Evening Star Newspaper, December 24, 1892, Page 10

ii | A CHAT WITH STEAD.| Frank Carpenter's Talk With the| Famous London Editor. | CORNERED IN HIS SANCTUM. ‘The Kel\tor Belle Mow Ue Came to Start the Keview of Reviews, and Advocates a Union | Special Correapoadence of The Evening Lewpen, Deo. i 892. HAVE JUST HAD AN uterview with oue of the great men of the | world. I refer to Mr. | Willams T. Stead, late | editor of the Pal! Ma! Gaette and now of The | , of Reviews. | ew of Rewiew by Mr. | Stead only a short time | ago, but it has jumped ront as one of the rent magazines of the world sud editions of it are pubiisbed in Eng- laud, im the Dusted Statesand in Australia. Mr. Stead calls it The Business Man's Magazine aud be toils me that its aim is to present a tree the thought wad progress of the and to be the leader in ew EY fer putuag such a ti nation ie a sort of @ journalintie We bay the uerve of @ giant, the of a Jnaius and the intellectual vigor of » Carivic Me believes in aceomplich tee ode sad he cares but little for m they be hynest ours haddor a few years ago 2 Tribute te biedern Babyiow,” when he inid bare the life of artatoorate Loudon and showed how little girls were bought and seid for roue uobility. Aseditor of the Pail Mali Gazette he forced pariiamgent to reform this and other evile, even minister. fourtece to take the pines of an office boy iu ovtmbnshment After working hose soon became | frow ove spother. working | Merton newpeeey watt slong about | he Goreme editor of the Poll Mail | him, to be ane | Be lett | the Re- | is now devoting Lis | im his office, | THe KINO OF BELOIUM. "pom the mantel over the open fire vere many portraits of the most “as men and women of the times Among these were the lean. intellectual face of Joho G. Whittier, the kind, fatherly eounte- Wivtwan and the cultured feotures vf James Maseetl Lowell, Over the doors Of the clfce were dre maguseripts. and ucar whseh was also covered with Kinda A large bust of Car- Manaing iwoked down from the top the desk and as J enteved Mr. Stead scheir wm frost af it aud took my -_ Mato business with be told me more abun! T had boom able te learn in the ‘alee Like Lightnin, Imteliectaal sparks fellow his words mere lhe 4 practical American He lugs Metaodist Preseber than « London litteratear Hv is — im bw drew aod habits. Mis soft own het ie crashed im at the top end he suuf-colored suit of business cl. ew locked as though their owner had been on tour end had just got home. lic Like an American thenen Fuglieh- anglcisms to Lie never says “You kuew.” and slang I noteed in hie talk was img, by which he weald now and then refer te seme people wi heidt in contempt as the “ He is, 1 judy, about ty ne weighs sbeut 150 pe . bright blue Mow BIS MAGAZIVE Was FOUNDED. Tt was during » lune with him at Gatti the Strand that I asked him how he came to Griginate the Review of Heviews plied: “I bad long had the idea of wine, and | inteude Plement of the Pu Of the Pat Mt: to pas any mor a big field for 1 two work it. Id wey out of it, and uw Were that 16 would me, pores, from = Abound to Stier hundred” vilaré & year, Wick ws an addition to my on thy Pall was aot to be sneered at Alter L to siurt the magazine the Pail Maii objected and that I would have to leave the I cousidered it and I thought it was bet expect to make wile ma bious if | door opened and a litt | my bat. | ge into the next room. >. al i THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, D daily has such ® short life that its eree of | jaenee taust be « limited one. it dies the day it ts born, and it can never reach the world atlange. The weekly exteuds farther, but ite news is also transient in ite character. | The is a revolver. It is good for six hots nt short and i = . work admirably rifle, Ite raage ts longer, for that distance only. = modern cannon. It carries 500-pound shots for miles, and when they go forth the atmos- eere of the whole earth quivers. Our in the Remew of Keviews I con- eaive to tbe thes of the English-epeak- ing people of the world, and our end Aad sim is to bring these peopie closo to one | scother. We waui to see Canada, the United ‘Sraves, Eagiead aud Australia brought together into ene grest international union. a anion not Abe governinental arrangements of to- itso that these Anglo-Saxon shall “work together under com- mon international |i and so that all the world over they shell | stand up for each other. As for the Buglish gud Amerieas naval stations working together: this could hardly beso now. The disparity of the two navies is so great, and you have almost twice as many people to protect as we have, but your navy ie growing, and the time may come when if an American is ill-treated in any part of the werld where an English wmas-of-war stands he will be defended by that vessel and the same ser ‘The weekly is like but it is effectize | like to ase union, offensive and defensive, | among the English-speaking nations, and the time will come when we will have ii “The governments of these countries are 20 different, however, that a union is bardly pos- sible.” eaid I. “There is not balf so much difference as there seems to be.” suid Mr. Stead. “The whole wrrid is coming nearer every year to the | level of republicanism and self-government. We are rapidly approaching it in Enginad. The fnct thai we havea queen and « royal family does uot affect the matter. They are/ of no empecial infiuenee. They hare | their plaee as ornamental —_ figures on eur governmental tables, but they affeet th feast no more than the bouguets with which | you oruament your tables at Lome. They are | merely a detil, and they have little to de with the goverum: The cemversation here turned to newspapers. Mr. Stead is one of ti the world. He knows how to make a man as well ns talk and he ont of every man ost that isin him and expre aud fully than the man him- jewer, said Mr. Stead, ‘is one of the most ‘tive in jonrnalism. ‘The newspaper is for tie communication of thongit. The interview is one of the best methods of euch communication. It brings the | reader and thinker close togeiher, and such talks sometimes change the face of “How abont your talk with General ‘Chinese’ Gordon just before he went to Egypt? That affected history, di I asked Yes,” was the reply. ‘That was perhaps one the most important inte we ever take: mr troubles will ‘The government hud decided to give idem and Gen. Gordon was at South- empton, about to proceed to Egypt. He had, I knew, posiinve orders as to what was to be done sad I wanted an imerview with him upon the situation. I wrote him at Southampton telling wm I would like to eco him und asking him when he could receive me. He replied at once, was at the time of . saying ‘hat it weuld be impossible for him to talk to me the had nothing to say. I thereupon telogsaphed him tha: I must see him fad that I would leave for Southampton on the neat traim. | have been told that he spent the vest of that day walking up and dewnand debating whether he would see me when I came or not, When I go: off the train i went at once to his house and rang the bell. In # moment the fellow, who I took for Gen. Gordon's butler, asked me in and helped me off with my topcoat and hug up i asked him i! Gen. Gordon was in, aud he rephed that he was wad motioaed me to i weat im and the little I took a sext and then told fan faliowed me. the little man to please tell Gen. Gordon that Mr. Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette was there and wonld like to tee the livtle man said him. Where: “Tam Gea. Gurdon, hand and then took achnir and sat down beside | me. We thea weat over the whole situation to- gether, and his ideas were such that they re- sulted in an entire change of government liey. I listened to them and when I went ack to Loudon I laid them before pverument ministers and they decided to d le reached me } secept them and to send him to the Seadun. Terged them to let him carry out his ideas in bis own way, and had they dons so in lity the r would have been peedily closed. It wns his idea to have taken mel and to have gone alone to the camp of | the mahdi and to have discussed matters with Rim. But no! the goverament would have its own way, aud the result was the death of Gor- "The best interviews I have ever had,” con- tinued Mr. Stead. “are some which have never been published. One of the most remarkable [ have ever bad was the Czar of Russia, but the czar insisted that no meution of it should be made in print, and thongh I wrote a long serics of letters on Hussia for the English and American newspapers and published a book on Russia the public do not know to this day that I met the emperor and talked wit him.” lease describe the interview,” said I, “and impressed you.” “The Coantess Novikoff arrauged the meet- ing,” replied Mr. Steud. “and the gudience was given me much to the surprise of the English minister at St. Petersburg, Sir Robert Moricr, and the other diplomats. It is, you know, not considered proper for a minister to present 0 of his countrymen to a monarch unless he ha! been presented at court at hqme. I have never been presented to the queen’ and have never considered it worth the trouble and expense of buying a court nd it seemed to mo at St. Petersburg that our minister did not want me to meet the czar. I did meet him, however, and he reseived me in one of the roome of his palace at Gatchina. He sat at one side of a table during our converation and Isat at the other facing him, and the conversation was frec ant open and there was an entire absence of red H tape about my reception. The czar smoked a ciguretie during the talk, thongh, by the way, Lremember be fuiled to offer ms one> He knew of me, for I bad been writing in favor of Russia fer the past twenty years, and I began my conversation by saying: B CZAR. “ ‘Your majesty, I am accredited in England with being your agent. I am said to have been fighting your battles for years, and if this is so T want a supply of cartridges from headquar- tere You kn 1 am predisposed in favor a4 1 think uaderstabd on and I ‘Twas looked upon in En, that 1 wae Russia's friend know just how Russia felt. and the intended to ao. The ceas that began to talk and he went over the The monthly is the | | Ere newfangled no “That was rather a curious experience,” way the reply. “I went to Belgium sreceks te sce the king and he came in to his to mect me. He is, you know. s very tall men and a very pompous one. When Iwas presented to him he stood up very said, im labored English: speak the | Engiiah, eo we will have our conversation im Freneb.” “ “But, your majesty,’ eaid I, ‘I do not speak | French.’ . ‘thea Ido not eee how we can talk to- gether,’ said “*Well, your majesty,” said I, ‘Iam cure if you cannot speek ‘nglish you know enough for | me to make you what I want to say, , into the city to give me the in- terview and T have often wondered why he was uot more gracious during it.” Stead deprecated their lack of enterprise and Push and said that they “badly needed inde- pendence and spiee. 1 asked him to tell me the story of the’‘Maiden’s Tribute to Modern Baby- lon,” and he replied that the sensation was not sprung as a newspaper sensation and that every word of the story of vice told in it was true. it was written toinfluence parliament to cor rect one of the most horrible evils of Lov- don, which parliament would not touch because its participants were largely amoug the members of nt. Its publication secured this result, and though the sooial evil still prevails in London to a greater extent, perhaps, than in any other eity in the world thie sensation took tle young girls off of the streets and yon are no longer accosted ou every street cerner by little ones in hort clothes as you were in the past. “As a Rewspaper enterprise the publication injured rather than beiped the circulation of the Pail Mat! Gazette,” said Mr. Steud, concerning it. told me it would ruin the paper. Dufing the Sensation our circulation ran up to more than 100,000. We could have sold a million if we could have printed them, and asit was the Papers sold for balfa crown apiece upon the streets. Whon the thing died down the reac- tion came. Our circulation dropped off and our advertisers rushed in to take their ads. out ‘of what they called ‘the unclean sheet.’ Henry Irving was one of the first to withdraw his ad- followed. Awa financial enterprise it was not a succers, but as accomplishing just what it set out to do it succeeded admirably, for parlia~ ent passed the bili in a jiffy.”” Fraxx G. Canrenten. —_+e-+______ Written for The Evening Star. ‘The Complaint of Santa Claus. "Twas the night before Christmas—the solemn stair clock Was ringing out Twelve with a clang and a shock, As I sat by that dismal dark hole in the wall Unheard of, of old, which we register call. I drowsily thought of the days when, a boy, I gioried in dougunut and taffy and toy; When ap in the chimney my stoekings I hung, And after dreamed dreams of the saint of the young. ‘The door opeped slowly, and slowly in walked A long-bearded old man, who sat with me and talked; I felt not afraid, for I knew hima no sprite, ‘Though he came to me thus in the middle of night. T felt not afratd of him, simply because I saw at a glance he was oid Santa Claus; T gave him a pipe wivteh he lit, ‘gaa to smoke, And through the thick cloud that he raised, thas he spoke: “Old poet, you're dreaming of days that have flown, Whee Christmas was jolly, and I was well known; My heart ts, like yours, ful! of sorrow and pain For the good, good old times that come never agaln; “When I was a power, yea, a power in the land, asvid customs had banued; When I with my steigh load appeared, Christinus eve, ckknacks galore for the young joyed to “Now that ts all over—the girls and the boys e inime more, though they stil! doin ‘Vhat tat is a Ob, for, behold, bere I be. “The children are wise in these days, and the laws Of Nature they learn, and forget Santa Claus; ‘They believe notin fairies, and ghosts, and what not— For that I'd not care, had they me not forgot. ‘They say that I never filled stockings—that's Nat— ‘They study philosophy—can't credit that; T could not fll ‘em now, if I so were disposed; ‘There's no piace toang 'em—the fireplace closed. i am grieving like you—I'm a inckless old fellow, Occupation all gone—like tue tragic Othello; My storehouse is stocked yet with many @ thing-um. Bob fine, and I in my old sleigh could bring ‘em. ‘But as Tam forgot, J’ not t young ones, like old ones,too knowing by half, No stockings hang up, and at me dare tolaugh. “I do aot deem Christmas so blest as of yore; Tee mistletoe, holly, and games are no mor se, Kissing ts still going on, jollity waolly has gone. too much électric—is that the word?—- Ligut; It hurts my weak eyes, for the glare 18 too bright; ‘The play tings are made by machinery now, Aud mine now are quite out of date, you'll allow. And telegraphs, kgdaks, that magical seem; If thelr forefathers saw them, they'd wonder and quake, And vow that old Nick hada hand in their make. “I'm sick of the times, with theirbig pablic schools— ‘But the children that | knew by uo means were fouls; ‘Though they knew not as much as the children today, 5 ‘Their hearts were more light, I think—spirits more Bay. “If the children can do without me, well and good! Pil not bother about them—be that understood! ‘They may harass thelr fathers and mothers for cash, And buy at ten-cent stores thetr latter-day trash. “ButTll come no more—I'm not needed, I think— Good-bye!"—""Ha, hold on, and take something to drink!” But stay he would not—out he slipped througd the door— Cried “May the saints bless you!”—I saw him no more. 1 was sorry he went, and for tears T was ripe, But | found on my tabie a fue meerschaum pipe: ‘To laquire who left it.I scarcely need pause, But 1—I beileve im good old Sayra Ciaus. —W. L. Suommaxzn. 0+ AGood Excuse. From Puck. Willy's Mother—“Willy, don't you know it is with your soldiers on Sunday?” “But, mamma, this is the Salvation ———-+e-— A Worm Tarns. From Puck. Belle Weatherbee—‘‘How sheepish youlooked when you proposed to me."” Jack de Rham—That's because you pulled the wool over my eyes from the first ‘The Same Syinptome. From Puck. Kenneth (aged three, very tired by « long walk)—‘Mamma! My shoes are getting new again. whole situation with me and without reserve gave me his ideas. I “The day it was published Henry Labouchere | Vortisement and the oiler amusement managers | “The boys play with toys that are driven by steam, | SECRETS OF THE SEA. How the Hydrographic Office is Try- ing to Learn Them. eo aN TES AN APPEAL TO THE BOTTLE. field of weed filled with animals living and dy- ing, an immense deposit of animal and vegeta- ble remains must be gradually forming. Should that part of the floor of the sea be up- | heaved at some future time by volcanic action | it would furnish mines of manure sufficient to fertilize the farms of the world. Supposing ‘Tracing Currente by Setting Floating Objects | that it were ible economically to fetch to ee eee Ener mene or ‘great quantities of this cake a eae Tater plant which ‘now floats usslons it would enormot Juable as a fer ,. HESETTING AFLOAT | “Many “dorelicte” i, e. deserted and water- of memages in bottles has been an expedient resorted to by ship- wrecked mariners for many centuries. Often bas @ writing thus con- signed to the waves been the happy means of rescuing castaways, bringing succor to those whor: hope had well nigh: forsaken. More frequently such @ docu- ment, picked up years iater perbaps, bas re- lieved suspense by making certain the fate of missing voyagera. It seems odd that this idea shoukd have been recently adopted by science for the practical and unromantic purpose of finding out about the surface currents of the Ocean. This work is the newest that has been under- taken by the hydrographic ofiice of the United States navy. Within the last two years it has distributed tens of thousands of “bottle papers” among the 2,500 skippers of seagoing veesels, from sailing craft to Atlantic liners, who con- tribute reports as voluntary observers in ex- change for supplies of pilot charts, &c., given by the government. ‘These bottle’ papers are printed forme which the observersare requested inclose in bottles and throw overboard after marking upon each of them the latitude, longi- tude and date. Oneach paper is a separate space in which the percon who may find the bottle is asked to write the date and locality, afterward forwarding the paper to the nearest United States consul or to the hydrographic | office at Washington. Directions as to these matters are printed on the paper in reveral languages. Up to the present timo 261 of the | bottle papers ‘thus scattered broadcast have | been returned, but thousands of them are still | Afoat, and of these a considerable percentage | Will be picked up sooner or later. Of course, it is impossible toknow how many of thoes placed in the hands of observers have been duly bottled and launched, THE STORY OF THE BOTTLES. “ The courses taken by the bottles in drifting tells the story of the ocean currents, and | knowledge of these is of the utmost importance to mariners. Chiefly it is valuable for enabling Vessels to select such routes across the rens as make it possible for thom to take advan- tage of favoring streams and to avoid unfave able ones. Columbus knew nothing about th: currents of the Atlantic, and #0 he made his | way to the new world by the path which the surface drift laid out for* him. ¢Thus, after being driven far to the southward, he finally brought up at San Salvador. Knowing where he started from and the point at which be finally arrived, hydrographers today can draw curved line on the map showing exactly the course which he must have followed. Just at this time such fact logged vessels—find their way into the Sargasso | Sea, where they float about for « long time and | finally break up or sink. An important feature | of the work of the hydrographic ofice is the finding of such re to navigation, the & proximate location of whicbare plotted mon on the pilot chartsdistributed to skippers. Four Years ago great alarm was felt on account of a Girantic raft of logs which went adrift south of jantacket. It was co of 97,000 trunks of trees from 50 to 100 feet long, bound with iron chains into a cigar-chaped mase 560 feet long gnd weighing 11,000 tons. It was con- structed in Nova Scotia, starting from the Day of Fundy for New York in tow. The hawsers parted in a hurricane, leaving the raft in the direct track of commerce. The biggest of the ocean greyhounds, on striking such an obstructio#, would have gone down at once with all on ‘board, Two egovernment steamers and a tng started at once in pursuit of the raft, which had luckily been broken up by the storm, the remnants of it being found scat- tered over a wide space about 100 miles south- east of the point where it was lost. For some time it was imagined that the floating lo might do damege, but, though many veseel encountered them, no harm reeulted. DERELICTS. This would have been the most dangerous derelict ever known if the raft had held to- gether. Vessels which come under this denomi- nation are most commonly laden with lumber or some other light cargo, so that they do not sink, but merely become water logged, floating about dismasted with decks ona level with the water, so that it ix very difficult to see them in time fo avoid them. Continually drifting there is.no telling when or where they will be eu- countered, and a collision with such an ob- stacle is very apt to mean total wreck. Ships often sail away and are never heard from again, though there has been no storm, and in such cases they are reported “missing,” the likelihood always being that they have mot with some such accident as this, against which even the best navigator cannot guard. So serious is this peril that it has been proposed that the nations should divide the oceans into districts, each one keeping its own district clear. ‘The most extraordinary derelict ever heard of was the barque Marie Celeste, which was found in the middle of the Atlantic de- serted, with every sail set, dinner half cooked in the galley and not asoul on board, though the had every appearance of baring been Go- cupied immediately before. he weather was fair, and there was a gentle breeze. She was towed into port, but no ex- planation of the mystery has every offered Itself. One of the uses of studying the surface currents of the seas is for the tracking of dere- ts. Often, when a very dangerous one is located, a steamer is sent out to blow it sky- high with explosives. WEATHER PREDICTIONS AT SEA. Before many years have passed there will be adopted a regular system for making predic- tions of weather on the ocean, based upon eS . Mile’ lnfect Only < few -oeeee ago | Observations at stations in different parts of tho the hydrographic ofice was called” upin | Atlantic. It is not practicable to construct re~ to. determine. the. probable ‘location of | liable forecasts for ‘that vast waste of waters from data obtained on its shores. ‘Therefore it is proposed that observatories shall be established on the Bermudas, the | Azores, the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, all of which are already or will soon be connected with the continents by telegraphic cable. Excepting the Bermudas, all of these islands bave localities suitable for high-level observatories, There are mountains in the Azores a mile and a half high, in Madeira a mile high, in Teneriffe two miles high, and on the Cape Verde Island of Fogo there is « peak a mile and three-quarters high. Observations taken from Fogo would be particularly valua- ble, because it lies near the tropic and on the parallel where most of the important cyclones that traverse the Atlantic are generated, ‘Tho observatories will be equipped with in- struments for noting the first appearance, na- ture and progress of disturbances, and the in- telligence thus secured will be transmitted to the mainiand in time to give warning of coming storms. In this way the destruction of shipping along the coasts by unexpected hurricanes will be toa great extent prevented. The fact is interesting to contemplate that if the entire surface of the earth were made level the whole globe would be covered with water toa depth of two miles, oceans at present is about three mile Perhaps the best way to get a notion of what such adepth signifies is to think ofa place three miles distant on the surface of the earth nnd to imagine the horizontal line connecting one’s self with that place swung downward to the perpendicular. The deepest hole m any of the 0 is found just east of Japan, where the bottom sinks to a depth of five anda quar- ter miles below the surface. The vovagers on the famous expedition of the Challenger, found that it took an hour and a quarter for the heavy sounding weight to sink to the bot- tom of this mighty chusm. Kexz Bacux. —— 8 OF CHILDREN, a Pecific mail steamship which was lost in the Pacific ocean, Her machinery having broken down, as was reported by a vesecl which had signaled her, she had drifted off and nothing had been heard of her for weeks. ‘The Pacific | Mail Company, being unable to find her, ap- |pealed to the experts at Washington, ‘who promptly pointed out the exact spot where she Would be discovered. And ale wee found there, 600 miles west of where the owners had been looking for her. This was figured out from | known facts respecting the direction and ve- locify of the currents in that great waste of waters. THE OCEAN PaTHways. Animfortant part of the business of the hydrographic office is the laying of tracks across the ocean. They are noue the less actual roads because they are marked with imaginary lines instead of iron rails. Within the last few weeks the experts have been called on to lay out a route for steamers direct from Laltimore | to the Mediterranean. Two roads were ye- quired, one to goand the other to come back by. The road eastward had to be far north of the return path in order to take advantage of the favoring currents euch way. ‘The tracks of the great Atlantic liners between the United | States and Great Britain are as accurately made out and followed as if they were Quilt on land, tiie winter track being some distance south of the summer track because of bergs. Over these watery roads the ocean gre} hounds travel at the spéed of moderately fast railway trains, the maxiinum attained by the | City of Paris being about 23 miles an hour. ‘The tracks going and coming are 40 to 60 miles apart, and the pilot charts warn failing vesse to avoid them, just as wagons are warned to keep off the railroads, for these swift steam- ships do not stop for fog or anything, but keep onat full speed mght and day, last summer one of them cut the schooner Fred. B. Taylor fairly in two, the latter being on the track, one- hulf flonting'one way and the other half the other way. A PRINCE'S EXPERIMENT. Seme of the bottled papers set afloat by the Prince of Monaco floated for more than five years before they were picked up, His serene igh or, who is an enthusiast in such matters, has devoted much attention to experiments of | this «ind. For the purpose of studying the i ce currents of the Atlantic he launched from his wailing yacht in 1885 and 1886 a great number of floats, consisting of wooden casks, copper globes and glass bottles, All of them were weighted to prevent, any part of them from being out of the water to catch the wind, the object being to determine the drift. He finally determined that the best foat for the purpose was a thick glass bottle coated with pitch and covered over this with copper. Of such bottles he launched 931 in the year 1887, in a line stretching from the Azores to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Each of them contained a document in nine languages, asking the finder to record on it the locality and date of discovery and to forward itto the nearest maritime authorities. Of all the bottle papers thus distributed he got back 221, some of them bringing up in Iceland, others on the west coast of Africa, others on the shores of America and fourteen as far away as Japan. The prince has published charts which show most interestingly the coursos taken by the Atlantic currents as proved by the bottles. | Their Questions Sometimes Take Away One's Breath, From the Search Light in Godey's. True it is out of the mouths of children often come words of knowledge deoper and greater than those uttered by seer or prophet. Those who have children, or those who having them not, love them, can best te!l you the quaintand curious things the little ones sometimes say. To be sure their questions sometimes take one's breath away, and not the wisest or most learned philosopher could answer them. Just why min- possible things, quecrer and stranger than the children of others, it is hard to tell, but some- how we hear of their sayingsoftener. Perhaps it is because they hear so much theology they become deeper and more concentrated think- having hard nuts to crack and juestions to answer, clergyman’s family, not a thousand miles from New York, aud whose name is 60 famous that it is known from one end of the English speaking world to the other, there are two chil- dren, 8 oy and a girl. ‘The boy is five years old and as bright and handsome a little fellow s one would wish to meet. He romps and 1 day long, is into all sorts of mischief, 0 good natured i for his parents to puni . When night comes ho is tired enough to lic down and go to sleep, but, like many an older person who gots tired during the day, he cannot always sleep. At such times, after he has said his prayers, mother has to goand sit by his bed to quiet him. Reoently both the boy and his litte sister— the latter occupying a tiny bed in another of the room--could not and would not be quieted sufficiently to go tosleep. The mother had other duties, and, wishing to leave the children, said: “Now be quiet and good, mj little ones, the Lord will take care of you.” “Will He, mamma?” asked the little boy. “Yes, my son.” “Well,” said the little fallow, show. ing just a shade of selfishness. “let the Lord take care of Edie and you come and take care of me.” Another little boy, whose father is not a clergyman, but quite q famous bicycle rider, A VAST WHIRLPOOL. It has long been known that the waters of the Atlantic ocean are a sort of whirlpool on a gigantic ecale, the central point of which is a short distance to the southwest of the Azores, Just as is the case of an atmospheric cyclone, there exists in the middle of this aqueous vor: tex a region where the fluid of the sen bas scarcely any motion, so that bottles or other floating objects entering it are apt to remain there indefinitely, sinking finally to the bottom. For miles thereabout the surface of the ocean fe covered with what is commonly known as ‘gulf weed,” large areas of it having the ap- pearance of a drowned meadow, on which one might imagine it possible to wail is enormous vegetal accumulation was formerly supposed to made up of plants d torn away by the gulf stream from the fhores | ¥% his son one day of the guodness and of the Bahamas and of Florida, but it’ is so | greatness of God. be de ave asked the little questioner. “Yes,” + can God ride a bicycle?’ te known that the weed grows and tes while froely floating on “the water. It" treme with multitudinous forms of life. Not jeast interesting of the myriad creatures which in~ habit it are certain,curious nest-building The average depth of | NOTES OF A VOYAGE. Some of the’ Passengers One Meets on Orossing the Sea. PASSING GIBRALTAR. Salling om the Mediterranean — Sentiment Wasted on a False Monte Carlo—The Habitues of the Smoking Room—The Great Seaport of Italy. oa Neneereey Staff Correspondence of The Evening Star. Gunoa, Irary, Nov. 9, 1892. EING AN UNASSUM- ing man, with no espe- cial craving toward ask- ing questions, I shall Probably go down to my grave without knowing what the gen- tleman in uniform meant by leaning over the ship's side and yelling: “Mein Gott in Himmel, vat you mean dere? Gehen sie Shalfen? Donner und Blitzen! bring dem trunks in mighty quick, ain't it.” He meant something, Iknow. Ho said itas if he meant something, and the sudden activity among the men bringing baggage on board showed that they knew he meant something. A party of four were on the deck of the, North German Lioyd eteamer Kaiser William II, just ready to start on the vorage to Genoa, Itaiy, via Gibraltar. There were other people on the deck also. In fact, there were several other people, and asthe last bell rang there was the usual wild scramble to get on board \d to get on shore. The Kaiser William is a joroughly comfortable boat. She is German from the jolly and popular commander to the little Dutch ‘paintings scattered all over her. The cabins are large and comfortable, and the conveniences every where are first- In her construction the rolling propensity, #0 con- ducive to seasickness has been minimized. On the trip referred to she carried something over 100 cabin passengers, with about 200 steerage passengers, j DEATH AT SEA. Generally sea voyuges bear a very close family resemblance to euch other, the routine in the main consisting of waiking, eating, drinking and reading. In cases like trips to Genoa, lasting about eleven days, there isa social element to be considered. Then, again, some things which are common enough are always interesting. Among this class is death, and at sea a death possesses a peculiar solemnity. On the first night out a young man, traveling entirely alone and for his beaith, died suddenly, before any aid could be rendered. The burial at sea, with ail ity horrors for sox: and solemnity for all, was to take place the next day, which was Sunday, and in the afternoon nearly all the passengers crowded around to witress the ceremony. The ip plowed steadily on its way. The setting sun rippled ite last rays over the vast expanse of water, into which a body was to be dropped, fo that never could friend or relative sav, “Here he lice.” Still it was interesting and the crowd began really to enjoy their emotions. They were a good lot of people, were the pas- sengers of the Kaiser William, but it was with an undoubted look of blank dieuppointment that they received the news that the body would beembalmed and taken pa. The gen- eral feeling was a: expressed by one young lady, who said, “Now, isn't that a shame?” to CENTRAL PorNts, ‘There are central points of interest onan ocean steainer. erally it would be considered quite an anomaly for 200 able-bodied emigrants: to be sailing away instead of toward America. The explanation was in the fact that they were Italians, ‘The sons of Italy are becoming noted for their propensity to go. to various countries in big gangs as Inborers and after the work is completed return. to their homes. were 200 of these Italians, who had spent various periods in the United States, and if this same | crowd had not smashed the contract labor law into 10,000 pieces appexrances were greatly against them. Appearances were against them | anyway. they were not the kind of | Looking individuals you would care to mect after rk, ‘On an ocean steamer the smoking room is the center for gossip and chat. During the dav | every male passenger who is not seusick strolls | in more or less frequently, while some do all | but sleep there. I man who drinks champagne ¢ he voyage and alougside the y voyages, who knows it all. Here during a portion of the evening is fourd the captain, with his br; accent and stories of Chinese dinners and of the Russian admiral who constructed the em- acht as broad as she was long in the ope of preventing any roiling. Along the brond decks passengers are walking briskly up and down or are lying wrapped up like mum- mies in the steamer's chairs, THE POET. Farther along is the music room, with a piano | and odd little decorations, and here on one of the sofas is found the poe: We kuow that he isa poet. for he himself has said it. He might have enid he wasa butcher, a baker or a candlestick meker and we would still have be- lieved him. You would be greatly deceived in this man. Unless he told you, you would never guess thathe wasa poct.’ He wears a beerd and trousers that sing comic operas, but | then he has the “poet: languor.” He seldom leaves the sofas, which he deserts only to read pom or to sing «little lay, He has a grbat jeal on his mind, bas this poet. He is greatly disturbed about the custom house inspectors, His main fear is for his library,and his abject terror lest an unprincipled government should snatch this priceless tredwure from him eo roused our respect and reverence that in awe- struck tones we inquired the size of his librar, The poet in dignified rhythmic tones told us that he had with him twenty volumes, all written by one M. Zola. A BLUNT OLD MAX, The individual with along white beard just | going down the steps is a very disagreeable old man, He looks amiable enough as he carries that young lady’s shawls, but he is wearing a mask. During ‘several days of the trip across | two of our party were confined to their rooms. They were not seasick, but they might jast es well have been. ‘The first day after emerging I t this disagreeable old man. Said he: we party taking a sea voyage for health, ? “Yes, sir.” “Reminds me of a story. Once upon a time four little boys went skating when the ice was thin. P. 8. They showed confounded poor | judgment. o old man stopped. I locked him in the eye, but he never quivered and I waiked aw: | Was considered a test of orthodoxy. One of these is the steerage. | With us|“ and is the grand jubilee day for the children as | | well as the older members of the family, when gifts are exchanged to celebrate the infinite | | From Harper's Weekly. j ily out of a w | tainly, je wasa disagreeable but decidedly athletic- looking old man. ‘AT GIBRALTAR. We left New York at 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, to the coast of Spain. At 8:30 a. m. the anchor was dropped off Gibraltar, Many of the pas- sengers went ashore and returned laden with rank-smelling flowers and wild stories, The view from the steamer’ asthmatic coffee grinder had started. “That,”| A BIG MATRIMONIAL RUREAU. ig gentleman with a white fedora, “is the ¥ ing round. You bet I know a roulette How Settlers in Manitoba Were Sappiied inaivbinal tor several eat, Shes Hews > | SRTOT MANY Yeabe sep ae lor when it was OT MANY covered that the case from the poct, | °° N Or MASS YEARS was who was singing new song. Shortly after ali. —— our illusions were shattered by the discovery | Sid am ex-olficer of te army to « Sram re- that we were still twenty miles from Monte | porter. “It was matchmaking of the matri- Carlo. There ought to be s law against this monial kind. At that time,in I870 and ism, sort of thing. yh sentiment been | Mani wasted on that little French town to run asew-| qamlobe was being opened to settlement and machine for several hoars, and the supply | (ere was rush of colonists thither from On- canon cone to the poate A tario and Quebec and from Great Britain. The some time later, when the real Monaco, was |settlers were mostly men. Some of them ted reached, it was passed in grim silence. Even families and would send for them as soon ee the old lady who bad scen vine sulpburous they had got a Onde flames hanging over the affair was unable °°" e-" oe to get up excitement enough to say aword. 1 "ee bachelors. They were making homes for was the only one to keep a lookout for suicides themselves, aud naturally they found that they needed wives, Nota few of them were sons of and the result was disappointment. All that Could be seen was ® prettily situated town. English farmers and nearly all were reapectable and hard-working fellows. > stretching down to the bay. We were in sight of Monte Carlo fully twenty minutes and I “ m- i-| “They could not afford to oI . don't believe there was a single suicide. Possi- | go an riven, bly, however, it was the weck for poisons. = 0 helpmcets had The outer harbor at Genoa was reached at 6 | SO4NE women, guaranteed as to respectability, were brought over from England in great num bers, and this business rapidly grew to be aa important branch of the immigration trafic. | One philanthropic lady in Engiand devoted ber attention toexporting homeless but worthy girls by the ship load to Qasbee, ’ were forwarded witcha, Trains would a rom the river from tT three car loads of They were cha; mao: | Foned wath due regard to propriety and were When and How the Festival Was First Insti- | o%signed to the Innd and mining agents, who Sete ania Giaueassea. | eved them to Winnipeg. where suitable | “were provided for their temporary miation. The ac | temporary because they wer The settlers who were bachei | the gi o'clock on Wednesday evening and all had their tranks packed and their shore clothes on ready to land. We, however, anchored for the night, and trunks’ were uncorded and the Passengers contented themselves with gazing at the thousands of lights twinkling on the bill- side, marking the site of Italy's greatest ren- | port. TON. PoE EPS CHRISTMAS. why was this festival insti- As in almost all things ancient, there are various theories as to the origin of this day. d unioss they eed as to charscter and port a wile, Few of them came ee from T distance than 25) The early church fathers do not «peak of it and were certutied by not until early in the four ury is there ng that Joba any reliable record of a Christmas time. ated on sack th 4, and w owner of 1.500 va The date of His baptism was recognized and celebrated as early as A. ID. 220 as the festival of Epiphany. This took the precedence because the fathers considered this event as His first real manifestation to men. The tendency of forth oer thin, de. ng stated hie was introduced to or P be the early church was io multiply festal days, o bnfhign ohenapen mieatanete and when they became too numerous they were 1. A remarkabie point was that no merged into ope or more great, festivals. | suitor bad ever to be introduced te 8 eront Thus the Geftile day, when © was | girl, Invariably he was content wich 4 manifested to other nations than the Jews. One end ried her. A ‘The day when the three wise men from tho east Sevidltoone, came to bring presents, The day of the bad committed first miracle of Cana. The day of the feeding of the 5,000 wore all merged into the | one great feast of Epiphany, which was after- ward known as the festival of the “Three Holy Kings,” as the world’s evangelization id came uppermost in the church. As ti on there arose the day of Stephen's dom, December 26; St. John's day, D 27; the day of the massacre of the December 28; the Circumcision, Janu ‘These were all united with the day of Epiph January 8; the date i to Dec nd the name changed to Christmas nge took place in A. D. 3 other festivals and h Christmas. tiflcial selece sous ofhcially im hes b u Manitoba ard t nt seith the ts, | the natural iner mert man Ho was prese: girls arrived and 7 4 want Toacd tha aftor the tn the pair sand the bridegroom wite The reason’ for this is that the church lin-|Qagouc7 ? “MH lie bride ime backboard gered at first about the facts of the death and - resurrection of Christ, the completed fact of otitis aelanas Wh Gi ii: the great redemption scheme, and naturally | autho caridinnlant Rome waited ween tee ye made these «cenes the center of their worship | |“! : pore mer paren pe nd | yesterday and tendered bit the a tréstenas In later ages many rvances other than | Congratulations. In the original birth of Christ were | for the ch added. ‘Such as the lighting of large candies | the signs of a gatuering storm and the laying the huge log called the “Yule | a observers of moral and o, clog” (from huel, round) on the fire to com- | “AD ~ memorate the turning of the sun and the | The Puropean situa lengthening of the days. The dishes most in ven diraster, and vogue were, for breakfast and supper, boar's Only be a: head, withan apple or orange inthe mouth, | Vittues of th : plum porridge and mince pic," Eating the lute aomiiod. hey was made long in immitation of the manger in which Christ was laid. The private houses ax well as all churches were decorated with ever- ens in which the mistletoe was abundant, is custom was transplanted from the Druid. ical worshipers of a very early age. In answer to the questions we started with, then we would say: 1. Christmas was first ce! as universally recognized in the sixth ¢ stern or Latin Chur eek Church. the greatest of all religious festival because the incarnati the turning point of the history of the world, It is interwoven in the popular and family life, | coelf was to be remarks the pope re: wh rdemned were Lever true to nately Were supported nt. The Free Masous have papal influence for « long se ortance as it appears to the eapective ages of four, nine, fourth century aud | beholder a fieen and twenty-one. love of God in the gift of His only begotten | son. It kindles in the bleak and cold midwin. ter a holy fireof love and gratitude, and hes in the longest winter night the Tising | psun of light and the undimmed glory of the risen Lord. J.D. Croissast. ieee A cry SKETCH. A Little Girl Brings Breezinvess Into an Elevated Car. He entered an elevated train at Frankii street, with a white-clad, golden-haired baby | girl in his old arms and a «mile on his gray-bewhiskered face. Every man in the car was silent behind a newspaper or gazing gloom- | ‘May [ sit b; he inquired of an over- fed, melanch: who was oceupy- ing three-quarters of @ double seat in the mid- | dle of the car. ‘The melancholy man moved slighfly. “Cer- he said, and when he saw the baby girl be frowned at first and then smiled and squeezed himself into one-balf the seat. “Breezy, ain't it?” inquired the old man, and four newspapers were lowered into as many ” replied the melancholy man, with “Seems to be biowing freshly “Shouldn't wonder if we had rain, the old man so londly and cheerfully sengers for ten seats smiled, and two or three began to converse tentatively, after the manner of persons who learned to talk very late in life. “Told ms darter this mornin’ ‘before I left hum that £ thought it ‘ud rain before night, but she said Td lose an umbrell’ "f 1 fetched ‘one. It does seem 's if I'm gittin’ powerful fergitful lately?” ““Bleecker!""—from the guard. “Is this your grandchild?” inquirod the melancholy man, beaming with all his visible cutie “Yes, this is Suey; all the one we've got. Her father 'n mother's dead ’n she lives “long 'o Almiry"n me. Almiry's my darter.” ‘Eighth nex’!”—from the guard. ‘Make ‘em hustle, don't they? Don't give Yem much time to git on or off. Almiry’s kind o' near, though she means well, Almiry doos— Tl give her credit fer that—'n she thought all these fixin’s wa'n't weth while, But 1 says to myself Iain't got any more grandchildrep to bring up ner much longer to bring ‘em up in 'f Thal, "nf Susy wants as good ‘clothes’ our minister's littie girl, she's goin’ to hev ‘em. Ain’t you, Susy?” ‘The child looked up into the serene, homely old face and smiled. Is this window too cold for your little girl, sir?” inquired a big coarse boy who sat oppo- site, pretending to read a grimy paper-covered novel. “Would you like the window closed?” ‘ “No, eg oy bev too yy ed for Si A ives out doors, a when p A to hum. What street was “Fourteenth.” jgnThn's Where Racy's dry goods store i, an't “Yeu.” sazWell, we've got to got out there, Come, 8) Every man in the car was sorry. A ‘From the New York Sun.