Evening Star Newspaper, July 2, 1892, Page 9

4 There you have the Waies of today in a nut- shell. ‘ SCENES IN WALES. Policemen, Songs, Pickpockets, Ad- vice, Editors and Babies. THE “ONLIEST” ENGLISH JOKE. The Hardest Language in the World to Learn Will Soon Be Forgotten—Some ‘Things That Make an American Wonder— A Welsh Fair. Correspondence of The Evening Star. Swansea, June 18, 1892. OCHELWCH Y¥ .COD- leidr.” It was painted in good big black let- ters on the whitewashed stone wall at the Bath and West of England show, a sort of semi- national country that is doubling the population of quaint old Swansea this Whitsun- tide week, and I thought it would be a good thing to try my knowledge of Welsh on. I knew that the “y” meant “‘of.” Everybody knows that much Welsh. The “gochelwch” had a rather threatening aspect, it seemed to me. ard the conclusion that tho sign meant “beware of pickpockets” was irre- sistible. I wondered what sort of people the Welsh pickpockéts were and thought one might be interesting. So I felt anxiously in the inside Pocket of the overcoat I had on my arm and then assumed a look of relief as I mingled with the crowd. A young man in a fore-and-aft cap Jostled me and inserted his hand in the over- oat pocket I had just examined with consider- able skill. I bent myarm suddenly and gripped his wrist in the inner angle of my elbow. Hav- ing learned to say “blismergrn,”* which is Welsh t eman, very well, I said it. “I baxes yer pardink. yer honnor—yor sees Hi thort hit was me brother.an’ Hi was goink to play ha joke hon ‘im, like, sir. There is something almost pitiful about this people that is becoming extinct. With un- told and. soon-to-be-untellable. riches of folk- Jore and legend and poetry, with its quaint cus- toms, that are being discarded with the quainter dress of other years, Wales is but little more than a part of England now and a few years more will see its individuality entirely gone. The pickpocket wasa London cockney. The men who keep the hotels and the shops are En- glishmen, if not by birth by acquirement. En-| glish is the only language of the town, the lan- guage in which all business is transacted. WHERE WELSH I8 NOW SPOKEN. Only away back in the Welsh hills are the ‘Welsh who cannot speak English and who cling to the customs of their forefathers to be found. ‘They come to the large towns but little. Yet) Bow and then in the streets some old man will | ask a question in the peculiarly harsh language of old Wales, and I always answer ig Welsh. I! wyf yn gwybod. Gofynweh i blis- mergn.” There is nothing like conforming oneself to surroundings. Coming across a fellow passenger used to talk tome every day | ‘as we smoked our pipes in the sun on the after-| deck. He said he supposed it was my first trip | ‘across, as he had seen me ask the captain for | Permission to visit the engine room. He ex- plained that if people wanted to see the engines ‘they should go and see them, but never ask the captain for permission. The reason, he went oa to explain, was that if you got a leg broken and the captain had given permission he was Fesponsible and so would the company be. If you go without permission Tick is Yours and not the captain's. It_was on this fellow traveler's account that I tried to become a Welshman. He asked me | 223: why I was going to England. I told him of my determination to spend four or five or even six | months, if so long a time was ntcessary, in freeing England from the thralldom of the drink demon. He stroked his closely trimmed white whiskers slowly and aaid that were I not so much older that it might seem like imperti- | nence he would tell me a story about two birds | that he thought were Americans. They had traveled a long distance and were footsore and fair | | city of brotherly love (of quiet vogue here among “the women of the who carry their ‘babies in the streets. course the babies who have nurses to | care of them have ibulators to But the other, bebles' mothers wrap' the folds of big woolen shawls it co" j them all up and bind them s0'close to | maternal chest that at first glance one would | think the mother was alone. The shawl is | fastened in some way that leaves the mother’s boysand a grown-up daughter, who seemed very much ashamed of herself because she waa not dressed like other_voung She had legend to their ndeons. | New York I would have concluded at once that it was all a “put up job” of the photographer's, | but in Wales n Welshman could never do such & thing as that. I wonder, too, why it is that there is not amale bartender in all England nor a female bartender in all America: why they aay “the good ship” so-and-so in all well-regulated nai stories. But if there ever was a ship that de- | served the adjective it is here in Swansea now. | As the cables have told you some days ago, the | steamship Conemaugh, which took cargo, of breadstuffs from Philadelphia to the starving mts in Russia, is on er way beck to the fer splen- did errand of mercy ended, Capt. James H. Spencer has brought the Conemaugh here to A TYPE. load with tin plates, and I saw him yesterday. He landed his shipload of charity at Riga, a minor capital of Kussia, and he isin love with the country and people as he found it and them there. He says Riga is almost as handsome a city as Washington and he could not say more. The people are as hospitable as Vir- ginians and the women wonderfully ac- | complished. A lady who cannot ik four languages is regarded as uneducated, he eays. What surprised him was the absolute equality of all men. In the restaurants the humblest | citizen is as welcome and as well treated as th titled aristocrat, as long as he has money, an when the titled aristocrat’s money is gone he is at out with just as much promptness and | | saben jong thane Thy Pray ‘Capt. Spencer, | who is everything good that you would expect | of a grand old sea dog who has sailed 4,000 miles tosave 10,000 strangers from starvation, took sucha fancy to the Russians that he almost joined the Greek church out of sheer courtesy. Agtucr Sperry. a ‘Transfers of Keal Estate. . Deeds in fee have been filed as follows: Mary E. Espey to Lizzie S. Carpenter, sub 31, A. T. Britton et al. to American Co., pts. 24 to 28, sq. 197: pt. 1, A.S. and T. Co. of Virginia to'A. 8. and T. Co., same property: &- .L. Irvine to 8. J. Venable, sub 7, sq. 781: €3.200. Grace D. Litchfield to T. H. Stryker. lot 2, sq. T. H. Stryker to G. D. Litchfield et al.. ame property: 8. Mary L. Soleen to E. lot 8, blk. 21, Brooklan: D. D. F. D. Foster, lot 12, 8q. 968; 8. and T. =: A . D. Stone bik. 3 Avalon Heights; $750. G. J. Johnson to J. M. Varnum, pt. 5, to 8q. 432; $800. Bertha Solomon to E. C. Hoover. | sub 8, sq. 958; —. L. 0. Howard to| E. C.’ Moreland, sub 131, sq. 271; $1,800. JohnH. Smythe to J-H, Taylor, sub, 225, 09 10, Montello: @—. E. J. Hannan ‘to Lucy El- | a WELSH BELLE. weary. One of them had trareled before, but | the other had not. They chanced. he anid, to meet an ¢lephant. The untraveled bird was thoroughly disgusted with the elephant. He said that one of the tails was much larger than the other and that the wings were altogether | } too small to fiy with. While the untraveled bird was criticising the other dined heartily on | the parasites he found in the trinkles of the ele- phant'’s hide. THE ONLY ORR. So I have become simply an on looker and as much of a Welshman as I know how to be. When country people ask me questions in | Welsh I say, “Don't know. Aska poli¢eman,” | fm Welsh. 'I have discovered, however, that this ix usuaily regarded as a joke. As the ques- | tion usually asked ix, “What time is it?” the | answer is really the popular joke of the year. | ‘The refrain of the popular song that immedi- | ately “Ta-ra-ra~ia Boom-de-ay" was | “If you want to know the time ask a police- man.” As the story of this is the only real English joke I have encountered I will tell it | you. In Washington, where a policeman has to Teport to the stati-1 by telephone every hour, | be can alwass tell the time without hunting up | @ clock in a store. The London policemen don’t have to do ihis. They never carry | | | watel there ar» +o many pick pockets about, you know—and are notoriously ignorant of the tof time. ‘The street boys ask them the | time jast toannoy them. One day a London [olemen arrested some one who annoved him | yy asking the time.and the court fined the prisoner two whole shillings. Hence the song. | ‘These delightfui Britishers never get tired of | an: - ‘This song has been sung for some | two years in the music halls, and probably | have continued to be sung had no’ era” knocked it out this spring. In Sir Ed- ward Arnold's London Teiegraph—and there is not in the wide world a nicer, more good-hu- mored editor than Sir Edwin, a3 I bad [pte use of finding out white he was in New York— there was two days ago the announcement of the debut of a young woman of some social pre- | Sensions in a comedy. during which, the Tele graph said, she “executed a new style of eborean art called skirt dancing.” “And we have But it is a mistake to say that Englishmen are not fond of humor. There is a London-publica- tion called Snap-Shots that is wholly made w of American humor, and your own - % Stars” occupy @ prominent place in it. MANY THINGS TO WONDER AT. An American sees many things to wonder at here and I have been wondering a great deal. I wonder why Americans spell it “wagon” and jand 6, | sub 76. liott, subs 37, 38 and part 89, sq. 51; $3,875. W. 0, Denison to ‘Sarah E. Ratcliffe, part 46, *q. 102; €—. Same to D. McPherson, sub 59, #q. 306: $830. _D. m to H. A. Griswold, lots 762 and 763, Anacostia; $1,100. Mary E. Merers to G. C. Esher, part Peter's Mill Seat; 20. Martha O. Walling to J.W. Thompson, sub lot 220, nq. 1004; €—. J. W. Thompeon to E. Lloyd. same property; $2,100. James Waters to R. Johnson, lot 2, sec. 6, Barry Farm; €0. Martha Coney to Susie A. Hertford, sub 14. 99. 733; & Riani to P. Luddy, pte 4 . J. P. Clark to W. A. jot 10, blk. 4, White Haven; $1,943. ¥C. Caton to D. McCarthy, w. 34 103, 9q. 677: $—. L. Behrens to D. Voiland, sub 221, . 621; 8—. Susie G. Parker to G. Truesdell, 14,15 and 19, 9q. 8, Eckington; $—. Lot q. 17, do.; S—. C. B. Osborn to 8. T. Cameron, lot 13, block 20, Columbia Heighte; $4,074.14. J.B. Kendall to J. W. Collins, sub 21, sq. 204; $4,000. District to R. H. Darby, sub 43, sq. 1047, and_part 5, *g, 1, Barry Farm; J. T. Clotworthy to W. H.C. Thompeon, sub 6, sq. 556: W. R. Siaddox to Maria Shea, sub 10, eq. 582; $8,871. Johanna Brown etal. to E. wry etal.,in trust, part 131, B.'s addition to Georgetown; @—. H. C. Stewart, jr.. et al., to Margaret Zelberagel, part 22, nq. 550; H. Devers et al. to Martha and 305; @—. N. Vaughan, M lots @, Weinburg, trustee, lot WE Debiete HD. Vi c. "33 to t 6, - a ams, sub $9, to J. H. John- 14 to 31, do.; @—. 13 and 32, d 34, excepting 34 and 59, do.: € | John H. Nichols to Fhilip Caffery. land on 14th street road: $—. Saral ee. bik. 6, Meridian Hill; son, subs 34 and 53, G. Marshall to A. G. Shaw, undivided half in- terest in pt. of Conclusion; ¢—. do.; @—. H. W. Szegedy to C. Mitebell, sub 217, sq. 271; $3,150. Jackson Brandt to E. H. Ripl ley, pt. 12, sq. 867; $4,800. R. T. Pettit to A. Amy, sub 68, sq. 544; @—. John Ridout to B. L. Walker, pt 19, oq. 785: 8200. Commissioners’ of Dis: trict of Columbia to Louise McKenna, lot 13, Same to F. J. Shadd, lot 76, blk. sq. 1136; 8—. 8, Barry Farm: lot 3, bik. 9, do.; $—; lot 33, bik. 5, di , bik. 2, do.:@—. L. F. Randolph, jr.,to E. A.Coleman,sub3g, blk. 1, Le Droit Park; & Wilhelmina Lalor to F. W. McReynolds, undivided third lot 36, D. & L.'s sub Mt. Plecsant: @e. J.N.Bovee to Minnie G. Parsons, lot 10, blk. 4, Takoma Park; $1,000. H. Whitehead to G. W. Ridgway, pt. 7,’ Wood- land; #—. G. W. Ridgway to H. Whitehead, pt. Td -. W. W. Hartwell to T. A. Harding, sq. 111; 24.940. L. Tobriner to A. Lis- ner. sub 17, 8. |. 345; 8. nheimer to H. Hinke, peg, |. 558; 21,700. Sarah Gibson, sub to D. D.T. M. P. Cral . Connell to .89. 831; 8—. V.H. Manning hompson, subs 15 to 17, 9q. 1005; &—. han to C. F.C , lot 3, blk. 47, anor; @—. N. D. Larner to Flor hhy,w. 34 17, blk. 39,North Grounds —. Anna T. ‘A. 8. and T. Co. Holmead M: ; | ble,” continued the Vi NEW MEN SIZED UP. A Glimpse of Uncle Sam's Fledgeling Orators. PRODIGIES IN REVIEW. Brygn’s Taking Way—A Lively Hoosier Larynx—Bailey, Junior, of Texas—How He Paralyses Congress—The Soldiers’ Right Bowers—The Bay State Contingent. TIS CUSTOMARY TO bewail the great men of will never shore we are fond of in- and belittling tho ob- jects that are near us. It is but natural to look ‘into the past fongreat- ness in every walk in life. And yet T heard a surly cynic say: *“The eagles all are dying; ‘The kings that ruled the mountain thrones are van- ishing away ;” be eo re a cloudy nests the answer fell, re- “The eagies of tomorrow are the fledglings of to- day.” Not since I can remember—not since before war—haveso many young men begun a career in Congress as had their names first placed on the rolls last December. Most of them have proved commonplace and have failed to make any mark whatever; but a few hat attracted attention and displayed qualities which promise to keep them at the front dur- ing this generation. Of the former it is not necessary to speak further, for they will vanish next March into the obscurity whence they came or stay in Congress wrapped forever in the eame twilight of lilac mist; but the latter will often be heard from hereafter, and of course a majority of them are democrats on account of the revolution last election day. SOMETHING ABOUT-BRYAN. The phenomenon and prodigy of the present House is W. J. Bryan of Nebraska, aged thirty- two. Hecame here almost totally unknown and has mounted to the front rank among the leaders. No other such success has been at- tained in recent years—perhaps notsince Henry Clay was elected to the Senate at twenty-nine. Mr. Bryan looks a little like a younger edition of the iamented Randall—the heavy build, the juare face, the massive and ain speech is deliberate and half meditative, his articulation. is excellent and his voice has a strong carrying quality. When he speaks—and it is not often—everybody hears him. It may be enfely added that there is nobody on either side who is listened to more willingly, unless it be Reed, whose amusing Yankee monotone always causes a hush of interested attention. HIS FIRST GREAT SPEECH. Sayers, who had the floor one day in March, lent it to the obscure Bryan for an hour's speech mn free wool. It waa soon obvious that a full- sized man had arisen. He used familiar argu- ments, but he made them fresh and new; ho spoke off-hand; he had a pleasing, deferentis conciliatory manner. Fifteen or twenty repub- licans interrupted him with questions and he parried or answered them all with extraordi- nary readiness. His hour was extended by unanimous consent to two, three, four hours, and when he had finished it’ was obvious that he had made one of the great speeches of this Congress. He is an artist in the use of words, as suave as Wendell Phillips, and seems booked for a notable career—unless he loses his grip in Nebraska, A MAN WITH A MIssrox. None of the new members have attracted more attention than Johnson, republican, of Indiana. He isa tall, gaunt, raw-boned man, Ingallsesque in architecture and bearing, with a beardless, Gothic face, a large mouth and a lantern jaw hang loosely in its sockets, He may briefly be ticketed as the untiring defender of | the friendless colored voter and the champion tail twister of the confederate opossum. John- son is awfully sincere, perfectly fearless, warmly eloquent in advocating what he considers jus- He favors the extreme principles of the force Dill to protect the southern negro’s vote and advocates them at every opportunity. Like Sumner, but without his calmness, ho «peaks sarcastically and censoriously, and some of the brigadiers from Dixie generally get fighting mad whenever he rises to speak. Indeed, there have been dangers of an encounter more than once. | “Did you say I was no gentleman?” desk after one of his characteristic 4] “I don’t remember what I said, Johnson. “The Kecord wil show.” “Because if von did I'l hold you responsi- inian. “Very well. if Idid I'll stand by it. That's the sort of hairpin Iam!" retorted the radical Indianian, dropping into colloquial phrase for the occasion. What Johnson had said was, ““When the mem- ber from Virginin emphasize’ the word ‘gen- tleman’ he is obviously no: alluding to him- So there was no fight. RAPIDITY OF SPEECH. Johnson's chief characteristic is the tremen- dous rapidity of his speech. He is perhaps the fastest talker in Congress since Rufus Choate. He sometimes speaks 250 or 300 words a minute and is the despair of reporters and the terror of listengra. he was xo excited and voluble that his frame shook all over like a corn sheller with an ob- structed hopper, as if it were coming to oom in the effort to deliver the words ter than the epiglottis could flutter. Even Andrew Devine off his hand when he reports Johnson. Vocal velocity, however, interferes with effeotiveness. ches. nswered sat right in front of Johnson while he explained it, and Tl be if I understood o single word he said! During a speech of seventy- five minutes he filled seven solid pages of the Record. But a man with such obvious pur- poses'and such unwearying enthusiasm has o Place in the future of his party. IER EXYANT TERRIBLE. “No quorum!” exclaims a young man rising in his seat on the democratic side, and the stranger in the gallery cranes his neck forward and exclaims inquiringly, ‘Great Scott! who's that?” The objector is the very youngest and about the most numerous member of the House. He was not born when the batile of Gettysbu was fought. He is robed in somber alpaca an a white muslin necktie. He is a large, heavily built man, with dark brown brows over- a8 a woman's. r @ resemblance to the youthful Daniel Web- ster, He is from Texas and Bailey is his i ” he might be called e stout young in Chinzzlewit” was called ‘to him from Old Bailey.’ Wight, sub 82, blk. 27, Long Meadows; $450. J. B. Wimer to H. L. Baldwin, Eckington; $2,750. Worthington et al., lA \H. PES | lot 27, block 48," Holmead Manor; . Pitney to J.H. C.Wilson, subs $7 to 39, sq. 1043; L. A. Conner to H. W. Szegedy, lot ‘ssub Mt. Pleasant; 92,529.90. J. A. Annie C. , parts 5 and 6, 8 acres on ‘EB. Morris to W. block 13, and 23, 200. Same to Frank 13, Long Meadows: @300. is a man of serious habits and retentive memory, readiness, facility, cow per- sistence and he is’ not backward about coming jorward. ‘WANTS A QUORUM EVERY TIME. Early in the session he announced that he did not Believe it to be constitutional to pass laws “by unanimous consent” without « quorum, and he should prevent important legislation ; | under such conditions. So he has killed a ‘good hundred of bills by interposing his objection. He refuses to yield to oblige anybody—even Father Holman—and he out his acidu- e— ted conacietions scruples alike upon the Jost block | lated o Us BCU] upon = andthe gta He as be - uently assured was fresh, fhe was “making © fool of himself?” that he “would know more in’ twenty. years,” aud piven other bits of saconlent tnficceotisn, but he goes straight on in the executian of his Ax, FE e 3 iT = re F ruding ‘jaw. | have heard him when | s to take his chin | A New York member said to me one} day: “Well! I wanted to get at tho facta of this case and I went and} ] the past and imagine | ulary verting our field glass | keeping still corker.” At the present moment he is making fenuous efforts to ‘the arms to comply with the —t0 s member's, pay during all absences from his sea! z . YROM THE PACIFIC SLOPE. Bowers of California is among the most not- tional manner, he has lived in California ever since he was born and had his eyes open all the time. He is quick on his feet, at sometimes pint Rr onpemeas boys, nd 008 out lor a fhe could. have his "way the alleged, sexplus would stand in sore need of divine protection. SOME MORE HAWKEYES. White of Towa is another of the party. He isa German, but has a command of English equal to that of Carl Schurz—a typical Americanized Prussian with an immense vocab- and facility in it. He robes him- self chiefly to comply with the law, and his clothes look as if thoy had accidentaliy blown upon him in a cyclone; he does not waste wax upon his mustache. Bat his voice is smooth and his sentences fit admirably, and when, after as s mouse for six months, ho burst forth last week on the tin plate bill, he quicted the whisperers and story tellers and brought lounging members from the smok- ing room. He has since spoken again, and his two are among the great speeches of’ the see- sion, Yet he is farmer and when at home he works hard at his trade. Though a soldier through the war, he is opposed to all wars and Famors of war, to appropriations and prepa rations for wars. He is an outspoken trader, too; would abolish the custom houses and support the government with an income tax. Butler of Iowa has made his presence felt. He has spoken seldom, but can think on his feet, and has been inclined to employ the Socratic method and thus to entangle his adversary ina meth of questions. He is always in his seat, has aremarkable memory of names and faces. and there is probably not a member of the House whom he does not know. In controversy he never comprehends when he is down. WHERE ARE THEY? The “kindergarten trio” of Masaachusetts, as Walker calls the young democrats, Williams, Andrew and Sherman Hoar, seldom rise to their feet. But they have a scholarly, well-bred. air, they believe in the gentleman in politics, and they betray familiarity with elegant society even their ordinary improvisations. They have all showed composure and self-confidence on their @et, and when their diffidence wears off they may come to the front and make an im- pression, unless meantime the bay state should change its mind. MR. DOLLIVER OF IOWA. One of the youngest republicans in the House | accordion beard. lil ed had candidates a; Wise of Virginia, following him to the clerk's 0 come to Congress anyway, and was on the | | is Dolliver of Iowa, and he has made. a deep impression and taken his place, as a debater, by the side of the lenders, In readiness, per- spicuity, aptness of illustration and excellence of method he ranks way above the average of speakers. He hasa lively fancy and a large sense of the ltumorous, and is quick as lightning at repartee. “May I ask the gentleman a juestion?” said a combative Alabamaian when iver was speak- ing. ‘No time to a Wait till I finish.” “It comes right in here. Just a word!” toi cannot be interrupted, for I have but a few. “This is just a few figures which show——” “Hand up your figures!” cried Dolliver; “I'll look at ‘em, ‘and if I find there's anythingin em, I'll leave them out of my speech! Dolliver has made a reputation as a first- class humorist, a real wit, not given to punning and broader in his fun than Sam Cox and more irrepressible than Boutelle. He is a tall, tuddy-cheeked, athletic young man, topped with a heavy thatch of brown hair. ‘THE THIRD PARTY. The alliance sent here an interesting bevy, and its ‘oddness is fan shaped, growing more 80 every day. Perhaps their most effective, most aggressive and readiest speaker is Watson of Georgia, He is a young, thin, Cassius-built man, long necked, sharp nosed, and he doesn't look as if he had had juare meal for fifteen bulletin of the House. Je is eloquent and pa- thetic on the degeneracy of the times, but once ina while he forgets that the country is rushing toruin, and then he is cogent and forcible— sometimes keen and witty. In quick debate he |is master of tho situation and the alliance, | coterie customarily turn to him as their best — KITTEL HALVORSEY of Minnesota is a practical farmer of good, | sound sense and an enormous red beard—not an Senator Peffer's, butalyre- shaped beard, broad and flowing. He talks little and is chiefly notable for the way in which he is said to have got in. The story runs thus: Both regular parties inst him, and he didn’t want pat of declining the nomination, when one of onents came to him and sais is 0} . Kited! Iw Y y in the field so that I can be elected. If you'll hang on I'll pay your campaign expenses,” “That's good enongh for me,” said Halvor- sen, so he “hung on” and was suddenly elected, the generous foe footing his bills! Jerry Simpson is popnlar on the floor in spite of his eccentricities. He 1s rough and ready, al- ways good natured and he hates all monopolies and raps both p: impartially. Otto always sa; when he means “I the only on the floor who uses the royal rerogitive. Yet he is economical. When the Vest Point bill of buying saddie blankets for the cad old House carpet should be cutup when changed in the fall and furnished in proper pieces to the youthful wards of Uncle Sam. The motion was lost. Doubtless rome of the men I have mentioned will be leaders of Congress twenty years from now. They certainly will if their states know a good thing when they sec it and keep them in their seats. It is experience and long training more than anything else that has given to Congre such men as Iteed, Bingham, Burrows, E. B. Tay- lor, Holman, Crisp, Springer and McMillan. Maine has only four members, but she has as much in- fluence as the largest states. Indeed, New York and Pennsylvania habitually get out of the road when the sparsely settled pine tree state drives down its matchless four-horse team. W. A. Cnorrur. se ELECTRIC CAR ACCIDENTS. ‘See here, ‘Two Cases That Startled the People of Boston. A telegram to THe Starz Monday gave an account of two serious and singular electric car accidents on the streets of Boston Sunday night. Both accidents were practically of the same character. but the one at the south end was the worst, fully a dozen passengers being injured. Whether the cars were struck by lightning through the wires or by the motor current through burned out insulators seems to be a th | Matter of doubt. In the South Boston cases gentleman who was standing on the corner of Worcester street says that there was a flash like 8 bolt of lightning, which appeared to entirely envelop the car, and instantly the air was filled with screoches and cries, and he saw ical Jeremiah and calamity | -+| national agreement. wre up he, moved that, instend | the | WORTH MORE THAN SEALS. ‘They Bear the Most Precious of All Skins— Protection?—Most Intelligent and Interest- of greater value thanthe fur seal is being rapidly exterminated in Bering \ along the northwest coast owing to long- continued neglect by the Treasury Depart- ment to enforce exist- ing laws for its protec- tion. As a result ‘this government is likely to have to undertake the support of several hundred natives on western islands of the Aleutian chain who have hitherto depended on the chase of the sea otter for their living. The final destruction of this interest- ing beast signifies the reduction of population in that region to absolute savagery and even to starvation, Already the formerly prosperous inhabitants of certain villages have been brought to such extremities as to be obliged to subsist on seaweed, being only saved from ing by stores of provisions contributed y the steamer Bear and other ships. MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL FURS. The fur of the een otter is the most beautiful and most costly of all peltries. It has as fixed mr | precious metals, a prime skin being worth 150, | while an exceptionally good one will some- times fetch as muchas $350. From the earliest | times it has commanded as high a price as to- | day. The Japanese prized it above all other | materials for garments as long ago as 1,000 years before the discovery of America’ by Columbus, and mighty tycoons clothed them- selves with its shimmering velvet. Geographi- cal discovery in the northern Pacific was originally due in great measure to the incentive offered by the demand for the cont of this per- secuted creature. When the Rusmans first | opened up the Aleutian Islands and the Hudsoa bay traders secured the consts of Puget sound and Oregon they found the natives commonly wearing sea otter cloaka, with which they parted for a trifle, not valuing them equally with the hair seal or the sea lion, the flesh and ‘| skins of the latter being more palatable and servicea The offers of the traders made hunting for sea otters,brisk, and more than 10,000 persons were annually engaged in pursuit of the animal from 1741 until 1845, when their numbers were so far reduced as to render the industry on a scale no longer remunerative. notion may be got of their original from the fact that in the year 1804 a sin; vessel carried to Russia 15,000 sl then, as now, at least $1,500,000. The work of extermination was carried on at a frightful rate. During the first year after the discovery of the Pribylov Islands, which are the breeding 5,000 sea otters. The next year they secured 1,000. Six years later not a single sea otter reaj d,and none has been there since. With similar rapidity they were wiped out all along the Aleutian chain and down the north- west coast as far south as the southern boundary of Oregon. j GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROTECT THEM. It was recently suggested by Secretary Lang- [ley of the Smithsonian Institution that the | United States government should set apart cer- tain reservations for the permanent protection of various marine animals now threatened with | extinction, where no hunters at anv season | should be ' permitted to pursue and kill them. | Already an attempt in that direction has been | made with regard to the fur seals. for which se- | curity wall probably be obtained eventually on | the Pribylov Islands in Bering sea by inter- The same thing ought to be done fox the sea lion and the walrus, which otherwise will soon have vanished from the face of the earth. For lack of such easily taken precaution the sea elephants, strange and | huge; were exterminated off-hand a few years ago to satisfy the rapacious greed of persons who thought nothing of destroying a whole | species for a few hundreds of dollars, batcher- | ing the shore. In like manner the arctic sea cow has been caused to disappear. In the case of the sea otters there should be » | reservation established on and about the west- ern Aleutian Islands of Saanach and Cherno- | lours, where there animals resort in pteference | to any other part of the const. They find there atall seasons a great supply of the crustaceana and mollusks on which they feed, and the small ford them a suitable playground. Further- more, the shoals in that neighborhood furnish ananchorage forimmense areas of kelp, on half- submerged masses of which the creatures breed. stems over 300 feet long, resembling clothes- es, which are kept afloat by large air vessels crowned with bunches of leaves from thirty to fifty feet in length. This submarine forestry, when disengaged from ite anchorage, floats in raft-like aggregations all over Bering sea and the north Freie, and on those floating iskands the sea otters bring forth their young. HOW THE YOUNG ARE CARED FOR, Sea otters spend most of their lives at sea. The mother brings forth a single young one, for the safety of which she exercises the utmost we | S0licitude. It sucks for a year. and during in- fancy it is carried most of the time on the body of its mamma, who floats on her back while her offepring uses her asa sort of raft to play about on. When frightened she takes the pup inher mouth and dives. If surprised by the hunter on land she never thinks of deserting the pup, but clasps turns her back to. recei lying on its back in the water, laying them on ite breast and bi i and devouring them one by one. Crabs, and the tender fronds of seaweeds form a landing there. “The nati who seek the Inlands of Saanach and Chernclours in pursuit of it during the winter, ly weeks there without far tion it but ran far enough | will sometimes dive and jam iteell intoa crevice after the flash to ute injured passen- | gre ‘beneath ba gers, along the strost foc some on oe aiteea =o iery water, never rising CANNOT BE BEARED BY HAND. ‘The mother sea otter sleeps on the surface of the water with her pup clasped in her fore that | paws. The latter can never be reared by hand. Hy helpless creatures as they lay on the | Shall » Reservation Be Set Apart for Their | {7 sea and in the waters | the avalue in the market today as any of the |. | surround.” y W. Elliott, to whom the writer ia chiefly indebted for his information on in by , paddling expected to find the game. As quick!y as one snimale is de asleep moat likely, samy moment be dats tomsed the prey, which nearly always takes alarm be- fore it can Sa Mantly dives. But on and stops direct leat wine sia “with toating ving. circl from ita bentrne i Boog The other immediately deploy and scatter, forming a circle half » mile wide around the place where of the the hunter who asignal, At i nearest darts forward like ite all hands shout and throw up their spears to make the sea otter dive thus giving it scarcely an instant in which to recover itself and expel the poisoned air from its lungs. A sentry is placed over the second diving wake as before, and the circle is drawn anew. In this manner the surprise is quickly and often re- seagen sometimes for two or three hours, until the victim, from oft-interrupted respiration, becomes so exhausted and filled with gases a3 to be unable to sink, and then it is easily speared. Arrows five feet long, exquisitely made and pointed with barbed pieces of bone, are shot at the prey whenever there is an oppor- tunity, the regulation being that the game. be- longs to the man whose shaft strikes it first. PERIL OF HUNTING IN THE WINTER. But the kind of hunting for sea otters that requires pluck and endurance is done in the winter, and the story of the perils and hard- ships encountered by those e: in it, if it were told, would surpass in novelty and interest the most attractive work of fiction. When the fierce storm winds have blown themselves out, the Aleuts in their frail boats seud down to the outlying rocks about Saanach and Chernolours, where the creatures lie with their heads pushed under beds of kelp to avoid the fierce pelting of the spray. Stealthily they creep upon the anit from the leeward under cover of the noise of the tempest, each man armed with a short and heavy wooden club, by which they dispatch the victims one after another without alarming the survivors. Two known to slaughter seventy-eight in this way within an hour and ahalf. The result would have clothed and fed them for the rest of their lives, but the wealth was quickly squandered. “No other kit dof hunting is so exhausting | | some | pounding of the surf with a force lentifulness | fine shot literally drives the anit ground of the fur seals, two sailors killed there | areas of sheltered water and outlying roofs af- | This kelp is a gigantic species of sea weed, with | | | and involves such exposure as this method of chasing the sea otter,” says Elliott. ‘For the only times at which it can be. followed are on the eve of or just after tempests, when the ike whirling imals to land. u gle | The hunter must be a man with hardy thewa | kins, worth | and sinews, so that he can sit if necessary. y—and he frequently does so—for forty-eight hours in his shallow boat, and battle for life against the furious gales, in order that he may not drift out to certain death into the vast expanse of the great Pacific.” More than two-thirds of all the sea otters taken in Alaska are secured in the neighborhood of Saanach and Chernolours, Below the Straits of Fuca, in and about Gray's harbor, js another resort of theirs, where foey ‘are shot from porches on tall tripods forty feet high, on which sharpshooters sit in wait for them and mark them down with wonderful accuracy, often at a distance of 1,000 vards. When it ia considered that only the head of the animal is visible above | the water and that it is bobbing of the waves, it will be seen what skill is required in this pur- suit. When killed, the 2 floats ashore, where it is picked up, each hunter having a special mark on his bullets, so that there shall be no dispute as to proprietorship. The Attoo Aleuts capture sea otters by spreading nets made of sinew or twine over the floating beds of kelp resorted to by the creatures. Returning after a few days they often find several entangled in the meshes. Tho beasts might easily gnaw themselves free, but it does not occur to them to do so, and they actually die of fright. Nets are also spread for the same purpose at the mouths of caves in bluffs at tidewash. FAST BEING EXTERMINATE>. Contact with civilization has taught the na- tives to use powder and ball instead of their old-time weapons in ths chase of sea otters, and, what with the incessant popping of rifles wherever the animals make their appearance, it cannot be long before the last of them is killed on the northwest coast and among the islands of the Aleutian chain. Their natural habitat is limited to those waters and to the neighbor: hood of the Kurile Island, north of Japan, and the Kamschatkan shore.’ They go about 'cus- tomarily in solitary pairs, though the young | ones sometimes gather in’ troops of forty or | fifty. The latter are born at all seasons of the year. The sea otter has an ugly and even repulsive physiognomy, with smull, glittering black eyes and little ears. One of its peculiari- ties is that its skin seems to be about twice the size nevemary to cover its body, so that the pelt when removed looks as if the beast that wore it must have been six feet or more in length. The first process after taking off the skin is to remove the fat from it, and this is very difficalt on account of the tough fibers by which it is interlaced. * ‘The destruction of ‘this valuable species has ‘been due to indifference to its preservation on the part of the government, No vessels of the revenue marine have been sont by the Treasury —— to the serge) men and Beri: sea for urpose of enforcing the existing laws against the methods adopted for the ex termination of the sea otter. Thus » marine mammal more precious than the far seal has been nearly wiped out of existence, and the only hope for it today would seem to lie in the faint prospect that Congrom may sce fit to set aside the islands of Saanach and Chernolours fora reservation where these creatures may be ded by appointed keepers and protect estes from pursuit by hunters. Last Year only $20 sea otter skins were secured, al- though rapid-flying naphtha launches were requisition for scouring the waters, the hunters employing explosive bullets. One of these hides, of very unusual beaut sold in New York city for $950. ves have been | ty, Was |b, AN ARAPAHOE DANCE —__ ____ Superintendent Meserve Describes + © One That Recently Occurred. A DAY OF SAVAGE SPORT. Mow the Indian Has Gradually Given Up Barbaric Ceremonies—A Wrestling Match— Painting the Faces of Braves and Squaws— ‘Strange Incantations—The Etiquette. GOOD DEAL HAS @ \ deen written about In- , “™) dian dances, and more . especially in recent times the ghost dance has come into promi- nence. It is not often ‘that a competent ob- server has either the opportunity, the time or the disposition to make « careful study of this custom, which #ur- vives with so much force among the ‘aboriginal tribes of this coun- try. About a month ago Mr. Chas. F. Meserve, the superintendent of the Indian school at Law: | rence, Kan., had an opportunity to witness an Indian dance and at the request of Gen. Mor- wrote the following account: At 11 o'clock on Friday forenoon, May 27. T approached a camp of Arapahoe Indians, with their tepees, to number of seventy-five, pitched a short distance from the north bank of the South Canadian river, some twelve or_fif- teon miles from the agenc¥ at Darlington, 0. T. Theard their shouting and_ the noise of their drums when I was a half mile from the camp. As Tapproached the camp they were in the midst of their dance. They were arranged by | twos, the males by themselves and the females | by themselves. “There were probably at this time engaged in the dance not less than fifty persons. Black Coyote, one of the Arapahoe chiefs, with another Indian of large stature, were lending the line. ‘The line was at first straight and reached out for quite a distance, though later on they formed in # circle. In the center of the circle was @ staff from which | flouted a United States flag, and from another staff near by a white and blue flag. In the ter of the circle was a withered old woman, | was holding on to the staff with one hand, and, with the other outstretched, was looking up to the sky, at the same time uttering mournful i cantations. Those that were in line were keep- ing step to the beat of » drum,made by stretc ing rawhide over an ordinary wooden tub. All the dancers were engaged either in conversa- tion or in incantations, and were nearly all of them at this time smiling and at times engaged | in loud laughter. Presently their appearance | changed and their attitude was that of reverence | rather than mirth. Soon their dancing stopped and all, young and old, stood in line and erect. A CONTEST OF STRENOTH. Black Coyote, the chief, held both his hands forward, with the palms outstretched and fin- gers apart. Preserttly from the tepee near by | advanced to within five or six fect of Black | Coyote and raised his hands in the same posi- tion as those of Black Coyote and «pread out his | fingers in the same way. He then threw his |hands forward to Black Coyote as thongh he would grasp them. Black Coyote tried to grasp his, but failed. They kept this up for a few minutes until they had firmly grasped,when they both let go and each TT. the other around the waist and en in a violent This pleased the Indians wrestling contest. very much and whenever it appeared that Black Coyote was getting the worst of it those who were behind pushed him on. During this wrest- ling contest the two behind put their bands upon the shoulders of the two forw: and as ‘k Coyote and the wrestler moved from side to side the object of all the others was to keep directly behind those in front of them. This inued for ten or fifteen minutes, Black Coyote holding his ground and his contestant unable to gain any advantage over him. Finally Black Coyote made one tremendous effort to throw his assailant, and nearly all of those that were behind, keeping their hands upon those in front, were also thrown, and some of them, especially a number of women, rolled end over end. After they had gathered themselves up there was a great cla; ing, much hilarity, and all seemed in the hap- pee frame of mind. This ended the dance for the forenoon. There was nothing about it that was in any way objectionable, so faras I could see or so far ax I could learn by inquiring were two or three tepees that were pitched near together and were open on the south side. | The ground covered was sufficiently large to accommodate comfortably forty or fifty people. APPLAUDING THE VICTOR. I went into this large tent and sat down on the ground in the only place that seemed vacant inthe circle around which they were seated. As soon as I had taken a position on the ground two or three of the chiefs hurriedly came to I soon saw the mistake that I had made, for no sooner had I seated myself on the new piece of ground where I was invited than Biack Coyote at the front and all of the others behind, mi | entered, and Black Coyote took the seat that had previously been occupying. If such a mis- take as this had been made among the same number of white people, I prosume that T should have been att ceived the derisive laughter of all. As it wa: the Indians understood that I had made a mis take and had sufficient tegard for my feelings not to allude toit by any act orsign. After Black Coyote had entered thé tepee and his fol- lowers all were sented on the Found they be- gan to talk with each other. I looked around to see if there was any one that I knew. so that I might have an interpreter and ascer- tain the significance of this performance. I oon spied Jeno Bent, who talks very good English. And when I asked him what they were talking about he said they were congrata- lating Black Coyote upon his success and that Black Coyote was aiming CHANGES AMONG THE INDIANS. * Before Jesse went to dinner I had quite s y | long chat with him in regard to the dance and & refed i i ie i eT fe e Bt i He ie fe eh id i f f I | j i; 4 | gan, the commissioner of Indian affairs, be | there emerged a large, powerful Indian, who | ing of hands, jong talk- | what their various movements signified. There | me and motioned me to take a seat elsewhere. | ing and evidently applauding his suecess, | of ridicule and re- | Indians as could be accommodated. 1 to crawl in under the tent flap and was an in- though part of the time tor of the i terested ta lings. Black Coyote, Foching Bear ana wt Feather were the chief began faces. it. Ax soon as they had all gathered Shey to make tions for painting their T noticed that Pushing Bear seemed to be the leader in this, though most of the men entered into it with a great deal of relish. They painted first their own faces and then the women's. I noticed that the best-looking Women were called for first and the most time was given to setting ont their complexions in the bi Perfection of the chief's decorative art. y took out from their box a quantity of paint, put it in the palm of the hand, «pat on it, and then, with the finger, mixed the pai and spit together,and with the finger.with which they had been stirring the mixture they began their work. It that a good deal more time was occupied in this work than was neces- sary and I was quite sure of the fact when at the end of the performance the unpainted women were called forward, all of whom were exceedingly homely. Not much time was spent upon them. faces were covered entirely, even to the eyelids, and the parting of the hair was also deeply dyed. While this process was going on there were two or three women that stood out in the broiling «un in the center of the circle engaged in incantations or prayer, One of them was a Caddo woman, wh: stood with arms outstretched. with face up turned to the aun and eyes wide | ently, in her inean deeply in ear nest. She remained the 5 time, probably fifteen minutes. It seemed to me that she must have lost her evesight from gazing directly at the sun as she did. After she left an Arapahoe woman took her place apd continued f Vhen the ugh thetr »my came out and in the same attitude Teould seg that ber evelidé’ehut. rewdness of Black had come out to en- worship. He held up his to the sky, but the «un he took off his hat and at While she as the visiting Cadd. she had sense enough Twas quite amu Coyote, arms’ length held it out, still looking upward, in such a position as to shicld his eves, After this ceremony of prayer was over they all came out and began to engage in the dance in the aame jmanner as in the forenoon. As it was now getting late in the afternoon, and there was a long drive ahead of us, I left the Indians, after bidding them good-bye and shaking bands with | them, and started for the agency. WORK INSTRAD OF DANCE. On the following Mo: while T was in Agent Ashley's office the Arapahoe chiefs who were the leaders in the dance of the Priday be- fore came in and arked him if they could not have another dance in four weeks. He told them that they must not dance again until six weeks had passed away; that their corn was how | growing and that also gro that they must go and cultivate it and years gon you and I yet it is doubtless a step in advan nothing intellectual to my mim little that was epiritaal, and yet [ presume that it ix best that they be indulge: he that ther will entertain more sensible ideas cerning trne religion and @ proper form of It would doubtless be considered ment if they were obliged to give up these dances altogether, and as they have given up so much and have really made some improvement the ghost dance as practiced by the Arapahoes «hould be considered as not en- tirely divested of slevating influences, nant upo: AN ENJOYABLE PICNIC. Riverside Park was thypnged Wednesday night with picnickers, who came tohave = glorious time and raise funds for the building of a colored Catholic church in East bene po Music was furnished by the Monumental Or- chestra. Refreshments were served by a com- mittee. consisting of Miss Ellen Quander, Mra, Mary Ford, Mra. Louisa Qi Mrs.’ Mary Mathews, Mrs. Celia Davis, Mrs. Louise War- ren, Miss Laura Lee, Mrs. Annie Pleasant, Mra. Mary Colbert, Mrs. Nora Scott, Miss Sarah E. Tolson, Mra, Catherine Brown, Miss Henrietta Tolson, Miss Celia Shomas, Mrs. Eliza Mr. J. A. Harris, Mrs, Hattie Marshall, ‘Susan Mack, Mrs. Moussard, Mra, Jane Dorsey, Miss Mary Butler, Miss Rebecca Rivers, Mra. Rebecca Johnson, Miss Sarab and Mire. Elizabeth Carter. The committee of arrange- | ments comprised Messra, Wm. Burgess, chair | man; A. J. Stewart, J. H. Toleon, Edward Col- bert, Alexander Gillens, Brown, Lawrence Edlen, Joseph Davis, James A. Harris, Daniel Colbert, James Trimer, Wm. Powell, 8. A. Brown, J. H. Briscoe, F. L. Moussard, Wm. | Watson, James Lancaster, Edward H. Forrest, | Alexander Warren, Henry Queenan, Frank El- | zear, Vincent Marshall, Edward Quander, @. L. Scott, Wm. Davis and J. H. Colbert. A TRANSFER OF TENANCY. Wm. H. Brinkley and Miss Babe Grady have been warring in the courts for several years past, Brinkley to retain and Grady to obtain ion of @ piece of improved property on Monroe near Washington street. The tenant under Brinkley was John S. Hayes, groce man. Miss Grady won her suit and bi ney, Eugene Arnold, compelled Ti in order to transfer his tenanc every article from the store. The street was much incumbered with barrels, boxes, &c. After emptying the store Mr. Hayes moved back as the tenant of Miss Grady. The proceedings | attracted a large crowd and evoked considera ble comment. A BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING. The building committee of Bethlehem Col- ored Baptist Church of Hillsdale met Wednes- day night, with Rev. Edward H. Gibson in the chair, to devise ways and means to raise the | requisite amount. Mr. J. A. Reiflingor, agent | of the Lincoln National Building and Loan As- | sociation of Richmond, Va., explained the ad- vantages of his organization. HARRISON AND MORTON CLUB, The Harrison and Morton Republican Club of Garfield met Thursday night and elected officers for the ensuing four years as follows: President, | Reuben Giles: vice president, J. Rawlings; treasurer, R. Buchanan; secretary, Arthur W. Carroll. "A resolution ‘offered by Secretary Carroll was adopted, “That this club heartily | | t indorses the wise choice of the } 1s con vention, and that we do all in our power to secure the election of the nominees.” club also resolved “that W. Calvin Chase and Simon: Wolfe were the lawfully elected delegates from the District of Columbia and were entitled to seats in the convention.” The club will meet | Tuesday next to arrange for the raising of @ Harrison and Heid fiag at Garfield. NOTES. Frederick Douglass, jr., was slightly im- proved last night. Mr. Douglass, er., is with | his eon much of the time. Stanton avenue, Hillsdale, is impassable b: zens want it Prof. B. E. Messer, Miss Nettie Messer and Mr. Clarence Messer are spending the heated term at New Sharon. Me. Miss Lizzie Roe of Mine Annie Kerby of of Miss Mamie avenue is ill. ‘ashington is the guest of Garfield had a pastor's social last night. ——__ Some Grape Wine in Brooklyn. From Brooklyn Life. “I dined with Rittenhouse im Philadelphia the otber day.” “Well, you can tell me. What wine is de rigueur with scrapple?”