Evening Star Newspaper, November 30, 1889, Page 10

ae THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, ——————>— EEE The Naval Academy at Annapolis and Its Surroundings, ——— The Old Town and Its Modern Institu- tion —Scenes About the Academy Grounds—Where Cadets Learn Sea- manship—Old Vessels in the Basin, ati There are not many people here in Washing- ton who realize that within a few miles of this City, with all its modera improvements and Bineteenth century life, there is an old town redolent with airs and memories of a couple of generations ago, fragrant with rewi- niacences of colonialism, full of history. The fact that Annapolis was founded in 1649, or 240 Years ago, is sufficient ground on which to ¢laim for it at ta well-seasoned foundation. Set in the midst of the most valuable relics of | two centuries is one of the most beautiful, pic- turesque spots in this part of the couatry, the Bava! academy, au exponent of the latest ideas im science and art, in sharp contrast with its surroundings. DISTINGTISHED VISITORS. Not long azo the Secretaries of State and Navy took down to Annapolis the foreigners who are now in Washington as delegates to the ss and the international id a STAR reporter with | at his & photographic ap; along to seek for new th Annapolis it looks a little mor perhaps. than trees are in full leaf. Leaving ¢ tion one turns into the mosty old town, where the bright uniforms of an ocea- sional navui oflicer show of weil op jan mighi spend state capitol | modern, « ebanged. affords a re somber 2g the river $ acres belonsi lim ver, they have be (the west us it 2 northeast corner of | ely on a peint of land which imguth of the river. at the cut, a neat brick waik le where lic (i ou their train's ve | iu practical sea j y a of Tur § the inner f wharf was occupied by the old stories high, stripped of her yards. spars and guns, and hi d over witha There she 1} of ship build- box in which 1 port aud fhe white ouse. and the peeping up ie. ola ship stuck in the s frigate antee, several beyond her is a store i bowsprit that are seen still further b je meme . ake bay in sight of land in a roaring gale. She has been repaired and has crawled back to be a part of the ce fleet. ies the Wyo ons burde On the left, ont of Rew practice ve jug. A is about ots. it will be | Way suitable to be built for the training of of the odern type and in eve THE COMMANDANT'S HOUSE Returning to the quadrangle again the visi- tor cannot fail to now a handsome, modern- Tined residence on the east end, with its back to the bay, a sort of interloper among its more sedate neighbors built betore the war. This is the h of Capt. Sampson, the present super. in nt, whe + wife and his daughters do valiant work in the good cause of making every Visitor believe th uapolis is the most beau- | tifnl spot on - The house fronts on the | green plaza, which is broken through the mid- e by an irregular, wide line of huge eims and oaks that bave bien simding for years and Years. On the right baud side the turf is clear of trees and brust and is lined with a row of brick buildings daa agreeable drab. ri ht, down toward Fort ation buildings, dormitories, | A two-story structure, with wings on either side, is called THE “SEAMANSHIP BUILDING,” wherein the cadets reseive their instruction in the artof making, manning and sailing a ship | of war. In oue of the lower rooms is a large model of a ship, full rigged, every stitch of canvas spread to the still air, every rope Stretched, every pully greased aud all ready to be set in motion but for the fact that it is onl half a ship and that it has uo hull and no keel. Nevertheless it serves to show the boys what stays, main stays, eye bolts and mariime spikes look like. Upstairs are various models, chow. ing the methods of construction and one or two ii ting the development of ship building. To sccentuate this an old model stands in one @orner, the type of a Dutch frigate of a cen. tury or so ago. It is bluck, hump backed, shapeless, with its hull studded with patterned Projections for decorative purposes, but sadly endangering the speed of the awkward craft, She has ueither stem nor stern, being equally Found at either end. A few fect to the west of the seamanship building stands a huge piece of sculptured wood—the head of Tecumseh, the figure-bead of the old ship Delaware. It is kept painted white and is reverenced by all. cadets, officers, visitors, It commands respect, for it towers high above the heads of passers in a lordly, @ignified manner, unnoticing, unconscious of the stir, contemptuous, There is an air of oe adds ao the cs persti among handed down ‘on class to cliss, that ‘passing Tecumseh on the way to seamanship F courts, | moments pract lesson any man who neglected to salute the old fellow would surely fail in recitation. Hence it is that as every class that tramps down the brick walk to lessons the old wooden Indian each cadet iifts hat or touches his visor. Wl; MaRerrpgyineowrea ae j j \ bleak = THE HEAD OF TECUMSEH. ‘The chape! stands next to the figure-head, a modest building thut looks like a Greek temple. Astage of gencrous size and a gallery afford accommodations for entertainments. und the opportunities thus offered are seized by the officers and their familicw. who find it rather difficult sometimes to pass the winters in the academy grounds without being a trifle bored. The ¢ during the year. re lined with glass cases reach: f, containing the batile flags that have been captured by the United States navy from foreign powers. THE ACADEMY BUILDING, as the main structure is called, forms the west- ern end of the quadrangle, facing east. It is facetiously termed by the cadets ‘the watch factory.” for some reason uni ible to the extends the building which is devoted dets for gastronomic and sommolent purposes, The dining hall is on the frst floor, looking out over the river on the end, Everything is nertness and ord napkin ring of uz cadet’s nam metrically phies of a ye A style, marked with the ach plate, which is sym- contain tro- by yarious classes in 3g, foot ball and pistol years gone by in bow practice, ‘THE DORMITORIES are on the upper floors, where the same degree of tidiness prevails. It would seeza that noth- ing was outof place. Each room odel an iron bedstead, a table, two washstand, ‘obes and two elves. There ornment or decor- everything is plain and clean, ation: TO THE HEROES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. Back of the building isa small play ground, in one end of which are the cadets’ tennis favorite game of foot ball. it is rather see them seurrying around, grapphng each other, fighting for the bull, in their neat, close-titing uniforms, their little short jackets snug around their atten- uated waists, One of the bondsomest ornaments in the academy grounds isa tall white marble shaft in trout of the main building, surrounded b: basbe 4d by au iron chein fastene aon, planted muzzle down- Ttisintendod to perpetuate the memory of the g who fell in the American war with A i aud Tunis THE JAPANESE BELL, Further down in the grounds toward Capt. Samypson’s house a littie wooden pagoda stands in a bower of trees, overtopped by the giant elms that stretch their arms to heaven. This is the cover for a highly ornamented bronze Japanese bell that was brought from the far eust by Commodore Perry on his return from his memorable trip around the world. It was formerly used as the academy bell, on which the hours were struck in true ship-shape style, but of late a new American-inade bell has been provided, which now stands down near the fort, aud the tongue of the foreigner is silent, wave when 4 mischievous cadet steais ont in the dusk and raises the echoes with a revival of its long- stilled voice. —_>___ CORN-KERNEL PORTRAITURE. Picture of an Indian Maiden in Cereal Form at the Agricultural Department. An art-work of @ queer aud novel sort, in mosaic, is to be seen just now in the office of the assistant etary of agriculture, Mr, Willits. It is about four feet high by three and one-half feet in width, and represents an Indian maiden called “Minnehaha.” The pice ture—for such it looks from a little distanco—is found, when ono serutinizes it closely, to be composed entirely of different species of corn, It is, in fact, an exhibition in small compass of all the varieties of corn grown in the state of Missouri. The frame of the picture is made of large black corn, each kernel nailed to the wooden surface, which the thickly-set grains entirely cover, by a single tiny brad. Indeed, all the kernels composing ‘the mosaic—and there are many thousands of them—are fas- tened on individually im the same manner, ‘The sky in the picture is made of white corn and two or three trees of red and black corn, #0 exseiraeng 4 combined, as to give the effect’ of rauches and foliage a little way off. Beneath the trees stands the Indian maiden, her head- dress of brown sot alice corn, her frock of brown and dark red corn with an ornamental cdging of yellow and white corn, her stockings of red corn with yellow corn stripes. Her flesh-tints are well represented by a pinkish corn with the grains set up on edge instead of laid flat, the brads being driven through edge- at position very Wise so as to hold them in tha close together, the result being a smoother effect. The bow upon which Minnehaha leans is made of kernels set up on edge also and the same device is used for most of elaborate features of the contrast that greatly assists The ground is made to —— All the evidence has been taken in the trial timore and the of the Navassa rioters in In the upper half the Inds spend odd | ‘D. C., SATURDAY, NO ER 30, 1889—TWELVE PAGES. IN THE DISMAL SWAMP. An Oasis Made by Enterprising Farmers in a Watery Desert. WALLACETON AND IT$ NEIGHBORING HAMLETS— RICH FARMS RECLAIMED FROM THE SWAMP— CORN THAT GROWS TO ENORMOUS HEIGHT— WHAT PLUCK AND GOOD DBAINAGE BAS DONE. Correspondence of Tar Eventxe Stan. Wattacrton, Va., November 25. Wallaceton is a little hamlet in the very heart of the Dismal swamp, threo miles from Lake Drummond and at the north endof the summit level of the Dismal Swamp canal. To the stranger going up the canal on the little steamer, after pussing through miles of unbroken forest with no sigus o: life ou either hand, the first sight of the level stretch of country ahead, covered with vavt fields of corn and the cottages or more pretentious mansions scattered here and there, preseuts a striking contrast to the surrou: dismalness and suggests an oasis in a desert. At takes its name from Geo. T. Wallace, but recently deceased, who owned vast timber in- terests in the swamp and here made his hone when a poor youug man, nearly half a century ago. ‘Phe magnificent Dover jarm, ceivbrated asl over the siate for ite fertility, will stand as a monument to his pluck aud perseverance. It is situated whoily on ste west side of the canal. No man had ever before attempted to redeem eny of the lands west of the canal, flooded as thoy wore the greater portion of the year by the waters of the overt) w: e, avd it ws thought to be only f tsucha fl as to try to cultivate there. Mr, Wallace bade the wi and cleared and drained a whieh he b y cul on that he would extend of the lake itseli. ed as it iv, so near the cen- ‘arm to the « Jiaceton, witn: ter of the of its lands and its industries will indicate to ested in the future development of ricuitaral resources of the swamp whet is possible in this direction. ‘THE FIRST SUC SEUL ATTEMPT to cultivate lands so near the canal and the ke dates from the opening of the northwcst canal, which counects*tie Dismal swamp ca- ual at Wallucetou with the Northwest river et the head of navigation. ‘Lhis small waterway, by draining considerable swamp land through which it passed, proved # good thing for the owners of lands in the vicinity of what is now Wallacetonu, as it made it possible to drain a large pumber of acres which might have re- mained swamp to this day, It was found after the Dismal Swamp canal had been in successful operation for a number of years that such a conuection with the North- west river, as above described, was demanded by the trade of that part of North Carolina bordering on Currituck sound and its tributa- ries, whose only way to Nortolk was by the czr- euitouy and often dangerous route up Albe- marle sound to Elizabeth City, N. C., and thence through the Dismal Swamp canal to Norfolk, It was seen that the distance to market for the products of this rich section would not only be decreased but that by ope: ing up and giving this section ¢ portation facilities (he revenues of t canal would be considerably mere: this proved to be true. but the Northwest canal was doomed for # short life, as the open- ing in 1800 of the Aibemarie and Chesapeake canal uot only completely rendered this canal uscless us a waterway but crippled the com- of the old nal to a large extent, canal, more commonly known eanal,” was begun and completed ectious of Henry Garrett, who was at time the superintendent oa the Dismal Wainp canal and a man of cousideruble wealth 1 intiuence in his time and a large owner of switup lands, Air. Garr self dug the first spadeful of ich marked the beginuing of tue “little and named it after the river which it elled. ‘There were two locks located near par: each terminus of about eight fect fall each. s bas been said the ‘iitle canal” ceased to upon the opening of the Aibemarle and oupeake canal, which, as is well known, joius A Currituck wound and the Luzabeth river, und, | being much deeper aud wider than either the older waterwi admits the passage of vessels of larger draft. or quste ell its trade diverted to its larger rivui, the “little canal” was abandoned. A dam was thrown across at its juncture with the mother canal, the locks were opened and ever since it has been used as a drain for all the adjacent farms, but more recently it was excavated a distance of three miles by Mr, Wallace for the purpose ot taking off the water from his Dover fi in order to do this _he constructed at great e: pense a culvert underneath the Dismal Swamp canal and turned the waters into the dry bed of this immense ditch, Itwas atthe juncture of these two canals, now nearly filty years ago, that Win, C. Stew- art settled and begin to reclaim what was the FIEST FARM RECLAIMED from the Dismal swamp—certainly it was the first attempt to cultivate lands so near the canal on the other side of which water was deep enough for boats to float among the trees and reeds, Some time after this Mr. George T. Wallace settled near Mr. Stewart and began Wwhat3s known as the Glencoe farm—now a most valuable farm and on which the first bale of hay ever raised in the s ap Was grown, Long before this place was settled there were other farms farther off to the east of the canal, on the stiff clay ridge soils to be found around the edges of the “Dismal,” but in the swam proper Wallaceton claims to have had the pioneer farmers, Mr. Stewart died immediately after the war, before he had begun to realize his fondest hopes of improving and enlarging his estate, but Mr. Wallace was spared many more years and succeeded in making his property before his death among the most valuable in the county of Norfolk, At the junction of these two canals is Wal- laceton. It was for a long time known as Lake Drummond, but upon a petition of its citizens to the Postmaster General the name was changed in 1880 in honor of its first and fore- most citizen, Mr. Wallace, Wallaceton is situated sixteen miles from Portsmouth by road (#ix miles of which is a shelled pike) and the same distance by water. It is four miles from Lake Drummond by way of the “feeder” and about three miles in a direct line. The facilities for communicating with the outside world are two mails daily—one from the south in the morning and one from the north in the afternoon—besides a tele- graph office, 4 SUPPLY STATION. Wallaceton is a supply station for all the laborers who work in the swamp around the lake, and its three stores have considerable trade of this kind, ‘There is 4 large saw and planing mill imme- diately on the canal, besides a smaller mill for shelling and grinding corn and hackling the husks, the latter industry haying become of considerable importance in this vicinity. The husks are prepared andshipped in bales to northern mattress factories, Another mill of this kind is doing a good business, combining a cotton gin with its other machinery, ‘These stores aud miils are all situated on the canal bank, and the steamers and vessels which ply through the canal can land at their doors, THE TOIBER from the lake,principally juniper logs, isbrought down the “feeder” in large flat boats, called “lighters,” and piled for miles along the canal bank, where it is loaded as required on larger flat boats to be transported to the mills at Deep Creek and manutactured into shing’ tele- graph arms, &e. The scene around one of these supply stores on a Saturday when the swampers have gathered to draw their supplies is of interest to those who have never seen the “eullud brother” in all his glory. Good humor prevails among such a crowd, and they amuse themselves by relating some marvelous tale about an encounter with a “bar o'er de lake,” or dance and sing to the music of a greasy banjo, operated by the musician of the party, There are seldom auy breakers of the peace among these swampers, apd when there is a distur! it is casi to the cifects of too much le eon from some far-off ‘og shop. Wi has no shi Whlixy cannot be bought within sis’ or eight > at Dismal swamp, a deseription | =| spec: 3 | third ra “come out of the woods.” for only three or four years ago they were back from the public road in an out-of-the-way piace, with no mail facilities nearer than Wallaceton; now they are public and much traveied highway, and gry office with a daily mail, |. F. West is now one of the prime movers in a railroad scheme for this section of the county, and if his efforts should meet with success the iron horse will soon be heard rumb- ling through the forests of tho great rarer a PUBLIC SCHOOL MATTERS. “Miss Brown” Has Something to Say. To the Fditor of Tur EvexiG Star: _ AsT firmly believe that our public schools are the bulwarks of our national iiberty I watch the proceedings of our school board with not a little interest, and wished, when I read of the manly staud taken by Mr. Darlington, that I could take his hand and tell him how much I j honor him for his plucky fight in defense of | the merit system. Every talk I have had since | thea on the subject with those interested in such matters has shown me that I am only one of many in my admiration and that I express the sentiments of a goodiy number of our com- munity when I wish that he may “live long and prosper,” Another part of that meeting’s proceedings is also “mighty inicrestin’ readin’.” I mean that which refers to "a series of examina’ for teachers wh should be compulsory E in the style of the com- pulsory examinations for impossible promo- | tious 80 very jon: is AKO, it of me and money, worried the Tesuits—a maguiticent nothing. MOW THEY GET THERE, Let us see how our teachers reach their | positions: Here. say in the first grade, are three little tots, starting out on their road of learning. Two are always at the front, the | third lags just as surely behind. Grade after grade the ‘story is the same, anti transfers to the high school are made, number | three, being deticicnt as usual, is left oat and seeks sume other employment. The other two continue their course for three years louger at the high school, at the end of Which they “try” for the norma! school, with a hundred or more bright, ambitious girls for competitors; and here they all meet on a fair field, with no favor. Before the examination begins each picks up a slip contaming a number, which, afier having written her name on it, she seals up inan envelope, All ber examination papers she marks with the number thus chosen, and | only when they have all been corrected and marked aro the enveiopes opened and the names ascertained, Theu the percentage made during the three years’ high scnool course is added, and if the resnlt thus obtained happens to be among the forty highest she 1s one of the elect and everything is lovely; if not, well, | then—there are squalls often ‘and opinions that all was not quite fair. However, number one of our young ladies is among | the upper forty; number two is not, ‘The former puts in another year of extra hard work in the theory und practice of teaching and then gets a diploma and an assignment to |a first or second grade school, with a salary of $400 per annum. After some years of hard work aud having proved herself as capable she is “promoted” to, say, a de school, where the patience of Job, sdom of Solomon and all the combined cies of all the #: equired to produce o: suits. She succee munifi- ar and the prospect of “a inatioas which should be com- " Number two, in the meantime, obtained a government position and is iu receipt of €1.200 per annum, while number three, ry avo made an effort in that di- rectiou and feiled, as usual, in ber civil service | exayoination, has tu be content with a position on the luborers’ roll in the same department, which brings her an annual income of £660, Comment is superfluous, A SUGGESTION ABOUT PROMOTION. Now, before “any changes go into effect at the beginning of the year,” I very humbly beg leave to suggest « method of promotion which has only been neglected becatse it is vo ridien- Jously simple and fair. E Every supervising cipal mu. daty, be tho: | aware of y cach teach i division, He knows the qi and require- ments of exch school as weil, aud is, therefore, the only proper person who can justly recom: mend teachers tor promotion, AS he is to a | great degree responsible for the success of the {schools in his district it is to bis interest to roduce the best results by spurring on ambi- tious teachers and rewarding faithful and meritorious work. I know one of these gentle- men, a born educator, who been through most if not all his schools before the first day of the present school season was over, and who | knows to a dot just what is done or left undone | here, there and everywhere in his domain. At any moment ho is licble to appear on the scene, suggesting, siding, waraing, reproving, supervising in the full sense of the term, Surely, such as he sre the ones into whose capable Lauds such a trust as that of a system of promotion should be laid. ‘Miss Brows.” — Saturday Smile: The less @ woman believes in a man the greater the respect he is apt to feel toward her.—Mioaukee Journal, The man who objects to being dunned rather likes being found out.—Tezas Siftings, When a married woman goes out to look after her rights her husband is usually left at home with his wrongs.—Boston Courier. pastime in the present time, hough present tle is here; The present thne’s next Christinas time, And then pastime is near,—Goodall's Sun, “Noah must have been a good deal of a mete- orologist to see the flood.” “As well as an arkwologist to be able to get out of the way of it—eh?”—Harper’s Bazar, Bum—‘Why is the way of the transgressor so hard?” Pard—“’Spose because it’s traveled so much."— Chicago Chaff. “No,” said the boodle alderman, “I shall not lend my vote to such a thieving scheme.” And he didn’t lend it, He sold it.—The Spellbinder. The race is not always to the swift. A one- legged fat man can catch a cold as quickly us a sprinter.— Binghamion Leader. A Vermont woman, in extolling the qualities ofadomestic for whom she desired a pace 1 find concluded with the remark that “You wii her a very confident girl.”—St. Alans Messen- ger. ittle Louise was told that her grandmother had died and bad gone to heaven, and was asked if she didn’t want to be in heaven with her. “Weil,” replied the little one, “I would like to live with grandma, but I don’t want to go 8o early.” —Boston Herald, Fangle (reading )—“Edison often consumes fifty cigars a day.” Mrs, Fangle—“'I should think he would invent @ machine to do it for him,”—New York Sun. ‘The Young Man (bitterly) —“Ir that is your final answer, Miss Cabitf, be it so! There is oue refuge for the desperate soul—one last resting for the broken heart! Farewell!” The Young Woman (alarmed)—“In mere: name, Mr. Kedjoe, what are you going to do’ “Tam going to offer myself’ to Victoria Pol- hemus! (With a scream)—‘“What! Throw yourself away on that vinegar-faced old—stay, Charles! I—I——"—Chicago Tribune. Mr. Stayathome—“What are you todo ue ed ater es ol just from Englan “Hi'm goin’ to | olaced hedge of the ‘edge, sir."—New York me They were discussing at the dinner table the phase of college athletics uppermost in the pea mind at the present time—“sl ing” the game of foot ball, so vividly exemplified in the recent Princeton game with Harvard, One member of the family said: “I believe in educating our children by giving them boxing gloves and boxing lessons, thus teaching them jugging’ in a legitimate way, if slugging now coming into vogue as the order of the day. Hereupon the Mrs, —— ed: ee me! Sh wn ever since I can remember!” Times, have Boston A little Woburn girl, who had no brothers or sisters for associates, was given kitten of which she was very a ey A member of the family ventured to in her plages ber a indulged in by the War department not | which cost the government | of nselessness, and bad as | hen the | | with foreign competition. For this reason ti | to be practical, | turers of the future w A GREAT BIG SILK FARM. That is What the United States May Become Some Day. ‘THE CHIRF OF THE NEWLY CREATED SILK DIvI- SION THINES THAT HE HAS OBTAINED A MA- CHINE THAT WILL MAKE SILK-GROWING A GREAT AMERICAN INDUSTRY, “Ihave just returned from Europe,” said Chief Walker of the newly-created silk division in the Department of Agriculture, “with a reeling machine that seems likely to accorm- Plish the great problem, the solution of which will turn the United States into a gigantic silk farm, This one difiiculty, as things are now, alone stands in the way of the siik-producing industry in America, So troublesome and costly is the process of reeling silk with the contrivances thus far applied that manufac- turers on thisside of the water cannot afford to Pay cocoon raisers here living prices for their product, if they are to compete successfully compa this tow autty—not all! cocucns are raised in more than 10,000 probably—of which amount | we « pounds in ourselves bay one-half for experimental pur- poses, One fcir-sized silk factory can cusily consume 100.000 pounds of cocoo: But if this new machine, just comple my own desigus on the idea of a French in- ventor, fulfil ight nce es this will so considerably re- e of making the raw silk that for material, ea porting it. in the shape of raw silk, from Japan and elsewhere abroad, as they do aow. The moment that the cost of producing raw sil big per cent below the the icle, the profits of i ture will rise proportionstely, and the business will jump into activity al! over the country, A cor- responding demaud will, of course, arise for ocoons, and the market price for cocoons will go up entlyto draw thousands of farmers into the oceupation of raising them,” “And why farmers?” asked Tne Sram re- porter. “I shonldrather say the farm women, to them that the great A ut downa ct price of Pi the Itis merican silk manufae- look tor their supplies The production of silk cocoons ia an industry especially udapted to the use and | opportunity ot farm people. In France each farmer's wife raises a few pounds of cocoon every spring. and makes a little money by sell? ing them; in this way mainly is the silk crop Yomen of the agricaltural class in the tes are not obliged to work in the flelds us French women are, aud thus they have more time to devote to such « pursuit, There isa vastamount of waste female labor in this idleness, that might be turned to labor, and here is a purpose to which this spare ‘heu-time’ might be devoted for six weeks in the year at anyrate, Auring the cocoon-rais- ing season, No occupation could possibly be more easy and agreeable for a woman than the raising of cocoons, and it will offer a new source of income to rural wives and daughters uorth, south, east and west as quickly as this little mechanical problem is solved. ‘Ine ine which I hope embodies the solution of it is al- ¢ together, and the first trial of it will of cocoons, HOW TO GET SILK EGGS. “Bat how is a woman to get started in the y woman in the United trouble to write to us ‘ch of any y itha request tor silk- worm eggs, will be sent about April 1 a quarter of an ounce of them, or about 9,000 in a litte box. The eggs will have been kept on ice by us to prevent hatehing, and all the beginner need do is to put them in a dr: where they willeome out of themselves. The worms will take up u table space 40 feet sq and the most convenient way is to put toge roughly a tier of big square shelves for them, one above the other, with spaces of 2 fect be- tween, On these or on ordinary tabics the worms should be placed and allowed to feed four or five times a gay upon as many mulberry Or Osage loaves as U will consume; no other sort of food will do. When they are ready to spin their cocoons, light brush must be put | over them for them to climb up on, Ouce spun the cocoons be detached from the brush and thrown into boiling water for a few seconds to kill the worms inside; otherwise they would bore out and spoil the silk. With two ounces of eggs a year 4 woman ought to be able to raise fifty or sixty pounds of cocoons per anuum, batching the eggs April 15 and gathering the cocoons June 1. The latter are worth about $1a pound now: we buy most of the cocovons at that rate from the women whom we supply with eggs. When the great demand lor cocoons arrives—as it surely will betore long—10,000 women, producing fifty pounds each per annum, will supply fifty facto- ries with material for tarning out an enormous amount of silken fabric.” HISTORY OF THE SILK WORM. “Do you raise the eggs you give awa! “No; we get them from Europe. ‘The man- ner in which the silk worm was first brought into Europe, by the way, was very curious. It isn Chinese insect, you know, and has been domesticated there for 4,000 years. Laws rigidly forbade the taking of it out of China, and the silks of ancient times were all brought from the flowery land. But a few Nestorian mouks, in ubout the tenth century, A. D., I be- lieve it was, smuggled some eggs through west- ern Asia into Europe concealed in hollow walk- ing staffs. The Chinese attribute (he original discovery of the silk worm to one of their em- presses. who was deified after her death, The worm itself is regarded by the Mohgols with superstitious awe; probably, it was first found in the Himalayas,” WILD SILK WORMS NO GOOD. “What about this new wild silk worm, over the discovery of which they are making such a fuss in California?” “The talk about it is all rot, in my opinion. You could hardly reel the silk that worm pro- duces, and the quality of the article is very dubious. Lots of experiments have been made in recent years with wild silk worms, but none of them have been successful. The chief point desired has been to interbreed the wild with the tame insect, in order to make the latter more hardy and better able to take care of it- self. The silk worm of commerce has been do- mesticated #o long that it has lost the power of flight, and, if it drops off a tree, it is too help- less to walk up again. When put together the wild silk moth will invariably kill the tame moth, though the tame moth is three times the size of the wild one, You understand, I pre- sume, that when the silk worm bores out of the cocoon it has spun it turns into a white moth and makes male to lay eggs. ‘They have a,wild silk worm in Japan that is usefal, bat the eggs we got from thence would not hateh, In this little box [ have some eggs of a special race from Persia, worth many times their weight in gold, Worms of this species spin an unusually eel cocoon. We shall try to hatch them in the spring.” FRENCH VERSUS AMERICAN METHODS, “Suppose your new machine is as successful as you anticipate is it not likely to be adopted in France, cheapening silk production there so much that foreign competition would again ‘drive the American manufacturer to the wail?” “I don’t think so, It is almost im, ible to introduce auything new in the way of silk ma- chiuery in France; the people simply will not take it up, preferring old methods to fresh ones. Instead of the machines we have already in operation in the silk division, which repre- sent the Jatest advances in technical knowl- edge, they keep on with the processes in vogue half a century hes ifsc we Posed the Ressons reliminaril, an automatic apparatus, to loosen the Yhrends from the gum that binds them together, catching = ee threads for un- winding with a brush mechanically agitated in the water, the French operator stirs up a few cocoons at a time in a little pot of Seating the great future wing all over the country; ready to take it up as soon as it possibl le are be le.” a E ee ee ne ae Oa | him SOME INDIAN PRAYERS, The Ethnological Bureau Strikes a New Vein of Knowledge. AN EXPEDITION TO THE CHEROKEE RESERVATION IN NORTH CAROLINA BRINGS BACK REPORTS OF WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES REGARDING THE MYSTERIES OF INDIAN RELIGION, The mass of fascinating information with which au expedition sent out from the bureau of ethnology bere has just returned covers a branch of haman knowledge hitherto un- touched by the white man, Students of race history have long been eager to find ont some- thing regarding the prayers of the Cherokee Indian; but the subject has baffled investiga- tion hitherto, owing to the fact that the sup- Plications in question are formal known only to the priests of this people and handed down by them through sacerdotal generations in archaic forms of language unfamiliar to aboriginal laymen of today. Now for the first time a collection of these formulm has been secured, with intinite pains—thanks largely to the invention of a Cherokee alphabet by a native genias—in writing, with accurate trans- lations, several hundred of them in all, They possess an inestimable value for the light they throw over the whoie scheme of Cherokee re- ligion, and whether or not they are charmingly interesting in themselves you can presently judge. WHERE THE RED MEN DWELL. “In the most mountainous part of western North Caroliua, isolated among the wildest and roughest hills of the Alleghenies, are 1,200 pure-bred Cherokees on a reservation of 73.000 said Mr. James Mooney, ethnological expert, yesterday. “The missionaries claim that most of them are Christians, but extended observation has convinced me that very tew of them do anything more than profess the white man’s religion. Tbey like to zather at meeting and gratify their musical instinct by singing hymns, but that is usually as far as their con- Version carries them. At heart, in nearly all cases, they remain true to their ancient faith. ‘The tinal test, however, is found in the sick In- dian, When in good health he may be the most promising convert imaginable, but the moment he tecis indisposed he calls in the na- tive medicine men, with their charms and in- cantations, The latter address formule in the ancient ritual language, among other things, to various animals.” PRAYERS TO NATURE. “And why to animals?” asked Tur Sran reporter, “It is the custom to address prayers to animals in sickness always. The Cherokee religion, you must understand, is a worship of nature and all her manifestations —birds, beasts, fish, water, the sun and moon, the moun- tains, storms, thunder and lightning, and so on indefinitely. If the patient has a toothache, for instance, the medicine man tells him that it is a worm in the tooth, and he prays: ‘O, good Squirrel, do come and take out the worm from this tooth, carry it away to the dark side of the mountain, and put it inside of an old dead log.’ A certain small tish is supposed to cause 4 great deal of sickness. You see, the fish are angry at being caught and eaten, and their ghosts often come back to torture the people who devoured them with various piainta, When a person is thus attacked by a fish ghost, a prayer is addre: to the blae cat, who is the king of all the fix i drive ow the other fish. If the ease is bad, the Red the Biue Man, the White Man and the Biack Man are invoked.” MEANINGS OF COLORS, “But who are the “Weil, toexplain it, I had better begin by tell- ing you that the colors among the Cherokees ail mean something. For exnmple, red signifies success and power; biue is tithech, scout and desolation; white is poace and ba: black is death, Also, red is the east—prol so named from the glow of the rising sun; black is the west, where the sun dies; blue is the north, and white is the south, May be the north is blue because the troublesome cold comes from thence, and the south white for an opposite r when a Cherokee desires the emy, he purchases the pr native priest—unless preicrs to Lire the priest to pronounce it for and, turning toward the west, p: “0, BL Man, please go and kill so-and-so. . if he merely wishes the failure or defeat of an enemy, he faces toward the north and addresses his supplication to the Blue Man. in case be is xious to invoke happiness or power for him- self or another, he prays to the White Man in the south or the Red Man in the west accord- ingly. When a person is very sick, as 1 was just now saying, the turns to the east and pra: listen, you Red Man who reposes in the east, and hasten to me; here is a patient who needs your atten- tion,’ &e, Next the pniest prays to the Blue Man, the White Man and the Black Man to come and help remove the sickness, and the four powerful spirits together are supposed to take the disease and throw it into the great western lakes, Everything among the Chero- kees must go by fours, four beig a sacred number, and in praying to an animal the beast must be addressed ‘in the four quarters of the compass, Sf the dog is invoxed, the red dog in the east, the blue dog in the north, the white dog in the south and the black dog in the west must all be talked to, Likewise it is with everything except water and fire, which, being always at band, have no distant abiding places.” POETIC MYTHOLOGY, “Water and fire are worshiped too?” “With great awe, Water is prayed to under the name of the Long Man, who bas his head in the mountains and bis foot in the ocean. To the Cherokees the river isa live person. ‘O, make me like you,’ they say, ‘who are so big and so Aen | that you carry immense logs vast distances and no power can resist you,” And fire iscalled the Ancient White because it is very old, the dead ashes are white and the flame is white. We don’t call flame white, but they do, their differentiation of colors being less distinct than ours. The red-hot coals are the Ancient Red, Lightning and thunder to- gether they call the Great Ked Man. He is red, you see, because he is powerful, red being the color signifying power. The sun is called the Measurer because it measures time. When he is in love the Cherokee prays to beautiful birds, to the river, to the sun, and to the moon. Most frequently he addresses the yellow-ham- mer, beseeching it to make him handsome and attractive to the women, Also he prays to the red spider—red being symbolical of success— to wind its meshes around the heart of his loved one, Of the prayer formule used in sup- licating all these objects and many more I Fars brought back with me from North Caro- lina a very complete collection. They are all wonderfully poetical. Very prettily imagins- tive is the prayer addressed to an approaching storm that threatens the corn crop, which sup- plies their staple food. The priest stands at the corner of the corn patch with one hand up- lifted as if to warn the storm away. INVOCATION TO THE sToRM. “You are coming on in a terrible way,” he says, ‘and I am much afraid of you. But I know you are looking for your wi Now, she didn’t come this way; she went over that way, and if you will follow her path above the tree- tops yonder you will not oe disturbed. 80 go away and don't interfere with the old woman,’ And, as he speaks, the priest waves the storm away and blows with his breath against it. ‘The ‘old woman’ he refers to is the corn, so called because 1t first sprang from the bi of an old woman. But any lay Cherokee who heard the priest refer to the corn as the ‘old woman’ would not understand whut it meant, such poetical and mythological terms being a part of the archaic ritual aorta only to the priesthood. Even if the farmer buys the formula of the priest to use he doesn’t know what it signifies exactly, ligious being composed largely of obsolete forms,” “Do they worship the mountains?” “Yes, and ali the plants that grow on them. For instance, they pray to the - Which has a forked root crudely i call it the ft a human being. 161 San yy find one of the E f i it F i g - oF Ae kees English; there is no railway within five miles of the reservation and the Indians have no market for what they produce, Ther kee, many bees and raise much fruit, Frait on hoi are so cheap down there—honey > conte # pound and blackberrics 5 cents « gallon. for instance—that enterprising men who would go Field rich washings and pockets of gold are | plenty. Before the war that part of the coun- try produced so much word | that a 0 a | States mint was established to receiy Dahlonega; but the rebeilion put an | industry. “Until within a very few years Cherokees of North Carolina have been rather promiscuously ’ state laws have roguiat: able extent in this rege HOME MATTERS. SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS TO PRACTICAL HoUsE- KELPERS—PERTINENT MINTS FOR THE DINING ROOM, PANTRY AND KITCHEN-SMALL NOTES AND TESTED RECIPES WOKCH KEEPING, For Buszovs @oxic soda and ginger in hot water, It may be taken freely, Nexvous Spasms are usually relieved by « little salt taken in the mouth and allowed to dissolve. To Remove Tar rub thoroughly with clean Jard and wash with soap and warm water, Bext WiHacenoxes can be restored and used again by simply soaking in water a few hours and then drying them. SLEErLEssNess Cavsep wr Too Mvcs Bioop in the head may be overcome by applying cloth wet with cold water to tho back of the neck. Cuttorex Neep Fovr Svrrs; one for very best, one for second best, aud two for the wear and tear of every day. To get on with « scantier supply is poor ecouomy as a general thing, Ericersy on Firs,—tin epilepsy the victim is ed with a convulsion, froths at the mouth, falls to the ground, and becomes unconscious, All that can be done uutil it has passed off is to prevent him injuring himseif, If he bites his tongue, put a cork or» piece of soft wood be- tween his teeth or use the rubber bandage. A Box ron Parens and magazines is « very fine thing for a sitting room and may be just what some tired mother has wished for to hold these left-overs. Take a soap box and pat on a lid with small hinges; get some pretty tlow- ered sateen and t pd the box smoothly. d the lid with old carpet or soft cloth and rover, Piace a strong bow of ribbon af the front to raise the hd with, Bonax Waren mw Exceucext for sponging either silk or wool goods that are not soiled enough to need washing. Cashmere or any wool goods may be washed with a httle borax iu the water and the cc ot be wnjured. They should noi be rubbed on the board, but © between the hands, and bung on the line to without wringing. if treated in this way ani sed on the wrong side as soon as dry enongh they will look like new. Saorueney Jax Puppixa.—Bake in an ob- long pan, cuke of one-half of acuptul of butter, ene cupful of sugar, one-: milk, two ¢ one and th: of flour, one and one-balf of baking powder, When cold spr be e-fourths cu h raxp- ¥ jam and cover that with whipped cream, Cixcenrine axp Rosx Warren ror Sorrexrwe tre Haxps,—One-half cupfal of g! cupful of rose water, one- spirits of camphor. boutle, then ne, ono teaspoonful First put camphor in the 8 e, Which shake well bef adding the rose water, Apply after weshing the hands and while still wet. Rub in well, | then wipe with a soft towel, Is Some Maxkers fowls cannot be sold if drawn, while in others they must be drawn, In the Richmond, Va., market all fowls exposed for sale must not only be drawn, cleaned and be pertectly fresh, but the heads must be re- moved and the shonks cut off at thy kuees. The thighs are thea nicely pussed into in bear the opening and the wings locked (or crossed This must be done under penaity of oc tion, and it is a practice that is worthy of i tation elsewhere, as the entrails are the’ first Portions of the carcass to decompose. iy You Cixay Sux, Nevex Inox It while wot or very damp. A betier way than ironing on the wrong side is to have the silk dry and then lay a thin damp cloth over it and irou on ‘h bas been worn one that, Often a dress wh season muy be revov pressing carefully an cuffs 0. some vew m ne 8 past wearing there will a ugh that is good to make a school dress for the litte cir), and with the addition of « littie bright paid or braid not only a serviceable but quite pretty little dress can be mude, Kuce Loar.—Zhis affords an opportunity of utilizing cold meat, Roast lamb, mution, veal or venison are best, Batter an earthen dish and in the bottom spread a layer of warm, boiled rice, next of the minced meat, whieh has been highly seasoned ana moistened with a beaten egg and a litle gravy; then add another Jayer of the rice. Steam one hour and tarn out carefally upon a platter, pouring over the whole a little drawn butter or rich milk gravy, A Srcerrep Beersreak may be prepared for dinner froma rather poor flank or round in this way: Pound well, season with salt and pper, spread with dressing from bread Erumbs, roll up ‘and tie closly with twine (which always save from the grocer’s parcels), put in a kettle and boil an hour, then in a drip- ping pan, basting often till a mce brown; or lace at once in a pan, add water. and if it sce too rapidly cover with a dripping pan. ‘This maker a good cold dish and does not cost like an expensive roast, Bayaya Custann.—Dissolve two tablespoon- fuls of cornstarch in two tablespoonfuls of cold water; add one cup of sugar and two ounces of butter, stir together in a stew long enough to cook the cornstarch until smooth; pour on gradually, stirring the while, a quart of boiling water; remove from the fire and add the beaten yolks of three eggs; return to the fire and stir until thick, When cold stir a put Dowlful of thiniy-sliced and into a pretty china or glass dish. Cover with a meringue of the whites Lcaten to a stiff froth with half acup of powdered sugar and the juice of half a Jemon and heap on top of the custard, Succestions Anovt Om Lamps.—The oil reservoir should be of metal, rather than of china or glass. Wicks should be soft, not too tightly plaited. Wicks should be dried gt the fire before being put into the lamps, and ahould be only just long evough to reach the bottom of the oil reservoir. They should be so wide that they quite fill the wick holder without hav: to be squeezed into it, and should be aa . When the lamp is lit the wick tiie varaed — and then slowly — om oy We ho extinguishing appara’ eh be pat ont as follows: ‘Whe wick should ae nen nN = there is poe | should 2 be sent across top of the chimney, but not down it It Did Look That Way. ‘The Lounger in N.X. Critic.