Evening Star Newspaper, April 4, 1891, Page 13

- THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D.C, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1891—SIXTEEN PAGES. ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY. Some Little-Known Curiosities of This Wonderful Art. WHAT SUN'S RA YS PAINT. Colors No Man Ever Saw—Photographs on a Newspaper—Composites of Skulls—Taking Picturea by Telescope — Photographs of Mushrooms and Shad Eggs. VY via ‘ HATEVER MAY BE accomplished event- ually in the way of re- producing colors of per- manence by photogra- phy, the procera for do- ing this newly discov- ered by M. Lippmann is scarcely to be considered yet as more than one of the many curiosities of a marvelous at. Some day before very long doubtless this or other methods will be so far perfected that the taking of people's portrait with the coloring of the originals will be prac- ticable: great paintings will be copied imperish- ably—though time must destroy the paintings themselves—with the camera, and the same apparatus will be utilized for making the sun himself do landscapes in the twinkling of an eye with all the tints of nature. | With relation to the ultra red and infra | violet, invisible to the human eye, which the French academician finds exhibited as black | bands in his reproduetion of the colors in the | rainbow, Tuz Stan is informed that Prof. | Langley, secretary of the Smithsoniaz. Institn- | tion, has made some astonishing discoveries recently. ‘The ultra red . to the t of the red * violet is to the right of the violet end, the lengt rainbow im this manner added directions. What could be more in‘eresting thar these hues unknown to us, to which, 60 Prof. Langley says, roses and other flowers owe | much of the ex:juisi‘e beauty of their coloring? PROF. LANGLEY'S BOLOMETER. By on instrument of his own invention, inex- Preseibly delicate. which he cails a “-bolome- ter,” this famous scientist has traced tie rain- bow to more thun twice its visible length. The contrivance—s thin film of ron, throu;zb which & current of electricity is passed—is moved along over a rainbow, cast by the sun th & privm, registering the heat of the hidden rays by the interruption of the current. In this way it is made known that we are actually able to see but asmali fraction of a rainbow. Who ean tell what gorgeous colors, different from any ever beheld by man, lie concealed to his imperfect vision along the path beyond the | violet and the red? It is amazing how simple and evident some inventions are when once they are hit upon. It was the Emperor Nero who used the first eyeglass—a monocle, by the way. He was near- sighted and he found that a certain big concave ‘emerald in his jewel collection enabled him to see with a much improved vision what went on in the circus at the gladiator shows. His no- tion was that the gem was magical, but there was the origixal presbyopic lens, if only any one had had the wit to look through it with the gaze of scientific xpeculation. But no one did and so it was not for fifteen centuries that spec- tacles were invented. ‘THE MOST IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT. To makes photograph the most important requirement is a surface that is sensitive to light. You imagine that chemistry is required to make such a surface, but that is not true. The newspaper on which these words are Printed has a.sensitized surface. Tear off this page when you are through reading it and it will make you @ very fair photograph print if you will lay a glass negative upon it and ex- pose it to the sun for a while. But the negative requires skill and apparatus to make, you say. ‘then do without it. im- agine yourself cast sway upon an uninhabited island.” You are an euthuriastic amateur in botography, and you must make piccures or pair. Happily. you have preserved your hat, your spectacles and a noty book. That is a supposition compared with some of those in the “Swiss Family Robinson,” where, ifone of the family desires « lemonade, he is sure to discover opportunely a lemon tee with & field of sugar cane on the other side of a bub- bling brook. Rejoicing in the abundant supply of materials at your command, you fit one of your spectacle lenses into the crown of your hat and cut a strip of bark to close up the opening intended for your head. That is a camera. ‘Next you tear @ page from your note book, pre- viously dried, and rub it over with some juice squeezed from tlowers. Flower juice is an ad- mirable sensitizing medium; a few years ago it was utilized to some extent in photography. ‘The page thus sensitized you attach imide to the bark back of the hat, and your photograph is soon made upon the paper without the inter- Vention of a negative. SENSITIVE LEAVES. But after all this is not fair supposition. You might not havea hat nor spectacles nor ets note book when you are cast upon the In the absence of very jens the mmnall hole a y to concentrate the rays of light u the leat, which bas, like all leaves, a sensitive surface. Thus you obtain your photograph. Asmooth plank of wood bhava sensitive sur- , toe, upon which a sun print can be Itiy the resin im the wood which mak surface seusitive to light, and the applies to leaves aud to the newspaper tiss aude from wood pulp. It is worth mentioning. by the way. that @ traveler in the arctic re- ous could make @ Very respectable lens out of & piece of ice. Tbe curiosities of photography are only be- ginning to be discovered. Nome photc 3 were made the other day by telescope of the Statue of America—vulgarly supposed to repre- went the Goddess of Liberty—on the dome of the Capitol. Lenses were arranged in « big camera, according to telescopic principles, and the pictures, taken at a distance of a quarter of “mile, though only four inches high, were so ¢lear in detail as to enable the people at the National Museum to restore with accuracy the wutilated original east for the stetue. sctual size, which is now being set up in the center of that great mstivution. FHOTOGRAPHS OF MUSHROOMS. Some very interosting photographs have been mate at the sal Museum here of mush- wee of growth. One development and propa- gation of the “fairy ring” mushroom, respect- ing which so many pretty superstitious fancies are current. For centuries past it imagined by country folk thas the rin by these fuig? im the hillsides were used by fairy dancing parties. The circles inclosed, of vegetation, ted m trampling by merry little fees, it was HPT that the ring of mu: round about afforded seats to the sj revelers. But setence has show this picturesque notion is allo that the fairy rings are form commonplace manner. asingle mushr ® outward until a ring of them is tormed perbaps ax much as four or five feet in dismeter. Fairiew might find a pleasant place Ww tripin within the circle thus made, bat, lias! there is no evidence that they do sc. nor Letween the tarne upon fh eo. this instance, is the growth of the egg. Ad the be; frum the “milt "of and When this bas but : the eg; Ue gives life to the germs. Jase been accompliebcd the egg, Vases ia Cie phowgraph, shows the young fish | iu the shope of a dark spot on one side. This ucut daily pietures becomes magnified 100 | | 4 WHOLE EDITION OF A BOOK. | Ono of the most wonderful uses of photogra- | phy recently devised is that by which a whole | azned out automatically le page is reproduced at a time, a clock work device being #0 arranged | that, by the shifting of a continuous strip of we of the page prints copy after copy, exch Llank being exposed for just | the necersary time. In this way a cimplo per- | Gajun contzivauce is made to run off i Hines on the glass negative itself. 1,000 pages jus ofbands. A sep a wi te negative, of course, is jasted for each page, and so the whole vol- is printed piecemeal, sans ink or bother A curious sort of composite photogra) = has recently been tricd with aman’ skulls, of which it was attempted in this way to obtain representative types for scientific purposes. Vor example, a composite was made of # num- ber of murderers’ skulls iu ordcr to see if there was anything typical in their development. The same thing was tried with the skulls of savages, as well as with those of people of cer- sions, the idex being to find out | whether the moral nature ormental ——s of ifi- nan produced any definite cranial m a. So far as is known nothing was ascer- tained very decisive. Tue light house board also has employed pho- tography lately for the purpose of finding out What sorts of lamps gave the greatest amount of light. Pictures were taken of the flames, in order to determine the question. Copies’ of these are to be went to light house keepers to show thom what shape of tlame.naturally de- pending upon the cutting of the wick, is most desirable. THE MICRORCOPE AND THE CAMERA. For some time past the microscope has been utilized in very interesting waye for greatly en- ng email objects Ly photography. The end of the instrument to which the eye is ordi- narily applied is introduced into the camera’s dark chamber, while astrong ray of light is thrown by a small lamp at the other ond through the object glass, on which the thing to be pic- tured is placed, and through the tube of ‘the microscope, thus casting the image of the ob- ject upon the sensitive plate at the back of the camera. which stands exactly in the relation of the retina in the eye of an observer. In this manner small sections of rock, cut so thin as to be transparent, are photographed sv as to show the material of which they are made up. By the same process the finest silks and linens are depicted on a greatly magnified scale, so that they are made to look like so much coarse mat- ting. their warp and woof being as plainly dis- cernible as if they were so much straw plaiting. Perlaps the most extraordinary application of photography that it is possible to mention isfound in the multiform mechanical pro- cesses used at the present day for the repro- duction of pictures. In the illustrating of magazines the art of wood entting has been almost entirely superseded by photo-engray- ing im one shape or another. Untii recently it was thought impossible to reproduce in this way anything but a drawing composed of lines, but now even a painting can be copied | off-hand in the shape of a cut by the simple device of placing a gauze screen” betwoen the picture and the camera, the network of the gauze breaking up the solid lights and shad- ows ¥o as to make them reproducible. A much | better way of accomplishing this, however, hus been lately invented by cutting cross- Thus you find in the newspapers of today most beautiful engravings of actual works of art, done within a few hours, which would have taken the hand workman not long ago months to turn out. raphy is making rapid strides the more advanced workers in this line are producing results, shown at exhibi- tions year by year, which vie with the painters’ best éxecution. ‘Some of them even form actual photographic compositions by combin- ing in one picture a background with a suita- ble foreground from another negative, figures from still another, accessories from yet another, and so on. Photographer Smillie of the National who knows more about this branch of art than any other man in the United States, is getting together an exhibit which will include by every photographie process ever devised, with the apparatus for making it. TRE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY. In the latter half of the sixteenth century Giovanni Buptiste Porta,a Neopolitan physician, invented the camera obscura, which may be {said to have been the origin ot photography. It was simply a dark chamber, through a small hole in which the rays of sunlight projected upon & scree: within a picture of whatever was in front. The use originally made of it was to copy pictures, which being thrown upon a sercen of canvas within a closet where’ the artist sat were readily goue over with paint and brush, the very colors being reproduced in the inverted image. This was almost the first aj plication of Mechanical processes to art, fn 1760 a fantastic writer named De ln Roche, a Frenchman, published an imaginary iuterview with devils. which unknown to himeeli was a marvelous prophecy. He related how he was caught up in a hurricane and deposited in the domain of the genii, who initiated him Into the secrets of nature. One genius he quotes as saying: “You know that rayc of light reflected from bodies form pictures upon polished sur- faces—tor example, on the retina of the eye, on water and on glass. ‘The svirits have sought to fix these fleeting images. ‘They have made a subtle matter by means of which @ picture 1s formed in the twinkling of aneye. ‘They coat 8 piece of canvas with this substance and place it in front of the object to be taken. By means of its viscous nature the prepared canvas re- tains a fac simile of the image instantaneously. Finally the canvas is deposited in a dark press, and when it is there is a picture so perfect that no art can imitate its tratbiuiness.” THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SOLAR SPECTRUM In 1777 Scheller, the great Swedish chemist, who had studied the action of light upon chlo- ride of silver, msde a photograph, the first ever produced of the solar spectrum, by pro- jecting the latter upon a thet of paper dusted with silver chloride. ‘Twenty-five years later Davy and Wedgwood in England obtaiued an impression of the solar spectrum upon paper prepared with salts of silver. but were unable to make it permanent. In 1824 Joseph Niepce made the first permanent photograph with a plate couted with asphaltum a resiuous matter extracted from petroleum and much used at the present day for pavements. ‘Iwo years later Niepce’ went into parmership “with Daguerre aud they continued the experiments which resulted in the daguerrotype. Among the apparatus illustrative of photographic his- tory to be shown at the National Museum be- fore long is the first camera ever made in the United States. which was constructed here by a friend of Daguerre’s, under the directions of the latter, before his process was made public. Accompanying this are two boxes of the origi- nal silver plates made for the purpose, un- used. a. ROPES OF HUMAN HAIR. Made From the Locks of Japanese to Build 9 Temple With, CURIOSITY EXHIBITED IN A GLASS case at the National Museum is a piece of rope about tour feet long and six inches in diameter made of human hair. “That is one of the most interesting objects shown in this institution,” said Prof. Otis T. Mason toa Stan reporter. “It is from Japan, and is only a fragment. Here is a photograph of a great Buddhist temple, in the building of which such rope was used. The steps of the structure, as you see, are fairly covered with great coils of it—some thousands of feet alto- gether. [willexplain to you bow it came to be made. “According to religious usage, a temple of the Buddhist faith must be erected with the utmost regard for piety in every detail. On pious hands of trae believers must be employed in the building of it, and no profane material of any sort can be utilized. "For example, it |.would be a sacrilege to use ordinary ropes of hemp or other vulgar vegetable materi for the rigging of derricks and the hoisting of stones. ROPES OF HUMAN Harn. “Only ropes of human hair wiil do, and it is necessary that these shal be contributed by ful wor: hipers who are willing to sscrl-, their locks to the a att You can fi see for yourself that this is woven from all sorts of the old of both sexes contributing. speciinen in the case air, the young and ‘Yo my mind 3a vers wonderful and picturesque notion, nat of the good people coming by thousands and marching in line to have their hair cut off, so that the sacted object may be accom- plisued. You can figure to yourself the aged submitting their crowns to the operation of shears, together with the young men and women, end even the children. Here in this short length are mingled all shades, from the tow of infancy to the white of the octogen- | arian.” “It must have required a great multitude of people to supply bair enough to make such great lengihs of thick cable as those. ‘But there iv a reward for the sserifice, inasmuch as the rope, when the temple bas becn completed, is put ‘sway inside and carefully guar. always as one of the sacred objects stored in the place. A Buddhist shrine is always eom- bined with @ sort of religious museum,” ———— All About One Dog, Frow the Mora:ng Builetin. Mr. Diffenderter of Baltimore has just paid $4,000 for the St. Bornard dog Hepsy, now be- lorging in Bath, Eng. Hepsy is described as being of rich orange color, with deep black endings and while face and chest; she stands | thirty-one inches high at the shoulders and is massive in body and bone. zibah, ond it really sceme an if « dog thirty-one ought t0 be portion worth $4,000 the dignity of a full name and not be put off with a mere nickname. TOLD AT THE CLUB. Two Experiences That Were of a Startling Character. EXCHANGING CONFIDENCES. ‘The Effect a Foggy Night and Melancholy Work Produces—Two Strange Tales Told by Two Gloomy Fellows—A Tragic Clipping and an Interesting Message. NE NIGHT RECENTLY AT A LATE hour two middle-aged gentlemen strolled into the rooms of the newly incorporated Press Club. They had just concluded writing up the fullest details of the funeral of one of the country's great men and were fagged out. After lighting cigars they took « couple of chairs and drew them toward a window over- looking the street below. The weather out- side was distinctly Washington weather, neither cold nor warm, but of the penetrating foggy kind common for this season of the year that causes a shiver quicker than if the mercury ‘was close to the zero mark. The murky weather and melancholy work had made them decidedly gloomy and for fully half an hour they gazed into the street in silence. A stu- dent in phonetics was scated at a tablo ic by and was mechanically penciling the different characters of that study upon slips of paper scattered over the table. Suddenly the silence ‘was broken by one of the loungers in front of the window and he began to tell his companion a story of his younger day. honographer was startled out of his reverie, and, becoming interested, began following the tale with his mystic characters. WHAT THE PHONOGRAPHIC SLIPS TOLD. A reporter of Tux Stax strolled into the club room the next morning and, being an expert stenographer, the characters on the numerous slips of paper caught his eye. Gathering them together they were confiscated, the reporter easing his mind over the theft by mentally as- suring himself that they were public property. ‘The writer of the phonetic characters must have been a professor of the art, for he bas not only taken down the words of the gentlemen before the window, but even their movements are chronicled. The reporter straightened out the notes aud the following is the result: “Say, Jack, old boy. I hope it will be along time before I receive another assignment on a funeral. It’s business, of course, but the work is dispiriting. The blues are nothing along- side of what I've got.” “Its the same with me. This life is too short to be gloomy in it and I abhor funerals. Never- theless they furnish @ curious and mighty in- leresting study. A funeral always recalls to my mind « peculiar incident happening some years back when I was in my twenties. The impressions of a funeral and this incident were both alike—depressing. BROUGHT TO A POLICE STATION. “Iwas doing newspaper work upon a small sheet in an interior town of Pennsylvania. ‘The lifeIled and the hustling done has no place in this story. While making my rounds one day Iran against one of the tinest-looking young men 1 ever saw and although dressed in Tags they couldn't destroy the effects of a per- iect profile, # pair of jet-black e a hair of the same hue. He had just been brought into the police station from the railroad y stealing a ride. His brooding face, which bore indications of # half-famished condition, was so turned that ze fell upon the floor at his feet. His hands were in his trousers’ pock- ets and bis elbows formed sharp angles. He seemed endeavoring to huddle into as small a space as possible, as if to withdraw into him- self and thus escape the observation of the oc- cupants of the room. 1 was favorably im- pressed by his looks and going to the mayor secured his release upon @ promise that 1 would see that he left the town. Having an eye to business and scenting an item in the prospec- tive, ltook him to @ restaurant and aitera wash and brushing up placed him before a nice substantial meal. The poor fellow was almost famished and the edibles quickly disappeared. He could bardly thank me enough and ulthough at first averse to telling me any of his life's history, he finally relaxed and under my adroit questioning unfoided quite an interesting story. AN AUSTRIAN TELEGRAPHER. “He spoke « mixture of Germanand English, but was easily understood. His name was Frederic Struski, # native of Austria. He bad been employed at an important telegraph relay station between Paris and Vienna and had been married but six months prior to his railing for this country. His wife accepted his sat in preference to that of the chief official at the relay station. She being the belle of the town, and very pretty, bis rejection made him an enemy of Struski’s. Immediately after their marriage this official inaugurated @ system of tty tyrauny ageinst his lucky rival and at t forced him out of the office. America at- tracted him, and, leaving his wife in his father's household, he came to this country resolved to send for her as soon ashe obtained a perma- nent situation. He told me he was dumb- founded when he discovered the fact that the telegraph code of this country was so different from that of bis native laud that it completely debarred him from making a living in that profession. Luckily for him he had been u very fair machinist before securing the govern- ment position and was looking fora place in that capacity when Iran across him. He had knocked wround New York for a month doing odd jobs, his money ran outand at last he decided to seek work in the country. ME HELPED THE MAN. “The thought struck me that Altoona with its immense shops and many nationalities was just the place for him, and after giving him directions how to reach that city Iveraped to- gether enough money out of my meager store to pay his passage to Harrisburg or about half the distance. He bad made his way from New York to the town I was in upon freight trains and by walking and he felt confident he could manage the distance from Harrisburg to Al- toona in the xame way. His manner was so re- fined and diflident that my heart warmed to- | late ward him, and wnen he bourded the train I ve him a hearty handshake with well wishes. fic said he would never forget me ‘and prom- ised to let me know how he made out when he reached his destination. Just as the train pulled out he pressed upon mea plain gold ring that had belonged to his wife as a token of hig appreciation. a fere's a clipping I cut out of a news; the next moraieg und Tbave carried it’ ever since as a remembrance of thet meeting and conversation.” ‘THE TRAGIC EXDING. Jack hands # slip of paper to his friend and the latter in an awed voice reads the following: STRUCK BY THE FAST LINE AND KILLED. March 21.—As fast line east B or last nigh wes passin: a pot about two nities below. this places and ‘unmny at the fate of Arty miles an ur, man rovered sitting on the track’ supposed to be rhe whistie was blown, which swutened. the stupor he wandered op. the track . deine thrown fully son identified him Toye of the. Aus: friam tal jegrapu service. cient money was found fn Lis pockets to devray, the expense of sending tue body to that country." Tus courpany was. el from all blame vy the coroner's jury. “Poor fellow, what a shock it must have been | a a and parents when the news reached m. ‘Yea, the results of the accident were quite dramatic- 1 wrote a letter to his wife dctalling his last conversation with me, and in soply received a letter from Struski’s father thanking me for my kindness and telling me that the shock from the terrible news had killed the young wife.” STORY OF A TELEGRAPH MESSZNGER. “Let me tell you a story that is a At compan- ion for yours, one that I have nover told, but the impression made upon me was so vivid and startling that it will never leave my memory. “When a lad I was ouplored ua @ messenger by s railroad company in Baltimore. One night Iwas given a telegram from a small a lumber caught his head between the projecting ends and crushed it like an eg shell “My piercing shriek of fright called the other trainmen quickly around, but [ didn’t wait to ee the poor fellow's body taken from between the cars, for I was off like the wind to get clear of that horrible sight and cry. The ery and sight every now and then comes back to me with startling effect. THE MESSAGE NEVER DELIVERED. “The message that was never destined to be delivered was overlooked in the excitement and I found it some months later in the pocket of an old coat which I had worn on that fateful (THE messAGE. ) “, ‘ved at 7 o'clock 4 A boy baby arrived at 7 o'clo: ae The two men at the window arose with a shiver while one of them at the same time re- marked: “Ugh! Let's take abracer.” “Well, I should say so. What'll you take?” “Whisky.” ‘Mary a PEOPLE WHO WEAR GLASSES. Why It is That Spectacles Are Worn so Much More Now Than Heretofore. 66]T IS REALLY SUR- prising to see how much more common is the wearing of glasses nowadays than a genera- tion ago,” said an optician toa Bran reporter. “Ride down town in a street car and you will notice, if you look about you, that one- half the passengers em- ploy such aids to vision. Incidentally. you must re- member that very many people only use spectacles in any shape when they read, not employing them at all at other times. “There are several reasons why glasses for the eyes are more commonly used now than heretofore. It is not at all because people's eyes nowadays are less good, but simply that e advantages of wearing ‘spectacles have come to be more generally recognized througit the spread of knowledge. Afew years ugo there were various popular delusions afloat on the subject. Among them was a notion that glasses strained the eyes instead of relieving any difficulty of vision, as is the fact. Also it was commonly said that if one once adopted spectacles they could never be given up. Of course not. Why shonld any one, having got back sight, voluntarily resign himself to com- parative blindness again? When a near-sighted or ‘old-sighted’ person has once discovered the luxury of glasses he is not likely to throw them away. ing that no evident defect in red previous action requisite— ought to be taken to an oculist for examination. ‘There is always possibility that the boy or girl is nearsighted, or thatsometbing else ba wre 60 that glasses are needed to prevent the trouble from getting worse. When you see a person afflicted with ‘squint,’ you may usus take it for granted that it is a difticulty which might have been prevented by proper spectacles pre- scribed early in life. it is « misfortune, inci- dent to and caused by the circuinstances of our civilization, that the eyes of a large percentage of the city populations are defective, owing to malformation or for other causes. GLASSES FOR READING. “Another thing not generally understood as yet is that every humar being, male or female, requires glasses for near vision—that is, for reading—after about forty-five years of age. At that time of life the lens of the eye, which focuses the image of an object seen upon the retina #0 as to convey the picture to the brain, has become so hard—having been like jelly in childhood—as to make it difficult for the mus- cles controiling it to alter its shape to suit the focus of the near point. In order to keep the lens at this focus the muscics are strained with effort and reading becomes ditticult, the letters on a page appearing blurred because of the in- voluntary relaxing of the muscles. “When this state of affairs has come about the trouble may be easily remedied by adopt- ing glasses for reading which accommodate the focus suitably. But people instead of doing this go on with the atiliction, imagining that their eyes are ‘failing’ through age. As a matter of fact the eyes are as strong as ever, all they need isa litthe judicious help. Atter « while, if the attempt to Une the eyes for reading without such heip is kept up, they begin to feel weak, naturally. ‘““But within recent years sorae knowledge of this matter has found its way to the compre- hension of the public, and so you find most in- telligent persons past middle age wearing glasses. Near-sighted young folks also use them commonly to prevent. their misfortune from becoming aggravated, and victims of other ocular abnormulities adopt similar uid, asu matter of course. Thus wherever you go you find people wearing spectacles, which have become so usual as no longer to excite atten- tion, as they used to not very Jong ago. You will notice that most Congressmer. wear glasses, simply becaus2 they are men of intelligence, and most of them have passed middle life.” a HE SMOKED IN A STREET CAR. But the Little Conductor and the Driver Got Him Out. The man inside the horse car was very large and red, says the New York Sun. The con- ductor of the car was small and pale. The large red passenger was infringing the rales of the railroad company by lighting a cigar. The small conductor had watched this audacity, and when be was satisfied that the cigar. lighting process was not an illusion be re- marked, with considerable sternness of voice for a diminutive man: “You'll have to put that cigar out.” The large red man took no notice of the ob- servation, but puffed huge volumes of smoke. “You'll have to put that cigar out, I say.” Still the large man puffed serenely on. “I say you ll have to put that cigur out. The large man turned his small pig eyes ally and suid: we yer voice, young feller, save yer voi s ‘The conductor looked the large man over. He observed that he was about tho size of Mr. Sullivan, the pugilist, and he wondered whether his salary as conductor was large enough to induce him to risk hia life ina physical ex- counter with the burly ruffian. There i ‘sonal pride in nearly all men, and that con- was serving ctor forgot the corporation he and its rules, and determined that be, as an ine dividual, would not be crushed. “You'll have to put that cigar out,” he re- peated. His admonition was painfully an- changeable in diction and tone, and i¢ was beginning to annoy the large red man. “Say, young feller,” remarked the latter. “4 “ring the bell and let yerself off.” ‘The conductor walked forward to the driver's platform and said a few quiet words to bis coadjutor. ‘Then he returned to his own plat- form, and, fora moment or so, as the car went on, he was silent. Finally he ‘directed his at- tention again to the smoker. “You'll have to put that cigar ont,” he said. The large red man rose to his fect, and as he did so the conductor pulled the bell for the car to stop. The smoker strode out to the piat- form, and, glowering down on the little con- ductor, held the lighted cigar under bis nose, saying: “That cigar ain't goin’ terbe put out. See!” The car was nowat 4 standstill and the driver was looking back at the two men on the rear platforin, Ho ‘snw the little conductor let fy is fist at the large red man and immediatel, he let go of his brake and gave each of a ae cut with the whip. EES JOKES AND JOKERS. ‘Some Persons so Obtuse That They Can’t Us- derstand a Witticism. ‘TREY ARE MOSTLY ENOLISH—A FEW STORIES THAT FULLY ILLUSTRATE THE DENSITY OF THE BRITISR, INTELLECT, FROM CHILDHOOD TO OLD 4G, TO AN APPRECIATION OF PURELY AMERICAN HUMOR. ANY OF THE PARKS ON A BRIGHT other day that were having sn animated dis- cussion. A couple of English sparrows had hopped near to them and were quarreling out- rageously, as sparrows do, overs piece of bread crumb. “Oh, Harry!” the little girl was saying, “look at those dear little sparrows. Let's ran home and arsk mamma to give us some salt to put on their tails so that we can catch them.” The little boy didn’t see the matter in that light, but expressed @ desire for a gun or # cannon or # howitzer or some other death- dealing machine with which he was confident he could ennihilate the sparrows, He then came down to the little girl's level and pro- ceeded to make fun of her for supposing spar- "rows could be caught by sprinkling salt on their tails. LOVE ON 4 BEARSE. A Breesy Idyl of the West Side of the Big ‘Wingy. ‘From the Chicago Herald. Everybody on the West Side knows Barney Bullivan. He drives a hearse fore Madison Not long ago Barney met the Widow Mo- Graw, whose husband was killed last summer in the Burlington yards. It was at a wake that Barney became acquainted with the Widow MeGraw. Barney was invited to eall, which be Barn forgot all antil 10 o'clock yetierday morsiogt ite went to sere eral stables on the West Side, butcould not hire s horse for love or money or b “Don't yon see, goosie?” he said. “Don't you | bo: tee? If you get near enough to the sparrow to put salt’ on his tail youre near enough to catch him anyhow. You are a girl and girls don't know much, but you ain’t such a goose as not to see that. Don't you see? It's a joke, goosie!” . jo,” said the little giri, “I carn’t see it at all, and I don’t like jokes, so there ! From the way in which she pronounced the word can’t it was evident that she was either the daughter of an Englishman or of an Anglo- sollekss is wancarpant nesionetoeieugen be to jokes it was it Jolin Bull's own little island. A COMMON CONUNDRUM. Why is it that English people can't under- stand jokes? They are not always stupid, and they are fond of enjoying themselves, but where an American sees 4 capital joke and goes into fite of laughter the Englishman sits grave as a preacher. “Here's an account of a single accident.” said an American at the club, reading his paper. to an English acquaintance, “a man sat on 8 buzz saw accidentally and was killed. ‘They buried both of him in the same grave, I aup- “Ah! both of him? How's that?” said the other solemnly. You can’t put head and brains into a brass door knob, as Mr. F.’s aunt picturesquely e: pressed it in “Little Dorrit,” aud you can't make the ordinary Englishman gr extremely American joke as the one just given. The late Gen. Robt. C. Schenck used to tell a story showing the English girls to be as ob- tuse asthe men. He was going down the Mersey river with a party and the turbid waters of the stream prompted him to let loose to his companion, who was a young duchess, that ancient witticism that is generally. supposed to have been original under similar circum- stances with Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Looking down at the yellow river he re- marked: WRONGLY CREDITED JOKES. It wasan observance of Max O’Rell when he came to this country that any good witticism that happened to be running at large was at- tributed either to Mr. Chauncey Depew or to Mark Twain. It is doubtless true that many (aes things have been attributed to these cele- rated wits that they never said, but at the eame they have said many good things that have been accredited to others, and still more good things that have never got ont at all. Here is a good joke that has sometimes been attributed to Mr. Depew; but that in real- ity happened to a certain distinguished lawyer in New York who is, as yet, a mere amateur wit. He was sitting in his office writing when a ‘isitor walked in. ‘Lam Mz. Smith,” said the visitor. “Oh, yes!” said the lawyer and went on writing. f ‘I am Mr. Smith of Brooklyn,” said the vis- itor more pompous! “Oh. then, take @ chair,” and the lawyer opened letters. “I am Mr. Smith of Brooklyn, Smith’s son,” said the visitor loudly. in heaven's name, man, take two jaitor_had been an Englishman he would doubtless have remarked upon the un- reasonableness of the invitation. A NEW ENGLISUMAN STOR a Here is an Englishman story that has hitherto escaped publication. It happened when an English delegation came over here a few years ago on a diplomatic errand that they were iven a dinner party at Delmonico's, and when fs speechmaking began an American who is a tremendously funny fellow got up and began to banter the visizora, saying they had come over to get the best of the Yankees, but would end by getting hunks of oak instead of hams, nd so on, until the whole dinner table was in convulsions of merriment. One Englishman, however, peer of bis reali, eat grave and solemn, and when the American finished felt calied upon to expostulate. He thought the gentleman had been severe— not to say unjust—to his fellow countrymen. they wished to be fair, but what was there for them to doy Here an Americaa sitting near by lost patience and cried out ; get a steam drill : “My neighbor here,” went on the English- man, “suggests that we get a steam drill? Now what would you do with's steam dri Here the laughter was so uproarious that somebody pulled his lordship’s coat tails and miade him sit down and he never, to this day, has been able to understand why everybody laughed or what was the sense of getting a steam dril CHARLES LAMB'S BAPTISM. What Mark Twain and Chauncey Depew are to us nowadays Charles Lamb was to English people in bis day, with this difference, how- evor, that Charles Lamb never made speeches or delivered lectures and for the very good reason that he stuttered so badly that it was difficult for him even to talk and when he be- came excited his stuttering became really very bad indeed. An American, who has just ré- turned from London, tells’ how he atiempted to tell an English woman i hed Charles Lamb Joke and got squelehed for his pains. |The lady spoke of immersion baptisms and the American asked her if she had ever heard of poor old Charles Lamb's experience. She hadn't, 80 be told her about it with all the dramatic which he was eapable, It appears that Charles Lamb went to witness a Baptist immersion and wishing to enjoy the experience he stammered out to the officiating “SDucdu-duck me!” and they ducked him, nd brought him up sputtering and gasping for breath. “-Dudu-du-duck me, "hosaid again, and again pat him an “Du-du-duck me,” and for the third time he was di being brought up more dead than alive” ‘Then be succostied it getung out the whole sentence. = are flag tenngendaanper eae baa A ge ad 6 lady heard the story with a; face cient the American hed fi ve strange, vehicle circling, they didn't know what and the widow paid no attention to the caustic comments made upon them from time to time. They enjoved the drive es well as they would have done in a landau. home it was ail that the Widow MeGre w will soon Ieee me bone to Sullivan. a He Had No Native Country. ‘From the Catholic News. James Redpath used to eay that he never had native country. He was born in Berwick-on- Tweed, in the “Debstable Land,” «narrow strip of land between England end Scotland, which for centuries wos inhabited by a race of people half English, balf Scotch, of whom Sir Patlaliy”” They were Suows in Betas ity. They were known in as the borderers. Berwick was their town. It was the only walled town in Scotland, if it is in Scotland, and the second walled town in England, if it is in England, ally. It is at the mou! on 5 the two crowns were united the English claimed Berwick, as they had held it Toccentarion feo e the m agreed on as a boun ine, and Berwick was on the Scotch side. ‘As the English never give up anything except from force, and as the Scotch never let their grip, they made a compromise and declared Ber- wick and ite “lberties"—a few miles around the north wails—an independent town, neither Scotch nor English, and until a very recent period—since the war—every general act of Parliament has been entitled ‘An act, &c., for the kingdoms of England, Scotland, Ireland, the principality of Wales, and the town of Berwick-on-Tweed.” Compromise left him without @ country. His father was a Scotch- man and his mother English, and so he could claim neither country, either by place of birth or by blood. —_—_—__ces_—___. Baddha Worship in Paris. From the New York 8u Buddha is worshiped in Paris. Buddhists meet regularly at certain halls and private rooms in the French capital and pay their tribute of adoration to the light of Asia. Most of them are Japanese, s few of them are Frenchmen and bree are Englishmen. Qn February 22 the first formal service of worship was conducted by two Buddhist priests in the lnrge salon of the Museum for Comparative Re- ligious History. It consisted in a kindof mass to the honor of the ofTest, master, Ken-Bin, founder of the sect, Sin-Sin, which 'y 19,000 temples. Before the little Budd- hist chapel stood vases full of flowers and many burning tapers. ‘Two Buddhist pricete from Ceylon, enveloped ‘ficent robes, prayed before statue of Buddhe, offered in? conse and prostrated ‘Then one of them struck a frighten off wicked spirits ry ‘Amid frequent interruptions from and bell they sang the hymns “Gaths” an the ‘Sukawati-Uzuha-Sutra.” The ceremony was observed by Jules Simon, Jules Ferry, the English, Swedish and Japanese ambassadors and all the believers in Paris. It lasted just The two priests, who came to Jay man-of-war, will travel all over Europe and will hold services for the refreshing of believers in the large capital cities. eventually return to Japan and establiel to a school for Sanskrit, Pali and Buddhist theology. <= 0 bod ae tt ‘The Experience of a Wealthy Italian With the From the New Orieans Tiunes: Democrat. Apropos of the Mafia and the terror with which it haunts and menaces thore who come under its ban, Mr. T. Wharton Collens yester- day related an interesting case which bad come under his observation in the performance of his duties asa notary in this city many years ‘ago. One or two of the persons mentioned are still living, and all were prominent in. their ‘own classes and in their own way at the time referred to. The story, as related by Mr. Col- lens, is as follows: “Giovanni Messina, an Italian outcast and native of Catania, Island of Sicily, was « con- = He commenced hie career in fhis city by idling oysters, which carried in a sac! on his back and retailed about town. The idea aS one, and Messina made some money. subsequentiy he became re the idea of utilizing oyster shells Tor paving par- poses, and it was through him that many of the Sotton premes of the city were so pared. In this and other no less novel schemes he soon amassed a fortune, and enjoyed the reputation among his own people, as well as of the entire community, of being a person of very great wealth. Some time during the year 1867» difti- culty occurred between Messiia and another i resulting in the death of the latter, for which Messina was tried in the courts and ao- quitted on the ples of self-defense. “In the beginning of the year 1882 Messina came to me and complained of threats thet had inst his life in the event of his with certain demands for money that these threats and de- mands both emanated from some organized society in New Orleans, and he appeared to be exceedingly apprehensive lest the threats should be suddenly carried into execution. On September 12, 1882, he called on me agaii This time he produced a letter which he had just received. It was written in Italian, signed anonymo nd demanded the de) mediately and at the peril of his life the sum of $5,000 on the lot now occupied by the residence of Mr. George Denegre, at Lee place, at the Sad St. Charles street. Messina, however, jough badly frightened, and fully realizing ton sipstacue of oa arbitrary demands ‘upon his financial resources, made up his mind not to be intimidated into compliance, and ex- Pressed himself as determined to make at least ing my atiention to the weapon, declared that he was already partially prepared to mect his assailants, Atthe same time he made an appointment to meet me the following morning for the purpose of execut- ing his last will and testament. “On the 13th, which was the morning ap- pointed, he appeared at my office with three witnesses, viz, Manuel Brisolara, Gabriel Sintes and Antonio Matranga. He declared that he had no children, but had three brothers and two sisters living in Catania, and named as follows: Concetta, Francesco, ‘Antonio, Giu- seppe and Grazis. He distributed his fortune among his brothers and sisters in such propor- tions ashe saw fit and named as executor of his will one Juan olas, # very respectable eppearing Italian. In 1883, on the 17th of Sep- tember, a year and two days after executing the above will, Messina visited my office again and stated that Juan Nicolas, the executor of his last bequest, had just died, and that he de- sired to make another. His anxiety in this matter, he said, was inspired chiefly by the consiant demands upon him for money, accom- panied by threats in case of noncomplianc: and the consequent uncertainty of life. A though acceding to many of these demunds, be felt nevertheless that he might be murdered at ny moment, and he did not care to have his property go to his assassins, thus depriving his rothers and sisters of the fortune whic should go to them. He reiterated the provie- ions of the first will, and appointed instesd of Nicolas his friend Brisolara executor, the wi! and Henry De Barbieres. “Six months had scarcely elapsed before I received another visit from Meesina. He was now thoroughly miserable, and complained of increasing threats against his life and demands for his money, saying that he was being utterly Tuined financially by the continual drain upon ‘him, and that he had now become satisfied tuat he had made a grievous mistake in his estimate spoesiiliey of many ef toe threats thar teed sibility o reate that Soon made’ upon bis life, and was confident it deal of the money that had been om him was thro the instrumen- of He was satisfied that his intention of revoking his second will, under which Brisolara had been named as executor of his estate, charging that the latter against bis life as well as his that it was his duty to protect what the consequences did in the presence of An- Labrano and A. 8. Per- To know how thing isa real gift. Some HE q Etrsg 5 cp Sabet age # Fr | i ny ite i F iH : : [ E i 3 t iH E F Ba 1 E i i E I | i i i i i Every of the eom- paas had been observed to sway first one way ‘and then the other upon its pivot with no ep- parent cause, thus varying | true merid- ian of a place. Scientists Many yeers H i 1 5 F t f f % § & Lg i i i fl i Bg i 3 ii i j Fe et] i i ide cf Leis a i ie é Ha a ie a : H i } i l f i : it Spicuous character in New Orleans prior to |* KE KNEW “UNCLE SInLEE~ Met Hho First in War Times and Then at a Reunion. From San Francisco Examiner ‘There was a big celebration by the Grad Army in Philadelphia, and as « «pocial train fall of members from New York pawl Elizabeth, N.J.,a tall, gray-headed man entered one of the rear cars and took a seat next t o@ committerman, who was decorated with mote Dadges and medals than a French field mate shal. . t “Going down to the jamboree, comcader asked the committeeman. “Yes, sir,” ile. “Couldn't, eb? with interest, Many r '* the jolly sight with ofd Teramp. th a dern, though.” said the gray-haired veterata “No; it was like finding money. I'vee mind to tel! the boy during the great rl sold man’ is to be here himself ton occurre: it wouldn't do. “I shouldn't mind that.” “Weil, 1 dunno. You see f incident b, but it war like “Of course you were with Grant,” aid @e York member with a humorous wink Part of the time.” ‘Well, I was with Sherman—Atlanta to >» as the ight I ened shite: Just afier we strack the Weldon railroad, we About noon it let a # little and Sherman and I borrowed a dui from a b had the devil of a fight bushes for little game of draw.” “Queer time for poker.” 4 for a table and went into th» { “Ob, you see. fighting was a chestnut to utile those dave. while poker men good deal. Will Thorsed the old man pretty bad, and. when | last he opened a jackpot b ont, #0 he w next month him &200, re at P threw it in the Inet the drum and the act Day apt for vat cleased whe raned ® bullet ripped throdx® tion Was an ager The old man jumped saye—Tecump always call Pete + ? can't play this nowy but we'll finish it after the scrimmage. Hare, TU pat my hand under this stone and you yours in thxt hollow log.” ed for our horses fight that, Ho flectively. We did #0 rat said the tall veteran, re “You bet. Every time I got near the general ler back, most night went out, down, Tha hundred better nor he'd stand up in his stirrups, wave his sword and yell, “A hundred better. ete,’ and Ta ou. mle It ene before he ‘called’ me, and then th pot was a couple of th d oon nd fer supper be d showed o hings and Dee ree cump had four kings end an ace. Singur, wasn't it bet your boots I never j But here's the june ® drink. W rade?” emarkable. nt for it? How did you Why “som <, mind, but y Tecump “William T. Sherman.” Coal . BILLY PATTERSON'S ASSAULANT. at Last ‘The Identity of the Man Who Struck Hh Revealed. ‘count for #7"; lets go out and hare + might your name be, cola A special dispatch to the Globe-Democnat from Carnesville, Ga., says: The public mifd’ has been in doubt as to who etrack Billy I t= terson ever since that wonderful documest, mitted the assault. his will, was made and put upon record, in Which he offered $1,000 for the man who co” The facta, in bricf, are as follows: Many years ago, when this country was fresh and these was less law and order than now, there ware effort in bis will is to the o: get it. who can and, as Mr. cient Prof. A. Jobn strock snd wer to A'uumber of years a more, and after his death his will was probawd, in which the item offering €1,000 “who struck Billy Patterson” is found. remark : much sound advice one hundred claims for the money made bure. inary and clerk of the euperior coyr 4, whith large crowd of people in town, and «row was raised in which a number of parties tooke h_nd, and a number of fights followed bived flowed freely. After the fuss was some- the inguir: he died in for the but non» of the claims bave been accom: With the necessary proot to obtain the rowed, and it is still waiting the proper showing to! what settled, Billy Patterson, the rich Bati- more millerman, was in the edge of the la yo crowd, and was at peace with all mankind oud had no ill-will toward any one. pectedly to him and every one else, some une Realt hima feartal blow, from which be Ses felied to the ground, and ‘lay fur some time upor from the blow. He rallied and got up, and bis first inquiry was for the man who strike him, but no one snswered then offered $100 for the man who to striking him, or any one who would him the name of the party whostrack the brow. ‘The reward was unteken, and it remainec until after his death. Mr. Patterson returned to his home in more, but was never satisfied about the vin Very unra- He own fire ward, when visiting this section, made every: 7 to find “out who strech a The parties have been found, it is eafe toray,! the name of the asssilant and get, Morris week, and your 00! to the bottom, and found that Prof. M. Looney, now of this Mr. Pat haps, bis superior inp courage. he never admitted hitting the Mk, and it has remained a secret until a short wl ie o, when it was noised around that one of the! citizens of the town wus on Who was presen struck. and that a prominent was with him and that the light on this muciily -talked. -of mystery. of Bowman, who ever telling who the party was before is that he was a very large and stout man, and wae/of undoubted courage, y could give seme raised here, and was visiting ~ —y sifted the matter | & 3 * é eit ttt jorgen | "Toston eal BB Freeman decensed, then of this place, were the boys who were present and kj ay