Evening Star Newspaper, April 18, 1891, Page 11

ATTRACTIVE HOMES. The Time of the Year When One Thinks of Making a Change. HOW TO RENOVATE A ROOM. Moving About the Furniture to Give It Dif- ferent Appearance—A Sample Alteration in @ Third-Story Bed Room—Utilizing All the Space. ‘Written for The Evening Star. 6 EYE IS NOT SATISFIED WITH seeing” is an old truth and may apply to many things. Certain it is that many eyes are not satisfied with seeing things as they are, but must devise a change presumably for the bet- ter, anyway & change. Fanny Kemble in the delightfal “Records of a Girlhood” tells of a fancy her mother had for making changes in household effects and how, consequently, the rooms would be thrown into the atmost confu- sion every little while when a renovating spirit took possession of her. She would with the Greatest enthusiasm enter into the necessary labor and planning to bring about this change, and even if it did not prove the success hoped it was satisfactory to her as a “change.” WANTS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Thave hada friend who had something of this same feeling about achange aad would sometimes sacrifice a known good arrangement | im furniture or ornaments for the sake of | “something different,” as she would acknowl- | edge. Others again cling with tenacity to fixed and time-worn ways of having their rurround- | ings and the idea of change is all but appalling to them. With something of the spirit of the first named class the occupant of a certain pleasant room decided that by various alterations it could be made much prettier and that she could no longer let well enough alone, but must carry out some of the .deas with which she had for some time been inspired. The share of the room made furnishing more easy and sure to be successful than if it had been square or perfectly rectangular in every way. THE BAY WINDOW. A bay window in front had one side at a Tight angle with the room, with broad window | in front, and on the other side, instead of a Tight angle again, another window cut diag- onally across, giving a pretty view and a more | extensive one then the front window. Be-| tween these windows was a space wide enough for s dressing table, while at the side of | the slanting window was a straight wall | space wide enough to hang a picture. A much wider space was on the other and square side of the bay, and here some hanging boox shelves | were fastened. The room occupies the whole width of the house, including an alcove which isover the vestibule at the entrance to the house. This is connected with the room by an arch, and adjoining this arch is the wall space where the head of the bed comes. A door open- ing from the hall is opposite the front window, and on the fourth side is a low broad wood mantel shelf, extending -r in three sides of | the chimney, which is narrowe- hers thi the two stories below. This shel? is uphel wy wood bracketa, and is very sp ‘The room is iow, being in the thir. s looks larger possibly for that reaso3. CONTRASTING THE FLOORS. In contrast to the rest of the house, which has bare floors and rugs, it was decided to over this floor entirely with matting, the | India matting with plain ground and just dashes of color through it. The walls were | already papered tosuit the color design tobe car- Tied out, so they were left untouched, a rather dark terra cotta red being the ground tone, with a graceful all-over pattern in another shade | Of the same color. All piuks of a yellow cast, from old red to shrimp pink, look well with | this paper, as had been proved by experience. So there was no experimenting as to color | combinations. The old “bed room set” was | there was to be a | . G introduced. The bed to suit the new order of things must be one of the white ones with brass reils and | knob, the simplest pattern being chosen, with no gilt about the paint. The width is four feet, and this size suits the proportions of the room CRETOSNE LARGELT USED. The spread used on the bed is of cretonne, which also enters quite largely into the other furnishings, and which has ® groundwork of inch-wide pink and cream stripes, over which is scattered a graceful profusion of roses and inks in the French style of bouquets and gar- Ends. The spread is tuado to nesrly touch the floor op sides and foot, and is iinished with a cream-colored cotton fringe four inches deep and witha knotted heading. The swnall pillows used for sleeping are covered by » scarf of eream-colored dimity with a rufile six inches deep on the front and ends, and for the day effect only one pillow is lnid on this, which is nearly square and dimity covered, with the same very deep rufile all round th: > .: sid s. ‘This airy-looking garniture, with its fu‘ty ruiiles, toning so harmoniously wits tke creain ground of the cretonne, is very charming, and quite original as well, the experiment proving ® complete success. Just at the bed head and the arch into the alcove stands a small though rather high bedside table, Painted white, and with _ lower shelf nine inches from the floor. Dimity covers are also on this stand, just fitting the top and shelf. and with a nine-inch ruitle all sround, the shelf cover having the rufile open at the four corners to accommodate the legs of the table. The lower rute from the shelf just clears the oor. This was another experiment which is most daintily effective. On top a pin silk photograph frame for two picture: dlestick and a book or two are display: @ the lower shelf is always a depositor: of the Pepers or books indulged in for the bedtime , for the gas burner on the other side of the bed, on the narrow wall space befcre the Day window jogs out, is too alluring to be often Tesisted. The alcove forms the little dressing room of the apartment is very conveniently ar- ral Opposite the arched opening is the washstsnd, am beirloom, painted ‘creas white, with handsome brass handles ‘There is quite a deep Bpper drawer. with ‘open space the depth of the drawer, and the the lower drawer, the open space making a shelf, on which is a pink sachet, and which holds several articles. "The top is covered with & white linen scarf and has a toilet set decorated fm old pink. ‘The eplasher is a full curtain of cream dim- and over it hangs small oblong mirror and keyplates. jows—quite » medley as to the material used | span npn silk, art satin, satine and silkoline ail appear, but the tones of all bei the pinkish ones preferred in the room. smail wicker table full of trifles in china, pho- tographs and books sits near and an oak rocker with pink and cream head cushions comes next, sitting in front of | the (widest win dow of the bay, its opposite neighbor being a low rocker with high back, painted white. Another rocking chair upholstered in cretonne, @ cretonne-covered ottoman and small white chair finishes the seating capacity of the room. Between the windows is the dressing table, one made to fit the space and draped with cre- tonne, the top spread finished with the cream fringe. Over it hangs a tall mirror in very wide white frame. a festoon of flowers and rib- bons in relief being across the top, the being hung by = broad pink ribbon tied ina bow and ends at the top. Frilled curtains of dimity are at the windows with pink sash cur- tains. A small screen in front of the mantel Goncealing the register completes the furni- ture, I beli ee THE GREAT METROPOLIS. THE COPYRIGHT LEAGUE JOLLIFICATION RATHER A TAME APFAIR—REV. DR. BRIGGS’ HETERODOIT —A POOR SPRING FOR HEALTI—TYPHUS FEVER PREVALENT—METROPOLITAN NOTES. Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. zw York, April 16. HE JOLLIFICATION MEETING OF THE Copyright League and their friends at Sherry’s restaurant on Monday night was re- markable more for the character of those’ present than for the brilliancy of the proceed- ings. There is a floating proverb to the effect that literary assemblages are always dull. While that may be a harsh maxim, it hase large grain of truth in it. Everybody on Mon- day night was in the happiest temper and the dinner was excellent, though rather late. The speeches, however, were scarcely equal to the occasion and to the orators. Mr. Stedman pre- sided with grace, though he lacks a certain auctioneer aggressiveness which should accom- Pany a toastmaster ata publicdinner. Senatoz Platt, who sat in the place of honor at hisright hand, gave an interesting and instructive talk on the parliamentary adventures of the copyright and what the effect of the recent legislation might be. In the absence of Mr. Simonds, Henry Cabot Lodge made a straightforward, manly speech that woke up the meeting, though he spoke to a constituency that has littlesympathy with force bills. Every one waited to hear George W. but he was not called upon till mid- iking out the hour just as he arose, and making a solemn obligato to the music of his voice. Mr. Curtis is easily amon; the half dozen great speakers of our day, ani cannot fail to be charming, but on Monday night—or rather on Tuesday morning—be seemed to lack something of his accustomed fire and finish. A feature of his remarks w: one joke by Evarts that deserves a new circu- lation. He said that at the great dinner to Dickens in Boston a telegram was received from Evarts regarding his inability to attend and saying that Dickens had had laurels on his brows, and he hoped that soon he would browse upon his laurels. ‘The authors, who are under- stood to be now about to do the browsing, ap- plauded this vigorously. DR. BRIGGS’ HETERODOXY. ‘The New York presbytery on Monday took important preliminary action in the case of Dr. C. A. Briggs, the famous Union Theological Seminary professo., whose recent utterances have so agitated and alarmed the more conser- vative element in the Presbyterian church. The resolutions then adopted were couched in the language of inquiry and seek information t the same time this is recognized by Il as merely “a reconnoissance in force.” Un- | doubtedly the question of Prot. Briggs’ ortho- doxy will form one of the most exciting and prominent features of the coming generai as- sembly of the Presbyterian church, which holds its session in Detroit in the latter part of May. Prof. riggs was not present at the meeting of the New York presbytery oa Monday owing to illness, but he is thoroughly alive to the nature of the proceedings against him and is in a very combative mood. He will be backed up, more- over, loyally by the faculty of the seminary, who have recently honored him by special promo- He has been very appropriately selected as one of the delegates to the general assembly and so will be on hand to meet his critics in case, as now seemsinevitable, there shall be a debate ai theassembly. The most fundamental questions are involved in the discussion, and many pres- byteries are very nervous over the prospect. No one is disposed to attack the learning or the piety of Dr. Briggs, who is very widely known and admired in’ the church, but cer- tainly there is reasonable ground for question- 1g whether his attitude toward the accepted interpretation of the Scriptures is compatible with the office of an authoritative instructor in a Presbyterian theological school. As it hap- pens, Prof. Briggs’ new professorship—that of biblical theology—is the one of all others where unorthodox views would be regarded by most people as dangerous. A POOR SPRING FOR HEALTE. Just now the city is rather anxious about its health. ‘The grip has proved to bea very seri- ous infliction, and the totals keep up to an alarming point in spite of the soft, bland at- mosphere of the past few days. Even more serious has been the outcropping in various localities of the dreaded spotted typhus or ship fever. So far as can be traced all these cases originated in Hamburg, which we judge must be a pretty dirty place. A number of cases have been reported and the public have been ex- posed to a degree which makes a general epi- demic possible: however, it is not thought that the disease will get much of a foothold. The grip itself seems to be developing more and more acute symptoms in some cases. Not sat- isfied with inducing suicide, the latest report is that it led one man to murder his wife. Just what a jury will make of the disease remains to be seen. THE CRIME OF BEING KICKED DOWN STAIRS. When the indignant Mr. Pickwick visited the office of Dobson & Fogg, it will be remembered that the distinguished savant had his temper cousiderably ruftied by the speech and behavior of Mr. Fogg, and went so far as to address to him harsh and threatening language, where- upon the wily Fogg, after calling two clerks to the bottom of the stairs as witnesses, proceeded in the most irritating manner to suggest to his gry visitor that perhaps he would like to use bim further, call hinf a thief and use actual violence; and we are told that Mr. Pick- wick might have resorted to this extremity but for the prudence of Mr. Weller, who saved him from himself. No doubt Dobson & Fogg could = white frame. ‘The front side wall of the alcove is nearly taken up by a window which comes to ‘he floor and opens on toa little bal- ony with hooded roof. ‘The opposite wall has a similar openin; wheres door leads into the next room, con ceale pending a Roman bianket, whic! ‘with terra cotta predominating. 4 TWO-FOLD SCREEN. A two-fold screen shuts off all that is desira- ble of the toilet arrangements and is hung with eretonne like the rest in the room, with lower edge and edge of valance trimmed with cream fringe. The six rounds at the back, for a roomy clothes horse painted white, is the satis factory foundation and gives pleuty of room for towels. Just under the arc is an openwork bracket painted white, and on it standsa shrine frame, inclosing @ photograph, also painted white, both of them originally in dark wood and therefore cast aside, but made quite effec- tive by the transformation. Near the screen but just the other side of the arch is an antique oak chiffonier, having on it & white scarf embroidered in old pink. has a design of carnations, which flower is the one Sppearing in the wall paper, also in the cre- tonne and in the China silk of the Book case curtains. This is a standin bookcase evolved from boxes and coffes well’ The coffee matting covering With the neutral shade of the floor matting, while the china silk of the curtains has cream Ground, and just such flowers as appear in the eretonne. The curtains are trimmed with silk tassel fringe in the colors of the silk and are shirred ons brass rod with a tassel edged val- ance falling is ease accommo- dates ¥ books, its top ® pretty photograph on an col air of little Dresden candlesticks ‘and is completed by an e ram hite which hangs over it. A number of other, pic- ‘tures are in the room, most of them black and white in white frames. 4 OIPST TAREE. Just beyond im the corner near the mantel @ gipsy table with a cretonne spread edged with cream tassels, and “hich holds lamp with shade. The mantel has a variety of obj on it, of course, the most noticeable pink Jar filled with branches of the oat dh make heir visitor pay dearly for any hos ation he might have made, but wedo things very differently sometimes in New York. One day this week an angry individual kicked a man down stairs, and instead of the victim getting heavy damages the man who assaulted his visitor had bim arrested and heavily fined for disorderly conduct. ‘METROPOLITAN NOTES. Blaine’s correspondence with Rudini meets with uni approval here. it is thought to be characteristically shrewd and apt. There is some wonder expressed as to what Italy will do, but no apprehension is Secretary Foster's visit here is closely watched by politicians and merchants and is generally thought to be of an important bearing on cus tom house and banking arrangements. New Yorkers breathed a sigh of relief on learning that the state legislature is to adjourn on the 30th of this month. It is ami or would be if it were not so humiliating, what « terror decent people feel for our lawmakers at Albany. This year they have been more than usually obstreperous, and but for prompt and Vigorous action they would have passed a num- ber of infamous measures. Stanl departure for gen was in strik- ing contrast, for spectacular effects, with his entry. He took away with him $110,000 in good American legal tender, but it cannot be said that he departs with added reputation. He swung around the circle asa lecturer, ac- cording to program, but he was a sad disap- pointment asa speaker, though the box-ottice Feceipts held up very well to the end. He has not been at ali well, and has, perhaps from necessity, kept everybody at arm's length. His young wife seems to have made a favorable impression, though she is not thought here to be either so wonderfully beautiful or so inter- esting as Americans were prepared to believe from her London reputation, ity, that only two American making Ex.ior. ‘any money. Bexar eee ‘Wild Violets. ‘They smell of the rain, the sun and breeze; Of the long, cool suadows of cedar trees Of the brook that sings down its mossy ledge; * Of the bending ferns and the rustling sedge; Of velvet musses that Keep the det Aud of sweet dead leaves that last year knew, They smell of the chili pure breath’of dawn; Of wind-swept hillside and sun-swept lawn; iy to, ‘With cross striped cover and with a number of Of rose-brier hedge and of winding lane: tad Ai we UY Int CMadeune k Bridges in Puck. THE EVENING STAR: ‘Written for The Evenina Star. AT THE NATIONS DOOR. Sketches Among the Immigrants Landing at New York. the bernian, and I was amazed at the thoroughness of the plan which, with scarcely any friction, distributes every year these thousands of hu- man cargoes to every corner of the country. A lighter, densely packed with Hollanders, happened to be unloaded while I was going through the building, and I had good oppor- tunity to observe how the system works. Asorrier lot of human beings I never saw. They stepped off on the gang plank into the building two by two, generally a man and his rife, their bands tightly clasped, as though each was afraid the other would be effaced from the earth. In the d hand of each was an enormous box or carpet bag or Perhaps a tightly packed bundle, luridly yellow or red in color. curious thing to see was the almost childlike dependence of the men upon their women. The great yokels were jerked about hither and thither by their wives, who kept up a constant rattle of harsh directions and were obeyed without murmur. ‘TYPES OF NOTGRANTS. Atthe entrance to the building from the lighter were stationed two sharp-eyed medical inspectors in uniform, whose training has taught them to detect af a glance any sign of contagious disease. ‘They scanned very closely each emigrant walking up the plank, and three men, who had some sort of skin disease, were called aside in good Dutck by one of the young physicians. They were examined and sent to the contagious disease ward,all three whimper- ing like infants. They were afterward shipped back whence they came. Those who passed the medical inspectors were herded like cattle in @ large pen, where they were to be singled out” by their relatives or friends—those that had any. There was a large crowd of theso relatives in waiting, and their prosperous and well-fed looks contrasted strongly with the hopelessly miserable appear- ing crowd of new arrivals standing with open mouths in the pen. The names of these latter were called out in Dutch by ono of the trans- lators, and their exuberant happiness was re- markuble when they were reunited with those that had come to the new world before them. Many, however, we-e grievously disappointed at not being met by those whom they had ex- pected, and tho air was filled with lamentations. ‘A POLISH BAPE. Having gotten thus far the bewildered Dutch- ™men were taken to an official who examined them, ag to their means of support, whether they had come on contract, the amount of money in their possession, &ce. If they got through this ordeal satisfactorily (and several were rejected on account of the contract labor i ey were taken to the money exel where good American dollars were givén them for their greasy notes or hard-gotten coin, which was invaria- bly sewed up in their blouses or tied into ries of hard knots ina heavy cloth. This oper- ation over with, those that were to proceed fur- ther on their journeys were taken to the tele- graph office to notity those at their point of tination of their arrival. Those that were to stay in New York and swell the already enormous number of non-assimilative Euro- j ees were sent to the information urean, wl they were directed | where to find lodging with their countrymen and given other neceseary instruction to protect them against sharpers, after which they were dum indiscriminately into rickety open carta, a dozen or more in each, and, sitting on their boxes and they were hauled through se- | to concentrate it. The concentrated the streets of New York-“their misery changed to roseate happiness, their countenances strewn with gr 4 GROUP"OF WomEN. Such is the routine that is carried on without hitch day after day and in such wise are at- tended to wants of this he eous new population around which Uncle folds his mantle of tion. There are missi barge office, and, as soon as the emigrants are released from the custody of the offsiain, they are loaded down with liberal supplies of tracts. ‘Those quite friendless and without relatives in country are generally taken to the various where they remain until they have become less bewildered and more able take care of themselves. T learned last night, on the very best author- | #2n," people from other climes arriving in this coun- bo Aad od _ but age FB thnged ici men ray tac, Sing A 000) than of any other race country last yar; then follow Italiana, Swedes, Scotch, Swiss and French, in she order named. ‘The sketches givon4n this article wera made as the new arrivals landed by one of the young physicians, and any one who has been at the iFge office or at old Castle Garden will recog: nize the types. Ouuuex. ———__ +02 —___ DISEASES BRED TO ORDER. Pictures of Consumption, Typhoid, Pneamo- nia, Diphtheria, Etc., Made by Photograph. SCRAP OF AN OLD TOPER'S LIVER. The object was nota pretty one, certainly, though a whole temperance lecture by itself. Dr. William Gray, bacteriologist of the Army Medical Museum, had it on a glass microscope slide. To the naked eye it was not definable as anything in particular, and that was why the expert desired to make an enlarged photograph of it, so that its structure might be observed satisfactorily. For this purpose he employed a camera, with which a microscope was #0 in- geniously combined as to forma picture mag- nified by several thousand diameters. 4 GRUESOME EXHIBIT. Thus presented the scrap of toper’s liver ex- hibited a gruesome aspect toa Stam reporter. Its substance was pervaded in all directions by tibrous tissue that signified disease, eventually fatal—for the inebriate was dead—caused by excessive alcohol. It would have been a most appropriate exhibit by magic lantern at a pro- hibition lecture. Dr. Gray had lots of similar photo-micro- graphs of dis tissues at hand. Some showed fragments of lungs attacked by con- sumption, with the rod-shaped bacilli imbedded in them, as if caught in the act of gobbling the material of the air cells and surrounding them- selves with lumps of dead matter called tube: ples. Other bite of different organs of | the ody displayed in like fashion various other Kinds of th minute vegetable organisms known as “bacteria”—among them those which pro- duce by feeding upon the parts—pneumonis, diphtheria, carbuncle, erysipelas and typhoid r. They were all unpleasantly suggestive and occasioned imaginings that such parasites might possibly be located in the observer's own corpusa proposition, however unlikely, yet impossible to deny with certainty. There no picture of the bacterium that causes ‘grip,’ because it has not, so far, been caught and properly identified. EFFECT OF BRIGHT’S DISEASE. One melancholy picture showed onan enor- mous scale the emall corpuscles in the kidneys, the use of which is to strain the poisonous ele- ments of the urine out of the body, with their fibrous coats so thickened as to impede this process of nature, thus causing the poison to absorbed into the system. That is Bright's disease, and it had killed the person from whom the contribution depicted had been secured. In fact,the expert of the Army Medical Museum passes his working hours literally in the midst of the debris of disease. He had at least a dozen of the most horrible complaints known to humanity shut up in bottles—enough in each receptacle to convey its particular sort of in- fection to an army—with allof which he kindly red. to inoculate the reporter, if desired, within twenty minutes. It is apart of hie busi- ness, with scientific objects in view, to propa- gate’ these physical woes on gelatine, duly Tri the English, Irish, or begions, Danes, xc Loui VARIOUS KINDS OF TUMOR. On one of the doctor's tables was a considera- ble heap of fragments of various kinds of tumors from as many different individuals. piece of a tumor, upon being obtained from « “subject” living or dead, is first soaked in al- cohol to take the water out of it. Then it is Put into chloroform to remove the alcohol; after which it is placed in a bath of melted affine. The latter fills up the tissue, maki it @ solid that may be preserved indefinitely, and, when the fragment is cold and hard, it is cut with a machine miade for the purpose into extremely thin slices for photographing. For the making of such photo-micrographs ordinary light will not serve, and so there is & big mirror outside the musetim building which reflects a beam of sun's ray through # hole in the outer wall into the dark room where the camera is. In order that the beam shall always strike the hole the mirror is controlled by an ingenious time instrament called a “‘heliostat.” SUNSHINE CAUGHT IN A HOLE. ‘Thus, at any hour of the day, the beam shines through the hole and is projected directly into the camera itself, first passing through a lens beam is more brilliant than the most powerful electric light, so that the eye cannot look upon it. After passing through the lens it on through another glass inclosing a fluid so con- centrated that it will only Bai the chemical rays in the beam to pass. Light, it must be un- , is made up of rays by which one sees things and rays which accomplish chemical ac- tion. Photography isa chemical process, and therefore it is desirable for this purpose to pass the concentrated beam through a sifter that will stop the luminous rays and permit the mical ones to go ahead. ‘They do go ahead, for example, throngh the slide of glass to which the scrap of liver is attached, and entering the tube of a microscope, produce an enormously magnified image on @ sensitive plate in the camera beyond. —_— In the Interest of Education. ‘The Michigan senate has passed a Dill re- quiring that mayors or other officials au- thorized to issue permits shall not grant @ license to any newsboy under fourteen years old, unless it is shown that the applicant has attended school at least four months during the preceding year. ‘This Dill also applies to telegraph trict mes- songer boys. Sentenced for Life for Murder. The trial of Will Decker of Elmira for the murder of his mistress, Nellie Foster, formerly of Brooklyn, N. Y., ended yesterday ing | tion of things. morning in a verdict of murder in the second was sentenced to Auburn for life. The defense was insanity. Retribution Quick in Kentucky. William Skaggs, an cighteen-year-ol4 col- ored boy, went up into Allen county, Ken- tucky, ‘recently and while there became engaged in » difficulty with William Kirb; white, resulting in Kirby being fat cut. Yesterday seven masked men pursued he was to escape shot and dead. How She Lost Her Lover. ¢ "Twas a summer ago when he left me here, A summer of smiles with never a tear, ‘TU 1 said to him with a sob, My dear! Good-bye, my lover; rel For I loved him, oh, as the stars love night! Andy’ cheeks Yor him tasted red tad waite ‘When he first delight: Se eee, Eases Set a « - 6¢TAWS ARE FUNNY THINGS. THE crocodile’s lower jaw is not socketed in the ‘skull, as is the case with other animals, but the | g7, skull is socketed in the jaw, so that the animal ean lift the upper part of ite head as hinge and so capture whatever prey may be at hand without going to the trouble of getting upon ite legs. This is a great saving of ex- ertion to thessurian, which delights in wooing soft repose upon the voluptuous and buxom mud bank. It was Herodotus, the father of history, who first commented in recorded writing upon this surprising circumstance respecting the crocodile.”* =, So Osteologist Lucas of the Smithsonian In- stitution was saying to a Stan writer yesterday, ote oon tad other le of nature’ “You can find an example ‘nat 8 adaptation of the jaw to use in he case of cer- tain carnivores, like the otter—a big weasel that has acquired aquatic habits. The jaws of such beasts are so fixed in the sockets that disloca- tesnoh Sas St ie ite dad pe ne ren iT e] the jaw from the head. This serangement is evidently designed to enable the beast to bite to the greatest advantage without danger that the chewing apparatus will come loose. TRE ELEPHANT'S JAW. “The elephant's jaw, on the other hand, not ig | being intended for biting but for grinding vegetable food, is an appendage almost sepa- rate from therest of the skull. Although enor- mously heavy it has only small articulation connecting it with the upper skull, and its whole weight is carried by the muscles, in which it may be said to be slung, so that it can grind back afid forth. AX OUTRIGGER Jaw. “A snake's lower jaw is attached to a sort of outrigger extending back from its skull. Also the two halves of the jaw are connected by elastic ligaments, so that it finds no difficulty in so stretching its mouth sideways and_per- pendicularly as to be able to swallow animals iuch bigger than itself. Some deep-sea fishos are similarly rigged. “The human jaw is very loosely socketed in dislocated by the the skull, so that it is often mere act of yawning. Not being intended for biting purposes, offensive or defensive, no at- tention seems to have been paid by nature to making it fast. aN AXOLER. “While we are speaking on this subject I may as well show you this little stuffed fish, which has uo more popular name than ‘autennarius.’ It angles for smaller fishes with this appendage on top of its head, which is de- signed to imitate a worm. The autennarius keeps its imitation worm wriggling just above ite mouth and, when e vietim comes within reach, it is gobbled promptly, the jaw of the angler being set vertically ‘instead of ho1 zontally, so that it can receive the game by simply opening at the top, a gentle suction as- sisting the performance.” i cepetaiasa. Cobbler Sprague’s Frugal Wife. A Wilmington, Del., dispatch to the Phila- delphia Record says: Ten thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks has been found secreted in an old table in the residence of John Sprague, a shoemaker at 721 West 2d street, in this city. The money represents his deceased wife's savings for thirty-nine years. On Janu- ary 27 last Mrs. Mary Sprague, wife of the cob- bler, dropped dead, a victim of heart disease, in a drug store. The couple came to Wilmington from England thirty-one years ago. The hus- band is about sixty years of age, while the wife Was nearly fifty-nine years old when she died. ‘They were frugal and industrious, and during their thirty-nine years of married life the hus- band weekly gave the wifea certain sum of money for her use. He never questioned what she did with the surplus, but supposed it was regularly put in bank. Yhen Mrs. Sprague died search was made for the bank book supposed to exist, but to no avail. The house was ransucked also. but no money wasfound. Finally Mrs. McGinley, a neigh! juggested, as she had a dream to that effect, that possibly’ the treasure might be se- creted inan antique table, and this article of furniture was examined. ‘Tightly wedged in an inside corner of the table were found a bag of goldand a roll of greenbacks, which, being counted, amounted to $10,000. The newly found money was at once deposited in the bank. Afather and two sons constitute the family. has just received word from Mr. Spragu England that ho has also fallen heir to several thousand dollars by the death of a relative. ——~e-_—___ Destruction of the Oyster Beds. From the Philadelphis Record. In 1888 there were 4,000,000 bushels of oysters received at Baltimore from the Chesapeake bay beds, but this season the receipts to the same ‘A | date have fallen below 2,000,000 bushels, while packing houses threughon: the state are closed, and from all parts of the bay comes the story of exhausted beds. ‘The violation of the culling law and the consequent destruction of the young oyster is responsible for the condi- The law is a dead letter anda great industry is being ruined. Nearly ten years ago Prof. Brooks of Johns Hopkins Uni- Yersity issued o warning against the wholesale depletion of the oyster beds, but the work has continued and even now the oystermen do not seem to realize the gravity of the situation. Rev. Charles W. Barrett Dead. The Rev. Charles W. Barrett, professor of historical theology in the Garrett Biblical In- stitute at Evanston, Ill, died early yesterday morning of Bright's disease of the kidneys. WASHINGTON, D.C. SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1891—SIXTEEN PAGES. NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE LIFE OF FERDINAND MAGELLAN, and 1490 ls. By F. H. H. Guillemard, M.A.. M.D. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. ‘Washington: Brentano's "ATESMEN’S DISHES. Practical Autographic Recelj Cookii more than 900 ladies Prominent in ofl and socal it ae the Ne Capital, New York: @. W. Dillingham. A MYSTERY OF THE CAMPAGNA, and A SHADOW ON A WAVE. By Vox Degen. ‘Washing- ton: Brentano's. AT LOVE'S EXTREMES. By Mavnice Tuowr $0N, author of “A Girl,” ete. eto. ‘New York: Cassell Publishing Co. Washing- ton: Brentano's. A CHRISTIAN WOMAN. Bazan. Translated b; ‘York: Cassell Pul Brentano's. 4 Ewrtta — eco. gton: ea "ANISH ARMADA: A Ballad of fsa By GLAS SLADEN. New York: Cassell Pub- ishing Co. Washington: EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE: An Eple Drama. By DOUGLAS SLADRN. New York: Cassell Pub- Mashing Co. Washington: 8. BROOKE'S DAUGHTER. By ADELINE SERORANT, author of “The Luck of the House,” etc., ete. ‘New York: United States Book Co. A BAFFLING QUEST. By Ricanp, Dowz1xo, ‘author of “The Mystery of Killard,” etc., etc. ‘York: United Stace Book Co: THE WOMAN OF Ic! ted from the Trench of ADOLPHE DaLoR. Sait Paul, Minn? ‘The Price-MoGill Publishing Co. A WRONGED WIFE. By May Aoxes Fueurxa, gathor of “Guy Eariscourt's Wife,” etc, etc. New York: . W. Dillingham. HEALTH WITHOUT MEDICINE, B ‘H. Meap. New York: ‘Washington: Brentano's, A POETRY OF EXILES. New York: Cassell Pal ton: Brentano's. ‘THeopoRR & Co. Dovatas Suave. Co. Washing- AUSTRALIAN LYRICS. By Dovetas SLADEN. ‘New York: Cassell Publ Co. Washington: Brentano's. MAUPRAT. By Gzorge Sap. Translated by ‘Henrietta E: Miller. Chicago: Laird & Lee. LSERELEES CECA GAITHERSBURG HAPPENINGS. The interest manifested in the proposed branch railroad from the Senaca quarry, con- necting with the B. and 0. at this place, is again revived and indications, point to an early commencement of operations following the surveyed route, with perhaps some slight deviations. Since the suspension of trafic on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal the quarry has tically suspended work, thus depriving rac’ Washington and other places of « great Amount of valuable building material. mpny ere road will be hi ‘advantageous to Mont- ighly gomery county, will promote the farming as Well as mineral interests of that section and will open =. the richest section of country in the state. The opposition manifested by a ma- jority of citizens to its proposed route through the incorporate limits will, no doubt, cause company to cl its survey, as the original survey ran through some of the most valuable property in the vicinity of Gaithersburg. REAL ESTATE NOTES. Mr. Carson Ward has purchased a lot in Brooks & Russell's subdivision, corner of Brooks and Frederick avenues, and will erect & store house upon it at once. it. B. Mills has commenced the erection of a large and commodious residence in West Gaithersburg. Mr. John Seay is building quite an extension to his store on Frederick avenue. Mr. 8. T. F. Sterick bas completed his resi- dence on the heights and will move in about May 1. ‘There are more than a dozen dwelling houses and stores in different stages of construction going up here. Gen. Rutherford is making extensive improvements to the grounds of his beautiful country seat, constructing walks and drives, and is making farther acquisition to his choice collections of flowers and shrubbery. PERSONAL MENTICS. Mrs, Edwards of Washington is visiting her father, Mr. Geo. H. Meem. Mrs. H. ©. Miller is convalescing from her recent illness. Mrs. W. L. Williams of Nero, Va., is visiting her brother, Mr. K. H. Miles. Mrs. W. H. Coon, who has been quite ill with a carbuncle and “grip,” is improving. Mr. Harry Lipscomb of Washington spent a portion of this week in Gaithersburg investi- gating openings for investments, and was the guest of Lee M. Lipscomb. Miss Kate Hough of Brooklyn, N. ¥., is making @ protracted visit to her uncle, Mr. H. C. Miller. ENTERPRISE. ———_ Quiet Again at Blackfoot, Idaho, A special from Blackfoot, Idaho, says: “Everything is quiet, and no apprehension is felt by the citizens of an immediate outbreak by the Indians. Although the ranchers are thoroughly armed and ready for any emergency they have returned to their usual pursuits. The opinion here is that the parties who fired ou the Challis stage were whites, disguised as Indians, as a man by the name of Houston was expected to pass down that day with a large sum of money, but he went by another route. Indians and squaws are to be seen on the street in large numbers.” ———+e-___ The Elections Act in Minnesota. The Minnesota house of representatives has concurred in the senate amendments tothe elec- tions bill and itnow goes to the governor for his signature. This act extends the Australian ballot system to the whole state, and the amendments were to require voting for individ- ual candidates and forbids bunching of candi- dates in voting. HOW A WILY HUSBAND ESCAPED A CURTAIN LECTURE. From Life. ll PLANTATION DELICACIES, Some of the Things the Negroes Liked in Days Before the War. RoW MOR CARE IS MADE—LIKEWISE Asm CAKE AXD CORN PONE—HOMINT NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE—CATFISH POTPIR AXD MUSKRAT ProTrIE— (WAYS IN WHICH S4¥BO HELPED OUT MIS FRUGAL LARDER—ABOUT THE BAXI0. It is eaid in the Old Dominion that: Rye Mand bid it te the bre “That is a highly sensible piece of verse, though most people nowadays don't know what it means,” said Prof. Otis T. Mason to a writer for Tue Stan. “For that matter, thereare few persons in this generation who know how ® real hoe cake is made. It is simply a mixture of corn meal with water and a little grease, fint- tened out and stood up before the fire on the back of a blade of « hoe. The Old-fashioned hoe for farming pur Poses owas oa = bigeer and clumsier instrument than the modern garden tool and its blade served admirably for a griddle on the hearth. In the old days the negroes used to | sleep commonly in their eabins, lying on the floor with their feet to the fire, and the joke of the poem is in the notion of the old mammy to set up a cake against the sole of every bare foot and so do the cooking, the bottom of the farm hand's pedal extremity being supposably im- pervious to beat. HOE CARE AND ASH CAKE. “The hoe cake is an institution peculiarly associated with the old-time negroes, who doubtless invented it, as they did many other famous dishes of the plantation. They all sar vive to this day among the colored people. An- other of them is ‘co’n pone,” made of meal and sour milk, with a little shortening. It was | cooked in’ a Dutch oven—a big pan on legs with a cover to it that was set among the burning coals in the fireplace and covered up with the coals also. , When it was done the thing was to transfer it to a dish without tarn- ing it over, and this the good cook accom- | plished by taking off the lid, seizing the pan by | ‘the handie and throwing the cake up in the | air so that it revolved in its descent and fell upon the platter all ready to serve. “Ash cake was the sume thing as hos cake, only that it was cooked in the hot ashes, in: | closed between two cabbage leaves or corn shucks. properly buttered, is a morsel for the gods. Corn mush, cooked in a pot that ung from a crane over the fire, was an- | other favorite negro dish on the planta- of all was tion, but most appreciated hominy. An old colored woman said to me tl Mars Mason, dar ain't no such hominy now as dar used to be.’ Iam de- cidedly of her opinion. The negroes used to make it by soaking the whole corn ina weak solution of +h removed the hard outer cont from the kernels and left only the soft and delicious pulp. Nowadays the same object is accomplished on a large scale in big factories with the aid of stronger ac The re- sult does not taste like the hominy of old. And how delightfully the old woman used to cook it! After soaking in the lye the corn kernels were put intoa cavity dug | out in the end of a big log and pounded with a great pestle until the husks came off The re- maining portions of the grain were then boiled | until, when the mass was rolled out of the pot, An wy from the frying bacon was poured over the hominy, the three together—hominy, bacon and gravy— composing the celebrated “hog and hominy.’ “Of course, corn not being an African veg- etable, the negroes did not bring their taste for it from thence. Their addiction to it is ex- plained by the fact that corn formed part of the regular ration dealt out according to law to | each slave. Each slave received 60 much corn | meal per day and so much bacon, but in the rice growing regions near the coast the latter vegeta- ble took the place of corn, naturally. M pression is that in some parts,near the ri master was also obliged to distribute a given quantity of herrings or other fishes. Where the black-eyed pease grew they were a chosen negro diet, and F ec bad the advantage that more of them could be raised on an acre of land than of anything else imaginable. Of wheat or wheat bread the slaves in the south saw littie or nothing. Corn was with them the staff of life Some one was telling me yester- day, though I don't know how true it is, that among the colored people of South Carolina rice and gre known, as “Hopping Joho,’ and hominy and pease as ‘Limping Dick.” ADDING TO THEIR LARDER. “But the old-time negro of the south had many ways of adding small luxuries to his sim- ple larder. The streams were free for the pickaninnies to fish in while their elders were working in the fields, and the small ‘chilluns’ were accustomed to exercise an ingenious diplo- macy by making a present of the best that they caught to the ‘missus.’ It was not their custom, however, to take all their string up to the house for the lady to choose from, lest, perhaps, she take the whole with thanks; they found it more judicious to exhibi: merely « portion of their luck, leaving the rest hidden for supper tl evening in the home cabin mayhap to help out the breakfast the next morning. dish in which the folks delighted was catfish pie, which was made just like a chicken pie, only that catfish ‘was used instead of the meat of a fowl Another deli- cacy was muskrat pie, composed on corresponding principle.’ Chicken was an ccvasional lurary. Tomy mind, if it be tree that the negro is apt to have a propensity for chicken stealing, he comes very naturally by it. You see his own hens. on the plantation were forever getting mixed up with marsa’s, #0 that it was very hard to tell which was which, and when he made a surreptitious visit to marsa’s hen roost at night it was not to steal, but merely to convey away his own property,which a sought marsa’s coop and perches by acci- ent. THE "POSSUM. “There is an old saying about the ‘nigger’, the ‘possum and the banjo, that the three go naturally together. Itiseasy to see why the darkey slave should have been fond of the "possum. Fat meat of any sort was unknown PROPLE WITH QUEER IDEAS Veritable Cranks and What They De and ‘Think. Special Correspondence of The Evenine Star Partapenrua, April 17. WAS WALKING ALONG SPRUCE STREET this afternoon when I saw a very reepectable- looking man just abead of me turn hastily up an alley and proceed thereapon to strike bis thigh with many resounding thwacks, after which he regained the street and went on bie ‘way eedately, as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary. About two equares further on be dashed up another alley and repeated the Performance, the blows he bestowed upon bim- self being #0 forcibie that one could have beard them half @ biock away, I should think. I wondered very much, but what struck me es even queerer about an hour afterward was to see a person in ® tall hat and spectacles on Chestnut street who made bis way along the crowded sidewalk with one arm akimbo and the other held outward from his body ina curve with the hand upward. In this attitude, which was calculated to somewhat impede bis movements throngh the jam, he | slowly and carefully, zigragging this way and learned that as if to avoid touching any one. | xem friend thet this individual imagined | that teapot and that he io ambulate in the manner described for fear of having bia spout or hie handle broken off. The other fellow who slapped bis thigh, L was informed, was merely a victim of little fits of nervousness, which he was thue in the habit of trving to relieve without attract ing any more attention than was necessary. MANY QURER PROFLE. Philadelphia is great town for queer people. Tused to know a well-known post here, who, while engaged in composing hit vermes, would seek inspiration ina very peculiar manner. He would write two or three lines and, being at a loss for the next, would dash upstaire three flights with wonderful speed, taking the three ata time and down again, usually the idea he sought in his grasp. A few mo- ments later he would get «tuck againand the performance — wo be anew. The exercise same intellectual sons ordinarily was accus- gave stimulation find in the room or even in scratching their heads. streets of this There isa crank familiar to the city for many years, of some asthe teapot gentleman “Locomotive Man.” He locomotive and makes b thoroughfares with gre over somebody, moving his arme like piston rods! IMPERSONATING NOTARLER ‘The friend I have spoken of told me sbout ‘an old woman well known to him and bis fam- ily who labors under a sort of varied delusion, impersonating to her own imagining different historical characters. At one time she will be Queen Elizabeth, at another Martha Washing- ton, at another Mme. de Pompadour and so on. There are quite a number of « rtory, and the wonderful thing about it is that, although a very uneducated person herself, she makes her great people speak in excellent language and refers to contempora- Neous personages as well as to facts in bistory with wonderful accuracy. Where she gathered her knowledge no can surmise. I myself once was acquainted with a somewhat similar Iunatic who had a notion that -sbe was Marquise of Carabas and wife to Puse-in-Boots. She used to delight in attiring herself for sup- osititious visite to court in bite of finery which ndly disposed people gave her. PERPETUALLY TO BE MARRIED, There is a maiden lady of uncertain years in Philadelphia who suffers from an hallucination to the effect that she is perpetually going to be married. At precisely a certain hour each day she makes her appearance from her bouse dressed for the bridal and ye some imaginary destination, y church. At a certain corner she invariably gets out and takes the next car back, to go through the same performance twenty-four hours later. Who can tell what sad story of disappointed love may hold the secret of this poor woman's blighted intellect? A more cheerful type of maninc is a gentleman who en- tertains a belief that his body is not a solid, but is in a gaseous condition, so that he isin danger et any time of having bis constituent elements dissipated in such « manner that he will be un- able to gather himself together For this reason be is careful to avoid di Another man is firmly persusded that he is suffering from the effects of poison, adminis tered in small doses by some person unknown. The poisoning is supposed to be accomplished by telepathic process, the secret con- ceiving in his own mind the idea of a toxic agent slow, but deadly, which be communicates to his victim by an effort of will. All that the latter is able to do to defend himmelf is to take antidotes, which his physician adi in the shape of colored water in bottles. INVENTIVE CRANES, Two inventive cranks there are here also who have taken much interest in the recent patent centennial. One of them makes serial naviga- tion his especial hobby. He bas devised « plan for reaching the north pole in # balloon, ing along a compact litte apparatus wherewith to generate what hydrogen gas he may need, as oul us cuppen, ta vanes ta Purposes at Ligh altitudes. His echeme is to horth until he reaches @ point beyond earth's attraction and there to remain sta- tionary while the sublunary orb revolves beneath. This it -vill do, of course, at the rate of 1,000 miles per uour. ' As soon #4 the adven- turous seronaat sees the pole under him he will let his gas escape and quietly descend. The other gentleman proposes to connect alll the great cities of this country by vacuum tubes big enough to contain cylindri cars. To describe the working of this in ‘con- trivance in his own words, “Yez take all the air from in front of the kyar, put haif a dozen decent people inside and touch it up from be- hind. Pop! you are in Washington. hepato the operation, and pop! you are ” Once more, aid pop! you are in Chicago, ‘The difficulties of travel are rejuced tom all, and the human race, through the social in- tercourse of nations, is’ transformed into one happy and harmonious family.” War, he de- clares, is brought about by Inck almost to him. Fat hogs in those times were not found in the south and the bacon served out for rations was pretty much all lean. Now, the ‘possum is of fat and to the “negro it was a delicious va- furnishing him at the same time with food, medicine and clothing; for he made a cap of the animal's skin, and the noses of the pickaninnies were always greased with the fat when they had colds. Brer Rabbit likewise was an addition to the cabin larder on occasions was eaten fresh killed, while at others he was hung up and dried for juent consump- tion, exci ‘a watering at the mouths of the amall fry for weeks perhaps before the time came for his apotheosis in tpie. “Of course, each negro family on the tation had its little track patch behi cabin, from which came many good things in the way of vegetables, biack-<yed poase being a chosen Concerning the origin the banjo, by the way, there has been much dispute. It is not true, as has often been that the instrument was fact. veheg on Ameo earl sell toon! Se remedied by” the establishment of quick methods for passenger transportation. The Burden of Wealth,