FIRST QIL REFINERY Sam Kier Got tlio Idea of Clarifying His Petroleum in the Year 1853. A PHILADELPHIA CHEMIST Advised Him and He Constructed a Single Barrel Affair. THIS WAS AFTERWARD STOLEN. Colonel Drake Got His Tointers From the Alleshenj ialt Wells. TUXKEL1XG FOR THE GOLDEN GREASE Below is the second installment of the story of the discovery of petroleum from the pen of the late L. E. Stofiel. As stated a week ago this was the last newspaper work he did. PART II. O doubt it was the marketing of petroleum C? fv v?l as a medicine that sepa- trfJ 2v N rated Hon. R T. Jones. the prominent iron manufacturer, and S. M. Kier, in a business way. They had long been associated. The first employment B. F. Jones ever had was ob tained in the Pittsburg office of the Mechanics' Line of canal boats be tween this city and Philadelphia, with a branch line to tidewater at Havre de Grace, Md. Mr. Kier was one of the chief owners of this line, and his attention was attracted to young Mr. Jones by his business tact and alertness, and he took a keen interest in his advancement. Kier subsequently made Mr. Jones his manager and then partner. At dne time Hon. James Buchanan was a member of the firm, being associated with Messrs. Kier and Jones before he became President of the United States. Their business enlarged to include various branches. B. F. Jones In the Iron Business. Mr. Jones' tastes did not run along the line which Mr. Kier's petroleum develop ments now took, and the former went into the iron business in 1&51, with which he is still identified. But, notwithstanding their separation at this period, Mr. Jones real izes how much he owes to Mr. Kier for his early business training, and he says he can not speak too highly of the man who was one of Pittsburg's best and most enterpris ing citizens. Mr. Jones saysi Talk about the discovery of petroleum in 1S39 In Venango county! 'Why, it was lu 1818 that Sir. Kier began to think of using It as It came out of his well up at Tarentum, In Al legheny county. He knew it had some com mercial value, and he was untiring In try ing to have its usefulness generally recog nized. And then you know, perhaps, he was the pioneer In refining oil. Ills experiments along that line right here in Pittsburg were most valuable to the great oil Industry that v. as to oome. lie was the first person in the United States to refine petroleum and so clarify it that it made a steady, clear and clean illumlnant. Had he taken out patents on the apparatus ae then designed for refin ing oil his heirs to-day would be among the ricaest persons in the world. Think of what a royalty on all the oil today refined in the world would amount to. Mr. Kier's Neglected Opportunity. There is no reason why he should not have done it. I believe his old oil still is still in existence, and it would show what a price less principle he discovered before others had thought of It. But to protect his discoveries through any personal or selfish motive was not in S. II. Kier's nature. He was of a most generous spirit. Indeed, I have sometimes thought that he did not go into the business of sell ing oil as medicine so much on genuine speculative objects as he did from a philan thropic standpoint. lie believed he was taking from the ground a fluid which pos sessed great medicinal qualities believed that It was a sort of boon or benefit for man kindand he doubtless wanted to let hu manity have the benefit or it as much as he did to make money for himself. He was always willing to reach forward a hand to help others, and he regarded wealth as a means to further develop the great re sources of the country, and certainly his foresight was great in the matter of oil and oil refining. lie won a reputation here in Pittsburg for charitable acts, and they were generally of philanthropy in the widest sense. What Suggested Kier's .Experiments. Charles Lockhart, as one of the Pittsburg officials of the Standard Oil Company, has handled millions of barrels of petroleum, but it is safe to say that he thinks less of their asgregate worth than he does ol five or six barrels which, away back in 1852, he sold to S. M. Kier, at Pittsburg. The story Mr. Lockhart tells fits right in here. He says: What I tell you will make you readily understand what suggested to Samuel II. Kier the idea of refining petroleum. Across the river Irom Tarentum there was a well that had been sunk originally for salt water. It had been producing that article for sev eral years, when, along about 1652, it, too, began to pump up petroleum with the salt water. A man named Isaac Huff operated the well, and I was clerking in Pittsburg. Huff brought the oil to me, and I bought it from him, turning right around and selling it to Mr. Kier on my own account. In the following year I took Mr. Kip. of Tarentum, lntopaitnershlp with me, and bought the Huff well, we running it as ourown. Then 1 entored into a new contract with Mr. Kier, and here is the account I opened with him. And Mr. Lockhart produced a small time worn little account book, in which there runs from page to pae entry after entrv ot oil sold to & M. Kier. On the 19th of March, 1853, there is credit given Mr. Kier for 5174 69 lor seveu barrels of oil, or 62)4 cents per gallon. How's that for prices? "What a moment for a bull ring! six Tears Before Drake's Enterprise. And this, too, only seven years after Kier had ventured to DUt the greasy stull on the market, and fully six years belore Brake got down to solid work on Oil creek. One alter another Lperused the items in this book. Once I fiud Mr. Lockhart re ceiving GGJ cents per gallon. Is it any wonder that the petroleum magnate smiled over the pages ol thi6 little book, and at the same moment pushed aside a clearance sheet, on which, perhaps, was written the record ol 6,000,000 barrels. Mr. Lockhart resumed: When I thus began selling Mr. Kier my oil he found that he had more than he could market as medicine. .Mr. Kier knew that it had a certain value also as au Illumlnant, but to make it entiioiy successful in that ine it would nave to be in some other than its crude Btate. With a surplus of petroleum on bis hands, therefore, lie got the idea of putting it through some procesi wtiich would separate the medicinal paitof it from the other, or, in other words, to clarify it in some niannerso that he might sell it both as an Illumlnant and medicine- He went to Philadelphia and consulted a chemist there. The chemist suggested distilling the petro leum, but offered no hints as to apparatus, I believe. Mr. Kier came back to Pittsburg and entered into some experiments. Th Firt Ptroleuui Kefinery. The result of them was that be set up a small refinery on Seventh avenue, above Grant street, where lie commenced to dis till the petroleum. At first he used a one barrel still. After this he enlarged this to a five-barrel still, and I believe this is yet in the possession of his sons, who hold it as a .c-t n T7 V4 : telie of the origin of a world-wide Industry. Mr. Kier's business in refining oil from that tims on was eminently luooessfuk HI claim to betas the first oil refiner in the country cannot be disputed, though I hear some man in the East has been trying to do that lately. Mr. John X Kirkpatrick, who lives on Fortieth street, Pittsburg, is at present the principal owner in the Leechburg Iron Works. He says: I was in partnership with S. M. Kier in his oil refinery tin Seventh avenue. He was the first man in the country to appreciate the value of petroleum, and he was the first man to purify it by the ordinary refining pro cesses. Although they might seem small now by comparison, our operations then In that flve-barrelj still we considered quite large. The refinery was subsequently re moved to Lawrencevllle. After Mr. Kier began refining the petrolenm, it was used to a considerable extent in Pittsburg for illu minating purposes. Mr. Kier had been in vestigating that snbject all the time, and finally he invented a lamp-burner that would fit any kind of a lamp, and which was put on sale In Pittsburg. This was a burner with four prongo, so arranged to lot in the air and give a good clear light. "William L. Kier, a son of the late S. M. Kier, has a place of business at present on Liberty street, near the Union Depot. He sars: The First Still Was Stolen. The five-barrel wrought-iron still, In which mv father refined oil before any other per son had ever thought of such a thing, is still In our possession. We preserve it as a curi osity, and it is to bo seen out at our fire brick works in Sallna. No, it is not the first still father used, but the second. There is a little story as to why we have not got the small cast-iron still he first experimented with. After he had been refining oil for some time on Seventh avenue, people up theie got afraid that the petroleum was too dangerous stuff to have around In a thiokly-bnllt-up section. They feared explosions SAMUEL M. KIER. tFroin the only photograph ha ever had taken. 1 and fire. Finally, the City Councils gave father notice to move his refinery outsiae the city limits. Airungements were made to move the re finery out to Lawrencevllle, which then bad not yet been absoibed by the city. The ap paratus and machinery bad been set out on the pavement to await wagon?, and when, sometime later. Investigation T as made, it was discovered that the small cast-Iron still had been stolen. Although be was using the five-barrel still at the time, father held his first still as very valuable, and a search was made in all the junk jnrdsfor it, but with out success. We have never heaid of It since. No, I don't think father ever thonght seri ously of taking out patents on his refining process. On a subsequent visit to the client ist at Philadelphia, the chemist remarked, upon hearing of the success of the experi ments: "We missed it by letting this thing slip." Ton can safely say that carbon oil must havo been made by distillation by my father aIon in the torties, for we have papers showing sales of it in 1351. Drake Comes to Tarentnm for Pointers. To return, now, from the little Pittsburg oil refinery to the villageot Tarentum, is to suddenly stumble across a revelation, startling because it is not generally known, and important because it very materially changes the face of petroleum lore. Three persons tell me the story, each at a different time, neither knowing that the other has touchtd upon it in their respective narrative Thus, each confirms the state ments of tho other. Listen: F. N. Humes In 1853 1 was cleaning out the salt wells at Tarentum, when a man came to me, giving his name as E. L. Drake. He said he had come down to Tarentum to see the manner and mode of drilling wells, especially those wells which were at that moment pi o duclng oil. It is an old tradition how the In dians used to gather oil from the springs along Oil creek in Venango county by soak- ing their blankets in the water and then wringing them into buckets. The oil got tho name of Seneca oil in this way. I believe. Well, after Mi. Kier got to bottling the pe ti oleum in Allegheny county for medicine, some Eastern people thousht they would re sort to the old Indian fashion of gathering the same kind of oil on the surface of Oil nango county. These Eastern people mada "oil of spike," horse liniments, etc., out o)f this. It was some such venture by Eastern people which brought E. L. Drake Into Ve nango county about this time. To Get a Driller for TituivlIIe. Drake got the idea that if the oil came up Into these springs from the earth, be might get it in larger quanties by .."boring a hole into the ground. He was unable to suc ceed, however, and finally concluded to come down to Tarentum and aee how we did it heie. He Impressed me ?.s agreeable enough, and he remained wih me at my workaround then ells all that day. Then he asked me, it he naid me gfood wages, if I would go back to Titusvllla1 with him, and bore a well tor him there. Sovr, I had a contract with Mr. Peterson at the time to clean these aralt wells out, and I could not have broken it if I would. I therefore declined Mr. Drake's offer, but said that all our tools for the wells were .made by a blacksmith Juft below Tarentum, named William 6mtth, wnd that he might get him to make the too'is for him, and rjossl bly logo with him to Jlitusville to drill the well which he proposad putting down. He went to Smith, and in the following year that individual made all the tools hero in Tarentum, taking them with him to the upper country, and! boring Drake's well for him in the summet and fall of 1859. Mare Testimony as to Drake. William Kkedt I was in charge of some department of Kier's salt woiks at Ta rentum alonglabout 1653 or 1859, when this man Drake, jrho is erroneously given the Grandfalher Kenned;;. THE credit generally of discovering petroleum, eame down there to see how thetork of boring and pumping oil wells was per formed. He ooaxed William Smith,. our blacksmith here, to make tools for him ami foup to Tltusville to bore a test well for im. Smith made our saltpans as well as tools for the wells, ana we liked him as a faith rul workman, building him a new shop; but the offer he received from Drake was so much of an inducement that we could not keep him, and he went up the river. By and. by Smith sent us reports about oil up there that seemed fabulous. Ex-Mayor Louis Peterson, Jr. This man, E. I Drake, could not have bored his fa mous oil well near Tltusville without the aid he got from Allegheny county. I was managing my fatbor's salt woiks, be'ldes B reducing oil myself there, when. In 1838, rake diove up to our works in a sleigh. He had driven clear down from OH creek. He said he had tried to sink a well up there In search of oil, but the bole caved In on him, and ho did not know what to do. He want ed some help from us, but I thought him visionary and put him off. He looked around among the wells at Tarentum, and finally made Smith, our blacksmith, an offer to make tools like be made for our wells, and go back with him to Venango and Craw ford counties. Smith promised to consider the matter. Now, this man Smith was in some litigation at the time, and 1 told him that this was a good chance to get away from this part of the country and get rid of his trouble. He said he thought so, too, and that ho believed he would accept Drake's offer. They Found Oeean's of Oil. Along toward spring of 1839 Drake drove hack to Tarentum in a sleigh and got Smith's promise to go up to OH creek. Now, Smith was an ingenious fellow, a jaok-of-all-trades, and prided himself on his workman ship, and when he told me he was making the tools for Drake's venture I never felt anything else than sanguine of success up there. But some months after they got down to work on the first Drake well, 1 got a a letter one day from Smith late in 1859 which opened with these wordsi "For God's sake, Mr. Peterson, come up heie. There's oceans or oIL" Well, perhaps if I had "gone up." as Smith advised, I would have been better off to-day. Smith also wrote advising other Tarentum Seople to come up and lease land near rake's well. Some took his advice. James Kier and William Donnell were the nrst to go, and Samuel M. Kier himself followed. 1 believe they all made more or less money. Dr. F. R Brewer, of Pittsburg, owned property near Tltusville, on which he knew springs of "rock oil" existed. In 1853 he received a letter from George H. Bissel in quiring about it. Dr. Brewer assisted him with valuable information. As the result o! this correspondence1 Bissel & Eveleth formed a partnership to collect this oil irom water in trenches wliich they dug on land that they leased near Tltusville. In 1855, Bissel & Eveleth sold a third interest in this lease to some New Haven capitalists, and the "Pennsylvania Bock Oil Company" was formed. It was this company that in 1858 employed Colonel Brake, of New Haven, to try to sink an artesian well. Digging for Petrolenm I These early oil developments at Tarentum terminated in perhaps the most daring .ven ture ever undertaken in any oil region. It is described by ex-Mayor Peterson as follows: While managing my father's salt works at Tarentum, 1 became impressed with the growing value of this petroleum, or rock oil as we called it. Through Mr. Kier's ventures the oil had become worth anywhere from 50 cents to $1 per gallon. 1 concluded I would improve any opportunity thereafter of get ting oil myself. At this time Thomas Don nelly was operating the salt well on the Humes farm, not far from onr own property. Peterson & Irwin, of whioh firm I was a member, determined to buy the well. It was only producing salt water, but I rea soned that ir it was enlarged to the size of the other wells there It too would pnmp up petrolenm. But as we proposed imDroving it and pumping for oil, a serious question arose, viz: whether in letting the salt water run to waste, as we proposed to do, we would not violate the terms Of the Humes lease which we were buying from Thomas Don nelly, and lay ourselves liable to forfeiture by reason of Humes receiving no rojalty. his sole royalty being every twentieth barrel of salt water. Therefore to extinguish Mr. Humes' claim to any royalty we purchased his whole farm, we paid him $20000 and Mr. Donnelly $20000 additional for his lease. Tben we reamed out the well, enlarging the hole. This was in 1S56. y A Demand for Oil at Baltimore. 'Sure enough, oil came, and a very valuable grade of it,too. It produced from two and a half , to five barrels per day. We found th at a specimen of the oil that bad been sent on to Baltimore was very successfully used in oiling the wool made at carding mills there. A demand for it was created in Baltimore, lo thisVcity our e.ntire product went. There was a ".middleman," hon ever, McKeown, Nevln A Co , of Pittsburg. They handled all our oik This continued until 1864, when we sold tho well and property to Eastern Seople for about ($150,000. The "Taientura alt xnd Oil Company" was organized, the Srinolpal stock being held in Philadelphia, evt York and Brooklyn. TJhls company conceived the idea of d'lgging a shaft into the ground in search of pll and salt watei. The Taientum wells were only from 100 to 500 feet deep, and they argued that it was practicable to get that deep dow,i with pick ard shovel, and pos sibly discover a monstrous cave of the fluids. They selected a Bpot, piobably 100 j ards from the Donnelly well. They sent to Europe and brought across the ocean a lot of Coinlslimlnei. These men were taken to Taientum and set to work. The hole they dug into the ground was about 6x8 feet, and in many places larger. Cornish Miners Seeking the drraje. Two and a half years were consumed in digging this shaft, and $10,000 was spent in the work. Timbers 16 or 18 Inches square were walled into the well in the upper part, but when the rook was struck below no wall was needed. Cast Iron pipes 8 Inches in diameter were inserted to pump out the water, so that the men might work uninter ruptedly. The Cornish miners at length got dissatis fied and quit work, going off to the copper mines of Lake Superior. An agent was sent to New Tork, where he gathered up another corps of Cornish miners just over. These worked lu the shatt for awhile, but they too gave the employers trouble and bad to be let go. Tben an effort was made to gel deep mine diggers from Scotland, and two of the men who were in a party, James and George Jenkins, are still living up the Monongahela river I believe. It was a huge engineering scheme. Nine men worked in a gang in the haft. Iverllly believe some great result would have been the outcome of this experiment bad it been finished. It had reached a depth of 400 feet, and we all notioed that it had a marked effect upon the Donnelly well. The salt water in the Donnelly well wai ,-.t:-AiJi&"iw PJTTSBUR& DISPATCH,, from 6 to 7 in strength, but it weakened to 8 ir the water In the shaft was allowed to stand any length of time. It showed there was some orevice or connection between the two. An Enterprise Spoiled by the War. The digging of the shaft was finally aban doned in the datkest period of the war from the necessities of the time. A New York man named Ferris, and William MoKeown, of Pittbnrg, bought the property. haft and all. The daring piece of engineering was neglected, and Anally it commenced to fill up with cinders and dirt, until at last it was level again u ith the surfaoe or the ground. You may walk over It to-day and I could point it out to you if I was up tnere. Dig it out and yon vdl find those oast iron pipes and timbers still there, Just as they were originally pnt it. Mr. Peterson's story brings one point out pretty clearly, and that is that be went to work" improving the Donnelly well in 1856 for oil exclusively. This is important to remember in view of the statement some times made in Drake's behalf, that if he was not the discoverer of petroleum alter all, he was the first man to sink a well solely for petroleum. He did that in 1859. Louis Peterson practically did it in 18561 I should be stated that some persons in Tarentum say the real reason why work in digging the big shaft was discontinued was because natural gas was encountered, and it flowed into the well so freely that all laborers became afraid to stay down in it any longer. Virtue of the Grease, In this connection a clipping from a prominent French publication which has lately been going the rounds of the Ameri can newspapers is interesting. It is as follows: Dr. Blache states, in the Bulletin dt Thera paitlqite, that a refiner of petroleum having been prohibited Dy a prefect the distribution of petroleum in medioinal doses, the fact led to an Inquiry being made as to its alleged utility in affections of the chest the native Sett-oleum from Pennsylvania and Virginia eing that first experimented with. Dr. Blache states, as the result, that in obronio bronchitis, with abundant expectoration, it rapidly diminishes the amount ot the secre tion and the paroxysms of coughing, ana in simple bronchitis rapid amelioration has been obtained; its employment in phthisis has been continued for too short a time as yet to allow or any opinion being delivered as to its efficacy beyond the fact that it diminishes expectoration, which also loses its purulent character. The petroleum is popularly taken in doses of a teaspoon ful be fore each meal, and, after the first day, any nausea which it may excite in some persons disappears. And, now, these different thoughts and reminiscences inveigle still another into the mind of every intelligent reader, viz.: Hadn't that monument better be erected over S. M. Kier's grave in Allegheny Cem etery? The Story Is Dramatic So, here is a group of men still living who once called this useful petroleum "a mysterious grease!" They remember hand ling it when it had no commercial value. They either aided or watched the progress of aPittsburger who sought to give it a com mercial name and a marketable value. That man's associates have been recalling those curious days in these memoirs. This group of Allegheny county people watched it run to waste at first. Then they remember paying $1 per gallon for it when a Pittsburg man had made it known pretty well all over the United States. They re call Drake's visit to Tarentum, and tell of the aid he procured there. They bold their breath when they think of the gold that changed hands in Crawford and Venango counties after William Smith, of Allegheny county, bored the test well up there for Colonel Drake. Then this group of men watched the flow of petroleum as it set out toward Eu rope in exports. They will tell you how 40 casks of it were sent to Prance in 1860 as a curiosity, but how 3,940 casks went from Pennsylvania to Prance in 1863 as a com mercial adventure. Since then they have seen this same "mysterious grease," that used to flow over into the Pennsylvania Canal at Tarentum they have seen it grease and light the whole world irom Egypt's pyramids to Paris' salons. In 1888 some genius attempted to tell how many oil wells bad been bored into Penn svlvania's bdaom. He said there had been 57,000 such holes put down, and about 400, 000,000 barrels of oil taken out of Pennsyl vania's loins. Let him try it now, since the Washington, the Shousetown, the Mc Donald fields have been added, and he would probably give it up. A Half Century of Growth. Thus, have this group of men lived to see their lour sait-ano-ou wens ol Tarentum multiplied beyond calculation, and the "odd mysterious grease" bubbling over the most immeasurable calculations in barrels! Do the gentlemen composing this group occupy a position dramatic in thf marvel ous events their memories review? Well, if they do, it might be impractica ble for them all to attend the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. But if the public of Allegheny county appreciates the won derful growth of a famous industry which these stories prove Allegheny county to have originated, why should they not send to the World's Pair some relics ot the start of the oil business? Por instance, the still with which Mr. Kier refined oil is still in existence. Mr. Lock hart's little account book, which shows that he sold petrolenm as a marketable commodity six or seven years before Drake began his well, is in the Standard Oil Com pany's office, on Duquesne way, at this mo ment Mr. Peterson, who at present lives on North avenue, Allegheny, can no doubt add documents of interest Involving his operations in searching for oil exclusively as early as 1856. What a notable feature it would all make in the Pennsylvania exhibit at Chicago I L. E. Stofiki THE BIGHTS 07 WIDOWS. Some Iiegal Points of Present Interest Dis cussed by a Female Lawyer. A widow is just as free to engage in busi ness and to bind herself by legal obliga tions as a man, savs Mary A. Greene in the Chautauauan. But her right to a share in the property of her deceased hnsband is a right arising out of the previous marriage relation and is affected by the ancient laws concerning that relation. At her husband's death she is entitled to the use and income for her life of one-third of his real estate, and this "dower" is hers whether she ever had any children or not.' The rest of the real estate goes to the hus band's heirs. The widow's share of personal property varies in eaoh State. Asa rule she has one third of it and the children two-thirds. If no children are living, or 'their descendants, she has a larger share, one-halt in some States, the whole in others. As the widow is- legally competent to transact business she can be appointed ad ministratrix of her husband's estate and guardian of the children. THE GENIUS OF WEBSIE8. Similar' Trails of Character to France's Famous Victor Hugo. "There is something In Webster that re minds me of Victor Hugo," says James Bussell Lowell in JTarper's Magazing. "There is the same confusion at times of what is big with what is great, the same fondness for the merely spectacular, the same insensibil ity to repulsive details, the same indiffer ence to the probable or even to the natural, the same leaning toward the grotesque, the same love of effect at whatever cost; and there is also the same impressiveness ot result. "Whatever other effect Webster may pro duce upon us, be never leaves us indiffer ent. We may blame, we may criticise, as muoh m we willj we may say that all thh fhastlineis is only a trick of theatrical blue Ightj we shudder, and admire nevertheless. We may say he is a melodramatic, that bis figures are magic-lantern pictures that waver and change shape with the eurtain on which they are thrown; it matters not, he stirs us with an emotion deeper than any mere artifice oould stir." Fits All fits stepped free by Dr. Kline's Great Nerve Restorer. No at! after first day's ate. Mr velons eur, TreatUe ana SI 00 trial bottle free t yit cues. Dr. Kuae. Ml Arch St., Phil,, Pa. fa I &L J &ka.ac2 SUNDAY, ATTGUBT 7. DRUNKS IN CONGRESS. Mr. Watson Would Have Had Spasms Bad Be Lived a Century Ago. SOBRIETY IS THE RULE NOW. In That Elder Bay Everybody Carried Off a Jag Once la Awhile. SOME AMUSINGLI TIPST STATESMEN CcOjmiSrOjrpENCE qp the msFATCH.1 Washington, Aug. 6. Herbert Spencer calls attention to the enrious economic para dox that it is those who are least oppressed that first revolt that slaves seldom rebel, but freemen on whom some slight burden is laid often da The French in 1789 rose and cut off the head of the best.King they bad ever had a King who abolished serfdom, remitted taxes, prohibited torture and es tablished reforms for the benefit of the working people. America plunged into a revolution against a mild monarch to get rid of a 3-cent tax on tea. When Bepnblics are proclaimed it is noticeable that a good crop is generally harvested. Bloody strikes are always inaugurated by men who get the highest wages. So it is that where drunkenness is com mon it attracts no attention; it is only where it is very uncommon, indeed, that men are shocked at It. That is to say, it is the abnormal only that is considered worth noticing or recording. Wouldn't Have Counted a Century Ago. A hundred years ago a man would have got merrily laughed at for staggering into Congress and making a maudlin effort at oratory, and few would have considered it really disreputable, but no newspaper would have thought it worth mentioning and no committee would have investigated it. When half of the men in the land oc casionally or frequently got drunk, a spor adio case ot tipsiness caused no comment. The fuss that is made over a transient and doubtful lapse of temperance on the part of three or four members Is a very high tribute to the general sobriety of this Congress. Since the close of the War for the Union drunkenuess has become, for the first time in the history of the human race, thoroughly disreputable, not only in Con gress, but in all public bodies and in society everywhere. Has there been a scandalous exhibition of drunkenness in Washington in a year by any well-known man? As late as when Kossuth was in this city inebriety was common. The banquet in his honor was held at the National Hotel; speeches were made by Cass, Webster, Shields, Seward and others, and several prominent guests got into such a condition that they had to be helped away from the table. A United BtatesJadge Drunk. There was more intemperance in the Sen ate in 1804 than there is to-day, but it brought to the bar and tried for "habitual drunkenness and profanity on the bench" one of the United States judges, and the man was convicted. The city was a dreary mudhole theu, full of ague and monotonous misery, and there is no reason to marvel that Congressmen when they left their un finished quarters drank deeply, bet heavily and amused themselves with dog fights and cock fights. There was not only bad rum in those days, but there was plenty of rough-and-tumble prize fighting in which men lost their eyes and noses. A tall gal lows appropriately stood at the loot of Capitol hill. We have fallen on curious times, indeed, when a man cannot get drunk in publio or be seen emerging irom a gambling saloon without injury to his reputation and credit. Different, indeed. .was it in the good old heyday of "Blifil and Black George," when Pendleton kept open his "palace of for tune" on the avenue, and presided at a sumptuous dinner every day at five, in full dress, and surrounded by 20 or 30 members ot the House and Senate, Cabinet Ministers, generals, diplomats and judges, attracted by the pleasures of the duplex table the faro table immediately succeeding the dinner table. The cusine was presided over by an artist; the wines were bought at auction when bankrupt German Dukes sacrificed their cellars; everything was luxurious; and scores of distinguished gamesters chssedthe ivory chips around the green baize till the morning came in with its glow. Luck of a Minister to China, Humphrey Marshall beipg appointed Minister to China in 1852, dropped into Pendleton's the night before he started to play "one farewell game," and he lost all the money he possessed, his entire outfit and six months' pay in advance and then Pendleton lent him money enough to carry him to the flowery kingdom where he doubtless taught the funny game to the almond-eyed Celestials. And when the good Pendleton died the Mayor of Wash ington and Senators and members bore his pall, and President Buchanan wept at bis funeral. And there was no scandal about it, and no reporters watched, as they now would, to see who went in and out at Pendleton's. Ahl Times have changedl But even that day was visibly more cir cumspect than society in England a hun dred years earlier, for then it seems to have been the fashion ior every man to get drunk at every dinner of ceremony he at tended, ior servants were on hand whose business it was to loosen stiff cravats of gentlemen when they slipped or rolled un der the table, so that they would not choke to death. Perhaps the story told by Pren tiss is not too familiar to be repeated, how the god-like Daniel made a maudlin speech at a dinner here one night, his hearers shed ding inebriate tears, when a Kentucky member, in a frenzy of whisky and patriot ism, jumped upon the table and shouted "Be form or revolution! Liberty or death!" and flung an empty champagne bottle at the head of the great expounder of the Consti tution who hiccoughed defiance as the crystal missile whizzed by him and crashed against the opposite walk No Confirmed Drunkards Nowadays. In this Congress there are probably some scores of men who take a drink occasionally, but there is not a confirmed drunkard in either House. Even the half dozen who sometimes drink too much have not lost their self-respect, and they pay to temper ance the tribute of concealing their weak ness. There is no man in either House so nnconsoious of the disgrace of drunkenness as McDougall or Tom Marshall used to be. Even poor Saulsbury made bis way into the Senate one day about a month after he had ceased to be a member of it, and, being in terested in the bill under consideration, leaned on a convenient desk, and, address ing the Vice President, said he would like to offer a few reasons in favor of its passage. The Viee President kindly reoognizedhim; his late colleagues forebore to call him to order; but after he had been talking a minute or two, a member took him by the hand and whispered a word in his ear and retired with him to the oloak room. There were two other men ot irregular habits in the Senate about the close ot the war both from border States. But, like Saulsbury, they were gentlemen even in their tipsiness. and careful not to make an exhibition of their infirmity that would be publicly injurious. One of Senator IngalU Trials. Many will remember a remarkable scene in the Senate within a very tew years. A member of that body persisted in speaking when he oould not maintain either his bod ily poise or lingual equilibrium. The President quietly ignored him and went on for some minutes with, other business in spite of his clamor. , "Mr. President, as I was saying " "Report from the Committee on Terri tories, ' said Mr. Ingalls in the chair. "Here, stop!" exclaimed the unbalanced Senator to the reading clerk, "I will not be interrupted!" "Is the gentleman from Virginia endeav h !&jb:afe9u;., . . . ,.jJLia, ..,.. . tfsfa-..j.(w., .,.... - ?'- 1892. oring to address the Senate?" asked the pre siding officer, coolly. "No, it!" was the response, "the gentleman from Virginia is addressing the Senate!" He rambled on, not to say maudled, but finally consented to be led away. Indeed, among the stories told of the House when it met in what is now Statuary Hall, Is one of a member who was permitted to keep his valet in the cloakroom to take care of him when he became helpless, and another of a chairman who caused great amusement and consternation by suddenly insistinc on go ing to bed, gavel in hand, under the Speaker's desk. Such things do not happen now. Clay Had a Good Constitution. Every honse of social standing in Wash ington CO years ago was equipped with a' sideboard furnished with choice wines, and every visitor was regaled with brandv tod dysingular and plural. But the habit of constant drinking seemed to be, with many, an insurance against sottishnes. Mr. John P. Coyle, author of the forthcoming "Fifty Years of Men and Mann en in Washington," tells me a good story told him by Mr, Gales: "Clay and I," said Mr. Gales, "had sat at a poker table on Capitol Hill all night, and we started homo just at daylight. He lived at Brown's and I was afraid he would never get there, because we had drunk so much. He said he would get home perfectly well. I said: 'Well, Mr. Clay, I bete that you will not go to the House to-day.' 'Why not?' he asked. 'Because vou are so tired and you will be sick,' I sail Very anxious I went up to the Capitol in the afternoon, and there he was in'the Speaker's chair, as self-reliant and clear-headed as ever. After adjournment I saw him. 'I didn't lie down,' he said, nor sleep a wink. I just went and took a bath and got a shave and a breakfast, and I never felt better in my life.'" Drunk on All Big Occasions. There were three terrible drunkards in the House just 0 years ago the last year of Clay's service Tom Marshall and Jim Sprigg, of Kentucky, and Felix McCounell, ot Alabama, all Whigs, I believe. Tney were all of them regular rounders, and liable to disgrace the House any time. Marshall, In fact, was pretty sure to be drunk when anything great was expected ot him. I have seen him attempt to lecture before a large and refined audience when he was unable to stand and coolly sat down on the floor and talked conversationally to those who were not too disgusted to remain. "Jim Spriggs" drank as much as he could get, and was made very happy by it. One night he had a bar-room fizht with a loafer and had an ear bitten off. "We welcome back to Kentucky," said Prentiss in the Louisville Journal, "all there is left of our gallant fellow-citlzjn, Hon. James C. Sprigg." Felix McConnell should have been named Infelix. He was a very brilliant and erratic member, quick at repartee, witty, well-informed and the delight of the House when on his feet, drunk or sober. But he was sensitive and humiliated, and one morning just belore his term expired he committed suicide here in this city. But why multiply instances? With in creasing civilization come improving man ners and morals, and even if it were not a logical deduction it must be obvious to all careful observers in Washington that every Congress has been more sober and better behaved than its predecessors. Of the wis dom of the Fifty-second Congress it does not become me to speak, but probably not one has contained so many total abstainers from spirituous liquors since the Republic began. W. A. Croffut. THE LITTLE MOONS OF MARS. Their Discovery by a Washington Astron omerSomething About Their Con dition. 'Washington Star. The moons of Mars were discovered a few years ago through the telescope of the Naval Observatory at Washington, by Prof. Asaph. He will be actively in terested in the observations of that planet and its new-found satellites which will be made by astronomers all over the world. Since the discovery of the moons in 1887 this is the first opportunity afforded for examining them, inasmuch as they are so small as to be perceptible only at close range. Once in every 15 years Mars reaches its nearest point to the earth. Eight weeks hence it will be within 35,000, 000 miles of us, whereas its greatest dis tance is 141,000,000 miles. Great interest attaches to the matter, because this sister world is so much like our own in respect to its climate and other conditions that it may reasonably be supposed to be inhabited. There are at least 20 moons in the solar sys tem. Satnm alone has eight, the biggest of them, Titan, being nearly twice the size of our moon; aad Jupiter, possesses four, rang ing in dimensions upward from Europa, just about as large as the orb of terrestrial night, to Ganymede, greatest of all known moons, with a diameter of 3,480 miles, whereas the moon belonging to this world is only 2,160 miles through. Though our moon is supposed to be dead and cold, similar conditions are not assumed to govern all the satellites ot the sister planets. Some of these pertaining to Jupiter are believed to emit lights of their own, showing that they are still hot. How ever, astronomers are usually eager to find evidence of life on other spheres,even discov ering on the earth's attendant orb apparent traces of mighty works of engineering arti ficethe imagined certain creation of races being long extinct such as the stupendous bridge that appears to span a crater of the moon volcano called Eudoxus. Eclipses are every-day affairs on Jupiter. Three of its satellites are eclipsed at every revolu tion ot that mighty gioDe, so mat a specta tor there might witness during the Jovian year 4,500 eclipses of moons and about the same number of the sun by moons. One of Saturn's moons, called Mimas, about half the size of the earth's satellite, is so close to the planet in its circling that it seems to cross the lace of the latter at an' astonishing rate of speed. Of the seven others, Titan has a diameter of 3,300 miles, Iapetus 1,800 miles, Khea 1,200 miles, Dione and Thetys each COO miles, while Euceladus and Hyperion are very little fel lows. Several of tbem in the sky together, with the flaming ring of star dust stietched athwart the heavens, must make a gorgeous spectacle by night on the Saturuian sphere. Through the telescope it is very interesting to watch the shawdon a thrown upon Jupiter by that giant planet s moons, observation of .the eclipses of which fur nished the first data tor estimating the velocity of light. Uranus has four little moons Ariel, Umbnel, Titania and Obc-on which, funnily enough, rise in the north and set in the south. A single diminutive one, belonging to Neptune, traverses the sky from southwest to north east. Neither Mercury nor Venu3 has any satellites. But the most interesting ot all moons are the two that attend Mars, each about GO miles in diameter. That planet is just one-halt the size of the earth; its surface is divided into continents and seas, having as 'much land as water; it Laau atmos phere, clouds frequently concealing its face, and its seasons are about the tame as here, though the waters are colder. Some Tarts Auont Tors. Some authorities insist that the great toe ought to project farthest, others that it should not project quite so far as the second toe; while others, again, maintain that the two should be of equal length. It is well known that in antique statues the second toe is usually the longer of the two, while the first is longer in living men. , Inhabitants of the Deep. Many of the dwellers of the deep seas have no eyes, and are, therefore, unaffected by the total absence of light, which is one of the characteristics of great ocean depths. Others, besides having irom 1 to 100 eyes, carry torches of phosphorescent light, which natnre has kindly provided for the denizens of the deep. ( - I vm ckj15; t,s- WRITTEN FOR BY DORA RUSSELL, Author of "Footprints in the Snow," "The Broken Seal," "The Track of the Storm," "A Fatal Past," Etc. SYNOPSIS Off rBETlOCS CHAPTERS Two lovers, Sis James SiacKennon, Bart., and MI33 Miriam Clyde, are standing by the seashore, and tho former Is urplng her to name the weddlnr day. She pleads for delay. In the meantime an accident ooonrs, a soldier being wounded oy a firing party. Miriam bind up his wound and saves his life. Qlancing at each other's face a mutual recognition takes Elace. On arriving home the doctor who was summoned to the wounded man gave er a note whioh the soldier had hastily scribblod. It contains the words "For God's saks keep my seoret." Miriam, by means of Dr. Beed, sends to her soldier-patient a brief mes sage, "Do not he afraldl" which he receives as bo is lying in the hospital. In tho meantime Miriam's mother, Mrs. Clyde, makes up her mind that her daughter shall be married to Sir James in a month, and tells her so. But Miriam, thinking of a life dearer than her own, banging in the balance, pleads earnestly for more time. Mrs. Clyde writes to her other daughter, Joan, who is married to hard and stern General Conway, asking them to the wedding. Conway thinks it's a good match, bnt pains Joan by intimating that Miriam should not so soon forget another affair in which his nephew was the hero. He and Mrs. Clyde a free it is best to hurry the wedding for fear Sir James should hear of that. Miriam is obstinate, and pets Sir James to ask Mrs. Clyde for postponement. Colonel Clyde is unable to change Miriam's mind. She worries herself sictc, and Dr. Beed is sent for. By means of notes through him, Miriam and Private Dare arrange a clandestine meeting. Miriam tells ber secret lover ho must leave the country. He says he would have to buy his way out of the army. At her next meetinz with Sir James she asks him for the neces sary money, and ho gives her double the amount. Then she arranges another clandestine meeting, and just as she is returning to her room in the,nlght Mn. Clyde catches her. Mrs. Clyde suspects the truth, but Miriam refuses to tell her. Dare meets Ford and gives her the money to Rive back to Miriam. Mrs. Clyde decides to have the weddlnrr at London, and she and her danghter go there. The weddln? occurs and it so affects Joan that in her sleep she speaks the name of "Kobert." Her hnsband hears it and the first doubt as to her faithfulness enters his mind. Then on her return home Joan becomes ill with fever and raves about Bobert. The Colonel begins to suspect the truth. Robert had loved Joan. At a meeting in the garden Hugh Ferrars, wbo loved Miriam, mistaking Joan for Miriam, hi'l shot Robert dead. Miriam, in order to shield Joan, testified that It was she who was with; Robert. The Court holds that Robert committed snicide. Miriam and her husband takes continental trip and tben return to the castle of Sir James' mother in Scotland. The old lady receives Miriam rather coldly. In his anxiety, Colonel Clyde goes to Scotland and demands of Miriam the truth. She denies everything. Sir James' mother overhears the conversation. She tells her on. He refuses to believe. Hugh Ferrars writes to meet Joaa once more. The letter comes to the maid, Ford. Sir James at la3t suspects. COPYRIGHT, 1392, CHAPTER. Xft, PLAYEfG "WITH FIRE. 'Ton will see," replied Lady MacKen non, grimly, and naturally Sir James felt exceedingly annoyed. But he tried not to show this to Miriam. They had planned to pay a visit to the wife of one of the neighboring lairds in the after noon, and now he asked her to go out with him to inspect the kennels, and the horses. Miriam was fond of animals, and she there fore went at once to put on her hat, and went with him, and Sir James never hinted to her how his mother had disturbed him. He felt, however, so angry with the dowager that he determined to stay no longer at Kiutore. "I think we have had about enough of this little one," he said in the afternoon as they drove by loch and brae, and mists crept round them; "the truth is November is not the season for the Highlands, and I think we would be jollier at Halstone with the reeiment?" 1,When do yon think of going then, James?" answered Miriam. "Well, we must give the old lady some ANOXHEE LETTER notice or it wonldbe a dire offence. Suppose we say the beginning of next week?" "Very well; I shall be quite ready," smiled Miriam.- Thev then talked over their plans, and spoke of the house they meant to take at J Halstone, as long as sir James regiment was quartered there, and Sir James' spirits rose at the idea of a change His mother had depressed and worried him and he was glad to go away from her. He was very cheerful at dinner in spite of the sour looks which Lady MaeKennon continually directed at Miriam, and Miriam sang and played to him during the evening, and Sir James felt quite happy as he hung over the piano and turned the pages of her mu'a Lady MaeKennon sat reading in her easy chair, and presently Sir James went up to her and told her that they intended to leave Kintore on the following week. The 'dowacer's thin blue lips quivered as she re ceived this communication, but for a moment or two she made no comment. "I suppose it's not gay enough for you here," she said, bitterly. "Oh, it's not that, mother, but I have to go on duty." "I thought you had two months' leave, James,'.' replied Lady MaeKennon. "At all events we are going next week," said Sir James", who was not unwil ling to show his mother how deeply she had annoyed him about his wife, and Lady Mae Kennon made no further remark on their leaving. But the next morning at breakfast when Sir James was as usual opening the letter bag and drawing out the letters, he thought lessly gave a little exclamation of surprise, as he lifted one in his hand and looked at the address. He had at the moment for gotten what his mother had said the morn ing before, orie probably have made no re mark. "Why, Miriam, here's another letter," he said, "for that maid of yours, in the same handwriting as the one she got yester day, and yes, actually it has been posted at Strathloe. Her young man must have followed her here. " As he said this he looked at his wife, and he ww that Miriam had suddenly grown very pale, and in an instant his mother's Insinuations recurred to him. He glanced 15 'MM Miff )WM -i THE DISPATCH BY DORA BUS3ELL. quickly and uneasily at the dowager, and she looked at him in return, and then at Miriam's agitated face. There was a sort of grim triumph in ber expression, and her looks said very plainly "I told you so." Sir James, however, ignored his mother's glance. 'He rose quietly and wifh a certain dignity of manner a moment later, went to where his wife was sitting at the breakfast table, carrying the letter addressed to Ford with him. "Here's your maid's letter, Miriam," he said, and he laid it on the table beside her. "Thank you," she answered, '1 shall give it to her," and she put out a trembling hand, and turned the letter with the di rection downward. A great restraint fell on the little party after this. An uneasiness he could not subdue was in Sir James' heart; fear and anxiety in Miriam's; and bitter satisfaction in Lady MacKeunon's. But strained mo ments pass like pleasant ones, and pres ently Sir James, having finished his break fast without his usual appetite, rose and went to the window, and stood gazing vaguely out on the blue-green waters of the loch. His attitude, somehow, was unlike himself, and Miriam glanced at him un easily. Then she rose and went to his FOB YOUB MAID. side, and pnt her band timidly on his ana, after first putting the letter addressed to Pord in the pocket of her dress, an action which the dowager's keen eyes duly noted. "What are you going to do, James?" said Miriam. He turned round and looked at her. "Anything yon like, dear," he answered. "It's not very fine is it?" continued Mi riam, now in her turn looking vaguely at the loch. "No, it's-not; look at the mist stealing dawn from 'the hills, but it may clear up later," said Sir James. "Perhaps alter luncheon; if you want me to go out 1 shall be upstairs goodby for the present then," said Miriam with a somewhat forced smile, and she was turning to leave her husband's side, when he put his arm through hers. "I will go with you as far as the hall," he said; "then I'll go and look at the horses, I think" He was determined, in fact, not to be left with his mother, and Lady MacKennou quite understood this, and a souV and bitter smile distorted her gray-tinted floe as the young pair disappeared together Upm the "She U nlnvlmr with fire." she thousfi "and some day James will know it, or they who have sown the wind shall reap the whirlwind.' " In the meanwhile Miriam and Sir James were standing for a moment together at the foot of the broad staircase. "Will you come out for a little while 1 I come for vou in half an hour?" he said "Yes, I s'ha'l be very pleased," answ Miriam; "I shall be ready in half an He stooped down and kissed her feeling of protecting love for heart. "Poor little woman," he s turned away. He lit a cig' among the horses and do' feel very happy. He from Kintore, and f hated the memorr MacKennon's f Ford's letten from himself mistakably as "Somethini be?"heaskea A A H N 1 ') v 3 V 4 mA m W&m$ rl'S iif'iWifflrmiftirriTTT
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