Evening Star Newspaper, November 7, 1891, Page 11

a ARCTIC SCENES. Polar Whales and Sea Fowl and Cows That Eat Raw Fish. A SWITZERLAND IN THE SEA. ‘The Fraudulent Maclstrom—Lapps and Rein- deer—Second Largest Glacier in Europe— Sights of a Posting Tour Through Central Nerway—European Preparations for War. jo. IL Bea Correspondence of the Evening Star. = HE MIDNIGHT SUN IN TT Eee) connection with the fa- mous maelstrom off the Norway coast has caused this region to be ered- ited with classic visitors. Jonas Ramus, who was a pastor at Christiana in 1715, published a book in which he calls attention to the references in Pliny and Plutarch to Greeks who lived in the north, where the sun was visible for thirty days together. Ramus identi- fies the maelstrom with Seylla and Charybdis and concludes that these northern Greeks were the descendants of Ulysses and his sailors, who, after escaping the maelstrom, lived in western Norway. Tam not epared ‘to say that the experiences of iysses with the macistrom did not give Tie to the story of Scylia and Charyb- dis, but I am ‘prepared to aflirm that, if such was the case, Ulysses gave free vent to his imagination in the description of his peril, and that the bow of Ulysses, which only he could fully bend, was a monstrous long-bow, of the kind drawn competitively by travelers of the Munchausen variety. TRE FRAUDULENT MAELSTROM. For there never was a greater fraud than this terrible maelstrom. One of the most im- pressive, to me, of childhood’s stories was that of the adventurous Johnny Wanderer. I re member vividly how Johuny, who was contin- ually driven to fresh money-getting travels by the insatiable ambition of his wife for new bonnets, was returning to civilization from the north pole when he found that his ship refused to obey its rudder; that it swept around and around in circles miles in circumference, gradu- ally decreasing in size, and the frightened mariners learned that they were in the clutches of the maelstrom. Then followed the quicker and quicker rush of the circling vessel, the roar of the funnel-shaped abyss, the ery of the doomed and the marvelous precipitation of Johnny—who invariably landed upon his fect, Tight side up with care, no matter what the emergency—upon a soft spot at the om of the maelstrom pit. I flaceable pieture in mind of the un- 5 y ashe walked on the bottom ocean at the end of the maelstrom funnel, JI cirele of clear sky far above like aturnel, with the circling ides of him and the nd chasing a moving, and how this compul- sm Was not without its advant- Ry in traveling over the ocean for the gratitication of Mrs. Wan- derer the choicest of the precious stones with which it was covered. and how when the mael- t was accustomed perior was thrown to the surface, . escaped with his discover that there is no whirlpool, no ccr.ical abyss, with pig touching the ocean's bottom, or even starting4n that di- Fection——nothing in the world but # swift cur- Fens which might, under certain conditions of wind and side, dash a vessel against the roeks, Dut could not suck under a row boat. Theglory and the ‘er. or of the maelstrom have departed. My great whirlpool bas gone to join Santa Claus, Wil.iam Tell, George Washington's little hatchet end Johnuv Wanderer himself in the realm. ret apart tor children’s realities that have ceasei to he. ‘The Norwegian coast scenery has been aptly | Mkened to that of A SWITZERLAND IMMERSED IX THE SEA. Im the Lofoten Islands appear the serrated a.ely seen on the mainland of Norway re conspicuous in the Alps. Th assame all sorts of ag ample room for exere sgination in supplying them with names. One IN THE LO Iremember how the | ly shifted its position | FOTEN ISLANDS, | and seaweed. They lead the same half-starved | existence that is lived by the water-bloated skeleton cows sometimes seen in the St. John's river region, Florida, which sustain themselves. after a fashion on weeds that they gather at the expense of aducking from the bottom of the river and on the picturesque but innutritious moss which hangs from the trees. Birds eallect TORGRATTEN. by the hundred thousand on some of the Arctic rock islands and when acannon is fired from the passing steamer, becloud and whiten the jair. The fjord scenery of Norway, in the Lyngenfjord and the Raftsund in the Lofoten islands, for example, equals in grandeur any | other bay or lake scenery in the known world. | ‘There is here a Swiss wealth of glaciers, though | only one of size is visible and approachable from the water's edge. This is Svartisen, SECOND LARGEST GLACIER TN EUROPE | and one of the very few in the Arctic regions. | The largest is also in Norway. We visited the | spur of Svartisen, which approaches the water's edge by broad daylight between 1 and 4 o'clock | in the morning. We picked near ite edge a | great variety of Alpine flowers and also un- | familiar forms of vegetation, which the botanists of the party said were not found in the Al | We climbed out upon the glacier, sailors going | ahead with axes and eutting rude steps for us, but we found the footing very insecure, and some hair-breadth escapes returned. A part of our number took a boat ride on the pool formed ‘THE DIRTY LAPP AND HIS REINDEER. Wo visited s Lapp encampment at Tromea. ‘The school boy whose composition on the noble red man said “The Indian washes only once a year; I wish I was an Indian,” should alter his wish and petition to be a Lapp, for there is ‘once # Ii when he is entirely defenseless. mer « camp of the wanderin several hundred of their reindeer to a valley ‘only a few miles from Tromso, and it was there They are huddled in dome- shaped huts of stone, turf and birch bark, full of smoke from a fire’ in the center of the hut, which finds an oxit only through hole in the of the structure and through the door it is opened. They have the yellowish lexion, high cheek bones and low fore- Bead of the Mongolian race. They are short in stature, dirty, vermin-breeding and wretched. The reindeer is their support and treasure. The animal supplics them with milk, meat, clothes and transportation. Nearly everything that the; need is made from some part of this useful ani- mal. These particular Lapps earn somethin, by tho sale to summer tourists of the skin an articles made from the horns of the reindeer. The nomadic Lapps and Finns of northern Norway and Sweden aro comparatively few in number, miserable, semi-barbarous. the Finns in Russian Finland, whom we saw after- ward on our way from Stockholm to St. Poters- burg, are a very different sort of people, set- tied ‘traders and fishermen, with well-built cities of considerable size, like Helsingfors. PREPARING FOR THE WAR DANCE. At Bodo, returning from the North Cape, we met the Emperor William of Germany in his yacht on his way to the cape, where, by the way, he did not see the midnight sun, the weathor having no respect for royalty. The | little Norwegian town and the vessels with which the harbor was crowded were gay with bunting. We ran up all of our own flags, fired off our four small but loud-mouthed cannon, and our band began to play and our German passengers to sing “The Watch on the Rhine.” ‘As we came near the royal yacht the emperor appeared on deck and responded to our can- non, music and shouting by a military salu! whereupon he was promptly kodaked by tl | disrespectful American amateur photographe On the day that we left London for the North Cape trip William arrived in that city, and we had the full benefit of the exten- sive’ preparations made by the Londoners for his visit. We saw the counter pictures to these of Germany's demonstrations in Eng- Norway at Cronstadt, where we found the formidable gray men-of-war of the French fleet sociably nestled up to St. Petersburg's threatening fortifications; again at Peterbof, Alexander's summer palace and park, whic with its beautiful fountains, was on the czai day gorgeously illuminated (i: \dition to t] customary display of fireworks) in honor of the French admiral, with whom the czar drove at midnight through an enthusiastic hundred thousand Russiansshouting Ri sin! live France! live the czar!”; and again at Moscow, whose peoplelined the street which led toSparrow iiill, where the French visitors dined, and who hurrahed themselves hoarse in honor of France. Russian Alexis in Paris may have avoided the tell-tale demonstrations of the French crowds, as reported, but no restraints were placed either upon the’ people or the vi itors in Russia I drove to Sparrow Hill whi the French were dining there. This is the fine view point of Moscow, the hill from which Napoleon caught with intense joy and relief the first glimpse of the city, and to which he ted from the burning capital. On this ‘eminence, so filled with painful historic associ- ations for both nations, the Ruasians and French were now drinking to eternal good fellowship and national amity. A Russian offi- cer, a near relative of an official in the Russian legation at Washington, said to me here: ‘We like only the Americans and French. We dis- like the English, from whom we are separated by political differences, and we hate the Germans.” Germany, through William, makes advances to England and Norway. Fran 4hrough her admiral, is effusively welcomed in Russia, The nations are taking partners in the game of European war soon about to begin. “POSTING” THROUGH NORWAY. We retraced our steamer course from Bergen to the North Cape only as far as Throndjhem where we took train to Storen, and from this péint to Lillehammer wo drove for 200 miles by earriage through central Norway over the i , Cross ovrefjeld, Spceeieegpittenctt ccaiawes sellocing tne Gudbrandsdai, the valley of the Laagen river. We did not approach closely any of the lofty LAPPS AT HOME. at the glacjer’s foot by the milky stream issa- ing from it. This spur from Svartisen resem- bles somewhat the Glacier des Bossons in the h e, angle of descent and purity . The body of the glacier lies ona high platean, like a great ice cap, and is thirty- five miles long and ten miles wide. WHERE THE WHALE LIVES AND DIRS. In addition to its striking scenery northern Norway possesses some objects and places which appeal powerfully to other senses than that of sight. It boasts magnificent views, excels in most northern towns and cathedrals, exhibits an unequaled show in the midnight sun and makes still another world-beating ree- ord by supplying ina whale-trying establish- ment which we visited at Ingo the most power- ful smell that can assail the nostrils of man. It is of the kind that permeates you and per- manently abides by you. We saw many vigorous specimens of the living whale on our trip, as we traversed part of the hunting grounds of this buge and powerful fish, but | we learned at Ingo that the whale is far tronger in deuth than in life. Before landing at the trying establishment, which is north of Hammerfest and not far from the ed by the captain but we were not g stench the college laborgtory be- came as perfumes of Araby in comparison. mountain, called Torghatten, is pooner up by a buge natural tunnel. and Bircogh it the climbing tourist after a breath- less scrambie can seo the ocean and its islands on the other side. : The mountains are not near so high as those of Switzerland, but when they rise. as is often the case, abruptly from the sca their apparent beight is very great, and tho snow line is so low that white caps are frequent. Above the Arctic circle the scenery is te in the ex- frome, and unique. There is little or no tation. The cows are fod on raw Great decomposing carcasses floated in the water, and one huge fish recently captured was drawn up on the beach. Heaps of whale bone, snow-clad mountains,secing only Snehatten,and ‘that at a distance. ‘The scenery was not in any respect so grand as that among the highest Swiss snow moun- tains, where excellent roads admit the traveler tothe very richest of the scenic treasures. But there was magnificent ravine scenery, like that of the Martigny side of the Tete Noi? pass, ARDANGER COSTUME AND WATER WOMAN. the Driva valiey, and the gorge of Rusten, and the people themselves furnished an inter: euting study. Extensive and at! valle: views successively opened before us as_ we fol- lowed for miles streams rushing through gorges ina succession of rapids, sometimes descend- ften rising abruptly Tn the Driva vallay in a «pace of connted t bree waterfal! the precipitous mountain side stream. fe were near enough to the iand of the midnight sun so that th was hardly any night aud we could learn the effect of almost constant daylight on land as wellasatsen. As we drove inthe bracing, exhilarating air over the smooth, hard roads, guarded on the precipitous ‘side by Tow of perpendicular slabs of slate like a seriee of sights of many characteristi re | Hero is seen » woman with a huge basket at j bet back and knitting in hand, hard at work with her needles as she walks along the road. out to be kodaked a key, in active use in extended arm ing in cataracts, with cli ‘on each sid taluy sbort-renscred country it is bang dry. Rebind them ie a river whose light green | waters mo} rwiftly and on whove surface is a 1G peasants whose costumes show red ond blue “tm the. remote background of the picture on the other side of the river rises & mountain down whose side dashes a fine terfall. He -roofed a terooted, Proudly pronounced the ugliest All along the road are specimens of the national vehicle, the carriol, which corresponds to the Canadin . the Irish Jaunting car shaped sulky, with a perch bebind for light whale fins, &c., wero seattered about. Every | sng graphs of the novel features of the scene, but | our kodakist reports that the thick smell | ing over the place obscured the stn, prevent ing a snap-shot, and that nature agninst the delay apon the spot which be involved in s time exposure. Particle of the fish, except tho is to some good use. e would pang Ay ed THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D.C. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER as an English mile, and the Norwegians ere seven times as about Sans eae eek often render them necked subjects in Norway and obstinate, un- Teliable voters in Minnesota and tho Dakotag, they are quite a different people from their wat sncestors, the ancient North: from whom our English forefathers in the old litanies prayed to be delivered. In sad need of industrious sensible farmers of a kind who will devote themselves largely to the cultivation of the soil, and threatened with continued immi- gration of an objectionable sort from some other lands, the people of the republic gladly welcome the coming of the Northmen, against whose abrupt and disturbing visite their ances- tors petitioned for divine protection. Tuo. W. Norzs. ——___+e LOBSTERS THAT WERE GIANTS, Some Crustacean Giants of Years Ago—Young Lobsters and Their Vagabond Ways. “One rarely hears of a good-sized lobster nowadays,” said an ichthyologist to « Stan writer. “Yet it was not so many years ago that twenty-five pounders were quite frequently aught. There is one preserved in the collec- tion of crustacea at the Smithsonian Institue tion which weighed eighteen pounds at the time of its capture. Reliable record exists of specimens weighing forty pounds. One of that magnitude would be five feet in length, includ- ing the claws. “Lobsters often travel in regiments, seeking new feeding grounds. Their migrating armies are always led by the biggest and strongest ones, while the maimed and weakly strug- gle along behind. A fair-sized female lobster carries 20,000 eggs atatime. The eggs when extruded are covered with a viscid matter, which, drawn out into threads. attaches them to the long hairs that fringe the fan-like tail ofthe mother. These threads quickly become hard and strong, the eggs waving about in the water and being thus aerated. When they are ready to be hatched, the mother lobster oscil- lates her tail so as to assist the offspring to es- cape. The young at first resemble. eit being about one-third of an inch i mgt ‘They have bright blue eyes. After afew days they desert the mother and swim out into water, where they rise to the surface and Pe vagabond sort of existence for thirty or forty . CHANGING THEIR SHELTS. “During this time the young ones change their shells four times. On the fourth oc- casion they shed their swimming organs and fall to the bottom, where they remain for the rest of their lives. During their existence aa swimmers most of them are gobbled up by fishes, for which they afford a favorite food. On the other hand, there is nothing which lobsters, when grown, are so fond of as fresh fish. Flounders and other bottom fishes fre- quently fall » prey to their appetite. and some- times they will nimbly capture small minnows as the latter go swimming by. ‘Ihey dig clams out of the mud or sand and erush the shells of m with their claws, devouring the soft arts. “Young lobsters are catled in the — hood of Nantucket ‘grasshoppers.’ In the swimming stage of theit being they can often be dipped up in quantities from the surface of the seaon calm days. When it is stormy they descend. It is thé very exceptional specimen that lives to grow up. Lobsters are exposed to many perils. If they are so fortunate as to survive infancy they must gothrough numerous periods of danger incident to the ‘shedding’ process. Now and then in the course of its growth the lobster finds that it must ‘swell or Dust,” and so it pfoceeds to divest iteclf of its suit of armor. @ process is a long and dan- gerous one. Not only the outer shellis taken off, but even some of the inward parts of the in ealeche, and the Russian droshky. It is @ curiously | J animal, as the stomach bag, are removed. It is sick for some timo afterward, and fisher- men consider it not fit to eat, though just be- fore the shedding the creature is most. es- teemed for table purposes, because it is fullest of meat. SHOOTING THEIR CLAWS. “Lobsters, like crabs, bave a way of ‘shoot- ing’ their claws, as the operation is termed. Slight provocation will persuade them to drop their arms and run away without them. It is said that a loud noise or a elap of thunder will Produce this effect. An instance is recorded of an amateur fisherman who caught a lot of lobsiers and, in order to keep them fresh, tied them by their claws and hung them by strings over the side ofa vessel. In the morning only the claws remained attached to the eo1 the lobsters having dispensed with them and die- appeared. Lobster meet is just about six-tenths 4s nutritious as beef. It contains a remarka- bly large percentage of phosphorus. There is no way in whick thatelement, supposed to be 80 important for nourishing the brain, can be soreadlily assimilated as in the shape ‘of lob- ster-” oe CHILE'S NEW PRESIDENT. The Electors Will Meet on the 18th—Senor Montt to Be Chosen. ‘The dispatch from Valparaiso to Tae Star on ‘Thursday annonneing tho election of Admiral Jorge Montt as president of Chile was « trifle inaccurate, Th liberal electors met in caucus and numinated Senor -Montt. This is equiva- lent to eiecrion i° Senor Montt accepts, and there seems to be us doubt of that. The presi- dentiat electere will meet on Novemer 18, and wil then for nally chucse the chief magistrate of the land. At the recent popular elections the liberals were victorious and their rep- resentatives have as large majority in the electoral assembly. It seems likely that the vote will be unanimously for him. Since January 6, 1891, when he was called upon by a formal invitation of the national congress, igned by the vice president of the senate and aller of the house, to take command of the Chilean insurgents, Don Jorge Montt bas been the head and front of the constitutional party. He displayed such remarkable talents asa military commander aud a civil adminis- trator that he was chosen provisional president after the full of Balmaceda. Like his brother, Senor Pedro Montt, the Chiléan minister at Washington, the future president of Chile en- fertains friendly sentiments toward the Unfted RAIN MAKERS IN INDIA, 4 Native is “Winged” on Hooks and His Shrieks Call Down the Drops. The British authorities of Madras, India, have instituted an investigation relative to s ease of horrible barbarity and superstition re- ported from Madura. Bain has been very mach viving an old practioe of torture, known as “hooks winging.” A victim was found who consented to dergo the ordeal. The points of iron were pushed into hia back, a rope was to the hooks and the poor weets was into the air; his shricks of agony the goddess ase’ hear and would answer with i h i z J i BS i See zg & & g t ATTRACTIVE HOMES. Ooverings—Pashions in Lampe—Cut Glass for the Table sed How to Display It. __ ‘Written for The Evening Star. AC THE LOITERING, IDLE DAYS OF summer it takes have the means to add some new things to her furnishings in the annual rearranging for cold weather comfort, for it is such an incentive to trouble in getting good effects, if there is to be the satisfaction in the end of having something fresh to look at, or addi- tional ease in living by the introduction of comforts in the home. Small means will bring about wonderful results sometimes if properly laid out, and, with all there is nowadays for little money, the provider of the household should, if possible, see to it that s sum is set aside for improvement of the interior of the house. Nothing, haps, adds more to the attractive looks of a house than draperies, and though, of course, they may vary from the cheapest cottons to th sive silke and Inces, the graceful addition to the room in both cases is more equal than the difference in materials would indicate. PRETTY LACE CURTAINS. Some of the prettiest of the lace curtains this season are in what is called the Marie Antoinette style. Deep ecru net is the founda- tion, with braids of different widths applied in bow knote and ribbons, with small flowers at intervals; a guipure iace edges these. some- times narrow, sometimes wide, and they are very effective. A white net curtain has a rib- bon pattern also, though not quite the same. White muslin is lied for the design, which Places than others, an effect ble by braid, which must naturally ath everywhere throughout pattern. Another rather simple curtain is remarkably light and airy in appearance-again, anet is the foundation, with perpendicular rows of star-shaped figures, small and not heavily wrought, and very pretty for bed roome, Sash curtains of ecru net have some of them merely two fiat rows of braid put onasa border curtains of muslin and white net come in me tambour designs of last season. The ive curtains of lace show no special nov- elties and are not as interesting as some of the lower grades on that account. Among the really cheap fabric the greatest vanity infound, even the ten-cent lace i scrim having ite lace stripes in small p) and looking quite different from the first displayed of that style. The goods looks very sheer when held to the light, and windows draped with it aro much preferable to those without any hangings at all. Changeable silks or silks with change- able effects are shown in curtains of delicate tones and light texture. They drape charm- ingly, and in many rooms look much better than anything heavier could. Curtains of this kind are prettier if ica ap rather high, with as many folds as possible to catch the light on the shimmering gurfac FURSITURE COVERINGS. For furniture covering brocade and tapestry are the twofabrics which seem to be most chosen forhandsome articles, brocade for drawingroom and tapestry for dining room and library tak- ing the place of leather as chair covering and giving a much better color effect, while con- sidered quite as durable, I believe. I saw the other day some sofa pillows covered with tap- estries which were very good. The divan on which they were was covered with a Bagdad curtain, with old red the predominating color, and the pillows, in the dull tapestry shades of brown, blue and werd very pretty and harmonious, as well as most serviteable in the living room where they were used. A novelty ip sofa pillows is one of green plush, one of the mosr-green tones, with the de- sign large. lowers, suggesting chrys- anthemums in form. Soi th r-4 row of Petals only, others with two, spreading from the center.’ These petals are lightly touched with white paint, giving a shadowy, silvery sfleot hat a most pieasin The outline of ew worked in Japanese thread, while the center of the flower Simest solid with the gold. The flowers are large. Probably the big ones are six inches in ry} ring the pil low by filling in with the small flowers. Tho back of the pillow is of plain plush, a gold thread defining the edges, Silver lustra paint might give even a prettier effect than the white, though it is very pretty as it is. SOMETHING NEW IN SOFA CUSHIONS. Something else new in sofa cushions are those of canton flannel tinted with tapestry dyes; one wonders at first sight what the mate- rialimay be, for the nap of the goods after be- ing wet with the dye is roughed up just enough to mislead as to the texture. ‘he best colorin I have seen is the groundwork of a d with the design in China blue, the the pattern, which is very conventional, to be either outlined or worked in long or short stitch with either the buff or blue. Anothe: still is a pillow of what looks to —A eage green—with a very wide single rutile of the same, and a large star-shaped figure re- peated several times for the design, which is made of white cord couched down with white thread, the whole being very effective. FASHIONS IN LAMPS. 1 Lamps are to be more, used than ever, judg- ing from the ‘number displayed at the large stores; they vary in size from the tall piano lamp to the small bulbs of china or glass for setting into candlesticks of different heights ‘The favorite size seems to be that of the bou- quet lamps, which are equally-good for lighting dining table or using in the drawing room or library. ‘Tbe most expensive of these ha’ the center column of Mexican onyx with rococo brass monnti: but they are al to be sen of wholly silver and brass at lower prices. It is almost impossible to find any of the glass lamps of this style, which were brought out last year and were go pretty, while not expen- sive at all; a search in all the lamp stores of one of our largest cities lately failed to find | and that was so clumey in| snuff. more than one, shape ax not to be at all desirable. ‘The small lamps for candlesticks are excessively popular; almost every one has one or more tall’ candle~ sticks, which;show them off better than low ones, and they look more satisfactory than candles ‘if used on the caeet or Juncheon table, and, witha, ure not riced. #0 no wonder they are such tavorlten. The lampe are ches F being the price, but the that sot them off so much, without which, in fact, they are nothing, are from $8 to $5 in price, the small metal holder on which the shade sets being 35 ‘These lamp shades are fascinating Iftile like dolls’ ball dresses, of sill, rope lisse, the latter being the new- is used in both the plain and RLABORATE SEADES. f He i i Cut glass for the table is lower in price it has beon, whieh lovers of it are glad to kno’ Six and seven dollars will now buy bowl of A, 1891—SIXTEEN -PAGES, as I said, $1.50 t vena: ae MUSHROOMS FOR THE FAIR. Novel Exhibit to Be Made by the Department of Agriculture at Chicago. An exhibit of © most curious and original description is to be made by the Department of Agriculture at the world’s fair in Chicago. Nothing like it has ever been seen at an exposi- tion before. It will be a show of mushrooms, including all of the 200 varieties of edible agari ics belonging to the United States. All of will be represented by models painted to fe nature as nearly as possible, while the principal and most useful kinds will be dis- layed naturally growing end under cultiva- them imi xpen- | tion. For this purpose experiments are now beii — ip . barn éome miles out of Wash- ration are being tried, and every day e _ cursions are made into the woods around about to gather fresh Already in that neigh- borhood more 100 kinds have been se- cured. As fast as are obtained they Lave plaster molds made from them, and casts of the originais are produced in a curious ma- terial of Dr. Taylor's own invention, which he calls “‘sotuble leather.” The ¢asts are painted by skilied artists in close imitation of the real a Loge sort eye shown ina group illustrating all stages of its development and + Aecer ‘the conditions of ite growth likewise, some sprouting from moss, others from pine needles, still others from the bark of trees, and so on. OBJECT OF THE EXMIBIT. The object of the exhibit will be to educate the people of this country respecting mash- rooms as a valuable article of diet. At present the entire natural crop of esculent fungi pro- duced in the United States, which ought to have a value of a great many thousands of dol- lars, is well-nigh wasted. diy more than one species is eaten at all, and even that is re- garded usually with suspicion. Prudence in selection is worth exercising, inasmuch as there are no less than 800 poisonous varicties, buta little knowledge is all that ineeded to be cortain in 5 re are ever so many fungus delicacies, regarded as such by the epicure, which grow all over the United States spontaneously, yet go to waste for lack of gathering. For ex- ample, few people will venture to eat the fair: ring mushrooms, which are the best of ail agari are there who and the excellent “‘oyster m of the bark of trees in clusters, resembling in shape the mollusks from which their variety takes its descriptive name? The same question may be asked respecting the “‘beefsteak mush- room,” which is developed on tree stumps, of ® bright red color and sometimes attainii nearly a foot in diameter. Cut in slices broiled with butter thie latter species taste exactly like the most tender beefsteak. In fact, fungi that are good to eat are composed largely of nitrogen, and their flesh is very like meat in the elements composing it. They are also very nearly as uutritious as meat. When they decay these curious vegetables actually become putrid, as flesh does. THE GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY. Already the cultivation of mushrooms for market is gaining ground as an industry in this country. There are mushroom farms in New Jersey, Pennsyl and elsewhere, and on Long Island there are many extensive mush- room cellars which produce considerable crops. Farmers generally would find mushrooms a most profitable wintercrop. They have cellars to grow them in and loam and manure at hand. The only expense meorgert hg a smail one for the purchase of spawn, which ean be got from the seedamen. Asfor the manure and loam, they are better for other uses after having been thus employed than before. Every florist could | the benches of his | find in beneath’ the green house most suitable accommodation for mushroom beds. For women seeking pleasunt ‘and remunerative occupation nothing could be | more suitable than raising mushrooms. There is more money in it than in hens, and in the market the demand is always greater by far than the supply at good prices. Several kinds of puff-ball mushrooms possess anesthetic properties when burnt, like chloro- form, and successful surgical operations have been performed under their influence. There isan ‘excalens ae rained for the table in a) yy simply depositing a quantity of cof- pies bce Tgogus soon tak tr | 1g its appearance. In Italy also another spe- | cies is produced spontaneously from hazel stumps, partly charred and watered from time to time. Razor strops of good quality are made from an Asiatic variety, which contains minute crystals hard enough to act mpen steel. ‘The supe yporus sacer is worshiped in Africa asa god. ‘The “German tinder,” famil- iar to cigar smokers, ts manufactured from a fungus beaten out and steeped in a solution of saltpeter. Pieces of the same are often sewn together into coarse garments. The natives of Tierra del Fuego depend upon cer- tain kinds of fungi for their staple food during many months of the year. ‘There is » species which grows on olive trees that is so 1 tents, until the over-fed the doorway of the cellar. 3} are employed in different for an intoxicant, that have died during this year, Jas. Watson, kennel editor of says: “The sooner American owners and longevity of Men without love for doge ~<A whi into the business for what rooms,” which grow out | STRAWBERRIES AND MOSQUITOES IX TEE LAND OF SNOWS AND GLACIERS—THE DIFFICULTIES I TRAWBERRIES AND MOSQUITOES SEEM to be equally plentiful in the neighborhood of Mt St Elias, according to the stories re- lated to ® Stam reporter by Prof. Israel C. Rus- sell, who has just returned to Washington from that region of eternal ice an@ snow in Alaska, where the highest peak in North America rises to an altitude of 19,000 feet from the midst of a glacier 1,000 square miles in area and as big 0@ all thoee of the Alps pat together. Along the edge of the glecier all the way from Icy bay to Yakutat bay there extends « strip of green coast, which is covered with lux- uriant vegetation. Strawberry vines cover the ground for miles, and the verdant elds are | Feddened as far as the eye can reach with lus- cious fruit, which compares favotably im point Of size and flavor with the finest grown in tem- Perate latitudes. There are huckleberries, too, and “salmon berries,” which are between blackberries violeta, buttercups, yellow monkey flowers and other wild blossoms. Here and there in the midst of the vast ice fields are the loveliest gardens, watered by the melting snow. DIFFICULT CLIMERIXG. There are plenty of grizzly bears in the vicinity of Mount St. Elias, but Prof. Russell did not find them very dangerous. He says | that his encounters with them reminded him of killing pigs. Of brown and black bears he saw and shot a ee ie & The expedition met with enough perils, however, to satisfy the most adventurous geograp! explorers, jearly all of the climbing, had to be P | steep walls of ice and snow by cutting steps At almost any timea sip would have precipi- tated the party down the frozen precipices thousands of feet. On one occasion they were descending, when they found that an avi had carried away the steps which they bad made in going up. The impromptu staircase was destroyed for 300 fect and they had to lower «man by arope to chop out another, there being no other way of getting down. Such accidents as t | Avalanches were con’ down ‘the slopes trains and with a roar like thunder, that be heard twenty miles away. ARROW EscaPEs. One night sbout 12 o'clock the party was Passing over a bad place in the Agassiz glacier. Two men were in the lead, drawing a sled. Suddenly they disappeared from sight, having fallen into a crevasse or fissure in the ice. Luckily they were caught upon a projecting | ledge at the depth of about 20 feet, else they | would never have been seen again. They were hauled out with roj n ry. ame neighborhood, Prof. Ruseell cha look behind him and saw that the ice fleld over which he had just was gone, leaving an | enormous bole of unknown depth. Another time one of his men tumbled into and was only saved by the pack fastened to his | shoulders, which interrupted his progress through a twist in the frozen tunnel that had yawned for him. EXORMOUS GLACIERS. The Agassiz glacier is one of four great gla- ciers which, together with about « thousand small ones, flow out from the mountains at the north to the mighty Malaspina glacier, pouring | their streams of ice coutinually into 'this vast frozen sea. This glacier of Malaspina—from 1,500 to 2,000 feet thick—is interesting not merely because of its enormous size, but also by reason of the fact that it is the only one now in existence of the same type as the gla- cier which formerly covered all of this conti- | nent as far south as Philadelphia and St. Louis, leaving traces that aro visible to this day in | scratches on the rocks, PROF. RUSSELL'® BEAR STORE. Prof: Russell told a Sram reporter a re- markable story of a meeting that he bad with two bears. He was returning to camp over @ rather steep slope of glacier and found that the to make the journey sing my alpen stock as abrake [ descended swiftly and without difficulty for several hun- | dred feet, my dogs bounding along beside me. Suddenly, upon looking up, I was startled to see two huge brown bears not more than 150 yards away. Had my slide been continued few seconds more 1 should have been in ex- ceedingly unpleasant company. I was armed and entirely unprepared for conflict | with a pair of the most savage animals found | im that count: They were not at all dis- turbed by my preronce, and in spite of my | shouts, which I thought would make them | travel’ off, one of them came leisurely toward me. His ‘stridés over the snow revealed @ trength and activity commanding admiration | despite the decidedly unc table feeling | awakened by his proximity and evident euri- osity. Later in the season I mwasured the tracks of an animal of the same species, made while walking over a soft, level surface, and found each impression to measure nine by seventeen inches aud the stride to reach sixty- four inches. So fur as I have been able to learn, this is the largest bear track that has been re- | ported. Realizing my danger, I coutinued my | suowslide, but in a different direction and wi | accelerated speed. The upper limit of the | dense thicket clothing the slope of the moun- tain was soon reached and my unweleome com- panions were lost to sight.” LUXURIOUS VEGETATION. Where the land in that region is bare of foe the vegetation attains an almost tropical luxu- riance and the arctic jungles are well-nigh im- ble to the explorer. One of the chief ob- stacles encountered in treading them is » plant known as the “devil’s club, which grows toa height of ten‘or fitecn feet, its stems run- ning along the ground for some distance and then turning upward. Every part of ite eur- face, even to the ribs of the leaves, is thiekl set with spines, which inflict painfal, wounds snd, breaking off in the leah cause sores. A GLACTAL RIVER. In the Lucia glacier occurs a most interest- ing feature in the shape of a glacial river, which comes out from a mountain: through an archway of ice, flows fora mile and @ half in enough to enter the tunnel and drift through after the fashion of Allan Quatermain and Umslopogaas. ‘The greatest risk in such an undertaking would be from falling blocks of ice. At the mouth of the tun’ there are always confused noises and rhythmic to be heard from the dark recesses within. The air, is ‘lied with pulsations like deep organ notes, and it requircs but little imagination to transform sounds into the voices and songs of the inhabitants of the rether “It used to be suy that Mount St Elias was a volcano, nnd tes fl alt 8 £ ae Ap Jf i every evening at 916 F street. Visitors always welcome. PROBLEM No. 31. (Tourney Probiem No &> By & ©. DUNHAM, Washineton, D.C. (Compound for The Brening Star.) Black 2 plecea White 6 pieces. ‘White to play and mate in three moves. PROBLEM No. 32. (Tourney Problem Ne &) By A. V. BOATRITE, Columbus, Ge. (Componed for The Evening Star.) Motto: “Take sour choice." Dedicated to the young lady who sends in the frst solution to Thee Bear, ite § pieces. ‘White to play and mate in two moves. PROBLEM No. 83. (Tourney Probiem Ne @) By BR. H. EZDORF, Washington, D.C. (Composed for the Evening Star.) Biack—x pieces, White pieces, ‘White to play and mate in two moves. PROBLEM No. 34 (Towrney Problem Ne. %.) By A. T. CUTHBERT, Chicago, Ti. Womposed for the Evening Star.) Black —4 pieces. White—7 pieces. ‘White to play and mate in three moves, PROBLEM No. 33. By SAMUEL LLOYD. i & uv at KB? an GAME No. 17. A akittle at the wees 2 te Seam : 3 ketes 3 BB trae f HE 2. BRS Ree i Ak 14. R-Be 4. Lb. Kee 15. Bab 3. Rake 16. PB 16 KekKes And wins. (a) Tigs turms it inte the dull form of the qo kteteits Tecomuende Bais te antes Lowes timer ta) Vi if ‘ee white ropiies Kexki? followed by. "tus bad, P- was tue correct play. SOLUTIONS AND SOLVERS. Ko. 17, Solution next week No. 2k. Key ie Kt-KR ht RRar ee ey * A.V. Gimger, a oe night. gp POMS : L No. 25. are two solutions: Q-R6 and R-KT. plain view and then is lost to sight in another | rirt tctnd py George Haute kes Sonean a Tunnel, Where the stream emerges finally is | oumer. Fk’ Gooey, BM" Boris Ys. Unknown. ‘No explorer hse as set base bois | by Sits Morrison. CM Eadort 1% Kassie SS EN RET SES art ae SRA aeare ne ‘TRE MATCH WITH BALTIMORE President O'Farrell of the home club went r tet Hae i i i I