Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1891, Page 10

GENERAL VIEW OF CALY: CALVI, CORSICA. A City Claimed as the Birthplace of | Christopher Columbus. A FRENCHMAN, NOT ITALIAN. So It 1s Claimed by M. G. le Notre inan In- genious Article in a Paris Weekly—The Ar- gumente Employed to Sustain This Theory— n Englishman's Discomfiture. 66] ‘UNIVERSEL ILLUSTRE.” A WEEKLY illustrated journal published in Paris, fm ite issue of March 21, 1891, contains an | article on the birthplace of Christopher Co- | lambus, by M.G. le Notre. which has been | translated for Taz Evexrxe Star by Mr. E. D. | York, as follows: Al The train from Genoa toward Rome is passing along the railway near the shore of the Medi-| terrancan, and the travelers are speaking of | ‘the scenes unfolded to their ‘The even- ing sun lights up the islands to the westward, there isa cry of admiration and one of them oe See Gorgona and Capraja: yonder is the | Island of Elba, and behind it Pianosa, Monte | { Cristo and Giglio. What recollections arise at their sight. The dark line along the horizon, ‘that is Corsica, a small island, but great in his tors, and from whence bare come twomen who have more than all others left their name upon the world—Napoleon and Christopher Colum- ros." PORTRAIT OF COLUMBUS. “But,” sid another, ‘I always thought that ‘Colmbus was born at Genoa. I have seen upon the square of Aquaverde the s'atue which that City erected to the most illustricus of its chil- dren; a guide even showed me the house in the event occurred.” first daysof Columbus. The Cienovese aca demicians discovered one in 1812 in the little street of de Molcento, and in 1545 M. Stagliero foand another—no less authentic—in the Carog- Dritto. Both of these houses seem to have, fiona, belonged to a Domenico Colombo: it is proven, or nearly so; but was he the father ef Christopher? Nothing is more doubtful. ‘There were persons by the name of ‘Colombo at Genoa, at Savona, at Bordighiera, at Albano, at Sampferdarena, at Sestri, at Kivarolo, at Leicha, at San Remo—everywhere. No name ‘was more widely scattered. “There were, then, evidently in the Genovese territories other persons by the name of ‘Co- Jombo’ than the father of Christopher. and all ‘the historical houses that one can point out to the tourist are not worth the document of authenticity. And although Savona and sev- eral of Liguria put themselves in the Fanks as claimants for the honor. like Genoa, ‘they bring forward only aftirmations of a vague eheracter, or documents which do not even furnish « basis for « reasonable probability.” “Then you think,” said an Englishman, “that ‘Columbus was born in Corsic: “Yes, at Calvi; and if you will give me your attention I will be able to show you the most convincing proots. “Very willingly,” said the Englishman; “bat how does it happen that he came to be known as a Genovese if he was from Calvi?” The Corsican did not hesitate for a reply. ‘He turned to his questioner eagerly: “You will first notice that his turbulent and cosmopolitan life rendered it almost impossible to dix exactly the place of his birth, while, on ‘the other hand, the municipal rights at Genoa belonging to the people of Calvi made it very easy to take one of them foratienovese. Then, Yoo, the jealousy of Genoa has been able, when ft was necessary, not only to favor but to im- pore this error upon the public. “But why did be never make known himself his native country?” “To that I will answer that tradition repre sents Christopher Columbus as a man whom spect did not allow easily to be interrogated, and for bisown part be spoke only so fer as was nec . But there was a graver reason for this silence. For sixty years the people of Calvi had been at war with the King of Arra- gon, and its marine struggled for nearly a cen- tury against this hereditary enemy. Columbus self saw bis first service against Spain. Bat we know that by the force ofjcircumstances was compelled to pray the court of | Spein that Ferdinand should give him justice; | ‘we know that hie children made the same ap- picstion in their tara, “and that at one ume y¥ were compelled to have recourse to the tribunals to make the king observe the articles ‘of the contract which ha:i been made with their father. One can casily understand, then, that to take the name of « native of Calvi at the @ourt of Arragon would have been a most im- Prudent thing.” “But.” said another, “if Christopher Colia- Dus had an interest in concealing the fact him- self, why is it that the Corsican bistorians have mo: claimed this illustrious man?" I ‘& CORYER OF CALVI. “That would, indeed, appear strange if one consider the ‘ery, peculiar situation of the history of the island. Calvi was first and most important colony of Genoa in the Island of Corsica. Tyrannized over by the jovernment the Corsicans con- founded in hearts the hate which they bore toward the metro) with their feeling toward ite offspring. This sentiment was so keen that it even existed down to the end of the last cen- ‘ary, and the Corsicans saw not without pleas- the shells of the enemy setting fire mm of Calvi You may understand, it that the writers of contem- times, Petro Cirneo, Filippini and Lim- enly historians who would ha: Fears on the seas and were absolutely lost to sight by their compatriots, and this may very have happened to Christopher Columbus.” Very well, said a skeptic i theless confess that admitting Columbus was not born at Genoa—and I agree with you that there is no document militating against that assertion—you have so far given no proof of his birth in Corsica.” “I can refer you to an interesting volume upon this subject, which has been published by TAbbe J. Peretii, full of documents, and very complete, which should be read if one wishes to get at the botgom of the various ideas and solutions that bave beer presented in re- gard to the problem. I havea copy of the book here, and since you appear to be inter- ested and have asked me some questions I will ask permission to use the documents in this discussion. What else can one do ina railway car but talk? and what better subject for dis- cussion than a point of history or art?” The passengers nodded ‘assent, and the traveler opensd his book, when the English- man, who liad taken but slight interest in the conversation, said: “It is a discussion withont interest; for of what use is it today to know the birthplace of a man solong dead? Whether he was from Calvi or Genoa, what matters it “The truth is of importanee, sir; and unfor- tunately in the history of human discoveries poor Truth is so often badly used that it is a praiseworthy thing to defend her. It is in pe: mitting such errors to receive credit that honor has been paid to the Englishman Jenni as the inventor of ecine, when it was in re~ the Frenchman Rabaut lishman Simp- son for having discovered the use of ether, practiced long belore him by the Frenchman iran; to Newton for the invention of the telescope, which is really due to the French- man Marsenne: that it is claimed the Freneb- man Papin took from Jonathan Hull the idea mboat; and it is against error that this Tassuse you it is the worl of asincere and conscientious savant, pub- lished on the occasion of the fourth centenary of Christopher Columbus, honored by sub- seriptions from the four bureaus af the min- istry of public instruction, and it merits the attention of all who love the truth and who will take the trouble to read and discuss it, if they can; Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas.” ‘Tue Englishman retired to hiscorner and the Corsican took up again the conversation. “The historians ali conceding the impossibil- ity confronting them of fixing the birthplace of Christopher Columbus,the field then re- mains quite fr Calvi" cap enter and pre- sent her reasons. We cannot show you, indeed, the birth certificate of the grand admiral of the ocean, but its absence is explained by the fact that the archives were destroved at the very epoch when he was working for the realization of his great project. But in default of an au- thentic certificate we ean produce such a number of indisputable presumptions that the bundle is worth the most convincing proofs. “Where did Christopher Columbus go to re- cruit if not bis vessels at least his outfit? To Calvi, whose marine was exempt from the anchorage dues of all the kingdom of Aragon. The companions of Columbus whose names have come down to us are not numerons, but these names are for the most part those of old families of Calvi: Torres, Antonio Colombo, Balestrier, Agnez. Ail these Corsicans were in America at the same time with Columbus, and it is perfectly well known that the 149% in Santo Domingo a pack ot hounds which Columbus sent ag: the Indians. ‘They were Corsicans whom we find since the sixteenth century as governors of the two provinces of Porto Bello and Panama, which provinces comprised a part of the coun: tries subjected to his government and that of his descendants; and these Corsicans were all men of Calvi. How shall we explain the resence of these people of Calvi around Co. fumbus? Would he, if a Genovese, have chose among strangers his strongest supports, his most intimate confidants? Jt seems quite im- probab! “Besides this we know that proceedingin order with the names that Columbus gave to the different islands, as he discovered them, he called the first Sant Sauveur (San Salvador) and the second Concepcion. The two first ports that he named were called Senta Catalina and San Nicolas, and he baptized as the Island of San sTRErT WHERE COLTXDCS LIVED. Juan Bautista an island that the aborigines called Borichen. Now, upon entering the an- eient oratory ef San Antonio, situated in the citadel of Calvi, the first thing which attracts the attention isan old sta . ting the San Saivador of the world; the Concepcion has an altar in the church of San in Bautista at Calvi, and in the same t x Santa Catalina and a San Nicolas of great an- tiquity. Fi it should be noted that San Juan Bautista is the patron saint of the town of Calvi, and it becomes quite evident that Colum- busin naming the lands which he discovered was inspired in his thankfulness to God for having brought bim thither by the religions souvenirs of his natal cit: “Bat possibly these mystieal arguments may be too refined for our skeptical epoch, too etherial. perbaps, for the practical side of ma- terial things. It is then necessary to push the resumptions farther, and M. Peretti has well fulfilled his task in reconstituting the family tree of Christopher Columbus at Calvi with so sauch precision that this part of his work Is equivalont to a certificate of birth in good and proper form. “The historians all agree upon these points: That the great navigator was descended from a family of warlike sailors, represented by cap- tains of great renown in the wervice of prineos and traversing the seas in the character of cor- sairs. Now, this family has existed, and it was #0 purely of Calvi that, following a Corsican custom, it took that name. her Calvi delivered Po; lacopo Calvo fought for Gaete; in 1442 Antonio Calvo went to the assistance of King Rene at Naples; in 1477 Giovan-Battista Calvo was in- trusted by Genoa with the pursuit of the Catalans; in 1431 Bartomeo Corso went to war against the Turks—yes, I'see the difficulty you suggest; all these pirates whose acts harmonize so well with what we know of the ancesters of Christopher Columbus were called Calve and } Rot Colombo. But that isa new proof added toall the others. If these pirates did not bear atGenoa their true patronym, but only the desig- nation of their origin, it was because the all- powerful republic would not permit Corsican families to bear their true names in its service. It admitted into its service only individuals, not families, whose influence might have been able to counteract that of the patricians. “No Corsican at Genoa is ev@ spoken of by the historians otherwise than by the name of his origin. ‘This inconvenience ceased as soon asthe family of Cslvi entered the service of Spain. They retook then the o: name, the illustrious and already ancient name of Colombo. Calvi & street which bears the name of Colambo, and for all time tradition has spoken of one of the houses on this street, a house in ruins at the prosent —_ as the birthplace of Christopher Colum- as. pains, that the true solution is none other than to return to his own nat France, the man who Nm ge peed a ak “Pardon, sir,” Engli sho emerged from hie corner, and tive seamed somewhat vexed. “You appear to be quite in err Chris Columbus, born about 1442, at Calvi, you appear to hold to that theory, would be no less a Genovese, for at that time, if I mistake not, Corsica belonged to Genoa.” “French, sir, French it .” exclaimed the excited Corsican. “Christ Columbus, born in Corsica about the year 1442, was in- was deed and really French. Listen. Ginstiniani says that in the month of February, 1488, the doge and the council discussed the matter of giv- ing tate city to the King of France, Charles and on the 11th of May took the oath of Adelity to that king. The Duke of Anjou next ssion of the city with the title of s0 in the name of the King of France. They livered to him the fortress of Castelletto and all those found on Genovese territory. Calvi followed the movement and. Fegan 2 1459 for the glory and grandeur majesty, the King of Frauce. So it was that Christopher Columbus in beginning his career upon the seas in that same year, at the age of fourteen, was French, with the title of a citizen of Calvi, as the Corsicans are today. The vessel upon which he sailed, under the orders of his uncle, went to war in the service of France, and so it was France that he first served. It is even beyond doubt at this period that tle family of Calvi was able to appear with ite name of Colombo. “Christopher Colunrbus is then doubly a Frenchman; once by the title of a Corsican and as coming from Calvi, and again because he made his debut under 'the government of France and in the service of France; after many years it was again when France was mistress of Genoa that he discovered the new world. Twice then will France applaud the centenary of Christopher Columbus which will be celebrated at Calvi in 1892.” The Corsican had reached this stage in his argument when the train halted at the station of Montalto. The Englishman scized his parcels, opened the door precipitately, jumped upon the platform and changed his seat to another ear. ——_——_+0-______ FACTS ABOUT KING CRABS. A Fish Commission Bulletin on a Curlous Delaware Bay Industry. WH28 HORSESHOE CRABS COME ashore to breed they seek the shallows in pairs, the male in each case riding on the back of the female. ‘This curious fact of natural history is men- tioned in a report on the horseshoe crab fishery of Delaware bay justissued by the United States fish commission. According to this authority it is only in Del- aware bay that the captute of horseshoe crabs can be said to constitute a well-defined indus- try, employing special forms of apparatua, although all along the Atlantic seaboard from Massachusetts to Florida small numbers of the animals are taken and utilized for fertilizing and other purposes. 1n that neighborhood the fishery in question is of very considerable con- Sequence, inasmuch as its product contributes most efficiently to the enrichment of land that has been exhausted of its natural vitality by cropping. The crabs are also largely used as food for hogs, and. fed tochickens, they are be- lieved to stimulate egg laying surprisingly. Although they are not commonly thought available for human consumption ‘many per- sons aver that they are exceedingly palatable when steamed. ‘The horseshoe, or “king” crab, as it is some- times called, is a very interesting creature, if only for the reason that it so closely resembles, being in fact nearly related to, the most an- cient Known crustaceans, called “trilobites,” which are found so plentifuily in fossil shape, beautifully preserved in geological deposits fifty millions of years old and more. These trilobites were the ancestors of all the crabs and lobsters of today. The king crabs are slug- givh animals, spending the greater part of their existence imbedded in the maddy or sandy bot- tom. During the cold months they retire to deep water, and it is only at the breeding sea- son that they approach the shore and are found the shaliows. This season in Delaware bay is from May 1 to July 1. Upon reaching the shore the female crab digs a shallow hole in the sand,in which she lays her eggs, the male thereupon depositing his milt over them. This accomplished the pair shuffle back into the water and seek the depths again, where they remain until the next year. The eggs receive no further attention, the young entering the water as soon as they are hatched and not returning to dry land until they have attained maturity. It — that the abundance of the crabs near shore at any time during the breeding season depends largely on the tides, the influ- ence of which upon the movements of the ani- inals is well recognized in the business of catch- ing them. When the moon is full the greatest numbers are taken. Wind also has an effect, a westerly breeze bringing them in abundantly on the New Jersey coast, while a blow from the east is most favorable to the fishery on the Delaware side. About 2,009,000 horseshoe crabs were cap- tured last year in Delaware bay, most of them being taken in pound nets and weirs con- structed for the purpose. Sometimes a single net has been known to entrap 2,000 in a tide, or 60,000 in aseason, but the number caught annually is rapidly falling off, because (he tish- ery is prosecuted in the spawning season, most of the victims being gathered in before the eggs have been deposited or impregnated, The yield in 1830 was 4,300,000 craba, more than twice that of 1890. ‘It seems likely that before very long the industry will on this account cease to be profitable. ‘Then the use of destructive forms of appara- tus may be discontinued, so that the crabs will have a chance to multiply unrestrictedly for few years. Last year ouly 276,000 of the crabs were taken on “the Delaware shore, against 900,000 in 1880, although no traps or nets are used on that side. The fishing there is confined to the water's edge and the shallows, being car- ried on with boats and wagons; but the deci- mation of the species on the Jersey side of the bay is accountabie for the decrease hhree factories for transforming horseshoe crabs into fertilizer are in operation on Dela- ware bay. usual method is to dry them in a furnace, grind them in a steam mill and mix the product with sodium sulphate. Some of the material thus prepared is sold directly to farmers and the rest gocs to dealers in fertiliz- ers, who subject it to further treatment. It is known commercially as “cancerine” and fetches from $4 to $5 a thousand pounds. eee A GEONGIA EVANGELIST. His Way Was Rather Abrupt, but It Was Effective. From the Atlants Constitution. ‘The death of Miller Willis, the Georgia evan- gelist, revives many interesting stories con- cerning his life and methods. He was certainly the queerest character that ever preached the gospel at » camp meeting, at which places he was generally found. His pure and holy life, however, was a model forall. But about his methods: He frequently stopped strangers in the streets and, planting himself in front of them, would announce some startling text and then disappear, leaving the man or woman to preach the sermon to his or her own liking. For instanee, he on one occasion stopped a stranger and shouted in ‘his ears: “This night thy soul shall be required of "Willis vanished. But a year afterward he met the man in another city. Willis had forgotten him, but the stranger knew his man. Approaching him, he extended his hand andsaid: “That text you shouted out so strangely to me on the Streets of Milledgeville set me to thinking. It was the means of my conversion!” On another occasion, a dark and rainy night in winter, he passed a crowded hotel in the city of Charleston. Men were lounging and smok- ing in the lobby. Willis opened the door, but the little figure in dripping garments attractea no attention. Suddenly, after rapping loud on the floor with his heavy stick, turned toward him, when Willis won't bea man in this house alive in fifty years from tonight!” And he slemmed the door and went out into the night. Some time afterward he was approached by a young man on a street car, wh himself, saying: “I have you and to thank you for in the hotel lobby one winter words have been ringing in my ears ever since, and I am now a Christian wan.’ The above are facts within the writer's le called him ‘Craz, Femoved from that, He bless knowledge. Some Willis,” but he was went about doiug good and his life was a ing to many. THE RIALTO IN SUMMER Interesting Gossip About Theatrical Matters. LOVE-MAKING ON THE STAGE. ‘Hatred and Malice Disguised—Geo. Knight's Sed Ending and What Caused It—Will Lin- coln’s Assassination Be Dramatized?—Side Lights on Bowery Characters. Special Correspondence of The Evening Star New Youx, August 1, 1891. RONSON HOWARD DROVE GEORGE 8. Knight into lunacy, and in sorrow for do- ing it has given a sum of money to him. That the day's news among the idle summer actors in upper Broadway, and it is the subject of the day's talk. Like most of the bold, bald asser- tions on the Rialto, it needs explanation and qualification, althongh it isn’t a lie outright. Sophie Worrall-Knight, the actress, hnd come to town to seek an engagement. She had met Bronson Howard, who had recently returned to America. “And how is George?” he had asked of Mrs. Knight, as they met castially at a theater. “We have removed him from the Burn Brae Asylum to his mother's home in Philadelphia,” the wife replied, “and there he will die before A witness of this dialogue reported that, While a further conversation was going on, the playwright gave a roll of bank notes to the Actress. Howard is rich and generous. Knight iy dying in poverty. So ihe incident was reasonable. But it is hardly fair to accuse the playwright of driving the comedian into lunacy, although it is a fact that a drama by Howard crazed Knight. The play was “Baron Rudolph,” and it was through the impersonation of the principal character that tho actor became a maniac. As the reader may remembe baron became = demented tramp, and’ was depicted with great fervor and vividness by Knight, but without success as a means of di- version. Audiences found the tramp an un- pleasant fellow, and all the more so by reason of the actor's clever imitation of the genuine thing. ‘They had been accustomed to merri- ment in this dialect actor, and they wouldn't accept his pathos in rags.’ Only one speech of his was satisfactory in the whole play. at do you want?” he was asked by a man into whose doorway he had strolled. ‘Thereupon the scarecrow of a wanderer aur- eyed his own plight rnefully and responded: lense dell maa scrmedings vet I dona tent Knight now oceupies himself day after day in meandering through his role in “Baron Rudolph” dazedly and indistinctly, except when he comes to the oue utterance which used to gainaround of laughter and applause, but that paseage he delivers invariably for its’ full dramatic worth, and he imagines that he heat the responsive ‘noise of an audience. After- ward he mumbles incoherently about the fate of the piece, beseeching imaginary enemies to give it one more chance, and fluctu- ating weakly between elation and despair. - HOW HE DISCOVERED THE CHARACTER. Knight had saved about #20,000 from his stage success since quitting the variety shows and going into comic farce when he hit upon ‘a man who, as he believed, constituted a good character for the stege. ‘This person was 2 tatterdemalion, who, although driven by mental and physical werkness to thoughts of suicide, proudly resented an offer of alms. He spoke the broken English of an educated German, and wore his rags with the air of a_gentlema Knight encountered him in the street and at once concluded that he had found the stage personage whom he had been seeking. He paid £5,000 cash down to Bronson Howard to write a suitable play and subsequently as much more in royalties. Public critics and judicions personal friends alike decided at once that though the work of playwright and actor was praiseworthy, their st joint efforts could not put a repulsive- looking tramp into general dramatic heroismn. Knight wouldn't accept the verdict and lost his last sense and cents in trying to reverse it. He dies a lunatic, like the man in whom he dis- covered the fatal character of “Baron Ru- dolph.” FOR THE SAKE OF LINCOLN’S MEMORY. In these days of covert booming it is not easy to discriminate between news matter and advertising devices. So, while it is a fact that a man has been busy ascertaining whether it is actually intended to put the assassination’ of Abraham Lincola into a drama, and it is be- lieved that he ix employed by ‘the law firm which includes William M. Evarts, nobody can be tree of suspicion that his errand isu't, after all, a trick of the proposed play's promote: There has been a great deal of talk and sure mise as to what Booth might do in regard to a theatrical representation of Wilkes Booth's crime; and now. just as it is sensibly con- cluded that the eminent tragedian could do nothing preveutive or suppressive, comes th: supposed action for the sake of Lincoln memory. The story gocs that sensitive ad- mirers of the martyred President, being shocked by the announcement that the great tragedy of assassination is to be enacted in mimicty by play actors, have determined to save the subject froin what they deem desecra- tion. So far as the theatrical venture is cons cerned it is meant to be mn and commercially buviness-like affai would, of course, Gain a money value from any opposition that fell short of prohibiti t issaid that Congress will be asked to pass a law against making a theatrical show of the murder of President. When it is considered that @ passion play was stopped by law in New York only # few years ago it is not difficult to conceive of legislative action of the kind de- sired by Lincoln's anti-dramatic friends. ‘One of the few actors that have not gone to Europe this sunmer was treating his artistic soul to soft siiell crabs and beer in a Broadway restaurant the other night, and to the admiring crowd surrounding hit he gave some interest. ing ideas of the fascinating trade he follows. AT SWORDS’ POINTS, “One of tho pleasant things in our business,” said he, “‘is having to play the lover toa women that you would like to boil. Oh, it's lovely to caress and swear eternal affection to a woman who is doing her best to queer you at every point. I suppose that it ix the usual thing for the leading man ot a company to dislike the leading woman. They clash at the start, y aee. In ® sentimental play the question is whether the hero or heroie will be the central great character. “The leading woman issure to clieve the play is all hers and the leading man has precisely the contrary notion. Hence the enmity. “There has been any quantity of men come to me and say: ‘By Jove, dear boy, 1 envy you your chance of playing your part with such a Sweet creature as Miss So-and-So.' All the time Miss So-and-So aud I simply loathe each other and 1 would just as soon kes a door mat ag kiss her. I've had some tough experiences of thiskind. Ihave more than once played leading business in a theater where the leading woman and I never addressed a word to each other exceptyon the stage. I have had to kiss lips that had deluged ine with gross in- sults and offer to die defending the good name of & woman who hated me as though I were a snake. JEALOUSY AXD HATRED. “One caso in particular was very painfal. I and the leading lady had had a frightful row, the culmination of woeks of jealousy and squab- Dling. She had called me some of the hardest names I had ever heard und [had threatened tocallina policeman aud have her ejected from the cama It was that sort of a wild, vulgar fight, you know. That night we played our lover parts as usual. Thad gone through ‘the most difficult scenes heroically, not shirk- ing the caresses at any point. She had little to do but submit, but in the third act she had a bit of sentimental business all to herself. It consisted of coming up behind me as I sat on a sofe, putting her fingers over my eyesand pross- ing her lips to the top of my head. Well, I was wearing 4 toupet in the part. She came up Dehind me, clapped her fingers over my eyes, and I knew’ there was going to be frouble. In the first place she nearly blinded me with the ressuro of her fingers and when she drew [ice Ttsh muy tonpet copasnte foams any bana, Instantly I threw my hands up and caught at whatever I could, as a drowning man will catch atastraw. My nails dug into her cheeks, but I saved my toupet, which she was dragging trom my head with her teoth. My next piece of business was to spring up and catch her in my ‘At the sume timo smothering her in kisses. ‘This I did, but through my teeth I ‘You she devil,’ while she, powerless to getaway, : ‘You dog and ‘And Sie curtain fl on the impression that we were two souls with but asingle t and that such stage practice in the art of would surely us to the altar in real life.” shows are being prepared to start out on tours between the 1s ae and the last of Sep- tember. Everybody in tho show business realizes that no more than half of them, if more than a third, can escape failure,- and therefore fright ‘the man: and actor@ concerned. The majority of the low comedians of America will be chock full of seri- ousness, under their jolly exteriors, when they next face audiences-and the competition for ublic laughter will positively be desperate. e disbanded companies are bound to be 80 bumerous that even the most sanguine farcers are scared. Perhaps the confessed variety shows will reclaim some of their deserters and prea by the failureson ‘the legitimate” “ At present variety talent is at a low ebb, and with apologies to the profession in poner the following episode is taken literally out of the Coney Island lower level of “der bi BOWERY LIGHTS. Feminine nature in the Bowery is not 80 very ‘unlike that on Murry Hill, though it may not always make itself conspicuous in quite such elegant fashion. It was 10o'clock on Saturday night when a strange scone was enacted on the first floor back of a rickety building standing on the great down-town boulevard of the poor near Canal street. A woman and a man were hard at work sewing on what was apparently avery gaudy dress. They did not but plied their needles with intense assiduity, as thongh the task in hand was one of very ‘un- usual importance. At laxt the mans! for a moment and said: “Mary, we can't finish this tonight.” “We've got to, Jim,” replied the woman. “You know what that tough said he'd do if we didn’t get his girl's dress done, and he'll carry out his word, too. Go ahead now and don't ‘talk.’ The man bent to his work agrin, and the mo- ments passed in silence. Then there was a noise on the stairs, followed by the appearance in the. room of a short, thick-set young man with dazzling red hair and a vulgar and hand- some girl in a sailor hat and faded jersey. ‘Say, is me goil’s costume done yet, Flaherty?” asked the red-baired young man in loud, coarse tones, ¢ ‘The man nddressed looked up at his wife, and the latter said: “Not yet.” “Well, why not,” shouted the young man. you'se took that dress ter finish off ter- ht an’ yer've got ter do it. Me goil is goin’ ter Coney's Island wid me termorrer, und she's got ter have the costume tomake her daboo in; see? Now, 'ma man of few words, an'I told yer when I was here before I wud lick Flaherty at 12 o'clock if the dress ain't fivished. Why don’t yer have some one in ter help yer? kind of a dressmaker are yer, anywa no goils? Flaherty, yer got two hours an’ Icome back. Ef the dress ain't done get your gruel.” “I believe if you whip my husband,” said tho sewing woman, “I can have yon arrested. You haven't got cause to whip him.” “Taint? Git out. Didn't he take this dros and say he'd have it done Saturday night? Well, that settles it. If he don’t keep his word I can lick him. Have me arrested! You're way off, you are. T'll be back at 12: sce? Have the dress done then, or Flaherty gets his gruel.” WHY FLAHERTY WAS NOT WHIPPED. The red-haired youth and the girl then left. At 12 they returned. The dress was not fin- ished and Flaherty would certainly have been ill-used had not his pale, miserable little wife sprang at the red-haired youth, armed with a air of shears, and threatened to kill him if e dared to touch her husband. The wretched Bowery dressmaker was a fury at that moment, andshe might have kept her word had the young rowdy persisted in chastising her husband. But the sight of the shears in the hands of the deter- mined woman was too much for vulgar brutality to withstand, and the young man fell back, saying he was intending to extend the time another hour. At 1 o'clock the dress was finished and the rowdy paid the dressmaker the sum of #2. That represented two days’ work. As the fellow banded her the money he observed that it represented a great deal of beer. ‘Then he said to the girl: “Come on, Kitty. We wants ter get some sleep or we won't feel like doin’ our turn in der show termorrer.”” Kitty followed her escort, turning as she left the room tosay with @ great affectation of digniige “It dey costume ain't right, Mrs. Flaherty, ‘ou will have ter fix it on Monday. Tain’t let- in’ Mike spend $2 for nothin’; se ‘The charming pair went away and the dress- maker proceeded to get a matireas out of a closet and make a bed for herself and husband in one corner of the room. Who knows that the Coney Island debut of Bowery Kitty as gide partner of Mike in a jig ata Sunday tent va- riety show may not lead to their employment in some farce-comedy of the future? Some of our fvotlight diamonds were very rough before they were polished. THE AGE OF SPECIALISTS. Excelling in One Brinch—Wili the Family Physician Disappear? From the Brooklyn Eagle. Nobody can have failed to notice the tendency to specialize which has developed during the last decade. The doctor mukes a careful study of one part of the body, The servant assumes charge of one department of the household and absolutely refuses to have anything whatever todo with the rest of the menage. The me- chanic decides upon what part of the business he will spend his energies, and the most urgent need of extra-hands in another depart- ment does not induce him to offer his assist- ance, although he may be acquainted with that branch of the trade aswell as his own specialty. At the dressmaker’s one woman tries on the skirt, drapes and arranges it, finishes and leaves the room before (long before) the cor- sage Bitter appears. Bat you, of course, have noticed that although the second “madame” fits and refits all the rest of the bodice, yet she docs not touch the sleeves, ‘That important task is for etill another, so that there are three fitters to be waited for instead of one, as for- merly. Naturally the gown that is produced by these specialists isa work of art as compared with that worn ourgrandmothere, but there is an endless amount of time lost by this spe- cializing which we could hardly say makes the women of today more attractive than those whom our grandfathers courted. In olden days a carpenter could build a house, but in these days, alas! all that is ehanged. Every man who hag been through the ordeal of building or repairing a house knows what it means to have the foreman an- swer to his question as to why everything is nding still by the statement that “the man who should bring the doors was ill today, and 80 nothipg could proceed.” Yes, the door spe- cialist is ill, and so the floor specialist and the window specialist can do nothing. All this hap- pens because the factories where wood is worked find it so advantageous to turn out but one article. Of course we do not fail to realize the fact thet our drawing room would look immaculate instead of just simply clean if we could afford tokeep & parlor maid, for does not Mary de- clare that “‘it is shurly not the waitrusses’ place to be fixin’ the parler.” It is the same with the cook, who says that she was not hired to pare vegetables, but to cook, and that a scullery maid is an absolute necessi soon as Sunday is 6a! y with her usual complaint ‘is not used tq cooking and washing both,” although nurse always arranges the luncheon on Monday and Tuesday. Long ago, when one maid with « little assistance could do all the housework, a man could afford to marry, but in these disas- trous days of specializing, he, too, must specialize and be ‘nothing but a bachelor.” It will not be many years before a family ee ‘ian will be a thing of the past. Your oy will some day be brought home with a broken arm. You will think immediately of the surgeon who lives but a few blocks away. Heis hurriedly summoned. As he enters the will look at the pationt and exclaim: “Oh, it is the arm thi broken. I could not think of having anything to do with that. I am 4 leg specialist. You must send for Dr. Brown. He sets arms.” It will be some com- fort while you sit waiting patiently (?) for Dr. Brown to know that an arm specialist is going to mend your boy's broken arm. Some comfort, yes, but mighty cold comfort. All the trouble and complication that has arisen from over specializing will, there is no doubt, straighten itscif. The system of spe- cinlizing is vomething new, and it is not en- tirely understood. It will probably be per- fected and made a thoroughly usefol snd im- portant factor of our civi but we may say almost with certainty that ists today to as great an extent as Unkind. From the Epoch. ‘He—“What can Ido to make you happy?” + ee le—' ’ She—“Me.” ‘From the Fiierende Biaetter. ‘Tourist—“What do you mean by lapping face?” idcbit ate 4 bad DRIVING A A Grest Disappointment Encouvtered in ‘Twenty Pounds of Rags. ‘From the Detroit Free Press. bs t t Old bottles! Ra-a-a-g- to buy!" Out pops a feminine head froma window and 8 feminine voice acke eagerly: “How much you giving for old rags today?" “Half cent, ma'am.” “Is that all?” in « disappointed tone, “It’s all we ever give, ma'am.” “But mineare lovely, clean rags. There isn't ‘any old shoes or corsets or bustles among ‘em. Seems to me you ought to give three-quarters of a cent.” now.” “Well, come in and I'll show you what I He comes sham! bag in one hand and a clanking pair Now you'll weigh them fair?" she says, pleadingly. “Couldn't do it, ma'am. Rag bizness is dull — in with old an ny of teal yards in the other. Yes'm.”* You won't cheat?” “And you're sure your “Yes'm; finest set of steelyards in this coun- ry. I gave $2 for 'em.” “Well, you weigh the rags carefull “Yes'm. Just twenty-two pounds. “Is that ail?” ‘Well, you can see for yourself, ma'am.” “But that says twenty-five pounds. You are trying to chea’ “+I take ont three pounds for the bag.” “Oh. that bag don't weigh three pounds.” “Indeed it does, ma'am. “I don't believe it. Now you just weigh it.” “How kin I, ma'am, with the rags in it? Here's your 11 cents. “I don't believe but those rags weighed more than that. Why, Is'posed I had at least fifty pounds of "em. “Rags is mighty deceptive, ma'am. Got any old bottle “Maybe there's three or four lying around. How much are they worth?” “Two cents a dozen for good ones. Any old rubbers?” right?” “Dead sure, ma'am,” and he goes on his wicked way. while sue’ burried off downtown and buys €8.50 worth of things with her 11 cents. ——— +0e —-___ A Sudden Shower. Barefooted boys scud up the street, Or seu under sheltering sheds: ool girl faces, pale and sweet. -4un froiu Die shawls about thelr heads Doors bang; aud mother voices call From siien homes; and rusty gates Are slamined; aud high abote it all ‘The thunder grim reverberates. And then abrapt, the rain, the raint ‘The earth lies gasping: And the eves Behind the streaining window-panes Stile at the irouble of the skies. The highway sinokes, sharp echoes ring; ‘The cattie baw! and cow-pells Clank; And tuto town comes galloping ‘The farmer's horse, with steaming Nank. The swutiow cips beneath me eaves, And Sirts his plumes and folds his wings; And under the cataba leaves ‘The caterpillar curls and clings. The bunble-bee 1s pelted down ‘The wet stem of the hollyhock; And sulienly in spattered brown’ ‘The cricket leaps the garden walk, ‘Witt the baby clapa his hands im And crows with rapture strange and vague; Without, beneath the rose-bush stands ‘A dripping rooster ou one le; oo Didn't Like the Anthem. From the Fpoch. “Miss Hijee didn’t sing today,” remarked a friend to the leader of the choir of the Church of the Offertory. “No, she has resigned.” “I thought she bad a good place. What was the trouble? “She was offended about the selection of an anthem which she had to lead off last Sunday and vowed she'd resign sooner than sing it, and she did.” ‘What was the anthem?” That's odd. 1itibensn, ‘Ihave been young and now am ol ———e-—___ Jobnny's Argument. From the Detroit Free Press. Johnny's mother went out when the table was set for tea, leaving him alone in the room, and saying that she would only be gone five minutes. She stayed nearly half an hour in- stead, and when she returned she at once no- ticed a deficiency in the preserve “Johnny,” she said, solemnly, “you have been at the preserves!” “Has it shrunk?” asked Johnny, anxiously. es, it has. ‘There was twice as much there when I went out as there is now. “Yes, but fon cast fone twir aa long as you expected to be,” was the clinching argument of the young hopeful. ee ee A Faithful Umbrelia, From Life. Mr. and Mrs. Bowser and Their Housekeep- From the New York World. “They finally brought up that bedstead this afternoon,” said Mra. Bowser after dinuer the other evening. “Dad, eh? Juste weck since you picked it out, ian’t it?” “Only four days.” “Curious how everybody takes advantage of you. They wouldn't have dared fool with me that way “That—that carpet isn’t down yet.” “There's another specimen of your style of running things! The infernal falsitiers agreed 10 be here two months ago!” “Oh, no, dear, They said some time this week.” “and they'll tn ber! Mra. you knew more about business. You verybody walk on youas if you were a wwiBut can l bring the here?” she pro- tenBtt ring the men up berc P “How is it that everything I order gets here on the minute? Because, Mrs. Bowser, | do business in a business way. If I should let you have full swing here where do you suppose we'd land at the end of six months?” However, Iwill show those carpet men that thy can't fo31 with Jonas J. Bowser, no matter what excuses dey can palm off on his wife. I'll slip ap and put that carpet down in about seven minutes.” “You~you don't mean it!” she gasped. “Certainly Ido. I don't eare about saving a dollar or two, but I propose to assert my inde- pendence. Where's the hammer?” “I wish you wouldn't. A carpet bas got to be nicely pat down.” _ ly. I have seen one or two car; in my life! Where's the tacks?” ik ‘But, I know how it will end,” sho persisted. “You'll get tired out, got mad, and then” —— “And then, what?" “But, remember, it is against my wishes. If ns don't blame me.” anything hap; ever blame you? When did an, “When did thing ever happen’ She gave it up, and he removed his coat, Yest, necktie and collar and disappeared up- stairs. The carpet lay in a beap on the floor, i he unrolled it, pulled up bissleevesand was ‘about to begin work when Aire. Bowser opened the door and observed: “I don't see how you are to get it down with- out a stretcher.” “Perhaps not. There are @ great many things in this world for you and every other Wife to learn, Mrs. Bowser.” She retired, and two minutes later beard the sound of the tack hammer. She stood it for five or six minutes and then went up and looked in on him again. He hud got the carpet tacked along one side, but she called out: “Why, you are tack! that carpet on the bare floor! There's tho Inning on the window- sill! You'd bave made a nice job of it, wouldn't | yor He couldn't crawi ont of it, and he contented himself with rising up and pointing sternly to- ward the door. She went out, but listened and rip! rip! as’ be pulled up his It was a quarter of an hour before she dared enter again, and then it was in response to @ yell which made the cook drop seven plates and the dog howl mournfully. 'W—what is it?” abe gasped, as she rushed into find Mr. Bowser standing on one leg against the wall. Vhat is what?” “Why, you whooped like an Indian. Your = red as fire, and something's hap- pened !” oo rey I = not in the babit of whooping!” be sternly replied, ‘and nothing bas happened. When I want’ your valuable services ll call on you. The exclamation you heard probably came from some one in @ loon passing over the house. le had hammered away for about ten min- utes when she looked in on him again. He had three sides of the carpet down and was tacking the fourth. Just asshe reached the head of the stairs he rolled backward out of the bed room door witha suppressed yell and a great “What on earth are you trying todo, Mr. Bowser?” she asked. “You up here again!” he shouted in replr. -_ teli_you to go down stairs and say there? Does it take 46,000,000 people to put down one confounded old carpet?” “But can't I hel “No, you can'thelp! Tl put the thing down alone or pull the side of the house down! No wonder the carpet men dasn't come up here to lay it! They cut it « foot too short on this side and foot long on the other ‘em around the house and I'll!—— What's the matter now?” “It's got to be turned around! You are try- ing to fit it the wrong way !” “No, T ain't!” “Why, of course you are! the other way! I told you not you'd” —— “Mrs. Bowser,” he began, as he crossed his hands behind bis back and gazed at her with « benign expression, “do Lrun this house or co you? “ “Well, T su you do.” “Very well, When man was created the idea was that he should ran the house. That's how he came to know so much more than woman. Tf Tam not competent, however—if you have ut down fifteen or twenty million carpets, and Paever saw one in my i hy, youd better Anish this job and ask the court to appoint a guardian over me!” jgrtitan't you better wait till morning to finish it “Not bya jug f kills me stone dead He banged the docr after her as she went out, and when he grabbed hold of the carpet and ripped it up it seemed as if the house lifted up 4 foot or more. : ‘Darn ye, I'll wallop ye to rags to pay for this!” she heard him growl as sue listened at ihe whirled Ge carpet accend the righ le wi the carpet around the right way, upset his saucer of tacks and bunched the lin- ing all up ina heap, and as he moved about he suideniy uttered another whoop and hobbled about on one leg. She knew this was the last straw and she fied. On her way down stairs she heard the window go up and the next mo- ment something scraped alongside the house and fell with a “kerwhop” on the iron fence. It wasn't Mr. Bowser. He came down stairs With his eyes.as big as onions and his face as red as paint, and aseoonss be could get his breath he shouted: “Your old carpet is down, Mrs. Bowser— down out of the window !” idn't I tell you before you began that”— ‘0! You wanted it down !” idn’t I aay you'd get mad and blame” Never! Mrs. Bowser, this is the last time I ever lift my hund to do’ anything around this house! I've rubbed more’n a yard of hide off my knees, skinned both elbows and driven thirteen thousand tacks into my feet, besides tting a crick in my back which will lay me up fhe rest of my lite” ‘But I told you in the very beginning that’ “That you wanted the carpet down! It is down! am down! That ends it! Il nail the old room up with sidewalk spikes, and if youeven ask mein the future to sharpen a pencil I won't be responsible for my ac- tions! Mrs. Bowser, good night!” ‘And as he limped upstairs and threw himself on the bed with ® jar which shook the house and stopped the kitchen clock she heard him It's exactly a fit todoit. knew Til put ‘er down if it ‘oan: SrAnd this comes from having a wife who docm't know anything about managing house!” WAS NOT ACCOMMODATED. A Visitor to Sen Francisco Has Difficulty in Buying Supplies, ‘From the San Francisco Chronicie. He walked into a Kearney street dry goods store yesterday afternoon and aeked for a pair of overall. It was evident that he had not been long in town, and the clerks eyed him with amusement depicted plainly on each face. “Very sorry, my friend,” explained the polite man bebind the counter, “but this is a dry store and wo have no overalls in stock.” “Ain't, ch? Well just give me three of your best faunel shirts and I won't kick.” “Sorry, but we don't keep them either.” WATERMELON REVIVALS An Interesting Citro-religious Event of Am nual Recurrence in the Par South. AGreen Cove Spring, Fla, dispatch tothe New York Sun eays: This town is in the midet of one of the most successfal waterthelon revi- valsever known in the south. The unusual fervor of the excitement is aid to be the result of the crop, which, exceptionally fine in and surpasses aurthing seen here cent years, The revival began some three weeks ago, a8 soon as the quality of cions yield had been prov fs now at ite height. As a consequer hold operations are at © complete # and business of every kin’ is seriou: fered with. The waterm event of annn. wcurrence in t| ing regions of the f colore: on the inter- ongest grip al way it ason the colo | tere aud m majority of the brethren entirely | Rive themselves up to the exquisite pleasure of the melon and the not | ligions co: conve *8 te fain of re- tee the ecstacy of As quickly to « ction that which an tr 0: on and a c | alta rantose condition. This ba condition i* next to heaven, the end # |for; but because of uration of | these trances or subjugetion to “the | power, it is called here, many of the in the present instance failing te Wl of their sb this season's Thus Mrs. Kirkpetrick’s cook lay in a trance for several days and neither cooked Ror ate, and this was when the melons were at their very best. Mrs. Buddington's colored 1 was bro ® dray at 2 o'clock edon the kitchen rigid and with “eves manifestation is termed, ree days Mrs. Budding: ack to the church in whicl Mrs. Butler's cook got rly in the revival, and abstitute being mant- ily a made ar- » their meals with « family ame street who are not dependent om servants. astry that is doing nea in the p few worldiy minded negroes and cart. “Business is by from the ho sot,” as this Until at the end of ton bad her carted she “got the power religion eypr until U olden our hours a ytime Jor such as attain satiety arly and are prepared for the relig- i betore nigh through- out the night for ailwho come. Many who come to scoff remain to be carted away, and those who have religion get it d hhke- Wise have weed muie cart. So this teaun- ing of preci gid Huma fre carly in the evening, and goes on until the bull bate cease their pursuit of noc The white residents ate so seri by the melon revival, ia cx sequence of the impossibility of getting any service done by the colored sisters, that some of them do not hesitate to speak impatiently of the whole business and to declare that those who get the most religion also lar the most melone from the white mans paich; and now and then « sister who bas seen many melon revivals and is thus prepared to take a conservative view of the situation replies: “Well, I “spects that's so." Allof the white residents are looking forward somewhat unpat to the closing of the melon season and che synchronous com. petition of the religious work; not because they mind the Joss of w fer melons, but because they greatly need the services of those who at all tunes, barring this period of annual occur- Pence, Gre fantbiul aud valved servants, —_ — see Koyal Masic From Le Menestrai. Would our readers like to know the favorite instraments of the reigning sovereigns and Princes of the day? ‘The Queen of Belgium is an admirable harpist; the Queen of Italy, to say nothing of her skilias a pianist and singer, 1s @ gracetal performer on the mandonn. burches are open twe day—in the da: of melor jous influ m8. most all the - English princesses. y the piano; Princes Beatrice plays ‘the harmonium in masterly style: the Czar of all the Russias predilection for brass instraments and the banjo; Queen View toria and her daughter Lacy (me) play the ore gan excellently; the Prince of Wales is a regu- owe on the banjo; the princess, bis , ean accomplished pinnist; the flute be- guiles the leisure bours.oi the Duke of Con- naught; the violin is the favorite instrament of the Duke of Kainburgh: Prince Henry of Prus- sia both plays and composes for the piano and violin; the Empress of Japan is a Lighiv skilled executaut on the koto, sort of harp, the national instruzgent of her subjects the Queen of Koumar ron the Larp and pine Of Greece devotes himself to acousuc exper- ments with bells and glasses, irom which he obtains extraordinary results; he also plays the cymbalum, the instrument of the Hungaria Sipsics. Optica m From the Pall Mail Gage ‘The narrator of the following was himself an excell amateur prestidigitateur: “The apartment being filled, the magicians began their performance. The audience sat on the floor about the fakirs, so that they had no way of concealing themselves or of hiding amy- thing. At their request I examined them and satisfied myself that Had nothing aboat them. Then one of the women stepped into the inclosure, the rest remaining bebind the spectators, who formed a close ring abous d The light was uow turned down @ and in a moment the woman's face began to be illuminated br « ghostly light thet extended quickly over her entire body. She then began to move round and round, uttering alow, murmuring sound the while, mickening the pace until she wa about like stop. A moment of this, and the ight that had clung about ber seemed to be whirled off by centrifugal force and assumed a pillar-ltke form beside pon ae this was accomplished sh ped, turned and began to mould the light with ber band, and though I could distinctly see her hands move through the light as if it were @ cloud, it began to assume human form, We ssw the arms, hands and legs all mould headgear. She nei the candles being re tood an utter stranger, @ ma evolved out of cloudiand. He stepped forward and grasped me by the han his hands were moist as if with perspiration, and be was a very healthy spirit. After be had talked and drunk a glass of arrack be took his place beside the woman again and be- gan to whirl about. The lights were dimmed, but not so that we could not see, and in afew moments the figure began to fade, svon assume ing the appearance of « pillar or form of light and then attaching itself to the woman and seemingly being absorbed by her. All this was a in a very of time, before the eyes of at least fifyy people, and not ten feos from myself. The girl appeared greatly em- hausted afterward . ont rvenncensm A Telephone in Every Guest's Room, From Mechanical ani Electrical Progress The telephone is put to a new use in the great hotel at Tampa which Millionaire Pland has just built to rival those of Millionaire Fie- ger at St. Augustine. Instead of an electric button, every room will have « tele phone connected with the office. Guests Will be able to communicate not oni with the office, but with their fri in other rooms at will The orchestrion which was one of the marvels of the Paris exposition isto be placed in the jarge music room of the hotel. $t has been ar ranged that any guest in his room ane rely telephoning to the office, be conn: with orchestrion and have the music trans- mitted to him in full volume. In fact, be cam put in actual practice one of the most wonder~ ful of Bellamy's conceptions and every if be likes, go to sleep listening to har soe ‘ions in the East. lighted, ther