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THE PITTSBUKG- DISPATCH, SUNDAY, MAEOH ' 6, 189a
Wje Bigpafolj.
ESTABLISHED FEBEUART, 8, 1816
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THE DAWN Or TtRIGHTER DATS.
The nomination of Mr. Kennedy for the
Mayoralty of Allegheny City is a triumph
for what is best in political life, and
demonstrates the power of the citizens to
insist upon a sound administration when
once they can be roused to a proper sense
of their own interests. This triumph
should be the dawn of a brighter era In
city government than has of late been en
Joyed by our sister across the river. Mr.
Kennedy has much work before him, and
he needs the support which he has to
enable him to bring forth order out of
chaos.
Allegheny has paid a big price for her
experience of the evils which follow
apathy on the part of her intelligent
voters, and in the "enjoyment of better
things she should not allow herself to be
lulled into a feeling of security, which
would involve another lesson of the same
kind. The citizen has learned that on his
individual effort depends the measure in
whkhhe will obtain his money's worth of
city management, and he should continue
to realize that truth.
1
THE TROLLEY PRO AND CON.
The issue between the dangers and con
veniences of the overhead trolley wire is
the subject of a good deal of controversy
in other cities. Singularly enough it has
never been raised in Pittsburg, where the
value of electric roads has sanctioned the
general introduction of overhead wires
without even a protest In, Philadelphia,
however, where the use of electric power
is now mooted, the majority of the con
servative Quaker City minds are as much
shocked as if by the electric current itself,
at the proposition to subject the public to
the dangers of the "deadly trolley wire."
" As in most heated controversies, both
parties overstate the case. The opponents
of electric railways picture the trolley
wire as nothing less than wholesale mur
der, and regard its introduction as a pro
posal to decimate the population. That it
does nothing of the sort in cities where its
rise has been so long as to be conclusive
detracts nothing from the horror with
which it is regarded by those whose knowl
edse of it is purely theoretical. On the
other hand the supporters of the system
portray it in a light as harmless as
mother's milk, or one of those household
batteries wherewith physicians of irregu
lar standing used to cure all the diseases
that flesh is heir to.
Both these opinions obscure a correct
understanding of the subject The out
sider naturally concludes that one side or
the other must be right, whereas neither
is. The trolley wire is not so dangerous as
portrayed, but it has very decided draw
backs. Its shock, except under extraor
dinary circumstances, is not destructive
of life, and the danger from crossed and
grounded wires is not to be compared to
those of the electric light wires. So long
as it is the most practicable means of
bringing rapid transit to city workers, who
must otherwise be without it, these draw
backs are to be endured.
But it is not wise therefore to entirely
ignore the drawbacks. The shock from a
trolley wire crossed or grounded by an
other wire is not such a pleasant thing that
people need court it although we have
known hazardous youths to take it for the
fun of the thing. To persons in a weak
state of health, or when the current is at
its highest power, the consequences of
contact might be serious. Add to this the
disfigurement of the streets and the ham
pering of the fire department wherever
the trolley wire exists, and the disadvant
ages of it arc such as to make a substitute
desirable whenever one can be found.
This is a point which the public may
wisely bear in mind. The electric railway
is too great a convenience to permit the
trolley wire to be abolished, so long as it
is the only practicable means of propul
sion. But when underground wires or
storage batteries can be made to work suc
cessfully and economically tbe trolley wire
should go, together with the other over
head nuisances. t
THE REACTION.
Mr. Ilolman as representing the Com
mittee on Appropriations, came to grief
yesterday as a new and btriking example
of that "vaulting ambition which o'er
leaps itself and falls on t'other side." He
opposed the deficiency appropriation de
manded by the Agricultural Committee,
not on the grounds of economy, but be
cause he believed that its passage was
likely, to lessen the powers claimed by
himself and his committee. Mr. Holman
is a curious study, he is anxious for power
for power's sake, while endeavoring to
conceal his motives behind a screen of vig
orous buncombe talk of wishing to cut down
national expenditures. He does seek to
bring those expenses to a minimum by a
reductio ad absurdum process, whenever
his immediate constituents are not con
cerned. But when there is a local prab
on hand, which is likely to increase his
prestige among the beloved Hoosiers, none
are readier than he to take advantage of
it, and none more forgetful of national in
terests. On the whole it is sadly to be feared
that Mr. Ilolman is not all that he.would
have the nation believe him, and it is sat
isfactory to know that there are times at
which his party has courage enongh to
repudiate him. But a cause must not be
condemned because unfortunate enough
to have a false prophet for its chief ex
ponent, and true economy should not be
allowed to suffer for the masquerading of
a cheese-parer.
AN IMPORTANT MOVE.
By a special telegram from Titusville it
will be seen that the independent petro
leum interests have united to make a
serious move against the control of the
transportation interests by the pooling of
the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Na
tional Transit Company. In connection
with the inquiry into the anthracite coal
combination they call the attention of the
Governor to this pool, by which an ad
vanceof 36 per cent has been levied on
the transportation rate of refined oil to
the seaboard.
It is an encouraging sign that the inde
pendent producers and independent re
finers have got together and are prepared
to work together for the independence of
the trade. The possibilities of the union
extend far beyond the ginning of this
legal point, although that is important
enough. The burdens of these interests
In the past have largely arisen from the
fact that producers and refiners did not
recognize, at critical junctures, the ad
vantage of both in protecting each other's
rights. If they are prepared to stick to
gether now, they can maintain themselves
against the Standard, no matter what the
Attorney General may do.
As to the applicability of section 4, ar
ticle XVII of the Constitution, although
the corporations will dispute it, the
very sweeping language seems to
cover exactly such a case as
this. Its prohibition includes rail
roads, canals, "or any other corporation,"
and covers control "in any way" of a
parallel or competing line. Here is a
pooling arrangement for the purpose of
establishing a mutual control of the trans
portation of petroleum. That such a pool
is illegal at common law has been again
and again decided; and that it Is obnoxious
to tbe spirit and intent of the Constitu
tion, however it may be affected by the
latter, is equally Indisputable.
The course of that State administration
in the premises is lain enough. When
its attention is called to such a state of
things it should take prompt steps to bring
it before the courts. It should do the
same with every corporate violation of law
and equity. Governor Pattison made his
record by standing up for public rights
against just such wrongs, and he cannot
now afford to fall below his own standard.
INGENCirT IN SLAUGHTER.
When Gulliver disclosed to the King of
Brobdignag how a powder composed of
charcoal, nitre and sulphur could be used
to kill men at a distance, the gigantic
monarch marveled that In so small a body
there could be compacted so large an
amount of malice and devilish ingenuity.
If that were a telling satire on the arts of
killing at an age when the most effective
instrument of slaughter was the flint-lock
Queen Anne musket, which even the sav
ages of New Mexico would now disdain to
use, what pertinence must it have when
the advance of science has demonstrated
immensely more dreadful means of whole
sale destruction of human life.
It is one of the peculiarities of the prog
ress of inventions in the line of slaughter
that for nearly a century after Swift's
satire invention did comparatively little
in the line of Improving the deadly
methods of slaughter. The leading inven
tions to improve firearms during that cen
tury were the King of Prussia's introduc
tion of iron ramrods and tbe fixing of the
bayonet to the muzzle of the musket From
those changes to the introduction of percus
sion caps was a long period, while the intro
duction of rifles for the use of regular
soldiery is within the recollection of
most adults. Indeed there grew up a feel
ing during that time that the restraints of
civilized warfare forbade the use of Greek
fire, and kindred inventions adapted to
modern use.
Since that period new inventions in the
arts of peace have greatly surpassed the
progress in the arts of war. The railroad,
the" telegraph, the steam engine and the
host of other inventions that followed in
their wake had added far more to human
life than the magazine rifle, Krupp guns
and high explosives have done in taking it
away. But with the demonstration thus
given of what inventionspan do in increas
ing the sum of human prosperity, it be
comes a more striking anomaly that side
by side with this beneficial progress ha3
marched the science of taking away the
lives thus to be benefited. When just at
present the attention of science seems to
be devoted to perfecting the arts of
wholesale slaughter, there Is room for the
inquiry whether civilization is really much
less savage than savagery. An impar
tial observer like the King of Brobdignag
who should be informed as we are of the
invention of a rifle by which a stream of
vitriol is to be projected on the advancing
enemy, or of the other recent triumph of
invention which is expected to shock a
whole warship out of existence, might be
pardoned for wonder at the malice of a
world which receives such devices as tri
umphs of science.
Of course the usual rejoinder to such
reflections can be made, that the more
terrible the methods of war, the greater
the inducement to the preservation of
peace. But is not war terrible enough
already to induce a really civilized world
to turn a little of its ingenuity into the
Invention off methods for settling interna
tional difficulties byother means than kill
ing off some tens of thousands of the com
mon people ?
WHITNEY'S OPPORTUNITY.
The fact that William C. Whitney, the
able and exceedingly astucious Secretary
of the Navy under President Cleveland,
has been in close conference with the
Democratic leaders at Washington, gives
rise to a report that he is prepared to
adopt the role of Quintius Curtius to
modern times, and to hurl himself in
the breach between Cleveland and Hill as
a compromise candidate. Mr. Whitney's
availability in tbat line is based on his sup
posed position as residuary legatee of
President Cleveland's political estate, and
the further belief that he is persona grata
to the Hill faction.
There is one aspect of a putative Whit
ney boom which, as it stands, would be a
heavy burden; but which is capable of
being converted into a great help. He is
closely connected by marriage and fortune
with the Standard Oil Trust The profits
of that huge monopoly furnished the
sinews of war for the social campaign
which added new qualities to the extrava
gance of Washington life; and he is cred
ited with political and legal influence over
most of the petroleum magnates. This,
as it stands, is not a quality to attract a
large popular vote to a Democratic candi
date. '
The Standard Oil Trust has .Just been
declared by one of the most authoritative
tribunals of the country to be an illegal
and void combination. Now let Mr.
Whitney use his good offices with the mag
nates of that trust to Induce them to obey
the law inspirit as well as letter. Let
him instruct them that wealth protected
by the laws of the country should be
especially careful to carry out the in
tent of the law instead of seeking
means to nullify and evade it If he suc
ceeds in impressing on the petroleum
principality the fact that an honest ac
ceptance of the law requires the dissolu
tion of the trust, the placing of every
plant in the petroleum business on an in-t
dependent basis, and tne restoration or
free competition in the refining, trans
portation and sale of petroleum, his, po
litical fortune is made. The man who
can add to his political conquests the
complete and honest surrender of the first
great trust will be an ideal candidate for
the Democracy.
It remains to be seen whether Mr.
Whitney will take a course which sets po
litical popularity coupled with honest ob
servance of law above the millions to be
garnered out of monopolistic profits.
A MAYOR'S SENTENCE.
The sentence of ex-Mayor Wyman, yes
terday, to three months' imprisonment
was not so severe as it might have been;
but it is severe enough to make an example
that will inspire caution in municipal
business for1 some time to come. If there
was, as reported, an arrangement by
which the Mayor was to be .let off easily
in consideration of his resignation, he can
hardly be blamed for thinking that the
other parties have failed to deliver the
goods. But it is not a public misfortune
when agreements of that sort are disre- J
garded in the administration of justice.
It is true, as the Court said in passing
sentence, that the imposition of a fine
would be no punishment To make a
mere pecuniary loss the only penalty for
irregularities in public position would
simply leave officials of weak principles
to the calculation whether the chances of
loss are greater than tbe chances of gain.
An imprisonment was necessary to im
pose a punishment that will be a warning.
While the three months' sentence is one-
fourth of what might have been imposed,
it will serve the purpose: It gives notice
to all public officials to be exceedingly
circumspect in tbe discharge of their
duties.
Beyond that, the descent of the man,
who at the beginning of the year was sup
posed to be all powerful in Northside
politics, to the county Jail is a warning to
all men tbat .no intrenchment Is strong
enough to insure dishonest administration
from the possibility of being overtaken by
the law.
A GRAND JURY'S RESPONSE.
The Grand Jury of New Tork has pre
sented a practical demonstration that Dr.
Parkhurst's charges were untrue. The
clergyman asserted that the body of in
quiry ignored notorious offenses against
tbe law; and the Grand Jury responded
by making a -presentment against the
clergyman for slandering the -officials of
the city.
Thus is the vigilance and impartiality
of the law in the metropolis vindicated in
a double way. If any one in the future
should feel inclined to intimate that law
breakers with a political pull get on the
blind side of justice, the Psrkhurst indict
ment will have a doubly silencing effect
It presents a case in which an influential
man could not offend the powers without
retaliation by the Instrumentalities of
justice; and it also reminds would-be
critics that they must not speak evil of
dignitaries in politics.
The further great moral lesson is also
enforced upon the public mind that the
one offense which New York grand juries
will not condono is attacking the officials
put into power by Tammany. Whether
this will strengthen Tammany or not re
mains to be seen, but it can not fail to be
very instructive to the outside public.
HONESTY WANTED.
There Is food for reflection as well as
sarcasm in an editorial cry of the Boston
Oldbe: "Give us honest horses." The
value of honesty in horses is indisputable,
but one might be pardoned for supposing
that it was not so rare as to require this
strenuous call. Man's best and noblest
friend is generally addicted to honesty.
Even his vices are more honest than the
correspondent vices of. men, as if he is
frightened he openly and squarely runs
off, instead of slinking off quietly under
plea of a pressing engagement elsewhere.
Further examination of ourcotempor
ary's urgent outcry shows, however,that
it asks for honesty in the registration and
racing of horses. This Is highly necessary
if that Utopian Ideal of honest racing is
ever to be realized. The demand there
fore is to be commended, although an
opinion as to its practicality may be dis
creetly reserved.
But it is worth while to note that what
the Globe really wants is honest men in
the racing business, and this is a much
more difficult arid unusual thing than
honest horses.
The horrible failure of the guillotine, at
a little village in Germany, shows tlfat no
method of execution can be relied upon for
decency which depends upon the skill and
care of the executioner.
The passage of those railroad and bridge
Jobs through the lower branch of the New
York Legislature Is taken out of politics by
the Buffalo Courier. Tbat Journal points out
that while the Democrats voted almost sol
idly for the steals, the Republicans tumbled
in with nearly equal unanimity, and inti
mates that a Republican boss may yet be
discovered in the woodpile. This is more
than possible. It is one of the great features
of modem Jobbery that when a big grab is
to be made those who can get a share do not
let party lines restrain them. That limita
tion is only used to hamper the people who
are in favor of publio honesty.
"Give a man rope enongh and he will
hang himself," is the old saying, but al
though the Cordage Trust has been pro
vided with anyamount of hemp tbe law will
attempt to wind it up.
It is interesting to find out now that the
Whisky Trust is getting into the courts that
the alcoholic combination is not a trust at
all, but something more in the line of a
benevolent institution. This is tbe view
promulgated by Mr. Charles A. Prince, who
occupies the Impartial position of counsel
for the combination. As tbe benevolent
character of these institutions is never sus
pected until they become subjects of publio
inquiry, they should be grateful to the peo
ple who urge prosecutions and thus enable
them to demonstrate their charitable char
acter. Under the decision of, the Supreme
'Court, Speaker Seed's count iiTnaUvall
Ajgut, vuir mw juiuvuiiuuuy ju not yes
tackled the Job of extending It sanction to
Porter's count.
Senator Hill's remark that he has not
et been able to .discover that the demo
crats in Congress have a. policy about any.
thins" may provoke the retort from the
Democrats that this Is due to the vefry small
fraction of his, time that Mr. Hill spends la
his Senatorial seat. But Senator Hill's asse
tion may be best explained by the fact that
all his time has been'taken up in the effort
to discover what Is his own policy about
silver. According to the Senators own
utterances this is a Job calculated to' keep
him busy for tbe rest of his lifetime.
Now that the inquest on Norcrosi' re
mains is to be begun the publlo will be able
tojudge just how much or little of his safety
Russell Sage owes tor the presence of his
cleric
The importance of oar commerce with
Great Britain is shown by the fact that she
takes $172,000,000 out of a total of $273,000,000
of our exports of farm products. It would
be biting off the nose to spite the face If wo
shut off tbat commerce in a quarrel over a
lot of seals.
What an unsound and unnatural amount
of power is vested in one man when tba
mere report of his death causes a serious
commotion on the stock exchange I
The little girl who died from showing
bcr ability to skip longer than her play
mates was unconsciously exhibiting the
spirit of a large number of our countrymen
in this age, who are determined to excel
their fellows no matter at what cost to phy
sical, mental or moral health.
England's action in attempting to over'
come our reciprocity treaty with the West
Indies can only lessen her hold on colonies
there and elsewhere.
Belgian workmen believe that charity
begins at home, and there Is every reason to
support their view, tbat while National
money can be used for internal reforms, it
should not be sent out of the country to
further colonial or other hobbles of the
King.
The Mexican market should be a kind of
"corn in Egypt" for our grain growers.
When Russell Sage expresses a belief
that the Reading deal will result in a rise of
prices oPcoal to the possible maximum, it is
about time for those who defend it as a
benefit to the public to moderate their en
thusiasm and improve their logic.
It is too cold for spring wild flowers, but
there is a large crop of primaries.
That a judge should be overworked is
a matter for regret and reform, but it does
not Justify him in taking arbitrary measures
and summarily dismissing a case, because he
feels tbat it has occupied too much of his
time.
PfETINENT PERSONALITIES.
The Grand Duke of Hesse has had a
stroke of paralysis, and bis condition is con
sidered serious.
Mr. Winans, the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction in Kansas, was
formerly a bricklayer in Atchison.
Oct in Illinois Shelby M. Cnllom is said
to think that the M. in hismame stands for
the Moses who will lead the Republicans
Into the promised land.
Bev. G. H. Kinsolvino and wife, of
Philadelphia, have sailed for Brazil via
England, where they will engage In mission
ary work in Bio Grande do SuL
Bismarck sprinkles his conversation,
which is at all times Interesting and some
times epigrammatic, with choice and perti
nent extracts from Shakespeare, of whose
works he is especially lond.
Edward Bob: quotes an English poet as
having said that be never reads a book of
verse for pleasure. "When I read for my
pleasure," said the poet, "I turn either to
history or to a standard work on engineer
ing." Governor Francis, of Missouri, Is a
stickler for "the swallow-tail" coat at his re
ceptions. Colonel Richard Dalton, who
wants to succeed Francis, says that if be is
elected Governor the people may call on
him in their shirt sleeves.
Prof. William J. Tucker, -of Andover,
who has been elected President of Dart
mouth College, is a native of Griswold,
Conn., and 53 years of age. He was five years
pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian
Church, of New York, prior to going to
Andover.
It is somewhat rare to find a millionaire's
son devoted to his books rather than bis
pleasures. There is one sneh ta the house of
Vanderbllt, and the son ofC. P. Huntington.
described as a "superb specimen of physical
manhood, with a towering height of 6 feet 4,"
devotes eight hours a day to study.
WANT THE FAIR 0P 6UHDAY.
The German Evangelical Protestant Min
isters Formulate a Petition.
The German Evangelical Protestant Min
isters' Association, of the United States, has
issued a petition to tbe Board of Directors
of the World's Fair, asking tbat the Fair be
be kept open on Sundays from lr.E. This
petition has been indorsed by the ten
churches or that denomination in Pittsburg,
the officers or tbe churches signing for the
churches and tbe members or tbe congrega
tions also attaching their signatures. The
grounds upon which the petition is based are
five in number. It Is held that it is but J ust
that the laborer, whose care for the main,
tainenceof himself and family occupies six
days of.the week and on these days makes a
visit to the Fair impossible, without a great
pecuniary loss, such as the loss of a day's
laoor involves, snould nave an opportunity
of seeing and studying the development of
art and Industry. The evening finds him
too tired to enjoy this privilege. For the
laborer, therefore. Sunday is not only tho
best, but the onlv day. for such a visit.
The opening of the World's Fair is not, as
has ofton been said, contrary to religion and
Christianity. Sunday is in no wise holier
than any other day in the sight of the
eternal God. but everv dav is and shnniri iu
dedicated to Him. On tbat one day which
Christians celebrate In grateful acknowl
edgement of tbe great truths of salvation re
vealed unto tbem, they should gather to up
lift their hearts and minds to the Eternal
and to renew their aspirations. But not
religion alone, which when performed in a
perfunctory manner but lulls the conscience
Into sleep and makes the affections super
ficial, not religion alone Inspires and en
nobles man, but tho contemplation of the
creations of God and His greatness In art
and science as well. In art and in the snlrit
ot progress in all things beautiful should we
study the workings of God's spirit and -its
F regressive development In mankind,
t is also held tbat the closing or
the World's Fair on Sundays would
be a violation of the spirit of the
Constitution or the United States of Amer
ica, in which an observance of Sunday as a
holy day is no wise provided for. Our Con
stitution doe1; not Intend to favor any re
ligious opinion or any religious dogma un
less indeed they coincide with the general
requirements 01 uumanuv. xne constitu
tion never Intended this. It would therefore
be as Just to grant unto the disciples of all
non-Christian religions the request to have
the Fair closed on that day which their re
ligion makes a holy day. Our national and
State officials are bound by the Constitution
to favor no religious body, however strong
it mav be in numbers and Influence, to the
detriment of the smaller and less Influential
bodies of believers. Opening the World's
Fair on Sundays will promote virtue, while
closing it will probably have a tendency to
promote licentiousness. The crowds that
will no doubt gather at Chicago during the
continuance of tbe Fair, would no doubt
easily be led to vioe, while an open Fair
would give tbem opportunity for other 'and
nobler occupation and entertainment and re
move much temptation.
Might Do Many Worse Things.
Chicago (flobe.j
Senator Hill denies the report that he is
about to get married. He might do many
worse things than getting married.
, Fins His Faith to the Old Goosabone.
Omsha World-Herald. 3
Secretary Rusk's success at guessing at
the weather indicates Ibat he pins his 'faith
to the good old goosebone.
GOSSIP OF A GREAT TOWN.
IT Looks Would Kill Coroners Would Be
Busy Fame or John Wanamaker An
Attractive Woman's Attractive Corner
Metropolitan Signs of Spring.
mov A stajt coBRXsrorrDiirr.1
The man who goei' about the world
'looking for somebody to tread on the tail of
nis coat is pretty sure to be accommodated.
In a great hustling city like this be will have
his mental feathers considerably ruffled.
Both amusement and instruction may.be de
rived from the streets of New Tork every
hour in tbe day. I have seen men who hap
pen to be Jostled in a crowd turn out and
plunge the dagger of the eye into the baok
of thoughtless and. unsuspecting people for
fully half a minute, or as long as their inno
cent victim was in sight, and seem to derive
a certain degree of satisfaction from the
operation. A thoughtless pedestrian brought
to a sudden stand by roadway hoofs, or nar
rowly missing the deadly wheels, will often
fairly riddle the rider or driver with mental
slugs. And he will frequently be assisted
with a whole volley of unspoken impreca
tions from the more excitable persons in the
throng. Drivers will usually return these
sta)s and .blows and objurations with re
ciprocal scowls.
In fact, if looks and thoughts would kill,
the streets of a crowded city would be liber
ally sprinkled with corpses every day, and a
morgue would be necessary on every block.
The maimed would require acres or hospi
tals, and blackened eyes and broken noses
would soon become the rule instead of being
the exception. To the even tempered phil
osopher of the streets these silent but ex
pressive exchanges of momentary passion
are chiefly amusing. Yet be doubtless re
flects that tbe man who goes through life
yielding an easy shoulder to tho crowd,
whose temper is unruffled by trivial things,
who is never on the lookout for insult and
injury, and who cherishes no hatreds, lives
longer and enjoys living the most. The
horse that frets under the hames gives out
first.
Great Is John Wanamaker.
In order to settle a dispnte as to which
is the greater, John Wanamaker or Phila
delphia, and Incidentally to illustrate the
excellence of our postal service, I recently
addressed a private letter to a certain num
ber on "Chestnut street, Wanamaker, Pa."
The name of the person addressed and num
ber of the street were plainly written and
the former is well known. The letter
reached Philadelphia about ten days after
being mailed in .New York, having probably
missed the through fast freight, and was
sent straight to John Wananiaker's, where
it was stamped "No such person at John
Wanamaker's." In the course of 15 days
later it occurred to some nimble-wltted post
office clerk in Philadelphia to take tbeletter
out of the general delivery box, where it had
lain uncalled for, and give it to the carrier,
and thus it quite naturally, as it were, fell
into the hands of tbe person for whom it was
intended.
It took Just a month to find out that John
Wanamaker is bigger than Philadelphia and
that all numbers on Chestnut street lead to
tne Dargatn counter or tho Postmaster Gen
eral, while a letter addressed to a certain
number on "Beacon street. New York," and
mailed here reached the Boston address the
next day.
A Spot to Enjoy Life.
Speaking of art, I know a lady art
writer who has fitted up a unique corner in
her family sitting room that would charm
any man fond of a pipe, a cigar or a chat
with tho clever hostess. It is a sort of a
divan fitting in a slight recess or alcove. A
small black bearskin sprawls upon the wall
at the back, lust beneath a high window.
The divan is covered with a magnificent
robe which puzzles nineteen out of twenty
people a Texas cowskin, coal black and of
great size. On tbe floor at the foot of this is
a rug of a mountain lion skin a splendid
specimen. And fastened to the walls, work
ing in a swivel to the right and left are
supeib and highly polished horns of the
wild cow whose hide you are sitting on.
The horns are ash and cigar stub receiv
ers, and can be lifted out or their sockets
and replaced at will. Above tbem on either
side are Indian relics and Chinese trinkets,
respectively. Each article has a history.
Stretched at full length in this cozy retreat
with a good cigar and the conversation of a
highly gifted woman, it seems hard to be
lieve that there is anything worth living for
outside.
A Novel Style of Advertising. ,
"Fourteen rows of pins tw-o ce-n-nts!
Fourteen rows of pins tw-o ce-n-nts!" It
was a shambling pld man and a shambling
old-voice on Thirty-third street. He had a
very peculiar gait on him like a horse with
the spring-bait owing to the sole of his
right shoe being loosd and the necessity for
flapping the piece well up and forward with
every step in order to bring it down in the
right place. He had a small and well-worn
satchel, carried a paper orpins in his hand
and kept his eyes strained on the upper
windows for customers.
"Fourteen rows of pins, tw-o cen-ts!" he
criedsomewhat mournfully.
A window went up with a bang that made
hl heart Jump. A red-headed woman with
a flushed face stuck berliead out. "Gimme
one row!" she shouted.
"Wha wbaatT"
"Gimme one row, you old, fool!" she
screamed. "Bring it up!" She made a gesture
as if she would scoop him up with her bony
Angers.
"Fourteen rows, ma'am, only 2 cents," he
said apologetically.
"Gimme one row, I tell youl I want to let
that good-for-nothing husband of mine see
wnetuer I'm wortn a row orpins or not. I'll
fix him!" In popped the redhead and bang
went tbe window down again.
"Come up with a row ot pins, will 1?" so
liloquised tbe old man shaking his head
"not much. She don't want any pins. She
wants the neighbors to know what her hus
band says about her that's what she wants.
I'll bet he's up there now iayin' for me with
a olub. Row of pins! I wouldn't go up there
if she'd offer to buy my stock!"
Thus does age and adversity bring wisdom.
The Metropolitan Groundhogs.
With the first blushing day ot spring
upper Broadway blossoms forth in all its
pristine glory or genteel loaferdom. Lead
ing all others the "profesh," in swell attire
from the latest derby to shining patent
leathers, scoring the high water mark of
prosperity; and in the rehabilitated top
coats of last year's vintage, indicating con
tinuous liberty," are predominant. As a
closo second come those Philiidelnhian suub-
like gentlemen of ruddy countenance iniiox
coats and single-stoned neckties of vivid
hues, known as "sporting gents," with a
percepttDie uavor 01 tuo quarter-stretch m
gait and talk. And the well-known faces of
that peculiar set distinguished as men-aboat-town
are visible again. All of these in
couples and groups and sections are liber
ally distributed along the curbs andbarroom
fronts between Twenty-flfth and Forty
second streets the first mild davs of spring
and give that part of the great thoroughfare
of the world its usual picturesquo summer
tone.
Whence they come and where they have
been all winter is one of those mysterious
things that excite wonder, but are not worth
finding out. They are the metropolitan
groundhogs, and as sneh their shadows on
the walks have their significance. When
tbey are visible we feel sure that tbe back
bone of winter Is dislocated. That peculiar
class of beggars broken-down gamblers
that appear simultaneously, a sort or vermi
form appendix to tbe sporting world, are
out in force also, and preserve the usual
esprit du corps. Pretty soon the crimped
darlings of the footlights will follow suit.
and trump each other's tricks with their
customary dash and abandon. Then those
of us who have still entertained dogmatical
doubts on the prophctio wisdom of the
groundhog will know that' spring is here.
Charles Tbxodobx Murray.
Nxw Toax, March 5. s
AN IDEALITY.
Brooklyn Eagle.
Fair child of earth 1 yet half ethereal.
Thy grace and beauty blend one happy dream.
As one oft' dreams, but waking does not seem
To trace the beauteous outUnes mystical
Which did enthral.
Thy eyes are like two radiant diamonds dipped
In Ink, whose purity would leave no stain
Than kind Impassioned fancies In the brain.
Suffice to lead one to a martyr's crypt
Without refrain.
Tby Ups like tufted son clouds zenlthward.
Urged by some wistful trade winds artful piles.
Meet la celestial union In clear skies.
By sun's glow kissed to crimson raptures whirred
To rhapsodies. v
And checks where peachblewi loitered In the spring
And left their dainty, dimpled Imprints there,
To tantalize the Untlngs of the rare
Rich robes of nature's gayest coquetting
Debonair.
I've beard the volee In eddying brook or wood
Wind swept upon some coaxing autnmn day,
v Redolent with harvest scents, or stray
Bespangled spars of golden rod which stood
Trembling at bay.
Where auburn trclllsed vines do wantonly
Create an arbor o'er some ploturesque
Believe, oraatewitu rainbow's arabetqne
After s shower, tby visage one may see
An ideality.
, Robxbt PrrcnxB Woodward.
LITE nr C0TOXKT AH D CUT.
Wore Men and Women Needed Out of Town
to Aet as a Sort of Ballast.
Omaha World-Herald,
There is nothing more over-estimated
than the advantages of living In a city. Here
in America, and especially in the East, 'there
is a dangerous tendency to congregate In
cities. More men and women are needed in
the country, for ballast. They must be
primarily the producers. That country
which has no good farmers, and many of
tbem, is unfortunate indeed, and may well
devote Itself to devising schemes for ridding
Its urban communities' of tbe superfluous
persons. In the beginning of America this
was not the ease. A man was very proud at
that time to be a country gentleman. Al
most all of the men who did tbe most work
in tho troublous time of the formation of
this Commonwealth had farms and lived
upon them a parc'if not all of the year.
Bnt now there has eome about a foolish
dislike to such a life among men of ability;
and among farmers there has come another
equally foolish prejudice the dislike of
being looked npon as gentlemen. These
two things operate together to take from
farmlncr much of tho fascination that vonld
otherwise attach to it. The countrymen do
not live in an atmosphero of aspiration.
They look upon a man as a dude if he blncks
his boots or wears a linen collar. They
scorn every attempt at elegance, and appear
to think nicety of speech contemptible.
Whatever Deautifies the body or the address
they appear to tnlnk affectation. All this Is
wrong. If farming life were mane more
agreeable, ambitious and fastidious young
men raised in the country would not shrink
from it as they do and make for the cities as
soon as they are released from parental
rule. The poetry has been put out of life in
the country by so many mistaken ideas,
both on the parr of those who live In the
cities and those who till the fields. A little
more pride of condition would not be amiss
among tbe men and women on the farms.
Robert Ingersoll said something character
istic on this subject the other dav. It is ab
solutely true.- It has in It not only tbe
v uiuo uuiopogt uut tuo voice 01 ine Ameri
can. "It Is no advantage to live in a city where
5overty degrades and failure brings despair,
he fields are lovelier than paved streets,
and the great forests of oaks and elms are
more poetic than steeples and chimneys. In
the couu try Is the idea of home. There you
see the rising and setting sun; you become
acquainted with the stars and clouds. The
constellations aio your friends. You hear
tne ram on the roof and listen to the rhyth
mic sighing of the winds. You are thrilled
by tbe resurrection called spring, touched
and saddened by autumn the grace and
J)oe try ot death. Every field is a picture,-a
andscape; every landscape a poem; every
flower a tender thought, and every forest a
fairy land. In the country you preserve
your identity your personality. Tuere you
are an aggregation of atoms; but in the city
you are only an atom of an aggregation."
THE PE0PHECLE8 OF SCIENCE.
How to Warn the Publio In Advance of
the Approach of a Violent Storm.
New York Herald.3
The great practical question for meteor
ology is how the publio may be forewarned
many hours in advance when a storm of
moderate force quietly crossing the country
or tamely skirting tbe Atlantic coast-line
will attain the destructive violence of a hur
ricane. Meteorologists have now to rely
mainly upon the indications of the barome
ter to previse tbe sudden and dangerous in
tensification of such disturbances. But tbe
barometer is a very sluggish sentinel of im
pending danger and the interval between its
warnings and the outburst of tne tempest is
too short to admit of adequate preparation.
The same may be said of the premonitory
indications of all other instruments now em
ployed for prognosticating weathcV changes.
What, then, are we to do? Is tbe science of
weather and storm prediction to drag on
without any advance, in dependence upon
observations on or near sea-level, which
have long since demonstrated their inad
equacy for timely premonitions of storms.
It should not so be.
Important as weather observations taken
on the surface of the earth undoubtedly
are, tbey will always be incomplete and in
decisive for predictive purposes until sup
plemented by observations of thB grand
storm breeding and storm intensifying cur
rents of the upper atmosphere. Some sim
ple and satisfactory device must be found
for testing day by day the varying veloci
ties, direction ana extension or the upper
air currents. Captive balloons might per
haps serve tbe purpose where no high
mountain offers a favorable station for such
observations. It must be confessed that
mountain observations, as those of Ben
Nevis and Mount Wasnlngton, have not
proved of very material value for storm
warning purposes. But such points are too
distant from the zone out of which the
great aerial Gulf streams emerge to afford
timely Intimations ot the eccentric move
ments or exceptional velocities of the main
equatorial currents of the atmosphere,
upon which all destructive cyclones de
pend for their genesis, development and
fnogressfve motions. It thereforo seems
raperatlve, if the science of storm pre
diction is to advance, that high level sta
tions In and on the borders or. the tropics
should be occupied for meteorological
observations and for signalling to the
higher latitudes when and where a great
storm will be generated, and when a storm
of moderate force will become intensely en
ergized. E0YALTY OK THE KIVIEEa.
Many of England's Most Favored
Ones
Away for Their Health.
JBY CABLI TO Till DtSPATCn.l
Losdox, March 5. There will be quite an
emigration of English royalties to tho South
of France within the next fortnight. The
Prince and Princess of Wales and their
family leave on Saturday for Cape St. Mar
tins, a lovely and retired little spot which
the Empress Eugenie has selected this year
as her spring headquarters. With the
Queen and Princess Beatrice at Hyeres, and
the Duke and Duchess of Teck and Princess
May at Lady Wolverton's villa near Men
tone, there be quite a largo number of En
glish royalties on the Riviera. It Is not
likely tbat London will see much of the
Prince and Princess of Wales for several
months. It Is rumored tbat thev Intend to
remain abroad for some time, and will not
return to Sandringham until October.
The royal ladies, by the way, show n good
example in the simplicity of their mourn
ing. Tne young Princesses are wearing
tailor-made gowns and jackets of black
serge, with none of tho expensive and
fashionable crape trimming unsnally con
sidered indlspenslble by less distinguished
mourners.
A HOVEL NEWS BTJBEATJ.
Artist and Writer to Labor Together for
Papers and the World at Large".
A few days ago W. G. Kaufmann and Hep
burn Johns associated themselves together
for the modest purpose of supplying news
papers with all sorts of information, inci
cidentatly adorned with illustrations. The
basis of the Johns-Kaufmann News Bureau is
a collection of portraits, an unique news
paper reference library, and a large barrel
of experience in newspaper work. They
propose to assist in the beneficent work of
keeping tbe world posted on Pittsburg, and
to a smaller extent Pittsburg posted on tbe
world.
Mr. Johns will do most of tbe writing and
Mr. Kaufmann will do all the pictures. A
camera will do the rest. It is a new thins
here and in some respects in the countrvat
large. Mr. Johns has been a member of Tnx
Dispatch staff for seven years, and will
remain its dramatic editor.
Hard to Follow a Book's Example,
Chicago Times. 1
It's hard for a man to keep Lent, but a
book does it naturally.
DEATHS HEEE AND ELSEWHERE.
Obituary Notes.
Hoxj JAMES H. Clattox. aged 63 years, an ex
Member of the Legislature from Franklin county,
died suddenly Friday evening In Waynesboro. He
was a prominent Republican. 1
JAMES Caesox, a veteran sailor of the war, who
served with Porter's Mississippi fleet, Cled at his
home In Webster yesterday from poison. Incurred
by exposure during his service. Hit age was 63
years.
Amos Tbexlxb, one of the pioneers of the slate
Industry la Northern Beiks and Lehigh counties,
died at Ms home la Albany, near Reading, yester
day la his 80th year. Mr. Trexler prospected for
slate la thai region nearly 60 years ago.
Mas. FAYLX Abbott died yesterday morning at
the residence of her son-tn-law. W. P. Wilbur,
President or theXehlgh Valleyltallroad, In Beth
lehem. Fa., aged $3 years. Almost ber entire fam
llr. Including Mr. and ilrs.W. P. llbur and Mrsi
W. A. Wilbur, and ber son. Captain Robert A. Ab
bott, are at Nassau, Bahama Islands. , "
W0BLDS THAT ARE DEAD.
Secrets of the Stan of Variable Light
Mighty Non-Luminous Bodies Known
Only by Their Influence Mighty Fields
ofKnowledge.
twwrnjrvoBTHxnisrATCH.i
A great fact which is dawning on the in
tellectual horizon is, that "only the begin
ningless is endless. Thus matter, which
eternally was, eternally will be; but any
form of matter, be it a straw or a star, a shell
or a sun, by virtue of that form, which had a
beginning. Just as inevitably must have an
ending. The form then had only a lease
hold on Its constituent matter, which matter
was only temporarily employed and which
"Was absolved from any further obligation,
when finally tba form yielded to disintegra
tion. The released matter might
then seek other fields in which
to disport Itself, might yield to other chemi
cal combinations and affinities, as it bad
already many times done In tbe eternal
past.
Thus the trees we see, the green blades
that .come, the leaves, the flowers, the
friends that are near and dear, all these, the
sun, the moon, the earth, every orb, glowing
or dark in the heavens, all are only some
where on the Journey between tbe stages
we designate as birth and death: only some
where on the line of organic form, destructi
ble as to such form, but indestructible as to
tbe capacity of being recreated in an eternal
round of succeeding forms.
Reasoning then, from these premises, ac
cepting then this great truth, tbat nothing
is lost, that death is only transmutation,
only our obverse side, we may carry the
principle to the glowing worlds In space
and gather a wider knowledge of the nature
and relationship of all worlds and all things,
to each other. It- is not so much wfiat is
perceived by tbe optical sense through the
telescope as what is analytically and syn
thetically grasped and digested by the
mind, tbat marks our progress in stellar
knowledge, or Indeed, our progress In any
kind of knowledge.
A Mystery of the Heavens.
Among the puzzling features of the
skies, a subject which has been the occasion
of much discussion and speculation In, re
cent years, and which Is not yet ended, is
the varying light of some of the stars.
Notably among these is the remarkable star
Algol, a variable luminary in the northern
sky, but whose waxing and waning light Is
governed by a periodicity defined with
mathematical accuracy. After remaining
at luminous high-tide for a period of 63
hours and 49 minutes the star suddenly
begins to fade and at tbe end of four hours
has sunk In the rank of brilliancy from tbe
second to nearly the fourth magnitude.
in this minimum or light It remains a
few minutes only, when, In four hours, it
apatn reaches' its luminous maximum.
This was a great puzzle to the early
astronomers, some or whom ascribed Its
varying light to demoniac influence, but,
within quite recent rears it has been dis
covered that its fluctuating feature is
caused bv the revolving around it, nt a dis
tance of 3,000.000 miles, of a large non-luminous
body which, at regular Intervals comes
in the line of sight with our earth, thus
throwing Algol Into partial eclipse. Meas
urements of the diameter of this star show
that it Is far beyond anything in our system.
being 1.100,000 miles, while its sable satellite
is considerably larger than onr sun, its
diameter being estimated at 610,000 miles,
that of our solar sphere 'being only 816,000
miles. But there was still something erratic
in the orbits of both Algol and his
dark-hned companion, and this ec
centricity of movement arrested the
attention of Mr. S- C. Chandler,
of Boston.who, availing himsel f of the aid of
photography, caught impresions of the
pair with his camera, aim subjected their
positions to mathematical calculation.
This disclosed the surprising fact that there
is there still another almost invisible body,
and so large that the other two are really its
subjects as satellite, revolving around it in
a period which would equal 1C0 of our years.
Simple When We Know the Facta.
Thus, what ad been deemed as unac
countably eccentric, what bad been sus
pected as being leagued with the evil one,
and what had given rise to many grotesque
speculations, at once falls into the lines of
well-regulated and comprehensible plane
tary action. This, then, opens the way to
an understanding of many other seeming
paradoxes in the motions and actions of tbe
heavenly bodies. We may also yield to
the inference' that there is an in
finite number oC dark spheres in space,
worlds iu their wane, in their decrepitude
and decadence, bnt which still roll on in
their aDPointed paths, with no light of their
own, whoso adolescence lies back eons of
ages, and who only await absorption as so
much ailment, by some young and electri
cally more vigorous sun, as In all natui e old
ago yields before tbe fiery and impetuous
advance of yontb.
Viewed in this light, then, the universe
presents Just such aspects as she bas pre
sented ac any time in tuo eternal past or
will present at any time in tbe eternal fu
ture. Suns and systems of snns may come
and go, new suns and systems be born in the
wide-reaching space. Like the leaf, like tho
plant, like man, they, too, ha vetheir Courses
to run, but Just as snrely, and under tbe op
eration of the same general law, their indi
viduality must pass away and other
individuality be ushered in. But while such
changes are taking place, they are not so
.fleeting as to fall within tbat little span of
measured duration which we know as time.
It is altogether probable, it is even approxi
mately calculable, that tbe career of our
sun, not as n sun merely, hut in nil its
stages must cover a period of at least 60,000,
000,000 years. Yet, measured with such
spheies'as Arcturus, whose diameter is more
than 3,0C0,0C0 miles, our sun seems small, and
the years of his duration seem few in com
parison. Only on the Shores of Knowledge.
When we take into consideration this
combination of luminous and non-luminous
spheres, of large and small spheres, of In
candescent and arctic spheres, spheres rep
resenting ail stages, uii conumous and
nearly all Izes, we may be prepared
for some startling exhibitions of light
as well as motion and all the
more so, as some of the actors perform their
parts, themselves being invisible. We may
observe bodies in high motion and low
motion, of heavy attraction and light attrac
tion exerting much influence and little in
fluence, acting in accordance with laws that
we know and tbat we know not. Let it then
not surprise us, that there is anything we
do not know, for, on the coasts of know
ledge, the wisest may gather only a few
pebbles, none sail the main at all.
Between tbe most evanescent thing and
the mightiest orb in spuce, yea. between all
things, exists a kinship, a tic, which, whether
recognized or not, declares a common
heritage and a common destiny. We may
look out into the fields of space and gather
some conception of the am.izing distances
and tbe appalling immensities, and come
home with thu thought that all that may be
there, whatever unnumbered cycles of time
may be Involved In their duration, like our
selves, they came and hence they must go.
And this Is best or surely It were not thus.
In that It Is, rests the evidence that It is as
it should bo. N.
Mabch 5.
TAHlIAXrS NEW CENSUS.
Or all things In sight tbe Tammany census
Is the most ridiculous. Ciiicaao Inter Ocean.
Ir New York thinks she can make anyone
believe that her new census showing a popu
lation of over L80O.OCO is correct she Is rav
ing crazy clean out of her census Chicago
herald.
The State census is being taken in New
York tbls week with a view to the appor
tionment. Republicans call It a partisan
scheme, of course. That will offset the Por
ter work. St. Paul Globe.
New York's stuffed census, unless all
signs fall, will give New York City all tiio
population that the greatest Tammany boss
can wish for, while tbe country districts will
have to look out for themselves. Philadel
phia Record.
Visitors to New York during the time the
census was being taken by Tammany had to
go down along with tbe real residents in
order to swell the figures to suit the wishes
of tho bosses. This was hard on tho visitors,
very few of whom would care to be citizens
of Gotham. .Boston rest.
Hew York is in the ngoniesof another cen
sus, and tbe metropolis bos given Senator
Hill due notice tbat his "enumerators must
find at least 200,000 more people in New York
City than Mr. Porter's hired men discovered,
Tbe penalty of failure will be Hill's political
death. Tbero will be no failure. Minneapo
lis Tribune.'
NewIobc announces that, according to
her latest census she has 1,800,000 Inhabitants.
Acoordlng to this, sbe has gained 300,000 dur
ing tho past two years. Chicago is congrat
ulating herself that her enumerators have
not yet made public their estimates. Tho
little galn.of 300,000 will prove bnt a trifling
task to the western census taker. Philadel
phia Bulletin.
CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS.
The 110-ton gun i universally disliked
in the Navy.
English pennies are coined yearly to
the extent of 50,000 pounds.
The-average life of a coin is 21 yean.
The coinage of the silver Is the most profit-aole-
The coinage of the world now absorbs
nearly two-thirds of the gold and more than
half of tbe total stocks of silver annually.
In 1890, 88,000,000 coins of 25 denomi
nations were struck in the British Mint, and
of these 17.S00.0OO were rejected in weighing
or were faulty.
When Jerusalem was taken by Titus,
A. D. 70, 1,100,000 Hebrews perished by tho
severe plague, famine, eta, and 97,000 were
taken captive.
Home, in the time of Augustus, was sur
rounded by a wall 20 miles in circumfer
ence, pierced by 20 gate3, and had a popula
tion of 2,000,000.
The total yield of gold in Victoria
dnring 1830 was 583,560 ounces, the output for
1891 wag 597,629 ounces, an Increase over 1890
by 9,069 ounces.
Since 1878 the yearly number or pas
sengers carried in tramway cars In the
United Kingdom has increased from. 116,000,
000 to 566,000,000.
A rough diamond, which, when pol
ished, will weigh about two karats, is re
ported to have been found recently iu Alex
ander county, N. C.
Railway enterprise in Japan is making
considerable headway. At tbe end of this
month there will be about 670 miles of rail
way in the country.
A little hoy fell off a wagon on one of
the principal streets in Hannibal recently
and was so deeply buried in tbe mud that
he had to he dug out with a spade.
From 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 are lost
yearly in the -world on the turf, of which
from $35,000,003 to $50,000,000 are squandered in
tbe United Kingdom. Australia is responsi
ble for $20,000,000 of the amount.
It is estimated that the SO long-distance
lines which tbe American Bell Telephone
Company is putting up between New York
and Chicago will consume 8,526 tons of cop-
er. while the total length, of the wire will
e 08,000 miles.
One of the laws of the Constitution of
Russia enaots that only 30,000 Hebrews
should be allowed to live in St. Petersburg,
and only a prescribed number Indifferent
parts and cities, the quantity to be ruled by
tho population of the particular part.
The fir3t ice cream vendors in England
were Neapolitan peasantry of the poorest
type; but tbe vendors now come from all
parts of Italy, many being natives of the
most remote country districts. Most of the
ice cream trade is appropriated by foreign
ers. The method of skinning a sable is to draw
the skin over the head without any Incision
la tbe body. Tbe feet and tall are left as
part of tbe fur. Every thirtieth of an inch
is valuable, for the average length of the
animal is only 13 Inches and the tail about
6 inches.
We are familiar with the rush of the
express train as it flashes past us the rate of
60 miles an hour, but light actually travels
11,179 560 times as fast! Tbe initial velocity of
tbe shot from tho 12-pound bronze service
gun is only 1,769 leet a second, or 1,536,131
only that of light.
A new shell ha3 lately been invented by
an Austrian for the purpose of scattering
oil over the waves during a storm. It is a
wooden cylinder lined with shellac to
keep tho oil from penetrating the wood,
and it carries in addition a calcium light,
which illuminates the water for a consider
able distance.
In the reign of Henry VHX the use of
sable was forbidden to any below a Vis
count. A pelisse of sables, the property of
the late Emperor Nicholas of Russia, dis
played in the Exhibition of 1851, was valued
at$10.0C0. A cont lined with sables is often
worth from $1,500 to $2,000. A set ofsabla
tails can hardly be sold for less than $250.
An almost incalculable number of skins
are used in countries where the rigors of the
climate necessitate the wearing of fur of
some kind daily. Even the poorest serf has
his sheepskin, the frozen Laplander his rein
deer coat and fur moccasins, while in the
same regions the wealthv classes wrap them
selves in the costliest furs and use rugs of
enormous value.
A family has abandoned a first-class
farm near English, Ind., which they swapped
for property worth scarcely J20O. Tbe Ben
netts claim to have been worried almost to
death by one of their neighbors, who as
sumed the shape of a black cat, with a white
ringabont its neck. "The animal haunted
tbem at most inopportune times, and all ef
forts to aeatroy it were in vain.
Kemenyi, the well-known violin vir
tuoso, has mado application for a space not
less that 400 sqnare feet at the World's Fair,
in which to exhibit his great collection of
rare African ethnological specimen. The
collection, which comprises over 1,500 care
fully selected specimens, has been formed
during the last 10 years, and is beyond ques
tion the most perfect of its kind.
Representative Kewberry, of Chicago,
is pressing a bill in Congress which appro
priates $50,000 to reform tbe method of spell
ing. The words when "reformed" by the
proposed scheme will look like this: "Ttsfi
old sis terns. A sin ov the dan (A sign of the
dawn). Pnblik opinyun. Farwei old spelln
book. Gall the trubadar tucbt hlz gitar.
Farin langwejcz (foreign languages)."
The Channel Islands, as represented by
Jersey, are indisputably the sunniest spots
in tbe kingdom. The average amount of
sunshine there during the whole year is 39.9
per cent of tbe interval the sun is above the
horizon. The nearest approach to this is
35.7 per cent at Falmouth, then follow in
order St. Anne's Mead. Milford Haven. 31.7;
Geldeston, near Beccles. 51.5; Southampton,
33.5. and Southbourne, 33.2.
The German Emperor's resolution last
year to shave off his beard brought about
the settlement of a law suit. A Berlin agent
bad in June undertaken to supply a Munich
firm with 2,500 busts of the Emperor, which
wcro to be delivered by June 15. But as in
tbe meantime tbe Emperor bad let bis beard
grow, tbe Jlunlch firm declared that It
conld'only tako them if they looked like the
Emperor. Of course the busts had been
made without a beard, and as both parties
could not come to an agreement tbe case
wasbrouzht before a court. Soon after the
case bad been entered for trial the agent
was informed that the Emperor had shaved
off bis beard, the case was settled, and the
firm accepted the busts without more ado.
PICKINGS FROM PUCK.
Mr. Ehoades When I was traveling
down South among tbe crackers
Miss Atbcnla llubbs (of Boston) You mean
among the biscuits, do you not, Mr. Rhoadesf
I'm full of high ambition,
And seek I may be rash
Not the plaudits or posterity.
But cotempnrary cash.
Tounrr Mr. Buna May I call upon yon,
Miss JIu ml!
Miss Mnnn Oh. yes. Mr. Bunn. I suppose we
really ought to mortify ourselves somewhat during
Lent.,
The Youth I love you fondly.
Tbe Boston Girl Let me feel your pulse. You
do not oblect to my making a scientific analpls,da
you?
We say, when one's blind,
"He's as blind as a bat;"
But one other thing
Is lar blinder than that.
.It's the fellow in church
Who discovers, too late.
That he hasn't a cent.
When they're passing the plats.
"What penance are you doing in this
Lenten season, Mrs. McSlmper?" asked the Rev.
Dr. Thirdly.
"Oh, I come to hear you preach every. Sunday I"
was. tbe cheerful reply.
Brother Festus Fs mighty impressed
wlddattex'dismcrnln', "Do unto oders as you
would have oders do unto you."
Deacon Koon Yas; dat fine tex. good sermon.
Brother Festus WeU, I'se gwlna to bring back
dat ham bone Wat I fetched outen yer kitchen las'
nliht; and I want you to gimme dat turkey wa'at
you hooked offen de nail over my do'.
There lived two men: The one was weak,
And strong the other. Pale and wan
Tbe weakUng sickened In tbe autumn bleak.
And died tbe other still Uvea on I
, Inquirer Why do so few people eome to
the opera?
Manager Because our prices are so high.
Inquirer Why do you keep the prices so high
Manager Because so few people eome,