Uje Sigpafifr
ESTABLISHED
FEBEUABY 8,
1545.
Vol.74, No. J27-Enterea at Pittsburg Fostofflce
November, lEfff, u second-class matter.
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TWELVE PAGES
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.
The story of the three recently built
Canadian revenue cutters, as told by
alarmists, bids fair to rank with the trag
edy of the three black crows. For reasons
best known to the narrators, dreadful
prophecies have been indulged in as to
what damage these three vessels maRni
fied into fully equipped ships of war
could do to American lake commerce and
lake cities in the event of an outbreak of
war between this country and England.
There is not the least probability of an
outbreak of war between this and any
other country, for all others realize that
their staying powers must inevitably give
out before such infinite resources of men
and money as America can draw from.
Besides, it takes two to make a quarrel,
and America is not in the quarreling bus
iness. It leaves that to such powers as
s-ek to thrive at one another's expense, or
such rulers as maintain tnelr thrones by
armed forces ostensibly gathered to over
awe belligerent neighbors.
The telecram from Buffalo, which ap
pears in The Dispatch this morning, in
dicates clearly to whit an extent the im
portance of these revenue cutters has
been overestimated. And there is not the
least reason to doubt that the War and
2favy Departments are sufficiently wide
awake to the nation's interests. Nor is
the State Department inclined to be mute
whenever treaty violations become mani
fest on the part of others.
A COMMON BUGBEAR.
The unique ideas which prevail in some
quarters on the relative bearings of social
ism and taxation are illustrated by a com
munication to a New York paper relative
to a proposed tax on inheritances which
had "been under discussion. The writer
asks the question: "Is not the legislation
you advocate a step toward socialism in
asmuch as discrimination is made against
the rich?" To which he further adds:
"The principle of taxing the rich in a
greater per cent than the poor, if carried
further and further, would ultimately con
fiscate all wealth."
This talk presented as an argument
with reference to taxation Is an exampie
of the power of a bugaboo. If it is social
ism to discriminate against property in
taxation then all taxation is socialism; for
no taxation can be levied without being
levied exclusively against property. The
Government can make those who have no
property work out taxes, as was done in
the stage of social development repre
sented by the Pharaohs; but short of that
barbarous method all taxation must bear
on the propertied class.
As to the theory that it should bear
most heavily ou those of the largest
wealth, if that is socialism it is
socialism that has ocen engrained
in our Republican system from
the first. The trouble at present Is that
we have so far departed from our old
standards that loopholes are left open by
which such wealth as that of the Goulds
and Vanderbilts is taxed a far less per
centage than the property of the common
man. Any change from that system could
hardly fail to be an improvement
TWO POINTS FOR EXPLANATION.
The New York Press, which has long
held the status of an organ of the Nica
ragua Canal job, gives the new bill on
that subject the expected indorsement
It asserts that the measure "affords ample
security to the Government for the risks
it is expected to take, and seems to be
drawn with ample skill and comprehen
siveness." In view of this unqualified voucher, it
is pertinent to inquire of the Press how
the Government is protected against this
risk The promoters of the enterprise
contract with themselves as a construc
tion company to do the work estimated
by the company's engineer to cost 65,
000,000 at the price of $100,000,000, and
having got the Government to in
dorse to the latter amount unload
the property on the confiding and
paternal Government for the neat profit
of $35,000,000. We have requested explana
tions of this important point several times
before without eliciting a response. Since
the.organs are giving a clean bill of health
to the amended bill, let us hope tlvat they
will now produce an explanation. An
other nsk which comes within the range
of possibility might also be a fit subject for
explanation. It Is that after the Govern
ment had got the canal for $35,000,000 more
than It is worth, at the first outbreak of
war tome stronger naval power might
send a fleet and take possession of it
When the esteemed Press explains how
tb bill provides against these risks it will
render a decided service to that measure.
AN TXLOGIC NAME.
A recent case of shopbi ting by a well-to-do
female in St Louis calls attention to
the triviality of the custom of drawing a
line between thefts where there is no
compulsion by poverty, and those where
the stealing may be incited by want Be
cause the St Louis woman had plenty of
money the conclusion is announced that
she had no motive for stealing and there
fore must have been a kleptomaniac. This
Is fearfully bad logic, for ltjoverlooks the
fact that she had themotlve'of getting the
property without parting with her money.
It'is worse public policy, because it per
mits those who indulge in wanton thefts
to go unpunished while consigning those
driven by crime to the workhoase.
The English courts hare settled this
very loose plea of kleptomania by demand
ing evidence in reply to this inquiry be
fore the alleged uncontrollable impulse to
steal can be taken as established: "Would
the culprit have stolen the article, know
ing the policeman saw the act?" The
answer to this must nearly always be in
the negative; and it establishes the fact
that the Impulse to steal Is usually con
trollable. The allegation of kleptomania
is a periphrasis for the unpleasant fact
that those who are well enough to do to
pay for their thefts can go unpunished.
The fact is not a pleasant one to contem
plate, but it is not to be mitigated by the
continued use of a scientific name for an
exceedingly vulgar misdemeanor.
WASTE and justice.
There is a touch of unfairness in the
attempt of a certain class of journals to
make capital against the agricultural in
terest on account of assertions like Sir
Lyon Playfair's in a recent number of the
Jfortli American Beview, that "the agri
culture of the United States is an indus
try magnificent In its extent; but itis prob
ably the most thriftless industry In exist
ence." On the strength of this assertion
the Philadelphia Inquirer proceeds to
assert that all the agricultural complaints
of uneven working of our laws, or unfair
effects of corporate operations, are simply
the grumbling of an interest which is suf
fering from its own fault
There Is no doubt that waste is an
American fault, due to the extraordinary
plenty which has made this country what
It Is. The pointing out of such methods
of waste, with a view to their correction,
is a service either to the agricultural or
any other Interest But to use it as a club
to whack farmers into silence when they
complain of corporate abuses is the cheap
est sort of evasion.
Thus, if th.e Pennsylvania farmer com
plains that it costs him as much to ship
cattle to New York as it docs the Illinois
farmer, it is no answer to tell him that he
is wasteful. Whether a man Is wasteful
or not, he is entitled to equality in the
operation of the laws. If the instrument
alities constituted by the law establish a
practical inequality, the allegation of
wastefulness is no justification of the in
justice. We have no doubt that the agricultural
industry is not well organized for the
economical application of new improve
ments, and it is in many sections carrying
too heavy a burden of debt But we
doubt if it is the chief sinner in the mat
ter of wastefulness. Nothing in the agri
cultural line equals the waste which the
railway magnates allege of themselves, in
throwing away the resources of their own
corporations in cut-throat wars without
either ryhme or reason.
WAKE UP, PITTSBURG.
Pittsburg's natural advantages have
hitherto enabled it to indulge in an
apathetic laissez-faire instead of abso
lutely necessitating a lively energetic
pushing of its Interests before the coun
try. But these be days of keen competi
tion, and the natural advantages must be
great indeed that enable their possessor
to take things as they come without losing
ground in the contest In the interview
with Colonel Roberts, published in The
Dispatch this morning, the eminent and
energetic engineer remarks: "WestTir
glnla is certain to be developed. If Pitts
burg assists in the work it will share in
the benefits. If we stand aloof we may
create a dangerous and hostile rival."
The time has come for Pittsburg to
choose between increased activity with
progress or inactivity with that progress of
others which involves its own retrogres
sion. Pittsburg must march to a livelier
tune; It must relinquish the dawdle for
the quickstep. It must seek out others
and not be content to let others search for
it Natural advantages must be made the
most of by artificial improvements. Trans
portation facilities must be made to in
crease and multiply. This way lies su
preme prosperity for Pittsburg, the other
way will mediocrity be found. And of
this new departure of public spirited and
co-operative effort, a recognition of West
Virginia's importance to Pittsburg should
be among the first practical demonstra
tions. A bUGGESTTVE DECLINE.
A recent article in the New York Trib
une points out that the course ot prices
in England and this country since 1860 has
been practically identical. Take 20P
articles which in 1860 cost $100, and tills
year they would cost in this country
$79 39. In England, according to the
table of the London Economist, the de
cline from the average standard of $100 In
1860 would be to $79 31. In other words,
while the-table shows that the decline has
gone on m both countries, differing only
by 8 cents in the hundred dollars, it was
therefore apparently uninfluenced by the
variation In the tariff policies of the two
countries.
But what the two financial organs do
not do is to suggest an explanation of this
general and world wide decline. It Is
not scientific to accept sucha phenomenon
without seeking Its cause. It is well
known that the course of prices is not al
ways downward. For a decade or two
before 1860, and indeed for a decade after,
there was a steady enhancement of
prices due to the enlargement of the
world's stock of money by the California
and Australian gold product Since the
contrary operation set in, evidently some
time later than the dates of comparison
in these tables, It Is not illogical to ascribe
it to the contrary cause the diminution
of the world's stock of money, begun about
1873.
The Dispatch has often expressed the
opinion that a large share of the apparent
depreciation of silver was a real apprecia
tion of gold. These strongly concurring
tables of the depreciation of commodities
would suggest a 20 per cent advance In
gold and about a 12" per cent decline in
silver as the true statement of the
matter.
AN OLD HUMBUG REVAMPED.
The brewery corporations which were
capitalized at double their value a few
years ago and unloaded on the British
public have turned out so unsatisfactorily
that a fresh move is considered. The new
proposition is to convert the whole aggre
gation of malt, hops and water Into a sin
gle concern, with an alleged resemblance
to a trust
It is worth while to remember that when
the original jobbing schemes were going
on The Dispatch pointed out that their
sale under an indefinite idea that they
would command the profits of monopolis
tic trusts was simply a scheme to sell wat
ered stock to the confiding British invest
ors. It was simply selling a dollar's
worth of property and a dollar's worth
of water under the false representation
that it was worth two dollars. The Dis
patch predicted that it would not take
lone for the investors to discover , that
they Jiad been fooled. The suggestion of
a trust to. bring the whole mass of infla
tion into a single balloon is a tolerably
good verification of the prediction.
The new plan Is of course mainly in
tended to unload the concern on a new
aHB PITT'BBUE "DISPATCH, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27,, 1892.
set of Investors by recapitalizing an old
concern on a new basis. Any monopoly
in brewing being utterly impossible, the
degree to which combination is carried is
almost universally an exponent of the
attempt to impose fictitious values on the
public. It would be idle to conjecture
where this process of gulling the public
will attain Its own defeat The appetite
of investors for such shallow swindles ex
hausted our stock of wonder long ago.
T It was a pity for Senator Hill and a pity
for the country that he ever changed his
sphere ot scheming from AlDanyto Wash
ington. New York State is more accustomed
to politicians of his stamp than is America,
and .m.lt man la orr fr.n rift TnnrG Successful
in a small area than in a larje one. A man
whose every effort is devoted to seir-interess
4 nnt nn nniTnAiit tn the United States Sen
ate, and the number of such will decrease
as citizens or tuis repuuno sniuwa u a
proper sense of their duty at thespolls and
make a proper use of their power.
Always do the innocent suffer with the
frailty. These days the man of moderate
habits and bilious temperament has to sbaie
the unfeeling contempt of Tiis fellows with
the glutton whose over-indnlgenoe of a
greedy appetite has disturbed the usually
smooth working of a well-arranged interior
economy.
, j
There is every reason to hope that the
story is true which ascribes the attempt to
unite the organizations of railroademployes
into one Immense amalgamation to a desire
to avoid strikes during the pressure of
World's Fair traffic The sense of responsi
bility must increase with labor leaders as
their power grows, and thepresclence which
oA-a that tnlilfi nntn!ftn wnillfi inevitllhlv
be antagonized by interference with the
success or the Exposition is in Keeping witu
the vi!e conservatism of the men said to be
arranging this consolidation.
An outgoing administration that regards
as "barnacles" on the ship of State, and
talks of discharging government employes
for their failure to "deliver the goods" at
the last election, is setting its successor a
truly magnificent example in the practice of
civil service reform.
Quarantine outranks the tarifi in im
portance just now, and it will do so until
measures have been trained to make the
protection of this country from foreign dis
ease as perfect as is possible. There is no
excuse for a partisan consideration of the
matter. A Federal quarantine system, well
equipped with nil, that modern science de
mands for its efficiency, is essential to the
nation's safety ana must be arranged.
It is hardly dignified, to say the least,
that Allegheny oounty should be dependent
on individual enterprise for a public neces
sity like the morgue.
Dynamite explosions at Dublin Castle
will prove the most effective arguments
with English people against granting home
rule to Ireland. Irish friends of home ruie
must surely be awake to the fact, and should
demonstrate their antipathy for such acts
of barbarism by publishing their disappro
bation thereof and lending the authorities
every help in their efforts to discover and
punish the perpotrator.
ParceIi carrying as a disease is rapidly
losing its opidomic form, and remaining
cases are to ho regarded as morely sporadlo
manifestations.
Good roads are a necessity to the eco
nomic conduct of the larmer's business, yet
fanners fail to organize and agitate on be
half of them. Good roads are a necessity to
the enjoyment of a 'cyclist's recreation, and
the 'cyclists have formed the strongest sin
gles body working for good roads in the coun
try. Surely business is more important than
pleasure, and the agriculturist is as far
sighted as the wheelman.
What with football in the snow and the
customary after effects of the Christmas
dinner, doctors are In great luck just now.
Before Americans devote half as much
attention to the preservation of health as
they now concentrate on the pursuit of
money there will have to be a notable
change in the time taken for meals, in the
number of seconds left for ohaslng street
cars or suburban trains, in the arrangement
of municipal garbage systems and in other
matters too numerous to mention.
As the number of kindergartens in this
city and country increases, so will the ne
cessity for Jails and poor larms diminish.
- Apart from all considerations of ex
pense, itis manifestly ridiculous to advo
cate the free delivery of mall matterin rural
districts, the roads of which are impassable
for about six months out of the 12. When
farmers appreciate the advantages of good
wagon roads sufficiently to secure them.free
delivery will be comparatively easy and in
expensive. ' This is cold weather for swimming. But
a'cork Jacket should be provided with every
pair of skates.
Mexico is so accustomed to lawlessness
of one kind or another as to be rather fond
6t border robbers and petty revolutionists.
-The case is.somowhat otherwise in these
United States, and neither effort nor ex
pause sbon'd be spared to maintain law and
flrmiy.establislf safety ot lite and property
north of the Bio Grande.
FAYORITES OP F0R1TJXE.
Ex-Judge Charles P. Daly is the
oldest "first-nighter" in N6w York. Heat
tended Edmund Kean's American debut in
1321.
. There is talk of Mrs. Hearst, widow of
the wealthy Senator, intending to leave
$,000,(XIO for the establishment or a museum
in San Francisco.
The baby daughter of Lady Grauby was
recently christened in London, ber god
mothers being a duchess and an actress,
while her godfather was Arthur Balfour.
B. Henri Taylor, who is said to have
invented baby carnages, was found by the
Waltham, Mass., police the other day in a
starving and mentally unbalanced con
dition. The young Duke of Orleans holds the
memory of his grandfather in profoundest
veneration. He explained to a friend that
he never eats peats because his famous an
cestor never did.
Dr. De Witt Clinton Ghees', formerly
dentist; to the Emperor Dom Pedio of Brazil,
and for fourteen years past a resident of Bio
de Janeiro, died of malarial fever Oct. 29.
lie was about SS years old and wont to South
America from Baltimore. '
Cerillo Villa verde, the Cuban pat
riot and novelist, who has resided In New
York for the last 10 years, sailed for
Cuba to spend the rest of his days in his
natlvo land. He is now SO years old and
quite infirm, mentally and physically.
In recognition of his services rendered in
connection with the brilliantly successful
performance of "Carmen" at Windsor Castle,
Sir Augustus Harris was presented by Her
Majesty with a diamond and ruby scarf pin,
with the royal and imperial monogram and
crown, and Mdlle. De Lussan with a diamond
brooch, bearing a similar device.
Ex-Judge Noah Davis, ot New York,
has said of the proposition to extend the
rights of suffrage to women in that State:
"There is a love of Justice, virtue and hpnor
and a discriminating intelligence in women
that will force corruption out of politics,
and make men better, purer and more fit to
take part in the management of publio
affairs."
Gen. James B. Swain, of Sing Sing,
and his wire celebrated their golden wed
ding quietly yesterday. The couple were
married on Christmas evening, 1812. Gen.
Swain and Mr. Horace Greely went once
into partnership, but dissolved in 1810. The
firm was known as "Horace Greely & Co."
Tboy started the "Log Cabin" and were co
editors of It. Gen.. Swain later edited the
life and letters or Henry Clay.
A LOOK AROUND.
There are certain complications in the
local political fight which remind me or a
story which used to be told by Captain Will
iam Biddle, ot Allogheny. During a hoten
gagement the General in command was gal
loping from one part of the lines to another,
accompanied by Riddle. Presently they
came upon four soldiers carrying a stretcher
upon which lay a wounded man, pallid, dull
eyed and apparently In a very bad way.
Just then a shell exploded in the midst of
the group and there was a general scattei
ing. The smoke and dirt cleared away, and
there was nothing to bo seen of the little
party except one man, who was running
away rapidly. "Come baok, yon infernal
coward!" shouted the General; "come back
and take care of the wounded man." The
runner halted long enough to shout baok,
'Don't worry. General, 'bontme! I'm the
wounded man."
i
"Iasi pleased to see The Dispatch
take np the idea of a training school for
young worklngmen and women," said a
workingman to me yesterday. "I know
many an apprentice, mill worker and other
wage earner wlio-is anxious to learn the
scientific rudiments necessary for him to
have to advance In his lino of work. It can
not be done by-books alone nor can many of
the men who are skilled themselves trans
mit the knowledge they have to others.
They have learned many things by years of
hard experience and there are numbers of
them who merely know that if they do cer
tain things in a certain way the result is so
and so, but why itis so thoydo not know
nor do they know how to change their
mothods. It would be a Godsend to have a
school modeled on the Cooper Institute
here."
From the point of view of those behind
-the coun ters of the stores it has been a highly
satisfactory Christmas. Business of all sorts
has been very good and in some lines it has
been better than for years. A wholesale
dealer in fancy goods and novelties told me
ho had sold almost twice as much in money
value as he did last year, and he was not an
exception, lie thought, to the trade rule.
Jewelers have harvested a cr6p such as they
have rarely had before. Everybody says
that it wasjiot the big buying of anybody
which made things lively, but it was the
large increase in the number of buyers who
spend liberally. Tbere does not seem to be
any business scare ahead, and good times
back of us has produced a disposition to be
generous.
How busy the recording angels most be
these cold evenings on the corners up town
as the crowded cars go by and refuse to stop
for people waiting with arms full of bun
dles. The field of Christmas gifts has widened
so wonderfully of late years that it is noxt
to impossible to think of something worth
buying which is not on the list. Those I
have heard of this year range from a hand
some East End house and lot, given by a
father to a son who expects to marry soon,
to a qnall, cooked by a leading cateror.whicp
ajoung lady gave her terrier. It appears
to be a time when the average rather is
eliminated except as a provider of funds or
a porter of packages. "Do the men buy
many things or tout" asked a drygoods and
furnishing goods dealer of n Jeweler. "Asa
rulo thoy do not," said the Jeweler. "A
good many of them come into nyr place, but
they usually have some lady with them
whose decision settles the purchase."
"That's the way it is with us," chimed in a
toy dealer: "the mothers, wives and sisters
do about 75 per cent of the buying and the
men do the paying and the carrying
home."
In spite of all the talk of other candi
dates, it looks, at this distance, as if General
D. H. Hastings would have things pretty
well his own way in the next Gubernatorial
contest. He has the solid support of the
Philadelphia leaders, the Pittsburg people
seem to prefer him to any outside candidate
and hair a dozen country leaders have de
clared for him.
I am told by an old man who has -had
much to do with the financial affairs of the
Econoinites that their accumulations do not
at this time amount to more than three or
lour millions at the utmost. For some years
they have beeri unfortunate in many of
their investments and several of their in
dustrial establishments have caused losses
Instead of bringing in profits for four or five
years.
Christmas dinner is a thing of pleasure
of course, and part of the "one day in the
year when all is cheerfulness." There were
a good many people in ,the East End who
felt the lorce of this. They depended upon
natural gas. That alluring and flamboyant
article, after behaving in a shabby way for
several hours, took a day off. It 13 pleasant
in a houso with the thermometer at zero and
no coal burning stoves or grates. It is
especially cheerful to have the servant girl
appear In an ulster and a horse blanket and
ask if you want to look at the turkey which
has been frozen so hard it seems made of
wood. It is nice and inspiring to look at the
gas saving arrangements in tho grates and
stoves which will be rained if you burn
coal on them that is, they would bo if you
had the coat You put on your overcoat.the
children go to bed, your wife's sealskin or
Inverness coat appears, and when you try
to pick something up you find your fingers
stiff. Then you rush to the telephone. It is
dead The line is crossed or the snow has
bnried the wires or something else has hap
pened. Then you go to the cellar to "ao
something to the furnace." Gentle reader,
did you ever do something to tho furnaco
when all else had failed? Was it a gas fur
nace? If you have had this experience you
know how well the Eitchon chairs hum
whou properly cut up and how the various
usetulboxes and ban els disappear in tho
blaze. Of course there is no coal. Even
your neighbors have none to lend. Fifteen
minutes of this sort of thing is enough.
Somebody suggests, "Let's go to town for
dinner." It is met with distinct favor. You
dress in a hurry. It is calculated to encour
aee and to make yon realize the spirit of
Christmas to try to button your shirt witb
mittens on. At last the lamily gets together
somehow. Theie is a rush for the cars. On
the way to town the day is made more
cheerful by the kindly inquiries of friends
in regard to Blelghridos and "what did you
get?" Then your wife nudges youand whis
pers: "We forgot all the new plants do you
think they'll freeze!" Then you arrive, you
eat a hotel dinner In company with waifs
and strays who have no borne. It is a well
established rule that everybody who has a
home stays in it on Christinas. Then you
leturnto reconnoiter. The girl greets you
with a smile. "Gas on?" "Oh, yes; plenty
of it. Came on about ten minutes after you
left. Man came and fixed the pipe. Shall I
cook the turkey?" By this time what with
the hotel dinner and the cold you are so
numb you cin't even swear.
I HEAR one store which is directly
affected by holiday trade took in $67,000 in
one day, Saturday, the 17th, and almost as
much one day the following week.
There is considerable gossip afloat that
in a short time there is to be a notable
breach of promise suit here, with damages
somewhere from $50,000 to $100,000.
IN the.' way of steady, well-developed
and unencumbered nerve, something
which took place in. one ot the large stores
last week heads tho list. A fur mutt valued
at $25 was reported missing by the clerk in
charge of tne department. Next day a man
came in who said he had bought a mutt
which did not suit bis wife, and he wanted
his money back. He produced the stolen
mutt, which at first was not recognized by
one of the subordinate clerks, but tho chief
clerk knew the article and caused the man's
arrest. After a stout denial the thief con
fessed that he bad taken the muff and had
tried to pawn it. He could only get $3 on it,
and was not satisfied with this sum, so ho
decided to (o to headquarters and by a bold
play get what it was worth. You do not
find them much bolder than that.
Walter.
Not Boom for Both.
Chicago later Ocean.
Democrats are coming in and gold is going
out. Mako room for the wildcats.
AMEBICAN WOMEN CATJQHT-
Some of the Panama Muck Has Soiled Their
Precious Garments.
Gath in Chicago Tribune. 3
Tho Panama Canal catches several Ameri
can womoti who preferred Frenoh assidui
ties to American consideration. Mrs. Loubot
is the daughter or Mrs. Burch, of Chicago;
Sirs. Clemenceau is a Connecticut girl. Sadl
Car not, also, is timid of this vastest of Credit
Mobllier scandals, though he is of the blood
or Carnot the Incorruptible.
No man is incorruptible. Men can be as
cruel as the first Brutus, yet not puro. His
tory reveals to flawless character. Dpon
the background of human infirmities is
limned the portrait of the unexposed hero.
In low and bare conditions of society the
ehier temptations are meanness, sordidness,
want or proper sacrifice for tho society and
the substitution of superstition and selfish
hypocrisy for honor and citizenship.
Farther up, where rich cities like Borne of
old and Paris now disdain all public opinion
hut their own, extravagant lire makes in
roads upon the publio and generous heart.
The promoter unfolds a christian dream.
De Lesseps hears the Macedonian cry:
"Come over to Egypt and help us!" As in
the days of French chivalry, a thousand
swords leap out. and we bear the cry ot St.
Louis again: "On to Tnnis, on to India!
Mountjoy St. Denis."
But in the endeavor to do the great crusade
in physics both the recipient and the pro
moter lose their virtue.- The Khedive has
long been a reinzce from the land which
achieved the Suez Canal. Shall not that
promoter also meet his fate tho family
scarred, the cockolried, the senile Lesseps?
Yes, the slow pendulum swings back irora
the son or Mahomet All to the legislative
chambers of France. As the Copts and cool
ies were buried in that great ditch of com
mercial physics, the French peasant, owner,
the bourgeoise cry from disappointment:
"Our money is buried also in that ditch at
Panama, that second Suez. Bring out the
purloineis!"
Often the most generous men become the
corrupt ones. We see Bobcrt Morris, the
flnincierorourBevolutlon, becamo so reck
less by his almost lawless power or raising
money that he ruins every friend helms.
Pitt, Intent only on putting down the France
bis father scotched, leaves to England his
debts of nearly a million and Parliament
must pay them, as ho bad undoubtedly
corrupted it like Lesseps.
0DK HAIL POUCH.
The Domestic Gas Supply.
To the Editor of The Dispatch:
Tho Philadelphia Company gave out dur
ing the summer assurances that any
domestic consnmer contracting with them
might rely implicitly upon a full supply of
gas during the winter, as manufacturing es
tablishments would be cut off ir necessary
to meet domestic demands. Uponsuch
assurances those who had the fixtures in
let them remain and faced the increase in
price, while many put in gas fixtures and
paid their deposit to have gas turned on.
When John Doe or Richard Roe make a con
tract with a corporation or individual to
supply tuem with any aiticlo and lall to ful
fllfthe provisions or Baid contract the law
takes hold or them and foroes fulfillment of
contract or payment or damages to cover
amount ofloss sustained by non-fulfillment.
Why should this corporation not be treated
as an individual by the people who. upon
the riist pinch of cold, are unable to even
approach comfort by reason or a short sup
ply or gas? How many become ill, contract
colds resulting in pneumonia or consump
tion tbereriom? who can say, and who
shall compute the damages?
That the shortage Is a real shortage or gas
for domestic use, hut caused by greedy
attempt to supply manufacturing plants
also is clearly demonstrated by the fact that
on Sundays and holidays gas is abundant
whereon week days only a faint glimmer
can be coaxed to show. If some sufferers
w ould club together and bring suit for dam
ages any court would, in all probability,
award them. And perhaps a lew such suits
might convince the corporation that the
people have some rights beyond that of
shivering and begsing a better supply.
PrrjsBUEO. Dec. 25. Sujtbrmi.
A SIGN IN THE SET.
How Superstitions Texang Size lip a Re
markable Bed Glow.
Galveston Newg.3
Biizxhah. Dec. 12. The sky was red as
blood this morning. People" who were out
as early as 1 o'clock observed the whole
heavens overspread with a bright red tint,
not simply in the east, as is the case Just
before sunrise, but in the west as
well as the east and north and
south and overhead. There were no clouds
observed at first, but later they benn to
form, and they were a bright yellow or
golden color. At sunnse these tints faded
away, the clouds grow thicker and rain
began falling, and has continued to fall all
day long.
One of two men, in speaking of the red
skies, said they observed the same phenom
enon just before the war, and a few of the
superstitious argue that a calamity of souin
sort will soon befall the people. Sevoral
negroes said they were scared when they
lookod up this morning, lor tboy thought
surely the comet had arrived. No one nas
jet given a satisfactory explanation of
what caused the unusual glow.
COMIJiG BACK OP CHOLEBA.
Fresh cases of cholera at namburg. Now
let Congress pass the Chandlorbill prohibit
ing immigration for a year, or forever if
necessary. 0tto State Journal.
With cholera, diphtheria and the hoop
skirt beaded for this devoted country, the
World's Fair year will not be a season of uu
allojed bliss. Minneapolis Tiibune.
Tee demand for a national quarantine is
general. Tammany is good enough to elect
a President, but it cannot be trusted to keep
out Asiatic cholera. Indianapolis Journal.
The statement which comes to ns from
Hamburg that the cholera is still lingering
in that city, does not furnish pleasant-reading
in view of the possibilities of the future.
Bo. ton Traveller.
The cholera news is not yet positively al
arming, but itis sufficiently sorious to Justify
early and thorough precaution against a
possible epidemic during the coming sum
mon "A. Louis Globe Democrat
The law against the admission of panpers
and criminals from Europe to the United
States should be extended at once to effect
ually shut out all whose personal habits are
such that cholera delights in their society.
Kansas' Oily Star.
The most careful sanitary precaution
should be taken in every city to avoid invit
ing an epidemic. The examination of all
persons coming from Infected countries
should be rigid and a strict quarantine
should be maintained. Washington Herald.
One can scarcely measure the suffering
and damage caused by a cholera epidemic,
which paralyzes trade and business of all
kinds, and, by depriving the people of work
and healthful recreation, predisposes them
to fall victims of the disease. Philadelphia
Ledger.
The country should have a national quar
antine, and should have ngents established
in Europe to inspect immigrants so as to pre
vent those suffering from contagious or in
fections diseases from coming to this coun
try. This cannot be done under the present
quarantine system. Savannah News.
O Rare Harrlty!
Atlanta Journal,'
The Pennsylvania Democrats aro making
much or tho national chairman who has
come back to them with the laurels or vic
tory on his brow. They are Inclined to say,
Oil, for the rarity
Of men like Harrlty.
Under the sun.
Call a Halt, Uncle Jerry.
Chicago Dispatch.
"Another cold snap is coming," eheerrully
reports the Weather Bureau. Great ScottI
What do you call this? We're not all of us
Eskimos.
A Itegnlar Tammany Hall.
Indianapolis News, J
A Pennsylvanian is training a chorus of
frogs. It is pretty difficult to establish uni
son,as there aro so many kickers and croak
ers amona them.
Obituary Notes.
PATEICE.MASAOAN. of 109 Second arenoe, died
yesterday, aned . of consumption. For several
j cars the deceased hid opcrnt-il marble cuttiug
uurksou Fltth avenue, lie had a targe clrclo ut
fncuris.
CAPXAIS J. II. Putnam, who was Consul Gen
erar to Honolulu under President Cleveland, Is
dead at Clillllcothe. O. He was an ex-State Sena
tor, was private secretary to Governor Allen and
was a well-known newspaper man. ,
PUSHING THE WORK.
Pittsburg ladles Anxious to Have the Free
Klnd-rgarten Idea Developed Here A
Gala Day for Orphans Cotillon at tho
Pittsburg Club Society Gossip.
Miss Lucr "Wheelock, who has made
the study or tho kindergarten system her
life-work, but who has yet .found time to
write a number of good children's stories,
and tn act as editor or the Children's How, is
to lecture Wednesday afternoon at tho Fifth
Avenue Ladies' Seminary on kindergarten
work. Miss Wheelock comes to Pittsburg
at the invitation of the Allogheny and Pitts
burg' Free Kindetcarten Association, arriv
ing to-morrow morning. She will pe the
guest of Miss Etta Stewart, or tho seminary.
Pittsburg 13 near the head in everything
except in the free kindergarten work. This
city is the thirty-seventh of the large cities
of the United States to take up the work,
and it is desired by tho ladies interested
that Pittsburg shall push itself forward in
this direction so as to make a good showing
within a year or two. The ladles think that
there would be more interest in kinder
gartens if the system were understood, and
it is to promote this understanding that
Miss Wheelock has been induced to come
here to deliver her lecture. It is considered
that society girls should show their interest
in the matter by becoming members or the
Kindergarten Association, even if they can
not do anything else. Next Satnrday morn
ing at 10 31 the ladies of the association will
hold a business meeting at the Fifth Avenue
Seminary.
Making tho Orphans Happy.
A prettier Christmas sight than the 400
little children marching to the music of a
brass band into the large hall ot the Tanne
hlll Street Orphan Asylum, and taking their
seats to receive their Christmas present:
was not to be found in PittsDurg yesterday.
The children ranged In age from 1 to aDout
It years of age. The girls were oil in white
aprons, which fluttered like snow clouds as
they climbed into their seats, demure but
expectant, and the boys were resplendont
in their holiday neckties and best clothes.
The gleam of Joy that sprang into their eyes
as they saw the toys and candles brought
for them was touchinz as well as pleasant,
and it would have been a good thing for
people who have too much in this world,
and seokforanew sensation, to see what
happiness could be brought to these poor
little waifs through the generosity or those
to wliom fortune nas given me power.
Christmas Sleighing Parties.
The arrival ot snow and Christmas sim
ultaneously resulted in a great getting out
or sleighs yesterday, and the merry jingle or
bells that hOO. been silent for a year rang out
on the clear frosty atniosDhere.and sounded,
a pean or rejoicing in the ears of the Jolly
parties that wore taking advantage of yes
terday's legal holiday. The sleighing was
pronounced good everywhere, and a num
ber of parties were made up, the goal being
country and suburban houses, whore danc
ing and a Jolly supper awaited the travelers,
with a pleasant ride homeward in the early
morning, well wrapped up in fur robes and
warm garments.
The First Dinner Dance. v
Among the few fashionable events of last
night was the cotillon of the Pittsburg Club.
It was the first or a series pr dinner dances
to be given by society leaders, and was en
joyable enough to warrant the assumption
that they will be one of the delightful social
Institutions of this winter. The hostesses
of the dinner parties were Mrs. A. E. W.
Painter, Mrs. Mark VT. Wntson, Mrs. Sewell
and Mrs. II. D. Denny. Mrs. Josoph B. DII
worth and Mrs. Henry Sproul received the
guests at the dance. There was a large com
pany, and the warmth and brightness within
made a pleasant contrast to tho bitter cold
outdoors. The dinners and dance were
thoroughly successful.
A Wedding at Llnmore Station.
A wedding that will interest Pittsbnrg
ers to a considerable extent is to occur this
evening at Linmore station, Ft. Wayne Bail-
ay. It will bo that of Miss Gertrude Edith
Machesney and Mr. T. Harry Dolan. It will
take place at the residence or tho bride's
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Machesney.
A Tea Party and Mnsic
A tea party and literary and musical
entertainment, under the auspices of the
congregation of St. Canice's Church, is to be
held in Turner Hall, Allentown, to-night
and to-morrow eyenlog. A. -bazaar will be
part of the programme, under the care of
tne ladies of the church.
An Informal JInsicale.
Tttts evenintr an informal musicals is to
be given by Mrs. J. B. Murdoch for her niece,
-.ir- -a .. nf Vt.tM v -v
iUISS Itt.k, Ul AJlUIA.Ck, A,
.Y.
Wedding at St. Pant's Church.
To-morrow evening is the time set for
the marriaee of Mis Emma Gray to Mr.
Bohert C. Gonderman, in St. Paul's M. E.
Church.
Women1 Slaking Snccessfnl Drummers.
A new avehue of employment for women
that is being pursued with a great deal or
success is seeking orders for large firms on
the road. The woman drummer has become
a recognized institution, and the number of
female salesmen is Increasing every year.
It is said that the persuasiveness that is
supposed to be a gift or the softer sex is ex
ercised with a great deal of profit both to
the drummer and her employer, and that,
white the men will not be driven out of the
business, any more than thev are oat of the
many professions Into which women have
made their way, they will have to make
room for their sisters, and acknowledae in
them competitors not to be despised. Most
oi the articles in which women deil are of
the refined and fanciful kind, such as paints,
artists materials. Jaces, etc Truly, the
woman or the present day cannot t-ny that
her field or usefulness is circumscribed.
THSEE NEWSBOYS' MITES.
One of the Features of the Washington
Post's Homestead Fund.
Washington Post..
Among the subscribers to the Homestead
Christmas fund will be found the following
names and amounts;
"Newsboys: Hlman, 5 cents; Abe Lewis, lcent;
Jacob Goldberg. 1 cent."
Little mites are these and they come from
little hoys, but for all that thoy bespeak big
hearts and generons sympathies. One cent
from Abe Lewis means that Abe knows
what it is himself. He has been there he Is
probably there pretty much all the time
fighting a rough-and-tumble fight with the
world, ' eking out a hard substance, and
buffeted by luck more often than blest, ne
is aware by personal experience, no doubt,
what it is tor children to go cold and hungry.
He has seen them, mingled with them,
shared privation with them. Possibly he
has little sisters in tills plight; possibly an
old mother, whose wants he is battling with
tho elements to supply.
At any rate, his he-irt Is in tho right place;
so is Jake's; so is Hlman's. whose gilt,
though more princely in size, is no more
princely in the spirit or It than the tinier
contributions or his associates.
Good boys are these. They deserve a
happy Christmas, and the Part trusts that
they will getlt. Thoy will have at least the
satisfaction of feeling that tbere will bo 7
cents' worthless or suffering in Homestead
to-day than there otherwise would have
been. As was said of a certain poor wioow
In the Scriptures, so be it recorded of these
LnWe. xxi:l-i: "And He looked cp and saw the
rich men casting tbelrgl.ts Into tne t-e"'1T: And
He saw also a poor widow casting In tnltner two
mitts: And He said; -era truth! sat unto you.
that this poor widow has cast in more than mey
ail; Forall these or their abuudance cast In unto
the offerings or God. but she of her penny hath
cast in all the living shehad. "
Eook Ont for TJnplacatcd Pranks.
Los Angeles Times.
Grover had better watch out or Dody Hill
will put a pin in that Presidental chair.
THE HAPPY SEASON.
'There's a hustle and a bustle in tho street.
The enow is trod to mud 'neoth many reel.
There's a pushing and a crushing
And ajaniminganda rushing
And iriend forgets in passing fnend to greet.
There's a flat and flabby feeling to the purse,
Thero's a masculine proclivity to curse,
Aid the Joyous Christmas season
Is the sole and slnttta lea-itm,
For jour wife will your whole salary als-
burse.
Chicago Times.
CDRI0US CONDENSATIONS.
Boston has one Chinese voter.
Newmarket jockeys earn 115,000
year.
The word "girl" occurs but once in the
Bible.
In battle only one hall out of 85 takes ,
effect.
There are 30 towns in America called
Washington.
Michigan's murder roll for 1893 is tha
largest in the State's history.
Since the year 1868 there have been 25
interments in Westminster Abbey.
Nearly 7,000 Eussien convicts hare
been sent to Siberia since April last.
It is stated that the Russian Govern
ment is about tq, purchase the telephone
system.
Iron bedsteads are about the only kind
of hardware exported from England to Da
mascus. The average duration of lives in tha
United States is 17.3 for mechanics and 53.1
for lawyers.
The death penalty has just been re
sumed in Switzerland. For 25 years it had
been abolished.
Stockings made of human hair are worn
by Chinese fishermen as a preventive
against wet feet.
Jerusalem is still supplied with water
from Solomon's Pools through an aqueduct
built by the Crusaders.
The town of Groton, Mass., has the dis
tinction of having furnished eight-New Eng
land Mayors of prominence.
Two educated negro women at Vasten
have begun the publication of the first news
paper in tho Congo Free-State.
The total appropriation, by Congress
last year for the propagation, distribution
and investigation of fish was $203,000.
It is stated that it has cost the United
States Government over $1,000,000 to collect
the $73,000 for which a dra:t has Just been
turned into the United States Treasury.
The cheapest dress made by "Worth, the
Parisian milliner, even if of cotton, does not
cost less than $150, and this ho calls his
"pauvrette costume" the poor girl's dress.
Dogs have long memories. Simon Slade,
of Bethlehem, Pa., cut off a pup's tail two
years ago, and since then the dog attacks
mm nneneveric sees mm, aitnougn genua
as a dove to other people.
St. Chad's Church clock at Shrewsbury,
which was made last century, has a longer
pendulum than any other clock in Great
Britain. Its pendulum is 22 reet long and tha
hail four reet three inches in circumference
and 203 pounds in weight.
Japanese women put up their hair with
wooden, ivory or tortoise-shell pinr, seven
or eight inches in length and fully half an.
inch wide. Tho pins are usually carvod and
fitted with pivotal figures, which dance with
every motion of the wearer.
The Duke of Edinburg's Stradivarics
has a notable hUtory. The Duke received
the instrument, which is extremely valu
able, from the late Duke of Cambridge, and
the bow was presenced to him as a wedding
gift by the late Sir Thomas Gladstone.
A blotter can be mad 4 that will remove
ink spot3 from paper. Take a thick blotting
paper and 3teep it several times in a solution
or oxalic acid or oxalate orpotassinm. While
the ink spot is moist apply the prepared
blotter, and the iuk will be entirety re
moved. There is an art in making a coal fire in
a grate. An expert first clears the grate,
then fills it full of coal, on which is built a
wood fire. The wood ashes on top of the
coal, it is said, prevent its rapid consump
tion, and a fire thus constructed, burning
slowly with a moderate heat, will last all
day.
Not many people stop to think about
it, but the outside or a lemon is anything
but clean, iryou will look at It yon will
see some tiny spots, like tcales, all over it.
These are the ergs of an inect, and if tho
lemon is not washed thoy are likely to be
come an ingredient in whatever dish the
lemon is used for.
The French newspapers tell of a very
Interesting match that came off in France.
Two women in good society challenged each
other to talk fast. Each was to utter as
inanv words, as possible in a fixed time. Each
woman talked thrto consecutive hours. One
uttered 203,500 Words. The other won tha
match with 2O8.0S0 words.. .
An electrical Journal that gome" tlma
ago called attention to the advantages ot
electric roads for the freight carriage of tha
farmer now returns to the subject with the
express assurance that a comparatively
short time will see the construction of many
ciuntry trolley roads. It points out that to
day a large proportion of the American
farming area is within touch or the 500
towns and cities that now enjoy trolley
traction.
A curious story is told of the recent
funeral of nn old farmer of Maine. Tho sons
placed their father's remains in a rough coi
tln and took a short cut through the woods.
A deer crossed their path. Depositing the
collln in the oushes, they ran back for their
dogs and gnns, and were soon on a glorious
hunt. Other game turned up, the hunt was
prolonged and it was not till tourdays after
ward that they remembered their lather's
corpse in the bashes and returned to bury it.
This is probably the strangest epitaph
in tho United States: "Here is laid Daniel
Barrow, who was born In sorrow and bor
rowed little from nature except his name
and his love to mankind and his hatred of
redskins: Who was, nevertheless, a gentle
man and a dead shot, who through a long
life never killed his tiinn except in self-defense
or by accident, and who, when he at
last went unt"er beaoath the bnlletsof his
cow ardlv enemies In Jeff Morris' saloon, did
so in the sure and certain hope of a glorious
ind everlasting morrow."
At a certain mineral spring in an East
ern State the cups that the patients drank
from were fastened by a brass chain to an
iron bar which inclosed the mouth of tha
bubbling spring. The drinker was pre
vented from coming too close by another
iron railing about eight leet across. The
ground about the spring was naturally
moist, and it was either this ground or tho
iron'Tvhlch was one or- the ends' of an open
electric circuit. The cup held by the chain
was the other end. The person drinking
simply completed the circuit through the
bodv, and. when he had finished the at
tendant kindly and immediately removed
the cup from his hand.
FLIGHTS INTO FTJNNYDOM.
"Yes," assented Mrs. Smith, "she has
pretty face, but I think that it has aTrather hard
expression, don't you?"
That's because her complexion Is enameled,"
Buffalo Express.
He (angrily) My dear, I think that yon
have forgotten what you promised me at the altar.
She-No, I haven't forgotten it. I didn't pay
any attention to it. I was trjing to remember
what you promised me. Jete Xork Herald.
Husband (to wife at the theater) Have
yon hrousht the opera glass?
Wire Yes. but 1 can't use it.
"Why not?"
"I rorgot my diamond bracelet." Texas SV
ings.
THE PBETTT MAID AXD THE SIISTLITOX,
Beneath the mistletoe she stood,
As sweet as sweet could be:
He kissed her red, ripe ruby lips.
The while he squeezed her finger tips.
And rosy red blushed she.
His wife came tn, and caught him tbere.
Result a racy scene.
The wire now wears a sealsiln new,
Tne maid was paid what was her due.
She has a new posish la view.
As a sweet potwrestler quern.
Brooklyn Eat
Bunker Nice hat of yours?
Hill Yes. That cost me $3.
Bunker-1 thought you. woa it on the election.
Hill Did. I bet with my wife.
The Clothier and Furnisher.
"I wonder what would become of you ii
I were to die."
"jow that's so Inconsiderate or yon. Why
couldn't you have entertained such ideas as that
when I was younger and better looking, if yoa
choose to entertain them at all?" protested hlf
wife. Indianapolis Journal.
Slangleigh That girl u ont of-sight
rrecise-Crazy?
Manglelgb-or course not. Way did you think
ao?
Precise "Oat of sight, oat of mind." yoa
know. -Detroit IretPru.