Evening Star Newspaper, April 30, 1892, Page 10

OF? i FIVE DAYS AFTER THE OPENING. FROM A CAR WINDOW. Pong Pree ok pty pelt hime over 40.000 peeple raced from the borders of The Wonderful Growth of Towns in the new territory. So many of these “beat the pistol” on the start and reached the goal first that, im consequence, the efforts ever sinee to run this ruce over again through the Jaw conrta has kopt Oklahoma City from grow. ing with even mote marvelous rapidity it the West. has already done. zi THE SUNDAY REFORE the 224 was a warm bright day and promixed well for the morrow. Soldiers und deputy marshals were the ouly living beings in sight around the depot, and those who tried to de- second from passing trains at the station were pushed back again at the point of the bayonet, The course was being kept clear for the cor ing race, But freight cars loaded with raw lumber and furniture and all manner of house- held goods, as well as houses themselves, ready to be put together like the jeints of # trout rod, were allowed free entry and stood for a mile along the side track awaiting their own- ors, who were bugging the border lines from fifteen to thirty miles away. Capt. D. F. Stiles of the temth infantry. who had been made Provost marshal of the pew territory, and whore soldiers guarded the land before and maintained peace after tie invasion, raised his telescope at two minutes to twelve om the eventful 224 of April, and saw nothing from the depot to the horizen but gu empty green prairie of high waving grass It would take tie first borse (ee he and Gen. Merritt and hie staff in their private car oa the side-track decided) one hour and a quarter at least to cover the fifteen miles from the near- est border. They accordingly expected to catch the first glimpse of the lesders in the Tace with their glasses in about half an honr. The signal on the border was a trampet cali given by a cavalryman on a white horse, which he rode in acircle that those too far away to hear the trumpet might ece that it had been sounded. A like signal was given at the depot, but before it had died away, and not half an hour later, 600 men sprang from the long grass, dropped from the branches of trees, crawled from under freight cars and out of the canons and ditches, and the blank prairie became ali with men runnin and racing about like a pack of beagles that have suddenly lost a hot trail. FIFTEEN MINUTES AFTER TWELVE the men of the Seminole Land and Town Company were dragging steel chains up the street on # run, the red and white barber poles and the transits were in place allever the Prairie and neat little rows of stakes stretched out in regular lines to mark where they ho} the town might bi At twenty minutes ic 12 over forty tents were in position and the land around them marked out by wooden pegs. This was the work of the “‘sooners,” as those men were called whe came into the ter- citory too soon, not for their own interests, but for the interests of other people. Ata quarter- past 1 the Rev. James Murray and a Mr. Kin- caid, who represented the Oklahoma eolony, stopped a sweating horse and creaking buggy and hammered in their first stakes. ‘They had left the border line exactly at noon and had made the fifteen miles at the rate of five min- A THREE-YEAR-OLD CITY. Okishoma as It Was and is Now—From a Houseless Prairie to » Busy Town—The Rash for the New Land When the Terri- tery Was Open. Bichard Harding Davis !n Harper's Weekly. BE ONLY INTEREST which the east can take in Oklahoma City for some time to come must be the same as that with ich one regards a portrait finished by = lightnivg crayon artist, “with frame complete, in ten minates. We may have seen better portraits and more per- fect coloring, but we bave never watched ene completed, as it were, “while you wait” After it has decided which of the half dozen claimants to its town sites is the only one, and the others have stopped appealing to higher and higher courts, and left the law alone and Teduced their attention strictly to business, and the city has been burnt down once or twice, and had its treasurer default and its mayor impeached, and has been admitted to the National Base Ball League, it may hope to be regarded aso full-growa rival city; but at t, as far as it concerns the far east, it is chiefly as «city that gre: night, and did in three years or less what other eities have accomplished only after half a cen- utes per mile. Four minutes later J. H. Me- Cortney aud Col. Harrisou of Kansas arrived from the Canadian river, having whipped their horses fer fifteen miles, and the mud from the river was over the "Post oFrice s¥xx 4, 1590. hubs of the wheels, The first train ‘The history of its pioneers and their int: from the eonth reached the depot at five minutes past 2 and unloaded 2,500 peo- ‘They scattered like a stampeded herd over the prairie, driving im their little stakes and changing ther minds about it and driving them in again at some other point, There were alrexdy, even at this early period of the city’s history. over three different meu on each lot of ground, each siting by the stake bearing his | name each — calling the other a “sooner,” aud — therefore one ineligible to hold land, and many other names of more ancient usige, But there was no blood shed even during the greatest ex- citement of that feverish afternoon. ‘This wax in great part due to the fact that the provost marshal confiseated ali the arms be saw. At3 o'clock the train from the north arrived with Undiscovered country not ouly the west is from tle east, but how changed our ways of doing Pilgrim Fathers the “boomer: of the of the century. 1m our school books. and Boughton has made for us of People kneeling on the abore. | , anxious voyage behind them, and | “rock-bound coast” of their _new home be- the Indians looking on doubt- behind the pine trees. It makes a | those stern-faced pu- | knickerbockers and broad white the conscious strength of having the perils Hf z Hi ! | ii i tet i ii att i f f of the sea. hundreds more hang-ng from the steps and known land. crowding the aisles. ‘he sight of so mavy others trast with this the opening ef Ok!ahoms terri- | who had beaten them in the race seemed to tory to the new white settlers three yearstgo. | drive these late comers almost frantic, and they fell over owe another in their haste aud their race for the choicest lots was like a ruu e¢ kuows exactly One young woman was ht that she crawied out of oon as she reached the These modero stand im rows twenty sep. separated ftom the promise land not by an ocean, but by s line scratched im the dirt with the point of a soldier's bayonet. The long row tocing this line is bending forw: Panting with excitement, and looking with Greedy eyes toward the new Canaan, the ‘women with their dresses tucked up to their Knees, the meu stripped of coats and waist- oats for the race to follow. And then, a trumpet call, answered thousand hungry Yells from ali along the line. and hundreds of Men and women on foot and on horseback | the stronger in such haste to the oar window, an: solid earth beneath drove in her stake and claimed all the land around it. ‘This was part of the military reservation, and the soldiers explained this to her, or tried to, but she was suspicious of evéry one and remained sented by ber wooden peg uatil uightfall. She could ofitably have driven it into the center ‘of Unien Square. Another wowan stuck up a ‘and thore on horse- sign bearing the words, ‘A Soldier's Wido im some cases killing | Land,” and was quite confident that the ch: those on foot, ia a mad, unseemly race for|alry of the crowd would respect that title. SSeS tS WEEKS AFT something which they are getting for nothing. pilgrims do not drop on one knee to give deéorously, as did Columbus according to the twenty-doliar biils, but fall ou bow knees and hammer stakes into the ground and jown some- ti will eventually lot facing the post office, and | ¢ next man’s stake and threaten bim a Winchester because he is on their land, which they bave owned for the last three min- Utes. And there are -no Indians in this scene, ‘They bave been paid €1.25an acre for the land, which is worth $5 an acre as it is, before a spade has been driven into it or a bit of tim- Capt. Stiles toid her that He thought it would uot. aud showed her a lot of ground still unclaimed that she could have, but she re- fused to move, The lot he showed her is now on the main str: in the center of the m, and the lot she was finally forced to take is three miles out of the city in the prairic, Another woman drove her stake between the railroad ties and said it would take a locomo- tive and a train of carsto move her. One man ut bis stake in the very center of the lot sites laid out by the surveyors and claimed the 160 acres around for his homestead helding. ‘They explained to him that he could only have as mach land as would make a lot in the town Der cut, and they are safely out of the way. site and that if he wanted 160 acres he must locate it outside of the city limite. He replied ‘TUR TERRITORY OF THREE TEARS AGO. A ititacass. acstsense chaahs Woke She = proclamation said nothing about town fertile part of the Indian territory, equally dis-'| «Wut, of course,” he went on, “if you tant from Kansas and Texas, was thrown open hoor to athe city ——? my farm I have no to white settlers at noon on the 224 of April, | Objections. Idon't care for city life myself, 1889. To appreciate the Oklahoma City ofthis | aud Lam om turn this into a vegetable day it is necessary to go back to the Olkiahoma | f4rden. Meybo. though, if you want it very of three years ago. ‘The city at that time con- | bad { might sell it, sisted of a railroad depot, a section house and} It is much more pleasant to write of these ‘water tank. the home of the railroad agent aud | early days of Okishoma City than of the Okla- four other smal! buildings. The rest was prairie | homa City of the present, although one of ite land, with low curving bills covered with high ; citizens would not find it so, for he regards his grass and bunches of thick timber—this aa far | adopted home witha tierce local pride and jeal- se the eye could sce aud nothing else. This | ousy almost equal to a Chicagoan's lore. for land, which is rich and binck andsoftand looks ) Chicago. which is saying « hike ebocolate where the plow has turned the | But to the transient itor Oklahoma City of « sod, was thrown open by the proclamation of Gee President to wi ite settlers, whe could, on | its To — soli give Mi ie otestine such st suets an hour. “enter and occupy | and ynpro! pe ‘This may par fe" Tor” howestend holdings. A home be aceounted for ‘circumstance that his td STAR: iH z= Hi 5 5 ok a ef HES i i ag: TERE FR ase ita birth, Oklahoma ‘cannot or haa not yet shaken off the attri- butes with which it was born, and which ina community founded by law ard purchase would notexist. For speculation in land, whether in lots on the main street or in homestead hold- ings on the prairie, and the excitement of real estate transfers, and the battle for rights in the courts, seem to be the prevailing and rul- ing passion of the place. Gambling in real estate isas much in the air as is the spirit of the Louisiana State Lottery in New Orleans. Every one in Oklahoma City seems to live, in Part at least, by transferring real estate to some One else, and the Inwyers and real estate sgents live by helping them to do it. It reminded me of that bappy island in the Pacific seas where every one took in every one else’s wash- ing. This may sound unfair, but it isnot in the least exaggerated. The town swarms with lawyers and is overrun with real estate offices. ‘The men you meetand the men you pass in the street are not discussing the Weather or the crops or the news of the outside world. but you hear them say: “I'll appeal it, “I'll spend every cent I've got, sir! 8 lot of ‘sooners,’ and I oan prove it! Millman’s lot on Prairie avenue, that he sold for $200, rose to $300 in one week, and Abner Brown says ke wou't take $600 for it now.” ‘The west is always full of hope to tho old man as well as to the young one, and the temp- tation to ‘own your own home” and to gain 160 acres of land for the asking is very great. But the eastern man should consider the ques- tion very carefully. There is facing the pas- senger who arrives ou the New York train at Sedalia a large black and white sign on which some philanthropist has had painted “Go East, Young Man, Go East.” One might write pages and not tell more than tbat sign does, when one considers where it is placed and for what porpove itis placed there. A man in Okla- oma City when the day's work is done has be- fore him a prospect of broad red clayey streets, muddy after raim, bristling with dust after a drought, with the sun setting at one end of prairie. them into the He can go Post OFFICE APRIL 22, 1889. to his cottage or to the “Turf,” where he can lose some money at 'faro, or he can sit in one of the hotels, which are the clubs of the city. and tulk cattle to strangers and real estate te citizens, or he can join a lodge and talk real estate there. Once or twice a week a “show” makes a one-night stand at the opera house. The schools are not good for his children: as yet, and the society that he is willing his wife shouid enjoy is hmited. On Sunday he goes to church, and eats a large dinner in the middie of the day, and walks up to the top ot the hill to look over the prairie where he and many others would like ‘to build. but which must remain empty until the twelve different disputants tor eac! holding have stopped appealing to higher courts, This is actually the caso, and the reason the city has not spread as others around it have done. And the men who are at the head of affairs, who rose out of the 6,000 in a week, and who have kept at the head ever since, if they ex- erted the same energy and showed the #ame executive ability and the same cleverness in a real city would be real mayors, real merchants and real “prominentcitizens,” There are men who are just big enough to be leading citizens of a town of 6,000 inabitants, who are meant for nothing else, and who it is just as well should be satisfied with the unsettled existence areund them; but it is better for these others to be small men ina big city than big men on a prairie, where the organ in the front room is their art gallery, book store, theater, church and school, and where the rustling grass of the prairie greets them in the morning aud goes to bed with them at night ees SPECTRAL KLEPTOMANIACS, 4 Spiritual Seance Which Cost an Unbeliever 8900. From the New York Commercial Advertiser. ‘That curiosity, fully indulged, is liable to prove more expensive than a villa at Now- port is® lesson that has just been thoroughly leasued by a certain learned medical gen- tieman who combats the physical ills of the dives of thie towa. In the matter of spir- itual manifestations he has always been a stiff-necked and unregenerate doubter. As a child he scoffed at ghost stories, and when he grew up the specter world became a mark for bis merry quips and sar- castic jest. Despite this he numbers among his friends many of those who believe in the existence of shades, ond they never neglect an opportunity to hurl arguments at his head which may tend to bring him over to the ranks of the clect. Finally, about two weeks ago, the doctor responded to the extent of promising todo a little investigating on hi own account. He bad never gone toa mi izing seance and was anxious to see what one was like, 0 be put a quiet little personal in a daily paper, stating that an unbeliever would like to engage a reputable medium for test manifestations, At 8o'clock last Sunday night a little Party of eight personal friends sat with clasped hands in the doctor's parlor and stared anxiously in the direction of the black cloth cabinet which was faintly outlinedin the gloom. A pale young man, accompanied by an obese female, bad anaw: the doubt- ers and guaranteed to produ ery fine line of three-ply spooks for a hundred dollar bill. For over thi wwartera of an hour visitor: from the just beyond kept dropping into the doctor's parlor, sailing around his rather nerv- ous guests and departing. Then there wasa toug and dreary wait, which was ended by the upturning of the gas, The pale young tan and the obese female had vanished ‘as compictely as the specters they had been supplying. Their cabinet remained and with it a small satchel filled with white erepe. Inthe next ten minutes two wallets, a ich and four scarf pins were missing. The evening cost the doctor something in the neighborhood of $900, and his disbelief in spirits is now something rabid. The police were not notified, —_—_.—___. EUROPE ALARMED. The British and French Governments Op- Posed to the Pan-American Policy. From the New Eagland Magazine. Both the British and French governments are doing everything they can to resist and counteract the efforts that are being made in the United States to secure our proper share of the trade of Centrai and South America, The commercial papers of Europe for the last year have been filled with serious articles re- porting the inroads that have been made on their commercial strongholds, and the British board of trade has taken formal action by sending a memorial to the government asking the appointment of s eommission to report the best means of counteracting what they call the “commercial crusade of the United States” At the annual meeting of the Asso- ciated Chambers of Commerce in Great Britain, beld in London on the 7th of March, 1892, the president, Col. Hill. reported that the exports from Great Britain to the Latin Ameri- can countries had decreased $23,750,000 during the previous year, and that an examination of the details showed a falling off in almost item of merchandise furnished by the unit kingdom to the American republics and colo- nies. This, he said, was due not to any 5] modie or tem) conditions, but to the fact that the merchants in those countries were be- ginning to go to the United States to buy their goods, This was the result, Col. Hill asserted, ef what was known as “the pan-American policy” inthe Loog:(onwed and, in view of the alarming prospect, it bebooved sland to look more closely after her commercial relations with the American republics and colonies, Sealskin Preferred. ‘From the Closk Review. Mr. Bingo—“You want to be careful about pecking away your winter clothes, my dear. ‘The moths are likely to get into them.” FRAUDS IN THE MAILS. Some Swindles Which the Post Oifioe Has to Fight, A MEDIUM FOR CHEATS. Going for the Crayon Portrait Frand—A New Departure in Green Goodse—Insurance and Land Swindles—Defrauding Poor Invent- ors—Trouble in Suppressing Immoral Lit- erature, INETEEN THOU- sand photographs were captured by the Post Office Department the other day in Brooklyn. ‘They were entirely re- spectable and unobjec- tionable portraits of People residing in all Parts of the country. It was for the purpose of securing their return to their owners that the governmentdaid hands Upon this extraordinary number of picturos at & single establishment engaged in the manufac- ture of likenesses in crayon, ‘This industry, as carried on by the concern referred to, is one of the most remarkable swindles of modern times, It is only very recently that the authorities have succeeded in controlling it to any extent. Brooklyn is the chief center for enterprises of this description. In Chicago also they conducted on a large scale, Having done busi- ness hitherto with impunity, they iaave un- doubtedly reaped enormous profits. Their methods have become somewhat familiar to the public through their circulars, which have been scattered so widely through the mails that there is hardly a household in the United States which has not received one or more of them. Each of these documents conveys to the addressee a very attractive proposition, to the effect that the “undersigned “Art Crayon Company” will make free of charge, a life-size portrait in crayon from any photograph of him- self or a member of bis family which the per- h written tomay care to forward, This liberal offer holds good for thirty days, and the only recompense asked is that the recipient shall recommend tke firm to his friends and “keep the picture carefully.” WHAT 18 GUARANTEED. Inasmuch as it is guaranteed that the por- trait shall be “A 1as to resemblance, artistic treatment and beauty of finish—value $25,” the individual addressed not unusnally jampsat the offer and sends on the photograph. A few days later ho receives word that the portrait has been made, but he is informed that it can- not be shipped without a frame, lest it suffer damage. An illustrated price list of frames, costing from #9 to §15, is inclosed. By this time the victim is very anxious to get the picture, and he is not unlikely to respond with the money demanded. Otherwise he replies With more or less indignation and demands his photograph back. in the latter case, though he may write fifty letters, he will never get his Property again, for the reason that it is the most important point in the bnsiness policy of the crayon company never to return & phato- graph unless a frame is paid for. The 19,000 photographs captured by post oftice inspectors in the establishment spoken of had ail been held in this way for fraudulent purposes, Necessarily many of them were of great vai to their owners, being likenesses of dear ones dead or for other reasons not to be replaced, and ina large percentage of in- stances people would doubtless have been glad to ransom them eventually by the payment of the money demanded. Of course, in no case was the crayon portrait actually made until the sum asked for the frame was received. To produce it then was a simple matter, the man- ufacturer of the “art work” requiring probably not more than fifteen minutes. There are well-known mechanical methods employed in this industry which save labor wonderfully, The affair amounts to no more than throwing an enlarged “sun print” from the photograph upon a sheet of white paper. filling it in with crayon in an expeditious manner familiar to those skilled in the trade. Any one who has seena “real oil painting” turned out in three minutes by the watch will understand some- thing of the nature of the process, ‘The way in which the Post Office Department finally succeeded in getting some contro! over this fraud was by seizing all letters addressed tothe firme practicing it and by declaring its intention to prosecute them unless all photo- graphs received by them were returned to the owners, Furthermore, it has now obliged them to include in their cireulars a cloar state- ment to the effect that portraits will only be delivered on payment for frames. Thus the swindle is ecotched, though not killed. It can ll be carried on with great profit, because the frames supplied at from $9 to £15 each are ofthe most trumpery description, tho best of them not being worth more than $1.4 So long as firms engaged in the business give some sort of quid pro quo, resorting to no methods of actual dishonesty, the government cannot interfere with them nor forbid their using the mails for distributing circulara, To illustrate their boldness it is worth mentioning that the Post Oftice Department has been pre- vented from publishing them in its fraud list by threats to sue the Postmaster General per- sonally for damages. They scatter their ad- vertisements broadcast by taking directory after directory and addressing every house- hold included in them. However, their most profitable ficid has always been found in the rural districts, where people, not knowing much about art, consider the pictures they produce very satisfactory. THE GREEN GOODS INDUSTRY. Country people, whose comparative seclusion far from the more crowded haunts of men ought toafford them some protection, seem aways to be the chosen victims of swindlers of all sorts, Nearly every species of fraud preys upon them, ‘The ‘green goods” industry de- pends almost wholly on their patronage. Re- Specting this most important of all cheats con- ducted through the mails certain developments have recently come to light that are very in- teresting. The industry is managed exclusively in and from New York city, nothing of it being known eisewhere, and the Post Office Depart- ment is now convinced that the whole of it is carried on by a single gaug, including » larg: number of individuals, which constitutes a organized conspiracy of a most formidable character. Its chief is supposed to be a cer- tqin well-known sporting man, formerly # resi- dent of Washington. Although it has been operating actively for s0 many years its doings have been rarely interfered with by arrests, because of the great difficulty of capturing and convicting the offenders, It is only recently that they have been effect- ively shut out 6f the mails. So thorough = system of defense against them has been elaborated by the Post Office Department that their circulars, which used formerly to flood the post, conveying invitations to rural res dents to invest in counterfeit money, have been practically excluded, Each of | these documents must necessarily give some address, whither cash may be sent, and, within forty- eight hours after a batch of them has been dis- all mone; id in. The certificates are pare Agri remy at stated intervals in the orderin which they are numbered, and the scheme is remarkably attractive on paper. Certificate No. 1 is liquidated out of the first [oma fpr come in yg on —— . Tt 18 always arranged, however, tho fret tom cortiGoates are held by officers of the company, the president having No. 1, the vice president No. 2, and so forth. By the time these have been paid, if not sooner, the concern goes tosmash and the outsiders are left out in the cold. Advertisements of such enterprises circulated through the mails are being utilized as grounds for prosecutions. ‘A swindle against which the post office is well nigh powerless is worked by alleged at- torneys in England and elsewhere, who adver- tise for heirs to mythical estates, They mail their circulars to all paris of this country, sending them incidentally to small post offices, with requests that they be taeked up in a c spicuous place, ‘The decuments vent out in this way notify the people im general terms that large sums are due to persons who are be- lieved to reside in that neighborhood, whcre- ever it may be. Naturally many responses are sent, and, the advertisements being placed be- fore the eyes of every rural community, the aggregate number of auswers is enormous. Such persons as reply, in the hope that they may be entitled to the fortunes referred to, receive assurances to the effect that they are happily not mistaken, But be- fore their claims can be acted upon they are required to pay $25 for preliminary expenses. Although for this eam it is gusranteed that they will obtain what is due them, further de- mands follow and continue as long as their tributed from York, the authorities at Washington ¢ to receive one or more of them from isposed persons, Immediately notice is transmitted to the postmaster in the metropolis to look up the name and number given in the circular and demand identification. If the circulars have been sent out from some other town the seine method 1 adopted, the mail that comes in being held, ‘The readiness with which le are humbugged by this ancient swindle is illustrated by fact that a single batch of letters addressed to ® green goods man at Newark, N. J., not longago con~ tained $5,000 in sums of from @5 to €1¢ Of course, the person addressed in such cases can never be found. ‘The name is fictitious, and when called he box cigar shops in New York. Such swindlers hat been known to bribe carriers to deliver to them matter directed to a number which has no existence, while in other instances they have suborned Sreek aseh of citusioes, Bat behape CA v= ernment ee nick]; ere chance to obtain any returan, ax purses and credulity will stand tie strain, The umber of victims secured in thia way is said to be astonishing, the profits to the swindlers being in proportion, Inasmuch as the cireu- lars und letters are mailed out of this country, it is impossible for this government to restr the business. 5 Laud swindles have engaged the atteutioa of the department consideravly of lute. Thoxe who operate them distribute circulars through the mails, advertising valuable lots for sale ut small prices in districts where: real estate is on the jump to such an extent that the pur- chaser can count upon making a fortune by a small investment, These tracts are usually sit- uated in Florida or California, and they are mostly to be disposed of on the instaliment pun. Sometimes tuey are offered for the mere Cost of registering the property, the negotiator absorbing the fees, ‘This is not surprising, inastnuich asa good deal of the land thus put upon the market has proved to be rugged mountain wilderness or covered with water. For almost nothing the thrifty speculator is able to secure haif a dozen acres of such terri- tory, which, cus up into house lots, afford an excellent profit at trifling rates per square foot, The post office finds out about frauds of tis description by scnding its inspecters to gaze upon the localities, BOGUS DETECTIVE AGENCIES. Numerous bogus detective agenoies have been organized for business during the Iast two or three years, especially in Tennessee, Ili- nois and New’ York. ‘they send letters to young men in small towne and villages, the usual’ method being for such a concerm to say that it is larly incorporated under the laws of the state,” which is very likely true enough, and that it “desires to secure a repre- sentative” im the district where the person ad- dressed happcus toreside. If the latter would like to accept the appointment a commission and badge will be forwarded. It will be necessary for him as a prelimimary to send $5 as a fee. Tue victim in- closes the money, receives a commis- sion duly made out and a brass badge worth about 10 cents, and never hears anything more from the company. Another game i werked by pretended patent agents in different parts of the country, whe procure from the weekly publication of’ the patent effice at Washington the names of thousands of inventors to whom patents huve been newly granted, ‘They write fo these inventors suying that they are in com- munication with capitaliste who desire to pur- chase certain rights in the patents, Big money is in prospect and only @20 will be required for the expense of conducting the affair. Later on €20 more is demanded and so ou as leng as the poor inventor will respond. One feature that seems te characterize very strikingly nearly all of these swindies cou- ducted through the mails is their eontemptible meanness, Most of them are aimed at poor people. On the other hand, sympathy does not go out to the victims of the green goods cuter- prise. who want to buy ceunterfeit meney Yor the purpose of passing it off on their neigh- bors, Nor is anybody inclined to weep for stupid persons who are taken iu by sueh a fraud ad the “matrimonial bureau” exposed not long ago in San Frunciveo, It issued cir- culars in behalf of a lady of wealth, em- Darrassed by an infant not properly ac- counted for ou the paternal side, whe “desired to share a considerable fortune with any. good and honorable man wiliing to give her his name.” Any one responding was requested to inclose ten cents in money or stamps with his reply, Notwithstanding the diaphanous char- acter of the scheme so many theusands of answers came in from single gentlemen who ere disposed to marry the lady in return fer amoiety of her wealth, each inclosing a dime, that the suspicions of the authorities were ex- cited and great quantities of the missives were confiscated, ‘The Post Office Department finds great ‘liffi- culty in dealing effectually with the distribu- tion of immoral literature through the mails,for the prevention of which » bill has been intro- duced in the present Congress. Some legis- lation on the subject of a drastic nature certainly required. Under the existing laws it is almost impossible to secure convictions. Rulings have been repeatedly made in the courts to the effect that certain widely circulated publications were too dis gusting to be dangerous to morals, Literature of this description has beon sent im quantities to young girls at boarding schools, colleges and elsewhere by eonceras which have obtained extensive lists of names for the purpose. New York is the greatest center for tke production and dissemination of reading matter of this kind. Prosecutions began in the courts of the metropolis have repeatedly failed, and the post ofliee is shy of riskiug failures in these matters since the incident of the ‘Kroutzer Sonata,” Itis vividly remembered how after that work was shut out of the mails the fact was made to serve as an advertisement that sold huadreds of thousands ef copies, Boys went a through the railway trains the country shouting, “He moral book suppressed by Mr. Wanamaker d the Czar of Russia.” The peblishers hired every press that was obtainable and worked day and night for weeks, but were unable to supply the demand. Mouse bill 129 makes the offense of mailing immoral literature ‘‘contia- uous” from the poing of mailing to the peint of destination, so that any such case may be tried ata point distant from New York with a fair chance for the govornme: CIGARETTE PIcTURES. During the rage for photographsin packages of cigarettes not long age the mails were flooded with such pictures, and theusands ef improper ones found their ae f to the dead letter office. ‘They were produced ix almost incredible num- bers, largely in Boston, the method being fer a hotographer to obtain acontract from # manu- turer of cigarettes to supply so man; millions of size and general doniption mani ‘The contractor would then ge into the market and buy, obiefly throug! newand suitable photograph obtainable of actresses, bullet dancers, popular celebrities, dc. In one instance the pictures ef the entire list of pls at 6 fashionable school for oung were sec! eurreptit tad multiplied and altetaiea in packages of cigarettes, The portraits thus mounted in sizes matched ox. age placed before the camera and ile a mee analion te ‘wen — way whole sheets of photogra off trom the renting sagativs at f i i i { of E f | if 4 waits final ccoptncls'of all in” ——. torial or literary, which are caught in foam 3 —— et HIS SORROWFUL STORY. It Wenf All Right Until He Came to the Bath. ‘From the Chicago Tribune. “Before you tarn me away from your door, sir,” began the battered specimen of manhood on the back porch, “I ask as # favor that you bear my story.” “Is it @ long story?” asked the man of the house, “To narrate it in detail would require some- thing like an hour and a half, but I can give the principal pointe of it in afew minutes.” “You may give it to me in ite abbreviated form.” “I was born in Ohio—" “How old are you now?” “Forty-three.” ‘Please skip about forty-two years and eleven months,” Across the face of the rickety-looking tourist flashed a spasm of pain, but he resolutely brought his narrative down to modern times. “Inserting a row of stars,” ho said, “to repre- sent that portion of my history which may be described as “my hildhood, growth, matu- rity. e assented the eleemosynary come to the events that have shaped my career for the jast few years.” “If you find that the recital of the facts agi- fates you too much.” said the master of the house, feelingiv. “you can lean up against the t lost uy me, sir, but I to hardships of this description, Shafts o1 satire do not penetrate, Af T may 80 express myself, the armor— the— he incrustation,” said the other, coming to his relief, “The moral coat of mail that protects my in- ner self from hurt and injar: Jed the traveler, 3, not, to learn that | ama refugee. “From Russia?” t, From Mis ippi. Tam « flood The refugee conghed a deprecating couzh. “Leouid expiain the eclerity oc my Movemc nts,” Le replied, “but at your request Thave deawn a veil over my h: almost up to the presen moment, suttic # flood sufferer a few days age. here. A few days agoi wasa dweller in Mississippi. Today less wanderer. Unprepared for disaster, not dreaming of the horrors to come, I walked about my little plantation in the valley of the Oklanoochee “It was the Tombigbee, wasn’t it?” “You are right. It wax the Tombigbee. Life wasa dreamy tdyl, Care free I roamed the Woodland. the meadow, the cultivated field, Possessed of sufficient’ means to enjoy life without the depressing necessity of engaging im manual labor, It was too bright to last! ‘The enchanting dream was followed by a swi awakening! ‘Ihe rains descended, the floods came and the lovely Tallahatch—Tombigbee became a roaring flood. It swept away the ac- cumulations of years. It reduced me to penury ina moment, Yet I did not abandon my home | Until driven to the last extremity. As the roar- | ing waters mounted [climbed to the roof of my dwelling. I remained there until the top- most brick in the highest chimney merged aud then I fearlessly commiited myself to the w. Tswam——" “Hold on! You fearle: self to the water, did you: “I did, sir. I'swam until—” “That will do, my friend. Ihave listened pa- tiently to your story. I have accepted without argument your statements concerning your former prosperity and present adver beon much interested in the abbreviated history ef your hfe and sufferings. I have thrilled with mpathy for you, my friend, My generousim- pulses have beun stirred to their inmost dept and I have felt the tears of compassion welling up from thelr hidden souree, but if you don ¢ elimb down off this porch and take’ yourself out of these premises in less then no time, you lazy. dirty, lying, worthless, rum-nosed_ vaga~ bond, Til kick’ yon clear up through your greasy old hat! Get out! “The next time I work off that story,” mut- tered the grimy tourist to himself after he bad sly committed your- got safely outside the gate and started on down | the street, “I'll omit that swimming bath. It didn't seem to wash.” caren Feathers as Symbols. Frem St. Nicholas. Foathers figure very prominently in the re ligious customs of most aborigines, and re- markably so in the aonthwest, Among Nava- jos and Pueblos alike these piume symbols are ef the utmost efficacy for good or bad. They are part of almost every ceremonial of the in- definite superstitions of these tribes, Any white or bright-hued plume is of go.d omeu— | good “medicine,” us the Indians would put it, ‘The gay feathers of the parrot are particu. Jarly valuable, and som em cannot be held withou: them, thongh tie Indians bave to travel hundreds of wiles into Mexico to get A peacock is harder to keep im the vie y of Indians th brilliant plumes are too tempting. Eagle feathers are of soveroign value, and in most of the pucblos great, dark, cuptive eagles are kept to furnish the cove most important occasions, If the bird of free- dom were suddenly exterminated now the whole Indian economy would come to a stand- atill, No witehes could be exorcised nor sick- ness cured, nor much of anything else accom- plished. Dark feathers, and the: the owl, buzzard, woodpecker and raven, are unspeakably accursed, No one will touch them exceyt those who “huve the evil read” —that is, are w: in his or her possession would be officislly tried and officially put to death. Such feathers are used only in secret by those who wish to kill or harm an enemy, in whose path they ure laid with wickea wishes that ill-fortune may follow. in particular of (Sees A Doubtful Conventence. From Puck. The drummer has an hour to spare before train time. Hoe goes to the theuter. His ad- ventures, -Lhave | a the finest horse—those | articles for | ches—and any Indian found with them | A JUDGMENT, Dramatic Ending of a TriaMe Mexico--The Gantener’s Story Veritied. ‘These were the facts in the case, but they Tree cousidembiy distorted im sulsequent re- jon: It was very Inte at night, = hot, still night, such as comes during the dry season through Written for Ths Evenink Star. | The moon was setting low behind Senor Garcia's flat-roofed adabe style, built around three aides of an open coart, in whose center @ little foun- tain murmured very soft and lazily as its over- flow slid quietly down through she old sand- stone waterway to the big ascequia that watered the garden below, Now and then over the low walls came puffs of hot broeze from the heated country ontside, distilling the scat- tered spray from the heated flagstones of the court and bearing it off down th garden to the thirsty, close-set roses and hoily- hocks, over which the pale jasmine bung *n heavy garlands, It also lulled to @ decper Humber the light-clad furms of the old garden aud his staiwert son swinging in their ham- mocks beneaia the veranda of tie littie adobe lodge in the aagle of the low w but it did not stop the heedfal ear of the younger man io the eushioned beat of hoofs in the deep cust of the road out ther on toward the water of the aicequia as some sprang across aud rustled through the holiylocks toward the open mde of the court beyond. Motioning lis father tor q mau siipped to the ground, und crept slow and silently along the graveled walk toward th house. ‘ouxht him out of the shrub T of the house, and as he su up, brushing the cobweos a the path of two if 4 the court toward 4 low space in the garden wail Lo his quick, “Que querer V!" tue figure ina long Diack domino repiicd by a frightened scream and darted back toward the house, and the other metering “Diosy Diabilo” would have sprung just when the sinowy grip that cloned on his Lreast pimued him back against the house. There was a struggle and then a flash with a blinuug ciouc of rimoke. Lhe grip relaxed and the museaiar frame sunk a quivering heap upon ground. ‘Then there was a | frenzied ery fom’ the shrubbery, and, spring: jing from the bushes oid Manuello dropped tee shining machette from his hand and threw himself weeping on the body of his son. Lue little lov-ceited room at the Taberno San Antonio, wherr the old wlite-h beld an almost patriarchal court of justi | packed with stient crowd gathered to hear | the story of a most daringly attempted robbery | for wuich one man had alr | alty of his iuewithous process of Which another was uow on trial and probably soon to be convicted. The elite of all the neighboring ranchos were there, dark- eyed beautics, shrouded im black lace mantillas aud exchanging opinions aud chocolates be- neath arched fans, while their sterner cav- ahers in flowing trousers split to the knee and short-watsted jackets stil with bullion Jace, stood ranged ia the space around the Wall with carelessly folded arms or fanuing themselves siowly with broad white sombrero, The air was bot and will, even the tittle sluggish air wat migut lave crept in trom the giariug | piazs beimg simt of by the eager crowd of Peous and iesser folk outside the open windows straining to catch the fate of theic comrade at the bar. Witnesses there were few, but effective. The first was the beautiful dang Garcia, and this was her story: She had been lying awake on the night of he robbery. the day had teen very hot, swinging in her Lammmoct to e ropped aslecs, when the door was noise- lessly forced and a barefooted figure that we recognizedus the gardener, a peon of her ather’s, stood ‘here with a gicamiug machette in lus band. ‘Joo terrified to heed his sign for |ailence she shreked aloud, With a gesture of |.Fage he seemed about to hurl the weapon at fer, but then, taraing, sprang from the ve- | da and disappeared. An iustant later a pis- tol suot rang oui, and she knew po more, for | She tainted, but her maid, rushing in, saw f the open door their preserver, young Desidario,standing over the body of ane holding the feliow's accomplice at bay with « revolver. ‘The opportan: presence of the young senor Was explained by bis own story. He bad just halted his horse at the ourer wall of Senor | Garcia's hacienda, for what reason the guitar | at his saddle bow saihcently showed, when, to | his sudden horror, he heard the sound of the shrick, What was raote ws | should cast all other thought ural than that be to the wind and Springing over tue low wail rush to the rescue? He was wet by two figures rushing trom the } open court, aud one of thera | biow irom a mackerte, which was ‘only parried | Le swift shot from his revolver, whose fatal }result he could hardiy depigre. The other robber, cowed by the fate of his companion, submitted. There he was; let him way if he had anything to offer in hus defense, After such testmony there was a murmur of almost derision when the old gardener, weeping and hesttatin ventured to give bis utverly :ferent versionof the affair and despairingly stopping at the end, crossed himself and prayed the bi-sed virgin to judge between himself and bs accusers. ‘Then, gaining courage, be raised his bent form aud with « pisteine look at the other witness challenged jim to do the same. The hush deepened, if possible, upon the room, many an dder’ spectator -remembering when sucl a mode of proo! was commoner than now. For an instant the younger man hesitated anc theu with a notion of impatience at such a child’s play stepped to the bar and raising bie right Gand exdaimed impetuously, “On my words,” aud at the same time his other hand scughtthe cover of tue heavy Bible om the stand before him. The gesture started a big bine fly that was creeping sluggishly across the polished mahogany, just iu time for it to eseape the spring of a black hairy tarantula that bad the shadow of the book, g fastened the venomous insect on the outsiretched hand. With a cry ot terror Desidario staggered back and the old mar before him folded his the watching crowd there burst alow “Amen!” - THE BRITISH JOUKNEYMAN, A Life of Poverty With a Finale in the Poor ; House. From the New Eng'snd Magazine ‘The English journeyman has an unat- tractive life, Starting out to his work, perhaps miles away, at 6 o'clock in the summer morn- ing, with a heavy basket of tools and food over his shoulder, Le often works antil 8 absolute breakfastless; thon balf an hour is allowed him for his cheerless meal of cold tea and bread and fat bacon; at noon he bas an hour or less for what dinner he has breught with him, and at 5 o'clock ends his day's task, he sometimes tak- ing a light tunch in the middle of the afternoon. As with the farm laborer, rheumatism early seeks him for @ victim, and at sixty he is quite apt to be a useless old man with “a erick in his back,” a burden to himself and bis rela- tives. Earning at his best and in the height of # busy season not to exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per day, with long stretches of either sickness or no work, invarially-a large family on his hands, possibly a drink habit which every spare penuy burn in his pocket, and the cost of provisions not on the whole below that prevalent in America for the same quality of supphes, be neither accumu- lates savings mor apparently wishes to. Let bim endeavor to rise want, or is it her money?” Tobias Howens (amateur champion, hundred , Standardoil, you surprise me. Loreena that [am an amateur ath- lete.” ‘Mr. Btandardoil—"‘What's that got to do with ite” ‘ ‘Tobias Howens—‘‘A qrest deal, sir. It de- eee et { 80 many of the minor valleys of old Mexico. | haciendo, which was of the prevailing low, | er of old Senor | h the little breeze that | stirred from tt Sudden low passed :he window, wiich happily Ww barred, and tien she taucied a footetep sounded on tie veranda, She would huve Jealled her naid, who was sleeping in| the adjoining corridor, but as all again us suull she waited, and had almost | foice he —kuew su well rising im a terrified | ed at iim a | head be it if there is aught ot falsehood m my | judgment,” while from | AN OLD ARMY REGISTER, Names That Appeared in the List Printed Porty-Six Years Ago. An Army Register of forty-six years ago is @ Prolific source of wonder and even amazement at the almost incredibie changes in the army and its personnel occurring in lees than half @ | century. Just then the Mexican war was pase- | ing into history, a war in which, more or Jess, all those on the army rotleof that date had been active participants, and the proportion ie remarkable of those quit low m the rank whe have since risen to the highest military grades, } either in the service of the Union or the would- be confederacy. Even the increase in the separate arms of the service, the difference im Pay and numerous other changes are worthy of note as well for instruction as amusement, The book iteclf is a pany forty pages comparison with the present 5 420 pages, but im ar- matter aud typograpbical present Keg ly after its predecessor ris patterned ore. The old ister in question is the handiwork of “T, d, privter, corner Lith strect and Penm- yivania avenue, Washington, D. C.” Maj. Gen, Winfield Scott was commander-ia- Brig. Gens. Gaines and Wool. tent general's one colonel were rank of co! {ment inet colone and tw }P. Her | had one colon | majors and four thad a and fifts bh Ki The artinent was composed two majors and four captains, © of whom goon general, rues, eine a(tcrward si arn sed a paym: as Maj, Ge ST | comy ye David Huuter. NUMBERS AND PAT, Thero were then on the | ¥. Which now in sixteen brigad names against three u Tals, seventy colonels, 221 ors of lower wn to the army, | coloucia, ninet, | majors and 653 grade, and a feature then ank: | A retired list of most gen | Two cavalry r nts hay infantry | artillery hi ‘The militia force, then 1 has swelled to 7,695,000, | the number in the District. of Columbia then | being 1,250 and now 42.000. |. The monthly pay of « major general has jumped from $376 to $625, brigadier general 33, colonel from S188 te from $102 to €333,88, ptain from from SS1.88 te d inspectors gem ed stated salaries of $2,500. | Col. J. G. Totten appears at the head of the | engineers with Capts Robert E. Lee, J. K. FP. | Mansfield and Join G, Barnard “and Lieuta, Montgom Meigs, P. G.I. Beaurogerd, | Henry W. Halleck, William 8. Rosecrans, H. G, | Wrightend Gustavas W. Smith. | _ The topographical engiweers had Col, Jobe | 3. Abert with licutonants Joseph E r Humphreys, John C. Freme | major from Meade, Johu Iv aud William Franklin, The "or: led by Gol, George 1 lieutenants A.B, Dyer, Charies P. Stone, William Maynadicr, George D, Ramsay and Henry D. Craig. | The first dragoons had Col. Stephen W, Kearney und Lieuts, Edwin V. Summer, Phili Kearney, Daniel H. Rucker, Richard 8. Et aud Rufas Ingalls, The second dragoons had Col. David FR. Twiggs, Lieutenant Colonel William 8. Harney, L A. May, Wm, J, Hardee and ery's colonel was Ichabod B, uts. John B. Magrader, Bennett m Ji. French, Joseph ‘Hooker, Dowell, J. B. Ricketts, Abuer Double~ y and James A. Hurdi The second artillery had Col. James Bank- head with Licut, John Sedgwick, Henry J. Hunt, afterward ehief of artiliery of the Army of the Poton E. D. Townsend, simce adjutant The third ates, with L W. Sherman, Wim. T. Sherman, Draxton Bragg, E. 0.C. Ord, | Stewart Vau Vieit, John F, Reynoids and George | M. Thou y's colonel was John B avuts. J. C. Pemberton, G. W. Garesche, D, H. Hill tty, J. DP. and Pits John Porter. Iu the tirst infantry were Col. W. Davenport, vrakam Lincoln (a mative of New Russell; im the second Col, ts, A.B, Eaton, Silas Onsey, aud Simon B. Buckner B, Maury. Lieuts. Don Carlos ykes, George B. MeClellan 6; in the fourth Col. Wm, Whistler, euts. George A. MeCali, Lorenzo Thomas, C. C. Augur and Ulysses § the fitth Col. George M. Brooke, 1 bley (inventor of the Sibley ‘tent), Ruggles and J. H. Whippie; im the sixth Col Taylor, Lieuts, W. 8. Ketchum, James . jr, Lew and Winfield SH M. Arbuckle, c seventh Col, tx Dixon 8, Mil Lichard .Gatiin,Lat Earl Van Dorn, and in the eighth and iast Col. W. J. Worth, Lieuts, James Longstreet, J. V. Bomford, J. |G. S. Suelling and Thomas J. Montgomery, who died thirty-five vears ago, leaving a widow, now a clerk 1 oflice of the quarvermaster } general of the army, WHERE ARE THRY Now? Long before 1846 ¢ Scott was known as the hero of Lundy's Lane, where he wi wounded and won distinction eclipsed only by | his subsequent career in the Mexican war,when, with an army of 25,000 men (hardly an army corps of modern times), his victorious mare! | from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico elicited | the admiration of the world and prock | bim the greatest captain of the age. Gen. jlor had earned a great Florida Indian war, which pal | of bis followmg victories at y Alto, Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista. Although | his great military record carried him into the | presidential csir, he is yet unhonored in this | broad land, either in bronze or marble, and evenhis tomb in Cave Hill cemetery’ neat Louieville is still unmarked, Gen, Hancocl after four years of unparalicled dveds o bravery, ‘survived many years, and will ‘soon hi an appropriate —me- }morial im the capital of the nation jhe served so well, Gon, Grant was in the Mexican war, resigned afterward and re- entered the army in 1S61 to come out as the greatest hero of the civil war. Skillful and ence cessful as were other generals during that eventful period, it was his luck to press the right button which electrocuted the rebellion aud twice secured for him the highest honors in the land, Gen, Mansfield was killed at the battle of Antictam, Gen, Kearney at Chantilly, Gen. Sedgwick at Spotsylvania, Gen, Reynolds at Gettysburg, Gen, Garesche at Murfreesboro, Gen, Miles at Harper's Ferry and Gen. Ketebum died « mysterious death from poison, which resulted in the cause cclebre known’ as the Wharton trial im Baltimore twenty years ago. Gen. Meade, who participated in every batie of the Army of the Potomac from Bull Rum to Appomattox, has been gratefully remembered by his native city of Philadelphia, Ge man resigned the army to re-enter in I will live an history ns the hero of the “march to the sea.” McDowell, who fought the first battle of the civil war and lost it, and there- after lapsed into comparative obscurity, died a few years ago in California, The memory of Gen. Thomas, famed as the “Kock of Chica- mauga,” has becu perpetuated in bronze through the tender recollection of the Army of the Cumberland. Gen. Fremont, who was in and out of the army three times and at last died in at on the retired list, commanded the famous expedition over the plains and Rocky mountains to California, and first candidate of the republi residency, Gens. Dyer, Sumner, Buford, ney, French, Hooker ‘and Whipple have passed over the river, and among the surviv- ors are Gens. Rosecrans, Pope, Prauklin, Racker, Ingalls, Pleasanton, Townsend, Porter and Van Viet eae Ot the military contemporaries of the and who isting tished themselves by akill and interpid valor in the lost cause of the scuth, are Robert E. Lee, J E, Jobuston, J. B. Magruder, J. H. Hill, James Longstreet, J. C, Pemberton, Braxton Bragg, 5. B. buckner, P. G. T. Beauregard, Lafayette Melaws, Bard Van Dorn and others, most of whom have since joined their adversaries on the oneal camping ground where peace is seid to dwell forever more. ‘Tropical Fruits in This Country. ‘From the Kural Collaborator. ‘Some of the revelations of the census will startle « good many people, For instance, there are now more than half e million almond trees actually bearing in the United States; there are hundreds of thousands of bearing cocoanut trees; there are more than a quarter of a million olive trees, producing fruit equal to the best Aiediterranenu varieties. There are more than bal! « m.ilon bearing banane plants, 000 bearing lemon trees, 4,000,000 orange ‘and 21,000,000 pinerpples. And the value Of tropical aud semi-tropical fruit grown a | Ger the American dag is nearly €20, 200,000, n party for the