Evening Star Newspaper, December 21, 1889, Page 11

. a OP ee aie ei icin Be ee a ee THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTO rd D. C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21. 1889—SIXTEEN 28] TALES OF CHRISTMAS TIME Men of Varied Experiences Tell “Star” Reporters. << Them to Stories From the Real Life of Promi- nent Men—Narratives of Adventures in Odd Piaces—The Pathos and Humor of the Merry Season. —._—_ The world is full of Christmas stories in real life. Since the first and most beautiful of them all was told ell Christendom has been enacting Christmas stories, fuller of adventure, of pathos, of tragedy and of pleasure than those imagination has depicted. Stop most aay stranger on the street and he could tell you of some Christmas time in his life that bas madea deep impression on his mind. Star reporters have picked up some Christmas stories from the experience of well-known men. They are short and simple narratives, but each has an interest of its own, besides an added interest as giving a peep into the secret sentimental nature of some public men. Dr. Marx’s Christmas in Camp. “My most memorable Christmas,” said Dr. Geo. Marx, the celebrated authority on spiders, “was passed near Annadale, Vu., in 1961. The men of our regiment had dugagreat hole in the ground as deep as a room, wherein to makea fire and hold festivities appropriate to the day that comes but once a year, the pit being sur- rounded at the edge with a hedge of brush to help prevent the enemy, not far off, from seeing the smoke. I was on hospital duty at the time, and it was my task to prepare the Christmas tree, which was illuminated with a profusion of ordinary taliow candles. The presents hung upon the tree were mostly revolvers, which were attached to the stronger branches at the bottom. From the top branches I hung bunches of cigars and tumblers in cases, euch things be- ing highly appreciated by the soldiers. Of re- volvers we had a plentiful stock, inasmuch as those useful weapons were never buried with the men who died in hospital. We had scraped out with a penknife the coffee kettle, which also served us as a wash kettle, had brewed a quantity of stiff punch—lots of whisky being avail- able—and were just enjoying ourselves nicely when there was a commotion in the camp and cries followed that the enemy were upon us. ‘The boys picked up their guns and dashed out of the holiow, while I stayed behind and pre- red my surgical instruments and plasters for the wounds that were likely to be received in | ton: admiring nature in her most awesome | the conflict. Fortunately, however, it was on!y a false alarm; the men came back, I put away my plasters and instruments. and we spent Christmas night joilitying, drinking punch, roasting apples and potatoes in the ashes and having an immense time generally. pickets were changed the boys cams in by @quads and took their turns at the pickings of the Christmas tree, the punch bowl and the edibles. His First Christmas in America. “The most doleful Christmas I have any fecollection of,” said a distinguished German physician, “was speat in New York city, where Thad arrived a few weeks before in company with baif-a-dozeu of my compatriots. Of the | party I was the only one who understood any English, and my knowledge of the language was limited almost wholly to the declensions and conjugations learned at school, But my companions looked up to me as quite an expert in the new tongue, and I was too proud of my superior knowiedge to let it appear how really trifling it was. We took cheap lodgings on Fulton street. and every day when we went out we invariably got lost. I myself knew very well how to get home when I had once found the city hall, and thus it happened that I spent most of m: on my walks abroad in looking for that important public edifice. “One day the party of us was lost as usual in @ Maze Of Strange streets, and my friends said: ‘Why do you not ask that policeman on the corner where the city hall is? 1 saw I was in for it, aud so. going up to the officer, I mustered my vocabulary as best I could and managed to t all?” . quite well. thank yon,’ replied the man with the club, without smiling 8 particle. “+L tried to look as if I had got a satisfactory answer, and when my friends asked eager! what the policeman had said I re lessiy: ‘OL, he told me that the city hall was two blocks down and en turn to the right.’ a curious accident this very course brought t place we sought. wever, I was going to tell you how, some ne later, I passed my first Christmas in the metropolis. Igot home on the afternoon of Christmas day, having experienced my usual failure in trying to obtain employment and was intormed by my landiord th d not care to have me for a lodger any longer. Asa mat- ter of convenience io myself he had alread had my empty trunk brought down i front hail. The trunk was empty because I had been living for weeks back upon what had been the contents. I took my trunk out on the pavement in tront and eat down upon it to think. In my pockets I found exactly 15 cents and [immediately went to a neighboring to- cent cigar, went back ton ment, and perched m: upon it again to think some more. W was engaged in thinking I smoked the cigar very slowly, partly because it might be the last that I would ever have the opportunity of consuming. Among other things, I tnought how wise 1 h: been to expend the #5 cents as I had done, be- cause, if I was going up altogether then and there, it was much better to doso in a respect- able manner with an Havana cigar in m mouth. While I smoked | reflected that the cigar was, in a manuer, a picture of my life; that it was about to go out. leaving nothin, but ashes behind. It burned away slow!y unt: there was sv little left of it that I could only continue my smoke by impai:ng it on the end of a wooden toothpick. Just as I was taking the last possible puff aud at precisely the right dramatic moment. who should come along the street whistling buta man whom I bad once treated toa glass of beer. He stopped and looked at me 4 moment, then he said: -My dear fellow, dou'tsay a word, | know what has ha) pened as well as if you told me. Come with me! “Without waiting for a reply he threw my empty trunk upon his shoulder and marched me off to his lodging house. I slept with him that night, and the next morning found ata shop, whither I had directed my letters to be sent, a draft from G or a considerable amount of money, which ‘put an end to my difiiculties, But that is the way I spent my first Chistmas in America,” Assistant Secretary Willits’ Christmas, “The weirdest Christmas I remember,” said Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Willitts yes- terday, “‘was spent crossing the great Colorado desert, in suutuern California, I had left be- hind me the semi-tropical vegetation of the trunk on the pave- Weird region about Los Angeles, and, as I journoyed along. l observed with interest the luxuriant As the | ted the amount in w 15- | down, We took bee-hiv down the mountain side; tied things straight, and paid ge ape forevery- thing we took or destroyed. ‘e were out fora jark, and we rounded up that part of the country,” Major Powell’s Most Memorable Christ- mas. “My most interesting Christmas,” said Major Powell of the geological survey to a Stan re- Porter, “was spent in the depths of the Kanab canyon, 7,500 feet below the surface of the earth, The Kanab canyon forms a channel for the Kanab river, which is a tributary of the Colorado and runs into the latter river at a point where the rocky cliffs of the Colorado canyon mount their highest above the channel at their base. Five days before. the Christmas of 1870 I started from the Paunsagunt plateau, at a point 80 miles from the junction of the Kanab with the Colorado, to descend the Kanab. At that time the plateau, which is 3,200 feet above the level on ered with 20 inches of snow. For the first 17 miles of my journey toward the Colorado I fol- lowed the banks of a rupning stream in the canyon bed. Then the canyon widened out and for 20 miles more the river was lost in dry sand, reappearing beyond, I was on horse- back and ix men with me, who with picks and shovels made paths over the bad places we came to. The first 40 miles we passed in one day; the remaining 40 miles took us four days to traverse, three days of which were spent in getting over the last 10 miles. We found our- selves on Christmas eve at the point where the Kanab canyon open into the Great Colorado canyon, and pitched our camp by the Kanab, surrounded on every side by precipitous walls of rock from 7,000 to 8,000 feet in height. We spent the night encamped just within the open- ing of a gigantic cave shaped like an amphi- theater, big enough to easily shelter 50,000 men. When we woke up Christmas morning we found that the summit of the natural dome over our heads was ut least 1,000 feet high. | From the rear of the cave, 30 or 40 feet above the floor, issued an enormous spring, the of spray in every direction. worts and other plants grew in brilliant pro- fusion of color. In fact, we found ourselves, | the earth, in a summer climate, although on | the piain above it was winter. Ail the vegeta- tion in these depths was subtropical in char- and everything blossoming with springtime luxuriunce. We spent our Christmas bathing in the waters, catching fish in the Colorado river, at the bottom of the stupendous cliffs, for our Christmas supper, and in wandering | aspect. Such was the most memorable Christ- mas in my lite,” | A Christmas Adventure With Robbers. “The queerest and most unpleasant Christ- mas I remember.” said @ retired merchant of | weal | “was passed in the Argentine Republic forty Fears ago, when that country was by no means place in those days that any one such as you or {4 would bave cared to live in. save for the ex- | taordinary opportunities it afforded for mak- img money, My partner and myself, being ed in commerce by ship with North Ameri- can ports, lived in Buenos Ayres ina house together, keeping bachelors’ hall, Our money we kept in a strong safe as a precaution jagaiust robbers, who were very plentiful, | The whole city, indeed, as weil as the country round about, was terrorized by them to such outrages did not dare complain lest their own | lives suould pay the forteit. | “One dey—it was Christmas—I was sitting | Upstairs in my house aioue reading, my part- ner having taken advantage of the holiday to go out for a game of billiards at the hotel near by, when Iheard the tront door open below steps coming up the stairs. I supposed it z | thre lvoking men, two of them of gi- flere gantic stature, entered the room with drawn | knives in their hands, ““peuor,’ one of tuem said, ‘you have money; we want it.” | “Lreplied, truthfully, that there was a large sum of y—%¥,000—in the safe near where I sat; but that it belonged to my part- ner aud be had the key with him. ‘The ruf- flans replied that 1 must produce the key, or | open the safe some way, else they wouid cer- ykilime, Perceiving that they meant to word, my wits were set to work by rate necessity of the case, and finally said: “fwo of you are evidently strong men, J and the safe is a small one, why do you not | carry itaway with you bodily and break it open \e.sure? Ly suggestion was at once acted upon, and my three Visitors having conveyed the safe | down stairs, the two big ones shouldered it be- tween them and carried it off, telling the third in Spaaish to ‘go back aud finish the fellow up- stairs.” [heard the order given and prepared | to make the best fight I could for my lite. No > the | Weapon whatever could I lay my hands on, my | | revoiver veing dowu in the dining room, and | my chance seemed small agaiust a man as big | as I, armed with @ snickersuee knife. ‘The rob- | ber came leisurely up the stairs, and as he came | into the room I jumped upon kim from behind | the door, grusping the wrist of the hand that heid the knife, It was a struggle for life | then, We wrestled out upon the landing, ' rolled in a clinch down the stairs and along the allway to the vestibue. I had managed to knock kuife out of my adversary's hand, but my ieft leg had been broken in the fall down the stairs, and I should probably have | been overcome and killed bad not my partner opened the front door at the moment and | rushed to the rescue, Between us we tied the | man with ropes and he was afterward taken to | prison. My partner then told me that he had | met the two men carrying the sate, and they, | evidently knowing who he was, had’ dropped it |and taken to their heels, though, if they had simply goue on, he would never have supposed | that 1t was his property that was being walked of with, So we got of pretty well, consider- | ing, though my leg was badly set, and is even yetin consequence a little shorter than the other, so that 1 have to wear a higher heel on my left boot.” Mr. Bache Has a Cinderella Story. | “The funniest Christmas I ever spent,” said | Mr. Rene Bache, a newspaper man, “was in | the wilderness of Florida. The Indian river region along the east coast, whence come the | Guest of all oranges known to the world, was in 1877 only beginning to be settled. Titus- | ville, now’ flourishing little town, at the head | of the great Indian lagoon—for such it really is and nota river—had then only about two dozen houses and was ruled over by an abso- lute monarch known to every one in those | parts as ‘Old Man Titus,’ who ‘kept the liquor shop of the place and was regarded as a terror. | Gout had disabled him to such an extent that | he could only go out in a wheel chair, pushed | by a colored man, but even in this conveyance {he would make an excursion and ‘pepper a nigger or two’ with @ shotgun, ‘just to keep things orderly,’ as he expressed it. When I reached Titusville, on Christmas of that year, Titusville was celebrating the day. In’ other words, Titusville’ was the sea, was cov- | | along the walls, where green mosses, liver- | | acter; the grass was green, the flowers in bloom | Ith, who spends his winters in Washington | | so civilized as itis now. In fact, it was not a| } a- | an extent that people who suffered from their | y partner returning with frieuds, until | ten miles square we turned that county upside | Ne Sea eeeee ' officers’ cabin, wherew ‘sleighs up in the | tops of trees, and did all else you could think ot that was young deviltrv. After we had done it allwe hired negroes to goabout and set “I went aft again and told the story in tl uu Mr. Lee, the first lieutenant, sent for Duke White, and, when he came, said: ‘Duke, how would you like to play Cinderella this Christmas night? You don’t | know what that is? Well, 'llexpiain. Tunder- stand that you didn’t go to the ball because you didn’t have a boiled shirt. Now, I propose to fit you out with a complete ty costume, 80 that you can go and play Cinderella on the Turkey-creek plantation. Here is a shirt, nice velveteen coat, a good dress waistcoat that I don’t want, a pair of black pantaloons, stock- ings, a pair of patent-leather fpr my sec- ond best, a collar, cuffs, celluloid studs—all you need, in fact, to be a howling swell. I make you a present of the whole outfit. Go and dress up, and let us see you again before you 0° off; then you can take the dingy and row yourself ashore,” “Twenty minutes later Dukg reappeared, in condition of gorgeousness the lke of which had never been seen before in those parta. He | Apres from ear to ear as he turned around to e admired; and, after inspection, he took his departure in the boat. The sensation he created, upon his arrival at the ball, was im- mense, as I subsequently learned. He was the beau of the occasion, quite cut out all the other fellows, and made his first impression on the heart of @ young lady of color, who played the prince to his Cinderella, and whom he married in the following July on the banks of that same Turkey creek. But, after all, that was Duke White's Christmas rather than mine. Mr. Nicholas Biddle’s Remarkable Christmas. “The most remarkable Christmas of my life,” said Mr. Nicholas Biddle of New York, a grand- nephew of the gentleman once in charge of the United States bank, ‘was spent in the wilds of Texas. I had gone out there as a boy to seek my fortune with a companion about my own age. Our dreams of the wealth to be acquired fhere rather faded soon after our urrival, and when our money was gone I was glad to geta bie at sweeping out a roundhouse, while my riend secured employment as what was tecli- nically culled a ‘hash slinger’ in a primitive | sort of boarding house patronized by railway hands mostly. Acting in that capacity he | stream from which tell into a lake below at the | back of the amphitheater, throwing volumes | Out toward the | sun light water issued from trickling springs | \ at this pomt 7,500 feet down in the bowels of | } } | i | | } | and they would warn me each day while carrying around | the dishes against those which he knew to con- tain doubtful ingredients, But, to get on with my story, after awhile I was promoted from the roundhouse to a position of trust, my work be- ing to carry money from what was then the terminus of the road to pay the men who were engaged, some miles away, in cutting through a hill for a contemplated branch. The country through which I iad to make my trips wes very sparsely settled, and it was my custom to | sleep over night at a deserted shanty under a hill, which served me as | a half-way house. While on one of these weekly jourueys, 1 was taken with what I subsequently iearned must have been scarlet fever. I barely managed to drag myself into the shanty, where I lay for three days unat- tended. On the fourth day I was discovered by a gang of men going to the distant camp supplied me with pie, They could do no mor; but they seut others back from the camp, who brought more pie. Of course there was bo doctor and there was nothing else they could think of to do for me. 1 heard one of ‘Parduers, it’s my opinion that when too far gone ter eut pie that cuss is mb the golden stai *-Finaliy—it was Christmas day, they told me —a deputation was sent trom the camp to my shanty and the men, six of them, sturdy, swart, honest fellows as ever stood in boots, filed in aly and stood in a line by the bed looking as I lay there. *Pardner,’ the spokesman said, ‘we thought as how it was the proper thing, before you passed in your es to come and ax you what you wanted done with your remains. If you would tike to have them sent east to your family, expense is no object: don’t you-think of what it will cost, pard; the boys will make it up among ‘em.’ “Las too weak to say anything in reply, though, as a matter of fact, the crisis of the disease had passed and 1 was booked to get well. So the men filed out sorrow!ully irom the shanty, as they had come in; I did not them again until two days later, when they came along with an improvised bier and found me sittng up in bed, eating one of the dozen pies that were strewn around me with the utmost gusto. But it was not a pleasant Christ- ae Mr. Cannon’s Christmas with Uncle Joho. A Stag reporter was taiking of Christmas | experiences with Representative Caunon just a few days before the tidings came of the death of his wife, making this the sadest Christmas of hislife, The Illinois Congressman was then in one of the happiest of his genial moods, and as he counted back over the many Christmases he hid spent, his sentimental spirit conjured up the picture of a cottage in the Wabash valley on Christmas eve many years ago. “You want me to tell you what Christmas I best remember? Well, Til do it, It was in 1852, on the Wabash in Indiana. My mother wasa widow. We lived in acottage—it was a pretty big house in those days—which my father had built, chiefly with his own labor, That Christmas I was tiiteen years old, but I was a very green boy; I had never been any- where and Was pleased at small things that a boy of half that age would not consider now-a- days. Iwasachiid. We lived in the back- woods there in our own simple way. It was my last year at school. My brother, older than myself, had gone to the great city of New York tostudy medicine and there came to me from him the day before Christmas a little paper- covered book full of pictures, called ‘Christ- mas with Uncle John,’ As I think of it now, it was a very cheap and no-account affair, but to me then it appeared very fine. That’ picture book that hed come all the way from New York was a great thing for me. “Our nearest neighbor had a little girl just a year younger than I was and I thought she was just the sweetest and prettiest girl in the world, We used to walk to school together and I would carry her books, Well, that Christmas eve mother had an old Spanish sil- ; ver quarter, which she laid out in New Orleans sugar, and that night little Mary was invited over and we gat in front of the big fireplace, where large logs were burning bright, drivin, the shadows away back into the coruers, ani we looked at ‘Christmas with Uncle John,’ while mother cvoked the taffy. Then we pulled taffy and had a nice time—Mary and I—and I— yes, I kissed her. It was the first time I had ever kissed a girl in my life. The statesman’s eves sparkled and his voice grew soft as the picture came before him. For @ moment he stood looking into the contracted wood fireplace in his committee room as if the whole picture were there. “It was not like that,” he continued. “It was a@ big fireplace, half as wide us this room. We had a happy time pulling taffy and looking at the pictures in ‘Christmas with Uncle John. “The next morning, Christmas, I had to go to school, Ihad to walk a long way through the snow and had to startearly. I got up to dress, and there was aeuit of clothes made of = that my mother had woven, dyed with usks of butternuts and made up, And there were a pair of boots she had had made for me by some cross-roads shoemaker. It was the firet pair of boots I had ever possessed. She had them made without my knowing it, the shoemaker getting my measure by pretend- ing that he wanted to settle a bet as to whohad the biggest foot, his boy or me. In those days we usually hud about one pair of shoes a year, and those boots and that suit seemed mighty growths of that sunpy clime gradually thinning | drunk. I don't mean that all the inhabitants out wutil by the time the San Bordonia paxs of | Were intoxicated. Old Man Titus was sover the San Bernardino mountains was reached | enough, it being early im the day, and the two very little mthe way of plant life was to be | Or three female residents, entertaining an un- seen. On vhe east side of the mountain range | fortunate dislike for bad whisky, had not joined we descended by the railway to a vast plain | in the spirituous festivities. But nearly all illimitable to the eve, with not so much asa} hillock anywhere nor even a blade of grass. In | the burning sky above—tor it was deadly hot | even in midwinter--there floated not a solitary | bird. No sign of animal life was visible over | the trackless expanse of desert, though doubt Jess at night it swarmed with scorpions, centi- | serpents of dangerous bite, and other rible iuvects aud reptiles. Everywhere and every direction stretched the endless waste of pebbly sand, deposited ages ago bv the sea that once covered this now dry and barren basin, the lowest paiut of which that we reached was not less that 250 feet below the level of the ocean. It would be impossible for human language to express the desolation of the scene, mysterious and awful to our view, as | we looked out upon it for hour afver hour from the car windows, speeding along over the life- less plain that Christmas day two years ago. We found it bard to realize that any spot on earth could be more an abode of despair than what wo saw; and yet we beard that sixty miles tothe north of the railway line we traveled | upon was the famous Death valley, the like of which for terror exists not elsewhere in nature. itissaid that no man can cross this valle: Without the greatest peril to his life—thoug! whether its scorching and unendurable heat, or the venomous tribe of creatures that inhabits it, is accountable for its extraordinary dangers Ihave uever beea informed. Such, however, the other people of the village were exc ingly inebriated, many of them having begun to celebrate 4 week or so in advance. Some were sufficiently sober to sit ina row on the fence, but they were ina minority. It was | with great difficulty and many vigcrous kicks that a slumbering boatman at the little wharf was aroused to a sense of his business responsi- bilities and persuaded to convey my father aud myself to the government vessel, 25 miles down the river, which my father had been ap- pointed to command. The vessel, with crew and officers aboard, was awaiting him. Upon our arrival we found the crew com- posed exclusively of colored men, in a great state of excitement over a ball that was to be given that same evening as a it val, atthe plantation of a well-to-do colore: mun on the banks of Turkey creek, close by. A steam launch full of dusky belles ‘and beaux —the launch lent by the vessel—was expected from a neighboring settlement about 8 p-m., and, of course, all of our crew had been invited toattend. Itwasto be a very swell affair, complete in every particular of fashion, save for the lack of suitable description in papers of the ext morning—there being no papers Es within 200 miles distance, When the our had arrived and the meu had shoved off in the long boat, their oar strokes accom; by the plaintive tinunnabulation of remanes tambourine, I strolled forward to their vacated quarters and was astonished to find two of the was the most gruesome Christmas 1 ever Representative Biggs Tells of a Mis- souri Cburistmas, “I remember a Christmas back in the for- ties,” said Representative Biggs of California, “I lived then in Pike county, Mo. I was young and up to mischief. A party of sixty of us formed, all on horseback, and I was the leader of the gang. We wentout tohavefum For crew left behind, One of them, who was al- ways designated by his comrades as the thes ek woe hi thonght Pie woken: use he were other a fine looking fellow known as ‘Duke Whi y that he didn’t care to go unless he had a clean biled rag to wear, Icalled his attention to none of the others had had ‘boiled’ shirts, but he said that made no difference; he wouldn't go without one, . the fact that tine tome. Mary and I walked to school that Christmas morning, and I had on my boots and my butternut suit, ' Give me 225,000 today and you please me as those boots did. To possess the painting of Christ before Pilate, which Jobn Wanamaker has paid so many thousands for, could not give me the ‘Christmas witb Uncle Jo! That is the Christmas I remember above all others, “Our happiness depends on our power to build castles in Spain, I built some beautiful ones that Christmas eve. We get our pleasure in youth from the castles we can build and in old a ye the bay rene moments are when we can ier Back, as Ll now do, on the castles we once nail.” Representative Bland’s Merriest Christ- Spear I got from “The Christmas I think of most,” said Rep- reseatative Bland, “is that of 1873. Why? Well, I left the House just before the holiday recess that year and went home to get married. I was married just before the holidays, and the Christmas of 1873 was in the full of my honey- moon, That's why I like to think of that Christ- mas, And I'll tell you,” he added, in a confi- dential way, his eyes brightening as he said it, “every Christmas since has been happy.” Representative ee Christmas “J never knew what Christmas was,” said Representative Rowell, ‘until I was nearly grown. I was # New England boy of a Puritan family who did not believe in celebrations of that sort, The first Christmas I ever knew I best remember. I was sixteen years old and had gone west, I was a Puritan school teacher sadetecatersaes Grats 10 atten school were older than I was, When i dignity. Nobody attempted to open the door, but they allstood with that curious expression on their faces that meant mischicf. I moved toopen the door for myself. Two or three then stepped forward and asked if I did not know it was Christmas. Yes, I believed I did. ‘Well, then,’ they said, ‘you must treat or be ducked in the pond yon The ice is broke.’ Allthe Puritan blood in me protested. 1! began to show fight, which amused them. ee in earnest about ducking me in the nd, But my father had more sense than I ad. At that moment he drove up with a load of apples and some cider. That was the treat they wanted and a shout went up as the apples were Jagged into the school house, I was rushed bodily into the shool house and became a forced celebrant of Christmas in that good old western style, I was Lise g | all the while at the breach of decorum and discipline, but the feast went on. It was the first of many such Christmases of the sort for me, but in the end I broke up the habit of making the school- master treat.” An Army Officer’s Reminiscence. “The most absurd Christmas I have any reo- ollection of was spent at the dwelling of an isolated squatter in the wilds of western Mis- souri thirty years ago,” said an oldarmy officer. “With two other young lieutenants I was driven toseck shelter there from a furious storm on Christmas eve, althong we were making our way across the country on horseback with as much expedition as possible, Our first recep- tion was not very cordial, but when we said that we were willing to pay liberally for the entertainment we required hospitality was stimulated and we were welcomed to a share of what there was to offer. The cabin—for it was hardly more—had but one room, and when bedtime came the proprieties were observed by stretching a couple of blankets across the apartment ona clothes line. Whereupon the women—the mother of the family and three un- usually plain daughters—prepared for repose on one side of the improvised partition, while the father and ourselves occupied hastily-pre- pared cots on the other side, the said cots be- ing made of boavds laid across loge. “About a minute after the two tallow candles had been blown out, leaving the interior of the shanty in total darkness, we heard the old woman on the other side of the blankets litt her voice and say: “Gents, would you like me to come over and tuck you in?’ we replied. ‘For heaven's sake—that is to say, don’t disturb yourself on any account; we are quite comfortable.’ “It wouldn't be any trouble,’ she said. ‘But never mind, l only thought you might like it.’ “Silence fell again upon the scene, ouly to be en by one of the ‘girls’—a gentle thing of thirty, maybe— who suddenly exclaimed: ‘Gents, do you xing? “*No,’ we responded, ‘we do not.’ minutes more passed, when just as we were dozing off the femina vox was heard from beyond the curtain breaking into a wail- ing nasal howl of ‘Oh, I nev-er loved the yal- ss his was too much, ‘Ladies! I said, raising myself up on my couch, ‘Permit me to say that we not ouly do not sing ourselves but we do not Itke to hear mark was effective and, as the poet . silence like poultice eame to heal the wounds of sound. We slept, and it was not until morning that we woke up again, to find it still stormiag so hard that we couid not possibly resume our jourzey then. So we spent Christmas day in the cabin, trying to take things as agreeably as we could. ‘The three young women seemed disposed to smile upon ‘us, but we were not very responsive. Late in the afternoon the storm ceased, and we prepared to take our departure, As we were about to say our final goud-byes, re- marking for the sake of politeness that we hoped soon to see them all again, the old woman barred our passage out of the cabin by placing her back against the door, Gents,’ she said, ‘before you go I wish to demond if your intentions are honorable?’ “In what respect do you mean, madam,’ we replied, quite taken absc! ***As to my daughters, of course. I’ve often heerd tell that you soldier gents was dreadful with the women, and so I’m lookin’ out.’ ‘Madam,’ said I, ‘permit me to assure you that our intentions regarding your daughters are of the most honorable nature,’ “With that the old woman seemed quite sat- isficd, and, calling upon her husband to help us with the horses, which had been stabled under a shed, she did the best she could to as- sist our departure, which we took thereupon, the ‘girls giggling and twittering as we rode off, to spend Christmas night galloping over the prairie.” Mr. MacGruder’s New Mexico Christ- mases. “I spent two very extraordinary Christmases in New Mexico in 1879 and 1880,” said the Hon. Isaac MacGruder, a well-to-do ranchman, at the Metropolitan hotel yesterday. “On the morning of the former I arrived in Albuquer- que—I had never seen a primitive border town before—and was astonished to find the whole place apparently given up to the gambling in- | The settlement, like most of its kind } dustry, on the frontier of civilization, seemed to be composed, as one might say, of a single street, along which oneither side straggled the dwel- lings and snops of ali sorts, most of the latter being saloons, either gin mills pure and simple orin the guise of dance houses and gambling hellz. As said, gambling was the occupation in which nearly all of the inhabitants were en- gaged at the moment of my advent, In two out of three of the grog shops crowds of cow- boys in loug boots and slouch hats, "Greasers’ in elaborate buckskin togs, with silver bullion on their wide-brimmed hats, and hardy miners with pistols in their belts were gathered about green-covered tables that were ‘extended for the greater convenience of the players out upon the sidewalk and sometimes half-way across the street. The desperate characters who kept the ‘banks’ against the holiday makers, with piles of silver and greenbacks thrown on the board to palpably repre- sent the capital backing their enterprises, were armed to the teeth, prepared at once for speculation and alwa; ossible conflict, It was observable that the icans kept to a great extent by themselves, doubtless owing to the prejudice entertained against them by the white men—a feeling due largely to race an- tagonism, but partly tothe fact that the average Greaser carries an atmosphere with him un- pleasant to the olfactory sense. It is sate to say thaton most of the occasions where the petulant pop of the revolver, followed by the squeak of the victim, was heard during the day the annoyance felt by the free-born Ameri- can at the grange of the fragrant Mexican was responsible for the trouble, All Christmas day Albuquerque devoted itself to gambling, drinking bad whisky and other incidental mer- rymaking appropriate to the occasion. Now and then half a dozen cowboys would render things exciting by dashing slong the street at full gallop, firing their pistols into the air as they went; but this did not seem to create any syecial disturbance, unless a gambling table was upset by the horses, Only three men were killed outright and four wounded during the festivities, which was moderate, consider- ing. Two of the men shot dead did not really count any way, being Mexicans, In the after- noon there was a celebration all the more pleasing from the fact that it was impromptu, two ‘rustlers’ bein, ite pe into town by a vig- ilance committee that captured them and promptly hanged from a beam that stretched across the street, in the presence of a gratified population, Icould hardly sleep that Christ- mas night for the joyous howls and banging of the holiday makers, who made the settlement scream until daybreak the next morning. “My second Christmas in New Mexico? Why, that israther a sad story, andI hardly want to ll about itatmuch length. However, I will say briefly that I was with a party of immigrant settlers who were crossing the mountains to prospective homes beyond. For the sake of company chiefly I hed joined them, and I fancy the same reason operated in the case of a cer- tain notorious A oorter’ named Wilkins, whom the settlers had hesitated to permit to accom- pany them on account of his bad character, They had been overruled in their first decision in this regard by the reflection that he would add one man’s yen to the expedition, at a time when the Apaches were hostile and were dangerous raids across the border. Al- ready they had committed @ number of un- speakable outra; nd the manhood of the settlers was weakened by the presence of their os a ee as wa pls eight men sides the gambler and myself, and no Tose thas fifteen non-combatants, “We had reached on Christmas day pass in the hills, beyond which settlements, a fort, and therefore safety were to be found, when, upon pacts | at a high summit, we saw a strong force of Apaches coming straight toward us. ‘here must have been fifty of the red devils in the band, and, though they did not see us, the = lay in ser manner vee pace — cally impossible for us to save the pass; but it was clearly out of the quettion to reach the gorge before they would upon us. We ail gave ourselves up for lost, imagin- ing that torture, murder, and captivity was our inevitable doom. But Wilkins, the gambler, up to me and said: ‘Mr. MS e chance. for sate rae te. ‘your ety. me your ace I can do.’ I for was in their direction, though somewhat at an angle and away from the pass. We lost sight of him as he climbed through the chap- arral that covered the acclivity, and just got a ay of his form as it appeared amid some ushes on the summit, though concealed from the view of the sovages. This we saw as we made desperate haste along the path toward the rocky gorge, dragging the women with us and carrying the smaller children in our arms. But escape still seemed impossible; the Apaches were tooclose upon us. When suddenly just as they passed beneath the hill that Wilkins had stationed himself upon a number of rifle shots rang out from the summit, followed by a discharge of smallarms. The Indians, evi- dently imagining themselves ambushed, lost no time in seeking shelter; but soon finding that the fire did not continue they made their way up the hill in a cautious spiral until we lost sight of them, as we looked over our shoul- ders, altogether. Then we heard more firing, ie y yells in the distance and all w 8 “Wilkins was killed, of ‘course. He had sac- rificed himself to save the lives of the rest of us, and he accomplished his object. For, through the distracting of the Apaches’ atten- tion, We were enabled to reach the gorge, get through i safely and arrive at the fort beyond, | A force of United States soldiers was at once sent out to pursue the Indians, a fight ensued and more than half the predatory band were killed, Wilkins’ corpse was found on top of the hill where he had fought so bravely, and from certain evidence unmistakable ‘it ap- peared that the savages bad skinned him | Mr. Peabody’s Recollection of a Christ- | mas Fire. | “You know in some of the engine houses,” | said Mr. J. J. Peabody of the veteran fire- | men’s association, speaking of the experiences | in the old volunteer fire depratment, “the ‘men, especially the single ones, took turns atl bunking, so as tobeon hand in case of an | alarm. Some of these would start the bells to | | ringing before day on Christmas, while others | would explode a few crackers and then goat | | will for the day, making ealls on friends and | partaking of egg-nogg, Tom and Jerry or | Whisky straight, the latter being the favorite. | False alarms and slight fires usually caused one | | or more runs during the day. It seems singu- | lar that, notwithstanding the rivalry and bad | blood existing between the runuer friends of | | companies, when they wete vrought together about holiday times no rows. oc-| jeurred. I do not reccllect in my experience from 1845 to 1564 of anything | that might be called a row taking place at that season among the fire boys, And it is equally | surprising that in that period I cannot recall but one serious fire on Christmas day and that | was, I believe, Christmas morning in 1850, near | the Fourth Street M. E. church, in which a col- | | ored family of four or five were burned to dea’ | The closest fire of any extent coming to Christ- | mas was that of the Capitol library ou the mo: ing of December 24, 1851. That was a pretty | tough fire. Baker's hotel, at the northeast corner of 8th and D streets, had burned at an | carly hour that morning. There were several | inches of snow on the ground and the weather | was intensely cold, the mercury, I believe, | standing 4 degrees above zero, Much of the | hose had frozen stiff at Baker's fire, When tne | | alarm was given for the library fire the firemen | scarcely believed that it was the Capitol, for | the popular impression was that it was fire | proof. The fire department, however, found | | not only that the building was on tire but also | | that it was an obstinate fire, and many of the | men who had not been to bed, having | come from the Baker hotel fire, saw before | them some tough work, The Columbia suction | was carried bodily up the steps on the east | front and rolled into the rotunda and the Ana~ | costia engine was taken to the east portico, | while the Franklin, Perseverance, Northern | | Liberty and Union apparatus drew and forced | water from the fish pond then on the site now | occupied by the Washington statue. It required | about 100 men to pull our engine, the Northern | Liberty, up the hull over the frozen suow, and I guess other companies had the same expo- | Tience. I tell you it was hard work, but we | worked with a will, getting the fire all out | about the middle of the day. This is about as | neur Christmas as we ever had any serious fire.” MR. GOWEN’S INSURANCE, | The Companies Will Pay Irrespective of the Rule Against Suicide. With a view of ascertaining what effect the | suicide of the late Franklin B. Gowen would | | have upon the payment of the large insurance | policies which were held in his name the lead- | | ing insurance agents of the city were consulted | | yesterday by the Philadelphia Inquirer upon the question. The following interviews define the policy of the companies in the matter: Mr. Register, the general manager of the Equitable life assurance society, said yesterday that one of the provisions of the society is that if, aiter three years’ duration of a policy, a man should commit suicide the family | ‘or heirs can collect tho amount. | Mr. Register said he did not know whether | the last policy which Mr. Gowen placed came | within the time mentioned in this provision, but that if it did no objection would be raised as to its payment. Referring to the letter | which Mr, Gowen wrote him shortly before his | | departure for Washington, he said no man, | least of all an attorney. would think of sacri- | ficing $90,000 for $15,000, (which would have | been the amount of the paid-up policy) if be | had contemplated suicide, and Mr. Gowen | knew that if an insurance company decided to | contest the payment on the ground of suicide it | would make no differeuce in the result whether it was a paid-up policy or not. One of the members of the New York life insurance company said that no provision was | enteredin their policy respecting suicide. It | is a foregone conclusion that a man taking | out an insurance policy contemplates no such design. Respecting the payment of Mr. Gow. en’s insurance, the company held itself in readi- ree whenever the demand was made upon em, Joseph Ashbrook, of the Provident life and trust company, said that the insurance which they held on Mr. Gowen’s life would be paid Without question, They reserve the right of passing judgment in the question of premedi- tation, Respecting such a man as Mr. Gowen, he said, “the coupling of such an insinuation with him amounted to nothing short of insult to his memory.” The other companies interested in the in- surance on Mr. Gowen are of the same opinion as those quoted above, with the probable ex- ception of the Connecticut life insurance com- pany. Mr. Walter Tilden of this company said that he could make no statement regarding the matter until he had heard from his company, and udded that they did not insure against sui- cide. The insurance held by the different com- panies on the life of the late Franklin B. Gowen amounts in all to $221,000, and the sums are distributed as follows: THE TOTAL AMOUNT. New York life insurance. $71,000 Eqnitable life assuranc 20, Mutual life insurance company of Ne’ York. oe 10,000 Provident mpany 20,000 Mutual Benefit life insurance company of Newark... stttssesseerereee 10,000 Connecticut Mutual life insurance com- pany .... RR aecaccce, SOD Penn Mutual life insurance company,. 10,000 $221,000 KILRAIN PLEADS IN VAIN. Gov. Lowry Refuses to Interfere in the Pugilist’s Case. Murray F. Smith of Vicksburg, law partner of Attorney General Miller, spent yesterday in Jackson, Miss., accompanied by Jake Kilrain, to ask Gov. Lowry to remit the imprisonment imposed on Kinrain upon his paying the fine of $200 and all costs. After hearing all that Kilrain and his counsel had to say Gov. Lowry replied that it was not the mere fighting of the two men, but the in- sult and indignity offered to the people of the = monwealth in = face as eee and the out of troops ven! He eaid: “acquit Sullivan and yourself, Mr. Kilrain, of any attention to defy the laws of Tomy pees you were instrumental in the hands of others, and without inquiry or looking to results you obeyed the directions of your as- sociates and flagrantly violated a: statute, Mr. Sullivan was convicted and sentenced to one yearin the county jail. You were more fortunate, and for some unexplained reason or action of the jury you were convicted of the lesser offense—assault and battery—and sen- ee eS wi Feasgn you * ee basen it and your: t committed interfere ‘for twelve months, Er coeett in the matter, but in February, when it a can appeals to tae were other ta iu the ight more guilty than either more, Balliven or youreeit® af | at least one advantage—that those who brave | it could entertain some hove of being attended . | ing pretty blue this winter. bi THE WE NEW YORK. Gossip About Receat Happenings fn the Big City. THE VISIT OF THE PAN-AMERICANS—THE CHRIST- MAS DISPLAY ON THE STRRETS—SHARESPERIAN DRAMA—THE CONVICTION OF RAMSCAR—CON- GRESS AS VIEWED FROM NEW YORK. Correspondence of THE EVENING STAR. New Yours, December 20, Our Pan-American guests had @ royal wel- come, even the sun at last coming ont to do them honor, though at almost the eleventh hour. Their entertainment was inthe hands of acommittee representing the city's best element of culture and hospitality, and they were feted with discrimination as well as cordi- ality. What few of the great city’s sights they had time to see were judiciously chosen, and it is seldom that an entertainment has been given which would compare in epleador with the reception for them at the Union League. The arrangements were so magnidcent in character ind so perfect in detail as to render the occa- sion unique. On Wednesday the visitors had an indulgence more unusaal and one would fancy more welcome than any number of dinners.re- structive sights—they were given The weather since Sunday had 1 que and obnoxious variety pe- | culiar to New York atter a snow storm. The streets had been officially declared by the may to have reached a climax of filth and discom- fort never before attained. Ankle-deep slush and slime, dingy snow, fog and rain all con- spired to show these travelers from the sunny tropics what possibilities there were in the | weather. For some time they were driven about through the steaming, oozing streets to one an! another of the sights, but on Wednes- day the fog thickened and the rain fell so im- piacabiy that Chairman Cornelius N. Bliss of the reception committee anuounced that the | preposed excursion to the islands in the East river would be abandoned and the visitors would be allowed a haif-holiday, But even then, so hardened have they become in their sight-seeing habits, many of them skirmished around and hunted up the Barye exhibition and other minor sights for themselves, and the la- dies, it is sard, to a woman, went shopping. CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. The shops are, indeed, just now one of the sights of the town and the hideous weather has da to. er has the display, both in the shops and in their great windows, been so sumptuous and varied, and the most experienced shopper is soon dazzled and bewildered. Bat in spite of their brave display many merchants are feel- Th on a week of winter w mildness, followlng up: alers in cold weather suppi coal dealers have already tailed, the woolen merchants @re looking very gloomy, and the megnificent furs of which one sees such a lavish display are a drug on the hands of their despairing owners, AT THE THEATERS, There is an unusually brilliant display at the theaters this week, and it cannotbe complained that the immortal bard is neglected while his plays are drawing crowds at three houses, Mansfield is playing ‘Richard III, Miss Wain- right is giving “Twelfth Night,” and Dal proaneion in his usual dazzling manner ‘ou Like It.” Besides these renditions of the classics there are two exceptionally giddy spec- tacles running, and it is announced that Harri- gan, who had sold his theater, shaken the mad s. Several large of New York from his fect and gone west, has | decided to return to the metropolis, which has never ceased to miss him and to mourn his ab- sence. THE ELECTRIC-LIGHT WIRES. Tn five days of vigorous work 62 miles of electric-light wire have been cut down, and for five nights much of the city has been in total darkness, Where there are gas lamps they seem fecble and ineffectual, especially on the recent foggy nights, and crossing at the busy corners of Broadway and Fifth avenue is an enterprise fraught with considerable peril, After 5o’clock, when darkness has settléd down and the streets are still jammed with every kind of conveyance as well as with the throngs of people going home from offices, shopping, &c., it is really dificuit to get about, Already in the darkest parts of the city there have been assaults on unwary passers, and no doubt the thieves all over town will hasten to improve this golden Opportunity, RAMSCAR, It ig with asensation of gratitude that the city hears that the redoubtable Ramscar is once more convicted, this time for clubbing the un- sectarian old gentlemen in the home he so benevolently conducts for their benefit. It is difficult to believe that this eminent philan- thropist really exists outside of the pages of Dickens, he is such an incredibly greedy, brutal end transparant humbug. He affords ove more evidence of the well-known fact that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to | virtue, for though he has been much jeered at by the papers asa “reverend” end bas always a red scrupulously attired in the garb of an Episcopal clergyman, it comes out on his trial that he is not and never has been a preacher, though faithfully clinging to his cos- tume through ail his varied experiences as a peddler, a junk shop keeper, and a persecutor of old menaud children. CONGRESS FROM A NEW YORK POINT OF Vinw. New York, so faras it concerns itself with Congress at all, is much gratified at the way in which both parties have got to work. For the moment the chief interest which the city feels in pending legislation concerns the choice of sort last year, has been disastrous to | Written for Tar Evexrs: , GIFTS AND GIFT-MAKING, All Kinds of Presents for Atl Kinds of People. St With each returning holiday season comes the question: “What shall I choose?” Individual temperament displays itself as fully in the an- nual gift-making as in any other parsuit in life—for a very absorbing pursuit it becomes with many, There is the procrastinator who delays till the last moment u dashes in and out of crowded shops, ¢ up here and there what- ever happons to be seen first, with small regard for the tastes of the r buyer, who squanders on th chases nearly all the sum allot: remembrances, and the thoughtful one, who selects with loving care just the thing, bei cheap or costly, which will be welcome to the friend for whom it is chosen, Every year laments are made over the money squandered in useless tr fles when the same amount, prop- erly onpented, might afford genuine enjoy- ment. They dispatch abox of French candy toafriend who does not care for sweets, but does value books, when the same amount » favorite poet oF ne for a year who does not read nsational romance, els a copy of th when a warn shoulder cay ora pretty bassock for ber f much more acceptable, The materials for | either could be purchased for less than the price of the book, and the work of making them would afford pleasant employment for evening hours, It we would but devote a little thought to the | selection of our presents how much more pleas- | ure we might bestow. Toooften we are guided | by our own faney, Because the desire of our | hearts is bric-a-rac we bestow a dainty bit of ton Cousin Rob, who cares not a straw for china, while the desire ef his heart— as We might easily hav | royal Wore | low for the back of his | mebody may ask, iy for its utility? n A worth to the veriest t | in | me | the ¥ itdoes, One would be churlish d to appreciate the simplest to from the hand of a friend. Yet—is | ft any less a token of remembrance | bec eit bears witness that while choosing book, picture, gem or even the least costiy souvenir of the season the special taste of the | dear one has been kept in mind. Perhaps to thosg who, with Christmas close at hand, still find elves in doubta few suggestions may be of service, yy who is fond of out-door eports will re- a cricket bat, pair of skates, a sled or ho likes to use tools will find wuts for wood +f a miniature who love read- less, ouly—don't 2 lad who is fired) sof war and ad- venture a volume of fairy stories, House keepers will welcome addit: store of table linen, dainty emb: chair rests or soia pillows—a busy wife mother has scant jeisnre for ¥ work—a Ja- panese teapot of odd design, or a quant china dish, an art pot, or a bri rac tabie, Most girls like jewelry—one of the fancy lace pins whose variety is imexbaustible. a slender gold bangle, a ring, an antique silver buckle could hardly fail to please even the “girl graduates.” A fan, a pair of opera glasses would be acceptable, Or, if danda taste for art or music ainting or a choice selec- est Songs would make bright eyes still brighter. But the men? What can one give father, brother or lover? They are fain to ery out, like the popular Philadelphia clergyman, “I am not a centipede” wheu the holiday season brings a shower of slippers, Once more, try to discover meet og taste, but don’t take that to mean somethitfy relating to his calling. Don't. for instance, if he is a writer, deluge him with inkstands, penwipers and blotters. Each recurring Christmastide | has doubtless brought him au ample store, If | you want to be practical, and he sometimes 8 a dress suit, give him a satin chest pro- tor, a sealskin cap, handsome neckties—in @ e it possible; imitialed handkerchiefs, , Memorandum books, all come un- me head. Many men do not disdain | jewelry. A scarf pin or a set of sleeve buttons would then be acceptable. And always, alway let love go with each ering, for “the os without the giver is bare. M.J. — so When Christmas Comes. Coral beads ou burnished holly, Pearls on tender mistlejge! Wisdom bends to frolic’s My At the yule log’s cheery glow, While the twinkling measures come and Wreathe the pictures, crown the wassail, Keep the hours sweet with song; Now let none be seri But the testa! s < And in guileless gice and pastime let the happy children throng! Hark the peals of Jocund laugh: When, on pantomimic Harlequins, clowns tumplin Cross and clash their mim ‘ds, While fair Columbine in spangies Beauty's prow worype affords: Let the melodies entrancing— Bugles, cymbals, silver chimes— chorus dancing van Ways and times, nce Charming does his woolng in Gaintiest of rhymes! ule Through the keen and storlit weather, diear tue hoofs and sleigh bells ring? Warm fars caten the Echoes answer ea! ‘Till he hearts of youth and maiden take the ca- } dence up and sing! the site for the world’s fair. Reports from the | Father Christmas, hale and hoary, seat of war are of a hopeful tenor, but great | p uncertainty seems to involve the whole pro- ject. Another more conventional subject in which New York is taking a keen interest this winter concerns the silver policy. There will undoubtedly be some very active work done in this field by New York before fly time. Asa rule New York business men shrink from an- other agitation of the tariff, although this is a tariff reform town, some “tinkering” is looked upon, however, as inevitable, and that being so it is a solace to most people here that the ways and means committee is so strong and calm, WALL STREET SCHEMES, In the Christmas hubbub the ordinary tur- moil of Wall street is forgotten. Nevertheless there are some important schemes maturing there, The great trusts are taking vigorous action to get in out of the wet before the de- luge fairly comes. There has been a good deal of a shower already, Itappears that these corporations had provided themselves with a we eat of refuge in case of need in the sha) of innocent-looking charters, which they had manipulated through the New Jersey and Con- necticut legislatures, and of which they will avail themselves asa last resort; all of which shows that a corporation is considerably harder to kill than pusley. STATEN ISLAND'S PERIODIC BOOM, Staten Island is enjoying another of its periodical galvanizings into an artificial sem- blance of life. Possibly this time the vitality will prove to be genuine. Staten Island isa strange place. Like the well-known Columbia or Brittannia, as the nationality of the singer happens to be, it is the gem of the ocean. It would be difficult to find « more charming spot along the coast, yet it seems to be under a veri- table curse. With its lovely slopes, its magnifi- cent views seaward, its water front, its accessi- bility to the two largest cities in the United States, one might easily imagine it the chosen home of wealth, fashion and intelligence. But for some reason it has always languished, and today seems as remote as Bridgeport or Ros- lyn, The mosquitoes have something to do with it and the wretched ferry is somewhat to blame. But now we are told that the long-promised and just as long delayed railroad improvements are coming with a rush, that millions are to be spent in the finest terminal facilities and that the whole island is to have averitable boom. It may be so and ay itmay not, The project is fathered b; ‘rastus Wiman, one of the most restiess ani persistent of the great capitalists, bat a man whose grand projects, whether on sea or land, do not materialize as quickly or as certainly as those of some of his peers, It nearly broke Wiman's heart to have his scheme of holding the world’s fair on soe hy ~ down upon as it was, very e made most dazzling offers of land and money. saa R Hexay RB. Exot. White Kid Shoes. From the Boots and Shoes Weekly. Some of the finest kid and satin shoes ‘for ladies sold in the big apartment houses of New York are made by Allonhius, a French shoe- maker. He was asked how he cleaned the deli- cate white and suede goods he was to the writer. “With benzine aud bread crumbs,” was tbe reply. *‘There is ing that will it 80 nicely, care must be this. A woolen rag is the best for the in benzine and Young and old we greet thy face, ¥ our hearthstones bail thy glory ‘And thy bygone legends trace, And with ali time-honored reverence toast thy ever-bounteous grace, —JouN Monan. ———+ee+____ A Reception to Justice Brewer. The twenty-first annual meeting of the Kan- sas City bar association Thursday evening was made the occasion for a reception to Judge David L. Brewer, recently appointed justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Suffocated on Shipboard. Two well-known citizens of San Francisco were asphyxiated in the hold of the British ship Durham yesterday. Fire broke out im the hoid of the Durham a few days ago, but was extinguished after slight damage to the ship. Heavy rain made it necessary to cover the hatches and gas accumulated. it. Free- man, surveyor forthe Lloyds, Mr. F. R. Catton and Grain Iuspector Gove went into the hold to ascertain the amount of damage to the cargo of grain. A few minutes later Gove came up the hatchway and reported that his companions were smothering. A seaman was immediately lowered into the hold and fastened the ropes by which Freeman and the captain were drawn up. Both died soon after. ee —_____. His Family Had Perished. Emile Etoine, a puddler in the employ of the purpose of taking possession of some prop- erty left him by a relative. The will was con- tested and the wife and five children he left behind heard nothing from him. He finally successfal in his suit and a few days ago returned with a draft for $20,000 in re On reaching Johnstown he was amazed to the desolation wrought by the flood, of which he bad heard nothing, and vigilant inquiry bis part has failed to reveal to him the fate his wife and children. The house in which lived was swept away and itis presumed his family was buried among the unidentified dead, as they were but little known end names do not appear upon the roll of deaths, Etoine will retarn to Germany. ———+or. Destroyed by Fire. For the second time in two months Frankiia- ton, N.C., was almost destroyed by fire yester- day. The fire originated in a barroom and swept the whole business partof the town. Fifteen buildings were consumed and the loss is estimated at from $25,000 to $30,000, Not more than one-third of the property was in- sured ee The Famous Beales Land Case. By sustaining a demurrer, Judge Brewer, of the United States Court, yesterday decided a Point involving the main issues in the famous