fW j jj THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, SUNDAY. MAT '8. 189a IS . "Keen her on her course again.. It's noth ing on! ablondj Yankee whalerl" D.iv alter day the weather now grew per ceptibly cooler. Slowly tlie old craft plo ighed alone till at length we passed the Cant, aud on February 14 we were agre: abiv surprised to meet the bark Atlantic czoin. She had taken some 300 barrels of cik We "gamined" all day, and I came "away richer by three pounds of tobacco. On February IT we ran down between Ho; Island " and the Twelve Apostles, among the Crozet Islands, where a few Tears before the English ship Strathmore as wrecked and 4i persons, including one iadv, lived over sit months on a barren rock, subsisting on crabs and mussels, when iht whaler Young Phcenix, Captain Gif icrd, of New Bedford, rescued them. While "in people at home were cele brating 'Washington's Birthday, we were cutting in a huge whale which made over 1D0 barrels of oil. I shall not attempt to give an attempt of curdiearv cruise around Desolation Island, but at last the Captain gave orders to head tor Amsterdam, one of the St. Paul group in the Indian Ocean, where we hoped to ob tain a supply of fresh fish. After a favor able pasa;c we arrived one morning oil a low, rockv island, where the kelp was so thick aromid the shore that it was almost impossible to iorce a boat through it. The bark hove to and two boats were low fTftt. equipped with lines and salt pork for bs t. We pulled within a short distance of the shcre, and then threw over our lines. Great fish, small fish, fish of all colors, came tumbling in, and occasionally .some In; fi"h would be hooked which would de cani with the gear. In fact we lost about ail our lines in this way finally, but not until we had loaded the two boats to the water's edge. They were a treat to us fri'sh, bat the bulk of them were salted for future use. and we resumed our long voyage ior New Zealand with nothing to chronicle ot interest until April 14, when our third mate, who had long since been replaced by "Mr. Perry on account of his failing health, passed quietly away, and we buried him at "T7 ' W- sejs :. -. tf-.-r ,a V ii'Z &.. stf s&Wl a-- A Supp'y cf Frcs7i Fish. sea. Xolhirg can equal the solemnity of BEcb. an oecasion.as the bell tolls slowlv the ae of a departed rhipmate and the im pressive words of the burial service are e-'okingly lead by the Captain. Although Mr. Blaine liarl been a very ieerved man m . had no intimate friends on board, I saw many a bronzd face wet with tears of svm t.a'lTy as the bodv shot from the planks into ti c blue waves and was lost to our sight for ever. The morning after the funeral wo had a pi-nipse of Australia, and I recalled the b ks of adventure I had read at school of 3U"iJi2o mines and Kecler, the bushranger. Wo did net have a chance to see much of a' .'amous island, as a strong cale pre vented oar landing for water, as was in tended. So we ran before tlie cale, and on May 6, aitr rounding the north island of ?Cw Zealand, we met the ship California, "apta.n Brigmman. She left home the December crevioiis, and several of our crew in irxl letters and bundles of "iroodies" from friends at home. The first mate bought a bona fide banjo from one of the prow, and I was made the happy custodian oi the same. I have mentioned an old sailor we shipped in Fayal named Peter Lee, and also made reference to hit, love for spinning yarns. tie had an nglv car on the top of one foot. and oltcn regaled us with a thrilling tale ot b -w he served in the cavalry with the T Jion forces in the War of the. Rebellion, a-id iu a desperate charge upon the rebels was wounded in the foot by a bavonet, v.l-.ile at the same lime be cut down the rebel wish his saber. When we "gammed" ibe California we found an old ehip ijiate of his who assured us that iiota "61 to '55 they weie both on a v baler in the Pacific Ocean. Thisopencdour eves a little, and in revenge for being so Tiniacrcitully humbugged I determined to make it my b-isiness to cet even with him. Accordinslv I jotted down every business or trade in w hich he said be had' been en paged, totether with the number of years ; c bad devoted to the same, and one Sun-O-r, when nothing else was available for ai'iu-ement, I confronted him with the list, which proved him. by his own confession, to be 125 yars of ace. He never forgave v e. but in future we heard no more miracu lous talcs of adventure from him. Fioui this time until June 4 we cruised unsuccessfully lor whales, going as lar fcomii as French Rock. On the date above monti'ined we dropped anchor in the al iii -t iand-lcckcd bay of Mongonui, on the r t- Ueastcm extremity of the north island cf Xew Zealard The ship California piioic-J us in and anchored near us. The netiT harbor is t-evcral miles in extent, "-hiSc a narrow passage between tlie rocks, 1-arely wide cnoi.gh for a ship to enter, con nects it with a ciicular hay or inner harbor, v bore no swell ever is felt, and .which is mrrouuded by high hills. There is a wooden pier, and a small steamer arrives inoca week from Auckland with the mails aind ahat. little freight there may be. The town proper consists of a dozen or so small Iinnses occupied bv English settlers, two Etorcs, a ch irch and a schoolhouse. The lowiiship ia all includes over 40 square amies: The half-caste Maoris and full-blooded natives bring !wn the famous "cowry" puai to the stores, where they exchange it o the necessaries of life. The gum is iinpped by stealer to Auckland. Fur the first leu days after our arrival we ero busj cairying water casks ashore, fill i. tlicm at a little spring, towing them . Irngsjdo and hoisting them on board. We ioi1 200 bauels in this manner during our .s a . and wrt, cold work we found it I l. "jM mention that the Captain had sent to Auckland for our letters, which were di icoted there bv his advice. We now iiad plenty of fresh beef every 3av. and, whit pleased mo the most, we lonntl an abnniance of small quahog3, which the natives call "pippies." Every evening after work was finished the crews ot tne to ships visited freely, and the fcills echoed to tue chorus of our rollicking u'.Ior song-. Alter ue had been here a week the steam er loua armed with our letters, and all work was suspended for that day. I had teveral from rtUtivcs and lriend's, and an abundance ol Uoston papers, which I read End re-read uiiti' I almost knew them by heart. After 1 1 ad read my letters the firs't time I h. d an opportunity "of watching the rest a little, and it was a sight never to be' forgotten. Sune had leceived pictures of relatives and friends, and soon we were all ti.ling each other about our news, compar ing pictures and boasting of the amount of lail we had received. I neglected t6 state that when we were at Faval some of us had i.L'ived letteir, and I noticed that one fine looking joung man named Henry North, a ualticot Prince Edward's Island, received Eoinr.il whatever. I asked him the cause, Had he confessed hi family w ere in ignor ance of his whereabonts, as he had left home three years before and had never written to them. I was no saint, but I told him in my r5ugh way that in common decency he ougnt to at least let them know that their ion was alive, and finally persuaded him to A ESSK&t 2?Z&zPf if-VA 5 t J,-:-fi Z i r?ie -w ilL ?"-":.! r5TAsiH-jnr S-Q55A S AV r, mr j i Mr, rcia?.. ' X $.v& -J v send a letter from Fayal, and this day in Mongonui I was repaid for my trouble a thousandfold, for, as we had since become very good friend; I looked around for him to see if ho had received any letters, and also to show him mine. At length I fouud him stowed away by the heel of the bowsprit, seated on a coil of rope, with a letter in his haud and the tears rolling down his cheeks. I stole softly awav, and after awhile he came and held out his hand, which I grasped, fully under standing the thanks which he could not find words to express. He afterward told me ot the joy his letter had brought his aged par ents, and how happy he was to hear from them once more, and. for the rest of the voy age his mail compared favorably with mine. CHAPTER "VX A KUN ASnOKE. For a few days after our mail arrived we were kept busy painting the ship, but when , wo had finished we were allowed some lib erty, each watch going ashore on alternate days. Of course there was the usual rush for the little public house, and as the Cali fornia,'.s men were given liberty at the same time a large majority of the men were soon drunk and noisy. We were each allowed six English shillings to spend as our tastes might incline us, and, with two others, I paid the landlord four shillings of mine to get up the best dinner the house afforded, and we dined in royal style on wild game, including pheasant, squabs; rabbit and duck and topped ofi with a good 'cigar, an anti quated copy of the .London Punch, and a bot tle of execrable claret. There was a piano also available, and I made out to bang out an accompaniment, to the delight" of the host and " his family. Toward night we heard a terrible war of words in front of the house, aud upon rushing out to ascertain the ciuse we found everyone half or wholly drunk, and it appeared that one of the crew of the California had struck Peter Lee, whereupon an athletic half caste, who stood near by, marched up to the aggressor, shout ing: "l"ou are a coward to strike that old man. Come out here on the green and strike me!" A ring was quickly formed, and. when I saw the Maori square himself lor battle I knew the sailor had no chance, but as he was a quarrelsome mas I felt rather glad than otherwise. The sailor, whose name was Macan, rlshed furiously at the Maori, but no sooner was he within reaching distance than a straight left-hander sent him to the earth. Three times was this repeated, until, mad dened by the science he could not combat, the sailor ran forward with Ills head down, and, unmindful of a stinging uppercut, suc ceeded in closing with his opponent. The struggle now became more even, and how it would have terminated is uncertain, but at that instant tjie burly constable put in an appearance and arrested the Maori for pick ing a quarrel with the sailors, while the other participant was not molested. We were evidently expected to fight and get drunk and must not be interfered with. So the Maori paid 15 shillings for espousing Peter s cause, ana tne latter carnea a DiacK eye for a week, never failing to remark that if he haa been sober he could have thrashed a dozen like his assailant. Having dispatched our letters by the steamer and finished repairing ship and taking water, we left Mongonui Junc22and made straight course for French Reck, which we reached in three davs. From thence we proceeded to Sundav Island, where we met the whaling bark Alaska ot New Bedford, and I found a townsman of mine in the cooper, and enjoyed a pleasant chat of home and mutual acquaintances. The glorious Fourth was much like other days except that some one stole a piece of tobacco which the Captain had carelessly lelt on deck, and we were informed that, until the thief was found, our allowance of tobacco would be stopped. It is needless to sav lie was soon produced. We cruised without seeing "fins or flukes" until at last the old man became disgusted, not having taken a whale for five months, and we shaped our course forsthe Friendly Islands, where we intended Jp, obtain fresh provisions and lruit. Thtfscather grew,, warmer as we gradually ruJVTown toward the equator, and I turned myself into ship's barber and trimmed the hair of most of the white men, for which I received a stipulated amount ot tobacco. On August 29, one year from home, we raised an enormous school of whales, and although three boats bad excellent chances to btrike, the boat steerers missed invariably, ' and we saw the whales disappear to the wind ward, leaving us disconsolate. October 11, nearlv eight months since we had "greased our iron," we killed six small whales, which yielded us about lo0 barrels, and we began to take courage onc2 more. Again our coursn was changed, and now the report was we were bound for the Chat ham Islands in latitude 48 south, and about 600 miles southeastof New Zealand. In n few days the weather grew colder and we began to see numbers of albatross. or 'goneys, as the whaler calls them. We caught one with a hook and line, but he became seasick in a few minutes and we set him at liberty again! He measured over ten feet from tip to tip, and was unable to rise from the ship's deck. So a sailor seized the tip of each wing, and, with a one. two. three, swung him up over the bulwarks into the wind, when he at once regained control of his movements and sailed majestically away to tell, perhaps, ot his miraculous escape, which was owing to the Captain's superstition or kindhearted ness, 1 never knew which. A favorite amusement with ns was to tie a piece ot pork to either end of a fathom of manila rope yarn and throw it among a flock of these monstrous birds. In an instant each piece was swallowed by difler ent birds and they would attempt to fly away. Of course their flight was suddenly arrested, and either one or the other would involuntarily disgorge his share, which would be almost instantly swallowed by another ravenous "goney," and the pieces of pork would be swallowed and resurrected manj- times before the rope yarn finally broke and allowed the lucky possessors of the pork at that particular instant to retain the choice morsel. In November we again had an oppor tunity of striking a laree whale, but the mate's boat steerer missed with both irons and a general gloom settled over all hands at our continued ill luck. As lor the mate himself, I will not sully my pages with the profanity in which he indulged, but he wound up by shaking his fist under the poor fellow's nose and saying' "Look here, you clumsy lubber, it I had an old grandmother, 90 years old, that couldn't throw an iron better'n you, I'd tie her heels to her head and drop her over the stern." The same ill fortune attended us until at last we started for the land, and on the first day of January. 1878, we dropped anchor at Big Chatham Island, a large, dreary-look- I ing piace, w mi no narDor or decent landing, and began fcIKng trees lor fuel. The wood was of a hard, yellow kind of which I could not ascertain the name. We cut the falien trees into cord-wood lengths and piled it to season, iu order to have a supply when we next touched there. The native name of the port is Owangi. When in the woods I accidentally discovered a field of wild strawberries and we sat down and satisfied our appetites to the utmost. Tne natives of this place are an offshoot from the New Zealand Maoris, and there are also halt a dozen white settlers here en caged in laising wool, which is-shipped to New Zealand in a trading schooner which calls twice a year, and is the only connect ing link between them and civilization. The next day we got under way and ran over to Pitt3 Island in company" with the bark Alaska and dropped our anchor again. We stayed here seeral days and beexme tolerably familiar with the "history of the hardy old Englishman, whose life almost equals that of Robinson Crusoe in many re spects, and to whom I propose to devote a short chapter. CHAPTER VIL X MODEKS' BOBnrSOJJ CRUSOE. Somewhere about the year 1848 an Eng lishman named Hunt came from England to New Zealand with his wife and infant son, and after roaming about for some time finally took passage for Chatham Islands with a partner, intending to engage in sheep raising. , Upon arriving at the latter place his partner dioil. Hunt cast longing eyes upon a fertile island about ten miles from Big Chatham and uninhabited. Twice a year the natives went to it in their canoes ior birds' eggs, and at last he moved his family to it, coolly took possession of the land, built a rude nut, and in spite of the threats of the natives and the rigors of the climate in winter, he lived there year after year, until at length he came to be known as the owner of the whole island, and it is usually called Hunt's Island by sailors to day. As time passed on his family increased, and two sons grew to manhood who knew no other world than that bounded by the rocky shores of the little isle. Two daugh ters also grew up and married the officers of a tradiug schooner which called semi-annually for wool, for his few sheep had in creased until they were numbered by the thousands. The sons-in-law forsook the sea, built honsss near by, and thus, with his own immediate family around him, the sturdy pioneer has lived-to a good old age, while his sheep number over 10,000 and over 100 cows are.grazing on thegreen hills. Ot late years it has become a custom for whaling ships to call 'there, as beef can be bought for a trifle, and wild sheep may be captured by the score without price. The jovial old fellow gave us an ox, 80 sheep, the wool of which was inferior and valueless to him, and turned us loose in his dairy to drink milk to our hearts' content We also purchased a field of potatoes and dug them ourselves, but as the supply of hoes and shovels was limited, I, among ethers, was obliged to use mv lingers. A cracked old piano was in the house, and in the evening I was invited to favor the company with a few selections. I insisted that my fingers were too sore from my agri cultural efforts, and after that I dug no more "spuds." The island comprises 16,400 acres of land, he informed me, and at that time he em ployed four white men and two Portuguese. He had a large herd of horses, which, how ever, are useful only lor ruling. A sound young horse in some parts of New Zealand, by the way, is worth only from 1 to 3 sterling. The old man Hunt was passionately fond of music, and on this account I was always one ot tne crew to pull the Captain ashore in the evening, and my musical perform ances, which would have disgraced a dime museum, were simply marvelous to the un sophisticated settlers. I had collected a piccolo, harmonica, banjo and flute from various sources, and, as one of the crew plaved very nicely on a large German ac cordion, we had several "star" pieces which we performed in a most agoniz ing manner. Under the combined influ ences of our music and repeated potations the old gentleman finally dragged his better half to the piano one night, and together they sang "The Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon" in the fashion of half a century ago. Words are too weak to describe the perform ance, but they meant well, and I ielt quite encouraged in regard to the merits ot my own efforts in that line. Two of our men ran away here and hid in the hills, and we went to sea for a week's cruise, knowing that they would be glad to return by that time. For several days we kept company with the Alaska, and "gammed" at night One evening I was chatting with the sec ond mate of the Alaska, an old but stalwart negro, when he informed me that his cap tain and himself had been boat stcerers to gether. As lie evidently felt how much more favored the Captain had been by Dame Fortune, he remarked sadly: "Yaas, sir; we was hofe ob lis boat steerers togedder, and now he's raarster ob dis ship, an' dis poor ole debbil kaint hed no better'n South!" No one but a sailor can fully appreciate the simile, but it expiesscd his meaning better than a more elaborate speech couid probably have done. At last we caught our two runaways and resumed our cruise. We took several large whales during the remainder of the season, and on April 11 we raised a strange sail, "vhicfi proved to be the new ship Horatio, Captain Charles Grant, one ot the oldest 'a-id most successful of Nantucket Captaius, who-had been over CO. years at sea. He was accompanied by his wife, who had spent nearly all of her wedded life with him on whale 'ships, and 'Was a first-rate sailor. Thev were near neighbors of mine at home, and I was kindly remembered by them, and presented with letters and a large box of home comforts sent by my mother and sis ters. One of our Portuguese died of consump tion shortlv after we left the Horatio, and we buried him at sea. Nothins occurred to break the monotony for several weeks, until, at last, we met the English ship Splendid, from Dunedin. She had a motley crew, including an eje Licutenant in the Bri'ish army and a Maori prince, who informed us he shipped "for the fun ot the thing, you know " At length we turned toward New Zealand once more, and on June 1 we dropped anchor in Mongonin to refit our ship and prepare for a cruise among the Friendly Islands. To Be Contimud Next Sunday. HEI3HT KITES WILL BEACH. irMore Than One Is Used They Will Go Very nijli In the Sky. The actual height of kites above the earth is difficult to measure, because an object floating alone in the air looks farther away than it really is. When a kite is flying at a height of 1,800 feet, it has reached about as high a point as is possible without the assistance of other kites. Such a kite will seem to have reached an altitude of half a mile; yet a careful measurement of the string and its steepness will show that the kite is not over one-third of a mile above the ground. Ordinarily the kite will go no higher even if more string is let out, be cause the w ind presses against the great length of string with increasing force as the kite recedes and rises. If more than one kite be used, remarkable heights are attainable. The kites can be fastened along a single string, but this method requires quickness in attaching the right amount of tail to each kite; otherwise so much time may be wasted in preparing the successive kites for flight that the day light will wane before the experiment can be concluded. However, when one kite is up and the amount of tail lor it is determ ined, it becomes possible, after long experi ence, to at once estimate the amount of tail necessary for each additional kite, ac cording to it's size. Varnish Taken From a Tree. Iieisnre Hours. The Rhus coriaria, or varnish-tree, grows in many parts of what may be termed the Mediterranean district, and its juice is knonn for its deleterious or injurious prop erties, and has consequently been let alone. The Japanese, however, seem to understand it, and it is certain they make a beautiful lacquer or varnish from the juice of their trees; but they keep the processes secret. A Sailor's Amusement. IN TYPICAL CITIES Eudyard Kipling Sees Much to Laugh About in New York and St. Paul. GOTHAM LOVES PEAISE. If the Stranger Does Not Give It the Townsmen. Force Him To. LONG, NARROW DIRTY PIG-TROUGH Pen Pictures From the residence Part of Minneapolis' KivaL A SCARLET FEVER SIGN UPON A DOOR rwniTTEN ron the dispatch.! It is not easy to escape from a big city. An entire continent was waiting to be traversed, and for that reason we lingered in New York till the city felt so homelike that it seemed wrong' to leave it. Ami further, the more one studied it the more grotesquelj' bad it grew bad in its paving, bad in its streets, bad in its street police, and but for the kindness of the tides would be worse than bad it its sanitary arrange ments. No one, as yet, has approached the management of New York in a proper spirit; that is to say, regarding it as the shiftless outcome of squalid barbarism and reckless extravagance. No one is likely to do so, because reflections on the long, nar row pig-trough are construed as malevolent attacks against the spirit and majesty of the great American people, and lead to angry comparisons. Gullies, holes, ruts, cobblestones awry, curbstones rising from two to six inches above the level of the slatternly pavement: tram lines from two to three inches above street levels; building materials scattered half across the street; lime, boards, cut stone and ash barrels generally and gener ously anywhere; wheeled traffic taking its chances, dray versus brougham, at cross roads; sway-backed poles, whittled and un painted; drunken lampposts with twisted irons,; and, lastly, a generous scatter of filth and more mixed stinks than the winter wind can carry away are matters which can be considered quite apart irom the "spirit of democracy" or "the future of this great aud growing country." Mew Yorkers Look on the Brlcht Side. In any other land they would be held to represent slovenhmcss, sordidness aud want of capacity. Here it is explained not once but many times, that they show the speed at which the city is growing and the inevit able indifference of her citizens to matters of detail. One of these days, you are told, everything will be taken in hand and put straight. The unvirtuous rulers of the city will be swept aw ay by a cyclone or a tornado, or something big and booming, of popular indignation; everybody will unanimously elect the right men, who will justly earn the enormous salaries that are at present being paid to inadequate aliens for road sweeping, and all will be well. At thc,same time the lawlessness ingrained by governors among the governed during the last 30, 40, or it maybe SO years; the brutal levity of public conscience in rezaru to public duty; the toughening and suppling of public morals and Ihe reckless disregard for human life bred by impotent laws and fostered by familiarity with needless accidents and criminal neglect will miraculously disap pear. If the laws of cause and effect that con trol even the freest people in the world say otherwise, so much the worse for the law& America makes her own. Behind her stands the ghost of the most bloody war of the century, caused in a peaceful land by long temporizing with lawlessness, by let tine things slide, by shiftlessness and blind disregard of all save the material need of the hour till the trouble long conceived and let alone, stood up full armed, and men said, "Here is an unforeseen crisis," and killed each other in the name ot their God for iour years. Cannot Get on Without Praise. In a heathen land the three things that are supposed to be the pillars of moderately decent government are regard for human life, justice, criminal and civil, as far as it lies in man to do justice, and good roads. This Christian city,where they think lightly of the first their own papers, their own speech and their own actions prove it buy and sell the second at a price openly and without shame, and are apparently content to do without the third one would almost expect the racial sense of humor would stay them from ex pecting only praise, slab, lavish and slav ish, lrom the stranger within their gates. But they do not. If he holds his peace theyforge.tributes to their own excellence which they put into, his mouth, thereby treating their otvn land, which they profess to honor, as a quack treats his pills. If he speaks bus you shall see for yourselves what happens then. And they cannot see that by untruth and invective it is them selves and themselves alone that they in jure. The blame of their city evils is not alto gether with the gentlemen chiefly of foreign extraction, who control the city. These fin I a people made to their hand a lawless breed, ready to wink at one evasion of the law if they themselves may profit by another, and in their rare leisure hours con tent to smile over the details of a clever fraud. Then says the cultured American: "Give us time. Give us time and we shall ar rive" The otherwise American who is aggressive, 'straightway proceeds to thrust a pice: of half-hanged, municipal botch work under the nose ot the alien as a sample of perfected enort. Comparinc Gothamitrs to Children. There is nothing more delightful than to sit lor a strictly limited time with a child who tells you whathe means to do when he is a man; but when that same child, loud voiced, insistent, unblushingly eager tor praise, but thin-skinned as the most morbid of hobbledehoys, stands about all your ways telling you the same story in the same voice, you begin to yearn for something made and finished say Eg-pt and a com pletely dead mummy. It is neither seemly nor safe to hint that the government of the largest city in the States is a despotism of the alien by the alien fortheahen.tempered with occasional insurrections ot the decent folk. Only the Chinaman washes the dirty linen of other lands. Yes, it, is very good to get away once more and pick up the old and ever fresh business of the vagrant loafing through new towns, learned in the manners ot dogs, babies and perambulators halt the world over, and tracking the?seasons by the up growth ot flowers in stranger people's gar dens. St. Paul, standing at the barn door of the IJakota and Minnesota granaries, is all things to all men except to Minneapolis, 11 miles away, whom she hates and. by whom she is patronized. She calls herself the Capital of the Northwesf, the new North west, and her citizens wear not only the tall silk hat of trade, but the soft slouch of the West. How St. Pant Differs From New Yorlc. She talks in another tongue than the New Yorker, and sure sign that we are lar across the continenther papers argue with the San Francisco- ones over rate wars and tlie competition of railway companies. St. Patil has been established many yeais and it oneVere reckless enough to go down to the business quarters one would hear all about her and more also. But the residen tial par's of '',c '"n ore the crown of it. In common with scores of other cities, St. Paul has reared for herself broad-crowned j suburbs, using the word in the English sense, that make the stranger jealous. You i get here what you do not get in the city well paved or asphalted roads, planted with I trees, and trim sidewalks studded with houses of individuality not boorishly fenced off from each other, but standing each on its plot of well-kept turf running down to the pavement. It is alwavs Sunday in these streets of a morning. The cable'car has taken the men down town to business, the children are at school, and the big dogs, three and a third to each absent child, lie nosing the winter killed grass and wandering when the shoots will make it possible lor a gentleman to take his spring medicine. In the afternoon the children on tricvcles stagger up and down the asphalt with the proportion of big dogs at each wheel; the cable caw com ing up hill begin to drop the men each at his own door the door of the house that he builded for himself (though the architect incited him to that vile little attic tower and useless loggia) and, naturally enough, twilight brings the lover3 walking two b7 two along the very quiet ways. The -Architecture of the West. You can tell from the houses almost the exact period at which they were built whether in the jig-saw days when it be hooved respectability to use unlovely turned rails and pierced gable-ends; or, during the colonial craze which means white paint and fluted pillars; or in the latest domestic era a most pleasant mixture that is, of stained shingles, hooded dormer windows, cunning verandas and recessed doors. Seeing these things one begins to understand why the American visiting England is impressed with the old and not with the new. He is not much more than 100 years ahead of the English in design, comfort, economy, and (this is most important) labor-savingappli-anc2s in his house. From Newport to San Diego you shall find the same thing to-day. One little brown house at the end of an avenue is shuttered down and a doctor's buggy stands before it. On the door a large blue and white label says, "Scarlet Fever." Oh, most excellent municipality of St. Paul! It is because of these little things and now rowdying and racketing in public places that a nation becomes great and free and honored. In the cars to-night they will be talking wheat, girding at Minneapolis and sneering at Duluth s demand for 20 foot of water lrom Duluth to the Atlantic matters of no great moment compared to those streets and that label. RUDYABD KirLINO. HABASSED BY A NAME. SIcGlnty Thinks ot Disposing of His Patro nymic Very Cheaply. St. Louis Republic "I am sorely annoyed and harassed by a name," said a dapper little man with keen gray eyes and fierce mustache, at the La clede. I bear a name that for centuries has been born with pride and that to my posi tive knowledge has never been disgraced. It is an honorable name and is associated with many of man's greatest achievement. And yet in these degenerate days of the comic song writer and his arch conspirator, the wandering minstrel, my name is weigh ing douni my ambitions and my hopes of prosperity and posterity. My name is Mc Giniy Michael J. McGinty but not one man in fifty to whom I am introduced be lieves either my introducer or myself when with the most dignified solemnity we as sure him that that is my real cognomen. "I have surrendered all hope of ever utilizing the telephone, for as soon as the man at the other end ot the line asks me who it is that has rung him up, and 1 tell him McGinty, he rails at me for disturbing him with my jokes and snappishly rings me olT. I never attempt to introduce myself to anyone as other men do, for I would only be considered an imposter who was trying to disguise his identity tor some sinister motives or aa individual entirely too fresh. About the queerest experience that my name has occasioned me occurred last summer on one of those magnificent steamboats that ply the Hudson. I joiued a party of friends lor an excursion up the river. Iu the party wa3 one of the nioit beautiful young women I ever saw. I at once sought an introduc tion to her, and imagine my heartburns and chagrin when I was introduced to Miss Kooney. I tried to relieve the embarrass ment we both felt by my making some jocular remark about the" singular coinci dence, but Miss Kooney wouldn't have it. Her grear, liquid eyes filled with tears and she turned her back on me. All this may seem funny to you and other people, but I tell you the thing has gone so tar that there is no fun in it to me." MODERN WARLIKE AEM3. The Heir Style ot Sword Used by the iSqgllsh Army Officer. Philadelphia Telegraph. The latest illustration of the changes con stantly occurring in the conditions of mod ern warfare is an order just issued from the British War Office substituting swords ot a new pattern for the weapons which have been carried by officers since the days of the Iron Duke. With a view to efficiency at close quarters, the blade of the old sword was sharpened throughout the whole length of its edge, and on the back for some seven or eight inches from the point, the idea be ing to make it available lor cutting as well as thrusting. In order to increase its strength it -was also slightly curved, and was a formidable weapon, though somewhat light in comparison with the more massive service swoids of Continental infantry officers. In the new sword the blade is perfectly straight, its shaft being set in a roomy hilt, squared to give play to the wrist in guarding and thrusting, the mode of fighting recom mended to unmounted officers of the present day on actual service, who are taught to re gard cut ting as an obsolete method of attack. Only about ten inches of the ede from the point, and six inches of the back, are sharp ened, the rest of the blade being blunt .and rounded for parryine purposes, and having, therelore, no cutting capacity whatsoever. The new regulation sword, in fact, is exclu sively a thrusting and guarding weapon a sort of raoier, double-edged lor about a fourth of its blade-length in order to facili tate penetration when its wearer "gives point," but unless as an arm wherewith to strike a swinging blow. TEE WORLD A C0C0ANUI SHELL. The Socth 1'aclflo Islanders Believe This to Be the Case. Washington Star. The savage islanders of the South Paeifio believe that the world is a cocoanut shell of enormous dimensions, at the top ot which is a single aperture communicating with the upper air, where human, beings dwell. At the very bottom ot this imaginary shell is a stem gradually tapering to a point, which represents the beginning of all things. This point is a spirit or demon without human form, whose name is "Boot ot All Exist ence." By him the entire fabric of crea tion is sustained. In the interior of the cocoanut shell, at its very bottom, lives a female demon. So narrow is thespace intowhichshe is crowded that she is obliged to sit forever with knees and chin touching. Her name is "The Very Beginning," and from her are sprung numerous spirits. They inhabit five differ ent floors, into which the great cocoanut is divided. From certain of these spirits mankind is descended. The islanders, re garding themselves as the only real men and women, were formerly accustomed to regaid strangers as evil spirits in the guise of hu manity, whom they killed when they could, offering them as sacrifices. Cranks of the Collectors. The Collector. The latest novelty in the way of collec tions is. reported from Philadelphia. It is a collection of door mats. In the same town is also a man who collects tin tags, and who owns them by the thousand. A Boston man devotes his surplus cnercies to gathering pen-knive"s, and one iu Albany goes in for railroad time tables. A Buffalo woman is forming a collection of more orless worn out gloves. AN EBONY PRINCESS. Her Part in the Tragedy That Ended Explorer Crampel's Career. WAS GIVEN TO HIM BY A CHIEF. She Shot Down a Mohammedan Who Came to Attack Her Vaster. FRENCH ENTERPRISE ON THE KONGO. rWRITTES TOR THE PISPATCII.l About four years ago Paul Crampel, a brilliant young Frenchman, who had made a name by exploring the depths of the French Kongo country, was welcomed home to Paris with the honors and attention that the French bestow so lavishly upon those who achieve conspicuous success. He brought with him a young black girl, and the French were greatly entertained by her. novel and romantic story. All the news papers and magazines published pictures of Paul Crampel and Niannze, the bright, jolly girl from the greatest tribe in West Africa, the Pahouin, who had' thwarted Da Chailln and opposed De Brazza, but among whom Crampel had lived and wandered for many months. To-day Crampel's bones are bleaching near the banks of toe upper waters of the Shari river, where he was treacherously murdered a year ago; and poor Nlarinze, if she is alive, is wearing the yoke of slavery among the women of some fanatical Arab Paul Crampel. in the Soudan. It was not until four weeks ago that the report of the Dybowski search party reached France settling conclusively the fate of the brave explorer, and giving all the facts of his cruel taking off, that are likely ever to be known. The Daughter of a Chief. Crampel had lived for months In the wholly unknown eastern part of the French Kongo, wandering from chief to chief of the great Pahouin tribe, that num bors at least a million souls. One chief be stowed upon him many special marks of his favor, and he greatly surprised the young explorer one day by remarking: "I am astonished hat you have come through all the country of the Pahouins and are now about to return alone among the whites. The chiefs have treated you badly. A great man like you ought to take home women from all the nations he meets. Now I am going to show you that I am the friend of the whites, fat I shall give you one of my daughters to take back with you." In vain the explorer protested that he did not want such a present Crampel had a scanty following, and was in no position to turn a powerful friend into a relentless enemy. So this young girl was taken from her native forests, which only one white man had ever entered, and introduced to the wonderful sights of the sea and its big ships and the country beyond, with its countless marvels, where she" was to learn to read and live out ber years. But one day the plans lor Niarinze's future were all changed. A hocret Mission to the Interior. Crampel received a commission to go to a part of Africa that no explorer had visited. It was believed the influence of the wide spread Pahouins extended there. No one knew what languages would be met, but the people probably understood Pahouin. Crampel needed a Pahouin interpreter. His missiin, political in its nature, required celerity. This young girl, conning her French lessons, was an interpreter to his hand. So Niarinze cheerfully turned her back on the life she had learned to love, CrampeVi Route. happv to be of service to her kind benefactor; and the last their friends were ever to see of them was as they stood on deck waving their handkerchiefs as the steamer bore them out of the harbor toward their fate. In August, 1890, the writer of this article received a letter from Mr. Carl Steckelmann, Loangor West Africa, announcing that Paul Crampel had arrived there with a large lot ot trade goods to pay his way through the country. To all who asked whither he was bound he replie 1 merely that he was not at liberty to divulge his plans. The white men he met could learn only that he was going to Brazzaville, on Stanley Pool. A F'an to Beat the Knllsh. Geographers in Europe were as mystified as the traders on the coast; an 1 it was not until the explorer was far on his way that the facts about his mission became public. Crampel had been instructed to ascend the Kongo and its greatest tributary, the Mo bangi, to the most northern part of that river. Then he was to march overland about 700 miles, to Lake Tchad, on the bor der of the Sahara. He was to make treaties on the way with the various tribes, placing thera under the protection of France, and if possible he was to secure commercial treaties with the powerful Sultans of Wadai, Bagirmi and Bornu. In short he represented France in the great race for Lake Tchad, in which France, Germany a'id England competed, though England alone reached the goal. Our map shows EI ICouti, where he was killed when 300 miles on his way. When Crampel, with four white assistants, started north from the Mobangi in January. 1891, he had 2.30 loads of merchandise and 78 por ters. He was met at the outset bv the im possibility of hiring men enough to carry his goods. He heard there were Mohamme dans in the north who could supply pack auimals. He had as a guide an Arab who had been released from a prison n Algeria WfzAKJiZ7 WAD AI B A G IJi 31 I i I s,Masscnya s .' K-fi ' &Zake Iro JTuburt VV- v - "----' "-3-N Nn El KoutI J J B. . J "'r Dmkaa Mbsyuay 7 V BanghipV - k r to go with Crampel, because fie was familiar with a part of the country to De crossed. Betrayed to th 3IoIiammrd.ini. This traitor found means to send word to the Mohammedjns that Crampel was ad vancing in small force, and would fall an easy prey. With treachery in his camp, food very scarce, his little band of porters depleted every week by deser tions, Crampel's situation grew more desperate; and this was the position ot af- yiarlnze. From a photograph taken in Farts. fairs when iu April last year irretrievable disaster overtook the expedition. Crampel, with Niarinze and his handful of men left to him was among the Arabs of El ICouti, in the southern part of Wadai. Biscarrat, with 25 porters and a part of the supplies, was about 100 miles south. Nebout, with eight Senegalis, a few port ers and some supplies, was still further south. Messrs. Lanziere and Orsi, the other white members of the party, had died of fever. Crampel was received with the most friendly manifestations by the Mo hammedans, who told him, however, that he must seek means of transportation further north. On the day that he renewed his iourncv came the beginning of the end. A crowd of the apparently friendly Mo hammedans suddenly overpowered and dis armed the Senegal soldiers. BrAve In Her Master's Defense. At the same moment another throng at tacked Crampel and Mohammed-ben-Said, his Arab interpreter, and stabbed them re peatedly with knives. Then as the dying men lay on the ground the Arabs shot them through the head. All their clothing was then stripped from the bodies, which were dragged through the bush and finally aban doned by the murderers. The bUck mem bers of the expedition were kept as slaves. One of them escaped, and he tells this story of the part little Niarinze took in this fear ful scene. He says that when the attack came, as nnexpected as a thunderbolt on a sunny day. the young girl seized a ctm, shot dead one ot the men who was stabbing her mas ter, and a moment later she fell dead with a bullet through her body. Mr. Dybowski, Tho led the search expedition, tells an other story, which he believes is the true one. He'says that all the native and Arab versions of the affair that he could gather agreed in saying that the eirl seized a gnn to defend her master, shot an Arab, and was immediately knocked down and dis armed; that she recovered from the severe injury she received and was taken further North in Wadai as the slave of one of the One White STan Egciprd. The Arabs at once sent a party south to attack Biscarrat. On the morning of May 25 last be was suddenly surrounded by 20 men, one of whom stabbed him in the side, and his body was then riddled with bullets. Meantime a Iargerparty had surrounded his escort ot Senegalis and porters. The terror stricken blacks were told that they would not be harmed, as the Arabs wished only to kill the whites. Thev were, however," re duced to slavery. "Vague rumors of these tragic affairs reached Mr. Nebout. He wisely decided that an attack on the Arabs would only be to court further disaster. He therefore ordered a retreat. He returned to France on April 3, this year, the sole survivor of the five white members of the expedition; and the 15 men who returned to the coast with him are the sorry remnant of the il-fated party. Vengeance has already overtaken some of the murderers. As soon as possible after the rnmors of the disaster reached the coast Dybowski was dispatched with a strong force to follow up Crampel's route, in the hope that the explorer was still alive. He had a pitched battle with the Arabs about 100 miles south of the place where Crampel fell. The enemy finally scattered, leaving 15 dead and quite a number of wounded and prisoners in Dybowski's hands. In their baggage were found many relics of the Crampel party. The end is not yet. France is determined to reach Lake Tchad. Mr. Maistre left France in January with ample provisions for the strong reinforcement of Dybowski, and with orders to carry out the mission that was defeated by the Crampel disaster. Cyrus C. Adams. d THE LUST TEST FOR FIEEAEMS. A Little Process to IVliIeh Gnus for the Army Are Subjected. Boston Transcript. One little known process to which small arms manufactured tor the United States are subjected is the dust test, intended to subject the piece to the same dusting it would receive if carried by the soldier in a march across the alkali deserts of Arizona or Utah or the sagebrush prairies of Mon tana or Wyoming. Troops are frequently compelled to tramp for hours througn such clouds of dust that the heads of the leaders of a six-mule team can be but vaguely seen from the wagons and the dust so fine and penetrating that the soldiers' guns and even garments soon become ooatd with it. The artilic:al production of a similar experience for an arm that might be adopted for military service is manifestly a very perti nent trial. This is accomplished bv placing the rifle on a Iielf within a closed box, so that the breach mechaniste, which is closed, shall be opposite the mouth of the bellows; fine sand is then permitted to fall slowly across the blast of air, which thereby in two min utes, the time of the test, drives the sand into any open joints or into the depth of the mechanism if it is much exposed. The gun is then removed and wiped carefully with the bare hand, also blown into and cleaned, just as a soldier who suddenly goes into action would do with a gun he has car ried on a dusty march. The piece is then fired 20 shots. This test is then repeated, the magazine being charged before exposing the gun to the dust; the cartridge and the gun "are then wiped as before and the gun again fired 20 rounds. Woman as a Dinner Taster. Table Talk. Paris provides a new employment for wo man in the capacity of "diner taster." She goes each day a regular round, visiting the houses where-she is employed, tasting and suggesting improvements in the dishes pre pared tor dinner. If requested she teache3 the cook ways preparing new dishes. As she already rides in her carriage the busi ness must be a profitable one. A Sonnet to 31 ij. Philadelphia Public Ledger. Welcome! Weloomc! honny May! Rral Roildes of tho aprlns! iBlnoinanrlJoy around you fling Month of flowers and new-mown hayj Month when birds delight to sing Old-new son; at break of day: .Mo. uli when buttortly and bee Love to g.uhcri.ueot9 of thee. Thus to mortal Just as sweot, y.rst fair daughter or the year! Youth and mntUen (It Is meet) Theo to April mnch prefer She was ever tears and wiles, lUou art constant wreathed In smiles. REPORTING A RACE. London Newspapers Got News oi the Oxford-Cambrid?e Contest THROUGH A TEMPORARY CABLE. It Was Paid Ont From the Pnrsninjr Preu Boat and Kept lire. ELECTRICITI FOR DOMESTIC US3 The boat race between the representative crews of Oxford and Cambridge is rowed annually on the river Thames. This year's race was noteworthy not only on account of the breaking of the record in point of speed of the contestants, but as enabling the Lon don press to carry out successfully a re markable piece of enterprise. The London papers, containing the result and full de tails of the race, were on sale within lour minutes after the Oxford crew had passed the winning post The press boat, as it steamed up the Thames, paid out a cable consisting OX a seven-strand conductor, in sulated with vnlcanized rubber with warps and braids of flax, which had been specially manufactured for the purpose. Over this cable the progress of the boats at intervals of a few minutes along the entire course was transmitted to the papers and pub lished all over London almost as the crews were passing the points indicated. Immediately following the result thera was dispatched a complete description of the race from start to finish, which was in the hands of the newspapers and others provided with the instruments of the Ex change Telegraph Company long before a single pressman was able tolandhis "copy" from the press boat at Mortlake, and also long before the pigeons dispatched from the scene were able to settle down in a home ward direction. The instruments used were Morse sounders. The short description of the race which was finally sent contained over 150 words. Another conspicuous fea ture of the contest was the fleet of electrio launches, which was the largest ever seen on the Thames. Cost of Electricity for Dom-stlc TJe. In a recent lecture in London, in which the practicability of electric ventilation, electrio knife cleaning, electric hat and linen ironing and electric cooking wera fully demonstrated, the question of cost of current was also discussed. The result of the discussion went to show that the use of electricity for these purposes ha3 not yet been brought down to the economical basis that will permit the enjoyment of the luxury by persons of limited incomes. It was found that it cost about 1 cents an hour to maintain an ordi nary flaiiron at the proper temperature by means of a zigzag of insnlated wire em bedded in its face. Tnere was, however, the set-off of the rapidity and ease with which it could be heated at short notice, the constancy of temperature attained, and the absence of waste of time in taking it to ami from the fire. A frying pan constructed on the same principle "was raised to the re quired heating point at a cost of two-fifths ot a cent, ami an omelette was cooked in it in about a minute and a half. Setting aside the question of expense, the great advant age of the electrically generated heat was that it could be applied where it was wanted with a minimum of waste, and a joint could be roasted without nearly roasting the cook as well, which is decidedly wasteful. Candle Power In Electric Lamps. A public "1,200 candle power" lamp that gives an effective power of 1,200 candles is about as rare as reputed pints which will hold 20 fluid ounces, and the public are be coming quite alive to the desirability of getting all the light they pay for. It is now found that a good deal ot the blame for insufficient lighting power rests more on the kind of globe used than on the lamp itself. A ground glass glebe, when clean, absorbs 42 to 46 per cent ot the light, and opal globes 54 to 70 per cent, and, ot coarse, the percentage absorbed when the glass is not properly cleaned is proportionally greater. One of the best forms ot ashadeisa frosted bulb, whieh reduces the light in a very slight degree, and even what absorp tion of light there is isdue to the dirt which the frosting collects. One of the most agree able Kinds' of globe has a thin layer of opal glass "flashed" on a clear body, and frosted or etched. A maximum ot 30 per cent should never be exceeded for arc light, and if globes that will make this limit of absorp tion absolute are used, the chances are that little dissatisfaction will arise on the part of the consumer, as a difference ot 15 volts in the current supplied to an 85-volt lamp would make so little difference in the per ceptible light that hardly anyone but elec tricians would notice it. An Astronomical Quandary. It is seldom that the charge of impeding scientific progress can be laid at the door of electricity, but it now appears that the ac curacy of astronomical observations is be ing seriously i repaired by the glare from electric street lights. Prof. Swift states that since electric lights have been brought into general use in the cities the difficulty ot discovering new nebula: or faint comets has materially increased, and that the sky illumination "fogs the plates and photo graphic work. He suggests that inventors have now an opportunity ot earning tha eternal gratitude of astronomers and photo graphers of celestial scenery bv devising some means of overcoming this difficulty. His own idea of a remedy is a means of maintaining the light at one level, and that near the bottom of the globe, during tha entire night. If this were done," and tha npper half of the globe of the lamp were painted white, Prof. Swift contends that not only would the illumination of tha street be improved, but that nine-tenths ot the light would be prevented from ascend ing skyward. Electricity In Sllnln;. Few industries have profited more by tha introduction of electrical applications than mining. When the owners ot mineral prop erty besan to see that by the use of the elec tric current not only could a radical econ omy be effected in the operation of existing mines, but that workings long thrown up could be again operated at a profit, they soon set about the adoption of new methods. The development of the new applications has been so great that in roanv mines elec tricity is now practically the only power in use. and the drilling, ventilating, pumping, hauling and winding, signaling, explosive firing and lighting are all done by means of the electric current- Great improvements are being made in drills, and several elec tric rotary drills have been used with suc cess. The Telephone ns an Obstructionist. Traveling salesmen do not look upon the telephone with a kindly eye. Many firms have reduced their staff of drummers, owing to the fact that their enstomers have fallen naturally into the way of transmitting their orders direct to the houss over the tel ephone instead of waiting, as lormcrly, for the periodical visit of the salesman. An other bitter drop has been poured into tha cup of tile commercial traveler, who finds that after quoting prices or selling goods to one concern his quotations are passed on over the telephone to other concerns, and thus the difficulty of making subsequent sales at elastic prices la increased. A New System of Electric Traction. A Baltimore Inventor claims to have per fected a remarkable electric railway system. In this system neither overhead wires storage batteries, surface conduits nor ua derground conduits are employed, the motivecurrentbeing conveyed to the car by indnction from buried conductors extending along the line of travel. The details of tha invention are not yet given out, but if the claims made can be substantiated a most important advance in the art of electrio" locomotion may be looked ior. 1 ft. &&'&' - &&& &,m
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers