Evening Star Newspaper, January 23, 1892, Page 8

THE HORSE SHOE. Days When the Hoofs Used to Be Bandaged or Booted. THE FIRST USE OF IRON. The Modern Horse Shoer and His Work= ‘The Structnre of the Horse's Foot and the Purpose of the Shoe—Some Odd Materials ‘That Have Been Used for Footgear, Written for The Evening Star. O THE ORDINARY observer a horse shoe is simply a bit of bar iron or steel shaped to fit the hoof of the horse and is without any ap- Parent further interest. Bat it bas its story, and a very entertaining oner too, it ia The most careful investigation into the past history of horse shoes discloses no antiquity to the practice @f shoeing with iron. Iron shoes were un- Bnown to the Greeks, and if to them to all other nations of earlier ages. Xenophon, the Athenian historian, essayist and military com- ander, who wrote the most complete work on horsemanship of his day, some 400 years before Christ, makes no mention of horse shoes, but on the contrary he is particularly explicit as to ‘the means to be taken to harden and toughen the hoofs. Horses were not shod in Exypt Assyria or Palestine. The Intter country did not raise its horses, but obtained them from Egypt. Aristotie and Pliny mention that horses’ feet were covered when stony ground was to be erossed or & long journey to be made to pro- tect the hoof from wear and breakage, bnt it ia Certain that the coverings were not metal shoes fm the form and shape and use of the horse shoe of today, but sumply bandages or kinds of Boota These latter were made of leather and the bandages of plaited straw or hemp twisted together like s mat and sometimes strength- ned on the bottom by platesof iron. In ancient times in the east camels were booted with BAR SHOE WITH RUBBER TREAD. leather, and if the owners of the animals were Fich and ostentatious the soles of the boots were Protected by a sheet of metal. In rare cases precions metals, goldand silver, were used. ‘It is said that the mules of the Emperor Nero wore boots of leather shod with silver, while those of his wife Poppea had the soles pro- fected by gold. THE Fist IRON stor. Coming down to later times, the earliest Fecord that is found of iron shoes being nailed to the hoof is in the description of a shoe said to have belonged tothe horse of Childeric, who lived A. D. 481, but the practice did not general until the ninth century. It weemsto be not necessary in all countries to shoe horses, for in many wild portions of the horses and ponies run over rocks, through Favines and over precipitous ridges unshod, and with advantage to their hoofs. for these ani- by his care and use horse to have tender feet and nd to make the use of iron as a The practice of shoe- Ee horese was introduced into England by Wiliam the Conqueror, the daring and pitiees io It is not positively known where he obtained the custom, probably from nm France and Italy, since This act, as far ascan be ascer- eased to the western nations florse akoers as well as in Italy, viz.: Merechaax and marechal According to authorities the ety- mology of the word marechal was derived from sucient words meaning horse and custo- minister. The title was an honorable & skilled knowledge of horses. later period the word mare- adopted in France as a military distinction and was afterward in the same way. In recent i the highest military To be a marechal was the glory and ambition of many a valiant soldier. The word has never been used nor in this country to designate though among the French it yet maintains its usage in that sense. A marec! de France and un marechal expert are under- Stood distinctly, the first a marshal of France and the second an expert horse shoer. ‘VETERINARY COLLEGES. The versatile Frenchmen early took the greatest interest in the art of shoeing, and in 1761 « veterinary college was founded in Paris. of professors gave instruction inthe physiology and anatomy of the horse and veterinary medicine in general, and es- pecial attention was paid to imparting a scien- fe understanding of the practice of shoeing. ‘Thirty years later the London Veterinary Col- Jege was established in England, and upon the piss of those in France. A Frouchman was ported tohave charge of it and a general effort was made throughout the kingdom to foster and encourage the growth of the institu- the art and the practice of it teem to be regarded as being without the pale of the veternariau and are confined to the vil- Jage smith and city horse shoer. The principal of the shoe are the two faces, upper Tower: the two ciger, octer and inset? the ‘aa or front part, the heels, the quarters, between ‘the © Pro- the toe and toe and heels; the Sections from the lower face at generally eight, four on x side, are madi ‘the clip, kind of claw on the upper face, us! ally at the outer edge of the toe, for ‘the hoof at that point and assisting t the shoe in piace. The upper face is bev- ‘at the inner edge to prevent the sole of the foot resting on the iron, the to have only the erast or horn 0! est thereon. shoes are known according to some ing characteristic or feature, wach as bar, racing. nailless, jointed, elastic tread. &c. A bar shoe is one in which the heels of the shoe are continued around beneath the heel of the foot and united together at their of rawhide, Several thicknesses of hide are em ed and compressed tightly together ina of the and then chemically treated to hide. But the latest shoe is of uamber of thin sheets i ! i i | i g s geek fied k cy H H i i u i great to | A—Horn. BE noe. Outline of bars. the latter to diminish the impact on the ground of rapid and vigorous action of the foot. This crust or outside covering, though horny, is not solid, but fibrous in texture. its design being to protect the sensitive foot within from blows and by itselasticity lessen the concussion when the foot strikes the ground. The greatest wear and strain is atthe toes of the front feet and quarters of the hind feet, and nature has made extra provision at these points by there increas- ing the thickness and hardness of the horn. Curi- ously and interestingly enough the human nails aré similarly so provided, the finger nails being thickest in the middle and the toe nails thickest at the sides. Is this resemblance a mere coincidence? Is it or not one straw pointing to the demonstra- | tion of the hypothesis of the common origin of the 5) As every portion of the foot acta together, it is pecessury, in order to get the | best results, that the different parts should be free to perform their functions. Nature having provided the crust, frog. sole and bars to pro- tect the highly seusitive interior parts, it is in- comprehensible that a horse shoer can be so ig- Rorant as to cut away these safeguards to actual | mutilation and believe it beneficial instead of positively injurious to the toot. It makes one turn away sick at heart from the thought of the intolerable agony silently borne by this no- ble animal in being subjected to such treat- ment. When one is a daily witness to a horse drawing loads, their feet—not the horn alone— shod, the frogs and bars set up off the ground, and of no more use than if their feet were the scooped-out ends of posts instead of living, feeting parts—he wonders at man's indifference and stupidity in not requiring as much skill and intelligence in the horse shoer as he exacts of the surgeon. The shoer would be benefited by such requirement, and his trade, which is now simply regarded as » means of earning a living, would be lifted to the dig- nity of @ profession. ——_—_ The Smooth Shoe To the Editor of The Evening Star: Recognizing the fact that the horse is one of man’s best and most reliable friends among the A Cavalryman’s Graphic Picture of the Fort Stevens Fight, IN ASTORM OF BULLETS. A Sequel tothe Reunion of the 25th New York Cavalry—The Regiment That Fought All Day Before the Arrival of Troops From the Front—A Hot Place at the Blair Homestead. AST JULY A NUMBER of the survivors of the York cavalry met in this city on the anniversary of the battle of Fort Stevens, where the regi- ment for many hours bravely bore the brant of Early’s attack. A veteran association was Mr. J. H. Wolf of this, city was elected corre- sponding secretary. Since that date Mr. Wolf has received letters from all parts of the world from members of the organization who con- tribute their recollections to be used in the preparation of » history of the régiment. One of the moat interesting of these letters is from H. O. B. Lane, late sergeant of com- pany B, now living at Melbourne, Australia, who writes 8 most interesting account of the regiment's operations around Washington in 1864. Mr. Lane says: We embarked on board the transports at City Point and disembarked st Baltimore; thence by cars to Washington, where we slept one night ins large hall somewhere near the Capitol; thence next morning to Camp Stone- man, about seven miles from Washington. We Were sent there from City Point for the express purpose of being mouzited, and thus it hap- Pened that we were on the spot for the defense of Washington when it was attacked by Early. The circumstances of our defense of the city, as I remember them (and I can see them as clearly and as vividly as when on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 12th and 13th of July, I took pert in them), T will give somewhat in detail, hortly after midnight of Mon the 11th, our bugles sounded the “fall in.” After con- siderable delay we took up the march toWashing- ton, halting when within two miles of the city. Up to this none of us, as I remember, knew the object of our march. We entered the city about 7 a.m. Tuesday and were halted some little time. Some citizens were marching out to the fort armed with rifles, and then for the first time I. at least, heard that the city was being attacked, but did not believe it. Theguns, animal kingdom, and one on which more re- liunce is placed, perhaps, than on any other, I read with much interest your editorial in re- gard to legislative action concerning the “‘dock- ing” of horses and also the communication of “M" in relation to the cruel check rein. But it strikes me that there is another cruelty to the faithful animals that is far more generally practiced among the horse owners of Washington than either of those named. I re- fer to the matter of working the poor animals up billand down hill, hitched to all sorts of vehicles and puiling loads varying from a light buggy to a street car filled with as many people ‘as can possibly be crowded into it, without even the sign of a “cork” on their shoes. Within the past few days I have seenas many as a dozen horses fall, while going at &@ pretty good gait, in front of a street car, and be shoved along on their sides for a dozen or more feet before the car could be Again, 8 car will be filled with perhaps thirty people, averaging 150 pounds each, and a pair of smooth-shod horees 1s expected to pull them up a hill, the track of which is almost as slip- pery as glass, and because they don't get along the driver begins to lash them and beat them with his whip. It seems to an onlooker that much of this evil and- cruelty could be remedied by giving the horses a good sharp pair of shoes, so that they could keep their footing and hold whatever purchase their hard work might give them. And the coal dealers and others come infor a good share of the blame. To hitch a smooth-shod horse to a ton of coal and expect him to pull it upa hill where boys have been coasting for a day, the surface all the time becoming harder and more slippery, is similar to expecting a man to do the work that about four men would ordinarily do. If a man were to be seen whip- ping his horse too severely he would be ar- rested and fined; but Ican’t see that a good, sound drubbing is much more of a crueity than the evil I have mentioned and of which every observing citizen of Washington is fully cogni- zant. A change should be made, and « mighty sudden change, too. Homasiry. Wasuixerox, D. C., January 21, 1892. a Laying the Cable in the Bahamas, A Jupiter (Fla.) special says: “The British steamship Westmeath, Capt. Stanhouse, arrived here this afternoon with the telegraph cable which is to connect the Bahamas with the rest of the world, the line running direct from Nas- sau, N. P., to Jupiter, on the east coast of Florida. The Westmeath left London on De- cember 26 and Nassau January 15. She has been coming across very slowly, making care- ful soundings. The cable will probably be landed here early tomorrow morning, the ves sel starting back for Nassau immediatel ing out the cable as she goes. Abo Westmeath are several English government and colonial officials, including Dougiass Wells, the electrician of the cable company. The cable will be connected with the new land line to- morrow, and by next Wednesday it is expected that Sir Ambrose Shea, the governor of the Ba- hamas, can commuicate with Queen Victoria in London in less than three hours’ time. This is the first cable ever laid from any of the Ba- hama group, and marks an important step in the commercial progress of this colony.” ——~ee. ‘A Desperate Fight at Mendoza ‘The New York Herald's dispatch from Men- doza says that several deputies of the provin- cial chamber met at the house of Dr. Suerrez Thursday night. The house was attacked by a mob of armed men and a desperate fight en- sued. Senor Navajos, secretary of the cham- ber of deputies, was killed and Dr. Suerrez and others seriously injured in the fight. Friends of the men who were assailed have armed them- selves and swear they will have revenge. The police are patrolling the streeta, An Independent Woman. From the Lewistown Journal. ‘A Bangor man tells the Commercial there was no soprano at his church on Sunday. When an explanation was asked he says that “Satur- day night the soprano bad « dream in which an angel appeared and told her that the Lord wanted her to sing anthem No. 56 Sunday. She got mad and said she wouldn't be bossed b ‘anybody, and so she stayed away from church.” Above Yet Beneath Him. From the New York Weekly. Mra. Firstfloor (De Fashion Flats)—“Ob, Mrs. Secondfloor, is it true your son has mar ried above him?” Mrs. Secondfloor (weeping)—"Boo, hoo! We're all di Gs married—boo, hi Bootes Afthioorer:” ssi EES Scott's Heroines. From the Atlantic Monthly. Out of thirty heroines sixteen are distinctly described as under twenty. Of the other four- teonsix are undated. This leaves us eight, three of whom are set down as over twenty; two start at one side of the line and are carried over to the other; twoare by implication rather than by the intention of the author, taken out of their “teens,” and one, Amy Robsart, is a heroine “of an uncertain age,” since sho is his- oricall matron and fictitiously a you the six undated, the pre- sumption is altogether in favor of the eallier FREE ih fi Fe EF ree | i bf & rH] He ely E i 3 i however, at Ft. Stevens were now heard and all doubts set at rest. And we then marched out and halted a little the city side of Ft. Stevens, where ammunition was served out. We then advanced by the road that led between Ft. Ste- vens on the right and Ft. de Russey on the left, taking ground toward the last named fort. FIGHTING UNDER PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S EYE. Our right lay close up to the road, where I noticed a strange looking carriage, which stop- ped when it came abreast of Ft. Stevens, Two gentlemen alighted, one of them dressed in a white straw hat, a white dust cost, black panta- loons and abroad biack cravat.” I at once recognized the chosen “ruler of all the land,” and said, “I believe there is the President him- self.” “That's s0,” said several all at once. Im- mediately the command was given. “Form the cenjer to right and left, take skirmishing dis- tance, march.” deployed and moved steadily down the sloping ground. ‘The enemy at once opened fire upon us and before we could return it we bad to vance a considerable distance exposed toa severe dropping fire. We flushed our first game, a skirmish line of the enemy elmost as heavy as a line of battle, at a point a little more than midway between the FFeund we now occupied and Mr. Justice air's blue-stone mansion, and what agrueling they gavo us in Scotch fashion, without any- thing to render it more palatable; but it is due to us to say that we took it without a grimace and returned their hospitality into the bargain, We showed obstinate and determined fight and pushed them buck till we gained a fair position, couple of small houses with their outbnild- ings on the right of the wood being taken pos- session of by us(we took ground well to our right in the early part of the action s those | commanding the more open ground. whieh lay to the right of and beyond Judge Blair's house. Giddings, myself and some six or eight others selected the best points of resistance and made it as. warm as we could for Early’s people. The owners of the houses had evidently fled justas they were sit- ting down to breakfust, for it wason the tables. We ate the breakfast for them, fighting the while. ‘Giddings called, out “They are getting around on our flank.” At the same instant they advanced rapidly against our immediate front and’our entire line was forced back. The guns from Fort Stevens then opened a tremendous fire on them and after a little we again advanced, reoccupying the — from which we had just been driven. lere I beard the slap of # bullet striking some one and look- ing over my shoulder I saw Byrnes, one of our company, with a very dazed expression. 1 said, “Byrnes, you're hit. Hocallea to Giddings, saying, “Giddings, I'm hit!” “Well, then, skedaddle to the rear. What do you stand grinning there for?” said Giddings, with agrinon his own fa made bis fortune on a comic staff. Byrnes was struck on the throat. ‘There were very fow of lus at this spot now and Giddings was saying to me, “This is getting very hot bere, Lane,” when the order came to set fire tothe houses and move a little to our left. Wedid sq, and I took cover from aemall manure heap, from which we had a good sight of some gray coute. Sergt. Richardson was standing on the first rail of the fence and I said to him, ‘Keep low, Richard- son, or you'll get hit.” He had hardly replied, “They can’t fire straight enough to hit’ me, when he was shot through the head and fell off the fence. A VOLUNTEER. The owner of one of the houses just now returned and was sitting, dressed only in his shirt and pantaloons, on a box very close to nd in the middle of the yard, and I drew his attention to the risk be ran. He said, “I don't care, I've lost Chg I have in the world,” when another idea seized him, and picking up a carbine and pouch he, from’ that moment, tired and fought like a Trojan. Again we were driven back, but advanced and got possession of Judge Blair's house and grounds, which afforded a grand position for defense.’ Igot into the house somehow and from the library I took the loan of a handsome volume of “Moore's Melodies” and the ‘‘Ara- bian Nights Tales.” I met almost im- mediately after with our surgeon major (i think his name was — who promised to take care of them for me. never saw them after; he told me be put them in his ambu- lance and they were taken. Had the jpdse known that 1 had borrowed his books I am certain he would have overlooked my having done so, for shortly after we committed arson by setting fire to his house so as to give better sight to our guns on Fort Stevens. Once more ere driven outof our position and our ammunition running low we were served out with a fresh supply, onthe line. I was one of those who went back and helped to carry down abox tothe line. After some sl > taking we again pushed forward and drove the cnem; back from the judge’s house and grounds ana held them all the time after. Capts. ‘lowns- ley, Woodward and Wheeler were standing in the yard around the pump. ‘Townsley was tak- ing @ drink of water and lasked him to let me have one. He me the glass and pumped it full for me. AsIreplaced the glass on the spout of the pump a bullet therefrom and struck Tor in i Ha Hi Hi gE a6 F| old twenty-fifth New| to then formed, of which | Gra: } k five among the lower orders—that then crept across the road, where Orderly Ser- feant Starboard of company A and some of is fellows were. I had but reached this “| guns from both forts we stubbornly held our ground. It was now well on in the afternoon and there appeared on the field what I always undersood to be the thirteenth army corpa, under Gen. Merritt. How he did cheer an pour in volley after vollty. ‘This corps took up exactly the same ground as we did in the morning. and we were moved across to_a posi- tion in front of Fort de Russey. An officer of company A, a very dark man with avery strong voice, here cant jeal of swearing among us by calling out every now tand again in his loudest voice, “Report to the ‘woodpile,” each shout of his being at once answered by ashower of bullets from the enemg, for they learned our position from him. We lay here during the night, and on the 13th had a small edition of the twelfth, but Early soon fell back before ‘the infantry. "When all was safe we went back camp and very shortly after drew our horse: and again for the first time marched mounte through Washington on our way to Harper's erry. SOME AFTER REFLECTIONS. I have often since thought of our defense of Washington, but have never been able to satisfy myself as to either the reason for the attack or Early's conduct of it. I fancy that he either have been hard pushed by t some point or else have had some move of his own on the board and sent Early to attack Washington, in order to create @ di- ersion by compelling Grant to draw off a por- tion of his own forces for the defense of the city and leave himself a freer hand. Iam not surprised that Karly should have taken us for old soldiers, for, though under fire, we de- ployed as coolly and steadity as though we had m on parade or the drilling ground; but when for hour after hour we were not rein- forced and no support came out to our aasist- ance I cannot understand how # skillful com- mander like Early (we found that out to our costin our campnigns in the valley, and no further proof that he was go is needed than the fact that Lee,one of the most skillful strategists and brilliant soldiers in history, sclected him to carry out the movement) should not have seen that there was nothing between him and the city save ourselves and the two forte. Nothing but the direst extremity in which the life of every man must, if necessary, have been sacrificed, could have justified our having been exposed for even a moment to such appallin, odds, That extremity did exist, however, an: the old twenty-fifth N. Y. V. C. stepped in and met it and bore its brunt like soldiers and like men. One thing is certain, namely, that the defense of the city from early morning till late in the afternoon by the mere handful of our- selves deserves to bo reckoned as one of the historic incidents in that war, replete as it was with instances of heroic assault and defense. sitiveadestemretast MARK OF A LOST RACE A Monument of the Mound Builders in Dan- ger of Destraction. The great Indian mound of antiquity in the Ohio valley at Moundsville, in Marshall county, W. Va., and within a few hundred yards of the Ohio river, is in danger of being destroyed,and the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society has sent out an appeal for aid to save it, The call is distributed among the schools of the state and asks for a penny contribution, to be given at intervals by the school children. ‘The society has an option for its purchase from the owner, but the cption will expire on the first day of May next, and from the present outlook there will be a considerable sum lack- ing with which to make the purchase. The mound is the most remarkable in this part of the country, and ever since the coming of the white race it has been to the antiquarian, the historian and the archwologist a great object of interest in the Ohio valley and it has been visited by many learned men beyond the seas. The mound is 246 feet in diameter at the base, being hemispherical in form, 79 fect high with a plateau or flat top, 63 feet in diameter its top, on which many years ago there w built a dancing pavilion, where the young lad and lassies of the dead’ old town lave whiled away many a moonlight hour in tripping through the merry waltz or engaged in love making. Atone time the mound was covered from base to apex with large oaks, but of late years a great many of the noble monarchs of the forest trees have succumbed to the march of progress and the storms of winter. The age of the trees is like that of the mound, hard to compute. The mound contains six million yards of earth, which is of a different ap- pearance from that in its immediate vicinity, and it is ayident that it was carried over a quar- ter of a mile from some sacred spot in tae low- lands. How this immense body of earth was transferred such @ distance without the aid of mechanical means is a matter of conjecture. Shortly after the close of the war the mound was examined by permission of the owner, and a sbaft was sunk from its top seventy-nine feet down to the level with the adjoining territory. As the shaft was sunk it was curbed with brick, which required $0,000 to complete the work. Nothing worthy of note was discovered until a large, flat stone was struck, and when the stone was removed it was found to cover a crypt, which was inclosed on all sides with a stone wall built with a mechanical knowledge unknown to the American Indian who circu- lated in that section and made it so uncomfort- able for the advance guard of civilization. , ‘Two skeletons found in the crypt, with many utensils and instruments of war and the chase. One of the skeletons was that of a male, whose height was evidently our own, but the other that of s woman. By the side of the skeletons were found many ‘uliar instruments, weapons, articles of adornment and of ordinary use, and were com- posed of bronze, copper, in its natural state, stone and flint. Many beads of bone and shells, the latter resembling those found along the seashore of the southern coasts, were also found. The skeletons were doubtless those of one of the great men of his day, aking or leader, and his queen, but they were of a race of people unknown even to the Indians. The relics were similar to some of those found at that time in Arizona. [pon the bronze tablets found by the side of the male skeleton were hieroglyphice or inscrip- tions, showing that the people who erected this immense monument had a written language and were of a race superior to the aborigines known to the earliest settlers. These relics are owned by the proprietor of the mound and will, if the Ant i rsons who ad anything todo with the opening of this mound have died or have been unsuccessful in business. Itissnid by the older peopleof Mounds- ville that a curse was placed upon those who gpened the mound and their children after em. PET NAMES, The Meaning and Origin of Nicknames ‘and Diminutives, ‘From Bow Bells, The use of pet names is peculiar neither to this century nor the last. The favoritediminu- tive at present is ‘‘ey” or “ie,” as seen in Charlie, Georgie, Maudie and 80 on. In earlier times the popular terminations were in, on, ot, kin, cock and others. Emma was shortened to Em. and for love's sake it became Emmot or Emmet. Matilda was first Til, then Tillot. Bartholomew was Bart, then Little Bart or Bartlett ‘The popularity of these pet names is seen in the great number of them which eventually be- came family names. ‘The Tillotsons, the Em- mets, the Bartletts are numerous in England and America, although few dream that these names were Originaily pet and not surnames. Before the use of family names it was often necessary to use the diminutive forms, from the fact that the same name was not ‘infre- quently given to two or three children of the fs The original of the surname pet name Robin, or Little Robert. Rawlin, found asa surname in Raw- Tins and Rawlinson, was originaily Little Ralph and Dickens Little ‘Dick. As Germans of to- chen to children’s namos as a term of endearment, making Anne Annchen, Ellestets Lischen, so, our English ancestry’ used the nivalent kin. in was little Walter. Sim- in little Stmeon, Perkin little Peter; Wilcox was once Wi Or, a8 we would .say, Willie; Hitchcock or Hiscock or Hickok was the ‘Terminations in kin and cock were "Anglo-Sexons—while the diminutives in. on and et were more aristocratic and used by families of Norman blood. 80 frequent was the use of diminutives on account of the limited number of names that Bardsley calls the period fromthe Norman “THE LEAST OF THESE” ‘Written for The Evening Star. HY DON'T WE BE newsboys?” she quay- ered resentfully. “Laws, Mary Gari- daldi, you's the biggest circus I ever seen,” gibed her companion Then, in an ecstacy of bratal amusement, she shouted to a group of alatternly girls who were looking in the windows of the Newsboys’ Home like so many Lazaruses, waiting for crumbs from the rich man's table, a-kicking now cause she ain't a boy.” Most of them—God pity them—were sat- urated with misery themselves, but with that terrible tendency of the human kind to perse- cute that which it cannot understand they tarned with one accord on the forlorn bit of humanity who had protested so passionately against fate. ‘Does it want to be with which they In the excitement of tormenting her, they forgot the aching longing which filled their own hearte for the warmth end light visible within. As soon as the child realized that the atten- tion of the whole crowd had been drawn to her she tried to slip through it and escape. She had almost succeeded when a girl, larger than any of the rest, pounced upon her and thrust her up against the railing separating the parking from the street. ‘Ihe little girl, a tiny, stunted thing, looked at them wit! terror of s wild hunted thing brought to bay. As they teased her, however, a vivid col sprang to her sallow cheek, an angry, stolid, sullen look came into her eyes, and ale kept her mouth shut resolutely. ‘This dogged silence incensed the others, and the girl, who had kept her from escaping, was | Just about to strike the child, when a lady, an unnoticed spectator of the scene, interferred, saying: “For shame! it is wrong to fight, and 80 many against one, too.” For ® moment ‘they stood hushed and abashed. ‘Then the ringleader, with the ready yolubility of a hardened street child, began: “Please, miss, it’s all her fault; she won't talk, and alittle while e was makin’ @ row Y oman, fumbling near- sightedly for h in order to get a bet- ter look at this epitome of discontent, “nice little girls are glad thoy are girls and wopldn't be boys if they could.” Now, Miss Brown as she eaid this betrayed Plainly that she disapproved utterly of any such desire. Poor Mary's stolidness was not Proof against the wish to have a champion and she broke out with—her childish treble quiver- ing with excitement and growing shriller and shriller aa she protosted—“It's a lie! It's a he! Idon’t want to be » boy, but I wants to do what they do. I wants to sell papers, balloons, flowers or bananas, or run errants, stidder lug- ge the baby, cookin’, washin’ and gettin’ icked. Boyssees the purty stores and they allers cribs enongh to git sumthin’ to ent; | they gits. alleys, too, some of ‘em ‘fine glass ones Bigbugs is allers doin’ sumthin’ for ‘em; they gin ‘em this nice house; the boys has grand times here. See in there? Them fellers 1s playin’ what they calls checkers; there's a sure enough blu board and they're makin’ pictures on it, They fot about steen games there. Tony says so. Why don't no one never give girls things like that? No one nover docs. ‘They just bas to work and git licked.” Worn out by her eloquence, she paused for breath. ‘The strength born of her eagerness to be beard dying away, she leaned against the iron fence, exhausted and listless. Dead lence fell ‘upon the group. Miss Brown was nonplussed at this vehement protest against injustice coming from such @ child, and the others were awe struckat the audacity of “Crazy Mary” talking in this way to one of the earth's favored ones. Giving them a quarter andsaying, “Get some candy and divide it among you,” Miss Brown hastily ascended the stairs t> attend a meeting called to arrange an entertainment for the newsboys’ Xmas. In giving them the money she had followed an impulse to set herself free from the imputa~ tion that she, too, did everything for boys and nothing for girls. She felt vaguely conscious that the child’s complaint had been a just one, and that she had better leave the meeting to the tender mercies of the other ladies and look after this storm-beaten atom. But it is somuch easier to walk in a beaten track; sucha temp tion to follow a fad, even in religious matters that she went along in her little rut, salving her conscience with the resolution that she would look after the child as soon as ehe hada minute's time. Meanwhile, with the fickleness belonging to all mobs, popular favor suddeuly veered round to Mary, as she had realiy been’ the means of getting this w: her to come with th But she, with a perversity which almost had the effect’ of angering them again, flatly re- fused and walked off alone, a pathetic, solitary little figure. The tears, proudly kept back till she was alone, trickled down her grimy face and, never having had such a luxury asa lkerchief, she suifiled forlornly, finally using the sleeve of her old coat in lied of that necessary article. Decidedly she was not an attractive object. She had inherited her Irish mother’s pale blue eyes, protruding teeth and a nose tersely de- scribed by the hoodlums of her neighborhood, as “‘asky gazer.” From her father, an Italian, she had gotten her swarthy skin, bushy brows and coarec, matted black hair. It is doubtful whether a search “warrant could have un- earthed a single curve in her angular little an- atomy. Yet this repulsive waif had a warm child's heart, as hungry for love as that of the most tenderly reared. Besides this she had the keenest sense of justice, which, with her pas- sionate, rebellious nature, promised to develop the unfortunate creature intoa ranting, bomb- throwing socialist. Indeed the surprising thing would be that she should grow up the patient, uncomplaining beast of burden the average poor woman is. For added to the bit- ter contrast between the lives of the rich and the poor, the differen’ treatment she received a8 a girl from that given to the most objection- able boy, forced her otherwise torpid soul into a rapid but most unhealthy growth. (Ghdundereny pretext to escape the drudgery of the household work and incessant attend- ance upon that, in the Garibaldi family, per- petual institution—the baby, she was eager to go to school. Her mother did all she could to discourage this longing. Indced, upon astray Samaritan “slamming” in the alley assuring her that she should send her daughter to school asa re- ligious duty, she retorted that the “Howly Virgin” was “too sintible intirely” to expect a woman witha “furrin” husband, who would not cultivate a taste for such Christian food as “prates,” cabbage and bacon, but who insisted on having his native delicacies of polenta, maccaroni, &c., and mine masterful “men childer,” to let the only help she had waste her time acquiring “*book larnin.’” However, hearing a neighbor's child, .who went to a first-grade public ‘school, rhapsodize over the pretty stories told by the teacher to her pupils, the lovely pictures she showed them, the objects given with which to learn to count, Mary suddenly announced her determi- nation to go to sch As her mother, though she tyrannized over the poor child shamefully, was really a flabby sort of character at bottom and the little vixen was like steel when she had really fixed her mind on @ thing, she went. For a month she lived in an ecstacy of hap- piness. The teacher, quite a good-looking young woman, who really {understood her bust- ness, was, in Mary's eyes, versonification of wisdom, loveliness justice and kindness. ‘That our Irish-Italian was a perfect firebrand in temper has already been seen. One day, in an unlucky moment, the tencher was called to ing this chance, a pretty little Fauntlero} Furious, she to her tormentor, but missed him; whereupon he teasingly prox out in the ory with wi children often taunted her, ‘‘Hoky Poky Paddy. he @ignation she burst out with: “You're aliar. It sin’t no worse for a girl to fight than it is for = fore the astonished disciple of learning could realize that the hitherto docile turned upon her her Indylike ears had had showered upon them the choicest strain of Billingsgate in the vocabulary of the denizens of Pardy’s court. To make ont a ticket of suspension, to bundle ‘on her dilapidated wraps, to force the ticket into her hand and to put the still protesting child outside the bi the work of s few minutes. Spent with the force of her passion, quiver- ing with the fear that “the cop,” that ‘bugbear of the street gamin, might arrest her for hurting the bor, she siunk home. The suspension ticket to her fevered, ignorant mind was in- vested with the awful power of a warrant. To her moth iry, “And what be yex sho simply an- swered that she had “quit school.” Too pleased with the result to waste breath in. try- ing to find out its direct cause, Mrs. Garibaldi accepted the situation with ready adaptability by saying: “An’ xure yez kin tind the baby and wash the dishes in betwane his holierin’ fits, whilesIrnus over to Mrs. Fisherts's. It's glare, wore out I be with moinding the .cra- jure, This tragedy—for though a squalid one it wasatrazedy to Mary—had occurred nearly two years ago, when ehe was only seven. Since then ‘things had grown ever worse with her. The monotony of the endless pro- cession of babies had been varied by the ap- pearance of twins, who, being uncommonly Weak and “wabbly” in the legs, had been en- dowed with vocal powers of phenomenal strength. Possibly this was an instance of the theory of compensation. At allevents itserved vent, the other small fry of the Garibaldi family being endowed with sturdy though far from vertical legs, sho had occasionally had a frag- ment of time to herself, while nominally look- ing after them. Now, however, she was never seen without one at least of the omnipresent twins swarming over her. Just at this time she was particularly wretched. Two of her brothers being news- boys had had invitations to join a club of boys having the privilege of meeting every night at the Newsboys’ Home, where they found various games with which to amuse themselves anda brightly lighted, comfort- ably warmed room, which seemed to this ag- grieved Cinderella, having only the coldest corner of her squalid home in which to spend her hard-earned leisure, a perfect treasure house of delight. Xmas morning came, a cold, dreary da} making, by the contrast between the raw, nip: ping air of the strect and the warmth of the houses, even the funereal register of the average Washington house have almost the geni- ality of an open fire. ‘The domestic atmosphere of the Garibaldi house was unusually. murky. The father, sprawled on a bed which if seen by any eelf- respecting board of health would be instantly | seized, was in that highly amiable mood which forms the complement of an all-night's carousal on bad whisky. A bird's-eye view of their hovel, consisting of three sinall rooms opening one into the other, gave a vision of an assorted variety of children and beds. As their only fire was in the kitchen they were all crowded in that room. Little Mary luy on a dirty pallet made on the floor writhing in pain, A boot aimed by the irate father at twoof the boys, who Were wrangling noisily over atin horn, had strack her on her needle-like elbow. She had thrown herself on the wretched cot in a frenzy of suffering. But even an instant’s time to herself was an impossibility. As soon as the twins had located their uatural prey they crawled over to the pallet and were now maul- ing and pulling her in@n imperious demand to be recognized. Three of the boys invited to the newsboy dinner were aided by their mother in the dif- ferent stages of scrubbing and dressing them- selves, with the nonchalance of a Louis XIV performing his toilet in public. Over this array of dirt and confusion hung a curtain of air saturated with a kind of pot- pourri, the chief ingredients being onions, to- bacco smoke and the loathsome human ex- halations. ‘The boys, comparatively clean and radiant with the expectation of unlimited food—they had the distending powers of aiacondas— emerged from this chaos of dirt, leaving Mary ot her usual thangless drudgery. _No provision had been made for making her Xmas happier, and her case is but one among thousands. How many systematic efforts to better the condition of poor little girls are made in Washington? How many charitable organizations who take as their motto “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these ye have done it unto Me" think who the least of these is? Surely they are the wretched, half-clad, brow-beaten little girls who, without the natu- ral meaus of escape from their depraved par- ents possessed by boys, are forced into un- ceasing slavery. Because their wretchedness is not 60 public as that of their brothers comparatively little is done to lighten their misery. Shall they continue to lead these poor, stunted existences, having as their only alle- | viations the crumbs of charity occasionaily thrown to them after their brotuers have been supplied? Written for The Evening Star. Of Thy Goodness Oft I'm Thinking. BY J. E. RANKIN, D.D., LL-D. {Translated from the German.J 1 Of Thy goodness oft I'm thinking, ‘Thou who art 80 good and great, ‘Yet, to speak it, humbly shrinking In my finite, low estate. ‘Thy great love, how can I measure, High it mounts, and deep descends, Gives to heav'n above its pleasure, Earth and sea alike transcends, Would I tell where it is not, It surpasses all my thought. , m. All things which Thou hast created, Are the eMuence of Thy grace, With Thy skill and Godhead freiguted, Where we can love's footprints race. Ah, what tribute can I raise Thee, Words on words in vain are piled; ‘Weak are my attempts to praise Thee, I can lisp, but as a child. Soon, ah, to the end I’m brought; It surpasses all my thought. ur. In Thy house, Lord, there is vision, From my sigt removed the veil; Show Thy goodness in transition, How Thy mercies never fail. Let me there behold Thy glory, And in Zion's stillness rest. ‘Let me see them pass before me, And recline on Jesns’ breast. ‘Thus to my remembrance brought, It surpasses all my thought. Iv. "Tis a wide and boundless ocean, °Tis a deep, unfathomed sea, "Neath whose sway all earth’s commotion, All earth's gtiefs submerged may be. "Tis a sky, where clouds are blending, Where the high-arched rainbows gi ‘Whence the rains to earth descending, Constant feed each swelling stream. Vain I search, where it is not; ‘It surpasses all my thought. v Heights and depths wake awe and wonder, In Thy goodness still I stand; From that goodness naught can sunder, Covered by my Father's hand. Ah, eternity, why fear itt Unknown realms beyond the tomb? Ere appointed to draw near It, Wafted to us Eden’s bloom; Storm and tempest reach us not; It surpasses all my thought. vv. Let Thy people all proclaim Thea, In green pastures led below, As the perfect Giver name Thee, Show Thy mercies’ overfiow. Let them count again their number, hose that have negiected been, ‘When they did the ground encumber, When exposed to to deepen Mary's servitude. Before their ad- | gy WAVES OF AIR. From @ Volcano They Travel Half Round the World and Back. Frou the Leeds Mercury Sir Robert Ball said that in any old atlas they might look in vain for the name of Kra- katoa, but every atias that had been published ‘within the last few years would contain this name appended to a little island in the Straits of Sunda. This little island was wholly ny known to fame until the year 1853, when it sudl- deniy sprang into notoriety as the seat of the greatest volcanic outbreak of which they bad any record. Previous to this crisis im its hir- tory itwas known to navicators who passed | through the Straits of Sunda asa beautifal tropical island. It was uninhabited, though cccasionally visited by natives from the adjoin- ing coasts of Sumatra and Java to gath the wild fruite that grew on it. 1 1883 it began to show ermptoms of dis that were wholly unusual to it. Which tradition bad said was in Previously, began again, and spe eruption increased until it began to attract i terest in the surrounding parts. inhabitants of Batavia, 100 miles it might bea nico piace to have a pi chartered a steamer for that parpos tle information they bad of the ca: the voicanic outbreak was derived rr this pienic. Bi tations from K: creased and finally outbreak of August 28 in that year, w o'clock on a Sunday morning, tbe eray: place, wholly unprecedented in the inte: its character and in the after effects with which was followed. WHAT ERARATOA BEANS. It would, perhaps, be rash to say that #ach an outbreak never took place before, but no outbreak of a volcano had ever been carefully observed before which had anything like the Yehemence which Krakatoa pomessed. To real- t Krakaton meant they must not look the Straits of Sunda. They bad to loge all over the world, the ize all th merel; look from the very antipo.es, even of Krakatoa, had all to be brought together and foo and discussed before they were able tor the mighty effects of that groat convulsion. The work occupied five or six years, and th result had been pubMshed in an interesting book by the Royal Society. What were the phenomena produced that were of world-wide significance? When that terrible upheaval took place tremendous waves of the sea were set in motion, and one of the lines in which these waves traveled was from Krakatoa to the Cape of Good Hope. There was a tide gauge to show the height of the water atthe Cape of Good Hope, and the saw that @ wave which was nota tidal was had traversed the whole of that district. It traveled right across the Indian ocean and affected the tide gauge there, 5,000 miles away. ‘Tue waves had been traced in other directions | ° al HUGE TIDAL waves. On the low-lying shores of the islands near, which were densely inhsbited, great waves came in and swept the peopleaway, and a great wave carried a vessel three miles high and dry in the neighborhood of Sumatra. Alluding to the region over which the sounds of the great thunders of Krakatoa were heard, the lecturer said that ships’ captains had a ubetul babit of noting in their log anything unusual that their attention was called to, and at many different points they heard sounds of an un- usual kind. They thought there was a ship in distress, and they made a note that there were sounds like heavy guns being In the middle of Australia, also, the sh were startled by the sound of heavy fi it was afterward discovered that it they heard. At the Isiand of Rodrigrez th coast guardeman noted that he heard irom the e which was 3,000 miles awa; Itso happened that Krakatoa was nearly on the equator. Suppose they took a pebbie and dropped it into the water they knew the ripples it made; or let them notice the disturbance that was caused in water by the bursting of tor- pedoes when the ripples would be seen break- ing on the shore some miles away from the spot where the explosion took place. RIPPLES IN THE AIR. He was going to speak of ripples taking place not in the ocesn, but in the air, and here they were speaking on asubject which Krakatoa alone had taught them. They had noknowledge ofany phenomena like that he was going to describe except im the records of Krakatoa. ‘They knew thet the earth had the atmosphere folded round it and supposed that it was all rfectly at rest. On that memorable day when Krakatoa went up in terrific explosion it started ‘an agitation in the air not very unlike the agi- tation produced in water when a pebble was thrown into it, and it set up ripples or waves in the air which formeda series of circles. These ripples spread thousands of miles; they spread righ round the whole earthand then the began to converge until all the waves came to- gether at Central America, the antipodes of Krukatoa. ‘They rebounded and went back again on Krakatoa. The energy of Krakatoa was expended, but not the energy of the waves. Again tey started and came back to Krakatoa, Each time they took sixteen hours to travel from Krakatoa to the antipodes and sixteen hours back again. ‘These waves gradually declined in intensity until the seventh time, when the mighty influ-| ence was at length exhausted, ments failed to record them an; They learned that from the recording barometers over the world. the pas ‘over the the actuation was ebserved and Prof. Thorpe | erected in observatories all Every one of these barometers showed sage of the wave. The wave whole of England; in the barometer at Ke’ showed that it was observed at Leeds, and when these barometer records were brought togetiier they were able to read the course of this mighty wave which caused the earth to trem. ble. it gave them an idea of the shock which the earth received by the outbreak in that mi erable island in the Straits of Sunda. When the outbreak took it shot a column of smoke and ashes into the air, and the captain of a ship who was some seventy miles away saw this mighty column. He measured it with his sextant and found that the column was about eighteen miles high. Krakatoa dust told them @ great deal that they did not know before. Alter this dust went up eighteen miles high it was caught by a current and was swept across the Indinn ocean, then across Africa, the Atlantic ocean, America, the Pacific ocean, and so back again to Kruka- ‘toa in thirteen days. That dust showed them that there was a regular currentof oping round the equator in thirteen days. By the time the great cloud of dust had got back again it had become diffused a little, but it etarted again and went round the earth in thirteen days. It became more and more diffused, and during the third round it was noticed for half the way, but it gotsospread that they were not able to follow itas they were in the two previous rounds. It continued going round the earth until it spread into the temperate ro- gions, and then we were permitted to enjoy some of the glories of Krakatoa. Every one would remember the marvelous sunsets that adorned our skies during the No- yember and December following. At that time it was said that they were due to Krakutos. | ‘The explanation of it was that the atmosphere was, he thought, charged with extremely fine ot dust. Krakatoa not only threw out ‘this dust, but it projected bowls of a more solid description, and great masses of pumice were shot into the air and fell into the sea. Some of the bowls were projected fully fifty miles from their source, and it was found that they traveled twice as fast xs a shell could do that was shot from one of our best pieces of ord- nance. This was ® matter of great interest. ——— cee —____ HAKRIS’ TKIAL FOR LIFE ‘The Drug Clerk Testifies to Selling the Cap- eules to the Accused. As the Harris murder trial in New York pro- ceeds the defense fights harder and harder. The lawyers exhaust the recorder's patience completely. The crowd in the court room lis- tens with rapt attention, Not in years has there been such s rush of to listen toa trial, Scores bring their lunch so that they do ‘Bot have to leave during the recess. The witness pation and the instru- | THE THEATER Panry. A Metropolitan Nuisance Which May Be Du- Pleated In Other Cites. New York Letter to the San Francisco Areomaat The curtain had been up ten winutes and the | play had advanced exactly that far in its course, | when, in the middle of a weil- | ment from the ieading man, th ged. Not satistied with bas off a succession of report cted with a string Jon't be im such a hu: Lal j ute, Mar!” “I dociare, you girls ron like raee horses!” and the & bu boots. Then came arash of stiff skirte dowa the center a. and halfa doren very chie | girls, with lawn teanis complexions and su rior air and man r of a very took posers p of the play an are Gr seats, matron, * correct. euperciy ss, had marshaled in front, what are those peop hey arc ge remarked the chaperon in @ get vour pla Pheu fol- of Lummery and opening Unt wome OMe Of the ked we've all forgotten the p n rograme.” ch n. ay a by this large feet 0 | | | ar-old uster playing te eighiec Hore it is on the bill | at's the play for next week, you lly silly of me. Don't laugh, ¢! 1 the chaperon | t ® body bear ned their paws- the space of Perhaps ahundred se | and the audience had b when the carrent comic dire eu't that Mrs, Winkleton in the box yom- dh! where’ reigned, 2 to breathe again, tary broke out an a } | de | her.” liowed, in ve with | Some mysterious . which “Winkle nicat arrangement,” mi, | the chaperon, awaken | the perilous turn the aul posed her wuthority and diverted her charges" | attentions to the siageagaim. ‘Then the chatter took ano! rf turn. | low sweet Dob Masher looks tonight!” ice enough to cat | “Well Tack the thet out ho hes en” t's Euglish, he!” Huha-ba!”” &e., ad. lib. What a blowzy creat: | Lot beading actress “Quite a washerwoman, isn't she?” “And such a valgar a! T wonder if thats her idea off's Indy on the lager During Me interwi the conversation ‘was conducted in discreet undert ‘h gave place to the higher notes whe }tain Went upon tie d act. | Tiod another party | mixed party of y« | looked the din discus | had eviden nt of the tires party was, Ramedutely diverted | trom the play “There s Belle Blazer!” cried one. Kyter with her. © Fiyaway girls—did you ever ts? oor things. They dress » be sure, { j “Ht isn't ther fault, p and paint hb, Mor d the chaperon remm' somewhat severely: “Now, deren, dont be tes | personal!” By this time the other party, who | filled a row of seats on the other wide of the house, had got he audience began to grow op When the end of the | second act was reached it was on the border of a revolt, which broke out ui the opening of the third. The Flvaway Were discussing the | dance at Mre. Bum for the benefit of ev under the theater roof, | while the players were » mental seene, When & voice Ling with a eqnti- from the gullery its of in front!” growled an old gentleman with avery } res tT be Leads of | girls turned and regarded him wit stare, which so wrought upon his nerves that he dropped his heavy cane, which fell with aloud bang. Ina moaeut an usbor was at his side. pe Cae’ You be more careful with your stick?” | he asked. | gasped the old gentleman, | the devil { you don’t stop distarbing the houseyou ave to Go oui,” interrupted the uaber se- “What will ‘The old gentleman turned purple, while the Flyaway girls continued their conversation.and t linbered up for another The voice from the gailery colloquial js again made itself h | “SGive usa soug and dance,” This set the house ma roar, aud halted the | performance The two theater rues favored their neaghbors with oue #u- perior stare of aristocratic disdain, and a ¥1 | broke out iu the gallery, where two officers the sLouter out and vigorously " it shouted. rattaning every one wituin reach of their free han by Gad!” cried the old gentleman, jump~ his is an outrage.” J d & voice in the rear. “Cork up!” yelled another from the dress circle “Kd like: ing bis stick wil ile had no opportanity to et would hike, for two ushers laid firm b him, and before It he w began the old gentioman, wav 8 stairs and capt who ran kita thus vindicatec the entertainment said @ member of y number one to one of party number ben th tin the aisle, going owt, mite too delightful,” was U a sweet play, wasn’t it | “Quite too sweet." iy the | tice how at ended?” 0; did yo! 0. but some of the girls did, and they cam tell us, 1 suppose.” “Ob! of course.” And they drifted toward Delmonico’s, amide burricave of smail talk, compounded of dresses, divorces, engagements, dances past and te come, and such other subjects as our best se ciety is interested in. — The Ethics of Story Telling. From the Chataugusn. It scems to us that in good fiction evil must appear asa foil for good; that it must be set ‘over against righteousness #0 as to makg black black indeed and white purcly white. The story teller need have no express moral hobry to ride posthaste; his tale wall be all the if told With the pure love of story telting, bus we may be quite rure that his taste ia can be used by the artist with clean hands and to whoicsome effect Ly contrasting it with » healthy, solid protection of ‘chief that it does not = = current realism this, but chooses to wct hopeless evil nerveless commonplnce side by side withous any triumphant more! heroiam to neutralize it,