THIRD PART. 1 SECRETSOFTHE SKY, John A. Brashear's Wonderful Instruments for Pry ing Into Them. HOW LENSES AEE MADE. .Delicate Apparatus That Measures the Millionth of an Inch. -THE PEOFESSOR'S EAELY WORK. Tffo Tears' Effort on a Twelve-Inch Glass Destroyed in a Moment HIS WOKLD-WIDE FA3EE FOR ACCURACY tWEHTEX rOB THE DISrATCH. HXKTEEN years .ago, with fear and trembling, I exe cuted jone of my first assignments in news paper reporting. It was to give an ac- I count of the observa tions of "the South- side astronomer" on some important i--! event among wie l".MITtMMM.lSll UlfUllS. .. ''knocked at the door of his unpretentious dwelling on Mt Oliver, fully expect ing to be ficed by a second Galileo of profound and stern But there appeared in scientific mien. stead a pleasant-voiced woman. "Oh, my husband is not home from the mill yet," she said in reply to my inquiry. "Will you step in and wait for him?" The mill! My ideas of a Galileo were somewhat modified and I was more at ease. Aud, presently, when the "astronomer" came in, clad in the ordinary garb of a me chanic, and carrving a dinner bucket, I began to think I "had made some mistake. No, I had not, and in a very few moments I had lost the odor of lubricating oil in the interest of what the man was telling me. 2fever Courted rubllclty. John A. Brashear was of a remarkably re- tii jng nature He told me then enthusias tically all about his observations the night before from the roof of his house, but blushed painfully when I turned the con versation upon " himself. When we were through,, he fairly begged me to not print his name with the matter. Three days ago I once more sat with John A. Brashear. I found him still the modest, reserved man that he used to be when he was unknown to fame. In the13 years that have passed all Pittsburg knows his career. Where Big Spectroscopes Are Madc They know the story of how his nights, after weary toil in tne iron mills of the Southside, were spent in astronomical ob servations on Jit. Oliver; how his desire to let others know something of the beauties of the heavens led him to write modest con tributions for the daily papers; how the newspapers after awhile got to dubbing him "the Southside astronomer" how Prof. S. P. Langley suddenlv discovered the genius of Mr. Brashear in the construction of telescopes; how the celebrated Henry Draper befriended him; how a couple of re quests came to him from famous astronomers to make them telescopes; how he tried to do this at nights while still master mechanic in the iron mills, the double strain upon his constitution finally breaking him down; his long sickness, and'the physicians' ultimatum in the end that Brashear must give up either The Telescopes or the Mills ; how he gave up the steady income of month ly wages and afterward scarcely earned a living at the tedious work of grinding op tical glasses; how William Thaw, in the interests of science, gave the plucky me chanic such assistance as placed him five i cars ahead, and how that charitable mil lionaire, dying, left a special bequest, still in the interests of science, practically en dowing the labors of Mr. Brashear; how the telescope maker sought the scientific atmosphere of Observatory Hill, in Alle gheny, built a wonderful workshop there, fromVhich have gone out rare and delicate astronomical instruments to all parts of the world. Yet, this week, it was with great difficulty still that I could get Mr. Brashear to talk about himself. Willingly enough he de scribed to me the process by which his workmen make object-glasses now. I happened to casually make the remark that with these improved processes it seemed to me a very long time was required to make the lenses for a single telescope from two to six months. "Yes, it is a long time to work upon one telescope," echoed Mr. Brashear, thought fully, "but I have known it to take a great deal longer. The Astronomer's First Telescope. "Well do I remember the first telescope I ever had. My education was limited to the village schools of Brownsville, and a commercial college in Pittsburg, that when I went to work as a mechanic in the iron mills of the Southside I was illy equipped for the practical study of astrono my. I loved to study the st3rs, but I found I needed a telescope to push my researches. I was unable to buy one of the size I wanted, so I concluded to try and make one mj self. This was 10 years ago. I was engaged at the mill all day, and at night I labored often tantil morning hours devising my instrument, which I intended to make for o4 inches aperture. To grind the glass I needed tools, so I first had to make the tools. To polish the glass and make the tube to mount it, I had to hare steam power. I therefore built myself the engine necessary to carry on the work. "My kind wile assisted me. Every even ing when I got home from work she would hav steam raised in the engine, so that I need lose no time. In this way wc per severed, and, sir, it took me three years to complete my telescope. Good while, wasn't if Hid to Have a Larger One. "This telescope answered for a while," continued Mr. Brashear, "but soon I found that for my increasing thirst for knowledge bout the stars I would need a larger one o I resolved to attempt a larger initru. MO- $w fflrTKO! felSV hib iWM A . -jJP BJloBlIH ' if-!P ment I determined to make it a reflecting telescope. There was remarkably little literature on the construction of telescopes, and what few scientists I communicated with evidently had no time to help me. So I went at it myself again. I worked at nights for two years on a 12-inch object glass, and suddenly one night broke it into fragments while trying to silverit The toil of two years a as destroyed in a mo ment " Mr. Brashear paused. With my notebook on my knee, I was busy penciling out some of the previous memorandum about pro cesses, and, without looking up, I remarked thoughtlessly: "I guess you don't like to remember that moment, do you, Mr. Brashear?" There was no immediate answer, and glanojng up quickly, I saw an intense quiver on the mechanic-astronomer's lips, which did what the story should have done touched my heart. "Ah, no, ' resumed Mr. Brashear the next moment. 'It was the most bitter mo ment in my life. It took me 24 hours to get over it But, sir, once over it, I went to work with renewed vigor, and so desperate was I that in one year I had completed another glass one year! mark you." " Largest Spectroscope in the World. Just now Mr. Brashear is making the largest spectroscope in the world. A bushel basket would cover the whole instrument, and yet with the assistance of five or six workmen he has been engaged upon it al ready four months, and it will take two more months to complete it The enormous telescope in the Lick Observatory of Cali fornia is fitted with a spectroscope that was also made by Mr. Brashear. TJj to its time it was the largest and most perfect spectro scope in the world, but it is now to be sur passed by the instrument on the tables of Mr. Brashear's wonderful little workshop f I : 9 TESTING TELESCOPES IK THE YABD. up on Observatory HilL This spectroscope is for Prof. Charles A. Young, the celebrated astronomer of Prince ton Observatory. A spectroscope is used with the telescope to determine the com position of celestial bodies; for the determi nation of the motion of stars in the line of sight, and for the solution of many other interesting problems in "the new astrono my," as Prof. & P. Xangley calls it It is one of the most modern of astronomical in struments, its use only having been known for about 30 years past The spectroscope for Prof. Young will have every conceiva ble attachment for work of precision in photographic and visual observations. A Spectroscope for Photographing. During the present year Mr. Brashear's mechanical genius was enlisted in an en tirely new field of astronomical work. Mr. George E. Hale, of Chicago, conceived the idea of making a photographic study of the solar flames. He needed a peouliarly-built spectroscope for the purpose, and experi mented for some time to that end. At last, sending his designs to Mr. Brashear, he got that gentleman interested. The Allegheny man worked upon it for many months, and at last constructed a spectroscope of an ex ceedingly delicate nature, with which Mr. Hale has already been able to obtain good photographs of the spectrum of solar flames. It is a discovery of great importance to scientists. But Mr. Brashear has about solved an other problem of importance. The disks of glass for telescopic lenses cannot be obtained in this country. They are only made in France and Germany. Their manufacture requires a very regular as well as intense heat In his study of the subject he found that the natural gas while it would supply the intensity was not sufficiently uniform in its pressure among Pittsburg glass factories. DEVOTED TO SCIENCE, NOT DOM.ABS. George A Macbeth, the Southside glass manufacturer, assisted Mr. Brashear in his experiments, and the outcome is that Mr. Macbeth has agreed to build au optical glass factory in the natural gas belt in Indiana, which is noted for its regularity of pressure, and Mr. Brashear has contracted with Feil, the noted telescope maker of Paris, to come here and take charge of the factory. The Mathematics of the Glass. Thesedisks for telescopic lenses as they are received from Europe are in their rough state. For instance, if Mr. Brashear is building a telescope of anything over 12 inches aperture it requires frpm two to six monnis to nnisn me lenses themselves. The work is most delicate. With each disk the European manufacturer has sent a prism ujauc Hum vuc iucuiiuai uufc oi glass irom which, was cast the disk. This prism is studied with the spectrometer in order to learn the optical properties of the two glasses, flint and crown. The curves of the disk intended for the objective are then computed from this prism. The mathe matics involved in such a study as this arel oi sucn a aimcuit cnaracter that lew men in a generation are competent to work them out. In this part of the work Dr. Charles S. Hastings, of Yale University, is associ ated with Mr. Brashear, and his knowledge of mathematical dioptrics is known all over the world. The grinding on the disk in the workshop at Allegheny follows the calculations and this is continued with rough iron tools un til the approximate mathematical compnta J THE PITTSBURG 'ions are fulfilled; the final grinding is done with accurately prepared glass tools, work ing with emery of tne finest possible wash ings. The'curves of the lenses have to be measured from time to time with a delicate instrument called the "sphero meter." It wiR measure to-the one one-hundred-thousandth part of an inch, and in the hands of an expert workman it often measures much smaller fractions than this. Delicate Work or Polishing. The polishing of the disk is the next step. It is a beautiful process, the polishers be ing made of pitch.and the polishing powder used is per-oxide of iron. For this work Mr. Brashear has devised some curious ma chinery, to be seen in no other part .of the country. During this polishing process the polishing machine has ' to be carefully watched. The change of the fifty-thousandth part of an inch upon the curves of the lens would seriously affect the as tronomical performance of a large glass. Such a small quantity as that even is large when the glass is to be tested subse quently by Foucault's method. Mr. Brashear sets the object glass up before a large plain mirror having no error greater than the two-hundred-thousandth part of an inch. The light of an artificial star is then allowed to fall upon the objective, pass through it and be reflected back by the per fect mirror behind it As the cone of rays comes back to a focus it is cut off by a knile edge, when every little imperfection in the curves or other existing errors are instantly brought into view. So delicate is this test that errors as small as the five-hundred-thousandth part of an inch may be detected. After the glass has been brought by re peated workings to an accurate curve, it is then necessary to center it; that is to say, the edge, or circumference, must be of absolutely equal thickness in very part, so that the light, when passing through the glass from a star, shall all fall on the same focal plane. Irregularities In Density. Many difficulties surround the construc tion of nn object glass. It must be perfect in the fullest sense of that "word. Unless it stands two severe tests all the optician's work upon it would be lost The first of these is to examine the glass by an Iceland spar prism and tourmaline. If tuere is any unequal density in a glass this instrument will at once de tect it, and if improperly annealed it will show it bya remarkable series of irregular figures, both black and whits, which con4 demn the glass at once. The next test is to examine the glass for impurities. To accomplish this a screen is placed over a lamp, and a hole cut in the screen. The light from this hole is passed first through a condensing lense and then through the glass intended for the objective. It will instantly bring out any imperfec tions existing in the glass, and if praible these imperfections are ground out Another serious drawback to all optical work is changes in the temperature. Tests to ascertain imperfections in the glasses cannot be conducted in an ordinary apart ment, or out of doors, for the reason that the weather is so variable. An Underground Apartment must be used entirely, As built under Mr. "Rmsllpiir'n nlinn tliio .otto .tallA. a . rounded by an airspace of 18 inches, andv wb icuiperaiure mere nas Deen Known to change but three degrees in a whole month. It is also absolutely necessary that no tremor interfere with the experiments, or at least that it be reduced to the minimum; therefore every part of the testing apparatus is isolated from the building, and so perfect ere the conditions that the makers know more about the objective glass, down In that dungeon than they ever can know in the outside world. This may cause the reader to wonder how these glasses are protected from the ordinary changes of the weather when they are in transit from the manufacturer's shop to the astronomer's observatory. In shipping large object glasses Mr. Brashear always mounts them in steel cells, because steel is very nearly the same in its expansion and con traction as glass. Great care is taken in the shipping. The glasses thus mounted are packed in some springy substance. When the object glass for ,the great telescope in Lick Observatory was carried across the con tinent from New England to California, it was known that it would pass through every Kgradation of climes. An entire freight car was engaged for the single disk of glass, and it was suspenueu in tue center oi tne car. It, made the journey in safety. When all else is done tne object glass is studied with a spectroscope so as to understand its color correction. Half an hour after leaving Mr. Brashear's shop I took intense delight in standing down at the Fort Wayne Eailroad crossing on Federal street and drinking in the dimensions of a modoc loco motive. It was exhilarating, and served to expand my ideas of size alter lingering most of the afternoon among devices which could measure the two-millionth part of an inch. L. E. Stofiel. TrrranrTTIRK packed and shinned. SU BAUaH&KEEHAXi&WfttoBi PrrTSBXJKG, SUKDAY, MAY 81, 1891 HEYEL OF -REPTILES. Death Valley Alive With Wriggling Things When Night Falls. SCORPIONS BATTLE TARANTULAS, While lizards and Serpents and Horned Toads Seek Their Prey. WONDERFUL FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE WJtl'HJUf FOE TDK DISPATCH. The Government expedition to Death Valley is bringing forth its first fruits. Large consignments of dead creatures illus trating what it has thus far accomplished in the study of the life of that amazing region have reached the Department of Agricult ure at Washington. The collections thus far sent there include 2,3G8 mammals, be side numerous birds, reptiles, insects and other specimens. It is desired by the scien tific authorities in charge to find out just what animal and vegetable life is able to pre serve existence under conditions so ex traordinarily unfavorable as are found in this desert of horror, the like of which is not found anywhere else in the world. Of plants there is scarce anything to be discovered beside cactij which only repre sent a sort of vegetable half life, and clumps of chapparal that 'are gray instead of green. One sort of cactus that grows to be five or six feet in height, with extended branches, is called the "Dead Man," be cause each stalk in the night Looks Like a Corpse by the wayside. In rare spots where the water has gathered may be seen a singular fleshy bush without leaves and with thick green stems. Such vegetation as there is is rank and spiny, its gray or dull olive hues harmonizing with the parched and barren aspects of the great alkali crust, extending north and south between two precipitous walls of mountains, the Amargosa and Pan amint ranges. It is beyond human powers of description to picture the wholly unnatu ral scene to be beheld here the vast stretches of white plain variegated with black lava, the alluring mirages, the strange appearance of the towering hills outlined .like the backbones of monstrous beasts 'against the yellow sky, the total absence, of trees, the dearth of animal life, and the in tense heat, from which there is no escape. Here and there, too, are pebble beds miles in extent, made up of agate, moss-agate, chalcedony, jasper and obsidian. This astonishing design, however, is by no means so devoid of life as its aspect by daylight would lead the observer to imag ine. As soon as night falls it is all aswarm with creatures of various sorts. Scene for Dante to Picture. Countless lizards come out of their bur rows to look for insect prey; snakes wriggle across the alkali crust; horned toads creep about, and scorpions and tarantulas of enor mous size sharpen their claws for combat Bats, mice and squirrels trot about in active pursuit of game, and wildcats and coyotes forsake their lairs on the mountain sides and roam over the plain in pursuit of all sorts of smaller mammals. It is a nocturnal population, simply because the heat is so .great as to forbid going out in the daytime. The Death Valley expedition has not at tempted to encamp upon the degert itself for the sake of securing specimens. It has been obliged to content itself with pitching tents about the edge, at the foot of the mountains, making brief expeditions across the torrid plain, setting traps, and return;, ing as'quickly as possible. By this method the traps could be emptied and set again without much loss of time. -Time is of con sequence in Death Valley, where a man re quires two gallons of water daily to keep him from dying of thirst, and even thus is a sufferer. Traps Used by the Scientists. Little traps of very simple and most ad mirable pattern are employed for catching the small mammals. Two or three dozen of them can be conveniently carried in the pockets of one's coat, and the game can enter from any side. Each one is hardly more than a wire spring, ingeniously con trived, so that the quadrupal victim is not obliged to enter a hole, sees no danger, ard does not dream of peril until he is caughi. Cornmeal is used for bait, and is found most fetching. For the large mammals the gun must be brought into requisition, while the reptiles, usually slow of movement! are readily gathered in. Of the birds there are very few in the neighborhood of Death Valley, though the raven, that funereal fowl, is very plentiful in the woods that skirt its edge, crying with mournful notes for the many travelers whose dried corpses are scattered over the burning leveL As quickly as possible after they are caught the animals trapped and shot are skinned by the explorers, all of whom are skilled taxidermists. No great pains are taken with the stuffing. A lump, of Raw Cotton Supplies the Vitals, and the tail is extended by a wire, thrust through . its length. Arsenio is sprinkled all over' the inside for preservative pur poses, and the specimen is stretched with four pins on a board to dry. As soon as they nave thus been made ready the pre served creatures are forwarded to the De partment of Agricuiture at Washington. Supply wagons travel constantly between the expedition end the nearest outposts of civilization to get provisions and convey mails. A' great many individuals of each species found have to he killed and forwarded, be cause individuals here and there differ, and it is necessary to determine where these individual differences end and new species begin. For example, one kind of rat may have ears of various sizes and different lengths; but it is requisite to find out the line which separates this animal from another species. Thus far the animals sent to the Depart ment are merelv such as have been found in Death Valley, because the expedition has been availing itself of the cool weather in that region. Now it has retreated to the mountain slopes, and it will not be possible to conduct any further investigations on the torrid plain until late next autumn. A Squirrel Who Hustles at Night ' . Nearly all the creatures found in the val ley aro nocturnal in their habits. Among them are three species of ground squirrels, which live in burrows and feed at night upon roots, leaves and seeds of plants. One of them often climbs the stalks for the pur pose of getting at the seeds. At other times, it stands on its hind feet' clasps the stems with its fore paws and bites off the seed pods, distending its cheek-pouches enor mously with the food. One fellow shot by Dr. Morrison, chief of the expedition, had 39 unbrokeA seed-pods in his pouches. Another most interesting animal that in habits Death Valley is the "kangaroo rat," which makes its way about by jumping. It has long and powertul hind legs aud a sur prisingly Jong tail, Jts coloring varies from light gray to dark brown, according to whether it frequents the alkali or the lava, nature intending to protect it from capture by the likeness of its hue to its surround ings. The kangaroo rat lives in burrows, as does likewise a smaller kind that is com monly called the "kangaroo mouse." But neither is in any true sense a mouse or a rat; they belong to families quite different, Bats the Digger Indians Eat Nevertheless there are plenty of real rats in Death. Valley, as the expedition has found. One kind that lives in the chap parol, with bare tails and exquisite soft fur, is the staple food of the Digger Indians who dwell In the mountain thereabout. The latter catch the mammals with dogs, frighten ing them out of their aMti, whieh are mdo DISPATCH. T J III in, ' I . 1 " . - .... . H like those of squirrels, of great size, in the bushes or bunches of cactus. With respect to the kangaroo rats, one extraordinary point should be mentioned re lating to a certain development of their skulls, which bulge out at the sides in a sur prising way. In fact no such bulges as these, which contain.the hearing apparatus, are to be found in any other known animals. One of the most curious sorts of rodent common in Death Vallev Is-ihe "scorpion mouse," which lives almosfwholly upon scorpions. By the "instinct," which means experience inherited through generations, it has learned which end of its prey to tackle. Another creature in the same region that likes scorpions also is the "chapparal cock," which gobbles them by thousands, and is not less fond of centipedes, tarantulas, lizards and homed toads. The last named are too big to swallow at a gulp, and so the fowls tear them to pieces before devouring them. A Mouse Women Might Admire. Perhaps the most beautiful mouse in ex istence, is found in Death Valley and i known as thej 'grasshopper mouse." It is a lovely animal, fawn-colored in the back, with a snowy belly and sides, a short tail and pretty little ears. Other mammals are "pocket mice," with pouches outside their throats to stow provisions in, gophers, weasels, shrews and a newly discovered species Of lavender-gray fox with long ears. A wonderfully big species of coyote has been found in the valley. One funny thing about this kind of animal is that it is enormously fond of watermelons, but it has to starve .for them in the locality. Only 50 miles west of Death Valley, which is ISO feet below the sea-level, Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in North America, uplifts its mighty peak, covered with per petual snow, three miles into the air. Thus, within aay's journey of each other, the lowest and the highest points on this conti nent are'found. Dr. Merriam wrote the other day that he had breakfasted on 20 feet of snow and was composing his letter to Secretary Busk, at 4 T. ir., in an altitude of rather less than nothing and a temperature of 110 Fahrenheit in the shade. Mt Whitney a Tough Customer. The expedition would be very glad to as cend Mt Whitney, but the task is likely to be an impracticable one. Abov there are depths of snow which are continually pre cipitating themselves in avalanches' on the lower slopes, and the dissolving ice has re duced the ground to the condition of a hope less morass, through which travel is alto gether impracticable. There is no path up the mountain by which even a mule could journey. In the region described is to be found a most astonishing opportunity for the obser vation of a traveler, inasmuch as within 60 miles he can pass through all the life-zones of the earth, from the hottest tropic to the frozen Arctic, and view not only the vege tation but the beasts and bir.ds of the various climes traversed. It seems very strange to find upon the summits of Mt Whitney, the San Francisco mountain and other peaks scattered over the warmer parts of the earth, small colonies of veritable Arctic life, both vegetable and animal. But this is ex plained when it is realized that during a period immediately preceding the present, and known as the "glacial age," the entire northern part of The World Was Burled in Ice, the icecap, which in places was several thousand feet in thickness, extending south ward as far as Philadelphia and below Chi cago. When this vast cosmio glacier re ceded, many Arctic plants and creatures were stranded in lofty mountains, where at sufficiently lofty altitudes the temperature never became too high "for the continuance of their existence. For an example, the San Francisco mountain in Arizona is an ex tinct volcano, inhabited by plants and animals which could not possibly have reached it since the glacial period. Though an isolated peak rising out of a vast and buroing-desert,-its snowy top is a veritable Arctic colony. Bene Bache. THOUGHT HE'S -STBTJCK OTX. Joke on a New Jersey Nabob Who Drove a Well in His Back Yard. New York 'World. A New York business man who lives in Elizabeth, N. J., started last fall to sink an artesian well an his premises, and thought that, for the sak3 of exercise, he would do the job himself. Accordingly every night, after returning home from the city, he would repair to his yard with a big sledge and. there pound vigorously on the iron pipe for half an hour, screwing on section after sec tion as the work progressed, and putting on a pump occasionally tq see if he had struck water. A few weeks after a neighbor whose yard adjoins the well-borer's premises was sur prised to notice a heap of earth among his plants, and he noticed that every time his neighbor in the next yard would strike a blow with his sledge on the pipe he was driving the pile of dust was visibly agitated-Procuring a spade he dug down into the heap of earth, and the spade soon struck a metallic substance which, when uncovered, was found to be the end of an iron pipe with the pointed boring tool attached that is used in driving a well. The point of the pipe had evidently encountered a rock, sheered off in another direction, and finally, as the driving progressed, it came out in the .ad joining yard. The man who made this dis covery took a friend into his confidence, and together they made up their minda to have some sport with the well-driver. They unscrewed the pointed cap on the end ot the pipe, and procuring a gallon of kerosene poured it into the hollow tube. The well digger attached his little pump that evening, as usual, to ascertain if he had struck water, and to his Astonishment found he had struck oil. He could scarcely believe it at first and the conspirators, who had been watching his movements through a knothole in the board fence, poured in an other gallon, which fully convinced their dupe that he had a bonanza. He rushed into the house and acquainted his family with the joyful news. The fol lowing evening the conspirators saw him come home from New York with three well dressed men, apparently brokers. He took them into his yard and, rigging up his pump, proceeded to show them his remark able discovery of an oil well in Elizabeth. The pair who put up the joke on him at once poured in an extra gallon, and as the oil in its passage through the pipe became discolored it strongly resembled petroleum. The strangers smelled the stuff, and, after examining closely, became satisfied that it was the genuine article and informed the owner of the well that hi3 fortune was made. When the succeeding night they saw their victim bringing more men from New York' to inspect his big find they thought the joke had gone nearly far enough. The man who suggested the joke pot his mouth to the end of the pipe and shouted through the hollow tube: "You're a lot of blankety blank fools!" The sound of a voice pro ceeding,xas it were, from the bowels of the earth, startled the group around the well so much that they stood rooted to the spot in terror for a couple of moments. When they recovered from their fright they looked at each other in amazement until the shrieks of merriment proceeding from the next yard convinced them that they werfe the victims, of a hoax. Frightened to Death by Thunder. During a terrific thunderstorm.at Atlantic. City recently Mrs. Mary Carroll, a colored woman, 35 years pld, was frightened to death. She-was fonnd after the storm on the porch df Beyer's Hotel. Dr. Eugene Beed said death was due to fright The Tad of Heresy. New York Herald. They are going to try Dr, Briggs for heresy on account of the Eden episode. He insists that Adam and Ere ate a banana, and.thaHba fall was dot to their erel ness with the peeling. BEAUTIES- OF INDIA Held Captive in Poems 'of Marble at the Zenana of the Nizam. MS. POTTEB EECITES FOE THEM And Describes How the Magnificent Creatures Appreciate It THE HANDSOME PEEfCE AND HIS "WIFE The Nizam of Hyderabad is the richest in dependent prince of India; his dominions are larger than France and have double the population. Mrs. James Brown Potter has.taken a peculiar interest in the beau tiful inmates of the Zenana of this pow erful prince, and on his invitation she recently appeared before them. Ex tracts from letters Mrt. Tamet Brown Potter, written by her to her friends in New York, and published in the Herald, of that city, give the following description of her visit: On the right as we entered the inner court and covering an area, I should say, as large as the Fifth Avenue Hotel, , is the zenana or harem, which had when I saw it 400 inmates and was also the residence of the Nizam's wife. Naturally enough I ap preciated the honor that this great prince did me when he asked if I would recite in the courtyard of the zenana, in the presence of himself and his wife, and near enough to the women for me to hear the rustle of their robes and to see now and then, through the meshes of the fairy-like marble screens, the flash and flutter of their great, soft eyes. Bare Beauty of the Interior. The zenana has a little courtyard of its own, around which on four sides rise galleries of marble supported by columns of what appeared to me to be mosaic. In the center of the court a great fountain threw a jet of perfume water to the height of at least 40 feet Above the court was open to the sky: below the mosaic pavement, of ex ceedingly ingenious patterns of colors as glittering and bewildering in their bright ness and contrasts as the kaleidoscope itself, was dotted here and there by divans and cushions and shaded by palms, a large num ber of which appeared to be growing here. The marble screens, behind which the beauties took shelter from my eyes, had delicate meshes which seemed almost plia ble and as light as a feather, so minute were the designs of their tracery and so delicate their outlines. Each of these screens alone represented the labor of years, I am told, bat after all what does that amount to in a country where even the skilled labcr of a marble worker commands not much more than 5 cents a dayl The high class Moslem women are never allowed to be seen. They lead the most desperately dull lives. If their faces are only once even seen by men outside of their own blood relations, they are, according to the Koran and the customs of their country, disgraced forever. I have seen these beautiful creatures covered with lovely jewels, loaded with wealth, decked in the most magnificent scarfs and silks, in all the great zenanas of India, but can they be happy? . , Poems In Marble and Xlesh. Ascendim? the- marble stairway on-tfie right, after entering the zenana, we reached. the nrst balcony, on whicn were the private rooms o(the princess. From these we pro ceeded to the gallery above by another curi ously carved stairway. A hundred women, most of them young, and all that I saw at least beautiful according to the Indian ideas, which highly esteem avoirdupois have apartments on this balcony. I went no higher, but I understood a hundred more were quartered on the balconies above. The hopeless isolation of these lovely creatures for whom nature has done so much and man so little impressed me painfully as I sauntered from one apartment to the other under ex quisite doorways of marble, through cur tains whose fabric was so delicate that any one of them might almost have been drawn through a finger ring; over mosaics whose patterns and finish would aTone have at tracted crowds of the curious in our coun try, and watched them as they lazily ronsed themselves to & sitting position on their cushions ana with a taint flush of curiosity and interest in their dusky cheeks and ox like eyes seemed almost about to make the effort to inquire who I was and what I wanted. I asked what they ate, and was told rice and sweetmeats, rice and sweetmeats, noth ing but rice and sweetmeats. They had sherbet, to drink when theywere thirsty and their cushions to sleep upon when they were sleepy. Food, drink, slumber, the de sire for fine apparel and .glittering jewels, which were undoubtedly theirs these seemed the sum and limit of their wants. The Nizam Is ah Apollo.' The Nizam himself has a most impressive physique. I should say he was one of the handsomest human beings I ever met tall, athletic, yet spare of frame, deep-chested and long-armed, grave almost to sternness, yet as courteous as a cavalier of the olden times. The Nizam was awaiting me when I returned to -the courtyard. Messengers were dispatched through the galleries of the zenana to inform the inmates that in ten minutes I would recite for them. By and by a soft flutter of silky garments was heard on all sides, and I became con scious of being the target for hundreds of bright eyes which peeped at me over the marble balustrades and through the inter stices of the queer stone lattices. A carpet was spread upon the mosaic, or rather, a rusj about ten feet square, and standing on this, facing the Nizam, who followed all my movements with grave interest, I began by reciting what do you think? "The Pride of Battery B." Of course, they didn't under stand it, but I felt irresistibly Impelled to get in touch with them, so to speak, by de grees. When I finished there was a painful pause and then a little rnstllng of gowns again and subdued murmurs on all sides. Three of the women daughters, as I learned, of three of the Jf izam's most power ful subjects and themselves princesses by birth and bjood were permitted to sit on a divan about ten feet tp my left, a marble screen about four feet high having been put between mo and them. Now was the time when I had resolved to make my coup, if at all. I did the mad scene from r'Romeo and Juliet," and I know that my auditors had noVerseen anything like It before that is, the women at least for they say the Nizam himself had seen everything and done everything. Melted by Juliet's Woe. As I dragged myself across the carpet to take the poison vial from the Angers of my imaginary Borneo, simulating the mingled love and agony of the dying Juliet as well as I knew how, and better, I believe, than I ever did elsewhere, I was at last assurod by the sobs from tne galleries and by the pndU- fulsed grief of the three princesses op my left hat I had touched their hearts. The Nizam himself showed no emotion except the grav est interest His wife, whom l should be tempted to call a sort of a dummy, played with the rings on herflngers and didn't even pretend to watch me. Bnt the women of the zenana, whose only entertainments up to then had been the dance of nautch girls or the Jugglery of snake charmers, had at last been aroused from their torpor. I -did Ophelia then and you would hardly believe it followed this with "'Ostler Joe." I think "'Ostler Joe" -ns much the most af fectionate weapon in my repertoire, Judg ing from the sighs and tears with which it was greeted. Coffee and sweetmeats were served in the Turkish fashion, for the Nizam In a Moham medan monarch, and I was then courteously escorted to my carriage. .Of all my Indian experiences h Calcutta, Bombay, Madras as y4BTrdTl sh41 chertah myvlsit to b 4m 'MMwzm iP" JHAPTEEI. ME. GIEDLESTOirE'S TTRi-p. In. the neighborhood-of Bishopsgate With out, and only separated from that noisy street by a narrow lane of lofty warehouses, stands an old square. This square, which is mostly composed of fine mansions, was once the very center of fashion. Here was to be found the ancestral home of more than one aristocratic family; it was here that the Countess of Devonshire some 200 years ago lived and died. It was here, as we are told by Stow, the best of old chroniclers, that "Jasper Fisher, free of Goldsmiths, late one of the six clerks of the Chauncerie, and a justice of the peace," built for himself a magnificent residence. He laid out his grounds in regal style with pleasure gardens and bowling alleys, for his guests to wander in and listen to the songs of birds; even "the Queen's Majesty Elizabeth did lodge there." No wonder, then, that crowds of the nobility and gentry came to visit Jasper Fisher. His hospitality and extravagance might almost be compared to that of an Eastern potentate; a calif could scarcely have been more ostentatious. But "Fisher" so the story goes on "being a man of no great calling, possessions or wealth, and being indebted to many," was unable for any length of time to keep np so large and sumptuous an establishment He retired once more, into private life; the place gradually fell into wreck and ruin; and so It came to be called "Fisher's Folly." One autumn evening; some years ago, a young man entered the precincts of Fisher's Folly and looked keenly about him. At that time the place was the home of mer chants, who Lad their counting houses on HE GAZED 10NO the ground floor. The man had the appear ance of one who ha4 recently landed Irom a long voyage: he wore a rough overcoat and waterproof hat; and his fresh complexion and bright eyes spoke eloquently of stiff breezes on a briny sea. His face expressed as he glanced about something more than mere idle curiosity. "I thought I should have remembered the old house," he mut tered to himself; "but I was only a lad; and one house was the same as another in those days. I didn't know then what I know now;" and he walked round the square, peering up at the doors and windows and down into the great areas, dismal and deserted and faced by rusty iron rails. Presently he stopped opposite a cor ner house. It was the largest in the square; it had two windows on each side of its mas sive door, and five windows on the stories above. In the roof was a low, smoking chimney; and in the deepening gloom this chimney, with a round garret window on each side, had the appearanee of a shapeless monster, as it seemed to the young man, staring down over the, parapet when he looked np. As he was on the point of turning away, though the front door of this man sion stood invitingly open, a gleam of light in the windows overhead at tracted his attention. He stepped back and .stood in the roadway with an eager expression on his uplifted face. The light moved Swiftly about, glimmered dimly in the five windows, and presently became con centrated in the one above the front door. In the bow of this middle window, inside the room, stood a large lamp unlighted. This lamp, raised upon a pedestal, was peculiar. It had the appearance of a lantern suspended under a gilded dome, the dome being supported by foliated pillars. The whole ornament, as far as could be seen at that distance, was a remarkable piece of workmanship. And while the young man stood there looking up, as If the lamp were of exceptional interest to him, the figure of a girfbecame apparent The girl, carrying a taper in her hand, stopped before the lamp. The lantern was soon lit; and the brightness from it fell upon her face. It was a' vision of beauty an exquisite ap parition of loveliness, upon which the lamp threw a pale subdued light; and then an arm was stretched out, the curtain drawn across the window, and the lamp and lovely face had vanished. The young man now went up the steps, and found himself in a large hall, with a broad oaken staircase beyond. Upon adoor on one side of this" hall was written in white letters upon a dark panel, r'Girdlestone, Carter & Co." After a moment's hesitation and a glance np the staircase as though an other glimpse of the enchanting face were Eossible, he opened this door and found imself in a dingy old counting house, where the clerks, five or six in number, were seated on high stools, as if to get light, when any came that way,from the barred and dusty windows behind them. Theyalllooked np when the visitor came in, like so many AutoflKteoa, and then looked down again. "TjJfcCwHr within ?" " r vLk ' r i i' ! ii' h wmrmfc -hvka j-,f WBSA J if I Iff r W -SI V ' I A clerk came forward. 'What name?" "John Westcott" The clerk opened a door on which "was in scribed "Mr. Girdlestone" in faded letters. The room into which he stepped was in darkness; but the clerk lighted two antique candlesticks on the high mantel shelf. He then placed a chair for John Westcott and disappeared. Westcott's expression of curiosity in creased. The room had a mysterious and neglected appearance: there were many signs m its not. having been occupied oi lata The desk was covered with dust, and dusty cobwebs hung in the corners of the walls and across the chinks in the closed shutters, as though even the spiders had forsaken the place. A few sheets of paper lying upon the desk were as yellow as old parchment; and the ink in a pewter inkstand had evidently dried up long ago, with the tip of a quill pen sticking there, as if the hand that had dipped it had ended the records of a life and haa vanished. John Westcott sat down in the chair probably Mr. Girdlestone's facing the old desk. His eyes wandered searchingly into the deep pigeon-holes and oyer the . brass handled drawers, quaintly designed with tha heads of satyrs. Suddenly he glanced up. An antique picture the portrait of -an old man faced him; it was hanging over the mantel-shelf between the two candles; and the eyes seemed to him to express extraordinary cupidity. Westcott moved from .the desk, lifted one of the- eandles from the mantel-shelf, and, shading it with his hand, examined the portrait with acute interest. "Yes," said he, in an undertone, "it is the face Iremember. There is a look of insatiable greed in those searching eyes in the hollow cheeks and wniikled mouth. And what expressive hands! Why, yes, they seem. to be grasping imaginary gold!" While he still stood gazing at this paint ing as if unable to take Ms eyes from it, the door opened, and the clerk reV-nested AT THE POETEAIT. him to "step this way." The room which he now entered had a cheerful appearance It was well lighted, and a bright fire was burning in the hearth. Upon the rug, with his back-to the fire, stood a somewhat careworn-looking man of about 45 or CO. He stepped forward, however, with a pleas ant smile on his face, and held out his hand to the visitor, "Well, John,' said he cordially, "so you made up your mind at last to come to Eng land. You have done well and I am de lighted to see you. But what has happened? I have been puzzling my brain ever since your letter came to hand. 'John West cott,' as I could not help saying to Marian, 'has got some surprise in store for us. And Marian was somewhat of my opinion." If a sign of embarrassment crossed West cott's face as he drew a chair toward tha hearth, it escaped Mr. Carter, for that gen tleman had bent down to stir the fire into a brighter blaze, as though to give a more cheerful appearance to his welcome, and, at the same time to hide the slight tone of re proach in which he spoke. The merchant was evidently one of those men who, when having an nnpleasant duty to perform, are glad to get it over as agreeably as possible. The young visitor, after a quick glance about the room, as. if reviving his memory as he had done in the square and Mr. Gir dlestone's office, quietly remarked: "So it seems strange to you, Mr. Carter, that I should care to revisit .my uncle's old home?" "Indeed, it does," replied Mr. Carter frankly. "I had concluded long ago that no possible motive could induce you to re turn. Has there not been more .than one strong reason during the last 15 years why you should come back? But you have all the while remained abroad." Beceiving.no reply Mr. Carter went on. "Was there not the prospect of a partnership?" said he. "Did not Mr. Girdlestone, as we wrote and told you, seem to set his heart upon having a relation in the house? That did not bring you home." "I had chosen a profession," replied Westcott "Even the certainty of inherit ing a large fortune by working A the desk could not tempt me to retire irom tne navy. I had a passion for the sea." "Well," said Mr. Carter, half apologetic- ally, "perhaps I ought not, you will say, express any opinion on the subject Your refusal to come into the business led to my proration. Mr. Girdlestone, desparing of getting .you to join the firm, made me a junior partner. But was there not another reason, a far weightier one, for a visit to England a year ago? And still, John, you stopped away." Mr. Carter looked, as well as spoke, reproachfully now, ) "You mean," said Westcott, steadying his voice, "at the time of my uncle's death." , "You received my letter?" "Yes; at Madras. You told me that he had left his property except your share in ' the business to your daughter Marian. It is she, as I understand, who is now the ' , senior partner in the old house." ' L A' slight smile passed over the. meTtrtant'l : 1 1 V
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers