Evening Star Newspaper, March 1, 1890, Page 8

8 WITH CABLE AND GRIP Rapid Transit on the Seventh Street Car Line. COMPLETION OF THE ROAD. The Immence Power House—What Be- comes of the Horses—The Cable and Drum—How the System Works—The Bed ef the Cable and the Grip, ————.—_—_ .T is expected that by tonight the new 7th ‘street cable road will be completed and connected from end toend. It is not so easy to tell how soon the road will be ac- y working, with the old horse car service discarded and the more modern system of cable tra ticn substituted. It is hoped that some time in March the new systemwill be in use, however. And perbaps,on the whole,it is as well that the officials in control have not been in too much haste. Asa result of their care and the wise expenditure of a large sum of money Washington will be supplied with what is already conceded to be as well an equipped cable road as can be found anywhere. One reason of this perhaps is the fact that it is the last one built, for every road so far constructed has been able to profit by the experiences of preceding roads, to adopt the best features of each and to substitute some improvement. for whatever was considered unsatisfactory. When the first train starts out from the power house on its trip up 7th street and back it will be drawn along by @ cable that is worked by the finest machinery that can possibly be put in for the purpose. A CABLE CAR. It will move over s track that has been en- tirely rebuilt and improved, and what is of much importance to the riding public, it will be made up of cars that areat once handsome end convenient. Everything willbe new and the present prospect is that everything will be quite satisfactory. The fact that this is the first cable system in Washington lends it considerable interest tothe people here. In San Francisco or Kansas City or Chicago, where eable roads have been in operation for years, the building of anew one attracts compara- tively little attention. But in this city when a railroad company discards the old horse cars which have dons such faithful work, some of them for many yeurs, the event is one of real moment, FATE OF THE CAR HORSES, It is a thought to arouse curiosity as to the Probable fate of those staid old land marks, the car horses, now that their days of useful- ness on one line are so nearly past. Is a car horse ever anything butacar horse? Has he nothing to hope for? No broader field of use- fainess or nobler sphere in life to fill? Alas, it must be admitted that the chances are strongly against him. He will probably beacar horse all the days of his life, though the seene of his labors mny be changed to some other line. He will simply receive a “transfer east or west,” as the passengers be has carried Lave done so many times, d all progress is forward every improvement ia labor-saving mac y, leaves in its way a number of unemployed. It will not be long before the horses are quite forgotien by the passengers who are being earried along faster than they ever were before on a street car line in this city, That is ove of the main beauties of such sroad, It does go fast. THE SPEED OF A CABLE ROAD is only limited by considerations of conven- ience and safety. The cars on acable road in one of the western cities run at an average speed of eleven miles an hour, and some roads that run through rather sparsely settled sub- urbs go as high as fifteen. It is hardly likely, however, that the cable here will ever be run at 4 much greater speed than eight miles, and perhaps even jess than that would be desirable. especially along crowded thorough- fares, The system is claimed to be a compara- tively safe one, and it is stated that records of cable roads show a smalier number of accidents than occur with any of the other systems, The cars run so steadily and they can be stopped and started with such ease that they are by no means as dangerous as is commonly supposed. THE POWER HoUsF. A question that perhaps interests a number 4 MAMMOTH CABLE, The cable, it is needless to say, is a very im- portant factor in # road of this kind and it should of course receive its due share of af- tention. As the immense spool around which it is wraj has not been removed from the freight yard where it was dropped eight or ten feet borhood of 80, inch and a half best quality of steel wire. There are six large str: with nineteen wires to the strand. THE RIP. Ithase breaking strength of twenty-seven tons, so that it will be seen that if by any pos- sibility it could be hang UP, by one end it would break of its own weight, The life of a cable is to a certain extent a matter of chance. With ordinary usage in this climate it should last at least a year, but there have been cases of a cable wearing out in a month, and it may be easily cut by a careless gripman neglecting to release the grip when the car enters tho house and when the cable falls below the ordinary level in order to get back into the power house. This is an ac- cident that is carefully guarded against and is not expected to occur. SPLICING THE CABLE. In case an accident does occur the cable can be quickly clamped up in an arrangement along the side of the power house, where it enters, and expert splicers get to work at once upon it. It only takes between one and two hours to make an emergency splice and about four hours to splice anewrope. The putting in — of the first cable is rather a difficult un- lertaking. The reel is placed in the power house and the rope inserted into the sht, Then horses are attached to the end of it and the cable is dragged along its course through the city around the big wheel at the other end, more horses being applied as the distance be- comes greater, and soon back to the power house, where the whole thing is made taut and the two ends are carefully spliced, To put in a.uew rope is notso much of an undertaking. The end of the new one is attached to the end of the old one, the machinery started and the old rope ends its work by putting its successor in place. The cable in its journey around the tracks moves over wheels in an arched excavation, which is strengthened by heavy iron yokes be- tween four and five feet apart, The grooved wheels over which the cable rans are placed at a distance of 30 feet from each other and are of cast iron with steel bearings, all lateral motion being taken up by blocks of maple wood, which render them noiseless, In taking hold of the cable the grip does not pick it when the car is ready to start an let it drop entirely when it stops, but the cable runs through the grip at all times, and gripping is simply a tightening of the grip upon the cable sufficient to give its motion to the car, After the car passes, the cable, which has been lifted out of the grooves on the wheels, falls back again into place and runs along regularly until the next ear comes along. THE DRUMS AND CABLE. In examining the various wheels that keep an endless cable in motion it is not an easy matter to decide just where togbegin, but perhaps it is as well to do as Tue Sran reporter did and follow the cable from the point where it leaves of people in this city to whom the cable road is comparative novelty is how the whole thing works and how the cars are made to go so easily. A Stan reporter, actuated by curiosity on this point, spent an afternoon at the new power house at the foot of the 7th street car tracks examining the building and its contents and asking ail sorts of questions of the men who are putting am the cable. The power house is an immense building and admirably planued for its pur- joses. It is built of press brick, handsome in and covers a space of ground 121 by 400 feet, 20 that there is really nearly two acres un- der its broad roof. One-half of this is taken up by the big car storage room. and it seems as though hundreds of cars might stand there side by side. The floor is all of artificial stones and is as smooth and clean as a dancing floor. The tracks are sunken, so that all that is to be seen is number of narrow parallel grooves im which the car wheels are to ran. The floor has a decided slope to- ward the front or main atrance, from which he cars will come be- ¢ making their trips. here is no system of turn tables, enabling cars to turn and go back $ without entering, al- THE Cables BED. though it could have been easily put in had it been thought desirable. As it is, ears on their return will be taken around the building and let in at the back, The cable. however, does not run around the building and number of horses must still be kept on hand for the purpose of hauling the cars up the slope along the side of the building tothe rear entrance. After they enter the rear door the cars will be let loose and be car- tied down into position by force of gravity. At the foot of these paraile! tracks there is no a: = of switches for the cars to be ca across to the main track by which they will make their exit. Asimpler and more psctical method has been adopted. At the wer end of these rows of tracks and at right angles to them a broader track has been built a foot or two lower than these. On this moves a flat, heavy carriage. The cars are rua — onto this and then they can be moved backwards and forwards and be ver easily and quickly transferred to any trac that is desired. room is well lighted and =o ae — Fs a whole building. is light roughout by electricity, the plant for which is in one of the rooms, > AN IMMENSE Room. Above the car room is another of the same size which is reached by alarge elevator. This room is unbroken by pillars and posts,as is the one be- low, for the roof is supported by aseries of sub- stantial girders and trusses. This upper room will be used for general storage an e the winter cars will spead the heated term and the summer cars will bibernate. In the other half of the building are located all the offices, the tool room, coal storage room, the boiler room, engine rooms and all the vast machinery used to keep the cable in motion, up out of the top of the building, 110 feet im height, am object to be seen afar, is the chimuey that keeps the fires going. From this ean be judged somewhat of the size of the fur- maces boilers, These are all of the most improved description, and the men who are putting in the cable engines say that the car company here has furnished ™ with the Ginest steam plant to be found in any power Bouse in the 2ountry. THE FURNACES are fed by an automatic stoker, a small station- ary engine that feeds the coal as it is needed to keep up the fires to any desired point. It is expected that they wil burn about seven or t tons of coals day. boiler room is a store room for coal capable of holding two thousand tons, so it is doubtiul if eny coal famine or freight blockade will ever cause the cars to stop running. The engines, made by the Babcock & Wilcox com- the street, after its little trip up town and back, through the building and out again to the point where it begins a new journey. A little distance above the power house the cars are expected to break loose from the cable, and there it drops down into a small tunuel by which it enters the building. The rope takes a half turn around a big wheel and then has a straight course into the machinery room, where it goes around the large drums and receives its power. The cable makes four half turns around these two drums or large wheels, which are 12 feet in diameter. These are of chilled iron with differential steel rings,which maintain an equal tension on all turns of the rope. After leaving the drums the cable runs back into « long room, where it runs overa large wheel revolv- ing on a horizontal axis. It is here that the cable is kept always taut. This wheel is on @ movable carriage with a runway of a hun- dred feet. From the carriage a heavy chain is carried back over a wheel and from the end of the chain is suspended @ swinging weight of seven tons, sufficient tu keep the cable tight and firm along its whole course. After leaving here the rope goes around two more wheels, which turn it in its proper direc- tion back to the street. ready for another voy: around its circuit. In front of the house the cars are attached ready to to carry their passengers uptown, ‘The trains— for they are called by that ambitious name— are composed of two cars, a grip and a passen- gercoach, although to meet extra demamds several passenger cars can be attached to one grip. Twenty trains will or- dinarily be kept running at one time. The ger cars are new and quite elegant, but with that exception are not unlike any ordinary street cars. ‘The grip cars are open and are somewhat like the summer | cars, having two rows of seats facing forward, ‘The passageway between the seats ws boarded up to a height of about three feet and in this passage the grip man stands with the grip at one side and the | brake at the other, ready to stop his train at any or every corner. For be it known to all Washingtonians who are accustomed to stop- ing cars every few feet if so desired that to 'd a grip traim they must be at the street corner, for the new cars will not stop for any one in the middle of a bluck. State Senator G: the only colored member of the Vi ‘e, 8 an ap f socom for the post office at Farmville, the ome of Gov. McKinney. . A rich deposit of silver has been discovered in Seated county, Va, will be lemocratic primary election held repor! th of Be ras cut by Shacklett, wesweronsous. Herndon alive and improving. Mayor Banks’ appointment as collector of customs at Norfo! «but the democrats in fall municipal affairs, as he was the Officeholder, ry cy lican city 2 the case of James H. Lutz against the Har- risburg city nger railway, whose oar killed rag jury yesterday gave Luts a verdict The mail stage plying between Merced and Mariposa, Cal., was on the 26th the mail taken. —s John Fillmore. a defeated date for constable, boy named bead with a hate! In a fight between two ‘one the other, Joe Barber, with a knife. F IN TROPICAL CLIMES. Traveling in the United States of Colombia. FROM HONDA TO BOGOTA. A Four-Day Ride Over Mountain Path- ‘waye—The Proper Riding Skirte—Hew Goods Are Transported—The First Glimpec of The Capital. From Tus Stan's Traveling Commissioner. Booorta, Coromsia, Jan. 22. HE city of Honda, though nearly 800 miles above the mouth of the Magda- lena and the present terminus of the steam boat routes, is by no means at the “head” of that river's navigable waters, The growing town, which has acquired consequence only on account of the river trade, is beautifully situated, surrounded by rugged mountains and at the junction of two great streams, for here the Rio Gauli comes rushing down to join the Magdalena on its long journey to the sea, Otherwise there is nothing about Honds to distinguish it from a hundred other cities of Spanish America, It has the usual tall-towered church, rows of white-washed casas roofed with red tiles and suburban cottages thatched with straw, all shaded by cocoa trees and groups of graceful palma, There are a few very old buildings of early Spanish origin, whose enormously thick walls were built with especial view to withstand the earthquakes that are frequent in this locality; but in spite of their solidity most of the old houses were long ago shaken into ruins. To my mind the most interesting thing about the place is the remains of an antique bridge, built by the conquerors in the year 1601. Its quaint arches are yet entire, and the stone walls show niches, now dismantled, where saints and crosses used to stand commanding the worship of all way- farers, telling mutely how those stern crusaders built for all time and never forgot the outward tokens of religion in the midst of their greed for gold. FROM HONDA TO BOGOTA, Bogota de Santa Fe, the capital of Colom- bia, is oniy 70 miles from Honda; but the journey thereto, being straight over the main cordillera of the Andes, is very tedious and dif- ficult and can only be accomplished on horse or mule back. From time to time during the last quarter of a century American companies have attempted the construction of a railroad between these two points, About thirty miles of track have actually been laid; but those in charge of the work have again and again been compelled to abandon it because of frequent revolutions and the impossibility of securing laborers, The natives will not work and the company cannot afford to pay wages enough to induce immigration. But notwithstanding all these disadvantages the enterprise has not been abandoned, and having received substan- tial encouragement from the Colombian gov- ernment in the shape of land grants and a “concession,” it will doubtless be finished some- time. Meanwhile, on its own account, the gov- ernment has projected a railway from Bogota to Honda, and has also given a liberal conces- sion for the construction of another line lead- ing into the Cauca valley, where are supposed to exist the richest gold mines in all the world, the same from whence came those hundreds of millions that were sent to Spain in the days of the viceroys, A stage line has recently been established between Honda and Agriabarga, thus shorten- ing the saddle journey by 30 miles; but it isa mooted question, which is hardest, tobe rat- tled across the mountains shut up in a spring- less coach hike dice ina box, or to go sailing over them on the deck of a mule. In either case the trip necessitates four of the Jongest and hardest days that are likely to fall to the lot of an ordinary human being in the course of his life, Because ot the certainity of obtaining good mules for the through trip at Honda and the uncertainity of all things at Agriabarga we decided (whethgr wisely or not remains to be seen) to go the entire distance in the saddle. The ladies of our party secured riding habits of dust-colored alpaca, buckskin gloves reaching nearly to the elbow, and wide-brimmed hats of Panama graas, tied tightly under the china la “poke.” Right here permit me to whisper a secret ‘TO LADIES ONLY. When making saddle journeys in any of these mountain regions it is well to be guided in the matter of dress by the advice of the natives, who, traveling always in this fashion, certainly onght to know what they are talking about, A lady “to the manner born” never burdens herself with too much riding skirt, but makes itscant as possible and only about four inches longer than an ordinary walking dress, and never, by any possibility, does the direst’ acci- dent expose an inch of hose or a glimpse of those under garments which are unmentionable to ears polite, for she dons a pair of very wido full trousers of the same material as her habit, gathered Turkish fashion close around the tops ofher shoes. However the wind may blow when horse and mder are in full sail over breezy heights breeches and all pass for ridin skirt and none can tell where one begins an the other ends even should a catastrophe tum- bie her upside down, AN EARLY START. Clattering out of still sleeping Honda about So’clock one balmy morning (for the seasons are reversed down here, you know, and mid- summer comes in January), our road wound for some distance under a complete arch of papaws, mangoes and fig trees, whose interlac- ing branches obscured the sky and rendered yet darker the silent hour between night and dawn. Not even a dog was stirring to bark us out of town and the mules huddled closer to- gether with an instinctive need of companion- ship. In the uncertain light we could not dis- cern one another's faces and our figures looked ghostly and unreal, as might a procession of disembodied spooks on some uncanny expedi: tion, But when the stars were lost in the sea of crimson and gold that presages the rising of the tropic sun Dame Nature suddenly shook off her comatose condition, the flowers lifted their dewy heads, birds began to twitter, smoke to curl from housetops, and the hum of human activity was heard. esently the road became alive with Indians trudging to market under heavy loads, barefooted women in short calico skirts and wide straw hata, sitting astride of mules, each beast generally carrying two rons and donkeys and black and white bul- ‘k#, #o heavily laden as to be literally COVERED FROM STEM TO STERN with piles of chincona bark, bags of gold or sil- ver ore from the mines or loads of merchan- dise of various sorta. The principal towns of Colombia, scattered along the fertile valleys lying between the spurs of the Andes, are dis- tant from the Magdalena from 60 to 100 miles; and to them all goods must be forwarded over the rugged mountain pathways. Merchandise is distributed into bales of 125 pounds each, allowing two bales or 250 pounds to a donkey load, Parcels exceeding this weight must be opened and repacked, or they will not be carried atall, The majority of interior cargadores are women, and their charge for each load is from 24 to 30 reales (a Colombian real being about 10 cents American money), or between €3 and $4. Their system of transit applies only to ar- ticles of comparatively light weight, making it utterly impossible to forward across country to those places where they are most needed such heavy objects as agricultural implements, min- ing machinery, fire engines, wagons or, indeed, bas frend else weighing more than half a ton. ‘et we are told that in Bogota every well-to- do family has its piano, which had to be brought pigeemeal over the Sierras at the cost of $1,000 per piano for its ‘tation alone! They have street cars, too, in bia’s capi- tal, which were also toted in sections over the mountains, as were the rails and ties,on the backs of mules and human beasts of burden. Soon the road grew rough and stony, like the bed of a rocky river, winding over hills which in some places ascend almost ularly amd in others offer so narrow a way that our little beasts, amb! one an- other, could hardly find a f¢ a HEAVEN BLESS THE DONKEY say I! Whatever his faults he is sure-footed and faithful and has borne many a traveler in coffee daylight. ‘Two hours siesta and a good rubbing down with sleohol ond bot water, the best remedy, by — 8 oe dinner was to is ogg be Sore the tet effort on the road, tho: -priced would bear no compe on to the ir Guaduas able Pose est hotel in the United States. F. and joyed the rare luxury of a clean and and though its floor was paved wi bricks, ite walls covered with old ne’ the windows entirely without glass and the door fastening s pole to be set up against it, we slept the aoe & the just, each in her little white-canopied cot, In these southern coun- tries the beds are all “single,” two persons never sleeping together, though several of the mahal cots may be put into the same apart- ment We were in tolerable order to start next mening by the firet peep of dawn, while the early miste mercifully obscured from view the heights we were yet to climb, The highest int hereaboute is known as Alto del zal, marked bya little white house set ainst a gigantic aga al red-gray sand stone, @ view from this place was even more glo- rious than that of the day before. Descending thence to Las Tibayes was the most difficult task we have yet encountered, over a road strewn with loose flowers, so steep and slippery that we momentarily expected to be pitched over the heads of our mules down among the precipioes. At the apology for an inn at Las ibayes we ogee of @ poorer apology for luncheon, only redeemed from utter failure by some ripe, sweet figs, which, in the desperation born of hunger, we went out and stole before the eyes of the proprietor, DOWN THE TOBAGQAN, The rest of the way was a rapid down-hill, a regular tobaggan slide 4,000 feet long, into the green and lovely valley of Villeta, To this day Iam not able to decide which is most to be dreaded, going up the face of a hill, fly fashion, in momentary peril of slipping over the donkey's tail, or’ going downward, at an angle of fifty degrees, with every muscle braced to prevent sliding over his ears. Since no beast could possibly go astray on a trail so narrow that we bumped the wall of rock on one side and stones, loosened by his feet on the brink of the other, dropped without a sound into an abyss so deep that tall trees growing at the bottom looked like mere twigs, I abandoned all responsibility, closed my eyes to the fearful view and clugg for dear life to the pommel. AT VILLETA, where the second night was passed, we were fain tolay our weary bones to rest at the first hour of gloaming, but not to slumber, for rats, cockroaches, beetles, fleas, and goodness knows what other vermin, galloped about the prisonlike place in a way that, like Macbeth’s conscience, “doth murder sleep.” Though feeling painfully the effect of our daily shak- ings-up, and already constrained to say our ayerdinastanding attitude, we were not averse to leaving Villeta long before sunrise, having partaken of the inevitable sour bread and mu ay coffee by the glimmer of a tallow dip. Rain had fallen steadily during the night, leaving everything clean, cool and dripping: but alas! it had also washed away, for the third time this season, the only bridge across the Rio Negro, leaving us no alternative but to ford that brawling stream, Luckily the river was not high, though running rapidly, and, barring a slight wetting, all crossed in safety. The ground rises steadily from the river's brink, ever higher and higher, and then comes Chimbi, a village prettily situated on the spur of the eastern cordillera of the Andes, up which we were slowly creep- ing. All this section is devoted to the raising and exportation of a yuperior grade of coffee, At last, thank Heaven! Alto del Roble was reached, one of the highest accessibie points in the Andean chain, some 12,000 feet above sea level, which the guides solemnly assured us was “the very end of up hill. At a hacienda named Mazanoe ples,” we halted for the night. Here and the banana gave place to the pine and the aloe, and, notwithstanding good beds and warm rugs, we suffered much from cold, the change being very great trom the heated low lands of the Magdalena, And it may as well be confessed right here we surrendered in- gloriously and unconditionally. Having learned that by telegraphing to Bogota a coach would come out from that city and convey us thither- ward we were glad to pay for the twenty-five miles or more which our guides and mules were not to go and lie in bed nursing our bruises during the following twenty-four hours, Long before our destination was reached its nearness was attested by the crowd of market wagons going and returning, men and women trudging along on foot or on mule back, and beasts of burden totally in eclipse under enor- mous loads of alfalfa or other merchandis3, Just at sunset we beheld the cathedral towers, housetops and tall eucalyptus trees of the old city, aif gilded in the evening light, The vesper bells were ringing ag we clattered into town; but the two overshadowing hills, whose summits are crowned by churches, each a kind of Calvary, up which penitentes gO on their knees during holy week, looked gloomy and forbidding, with black clouds hanging above them, as if bearing a frown for the weary wanderers, instead of a welcome. Faxnre B, Warp. ——co- HINTS ABOUT DIAN NAMES. Mr. Pilling of the Geological Survey Gives Some Valuable Suggestions, en- room, damp pers, ‘he A) the orange “There was a statement in Tue Star a few days ago,” said Mr. J.C, Pilling of the bureau o ethnology, “to the effct that the proprietors o one of our new suburban subdivisious had in contemplation the use of Indian termsas names for their streets and avenues, I hope that it is true and that the plan may be adopted by many others. not only for streets but for places as well, The plan is one that I, among others, have advocated for along time. It’s a shame that we should have gone abroad for our Yorks and Jerseys and Albanys, &c., to the neglect of so many beautiful words in our own native-born languages, which, to say the least, are dis- tinctively American, Just think, too, of the paucity of good taste shown in our scores of Allens Corners, High: Centers and Van Dusenvilles, and of originality in our Wash- ingtons and Oranges! ‘Io be sure we have adopted Indian names to a slight degree here and there throughout the country, espe- cially im New England, where many of the Natick and Quiripi words are still retained, particularly as names of geographic features; but for these we are mainly indebted to the wisdom and good taste of the old pilgrims—not to our- selves, After all it’s only in isolated cases that aboriginal terms have been retained, and it is the more remarkable because so many of them are a and easily remembered, It would be little trouble to find in our native idioms words which would be not only ‘sweetly flowing’ but appropriate as well. It wouldn't be easy, I admit, to get them introduced if those chosen were very long or difficult to pro- nounce or hard to speil. For instance, I notice among the names proposed to be used by the proprietors of the subdivision I alluded to awhile ago that of Namaroughyena. Pretty tough, isn’t it, until you catch the rhythm? Mi Vpsaiomnetigrrs People, rag the spelling; in form I don't identify it as an Indian word. There was a settlement on the Potomac called Namaroughquena, and bly that is what it is intended for. But other pense iven—Algonquin and Vowhatan— could an; ing be prettier? Of course those of us who deal with Indian languages on a philo- basis have to accept the forms, especial: inthe ease of tribal names, handed down ty = oY - P aiperacs sar > mae same use of ; but for ular use el the 6 af simpliboation could heey byeeeed harm done. Another thing: In the selection of names choice should be confined to “Bat where are these names to be pe. asked the Stan writer. er, ee taane sxe cupions vocabularies ” ane Mr. Pilling, either printed See Sey a Indian fam- my own shelves fift volumes can be foundin peat our manuscript cases here three —_.-__. Ideal Towns and Houses Built on Millennium Plans. —_— MAKING THINGS PLEASANT. A Clty of Rest and Quiet—Model School Hoeusee—In the Homes of the Middle Classes—Comforts in a Boarding House—Markets, jcaiatgiaaaes Written for Tax Evewme Stan. (Copyright. N the city where I found myself one ‘needing explanation, if it were not obviously wrong or in bad taste. One might stop short in the street to admire the grace of a vine-draped church spire or the heavy cornice of a building withont drawing » crowd or even bringing a contemptuous glance from some matter-of-fact passer. A man hur- tying by made a misstep and fell, his hat roll- ing off into the street; but nobody laughed, though he was acaricature for a moment. In 8 long stroll down Broadway one was neither jostled of crowded. To be sure the street was wide, but the principal reason was that nobody tried to walk on both sides of the way at once; but the up-town and down-town stream flowed side by side as distinct as two brooks, Whena street car stopped, or an elevator or shop door opened, people did not try to get in and out at the same instant in their present idiotio fashion. Those entering waited till the others got out and left the way clear; it was estimated ata saving of a quarter of a minute each time over the ancient struggle at the door of a lift or street car; adding at least a year and a half available time to the life of each man, Truth to tell, there began to be a terrible sense of something wanting everywhere. No jingle of street car bells, no thunder of drays and ex- press wagons over the pavement, When one entered a steam car he missed THE FAMILIAR SLAM OF THE DOOR. after each passenger, which had once kept the sense alert for its torture. Ithad been found that small cushions of rubber along the casing obviated all slam, and thet deafness was much rarer in consequence. People used to think that it was best for all sensibilities to treat them as coarsely as possible, stunning the ear with crash, piercing it with keen sounds, jar- ring the spine out of one every time a car coupled ora front door closed, The house- fronts were broad casements to admit sun and light; but the windows never rattled in a storm, nor did any draughts sing in the crevices, Every house was jointed closely as a lady's work box; intolerabie beading and molding giving way to plain doors, made like one smooth, broad plank of wood and decorated with paintings or hung ‘vith enamels, Warmth and ventilation were the first things attended to in the houses, which were not half so ornate outwardly as those of 18%. The yards, the balconies, the roofs, were the most luxurious little gardens shut in with glass for the winter, or rather with huge, clear sheets of thick gela~ tine, which had come to take the place of glass fora hundred uses. IN A SUBURBAN TOWN the school house took the beholder’s eye be- fore any of the other town buildings. It was only the old house after the designs of 1890 re- modeled, and the outside was simple as ever. Perhaps the roof had a better studied pitch and the proportions satisfied the eye, which the old could hardly be said to do, Still it was a kindlier edifice than the picturesque English- Gothic school buildings with hooded roofs which shut the sun from the rooms and cramped the class rooms to suit the angles of the architect's fancy. There were roof lofts to keep out the baking heat of midsummer and the cold of January; there was ventilation with- out draughts and careful warmth provided. The ‘school-room smell” was unknown and the prevailing impression was not that of a manu- factory of graduating classes, but a pleasant place of learning. The seats and desks were absolutely as comfortable as the chairs at the newest theaters, the school books were large print with pictures and maps which pupils would remember as helps in after years, The teachers were polished, sincere friends to the boys and girls. Lessons positively closed for the day at 3 o'clock, and a troop of happy, hungry creatures streamed home to another sort of training in music and tool work, garden or florist work of some kind, followed by GAMES ON THE TOWN GREEN, where half the village met in warm weather daily, the younger ones to amuse themselves, the older to look on and be still more amused. Instead of gymnasium work the games pro- vided all the exercise for the ful! development of muscle and grace, with all the stimulus and play of spirit afforded by thie fun, Digcipline saved them from a hundred follies which eat the fairness from the cheeks of children, and love, watchful and sincere, gave them a bhun- dred pleasures unknown’ to common _house- holds, There was the great fact of affection, and being made much of, which lends an ex- quisite charm to faces, and is the divinest in- spiration of beauty and health for souls and bodies. The parents { seemed to remember in the old time had hardjy time to tell their chil- dren they loved them, not time to sit in the fire light with their hands locked or straying upon their flowing hair,things so slight and yet so long remembered. IN THE HOMES, There were very few six-story buildings with elaborately carved fronts, in the insurance style, but all were well lighted and airy, built on strong, simple, noble lines, the lines of use, which ran into beauty unaware, But the in- terior homes of the suburban were in singular and pleasing contrast to those I had entered but yesterday, that yesterday which seemed so far away. There was a mere leaving off of superfluous scallop and flower in the figure of the carpets and flourishes in the carvings of the furniture, a choice of mellow instead of crude colors, sin-ple lines instead of tortured arabesque, and where people could not afford « good picture, thank Heaven, they were willing to go without one. The rooms were all larger than I had been used to seeing yesterday, the paint fresher and the walls in better condition. The cur- tains were softly figured washing stuffs, of lovely dyes, and the difference in price over the hideous plush and brocade gave some ad- mirable devices for ventilation and relays of house plants in blossom, which made the air of the house delightfully soft and pure. There was no carved hall screen or paneling in the entry of the middle-class house 1 was examin- ing, but in one corner ran a lift for sending persons and things to the upper stories. EACH HOUSE HAD ITS ELEVATOR, on the plan of a strong dumb waiter, just as much as its stairway, and a lift to bring wood and coal for the fireplace. All the food from the kitchen wassent to the dining room by a little tramway running on ashelf through the intervening pantry. A small electric motor turned the ice cream freezer, sawed wood and pumped water from the great house cisterns, Which proved afterall the bot) Way OF supply- ing pure water to private homes in the country. It was remarkable that in all my adventures in the pleasant region I did not once hear a woman complain of a weak back or of trouble with her hired help. The void left by the dis- appearance of these two good old topics from conversation is not to be imagined. ALMOST COMFORTABLE IN A BOARDING HOUSE. new order of things. For instance, the par- lor one was shone into was not stuffy, dark or in hideous taste. Absolutely the windows were down at the top, and the shades, below the head of the sash, did not quite keep out all the air and light ap; conspiaa. There yard cs Gn growed muppeae, on the ground to be ste; ‘on, a@brac from auction stores to i dreams, but there were safety holder, @ decent pened row tool patie. wy headboards, wi ig! the bureaus with drawers each side lass had all been abolished. There were htest bedsteads and toilet tables one sit at to dress one’s hair, big mirror 3 beptettr i ds own such an out-of-the-way taste. liked beef well done obodr ing it to you bleeding, and not once the about Bag | so much trouble” house during my sojourn. sometimes as if there was as much consideration really shown the boarders the kitchen maid, who, as we all know, first in a house of today. hn me board houses lev MODEL MARKETS. The markets of that country were formation of our ideas. People had learn that s man’s food had a great deal to with his quality as a man, and were careful inany It seemed f & a r 3 i i 8 S : 3 fi s beef and tubs of butter near by. markets and butter markets were totally a from each other, and butter. being the iest substance to taint in the world, its place was kept cleanasa dairy, Ail the butter and cheese were kept from ench other in glass cases, and the former was never sampled with the finger nails of a customer. The meats were kept clean, cool and dry as possible, and the trimmings from these and the fruit stalls were removed as fast as made, to be swept off by the pneumatic carrier as carefully as if it | were so much gold dust, which it poured on the sides of railway embankments, There it grew public vineyards and small fruits of the earliest and latest crops, according as they were on the north or south slopes of the cut- NEW TOWNS. It was interesting to see the new towns laid | M out, where the steam plow ditched and drained every rood the first thing, and plowed and pul- verized the soil a twelvemonth before a spade was driven into it, to leave it in the healthiest | condition, A damp cellar would have spoiled the lease of a house as surely as if a case of smallpox had been in it, No green stagnant nds were ever seen on the outskirts of vil- es, Or any mounds of rubbish, There was no rubbish any more, for it was all straightway worked up into fresh use and comeliness, The | factories burned their own smoke, they could | not afford to waste it, and they filtered all theic waste water tor the chemicals it held in solution. No streams ran purer than those | which passed the Massachusetts and Rhode Is- land factories, where the sea trout and mack- erel came gaily in season, as they used to in colonial days, when a cat conid walk across Taunton river on the backs of the fish. The | factories were so picturesque with their lawn- like yards and towers hung with ivy, their Italian loggias and awnings, that | took them for editions of the Philadelphia art club, You can see something like this improvement in the mills at Norwaik, Conn., already, if you go down the New Engiand road, THE AWAKENING. The end of this adventure came abont in the Proposal of an oldest inhabitant to cut down a tree several years older than himself be- cause it was in the way of a new road. The idea raised such a protest from the selectmen and tax payers that it awoke me with a start, The ferry boat was at the slip and had bumped against the wharf with such force as to throw a baby out of its mother’s arms into the water, sent several women flying into arms not intended for them, and set the carriage horses rearing and plunging. There was the usual smell of bilge water and black mud, a din of street cars and traflic, and I realized that the time of making things pleasant had scarcely begun, But a stranger looked kindly across the way, an unknown woman picked up a parcel with swect courtesy, @ big police- man said,This way for the Sixth Avenue line” with a good natured smile, a boy was selling bon silene roses six for @ quarter, and one felt as if thero was hope of the pleasant time in the uext twenty-live years. Sucer Dare. ——— SHOOTING IN A GALLERY. It Uses Up a Lot of Kaw Material—Curi- ous Things About the Business. “You would be surprised to know what an enormous quantity of raw material is used up | in this establishment in the course of a year,” said a Pennsylvania avenue shooting gallery keeper. ‘To begin with, one million rifle car- tridges are consumed here in a twelve-month, At acost of €2.50 per thousand that number represents an expenditure of 2,600, Add to | these 100,000 revolver cartridges of 82 caliber, | at $1.80 per thousand, making $1,800, . Besides we use countless glass balls, at €12 a thousand, They are not very expensive where ordinary shots are concerned, but when, as often hap- pens, an expert comes in and pays at the usual | # rate £20 fora thousand shots and breaks @12 worth of balls, or nearly, my profit is dimin- ished amazingly. You see Thave the glass balls twirling about on wires over the targets, | They go pretty rapidly, but a skilled marksman can pick them off one by one with as many | shots as there are balls, In fact, I can do it myself, Look here,” BY WAY OF ILLUSTRATION. Hy Whereupon the man took down a magazine | rifle from rack near by and with eight bul- lets fired in quick succession demolished the eight balls which were circling about with a | quick motion that would have defied the efforts of any one not an adept. ‘Tue Stax writer looked on aghast. “I am not much of a hand with the rifle,” said the gallery keeper modestly. “My weapon is the revolver. I can empty the five barre!=of this pistol in three seconds and place every ball within that target at the other end of the | gallery. Or I can take five seconds to perform the same operation and make four bull’eves out of the five shots. Now see me do it. Bang— bang—bang—bang—bang. I counted the bell then five times, you but, as you remark. I | took half a second over time. When you can | do that you need not be afraid of any man, I thoroughly believe in the policy of carrying @ pop always. It renders the weak man the equal of the strong. The first rule to observe, how- ever, im carrying a pistel is never to draw it unless you mean to shoot, and that as quickly as possible, Furthermore, if you intend to shoot a man do not threaten him beforehand or advertise your intention among your ac- quaintances, for then he will be supported by law in lying in ambush for you and Thting you first, which would be unpleasant.” ‘WOMEN OUGKT To sHOOT. “Do women often come here to shoot?” “Not often; more’s the pity, I think, My opinion is that every woman should learn how to shoot, For instance, I am away from my wife by day and during the evening, and for the greater part of that time she is left entirely alone, But she is not afraid, because she knows how toshoot, Ifthe house were entered by burglars during my absence she would not be seriously alarmed, because every shot im her pistol would mean a man’s life, She would not crawl under the bed or howl out of the window for help—those being the two courses which women ordinarily choose between under such circumstances. Within five seconds she can empty the five chambers of her iittle self- cocker accurately, and within another five sec- onds load it again, Men as a rule have to leave their women folks unprotected at home for so much of the time that I wonder they are not atraid. The sort of pistol to carry or to have for any other purpose handy is a 32-caliber. A ball of that size will kill anything that walks, Bigger bullets are not undesirable, but large caliber pistols are never accurate. Your re- volver should alwa; Tcarry the largest stock of Imported Wines, Coe aca, Gius, Jamaica and St. Croix Rams and all the French Cordials, including the celebrated after-dinner cordial, CKLME DE MENTHE (Cream of Minu, green or orange. The oldest Rye, Bourbon and Imported Whiskies cau always be found st my store, I euumerstes few: Trimble Pure Rye... Monticello Pure Kye. Fericction Pure Rye. Hannieville Pure Kye, Old Kentucky Sour Scoteh Whisky, old. Scotch Whisky, very old.2- Scotch Whisky, very,very old. 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