,,,,,-, ,ugjjHBagga.amhliSiJHBBBMB3MHKHHIBi flff ,...L,.,L.ILiiiit i tJi i M -,- Tv.'-rLfr-,TsilTr,rrsr vwf -w-a--" - - I---.-- n, - ' w.jp,-" -v - - '18 A REVIEW OF SPORTS Opinions Begarding the First Pennant Contest of the Ball Season. DISAPPOINTING FEATURES. Trospects of the Second Half and Its Probable Resnlts. THE SHOOTING OP LIVE PIGEONS. local Amateur Athletes Hating a Tery Timelj Protest TIIE BTJLLITAX AKD COEBETT FIGHT With lt good resalti and bad results tbe first halt of the baseball championship sea son of the year has gone into the past It is over and Is a matter of history. "Sobody can tay that there has been anything re markable about it cr that it has been char acterised hy anything of a brilliant kind. Generally speaking, the quality of ball playing hat been poor, financial expecta tions have not been realired and the mig rates have indulged in the most unfair and detenselpss method cf reducing the salaries cf players. There are facta to bear out all these state ments and I venture to make another asser tion, via., that there is not that "kindly" feeling among the magnates that we were told so muah about during the League sur render at Tndlacapolit. There is mora sus picion existing now among the baseball magnates than there has been for a very long time. Altogether it is easy to see that the more that the baseball business is re duced to a mcchansnal or uniform and sta tionary basis the worse it is for everybody concerned. The great object of the ruling magnates during the half of the season fust gone has been to bring unitormity by reducing things to a lower level Instead of n TTIshrr. There has been more effort made to bring strong teams to a level with weak ones than there has been to raise the weak ones to the power of the strong ones. To prove this nothing more need be cited than the adop tion of that very ludicrous "13-rule," as it is called. That rule certainly places an embargo on the development of any team. It gives little or no chance for a club to try and develop a young player, as the rule keeps the number of a team so small that all the players must be ready for harness every day. "Sow it is quite easy to see that this is a bad principle and handicaps those enterprising clubs that are wishful to lay hold ot young men in hopes of getting cne or two cood players from among them. A policy of this kind is simply this: Jones is not able to keep up a certain pace, and he and his friends resolve to stop Brown from doing so. f Certainly this rule is bad for the players, as it reduces their chances of employment. This will, of course, increase competition among the players for work, and this com petition will, in turn, benefit the employers. This may be one of the objects of the rule, and, if it is, the means ot attaining the ob ject are not good and cannot but have bad results. But the' neyw methods and rules adopted in the first half of the season prompt considerable curiosity regarding the second half. It will be interesting to watch how matters proceed under all these norel conditions. . &osne of the Disappointments. To be sure, there have been many disap pointments resulting from the contest lor the first pennant. Just before the first half commenced I made the remark in these col umns that there were only two points I would venture an opinion aDout. une was that the Boston team would w in the pen nant and the other was that the Pittsburg team would finish in the first six. Both of these expectations hare been realized. Although tbe local team is sixth on the list, they are within the limits I predicted. Ido not hesitate to say now that I really expected them to finish higher up than sixth place. Jnst as sure as "eggs is eggs" the team is capable ot doing much better than they have done. "Why thev haven't accomplished better things may be matter for conjecture and debate, but it is just as plain as the noses on our laces that thev should have been much higher than sixth place. I imagine I hear somebody talking about "team work. " Yes, team work has had much to do with it and more so during the latter part of the contest than during anv other part. Ot course, there have been difficulties encountered that no management could help, but I do argue that many games have been lost more through lack of man agement thau anything else. I am told that Manager Hanlon, of the Baltimore "team, offered Captain Burns, of the local team, any pitcher on the Baltimore team in exchange for Strieker. Burns took Terry. Herein was a grave mistake, as a man like McJIahon is worth a dozen Terrys. I say this out of no disrespect lor Hr. Terry; he is every inch of him a gen tleman, but it is apparent that his pitching days are gone, almost And it is pitchers we need. Terry may now and then be able to pitch a good' game, but at this stage of baseball history he cannot be compared with a man like "McMahon. It is also true that Ehret's lack of condi tion in the early part of the season cost the team many games. He is now all right, but as ill luck will have it, Baldwin is now the only one likely to be able to back him up. This means that the sooner another good voung pitcher is secured the better. I still have considerable confidence in Baldwin, and I don't hesitate to say that the local club would mike a big mistake in exchang ing him for Xiovett Baldwin has un doubted! v been one of the most unfortunate pitchers in the League. True, his careless ness may have cost him a game now and then, but on very many occasions games in which he has pitched have been lost by the most remarkable strokes of bad fortune. Baldwin is a good pitcher and one of the most willing in the business. Certainly, like every player in the business, he has his shortcomings, but abuse and discouraging demonstrations will not make matters any better, neither in his nor anybody else's case. Jtmarks About th Kcspccltve Trams. "Whether or not the Boston team have been lavorcd by what we call luck during the contest just ended, I am not going to stop and argue. They may and may not have been, but I do claim that they have won the pennant on their merits. In say ing this 1 am tree to admit that tbey started in with an advantage over all other teams and particularly the Brooklyns, their closest rivals. Tee Bostons were all right Irom the start, while the Brooklyns were not Had the latter started in the race in as good lonn as they were a lew days ago, the result might hire, been different. But what I contend is, that so far both teams have rotten wht they played for, generally e;ekiog. It was because the Bostons were in such good form to start in with that they hare been able to keep up a winning gait to tbe end. Nobody will for a moment disDute the statement that the Brooklyn team have fairly and honorably won their position. Ward has done well with his team and it must be admitted that he has-a good one. His good bitters have pulled him through and after all there is nothing better than a team of plavers who can bang the ball all Yr th field. Tt is not too much to ex pect thai the Brooklyn team will make I things very lively for the Bostons dnrmg the second" contest Indeed I would nofte surprised if the Boston team are not in the first to at the end of the season. The Philadelphia team have done well, and had thev maie a be'tter start they might have finished closer to Brooklyn than they did. But the Cincinnati team deserve as much praise as any team in the League. "While a few people expected the Beds to do'welL a verv larsre number of people never for a moment thought that they would make such a hard fight for third place. They didn't get that position, of course, but they have done remarkably well; indeed, the success of the Cincinnati team to a very great extent shows what able, practical management can do. It seems quite reason able to sav that if the Beds had gone along in the same idiosyncratic style this year that characterized them last year they would have been no higher than they finished last year. This, in my judjment. implies that to Captain Comiskey belongs the major part of the credit for the good standing of the team. He has fully demonstrated that there is very much indeed in the manage ment of a ball team, because he took hold of a team in thorough disrepute and at the bottom of the list and has landed them al most at the top of the tree in a few months. There is a lesson in this for magnates. Chicago nd w York Failures. The Cleveland team have, as they always do, played a rattling and successful game. They hare won their position fairly, and they deserve it They have been well man aged, and that has been one of their ele ments of success. The Washington team have finished better than many people expected, and much of their success is due to the war in which Arthur Irwin has handled the team. But the other disappointments, and, I may ay, failures of the season so fr have been 'the Chicago and "Sew York teams. It is, indeed, a novelty to see Anson and his colts down to eighth place, and as a result all kinds of reasons are alleged for the big drop. "iVe cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the absence of Plcffcr from the team has had something to do with the colts', downfall. 1'fcffer was a greater source ot strength to the Chicago team than he is to the Louisville team. But the most serious drawback Anson has had to contend with has been the poor condition of his pitchers. They have had a very poor time of it Be sides this some of the best fielders and hitters of the team have been injured orsick and unable to play. All these drawbacks have combined to down the Chicago team and their remarkable manager. And let uie here express an opinion that is fast becoming general: Anson is failing fast He is not the player he was, and it may be that the sense of his own waning on the field impairs his judgment and vigor as a general in the struggle. Be this as it may, it is a fact that the last time he was in Pittsburg he showed none of his former vieor and vim. and played very poorly. This may be the last season of Anson as a player. The'New York team have been worse fail ures than the Colts, or anybody else. No body expected the Baltimore team to be higher than twelfth, and, therefore, nobody is disappointed in the "Birdlets." But I do say nobody on earth ever dreamed tnat .Man ager Powers and his Giants would land in tenth place. But "there they be," and there thev are as a sample of the most mis erable failures that ever were in a League contest I fail to see a redeeming feature in the New York team. A more careless, indolent and dissatisfied lot of players never came to this city. They have traveled around the country just as recklessly as if they were under no management, and had nobody to whom they were responsible. Most certainly there are good players among them, bnt apparently there is nobody in charge of them to bring the good playing to the surface. It certainly is very humiliat ing for a club with the prestige ot the New Yorks to have a team finish nearly on a par with the remarkable Birdlets from Bal timore. Prospects of tho Second Rnoe. It may be that the contest in the second half of the season will be a little more ex citing than in the first half; that is, that the"fight for first place will be closer. There cannot be a much closer contest for the posi tions ranging from second to eighth and ninth than there was in the first half. It is to be expected that almost all the teams be low the first three or fpur will play a little better, and if this expectation is realized it will make a great difference to the leaders. The indications are that the second half will not be as good financially as the first halt has been. This mav not be consoling to nianv, as the first half has not been a success by any means, and if the balance ot the year is worse tnere will be troume. There is nothing to show that the second half will be as good financially as the first part of the season has been, but of course there may be a compromise in store. But there is one thing that we will all hope for during the remainder of the sea son, viz.: a more satisfactory state of things regarding the umpires. Certainly there has been a heap of trouble with the umpires so far this season. Doubtless many teams have suffered, but in all fairness and with out any exaggeration I think the Pittsburg team has suffered most I know that they have suffered far more than any other team while playing in Pittsburg. There has certainly been more unpleasantness on thelocal grounds this season thau we have -had for a long time. Much of this has been encouraged by a lack of firmness on the part of the umpires. An umpire who does not firmlv enforce his decisions and allows back talk will never be a success, be cause players will persist in calling him down. The legality ol lave Pigeon Snooting. It is a great pleasure to more than one to note that the case ot the Humane Society ; against Messrs. bhaner, Dixon and others for shooting at live pigeons has fallen to the ground. Headers of this paper will re member that when the misguided humani tarians of Philadelphia entered a similar suit against a nnmber of Philadelphia sportsmen I argued the unreasonableness and absurdity of such a suit Since then it has been steadily argued in these columns that there is less cruelty in the shooting of pigeons by experts than there is in mem bers of humane societies or citizens in gen eral going a hunting and blazing away at anything that appears in sight Judge Ewing takes this view of the mat ter and further than that he reminded the prosecutors of Messrs. Shaner and Dixon that tbe basis or American morality the Bible states that the birds of the air are lor tbe pleasure of man. Judge Ewing's remarks cannot fail to be of worth to the Humane Society members. Depend npon it, there are numerous other things which need the attention of the Humane Society officials far more than live pigeon shooting. There was never any reason for the prosecu tion except it may have been to keep the society's officers busy. If the society's agents will look round" they will find many instances that legally and morally demand interference, anil in so doing they would certainly be much better employed than wasting their time isP fighting a Supreme Court decision. A Few Words About the Amitcun. Secretary Page, of the Three A's, tells me that the association he represents has for warded a protest to headquarters relative to the swimming contests at Philadelphia in which Messrs. Flower and Taylor received such unfair treatment. Flower states that even the springboard from which he leaped into the water had been tampered with. It had been loosened and when he made his spring it fell and he struck the water with his breast I don't suppose for one moment that the protest will cause the contest to become void, but it certainly will give the powers that be to understand that such unfair treat ment is not to be tolerated in future. This Philadelphia affair has caused so much discussion that Mr. Page is advocat ing a local swimming tourney, to take place in the fall. This is a capital idea, and medals of sufficient worth will be offered to attract the best amateur swimmers in the world. Mr. Flower is a member of the Three A's and John T. Taylor is to become a member. "With two swimmers like these two youngsters the Three A's have nothing to fear. ' ' It is worthy of note that the amateurs all over the country are more active now than THE they have ever been before. There is a greater rivalry existing than ever, and there will be more contests this year than we have had since amateur athletics were known. This is all very encouraging, and will do good if only the rules of fair play are enforced all round. An unfair act at one nlnpe nmtnnin 'rptaliation at another. and this becomes the source of a trouble 1 that will jeopardize the entire business. Amatenrism i now nn the highroad to a re' markable success. Let those interested in it be careful. Affairs Among tbi Pugilists. To use an old phrase, the pugilists and boxers are at present mending their nets for future use. All the leading lights of the pugilistic world tare getting ready tor ap proaching encounters, and before next fall is over we will have many important con tests to talk about Interest is beginning to grow in the Sul livan and Corbett battle, and as the time for its decision gets near it is safe to say that the public will, hardly notice anything else. Already there has considerable bet ting taken place on the result, and as the third deposit has been put tip by each prin cipal, everything looks like business. Each man now has $7,500 up.. A friend of mine a few days ago bet $300 to $500 on Corbett, and there will be that odds at least on Sulli van when the date of the battle comes round. I do not think the bet a bad one by any means at this time, because we may rest as sured that Corbett will be in first-class con dition, while there is no certainty about Sullivan in that respect It is mnch too soon to go into details on the matter yet, bnt 5 to 3 is very big odds under the cir cumstances. The Olympic Club has made complete arrangements for the three big battles and as announced the other day in this paper the prices have been fixed. They are pretty high, but it must be remembered that the club is giving away a very large amount of money. Some More Prospective Battles. No matter how good a man is there is al ways somebody ready to tackle him. George Dixon has never been beaten and yet quite a nnmber of little fellows want a contest with him. There is a kind of prospect that a contest will be arranged between him and Johnnie Murphy. The latter is quite eager for a "go" and I cannot see why Dixon should not be just as eager. Murphy is quite a handy little fellow, but his eager ness in this instance may lead him to de feat There is also a strong probability of a battle being arranged for Ed Smith. Being unable to secure a fight in England, Choynski is about to return to this country and offers to fieht several men, among the number being Smith. There has been so much claimed for Smith by his friends, and he has done so well in four-round bouts against the best ot people, that a cood club might do well to ofler a purse for Smith and Choynski. While I believe that Smith is much better than his performance against Godfrey a showed, I hesitate before I say that he is likely to be better than Choynski. But he is worth trying. Pringle. BN0W IN StJMMEB TIME. That Is the Reason Prof. Davidson Cannot Get Long-D'stanes Signals. San Francisco Bulletin. It is now three weeks since Prof. David son, of the Coast Survey, went into camp on Mount Diablo. He did not go up to that windy and fog-topped crest for his health, but to do scientific work. He went to catch heliotrope signals from Monnt Conness, over 140 miles away on an air line, but not a heliotrope has bloomed, so to speak, in that direction since he got his equipment ready for action. Those who know the professor best do not imagine him entirely calm during this time of forced inactivity. Heliotroping, or signaling by aid of the sun and a powerful mirror, is not carried on often at such long distances as from Diablo to Conness, but that it can be suc cessfully experts in such matters do not question. That is not the present trouble. Prof. Davidson has not been able to "pick up" Conness, as Coast Survey vernacular has it, because so far as known there is yet no one there to find. Frank Edmonds started on the 2d inst to conduct Peter Johnson and William Argens to Conness, but a letter from him two weeks since an nounced that he was blocked by snow at the foot of the mountain. He had then made a reconnoissance of over five miles, but was forced to go'back to Soda Springs because of snowdrifts ten feet deep or more. The assumption is that since then they have been toiling skyward through the snow. Mr. Edmonds has been over the route be fore, and consequently little anxiety is felt It is considered there is no doubt of his getting up the mountain eventually, but the delay is trying to scientific nerve's. Another heliotroping station with Diablo that works all right when the fog permits is on Mount Mocho, near Mount Hamilton. James Van Earger has a solitary camp there. A BtJXTAH WITH EDUCATION. The Bnler or Jolioro With Fall Salts to Visit tho World' Fair. Chicago Inter-Ocean. Through the solicitation of the Hon. Bounseville Wildman, United States Consul and World's Fair Commissioner for the Straits Settlements and Borneo, His Highness, Aboukar, Sultan of Johore, has consented to visit, with his- suite, the World's Fair and to send over to the Ex position a complete Malay village. His Highness is tbe only independent ruler in the Malay Peninsula, and one of the richest princes in Eastern Asia, The Colonial Government declines to make any appropriation toward the Fair, yet through personal and commercial channels a large number of merchants will co-operate in creating an adequate fund for the purpose. The Timet of Ceylon, in speaking of the Sultan Johore in relation to some local matters in which he was asked to arbitrate, speaks of him as one who is mnch in advance of his associate native princes, many of whom are his relatives. It is claimed that Aboukar is a good representative of what a Malay of; superior caste and education can be when gifted with the opportunities of civilized life, and In this respect the present Sultan of Johore is regarded as one of the most enlightened princes of the East The Times, in concluding its sketch of his personal character, says: He Is noble in birth, and in impulse of heart; stern in purpose yet merciful, honorable and truthful in word and deed, keenly intelli gent, and a judge of character. Evidently he is one of the Eastern princes whose presence would be appreciated at the Fair. BIVAI.EY AK05G THE HILITABT. Some Amnslng Phases Daring the Stirring Times or the Civil Wax. Touth's Companloi.1 The jealousy which almost always exists between different arms of the military ser vice used to be illustrated by the dialogues which took place between cavalrymen and infantrymen during the Civil War. It was a favorite and brutal joke on the part of the cavalrymen, who affected to despise the toot soldiers, to shout to some soldiers as the cavalry were passing the infantry on the march: "Are yon tired of walking?" Whereupon, if the infantryman, suppos ing that he was going to get a lift, re sponded "Yes!" the cavalryman would say, "Well, try running a while!" The infantrymen, for their part, ridiculed the cavalrymen unmercifully when they were in camp, where the cavalrymen were compelled'to spend-much of their time in acting as body servants to their horses. A cavalryman was one day engaged in laboriously "cleaning down" his rather raw boned steed. An infantrymen sauntered up, and with his hands behind his back, leisurely inspected the operation. "Hullo, John I" said the cavalryman. 'Think you'd like to be in the cavalry?" "Oh yes," said the infantryman; "bnt only as a horiel" PITTSBTJRG DISPATCH, FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Literary GeninsNow Able to Coje With Stomachic Cravin?. BOOK BINDINGS MADE OP TRIPE. A Correction of a Personal Allusion in a Swedish Newspaper. EXHIBITS FOE THE CHICAGO FAIB rwrnmif for thi dispatch. Being on the eve, as I may say, of pub lishing a book, I hail with ill concealed joy the announcement that a company has been recently formed with a capital of $100,000, and located at Newark, N. J., for the man ufacture of "membranoid" for bookbind ings. This is a new style of ornamental leather made from tripe. I get all my information regarding the matter from the Bxdcheri Advocate, the acknowledged journalistic authority on meaty matters. The inventor claims that membranoid will prove more serviceable, and at the same time please the bookworm better, than any other style of bookbinding. It is also susceptible of more artistic and gastric possibilities than wany other substance. The time is coming'when the author, instead of trying to subsist ona paltry royalty, will be permitted to carry a vinegar flask in his hip pocket and board at the bindery. The unsuccessful lawyer and graduate of Harvara will not get as thin as I did while practicing law and banting, con veyancing and starving, for he can put a little Halford sauce on his library and feel pretty well afterward. How much happier I would have been while practicing law I surreptitiously it I could have put some I mustard on a New York decision or given I myself up to a Simmon's Digest According to His Friend Bfnckstone. Law is a rule of action prescribing what is right and prohibiting what is wrong, accord ing to my friend Mr. Biackstone, who got the idea from Justinian, but too often the student and the solicitor find it poor grazing and the common law, especially short commons. (This is a joke which I used with good effect at the Inns of Court, in London, where I put up while in England.) But now with our books bound in membranoid, the bookworm and the bott become synonymous, and the day is not far distant when a hymn book or two during Lent may prolong one's life. The "Bead and Eeturn" volumes on the train will then have to be chained to the seat, and eminent but unprosperous authors can subsist for a time on tbe autograph albums sent to them, using the return stamps for Chile sauce. In addition to the use of tripe as a bookbinding, it will be used and utilized in the manufacture of slippers for the pastors, and the time is coming when the Christmas tree will yield to the hungry and weary one, not a promise to the eye to be broken to the heart, but no doubt as many slippers as at present; yet each one capable ot making a man a.meaL In the onward march of membranoid I am told also that the company will not confine itself entirely to tripe, but will roam about scientifically among the other organs, and In the matter of medical works, to use the membrane of the organ on which the work treats, as, for instance, a meningeal binding for works on the brain and spine, a pleural binding for a treatise on the diseases ot tne chest and lungs, and so on as to diseases of the bones, peritonitis, etc A Bit of Campaign Literature. This leads us on to speak of other literary efforts, among them a sort of delayed boom or the fragment of a nominating speech which was not accepted by the candidate, and having been returned to the author, the editor ot a Winston paper, as being unavail able, was used by him in his paper and adapted to the use of a gentleman who had doubtless paid up his subscription or sent in a bit of bridal cake i. e., a bridal bit as tt. , Below Iirive the paragraph as it is printed, for it is a gem of forensic beauty i A Panacea for the Book Worm's Hunger. which would have jarred the rock ribbed dam at St Anthony's Falls or shaken the wet cotton domestic roof of the Chicago 4-m (pronounced "forum"). I shall utilize it in a school speaker which I am about to issue, to be used in advanced classes of rhetoric: He stands to-day most grandly panoplied and most magnlfloently equipped and most luxuriantly robed witli those splendid at tainments, which most admirably flt htm for that high arena of brilliant usefulness, where his grand powers shine forth with all the undlnimed splendor and matchless bril liancy of the kniglitllest grace and dignity, and which emit at all times those rare waves of luster that lend and Impart ad ditional glory to the rich andglitterlng tiara of American manhood and American states manship. In the fortitude of his purpose, and the strength of his character, and tho tenderness of Ills sympathies, and the wom anly gentleness of nU heart" he lemindsus of some grand and lofty towering oat, beautifully and symmetrically developed and richly and luxuriously foliaged with the graceful garniture of a vernal woven gar land of opulent splendor, capable of defying and withstanding the raging blasts ot the wildest storms, and yet offering, within the tender and gentle recesses and its leafy bowers, a nestling place for mother birds to safely nurse their tender brood. The Man Who Keiosed It Is Icy. If Mr. Harrison sent that back he richly deserves the charge of being the great American ice machine. Cold as my own heart is at times, I cannot read the above without a quickened pulse, and over and over again as I read it I promise myself I will never again do so without providing myself with a handkerchief. If Mr Cleve land returned this inflamed encomium it is no wonder that Bepnblican newspapers charge him with trying -to drive over little children with a mowing machine. Mr. Cleveland is a keen critic of beautiful word picturing, and if he sent this graham gem Sack to North Carolina it must have been owing to his vulgar haste and hisanxiity to get away with Joseph Jefferson and catch tomcods in Buzzard's bay. In my mind now I see Mr. Cleveland with a new tiara made specially for him bv Xyon & Healy, of Chicago, and quietly learning to piay on it in Mr. jeuerson s studio, while Mr. Van Winkle is painting a life size picture of Buzzard's Bay. Then, again, I see him at the close of a busy day taking off his panoply and hanging it on a chair as he retires to rest, or mayhap in the morning, equipping himself for that high arena of brilliant usefulness where Iris go and powers shine forth with all the undim med splendor and matchless brilliancy of the knightliest grace and dignity! which emit at all times those rare wares of luster that lend and impart additional glory to the I jf J B&lll j Vl ""s55i y ft I" J."-(jj. SUNDAY. JULY 17. rich and glittering tiara of American man hood and statesmanship. News Via the North Star. I find-the following paragraphia one ot my Swedish exchanges, and hardly know whether the reference is friendly or not I quote from the Nordttjernan, of New York. The Nordttjernan goes on to say as follows: Bill nye.var bekante humorist,sloggacKen los 1 Torsdags morgon vid stortbaden i Sara toga, da bans fot slant pa marmorgnllvet ocU nan foil rakt pa .en porslinsspottback och erholl ratt svara sar pa ryggen och t sldan. Han bier ford till sitt rum 1 Congress Hall, der en doktor sydde Ihopaaret Han mastenu halla sig I sang en vecka och mojllgenlangre. I am not so fluent in the Swedish lan guage as I should be after havingbad a Swedish cook lor years, but if I understand the above paragraph it errs in some of its statements. I was never in Saratoga in my life, either on Torsdaes morgon or else where, and the allusion to "rum i Congress Hall" is purely gratuitous, and most every one knows how I abhor rum when I see what it has done for everyone but Mr. Keeley, and how I turn from it, especially when I remember how many other things An Exhibit for the lt'oiW Fait-. there are that taste better and come at the same price. Moreover, when a paper says that "i sang en vecka och majligen" or elsewhere it makes a mistake. Explaining Away thn Libel. I am led to believe, however, that the authoritv for the item is a paragraph re cently printed in some of the American papers in which a man who has assumed my name and gone to Saratoga for jag'ing pur poses only fell over a pet cinnamon bear at Congress Hall and cut his brow open on the sharp edge of a porcelain cuspador or "spot back." He lay unconscious until some one detected a ga's leak and following up the odor discovered the gash in his head. It was then learned that he had registered under my name, and the gladsome news flashed over the wires that I bad fallen on a "spott back." He is the same dappel gauger of mine who three years ago stole a carload of watermelons" in Ohio, using noth ing but an iron bar and a pseudonym. But even other people are talked about Here is what the Nordntjernan says ot the Democratic Convention: Jag har lvckat fa rum pa Grand Pacific Hotell, der Cleveland demokraterna hafva sitt bufvudqvarter redan ordnadt under ledning af Colonel John Tracy, hvadan Jag saledes blir tlllfalle att fa se asm 1 full verk samhet. Hitting Pretty Near thn Ball's Eye. Here it will be noticed that rum and its jag, as well as the demokraterna, are c'osely associated, and yet those who know the Democracy best know that its prohibition plank is the proudest moment of its life. Speaking ot Chicago reminds me of an exhibition I am getting up for the great World's Columbian Exposition of roads and road beds, to be shown in the furniture ex hibit, Class D, No. 309 The exhibition will consist of a talk, with illustrations of same, regarding the great national question of the "Use and Abuse of Wagon Boads," treating it not as a local question, but as a national and international question, and showing by personal reminiscences how I found the wagon roads of our own country when I was thrown in contact with them a great deal, treating same under the title of "Wagon Eoads With Whom I Have Met TJp With." I append one of the illustra tions. Bill Nye. A CAT THEIB F03TES-HOTHEE, Four Sbye Terrier Fnpples Which Are Being Brought Up 'Nicely. New York Recorder. Enoch Edwards is a colored man, who lives at 239 West One Hundred and Twenty fourth street, and is janitor of two large fiat houses in Harlem. Mr. Edwards con siders himself somewhat of a dog fancier. At present, in his flat on the second floor, there is the very unusual spectacle of a large, fine-looking black cat nursing four little skye terrier puppies. How Edwards happened to become possessed of this singular combination is not without interest Up to last week Ed wards owned a skye terrier, but she was stricken with apoplexy and died. Edwards was much moved, for he had a kindly re gard for the old girl, as he called her, 'and, in the interest of science,and incidentally his own finances, he decided that the pups would have to be saved at any cost The mystery of the Cxsarian operation was to Edwards a blank, but he tried it and suc cessfully. The noses of the artificially born pups were stuck into a saucer of warm milk, but it seemed to almost ,suffocate them. Ed wards was about to reconcile himself to the fact that after all his trouble his puppies would die, when he thought of his old black cat When the old mother cat got home that night she found the tour young skyes occupying her kittens' quarters. "She acted a little queer-like tor a while." explained Edwards, "but just as soon as she found out she could be of use she went to work nurs ing the youngsters just the same as if she were their own mother." The puppies are about the normal "size and perfectly healthy. WILL SHAVE FOB 10 CENTS. A Windy City Barber Who Believes lfi Cents Is Too High it Price. Chicago Newf-Rccord. Ten-cent shaves will not become obsolete on the West Side. A number of the bar bers will not join the 15-cent movement They will not enter into any combination to raise the price of the West Side man's toilet "I and several others have not joined or agreed, and do not intend to extort from our customers and iriends the unreasonable and exorbitant price of IScentsfor a share," said a West Side barber yesterday. "In my 15 years' experience I have Deen satis fied and glad to get customers at 10 cents, and do not intend now to put on war-time, prices aud rob my friends. Along cross' streets and Halstead can be found many barber shops charging 10 cents a shave and 15 cents hair cut So all barbers are not in the unreasonable and foolish combine. It is an extortion and the public will not stand it In tact, I have had an increase of five men coming from other shops with their cups, etc., declaring they would not be swindled, and a 15-cent charge was an out rageous imposition. "While in favor of the closing on Sun day, we, with the public, object to the rob bery charge of 15 cents." An Enterprising Newspaper. The Petit Journal, in Paris, according to the latest report, bos reached the enormous circulation of -1,250,000. It is printed on .wood pulp paper, the raw .material the fir being brought from Norway and Austria. The little journal consumes in a 12-month 120,000 fir trees, each having an estimated height of 66 feet, equal.to the annual clear ing of a forest having an area of 25,000 acres. 1892. NOTES AND QUERIES. Some of the Holidays and Holy Days That Have Been Forgotten. THE ST0BT OF THE ISLE OF MAN. An Explanation of the Fractional Totes at National Conventions. WHY COMMENCEMENTS ARE 80 CALLED rWBlTTIN TOB THlt DISPATCH. I Our Independence Day casts into oblivion in this country some famous old holidays and holy days that ought not to be forgot ten. Who that speaks familiarly of the "dog days" remembers that the third of the month is the first of these famous days the day on which Sirins, the dog star, first comes into conjunction with the sun. July 6 was the old midsummer day; it has lost that honor now, however, Jnne 24 having received it instead, although that is St John's Day, and only three days later than tbe summer solstice, which marks the scien tific beginning of summer. The 7th of this month is the feast day of St Thomas Becket, who though a famous saint for years is now remembered chiefly as the cause of the pilgrimage to Canterbury, which Chau cer has immortalized. Saint- Swithin's Day came on the 15th of the month; it it rains then, it will rain on the 40 days following. -Swithin was Bishop of Winchester, and died July 2, 862, leaving direction that he should be buried in the churchyard of his cathedral, so that the rain might fall on his grave. Some years afterward tbe monks desired to move the remains into the cathedral and fixed on July 15 for the translation, but tor 40 days it rained steadily, so that they could not open tbe grave; and at the end of the fortieth day they decided that the saint preferred to stay ont in the wet St Margaret's Day is celebrated oa the 20th. She was a maiden of Antioch, loved by Olybius; but she refused bim because he was a pagan. He tried to put her to death with cruel torments; but an earthquake prevented tbe tortures, and a dove from heaven set a crown of gold upon her fore head, whereat 5,000 spectators were con verted to Christianity. Bnt Olybius ex ecuted her jnst tbe same. She is the patroness of women in childbirth, succeed ing Juno, who, under the name of Lucina, was prayed to by the Boman mothers. St James and St Christopher share July 25 between them. In some parts of England tbe apple trees are blessed on this day, which is said also to mark the success or failure of the hop crop. St Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, is worshipped on July 26; she was the third daughter of Matthew, a priest, and Mary his wife, and was married to Joachim in Galilee. Their wedding ring was kept by the nnns of St Anne in Borne, and worked miracles. It was stolen during the sacking ot the city in 1524; but was brought back by a crow, which laid it upon a stone where the nuns found it The last day of the month is the feast of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the wonderful So ciety of Jesus, who died on this day in 1556. Certainly this month ends nobly, with the holy day of one of the most re markable of theological and religions lead ers that the world has ever known. Ton spoke of tho kingdoms of England, Scotland, Ireland and Man; was there really a kingdom of Man? If so, Is it the same as the Isle of Man? Giktrdde Booth. That is it, exactly. Man was a part of the possessions of the Norwegian and Welsh EZings until early in the tenth century. Then Orry became King of Man; his descendants ruled until 1077, when the kingdom was conquered by the Icelanders. The line of Orry was restored about 1100, and lasted until 1265, when Magnus died without issue. Then Magnus VL, of Nor way, who claimed the throne, ceded his rights to Alexander III. of' Scotland. There were wars over the island for some years, and at one time Edward L, of Eng land, seized it Finally, in 1344, William, Earl of Salisbury, a great-grand nephew ot King Magnus, was crowned King of Man. A successor sold the island and the kingship to the Earl of Wiltshire in 1393; and Henry IV. gave it to Sir John Stanley on the at tainder for treason of the Earl. The house of Stanley was governed by lieutenants. Thomas Stanley was created Earl of Derbv in 1485; in 1736 the lordship of Man the second Earl of Derby had given up the title of King went to the Dnke of Athole, a descendant of one of the Earls of Derby; he held on to the island and the title until 1765, when the Duke sold the sovereignty and its revenues for 70,000 and an annuity of 2,000. His son sold the manorial rights, etc., for 417,000 and a further annuity of 3,000, so that now the Kingdom of Man is hard and fast attached to Great Britain. The island has a Parliament of its own, the House ot Keys, one of the most ancient legislative assemblies in the world; it makes its own laws, and acts of Parliament do not apply to the Isle of Man unless it is especially named in them. I have heard the question raised recently. Who Dacked Dred Scott In his legal fight for liberty. Who did back him? Marcus. In the first case, tried in Missouri, it is said that he was backodby some politicians, who hoped that Scott might be defeated and a precedent established which would be of use to them later. After the case got up to the Supreme Court ot the United States, Montgomery Blair, Dred Scott's counsel, paid the necessary fees and expenses, and contributed his services without charge. So, too, did Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, of New York City. These lawyers acted sim- ly from a desire to have an important case ecided by the highest court There were fractional votes at the Minne apolis and Chicago Conventions; will yon tell me how they originated? W. A. CALLAlf Air. In some cases there were more delegates than there were votes. Thus Maryland had 16 votes at Chicago and 17 delegates were present; so to 15 of them 15 votes were given, and the sixteenth vote was divided between the sixteenth and seventeenth dele gates, giving each one-half ot a vote. Some votes were divided in quarters, end some in thirds; bnt the principle is the same in either case. Was Delaware a slave State? If so, when did slavery cease to exist within its bound aries? a L T. Vermont is the only older State that never numbered slaves among its inhabitants. Delaware was a slave State, and remained one until the proclamation of President Andrew Johnson, December 18, 1865, de claring the acceptance of the fifteenth amendment,'which put an end to slavery in the United States. Nearly 2,000 slaves 1,798, to be exact were emancipated at that time. Lincoln's emancipation proclama tion, it must be remembered, applied only to those States and parts ot States which were in rebellion. Several parishes of Louisiana and counties ot Virginia, were excepted from the operation of that procla mation, and so slaves living therein re mained slaves until the end of the war. Why, are the exercises held at the end of the college year called commencement exercises? JL. O. K. Because the graduates "commence bache lors" commence their lives as learned, diplomaed men. Then again, commence ment used to be held at the beginning oi the college year. In 1642 the first com mencement of Harvard College was held ia October. It is only within a comparatively few years that commencements have been held at the end of the year. Originally the summer vacation was short, and the winter vacation long to allow the students to teach the winter schools so that the gradu ates would return to their college to "com mence bachelors" and the freshmen would come up to begin their college life. Can the President and the Vice President be Inhabitants or the same State. S. P. P. No; article XH of the amendments to the Constitntion provides that the electors "shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice Presi dent, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them selves," etc. Suppose that the candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency were inhabitants of the same State, the electors of that State could not vote for them, under this clause in the Constitution. This is the only clause in the Constitution bearing on the question. Presumably the candidates might both come from one State; then the votes of the electoral college of that State might be thrown out as having been cast unlawfully and the votes of the other colleges might elect those candidates. Such a proceeding would be within the letter of the law. Which Is the largest the earth, the planet liars, or the moon? Which is nearer to the earth, Mars or the moon? Da axd Phujt. The earth is the largest of the three, being Z times as large as the moon, and nearly twice as large as Mars; Mars is nearly twice as large as the moon. The moon Is, on the average, 238,000 miles ' from the earth, while Mars is on the average 48,000,000 of miles from the earth. At times the moon is much nearer to the earth, and at times much farther; so also is Mars, their orbits being not circular, but elliptical. Does universal suffrage exist In Spain or In any other Enropean country. F. P. Universal suffrage does not exist in Spain by any means. Only the largest tax payers and certain corporate bodies have votes. In Denmark, France and the Em pire of Germany there is universal suffrage; in all other countries suffrage is more or less restricted. Who were the "Nine Worthies?" A.G.T. They were worthy lighters, three He brews, three Christians and three Pazans. The Hebrews were Joshua, David and Jndas Maccabeus; the Christians, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey de Bouillon; the Pagans, Hector, Alexander and Julius Cxsar. B. G. IHTELLIGENCE Iff MULES. Having Been Bart by Fenov They Still Thought It Was There. A friend recently told me of an incident which occurred on a farm near Topeka, Kan., which illustrates the intelligence of the mule, says a writer in the St Louis Globe-Democrat. He owned a number of these animals, and kept them in a pasture surrounded by an ordinary plank fence. In the next inclosure was a field of growing oats, and the mules, not being able to un derstand why they should be kept away from the oats, repeatedly broke down the barrier and feasted. He finally put up a barbed wire fence, and the mules, trying to get into the oat field, seventy scratched themselves with the barbs. They gave up the effort, and he considered the victory won. Bo it was, but tbe mules had learned more than he gave them credit for. A tew months later he found it necessary to divide his pasture, and ran a line of posts through the center ot it, Intending to put the wires in position the next day. But the wire did not come, and he was advised that it would not arrive for several days. He let the posts stay, but going out one day to drive his mules from one side of the pasture to the other, he found it impossible to drive them through the line of posts. They wonld run up and down the line, but not a mule, would venture through. Thev could not see any wires, but that was evi dently not sufficient evidence to the mulish mind that no wires were there, and the animals were too much afraid of getting scratched to take any risks. AN OPINION 07 WEB3TZB. The Old Statesman Did Not Think That IlsJlroads Would B a Success. Youth's Companion. i In the year 1840 the locomotive was a small, weak machine that was employed to drag a few coach-like cars at a speed of about ten miles an hour. Then tbe directors and stockholders of railroads constituted the meekest class of citizens, very differ ent from the dictatorial, influential class of the present Daniel Webster, in describing the Amer ican railroad of that time, said: "They are made of two stringers of scantling, notched into ties that often get loose in the ground. Upon the stringers two straps of iron, the width and thickness of wagon-tires, are nailed. "These straps of iron frequently get de tached at the ends, which turn up like snakes' heads, and pierce the floors of the cars." Snch an accident actuallv happened to a car between Elizabeth and New York. "Then," said Webster, "the wheels slip on the iron straps, in winter especially so mnch that no dependence can be placed npon the time of arrival, and many people think that it is not certain that railroads will be a success." Ballet Girls In Japan. The Japanese dancing girls are rosy lipped and black-eyed, with comely and delicate features, tiny hands and feet and possessing an air of graceful modesty and Innocence rarely seen on any stage. As for their coiffure, it is a miracle of Japanese hairdressers' skill. Their costumes are aglow with scarlet, light bine, white and gold, in robes of great length, adorned with lowers and coral. Fans, of coarse, play a prominent part in the intricate gestures of the maiko. The Moilo of an Encine. Engineers Judge of the condition of ft machineryiby the tone it gives out wb running. Every engine, whether station, or locomotive, has a particular tone of own; the engineer becomes -accustomed that, and any departure from it at once cites a suspicion that all is not right '. engineer may not know what is tbe matt he may have no ear for music, but change in tone of his machine will be stantly perceptible, will be instantly rea nized, and will start him on an immedi investigation. 8ICK HEADACHE-c,rter.ii,ittIeLlTerpn!j1 SICK OTADACHK-cjter., kittle Llrer Pms, SICK HZADACHE-crtj,., Little Ltrer RUj, SICK HKADACHB-Cllrter,I urtle Liver Has, de4-40-Mw MEDICAI. DOCTOR WHITHER M PKNN AVKNUE. PITTsBUKG. P , As old residents Itnow and back: nisi Pittsburg papers prove, is the oldest est llshed and most prominent pnyslolan ta t eltr.derotingspeoialattentfon to all ehror S&-S.N0 FEE UNTIL CURE P. 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