Evening Star Newspaper, December 21, 1889, Page 9

> al THE FRANCO-CHINESF. FRONTIER French and Celestials With Guns Trained on Each Other. & SIGHT AMONG THE PIRATES—THE FOREIGN LEGION AND ITS BLOODY DISCIPLINE—STRANGE SCENES AT MONKAY—A PART OF THE WORLD WHERE THE DIME NOVEL WRITER COULD FIXD MUCH MATERIAL. From T= Stan's Traveling Commissioner. Before leaving Tonking I was lucky enongh to have an opportunity of getting as far as the actual frontier of Tonking and China, in the very midst of the pirates and Chinese free- booters, where fighting is constantly on hand and bloody outrages not yet uncommon. My friend, M. Bavier Chauffour, the managing director of the Tonking coal mining company, Most kindly offered me the use of his launch, the Fanny, a powerful and luxurions little Vessel of 50 tons, and finally accompanied me himself, with one of his lieutenants, Mr. Ivatts, a man of huge build and fierce beard, &@ much-traveled aud charming companion and &n intrepid raconteur. The trip was one of the reatest interest, and it is safe to say that no Enghshman, except Mr. James Hart, who helped to delimit the frontier, has been near the spot before. From Hatou, where the coal mines are, we steamed due north along the coasi, enter- ing almost at once the unique scenery of Along bay. For hours here we threaded our ‘Way among rocks as thick as trees man orchard— enormous towering hills a thousand feet high, great boulders hanging over sea worn caves, tall trembling steeples, tiny wood rock islets, shimmering grottos, and an infinite number of grotesque water-carved forms—the monk, the inkstand, the cap of liberty. All the afternoon there was one of these within gun sho: on each side. On one of them we shot an eagle, on an- Other a bigmonkey. This is the pirates’ haunt, und it is indeed a ‘glorious thing to be a pirate king when you can run from your pursuer into Along bay and disappear instantly at aay point. On our way down we came across a fleet of sam- pans, carrying a thousand wood cutters to their work, convoyed bya gunboat. The coramander bailed us and we wenton board. “I engage you to be cautious,” he said; “there 1s a well- armed band of pirates reported on the coast. I would come a little way with you, but I have Sot meeived telegraphic orders to stand by boats. However, keep a good look out.” RUN AGROUND. By the evening of the second day we were lose to our destination—the mouth of the river separating Tongking and China. It was very foggy intermittently, and the pilot bad got about to the end of bis knowledge. He be- lieved us, however, to be just off the mouth of the river. So we held a council of war ou the bridge aud decided to anchor. The word was hardly out of our host's mouth when—scrunch. scrunch, under the keel told us it was too late. Fall speed astern, anchors laid out, everybody on board run backward and forward across the vessel—none of these things moved us. We were high and dry, on a falling tide. Then the fog lifted for a moment and we saw where we were—far beyond the mouth of the river. within a quarter of a mile of the mainland of China, and in probably the very worst spot for the very worst pirate in the whole world. And in these seas there is only one tide in the twenty-four hours, Even a profane man would hardly have done justice to the occasion, aud we were quite silent. Then Ivatts slowly rose to the height of six feet three inches, took our wretched Annamite pilot by the scruff of the Beck, turned him round, and solemaly aamin- istered a souna kicking. The chastisement was deserved, it was thor- ough, and it was picturesque; but it did not help us im the least. For twenty hours we should beon the sand bank, in two or three hours we could walk round the launch; never im their lives would the pirates have hada such chance at such a prize as the Fanny, and they could come in any number from the mainland. We tried to laugh at our bad luck, but the situ- ation was decidediy unpleasant. Ivatts knew the country very well, aud the natives, as he speaks Annamese, but we all kuew enough to know one thing—namely, that it would never do to be taken alive. To blow one’s brains out if necessary is one thing; to be skinned alive is another. So we made PREPARATIONS FOR OUR DETENSE. No craft travels in these waters without being armed and we were particularly well off. We had each his gun, rifle and revolver; three Sikh guards that M Bavier-Chauffour had brought from the mines bad their rifles and there were six Winchesters in the rack in the suioon. The Chinese captain and crew could all be depended upon; so we posted a sentry forward, one aft and one on the bridge to be relieved every two hours aud with orders first to hailand then to fire at anybody or boat that might approach. ‘Ihen, after dinner, we Jaid our revolvers on the table and commenced an all-night game—the second time in my life that 1 have assisted at the unholy union of poker and pistols. Once only were we dis- turbed. About 2 o'clock the Sikh in the bows shouted “Sam an instant we were on deck and there, sure enough, was a big black boat approaching from tue sea, We waited till it was within a couple of hundred yard— long enough to see that it was full of men and was being rowed in unusual silence; then Ivatts shouted in Aunamese, “If youdou't show a light instantly we shall shoot.”" There was no an- Swer and still the boatcame on. He shouted again and the rifles were at our shoulders, when the boat showed a lantern, Then slowly it disappeared back into darkness, So ended our desperate affair with the pi- rates. Lheir existence is no joke. however. Numbers of native junks fall into their hands, and within the last two months several Euro- Peans have been murdered by them. and two or three, with sums of money in their posses- sion, have completely disappeared. A fort- Bight ago two redoubtable pirate chiefs were captured, 200 men with 120 breechioaders, after an expedition costing seven thousand doilars and a hundred killed and wounded. Ata place called Caobang. they are still formidable in the field, kept by their kaders under strict discip- line and training, and, when hard pressed, says the Courrier d'duiphong, make their escape across the frontier 1uto China, where the man- darins help them, And, of course, every juuk that leaves the Canton river is heavily armed with brass cannon, and every European steamer that pues on it has an open stack of loaded rifles in the saloon for the passeuger’s use, AT MONKAY. It is a long row up the river to the little frontier town of Monkay. This is—or rather was—a very peculiar place. It was built half ou each side of the little stream that forms the sctual frontier. I believe the two halves had different names, the Tonking one only being called Monkay, but they were practically one town. (The reason for using the past tense will be plain presently.) The town bad no poor quarter; its streets were mathematically laid out; its houses were ali of brick and stone, with richly carved and ornamented lintels and eaves; their inhabitants were all rich. In some way or other this was the outcome of the alliance of piracy aud smuggling. When the French came they did not interfere with the town on their side of the stream, but on the top of a sugar. loaf hill three-quarters of n mile back they gan to build a little fort, and under its ‘guns they aid out a “citadel,” inside which to locate the barracks, officers’ quarters, magazines, &c. ot first to be sent there was a civilian Official named Haitce. One day whilst out with a small party they were attacked by a band of Chinese soldiers. They fled, some were shot, some escaped, Haitce only was captured, He was taken back to a house in the principal street of the model jittle town of oe wg tied down upon a table and skinned alive. THE FOREIGN LeoIox. Now, at this time the famous CoL Dugenne was in command of the foreign legion in Tong- king. Everybody kuows what the foreign legion is—almost the only force in the world where a sound man is enlisted instantly without ®@ question being asked. No matter what your nationalit, t your color, what your past, you are welcome in the foreign legion, A maninay even desert from the regular Freach army and Fe-enlist, unquestioned, in this heterogeneous force. In return for this preliminary indul- gence, however, you must put up with many incouveniences—the worst climates, the hard- est work, the front line of the attack, the for- jorn hope and the most iron discipline. Once out of civilized parts and there us practically only one punishment in the foreign legion—the poniahment that can only be awarded once. To cep sucha body of men in order this is per- haps necessary, and the officers to enforce it mast be men—men with bodies of steel and bearts of stone. And the hardest of them was Col. Dugeune. Some day I must teil monies in heard of his methods of pacifica- ‘ongking. When the authorities heard T have described they under- a8 DO use to wipe it out with rose water. So they sent Col. enue and his He came and looked at the s “Burn it,” said he, But it ell brick stone. * 5 Dugenne. And did—they blew the whole Pe ii is in preser: alpenstock to t through house where Haitce was THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D.C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1889—SIXTEEN PAGES, in the Maine woods. “Don’t fire here,” said Ivatts. quickly; “the people at the fort would think there was trouble, and probably turn out alot of men.” The resident. M. Rustant, walked down to meet us and take us to the residency, This proved to be an old temple, or pagode, as the French call all native buaild- ings, divided into rooms by board partitions, and very meagerly provided with modern fur- niture. Outside a six-foot moat was dug, and lined with spikes of bamboo so thickly that a hen could hardly walk about init. On each side of the moat was a stockade built of heavy bamboo, eight feet high, and sharpened to a spike at the top. At each corner a look-out was built of —_ and bamboo in which a sentry stood always with a loaded rifle. The front of the residency faced the river, where a little gun boat lay at anchor. The back of it looked toward the frontier. and therefore the back entrance, with the kitchen and offices, was further protected with thick walls of sods to guard against the bullets fired across at it from Tong range, The resident's guard consists of 120 native militia under two European officers. But at uight as we sat at dinner in the cold bare cob-webved bat-tenanted central hall of the former temple the door was pushed noisily open anda night guard of thirteen men and a vergeant of the foreign legion tramped past our chairs toan ante room and grounded their arms with a crash on the stone floor. At mid- night we were awakened by the same tramp and crash as the guard was changed. And there is no “show pidgin’ about this; all these men and their ball cartridges may be needed at any minute, GUNS TRAINED AT EACH OTHER. Next morning we went to pay our respects to the commanding officer and look round. First we climbed up to the fortin on the top of the sugar-loaf hull, where there are half a dozen light guns and a smail force of French artiliery- men. and into which no native is ever permit- ted toset foot The frontier river winds along like a silver thread three-quarters of a mile off; the citadel is just below, and the half dozen houses of the foreign population. and through aglass you can see the Chinese gans and sol- diers in their own fort on asimilar nili a couple of miles off or less. All these guns, of course, are trained straizht at one another. And over the hills you can see the te’ “uph wire con- necting the furthest extremities ot te Chinese empure, stretching down into the town—a solid snd prosperous-iooking little place—like Mon- kay on this side before Col. Dugenne blew it up. The Freuch have no telegraph, but a line of heliograph, to within a few miles of Hai- phong, only allowed to be used for official mes- sages, Indeed, there is nobody else to use it, although the resident was kind enough toallow me to receive a private message from Hong Kong by its aid. ON THE ALERT. Then we walked, always with an escort, through the ruins of the town down to the river, As we entered the street the quick eye of the commandant caught sight of new marks ona blank brick wall. Climbing into the in- side we discovered that somebody from across the frontier had come. probably daring the pre- ceding night, and actually loop-holed the wail for rifles, so that tuey could steal across the next moonlight night and pick off the sentries atthe fort! From the arrangements made then and there I fancy those gentry would getarecep- tion to surprisethem. ‘The river, which cousti- tutes the actual frontier, is only about forty yards wide, and can be forded at low tide. On the French side the bank is high, while the Chinese town is built almost down to the water’s edge. As soon as we were seen on the opposite bank the Chinese soldiery came down to the river in crowds, in their bright yellow and red jackets, to stare at us, and when I set up my camera they evidently became rather m thinking it a new engine of war, Indeed, the commandant said: “Don't stay there any longer than is necessary; it’s just possible they might take a pot-shot at us.” Across this river, of course, not a soul ventured, Ifa Frenchman should try his head would be off his shoulders, or worse, in five minutes. With a good deal of difficulty I bribed a Chinsmanto take a telegram across addressed to Sir overt Hart in Pekin, but they refused to dispatch it and sent it back. In tact the relations between the French and Chi- hese are = aboutas “strained” as they can possibly ‘Lhe commandant pointed out to me a small cleared and leveled spot on the top of a hillock and told me its gruesome story, Two months before my visit a block-house had stood there, garrisoned by a sergeant and six French soldiers and eight native regulars, One night the people at the fort suddenly heard rapid firing end shortly afterward the block-house burst into flames, The night was pitch dark and it was no good for them to move out to the rescue, as they did not know that there were not a thousand Chinese, and, as the block-house was burning, their comrades had either escaped or been kilied. At daylight they marched down and found the eight natives and five Europeans dead, the sergeant headless and horribly and indeseribably mutilated and one European mixs- ing—evidenily carried off into China, as he was néver heard of again. No wonder that a Chinaman who falls into French hands here gets a very short shrift—generally about as long as it takes to pull a trigzer. In fact, I be- lieve any Chinaman seen at Monkay at might is shot on sight. The Chinese who come acrows on these murdering expeditions are not pirates at ali, or “black flags,” or dacoits, or anything of that kind; they are Chinese regulars, who leave their yellow jackets behind and resume them on their return. And, of course, if the prac- tiee were not encouraged, or at least winked at by the Chinese oiticials, it could not go on. THE NATIVE TROOPS. are not very smart soldiers, but they take kindly to the loose French discipline, and on several occasions they have fought very weil indeed. Their dress consists of dark blue cot- ton knickerbockers and jacket, a little pointed bamboo hat, and a sash. They wear no shoes; and the only difference between the militia or civil guards and the regulars is that the sash and hat of the former are blue and of the latter red. At Monkay the total strength is about 750 meu—350 Europeans and 400 natives—not nearly enough, the commandant complained bitterly. Once as I stood with him in the fort he showed me a valley miles off, and said, “There are 500 pirates over there. The day after tomorrow I am going out to say ‘Bonjour’ tothem. And two days after I got back to Hong Kong I read in the newspaper that he bad made bis expedition, the Chinese had at- tacked his camp during the night, and that he had been the first man shot. “Don’t forget to send me some of your photographs,” he said tome at the same time; they will be very dramatic.” Henny Norman. ea Nervousness in Horses, From the Atlantic Monthly: H.C. Merwin, There is one respect in which all the most distinguished trotters have resembled each other, and that isin their nervous energy, in high spirit and courage. That flame which the Washington Hollow horseman detected in the eye of Flora Temple came out afterward im the resolute burst of speed with which she finished her fast miles. Dexter was repre- sented as being “chock fail of tire and devil- try,” and capable of jumping like a cat, Hiram Woodruff spoke of his --wicked head.” Gold- smith Maid had » strong will of her own, and the excitement she betrayed onthe ev race showed how fine was her organizati stand quietly enough,” says “She would her driver, “while being hitched to the sulky, althotgh she had been re- viously kicking and plunging in her oka, butsbhe would shake and tremble until I have heard her feet make the same noise against the hard ground that a person's teeth will when the body is suddenly chilled; that is, her feet actually chattered on the ground. The instant I would get into the sulky ali this would pass away, and she would start ina walk for the track as sober as any old horse you ever saw.” Rarus was so nervous that he never could have been driven with safety on the road, and his courage was of the finest temper. St. Julian was exceedingly high strung. and in hands less patient and discreet than those of his trainer might never have been subdued to the purpose of racing. Jay-Eye-See, though I kuow less of his personal history, is notorious for the pluck he showed on his last quarters of his hard miles, and Maud 8. is ,the most spirited, the most determined and at the same time the gentlest of animals, This nervous energy is the result of genera- tions of breeding, and, while it insures speed, cails for extracare and attention. Once ina great while a dull mettled horse hus speed, but the great majority depend upon their nervous energies to carry them along. A well-bred trotter scents the battle from afar and goes into the contest with a readiness that shows not only a willing spirit, but a desire for the fray, In scoring the horse will often give evidence of as much intelligence as its owner, swinging into line, taking the right position and showing by every movement its love of the contest. ‘he desire been secured by the bi ire to trot has , and is the result of nervous stored h generations and by oduestion ant fooling. Deliver Us! Of all the evils here below That sickens like the mannish gir Or worse—the Press. A wife’s generosity.—She—‘ dear, — have to give me $12 to pay grocer eau, how’: my dear? I thought always gave you 2 She--“Well, yor Thad to take the Eats Fa edag Ses tr Oreo Sinith, Gray WINTER DECORATIONS. Red Berries and Evergreen Leaves Ap- propriate to Christmas. From the Philadelphis Times. Red berries of various kinds are particularly esteemed for winter decorations. This season they seem to have attained their height already, although they may be no less brilliant a little later on. The tea berry, however, generally becomes a little dull and spotted by Christmas. At present it is of a vivid crimson, outshining coral. By tea berry, of course, is meant gaultheria, The fruit is now displayed for sale at nearly all the fruit stands and is measured by the pint and quart. In a few weeks it will be difficult to procure, although the leaves may be had in abundance. These leaves turn a reddish brown rather than remain a positive evergreen, They are oval in shape and may be known by their spicy fragrance. They taste like the berries, which may be described as sweet and pungent. The berries yield the oil so well known as giving the peculiarly pleasant flavor to tea berry candy. The gaultheria is a member of the great heath family, or ericaceae, remarkable for its very handsome members, as the rhododendron, laurel and trailing arbutus. The gaultheria it- self is only a few inches high, and bears a deli- cate blossom, Iater a crimson berry. It is found throughout the mountains of Pennsylva- nia or wherever its relatives of the heath family are, The habitats nearest the city, probably, are the Wissahickon and the New Jersey pine barrens. In some places the tea berry is called box berry or checker berry, while what we know as pcices berry goes by the name of tea berry. the partridge berry is Mitchella and belongs tothe same family as the Houstonia or Queker lady. The colored people from New Jersey are also displaying the partridge berry as well as the tea berry proper. The partridge berry may be known by fee long, trailing vines and tiny evergreen leaves almost circular in shape, with asilver streak down the center, The berries are large and handsome, but of a decided ver- million rather than a crimson tint, They are edible but insipid—that is, they taste like nothing in particular. The fruit of the part- ridge berry will keep for months and can be found from‘ow on until next summer when the blossoms come again. These blossoms are not, as some suppose, the trailing arbutus—that is, the red berry often found in the same locality as the traii- ing arbutus is not its fruit. The blossoms of the partridge berry are dainty, fragrant little trumpets, white inside, maroon out. They are grouped in twos, and’ two blossoms unite to form one berry, ‘The tea berry is also called by some winter- green, But the plan: better known as winter- green is the pipsissewa or bitter wintergreen. Of this there are two kinds, one with a plain, glossy evergreen leaf, the other with a leaf ttriped with silver. The pipsissewa is scientifi- cally known as chimaphila and belongs to the same great family as the rhododendron and tea berry, The colored people already display the handsome, leafy clusters of the bitter wintergreen. It is the practice to combine this with club moss and ground pines in winter wreaths, The holly is as beautiful today as it will ever be. It isnot generally known that there are two kinds of American holly, which are not precisely the same as the English. Both kinds of American holly are found along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Florida, but not always in the same locality. Que ‘holly has handsome scarlet berries, but the leaves are not evergreen and fall as early as ordinary foli- age. The other holly is the well-known species with red berries and broad, prickle-armed ever- green leaves. The red berries of this species are less abundant than those of the other. Ac- cordingly, it isa common praciice where the two kinds can be had together to combine the two. If you purchase a holly wreath from New Jersey and find that it contains berries inserted in clusters, the chances are that all the berries did not grow on the same bush, So much the better, for the whole effect is richer. The ber- ries from the leafless holly also look well when grouped with the feathery ground pine. ‘The latter plant deserves notice by reason of its strong resemblance to a little pine tree. It is, however, not a pine, but a lycopodium, which may be placed between ferns and mosses, that is, among cryptogams or plants not bear- ing true flowers,” ‘The better known club moss or crowfoot is also a lycopodium. ————+e+- —_____ The Ill-Tempered Red Ant. From the St. James Gazette, “Eha,” the well-known Anglo-Indian natu- ralist. bas just contributed in the Natural History Society of Bombay an interesting and characteristic paper on the habits of the red ant. That the scientific name of this insect should be “the emerald ant” (camponotns smaragdinus) he conceives may have arisen from the fact that the first specimen which found its way to Europe was a queen, for she is green, anda handsome and striking insect. After discussing the red ant at home “Eba” gives some instances from his own observation of itsremarkable ferocity und courage, He ssys: “The shepherd in ‘Noctes Ambrosiang’ says that the wasp is the only one of God’s creatures which is eternally out of temper. But the shepherd did not know the red ant; nor did I till lately, I thought I did, and by painful ex- perience, too. Ihad often had reason to no- tice how they appear to have intimation before- hand of your intention to pass that way. How they run down every branch that stretches across the path and wait with jaws extended, how they fling themselves on you or drop from above, and, scorning to waste their strength on your hat or clothes, find out the back of your neck and bury their long sickle-shaped mandi- bles in your flesh; but I lately discovered that all this is only the A, B,C of their ferocity, One evening I found that a countless multituds of red ants had collected about two trees close to my tent and were making a thoroughfare of one of my ropes. I thought it best to discour- age this, 80 I got some kerosene oil, the best antidote I know for insect pests of any kind, and, dipping a feather into it, began to anoint the rope, thinking in my simplicity that they would not like to cross the oil, and would be obliged to find another road, There was a per- fect storm of indignation. They rushed to- gether from both sides, and threw themselves on the oiled feather in the spirit o Meltus Curtius. They died, of course, but others came on in scores, panting for the same glorious death, and I had to give up my idea of dislodg- ing them by kerosene. “I determined then to try tobacco, for I had always supposed that man was the only animul which could endure the smell of that weed. I lighted a cheroot and steadily blew the smoke where they were the thickest. Never in my life have I seen anything like the frenzy of passion which followed the first few puffs. To be at- tacked by an enemy of which they could not lay hold seemed to be really too much for them. In their rage they lay hold of each other, and as a red aut never lets go, they were soon linked together by head, legs and antenne into oue horrible, red, quivering mass, I left these, and, going to another place, offered the end of my cheroot with about an inch of ash on it. Several seized it instantly. The heat kalled them, but others laid hold of their charred limbs, and by their united strength they positively wrenched off the ash, which re- mained hanging from the tent rope, by their jaws, while scores hurried from both sides, With fiendish fury, to help in worrying it 1 then presented the hot end. The foremost ant offered battle without a moment’s hesita- tion and perished with a fizz, but another and other followed, and I saw ‘plainly that I was beaten again, for the cheroot was going out, while their fury only burned the more fiercely, Iretired, and, after taking counsel with the captain of my guard, made a toch of straw and patiently smoked them to death all along the rope. ‘Then I attacked the root of a tree where they were thickest, and left nothing but a black waste. Half an honr later fresh myriads were carrying off the charred remains of their comrades, ae took them up the tree toward their nest, whether for food or burial rites I cannot say. It was now getting dark, so I gave up my enterprise, but before going to bedI bronght out a lantern and found them calmly ing up and down my tent ropes as before. Pea Some everything I could short of burnin; rode my tent, and they remained masters o! the fie! cee The Widow’s Cork Leg. ‘From the Chicago Herald. In one of Chicago's public institutions isa bright-eyed, witty Irish widow who loves a joke as only the people from her country do. In the same institution is stolid German professor who rather admires the pretty widow. The two often meet and indulge in pleasant chats. Tne German professor is married and is the and master of a happy family. The other Ceaaprtaenen pigh berg eo Trish widow and 7 entered into conversation.in the course cf wi ear HEARTS BECOMING POPULAR. A Backhanded Sort of Whist Said to be Driving Out Progressive Eucher. From the New York Sun, “Hearts,” the little game that was intro- duced into high society a few years ago, is likely to become as much the rage, they say, as progressive eucher has been for a season or two past. The game seems to be all right and fally as pleasant as the older one of eucher, not to speak of its being easier for a greenhorn to pick up. progressive eucher party who did not know the game and hadn't more than begun to learn it when the bell rang time for the last round. This greatly interfered with the celerity of the play, that was essential to make a progressive eucher party lively, and was a constant annoy- ance to good players. There willbe no such trouble with hearts, for its rules are so simple that any one with any knowledge at all of cards can pick them up in a few minutes. At the same time there is room inthe game for the exercise of the faculties of memory and judg- | ment essential to a good whist player. ‘fhe more one knows about it the better one plays, but to be able to play well enough to keep up with the procession and avoid delaying the games it is not essential to have any expert knowledge. There are four players in each game, but no artners—a fact that simplifies it greatly. The Fon pack Ut fifty-teo carte (no joker) is dealt at once, and the cards rank from ace, high, to deuce, low. The deal is determined by throw- ing acard to each player, the lowest dealing. The player at the deuler’s left leads, and the others play in rotation, following suit if they can, throwing away if they have none of the suit led. « highest card of the suit led takes the trick, and the winner of one trick leads for the next. ‘The object of each player is to avoid taking any trick that has aheart in it, and, of course, to compel some one clse to take tricks into which hearts have been thrown, The re- sult is a sort of reversal of whist, with hearts perpetually trumps, Of course the highest carda are the most dangerous for they are most likely to take tricks and the fewer tricks one takes the less chance of hearts. Hearts, also, are things despised, to be got rid of as rapidly as possible, It is a good th in a general way, to get rid of all cards of one suite early in the play, because then one can avoid having to follow suit, perhaps, and have a chance to throw away a heart, and in various other mat- ters the rules and customs that have become instinct with whist players are reversed in hearts, When all the cards have been played each player looks over his tricks, and for exch heart card, if any in them, he puts oue counter into apool, The player who has no heart card takes the pool, Where two or more players have escaped taking any hearts. the pool is divided among them, and if all the players have taken hearts the pool stands and is joined tothat for the next round, Aside from these general principles the rules of whist govern the game, with some few exceptions, such as the foliowing: If a card is exposed during the deal, the dealer must deal over again. Butif the ex- posed.card belongs to the dealer, a fresh deal does not ensue. If a misdeal occurs the dealer must deal over again, (In the case of a misdeal, the deal does not pass to the eldest hand. as at whist. There is no advantage in having the deal, and some- times there is a decided advantage. in having the lead. Therctore the dealer must not de- prive an innocent player of the privilege of the lead.) A card exposed in the course of a play cannot be “called” as in whist, (At whist, by exposing his card or cards, a player gives knowledge to his partner, and ence the rule that such may be called for and must be played. In the game of hearts each player is playing for himself alone, and has no pains to whom information can be conveyed, therefore, the stringent rule of whist cannot be senon when no reason for the rule ex- ists. In case of a revoke the delinquent must pay into the pool as many counters as the pool then contains, if any, and thirteen counters addi- tional. A revoking player cannot win anything in the round in which the revoke occurred; but after the penalty has been paid, the entire pool is divided at once among the players, Any player has the right to look at the Jast trick turned. Every trick must be gathered and turned be- fore a card can be led for the next trick. ‘The game can also be played five-handed and six-handed by rejecting from the pack enough small cards of other suits than hearts to make the cards divide evenly among all the players. There is also a jack-pot attachment sometimes played at hearts, The pot is started with a contribution of one counter from each player, At the end of the round if more than ons player has escaped taking hearts the odd counter left in the division of the pool, which ordinarilay goes to the winning player ‘nearest the dealer's left, is put into the jack pot. With each deal each player adds another counter to the jack pot, and this continues until some player takes no trick atall in a round, when the jack pot is awdrded to him, ‘The adaptation of the game to parlor use for a large party can be readily accomplished in a variety of ways, All that is necessary ia to get in the progressive feature, so that the winner or winners at one table proceed to the next. Play may be continued at each table until the round ends at the first one, and the hands then may be laid down and the counting done or lay may be by complete rounds at each table, ‘he first will probably prove the more popular way. One or two manuals of the game have been issued, but they differ as to details and every one can devise a system for himself of making the game progressive and also of scoring, whether by games or by total of Pes which, explained betore play begins, will do ag well as any fixed rules, ‘The simplest way of scoring is probably tu count one for the highest player ateach table each time a change of table is made, Prizes are viven, of course, to the high- estand second highest’ players and to the booby, separate sets of prizes for the ladies and for the men, just as in progressive eucher, ~=— ser E ~: The New Car Driver. From the New York World, Passengers on a Broadway car the other morning witnessed an interesting scene. The driver was a new hand who had evidently been put to work inan emergency and had not re- ceived all the instructions that a new hand re- uires. The wind was blowing sharply in his tise aa tha passengers were glad to see him put the lines through the hand-hole in the door through which the conductor collects fare from passengers on the platform. This done the new driver came in the car himself, closed the door softly and serenely drove his team from the inside of the car. He bowed right and left to the passengers as he took.up his stand in the car aud remarked leasantly that the weather was a little But thanks for the kindheartedness of thecom- pany in providing thw hole in the door very much sharper weather could be endured, He was a sociable sort of a man and talked cheerfully to the passengers, the chief point of his observations being that there was a great deal of abuse heaped upon corporations that was undeserved. “I take it as self-evident,” he said, “that a corporation cannot be soulless that goes to the hee of cutting holes in a street-car door and lining it with brass, simply that the driver may stand inside and drive.” He would have said more, but just then the conductor rushed in and shoved him out on the front platfor It Will Ever Be Thus. From the New York Sun. A citizen of Harlem who was approaching the railread depot, followed by a dog, halted and picked up a stone and flung it at the canine the exclamation: ‘ou good-for-nothing cur, but I'd like to knock your head off!” Just then a man came down a side street, followed by a second dog, and halted to say: “['ve got another justsuch cur here, He isn’t worth his weight in soap ia BD ete mine this very night,” “And I'm going to throw mine under the lo- comotive.” “Say,” said the second man, after a moment's thought, ‘‘call your cur up here and let's get "em to fighting.” “Good idea. Here, Jep—Jop—Jep! Come oe egal rat s e dog cautior proached, and as the two animals began growling and walking sround each other a sulien “Stuboy!” brought «climax, and they began fighting. Both men laughed, but it wasn’t a minute before the underneath, was kicked the Give my dog fair show!” man, whose dog on There always were one or two at a | ODDITIES OF ETIQUETTE. How One Must Act at Certain Times in Other Nations. From Lordon Wit and Wisdom, In Sweden if you address the poorest per- son on the street you must lift your hat. The same courtesy isinsisted upon if you pass 4 lady on the stairway. Toeuter a reading room or & bank with one’s hat on is regarded as a bad breach of manners. To place your hand on the arm of a lady is a grave and objection- able familiarity. Never touch the person; it is sacred, is one of their proverbs, In Holland a lady is expected to retire precipitately if she should enter a store or a restaurant where men are congregated. She waits until they bave transacted their business and departed. Ladies seldom rise in Spain to receive a male visitor and they rarcly accompany him to the door. For a Spaniard to give a lady (even his wife) his arm when out walking is locked upon as a | decided violation of propriety. In Persia, among the aristocracy, a vistitor sends notice an hour or two before calling, and givesa day's notice if the visit is one of = importance. He is met by servants be- fore he reaches the house and other considera- tions are shown him according to relative rank. The left and not the right is considered the po- sition of honor, No Turk will enter a sitting room with dirty shoes. The upper classes wear tight-fitting shoes with galoshes over them. The latter, which receives ail the dirt and dust, are left outside the door. The Turk never washes in dirty water, Water is poured over his hands, so that when polluted it runs away, In Syria the people never take off their caps or turbans When entering the house or visiting a frieud, but they always leave their shoes at the door, There are no mats or scrapers out- side, and the floors inside are covered with ex- pensive rugs, kept very clean in Mosiem houses and used to kneel upon while saying prayers. BEC DESAI The Station Master of Lone Prairie. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, 1830. An empty bench, a sky of grayest etching, A bare, bleak shed in blackest silhouette, elve yards of platform, and beyond’ them siretching Twelve miles of prairie glimmering through the wet. North, south, east, west—the same dull gray per- Siste ce, ‘The tattered vapors of a vanished train, | The narrowing rails that meet to pierce the dis. tance, Or break the columns of the far-off rain. Naught but myself—nor form nor figure waking ‘The long hushed level and stark shining waste— Nothing th t moves to Mill the vision aching, Where the last shadow fled in sullen haste. Nothing beyond. Ah, yes! From out the station A still gaunt figure ‘hrowu against the sky, Beckoning me with some woouen salutation Mey from his signals as the train flashed v3 bags me place beside him with dumb ges- ure Born of that reticence of sky and air; We sit apart, yet wrapped in that one vesture Of silence, sadness, and unspoken care. Each following his own thought—around us dark- enin, Tho rain-washed boundaries and stretching rack— Sach following those dim parallels and hearken- ing For long-iost voices that will not come back. Until, unasked—I know not why or wherefore— ue yie ded, bit by bit, his dreary past, Like gathered clouds that seemed to thicken there tor . Some dull down-dropping of their care at last. “Long had helived there. Asa boy had started From the stacked corn the Indian's painted face; Hoard the wolves’ howl the wearying waste that part His father’s hut from the last camping place, “Nature had mocked him; thrice had claimed the eapin, reaping ‘With scythe of fire oflands she once had sown; Sent the tornado—'round his hearthstone heaping Rafters, dead faces that were like his own. “Then came the war time. When its shadows beckoned He walked dumbly where the fag had lea ugh swamp and fen—unknown, unpraised, unrecaoned, To famine, fever and a prison bed. “Til 4 Storm passed, and the slow tide return- 7 Cast him, a wreck, beneath his native sky, At this lone watch gave him the chance of earning Scant means to live—who won the right todie.” All this I heard—or seemei to hear—half blend- With the low murmur of the coming breeze, The call of some lost bird and th unending And ceaseless sobbing of those grassy seas. Until at last the spell of desolation Broke with a trembling star and far-off cry. The coming train! 1 glance around the station. All is empty as the upper sky! ‘Naught but myself—nor form nor figure The long hushed level and stark waste— Naught but myself, that cry, and the’dull shaking Of wheel ans axle, stopped in breathless haste! “Now then—look sharp! Eb, what? The station master? Thar's none! We stopped here of our own ac- cord. ‘The man got killed in that down-train disaster waking shining od a evening. ight there! All —The New Review. Bret Harve. ————e+-____ “Call Me Thine Own.” Washington Correspondence New York Tribune. I observe Senator George Hearst of California inhis accustomed seat in the Senate. The pleasure derived from his‘ presence is not con- fined to the floor of the Senate, An ex-Cali- fornian who is here booming a western village for the world’s fair looked down from the gal- leries the other day and told this story: “Uncle George,” as he is affectionately called by all who know him—an@ to know him is to esteem him—and his family were on the Jersey coast last summer when I visited them. ‘The Senator enjoyed the seashore and the good fel- lows he met there who could talk ‘horse,’ but the society folks fatigued him very much. Living in an adjoining cottage was a well- known New York society man, who also had his family with him. The ladies of the two fami- lies were quite friendly and many little cour- tesies were exchanged. Whichever head of a household went to New York for a day was obliged to do the errands of both families. ‘‘Uncle George” started off one day when Mrs. X. wanted him to bring her a num- ber of songs. She said there was one she had forgotten the title of, but she might recall it in time, The Senator started for New York with- out seeing his friend again, but at a venture bought ‘I Dreamt that I Dwelt in Marbie ‘The Old Mill,’ ‘Listen to My Tale of Woe,’ and various other classical pieces, which thought might include the one his friend could not recall. He received a telegram that evening which, in his own language, was a ‘stunner.’ It bore the date line of the New Jersey seacoast resort and was signed ‘Mrs, X.’ The ene itself was startlingly brief. It merely 3 “Call Me Thine Own,” “The old Forty-niner was upset, He hunted up some of his racing friends and frankly laid the situation before them. He rotested, that there had been no flirtation on his part and he didn’t think it had gone so faron the lady's a ‘Uncle George's’ friends were so moved »y his distress that they didn’t take advan- tage ofhim. At their suggestion he wrote an answor to the message as follows: “« “Mrs, X.—Am flattered ob ee confidence, rks woman, Mrs, H., has a prior “ ‘Uncle George’ didn’t go back to that New Jersey resort fora week and then the York family had gone to th mountains. But if you want to keep in his good graces be sure and oe refer to his seaside flirtation with You may get burt if you do.” ——— ee Money in Rattlesnake Oil. From the Athens (Ga) Banner. There are places in South Georgia where men extract oil from the rattlesnake and use it to cure rheumatism. These persons will give a negro @1 to point out a rattlesnake to them. i a raat BR e | From the New York Sun. There were thirty of us in camp ona spur of | the Black Hills mining for gold,when one after- | noon we looked down upon the level plain and saw four mounted redskins chasing a white man | on a mule, He was making for us, but they were | rapidly overhauling him. and it was plain enough that we could render no assistance, The foremost Indian fired a shot, and man and mule fell ina heap. The Indians pressed for- ward, yelling and exulting, but the faint re- ports of a revolver reached our ears. and we saw redskins and ponies tumbling over at every report. Some of our men slid down the steep | mountain side to take a hand in the ficht, but | | it was not needed. When they reached the man | he sation the ground laughing as if he would | split. To think!” he shouted, as soon as he could control his voice, “that these "ere Sioux, who | are rated sharp as razors, could be fooled by | that old trick—ha! ha! ha!” And he laughed | until he had wiped away the tears. Ou the + ground near by were the three dead Indians | and another about to die, while two of th | ponies were dead and the other two bad wounded. It had all been done with an ol 4 fashioned Colt’s revolver, loaded with powder | and ball and carrying a percussion cap, but the | work had been rapia and sure. The Indians had closed in on him, supposing him to be dend or badly wounded, while neither man nor | mule had been touched. After a bit the man, who was an old trapper, went over to the wounded warrior and said to him in the Siowa | dialect and chuckling between his words: ‘Say! did any of you feilers ever see a white before?” any of them,” gasped the warrior. fog pitt Fou ever hear of that old trick be- 01 isn't the white man wounded?” | Not by adozen Nancy Janes! That bullet | didu’t come within arod of me. 1 gave my old mule the signal to squat, and down we tum- bled to draw you on. The other three are dead, and you are about to go, Say, I don't want to hurt a dying injun’s feelings, but—ha! j ha! ha!—but it was ‘nuff to kill a fellow to see j how you four opened your--ha! ha! ha!—eyes | when I began to pop!—Fanniest thing I have seen in a year! Durn it, I won't need. a: qui’neen for a month. chills off with laughing’ gazed at him ina troubled way for a moment. seemed to realize that he had been daped, and he closed his eyes and died without ever raising the lids again, -— o What is the Matter With the Custard. | Ina recent speech Chauncey M. Depew told go man who was a guest at | After the | astory of the Chi the Eagle hotel in Poughkeepsie, dinner was over he said: for dessert?” kind?” “Mince. apple, lemon, custard and | pumpkin.” Well,” said the Chicago man, *-bring me mince, lemon, apple and pumpkin.” The waite hat in thunder is the matter with the cus Chicago docs not object to this—not at The Tribune of that city proudly remarks tha : take not onl; From the Siew York Tribune. | Two handsomely dressed women with beam- ing and benevolent faces were walking south- ward along Broadway by the triangle at 33d street one afternoon last week. Goodness was | unmistakably stamped on each woman's face and their placid looks showed that they were at peace with the world, When they reached | 32d street they saw a ragged urchin who was in the act of picking up something from the gut- ter, It was a piece of stale bread covered with the dirt of the street. A shudder ran over both women as they saw the boy put the bit of bread to his mouth. It was a m, shivering boy. whose woebegone and weazen features told of porerty that would appeal to the stouiest eart. “Poor, dear boy,” said the elder of the women, and a tear crept into her eye. “You do look hungry, indeed. Have you nothing better to eat than that?” “Na-a-w, nuffin ‘tall, mum,” he replied in thin,shivering tones, ‘Got no ‘ome, no farder, no mudder; gits me livin’ in de street.” “There, there, throw away that dirty bread. Take thie quarter and go and get some warm coffee anda roll,” replied the good woman, as she felt her kindly heart seem to rise up in her throat and ch.ke her. The wretched lad took the shining coin in his begrimed fingers and blubbered out his thanks. Then the second lady fished a quarter out of her reticule and gave it to the urchin. The boy seemed overcome by such eae fortune, and between his thanks he stuffed the hand holding the two quarters in the bosom of his ragged shirt. Then the two good women patied the matof hair on his hatless head, spoke cheery words to the boy, and resumed their walk down Broadway, their hearts filled with a warm glow of gladness that they had been able to relieve a case of genuine distress. And the boy—he went around the block to the 6th avenue side of the Union dime savings bank, taking his crust of dirty bread with him, aud prepared to work hi ” again, She Didn’t Understand. London Letter to the San Francisco Ars: English people have a sort of und pression that all Americans are radicals, They never seem to realize that there can be no such thing as radicalism ina republic, that there is no occasion, no field for it. They seem to forget if they ever thought about it) that in this respect America begins where England will (possibly) end. They are, therefore, always greatly amused at the coustant marri- ages of American giris with Englishmen of title. “Tm so awfully fond of England and the English,” gushingly said an American young lady to an elderly English woman with several ageable daughters. hen why do you always want to marry men of title?” asked the English woman, cause they're Enlish* “There are thousands of Englishmen with- out titles, They are just as good as the others.” “How can that be?” (doubtingly). The English woman gave a sniff at the girl’s ignorance. “Don’t you know that an earl's grandson may have no title” “Hasn’the? What a shame!” “He’s just as good as earl’s sons. “Why, Lady Slapdash! The id “He has the same blood in his “How can he if he has no title’ Another sniff. “He has, But it’s just as I say. You must always havea title when you marry.” “You see, we Americans are a business peo- ple. We always want to get our money’s worth and try to get the best the market affords,” laughed the American girl; “that’s why it is, I expect.” “But the men without titles are worth just as much asthe others—in England.” “Ah, but not in Amerfca. You see we haven't time to study ont the ramifications of a man’s enealogy—to trace the roots and branches of fis family tree. Ifa man has no title, that is what he should be compeiled to do, not only to satify ourselves, but to let our neighbors see what a great swell we had married, Even then, not one out of ten Americans believe that an Englishman without a title is as great a swell socially as a man with one, It would take too much trouble to explain their mistake to them, and really dono good. They'd think you were taken in yourself, and were trying to make the best of it by a lot of fibs.” “How inexpressibly vuigar!” exclaimed Lady Slapdasb, with her nose in the air, The American girl's back was up in a minute? “don't see that we are a bit more vulgar than you are—or, indeed, 80 much so, for you ought to know better. Now, look at yourself. Do you mean to say that you are not thought more of by your own countrymen and women on aceount of your titled” Te “No: certainly not. a , ter my rank is really higher than that of ‘myrhus- band, who is only aaron. LI could still call mgself Lady Jemima if I chose.” “Who knows that until you tell them? But just answer me this. As you charge us Ameri- cans with being so fond of titles, and call it vulgar, perhaps you'll pardon my asking you what oy say if people didn’t p> cena you by your title? Eh?” “That they were very rude.” “Or if servants and tradespeople omitted to say ‘my lady’ or ‘your ladyship’ to you?” ‘That they were very impertinent.” 2-8 would be just as good if you had no “Eb? I don’t understand,’ io, I see you don"t—or (sotto voce) won't,” tumn tints and country houses. : | of | “civilian” Archduke Hi Romance of an Archduke, « Mews one. g his stay of several hours Emperor Francis Joseph Archduke Henry, duke's consort, Ba h oceasion the arch- # Waldeck, and theit daughter, Baroness Marie, were introduced to In his marriage the archduke tted such « breach of the traditional rales and usoges of the Hapsburg family that for twenty-one years he had lived estranged trom the head of the imperiat b On the ¥, 1868, Archduke Henry married i the assess: tria, In all prix strict and > head but to the man only was the om but the prohi his majesty w was for many Archduke Hen: ke Heury not obtained ls assued by 1 the archduke ed happiness, iiasure began to a was allowed to take 2 a iyrolese town, whils been raised appear, and the archdub up his permanent re With his wife, who had to noble rank under th deck, : a daughter, who is now the quiet, contented lite of « swhen stationed in Gre t he made the acquaintance of Fraulein Hofmann, asinger at the theater, with a m ‘y of 30 florins. She was by no m Her best role was t Diavoio,” bu very type all, irrepros The acquaintance. w most honorable one, had aire tume, when war broke cut rth as weld s in the so the field in Italy. I word of honor to th: her if his lite were spare iaithtuily kept. had to take see Fining Nimselt for Drunkenness. From the rue An ext ne was presented in Oale land toda © Judge Alexandet idlaw got drunk ai ted a scene ine saloon, He was not arre buta report of his unseemly conduct was published in the papers He wore an a'r of unusual dignity when opened, and in presence of a large crowd lectured himself for break ng a city ordinance, edged himself to resign if it occurred again, imposed a tine of £50 and paid it to the bailif, The Fiend of the Car From the New York About the n of the car was a lady and boy about five years of age, evidently mother and fon. train had seares moved out of the depot before the boy began to “cat up,', running up and down te aisle and making re marks to passengers, The mo’ him several times and finally said: +James, I shail certainly tell your father. “How can you when he’s ran away and noe body knows wiere he is?” replied the boy, This settied the mother fora time, but when the boy « to raise a window she leaned atid shall surely punish you!” fo I'll teil that a policeman arrested L other mterval, butas n a cage, which one of the passengers was transporting, she sternly said “James, come here?” ot now “Right off! You area bad boy, and I shan’t let sou come with me again!” “Yes, you w ‘ won v I'll tell that the reason papa rau awa is because Mr. Davis came to our house « much!” This prostrated the mothe 1, and had nothing turth uid she began Landers roame and down the car anche! until he finally fell astcep on a e | He had one more shot im reserve he lay down he cailed out: , Wake me up when we get to 1 want to hear her swear and ta —---———-+ee Wrecking Vessels in the Bahamas. Men, women and children will abandon any pursuit to throng to the scene of a wreck. Am entire congregation will swarm out of church atsuch a summous, the men divesting them. selves of superfluous clothing as they ran, pitching garments over walls or into the bushes for the women to pick up. They are as activ and prompt in their work and as skillful as ¢ members of the New York tire de ment are in theirs, Nor does the labor require less nerve and skill, To a boat out through a beat- ing surf, in water which is not by any means f from sharks, and successfully save the c » riggs and even the furniture of » wrecked vessel, to say nothing of the human lives, 1s not work for a coward or an unskilled bo: mi Che pay for salvage is high, so that a k is thing to be prayed for an@ long remembered, Numberless stories with which the insalar conscience reconc itself to the idea of asvisti Rather a knotty case wa Older pilots, who was suspect eral years ago for nature. At the tri been proved by witness« was in the cabin of the v some time, are told of the facility one of th d tried sev- ity in a crime of this oints are said to have tirst, that the pilot | one afternoon for.’ and thet when he came out he wag heard to “Well, ‘n, if it mus’ be so, de and, second, that the next morning the vessel was hard and fast ashore, The laborers appear to work with more intelligence and energy when on or in the sea, Saltwater seems to be vivifying in ite effect. Perhaps it is the unending. unyieldiay demand for activi ja action and though! hh the ocean alw makes upon those who wrestle with it that accounts for this difference in character, But it certainly is the case thet the colored the Bahamas does not seem fonde vutinued exertion waen in his field or engaged in shore work than does his race brother eisewhe: Ollivier on Napoleon’s Fall. From the Pall Mal! Gazette M. Emile Olivier, who played the leading role in the events which immediately preceded the Franco-Prussian war, bas just published @ book, “1783-1859,” in which he makes an at- tempt to explain away his own and his master's responsibility for the events which led to and followed the declaration of war. Napoleom LIL, he declares, was driven to the field by the angry clamor of the people and the imperative desire of his parliament, irritated to madness by the offeasive attitude taken by Germany, is ity that while he was about it M, Ollivier could not hit ou a more plausible ex- planation of what was perhaps the greatest under ever committed by sovereign or min- ister. This vox opuli excuse will not go dowg With Le exception of one or two aris itself, the country was . When the provincial mayors, who, of course, represent publie opinion in itg entirety more than a depute can possibly de were asked if the people desired war, the au® swer Was a unanimous uo. M. Ollivier's second explanation of what happened is that the emperor was already @ condemned wan, suffering from an agonizing and incurable malady—stone. .The army, des clares M. Ollivig, was ready, quite ready; but the emperor, r/ked by pain, wasted days, dure ing which the army becume ‘disorganized and discouraged. Ail this is nonseuse. M. Olivier, whatever he thought at ~ time, kuows now that nothing was ready, and that the Germans had the game in their own hands from the first. It is no doubt true that had the ror been in the full possession of his facultics he would have remained at peace, for no man with his wits about him would have war under such conditions, But what an apole ogy for the empire is this which is based upoa an attempted Smaaieation == —, sus preme moment France was ready, but = peror himself was lacking!