Evening Star Newspaper, May 7, 1892, Page 10

Ss 2 ON THE WAY TO PETROPOLIS. BRAZILIAN INDOLENCE It Pervades Every Circle in the Great Republic. ALSO A MORBID CURIOSITY. Everybody Wants to See What Everybody flte ix Doing—Some Characteristics of Petropolis—How the Town is Laid Out and the Houses Are Arranged. = Prraoroxis, Brazrt, March 21, 1892. = F YOU LIVED IN BRA- zit you would soon com- prehend what is meant by “a life of busy idle- ness being un- ceasingly employed in doing nothing, even hurried at the bootiess occupation, with no mo- ments of absolute leis- ure except when asleep, yet with neéver that comfortable feeling ex- perienced by Longfel- “Something attempted, ug done, has earned a night's repose” for here you never attempt anything of ac- Sount, and if you did it would not be accom- Plished. In this refuge among the summer Bills, a8 in crowded Rio Janeiro, the citizens and citfzenesses spend most of their butterfly lives on the stréets, not by any means for the sake of exercise and fresh air, but in st®lling aimlesdly about or gossiping for hours, stand- im groups or couples, as at a perpetual gar- party or reception. There is excuse for thateort of thing at the capital. where the streets, abounding in striking sights and Present an evor-changing, always ex- but hardly any in Petropolis, Ritsas atver wanders beyond the only place square in town, with the railway Sopot for its ultime ‘thule, while some of the Scenery in the world lies all unheeded walking or riding distance, and a greareg 6 ful excursions might be made ma” people were not too lazy to make MORBID CURIOSITY OF THE INHABITANTS. Next to indolence the most impressive trait of Pretilin character is morbid curiosity, and it Ge tiat Which keeps him continually out of perambulating a regular beat like a po- aad which sends him to the station morning when the train departs for Kio every evening when it returng Walk ds and skoulders heir owners chat- rand minutely inspect all ndently quite as . Not only do women of the eladses spend most of their waking hours this way, but the habit is universal—proba- tural outcome of the national char- of morbid curiosity enhenced Ly the tin notion that for females --a little learning fangerous thing.” that reading is not good ety, and that work of every kind should leftentircly to the servants. Thus ladies tpper tendom have not even the care of own children to oceapy their ts, and soricty ordains that they Tk abroad unless necompanied elative. Therefore, without Sor enttivated tastes to r world to do but to eat, P and look as pretty as nature will allow— efhings are driven to pass much of Aselews hives Iounging in balconies and RETRANCE TO A COFFEE PLANTATION. out of windows. The only alternative Fetigion and music, and in both distractions indulge to excess without going very into whys and wherefores. Day after years im and out,one may bear them @trumming over and over and over again the Game lightest of French, Spanish and Por- ra, until the wonder grows that in communities, the windows and doors ing always open. the neighbors are not driven kK, staring mad, as perhaps they would be Rot the noise partially drowned by that are making themselves, the same aire be- tinualiy rattled on every piano all up Gnd down the street, INDEPENDENCE OF THE SHOPREEPERS. Shopkeeping in Brazil is by no means the eceapation one may find it in New fork. Everywhere in this country you will id the merchants an overweening to see ople are doing, the same instinct them at the theater to turn their ff may be in plain should you point’ it out hhe will smile and elevate bro} Sing be where i | illing to be | price the merchant smiles politely, shrugs his shoulders and turns bis entire attention to the cigarette he has all the time been smoking, as if glad to be ridof youon any terms. And thea it is so exasperating to take along walk in the broiling- sun, to find the shops all closed, as they are about two-thirds of the time (always excepting Sundays),becanse it happe to be some saint's day or patriotic anniversary, or because the alleged business hours have not begun, or may be they are over for that day, though the streets are yet thronged with pos- sible customers, HOUSES BUILT ON THE STREET. One observes with surprise that no matter how ample a Brazilian’s city lot may be he builds his house so that its front walls are flash with the hot, dusty, reeking pavements—for no other reason than to the more easily gratify his irresistible impulse of inquisitiveness. The finest mansion in Rio is a fair example of this idiosyneracy. It is an immense three-story palace, and thongh backed by many acres of laud extending down to the beantifal bay and covered with splendid old trees, fruits, flowers, fountains and statuary, the grounds are en- tirely neglected, because its front windows, un- shaded by tree or sereen, open directly upon the most noisy street in Itio; and there the fam- ily congr forever looking out with curi- osity unabated. Every house not provided “SU CASCADE OF ITAMARITY, NEAR PETROPOLIS. with balconies for observation bas its window sills carefully cushioned so that the ocenpants may hang over them with greater comfort; and the doctor of our party facetiously suggests that probably they are fitted with rings inside, in which the Indies may hitch their toes to pre- Yent them from tumbling out when more than half their bodies are protruded. If by rare chanee a mansion is situated a little distance from the street an ornamental arbor is con- stracted near the curb in which the family may sit and see. Life in Petropolis, or Corrego Seeco, or Sao Pedro de Alcantara, as the city has been called at different times in its history, goes on in much the same fashion as at the winter capital, There is no Rua do Onvider, with its gaily aressed crowds and shops of diamond dealers and Parisian goods, but there are plenty of shops here, such as they are, and a fashionable promenade. which everybody patronizes at the Fegulation hours. The town lics in a valley of three clear mountain rivers, which engincers and gardeners have so improved upon that they are the fetture of the place. HOW THE STREETS ARE LAID OUT. The Rio Piabanha (named from the small fish that ab$unds in its waters) and its feeding Funnels pour babbling, gravel-floored streams through the two principal avenues, called res- pectively Emperor and Emprods street; and in the square of Dom Pedro Segundo two streams, coming from opposite directions, unite, after ward flowing through the centers of several other streets till they are joined by a third stretm, which forms a considerable river and Tuns to the limits of the town, whence it leaps down the mountaia side in numerous cascades on its way to join the broad Each city stream has au artificial chanuel, from ten to fifteen feet deep, and is crossed by numerous littie bridges painted scarlet and black. ‘Their gentle sloping banks, covered with the greenest grass, is followed on both sides by broad, macadamized roads and shaded by fine old willow trees, interspersed with the thery, sweet-scented cedar (cedralla odor- ata). which Brazilians never cut, for they Lelieve it supplied the wood for the “true cross,” as in England, centuriesago, the tremb- lng aspen enjoyed that distinction. Jk is not possible to obtain a view of the whole town from any one point, small as it is numerically, because so scattered among the hills and valleys. The yellowish brown palace of the emperor, in its ‘twelve-acre setting of highly ornamented “grounds,” ie the central point from which all things radiate. Business 1s confined to one short Some of the avenues are comparative ; others wan- der up and down in the most erratic fashion. There are many spxcious and tasteful resi- dences—detached villas, kioshs, chalets, cot- tages most of them with scarlet painted roofe and gardens that are indescribably gorgeous, and roads bordered by country homes aud coffee plantations, stretch away between hilis that are yet covered with virgin forests, HOTELS AND CHURCHES, There are half a dozgn tolerable hotels, in which the average rate of living is €2.25 per diem. Most of them are kept by Swiss or Germans, and some are perfect copies of the chalets one sees in Alpine valleys, There are several Lutheran, Roman Catholic and other churches, and every year the government makes a special appropriation for sustaining its schools. This was begun when the place was a German colony, and the late Dom Fedro took a deep interest in it, since it was founded by his father and named after himself. And ndeed it isno small matter to the denizens of recking, fever-haunted Rio to have within five hours’ easy journey so delightful a refuge, where, as our Yankee friend observed, “one may enjoy the rare luxury of sitting in 'a dry skin.” However Yellow Jack may rage below, it has never reached Petropolis, though, as is Well known, it often climbs much higher. Per- haps its absence here is partly due to the fer- ruginous springs that abound in the locality and supply what Brazilians particulariy need—iron for the blood and a rem- edy for gastric derangements. The latitude produces not only the palm tree of the tropics, but the pine of the north, the aloe and the ce- dar, the orange and the apple. More rain falls here than in Rio, sometimes lasting for together, making roaring torrents of the little then we understand why their were dug so deep. The moistare sheus the flowers that cling to the cottage and makes the air so cool that wood fires are comfortable mornings and evenin, though after the Spanish-American fashion, no homes except those of resident foreigners are provided with any sort of heating apparatus, FORESTS ON THE EDGE OF TRE TOWX. ‘The Viscount of Maua, bailder of the rail- way, basa beautiful villa at the meeting of two mountain brooks, and others of the best houses are owned by meinbers of the and wealthy foreigners. town ity yeare old and Brazilians mre not hunting new localities, ‘There- ‘hin five minutes’ walk from your hotel, in almost any direction. you may®p! 4 primeval solitude, whose stranger im these hood is found the very best climate inall Brazil, as well as tho dest mountain scenery and the most interesting and varied vegetation. But the journey thereto involves considerable fatigue and therefore is no- glected in favor of the easier and cheaper route to Petropolis, A boat leaves Rio three times 8 week— ‘Thursdays and Saturdays—at 3 = Which calls at Paguita on the way and lands passengers at the little vil- lage Picdade, near the upper end of the bay, about 6 o'clock. Here you will find a diii- neia in waiting to convey travelers acrous the country to the foot of the Serra dos Orgaos, and perhaps an hour before midnight you will be dumped out at the door of the ‘wretched inn where the night must be passed, ‘The journey up the Serra is usually made on mule back in the early morning; and a more glorious and exhilarating ride can hardly be imagined, Moseson Mount Sinai may have scen a finer sight, but I doubt it. Near the summit the trail passes close under the Dedo do Deus (“Finger of God”), whoso sharp, in- accessible peak is so conspicuous a landmark for hundreds of miles around, and beside tho Gartafao, whose extreme point is capped by an enormous boulder, which looks as if a touch might dislodge it—yet, how many. centuries has it held its place. ‘The village of Theresop- olis (known as Varzea, before its name was changed in honor of the empress) lics in dip between the mountain: }, atan elevation of about 3.000 feet, and commands a magnificent view of ull the peaks, At the “Alto,” wheré the road posses through a gap into the valley of Rio Paquequer, the elevation is nearly 4,000 fect, and the town is thrce mites beyond, It is only a straggling settlement and possesses no good hotel; but one can afford to live on air for awhile, euch air as this—for sake of the charming walks and rides and incomparable views, itz B. Wann. Pee em aetoarass —SOME-CHILD SUPERSTITIONS. Listening for the Hammer’s Knock and Watching the Turkey Buzzard’s Flight. From the New York World. Children in the south have some very inter- esting superstitions used in their gamcs, “telling fortunes,” ec. For instance, in making a wish which thoy are anxious to have come true they pick up a stone that is imbedded in the ground, spit on the underside and replace it, being careful to fit it im just as it was; by so doing they think they will “get their wish, ‘The same method is used for curing tooth- ache, but first the gum around the tooth is pricked until it bleeds. Warts also are removed in this way. They believe that a tooth that is extracted should always be buried; otherwise the coming one will be a dog’s tooth. ‘They will “try their fortunes” by going across ® brook and gathering nine switches ot differ- ent kinds, dip them in the brook, then bind them together, using with the twine a hair from the head of the person “trying the for- tune;” then they are put under the pillow at night, and the dream will be of the future hus- band or wife, ‘These children have a very “telling fortunes” with the dodder vine, or love vine, as they call it. A piece is broken off and twisted ronnd the head three times, then dropped ona bank behind them. If the eweet- heart is true it grows. If it dies he or she is false, ‘The mullen stalk is also used to learn the constancy or the fickleness of the lover. The stalk is broken, but not detached, and if itcon- tinues to grow the absent one is constant, or vice versa. They have also many ways of telling fortunes by the moon; the most popular one is this: ‘hen the new moon is seen for the first tim three steps are taken backward and these words repeated: Sew moon, TT eve'a trap love, let me drome pf him tonight. Ie lim to mar tar ee tee Baars coerce ‘Aud if Pm never to wed, let me beur a hainmer knock. Strange to say, according to their accounts, one of these three sounds is sure to be heard. On hearing the firs wood dove in the spring they will sit down, remove the shoo and stock- ing from the left foot and in the heel of the stocking they say there will be found a hair the color of that of the man or woman they will marry. Then the flight of thre turkey buzzard is always noted, especially if flying alone, and the bird is addressed th ‘Hil, bai), lonely turkey the ens pretty way of Renta ds Pe w Whether he or the loves ine ur uot The bird's direction of flight is noted; also the motion of the wings, If they flap it iscon- sidered a true sign that the lover or sweetheart is true. There is a superstition common among chil- dren in almost all localities in the south that if you kill a snake and bang It in a tree it will surely rain within three daye. Another one is that hair combings should never be thrown out of doors, for the reason that the birds will use them in building their nests and thus produce constant headache to the person to whom they belong. HOW TIME WILL FLY. It Was No Use in s Bridal Couple to Try to Past as Old Stagers. From the Cincinuati Enguirer, ‘The hand of fate, operating through the head waiter, seated them at the most conspicuous table in the dining room. “Don’t stare at me so lovingly,” he fiercely hissed, “or you'll give it all away.’ ‘The fair young girl at his side blushed and looked very much confused. “Hum,” coughed he, ostensibly eyeing the menu. Byt he was overdoing it Nobody was de- ceived, “Bring us some mock turtle,” le commanded, attempting a growl, but realizing only a trem- ol gasp. “Don't call me any pet name hero,” he whis- pered from the side of his mouth. She tried to look unconcerned, but became redder in the face every moment. Hé to look savage, but made a distinct failure of it. “Er—lovely morning,” he suddenly observed aloud, with # sickly attempt at nonehalance, “Yes—yes, my—I—" “Shi 't call me any pet names, Why, you'd give us away in » minnte,” He assumed a feeble imitation of lofty in- difference. She seemed sbous ready to sink through the floor. “George,” very softly. He tried to frown prodigiously, with only a. success, aay “ ‘extremely pisnissimo, “evéry- body is looking at as.” He was uncasy and his bap apa in it “N—no, The individual near the door got choked with his but with that exce; tion there was nots im the room that Rot smile, F § HORSES’ TAILS The Different Styles of Glipping and Dockiag Them. IS THE OPERATION CRUELP ‘The Queltion Discussed ania thé Methods Evaployed Which Cause the Animal to Safer Described—Practicés That Obtained Many Years Ago—Rosched Manes. AN YOU LET ME have a saddle horse at 3 o'clock tomorrow?” said a young Washing- tonian of the exces- sively swell breed to a livery stable keeper s few days ago. do you want?” said the stable boss. “One with a docked tail, of course,” said the = young man. ‘Haven't got such a thing in my stalls,” said the dealer in horse flesh. “Oh, dear me, how annoying; but perhaps you have a horse with a short banged tail.” “Ob, yes, several of ‘em, “Then send me around the horse with the shortest bang,” and the young man went off. The writer for Tue Stan accosted hima little later and asked him why he wanted a horse with only half a tail, He seemed surprised at the ignorance of tho man who could ask such ‘® question and proceeded to explain that Jong- tailed horses had not been the fashion for fifteen Years and that rather than ride one he would walk the balance of his days. Ho said he liked 8 horse with a short docked tail best, but that, if it wasa case of necessity, he could on a Piueh put up with a bang-tailed nag, but he could not conceive of any circumstances that would induce him to go through the streets on horse with a long flowing tml. Here was clearly a case of prejudice. The writer then met a gentleman who has a speedy trotter or two and asked him if he had docked horses’ tails, He fired up at the Yory suggestion. “I wouldn’t be seen with one of the mutilated beasts im front of me,” said he, “and I have my - mn of the man who would drive such cattle, 'o bang a horse’e tail is a grievous to dock it 18 an outrageous crime.” There would seem to be a certain amount of preju- dice on his side, too, HONSEMEN TOUCHY ON THE sUBRECT. There are few subjects that horsemen are more touchy about than this subject of their horses’ tails. A certuin class of people won't ride or drive a long-tailed horse if they can possibly help it, and sometimes they go so far us to tic 2 along tail, in the vain endeavor to make it look like a banged tail, If these slaves to a passing fashion buy a horse they have his tail docked or banged at once. On the other hand there are people who won't buy a horse unless he las his natural tail, al- though he may suit their purpose exactly in all other respects. Every horseman remembers that just before the fashion of banging horses’ tails came into vogue there used to be seen a few old nags, in the sear and yellow leaf, with what were then called bob tails, which merely the old- fashioned term for docked tails. They were survivors of a style that had been very popular fifteen or twenty years before that. The fashion went ont and long flowing tails were the correct thing for many years; then people began to cut their horses’ tails square, but with plenty of hair left; then they cut them square right up close to the bone; then they began to cut the bone, and now docking is a custom as common as cutting a terrier’s ears, STYLES OF DOCKING. There are a good many different styles of wearing the hair for men and women and al- most as many for the hair of horses’ tails, First of all to consider the bang. There is the long bang, the short bang, the parted bang and the fan-shaped bang. The first of these contemplate the cutting off of all the hair on the tail below about four inches of the bone. With some horses it is rather becoming, and especially with saddle horses it shows off the build of the horse and gives him a neat, com- pact appearance. There is not much cruelty involved either, as there is a good switch left tg take care of the flics, and if the horse is turned out to pasture the summer his tail will grow out again. At any rate, there is no permanent injury done. Tho short bang involves cutting the hair square off right up to the bone, With some horses this means a very short tail, but not so with others. for the length of the bones of horses’ tails varies very considerably. Some big horses have short tail bones and some little horses have long ones, In most cases the horse with a short bang is at the mercy of flies, how- ever. The parted bang ma singular fad now much affected by some people, but not as pop- ular as it was a couple of vears ago, It is more common on docked talis than on banged tails, but it can be used on a short tail bone that has not been cut. It consists simply im parting tho hair of the tail ‘and brushing it down smoothly on both sides. As for the fan-shaped bang, that requires considerable art in the cut- ting, for the effect must be obtained of the ing th sides somewhat like a palmetto fan. The hair undernéath the bone is cut quite short and is shorter near the stock of the tail than the end, the latter being rounded rather than square. Both the parted bang and the fan-shaped bang belong more properly to the docked tail. A banged tail strictly speaking is one the hair of which is cut square, just asa girl is said to have bangs when she wears a square-cut forelock, 18 DOCKING A CRUELTY? “Is docking a horse's tail a cruclty such as should be prohibited by law?” This question was puttoa member of the Humane Society, and he promptly answered “Yes.” As a mat- ter of fact there are a good ‘many cases of ar- rest anc fine for thus mutilating horses, and in some cities the fine is a regular part of ‘th nse of having the operation performed. e cruelty is not in the actual surgical opera~ tion itself so much as in the life-lung incon- venience and sometimes torture that ensue, Of course no one can pretend that cutting a horse's tail off does not hurt. The amateur rustic method of performing the operation is barbarous. It consists simply in backing the animal against a fence or a tree and fey om et tail off as though it it were a piece of kindling wood. Veterinary surgeons are, of course, more scientific. They take the requisite number of inches off, so that the shock is the principal pee The actual excruciating pain comes frorf# the ap- plication of the hot iron to the stump as soon ‘ts the operation is performed. is the same sort of torture that used to take place in England when a subject's right hand was cut off for some such offense as striking another within the procincts of the king’s palace yard, Men were found who would suffer the utilation without a groan, but when the ing hot iron” was spoted to the ri e.stoutest-hearted man would giv. of pain. However, this only lasts fora little whife, and then the docked tail is not painful. Now, suppose this docked tail to re- maiu always in the stable of the man that had it docked. There the horse that owns it has a on ooh op peg a keep the ean and when he isin use he usually goes pretty fast and the flies do not bother bist AT THE MERCY OF THE FLIES. much, It he is ever given s run in the fields he has quite s Sight for it, but he is nearly always in the stable. If such is his life then the docking of his. tail, while # cruelty, is not such an in- ceasant torment after all. ' But now, F GE ES ka ail # fr Se é 4 i i i B it J HF i i cf & woil-bred, 5 lowever, docking 1s @ fact just at this pres- tik 20 add ts asnceies to observe the various kind of docks, First of all there is the polo Gock, This is probably the shortest Stat Uh some casee not more: then ve ot Cr par bate Daigle age the hair of the is banged squere, te little nag looks sprice andcompact. Then ere ig a dock much in vogue among carriage horses which involves cutting bone almost a8 short asin the case of the leaving the tait end. the old-time bob tail Its chief design Bive a horse a cob look, A few Reople Bare adopted te fashion of 4 short lock, with the hair cut pretty close all along the bone. This has nothing to recommend it, It im hideous and stupid. Various devices aro Tesorted to in order to make the horse hold the stump on a level with his back. or sometim in the air, and ovcasionally one may see a pair of cobs with singular appendages that look al. most like feather dusters thrust upright in the Of the horse's spine. Along dock in- yolves the lopping off of about four inches of pone d bere ist eo most jek ng all, if a4 mutilation of a horse can be to approacl harmiessnens, PASHION IN HORSES’ MANES, The matter of horses’ mancs is also an im- portant one in the world of fashion. The fashion of roaching is not as popular as it was, bat is still practiced, especially on horses. It cruel, too, as the neck of the horse is entirely exposed to the attack of flies, but the mane can be allowed to grow out. From an esthctie standpoint it imptoves the appearance of some horses, but is fatal to the looks of others, A long-eared, thin-necked horse with a closely roached mane looks for all the world like a mule, Pulling some of the mane out is a very general custom with horses whose tails are either banged or dockod, It shows the curve of the neck off to advantage and makes the animal look high bred, for a long, bushy mane is seldom the characteristic of a blooded horse. These remark do not apply, of course, to horses on the traci. ‘Tho been out to the Benning track this week may have noticed that the horses are left with a long banged tail and the mane is either left alone or 18 plaited, and with trotting horses the long switch tail and the loose mane as_m: ture made it aro the correct thing. ee ‘The Woman on the Back Seat. From the New York Sun. I boarded the train at 4 o'clock in the after- noon, and had scarcely got scateg when I noticed a little woman on the last seat of the right-hand side. I could not see her face on account of the heavy veil she wore, and she leaned over against the window so heavily that I thought her asleep, There were only a few Passengers of us in the car, and everybody seemed to shrink into himself as if disgusted. “Who's the woman back there?” I asked of the conductor as he sat down beside me for a tew minutes, it was a winter day and raining at thet. It was dusk, but the lamps had not been lighted, when six or cight people got on at astation, Among them was « couple whom I believed to be newly wedded, although they were middle aged. The man was fine looking and the woman really handsome, and they took a seat about the middle of the’ car, with their backs to the veiled woman, When I happened to look back I found her sitting bolt upright and acting as if very much excited. Fitteen min- utes after the train had pulled out of the sta- tion the little woman passed me as she went down the aisle, The lamps were alight now. and I saw a pistol clutched in her right hand. The couple referred to were acting very lov- ingly toward each other. but I had not con- nected the little woman with them at all, Passed them by two or three fect and thei wheeled, raised her veil and stood with the pi tol pointed fuil 1m the man’s face. Noone canbe prepared for action under such circumstances. Every one in the 2ar was looking at the woman and everybody that a tragedy was at hand, but nobody moved. For fully thirty seconds the woman stood like a statue, tho pistol within two feet of the man's face, Those in front of him said that he flushed up at first sight of her and then grew pale asdeath, He tried to speak, but his lips uttered no round, The woman beside him looked, rafsed her hands and sank back in a dead faint. jeorge, I have come to say good- said the little woman at last, and her words were followed by the duli cl of the hammer fall- ing on a cartridge. There was no explosion. Her arm slowly fell until it rested beside her, and with a sobbing wail she sank down in the aisle and was helpless, All of us moved at once. She was lifted toa seatand a woman took charge of her. We turned to the man for explanations, but be had fallen back and his eyes were closed. Two minutes later ve knew that he was dend—as surely dead as if a bullet had pierced his brain, A doctor who came in from the car ahead said it was a case of heart failure. He was the hus- band of the little woman who had been riding so long on the back seat. They had quarrelied. and he had become infatuated with the wome: beside him, The wife had planned to encoun- ter them and kill him. He had looked into the face of death for thirty seconds and the strain on his nerves had stopped the flow of life as suddenly as if struck by a thunderbolt. A corpse, an adventures, a widow! It ended there for us, but not for them. Was it any Wonder that as the train rushed on throug! the darkness each one of us seemed to hear a voice, sayiny “AB ye 80} © shall ye reap! The deeds of the wicked recoil upon their own heads!” paeke ae gee? An Optical Mlusion. From: the Chicaxo Times. He attracted considerablo attention, even in Chicago, where deformities and beggars are at every turn, for the terrible character of his in- jury. Both legs had been taken off at the thigh, leaving hardly a trace of even a stump. He was planted on the sidewalk of one of tho busy West Side streets a few days ago, leaning back against pile of lumber that lay at the edge of the walk. Without this support he must have lost his balance, for ho used no cratches, and it appeared that his hands were the only propelling power he could use. ‘Tho poor wretch’s overcoat was longer than he was, and the skirts of it were spread out around him on the walk, while before him lay his hat upturned for alms, Ho needed the aid of no verbal appeal. Every one'noticed him, and almost all gave of thei substance. A gambler dropped in a dol- lar and felt that he had errned luck for a week. Hi ( girle and their attentive companions re- Guced their pocket money. Even an Italian fruit vender passing dropped a dime in the hat with a thought that this was his Easter offering, if little late. Contributions were rapidly transferred to the substantial leather pocket of the ragged overcoat, The man seemed to be getting uneasy. At last tho was emptied and returned to its other post of service ou his head. ‘Two men came hurriedly out of the store in front of which the beggar had been transacting business and walked over to the pile of lumber. “Get out,” said one to the cripple. “We want to bustle this lumber into the basement.” And the deformed wretch placed his bands onthe pavement, gavea hitch and a scramble and drew outofacoal hole a pair of excellent legs, terminated by equally serviceable feet, which had been resting on the pile of coal under the sidewalk, Several dollars’ worth of tho coin of the republic Jinglea in his pockets as he entered the Uouble-hinged, back-action doors of the nearest institution for the ameli of arid suffering. SOME FAMOUS ECHOES. Queer Tricks of Sound in the Old Hall of Representatives. WHERE TRE ECHO SPOTS ARE—THE SECRETS OF THE ORACLE REVEALED—PRANES PLAYED BT VISITORS—THE PICTURES ON THE PUDDING STONE PILLARs, The old hall of Representatives, or as itis now called, statuary hall, is the curiosity shop of the Capitol, It wasan original part of the present building, erected soon after the de- struction of the old Capitol by the Brith in the war of 1812. The design was the work of Latrobe, after tho theater at Athens. But the malediction of the old Greek architects seems to have followed the appropriation of their de- sign, for the walls are haunted by such a troop of echoes that as an auditorium it has always been a compilote failure. Or it may be that the quarry up the Potoraac, whence the mar- ble columzsof the hall were brougat, was the home of some old Indian powwow, resented the invasion of his re- and still mocks tho desecrators of his abode. However that may bo, the echoes are there, and form one of the chicf attractions to visitors in that part of the Capi- tol. They sound uncanny enough now when ointed out by an every-day authorized guide, ut One can easily picture what a sensation they will create when, some 5,000 years hence, they are rediscovered by some enterprising Ameri- canologist who comes to unearth the buried apitot of the long forgotten American repub- lic. If old time is only kind enough to leave the roof on this part of the building it is safe to say the old Greek ghosts who uow gibber so fluently among the arches will wake up again nae fairly laugh the archeologists out of their jo As the more remarkable echoes have been located from time to time the tiles of the pave- ment from which they cau be most distinctly heard have been noted and handed down orally from generation to generation of guides and employes. The other day an obliging employe went over the ground with a Srax reporter and Pointed out sonie of the acoustic curiosities of the hall, IN FRONT OF THE ALLEN STATUE. The first white tablet in the floor directly in front of the marble statue of Allen of Ohio is one of a pair of echo tablets, Its companion hes at the intersection of two perpendicular lines drawn from the pedestal of the marble Garfield on the south side of the hall and from the bronze figure of Phil Kearny on tho west, ‘To one standing on the first named tablet and facing the statue of Allen words spoken from the other tablet seem to be uttered by Allen himself. This trick of sound bemg the product of the model of a Grecian temple would seem to offer a very clear explanation of the speak- ing oraclesat Delphi and other well-known centers of classical fakirism, ‘The placing of the Garfield statue in the hall destroyed one of the well-known echo combi- nations. A tablet which that statue now covers and another near the door of the clerk's office he north side of the chamber were re- stations, Persona standing upon them simultaneously the sound of words spoken from a third tablet of the west of the hall near the Phil Kearny statue, though the message was delivered in a voice so low as to be mandible at any distance from the speaker ex- cept at the two points named. Another pair of echo tablets is found by tak- ing a stand on the seventh white tablets north from the base of the Ailen statuc aud posting a companion on the eighth white tablet west of that. Each speaker in this case receives the voice of the other as though it came from above and behind instead of directly in front of the listener. ANOTHER COMBINATION. All the above-named echoes come to the listener from an unexpected direction and close at hand, but turning to the statue of Lewis Cass one can locate a combination of a different sort. Stand upon the fourth white tablet counting outward from the base of the statue toward the center of the bail and listen to the voice of aspeaker standing upon the fable’, counting out in a similar direc~ tion from the statue of Collamer of Vermont, A faint halloo scems to be carried upward into the air and is heard by the listener as coming directly from the apex of the dome. One of the most perplexing illusions is the echo heard when coming into the hall through the rotunda doorway, over which rests the famous Franzoni clock. Stopping upon th tenth white tablet from the door one receive the echo of a voice from the doorway on the House side of the hail as coming not from that door at all, but from the door beneath the clock, It is a favorite amusement with the pages on a dull day, when the hall is still and not many visitors are about, to ambnsh them- selves in the doorway toward the House and start up a disrespectful conversation with the first rural visitor who stops on the fatal tablet to admire the clock. The fun comes in when the affronted party starts off in diametrically the wrong direction to find his tormentor. Directly under the center of the great arch which spans the hailon the south is what is known as the individual block. It is a white tablet, easy to find because marked with a small hole in one corner. Standing upon this and facing the door toward tbe rotund; one receives the echo of his own voice in a cavern- ous whisper from beneath the pavement behind him. Face round toward the Hopse of Repre- sentatives and speak and there is no echo heard at all, THE TELEPHONE. The only other notable acoustic properties of the hail discovered up to date are the “tel- ephone pillars,” the two rectangular columns upon which the main arch of the hall abuts, A gentle whisper breathed to the smooth sur- face of one of these is heard by au ear placed close to the other pillar over a hundred feet away, but is inaudible to any one standing in the line between the two points. In the old days when the hall was occeupied by the House the echoes fairly laughed the legisla tors out of doors. A committee was appointed toinvestigate the matter scientifically and to seo if by means of wires and screens the sound wayes could not be broken. Maps and plans, with imaginary focal lines and angles of detlec- tion, were prepared and experiments were tried, but in vain, The spell of the old Greeks was too strong for such contrivances, and the maps were cousigned to the library gomeelen f ill rest, while the committee, like the wind of ‘-Hiawatha,” Hearn stl then tighter, Ye are but our fellow ‘tmortala” THE PICTURED PILLARS. ‘The breccia columns, vulgularly called “pudding stone,” which support the dome of the hall, are another item of interest, Their mottled surfaces contain numberiess pictures, some of which have quite a reputation, The Pillar back of the Collamor statue contains a white epot about two inches in diameter some six feet above the floor, Afew black lines through it seem at first sight meaningless, but when sted a moment spring into quite a surprising likeness of Senator Edmunds, The next column, which is back of the Alien statue, contains a similar portrait in black of Gen, Ben Butler. Another of the columns back of the Garfield statue contains a peur and a fruit knife in close proximity, and search would doubtless reveal other pictures equally good. Finally there is set in the floor in the south- west corner of the hall near the statuo of Lin- coln a email brass disk with the inscription john Quincy Adams, Here, Feb. 21st, 1848.” It is the spot where Adams aank when stricken with paralysis on that date. ‘Two days leter in offic hall he ‘THAT TOOTHSOME DtsH. An Old Darkey Tells How Planked Shad (Waa Accidentally Originated. “I seed, sab, dat dey is eatin’ dis heah plank Shad down de ribber agin. But whar de Lawd Gey done got de name uf plank’d shad w tu much for this ole niggah, sah, “Yer stés, ash, de shad dey is right nuff dere ain't nuthin under de sun de matter wid shad, but its de name uf de way dat dey cooks ‘em dat I'se sprised ‘Vout. For dis heah plank’ shad ain't nothin’ in de wurl bat one Uf dese tings dat sort cr go off wen yer ain't lookin’ fur ‘em. One of dese tings, yer kno’, sah, dat ain't calkerlated far. date ‘em, sab. Date Jes zackly w'at plank’d’ shad eum’ from, ach, Y wuthin’ else, sah, inde wurl. An’ ef yer shuah, sab, dat Lisu’t pursumin’ too much on raah time, sab, Ii) = Propoun’ de reason I lez, sab, fur layin’ down do fae’ dat plauk’d sbad dan cum fram er acksdent. “Yer see, sah, I'se mighty ole now—nigh on to de time de Good Book ‘lows ter us cbil'en af de airth, but my ole gran'farder, sah, wuz heap older den is w'en he crosted ce ribber dat we is all Dledged to cross. An’ et wuz fram do ole man, sah. dat I iearned de fac’ dat w'at do Site folks call plank’d shad aint plauk’d shad IN THE GOOD OLD TIME “Yor mus’ kno’, sah, dat my ole waz one of Gineral George Washi servants, sah, an’de gineral sot or on him, sah, De giver: Teverlushunary war, settled down ter tok his ease at Mount Vernon, down de ribber b an’ uf course my ole gran'farder he waz tu. De gineral wuz mighty fon’ uf shad ‘low dat dere wuzn't nuthin’ tu tech ‘em dis side uf de ribber Jordan. He wuzu't satustied wid havin’ 'em jes in de spring, but dose he endn’t eat den ‘he hung up am’ dried fur de winter. An’ in duin’ d I will “Incidate, de acksdent cum ‘long w'at ‘lowed dat dere wuz er way uf cookin’ de shad dat no tn ebber heered tell uf pefo'—er way uf cookin sah, dat no nobody ain't yit ‘prov’ 'y uf cookin’ ‘em dat nobody ain't a-goin’ tu Higrs,oR oulese de good Lawd whisper do way ise | ALL ADOUT THE ACCIDENT. “De way de acksdent cum wuz jes like disez et wuz tol’ tu me, sah, by my gran'farder his- self, My gran'farder be hev alog cabin right nigh de ole maushun, tun, ez I splain'd tu yer, sot er heap sight on my gran’farder an’ want him right dar all de time. Well, sah, de log cabiniwuz de bes’ on de place, an’ wuz made out uf de bes’ on de place, an’ wuz made out uf de bes’ oak logs dat cud be hed, sah. De logs dey wuz jus saw'd down de length uf’em an’ de flat side sot out, so dat cabin ‘pear'd ez smooth like ez yer please, sah, Durin’ de fishin’ season de cul- lud folks dey fus’ dry de gineral’s fish, an’ den dey dry all dey’ want tur demsclves, "Bout de time dat I is a-taikin’ "bout, all uf de gineral’s shad hed bin dried, an’ de cullud folks on de piace wuz dryin’ dere’s, De di dat I is a-taikin’ "bout, my ole gran’ farder uf course he wuzn't ole den—hed caught er lot uf de shad, an’ after he hed done clean’d ‘em he hed hung ‘em on de side uf his cabin, He hung his bacon dar tu, an’ ez et happen'd der wuz cr lot uf de bucon hangin’ dar jus’ "bove de shad dot berry day. “Arter my gran’farder hod done hung de shad Bp jhe went off tu ‘tend tu his work, tinkin’ how mighty fine dem shad'il be de cumin’ winter, Weil, sah, he bedn’t bin gone five minutes, sab, wen he hured de cry of fire an’ lookin’ back he saw er vig pile of smoke a-cumin’ right up from de cabin itself. My gran'farder he rush back jus’ ez fas’ cz his legs tek him, an’ w’en he gits dar be seus dat er pile of fire wood right snear his cabin hed bin sot a-fire by sum uf de chil’en. WHEN THE FIRE WAS STOPPED. “Dey tried mighty hard to stop dat fire, but befo' dey cud git any water "tall mos’ uf de wood hed gone, an’ my gran'farder’s cabin itself waz scorch’d 4 mighty bad, sah. De fire wuz on de same side dat de bacon an’ de shad wuz, but de folks waz so busy fightin’ de fire dat dey nebber once tink’d uf ‘em, - An’, tank de good Lawd, sez I, dat dey didn't, Fur ez dey march’d up tu whar de fish an’ de bacon d bin hung, ‘spectin’ tu find de whole passei 'stroy’d, lo an’ behoi’ dey foun’ dem shad cook'd like dey hed nebber bin cook’d befo’ on dis airth, An’ yerkin b'lieve me ur yer kin disb’lieve me, sah, w'en I tells yer dat de fus’ ting dose niggers du arter dey rekiver'd dere senfes wuz tu pitch in an’ cat shad tell dere wuzn't eben de bones lef’, sab. “Wile dey wuz a-eatin’ ‘em Gineral Wash- in’ton hisself cum ridin’ up to sce w'at waz de cummoshun, an’ befo’ Gawd, sah, ef de gin- eral didn’t hev sum uf dem shad sont up to de manshun for de Madame an’ Gineral Laer it, who had done stopp'd to pay his respec’a, Yer see, sah, de fire sizzied de bacon so dat de fat jus’ drap an’ drap down on de shad, an’ dereby Season ‘em bony bs ter den anyting else cud. “Dat's de lent dat gib rise to w'at yer white foiks now calls plank'd shad, but de good Lawd kuo’s dat dey ain't plank'’d shad. Dey is log shad, ef dey is anyting, sah! THE GIRL AND HER LOVER. Asking = Fashion Writers’ Advice—The Somewhat Startling Result, From the New York Sun. She was a fashion writer. She also had s column in the magazine which was devoted to answering ali the letters that dameela, whose complexions were not just what they desired, whose sweethearts did not behave as they wished, who had doubts as to their religious belief, and wanted cures, not only for freckles, but for souls, sought knowledge. She was used to being asked the exact length of Cleopatra's nose, tne color of Eve'shair and the family name of Queen Victoria, She gave her opinion as to the iety of kisaing $ Areeting bride or t she did get desperately tired when a girl would write sixteen pages about the ‘gentleman who was keeping company with her.” To her most intimate friend the misera- bie fashion writer told this story: Said she: “A letter came for me, writto: the usual frshion, and in which a girl sai she had been keeping company with a younz man for two years; that he didn’t have much money, end did I advise her to marry him and go to boarding or to wait « few months. and collect enough furniture to make a little home for themselves? I got immensely interested. I wrote to that girl and advised her to wait the three months and have a home to start with, and I gave her a lot of advice and afew suggestions that I thought might heip her along. I never heard any more of her, but last week when I was ing a young woman tapped, me on the shoulder and asked very modestly: ‘Are you Mrs. Dash?’ She wore a hat trimmed with roses and vorr, very long and very wide pale blue streamers down her back Her coat was light one, with enormous it, and her gloves her face was the le. She hi whother I bad a mehae wenn to set Oy . You wrote vatiful efter. ‘you told mo how to be SOURCES OF TITE ORTNOCO. Described by the Fire Modern White Mae Who Has Visited Them. “Twelve hundred miles from the mouth of the Orinoco rivor was os for as I extended my explorations toward the sources of that great Stream,” said Ensign Roger Welles, who hes just returned from the rogion mentioned, te ® writer for the Stan, Ho i the only white man that has penetrated those wilds, at all events Since the davs of the carly Spaniards, “The Orimoco ia one of the biggest rivers im the world. as yon may see by map of South America, It is dotted all along its course with numerous stuail islands, and ite Upper waters are obstruct During my long land eround impass: Teachos the Mio Meta. tributary of the ( interfered with by who use poisoned ar! buy and sell goods the sailing scows ont in night, keeping guard with rift ble surprise. “I that part of the couutry and beyond te- ward the interior, whiter ipenetrated, naked- isthe ralo wn the natives, “neither ng beades ation i farther ream anchor dale of it at against possi- . “ the height of fa people. You sce it is bu of bead work bead work, hi being done “ wo hundred miles berond ¢ 10 Meta the Inirida that stream very beautiful, risite pattern, he month of the he Orineco, noe loaded natives, Join clot subsistence latter. © bow and arrow. mploy arrows six fect in length made of pped with iron, Whild a canoe ly along in the lows the marksman stands ready with bis on thestring of the bow. As soon asa large fish is seen, if the approach can be made within range, the arrow is lot fly and rarely faile to strike ¥. These Indians bunt with blow guns made out of the young stalks of a certain kind of palm, from which the pith arrows employed as simply splinters of reed, the other end being with enough silk cotton obtained from another kind of palm to fill up the bore of the biow gun ‘The arrows are about ten inches long and very light. ‘They are tipped with the famous and “-woorari” poison, Used by one of these naked savages, the blow gun is a weapon of great accuracy an@ effectiveness, even a small bird on a tree top being brought down by the skilled sharp- shooter w:th reasonable certainty at the first try ‘These primitive aborigines dwell in bute built of palm leaves mostly. Each family has itslittle garden patch, which ia chiofly devoted to raising the root from which cassava le mada, They depend upon this root almost entirely for food, apart from what they get by hunting and fisting. It is prepared*by grating to be- kin with, The grater employed is of the most primitive possible description, being simply @ plank with perforations, smail sharp pleces of flint being inserted in the holes. Being re~ duced to a sortof meal by rubbing on this grater the cassava is pressed to get the water out of it, because the root is as watery as the potato. ‘Then it is sifted and formed for cook- jug into what looks like an enormous griddle cake two or throe feet in diameter. This cake is baked on a flat ptoce of earthen- ware of corresponding size, “An Indian will go off for a weel with no other food than a quantity of cassave. prepared in this fashion. I myself was obliged to live upon it almost wholly for months At first did not find it palatable, but after awhile 1 acquired the taste and became quite fond of it, The chief trouble was that it was cooked on the bare ground and always con’ siderable percentage of dirt. Howe: must not be too particaiar about om when traveling in the wilds. are quite cleaniy, #0 far as bath but their habits of living otherwise are not ich as to promote the virtue which is next te odliness, or this purpos: badly de- uniptentionally in the Performance of quite a tomance on one occa- sion, When my canoe w b leaving a native village, w journing, a young Indian girl seemed to be cone siderably agitated and manifested an evident desire to accompany me. My pilot, against my wish, permitted her to get uboard, and she came With us down the stream to our next halt- ing place. { noticed that the pilot was ex- tremely attentive to her. Shortly after we made our next landing the mother of the girl made her appearance in a canoe, having fol- lowed us to get back her daughter, whom she took away with her. The pilot was very mel- ancholy after this occurrence and subsequently confessed to me that he had brought the young Jndy away for the purpose of making her his wi jatrimonial methods are extremely «imple among these nati When a youn man and oung Woman Wish to marry they go to house- en together, and that is all there is of it, Often a youth of one village will woo and win amaiden of « village hundreds of miles dis- tant along the river. As a rule, they seem to enjoy as uninterrupted a domestic felicity as civilized couples obtain, The Indians are gradually retiring toward the higher sources of the Orinoco because of the harsh and dis honest treatment which they receive at the bands of the white men and half-castes of Venezuela. They can never get fair prices for the cassava which they produce and sll to the Venezuelans. Cassava is an important food of the poorer classes all through Vene- zuela, being ground by machines in factories, Among the curiosities which L obtained from those savages for exhivition at the world’s fair at Chicago are a number of interesting musical instruments, such as reed flutes and drums made out of a kind of corkwood. I intended to spenk of the remarkable pattern im which the beadwork of the loin cloths is alway made. This pattern, as you will observe, is m agcometric form peculiar! and the stery is where these ple got it from. ‘ot least strange is the fact that the cassava, grators are always made with the sharp pieces Of flint arranged in precisely the same design, which doubtless bad some original si; Jong lost even to tradition.” —_+—___— Aids to Oratory. From the St, Louis Globe-Democrat. “Lam about to deliver an important in a few days,” said a gentleman to a number of friends at the Lacicde. “Can you tell me what is the best liquid for an orator to use during the delivery of his address?” “I have never made a speech myself,” xaid one of the crowd, Mr. J, C. Wedlake of Detroit, “but I might be abie to give you some useful hints spenking in the paties, drmks a sola- tion of gum arabic, which he has recently Substituted for weak coffee. Neither M. de Freycinet nor M. Constans take anything. M. Bouvier drinks eu de seltz and lemon jui while M. Yves we been told, to take water, but in recent years, since bf Voice has begun to grow somewhat husks, he uses a sort of egg-flip, made of the yolk of an egg and « litte wine. 1