Evening Star Newspaper, September 26, 1891, Page 11

MR. SHERMAN’S MAN SFIELD HOME. THE NOTED FINANCIER A Visit to Senator John Sherman in HOW HE LIVES AT MANSFIELD Entersoting Reminiscences—His Library and Falmable Historical Papers—The Two Srethers— His First Campsign — Stories Abo? Great Men. Writton for The Evening Star. WENT FROM WASHINGTON TO OHIO to ask for a talk with Senator Sherman and Thad two interviews with him. The greater part of our conversation wasin the way of chatty reminiscences and this covered the Sen- ator’s public career, running back to the days of President Frank Pierce. 4 SENATOR SHERMAN. Mansfield, Senator Sherman's home, is sita- ated on the highest point in Obia It is a Deautiful town of about 15,000 people, with | streets crossing each other at right angles and running out from a public park filled with old forest trees which lies in its center. The ‘town covers half dozen hills and the rich farming country surrounding it is picturesque | and rolling. The best street of Mansfield runs from the park directly westward. It is lined with green lawns and avenues of maple trees and abouts mile from the park stands the | residence of Senator Sherman. This is right in | pe city, but it has twenty acres of velvety | wn trees interlock their branches about the house | and make the semi-circular roadway which | mat it and great pine, elm and chestnut | ei been in turning st on the races. which were going on two milos away and which through it could be as plainly seen as on the grand stand. THE SENATOR'S BOOKS. Senator Sherman's library is scattered throughout the whole house. The fact that he ign student is written all over it’ The moment fon enter the front door you see at the back of | the hall a wall of books, and on the second and | third stories you find the halls filled with book cases, and at’ the southeast corner of the man- sard ‘there is a reference library of several | thousand volumes. The lower library contains | thousands more, and when I Senator Sherman how many books he had here and at Washington he said he thought he must have in the neighborhood of 15,000 volumes. The mansard library is largely given up to Amer- icana. It contains all of the public documents since 1850 and the debates of Congress back to the beginning of the government. The library on the ground floor fs twenty: feet square and the here are of all kinds, from science to fiction. Two large cases are taken up in volumes relating to the war. One is devoted to modern science and Mill and Spencer here stand side by side with Darwin and Huxley. Another large section of the library is devoted to financial authorities and another to American biographies. In looking over the books I noticed that Bryant's Iiad was well thumbed and, finding the complete works of all the great novelists in another sec- tion, I asked Senator Sherman who was his favorite author in fiction and he told me it was Walter Scott. Throughout the whole library I noticed a methodical and systematic arrange- ment and among the most valuable books of his whole collection are bound pamphlets, a dozen or so being put together in each volume aad a complete index of contents made to it. VALUABLE AUTOGRAPHS. In one corner of the library I saw the great fire-proof vault in which the Senator keeps his private papers. This vault is as big as a hall bed room. It is filled with shelves and it con- tains tens of thousands of private letters and documents which would make the fortune of a literateur. Here there isa large collection of sctap books ranning back to the time when he entered public life, nearly fifty years ago, and all the important letters which he has received during his long public career are here. Sena- tor Sherman hae been noted for knowing how to keep his mouth shut, and public men have opened their minds to him without restraint. ere are volumes of unwritten history in these letters, and the names signed to them are those of the great men and women in nearly every branch of life, public and private, for the last generation and a half. There are about fif- teen volumes, cach as big as a dictionary, which contain letters put aside principally for their aut hs, and in looking over one of these, devoted to men who are not politicians, T opened at random to letters from Jay Gould, Cyrus W. Field, noted Sisters of Charity, great preachers and others. thought he could show reraghe btter the could show me an autograph letter from any noted man I should select ‘who. had sacked my brain and finally asked him to show me a letter from Francis Lieber, the noted leads up to it a wooded drive. The half moon | German scholar. “I think I have several,” he of lawn which lies in front of the house is, I replied, and with that he turned to the index Jndge, at least 200 feet deep, and Mansfield | of another volume and then turned over the use thisas asort of park and visitors into the Senator's round the house and out again ad libitum. Back of the house are orchards of various kinds and the p ved trees and peach trees are propped up lest their branches be broken by the rich yield of the present year. To theleft of the house as you | go in and some distance away is the new which Sherman said he was going to build when he came home to Ohio this summer. THE NEW BARN. The expression was used in an interview at Pitteburg and was taken up by the newspaper | Paragraphers in much the same way as the ex- | pression he used before a former senatorial election. Then he said he was coming home to fix his fences and now he came to build s barn. He has built the barn in reality. It cost $2,000 and is a pretty cottage-like house about fifty feet long and forty feet deep, fitted out with all the best stable requirements. In it I found three or four carriages and half a dozen good horses, which the Senator told me were of bis own raising. In the old barn near by were @ number of Jersey cows and these are Mra. Sherman's pets. They produce the finest of milk and cream and Mra. Sherman has her butter made under ber own supervision. She is thoroughly domestic in her tastes and not long ago she was so proud of her butter that she hal some of it etered at the county fair, but left her name out of the list of ex- | lnbitors ard the butter was displayed as anon- | ymous. The judges, in making the award, hich Lieber had ition isn = ng the wi r concerning most famous of his books. JOuN AND TECUMSEH, Among the most interesting letters which Senator Sherman hasever written are those barn er ep penned to his brother, Gen. Sherman, and the correspondence of these two brothers will, when it is published, be one of the most valuable and interesting books of ican Senator Shexman has preserved care- fully all the letters of his brother from the time he went to West Point to the day of his death, and these letters were very full, and they gave a picture of Gen. Sherman's intellectual and material life. Many of them are written in camp, sometimes before a battle and some- times on a drum head afterward. All of them are vivid with the life ana surroundings of the general at the time, and they deal with public men and matters of more than Atty ‘years of our history. One of them tells of the first discovery of gold in California and many of them detail the inside of army movements which have never gotten into print. Senator Sherman wrote quite as freely as his brother, and during his whole career he has written several letters a week to him. These letters Gen. Sherman = to gave in 1860, and his papers include the letters of Senator She: om that time to this. Senator Sherman has handed over all of. the general's letters to the children of Gen. Sher- man, and it may be that both sets will be pub- lished. It is hard to realize the love that ex- isted between John and Will Tecumseh Sherman. During my talk with the Senator I noticed that his voice dropped whenever be ¢ of the general,and upon my asking whether any of this a between him and his brother was stated he replied that it was not and that he never wrote letters to his family or his brother except with his own hand. rman fri SHERMAN’S REMINISCENCES. It was in the big library that I had my chats with Senator Sherman. The busts of Washing- ton, Clay, Webster and Salmoa P. Chase looked down upon us from the tops of the book eases as we talked, and back of the Senator I could see on @ pedestal among the books a new bust in marble of himself, by French. At my left, gave the premium to another butter maker ead pawed Mrs. Sherman's butter on charge that it was so yellow that it must have bees artificially colored. Mrs. Sherman wes Baturally very indignant at the charge and she cus the roll of butter up and sent a slice of it to each of the judges with her compliments. ‘THE SHERMAN RESIDENCE. Senator Sherman's house is an almost ideal home for a great statesman. It is a big two- ‘story and mansard brick, eighty fect loug and perhaps sixty feet deep, and it has wide porches, big windows and beautiful views. It as by » © means a grand house nor @ gorgeous Every part of it is simplicity personified, impresses vou as being a most comforta- The brick is painted drab and the steps and front doors are finished in & peculiar old red sandatoue, streaked with golden yellow, in ali the variations of the onyx or the agate. ‘Passing over a porch about fif- tecn feet wide. vou enter through the front door tuto # generous hall, which, in the #i of a capital £. makes, trip over the Canadian Pacific, and at and left are doors opening into the ors. Around at the other end of the hail the dining room, which is, I jadge, about twenty- five feet square, and back of this, through = butlers pantry, is # big kitchen, lighted b; many windows Gad finished in the eleceat ok E EFlisis ef a tf ii i i i i ae } onan casel, there was a magnificent marble medallii raham Li and in front of me, besid walnut With his iron- \ gray hair hanging over his white forehead and his face not a day we than it | was ten years ago, sat Senator Ast looked «t him I could hardly realize that he was sixty-eight years old and that he had been | & part of our history for more than forty-five years. Seuator has been represented | tsa cold man, Sat have never Sound him 00. is an exceedingly busy man, but when you | cam entch hit at leiware ‘there’ is no more de- lightful talker in the United States, and he en- Joys a good laugh and story quite as well as ‘some of our great men who spend their leisure in hotel lobbies and bar rooms, and who make much of their capital | out of hand shaking and baby kissing. } HIS FIRST VISIT TO WASHINGTON. | I asked Senator Sherman to tell me of his | first coming to Washington. He replied: “I } first visited Washington in 1846, eight years be- | fore I was elected to EF i Hi & I ¢ z i gi | ti never get an office unless that convention gave me one. This caused a laugh and they elected and my next was dur- ing tho same yoar. I was n delegate to the convention at Colam- bus, Ohio, which nomi- nated Salmon P. Chase fe vernor. Jt Tthink, the frst repub lican convention held @.tween the older candi- dates that none of them could be chosen, and they picked upon me SCHUYLER COLFAX. as a compromise. I remember that I was almost scared to death when they pat the gavel in my hand, but I got through somehow. I was nominated for Congress I had left Mansfield to practice law at Cleveland, but on hearing of my nom- ination I came back. My opponent was an old farmer named Lindsey, whom they called ‘Ceedkorn’ Lindsey. He had beon in Con- gress before and had gotten the title during his first campaign from a letter which he had writ- ten to one of his supporters, in which he spelled seed corn ‘Ceed Korn.’ His constituents, however, claimed that the whigs were laughing atthe farmers. They carried seed corn with them to the polls and made this word the watchword of their campaign and elected him. ‘They ran him fora second term agaifst nio, but I defeated him. I was elected a. good majority and I spent my first years in Wash- ington during the Pierce and Buchanan admin- istrations.” “What did you think of Buchanan?” said I. “I never considered him a great man,” re- plied Senator Sherman. “He was of ordinary ability and lacked courage. He was controlled by the southern democracy and was neither a bright man nor an able one. _He was opposed to us in the Kansas-Nebraska fight, with which Thad much to do and through which I camo into national prominence.” JUST BEFORE THE WAR. Senator Sherman here talked for some time of the great men before the war and of the troublous times of Buchanan's administra- tion. He wag on the committee of Congress sent to the west to examine into the Kansas-No- braska outrages, and during this time he was often in danger of his life. Ruftians sur- rounded the committee rooms and the Con- gressmen received many threats to leave, adorned with pictures of coffins above which were skulls and eross-bones. Senator Sherman wrote the report of the committee and it was smuggled through to Washington inside the clothing of the wife of Dr. Robinson, afterward governor of Kansas. John Brown was’ the sergeant-at-arms of the committee,and Senator Sherman says that Brown told him all the circumstances of the killing at Ossawatomie and seemed surprised to think that he should consider the hanging of men by a sort of vig- ilance committee as contrary to He re- ferred to Ben Wade as @ better than he was credited with being and said: “Ben Wade was rough in his expressions and he was often accustomed to use the word ‘damn,’ but he never accom} it with the name of the Deity, and I do not think he ought to be called ‘@ profane man.” SECESSION AND WAR. Iasked Senator Sherman if he realized at this time that the war was coming. He replied: “Yes, I had no doub: of it and I told my southern friends in Congress that if the states seceded there would certainly be war. They thought differently and many of them believed that the north would accept se- cession without struggle. I remember one, an especial friend of mine, Crawford of G We often talked over the situation urged him not to go. jerman, I am sure to come back again. ‘Why, I =r to the south now, and in two years | 5 I wi be back here at Washington as en- Yoy extraordinary and minister plenipo- tentiary from the confederate states to the United Stateg" I replied: ‘You are much more likely to come back hero asa prisoner of war. You do not appreciate our people at the north. You have no ides of our character or our resources. We have not commenced to think of the matter of secession seriously as yet. We have not begun to get angry, but I ean tell you that the north will never permit a disruption of the Union, and if the south at- tempts it every home in it will be visited with the horrors of war.’ Crawford did not believe me, but when I met him some vears later at the Atlanta exposition he referred to the conversa- a SHERMAN AND HAYES. Senator Sherman knew President Lincoln well and mutual admiration existed between them. He was intimate with all the Presidents from Lincoln to Harrison, and he was as close to President Hayes as any man in his cabinet. During our conversation I asked him what ex-President Hayes was doing now. Senator Sherman replied: “He is living as an ex-President ought tolive. He is rich and he is devoting his energy and his fortune solely to the public is connec number of cl associatioi and no private life could be more useful than his. He is about seventy ears of age now, but is in @ good condi- and rt in politics since he left the White House. T consider him @ man of much greater abilit; than he is given credit for. His administration was always burdened RB mAves. _ with the question of the legality of his seat, but he gave the country one of the ablest administrations of its history, and he was as good an executive aspny country has ever had.” “By the way, Senator, I see that Ben Butler has written abeok. You must know him.” “Yes,” replied Senator Sherman, ‘Ben Batler is a remarkabsc chasscter. I first knew of him during the Charlesicz convention of 1860, but I did not meet him till he was s major general during the war. I don't think he was great soldier, though, considering the fact that he had no military training, he did fairly woll. In politics he has always belonged to the STORIES OF THAD. STEVENS. From Butler the talk drifted to Thaddeus Steveris, and Senator Sherman said: “Thaddeus Stevens andI were great friends, though we were always on differ- PS g i ' lit - & H < 3 if & ° oF 48 tg i i i s § 4 3 £ f i i i H f 8 F i i F [ if itt Hi & 5 E 3 i 2 F i i i if £ E E i & il fi i i § fi if E z t antipathy existed be- | * ey YESHLA | eee aca i ; | ee +L i A CORNER IN THE LIBRARY. During our talk the question of Prince Bis- marck’s retirement to private life came up, and Insked him if he had ever met Bismarck. He repliod: “I mot him in 1867. It was at Berlin and we had a long talk together. ‘The greater part of our conversation was as to the war which had then just closed, and Bismarck told me that he was gind to say that the sym; thies of overy man in Germany, from the king in his ‘to the peasant in with the north in that le. in his prime at this time. am and much heavier. | His features we cidedly German, but he talked English as I do and I was much impressed by his and character. is cottage, were Bismarck was KING WILLIAM. “Did you meet Kaiser Wilhelm?” “He was not Kaiser Wilhelm then,” replied the Seuator; “he was plain King William of Prussia. No. I vigited his 6 at Berlin, but did not meet him, as he was engaged at the time of my visit. I met him a few weeks later at Paris under rather re- markable circum- stances. It was at tho time of the international exposition of 1867, and I was presented by our minister to France, the honorable John A. Dix, to the French emperor, Napoleon III; to Czar Alexander of Russia, and to King William of Prussia. The andienco xa1sen WILHELM. was in in the Palace of the Tuilleries. We were in evening dress, with knee brecches and stockings, and I remember Fernando Wood was presented with me. We stood at one side of the long halt with minister, as the imperial procession entered. Napoleon III came first with a Rus- sian princesson his arm; the czar of all the Russians came second, accompanied by Eugenio, the empress of the French, and fol- lowing up the rear as third in rank, with Prince Bismarck and other minor great men behind him, was King Willi¢m of Prussia. have often thought of what a change there | J would have been in that procession had its members come together five years later. Within five years Napoleon had_ fallen from being the’ greatest emperor in Europe through the Franco-Prussian war into the existence of an exile at Chiselhurst, Eng- land. King William, by the consolidationsof the German confederation, was the head-of the great German empire, and, with his victorious armies, had taken Napoleon's placo as tho dic- tator of the continent. Bismarck as his premier was controlling the destiny of nations. Czar Alexander II was still on the throne of Russia, but his days were numbered it was not ; | Many years thereafter that he was assassinated; ‘As it was, I was impresued by the character of Napoleon. with him later in my visit and found him a very able man. The chief subject of our conversation after this was, as in my talk with irek, the war.” Fraaxx G. CanPentze. BUGS THAT STOP TRAINS. Séme Instances Where Swarms of Insects Have Impeded Railway Traffic. 'N THE CURRENT NUMBER OF “INSECT Life,” published by the Department of Agricw)‘ure, are found some interesting notes on the stopping of railway trains by swarms of insects. Quotation is made from a dispatch printed in Taz Stan last May from Charlotte, N. C., which stated that the rails on the Caro- lina Central were covered so dep with cater- pillars that trains could not be run. For three successive days traffic was groatly obstructed, the driving wheols of the locomotives slipping around as though the rails had been thor- oughly oiled. ‘The engineers, the telegram declared, were obliged to exhaust ths contents of their sand boxes before they could get across the strip of swamp from which the eaterpillary seemed to come; rails and cross ties were said to be hidden from sight, and the ground and | M swamps on each side of the track were covered with millions of crashed worms, an unendura- ble stench arising from the mase. Suspecting this story to be an invention, or at all events a gross exaggeration, one of ‘the assistants attached to the bureau of entomology, r. Cordley, was sent to make an investiga- ftion. ‘The locality where. the caterpillars were most abundant was the “Big Swamp,” about eight miles east of Lumberton, and the facts as stated in the newspaper were found to be true. It was discovered Tost the insect coneerned was the “tent caterpillar” of the forest, and the woods for many miles around were denuded of their leaves. Mr. Cordley ascertained that the extraordinary abundance of the worms was probably due to the di ofa canal, The country to the east of Lumberton is low and swampy, and in the past much of it has been overtiowed for a longer or shorter period dur- ing the winter and spring. During the eum- mer of last year, however, a canal was through the swamp, in consequence of w! during the past winter and spring the water was much lower than usual. Improved condi- tions due to this drainage encouraged the mul- tiplication of Caen and hence the swarms of caterpillars whieh blocked the railway. From Mankato, Minn., a similar occurrence was recently reported. ' Caterpillars upon the railway tracks in such enormous num- the engineers emptied their boxes in vain, and one freight train took an hour and ten minutes to go two miles. Almost any insect when abnormally abundant, says from gotag tcoupd, el soconte of oie oeoPe rom going around, and accounts The insects i Gazette, Old habitues of Zermatt who have visited it this year complain that the is “absolutely ruined by the railway.” ple and Their Ways. THE BARKEEPER'S STORY, Furnishing an Episode for Farce Comedico— The Decline of Actor Worship—The Am- Dition of Mansfield and Robsoa—The Dis- respect for Old Things. Correspondence of The Evenins Star. New Yorx, Sept. 26, 1891. 2 LOOK LIKE A SMART MAN,” SAID the bartender at « big Broadway hotel to ‘a customer, “but I guess I ain't.” ‘What's the matter now?” he was asked. “Feller came in here just now,” said he; “nice- looking young feller. He called for whisky. I set out the bottle and he helped himself. He ‘was bather, see?” He couldn’t have put an- other drop in the glass without rinning it over. Well, a man that's mean enough for that makes me very woary, 0 when he put down a quarter to pay for his drink I gave him back 15 ents change. ‘What's this,’ said be. ‘You've given me 5 conts too much, haven't you? Whisky's 15 cents’ ‘Yes,’ I says, ‘it's 15 to retail customers, but whole- salers get it for 10.’ I expected him to sneak away ashamed of himeelf, but he doesn’t do anything of the kind. ‘Oh, is that #0?" said he, filling his glass up again. ‘Then I guossI'li have another drink.’ And he quietly takes up the ‘kel off the bar and leaves the 10. He really got five ordinary drinks for 20 cents. Now, wasn't lachump? If I ever try to be sarcastic in you can kick m ‘That incident becomes theatrical news in an odd way. Afarcical actor and a concocter of farcical plays witnessed it as they eat sipping their beverages at » table near tho bar, au subsequently they listened to the barkeeper's narrative as above quoted. ‘The dramatist was under contract to write what is culled a farce comedy, and he made a note of this comic ma- terial. "The actor told the story next day to an- other maker of farces and he decided at once touse it at the first opportumty. ‘The first mentioned dramatist delivered his work to the purchaser a month or so ago and it is being acted this week in Brocklyn, with the. five- drinks-for-twenty-cents episoda worked into a cafe scene. ‘As briefly and spiritedly given it raised a big laugh, and so justified its place in a popular farce. The second dramatist's play is in re- hearsal, with the same little episode in it. Now, the contract with the author in each stipulates that the play shall be entirely original. Was it violation of the agreement to utilize some- thing that had really happened, and which, therefore, did not originate with the writer? Another question is whether the owner of the produced farce can legally prevent the owner of the later farce from representing that bar room happening. The reader. may deem these jueries trivial and nonsensical, but theatrical folks go to law over such things sometimes and just now there happens to be a general ery for originality and against plagiarism. THE DECLINE OF ACTOR WORSHIP is complete. No longer is the mimic hero re- garded asa real hero. This fact has had three illustrations during the present week. Firstly, a reminiscent view of the intensest sort of adu- lation was given by a memento of the Forrest- Macready riots. It is not yet half a century ago that Astor place was filled with the wildly fighting admirers of the American and English and lives were lost ina fierce fight over nothing in particular, or at least over noth- ing more important that a difference of opin- ion as to which was the bigger actor and man. ‘The {|| theater around which the battle was fonght has been demolished, after many years of use public library, and now in its place stands a big commercial building. Out of the razed structure was saved a panel from the apart- ment which had been Forrost’s dressing room, and this time-stained piece of wood, set into a olden frame, was bung in t 0 Players’ Club. (his was done by order of Edwin Booth, who, though extremely modest and retiring himself, adheres pretty closely to the old traditions of the theater, and who thus secks to do seomly honor to a great American tragedian. Somuel for a reminiscence of. the “palmy days” when people adulated actors in 8 way quite unknown at present. MANSFIELD AND ROBSON. Illustrations of the new order of regard for stage favorites wore afforded by Richard Mins- \d Stuart Robson. Whatever diversity of opmion may exist as to Mansficld’s abilities, and however intenso may be some folks’ dis- like of his erratic self assertion, he is at least » powerfal, impressive actor. He produced the tragedy “Nero” this week, and nothing could be more dignified than the stand which he secks to take asan American tragedian and Edwin Booth’s successor. Some judges think he can do so and others don’t. Sut there is no doubt about his earnest endeavor. Well, sce how disrespectful is the temper of the modern au- dience. Mansfield wen’ an embodiment of the wickedness of Nero, and ‘a point where the tragedy implied that he ould fondle the slave girl, whom he had re- solved to marry, he suited ‘the action to the word with vim and thoroughness. That is to say, he kissed the actress from her’ face clear around her neck and all the way down one of her bare arms to the very finger tips. Probably nobody counted these kisses, but there were a great many of them. ‘They sounded something like the explosion of a whole bunch of firecrackers. What could have been more expressive of Nero's savage fury in making love? But the spectators didn’t wait to consider any question of that kind. ‘They laughed right out loud and long. That was on the opening night, but field is a resolute chap and he has not yet abated his demonstrativeness nor seemed to heed the merriment which it continues to cause. DISRESPECT FOR OLD THINGS. Robson has ambitiously put aside for the week the farcical material which he ordinarily uses, and is engaged in arevival of “She Stoops to Conquer.” Pessimists are fond of rating actors and managers for not making more fre- quent use of the old comedies. these critics were to witness the costly and careful efforts made by Robson to exploit “he Stoops to Conquer” artistically, and were to observe at the same time the inappreciation of the audiences, they would bestow their censure upon othe for the vi a things Ga too stage is shown in the treatment of the epilogue to “She Stoops to Vonguer.” That rhymed a, the vor had not bec spoken over the cotiights for one hundred years uni in his desire to im) is ‘THE COMIC OPERA QUEEN'S UNENOWN ADMIRER. MATTERS THEATRICAL |=" Tnteresting Gossip About Stage Peo- ee to the fall length in | ti ‘0! Under the circumstances the ° ag] 5 mire your and yout art. Jewels and Sowers are becoming to you. You should wear roses e night and “diamonds increase your looks. Don't be foolish, but let me whim so long as no one suffers would refuse to know offered, so have no fear on that score, I am not an actress worshiper, but lam very fond of going to the theater where you ‘and I like to see you looking your very best. Dia- monds and Toses belong to you. Wear the ‘ones I send and say nothing more about it.” “Now, don't you think old fellow must be insane? No, realiy, Ihave never met him, and—well! Ido jewel : but how cau I help THE TENOR SINGER AND THE MATINEE ornt. ‘The lovely tenor singer at one of the city theaters has been entertaining an angel un- awares for some time past. The angel isa blonde-baired, blue-eyed matinee girl, who has satentaptured under the spell of the tenor's presence on many occasions, ngling with the raptare induced his youthful beauty and longing to assure _ tion. The tenor in question is a slender man, albeit hie lower limbs are of sturdy dimensions and curvilinear In the tights that he wore those limbs of the tenor were of a degree of beauty that was sure to call out the most emphatic encomiums from some one so impressionable as. matinee girl. This young lady had often noted the extreme Brace of these limbs, and was sure that no other man walked the earth upon such thor- oughly artistic underpinning. At last, after much watching from a distance, the matinee girl decided that she must view the tenor from close quarters, aud she my no ~~ to 2 = but to — at the stage door an y fa. Thie abe did a8 he came forth after the oj ong Saturday afternoon. Her heart palpitated looking | with anticipation at the thought man in hie street upon the charming. 3 clothes and hearing his voice as, perchance, he uttered some phrase of his own coining. At last he came. She knew him by hie miustiich He was, to be sure, nota stylish figure in his conventional garmente, but his mustache was as lovely as ever. As he stepped from the door to the sidewalk he was joined by a man who was, all unknown to the matinee girl, the stags manager of the theater. This latter in- dividual addressed the tenor in somewhat au- thoritative tones. “Why,” said he, “did you wear those long boots in’ the last act today? You must know that you linven't the right to take liberties of that sort with your make-up. You are to wear fleshings in that act.” ‘The tenor turned toward the fe manager with asad face and replied: “Well, it's Just in this sort of we to let me wear here. I can't stand my weather, and you'll either high boots or goon in my own legs.” Upon hearing this the heart of the matinee girl almost stopped beating. She could not be- lieve she had heard aright. She knew there were such things as pads, but surely her tenor did not wear them. Her doubts, however, Were set at rest by the next words of the stage manager. “Well.” said he, “‘the boots are entirely out of place in the part, so if you can’t stand the you'll have to get a new piir of fleshings ‘and show your bones.” d And instantly there was one matinee girl iess in the world. "These little things knock all the sentiment out of a maiden’s heart. pitiaeswamits QUEER BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. Some Funny Feathered Creatures Peculiar to @ Strange Country. “new ZEALAND IS A COUNTRY OF queer birds,” said Mr. F. A. Lucas of the Smithsonian Institution to « Stan writer. “For ages the islands have been so eompletely isolated from the rest of the world that their | fauna has become peculiar. The latte: did not inelude any mammals whatever save two small species of bats until the advent of the Dutch. Of the feathered creatures no less than ten families are incapable of flight. Presumably the reason for this is that, in the absence of predatory four-footed foes, they had no occa- sion to make use of their wings for the purpose of escaping, and so those organe became atro- phied. ‘THE CURIOUS APTERYS. “Perhaps the most peculiar of these birds which cannot fly is the apteryx,a relative of the m iant fowls weighing ‘apiece when full grown—which in New Zealand not much more than a cen’ ago, chiefly owing to a season of unusual The apteryx itself is doomed, hunted as it is not only by man, but also by the carnivorous attendants he brings with him, dogs and cats. This bird lives ina burrow, and, owing to its flightlessness, is an easy prey to the hunter. WITH A PECULIAR BILL. ‘Tho only known bird whose bill is bent side- wise belongs in New Zealand. It is the crooked-billed plover, and although such a structure seems at first sight to be a malforma- jon, yet the owner of the beak finds it very useful. The curved bill enables it to readily turn over pebbies and to poke around them in search of gape a4 also = to = something to & corresponding - iarity aphid, In feeding the birds turn naturally to, the right, thus exposing, the left side, which is marked less conspicuously and is not so likely to attract the attention of ene- mies. “In New Zealand also is found a big species of rail called the weka. It cannot fly, not for lack of wings, but because the feathers are too soft and yielding. However, it is an excellent runner and trusts to its legs for Retting away Like the jackdaw, the weka is a bird of thievi repensities, stealing everthing it ean lay on, even to such articles as pipes ant watches. Apparently it steals for the mere love of the thing, neither hiding its booty, like the jackdaw, nor using the objects stolen, like the bower bird, to decorate its nest. THE HONEY EATERS, “A peculiar group of birds belonging to New Zealand are the honey eaters, and the most striking of them is the ‘parson,’ so called from its black coat and white tie of curly feathers. most amusing when kept in @ cage. time immemorial a cousin of the parson's, known as the bell bird, has been snared by the natives, certain of its favorite resorts being logked ‘upon as tho exclusive property of the tribe residing near by. Recently, in investigat- ing the validity of the ttle of the aborigines to land claimed by them, the s of the bell birds by their ancestors has been brought for- ward in their behalf as evidence. CURIOUS PARROTS. “Many curious parrots are found in New Zealand. One of them, called the kea, very bloodthirsty bird. Having acquired a taste for mutton during a cold and hungry season, ithas taken to killing sheep for the of devouring théir kidneys. It is only Ei'winter, howover, “that it. f this car- months vf It bas surprising powers of mimicry and is | being —_--_—_ ‘Written for The Evening Star. bye’ PROPENSITY TOWARD INTERIOB improvement of our homes hes brought forth any amount of latent talent, which has been as much of e surprise to its possessors in Necessity often has been the epur to develop such powers, sometimes unsuspected until some emergency calls them suddenly to the fore. In other cases the natural bent is so strong toward all matters pertaining to the arrangement and decoration of the rooms of a house that it not orly manifests ateelf in its owh legitimate sphere of home, butalmost uncon- sciously it operates when its possossor is abroad, ‘and mechanically she rearranges mentally half the drawing rooms she sees. This natural gift, for snch it is, though education will in- crease and develop the faculty, is a great source of pleasure to its possessor, if nothing more. In most cases it is a compensation, for it is more seldom seen in conjunction with wealth than without it. PLANNING CRANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS. ‘When one has this fancy and ability for mak- ing a home pretty, tasteful and attractive, it 18 ‘an endless amusement to plan changes and im- ents in one part or another of the and a delay, perhaps, to accumulate a little fund by which to carry out the matter to conclusion only matures the scheme and makes a better result. Sometimes the imaginn- tien proves an embarrassment of riches, and suggests so many things that a choice is dift- 1, and one has to argue for and against her own ideas so as to settle the matter. Itis amazing toa fancy fertile in euch ideas to see | the utter barrenness in this regard manifested by so many people, even after the years of in- terest in these things which have made ail such matters so prominent. Pretty homes predomi- nate, however, on the whole, and mny the in- terest never flag which has made and «till keeps them so attractive! There used to be a fasci- nation in working on canvas with Berlin wools, mesh giving an exactness to the stitches which made even a careless worker quite sun- Guine as to the good effect of her ‘The days of such work bas gone by, but it is suggested by the silk canvas made in lovely colorings by the associated artiste. The old- fashioned stitches, Russian cross stitch and tent stitch are nsed upon it, and charming covers for chairs are made by this embroidery, stripes being especially effective. NOVELTIES IN THE SuoPs. ‘The shops are beginning to take on some of the attractiveness of the autumn, and as usual the new goods ure pretty, but in very much the same way as heretofore. Some little novelty ts found here and there, but in a general way we have seen before what is shown now. The Jewelers’ windows are not as dependent upon times and seasons as some other things, and always appeal to many tastes. Jewels and fanciful ornaments catch some eyes, dainty tollet appurtenances are what attract others, while the exquisite shapes of silver for table use and decoration are what charm many more. Certainly there is variety enough m each enumeration to sntisty many minds; the table furnishings are elegant, the beautiful low baskets of both pierced and repousse style being among the handsome pieces. ‘The name is legion of the articles for use on the dressing table and one can well belicve the tale of the modern society girl, whose toilet teble is decked in simple dotted muslin, but the value of the collection of silver boxes, trays and Utensils upon it mounts up to hundreds of dol- A DAINTY JEWEL Box. ‘The heart shape is still favored, and one of the prettiest examples is a jewel box in that form of repousse silver. Naturally, many ad- mire who cannot attain, and for such there is generally an alternative, and in this very case Of silver boxes, if one cannot have that, a daiuty box, covered with silk of lovely shade or preity design, will really suit more dressing tables after all than the ¢ ve silver one. For a gitt, for a fair, for one'sself, this ia trifle that worth the ‘making. It may be square, five or triangular, but is easily made in either shape. Stiff card board is the foundation, using form and size one prefers, though a three- cornered one, with cach strip’ for the sides two inches deep by four and a half long, is a good portion. The bottom is cut to fit, a thin Byer of cotton sprinkled with sachet powder laid on it and the silk over that, overc .sting all the edgés. The side strips have the wadding, but no powder is necessary. After the sides are sewed to the bottom, forming the open box, a ribbon as wide as the sides are deep is drawn around them and ae at one of the angles covering the joining. Such a little thing as this takes but a bit of silk and ribbon and a little time, but its effect in pretty color is beyond the expenditure of time ani money. With this for jewelry, an embroidered tray for brash and comb and a few picces of china, whith may be picked up for so little money nowadays, a muslin-decked table may be made to look as attractive as any reasonable giri could wish, always provided that her means must conform to this style of furnishing. When one can have the hundreds of dollars to nd in gew-gaws, have them if one's taste in- es, but simpler things must be considered by the majority of people in this world. CoaTSKIX RUGS. The fawn-colored goatshin rugs were seen last season, either of that shade alone or in combination with black and white, und this Fear another novelty in goatshine sppears. ¢ ukins have been dyed a very good shade of green, an olive tone, which makes them de- sirable in coloring for many places, the shade artistic. The price of these olive-dved rugs is €10. Fur rage seem a little oppressive in the present heat, even in the mentioning, and few will probably be secking them, still when wanted the grecn may be found. Almost every one has daughters, sisters or friends who belong to the army of boarding school girls. If they are returning this autumn to the where they have been they already have in PHOTOGRAPH RECEPTACLES. If a girl is leaving town now for the first time she will, by the holidays, have accumulated a faring the warm the year it subsists on fruits and flowers. However, some of the performers of the | kn theater still receive personal homage in these days, They are apt to be women. One of these queens of the comic opera stage was it course. “Naturally enough,” said she, “I have had a many admirers in my day and some of have been extremely in their reesing their regard for ‘me. ny among them all, however, ‘anonymous lover.’ Thore iy birders fiends and it gh ALG when he sent a very copleton, 1, ef course, did overything to And ont who be might him and his ring, the anonymous idiot sent me an set of diamond ornaments to be worn in the hair or cormge.- The value of this gift must have been at least I i al i 4 h Fr itt Hi ul : Four Interesting Problems A Fine Game af the Home Clad. WASHINGTON OHESS CLUB MEETS every evening. Visitors always welcome 1213 F street PROBLEM No. 3. By D. A. USINA, Savaunah, Ga. « fot Tue Rewaine tat) White to play am raste in two mores, PROBLEM Wo. 4 By L. 0. HESSE, Bethlehem, Pa. ‘Wompossd for The Eventing ter.) By OAL BULL. e®wishis ss 8¢ 28 atKBS atKRO&Q5 atERS, K2, OKA ORS @ © it At QRS atQKes at QKES & OKI ‘White to play and mate in three moves, PROBLEM No. 6. By L. N. de YONG, first prize in Babn Ftei tourney. @wkRESaDt SKK at QB atQ & KRT st OBS at KES & ORE at O4 @inmaititi st QBS at KKt? at K& QBS KEIKS QO QR &QKeE White to piay and mate in two moves, GAME 7 Played, recent « cree cist. white O herd, Bia 1. PKs 1. PK MM R4atch) 16 Bo % RCGKBS F Ki—OBS 45. Que >it Ros & gts Es ae Bo . Frm £ tee 12. Kr—-Qpsiz Bb Er’ (2) The usual move ts 0_0. 7a Binck tone a pawn buat gets his queen-side pieces The following oor actoal play last week at the home club. White (to play) mated 1m three moves. How do it? Arrangements are for = team match between the Manhatten and Brooklym Clubs. A lively tournament bas just been finished at Utrecht, Holland. The scores are: Loman, 635; Oiland, 6; Van Foreest, 43; Heomskerp and Van Rybn, 13; each. In the recently ‘finished tournament of the Bohemian Chess Association Kvteal took first prize, Traxler and Kotre tieing for second. Scores in the annual tournament of the Mek bourne, Australia, Club are as follows: Ealing, 11; Brockelbank, 8; Witton and Hodgeson, each. Solutions to probléms in last Saturday's issue will appear next week. All communications, &e., must be addressed; “Chess Editor, Evexrvo Stan.” te (An American Girl in Mexico From the Detroit Evening Sun Baron Strauss maid the American women were #0 popular in Meaico that they interfered with the wheels of Justice in that republic. “The American women,” he said tos reporter, “go about Mexico as they would in this coun- try, while the Mexican women are caged up like birds. The only wey to make love to them is to stand off some bundred yards and Pretty senorita sits in her open window and you can only look at ber. ‘here is one chance in a hundred of getting an to speak to one while abe ts in church, but is the only chancs, “Last summer a New York merchant and his beautiful daughter stopped for afew days im the little town where f was sojourning. The [ours lady was one of the hangsomest that we ever seen—light hair, eves lke bi heaven's blue, classic form and all EE ts that wae she cre- are held so far away from the native women. The son wealthy planter used to stand for hours. ‘this American girl. One site the window of the father went & E iit | st ciel i ft . owt Im 10 one ‘ot bay