice brown cruller is no better than the rough skin you find so hard to bear already. HERE ABE BECIPES FOR BEAUTY". Positively the last cure for freckles for this year is this, which is given fortbe bene fit of "A Working Girl," whosays she can not afford to waste money trying the differ ent lotions on sale. Sensible girl. Let her try one teaspoonful of powdered alum, half as much powdered citric acid, dissolved in ten teaspooiifuls of boiling water, cooled aod bottled with two drops of glycerine; apply this with the end of a match ora fine camel's hair pencil to the freckles nightly or as often as convenient, and let it dry oo. This is a pretty strong preparation and may need diluting for fine skins. People with red nose; may try this: One drachm muriate oi ammonia, half a drachm tannic acid, two ounces glycerins and three ounces rosewater mixed. Wet a piece of lint and apply with spring clothes pin, or the frame of a pair of eyeglasses, with glass taken out Of course one is not presentable for company in this case and the lotion must be applied ior two or three weeks usually. FOE BEAUTY AND RHEUMATISM. Here is a complexion bath which has the further good effect of greatly relieving the rheumatism following the grip: Take boneset, yarrow, tansy, each one handful dry, or twice as much green, and steep in boiling water in a closely covered Jar half an hour. Have ready a bath tub or common tub, with a small low chair in it; tie tne wet herbs in a bag and put them in the ub, then pour on three or four pail mis of boiling water, and seat the patient to steam with a blanket enveloping person and tub to keep the heat in. Have the leet in a foot bath, kept hot by adding boiling water, and keep the head wet in cold water. The bath should not last over half an hour, less if the person feels weak. When the time elapses she should be sponged off in warm water, which will feel cool, and go to a warm bed with a hot brick at the feet for an hour or two, unless the bath is taken at night. Thisbith taken thfee times a week, always three hours after meals, is sovereign for improving the complexion, curing rheu matism and obesity. A half pint ot gin is a good addition to the bath, which must be kept steaming hot by the addition of boil ing water. SILK AS A CURE. The rheumatics are not all venerable be ings, passing off the stage. It is surorising how many sinewy athletes and charming, coquettish women have to take care of them selves to avoid the pain and awkardness, which is worse than the pain. It is the win ter sequel of tbe grip which seizes us just as we begin to feel strength from the frosty air. There is nothing for it but to tight the invader inch by inch by keeping warm with silk underwear. A cool prescription, you are ready to say, considering the tariff has sent silk underwear up to (7 a piece for any thing durable. Ob, that man McKinley! If he has no better Christmas than the women of America wish him he needn't hang up any stockings tbe 24th of December. But I am glad to tell you that even work ing people can indulge in silk undersnits ot the new knit fabric of waite silk. This is pure silk, before it is bleached or dyed, woven into a thick, light jersey-like cloth, elastic as possible, warmer and more dura ble than anything known and that will wash freely and never shrink, costing only 35 cents a yard, the width of common crasa. It is to be recommended specially to work ing people, mechanics and farmers who get into perspiration while at work, saturating woolen shirts, followed br a dan?rrons cool ing off. This is the true sanitary under- wear, and an wno nave tried it are entbusi tic in its praise. It is a home-made article that will outwear any two pairs of the thick est wool and is far warmer. I shall be very glad to let anyone know where to find this who will send a post card addressed to him self. Shirley Dare. P0HIES OF THE POTOMAC A Bace of Splendid Little Animals Raise by a Peculiar People. There is a little island about 150 miles down the Potomao called Chincoteague, says Bepresentative Brown, of "Virginia, in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. This island is inhabited by a strange race ot people and a race ot the greatest ponies in the world. The peopleof the island fish and grow oysters, and are a hardy, primitive race who fear God and attend strictly to their busi ness. Hundreds of these wonderful ponies roam the island, living in the summer on the rank, coarse grass. In the winter they subsist on seaweed, and in the spring are mere frames, in consequence of the diet These ponies are unlike any ponies in the world. They are about 13 to 13f hands high, nearly all sorrels or bays, and are fine bodied and neatly limbed. They have the head and eyes oi the Arabian, and the supposition is that originally the stock came from some thoronghbreds that swam ashore from some wrecked vessel. What is more remarkable about them is that they trot and pace fast and are possessed of remarkable endurance. In the spring you can purchase a good pony lor 5 and upward. The colts are not gelded and stallions predominate. When the weather is bad and tbe waves in undate the Island scores of the little fel lows are swept into the water and are lost, IBYIHG THETB "WINGS. How Young Cincinnati Attorney! Win Taste Maiden Laurels. Cincinnati Times-Star.) One ot the interesting matters at the Court House is the maiden attempt of yoang attorneys in the criminal courts. Nowa days no growing sprig of the law considers himself equipped for the demands of fame and reputation nntil he has bad at least one trial ol facts involving the liberty of a fel low man. Consequently the judges in the criminal rooms have numerous applications Irom young attorneys ior assignments. The Court, always considering the nature of the case, usually gives the young men a trial. When the fatal day arrives the young at torney is usually tbe first man on band. He is soon followed by all his ex-fellow students, who watch the proceedings with a critical eye, and the young trial lawyer's future is calculated then and there. The judges are uniformly kind to" the beginners. uut tne real sufferers are tbe members of the jury, who are compelled to sit oiten for a long time and listen to a pale, ghastly, trembling speech that begins with "Gentle men of the jury" and ends with a dive in the mud in the tame vicinity. A Country of Ghosts. Detroit Free Press. OnlvlSnpp i.nt fi' 41 I..! mAnnlatlnn oi Portugal can read or write, and it is no Wondpp that vrhpn tfiA wfnrl Ti1m frnm tliA southwest every housewife locks the front uoor 10 Keep out me spirit of tbe deaa. ijet a farmer dream that be taw a black pig on tho ntAnwvAvr am1 n & kMliLI H rt miIIaa a! himvrlll change hit shirt for a month, be- ucTiug mat uj iu using ne will start an epidemic "5; 5 . ' &,. ', ..- i-. - -- ... w',. - l.: ji.zABSuaimaa :.. sbo.'-. . .;t
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers