Evening Star Newspaper, September 20, 1890, Page 9

GREAT GUNS’ GRAVES. Some Interesting Relics at the Wash- ington Navy Yard. resins OLD ABANDONED CANNONS. Old Spanish Trophies—Helics of Ante- Bellum Days—Grim Sentinels That Can’t Shoot—Piles of Deadly Project- iles—Homeless Shells, —_——— UNS ARE born, like hu- man beings, and then they ie. following out the sim- ilarity quite accurately. ‘They have their periods of usefulness, their stages of decay and their times of abandonment, when they are cast aside for other and better maker, and are allowed to rust away on the refuse piles of, perhaps, the scene of their birth. In some cases they follow the ancient doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and, when they are melted over and recast into newer molds, they reappear rejuvenated, fit for another period of noise-making and destruction. But sooner or later these great guns, some- times known as cannons by the laymen, find their way to tho graveyards for abandoned de- stroyers, for there are cemeteries of this sort Just as there are those for human gans, great and little. There is such aspot down at the southeastern corner of the city within the limits of the Navy Yard, where, oddly enough, there is now the largest plant for tho making of guns this side of the Atlantic ocean. Thus do the elements of life and death nestle side by side. Hereare stored a good many of the cannons that were captured from the confeder- ate forces daring the late war, and several relics of former strifesin which the American Sag was sustained in a truly American manner. IN THE GRavevann, To the casual visitor, most likely, these huge tumps of metal represent nothing but so much weight, or masy. or value as old iron, while to others, who like to regard the past and its memories, they arc full of meauing. They told a strange story the other morning toa StaR reporter who wandered among them armed with a more modern and still more deadiy Weapon than any of the relics, a detective camera, They were mute as the ordinary ma- and the tales they told were language, quite as fall of ex- d often more erjoyable than the ‘The major partof the graves are of the com- other sort. located in the rear of the ofice mandant of the yard. straight down the wide, main street that iea-is from the gateway to near the water's edge but befor gets well into the yard there are two antiquities in the shape of men-killers that are sure to attract atten- tion. Tney stand on either side of the road, mr with their muzzles pointin; toward the outer arding the sacred. precincts of ence. world, as if g both activity and remini the famous Spanish p: breeches—this word is p adorned with flowing desiz some departed Castilian mon: letters around the extreme ed were cast at Barcelona in the year 1738, A.D. aud more modern piece of literary work. painted on atm plate and tacked to the trun- aion of each gun. reads as follows, telling tho tale of these refugees from their native land better than any reportorial pencil could hope: ‘They are of with their technical— monogram of h, ‘THEM stony. “On the 3d day of Aug=st, 1804, Capt. Stephen Oecatur, in command of an American gun boat off Tripoli, boarded and captured in suc- vession two Tripolitan gun boats armed with this and the adjacent gun.” One of these trophies of the valor and skill of the famed Decatur is named “Corzo,” meaning a roe or fallow dear, thus signifying fleetness, and the other was meaning something in the line of swiftness, There seemed to be a custom among the Spaniards, and, indeed, other Earopean gun- makers of the last century, of giving each of these engines of war a name. sometimes peace- ful, sometimes belligerent. often signiticant of fome quality. For instance, one of the other “trophies” stored down in the “graveyard” gelow the commandant’s office is named “Generoso.” the generous ono, while another ‘called “El Galgo,” the grayhound, and one other rejoices in the pleasant title of “El Tosigo,” which has a meaning derived from the poisonous product of a certain tree of the tropica, thus signifying death, a rather queer sonceit for a loud-mouth destroyer destined to kill without recourse to the methods of secrecy tuaplied by the word poison. OLD SPANISH TROPHIES. ‘The prettiest specimens of the gunmaker’: artare to be found among the old Spenish trophies which as a rui earlier warsin wh babit of induig: developiag the Some of them. national courage and pluck. the guas—are works of art. with snd their wide-mouthed with wreaths and flowers Nowadays the manufacturer tuts into the meta! of his cannon only to iden- tify it from the hundreds of others of exactly the same sort and to show whea and whers it was ma ters valuable when the guns burst. When shot was put into the gun from the muzzle and the piece was jired from a vent- hole on the application of a match, there was plenty of room at #he breech for decoration, and some of the designs are very ornate. It was a day of handies on the sides of the guns, just above the trunnions, and in the making of these the workmen had a ciear ficld. Dolphins im ahalf-curved conaition were favorite in- *piratioas for them, and many a man must have made his reputation from the oddity of the form of his gun handles, GROM SENTINELS. Just in front of the office building stand eight or ten great guns of this type. grim relics of the last century, clean and bright, as if. they bad just come from the foundry, their sicck sides o1 ed and protected from rust, their bases inted and weil attended. The best of care bestowed on them, for they are the flower of the flock, if such a gentle similie is permissible im alluding to such « violent topic. 6 wecom~ Ying cut shows them as they stand in a row, oue that is fully visible being the smallest. ‘There is another sort of Spanish guu around Behind the building—a short, stout affair, re- sembling a modern mortar more than anything ise. It isa howitzer—one of those little fel- ——= a large voice and short breath. The their muzzle, and inse: : A band of | we tells how they [| bed *‘Camelio,” the camel. also | But thesecret of their presence here is in the fact that it does not always need death to kill, for to be out of fashion is quite as sure a method, and these guns are very much behind the styles, They are not very old, some of them being as near tothe present as 1965, but they are considered as mere lamber when the new theories of gunmaking are mentioned. They are arranged in au elongated semi-circle, with the round to the south. just as if they were placed there to protect the river front, They are dismounted from their carriages and lie with their trunnions sticking helplessly out into the air like a young bird that has been left alone and does not care to try its wings, The great guns are placed on the southern edge of the curve, the larger ones in the cen ter and the smaller tapering off to the east and the west. Most of them are contraband from the rebellion and bear inscriptions showing how and when and where they were captured by the Union forces. PAST MENDING. There are some famous pieces of ordnance in the cemetery. Up on the north side of the yard is an old hulk of a gun that has not only gone out of date, but is so badly mutilated that it can nover be used again, and it received its scars in theline of duty, too. It is one of the great guns that formed the fighting powers of the terrible rebel ram Merrimac, that came so near to wiping the Union navy off the face of | the seas, but which came to grief in a very few hours after her successes were achieved, at the hands of ‘a contemptible little tomato can on a shingle, the work of the man whose remains have just been taken to his native home by one of the most magnificent of naval constructions. The inscription of the gun is stamped into the aide with steel letters, and reads thus: ‘One of the guns of the Merrimac in the action with the U. 8. Frigates Cumberland and Congress, March 8. 1362, when the chase was shot off. The mutilation of the trunnions, &c.. shows the ineffectual attempts to destroy the gun when the United States abandoned the Norfolk navy yard, April 20, 1861.” The chase, it might be well to explain. is the part which does not appear in the illustration, that is, the end which would have been there had not one of the Yankee shots hit it and caused it to disappear—the end of the muzzle, inshort. The gun is painted a dingy brown, as, indeed, are all of those in the yard, except those of Spanish origin and other bronze pieces, THE WHITWORTH GUN. Among the most dreaded pieces of ordnance which the confederates had was the noted Whitworth gun, a terribly effectivo rifle that had wonderfal range and accuracy, and sent outashota foot or soin length that would netrats almost any bulwark. ‘The rifling was exagonsl and had ‘an unusual twist, so that the projectile was given a whirling motion that | caused it to send forth a particularly biood- eurdling shrick that sent terror to the hearts of all who heard it. Thero is a good specimen of this gun in the yard, a few paces away from the Merrimac relic, It is a loug, slender piece, | with scarcely more than two anda half inches in the bore, while its lenzth is fully seven feet. One of the shells of this piece is to be found in the row of projectiles standing in front of the yard museum. The following inscription has been stamped on the breech of the gun “Whitworth breech-loading gun, captured by Rear Admiral Lee near Fort Fisher, N.C., Au- gust 23, 1863. The centerpiece of this unique collection of old metal is a whitewashed stone. rounded, standing on a stone base. on each side of which isa bronze cannon, numbered trophy 13 aud trophy 14. The former, so says the legend, was surrendered by the capitulation of Yor town, October 19, 1731. It must have been stolen by the English from the Spauiar whom it was made—before our troops re them of it. Its companion, ou the other side, is named the ‘Justiciero,” probably signify” ing justice, QUEFR MECHANISM. There are some queer piecesof mechanism among these old ruins. Some of them have really unique breech arrangements, but not sufficiently ingenious, it would seem, from the subsequent course of gun making. One has » long lever, which is to open the loadin, which will never do it until the gun boiled in oil and the paint. dirt and rust re- moved, Most of the guns have open vents, but here and there are some that show eviden of a fierce determination on the part of the re- treating owners never to let their cannon be of use to the captors, for the holes filled by irons, and in some cases sharp points have been driven into the metal near the vents, in order to weaken that part, so that ths guas would burst in any attempts to unspike them, SOME BACK NUMBERS. Outside of the graveyard, across a street, is & very interesting collection of old iron, in the form of afew abandoned anchors and chains and two or three pieces of iron armor plating that have been fired at with some very excel- Jent revuits. as far as the gunners went. Here are two of the oddest anchors ever seen, huge grapaels, with six flukes, designed to take the place of the regulation two-fiuked anchor for the holding of ships. They are of a pattern adopted fora very short time some 7 ye ago and soon abandoned. The plates of iron ure bent and twisted out of shape and in one or two instances the balis have penetrated and are to be seen on the reverse side of the armor. After so much of a study of the guns of other navies and other times, a glance at some of the abandoned ordnance of our own make and of more recent periods would not be uninterest- ing, maybe. The specimens of this sort are on the’ west side of the yard, piled up on Yuils that stretch across the yard between the shops. ‘They are all painted brown and they look very prim and sad in their long lines of perspective, their mouths all in a row, their heels together and their feet firmly planted, There is 9 long In some casee, the entire gun is cracked trom one end to the other and in others the ond of the muzzle has been blown quite away. None fOME HARMLESS SELLS, ‘The museum, the interior of which will be described at some future time, forme the rest- ing place for some of the more deserving of the ordnance invalids, Outside, sunning in a long line next to the wall, are a couple of dozen shots and shell, and tor; tamed by fire, by extraction, by rust. They represent the odd- ities of shell making, the insanity of explosives, so to spenk, and the mere sight of them will give anervous man the shudders. The fifth of those shown in the cut, counting from the right and using the long, pointed fellow as number one, is the Whitworth shell eens mentioned, ‘The affair with astartiing resem- blance to the end of a hot! jer boiler attach- ment toa kitchen range is a can torpedo that was found floating in one of the southern rivers one day bya daring Yankee. The southwest corner of the building is well decorated with these toys, One of the prettiest guns in the yard is to be found here—a small bronze how- itzer of the Spanish pattern that was captured at Fernandina, Fle,, by Rear Admiral Dupont February 3, 186—-. AX OLD SPAR TORREDO, Next to it stands what looks like a beer keg with a pointed top that has seen its best days and is now slowly rotting away. Closer exam- ination shows that it has several protuberances about as long as a cigarette, holes through which the charge was poured into it and from which the firing apparatus was worked. It was once a spar torpedo, designed to be fastened to the end of a long spar carried by a vewsel and thrust under the nose of an enemy and there exploded. This sort of work was quite as dangerous for the attacking party as for the other. A RELIC OF THE BRITISH INVASION. Around the corner isa queer old gun. painted black, with a white paper pasted tothe top that tells the whole tale, as far as can now be told It reads as follows: ‘Recovered Feb- ruary 12. 1884, while dredging in the channel in front of the navy yard; supposed to be one ofthe guns of U. 8: sloop-of-war Argus, which wis burned August 24, 1814, by order of tho Secretary of the Navy, at the invasion of Washington city by the British.” That, then, is a relic of the last time that the red-handed invader, a8 he is called in the story books, left his mark upon d5ur beloved land. “The gua is rather short in ft; 2 photge to its bore and sug- gests the Spanish piece in its general out- lines, although it is quite devoid of the decora- tions usually put upon the latter. HUNDREDS OF PROJECTILES. It is not only guns that fird their way to this cometery, but alsothe things that the guns used to shoot, Around behind the factory where they are now making those highly tem- pered cones of steel that are designed to go through ever so many inches of armor and then explode on the other side are piled in neat symmetry hundreds of old Projectiles solid shot and explosive shells, round, elon; ted, pointed, twisted, all sorts of shapes, in fact. Some are painted white, some red, some black, while others have given themselves color of their own through successive rustings. Under the graceful sweep of a weeping an artistic group of these old mi doath, arranged in the regulation pyramids and loaking very peaceful, ns if their sole mission was to be used for decorative purposes. + BEAL GRAVE IN THR CEMETERY. There is death amidst elf these engines of death—a lonely little grave down behind one of the shops, marked by a- leaning headboard that bears three lesters—BOB. Here is a small mound to be yet discerned, with evidences of care taken with the spot at some time not far di it. Some of the older workmen know the story of how one day the pet dog of the children of the commandant’s family died sev- eral years ago and there was reat amount of maine grief, as tl itt ones forme: in procession and wid their dear Bob sway under the sod. Some days afterward one of them came to the conclu- sion that Bob had not boen buried properly, and they enlisted the sympathies of one of “the guoners attached to the yard and resur- rected the remains, Tnen the ceremon: was performed in the right way, an after another procession the dog was once more Iaid at rest. About a week after that there way another epidemic of discon- tent among the meurnera, and. after some pro- test on the part of the gunner, the performanco was repeated. Qn this occasion, however, the gunner showed such a lack of the proper feel- | ing that he was severely rebuked by the chief mouruer, and a6 a punishment was compelled ‘to rebury tne dog once a week until the pro- cess became a nuisance, And this is Bob's gray —_——.oo—___ AN ICY REJOINDER, Pert Remarks From a Small Boy Who Hankered After Ice Water. From the Mail and Express. They didn't have ice water ath is store and they did have it at the store next door. Conse- quently bis soul was filled with envy, oven if he was buta mere snip of an office boy. The other morning a particularly big iceman with s particularly big pair of tongs, saun. tered up to the store where they did have ice water , carelessly dropped particularly small piece of ice at the door and strolled away. ‘Ihe envious office boy happened to be around, and the sight of even that small bit of ice ro- vived all his old heart burnings—and perhaps all his old-time stomach burnings. “Eh, mister,” he shouted, “I say! The big iceman with the big tongs, who was fifty feet or so away by this timo, turned aro und, saw the boy paviag: his hand at him and re- traced his steps, thinking, perhaps, that he'd found a new customer, “Well wat jo yer want?” he queried, as he appronched the mtionless youth. “Oh, I just wanted totell yer yer dropped something,” r ded that conscienceless in- dividual,.with a hasty gesture toward the micro- scopic piece of ice and a still more hasty d parture from the scene of action. ‘hat iceman’s diin’t hit the cuvious office boy, but they did hit the place whete he had stood and the verbal volley of the iceman hit everything in the vicinity. ——+——-+00___. The Smith Family. From the Chicago Tribune. W. T. Ewing. one of the best story tollers of the Chicago bar, recalls an incident of a joint debate in Virginia. The disputants were Fitz- hugh Lee and Wiese. They were always rivals, but their de! were always courteous. On one occasion Mr. Wise paid a compliment to the rame of Lee. If it were not that his ‘| scurrying from the po~ BREAKING THE RECORD. A Star Goes Around the World in 2 Hours 75 Minutes. 4.310 SHOW FROM BERIND THE scEXES—waat TRS AUDIEXCE DOESN'T SEE IN “AROUND THE WdaLb”—STRANGE SIGHTS TO THR UxIN- TTIATED. “Say, old fellow, lend mea dollar.” ‘The speaker was a gentleman in faultless evening attire and the person appealed to was representative of the Star with a large and ‘wormy wad ‘of second-hand money in his in- side pocket, and the time was 8 o'clock last Wednesday evening. “Certainly,” replied Taz Stan man, going down into his cash drawer; “ere you are.” But he was not there, He had gone, anda few minutes later the Stan man heard him talking with three or four others of like feather with himself about making a journey around the world in eighty days, and ulti- mately he closed the discussion by offering to bet $500,900 spot cash that he could do it, The det was accepted and tho next thing the gentleman did was to hand over to his valet thi er four hundred thousand ollars in c for spending money on the trip, make a rush for s suit of traveling clothes, and bolt out of the magnficent apartment ot the Eccen- tric Club to where Tue Stam man stood among alotof Bashi Bazouks and things, with the dollar between his thumb ani finger. “ab! thanks,” he suid, with a grateful gurgle, “I am saved from a watery grav That's the diffureuco between the way a play looks to an audience out in the open space and toa person back in the wings when the genuine realism of the stage is seen in u luxu- tiauce, which is almost rank, it is so luxuriant. ACT ONE. A good many thousand people in Washing- ton durit this week have seen Kiralty’s “Aroand the World in Eighty Days” at Al- baugh’s from the front, but not so many have joyed it from that mysterious point of view ind the scenes,” and there a representative of Tux Stan wont on Weduesday evoning with Mr. Bolossy Kiralfy, brother to Imre, the other brother, to see what it looked like, “By the way,” said the reporter as they stood waiting for the curtain, “how do you rouounce that frout name of yours, Mr. Kiratty?" “Bolossy,” responded Mr, K., pleasantly. “Oh, yes, 1 see,” continued the reporter, “Honesty is the best Boloyay,” and all the flies from the topof the stage came down and settled un the gigantic intellect of the reporter to Mr. K.’s evident pleasure. Agreat spectacuiur play like this, which to in all its complexity as smoothly as a simple pair of wheels over a con- crete pavement, represents:an immense amount of engineering skill, and what is going on be- hind the beautiful paintings ang costumes and tinsel and fittings and the dramatic .action of the play, which the audicnce sees, bears no ap- parent relation to the maxs of properties, scene ieces, lights, crowding soldiers aud sailors and Todians and rajahs and coryphees and actors and scene shifters und supers and the hundreds of diversified elements which move about on the very verge of all the glitteriug order and symmeiry before the footlights, “Ting!” goes the bell, and as the curtain rises for the first there iva hurrying and ge into the w: by those who have made aii ready, and they stand back and note tho effect, while the stage man- ager bustles about preparing tor the next move aud having those wh? are to appear when theiz time comes ready and prompt to respond, SCENE ONE. In the first scene of *Around the World,” after the prologue, the reporter stood on a Union Pacitic railroad locomotive gazing out upon the crimson sky above the Suez canal, while two feet from his lett was the magnificent steamer Magnolia, vith a charming English tourist (gul, of course,) on deck, leaning over the guard taking toa sturdy scene shifter wreat'ng with a aection of Nile scenery, and on the ether side of the vessel under the truck of the eraft the engineer had a soda fountain tank leaded with steam, which he let off at intervals quite as natural ax life At the proper cue the whisatig bl w, four menon the far side of the stago grabbed a rope hitched to the jib- boom of the steamer and began to puil, the en- ginger stooped down outof sight of the au- dience and ran along up to his neck inthe canal, making the engines puff, the pretty girl told the sad, sad scene- shifter good-by and the next instant the audience greeted the vessel with a Burst of applause, Mr. Fogg. Pussepartout, Mr. O’Pake and the others calmly stepped clean across the deck of the boat from the stage and gracefully passed off on to the dock, for all the world (to the audience) us if they had ridden ® thousand miles on that same steninbout. Then, Sey will remember, she blows her whis- tle agai andria or Georgetown and the travelors disap. pear to bob up again in India, In the mean- time the vessel is headed for the shore and iaid up against the wall on the o. p. side, the steam stomuch is taken out of her to be reloaded for further service in a locomotive and her sections are taken apart to be set up again for the next appearance. ler passengers by this time are hustling around getting into their summer clothes for the Indian climate. which is almost as warm as Chicago was last summer, and a big painted canvas is let down trom the flics like a great quilton @ Monday clothes line, and the audi- ence vees an East indian bungalow. SCENE Two. A jamp from Suez to India in about cighty seconds! Aud stili it takes eighty days to go arcund the world, While the audieuce listens to Mr. Fogg's asteunding offers to the Brahmin chief, by which he breaks the corner ou ele- phants in order to rescue the indian Princess tise Helen Tracy), wiso at the time is loaning Up against the cow-catcher of the locomotive, which will appear later, calmly discussing with the reporter the relation of living clepiiauts to histriouic act (for Miss ‘tracy iv w really tine legitimate actrews), there isa massing of the forces of mourners, of priests, of daucers, of musicians and of singers and a moving and lacing and fitting aud fixing for the Royal Trecrppatie scene. which is ous of the tinest of ita kind ever put on the stage, and nota note of advertisement in the statement either, The beautiful Prine who, by the way, is also a Hindoo widow to be grilled on the same gridiron with ber late lamenved, having been interrupted in her conversation with the re- porter to go on and tell the oid duffer of a high priest thas although she is young aud beauti- iul ani life is very, very sweet to her (as it is to all young and beautiful widows), yet she will die bravely, though under protes:, now comes off with the others turough the back door of the bungalow to the andieuce, but to those be- hind the scenes, stepping over the recumbent mourners, who are lyig vut in the Nocropolts waiting for the scene tu shift and bring tem into view of the house, and once more resumes her chat with the reporter, just as if there t had been such a thing ‘us domestic in: licity and she was not going to be roasted alive in the presence of her frieuds within the next few minutes—by the way, that sentence 18 nearly as long as one of Senator Evarts’, isn’t it? But the Senator is not reporting any bo- hind-the-scenes business for Lue Stax this season. SCENE THREE, Now clustered thick in overy oponing of the wings are Brihmins, priests, Wallahs, D obez Wallabs, soldiers, Hindoos, Hindonts, piayers and supers, each intent upon his duties aud ex- Pectant of hiscuc to go on and become part of what the audience sees, while hither und you the theater employes fy in their impul- sive gctivity, and benind-the-scencs is as tuil of movement and animation as before it was duli aud dead, with all these costumed figures in their dressing rooms or waiting below stairs for their call, SCENE FouR. “Are you ® member of the company or merely local talent?” inquired the reporter of chunk of e boy in the white robes of India, “My eye,” he said,with a chuckle to his part- Ber, ‘get on to his uibs askin’ me that! ‘Inen to the in and goes off up the canal toward Alox- | When the curtain goes up on the the portion the lise sees te nly the of it, for the whole stage is with drops as is filled with (ballet girls) an y are even better looking on close view than at a distance; quiet, good mannered girls, too, with a little sauce possibly, for employ but no smiles for trangers, and when the reporter in rather a masherly manuer congrat- ulated that one of the “three little maids” who is dressed in blue and ances in such graceful and spasmodic contortions, she blushed and was so confused she hadn't a ve, bp word of re- ply to make. but she was evidently pleased, for the reporter knows a good thing when he sees it, This ballet, which is one of the vory prettiest and most unique on the stage from the front, is, from the wings, a very different affair in. deed, and one can scarcely imagine that a side view and a front view could vary so widely, SCENE FIVE. Another feature of interest is the jocomotive and sleeper on the Pacific road in the third act. This piece of rolling stock is in effect a folded screen, and when it is not running on schedule time itis stuck away in a very small space. ‘The locomotive is less compressible, however, but “behind the scenes,” unless a diagram went with it, the novice would scarcely discover its identity, It has the same steam stomach which supplied the Suez canal vessel, and the same four men who hauled that craft through the arid desert also pulled the train across the plains beyond the Rockies, it may not have looked that way to the audi- ence, but it was that way just the same. When the Indians and robbers were creeping around to seize Mr. Fogg and the ladies, Aoud, the rescued widow. was prosenting Nemea, her beautiful sister, to the reporter and the reporter was enjoying himself as if there was not a rob- ber baron within a thousand miles, and when it was time for the fair ones to walk along be- hind the car to the door im front and step right out of it on to the stage and into the hands of their captors with « frozen scream of startled horror, the reporter was right there with them saying farewell with tears in his eyes and only the thickness of a pieco of painted canvas between him and a whole house full of people, who saw only highwaymen, Indiaus and helpless women. Then came the water scene, with the shi, going to pieces. A wild, weird effect, awe 4 the scene shifters produce by pulling the painted water up and down in three sections, called “waters,” first, second and third. num- bering back from the first piece. which looks as if it would splash right over the footlights and pet them out, preparatory to floating off the ig drum and the bass fiddle and driving the entire orchestra to the uso of life preservers, As the waters rise and the ship drops out of sight, the passengers plunge into the seething vortex of wave, duck their heads and walk off the stage with as much ease and dryness as one would walk through a back yard on wash day, wiile those who were drowned outright have probably gone to their dressing room some time previously. The way a stage manager dances around and stirs up things in order to keep the ocean in perfect position and prevent the waves from lying right down on the floor in a state of collapse would remind anybody of an untamed Congressman during a revival i the House. BCENE 81x, The putting on of a spectacle is a very dif- ferent matter from the ordinary play which from the wings is a somewhat uninteresting per- formance, unless the star isa bright woman, who likes to have visitors while she waits, The Kiralfy brothers—Imre aud Bolossy—are the leaders in this country in producing spec- tacles, and they have pat on the finest ones we haye ever seen here. Such a play as ‘Around the World” repre- sents an outlay in the neighborhood of a hun- dred thousand dollars and it costs $5,000 week to keep it going. The costumes vary in value from $20 to $200 each, and such a setting as that in the first scene, the Eccentric Club room, which was done and can only be done in Europe, costs a thousand dollars, Other sets cost from $600 to 31,500 each. In the matter of salaries, coryphees are paid €20, $25 and €39 per weck, while seconds and premiers receive from #50 to $200, und great artists much more, but dancers are not appreciated in America, Mr, Bolossy Kiralty sa: d it does not pay to bring the high-priced ones here. Italy fur- nishes the best ballet girls, but not naturally the best, the American beiug quite the equal of her Italian sister, but without the facilities for education which the Italians have. Ger- man girls are also very superior. The French are less good, becaus: they lack the faculty of application and are too fond of having a good time, and the English girl is the least apt. but when she is good she is very good indeed. The best ballet school is in Milan, but Berlin, Paris, St, Petersburg and London have good schools. Costumes come from Paris for the men, and for the women from London, this the result of competition among the great variety halls of that city, where fine spectacles ure particularly popular, ‘The French excel in costuming men because of the becuty and variety of material they have at hand, THE CLIMAX. A startling fact in connection with the ballet, and Mr. Kiralfy vouches for it, though he did not swear to it, is that many of the girls are under twenty and some of the brightest and best with him are only sixteen, ‘ihia may seem ineredible to those who have been taught to believe that a girl is not eligible to the ballet until she is a grandmother, but it is neverthe- leas true, though as previously remarked Mr. K. does aot furnish an affidavit to go with his statement An elephant is also an adjunct to “Around the World,” but she did not appear this week, wing to her indisposition to go on the stage again, having broken through a trap door when they tried her on it the first day of her arrival. ‘This elephant is of the feminine gender, and when a feminine gender will she will, you may depend on nd when she won't, the way she won't makes a man tremble and cleave to the roof of the house ‘That's the reason you don't seo the elephant this week. CURTAIN, The reporter, having gone “Around the World” 1m twa hours and seventy-five minutes, thauked Mr. Ktrulfy, gave a whoop to overs body for not chuckiug him through a cellar door for being in the way, ennied sweetly at the Princess and her beautiful sister, yearned for the “three little maids,” threw brick at Sassypartoot und respectfuily withdrew, going out of the front door with the rest of the audi- ence as if nothing had happened, — NEW PUBLICATIONS, FOR ONE AND THE WORLD. By M. Berman Epwanp: y, Suthor of “Love and Marriage,” “Next Kin—Wanted.” —_ [International Series, No. 115.) New York: John W. Lovell 7. ENGLISH WRITERS; An Attempt towards a History of English Literature, By HENRY Momuky. Vol.V. The XIV Century. New York: Cassell & Co. Washington: Brentano's. ECHOES FROM THE ORIENT: A Broad Outline of Theovophical Doctrines. By Witttan Q. JUDGE (Uccultus). Reprinted from Kate Fiel 1's Washington. New York: The Path. THE LADY WITH THE CAMELIAS. By ALEX- anpre Dumas, fils. A New Translation. With @ New Preface by the author, Illustrated. New York: Belford Co, THE BISHOP'S BRIDE. By Davip Curistie MURRAY and HENkY HERMANN. (International Serica, No, 89.] New York: John W. Lovell HOW A HUSBAND FORGAVE. By Epoar Faw- ceTT, author of “Divided Lives,” jirium Balestier,” etc., etc. New York: Co. THE WONDER-LIGHT; and Other Tales. True Philosophy for Children. By Mrs. J. CAMPBELL Veurtanck, F.T.8. New York: The Path. BIFTING MATRIMONY, A Novel. By Cara | the smokestack only THREE TRAINS WRECKED. Between Forty and Fifty People Killed in « Railroad Disaster. FATAL ACCIDENT NEAR READIXO—OTORGE B KAERCHER, GEXERAL SOLICITOR OF THE READ- ING COMPANY, DEAD—AN ITALIAN ROS THE OF THE DEAD AND INJURED. One of the most disastrous accidents that has occurred on the Reading railroad for thirty years happened shortly after 6 o'clock Iabt evening haifa mile above Shoemakerville, 15 miles above Reading. The Williamsport ex- press left Reading at 6:05 o'clock crowded, with two Puliman coaches—the Elwin and Gratiano ~and three ordinary coaches filled with pas- sengers. There were besides a mail car, a bag- Rage and an expresa car. The train left ten minutes late. It is known as the Pottsville ex- press and was running at the rate of at least ‘38 to 40 miles an hour. Above Shoe makerville | there is a curve where the railroad is about 18 to 20 feet higher than the Schuylkill river, Here shortly before 6 o'clock a freight train ran into a coal train, throwing several cars in the latter on the opposite track, and before the train hands bad time to go back to warn any approaching train of the danger the Pottsville express came around the curve and ran into the wrecked coal cars on its track. The locomotive, tender, the baggage and mail car and the first Pullman car and the smoker plunged down into the river. Three other ordinary coaches were thrown dowu.the | embankment and badly smashed and splin- tered, but did not reach the water. The Puli- man car, part of which was out of the water, caught fire. but the fire was extinguished by some of the train hands before it made any headway. THE SUMMONS FOR HELP, The wreck occurred in an inaccessible place, and it wassome time before help could be secured and word telegraphed to this city, and darkness coming on added to the difficulty. As soon as possible word was sent to this city for all the physicians who could be spared, and a special train wa nt up with them anda large force of wreckers and laborers, Iu the meantime a large number of people from the country had gathored and were assisting the uninjured passongers to rescue the dead and wounded. The scene wasa most appalling one. The locomotive lay in’the water, a part of the rotruding, while the water of the river was flowing through a num- ber of the wrecked care in which it was cer- tain that many of the passengers had met | death either froma the shock of the accident or by drowning. train as had been spared from the wreck, and with lanterns brought by the farmers, and guided by the cries and groans of the wounded, | the search went on, aud as the passengers were brought out they were laid along the roadbed, | and the physiciaus, with such appliances as they had at hand, attended as best they could to their injuries. THE REMOVAL TO READING, When the special arrived they were carried into the cars and shortly before 10 o'clock two cura Containing some thirty injured and two of the dead, Wm. D. Shomo of Reading and David Angstadt of Mahanoy City, were taken to Reading. ‘Ihe train was run to the corner of 8d and Oley streets, where all the ambu- lances, cabs and omnibuses in the city had been ordered. They were taken from the train and.removed to the Reading Hospital, where a | corps of city physiciaus was awaiting them to further dress their wounds and set their broken limbs. About 10 o'clock the electric light car of the railway company arrived at the scene of the accident, aud by the aid of this the work of rescuing the wounded was carried on with greater success. At11:40 the physicians left the ground, pretty certain that all the wounded had been taken out, but still uninformed as to the number of the killed, which, in the opinion of those who knew the condition of the train, | may reach thirty or forty, nearly all of whom are buried under the wreck or lying in the river with the cars, MANY FIREMEN MISSING, The swoker of the train was very full of pas- sengers and in it were a large number of fire- men from points in the coal regions, who were going home from the firemen’s convention at Chester. Some of these arc dead and many are missing. The conductors of both the Pullman curs escaped, Conductor Cotton of the forward Pullman says that he had eight passengers. and that he has found bui one of them since the accident, This one was found on the tender of the locomo- tive, badly injured. The other seven are miss- ing. Among them was Geo, R. Kaercher, the general solicitor of the Reading Kailway Com- pany, and it is certain thatde is dead. He has probably shared the fate of some thirty or forty wr: bes who will be found tomorrow when the wreckers get to work. The first one of the dead who was found was Wm. D. Shomo of Reading and the next David Angstadt of Mahanoy City. Many of the wounded will probably die, as they are hor- ribly mangled, and many wil] be crippled for life. Part of the scalp of Prof. Merkel of Le- high University was torn off, his arm was broken and it is feared that there may be con- cussion of the brain. At 11 o'clock: Mail Agent Greenawald’s body was taken out aud shortly afterward the bodice of two Mahanoy City firemen, names unknown, AN ITALIAN ROBS THE UNFORTUNATES. An Italian was found engaged in robbing the dead and wounded about 10 o'clock and would have been roughly handled had he not been placed under arrest by County Detective Wunck, who protected him, A special train was runtothe scere of the wreck over the Pennsylvania railroad con- taining @ number of the officials. and others, who rendered all the aid in their power, and the passengers in the train for Pottsville leay- ing Keading at 8:20 were transferred to the Yennsylvauia road and taken to Pottsville. It was due to the presence of mind of M. F. Gillen, the middie brakeman of the train, that the parlor car was not burned. He was thrown into the river by the concussion and when he rose found himself up to his armpits in the water in the parlor car. He saw that the car was burning and before it had gained any bead- way he sueceeded in extinguishing it by throw- ing water on it with his hands, John Riland of Philadelphia, who was badly injured and may probably not recover, was on his way to Pottsville, where he had been sum- moned to the bedside of a dying daughter, and, although he hada broken leg, insisted upon being taken om atall hazards. He is at the Reading Hospital. NO WOMEN FOUND. A singular thing about the wreck is that none of the women, of whom thero were several on the train, have been found and it is supposed that allof them have perished. Those who had lady friends with them were wild with grief and some of the wounded were bewailing the loss of wives and daughters more than their wounds. At 1 o'clock this morning the most conserva- tive estimate placed the number dead at be- tween thirty and forty. The following is a list of the killed and in- jured as far as known: ‘THE KILLED. D. Angstadt, Mahanoy City, head and body crushed, died after being taken from the wreck; G., R. Kaercher, Pottsville, general solicitor of the P. & RR. Co.; E. W. Logan, Shenandoah, baggage master; H. Logan, Pottsv: nduc- tor; John L, Miller, Crossona; Walliam D. Shomo, Reading, badly led; James Tem- plin, Pottsville, fireman; John White, Potte- ville, engineer; George Greenwald, Pottsville, mail agent; Harry Loughlin, Pottsville, con- ductor; two firemen from yy City, names uukuown, ‘THE INJURED, Joseph Ashfield, Mahanoy City, Benjamin With such of the Janterns of the | Sock noni bork, Marcteee’ Bphens. See 20th strect, Philadelphia, leg broken; C. F. Merkel, Cressona, instructor civil euginecring Le! University, arm broken and burt in- terni John McDonald, joge broken; Lawrence Barnes, Philadelphia, head injured and arm broken: John Straub, Sobayi- kil leg cut; John R. Sonen, head crushed and cannot five; John Riland, Philadelphia, leg broken and injured internally: Jotun Barnhart, Shenandoah, bead cut and A TALE OF THE PRAIRIES, Lights and Shadows of a Sunday Scene in Dakota, Great is the land of the Dakotas, lying be- tweet sundown and the laughing waters of Min- Resota, but greater are its wondersome waya, | Five or six years ago while wandering through that prairie realm a Stan man passed a quiet Sunday at an inland town, The day was one of thore on which all nature seems to say this is | the Sabtath. The sun shone with « sacred light, the dewy landscape sparkled with a di- Vine radiance, the birds joined in the chorus of the spheres, while the lowing of the berds and bleating of the flocks scemed mellowed, as if even the brutes were touched by the hallowed influence of the day. It was a time peculiarly fitted for the spirits of the dead tobe borne buoy- | antly away to the land of the redeemed; and, | accordingly, the spirit of « young man had taken its fight, but the body was left for hu- | mar disposal, The morning was yet fresh | when the country procession was seen like a caravan of the desert moving slowly along the winding prairie road, ignorant of metes and bounds, toward Jthe drowsy village. The friends of the défeased, caer to pay hima parting courtesy, had drafted mto service such Vehicles as they possessed, and the gathering none the less carnest id sincere if carte instead of cushioned carriages bore them to the village church and again took up the jour- ney to the new-made grave, THE MOURNERR, Some of the mourners —and none but mourn- ers gathered there—were drawn by horned and cloven-footed steeds, and one conveyance was a wagon mounted with a hay-rick, on which a score of serious people eat cushioned 4 few torkfuls of sun-cured prairie grass, t the most noticeable and painful feature of the proccssion was the lumber wagon hearse containing the plain pine coffin, astride of which the driver sat unmoved and immov- able as if determined that whatever became of the departed spirit its deserted abode | Should be held in the rural chureh yard for rent to lesser worms than man. He clu eagerly to the earthly spoils, unmindfal of the fact that he was out of keeping with his surroundings, and at last stolidly beheid the tenautiess handiwork of God cousigned to the dust from which iteame. There was no pro- {fessional weeping and no ect program for the mourners, They sobbed in solos or broke forth in asymphony of emotion as, under changing fecling, the heart leaped forth and reco’ WHO ME Wan. The deceased had come from his paternal roof near the Baltic sea only a few yeare before, but so quick is the transformation here that he seemed altogether an American, I was told. He bad taken a homestead under the stars and stripes, and his sister, a pretty Danish girl, bad joined him. Her loncliness and sub- Tow made Ler more than usually inter- esting and attractiv As the only relative of her brother, she succeeded to his estate and kept open the little prairie bome. In six nonths she kuew cnougit English to conjugate the verb “to Jove,” and within a year she was ried to a young school teacher, who, be- coming enamored of her beauty, succeeded in winniug her affections. Sorrow for the dead was traustormed into iove for the living—erape | gave way to flowers and clouds to sunshine, tne young husband was the next year elected to the legislature, in which he has since taken an active and prominent part, and stands now in the line of political promotion. It is more than Likely that ere many years pass by he will sentative of his girl who wept grave in x for- zn land and would not be comforted will be- come a bright particular star in the social firmament of that nation’s capital, Yes, great are the Dokotas, but greater still the inspire- tion and possibilities of our country. KEPT SILENT THIRTY YEARS. A Georgia Waman Religiously Keeps « Vow Made to Her Husband. The death of Mrs, Susau E. Merrifield, which occurred here yesterday, says a special from Americus, Ga., tothe Philadelphia Times, te- vives intcrest in one of the most peculiar cases ever known of a vow of silence made and kept thirty years. In 1860 Mri. Merrifield, who, it is said, was a little womau of a peculiarly bright and cheery disposition, was telling her bus- band of some occurrence, when he requested her in a very euriy manner to be silent, adding that the sound of her voice was hateful to him, It seems that Mr, Merrifield, while a good husband in ever y other way, was in the babitof venting his displeasure when aronsed by out- side matters by ill humor with his wite, whose good nature usually passed his testiness by, but on this occasion she replied that, as it was hateful to him, he should never hear her voice again, And he never did, nor did any other erson ever hear it, for,m spite of her hus- nd’s remorse and remonstrances from friends and relatives, Mrs. Merrifield kept her tongue, though she continued to act the part of a good wite and mother, fulfilling ev lously. She even bore three husband after this vow w: munication was absolute! necessary | those about her she used a site, but reduced « | language of sigus to such perfection in govern- ing her household and children that it was but seldom that this slate was resorted to, It was thought that when her husband died she would resume the use of her epeech, but while she sat by his dying bed, devoted and loving to the last, in answer to his supplications that she speak buta word to him, she wrote on the slate with all the evidences of grief: “Leannot, Icannot! God forgive and help me. Icannot!” But whether was that she found it impossible to break her will and her vow, or that long disuse bad effected her organs so that she really could not use them, could not be arrived at, but her family inclined to the latter behef, for it is said that while she was on her own deathbed she mi distinct but ineffectual efforts to speak to her chiidren, dying with the seal of silence unremoved from her lips. ee Foreign Notes of Interest. France has ontered into a contract to supply the Russian government with an enormous number of rifles. According to the terms of the contract 500,000 of these weapons will be delivered within eighteen months, A fire broke out Thursday in the house No, Friedrich strasse, Berlin, occu; e wt eas and fourteer wealthy merchant named Frich Fie .wo daughters aged sixteen years, their governess and a maid were burned to death. When found their bodies were dis- figured beyond recognition, Banker Syngros has started from Athens for Salonica to rebuild public institutions at his own expense. ‘The Vienua Fremdenbdlatt bas a scathing arti- cie on American egotism iu desiring to exclude European products while preserving European markets, nent bore that name, said Mr. Wise, that ope nent would not be in the field. “Had his name been Smith, id Mr. Wise in his peroration, “he would have gone to his grave unknown, a rr fe wai like to fs Mr. Wise Oe G. com: ‘And How niuch por week do you gel? Fi “An OW muc! ti hundred dollars?” gies i ig t tis made from a photograph of it. This one is very handsomely finished and re- tains a deep brouze tone that is very rich aud — shows her ay | used costlier metal im the 8 of yore when they were makia; than they aid. during the war. pei CameRa, author ot “Soclety Rapids.” Pbila- delphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers, CONFESSIONS OF A WOMAN. By Mazgt Cor Lins, [International Series, No, 111.) New York: John W. Lovell Co. INK AND THANK. A Tale, Samu. W. as Philadelphia: The somish Publica- tion Society of America, Mo] Rew Yorks THE VICOMTE’S BRIDE. IN THERIDING SCHOOL: Chats with Esmerelis. STEPHENSON a battery of huge mortars on Jeffers Square, great round fellows that fire six-inch shells and make a thunder of a re; It was the guns of this type that did so much damage to the confederate forts and fleet duriug the ippi blockade by ‘Admiral Parte * Lay og eT No. igh several tous and are made jonn W. Lovell Co, By Tuxo, Buowns. Boston: D Lothrop & Co. “VENGEANCE IS MINE.” Dawre, Dax. Here “grave yard” proper, rn yet it is Rardly {gr to call the «smates corpses, for they fre quite as good today as they were when thoy were made, all but que or two of them.