ILK I F
OHM
NOW
The Electoral College Does XofcDo
What the Framers of the Con-v
stilulion Intended.
IT DID THAT ONLY TWO TIMES.
After That the Electors Considercd.Thcm-
sclves Duty Bound to Be Merely
Fart of a Midline.
,TKI3 IX50V1TIOX MADE EI -MICHIGAN.
Hcai? Cabot iAlge Erj'iains How residents Were to
' Be Elected 2nd Arc Elected.
prairas roc the nisrATcit.1
HE idea that -written
laws or constitutions
of government are
unchanging and un
changeable is at
least very old. The
laws of the Medes
nrtd ihn Persians
ter
L 7y
t5j"i fJ
1SV W
MO i
l&a
Stll
w39"" ;f' hvee become, indeed,
a proverbial expres
sion for immutability. This notion undoubt
edly came from the time when men were
largely governed by unwritten customs, and
thus came to look upon laws cut upon
stone or traced upon parchment as possess
ing a quality of permanency unknown be
fore. This ancient theory as to the fixed char
acter of written constitutions has had a fresh
lease of life in modern times and among
English-speaking people because the Brit
ish Constitution as such has never been re
duced to the form of a charter or code. Yet
the theorv, although old, is in reality only
superficially true. Constitutional develop
ment under a written constitution, wholly
apart from the regularly provided method
of amendment, is as possible and as far
reaching as the growth of an entire system
tf law from the interpretation of a single
act of Parliament like the statute of frauds
or the statute of limitations.
"STrirtrn nail Unwritten Constitutions.
- ,hw -- -
The written constitution is developed by
interpretation and by facts just like the un
written constitution. The only difference
is that the former develops within certain
specified iorms while the other is wholly
unrestrained except by habits and customs.
Xhe result is much the Eame in either case.
In the hands of the English speaking peo
ple with their genius for government and
their distrust of ready-made systems any
constitution, whether it be a written char
ier or aa uncodified body of laws and cus
toms, is sure to be developed and adapted in
the process of time to lit the changing con
ditions as well as the growth and the uceds
of the Terpl.
Thls fa-t is well illustrated by the history
of the Constitution of the United States.
"Jt has been the chief merit of that great
instrument that it lias proved itself capable
of development while at the same time it
has held last the foundamental principles
on which it was based. Direct amendment
of the Constitution by its own machinery is
now almost impossible, and yet while it
ever retains its vastand invaluable conserv
ative influence its wholesome development
is always in progress.
Ours TVonld Surprise Its Tramers.
It has expanded here and restrained there,
nnd thus far, as a whole, lias worked admir
ably and fulfilled its purpose with a success
?itile dreamed of at the outset Indeed, if
t&e framers of the Constitution could ex
amine their work to-day, they would proba
bly be amazed at the manner in which it has
met the needs of a great people, by slowly
troai'ening from precedent to precedent un
der the interpretations of courts and grad
ually conforming without distortion to the
logic of facts.
t In some directions the constitution has
developed, in others it has remained un
changed; while in others still it has ceased
to be practically operative because although
tie form remained, the substance has been
fonnd to be unfit for existing conditions. It
is of a provision of the last class, one of
ihe clauses much valued by the framers,
Jnrr lng since abandoned except in name,
'that L v ish to speak here.
T'h two jreat opposing forces in the con
venwon of 1787 were the National on the
one side and the Separatist or State-rights
n the other. The compromises between
the k two forces in the main formed the con
stitution. Bet there were also other strong
currents of opinion in the convention which
did not run at all on the same lines as the
National and Separatist theories, but which
bad, nevertheless, a profound influence up
on the final result.
JeaSuuF j- of Kxecntlve Power.
One of these was the deep seated jealousy
of executive power. The executive power
in all the colonies had represented England.
Hence executive and outside power had be
come equivalent in tne American mind and
trequ;ntly were subjects of suspicion
.and distrust and appeared to demand carc-
4nl limitation. Another strong sentiment
5a the convention springing from the nat
ural conservatism oi the race was against
unchecked action any whrc The new Gov
ernment was to be a'ltepublic and a democ
racy, but the framers telt that the ruling
thtory of cheeks and balances ought to be
implied to the source of all power as in
vtry other direction. The will oi the
people was to be supreme, but it was to be
expressed in such a way as to secure delib
eration and calm judgment and to avoid all
brisks of rash or hast decisions.
This was the controlling idea of the plan J
unaiivauoptea ior tne cnoice oi President
find Vice President. The best method of
snaking this choice was the subject of long
and anxious discussion. Practically everv
loly was atrainst referring the choice of tfie
chief magistrate to a direct vote of the pco
jile. Only one State, in fact, voted for it.
On the other hand every State voted that
the President should be elected by Con
gress, which Governor Morris opposed with
fer-eeirg wisdom as opening the road to
intrigu-, corruption and cabal. This plan
was finally adopted, however, and went to
the commitiee ot uctaiL
Tliry roand the llapry Mode.
Still it was not quite satisfactory, and for
it was substituted tne plan ot electoral col
eces,usui.llv attributed to Hamilton. which
was adopted by the coincntion and ratified I
atterwaru oy ui; btates. This new plan of
electors was certainly iugenious and it
also solved the difficulties of the conten
tion. It did away with the diiect popular
vote and avoided at the same time the evils
of a choice by Congress.
The electors were to be chosen in each
State iu numbers equal to the Ueprcsenta
tives aud Senator of the State in Congress.
Onagiveuday all the electors chosen in
all the States were to meet in college in
each State and vote for President and Vice
President The peon haing the highest
.auaiber of votes m all the electoral colleges
oi all the States tvas to be President and the
person having the next highest was to be
Vice Piesidciit.
The theory was that the electors would be
the ablest and best men in each State, that
thev would meet in their teveral colleges
aud then, alter due deliberation and dis
cussion, removed as thev were from the
heats of ooptilar and p.irty conflict, would
fiinnv; the first citizen of the Kepublic to be
its President.
IVaullfuHn Throry hat Impracticable.
In the theory the scheme was a beautiful
and nerfect ens There was only one diffi
culty about it It would not work. Poli
tical parties aimed At the Presidency and
human nature is so constituted that men
c .i not cease to be partisans because they
were chosen Presidental electors. At the
first election Washington was made Presi
dent by the general wish of the people. The
electors simply registered the public will.
They exercised their own preference in re
gard to Vice President and chose John
Adams. At the next election the electors
again registered the popular will by voting
for Washington as President but in regard
to Vice President the failure of the elec
toral system even at that early day was ap
parent Party lines were drawn, imper
fectly but still distinctly. The Federalist
electors voted for Adams and the anti-Federalists
for Clinton. The power of choice
had practically gone from the electors even
then.
The equal vote for Jefferson and Burr in
180p, and the struggle threatening civil war
which followed, led to an amendment doing
away with' the provision giving the Presi
dency to the person having the highest
number of electoral votes, and the Vice
Presidency to the person having the next
highest The twelfth amendment to the
Constitution provides that the electors shall
name in their ballots the person voted for as
Vice President This change made a repeti
tion of the danger of 1801 impossible.
The rian Adopted by Michigan.
This has been the only constitutional
change, however, in the method of choosing
a President established by the Constitution.
In each State we vote every four years for
electors to select a President and Vice Pres
ident These electors can be chosen in ahy
manner the Legislature of the State may
direct, either at large, by districts, or in the
Legislature itself. All methods have been
used, but the country has finally settled
down to the uniform practice of choosing
the electors at large for each State.
Latclv Michigan has returned to the dis
trict system in order that a gerrymander to
secure Congressmen unduly might also se
cure electors for the party making the
gerrymander. It may be doubted, how
ever, if this return to an old system, al
though for new objects, will be generally
accepted, as the good sense of the country
has decided in practice that the vote of
each -;lcctoral college ought to represent
the majority vote of each State. The
elee'ors are named in each State br the
different parties ana are voted for in block.
The electors chosen meet in their respectivo
States on a given day and vote. Their vote
is duly recorded and sent not only bv mail,
but also, in accordance with the old form.
by special messenger to Congress, where
the votes are opened, counted and declared
by the two Houses.
Tho Old Forms Willi Meaning Gone,
Thus the old forms survive unchanged,
bnt all the meaning except in one point has
departed. Party conventions now select
our Presidents and Vice Presidents and the
electors for whom we vote are merely ma
chines to register the expressed will of the
party which nominates and elects them.
The electors have no power. As thcy are
in honor bound to do, they simply register
in constitutional lorms the willot the popu
lar majority which has selected them.
The system which showed so quickly that
it would not work in the manner intended
by those who devised it seems to-day
cumbrous as well as meaningless. But it is
well to remember that although it has failed
of its original purpose, it has worked per
fectly well for a century and has proved en
tirely harmless.
In one important point, moreover, the
Electoral College has a real and vital mean
ing. The people ought to vote as they
always have for President and Vice Presi
dent, by States. This is an important and
necessary application of the Federal princi
ple, and it is preserved by the electoral col
leges. At the same time the direct vote of
the people for the Chief Magistrate is ob
tained as well as it could be in any arrange
ment, for the electors long since ceased to
come between the people and the Presi
dency, and they really register the popular
will as directly as if the votes were given
for President and Vice President without
any intervention.
HEXEr Cabot Lodge.
TOO MANY UNSELFISH WOMEN.
ir It Were Jfot for Them There Would Be
Fewer Selfish People.
fWRITTEX FOR THE DISrATCH.1
.There is too much of the unselfish woman
in the home. She may be the patient, self
sacrificing mother, who gets over-tired that
others may go free; she may be an elder
sister who has sacrificed all the graces and
gifts of individual life to a family of
younger brotheis aud sisters. Perhaps she
is a maiden aunt who smoothes the way
with anxious eagerness for everybody's feet
bnt her own, or a grandmother whose bur
dens multiply with the coming of the sec
ond generation, because the young mother
has not learned the secret of living her life
independently. Whatever emergency of
life may have called out her unselfishness,
there it is, and, as'l said before, there is al
together too much of it Why? Because
there is such a thing as an unselfishness
that passes beyond its proper bounds and
becomes mean-spirited. It lays aside that
proper recognition of self which commands
respect, and which is wholly necessary for
individual well-being. That the mother
should be the head, the brains of her
family, what is more fitting? That she
should be hands and feet, that she should
serve before them like a hired assistant, a
thousand times No!
These unselfish women, in their anxiety
to exemplify the Golden Rule, quite forget
that self, after all, underlies its measure of
values. If a great many women treated
their neighbors no better than they treat
themselves, this would be a sad world for
neighborliness.
And this unselfishness is sure to work
mischief in a family, too. For unselfish
ness is unlike most other virtues, in that it
breeds its opp -sites not its own kind. In a
lamily where the wife or the mother, or the
elder daughter, is anxiously unselfish,
where she watches every opportunity to do
for the other members of the family, what
there is every good reason they should do
for themselves, these others learn quickly
enough first to accept it, then to assume it,
and finally to demand it And so there
comes out of the home of the unselfish
woman a flock of careless, self-seeking chil
dren, intent on themselves, criminally heed
less of everybody else.
Hei.es- Wattxrson.
HEALTH IN THE SUNBEAM.
A Kay Wilt Kill tho Germs of Consump
tion and Most Other Diseases.
I WRITTEN TOR THE DISPATCH. J
Half the zymotic disease in the world is
the result of damp, dark, and their progeny
mold, decay and dirt Any physician
will testify to that. The follow ing "quota
tion from a paper read recently before the
American Public Health Association by its
President, Frederick Montizambert, M." D.,
V. it u. ., u. - J-"-, ui iueoec, ouglit to
be read by every housekeeper in this
country"
"Everyone can do a little, if only to
make one home or one loom bright, more
cleanly and more wholesome. Sunlight,
pure air and thorough cleanliness are nat
ural enemies to disease germs. The experi
ments ot Koch, Eansoine nnd others prove
that the living geinis of consumption, "when
exposed to the sunlight, lose their vitality
in a few hours, or even in a few minutes, if
the layer in which they are exposed be thin
enough, and that even ordinary daylight, if
it last long enough, will have a similar
effect. There is no sounder philosophy than
the old saying that 'there is more health in
a sunbeam than in drugs, more life in pure
air than in a physician's skill." "
Circumstantial Evidence.
Clothier and Furnisher.
He You didn't know I was color blind,
did you?
She I suspected it from the neckties you
ear.
Knew What He Was ADont
Clothier aud Furnisher.
Clerk You had better get this underwear
a size too large, to allow for shrinkage.
Customer Oh, this is all right It's for
my youngest boy.
OUR BOYS AND GIRLS.
A TALK WITH A FISH.
The little Fellow Pleaded Hard to its Pnt
Back in the 'Water Sounds Made by
Other Species Some Can Make Music
Eel language,
fWraTTEN FOB TITE DISPATCH. 1
ISTEN ! We were
fishing on the edge of
the great coral reef
that reaches out to
ward Xucatan from
Florida, and as my
companion spoke he
held his hands, in the
act of unhooking it, a
brilliantly colored flsh
about eight inches in length. The fish
gleamed with iridescence, red, blue, purple,
and golden tints flashing from every por
tion as the bright snnlight played upon it
The fisherman held his prize carefully, and
as he said: "Listen!" I heardavey audible
"cr-o-i-k-k!" then "kluk-kluk-er-o-i-k-k!"
"Ah," said my companion, holding the
fish up as if it was a child, "you want to
go back, do you?"
"Cr-o-k-k!" uttered the fish, that I noticed
was rolling its eyes in a most doleful man
ner. "This hook must hurt," continued tho
fisherman, as he endeavored to detach ' it
from the thin skin of the mouth.
Too Much for tho Fisherman.
"Cr-o-i-k-k! cr-o-i-k-k!" again uttered the
fish, rolling its eyes wildly and bending its
body.
"It's bad luck to throw a fish bacV soli
loquized the captor.
"Cr-o-i-k-k!" began .the fish.
"But, bless my heart, I can't resist this."
added the fisherman, and with a toss he
threw the fish back into its native element
"And yet," said mv companion, rebaiting
his hook, "they say fishes cannot talk. If
that 'ittle fellow was not pleading for his
life I should like to have some one explain
what he was doing.
I did not attempt to differ with him, as
while I did not care to confess it in public I
entertained very muoh the same idea, which
was that all animals that utter sounds use
them more or less to express their emotions,
wants and desires. The little fish, the talker
as we choose to call it, was one of the very
common fishes of the gulf and found way
up the coast, known there as the grunt,
while in tho dry boooka of science it ap
pears as tho haeniulon.
Very I-iko Garner's Monkeys.
In months, or years, spent on this greit
reef I became very weil acquainted with
the grunt family, and if I must confess it, I
otten gave my imagination play1 and be
lieved I understood what the talkers said.
This was before the days of the phonograph;
bnt if I had possessed one of the instru
ments, and could have held some of my
talking fishes up to it I am confident that I
could have surprised some of the young
folk who read this article. It may have
been my imagination, but I fancied that the
sounds, instead of being all alike, varied in
different fish, and that I could distinguish a
number of fish words. Be this as it may,
although the grunts were always caught
when I was fishing for other and larger
game, I took them off the nook as carefully
as I could and returned them to the water;
so that in this instance their voice, if such
it can be called, served them well.
A large number of fishes utter sounds. I
well remember being startled upon one oc
casion, by a small shark, or dogfish, which
I had hauled into my boat while fishing for
cod off the England coast The fish had
made its way under my seat and suddenly
uttered a bark or gutteral sound so similar
to that of a dog that I was startled and made
so vigorous a movement that my compan
ion a professional fisherman smiled and
remarked, if they did not bark what was
the use of calling them dogfish! The sound
was repeated every time I touched the fish
and was a sharp, distinct bark.
Tho Eel Said to Be a Musician.
"Upon other occasions I have heard a num
ber of fishes utter a similar sound, notably
the porgy, which, when I held it up to cut
out the hook, uttered such a chorus of
sounds that there could be no doubt that the
fish was in great distress. The gizzard shad
utters an audible whirring sound, and the
eel is said by good authorities to be the
musician of the family. I once endeavored
to investigate this with a singular result.
.O-
A Talk WV.h a Hau
The idea occurred to me when visiting the
little town of Ogunquit, on the Maine coast,
There was a little lake or pond here that
was aa eel paradise.
My young readers must not think that I
went sailing on the late expecting to hear
the.notes of the eels rising in chorns from
the water. Not at all. I merely thought
that when there were so many surely a few
would be found that would utter sounds.
The lake was a tidal one; that is, at low
tide it ran out into the ocean, being then
fed by a little stream of fresh water, and at
flood-tide the ocean swept in, filling it up.
The lake was about three feet deep, with a
bottom of soft mud that was fairly alive
with eels. Mv first t isit to the locality was
at sundown. The tide was low, and a rapid
stream running from the lake. To cross
the stream I removed my shoes and stock
ings and stepped in; the next moment I was
floundering and slipping about on the
rocks, while seemingly hundreds of eels,
larire and small, dashed against and around
my feet, and left the water to go wriggling
away at a rapid rate of speed, presenting a
marvelous spectacle.
Too Much Like Wrlggllnc Serpents.
Thousands of tho snake-like creatures
filled the little stream; wcre, in fact, going
down to the ocean in a solid mass, into
which I had stepped an experience so dis
agreeable that I gave up the investigation,
being willing to accept the word of other
observers that these fishes produce a dis
tinctly musical sound, and that the note, n
frequently repeated single one, has a
slightly metallic resonance. In the days of
old Rome eels were believed to talk, and
the Emperor Augustus pretended to under
stand their languasc.
The sounds made by eels, and also cat
fishes, are produced by forcing air from the
swimming-bladder into the' esophagus. It
maybe assumed that because the sounds are
uttered from the air bladder that they may
be meaningless; but my readers should re
member that tho air bladders of fishes is
homologous to the lungs of the higher back
boned animals,- aud the pneumatic duct
when referred to as a sound producer is to
be compared, as regards its function, with
the trachea of birds and milk-givers.
The Noises Made by Drum Fish.
The loudest sound-maker is the drum fish,
$!&&&
about which some remarkable stori 3 are
told. Prof. Baird, in one of his reports, re
fers to the noises made by these fishes when
the men were hauling them in, and not a
few sailors have been alarmed by the un
usual sounds. Some years ago a vessel an
chored off the New Jersey shore, and at
night the men were astonisned at hearing
peculiar sounds, apparently coming from
all about them. Some of the sailors who
were very superstitious thought there was
something wrong' about the vessel, but the
captain proved that the singular noises
were occasioned by drum fishes. Sir John
Kichardson states that when off the coast of
Carolina he was prevented sleeping by tho
noise made by these fishes. According to
some observer, the fishes produce the sounds
by striking the tails against the bottom of.
the vessel, while others think it is caused
"by clapping their teeth together.
Many of the sounds, produced by fishes
in various ways, are undoubtedly involun
tary. As suggested, some are caused by
the pneumatic duct and swimming bladder,
while others are produced by the lips or
the pharyngeal or intermaxillary bones.
The swimming bladder of fishes of the
genus Trigla and Zeus has a diaphragm and
muscles for opening and closing it, and
probably produces the low murmuring sound
heard in these fishes.
Tho Sea-Horse Can Talk.
The attractive and curious little sea-horse,
or hippocampus,produces low sounds which
are supposed to be due to the vibration of
certain small voluutary muscles. The cat
fish also makes a gentle humming sound,
while the chub-sucker utters a single sound,
followed by a discharge of air bubbles
Aristotle mentions a fish by the name of
Choirois, or pig, as inhabiting a river in the
Mediterranean, and as being one of the fishes
that have the power of producing sound.
During a visit to the north coast of Ceylon,
Sir Emerson Tennent heard wonderful ac
counts of musical bounds that were said to
proceed from the bottom of a lake, and while
upon the lake one calm night he distinctly
heard the sounds, which, he says, came up
from the water like the gentle thrills of a
musical chord, or the faint vibrations of a
wine class when its rim is rubbed by a wet
finger. It was not one sustained note, but a
number of tiny sounds, each clear and dis
tinct in itself.
The sound of a bell, occasionally heard
from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea,
is thought by some o be due to the corvo,
or crawfish, of the Italians, though others
attribute the curious sounds to shelly mol
lusks. Mnsic in the China Seas.
Lieutenant John White, an English
ofiicer, states that during a voyage to China,
wnen his vessel was anchored at the moutn
of the Eiver Camboya, the sailors were
greatly astonished to hear curious sounds
issuing from the water which were de
scribed as resembling the bass of an organ,
the clanging of bells, and the twanging of a
gigantic harp. The sounds, which continued
for a number of hours and swelled into a
chorus on both sides of the ship, were at
tributed by the interpreter to a school of
fish in the vicinity.
Baron Von Humboldt has recorded a
similar occurrence in the South Sea. Early
in the evening the sailors were greatly dis
turbed and terrified by a noise like the
beating of tambourines, followed by sounds
resembling the escane of air from boiling
liquid, which apparently came from the
ship. These extraordinary sounds, caused
by a school of fish, lasted for ten hours.
It is difficult to determine whether fishes
have a vocal communication; but nearly 100
species havo been heard to utter audible
sounds when out of the water, this un
doubtedly being a small proportion of the
finny sound producers. C. F. Holdeb.
NOT A DONATION PABTY.
A Bazaar That Took Soma Cognizance of
the Xeeds of Bachelors.
rwWTTEX FOR THE DISPATCn.1 I
"If I am to run this bazaar," said Au
gusta, her black eyes shining -with an ex
ecutive glow, "I'm going to run it to make
money. And I'm going to reach for the
money just where it is to be found in the
largest quantities in the pockets of the
men."
"Well, but the men always buy half the
things at a church fair anyway," suggested
Florence, timidly."
' 'Of course they do, poor things, " Augusta
assented, "and to their everlasting confu
sion and shamefacedncss, too. If I live to
be 100 years old 1 shall never see a more
pathetio sight than Willie Wallace, that
dear old moth-eaten beau, tripping gaily
about last jear with a pink satin party bag
under his arm and a shepherdess' crook in
his hand, with a yellow butterfly bow upon
it. What I'm going to do is to" give these
men whom we mean to levy upon, a fair
equivalent for their money In things they
can use themselves. I'm going to organize
a new kind of fair for men, and I'm going
to call it "
"Call it a 'Bachelor's Bazaar!" cried out
little Bertie Wilcor, excitedly.
"That's capital, and we'll have a be
wildering arrav of things that bachelors
like, and we'll make more money and give
more satisfaction than ever bazaar gave be
fore in life."
And they did. There were pocket hand
kerchiefs with initials and without, in little
boxesof half a dozen each, and thWe w ere
neckties of all kinds, which any Tjachelor
could buy with confidence, knowing that his
women friends would approve them. Be
sides these, there were silk handkerchiefs
and silk protectors, nnd gloves and key
chains, and the kind of writing naper that
men like. There were boxes for collars and
cuff, already filled, and silk umbrellas, and
scores of other thiugs that any sensible
man would be willing to give up good, hard
dollars for, because he could see a use in
them. But it is by no means to be supposed
that women and their needs and fancies
were wholly neglected in this bazaar.
Helen "Vatterscw,
ASSISTING AT A EECEPTI0H.
Tho Duties Are Not Tlioso of Greeting and
and Dismissing the Guests.
fWRITTEJT FOR TUB DISPATCH.
If one" of your women friends asks von to
"receive" with her at any function she has
definite reason for so doing. She doesn't
expect you to stand with her all the after
noon and do nothing hut creet and dismiss
guests that is her special privilege as host
ess. The unwritten law for those who are
asked to receive with the hostess is other
wise. It is their part to do what the host
ess, who is busy with incoming guests can
not do.
These assistants may at the first, stand in
line with the hostess until the rooms begin
to be filled; then they should gradually
withdraw, leaving only one of the number
to act as speci.il assistant to thp hostess, and
it should be their special mission to break
up the stifflittle pauses following introduc
tions, to sec that isolated mid timid people
are brought among those who have the most
savoir fatre, to invito guests out to the din
ing room, and see that they are properly
served, to make the stranger feel specially
welcome, to break up little groups of inti
mates, in short to diffuse a sweet and gra
cious courtesy everywhere, to make every
guest feel that he or she is an object of
special consideration, to do what no hostess,
no matter how fine her tact, can accomplish,
because she cannot make a dozen people of
herself all at once.
A City or Wide latilndo.
Clothier and Furnisher.
Chicago Man I want to change my order
for a linen duster, and order a fur-lined,
coat
Tailor Yes, sir.' Nothing wrong, sir?
Chicago Man Oh, no. I have just moved
into a more northern part of the city.
SKATES AND SNOWSHOES.
The Boys or Three Centuries Ago Glided
Abont on Shin-Bone of Animals The
Dntch First Used Metal Devices for
Walking on Snow.
written ron tiiii nsrATcn.i
II E H E is no more
graceful and healthful
exercise than skating.
i A skillful skater makes
one almost look for the
J wings that the ancients
fixed to the ankles of
Mercury, Perseus and
Minerva. In one thing
can tho birds be
rivaled by humans,
As they sweep
On sounding skates a thousand different
ways.
In circling poises, swift as tho wind along,
sings Thomson.
The boy who has never learned to skate
has lost a pleasure that is dear to boy's
heart, but there are few who havo not tried
skating however limited the streams, pond,
or icy place for practice may have been.
Skates are very old; hundreds, nay, per
haps thousands of years before this damp"
winter, skating was a merry sport Per-
.OlfSKEE RUNNERS
haps too many in this age of invention
think that more ideas are new than really
are so. If we remember that everything
we sec around us grew up, then we can
"begin tho inquiry about skates that came
before the keen-edged "club," with all the
ardor of historians. It is certain that
skates would be of no use in the tropics;
we must look for their home in the land of
long winters, of crusty snow and slow, ice
bound rivers.
Skating on Shin-Bones.
Wc would not envy the boy of long ago,
as he bound the shin-bones of some animal
to his feet and went through a kind of
sprawling gymnastics that was the skating
of the period. In Iceland skates are called
islcggir, "ice bones," the bhin-boues of a
sheep.
If sheep shin-bones were the first skates,
then the boy who lived before iron or
bronze were known, back in the stone and
bone age, could enjoy himself with this
cheery sport The boys of London in the
twelfth century, Fitz "Stephen tells us, in
winter bind under their feet a pair of shin
bones, take in their hands poles shod with
iron, which at times they strike against the
ice, and are thus carried along with the
rapidity of a bird on the wing or a bolt dis-
charged from a crossbow. The generous
Holland boy, Hans Brinker, was forced to
go back to the primitive way, when he had
given his skates to a poor friend and had
foregone his chances in the race for the "sil
ver skates." It is thought that skates came
into use in Northern Europe, perhaps in
Holland, where it is cold and there is plenty
of smooth water, because, where the rivers
are swift there is no skating. The wooden
skates with iron runners curling up into a
wonderful spiral, terminated with a brass
acorn at the point, were introduced into
England from the Low Countries.
Over Two Centnrles Ago.
Gossipy Pepvs, in his diary of December
1, 1GG1, records': "To my Lord Sandwich's,
to Mr. Moore and then over to the Parke,
where I first in my life, it being a great
frost, did see people sliding with their
skates, which is a very pretty art" The
Scotch have the reputation of being good
sicaters, both in the ,'fen" or straight, swift
skating ynd the "fancy" skating. Our
country as the champion, I think, at pres
ent. The snowshoe may be called the overland
skate. AVhile the snow lay in great drifts,
defying progress, keeping the'civilized New
Englander in the house and setting Whit
tier to writing the beauties ot "Snow
Bound," the Indian, fixing framework cov
ered with netting to his feet, could sally
forth to kill the floundering moose or deer.
Snowshoes must have originated, like
skates, from sheer necessity. The savage
cannot lay up a supply of lood for a long
time, he must be able to hunt all seasons.
The same principle that men arc trying to
apply now in the invention of the flying
1ESK1MO'
machine, namely, to get n wide surface for
the support of tue air, has been successfully
applied to the snowshoe.
. Development of the Snow Shoe.
Whoever this forgotten wise inventor
was he must have noticed that sometimes
the snow would almost bear him up on the
area of his shoe si les and he reflected that
if ho had larger feet it would be a positive
advantage. He plaits up some twigs into n
circular bhape and finds that the surmise is
correct, but tho' snow collects on these
.primitive shoes and retards hii walking..
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The result of all the trials Is the graceful,
tapering Canadian snow shoe, with beveled
frame of light wood and netting of rawhide,
leaving no place for snow to stick.
The mishaps of the learner on snow shoes
are very ludicrous, especially when he
"scuffs" and takes a header into the drift
with snow shoes uppermost. The National
Museum has many different forms of
snow shoes, from the oval, very wido
shoes of Labrador to the tapering shoes of
the Indians and Eskimo. The rudest snow
shoes perhaps in tne world are used by the
California Indians. They are mere hoops
of wood with coarse netting. The Aino
shoe comes in a close second in point of
rudeness. Just how the Labrador people
walk with a snow shoe 25 inches wide on
each foot is a query. The effort to bring
one foot around past the other must result
in a peculiar amble. The Japanese have a
sort of snow shoe with spurs, that admit of
walking up the mountains in hard snow.
The skees of Norway are long and narrow
like sledge runners, and on them travelers
glide down hills with great speed.
Walter Hough.
WBINKIES ABE HONORABLE.
Helen TVatterson Insists They Are Not as
Bad as Gray Hairs, Even.
fWRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCIt.1 .
Eeading all the paragraph wisdom that is
uttered nowadays on the subject of wrinkles,
their avoidance and their care, a stranger
on this planet would certainly think a new
and mortal terror had just come among us.
Enough is said of the treatment of wrinkles
to make us all wise to avoid them, if wis
dom were enough. But wrinkles, like love,
will find out a way, and in spite of massage
and oils and baltns, wrinkles will set their
delicate seal of thought and perplexity upon
the forehead and under the eyes and about
the lips.
The reason of wrinkles, any one will tell
you easily, is years. But why is it that
years make wrinkles? Here is the explana
tion, as well as a layman can give it. Un
derneath the skin in the flesh are embedded
multitudes of little muscles that hold the
flesh and keep it as we say "solid and firm."
The skin also has a certain muscular power
of contracting and stretching, as necessity
demands, and which depends upon what is
called the tonicity of the skin. As years
creep along the muscles weaken and. grow
lax, no longer holding the flesh up firm and
hard as before. All the lines in the face
droop therefore with age, and the flesh has
a tendency to fall down in little ridges.
Just the same thing happens to the. skin.
It loses its contracting power and relaxes.
Then come the little wrinkles.
It will be seen, then, that wrinkles are
due to changes in the constitution of the
6kin itself. Anything that acts as a stimu
lant upon the skin keeping it active and so
keeping up the tone of tho muscles will
tend to prevent wrinkles. But even if they
do come, why shonld one be unhappy?
They are as'honorable as gray hairs. Tney
indicate thought as well as years; they give
character and dignity to the expression.
Freckles and sun-burn have had their day
of being fashionable. Why not wrinkles?
They are beautiful if we only think so.
Helen- Watteksos;
PB0PEE PLACE FOB THE LINEN,
Certainly Not on the Bed or Next the Skin,
Save in Summer.
IWRITTEIf TOE THE DISPATCH.!
The world, or this part of it, at least is
full of housekeepers who think that there
is no material for sheets and pillow cases
comparable to linen. They don't always
have it to Jbe sure, because it is expensive,
but they always covet it and finger th'o
shining breadths lovingly and wonder if the
time will ever come when all these things
shall be added unto them. But the truth
about linen is that it isn't the ideal dress
ing for beds at all. It is cold and slippery
and insures sensitive persons the dream of
sleeping on an iceberg which does well
enough for an occasional experience, like
seasickness, but which palls on too frequent
repetition. Besides that, it wrinkles and
tumbles in spite of its heavier body, much
more than cotton does giving a bed afterone
night's use, a most slovenly and uninviting
appearance.
Nobody recommends linen for body wear.
Its firm texture and hard surface makes it
wholly non-absorbent; it allows the body to
become chilled by refusing the perspiration
and so has been known to bring on serious
illness. For outside wear in summer, linen
may be tolerated as clothing, but nowhere
else.
Where, however, it is at its most useful
and best is in household uses. For table
service, for the toilet and for minor orna
mental details, it is simply invaluable its
smoothness of texture, its brilliancy, which
laundrying even increases, its exquisite
freshness makes it the one fabric fit to drape
the dining table, and to use in tha toilet,
while its suitability for needle work decor
ation makes it admirable for all kinds of
fancy work. And here it is rightfully
used, but to wear next the skin and sleep
in no.
HEB BEOTHEB'S TBOTJSEBS CLOTH.
How a Bright Fin de-Steele Girl Started a
New fashion Going.
rWRITTEIf FOR TITE DISPATCH.1
"I don't see why I shouldn't have that
piece of cloth for my new tailor-made
gown," said a young girl not long ago,
when her brother's new trousers came home
from .the tailor's.
"But it's for men's trousers," said her
brother.
"That's no reason why a girl shouldn't
have a gown of it, if she wants one," she
answered.
It was a soft gray, with tiny stripes of a
darker gray, and a hair line of black run
ning through it. "It would make a pretty
gown," said her mother doubtfully, not
used to such innovations as this, even with
her fin de sieclo daughters, "but it is too
heavy."
"It isn't any heavier than your Bedford
cord," persisted the'daughter.
And so the patient mother, trotted away
to get a bit of the Bedford cord. Sure
enough, it wasn't.
'I shouldn't think of having it lined)"
said the young woman positively, "except
in the bodice, and that with thin silk."
"I cost 5:5 CO a yard," warned her
brother.
"So does the Bedford cord," she an
swered.
And the result wa3 plain from that mo
ment. Whether she set the fashion or whether
by some strange mental telegraphy the
same idea caine to other girls, you must
settle for yourself, but the fact is that a
great many young women have stolen mas
culine clothes to have their street-gowns
made of.
WHAT FASHIONABLE W0HEN WEAB.
Dress skirts longer than ever.
junk fiir and mink tails on hats.
Hitch line white point de cheuc on black
hats.
Seal skill heavily trjmmcd witli Persian
lamb.
White kid gloves with black stitching to
shop in.
Fur girdles in costumes that are trimmed
with fur.
IlEAViLr braided Jackets in half and three
quarter lengths.
LiZAKD-grcen vol vet hats, with black Prince
of "Wales feathers.
Ke.il lace veils with flowers 'and vines
climbing over the face.
Loxg end's of velvet "ribbons floating from
the back of their hats and no ties. .
Fur cravats, with the head and tail and
sometimes the feet of tho animal preserved.
3lAniE.NTOii.TTKlicIius of chiflon hemmed
plain, ruffled or embroidered, folded (corncr
whse and knotted in trout.
Sashes on ovenins frocks, with louft ends,
but no loops, falllns either from the waist or
7 wli 'wHHp p
TTKITTES FOE
BY MAJORIE
"And I say," cried Dick excitedly, "no
one ever thinks anything about us. They
are always bothering about somebody's
rights, but they don't care a rap whether
boys have any or not. We are walked over
by our parents just as Sam says "
"That's so," grumbled Tommy Davis.
"Here they've taken away our air-guns
'cause we don't know how to handle them,
and I'd like to know how we can learn with
out them."
"Sam says the only way to escape from
this thraldom is to bind ourselves together
and be Knights of Labor. They are men
who have processions with torches and
badges, and they say, 'Give us our rights!'
and then they get them and do just as they
want to forever after."
"Hurray!" shouted Jack Elliott. "Let's
be it."
'Who'll tell us how?" queried Joe Har
ris. "I might cet Sam," suggested Dick.
"Father's given him a week's warning with
out a character, and he's iu the garden
working it out now. Father says he drinks,
but Sam savs he doesn't, and that father
ought to take his word for it. He's mad
enough, and says father's no gentleman.
Oh, he'd help us, I'm sure."
Bo ten minutes later Sam was seated in
the clubroom, listening with a suppressed
smile on his crafty face, to the agitated
words of his colleagues.
"The first thing ye wants is dinnimite,"
he said, emphatically, "an' next, trans
parencies them'll show 'cm the state of ver
leclin's. It takes the money, though.
How much have yez?"
Dick brought the bank, and its contents
was counted out into Sam's large hands,
540 in all.
"5Tou see, this morning," explained
Jack, "when they took away our guns, our
fathers gave us 5i apiece "
"That's allnz the way," interrupted the
mentor. "What's a paltry 52 to a capi
talist? Snap your fingers at 'em an' tell
'era ye won't take it. Hold on, though,
ye'll want it for the expenses. Who's
triseror?"
"Joe has been'" began Dick, "but there
wasn't anything in the bank till this morn
ing." "Thin it's him must get the implimints
o' defiance an' all the supplies of the
brotherhood."
"Oh," groaned Joe, "I can't. Won'tyou
be treasurer. Sam?"
"Yes," said Sam, graciously, "I will te
obleege ye. But first, ye must all take a
oath of illigence., which means ye must
niver mintion the order or its doin's to out
side parties."
So the members of the newly organized
Uauge took a solemn oath never to divulge
a word that was said at the meetings.
"Hope we may die if we do," cried the 20
knights in one voice after the last boy was
sworn, and then the meetingadjonrnea.
Dick was unusually serious the naxt
week, but then he was always serious at
home, so no one took any notice of it His
mother ahd father were gay young people
who could never spare time from their
social duties to inquire into the moods of
the solitary child. So Dick, unnoticed,
brooded over his lonely life afterhis mother
nnd futhiT had driven paily away without
so much as a "goodby" to him, his childish
heart filled with bitterness, and hfrhurried
away from the gloomy house to the rooms
of the brotherhood. As ne approached tne
old barn Tommy hailed him Irom the open
door.
"H-i-i, Dick; I was just going for you;
Sam's come with the implements of de
fiance." Dick quickened his pace and in a moment
he had joined the group of excited boys who
were gathering about Sam in the empty hay
loft Sam wa3 uncovering the first trans
parency. " 'We will defy the tyrint father,' " read
Tommy, in an awe-struck tone.
"Wheu!" ejaculated Joe, "isn't that
rather strong?"
"It ought to be strong," said Dick,sternly.
"What's the next one, Sam?"
"Down with opprishin," was painted in
crooked, black letters on the second trans
parency. "I constricted thim misilf," explained
Sam, "to save expinse, an' this," holding
up the third. "That's the best of the lot,"
said Dick, admiringly." 'Shall our parints
rule us no.' "That shows just what we
mean.
'This other," continued Sam. "I horrid
from a frind: 'Higher wuges shorter
hours."
"Idon't see why wc shonld have that,"
objected Joe. "None of us get wages, and
what does 'shorter hours' mean?"
"Oh precissions alnz carries that motto,"
Sam assured them with a superior smile.
"It looks fine when it's lit."
The torches and badges were produced
and then Sam said impressively:
"Sit still now, an' don't move so much as
yer finger whilst I gets the diniinitc. It's
You Want Dinamlte.
below in a box, an' if it's shook it'll eg
splodp. It must not on iuny account be
opined till yes wants ter n'sc it Now,
where'll yer put it?"
"There's the high dogcart in the carriage-house,"
snggested Dick. "Father
never uses it;,why wouldn't that be a good
place?"
"Sure an' it would. Take it there now,
an' put it under the scat, an' mind ye don't
stbumble. An' afore we breaks up, let's
give, three cheer3 for the kqights that's
goin' to trow off the yokes from their nicks
to-morrer night."
e
"Well, how do you think it went off?"
The membors of the brotherhood stooped
in the lane near the common aud looked
gloomily at each other.
Jack "shufiled his feet, and twisted his
torch from side to side.
"It wasn't as good as I thought it would
be," he muttered. "It made me feel mean
when we came to mother. Wish I hadn't
cirricd 'Shall our parents rule us no?' "
"Wish I hadn't been in it at all," sniffed
Tommy. "If you had teen the governor's
face vhen, he saw the old thing I carried
THE DISPATCH
RICHARDSON.
about 'the Tyrint Father!' Bet I catch it
when I get home."
"I wouldn't mind catching it," said Joe,
wrathfully, "but I do hate to be made fun
of. My father laughed at every one of you,
but when I went by and he read 'Higher
wages shorter hours' he just sat dowrA on
the steps and hollered. I told Sam that tras
a silly motto. I know I shall never hear
the end of it."
"No matter." said Dick, resolutelvA
"We've taken a stand and we must stay by '
it. I don't know what my father thought
I didn't look at him much. He and mother
rode slowly by us in the dog cart, just as w
.Te rusalem I"
He leaned against the fence and glanced
wildly from one boy to another.
"The dynamite." he gasped. "Where is
the dynamite? It's in the very cart that
father is driving, nnd Sam said a breath
would explode it."
His lips turned very white. "They hanged
Guy Fawkes because he tried to blow up
England, but I'm wickeder than he, for I'm
blowing up my own father and mother.
.' What is there worse than hanging. Jack?"
A desperate expression came into his face
as he asked this question, and his voice was
strange and stern.
"Oh, Dick." whimpered Tommy, "don't
talk l:ke that; you didn't meac to do it.
None of us did," and'he put his arm affec
tionately about Dick's shoulders.
"We will stand by yon'to a man, Dick,"
said Joe, heavily. "We'll all hang,"
bringing the word out with a shudder, "with
you."
But Dick shook off Tommy's protecting
arm and started on a run down the road,
closely followed by his horror-stricken,
companions. The torches and transparen
cies bobbed up and down and cast a flicker
ing light on the white, drawn faces beneath.
Dick's feet flew over the ground with a swift
tread keeping time to the words that were
running through his brain:
Oh. do you remember the 5th of November,
The gunpowdertreason and plot.
Around the corner of the street by tho
postofnee stood a dog cart with a woman
seated in it The horse canght sight of tha
dancing lights, and gave a quick turn and
111.
TT
Dick CavgU Vp Ou- Edna.
started to run, but Dick canght up the reins
that were trailing on the ground, and clung
to them desperately. The animal, plunging
and curving wildly, dragged the sturdy little
figure some distance down the road, until a
man canght him by the bridle and forced
him to stop. Then Dick staggered to his
feet, and called faintly:
"Hurry, father hurry. Take mother
out. She'll be blown to pieces. There's
dynamite under the seat"
One of the men in the group abont the
cart instantly drew from the back a small,
snsnicious-lookinsr ken. at the sight of
which the crowd fell back. The lid was
carefully pried open, and a shout of laugh
ter went up for it was filled to the brim
with sand.
The next day all the knights but Dick
were assembled in the clubrooms, a sorrow
ful looking group. Their treasurer had de
parted without squaring accounts and leav
ing an empty treasury behind him; and
then there were other accounts, not financial
ones, to be squared up latir with their
parent'. Upon the gloomy scene Dice sud
denly entered.
"Cheer up.yon fellows," he cried blithely.
"Just listen to this. We ain't in a scrape
after alL Father and I had a long talk last
night and he was mighty nice. He said he
thought we'd had punishment enough, and
that he'd make it mht with all the lathers.
And he's going to take us out in his yacht
to-day, and mother's going to give us a
party with "
"Thunder!" broke in Joe incredulously,
"what for?"
Dick sobered a little.
"Well, that's what puzzles me," he an
swered slowly. "Father said he wanted to
get better acquainted with me, and mother
cried and said it was all her faultfrom begin
ning to end I don't see why," he admit
ted thouehtfullv.
WHY THE P0BTEB WAS USED tr?.
He
Followed Instructions Implicit!;
Got Into the Wrons Berth.
Clothier and Furnisher.
"Now. see here porter," said he briskly
"I want you to put mc off at Syracuse. Yoa
know we get in there about G o'clock in the
morning, and I may oversleep myself. But
it is important that I should get out Here's
a five dollar gold piece. Now, I may wake
up hard, for I've been dining to-uieht and
will probably feel rocky. Don't mind if I
kick. Pay no attention if I'm ugly. I want
vou to put me off at Syracuse."
"Yes, sab," answered the sturdy Nubian,
ramming the bright coin into his trousera
pocket "It shall be did, sah!"
The next morning the coin-giver was
awakened by a stentorian voice: "Koch
estere! Thirty minutes for refreshmenss!"
"Kochester?'" he exclaimed, sitting up.
"Where is that damn coon?"
Hastily slipping on his prouser, he went
in search of the object of his wrath and
fonnd him in the porter's closet, huddled
up with his head in bandage, his clothes
torn and his arm in a sling.
"Well," says the drnmmer, "you are a
sight. Been in an accident? Why didn't
vou put me oil' at Syracuse?"
"Wha-al!"ejaculated.the porter jumping
to his feet, as his eyes bulged from his bead.
"Was vou de gen'man what guf ter me a
five-dollah gold piece?"
"Of course I was, you idiot:
"Well den, befoafi de Lawd, who was Hit
gemman I put ofTat Syracuse?"
Tho Poison of Bamboo.
A cut inflicted with a blade of grass or a
sheet of writing paper is bad cnongb, but
the most disagreeable wound that can be In
flicted on thehuman body is that made with
a strip of bamboo. The outside of the bam
boo contains m much silex that it will cut
like a knife: in fact, the Chinese and Japa
nese do make knives of it, which are cheap
and for a time tolerably effective. A cut
made with bamboo is exceedingly hard to
heal and obstinate ulsters are apl to result
A Fact the Salesmen Learn.
"No matter how active retail business may
be,the last two or three days of a month are
almost invariably easy for the salesmen,
while the first few days of the month are
always the busiest. It is obvious that this
is the result of the diplomacy of buyers who
aro aware ot the custom of i-uuing all bills
on the 1st, and who are anxious to secure w
much credit as possible.
r &.
"J
4
4
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