Evening Star Newspaper, May 7, 1892, Page 9

GN PERSIAN PLAINS. A Consul’s Horseback Ride Across That Distant Country. WONDERS OF THE ORIE T. Interesting Extracts From Private Corre- spondence of Mr. Truxton Beale—The Tomb of Cyrus—Wonderful Twilight of the East—The Fire at the Treasury Over Half a Century Ago. Written for The Evening Star. IPLOMACY HAS IN- vaded all the countries ‘om the globe and car- ried with it modern thought and eiviliza- tion, The last invasion was when the United States sent a minister plenipotentiary to Per- sia, one of the most an- cient of the empires of the old world, whose history is redolent of heroie adventures and around which clusters so much of romance and poetry. Everything told of that far-away land is of the greatest interest, and the extracts I | am enabled to offer the readers of Tux Star from a recent letter, addressed to his family, by our minister at that court, Mr. Truxton Beale, will, I am sure, afford pleasure as well as u x fhe letter is dated Ispalan, Feb- Fuary 21, 1802. Mr. Beale says: “I obtained Permission to leave my post to coliect thiugs for the Agricultural Department. and I thought before I cam ome I would ride across Persia from the Caspian sea to the Persian gulf. Fox nd I had previously been to Kasvin, on the Werge of the forests that go down to the Cas- Pian sex, and we left Teheran some ten days ego to ride continuously until we reached the gulf on the other side of Persia—1,000 miles. Our ride so far bad been ‘iehightiul, and would be fuliof charm and novelty to people not ustomed to eastern scenes. The frst jay out from ‘Teheran we rode all day Shrough dreary desert between | of snow-capped mountaius. At going to bed, | was too ured to sivep, sol got up and sat and smoked at the door of the little mud bat that we bad rerened. In asbort time the moon rose over the moun- tains of ancient Media and threw « weird. un- certain light across the barren plain where the hosts of Xerxes and Alexander had camped, | and ina few minutes I heard the bells of a caravan very far away on the desert, but sat up enjoying the scene of the snow-capped Mountains aud the quiet of the desert until the camels came jangling by, looking like phantoms in the moomught A TYPICAL CENTRAL ASIA TOWS. The next day we rode uutil we reached Koom, & typical town of Central Asia, kept ap prizei- pally by an old mosque where the faithful are carried for hundreds of miles to be burie As you ride toward the town you get a good ‘View of the old mosque, You cross a turbid rushi Olt bridge that goes st Every large town im Ceutral Asia has its bazaar, and they are all pretty much on the same plcu, so Iwill tryund give you an idea of one. It is a labyrinth of uarzow streets covering acres ground. ~The are ali covered by @ series of cot groiued arches, with a iarger and gromed arch where two streets cross. top of each arch there is a hole avout a foot im diameter to let down the light Along each side of the little narrow s re ranged the open booths of the tradesmen and artisans, They sit im front of their places, with their work in front of them, working at their trades quite in publie, with their wares dispiayed in tue little open vooth seind them. Sometimes the streets ruu into large open squares where there are fountains and reservoirs. You see the metal worker stop his tinkering to teil a story t shoemaker sitting im front of bootw. You sce the driver of t bis line of camels in frout of a u: t's shop to tell him the uews from Ls or from some Asian depth that be and iis caravan have come from. The cliex of the bammers of the tiusmith aud the silversmith, the trading aud chaifering, the long line of camels filing through laden with goods from Ar caravan stop geous colds o. the siik wares of the merchants, allmake a scene fuli of novelty and charm. We rode ou, {ter day, across desert wastes end barren’ mountain ranges, until last nig’ we reached here, tired out, aud were only awakened ia the morning by the street cries of Ispaban, A DREARY MELANCHOLY. The prevailing tone of the country is that of dreary melancholy. Tersia is a bigh table land, with a rim of mountains around it. The slopes that run down to the Caspian sea are beautifully timbered, but the sides that in- €line to the iniertor are mostly barren deserts, With low ranges of bills and mountains run- ning across flat level plains. Some of the coun- try sarrounding Ispahan is well cultivated and 4s doubtiess very pretty in the spring, but the rt of it now iubabited is very much ke Kasvin and Teheran. We mt to see the gov- eruor of the province.the Zele Sultan, Shadow of the King. He is oue of the sbah’s sons. and received us in « kiosk im one of the courts of the palace. After bowing to us he had a small low table placed in front of him to put his feet on. He told us that it bad beea his intention to spend the day with a very holy, good man, a priest whose family was older than the Hapsburgs, but that be bud changed bis mind and cut short bis visit imorder to see me. He then asked me how old I was and then asked Fox, and roared in; Fox's face when be said he and I were the same age. We were taken across the river to see the ruirs of the old town, and there I saw what trav and poets of the last century raved about—fine old avenues, once evidently paved with flower gardens down the mid- die, where they used to drink their sherbet and re their poetry—rows of large plaue trees still standing running down the We got to the roof of one of the old palaces on the river bank just as the sun was going down behind a distaut range of purple moun- talus off on the desert—it threw a food of light over the destroyed temples of the aucient fire worshipers. over the tombs of the de- seendants of the prophet, over the distant mountain top aud over the ruins of bridzes and palaces of Shab Abbas, ay sueeaZz “After a week more in the saddle,” he con- tinues, under date of Sheraz, March 3, “we reached here, and sawon the way the great ruins of Pasajarde and Persepolis and the tombs of Cyrus and Darius. We climbed up the small pyramid and crawled into the tomb ef Cyrus. ‘The inscription he had put on his tomb ‘Lam the great King Cyrus, the founder of Persia and the ruler of Asia: let no man grudge me this tomb.’ His tomb was partialiy destroyed by the soldiers of Ale= ander and bis body aud the beautiful thing that Strabo says he had buried with bim hay been miseing for many centuries The tombs of Hafiz and Sardi doth are here im Sheraz. Many persons, even ~eultivated Europeans, who know the east con- | sider the poet Sardi the greatest man that ever | lived. His book of poems, “Ghoolys:an,’ which means the rose garden, is used as « book of education all over this part of the east— from the Bosphorus to the Ganges.” The Hon. Truxton Beale bas obtained leave of absence and will be at home some time this month for @ brief visit THE BURNING OF THE TaEAsUBY. | Thad occasion to hunt up the time when the | ‘Treasury Department was burned, and not one @f “the oldest inhabitants” of whom I inquired could give me the date of that conflagration, | ‘They differed by several years, none coming e, Was der, 1834, @ resolution was introduced asking ‘the President, Gen. Jackson, fur information, in reply to the resol ution he sent to repent of the commission signed Cranch, Edward Livingston, rye | leaky. Congress met in Decem- | Areher, .Asbary’ Dickins, Henry Huntt, Charles Pry: ‘harles Lyons, George Crandell, Nicholas Callen. James H. Causton. J. N. Love- jos, Charles L. Coitman, John P. Pepper, Charles Pettit, Jacob Hines, Alexander Mc- Donald. James Moore, Samuel M. McKean. All these witnesses were nt at the fire and Aided in removing the books ‘and papers and tell what they saw. e The fire department was in strikin contrast to that of the present day. The Ban! of the Metropolis had an engine of its own, and Mr. Callen telis how it was brought into requisi- tion, and Mr. Pryse tells how Azeriah Faller hitched a pair of horees to one of the engines and hauled it to the fire, There was of course an attempt to make political capital out of the fire. Gen. Jackson came into the presidency in 1833, and the extreme democracy charged it was the act of an incendiary to cover up whig defaications, &c. ARRESTED AS INCENDIARIES. Three years after the fire two men named White were arrested for setting fire to the building. One, who was named ee H. White, was acquitted under the statute of limi- tations, as he was not arrested until 1896, The other, H. H. White, was convicted and sen- tenced to the geniteutiary for seven years, There were several trials—in one the jury failed to agree, and new trials were obtained by the prisoners, Wilham L. Brent was the counsel of the Whites, and with his. son, Robert J. Brent, who was for years a practitioner at our bur and at Baltimore, ranked among the leaders of the Washington and Baltimore bar. Mr. William L. Brent I remember as an active and influenjial whig olitician, He represented Lousiana in the House of Represcutatives for six years as a whig member and at the conclusion of his third term settled here, and as a lawyer was regarded asone of the best at our bar, which at times | could boast of some very eminent mem- bers. Mr. Francis J. ‘Key, as district attorney, prosecuted the Whites with great vig: ‘The commission appointed by the President reports, among other actions taken by them. that they reuted the houses on the south side of the avenue occupied by Messrs. Randall, Cox and others. I find the above trials in Cranch’s reports. and also what the commission strangely omitted io all its forty or fifty pages, the date of the fire. It was Sunday, the 30th day of March, 1833. A RESERVOIR THAT WOULDN'T HOLD WATER. While the present Treasury Department was being built, or rather a very smail part of it, large reservoir was constructed by Mr. Robert Leakey (pronounced Lackey), and after it was finished it wouldnot hold water. This cireum- stance gave Ned Myer an opportunity of get- ting of a“‘jea d’esprit:” How could such a man make a reservoir that would hold water—his very name forbids it—it must be While that reservoir was in existence a shock of an earthquake was felt here and startled the quiet of the town and various theories wece propounded through the columns of the National Intelligencer. Capt, Bucking- ham in a communication said the morning of the earthquake he bad occasion to examine the reservoir, and to open it had to strike with a crowbar the maahole and the jar of his blows produced the shock which was felt throughout the city, and said the frozen ground and the frosty atmosphere had conveyed the shock. The captain was laughed at good deal, and was lampooned as Vulcan, the maker of thunderboits. In that primitive age of Washington a httle incident like the above served to amuse the city fora week. The list of names called as witnesses before the commission have left descendants here—I re- member most of them—and they were all rominent in their day. When the Post Office Department was burned, subsequent to the burning of the treasury, all sorts of charges were made against the officials by the opponents of the administration. The death of Miss Mary King Lenthall re- moves the oldest inhabitant of Washington. Miss Lenthall’s father was one of the archi- tects of the Capitol, and was killed by the falling of an arch. "He ordered the supports to be removed and the workmen hesitated to obey, when he said, “If you have built the arch according to my pian it will stand,” and struck the support away and the arch feli and killed him. THE OLD HOUSE ON THE CORNER. Ihave been requested to te!l what I know about the old house on the corner of 6th street and Pennsylvania avenue, but, like Canning’s grinder, [have no story to tell. The | Listories of the old temple of fortune have been evoked from the imagiwation of the writers. Inever heard of murders or tragedies of any kind in connection with it, Ever since | Lean remember the upstairs was used as a faro bank, and, as early as 1844, I have visited it by ion of its occupants, Col. James Long, Isaae Winston, Wm. Whitlock, Sam Caughey and others, 1t was the resort of many of the distinguisbed men of that day, and when rac- ing was one of the attractions of Washington it was a turf resort of celebrity. The house, as long as I knew it, was con- ducted upon the principle of fair play. The sup- pers and dinners were admirable, and the wines the best that could be obtained. ' The partners in the house retired with fortunes, and Messrs, Caughey and Winston's heirs owned the prop- erty until sold to the railroad company now making the improvement. One of the last of the proprietors I rememiber with a good deal of pleasure was William Whitlock. He was from Fetersburg, and was a man of wealth, mberited’ and accumulated, and was the Beau Brummel of the day—a very handsome man, and one of the best dressed men who graced the avenue. He always ap- peared at the theater and concerts in full even- ing dress, a custom which in that day was not so universal as now. The restaurant was cele- brated for serving its viands in the very best style aud for the wines and liquors dispensed. now & Walker made the reputation of the house, for at that time, some forty years azo, the house had to compete with Lataurna, Bou- langer and others. Suow was driven from ihe “a by a mob for some remarks he was said to have made about some ladies, He barely escaped hanging. Walker & Shad succeeded him, and then the house was closed until Mr. P.M. Dubant opened it, and for years it main- tained the reputation of the best eating house in the city aud was the resort of the lovers of good living. The yarns about murders, &c., I never heard of until recently. In all the years I knew the house the only pistol firing I eve heard was on one occasion when Emmett Hooe of the navy, quitting the faro table with his pocket book depleted, in his mild, gen. tlemanly manner asked Col. Long if he had any objections to his discharging his small arms. “Certainly not,” said the colonel, when Emmett drew his pistol and fired into the fire- piace, to the consternation of the crowd of players, Jouy F. Corne, ae THE DEAREST DIAMONDS. Stones With the Steel-White Color Bring the Highest Prices. From the Jewelers’ Review. “The finest diamonds always hold their own in value,” said © Yankee “Mr. Isaacs” the other day. ‘Certain mines yield choice, col- oriess stones that are always in demand. Of course, prices vary in gems that are not up toa fine standard. The steel-white diamond, for instance, which no one can describe, not even Oscar Wilde, is considerabiy higher than the average white stone, which suffers by comparison with one that scintillates with that intense brillianey of watery tints. A subtle luster, I might say, distinguishes all diamonds found in alluvial soil. Hold up what is com- | monly called the ‘pigeon biood’ ruby by the side of an inferior one and the difference will be obvious. It is the same with emeralds and the peacock biue sapphires, Our custom al- together demands selected gems,” “Are there any marked changes in the style and character of setting of late?” “The settings for diamonds are plainer than heretofore. The most precious are set with very little gold. They say every cloud has a silver lining, and so does almost every cheaper “Not in the least. The ruby, you know, is the most expensive of all stoves. In our stock they vary from @100 to $7,000 per stone. ‘The finest pair of diamonds we have had this | season are worth $13,000. Then we have | single stones ranging from @1.000 to €3,000". «What are the prevailing styles?” “Well, erescents and triple crescents quite popular, but the marquise takes the at present, The hoop or gypsy ring been the favorite among b | their American sisters are one slender finger. tion, however, is a sapphire, ruby, pearl and a turquois, | 8 craze for so-call lead lo: F : fe ag i i i i i F E & j ef F i z : : f [ [ ile i : i tf I ‘THE EVENING STAR: WASHIN NEWS FROM ROCKVILLE. TON. D.C; DELEGATES TO i ie ‘Matters of General Interest in This Thriving | Action Taken by Republican State Con-| Complaints About the New Regulations | Curious Method of Its Manufecture—Made Suburb and Vicinity. Correspondence of Ihe Evening Star. Rocgvite, May 6, 1892 In the orphans’ court the following business has been transacted: Letters of administra- tion on the personal estate of John Counselman Were granted to Amanda Counselman, bond 26,000. Thomas G. Brown, administrator of Owen Brown, and Harriet A. Cashel, guardian to F. H. and Edgar H. Cashell, and Lucy A. M. Conneli, administrator of Amanda Counselman, passed accounts, Judge John ‘f. Vinson will, in a short time, commence the erection of a brick buildin on his lot near the court house, It will be used for office purposes. Mrs. S. Dora Higgins has completed arrange- ments for building » dwelling house in the western section of town. Mr. A. Austin Braddock, who removed from this place to South Dakota abouta year ago to act as government agent in allotting lands to Indians, arrived here a few days ago and will spend ‘some time in visiting relatives and friends in the county. : Ason of Mr. Hezekiah Weeks, residing near Laytonsville, who was stricken with paralysis a few days ago, died on Sunday, aged seventeen years, Z Miss Marie Webb of Baltimore is visiting her sister, Mrs. Dr. K. C. Warfield, at this place. Mr.’ Theodore Wasserback and family of Hal- pine have taken a house at this place for the summer. Gaithersburg lodge of Good Templars will hold a public meeting on Thursday, the 26th instant, for which an interesting program of exercises has been prepared. Messrs. Thomas M. Young, John T. Baker and B. F. Lansdale have been elected town commissioners of Damascus, Messrs. M. T. Lewis, J. E. Deets and John H. Gibson at Clarksburg and Dr. Edward Wootton, Julius Hail, Elias Price, Charles McIntosh and Chas, T. Grimes at Poolesville. ‘The meeting of the Waverly Club at Gaithers- burg on ‘Tuesday evening was one of more than ordinary interest and was largely at- tended. An_ interesting address entitled “Travels in Europe,” was delivered by Rev. M. J. Riordan, aud the program of the even- ing also included reading by Miss Gertie En- glish, recitation by Mr. N. J. Sterick, piano solo by Miss Laura ‘Trevis and a duet by the Misses Henry. Another interesting feature was the fine music furuished by Prof. Gien Poole and Messrs. Meem. Rev. Wm. Chinn of Accomack Court House, Va., has accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church at this place. ‘The board of school commissioners on Mon- day heard delegations from Derwood, Oak- mont, Garrett Park and Clarksburg in favor of new school houses at those places. Another meeting will be held on the 7th instant, when the subject will be further considered. 8. A.M. a A Temperance Victory. Correspondence of The Eveuing Star, Occoguas, Va., May 5, 1892, The readers of Tux Stan will remember we tried to do away with King Alcohol about three Years ago. We got up a petition, called an election and were beaten by eight votes. Conse- quently we had to put up with many uncom- fortable things that arise in a neighborhood where that king reigns At the end of two years, however, the dry men took up the ques- tion of local option again and made a strong and vigorous fight, and last Saturday was the electfon. Everybody voted that was old enough and hada legal vote and the dry men won, but only by sixteen votes, This result was ‘the means of closing five liquor places in this district and Sunday morning dawned upon a dry town, something never known here be- fore. The next piace to tackle is right across the river in Fox, but they only have one bar room | to coutend with over there and they have also a Good Templar lodge to help them along, and it is hoped it will be as dry in a fow months as old Occoqnan, 4 The farmers are very busy just at present getting oats und corn inthe ground, Oats and wheat are looking splendid. It is said the steamer Mary Washington is going to run excursions to Occoquan Fails this | summer. That ix avery handsome resort. H. Sootiets cakes Dr. Parkhurst eforms, To the Editor of The Evening Star: There seems to be a good deal of misunder- standing about the action of Dr. Parkhurst in New York. He is president of the Soviety for the Prevention of Crime. In the pursuit of his duties in that office he found the paid and sworn officers of the law obstructing his work. He | said this in his pulpit. The February grand | jury censured him for slandering the police and the officers of justice. He then set to work to get evidence. He found enough to satisfy the March grand jary and they founda large number of indictments, The superintendent | of police resigned and Inspector Byrnes was | put into his place. He at once transferred | all the police captains in the city except | one, For three Sundays all the saloons | were practically closed, If Superintendent | Byrnes does what is expected of him aud what | he has promised to do, they will be perma- | nently closed. These results of Dr. Park- | horst’s action seem indisputable, His method | of getting evidence is sharply criticised. What other method was open to him? Evidence must be very circumstantial to secure con- viction, as the presumption in every case is in favor of the accused. It will always be « mooted question whether it is right to get evi- dence surreptitiously. But the moral quality of an act must be determined by its motive. That Dr. Parkhurst visited low dens for any other purpose than to get evidence on which they might be closed does not seem to be lleged. It appears, therefore, as though law-abiding citizens 'shonld take sides with those” who’ are actually doing something for the enforcement of law, while it secms the plain duty of the Christian church to use ite ‘vast influence on this sid G ees ‘The Vermont Democrats. The democratic convention of Vermont at Montpelier Thursday approved Mr. Cleveland’ administration, but did not pledge the deie- gates to Chicago to vote for any candidate, The resolutions express determination to re- new the fight for tariff reform and oppose the free coinage of silver. Bradley B. Smalley of Montpelier was nominated for governor, George M. Dearborn for lieutenant governor, Alexander Cochran ior treasurer, John J, En- Tight for secretary of state and Elisha May of St. Johnsbury for auditor. The delegates-at- large to Chicago are Dr. J. D. Hanrabun, John Robinson, J. Henry Jackson and Col, H. E. Folsom. "The convention was controlied by Hiram Atkins. While receiving congratula- tious he was told of the sudden death of his wife from heart failure. —w Written for The Evening Star. Of Lemnos. ‘Now, from the purpling west, the sunset rays como slanting, Aud out from Lemnos blows the brizantine. Perched in the bows, the rough Phauariote, chanting, ‘Coils the tarred rope and scans the opaline. Out swerves the clipper craft, her tiller chains loud rattling: ‘The red-capped helmaman brings her to the course, Along the deck, with sheets and halyards battling, ‘The suilors crowd, and sing with voices hoarse. Now "thwart the sea steal golden mists, low-lying, Cool, lucid billows Sol’s red temples lave, And generously, the glorious disk ere dying, ‘Scatters rich largesse on cach tumbling wave, The smoke, in eerie whorls, goes o'er the quarter reeling, ‘Wrapped im dun shadows, lerboard fades the isle, And from the twinkling harbor faintly pealing, ‘The mellow brig bells charm the ear awhile. Stiff bears the breeze, and sets the stern sheets flap- ping, Up lash the sailors past the futtock shrouds, On wildly dance the brilliant waves, uncapping, ‘Far down the heavens ecud the rose-rimmed clouds. 4h, sce, no more the Lemnian heights lie looming, ‘Set gem-wise in a ring of wild sea foam. ‘Like wilk before our bows, the oceah’s tuming, And sea birds flutter to a rocky home, ‘Tne cordage creaks, the Jibboom makes its moan, Under the stars she drifts, her top s'l’s gleaming, ‘Taut, even-keeled, she churns the seas alone. ventions. ‘The resolutions. adopted by the Wisconsin republican convention approve the adminis- tration of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Blaine and ‘oppose the free coinage of silver. The educa- tional issue of 1890 is declared permanently set- tled. The delegation to Minneapolis was not instructed. The delegates-at-large are John C. Spooner, H. C. Payne, Lucius Fairchild and Isanc Stephenson, ‘The Minnesota republican convention elected an uninstructed delegation to the national re- publican ‘convention which will be held at inneapolis June 7. The delegates-at-large are Stanford Newell, ex-Gov. J. 8. Pillsbury, Frank B. Dougherty and Frank A. Day. ‘The administration of President Harrison was indorsed by the Kansas republicans and Mr. Blaine was commended, No instructions were given the delegates, The Delaware republican state convention did not instruct ite gation to Minneapolis, but the delegates favor the renomination of President Harrison, C. B. Hart of the Wheeling Intelligencer, Thomas E. Davis, John D. Hewitt and John A. Hutchinson has been chosen delegates-at-large by the West Virginia republican convention to the national convention at Minneapolis, posal TENA DAVIS’ MURDER. Her Lover, James A. Trefethen, Convicted By a Massachusetts Jury. The jury in the Tena Davis murder trial in Boston on Wednesday afternoon found James A Trefethen, the girl's lover, guilty of murder in the first degree and William H. Smith, Trefethen’s brother-in-law, not guilty. The verdict is condemned as totally unwarranted by the evidence, Ex-Gov. John D. Long, leading counsel for the accused, burst into tears when the verdict was announced and nearly fainted, The cus- tomary motion for a new trial was made and ‘Trefethen remanded for sentence. ‘Miss Davis disappeared mysteriously from her home in Everett, Mass., the Wednesday before Christmas, and nothing was heard of her until ber body was found embedded in the mud at the bottom of Mystic river on January 10. A medical exammation showed that she wus alive when she entered the water and that death resulted from drowning. James A ‘Trefethgn, the lover of the girl and the re- puted father of her unborn child, was arrested on a charge of having murdered her. Wm. H. Smith was also sent to jail as an accessory. It seems to have been establishea that Tena left home about 7 o’ciock the night she met ber death, aiter having told her mother she was going to meet Trefethen. Trefethen denicd seeing the girl that night and said that he had been in no way responsible for her condition. It was, however, shown that Trefethen was not at home that evening. After the girl's dis- appearance Mrs. Davis received a letter, the handwriting of which resembled that of Tref- ethen, which read: “Mother, when you recelve this I will be dead; the one whom you believe guilty is innocent.” There was no signature, Miss Davis was a bright, vivacious. young woman of twenty-six. She had been receiving the attentions of ‘Trefethen for some time an had told her mother she was to be married to him on the night she disappeared, Trefethen owned a store in Everett, where Tena did a great deai of her shopping, and it was there that the intimacy which resulted so tragically had its begiunin, seers DEATH OF J. J. O'CONNOR. A Man Who Had Served as Secretary to Many Distinguished Men. Mr. J. J. O'Connor, late chief clerk of the United States fish commission, died on Wednes- day evening last at Providence Hospital from the effects of a surgical operation upon him that morning for cancer of the stomach. Not having been well during the past year he con- cluded about two months since to go tu Provi- dence Hospital and there have arf examination made in order to ascertain precisely the nature of his disease, A day or two after entering the hospital this examination was made by physi- cians named by himself. ‘They pronounced his case incurable aud stated that « surgical opera- tion would mean certain death, as the result has proved. He suffered, howevey, such -in- r tense pain that he fiualiy insisted upon its per- forman O'Connor ranked among the best ste- phere in Wasluington. For the past ten ¢ had been couneeted with the U. 8. fish sion in various capacities, and by reason comn of his energy and industry won ‘his promotion to the position of chief clerk shortly after Col. McDonald became commissoner. In this office he displayed executive and administrative ability of a high order, and was from the start very popular with the employes of the com- mission, During the Forty-seventh Congress Mr. O'Connor was clerk to the House committee on education und labor, having been appointed to that position by Mr. Updegraff of Ohio, its chairman, Prior to that he assisted Mr. Mo- Elhone, the chief stenographer of the House, in his work there. For several years he acted as secretary to Mr. George Alfred Townsend, from whom he was in the habit of taking at a sitting enough to make five or six newspaper columns, ail of which would be inserted in tho newspaper as written out by Mr. O'Connor, such confidence had Mr. ‘Townsend in his abil- ity to get everything right, He was also private secretary to the pro- prietor of the New York World, Mr. Pulitzer, when that gentleman was in Congress, Mr. O'Connor was born in Washington about thirty-three years ago and leaves a widow and five children, His father, Mr. Michael O’Con- uor, until quite recently owned the greater portion of the land which is now known as Eckington, in the vicinity of Washington, The Wedding-Ring Finger. Louis Globe- Democrat. venture the assertion that very few women who fondly love the golden symbol of their wedding vow know why they wear it on the third finger of the left hand,” said Albert De Cordova of New Orleans at the Southern. “That particular digit was chosen because it was believed by the Egyptians to be directly connected bya tender nerve with the heart itself. And these ancient worshipers of Isis held this finger sacred to Apollo and the sun, and therefore gold was the metal chosen for the ring.” ees Australian Hospitality. © From the Manchester Times, Australian station hospitality keeps the latch string always out and sa ‘Come when you wish, do what you like, and stay as long as you can.” A writer says that the Australian host places himself, his family, and all that is his at the service of the guest—fishing tackle, breech loaders, horses and servants, Such hospitality is rarely abused, though the writer mentions oue exceptional case, where the guest pro- longed his visit until it wore out his welcome, To one station camo a visitor, whose original intention of staying « month Was reconsidered, and he remained two. Six months passed and he was still there. He en- joyed himself bugely with horses, and ins, developed an encouraging appe' d host did not complam, “After about ‘nine months the host's manner became less warm, and at the end of the year he spoke no more to his guest. The lutter was not sensitive, but lingered on for the space of asecond year, wnen he departed and went to visit somebody else. yee $ these two years hé was never told that he had stayed long enough and would do well to go away. iene A Noble Youth, From Texas Siftinzs, Teacher—‘John, you young scapegrace, come here, and I'll pay you back for your impudence to me yesterday.” ‘The new regulations respecting “efficiency” and “faithfalness” in the departments of the governatent have already excited a great deal of adverse and even indignant criticism. Many clerks assert that the freshly adopted marking system is 80 applied as to occasion them the ‘utmost possible discomfort, It is in the power of any chief of division to so employ it as to render the lives of those under his official control utterly miserable. To speak to ® fellow employe, or to a visitor, on any sub- ject save the business of the office is a mis- demeanor and costs the perpetrator so many bad marks. Likewise with any other such Petty offense against discipline. In short, the clerks claim that they are treated as if they Were at school, under the eye of a harsh master. Mostof the division chiefs, it is said, will not enforce such rules, and every one under their control gets = rating of 160 as a matter of course, But there are not a few petty tyrants who take advuutage of the opportunity to be unspeakably oppressive. REASONABLE ATTENTION REQUIRED. Complaints on this subject come from the In- terior Department, the Department of Justice and elsewhere, even from the census office, where discipline has always been exceptionally strict. A Star reporter yesterday spoke about the matter to Chief Examiner Bayly of the board of promotion in the Department of the Interior. He said: “There is nothing in the new rules that can reasonably be regarded as oppressive. They state that ‘prompt and reasonabie attention to duty from day to day shall receive the maxi- mum credit of 100.” Failure in this respect causes a deduction from the maximum monthly credit of 100, in the discretion of the head of tho burenu or division. Now. itis not expected that the chief of division shall so apply this regulation as to render the labors of those un- der his authority irksome. All that is required of th ‘reasonable attention to duty.” Thi does not mean that they are to be forbidden all conversation that has no relation to official business. LIKE A BUSINESS HOUSE. “These rules were originally suggested by President Harrison, for the purpose of increas- ing the efficiency of the clerical service in the departments, It goes without saying that fome clerks have more or less inclination to shirk their work, just as is the caxe in any oe business establishment. The head of such an establishment may reasonably adopt any wystem not oppressive in its character which he considers likely to improve the quality of the labor for which he pays. That is precisely what the government is trying to accomplish, By this new method due credit is given to the employe who works hard, while the lazy person is brought up to the scratch. ‘The result is in every way desirable. “However, there are some persons in official authority who do not es judgment. They may apply the regulations farehiy, 80 as to occasion discomfort to those under their con- trol. That is not general, Iam sure. There is no intention on the part of the government to oppress its employes. It is not expected that they shall submit to any sort of discipli which does not ordinarily govern in a wi managed business house.” THE CLERKS’ SIDE. ‘The Stan reporter next referred the question to aclerk in the same department, who said: “I am perfectly willing to admit that the in- tention which inspired the new rules was rea- sonable enough. The chief objection to them is that they put it in the power of any petty official to bea tyrant. He is made the sole judye as to what constitutes “prompt and rea- sonable attention to duty,’ and any one under his authority whom he does not like can be made to suffer. You will observe the regula- tions ay that deductions from the monthly credit of 100 shall be nomde ‘in the discretion of the head of the bureau or division.’ Furthermore, as to ‘aptitude’ and ‘ability’ the petty official estab- lished according to his own pleasure the rating of the inferior employe. He is made the sole judge as to whether the subordinate is ‘ready, quick and expert to learn,’ or .whether he is ‘deficient in the quality of aptness for the duty assigned to him,’ in which case there must be taken from the credit of 100 ‘such an amount agin the judgment of the head of the bureau of division shall,’ and xo forti, “Why, don't you see how these rules place the subordinate absolutely in the power of his chicf. Upon his rating depend his prospects for advancement and even the permanence of his employment. How then can it- be consid- cred just to allow such control to every petty official, who is exccedingly likely to abuse it. Favoritism is only one of the evils to which such a system gives rise. You must remember that the heads of divisions and bureaus are notoriously in many cases inferior jn every qualification to those under them, their owa appointments having been secured frequently by influences which had nothing to do with their ability or fitness for the places they oceupy. Yet the regulations go even so far as to make the petty official a critic of the ‘per- sonal habits and deportment’ of those under his authority, and he marks them accordingly, deducting ‘not less than 10° for every derelic- tion from what he concedes to be good man- ners, Just think what a high judicial capacity this petty official must possess, inasmuch as, according to the wording of the regulations, he must form accurate estimates of the ‘talents, mental gifts or endowments’ of his subordi- nates, duly discover whether the latter aré ‘capable of easily receiving an explanation,’ find out their ‘faculty to readily detect errors’ and finally to criticise their ‘personal behavior, including personal habits,’ —>—__— This Mule Knew What He Was About. From the Los Augeles Herald. They were about two miles from a bridge at the time. Knowing the fashion all animals have of runuing straight ahead on the track instead of putting their common sense on the matter and sheering off to one side, the en- gineer fairly made the surrounding country ring with the noise of his whistle soas to get clear of the muie before they got to the brideg. But Mr. Mulé seemed to think that the whistle was intended only to keep himon the track and make him run faster, and he kept straight on at redoubled speed. Ofcourse the engine could easily have overtaken him and knocked him to smithereens, but, as that might have resulted in knocking the train into the same kind of frag- ments, the engineer slackened speed a little and finally stopped and sent the fireman out to drive the beast off the track. lone several times, but each time the fireman had hardly got back into the cab again when the mule was on the track the same ae before, and tearing uhead like mad. In fact the thing was becoming very monoto- nous, when, looking up suddenly, the engineer saw that he was very close to the bridge. ‘Then he begag to get uneasy for fear the idiot of amule, as he thought the animal to be, was going to try the bridge, though how he would manage to step on the ties, surefooted, the railroader could not understand, They were so néar the bridge by that time that tl@jengineer dared not go another rod, so he stopped short, just as the old mule dashed off acrows a field ‘braying like a good feliow. And then the engineer and fireman saw the game the wise old animal was playing. Right in the middle of the bridge was another mule stuck fast with his legs between the ties, The old railroader insists upon it that the mule had kept on the track to make the train go slow and tnus prevent it from coming into collision with the mule on the bridge, not be- cause it cared much about the fate of its com- panion, but to save the train from wreck. He Didn’t Need It. ‘From the Detroit Free Press, “['ve got something here that is just the lit volumes peice only 25 cent og Las a @ 01 cents, on a Courtship and Marriage.’ It e: ‘how en ripen and bach- space of time. complete directions for declar- nccopting vows and retaining al fi hi H I F He 4 fit oe From Mulbgrry Bushes. ; A leading manufacture of the strange hermit ‘kingdom of Korea is paper, writes Consul Gen- eral Heard from Seoul, Korean paper is highly esteemed, and always forms part of royal presents and of the tribute paid to China. Besides the same uses as with us—for writing and for books—it fills a great diversity of needs. It serves as string and in the manufacture of lanterns, fans, umbrellas, shoe soles, hats, boxes and makes very good rain coats; it covers floors ahd walls and ceil- ings, and, stretched on frames, supplies win- dows and doors, Itis highly prized in China and Japan, and is especially sought after for the manufacture of umbrellas, It is made from a bush of the mulberry order, which is indigenous, growing in many parts of the kingdom, but thriving best in the moist. warm climate of the south. It is chiefly raised from cuttings for this especial purpose, and the wild and cultivated plants are said to be of equal vaiue. The bark, which alone is used, is generally thered in the spring, and is boiled for a long time in water, in which a quantity of wood asheahas been mixed, till it becomes a pulp, the mass having been beaten during th> whol time of the boiling. Fine bamboo screens sre then placed tn shallow wooden vate and a ladle fall of the pulp is evanly spread over the screen by adexterous circular motion of the hand. ‘The operation is repeated once or twice, or as often as may be necessary—the more frequent the operation the finer the paper—and the screen allowed to drain into the vats till a EZoper consistency is, reached, the drippings ing thus saved. They are then placed on & bot floor to dry. After the drying has pro- ceeded far enough, the paper is Inid on a hot floor and ironed by hand. ‘The long lines in the paper show strands of the bamboo screens, and their nearness. distinctness or absence in- dicate the fineness or otherwise of the paper. They are almost imperceptible in some grades of paper, while in others they are distinct and far apart. Paper is made by the paper guild, numerous and prosperous association, ilitindsclv saa 4 MUSIC, NATURE’ It Gave the Idea for Nearly All the Instru- ments Now Used. From Frank Leslie's Populer Monthly. While examining a limb taken from a pine tree a few days ago I found in it the burrow of the carpenter bee. After cutting off the ends it proved to be quite a perfect flute. A distinct sound could be produced upon it, and no doubt a tune could be played upon it were holes made in it corresponding to those of the flute. Here we find the first inventor of the flute principle, It id that in some forests the holes are so abundant in the reeds that the wind, as it passes through these thickets, makes a very loud whistling sound, Then the cricket is our Primitive violin, On the under side of the wing-covers, or “elytra,” as they are scientific- ally called, there are notched ridges which, when examined with a moderate power of the microscope, have something the appearance of teeth. “The friction of these notches, as they are rubbed together, produces the miusi- cal sound that we hear in our fields and houses, and which is exactly analogous to the friction of the bow on the string of the violin. This is probably one of the most ingenious modes of causing musical vibrations, ‘The cicada represents the vibrator, or what is sometimes called the reed. It is introducetl into various musical instruments, as for ex- ample the harmonica, clarionet, oboe, bassoon various organ piper The simplest form of vibrator is, perhaps, the jewsharp, or more properly the jawsharp, because the instrument is held against the teeth, while its tongue is vibrated by strokes of the finger. ‘The vocal organs of the male cicada are constructed on the same principle. If one of these insects be examined, there may be seen on the lower surface two curious and nearly circular flaps, just at the junction of the thorax with the abdomen. It is by the action of these two little vivrators that the cicada is able to pro- duce the sound which, in calm weather, may be heard at the distance of a mile. Perhaps the earliest music as regards man lies in certain savage races, who, as long as they maintain a rhythmical beat on any substance, do not care what it is, Among the rudest mu- sical instruments are hoilow logs, but a great advance is made when a picco of skin is stretched over the cavity and beaten, instead of the log. It is said that some tribes in West Africa make drums of so much power that their suilen roar can be heard for miles away, as their slow, triple beat summons the tribe to arms. Our most perfect instruments in this line are the bass and kettle drums. They seem to be easy to play upon, but one can find out his mistake by trying one. Nature's model is the interior of the ear, the dram or tympanum, the vibra- tions of which enable us to hear, In vibratious of strings, the first instruments were the vines and runners of the forest, and these were played upon as the hurricane swept through them. The Aolian harp is one of the first examples of this, With thie instrument no fingers are needed to touch the strings, but the current of air sets them vibrating in the most wonderful manner and they automatic- ally divide themselves into the component parts of the common chord, and produce oc- taves, fifths and thirds ad infinitum, Strips of fiber torn from tree or plant often vibrate in the wind force and give forth bass- like notes in the forest, In the instance of the swan we have a most remarkable example of the trombone. ‘This instrument, as we all know, has the advantage of being lengthened at will, thus giving the Performer a fresh tonic, and consequently a: other series of harmoni Valved and keyed instraments hi lar advantage, the one acting by thening, the other by shortening the air. In the brass instrument, furnished with @ mouthpiece and not with a reed, the notes are obtained by vibrations of the inclosed air, caused by the movements of the lips, which set the current of air vibrating and divide it into harmonics, ‘The hum of the gnat or the buzz of the bee, sounds familiar to us, are all nature’s music, and the uir is filled with these musicians, which cone of ages ago made melodious the primitive eurt A very curious instrument hag been invented, by which we are cnabled to measure, by tho sound, the rapidity with which a flying insect ‘This instrument is called the and enables us to measure the vibra- tions of sound as accurately ay the barometer measures the weight of the atmosphere. It will be seen from the examples above given that nature was before us in musical methods, —_>+—_. Experiences of an Earthquake. @ From the san Francisco Chronicle. Senator Thomas Rickey of Nevada was at Vacaville, the center of the earthquake shock, when it occurred. Last night he detailed graphic particulars of the vigorous shake-up, with impressions of his own experience. was sleeping in the second story of a two- story wooden building.” said he. “Tho bed ranged north and south, the seuth end. being snug up against the wall. The earthquake wos three feet to the east out of its position, but, oddly enough, no water was spilled from the Pitcher, A lamp was thrown off and under the and the chimney was broken all to pieces. “Looking about after J arose I found the plastering all cracked, creased up and fallen on the floor. Everything was up, cramped and wrecked. ~ Nobody slept after the shock. It was not known at what moment another might come. For a good while there was in- tense but generally quiet excitement, “When daylight came we found that the town was completely wrecked. In the dim light we had seen many bui of position and many fallen FISHES THAT BUILD NESTS. ‘The “Gouramis” of Cochin China Which Make Houses for Their Young. “One of the queerest fishes in the world is the ‘gouramis,” said an ichthyologist to a Stan reporter. “It is pative to the fresh waters of Cochin China, farther India, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Specimens have been known to attain 4 length of six feet and « weight of 110 pounds. The flesh is eo delicious that efforts have been made to acclimatize the creature im many other countries, but thus far these attempts have been successful only on the isiand of Mauritius, About thirty of them were imported into the island of Cubs and planted in ponds some years ago, but, although they grew and were healthy, they did not breed. Accordingly, after a while the prospects for iting thes) be- came #0 hopeless at tho gorernor ad them served up one by one upon his table upon state occasions. The same difficuly has been met with elsewhere. “The ‘gouramis’ are chiefly remarkable for the fact that they build nests like birds, At the breeding season they pair off, each couple selecting a spot among water-plauts and form- ing » Bearly spherical nest, com of a peculiar kind of floating weed, which grows in tufts on the surface of the ponds, and plastered with mud. The nest is usually about six inches in diameter, its constraction occuy ying the fishes for five or six days. Where they are propagated their task 1s made easier by placing in the water branches of bamboo, to which bunches of the grass referred to are attached. The gouramis take this grass and with it make their nest in the submerged branches of bam- boo, When it is finished the female deposits her eggs in it to the number of from ‘Soo to hile the eggs are undergoing the process of incubation the jeranie Aen non watchfulis, rushing fiercely at any intruder, and this care for the safety of their young continued after the latter are hatched. Dur infancy the young ones find refuge in the from @ thousand dangers which would other- wise threaten them, and the grass composing the nest furnishes’ them with their earliest food. When they are a tew days old the small fry begiu to make short excursions from the nest, always in charge of their parentsand swim- ming together in a shoal. This is continued until they are able to look out for themsel! 2 cir WOMAN IN POLITICS. In England She Votes for Everything but Members of Parliament. From the M:nueapolts Journal. One of the things which Lady Henry Somer- set finds hard to recoucile with her precon- ceived idea of the enterprise and energy of American women is the apparent indifference of the great majority to political issues and Privileges. As compared with English women of allclasses. American women, though first in the ficid as claimants for the right of sharing political powers with men, are less actively interested in political work, less well informed on the issues of the day and enjoy fewer rights of franchise, ‘Twenty-four of our states and territories eonter certain minor privileges of voting or of holding school offices on women, while twenty allow women to have no voice in’ the management of public affairs. Wyoming is the bauer state. Hunsas grants muuicipal suffrage, In Engiand women vote for the election of members of municipal and county councils und school boards, sit themselves as mem- bers of school boards and county councils, anda woman has for more than fifty years held the throne of the powerful United King- dom and governed wisely aud well. There yet remains for them to win the right to vote for members of parliament only. First places have been obtained for the two suf- frage bills, and they are set for hearing in April and May of this year. The bills propose to conter the parliamentary suffrage on women who are already entitled to vote at the town and county council elections in England, Scot- land, Wales and at poor law guardian elections in Ireland. Both bills are backed by many em- inent names, and Mr. Courtney, deputy speaker of the house of commons, has deciared his ex- Pectation that the measure will be passed. English women declare frankly and unaf- fectedly the party to which they belong, con- servative, primrose, liberal or liberal un- ionist, and one meets in England gmany more men who acknowledge unreservedly their championship of woman's cause than can be found to admit their sympathy with woman suffragists in America, John Stuart Mill once said that there is only one depart- ment of intellectual activity in which woman has ever shown herself the equal of man. “We have had no woman poet like Shakespeare or the Greek pocts, uo painter like Michael Angelo, no woman musician like Beethoven or Mozart. In all these departments man has never had an equal or rival in woman, But there is one department in which woman has shown herself the peer and equal of man, and that is in the very department of politics with which we are told she had no capacity to deal, There are certain great queens, Eliza- beth of England, Catherine of Russia and some of the Indian princesses, who were the equals imevery way of any man who ever held the same position. I suppose prosperity und greatness iu this country never reached greater heights than in the days of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria,” English women are weil organized in politi- calwork and york with men according to Tegular party methods, Men advise with women in the interior and important things of politics, and women use all means to commit men who are up for election to par- lamentary suffrage for women, and when the candidates have expoused the cause the women work for their éiection by all the reg- ular political methods and by unique and strategic measures of their own quite out of the ordinary line. In house-to-house can- vassing the women are said to be partic- ularly successful, from their superior tact and fracious mauner of approach, Joarned through jong experience in charity Visiting. Every one has heard of Lady Randolph Churchill's energetic canvass during her husband's candidacy for the ministry, and Mrs. Brand, wife of a member of parliament, canvassed the entire district with her husband, charming the electors with her singing, while he devoted himself to their political educa. tion, She sang to the electors in the open air by the river side, as well as in the great political mectings, and enthusiastic crowds greeted her everywhere, The Review of Re- Views says: “If things continue to go on at the present rate the candidate who cannot put a capable woman into the field may as well retire from the contest.” adenine DANCING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. Mexican Women Are Charming, but Their Lovers Are Unpleasantly Jealous. ‘From the Pittsburg Post. A theatrical man was relating some of his experiences in the office of the Seventh Ave- nue Hotel yesterday qnd he told astory of a narrow escape he had in the west, ‘Twas ahead of an opera company which was playing on the Pacific coast afew years maining permanently, as after events showed. There was o Mexican ball being held that evening. and in company with the local man- ager and. party of young fellows I dropped in to see the fun. Thad heard a great deal of the beauty and manners of Mexican women and was curious to it a peep at greaser society. The dance was fall blast when we arrived, and we had been there long until we decided to take a in the fun, A pretty little senorita, with would make © man af HB fe whirled through a seemed to enjoy as much as I. “She was as light and graceful as she I seated her iF 54 te i i g i if HOW LIQUEURS ARE MADE,, Alcoholic Delicacies Prepared With Art for Jaded Palates. “Liqueurs are simply pure alcobol flayed with aromatic and other principles derived from planta and flowers,” said a wine merchant toa Stan reporter. ~This method of produc= ing agreeable and perfumed liquors was very Anciently known. The earliest liqnear om record was composed of wine, cinnamon and honey and is said to have been originally pre= Pared by Hippocrates, It was for a long time avery fashionable beverage, But the Italians were the first to discover processes, three cone turies ago, for obtaining such flavoring pfinci- ples and combining them with spirits of wine in the shape of what were called ‘liquori.* “Most liqueurs are made by steopiRe frvite and aromatic berbs i el the latter Gent. Cochineal.caramel, indigo and other anbstances are used for giving them the denred colors, Rectified spirits of wine is best adapted to the urpose of the compounder of these beverages. ause it sees little orno flavor of its own to modify that of the ingrediouts. The Jatter are bruised or ground to powder aud are Placed in the alcohol, the whole being agitated continually during from five days toa fortnight thereafter, Then the liquid ts distilled and e thin, clear sirup of the finest sugar i added before bottling. “Some liqueurs are of very simple componi= tion, like ‘Anisette,’ which contains nothing but alcoho! flavored with anise and sweetened with sirup. Others are very complicated; ‘Chartreuse,’ which contains the flavoring fund Sromatic ele nents of hyssop, peppermint, an- gelica roots and seeds, thyme, arnica flowers, balsam buds, cinnamon, mace and other things besides. -Hatitia’ is wine of Rousilion flavored with biack currants, “Kirschwasser’ or water 18 obtained by the It is made exclusi: best quality ia produced im the Biack Forest, where the ripe and sound cher- ries are crashed in a wicker basket, the juice that strains through into a tub being carefully fermented and distilied by the aid of stoam, This Kirschwasser has a very delicate perfume and 9 slight taste of bitter almonds, owing to @ small amount of prussic acid derived from the kernels of the fruit, But the ordinary liqueur called by this name has a very un- pleasant flavor, being made from cherries Mashed in bogsheads, ripe, upripe and rotten, ones all together. The mash is allowed to fer. ment forsome days, after which it is distilled by crude processes. Avery fair imitation of the ‘cherry water’ is made by distilling sixty- two quarts of alcohol with twenty pounds of cherry seeds, seven pounds of apricot seeds, « pound and @ half of dried peach leaves and tour ounces of myrrh. Nearly ail liqueurs are counterfeited, “Like other spirituous liquors, liqueurs im- ve very much with age. They ought to be eptataneven temperature and not ex toany noise or disturbance. Thus they will become gradually meliower and will obtain prostessively those qualities of favor add uquet which cause the appreciative epioute to roll his eyes and nurse the lingering drops upon his tongue at each sip be swallows. There ie a religion in liqueura” ry ~sesthiater ize eg Treasure Trove in « Guitar, Paris Letter to London Telegraph. Violins made by the great artist of Cremona, have been sometimes bought at fabulous prices, but it is rare that an old guitar be- comes almost as valuable as # genuine Stradi- varius, M. Uhimann, a native of Luxeth- bourg, domiciled in’ Paris, bas, hower inherited fromm deceased’ uncle a rather dilapidated guitar which has proved to hin the source of «small fortune, ‘The uncle was round wine shi with ment, with which he accompanied bimsclf as he intoned popular ditties. One evening = semi-inebriated person, who abhored muda of every kind, snatched tho old out ef its owner's hands and cracked it on his wey) — BA ncn | wes sisted by the police in the unequal encounter and the drunkard was carried off station house. So, too, was the guitar, as@ piece de conviction unmusical A police official, while examining damaged instrument, that in its interior there was a roll of These, being pulled out, were discovered be stock certificates worth £490, The was handed over to M. Ublmann, as it had longed to his uncle, The wandering m from Luxembourg wasso overjoyed at bis fortune that he withdrew the charge of against his aggressor, following up his act ef magnanimity by inviting the latter to #ip re freshments with him at the nearest tavern. —————+ ‘The Royal Noses, From the Manchester Times. The Sailor Prince, as Prince George often called, is reputed to be a gay and sosia- ing that each of them’ was known by some handy nickname, he allowed them to drop his formal title and answered readily to that be- stowed upon himself. He was kuown simply as Sprat, and his brother with equal good tem- per accepted the name of Herring. But out of the familiarity of the princes with the other gay young midsaipmon arose several ridiculous Tumors, one of which was that the royal mid- dies had allowed themselves to be tattoond by their comrades—and tattooed upon the nose! Each of them, is was stated, had allowed princely countenance to be adorned upon Most prominent feature with a broad arrow, done indelibly, the one in blue and the other red ink. In England the broad arrow is the recognized symbol with which the government property — including army wagons, mules, provision bags and the garments of ‘convicte—is regularly stamped. That the Princes should have allowed themselves to be dedicated in such a buriesque sane fo the service of their country was am idea highly displeamng to the British public; for’ the story, alward sit was, ‘found many who accepted it as truth. It Was #0 ab- surd that it went for some time uncontradicted, no one officially able to deny it ing that it would be seriously rogar The Bac- chante, moreover, was at thet time half way around the globe from England, and it was not known to her officers that the story had made such commotion there. But at length am English official in Australia communicated with the ship, and having received a formal denial of the truth of the story, cabled the information to London, and the next day the Times published in its columns an authentic refutation of the wely assured its loyal readers boses were safe and unadorned, She hasn't the champagne sparkle of the i girl, the beery tranquility of the German fraulein nor the vermouth suggestive- ness of mam'selle, our French cousin. She does not intoxicate, neither does nor yet inspire, but she allures } i £ REG! FEsga68 i i i E