Evening Star Newspaper, December 27, 1890, Page 10

10 MORE ABOUT LIMA. Some Other Sights About the Old Peruvian Capital. Its NATIONAL CONGRESS. A Visit to the Senate Chamber and the House ef Representatives — Vicissitudes of St. Mark’s—Creditable Beneficent Institutions— Cows Kept on the Koof—Its Newspapers. ‘From the Star's Traveling Commissioner. Lima, Pane, 1890. IRST LET US LOOK IN upon the Peruvian senate chamber and hail of congress. The former, as before mentioned, is the old council room of the inquisition, aud in the very place where the presiding officer sits, an inoffensive- looking little gentleman with a claw-hammer coat and hair parted in the middle, the stern, biack-gowned inquisitors used to pronounce their awful sentences upon trembling victims. ‘To reach the 300-year-old building we cross the Plaza de Bolivar, in which many “heretics” (which name included all who were at variance with the reigning powers, temporal as well as spiritual) were burned to death and where thousands of merely suspected men and women have been publicly scourged. Most of these deeds of darkness, however, occurred before the beginning of the present century, for the inquisition was abolished in this country about 1812. This plaza contains a notable statue, one of the two or three that the Chilian army left to Lima out of the many fine works of art that once adorned it, representing Simon Bolivar, the liberator, seated on a plunging steed in an impossible attitude. something like the eques- trian statue of Gen. Jackson in the United States capital. ‘THE PERUVIAN CONGRESS. The national congress holds its eessions in the long, narrow and somewhat dim and dingy apartment that for three centuries was chapel of St. Mark's University, the very oldest temple of learning in the western world, which the “liberal” government confiscated from the church in 1869. Spectators are ned in a very narrow gallery. high up above Ric heads of the representatives, and the latter are ranged. like 0 many tolerably well-behaved | school boys, ail around three walls of the room, in two rows of chairs without desks. Near the center of the fourth side is placed a long table. At one end of it sits the presiding officer and ‘at the other a call cross ia fixed, upon which the congressmen are required to swear that they will support the constitution. Between the crucifix and “senor presidente” are a number of clerks and reporters, and among them a few are scribbling away in shorthand as industri- eusly as do their cousins in Washington. Whenever fo h is to be made the orator mounts a little platform which has a sort of pulpit desk upon it, but ordinary debates are participated in by members from their re- spective chairs, who seldom take the trouble to rise while speaking. AN ANCIENT COLLEGE. ‘The most interesting things about this place pertain to the far-away past. One remembers that this college was founded sixty-nine years before the Puritan fathers sought our northern shores. The first steps toward it were made by the authorities of Lima as early as 1550, when they dispatched Tray Thomas de Saint Martin (who afterward became the Bishop of Chu- quisaca), in company with Pedro de la Gasca, one of the firs governors of Peru, over toSpain | to apply for the erection of a clerical temple of learning in the new country. ‘The Emperor Charles V and his wise mother, Juana, not only granted the desired decree, but conceded to the University which they ordered to be estab- at Lima all the prerogatives enjoyed by that of Salamanca. Pope Pius V confirmed its erection by an especial bull, and the learned Dr. par de Meuesis became its first rector. Still the university, so nobly begun, was with- outs suitable building or evena site for its foundation, uatil the year 1574, when a piece of ground was purchased for it near the parish eburch of San Marcelo, and hence the college derived its name, “San Marcus.” The site, however, was found to be inconveniently dis- tant from the center of the city, so it was sold, another purchased near the palace of the In- wuisition and the present building completed pone ‘three hundred and fourteen years ago. TRE FIRST FULL-FLEDGED D.D. It consists of a great court yard surrounded by cloisters, on the walls of which queer fres- oes are painted, supposed to represent the arts ‘and sciences. Doors lead from the cloisters fate the various lecture rooms and into the great hall of the university, where still hang the portraits of the most learned men of Peru's earlier days. The first full-tledged “D.D.” who was graduated bere was Don Domingo de San asi attained great local celebrity, whose ugly coun- tenance may still be seen in the great hall. The first graduate born in Peru was Don Juan de Balboa, professor of the Quichua language and canon of the Lima Cathedral. The cultivation of literature during the time of the viceroys, though confined by a jealous Priesthood within the narrowest possible mits, made considerable pr: ss and was advanced by several men of learning and ability, sprung from the noblest families of Spain. Perhaps the most scholarly of all the vice-kings was Senor Don Antonio de Mendoza, a grandson of the Marquis de Santillana, the renowned poet and warrior of the court of Jobn II, who claimed the Cid as the founder of his family. But Don Antonio died in 1551, after a very brief nt of his power, and before he had much time todo more than lend his mighty influence toward the establisument of this uni- versity. Since Peru's independence from — and the general emancipation of the minds of ker people, poetry, painting and music have re- ceived great sttention from the imaginative but somewhat frivolous youth of the country. But the truth is that the modern society of Lima is wo dissipated and artificial to afford very prom- ising soil for tae growth of extraordinary genius in auy direction. CREDITABLE BENEFICENT INSTITUTIONS. The beneficent institutions of Lima, though net numerous, are certainly very creditable. Prominent among them is the “Sociedad de Beneficencia,” which was established in the Year 1825 and has the general guardianship and supervision of all the public charities. It also has the direction of the bull ring. the cock pit and the lottery, from which popular amuse- ments it derives a considerable share of its revenues. Private individuals frequently sub- seribe to it generous sums: matrons occasion- ally get up a swell “charity ball.” much as the same thing is managed in the United States and other parts of the world: and sometimes the belles and beaux of the city give a grand con- cert for its beuefit, principally with the music of mandolins and guitars, in which they excel. Here comes one of the sights of Lima, a fe~ male milk peddler, who sits astride her mule, with a bare foot and a tin can dangling on each tide of the saddle. These “milk men” in petti- coats neither toot a horn nor ring a bell as do ‘their northern brothers: but riding from house to house, they stop at the door of each customer and give a peculiar shrill little scream, which the servants instantly recognize. The quart Measure of this one is a gourd, just as it grew, except that a hole had been cut in one side and the seeds scraped out: but whether nature made it the exact size to contain what the law recog- Rizes as a quart. we need not trouble ourselves to inguire, if the customers do not. Indeed, form of measurement is not so much in here for liquids as by the gourdful, or more commonly by the bottleful. Manu- factured tin ware is dear, and the people are ¥ poor, but everybody drinks wine, consequently | Kinas bottles, such as ordinarily contain claret, Sud hold perhaps three pints or thereabouts, abound. dealers have @ fixed price on milks and other fluids for the “bottlefal” and the “gourdful” who would be puzzled to know What it ought to bring by the quart or pint. WHERE COWS ARE KEPT. You would hardly be able to guess where some of the cowsare kept that furnish the milk of the city—not all of them, but a few. Nowhere cise than on the tops of suburban houses! As the roofs are perfectly flat the common people utilize them for all manner of Pirbowee notably for henneries, tye, dog gardens (where flowers and vegetables = in boxes), laundries and even barn yards. Fecent writer on this «: cases a Lima cow root of her owne taken up when a calf and brought down at the sod of ber Hite ae freah beef. Tn the im “_ on alfalfa, tropical clover an slope from the kitchen. Chicken coope are still more common on the roofs of dwellings, and in the thickly populated portions of the town Your neighbors’ yg you at daylight one With reminders of St. 4 SPACIOUS MARKET. Going to the central market we find it is as spacious and convenient as any in New York or sny other northern city. The squares of Lima are very large and this market sovers a whole one, = part of the old convent of Con- Dominican, who afterward | by | me go the government and the nuns ejected in the year 1851, at the imminent risk of a revolution. The market house proj er _—— = as great open cou! e an tera pers and is pan nuneae = ‘ved pathwovs radiating from s big foun tn the Genter. "his array ment formesseries of small courte, and eacl appropriat juote. ‘The principal deniers uve Stalls, but the mase of venders! who are women of lowest degree, squat all day upon the pave- of the the ment at the edge oF on yand in the open spaces, with thar frait or ah or vegetables or whatever it may be; heeped up in flat baskets, or on mats fore them, in small piles called montones. Each monton has a fixed price, which never varies, whatever the fluctuations of the marke! but the rise and fall of the commodity is mark by the size of the monton, a little more or as the caee may be, for the same amount money. ‘As do their confreres in other parts of the world, they chatter like magpies with one another and with their customers, perhaps nursing their babies the while or verformiag other less pleasing maternal duties. The chil- dren of the market, begotten, born and reared on the spot, begin to tumble and sprawl about in a very promiscnons manner as soon as they have gained sufficient strength, and in d course of time take to the vocation of their parente as naturally as ducks to water. Many of these market people «pend their lives here and know no other home, eating and sleeping on the ground. FOUR DAILY PAPERS. There are four daily papers published in Lima, besides several periodicals devoted to | society matters and general literature. Most | prominent among the latter is a finely illus- | trated and well-conducted weekly, called “El | Pern tllustrado,” owned and prblished by Mr. | Peter Bacigalupi, who is by all odds the most enterprising North American it has ever been my fortune tomeet. As he is 8 very prominent character in Lima, and his career illustrates what foreign brains and energy may accomplish among these slow-going Peruvians, I went one day to interview him. So busy a man as Mr. Bacigalupi, flying here, there, everywhere, ttending to his dozens of “irons” that are all in the fire at once, it is no easy matter to find him, or when found to pin him down to con- versation. But perseverance accomplished it, and here is the result: He was born in New York city in 1855, and consequently is now thirty-five years old. Though he never went toschool after the age of thirteen he speaks French, Spanish, German, Italian and English equally well. When thirteen years old he was employed by the New York Equitable Life Insurance Company in some humble capacity, where he remained six years. Then he drifted to California and at the | age of twenty-two married a young lady in Oak- |land. Less than a year later, after a breezy tiff with his mothe: law, he left in haste and sailed for South America. Landing at | Callao early in April, 1878, he had exactly $4 | left in his pocket, and that was stolen before | night. He found employment immediatel, | and before many months became the confi- | dential clerk of Mr. E. D. Adams, a prominent | merchant of Lima, formerly from the United | States. Mr. Adams was so accommodating as to die soon afterward, leaving Mr. Bacigalupi in charge of the business, and within the year he married his late employer's widow, a Peru- vian lady who then had five children. They now have a beautiful home, and the number of olive branches has increased to nine. A GREAT CONGLOMERATION OF Goone. In 188¢ the old place of business was destroyed by fire, but nowise disheartened Mr. Bacigalupi set up again in a better location and since then the amount of his sales has been something phenomenal. His goods are mostly from the United States and comprise the great- est conglomeration ever collected under one roof. For instance, he has a large stock of | books aud stationery, drugs, soaps, lamps, | clocks, silver ware, jewclry, sewing machines, typewriters, photographic ‘outfits, uitur | implements: in short, almost everything imag- | inable except dress goods. Sandwiched among | these are Peruvian curios, from mummies to ancient pots and idols. Besides his enormous | trade as a forwarding and commission mer- | chant, whose ramifications extend, in some shape or other, to almost every part of South | America, the’ United States and Europe, [he is ‘himself a photographer of no mean ability and his agents are everywhere making those scenic views | that travelers delight to purchase. He bas long had the Peruvian agency of the Domestic Sew- ing Machine Company and commenced busi- | ness the first day by selling 150 machines to the president of the republic, who distributed them among the poor widows of soldiers who fell during the last war. Since then he has sold thousands of machines. He is also agent for | the Remington typewriter and has sold a good many of them in Lima. He introduced the first telephones into Pern and they are now in | general use. He also introduced the first ama- | teur photographic outfits, and in his place one | may buy the kodak, hawkeye, Scovi almost any other. ‘MB. BACIGALUPI'S ENTERPRISE. During the late war Mr. Bacigalupi purchased two vessels, one of American make called “Young America,” the other English named “Union,” and fitted them up as men-of-war. Through their agency and by the help of the ‘SMonitor” he managed to make another for- tune in coal and pickled Last year he | built an opera house on the spot where the old | theater was burned. It is capable of seating 2,000 persons and it is one of the neatest, dain- tiest and most complete little theaters on the | continent. Its builder loves to boast that he put it up in sixty days, employing seventy-five workmen, and personally superintending the use of everyinchof 150,000 feet of lamber. Mr. Back. galupi’s main business, however, the others be- ing mere outgrowths and side issues, is that of a printer and lithographer. In his 'establish- | ment ten Gordon presses, two large — | presses and a lithographic’ press, all moved by the only gas in Lit kept coustantly | going. ‘Sixty-five men and boys are employed in the printing department (six of them being | Americans from San Francisco) and Mr. | Bacigalupi is expert in every detail of the busi- ness, from type setting to lithographing. His Pera Illustrado haa been a great hit, being the only periodical of the kind in South America. Itisa thirty-six Pee aper, something the size and shape of Judge. but not at all inclined to the comic. It is profusely and well illus- | trated, published every Saturday, and to levery part of Peru, even to the village of | Mayo-Dauba, to reach which requires a thirty days’ journey on mule back. CHANCES IN PERU. ‘To conclude, in Mr. Bacigalupi’s own words: “In my office may be found all the newspapers published in South America, and many from | the United States and Europe. Strangers are | welcome to look at them whenever they like, | and my doors are always open to | residents or tourists, whether they come for business or ‘to kill time,’ and we are glad to poner respecting the country and its resources. consider Peru a very promising field for ergetic Americans, and would advise any with small capital to invest it somewhere in this con- | tinent. Of course some capital is necessary to | establish any business anywhere, but a little |goes much farther here than in the over- crowded United States.” I may add that Mr. Bacigalupi looks much ‘than an Anglo- more like the typical Spaniard than an Saxon, being rather small and very dark, with intensely black eyes, set in #0 face that it is no wonder the wealthy widow married hitn off-hand. NEWSPAPERS AT TEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT. The other newspapers of Lima are edited with considerable ability and contain tele- graphic news from all parts of the world, be- sides cicice selections and the effusions in rose and poetry of local lit 5 | Wretr editorshaves gramdions end Soaery civie, in wide if not ludicrous contrast to the tere, Jain-spoken ways of American Journalism. jost of the papers make their first appearance upon the streets about 10 o'clock at night and newsboys with all furnish them with any information in our | 20! the vigor of New York morning carriers deliver the same edition regular subscribers. Asan index to the state of trade, it may be mentioned that the news- papers have about two pages of advertisements one of reading matter; but I am told that the rates are very low and the merchants re- quire editors “to trade out” the amounts. Faxziz B. Wamp. —_——_<o___— Big Profits on Small Capital. From the New York Weekly. ‘Tramp (to handsomely dreesed lady on the ‘avenue)—‘Please, mum, my family is starvin’, an’ I'l have ter sell my wheelbarrer to buy bread. It’s just around the corner, mum. Would ye like ter buy it?” Lady—‘“Mercy! No. What would I do with awheelbarrow? I live ina flat, my good man. Bat I will help you . Here's a dollar.” Tramp (to = t's six dollars P've made today tryin’ to sell « shesibarree to kind wl ves in flats, an’ "t got no Theelbarrer nuther.” os their names are yelled by the ye Late in the to ‘Where Does She Do Her Piane Practice? ‘From the New York Weekly. Mr. Newwed—“My dear, I wish you'd tell that cook we don’t like our beefsteak burned and don't want our roasts raw.” Mrs. Newwed—“Tell her? Howean I? She over eee ate Sea an8 tho weed THE EVENING STAR: LIFE IN FAIR SAMOA. A Group of Lovely Islands in the Far | sor" &™ South Pacific, RUINED BY THE GERMANS. How Cheating Europeans Have Stolen the Islands From the Natives—Samoa as Viewed by the Visitor—The Way the Natives Live— A Paradise of the Ocean. Ox UPON A TIME a great god was fish- ing in the sea and his hook caught ins rock. He pulled so hard to get it loose that he brought up rock and all to the surface, and in this way was formed the group of islands in the Pacific known as Samos. When this had happened the god sent down his daughter, the eurlew, which dropped upon the new-made land a seed that grew intoa vine. The leaves of the vine shriveled, fell off and turned into maggots, and the maggots became men and women. Thus it wasthat Samoa was origin- ally populated. “At all events that isthe tradition in which the natives of Samoa believe,” said Ensign Safford of the navy, who has spent a long time in the country, toa writer for THE Star. “They call the white people ‘sky breakers,’ be- cause they believe that the heavens shut down over the earth at the horizon, and therefore it seemed to them that the pale-faced people must have burst through the wall of om, yond in order to reach the islands. VIRTUOUS BAMOAN WOMEN. “It is true, as has often been said, that the Samoans hare no word for female virtue, but that is simply because they do not possess terms for things abstract. The womer of the islands are more chaste than those of any other race in the world. One reason for this is that from time immemorial the most tremendous penalty has been dealt ont for any lapse in thia Fogard. In the old days a girl found guilty was promptly killed, usually with a war club in the hands of her own father. Even now the punishment is utter disgrace. The few Snmoan. ‘women who are not altogether respectable are every one of them deserted wives of foreigners, who have married them by native rites and de- serted them afterward. “Though 80 entirely virtuous the women of Samoa have little modesty in the sense in which the quality is understood among civil- ized people. Their native costume is simply a tticoat of bark cloth, but remote from the e Vi it does not embarrass them much apparently to be seen without even this gar- ment, simply because they are free from any imaginings of impropriety in the matter. The men wear similar short petticoats, but under the influence of the missionaries they have to some extent adopted shirts also, while the females in the towns very generally appear in small ponchos, after the Mexican fashion, with a slit in the middle to put the head through. A SUGGESTIVE DANCE. “The missionaries have done their best to do away withacertain highly improper national dance of the Samoans, called the muli-pa’i-pa’i, performed always by girls. It is exceedingly suggestive in its nature, and those who partici- pate in it divest themselves of all their cloth- ing incidentally. But the muli-pa’i-pa’i ie still danced on the siy. A Samoan and his wife will say to you: ‘We missionary people; no have muli-pa'i-pa’i. But after a little we go to bed, and then our daughters will dance the muli- pa’i-pa’i for you.’ “When you arrive in a harber of the Samoan group your ship is at once surrounded by scores of native canoes, the occupants of whicl make earnest offers of friendship. The com- mon expression, whether the person making the appeal of amity is aman or a woman, is, ‘You my flen me; me my flen you!” If you as- sent to one of these offers an exchange of pres- ents is in order between yourself and your new friend. Every stranger is supposed to have one such friend only among the natives, though he may be agreeably acquainted with any num- ber in addition. He must give to this friend many presents from time to time—such things in particular as tobacco. needles, thread, scissor: knives, cotton stuffs, hatchets, bright-colore handkerchiefs and ‘perfumery, of which last the islanders are extremely fond. In return for gifts so bestowed you roceive bark cloth, mats pandanus leaves, shaggy mats of the fiber of a nettle-like plant, fans, of cocoanut leaves, war clubs of iron wood, spears and Sea shells, Also your friend eps you supplied during your stay with fruit and other frech food. But you must on no-nes count give the smallest article to any one but this friend, because it will be bitterly resented. Upon learning of the gift your friend will say: ‘Bad you! You give presents to other girl. She no your friend, she Mr. Smithy's friend.’ VALUABLE MATS. “Among all the presents you get in this way none has much value except the fine mats, which are worth on the islands from #20 to $100 according, to their age. The older the mat the more it is worth, because of the rever- ence which the natives have for anything that is ancient and for their ancestors. When these mats are torn, they are carefully mended, an: very often one that is covered with patches will sell for the highest price. The history of each mat is carefully recorded. It takes two women sometimes as much as two years to make a single mat six feet square. Pandanus leaves are split for the purpose and cured by soaking in salt water and drying in the sun. Frequently these braided matsare ornamented with bordersof red feathers from the breast of the Fijian parroquet, imported to Samoa in great nuntbers, kept alive in cages, fed on fruit and plucked regu- larly twice a year. In all this interchange of presents the object of the native is to get as much as possible and to give as little in return. ‘The islander is very shrewd. It is his custom nowadays, having entertained strangers at his | house with dances, to finally place a wooden bowl or some such receptacle in the middle of the floor and throw a silver dollar into it, after which each guest is expected to do likewise. SAMOAN HOUSES. “The Samoan house may be compared in shape to a big beehive, raised on posts five feet high. Of beautiful wicker work the bee- hive is composed with a thatch of sugar cane leaves. The foor is of loose, clean gravel, raised about a foot above the ground. There are no walls to the dwellings, but it may be inclosed at night or in bad weather by a sort of Venetian blinds made of cocoanut leaves. On each side of the tall, strong center posts is a Je for making fire in lined with stones and baked earth. The house is allone room, but is usually separated into compartments at night by lowering curtains of bark cloth from the roof. This isdone not so much for mo- tives of modesty as to keep out the mosquitoes. HOW GUESTS ARE TREATED. “When you enter one of these native huts a clean mat is offered you to sit down upon and you are given a fresh cocoanut. Should dinner be anout to be served you will be invited to the family repast and will find a bill of fare possi- bly something like this: Fish baked whole, without being ck or scaled, comes first, and next ‘afato,” which is the larva of a beetle found in decayed wood and very much prized for the table. “In addition you will partake of fresh-water prawns, bread fruit, yams and dishes composed of the tender leaves of the taro and the juice expressed from the meat of the cocoanut with taro root. All the cooking is done in « small house & short sistance from the welling. ole is made in mand, in which stones are heated with fie. Subse. quently the ‘fire is raked out and the food put into the hole, wrapped in leaves and covered over with hot stones and leaves. Boiling is unknown to the Samoans. They make fire by rubbing s pointed stick in @ groove of soft “Ata certain time each year the sea about the islands swarms with a peculiar marine worm, called the ‘palolo,’ of which the natives are ex- ox gag fond. The creatures mble ver- in appearance. The gathering of the is one of the national s and whei coe the natives go about inc is 4 SE: two days the worms go away. The falanders send them about na" gifts wo that friends, in leaves, for complimentary tidbits. ‘collect much edible seaweed upon reefs and catch the smaller fish by ing their hands into holes in the rocks. ree He. > | royalty. | grandfather all liv 14 degrees jaator and have a luxuriant Vegetation, with high mountains and a climate of the most equable character, varying between and 80 de; Fahrenheit all the year around. Such a thing ass poor man or @ Tich one is unknown there, social existence being almost on a basis of communism. The men do all the cooking, cultivate taro and yams, build canoes, make war clubs and spears and fish at sea for bonito and sharks. Sharks are con- sidered a delicacy in Samoa and the natives capture them by rattling half cocoanut shells strung upon sticks in the water to attract the prey. When ashark is thus seduced within proper distance a piece of dead fish on the end ofa line is thrown to him and drawn slowly to- ward the boat to fetch the victim on. en the latter gets alongside he is hit in the head with a war club and thus dispatched. THE WORK OF THE WOMEN. “The women of Samoa help fish on the reefs, make bark cloth and mats, assist in weeding the taro patches and help make thatch for the houses. Practically all of the natives can read and write, thanks to the missionaries, In fact the percentage of literacy is greater than in any other country. Speaking of war clubs reminds me to say that the Samoans are a nation of warriors. Village is continually fighting against village, and there is usually a government and an opposition, so that a year rarely goes by without awar. Nevertheless the -ople will never fight on Sunday. They have learned from the missionaries to regard that y a8 ‘saa’ or sacred, though their Sunday is — Saturday, because they take the Australian Sunday. Anciently the Samoans were known to the inhabitants of other groups as the ‘Godless Samoans,’ because they wor- shiped no images, having merely some con- ception of the Deity in the abstract and re- garding certain objects, places and days as ‘saa.’ When the mixsionaries came they taught the natives that one day in each week was ‘saa,” and the people have since become such Sabat- tarians that a vessel coming in on their Sunday cannot get any food or other supplies, Some of the missionaries have not hesitated to take advantage of the islanders, selling to them the clothes and medicines sent out free by the mis- i i ‘On one occasion in the = was necessary to build a stone wall for a little church, and certain missionaries made mortar for the wall by burning coral for lime and mixing it with sand, &c. With this a rt of the wall was constructed the first day, ut the natives, laying their hands upon the mortar where it was spread, said: ‘It is soft!” ‘We will spread these cloths over the wall,’ re- plied a missionary, ‘tomorrow I will remove the the cloths, and lo! this shall be rock. More wonderful things than these can be done by those who follow the Lord!’ ALL THE BEST LAND OWNED BY GERMANS. “Nearly all of the best land in Samos is owned by the Germans. One plantation, be- longing to the German Commercial and Planta- tion Company, of which Bismarck is a large stockholder, alone contains 17,000 acres. At- tempts have been made to cultivate on this lantation cotton, spices and fruits, but failure a8 resulted because of the distance of markets. ‘The cotton could not compete with Indian cot- ton and the fruits could not reach Australia in as good condition as did the same fruits from the Tonga and other groups nearer to Australia. Because the Samoans cannot be made to work the German plantations are tilled by black, woolly headed natives of the Solomon and Gil- bert Groups far away. ‘These blacks aro en- ticed by promises on board of the German ves- sels and conveyed to Samoa, where they are practically slaves, being treated very severcly and fed upon bread fruit. which grows without care, so that their subsistence costa almost nothing. They are bound by contract to re- main from three to five years, at the end of which time each man is given a shot gun, some munition, a piece of bright cloth and a few other tries. He is then taken back to kis na- tive island, where these gifts serve to induce others of his trise to take German service in Samoa. GERMANS CAUSED THE RECENT TROUBLES. “It was the German Commercial and Planta- tion Company that occasioned all the recent troubles in Samoa, Its enterprise was not proving ® financial success and the overseers of the plantations it owns made excuse for this yy saying that the natives were stealing their feuit. ‘This was an absurd falsehood, though possibly » few bananasmay have been pilfered. ut the Germans took this excuse to levy a fine upon the natives and told the king, Malictoa, that he must pay 000 on a certain day. Malietoa with great difficulty raised the sum and was ready to pay it over before the day wet, but the Germans seized him nevertheless and carried him off in irons to the coast of Afric lacing in his stead a tool of theirs calle ‘Sooners. The Samoans would not recognize Tamasese and many of them rallied around the high chief Mataafa, who took the name of Malietoa and marched ‘against Tam- asese. Then followed the recent war, which ended by a tripartite agreement between Ger- many, England and the United States. The original Malietoa was brought back from | Africa and offered the throne again, but he re- fused, having had enough of the troubles of PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SAMOANS. “The condition of the Samoans is now a little better than it was, though their situation is still unfortunate. All their best tillable land has been secured by the Germans, whose method of acquiring it is usually as follows: A German goes toa chief and offers hima gun or other desirable article in exchange for the chief's signature to a mortgage on his land. ‘The chief does not know what mortguge is, and 60 he signs willingly, not understanding the matter at all, but delighted to get the gun. of three years, when the mortgage falls due, the Ge n forecloses it. He goes to the chief and says: ‘All this land here is mine; you must get off i ‘My it. this is my land,’ replies the chief. father and my grandfather and my great- here and owned this land.’ ‘Well, it is mine now,’ rejoins the German, ‘You have signed it over to me and you must get oif it” “Then the poor chief cries and says that he does not understand it at all. He goes to the British consul or to the United States consul, but they cannot help him. His land is the Ger- man’s now. In this way many of these unhappy natives have been tricked into signing away all the possessions of their families, often without having any legal right to so sign. And thus the Germans have got possession of the fair Samoan group by fraud and cunning.” age THISTLE AND SHAMROCK. How the Two Came to Be Adopted as Na- tional Emblems, From the Philadelphia Times. ‘The legend that caused the adoption of the thistle as the national emblem of Scotland re- minds one of the Noman tradition about the cackling of the geese that saved Rome when the worn-out sentry slept on watch. The goose was thereafter considered sacred. With the thistle the legend runs as follows: Many hundred years ago the Danes, or Norse- men, made war upon the Scots and invaded their country. The Danes came upon the Scots under cover of night and halted while their spies were trying to find the undefended points in their opponents’ camp. But one of The spies chanced to utep ona thistle with his bare foot as he was creeping along noiselesaly in the dark and hecried out aloud with pain. His cry awoke the soldiers of the Scotch army. They sprang to their arms and drove back the Danes with great loss, and so saved Scotland. From that time the thistle has been the na- tional flower of Scotland. ‘The earliest mention of the thistle as the na- tional badge of Scotland is in the inventory of James TIL. Thistles occur on the coins of Janes IV, Mary, James V and VI, and on thore of James VI they are for the first time accom- panied by the motto “Nemo me impune la- cestet.” “A collar of thistles appear as early as 1539 on the gold bonnet piece of James V. The shamrock, the national emblem of Ire- Jand, ia a leaf "with three leaflets or « plant having such leaves, sometimes sup} be the wood sorrel, but more generally believed ta, be some species of clover. It is not improba- ble that the name has a sort of general refer- ence to the trifolate plants. It is said to have been first assumed as the badge of Ireland from the circumstance that St. Patrick made use of s by land or sea, where they will eventually e whole human family rstition in their composition. From the the rule with man to we an element | the old THF LAND OF ACADIA. ‘The Garden Spot Which Was Laid Waste by the English. ‘THE SIMPLE-MINDED PEOPLE WHO WERE DRAGGED FROM THEIR HOMES—PAMILIES AND FRIENDS WERE SEPARATED—THE 84D STORY OF LOXG- FRLLOW'S EVANGELINE. Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. Gnaxp Par, N. 8, Deo. 14. (T'S 18 THE SPOT where one October morning, 150 years ago, the English gov- ernment committed the crime of the eighteenth centary—a plot which for villainous concep- tion and cold-blooded treschery and cruelty has scarce a parallel in history. Nova Scotia was discovered by Cabot in 1497, only seven years after Columbus discovered the West In- dia islands. The first settlement made was at Port Royal, now Annapolis, by a Frenchman named De Monts, in 1608, fourteen years before the settlement at Plymouth. Civilization in this valley is older than in Massachusetts. The Present population of Nova Scotia is about 500,000. The principal business is growing lumber, potatoes and frat, the most of which find their way to the United States. About 200 years ago a few enterprising Nor- man peasants noted for their progressive ideas, industry and peacefal habits came over from France and settled at the east end of the An- napolis valley, fronting the great Minas basin, a sheet of water that makes in from the Bay of Fundy, sixty miles long by twenty miles wide and at high water 200 fect decp. ‘This valley, which is, seventy miles long by twelve miles wide, is the garden of the world, possessing natural advantages that are rarely equaled. With the Bay of Fundy on the north, along the south shores of which a chain of mountains ex- tend the whole length of the valley, sheltering it from the cold north winds, a range of high hills on the south, surmounted by table lands that slope away to the ocean, where, a short distance out, the warm waters of the gulf stream flow, this valley is made unequaled in the mildness and heaithfulness of its climate | and fertility of its oil. While Maine has laid under a foot of snow for a fortnight the first snow of the season has jnst come here. the Weather being but little colder than in Wash- ington. vers, through which flow from forty to fifty feet of silt water at every tide, set far back into the country, large vessels being able to load with lumber and potatoes six miles inland from the basin, When the tide goes out theso ves- sels, which, at low water, rest on subwharves, present a singular spectacle as they hang sus- ended to the wharves thirty feet above the water. THE HAPPY LAND OF THE BLEST. It was in this lovely valley, in a climate tem- pered by the gulf stream and the Bay of Fundy, that the old French colony lived and prospered. They gave to it the fond name of Acadie—“The happy land of ‘the blest."" They made friends of the Indians and, like William Penn, refused to take any part in the Indian wars.’ Having seen how Holland had grown rich by means of its dykes they went down into tho mud with their shovels and. after years of paticnt toil, succeeded in reclaiming many thousand acres of rich lands that, without fertilizing, for 200 years have been yielding from two to four tons of hay to the acre. As they saw their labors re- warded by beautiful green fields, on which, after the grass was cut, their cattle roamed and grew fat, they exclaimed in their delight: “Grand Pre !""—the French for “Grand Prasie” —and the place took that name and has been known by it ever since. The prosperity of these people who refused to teke any part in the wars England was waging excited the envy and hatred of the English government and so a plan was devised for their extermination. ALL THE PEOPLE MADE PRISONERS. One day during the autumn of 1755, just as the farmers had finished the harvesting of their crops and were enjoying the long Indian sum- mer that pre-edes winter in this climate, a fleet of English war shins rounded Cape Blomidon and anchored in the basin in front of the little colony. Before making known the object of their visit armed men were sent from house to house and disarmed every settler, not even iving them a chance to fight for their liberty. en the men were all requested to meet. the admiral for conference in their little church on the knoll in front of the fleet. Every man was required tobe there. No sooner “had these honest,unsuspecting people assembled than the doors were turned upon them and they found themselves prisoners of war, where they were soldiers until kept under a guard of the women and children, with effects as could be moved, were t the ships. Then the men were ordered to the ships. In the hurry and confu- sion of the embarkation husbands. were eep- arated from their wives, mothers from their children and lovers from each other. THE STORY OF EVANGELINE. ‘The fair Evangeline, whose name Longfellow has made immortal, was separated from her be- trothed lover. The shock was too great for hier aged father, who fell dead upon the beach, and the young Evangeline was borne an or- phan to a different ship from that containing er lover. When the last of the little colony 0 the ships the torch was ‘heir homes and to the little Catholic had been accustomed to as- semble and to receive instru priest, the faithful Father Felicias. As the conflagration extended the cattle and ion from their horses broke loose and made # wild stampede | looking in wonder upon. the | over the dike xtrange spectacle. ‘The ships then weighed an- chor and stood down the bay. Thus d leparted the Acadians from the homes they had. made by honest toil and that they loved so well. *Sailed into the firey sunset, Builed into the dark of evening, Selied into the purple vapors, Sailed into the great hereafter.” It would be difficult to conceive what must have been the feclings of those people when as night came on they looked back upon the east- ern sky, made lurid by their burning hotaes, and then looked forward into the darkness of despair. They were separated and dropped all plone the coast from Boston to the West en. THE LONG, LONG SEARCH. Louisiana and the great northwest being then under the dominion of France the exiles naturally sought protection under the French flag. Some took up plantations in Louisian among them Gabriel, the young lover of Evui geline, with his father, Basil, the blacksmith, while others went west among the Indians. Evangeline, under the protection of her ever- faithful priest, kept up the search for her lover, floating down the Ohio river and through the bayou of Louisiana in a flat boat, reaching the lantation of Basil, the blacksmith,to find that jabriel, her lover, had left the day before in pursuit of her. Year after year she continued esearch, often near her lover, and yet never able to meet him. This was before ‘the days of newspapers, railroads, steamboats and tele- graphs, her means of procuring information ing mostly confined to the various tribes of Indians, with whom she was accustomed to winter during the many years of her weary journeying and fruitless search. UNITED IN DEATH. By and by the roses left her cheeks. Year by year her beauty faded. Then came gray hairs, followed by wrinkles upon her beautiful face, but still she kept up her weary pilgrim- age, believing that some day she would meet her’ lover, until the death of Father Felicias, when, discouraged and disheartened, she gave up the search and became a Sister of Mercy in aconvent in Philadelphia, where for many years she ministered to the wants of the poor and friendless in the hospitals and alms houses of that city until the time of a great epidemic, when one Sabbath morning she discovered her Jong lost lover in the person of an old man, with long, gray, unkempt hair. dying upon a pallet in an alms house. She had kepther heart ‘oung and the fire of love burning bright dur- ing # fruitless search of fifty years, unconscious that she and her lover were growing old, and when at last she found him old and friendless, dying in poor house, she exclaimed in her e (Foe as abe —— form to her and cl thank Thee! his 4) This eyes in death, Patiee T Evangeline soon followed her lover, and side by side they have rested for s centufy in known graves in a Catholic church city of jadelphia. ing to show dead. Not long ago while some excavations ‘were being made one of the was dis Covered and has beon to use, "Not far sway from this well @ state of Preservation wasfound, the body fet it inenod this coffin was found fixes the location of Graveyard and of the little church that — yard in the | tused I It would seem as if the powers of the mis TSS wickedness. Fifty years after the the burning of the Acadian homes and the banishment of -the colony by England France sent 100 line-of-battle shipe to crush out the infant government founded by ‘Toussaint L'Ouveture over San Domingo. Tous- saint did not wait for the torch. to be applied by his enemies, but applied it himeelf, reduc- he and his army took to the mountaina.” Find- ing that the heroic blacks could not be subdu treachery in place of brute force was resor! to by inviting Toussaint, under a flag of truce, to dine on the admiral’s ghip. While being en- tertained as a guest the of truce was vio- lated, Toussaint was placed in irons and carried to France, where, by order of Napoleon, he was starved to death in an icy dungeon in the Alps. And now Russia, as_ if to outdo both England and France in fiendish cruelty, is torturing to insanity and death its best brains ‘mid the snows of Siberia. But how can we with our slavery record cast stones at these govern- mente! ‘A SUPERIOR CLASS OF MEN AND WOMEN. The location and climate of the Annapolis valley seem to be calculated to produce a su- Perior class of men and women. Fine, stal- wart, brainey men and beautiful women, with graceful, symmetrical forms, fair complexion, Tosy cheeks and bright eyes, are the rule ani not the exception, while wide, smooth roads, lined with shade ‘trees, thrifty orchards, fi houses and good barns, may be seen in every di- rection. By the genius of Longfellow the history of the old Acadian colony has been rescued from | the oblivion in which England had buried it jand given immortality. It isno longer un- popular, to be called an Acadian. Evangeline otels, Evangeline palace care and Evangeline steamboats are quite common. The great In- tercolontal railroad, owned and run by the Ca- nadian government, named its best sleeping | car “Evangeline,” while the Windsor and An- napolis Railroad Company christens its road “The Land of Evangeline Route,” and places a picture of Evangeline on its time table. The present inhabitants of this charmed valley all have a kind word for the old Acadians, | as well they may, for they are enjoying the | benefits derived from many, long weary years of patient toil bestowed upon this valley and its splended dikes by the exiled colony. | They speak of the Acadians and their shameful per- secution with a sort of awe, as if treading on holy ground. There is a tradition that the old Indians, now nearly extinct, had a legend that the spirits of the departed Acadians return to their old homes every anniversary of the day they were kidnaped and hold a festival on the green in front of where the old church stood and that | these anniversaries are always blest with warm Indian summer da} EVANGELINE’S FATHER'S GRAVE. The tides for 145 years have rolled over the grave of Farmer Benedict Bellforentine, the father of Evangeline, who fell dead and was buried upon the beach at the embarkation. ‘The danghter, after half a centary of wander- ing, found peace at last by the side of her lover ina Catholic church yard in Philadelphia, where they have slept in unknown graves for'a cen- tury. The rest of the graves long since forgotten, while the murmur- ing ocean and the winds thai mourn through the dark forests that surmount Blomidon and the North mountains c requiem, and the splendid dikes contracted by their unre- quited toil stand 2s their monument. “Still stands the forest primeval, but far away from 1t8 Slialow, Side by tle colony repose in in their nameless croves, the lovers are iis inble walls of the little Catholle ehuren art of the city they lie unknown and unno- | Daily, ste ides of life go ebbing and flowing beside Thoussiuls of chrobbine hearts, where thelrs are at rest and fore Thousinis of ‘ing brains, where theirs no longer are busy; Thoussnds of toiling hands, where theirs have closed Troi their labors; Thousands of weary test, where theirs have completed their journey? ale of forest primeval, but under the ¢ her race, with othercustomsan( lansuase, the shore of the mournini aad misty At- luntie | Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from ile | Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom, | Im the nsnermnan’s cot the wheel and the loom are still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles yun, ink fire repeat Evangeline’s story, Focky cavers the deep-voiced neizhbor- ts disconsolate answers the wail of SHC. 'S FIELD. A Singular Custom Among Some of the | Natives of Africa. Bishop Taylor in the Boston Globe. “A stranger traveling in Africa with only two or three attendants can go about without mt fear of molestation. A great armed body like the Stanley expedition will be obliged to fight at times, of course, but I never had any use at all for a weapon of any kind in Africa. “There are some things that solitary trav- expedition will never learn. I observed one custom that I never raw mentioned in any traveler's accounts. I noticed that every vil- lage had set apart a field for the use of strangers. The chief wife of the tribal king cultivated this field and stored away the product in the upper half of her hut. No man of the tribe a ere to touch of the food thus stored. ‘The king's wife had her share of this and made her living out of it, but all over and above the amount actually consumed must be set apart and preserved. This field isknown as the ‘Stranger’ field. “Whenever a stranger comes to the he makes known his want to the king and he is immediately relieved. The best hut in the vil- lage is set apart for him, he eats of the food of the stranger's ficld and the best wife of the | king prepares the food for him with her own ania Haxamaiy, auacktee rats cata any | reasonable length of time, and his time is never | hastened. Sometimes he stays Jong ‘enongh to become a member of the tribe and he marries into the king's family. “An amusing feature of this custom is the fact that indigent members of the tribe some- | times leave their village and go to other vil- | lages and Lecome strangers, so that very often when a familiar face has been missed from a certain village, and I have asked where So-and- 80 went or what became of him, some one has gravely informed me that So-and-so was poor and become a stranger, Subsequently I have run across lazy So-and-so in a distant village living on the fat of the lend asa stranger and being treated to royal hospitality. There are no beggars in Africa. When a man or woman becomes too poor to get along comfortably, he or she makes the circuit of the adjacent villages ‘a8 a stranger.” ‘The Exception Found at Last. From the Louisville Post. He sat in the lobby of one of our prominent hotels. His hair was as white as snow and matted in thin and scraggy locks over a high and creased forehead. Lines of sorrow marked his faco and ran through his features as numerous as the rivers in central Africa. In his eyes there was sadness, which bespoke » Maton tint Goat bed: peeearomnee meee Se a turning the hair white and furrowing the face. Anumber of men were sitting around and they bad been telling stories of the “pistol which had not been loaded” and its fatality. The white-baired man said in “T have a story to tell. I returned home one fro lace of business. Et mrt gine seinen, Bran e my way that day, among ygayend raed fortune good many dollars, and felt ittish. I told my wife of and asked her to get mea match. We were and when she re- F ‘After a time, ‘eyes and put the pistol back.” “But your wife—was she killed eagerly asked three questioners. “No-0-0.' eler can find out about Africa which a large | BIGH AND BROAD JUMPING. From a Standstill. AMATEURS WHO EXCEL aT THE SPORT—zOW TO BROOME PROFICIENT AT MIO AND DISTANCE JUMPING—WHAT AN ATHLETE LOOKS LIKE aT SEVERAL POINTS OF THE JUMP. From the New York Sun. Although the ramming high and running broad jumps are the most popular jumping events in amateur athletics, the standing high and standing broad jumps are certainly as meritorious. In a standing broad jump the athlete will stand out in the field, give a spring and land only ten feet from where be started, and the jump is allover. With the running broad jump it is quite different. The athlete Funs sometimes over 120 feet before he makes SUPT BEFORE THE STRING. his spring, and when he does leap he clears, double the distance that a good standing broad jumper can do. There are many more athletes who can clear twenty-two feet for a runnirg broad jump than ten feet for a standing broad jump. | Since the Amateur Athletic Union inaugurated the in- door championship meeting the standing high and standing broal jumps have received con- Soseee pegs The ‘record for the standing high jump was broken last «pring by Samuel Crook, who ‘cleared 5 feet 1" inches. Crook me within 18; inches of breaking the best record for the standing broad jump, . W. Ford five 10 feet 98; inches, made by ‘The very anme apparatus is used i years ago. a stand- r supported by uz land on if in a gymnasium, When the standing hich jump was first prac- ticed athletes used to face the bar and jum) over straight, pulling their feet up undernea them. But the scieuce was soon learned, and jumping frontward was done away with and the side jump was adopted. The illustration, hte, with a mat ing high jump as for the running high jump. te P ing high j | i# all that is used. | SPRINGING FOR STANDING BROAD JUMP. Of taking-off Just before getting in the sir be will resemble the illustration, “Leaving the und.” Attention is called to the angle of bods. It looks as though the athlete would fall on hia face, but bis arms and legs have given him considerable momentum and the next important position be assumes can be teen to good advan > ithustration, “At the highest point.” In this picture it is seen that the arms have heen thrown down again and have outlived their usefulness #0 far_as re gards carrving the body higher. Just before touching the ground the arms will be brought forward, ax shown in the picture, “The pi way to land.” Very few would suppose that st this point the athlete bad sufficient momentum to prevent falling back, but here agnin the arms are brought in to good advantage. The best way to practice the standing broad Jump is firet toequip one’s self with a good pair Of shoes. For a gymnasium floor these should have heels of solid rubber about one half an inch thick. The sole may be under one-quarter LEAVING THE GROUND. ofan inch thick. Make a line on the floor and then give three jumpsin mnecesion. An athlete who can clear 9 feet 6 inches for a kingle jump should do 30 feet for three. His first jnmp should be about § feet 3 inches from toe to heel: bis next jump from heel to heel should be about 10 feet 6 inches, making in all 18 feet 9 incher; hin last jump will be from heel to heel, 1 feet 8 inebes. ‘The reason the first jump appears so small ia that it is measured from the toe at the take-off in place of the heel. Having gained impetus on the first jump and landing with his arms back the ath rings right out tor the next jump. He will clear far- ther on hix second jump than on the first on account of the momentum derived from the first, but the last jomp will be the best of all, simply on account ot bis net having to gather himself to give another jump. If five jumps are tried by this same athlete he will find that the first will be the same as the first in the SPRINGING FOR STANDING HIGH JUMP. just before the spring,” shows Robert K. Pritchard, who is the second best amateur standing high jumper in this country, stand- | ing with his left side to the bar ready for a | jump. He has raired bis arma, and the first motion of his leap will be to swing his arms down and then on their upward movement he will spring. The illustration, “Springing for standing high jump,” shows an instantaneous view of Pritchard justas he is springing. He has lowered his body by bending his knees and |ison the upward movement. As he rises he will assume a position shown in the picture “The Critical Point.” He has thrown his left leg over and it has commenced coming down on the other side. It will be seen that the lower part of Pritchard's body is close to the bar, and that in reality he has not jumped as high as many would think. The hardest part ina high standing jump is when the jamper is right on top of the bar. It requires ‘consider- able practice to manage boch legs #0 that neither one will knock the bar down. There is no such fear in the running high jump. ‘To perform the standing high jump correctly 4 true scissors motion of the legs must be used. Whatever side the athlete puts next to the bar in jumping the leg on that side must go up ‘THE CRITICAL POINT. first and be put over the bar before the other leg has been raised much. Then before the leg Saryecmiee tus pase bay teres oo pena oe tis er mt ay position i ot he he inches have been ‘The best amateurs st the standing high Jump are Samuel Crook, R. K. Pr y The Sree panne at edie tn Lite gc if [ i ite Li A i ! i i i u Ls i jumps. If ten are tried the eight inter- — at TUE moMEST POINT. Mediate jumps will be the same as the middie one in the three jumps. The best amateur record for three standing broad jumpe without dumb bells is 34 feet 435 inches by M. W. Ford, made on a board floor. In clearing this distance hie divisions are about as follows: First jump from toe to heel, 9 feet 3 inches; second jump from heel to heel, 11 feet 9 inches; third jamp from heel to heel, over 13 feet." When in condition to do 34 feet whe seve ~~ a THE PROPER WAY TO LAND. for three jumps, Ford could not do over 10 feet 7 or $ inches for ‘a single jump. There is con- siderable science in getting a good awing of the arms for three jumps, and the easier the swing the less jolting will there be at ea b successive landing. As high as ten jumps have been tried at this style, the best amateur record being 113 feet 5'¢ inches by M. W. Ford. The chief difi- culty in doing ten jumps properly ix to have sufficient strength to prevent wabbling near the id. Good atanding broad jumpers are like eprint- ers regarding their physique. Stout men seem to be alittle better than Jean men and height docs not make any difference. H. ge OR has. M. Johnson, who held the professional record for America, 10 feet 103; inches, wit ¥ inches tall and The reason given that for this game than slender ones is on account of the arms playing such an § heavier they are the bet- i i il of Es H Hl if f i i i i 5 il i i £ -| 5 ais H iq | HW i h £ F j : H i & i !