Evening Star Newspaper, April 19, 1890, Page 9

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. ACCOMPLISHED LADIES Some Social Leaders From the Sunny South. REPRESENTATIVE: WIVES. milan : A Nota Group From the Carolinas, Georgia and Mississippi—Ladies Who Brighten Homes of Congressmen From Those States, ane een Written for Tre EvENtNe Stan. HE commonwealths of the Carolinas ud Georgia, members of the orig- ‘nal confederation which won from the most powerful nation on the globe the boon of independence, resented in the gay life at New York and Iphia when those cities were in suc- 2 the seat of the national government, ve since maintained a bigh social place a their beautiful women in the fashion- at Washington, ‘MRS, SKINNER, » wife of Thomas Gregory Skinner, the ative of the first congressional dis- . if an attractive type of d North State.” She was * in and was born in the valley the Pasq k, the picturesque water link reen the Dismal Swamp and Albemarle yond. In her maiden days she was cele- Trated as a great belle in that picturesque Fegion. Her education was mainly in the ex- In 1884 the ate F g of the second ses world of the ¢ ionable cir- oms of that excep- nong the belles who contributed to the ial world during the Fif- Miss Lou Bankhead, the eutative of the Tom- Alebema. In the last of the young and of Grover Clevelaad the char: returned to Washingt onal adjournment as the a ™ strict of the Palmetto state. y was born in Mississippi during a of her father, a native of | After education y of her home she se at the Ward Seminary Mrs. Perry, during her days on her father’s plan- great fondness for outdoor particularly horseback riding. | «animals at her command spirited. She gal- aping ditches ricultural fairs | where she was he finest horse- invariably carried off | in her possession ational Congress in | a | gi » Perry, Representative | section of the state, w: than local interest, Miss Newton was educated at the Wesley College of Macon and took « Fost graduate course at the famous Lucy Cobb Institute at Athens. She is now the president of the Alumni Soci of the last-named institution, which was founded largely through her efforts, Its meetings are @ feature of the commencements. Mr. New- ton, who died in 1889 at the advanced age of ninety, during his long and active career be- came one of the largest business men and the largest land owner in the state. Mrs. Carlton bas enjoved an exceptionally rominent association with the social affairs of er native state, In 1872 her husband entered the general assembly, and in the course of his legislative career filied the chairs of both the house and senate. To these high places of state dignity Mrs. Carlton, during the sessions of the legislature, gave additional luster by her social gifts, She exhibited unusual tact in her social regime im the circles of the law makers of the empire commonwealth of the During the first ovticial season of the Cor of 1887-9 Mrs. Carlton made her appearance in the fashionable sphere of the national capi- tal and has since done much for the pleasures of visiting friends from her southern home, THE SENIOR LADY IN THE GEORGIA DELEGATION is the wife of Representative James H. Blount of the Macon district. Her first appearance in the sphere of congressional ladies was at the opening of the fashionable season of the Con- gress of 1873-5. Mrs, Blount was Miss Eugenia Wiley of Macon, daughter of a physician and planter of prominence. Her education was completed at the Spingler Institute, New York Her marriage to Mr. Blount, who is alsu a native of Macon, took place in 1861. Since her husband entered the House® of Kep- resentatives Mrs. Blount has been quite promi- nent in the social world. During more recent years she has been assisted in these duties by | er accomplished daughter, Eugenia, A younger daughter, Faunie, is still at school, but will soon enter society. MRS, HOOKER. Amore polished gentleman and more queenly woman than Representative and Mra, Chas, E. Hooker of the capital district of the state of | Mississippi do not figure in congressional | circles. Mrs, Hooker as a young lady was Miss Fannie C. Jennison, she was born in Vicks- burg. Her father, Benjamin Jeunison, be- longed to a large family of brothers who went to Mississippi irom Lancaster. Pa. She was adopted when young into the family of Chief Justice Wm. L. Sharkey of Jackson, and und the care of the wife of that eminent jurist was reared amid the surroundings of the best phases of southern life. Her finishing educa- tion was received at Mrs. Archer's school at} Baltimore. In 1851 she became the wite of Mr. Hooker, who was then district attorney for the | river district of Mississippi and one of the most eloquent lawyers at the bar of that state. Mra. IN TROPICAL CLIMES, Sailing Through the Southern Pa- cific, IN THE GULF OF GUAYAQUIL. British Stea: Ines—Reasons Why the United States Has So Little Com- merce W South America—Th: Island of Gorgona, —_-__ From Tax Stan's Traveling Commissioner. 8,8. “eRENo,” March 20. OU may search the world over for pleasant sea traveling without find- ing anything more agreeabie than down the western coast of South America, where one is always sure of fair weather, still waters and fine steamers, Especially is this the case during the season of our northern winter—the summer time in | these Inticudes— when breezes blow cool and invigorating even directly over the equator, | without the damp chilliness that pierces one’s | marrow on the Atlantic, Strange to say, notan American keel ploughs the Pacific from Panama to Cape Horn—yet not altogether unaccountable when we consider the reasons that have left the America of the north almost without commercial dealings with her southern sister. At present there are two lines of steamers plying regularly between Panama and Chili—one Chilian, the other English, The latter is by far the best, Indeed, the whole passenger traffic of the Southern Pacific, together with nearly all its commerce, has passed irrevocably into British hands, whose vessels sail every week from Panama to Liver- Pool via the straits of Magellan, The Chilian line sends a vessel every second week and carries mostly local freight. Several ; Smaller steamers, belonging to French and ; German companies, ply between various west- | coast ports, and there used to be two other | lines—Spanish and Italian—but both the latter have recently withdrawn their boats, The distance from Panama to Valparaiso is 8.815 miles and the trip would become a very tedious one, occupying twenty-five days, were | it not for the fact that hardly half the time is Spent at sea, there being no fewer than THIRTY-EIGHT PORTS yof Penusvlvania, one of the most dis- tinguished division and corps commanders in the Union army during the war of the rebel- hon, having been particularly distinguished at the baitles of Fredericksburg, Va., and Gettys- burg. Pa. Gen. I r during this same period was in the confederate armv, opposing Gen, Grant’s* operations against Vicksburg. ‘Their | son, Allen J. Hooker, named after his maternal | | grandfather, Charles Alien, a distinguished | soldier of the revolution, posesses the elo- quence of his father and represented him be- fore the comm lections in a contest for his seat in Congress. Mrs. Hooker entered the social life of the capital during the gay seasons | of the Congress of 1875-77. DeB.R.K = see UNIOUS CRANK. How the Life of the Government Ofi- cial fs Made Somewhat Burdensome. Washington would seem tobe the natural | Mecca for queer people. Evory person with favor to ask, a wrong to right, a grievance to | bewail or a quip or quirk anywhere in his men- tal composition is as sure to coms to Washing- ton and make his preseace felt sooner or later as water is to run down hill or a convention to draw up resolutions either for or against the Biair bill. It is thought by many that this city must have been the se » natural evo- lution of the word ‘The word itself never was ma Like the well-known and iy dusky character who has been read about ughed over for so long the word never just growed.” It had a pur- to serve, a place to fill and it is doing its | even better than #0: men. If the time | er comes when is completed may it st in peace an le say over what is left of at hou hast dowe thy duty well.” CHOSEN VICTINS OF CRANKS, The natural victim of members of the genus | crank is the government oficial, At his door | the crank gathereth himself early and stayeth late, nor will he leave until he has accom- ed his fell purpose, whatever it may be in | own individual case. A Stam reporter re- | and was “borned prizes for her feats. It was first term in Congresd that ixon of South Caro- 1858, became her hus- of , acy, a state legisla- ne Forty-ninth Cougr from her skill 1m eques- proud of her skill in e at her home on the was a school in the line vs. Mr@ Perry is a fine Quick Ameri- ONC. CLEMENTS ecorgia was Miss Lizzie Ky. Her father, W. H. Tr, one of the enter- netropolis of the lower a Loudoun county, Va. the family of Cawthon, distric' . of utacky pioneers. Miss Du- iat her native city and was ttractive young ladies in a { friends and acquaintances, In me the bride of Mr. Clements, ut career in law and politics . entered the national Con- as been one of the most in- the lower house during Mrs. Clemeuts made her en- sof the families of the duriug the last season of 2. MES. CRISP. In 1366 Charles Frederick Crisp, of the Americus district of Georgia, began the prac- ti law at ille and a year later made Mis « Burton, daughter of the possessor ad the country round about, « burton took a full course of We an Female College at he graduated. Mrs, Crisp dur- ands distinguished career as M th compamed hum in his cireuit ated largeiy to his popularity by d f conversation. Repre- ad Mrs Crisp entered the con- in 1853. Mrs. Crisp in her Liof social duty has made herself ally popular among the wives of the tives, particularly from tho states Re. CARLTON. ntsof Miss Ellen Camack Newton and Henry Hall Cariton were next-door neigh- bors im the roumautic town of Athens, at the iwaters of the picturesque Oconee, In 1867 the houses of Newton and Carlton were united t oser than mere neighborii- hows, The marriage of Miss Newton. the pride of Athems, aud Mr. Carlton, the leading phy- Harvard. a| P the | ccasion to call in his daily rounds upon a gentleman well known in official hfe here and who, on account of the position he | occupies, is one of the most popular victims of | opie who have favors to ask, As the re- | er knocked at the door he was greeted | with a talf-hearted invitation to enter and | found Mr. X., the above-mentioned official, | | fairly in the clutch of one such specimen, |The other caller was even seeder than | |the reporter. At first sight he appeared to belong to the class of the shabby |genteel. A closer inspection _ proved | | that he was only shabby without being genteel | | His coat was greasy and polished while his | trousers looked as though they were edged around the ground end with a strip of fringe, he official seemed more pleased to see the reporter than did he of the favors, as if he saw | a relief force in the person of the seribe. But there was uo hope for him. The man would finish his story. In a voice that husky | from the weight of his breath be was teling | his tale of woe. HIS PLEA FOR AID. | “Sir,” said he, “I am a gentleman of educa- | tion and polish anda coliege graduate, and it | ill becomes one of my early training and sur- | roundings to be a secker for your bounty. Yet ed of 27.33. By constant applic: ion to the methods I am now using I have su | ceeded in raising 4. Iwould take it as | quite a kinduess if you would make up the de- ficiency. You do not know me, it is true, but I | know you, and if the depth of | the respect and ‘admiration which I entertain | for you Tam sure that temporary financial eu- couragement would be forthcoming.” In firm and expressive terms Mr. X. deciined to accom- | modate b More requests followed, end in | turn were followed by as many refusals, He of the polished coat and manners forth- with became obstreperous in ius demands, A CLAIM ON SOCIETY. | “Why should I not receive assistance?” said |he. “In days before the war when I was a man of vast resources did I not lend money to men who used the proceeds of my bounty to em I could resurrect as much as = Nary agreeny have I been able to get from those ingrates. As a result you see to what ex- tremities I have come, My health, once | | so strong, is now wrecked and I cannot receive | uitable treatment. Vhysicians tell me I am | j suffering from riania-a-potu, whatever that | means, and I should be pleased to receive pe cuniary assistance from one so good as you. | More regrets and refusals followed. Finally | Mr. X remarked: “My dear friend, if, as you you are suffering physically { advise you k assistance from a free dispensary.” said the needy one, with a great ac- cession of dignity, “I have worn oneof those blamed things for the last three mouths and it hasn't done a d—d bit of good. Good day, sir.” Then he left. Why Why do we suffer? Why should Goa, Who loves iiis creatures, scourge them so? He hath the right: we need the rod; ‘That is enough for us t know. | ja | to be visited on the way. Through the many yeurs that the British company enjoyed undis- puted monopoly its charges were enormous— not less than $40 per ton for freight and $297 per capita passenger rate for a distance about the same as that between New York and Liver- ool, * ‘These British steamers have their anchorage in Panama some seven miles out from shore, pear the island of Toboga, while the Pacific Mail steamers of the American line, bound for San Francisco, lie at points equaily distant, for the alleged harbor, though lovely to look at, ia shallow, rocky and dangerous inshore, with long black reefs showing their ugly heads above the water. As the tide on this side of the isthmus rises from 18 to 22 feet, setting in and runuing out with a remarkably strong c' Tent, the matter of embarking and disembark- ing is by no means child’s play and can be ac- complished with comparative safety only at what 18 called ‘half tide,” and there must be no delay about it, for this is emphatically the time and tide that ‘waits for no man.” ‘The tender is altogether too small for the crowd of passengers and the hastily loaded | baggage is everywhere piled high in wildest coufusion, The fierce isthmian heat can hardly be endured in the tiny cabin, and there are not a dozen available seats on deck; so you find standing room outside, with your hat bumping | the awning and your pedal extremities a: the mercy of rolling trunks and boxes and the foot- prints of your equally unsteady fellow-voy- agers, If it rains—as it generally does during half the year—your discomforts are not dimin- ished, for no umbrella (even could you find space to raise one) would be the slightest pro- tection against a tropic shower, But if getting aboard the tender was bad enough, getting off again ‘is infinitely worse— over the narrow “bridge” spanning the sea be- tween the little cruft that hobbles about like an egg shell and the larger vessel that rocks aud rolls with astately motion of her own, | Straining and tugging at her hawser and occa- sionally succeeding in puiling so far away that the connecting plank falls short of its destina- tion. You are hauled across somehow, though in mortal terror, and your luggage pitched after you, unless, as it not infrequently hap- pens, the latter drops instead down into the sca, THESE BIG EXGLISH steamers are three-storied affairs, and the lower | ‘deck, into which one is ushered from the ten- der, is far from prepossessing at first sight, There are lorg lines of stalled sheep and cat- tle, most of them to be slaughtered for tood | during the voyage, and groups of shock-headed, saddle-colored Peravian and Chilian deck | hauds, who looks as if they would like to | slaughter us. So perfectly do they personate “'s idea of pirates, as gained from opera choruses, that one momentarily expects to hear them burst out into singing. THE ISLAND OF TOBOGA, infront of which our steamer is anchored. a few miles from Panama city, is covered by a cheertul-loobing little town, though no doubt distance lenis enchantment to the view of its roofs. flat and red-tiled, or very steep and thatched with straw, all overshadowed by drvoping palms, or half hidden behind broad- leaved banana trees, Everybody ix anxions to get away and chafes and inmes at an hour's | delay, being absurdiy atraid of Yellow Jack and other bugaboos indigenons to the locality We being southward bound sail almost immedi- ately with the turn of the tide, but our neigh- bors on the American steamer en route to San Francisco must wait here two or three days, By the way—though most travelers do not know it—those going north must first sail due south more than one hundred miles, in order to round the peninsula of Aguero, which stretches forth a long arm, slightly eurved eastward, inclosing in itsembrace the ba Panama, It seems a paradoxical statement, but is nevertheless absolutely true, that Aspin- wall, on the eastern side of ‘the isthmus, 1s in reality farther west than Panama city on its western coast! By consulting the map and get- ting the croog of the isthmus well in mind, you will see that the Panama railroad, instead of | westward-ho-ing from Aspinwall. as its passen- gers fondly imagine, runs southeast. this connection it may be mentioned tiat the port | ot Guayaquil, in Ecuador, the very westernmost | town in ali South America, hes ximost ina irect line south trom Washington, D.C, Panama bay, which is 110 miles long and nearly 150 miles wide at its mouth, is swarming | with sharks, especially in the neighborhood of | the port. ‘The sailors delight ning grue- | some yarns inthe hearing of land-lubbers re- | garding persons who have been saapped over- board from canoes, or who have losta leg or an arm by some act of carelussness, or who have | stumbled inco the sea in the perilous transit | betw: stew dock and tender, ur from tender to | T, their horrible fate being told by a brief | reddening o7 the surface of the water. If you | es.re to test the likelihood of such a catas- trophe just toss overboard anything at hand, from a biscuit to a gripsack, and note how quickly a dozen pairs of wide-opened jaws will show themselves, _ To the last moment that the vessel waits she is surrounded by a crowd of canoes and pit- | get into Congress, and now they sitat their ease | P*%5, bringing from shore cargoes of bananas, | under the great white dome up there. Do you P!2e4pples. cocoanats, oranges, mangoes, figs, suppose from the whole kit and caboodle of parrots and monkeys, some for sale on | the spot to whoever wiil buy. but mostly loaded | below tor transportation to other ports, WEST COAST COMMERCE, We have now on board about 1,300 tons of freight, but that is considered a small cargo, 2,500 tous being the limit, It consists chiefly of cattle, wool, met: gar, rice and tobacco; and all of it goes to Europe, except the cattle | to be eaten on the way, and a little fruit for local ports, A large quantity of rice will be taken on at Catlao, 1t being the great staple of Peru, where the finest rice in the worid i grown, a single grain being sometimes half an inch long. There is alxo alot of chaneacha aboard, a native preparation from sugar cane, used in making of dulces, or sweetmeats; and ut Pisco, one of the ports of nurthern Peru, a good deal of the brandy manufactured there | will be loaded, The average valuation of the cargo is about $00,000 pounds sterling per annum. The ex- ports from Chili alone wre from fifteen to twenty +| millions a year, aud Peru is but little behind We search and question, to what end? No providence hath made it p! ¢ fluite cannot comprehend ‘The infinite mystery of pain. Shall earth worms, burrowing in the soil, pire to gauge creation s plan? Or sirive to measure, ‘mid their toil, ‘fhe strange complexities of mant As well may we, earth born and low, Stretch upward trom our mole-ill clod, And ask, with daring front, to know ‘Th the why of Godt those figures, As to imports, the Argentine Republic re- ceives over a million doliars worth per annum, wbout seven and three-fourths of which come from the United States, Brazil imports an Fike of $105,000,000 worth, to which the United States contributes only about eight per cent, Taken together, the im| of all Cen- tra! and South America reach a total of at least $450.000,000 every yeur, toward which vast sum the United States. the nearest sister republic, tributes lesy than $50,000,000. Nor is there good reasou for this lameutubie state of things, ‘haps, ¥ k except high tariff. lack of transit and a few other obstacles which might easily be removed were our le; tors less inconceivably cmon any more than for the fact that the United States merchants are compelled to send the few goods they can now dispose of in Brazil, &c., away around by Havre, Hamburg and Liverpool. WE CROSSED THE EQUATORIAL LINE in the night soon after leaving the coast of Colombia, and, contrary to all expectations, the weather grew preceptibly cooler instead of giving us an increase of heat. The steamer Teaches Guayaquil on the evening of the fourth day out from Panama, During most of the time we are beyond sight of land, the blue and placid waters of the Pacific filling the horizon on all sizes, but sometimes to the eastward when the mists of morning are dispelled and before the evening shadows fall the lofty Cor- dilleras that forma the northernmost spur of the Andean chain suddenly stand out full in view, smoke issuing from the tops of some of them, proving that we are fast approaching the region of earthquakes and voleani¢ eruptions, On the morning of the third day something that looks like a gigantic corpse floating on the water is dimly visible through a yellow haze, which we know to be the Isia del Muerto, or “Dead Man's Island”—an unmistakable land- mark for seamen, marking the entrance to the gulf of Guayaquil, In order to make for the port of Ecuador our course is now. sharply changed due castward and, though the main- land 18 not discermble through the fog, its proximity is unmistakably announced by a complete change of odors, the salty and fishy smells of the sea being overpowered by a mix- ture of malarial dampness and the fragrance of tropical fruits and flowers, Presently we pass THE ISLAND OF GORGONA, famous as the site of Pizarro’s desperate deed of devotion, and the Cape of Emeralds at the mouth of the Guayaquil, where he first landed and whence the towering summits of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo are for the first time plainly seen in all their majesty. To the left lies Puna Island, on which the stern conqueror bore up so long against open foes and treacherous friends and organized that small but desperate force with which he subdued the richest and most powerful of America’s aucient empires. The Gulf of Guayaquil is very large, but its channel is narrow and tortuous. At times we steam close to the low, slimy shores, which are lined with mangrove trees, among whose gnarled roots numbers of alligators and water snakes find congenial homes, while farther out, in the safety of deep water, huge porpoises show their shining black sides in uncouth gam- ols, Our attention was called to a tiny island. green as an emerald “set in the ring of the wave.” close by which a Spanish treasure ship is said to have sunk acentury and a half ago with several million doubloons on board. To this day divers occasionally bring up golden coit ‘They assure us that in many places off the coasts of Chili and Peru ships laden with treasure were purposely sunk during the war, and all the world is weleome to recover the money, providing only that half 18 given to the government, ‘The Guabas river empties into the gulf of Guayaquil, and sixty miles up its narrow and winding course is Ecuador's only “‘seaport”— called Santiago de Guayaquil—nearly a hun- dred miles trom the ocean, Aud just as twilight shades shut off the view we find ourselves an- chored opposite the port, which we will pro- ceed to explore. Fanniz B. Warp, Ao a HIS LORDSHIP THE EARL. His Remarks About the English No- bility on a Visit to Washington. @zr OODLES was rather embarrassed the other day when he learned that the man he had been introducing oa board the yacht was not “Mr. Plum- bob” at all but “Lord Plumbob;” but he extricated himself from the embarr@sment by saying frankly to the youthful nobleman: “What ought I to call you, anyway? Should Isay ‘Your grace,’ ‘Your serene highness’ or what, pray?” “Dear boy,” replied the Earl of Plumbob, condescendingly, “you may call me pretty much anything you like, Ihave been called all sorts of things, For instance, at Eton I was usually addressed as ‘Plummy.’ It doesn’t do, you know, at an English school to be too patri- cian. [have known a young gentleman of birth to announce tothe other boys of his class that he was the Earl of So-and-so, Viscount of What’s- his-name and Baron Thingumbob, and the only respect that his fellow schoolmates ex- hibited for his quality was a kick for the earl, two kicks for the viscount and three kicks for the baron.” “Well, Plommy,” queried Noodles, “I undef- stand that the house of commons proposes to abolish you, How is that?” BRITISH POLITICS, i interrupted Lord Plumbob’s approaching with an air of sanctimonious affability, “Iam my lord’s chaplain, and it is permitted me to remark that it would be as easy for the house of lords to abolish the house of commons as for the house of comnions to abolish the house of lords, In Ei d, sir, we have an hereditary nobility that must always exercise control over the profanum vuigus, lest the commonwealth fall to pieces.” “He's am awfal ” said Lord Plumbob aside, pointing unobserved with his thumb at his pious mentor. year, when i'm of age, I mean to shake him and come over here on me own hook, just to have a howling good Eh, chappie?” Why not, indecd?” ejaculated Noodles. “Titles have a high commercial value in this country, You have only to throw the hand- kerehief, ala Grand Turque, and scoop in an heiress, I suppose that is what you are after?” “Certainly uot,” interjected Lord Plumbob's tutor, who had overheard the last few words, “My lord is vastly rich and has no occasion to make a matrimouial purchase of petticoats em- broidered with goid and diamonds, rendered from pork and patent medicines. The heredi- tary nobility ot and, my dear 8: as a class, in need of tands, mons, of which we were speaking, it will be as weil to remark that they ely exist, as 4 legislative body, on sufferance. Do you not know how the commons ori;inally came into being? Why, to begin with, the King of Eng- jand CALLED HIS NOBLES AROUND HIM and formed a house of lords for advisory pur- poses, Lut these noblemen had not entire knowledge of the needs of the country, and so they called into council many commoners, most of them farmers, who natura an assembly of their own. affairs continued for more steadily become n unui now 1 3 with it, A pi no hel i “Yaas,’ remarked Lord Plumbob, languidly, “it were best that the thing should be sup- ressed, When I take my seatin the upper use I shai ui it, af 1 don't forget.” “His lordship,” said the tutor, “expects to an ornament to the august body which his birthright entitles him to_a membership ot. Sitting in that body as Lord Plumvob he nore and Gwe ab ave to do away but I'm afraid there's Plumbob, addressing his tutor; “but I don’t expect to take my seut in the lords as the Earl ot Piumbob, In this little matter £ may, per. nture to instruct you. It is as Baron Skeesicks that I shail sit in the upper house ‘the members of that assembly occupy places there . AS BARONS OF ENGLAND, and not otherwise. Were Ia duke, it is not in the quality of being such that I would be en- titled to a seat in the house of lords, but through the fact of being a baron. ‘Therefore itis that I shall occupy my place among the lords us Barou Skcesicks, and not as the Earl of Plumbob,” “L know all that very well,” responded the pedagogue, testily. “Permit me tosuggest that the view of the Washington Monument from this point is singularly fine.” “Cuss the monument!” said the earl. “It can’t go anywhere in fatigues me extremely. this doosid capital of yours without seeing it. A very ill-bred and intrusive piece of architec ture, by Jove! Dear boy, there’s some awfully good brandy and soda in the cabin. Let's go and sample it.” So Noodles and the nobleman had some brandy and soda, Next they had some brandy and soda, and, finally, they had some var d, iy, they brandy a Theater Manager.—“Some fool in the yelled ‘fire’ at the top of his luags pivot an yr performance tonight.” Friend.—“You don't say! Was there a ic?” ‘Theater Manager.—“No, Luckily there were fifteen theater parties in the house aud the ery was not heard.” —Bostonian, This isan of contrasts, in his demans n moe, deer boy,” interrupted Lord | | Ge D.C., SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1890—TWELVE PAGES. AT THE ACROPOLIS. A Washington Woman’ Visit to Modern Athens. THE TROUBLES OF GETTING ASHORE AT PATRAS— THROUGR IMMENSE CURRANT FIELDS—aMIDST PERFECT RUINS—IN THE DARDANRLLES—HOW TALMAGE SECURED MARBLE FROM MARS HILL. Correspondence of Tax Evxxtxo Star. CoxstaNtrvorie, March 22, E LEFT CORFU one beautiful af- ternoon per 8. S. Scilla for Athens, or rather Patras, where we arrived the next morning and underwent the painful operation of embarking, for a ship does not come up to the wharf here unless it is a merchant vessel. The captain or some one in authority helps the boatmen, who swarm up to the steamer and yell, push and of course swear, but as we have not learned the Greek or Turkish language we don’t quite un- derstand the words; still, if looks and gesticu- lations are counted for anything, our American blasphemers are mild, indeed, to the expres- sions of these creatures here. We staggered down the shaky stairs at the side of the steamer and with our luggage, which, heaven be praised, can be tuken in our own hands, and flopped in a deep row boat, were rowed to the Patras cus- tom house, After a glance at our valises and @ grunt of disappointment thet nothing contra- Daud Was Gi0AA Guede ullowel 0 pinosell be our to the car station. As our train would not leave for four hours we concluded to do the city. At first we did not realize that we had become objects of interest. Not until we found the crowd which foilowed us and sur- rounded us grow larger and larger. Children would run on abead of us, then stop, turn around and look at our faces as we pussed by. Patras is a strange little uphill city, an old fortification being the only thing of any beauty in it, and we were glad to leave the town at 11 o'clock for our eight hours’ _—_ ride along the beautifal gulf of Corinth. The water is as blue as the bay of Naples, and the mountains on the other side slope down to the water's edge. ‘Lhe view w: one ey bee clear across Greece, of uninter- rupted beauty. CURRANT FIELDS, We passed by immense fields of what seemed to us grape vines; indeed, there were miles and miles of them. Then once in a while there would be a large field of dazzling white sand, The grape vines are just what we supposed, only the grapes are very tiny and are called currants, The sand plains are where the currants are dried, and from Greece we get the finest dried currants in the world, and these are found in the greatest quantities and finest qualities near Corinth. Mt. Parnassos we saw from every- where along the route—a noble old mountain snow capped six months of the year, and at last just as the last bit of daylight had departed we entered Athens, Saturday evening and Sunday seemed such a proper day for our first in the old bible city. he first tolerably complete account of ancient Athens dates from the second century of the Christian era, but the origin of Athens is lost in the mis.s of antiquity. Its name and arms mean Athens or Minerva, and Minerva’s head figures on its money, post boxes, public build- ings and everywhere. AT THE ACROPOLIS. Of course the thing of greatest importance in Athens is the Acropolis. The Parthenon is the most perfect monument of ancient art, and as we stood on the ground and looked up at the noble pile of cream white marble we felt that its magnificence even asa ruin was soul stirring and too beautiful for words. The whole Acropolis stands on this hill two hundred feet high. When one looks on these monstrous blocks of marble and tries to realize to what a state of perfection machinery must have at- tained to place these arches, blocks, columns, friezes, at their immense heights, be feels, in- deed, that there has uot been much improve- ment or advancement, in some things, since of Pericles. As the visitor looks at these fluted columus, follows the delicate carv- ing of the friezes, wonders at the remains of the life-size statues, he could not believe that years have passed since the marble was chiseled, 40 perfect is every piece. It seems sacreligious to attempt to describe these glories. No pen can do it, and it is because men have failed to picture the wonders, in words, that we were totally unprepared for the superbness which lay before, around and above us, ON MARS HILL. We walked over to Mars Hill and stood on its beautitul pink marble foundation, for the whole hill is one mass of rockor marble. We read Paul’s sermon (Acts xvii, 22d verse to end of chapter) and wondered how many others have done the same thing. We were amused to hear that Talmage had, through our Ameri- can minister, secured a large block of the mar- ble from Mars Hill and shipped it to America for the corner stone of the new tabernacle in Brooklyn. ‘The days came and went with great rapidity while in Athens and before we were ready our time Was up and we had to set sail for Constantinople, We have just arrived and are resting from the voyage across the Grecian Archipelago. Only the trip across the sea of Marmora wasatali pleasant tome. Sun- shine and pleasant company count for naught when oue is sea sick. DETAINED AT DARDANELLES, The Austrian steamers (and we were on one) are never allowed to pass the strait, save at night, and then only with permission each | time. ‘Tis granted by cannon, when we arrived our cannon was te tire, but it refused to go off. We dared not pass, though our siznals by lights had been given, received and acknowledged, Our ship was at lowered, our captain and rowed over to Turkey, the explanation made and accepted, then to Asia Minor, where the same thing was done, and then they returned to our ship. A light signal given, a report of a cannon heard from one shore, and then from the other and we were sure then we coud pass on. It was quite exciting to those of us who d remained up on deck to watch the passing through the strait, and after it was al! over we wondered what would have happened had we kone on without the red tape permission. “Tis very warm bere, even more so than in Athens, and as I look out of my window over to Stamboul I feel very grateiul that this is not my fiome, L.M.D.C. THE WENDS OF THE SPREE, A Singular People and Their Curious Customs. From the New York Sun, —Since Prussia has become . March 1 many and Berlin its capital there is lictl in the old mark of Brandenburg which is not Bruun ‘as cosmopolitan as any other European prov- ince, The Spree is sister to the Seine, the ‘Thames and the Danube, and the inhabitants differ but little from those of the rest of the civilized world, It is, therefore, all the more surprising to find, not twenty leagues from the imperial capital, a colony leading a life apart and absolutely belonging to another era, The opeuing of the railway line from Berlin to Gorlitz, passing through Lubben and Cott- bus, has revealed to many hitherto unconscious travelers the existence of the irregular popu- lation dwelling in the almost primeval forest of Wenden, not far from Cottbus, the last ram- part of the ancient Slavonic tribe of the Wends who invaded Europe in the thirteenth cenvury. ‘Lhe survivors bave colonized the shores of the Spree even beyond the limits of the forests far into the plain and are perhaps the most re- markable of present Gerwan archisms, The common obligation of military service has, it is true, forced the younger generations into Prussian regiments, but as soon as their term of duty has expired they return to their stroag- hold to resume their language, habits aud cus- toms and to forget what they have iearued while wearing the uniform, The river Spree, @ vulgar and mediocre stream in and about Berlin, completely changes its character in the Wend territory. It does not cut its way through the woods in a straight course, bu streams, gliding under the trees, between the mosses, roots and underbrush; 300 narrow waterways form the sole roads aud mode of commuuication of a locality nearly forty miles in length, One is irresistibiy remmded of Hoi- Jand and Venice—of «a Holland roofed in with thick foliage; of a Venice where the ardor of the sun's rays is tempered by a veil of verdure. The country has belonged, in turn, to Bavaria, bohemia, Austria, Saxony and finally to Pras- sia, but the ch of masters has never ma- Lest night | ready | sists of fields habited by the mer pens courses to convey their cal and barvests to Lubbenan and thei children to the schools. At Lausits the most common products of cultivation are horse rad- ish and cucumbers; but agriculture is every- where carried on under it difficulties owing to the severe winters. p my as the §) rises during the autumn rains all its branches, as well as the canals, overflow, and the beyond forest is turned into a broad e, with only a few trees and houses visible on its surface. This is promptly converted into a Sheet of ice, and the boats become useless; all intercourse with the central stations of Lubben and Lubbenan is then carried on on skates. But even this means of communication ent off from the dweilers in the Spree Wald, who are reduced to the scanty resources offered by scattered community dispersed in settlements of a dozen cottages, and by the more numer- ous but equally scattered houses of Burg, dis- tant many miles from the nearest railway sta- tion, THE QUAINT CHARM Of the stranger's expedition begins on entering the woods; im the summer the vegetation is luxuriant under the suniess trees; creepers, mosses and waving ferns are tangled in lovely confusion, rising half way up the rugged trunks or throwing their tendrilis across the shallow waters; it is almost impossible to believe that other human beings have trodden these soli- tudes, and that it is not a virgin forest whose depths open before the boat. Any accident, however. delaying them in the green and im- tricate mazes after nightfall appears fatal in the eyes of the natives; they are superstitious in the extreme; their imagination is fed by folk lore and tradition. To them the glades are peopled with fantastic or menacing forms, vengeful spirits or weird specters, from which they find no security save in broad daylight. The real danger of the forest, however, lies not in its supernatural perils, but in the very real danger of getting lost during the night in the labyrinth of crossing and recroasing streams, A primitive wee | stage gives acceas to that part of Barg where the rustic inn stands, called for no appreciable reason “Die Bieiche,” lite ally “the bleachery.” Itis smail, clean, pic- turesque, embosomed in trees, surrounded by | gurgiing brooks, and. with the church, is the most important building of the place. It at- fords geod headquarters for exploring the Spree Wald and becoming better acquainted with its inhabitants, customs, To the Wends Prussia is merely @ military expression; like the Jews, like the wandering tribes with po fatherland of their own, they have always remained closely united among themselves, preserving the old customs and considering the mingling of races by marriage as opposed to the laws of origin. The women wear the short skirts of vivid red and blue, not descending lower than the middle of the Jeg, an apron of different but equally bright color, silken bodice crossed by a brilliantly em- broidered kerchief, The headdress is peculiar: It forms a triangie on the summit of the head and two wide wings at the back; although dis- proportionately larg: women in spin the materials they use; the: clothing only on Sunda: 5 is the time when they compare the very of the attire and vie with each other in attracting the admiration of the men at the cio-e of the sermon vered in the Wend tongne. The men have not remnined quite so faithful to the old traditional dress, but they are all closely shaven, neither beard nor mous- tolerated by the Wend race. ction of caste among them are - ked and scrupulously respected, al- though hardly noticeable to au outsider. The stage of civilization. The women put on shoes and pespant whose property ia smaller, the -baus- fer” who possesses only his cottage, and, finally, the ‘“«tagelohner,” whose services are hired. Marriage between the daughter of the first of these magnates and a day laborer wowid be anda private soldier, It would yet be a less degradation than mating with a Prussian. MARRIAGES. They marry more for interest and eolid ad- vantages than for love, and it is the girl who chooses and proposes tothe man. When she very early age, she sends her mother or some | experienced relative to make the necessary pradential inquiries about him; if they are sa’ isfactory she follows with a formal demand for j his hand; the ambassadress eloquentl: | scribes the qualities, wealth and social ra { de- ities are advised and an eariy date fixed. On the appointed day the brive, crowned with myrtle and clad entirely in biack—the nuptial color—is accompanied by her friends to the house of the young man, sometimes at a great distance from her own, She thanks him for taking her and reminds him of her do- mestic duties; then her supporters and his drink each & mouthful of beer and the doubie cortege sets out for the church, the boats that carry them being festively decorated. The bridegroom weurs @ wreath of foliage tastened to his bair by large waters; the bride’s mother to the minister. recite the Ten Commandments and only once address his future wife, using then the words: “Chaste and good, such is life in speech and deeds.” To which she answers: “A wife must love and respect her husband.” The religious ceremony is long and com- plicated, many of the forms taking place out- side the church. The conciuding festivities are held at the bride’s home. They last three days, The Wends are no opportunity of drinking hard. THEIR EXCESSIVE DREAD OF DEATH funeral ritea, As soon as one of them dies | every attention is paid to the performance of | certain formalities supposed to prevent the oc- currence of any signs of ill omen portending another death. All the doors and windows are thrown open to allow the soul iree egress; as many candles are lit around the corpse as the deceased numbered years; the bench on which the bier was pluced is burned as soon as the coffin is removed lest any one should sit on it and court dan. ger. All the animais belonging to the hous are collected before the door and the death of their master is announced to them with every detail of his iliness and sufferings, The friends and relations are invited to assist at the funeral: they come to the house dressed in white, the color of woe; they are wrapped in large leaving only two bands an the nicest discernment is observed in placing them according to their social standing. At the grave the minister is particularly careful to cali out the names of ali the bystanders, as an evidence that they are still in the iand of the living, and many other precautionary measures are observed in private to exercise the dread spector of death, The nominal religion of the Wends is Pro- testantism, but whatever they are called on the census, they have not materially modified their beliefs and swerved trom their tradi- tions; they present the anomaly of being the last descendants of barbarians, perpetuating in the heart of western Europe the living mem- ory of an almost forgotten invasion, true to their origin and special characteristics, hia tected by their forests, their inundations, their rigorous winters and peculiar conforma- tion of their strange country from the inroads of the leveling civilization at their very doors. Icrtcrawvens -sedhaacoemwsre icy ENGLAND’S CAUSE CELEBRE, The Queen Interested in @ Peculiar Murder Case, From the New York Times’ London Cable. Tam told that there has been a great deal of telegraphing today between the home office here and Aix-les-Bains, where the queen is, on the subject of the Crewe murders, I spoke of for persistent cruelty to their mother and the rest of the family. They were sentenced to be hanged, but the jury recommended mercy. the ite fee & f . combined with the whole | costume, the effect is picturesque, and it is | worn with a spice of coquetry inherent to all \d weave in the long winter evenings all | to go to church. | i¢ peasant owner of land ranks first, then the | considered by the forest dwellers as grave a| mesalliance as the union betweea a princess | ' has selected a youth, which is generally at a | Teaye Wasiiumio: ik of | the bride, aud. as soon as she has obtained the | | bridegroom’s consent, the ecclesiastical author- | carries a pair of fattened fowls as an offering | On the way the groom must | | bundaye, d tasober race and lose | is probably the cause of their exaggerated 4 r TE: YANIA ROUTR OKiH, WEST. AND 80% 4 ACK. SPLENDID SCENERY ; AGNIFICENT EQUIPMENT, 58 LEAVE Wain NGTOR fees STATION we Titb ort, AND P ATMEETR As PLL OWS: ne Weet, Chic ! I Fullman, Vesiibused care at 10-0 am. al ane be * pan daily, for nd the W bee, | a Sleeper to PL taburg. and Pittavand BALTIMORE AND POTOMAC RarLRoa) For Kane, Canaudaixua, Kochentor abd Magee Palle daily, except ~ For, brie, Canamds coster Gaily: for Bat. cept Natur falo and N and 11 10, 31 4:10, 10.00 and , matt) 1 bapress x Lint of Pullman Pariot Care 40 am Anily, sunday, 200 eae Sauy with Dining Car. FU) ADELPRTA ONLY, Feat Express ta. Work day sand 5:10 p.m dally. For boston w ber be en . 3:13 pm. every day, chip, NY. all through teins counsct a City with “boats uf brookly 4 Annes, adord ect trauater to nm streey, svoiding For Aunapois, 7 20,900 am., 2.O5and 4-20; a eaceyt Buluay, Bunda ¥ ve em, a WASH NGTON OCLHEEN RATLWAX iN EFFECT ADKIL 14, 1890, For Alexancna, 4.4, 6 42, 5-40, 945, 10.57 #5, 48," Gok Up Sunday até e401, S08 6 45 am and 4.53 &..'Duudaya, » #0 and 10:57 oom am. Ya Sup Uy OO, Od the office, northeasteor 3 meas rs nace. tansy AND DANVILLE R i General Mau ZicHMOND B30 4. Gei. Pas Aout MLLOAD CO hr) y dor Warren. vchbure and dast i Bristol and Chat- ers Washington to ali Arkausas puiuta, res dady for Munaaeas, aa Waste itu a Pusdinan sleeper i 11:00 piu. tas auto to A: le and Mot Spriuses, Sausbury. Also Wasuington to Au and Charlotte ashineton and Ohio division Jeave Wash- da erie ¥ 0 etn 4 12-26 founda, arriving Wasuineton 710 paw bburg at 2 0b t 1 45 po a wiht sickets, sleeping car reservation and information furnished, and vag cage dat ofc, 1500 Pemue Nasdw ave. aud at Tuscugor etauon, Penuaylvaula Talirond, Gui and ib sts. 1 aoe #Ad. 4. TAYLOK, Gen. Dass. Agent Barroore, Axo Ono Rarroan Beloaule fare cotuber = 60. A abd 7:050.ui. Strasburg local Lieveiand, Vestibuled Limited 1) ui eaprons 5:40 pian, Dor Leuuxton sud Loca: uuous T1Us0 aah 20k Wincor ala Way Bundoum, 1055 pasa, or Luray, 8:40 p.m, dup. - Dor bactuiuors, week +: 00, 6:40, 7:20, > UW UeS) me, 04540 muLuteeh, 20 bik OU (do Uuiutes), 1:10, 2:00 2, 4:0, #00, O52 TAU, Tk, 0 pa. For Way ptutons between Washiuxton and Balti- 2 O24, B50 wet, 122, rere fee Puudays, d.50 aan, Lida 1B Adse ore tor Washington, week a B50, Vd ©, pt. Ou, Lapolis O44 fr . tan Branch, 16:4 UCU A wtatiCMe OMA, Intermediate stations, 17:00pm, es Washington on Sunday at 1:10 Pau, sOppaug Mt al #laLions On Metropoutal brauck, Bor Frederica, 10:40, T1420 Wile TOY, TS Bm. dupuays, 1210 pa ni retown, 114-20 a1, and 15:30 p.m. rive trem Chicuyo aay 11:40 aim. acd ad ‘h train Je ry ‘Cuure 4 5 ikem Fatebury FLY Ru, Cod Wom. daily YORK AND PHIL: ew 2 ve 1 ADELPHIA DiVESION, ewu S00) Bata, "Uy A To raius ieave Philadelphia for Ly ARAN Being tH oad, "4 28U, bor Atlante City “4:00 at. ame ©, Gays 400 a2. and 12:0U noon, TLacept Dubday *hrauy. ‘Sunday only. bexcewe called ior and checked from buteis aud ree idenecs by Uson Trauser Go. on oruers leitet ues’ ices, O19 bud 1éod 2a, eve, aud at Depot. To ‘ODE ¥. SCULI, Gen. Manager. Gen. Pass, Agt Washis mus au POTOMAC RIVER BOATS. WTOMAC TKANSYOMTATION COMPANY and River Landings Steamer SUE, leaves Dteplcnsou's whert every iu. Bor turther miormatcn STEPHENSON & BRO., Seventh Dtreet Whart ND FORT MONKOE, POPULAR KOUTE. Kk GLORGE LEARY, SPLED). Sark COMPOKI ABLE. Appountwents first-class, Table unexcelled, State Tous iarce, couToriable and bested by steam. Polite Wp? SORFOLE 4: parent ‘THE OLD FAVUKILE 51k AM And attentive oticers. Thorouxh disc, rots 4 tins and FRIDAY ‘Lhe ou.y sieamer iy dawe ba’ NAN M. upline. eet wart MUNDALS, WiDNespaxe at Sp, Hiding et Boston wharf, Norfolly clue comectivi, with ENCE SiLAMERS. Lsv0, the fare to Dental e = yp and tue ou! Bor ic Tickets and rooms at Ui9 and ave ; Hawiey’s, 10th aud F p.w ‘bo revere jrem betels aud vale rome Saucon Lelepbous hos 745-% ” nly Wil. F WELCH, Supt. end Gen Age Moe? vennon. STEAMER @a'icunicn, JOR POTOMAC RIVER LANDINGS, NEW IKON STEAMER “WAKEL" ves 7th-st. wharf on MON SATURDAYS at 7 gad am. Returning TULSDa‘ FRIDAYS and BUNDALS p.m, yachitg at Ki sud own, Bd. Connects with B-and 0 ii a8 Bee schedule. JOHN ——_—— ‘ME. KAPHAL, CELEBRATED CLAIRVOY- Mex Astrclogist, the seventh