Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, January 04, 1891, THIRD PART, Page 17, Image 17

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THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH
-;
THIRD PART.
PAGES 17 TO 20.
HALLOWEDBT TIME
And Made Famous -by Associa
. tion With the Names of Men
Who Won Greatness.
HE KEYSTONE ' CAPITOL
Progress It Has Witnessed in Its
Life of Seven Decades.
A I'OARD WALK WITH A HISTORY.
The Founder of Harrisonrg and Its Host
Prominent Family.
TOIXTS OF IXTEEEST ABOUT THE PARK
IWBITTJ2C FOB TBI DItPATCn.l
HE Legislature of
Pennsylvania will
. assemble on Tues
day in the same
building -where
Legislatures have
I been meeting for
70 years. The
j' antiquated capitol
has housed some
)very lamous men
jlong since dead,
yet there is a pos
sibility of it con
tinuing to stand
as the nursery for
statesmen of the
future generations. There may be some
thing sjcred about the roof which once
covered the head of Thaddeus Stevens, or
ni.out the floor across which the Great Com
moner took his first strides toward fame,
bJl it is from no such sentiments that the
State permits the preservation of the old
building.
Pittsburg has her new three-million-dollar
court house. Philadelphia is still build
in K at her fifteen-million-dollar municipal
palace. Reading is putting the finishing
touches to a beautiful postoffice structure
that almost equals our own on Smithfield
street. But tiie cre.it State of Pennsylvania
lus nothing to oCer her legislators next
veek but that same old red brick capitol,
which may have cost, possibly, 5100, 000 to
build.
OLDER THASTHE LEGISLATORS.
This Cap itol building was erected when
James Mou roe was President oi the United
States. It was commenced in 1819, and wa8
S7 . 13
DOWN THE FAMOUS BOABDWALK.
first occupied on January 28, 1822. Pitts
burg was in her swaddling clothes then, and
Philadelphia's Quaker purity was yet un
sullied by progress. The Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Congresses were sitting and
Henry Clay was Speaker of the National
House of Representatives. With but one
exception, not a member of tbe present Al
legheny county delegation to Harrisburg
had yet been born. Hon. James L. Gra
ham, of Allegheny City, is the exception,
and he was only born in the same year work
on the Capitol was commenced 1819.
Two Governors of Pennsylvania got a
chance to watch the work on thib architect
ural venture. They were "William .Find
lay, a lawyer from Franklin county, and
Joseph Heister, a merchant from Bucks
countj. The first was elected Governor by
the Democrats, and the otber succeeded him
bv the votes ot the Federal party. As an
evidence of how the population and com
merce of the State have outgrown the Capi
tol building in proportions, the popular
i-CN
77t StaUr't KoldU,' Monument.
vite by which Findlay was then elected
Governor need onlv be compared with the
popular vote whe'n Paulson was elected
Governor in Npvcruber last.
A STOBT IN FIGURES.
The total vote cast in the State for Find
x lay and his opponent too was 125.614. In
i the late Gubernatorial campaign, J attison,
Delamatar the other candidates for
I 3
il
Go vera or polled a total vote of an odd me
lion. The wealth of the State was th n
only large enough to bring into the State
Treasury a few hundred thousand'of dollars
taxes. The valuation of personal property,
alone, in the various counties of the Com
monwealth, as designated by the Revenue
Commission of 1886 for State taxation, in
cluding mortgages, bonds, etc, was $390,
749,556, and it has increased largely since
then. So that the State is both big enough
and rich enough to afford a handsome new
Capitol building.
Although the building is old-fashioned it
has a most beautiful location and surround
ings. It stands in the center of a pretty
' "" n i i ii . i ja r i n
i THE CAPITOL
park, 10 or 15 acres in extent. This park is
on an eminence in the middle of Harrisburg.
The Capitol is 180 feet long and 80 feet wide,
with a circular Ionic dome. To the east of
the structure is a building of similar design,
containing the Department of Internal Af
fairs. On tbe west is another building ex
actly like it, used as the Executive De
partment, in which tbe Governor, Secretary
of the Commonwealth and State Treasurer
have their offices.
THE VIETV FEOJI THE DOME.
A commanding view is had from either
the dome of the Capitol or the front portico
between tbe massive pillars. To the north
ward is seen the picturesque gap, in which
the Susquehanna river cuts its way through
the Blue Mountains. Across the river lie
the fertile farms of Cumberland county. The
Susquehanna is a mile wide at Harrisburg,
and romantic looking island separates its
waters here.
' jFrom the steps of the Capitol, a wide
fmardwalk leads down among the tress to
Market street It is the way to the Lochiel
Hotel, and along this boardwalk more
famous men have walked than along any
sidewalk in Pennsylvania. Politicians,
from Simon Cameron and Bob Mackay
down to Matthew Stanley Quay, and states
men from James Buchanan and Thaddeus
Stevens down to William A. Wallace, and
LOOSING DOWN
Governors from old Simon Snyder down to
Robert E. Pattison, have trod this board
walk. During the biennial sessions of the
Legislature it fairly teems with life, and is
always thronged. In Capitol Park, is a
handsome monument, erected to the memory
of the soldiers of Pennsylvania who fell in,
the War of the Rebellion. It is surrounded
by a fence
MADE OP OLD AEMVBIFLES,
the bayonets of which lorm a pretty line of
pickets. Standing by the pillars on the
front portico of the Capitolr you look
straight down State street to the river. In
the center ot this street, at the corner of
Second street, tbere is a .massive obelisk,
erected to the honor of Dauphin county
soldiers in the late war. Tbe Capitol Park
also contains conservatories, fountains, etc
The one other charming attraction, in
Harrisburg is the boulevard or -promenade
along the river front. It is called Front
street. The thoroughfare Is lined with tbe
"handsome residences of tbe substantial
people ot tne town. Among them are the
stone mansion of tbe late General Simon
Cameron, the palatial borne 'of Wayne
""""" -- - . iii
McVeigh, and of Mrv MoCormick, the
millionaire. Between tbe houses and river
are several rows of stately trees, old as
Pennsylvania itself.
Harris Park is one of the prettiest
portions of this boulevard, The first
permanent white settlement on the site of
Harrisburg was by an Englishman named
John Harris, who in December, 1733, ob
tained from
THE PBOPBIETORS OF PENNSYLVANIA
a grant of 300 acres ot land near his resi
dence, and who then purchased from other
grantees COO acres adjoining.
He traded with the Indians, and his name
figures more or less in connection with
BUILDING.
traditions of roving Indians from Fort
Duquesne (Pittsburg). In 1753 tbe Penns
granted to his son, John Harris, Jr., the
right to establish a ferry over the Susque
hanna river, and tbe settlement was then
long known as Harris' Ferry.
A town was laid out in 1785, and it was
made the seat of justice for a new county
taken from Lancaster, and called Dauphin
after the French Crown Prince. The village
was called atone time Lonisbourg, in honor
of Louis XVI.. but in 1791 it was incor
porated as a borough under the name of
Harrisbnrg. It became the State capital in
1812. and received a city charter in 1860.
So that prior to the war the seat ot State
administration in Pennsylvania was a bor
ough only. Its growth since then has been
steady.
THE HOUSE OF CA2IEB0N. '
The name of Harris is linked with the
history of the State capital as a pioneer
only. Next tovhis name, that of the Cam
crons is perhaps most familiar in connec
tion with the name of the city. Old Simon
Cameron was born in the adjoining county
of Lancaster, and, after learning his trade as
a printer, moved to Harrisburg. In 1822
he edited a Democrati: newspaper there,
became the president of a bank and subse
quently of two railroads.
Throughout the long stretch of years since
then', until bis recent death, his patriarchal
head was a familiar sieht to tbe State Leg
islators every "session. He was alwaysgTad"
to receive Assemblymen at his mansion on
Fropt street, and he especially liked to
have young men call upon him. His po
litical reminiscence whiled many an hour
away during recesses of tbe House or
Senate when time hung heavily on tbe
hands of country members remaining over
in the city. L. E. Siofiel.
BEASTS LOVE TOBACCO.
Bears Delight in Smoke, and lions Take
Very Kindly to SnuO.
Chicago News.
Prof. Paul Meyerheim, the celebrated
animal painter, contribntes to a "sympo
sium" in a German publication devoted to
the tobacco trade-the following interesting
observations on lovers of the weed:
"What I have observed about smoking is
not very interesting so tar as my own use of
the weed is concerned. I smoke light cigars
and have little or no appreciation of high
grade cigars. But it may interest you to
learn what my models in the zoological gar
dens think about smoking.
"There are, to begin with, the common
brown bears. They are veritable tobacco
enthusiasts. Just blow tobacco smoke
toward their cage and you will see how they
rush toward you and with every sigh of de
light rub the back and the head against the
portion of the grating through which the
smoke passes. It is a very amusing spec
tacle. "At one time I treated a sleeping lion to a
large pjnch of snuff, which I introduced
into his nostril with the aid of a wooden
modeling knife. His majesty arose, sneezed
with great vehemence and then lay down
STATE 8TBEET.
again to continue his nap. apparently rather
pleased by tbe interruption. All kinds of
goats, deer, llamas and similar animals are
passionately fond of snuff and cigars. I
once gained the friendship of a very ugly
guanaco by feeding him frequently with
snuff. Some soldiers who later on teased
the animal and were rewarded, as usual, by
bis spewing nil over them, remarked in my
hearing: "Why, the deuce! How the beast
smells of snufil"
"Large parians are also extremely fond of
tobacco smoke. You see, I do not smoke for
my pleasure alone."
A Pretty Theater Dress.
I
New Tcrk Bun. J
An entire theater dress of iark steel silk,
brocaded with spots in a lighter shade, basa
white cloth cuirass embroidered with gold in
diagonal lines, whicb meets in a V in front
and white sleeves, also embroidered with
deep double puffs ot the silk, covering the
upper arm. The tiniest of whits and gold
bonnets andwhire! gloves -with black.-stitching
complete the costume.
PITTSBTJEQ, SUNDAY,
WALKING IS BETTER
Than Trying to Get Over Europe as
a Third-Class Passenger.
LILLIAN SPENCER'S TALE OP WOE.
Left Sitting on Hard Benches at Midnight
in a Cheerless Land.
0TEE THE D2EP BLUE SEi JO IT1LI
rconaispoKDENci or tbz dispatch .1
'Genoa, ItalvJ Dec 18. If you are rich
or titled you travel first class in Europe; if
you are sensible you travel second; if you
are a pauper or a fool you do it third. I was
not a pauper, but I was a glorious fool. That
is the only excuse which can be urged for
me. I wanted to see how it went. I did
see I My curiosity on that score has been
fully gratified. If "it had not been that, like
the conventional cat, I have nine good solid
long-lived lives, I am sure I should never
have come out at the end of my journey.
alive.
We -started from Charlevllle, in France,
and went from thence by rail to Marseilles,
resolving to continue our walking tour in
Italy owing to the cold weather. Before
leaving Charleville we endeavored to find
out the length and cost of the trip, but this
was impossible. The ticket agent knew
nothing about it. His knowledge extended
as far as bis line, a distance of a few hun
dred miles, and no iurther. So we were
obliged to set off quite in the dark. We
boarded a third-class carriage at 6 A. -31. This
carriage was just tbe same cheerless, shabby
concern as one sees everywhere on all
European lines, only it was even more cheer
less and more shabby.Jif such a thing can be
possible. It-had no carpet, no cushions, no
curtains, no anything except a long wooden
bench and two small, forbidding windows.
As the glass is never washed, the windows
must be opened to be seen through. It is in
this car that the middle and poorer classes
travel. ,
THE BATE IS TOO HtGH.
The rate of fare is one-third less than the
regular price. There oughtn't to be any
fare for such accommodations at all. At
home we might put our pigs in some such
boxes, but I doubt it I The guards or con
ductors are grimy, ill-dressed individuals
with humors to suit all classes and con
ditions: A first-class humor will cost 6 francs, 1;
a second-class humor will cost 2 francs, 40
cents; a tbird-class humor will cost CO cen
times, 10 cents.
The unpaid humor (a mixture of savage
ness and impertinence) will cost you noth
ing except your temper. You will lose that
effectually and repeatedly. The next thins
that will happen to wring your soul will-be
this: You trill be going along smoothly
enough at the rate of ten miles an hour,
when you will suddenly find that they have
uncoupled your car and gone on without
you. To your frantic demands for an ex
planation they will either misunderstand
your choicest boarding-school French en
tirely, or inform you curtly that the third
class carriages don't go clear through, that
they wait over 12 hours or so for tbe next
accommodation train. It is midnightl The
hotels are miles off, and closed at that.
There is nothing to do but sit on the
wooden benches (which nothing, not even
tiujo bccuia tu aubcuy uuu wait! .v j;iu'
what a waitl Job's patience would have
succumbed. It blows up cold. You are
hungry. You can't get a drink (there is no
fit water in the country). No one listens to
your tale of woe or understands it if he does,
and there you are.
-WALKING MOKE COMFOBTABLE.
"Let's get out and walk," says. Mimi.
The suggestion is an inspiration. We act
upon it. We do get out. Thank heaven we
have learned to walk; and set off with defi
ance in our eyes and despair in our hearts.
"Who's the king of tb is lorsttken country?"
asks Mimi, whose misery has made her
idiotic.
"There is none, simpleton, it is a republi..
You can't find any fauli with that.
America is a republic."
"It ought to be ashamed of itself," Mimi
groans. "My corn is worse than ever."
"We will never travel third class again,
that is one sure thing," I interpose.
"How will we travel?" Mimi asks.
"We will walk. This Is a walking tour,
anyhow."
Tramps being essentially an American
product and unknown to these parts, a walk
at night is not attended with any especial
danger. The good folk are all abed with
tbe conventional chickens. Even the owls
snooze between times. It is dark and calm
and unexpressibly still. Tbere is no moon,
'but a few stars illumine tbe sky, and throw
a faint light upon the smooth, white road.
On we go, shivering a little as an occasional
gnstof wind screams among the somber
trees, and longing for that break iu tbe
clouds which heralds the comiug of the
morn. We have not long to wait. Old
Sol shakes himself a bit, gets up, frowns,
stretches and wishes us good day with his
most beaming smile. It is an enchanting
hour; for France is sunny and kind, and
one drinks in a great beaker iull of the
warm South with every fragrant breath.
JIONASTEBT. OF THE TEMPLARS.
It is noonday when we reach the old town
of StlPhilibert. There is a monastery there
worth looking at -It is one of those hoary
old affairs dating from the middle ages.
There is a sort oi Crusade air about it; or
rather it looks like a venerable English
woman I once met who assured me her
ancestors came over with the Conqueror.
This was, and is, the Mon.isteryof the Temp
lars. When it Mas built in 1223 the
Templars were leally a power, although
they did not wear colored sashes and pa
rade the street. By the way, that same
power was the rock on which they split;
for the King grew jealous of them and took
away most of their old privileges The
learned gentleman who told toe all about
this at the table d'hote last night, assured
me tbere was another reason.
'Their habits," said he,' were bad, and
the only way to cure a man of a bad habit is
(o abolish bini."
So if one is to cure men of bad habits, it
looks as though nothing but women were to
be left.
I remember the old Templar building in
Paris. Or ratber I don't; I remember the
place where it stood, until the Revolution
blew it up, or pulled it down, or pushed it
over. In the reign of Philip the Bel there
were great stories afloat about these gentle
men, who at the present day are so
harmless. They worshiped the "trinity of
gods." This in itself is not blame-worthy.
But the first of these "gods" consisted of
what my Irish ancestors would call a de
capitated head; the second was a Janus
faced creature and the third was the skull
of a cat.
Their worship was very secret, but a
Knight of Gascony your Gascon has always
a babbling tongue talked indiscreetly.
An 4 the King seized on a numberof the lead
ing Templars and threw them into prison.
Two of them he burned alive., Of these,
one was Jacques Moluy Browning in one
of his poems calls him "John of tbe crooked
thumb," and has his soul, "flaring out in
the dark." in fine melodramatic fashion.
One thing in connection with this affair.
Jirownlng overlooked. Uraud Master
Jdcqnes Molay summoned King and Pope
to meet him one in four months, and-the
other in six In -Heaven. And they did.
How they fared there, is, ns Mr. Itudyard
Kipling wopld sayj "another story."
DISAPPOINTED IN THE PEASANTS."
As for anything else St. Philbert Is
uninteresting enough. It is a snug little
white and red town much like every other
little snug red town. We stop there over
night, and earlr next morning continue, our
JANTTAKY 4, 189L
walk. France is a charming country. It has
a "table d'hote," and it is polite. But the
peasants! In them we are disappointed.
They are not picturesque. The market
women wear white caps, and ''the Blancbis
seuse" washes her linen on the stones of the
running brooks, but she, like all the others,
dresses in shabby imitation of her betters.
One looks for short skirls and white chemi
settes, tight bodices and jaunty aprons, but
one finds them not. It is only the peasant
girl from the far inland country (or back
woods, as we would express it), who clings
with any degree-of fidelity to the dress of
her province. Within fifty to one hundred
miles of any city oue sees no real peasant
costumes at all.
At Villeiranche we stop over and wait
for our train to catch up with us. It does
so in the course of time, or one resembling it
does, which Is the same thing. And off we
start again. This time, however, we are
second class. We reach Marseilles at noon
several days later. The scene which greets
us is tropical. The white town shines
golden in the fierce glare of the mid-day
sun. Sea, sky, hills and all aglow with the
yellow glare. "Op the steep hill leading
from the station surges a bizarre, not to say
Oriental throng gay soldiers, jostling
against handsome girls; girls half French,
half Greek, with black eyes and olive
cheeks; long lines of milk-white horses,
pulling up drays of fruits; crowds of peas
ants of every nationality under the sun, all
chattering and singing and swearing in loud
voices and foreign tongues.
ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
There is a ship for Genoa at noon. We
take passage, and ere long are sailing In the
blue waters of the Tyrrhene Sea. The sight
is sublime! The sea has ebbed away from
the shores, leaving huge mountains of
calcareous rocks as white as marble, tower
ing up against the pearly sky and reflecting
like crystal palaces in the sapphire depths
below. At some distance these rocks re
semble giant cities and fortresses and quaint
little villages, which might be the phantom
dwelling places of dead and gone sea kings.
As the ship speeds swiftly over the smooth
surface, they fade and pale and gradually
rose themselves in the silver mist which
rises from the ocean and falls from the
clouds, and shines like a veil studded with
diamonds.
Anou purple hills crowned with the an
cient castles of fierce warriors of by-gone
days loom in sight castles grim and dark
and lorbidding, with broken towers and
moldering walls.. And then come long
stretches of chalky cliffs, whose white sum
mits shine pink and roseate in tbe setting
sun. And then come the shadows. Those
weird, mystic shadows which deepen the
blue waters and darken the hills, and cut
across the lurid streak of crimson, which lor
a moment illumines tbe horizon, and then
fades away in the glooml There is no moon
on this voyage, no whitecaps, no sea sick
ness. We reach Genoa in the morning,
and here the adventure of mv life befalls me.
I stumble headlong into - the King of
Italy.
I'll tell you all about it in my next
Lillian Spenceb.
HOUSEKEEPERS POOL ISSUES.
The Co-Operative Experiments at Utlca, N.
V., and at Evanston, 111.
New York Herald. 1
Some weeks since the heads of five TJtica
families entered into an agreement after
mature deliberation under-'which provision
was made for leasing and furnishing a house,
employing cook and servants and making
all arrangements for a trial of co-operative
housekeeping, in so far as tbe dining room
-and kitchen werft-concerned.,
Tife gentlemen interested are all business
men in moderate circumstances. Choosing
a president, secretary and treasurer and a
"board of governors," the gentlemen set
themselves at work. The first thing to be
done was to draft a compact by which all
were bound to give the plan a trial of three
months. All are so well satisfied that there
will be no changes at the end of that time,
two weeks hence.
In tbe original number 22 persons were
included, which number has been augmented
to nearly 0, as many as can be accommo
dated in tbe present quarters. In tne begin
ning it wa necessary to purchase an entire
new outfi.' of kitchen and dining room ' fur
niture, as well as conveniences for the cook
and fivi waiters, who, in addition to their
regular duties, look' after tbe house, whicb
they occupy, rented.by the club.
A competent cook of many years' experi
ence was employed, into whose charge the
full management of affairs was given, with
tbe exception of the purchase of food, which
dutvdevolvpsupononeoftLeclub,designated
by the Presideut at the beginning of each
month.
Books are kept, in -which is entered every
cent of expenditure, and they are balanced
at the end of the month, when an assessment
is levied upon each member and all accounts
are squared. During the first few weeks of
the lue of the club tbe assessments were
necessarily somewhat heavier than they are
at present.
As regards the table, the very best of
everything is provided, witU all the delica
cies in season, while no extravagance is
countenanced by any member.
At present the amount levied upon each
person is a trifle less than S3 a week, and
those iu charge confidently expect to reduce
this to $2 CO. Besides this) wives and
daughters are released from the care of
kitchens and dining rooms, and the worry
incident to the supervision of cooks
and other servants, too often incompetent, is
a thing of the past,
The only inconvenience, which is slight
by comparison, is the necessity of leaving
home to take meals in the co-operative club
house.
It would he useless to siy that the mem
bers of tbe TJtica Co-operative Housekeep
ing Club are satisfied with its workings.
There is but one other club in the coun
try similar to the TJtica association. This
is at Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, and
has been in operation less than three weeks.
It is known as the Evanston Co-operative
Housekeeping Association, and is so incor
porated. The olub comprises about 50
tamilies, nearly 200 individuals in all.
STATUE OP WHJJAM PEHN.
His Bat to Be the First Object In America to
Greet the Hornlpg San.
Washington Star.
The bronze statue of William Penn,
which is to crown the absurdly tall tower of
Philadelphia's pretentious City Building, is
now being cast in sections, and will soon be
ready to be put in place. Itis to stand oq a
base only five feet square, so that one foot of
the figure will project a little beyond the
edge pf its support in arrangement that can
hardly be considered pleasing.
In both height and weight tbe Penn statue
very greatly exceeds (be bronze figure of
Liberty which surmounts the dome of the
national capitol, and, in themndiioquent
language ofa Philadelphia paper, "it is in
tended that the broad rimmed quakerlmt
which shields the head of the launder of the
city shall be the first artificial object in this
country to catch the ravs of the mornincr
sun." -In other words, it is to be n little
IlimiEl IliUU .1IC iipCA Ul .11C 1, 10!11UIUII
monument in this city. Nevertheless it will
be far less imposing.
ALMOND EYES AND P0BK.
When the Celestial Geta Through With nis
Tig Only Bones Are Left.
New York World!
It is amazing what the Chinaman will do
with pork. It is safe to say that, after rice,
it is the chief staple of Chinese dipt You
-will see whole carcasses laid out upon a
table, being painted with various dressings,
cut into aasorted Shapes and sizes.
Different portions are chosen and laid
aside for different dishes, and altogether,
when, a Chinaman has done with a pig,
there is '-'nothing of the, dead, but bones."
DWARFS OF AFRICA.
Observations of Dr. Oskar Lenz, of
tha University of Prague.
AN OLD AND .DEGENERATE KACE.
Probably the Same as the Pigmies of
Strabo and Herodotus.
PECULIARITIES AND MODES OF LIFE
fWKlTTIN X-OB TBI DISPATCH. J
IT the legends
of ancient peo
ples, where
myths which
relate to
beings of un
natural size
and form so
often occur,
we find that
stories con-
cerningdwarfs
seem to have
been ec
pecially in
favor. The
classiq litera
ture of Greece
mokes men
tion of the
pigmies, a
race so small
that they are
JL Madagascar Tom Thumb, said to be a
few inches high and to live in the depths of
Central Africa, where in mysterious solitude
and silence the Kile takes its rise. We are
further told that these diminutive men
make war every spring on birds of large
size, and in Homer's Iliad we find a full
description of the battle between the pig
mies and the cranes. Strabo, who is much
of a skeptic and knew how prone to exag
geration weretravelers in the recital of their
adventures in foreign lands, throws discredit
on the story, and in one of his books bluntly
states that "all who wrote about India were
the biggest liars."
Aristotle and Pliny on the other hand,
believed that a dwarf race who were trogolo
dytes, or cave dwellers, had their existence
in Africa. Herodotus, more accurate and
scientific, distinctly alludes to these dwarfs
in his hooks. He relates that five men be
longing to the tribe of Nayamonen, in
Lybia, undertook a voyage across the great
desert and came to the banks ot a broad
river running from east to west and fall of
crocodiles, where they 'found inhabitants
who were all below the medium height.
THE LATEB DISCOVEBIES.
When tbe Gothio night descended over
Europe little or no progress was made in
geography and ethnography. Not until
1661 do we find the record of a tribe of
small men, called Kimos, who are said to
inhabit Madagascar perhaps the same as
those now known as the Vazimba, who
dwell in tbe mountainous districts of that
island. Coming to more recent times, -we
find,Jn;moraUUwenUo-th&-effectthat a
dwarf people, the Berikomo; were to be
found living to the north of the lofty, snow
capped Kenia Mountain. In 1840, Dr.
Krapf, the missionary", describes a dwarfish
Tace, the Doko, who live on the Upper Djab
river, to the south of tbe Kafla province,
and that south of Bagirmi the natives allude
to a diminutive tribe called the Mala
Gilage, who are moreover graced with a
caudal appendage.
All these facts, however, are of doubtful
accuracy; and.sas regards the last named
people, the information seems to hare been
derived from no better source than slaves
and traders of tbe interior. The first bit of
positive data respecting the so-called dwarf
peoples of Eastern Africa was furnished by
the well-known German explorer, Prof.
Schwelnfurth.
CURIOSITIES POB A KINO.
At the residence of Munsa. the Monbattu
king, he found some individual samples of
the Akka or Tikki-TiKki tribe, men of small
stature, who lived as bunters in tbe bush,
and some rff whom King Munsa kept as a
curiosity at his court. Some time after the
Austrian traveler Marno and Captain Long,
the English explorer, who accompanied
him, discovered tbe same Akka people.
Traces of this dwarfish race were also found
at Batalto, on tbe western coast of Africa,
Koelle, the missionary who lived at Sierra-
.Wl..,.ii.'
WKWv
Plgmiet Compared With Engllth and Zanii
barU. Leone and often made trips far into the In
terior, heard of dwarfs living in a country
further inland called Lutun, where those
tribes are-called Kenkob or Bezsan.
There are also on the Loango coast native
tribes of men, who, although of small stat
ure, are good elephant hunters. They are
called the Mimos or Bakka-Bakka. Besides
these, on tbe Sette river, are the Matimbo or
Donga, who belong to'the same rsce. More
detailed information concerning these tribes
was iurnished by Du Chailln, the famous
explorer and gorilla hunter, who, in the
vast forests of Western Africa, discovered
the Abongo dwarfs on the Ogowee river, in
Ashira country. I myself visited those
regions in 1870 and met with this dwarf race
on tbe TJpper Ogowee.
DISCOVERED BV STANLEY.
At about the same time Stanley discovered
the TJpper Congo arid afterward explored the
country. He lound this dwarl race in dif
ferent places, and in his mora recent expedi
tion from the Congo to the Albert Kyanza
lie often came across small groups ot "them
scattered in the dense fare.ts mi the Upper
Arnwimi, und more to the cast on the Sera
liki river. These, it would seem, are less
liarnj!ess,iinil peaceful than their congeners
elsewhere; thev attack with poisoned darts
the caravans that seek to pass those well
nigh inaccessible solitude?. Possibly the
Purla iu tlieSomanli country, who are to be
found between the Galla and Somaulf
tribes, should here be uoticed as belouging
to the same dwarfish rice.
Thus, then, we see that a primitive peo
pie, characteriz-d by a stature below the
average medium height, are to be found
scattered all over tbe continent of Equa
torial Airica, as well from the west coast to
to Somauli land as in tbe east, and from the
rejrion- sooth of Lake Tchad down to the
southern confluences of the Congo. Tbey
are nowhere tound in a coherent body or na
tion, with fixed places of residence and com
manded 'by a chief. They lorm cesall
gronps in tbe midst of or in close proximity
to more powerful or more intelligent negro
tribes, who regard them as little better than
slaves.. They are allowed to live on condi
tion that they hunt deer in the bush and
fish in the rivers for their masters, or kill
the elephant whose ivory tbey are forbidden
to sell.
HDNX TVITH PEIMITIVE WEAPONS.
They are said by all travelers to be expert
bunters, though they have no firearms; their
only weapons are bows and arrows and
spears. Wild animals are also caught by
them in nets, corrals and pitfalls. They
are exceedingly clever in the arts and de
vices that appertain more especially to
primitive and uncultivated races and show
great fortitude in wrestling with the nat
ural difficulties offered in a wild country
like their own, both man and beast.
As to the average stature attained by these
people there is much discrepancy in the
notes iurnished by thtse who have seen them.
The iacts afforded on the subject by travelers
are far from concordant. Perhaps the best
estimate hitherto given is that of old Herod
otus, who says of them that tbey are below
"themedium height." It is'no easy task to
obtain exact data. Tbey are exceedingly
shy and timid and in order to make obser
vations I had to catch them as best I could,
bunting them down like a wild animal.
Once' caught, Jhowever, they soon become
tractable, especiallv when they see they are
in tbe hands ot a white man and not in
those of a slave dealer; a few presents in the
shape of beads, clotb, or what is still more
precious; on tbe western coast salt, will
make them sufficiently friendly to allow of
a yard measure being applied to their per
sons. They are mighty glad, however, when
the operation is over, and fun away most
nimbly.
THE SMALLEST HAN SEEN.
The smallest man of ripe years I ever
came across among the Abongos stood 4 feet
3 inches from the'ground. Stanleysawone
not quite 4 feet hign; mother 4 feet 4
inches, and a grown up girl of about 17
years of age who was ha. an inch short of
3 feet Tbe latter may have been an excep
tion, although the women are proportionally
smaller than the men.
From personal observation and from what
I have read on tbe subject I am led to infer
that the height of these pigmies averages
between 4 feet 3 inches and 4 feet 8 inches
for a full grown man, and between 3 feet 3
inches and 4 feet 1 inch for the women. This
certainly constitutes a race of smaller stat
ure than that to be found in most otber
countries, but the term "dwarf" which is
applied to them appears incorrect. Ethnol
ogy furnishes examples of many a tribe and
nation whose stature does not much exceed
that which is here attributed to the so-called
pygmies. This will be made clear by com
paring tbe figures I have just given with
the following list furnished by anthropo
logical research:
FIGURES ON THE BACES.
Patagonians, 5 feet 10 inches; Swabians
(South Germans, Kaffirs and Polynesians, 5
10J; Don Cossacks, fi 8. Englishmen. 5-0;
German-Austrians, 6-5; Negroes, 5-0; North.
if -JSi "S Is
One of Stanley's Pigmy Queens.
ern Frenchmen, 5-5; Bavarians, 5-4 J;
Southern Frenchmen and Chinese, ZA.
Australians, 5-3; natives of Amboyna, 5
2; natives of Timor, S-2J; Malays. 5-lJ;
Andanmas,5-1; Akka(Tikki-Tikki), 4-11;
Lapps, 4-0), Abongos, 4-3; Bushmen, 4-3;
Esquimaux, 4-3.
It will thus be seen that the inhabitants of
the Arctic circle are much of the same size
as some of the tribes in tropical Airica. I
have long since come to the conclusion
that the bushmen of South Africa are only
a branch ot the dwarfish race found in tropi
cal Africa, and Stanley's recent observa
tions only serve to confirm that opinion.
Tbe natural inference is that in bygone
years a distinctly aboriginal race inhabited
the vast forests which extend between tbe
Congo and the great, lakes, and that this
race was overcome and scattered in every
direction by a more active, powerful and in
telligent people, compounded of various
negro tribes, and this iu so effectual a man
ner that we now find but groups and rem
nants surviving in the midst of other races,
who countenance and snare the strangers
only because tbey are expert bunters
and fishermen, or because iu some places
they serve to amuse the native chiels by
their grostesque dances and comic songs.
TnBEE DISTINCT TYPES. "
During his last great voyage, Stanley
captured many of them for the purpose of
anthropological study, and concluded that
there exist two distinct types among them,
so different in the features tbey offer that, to
use bis awn words, one is no more like tbe
otber than a Turk resembles a Scandina
vian. One race belongs to the Batua, and
the other to the Warn butu. The bushmen
oi South Africa would afford another separ
ate type; but the dwarfs to be found on the
Western coast mjght be clashed with the
"Vfambutu. ,
I noticed that tbey speak the tongue or
dialect of the negro tribe iu the midst of
which they live. There is no doubt, how
ever, that they have a language of their
own. It is next tq impassible to compose a
vocabnlary from the lips of these timid and
doltish people. I could only get a few
words from the Abonzo dwarfs, who dwell
ou the banks of the Ogowee, in proximity to
the Okande tribe:
Ota,nde Tongue. Abonzo Tongue.
Goat taba emcodi
San oraanda cipo
Kiro ibo , esako
Bush n'binslit magesra
Banana n'otoudo m'Jaellele
Village n'kala ekotl
FBIUITIVE MANNER OF LIFE.
As being a race of hunters, these dwarfs
are not addietedto agricultural pursuits.
Their settlements or villages are of the most
primitive description; they consist in ag
glomerations uf small round hats, which
are readily taken to piece; and erected else
where, accordingly as the site chosen offers
more favorable opportunities for the chase.
As I have said, they use small arrows or
darts , tipped with a poison of vegetable
origin, the effect of which is quick and
fa.ii. A man belonging to Stanley's expe
dition, who wjs wounded by one of these
nrreirs, died in a few minutes.
So sum up, therefore, it-appears indubita
ble that raeeof uienot smaller stature than
that nl the great tribes to be found lu Africa
inhabit the tropical tegidns of that vast con-.
Uncut; that these dimiuutive people belong
to a degenerate fuuilly, exhibiting the most
primitive state of culture, and tnat, while
indigenous tq the soil, they sire to be found
scattered fir and wide in small groups of a
lew hundreds each, like the gypsies of
Europe, without fixed settlements 'and wan
dering about the thick, impenetrable forests
extending between the Congo river and the
Nile. The mora recent observations of
travelers fully confirm- tbe fact that the an
cients were acquainted with this peculiar
race, and there is reason'to believe that the
pigmies of Strabo and Herodotus were the
same as the Batua and tbe Wxmbutu.
Dr. Oskar Lenz,
Professor of Geography at tha University of
Praeae'. Beheeia. '
SHEEDT ON GAMBLING
The Greatest American Gambler Says
All Gamblers Are Fools.
CROOKED GAMES DO HOT PAT.
He Gives Pittsburg Phil Credit of tha
Longest. Head on Horses.
FAE0 BAFK3 SHOULD BE LICENSED
IWalTl-U JOB THX DISPATCH.!
"A professional gambler is a fool; if h
wasn't a fool he wouldn't be a gambler."
The speaker was Pat Sheedy, whom I met
in New York the other day. Now, it will
be universally admitted that if there is in
this country one man more than another
who knows about gambling that man is
Sheedy. He is known irom New York to
San Francisco, and from New Orleans to
Minneapolis, no only as a square sporting
man, whose word would, and often has been,
accepted as quickly as soot cash in any
gambling house in the United States, but as
one of the "highest rollers" and most ter
riffio betters in North America.
The tremendous winnings which he has
made at faro can be numbered by the score.
Many a faro bank has been forced to sus
pend business, having lost its entire capital
to Sheedy in a night's play. Whenever he
enters a gambling house on business, tha
proprietors know that there is a strong like-libood-that
before many hours their pet
tiger will have had bis tail pulled out, and
that they will be obliged to turn over tbe
dealing box, which is one way of announc-
ing that the bank is broken.
MIGHT PAS3 POB A PEIEST.
In appearance Sheedy might well be taken
for a shrewd, quiet busines3 man by those
not familiar with his looks, and if dressed
in gown and cassock might easily pass for a
priest. His clothing, made by tbe most ex
pensive tailor in New York, is of the quiet
est and most subdued pattern, while in his
speech and general address he is quiet but
forcible, unobtrusive yet with a certain
magnetism whicji attracts men and enforces
their attention, for when he speaks he al
ways has something to say.
"A popular idea exists that gamblers are
smart or 'fly' men," continued Sheedy.
"People see Pat Sheedy and. another
gambler walking down the street, and say:
'There coes a couple of gamblers; they must
be sharp, shrewd, and fly.' Nonsense. Do
you see any gamblers owning business
blocks, large buildings, or other solid evi
dences ofjrosperity? Its the 'suckers' who
own them. The 'suckers' are in reality the
shrewd and smart people. There have been
mighty few gamblers, no matter how
wealthy in their lifetime, who didn't have to
be buried by subscriptions raised among
their friends when they died. Did they
prove themselves smart men? No man is
shrewd or clever who enters and follows a
pursuit in which everything is against him
the law. society, and the hand of the rest
of mankind.
THE -WOULD-BE GAMBLEBS.
"I have never met more than 15 gamblers
in my life all tne others were 'would-bes.'
As soon as they get a clean collar, a dia
mond and a fly cane they call themselves
gamblers. Then their ambition is satisfied;
they neverrooKr higher. Lots of tbis sort of
fellows become gamblers through playing
the races and making books. Why, they
haven't the first idea of gambling. Many
such people who call themselves sporting
men were a short time ago selling susDend
ers and jackknives on Broadway; but fn the
eyes ot the general public they are gam
blers. These 'gamblers are like cork,
they're light and need weights to bold theta
down. Ninety-nine out of every hundred
of them are-elevattd to their positions; they
used to be waiters or door-mat thieves, and
now they think they're full-fledged sports
and know it all.
"To show you the ignorance which exists
among a large part of tbe uninitiated public
about gambling generally, let me refer to
the belief that all gamblers are 'crooked,'
and that such a thing as a square game of
faro does not exist. That idea is the great
est nonsense. Does a wise man kill tbe
goose that lays tbe golden egg? Do yon
suppose thatasquare gambler would counte
nance a crooked game in his house far the
purpose ol winning a few hundred or even
thousand dollars, after which tbe nature of
the game would become publicly known to
players and ttiey would avoid " it as they
would a smallpox hospital, when by con
ducting only'au honest game the patronage
of players can be retained for an indefinite
length of time?
DON'T HAVE TO BE CEOOKED.
"There is no legitimate necessity for
crooked work. Players do no't stop to
think what a great percentage, is against
them. For instanse, a man will sit down to
play faro with a capital of $100 and try to
win, say $1,000, and often much more; or
take correspondingly smaller sums. Now,
there he is trying to increase his capital
with ten chances against him, even if he
confines himself exclusively to playing
cases, instead of playing doubles as well,
wheie he runs the chance of getting 'split,
making the chanceot his winning more, dif
ficult still.
' "My judgment is that gambling should
be regulated by law, where it can be easily
controlled, instead of driving it to secluded
places where the opportunity for robbery is
increased. Gambling does not hurt any
body if it is confined to those who can afford
to lose; but as lor those men who run 'din
ner pail' games, wfnninz from the working
man his weekly wages of 812 or $15, why, I
think that such gamblers are worse than
stage robbers, for they not only take from a
man who can't aflord to lose, but bring
want and misery upon women and children
who expect to have their father, husband or
brother buy tjjem bread with his week's
wages. ,
PABO BANK PLAYING DECREASING.
"But while there is less faro bank play
ing in New York now by 40 per cent, than
ever before, there is more general gambling,,
but it's been driven to the clubs, big and
little. Indeed, the amount of laro bank
playing is decreasing all over the country.
Horse racingand pool rooms are responsi
ble for this. Men-won't sit down to play
bank now when they can go out to the track
and win $20,000 or $30,000 in an afternoon.
Tbis state of affairs has been going on for
five or six years, and It's getting more Idles
England and Australia in this respect every
year.
Bookmakers don't make as much as peo
ple suppose; in fact, not one in t won ty mikes
monev nowadays. Such players as Pitts
burg Phil, for instance, cut down their
probts mightly. Ineverlu rnylifa saw a man
win more money than be does. I have seen
men win bigger money in one single day than
he.bo t tbey don't make such steady winnings as
Phil. His judgment 1 phenomenal, and his
memory something wonderful. He Is the only
man i ever knew who can name tba horses as
they ran, one, two, three, lo every Important
race that has ever taten place. Phil knows
what be Is about, anil whatever be tells yoa,
you can go to sleeo on.
THE LOSSES OF THE KICKEB3.
"One thing more under tho head of 'kicks.'
Not one-hair of tbe money said by 'kickers' to
have been lost at gambling Is really lost in that
way. For instance, a cashier or confidential
man in an office acquires expensive bablts. He
does not gat salary enough to met the ex
penses ot last Ufa In a private flat up-tows,
owning a fast horse, ana In bajlng diamonds.
Ho he bslps himself to the Arm's money.
Sooner or later he's fonod one ;
"finally, there is not the money sad in
gambiini; InNew York that people suppose Is
tbe case. I would rather have 1 per cent ot the
winnings at Monte Carlo than 10 ner cent ot
tho gambling- winnincs In NeuOTork, because
in tbe termer Place ther keen all thav w4a asd
there M no une bovchntrto est tbeir nasa?..
alter t has been ones l adrl J lost, lad '-
no -jucu nuHTflr, v jr J .,
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