Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1890, Page 13

Ne THE EVENING THE BURGLAR’S KIT. How laguadeis Thieves Overcome Obstacles in Their Way. HOW SAFES ARE OPENED. Toole With Which Cracksmen Work— ‘The Way Robberies Are Planned and Carried Out—Picking Combisations and Dynamiting Time Locks. —_——.—— HE INGENIOUS methods employed by thieves to overcome the obstacles that are set in their way to thwart their nefarious schemes, says a writer in the New York Tribune, are surprising and show a large degree of mechanical skill. Bolts and bars are brushed away as if they were merely whisps of straw, Simple devices to protect property are overcome by simple means, but when the appliances are intricate, scientific and supposed to be invulnerable the enterprising burglar rises to the occasion and quickiy demonstrates that the idea of safety is a delusion. Burglars keep pace with the times. Improved methods of protection are met with improved systems of burglary. In- ventors burn the midnight oil in building strong boxes where money, jewels and bonds ean be placed without danger of beingremoved by nightly visitors, and the burglar studies just as bard to find the weak spot in the box. The many successful robberies that are planned and executed constantly show that the thief has mach the best of the argument and that the tools employed in his trade are more than a match for inventive genius backed by science. Men who make a business of robbery are not idle during their leisure moments. Be- sides keeping an eye upon the police they are ever on the alert. All the large hotelsin thiscity employ detect- ives who are familiar with the faces of the noted "and keep an outlook constantly spicious persons. ‘The thief is usually ‘than those set to watch for his appear- d usually outwits them all. He some- times gets into rooms under the cover of friend- ship while the occupant is tipsy and helps him- self to whatever valuable articles are handy. ‘The doors of the rooms in hotels are alike, and the thiof knows precisely what he has to meet, even ifhe has never been in the room which he intends to visit. Any time of the day or night suits bim; all he is looking for is the opportunity. The thief, being satisfied that he has aclear field, goes directly to the room from his own with cat-like tread. He finds the door locked and bolted. The lock is quickly turned with a false key, Occupants of rooms delude themselves into a feeling of safety by leaving the key in the door on the inside, thinking that no other key can be ed. The thief iv ready for this ewergency. He takes a small pair of nippers from his pocket having slender, grooved jaws which fit over the projecting end of the key and enable him to turn the key as readily as if he had hold of the handie. If there is a bolt on the door it is usually a few inches xbove the keyhole. The thief shows his cleverness in reaching it. The key in the door has to be got rid of, and this is doue by slip- ping a picce of twine around it with the nip- pers and pushing it out of the hole and lower- ing it to the floor without making & noise to awaken the sleeper. If no oue is im the room it 1s pushed out at once. ormemeed SKELETON ETS. A fine steel wire, which can be bent double without breaking, having an eyehole in one end, through which is passed a strong cord, is shoved through the keyhole. By holding the cord firmly and pushing the wire slowly through the hole the wire is made to form « loop. which is twisted io an upward direction until it is caught upon the projecting knot on the bolt. Then it is an easy matter to slide the bolt by tugging gently on the wire. If the knob is in the socket on the upper side of the belt the wire loop draws it into the proper place to move the bolt. The loop cannot be worked if the knob is in the slot on the under part of the bolt, * The thief enters the room, takes whatever of money. watches and jewels he can find, and vanishes, To divert suspicion he returns the key to the lock and turns it with the nippers from the outside. Hotel robberies are common. After having sufficient experience a+neak or general thief may develop into a burglar, pro- vided he has never been known to “squeal” and can make the — connection witn the ang. It is in this line that the thief displays fe Mechanica! taste and skill, Every burglar of standing has a “kit” of tools, They are made usually by a mechanic who is a member of the gang, or am outside machinist with an elastic conscience, who asks no question A **kit” will cost several hundred dollars. ‘An outfit is made up of jimmies, drills and punches, clamps, jacks. sledge hammer, brace and bits, ladder of rope or steel wire. wedges, chisels, sir pump, powder and oil can, piate cutter, skeleton keys and clubs and weapons of assault and defense. ‘The ordinary housebreaker uses only a part of these tools and works in the night. Houses only are attacked where the pr for plunder is good. ‘This information w gleaned from the newspaper accounts of weddin, bails, dinner parties and advertisements, watching the houses and from gossipy setvants, A window is preferred to a door as a means of entrance, as it is easier to open. Sometimes a room 1s hired m one of the houses ina row where the roofs are level and the thief gets in through the scuttle. A wooden shutter is opened by forcing it with a small jimmy, or by pushing back the catch with a steel blade that is extremely pliable. In iron shutters the posi- tion of the bars is shown by the boits, and by boring a hole near them and using a smail wire they can be drawn. The window fasteni: is shoved back with a thin blade. Whe: patent catches are used the _ is cut with s diamond point in a small circle, within which » piece of wet leather is firmly pressed with » string attached like the boys’ sucker. A light tap or jerk breaks the glassy and the sucker prevents it from falling. This gives access to the fastening. When there are iron bars on the lower windows the burglar goes to the wext story, which is reached a & flexible ladder with hooks on one end. ‘is ladder is raised to the window sill by being thrown or ‘with a pole. it packs the plunder into a bag while watches for squalls. They do not time and go from the ceilar to ‘They hunt in Tepe tent Fee and this explains why watel that are in plain vig are pon! thief jeepers one renee and club flash lantern into the sleeper’s windows, Medical experts differsin to whether or not ap apawstbetic if sf Ei E i often ue, are a ty 7 o pia a = trey to scare a when working ras call ewe another by their right names and often wear masks to prevent identification. They are not afraid of men. but a frightened woman and a young child keep their nerves ona ragged edge. A woman is likely to scream at any stage of the game, even when her silence is by the muzzle of a revolver at her temple. Un- accountable noises, however slight, test the barglar’s courage, and “Long John” Garvey, who was in the first rank of theives, eace amped out of ¢ window and broke his leg in xington avenue at the sound made x cat scratching its claws in acarpet. Housebreak- ers will take anything of valuc that can be easily sold, but lave a natural preference for money, watches and jewels. They have mur- der in their hearts and will kill rather than be caught and serve a long sentence. Old burgiars Say that they would rather mect an army of men with clubs than go into a house where there is a smali cur that will not take meat from a stranger's hand, but will keep up an everlasting barking. The king pin of thieves is the bank bargiar. Out of the ranks of general and special thieves there will biossom forth one who is better than his fellows in intelligence, courage and mechan- i ill, aud a number of these congenial e the bank burglars’ gang. They dtrue. The gang is not the work of «day, although there are only four or five in it, but « leader has beew known to ict years go by in picking out his associates for some special job. ‘True worth must have been shown by acts. Bank burglars deteat “squenlers,” and any one who gives information to the police forfeits his life, ‘The leader generally selects the bank to be attacked, Plenty of timo is given to the pre- liminary work. It is known that “Jimmy” Hope “planted” a bank, perfected th of robbery and waited twenty yeara to dud the men that he would take into his confidence. He was rewarded with success, An entrance to the bank is made in many ways, depending on the surroundings, If there is a watchman, he is either bribed, drugged, killed or got out of the way by strategy, Hooms are often hircd adjoining the bank, and restaurant or shoe store opened. This giv chance to dig through the walls without sus- [ senragm The habits of all connected with the auk are carefuily studied, and friendly inter- course established, if possible, ‘he site of the vault, the safe msker, the kind of lock and the manner of getting into the safe are all known beforehand, #0 that when the thief gets intoa bank with his “kit” there is no delay. The time selected to “crack” a safe is generally between Saturday night and Monday morning. NIGHT PROWLERS’ WEAPONS. For over a hundred years there has been a contest between the sufe makers and the safe breakers, It has been a battle royal, and the thief bas always had a little the best of it. ‘here have been brains on both sides, and it has always made tho safe maker sad to see the door of his burglar-proof safe, which it took him years of study to perfect, fly open in about twenty minutes after his natural enemy got to work ou it. The burglar has kept the safe waker busy by pointing out the defects in con- struction. Every safe that is “blown” means a new safe from the maker, and thieves, to save labor for themselves. do not attack « new safe until a large number have been sold. Burglars get possession of every new lock by fair means or foul, and the defects are noted for future use. There are many methods employed by burglars to open a safe, depending on the wa it is put together. Their object is to down and uniloosen things. In the old “knob” safe, which was covered with bolts connecting two iron plates, powder was blown through the keyhole and the door lifted from the hinges by explosion. Then the keyhole was hidden in one of the knobs, but the burglar did not took for it. He made a hole in the door with a drill and put in the powder. Safes were made with bolts in the door that could be sprung into the framework on all sides with a spindle connected with a T handle on the exterior, This was thought to be a puzzler to the burglar, but this mechanical genius knocked off the handle with a hammer, softened the spindle with a lamp and blow- pipe, drilled it out, put in the explosive which carried away bolts, framework and all. Safe makers defied the burglars by making a safe of alternate layers of iron boiler plates and drill-proof steel, hardened so that they would turn the hn ofadrill. The burglars taught the safe makers a lesson so quickly that it made them dizzy. The burglars invented the plate cutter, a powerful too’, but did not patent it Holes were bored in the outside iron plate of the door, and the cutter was fixedin place, The blade of the cutter was kept well oiled and the handle was turned until a round hole was cut through the iron plate and the disk was re- moved. This exposed the first steel plate. This plate was extremely hard and therefore brittle, and the cutter being removed the steel was easily broken with a chisel and soft metal hammer. The metal would resist a drill, but could not stand repeated shocks. The alternate plates were thus cut and broken until the bolts were reached and the safe could then be opened easily. Then safes were made to defeat the plate cutter and the burglars abandoned its use for awhile. They tried something easier—filled the cracks of the safe with putty, except at the top for about two inches. At this point was attached a tube from @ pump, which exhausted the air in the safe, created avacuum and by removing a little pay in the bottom orack os much powder would be blown in by the air rushing in to fill the vacuum as was necessary to blow open the BURGLAR'S PLATE CUTTER. On the portable burglar-proof safes the doors are opened without explosives by stripping off the iron bands with clamps and jimmies and forcing wedges into the cracks with s powerfal jackscrew. The first wedge is like s knife blade, aud the size is increased until the door fies from its hinges. Another tool is the ‘‘drag.” ‘This is a heavy steel bar upon which a thread has been cnt, and it is operated with a stout handle five or six feet long to give great lever- age. A hole is first bored through the door or back of the safe. A thread iscutin the plate to correspond with that in the “drag.” The tool is turned until the opposite side of the safe is reached. When a great pressure is put on the jong handle something wil! have to burst. It is usually the beryl a when the doo: 3 burg- lar reaches top of the safe and bores a hole there to introduce the powder, Fire- safes are about as troublesome to a burg! as smoking 8 pipe to a sailor, His tools go cheese, It was thought when the time lock was in- vented, which unlocked the doors automatically at of began to open all over the land. ‘The burgies had overed that by ex] dynamite on outside of the ee ever clock the or H reed Fld i f Ei i t E i i ft : oF 4 i 5. H F iF a puget STAR: #Ashiwarox MISSING FROM HOME. Mysterious Disappearances Reported to the Police, TALES OF WOE TOLD DAILY. — Some Noted Cases of Recent Years—Men Whe Go Off on Sprees—Cases That ‘Tura Out All Right—Others That Have ‘Tragic Features, —_——_—_ RANTING that the identification of the missing Mr. Andrews is complete,” said Detective Horne to a-Sran reporter, “the only mystery that remains in con- nection with bis disuppearance is the whereabouts of his clothes, ‘The disappeai ance of his wearing apparel can be accounted for in various ways. If the missing man com- mitted suicide, and I don’t think there is any doubt but thatsuch was tho case. it is possible that he bundied up his clothes and threw them in the river so that in case his body was in such ® condition as to render identification impossi- ble his clothing would not be on him as teil- tale evidence, and hiv family would bo none the wiser. It is also possible and extremely probable that he Jeft his clothes on the shore and they were carried away by some person. Along the Virginia shores many colored men are employed in the quarries and some of thom on their way to work early in the morning might have found the clothes and appropriated them, In that evont it may seem singular why such individual has not returned them, but to 8 police officer the reason is apparent. Most of the men ouplores there are ignorant col- ored men and the first thing they would say about returning the clothes would be: ‘No, sir; if Ido they will say that I killed the man,’ or they might fear « prosecution for larceny, So that after all the missing clothes donot play such an important part iu the atlair, MANY MYSTERIOUS CASES, “This case," said the officer, “is not near so mysterious as many others of persons who have disappeared from this and other cities, It isan every-day matter now for persons to visit head- quarters to report the disappearance of a friend or relative, Divtressed parents tell of their children awd childron report the absence of their parents, but in most cuses tho report is made by a heart-broken wife who cannot ac- count for the whereabouts of her wayward hus- band. Some persous report the disappearance of loved ones as soon as thoy fail to return home or the first night after leaving home, while others wuit for days and even weeks and only come to headquarters asa last resort, “While in most instances it turns out that whisky is the cause of the temporary absence yet there are persons who go away for other causes and some cases romain a mystory for- ever, not even being exp'ained after the miss- ing one has returned. In the cases of men who 0 Of on sprees muny of them are found in ospitals, while others go to hotels and remain 1m their rooms for several days, refusing to up- pens on the strect or return home until they can make a respectable appearance among their friends and families, Such men, unless too much ee has been given to them, usually manage to hush up the matter so far as their wives are concerned and never fail to invent os that the faithful wife will not doubt. ere are some meu that disappear in that way with such regularity that their ab- sence would not cause much apprehension in jous than a week or two. BOYS WHO SEEK ADVENTURES. “Young boys who readeheap literature about the wild west aro apt to be among the missing at any time, and such disappearances are re- ported from different places at the rate of about halfa dozen a month. In such cases it to let the boys run, because they h the end of the rope aud will ery ‘mother’ or ‘father.’ It's all right with them as long as their money lasts, but when their insides pinch them they are bound to run across some policeman and ask for a place to sleep and something to eat and teli their story. If, on the other hand, they are arrested and questioned, they generally tell « pretty straight et and stick toi “They naturally think that they will be sent hone from the lace where they aro arrested they can goa ttle further with an equal certainty that iy will be returned home, SURE HE Was DEAD. “There wass case here some years ago,” continued the detective, “where a man left home and failed to return in due time, His wife, nearly crazed with griet, reported the fact of his disappearance. Their only child had died and the father, so tho mother said, had taken the death very hard. ‘The distressea mother was sure that her husband had com- mitted suicide through grief and she would believe nothing else, Lut I know the man ahd was certain that such was not the case. I told her that he had probably boen drinking and had gone to New York, but she insisted that her husband was dead. Acting upon my ad- vice she spent an entire day searching the hospitals and t1 days afterward I went to ber house. Wi e met me at the door I saw that change bad taken piace and sho in- formed me that she had received o telegram from her husband, who was in New York. He remained there and went into businoss and his wife went on there, too, SUPPOSED TO HAVE BREN DRowxrD. “Then there was a case of a young girl who disappeared from ber home, It was in the winter time and her father was certain that she had been drowned in Rock creek, and he even went so far as to suspect « man in bis em- of baving drowned her. Tho father vis- Rock creek and found on the ice a kid glove, which he was sure was the daughter's pro) . The finding of the glove dispelled joubts as to the fate of his daughter. He wanted-the oreck and was about to have the man whom suspected arrested. Just as he was about to lodge complaint, which was three weeks after her disappearance, he visited a hospital not far from his home and in that institution he found his daughter. AN UNCLAIMED SKELETON, “Some years ego there was foand on the banks of Rock creek a skeleton of s man who bad been dead for s jong time, and the skele- probability hed frends, end poeably'he ied'a babi! nds, an s Riaily who moarned his oo % is not im- — that be ye ware from among his wed ones in some it place; that search was mede for him, but in vain, and finally all hope of bis was abandoned, and after weeks, mouths and probably years of wauder- ing about the country, he selected the lovely Bock croek valley as the place to die, RMOCH ARDEN Casts, E tFEEeE i let FF F lat HI : i | I i | fresh se ey, ae F 4 Yr ba +! + D. C., SATURDAY, ” ie a 13, 1890-SIXTEEN PAGES. he left his home. sonal seen him in Taz Stan office, the man whom she saw in Berlin Adams, e ‘With this no information was ever learned that would im the slightest degree assist in revealing his whereabouts, ‘ BELLE BROWN'S CASE. The case of Belle Brown was entirely differ- ent from the cases stated. This young girl, it will be remembered, left her home one morning and started, as her parents thought, to attend school, but instead of doing so she wrote a note and mailed it to her parents telling them that whon they re- ceived it her body would be “stiff and cold In the river.” For some days her parents would believe nothing but that the girl was dead— that she had committed snicide—but so many = said they had seen a girl answering er description that her father, ter searching the river shores, started out of the city to search for her. Private Detective Mc- Devitt also made an investigation, but the whereabouts of the girl was not discovered for some days. The stewardess on one of the Nor- folk steamers gave a minute description of a gitl who went on the steamer to Norfolk, and it was 80 good a description of the missing girl that her father went to Norfoik to look for her. Not long after that the girl was found in Now York and returned home, A CASE IN WHICH MURDER WAS COMMITTED, ‘The Carpenter case was anothor one which remained a mystery for many weeks, Carpenter was a colored man who lived with his wife in East Washington, He was a at a busi- ness honse down town, and his employer reccived what purported to be a note in Car- penter’s handwriting, and the writing was an excellent imitation. ‘The note was to tho effect that the purported writer had gone and would not return for months, Time wore on and the house in which the woman lived was sold. The wife had an interest in the property and prob- ably got her part of the money out of the sale. ‘The house after the sale underwent repairs and 4 sickening stench attracted the workmen's attention, and to their horror they discovered that the stench came from the dead body of the woman’s husband. Thus the mystery was cleared away and it turned out that she mur- dered her imsband. shone Ne ae aT THE LAFAYETTE MONUMENT. The Abandoned Site, and the New One Selected. OBJECTIONS TO THE LOCATION 1% LAFAYETTE SQUARE—ADVANTAGES OF THE SITE SOUTH OF THE TREASURY—A PROMINENT POSITION FOR THE ARTISTIC GROUP. It begins to look as if the bronze counterpart of Lafayette and his statuesque attendants would finda resting place Bt last and would have .a chance to show thomeelves in all their glory to attract the attention and admiration of the passerby. Ever since their rather inglorious arrival in this city, so unlike the various arrivals of the eminent marquis himself in the different cities of this country when he took his historic tujp some years ago,the bronze parts which en pieced and joined will make the long ex- pected and much talked about Lafayette statue have remained in their original packages stored away some where around the Senate stables. They have been here some time. but there has been no place to erect the group. At length, however, the commission having in charge the selection of a site have fixed their minds upon one that they think will be in every way satisfactory. Whether it will or not is a matter that remains tobe seen. At any rate it is not the first site they selected, That was in Lafayette Square. At the fi thought it would seem that Lafayette’s statue ought to be placed in the beautiful park that hus so long been known by his name, but unfortunately for that plan the first choice of locations in the park had already been pre-empted by an earlier applicant for monumental houors and a host at once appeared who insisted upon it that an American statue of such a good American gon- eral as Jackwou should never be removed to make room for # Frenchman's statue of a French officer, even though that officer was a true and tried friend to this country in the hour of her most pressing need, Not that they loved Lafayette the less, perh: but that they loved Jackson more, or else were believers in the American rule of first come first served. And so the commission, which is composed of Secretary Windom, Senator Evarts and Mr. Clark, the architect of the Capitol, decided to erect the new statue asa sort of sido show to the old one, and a site was chosen directly to the south of Clark Mills’ big man on horse- While the Ia: Legg a2 with Mr. she and was sure that Berlin was Harry Before this was done, however, a number of other locations were considered and each in turn rejected, It was Fae josed to remove the Peace monument and place the new comer there, but this did not satisfy. The White House grounds, the location to the south of the White House, the big ellipse, the corner in front of the War, State and Navy Department, a corner of the Lafay- ette Park and the central part of the west si: were all discussed and all rejected in favor of the center of the south side of the park. As soon as this location was fixed upon work was begun and the appropriation for the pr was soon nearly exhausted in the erection of a suitable pedestal, But the pedestal will never have an occupant, in its present location at any rate, There it stands, though, in full view of | oi tac ‘the passing multitude, seeming to offer a mute appeal for some one to do something with it, Something will be done with it in all proba- bility, and that rightsoon, It will be moved. Before the statue could be placed upon it Senator Bate introduced a resolution that was agreed to by Congress calling « halt in the proceedings a the erie bere rreenee the estion, ey regarde: as mandatory pa them, and ef once the necessity of look- ing for a new site arose, THE NEW SITE. As stated in Taz Stan several days ago the site that has been chosen and that will ably stay chosen is the plat of ground enc! in the high stone fence at the southeast corner of the Treasury building. The large grass there on # line with Pennsylvania avenue be divided into two parts by se’ back fence on the south it it will intersect the plot of und in a line east and west at point where the small flight of — comes down the ding broad of south Treasury. Removing the b- es to that of the Peace monument at the biker end of the avenue and ding = splendid of view. The new is said, is d by connoisseurs as one of the ae ape if in their attempts to disentangle the trans- letter for the new “An ap- os, O mars es Lotro pays pa tee aamne in pieen tu: hones Josette ae im- bonade daring the’ present tocloa of Gree gress, for, ib bot be done, thay “Sil So a phy 4 ‘ite in “order to : H 2 i i id | ‘will coon bave a California within a few hours’ THRIFT AND PROGRESS |" secu The local fmprovements and expansion of Charlottesville as a city and business center are in the hands largely of two improvement com- both of which are wise in their A Growing Town of Which Virginians Are Proud. sod alge Gestoms Wet ad Crees eat ; — — VISIT TO CHARLOTTESVILLE. | the other the Belment, both headed’ by wide. awake, enterprising men. —_—_—_ MONTICELLO. Of Monticello, the home and resting place of Jefferson, there is too much to be said to make ita part of aletter. I went there and from its jofty summit drank in the enchanting scenery #0 much enjoyed and written about by writers of worth and many worthless writers. I was no little disappointed, but shall reserve an ac- count of my visit for another chapter. In a —- istic like this, when items are caught up on the fly. justice cannot be done to such a theme as Monticello, such @ place as the Milier School or such a progressive little 1 Chariottesville. een ON THE GREAT NORTH ROAD. A Bicycler’s Observations Between London and Liverpool. The Many Industries of Albemariec County—Steck Haismg and Grape Culture—Eaucational Facilitie: and Town Faterprice, —_-—— Correspondence of Tux EvExine Stan. Cuantorresvitix, Va., Sept. 10, 1890, EW towns in the state of Virginia, or in south as for that, have fairer pros- pects forthe future than this formerly quiethome of Thomas Jefferson, of the Monroes, of William Wirt, William ©, Rives, Judge Hugh Nelson and many others whose names are permanently linked wiih the early history of the country. While the town itself and Albemarle county, of which Char- lotterville is the capital, escaped the direct ravages of the battlefield it was the granary for the field, the hospital for the sick and wounded and the thoroughfare for marching soldiery, and therefore when the civil strife ended the entire section was left poverty-stricken, though rich with fertile hills and valleys, having lands that were taxable without labor to till them and peopled with inhabitants possessed of farms without farming implements, with no money,yet full of hope and energy. How far these bopes have been realized aud what their energies have accomplisled theCharlottesville of today speaks with » tongue of eloquence, Charlottesville, like hundreds of other towns in the state, ison ‘a boom,” but not that of the flash-light kind—no sooner begun than done for—so often built upon specuiative theories, The epirit of improvement and enterprise here I think is founded upon substantial conditions, and while making haste is doing so slowly, the results of which must necessarily be perma- nent, The moving spirits among the pushing business mea of Chariottesville appear to be conservative while enterprising, seeking after permanent rather than immediate results, con- ey, the newly laid ont squares with their wide streets and avenues mean something, as the manufacturing establishments, 51 houses, dwellings and other butidings going in all directions attest. ALBEMARLE COUNTY, in which Charlottesville is located, is the fifth largest county in the state and lies close to its geographical center, Itis mainly in the noted Piedmont region, so famous for fertility, with the James river flowing through the south- STRANGE WIEELS OXE MEETS OX THE waY— THE PNEUMATIC TIRE AND THE WONDERS TOLD OF IT—RIDING OX WIEELS OF AIR—THE DIA- MOND FRAME AXD CUSHION TIRE. Correspondence of Tug KvExrxc Stam. Liverroon, Exoianp, September 8. From London to this seaport by the most direct old coaching road is about 200 miles, but a couple of tripling detours, one to include Birmingham, made my total distance about ten miles farther. There can be no more charming run than the old North road at this season of the year, if you can miss the rain and the wind is not in the north, In the latter case a quon- dam cyclist whom I met on the road said: “The best part of cycling is the fact that there is always atrain handy.” And, indeed, a station is never far away in this country, No one seems to mind a tour like this, and I was a trifle piqued to find the announcement of my destination elicited no surprise. Fifty and sixty miles aday is nothing unusual for or- dinary riders, and I spent an evening with a gentleman and his wife who had made nearly 50 miles that day on # tandem tricycle, - ing still freeh. iy im tricycle, appear: GRTTING OUT OY LoXDON is the hardest part of the whole journey. It is nearly 10 are eres) one gots beyond the paved streets, hot to mention that it y all up-hill, The city pavements are sprinkled, the result being a greasy paste that requires the utmost care to prevent slipping amid the traffic. Butonce fairly on the macadam the mile posts slip away behind one with marvel- re- up gastern portion, while the western part rises | ous celerity. high into ae ool foe Ce avin ond city at noon, the first night I e average elevation is leet above slept at Ke - 5 water, although among the ranges which The ier Tepper a ong eget Albans—twenty~ miles out—just an easy afternoon run for an unaccustomed rider. err along the road there arose before me a ty roadside hostelry, “The Chequers,” with a very pretty girl on ‘the oaken scctee by the door. “Without a moment's hesitation dismounted, saying mentally: ‘This must be the a “Can I get a lodging, miss/” brought the diady to the door, and the result of a brief negotiation saw me esconced in as cheery and tidy « bed room as one can find in many a long journey. Chops and tea were set out on an immaculate white cloth in the best room. the floor besprinkled with white sand in the fash- divide the “Midland” and “Piedmont” sections peaks arise to the height of 1,800 feet. The country is largely agricultural, but ex- tensive deposits of iron ore, manganese, soap stone, graphite and zinc exist, which are being rapidly developed. The celebrated Cri- mora manganese mines are in this county, as also are the Stony Point brown hematite iron ore beds, to winch the Virginia Midland road runs especial branch. Specular ore, useful in steel making, is also found in large quantities along the James river, about Scottsville and Howardsville, STOCK RAISING IN ALBEMARLE. ion our New England grandmothers practiced. Stock raising and dairying are successfally | While clock in the corner ticked a grave pursued, though the latter not to such an extent | Monotone, ~The windows opened like doors, with faded lozenge panes no bigger than the — of my hand, and two cases of stuffed irds monopolized the opposite sides of the room. But the solitude was too much to endure, the night found a warm corner by the side of the fireplace in the combined kitchen and tap room, The hot-water kettle swung from its crane, great high-backed benches shut in the reflected heat, worn smooth by generations of country loafers on winter evenings, and mugs of ale and stout went round from mouth to mouth as the cronies of the neighborhood dropped in “for a drap o’ summat.” The as it otherwise would be on account of the gariic and wild onion in the grass, and which seem to be peculiariy indigenous to the soil of this section, For stock raising, however, the wild outcn is considered a blessing, not merely from medicinal qualities, but as welt from the fact that it appears early in spring and holds out late in the fall and winter, for though it may be killed by frost it will persist in growing when the weather is open and warm. ‘This county is also noted for its fine horses, Ellerslie, but a few miles from Charlottesville, having sent out such famous flyers as Eole, who while on the turf beat Long Taw, Miss Woodford, Bushwhacker, Parole, Iroquois and other noted runners; Ellerslie, who brought $10,000 when three years cld; who sold for $2,000 when one year of age; St. Savior, $12,000 horse at three, and others, THE CITT OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, But it is of Charlottesville and its varied in- dustries and surroundings I wish more par- ticularly to speak. This little city, for it is a city, is located 450 feet above tide water on and gently uudu- lating, surrounded by the beautiful Blue Kidge and its sub-ranges of mountains, and justly en- {5 celebrity for its healthy climate and lovely indscape scenery, In addition to the refine- ment and hospitality of its people its educa- tional facilities place it inadvance of most cities of its size and rank. It was chartered under s city government in 1838, and hasa population of some 7,000 to 8,000, and a real estate value of @1,500.000 or upward, an in- crease of more thi 150,000 over the asseus- ment of 1880. The next few years will witness ‘a still greater increase, as manufacturing en- terprises are not only prosperous but increas- ing in numbers and capital very rapidly. These factories open up an excellent field for a whole- sale and jobbing » Which the merchants here have not been elow to take advantage of and push to considerable extent, NUMEROUS INDUSTRI Among its list of industries may be named the largest woolen mills in the state, the largest knitting factory in the south, extensive agri- cultural and machine works, planing mills, with sash, door and blind factory, one of the largest ice-making establishments in the south, two wine cellars of 6 proportions and with national reputation, and the largest slate pen- tory in the United States—in fact, the only one of importance now, as the Vermont quarries are practically exhausted. The city contains both electric and gas light plante, water works, street cars, a free delivery syste new opera house, good telephone service and the prospect of the early comple- tion of a $40,000 hotel. Certainly no town in the state or the country has more flattering future than Chariotteavilie, brought about by the energy and perseverance of its own busi- ness men and citizens, EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES, In speaking of the educational facilities of Charlottesville it is hardly worth while to men- tion the University of Virginia, so national and world-wide is its reputation, yet a letter from Charlottesville would be no letter at all with- out» ofit, One might as well write of Monticello and never allude to Jefferson. The university proper is situated picturesquely on & comman tin the western suburbs, and with its stately dome-roof building, flanked by long rows of dormitories, the pretty stone chapel in Gothic style, the museum building, the several separate o for chemistry, biology, medicine, &c., the great Lick observa- tory and the magnificent ——— comprising hundreds of Deautifully shaded and ar- dark? and came around to bid each guest good- night—to Tommy and Johnny and the rest— and then looked up shyly in my face—“Good- night, Mr. Gentleman.” And then 1 went upstairs, too, bamping my head on the low rafters, but finally dropping away to a dreamless sleep beneath the low thatched roof. After breakfast 1 demanded my reckoning, and the meck-faced woman, who looked as if the struggle for home and children was a weary one, asked did I think two shillings would be toomuch. No, I certainly did uot. ON A PNEUMATIC TIRE, A little way up the road I met aman on a pneumatic tire. Now, I had seen several ret- erences to them in the papers and had won- highway there came and purposes the same as any ordinary safety, tires had grown enormously—in fact, sions—giving a most comical appearance. looked as if it must weigh a hundred pounds, but really was lighter than my own. Briefly, without tg ay any technical description, ® pneumatic tire being one-eighth of an inch thick. This circu! rubber bag is then inflated with air, that is to say, blown up like a bladder or foot ball, till it feels as -d to the touch as if it soli One cannot help laughing at first sight of these enormous and awkward- looking contrivances on a dwarf safety, but their performances are certainly extraordinary. Perhaps no one thing did more to make the bicycler, and tricycier, too, a really practical pons i commercial success than the adoption of the rubber tire. So, also, I feel warranted in saying, in view of the results it has accom- lished, it is the general opinion of all cyclists Esco that the pneumatic is the most important addition since made to machines, PERFORMANCES ON THE PNEUMATIC. What has it done? At Rugby last Monday week, where the course was seven laps to the mile, and rather rough grass, ina handicap race there was imposed a penalty of 100 yards in the one-mile and 190 yards in the two-mile races, respectively, on pneumatic-tired ma- chines, and 50 and 80 yards on those fitted with cushion tires. In spite of these imposi- tions M. F. Rowe of Peterboro, who was rid- Mra. called “‘a rheumatic,” won both events pretty comfortably. il race was held by the Bath Club on Saturday week last, open to all. There were 16 safeties, 4 tricycles and 4 twenty-mile-an-hour it was maintained for the first four t is said that Dan; field, who rode s pneumatic Ivel safety, geared weighing 30 poun though going 2 on Tooky toward the end, the grand time of 6h. TA etn ‘ i dotted with vineyards attest the extent to which the culture of the grape is pursued. The great wine ature ta nod pear the town are a f E : F t : i , F A H i i i i é 5 i f i 7 H é [ # rE a3 2 a F if L | &. ‘f ne & : EFF d had § : i x tr i fi alll é, j ® Ls £ i iH “t EF. 13 able. iy block feels like @ billind table, Iwas on the beach at Southport, where the “Why,” he said, “the row Belgian © morning sand was so soft and yicidmg it was Gifficult to walk, the fect sinking ateach one to two inches, [ mounted a Ppneumetic-tired machine and rode for some distance, easily aud readily, on this sand utterly unridable to an ordinary rubber. machine of any kind” It would seem that on many of our American roads, where sandy patches are frequent, it would be « great euc- cons, ‘On the road near Coventry I saw a man who had just came sixty miles on one and he looked fresh, and starting off set the pace for a lot of “road scorchers.” LIABLE To ACCIDENTR, It is, however, true that they have so far Proved somewhat liable to accidents, Qoca- sionally one will burst with a loud report or very agcravatingly ooze out gently when most needed, leaving the rider with a coliay balioon to waik home. The small boy, w! bamp of veneration is very small im compari- sou with his inquisitiveness, does call it “the life buoy” and @ “road roller,” end may use ft occasionally ms a pin- cushion, with fatal cffect on the tire, Of course anything that Stroy its usefulnens. A by-stauder said to the paeumatic; ‘Suppose you are off on the road and you cut your tire on a fint or a glass bot. tle, or a boy runsa pin throuch it; what would youdoy” He looked at him a moment and said: “Suppose you break your backbose, what would you dos” Of course there was mo more to be said. TRE CUSHION TIRE is a modification of the pneumatic, but as yet comparatively untried. The diameter is mach loss though far greater than the solid tires, the rubber is thicker and is holiow through the center. Many leading cyclists claim the “eush= ion” isthe coming tire. It ix claimed it will obviate most, if not all, the serious objections urged against the pneumatic, while preserving ite advantages. It is said they may be cut through without seriously impairing their usefulness and that they will not collapse. The only se1 ill cut the tire de- tion urged against them that I have they have been cut on the edges. but i mitted this was prob largely due to the rims, which could be medied. They are wonderfully elastic and comfortable on @ Tough road. Riding a Rodge enfety, fitted with cushion tires, at Vichy on August 20, Dubois carried off the principal event A few days later Medinger borrowed this machine and came out first at La Rochelle, and im the very next event, at the same eting, Fourmicr bor- rowed it and also won ensi : indicate what even persons unt, machine could do with 1, Acushion tire bes just won the fifty-mile championship, and everywhere when brought in competition with, solid tires they have won easily. It would m that the upright, or early form of bicycle, geuerally spoken of as the “ordinary,” 6 Some sre still made, but in the agents’ show rooms they are quite in the background. Many of them are still seen on the roads,but mostly old machines, and far outnumbered by the dwarfs everywhere, On the racing tracks a few riders still cling to their first mounts, with which they are more familiar, but they are frequently, and I might suy generally, beaten everywhere by their di- minutive rivals, ‘The smail machines have also proved the best hill climbers, and road riders, as the English xy, all “go in for them.” Ins deed, many a stecp ascent, which had beeg, thought quite unridable, bas becn easily con- quered by the safeties, Itis curious that ® nondescript machine bag just made # sensation, Frank Shorland Inst week beat the coach rtcérd between London and Brighton and back by thirty-one minutes, He rode a geared facile bicycle and made the children went to bed at 8, though it was not set dered what they could be. Along the Queen’s machine, to all intents welled outto four times their usual — it one of hollow rubber two or more inches in diameter, the material itself distance, about 120 miles, in seven bours and nineteen muuutes, wm eh But I tind 1 have no room left to continue journey on the Great North rond nor to about the rare old ale supplied vy “The Green the jolly provender st “The Nag's how I safely passed “The Groat Red only to encounter “Tse Little Red ‘ound’ the corner, or how “The Giasg Barrel” quenched my thirst. —E. D. Yous. ___ PROPOSALS. ROPUSALS FOR ABPHALT PAVEMENT FUOTWALKS.—Office of ublic Buildinee Grounds, War D partment, W '. teauber 10. 1 yards, ux jug 1,500 #9) ¥ specications cau Ve © United States reserve propossia, . Bi, RAND Fy iLL Wo rejocbauy ce wud ali |, Ue. Army ole RPALUMENT WASHING. ton, August 2 be received at this P.M. MONDAY, for the Lrection’ of Building at the G tu accordance with aos to We see ta BLL, Secretary. ROPOSALS FOR FULL—U.S. COAST AND GEO detic Survey Office, Washington, Semenber by Sealed pro} osuis will be received at this office TWo. Ok PM. of LHUK®DAY, skYTEM- BER EIGH1ERN, 1890, and opemd thereafter in they were, for Tu two hundred and thirty (2330) Hickory Wood, sawed once. subject to the provisious of nection. Vised Statutes of the United States, and stored im vaults of this office. Aw: ili ‘be item, to the best bidder 10 t Forms tor brvposals will Le furuiaued of ase plication to this office, Envelopesto te indorsed “Proposals for Fuel," and adareased to the superine tend: nt of toe Cosst Bod Geod-tic Survey, Ws tn be, EC ‘ALL, buperintendent. MENDENL. CLLDING FOR the Government Printing Cfiice Washington, C., September 2, 18VU.— rer will be Ved ust TWELVE OCLC NES recel’ KOM oc W DAY, SEVIEMBEK SLVENTERNTH, 1890, Undersigned for the purchase of = mite for Bunding for the Goverument Printing Office, focoutuau about cue hundred aud fifty (10,000) square feet, and to be within the bounds H street nort. Ist street east, B street north aud tt street west, in the city of Washington. Kaeh prep will state the location of the yround, the uum square fect offered end the names and the owner or owners. dorsed “Proposuls for ® site for the ow Printing Office,” and addressed to Hou. William Wine fom, Secretary, of the Troseury, Chairman of the Board. WILLIAM WINDOM, & ury: FRANK W. PALMER. CLAKK, Architect of the FINANCIAL Hairs, MONTARA, 48 A PLACE TO INVEST MONEY. The enormoas amount of funds invested by the cite vens of Helena iu mining cnicrprises induced by t® sbuormally large promt. arisiay therefrom les ver op: B for Eastern capital exceptio.al opyortuciues im peal estate and building wvesi & Which, whe who lutely sate, yieid moomes ransing from 15 to 60168 cent annually. Leal ketate is constantly ou the aie Vauce in Value && the Fesuct of au oUtpUtol wee i unequaled in the histor) of Uae word. Eastern incomes based upon 5 and 6 ;er cent inv be ments may be largely augmented without mek ig sbiftne the pifucipal toe locality ofenug wider op portunities, 4 visit fo Helena wid demonstrate the truth J O@ Maiermenl dnd Conver’ the Most (nered wines, WALLET ManUar AND oFi bonds end stock» bough: end Sttous conuncted on § 100 upward “uphene” ost. Bd PECK & OU, 62 Eruadway,