ttmir ttrtir irnt rnirn Vfv
nuw ikw yukiv anuFS.
$20,000,000 Pass Over the
rui nunudy
s n&o -s ves
Some person with n love for large
figures bns siiiilthat in Christum week
820,000,000 is bunded over counter
of tbis city as tribnto to Snutn Clans,
says a New York correspondent. Tbnt
nm may sound snspirionsly frreat,
nd the statistician might be charged
with the evil of exaggeration, but when
it is remembered that gifts for 3,000,
000 of people are purchased bore $20,
000,000 do not seeui too large for the
total. An Average of a trilte over 80
per person is large, or small, Accord
ing to the financial rank ol the reader,
nd in New York it is particularly dif
6onlt to strike a fair average, because
of the extremes of poverty and wealth.
The Fifth avenue millionaire gives
bis wife a $30,000 diamond necklace,
while the father of the cast side brings
joy to the heart of the child of the
tenements with a gaudily painted ten
cent toy. One Christmas, a half a
dozen years ago, William K. Vander
bilt gave his wife, now Mr. Belmont,
pearl necklace that cost nim $1,500,
000 to gather the fifteen feet of stringed
pearls together. That same Christmas
more than one child found delight in
HOW NEW
nickel toy. Christmascs back John
D. Bockefoller sent a check for $100,.
000 to the Fifty-seventh Street Baptist
church as a holiday offering, and the
same day the organ grinder of Mul
berry Bend dropped a couple of cop
pers in the plate of tte Italian church
In Boosevelt street.
' So muoh for the extremes of Christ
mas giving in New York.
Fully one-half of the Christmas
hopping is done the day and the night
before Christmas; not one-half financi
ally, but numerically. The moderate
ly poor, the poor and the very poor
must wait until the very last minute
to get their smalt funds together for
the great event. The money gift of
the employer to the bread winner of
the family is mado the day before
Christmas, and often times the extent
of that gift determines the scope of the
Christmas shopping for tho family.
Again if Christmas comes near the
end of the week, as it does this year,
many will get their week's pay on
Thursday night.
Another potent reason for delaying
the shopping to the last minute is that
things are oheaper on Christmas Eve
than earlier in the week, Toys and
games and clothing have suffered from
the rough handling, there are rips And
tears whioh, however, can be easily
sewed up; paint has been scraped off,
parts of games lost and numerous
other mishaps have occurred, all of
which induces the shop owner to make
material redaoation in his prices.
Again, he does not want te carry a
ingle piece of his Christmas stock
over for a year, as he loses the use of
the monsy. So he is eager to mark
things down to the real oost, or trifle
below, if needs be, to get rid of them.
People who have to watch the pen
nies are quiok to recognize these ad
vantages. So Christmas Eve is the
great shopping time for the lower
part of town and the East side. Vesey
street is the Christmas Eve stamping
ground of the old First and Fourth
Warders. The people for the most
Jiart of this diatriot esteem themselves
noky if they can spend $2, and as this
am has to supply the Christmas din
ner, as well as to bring Santa Clans
to an . abnormally large letnlly of
children, sharp bargaining mast be
One.
l ath carts Hue the streets from
r 'tlwtj to the North River, and al-
Great City's Counters
i mugs, .j.
e "ifv "ce ?y sv nwp'
most anything from heavy clothing,
household furniture, kitchen utensils,
to tiny gimcrack toys can be bought.
Ten cents is tho prevailing price for
the average run of things, and at a
squeeze this can be brought down to
nine, or even eight, cents.
Grand street is the centre of the
great Knst side. The l'owery boy
buys the Howery girl a nincty-nine-cent
diamond ring there, and she
reciprocates by purchasing a seven -caret,
seventy-tiine-cent diamond stud.
Women with seven or eight children
toddling along in open-mouthed won
der manage to get through the nlorni
ing enroll with theirtrancelike charges
in some remarkable way. A man with
a hobby horse on one shoulder, a ve
locipede in bis hand, a Christmas tree
nnder his arm, big dolls sticking out
of every pocket, a dozen packages held
in some miraculous manner in tho
other hand, stops and buys a five
pound box of candy for forty cents,
stows it away somehow, and goes on as
happy as tho millionaire riding through
the l'ark in his victoria.
Tough girls not above sneaking a
YORK BrEXDS IT8 MILLIONS FOB, HOLIDAY GIFTS.
roll of ribbon under their wraps, were
it not for tho hordes of detectives
which fill the stores of Grand street,
buy to the limit of their purses, but
buy sharply.
"Iam going to buy a bennie for
Jimmie," says one to her friend.
"Say, mister," to the floor walker,
"where do I bny der bennie?"
"Hey?"
"Der bennie? What floor is youse
selling them on?"
"The bonnie?"
"Yes, yer hnngry-Iooking guy, der
bennie. Don't yer spose I'se got de
prioe? I want to bny a bonuie like
dia." Here she caught hold of a man
wearing a blue overcoat and held the
coat for the others inspection.
"Oh, a coat ou the fifth floor,
front."
"What d'ye ti'nk of tint? De guy
didn't know what a bonnie was. Ho
must be new on Grand street." Then
they take the el ova tor and she tells
I c
the man to let her off
'where dere
I sellin de bennies.
i Fourteenth street and Sixth avenue
U where the biggest part of the city,
'
Ik goodly seotion of Brooklyn, A large
part of Jersey and h big portion of oil
the suburban towns within fifty tnilet
of New York do their shopping.
Hlggcst Sweet Potato Grown
A K:inns fanner, John Graham, of
Abilene, has grown a sweet potato
which lie snys is the largest in the
world. It is twenty-five inches in cir
cuinferenco and niuo inches in length.
It weighs nine and three-quarters
pounds.
Wedding ThrrniM.
In certain parts of China the young
women wear their hair in a long, single
plait, with which is intertwined A
strand of bright scarlet thread, which
denotes them to be marriageable.
WERE BORN IN 1813.
Lsdlei Who Claim to Be the Oldest LIv
lnic Twins In the Country.
The claim of the Newell brothers, of
Missouri, that they are the oldest pair
of twins in the country, will not hold,
according to a correspondent of the
Chicago Times-Herald. Mrs. H. H.
Johnson, recently of Kankakee, HI.,
and now of Omaha, Mob., and Mrs.
David Xogglo, of Janesville, Wis., are
one month older. Those ladies are
tho twin cUiklron Polly M. and Anna
31. of iionjanun and Eumoe Mosher
Lewis, and were born at Bristol, N. Y.,
May 20, 1810. They were the young-
est ol nrtaen children. The twins
went to Milan, Ohio, when about
seventeen, married there, and in 1837
Mrs. Koggle came to Wisconsin to live
the life of a pioneer. Mrs. Noggle is
a woman of native ability and can tell
many interesting tales of early life in
Wisconsin. She is the mother ol
seven children. The sisters are both
in full possession of their faculties
and art as aotive as women ol sixty.
are.
JlT4-tl iniAB.
Latent Style la Halrrtresslng.
The latest styleof halrdresslng, thai
of the Duohessn d'Angonleine, dnuah-
ter of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoin
ette, which was the popular vogue in
the early part of the century, when the
bonnie duchesse was exiled to Eng
land, is having a revival in France, It
is said that seldom have Parisian ele
gantes encountered a fashion more dif
ficult to revive than this one. It is a
most complicated method of hairdress
ing, but porhaps for this reason it is
likely to be more popular. In order to
accomplish it it is necessary to draw
the hair straight tip from the nape of
the neck, tie it firmly on the top of the
head, and then arraugo it so as to imi
tate bows. There must be a parting
from car to ear, but it must not be far
back from the forehead. All the hair
bohind this division must be brushed
dack and tied together with the back
bair. The front hair has a central
parting. Thero is on arrangement of
short curls brought into a bunch at
each side by means of a side comb, or
SEW FORM OF CrttFFtmB.
thero may be a group of coques to right
ami lert of the parting. These coques
were originally called "comb curls,"
because they were not allowed to fall,
but were stillly arranged and held iu
place by small combs or hairpins.
Olil Clinrrh In Virginia.
One of the very few old churches
still standing and practically un
changed is St. Luke's, at Hmithville,
Isle of Wight County, Va. It was
built iu 1(13'.!, as attested by tho date
ou some of the bricks, under the su
perintendence of Joseph Bridger,
whoso descendants still live in the
county and worship in the church.
The records of tho family, which are
unbroken for a period of 150 years, es
tablish the data of the building of the
church, and are full of interesting de
tails of early colonial history.
It appears that St. Luke's was or
iginally so well built and of such ex
cellent material that no repairs were
made to it until 17i)7, 105 years nfteY
its completion. At Hint time it was
ordered "that Feter Woodward do the
shingling of the church with good cy
pres shingles of good substance, and
well nailed, for 700 pounds of tobacco,
300 pounds being now levied." It
was again rcshingled iu 1821, eighty
four years later. Chicago Inter
Ocean. A lleinnrknble lint.
The Cincinnati Zoo boasts a curiosity
in the way of a white rat. It closely
resembles a miniature whito boar and
has two long tusks growing out of the
sides of tho mouth and curving upward
to fully twice tho length of tho head.
The rat is not more than a week old.
Its parents are the ordinary white
rats, beloved of the small boy, as also
are its brothers and sisters. Being in
a cage, somewhat removed from view,
no one paid partieular attention to the
white rut fumily. When the little
monstrosity was disoovered ho was
nearly a week old. The keeper
promptly removed him from the rest
of the family and is bringing him up
most carefully. When molested the
IIAS TUSKS LIKB A BOAR.
little thing grunts like a pig instead of
making tho noise common to its kind.
A Psoplo Who Cannot Make Fire.
The Papuans of the Malay ooast of
New Guinea are still in the most primi
tive state. They are wholly unac
quainted with metals and make their
weapons of stone, bones and wood.
They do not know how to start a fire,
though fire is used among them. When
a Russian asked them how they made
it tire, they regardbd it as very amus
ing, and answered f that when a per
son's fire went out, he got some of a
neighbor, and if all the fires in the vil
lage should go out, they would get it
from the next village. Their fathers
and grandfathers had told them that
they remembered a time or bad heard
from? their anoestors that there
was a time when fire was not known,
and everything was eaten raw.
The natives of the southern coast of
New Guinea, having no iron, shave
themselves with a piece of glass. For
merly they shaved with flint whioh
they could sharpen quite well and used
with considerable dexterity.
School Children's Eyesight.
Out of 25,000 sohool children ex
amined in Minneapolis, 8000 had de
fective eyesight. The highest per
centage of defeotion was found in a
poorly lighted and unsanitary build'
iug.
A law of the State of Massachusetts
prohibits towns from offering more
than $300 as a reward for the arrest
tud cvnvictlon of a murderer.
1 STATE CONDENSED
WOULD HOT RESPOND.
Coldler to be Court Martlslad at lebanon for
Derertion.
flon. .T. P. fl. (lobln. cr.mmandor of the
Tlilnl brigade, N. (1. 1'.. hns aiti1tite
nllieers to sit on the general court mar
tial to convene In Lebanon Rules' arm
ory on Monday, December 20. A charge
of desertion hns been brought against
Fetor J. iJabm, a private of Company
H, Fourth rpRlmrnt. of Lebanon, who
failed to respond to the rail to go to
tho Hnzi'lton region during the Into
strike. The court Is empowered to henr
nny other cases that tuny lie brought.
This Is the llrst ca.e of the kind every
tiled In the Pennsylvania Riinrd. There
Is talk of other members of Company
II. bene; courtmnrtlaled. slnie of whom
It Is said have violated the rules.
The following Pennsylvania pensions
vere granted lnt week: Luther M.
Furst. Alloonn, tin; Hugh Hutchinson,
Irwin, 8; John O. droves, Couders
port. $h; Mlehnel TJoker, Lamonvllle,
f: Herman Knock, Huxonhurp;, $10;
John M. Hoblnson. Krle. (8; William
Deter, Daxzam, $X; Henry Lloyd, (lend,
New Hrlichton, $10; Thomas Kltkndden,
imnan nun, in to S12; Peter H. Mason.
Handy I.akrt, 16 to ; Valentine Hmlth.
sohnstown, S to JI2; John l. Thomp-
m, mark I.lek. Jfl to JR: Thomas J.
Humes, Hradford, $8 to $8; Alexander
II. Mahon, Deny station. SB to IS:
I'.pni-Re I j. Fumer. Athens. $-4; Otho V.
Iiyroad. Johnatown. JK: (Catherine Mee
ker, rittnbure;. 18; Elizabeth Crls-inmn,
Ptnlekshurtr, 18; Catharine HluhntiRh,
I'rnlna, $8; minor of Harmer N. Denny.
cllllesple. $10; Annie I.. MeCulloiiprli.
AVllmerdlnir; Henry Now, New Ilrlith-
ton. $S; Hamilton Vandersllce, Pltts
hnrn;, $8; Fulton ShlnRloderkor, Hrook-
Vllle. in: Dnnlel Hover. Ilalllett. 8 to
$12; Charles Thurston. Corydln. $8 to
$12; Hotiben Itlee, Neshannoek Falls,
$12 to $17: I.uany Church. Smethpoit,
$8; Mary I.. Ulshop, Oil City, $8; Henry
Hniim, Harvey. Ureene county, II ;
Hathaway Hallenlieck. F.rle. $8; Wes
ley F. Oosserd, Conemaugh, $8; Abra
ham Myers, KeekbutK. Jl; Pnmuel
Hond, AllcKheny. : Wllllnm Woter,
Allegheny. $: James K.('Hrlen, Mill
Village, $H to tU; Matilda K. Cook,
Hollldavnbiii'R, $3: MuiRaivt llorplik,
Pittsburg, $S.
A terrific exploslr.n of gns In the
Clear Spring mine at Plttbton will cohI
three men their lives. The reinarkabl"
escnpe of seven others from a living
tomb forma a thrilling Incident of tho
accident. The Injured men are Adam
lonnvlleh. Peter Donnvltch and Alex
ander Dnrhraxtey. The tlrnt Intimation
of a nilKhap was when the earth vio
lently shook and tnttsed whole blocks
f houses to sway hs thoucli an earth-
tpinke were In proRiess. The explosion
blew brntthes to pieces and gient
masses of coal and rock obstructed the
work of the rescuers. The seven en
tombed men escaped bodily harm, and
re rescued nfter several hours' work,
tine of the men who excaped said a
runaway car had knocked loose a prop.
Till fell nnd with It caved In a mass of
rock, the deadly gns escaping from the
opening thus caused. The mine Is bad
ly daimiped.
Two parties were organized nt Khe
dive, Greene county, to engnRe III a rnt
hunt. Pquads of men with dogs and
grubbing hoes, pitchforks and steel
traps, scoured the country. When the
hunt closed tails were counted, with
tho result thnt the side led by Capt. K.
II. Davis scored 1,719 and Cnpt. W. N.
Chrletopher. 1.21:1. J. C. Aresford kill
ed 384 rata, 10. II. Davis 314. Ilobert
Itlch 22 and several others over 100
each. The prize was an oyster supper.
Luther L. Miller, a business man of
Mycrstown. committed suicide Thurs
day night rather thnn face n charge of
forgery. Miller was accused of having
forged Ihe nume of Henry H. Ioose, of
Mverstown, n Indorser to a note of 16"..
When a constable went to Miller's resl- I
lence to arrest him he asked permls- I
Ion to go up stairs. A few mlnuten
later the report of a revolver was heard.
James Coffman, of Halt Lick town
hip. when he awoke tho other room
ing found that In the night some per
sons hud cut down all the trees In his
orchard and the vines In his vineyard.
The moonshiners have a grudge against
Coffman. They accuse him of disclos
ing the location of the illicit stills of
lohn Whites and Wllllnm Pletcher,
whic h were recently raided. Coffman ,
hns received threatening letters, one of
which Hated that his barn was to be
burned.
Mrs. J. M. Wilson, of Mlllbrook, was
cleaning nut an old closet In her kitch
en last Thursday and throwing tho
rubbish In the kitchen stove. A pack
age, which she supposed contained
hellebore, was dropped Into the fire.
Immediately ther'j waa an explosion.
Tho stove was blown apart and Mrs.
Wilson sustained serious Injuries. The
package contained gunpowder.
A tract of coal land embracing about
1,000 acres In German township near
High Houfio has been purchased by
Frank J. Hearne, proprietor of tha
Rlveislde Iron works at Wheeling and
operator of three Iron furnaces, the
price paid being S:0D per acre. It Is the
Intention of the purchaser to Increase
his block to l.r.00 acres and begin uhlp
ping coal to Wheeling as soon as pos
sible. Edwin H. Heldler, who was convict
ed of murdurlng his brother-in-law,
Levi Krelder, over money matters, was
rcfu."d a new trial at Knc, unil sen
tenced to bo hunged by Judge Walling
a few days ago. HeUllitr escaped from
Jail while awaiting trial, but was re
captured. Hla will bo the first hunting
In liiio county for SO yean.
Thomas Tate, of West Balem town
ship, for whom Lisbon, .. and Green
ville officers havo hven searching, was
arrested a few days ago at Conneaut,
O. Tate Is wanted at Lisbon lor steal
ing a team, c f horses from II. II. Hob
lnson. He la alao wanted for forging
a check at that place.
The oil and supply house at tho Cot
sralno colliery, operated by A 8. Van
wlckle, Hazclton, were destroyed in
a mysterious manner by fire a few
days ago. During tho lite coal stiik'
Vanwlckle's breaker at lKavermeadcw
was burned.
M. Helnze, a Johnstown merchant,
last week made an assignment to J.
Q. Rtewart, his father-ln-hnv, for the
benefit of his creditors. Assets and lia
bilities, which are not known, are ak
however, to bo equal.
While George Smth. of Bmlthton,
was absent from home for a few hours
an unknown man attacked his wife,
rbtbed her of $65 and knocked her
senseless to prevent an outcry.
John Hnlllngsworth, a prisoner In
Altoona'a lockup, fell off his sleeping
bench the other day and struck his
head on the floor so violently that a
blood clot has formed.
George Sellers, of Charlerol, secured
a verdict' of $442.50 against that bor
ough for false arrest Sellers was ar
rested because he refused to pay his
dog tax.
By the bursting of his gun a few days
ago, Btephen Nemikl. of Shamokln,
had his right (get blowa off.
CONGRESS,
Bonis.
Washington, Dec. 7. tn the house af
ter the adoption of several routine rt
solutions the house heerd a message
from President McKlnley, transmit'
ting the report of Special Commission
er Handy relating to the exhibit of the
United States nt the Paris exposition.
A dlnciiHslon as to the proper com
mittees to consider tho president's cur
rency recommendations followed.
The uftmoon of Friday, December
17. was set npnrt for memorial oxer-,
clses on the denth of the late Congress
man Holman, of Indiana, and In tho
nfternoon of Tuesday, January 18, for
memorial exerclxes on the death of
Senator Furl, of Hmith Carolina.
Grosvenor, of Ohio, addressed the
house on the civil service law, nnd se
cured the earnest attention of the
body, anl especially of his republican
r.olleagtles.
"I agree with the president," he snld,
"when he snys thnt there are places
under the civil service law thnt ought
not to be. P.nt I must differ from him
when he snys thr.t the law has met the
approval of the people. If you will go
west of the Allegheny mountains and
submit the question, "shall the civil
service law, as now administered, bo
continued?" S5 out of every 100 would
vote against It."
December S. When the session of the
house began Mr. Walker, of Masachu
setts, moved nnd the lvuse agreed, that
the committee on banking nnd curren
cy be permitted to sit during the ses
sion of the house. W. A. Stone, of
Pennsylvania, reported the pension ap
propriation bill, and gave notice that
he would coll It up for consideration.
Washington, D. C, Dec. 9. The house
entered upon the consideration of the
pension appropriation bill, and stirred
up a debate that promises to continue
for several .days. John Allen, of Mis
sissippi, presented a Berles of amend
ments designed, us he said, to correct
some of the most glaring evils. They
prohibited tho granting of pensions tn
widows whnnc ppplleatlons were not
filed during their widowhood, and the
granting of pensions to widows whose
applications were based on marriages
contracted after the pn.isngo of this
act, and to permanently Insane or Idi
otic minors who hud reached their ma
jority. It was admitted, on both sides
of the hnuss. during the discussion,
that the $140,oO0,l(m curried by the bill
for pensions would not cover the ex
penditures, hut as congress would be
Iu session. Mr. Cannon tnld It would be
easy to make roik! nny deficiency that
might occur. ir. Allen disclaimed any
Intention of-attacking the rederal sol
diers or the pension rolls. Hut he said
he could not but mnrvel at the fact
that 976.000 names were now on tho
rolls, nnd that thero were 600.000 appli
cants In the pension oHlee. There had
been but 2.2on,Ki0 men In t!.e federal
nrmy, and he was reminded of a meet
ing between nil ex-confrlernt(. and ex
federal at nt a blue nnd gray reunion.
They were felicitating thcimietvci on
the disappearance of all hostility.
Washington. I). C. Di e. hi.-The
house passed the pensl"n appropriation
bill without amendment and ndj mined
until Monday. The dchnt tomh-d not
only the question If our pension policy,
but that of civil service reform and
the receipts nnd expenditures of the
trensury under the Dinglev law. On
the latter question Mr. Diugley made
nn Important statement In which he
expressed t ho opinion that the re
ceipts would equal the expenditures
before the' close of the present fiscal
year and predicted n surplus cf $10,
000,000 next year. The civil service law
was snvagely attacked by several
members.
Senate.
Washington Dec. 7. The openlny
prayer In the senate Tuesday was by
Hev. Chnrles Perry. D. D.. of Wolver
hanmpton, Kng.. and was ordered to bt
printed In the record
A motion was mado by Mr. Lodge
(rep.. Muss.) to take up the immigra
tion bill. It was resisted by Mr. Gear
irti.. in. I, Willi iiiKinicii ugi.iu lilts nec
essity of action for the settlement of
all matter-s pertaining to tho Pacific
railroads. Hu added thnt he proposed
to Introduce a bill tomorrow giving the
president full power In relation to the
Kansas Pacific sale. The matter was
discussed for a few minutes and with
out coming to aiiy definite conclusion
It went over, nmf the senate adjourned.
Washington, Dec. 8. In the senate
the bills Introduced and referred were
tho following: Hy Mr. Hawley Itep.,
Conn.), for two additional rvgtmcnts of
artillery. Hy. Mr. Gallagher (Itep. N.
It.), -regulating and dellnlng the civil
service of the I'nlted States.
Mr. Allen (pop.. Neb.), oeered a reso
lution declaring It to he tho sense of
the senate that congress should "with
all due and convenient speed, ack
nowledge, by appropriate act. the po
litical Independence of the republic ul
Cuba." and he addressed the senate In
Its support.
Ho declared that he would not be con
tent or satisfied with a simple acknowl
edgement of belligerent rights, but
would demand absolute and uncondi
tional political liberty,
.Mr. Allen declared .himself also "a
strong sympathizer witn the struggles
of the Irish people to liberate them
selves from the galling yoke of Ilrltiah
tyranny." The resolution was referred
to the committee on foreign relations
and then at 1 p. m., the death of Re
presentative Wright, of Massui-huiiettH,
having been announcd, the senate ad
journed. '
Washington. D. C, Dec. 9. Senator
Oalllnger. chairman of the committee
on pensions, called attention to the ln
creasing demand for private pension,
legislation and requested senators td
be careful In tho future ia see that their
bills for private pensions were meritor
ious before they were Introduced. Sen
ator Hoar presented a petition signed
by 21,269 natives of Hawaii, protesting
; against the annexation of those Inlands
to the United States. An attempt wan
made by Senator Mctlrlde to secure an
appropriation not exceeding IJ&O.00O for
the relief of the Klondike miners, but
the net result was a rsolutton calling
on the secretary of war for all Informa
tion ha had on that subject. An hour
was devoted to the consideration of
private pension bills and forty-live
were passed.
THE BUDGET FPU 1898.
An Incrcnia or 40,9118,015 Orer tin Kitl
matas for tt Current Yaar.
The book pt estimates of appropriations
for the flsoal year, beginning July 1 next,
shows aa inoreasa of (40,928,915 over the
estimates for tho current Hsoul year, and
21,980,103 more than the actual appropri
ations for the same period. The total Is
462,047VM5, as against 1421. 718,970 for the
present yettr and aa appropriation of S430,
007,777. The laoreasa is inmle up almost
entirely of estimates for fortinoatlonsand
river and harbor Improvements.
Of the latter Secretary Alger says that
iuo (oiai appropriation is not expooiua. oai
he desires to show what the projector lm-
firovomenU will show when oompleted. It
reoommended that tho salaries ol the
three Assistant Heerstartes. of Btetebeta
creased, the First Assistant from S4&00 to
SBOOO, snd th second and third from tWOQ
to S1500 ea?h.