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THE .PITTSBURG DISPATCH. SUNDAY, "NOVEMBER 30, 1890.
.j&v Tfi
Wje B jMcn.
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PITTSBURG. SUNDAY. NOV. SO, 1B90.
0 DANGER Or BELLA31YIS3L
The vietr of the Farmers' Alliance move
ment, its political results in Kansas, and
the forecast as to the policy which will be
outlined at the convention in Ocala, as
given in special dispatch from Topeka,
Kansas in Urn issue, is full of interest.
The statement there that the election of a
Kepublican Senator may be possible if
Tngalls withdraws, bnt if he continues in
the field it will mean the election of an
Alliance Democrat, will probably give new
light to the adherents of that party ho are
urging the Kansas Senator to stand by his
guns until tne last shot is fired. The ad
vice is probably unnecessary iu Ingalls
case; but it may produce a different view
among the Republicans to learn that a Scn
atorship cau be saved, if that defeated can
didate can accept the bacK seat which has
been assigned to bim by his own people.
"With regard to the ultimate purposes of
the Alliance leaders the statement of the
latter that the radical clement of the Farm
ers Alliance lias adopted sure Bellarnyism
must be due to a mistaken idea either of
Bellamyism or the Alliance. The Alliance
like most such movements, is open to the
contagion of wild theories. It has adopted
certain features of Bellamyism, as the gov
ernment control of railways and telegraphs,
because it regards that as the onlr adequate
remedy for the corporate abuses of the
present time; but if there is any quarter of
the land where the Bellamy idea of abolish
ing private property and concentrating all
production under socialist control will al
ways be sure of rejection, it is among the
lariners who make up the strength of the
Alliance.
That remarkable movement may be
wrecked on the shoals of inflation, and is
more likely to he perverted by the influence
ofgreatcorporations, which, in Georgia, act
ally tied the Allian- e to the wheels of a cor
poration candidate for United States Sena
tor; but it can be counted on as perfectly
safe from the socialist theories that would
result in taking away from the farmers the
control of their own property.
THE BIGHT Ol" STANDING Ur.
The body which has been organized in
Philadelphia under the title of the Rapid
Transit Commission, and which in its rela
tions to securing actual rapid transit has
presented an admirable example of the prin
ciple of how not to do it, at its last meeting
witnessed an attempt to secure in material
form what has often been discussed as an
abstraction. It was in the form of a resolu
tion to the effect that admitting more pas
sengers in a street car than it will seat shall
be made subject to a legal penalty.
There is no doubt that the resolution was
offered in good faith or that the proposition
is one that the public will assent to in the
abstract, and then proceed to utterly repudi
ate in actual practice. The American citi
xen who hangs on to the straps in a crowded
car and scowls at his fellow-passengers as
they tread on his corns in the effort to get in
or out, will give an unqualified indorse
ment to the principle that the company
onght to furnish him with a scat But the
came citizen when he is forced to submit to
the practical operation of the principle by
standing on the street corner while car after
car passes him, until one comes along in
which there is a vacant seat, will regard such
& rule as a direct attack upon his personal
liberty of Etanding up if he chooses to.
It is true that the rule of forbidding the
entrance of more passengers when a public
vehicle is full operates satisfactorily on the
Continent; but that is due to differences in
national characteristics. The difference is
not, as is often alleged, that the American
submits to abuses more easily than the
European; for the European bears quietly
the insolence and perversions of privilege
which would be impossible in this country.
The real difference is that the European is
willing to occupy a good deal of time in the
effort to get as much comfort as possible out
of what he pays for; while the primary pur
pose of the individual American, unlike
such collective bodies as the Rapid Transit
Commission of Philadelphia, is to get there
in the promptest manner. The actual opera
tion of that purpose may be seen on our
cable lines in the unspeakable wrath of
those who see the cars glide past them with
out stopping and with only the injunction
from the gripman to "take the next car."
It is a lurther question whether, after all,
this Xankee characteristic does not show a
keener appreciation of the way to get the
most either ol achievement or enjoyment out
of lilethan the European trait of waiting in
placid expectancy until the uncrowded ve
hicle comes along. The Yankee is keen
enough, to perceive that there ii no more dis
comfort to him in standing up in a street
car than there is in standing up on a street
corner; while the fact that he gets to his
home or his office sooner by doing the for
mer, represents so much clear gain. Under
these circumstances it would be a very
doubtful legal compulsion to forbid bim to
gratify his penchant for prompt transit,
even when it assumes strong resemblance to
the method in which cattle travel.
It seems quite certain that the Philadel
phia method of securing rapid transit by
making people wait on the streets until the
cars are not crowded would not earn the
popular approval in actual practice. Much
more tangible results are to be attained by
increasing the facilities and establishing the
competitive influences which will make the
companies Keen to attract business by offer
ing the best accommodations to the passen
gers. A MISTAKEN SPIRIT.
The agitation of the Lake Erie ship canal
project evokes from some of the papers of
other cities a tone of comment that betrays
a rather petty local jealousy. It is hard to
find any other explanation of the opposing
quotation by the Philadelphia Record from
the Cleveland Leader, to the effect that the
latter paper "finds no cause of alarm in the
talk of constructing a ship canal from Lake
Erie to Pittsburg. If the canal should be
built it would interfere with the coal and ore
trade of Cleveland and other lake ports; but
33 Pennsylvania will ask the Federal Gov
ernment to pay a part of the cost estimated
at 23,000,000 the canal is rather a creatnrc
of the fancy than of fact." There is hardly
any other public question in this land in
which these two papers could agree; but
when it comes to a project for increasing the
development of Western Pennsylvania tbey
join in unison in pooh-poohing it.
It might be taken for granted that no in
telligent organ of public opiuion conld find
"any cause lor alarm" in a legitimate pro
ject to afford cheaper transportation for
great and fundamental industries. Pitts
burg has never displayed any alarm over
projects of that sort, designed to enhance the
prosperity of other localities, and never
will. It the time should come when
she cannot retain her prosperity with
out antagonizing the legitimate enter
prises of other places, it will be more
seemly for her to retire into the backgronnd.
But the statement is very plainly put forth
here, that the Cleveland paper would find
cause for alarm if it thought the canal pro
ject likely of realization. That would in
terfere with what Cleveland regards as its
prescriptive right of handling our coal and
ere freights. The fact that a Government
appropriation would be asked to aid this
work is taken by onr Cleveland and Phila
delphia cotemporaries to place in their
power a way to defeat the project.
Perhaps our friends can understand the
meaning of this attitude a little better if we
reverse the case. Cleveland has had -for
many years the benefit of Government ex
penditure iu benefitting navigation by
dredging out her narrow harbor and build
ing a costly breakwater to form a harbor of
refuge. The benefit to commerce from these
improvements was perhaps one hundredth
of what would be gained by a canal from
the Ohio river to the lakes, but Cleveland
confidently demanded and secured the ex
penditure of Government funds. Phila
delphia has had the benefit of similar ex
penditures on a larger scale, and is demand
ing even more. It is now proposed that the
Government shall dig up and carry away
bodily an island for the especial
benefit of Philadelphia, which has
already a navigable channel. If Pittsburg,
Cincinnati, New York, Baltimore and other
cities had joined in opposing, through their
representatives in Congress, these expendi
tures for the benefit of Cleveland and Phila
delphia, would not our esteemed cotempora
ries have been right in thinking it a petty
display of local jealousy?
There are few projects for the improve
ment of navigation that are more truly of
national scope than the extension of the
navigation of the lakes to Western Pennsyl
vania and the headwaters of the Ohio. The
benefit of cheapening the cost of bringing
the oars of Lake Superior to the fuel and
manufacturing establishments of this sec
tion will be felt all over the country. The
cheapening of the cost of taking the coal of
Western Pennsylvania to the Northwestern
lake cities will be a gain to the entire North
west. It is also a very narrow view to think that
because the ports will lose the actual hand
ling of coal and ore that they will suffer by
it, Thev will gain more by the general ex
pansion of business made possible by this
improvement than they will lose by the
handling or heavy and cheap freights.
Theysbonld not let such a short-sighted
idea betray them into jealousy of a project of
national dimensions.
COLLEGES AND DISSIPATION.
Prof. Goldwin Smith, in studying the case
of Birchall, recently executed for murderin
Canada, draws the following conclusion:
"That no boy should be sent to college who
does not showa decided inclination to study,
is a lesson which Birchall preaches to us
from a felon's grave."
The New York .Sun declares this to be "an
absolute non-sequitur, from his own premises
and apart from these premises is absurd."
It supports this position by pointing out
the practical certainty that if Birchall had
been made a machinist, an invoice clerk, an
artist or an articled clerk to an attorney-at-law,
he would have been just as likely to
have learned drinking and gambling as at
college. In taking this view the Sun
misses the point presented by Prof. Smith.
A college education is but a method of in
tellectual training. If all the time spent at
college is used in the education of drinking,
gambling and horse-racing it is worse than
wasted. On the other hand, the machinist,
shipping clerk or farmer is of some dis
tinct use to the world. He is a unit iu the
great mass of productive workers, and
will do some good, even though his leisure
moments are given to dissipation.
There is every reason to believe that if
Birchall had been made a machinist or ship
ping clerk he would have been a dissipated
and discreditable productive unit; but in his
interval of sobriety he would, perforce of his
occupation, have done some useful and honest
work. On the other hand, his college career
not only defeated the legitimate purpose of
collegiate training, but left him wholly un
fitted for honest work of any kind, and
turned him adrift only qualified to be a use
less member of society with the resort to dis
honesty as the only means ot getting a living
suited to his acquired tastes. In this view
their is considerable force and logic, in Prof.
Goldwin Smith's conclusion, that unless a
boy has an inclination to study, which will
make his collegiate course of some use to
bim, it will be worse than wasted time to
send him to college.
Bat both Prof. Smith and the Sun seem
to miss one pregnant point iu this connec
tion. That is the responsibility of those
colleges which permit the influences of dis
sipation and vice to flourish about them, so
that there is a greater certainty that the
careless or inexperienced youth will get a
thorough training In gambling and drink
ing than in trigonometry, moral philosophy
or rhetoric It is true that the youth will
be exposed to those temptations eleswhere,
for which there may be a greater or less re
sponsibility. But the responsibility for
such temptations in active life is of very
different degree than that of an institution
which holds itself out as a place for the
training of young men, and permits in
fluences to exist which makes them places
of training in vice. This is a characteristic
of most fashionable colleges, both in England
and this country. It is true that the faculty
of such colleges do not approve of drinking
or other vicious amusements, but their
practise ot treating those things as venal
outbreaks of the youthful spirits, to be
salved over by such wholly inadequate
punishments as suspension or ratification,
is little better. To obtain (he patronage of
the wealthy, too many colleges treat the dis
sipations of the gilded youth with a lenience
that practically results in making their in
stitutions a place where vice is taught with
more practical success than morality.
No college faculty with any exalted ideal
of its mission will permit its purpose to be
so thoroughly defeated. If a college cannot
train its students to sobriety and usefulness,
it will do far better to close its doors than to
continue to permit the work of education.
MISERS AND MANIPULATORS.
A very remarkable case has recently come
to light in Chicago, of a man who has just
been committed to jail as a vagrant and pro
fessional mendicant and is worth three
quarters of a million dollars. The man has
been known as a professional beggar for
years, living in rags and on scraps and
crusts, while heaping up Wealth in land,
stocks and bonds, which amounts to a liberal
fortune.
The picture which is thus authenticated of
human greed is a striking one and can he
appreciated by the vast mass ot mankind.
That anyone who is possessed of wealth, the
income of which would enable him to live
in a way surpassing his wildest dreams of
luxury, should pre er to continue his miser
able way of life, and to importune tbe pub
lic for alms, will be recognized by everyone
as a startling exhibition of the greed which
sinks every consideration alike of honor,
decency, or even individual pleasure, in the
sole object of amassing useless riches. It is
probable that if the case of tbe Chicago
miser were philosophically investigated, it
would be fonnd that he pursues his miser
able occupation because he has become so
accustomed to it that be could not be happy
in any other circumstances, and that his
greed for greater wealth, to be attained by
the method of begging, is more a habit of
mind than anything else.
The recognition of the mental habit which
can perceive nothing to be gained in life
except the constant augmentation of already
excessive riches, brings in the fact that there
are other and even more injurious examples
though not so easily recognized by the
majority of people of the same evil in the
persons of some of the powers of the finan
cial world. Every one can see in the man
who prefers to wear rags and wheedle people
out of small sums on the streets rather than
enjoy the comforts of large fortune, a sur
prisingand unnaturi.1 exhibition of greed.
But if we divest ourselves of prejudice, we
may see in the men who with far greater
fortunes devote themselves to the work of
swelling their riches by methods of more
positive chicanery and fraud, an exhi
bition of tbe same vice in a more aggravated
and injurious form.
At the worst a wealthy beggar is little
more than a nuisance and petty fraud. He
swindles no one out of any such amount as
can seriously injure his victim, and his ex
ample is not likely to attract many imi
tators. But the millionaire ten or twenty
times as wealthy, who by juggling with the
money and stock markets, succeeds iu
acquiring the corporate property of
others at half its true .value, or by
stock-watering and false dividends
palms off securities at double their honest
worth, or by means of combinations, or cor
porate favoritism, swells his millions at the
cost of the masses, obtains the money of oth
ers in large amounts by more discreditable
methods, and holds up the example of suc
cessful chicanery to demoralize business
generally. Between this Chicago miser and
the men who rule the financial world by
wealth which is the concrete result of viola
tions alike of statute enactments and natural
law, the worshiper of Mammon in rags is
the less injurious, and those in broadcloth
are the most startling examples of consum
ing greed for the increase of wealth already
beyond tbe dreams of avarice.
Of course, in the one case as in the other,
this phenomenon can be explained by the
mental habit which has devoted itself ex
clusively to tbe acquisition of wealth so
long that it can only abandon that pursuit
with death. But since the law very prop
erly interferes with the three-quarters mil
lionaire who tries to enhance his wealth by
the fraudulent assumption of poverty, is it
not also its province to try to place some
check on the fifty or hundred times million
aires who undertake to swell their eggregious
riches by more wholesale and more injur
ious methods of chicanery?
THE JAIL-BREAKING EPIDE3ITC.
Jail-breaking is becoming epidemic. A
batch of prisoners escaped from the Somer
set county jail last night, the Nicely mur
derers among them. If this sort of thing
keeps up the murderers at large will out
number the murderers who prefer
to serve out their short sentences. The
Somerset jail delivery seems to have
been neatly managed, and if a stronger
rope had been used the peaceful slumbers of
the vigilant jailer would not have been dis
turbed. In, tbe course ot time no doubt
murderers and other victims of our harsh
laws will be saved the trouble of escaping
from jail, for it will occur to the intelligent
juryman that it is a mere waste of his valu
able time to bring in a verdict of guilty.
Till the happy day of perfect immunity
from the consequences of crime shall arrive
we trust that prisoners will put up with ex
isting facilities for escaping from jail.
Baltimore now comes forward with a
police count which shows five per cent more
population than the census enumeration. The
American of that city strikes for a record in
the field of logic by asserting that this proves
the correctness of tbe Federal census, bnt at
the same time asserting its belief that the real
population of Baltimore is 5,000 in excess of
either count. Pittsburg is likely to attain an
exceptional reputation as the one city of tbe
land which is contented to sit down and accept
a population ten per cent less than it is en
titled to.
Attobneys who commit felonious shoot
ing tinder the influence of liquor had better
leave liquor religiously alone. This is the ob
vious moral of tbe sentence yesterday ot one
of tbe profession to a year's imprisonment for
that highly unprofessional proceeding.
The chiet of the engineer corps presents
in his report to tbe Secreury of War an esti
mate of $3,000,000 for coast defenses. As this is
lust on per cent on Senator Dolph's plan of an
expenditure of $300,000,000 for the same purpose
the public will regitrd it asavery light estimate.
Is it possible that the late political events will
exercise a similarly stringent effect on all the
plans for ioimense expenditure?
Cincinnati Councils have earned a
record by laying a resolution embodying the
Ten Commandments on the table. Ingalls tried
to rule the same resolutions entirely out of
politics, but the people of Kansas seem to have
laid him on the table instead.
Mk. Charles Francis Adams' st. Je
ment that be retires from the Union Pacific on
account of "a mutual lack of confidence"
tween himself and tbe majority stockholders,
is an epigrammatic statement of pregnantfact.
Perhaps it would have been just as well if tbe
mutual lack of confidence bad begun before
Mr. Adams first covered the Gould crowd with
the cloak of his respectability.
The proposition to pay City Couucilmen
1,000 annual salary has reappeared in Phila.
delphia. In the caso of some kindsof Philadel
phia Councilmen it wonld bo a better Invest
ment to pay them $1,000 a year to stay ont of
Councils.
TnE talk of smoke consumers in connec
tion with tbo return to coal in the mills is per
tinent, if we are to regard the use of coal as
permanent. But now that the economy and
superiority of fuel gas has been thoroughly
learned by experience, why should not mills
and bouses bo alike supplied by the cheap
manufactured variety.
England's politics are getting turned
upside down with a good deal more energy
than was dsne in the late political landslide of
this happy land.
Congressman J. D. Taxlor's idea of
providing that a "Congressional district shall
not have more than three or four thousand
majority either way will not be complete nnlnss
it includes some means of pnnishine the obiti
nate voters who insist on runuing the majority
up above 5,000.
The effect of a general thanksgiving
seems to have been favorable in prodncing
some weather that we can giv& thanks for.
The prospective Senator from South
Carolina bears the unornamental name of
Colonel Toby. This seems a falling off so far as
the name is concerned, from the aristocratic
one of Hampton, bnt as Senator Hampton's
name is Dennis, things appear more even.
PERSONAL MENTION.
Sidney Cooper, the famonsBritish pair'er
is now S7 years old. He still possesses excel
lent health iind gives five or six hours a day to
painting. He sleeps 9 boars out ot the 21 and
lives abstemiously.
Sejtatob-elect Gordon, at the battle of
Seven Pines, received three bullet wounds, and
at Antietam he got two bullets in the leg, one
in tbe arm, one in tbe shonlder and one in the
right cheek. He also had a horse killed under
bim, the butt of his pistol smashed, his can
teen pierced and his coat torn with bullets.
Helen Xeaii Reed's translation of the
twenty-ninth ode of Horace, as published in
this month's Scribner's, has secured for her
the Sargent prize offered by Harvard Uni
versity this year. She had 16 male competitors
for the honor, but easily won the laurels by her
most graceful translation of a bit of very diffi
cult Latin verso.
McCltjsC), of Yale, the hero ot the football
game at Eastern Park, is a striking figure. No
one who saw him in that contest will ever for
get him. He is short and stocky in build, and
his sharp-featured little face, surmounted by a
rough shock of long black hair, his prominent
nose and twinkling black eyes, givo him tbe ap
pearance of a wild Comanche Indian on tlio
warpath whsn he once gets into the heat of tho
battle.
Mb. NilOhai, one of tho typical London
war correspondents introduced by Rndyard
Kipling in bis first continued novel, "The Light
that Failed," now being published in The Dis
patch, is easily identified as Charles Williams,
of the Standai d, Nilghai is always talking of
tbe Balkans, and Dick (the hero) asks luro
''Well, how are tbe Balkans and all the little
Balkans I" Charles Williams has the same pe
culiarity. "I notice." said an English Gladstonian now
in New York, "that people here speak of 'the
short remi an! of Gladstone's life.' But when
I saw Gladstone last summer he looked as
though he bad the stuff in bm for ten years of
work yet, and ho can do m re business at this
time than most men who have not lived half his
years. I would not be surprised if the tree
chopper cf Hawarden should be a leader in im
perial politics till the close of tbe nineteenth
century."
SrEAKiNQ of Birchall, the murderer, Prof.
Goodwin Smith says: "Had he, instead of be
ing sent to college, been kept steadily at work
at some useful calling, be might have gone de
cently and perhaps creditably through the
world. Sending him to college, where, having
no literary tastes, he was sure not to study,
and where, being idle, bo was sure also to be
dissipated, was a mistake which sealed his
doom. That no boy should be sent to college
who does not show a decided inclination to
stndy is a lesson which Birchall preached to us
from a felon's grave."
WOODCHTJCK3NG.
S. W. Foss in 1'ankee Blade.
I haTe chased fugacious woodchncks over many
leagues of land.
But at last they've always vanished in a round
hole in the sand:
And though I've been woodchucklng many times
upou my soul
1 have never bagged my woodchuck for he always
found his bole.
But 'tis fun to go wood;hucklng when a fellow is
a boy.
When all muscular exertion is exhilarating Joy.
Though you can't get near the woodchuck so's to
touch him with a pole,
And the evanescent rascal always slides Into his
hole.
How I chased the panting fugitive and raised the
battle-cry.
With a vision right before :r.e of a chunk of
woodchuck pie:
"With a vision right before me of this culinary
goal.
Did I reach to grab my woodchuck and he van
ished in bis hole.
And I often go woodohucklng I have chased him
here and there
That lank, fugacious woodchuck, like a long
streak through the air;
For the projects I have followed, as I neared the
eager goal.
Have made themselves invisible, and vanished In
their hole.
I have chased my hot ambitions through the
meadow, white with flowers.
Chased them through the clover blossoms, chased
them through the orchard bowers.
Chased them through tbe old scrub pastures, till
with weariness of soul,
1 at last have seen them vanish, like a woodchuck
in bis bole.
But there's fun in chasing woodchncks, and I'll
chase the vision still.
Hit leads ine through the dark pine woods, and
up the stony hill;
There's a glorious expectation, that still lingers
in my soul.
That some dtyl'll catch that woodchuck, ere he
slides into bis bole. I
The Ninth, Tear Vacation.
From the Boston Herald. J
The proposition to allow our public school
teachers, after every ninth year of service, a
leave of absence for one year on half-pay, is
very generous, indeed. How wonld it work in
all the departments of tho city government
where equally hard work is performed?
DEATHS OP A DAY.
John Wesley Thompson.
Mr. John Wesley Thompson, a former resident
of this city, died on Thanksgiving Darin Glou
cester City, N. J. Mr. Thompson was for a num
ber of years before the war in the hat business
with the Paulson Brothers, of Wood street, and
afterward in the same business In Johnstown. He
served In the Union Armvand was honorably dis
charged. Of late years he has been in business in
New Jersey. The deceased was 85 years or age
and leaves two children, Dr. Charles W. and Miss
LlzzIeThompson, ofMeadvllle, Pa. He married
Miss Letlta Taylor, ofGreensburg, who died some
years ago. Mr. Thompson was a brother of tbe
late Moses Thompson,- a well-known local news
paper man.
MURRAY'S MUSINGS,
How Red Jacket's Spirit Got 810,000
From Wealthy Widow Hurler A His
torical Society's Dilemma Honesty in
Busy Gotham Brides at the Statue.
.FROM A STAFF COBRXSFONDEXT. J
TlfDEX Madame Diss-DeBar was brought to
book legallv for swindling Lawyer Marsh
by means of spirit pictures, etc., it seemed to
the Intelligent public almost incredible that an
otherwise shrewd man and a level-headed
lawyer could be so easily imposed upon.
Nothing shore of a legal process of reasoning
could convince Marsh himself of the fact.
That process was resorted to by his friends
not by the dupe and but for their concerted
action Madame DeBar, the medium, would now
be Intrenched in tbe Marsh mansion with her
alleged husband swindling other fools instead
of being a hunted outcast in a forclen land.
Tho recent contribution of 10,000 by a
wealthy widow named Huyler for tbe purpose
of a monument to Red Jacket, at Buffalo, will,
upon inquiry, turn out to be just anotber such
a case. Spiritualists are naturally delighted
over tho discovery that tbo Widow Huyler
owns tbe influence of the spirit ot the great
Indian chief. Red Jacket, as the cause of her
liberality in this matter. It is a pretty rare
thing nowadays for spiritual mediums to suc
cessfully strike anybody for a largo amount of
money. When tbey leam that tho Widow
Huvler is quite rich and can well afford other
disbursements of this kind there will be a gen
eral rush to got possession of her person. Mrs.
Huyler at present lives at the Victoria Hotel
in a stylo becoming a woman whoso husband
left her a large fortune made out of patent
medicines. It is said that sho has a private
medium who acts as her guide, counselor and
friend, as Madanio Diss-DeBar acted for
Liwyer Marsh. In common parlance the
Huvler g., c and f. has1 a soft snap. This
wealthy pigeon is likely to be plucked of every
feather, unless she has some sensible and ener
getically persistent friends who will interfere
with lecal proceedings to protect her.
One of the most curious features ol this affair
is the position of the Buffalo Historical Society,
which has in charge the monument scheme.
This society has already made a move looking
to the early erection of a monument over the
bones of the famous old Indian warrior, and it
is said some money bas been contributed for
tbe purpose. The society is in no sense ot a
spiritualistic turn, but is a plain, practical, pa
triotic body, of the earth carthv. The society,
however, wants a monument to Red Jacket and
wants money to build it. Its breath was fairly
knocked out by this unexpected oiler. Upon
recovering it probably conclnded that it
wouldn't pay to "look a gift horse in the
mouth." That the spirit of old Red Jacket
himself bad appeared to a rich lady and caused
her to open her purso and shell out $10,000 to
build this jnonument while the society was
"monkeying" around for funds, is not necessa
rily a reflection on tho historical crowd. It
only shows that Red Jacket is fully able to look
out for himself, though long since de
parted his existence. His spirit bas been
a little overworked, for one who is supposed
tt be enjoying the blessings of tho "happy
hunting grounds," as he Is In great demand in
the best "circles" and "seance'." He bas lone
hem regarded as a sort of patron saint by
spiritualists, and is en rapport with mediums
far and wide. It is no uncommon thingfor bim
to appear on important occasions in lull form
and feather fur the edification of believers, and
as he converses only in his native tongu e to
tbe inexpressible confusion of scorners and
scoffers. As these bodily appearances aremade
in various parts ot the world, sometimes on tbe
same evening, ho can't bo doing much bunting
where ho Is. Tins is the first time, according to
tbe record, that ho has "struck" anybody for
monev. The honor done tbe Widow Huvler,
therefore, is obviously great. And tbe Buffalo
Historical Society will be ungrateful. Indeed,
if it accepts tbis money and fails to record all
this upon tbe monument erected by it, so that
future generations may grasp at a glanco tbe
interesting facts in tbe case. .
They Make Their Own Bills.
tiATjELL, well I" exclaimed a Western friend
of mine the other day as we hurried
into an elovated car. "New York is ahead of
me! From what I've beard and read and per
sonally know, I was under tbe impression that
they'd steal the pennies off a dead nigger's
eye" here. I expected they'd try and hold me
up, bunko me, ur something- of that sort be
fore I'd been in town half a day. During the
first 24 hours I kept my eyes peeled for pick
pockets and sharks and counted my money
every time 1 went back to my hotel, just to see
whether it was all there. Now I've been here
a week, seen everything, been everywhere, met
the best kind of fellows and had a good time
and haven't met with a bad break yet. The
other day I was down town and went into a
crowded place to get a bite to eat. It was
parked. Everybody was grabbing sandwiches,
cakes and all sorts of truck and eating like
mad. The prices were stuck on 'cm, but nobody
paid attention to anybody else and nobodv was
on the watch to collect. At first I didn't know
what tf do, so I just did as I saw the rest do.
When I squeezed my way out I found a boy
grinding out tickets and calling "tenl" "twenty-fiver
"fifty!" and banding the chips to peo
ple. I asked him where I paid. He asked mo
what I had. When 1 told him be sang out
"thirty!" gave tho crank a turn and bandod me
a bit of pasteboard like a bar check and point
ed to a man behind the desk near the door. I
followed the rest and paid 30 cents for my
lunch. I bad eaten two ham sandwiches and a
big piece of pio and had drank two classes of
milk. Everybody grabbed and ate and drank
and came out naming his own bill. They be
lieve in each othor here. Why, if they did
business that way in my town the restaurant
would have to close up the first week.
"I "stopped to buy a paper iu front of mj
hotel on the corner. There were a lot of
papers on tbe little stand with stones and things
to hold tbem down. There were pennies and
nickels all over the papers and nothing to hold
tbem down. But there wasn't a soul there to
watch or take your money, that I could see. I
was in no hurry, so I waited a little to see tbe
newsboy. 1 s'posed he'd gone 'round the cor
ner, and as there were lots of people passing I
tbouehl I'd keep an eye on that money. But
nobody came. People just took whatever
paper they wanted and leit a penny or 2 cents,
crabbed a paper and went on. Some of them
left nickels and dimes, and picked up the
change with their paper and went right along
like a bouse a fire. Then I went up and took a
paper and left a penny, though I expected
somebody would rush out and collar me. I
found it's a regular thing and that it's a way
they have here. Life seems to be too short to
be watching people and banding over and tak
ing money on tbe nail, and tbey let this sort of
business run itself. It beats me! Tbey couldn't
do that in my town. No, sir! It wouldn't
work."
w
Prayer Book and Pocket Book.
"THE average New York lady goes through
life serenely, with a prayer book in one
hand and a pocket book in the other. The
pocket book is usually in her right hand;
Brides at tho Statue.
TP A newly-wedded couple on the regulation
tour ever misses anytbing about New York
it is certainly not the Bartholdi statue. Scarcely
a boat leaves the barge office at tbe Battery
but what carries from two to half a dozen
couples who can be identified as recently made
brides and bridegrooms. That "second day"
dress would give a bride away anywhere, with
out even the self-consciousness of the more or
less awkward groom, whose chief business in
life at this stage is to get as closely as possible
to it without treading on it. But it would be
just as Impossible to escape notice though the
matter of dress were out of tbe question. Sev
eral hundred emigrants, lreshly landed and
waiting around the Darge office for heaven
only knows what, strain their foreign eyes
almost out of their sockets as the bridal couples
pick their way through the crowd, arm in arm,
on the way to tbe boat. The sailors at the
stairs, lying by for their officers' return, give an
extra bitch to their loose trousers and wink at
each otber in a tantalizing manner.
Bless you tbey know 'em just as well as if
they bad been to the wedding and bad a piece of
tbe bride's cake in their hammocks tbis minute.
And tbe roustabouts at tbe narrow rail-guarded
cang plank of the "Liberty Route" boat well
tbey see the same melting scene daily and
hourly, from January to January you couldn't
expect them to fall oil the dock with astonish
ment or admiration. They have become ex
perts, as it were, and can tell to a day just how
long each couple has been united in the matri
monial bonds. There are little signs, too, which
indicate whether tbe man bas married tbe
woman or the woman has married the man
which is the head of the family. For instance,
if tbe bride step boldly ahead down the plank
leaving hubby to follow as he niay.it means
that she is eoing to run things. The same
woman will have her own way in tbe little
cabin. She selects the part of tho boat, paws
over tbe souvenirs and lets hubby pay for tbem.
She orders dinner at the little restaurant on
tho Island, and knows just what is good and
what is horrid. The contemptuous glances she
bestows upou tbe soft little kittenish bride
over in tbe corner, who looks as if she would
f atn crawl under the lappels ot her stalwart
husband's overcoat, are amusing as well as in
structive. The latter is a familiar type of bride
and somehow catches tbe admiration of the
male sex In exactly the proportion in which
she forfeits tbe respect of her own. She
seeks tbe far corners where she can
have hubby all to herself. When
she talks to bim she seems to purr. Sho does
this so closely In his ear that every now and
tben he threatens to kiss her. And she laugh
ingly dares him to do ir. thougb shrinking, half
in fear that be may. Yet he never gets far
enough away at any moment that she can't rest
her hand on him, and she bas that hand on
hitn-somewhere, somehow, caressingly all the
time. . . ,
There are other couples who come aboard
apparently weary even of each other's com
pany. Yet they have been traveling, and sight
seeing, theater going, etc.. day and niebt.
They don't even look out of the cabin windows
at the panorama of sblpning in New York Bay.
They simply sit around and gravely watch the
rest and occasionally converse in a bored way.
The bride yawns and hubby gets up and goes
forward with a cigar and looks away down tbe
Narrows and thinks. As soon as he has gone
she cets up and sits down again and sighs. He
is probably thinking of his business and she of
her home.
Then there is the jolly ra!ddle-aced couple
who knows a thing or two. Widow and
widower, you conld almoBt swear. And she is
so tickled at being married again she could
dance a hornpipe right here before tbe whole
crowd. The happily married are not by aiiy
means the least interesting of tbe bridal tide
that ebbs and flows between the Battery and
Bartholdi Statue of Liberty. You can see all
of tbis any day almost any trip. The most
common and constant pilgrims at Liberty's
shrine are those who have just surrendered
their own liberty. CHARLES T. MuERAT.
New York, November 2J.
THE G2EAT REDWOOD TEEE.
Curious Particulars as to This Remarkable
World's Fair Exhibit.
From the Illustrated News of the World.l
Van Doorman's great redwood tree for ex
hibition at tbe World's Fair has arrived at San
Francisco from Portcrville. Three cars were
required to haul tbe exhibit to the city, as it
weighs 70,000 pounds. It will bo exhibited at
the Mechanics' Fair prior to being shipped to
Chicago.
The section of the tree was taken from Mam
moth Forest, in Tulare county, California. It
was cut from a forest giant 312 feet in height
growing at an enormous altitude, and was
severed from tbe trunk 23 feet above tho stump,
at which point the tree measured 60 feet in cir
cumference. The tree was larger at the stump,
but a section from the base could not be cut
for the purpose of transportation, for the sim
ple reason that a solid cut was taken of 20 feet
diametrically, and 9 feet in height, and that
was the maximum of the railway freight limit
on flat cars.
Tbe entire piece of wood consists of 16 sec
tions, as follows: The lower section is 1 foot in
height by 20 feet in diameter, all in one solid
cut. weighing 19.723 pounds. This will be ar
ranged as a floor, placed on nine elegantly
carved and enormous pedestals made of tbe
wood of the same tree- Tbe next cut is 7 feet
in height by 20 feet in diamctor. which is hol
lowed out and will be placed on the floor cut.
The last and final cut is one foot high, and
similar in every resnect to the floor cut. The
whole of this remarkable curiosity will form a
sort of a hall, and will accommodate 100 people,
and will be entered by a swinging door made
out of one of the portions of the second section.
Two hundred and fifty Incandescent lights will
illuminate the section inside and out, and a
number of wood carvers bave been engaged to
manufactnre souvenirs for distribution among
the visitors.
WHXAED AND DEPEW EACE.
One and Then the Other of These Promi
nent Men Lead in a Sprint.
E. S. Willard is rather a unique figure
among tho men wbo are talked about in New
York. He is nearly 6 feet high, with a clean
cut profile, plenty of color, aud hair that Is
turning gray. He is an indefatigable walker,
and on'pleasant weather be regulaily reels oil
10 or 12 miles a day.
A few days since, says Blakely Hall in tho
Brooklyn Eagle, he was walking up Fifth ave
nue at a smart pace when a stoutly built man
came around the corner of Thirty-ninth street
and fell in behind him. The stouter of the two
men was Cbauncey M. Depew, who is, by tbe
way, quite a3 enthusiastic on tbe question of
physical exercise as Mr. Willard. After they
had held their relative positions for a block
Mr. Depew put on a spurt and passed Willard
with ease. For another block or two tbey were
only separated by a yarrLand tben Mr. Willard,
yielding to some subtle promptings to lead, tri
umphantly passed tbe greatest of America's
aftei dinner speakers. Before tbey reached the
Windsor, however, though a trifle flushed, Mr.
Depew forged ahead again and disappeared
into the hotel.
The men were evidently not known to one an
other and their race was an unconscious one.
They were strongly immersed in their own
thoughts and walking bard and fast. Tbe
driver of a lumbering old stage kept along be
side tbe two distinguished walkers tbe whole
distance, and tbe passengers were considerably
amused at the sight of tbe two very well
dressed and dignified looking men plowing up
Fifth avenue as though their lives depended on
winning a race.
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.
Evidence That English is to he the Tongue
of Earth's Millions.
The widest spoken tongue, says Spare
Moments, is unquestionably English. More
than a third of the whole human race is under
tbe direct influence of the English-speaking
people, whose language is native and dominant
throughout an area of more than 10,000,000
square miles more than a fifth of tbe whole
habitable globe. In the iTnlted Kingdom, in
the United States, in British America, in
Jamaica, and' numerous other West India
islands, in South Africa nearly up to the Zam
besi, in Australia, in Tasmania, in New Zea
land, in the isles of tho Pacific, English bas be
come the mother tongue of the millions. It is,
moreover, the official tongue of India, where
the knowledge of it is dally spreading among
the 260.000,000. It is tho language of the inter
national commerce ot China and Japan, and
the language, also, of the high seas, being
spoken in every maritime port on eartb. It has
tbe greatest literature, and more than half of
the entire world's newspaner press is printed in
it. Yet in Shakespeare's time English was
confined to three Kingdoms, and spoken only
by 5,000,000 folk.
A CHILD LOST AND FOUND.
A Fonr-Year-Old Child in the Woods of
Oregon a Night and a Day.
From the Portland Oregoman.J
A little child about 4 years old, daughter
of Joseph Spencer, of La Grande, was lost in
the mountains Saturday evening and remained
out in the woods all night and until late Sun
day evening. The parents were visiting friends
wbo live out in tbe mountains south of La
Grande, and some of tbe men went out to look
at tbe timber and the child followed un
known to tbem, while tbe mother presumed it
had been taken along.
When Its absence was discovered, search was
made and contmned all night, and the next
dav an army of eager hunters searched the
hills without avail until late in the evening,
when the little one was discovered standing
quietly under a tree. It at once asked for some
thing to eat, and seemed not the least fright
ened. THE GBAND STAND DISASTER.
NEWYdRK Press: Tbe Brooklyn disaster
should result in the punishment of all those
who were guilty of putting up the faulty -stand
or of allowing it to be put up. But it is an un
solved conundrum whether or not any such re
sult will be attained.
New York Times: We trust that some of
the persons injured will see if there is not in
the law some means of punisbing what was
certainly a most reckless and outrageous piece
of bnslness. That is the only way in which
security can be got for like occasions.
Philadelphia Press: The expressed pur
pose to investigate the giving way of one of the
stands at the football game in Eastern Park, in
Brooklyn, Thanksgiving Day, when abont 50
people were injured, should be carried out to
the letter, and the blame placed where it be
longs. NEW York Herald: Meanwhile what con
cerns tbe public is how far tbe officials of tbe
Brooklyn Department of Buildings are respon
sible for tbe accident. It is to tbe vigilance
and competency of such officials tbat amuse
ment seekers must trust for personal safety in
cases of tbis kind.
New York Star: An awakened public sen
timent will demand that decisive steps be
taken to secure the immunity of the public
from the possibility of another such accident
that might easily be more disastrous than this
one was. There must be conditions precedent
of permits for such' structures that will insure
then absolute security.
Philadelphia Inquirer: They ought to
bo invariably subjected, as they are in some of
the large cities, to rigid and regular inspec
tion, not only by tbe owners but by some disin
terested person acting by legal authority. Es
pecially should every stand be tboroughly over
hauled and made safe before tbe opening of the
season of outdoor amusements.
New York Journal: The inquiry since the
accident bas brought out the singular fact tbat
inspectors are never sent to the park to test
stands unless tbe contractors send notice tbat
such stands have been put up. This ought to
be remedied at once. It leaves the lives of
hundreds at the mercy ot any careless or Incon
siderate person who may wish to rent stands at
games.
THE TOPICAL TALKER.
The Cipher Counted.
AT the organ recital in Carnegie Hall yester
day just as Leonard Wales was striking
the final chord in tbe overture to Suppe's "Poet
and Peasant" tbe last pedal note stuck. The
result was that though Mr. Wales ceased play
ing the B flat pipe, tbe connection with which
had stuck, went ou bellowing with the
enthusiasm of a young bull of Ba
sban, to the organist's embarrassment
and tbe amjzement of the audience. Tbe
very excellence of the organ's hydraulic
blower contributed to the disturbance, which
could have been stopped at once had tbe usual
small boy been at the bellows. Tbe organ con
tinued to cipher, as tbe musicians call tbis au
tomatic sounding, and Mr. Wales began to
figure also bow to stop the racket. He conld
play nothing of course till tbe B flat pipe should
be squelched.
Tho advantage of knowing something of the
mecbauical part of tbe organ tben became ap
parent. Mr. Wales took a lighted caudle and a
long screw driver and plunged into the organ's
interior. He poked around tbe B flat's larynx
for a minute or two and still tbe deep resonant
note sounded. Then ho made another dive and
succeeded in loosening the square block of the
pipe which bad caused all the trouble, and the
roar died away in a remorseful wheeze.
A Tiny Critic Confounded.
T ittle Margery, of the mature ago of five,
has been keeping tbe closest watch upon a
baby boy visitor all the week. The first night
at dinner, after her grandmother had asked a
blessing, Margery said sternly, pointing to the
baby: "Ho didn't bow down bis head!"
"How did you see that?" was au elder sister's
discouraging question. Margery's critical
spirit was crushed.
Too Much Experience.
"TTie breakfasts had been bad for a week, the
dinners worse, and in fact nothing fit to
eat had come to table since the new girl's arri
val in tbe kitchen. Tbe lady of the bouse was
deputed as a committee of one to inquire into
tbe administration of tho culinary department,
aud after the steak had shown up at breakfast
as dry as a chunk of wood with a sprinkling of
cinders over it, she started on her perilous un
dertaking. "Julia," she said timidly to the regal being
towering above the range; "Julia, you've been
here a week and we can't eat anything you
cook. You say you've bad plenty of experi
ence as a cook, wonld you mind telling me
where?"
"Sure an' I will, ma'am. I used to cook for
an Eyetalian boarding house!"
A Honeymoon Alone.
W1
edding tours are expensive affairs. It
sounds like treason, but the honeymoon
usually costs a good deal more than it is worth.
A young Pittsburger who fell into matrimony
the other day bit upon a novel plan to reduce
tho expenses of the wedding trip. His bride-to-be
and he before tbe wedding day came
around talked as most youog lovers do of all
the places tbey would visit during the honey
moon. They drew up a new itinerary every
evemngand altered it the next night as others
in the same delightful state of imbecility have
done.
But as the fateful day drew near the young
man fell to counting his pile, and estimating
bow much it would cost to go to Niagara Falls,
and to New York City, and the rest of tbe
places that had figured in love's youn: dream.
Then he footed up the cost of furnishing a
little home, and no matter how he tried to keep
tbe figures down, paring off a dollar or two
from a table here, and a carpet there, and
economizing on plates and other prosaic things
which lovers very seldom think of at all till
the collector rings the bell and will not go
away without tbat little amount no matter
bow he clipped and lopped and pinched,
tbe total expenditure for honeymoon and
tbe home at tbe end of it covered all tbe assets,
and lapped over into the bargain. This wonld
never do, he thought aud tben be went on
thinking. The boldest fact of all that stared
him in the face was tbe cruel indifference of
the railroad companies and hotel proprietors to
tbe needs of tbe newly married. Though a
minister or a magistrate declare two people to
be one, tbe railroads and the hotels insist upon
charging for two. Contemplation of this cruel
condition led tbe bridegroom-to-be to a solution
of tbe problem.
When next be visited his beloved he spread
tbe minutes of his self-communion before her
and boldly suggested that she should take tbe
tour they bad planned alone, while he re
mained behind to prepare the home. She de
murred at first warmly. But he persisted that
she needed tbe chango of air and scene she
was a hardworking girl that ho did not. She
bad set her heart upon the trip and she should
have it. At last she gave in. Tbey were mar
ried and sho went to Niagara and the other
plocs alone.
Tbey belonged to a 3phere where Mrs.Gr undy
is not a power, and very few ot their friends to
this day know tbe unique character ot their
honeymoon. It actually occurred as has been
told in Pittsburg, too, and not a great while
ago, cither.
Only a Hand's Breadth.
A map showing Mercator's project of the
world a chart that has puzzled thousands
ot little brains wrestling with the idea of the
world's rotundity bung upon tbe wall, and the
school teacher was showing the babes before
her where the different parts of the earth lay.
"Here you see," she said, touching the pale
yellow continent with her finger, "is Africa, the
dark continent, where the cannibals are; and
here's Europe all this and here's Germany''
"Oh! I know Germany." broke in flaxen-
haired Lucy, "that's where our Katie comes
from. My! ain't she near being a canniDalf"
Might Have Been a Drygoods Store,
uf AH I see well from there." said tho nice
old lady with the silk mils, as she laid a
finger on the box sheet and looked over her
spectacles at tbe ticket seller.
"Yes, ma'am those are very good seats both
for seeing and hearing," said tbe young man.
"They're not as good as these over here?"
queried tbe old lady taking a leap with one
finger still to the other side of the house.
"Those are good seats, too, ma'am."
"Don't you think they're too far backf
"No, ma'am."
"Then thej'ro too close where are those
seats you showed me just now?-'
"Hero they are ma'am." said the young maD,
taking ont tbe coupons from the rack and be
ginning to put tbem into an envelope.
"No, I don't want them I think I like these
on this side only there's a pillar Just there,
isn't there?"
"No, ma'am, there's no pillar in that section
will you take those two?"
"No, I think not my daughter '11 be 'round
this afternoon and look at the plan, I don't
know what sbe wants," and the old lady ambled
amiably away, totally unconscious that she had
kept twenty men and women waiting for ten
minutes while she practiced "shopping" on the
ticket seller. Hepburn Johns.
WITH INDIAN HAEVESTEBS.
A Picturesque Account of Primitive Hus
bandry in California.
Harvestinc, with rude implements, was a
scene, writes General Bidwell in the December
Century. Imagine 300 or 4C0 wild Indians in a
grain field armed, some vith sickles, some with
butcher knives, some with pieces of hoop iron
roughly fashioned into shape like sickles, but
many having only their hands with which to
gather by small handf uls the dry and brir.e
grain; and as tbelr bands would soon beeome
sore, they resorted to dry willow sticks, which
were split to afford a sharper edge with which
to sever tbe straw.
But the wildest part was the threshing. Tbe
harvest of weeks, sometimes ot a month, was
piled up in tho straw in the form of a huge
mound in the middle of a high, strong, round
corral; tben 300 or 400 wild horses were turned
in to thresh it, the Indians whooping to make
them run faster. Suddenly ther would dash in
before the band at full speed, when the motion
became reversed, with the effect of plowing up
the trampled straw to the very bottom. In an
hour the grain wonld be thoroughly threshed
and the dry straw broken almost into chaff. In
this manner I have seen 2,000 bushels of wheat
threshed in a single hour. ...
Next came the winnowing which would often
take anotber month. It could only be done
when tbe wind was blowine. by throwing btzh
into the air shovelfuls of grain, strawand chaff,
tbe lighter materials being wafted to one side,
while the craln. comparatively clean, would
descend and form a heap by itself. In this
manner all the grain In California was cleaned.
At that g nosnch thine as a fa&sisz mill had
leaver been brought to this coast.
CURI0DS CONDENSATIONS.
There are seven American girls among
the students at Newnbam. Cambridge, En
gland. Millet's Angelas, which in sizi meas
ures 20x21$ inenes, sold at the rate of 263 St
per square inch.
At present England imports a million
lobsters annually from Norway, representing a
money value of 30,000.
In 1364 the royal library ot France did
not exceed 20 volumes. Shortly after Charles
V. it increased to 900.
The first stone of St. Paul's Cathedral
was laid at the northeast corner of the choir
215 years ago on June 20.
Melancthon-possessed in his library only
four- authors Plato, Pliny. Plutarch and
Ptolemy, the geographer.
The ostrich, the largest of birds, has
been not inaptly described as a feathered camel,
or tbe giraffe among birds.
Africa presents a unique field for the
geographical distribution of mammals. Out of
its total of 523 species 472 are peculiar to that
country.
The new hotel which Mr. William W.
Astor is building on tbe northeast corner ot
Fifty-ninth street and Fifth avenue will be 17
stories high.
A woman founded daily journalism.
Tbe first daily newspaper was the Daily Coup,
ant, established in London in 1702 by Elizabeth
Mallet, and edited by her.
At the beginning of the fourteenth cen
tury tbe library of Louis IX. contained only
four classical authors, and that of Oxford in
1300 consisted of a few tracts kept in chests."
The native troops in the Italian service
are not niggard over a little powder and shot.
In their last fight against Rivia, tbe son ot
Kauhbal. tbey fired 53.70U shots and killed
two menl
The value of manuscripts in the middle
ages suggested costly bindings for books that
consumed the labor of lives to copy, and deco
rate with ornamental letters or illustrative
paintings.
One of the most important discoveries
made in tbe West for a long time is tbat of tbe
onyx deposit near Prescott, Ari. It covers an
area of fully 80 acres and the strata range in
depth from a to 33 feet.
After the siege of Athens, Sylla dis
covered an entire library in the temple of
Apollo, which having carried to Borne, he ap-
Sears to nave oeen tne iounuer ot me nrss
Ionian public library,
The first public library in Italy was
founded by Nicholas Niccoll, tbe son ot a
merchant, who relinquished the beaten roads
of gain, and devoted his soul to study and his
fortune to assist student;.
Japan's literary welfare is looked after
by 475 newspapers, magazines, etc. Tokio alona
boasts of 16 daily newspapers. It Is imperative
tbat each officer of the Government should
subscribe to the Government organ JCwampo,
Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham,
and Chancellor of England so early as 1311,
perhaps raised the first private library in tbat
country. Among his purchases were 30 or 40
volumes of the Abbot ot St. Albans for 50
pounds' weight of sliver.
The height of the New York TTorW
building, from curb to highest point of roof, is
194 feet, and to the top of tbe tower is 309
feet. The top of tbe tower of Chicago's audi
torium is 270 teet. The Madison Square Gar
den tower, now building, will be 300 leet.
Probably the oldest house in the United
States is a decaying stone dwelling tbat stands
in Guilford, Conn. It was built in 1610 and is
still occupied. In Colonial times it did duty
occasionally as a fort and was a place of refuga
for settlers when King Philip was on the war
path. The Egyptian papyrus is au aquatic
plant, having a stem from 3 to 6 feet high. Its
soft, smooth flower stem afforded the most an
cient material from which paper was prepared.
Its flowering stems and leaves are twisted into
ropes, and tbe roots, which are sweet, are used
as food.
One of the Ptolemies refused supplying
the famished Athenians with wheat until they
presented him with the original manuscripts of
jEschylns, Sophocles and Euripides; and in re
turning copies of these autograohs. be allowed
them to retain the 15 talents which he had
pledged with them as a princely security.
Of gallinaceous fowls, adapted to the
poultry yard, Africa possesses but a single
genus, the guinea-hens, which, however, are
found in no other part ot tbe world. These
birds, ot which tbert are three or fonr distinct
species, go in large flocks of 400 or 500. and ara
most frequently found among underwood in
the vicinity of ponds and rivers.
Endless species of heaths are found la
Africa In great beauty, including, in tbe South
ern part, extensive miniature noods ot heaths,
where some varieties reach a height of 12 to 15
feet, and are covered throughout the greater
part ot tbe year with Innumerable flowers of
beautiful colors, the red being prevalent. Over
500 species have been discovered.
The clothes of Oliver Cromwell when a
baby are still to be seen at tho famous house of
Chequers, in Birminghamshire. They are
carefully cherished by the present owners.
The costly satin robe in which ha was christ
ened bas since been used for many ot bis
descendants, as well as for the babies of the
family tbat now owns Chequers. Six tiny
caps, scalloped round tbe edges and bound with
ribbon that is now yellow with age, form part
ol tbe collection.
A medical statistician who has lately
visited tbe United States discovered that
Americans ruin their teeth by indulging too
much in ices and iced drinks, and found alo
that the dentists use a large quantity of gold in
refurnishing the decayed molars. Ha reckons
that there is provided annually for tbi pur
pose in the United States no less than 100,000
worth of gold, and tbis leads him to tha
further calculation that in three centuries tha
cemeteries of tbis country will contain a quan
tity of tbe yellow metal equal in value to 35,
000,000. ATTIC SALT.
He (at llijjr. M. I declare, the lamp is
golnerout!
She Yes. The lamp seems to bave some Idea of
time. -Harper' Eaiar.
"I came here," said the youth to the Bos
ton girl, "for a little rest and peace ofmind."
"Ab!" said she. "You aDpear to have the piece
or mind: when do you expect to get the rest?"
Sea lorkSun.
"Aint they rather strange names for
dogs."
Not at alt. I've named tbem from their
literary susgestlveness. I call one Edwin Drood,
because bis tall is cut off'short, and the otber
Howells. ' 'FMladtlph la Timet,
Sanso I see by the papers that a great
many poor Italians mak e their fortunes in Amer
ica. I wonder how they manage it?
Kodd It Is quite simple. Thev come here and
work as laborers until they save $400 or 500, then
tbey so back to Italy and buy a title, and return
to Amerlc and marry an heiress. Harper
Bazar,
Beggar (to gentleman) "Can't you
give a poor man a penny?"
Gentleman "Have I't any change now. Will
be back this way soon."
Beggar "Ah, sir. it's giving credit to men like
you that keeps me poor." Spare Moments.
Boy of the Neighborhood Wot'a jet
name?
New Boy J lm Hodge. Wot's yonrn?
TomKadger. Got any big brothers?"
"No."
'rather and mother b'long to church?"
Ics; but I don't. I know wot yer a-drivta'
at. If ye want to fight I kin do ye up In two
minutes."
(Adapting himself to changed condition of
things) "Let's you an me go an lick Bob Bam
ham." Chicago Tribune.
Impossible to Buy It Mrs. Porkuplna
(of tho 'West)-Now, there is a charming imported
vase. I must buy it at any price.
Dealer It's a very fine piece; but it is of domes
tie manufacture and exceedingly cheap only f 10.
Mrs. Porkuplne Do you mean it?
Dealer Certainly, madam.
Mrs. Porkuplne What a shamel And so lovely I
American stationer.
Lamb's Gilt to tbo Burglar Lamb was
awakened early one Christmas morning by a noise
in his kitchen, and on going down to that apart
ment, found a burglar doing nls spoons up la a
bundle.
"Why d-do you s-s-st-t-teal" be asked.
Because I am starving," returned the house
breaker, sullenly.
"Are y-you re-re-really ver-very h-h-nnng
hung-gug-gery-hnngry?" asked Lamb.
"Very." replied the burglar, turning awsy.
U'up-pup-poor fuX-fur-fellow!" said the es
sajist. "H-here's a 1-I-Ieg of L-L-Lamb for
y-you."
Aud so laying, with a dexterous movement of
his right leg he ejected the marauder into the
street, and locking the door securely, went back
to bed. The burglar confessed afterward that he,
didn't see the Joke ftr six weeks. Carlyts Emit
fit Harper's Hagasins,
h
9