amfM
Pi3?W5--
THE PITTSBURG '"DISPATCH, SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 30.-. 1890.'
10
tontine. with Europe because the two Americas
are unacquainted with eacli other. It the
Eouth American Stales take a generous and
frank rart in liie Columbian Exposition it will
le the beginning of a new era of national pros
perity for all parts of the New World.
Trie fact that a few tuch articles as the
above, and from one pen only, constitute the
onlv defence of our interests that has ap
peared here in the public print, is fully ex
plained by the fact that practically all the
capital and energy by which America is
represented in the Amazon Valley is here
lor the sole purpose of buying rubber for
cash, and hence, is too busy minding its
own business to be expected to look after the
Interests of the American export trade.
The United States Consul, being a news
paper man, and associated with the influen
tial journalists in the Amazon "Valley, will
erail himself of any facilities for spreading
correct inlorniation to counteract the per
nicious influence of the random political
chaff gathered up at home in be scatt-red
broadcast iiere to the detriment of our Ex
position and trade. The northern part of
the Brazilian coast line, ior over three de
grees, runs almost east and west, facing
toward the north. The 50,000 miles of in
land navigation of the niignty Amazon and
its tributaries at its outlet curves toward the
north. As it (aces, it may be said to have
the appearance of inviting trade from its
sister continent.
INTERESTS XOT IDENTICAL.
North Brazil, or more properly described
tinder the general term of the Amazonian
Vallev, which in itself is an irameiibe
country, is in almost all respects entirely
distinct from that portion of Brazil lying to
the south. In no particular respect are its
interests identical with those of the country
south. There is no inland communication
between Itio de Janeiro and the large
States" of Para, Marauham, Ceara, Ama
sonas and the greater part of Matto Grosso,
except by ships along the 3,000 miles of
coast, and adding another 1,000 miles of the
Amazon to reach Amazouas.
An English official, long a resident In the
Brazils and iauiiliar with the people, ob
served to me: "The time will surely come
when this country will want to become in
dependent from the rest of Brazil." In
further discussing the geographical features
of this country, I gathered that the English
people, as a rule, are not iriendly toward the
Lew -republic; so that it is likely that the
"wish was father to the opinion."
THE ENGLISH COLOXT.
TEe-'English colony here is securely
planted; in numbers the Britons are as ten
to one as compared with the Americans;
and probjhiy, in a business sense, they can
compete with us as 20 to 1. As a rule they
are personally a clever set of gentlemen.
They do not" assimilate largely with the
Brrrrlians, -except m-a business way, seldom
marrying in this country; in fact, I have
understood that in some cases the English
firms to which they are nearly all attached
bare stipulated in their contracts with those
seat out here, that they bhall not marry in
this country.
On expieising jny surprise at such a
restriction being placed upon an employe, it
was explained that the nurpose was to avoid
any business complications with the Gov
ernment which might result from there
being any citizens of Brazil finincially in
terested in their firms. The English hanks
and numerous navigation compiuies, how
ever, employ a large number oi Brazilians;
but these do not in any way become im
portant factors in the control of their im
mense business interests" ia Brazil. The
capital is held by England, and there the
directorships are also located; in a word,
the strings .ire pulied from there, and the
British lion roars or lies dowu with the
lamb, as his keeper desires to either bulldoze
or entrap his v.ctim.
COMPETITION ON THE SEA.
The agitation of American trade and com
merce with this section has seemed in a
Banner to rouse, the British lion from his
lethargy, induced by being indulged so long
and Jed to weii. As indicated 111 my re
ports, tlie E-iglish corporations styled the
"Bed Cross" and "Booth Line" steamship
companies each own ten first-class steamers,
which have, by the handling of their facili
ties, practically held a control of the trade
from this section to Europe aud the United
States ior 50 years.
The new American line, so ably controlled
by Captain Eachlin, a practical as well as
thorough-going American seaman, has as
yet hut four ships between Neu port N ens,
Va., and Brazil. Yet with these four Amer
ican ships, wbich carry our flag along 3,000
Elites of the Brazilian coast, the company
lias caused the Englishmen considerable
nervousness recently. Tne English ships
are advertised to sail according to a pub
lished schedule, but unless there happens
to be one of Captain Lachlin's Americans
on their track the sailings vary in time from
to 15 days.
SQUEEZING OUT AMERICA.
In fact, it is generally known here that
there is an understanding between the
management of the Booth and Bed Cross
line by which they combine their superior
lorces to crowd out irom this trade the am
bitious Americans. A few days since, the
American company's new steamship,
Seguranca, came into port almost in com
pany with one oi the Itcd Cros boats. It
was given out that the Englishmen were
to take cargo along side of her, and beat the
new American in a race to New Yurk. She
loaded light, and left aiter the unprece
dentedjstop of only a couple of days.
The steamers leit the Amazon in each
rtner's. companv, the American calling at
Barbadoes, Martinique and St. Thomas,
while the Englishman sailed direct to New
York without a stop. Yet the Seguranca
beat tiie "Englishman home handsomely, to
the intense gratification of the lew Ameri
cans here, who would have been unmerci
fully rhaflea by the English, if the "old
tramp" Iii-d beaten the new ship. The
y next English ship delayed here ten days.
MORE -DIEECT COMMUNICATION.
As a matter of business, the Amazon Val
ley is riot adequately served by the Amer
ican line. American shippers are now
largely dependent upon these well con
ducted English ships, and a friendly rivalry
is couned which will benefit all parties.
The American ships, by reason of their sub
sidy fiom the Brazilian Government, are re
quired to do a general coasting business
along Brazil, for trade with the United
Elates. The English steamers sail direct
from the Amazon to America or Europe,
nnd corfice their trade to North Brazil ex
clusively. It is just as much out of the way for an
American steamer from Bio aud the south
o: Brazil, to call at Para, as it would be for
the English ships from New York to Kio, to
go into the Gult of Mexico and ascend 100
wiles up the Mississippi, to New Orleans,
to build up American trade there. AVe now
require frequent and direct trade from the
Upper Amazon to American ports.
J. O. KXBBEY.
CEEYSAIiTKLKTJnS IN CEIHA,
The Pretty riower Was Popnlar There
arly Four Thousand Tears Ago.
Liverpool Weekly Courier. J
The favor with which the chrvsanthe
mum is now regarded )6 not difficult. to
understand. It blooms when the skies be
come gloomy, and its varieties and combi
nation of color are wonderfully beautiful.
Thirty or 40 years ago, when the autumn
show at Temple Gardens was already the
pride of London, the cultivation of the
flower in this country was nothing like so
general as it is now, and some of the most
familiar rarities of to-day were then com
paratively unknown.
Xor the display annually seen at St.
George's ball almost rivals the rose shows,
and the abundant supply of fine specimens
in the streets is another proof of the cxten
bive cultivation of the flower. "While we
are about celebrating the centenarv of the
introduction of the chrvsanthemum into
Enrope the secretary of the Eoyal Botanic
Society informed its members that this
flower is recorded to have been fashionable
in China some 3,600 years ago, and that- the
dresses of the Chinese Empress and her
court were embroidered with its blossoms as
far back as 1795 B. C. Except in regard to
the steam engine and the telegraph and a
few such matters it ii bard to keep pace
with the Chinese.
HE HAD BRAIN FAG.
Howard Fielding Wears Out His Mind
ratlins Up a Stove.
THE DOCTOR FRifcCMBES QUIET,
Eat What He Most Needed Was to Get Up
and Howl Oat bond.
SICKNESS IN A 11ETKUP0LITAN FLAT
IWRITTKIf TOR TUB DISrATCH.1
The doctor said I had overworked my
brain. I thanked him, not effusively, but
as a man who was accustomed to have his
brain mentioned every day as a matter of
course.
Uis diagnosis was encouraging. I had
been under the impression that I had
strained iny back putting up the parlor
stove, and had then taken cold because the
malignant cast iron thing wouldn't draw.
My wife had intimated that I wasn't using
my brain at all in putting up that stove.
She said that a stove of ordinary intelli-gence-could
put itself up in half the time.
For this reason I regarded the doctor's
statement as a substantial and gratifying
victory over her; I was unable to enjoy it to
the full because she was not present She
had gone into the country for a few days
while I looked about for a servant; and I
had immediately been taken sick in the
cheerless desolation of an empty home.
THE COlirOBT IN SWEARING.
Oh, how melancholy it is to be sick alonel
True, I might have had a trained nurse; but
it is almost no satisfaction at all to swear at
a trained nurse. He never minds it any
more than if he were the unfeeling furni
ture. "What misery wants is company. A
J Sad Overworked 21y Brain.
sick man by conscientiously swearing at
members of his own household, not vio
lently, of course, but in a pained, grieved
fashion, as much as to say: "If you were
only sick and I were nursing you, I'd juake
you so infernally comfortable in one minute
that you'd be glad to get well the next. But
some people never can learn to take care of
the sick."
I had made up a bed in the parlor when I
found that I was to be ill, because our right
hand neighbor has her piano in the back oi
her flat, und she can play much harder than
the woman on our left. This was a matter
of considerable moment. Nobody outside of
New York can realize fully the sonnd con
veying properties of these flat houses. Com
pared to thcm,lhe celebrated ear of Dionysius
is like the deaf side of a mean man at the
call of charity.
QUIET IN CONTSACT IXATS.
And the doctor had said that I, must have
perfect quiet. He might as well have told
me that I could eat nothing but '"resh eggs
irom the dodo. Quiet in New York is an
extinct animal. The row of flat houses in
which I live n as built by contract. Even
the keyholes were made in quantity for the
sake of economy, and they're all alike, as
some of my neighbors have demonstrated to
niv own great loss and detriment.
United, these houses stand; but if a fat
man should fall down stairs any where in the
row he would shatter the whole fabric from
No. 205 to 229 inclusive. The contractors
foresaw this, however, nnd made the stairs
so narrow that lat people are confined to the
ground floors.
When the doctor went out, two men came
in to fix the stove which I bad weakened my
brain trying to put up. They left their
brains nt home, and thus were able to do
the job without sustaining personal injury;
but they beat a la too out of the iron like a
solo on the bass drum, and meanwhile the
top of my aching head appeared to be work
ing up aud down in time to their music like
a trombone accompaniment.
EXERCISING HEK VOICE.
After they leit me, the lady in the flat on
ray right began to exercise her voice. She
ii developing it by a method, which, as
nearly as I can make out, consists in taking
two tiblespoonsful oi a tune into her mouth
and. gargling her throat with it. If she
would only sing I would consider the ques
tion of ultimately forgiving her in my soul,
but as it is, I can only hope that sne will get
a -few spoonsful of "Aunie Kooney" stuck
in her cephagus some day and die in horrible
agonr. A
The children overhead started a game of
tenpins. I took it that the three smallest
ones were playing the pins while the 6-year-old
boy knocked them over with some arti
cle of lurniture. These children sometimes
stray down into our flat when the door is
unlocked. I have instructed my wife not
to discourage them, but to leave razois,
scissors and carving knives where they will
be bandy to play with. She has done so,
but while we have often missed the knives,
we have never missed the children.
COMPETITION IN MUSIC.
The doctor had promised to send aronnd
an old woman who could cook me some
broth and go for an undertaker if anything
happened. On second thought, perhaps he
said she could go for him; but I prefer to
deal with principals.
I was getting a little shaky in my head
wheu 6he arrived, and was trying to sing
duets with the vocalists on the other side of
the wall. These attempts were somewhat
disconcerted by a hand organ in the street,
which was playing the "Watch on the
Bhine." At first I thought-it must be a
Connecticut watch, because it didn't keep
time, bnt afterward I knew it could not be,
because it wouldn't run down. Howeyer, it
dislodged my adversary on the right. She
ceased to profane the sacred temple of music,
and began to tack things on the wall pic
tures and fans, I supoose. She might as
well have tarked them upon zny cerebellum.
These hammerings gave me a fresh de
lirium, in which I imagined that she was
nailing the cover upon my coffin.
A LITTLE INTEERUPTIOX.
Then the old woman opened the door and
put her head into the room.
v
r v? 1 1
icaft 5it"il
,-. - - l"lli ""tT M- '
-& , ''"Vfv I -sHn
"Der men haf cum der put der coal in
der zellar alretty," said she.
"Well, tell them to eo ahead and do it."
"Dey vants der gev."
"Blast the key." said I, "let them go
down to the cellar and wait till somebody
comes to steal coal out of our bin. Tbcy
won't have to wait five minutes. I don't
know where the key is."
She departed, but the hammering re
mained, and the hand organ and the chil
dren playing rough and tumble overhead.
They inspired me with more delirious fan
cies. It seemed that if I could get up, and
howl, aud blow a fish horn, and beat udou
the bottom of tin pans, I should feel much
relieved. There is something oppressive
about being in the only quiet spot in the
universe.
WOULD SETTLE IN ADVANCE.
Then came a great uproar on the stairs,
followed by the noise of clanking chains in
our private hall. The door opened and the
On the Way to Recovery.
two coal shovelers entered, followed by the
German woman. The men were dragging
their shovels.
"Dey say dey Till be baid in advance,"
said she.
"What is your abominable and extortion
ate charge?' I inquired.
"Sivinty-foive cints fer meself," said one
of them.
"I tell ye it's a dollar an' a half bechune
us," yelled the other.
They began an animated disnutc, using
their shovels for arguments. The German
woman fled.
JOINING THE CIRCUS.
"Hurrayl" I cried, now thoroughly out
of my head, "let's have some fun, boys. Go
it, and I'll play your accompaniment."
I threw open the piano and hammered out
"God SaveJreland" for all I was worth.
At this moment Maude, whom the doctor
had summoned by telegraph, entered the
room, and instantly tainted. The men,
either thinking that she was a ghost, or fear
ing that they might be useful, ran away.
Poor little Maude, the shock made her ill
with a headache, just like the one I had
had; hut I believe that my inspiration to
get up and make some noise saved me, for I
have felt quite well ever since.
Howard Fielding.
ELECTBIC 0SE T1HDEE.
An Apparatus That Comes to the Aid of
tile Tenderfoot MJner.
As the Electrical Engineer reports, a re
cent addition to the application of electric
ity to mining is a portable device for detect
ing the presence and nature of a mineral
where the latter is exposed in the rock or
parth. This apparatus, which is intended
for the use of prospectors more particularly,
consists of a battery and sparK toil, which
arc inclosed in a box, and the conductors
end in two platinum points. It is evident
that it thes points be connected to a con
ducting body and the circuit ruptured, a
spark will be formed the flame
and color of which will give tome
Searching for Ore.
indication of the nature of the body which
the electrodes have touched. Thus, by
placing the two points against a rock con
taining metal in a free state, its presence
may be detected by merely applying one
electrode and passing the other rapidly over
the surface. By means of this instrument,
also, it is possible to find a lost "lead" in a
shaft or cut by applying it to the walls.
Another use to which it may be put is the
sorting of ores, the color of the flame enab
ling the sorter -to separate the diflerent
kinds.
A CHINAMAN ON A DBTOK.
His Countrymen Were Loyal and Kept Him
Out of the Law's Clutches.
New York Herald.
"Well," observed one of the crowd, "this
is the first time I ever saw one of those fel
lows iu that state." I soon saw the cause of
all the commotion. It was no more nor less
than a drunken Chinaman, evidently a
sailor, and he was very drunk, indeed. He
was supported on either side by one of his
countrymen, while yet another, a very well
dressed Celestial, was "engineering" the
job of keeping the inebriated Chinaman on
his U et. It was a uteless 'tusk, however, as
the latter's legs were as weak 11s wet dish
rags, and soon he fell in a heap on the side
walk:. "Him dlunk, you sabbe?" said theCeles
tial who was bossing the affair, addressing
himself to the general assemblage. "Him
dlunk," he went on, "too muchee lumt
S'pose him Ilishman, him walee all light;
luui no good for Chinaman."
"Here, get out o this!" called out a
lusty voice as a big policeman from the Oak
street squad appeared on the scene. "Get
up here!" he shouted, seizing the "lum"
soaked Celestial by the collar. The latter,
however, looked up with a vacant stare and
muttered with shaky accents, ' "Hi yah,
Chinaman he vellygood, sabbe much what
I do. Mellican man, he all be d n; no
sabbe much what I do."
"I'll 'sabbe' you," shouted the police
man, but the spokesman of the partv again
interfered, s lying, "All light, Mr. Officer.
Him dlunk, but got plenty of money. Seel
(producing a roll of bills). Me get cab
right 'way take him home."
At this point a cab came dashing up to
the scene, and out of it jumped two unore
Chinamen, who hastened to their country
men's assistance. The whole party, drunken
man and all, were soon bundled inside and
the cab was rapidly, driven up Broadway.
"Wheezing" in children is cured by
Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup. Only costs 25
cents a .bottle.
2C J
THE W.C.T. A. MEETING
Hessie Bramble Finds a Few Weak
nesses Among the Sisters.
SIKfJLNG "SAT ALWAYS MUSIC.
Too' HHch Display of Alleged Piety and
Long-Winded Reports.
THE HOME DDT1ES OP THE 1AD1CS
tWniTTENrOn THE DISPATCH.
The non-partisan National W. C. T. A.
Convention last week was not so imposing
in appearance as the main body of the W.
C. T. U. from which it seceded last year;
yet it made a great show in enthusiasm and
devotion. It is hard for outsiders to see
any great cause for secession amoug earnest
women engaged solelvin temperance work
save that like man, when things don't go "to
suit them in a church, or a congress, or con
vention, they split off into factions that do
so much to injure the cause they are en
deavoring to terve.
The rule of the majority is supposed to
prevail in all such bodies, but yet the mi
nority in this great congress of women, who
cultivate the Christian graces and are
thought to be superior to such childishness,
would not submit to it. Aftef an amend
ment to cover the disputed point had been
largely voted down in the National Conven
tion twice, the party which met here last
week flocked by itself, put into its constitu
tion the anti-partisan plank, and adopted
the long and awkward name which really
makes it as much partisan to its own ways
and views and politics as before.
PBOII1BITION AND POLITICS.
Of course what they mean is that they
want to keep their union out of politics.
Bnt how they can expect piohibition to be
established in this country without a polit
ical party behind it, it is pretty hard to see.
There is no occasion, say some, for hostile
feelings between the rival societies, but the
fact is such feelings do exist. Just as
much human nature is exhibited by women
in these affairs as by men. However, let us
hope that they will show more common
cense than do the brethren, and refrain from
the mud throwing for which the latter are
so disgracefully famous in political cam
paigns. W felt quite proud of the Pittsburg
delegation. Airs. Campbell was over
whelmed with honors and Mrs Weeks was
made superintendent of educational work,
while two ot the leading offices went to
Cleveland. But while awarding due praise
to all there is considerable room for criti
cism. On the occasion of my visit tiie
music was away below par. A man bad to
be asked to lead, but as he and a few on the
platform were singing one time while those
below were engaged upon another, the
effect was thrilling and very amusing.
Most of the members have reached the age
when their voices are neither fresh nor
beautiful. Women should recognize this
stage and know when to quit at least in
public and leavo the singing to the
younger set.
WOKDT DISPLAYS OF PIETY.
There is one thing of all others that
women should studiouslyavoid in all public
meetings, and that is cant. Some of them
are as really good in this pious twanging
and whining, supposed to be devotional, as
some of the country preachers or the
Puritans when, as Macaulay tells us, "it
was esteemed a sin to hang garlands on a
may pole, to drink a friend's health, to play
chess, to wear love locks (hangs), to put
starch ina ruff, to touch Ihe virginals or to
read the I'airy Queen when half of the
fine paintings were idolatrous and the other
half indecent" when a Puritan was known
by his garb, his lank hair and the sour
solemnitv of his face and the nasal twang
with which he pred and discoursed gen
erally. Now some of the sisters would not b
seen with si bang, but they have no hesi-H
tancy abont the twang, xuev tell the Liordi
that he knows what weak, feeblo worms'
they are, and bow incapable they are to do
any good thing. Then they pray for the
strength without which they can do noth
ing, and go over the same old "taradiddles"
so "often rehtarsed before, as indicative of
superior piety.
Kobert Hall, one oi the most famous of
preachers, on this subject ot cant, says:
'The superabundance of phrases appropri
ated by some pious people to the subject ol
religion and never applied to an; other
purpose, has not only the effect of disgust
ing persons or taste, but of obscuring re
ligion itself. As they are seldom defined
and never exchanged for equivalent words,
they pass correct without being understood.
They are not the vehicle, they are the sub
stitute, for thought,"
Ef BLACK AND WHITE.
There is much food for leflcction in these
remarks of the great writer. Wheu a
woman is given to praying in public instead
ot at her home in her cioset she should write
it down, and then see how much sense there
is iu it anyhow, or if it is merely a multi
plication of cant words aud expressions
dinned into her ears every Sunday until she
could spin them off any time "by heart," as
the children call it.
If all praying iu public were put into
cold print, and if the twang could be ex
pressed in type, some of it would be lunny
indeed. This is all an imitation, and a bad
on? at that. It is not to be believed that
the Lord would he more loth to listen if
those who pray would use their own natural
voices and without so much vain repetition.
Another thing women should aim at, now
that they are learning to speak iu public, is
to make their speeches short. ithy and to
the point. A rambling speaker too fond
of digressions is always wearisome. Jt has
always been held as'a fault of women that
they are too much gifted with the gab.
Addison says, iu his elegant way of putting
things, that he has often been puzzled to
assign a cause why women should have this
talent of ready utterance in so much greater
pcr:ection than men, and has often fancied
they had not the faculty of suppressing
their thoughts, as have men. But it Addi
sou could hear nowadays how women can
speak "in public on the stage," he would be
infinitelv more puzzled and surprised. But
having this talent for ready utterance, it
should be so cultivated and exercised as not
to bore audiences beyond the limit of
patience.
LONG-WINDED EEPOUTS.
Another thing to he resolutely avoided is
long aud tedious reports. There was one
report reid that in its tedious iterations aud
reiterations was supremely tiresome. It the
ladies had been like the Senators, when Mr.
Blair used to fire off his educational bill last
winter, the, house would have been emptied
in short order. It must have been 40 miles
long, and most 01 that inaudible and unin
teresting. It seems hich time that Mr. Bellamy's
Utopian scheme should at least begin. What
the world is coming to nobody knows, but a
more pressing question, it would seem is,
what is going to become of housekeeping
hereafter? One high State official, at the
convention declined a national office to
which she was elected by saying that iu
chuich and Stateshe already held eight o
fiuial positions, and, as she had to give borne
little time to her husband, she comd fill no
more." Contemplate the smartness of a
woman who can fill eight offices probably
run a house and take care ot a husband to
say nothing ot a family. What would the
grandmothers have thought of such a state
of affair?
WOMEN IN MEN'S PLACES.
Not long ago we heard a man complaining
aud bemoaning the fact that women were
rushing into the employments ot men, but
the poor fellow forgot that it was not until
the spinning and weaving and butter
making were taken away irom women by
the machinery invented by men, that they
had to give up knitting and spinning and
sewing and other labor that was formerly
done at home. Hence, what is sauce for the
gooio Usance for, the gander. In old timet
-
men had all the fuu of gadding around to
conventions, and holding offices of honor,
but the sisters are now presuming to take
time to enjoy a share also. Instead of
making patchwork they do temperance work.
In one of the publications of the Union is
found this startling statement: "The Christ
ian church spends millions of dollars to-day
in the field of foreign missions, sends out
hundreds of missionaries and makes thou
sands of con verts each year. But for every
convert she makes in other lands, the dram
shop destroys fully 100 souls iu Christian
countries."
A VEEY BAD SHOWING.
This, if true, is certainlv a very poor piece
of economy to sacrifice 09 Christian souls
for one heathen. Now the sisters are said
to constitute four-fi.ths of the church mem
bers, and it seems as if they should have
the power to effect a reform in this matter.
To have all these millions of money go to
waste seems truly aw ul. If figures do not
lie in this case, as given, something ought
to be done about it. It surely must be a
greatly exaggerated story, although told
with apparently good authority.
If statistics proving cucha state of affairs
were really reliable the responsibility ot the
churches for the doing of evil would bo
frightfully heavy. But people who are
zealous nnd righteous over-much are very
prone to magnify the wrong they desire to
crush. It is to be hoped that this yarn is
more due to imagination than to truth.
Bessie Bramble.
HOW BAEBASIAHS SHAVE.
Devices of Different Itaccs for. Removing
Heard From the Face.
In my wanderings about the world, writes
a veteran traveler, being of the Esau type, a
hunter and a hairy man, I have tested the
barbersof many nations, and bought their
facial implements, too. The razor of India,
though a clumsy looking semi-disk of steel
on a straight handle, does its work, in native
hands, on scalps (as a religious rite), and on
rough face, very neatly and comfortably
by merely moistening the epidermis with
cold water, soap being prohibited. Many a
time has that primitive instrument crossed
aiy chin without making a scratch. At the
courts of oriental tyrants drawing a drop of
blood during the operation of shaving was a
capital offense a precautionary edict, no
doubt.
Mussel shells were, till lately, used by
savages for the removal of hair, till the
important discovery that a fragment of
broken bottle is far more effective. Such is
the case with those fierce islanders of the
Andamans, who operated in this rongh
fashion on two escaped Indian convicts,
whose lives were spared, as thev were con
sidered desirable "young men," fit for a
tribal alliance by marriage. Wheu after
ward rescued, these foolish truants described
their sufferings under the ceremonial in
stallation as terrific aud of long duration.
Prehistoric man used a flake of flint to re
move his locks and eyebrows, "disfiguring
his countenance" on occasions of mourning.
The modern Hindoo shows his grief, at the
barber's bauds, in the same lashion, as did
his motherland, old Egypt.
I have nice specimens of Norwegian cut
lery, but not until a lev days ago did I
know that the inventive Norseman had
marched before us in razors. A friend who
has been traveling hard two whole years,
came to stay with me, and exhibited the
most beautiful pair of these toilet tools I
ever saw, of very highly finished bessemer
steel, simple and scientific, being merely
thin, flat blades of metal inserted in grooves
of thicker stuff. The agent warrants their
edges to stand three month', when the
razors must be sent to him, dismounted and
sharpened, having to be removed from the
grooved back to do so. Chaiitrey, the
sculptor, made one ot hard bronze with a
keen and effective edgp, and there are relics
of Pompeii, manufactured in that alloy.
CAKESA IN Y0UB KECKTDi
How the Latest Photographic Novelty is
Adjusted and Worked.
Here is a sUetch of the latest photographic
novelty. It is called a necktie camera. Fig
ure 1 represents the photographic necktie.
,'Eigure 2 gives a front view of'it as it is to he
"worn by the operator, the. metallic camera,
which is fiat and very light, being hidden
under the vest. Figure 1 gives a back view,
the cover of the camera being removed
to show the interior mechanism
comprising six small frames, which are
capable of passing in succession before the
objective, and which permit of obtaining
six negatives. The instrument may be con
structed with 12 or 18 frames.
The apparatus is operated as follows: The
necktie having been adjusted, the shutter is
set bv a pull upon the button A (Figure 1,
No. 2), which passes under the vest. In
order to chimge the plate it is necessary to
turn from lift to right the button B, which
has been introduced into a buttonhole of the
vest, and which simulates a button of that
garment. This button must be turned until
the effeot of a locking, which occurs at C
(Figure 1, No. 1) is perceived, and which
puts the plate exactly before the objective.
In order to open the latter it is necessary to
press the rubber hulb D, which has been
put ihto the trousers pocket. The rubber
tube E passes under the vest and series to
transmit the action of the hand. In order
to charge the apparatus it is opened at the
bottom by turning the small springs; the
sensitized plates are put into the frames and
the springs are turned back to their former
position. The apparatus is scarcely anv
thicker than the ordinary necktie. The six
frames are carried before the objective
through an endless chain, as shown in the
figure.
ENGLISH E0TAL "WEALTH.
How the Qneen and Her Family Keep the
Wolf From the Door.
The English royal family is not an enor
mous landowner. The Queen owns 25,000
acres in Aberdeen, and enjoys the rent roll
from the grand estates of Windsor 10,000
acres in extent, and netting annually 110,
000, says ihe New York Journal. Her
Aberdeen property brings but one quarter
of this sum. She owns Claremont, which
she purchased of Lord Clive in 1S83 for
$360,000; it had cost him 5750,000. This es
tate covers 404 acres.
Then she has estates in Germany, but all
these are small as compared with the hold
ings of the Dukes of Westminster, of Devon
shire, of Portland and of Bedford. The
English nation pays into the sovereign's
civil list continually about 53.093.000 an
nually, and during the life of the Prince
Consort he received every year 8150,000. The
whole sum given him by the nation during
his life was 53,150.000.
Some- 40 years ago the Queen received a
gift of 51,250,000 from a generously disposed
subject lor her personal use; and this, with
her numerous economies irom what she re
ceives vearly, constitutes her private or
tune. She is reputed to be worth 45,000,000.
The Prince of Walej, if divested ot his
royal attributes, could hardly be accounted
a rich man at all. He owns nearly 15,000
acres in Aberdeenshire and Norfolk, und
these give him an income of 550,000 an
nually. Victoria Sticks to Candle Light.
Boston Herald.
Queen Victoria is dead set against electric
illuminations in her bouse. Her old eyes
cannot stand che strong light, and so the
royal family will continue to go up to bed
with a candle, and burnt matches will' con
tinue to itrev the palace floors as of yore,
Fg. t Fig, t.
BELLS OF MECHLIN.
flow Good Saint Kumbaut First Rang
1 hem in the Right.
TALE OF A BACE OF HUNCHBACKS.
Patient Yillagers Who Make Lace as FIno
us the Spider's Web.
A ST0KH SPOILS TUB WALK1KG T0DE
COBRESrOUDENCE Or THIS DISPATCH.!
Mechliu, November 14. "Keadv,
march!" said Jlimi; she. is something of a
grenadier, but we set out to seo St. Bom
baut's. Mechlin without St. Bombaul's
Church would be a claret cup without the
claret. Without the chimes it would not
even be on the map.
First, there is St. Eombaut's.
It stands in the center of the town, and it
is gray aud gotbic and time-eaten. It is.
built "four-square," after the fashion of a
famous city. At each corner is a tower,
haunted by pigeons.
"Aren't they lovely?" I exclaimed.
"But," Mimi said, "this is St. Kom
baut's church. It was built in the twelfth
century with the treasure found in Jhe
tomb of the saint. People who came and
touched the saint's bones were cured of all
sorts of ills and sins and left gold in the
shrine. This is St. Bombauts, of which the
dome is superbly illuminated and "
The bells of Mechlin have rung day and
night for ages. Every five minutes they
ripple out a few soft notes; at the quarters
tbey sound a dainty chime; at the hours they
bubble over in vibrant, golden melody.
They have an unpleasant way of reminding
one that time is flying, and as Wimi says
when one is but that is another story. Time
is always passing or making it "next."
The villagers pay no heed to the bells.
The bells were a-nnging before they were
born; they heard them in the cradle; they
hear them as they barter and make lov:
and lie and do all other human things; the
bells ring their livss in and out they are
common as sunlight.
WHAT IP 1HET STOPPED.
But if ever the bells stopped ringing!
If thathappened Mechlin town would know
the world's end was at band. But it never
could happen. Good St. Kombaut would col
lect his bones, and get out of the grave
and ring them himself if human bands
failed. As a matter of fact he did that
same thing once on a time. Glocklen, who
is the little hunch-backed verger and bell
ringer rolled into one-half, told me the date
of the affair, but I always forget dates a
woman's privilege, I believe.
"Come with me, beautiful lady," he said,
"and I will show you and tell you all about
it."
"No," .aid Mimi, who thonght he was
speaking to her (by the way, I didn't), "I
don't want to hear such nonsense."
"Of course I will go." Thus I, and I
went. This is, what I saw: In the South
nave is an altar, and there stands a porphyry
virgin with arms outstretched but empty.
This is odd. Looking closer one sees that at
some time or other these clasping arms
once held the Infant.
"Beautiful ladv," said the bell-ringer
he was really a fine man for a hunchback
and very discerning "Beautiful lady,"
said be, "the Beguins had just established
their order here and built the little house in
the street of the Corps de Jesus. You have
seen it? It is the gray building to the left
as one goes toward the river. There is a
little postern gate with a grated window.
One night a woman knocked there. She
was a fine, big woman, larger even than I
am," the little man went on puffing himself
up, "but she was travel-worn and poorly
clad. Perhaps she was a gipsy from the
black lands in the North. For she spoke
with a tongue that made no sense to the
ears of the good Beguiu nuns. But tbey
gave her food nnd warm drink. At dask
she went away." '
WHEN THE BELLS DIDU'T EINO.
"Where?" I asked.
"Beauti.nl lady, I was about to tell you,"
said the bell-ringer. Beally a very cour
teous man, intelligent above his station.
"In these days," he continued, "the bells
of Mechlin were not rung at night. The
belfry tower was made fast, but the door of
the church was left open. Late this night
the strange woman crept into the church
and ud t the altar whereone candle burned.
She took the infant Jesus from tiie Vir
gin's arms aud laid her own in its place.
Did I not say she carried a baby under her
cloak? Pardon an old fnan's forgetfulness,
bcxulifnl ladyl
"As she did this the bells of Mechlin sent
forth a mighty peal of alarm, and it was
the blessed St. ltombaut himself who rang
the hells. The people gathered in haste.
This was what they saw: The Christ statue,
dropped by the woman in her terror at tne
clamor of the bells, lay in fragments on the
floor. In the Virgin's arms was a living
child that screamed and kicked, aud then of
a sudden rolled over nnd fell to the floor a
crushed, inanimate littlo wretch. And the
bells ot Mechlin ceased ringing."
"And the poor baby was it dead?"-
"No, beautii'ut lady, it lived, though
hump-backed and deformed. It was reared
by the holy fathers of St. Kombaut, and
years after became the bell-ringer of the
church. Ay, the child was my. great-great-great-grand
lather."
This is the story and it Is absolutely
true. And I could prove it, too, if old St.
Kombaut were alive.
And the bells go ringing.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE TOWK.
They will clamor over Mechlin town until
DR. KOCH IN HIS LAbORATORY.
Fall Mall Budget.
It seems that the crowd of would-be Interviewers and artists who are beleaguering the
doors ot Professor Koch have so far met with very little success. "Are you not Irom the
Times?" the "Fran Professor" asked our Berlin representative, who, ye are happy to say,
was enabled to sketch the great man in bis laboratory,, and also succeeded in drawing the
excellent likeness of him from life. It was evidently the height of ambition at the Pro
fessor's household to prevent the Times from intruding into its precincts. The learned
doctor's lady then proceeded to point to quite pyramid of letters from journalists and
artists, saying very quietly, "My husband does not answer them at all."
The Kochs, It appears, bave hitherto lived so quietly that even at Berlin
THE (lEr.MAX
nobody Knows anything about them and the question is now being aked everywhere,
"Who are the Kochs? Where and how-do they live?" etc. But "the Kochs" are jnst as
determined to go on with their retired Hie as the publio is to drag them out of it. Or.
'Koch's private patients, of whom, however, he attends, only a very limited number, ore
mostly members of the highest German aristocracr, and all of them are sworn to secrecy
as to the Pro.'essoV's treatment.
It is understood that the Professor will not long keep the world waiting. He is a
scientist who is above reclame, as one of the correspondents puts it; but he would not
withhold for an instant knowledge calculated to benefit mankind as soon as be could pub
lish it without fear of refutation. Ha is only waiting for scientific certainty.
they have rung the brown old towers to dust.
Yes, there are the bells, and this is Mechlin
a quaint old town lying along the river
Dyle, a gray, moss-grown, hoary town one
which might be mistaken for Venice in the
locality which borders the river. This is
Mecnlin, where they make lace as fine as a
spider's web, and where there are a half
dozen or more universities, colleges and
libraries and convents and no tourists.
Not that I find any fault with tourists
being one myself, how can 1? Only in a
walking honr, with a limited income one
wants to avoid the tourists' towns. The
rate of living is sure to be ninch higher, and
the sights sure to be conventional.
You would never find a quaint old story
like that of St. Kombaut and the Mechlin
bells in a popular resort. The guides, those
abominations, would have distorted it out of
all recognition nnd truth, although Mimi,
my skeptical friend, does not believe in any
such "iairy tales," as she terms them. But
then Mimi is 40 and a spinster and she has
no soul. Very much wiser people than
Mimi have believed in the story of St- Kom
baut and the Mechlin bells.
TO BntTSSELS IX A -RATS.
From Meshlin to Brussels is a good two
days' walk. But the roads are smooth, the
fcenery picturesque and walking agreeable
in fair weather. I can't say as much when
it rains, as it did for our especial discomfort.
There was not a place of shelter within.two
miles when the storm overtook us, so we
were forced to'keep on and tramp through
the mud as best we might. Mimi waxed a
little sarcastic and my humor was none ol
Ihe pleasantest, when round a curve in the
road came - queer sort of wagon covered in
front with an immense hood and drawn by
a mammoth horse, driven by a little,
weazen, dried-up old man.
This individual I immediately accosted
by waving my umbrella and making vari
ious other signals of distress. The result
was happy. We were invited into the
wagon.
"But von won't do it?" said Mimi.
"Whv not?" said I.
"This" is a walking tour."
"Well, what of it?"
"Then you haven't any business to ride,
unless (with a sniff) you don't mind sailing
under false colors."
"1 would rather sail under false colors,"
1 retorted "than sail along in a pool of mud,
so here goes."
Up we climbed into the wagon and away
we went through the falling rain toward
Brussels. Lillian Spences.
BIBBED TUBES FOB BOILERS.
AKew Ides Which Seems to be Sleeting
With Great Favor.
London Field.
A series of experiments have just been
concluded with a new kind of marine boiler
tnbe which promise to have considerable
effect on the future of steam propulsion.
The external surface of the tube shows no
difference to the ordinary pattern, but in
ternally it is ribbed longitudinally accord
ing to a plan patented by M. Serve. These
ribs are spaced one-eighth of the in
ternal circumference apart, and are
about one-sixth the internal diameter
apart, as shown in the section.
The experiments were conducted with two
boilers of' the same size and pattern in all
respects, excepting in the matter of tubes.
The boilers are 10 feet G inches in length,
aud the same in diameter. The grate sur
face in each is 31 square feet. The total
heating surface of the boiler fitted with the
Serve tunes is 1,530 square feet, and of the
other 956 square feet. The tubes are ot the
same diameter in each boiler, and each has
1215. A 12 hours' trial was carried out on
October 23, each boiler under the same con
ditions burning 11,873 pounds of coal, but
whereas the Serve boiler evaporated 114,600
poumls of water, the other only evaporated
103,000 pounds; or the Serve boiler made
9.65 pounds of steam for every pound of
coal burned, and the other 8.67. That is to
sir, the Serve boiler evaporated one pound
of water more than the other did for each
one pound of coal. If this advantage should
prove to be the same in the actual practice
of using the steam, the efficiency of the
ordinary marine tube boiler will have been
increased more than 10 per cent, and this,
added to the advantages gained by the use
of steam at high pressure, will bringdown
the coal c nsumption per I. H. P. per hour
almost to the vanishing point.
BE&WANIS IN KOBWAY.
The Same Trouble in the Land of the Mid
night Sun as Here.
It has just become a law in Norway that
o girl, of any estate, shall be eligible to
marry until she is accomplished in spinning,
knitting and baking. Prom the same coun
try comes the announcement of the estab
lishment of a servant girls' union the first
reported. Pive hundred members are
already enrolled, and the grievances taken
in hand demonstrate that "help" nature is
the same in the land of the midnight sun as
in the country of overhead electric wires.
This Norwegian guild proposes that fixed
working hours, fixed hours off, better wages
and better servants' rooms shall henceforth
list.
DOCTOR. AT TVOEB:.
WOBKOMICARAGUX
The Great Inter-Oceanic Canal ia
Eapidly Becoming a Reality.
UAKIXG A HARBOR AT GEETTOWfl.
A Hive 0r industry Where Ones Wa a
Wide Waste of Horass.
DISCIPLINE AUOXG THB LAE0REKS
Gbeyiows, Nicaragua, November
18. That tireless activity which is so large
a trait of American character, and that
capacity for conceiving and carrying out
vast enterprises, which Prof. Bryce so often
dwells upon in his "American Common
wealth," can in no place and in no circum
stances be better exemplified than by a -visit
to this once pokey town and by viewing th
works of the Nicaragua canal.
Eighteen months ago the first expedition,
consisting of men and material for the great
work, landed here through the surf on a
sand dune. There was no advance party,
no preparation for the strangers or their
stores. Tbey were over 3,000 miles from
their source of supply, 100 miles from a
telegraph station through a country of im
penetrable swamps, dense virgin forests,
and shallow, obstructed streams. These
pioneers, and those who have joined them
since, have built quarters for 3,000 men
(the number now employed on the canal)
and for a host of executive officers. Store
houses, machine shops, and hospitals have
been erected. Six miles of railroad have
been constructed, eight miles of forest
through a bottomless morass have been
cleared several hundred feet in width, and
100 miles of telegraph wires connect tha
pioneers with the outside world. Vast
stores of material and tools, locomotives,
steam shovels and dredges have also been
collected and repaired and made ready for
work.
MAKIXO A HABSOR.
But the most impressive work of all is tha
creation of a harbor. Thirty years ago the
port of Greytown was a deep and commo
dious haven, capable of admitting the
largest vessels, bnt the waning currents of
the sea and the San Juan river have piled
up the sand until the harbor is now a mere
lagoon, and its main entrance, wnere the
river flows into the ocean, blocked by a bar
with only six feet ot water on it, and on
which the waves break ceaselessly. On the
northwest side of the harbor a narrow sand
bank separated the lagoon from the sea.
To cut thi, dredge out a harbor of suf
ficient depth and a channel out to the six
fathom line, was the problem Mr. Menocal
had to solve. He determined to make
servants of the forces that had created this
sandbank. He built a breakwater to wind
ward of the proposed entrance and perpen
dicular to the beach. It is now 839 feet in
length and is to be in all about 3,000. Its
purpose is to arrest the shifting sands car
ried along by the waves to the angle where
the bank touches the main coast. It has
been highly successful, and the river flow
ing into the" lagoon, finding its course unop
posed by the ocean's waves, cut its own way
through the bank into the sea, a channel
300 feet wide and 4 feet deep. In this two
of the great dredges that came from the
Panama Canal are at work night and day.
They will cut a channel COO feet wide aud 30
feet deep.
I.ES3 THAX ESTIMATED COST.
The inner basin will be, when completed,
204 acres in area and of an average depth of
20 teet, and it is expected that the harbor
will be done and ready ior use by February
1 of next year. Then steamers can enter a
perfectlysbeltered port and discharge at the
company's wharves. Now they anchor two
miles from shore in the open sea; are un
loaded by lighters which must go in through
the surf a slow and expensive method, and
even this is, in bad weather, impossible. On
one steamer loaded with coal demurrage was
paid to so large an amount (12,000) that the
coal when landed on the beach had cost tha
canal company over Vi a ton.
The sum estimated to complete the harbor
was, in round numbers. $2,000,000, and Cap
tain Eads said it could not be done tor
twenty times that sum, and it will be
finished for less thau the estimated amount.
In the spring the work oi actual excavation
will begin. Two of the great dredges will
be placed side by side, and will dig to a
depth of 15 leetin alluvial soil and mud 'era
distance o! 9.29 miles to the first lock. These
will be followed bv another brace of dig
gers, which will complete the depth to the
required 28 feet, and the width will be 2S8
ieet at the top and 120 feet at the bottom.
AThcn this is completed almost as much
work will have been done as has been ac
complished on the Panama isthmus at a cost
of J265.000.000.
CDTTISG THEOrGII THE EOCK.
'Bat such excavation as this is helJ here
to be mere child's plav. The most difficult
work of the canal will be the cutting of the
great fissure through the "Eastern Divide."
This cut will be within a traction of three
miles long, its greatest depth 238 feet, and
the average 111 feet. It contains 21 per
cent of the entire excavation of the canal
and will cost 520,000,000, 22 percent oftho
estimated total cost truly a stupendous
work. The material to be removed is solid
rock and is needed for the Ochoa Dam, for
the breakwater and for the fills along tha
basins, and were this hill not there, the ma
terial would have to be procured from soma
other and more expensive source.
The contract is let for the railroad from
Greytown to this great cnt, 17 miles. Fiva
of the six miles already completed lead
through the swamp already mentioned, and
this portion has been an expensive and
unique bit of railroad construction which
cost $100,000 a mile, and the wonder is that
it could have been built at all. The bed is
pract:c3llya great corduroy road composed
of layers cf logs laid at right angles to each
other to a depth of 8 or 10 feet, and this
structure is covered with sand. It forms an
excellent roadbed. Some idea of the depth
of the alluvial deposits ol the swamp may
be gathered when it is told that piles for the
construction of a short bridge over the San
Juanillo Creek were driven down 90 feet,
inn BEST OP MATERIALS.
Prom this stream the ground is solid nnd
the bed is prepared for the track for five
mile3 more. The ties arc a!I creosoted wood
and the rails of steel; indeed, it is a notice
able tact that the materials used in the
various constructions nt the canal are the
very best obtainable. The piles composing
the breakwater, for instance, are creosoted,
16 ponndi of carbolic acid to the foot, and
Cost $70 each.
The salaries p3id are fairly good, but not
cxcesive. nnd all the employes are housed
aud fed by the company. The commoa
laborers receive about 525 a mouth and their
board and lodging. They are under a dis
cipline almost military iu lis severity. No
liquor is sold on the company's reservation
and none is oDtainable nearer than Grey
town, two miles distant. The laborers must
be in their quarters at 9 P. 21., and cannot
thereafter leave until the next morning at
the beginning of working hours without
special permission, aud every care is taken
of their physical welfare, "and, indeed, of
their spiritual, ton.
The man whose master mind has worked
up the details of this great scheme, whose
genius commands the energetic labors now
being performed, aud whose intelligence i
to direct the gigantic work ahead is Mr.
Menocal. Like all men who have left their
mark upon the history of human progress,
he in a man or one idea, and that one tha
completion of the canal under his charge.
. Among His Grandchildren.
J. B. Dodds, editor of the daily and
weekly Arbor State, of Wymore, Neb., says:
"I have seen the magic effect of Chamber
Iain's Cough .Remedy in cases of croup and
colds among my grandchildren. We would
not think of going to bed at night without a
bottle of this remedy in the house. Cham
berlain's medicines'are growing more popu
lar here every day.' wsu
-.