Evening Star Newspaper, December 3, 1892, Page 10

EE THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. ©, SATURDAY. D i ER.3, 1892—-SIXTEEN PAGES. ____IN MEYER'S HOF. e BERLIN poor rats TH E B E R iE I N I ‘OOR. tea weaker paar of the le by day and — Queer Facts About the Cellar Life of This City of Tenements. WHOLE FAMILIES IN ONE ROOM A Visit to Meyer's Hof and Its Scenes of Birth and Death—German Rente—Berlin Newspapers, Their Queer Advertisements and Their Lack of Enterprise. - Special Correspondence of The Frening Star. Benurx, November 10, 1892. ERLIN IS A CITY OF flats and the people bere are crowded almost as mue as the Chinese are in San Francisco. ‘There are tens of thou- sands who live in cel- 000 people hving within the city limts only about 30,000 have more than seven rooms. Of this vast population there are less than 3,000 who hare a whole house to themselves, and there are more than half million who have only one room in their tenements which can be heated. The people swarm and they become more crowded every year. You see no little houses here. The cottage system is practically tnknown, and the rich and the poor are crowded together in the same building. The difference | lies im the location and the character of the | toom. The buildings are usually of five or six stories. In the basement you will find cobblers, bateners and grocerymen, while back around the courts every imaginable trade goes on and families live in narrow quarters and work at something o> other to make a livelihood. On the firet floor, if the street isa business one, there will be’ first-class stores, restaurants or deer halls, and above these you may find a Ger- man colonel of a general, or a rich business man. On the same fioor in the back rooms will be cheaper quarters, and as you near the of the house the character of the tenants and their numbers increase. There is a @ifference in rate according to different parts of the city, but there are cheap tenements everywhere and vou find the poor in every block. I visited the other day @ single house which contained 400 families and in which lived more than 1.500 people. It was a build- ing of about a hundred feet front, running back, perbaps, for 200 feet and built around @ve great courts. There was no yard con- nected with it except these dirty courts paved with cobblestones, and in these hollow-eved children swarmed and old men and women sat | against the walls trving to catch the sun. The building consisted of six stories and it was en- tered by a passageway in the middle. At the door of thir as I came in I saw two young Women stunding wita babies at their breasts, and the children playing in the rear were of ali ages and sizes. As {fjooked at them and the le about them it struck me that the ing was typical of the world. Eve variety of life was going on among them. one side I saw two women laughing. | In another pert a young girl and an old man were trying to tench's ba}y to walk, and as I stood there an undertaker came through with a little coffin, containing a baby, under his arm and with ite weeping mother following behind as tte sole mourner. This building is known as “Meyer's Hof,” and it is one of the largest tenement houses in Berlin. THPICAL TENEMENTS. ‘Think of it? Here are 1.500 people sleeping every night on area of less than one-half acre of ground. Seme of the rooms contain more than one fam- | Uy and not a few of the poorest of the renters take roomers. I visited some of the tenements. They seemed to be clean, but they were «mall | and there was couple of beds in nearly every room. There were about 100 families living eround each court and these courts were not as large a the average city back yard. At the en- trance to each court there were billboards like you find in large office buildings in upon which were registered the names | tenante and the numbers of their rooms. ere little stores i into @ barber shop at the corner | | courte and chatted with the and he He told ften a hundred customers a had double this number on He sold matches and cigars and as barbered, and be said that room was $2.50 « month and at night. Rents are, I am told, continually rising in smaller the income the bigaer Proportion of rent. The most of the labor- people like to live near their work, and a Majority of the people engaged ‘in the it amdustries bere live within twenty MERcuAT. @inutes of their places of employment. The most of them pay more than one-fourth of their income tor rent and landiords find it pay: to build big houses and crowd them rather than to erect small ones. The people here get xo little that they cannot think Icing homes for themselves. cnd they expect to pay rent from their birth ‘iil their death. The police Tegula‘ions require that the rooms shall be of certain size, and within the last few vears the ew houxes have been doing better as to their cellar lodgings. The older parts of the city, however, have many rooms which are not at ali seuitary, and if ie astonishing how many people live here undergreund. There are more than @ Bundred thouwand men. women and children whe are tiving in cellars in Bumber of these have rooms in their cellar tenemen: h canuot be heated. It must be Femembered that the surface of Berlin is flat ‘fend the fall ax to drainage is very little. The Fesalt is that these unheated cellar rooms are damp, andes they are in the heart of the city are very unhealthful, CONDITION OF THE GERMAN WORKING CLassRS. It ts wonderful how much business is done in cellars in Berlin. About one-third of the fmmense manufacturing of Germany is done in Seren sens le work from to own lars, and of the 2,000,- } peo) their sleeping places by night. Many of them are so made that a draft cannot be sent through them, and when {t 1s remembered that some of them are six feet below the sidewalk it will be easily seen that they are not fit for the resi- dences of human beings. I have visited quite a number of the cities of Germany and I find that this fat eystem prevaile in ail the large towns. Hamburg, which bas been so iy hurt by the cholera, is a whited sepulcher. It has beautiful buildings, but some of the streets are so narrow that you could hardly drive a wagon load of hay through them, and there are thousands of cellar tenements.’ There are a number of houses there which have hundreds of families in them, and the same is true of | Leipsic and Dresden, More than half the ‘ople in Leipsic pay less than a hundred dol Exes year Yor Feat, and these people live {u quarters where they cannot have more than two heated rooms. The city has good building regu- | lations, itis true, but the people manage to get around them, and this is so in nearly every | German city.’ Part of the Leipsic regulations | are that every living room shall have at least | one window open to the air and that the cellar rooms shall be at least nine feet high. But the | houses are crowded and the poorer the quarters | the more people you find in the ven the halls are let out to night lodgers, and the stories of how women and men of different families are | crowded together in single rooms present as | bad a picture as I found in some places of Rus- | sia. The people here are alive to the condition | of the working classes in this respect, and not long ago a member of the reichstag gathered a large amount of facts about the homes of the | working people bere, and from these verified statements some of the above figures are taken. Reports were collected from all the laboring centers, and it is on the basis of these that movements have been undertaken to better the laborers’ condition. FEEDING THE POOR. Here in Berlin meals are served to poor peo- ple at almost cost prices, and among the cellar institutions of the city are the “Volks Kitchens” or the People’s Kitchens. There are a number of these, and they are managed by the ladies of | Berlin, who superintend them and who take turns in managing them. They have good cents and you pass in block women loaded down with great two-bushel baskets of meat and vegetables which they are carrying home the market for about the same rate. There are flower everywhere and there is the old fellow with toys whosells turkeys and monkeys made of wood and painted th ridicu- lous colors. While visiting the stock exchange the other day I dropped into beer hall for lunch and was getting away with a great mug of beer between my bites of cheese and rye | bread when one of these fakirs came up beside me and laid down on the table a microscope. As he did so, he asked me if I did not want to seo what kind of cheese I had been eating. I held it up to the light and Isaw in it through the microscope a dozen hundred-leg bugs as big aa the largest potato bug, each one of which had horrible horns and great teeth. He laughed as I shuddered and pushed the cheese back and then offered to sell me the microscope for twelve cents, but I was disgusted at having my meal spoiled and refused. The newspapers here are largely sold by women, and the small newsbor of America is unknown in Berlin. Now and then you see man selling papers, but the greater part of the circulation of the journals is by subscription, and women always deliver the . There are many queer things about the newspapers, and few of the Berlis journals have large staff of reporters. The local newa.is about the same in all papers,and no one thinks of trying to make a scoop, as it is called,or to have the news in advance of his fellows. The editors of the morning papers leave their offices at 9 giclock, and the papers are in prese at 11. By 12 o'clock even the printers have gone home, and when Gen. von Moltke died at 11 o'clock one night some time ago there was only one Berlin newspaper that had wline about it in its issue of the next morning. The announcement of the death was published in New York and elsewhere in full, but the German newspapers right here at home knew nothing about it. ‘The newapapers here publish items from their con- temporary journals which they should have had themselves, saying that the other ee says so and so, and there is no life in Berlin journalism. The papers have not a very large cir- culation and they do not make a great deal of money. The biggest of them sells something like 100,000 copies, and this paper makes #137,- 000. year and thinks it does wonders. Men who write for the papers are moderately well ps, and editors-in-chief get from $4,000 to ADVERTISEMENTS, ,000 a year. The Germans are good advertisers, and there | seems to be no reason why the papers should not do better. put into the papers in the shape of an adver- tisement. And thero is a great deal of social news that we publish for nothing which is put in here at so much per line. Engagements are generaliy announced in the newspapers by the parents of the bride and also by the groom and there are a large number cf matrimonial ad- vertisements, in which men and women state their good qualities and ask for husbands and wives. Sometimes men advertise, stating that they have a daughter whom they wish to get rid of, and in one year there were 400 adver- tisements in one paper of persons seeking bet- ter halves, Marriages are also published in the same way, and there is a fixed rate for birtas and deaths. The Germans are very proud of having children, and it is generally expected that a son or a daughter will make his or ber appearance in the newspaper col- umns immediately uj world. pon his appearance in’ the There is always numbers of death nd the official advertisements of the mount to something. Advertisements of | patent medicines have as much prominence in | the Berlin newspapers as in ours, and alto- gether the German is a very good advertiver. Fra: CaRrenten, ae OYSTERS © SOUTH CAROLINA. Prospects for Cultivating Them in the Waters of That State. The United States fish commission has re- cently completed an investigation of the coast Everything under the sun is | i | gress to meet at the Capitol before the first EXTRA SESSIONS. The Number of Times Congress Has Been Specially Convened. |FROM ADAMS TO HAYES. ‘The Extraordinary Occasions That Have In- duced This Action on the Part of the Pres- ident—If Mr. Cleveland Calls One It Will Be the Eleventh. see eo VER SINOE THE election = few weeks ago the question of » special session of Con- gress has been the one topic of discussion on the demopratic side of the political fence, ,to the exclusion almost of probable members of Cleveland's cabinet. The President-elect himself is, of course, the only man who can tell with certainty now whether a special ses- sion will be convened; that is, if he has made up his mind on the subject. Everybody knows that opinions differ as to the advisability of calling Congressmen together before the usual time, a year hence, while some in favor of the scheme want the opening postponed until ‘October, 1893. But whether an extra session is called or not, and no matter at what particular riod of the coming year, the reason for so bs in ease of a special convocation will cer- tainly be the revision of existing tariff laws. Undoubtedly the McKinley bill will come in for the first round share of attention, and it is just faintly probable that a prospective bond issue to cover a postible deficit in Uncle Sam's household expenses for the ensuing fiscal year will likewise be on the list of events for lked-of special session. However, event the gathering is bound to be at= tended with more than the usual degree of political interest, and a comparison with other special congressional sessions in the history of the country will not be ont of order ‘To begin with, Mr. Cleveland's proclamation, if be issues one, will be the eleventh of such a nature, and Mr. Harrison's successor at the White House will fe ninth chief executive to avail himself of the privilege of calling Con- Monday of December. A review of the Con- ressional Record shows that two Presidents— Sfadison and Hayes—convened special sessions twice each during their administrations, and since the latter's term none have taken place. Four of the ten on file had aa their object sowe ultimate legislation relating to wars already inaugurated or in immediate prospect, and one, that called by Jefferson, was decide to’ avert any threatened ' complications | ng over the purchase of Louisiana from the French with Spain frowning upon the deal. THE FIRST EXTRA SESSION. The special session fathered by John Adams in 1797 probably precluded warfare with France through the active hostile preparations then authorized aguinst the “tri-color” republic, but only two had any bearing upon the financial condition of the country. These were called by Van Buren and “Tippecanoe” Harrison, and some of the treasury laws then paseed are’ still recognized methodsof handling currency. If Mr. Cleveland listens to the plea of the ulira-tariff reformers and proclaims in their direction next waters of South Carolina with reference to the prospects for oyster culture along that shor In all 127 square miles of water area were sur- | veyed by the steamer Fish Hawk, and the ex- perts engaged in the work are of the opinion | that about one-fourth of this could be made to produce the luscious bivalves. Within this same area there already exist 775 acres of nat- ural oyster beds, which would sfford plenty of “seed.” Incidentally to the inquiry chemical analyses of the water were made, and efforts were directed to finding out what food cysters planted in that region would have to depend upon, THE COAST REGION OF SOUTH CAROLINA A BERLIN NEWSEOY. cooks, and they feed hundreds of people every In them you can get a dinner for about 5 cents, and a bowl of soap or of rice costs you | Scents, while you can get a first-class cup of | coffee fora cent. I visited one of these the | other day. Two nice-looking old ladies stood behind « clean, white counter, and back of these were great boilers of soup, with cooks presid- | ing over them. The room was, I judge, about fifty feet long and not more than twenty wide. | Itwas in a cellar, and it was divided up into | compartments for women and men. At the en- | trance there was «ca hier, who gave you checks | for what you wanted upon the payment of the money, and you waik back to these old women snd get your soup or coffee and carry it to the | benches in the room, where you can sit down | at long tables and eat. Iiaid down 3 cents and bought a bowlof soup. It was made of beans and it contained nearly a quart. I took bowl of rice of about the same size,and I | sipped ata I-cent cup of coffee and found it | not bad. Everything was as clean as could be, and the class of people who were eating a peared respectable. One of the old ladies told | me that they often fed as many as a thousand a | day, and that they yave suppers as well as din- vera. ‘They said that the institution paid its expenses, and that it did not try to make money. DECENTLY DRESSED, _ Nearly all the vegetable stores of Berlin are im cellars, and there are numerous fish stores, especially those which sell dried fish, below ground. I am surprised to eee what well- dressed people come out of these cellars and how well the people dress on the low wages they receive. The average wages of common laborers throughout Germany range from $1.50 to $4 week and the mass of working men here, both skilled and unskilled, do not get more than from 25 cents to €1aday. When one-fourth of this is paid for house rent and the food of the family purcbased there is but little left, and it is a wonder to me bow the Plople can buy any clothes at all. I am told, owever, that many of the people have several trades and that they do work at home out- side of their hours of labor and all | the members of a poor man’s family do something to increase the family | income. There ie a law against children being | employed in the factories. and they have here a | compulsory aystem of education, but these are rable extent and children walk before they do some- thing. Little girls are taught to sew almost 94 ‘as they can handle the needle, and good ing girls who make button holes. here con- sider themselves well paid when. they make | from #3 to €4 a month. Girls who sew upon thirte get ebout these same wages, and the greater part of such sowing girls work at home. | CHILDREN IN THE STREETS. i | ‘There ares number of children who make a | | living in Germany by singing on the streets of | | the cities during vacations and during the parts of the day when they are not in school. I saw # clerical old man going about with such a choir of boys the other day. He was dressed in «| long ulster with a cape which ‘came down over | his arms, and be carried a little singing book in one hand. He had abont a dozen little fellows ranging from ten to twelve years of age, and he marched with these from house to boase and from court to court, stopping at each and hay- ing the bors sing popular songs while he kept time as their master. ‘There was no instrament to accompany them, but the little fellows kept perfect time, and at the close of the singing one Of the boys went around witha toy bask into hich the bystanders put pennies, and. such coins as were thrown down from the windows he picked up and put in. I followed this old man and his choir through several of their street concerts, and Twas much saddened by the look of the children. ‘The boys were hollow- eyed and pale. and they seewed to have no spirit about them. They neiher smiled nor Iaughed, and the old man made me think of Fagin i “Oliver Twist.” I asked one of the boys ws to his wages, and he told me that he got twelve marks a quarter, or about a dollar a month. I have already spoken of the little boys working on the streets, and you will dom see a girl of any age idle. She is taught knit as soon as she can hold. the needles, when she is watching the children she works industriously away at ber stocking. | Carolina is very sm: | tside of the creeks south of consists chictly of very low lands, marshy toa great extent, which in many places extend in- land a considerable distance. It is indented or cut through by a number of sounds, bays and river mouths, which are connected by an in- te wvstem’ of winding creeks and rivers, separating the sea islands from one another and from the mainland. Oysters are found oc- curring naturally in most of the crecks and rivers which are suited to their growth, but they occur mainly im beds which form fringing ledges along the borders between the levels of high and low tide. In only a few localities do they grow naturally in the beds of streams and their cultivation by transplanting bas not thus far been attempted save on a very limited scale. WATER AND SEDIMENT. The water that circulates through these oys- ter-bearing channels is derived from the sea, the rivers and springs, Accordingly it varies very much as to saltiness and density. The larger rivers bring down great quantities of sea iment which makes a bottom so muddy that oysters could not live on. it, requiring, as they do, a solid bottom. At the same time there are | extensive areas of solid bottoms on which it ought to be practicable to plant young oysters ri ledges. These ledges of “raccoon” oysters, as the naturally growing bivalves are commonly termed. afford a source of such “seed” which may be made the basis of an extensive and profitable industry. TIDAL PONDS. Furthermore, the marshes and flats along the coast channels are well adapted for the estab- lishment of tidal ponds, which could readily be constructed by excavating the soft material to a slight depth. or in some places by building dykes. In this manner the oyster-producing territory could be greatly extended, and such « plan would give the oysterman entire control over hia stock. This avstem of oyster culture has not yet been introduced into this country, but it is thought high time that it should be. ‘The extensive flats and marshes whtch compose so large a part of the lowiands along the coast ‘offer excellent opportunities. for this style of cultivation. ‘The chief natural encthies of the oyster in the waters of South Carolina are the conchs, drum fixh and sheepshead, the first mentioned being the most dreaded. Star fishes and the little mollusks known as “drills” also exist, but they appear to do little if any dam- age." The planted arca of oysters in South 11, not amounting to more than 150 acres, o Winyah bay. rapidly depleted. ‘he natural beds are being — Neither Did Anything. From the Argonaut. Rossini, after finiching his great work, in- dulged himself in a long period of leisure, and did not write a line of music. A friend once called on him and found him writing his auto- hotographs of himself. “To M. Pillet Will, my friend and my equal in music.” “What !" cried the visitor, you are not serious? M. Pillet Will is not your equal in ‘Certainly he is—since I am doing xplained Rossini. zncle's will his late will?’ “Yes; one million dollars went to charity, “witnteed; end wast was lett s Ls was i “Ralph.” —Life. ‘now, WO Was meaunoned | may possibly taken for the purpose from the natural beds or | graph, with a sentiment, at the bottom of some | One of these read : | spring, the extra session then called will be the | third in the history of the United States, which | nsider public financial matters erse, providing, of course, the free silver Busincne and Senctor Peffer's’ new -eubtreasury idea are left untonched. Barting the long jump from 1813 to 1837, extra sessions have been regularly convened at intervals of from six to fifteen years, but the last on record occurred in 1679, the middle of | Haves’ administration, and since then the con- gressional law has been “long term, short term | and no special that the list up to date | covers a period of eighty-three years, from 1797 | to 1879, and the filibustering which’ made the | latter a necessity shows how the political Dar- | wimtan theory had worked its evolution since | the statesmen of three-fourths of a century be- | fore legislated upon giving the French a dose of retuliative medicine. President John Adams bad only been in the executive chair e month when official word was | received that France had openly insulted the | American envoys, who requested the ‘frog eat- ers” to stop their piratical work on United States merchantmen or take the consequences, ‘The ambassadors were informed that big bribes to the French directorate would do the work together with # national loan to the Gallic public, but the proposition was spurned and President Adams directed Congress to meet on May 15, 1797. It didn't require very much orgunizing for the legislators to set their minds | anda bill was st once passed to form a new army and place Washington at the head. Ap- propriations were voted to increase the navy und carry on a strong maritime warfare should it become necessary; the France were ordered abolished and French vi sels to be ‘captured whenever possible. done the special session was at an end and their legislation evidently had a wholesome effect, for the expected war never materialized. THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. Jefferson did not want to take the responsi- of awaiting the regular session in 1803, when there was every prospect of the United | States becoming involved in a row with foreign | countries over the then discussed purchase of | Lonisiana from Napoleon, So on October 17 of the sume year the democratic founder gath- | ered his corps of law makers, and in a few days a bill was passed authorizing purchase at the | figure of ¥15,000,000. Spain was disposed to growl at the sale by the little Corsican, and the | Britieh hon roared, but that sexsion wasn’t bow- | ing to John Bull aud the program was carried out on the schedule time. From then until | May 22, 1809, members of Congress were wot compelied to exert themselves particularly, but Madison's first proclamation suggested the pro- priety of some action to remedy the growing discontent over the embargo act, which had been passed a number of months previously and had for its object the practical abolition of any American commercial relations with European powers, ‘The non-intercourse act then took the nluce of the repealed embargo decree, and Eng- lind and France were the only countrios pro- hibited from receiving United’ States exports. ‘The war of 1812 came on, however, in the next | few years, and Madison called another special fession ou Muy 413, during his second term, for the purpose of reorgunizing the army, which seemed to have become demoralized by several defeats along the Ca: lian frontier, out the next twenty-four years no special rove, ard it was not until Van Buren’s time that Congressmen were again called njon to earn their salaries more com- pletely. VAN BUREN'S FINANCIAL CRISIS. Owing to the “wild-cat™ banking schemes which held full kway in the latter part of Jack- son's administration President Van Buren had a vhtional tinancial crisis to face soon after his inauguration. A panic had spread over the entire country and specie payments were ever where suspended. In New York alone business failures were reported to an aggregate amount | of $10,000,000 for two months, and the govern- | ment found iteelf unable to recover revenues | whieh had been deposited in state banks, Under | these circumstances Van Buren laid the matter | before an extra session of Congress, and that | body responded by passing a law which anthor- | ized the treasury to issne its own notes to the [amount of 10,000,000. The present sub- treasury system was also inaugurated and the looked-for relief was obtained, although a great fight, which took place near the close of the pecial convocation, to re-establith a new United | States bank, the institution whose charter Jack- #on vetoed, resulted in the final defeat of that pet scheme of the whigs. In spite of all this matters were not in very much better shape when William Henry Harri- | son came to the White House four years later, | and the finances of the country were still in | such shaky condition that the party leaders | easily persuaded the President to follow the ex- | ample of is predecomor and call Congress to- | gether soon after the usnal adjournment in | proclamation was therefore issued | March 17. but Harrison died April 4, and did | Seed pon these of the optategr ot Mat of close upon the of the oj on ; 1841. Tyler, however, oesupled. the caaoalies chair then, ‘and two separate acts having as their object the re-establishment of » national bank were vetoed by him. It is a matter of | note that no subsequent attempts to revive } | legally unavailable. | the remainder being chiefly magnesia, ‘Through | on the first Monday of December following. It was then that © Rat 000,000 to put down the rebellion and author- ized Mr. Lincoln to call out 500,000 troops, be- sides directing bim to use the strictest measures possible to further the object. With the war at an end no need of the kind arose for nearly fitteen yearsafter the surrender at A) ttox. Congress adopted a series of Seger pec ple pee — and \y lons for the pi tf Keoping strict watch on the chief execudly appointments, when the impeachment proveed- ings had failed to remove him from office. Ac- cording to the Congressional Record the class of introduced bills had all been of by June, 1868, the long term being in session, but Congressmen were as well ver: then as now in the prolongation business, and it was an easy matter to take recesses of a wook or ten days occasionally in order to fill the time unti] the short term needed to begin by law. While to all intents and purposes special ses- sions, these weekly and bi-weekly meetings were not in reality such as the Constitution me tions as extras to be called by the Presiden and President Hayes was the first ruler after Lincoln to avail himself of the privilege. TO GIVE THE ARMY MONEY. The first occurred October 15, 1877, during the initial year of Hayes’ term, and the second March 18, 1879. Both had as their object the passing of appropriations, which met the fate that came within an ace of being meted ont to the sundry civil bill last summer, but with one special session there is connected ‘quite a bit of Unwritten history, andan immense amount of pressure was brought to bear upon Hayes, both pro and con, in relation to the projected extra convention.” It was at the time of the former of the two occurring during his administra tion, and the only difference between what Hayes did and Cleveland may do next year is that just now both sides on the issue are doing their declaiming publicly, while in 1877 those who opposed an extra session did so to the President in private. If the authority of a man prominent in official life there is ample for the statement, Hayes was on the point of giv- ing up the idea of @ special sewion in response to the arguments leaning that way, and only the day before his proclamation was issued decided that nothing short of a young revolution would result if he yielded. Had he done so there would have been no regular army in the United States, at least not until Congress met again in regular session and sppropriated money for its maintenance. It would have been an absolute disbanding process for afew months anywa: and the ultimate outcome very much of a piece of guesswork. However, the special session furnished the needed millions by legislation | and that ended the trouble, which had all come about in this wa; ‘The regular session of Congress finished its deliberations in March, 1877, without passing the customary army dill. on ‘account of a dis- agreement over several involved pieces of legislation, which contemplated various changes in the system of promotion. ropriated $500,- properly and neither side appeared willing to | pass the appropriation without coming to a definite decision on the side clauses attached. There the concern dropped, and when the | fixcal year ended in July the supply of cash for officers and soldiers was also ended, being Of course # clamor at once arose for an extra session, while more than one man urged the President to take ad- vantage of the fact that there was no appropt ation for the atmy and disband it. Such a move wonld have a wonderful effect on foreign owers, it was argued, and state militia could look after the constantly recurring Indian troubles in the northwest without particular expense to the government, The chase after the Nez Perces in their long fight through Idaho and Montana, so goes the story, was what decided Mr. Hayes and determined him as to the absolute necessity of regular troops. The following day the requisite proclamation went out and tl extra session was a fact. the § to terms on the gave the army its pay. The session of 1879 met only two wecks after the short term closed, and little time wax lost in getting the sundry civil bill through and scattering the members to their homes. A resume of the ten sessions culled by Presi- fact that only three were convened by order of repnbiican party upholders, the one of Lincoln and the two during Hayes’ ter:n filling that side of the roster. If Mr. Cleveland puts himself on record for number 11 the session will more than jual in financial interest those called by Van Buren and “Old Tippecanoe,” while presenting a contrast to that in Madison's first term, which hada sort of tariff tinge, becanse commercial relations with England and France were forbid- den altogether. ———— Three Kinds of Rubies. From the Jeweter's Review. ‘There are three kinds of rubies, the Oriental ruby, the spinel raby and the balas ruby. The first is the only true one. ‘The latter differ considerably in comparison from tho first. The In the latter are only seven-tenths of slumina, ‘The color, moreover, is due partially to the oxide of chronium, a substance of which the genuine ruby has not a trace, In commerce the balas ruby has much infe- rior value to the spinel. This is generally of a vivid poppy-red color; the balas is of a violet rose, although Pega has furnished white and white violet spinels, and Sudermania even blu- ish gray once. It can be seen at once, there- fore, how extremely erroncous would be a clas sification of gems by color or general appear- ance alone. ‘The primitive form of the spinel ruby is like that of the diamond, eight sided, which distinguishes it at once from the oriental stone. The color of the genuine ruby is the of the arterial blood, or pigeon’s blood, as it is called. Its extremely hurd, and, after the sapphire, is the hardest of the corundums, which renders it dificult to understand why the earth so rarely gives it up. [te tint is as beautiful by artificial light as by day, and jowers of refraction +o great that ancient be- lief credited it with power of emitting light. ‘The ancients even supposed that it would shine through clothing with undiminished power. The largest ruby known is one mentioned by Chardin “a having been engraved with the name of Sheik Scbhy. Another noble ruby is | in possession of the Shah of Persia. It weight | ix putat 175 karats, A third, belonging to the ing of Usapar, was cut into a hemispherical | form and in 1653 was bought for $13.866. A | sony paseo’ by Gustavus Adolphu: | sented to the czarina at the time of is journey to St. Petersburg was the size of a smail hen’s egg. —_+e-____ Not Outdone in Generosity. From the San Francisco Daily Report. A weck or two since a man connected with a government office here found on Sansome street acheck book on acertain bank. On examina- tion he discovered it was worth $5,000. The finder sent it bya friend to the bank and in return received a message to “call ‘round.” His time not being his own, it was impossible to answer the summons ‘for several days. Finally he went. Not being in the latest fashion, he was rather curtly received by “Well, what int?" “I came in response to a message about that check book.” ‘-Oh—h—h, you're the man, are you? Well, we're much obliged. Here's s quarter; go take a drink.” ‘Our discoverer took one long look at Mr. Clerk. .Then he dove down into his trouser's pocket, brought up several dollars in silver and selecting a bright new quarter, laid it before the gaping gentleman behind the counter with “Here, you go and take a drink, too!” ‘Then he turned on his heel and walked out, Thus the American Was Gulled. From the Boston Gazetie. Many stories are current about Freshwater were quite content to see ‘Measure were ever again put did succeed, . pad pope ters tration, and it was not that the crate, who ‘THE KANSss: When the dispute between came so pronounced in the garden and go away boasting The con- | ference committees could not strike a medium | vertheless, it was nearly December before | dents since John Adams’ time points out the | true is composed almost exclusively of alumina. | PALACES ON WHEELS. How Special Trains and Cars Are Rented and What They Cost. FAIRYLAND ECLIPSED.) No Limit to Gorgeousness and Comfort if You Have the Price—Stationary Hostelries Out- done—Kverything Provided, So That Worry | of Mind ts Unnecessary—An Elopement Nipped in the Bud. HREE-FOURTHS OF the traveling public | travel socond class, rat- | ing parlor and sleeping cars as first class, and one-half of these by actual computation have never ridden other wise or know of the comfort the extra fare affords. To them the iden of traveling at night and enjoying a refreshing sleep seems tobe impossible and not to be thought of. Likewise is their comprehension of the special | car system in vogue upon all the larger roads, | the price of such appearing to them something | | fabulous. Whether it is the gorgeous attire of | the porter or the impressive bearing of the con- | ductor that has created this feoling is a question worthy of debate. Fully one-half of the rural | Yoters of the country believe the special train furnished President Harrison for his great trip through the west to the Pacific coast of a year! go vas a gratis distribution of the hospitalities of the different roads traversed. It isa bard nut to crack for them to believe that the Presi dent of the United States was paying out of his own pocket for a trip that gave the country so much pleasure. Yet such was the case, and pretty penny was the aggregate cost of the trip. The railroads would willingly tender the use of their train service gratutiously, bat ther, a8 well as all well informed people, comprehend the impossibility of such a favor being ten- dered or accepted. The cost to President Har- | rison was in the neighborhood of $250 @ day, #0 that the total expenses of the trip can be very nearly approximated. SCHEDULES Yor sPEctALs. The different railroads are very similar to & large retail concern doing business over a counter. They offer their regular schedule trains at fixed prices, but if you are too proud to travel thus a special car will be furnished you or ial train made up at catalogued prices. To travel in this ultra exclusiveness was an unheard of extravagance a decade or two | ago, except in rare cases of haste and import- ance, but today special trains and special cars have become quite ordinary occurrences. One of the local agents of the sleeping car company was corralled by an EvExixo STaR Feporter one night this week and considera information was vouchsafed that may, perhaps, be news to the readers of Tue Stan, an it was to the reporter. In substance the information wax about as follows: | For €50aday a completely furnished and | gorgeous house on wheels can be had. This includes beds for some seventeen persons. This car will be placed on the rear of the train lected so as to secure the benefits of the obser- vation room. Next to the observation room are two drawing rooms, each being of fair di- mensions. Behind these is a dining room about fifteen feet long. Berths occupy the | middie of the car, but during the day they are comfortable sofas with an absence of the stiff- ness that name generally applies. To the rear a bath room is found possessing an inviting and refreshing look ona hot suramer’s day, and | thon comes the kitchen of fair size with its china closet, pantry and cold-storage closet. The car thus described will be found in gen- ral use by all the railroad presidente and other fficials down to the superintendents of divi- | sions, “It is hardly necessary to add that these | | gentlemen do not pay $50a day for their use. | ‘Two or three such cars can be found at the | | headquarters of the different roads, which gen- jerally being located in the large cities make them avatlable on a quick call. If the number of ngers in the car ex- | ceeds eighteen extra must be forthcoming | atthe regular fixed charges. Stops can be| made at all points desired, the car being side tracked and used as a home during the lay | over. This affords tourists an opportunity to | | visit points of interest, and instead of putting | | up at fourth-rate hotels and developing first. | rate cases of indigestion the menu of their own | chef can be enjoyed in privacy and comfort. | her | o | telling. | about but the rates would be special or for one ‘ones and at a considerably higher, For some years past it has been @ general Sfad with iment theatrical stars to travel in private cars, but of late it bas been dropping off very noticeably, as the regular train service appears to satisfy @ majority of this class. Some fifteen years back Jarrett & Palmer, the NewYork theatrical firm, startled the country by chartering « train to make the trip from New York city to San Francisco, and they may be almost classod ex the pioneers in this line. It it advertisement for that firm, and'a record for fast time was, tanie thet stands to this day. Berubardt is one of the actresses who must havea private car, asher col- lection of animals bas reached such dimensions | as would bar her from traveling with them ina public conveyance. Troupes of large size usually charter private cars for special runs, ‘as it makes it more agreeable all around for company. and incidentally, of course, tends to create talk and secures a free advertisement. Cost OF RUNNING DINING CARS, The ining cars which are attached to pop- lar through trains are generally owned and managed by the palace car companios. The expense of conducting them is something enor- mous, and upon auditing the accounts at the end of each month a loss is sure to be found. But they are awfully convenient toa hurrying traveling public and tend to increase the popu- larity of certain trains. Each dining car requires the sorvices of seven servants. The steward receives $100 a mouth and is held responsible for everything con- nected therewith, He collects the money for the meale, makes the guosta comfortable, and sito files a report to the company. Two cooks are required—the head one receives $65 a month and an assistant €40. The four waiters depend chiefly upon tips for their remunera- tion, but as there is always a scramble for the itions it is safe to assert that they secure an income that is ample fof the services rendered. The bills for food at the end of each w will foot up in the neighborhood of from #1,200 to $1,500, the number of pastongers catered to, of course, causing the fluctuations. As a rule the meals provided on dining more elaborate and better than can b many of the first-class stationary 1 hotels, Many courses are genorall dinner costing $1 and for supy 75 cents. TurY wIesED TaviR trary. “To return to special trains and cars,” con- tinued the agent, “I know of « little incident that occurred on my road and originated in this city that was brimful of excitement and ro- mance and which the papers lost entirely. don't know as Trhould tel ow, but as all the people concerned are hanpr and contented by this time no harm is likely to result in the The particulars of the incident came to my knowledge right after their occurrence, which enables me to tell the story without a break. ‘ “It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of a bright, balmy day last spring when a pale young man came to the window of my office and ina it | hurried manner bonght two tickets for New | th York. The gong hed just so: to pull out and with a despairing. hur ded for the train ed | Slance over bis shoulder the man made a dash | for the entrance to the platform. Feeling a slight interest in the young man and desiring totes if he caught bis train I walked to the window and glanced out and down the platform, By the young man’s side was a young lady of wenty years, and both were trving to induce the gateman to le: them through and make a try for their train. As there seemed t | be some bitch about the train pulling out at | fourths of the state Jonce he at last consented and both uurried | with, but jown the platform at a gait between « run und awalk. The engineer, no doubt vexed at being hemmed in in front by #bifting cars and at the loss of valuable time to him, but still more so to the hurrying couple, pulled the train out with a jerk, and notwithstanding their wild gesticulating and noisy cries the couple were lett behind, the picture of blank despair, upon the now almost deserted platform, . “A hurried consultation was held by the couple and then they hurried toward the office on a rapid walk. “ ‘What will a special car and engine cost me from here to New York, and bow soon will it be ready?’ heard the ‘voung man ask the clerk at the window in a tone full of determi- nation and decision, HE ORDERED 4 SPECIAL. “The clerk gave him the price and tuned to me to ascertain if there was an engine and car available. Iquickly communicated with the depot master and learned that an engine and car could be back t up to the platform in nty minutes. This was told the anxious oung couple, and the young man said: | ‘Well, for heaven's sake hurry it along as quick as possible. We must bein New York tonight. It's an important case.” “From a survey of the couple as they again wa'ked out on the platform to await the special | Timagined they were brother and sister, and that the sickness of some loved one was the magnet that drew them on. The girl was de- cidedly pretty, her eyes and hair being coal Diack and the ‘face an oval one. Ordinarily a happy emile would grace that face and twinkle | in those eyes, but now instead look full of worry and anxiety was there. My sympathies went out for the couple and I hustled matters The linen for table and beds, table ware, | crockery and every other necessary article i3 | | supplied. ‘Three servants and a cook, a waiter | and a porter go with the outtit and are under | the orders of the tenant. Heatmg and lighting | |are also thrown in, It is optional with the | | tourist whether the company’s servants and | | supplies are used; his own servants and furnish- | | ings can be brought along if he so desires, This, | of course, calls for additional expense. The best plan is to allow the company. to furnish | [everything needful, as they make special ar-| rangements and develop facilities to do it well and without any worry or friction to the traveler. ‘ SKILLED COOKS GO WITH THEM, The cooks that go with these cars are possessed of more than the average intelligence, and, be- sides preparing an appetizing Dill of fare, ar- range for the fresh supply of provisions at | stations days ahead. In this way toothsome | delicacics are secured in the shape of birds and game known only to the localities through which the road used traverses. For instance, if the northern New York route to the west taken grouse that would shun any other air than that of the aristocratic Adirondacks can | be bought and handed on at a convenient sta- | | tion by simply telegraphing ahead, or if the | southern route through Virginia to the gulf | coast should be decided upon the rail or rice | bird may be had in the fall and in winter the | rave meat of the Blue mountain deer served up in steaks worthy of the most exacting epicure. All those plans and arrangements are subject to variations, The traveler with exclusive ideas can secure an ordinary sleeping car for his ‘private use for $10 a day. He can havea buffet added for $45 or a dining and observa- tion car for $50. Several of the roads fur- nish what is called the “hunting” car for the metropolitan sportsman that cares not for the price of things, but looks for comfort as the rimary excuse for living. In these care are Eennels for dogs, racks for guns, fishing tackle and perhaps a bottle or two of tht fluid that exhilarates. This car costs $35 a day and ap- pears cheap, a8 all incidentals. including ser- vants, are thrown in, This car is used quite extensively on the western roads and the price varies slightly. A HOTEL OX WHEELS, Durinig the politica’ campaigns the auditor of this branch of the railway service is kept busy providing carsand straightening out accounts, as prominent speakers are well cared for by the respective committees of both parties, who de- sire as many speeches made and at as many different points as possible. For these mex then a regular hotel on wheels is furnished and costs about $225 per diem. This hotel em- braces an entire train,consisting of three slee) ing cars, a dining car and a buffet emoker. The latter car is a gorgeous affair in ite way, the a pointments being of the finest and in ext | | ood taste. Rugs of Persian make, an inch or fro. in thickness, cover the floor, the furniture jeaved, but those mi; tremely | Foun, bring th ple ai along as fast as posible, thinking all the while of a parent or a dear friend of the voung girl's was, perhaps, dying in the big city. In the hurry and bustle I lost «ight of the fact that a fast train left tor New York at 4:45 and that now, asthe special car and engine backed up to the platform and the couple, with a look of great relief, mounted the former and were steaming away, but twenty-five minutes in- tervened. By waiting for that train only forty minutes would have been lost and a snug sun ates were evidently precious ones in the couple's sight, AN IRATE FATHER. “Returning to my office I once more resumed my auditing of the current business, when I was startled by an inquiry in loud, angry voice at the office window as to whether a young couple of a certain description had bonght tickets by our road for New York, leaving by the 4 o'clock train, Glancing up I recognized a very wealthy and important government official who is lo- cated at the Capitol as a member of one of the branches of Congress. The recognition was mutual. ~‘Say, Jim,’ be said, ‘help me out of this, will you? ['mafraid my daughter is playing | the fool and I want to bring her to her senses. Have vou seen her?’ “I then sawthrough it all. Quicker than I'm telling you now [ placed the situation be- fore the old gentleman. “AW train!” he out. ‘Well, rl be—no f won's, either, “Ute me one, too," ‘and he slammed a wad of bills on the counter as nEDarting ont ofthe office Tcsughs the depot “Darting out of the office it the master and quickly explained the situation, “hy don't sou stop the other special ‘and orde? the engineer yy telegraph?’ this brunt, matter-of-fact official asked” “What, and lose the hundred?’ I i ‘Not much. Give me another engine. ness is business.’ CHASING AN ELOPING PAIR, “I beckoned to the old gentleman to follow me and down the platform we went ona trot. The engine that was to take out the 4:45 train was pressed into service and a handy coach near by coupled to it. Desiring to see the end of the affair I decided to go along, a decision that pleased the old man. “A few minutes later we were in pursuit, “Between the ja of the train the old gen- tleman gave mothe details of the affair He said his iter was old enough to know bet- ter and her id likewise. He any very serious ob; was ried, only poor and he wanted them to wait a few years until he secured a better financial foothold. “What I want now,’ said_my companion, ‘is to catch them before this thing becomes them back and have them married manner.” “We reached Baltimore right on the heels of u is of massive oak and leather covered, © | the runaway couple, and ax the rental of the vor endl gold pieting ese eee | car was assured and my duty to the ‘company sides. It embraces a bar,a barber shop, a bath putes determined to the father se- room and a library for quiet with et ep er to remain is the provincial politicians and office and ond moatinn, “te beeen ee the telegraph office across the hall and I ro- —- special and again we started in “Ten miles out of Baltimore we were only « fc a8 the Toca! committees to the, traveling speakers 2c | BOCK signal distance apart and at the next tole velope an abuermeliy large Tor whiek, raph sation we ulied up behind the ranovay it would be mere guesswork to set a price upon ee. ‘ith an anxious look on before starting on the journey. This car un-| **°¢ son nner hetsied to the cor doubtedly represents the ‘| mount steps and throngh the window of the modern car, If an caught a glimpse of the daughter in her father's car is desired to be added to this train Stats ines sataitiaaed ote EE travel in this way are return trip. The father called me into the car and introduced lovers. They ap- | erty fe A crestfalien first, but finally ‘ it oor peer ae “rhe olf cee . parted at the SS ‘me to keep ‘matter a secret, which I have done. om ep in the northwest section of the and up ‘the couple wore married according to the father’s wish, in mane nd mode te tell ‘they came to be 7 overtaken. He said be was never more n his life than when the old man wr Their engineer, he said, told bh. wine had broken down, but from words repped by his father-in-law be concluded I knew someting of the details, and I did. — Artes Ward Among the Miners. From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. I was out in Colorade when Artemus Ward made famous lecture tour through that ter ritory many years ago,” said Julius Connell, of a party discnesing American homorist+ in the rotunda of the Lindell. “Artemus was at that ime jast raing inte prominence as a laugh He made a tour of the mining camps bt wit bron him awhole bevy of sun. » on ncarce article at das. Draw poker 9 the music of @ dyspeptic 4 up the measure of our Artemus visited the camp at ote Gulch and put up posters regding Artemus Ward will «peak a piece ten's saloon Tuesday might, Collect: ow for the benefit of the orphan. * over the mountain « distance of ten miles to ‘hear the tenderfoot shoot his Sai mouth. put S o'clock he mounted the pine bar and © mecting to order. A big = jag on refused to aide rd hit bim « couph with bis «ix-shooter. ¢ going on in one corner ¢ players asked for five he proprietorship of a Jack ted. Then the “father of course. We were eit tomsin solid ved the landlord passed 4 the vieator’s plug bat, and when it wae ec to him it was sagged out of a silver de From Belsravia The great pianist, who was passionately et tached to the gipsies, o daavored to eda- ca y Ind, but failed igno- miniously spirit of the nature of countloss aid not be tamed, and 2d liking the novelty of the new he young gipsr sub:itied, bat with a bad to the instruction of the teacher Liat Bat he soon broke loose and became arrogant and inordinately conceited. However, his untutored playing was excellent and he bee cam pet of those foolish women in society who a new era, ghty craving after variety. Soc lof nature pined for the freedom of and civilice The is and savagery, and so he went. He rau away times and was brought back and then Liszt lot him go for good er vearé he turned up again in one of the gipay orchestras, but he was vere plaver—instrac- tion had ° real ability that as So was shattered one Liszt's life—he learned could not be tamed quite so - a savage beast.as many had discovered easily The Deadly Inauguration Date. Was! Corrmpoadeice Boston Framer It is one of th gest and «tapidest things imaginable that Congress docs not go back te the original date of inauguration—April 30, It would require a constitutional amendment, which would have to be ratified by three pat as it is a question 30th of April side— , although it would of deaths from hav- take place in the vear is an appalling inauguration one wide to i could be ome t tal ing the inaugural | most trying seaso of it he Harrison's there wasa frightful downpour of cold rain one. At Preside and it was very much a | the incoming an out serious sufferers by it the lo | form, cout nts soaked, drenched u; Prerid rebended that both ag Presidents would be When it is remembered ars Bt tukes for sucha parade to 2 often with their +hoes and ao- the spectators sitting 3 -, while the gress to and from the Capitol bas his bat in bis hand almost eon- tinuall:, to say nothing of delivering bis in- augural with his head bare, the only wonder fs that anybody escapes. Perhaps when some President has died from pneumonia contracted at bis inauguration Congress will wake up to | the necessity for the change. | so A'most a Disclosure. From the Boston Giobs ‘The subject of “kissing before engagement | for marriage” came up at a whist club of halfe dozen married couples. It turned out that not one of the women bad been kissed until ber troth was plighted. One of the men hada poor memory. . “We used to kiss sometimes, didn't we?” he said to his wife. “No, sir,” she said, with deep indignation, ‘on never kissed me until after we were engaged; you tried, and you fought for the | privilege, but you never succeeded.” | “Tve | kissed «0 man “Is that so?” the husband remarked. “What? What did you say?” the wife adked. There was a pause. reseed excitement was visible otber married men, Intense but # on the faces of app ‘Then the other married men breathed fresly. ‘That May Be It, From Puck. Hilo—“I saw Delaware alluded to the other day as the diamond state. Why is that?” Skidds—“P. because it is | enough for a bese ball grosaa” = MS ae i a A Surprise. From Harper's Bazar.