- .'"?'?' f?" fi'- THE PITTSBURG- DISPATCH, SUNDAY, JANTTART -1893. 18 . V I A REVIEWOFSPORTS. Brief Kecital of the Most Prominent Sporting Feateres of Last Tear. GEEAT PROGRESS OF AHATEUEISH The Victory of Gibbons Crer Botvwi and What It Proves About Pngilism. THE SL1TIH AND SULLIVAN MUDDLE. Gcd Froped cf the rtttrtrar? Club Sccnrms Denny tj-oni forXtit Seara. "We have passed another mile stone on our mtmdane journey and arc just enterins into another stne. Doubtless we are all full of the proverbial resolutions and hopes Jnst as ve were one rear ago to-day, but whether these hopes are realized or not tliev are always vcrr useful and encocrag- .' mi . i"-.--li 3 .- 1 tn. J.ncy prompt us on ana ie:m m iujiuu I-. our disappointments lighter, -ihe hope ot better tilings is, inaeea, one oi me unpori- ,tnt cRpntin1: nf human life. The stare of our journey jut completed has been an eventful no in many respects and those of tis who have indulged in these weekly talks and chats have much toreflectabout. True, there may have been more eventful years in portinp annals, but the year that has just left us has on its records many very inter esting things regarding sporting events. As has been my custom I propose to begin the new year by reviewing a few leading features of the eld and before beginning al low me to say to all my reaJers: A Happy Sew Tear. The Bas-fiall Feature. Probably the events in baseball have been as important during the year as the events in any other branch of sport "When we be gan 1891 the majority of ns thought that the very disitrous conflict of 1893 had en- tirelv vanished and left a warning that would deter others from in any way repeat ing the folly. But 1R01 had hardly been ushered in before the two majororcanizations vcre trving to clutch each other with a death gra'P, and as time wore on it ec&in became evident that the strainea relation ships were absolutely nining the entire national game. The American Association leaders were nhsolutelyat fault, and, as men actuated by impulse and vindietivene&s in. ftead of reason, they bcldly did ei erything they could to not onlv ruin their own pros pects, but thne of the National League and all other leagues. V,ise counsel finally prevailed, and, a we all know, the contending parties met and reasoned together, and as a result, be fce the vear closed everybody concerned ha 1 agreed to begin this year and continue through it hand in hana. How this year will end none of us, of course, can tell, but certainly the year of 1891 witnessed some extraordinary" changes in baseball. It witnessed the establishment of the great experiment of al2-ciub lenirae, or. in plain language, a huge monopoly in baseball, 3nd theconcentration of forces that previously had been considered too varied in their in gredients to ever Jorrj one nhole. Tr.e consolidation of such forces was, indeed, one of the great fe?tnres bf the vcar. How thev will "keep together, time will tell; probably this ear will tell the storv. The year in its dving stages also brought about the most remarkable change in the position of the players. The? began the rear as monarchs of all they surveyed and before it had taken its flight to eternity they were absolutely at the mercy of " the magnates. This reminds us .tint 1SD1 contained one of the mot import ant lessons to ball players that csn be lound in the entire history'of the game They were in a position to us their power anil they used it in a wav that to ay the least was outrageous, and used it in opposition to the advice of such intelligent and conerva tie players as Mr. Hanlon. Sarely the ball plavers ought not to forget IfiSL But the game lost none of its pouarity last vcar, "although it did not become as popular as it might have done. The pub lic steadilv made manitest the tact that the national irame is the great game of the countrv. Altogether the year vanished leaving behind it seeds that bid fair to grow and bloom and give us this year a full reali zation ot popular and profitable baseball of good qnalitv ?nd free from the quarrels and conflicts that have tarnished it of late years. Aimtpnr tranches or Sport. In no branch of (.port has there b"en so much progress made during the year than in amateur branches. This progress has been general throughout amateurism, and cer tainly the fuet ought to he gratifying to those who desire to e honorable recreation and pastimes, and the bone and muscle of our youth developed. In the world of amateurism, if there has bcn one thiug more remarkable than another, it has been the wonderful increase in the popularity of Kvgby lootball. I don't think that the game was ever so popula- or so veil plavcd during its history in this country as it was last year. And let me remark that its in creased popularity gave indication of its rough features being toned down. Most assuredly, as fr- as football is concerned, 2sSi?ft it better in this country than it ever wasliefore. The year saw the healing np of the differences between Harvard and Princeton, and that in itself gives promise of football being even more popular this year than it war last. At any rate, we be gin this year with more football plavers and teams of a better quality than we have ever had before. It is to be regretted that in imateur boat rowiag we have not made any progress at all; in fact, it sems that we lost ground last year. A few yeas ago it did seem as if we were again to come to the front as ama teur scullers, but all hope of that kind must have vanished last year. In 1890 Mr. Psotta, our best man, made n miserable show against the English amateurs, and our contests of last year did not introduce to us anybody the equal of Psotta. Rowing clubs ought o bestir themselves this year, and more particularly should the patrons of rowing in and about Pittsburg try and bring forward a few promising young scul lers. In sprinting, distance running and ath letic sports generally the amateurs did very well, and it wc did not introduce to the world some new phenomenon we certainly did not lose ground. Our amateurs during the year proved to the Iiropeans that the be6t sprinters in the world are in America. And in bicycling we also have the laurels, as 'Windle's mile in -:1S stands at the head of the world's list 7 lie Trotters and Runners. There is not spice to deal fully with the matter of trotting and running events. But the general remark may be safely made that as far as trotting is concerned 1891 has been the most remarkable year on record. The famous record of Maud S was lowered by Sunol; a record that few people thought could be downed for a long time to come. Stallion records, yearling, two-year-old, three-year-old, in short all kinds of records, have been downed during the year. True, the kite-shaped track has figured in the work, but the fact remains that the horses covered in each instance n full mile and if improvements have increased their speed fo much the better. During the vear ire have had more horses than ever and of a better quality than ever before. Regarding the runners little may be raid. "While nothing remarkable has transpired among them, the Fport was better at the end of the year than at the beginning. More money lias been invested in turf affairs than before, and what is most pleasing is the ef forts to have the best thoroughbred blood in the world in America. To accomplish this an inimaise amount of money has been expended. There is every reason'to believe that this year will see the American turf more popular than ever, and, I may add, purer than it has been heretofore. Tlio Professional Features. As far as professional sporting affairs are concerned the year has made little change. Professional boat rowing is Just whero it has been for years, and professional sprint ing is little better. "We have more sprint ers, it is true, and I dare Bay a better aver age lot, than ever, but they are held in such light esteem here hat, to do any good for themselves and backers, they have to go to England. There are some great sprinters iu America, but, judging from the events of the last year, I see little hope for them this year in this country. Nor lias there been anything startling in pugilism. Confining ourselves to this country, the year has introduced nobody to us whom we can call a first-class pugilist Tjkmg everything into consideration the events of the year prove that pugilism is still getting further away from what it used tc be in the "good old times" and is becom ing more and more a mere business of dollars and dimes. Of course there are many other branches of professional sport, but the above are what I deem the most important and are what we discuss in these columns every week. Gibbons and Boitmi. East week I had to take a little dose of a bitter pill, inasmuch as I had predicted that Carroll would defeat Myer, .which he didn't do. But this week I have two winners to my credit, viz: Gibbons and McAulifTe, so that matters are more than evened up, and I may add that in the way of predictions during the year we have had very much the best of it "Well, Gibbons defeated Bowen and their contest was not one of the best But I suppose that both men fought accord ing to instructions, and if they did I cannot help thinking that Bowen was very badly advised. He evidently was making a wait ing game o,f it, and that is just what he should not have done, because he is not built to be a "long range" man, and Gibbons is, therefore waiting gave the latter all the best of it. Probably many people will wonder why I especttd Gibbons to defeat Bowen after I had criticized the former so severely after his battle with McAulifle. That is easy to explain. Bowen is not McAulifTe and is a very short ni3n. He is more of a "clutton" than a boxer. Gibbons is much taller and his boxing just as good and may be a little better than that of Bowen. The latter is built tolerably fair to fight under prize ring rules, but he never can be a first-class man under Qncensberry rules. This con sideration led me to fancy Gibbons. But the latter hadn't so verv much the best of it at that, and the way he won only goes to rhow that when I said he was not a first class fighter I was right It will, indeed, be a great surprise to me if Gibbons were to defeat Myer, or even an old man like Car roll. Bnt as matters stand among the light weights now it is difficult to tell who is who. The truth is that Myer has no claim at all to lightweight honors, as he and Car roil fought at over 138 pounds. I always hold that before any man begins to talk about being a champion at a certain weight he ought to get down to that weight and do something. If these so-called lightweights cf ours would get thoroughly down to weight and fight then we would known what they were like. But these club ar rangements tend to stop all that It may be that arrangement will be made for a con test between Myer and Gibbons. The former, in the most miserable way, objects to meeting McAnlitfe; not onlydoes he object, but he abuses McAulifle in the most im measured terms. As long as Myer declines to meet McAulifTe at weight he can lay no claim to a championship title, and what is more, if he continues to class McAulifTe as a looking-glass fighter, the public will come to the conclusion that he is a windbag. Kules Are TJnlalr. But the Bowen and Gibbons contest gave us a definite illustration of the unfairness of using Queensberry rules in a finish fight Bowen's build prevented his fighting his best untile got to close quarters. But as soon as he closed and was, therefore, able to punish his man, the rule stepped in and separated them. The rule said: "Xow you must not close with your man and punish him, but you must stand ofi at long range, rndifyou cannot reach Gibbons, he can reach von." Well, the philosophy of this rule is en tirely against the law of self-defense. To learn to defend oneself with one's fists, is not merely to stand ofi from an opponent and try to hit him. If that opponent meets you on the street he probably will not stand off, and that being so, you ought to be able to take hold of him in a w"av that you could punish him and thro'w him down if need be. As a means of self-defense Queensberry rules are of pre cious little account. And if the Queens berry disciple were to come in contact with a front-rank old timer of the natural school the Qucensberrv would soon be done for. For instance, let us suppose that a man of the natural school like Jem Ward were to meet a good Queensberry man like Fitz simmons, what would be the result? "Why, "Ward or his equal would either stop Fitz simmons vicious blows or take them, but he would surely get his arms around Fitz and, after thumping him badly, throw him down and fall upon him. If there is to be anything known as the art of self-defense that is it, and if learniug to use one's hands is not to defend oneself then we have no "noble art" at all. Fichters In General. As predicted in this paper, Joe McAu lifTe defeated Cardiff, and we may have heard the last of the vanquished man. If four-round glove contests bad never been we would have never heariftell of Cardiff. It was onlv because McAnliffe is as slow on his feet as an elephant that Cardiff lasted as long as he did. "What was said in Oris paper last week relative to the proposed boxing contests was surely not wide of the mark. Both the Dempsey-Maher and the Mitchell-Corbett affairs smacked so much of "receipts" that it was well the police took a hand in the matter. For the life of me, I have never been able to see why the police should pre vent an up and up fight and allow a known "fake," with the object of swindling the public, to go on. If one cannot be, then certainly stop both. Most assuredly noth ing would please Corbett better than" to box nnvbodv six rounds with big gloves, and Mitchell has now arrived at that stage where he prefers nothing harder. But there is one singular fact about the Mitch-eil-Corbctt affair, and that is that people who jeer at Slavin and Mitchell boxing for money never notice the proposed swindle of Corbe'tt and Mitchell. This is drawing na tionality lines with a vengeance. Slavin .and Mitchell are rnly doing here what Sullivan and that big counterfeit, Jack Ashton, did in England. The fact that Mitchell made Sullivan look a little small in a 24-foot ring and that Slavin made a laughing stock of Joe McAulifTe and Kil rnm, seems -to have much to do with the American hatred toward Charley and Frank. Ect us be generous. "Whether or not Slavin and Sullivan will ever fight or whether or not they will even be matched, is somewhat problematical. Sometimes I am satisfied that they will never meet in a ring, and if they don't I fail to see how anybody can blame Slavin. If ever man wanted to fight he does, and the Sullivan party know it He is so anxious to meet Sullivan that he will battle under Queensberry rules. There may be something definite done about the matter this week. Jt now seems certain that Slavin and Jackson will come together if all goes well as far as the law is concerned. But we must not jump to conclusions too hastily, as I will not be surprised if the law some what interferes with, the .National Club.. Iftheyfightl will, of course, be inclined to think that Slavin will be the winner, providing nothing extraordinary happens between now and then. It seems to me that Slavin is a little better than he ever was, and that Jackson is not and will not again be as good as he was. To make a long story short, I look upon Slavin as the .best pugilist in the world to-day. X.yoni and tlie Local Club. .Surely everybody who takes nn interest in the affairs of the local baseball elub have bad enough of the Lyons case. If ever there was an overdose of noise about any thing or anybody there cerftiinly has been an over supply of noise and blurts about Denny Eyops and his coming and not com ing to play in Pittsburg. Probably some people have frothed away at the matter because they had nothing else to talk or write about; be that as it may, some very foolish things have been said regarding it No sooner was the fact made known that Eyons had been "assigned" to New York than a few individuals guided by n very erratic impulse and no reason, began to abuse President Young and everybody else connected with the new League. Mr. Young was held, up as a robber and an ignorant and partial man. It never once oc curred to the persons who thus slandered an honorable gentleman, that the best thing to do was to wait and hear both sides of the question. Had they done this they would not have made such marks of stupidity of themselves. But the officials of.the club did the very best thing they could have done under the circumstances. They sent Secretary Scan drett to "Washington to confer with Mr. Young on tne matter, and, as a result, the case is now understood in a clearer and more satisfactory light. Mr. Scandrett soon discovered that there was no reason for all the rabid talk about Mr. Young indulged in by a few persons. The Secretary found that the best friend the Pittsburg club had was Mr. Young himself, and also that tho New York club had put in a claim for Lyons. The matter that could not be satis factorily settled was that relating to the right of the committee to deal with Lyons at all. This was really the only question at issue from the start From what President Young said to Mr. Scandrett it was evident that the former and Mr. Phelps had taken it for granted, without inquiry, that Lyons had a right to be put into the pool "of players for distribution. "When the matter was put clearly before President Young the latter very honorably and frankly said that the case had better be submitted to the League directors. This was an indirect admission that even Mr. Young was not clear as to the right of the committee to dispose of Lyons. Of course, it must be plain to everybody that the com mittee could not reverse its decision. The case, therefore will go before the League directors, which is the legal and proper way to have it righted. Had this very sensible mode of procedure been apparent to a few rampant individuals some very honorable and fair-minded gentlemen might have escaped considerable abuse and slan der. Let it be known that President Young is not a dishonest man; he is not ignorant of baseball law and he is not an nnjust man." His record as a baseball authority is a re markable one for intelligence and fairness. A Kay ot nope. "Well, the Lyons case is to be submitted to the League directors, and I am inclined to think that those directors will relegate him to Pittsburg. I have read very care fully the resolutions pissed at the Indian apolis meeting, and I fail to s"ee how in any shape or form Lyons was within the juris diction of Messrs. Phelps and Young. He" was just as free to go where he liked as ex Pitcher McCormick or Pete Conway. But what perhaps misled the committee was tbe lact tnat the .New xor club put in a claim for him. That club, doubtless with ontj investigation, assumed that Lyons was on the list, and consequently every body else except the Pittsbnrg club took it for granted that Lyons was under the con trol ot the committee. And this prompts me to ask: Should Pittsburg suffer because of the blunders of New York or anybody else? Not at all. True, if the New York club had not thought that Lyons was within the jurisdiction of the committee, it would have proceeded at once to sign him. But the ignorance on the part of the New York Club should not be used as a weapon against Pittsburg getting the benefit of her intelligent on the matter. The question is not a complicated one and chiefly because of this there is a very strong hope that Lyons will come to Pittsburg. But the case must be handled with civility to all and those people who profess to be friends of the club must learn to cease calling everybody rogues and ignoramuses who do not happen to do things satisfactory to their little minds. President Temple and Secretary Scandrett, if lot alone, will, I am sure," be quite able to put Pitts burg's side of the case clearly and forcibly before those who are to be the final judges. PEISGLE. THE NATTJH2 0? A 700. JIlnatB rart!clei of Matter Seem to Be Tfec-ssary for Its Formation. If ew York Evening Sun. 3 At tne present time every one is sup posed to know th.it the phenomenon of fog is possible only when the air contains float ing solid particles. Fog cannot be pro duced, for example, in air deprived of these particles by being strained through raw cot ton. A series of experiments has shown that l-100th of a grain of iron wires heated in an appropriate receiver evolved at each heating sufficient dust to serve as the basis for visible fog. In a more delicate apparatus l-l,000th of a grain showed the same result So much for the size of the dust on which fog depends for its existence. Terrestrial atmosphere contains it everywhere. The particles which serve to produce town fogs have been investigated. The fogs de posit them on glass. They composed a i-mear like brown paint; sometimes so tenacious that it could not he wiped off, but bad to be Ecraped off. The principal components were carbon, nearly 0 per cent; mineral matter, chiefly quartz and oxide of iron, 40 per cent; sulphuric acid, 4 per cent In other words, the greatest part is due to the imperfect combustion of coal. Part is due to tho grinding and powdering f pavinj: material. The deposit of this stuff equals six tons to the square mile of surface. A S0C THAT TELLS THE TTK2. He Taps the Hour With His Foot and Sever Makes a Mistake. Bellefonte News. Colonel F. N. Barksdale, of the passen ger department of the Pennsylvania .Bail road has a dog that can tell the time of the day. Colonel Barksdale has a ve,ry fine clock that strikes only on the hour and then very slowly. The Colonel got into the way of making the dog tap with his foot at each stroke of the clock. Finally he got so he would do so without being fold. Just be fore the clock strikes it gives a little cluck, and whenever the dog heard this he would prick up l.is ears, raise his paw and gently tap his paw at each stroke without being told. After awhile he got so that when anyone clucked like the clock he would get into position and wait for the strokes. He was for a long time.confused at not hearing the clock, but after awhile began tapping his paw anyway. The remarkable point is that after awhile he remembered how many strokes were due at each succeeding hour, so that now whenever the Colonel clucks he gets into position and taps the number of strokes the clock should make next time. Feathers at 8300 a Pound. There is a general mistake about both the color and the price of ostrich -feathers. "When natural, they are white, black, or a dirty gray, and are colored to suit They take the dye readily, and retain it much better than most dyed goods. But even at first hands they are fearfully costlv luxu ries. -On the ostrich farms in Africa, the feathers sell for 200 a pound, and the price is at least doubled by dyeing, curling and other treatment WHY BANKS SMASH. At the Bottom of It All Is tho Sin of the Age, Lust for Gold. HEOOFT.WANT IT FOE ITSELF, Bnt the Brilliant Display and Btandinff It Will Buy. Social FALSE STANDARDS FOE THE BOIS rwnmxKi'OB tot dispatch.1 The popular amusement m Boston for some weeks has been attending bank mat inees. The attractions have been at times sufficient to crowd School street opposite the Five Cent Savings Bank through the entire hours of daylight The failure of the Maverick Bank was the tocsin of 'Wa terloo to bank directors in and about the city, where there was hurrying in hot haste and cheeks all pale with the necessity of straightening out accounts, and coveting deficiencies from carrying private specula tions with the funds. There probably is no city on the continent where business inside bank circles is con ducted on such peculiarly individual methods as Boston. I cai speak from an inside views of the facts, which cost my family about 540,000 face value, and three times as much in reality, indirectly from the fondness of a very respectable bank of ficer for doing business on other people's money. From a personal and literary point of view, I do not know but it was worth the money. Inside views of highly respectable human nature come ex pensive, and everybody isn't favored with them. As far as one gentle, blameless soul who went insane with the shock, and died shortly, her case has been adjourned to a Superior Court, with the justice of whose rnlings no one was eaer yet known to be dissatisfied. Running Business on TMth, Business, like healing, in certain parts of the country is largely carried on on faith principles. Traditional and inherited re pute for honesty, the confidence of friends and community, added to well-scoured repu tations, are a floating capital practically un limited. You believe in a man, therefore you lend him your securities without troubling to take a receipt, you object to the trouble of scrutinizing his accounts or his business methods, you leave yonrmoney uncounted in his vaults, vcu sign the papers he puts before you without reading them, you support whatever scheme he concocts, and turn the cold shoulder where he-frowns. Not only do you trust him unguardedly with your own, but with your neighbors' property, the public school funds, the church money, 'the little legacies for poor ladies which are too small for you to bother your head about, the few thousands of ta widow for whom you are administrator. You believe the ice will bear, so you load it w ithout caring to remember that every thing has its breaking strain. Ominous creaks reach the ears not too busy to heed, for these disasters give plenty of warning. Some Got Out in Time. Plenty of shrewd men withdrew their business from the Maverick Bank a year be fore its failure, seeingthe trend ot its affairs, and plenty more might have known it, if they had not been busy eating weekly clnb dinners and going to club suppers, dipping into politics, getting up church festivals. having a little company at home evenings and taking little pleasure trips South, while so engrossed between times trying to make a little more money, they couldn't look after the safety of what they had. As for von and your kind, if one rose from the dead to warn you, you would only take it for nightmare. The grounds of yonr con fidence are so conclusive no easy-going mind can resist them. Isn't So and So one of the bank officers, and didn't you know his folks when vou were a boy, and wasn't his father one of the firt members of the Missionary Board and a founder of the horticultural society, dying in the faith after two years' paralysis? Doesn't he make up the choir and church expenses out of his own pocket and the bank money? Hasn't he given the suburb where he lives a drinking fountain and started a young men's club, an electric railway, ,and a" lecture course which other citizens pay for while he takes the credit? Hasn't So and So, another director, just built a fine house on Expensive avenue, costing 5600,000, and paid 520,000 for a turn out Thankful to Be on tho Same World. A man must be solid to do things like that You really feci a pride in doing bus iness in the same bank with men who spend so freely. It is difficult to doubt the safety of a bank which has such sheets of plate glass, such heavy carved mahogany and ornate and artistic bronze screens. Bright gold might suggest too much outlny of the precious metal which should be in the bank vaults, but bronze and dead gilt are as suring. It is not in modern man to ques tion the security of a bank which grants ac commodations with so little embarrassing inquiry, and furnishes depositors such handsome check books with their names in gold on the covers, and such evquisite tool ing that they are quite souvenirs. What mortal in sympathy with his time can resist persuasion that sneu business is immutable and safe as the gates of Thebes? You be lieve, therefore it is so. Thare may be also that other unanswer abl reason for confidence that the man age . is the son of his father, who stands high in the regard of the community. It has been hitherto considered unfortunate that the greatest men have left no son to their inheritance of trust and gratitude. But a man is also the son of his mother, and the grandson of parents perhaps less capable than the shrewd sire whonnhard circumstances wrought and developed. Where Heredity Doesn't Count And how about those passages in every life, which men owe only to themselves, when the base in their nature held sway in stead of the better part? The best "men know too well how nearly at times they have come to being the despised of all men instead of honoied, and how if the son is the child of these periods, and wears the ears of tho faun instead of the crest of Jupi ter? Also, the best of fathers find that bit ter truth, that their sons are more children of their century and of their world than of their sires, and the training of good mothers is set at naught beside the influence of the little socipty, be it of Gramercy Park or of Farrowdale which makes the children's world, and molds them -to its likings. How many of the best families have to 'realize this terrible truth with a bitterness which is unfathomable. Men ask themselves sadly, how am I to teach my son prudence.self-restaint, and the honor which is the pith of honesty in a society which compels them to extravagance as the price of its toleration, and which de fies self-indulgence and proceeds on a showy easy reckoning which takes everything for granted if names and appeaiances are ac ceptable? A parent may be willing to give his life to secure his son that integrity which has been as the breath of his own nostrils, and yet find every domestic and social influence ranged against his object The mother, the friends, the school, tbe college, teach the child one repeated lesson, the virtue of appearances and getting money, Born With Shattered Nerves. How if the son is only the legitimate de velopment of those qualities which men have considered honorable in the father? How if the desire of amassing millions in the sire becomes unbridled extravagance in the son, if the sharp dealing which men agreed to call executive ability in the father so long as it was successful, proves, unmiti gated rascality iu the next generation? How if the lather spends in business tension and activities with such intervals of physical license as tbe stern business men allow themselves, the nervous force left him br sturdy ancestors and transmits his son a shattered nervous system, and over wrought brain, ready to wreck in mental and moral imbecility at'any strain? These are ques tions w"hich men must ask in tracing the cause of disaster, and the answers all must take home to themselves. The lessons read by fate from month to month, have personal interest for each one of us. They do not concern merely the big rich people who live on a scale of mil lions, but those who read of them in the newspapers, the well-to-do, the comfortably off, the people in moderate circumstances, and those in a very small way. The ruin of the grea'tbankiug"firm in Berlin, the failure of the Maverick in Boston, the disaster in New York, the last crash of personal and business honor you read this morning, have their message for you, for" all of us. Think vpu that they upon whom the tower in Siloam fell were sinners more than these! When the indictment for these crimes is framed we may be surprised at the list of defendants. If as all men hold, he who might have prevented a crime, legally shares in its guilt, it is time for us to begin to purge ourselves of offense before the day of reckoning that unlookcd for happening which is the surest of all things to arrive. Men Who Do Not Warn Others. Taking the least counts first, what ought decent men to think of business houses who, knowing the riskiness of a bank be fore it breaks, cave no warning to the com munity. The least tint can be said is that it looks as if it were willing a few hundred or thousand people should suffer to make room for themselves. That is the business reading of the case, and undoubtedly the nearest truth. They knew the vessel wonld founder, and lett, not caring that the majority of the passengers wonld go down for want of warning. An ocean disaster is the agony of a few hours, a financial fail ure involves the suffering of lives, dragged out between the strokes of misery. "What can be said of the criminality of those who palliate the Field disaster in New York by repeating that all his friends knew the influential member in the bank ingfirm which collapsed was virtually im tecile or insane? If it excuses youngField, it lays a heavy responsibility on those who knowing his mental weakness suffered him to have the handling of large business in terests. The idiocy and moral insensibility of this exhibition are hardly paralleled. Are these good people in the habit of leav ing imbecile of epileptic children to play with a box of matches and their gold bonds and securities? There is little difference to be seen in the cases, except that the bank bonds and securities bslonged to other people. But these are min-T criminalities which do not enter into the grave charge lying against all classes and divisions of so ciety. Worship at a Dirty Shrine. "Why are men so infatuated for money as to wreck every power of enjoying it for the greed of eetting it? That is your fault and mine. "Whom does the keen-witted, rough shod boy of the people hear quoted, ad jnired and envied from the first recollec tions? The man who has money. Who gets the civilities, the welcomes, the consid eration, any drop of wh.ich would be cordial as Chartreuse to his famished nature? The rich man of the neishborhood, of course. He hears plenty of whispers howthe money was made, not always cleanly, but he also perceives that it makes no difference in the way yon or Igreet the man, in our willing ness to talk with him at the railway station or the church door, nor does he ever hear of our refusing an invitation to the rich honse, or see the reluctance in allowing our children to associate with his family, which is plainly perceptible toward those of blameless repute who happen to be dis tinctly poor. The first lesson is rubbed into his intelli-' gence till it is Bible and faith to him. He vows to be rich, and not being burdened by scruples he catches up with his ambitions before he is thirty. Our ovn children mark his career, and about the time lie builds his fine house with the electric lights and tower, and sports his fast team they begin to feel that money has its attractions too. It takes very little to light, the fuse of discontent and monev fever in a neighbor hood. I have seen the advent of a piano lamp and pictnresque portico set all the boys wild to make money so their homes could have electric lights and piano lamps with big pagoda shades and paper flowers pinned on the sides. The Covetousness Which is Idolatry. The boys leave high school in the first term to enter business. They can't wait for an education, they are in such haste to be getting ahead and gathering in the good things of life to have pretty houses with big awnings, like French maisonettes, to have electric lights all over the house and hot and cold water.in every chamber, to have drawing rorms in white and gold, with carpets specially designed, carved mantels and hall screens, steam heat and conservatories. You smile, but plenty of boys xare working like madness to make money which only represents to them such material comforts and credibilities. The worship of the golden calf is out of date, but its shrine is overlaid with objects de luxe, and art designery, toward which men and poor women poar out their souls Curious are the objects of desire which draw them to the old ungainly altar, here a suite of flawless large diamonds, there a pair of sixteen button gloves, a bonnet from Virots, the key of an opera box, the pennant of a millionaire's yacht, the Japanese screen which some poor boy thinks will give the final touch of elecance to his plain home, bouquets of roses at 2 apiece, ' here a picco of jeweled mosaic from a cardinal's treas uries, which ravishes the soul of a collector, there a pair of long silk stockings which arc the dream of a little "sewing girl. But the golden calf is under the lustheap, and its worship pays for the things we crave. Alas, to grant the wish increases the hnnger, and this is the covetousness which is idolatry. ""' The Frenzy Never Quenched. The clever lad who has made a thousand by his month's commissions, looks en viously at the ' manager who bad $25,000 for working up a trust, and he in turn feels small beside the millionaire whose bidding he does, the three-millionaire has his eve upon the railfcav men who associate in flocis of 20,000,000 owners, who in turn will begin to be satisfied when their income touches a million a year possibly. But death takes them offbefore they reach the ennui of that dream. They "must have money, from the boy restless in his plain home till he fix things up round home, and his mother, who "wants to have things like other folks," up to the son of the million aire who wants monev to lend impecunious sons of dukes as a ticket to their society. The worst of it is that it is not money which does harm, but the lust of money, which may exist in cancerous fierceness where there is little for it to feed upon. Its life is fever, its end is death in life, death first to honor, to fitness, then to delight. The poison works early. Tiie boy and girl dissatisfied with home cannot see the beauty of nature which has fed and solaced tho fentle and generous lives of hard working indred before them, they only see that car pets are not of mossy pile, ami the iurnis.Ii- inps are not tagged out with ribbons and silk gauze, or the walls lined with pictures in art frames, often the only art apparent AVc, mistaken friends, lend ourselves to their ambitions, applaud their successes when they have made money. "We who look on, who get none of the spoil, are the readiest to bend the knee when Mammon goes by. How shall we teach our children to ap praise life at more than money, and value money rightly without lusting tor it? SniBLEr Dare. Two Snns Racing Around Each Other. Miss Maury's examination of the Harvard photographic spectra of the star Beta Aurega shows it to consist of an interesting system of two suns revolving about each other in four days at a distance of only be tween 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 miles, or about one-twelfth of our distance from the sun. If the members of the pair are ot equal weight, they each weigh rather over double the weight of our sun. Eaeh is moving with a Velocity of about 70 miles a second in its orbit ATALK ON PROPHECY. Bob Bnrdette Recommends a Tomb to Cure the Swelled Head. IT TiVJLL TEACH DISCRETION. Etill the Occupation of Predicting' Has Some Good Points. 1 HOLD UPON THE EAR OF THE W0ELD rWKITTJIK TOIL Tnl DrSPATCH. Some years ago I discovered that, like Saul, I was becoming mixed up somewhat with the prophets. Now, I have the pro foundest respect for prophets who are to the manner born; and had I received my call to the inspired life at my birth or earlier, I would be exalted above measure by the honor thus laid upon me and I would prophesy, and cry alond, and spare not, whenever there was anything to predict But yonng as I wa3 even at that time, when I was not old enough to be very young, I observed that the home-made, and worse still, the hand-made article of prophet was a snare at -many times, a delusion the rest of the time, and in other instances a fraud. I cured myself of the habit of predicting things by a very simple method. I took several doses of my own medicine. It pro duced, in the time of fulfillment, severe headache, accompanied by a sense of mal de mer, low fever, great mental depression and a tired feeling, suppltmented by an intermittent desire to go away somewhere in the dark nntil people forgot all about it After my recovery, which was somewhat re torted during the period of convalescence by my stumbling over records of my proph ecy now and then, I procured a good strong box, not too large, and labelled it "The Tomb of the Prophets." TThat Fnrallel Column Showed. Thereafter, whenever I felt a strong de sire to predict something.instead of rushing into print with it, I wrote it down in plain, fair script, dated it and put it into this box. Then, some long rainy day, I would overhaul the "Tomb of the Prophets," and read my predictions in the light of events. Sometimes the parallel columns would be too funny with hopelessly unconscious bumor for anything. Sometimes they would make mv heart swell with a feeling of devout, humble thankfulness that a kind Providenoe had kept me back from rushing into print with some' particular'predictiou, and sometimes they would afford what Horace Greeley used to call "mighty in teresting reading." By degrees I got to interring other unre generate prophets, who had not learned the secret of keeping their prophetic utterances to themselves, into the consecrated crypt of my private cemetery. This increased the scope of ray prophetic reading; and while it is not always instructive, it never fails to be entertaining. Here is a hint for you for 1892, my boy. Whether you clip out of the newspapers the predictions of other ama teur ind professional prophets, the weather proy -ts, the weather experts, the poli ticiai t who always make fearful and won derful forecasts, the hard and easy winter prophets of the spider web and goose-bone schools, at any rate keep a close and ac curate record of your own forecasts about everything. A Very Good Tear's Schooling. Then about once a month you can over haul your log book and correct your longi tude. And if you haven't learned to speak a lee-tle nior slowly, and think a lee-tle more thoughtfully by the time you begin writing "December" at the top of your let ters, it will be either because you know everything, and consequently cannot im prove, or because you don't know anything, and also consequently are equally inca pable of improvement. Among other things I examined from this "Tomb of the Prophets" the other day, was the statement made in the most positive form of declaration that the English language can be compelled to assume, and it can be pretty positive when it gets its bade up that be fore the 1st of January, 1891, a line of elec tric cars would be running between hold on; that isn't the one; that's one of my own. It is of no public interest, being a mere surprise, simply expressing iu very guarded terms the bare possibility of some thing that would have happened long be fore the time set down in the "possibility" if there had been any snap or go in the peo ple who but, however, it is of no conse quence at present; so I will not take up your time by speaking of what but I'll bet any man dollars to doughnuts in tens that oh! here is what I was looking for. A Bull-tin or the Grand Sm:ili-Cp. It is dated in July, 1839, and is the posi tive prediction of that excellent, sincere, and most experienced of all the "end-of-the-world" prophets, the Key. Mr. Bax ter, of England, issuing his final and revised bulletin of the everlasting smash-up. He turns the book ofJJaniel inside out, upside down, either end to, adds, subtracts, multi plies and divides, extracts the square root, counts the letters and misses every fifth one; works in a few acrostics after the man ner ot the prophet who finds the name of the Deity in the book of Esther, and fially sets everything up straight and clean, all the same font, makes it justify, and fixes the exact date for the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company and and the Gould system, which is about all there is left of the world, for the 11th of April, 1891. Now there is a good prophecy for you. And I suppose it was all brought to naught bv the greedy, selfish carelessness of peo ple. I suppose we forgot all about it, and went right along buying and selling, mar rying and giving in marriage which are all the same things on the 11th of April until the dav was past, and we were on our way home from an hour's improvement under me eievaung teacuiug ui me stage m "Brass Monkey," "Hole in the Ground" or "The Clemenceau Case" before we remem bered that we should have wound things up that very afternoon. It must be discour aging to a prophet to prophesy until his lower jaw cleaves to the roof of his mouth, and his back fairly aches, and then have people go an ay and forget what it was all about A Dronth Daring the Johnstown Flood. Then I find another good prophecy by a local prophet, predicting a six weeks' drouth. It is dated about two weeks before the Johnstown flood. The great European war i a favorite subject for old prophets. The time for the fulfillment of all, or al most all war prophecies, whether thev be written in January or December, is "before the close of the present month of the pres ent year." The war prophet has got that phrase encysted in his system somewhere, and it can't be taken out without great dan ger, greater danger, indeed, than- there is and this is not a prophecy, but mere ly a comparison of the great European war. Another thing I discover in my occasional researches in the "Tomb of the Prophets" is the great and increasing multitude of post facto prophets. The original Cleve land, Garfield, Harrison and Blaine man why, if the man who "originally" nomi nated all the candidates for President dur ing the past 16 years had only seconded his nomination by going to the polls and voting for his man. every candidate would have been elected every time by an overwhelm ing majority. But somehow or other, the post facto political prophet always counts up more numerously in the newspapers than he does on the tally sheet And the prophetic visions and dreams that are dreamed alter the thing the prophet dreamed about, have appeared in all the "boiler plate" papers, it is aston ishing how closely a dream, in the mid night visions of a good all-around dreamer, can be made to parallel the accomplished fact At least, it'is astonishing until the reader has 'gone into the dream business himself once or twice, and manipulated a few syndicate presentiments for popular use. After you once get the combination you can out-dream "Peter Ibbetson" with, one eye shut It's a Good Thine; to Prophesy. At the same time, my son, I do not decry prophetic utterance. It is a good practice for you to read history, and learning what men and nations have done, try your hand at forecasting what other men and nations will do under similar circumstances. It isn't too often you will make a bull's eye; you may feel proud if you make a few good line shots in your lifetime, and can prove that they weren't scratches. And, of of course, to give your prophecies anv value at all, you mst make them public long in advance of the event Nobody, not the most credulous person in all the world, places tbe slightest credence in the inspired outbursts of a post facto prophet He is-always a fraud, and usually a liar, having never made, or dreamed of making the predictions he says he did. But I like to see you try your hand at it I've.mado my shots; I didn't always miss the target; oh, no; I made a few outers. And even when I missed the target entirely, I usually hit something else; the barn over the wav, or a wandering cow in the next field who happened to be 6traying within tne range ot my prophecy. J.is netter to have prophesied" at a great European war or th end of the world, and hit a cow, than never to have prophesied at all. But, vou say, "If I prophesy publicly and don't come trithin a thousand years of anything, people will make fun of me, and if I keep my prophecy dark until after the event, they won't believe I ever proph esied." Gett!ns the Ear of f he World. "Well, no and yes. If you fail it doesn't necessarily follor that they will make fun of you; the chances are they won't pav the slightest attention to yon and won't know that you ever yet prophesied, unlcs3 you get up on the city wall and bawl yourself hoarse reminding them of it. You may feel highly honored if the great hurrying, noisy, busy world pays enough attention to you to listen to you at aiL And if it remembers what you said long enough to poke fun at you about it, why, bless you, my boy, you nave at least secured a hearing." And that is a triumph. Go down to "Washington; see the new member, the Hon. John Raw, of Crudeville, Dough county, whom the chanco of the drawing has given the best seat in the House: see him standing on his feet until his legs ache, biwling "Mr. Speaker" -until the ventilators rattle; the Speaker slowly raises his eyes; the Hon. Mr. Raw's patience and persistence is about to triumph; hope thrillshis fainting heart and nerves his fail ing voice. "With one last despairing effort he bellows "Mr. Speaker!" as though all the loud sounding bulls on Bashan's hills were roaring the "Drinking Chorus From The Guzzlers," and in gentle tones ihe Speaker, glancing calmly far over the head of the howling dervish from Dough county, recognizes a quiet man away back in the shadowy obscurity of the last seat in the chamber, who hasn't said anything. Con sider Johnnie Raw's ways and be wise, my son. The first thing for you to do is to catch the Speaker's eye. Prophecy on a Private Track. Your second surmise is correct You ean't make a record for a prophecy on a private track with invited witnesses of your own choosing. These private tracks are fre quently a little fast, and the private watch a little slow. Many a horse has trotted in 2:09 on a private track, that got shut clear out by a three-minute colt when they trot ted at the "County Fair." But you don't prophesy necessarily for the approbation of the "public, my son. Never mind what people say. If yon have something to prophesy, lift up your voice and cry aloud. They'll listen to you by and by. That is, if you prophesy concern ing things that concern them. People don't care to hear about the end of the world. That don't concern them very much; they all know when that is coming. The end of the world will come to you and to every man who hears your voice, sometime within the next hundred years. That much we all know. No man noVliv ing will see the year 1993, except 3 few old liars who are not yet born, but who intend,1 by the assistance of the local editors of their town papers, to live to the ripe old age of 118 years. So if you have anything to say, it i' time for you to begin. Longer you put it off, more trouble you will have catching the speaker's eye. Robert J. Bubdette. GAB AT SALT IAKE CIX7. Not SInch Discovered Yet, but Evidently Good Prospects. Relative to natural gas in Utah, Mr. E. "W. Hammond writes The Dispatch from Salt Lake City as follows: "For several years gas has been found in certain parts of this valley, coming up with the flow of the water in the artesian wells. These wells are seldom over 200 feet deep, and usually have a two-inch pipe, and of course but little attention was paid to the gas. I think in but one instance was it used for heating a cooking stove; this stove has been burning gas for about five years. During the past year a party of citizens of Salt Lake City formed a company, and ar ranged with the owner of a portable water well machine to put in a big welL This well is located some 12 or 15 miles from the city on the east shore of Sait Lake, and has in it about 420 feet of six-inch pipe. The driller washed the pipe in, and to all ap pearances reached a black shale rock, ai several pieces have been blown out. The gas comes up both outside and inside the six-inch pipe. Probably the fact that it was washed in gives it a channel on the outside. A pressure of 150 pounds is claimed for this well. I saw a common steam gauge on a well which was driven near this one say 50 feet from it which showed a pressure of 100 pounds. It was only 180 feet deep. This well has a two-inch casing, and furnished the gas for fuel to make steam for the "big well." No rock has been found in any well yet drilled in this valley, and as far as I can learn no well has ever been put down over 700 feet Of course, in the six-inch well which I have Just described, there is a pos sibility that rock has been reached, but no certainty. COFFEE OF CENTB'AL AFEICA. A Berry Whose Plavor Is Bquil to That or the Finest Arabian. Perhaps it is long since any bit of infor mation has been given to the world of widerintere3t than this by Major Jephson, of the Stanley -Emin relief expedition: "For many weeks we drank cofi"ee which we made from the berries of the wild cof fee trees which abound in the highlands around the great lakes of Central Africa. The Arabian coffee was supposed originally to have come from Ivaffa. in Abyssinia. That which we found in Karagwe, Ankori and Uganda is equil in flavor to the finest Arabian coffee, and will, when Central Africa is opened up, be another of the chief articles of commerce." This statement first appeared in the October number of the Mayflo-cer, a monthly horticultural periodi cal published in New York. Snowballs of Ice Cream. At a Christmas dinner in the suburbs the ices were served in the form of snowballs, on plates upon which were painted holly and mistletoe. These were the clever idea of the daughter of the household, who took the wooden plates used by dairymen for butter anil cheese as the foundation of her service. These were first painted while with enamel paint and then decorated with sprays of holly and mistletoe. The ice reste'd in a cup of fluted paper. Detroit Free Press.'; "Your wife left a very ambiguous will," remarked the attorney to the widower." "That's strange," replied the husband, reflectively. "It was never so when she was alive. A HICB TOWN" TO GET OUT 07. Philadelphia Has Two Things to Show and They Never Change. KewTork Times. J Philadelphia is architecturally uninter esting. There are some creditable business buildings down Chestnut street, and there is the big municipal structure with its un finished tower, occupying the intersection of the only two wide streets in the city, where there ought to be a square. It is im pressive as one walks through, it, without going into it, and -looks up from the open interior court at its lofty walls, but there is a confused sense of overloading with sculpt ure and carving of which the meaning and appropriateness are not evident The Quaker City "has two familiar show places Independence Hall and the Mint It is curious to note how a visit to-day is exactly like a visit ten years ago. In the old brick edifice where the Continental Congress met are theame old relics in the same old places. The same old custodian in the same old position, apparently reading the same old newspaper, is indifferent to the presence of the casnal visitor as of old. There are always two other visitors when one enters Independence Hall shyly prowl ing about trying to feel patriotic senti- 1 ments.and silently slinking away.chagrined with a sense of failure, "even after gazing upon the cracked old bell above the stairway that proclaimed liberty to the land 115 years and some months ago. From the sepulchral solitude and the miscellaneous relics of the Revolu tion one escapes into the modern street with a profane 6ense of relief and "takes in" the Mint, where he finds a gray-haired attendant ready for the thousandth time to pilot a party through, to which he makes the remarks about the weight and value of silver bars and gold ingots which he has re peated so many times without change. A mere glance is 'allowed into the machine-shop-looking place where the metal is rolled and the disks that are to become coin3 are cut from the long strips; there is a pause where nickels and pennies are stamped always nickels and pennies, . never the more inviting coins of gold and silver and then the visitor is ushered, as of yore, into the little room where there is a small museum oi coins and medals, and left to get out when he gets ready. Thiee more superannuated attend ants seem to find it a relief of their tedium to answer questions and give once more the information they have been giving several times a day for many a year. Glancing at the new silver coins, yet unissued, one won ders whether the head presumed to be of Liberty was not on-e worn by one of the thick-necked and disreputable old Roman Emperors. Philadelphia maybe a pleasant town to dwell in and comfortable for busi ness; a friendly call gives a pleasing im pression of the interior of a substantial home; but for the mere casnal visitor a sec ond night is hardly endurable. The Caskets That Wear. A general mistake is made abont baskets, most people supposing that the white willow basket is the best It looks best, but is by no means the strongest The white willow slips are cut in the fall and kept green all winter by packing their stubs in wet sand orwater.and if hen spring comes the bark peels off with a twist of the hand. The buff baskets, on the contrary, are made from dried willow slips, which have been steamed and then peeled. While not so handsome, they are much stronger, and will wear far longer than the white. This man is trying to Joke his wife about her cooking ability. He says the household will suffer from dyspepsia. It's a poor joke. Americans eat too much rich food, without taking advantage of natural antidotes to overcome the bad effects. Nobody wants to diet. It is a nat ural desire to want to enj'oy the good things in this world. Read what a prominent New York er writes; he had been troubled with gouty rheumatism and its attendant painful symptoms for eighteen months: "I have subjected myself for months to the severest rules of diet recommended for such conditions, and used almost all the remedies recommended for gout and rheuma tism, without any benefit, until I heard of your imported Carlsbad Sprudel Salts, which I used faithfully for six weeks, dieting for the first three weeks and afterward eating al most anything I desired. All tho gouty and rheumatic symptoms left me after the fourth week, and my general health and spirits have be come excellent once again. Your Carlsbad Sprudel Salts deserve the widest publicity, and I take great pleasure in bringing this fact to your notice." You try them to-day. The genuine have the signature of "Eisner & Mendelson Co., Sole Agents, New York," on the bottle. Many a life has been lost because of the taste of cod liver oil. If Scott's Emulsion did nothing more than take that , taste away, it would save the lives of some at least of those that put off too long the means of recovery. It does more. It is half digested already. It slips through the stomach as if by stealth. It goes to make strength -when cod-liver oil would be a burden. Scott & Bowxk, Chemists, 131 South 5th Aveaue. hew York. Your druggist keeps Scott's Emulsion of cod-liver oU all drugsists everywhere do. $1. 4 GQNSOlFra 1 I have a positrre remedj for the above disease ; by its we thousands of casos of the worst Vind and efloaj standing hare been cured. Indeed sastrorig ismy faith initaefEcacT, thtIwaiadxwocoTTLE3rnzE,w!th ,, a VALUABLE TEKATISE on tow disease to any anf., r lent who win send me their Express and P. O. address, T. A. Slocnm, at C, 1S3 iearl St., N. X.J deiXl-wkau t kC&tetiL .
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers